A Commentary on the Psalms from Primitive and Mediaeval Writers, volume 2 (Psalms 39–80) (part 1 of 2)

TITLE.—Vulgate: To the end; to Idithun himself. A song of David. English Version: To the chief musician, even to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. Others: To the Supreme. Upon his dispensation. A Psalm of David.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST corrects and emends us for our iniquity. The Prophet blames the Jews, who, having the riches of the Scriptures, know not to whom they leave them; and the Church upbraids them that heap up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them. The Prophet blames those who have riches, and know not to whom they shall leave them. The voice of the just against his enemies.

VEN. BEDE. The name Idithun signifies that his choir sang this hymn. Now the name Idithun is, by interpretation, He that leaps by them. It therefore signifies him who in his spirit passes by earthly things, and leaps by them that, cleaving fast to the ground, and bowed down to earth, have no thoughts save for those things that are most terrene; him that, dwelling in the lofty habitation of the mind, freely philosophises concerning the vanity of worldly occupations. And lest you should think that this, because it speaks of difficulty, is a Psalm of penitence, he adds, A song of David. Now a song sometimes pertains to them that are joyous, sometimes to them that mourn, but never has to do with them that are penitent. And note that those Psalms which are called in their titles songs, always celebrate the joys of victory in adversity. . . . This Idithun—he that leaps over vices, affording us the type of a righteous man—testifies from the first part of the Psalm how he, with much advantage, kept silence against the enemies that leapt upon him to attack him, asking to know the end of his life, if perchance he might merit to behold the Incarnation of the LORD, even with his bodily eyes: I said, I will take heed to my ways. Next, he proveth that the fear of mortals is vain, because all things are given into the power of the LORD: Surely man walketh. Thirdly, he maketh request that his sins may be forgiven, and that his life may be concluded with a happy end: Hear my prayer, O Lord.

B SYRIAC PSALTER. A prayer and exhortation to refrain the tongue from evil words, and to set a guard over the sight and the other senses.

Various Uses.Ambrosian. Wednesday of the First Week. III. Nocturn.

Antiphons.Gregorian. That I offend not * with my tongue. Monastic. The same. Quignon. In GOD * is my salvation and my glory. Parisian. Save me, O GOD, * for the faithful are minished from the children of men. 1 I said, I will take heed to my ways : that I offend not in my tongue.

The story is well known how Pambo, a recluse of the Egyptian desert, when about to enter on his novitiate, betook himself to an aged monk, and requested from him instruction for his new course of life. The old man opened his Psalter, and began to read the present verse. "That is enough," said Pambo; "let me go home and practise it. And long, long after, being asked by one of his brethren whether he were yet perfect in his first lesson, the saint, now in his turn an aged man, replied, "Forty and nine years have I dwelt in this desert, and am only just beginning to learn how to obey the commandment. They well say that S. James has almost taken away the office of a commentator from any one else: "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. . . . And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. And notice the double duty contained in this verse: That I offend not with my tongue, in speaking when I ought to be silent, or saying that which I ought not to say: and that I offend not with my tongue also in being silent when I ought to speak;

in having never a word on GOD's side, when the world and the devil have advocates more than enough. There is a time to keep silence, says the wise man, and he puts that first; but there is a time to speak also. And the order is well set. There is a time to keep silence—namely, in this world, where silence is often our best safeguard; there is a time to speak in the world to come, when, as it is written, "I will sing and speak praises unto the LORD. But chiefly as we repeat this verse do we see the Word of the FATHER standing silent before the judgment-seats both of Herod and Pontius Pilate; "insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. And compare here the Saint of all saints with one of His most glorious followers: the one, "as a sheep before his shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth; the other was but too ready with his "God shall smite thee, thou whited wall. I said. And they observe that any one who can thus set down his resolution with the feeling and certainty that it will be kept, is not far from the kingdom of God. I said: nothing easier generally; "They say, and do not:

but I said as one who is in earnest,—one who knows that by our words we shall be justified, and by our words we shall be condemned,—one that remembers Who it was that from our words took the title of His own Incarnate Godhead, THE WORD,—this is a kind of speech indeed which is worth being reported by the Psalmist.

2 I will keep my mouth as it were with a bridle: while the ungodly is in my sight.

In the Vulgate we have no mention of the bridle: it is simply, I set a guard about my mouth. But the other early translations give it as we have it. And notice this: here we have the resolution of one who is striving to keep God's law, that he will close his mouth; whereas, in the description of the virtuous woman as we have it in the Book of Proverbs, it is, "She openeth her mouth with wisdom. And they behold in this a deep mystery. Up to the time of her who was blessed above women, the Word of God was, as it were, sealed up; "The mystery was hid from ages and from generations. But from the time that she exclaimed, "Behold the handmaid of the LORD," the mouth of those that declared the will of God was indeed opened with wisdom. For so it follows: while the ungodly is in my sight. As if he, the ungodly,—he, the source and fountain of all ungodliness,—was openly in the sight of the world, was the lord and ruler of that world before the Incarnation. Therefore, up to that time the prophecies were sealed, the types were hidden, the parables were dark; but after that the ungodly had lost the empire of this world,—after that Satan had, as lightning, fallen from heaven,—then no more occasion for this repression of the truth, this keeping the mouth, as it were, with a bridle.

And notice also, that even more exactly than the former verse, this applies to Him who stood silent before the seat of the ungodly. S. Bernard, preaching to a secular congregation, uses a metaphor which they must all have understood. The falconer does not dismiss the hawk unless the heron be in sight; so neither will the good man permit a word to fly from his tongue, unless there be that which may be struck and transfixed by it. S. Chrysostom observes that God, as the most wise Architect of the human body, has inclosed the tongue with a deep fortification—the teeth, namely, and the lips; as if knowing how liable that member is to the

S. Bernard. in Col. iv. 13. S. Chrysost. in loc. assaults of our great enemy. And how often might the true God say to us, what the false deity of Homer exclaims, And again: While the ungodly is in my sight. But we know for how short a time the ungodly will be out of the sight of the servant, even as he was of the Master. When the devil had ended all his temptation, he departed from Him for a season. And so this season, and so this period in which the mouth need not be kept as it were with a bridle, is but for a little moment; is but, so to speak, the time in which Satan is preparing himself for new attacks. 3 I held my tongue, and spake nothing: I kept silence, yea, even from good words; but it was pain and grief to me.

And there are two senses, entirely opposite to each other, in which we may take the verse; the one applying to David, the other to the Son of David. To David: He kept silence in those long months in which, after the death of Uriah, the king had taken Bathsheba to be his wife, and of which the only record is, "Nevertheless, the thing which David had done displeased the LORD:" the other, to the Son of David, when He also kept silence, as was just now said, before the tribunal of Pilate and Herod. The Chaldean has: I kept silence from the words of the law, therefore my grief was renewed: a plain enough sense as applied to David himself. S. Ambrose takes it to signify, that the duty of the good man, who, when falsely accused, would follow the example of his LORD, is sometimes altogether to be silent, without any attempt to make manifest his innocence; which he shows by the example of Joseph, when accused by Potiphar's wife, and by that of Susanna, when slandered by the elders. But S. Jerome remonstrates vigorously against such an interpretation, and dwells at great length on the duty of not letting our good be evil spoken of. There are nine interpretations of keeping silence from good which have been more or less in vogue among the interpreters of the Church: of these the strangest is that which tells us that good is here put for ill, the Psalmist not being willing to mention wickedness; and that David here, therefore, only tells us how assiduously he strove against every idle word. But it is much better to refer the phrase altogether to our dear LORD; and that in His own sense of not casting our pearls before swine. Seeing that one of His good words was distorted into "This Man calleth for Elias," good need there was that He should keep silence from such.

L. 2 Sam. xi. 27. De Offic. lib. i. 5. S. Hieron. in loc. L. S. Cyril. in S. Joan. lib. xii. Vitalis Zucolius. Hom. in S. Marc. 63.

4 My heart was hot within me, and while I was thus musing the fire kindled: and at the last I spake with my tongue, They see in this the secret operation of the HOLY GHOST, by which the heart of each of His servants is itself kindled with the full fervour of His love, before he endeavours to impart to others that which he himself has received. They see, for example, S. Augustine in his narrow cell at Rome, before he proclaimed CHRIST Crucified under that old oak in Kent. They see S. Francis stripping himself of all his earthly possessions in his Italian home, before offering to enter the furnace, if the Egyptian soldan would by that miracle be converted to his LORD. They see S. Francis Xavier in prayer and meditation in his Portuguese monastery, before bringing in thousands to JESUS; truer pearls than those of the Pearl coast, a sweeter savour before the throne of GOD than that of the Spice islands. The fire kindled. This is the fire which CHRIST came to send upon earth; the fire which sprang from Himself, even as when the angel touched the rock with his staff, the flame rose up out of it, and consumed the sacrifice. This is the fire of which GOD spoke to Jeremiah, "Behold, I will make My words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

This is the fire of which the LORD speaks when He tells of the candle that is lighted, not to be put under a bushel, but on a candlestick, to the end it may give light to all that are in the house, the universal house of GOD, the Catholic Church. S. Bernard well says that the coming of GOD into the heart of each of His saints is thus described: "There shall go a fire before Him, and burn up His enemies on every side. And at the last I spake with my tongue. They gather from hence how the preacher ought long, as well as deeply, to have been kindled with the fire of GOD's love, before he endeavours to kindle others with the same. At the last. Not in the first glow of a heart turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto GOD; not in that early stage of love, when the difficulties have scarcely been weighed,—when the cost has hardly been counted,—when nothing seems certain but this, that anything, that everything must be done for Him Who has done all for us. That great preacher,—that saint, of so deep insight into the human heart,—perhaps, on the whole, the most remarkable saint of the sixteenth century,—S. Thomas,—dwells at great length on the subject. At last I spake with my tongue: when I not only knew what has to be done, but the difficulties which lie in the way of doing it; not only man's duties, but his weakness;

not only GOD's requirements, but also Satan's temptations. When, in short, the preacher can enter into the full spirit of that most merciful Spanish proverb, "You see what I drink, but not the thirst I suffer," then it should follow, At the last I spake with my tongue.

Origen. in S. Luc. xii. 49. S. Bernard. Serm. 31, in Cant. S. Thomas de Villanov. i. 311. 5 LORD, let me know mine end and the number of my days: that I may be certified how long I have to live. S. Greg. Moral. in loc. S. Johan. Chrysost. in loc.

It is not so easy to apply this verse to the Eternal Word of God. For He did know from the beginning His end and the number of His days: as it is written by that Apostle who had drunk most deeply into His Divine secrets, "Jesus, knowing all things which should come upon Him. But they take it rather of the voice of the Church before the coming of the Lord. "Let me know how long I have to endure this darkness, and long for the light; this tyranny, and long for liberty; this time, when many prophets and righteous kings desire to behold the coming Salvation, and are not yet permitted to see it. And in this sense also they take those words of Job, "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with Thee, Thou hast appointed his bounds which he cannot pass; turn from him, until he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day. "The number of his months are with Thee,"—that is, the allotted time before the tyranny of Satan shall be riven in sunder, the four hundred and thirty years before Israel shall go free from the tyranny of Pharaoh. This was the study of Daniel, when, in the Babylonian captivity, he prayed to be taught how long would be the time ere Israel yet returned to their own land. S.

Chrysostom, as most of the Greek Fathers, ignoring this mystical signification, take the verse in its more ordinary sense. "Let me, let each of Thy servants, know the number of our days, that I may be certified (not as we read it—how long I have to live, but) quid desit mihi: τί ὄντερῷ ἐγώ; how much I yet lack, or come short in: come short in, that is, to the working out my own salvation. And thus also the Angelic Doctor explains the passage most emphatically. And here they dwell at great length on those remarkable warnings of diminished life, "The bloodthirsty and deceitful man shall not live out half his days: that though God has appointed a time which man might reach, if he would, sin cuts it short. Hear what Vieyra, in one of his most fearful sermons, has written with respect to this very subject. "God most manifestly declares and teaches us, says S. Augustine, that He has assigned to each man a certain measure or number of sins, until the completion and consummation of which He waits for their conversion; but as soon as that measure is fulfilled, that number accomplished, God waits no longer, and remediless condemnation ensues. S. Ambrose affirms the same thing, where he comments on that passage, 'The iniquities of the Amorites are not yet full.' And because this is the common opinion of all the expositors of Holy Scripture, the most learned of all shall suffice for the rest.

Cornelius à Lapide, writing on the ephah of Zechariah, says thus: 'The ephah is the measure of the sins of each, be it man or people; on the completion of which God's anger will be worked out in revenge.' And there is no difficulty in the fact that this measure of sins is greater for one man, less for another; because this very inequality, as we in our poor intelligence call it, is in Divine Providence the highest justice. For answer me this: GOD also measures the days of the life of each man, as David tells us, 'Behold, Thou hast made a measure to my days.' And this measure is so certain and determined, that, when the last day has arrived, there is no help for it; as Job affirms, 'Thou hast set him his bounds which he cannot pass.' Well, then; as no man complains of GOD, nor thinks it strange that the measure of one man's days should be so much less than that of another, much less should it seem strange that the measure of sin should also be unequal, especially when we consider that one, and that the very first sin, is sufficient to induce GOD, if He judged us according to strict justice, to damn us. The reason is the supreme dominion of GOD, Who is equally the Author of grace and of nature;

and thus since, so far as He is Author of nature, He can limit life to a certain number of days without injustice to the individual man, so, without injustice to the same man, can He limit His pardon to a certain number of sins. Whence it follows that, as the day which fills up the number of all our days is necessarily the last,—so that, when it has ended its course, die we must,—so, in like manner, the sin which fills up the number of our sins is also the last, and once committed, leaves no escape from condemnation, because there is no longer any place for pardon."

6 Behold, thou hast made my days as it were a span long: and mine age is even as nothing in respect of thee; and verily every man living is altogether vanity. Or as it is in the Vulgate, Behold, Thou hast made my days measurable. That is, they say, Time against action: so much to be done, so long to do it in: a race of such a length to be run, such a space of time allowed for its completion. They finely compare with this verse, that saying in Isaiah, "Who hath . . . meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?" See how beautifully the two respond to each other. Thou hast made my days as it were a span long. Yet also: "Thou hast meted out the heavens with the span," with this very span, the span of human life. That is, however high those heavens, however glorious that reward, however infinite and eternal that blessedness, it is not above my span; it is not past my strength. And take the word days in a good sense. My days, those works which I do, those efforts that I make, by the light of the Sun of Righteousness, they shall end in the true Day:

The Light that hath no evening, That needs nor moon nor sun: The Light so new and golden, The Light that is but one. Mine age is even as nothing in respect of Thee. And so had Job pleaded before: "Spare me, O LORD, for my days are vanity." As David here: And verily every man living is altogether vanity. said the old Roman poet. Will you take the vanity as man's misfortune or his fault? Most mediæval writers explain it of the former: Apollinarius, I think, of the latter. Hence they dwell, by way of contrast, on the glorious title, I AM THAT I AM: that man cannot properly be said to be or exist: that real and very existence is the property of GOD alone. Every man. Some have taken it whole man; that is, man in his most perfect state. And they say that He—to speak it with all reverence—Who became perfect Man, that He might redeem man, may thus be called by the title of vanity, even as He says Himself in another place, "As for Me, I am a worm, AND NO MAN."

7 For man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain: he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them. How in a vain shadow? Some say, the valley of the shadow of death, through which the saints must pass all the days of their mortal life. In hoc loco tenebrarum, In hac valle lacrymarum, In hac solitudine, Suspirabas et plorabas Et ad lucem aspirabas Quæ caret caligine. Others take it that he walks like an unreal phantom, or appearance in a mirror, or the unsubstantial shade of a real object. But others, more beautifully take the shadow—in imagine pertransit homo: ἐν εἰκόνι διαπορεύσεται ἄνθρωπος—to refer to that Image in which he was at first created, and which however much broken and debased, has never wholly been lost. Here we must take but rather than for. "Every man living is altogether vanity:" but—nevertheless—he walketh in the Image of GOD, poor, and vain, and miserable as his present life may seem. And disquieteth himself in vain. Surely, they say, for the Great King will not permit His Image to perish: for the Creator must needs have compassion on the works of His hands. And there is yet another sense in which we may take the two verses, and that, perhaps, the most striking of all. Man walketh in a vain shadow: namely, a shadow of good things to come: every

A. S. B. C. S. Greg. Mor. x. 13. D. C. external appearance of nature, every human occupation, leading onward and upward to something higher and better. So our LORD taught in many of His parables: of the fields ripe to the harvest, of the city set upon an hill, of the lilies that neither toil nor spin. He that would desire to see this whole idea worked out, has only to consult Bellarmine's Ascensio mentis in Deum per scalam rerum creatarum. He then that might thus be led by visible to invisible beauty, does disquiet himself in vain, if he sets much store by the things of this world. He heapeth up riches. The later writers give us all the commonplace of the uncertainty of wealth, and the certainty of death, and rightly quote the sermon of S. John Chrysostom on this text, delivered to those rich and luxurious Antiochenes. But I confess, the medieval interpretation to me is far lovelier: He, Whose every action or suffering was the acquiring of merit; He, Who whether He laboured or rested, still was working out our salvation; He, Who completed and enhanced all His merits by the Death of the Cross; He heaped up riches indeed, the infinite abyss of His deserts, and cannot tell, in so far as Man alone, who shall gather them, what poor guilty sinner shall find healing, what glorious saint shall there acquire victory.

But, returning to the former sense: "Now," says Gerhohus, "Idithun beholding celestial things above, terrestrial things below, having overleapt the one, and still stretching forth to the other, continues and exclaims: 8 And now, LORD, what is my hope: truly my hope is even in thee. O LORD JESUS, Who has not hoped for Thee? whether as the Doctor of Thy people, Who shalt show them the way of wisdom; or as their Redeemer, Who shalt purchase them from all bondage; or as the Liberator, Who shalt set free the spirits in prison; or as their Cleanser, Who shalt purify them from sin; or as their Illuminator, Who shalt disperse the darkness from their hearts; or as their Protector, Who shalt guard them against their enemies; or finally, as their exceeding and eternal great Reward. These seven expectations are the groundwork of the seven O's; the glorious Antiphons and Magnificat, sung in the week of the LORD'S Expectation:

Draw nigh, draw nigh, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel! That mourns in lonely darkness here, Until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! rejoice! Emmanuel Shall be born for thee, O Israel! See it admirably worked out by Cd. S. Chrysost. Hom. i. in loc. Origen. Hom. in S. Joan. xix. Hos. x. 11. Ps. cxi. 9. Zech. ix. 11. Isa. ix. 1. Isa. xix. 20. This little library of the best mystical works of the Middle Ages, at a most reasonable price, cannot be too strongly recommended to the English Priest. It may be procured at Nutt's.

What is my hope? Truly this: that though I now sit, as a stranger in a strange land, vainly endeavouring to satisfy my ravening hunger with the husks that the swine do eat, the day will come when I shall arise and go to my FATHER, even when He calls me to depart from this world, and that then He will give me a place and an inheritance among His hired servants, among those who have well borne the labour and heat of the day for the penny of eternal salvation; yea, even among His sons; yea, even with His First-Begotten SON, my Elder Brother JESUS CHRIST. Lo, David's prayer is heard! He had said above, "LORD, let me know mine end; that is, the thing which should be my aim, my goal, my scope, the one object of my life; and here he has found it. This his hope, or aim, is GOD, and GOD only. And he has not only obtained his petition, but he has won a benediction: as it is written, Blessed is he that waiteth for the LORD. The second clause of the verse is different in the Vulgate. And now what is my expectation? is it not the Lord? and my substance is with Thee. That is, that in Him we have our true essence; in Him we live, and move, and have our being; what we are, in and by Him we are. Gloriously Gerhohus: "My substance is with Thee. For my substance, not my guilt, was assumed by Thy SON;

and in this Thine Only-Begotten, my nature, my very flesh, is before Thee. Less than Thee in nature, but not less in glory: because the glory of the Only-Begotten, which my nature possesseth in CHRIST, is not inferior to the glory of the FATHER; nor didst Thou, when Thou madest Him a little lower than the Angels, subtract anything of Thy glory from Him, Who is altogether and eternally consubstantial with Thee. . . . Thus singing with Idithun, we pass above all things which are lower than GOD, and in the most highest glory of the very Deity we venerate the human substance, and say, What is my hope? Mine, who am a servant? Is it not the Lord? Is it not that I shall enter into the joy of my LORD? But whence is this to me, the servant, that the joy or glory of my LORD should come unto me? Thence it is, because, O my LORD, my substance is with Thee: there in Thy highest glory, O King of Eternal Glory, O GOD the FATHER! Now in the end of the world, I have intercession with Thee, when the Man-GOD intercedes for me: Consubstantial with me, in

A. We have here a very curious example of that which "Idithun" is to leap over and pass by. "In extremo nunc tempore Antichristo vel aperte regnante, præcipue in officiis Clericorum synodaliter interdictorum, cum talium Missas interdictas transibo, et solas Catholicorum Missas libenter audio, et ob hoc oppro- The Roman has: and my substance is as nothing in respect of Thee, which is only taken from ver. 6. The LXX. give, like the Vulgate, ὁπόστασι, but Symmachus has ἀναμίνων, and Aquila καραδοκία. And it is the true force of . that He is Man; consubstantial with Thee, in that He is God." 9 Deliver me from all mine offences : and make me not a rebuke unto the foolish. From all mine offences. They fall eagerly on the scholastic question, whether God can, by His infinite power, in accordance with His justice, forgive one mortal sin without forgiving all. But rather look at the faith which instigates this pleading. Let not me, O LORD, for whom Thou didst die, ever have this cast in my teeth by Satan, that Thou didst die for me in vain!

Quærens me, sedisti lassus : And we may boldly put the words into our dear LORD's mouth, when overwhelmed with the weight of all the sins of all the world, He was hanging on the Cross. A rebuke unto the foolish. First, to those that passed by, wagging their heads, and saying, "If Thou be the Son of God, save Thyself, and come down from the Cross!" Then from him who, in his mad folly, would be like the Most High; would exalt his throne above the stars of God. And in their degree, every martyr, of whom it is written, They fools counted his life madness, and his end to be without honour, prays to be delivered from the load of cruel mockeries. And doubt not this; that, of all the bitter agony which will be the portion of the lost soul at that Depart, ye cursed, not the least will be the bitter reproaches and derision of those evil spirits who have seduced him to his ruin. "For this morsel of meat to have sold thy birthright! For the fleshly pleasures of a few days to have bartered thine eternal jewel! For a few grains of yellow earth to have missed the city with streets of gold, and gates of several pearls! O fool beyond all folly! O madman beyond all insanity!" Truly we have need to pray with all earnestness, Make me not a rebuke unto the foolish.

Procop. in Isa. cap. liii. Theophylac. in loc. 10 I became dumb, and opened not my mouth : for it was thy doing. Who can dare to take these words of any but of the spotless LAMB? or at least only of others so far as they typify His patience and silence? So Eli: "It is the LORD; let Him do what seemeth Him good." So Job: "What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive Natural as this interpretation is, it is singular how very few of the commentators refer to it. If I am not mistaken, only S. Thomas Aquinas and Lorinus, of those who are interpreting this Psalm do so, though Procopius, in writing on Isaiah liii., refers to the verse here. evil? So the Maccabees: "Nevertheless, as the will of God is in heaven, so let Him do." But rather see the Martyr of Martyrs, when He answered never a word, insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. "For Thou wast silent, innocent LAMB, that Thou mightest atone for our evil speeches. Thy tongue spoke not at all, because the tongues of this world are worlds of iniquity. Thou, when reviled, reviledst not, that we might bridle our lips with the remembrance of Thy forbearance. Thou, the Word, archetypal and consubstantial, didst now surround Thyself with silence. LORD and lover of men, glory be to Thee!" For it was Thy doing. O true answer to all suggestions and temptations to impatience! Reply which David himself made in another place, touching Shimei: "Let him alone, and let him curse, for the LORD hath bidden him." Or you may take it in another sense, equally true: I was enabled thus to remain silent, for it was Thou that gavest me grace to remain so.

11 Take thy plague away from me: I am even consumed by the means of thy heavy hand. "Take Thy plague away," exclaims S. Ambrose, "'And I truly am prepared for the plague.' How can the two be reconciled?" And he affirms the explanation to be, that he had now, by his sufferings of shame and pain undergone the chastisement that GOD had thought necessary for him; and the cause having ceased, the effect might also be removed. But does not the Son of David Himself give us another interpretation? In that He at one time said, "I have a Baptism to be baptised with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished;" and yet at another, "If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me," did He not show that these variations of feeling are only a proof of His perfect Humanity: the same variation which will lead His true servant sometimes to be full of joy at the approaching conflict, sometimes to desire that, were GOD's will so, he might be spared it? "But one stroke," cries a loving saint, "one stroke we will not ask Thee to take from us; nay, rather, we will implore Thee that Thou wouldest never take from us, the reflection of and participation in, Thine own wounds, so that we with Paul may say, 'From henceforth let no' evil spirit venture nigh me to 'trouble me; for I bear in my body the marks of the LORD JESUS.'" This is the higher love, doubtless: just as when the Bride makes petition, "Awake, O north wind, and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the

Observe that here plague is the simple translation of plaga: there never has been, nor could be, any difference as to the meaning of the word. spices thereof may flow out:" it is placed first, as the higher act, to ask for the cold, nipping, north wind, if that be necessary, than for the sweet sunny southern breeze, however for that also he may make supplication. I am even consumed. And who could more truly say so than the Only-Begotten Son? To others, the FATHER's hand deals not with them after their sins, nor rewards them according to their iniquities: to Him, the Beloved One, it was unmixed heaviness. It is a curious sense in which some take the defeci, the ἐξέλιπον, as if David had intended to say that he failed from, that he had renounced, sin, because he had thus suffered; in other words, that this is a parallel to the verse, "Before I was troubled I went astray: but now have I kept Thy law."

12 When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin, thou makest his beauty to consume away, like as it were a moth fretting a garment: every man therefore is but vanity. With rebukes. As that Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin, written on the wall of the Babylonian palace—as the handwriting on the sand, which caused the accusers of the adulteress to be convicted by their own consciences. Let us by all means hear the scriptural S. Albertus: "And note, that the rebukes of GOD are to be endured patiently. First, on account of the example of CHRIST: 'I hid not My Face from shame and spitting.' Also for the avoiding evil; and first, the evil of guilt. 'How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof! I was almost in all evil.' Also of sudden death: 'He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.' And of ignorance: 'He that hateth reproof is brutish.' And of the fear of hell: 'He that hateth reproof shall die.' Also for the obtaining divers kinds of good things. Firstly, knowledge. 'He that heareth reproof getteth understanding.' And again: 'The rod and reproof give wisdom.' And life: 'Reproofs of instruction are the way of life.' Again: 'So wilt Thou correct me, and make me to live.'"

The next clause is difficult enough. Even as it were a moth fretting a garment. The sense is clear, but the three last words are not in the Hebrew. Thou causest his soul to consume like a spider: so is the Vulgate and the LXX. But it is a moth in the original; and they discover many ways in which the likeness applies. But this translation—the spider—reminds us of a curious tradition of the Hebrews: That David, in his youth, desired to know from GOD why He had created three things that appeared most useless—madmen, spiders, flies. The Divine Abulens. in 1 Reg. xxiv. q. 6. A. q. 156 in Gen. answer was, that at a future time David should learn by finding that they were all useful to himself. And so it came to pass. The first—when he himself feigned madness in the palace of Achish. The fly: when he took the spear from Saul while asleep, he became so pent up behind Abner, that he could not retreat; a fly stung that warrior, and, without waking, caused him to move, and so liberated David. The spider: when, flying from Saul in the desert of Ziph, a web was spun over a cave in which he rested, and thus the band in search of him were led to believe that none could be there. And notice that in the Chaldaic paraphrase of Psalm lvii., instead of, "I will cry unto the Most High God, even unto the God That shall perform the cause which I have in hand," it is, "I will cry unto the most high and mighty God, Which sent the spider, that she should spin her web in the mouth of the cave to preserve me."

13 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and with thine ears consider my calling: hold not thy peace at my tears. 14 For I am a stranger with thee: and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.

"I know that Thou hearest Me always. O Thou Only-Begotten Son, what would become of us if this were not so? If Thy prayers, once offered as the Victim, slain from the beginning of the world—now as the Great High Priest That by His own Blood has made entrance into the Holy of Holies—were not always heard, were not of infinite and prevailing merit! My tears. The strong crying and tears of which S. Paul speaks: the tears, when He was troubled in spirit, saying, "FATHER, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt. It is a beautiful idea of Gerhohus, that the tears may be future as well as past. I cannot tell what I yet have to suffer. Thou knowest. I cannot tell how my future road lies. Thou knowest. Thou canst pity all. Thou canst counsel for all; Thou canst provide for all. I am a stranger with thee. They see in this a reference to Jacob—how he was a stranger in a strange land; how he, while yet a stranger, was comforted with that glorious vision; how such a pillow of stone, how such a dwelling—Luz—thus helped him forward on his road. I am a stranger. But how? with Thee. O LORD, what matter the more or less of my strangeness on earth, if one of the many mansions is prepared for me in heaven? And oh what misery were that, had it been written, a stranger to Thee!

But no—a stranger on earth, a denizen of heaven: a stranger with the weakness and infirmity of the flesh, at home in all the longing and expectation of the spirit: a stranger, while I look at the things seen, a citizen while I look at the things unseen: then indeed is it as all my fathers were. Then is it as all the Fathers of the Church— Rupert. let them be Martyrs or Confessors, that went home to Thee. Still I desire to be like them; still I shall one day be like them; still, some day—for me and for them—the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.

15 O spare me a little, that I may recover my strength : before I go hence, and be no more seen. There are few texts which have been more earnestly discussed. Whether the Psalmist is speaking of sin or of sorrow, whether the strength refers to the Baptismal power once given in full—so often weakened and so miserably lessened. And spare me—where? I will not be tempted away from my settled purpose of not entering on any polemical subject in the Psalms of Peace. Let those who choose see a reference to Purgatory here—I would rather see in it the sure consolation we can all lay hold of. Spare me, that I may show Thy grace, and its power to man. Spare me, that by conquering, and trampling down, the favourite sin of my own heart, I may make me fit to sit in the light of Thy Love. Seen I shall be, one day, the latter day when Thou, O LORD, shalt stand on the earth. Seen I must be when the wicked shall be severed from the good—the tares from the corn; but till then—while both grow together till the harvest—till then, while none shall dare to pronounce the definitive judgment— spare me! I have need to be spared now! Forgive me! Unbind me! Spare me for His sake Who was not spared! Forgive me, for His sake Who had no need of forgiveness for sin, and yet was condemned! Pity me now for His sake Who cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani?

And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, in Whose Image we are created; and to the SON, Who was chastened with rebukes: and to the HOLY GHOST, of Whom it is said, My hope is ever in Thee; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.GOD, That art the only Hope of Thy servants, grant us so Ludolph. to kindle in our meditations, that our souls may be inflamed with Thy love, and our hearts on fire with Thy praise. Through. (11.) O CHRIST, SON of the Living GOD, Who for our sakes Mozarabic. wast made the Bread of the universe; grant that we may never be led away by the temptation of our enemy, but may follow Thee in the true government of our tongue. Amen. Through Thy mercy. (11.) We have walked long enough, O LORD, according to the old man: give us grace to be renewed daily according to the grace of Thy HOLY SPIRIT; that we may so watch over our words, and reckon our deeds, that we may finally attain to life everlasting. Amen. Through. (11.)

TITLE.—To the Chief Musician, A Psalm of David. [To the Supreme, A Psalm of David.]

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST is the beginning in the head of the Old Testament. The patience of the people. The voice of the Church after the Resurrection of the LORD. Concerning the patience of Paul the Apostle, when he is the first to preach CHRIST. Read it with the Acts of the Apostles. VENERABLE BEDE. We have often seen how by the title CHRIST is signified, by whose members the Psalm is begun, as it is finished by the head. In the beginning, the Church of the Gentiles returns thanks because, set free from the listless grief of the world, she has attained to the joys of the New Testament. Next the LORD speaks of His holy Incarnation and righteousness; He supplicates the help of the FATHER, that He may overcome the perils brought upon Him by the Jews: beseeching that all His enemies may be confounded, and that they all who hope in Him may rejoice.

SYRIAC PSALTER. In the literal sense it pertains to David when Shimei brought to him the names of those who ministered in the house of the LORD. But in the spiritual sense a thanksgiving to GOD by His worshippers in the Church. S. JEROME. This Psalm hath in the beginning the voice of the Gentile people called to be a portion of GOD's heritage, and then of the Mediator Himself to the FATHER.

Various Uses. — Antiphons.Gregorian. That I offend not * in my tongue. Monastic. The same. Parisian. For innumerable troubles are come about me, * let it be Thy pleasure, O LORD, to deliver me. Ambrosian. As the last Psalm. Mozarabic. I waited patiently for the LORD, * and He inclined to me. Gregorian Office of the Dead. Let it be Thy pleasure, O LORD, to deliver me, * make haste, O LORD, to help me. I waited patiently for the LORD : and he inclined unto me, and heard my calling.

*I waited for Him That is the expectation of the Gentiles, and so does He wait also. "And therefore will the LORD wait that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted that He may have mercy upon you. The Rabbis are fond of comparing those two texts: "the heathen say, Where is now their GOD? and that triumphant reply, "Lo, this is our GOD, we have waited for Him, and He will save us. S. Athanasius makes a simpler use of the verse; that we are not, as it were, to outrun the providential leadings of GOD, by exposing ourselves voluntarily to our persecutors, but are rather expecting to expect Him, till He shall make the way clear for us, whether it is His will that we should serve Him yet longer in this world, or should glorify Him once for all in the fires. But take it rather of the expectation of the Church after the promise of now four thousand years' standing; "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head; expectation revived and renewed in every age by the types and prophecies, and at last fixed to a certain epoch by the seventy weeks of Daniel. I waited patiently. And "we are saved by hope; and what is hope but patient expectation, according to that saying of the Apostle, "Then do we with patience wait for it? And if ever of any expectation, it may be said of that expressed by the Psalmist here. And so S.

Bernard says—and no one has written better than he on hope—"Thou, O LORD, art my Hope: whatever I have to do, whatever to avoid, whatever to tolerate, whatever to wish, Thou, O LORD, art my hope: the only cause and reason of my expectation. Let another speak of his own merit; let him boast that he bears the burden and heat of the day. Let him vaunt that he fasts twice in the week, let him glory that he is not as other men; but as for me, I have no such ground of acceptance, I expecting will expect the Lord, and Him alone. And again, in another place, "If rewards are promised us to be obtained through Thee, I will hope: if battles rise up against me, I will hope; if the world rages, if Satan attacks, if the flesh lusteth against the spirit, in Thee will I hope. And He inclined to me. Never so gloriously, never so lovingly, as when the King, now exalted on the throne of the Cross, inclined His Head to give the last kiss of affection to His Bride; or, as others will understand it, to ask her leave to absent Himself for a little while, according to that saying, "I will come again and receive you to Myself. S. Thomas goes through the different stages of expectation, comparing them to the increasing brightness of a summer morning: the first greyness, when you can hardly tell whether the day has really broken or not—and that was the hope of the patriarch;

the earliest streaks of colour which tell most undoubtedly of the approaching sun, and there we have the Mosaic types; the brightness diffused over the whole earth, and there we have the predictions of the prophets; and then, lastly, the one or two actual rays which shoot up from the horizon, and in like manner such manifest revelations as Daniel's seventy weeks, and Malachi's "The LORD Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His Temple."

2 He brought me also out of the horrible pit, out of the mire and clay: and set my feet upon the rock, and ordered my goings.

Out of the horrible pit: or, as it is in the Vulgate, Out of the lake of misery. That is a noble passage of S. Augustine's, where he speaks of the barrenness of that land where the rivers of justice flow not. Mediæval writers refer to the prophecy of Zechariah, "As for thee also, by the blood of the covenant, I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit, wherein is no water. Out of the mire. And they dwell, not only on the polluting nature of sin, but on its power of engulphing and swallowing up, like an abyss of mire. And they remind us how, here also, like cures like: how man, made of clay, and to be resolved into clay again, and engaged in the hard labours which the spiritual Pharaoh exacts from the clay-field, was cured from his blindness by that clay which our LORD made. S. Gregory says well: "By the name of mire in Holy Scripture sometimes we understand the cupidity of earthly possessions, sometimes filthy and polluting doctrines, sometimes the desires of carnal concupiscence. And so the Prophet cries out, "Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his!—how long?—and that loadeth himself with thick clay! Or they take the horrible pit on the one side, and the mire and clay on the other, to set forth to us the shame as well as the agony of the LORD's Passion. Upon a rock. "O true Rock! cries a mediæval saint;

"O glorious Rock, lifting itself so serenely above the storms and clouds of this lower world! Thou only firm abiding-place for the trembling feet! Thou only secure abode for the hunted conies! What thanks or praise can I give to Thee, Rock, to which I turn my eyes, Rock of my security, Rock whence burst forth the Living Water, the Water whereof, if a man drinketh, he shall thirst no more! Rock of ages! Rock of the elect! This is the Rock so worthily figured by the smitten rock in the wilderness: we need fear no error when we have an Apostolic commentator, "That rock was CHRIST. And not water alone did that Rock send forth: "He made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock."

Christus misit quod promisit Pignus Sponsæ, quam revisit Die quinquagesimâ: Post dulcorem melleum, Petra fudit oleum, Petra jam firmissima. Or yet again: we may take the rock of that Mountain which shall be established on the top of the mountains and exalted above the hills; the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. A Rock indeed! For, let the foot once be set there, and what can remove it? let the house once be established there, and what can endanger it? And then it may well follow, and ordered my goings. For then we shall see how all our goings have been so ordered, as to lead us in safety to the Everlasting LORD; ordered, by means that we little thought; ordered, by many an affliction, many a fear, many an "all these things are against me;" but ordered right, for all that, all things working together for our good. Or, if we take the Hebrew, the sense is even still more applicable: , making good my success: that glorious, final success, where no more temptations have to be met, no more watch and ward maintained; where the armour may be laid by; where there is perfect peace! Therefore it well follows:

3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth: even a thanksgiving unto our GOD.

They are full of the different meanings which the new song may have: whether it is to be taken of the Gloria in Excelsis, first heard at Bethlehem; or the Nunc Dimittis, with its extension of redemption to the Gentiles. But if we take the rock as we have just taken it, of the heavenly mountain, then this can only be the song of Moses and of the Lamb: of Moses, in that the Red Sea of this life is past; and of the Lamb, in that, in a higher and more perfect sense, peace is proclaimed to men of peace in that true Vision of Peace. S. Clement of Alexandria dwells at great length on this passage, comparing our LORD, in that half Pagan way of his, to another Orpheus. In the three new songs which the Church daily employs, the Benedictus, the Nunc Dimittis, and the Magnificat, they see a mystical application to each Person of the Blessed TRINITY, and the especial work of that Person in the salvation of man. But why does it go on—even a thanksgiving unto our God? Because, as Ruffinus observes, there are many who so take a hymn of praise into their mouths, as in real truth to glorify themselves, and not GOD. Not unfitly do they compare with this new song the old song of corrupt human nature, which, like the syren melody of Pagan lore, endeavoured to plunge men into a bottomless abyss. But if, as before, we put these words into our LORD's mouth, then what shall the new song be? And they well answer that still there are three. The first is, "I ascend unto My FATHER and your FATHER;" the second, "Whose sins soever ye remit, they are remitted unto them;" the third, "I will send the promise of My FATHER unto you."

4 Many shall see it, and fear : and shall put their trust in the LORD.

Or, as S. Augustine reads it, The just shall see it: a reading for which there is no authority. But we may ask, How can we see a song? And why ought not the Psalmist rather to say, They shall hear it? And the answer is ready: Because the hymn of praise that GOD loves is that of deeds, and not of words. Hence it is set down as the character of the wicked, "Behold, they speak with their mouth: that is, with their mouth only. Therefore also it is said that, when the evil spirit troubled Saul, it was the harp of David—not his voice—which drove it away; for the harp needs the hand to make it sound. And fear. But why, if it be a thanksgiving, should they fear? And they happily refer to that first new song, "Glory to GOD in the Highest," concerning which it is said that the shepherds were sore afraid. And shall put their trust in the Lord. For so they did when they continued, "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem. And they observe also how any example of great trust has been preceded by a time of fear. "Fear not: lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. And so the Angel to the Blessed Virgin: "Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favour with GOD. So to the shepherds: "Fear not; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. So to the holy women at the Sepulchre: "Fear not ye;

for I know that ye seek JESUS, Which was crucified. It is well said, "In the way of GOD we begin by fear, and advance to courage; for, just as in the way of the world adversity is the parent of fortitude, so in that of the LORD boldness ends in debility, fear in strength. And how is this? Let an early writer explain: "The beginning of our salvation and of our wisdom is, as Scripture testifieth, the fear of the LORD; from the fear of the LORD springs salutary compunction; from compunction self-renunciation; from that, humility; from humility mortification of all our appetites: by that mortification every vice is uprooted, and withers; and vice failing, then grace takes root, and flourishes. And so it follows here: shall fear, and shall put their trust in the Lord. Oh happy dread, so ending in happy love! Oh hard yet dear

S. Luke i. 30. Cassian. Instit. Num. iv. 17. It is a singular physical illustration which is given by Ayguan: "Sic enim docet experientia, quod si aliquem videris a remotis ligna eædentem, visus prius percipit illum actum, quam auditus sonum illius." schoolmaster, thus to bring us to the only Source of perfect security! Who would not fear, who would not tremble, with Esther? Who would not say, 'If I perish, I perish,' if only Ahasuerus is about to stretch forth the golden sceptre, and to welcome the timid suppliant? 5 Blessed is the man that hath set his hope in the LORD: and turned not unto the proud, and to such as go about with lies.

Or, as the Vulgate gives it, Whose hope is the Name of the Lord: the difference arising from the various readings of , the Name, and , he set. It is curious to see how every little redundancy of the Vulgate is made, by these pious writers, to give its own instruction: as here—in Beatus vir CUJUS nomen Domini spes EJUS, where the ejus is the mere colloquial repetition, they beautifully see the hope set on the LORD as the Author of Faith in the cujus—as its Finisher in the ejus. But what Name is this, save the "New Name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name? as so it was fulfilled, when the command of the Angel was, "Thou shalt call His Name JESUS. Unto the proud. For to some one we must turn. If we will not listen to that dear invitation, "Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth," then we turn to Satan; for we cannot stand alone. The μανίαν ψευδεῖς of the LXX., the insanias falsas of the Vulgate, lead the commentators to dwell at great length on the Bacchii frenzy of the heathen festivals; and so to the participation in heathen crimes by those Christians "whose god is their belly. But our version is truer and better; and its mystical meaning is the higher. For who is the proud indeed but he who said, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of GOD: I will be like the Most High?

And there may also be a dim allusion to the "Lawless One,"—"who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called GOD, and that is worshipped,"—under the name proud: and in them that go about with lies to the Beast, "who doeth great wonders, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles. And, as it is here said, Blessed is he who hath set his hope in the Lord, and turned not unto the proud, and such as go about with lies, so S. John tells us, "All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Whose hope is the Name of the Lord. The great Carmelite expositor reminds us that, as Romulus, by offering an asylum to all the evil doers of other places, in a short time enormously increased the population of the new city; so the Church has a temple to offer us, a hiding-place to all those who are grieved with the burden of their sins; and this temple is none other than the Name of JESUS. "The Name of the LORD is a strong In Cant. i. 3.

tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." Of this Church, in a higher than the original sense, the LORD saith, "I have chosen Jerusalem, that MY NAME might be there." And it is the multitude of those who have fled to the refuge of this Name which have made the Church so populous: as S. Bernard says, "whence, think you, is so sudden and so great a light, save from the Name of JESUS?" 6 O LORD my GOD, great are the wondrous works which thou hast done, like as be also thy thoughts which are to us-ward: and yet there is no man that ordereth them unto thee. The Vulgate is not better than our version. Many marvellous things hast Thou done, O Lord my God: and in Thy strength there is none like unto Thee. It is the voice of the Church exulting in the Incarnation. Great are the wondrous works which Thou hast done in old time; the creation of the world, the overthrow of the five cities, the deliverance of the children of Israel out of Egypt, their introduction into the land of Canaan. But this is the wonder of wonders; this is the miracle of miracles. For Hugh of S. Victor well observes, that though all things which exist were made by GOD, yet in a more especial sense He is said to have made those things which have to do with the reconciliation of man to Himself; and of all these the Incarnation must hold the first place. And if we are to take the version, yet there is no man that ordereth them unto Thee, then we can only understand how the scheme of redemption is here said to have been GOD's counsel from the very first, suggested to Him by no inferior or created being, but the marvellous work of His own eternal mind.

7 If I should declare them, and speak of them: they should be more than I am able to express. It is almost wonderful that so much difficulty should have been made in the interpretation of the word them. Some will have it as a parallel passage to that in S. John, where he says that if the deeds of our LORD were written every one, he supposes that not even the world itself could contain the books which should be written. But surely he refers to the works which he has before mentioned, those works which preceded the Incarnation. For see how the contrast is continued. "If I should declare THEM . . . Then said I, Lo, I come." These previous actions, whether of mercy or of judgment on the one hand, and the coming to save the earth on the other. In the Vulgate it is, I have announced them, and have spoken of them: they are multiplied beyond all number. And in this announcement of that which is to take place, we have the prophecies of the Incarnation. That: "Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son." That: "There shall come forth a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots." That: "Behold, a woman shall compass a man." That: "This gate shall be shut, it shall not be open, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD the GOD of Israel hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut." S. Thomas takes care to draw the practical conclusion: If I should declare them, and speak of them, they shall be more than I am able to express: then in return, What shall I render unto the LORD for all the benefits He hath done unto me?

8 Sacrifice, and meat-offering, thou wouldest not: but mine ears hast thou opened.

Here we have in the first place a great difficulty as to the understanding of the passage. In the LXX. it is: Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a Body hast Thou prepared. So it is in the Italic. In the Vulgate it is as we read it, but mine ears hast Thou opened. S. Paul quotes it from the LXX.: "Wherefore when He cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me. The reason of this variation is, that the Hebrew was derived from , to prepare: whence it meant the substance or body provided. Whereas in the other sense it was taken from an ear: whence the difference. This is one of the most curious passages in the Psalms; S. Paul taking it one way, followed by the Eastern Church: the Western, together with the Jewish commentators, taking it the other. It is remarkable that the HOLY GHOST speaking by S. Paul, should have been pleased to put so much honour on a translation which we cannot believe to represent the original meaning. Nevertheless we are bound to follow that which seems to be undoubtedly the sense of the Hebrew, and to explain that. Mine ears hast Thou opened. The reference is to the law in the Mosaic ritual, "If the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go out free: then his master shall bring him unto the judges;

he shall also bring him to the door, and to the door posts; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever. Now see how most divinely this applies to our LORD. He, as a good servant, did indeed say, "I love My Master," namely that FATHER, the LORD of heaven and earth, Who appointed Me this task of redemption, and Who hereafter shall say to Me, "Well done, good and faithful servant: "My wife," that is, the Church, betrothed to Me on the Cross, though the marriage can only be consummated in the kingdom of heaven: "and My children," namely those of whom it is written that, having loved Mine own that were in the world, I loved them unto the end. Then it proceeds: "His Master shall bring Him unto the judges: and so the FATHER caused Him to be set before those most unrighteous judges, Annas, and Caiaphas, and Pontius Pilate. "He shall also bring Him unto the door or unto the door post: where notice the two phrases which seem so clearly to denote the upright and transverse beams of the Cross. "And His Master shall bore His ear through with an awl: the ear simply represents the organ of obedience; and the LORD's ear was so bored with an awl, when His hands and feet were pierced and then fastened to the Cross, that true door to eternal felicity. "And He shall be His servant for ever:

and so we are reminded that His work on earth did not cease with the Cross, seeing He "ever liveth to make intercession for us. Whence we see how marvellously true a type was Jacob of our LORD. Jacob served seven years for his Rachel; why then did the true Jacob serve only three years and a half for the true Rachel, namely, the Church? Because, when He died on the Cross, His work was but half complete; His labour on earth formed the first half, His prevailing intercession in heaven the second; just as seven years are the double of three years and a half.

It is worth while quoting the eloquent words of Vieyra. He takes the Vulgate literally: But Mine ears hast Thou perfected. "He would say, Thou, LORD, rather desirest the perfection of ears, than the oblation of Thy sacrifices. Whence it follows, that the Sacrifice and Sacrament of the Altar being the greatest thing that GOD can receive from us, quà Sacrifice, and that the greatest thing we can receive from GOD, quà Sacrament, yet that He desires, even more than this, our ears, and to that end makes them perfect: aures autem perfecisti mihi. See if I had not good reason to say that CHRIST had rather be heard than sacramentally received. But why? To communicate, is to receive that which CHRIST is: to hear CHRIST, is to receive what CHRIST says. How can it be better to hear that which He says, than to receive that which He is? The question seems difficult, but the answer is easy; and it is here: aures autem perfecisti mihi. It is possible to hear CHRIST with perfect, and it is possible to hear Him with imperfect ears. To hear Him with imperfect ears, is to hear Him without doing His works: to hear Him with perfect ears, is to hear Him and to do that which He commands. And when He is heard after this fashion, it is better to hear Him than to receive Him. CHRIST says so Himself. The woman in the Gospel praised the Blessed Virgin that she had borne CHRIST in her womb: Beatus venter qui te portavit: and the LORD answered, Quinimo beati, qui audiunt verbum et custodiunt illud. Hence it follows: that it is better to hear CHRIST, doing what He says, than to communicate in CHRIST, receiving what He is."

9 Burnt-offerings, and sacrifice for sin, hast thou not required: then said I, Lo, I come, 10 In the volume of the book it is written of me, that I should fulfil thy will, O my God : I am content to do it; yea, thy law is within my heart.

First, let us hear the inspired commentator on the inspired Psalm: "Wherefore when He cometh into the world, He saith: Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me: in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of Me,) to do Thy will, O God. Above when He said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin Thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; then said He, Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of JESUS CHRIST once for all." Hence some of the Fathers have taken occasion to argue, that sacrifices were not the ordinance, but simply the permission, of God, allowed by Him as the lesser evil of the two, to keep off the peril of idolatry. But this opinion is a grave error: only compare these passages. "The LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:" "And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; . . . And the LORD smelled a sweet savour:" and the express command given to Abraham for, and as to the materials of, a sacrifice. "We know," says the Apostle, "that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;" that is, if he use it with the remembrance of Him Whom it sets forth; if, in offering its sacrifice, he fixes the eye of faith on the Great Sacrifice for the sins of the world. And in this belief, that the Jewish sacrifices were not merely permissive, but really, as inferior sacrifices, well-pleasing to God, the greatest of the Fathers agree.

But we have now one of the most difficult verses in the Psalms before us; one, the full meaning of which will perhaps not be manifested till we "know as also we are known" in the next world. THEN said I. When? And hence they take occasion to discuss the question whether, if man had not fallen, the LORD would have been incarnate; or whether His determination to take upon Him our nature depended on His prevision of our sin. Surely of these questions we may say, "Such knowledge is too wonderful and excellent for me: I cannot attain unto it." Yet doubtless they who have written on it, seem, all but certainly, to have made their point good. And this has been the general opinion from the foundation of the Church: that, whether Adam had fallen or not, the Second Adam would nevertheless have been incarnate. Then said I, Lo, I come. And herein are the types of our LORD in old time fulfilled. Joseph, when Israel said to him, "Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? Come, and I

1 Tim. i. 9. S. Chrysost. Hom. xviii. in Epist. ad Heb. S. Bernard. Hom. lviii. in Cant.

C I Sam. iii. 6. will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. Isa. vi. 8. Samuel, when he said, "Here am I, for thou didst call me. D. C. Isaiah, as it is written, "I heard the voice of the LORD, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I, send me. And notice the then. Then, before all worlds. then, long since in eternity; then, when it was predestined that man should have his being, the Son of GOD offered Himself to become man. But now we come to the hardest point. In the volume of the book it is written of Me. In the head of the book, it is both in the Vulgate and Italic, also in the LXX. But volume is perhaps nearer to the Hebrew. Then the question arises, in what book was this written? In the book of predestination, S. Thomas says, and with him, many of the chief schoolmen; and in this opinion agrees Venerable Bede. Z. Theodoret. In the book of GOD's Providence, some of the late school-S. Joh. Chrymen say, which seems to be only the same sense under differsost. sost. In the whole volume of the Prophets, say most S. Athanas. of the early Fathers. S. Ambrose, following the interpreent words. In the Head of the Book, refers this prophecy to the in loc. Book of Genesis. "In the beginning GOD created the heavens and the earth:

that is, by Him Who is the Beginning, the Alpha as well as the Omega, the First not less than the Last. S. Isidor, in S. Isidore, though referring the words to Genesis, takes a difloc. ferent verse towards the commencement of that book: "This is now bone of My bone, and flesh of My flesh," which he applies to the Incarnation. Some later writers, and more especially Jansenius, will have it that the death of Abel is the Procopius in especial type to which reference is here made. Procopius, loc. that the allusion is to the ram slain instead of Isaac. A whole A. Cassiod., host of saints refer it to the Psalter, in the head of which Hugo Victorin. book we find "Blessed is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly. Others would rather take it of the Head of the Gospels: "the book of the generation of JESUS CHRIST: "the beginning of the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST: and more especially, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with GOD, and the Word was GOD. If I had myself to decide upon all these, I should without hesitation adopt that interpretation which understands by the Head of the Book, the first verse of the Bible. That I should fulfil Thy will, O My God. Hence they take occasion to dispute how far the will of our LORD concurred in His Passion: and this verse Synod. Labecame of course a celebrated quotation in the Monothelite teran. Concontroversy.

Having given these various interpretations, I sult. 2. cannot bear to pass over a wonderful passage in Vieyra: Vieyra, xv. "All that had been written by the Prophets, or that had been 95.

95. "All that had been written by the Patriarchs, that CHRIST had to suffer, He saw and knew most perfectly in that hour of His agony; and from that very instant He engraved the principle of the Cross on His heart: Yea, Thy law is within My heart. In medio cordis, not on one side; on one side He laid His own natural This is curious as being Vieyra's only Sermon preached in Spanish. feelings, fears, thoughts, cares: the Cross took the central place. Then said I, Lo, I come. Then? When? When He came into the world: 'Wherefore when He cometh into the world He saith, Lo, I come.' When? When He was prepared for His Passion: when JESUS, knowing all things that should come upon Him, went forth. When? When He was nailed to the Cross, as it is written in the same Psalm, Corpus autem perfecisti mihi."

11 I have declared thy righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I will not refrain my lips, O LORD, and that thou knowest. 12 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart: my talk hath been of thy truth and of thy salvation.

In the great congregation. And when was that? Refer it, if you will, to the great congregation of the Angels, the nine orders of the celestial hierarchy, to whom, before the world was, the Son of God declared His purpose of atoning for the future sins of the future man. A great congregation was that also, when, having now taken our nature upon Him, He stood a Child of twelve years old in the temple amongst the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. The great congregation again sets before us the five thousand fed by the side of the Lake of Gennesaret, and that would fain have taken Him by force to make Him king, Who said, My kingdom is not of this world. Once more in a great congregation it was that "on the last day, that great day of the feast, JESUS stood and cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. But that was a greater congregation still, when hanging on the Cross in the sight, doubt it not, of those twelve legions of Angels, of whom He had the night before spoken; in the sight too, of the Prince of the Power of the Air, with all his assembled hosts; He so declared God's righteousness as never before had it been, never since could it be manifested, in those words, "It is finished.

And, as others remind us, there is yet to be a great congregation in which all kindreds, and tribes, and people, and nations shall be assembled together, and the judgment shall be set, and the books opened, and once more the Son of God shall declare His FATHER's righteousness, with the "Come, ye blessed," and "Depart, ye cursed. Lo, I will not refrain My lips. But how is this, when it is said, "As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth? Because it is written, "There is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak. Before Caiaphas and Pontius Pilate, He was silent: but at the tribunal of the FATHER day by day He pleads our cause, by His own Almighty words, not less than by the all-prevailing power of the Wounds to which He points. And notice herein a promise of His intercession for us, as Rom. i. 17.

long as the Church militant shall need it; a promise confirmed in a certain sense by an oath, and that Thou knowest. Whatever be the danger, whatever the affliction,—in the extremest calamity, in those days, when, if it were possible, the very elect should fall away, I, Who stood silent in My own defence, will speak in the cause of My Bride. When she is persecuted by the powers of the world, when she suffers from the attacks of heretics without, or bleeds from dissensions within, then I, that am her Advocate, I, that have promised to be her Mediator, I will not refrain My lips, O Lord, and that Thou knowest. I have not hid Thy righteousness. They fail not to tell us how in this Melchisedec, the King of Righteousness, is the great type of our LORD, and how S. Paul reminds us of the righteousness revealed by the Gospel. My talk hath been of Thy truth, as when in the parable of the Good Samaritan He promised, "Whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I will repay thee;" as when He made that declaration, "No man is able to pluck them out of My FATHER'S hand:" as when He so often promised, "Ask, and ye shall receive:" "If ye shall ask anything in My Name, I will do it:" "In My FATHER'S house are many mansions:" and a hundred other promises where mercy and truth meet together. Or they take it, understanding the word righteousness in the sense of the price of our acquiring righteousness, and thus of our LORD'S Blood: I have not hid Thy righteousness within My heart; namely, when for our sakes the Blessed LORD permitted that heart's Blood not to remain within His heart, but to pour forth as a torrent, when His side was pierced with a spear.

13 I have not kept back thy loving mercy and truth: from the great congregation. Why does he say it twice? And they answer, in order to contrast the two great assemblies: that in which the LORD, after being unrighteously judged, ascended the tribunal of the Cross; and that in which, with the same Cross, as the sign of His glory, He shall come again, to judge righteously the quick and the dead. Of this we have just spoken, and need not repeat what was then said. 14 Withdraw not thou thy mercy from me, O LORD : let thy loving-kindness and thy truth always preserve me.

They take it as the prayer of our LORD, not for Himself in His own person, but in that of His Church. "As even in the time of My greatest desolation on the Cross, still, after a certain sort, Thou wast present with Me, so now let not the fruits of My Sacrifice be lost; be Thou with My Church in its several passions, as Thou wast with Me in Mine own. Because I have not hid Thy mercy and Thy truth from the great congregation, from the unity of the universal Church, look Thou on Thy afflicted members; look on those who are guilty of sins of omission, and on those who are guilty of sins of commission, and withhold not Thy mercy from them. The great Saxon theologian takes it in another sense: "Whoever feels that he is set afar off from GOD by an evil life; whoever feels that sins are strengthening into customs, and customs into habits, let him cry like Esau, with an exceeding great and bitter cry, Withdraw not Thou Thy mercy from me, O Lord. I have withdrawn myself from Thee, but withdraw not Thy Presence from me. And then S. Thomas comforts such a penitent by reminding him, "The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon Him. "I call," as the Eastern Church says, "not on account of my merits, but of my demerits; not on account of the work of my hands, but for the sake of the Hands that were stretched out on the Cross.

I call, the unjust on the Just, because the Just suffered for the unjust; I call, fixing my eyes on Thee, Who didst fix Thine eyes on Peter; on the GOD Who for me suffered, for me died, for me rose again, for me ascended. And thus it is that I offer up my Kyrie Eleison. Let Thy loving kindness and Thy truth. Notice how often he puts these two together, as knowing that they never could have been reconciled but by the Cross. These, they say, were figured by the upright and cross-beams; these are the two sticks which the widow of Sarepta was gathering when salvation came to her; and was gathering for this end, that she and her son might live, and not die. And he has need to use the strongest plea to win GOD's mercy; because it follows:

15 For innumerable troubles are come about me; my sins have taken such hold upon me that I am not able to look up: yea, they are more in number than the hairs of my head, and my heart hath failed me. Do not let us fear to put the words into His mouth, Who Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses. Innumerable troubles. Who ever doubted it, O Thou Man of sorrows, Whose whole life was one long sorrow! Thou, Whose vigils on the lonely mountains were for us, that did not watch for ourselves! Thou, Whose many fastings were for A. Cathisma of the Second Stichologia at Lauds on the second Tuesday of the Great Fast. us, that pamper the flesh with its affections and lusts; Thou, Whose never-ending prayers were for us, and we, miserable creatures! will not give one poor hour to prayer for ourselves,—innumerable troubles came about Thee indeed! Is it not marvellous to think how these troubles have been the food, and strength, and consolation of the Church of GOD in the midst of her own? Has she ever educated any great saint, some one or more of whose works do not touch on the Passion? Oh, how their words glow like fire, burn whenever they draw nigh Calvary! Oh, how the driest, coldest dissertation on Canon or Rubric, on disputed date or involved history, kindles at once, if incidentally it touches on the LORD's sufferings! And for me, on whatever I may be employed, whatever task I have in hand,—more especially when I interpret Holy Scripture, either now, as in writing, or by preaching,—"if I forget Thee," O most sweet Passion, Source of all confidence, Fountain of all peace, and therefore most fitly to be called Jerusalem, which is by interpretation the Vision of Peace, "if I forget Thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning!"

My sins have taken such hold upon Me. Those sins which, since I took them on Myself that I might save a perishing world, are now really to be called Mine: those sins, on account of which the light of GOD's Countenance was withdrawn from Me, and therefore could I not look up; and therefore that was My cry, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani! Lævin. Torrent. De Christo in Cruce pendent. v. 98. Quidquid enim proavi, quidquid commisimus ipsi, Committentque alii quos sua sæcla manent, Hoc insons simul omne luit pro sontibus, æquâ Lance volens pœnas pendere pro meritis. Adde quod ut doceat mala vincere cuncta ferendo, Prævius ipse ultro pessima quæque tulit. Scilicet hæc duræ causa est pulcherrima mortis, Causa quod infamem non renuitque necem. Or, if looking for a moment from the Cross to that illustrious band of penitents who have knelt, from the days of the good thief and the pardoned Mary, at its foot, and taking these as their words, can we apply them at one and the same time to Him Who did no sin, and to them who have, save Him, no refuge from sin, better than by quoting those verses of one who came back after long wanderings?

It is no merit of mine own, but Blood of Him That died, Our Elder Brother, and Thy Son, Whom my sins crucified; For every drop of crimson dye thus shed to make me live, Oh, wherefore, wherefore have not I a thousand souls to give? 16 O LORD, let it be thy pleasure to deliver me: make haste, O LORD, to help me. 17 Let them be ashamed, and confounded together, that seek after my soul to destroy it : let them be driven backward, and put to rebuke, that wish me evil. 18 Let them be desolate, and rewarded with shame: that say unto me, Fie upon thee, fie upon thee. 19 Let all those that seek thee be joyful and glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say alway, The Lord be praised. 20 As for me, I am poor and needy: but the Lord careth for me. 21 Thou art my helper and redeemer: make no long tarrying, O my God.

It will be better to consider these verses when, by God's help, they occur again, where they form the 70th Psalm. That, as the second edition, may be considered, if I may use the expression without irreverence, as the more perfect, in its verbal differences, of the two; and for that therefore we will wait. And now: Glory be to the FATHER, in Whose book it is written that the Only-Begotten should do His will; and to the Son, Who saith, Lo, I come: and to the Holy Ghost, Who openeth our ears; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.GOD, Which art the only expectation of Thy saints, Whose Advent into this world is set forth in the Head of the Book, graft, we pray Thee, Thy Law in our hearts; to the end that we, declaring Thy righteousness, may be saved from every peril. (5.) O CHRIST the Son of God, Whose sorrows at the time of Thy Passion were multiplied above the hairs of Thy Head, deliver us from the multitude of our sins, which, in like manner, exceed in number our own hairs; that the punishment due to them may be remitted by the atonement of Thy mercy. Amen. Through Thy mercy. (11.) Let it be Thy pleasure, O LORD, to deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and let them be desolate that would swallow us up; that we may never be ashamed through the deeds of our own pravity, whose trust is that we have been renewed by the glory of Thy Passion. Amen. Through Thy mercy. (11.)

TITLE.—English Version: To the chief musician. A Psalm of David. Vulgate: In finem, Psalmus ipsi David. Italic: In finem, Psalmus David. LXX.: Εἰς τὸ τέλος, ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαβίῳ.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST, for us made poor and needy, enricheth us that understand Him with eternal riches. This Psalm is to be read with the lection of Isaiah the Prophet. The voice of CHRIST concerning His Passion and Resurrection, and of Judas, the traitor; and concerning the conversion of all, and chiefly of the poor. Every Christian may take this Psalm into his own mouth. Against the unclean spirit; i. e., the man of his filth. [Notice the singular reading, homo fæcis suæ, instead of pacis suæ; and which Vezzozi does not mention.] The Prophet speaketh concerning them that give alms. Of communion with all men, or with the poor. VEN. BEDE. These words are already familiar to us [he is speaking of the title]; but, to handle them briefly, all has to do with CHRIST. This Psalm is honoured by its position as standing in the 40th place; a number which is frequently adapted to holiness and purification.

[He would refer to the forty days in which Moses and Elijah fasted, as well as to the Lent of our LORD; to the forty years during which the congregation of Israel were purified, so to speak, from the unbelievers who had rebelled at the instigation of the spies; and to the like instances.] At the outset the Prophet saith, that he who giveth alms is blessed, and that with a manifold benediction: Blessed is he that understandeth. Next, the LORD commemorateth His glorious Passion: Mine enemies speak evil of Me. Thirdly, to the end that He may confirm the hope of the faithful, He predicteth His Resurrection: Raise Thou Me up again. EUSEBIUS OF CÆSAREA. A prophecy of CHRIST and the traitor Judas. S. ATHANASIUS. A Psalm proclaiming beatitude. SYRIAC PSALTER. A Psalm of David when he appointed overseers to take care of the poor; a prophecy concerning CHRIST and Iscariot.

ARABIC PSALTER. A prophecy of the Incarnation, and the salutation of Judas.

Various Uses.So the reading, as Thomasius gives it, is, intelligentes se opibus ditet eternis. But surely it were better to read indigentes: thus contrasting our LORD's poverty and our own. Probably the reference is to the 53rd chapter. Parisian. Saturday. I. Nocturn. Ambrosian. Wednesday of the First Week. III. Nocturn.

Antiphons.Gregorian. Monastic. } Septuagesima. Heal my soul, * O LORD, for I have sinned against Thee. Parisian. When I am in my health * Thou upholdest me, and shalt set me before Thy face for ever. Ambrosian. Haste Thee to help me, * O LORD GOD of my salvation. Kyr. Kyr. Kyr. Mozarabic. But Thou, O LORD, * have mercy upon me : raise Thou me up again, and I shall reward them. I Blessed is he that considereth the poor and needy : the LORD shall deliver him in the time of trouble.

We may take it in either sense : Blessed is he that, as the plague-struck Israelite the brazen serpent,—as the warrior fighting against Ai the outstretched spear of Joshua,—as the thirsting wanderer in the wilderness the rod of Moses, uplifted to smite the rock,—considereth the poor and needy : Him that was so poor in His lifetime as not to have where to lay His head ; Him that was so needy in His death, as that they parted His garments between them, and for His vesture they did cast lots. For who would not thus consider Him, the Fountain of all consolation, the Source of all strength ; Him, from Whom to turn away the eye is as surely to perish, as they that were bitten by the fiery flying serpents, and would not fix their gaze on the brazen serpent, left their carcases in the wilderness. Or—and it is the higher and nobler sense—the GOD blessed for evermore is here more blessed. Blessed is He That, amidst the songs of the angels, from the beatitude of His own eternity, considereth the poor and needy,—namely, us, of whom it is written, "Because thou sayest, I am rich, . . . and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Blessed is He That so considered them, as to leave the Throne of the FATHER, and to come into a world that was to despise and reject Him ; according to the hymn :

Egressusejus a Patre : Recursus in thronum Dei. A. The hymn Veni Redemptor. And compare this with the 1st Psalm, that commences with the benediction, "Blessed is the man that hath not walked in It is remarkable that Quignon—without any authority that I can find—commences this Psalm, both in the text and in the index, Beatus vir qui intelligit. the counsel of the ungodly." See there, His holiness; here, His compassion. He, the eternally rich, had mercy on us, the poor; He, the all-sufficient in all things, undertook the salvation of us, the needy in everything. But then, how shall that be fulfilled, The Lord shall deliver Him in the time of trouble? "O, My FATHER, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me!" But it was not possible; and how then can it be said, The LORD shall deliver Him? For this reason: He and His are one. For Himself, He was not delivered; in His people He was. Nay, rather, as the great Carmelite says, "To this very end He was not delivered in Himself, that He might be in His people." He asked life of Thee, "Let this cup pass," and Thou gavest Him a long life,—the eternity of His Church. He asked deliverance, and the cup had to be swallowed; but He was delivered in His martyrs from them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do; in His confessors, from a flesh that lusted against the Spirit, into that happiness where—

Freed from every stain of evil, All their carnal wars are done; For the flesh made spiritual And the soul agree in one: in His virgins, from the lures and pleasures of this world, into that blessing, where more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife. And in them He will be delivered till the end of all things; till that most glorious and perfect jubilee, which shall introduce the sometime captives of sin and prisoners of Satan into that Jerusalem which is free, which is the mother of us all. And notice that in the Vulgate it is, Blessed is he that understandeth the poor and needy. And there we are brought at once to the length and breadth and depth and height of the love of CHRIST, which passeth knowledge. For this is the true understanding that Poor and Needy, which we must do if we would be transformed, as the Apostle says, into the likeness of His sufferings. And furthermore, observe how true that is, that they who have most entirely devoted themselves to the contemplation of the LORD's Passion, have been most completely delivered in the evil day; how they, like S. Bonaventura, S. Bernard, Luiz de Granada, Gretser, and others, who wrote most lovingly, and studied most deeply, the LORD's death, were themselves most notably blessed with the grace of euthanasy. This has passed almost into a proverb.

2 The Lord preserve him, and keep him alive, that he may be blessed upon earth: and deliver not thou him into the will of his enemies. 3 The Lord comfort him, when he lieth sick upon his bed: make thou all his bed in his sickness. They see a sixfold blessing in these promises to him who "considers" the LORD's Passion. 1. Eternal life, which is indeed being delivered from all trouble. 2. Preserving grace: The Lord preserve him. 3. Quickening grace: and keep him alive. 4. Consummating grace: that he may be blessed. 5. Deliverance from temptation: deliver not him into the will of his enemies. 6. Deliverance from temptations of the flesh: The Lord comfort him when he lieth sick upon his bed. But much meeter is that interpretation which sees a distinct promise for each work of temporal mercy: Visit; give meat; give drink; redeem the slave; Clothe; house the stranger; lay the dead in grave.

He is preserved, who clothes; he is kept alive, who gives food; he is not delivered into the hands of his enemies, who redeems; he is blessed, who visits; he is comforted, who takes in the stranger; he has the sick bed made, who makes the last bed of death. Or, if we take the blessing as pronounced on our LORD, He had the seven works of mercy exercised on Him. He had food given Him: "There they made Him a great feast." He had drink given Him: The woman of Samaria. Visited when sick ... This they explain by the unction of His feet, when He was weary and distressed. Redeemed... Gamaliel undertaking the defence of the Apostles before the Council. Clothed... In the grave-clothes, by Nicodemus. Housed ... A certain woman named Martha received Him into her house. Buried ... In Joseph of Arimathea's new tomb.

Deliver not Thou him into the will of his enemies. Hesychius quaintly says, that the soul, anointed with the oil of mercy, slips from and eludes, like a practised athlete, the hands of those that could wrestle with it. Make Thou all his bed in his sickness. They point to the bed of agony of S. Laurence, which yet was so marvellously made, that he uttered no word of complaint; and to Tabitha, whom God's Apostle raised, not from the bed of sickness, but from the bed of death. The Chaldee has it, That God may appear to him on his bed of sickness. May appear to him first by the influx of the Paraclete in the sufferer's heart; and afterwards, as his eyes close to this world, by opening them to the more true and more glorious visions of the next. Again, they explain it of the paralytic: and that very beautifully. He indeed "understood the Poor and Needy," acknowledging His S. John v. 8. Hesych. S. Ambros. Serm. i. de Adv.

power as GOD Who took upon Him the form of man; and therefore his bed was made for him in his sickness: "Arise, take up thy bed, and walk." I very much prefer these interpretations to that (it seems to me) unnecessarily harsh explanation of S. Jerome and S. Augustine, which would turn a most sweet promise of relief into a prophecy of affliction. The Lord, they explain it, shall turn over, that is, make uneasy, all his bed in his sickness: that is, shall not allow those things to which he looks for rest really to be any comfort; and this to the end that he may more earnestly desire the better rest of Paradise. Certainly, the words of the LXX. and Vulgate are capable of that sense: ὅλην τὴν κοίτην αὐτοῦ ἑστρεψας ἐν τῇ ἀβρωστὶᾳ αὐτοῦ, universum stratum ejus versasti in infirmitate ejus. But how much more loving is the other sense! and how prettily expressed by Apollinarius!

Nor does Duport turn it badly: In referring, as is natural, to the case of Hezekiah, and the promise, "I will add unto thy days fifteen years," the great German commentator sees in it a promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come: 15 = 8 + 7: in the number seven we have the seven days of this worldly life; in the number eight we have the octave of eternal blessedness. Corderius very prettily turns the text into an encouragement to Sisters of Charity to persevere in their holy work, in which they are so manifestly fellow-workers with GOD. S. Albert says, in words not very easily translated: "In hoc lecto doloris gemunt sancti. 'Infelix ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus?' . . . Quod si quæris, Unde hæc miseria? Causam reddit: Omne stratum ejus, sensibilem et vegetabilem carnem, O Domine, versasti ipsam rationem supponendo, et ipsam quodammodo subjiciendo, in infirmitate ejus, quando homo primo est infirmatus."

4 I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee. Here our true Judah declares how He took upon Himself to be surety for us, His poor little Benjamin. "I will be surety for him; of My hand shalt Thou require him. If I bring him not unto Thee, and set him before Thee, then let Me bear the blame for ever!" This has formed the versicle and response at Tierce at least from the time of S. Gregory; because, as S. Thomas says, it is only through faith in the Blessed Trinity that sins can be remitted. Heal my soul. Observe that it is said without any restriction, as is even It is fair, however, to say, that the Master of Sentences quotes the meaning of the passage, iv. Distinct. 49 a.

the case in the chapter which goes along with this versicle at Tierce, "Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved. That is, "Cost it what it may—be the cure as painful to flesh and blood as it will—yet heal me, yet save me! They quote the old physician Avicenna, who says that, to preserve good health in a city, it is necessary that the windows and doors should face towards the east. And so, if the city of our heart is to be healed,—if it is to be healthy,—we must keep all its outlets open to the Man Whose "Name is the East. As it is written, "O Jerusalem, look about thee to the east, and behold the joy that cometh unto thee from GOD. And again: "Open the window eastward, and shoot. I said, Lord be merciful. Mercy, not justice! The extreme of mercy, for the extreme of misery. Righteousness as filthy rags,—a flesh in which dwelleth no good thing,— on the one side; on the other, it is "neither herb nor mollifying plaster that restored" to health; "but Thy WORD, O LORD, which healeth all things. "O quam affectuosa," cries out the holy Carthusian, "et sententiosa ac efficax est oratio hujus versiculi, quam utinam dicamus non ore tantum sed interno corde et penitentia humili! It is a wretched translation of Symmachus, Heal my soul, albeit I have sinned against Thee: running counter to the whole system of pleading which is the glory of David—penitence.

"Be merciful unto my sin, for it is great. And so constantly is that the basis of supplication; never such glory for GOD's forgiveness, because never such an abyss of man's sins; deep calling unto deep. Heal my soul. Yet once again, see in this the petition of our LORD, speaking as bowed down with the sins of the whole world. And well says S. Augustine: "If He were lanced, Who rottenness had none,—if He, our very Medicine, despised not the medicinal fire,—ought we impatiently to bear the Physician burning and cutting; that is, by every tribulation exercising us, and from sin healing us? Wholly let us commit ourselves to the Physician's Hand,

Com. i. A. Let those who are in the habit of charging mediæval writers with reliance on their merits, only just read this most humble passage, Tom. i. 386, of the Venice edition of 1775, and never again venture to repeat so foul a calumny. Though it is incapable of an English translation, yet it is worth while to give the word which they assign for the reason, quia peccavi tibi, instead of, as one should have expected, in te. It is a writer of our own, Stephen of Canterbury, who thus ex- presses himself: he is commenting on Deut. xxxii. 5: "Aliud est peccare Deo, aliud non peccare, et aliud peccare in Deum. Dupliciter peccat quis Deo, id est, ad honorem Dei, consecutive scilicet per gloriam ignoscendi, quia ex peccato sequitur sæpe contritio, ex contritione remissio, quæ est gloria Dei: unde, Da gloriam Deo; item, Tibi soli peccavi. Vel peccat quis Deo per curam: quia qui peccat, curæ Dei se subdit, quia ab eo salutem sperat."

for He errs not, to cut the sound for the gangrened; He knoweth whereon He looketh; He knoweth what is vicious, because Himself made our nature; what Himself created, what by our lust hath been added, He discerneth." 5 Mine enemies speak evil of me: when shall he die, and his name perish?

"For if the Just Man be the Son of God, He will help Him, and deliver Him from the hands of His enemies. Let us examine Him with despitefulness and tortures, that we may know His meekness and prove His patience. Let us condemn Him with a shameful death, for by His Own saying He shall be respected. So said that Court, in which Caiaphas, speaking not of himself, prophesied it expedient that One Man should die for the people. When shall He die, and His Name perish? Notice the twofold attack. He die, on the Cross. His Name perish, in the Church. And they thought that the latter question had once been answered, and the medal of Diocletian, which boasted of Christianitas devicta, still remains, as if to bear witness to the prayer, "So let all Thine enemies perish, O LORD! This verse, no doubt, is one reason why this Psalm has been appropriated for the dead. When shall He die? And the answer is, Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall I shall also rise; when I lay me down to my last long sleep, it will not last for ever: the name which thou desirest to perish, if it be but written in the Book of Life, all thy malice, all thy rage, all thy enmity, cannot destroy it. Well says S. Ambrose, "Mine enemies speak evil of me. Fools, who thought that the Author of Life could die!

The Church laughs them to scorn, believing that, though, according to the predetermination of God, He submitted for a while to the law of death, that very death would but increase His fame and glory; and therefore she turns to Him and saith, 'I will remember Thy Name from one generation to another.' And again: 'Thy Name is as ointment poured forth.'" And so the German commentator, not less beautifully, "Wherefore they hung Me, the Righteous, between two thieves, that together with My life they might also end My remembrance. But it fell out to the contrary. For, as a grain cast into the earth perisheth not, but, if cast into good ground, produceth a large increase; so also My Name, after My death, increased into a harvest of believers in Me. . . . Yet the devil still continueth to stir up a persecution against the Church, that, even so, My Name may perish in that. But the bones of martyrs, committed to the ground, will bud and blossom, so that the faith, strengthened and nourished by their fertility, may bring forth the finer bloom and the riper fruit."

6 And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: and his heart conceiveth falsehood within himself, and when he cometh forth he telleth it. And thus it was when that great enemy came to see Him, an hungred in the wilderness, and said, "Command that these stones be made bread;" for truly his heart conceived falsehood within himself, when he thought so to tempt by his three great snares for man Him Who alone was without sin; and when he cometh forth he telleth it, for he put into the hearts of his servants the Pharisees to "speak evil" of Him when they said, "Behold a man gluttonous and a winebibber, the friend of publicans and sinners."

S. Ambrose takes the verse more especially of Judas. He did come to see the LORD: he did speak vainly, if not by the words, at least by the kiss of the lips; and when he had gone forth before, he told that which the most familiar and loving converse of his Master had taught him. For it is a very ancient tradition that the LORD was accustomed to salute His disciples when they returned from their different missions with a kiss; whence it was simple and natural, so to speak, of the traitor, so far as the Apostles were concerned, to say, "Hail, Master!" when he gave that kiss. The same S. Ambrose, dwelling on the contrast of David within, and the multitude to whom David's secret enemies went forth without, reminds us of Zachariah in the temple, the Jews waiting outside: Moses and Elias in the cloud with our LORD; the unbelieving scribes and elders at the bottom of the mountain without; he tells us of Cain, who said to his brother, "Let us go out into the field;" of Dinah, who went forth to see the daughters of the land; and so he exhorts us to act up to that commandment of GOD, "Come, My people, enter thou into thy closet, shut thy doors upon thee, hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until the calamity be overpast;" and so he warns us to be at home in the depth of our own hearts; to be at home with none but JESUS for our companion: to be at home as the poor and faint shadow and foretaste of that eternal dwelling which only and truly and everlastingly is Home.

S. Luke i. 21. 7 All mine enemies whisper together against me: even against me do they imagine this evil. 8 Let the sentence of guiltiness proceed against him: and now that he lieth, let him rise up no more. First let us take the Vulgate as it stands, so far as the last 1 It is well known that in the LXX. before the murder of Abel, we have the inserted clause, "And Cain said to his brother, Let us go out into the field."

verse is concerned: They devised an evil word against Me: what, shall he that sleepeth not add again that he shall rise? And next, consider the literal sense, because it leads on to the mystical. David, an exile because of Absalom, receiving news every moment of fresh defections from his cause: as Ahithophel, as Shimei, as the whole band of those that afterwards would have been called Sadducees, the half infidel multitude to whom He so often refers, e.g., "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God;" and then again those, like Sheba, the son of Bichri, and Nebat, the father of Jeroboam, who desired to bring about the separation of the ten tribes from the house of David. And so in the hour of His deepest earthly humiliation, those that had, after a certain sort, followed our LORD while He was working His miracles, and going about doing good, fell off and joined themselves to His adversaries. Otherwise of the multitudes whom the Evangelists testify to have believed in Him after all His great miracles: "Many believed in Him there;" "The whole world is gone after Him:" "If we let Him alone, all men will believe on Him;" how could the numbers have so dwindled down, that when He manifested Himself on the mountain of Galilee, there should have been but five hundred of His followers, and many of them doubting; that after His Ascension the number of names together should have been but a hundred and twenty. Then one may well say, What, shall he that is asleep not add again to arise? And, so explaining the passage, many see in it the reason given by our LORD, why, just before, He said, They devised an unjust word against Me, the unjust word being, "That Deceiver said:" "So the last error shall be worse than the first;" and the proof of its injustice being the fact of the Resurrection.

9 Yea, even mine own familiar friend, whom I trusted: who did also eat of my bread, hath laid great wait for me. The man of my peace, as the Vulgate more literally and beautifully gives it. And Judas was indeed the man of His peace, Who on the same night of His betrayal said, "Peace I leave you, My peace give I unto you." And remember, that this is no accommodation or mystical reference: it is the explanation given by our LORD Himself, and that in the strongest possible way, with a "that the Scripture might be fulfilled." Whom I trusted. Trusted with the gift of the keys; trusted with power over devils, and to cure all manner of diseases: trusted, in a more especial manner, in that he alone dipped with Me in the dish: trusted, to the end My people, in all ages, might learn to despair of none, however far gone in sin: and trusted, finally, when grace was quite quenched, with that awful commission, by which the salvation

Ruffinus. A. of man was assured,—THAT THOU DOEST, DO QUICKLY!— Warning, as it were, against this, the Prophet had written long before: "Take ye heed every one of his neighbour; and trust ye not in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders." Who did also eat of My bread. And this very expression might be enough in itself to settle the disputed question, whether Judas did or did not receive our LORD's Body and Blood. The exhortation of the English Church manifestly assumes it; perhaps the general sense of the Primitive and Mediæval Church, though with many exceptions, is for it. It is a formidable list which they give of the authorities which take such a view: Pseudo Dionysius, Origen, S. Chrysostom, Ven. Bede, S. Cyprian, S. Leo, S. Bernard, S. Cyril of Jerusalem, S. Cyril of Alexandria, Hugh of S. Victor, Euthymius Zigabenus, S. Hrabanus Maurus. To these we may add the public offices of both East and West. In the West:

And again: The Eastern still more plainly: Odeviii. Troparion iii. of the Canon at Lauds on Great Thursday. I cannot help giving, as the best commentary on this part of the Psalm, the Stichoi of Great Thursday with their Stichera;—and I purposely do so in Greek, rather than in a translation, in order to tempt my brethren to study those glorious hymns for themselves, by—where I can—showing them the beauty of Eastern hymnology. This passage I cannot find: L. gives it as Eccl. Hierarch. § 13. But my edition does not divide that work into sections; and I have vainly looked through it. The other authorities have been verified. Guiltless, because not liable to trial: a very common hymnological sense. S. Ambros. in loc. cit. & Origen. However, there are not wanting those, who denying that Judas did eat of our LORD's Body, see in the Bread here merely a metaphor of having been a listener to the words of CHRIST; as do some of those even who agree in the usual belief. Lorinus rather understands, by the eating of the bread, the dipping of the morsel in the dish; which, by the general consent of the Fathers, was not the Holy Eucharist. So again the great Carmelite expositor. But yet I must think that the more beautiful explanation, which understands My Bread, of the Blessed Eucharist: My Bread most truly, as not only Mine, but Myself.

This sense is originally Richard of S. Victor's: it is given briefly by S. Bonaventura, and expanded at great length in a very pious sermon by Philip de la Grève: yet neither quotes Richard. Others see in the man of my peace a plain reference to Absalom, whose name is, by interpretation, the peace of the father. And there is yet another sense in which it is very beautifully taken; namely, as the complaint of the new nature against the old Adam: in fact as a mystical amnesty in the struggle which S. Paul describes in Romans vii. The flesh is the one familiar friend of the spirit; the friend in whom it trusted too much, and great wait indeed does the one lay against the other. "For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." One remark yet remains to be made with reference to the Vulgate close of the verse: hath magnified his

Notice the extreme beauty of this Stichos. It is, of course, simply the LXX. reading of ver. 6 of this Psalm: yet how ad- mirably the ἐξεπορεύετο ἔξω of Ahithophel answers to the εὐθέως ἐξῆλθεν of Judas! supplantation against me. Other sins may indeed to a certain extent be the betrayal of CHRIST: but the profanation of the Blessed Eucharist in a most emphatic and most enormous degree; this indeed is not to betray only, but to magnify our betrayal. 10 But be thou merciful unto me, O LORD: raise thou me up again, and I shall reward them.

"Hitherto," says the great Carmelite, "the Psalm hath spoken of the Passion of CHRIST, it now goes on to tell of His Resurrection. And this Psalm is divided into four clauses. In the first, He prayeth that He may be raised: raise Thou Me up again. Next, He expresseth His certain assurance of being heard: 'By this I know.' Thirdly, He showeth that He hath been heard: 'Mine enemy doth not triumph.' And finally, from all that has gone before, He resteth to praise: 'Blessed be the LORD GOD of Israel.'" Raise Thou Me up. Here is an example of a prayer offered for that which we have a promise of, whether we pray or not, like "Thy kingdom come." But yet it was a belief of some of the Fathers, and of more mediæval writers, that whereas, when the prophecy was made, how the Son of Man should be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, it was intended to be taken in its fullest and most natural sense, according to which our dear LORD could not have risen till three in the afternoon of the Monday, yet, in the mercy of the FATHER, and in compliance with the prayer of the SON, the time was shortened, as much as it could be, while the words of prediction remained sure. And I shall reward them. How? How, but by giving them a crown of gold for a Crown of Thorns; by bestowing on them the manna of His quickening Body for the gall which they presented to Him that He might eat; by refreshing them with the River of Water of Life instead of the vinegar that they held to His dying lips: by writing their names in the Book of Life, whereas His was only written by them as the title of His accusation on the Cross. How, but by fulfilling His own prayer, "FATHER, forgive them?" when the

A. With respect to the expression three days, the writer accidentally met with an anecdote which may be worth repeating. It is contained in a letter from Howard the philanthropist to a Dr. Stennett, an Anabaptist. After mentioning the capital punishment of a fraudulent tradesman, and the sentence that his body was to remain exposed three days in a street of Constantinople, he continues: "It being very hot weather, August, I said it was impossible to remain three days in the street. 'Yes, it did,' said my informant; 'for our three days may be only five or six-and-twenty hours. If one half-hour before sunset, we call it a day: if half an hour after sunrise, we call it a day: it is another day.'—Ivimey's Hist. of English [Ana]baptists, vol. ii. p. 361. preaching of the Rock of the Church brought in three, and then five thousand to the True Rock. And notice how in this our LORD speaks both as GOD and as Man: raise Thou Me up; so He prays as Man: and I shall reward them; so He promises as GOD. This verse is one of the causes why the present Psalm forms a part of the Office for the Dead. Raise Thou Me up again, exclaims the corpse from which the spirit has gone forth, that we are now about to sow in dishonour, in weakness, in corruption; and I shall reward them: I shall have my revenge over those enemies who, during my sojourn upon earth, sought to make me the instrument of pollution and hindrance to the soul, by becoming in turn its great assistance, its everlasting helpmeet, in the unceasing service of GOD.

11 By this I know thou favourest me: that mine enemy doth not triumph against me. 12 And when I am in my health, thou upholdest me: and shalt set me before thy face for ever. In the literal sense, probably, the meaning is, that the success given to the stratagem of Hushai, and the period thus put to the immediate hopes of Absalom, were sufficient to show the ultimate success of the enterprise; for no Saint ever seems so thoroughly, as David, to have trusted for the future because he had been blessed for the past: "Because Thou hast been my help, therefore under the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice." And thou, too, poor trembling Christian, ready to give up all for lost, because thou art not always successful, ready to say, "I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the Land of the Living," because He sometimes seems to shut His eyes from thee,—what are the triumphs of the enemy over thee? Are they more frequent than in times past? When he obtains for a while the victory, dost thou arm more quickly from the defeat? When thou hast truly fallen, art thou more grieved for the sin? Then say it with confidence, say it with truth, say it whatever may appear on the other side: By this I know Thou favourest me: that mine enemy doth not triumph against me.

And when I am in my health. As the hymn says: O how glorious and resplendent, Fragile body, shalt thou be, When endued with so much beauty, Full of health, and strong, and free, Full of vigour, full of pleasure, That shall last eternally!

And where is it we can only truly say, when I am in my health, but in that city, whose inhabitant, as Isaiah speaks, "shall no more say, I am sick? Thou upholdest me. Upholdest me that I can never more fall into sin which first brought pain and sickness into the world: upholdest me, or otherwise how should I ever support the glorious Beatific vision which is promised in the next clause, and shalt set me before Thy face for ever? Or we may take it of that dear LORD, Who after His death, rose again to life, never more to suffer pain or weariness, as when He "being weary with His journey sat upon the well, or slept through the storm on the Lake of Gennesaret, when His disciples took Him even as He was into the ship, but now in the same Body has ascended into heaven; Thou upholdest Me, and shalt set Me before Thy face for ever: when the FATHER said unto Him, Sit Thou on My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool; and "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. But then also we may take this, if in a lower, still in a comforting sense. When I am in my health. Why my health? Because He speaks of the health, vigour, actual keeping of GOD's commandments, into which every Christian is put by Baptism: MY health, because Thou gavest it to me;

but still even so, even then, taking it at its best, when I am in MY health; it is not by my own power, I have no strength to hold firm my position, much less to advance on in it; When I am in my health, THOU UPHOLDEST ME. It teaches us the same thing as that other Psalm, "Blessed be the LORD my strength . . . Who subdueth my people that is under me. And again they take it in a nobler sense. When I am in my health; that is, when I shall have overcome all Mine enemies, when I shall have passed through all My tribulation, when the crooked shall have been made straight, and the rough places plain, then Thou upholdest Me: that is, Thou hearest My petition. "And I knew that Thou hearest Me always. And therefore here we have a prophecy, and an invaluable prediction it is, of the everlasting Priesthood of CHRIST. And the Vulgate answers such a meaning still more strikingly. But Me hast Thou upheld because of Mine enemies. And what can we add, O innocent, O gentle, O immaculate Lamb of GOD, to this, save the dying speech of the poor thief? "We indeed justly. I have no other plea, save Thy spotlessness, and mine own guilt. But Thou wast heard because of Thine innocence, and as for me, Thou wilt hear me because of my guilt: "pardon my iniquity, for it is great. Shalt set Me before Thy face.

And they tell us the blessing of such a presentation before GOD; how it enlightens our understanding, how it purifies our will, how it humbles and keeps us humble before Him, in Whose sight not even the heavens are pure.

13 Blessed be the LORD GOD of Israel: world without end. Amen. Here we end the first book of the Psalms. Of this division I shall have to speak at length in the First Dissertation of this volume. And here, too, in this Psalm we have L. Euseb. in Heb. vii. 23. Ay. for the first time the word Amen: the word which from that time to this has been the seal of so many prayers, long since heard, long since fulfilled, and the many occasions of which have long since been forgotten in that land where mortality is swallowed up of life. As Gerhohus says, Who can add to such a plain and simple ascription of praise which comes in as the closing harmony after all the discord of a Psalm so equally divided between triumph and depression? And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, Who raiseth up the SON again that He may reward His enemies; and to the SON, Who considereth the poor and needy: and to the HOLY GHOST, Who upholdeth us when we are in our health;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.Ludolph. O Everlasting GOD, Who dost forgive and pass by our sins, and in Whose promise to show mercy to the needy we put all our hope of escaping the evil day, have compassion we pray Thee, on our sorrows; so that while Thou gently concealest our casual faults, Thou mayest graciously give us the pardon of our souls. Through. (2.) Mozarabic. O CHRIST, SON of the living GOD, against Whom Thine enemies laid to Thy charge things which Thou knewest not; do Thou in every kind of temptation defend us with Thy guardian shield; that through Thee we may never yield to our adversaries, Who ever makest us to conquer by the Omnipotence of Thy Deity. Amen. Through. (11.)

TITLE.—To the Chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah. Vulgate: To the end; an understanding for the sons of Korah. Or rather: To the Supreme; an instruction of the Sons of Korah.

Argument.Here we have the first of the Psalms which are ascribed to the family of Korah, of which there are eleven, and all of them are singularly beautiful. It was to this family that the especial charge of the Temple gates was committed by David; and down to the time of Jehoshaphat they maintained their reputation for psalmody. For, in the great battle between Jehoshaphat and the Ammonites, before the conflict began we read: "And the Levites of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD GOD of Israel with a loud voice on high." There can be no doubt that this Psalm was written by some of the Levites who followed David when he fled from Absalom; and either the day before or the day after he passed over the Jordan. But more probably after he had passed the Jordan; because, as we have seen, Psalm 41 appears to have been written after David had become acquainted with the success of Hushai's false counsel, which counsel necessitated his immediate crossing the Jordan. And, therefore, unless we arbitrarily imagine the 42nd to precede in order of time the 41st Psalm, the present one must have been composed after that passage. Besides, as we shall see at verse 6, the whole feature seems rather that of our looking towards Jerusalem, as would naturally have been the case when the Jordan was passed, than away from it, as if it still had to be crossed. Only this seems certain, that the present and the preceding Psalm were written, if not on the same day, at least on two succeeding days.

ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST puts away our wickedness by the ablution of Baptism. The voice of CHRIST, and of penitence after Baptism, hastening to or desiring the fruition of tears. Before Baptism the voice of CHRIST and them who are about to obtain faith. Read it with Isaiah. VENERABLE BEDE. The sons of Korah, as Heman, Ethan, Asaph, Jeduthun, were not writers of Psalms, but singers. They were elected by David to psalmody, and, on account of the significance of their name, had their titles prefixed to their works. Kore, then, by interpretation is Calvary; in the place of which name our LORD was crucified: wherefore they are worthily called the sons of Kore, who under the banner of that Passion, serve with the whole devotion of their minds. This Psalm fits every Christian who is kindled with the flame of the LORD's love. We ought all to remember what blessed Jerome saith: "While I carefully examine the whole Psalter, I no where find that the sons of Kore were the authors of a melancholy Psalm; everything in their Psalms is glad and joyous; and while they despise earthly delights, and desire that which is celestial and eternal, they well agreed with the meaning of their name." The son of Kore, signed, as we have said, by the honourable mark of the Cross, at the very opening of the Psalms professeth that the whole desire of his heart is fixed on the LORD. Like as the hart, &c. In the second part he speaketh to his soul, and telleth her not to be troubled in the stormy sea of this world, because GOD is her certain and lifelong rest and support. Why art thou so heavy, O my soul?

SYRIAC PSALTER. A supplication of the Prophets; and it is the Psalm which David sang while he was an exile, and longing to return to Jerusalem. EUSEBIUS OF CÆSAREA. A supplication of the Prophets over the rejection of the Jewish people.

Various Uses.Gregorian. Ferial: Tuesday. Matins. Office of the Dead. III. Nocturn. No doubt reference is made to the 60th chapter, which is the prophecy for the solemn seasons of Baptism, both in the Moza-rabic and Ambrosian rituals. Ambrosian. First Week. Thursday. I. Nocturn.

Antiphons.Gregorian. Office of the Dead. My soul * is athirst for the living GOD: when shall I come and appear before the Presence of GOD? Ambrosian. My soul * is athirst for Thee, O GOD. Kyr. Kyr. Kyr. Monastic. (In Septuagesima.) Heal my soul, O LORD, for I have sinned against Thee. Quignon. Hope * thou in the LORD, for I shall yet give Him thanks. Parisian. Hope thou in GOD, * my soul: the salvation of my countenance, and my GOD. 1 Like as the hart desireth the water-brooks: so longeth my soul after thee, O GOD. The sons of Korah, as we are expressly told by Moses, died not when Korah perished; and to them it was that the temple music became in great measure entrusted. The names of those sons who thus escaped when the earth opened, were Assir, Elkanah, Abiasaph; and the tradition of the Jews is that their family was illustrious for the gift of prophecy, even down to the time of Solomon. To them are attributed Psalms 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 84, 85, 87, 88. Eusebius speaks of eight in all; but he perhaps counts the 43rd as theirs, because although it is now called a Psalm of David, it has usually been considered a part of the preceding compositions. Mediæval writers remark how here, as so often, it was the will of GOD to raise up saints where they could have been least looked for. Who would imagine that from the posterity of him who said, "Ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Aaron," should have risen those whose sweet Psalms would be the heritage of the Church of GOD to the end of time?

In Ps. xxii. & Ps. xxix. 8. We have already seen how the hart, or hind, is a symbol of our dear LORD. Here, before entering again on the same type, it will be well to give the various proprieties of the hind, as seen by early commentators. Remember that it is the sons of the Cross, the true Crusaders against the world, the flesh, and the devil, who take this Psalm in their mouth. And who then shall we say is this hart, this morning hind, with whom their song begins? Who but He Whom we saw so lately as the hind persecuted to death by the hands of His pursuers? And during that chase, while on the one hand false witnesses stood up against Him, and laid to His charge things that He knew not, and on the other, Chief Priests and Scribes were exclaiming, "He saved others, Himself He cannot save," here we learn what that was for which during the long course of that weary day, this Hind thirsted. For so He had said Himself long before, "I have a Baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished;" and so He said in the midst of His Passion, "I thirst."

O JESU mirifice Quid est quod agebas? Tu de siti conquerens De cruce silebas: Non quod hoc doloribus Magis sentiebas: Sed salutem potius Nostram sitiebas.

Yes; it was for the salvation of the whole race of man which lay at the end of His course, that He then thirsted, when that prophecy of Job was fulfilled: "Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? That is, a time appointed for his salvation: "are not his days also like the days of an hireling? That is, do not his days of eternal life depend on the days of Him Who is a true hireling, "Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of GOD. But as, of old, Achsah desired the upper springs, so did our Hart pant not only after those waters of His Passion, but also after those upper springs which were to depend on them, the grace of the HOLY GHOST Which "was not yet given, because that JESUS was not yet glorified. And just as we saw in that verse where the voice of the LORD is said to "prepare the hinds," that they may be a type of CHRIST's people, as well as of CHRIST, so also we may understand it here. And what waterbrooks do they pant for, save that most precious stream which floweth from their LORD's side for the cleansing of the whole world?

And so again, if not for the water of Baptism now, because that has already taken place once that it might be for ever, yet at all events, for the every-day forgiveness of transgression, which is a part of the effect of Baptism. Wherein it is written so marvellously in the Nicene Creed: "I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of"—not sin, but—"sins. And this, not as if those Fathers of Nicæa imagined that Baptism would be usually conferred on adults, but because, full of the HOLY GHOST as they were, they saw that there could be no forgiveness of actual sins, except that which is founded upon Baptism as upon a base; since none could

Judg. i. 15. D Thomas. Vol. i. 479. receive the power of the keys unless he was baptized, any more than the benefit of them could reach an unregenerate man. And therefore very meetly was this Psalm part of the early Office of Baptism; and I have already quoted that beautiful hymn in the Gregorian Antiphonary: Well, then: as CHRIST Himself desired His Passion; as the Confessors of old drank and were refreshed of the graces of the HOLY GHOST; so, say the sons of Korah, longeth my soul after Thee, O God. It is hardly worth while seriously to refer to that interpretation of S. Augustine, which nevertheless was the stock allegory of the Middle Ages. "It destroys serpents, and after the killing of serpents, it is inflamed with thirst yet more violent; having destroyed serpents, it runs to the water-brooks, with thirst more keen than before. The serpents are thy vices; destroy the serpents of iniquity, then wilt thou long yet more for the Fountain of Truth." And so again in that the hart is the only animal which brings forth its young with pain, here they see a type of that Passion by which our LORD, so to speak, brought the Church, then not existing, into the world. S. Peter Damiani makes a beautiful use of the metaphor in his "Rhythm on the Glory and Joys of Paradise."

Ad perennis vitæ fontem Mens sitivit arida, Claustra carnis præsto frangi Clausa quærit anima: Gliscit, ambit, eluctatur Exul frui Patriâ. 2 My soul is athirst for GOD, yea, even for the living GOD: when shall I come to appear before the presence of GOD? First notice the very remarkable reference which there here is to the Blessed Trinity. For God: the living God: the Presence of God. And observe that here, as almost always, it is the First Person of the ever-blessed Trinity Herman Hugo, who died of the plague in his charitable labours amongst plague-stricken men at Antwerp, has an elegy in his Pia Desideria on this verse, where he does not fail to introduce the legend of the stag and the serpent. Cervus ut irrigui fontis anhelat aquas. Nempe venenifero pastas serpente medullas Cervus agit totis hausta venena fibris. Of this passage and others like it I could say with Lorinus: "Indico fontes talia sitientibus alia ipse sentiens et sitiens."

Who is mentioned without any epithet or qualification of Deity. And then, with respect to our LORD, it is well said, the living God. For, as we have just been hearing Him speak in the days of His Passion, so it is only fit that we should be reminded of His Resurrection. And yet once more. When shall I come to appear before the presence of God? That GOD, the Blessed SPIRIT, Who evermore dwells and manifests Himself in His regenerate people; when shall they who have hitherto been His hosts in His temple, go to be His guests in that temple which, as the love of the SON has prepared for them, so the love of the SPIRIT has prepared them for? As it is in the Vulgate: My soul is athirst for the mighty, living God: and some copies of it read, instead of fortem, fontem. To God which is my living fountain. On this verse again the Belgian poet, Herman Hugo, has an elegy of such rare beauty that I cannot refrain from quoting some of its verses:

Nec præmit astra dies, neque sol fugat ethere stellas, Nec præmitur lassus nocte fugante dies. But there can be no lovelier commentary on the verse than that of S. Bonaventura, when he says, "What would I not give to behold the multitude, composed not only of victors from among every tribe of men, but of Angels, of Archangels, of every dignity of the celestial hierarchy? Of these I may speak; of these I can perchance think: but of the King Who is in the midst of them,—but of the LAMB That liveth, and yet hath, as it were, been slain, what voice of man can say a single word, what heart of man can think a single thought? My soul is athirst for that city which is the dwelling-place of all Angels, all saints: where eternal salvation abounds as from an overflowing fountain; where truth reigns, where none deceives or is deceived, where nothing that is beautiful can be ejected, where nothing that is wretched can be admitted." It is not wonderful that most of those saints who have preached on the passion of S. Stephen, should have

And so I find it in the Psalterium Trilingue (Basle: 1545), which has been my handbook all through this work. referred to this text. Let us end our commentary on it with a quotation from the noble sequence of Adam of S. Victor: Forward, champion, in thy quarrel! Certain of a certain laurel, By thy doctrine true and clear. Lo, in heaven thy Witness liveth: True and faithful proof He giveth That His martyr's cause is right: Thou by name a crown impliest; Meet it is in pangs thou diest For a crown of glorious light. For a crown of life unfading Bear the torturer's brief invading; Victory waits to end the strife: Death thy heavenly birth revealeth; And thy latent pang unsealeth To thy soul a truer light. 3 My tears have been my meat day and night: while they daily say unto me, Where is now thy God?

Philip. i. 28. A.

Where is now thy God? It has been the question from God's enemies from that time to this. "Who are they among all the gods of these lands that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? "Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? Now shall she be trodden down as the mire in the streets. Where is thy God? It was the question demanded of those early Christians when their great persecutor entered in the records and stamped on the medals of the empire that the Christian superstition had been utterly destroyed. But notice this. They daily say unto me. You will observe that wherever time is thus reckoned by days in the Psalms or in the Prophets, it is almost always in a prophecy of good; whereas if it be counted by nights or months, it is almost always a denunciation of ill. Then how can it be said that so blasphemous an inquiry of the enemy can in any sense be good? Let S. Paul answer. "In nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. My tears have been my meat. Compare with this the promise in Ecclesiasticus of him that feareth the LORD, "With the bread of understanding shall she feed him, and give him the water of wisdom to drink.

Thus we learn that true penitence is the only way to true wisdom: and in this sense also is that reply of S. Bonaventura admirable, who, when he was asked where he had acquired all his marvellous wisdom, pointed to the crucifix. The best food of the soul, says S. Gregory, is that sorrow for sin which it conceives within itself, when it understands the love that died for sin. And further observe day and night. As the Carmelite says: It is easy enough to sorrow for sin in the night of adversity: so Saul did when being forsaken by Samuel, he cried out, "I have sinned. So Ahab did, when being threatened with destruction by Elijah, "he rent his clothes and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. But to sorrow for sin in the day of prosperity, that is the true repentance which God loves: that explains the ancient proverb

"The good man is a man of many tears. Hugh of S. Victor, one of the greatest masters of the ascetic life that there ever was, thus speaks: "I will be fed with grief, I will earnestly seek by tears, I will call by groans, until the presence of Him Whom I seek shall put an end to all. I will weep because He Whom I long for is absent. I will weep because that which I love not is present. I love not present infelicity; I desire future beatitude; and so I love both the upper springs and the nether springs: the upper, because my soul desireth to God its living fountain; the lower, because it is said to me, Where is thy God? The one pertains to the present misery, because the rebukes of them that rebuked God have fallen upon me: the other to future glory, because it is written, 'Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.'" I cannot help quoting a beautiful passage of Gerhohus with reference to this, the last verse: "O my soul! O thou that thirstest for the mighty living God, behold, thou hast found the virgin flower full of Divinity, fortitude and might, grace and truth! Draw honey from it, like the sagacious little bee; draw honey for thyself, draw honey for the whole Church, assiduously crying in thy prayer to the same God; Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy upon us.

Holy God, to Whom frankincense, Holy Mighty, to Whom gold, Holy Immortal, to Whom myrrh is offered, have mercy on us who offer frankincense to Thee, because we believe Thee God to be adored, and honoured with sacrifices: gold, because we confess Thee the King of all wealth: myrrh, because we proclaim that Thy Body, once mortal, is now embalmed with the myrrh of immortality and incorruptibility. Have mercy on us all and on each: each, that Thy SPIRIT may dwell in the soul and body of each one of us, to the intent that our whole spirit, and soul, and body may be preserved blameless until the coming of our LORD JESUS CHRIST: on all, that the whole priesthood of the whole Church may truly offer to Thee that most lucid incense, pure and holy prayer: so that as the LORD'S Body was preserved from among the dead, the Body of His Church may, through the myrrh of continence, be kept free from the corruption and filth of sin. And then it follows, These things having been so done by the LORD, and done in the Church, and in every member of the Church, When, O when shall I appear before the presence of GOD?

4 Now when I think thereupon, I pour out my heart by myself: for I went with the multitude, and brought them forth into the house of God. 5 In the voice of praise and thanksgiving: among such as keep holyday. I must first give the translation of the Vulgate on account of its marvellous beauty. These things I call to remembrance, and I poured out my spirit within me: for I will pass over into the place of the admirable tabernacle, even to the house of God. In the voice of exultation and confession; the sound of him that feasteth. The question is, to what thereupon refers.

And most of them answer, to the panting of the hart after the water-brooks. That is: While I think of the LORD's Passion, I pour out my heart that I in my sufferings may in my poor measure be like Him in His. By myself. For, as S. Thomas says, then are we most with GOD, when we are without the company of man. But if we take in the first place the words in their literal sense, and in the future, as they ought to be, I shall go forth to the tabernacle, you must see David, having crossed the Jordan, in his flight from Absalom, looking back over the swelling waters of which we shall hear more presently, and comforting himself in the thought that, though the great river now rolls between him and Jerusalem, the day will come when he shall again return to the temple, and to the temple services. And then comes the remarkable mystical interpretation. Why should we speak of the tabernacle rather than the temple? For tent, though it still was, in his own time, yet he rarely so calls it, and could hardly be expected to do so, when he is contrasting the perpetuity of its services with his own exiled and fugitive condition. Why, but for this cause? that the Son of David, also, having passed the Jordan of death, would take up these words with reference to that which was in one sense the temple of His Body, but which in another view might well be called a tabernacle, seeing that like a tent it had now been taken down and laid aside. It is not wonderful that the words of the Vulgate have kindled some of the highest aspirations of mediæval poets: but of none more than of Bernard of Cluny in that glorious passage where he says:

Est ibi pascua, mitibus afflua, præstita sanctis: Regis ibi thronus, agminis et sonus est epulantis. Gens duce splendida, concio candida, vestibus albis, Sunt sine fletibus, in Syon ædibus, ædibus almis; Sunt sine crimine, sunt sine turbine, sunt sine lite, In Syon ædibus editioribus Israelitæ. Others again take the passage of the entrance of a Catechumen into the Church militant, which certainly is only the tabernacle of God, hereafter to be changed into the temple, that Church triumphant, which can never be taken down. 6 Why art thou so full of heaviness, O my soul : and why art thou disquieted within me? 7 Put thy trust in God : for I will yet give him thanks for the help of his countenance. As these two verses are triply repeated, I shall reserve their consideration till we come to the last repetition, when it will most conveniently fall under our notice.

8 My God, my soul is vexed within me : therefore will I remember thee concerning the land of Jordan, and the little hill of Hermon.

First, let us consider the literal sense. And the Bible version is: O my God, my soul is cast down within me : therefore will I remember Thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar. But such a hill as Mizar never existed : and the Vulgate gives the meaning most correctly ; and of the Hermons, from the little hill, or from the lowest descent ; that is, the whole territory in which the victories of the children of Israel over Sihon and Og had originally been gained. And the way in which God is to be remembered concerning the land of Jordan, has given rise to an infinite number of mystical interpretations. How it was there that the nether waters fell off to the Dead Sea, and the hither waters stood up on a heap " very far from the city Adam :" that is, that here, as it were, first, God made a division between the righteous and the wicked, the latter being cut off from the congregation of His people, and finding their just portion in that sea where nothing living can exist ; whereas His true servants, who remained joined to their source, rise up on a heap, that is, are lifted up towards heaven : and all this very far from the city Adam, that is, from the original fall of man. That is one interpretation. Then again : they call to mind the way in which first at the prayer of Elijah, and then at that of Elisha, this same river gave a passage to the Prophets of God. Whence they conclude how every servant of God ought to be comforted by this thought, that no physical hindrance can keep him from performing that work which is

Hermoniim, a monte modico. rect : et Hermonis a monte modico. The old Roman is not so cor- A. A. appointed to him by his Master. And then again in a deeper sense still, "I will remember Thee concerning the land of Jordan, that territory of death, the Jordan" which divides the desert of this world from the land of promise, and of which our LORD took possession, when He said, "It is finished." The little hill. Some of the interpreters will have this to be the same with the mountain above the little city of Zoar, where Lot, seeking for safety, fell into his great sin. I will remember Thee. And therefore others, applying the whole text to our LORD see in the river Jordan the remembrance of His Baptism, and in Hermon that of His Transfiguration; the latter called a little hill not in itself, but because He, Who made it the scene of His glory, was, nevertheless, a little lower than the Angels. And yet again: others see in Jordan a type of Baptism; in Hermon, which by interpretation is "cursing," or an "anathema," the renunciation therein made of the devil and all his order, and in the little hill, that grace of GOD which is only given to the humble; as it is written, "GOD resisteth the proud, and giveth grace unto the humble."

9 One deep calleth another, because of the noise of the water-pipes: all thy waves and storms are gone over me.

First let us take the literal sense. And no doubt David was looking down on the river which he had just passed in the time when it was swollen into cataracts of water, which is the word that both the Vulgate and the LXX. give. And any one who has seen the bore either in the Severn or the Seine, the roar of which can be heard for many miles off, may have a fairly clear comprehension of that which the exiled king then saw; and to which he compared the state of the Jewish Church then, as others have done that of the Catholic Church from then till now. But the great meaning eagerly seized on by the writers of both the Eastern and Western Church, for those words, Deep calleth unto deep, or as it is in their versions, Abyss calleth to abyss, has been one and the same: the depth of our misery calls to the deep of GOD's mercy. If I were to quote those who have thus employed the verse, I should be quoting well nigh all penitential writers from the time of our LORD. But there is also another explanation, which, if it be brought forward by fewer, has at least great authorities, which would see in both these abysses, that which S. Paul expresses: "O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of GOD! That is:

in the first place an abyss which would seem utterly to ruin and overwhelm the Church, was it not that a contrary miracle of mercy comes to set her cause right: a providence which follows a Diocletian with a Constantine, a Constantius with a Theodosius. In another sense, Arnobius takes the first abyss to signify the SON, the second the FATHER; the SON, Who when He called on the FATHER, immediately the cataracts of heaven were open, and the HOLY GHOST came down. Others understand the first abyss of the infinite wisdom laid up in the prophecies of the Jews; the second abyss, of the vast multitude of the Gentiles, and one inviting another to become a part of the future Church. In a sadder sense one depth of sin involves another and a still deeper abyss, hurrying on the sinner from this to that. But no doubt the true mystical sense is the first, that of man's misery and GOD's mercy: and this on account of that which follows. Abyss calleth abyss in the voice of Thy cataracts: that is, in the midst of that wrath which Thou pourest out against sin and as a propitiation to which I have given Myself up to the Cross. And then it well follows; All Thy waves and storms have gone over me. For on Him, on Him the Only-Begotten, on Him the only-beloved, GOD poured forth not this or that suffering, not this or that denunciation of anger, as against individual sinners;

but all at once, as all being poured forth on Him, on Whom the whole weight of the sins of all the world was laid. It is very well said by Hugh of S. Victor in reference to the Vulgate: All Thy lofty things and Thy waves have passed over me: "Tribulations are called high things, because they raise us up on high. Terrene felicity causes us to cleave to the earth. Adversity and tribulation disjoin us from perishable things, and raise us to those which shall last for ever: just as S. Chrysostom says on S. Matthew: As the rain which descends on the earth raises up the tender plants, so tribulation, falling upon the soul, causes it to spring up towards heaven."

10 The LORD hath granted his loving-kindness in the day-time: and in the night-season did I sing of him, and made my prayer unto the GOD of my life.

And first, what is the day-time and what is the night-season? They give innumerable explanations; why GOD's loving-kindness should be confined to the former, as if it were not equally shown in the darkness of adversity: and again why any praises should only be sent up to Him in tribulation, and not in the time of prosperity. But it is better to take it with Gerhohus. The day-time was the period in which our LORD JESUS CHRIST dwelt on earth: the words are the words of the Church: and the night-season is the long track of years from then till now, in which our LORD has been absent, and the hope of His second appearance must make up for the joy of His actual presence. And how did He not grant His loving-kindness in that day-time? By what miracles, by what parables, by what labours, by what sufferings did He not express His love to that world which He came to save? And in the night-season will I (1) sing of Him and (2) make my prayer. But why in this order? Is not prayer to precede praise? Does not the supplication for deliverance from evil come before the thanksgiving for preservation from it? Are we not taught first to say, "Deliver us from evil," and then, "For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory? For this reason: that, after the time of praise such as this world can allow, there will come a period when thanksgiving must be silent altogether, and there can be nothing but prayer.

That is, they look forward to that time of Antichrist when the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and so the great oblation of the Church's thanksgiving will come to an end: when from those few scattered servants of God who remain without a priest and without a temple, what can there be but earnest prayer, that, for the elect's sake, those days may be shortened? And to the God of my life. For see how even then, God will show Himself as the God that has power over death, and the quickener of all things. For when His acknowledged worshippers on earth will be reduced to the two witnesses, and they shall have been slain, then it follows with respect to Him Whom the Church calls The God of my life: "After three days and a half, the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; just as, long before, we read in the typical vision of Ezekiel; "Thus saith the LORD GOD . . . behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live, and ye shall know that I am the LORD."

11 I will say unto the God of my strength, Why hast thou forgotten me: why go I thus heavily, while the enemy oppresseth me? The translation of the Vulgate is quite different: With me is a prayer to the God of my life: I will say to God, my upholder art Thou, why hast Thou forgotten me, &c. My upholder. And how could He have upheld this weakness of our own, but by taking it upon Himself? How could He have enabled our body to rise at the last day victorious over death, unless He had Himself assumed that body? And therefore it is well written: I will say unto God. That is, I will remind Him That is God, of what He has suffered as Man; I will bring to the recollection of Strength, what it felt in the time of His weakness. And Hugh of S. Victor tells us how the two verses, this and the preceding, in their contrariety of assertions, show the true bearing of a loving soul: first it is, The Lord hath granted His loving-kindness; and then directly after, Why hast Thou forgotten me?

12 My bones are smitten asunder as with a sword: while mine enemies that trouble me cast me in the teeth; 13 Namely, while they say daily unto me: Where is now thy God? In what sense are we to take this sword? Is it to be the sword of the SPIRIT, which pierces even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow: that is to say, the conviction of sin? Or is it the attacks of Satan, the first part expressing the same as the last part? It is to be observed that in the Vulgate we have it, While my bones are broken, mine enemies have upbraided me who trouble me. (It is hard to say why the sword of the Hebrew original is in this version omitted.) Others take it as the complaint of the Church, how her chief saints, the bones, as it were of her strength, are smitten asunder, are destroyed by the power of Satan. While they daily say unto me. This upbraiding we have so often met with before, that it need not detain us now.

14 Why art thou so vexed, O my soul: and why art thou so disquieted within me? 15 O put thy trust in GOD: for I will yet thank him, which is the help of my countenance, and my GOD. As we shall have occasion to consider these verses again at the end of the next Psalm, we need say nothing on them here. And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, in Whose presence we shall come to appear; and to the SON, the Hart That desireth the water-brooks of our salvation: and to the HOLY GHOST, the GOD of our strength; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.O GOD, the health of our countenance, after Whom the souls of Thy servants do ardently long; grant, we beseech Thee that while we are nourished with the food of our visible tears, we may set Thee invisibly within the tabernacle of our hearts. Through. (1.) O GOD, Who in the day-time commandest Thy mercy, and in the night-season manifestest Thyself, we pray Thee that Thou wouldest both in the day defend us for our salvation, and in the night protect us for our rest. Amen. Through Thy mercy. (11.)

TITLE. A Psalm of David. Most modern critics have imagined this a mere part of the preceding Psalm; the subject being so completely the same, and the chorus or refrain which was twice repeated in the 42nd, again concluding this. ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST is the Light of the world, the Way, the Truth, and the Life: the voice of the Church praying that she may be divided from them that believe not. To them who have obtained the faith of CHRIST [that is, the recently baptized], the voice of the Church praying that the good and the bad may be severed in the last day. [This Psalm is,—in one point of view,—so nearly the second portion of the preceding; and in another, so appropriated to the service of the altar rather than of the choir; that we may proceed to it without further preface.] 1 Give sentence with me, O God, and defend my cause against the ungodly people: O deliver me from the deceitful and wicked man. 2 For thou art the God of my strength, why hast thou put me from thee: and why go I so heavily, while the enemy oppresseth me?

These two verses will better come under our notice in Psalm CXLIV.: for a reason there to be mentioned. 3 O send out thy light and thy truth, that they may lead me: and bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy dwelling. S. John i. 9. S. John xiv. 6. Here he sets forth the only way of his liberation:—and what way is that, but by the Incarnation? Thy Light: as it is written: "That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Thy Truth: as He said Himself:—"I am the way, and the truth, and the life." And therefore, the Master of Sentences uses this verse formally, when writing "of the benefits of the Incarnation." Light indeed, after so many centuries that darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness the people! Truth indeed, when those things that were concealed from the wisest philosophers of Greece and Rome are now revealed to babes and sucklings! Others will have it that, by Light, the Son of God, by Truth, the Holy Ghost, is more especially set forth.

That they may lead me. So our translation, and rightly. The Vulgate has, they have led me: then, with reference to the past benefits of the Incarnation: Thy holy hill. Take it of the Church Militant, as almost all the commentators: not that I would much blame those, who keeping our LORD's dear Passion here, as always, before their eyes, see in the holy hill, Mount Calvary. It is to be observed that, in the "sending forth," the Greeks, followed by S. Ambrose, generally see an allusion to the First Advent; S. Augustine, with almost all the Latin Fathers, to the Second. And then truly the light will be shown which clearly distinguishes the tares from the wheat; and the truth, which, however they may have been mingled in this world, shall then definitively, and for ever, set the sheep on the right hand, and the goats on the left. It is a beautiful idea of Hugh of S. Victor that by light is meant the faith by which we walk now; by truth, the reward which we are hereafter to possess:—as if the reality would so far surpass all that faith can tell, or hope desire, here, as to make their warmest aspirations little better than untruths. This was one of the many verses used against the Arians:—the TRINITY being set forth in Him Who sends: in the Light: and in the Truth. The Jews were in the habit of referring the truth to Elijah; the light to the Messiah.

And no doubt there is a reference to the Urim and Thummim by which GOD'S Will was manifested on the stones of the High Priest's breast-plate. And to Thy dwelling. Take the holy hill in what sense you will, there can be no doubt that this dwelling is the "habitation of GOD, the house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens. Therefore, the Incarnation: therefore that holy hill up which the LORD bare the Cross: therefore also that holy hill the Church Militant; all to this one end: that Calvary might end in Mount Salem, that the Church of warfare might lead to the Church of peace!

4 And that I may go unto the altar of GOD, even unto the GOD of my joy and gladness: and upon the harp will I give thanks unto thee, O GOD, my GOD. Never, surely, more glorious and comforting verse than this. To see the Man of Sorrows,—now His warfare almost accomplished,—now the sin He bare for us almost pardoned,—approaching to the Great Altar of the Evening Sacrifice of the world. And yet, drawing near to offer Himself to the FATHER, that FATHER is the GOD of His joy and gladness. O glorious example for His servants in all their sufferings! See to it, Christian, that when thou art called to offer a sacrifice to GOD, He is the fountain of gladness. See to it that thou draw nigh, not with fear, not reluctantly, nay, not even acquiescingly,—but rejoicing that thou hast it in thy power thus to sacrifice to Him Who sacrificed Himself for thee. See to it that thou count nothing of any further worth than as

S. Athanas. ad Serapion. S. Cyril lib. i. in S. Joan. it may so be made the matter of sacrifice; and say with Him, the Priest and Victim, as thou drawest near the time of thy trial,—"I have a Baptism to be baptized with: and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" This is well chosen as the introit to the altar of the Latin Church, though the Vulgate translation be different: "And I will enter in to the altar of God, to the God, Who giveth joy to my youth." That, albeit not the correct sense of the Hebrew, is not the less appropriate in our dear LORD's mouth; seeing that it was in the very prime and best estate of human youth, that He thus drew near to His altar. Or, taking the words in another sense,—here our youth is indeed rejoiced and gladdened, because at that altar of the Cross, we put off the old man, corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and put on the new man, renewed in knowledge after the Image of Him That created him. Others again take this altar of the golden altar on which the prayers of the saints are offered; so that we do really and truly draw nigh that altar whenever we approach God in prayer. Or, as the Carthusian takes it, so may we,—of the Blessed Eucharist. That I may go unto the altar of God; yes, but that is the least part of our service; wherefore, not stopping at the altar, he continues, even unto the God Whose Flesh and Blood are there really and truly eaten and drunk. And notice the parallelism of the two passages: even unto the God that rejoiceth my youth, and that other Psalm: "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things," (and what are they but the food of angels?) "making thee young and lusty as an eagle."

And upon the harp will I give thanks unto Thee. I have said before why on the harp. The harp gives forth no sound till it is struck by the hand; and the only praise which God cares for is that which comes from the deeds, which satisfieth His goodness not only by the lip, but also in the life. And how in another sense the harp sets forth the peculiar offering of martyrdom, we have already seen in Vol. I. p. 460. 5 Why art thou so heavy, O my soul: and why art thou so disquieted within me? 6 O put thy trust in God: for I will yet give Him thanks, which is the help of my countenance, and my God. The third time, in this, and the preceding Psalm, in which we have these verses. They see in this, a dependence on each Person of the Ever Blessed TRINITY for and against our enemies; or, as others, we may see in the triple repetition,—the Thanksgiving for Creation, for Redemption, and for Glory. And Cassiodorus dwells at great length on the consideration: how precious, in the sight of God, must be the virtue of Christian joy,—when S. Paul twice,—"Rejoice in the LORD always, and again I say, rejoice,"—and David, as here, thrice commends it to us.

And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, Who sends out His Light and His Truth; and to the SON, the GOD of our strength: and to the HOLY GHOST, which is the help of our countenance, and our GOD; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.Almighty GOD, fountain of perpetual light, we pray Thee Ludolph. that, sending forth Thy truth into our hearts, Thou wouldst lighten us with the new effulgence of Thy eternal light. Through. (1.) O LORD, Only-Begotten SON of the FATHER, Who didst Mozarabic. by Thy Passion judge betwixt Thy servants and the ungodly Passiontide. people, defend us, we beseech Thee, by the virtue of the same Passion from the power of the enemy: that Thou alone mayest receive the praises of Thy Church, Who alone didst pay the price of our Redemption. Amen. Through Thy mercy. (11.) Grant, O LORD, we beseech Thee, that we may be illuminated by Thee the Light, directed by Thee the Way, corrected by Thee the Truth, quickened by Thee the Life. Who livest. (5.)

TITLE.—Vulgate: In finem; Filiis Core ad intellectum. Bible Version: To the Chief Musician for the Sons of Korah, Maschil. Rather: To the Supreme. An instructive of the Sons of Korah. This is evidently one of the Psalms which owe their origin to the period of the captivity; and the first of such which has come before us. VEN. BEDE. The sons of Core, as is aforesaid, are the sons of the Cross, martyrs or confessors, who in this Psalm complain to the LORD that the ancient saints most easily triumphed over their enemies, but that their own way to victory lies through the grievous tortures of martyrdom. And it is well added, for understanding; because we need a very deep understanding, if we would comprehend the dispensations of the One and Selfsame Creator, whereby the then rude peoples were, by earthly rewards, stirred up to embrace the faith; who also received the land of Canaan for possession; and whereby also, now that faith hath increased, and the gate of the heavenly kingdom opened to all, the soldiers of CHRIST are to approve themselves in a harder fight, lest we should be willing to loiter along our earthly journey, and should with greater carelessness seek after those celestial rewards.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That we are freed by the virtue of CHRIST, and not by our own arm. The Prophet expresseth repentance for all the people of Judah. This Psalm is to be read with the Epistle of Paul to the Romans. The Prophet speaketh to the LORD concerning His works. The voice of the whole Church, asking for Divine help in persecution. For public confession of martyrdom. VEN. BEDE. Whether we here have the words of martyrs or confessors: in the first part they affirm that they have heard how their fathers were victors over many nations, but that they are given over to be the prey of their enemies' revenge. In the next, they number up the various sufferings which they endure in this present world, and that through them all they remain mindful of GOD. In the third, they ask for help; that, grievously afflicted as they are, they may be assisted in the time of the Resurrection: Up, Lord; why sleepest Thou?

SYRIAC PSALTER. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah, which the people, together with Moses, sang in Horeb. Furthermore, a supplication of the Prophets, David and others. But to us, a hymn of victory against them that attack us.

Various Uses.Ambrosian. Thursday of the First Week. I. Nocturn.

Antiphons.Gregorian. My heart is inditing * of a good matter. Monastic (Septuagesima). My heart is inditing of a good matter. Ambrosian. My soul longeth after Thee, O GOD. Kyr. Kyr. Kyr. 1 We have heard with our ears, O GOD, our fathers have told us: what thou hast done in their time of old; With our ears. But what is the use of the phrase? Can we ever hear in any other way? There is a deep meaning here. Unless GOD so purges our ears, that they are capable of imbibing the lesson He would teach, the tales of past deliver- Probably the reference is to Rom. v. 25—29. The LXX. and the Roman here insert καί, which is neither in the Hebrew, nor in the Vulgate.

ance may be repeated over and over again, without making any impression on our hearts. "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." "By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand." We hear of their deliverances, and doubt of our own; we see how God's Right Hand was then stretched out to save, and think it is shortened now. Cardinal Hugo notices from this text three necessary requirements for learning well:—1. Intention and attention in him who learns: (we have heard with our ears.) 2. Authority in him that teaches: (our fathers have told us.) 3. Love between the teacher and the taught: (our fathers.) What thou hast done: or, more correctly, The work that Thou hast done. Why only work in the singular, when such innumerable deliverances had been wrought by Him, from the passage of the Red Sea to the destruction of the hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians? Because all these were but types of that one great work, that one stretching forth of the Lord's Hand, when Satan was vanquished, death destroyed, the kingdom of heaven opened to all believers. I like this better than the explanation of the Carmelite, who sees, in the opening verses of this Psalm, the five great benefits wrought by God for the race of man.

This verse formed a part of some editions of the Sarum Litany, as it does of the present English Litany. 2 How thou hast driven out the heathen with thy hand, and planted them in: how thou hast destroyed the nations, and cast them out. That Hand, then nailed to the Cross for us and for our salvation, nevertheless even then was beginning to burst the bands by which the Prince of the powers of this world lorded it over the whole earth. Manus clavis perforatas, Et cruore purpuratas, Cordi premo præ amore, Sitibundo bibens ore Cruoris stillicidium. These are the Hands with which that patient dresser of the vineyard planted the Gentile Church on a very fruitful hill; the hands with which, bleeding and torn from their combat, He plucked up the briars and thorns that would have occupied their place, and planted them in. Take the two clauses, if you will, as referring to the type and the antitype; the first of the Jewish Church, the second of the Church of the Gentiles. Hence they dwell on the seven Canaanitish nations as types of the seven deadly sins:

The Canaanite . . . Avarice. Amorite . . . Luxury. Hittite . . . Sloth. Perizzite . . Pride. --- --- Hivite . . . Envy. Jebusite . . Ignorance. Girgashite . . Gluttony. 3 For they gat not the land in possession through their own sword : neither was it their own arm that helped them ; 4 But thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance : because thou hadst a favour unto them. It was probably with reference to this verse that Achior, in his speech to Holofernes, is made, in the Vulgate, to say, "Everywhere they entered in without arrow and bow, and without shield and sword ; for their God did fight for them, and overcame." And in this sense, too, S. Paul says, "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal." And perhaps also, with reference to this : "Blessed are the meek ; for they shall inherit the earth :" that is, the Land of the Living.

By their own sword. And so one of their most miraculous deliverances was that when the watchword of the three hundred was, "The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon!" The land. Take it, as we have already done, of the Land of the Living, if you will ; take it also of the land, this little territory of the body which we have to hold in subjugation, and too often utterly to re-conquer, for God. Thy Right Hand, and Thine Arm, and the Light of Thy Countenance. Some, but not perhaps very appropriately, see here a reference to the Blessed TRINITY ; others, the three principal offices of our LORD, as Consoler, Strengthener, Illuminator. Light of Thy Countenance. We may take it either of that clear bright Light which He is to the souls of His people, "Thy Word is a light to my paths,"—and again, in that loveliest of metaphors, "And He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds ; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain :" or it may be applied to that terrible glory by which the LORD's enemies have so often been dismayed and overwhelmed ; and which we considered at length in the 18th Psalm. And so Apollinarius seems to have taken it here :

Because Thou hadst a favour unto them. It is exactly the same phrase that was uttered at our LORD's Baptism : "In Him I am well pleased." Because in Him, therefore in them : "for Thy servant David's sake, turn not away the presence of Thine Anointed." And this εὐδοκία it was which formed the subject of that first anthem of the Angels; εὐδοκία, as the last MS. research seems to prove, manifested in, rather than to, men. 5 Thou art my King, O God : send help unto Jacob.

What help? The later commentators, such as Lorinus, here tell us that S. Augustine is to be "cautiously read," because he refers the entire fulness and consummation of that hope to the period following the Resurrection. We, perhaps, may be forgiven for believing, with those older doctors, that the Beatific Vision (except in the case of martyrs) will not be the portion even of saints, much more of the rest of God's elect, till death has been entirely swallowed up in victory; and then that the glorious completion of help will be of a verity sent unto Jacob, when all his tribes shall be gathered in, all his warfare accomplished, all his iniquity pardoned. Thou art my King, O God. The LXX. and the Vulgate, (but not the Hebrew,) Thou art my King and my God. But, as they ask, who can say this of a truth? Who has thus taken for his king Him That was crowned with thorns, Whose sceptre was a reed, Who reigned from the Tree? Who so poor of spirit as to choose the poor Monarch? Who so renunciant of the world, as to choose the Sovereign That had not where to lay His Head? And yet, Send help unto Jacob. Jacob, His true people, in that, as a Prince, they have power with Him, and prevail: in that they supplant the world, the flesh, and the devil. And notice, Jacob needs help: the supplanter cannot carry on his long and wearisome struggle without the assistance of his LORD:

Israel, he that sees God, needs no help, warfare being at an end, danger impossible, temptation a thing of the past. Send help. In the Vulgate it is, salvations. And S. Ambrose takes occasion to say how, not this or that help, this or that deliverance, we owe to the God of our salvation; but all help, all mercy, all loving kindness: according to that saying of the Apostle, "And the LORD shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me to His heavenly kingdom. S. Albert asks by what authority can man call God his King, when He is rather the King of Angels?—when those blessed spirits might say, with the men of Israel in old time, "We have ten parts in the King, and we also have more right in David than ye. And he answers, "Because it is written, 'Verily, He took not on Him the nature of Angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham.'" And there is another sense to be elicited from the plural, salvations. Esau had but one

I refer to the Codex Sinaiticus, which, by giving ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκία, seems to make it certain that this reading, followed by the Vulgate, is the true one. blessing, and that the earthly and the (in itself) worthless one; plenty of corn and wine, richness of the earth, abundance of dew. Jacob had this; but he had the other and better blessing, the heavenly blessing, also: so that the qui mandas salutes Jacob is emphatically true. 6 Through thee will we overthrow our enemies: and in thy Name we will tread them under, that rise up against us. A. S. Ambrose. S. Hieronym. Ricard. Victor. L. 1 Kings xxii. 11. Zech. i. 19. Overthrow scarcely gives the force of the Hebrew. Rebut comes nearest to it: the metaphor being taken from the battles of horned animals. So in the LXX.: ἐν σοὶ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἡμῶν κερατιοῦμεν: in the Gallican, ventilabimus cornu: in the Roman, ventilabimus only. Arietare would be, perhaps, the nearest Latin expression; and its force is dwelt on by most of the commentators. They take these horns of Him Who was indeed, like the bullock of old times, our Sacrifice; or of the unicorn, to whom our mighty Deliverer is so often likened. Or again, they see in the horns themselves, with which we are to push, the arms of the Cross; and so Tertullian and S. Cyprian. Not like those lying horns made by the false prophet Zedekiah, with the message, "Thus saith the LORD: With these shalt thou push the Assyrians, until thou have consumed them:" nor yet like those four horns seen by Zechariah, of which the Prophet was told, "These be the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem:" nor, again, like those of which Amos upbraids the possessors, "Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought; which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?"

And in Thy Name. How, over and over again, does that Name of all glory come before us! Surely, as with S. Bernard, so with David: "Whatever I read, it is unsavoury, except I there find that Title; it is insipid, unless it be savoured with that Name!" And here, more, S. Cyril will have us remember God's declaration to Pharaoh, one of those that did indeed "rise up against us:" "In very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, that My Name may be declared throughout all the earth." To return again to the horn: they lay a great stress on the kind of horn—the oneness of it—"My horn is exalted as the unicorn's:" that one Horn of our strength, that one Name under heaven given S. Albert's mystical interpretation of the Horns, by far too long to be here quoted, is an admirable example of the use to which the fancies of mediæval natural histories were symbol-

ised; each particular in the horn of an animal, as given by them, being parallelised with some characteristic of the Horn of our salvation. among men, whereby they may be saved. And no doubt it was in great measure from this text that those early em- perors carried the P on their standards. Christus purpureum gemmanti textus in auro Signabat Labarum. That rise up against us. In nos it is in almost all the Fathers, and so in the Roman; but in the Gallican version we have in nobis, which the other commentators, if they mention it at all, mention it to blame. But deep S. Thomas observes, "Most truly said; for what injury could our spiritual enemies do us, unless they could rise up in us as well as against us? 'The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me:' but in us, or against us, or both, in His Name we shall tread them under, Who subdued them in His own strength."

7 For I will not trust in my bow: it is not my sword that shall help me; "Lay the stress," says S. Ambrose, "on the my; for there is a bow in which must be all our salvation and all our desire." That Bow set in the clouds of tribulation; that Bow given by the promise of the LORD, in Whom the seven graces of the HOLY GHOST reside fully; that Bow which we, as faithful watergalls, are to imitate. And this was the favourite lesson of the wonder-working ascetics of the desert,— "Holy Macarius and great Antony," that none can obtain a victory who knows not that he cannot obtain it. O glorious Christian paradox! foolishness to them that are beginning the race, but of what perfect comfort to those that have nearly attained the goal? Or, in another sense: the bow, which sends to, and smites at, a distance, is prayer. And still the emphasis is on my. Not in my prayers, as mine, but as presented with the much incense by the Angel; yea, rather, as made His own by the LORD of the Angels. And hence it is well said, "Also he bade them teach the children of Israel the use of the bow;" which, indeed, we have need to learn by diligent use, if ever we seek to prevail by it. And there is no more striking exhortation to the employment of this bow than the fourth sermon of S. Macarius. Well did those ancient ascetics of the desert know how to send up their prayers to the GOD That heareth

2 Sam. i. 18. I must ask the reader to remember (as this expression so often occurs) that by the Gallican Version I mean that which is now the authentic translation of the Roman Church, except only in S. John Lateran: by the Roman, that former version, about which see the first volume of this Commentary, p. 75. prayer, and mightily did they succeed in their petitions. My sword. They take it of good works, the fittest weapon wherewith to fight against Satan; and yet it is not my sword that shall help me neither, because "of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things." 8 But it is thou that savest us from our enemies: and puttest them to confusion that hate us. This and the preceding verse are, in the Vulgate, in the past. Savest us: and how? In three ways, says the Carmelite. First, by penitence from our sins; as it is written, "In His days Judah shall be saved;" but Judah is, by interpretation, Confession. Secondly, the innocent shall be saved by the purity of his actions. The patient shall be saved by long-suffering in tribulation. But they all—knowing how much yet remains before our salvation shall be complete—with one accord take the past or present of the future. So S. Augustine: "Da prophetam cui non tantum certum sit præteritum sed futurum: et quemadmodum tibi quod meministi factum non potest fieri ut non sit factum: sic ille quod novit futurum, non potest fieri ut non fiat."

9 We make our boast of God all day long: and will praise thy Name for ever. We shall be praised is the Vulgate, unless, indeed, the laudabimur is a mere deponent. The LXX. have ἐπαινεθησόμεθα· answering fairly enough to of the Hebrew. We will glory is perhaps the nearest expression. But that is a beautiful sense which takes the passive meaning, as Apollinarius does: That He Who gives the power will give the reward; He Who bestows the grace will guerdon that grace with glory; that He Who conquers in us will crown in us that victory which He has bestowed. We make our boast of God. As it is written in the Prophet, "Let not the rich man glory in his riches; let not the mighty man glory in his might:" exactly that which David over and over tells us, "Hold not Thy tongue, O God of my praise:" "The LORD is my strength and my song." And will praise Thy Name for ever.

Ave Nomen' dulce JESUS! Tu de monte Lapis cæsus, Et vitalis mentis esus, Ad te clamet homo læsus. 1 "Edidit hoc carmen quidam monachus Griseorum, Ad laudem Domini JESU, studiumque bonorum." Ave Nomen admirandum, Orbe toto prædicandum, JESU dulcis ad narrandum, Nos accendas ad amandum. Ave, dives tu diei! Adsis mihi, Fili Dei: Ne me vincant Amorrhæi Recordare, JESU, mei! 10 But now thou art far off, and puttest us to confusion : and goest not forth with our armies. 11 Thou makest us to turn our backs upon our enemies : so that they which hate us spoil our goods. But now. This, then, is that season, in which, as S. Peter says, "if need be," we must be in heaviness through manifold temptation. And, remembering this, it is pleasant to translate that and now, as some do by although. True, we have these troubles, but we know them to be the only way to rest; true, for awhile we suffer, but, "if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him."

1 S. Pet. i. 6. Aquila has kai'rep : S. Chrysostom reads, kai'ye. 12 Thou lettest us be eaten up like sheep : and hast scattered us among the heathen. This is the first time that the word sheep, in a metaphorical meaning, afterwards so favourite a metaphor, occurs in the Psalms : we may as well therefore, in this place, hear the mystical reasons which Cardinal Hugo gives for the selection of that animal as the type of God's people. Fœta bidens : dormit vestita : lupum timet : imbres Carne juvat ; pelle ; vellere ; lacte ; fimo. Cernit humum balans : edit herbas : hostia : velox Pastorem sequitur : in grege sola dolet. Ruminat : innocuo cornu : pede, vertice duro : Tonsa tacet : maculat morbida peste gregem. As sheep of slaughter. That is, they explain, because devoured by the roaring lion that goeth about ; and, so devoured by him, turning into a part of his substance, and increasing his strength. Or, in another sense, martyrs thus destroyed by their enemies became to them the means of eternal life ; and most truly of all, the Lamb, the Lamb of God, in the same night in which He was accounted to be slain did indeed in truth give His Flesh to be the life of the world. That which His people do only mystically, and in a far off type, He does really and substantially, and in no figure of speech. And scattered us among the heathen. Manifestly the Psalm

A. was written at a very late period of the Jewish history:—and how marvellously it applies to the young Christian Church. Thou lettest us be eaten up like sheep: "They stoned Stephen, calling upon God:" and scatterest us among the heathen. "Now they that were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice," &c. (whence the Gospel preached to the Gentiles.) Thou lettest us. The scriptural S. Albert will have us remember, that, unless God permitted, the enemy could have no advantage. "Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? Did not the LORD, He against whom we have sinned?" And again: "Shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?" Eaten up like sheep. And notice: those sheep are only fit to be eaten, that are barren. So they only are permitted to fall a prey to the spiritual Lion, who bring forth no good works. S. Albert also curiously enough compares the being scattered among the heathen like sheep with that

passage in the Hebrews, "They wandered about in sheep skins and goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented; of whom the world was not worthy." 13 Thou sellest thy people for nought: and takest no money for them. The Hebrew is quite plain; but a various reading of the LXX. has given rise to a considerable discrepancy of interpretation, and a beautiful variety of meaning. There can be no doubt that the original Greek was—καὶ οὐκ ἦν πλῆθος ἐν τοῖς ἀλλάγμασιν αὐτῶν there was no multitude,—was no advantage or enrichment, in their commutations,—in the sale or barter of God's people. But through the carelessness of some transcriber, ἀλλάγμασιν became ἀλαλάγμασιν—there was no multitude nor quantity of their exultations: that is, the Church was plunged into grief which allowed no triumphal strain. S. Augustine therefore reads: et non fuit multitudo in exultationibus eorum; all the others, in commutationibus eorum; except the Ambrosian which has in commutationibus nostris. The Greek Church (using the word in its peculiar signification) agrees with the Western, in reading ἀλλάγμασι, but the Slavonic, curiously enough, follows the other reading. This is also alluded to by the Master of the Sentences,—S. Cyril, Euthymius, S. Nicephorus, S. Alcuin.

For nought: that is, for no earthly price;—no sum that a worldling can understand. That which the Martyr sells himself for,—or is sold by his LORD for, is what? Truly, "an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away"—but it is reserved. Truly an habitation in that City whose gates are of twelve several pearls, and whose streets But not the Roman, as Lorinus says: that agrees with the Gallican. of pure gold like transparent glass; but then it is invisible to human eyes. Cœlestis Patriæ mens inhians bonis Mundi spernit opes, fluxaque gaudia: Vitæ quin etiam, præ Domini lucro Jacturam facilem putat. The hymn Christi Martyribus. Thou sellest Thy people for nought. So it seemed then; and now, we take up those glorious words of the Eastern Church: But it is pleasanter still to raise one's eyes to the martyrs, and see how the LORD sold them—how He gave them to the horrible agonies, the miserable shame, the prolonged tortures of the arena, for nothing less than the unspeakable glory which they have thereby won.

Mundus pulcher ne placeret Deus traxit pulchrior: Egit, mundus ne terreret, Deus terribilior. O totius cœli luce Dignum certe prælium! Cogitatâ Christi Cruce Dulce fit Martyrium. 14 Thou makest us to be rebuked of our neighbours: to be laughed to scorn, and had in derision of them that are round about us. 15 Thou makest us to be a by-word among the heathen: and that the people shake their heads at us. We have spoken of the martyrs: let us turn our eyes to the Martyr of martyrs on Calvary. Rebuked indeed! In S. Ambros. the first and chief place, "Thy rebuke hath broken His heart;" but rebuked of His neighbours also. His neighbours E 1 S. Pet. i. 18. Deut. xxviii. 36, 37; xxix. 24; 1 Kings ix. 7; 2 Chron. vii. 20; Joh xvii. 6; Jer. xxiv. 9; Ezek. xiv. 8; Numb. v. 25, 27.

in place: "the thieves also that were crucified with Him, cast the same in His teeth." His neighbours, in that "verily He took not on Him the nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham;" and the cry was, "Let CHRIST, the King of Israel, come down now from the Cross, that we may see and believe!" And therefore, rightly afterwards were the Jews rebuked of—deserted for—passed over in exchange for—the Gentiles—as it is written: "Seeing ye . . . judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." And thou, O Christian, disquiet thyself not when herein thou art called to drink of thy LORD's cup. "If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; and in like manner, If they have derided Me, they will also deride you." A by-word. Marvellously said: first Christian, then Nazarene, and now Saint. In the LXX. and the Vulgate it is yet more: in similitudinem, eis παραβολήν. And they tell us truly how, as the proverbs of the True Solomon are verily "to know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding," so the devil's proverbs are plentiful, and (in their way) sparkling with a kind of earthly wisdom, fit to captivate the simple believer: to be a proverb or similitude:—that is, when we have suffered in GOD's cause, that Satan or the world should pervert our sufferings to our ruin; or, miserably worse, when we, professedly GOD's servants, have fallen deeply, and thereby brought dishonour on our Master and on our side,—is always spoken of in Scripture as the greatest of evils. And especially, as the Saints particularly warn us, no worse parable or proverb can the servants of GOD be made to His enemies, than by their intestine quarrels. Nestor speaks truly:—

Verily, great is the woe that shall fall on the land of Achaia; Verily, Priam himself shall rejoice, and the children of Priam; While on the Trojan army shall rest the gladness of spirit, When they shall hear that ye, who are first in the war of Achaians, First in their counsels of peace, thus strive and wrangle together. Our neighbours. I think that the Hebrew gives a truer picture of the war in which we are engaged. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." These truly may be, and are, our neighbours; but they are more than that: we are made a reproach to our INVADERS: those who are continually pressing forward us,—trying to get more than they have,—taking the ell for the inch. So in another Psalm, , to our invaders, again.

16 My confusion is daily before me: and the shame of my face hath covered me; 17 For the voice of the slanderer and blasphemer: for the enemy and avenger.

And now it is no longer the Church, but the Head of the Church, Who speaks. Daily: for those long periods of shame and misery on the Cross formed an age, to be reckoned by a long succession of days. My confusion: that out of the twelve, My elect band, My chosen warriors, the men of My countenance, the men whom I had strengthened, comforted, warned,—in whose mouths had been but a few hours ago, "Though all men, yet not I,"—they have all forsaken Me at the first struggle. So the Saints who followed the Passion represent the LORD of the Passion. And notice this: My confusion is before Me. So it must have been, when those that ought to have been His most valiant soldiers, so foully fell away; and the shame of My face hath covered Me, when all but one of them kept away. "Woe, that the Face," cries out the Eastern Church, "the Joy of the Angels, the Glory of the Blessed, should thus be marred and disfigured by the sins of the daughter of my people! O JESUS, my JESUS, O perishing One for the perishing, O shamed One for the shamed, O Head degloried that I may henceforth be glorified, what sacrifice of love have I to offer?—what vessels can I prepare for my Joseph:

my Joseph, Whom an evil beast hath devoured,—my Joseph, That without doubt is rent in pieces?—but yet Whose shame shall be rolled away, Whose glory shall return to His Countenance, when it shall be proclaimed by the Voice of the Archangel and the rending of the rocks, 'Joseph is yet alive, and is governor over all the land!'" Or, taking it in another sense, "O glorious shame," says S. Ambrose, "which is for CHRIST's sake! O miserable shame, which is against Him! Glorious shame, if the law be that, in thee, CHRIST be scourged, be fettered, be imprisoned, be brought before the magistrate! Wretched and forlorn shame if then thou say, with Pharaoh, 'I know not the LORD,'—with Peter, 'I know not this man of whom ye speak.'" From the voice. And S. Thomas most appositely compares the most subtle device of the arch persecutor Maximin, when gathering together those miserable women, the greatest and most notorious sinners in every principal city, he made them add to all their iniquities this abominable rest,—that the followers of CHRIST had been the most guilty, the most abandoned, of their followers in sin. Gerhohus,—let us imagine that his commentary on the more immediately preceding Psalms was written in the time of some deep trouble,—has now of a long season said nothing worthy of himself. Let us attend to him here, where he developes that which I just now quoted from S. Ambrose:— "But note, that there are two kinds of confusion; whence

1 Where I quote this beautiful writer, I do so from the edition of Gabriel de Leon, Madrid, 1676. Luiz de Granada, I. Triodion; Tuesday in the Great Week.

the Wise Man saith, 'There is a shame which bringeth sin, and there is a shame which is glory and grace.' Shame is sinful when we are ashamed of things in which there is no shame: for example, the humble ministration to our brethren in their necessities, the washing their feet, or when we are ashamed to have that sin animadverted on in the presence of men, when we have not been ashamed to contract the vile guilt of its commission in the Presence of GOD. But shame then brings glory, when we so blush in the Presence of GOD for our sins, that we are in no wise confounded regarding the fact of their purgation; as Mary, who blushed not at the guests, when, to the end that she might be washed by the LORD, she washed His feet with her tears: that she might be cleansed, she cleansed; that she might be anointed, she anointed; and endured the ridicule and exprobation of the Pharisee and his companions, not without a certain confusion. But this confusion won for her great glory; for her many sins were remitted to her, with all their true shame, because she so dearly loved as to undertake that humble ministry of washing in the presence of the guests. . . . But this humble ministry raised her to a lofty and glorious one, since afterwards it is written that she anointed His head with very precious ointment of spikenard. What more glorious than this?

The Baptist, though sanctified from the womb, dared not to touch the holy Head of GOD, save at the LORD's express command. But this woman, uncommanded, not in presumption, but in love and a good conscience, anointed a Head venerable to the Angels themselves. Great is the glory to have ascended from the Feet to the Head of CHRIST, whether any one, through belief in His true Humanity, rises to the cognition of His true Divinity, or by ministering through almsdeeds to His least ones on earth, is raised to the altitude of His super-celestial Godhead."

18 And though all this be come upon us, yet do we not forget thee: nor behave ourselves frowardly in thy covenant. 19 Our heart is not turned back: neither our steps gone out of thy way; Notice how here the tenets, as so often, of this great theologian would have been called Rigorist in the age which was occupied in endeavouring to reconcile the love of GOD with the pursuit of the world. Gerhohus is no doubt remembering the beautiful English hymn:— Pium fudit flos liquorem; In ipsum resloruit: 20 No, not when thou hast smitten us into the place of dragons : and covered us with the shadow of death. And as they well observe, we here have the fourfold use of affliction. 1. Humiliation—Thou hast humbled us in the place of dragons; 2. Remembrance of GOD—if we have forgotten; 3. Hatred of sin—Shall not God search it out? 4. Self-mortification—And are counted as mortified sheep. Into the place of dragons. And according to our translation, that is dangerous enough; but tenfold dangerous as most of the medieval commentators have taken it, Into the place of syrens. For if it be perilous to be attacked by open and malicious enemies, it is a thousand times more dangerous to be lulled into security, or enticed to sins of sloth and pleasure by those friends of which the syrens were only the too true type. This is what Bernard of Cluny means when he says,

The miserable pleasures Of the body shall decay; The bland and flattering struggles Of the flesh shall pass away. And so they quote that verse in Isaiah, "And owls shall dwell there, and syrens shall dance there." And again in Micah, "I will make a wailing like the syrens, and mourning as the owls." Then from this same verse S. Ambrose draws well the contrast between the human nature of our LORD and our own: how His Body was not a body of death, but of life; how, so far from casting the shadow of death, it was resplendent with the glory of true existence; that its afflictions brought our consolation, its humiliation our exaltation: nay, and further, that, as the face of Moses drew a certain effulgence of glory from the full blaze of the Divine Majesty, so our flesh, dark, weak, and sinful in itself, has, from its contact with, or rather co-incorporation into, our LORD's human nature, received the seeds in the present life of that which will, in the life to come, be its perfect and eternal glorification.

Micah i. 8. 21 If we have forgotten the Name of our GOD, and holden up our hands to any strange god : shall not GOD search it out? for he knoweth the very secrets of the heart. 22 For thy sake also are we killed all the day long : and are counted as sheep appointed to be slain.

Whence observe that adversity causes us to remember GOD. And they make a very ingenious remark on the so frequent negative use of the word if, as here : that he who once begins to parley with temptation, to question IF he shall follow God's will or his own, to ask IF he shall tread in our LORD's steps or in the path of his private fancy, is as good as lost. And holden up our hands—or, as it is in the Septuagint and the Vulgate, stretched forth our hands. How can we, they ask, stretch forth our hands to any one save to Him Who stretched forth His hands for us on the Cross? The very fact of stretching forth the hands shows the profession. It is the Cross that makes the Christian. If we have forgotten the Name of our God. There is a passage of such rare beauty in Ayguan on this subject, that—though over and over again I have had occasion to speak of this Blessed Name, and God forbid it should ever be otherwise—I cannot refrain from quoting it here:—"Next, as Peter of Ravenna says, this is the Name which gives hearing to the deaf, power of walking to the lame, speech to the dumb, life to the dead, and which chases the whole power of the devil from those whom he has possessed: whence this Name appears to be that theriae, of which the physician Avicenna says that it is the most sublime of all medicines, and is serviceable in the most desperate cases.

He adds, that those who employ it in the hour of their health can be hurt by no poison, and are subject to no plague. And true it is that this Name of JESUS avails not only to expel present, but to repel future ills: whence Bernard saith, 'Thou hast an electuary, O my soul, enshrined in the vessel of this Name, efficacious against all pestilence.' And therefore it is written in the 4th of the Acts, 'For there is none other Name under heaven.' Then, too, this Name is our comfort. S. Isidore says that the wild olive is a tree bitter, unfruitful, and uncultivated; in which, however, if a branch of the true olive be inserted, it changes the very nature of the tree, and converts it to its own likeness. So also that unfruitful olive of sinful human nature, which may well be called bitter, seeing that it goes softly all its years in the bitterness of its soul; seeing also that, as Jeremiah saith, 'It is an evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy GOD.' Into that sad and bitter tree, I say, let the sprig of olive be inserted, which the dove bare back in her mouth at evening. And what is that sprig but the NAME of JESUS? This is the proper nature of that branch, whence saith Richard of S. Victor, 'JESUS, O Name of sweetness, O Name of delectation, O Name of comfort to the soul, O Name of most blessed hope.

Therefore, O JESUS, be Thou my JESUS!'" The secrets of the heart. S. Ambrose will rather have it from the version of Aquila, the visions of the heart. He would say that GOD sees and pays attention to the passing fancies,—the castle-buildings as we should now speak,—which occupy so much time and so many hearts. Shall not God search it out? Not, as it is very well said,

The Roman agrees with the Gallican translation, in sense, if not in letter; the former having it occulta, the latter abscondita cordis. that He may Himself learn, but that He may teach us: not that He Who foresaw every secret or vision of our heart from eternity, has occasion to be informed of it now, but that we, remembering the Eye that is always upon us, "may live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world." And are counted as sheep appointed to be slain. Or, as the hymn tells us— Cæduntur gladiis more bidentium: Non murmur resonat, non querimonia; Sed corde tacito mens bene conscia Conservat patientiam. And they take the metaphor of sheep to signify the fruitfulness of the sufferings of the martyrs, according to that proverb, so dear to primitive times. Or others understand the metaphor of the utter helplessness of the sheep, having neither arms of offence nor defence. And lastly, from these sheep appointed to the slaughter, who would not raise his eyes to the LAMB of GOD That taketh away the sins of the world?

23 Up, Lord, why sleepest thou: awake, and be not absent from us for ever. 24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face: and forgettest our misery and trouble? Shall we take it of the voice of the Apostles during the time that their dear LORD was sleeping in the grave? or (as others) of the martyrs pleading as S. John heard them; "How long, O LORD, holy and just, dost Thou not avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" They do not fail to notice the sleep of many of GOD's saints, taking it in connection with that verse, "I sleep, but my heart waketh," that is, waketh to, and trusteth in, GOD. So Jacob, when he fled from his brother; so Elijah, when he escaped from Jezebel; so Jonah, while the idolaters were in terror; so Peter, in the prison; so Adam, while yet innocent; so Abraham, before one of his most remarkable visions. And they may well compare this apparent sleep of our LORD (actual, on the lake of Galilee; metaphorical, as the great historian of the Church applies it to the infamous lives of the successors of S. Peter in the tenth century) with that sleep with which Elijah taunted the worshippers of Baal, "Peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked:" all the more bitter irony, if we believe, as no doubt the truth is, that on other occasions the demon whom they worshipped had enabled his priests to perform the very same miracle which his worshippers were expecting then. Up, Lord, why sleepest Thou? And is it not a reflection on the faith of the Apostles, that David in the darker dispensation should have asked so plain a question, when the two that went to Emmaus could believe no further than this; "We trusted that it had been He Which should

A. Jonah i. 5. S. Ambros. in Heb. xiii. Heb. i. 3. have redeemed Israel;" and even S. Mary Magdalene could only say, "They have taken away my LORD, and I know not where they have laid Him." Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face? S. Ambrose takes this as the complaint of the heathen world before the Advent of our LORD. Wherefore hidest Thou as yet Him Who is the brightness of Thy glory, and the express image of Thy Person? It is the same complaint that we have before now so constantly heard; the sound which, finding its utterance in a Gentile mouth, could say, Adgredere, O magnos, aderit jam tempus, honores, Cara deum soboles, magnum Jovis incrementum! Adspice convexo nutantem pondere mundum; Terrasque tractusque maris cælumque profundum: Adspice, venturo lætantur ut omnia sæclo! 25 For our soul is brought low, even unto the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the ground.

26 Arise, and help us: and deliver us for thy mercy's sake. A. It is not ill-observed by S. Augustine how this expression, Our soul is brought low even unto the dust, is merely an amplification of that verse in the first Psalm, where the wicked "are like the chaff" or dust "that the wind scattereth away from the face of the earth." And so in another Psalm it is written, "Thou shalt bring me into the dust of death." So, take it in which sense you will, with reference to the wicked in this life, or with reference to the corruption of death, they do not fail to see the complaint of our LORD in His Passion. And with respect to the nature of dust, mediæval writers give it us— Aridus, instabilis, sterilis, levis, innumerosus, Sordidus, excæcat, pulices facit, imbre lutum fit. Cleaveth. But the word is a great deal stronger than this: it is almost, as S. Jerome translates it, Is glued to the ground. And so they all, those great masters of spiritual learning, tell us how utterly impossible a thing it is of ourselves to rise from those earthly trammels and desires to which we are thus bound. But yet, from these very words they bid us take comfort; reminding us of Him Who might most truly have used them in the moment of His agony, which agony was, nevertheless, only the beginning of His victory. And that which happened to its Head may, save through their own fault, also befall the members; more especially if they only take in their hearts, as well as on their lips, the prayer which follows in the last verse. Of that verse I have only to observe, that where we read for Thy mercies' sake, the Vulgate and the LXX. give it for Thy Name's sake.

Of that most blessed Name we have spoken so often and so lately, that we will not repeat the same thoughts now. And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, of Whom our fathers have told us what He hath done in their time of old; and to the SON, Who is the King That sends help unto Jacob: and to the HOLY GHOST, Whom we make our boast all the day long; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.Arise, O LORD, and help us, and deliver us from all temptations of Satan; and do Thou, Who in the days of our fathers didst overthrow the machinations of Thine enemies, deliver us by the light of Thy countenance from the snares of the devil. Through our LORD. (1.) O LORD JESUS CHRIST, Whom we confess to be the LORD and King of ages, Who workest salvation in Jacob, and art the sweet contemplation of Israel; implant salvation in our hearts, and so blot out all offence of sin from our conscience, that our spirits may receive Thee, the Light of Truth, and being illumined by Thy splendour, may proceed from strength to strength in Thy faith. Amen. Through Thy mercy. (11.) O GOD our King, Who sendest salvation to Jacob, overthrow, by the majesty of Thy Name, the attacks of every temptation. Make our faith firm, of Thy mercy condescend to our humility; and ever be present in our defence. Amen. Through Thy mercy. (11.)

TITLE.—LXX. and Vulgate: To the end: for them that shall be changed: for the Sons of Core, to understanding. A Song for the Beloved. English Bible; To the Chief Musician upon Shoshannim, Maschil, a Song of Loves. Rather: To the Supreme: for the Hexachord, (or, upon the Lilies,) by the Sons of Korah: an instructive of Loves. No title seems more obscure than this, or has given rise to a greater number of interpretations. How the LXX. ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀλλοιωθησομένων is derived from the Hebrew seems impossible to say. But the mystical interpretation is easy: To the End, the Omega as well as the Alpha, the Last as well as the First: for them that shall be changed, either by the death to sin and the new life to righteousness; or that shall be changed, when this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality: "for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible: AND WE SHALL BE CHANGED." And all this is for the Sons of Core, the sons or followers of the Cross. To understanding; that is, for the interpretation of so great a mystery as that which occurs in the next phrase,—a Song for the Beloved: a Hymn to CHRIST as the Bridegroom, and to the Union, never to be separated, of the Word with our nature.

To the end. As before, Aquila has τῷ νικοποιῷ: as before, our Version inserts the word musician: while we will retain our old version,—To the Supreme. On Shoshannim. Aquila has it, ἐπὶ τοῖς κρίνοις: Symmachus, ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀνθῶν. The lily has this name, as a six-leaved flower: it lingers in the Spanish açucena. I wonder that this was not the favourite mediæval version. In a Psalm that speaks of the glories of the Virgin Church, of the glorious Virgin of Virgins, and of "the Virgins that be her fellows," the allusion to the lilies among whom the Lamb feedeth would have been so exquisitely beautiful. Tu pascis inter lilia, Septus choreis Virginum; Sponsus decorus gloriæ, Sponsisque reddens præmia. And again: Liliis Sponsus recubat, rosisque Tu, tuo semper bene fida Sponso, Et rosas Martyr, simul et dedisti Lilia Virgo. In hunc Psalm. S. Greg. Nyss. in loc. Vatablus. Nebrensis. Calmet. Dr. Good.

S. Basil connects the breve lilium with the pro iis qui commutabuntur, as if the quickly fading life of man was set forth literally by the one translation, and mystically by the other. He will have the change also taken of the daily renewal for which each member of the Church prays: and S. Gregory Nyssen, expanding his brother's remarks, symbolises this by the petals of the lily, once mere damp, foul mould of the earth, now vying with snow in purity and brilliance. And with reference to this, I may quote those noble words, In carne præter carnem vivere non terrena vita est, sed cœlestis: et si vultis scire, Angelicam gloriam acquirere majus est, quam habere. Esse Angelum, felicitatis est: Virginem esse, virtutis. Still, I think that the hexachord, which is supported by great authorities is, on the whole, the better interpretation, and seems to accord more easily with the titles of Psalms IV. and V.

A Song for the Beloved. Here, for the first time, that dear title of the New Testament is made the heritage of the Church: Rex virtutum, dilecti dilecti: and well may it be so at the commencement of the loveliest description of love that the Old Testament contains,—the Book of Loves being left out of the question.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST, fairer in form than the children of men, joined by GOD the FATHER to the Church, is to be blessed. [The Psalm] must be read to understand Matthew. The Prophet speaketh concerning the Queen of the South. The Voice of the FATHER concerning the SON by the Prophet, setting forth the repentance of His people. The Prophet speaketh concerning CHRIST to the Church. The Church is described as the Bride of CHRIST. VEN. BEDE. The Prophet, replenished with celestial meats, promiseth that he will announce the tidings of the LORD'S Incarnation; that thence, whence he himself was satiate, others also might be fed. The first part of this epithalamium contains the praises of the Bridegroom: that is, of the LORD the SAVIOUR, in four ways. In the first, My heart hath indited a good Word. In the second part, the Bride the Church is praised for a like number of mystic virtues: Hearken, O daughter, and consider.

SYRIAC PSALTER. A Psalm written by the Sons of Korah in the time of Moses. The apparition of CHRIST, and concerning the Church, and of the glorious virtue of the LORD. S. JEROME. The whole Psalm is referred to CHRIST, of Whom the FATHER saith in the Gospel: "This is My Beloved SON, in Whom I am well pleased." Or the Psalm contains the Sacrament of spiritual marriage; that is, the union of CHRIST with the Church: it begins then with the Voice of the FATHER.

Various Uses.Ambrosian. Thursday of the First Week. II. Nocturn. SPECIAL. Little Office of B. V. M. II. Nocturn. Christmas Day. I. Nocturn. Common of Virgins. I. Nocturn. Common of Apostles. I. Nocturn.

Antiphons.Gregorian. Ferial. My heart * is inditing a good matter. Ambrosian. Thy seat, O GOD * is for ever and ever. K. K. K. Little Office of B. V. M. Hail, full of grace * the LORD is with thee: blessed art thou among women. Christmas Day. Full of grace are Thy lips, * because GOD hath blessed Thee for ever. Common of Apostles. Thou shalt make them princes over all lands; they shall remember Thy Name, O LORD. Common of Virgins. According to Thy worship * and re-nown ride on. 1 My heart is inditing of a good matter: I speak of the things that I have made unto the king. So he may well pray, who takes in hand this most marvellous, most mysterious, most burning of all Psalms to interpret. My heart is inditing. Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum. Here, more clearly than ever yet, we have the ineffable Name Lib. ii. cap. 4, and Lib. ii. cap. 7, 11.

S. Cyril. Alex. in Tim. ii. 14. S. Ambros. de benedict. Patre. a De Decret. Conc. Nic. S. Ambros. de Filii Divin. cap. 2. Euseb. de Præp. Evang. vii. 5. S. August. de Gen. Lib. imperf. cap. v. Idiomela for Lauds on Christmas Day. S. Sophron.

of the Logos bestowed by the FATHER on the Only-Begotten SON. O insuperable clause, proof sword of the Church against all heresies on the Incarnation! So Tertullian hews down Marcion and Praxeas: so S. Cyril of Alexandria, his Arian opponent; so S. Ambrose: so again and again and again S. Athanasius fought and conquered. Hence that great saint shows the Wordᵃ to be Only-Begotten; hence Nazianzen demonstrates Himᵇ to be Consubstantial; hence Augustine and Jerome speak at length on the Only FATHER of the Only SON. That the saying is from the FATHER is the teaching of by far the larger part of Ecclesiastical doctors; yet there are not wanting those who assign it to David.ᶜ It is almost impossible to enter into the very strict explanations of the Eructation of the good word, without falling into coarseness that modern taste will not endure. "Confert ruetus externi generatio, quæ necessitate quâdam fit, ad intelligendum quomodo generatio divina sit omnino necessaria et naturalis, et ex fœcunditate divinitatis: et quasi ex plenitudine intra ventrem Patris absque projectione, divisione, sectione, diminutione, aut aliâ quâpiam ejusmodi ratione, cujusmodi cernitur in aliorum viventium generationibus. A good Word indeed: That same Word That spake and it was done; That commanded, and it stood fast: That Word That was in the beginning, and was with GOD, and was GOD: That Word which was preached by the Angel Gabriel in the cottage at Nazareth, and has from that time to this been proclaimed to every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.

I speak of the things I have made unto the King,—or, as the Vulgate,—I tell my works to the King. And so the FATHER tells all the secrets of His own eternity to that King anointed by Him upon the holy hill of Sion; told Him the plan of human redemption; laid out before Him the mystery of death destroyed by death, and the Tree atoned for by the Tree. And do thou in another sense, O Christian, tell thy works also to the King; thy works of sin and misery to the King That suffered for them on the Cross; thy works of weakness, to the King Omnipotent; thy works that have any sweet savour of His grace in them to the King That will unite them with His Own Royal Merits, and plead these merits for thine.

2 My tongue is the pen : of a ready writer.Cont. Arian. Orat. iii.; Orat. iv. Serm. de Deo Deus. Serm. omnia mihi tradita sunt. Epist. ad Marcell. Epist. de sententia S. Dionysii. Epist. de Decret. Conc. Nicen.

And still they refer it to the Divinity of the Son of God. In itself a word may sound and pass; but this good WORD is lasting as the sentence graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever. It is the FATHER, then, Who continues; it is the Son Who is the Tongue by Whom the FATHER speaks to the world,—the enduring Voice, one jot or tittle of which can never pass away. And this is the more ordinary explanation of primitive commentators; and the ready writing of this Divine Pen, they say, pierced three thousand to the heart in one sermon of S. Peter's; in one moment converted Saul the Persecutor into S. Paul the Apostle; writes its laws on the fleshly tables of innumerable hearts, daily and hourly, from East to West, and from pole to pole. But others will have it that David now speaks; he the pen held by God, he the ready writer, to chronicle the glories of the heavenly nuptials to which we are invited to draw near. And S. Augustineᵃ that, just as the tongue, when it speaks, must pass between the two lips, so the prophetic tongue speaks under the guidance of the Two Testaments. They are rich in their references to these two portions of Holy Scripture.

The twoᵇ points of a pen, that form any one letter,—that verse, "The LORD spake once, and these two things we have heard,"—the didrachm found for tribute money in the mouth of the fish,—the two pence given by the good Samaritan to the host,—the rod and the staff of which David tells,—the ladder of Jacob, with its two uprights, and many rundles,—the tongs of Isaiah, which between them held the burning coal of the HOLY GHOST. And again, in the double split of the pen, they see the Divine and Human Natures of our LORD: the ink is the Blood of Calvary; the pen, expressing the meaning of the holder, sets forth Him Who is the Express Image of the FATHER's Person, and renders Him visible to human eyes. Or, if we take the words as said by David of himself, most fully do they stand forth, as the true theory of inspiration, in these days of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy. The human author merely the pen; God the writer. A faultless pen, too, as Albertus says, writing so quickly, so clearly, without blots, without erasures. Yes: let who will talk of the human element in the composition of Scripture, not so did those holy men of God, who spake as they were moved by the HOLY GHOST, teach of themselves.

3 Thou art fairer than the children of men: full of grace are thy lips, because God hath blessed thee for ever. Quia quod lingua dicitur sonat et transit: quod scribitur manet: cum ergo dicat Deus Verbum, et Verbum quod dicitur non sonat et transeat sed dicitur et mancat, scriptis hoc maluit Deus comparare quam sonis. S. August. S. Cyril. Alex. in Isa. cap. 29. Euseb. Demonst. Evangelic. cap. 3. Procopius, præf. in Gen. S. Hieronym. in Esech. cap. xl. Salve Jesu, Candor Lucis, Thronum tenens summi ducis! Qui es passus pœnas crucis, Nobis sis propitius! Salve Jesu, Fons amoris! Qui es totus, intus, foris, Plenus maximi dulcoris Et superni luminis. a Glaphyr. Lib. 9. b Orat. de Hum. suscept. c In 1 Sam. cap. 1. d Serm. 70 in Cant. Serm. 1 de omnibus SS. e In Rev. Lib. i. cap. 10. f In Gen. cap. xxx. g In hunc Psalm.

Yes: in spite of the whole phalanx of Eastern Doctors, take this verse of that dear LORD's external beauty as Man. If with one voice, and basing their opinion on Isaiah's "He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him," S. Cyril of Alexandria, a S. Athanasius, b S. Basil, Hesychius, Euthymius, S. Gregory c Nazianzen, followed by Remigius and Arnobius, deny that the Incarnate WORD possessed human beauty, let us rather follow the more pious opinion of all the great teachers of the West, that of this Son of David also is that saying true, "in all Israel there was none so much to be praised for His beauty: from the sole of His Feet even to the crown of His Head there was no blemish in Him. It is the general tradition of the Church; it is the almost universal representation of the schools of Christian art. S. Bernard, d in many and many a passage of ravishing beauty, tells us of the exquisite glory of our LORD's Humanity. S. Anselm expressly blames a vision of S. Bridget e for denying it. S. Isidore f breaks forth with a rapture of admiration at the earthly glory of the Incarnate WORD: and S. Thomas seems almost to claim such a belief as part g of the Catholic Faith. I pass over the most uncertain authority of the Epistle to Abgarus, and that of Lentulus.

But yet I firmly believe, that a certain type of the Face of our Blessed LORD would not have been so universally received in Eastern, and early Western art, unless it had possessed some real foundation. Every one must be acquainted with the general idea of That Countenance as given in Byzantine icons, and crystallized, if we may so speak, in the West under the name of the Dieu d'Amiens. 2 But, even towards the end of that weary thirty-three years, His Face was so marred more than any man's, that the Jews asked, "Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham? And then, when it had been smitten by the soldiers,—when that Divine Head

1 I say almost, because there was undoubtedly a local school of art, which seems confined to the central South of France, which represented our LORD as deficient not only in Divine Majesty, but in ordinary human grace. See on this subject Didron, Hist. de Dieu, p. 179. How far this view, though undoubtedly held by some Catholics, might not have its origin in the teaching of the Albigenses, is a question far beyond the limits of a Commentary to decide. 2 See the excellent remarks of Viollet le Duc on this subject. Gloss. iii. 245.

had been crowned with thorns,—when it was brought into the dust of death, then was not that prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled: "And when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him? Full of grace are Thy lips. "Thy Lips, O my Spouse, drop as the honeycomb; honey and milk are under Thy Tongue. Blessed Lips indeed, that spake as never man spake; that said to the poor paralytic, "Thy sins are forgiven thee; that comforted the woman taken in adultery with "Neither do I condemn thee; that on the evening of a stormy day again showed to the longing eyes of man the Eden whence he had been banished for four thousand years, saying, "To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise; that by one word made Himself known to her that loved most, "Mary! that first gave a blessing to the little band of Apostles, ere they said aught further, "Peace be unto you! But how full for us of grace, how blessed for us beyond all power of conception, if those lips shall one day, after all our errors, in spite of all our sins, notwithstanding all our wanderings, pronounce to us the Venite, benedicti! Because God hath blessed Thee for ever. They inquire what is the force of the διὰ τοῦτο, the propterea; and there seems an equal difficulty in the because of our English Version. It were better to take it, Verily, God hath blessed Thee. "I have blessed him, yea, and he shall be blessed.

"He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied. Blessed, even in those hours of Agony on the Cross: for then the LORD of Hosts was reigning on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His Ancients gloriously: blessed even when reduced by the Ecce Homo to the lowest condition of earthly misery; for in the precious Blood that then poured from Him the great multitude that no man can number, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, were afterwards to wash their robes, and make them white, even as His own raiment had been white on Mount Tabor. They dispute whether this blessing is spoken of our LORD according to His Divinity or His Humanity. But, though some Greek Fathers apply it to Him as Man, the general voice of the Church takes it of that ab eterno benediction which by right of inheritance pertained to the Co-Eternal Word. And thus David, having in a rapture of holiness unveiled the King of kings as He is in His own eternity, now proceeds to arm Him for His wars on earth, saying:

4 Gird thee with thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou most Mighty: according to thy worship and renown. 5 Good luck have thou with thine honour: ride on, because of the word of truth, of meekness, and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Tertullian contr. Judacos, c. 9. S.Gregor. Nyssen.in Cant.iii. S. Hieronym. in Isa. c. iv. S.Gregor. Hom.vili.in Ezek. Gen.xxiv.2; xlvii.29. Rev.xix.16. A.

"The sword of the SPIRIT, which is the Word of GOD," says S. Paul. And though there, no doubt, in the highest and noblest sense, that Word is the Co-eternal and Consubstantial Word, yet here, most of the commentators agree in applying to the message of the Gospel this sword of which the Psalmist speaks. And in that this sword is bound on the thigh, they see that these glad tidings, wherewith, as by a mighty weapon, the enemies of the human race are to be hewn down, are the doctrine of the Incarnation. With this they compare the adjuration of Abraham to his faithful servant, "Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh; and that of Jacob in his last command to Joseph. And to the same effect we read, in the Apocalypse, that He—He, the King to Whom this psalm is indited—"hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of kings and LORD of lords. Here also they take the "vesture" of the glory of His Divinity; the "thigh" of the humility of His Humanity: in both, evermore to be victorious. With Thy sword. There are not wanting those who would see in this sword the Cross; that bitter pang which, as it pierced the heart of His Blessed Mother, so His own, when He cried, "Oh, My FATHER, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me!

yet still in reference to the Incarnation, because, had He not first been true Man to suffer, He could not thus have proved Himself True GOD to save. And of this Cross He said Himself, "I came not to send peace upon earth, but a sword; when the son shall be divided against the father, and the daughter against the mother. S. Augustine works these sayings out to a marvellous extent: how our LORD Himself is the son, the Christian Church the daughter, and the Synagogue the mother. But according to what worship and renown? What is the chief glory of Him Who has just before been addressed as Most Mighty? And, as the Carmelite well replies, the Church teaches us, where she says, "O GOD, Who declarest Thy Almighty power most chiefly in showing mercy and pity. It is this sword, then, the proclamation of His mercy, whereby He makes His way among His enemies; not in the storm, not in the earthquake, not in the fire, but in the still small voice. Good luck have Thou with Thine honour: ride on, because of the Word of truth, of meekness, and righteousness. Remarkable are the varieties of translation here. The LXX., καὶ ἕντεινον καὶ κατενοδοῦ καὶ βασίλευε: the Gallican and Roman, Intende, prospere procede et regna: the Chaldaic, He shall multiply children, therefore shalt thou be prosperous: as horsemen upon the throne of the kingdom: our Bible version, And in Thy Majesty ride prosperously, which is the nearest to the original.

The sense of ἕντεινον, intende, made out of the Hebrew , was taken by mediæval writers of intense care and strife, which it cannot possibly signify. And the variety of ways in which, under that idea, it has been interpreted, are more puzzling than profitable. To me, the best commentary on this most noble verse is that much misunderstood passage in the Apocalypse, where the Four Living Creatures address their LORD in four different characters, with COME! and He accordingly appears successively as the Rider, on the White Horse; as the Conqueror, on the Red Horse; as the Warrior, on the Black Horse; as the Judge, on the Pale—or rather, Ghastly (χλωρὸς) Horse, with Death and Hell led in triumph behind Him. This is indeed riding on in His Majesty. And why? Because of the Word of truth, of meekness, and righteousness. Here they find a glorious application to the three orders of saints: the truth, of the martyrs; the meekness, of the confessors; the righteousness, of just men. The truth, of the martyrs; they, faithful and true witnesses to Him—He, the true and faithful Witness to them:

Testis tuus est in coelis, the meekness, of the confessors; as the Church sings— The day that crowns with deathless fame This meek confessor of Thy Name: and the righteousness, of the just; "for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." These, then, fill the ranks of that heavenly city: ἡ ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἡ μὴ βλεπομένη, νοουμένη δὲ πόλις, ἐν ᾗ πολιτευόμεθα καὶ πρὸς ἣν ἐπειγόμεθα, ἧς πολίτης Χριστὸς, καὶ συμπολῖται πανήγυρις καὶ ἐκκλησία πρωτοτόκων ἀπογεγραμμένων ἐν οὐρανοῖς, καὶ περὶ τὸν μέγαν πολιστὴν ἑορταζόντων τῇ θεωρίᾳ τῆς δόξης. And Thy right hand shall teach Thee terrible things. So also S. Jerome; but the LXX. and the Vulgate, and so the Slavonic, Thy right hand shall lead Thee wondrously; it should rather be, teach Thee wonders. Both senses are true, according to the many-sided fulness of the Hebrew. Terrible things indeed that Right Hand suffered on the Cross: Terrible things that Right Hand inflicted on its foes: "Thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy." Tertull. cont. Jud. c. 10.

Our Version makes the four Living Creatures say, "Come and see." But (1) observe that the words "and see" are not in the best MSS.; (2) that the Living Creatures never elsewhere address a created being; (3) that as the Conqueror on the White Horse certainly represents our LORD, so by analogy should the succeeding appearances, which come forward at the call of the three other ζῶα. In the other sense: Thy right hand—that is, the works of Thy right hand—shall lead Thee wondrously; from the form of a Servant and the Death of the Cross to the express Image of the FATHER, and the participation of the Throne. For here the Psalmist gives as it were the summary of that most Divine theology of S. Paul, where he shows how the sufferings of the Incarnate WORD merited the elevation of the consubstantial Humanity. 6 Thy arrows are very sharp, and the people shall be subdued unto thee : even in the midst among the King's enemies.

34 Moral. c. 5. a Epist. cxlv. b In Isaiam, c. xlix. And here, too, the versions widely differ. The LXX., after very sharp, add ὄνναι, O Thou puissant! So does the Slavonic, CHAHE, with the same meaning. The Roman gives potentissime, which S. Augustine recognises, and S. Gregory quotes. S. Jerome, in onea place, observes that it is a mere addition from verse 3; but in another he quotes the insertion.b Our version is the only one which translates in the midst: instead of the heart, which is the undoubted meaning. The Bible Version: Thy arrows are sharp in the heart of the King's enemies. The Vulgate, following the LXX., reads in corde; the Gallican, better, in corda, except that the Hebrew is not plural. And verily sharp are those arrows of love, which subdue the hardest heart among the people that "imagine a vain thing against the LORD's Anointed." "O glorious wound," cries Nyssen, "O sweet stroke, whereby life and love penetrate into the inner man!" Thy arrows in very deed: Thou art the true Elisha, that must command to take bow and quiver; Thou must lay Thy Hands, Thy Wounded Hands, on his to strengthen them, before each Joash among Thy Priests can shoot the arrow of the LORD's deliverance. And all their virtue comes from Thy bed of death, the hard bed of the Cross. These were the arrows that pierced the hearts of the martyrs,

S. Cyril. Alex. in Zach. c. ix. § 60, 61. and therefore "we fools counted their life madness, and their end to be without honour." S. Cyril explains the properties of these Divine arrows, and how the people fell under them; and Cardinal Hugo gives their mystical characteristics neatly enough:— Lignea (1), recta (2), rigens, gracilis (3), capitata (4), rotunda, Ferro (5) barbato lato, pennata (6) secante, characteristics which, as applied to the message of the Gospel, the reader may work out at his leisure with the texts in the note: the "verba," as S. Jerome says, "cor transfigentia, amorem excitantia." And it is because wounded with these arrows that the Bride says, "Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples; for I am sick of love." 7 Thy seat, O GOD, endureth for ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.

"Unto the SON He saith" it: the HOLY GHOST, therefore, teaches Who it is That addresses, as well as Who it is That is addressed. It is not wonderful that the Jews and the Arians should have been perpetually pressed with the commencement of the verse: a formal proof of the MESSIAH'S Divinity which no art of the devil or man can gainsay. So Tertullian,ᵃ so Eusebius,ᵇ so S. Cyril of Alexandria,ᶜ so S. Athanasius,ᵈ so S. Gregory Nazianzen,ᵉ and S. Cyril of Jerusalem.ᶠ They dispute of what throne the Prophet speaks; whether of that Judiciary Seat which, at the consummation of all things, the SON, according to that most deep theology of S. Paul, will resign to the FATHER,—or the seat of Kingly authority, which will last for ever and ever. And of this latter it seems better to take it. "He shall reign over the house of Jacob, and of His kingdom there shall be no end. The sceptre of Thy kingdom: or rod, as it is in the versions. This is the rod that devoured the serpents of the spiritual Pharaoh, itself esteemed as one of them, when they said, "He hath a devil. This is the rod which divided the Red Sea into two parts, and made its depths a way for the ransomed to pass over. This is the rod which stretched out against Pharaoh and his hosts, overwhelmed them in the mighty waters. This is the rod that smote the stony rock, and the waters gushed out, and the streams flowed withal.

This is the rod that, laid up in the Tabernacle, bloomed blossoms and yielded almonds. This is the sceptre which every trembling Esther, if she can only venture to touch, shall live. This is the rod that we must hold in our hands while we eat the spiritual passover. This is the rod wherewith we must pass, with Jacob, over the Jordan. This is the rod that breaks "the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor; that shatters the "Assyrian, the rod of his anger," through which the "rod of the ungodly shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; that causes the wicked to exclaim, concerning the spiritual Moab, "How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod! that overthrows the "rod of pride" in the mouth of the foolish.

S. Hieronym. in Cant. ii. 5. Heb. i. 8. ᵃ Cont. Prax. 13. ᵇ Demonstr. Evang. iv. 15. ᶜ In S. Joann. ii. 14. ᵈ Orat. ii. contr. Arian. ᵉ Orat. 1. de Filio. ᶠ Cateches. xvi. Virga, ῥάβδος, 8 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated ini- (6) Isa. xl. 31; (7) Isa. xlix. 2, l. All these are from Ay. quity : wherefore GOD, even thy GOD, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Thou hast loved righteousness. "Dilexi justitiam, et odivi iniquitatem," (they were the last words of S. Gregory VII.,) "et ideo morior in exilio. But it was well answered by one that stood by, though whether the reply was understood by the parting spirit is not certain, "In exile, servant of CHRIST, thou canst not die, seeing that GOD hath given thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. The Chaldee paraphrast applies the verse thus: "Thou, O CHRIST the King, hast loved righteousness; and to Whom else should we address it? And how dearly He loved it He showed by the fulfilment of the promise made as soon as the earthly Paradise was lost, that the heavenly Eden should be won by His own sufferings; that promise on which so many prophets and righteous men so strongly and so securely anchored their golden hopes; that promise which, tested so fearfully in Gethsemane, in the Pavement, at Calvary, was triumphant over all agony, endured all shame, lived through and prevailed by death. Therefore. And that, S. Thomas says, either as a final or effective cause. Therefore hast Thou wrought righteousness, that GOD might anoint Thee: or, To this end GOD anointed Thee, both as King, Priest, and Prophet, that Thy sceptre might be the golden sceptre of mercy, or the iron one of severity; that Thy rod, as the True Aaron's, might everlastingly blossom; that Thy staff might bring forth living waters for Thy people, as did that of Moses;

and, as did not that of Elisha, raise the corpse—the human race, dead in trespasses and sins—to a better life. The oil of gladness. We may take this clause in two senses. The first, Wherefore, O God, Thy God hath anointed Thee; where we have a manifest reference to the Blessed TRINITY: the address being to the SON, O God; the action from the FATHER, Thy God; and the HOLY GHOST represented by the oil of gladness: as it is written, "HOW GOD anointed JESUS of Nazareth with the HOLY GHOST; and as the Church says,

But others see in the redoubled nominative the FATHER and the HOLY GHOST, taking the oil of gladness rather for the grace of that Blessed SPIRIT than Himself; and considering our LORD's Person sufficiently expressed, though not absolutely named. But how are we to take the unction itself? Are we to

The Greek, ὁ Θεός, ὁ Θεός σου, is ambiguous; but the Slaunderstand it of that manifestation of the Grace and Divinity of the Hypostatic Union, when, in His Baptism, the Three Glorious Persons were revealed together? If we do, we shall follow S. Chrysostom,ᵃ S. Hilary,ᵇ S. Ambrose.ᶜ S. Augustine sees a type of this in the stone which Jacob anointed; an unction which clearly possessed some deep mystical meaning, since it was repeated by Jacob on the occasion of his second visit to Bethel. Or shall we rather take it of the sanctifying grace bestowed on the Human Nature of the LORD, both by Himself,—"For their sakes I sanctify Myself,"—and by the FATHER and the HOLY GHOST? Then we follow S. Athanasius.ᵈ Or we may, if we will, understand this unction of the glory of His Resurrection and Ascension; and then we have S. Jerome on our side. They who take it of the sanctifying, inherent grace which CHRIST, so far as Man, received,—so far as GOD, gave,—see in another Psalm a lovely type of this interchange: "it is like the precious ointment upon the Head"—the Divinity—"that went down the beard, even Aaron's beard, and ran down to the skirts of his clothing"—His Humanity. Hence they proceed to discuss the difficult question, whether the soul of CHRIST can be said to have merited the Incarnation and the Hypostatic Union.

And they reply, Not in an ordinary and strict sense, because the Human Soul of CHRIST had no existence before the very moment of the Hypostatic Union, which was the exact instant of the Conception; and before its existence could have merited nothing. Yet still they allow that, in a certain sense, GOD willed to bestow on that Soul the grace of the Union, in prevision of the merits that it would thereafter acquire. And this is the general opinion of the Schoolmen, based on the deepest teaching of S. Augustine. S. Hilary, indeed, in one place seems to speak of antecedent merit in the Human Nature; but it is probably rather from an obscurity of language than from obscurity of thought. Observe, too, that the blessed company of heaven ascribe to the Death of our LORD His principal merit,—"Worthy is the Lamb That was slain to receive glory," &c.; and this is exactly according to the Pauline theology in Phil. ii. 1—9. Above Thy fellows. Thy participators—præ participulis tuis, S. Jerome reads; and so does the Vulgate in the quotation to the Hebrews; and the Council of Frankfort, and Lactantius. And who are these fellows or peers? And it is better to take it in the sense of a comparison of the Human Nature of our LORD with that of all those who have been made partakers of the same grace, angels as well as men; they partly and imperfectly, He in plenitude from the beginning; though its manifestation grew more and more glorious, as S. Luke formally teaches.

S. Cyril of Alexandria even goes so far as to say that the title of Christotocos, which only would Nestorius allow to the Blessed Virgin, is common to the mothers of all that have GOD's grace.

ᵃ Hic in Ps. ᵇ Lib. 2, de Trinit. ᶜ In Ep. Heb. c. i. v. 9. Cf. Gen. xxviii. 18, and xxxiv. 14. ᵈ Orat. 2, in Arian. In S. Joan. A. S. Hieronym. Ep. 140. Hugo Card. in Heb. i. 9. S. Athanas. Serm. ii. cont. Arian. Epist. ad Solitar. 9 All thy garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia : out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. Myrrha, et gutta, et cassia—so the Gallican and Italic : σμύρνα καὶ στακτὴ καὶ κάσσια—so the LXX. and the Slavonic. We need not here enter into the precise nature of these gums : it is enough to observe that , which our Version translates, without any particular sense, whereby, should rather be Armenian, as in Jer. li. 27. From palaces—or rather cabinets—of Armenian ivory they—the garments there laid up—have rendered Thee glorious. A.

And what is myrrh but the bitterness of self-mortification and self-denial? "A bundle of myrrh is my Beloved unto me," exclaims the Church: "He shall lie all night"—all the night of this world—"betwixt my breasts." Count up this bundle, O Christian, and reckon all the sufferings, all the rejections, the fasts, the vigils, the doing good and bearing ill of thy LORD: "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death;" "Now is My soul troubled, and what shall I say?" Aloes, good, say the physicians, against tumours and swellings, what should they set forth but the humility which is indeed the antidote to the swelling of pride? "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly of heart." And cassia, a reed that grows by running brooks, and increases to an immense size, is a type of that faith which begins at Baptism, and fills the whole world. Not that our Bridegroom, in the strict sense, possessed or could possess that faith, because that cannot be believed which is known and seen; but, as being the Author and Finisher of our faith, He may be said thus to set it forth to us. And it is well said, All Thy garments. For the garments represent the Humanity of the LORD: and it was from His Humanity that we are to take the example of self-mortification, of humility, of faith. Out of the ivory palaces. Hear S. Augustine: "Would you understand the spiritual sense of ivory palaces? Understand by them those magnificent houses and tabernacles of GOD, the hearts of the saints." He, however, joins the commencement of the next verse with the conclusion of this: whereby Thy daughters have made Thee glad. The Carmelite commentator takes the word palaces, as I have translated it above, in the sense of caskets, or cabinets. Then

In the LXX. it is ἀπὸ βάρεων ἐλεφαντίνων. This some translators mistook for βαρέων, and turned it, without any possible sense, a gravibus eburneis; which got corrected, it appears, into a gradibus eburneis. The word, as used by the Greek Tragedians, means a kind of flat-bottomed Egyptian boat: But afterwards, and especially, Cathisma at the II. Stichologia of the Ointment-bearers. 10 Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in a vesture of gold, wrought about with divers colours. On the whole, I believe this to be the correct division, though that which connects the first clause of this verse with the last verse is the more common. The Western Church, S. Augustine, the Italic Version, S. Jerome, and many of the Greek Fathers take that view: our Prayer Book and Bible Versions follow the Hebrew and Chaldee. However, as Lorinus very truly says: "Ad sensum parum refert." We lose the beauty however of the original: Kings' daughters were among Thy jewels : and compare the promise; "And they shall be Mine, saith the LORD of Hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels." The gold of Ophir: the Vulgate, less exactly, in vestitu deaurato. But both in the LXX. and the Vulgate is the singular addition, not in the Hebrew, περιβεβλημένη, πεποικιλμένη circumdata varietate. They are quoted by S. Basil, S. Clementᵃ of Alexandria, S. Ambrose,ᵇ S. Augustine, S. Cyprian, and are in the Ethiopic and Arabic Versions. Where could they have come from?

S. Hieromyn. in Ezek. xxvii. Id. in Amos iii. Kings' daughters were among Thy honourable women. Lüstlich, solt du spazieren Mit froid und jubilieren In gruner hymels ow, In gilgen und in rosen Solt du mit gotte kosen Dz er dich freuntlich schow. 8. Jerome says, in Palestine, it came to mean an enclosed house, or tower. The Slavonic Version falls into the mistake I have just alluded to—ὠΤΑЖΕCΤΕΝ CΛΟΗΘΕΙ: out of the ivory heavinesses: to the subversion of all sense. A. S. Cæsarius Arelat. Hom. 1. S. Antoninus. Proleg. in iii. Part. a Serm. de Deiparā (sirevera sit S. Athan.) b Erud. Theol. ii. 125. c 1 Serm. de Assumpt. The Sequence Salve Mater speciosa.

As the mediæval poet says so lovingly, if a little too rapturously for our cooler taste, in his quaint Platt-Deutsch. But Kings' daughters? Because if He Whom they follow is King of kings and LORD of Lords, the Apostles are the Kings over and by whom He rules, as it is written, All kings shall fall down before Him. And it was through their preaching that these lovely ones were gathered into the Church; first heard of the place and the name better than of sons and daughters; were appointed to seek a portion among the hundred and forty and four thousand, and sharers in the New Song. Upon Thy Right Hand did stand the Queen. And to whom are we to give that glorious title? Some will behold the Church Triumphant, the Jerusalem that is the Mother of us all, the Happy Assembly, so glorious with the blood of the Martyrs, so illustrious with the Confessions of snow-white Virginity! O former humility, present sublimity! O once earthly tabernacle, now celestial palace! O house once of clay, now temple of light! O slave, once defiled and miserable with Egyptian bondage, now glorious, now peerless, now beautiful, now all beauty, now onely! Yet the tide of mediæval commentators, and primitive writers also, runs strongly in here beholding not the Church, but the Blessed Mother of GOD. So Athanasius, so Hugh of S. Victor, so the angelic Doctor, so S. Peter Damiani.c

O Maria, tu colorum Intrans sedes, angelorum Sociata es sanctorum, Regina, agminibus: Vidisti, quem diligebas, Ad quem ire cupiebas, Et quo frui sitiebas Angelis cantantibus. S. Greg. in 1 Reg. 6. 1. De virginibus. 1. 6.

But S. Gregory and others in this Queen behold every faithful soul, but more especially those blessed ones who having embraced the religious life here, are nearest to the Bridegroom of the Virgins there. So S. Ambrose, so S. Jerome also, who, from his hard struggle at Rome in defence, or rather in the foundation, of that life, had cause enough to study and to quote this Psalm. Upon Thy Right Hand. O happy estate, cries a mediæval writer, which we know is incapable of change! O most blessed place, which so many saints have gone through fire and water to attain; which so many martyrs have, after the manner of men, fought with beasts at Ephesus to come at, which so many Confessors have wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins if they might but possess at last. And behold, by one effort of virginal purity, it is held at last. Or, to return again to that interpretation which here beholds the Church, well says Richard of S. Victor, "O most sweet light of the purified mind, O wisdom of all the sciences, which are, as it were, honourable women to the Queen, that queen who always standeth on the right hand of God in a vesture of gold. Sometimes as a herald before a king, sometimes as a sound before the articulate word, sometimes as righteousness before the face of God, sometimes as the law in the presence of the Judge, so are these her handmaids to her, the Queen. But thou, O Queen, art thyself the immaculate law, the faithful testimony of the LORD, the lucid precept, the right judgment, the holy fear of God, the sweet meditation, herald and interpreter of the entire God."

11 Hearken, O daughter, and consider, incline thine ear : forget also thine own people, and thy father's house.

And they see two persons who speak : they who interpret the daughter of Mary. It may be David, speaking according to the flesh, to her who was his last descendant except the greater Son of David : or it may be God the FATHER, speaking to her, the Immaculate Bride. But truly this is one of the passages which, above all others, show how utterly boundless are the meanings of the Psalter. Take it of the Church ; and you see the exhortation to forget her Judaic origin, to cast behind her the oldness of the letter, and to enter into the liberty of the spirit. They who see in it every penitent soul, find a magnificent exhortation to the same effect as that of the Apostle,—" Old things are passed away ; behold, all things are become new : the old desires, the old pleasures, the old hopes ; and after the struggle such as S. Paul tells us of, arrayed with that beauty in which the King delights. S. Chrysippus calls this verse and the following the bridal song of the Mother of God. S. Athanasius, comparing the words of the Archangel Gabriel with those of David, dwells on the daughter of the one contrasted with the Mary of the other. "Yes," as a medieval saint exclaims, "as Abraham forgot Ur of the Chaldees with its dangers ; as the Jews returning from Babylon thought no more of the house of bondage ;

as Lot, delivered from the hand of Che-dorlaomer, entered into the companionship of Abraham ; so now, O once afflicted Church, in Babylon is nothing but confusion ; in Egypt is the darkness, and the terror, and the storm ; in Sodom is the fulness of sin : in Canaan only is there liberty, and light, and abundance. In thy former habitation were the husks that the swine did eat ; in thy father's house bread enough and to spare : there the mighty famine ; here the Angels' food. Forget also thine own people. It is

Philip. Gie-rins. in loc. A. F Serm. 6, in Vigil. Nativitat. well said by S. Bernard, that the Christian soul must not take pattern by the tribe of Manasseh: half that tribe, enticed by the pasture lands and corn-fields of the eastern side of Jordan, petitioned to remain there; only half pressed on into the Land of Promise. And that petition to be allowed to remain among the good things of this life is almost always heard in wrath; just as when the Gadarites, having lost their swine, requested the destroyer of them to depart out of those coasts, He yielded at once, and never returned. 12 So shall the King have pleasure in thy beauty: for he is thy LORD GOD, and worship thou him.

And here they take occasion to dwell—those mediæval writers, who lived in the times of our LORD as in their native home—about the beauty, according to the flesh, of the Incarnate WORD and His Blessed Mother. But, undoubtedly, there is a certain type of beauty handed down, from whatever original source derived, which has been retained in the East to this day; and which, as I have said before, completely refutes the idea held by some of the Fathers that the prophecy in the 53rd of Isaiah signifies that our LORD, in external appearance, had no beauty in Him. It would seem that, in the twelfth century, the latter interpretation obtained almost everywhere: whence we have those crucifixes in which our LORD is, in a way to us now scarcely comprehensible, represented as deformed. But we shall have a better occasion of entering on this question when we come to the 98th Psalm. It is a singular interpretation which many mediæval writers have entertained, that thy beauty means the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, the Sacrament of all beauty as well as of all love. And truly it is a very loving thought, that that which is given to the Bride is so much her own, that He Who gave it should, as it were, desire it and have pleasure in it. So they compare the two texts: "With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you; and So shall the King have pleasure in thy beauty.

That is, this Passover, this better than Passover, which is the source of every great act of endurance or of daring,—this Passover, which has prepared every elect soul for the marriage supper of the LAMB,—this belonging now rather to the Bridegroom to be His special beauty,—this I have pleasure in. As how should He not, when such a multitude of petitions, arising from every corner of the earth,—petitions for earthly help and for spiritual aid, petitions against evil and for good, petitions alike for the whole and for the wounded, for the quick and for the dead, are accepted in heaven by the beauty of that Sacrifice in which, though CHRIST being risen from the dead, dieth no more, yet He still vouchsafes to offer Himself under the hands of sinful priests, and as the great High Priest to offer that same Sacrifice at the Throne of GOD the FATHER.

13 And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift : like as the rich also among the people shall make their supplication before thee.

First notice that in the Septuagint and the Vulgate, though not in the Hebrew, it is, ALL the rich among the people. Omnes divites plebis. And so is our LORD's prophecy fulfilled, "It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for thee: far more than fulfilled, when here, she that in the one passage is the type of all iniquity, in the other is to be the first-fruits of the Gentiles. And the whole verse turns on the same contrast. Our LORD teaches, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of GOD. It is not the poor, of whom, speaking generally, is the kingdom of heaven; but the rich, the very class to whom its entrance is so hard, that, as the LORD's greatest glory, shall make their supplications to Thee. It is worth quoting, the use S. Augustine makes of this passage: "They," he says, "who came from the East to bring their offerings to CHRIST, were not its daughters, but its sons. Why, then, here does it speak of the daughter of Tyre, the meaning being the same? Because, as the Apostle teaches, 'In CHRIST there is neither male nor female.'" And again, Why the daughter of Tyre? Because Tyre, as the empress of the sea, is a type of the powers of this world, seeing that in the next there shall be no more sea. So says the great Carmelite expositor;

but more truly, I think, the Carthusian, who beholds in the daughter of Tyre, famous for its purple, the self-oblation of the martyrs; according to that saying, "The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet. And again, why the gift, when, as we know, there were three gifts that were offered to the infant King? Let the seraphic doctor answer: "Because, in addition to the ordinary sense, these three gifts are to be interpreted of the three cardinal virtues, which every faithful soul, made a king as well as a priest to GOD, must offer to its LORD,—faith, hope, and charity; which yet may all, in another sense, be resolved into one—charity—the sum as well as the source of all graces."

14 The King's daughter is all glorious within : her clothing is of wrought gold. And first observe how the King, who made the marriage for His Son, here calls the bride of that Son His daughter. "O happy soul," so speaks Psellus, "who, raised from the dust of carnal affection, lifted above the miserable cares of this world, changed from Leah into Rachel, having the inheritance of Israel instead of the toils of Jacob, is received in the loving arms of such a Bridegroom, is made partaker of the inheritance of such a Father! And why should it be said A. S. Peter Damian. in loc. A. S. Chrysost. in 1 Cor. iv. 15. A.

that the King's daughter, rather than the King's bride, is all-glorious? Truly, because that most loving Bridegroom wooed and obtained His Bride, not on the throne of His glory, but in the depth of His humility: this new Eve was created from the side of an Adam, Who slept no sleep of rest but the hard slumber of the Cross. S. Chrysostom lays his emphasis on the word within: he contrasts the glorious earthly buildings reared in his time, when the Church was being corrupted by contact with the world,—their jewels, their vestments, their outward array,—with the poverty and simplicity of those who were serving God in countries which were yet given to the worship of idols. And mediæval writers see in this verse a prophecy of the history of the Church, The King's daughter is all glorious within: there you have the original purity of the Church, when she was so glorious with her martyrs, so illustrious with her confessors, so resplendent with her ascetics. Her clothing is of wrought gold: and there you have the more dangerous age, in which the world forced her treasures on the Church, and the Church by receiving them became in part infused with the spirit of the world. Never to be forgotten is that speech of S. Gregory of Tours: "In the days of old there were wooden chalices and golden priests; now there are chalices of gold and priests of wood. Her clothing is of wrought gold. And thus one is sent to the character of the virtuous woman:

"She maketh herself coverings of tapestry, her clothing is silk and purple. For consider what is that glorious outside of the Church militant, which is not only the typical representation of her triumphant sister, but also the safeguard of her own internal graces; as it is written, "Upon all the glory shall be a defence. Call to mind all the beauty of her buildings made after the pattern of heavenly things, her marvellous cathedrals, her abbeys, her countless parish churches, her chapels, hallowing every corner of the earth, the peaks of desolate mountains, the recesses of woody valleys, imprinting her own holiness on bridges, and castles, and lonely sea rocks; then her music, which we may piously believe to be but the echo of the Song of Moses and the Lamb; further, her marvellous system of antiphons, transfiguring the Psalms of the Jewish Synagogue to her own more celestial meaning. And if we are to take the Vulgate translation, surrounded about with a variety, there is nothing more glorious than the difference in oneness, and the unity in multiplicity of the Liturgies, and Offices, and Hours, of the whole Catholic Church. And, on the contrary, they observe that the chief glory of the synagogue was not from within, but from without; the symbols of her worship looked forward to better things than she herself possessed: whether you look at the tabernacle or the temple, the case is the same,—the Law had a shadow, not of good things present, but of good things to come.

And they further contrast the clothing of wrought gold,—that is, of such gold as will pass current in the judgment of the King,—with the phylacteries of the Pharisees, which have no balm except in the eyes of the world. S. Basil explains the text in a different way still. If the King's daughter is all glorious within, and also her clothing is of wrought gold, then the inside and the outside are in accordance with each other. As a much later hymn says,

S. Basil in loc. 15 She shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needlework: the virgins that be her fellows shall bear her company, and shall be brought unto thee.

And, as S. Peter Damiani observes, every word of the sentence has to be pondered. In the first place, She shall be brought. What? she, the King's daughter, not able to come of herself? Surely not. You might as well ask, when David says, "Turn away mine eyes, lest they behold vanity," what? could not the man after God's own heart turn away his own eyes from beholding that which displeased God? Truly, no. All is from Him, and of Him both first and last: unless she be brought to the King, she will never go to the King of herself: unless our LORD after His Resurrection say, "Peace be unto you," He will never be asked to say it. Of needlework. That is, that the preparation which is to make her fit to appear before her LORD is not the work of a moment, but is to be precept after precept, line upon line; just as it is stitch after stitch makes up needlework. The virgins that be her fellows. "O LORD," exclaims S. Bernard, "how am I to interpret this fulness of meaning? (He was then preaching to a set of Cistercian sisters. "Am I to say that these my children are her fellows, her equals, who is the fulness of Him That filleth all in all? Or, how can I say that they are equals of her who is the Mother of my LORD and my God? So let us rather take that she to be the type and representative of every faithful soul;

the likeness and pattern of them, as Abraham is called the Father of the faithful. The virgins, then, and what a multitude they are, who follow her, as she follows the King and LORD of the Virgins, shall bear her company. O sweet society of them that are called by the same name! of them that profess the same desire! O most foul reproach and ignominy of them who, while they profess the same wish, are yet torn asunder by the various lusts of this world, of their own hearts, or of him that is the father and founder of all division, namely, Satan! Consider this, then, ye that live doing no good works; ye that live disjointed amongst each other, and insomuch as his is the operation of division, obeying Satan; how

S. Pet. Damian. in loc. S. Bernard. in Cant. v. 5. is that needlework which is not the patient labour of every day, every hour, every minute? How is that Tyrian needlework, for so it is promised a little above, unless this daily work would be sealed by her blood, if need be? How should her fellows bear her company, unless they and she were at one in Him Who hath made all things one?" 16 With joy and gladness shall they be brought : and shall enter into the King's palace. Crucius in loc. And oh, what joy will that be, says a mediæval writer, when they who have so struggled among the thorns here, shall be so transfigured by Him Who now wears the Crown of gold there! What, when they who have trod in the King's footsteps below, shall be received to the King's embraces above! What, when they who have thought it so much but to see the prints of His Feet upon earth, shall be kissed with the kisses of His Lips in the heavenly kingdom! What words can express, what heart can devise, those good things which the true Solomon hath prepared for the soul that, like another Queen of Sheba, comes from a far country to behold His glory! And, brethren, what shall we say of them who, because of the six miserable lions that wait on this side and on that, according to the six footsteps of the throne, shall be afraid to approach to His excellency, Who, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Himself sitteth upon the Throne!

17 Instead of thy fathers thou shalt have children : whom thou mayest make princes in all lands. A.

Here we have the comparison of the Synagogue with the Church, the Law with the Gospel, the letter with the spirit. Thy fathers, the types, the prophecies, the histories, the miracles; everything that might lead forward to Him in Whom all types find their antitypes; in Whom all histories find their fulfilment; in Whom all miracles are turned into that chief of all miracles, God Incarnate. Or, if you take it in another way, the Apostolical succession is here set forth. As the Wise Man says, One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; and all these are princes to carry on the government of the Church, chiefs to extend its dominion among those that serve other gods; and yet children obedient to the immutable faith, and carrying out the unchangeable liturgies of the Church. It has been well said by S. Augustine, "Think not thyself deserted because thou canst not behold Paul, because thou canst not behold Peter, because thou seest not those through whom thou wast born. Out of thine own offspring has a multitude of Fathers been raised up to thee. See how widely diffused is the Temple of the King, of which we read before. This is the universal Church; this is she whose children so go forth; whose children go to the uttermost islands of the seas, call men to come to the one body, and be led to the glorious Temple of the King. Fathers.

And on this they raise a question in connection with the command of our LORD, "Call no man your father upon earth. Hence they ask, how can that title be rightly attributed to Bishops? S. Augustine writing against the Donatists, They answer once for all; and if the authority of a Western doctor be not sufficient, S. Chrysostom will tell the same thing. Princes in all lands. In the first and lowest sense, of the preaching of the Gospel by the Apostles, through the different provinces of the civilised world that then fell out to them. But it is curious to observe how, as the physical knowledge of the earth increased, the interpreters of the Church spread also their sphere,— "enlarge," as the prophet speaks, "the place of their tents, and stretch forth the curtains of their habitations; how lands of which mediaeval missionaries never heard they by degrees brought into the fold of CHRIST; how, when the petition in the Litanies of so many centuries was, "From the fury of the Tatars, good LORD, deliver us," those very Tatars, joined with the people among whom they are mixed, form nearly a third part of the Catholic Church. It is marvellous, too, to see how the newly-discovered capes, and islands, and bays, of lands unknown to the earlier Church, have received the name of her saints and of her festivals;

nay, and not only so, but whereas the constellations of the Northern and first-known hemisphere are dedicated, as it were, to all the gods of the heathen, which are but idols; so the Southern, discovered by expeditions sent forth with the blessing and under the patronage of the Church, have the names which she gave, culminating in the glorious Southern Cross.

18 I will remember thy Name from one generation to another: therefore shall the people give thanks unto thee, world without end. Thy Name. And so all the ascetic writers take it: that Name which was prefigured in Joshua, who led the children of Israel into the promised land; still further honoured by Joshua the son of Josedech, him who stood before the LORD, Satan standing at his right hand to resist him; and lastly, as foretold by the Angel to Joseph, as of Him Who should save His people from their sins. It is of this that the bride speaks in the Canticles, "Let me hear Thy voice: for pleasant is Thy Name." Often and often have we already heard of it in the Psalms; and the only difficulty seems to be, under which of all the dear verses which teach of it they should pour forth their full love of its attributes, and their full knowledge of its mysteries. The people: that is, the ransomed people,—the people who are wholly the LORD's people,—the people who have cast off the dross and the dregs of this world. Here is fulfilled that which is written of the wise man: "The remembrance of Jesus is like the composition of a perfume that is made by the art of the apothecary: it is sweet as honey in all mouths, and as music at a banquet of wine." Or, in the same chapter, "This was Jesus, who in his time builded the house, and set up an holy Temple to the LORD, which was prepared for everlasting glory."

And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, the GOD Who anoints the CHRIST; and to the SON, the King that has pleasure in the beauty of His Bride: and to the HOLY GHOST, the Spirit of Whom the "Good WORD" was Incarnate; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.O CHRIST, the WORD of the FATHER, by Whom all things were created; keep, we beseech Thee, Thy Church gathered together from the various nations of the Gentiles; that while we love Thee with a pure heart, we may merit the participation of Thy eternal kingdom. Who with. (3.) Grant, LORD, that we may love righteousness and hate iniquity, so that, advancing by Thee, the Way, to Thee, the End, we may be led by Thy wonderful Right Hand to the kingdom of eternal beauty. Amen. Through. (11.) O GOD, Whose seat endureth for ever and ever, grant that Thy Church may be enriched by the excellent beauty of all virtues; while, nevertheless, she is far more glorious within, through the indwelling of Thy ever-present Spirit, Who livest and reignest. (3.)

TITLE: To the Chief Musician for the sons of Korah; a song upon Alamoth. [More probably: To the Supreme, by the sons of Korah.] [Symmachus, Ὑπὲρ τῶν αἰωνίων: For all future ages.] Others: For the virgins. It is in the last sense that the Western Church seems to have taken it.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST causeth the mind to rejoice by His spiritual strength. This Psalm is to be read with the lection of the Acts of the Apostles, and with the Gospel or lection of S. Mark. The Prophet speaks of CHRIST to the Church, and the same LORD CHRIST speaks to the same Church. The Voice of the Apostles. The Voice of the faithful. VEN. BEDE. [After explaining the title.] That CHRIST appears in the midst of the Church, Who hath founded her as on a most solid rock. And from that—the rivers of the flood thereof—the multitude of them that believe are invited to behold the miracles of Divine power; of that might which breaketh the bow, and knappeth the spear in sunder. S. ATHANASIUS. A Psalm of thanksgiving. SYRIAC PSALTER. A Psalm which David sang concerning his affliction and that of his people in the great plague. Mystically, the preaching of the Apostles.

S. JEROME. The Psalm teacheth that we ought to put our hope in Him Who only can deliver us from our afflictions.

Various Uses.Epiphany. Nocturn I.

Antiphons.Gregorian. Ferial. A very present help * in trouble. Epiphany. The rivers of the flood thereof, Alleluia, shall make glad the city of GOD, Alleluia. Mozarabic. He chose out an heritage for us * even the Great King over all the earth. 1 GOD is our hope and strength : a very present help in trouble. Well exclaims one of the Fathers, on the flight of our LORD into Egypt, "What! shall our hope and strength fly? what! shall our very present help leave us? what! shall our only source of courage fear?" Our helper in the troubles which have heavily fallen upon us. So the LXX. and the Vulgate. But the very present help is the truer, as well as the dearer sense; and so some of the Greek Fathers. They take these troubles of sin: and so the present help is our "Advocate with the FATHER, JESUS CHRIST the righteous." Our refuge, the Vulgate says; and there we have the Rock in Whose cleft side we may hide ourselves, until this calamity be overpast: according to that saying, "The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and so are the stony rocks for the conies;" and again, "The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rock."

A. 2 Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be moved : and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 Though the waters thereof rage and swell : and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the same. Ay. but in rather a different sense. S. Ambros. Hexaem. v. 13. S. Thomas Aquinas. Isa. xxix. 14. 1 Cor. i. 19. Well may they give this Psalm to the festivals of many martyrs; going through such deep waters of affliction, tossed by such an Euroclydon of misery, only to pass into the eternal calm and the quiet harbour. But they see in these mountains the Apostles. They did indeed shake at the tempest when "they all forsook Him, and fled;" the highest and most glorious summit of all troubled at the voice of one poor maid-servant: and much more have lesser saints been for the while utterly carried away with some sudden outburst of tempest, and carried into the midst of the sea of doubts and temptations. Others will have the mountains cast into the sea to be difficulties swept away by prayer; more especially evil spirits cast out by the mighty hand of God. And in this general confusion they liken the faithful soul to the halcyon, that not only brings her own peace into the rage of the storm, but there also nourishes her young, cradling them as it were on the foaming waves. So have the billows of persecution cradled many a martyr and confessor, till the time came that he should go home. S. Thomas takes it very mystically: waters, he says, signify prophecy: their being troubled is interpreted of the frustration and confusion of heathen prophets and soothsayers, according to that saying, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent."

4 The rivers of the flood thereof shall make glad the city of God: the holy place of the tabernacle of the most Highest.

It is a noble idea, that of our Prayer Book version: that these very storms and billows—the flood thereof—shall make glad that Church which cannot fall, for she is founded on the Rock. But the Hebrew cannot bear that signification, nor does any other translation so render the passage. So rather take the contrast between the flood of violence and uproar and destruction, and the peaceful river-flood of beauty, and green meadows, and smiling pastures. This is that flood which Ezekiel beheld in vision: the waters that came down from the right side of the house, and rising first to the ancles,—then, as the Prophet passed onward, to the knees,—then to the loins,—became afterwards a river that he could not pass over; for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. Shall we see in this, with the Angelic Doctor, the river of grace which burst forth from Mount Calvary?—streams branching off hither and thither, the pelagim of the Hebrew—"to satisfy the desolate and waste ground, and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth. O "fountain of gardens," "well of living waters," "streams from Lebanon! how do you, "the nether springs" of this world, bring to us somewhat of the everlasting loveliness and peace of those "upper springs" by which the beautiful flock now feed and lie down, none making them afraid. Or, with S. Ambrose and S.

Bernard, understand the verse of the "River of Water of Life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the Throne of God and of the LAMB. And then the rivers of that flood shall indeed make glad the city of God, the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, where is the Tree of Life, that beareth twelve manner of fruits, and yieldeth her fruit every month; that country and that river of which the old Liturgies say, "They who rest in the bosom of Abraham are in the tabernacles of joy and rest, in the dwellings of light, in the world of pleasure, in the Church of the True Jerusalem, where there is no place for affliction nor way of sadness,—where there are no wars with the flesh, and no resistance to temptation,—where sin is forgotten, and past danger is only remembered as a present pleasure. The day on which he writes causes him who thus endeavours to enter into the meaning of the Psalms to remember one who, as he firmly believes, now knows far more about those habitations than human tongue can tell or human thought can conceive; "those habitations," to continue the words of the Liturgy, "where they who fought against sin in this world shall be far from it there, expecting the resurrection of the body, when both body and soul shall be joined together in the unwearied service of Him Who is both God and Man, JESUS CHRIST."

5 God is in the midst of her, therefore shall she not be removed: God shall help her, and that right early.

God is in the midst of her. So He was in the beginning, in that which was then His Church—"the Tree of Life in the midst of the garden;" then, when Paradise was lost. So He was afterwards, when the second and better Tree of Life was set up between the penitent and the impenitent on Mount Calvary; then, when Paradise was regained. So in the ancient Tabernacle, when the Shekinah rested between the cherubim; so also in that Temple, of which it is said, "The glory of the latter house shall be greater than the glory of the former," where His blessed Feet walked, Who, as the Prophet says, was born for our salvation in the midst of the earth. And that right early. Therefore notice that all the great deliverances wrought in Holy Scripture were wrought so early, as to have been brought to pass in the middle of the night. So Gideon, with his pitchers and lamps against the Midianites; so Saul, when he went forth against Nahash the Ammonite; so Joshua, when he went up to succour Gibeon; so Samson, when he carried off in triumph the gates of Gaza; so also the Associate Kings, under the guidance of Elisha, in their expedition against the Moabites, when they, according to God's command, filled the wilderness with ditches, and then beheld their enemies drawn to their destruction by the reflection of the rising sun upon the water. But as they explain it in a deeper and truer sense, the earlier prophecies of that eternal morning to which there shall be no night; that eternal spring to which there shall be no autumn. And, as the Angelic Doctor tells us, here is the difference between the help of God and the help of man: the one in time, though not before the time; the other so often late,—late in hope, late in promise, late in effect.

6 The heathen make much ado, and the kingdoms are moved: but God hath showed his voice, and the earth shall melt away. And notice here the two external enemies of man,—the heathen, that is, the world; the kingdoms, that is, the powers and principalities of the evil one. But God hath showed His voice. And first, they refer it to the Day of Pentecost: then God showed His voice, not as in Mount Sinai, from afar off, from the summit of the mountain, but in the room where the Apostles were gathered together; showed it, not in the dreadful lightnings, but in the quiet tongues of flames; showed it, not so as to terrify the surrounding multitudes—"Let not God speak to us, lest we die"—but so as to allure them to the unity of the faith. Well says S. Chrysostom: "The penalty of tongues dispersed men; the gift of tongues brought them, when dispersed, together again." And if we ask why it should be said, God hath showed His voice, rather than God hath caused His voice to be heard, they give this for the answer: that with Him to speak is to act; to utter a command is to be obeyed:

Hom. 2, in Pentecost. D. C. Ipse jussit et creata: dixit ipse, et facta sunt; Terra, coelum, fossa ponti, trina rerum machina. S Hieronym. in 2 S. Pet. iii. So that His order may be as truly said to be seen as to be heard. And then, most truly of all, as the Master of the Sentences teaches, we speak of a visible WORD,—a WORD That "was made flesh, and dwelt among us." And the earth shall melt away. And herein those mediaeval writers who have looked forward to the consummation of all things seem to themselves to find, not the destruction of the present world, but its regeneration and transfiguration into that new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. It shall melt away. But that which melts is not lost, only re-cast. And granting that the early belief of the Church is true,—that this very earth in which we now live, purified indeed by fire, (and so the baptism of water by John preceded the Pentecostal baptism by fire of the HOLY GHOST, as the earth, once overwhelmed by the deluge, will a second time be cleansed by flame,) but not destroyed, will be the future abode of the blessed, how gloriously fulfilled will be that petition in the LORD'S Prayer, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." How many millions of times has that petition been offered by hundreds and thousands of voices! and what a poor answer, according to our lower conception of the Church, will it have met with! But once look to the new earth as well as the new heaven of S. John, wherein dwelleth righteousness, and then the will of God will be done as well in the one as the other to ages of ages, and the supplications of time will be heard in the fulfilment of eternity.

7 The LORD of hosts is with us : the GOD of Jacob is our refuge. We shall have better occasion to speak of this in the last verse of the Psalm. 8 O come hither, and behold the works of the LORD : what destruction he hath brought upon the earth. 9 He maketh wars to cease in all the world : he breaketh the bow, and knappeth the spear in sunder, and burneth the chariots in the fire.

They notice the difference of the two invitatories—this, and that of the 95th Psalm : the one to come and behold, the other to come and sing. "The two," says a mediæval writer, "are separated on earth, and only to be joined in heaven. To behold here is to see sadness, iniquity, faithlessness, impurity; every sin, no goodness. To behold there is to see not only the gates of twelve several pearls, not only the streets of gold and the sea of glass, but to hear the universal song of all the ransomed, and that more especial anthem of them that are more especially redeemed; to hear it and to join in it, as who would not unite in that strain which knits together the unformed spirits of heaven, and those who, not only through much tribulation, but also through much sin, have been redeemed from the earth." And notice that the invitation is only to those who shall be counted worthy to enter into that blessed place : Come hither. And it may be well said, Come hither : for in what other place can the works of the LORD be so fully seen as in that where they are perfectly glorious, gloriously perfect; where they know neither limit to their efficiency, nor measure to their beauty? And who are they that shall be counted worthy of that invitation? Read further, and observe how he limits the call. What destruction hath He brought upon the earth? This : that these present bodies, formed out of clay, moulded from earth, must one day say to corruption, Thou art my father; to the worm, Thou art my mother and my sister; must utterly be taken to pieces; must be like the grain of wheat, which, except it die, yieldeth no fruit. And hence we learn why this verse is

S. Leo in Marc. used in the Antiphon to one of the Psalms in some Office for the Dead. At first sight we might not catch the connection between it and that glorious 15th chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians. But this destruction so brought upon the earth, so consuming the corruptible, will bring to pass the future glory of the incorruptible; the tabernacle, as of old time, must be taken down, in order that the temple of the truer Solomon, King of everlasting Peace, may arise. He maketh wars to cease. And therefore is He rightly called the Prince of Peace; therefore rightly at His birth was peace proclaimed by the Angels; at His departure was peace bequeathed to the Apostles. The bow: the spear: the chariots. A trinity of evil, here as so often. They differ as to the separate sense of each of the three; while the LXX. and the Vulgate, instead of chariots, translate it shields. The bow some take of the fiery darts of temptation, injected, as it were, from a distance by evil spirits into the fancy: the spears, of the hand to hand fight with the world that every faithful soul must carry on: the chariots, which it was forbidden to the Jews to multiply, of those carnal means of safety on which all are so apt to lean, forgetful of the God from Whom alone true help can come.

10 Be still then, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, and I will be exalted in the earth. Rupert. in Exod. xx. 4. Be still: like Mary at the LORD's feet, go, with the Hebrews, three days' journey (by the contemplation of the Blessed TRINITY) into the solitude, before thou offerest sacrifice: like the Apostles, refuse to serve the tables of carnal appetites, that thou mayest give thyself wholly to the ministry; keep Sabbath, as Rupert so beautifully says, not one day only out of seven, but every day of thy life. Est et in hâc vitâ requies multis data Sanctis, Quorum animas mundus non tenet occiduus; Quos desideriis nullis peritura fatigant, Et quibus omne bonum est Christus, et omnis honor; Utuntur terrâ ut cœlo: fugientia temnunt; Quod credunt, quod amant, quod cupiunt, Deus est. They nobly compare this double exaltation to the double declaration of our LORD, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." Or, still more finely, "I will be exalted among the heathen,"—namely, by the preaching of that Cross whereon the Son of Man was lifted up—"and I will be exalted in the earth,"—the new earth, that is, the land of the living; the earth where the saints shall reign; the earth where there shall be no more sea: and that by means of CHRIST's exaltation to the Right Hand of Power, in that Ascension of which the next Psalm is about to tell us.

11 The LORD of hosts is with us: the GOD of Jacob is our refuge. He, the Captain of the LORD's host is with us, that we may smite our Jericho, in that case to become a true "City of Palm Trees" to us by the victory it enabled us to win; He, the LORD, Who caused the mountains round Dothan to be "full of chariots of fire and horses of fire" for the defence of His Prophet; He, one of Whose hosts smote in one night, in the camp of the Assyrians, a hundred fourscore and five thousand. But notice under what character as regards ourselves. The God of Jacob. Now Jacob is by interpretation a supplanter or wrestler. Our refuge He is not, then, unless we have wrestled with Him in prayer, as the Patriarch; wrestled in the night of affliction, as he in the darkness; wrestled by the brook of penitence, as he by the ford of Jabbok; wrestled alone, as he, when he had sent his family forward; wrestled, and said, as he of old, "I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me." The God of Jacob. Others take it in another sense: that we must be "supplanters" of wickedness,—strugglers against and conquerors of temptation,—if the God of Jacob is to defend us. This has the stronger authority, but I confess the other seems the dearer meaning.

And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, our Hope and Strength; and to the SON, Whose City the River of Life maketh glad; and to the HOLY GHOST, the GOD Who is in the midst of her; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.O most merciful LORD, our consolation and refuge, sanctify with the river of Thy grace the tabernacles of our hearts, that Thou, the GOD of Jacob assisting us, we may overthrow every earthly enemy. Through. (1.) O GOD, be Thou to us in adversity a refuge, in battle a consolation, to the end that when Thou shalt come to judge the earth, they may be sharers with Thee in joy, who have been followers after Thee in sorrow. Amen. Through Thy mercy. O GOD, our Refuge and Strength, be present with us in all our troubles, that every adverse sword may be sheathed, and every heart may be enriched with the blessings of peace; so that in tranquillity we may behold Thee, and beholding Thee may possess Thee for ever. Amen. Through.

TITLE.—To the end: for the Sons of Korah: a Psalm. [On the Supreme: by the Sons of Korah: a Psalm.]

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST, having obtained the heathen for His inheritance, spake, in His own city, with the glory of the FATHER. CHRIST hath ascended to the FATHER. It is the voice of the Apostles. This Psalm is to be read with the Acts of the Apostles, after the history how CHRIST ascendeth to the FATHER. VEN. BEDE. Although the entire Psalm be sung in the person of the Sons of Korah, nevertheless it is divided by the interposition of a Selah. In the first section the heathen are admonished to give praises to the LORD, because He hath acquired to Himself a people of inheritance, and hath set them in His heritage. In the second, the Ascension of the LORD is described, and the Kingdom which the Saints are to enjoy, world without end. EUSEBIUS OF CÆSARÆA. The vocation of the Gentiles. SYRIAC PSALTER. Of the glory of GOD in Mount Sinai: also it is referred to the vocation of the Gentiles.

Various Uses.Gregorian. } Tuesday. Nocturns. { Epiphany. Ascension. Monastic. } Common of Apostles. Parisian. Tuesday. Sexts. [It is very curious, that hardly any of the Gallican Breviaries, except the Amiens, appropriate this Psalm to Ascension Day.]

Antiphons.Gregorian. Ferial. O sing unto GOD * with the voice of melody. Ascension. GOD is gone up * with a merry noise: the LORD with the sound of the trump. All. Monastic. He shall choose out * an heritage. Parisian. For GOD * is the King of all the earth. 1 O clap your hands together, all ye people: O sing unto GOD with the voice of melody. We have said before that the sons of Korah, by whom this Psalm was written, are, by interpretation, the sons of the Cross. In spite of that, the world would say,—because of that, the Church would say, the first verse begins as it does: O clap your hands together. And notice further. This, by the consent of the whole Church, is an Ascension Psalm. And by whom should such a hymn of praise be written, and to whom should it pertain, save to those who, like their dear LORD, by the Cross on earth, hope to attain to the throne of heaven. O clap your hands. As we have had occasion to notice before now, the voice of melody is not so much to be uttered with the tongue, as with the hands: that is, it is our deeds, not our words, by which GOD is here to be praised. Even as it was in Him, Whose pattern we are to follow: JESUS began both to do and to teach.

2 For the LORD is high, and to be feared: he is the great King upon all the earth.

And why is He most high? Because, first of all, He was most low. There is nothing more wonderful than the manner in which mediæval writers work out the doctrine of S. Paul: that it was because our LORD according to the flesh was so humbled, that, according to the flesh, He is now so exalted. It has been well said, He is thy LORD, if thou seekest Him; He is high, if thou believest in Him; He is to be feared, if thou fearest Him; He is the King, if thou fightest for Him; great, if thou humblest thyself before Him; over all the earth, that is, over the earth of thy flesh, since thy body should be subject to thy spirit. Or you may take it in another sense. Happy earth, one says, that shall be so subjected to CHRIST the King. How happy that new earth and those new heavens wherein dwelleth righteousness! And again: they notice that the first time in which the Apostles are said to have been afraid, was the season of our LORD's greatest exaltation, namely, when He was transfigured: "They feared as they entered into the cloud. To which they add, that the next time in which it is recorded that the same Apostles were afraid, was that in which He was about to enter on His great humiliation: "As they followed Him they were afraid.

Whence we may gather that there is equal occasion for fear, whether it pleases our LORD that we should tread in the steps of His humiliation, or be counted worthy of the vision of His glory: lest we should despair, or lest we should be puffed up. And as the remedy to that danger, they further bid us notice that He is the great King upon ALL the earth; that, not only from one danger is He able to deliver us, but from all: that there cannot be so many temptations which the first Adam has brought upon his seed, as there are deliverances which the Second Adam has wrought out for His children.

3 He shall subdue the people under us: and the nations under our feet. He shall subdue: or, as it ought to be, both according to the Vulgate and the Hebrew, He hath subdued. The people, in the first place; the nations, in the second. Now observe: these people are the same of whom it is written in another place: "Who subdueth my people that is under me:" that is, the evil passions and weaknesses of my own heart: "my people," inasmuch as they belong to me: but, He shall subdue, because none save Him, Who is infused into us by regenera- A. tion, can tread down in us that old and evil nature. He shall subdue the people; that, in the first place, and the nations, that, in the second. And who are the people, but those indigenous to our own hearts,—our own evil affections, and lusts, and concupiscences? And the nations,—the word nations being used as of those external to us,—who should they be, save the legions of evil spirits armed for our destruction? And observe, also, the difference of the triumph to be obtained over the two. The people under us: then we are brought back to that other text, "Who subdueth my people that is under me;" under us: because, in a certain sense, they belong to us, they are our own; we and they are bound together. But, those who are extraneous to us, those evil spirits who attack us from without, those we may more thoroughly trample on; yes, even though they may have overthrown us; though they may, in times past, have overcome us; according to that saying, "Thou shalt lead them captives, whose captives ye were."

4 He shall choose out an heritage for us: even the worship of Jacob, whom he loved. S. Chrysost. in Act. iv. 35. S. Greg. Moral. 18, 19.

An heritage; or rather the heritage; that is to say, the possession for which the Church had been longing during those long four thousand years; an heritage, because from its very beginning that which was promised to Adam became the birthright of all his descendants, to the full as much as that other miserable heritage of original sin, the promised Seed of the woman who was to bruise the serpent's head. Not that heritage, of which, as she imagined it to be at first, she said at the birth of Cain, "I have gotten a man, even the LORD; but Him Whom every maiden of Israel from the time that the holy race possessed the promised land, till the visit of the Archangel to Nazareth, hoped to be her own descendant: for Whose sake Hannah lamented her barrenness, for Whose sake Jephthah's daughter asked leave for those two months to bewail her virginity upon the mountains. Some of the fathers take the worship of Jacob to mean those prophecies which Jacob on his death-bed uttered with regard to his sons; and thus, in a certain sense, with regard to the whole Church for ever. And so we see why whom He loved should thus follow. In that meaning, as the twelve tribes of Israel were chosen out from the whole world to be the witnesses and carriers on of the knowledge of God in the world;

and so among those twelve tribes, first of all the tribe of Ephraim, and then, after four hundred years, the tribe of Judah ("He refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim,") was God's elect inheritance; so, out of the whole world, that Church was to be chosen by and for Him, whose very name in almost all languages, thus expresses Ecclesia the manner of her selection. And why rather the worship of Jacob than of Israel? For this reason: because, as He speaks in the future at the beginning of the clause, so also He uses the name which pertains not to that which shall be, but to that which is. The worship of Jacob, the supplanter, or wrestler against powers of evil now; but it will be the worship of Israel, of "him that sees God," by-and-by. It would be as much out of place to speak of the worship of Israel in this world, as it would be to allude to the worship of Jacob in the next, where, through God's goodness, there will be no enemies to supplant, no victories to win, no temptations to struggle against, no mountains to ascend, no "miry places and marishes" to struggle through, no valleys to go down into; but "the utmost bound of the everlasting hills" to behold, "the water of the river of life" to drink of, "the tree of life" from which we may pluck the fruit, the glorious "new heaven and new earth," wherein righteousness may and shall dwell.

5 God is gone up with a merry noise: and the Lord with the sound of the trump.

One can scarcely understand this verse of anything but His Ascension, Who went up from Mount Olivet. But we shall enter into the mystical meaning the better, if we first realize to ourselves the literal signification; how David, after first failing in his design of bringing up the Ark to Jerusalem from Shiloh, after that went up literally, as well as spiritually, to the city of David, where the Temple was thereafter to stand; to that same Mount Moriah, to which God had commanded Abraham to take Isaac before his sacrifice. And though, in a certain sense, Elijah's ascension to heaven is the type of our Blessed Lord's going up from Mount Olivet, yet, even a truer symbol of that same glorious going up is to be found in the Ark, when, from the house of Obed-Edom, on the shoulders of the Levites, it was brought up to its own dwelling in the city of David. Therefore, in primitive times, as now,—therefore, from the furthest east to the furthest west, this has been the key-note, the key-stone, the very Antiphon of the day; and we cannot do better than interpret the verse according to the richest of all the many explanations given to us by the spotless Bride of Him that then went up, the Mozarabic Office. Listen to it: for it is scarcely possible to find at once a piece of devotion so rapturous and yet so sober. "It is meet and right, Omnipotent FATHER, that we should render thanks to Thee, through JESUS CHRIST Thy Son, Who, after the most true Sacrament of His Second Nativity, after the glorious triumph of His Passion, in so far as He was Man, after His going down into hell, because He had taken man's death upon Himself, after His ascent from hell by the quickening power of that resurrection which

S. Leo. Serm. de Ascen.Ment. in Offic. Ascensionis. The first being His eternal generation by the FATHER. He worked out for Himself, after His might, worked out by miracles, after the unmeasured healing which He poured forth on the sick, after the teaching which was to become so famous, because it was so common to all the Apostles,—when He carried back the prey, snatched from the jaws of the foe, to that seat of Thy majesty, equal to Himself and Thee, He made the captive of the devil and his companion, Thy guest. He made him worthy of the habitation of heaven, who had not power to remain in the enjoyment of Paradise. Thy work, His labour. He, Who amidst the depths of darkness paid the things which the corruption of another had owed,—He, far above the clouds, has freely bestowed on His servants the reward of incorruptible purity. It did not suffice to His superabundant goodness that, to the end He might show His power over the conquered enemy, and His dominion over subject elements, unless He also gave His trembling disciple power to change, so far as regarded Himself, the nature of the same elements, and the law pertaining to the water on which He walked."

6 O sing praises, sing praises unto our God : O sing praises, sing praises unto our King. 7 For God is the King of all the earth : sing ye praises with understanding. And first we notice the triple repetition of the Name of God, and under each repetition the double ascription of praise. Why? Because each Person of the Blessed Trinity is to be adored and exalted by the twofold choir of men and Angels. O sing praises, ye whom God so loved that He sent His Only-Begotten Son into the world to redeem you : sing praises, to whom God gave such grace that ye should never need redemption, unto our God, the FATHER Almighty. O sing praises, ye, whose Elder Brother has undertaken the work of your salvation. O sing praises, ye than whom your LORD was made a little lower, unto our King : the King over Whose Head that superscription was set up ; the King Who had that reed for His sceptre, that purple vestment for His royal apparel, that crown of thorns for His diadem. For God is the King of all the earth : even as it is written, "The Spirit of the LORD hath filled the world." Sing ye praises with understanding ; because in the full light of the new dispensation, the darkness of the patriarchal ages, the seeing as through a glass of the Levitical law, are turned into the vision of full and very reality.

8 God reigneth over the heathen : God sitteth upon his holy seat. They dispute whether this is to be taken in the past or the future tense. God hath reigned, or God shall reign. Here, as so often, the fulness of the Hebrew admits of either; and the meaning is equally true either way. He does reign now, according to that saying, "The earth is the LORD's:" He shall reign more gloriously when that same "earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea:" He shall reign most gloriously when "He hath put all enemies under His feet." God sitteth upon His holy seat. In the first place, that throne which He has set up in the hearts of all His servants; a throne often assaulted by that rebellious faction, the "I yet the not I," of S. Paul; the throne only to remain firm to the end in those to whom God gives His last best grace of perseverance. And to this they also refer that saying in Daniel: "I beheld till the thrones were set, and the Ancient of days did sit." But next, God sitteth upon His holy seat. That holy seat whence arises the continual intercession that to him that overcometh may be granted to sit with the Prince of Life in His throne, even as He also overcame, and is set down with His FATHER in His throne. Again: God sitteth upon His holy seat, so often as the immaculate Lamb, Who once reigned from the Tree now reigns from the Altar. And lastly, as one mediæval commentator says nobly, it may well be put in the present, He sitteth, because when we look forward to the everlasting throne, there is neither past nor future, in the sense of time, in eternity.

9 The princes of the people are joined unto the people of the God of Abraham: for God, which is very high exalted, doth defend the earth, as it were with a shield. First, let us give the different versions. In the Vulgate: The princes of the people are gathered together with the God of Abraham; for the gods, the mighty ones of the earth, are vehemently exalted: the Italic is the same, except that, instead of Congregati sunt, it reads Convenerunt. Our own Bible version: The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: He is greatly exalted. But the meaning should rather be, taking in the sense of beshielders, rather than shields. The chiefs of the people are assembled before the God of Abraham, for with God are the mighty of the earth: transcendently is He exalted. Having broken the nutshell we may now come to the kernel.

And who are the mighty of the earth that are assembled before the God of Abraham? In the first place, the long and glorious procession of Old Testament Saints, "who through Till the thrones were cast the Vulgate, as indeed the Hebrew, will have either meaning. S. Jerom. in loc. Rupert. A.

faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Next, those valiant ones, who at this present moment are fighting the good fight of faith, both with the ill within them and without; with only God and the Angels as their spectators now, but with the whole world to be the witnesses of their reward by-and-by. Then, quite in an opposite sense, the mighty ones of the earth, of the earth as distinguished from the valiant spirits in heaven, are gathered together, and also against the God of Abraham; the God of Abraham, because the Father of the faithful stands out as the first example of one, who for the faith that was in him, resisted the idolatrous nations around him, and a very Antipas was found the one true among so many false. Wherefore it is that the Western Church prays by the death-bed of her children, "Deliver, O LORD, the soul of this Thy servant, as Thou didst deliver Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees; whereas, Haran was not so delivered, but "died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity," it is generally thought by martyrdom. One cannot but notice the wonderful lesson which arises from the contrast of the Vulgate with the genuine Hebrew: the former, For the Gods, the mighty ones of the earth, are vehemently exalted: the latter, of the true God, transcendently is He exalted.

And our thoughts go back to the prophet's "Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them; and to the monarch's, "There be more with us than with him: with him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles. And what resulted to the "people" then may well be the consequence of this whole Psalm to God's true people now: we also may "rest" ourselves upon the words of our true Hezekiah.

Collects.O GOD, the King of all ages, Whose empire extendeth over all people, enlarge, we beseech Thee, our dominion over the different tribes of vices that are to be put under our feet; to the end that while we sing praises to Thee, our GOD, with understanding, we may tread them down through Thy help. Through. (2.) O GOD, the King, both great and terrible, grant that, in all nations, true faith may bring forth to Thee her joyful fruits: and grant that we may sing, not only with our voice, but also with our heart, to Thee, Who art our GOD, that we Antipas, as it is so well known, probably not the name of an individual, but as Antichrist is he that opposes CHRIST, so this "faithful martyr" stood up against every one around him of the heathen city. (ἀντὶ-πᾶς.) may live with Thee, world without end. Amen. Through Thy mercy. (11.)

CHRIST JESUS our LORD and terrible GOD, in Whose Na-tivity the Angels offered praises together with the shepherds; to Whom, after the author of death had been conquered, all the people clapped their hands together and lifted up their hearts; Thou Whom, when Thou didst carry back to heaven the victorious trophies of Thy triumphs, the faith of the Apostles also followed; grant that we may both celebrate the mysteries of our redemption, and the glories of Thine Ascension, with the jubilations of faith, and may, together with the princes of the people, be well-pleasing by means of our faithful service to Thee, the GOD of Abraham. Amen. Through Thy mercy. (11.)

TITLE.—Bible Version: A Psalm or Song for the Sons of Korah. Vulgate: The Psalm of a Song for the Sons of Korah, for the second day of the week.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST our great GOD shall rule us to eternal ages. The type of the future Jerusalem. This Psalm is to be used with the Apocalypse of S. John the Apostle. The voice of the priests to the people concerning CHRIST, and concerning the heavenly Jerusalem, which is both present and is to be: then also the voice of the Apostles: the voice of the Church that praises GOD: it is to be read with Jonah the Prophet. VEN. BEDE. The second day of the week is the day in which, as we read in Genesis, GOD made a firmament in the midst of the waters, and called it heaven. Here the loftiness of holy Church is prefigured; which, suspended as it were between the lower and the upper waters, is inferior to the sublimity of the Angels, but more sublime than worldly conversation. As then the title of the 24th Psalm, the first day of the week, on which light was made, shows that the subject of that Psalm is to be the LORD's Resurrection, so also in the present Psalm, the second day of the week, on which the firmament was made in the midst of the waters, sets forth to us the edifice of the Church: and to this the Sons of Korah, that is of the LORD's Passion, sing the praise of this Canticle. In the first part they tell the glory of GOD: on which, while the Church dwells at length, she manifests His glory to all the kings of the earth. In the second, they render thanks for the Advent of the LORD the SAVIOUR, to set stiles in the Church, by which that SA-

The reference will be seen to explain the sixth verse, with perhaps some reference to the fourth. Ven. Bede is referring to the Roman version: distribuente gradus ejus, which our translation gives as set up her houses. VIOUR may be known, Who guards His servants with His eternal protection. EUSEBIUS OF CÆSAREA. A Hymn to GOD of the Church, and the destruction of the persecutors. S. JEROME. The whole Psalm hath to do with the holy people: the whole dwells on Ecclesiastical Mysteries.

Various Uses.Both. Common of Virgins. Dedication of a Church. Christmas. Epiphany.

Antiphons.Gregorian. Ferial. Great is the LORD * and highly to be praised. Common of Virgins. Many waters * cannot quench love. Dedication. Moses built * an altar unto the LORD GOD. Christmas } We have waited * for Thy lovingkindness, O GOD, Epiphany } in the midst of Thy temple. 1 Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised: in the city of our GOD, even upon his holy hill. S. Hieronym. in Esai. lx. 14.

Great is the Lord. This, they say, is the ladder set upon earth, whose top reacheth unto heaven. Great; there we have natural religion: and highly to be praised; there we have the thanksgiving to be paid to Him in His earliest Church, namely, the synagogue: in the city of our God; there we descend to the Church militant here on earth: even upon His holy hill; and for the last step we arrive at that mountain which is exalted above all mountains, where the throne of the Eternal SON is established for ever. In the city of our God. And in how many senses do they understand this saying! First of all, in that city which has not only its gates of pearls, and its streets of gold, and its houses of all manner of precious stones, but which is so compacted together that, as S. Jerome, himself accustomed to the most orderly and regular footing in this world, says, there needs nothing else to convince us of the celestial disposition of the heavenly promises than this; that the manifold arrangement of the heavenly hierarchy should be so wonderfully set in order. Or, as others will have it, this city of our GOD is His dear home in this world.

And I do not wonder that one, so tossed about from this to that country, over stormy seas, through lands which obeyed four or five different lords, all of them at enmity one with the other,—that one in short, so situated as was Guarrie, should have found his greatest comfort in this sense of the verse. "Be it so," he seems to say; "however miserable be the turmoil of this present condition, however Simon Magus seems to have seated himself in the chair of Simon Peter, nevertheless great is our Lord: He once before His Passion drove out those that sold sheep and doves from His temple on earth; He will again drive out those who make a traffic of the Blessed Sacraments, whereby we eat the Flesh of the Immaculate Lamb, and receive the influence of the heavenly Dove, from the Church which is now His temple.

2 The hill of Sion is a fair place, and the joy of the whole earth: upon the north side lieth the city of the great King; God is well known in her palaces as a sure refuge.

And here we have one of those classical places, so to speak, which tell us how the hill of Sion is to be taken of the Church militant, of the Church in the state of expectation, of the Church which still looks forward to those blessed things which are to be revealed. But here is one of the most remarkable passages in the whole of Scripture. Interpret the original how you will, whether as we do, upon the sides of the north, the city of the great King; or as other versions, of the palace of the King in that city, being on its northern side. And why? Because the north, all through the Old Testament, is taken, even as village tradition has made it in our churchyards, the especial possession of Satan. "For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, upon the sides of the north. What does this show but that, even now, and even however much it may at this present moment appear to be the inheritance of Satan, "the earth is the LORD's and all that therein is? Or, if we like to follow the Vulgate translation: Mount Sion is founded with the exultation of the whole earth; that Mount Sion which pertains to the sides of the north, the city of the great King.

They observe how, if not the first, yet nearest to the first of all the graces of the SPIRIT, joy is reckoned: and here we have that original joy, when, even at the foundation of this world, miserable as it was thereafter to be from sin, "all the sons of God shouted for joy; and so also when the new and lovelier Church arose on the ruins of the old, when the true cornerstone of that Church was truly laid in the resurrection of our dear Master, thus it is written: "Then were the disciples glad when they saw the LORD. So then, the foundation of the world in its first creation, and the foundation of the new world in its regeneration are one and the same thing: the WORD, the Creator, is the one; the WORD, the Redeemer, is

Rupert. in Job. xxxviii. 17. We must not find any great fault with a most earnest writer, Ayguan, because he takes the hill of Sion, coupled with the north side, to mean the city of Rome, lying, as he, however mistakenly, thought, to the north of Italy. G A. Photius. Bibliothec. num. 14. In Ephes. ii. 12. S. Ensebius in loc. S. Athanas. tom. ii. 427 C. Theodoret. in loc. S. Joan. Chrysost. Homil. 25. S. Nicephorus in loc. Rev. iv. 10. S. Remig. in loc. Haimo. V. Bed. Cajetan. S. Thomas Aquinas (but more doubtfully). A. S. Ambros. Ruffin. S. Hieronym. in S. Matt. ii. Ludolph.

the other. In her palaces. But what are her palaces? and in how many senses have they not been taken? In the first place, her Martyrs, who are of a verity the noblest of those dwellings in which the HOLY GHOST makes His habitation; then the Confessors, who dwelt in that mansion, as S. Cyril says, of charity, of faith, and of hope: then the Virgins who dwelt in the golden house of chastity; then the ordinary generation of Christians who, amidst all their various trials, have kept the faith undefiled; in all their palaces GOD is known as a sure refuge. Ah! it matters little whether you read with S. Jerome, Agnitus est; or with Arnobius, Cognitus est: or with the Roman and Ambrosian version, and with Cassiodorus, Dignoscetur: or with the Complutensian manuscripts, Cognoscitur: the thing is the same. Then it is, as a saint of later times says: "It is in these palaces, in one or other of them, that we must be found: different palaces in this world, but one and the same in that. For thither, as from so many varying regions, so also from as many different states, shall they all enter in, to whom, in their varying ages, the LORD has been indeed a sure refuge; whether Apostles, Martyrs, or Confessors; whether virgins, widows, or continent, all shall be received into those many mansions which are but one, all shall be found acceptable where they have merited a place in that Mount Sion which is founded with the joy of the whole earth."

3 For lo, the kings of the earth: are gathered, and gone by together. 4 They marvelled to see such things: they were astonished, and suddenly cast down.

Are gathered and gone by together. But to what purpose? As friends or as foes? Is it the marshalling of foes drawn up in battle array, kings of the earth against the King that reigned from the Cross? Or, are these kings they who pass as in triumphal procession, casting down their crowns before the King of kings and LORD of lords? In this case, not as gone by or to pass away; but rather to pass on to that eternal kingdom which, unlike earthly sovereignties, shall never be removed. So say the later writers. But there is still another interpretation, and it is that which finds greater favour with the earlier saints. The kings of the earth, the three wise men, are gathered, seeing that they came not from the same region, but from lands far apart, and led by the star, are gone by; gone by Jerusalem where Herod might reign, but not the King of that Jerusalem which is free: gone by the hill-country of Judæa, then all alive with the tidings of that wonderful Birth: gone by Bethlehem too, when, being warned of GOD that they should not return to Herod, the wise men departed into their own country another way. And there is yet another interpretation, by which we are taught that the kings of the earth,—that is, the kings chosen by God to rule the one nation upon earth which was His inheritance,—have gone by together in the sense of S.

Peter, when he says that David, after he had served his people according to the will of God, fell on sleep and saw corruption; and so also the descendants of David, in like manner gathered to their fathers, passed by, as David had done: whereas He, the second and truer David, the only Child of that Royal line, He in Whom the posterity of the kings of Judah ended, He never went by, but remaineth, as S. Paul says, not only a Priest, but a King for ever, after the order of Melchisedec. They marvelled to see such things. They marvelled, those kings as they followed the star, to see such things; to see Him That upheld the earth, Himself hanging on His Mother's breast; such things, as that He, Who spreadeth out the heavens like a curtain, should Himself be sheltered by no better a covering than the roof of a stable; such things, as that He, Whose are all the beasts of the forests, and so are the cattle upon a thousand hills, should only have one ox and one ass to do Him homage; but, more than all, they marvelled to see such things as that the LORD of the world should come to His own, His own not receiving Him; and while that poor ox knew his owner, and that untaught ass his master's crib, Israel, rich with so many types, and parables, and instructions, would not know; the people, taught by so many prophecies, would not consider. They were astonished, and suddenly cast down:

as it is written, "When they saw the young Child with Mary His Mother, they fell down and worshipped Him."

5 Fear came there upon them, and sorrow: as upon a woman in her travail. And when did not fear fall upon those to whom any supernatural revelation of our LORD, or of His Angels, was vouchsafed? When, from the time that Manoah and his wife beheld Him Who gave them those good tidings of the deliverer of Israel,—from the time that Gideon, when he saw the messenger who announced the deliverance of his people from the Midianites? even as the three Maries when they stood at the tomb, and heard those tidings more blessed than had ever before entered into human ears. The great doctor of the Western Church tells us, that where there is no fear, there can be no hope; and so the great doctor of the Jewish Church had said long before: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." As upon a woman in her travail. And thus the Son of David repeats what David himself said long before: "A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow because her hour is come; but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world." Well may the Church take that discourse of our dear LORD to be her Gospel for Roga-tion-tide; for then all the longing, all the yearning, all the anxious expectation, which the Greek so marvellously expresses, (ἀποκαραδοκία,) then at last comes to an end: and the fear and the sorrow of that long travail came so blessedly to its conclusion.

6 Thou shalt break the ships of the sea: through the east-wind. Or, as it is in the Vulgate, In a vehement wind Thou shalt break the ships of Tarshish. There are three things here which are to be taken in connection with each other, or else we shall fail of the meaning of each. First, consider at once "the sorrow as of a woman in her travail," which the last verse tells us of, and the ships of the sea which are to be broken; and with all these also compare the text: the ships "went not" which were made to go to Tarshish, "for they were broken at Ezion-geber." And what are these ships, except those Holy Innocents, who were sent forth as it were in search of the true gold of salvation in Tarshish? But they "went not" in one sense; they were spared all that voyage over "the waves of this troublesome world;" and yet, without it, they obtained the true gold from the Land of Ophir. There were, indeed, not only the ordinary sorrows of mothers; there was also the agony of mothers thus bereaved. As the great Christian poet says—

Cathem. in Epiphaniam. 132. O barbarum spectaculum! Illisa cervix cautibus Spargit cerebrum lacteum, Oculosque per vulnus vomit. Aut in profundum palpitans Mersatur infans gurgitem, Cui subter arctis faucibus, Singultat unda et halitus. Through the east wind. And notice, when the children of Israel were to be delivered, and that for ever, from the Egyptians, and when Moses had stretched out his rod, "the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided." And so says the greatest of mediæval theologians; that Wind, namely, the SPIRIT of GOD, sent by the SON, as proceeding from the FATHER, divides all seas of difficulty, casts down all mountainous waves of temptation, makes both the Red Sea and the Jordan a highway for the ransomed to pass over. How can it be otherwise, when He, Whose Name is the East, rules and governs that wind, causing it to blow wheresoever and whensoever He will?

Non est nostrum, as Ayguan says, where he thinks the interpretation to be rather better than usual. 7 Like as we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of Hosts, in the city of our GOD: GOD upholdeth the same for ever.

It is this text which was the great comfort of the Confessors, in that which later ages have thought so little of—the Iconoclastic persecution. Like as we have heard, so have we seen. For that reason, and in defence of the Incarnation, because what they had heard from the prophets, what had been seen by apostolic and isapostolic eyes, that they were resolved to confess, even through torture, even to death,—therefore it is that the martyrology of the Eastern Church has received fully a third part of its names. It was not the cause of icons, but the belief in the Incarnation, that was at stake. So have we seen. But where? In the city of the Lord of Hosts. And here the later commentators notice, that which the primitive and mediæval writers could scarcely in the nature of things have seen, how the Church is the only communion of Christians in which symbolism is the foundation of her ornaments and of her rites. Like as we have heard, so have we seen. Is there a Holy of Holies, a heavenly kingdom, into which they only shall enter who have been made perfect through suffering, and not they till after the consummation of all things? So has the earthly Church her sanctuary as well as her choir and her nave. Is there a Church—so to speak—in Paradise, waiting for the perfect consummation of all things? So also has the earthly Church her choir, separated from the nave by that marvellous screen, the emblem of death;

separated also from the sanctuary less visibly and less actually, but still really. Like as we have heard, so have we seen. And notice this also, the double repetition, In the city of the Lord of Hosts, in the city of our God. Why the in one case, and our in the other? Because, speaking of Him in this world, He is not only the GOD of the elect, but the GOD of those that fight against Him, and the LORD of Hosts now; whereas the simple word of worship, GOD, is applied to the future Kingdom, because there can be no battles, there can be no need of armies, there the true King of Salem—which is by interpretation the King of Peace—shall reign. God upholdeth the same for ever. It shows how strongly the revelation of oracles had power to influence even Christians, that S. Augustine, writing on this verse, should be at the pains to prove, at great length, how false was the common Pagan belief, that the Christian Religion should endure only six hundred years. And yet, as it has well been observed, his elaborate argument on this question, now rendered so utterly needless, ought to be an example to priests, how they are bound to put out their full strength against heresies and mistakes, however ludicrous in themselves, which carry away a certain number at the time then present, although they may be fully aware that, after a

A. short period, the confutation will seem almost as trifling as the assertion. And, if for one moment we may turn away from those primitive and mediæval authors to our own time, may not such of us as have to do battle against the follies and heresies which, like Jonah's gourd, came up in a night, and will perish in a night, take all the more comfort in this, that, as we can work for no future reward in this world, so our recompense will be all the more laid up when our Master shall return from the far Country, whither He has now departed? 8 We wait for thy loving-kindness, O GOD: in the midst of thy temple.

Or rather, as it is in the Vulgate, We have received Thy loving-kindness, O God. Here—and how happy would it be if only in other places as here—the Eastern and Western Churches are fairly arrayed against each other. The former takes the verse as a prophecy of the future, the latter as a history of the past: the one as typical of regeneration, the other of final election: the one as telling of the Blessed Eucharist, the other as of Him Who, no longer under signs and symbols, but in His Own dear Self, will manifest Himself to His people. We might reckon up, were it worth while, the commentators on each side: S. Athanasius, S. Cyril, S. Theodoret, on the Eastern; S. Remigius, S. Bruno, and the great S. Thomas, on the other. But, after all, both in the past, and present, and future, this dear verse has to do with us. We wait. But why? says the great Carmelite commentator. "Because Thou hast been my help, therefore under the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice. "My help? Let me quote Manoah, and his wife; his wife, when the weaker in sex, but the stronger in faith, said to her husband, "If the LORD were pleased to kill us, He would not have received a burnt-offering at our hands. So also, because Samson, when he had so wonderfully conquered the Philistines, pleaded that former victory as a kind of reason why the second should be granted to him:

"Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of Thy servant, and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? And, latest and noblest of all, David, when he left this on record: "Because Thou hast been my helper, therefore under the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice; and, "Thou, O GOD, hast taught me from my youth up until now; therefore will I tell of Thy wondrous works. But they take the sense in a truer and deeper way. It is, perhaps, rather bold to understand our LORD's Temple as consisting of those three crosses on the summit of Mount Calvary: He Himself in the midst; those that were crucified with Him, Dymas on the right, Gesmas on the left. And in the midst of these, even then pretypifying His own setting forth the Day of Judgment, He so waited for GOD's loving-kindness, He so waited, as that after He had said, "I knew that Thou hearest Me always," He should afterwards receive the full blessing of that waiting in "Lazarus, come forth; Who so waited as regarded Himself, that the same loving-kindness was shown Him; firstly, in the ministrations of the daughters of Jerusalem; then in those Who stood round about His Cross; then in those who, having been so tremblingly afraid to confess Him while He yet dwelt among men, so gloriously paid their homage to Him after He had died the death of a male-factor.

However physically untrue, one cannot wonder that the love of those mediæval saints should thence have gathered, as a philosophical dogma, that the city of Jerusalem was the centre of the earth. And to me it is a noble thought, that they should so bravely have taken GOD's Temple to mean this whole world, which not only ought to be His in fact, but is His by right. In the midst of that Temple, then, that loving-kindness, for which, even in those old times, David waited, was poured forth both to David's seed according to the flesh, and to the truer seed of David according to the Spirit.

9 O GOD, according to thy Name, so is thy praise unto the world's end: thy right hand is full of righteousness. According to Thy Name. And, as one says, how could there be a greater proof of the humility of the Only-begotten SON than this? According to Thy Name—that Name which has not only healed diseases, cast out devils, raised the dead, but in and by which the worlds were framed: what, after so glorious a beginning, might one not expect as a conclusion of the sentence? Was there ever, so it would seem to us, so miserable an apodosis? So is Thy praise. That praise to man so utterly worthless; that praise which has given glory to tyrants and the vilest of sinners? Even so: as it is written in another place, "Whoso offereth Me thanks and praise, he honoureth Me." So is Thy praise. So? So, by the blood of the martyrs was His praise Who was the Martyr of martyrs; so by the testimony of the Confessors was His praise, Who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; so by the love of the Virgins was His praise, Who so drew them that they should run after Him; so by the confession of every righteous man, that He, the only True, the

Pet. Abælard. in loc. A. Ps. liii. Vitriacus, in loc. Cant. i. 4. And therefore, perhaps, if those old saints were better known to the writers of the present day, who, like Mr. Kingsley, are perpetually, in season and out of season, bringing forth this most great and noble truth, that "the earth"—not will be, but—"is the LORD's," they might, perhaps, a little draw back from their assumption of being the first Christian doctors who have proclaimed the same verity. In Jacob. ii. 13.

only Righteous, should have this testimony borne of Him, "This Man hath done nothing amiss." These were the four parts into which our LORD's garments were divided: divided, but not till He had made good His Name, the Name of JESUS, and that Name could only be made good on the Cross. Thy right hand is full of righteousness. And here they ask two questions: the one, why that right hand should be full of righteousness or justice, rather than of mercy? the other, why it should be the right rather than the left hand? S. Chrysostom says that, since the execution of justice is rather the active, the performance of mercy the passive, grace, therefore the right hand, the symbol of strength and action, has that attributed to it. But mediæval writers have found out a higher meaning, basing their interpretation on that saying of S. Paul, "that He should be just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth in JESUS." Thy right hand, they would say, (whatever multitudes shall be placed thereon at the last day to be received into Thy heavenly kingdom, miserable sinners though they were in themselves,) is, nevertheless, not only full of mercy, but full of justice also. Others, again, take the clause in the same sense in which, through so many Eastern monasteries, one sees the verse interpreted, "The souls of the just are in the hand of GOD:" a Divine hand, that is, surrounded with the nimbus of glory, holding within its grasp the liberated spirits of the righteous; and so an interpretation founded partly on the parable of our LORD, and partly on the saying of the Wise Men.

10 Let the mount Sion rejoice, and the daughter of Judah be glad: because of thy judgments. And here they bid us notice how often David calls us to rejoice; which the Son of David never did. And why? Because David himself was a type, not of his suffering, but of his triumphant Son and LORD. "Never but once," says S. Thomas, with that most beautiful modesty which distinguishes writers who, like him, were imbued with, and, so to speak, steeped in, Holy Scripture; "never but once, so far as I remember, was Sion called on to rejoice, during our LORD's sojourn upon earth. And when," he continues, "was that? Just before that same daughter of Sion exclaimed, 'Crucify Him, crucify Him!' So hard," he says, "is it to indulge safely even in spiritual joy." "They were more whom the wood devoured that day than the sword devoured." That is, they were more who, by a false trust in the Cross, threw away their salvation, than they who, by the open assault of Satan, fell into unconcealed and deadly sin. And so, as S. Fulgentius says: "never let us think ourselves more near to some desperate ambush of Satan, than when we have obtained some signal victory over him—only let it have been an easy one: never let us be more afraid of falling into an ambush, than when the host of the Philistines was repelled from us in a way which we cannot understand."

11 Walk about Sion, and go round about her: and tell the towers thereof. 12 Mark well her bulwarks, set up her houses: that ye may tell them that come after.

"Now, then," as says a holy writer, "now, then, all ye that are weak in faith, ye that think the City of our solemnities, after all, to be conquerable by the enemy; come and behold what are its walls, what are its bulwarks; come and observe how, set face to face over against Babylon, the one in its calm and eternal strength, the other in its hurried and pretentious weakness, it, and it alone, shall endure not only the wind and the storm, but the attack of the enemy also. I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem. And who are they? The time, as blessed Paul saith, would fail me to reckon who they are that are first mounting the walls, not of the spiritual Jebus, but of the true Jerusalem. Who are they"—for the writer lived in that terrible time of the thirty years' war, when every Priest in Germany was almost as conversant with the stratagems of a battle-field, and the art of fortification, as with his own ecclesiastical rites—"who are they, save the Martyrs, that are posted on the barbican, awaiting the first onset of the foe? Who are they save the Confessors who, on the outer walls, do their best to repulse the more general assault? While the keep is held out, as the heart of the whole fortress, by those who have taken the vow of religion; while obedience, poverty, and chastity mount their triple banner thereon. Go round about her.

But it is a far dearer sense, that which the Hebrew allows, and which S. Jerome approves, embrace her: and so the Greek Fathers understand the phrase in a meaning somewhat between the two—so go round about her, as to be in love with her, as to take in all her beauties at one glance; while there are not wanting mediæval writers who, taking it in a higher sense still, would bid us understand the phrase of embracing it with our arms. And again; many of the Fathers would interpret the two clauses of the two different estates of Christian men: Walk about Sion—there you have the secular life; embrace her—there you have the religious rule. And then, in the three next phrases, tell the towers—mark well her bulwarks—set up her houses, may we not be well said to have the hundred, and sixty, and thirty-fold of the parable? exactly as in the prophet, "They shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not be faint. And now for the reason why these three divisions are chosen as the types of—to say it with all reverence—the earthly Trinity of all faithful souls. Highest of all are they who mount up by most closely following, in their

S. Ambros. in S. Matt. ii. 6. Diez. Tom. ii. Conc. 4, in Fest. cm. SS. Alps and Passes, Series i. 4, 25. Symmachus in Epist. decret. tom. ii. p. 541. A. typical representation of the Cross, Him Who died on the Cross; so, and so only, as Euthymius says, they can mount. Run you may, and walk you may, without so exact a conformity to the Crucified One; but to be transformed into His most perfect image, three things are needful: the first, eyes like eagles, that can look at the full blaze of the sun; the second, extended wings, like those of the same birds, so as more fully to represent the sign of the Cross; the third, that as the chief characteristic of eagles, as distinguishing them from other birds of prey, is the rapid, decided, intent manner in which they swoop upon their quarry, so that not only while they pounce on it, but while they give it to their young, they never for one moment alight from their wings: so each particular makes them the truer representative of Saints. Next to them we have those who shall run and not be weary, namely, those who, whether in the estate of widowhood, or of the enforced service of our LORD, have given themselves up to Him. And then, lastly, "And shall walk, and not faint;" and that, as one says who himself did not strive after the highest life, involves a thousand graces, each several one being fraught with a victory over some one sin. I might well say, the time would fail me to tell of those who have thus summed up the various gifts set forth in this Psalm. And, fortified by all these interpretations, we ought, as S. Jerome says, to believe that which follows:

13 For this GOD is our GOD for ever and ever: he shall be our guide unto death.

And, GOD be thanked! there is but one difficulty in this verse, and that, on what the word for depends. And they most of them take it as a prophecy of the Church triumphant, as well as the years yet to come of the Church militant: "that ye may tell them that come after." Why? Because by the victories of the past they may understand the expectations of the future. So speaks the greatest doctor of the Church, and a noble passage it is. Them that come after. And who are they? who but those who, having passed through great tribulation, have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb; those who shall neither hunger any more for the vain joys of this world, nor thirst any more for the parching temptations of Satan; but the Lamb, the true Paschal Lamb, as of old time He led forth the tribes of GOD from Egypt, so now also shall lead them, no longer to the rock whose waters failed, but unto living fountains of waters. He shall be our guide unto death. And there we have a singular variation in the Chaldæan version, where it is, He shall be our guide all the days of our youth. And, as one of the earlier commentators says, What is the difference? All the days of a Christian's life in this world,—are they not the days of his youth, and of that only, so far as regards the next? Our guide unto death. So be it. He Who went up to His own death carrying the Cross, would have us in that, and in no other way, follow Him also. Our guide unto death; because He Himself bare the Cross; beyond it, because He Himself rose again from the dead; for ever and ever, because it is written, "I am He that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore."

Rev. i. 18. And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, the LORD highly to be praised; and to the SON, the GOD Who is well known in the earthly and heavenly palaces as a sure refuge: and to the HOLY GHOST, for Whose loving-kindness we wait in the midst of His Temple; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.O GOD, Thou That art great and terrible, Who art adorned as the glorious Prince in the heavenly Jerusalem, expand our souls with spiritual intelligence, that Thy mercy tabernacling within our breasts, we may be made worthy to set forth Thy Holy Name. Through. O most glorious LORD, magnify the joys of all the earth; to the end that faith, being spread abroad, may fill the whole world, and that, according to the glory of Thy Name, Thou mightest enable us to glorify Thy praise. Amen. Through Thy mercy. O Thou That art great and highly to be praised, spread abroad the faith of Thy Church into all realms; to the end that as, in all its degrees, Thou art acknowledged to be GOD, Thou mayest also be praised in the united devotion of her people: receive of Thy mercy, her prayers, and in the midst of the tempests of this world, be Thou her diligent pilot: so that we may by Thy mercy enter that City which Thou hast founded for ever and ever, and may be received therein, and may tell within its towers Thy marvellous works. Amen. Through Thy mercy.

TITLE.—To the Chief Musician. A Psalm for the sons of Korah. Vulgate: To the end: for the sons of Korah a Psalm. Or rather: On the Supreme; a Psalm for the sons of Korah.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST is the Wisdom of the FATHER, by Whom the Prophets speak. He blameth the rich who, when they are dead, go down into the pit. He blameth the rich, both for their possessions and for their vices, who, when they have once gone down into the pit, have no more power. The voice of the Church concerning Lazarus, and the rich man that was clothed in purple. The voice of CHRIST regarding the merits of the righteous and the punishment of the wicked. VEN. BEDE. All the words of this title draw us to the LORD, and all who have been redeemed by His Blood. Through the whole Psalm they are the words of the Omnipotent Son. In the first part He tells what He shall say or shall give to the faithful during the period of His Incarnation: "O hear ye this," &c. In the second He prophesieth that which will happen to the fools, "for He saith," &c. In the third He foretelleth those things which will be alike common to the righteous and to the unrighteous: "Be not thou afraid when one is made rich," &c.

SYRIAC. A prophecy concerning the might of the nations, and a document of divine judgment. S. JEROME. The HOLY GHOST spake this Psalm through the Prophet in the person of preachers: or, that it might teach the rich men of this world to despise their wealth and to beware the guile of the serpent, and that it might call earnestly on the whole earth to hear the Word of GOD.

Various Uses.Monastic. Tuesday. I, Nocturn.

Antiphons.Gregorian. Great is the LORD, * and highly to be praised. Parisian. And when I am in my health * Thou upholdest me, and shalt set me before Thy Face for ever. Monastic. Great is the LORD, * and highly to be praised. 1 O hear ye this, all ye people: ponder it with your ears, all ye that dwell in the world: 2 High and low, rich and poor: one with another.

Strange it is that two Psalms so near together, as this and the 45th should, and should alone, imitate, or be the forerunners of, two works of David's son: this, Ecclesiastes, the former, the Canticles. Then the great question is: who it is that here speaks? Is it an Evangelist or Apostle? so seem the great doctors of the Eastern Church to think. Is it the HOLY GHOST Himself? Who else, asks S. Basil, could have the right to address such an august audience as all ye that dwell in the world? Is it, as S. Augustine would teach us, prophecy personified, and thus indeed speaking to all people, and that not of one generation only, but to those who should afterwards rise up as long as the world lasts. Learn one lesson, says S. Peter Chrysologus; learn one lesson, O thou preacher: be thine audience never so large, if thou hast a message from GOD,—then call to mind the saying of Ehud: "I have a message from GOD unto thee, O king; say with David, "I will speak of Thy testimonies even before kings, and will not be ashamed; obey the command given to Ezekiel; "They, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, for they are a rebellious house, yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them. High and low, rich and poor.

And first notice that, if it be our dear LORD Who is speaking, as other mediæval Saints have taken it—who has a better right than He to call on each class, on every rank? He, so highly exalted in the bosom of the FATHER; He, so lowly tabernacling in the womb of the Virgin; He, so rich as the LORD of the City whose streets are of pure gold; He, so pure, that He had the wood of the manger for His cradle, the wood of the boat's stern for a pillow in His troubled life, the wood of the Cross for His last bed. Well may the Eastern Church exclaim, "Thou wast high, O CHRIST, and yet Thou didst condescend to my humility; Thou wast lowly, and Thou didst raise me up to Thy glory: Thou didst sleep,—and Thou didst arouse the sleepers: Thou didst pray for the unity of Thy Church, and Thou didst rend asunder the veil of the temple. Thou wast buried in the tomb, and Thou didst raise all men from all tombs. Glory be to Thee, CHRIST, our GOD."

S. Bernard. in loc. Second Stasis of the Blameless; on the Great Sabbath. 3 My mouth shall speak of wisdom: and my heart shall muse of understanding. 4 I will incline mine ear to the parable: and shew my dark speech upon the harp. There is very little doubt how the two first clauses are to be taken. Wisdom—we can understand that of none save of Him Who is the true Wisdom, the Eternal Wisdom of the FATHER. Understanding—and almost with one accord they take that of the types and parables in which That Wisdom is concealed in the Old Testament; beginning from the riddle of Samson, down to the last chapter of Malachi. And in this sense this same verse might be the motto of all the Psalms. For, as says one of the greatest preachers of modern times, "Worthy is the Lamb Which was slain to receive riches." And what riches does that Divine Lamb desire? Search, and you will find. "The law of Thy mouth is dearer unto me than thousands of gold and silver." These, then, are the riches which He is worthy to receive, and worthy to receive on this account, that He was slain. And, looking forward to the continuation of this Psalm, the same preacher teaches us, and that so nobly: wisdom, according to him, being the condescension of GOD to man; understanding the upraising of man to GOD; both one and the other meet in a

S. Hieronym. in 1 Cor. i. 30. Cassiodorus. Rufinus. single doctrine and in that only; the doctrine of the Incarnation as being the base of that of the Sacraments. "By the Incarnation, GOD, Who was incomprehensible, vouchsafed to be comprehended in one place; by the Sacrament of Sacraments, CHRIST, Who was, according to His human Nature, comprehensible, becomes as it were infinite, and is at one time in all the places of the world. By the Incarnation, GOD, Who was invisible, became visible, and was thus seen of the eyes of men: by that Sacrament, CHRIST, Who was visible, becomes invisible, because neither do we, nor can we, therein see Him. By the Incarnation, GOD, Who was immortal and impassible, becomes mortal and passible; not only became passible, but of a verity, suffered and died: in the Sacrament, though He thus humbles Himself, He can die no more, He can suffer no more, He can become subject to the ordinary circumstances of that material under which He is received, no more: at once so glorious and so lowly; at once so exposing Himself to, and yet so incapable of, corruption."

My dark speech upon the harp. What dark speech? Surely this, that "it is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting;" that, "out of the eater cometh forth meat;" that out of the lion honey is to be obtained: that only by the rod is the honeycomb to yield its strength: that only by casting (and that truly is a proverb in most modern nations,) the helve after the hatchet is the iron to swim. And see how gloriously it is said, I will incline mine ear to the parable. As if there were but one parable worth the attention of man; as if in that parable—and indeed it is so,—lay hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And why is the dark speech to be shown upon the harp, rather than upon any other instrument? For the old reason, or rather, the old double reason. The first, let Adam of S. Victor give in his own words;

Sicut chorda musicorum Tandem sonum dat sonorum Plectri ministerio, Sic in chely tormentorum Melos Christi confessorum Martyris dat tensio: Or, if you prefer it in the words of S. Hildebert: I cannot help giving here the interpretation which Ayguan—the first in my opinion of mediæval Commentators of the Psalms,—gives of the word parable. Says he, It is derived from para, which in Greek means near, and bole which means an opinion; as not being an opinion or judgment in itself, but something near to one, and which may lead others to form one. That, then, is the first reason; the other, the old explanation of the Acts, how JESUS began both to do and to teach: teaching by doing, just as the harp can only give forth its sound when struck by the hand. 5 Wherefore should I fear in the days of wickedness: and when the wickedness of my heels compasseth me round about?

In the first place let us see the different meaning attached to the verse by varying translations. The Vulgate: wherefore should I fear in the evil day? The iniquity of my foot-step shall surround me. The LXX. the same; except heel instead of footstep. But in all probability: why should I fear, in the days of evil, that the iniquity of my supplication should overthrow me? And so in Psalm xli. 9. All mediæval commentators are agreed in this: that the present verse is one of the most difficult in the whole Book of Psalms. Some take it—looking at the heel as the extremity of the body—as if the sense were: Wherefore should I fear even though the enemy gathered together against me all his instruments of mischief, assembled all his squadrons, did (as we say) his worst? Others take it in the sense; that for every sin we have committed, and of which we have, as it were, left an impression in the road over which we have travelled, there ought—if there were nothing but our own righteousness to be depended on,—to be a swift retribution? So then, the wherefore leads us to the Cross at once, and to the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, therefore undergone that to us there might be the eternal joy in a Paradise of pleasure. And others again would interpret the phrase of that great enemy who is always so watchful,—always so persevering in remembering and dragging out to light the sins of past years:

that just as an Indian in the forest or in the prairies, tracks out the impression of the footsteps of his enemy, invisible to any eye—save to one practised in such schemes of vengeance,—so Satan, when he stands to accuse us, as he did Joshua, the son of Josedec, in the presence of the Angel of the LORD, will set forth every false step we have taken, every deviation from the King's highway that we have made,—and that indeed in the evil day, that day, as S. Joseph of the Studium says,

That evil day, that day of speechless dread, When Thou shalt come to judge the quick and dead, I shudder to foresee, O GOD, what then shall be. It will be unnecessary to go through the eighteen explanations which mediæval Commentators have given; it is not wonderful that the Fathers of the Greek Church, well versed in the conceptions of their tragic poets, and therein having learnt the terror of an Erinnys always dogging the footsteps of the sinner, till she had hunted him down, should take, in preference to other interpretations, the last mentioned one of the footprints followed up in the sand. 6 There be some that put their trust in their goods : and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches. 7 But no man may deliver his brother : nor make agreement unto God for him : S. Hieron. in Jon. S. Bernard. in Cantic. ii. 9. Ludolph.

It is a very bold idea which some of the earlier mediæval writers bring forward. The wickedness of my heels in the foregoing verse, they take to mean that of which our LORD speaks, "They pierced My feet. Then, what are the wealth and the multitude of the riches of which these in the Psalms boast themselves? What, but our dear LORD's vestments, some of which the soldiers parted; for one of which they cast lots among themselves? "Ah," as one says, "if we could but have in reality, what they had in parable, if we could but have in antitype, what they had in type, what more abundant, what more ineffable riches could there be! For notice: That glorious LORD clothed Himself with the vesture of our mortality to the end that we might be clothed with the golden garment of His righteousness: not according to that later heresy of which mediæval times knew nothing, as superseding our own, but as co-incorporating our poor deeds with His most perfect work and thereby rendering them acceptable to His FATHER. And here, whatever may be said of the true sense of the Hebrew original, there can be no doubt that that meaning on which the Church of GOD, Eastern or Western, has built all its interpretations for a thousand years, is true in the deepest and truest sense. A brother redeemeth not, man shall redeem. They try—those Latin Commentators—those words under every different aspect of interrogation, of assertion, of admiration.

Brother, (to take it in the indicative meaning) that is brother according to our natural humanity cannot offer himself as a sacrifice for the whole race of Adam: Can man redeem? that is, can any one so take upon himself our common nature, as to atone for that guilt which in the same nature was committed? As I have often said, our work here is not to investigate what the precise and critical meaning of the Hebrew may be, but to interpret each Psalm in the sense in which the Church, not the Synagogue, has received it; ay, and received it too, for eighteen instead of ten centuries. Can man redeem? Nature says, no. Every Pagan religion says, no. The Synagogue itself says, no. But man

It need hardly be observed that S. Bernard was not, and could not have been, acquainted with Satan's masterpiece (in one sense) in heathen countries, when a mortal like Krishna, in Hindooism, becomes first suffering and then triumphant: is first encircled by the serpent, and then sets his heel on its head. can redeem. That Man, that Elder Brother, that Man Who so took the nature which was then Satan's prey, that He might exalt it to the throne of God: Who so assumed the human soul beset with outer darkness, that He might give it a portion in the inaccessible light: Who so took our weakness that He might make it victorious over thrones, and dominions, and principalities, and powers; That Man shall redeem, and That Man shall redeem, not though, but because He is our brother. 8 For it cost more to redeem their souls: so that he must let that alone for ever; 9 Yea, though he live long: and see not the grave.

Although the meaning is the same in all the great translations, most surely the beauty and the emphasis remain with ours. It cost more—than what? As S. Bernard says: More than all the sufferings of all the Martyrs, more than all the life-long patience of all the Confessors, more than all the purity of all the Virgins. But not more than one hour, nay, nor more than one minute of Calvary; of that courage, of that patience, of that purity. "Ye are bought with a price:" and as S. Paul continues, "Be not ye therefore the servants of men:" that is, of the flesh: of that flesh, of which it is written, "The adulteress will hunt for the precious life." "Precious!" cries S. Fulbert; "and oh, how precious ought that to be to us, O LORD JESUS, which stood Thee in such a cost! How precious that, for the sake of which the tree was cast into the pool of Mara; the helve caused the iron to swim; the water, the salvation of Israel, was turned into the appearance of the blood which tempted the Moabites to their destruction: a redemption which cost no less than the betrothal of the thistle that was in Lebanon to the cedar that was in Lebanon. On the other hand, it is curious to observe how the interpreters of the tenth and eleventh centuries, that time of most horrible corruption in the Church, see here, as they always do when they can, rather the threatening of Eternal punishment than the promises of Eternal salvation. I will not here take it so, because I know that this sense in this passage was never intended by the HOLY GHOST: but you may easily understand how terribly saints like S. Peter Damiani, like S. Bruno, like S. Gregory VII., work out the

Here, in treating on the Incarnation,—or, as he himself expresses it, on the third Article of the Creed, composed by S. John the Evangelist, Ayguan dilates at great length on the third foundation of New Jerusalem, the chalcedony. I do not know that, in any other particular, does the mediæval Church seem so to have acted out the Apostolic doctrine, "of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things," than in the 'mythology' of those precious stones which encircled her chalices, and crosses, and ecclesiastical vestments. S. Bernard. in S. Luc. s.

translation of the Vulgate, and he shall labour to eternity, and yet shall live for ever, and shall never see death. Most true is it, that which a great Portuguese preacher tells us, that this passage is one of those which, taken one way, is the savour of life unto life; in the other, the savour of death unto death. So that he must let that alone for ever, he of whom the sentence is gone forth that the harvest is past, the summer is ended, and he not saved; yea, though he live long, namely, in the punishment prepared for the ungodly; and see not the grave, the grave, that is, as a place of rest: or, He must let that alone for ever, He, namely, Who had taken the work of our salvation upon Himself, if the cup had passed from Him, if He, in His human nature, had lived without dying, if He had never ascended the Cross, if He had never lain in the new tomb, if He had never become the first-fruits of them that sleep. If all this had been, then indeed, He must have left the salvation of man alone for ever: at the very possibility of which God forbid any Christian should hint without immediately adding, as S. Paul does in the like case; "but now is CHRIST risen from the dead: for since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection from the dead."

10 For he seeth that wise men also die, and perish together: as well as the ignorant and foolish, and leave their riches for other. Truly, as says the great Carmelite doctor, we all see,—see every day of our lives,—see as a spectacle both to angels and to men, the Wise Man, the God only wise, die; that by death He might overcome death, that by the crown of pain, and the title of derision, and the sceptre of scorn, He might reign from the tree. Truly the earth saw and owned that this Wise Man died, when the earth did quake and the rocks rent, and the veil of the temple was rent in twain. Truly the heavens saw that this Wise Man died, when there was darkness over all the earth from the sixth hour until the ninth hour; just as the same heavens had borne witness to the Birth of that same Wise Man, when the star stood in the east, and drew the three wise men to worship Him. Or take it in a wider sense. He seeth that wise men also die and perish together. Verily they do, as long ago it was written in the Wisdom of Solomon: "We fools accounted his life madness, and his end to be without honour; how is he numbered among the children of God, and his lot is among the saints." And therefore, as S. Augustine says—and his saying has been amplified by his followers, and therefore were they wise, because they died and perished together; because they, sometimes singly, but more often by twos or threes, and sometimes by tens and hundreds, died for Him Who died for them; perished for Him Who never will suffer one hair of their heads to be lost at the last day. And so Prudentius gloriously speaks:

Plena magnorum domus angelorum Non timet mundi fragilis ruinam, Tot sinu gestans simul offerenda Munera Christo. Cum Deus, dextram quatiens coruscam, Nube subnixus veniet rubente, Gentibus justam positurus æquo Pondere libram : Orbe de magno caput excitata, Obviam Christi properantis ibit Civitas quæque, pretiosa portans Dona canistris. 11 And yet they think that their houses shall continue for ever : and that their dwelling-places shall endure from one generation to another; and call the lands after their own names.

And yet they think. And what thought was ever, in the eyes of the world, a thought of greater folly than this? That He Who, for three years and a half, had with great difficulty, and barely, notwithstanding all His miracles, set up His house on earth, should, when He came to that most shameful death of malefactors, even the death of the Cross, imagine that His house should continue for ever! Be it so: yet He had a participator in that which this miserable world called folly:—a participator? Yes: and one that spake, not of a house, but of a kingdom that should be everlasting: "LORD, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom. And that their dwelling places shall endure. And so observe how it has hardly ever been known that one especial dwelling-place, that one particular Church, should be swallowed up by Satan. Unhappily, we cannot now say, as those mediæval saints could, that there is not one single example in which—the fight between the two being fair and hand to hand—the Church was overthrown: for, we must remember too sadly the examples of Japan and Cochin China. But yet on the whole, see how gloriously the last clause of the verse belongs to our LORD; that He should call the lands after His own Name. See how even thus His words are gone out unto the ends of the earth.

Take it of Him alone, and how many a city and province, by its very title, has owned its subjection to Him Who is King of kings and LORD of lords. Take it in the plural; and what colony on the mainland, what island in the sea, is there, which has not some province, some cape, some river, some city, baptized with a name from those of His saints? And so, O LORD JESUS, do Thou go forth conquering and to conquer! changing into the title of Bethel the place which was called Luz at the first; setting up altars to Thyself,—altars on which should be sacrificed Thine own most precious Body and Blood,—altars on which also shall be presented the oblation of the bodies and souls of Thy faithful people as a holy and reasonable service.

12 Nevertheless, man will not abide in honour: seeing he may be compared unto the beasts that perish; this is the way of them. They well compare the idea which Adam entertained of himself in the moment of the fall, with that knowledge which God had concerning the result of the fall. Adam believed him who said, "Ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil." God says, He may be compared unto the beasts that perish. Thus Satan's exhortation to divinity is God's degradation to brutality. Man will not abide in honour. And well says the same Carmelite: "Oh, sad and tearful mutation! That man, the inheritor of Paradise, the Lord of the earth, the Citizen of heaven, the servant of the LORD of Sabaoth, the co-heir of celestial spirits, the co-equal of heavenly virtues, should, by a sudden conversion, have need of a Redeemer, Who, because of the weakness it was necessary He should bear, took on Himself human infancy; because of the rejection it was needful that He should suffer, lay in the manger; because of the example He would set in trampling down pride, had no better courtiers than the ox and the ass: the ox to acknowledge Whom man denied; the ass to adore, in the stable, Him from Whom Adam would have fled in Paradise. Wherefore, O man, adore His cradle, Whose empire thou didst at first contemn: acknowledge Him as the poor Infant Whom thou didst refuse as the Almighty King." Or, if you will, take it in another sense, Man will not abide in honour. Why not? And let the verse of the mediæval hymn answer:

What love of Thine was that which led To take our woes upon Thy head, And pangs and cruel death to bear To ransom us from death's despair? 13 This is their foolishness: and their posterity praise their saying. And now see whether any more true description could have been given of that which was then, and that which is now, of the life of the saints. This is their foolishness. This: their struggles against themselves, their battles against the world, their life-long warfare against Satan. But after all, when the battle is over, when the crown is won, when the pilgrimage is at an end, then their posterity praise their saying: then their descendants build the tombs of them to whom their fathers gave the crown of martyrdom. 14 They lie in the hell like sheep, death gnaweth upon them, and the righteous shall have domination over them in the morning : their beauty shall consume in the sepulchre out of their dwelling.

Is it not better, is it not dearer, is it not more like Him Who is Love, that of two opposite senses in these many-sided Psalms, we should take that which best represents that love? In each separate diamond, out of all the facets, we may at all events choose that which sets forth His glory the most, to Whose worship all the Psalms and all their parts minister. Therefore we will not take this verse in its darker and sadder meaning, but rather see in it how even out of the depths of misery

As He Who was dumb before His shearers like a sheep, so His servants giving their lives for Him as He for us, lie in hell, are received in the grave as a sacrifice well pleasing to Him. Death gnaweth upon them. And notice the force of the word, so true in its symbolical sense. It gnaws : it does not devour or destroy ; but does its little worst, and that for a season only : and the Righteous,—He Who only is righteous, He Who alone is King of kings and LORD of lords, He Whose holiness shall atone for the sins of the whole world, He shall have domination over them in the morning ; in that morning of the resurrection when He, now standing on the shore of everlasting peace, shall call those who have been toiling all the night of this world, to gird to them those vestments of good works which, save for Him they never would have possessed, and without which they must have been that which S. Paul so earnestly prays against—" not that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon." Their beauty shall consume in the sepulchre. And it is well said, Their beauty. For there was One Whose beauty, so far as human eyes beheld it, first had its existence out of, and because of, the sepulchre. Till He was therein laid, He had no form nor comeliness, and when men saw Him, there was no beauty that they should desire Him. So then it follows very well :

15 But GOD hath delivered my soul from the place of hell : for he shall receive me. Even the Jewish commentators here saw our LORD : and how shall not His own servants see that glorious redemption on the third day? first in the Head, and then in the members. He is speaking of the redemption which CHRIST now showeth in Himself. For He hath descended into hell, and hath ascended into heaven. What we have seen in the Head we have found in the Body. For what we have believed in the Head, they that have seen have themselves told us, and by their means have we seen : " For we are all one body." But A. are they better that see, we worse that have been told? Not so, saith the Life Itself, our Shepherd Himself. For He rebuketh a certain disciple of his doubting, and desiring to handle His scars; and when he had so handled them, and had cried out, saying, "My LORD and my GOD," seeing His disciple doubting, and looking to the whole world which believe, "Blessed," saith He, "are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."

16 Be not thou afraid, though one be made rich : or if the glory of his house be increased ; 17 For he shall carry nothing away with him when he dieth : neither shall his pomp follow him. So one, that One Great Enemy, was enriched by his first conquest of Eden: enriched by the spoil of countless souls, all, in that one action made over to him; so the glory of his house was increased, when the creature made by GOD so very good was so infinitely marred; when Adam, created himself in the Image and likeness of GOD, begat a son in his own image and likeness. But these spoils shall be won back from him again: the stronger than the strong man will bind him and spoil his house: the prey shall be taken from the mighty, and the lawful captive delivered. S. Cæsar. Arel. Hom. i.

Neither did his pomp follow him, when after he had showed the LORD all the kingdoms of the earth in a moment of time, he himself was put to flight with one "Get thee hence, Satan:" Neither did his pomp follow him when the oracles gradually ceased to give their responses, when the garlanded hecatombs no longer crowded the temple doors, when the stones and pillars mouldered into decay, when the temple of Apollo itself, in the last Pagan struggle of Satan, under his apostate servants could only offer, instead of the thousand victims that once attested its fame, one poor fowl to its false god. 18 For while he lived, he counted himself an happy man: and so long as thou doest well unto thyself, men will speak good of thee.

Marvellously true as is our own translation in itself, worthy, if we may so speak, of inspiration, it is not the sense of the Hebrew. The Vulgate is nearer. Quia anima ejus in vitâ ipsius benedicetur, confitebitur tibi cum benefeceris ei: or, nearer still, Though, while he lived, he rejoiced his own soul, then shall he praise thee for doing well to thyself. Then: then when the things that are seen have passed away before the invisible world; then they who rejoiced their own souls, who said, "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry," then they shall praise thee; thee, the poor servant of the Poor King; thee, who didst bravely take up thy cross and follow thy Master; thee, who didst lay up thy treasures where thief cannot steal, nor moth nor rust consume; then they shall praise thee for thus doing well to thyself. "Then shall the righteous man stand in great boldness before the face of such as have afflicted him, and made no account of his labours. And they repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit, shall say within themselves, This was he whom we had sometimes in derision, and a proverb of reproach; we fools accounted his life madness, and his end to be without honour: how is he numbered with the children of GOD, and his lot is among the saints. For doing well to thyself.

Oh, how well they did to themselves, those Martyrs who gave their bodies to the wild beasts, to the racks, to the scourge, to the stake, to the equuleus, to the scorpions, to all the torments which Satan devised for CHRIST's athletes! Oh, how well they did to themselves, those Confessors whose whole life was one long struggle with the world, and the flesh, and the devil: how well, when they were in perils often, in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness. Oh, how well they did to themselves, those Virgins, who for CHRIST's sake bartered all the love and joy and softness of this world, for the midnight service, and the cold cell, and the rough garment, and the discipline!

19 He shall follow the generation of his fathers: and shall never see light. What light, save that light like to a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal—that most glorious light of the Beatific Vision? He, Who did good to himself while he lived; he, who never for CHRIST's sake bore shame or reproach; he, who never endured hardness, as a good soldier of his LORD; he, who following the generation of his fathers, even from the time of Adam's fall, obeyed his own heart's lusts rather than His LORD's law: not for him is that blessed abode, where 20 Man being in honour hath no understanding: but is compared unto the beasts that perish. And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, Who shall deliver my soul from the place of hell: and to the SON, Who showeth His dark speech upon the harp: and to the HOLY GHOST, by Whom the mouth speaks of wisdom;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.Fill, O LORD, our mouths with Thy wisdom; that we, being always mindful that Thou didst become man, and didst redeem us from the power of the grave, may be filled with the light of Thy Countenance: Who livest and reignest. Let wisdom, we beseech Thee, O LORD, open our mouth, and let prudence dwell on our tongue: and, to the end we may not be compared unto the beasts that perish, instruct us in the discipline of Thy Divine laws; that so our understanding may comprehend Thee on earth, and may enjoy Thee for ever in heaven. Through.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST is the GOD of Gods, and severs the righteous from the unrighteous. This Psalm is to be read with S. Matthew. The Prophet speaketh concerning the advent of CHRIST and the future Judgment. A rebuke of the Jews. Concerning martyrdom. VEN. Bede. [After explaining who Asaph was.] In the first part of the Psalm, the synagogue of the faithful speaks concerning the First and the Second Advent of the LORD CHRIST: The Lord even. In the Second, the LORD JESUS CHRIST Himself admonishes the people that, leaving such victims as bullocks and goats, they offer to Him the sacrifice of praise: Hear, O ye people. And in the That is, with the description of the Last Judgment in chap. xxv. Venerable Bede has been endeavouring to explain why the word synagogue may also be applied to the Christian Church; as it once, and only once, is in the New Testament.

third, the synagogue replies, imputing our iniquities to the sinners in the midst of her: But not the ungodly. SYRIAC PSALTER. Named from Asaph the Prophet, this Psalm treateth of the legal sacrifices in the law of Moses, and how they have been done away. And us it admonishes that, unless we follow out GOD'S commandments, we shall be held in abomination by Him. S. JEROME. This Psalm divides the righteous from the wicked, the celestial from the terrene, saints from sinners: the Prophet protesteth that he speaketh not from himself, but that the LORD speaketh by him.

Various Uses. — Antiphons.Gregorian. The LORD * even the most mighty GOD, hath spoken. Parisian. I will not sit among the ungodly * I will wash my hands among the innocent, O LORD. Monastic. The same. 1 The LORD, even the most mighty GOD, hath spoken: and called the world, from the rising up of the sun, unto the going down thereof. Here, in the first place, we have once more a marvellous witness to the mystery of the HOLY TRINITY. The Lord: there we have the incommunicable Name: even the most mighty God: there we have the operation of the HOLY GHOST in the human race; hath spoken: but how? And we have the answer in the second clause: From the rising of the sun. That is, in those thirty-three years, at the commencement of which the true Sun arose, take it as you will, in Nazareth or in Bethlehem. Unto the going down thereof: that going down on Mount Calvary, after that the created sun had been darkened from the sixth hour until the ninth hour. Hath called the world: as Adam so magnificently says:

Lux jucunda, lux insignis, Quâ de throno missus ignis In Christi discipulos, Corda replet, linguas ditat, Ad concordes nos invitat Linguæ cordis modulos. Called the world. Or as it is in the Vulgate, earth. The Prophet Jeremiah will tell us how. "O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD." When GOD calls man whom He has made, man whom He has redeemed, man whom He H Pinto in Ezech. cap. 23. Bredem. B. in Dan. cap. 1. Jer. xxii. 29. Hugo de S. Victore in loc. has regenerated. And if you ask in what order the earth is called, another Psalm sets it forth: "The LORD's Name is praised from the rising up of the sun unto the going down of the same:" that is, that the faith first preached in the East, thence spread to the West: only a repetition of what the present verse tells us.

2 Out of Sion hath GOD appeared : in perfect beauty. And as they say most truly, here is one of the glorious contradictions in which Holy Scripture delights. Of one and the same Man it is written: "He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him:" and also out of Sion He hath appeared in perfect beauty. The Prophet is not now speaking of His appearance from Jerusalem: Where in the land of beauty All things of beauty meet, as Bernard says; no; nor yet of His glory on Mount Tabor, the earnest and foretaste of that imperishable light and incorruptible beauty. This perfect beauty was made manifest in the Pavement, in the Via Dolorosa, on the Cross; just as another Prophet tells us: "Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of Hosts shall reign in Mount Sion" (notice the parallel expression,) "and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously." Hugh of S. Victor will have it that the perfect beauty is spoken of our LORD's sinless humanity.

3 Our GOD shall come, and shall not keep silence: there shall go before him a consuming fire, and a mighty tempest shall be stirred up round about him. Or, as it is in the Vulgate, Our God shall manifestly come. And in this sense the present verse is beautifully selected for the Psalmellus of the First Sunday in Advent in the Ambrosian Office Book. This Coming of our LORD,—is it to be taken of His First or Second Advent? And the Fathers are almost equally divided. S. Irenæus takes it to refer to both. S. Chrysostom understands it of the Second Advent, and in favour of that interpretation compares the two verses: There shall go before Him a consuming fire: and, "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be." So also S. Jerome, so S. Cyprian. On the contrary, S. Cyril

S. Matt. xxiv. 27. In Esai. cap. 30. De bono patientiæ. In Schol. de Incarn. cap. 2. Thesaur. lii. cap. 1. Ayguan hence draws an argument that the Catholic faith had left the East: it is curious to read the words with which he continues: In parte occidentali hodie fides remansit; ut in Italiâ, Franciâ, Alamaniâ, Angliâ, et hujusmodi. of Alexandria and Nicetas understand it of the First. There shall go before Him a consuming fire. And notice that this is the first place in which the Last Day is spoken of as to be accompanied with fire. After this time indeed we hear of that fire again and again: "Their fire shall not be quenched;" "A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth;" "His throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire;" "The LORD GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep and it did eat up a part." So again: "The day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire;" "In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not GOD." "Do we fear? Be we changed and we shall not fear. Let chaff fear the fire: what has it to do with gold? What thou mayest do is now in thine own power: thou canst not say that, for want of being warned, sin has overcome thee against thy will." But we may take it in another sense, and that a dearer: and that is, of the fire of love. A consuming fire indeed: for we know how, through the strength of that love, all tortures have been despised, all contempt contemned, all death counted but as the porch to eternal life.

Isa. lxvi. 24. Joel ii. 3. Dan. vii. 9. Amos vii. 4. 1 Cor. iii. 13. 2 Thess. i. 8. A. 4 He shall call the heaven from above: and the earth, that he may judge his people. He shall call. So undoubtedly it is in the Hebrew: so also in the LXX., προσκαλέσεται. But by a very easy mistake of the original, we have in the Latin the perfect for the future: Advocavit instead of Advocabit. This is the reading of the best manuscripts; and S. Gregory the Great so quotes it five times; and especially S. Bruno so cites it. But the Ambrosian Psalter gives it rightly; though on the other hand S. Cyprian takes the perfect. Oh, how happy for the Church, if controversies like these made the sum total of all her disagreements! Then medieval writers take occasion to discuss the question why, the resurrection of the body having been promised, it should not take place at once, as our dear LORD's did, but should be reserved for the Last Day. Their discussions on such an abstract question could not possibly be given in brief here; but the Carmelite compresses the difficulties and the replies to those difficulties into the smallest space.

5 Gather my saints together unto me: those that have made a covenant with me with sacrifice. With sacrifice. And first of all we think of that great Sacrifice, offered, the One Victim for the whole world, on the Cross on Mount Calvary.

But not in a higher, but in a more prolonged sense than this, it is that of the most blessed Sacrament; the continuation and the transfiguration of that first Sacrifice, made in the upper room by our LORD Himself. S. Augustine is poor in a singular degree in his interpretation of this text; so poor, that not one of those who have followed him have thought it worth while to enter into his explanation. But there is a most glorious sense in which mediæval saints have taken these words. Gather My saints together. So they do. So, first, in the commemoration of those more glorious martyrs, who—like him on whose festival these words are written—endured tortures almost beyond the imagination of man to conceive: but all saints in that most Divine festival, which unites together from one end of the world to the other, all the most illustrious servants of our LORD; those that have made a covenant with Me, first in the Blood of the Lamb, and who have then renewed that covenant, and, so to speak, graven it more deeply by their own blood. There are few passages to be found in any modern divines which, to my mind, speak with a truer eloquence than the following passage of the great Portuguese theologian, Vieyra: "It is not because, in that most dreadful day, the sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall not give their light; it is not because upon the earth there shall be perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;

it is not because men's hearts shall fail them for fear, and for looking for the things that shall be coming upon the earth: all this is little. All this is little? All this is absolutely nothing. This is it which makes that day so full of terror to the best (best, that is, so far as in this corrupt state of the world we call best), so utterly full of entire despair to such as have permitted things to run their own course,—have not in that deluge stretched forth their hands to escape from the general flood,—have not in that fire, at the cost of any limb, and that limb given up with whatever amount of pain, delivered themselves from the general conflagration. But so it is: so men will do: so, for a miserable and momentary pleasure here, they will run the risk—the risk? they will incur the certainty—of such a punishment hereafter. The body? yes: and for gluttony, or, as in other countries it may be said, for drunkenness; and what, whether in the new world or the old world, is, I more than fear, an equal temptation—impurity. These are indeed the great

The great Portuguese theologian, the great politician of his day, had seen drunkenness enough in other nations, and could not but have felt thankful that the crime was one which was then, as it is now, almost unknown to his own country. affliction; these are the waves of the sea, that terrible sea of damnation, roaring; these ought to be the cause of (and oh, would to GOD they were!) men's hearts failing them for fear." 6 And the heaven shall declare his righteousness: for GOD is Judge himself. And first of all we look to the nineteenth Psalm, where we find who these heavens are. They did indeed declare His righteousness when they stood forth at the day of Pentecost "to declare His righteousness; to declare, I say, as at this time, His righteousness"—how He should "be just, and yet the Justifier of them that believe in JESUS." They did declare His righteousness when, east, west, and south, and by-and-by, north, they went out, more clearly preaching Him Who, by the prophets of old, was afore spoken of as 'the LORD our righteousness.' And, just as these earthly heavens are not always equally clear to an earthly eye, but sometimes overshadowed with vapours, sometimes glorious, in the pure brightness of a summer's morn, so sometimes more clearly, as in those downright discourses of S. Peter at Jerusalem; sometimes more inductively, as when, in the bright starlight, S. Paul stood forth in the midst of Mars' Hill. S. Thomas, in a sermon on Advent, discusses the question, why He, Who condescends here to be a party in the trial, should declare that He, in that very trial being Judge, should therefore give the world occasion to admire His righteousness. And the magnificent passage in which he speaks of justice in the abstract, one of the most glorious dissertations of mediæval times, should certainly have been quoted here, did space allow.

7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak: I myself will testify against thee, O Israel; for I am GOD, even thy GOD. I will speak: or rather, I will speak out: putting one in mind of that saying of S. Paul's, "About the time of forty years suffered He their manners in the wilderness." After that indeed He spoke out; after that He spoke out in that threat, which the Western Church repeats daily (save on those two days when the superabundance of the love that flows from Calvary forbids even the repetition of any threat), "Unto whom I sware in My wrath, if they shall enter into My rest." Will testify against thee: rather, will bring thee forward as a witness. Our version, with the Roman, reads for: the LXX. and the Vulgate, more literally, I am God, even thy God; that is, this proposition it is that Israel is to bear witness to. Mediæval and primitive writers have here seen a reference to the I AM THAT I AM of the bush; but mistakenly, however beautifully. Even thy God. Oh happy

S. Basil. in loc. S. Thomas, Serm. 52 in loc. So S. Thom. Aquinas. Hugo de S. Vict. S. Augustin. S. Bruno. warrior, who thus can appropriate infinite strength! Oh safe penitent, who thus is received by infinite purity! Thy God now, in the battle; thy God then, in the peace; thy God here, under types and shadows; thy God there, in the Beatific Vision! 8 I will not reprove thee because of thy sacrifices, or for thy burnt-offerings: because they were not alway before me. 9 I will take no bullock out of thine house: nor he-goat out of thy folds. 10 For all the beasts of the forest are mine: and so are the cattle upon a thousand hills. 11 I know all the fowls upon the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are in my sight. 12 If I be hungry, I will not tell thee: for the whole world is mine, and all that is therein. 13 Thinkest thou that I will eat bulls' flesh: and drink the blood of goats?

A. Now we come to the glorious preparation for the Great Sacrifice; the truer and nobler Paraseeue of the truer and nobler Passion. But not now proclaimed for the first time. Four hundred years before, on those mountains of Moab, had the question been asked by Balak, "Wherewithal shall I come before the LORD, or bow myself before the Most High GOD?" and answered by that unhappy prophet, who indeed "beheld Him, but not nigh." Because they were not always before Me. The Vulgate, with the same sense, Thy burnt-offerings were always before Me. Not, then, for this art thou to be blamed. But others will have the sense similar with that of Isaiah, "They are a trouble unto Me; I am weary to bear them." But, in a dear mystical sense, Thy whole burnt-offerings are ever in My sight. The whole body, and soul, and spirit, consumed with the burning fire of love; that is the precious sacrifice in His eyes, Who is Love Himself. And here they take occasion to argue the question, whether the Jewish Sacrifices were permitted, as the less evil, when compared with the danger of idolatry; or enjoined as a real, though less perfect, good. And, notwithstanding the names of S. Chrysostom and Hesychius, who affirm the former, the Angelic Doctor, followed by a multitude of later authorities, unhesitatingly maintain the latter. I will take no bullock. Very remarkably it is in the Chaldaic, From the day of the destruction of the House of My Divinity, I have not received bullocks from thy hand: thus transporting us at once to the "full, perfect, and sufficient

"Qui tamen Hieronymus non esse vel hinc intelligitur," as L. very truly says.

Sacrifice" then made, when the Temple of the LORD's Body was destroyed. Bullock: he-goat. Mystically, the sins of pride or disobedience in the one, of impurity in the other; and then it is spoken to the Church. Such as these, however they boast themselves to be in My house, and to be occupied in My service, "Then will I profess unto you, I never knew you. For all the beasts of the forest are Mine. And as S. Bernard says, "Take comfort, O man, when thou findest the beasts may, after a certain sort, call GOD their GOD. When thou hearest how GOD had care for cattle in that great threatened destruction of Nineveh,—when thou readest in the New Testament how not one sparrow falleth to the ground but your Heavenly FATHER careth for it, take comfort for thyself. He Who said, 'Ye are of more value than many sparrows,'—He Who appointed so many sacrifices, wherein innocent creatures bled for thy sake,—what of His care for thee, what of His providence over thee? I know all the fowls. And now then we must take that higher sense: how those saints, born, as fowls, of water, soaring, like fowls, above the earth,—thus soaring, also like fowls, only by virtue of the sign of the Cross,—how they are indeed known, so dearly known by that GOD Who, in a certain sense, knoweth all His works from the beginning of the world. And the wild beasts of the field are in My sight.

Or, as it is in the Vulgate, in so very lovely a sense, The beauty of the field is Mine. No doubt the true meaning of the original is, And the stock of the field is Mine: thereby approximating much more closely to our own version. Nevertheless, we may be allowed for one moment to dwell on the mediæval interpretation. Those saints in their monasteries, whom we are apt to regard as utterly careless about physical beauty, here one and all show in words, what indeed the choice of situations for religious houses might also teach, how dear it was to them. S. Bernard, forbidding, as he did, the slightest ornamentation in his churches, forbidding towers, nevertheless taught his Cistercians to choose the loveliest situations for their houses. I wonder whether it were the romantic situation of his father's castle—Fontaines-lèz-Dijon—that taught him the instinctive love of natural beauty, which found their places, for Clairvaux itself, for Rievaulx, in our own Yorkshire, for Batalha, in Portugal, and for hundreds of other situations, showing how that Order was determined to make good our verse here, The beauty of the field is Mine. The beauty, κατ' ἐξοχὴν, for sublimity and savageness attracted other orders; as who that has looked upon Whitby, or the Grande Chartreuse, can ever forget? And no nobler illustration of the verse can be found than that most glorious of

Perhaps the reader will forgive me for mentioning that it was in descending, on my return from the Grande Chartreuse, the tremendous gorge of Gresivaudan, that the commentary on which I am engaged first suggested itself to my mind. sequences, the Alleluiaitic. Think, again, how the beauty of the field forms no inconsiderable portion of the loveliness of the Song of songs. The roses of Sharon and the lily of the valleys; the flowers appearing on the earth; the time of the singing of birds come; the voice of the turtle heard in our land; the garden enclosed; the orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits; the fountain of gardens; the well of living waters and streams from Lebanon; the getting up early to the vineyards; the seeing that the vine flourish, and the tender grape appear. No marvel if the mediæval saints are lavish, as in their writings on our present verse, in their transferring the beauty of the field from this worn-out to the new earth.

S. Bernard. Serm. 48 in Cant. If I be hungry, I will not tell thee. "Neither didst Thou," as S. Bernard says, "neither didst Thou, O dear LORD JESUS, tell of Thine hunger either to man or to Satan: only Thou didst permit Thine angels, when the forty days' fast was over, to minister unto Thee. But of Thy thirst Thou didst speak twice: once, when Thou didst, by the side of Jacob's well, ask the woman of Samaria to give Thee to drink; once, when Thou, Who hadst never uttered one complaint concerning the sufferings of the Cross, didst nevertheless say, 'I thirst.' In the one setting forth the Baptism which Thou shouldst ordain; in the other, the Absolution which Thou shouldst bequeath." Tertullian—not that his authority is very great in such a matter—quotes as a saying of the LORD'S, "The Eternal GOD shall neither hunger nor thirst." The blood of goats. Hugh of S. Victor, in a series of verses which I have before quoted, thus mystically symbolizes the goat:

Lana, cibus, visus, sanguis, caro, cornua, fœtus, Hostia, mons, vitis, dens, pes, vox, barba, libido, Corda brevis, corium sotularibus usibus aptum, Lacte caret, fœtet, emissus ruminat hircus. 14 Offer unto GOD thanksgiving: and pay thy vows unto the most Highest. 15 And call upon me in the time of trouble: so will I hear thee, and thou shalt praise me.

Offer unto God thanksgiving: or, as it is in the Vulgate, the Sacrifice of praise: and so the LXX. in the true sense of the Hebrew. Are we to take this of the One Oblation then accomplished for ever, of CHRIST on the Cross? Then we shall agree with S. Chrysostom. Shall we rather interpret it of the continuation of that Sacrifice of the Blessed Eucharist? Then we have on our side S. Zeno of Verona, and the later commentators. But, in whatever way we explain the exhortation, the second clause of the verse will retain the same emphasis on the thy. First, as one of the holiest of that great society advises, first, O sinner, plead the merits of those infinite sufferings; first, lay before the FATHER (if I may so express myself) the wanderings in this world of the well-beloved SON—that SON, so acknowledged, first of all in His Baptism, which was the beginning; next, in His Transfiguration, which was the consummation of His earthly course—first offer unto GOD, to His FATHER and to thy FATHER, these vows, and then pay THY vows unto the Most Highest. Which vows can these of thine be, save those that are most like to His own oblation of Himself? Or, as another mediæval writer puts it: first His, then thine; and thine only secondly, because His firstly; and thine only with any degree of acceptation before the FATHER, because in Him that same FATHER was so entirely well pleased. And call upon Me in the time of trouble.

And then what S. Bernard says is a saying for all ages: Had He said, Call upon Me in the time of prosperity; had He exhorted thee, Invoke Me when all seems to go outwardly well with thee; had He said, When everything around thee rejoices and is glad, call upon Me; then I should have perceived how He, the LORD both of joy and sorrow, the King both of life and death, would have had the best of thy heart's affections, or none at all. But here observe His great love: Call upon Me when thou hast none else to flee to,—when all earthly helps have proved themselves miserable comforters indeed,—when every worldly idol has shown the true property of an idol, and has failed its worshippers in their greatest strait, Call upon Me in the time of trouble, so will I hear thee. And thou shalt praise Me. They seem, those primitive saints, to lay the stress on the word Me. So will I hear thee, and thou shalt praise ME. Me, that is, Who for thy sake was led out into the wilderness to be tempted; for thy sake did for so many years have My habitation among men; for thy sake did choose not them that were valiant-hearted, and therefore ready to follow Me whithersoever I might lead them, but rather did out of the weak make the strong, out of the contemptible the glorious, out of death raised up to perfect life.

In the same way do thou call upon Me in the time of trouble: so will I hear thee, and thou shalt praise Me. And that help and that praise are well set forth in the hymn, late though it be:

In his treatise: That CHRIST is true GOD. This is taken from my manuscript Wasy-mundus. Observe how, both in the Latin and Greek (and therefore in all the languages derived from the Latin as well), the "I am well pleased" of our version falls so infinitely short of the Mihi complacui of the Vulgate, of the ἐν ᾧ εὐδόκησα of the Greek. Thy good name suffers from the tongue Of slanderers and oppressors? JESUS, as on the Cross He hung, Was reckoned with transgressors! More than the nails and than the spear His sacred limbs assailing, Judea's children pierced His ear With blasphemy and railing. Fear'st thou the death that comes to all, And knows no interceder? O glorious struggle! thou wilt fall, The soldier by the Leader! CHRIST went with death to grapple first, And vanquished him before thee; His darts, then, let him do his worst, Can win no triumphs o'er thee!

16 But unto the ungodly said God: Why dost thou preach my laws, and takest my covenant in thy mouth; 17 Whereas thou hatest to be reformed: and hast cast my words behind thee? 18 When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst unto him: and hast been partaker with the adulterers. 19 Thou hast let thy mouth speak wickedness: and with thy tongue thou hast set forth deceit. 20 Thou satest, and spakest against thy brother: yea, and hast slandered thine own mother's son. And all the mediæval writers teach us, even from the Mosaic law concerning the leper, how the writer of this Psalm only put into words what those statutes expressed in fact. For so it is written: "The leper in whom the plague is, . . . he shall put a covering upon his upper lip." As they all, following Origen, say: let them who themselves are of polluted lips, take good heed not to teach others. Or, to take it in the opposite way, see how Isaiah would not speak to his people, because he was a man of polluted lips, and he dwelt among a people of polluted lips, till they had been touched with the living coal from the altar; and by that, as by a Sacrament of the Old Testament, a sentence of Absolution had been pronounced upon them. And takest My covenant in thy mouth. And they see in it a warning against

Homil. in loc. And here the mediæval commentators raise one of those questions in which they so delight. A priest, in mortal sin, is he, or is he not, to say the Hours? If he does not, he disobeys the command of GOD, re peated to him by the Church; if he does, most certainly he incurs the condemnation pronounced in this verse. And here, as always, the great Carthusian commentator lays down the conditions, on the one hand so sacrilegious communions: the Holy Mysteries being not only our strength and life here, but the covenant of our eternal heritage there. Whereas thou hatest to be reformed: or better, as the Vulgate has it, disciplined. It is worth while to reduce the ways in which, according to Holy Scripture, man rejects the salutary correction of which the Prophet speaks. Sometimes "they have refused to receive correction;" sometimes "he that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul;" sometimes man "despises the chastening of the LORD;" sometimes "faints when he is corrected of Him;" sometimes, as here, hates discipline: and so in the Prophet Amos. "Tu vero odisti disciplinam, verberum et verborum," adds S. Bonaventura, with an ingenious play upon words. Thou consentedst unto him. There is a classical passage in S. Chrysostom on the guilt of sinning by proxy, or even by will; the condemnation of such as, if they do not themselves, as S. Paul says, commit things worthy of death, at all events have "pleasure in them that do them:" just as it is written in Hosea, "They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies." Manifestly from this verse of our present Psalm were the memorial lines partly framed concerning theft:

Jussio: consilium: consensus: palpo: receptus: Participans: mutus: non obstans: non manifestans. Mystically, they consent to thieves who steal the words of Holy Scripture to, or accept them in, an heretical sense. And hast been partaker with the adulterers. The passage of S. Chrysostom, in which he recommends the communicant to give information to the deacon, if any one of impure life is presenting himself to receive the Holy Mysteries, is deeply valuable, as proving that the custom in his day was that which we now have in the English Church, of receiving the LORD's Body in the hand. Then most marvellous is the concluding part of the clause, as applied to the Jews. Thou hast let thy mouth speak wickedness, O Synagogue, when thou didst exclaim, "Say we not well that Thou hast a devil, and art mad?"—when thou didst clamour forth, "Not this man, but Barabbas"—when thou didst pour out thy taunts, "Let Him deliver Him, if He will have Him." And with thy tongue thou hast set forth deceit. What else spake the two false witnesses, when they gave their testimony about the destruction of "His Temple?" what else, when thou dost teach, "Out of Galilee ariseth no Prophet?" And yet, all this while, thou satest and spakest against thy Brother. "Sitting down, they watched Him"—Him, the Elder Brother of the whole race of man—"there," and so sitting they

strictly, on the other so tenderly, which reconciles the apparent contradiction. Is there a polemical arrière pensée in the somewhat unusual use of this word in this place? In Isa. xvi. 11. Rom. i. 32. Hos. vii. 3. S. Ambros. in Ps. cxix. 88. In loc. S. Hieronym. in Dan. vii. 4. mocked Him with their "He saved others, Himself He cannot save. Let CHRIST, the King of Israel, descend now from the Cross, that we may see and believe." Yea, and hast slandered thine own Mother's Son. For He, O children of the Synagogue! was her Son as much as yourselves were; and a cruel stepmother indeed she proved herself to Him, in the day when she crowned Him, day though to our true Solomon it were of the joy, and day of the gladness of His heart! 21 These things hast thou done, and I held my tongue, and thou thoughtest wickedly, that I am even such a one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set before thee the things that thou hast done.

These things hast thou done, and I held My tongue. And here we see our LORD still before the judgment-seat, as a sheep before her shearers, dumb; answering not a word, insomuch that the governor marvels greatly. The LXX. and the Vulgate, and other early translations, make, and that most rightly, a pause after I held My tongue; as if the Prophet would tell us of the first stage in that procession to Calvary: when the WORD, as S. Bernard says, refused to utter a single word before those whom He had made, and who, now judging Him, were hereafter by Him to be judged. Thou thoughtest wickedly that I am even such a one as thyself. But, says S. Thomas Aquinas, when we think, O LORD JESUS, that Thou art altogether such as ourselves, (sin only excepted,—sin only, O ye Nestorians, excepted,) are we therefore mistaken? Do we therefore do Thee wrong? Do we therefore comfort ourselves with false consolation? Of a verity, Thou art even such a one as myself; bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh: fed as an infant with the milk of that most spotless breast; hushed to rest with the lullaby of those most blessed lips; suffering when a child as I, working for Thy daily bread as I; and (had it not been so written I had never dared to say it,) increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favour with GOD and man. These things, O LORD, I think—that Thou art even such a one as myself; but do I think them wickedly? Then, how shouldst Thou be our Elder Brother? How shouldst Thou be the First-Begotten brought into the world? How should it have behoved Thee in all things to be made like Thy brethren, that Thou mightest be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to GOD, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people?

And set before thee the things that thou hast done: that is, they say, as in a mirror: "thou didst it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. The things that thou hast done,—one unrestrained glance of the eyes: the setting before the king his sin, that enormous iniquity of Absalom, on the same house-top, in the sight of all Israel. I dare not translate those words, words that, as it were, burn with fire, of S. Chrysostom, when commenting on this text, he teaches how every hidden iniquity of this world will be dragged out into the full and terrible blaze of the next: and how more especially, as indeed that luxurious age more especially needed, he branded sins of impurity in language which our century is far too delicate-eared to hear, though certainly not too delicate-handed to act. And set before thee the things that thou hast done. Let us hear S. Thomas once more, for we shall not have much longer in which to hear him. "How are those things to be set before us? How? And who can tell? Are we to imagine that they will be proclaimed to all the assembled tribes of earth,—to the kindreds, tongues, peoples, and nations, that shall stand before the great white throne? Or, must we not rather realise this to ourselves, that that setting before us will be in one moment, brought to pass in the secret recesses of our own breasts?

There so burnt in—if that, which God forbid, should nevertheless happen—that it can never be erased: then if in the moment of that terrible judgment we stand acquitted, yet nevertheless remembered for ever, as the most tremendous contest between mercy and judgment, the most terrible equipoise between life and death. And, as S. Damiani says: "Think, O my soul, what thou art, and what are thy powers, amidst which this tribunal is to be set,—such an accusation and such a defence to be heard, and such an acquittal or condemnation finally and for ever to be pronounced."

S. Chrysost. in loc. 22 O consider this, ye that forget God: lest I pluck you away, and there be none to deliver you. O consider this. And it is most remarkable how all, both primitive and mediæval commentators, pass over the first clause of this verse; as if they would forget those who forget Him. My people hath forgotten Me days without number. There is a difference in the various translations between Lest I pluck you away, and lest He pluck you away. And again, some, like Arnobius, and S. Augustine also, read, Lest He pluck you away like a lion. This is either a mere gloss, or else it has crept into the present verse from the seventh Psalm. And then in another and a dearer meaning: that I may pluck you away, and that there may be none to wrest you out of My hand. That is, in the sense: "My FATHER Which gave them Me is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My FATHER's Hands." So S. Chrysostom and Euthymius take the passage. Notwithstanding—so they understand it—all your past sins; notwithstanding your many backslidings, though the remembrance of past mercy was on one side, and the fear of future judgment on the other. Consider this, ye that forget God, lest he, he, the great enemy of souls, pluck you away, and then there be none to deliver you; when the Lamb once slain for you shall have become the terrible and avenging Lion.

23 Whoso offereth me thanks and praise, he honoureth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation right will I show the salvation of God. The Vulgate and Septuagint take it in quite a different sense: The sacrifice of praise shall honour Him: and there is the way by which I will show him the salvation of God. (Or, as the LXX. has it, herein at variance with all our present texts, my salvation.) But whether one translation or the other, the offering of thanks and praise, the sacrifice of praise, can only in its highest sense mean the Great Oblation for quick and dead. And see in how lovely a way the following clause joins in: and there is the way where I will show him the salvation of God; how can it be taken otherwise than of the Viaticum? They point back with pride,—those writers who have defended the verity of that Blessed Sacrament,—Turrianus more especially, to that Name in the first ᵃŒcumenical Council, in the ᵇsecond of Arles, in the ᶜthird of Orleans, in the ᵈfourth of Carthage, in the ᵉfirst of Toledo, and as used by Paulinus in his life of S. Ambrose. Neither are there wanting those who take that way of the Incarnation: the marvellous way by which He, the Virgin-born, came down alone, to the end that, to that blessed place whence He came, He might return with many:

And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, even the Most Mighty GOD, Who hath spoken; and to the SON, GOD the Word, Who shall not keep silence: and to the HOLY GHOST, with Whom His Saints have made a covenant by sacrifice; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.O LORD, GOD of Gods, we beseech Thee, that Thou wouldest receive from us the sacrifice of praise; so that we, being set free from the burden of our sins, may patiently run the race that is set before us. Through. (1.) When I refer to the Canons acknowledged by the whole Church, as here, I take them according to their enumeration in the last and best collection, that of Kalle and Potte, Athens, 1853, which appeared with the imprimatur of the H. G. S. of Athens. S. Hieronym. in Isa. cap. 56. S. Chrysost. Hom. 16 in S. Matt. O GOD, Who wilt manifest Thyself as the Righteous and Almighty Judge, we beseech Thee to reveal Thyself first as the most merciful and Omnipotent SAVIOUR; that as, when Thou sittest on Thy judgment-seat, Thou wilt be severe, so as often as Thou presentest Thyself to us here on the Throne of Thy mercy, Thou mayest be loving and gentle. Who. (5.)

We call on Thee, O LORD, in the day of our trouble, that Thou wouldest give us the increase of faith and hope, to the end that we may obtain the everlasting inheritance of love. Amen. Through. (11.)

WE have now reached the Psalm of all Psalms; that which of all inspired compositions has, with the one exception of the LORD'S Prayer, been repeated oftenest by the Church. And there are almost as many mysteries in its position as there are in its structure.

As to the way in which the Church has repeated it. Till the last reformation of the Roman Breviary, it was said at every Hour, concluding the service, with the exception of Christmastide and the Great Forty Days. So, for some thirteen hundred years, this Fifty-first Psalm, in thousands of congregations, was repeated seven times daily. As S. Augustine says—and what small cause had he, compared to ourselves, thus to exclaim—"O most blessed sin of David, so gloriously atoned for! O most happy fault, which has brought in so many straying sheep to the Good Shepherd." And further notice the position of this Psalm as the L. The Psalm, then, as the year of jubilee: so they all, those great lights of the Church, Origen, S. Hilary, S. Ambrose, S. Thomas, Cassiodorus, S. Jerome. Compare with this, as the same saints have done, the law given on the fiftieth day after the people had departed from the land of Egypt; compare the parable of our LORD about the two debtors, the one that owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty; especially remembering the sin of David, which you will, in this Psalm; compare the penalty of fifty shekels of silver inflicted on him who, among the Israelites, had dishonoured a virgin. Think also of the fifty just men with whom Abraham's petition began; think of the width of the Ark, fifty cubits, that ark which was to save all those who were saved from the general ruin; further, of the breadth of the tabernacle which Ezekiel in vision beheld: and lastly of the freedom of Levites from the servile works of the tabernacle when their fiftieth year had been attained. But above all, the year of jubilee, when all debts were remitted, all manors returned to their original owners, all slaves were liberated, all prisoners were set free,—this, above all

Hom. 5 in Num. That is, except in the mere Hebrew: the LXX. and Samaritan, and other almost contem- porary versions reckoning it as the Vulgate. other interpretations, sets forth to us the mystery of this glorious fifty, which yet may be worked out, as we shall proceed to see, into many other senses. Vol. i. p. 48. To give the various Antiphons said to this Psalm, would be simply to give all those of the day hours in the Church's year: and of its quotidian use at all the latter, except in Eastertide, we have spoken not only above, but in the First Essay.

TITLE: To the chief musician. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the Prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. "Where sin hath abounded, grace did much more abound." For consider how for nearly three thousand years that sin of David, that one momentary glance from the house-top, has given occasion to the enemies of the LORD, in each successive age, to blaspheme, down from the Lucians and Porphyries of primitive times, to the Voltaires and Humes and Paines of our own. And yet, no doubt the encouragement it has given to those who otherwise would have despaired, may be known to the Searcher of all hearts, far to outweigh the mischief and the blasphemy. So S. Augustine said in his time: so S. Bernard taught in his: so the latest of those who have any claim to the title of a mediæval teacher, S. Thomas de Villanova more than once asserts: so the great schools which have their rise on the one hand from S. Vincent de Paul, on the other from De Hauranne, differing as far as Catholics can possibly differ on the subject, are nevertheless agreed in this. One can only remember S. Augustine's words, with respect to a still sadder fall, and apply them to this: "O sin of Adam, certainly necessary, which merited such and so great a Redeemer."

This is taken out of Ma-zarin's Com-mentary on this Psalm. Here, too, we may observe how many theological terms have their first origin in this Psalm. The Kyrie Eleison at the beginning; the clean heart; the broken and contrite heart; the sinner shall be converted; and above all, here is first to be noticed, the first faint foreshadowing of one of the foundation truths of the Catholic faith. Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Never before had the HOLY SPIRIT been made known to the Jewish Church; nor yet again was the Paraclete spoken of to them till Isaiah, now about to conclude his prophecies by his martyrdom, said of the generation in the wilderness: "They rebelled and vexed His HOLY SPIRIT." a Hom. v. in Num. b Quæst. Utriusque Test. 112. c Cap. 8. d In loc. e In Esai. Cap. 42. L. Then as to the recitation of it. Never has Psalm, whether by Priest in Confession, or by Synod in Canon, been so often put into the mouth of Penitents as this. And thus Origen; a S. Hilary; b S. Ambrose, c more especially in his apology for David; Cassiodorus; d S. Jerome; e they all dwell strongly on this point. And again; it has been well observed that there is scarcely one great theological verity which is not in this wonderful Psalm set forth. Here you have—the Incarnation; the calling of the Gentiles; sin, both original and actual; the nature and effect of preaching; grace, both justifying and sanctifying; the Atonement; the Institution of the Church; the Mission of the HOLY GHOST.

When Nathan the Prophet came unto him. They enter largely into the various opinions on this seer; some holding with many mediæval writers that he is the same Nathan with the son of David mentioned at the beginning of his reign; some with S. Ambrose, with S. Augustine, and others, that he was a natural son of Uriah, In S. Luc. lib. 1. and afterwards adopted by David. The wonderful tale related by S. Epiphanius no reasonable critic will now believe. Only this is to be observed: that the "king's prophet," Gad, was not now made the messenger of GOD to David; any more than two centuries later, when GOD had a message of life and death to Ahab, Elijah was not the prophet chosen; but the message which determined Ahab's fate was given to one of far less note, Micaiah. As to Bathsheba, S. Thomas most wonderfully observes how she is mentioned in the genealogy recorded by S. Matthew. Her name is not given; her husband's name is recorded; and so, in the genealogy of our LORD, her sin is stamped on the whole history; whereas, of the honour that she might have rightly claimed of being a progenitress of the Messiah, she is deprived by her name being withheld.

Before we enter on this Psalm, I may remark as a proof how dear it has been to the Church, from the most primitive time till now, that I know of a hundred and fifty-nine Catholic Commentators who have explained it, either in treating of the Psalms generally, or of the Penitential Psalms, or of this especial Psalm. One of these, whom I have not, however, had the means of referring to, Alfonso de Tortado, has published a folio volume of 1200 pages on this one Psalm. And even for those beyond the Church, this Psalm has still had its own charm; and the great Lutheran dictionary of the writers of that Communion mentions twenty-seven who had written separate volumes on it. I have no means of learning how many Calvinistic authors have also made it the matter of an especial treatise; but I believe that certainly not fewer than those of the Lutheran Communion. Take notice then, how, as one of the late Catholic Commentators says, the precious ointment of this Psalm not only ran down the beard, but went down to the skirts of Aaron's clothing; but was diffused even among the other sheep which were not of the fold.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST, without sin, for the sins of His people, was judged and overthrew His judges. The voice of the penitent. This Psalm is to be read at the lection of Isaiah the Prophet, and of the Acts of the Apostles, where Paul is chosen. The voice of CHRIST for penitent people, and the voice of Paul, and of every one that believeth and doeth penitence. The doctrine of Confession, and a prophecy of the Church. Of martyrdom. VEN. BEDE. The history is known . . . . . Where we must earnestly observe, that to this end have the greatest saints been sometimes permitted to fall into such crimes, and their faults and penitence are recorded in Scripture, that to us, poor weak creatures, and following them at such a distance, fear and caution may be commended; and in their reformation an example of penitence and a hope of life may be given. But since even the evil deeds of saints work out the mystery of salvation, David signifies CHRIST: Bathsheba (which by interpretation is the Well of Satiety) figures the Church: Uriah (which by interpretation is My Light of God) sets forth the devil, who desired fraudulently to seize the Light of the Godhead, but being overthrown by the LORD, lost the kingdom of the world, and put away the Church of the faithful to be governed by CHRIST.

[The usual mediæval interpretation is more ingenious. Hildebert thus writes: Bersabee Lex est; Rex David, Christus; Urias, Judæus;—regi nuda puella placet. Nuda placet Christo Lex non vestita figuris; Aufert Judæis hanc, sociatque sibi. Vir non vult intrare domum, nec spiritualem Intellectum plebs Israel ingreditur. Scripta gerit, per scripta perit deceptus Urias; Sic et Judæus scripta sequendo perit.] This Psalm is divided into five clauses. The first is the satisfaction of most perfect humility (1—6). The second, the confidence of heavenly mercy (7, 8). The third, that the LORD may turn away His Face from David's sin (9—12). The fourth, that other sinners will be encouraged if his terrible iniquity should be pardoned (13—17). The fifth, he commemorates the rise of the Church, which even then he looked for (18, 19). EUSEBIUS OF CÆSAREA. The doctrine of Confession. S. JEROME. This fiftieth Psalm echoes the voice of him that is penitent; showing, how he who has fallen into sin, may, by confessing that sin, rise again to good.

I Have mercy upon me, O GOD, after thy great goodness: according to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences. Annot. in Psalm. cap. 58.

I can only begin, as Hugh of S. Victor begins, with this prayer: that what I should have felt of the evil of sin, standing under the cross of the penitent thief on Calvary, and seeing the penalty of man's guilt in that central Cross, and understanding the actual existence of human malice from the mockers and blasphemers around,—that, so far as is possible, I may feel in writing of that Psalm concerning which it may of a truth be said: "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. And first of all they observe,—they, the theological commentators, in their way,—just as they, the mediæval artists in their way,—that in the very origin of this Psalm, we have the trinity of evil; that diabolical parody in working out iniquity of the operations of the GOD Who saw everything that He had made, and behold it was very good. David abused the power of a king, by giving command that Uriah should be slain. He abused the wisdom of a wise man by plotting the deceit which gave him over into the hands of the Ammonites. He took advantage of the goodness and purity of a righteous man, when he sent Uriah back again to the camp without allowing him to enter into his house. So we have the Omnipotence of the FATHER; the Wisdom of the SON; the Holiness of the HOLY GHOST, betrayed; and by each and all great occasion given to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme.

According to the multitude of Thy mercies. And they almost all, those great primitive and mediæval writers take it of the Incarnation. And they well argue that sins, those sins of which David's were the type, were utterly inexpiable under the old law; that S. Paul spoke most simply the entire truth of these, when he said that for such there remained only a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation. But, on the other hand, they delight, those heralds of God's mercy, to heap up the different promises by which that mercy is assured to penitents, even in the Old, how much more in the New, Testament. "Thou hast magnified Thy mercy," so Abraham says. "The LORD is long-suffering, and of great mercy," Moses pleads, when the spies returned. "He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness," says Joel. "Thou hast shewed great mercy unto David," says Solomon, in the beginning of his reign. "Thy lovingkindness is better than the life itself," David tells us. "Mercy rejoiceth against judgment," as S. James teaches us. And the 136th Psalm finds on the one side those like S. Ambrose who would principally see in it the Incarnation; on the other, those who like Innocent III., S. Thomas, S. Chrysostom, S. Cyril, and Hugo Cardinalis, would take it of the Passion. The multitude of Thy mercies. And they observe from this;

that, although the one sin was now that which was the hardest to bear, which, to use the saint's own expression, bit the hardest, yet many and many another sin, when once he was roused to a sense of his guilt, also, as S. Hildebert says, fastened on him like fiery serpents, he having made way to their incursion by that first original venom of the ancient guile. And how could one pass over this verse without quoting the words of S. Bernard? "Do away mine offences. How shouldst Thou not, O good JESUS, do them away? How should we not run after Thee? when we perceive that Thou despisest not the poor, abhorrest not the evil-doer, didst not keep off from the penitent thief, didst allow Thy feet to be kissed by her that was a sinner, didst receive the Syrophenician woman, didst accept her that was taken in adultery, in the very act; didst turn Levi the publican into Matthew the Evangelist; didst, out of the very spectators of Thy crucifixion, call one who was to be among the very chiefest of Thine Apostles. This is what S. Bernard takes as the innermost meaning of our first verse; and all the saints, and all the holy commentators whom I might reckon up by hundreds, have but repeated, have but diluted, his words;

have but, knowing what they know of the terrible struggle between the new and the old nature—between the first and the Second Adam, said something, each according to his own capability, which might throw some small light on the first verse of the most wonderful of Psalms.

[Of all single Commentators on the Psalms, Ayguan is, I Gen. xix. 19. Numb. xiv. 18. Joel ii. 11. 2 Chron. i. 8. Ps. lxii. 4. S. James ii. 13. will not say the lengthiest, because that involves the idea of tediousness, but, the fullest. His work is included in two folio volumes, of a thousand pages each. But were he to dwell on the whole Psalter at the same length as he does on the verse of which we have now been speaking, forty folio volumes would not be sufficient to carry out what he had thus begun.] 2 Wash me throughly from my wickedness : and cleanse me from my sin.

And here, notice first : how, great as David's sins were, lust to begin with, adultery to go on with, murder to end with : yet, it is not from these great sins, but also from the small transgressions which the world would think little of that he,—he, with all the enormous weight of that former guilt,—prays to be freed. And observe further, that it is from the guilt, and not from the punishment, that he thus asks deliverance. That the sword should never depart from his house ; that the sin, begun, not only secretly even in its full accomplishment, but far more secretly in the recesses of David's heart, should be punished before all Israel and before the sun ; that the child so dear to David should be made one great punishment of his offence ; these things, so far as this Psalm is concerned, might, or might not be. It is of the offence against GOD ; of the defiling, although it were not then so expressly declared, GOD's temple by impurity, that David speaks,—speaks, as S. Fulbert says, commenting on that word thoroughly, as if, more or less, longer or shorter, to him who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, it were one and the same thing. And we must not wonder if, in these latter days, when the love of many is waxed cold, and because it has so waxed cold, every possible excuse is looked for, every possible palliation is found in, the Old Testament ;

we must not wonder if that which was written by GOD to preserve from despair, is turned by Satan into the means to lead on to presumption. "So David sinned ; thus Hildebert speaks : "So David, having sinned, is pardoned. And I, I, may I not sin as far as David in impunity, and stop short of him in bloodthirstiness? May I not with him break the seventh, and yet keep the sixth Commandment? And, if I break both, the man after GOD's own heart, did the same. And, as the same S. Hildebert says, "Ah, King of Israel, ah, ancestor of the CHRIST, is not this of GOD's infinite mercy toward thee, that, since thou hast occasioned, and wilt occasion, to the end of the world, so many, and so horrible, blasphemies, that thou shouldst also be the channel, through whose words the grace of GOD has descended to so many penitents ; by whose teaching the GOD who is Himself a consuming fire, should draw His followers on to the eternal light of heaven ; through whose attraction, the lamp to guide the feet of His servants in this, should become the same which never can go down or withdraw itself in that world?"

3 For I acknowledge my faults : and my sin is ever before me.

The heathen philosopher said : " What great truth is there in acknowledging the faults that a man has committed? But here we have a more real appreciation of the difficulty. As S. Augustine says : if there be one madness greater than another, it is this,—not to be ashamed of the wound, but to be ashamed of the bandage. They collect together the passages of Holy Scripture in which men confess that they have sinned ; none better or more earnestly than S. Bernard. On the one side—S. Peter, S. Mary Magdalene, the Penitent Thief, the Prodigal Son, the King of Nineveh, the Jews at S. Peter's first sermon, the jailor at Philippi, Saul, afterwards S. Paul. But others have confessed like the former Saul ; again like Antiochus. Thence they go on to show how the power of confession first of all depends on the power of spiritual sight ; first of all you must perceive yourself guilty, before you can own that you are. For Satan, like Nahash the Ammonite, is wont to put out the eyes of those whom he leads captive. And then those deep writers on turning from sin, and the love of GOD, warn us of this, that the latter part of the verse, my sin is ever before me is, in and by itself, a very questionable kind of repentance. They may be so remembered as to be taken pleasure in again ;

they remark how many and many a prisoner has remembered his sins in prison, lived in them again, acted them over again, longed for the time when he might repeat them. Whereas the most perfect example of deep penitence, namely, that of S. Peter, is one as entirely separate from every re-inducement to sin. On the other hand, however much that blessed Apostle would grieve, without any mixture of any feeling but sorrow, when he remembered that crowing of the cock, and the more he dwelt on each particular circumstance of this sin, the self-assertion in presence of his dear Master on the preceding evening,—the presence of a cock in Jerusalem when, save by accident or negligence none could be there,—the hearing it once and not even then remembering, nay, the hearing it again, and not even so calling to mind what his LORD had said, till the same dear " LORD turned and looked upon Peter ; the more he followed out (as no doubt in those, to him, miserable hours, he did) the whole series of his fall, most certainly, the truer repentance. But, as Pinusius says, whoever should have advised David to go through all the steps of his sin in the same way and with the same detail would only have shown how little he knew of the human heart. Therefore, they proceed ; here is one of the great lessons to be—taught in the first place, learnt in the next—when the committed

A. 1 Sam. xii. 2. Judg. xvi. 21. Those especially of the school of Ghent, Giort, and Thomas à Kempis. Pinusius in Cass. sin should be ever before the sinner in its details; when only in its general substance and weight. My sin is ever before me; or, as it is in the Vulgate, though not in the LXX., my sin is ever against me. And therefore in that phrase the fathers of the Western Church have exercised themselves in exploring the full meaning. And again; S. Jerome takes the words: my sin is ever against me; in this sense, that sin separates God and man; therefore, that as man to be the true servant of his LORD, must seek Him by prayer, so "those iniquities which," as the Prophet says, "have separated between you and your God," and "that sin which hath hid His face from you that He will not hear;" these are indeed against us.

4 Against thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified in thy saying, and clear when thou art judged. S. Hieron. Epist. 22, et 46. Cassian. Collat. 20. S. Cyprian. ad Novat. 128. S. Clem. Alex. Strom. 4, cap. vi.

And first of all we ask, in what sense it can be said that he had only sinned against God, when he had sinned both against Bathsheba and Uriah; and to this they add a different question: whether he sinned most against her or him. And this is to be observed beyond everything else; and so they who lived in the earlier and in the mediæval ages of the Church, seem to have felt most strongly how far higher the law that our LORD came to lay down soars above even his law, whose present Psalm has been the support, comfort, guide, guardian, of so many thousand penitents. Take it in the words of a mediæval saint. "O my God! Thou knowest how often, how innumerable times, I myself, with ten thousand-fold the grace of this Thy saint,—of this, the man that was well-pleasing to Thee, have given Thee thanks for this Psalm. But this also: for this I thank Thee, that Thou hast given to the meanest of Thy servants now, the power to do,—the wisdom to know this in the Church, as compared to that in the synagogue—that which Thy servant and saint, only did not, because he knew not. I thank Thee, O LORD, that to us it is not allowed, to enjoy that which we have unlawfully coveted, when possession becomes lawful. I thank Thee that Thou hast from Thy true and faithful servants, in this Thy better kingdom, closed that which, had it been still allowable to them, might have been a further incentive to sin." He means of course that to a Christian man, after the previous sin, Bathsheba would have been forbidden; and yet that, so far from this, she, of all David's wives, to the very last, had the greatest influence over him; and which they most truly observe, seems to have been, in that most corrupt generation, one of God's truest servants. But there are several ways in which the

1 And the Roman version follows the LXX. Delictum meum (not contra but) coram me est semper, and so also the Slavonic.

difficulty is resolved. Against Thee only. Some will have it that we only learn from the parable of the infinite ten thousand talents, and the poor hundred pence, how a sin immediately committed against his neighbour may yet be man's infinitely more terrible accusation before his God. Others look at David's anointing; and there see a special grace given, and therefore a special power received; and therefore a special sin in the neglecting the inward strength which that bestowed power gave. Others—later in the mediæval Church—remembering how the dear Bridegroom and the dear Bride are one, will have it that a sin against the latter is equally an offence against the former. To which it is answered: that the synagogue can scarcely claim the same love from, the same union with our LORD, that His Church now can. And perhaps on the whole, the parable of the ten thousand talents most probably gives the true meaning: murder, as regards Urias; pollution, as regards Bathsheba; but what, either one or the other, as respects the LORD of Life, or the GOD of Purity? Then there comes a still greater difficulty: how the fact of David's having sinned against GOD alone should justify Him in His sayings. And therefore it is not wonderful that they should have attempted a different reading, which the Chaldee paraphrase gives rise to: that Thou mightest justify me in, or with respect to, Thy commandments. And again, some will have it: so that Thou art just in Thy decree, unspotted when Thou judgest.

That is, that the sin of David, though not followed up by the avenger of blood, as, according to the Levitical law, it ought to have been, was nevertheless rightly, according to that law, punished by the GOD Who gave it. But, as those deeper interpreters teach us, here faintly and weakly, the great sacrifice for sin is set forth. David has committed a sin which must be punished by death; according to the Mosaic law, not even, were the avenger of blood pacified, might the murderer live. Then next; by the mouth of GOD's prophet, GOD gives His pardon; "the LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. But not absolute and unconditional pardon; the sentence of death on the child follows. We must not here work out that type; but over and over again it has been shown how the Child of Bethlehem, born to this end, that He might take on Himself the sins of the whole world, was faintly and afar off typified by this, whose death was so involved in his father's prolonged life.

5 Behold, I was shapen in wickedness: and in sin hath my mother conceived me. It is well worth observing how S. Augustine, though otherwise entering deeply into the mystical, as well as literal, sense of this Psalm, says not a word on the present difficulty in this exposition; nor, so far as I am aware, does he enter on the subject in any of his works. Origen. Hom. viii. in Levit. Cyprian. lib. iii. cont. Julian. Augustin. cont. 2 Epis. Pelag. cap. 10. Isidor.de Penitent. de arca Noe. cap. ii. Thauler de Pass. Christi. p. 194. On this verse the whole multitude of early and mediæval Commentators have diverged this way and that into all kind of questions regarding the soul and body of man: when each was first created; when the two joined together. For my own part, leaving for this time those who have thus disputed,—their names are in the margin—and a host of others, I will only quote what Tauler in his commentary on the Passion says: "Let others, O LORD, dispute how sin entered into the world—how sin entered into man; this, rather, this only would I ask Thee, that Thou Who, of a very truth, didst take our perfect nature, albeit without sin, on Thyself,—that Thou, Who knowest whereof we are made, and rememberest that we are but dust, wouldst have pity on all mine infirmities, wouldst compassionate all my weaknesses, wouldst, even in this body of sin, as Thy Church has learnt to say, not weighing my merits, but pardoning my offences, frame such a spirit as may be found worthy to enter the gates of Paradise; such a body as may have part in the first resurrection: so that body, soul, and spirit, renewed, transfigured, reinstated; I say not in their first, but in their more than first dignity, may together rejoice in the ineffable glory of the Beatific vision."

6 But lo, thou requirest truth in the inward parts: and shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly. I cannot but see with Lorinus; the more deeply we enter into this Psalm, the more utterly we feel how unworthy we are to penetrate into the shrine of his heart, who, sinner though he were, yet, nevertheless, was the man after God's own heart. But first; we must notice the difference of the Vulgate from our own translation. But lo, Thou requirest truth: the uncertain and hidden things of Thy wisdom Thou hast made manifest to me. We ought the more diligently to listen to S. Thomas, seeing that he will be so soon taken away from helping us. So I cannot do better than quote his own words: Behold thou hast loved the truth. Here—this being taken in connection with the whole history of repentance, as written in this Psalm,—you have the sum of each portion, and of the whole put together. Thou hast loved the truth. The truth in true sorrow as regards thyself: the truth in true confession as regards thy priest: the truth in true restitution as regards thy neighbour. The uncertain and hidden things of Thy wisdom Thou hast made known unto me. Of Thy wisdom? And who am I, O LORD GOD, that

1 I quote from the edition of Lammertz. Cologne. 1851. 2 Here we come (as we shall have occasion in a future dissertation to see,) to the sixth stone, the sardius; the twelve stones divided, as it were, between, and shining on, each several portion of the Psalms, as there we shall more fully learn. Thou shouldest make manifest "to me" that wisdom Who saith, "I dwell in the highest, and My throne is in the cloudy pillar." Thou hast made manifest to me in the triple way of prophecy: the supernatural is when the prophet speaks, "I saw the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up:" the next, supernatural, and yet revealed to the bodily eye, as well as to the spiritual sight, of which we hear where that is written; "The LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders:" and lastly, when, without any revelation supernatural either to bodily or mental sense, the manifestation was only to the deepest and inmost spirit, as where it is so often written in the Prophets, "The word of the LORD came unto me, saying." Thus it is that the greatest doctor of all saints, the greatest saint of all doctors, teaches us on this matter; and were there any especial reason why we should value what he thus writes, it is to be found in this—that his commentary on the Psalms was the latest of all his works; was, as his immediate follower so loved to say, his swan's song; and that, while engaged in composing it,—most probably, in writing the very portion of which we have just heard the abstract,—he fell into that fainting fit which his dear sister, the Countess of Grandella, prophesied would end his work on earth.

7 Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Here, they all say, that which was merely confession by word before, becomes confession in action. Any one can submit to the former; it requires a far greater grace, though still not the crowning grace of all—that we shall come to by-and-by—to receive the latter. Look at all the ritual purifications of the Jews: the cleansing of the leper, that of the leprous house, the water of separation by the ashes of the red heifer: and then see how, even so early as the great doctor of the Western Church has taught,—even amidst a people who had been educated in the belief that temporal promises, that earthly pleasure, were the heritage of those who truly served God,—how even they were, in the types and parables of their offices, shown—according to that far higher Christian teaching, that it is by suffering, not by pleasure, that we may hope to draw nearest to Him That was the Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief.

A. De Doctrin. Lib. ii. c. 16. 8 Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness: that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Or, as it is in the Vulgate,—and therefore this Psalm has This is the sense of S. Thomas: I am rather shortening the words. In Vigliantium.

its especial force, as one of those for the dead,—the bones which Thou hast humbled. But those words are taken in more senses than one: each of them so precious; each of them, in this or in that way, having reference to the Incarnation. And the bones which Thou hast humbled. Humbled, in the fall of man; that is which Thou hast permitted—as the type of the endurance of man against temptation—so to feel their own weakness: they—in that day known to Thee—they, in the regeneration of all things, shall, as the Prophet says, "rejoice and flourish as an herb. It shows what was the depth of meaning believed by the early and medieval Church to lie concealed under these words, with different interpretations of them, that the references which they have been supposed to bear to our LORD's miracles and sayings in the Gospels should so entirely vary. But perhaps what S. Clement of Alexandria says is the most striking. They are to be humbled by faith and repentance, not to be broken by despair; they, the bones, shall hereafter rejoice—not the flesh, the seat and type of earthly passion and luxury. And he proceeds: "In the first and second Adam the case was thus far the same. In the first Adam, his bones were humbled by the loss of one of them, in order that out of it the help meet for him might be made. In the second Adam so humbled, that they might all be told: in the one case, by GOD's especial miracle of creation;

in the other by (as with all reverence we may say it) the yet more especial and foretold miracle of His Providence. Let us hear, at the end of this verse, a noble passage of S. Jerome, in a work in which he certainly did not always write nobly:—"The bones which Thou hast humbled shall rejoice. I honour, in the flesh of the martyr, the scars received for the Name of CHRIST; I honour the power of Him That liveth for ever and ever in the everlasting memorial of His servant; I honour the ashes hallowed by the confession of the LORD; I honour, in those ashes, the seeds of eternity; I honour the body which hath showed me how to love my LORD,—the body which hath taught me, for my LORD, not to fear death; I honour the body which CHRIST hath honoured on earth,—the body with which CHRIST will reign in heaven. There cannot be a better commentary on that word rejoice.

9 Turn thy face from my sins: and put out all my misdeeds. They say very well how here David rightly asks that which S. Peter, intending to ask rightly, so made request for as, had his petition been granted, it would have proved his eternal ruin. David says, Turn Thy face—not from me, but—from my sins. S. Peter, mixing the two together, petitioned, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O LORD." Rather, as they teach us, the prayer of the centurion comes far nearer to this: "LORD, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof." And they remind us of that ancient type of turning away the face from sin, when Shem and Japheth, turning their backs on their father, so sympathized with his weakness, so suffered for him in his sin. And in like manner they quote—and the reader may at his leisure refer to them—those passages which tell of Ezekiel's vision, and of Rachel's artifice.

10 Make me a clean heart, O GOD: and renew a right spirit within me.It is wonderful—or rather, perhaps, considering the malice of Satan, it is not wonderful—that the great texts which ought to be, and in themselves are, the greatest comfort for the earnest servants of our LORD, are the chief battle-fields of scholastic divinity. On this verse, as every scholar knows, the Scotists and the Thomists find, each of them, a principal argument for their respective tenets about the mediate source of grace. Volumes would not suffice even to give an abstract of their arguments; and perhaps, as a commentator on this Psalm who lived very near to GOD says, were the matter settled, the decision on one side or on the other would neither bring to pass the conversion of one sinner, nor the edification of one saint. The difficulty, of course, lies in the word create: Create in me a clean heart, O God: how far, and in what sense, that spirit can be said to be created which is only turned from darkness to light; given over from the power of Satan into that of GOD; regenerated in baptism, if it so be—otherwise, after baptism, turned round in conversion from the slavery of Satan to the light yoke and easy burden of its dear LORD. That is, how the poor kine, with their affections in the Philistines' country, may nevertheless, lowing as they go, be—not forced, but—drawn, to bring up the ark of GOD to its own place:

how, as another mediæval commentator tells us, the man with the measuring line in his hand may see what is the length as well as the breadth of Jerusalem. It is a fault rather of our language than of our teaching, that the identity of spirit and wind, or breath, is not at once perceptible. For in connection with this verse we should otherwise at once catch those: "He bloweth with His wind, and the waters flow; "What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him? and, "Whither the spirit was to go, they"—the Living Creatures—"went, thither was their spirit to go; and, to sum up the whole, "As many as are led by the Spirit of GOD, they are the sons of GOD. Then this also has to be observed, to which I for one should never have dared to allude, did not almost all the saintly commentators on the Psalms point it out—renew a right spirit: "Take not Thy HOLY SPIRIT; "Stablish me with Thy free Spirit. And so they say, taught, in the first place, (so far as I know,) by S. Bernard, that the HOLY

Ezek. i. 20. I 2 SPIRIT is, according to His proper Name, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity; the right Spirit is spoken of the Son; the free, or princely, or royal Spirit, of the FATHER: of the FATHER, because He only is not GOD of GOD, Light of Light, very GOD of very GOD, but GOD of Himself, Light of Himself, very GOD in and of His own eternal essence: the self-existent JEHOVAH, a title which, in these days, so many, with more zeal and love than knowledge, would apply to our Blessed LORD. How this verse is the seventh foundation of the Church, and answers to the Chrysolite, I may well leave to those whose studies lie in that direction. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence: and take not thy HOLY SPIRIT from me.

From this verse the Church has taken one of the most common and most encouraging petitions. If we ask that the HOLY SPIRIT may not be taken from us, it follows that we must have received Him. "Now, then," as one of the great preachers of the seventeenth century says, "now, then, ye who say that the HOLY GHOST is not given in Baptism, what will ye? If He is not, then are our children manifestly in a worse condition than those of the Jews. Take not, saith David, Thy Holy Spirit from me. How had David that HOLY SPIRIT? Will you answer that it was as GOD's Prophet, as GOD's Psalmist, as GOD's viecigerent upon earth? And what poor miserable culprit, standing even before an earthly tribunal, would remind the judge of the especial reasons there were that he should not have fallen into the crime for which he now stood in peril of his life? And David now was capitally condemned, according to the law of the Jews, on a double charge—adultery and murder; and would he then have pleaded, Take not That HOLY SPIRIT Which has so taught me to sing Thy praises—take not That HOLY SPIRIT by Which I have been anointed king over this great people—from me? Verily, what would this have been but to stir up the hot anger of GOD even to a higher degree than it had been before kindled? No, thus it is:

Because I, the son of Abraham, was, as an infant, admitted into the fellowship of Thy children, take not That HOLY SPIRIT from me, which, outwardly, at all events, then sealed me to be Thine own. Now, therefore, O disciple, not of the Catholic Church, but of Calvin,—now, then, O follower, not of the confession of the Apostles, but of that of Augsburg,—are thy children to be better or worse off than those of the Jews? If worse, whereto serves the New Testament? If better, thank that LORD Who died for thee and for all men, that verily and truly they are regenerate; and that the multitude who died in their infancy, having received Baptism which is not that of the Church, found that That HOLY SPIRIT was not taken from them in the hour of their death, and now follow the LAMB whithersoever He goeth."

12 O give me the comfort of thy help again : and stablish me with thy free Spirit.

And here they say—why need I make a list of those who merely reiterate what every Priest knows, or ought to know? —how much that comfort is needed by those who either awake to a sense of their own sins, or have to bear the sins of others. No one can speak better than S. Eucherius : "Who would undertake that most terrible office of announcing the mercy of God to men, if they knew what was that office of standing in the place of God to men? There are the four Beasts round about the Throne, there are numberless beasts on earth; men like beasts; men worse than beasts; men learned in that of which beasts are altogether ignorant. I know not how this office could be undertaken, were it not that the LORD saith, 'Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.' To ask implies learning; to seek implies devotion; to knock implies self-denial. All these things must meet in the person of a Priest: the seeking, the asking, the knocking. And observe how. How, dost thou say? Both from heaven and from earth. What that seeking, asking, knocking of the sinner is, ye, brethren," (for he was addressing a synod of his Priests,) "are not ignorant. What it is as regards the great High Priest—knowledge must ask, love must seek, operation must knock; the beginning of the work is from necessity; its perseverance is in love; its action in rest; its rest in labour:

this is what we owe as Priests, on the one hand, to penitents; on the other, to the great High Priest. And stablish me with Thy free Spirit. And free is such a poor translation of the word. Liberal, or royal, or better still, which the Vulgate has, princely spirit. They discuss, those great Doctors both of the Eastern and Western Church, what especial grace—if one may use the expression without irreverence—what favourite grace is signified by this epithet of the HOLY GHOST. It is singular to observe, by all the commentators on the Psalms, reaching down from almost Apostolic ages to this, how that especial grace, which the world then chiefly set at nought, is the Princely Spirit signified. For example: in an age of heresy, S. Ambrose will have it to be the true faith; in an age of luxury, S. Chrysostom understands it of the grace of purity; later down, in an age of feudal tyranny, it is interpreted of the freedom which, in spite of earthly bonds and fetters, the servant of God enjoys; the foretaste of that Jerusalem which is free; and still later, in an age of scholastic disputation, the Spirit of Wisdom is the Princely Spirit. In the same way that, during the many centuries of the Church's existence, that doctrine has been, above all others, the Catholic doctrine which the world, for the time being, agreed to hate: as in the fourth century, the CONSUBSTANTIAL; in the fifth, the Incarnation; in the present, all Sacramental teaching.

A. Ruffin. S. Gregor. in Hom. 20, in Ezek. Cassiodor. S. Remig. V. Bede. Haimo. S. Innocent. S. Athanas. S. Cyril. In 2 Kings xxvii. p. 155. 13 Then shall I teach thy ways unto the wicked: and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

And why should he set forth this as one great end and aim of his life? And they all with one consent answer, Because, after his sin, till his repentance, he had taught to all his subjects, and to all the nations round, as he has taught to all future generations, by that one sin, Satan's ways. So the stress is to be laid on THY ways. Up to this time I have taught any ways but Thine; up to this time I have given great occasion to Thine enemies to blaspheme; but then—then, when Thou shalt have not only bestowed on me, but stablished me with Thy Princely Spirit, then shall I teach Thy ways. A Spirit so Princely in forgiveness as to remit my own transgressions; a Spirit so Princely in strength, as to trample under foot all future assaults of the enemy. And sinners shall be converted unto Thee. "How little he thought," so says the Carthusian, "what thousands and hundreds of thousands of sinners should learn repentance from this Psalm, who when," the words are worth noting, "they see Priests, highly educated, prepared with all the array of this world's learning, professing to give up themselves and their lives to the instruction and conversion of others, find them all so utterly fail; because they speak not with the fire of the HOLY GHOST, but so coldly, so drily, so wretchedly;

instead of those sharp, penetrating, red-hot words, which they who have taken in hand to bring men from darkness to light—from the slavery of Satan into the liberty of the LORD—ought to have. As saith the Apostle, 'Thou art confident that thou thyself art a guide to the blind. . . . Thou, therefore, which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?'" Sinners shall be converted unto Thee. They ask, Who are the three great Doctors of the Catholic Church? Surely, take them all in all, we should answer, David, the murderer; Peter, the denier; Paul, the blasphemer. And here is fulfilled what so long before the Mosaic dispensation had been written for our learning; how the Unicorn is now willing to serve us, will bring home our seed, and gather it into our barn. "See," says S. Gregory the Great, "what remission of sins this is, which not only frees the converted, but converts the bondsman. See what wisdom this is which turns the serpent's malice on himself, and out of which his very venom produces the saving efficacy of redemption as theriac out of poison."

14 Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O GOD, thou that art the GOD of my health: and my tongue shall sing of thy righteousness. We must not take this text—for, except in the Vulgate, it never could be interpreted in that lovely sense—Deliver me by means of blood-shedding: that is, by the one Offering of Calvary. They give eight other interpretations: all of them, except this, connected with the Jewish law; whether as having to do with the punishment of death inflicted, under the Mosaic dispensation, both for murder and for adultery, or the vengeance which had been threatened, that the sword should never depart from the house of David, might be removed from his family. And it would be useless to dwell on the senses which the ingenuity of the middle ages affixed to this petition. But perhaps that which will come more nearly and dearly home to the heart of those who most frequently recite this Psalm, is this: Deliver me from the guilt of the Blood of Calvary. Where notice this: that the petition of the Jews, as they intended it, the most awful that human lips ever uttered, "His Blood be on us and on our children," is, in another sense, that one supplication on which all our dearest hopes hang—"Not by water only, but by water and blood." And so now, Deliver me from blood-guiltiness: that is, not, God forbid! from having any interest in that most precious Blood poured forth for us on the Cross; but from having, as S. Paul says, crucified that same LORD afresh, and put Him to an open shame.

15 Thou shalt open my lips, O LORD: and my mouth shall show thy praise. Marvellous verse, which has merited to begin so many myriads of services, since the Church first began to lead a liturgical life! Ut queant laxis resonare fibris Mira gestorum famuli tuorum, Solve polluti labii reatum, Sancte Redemptor. Say, as of old, Ephphatha: touch my lips with the burning coal from off the altar; give me an elect tongue, a "pure language, that" I "may call upon the Name of the LORD;" give me a learned tongue, that I may "speak as the oracles of GOD;" "O let my mouth be filled with Thy praise, that I may sing of Thy glory and honour all the day long." They call to mind those noble African confessors, who, when their tongues were cut out by the persecuting Arians, spoke none the less plainly: they point to the cloven tongues as of fire, which had no sooner sat on the Apostles, than they began to speak in divers languages the wonderful works of GOD.

Thou shalt open my lips: the Chaldee adds, in Thy law. They find a singular allegory in the history of the five kings hid in the cave of Machpelah. The cave is the mouth: the five kings are the sins of taste, smell, touch, sight, hearing. Our True Joshua commands us to open our mouths in the confession of them; and when we have done so, then, and not till then, He bids us be of good courage, and put our A. "feet on the necks of those kings." And my mouth shall show Thy praise. S. Augustine: "Thy praise, because I have been created; Thy praise, because, sinning, I have not been forsaken; Thy praise, because I have been admonished to confess; Thy praise, because, in order that I might be succoured, I have been cleansed." And finally, O LORD, so open my lips, that I may come to Sion with songs, and everlasting joy.

16 For thou desirest no sacrifice, else would I give it thee: but thou delightest not in burnt-offerings. 17 The sacrifice of GOD is a troubled spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O GOD, shalt thou not despise. A. Hence in many places, though not especially in his commentary on this verse, S. Augustine takes occasion to write gloriously concerning "the New Sacrifice of the New Law;" all his teaching being so marvellously bound up by S. Thomas in that almost first of Christian hymns, the sequence for Corpus Christi. One could, in spite of history, long to believe the story, (which, however, is not so undoubtedly a legend but that even at the present day it finds critical supporters), that when the new feast was instituted against the rationalising heretics of the time, Peter Abælard, Peter the Eater, and the rest, the composition of the service was entrusted equally to the Angelic and to the Seraphic Doctor: that to the former we owe those hymns, beyond all earthly praise—Pange Lingua gloriosi Corporis; Verbum supernum prodiens, Nec; and Sacris solemniis: while to the latter we are indebted for that noble sequence, Lauda Syon Salvatorem. But, in point of fact, Thomas proved himself as much the first Christian poet of his age, as—it may be with the single exception of S. Augustine—he is the Christian doctor of all ages.

From this verse even the Rabbis take occasion to teach us how there is a higher Sacrifice than that of sacrificed victims. For David's sin, wilfully carried on from that first eye-glance from the house-roof, to the bloody death under the wall of Rabbath, the LORD provided no remedy: it was a hopeless offence. This is what the great mediæval writers, in their Passion sermons, so loved to dwell on: this is why, like S. Thomas, they so constantly, with reference to the Levite that "came and looked upon the wounded man, and passed by upon the other side," point us to the "certain Samaritan," The hymn, Adoro te devote.

A Rabbi Jehoshua had enough insight into the true meaning of the law, to teach his disciples that a truly contrite heart was more acceptable to GOD than one million of lambs. And notice this: David, after his sin, never—so far as we are told—offered any sacrifice for it. He felt, no doubt, that he must let that alone for ever. Yet, as we have seen, it was a not unusual subject of disputation, whether his great fall, taken together with its consequences, had, on the whole, been a hindrance or a help to the Church. This we must remember: that the injury is far more visible and palpable. We partly know how, from the very beginning of the Church till the present time, the reproach has always been; "What! this the man after God's own heart! the man who, to adultery, added murder, and that murder at second hand, involving himself in the guilt, but putting off the odium to another? As S. Ambrose says, "O David, O David, so glorious a saint, so miserable a sinner, of a verity thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme! More than S. Ambrose knew, more than he could have imagined: fifteen hundred years' longer scandal, and in the latest of them the pencil employed as well as the pen to scandalise those who, from the Psalms of David, have learnt to come to the Son of David.

But then, on the other side, as one well worthy of his name has taught, golden-worded indeed in this respect. Who can tell how many penitents, all but driven to desperation, all but entering into the pains of hell, all but ready to rush out of this world into the next,—who can tell how many that have despaired of God's pardon, lost all trust in His love, all but cast away the latest remnant of hope, have not taken these most divine words into their mouths, and been turned again? have not been baptized in this Jordan, and recovered from the leprosy? have not bathed in this Siloam, and received their sight? O most dear, most precious words; words, if any, worthy to be written in letters of gold; words meriting to be inscribed with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! It is not so much in the public mouth of the Church,—it is not so much in the great congregation,—it is not so much when the priests, the ministers of the LORD, have stood between the porch and the altar, that ye, as sweet-smelling frankincense, have gone up to heaven. No: it was when she of old wiped those Blessed Feet with the hairs of her head, after she had anointed them with her ointment; it was when a greater sinner than even this rejoiced to offer the body so polluted with guilt to the stake, in the presence of the heathen judges;

it was when merciless men, steeped up to the lips in blood, have, with all the strength and agony of their repentance, appealed to the Blood of Calvary; it was then, and in a thousand thousand like cases, that ye, O most blessed, O most glorious words, O words that none save He, in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin, could have inspired,—it was then that ye have merited to prevail!

18 O be favourable and gracious unto Sion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. I 3 19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, with the burnt-offerings and oblations: then shall they offer young bullocks upon thine altar. Up to this time David has prayed for himself: now, as every true penitent ought to do, he ends by interceding for others. And here we have one of the examples which, to a casual view, would seem to confuse the two terms: nay, and even if we take the literal sense, may seem confined to that. For consider how David had, at the time when this Psalm was written, but just fortified himself in Sion; while the walls of Jerusalem, long ago ruined in more than one siege, had not so much to be built, as to be rebuilt. But, keeping to that rule, so infallible in the enormous majority of cases, that we are bound to believe it our failure in understanding when one instance out of fifty seems not to obey the law; and then, what is the lesson? And surely this most glorious one: that, in proportion as our LORD helps forward His earthly Church, in the same degree does He build the walls of that Jerusalem, concerning which it is written,

"Many a blow and biting sculpture, Polished well those stones elect." S. Bernard. Serm. i. De Sancto Michaeli. And why two epithets to that same dear LORD's dealings with Sion? Be favourable and gracious: favourable, in every little help that He gives His servants in this world militant; gracious, in the entire manifestation of Himself to those in that world triumphant; favourable, and there may be still much of sin, more of infirmity; gracious, and there shall be what the schoolmen call the blessed necessity of sinlessness on the one hand, and on the other, "The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick." Be favourable: so now That LORD is, to all who are taking up His Cross, following His banner, fighting the good fight; gracious, so He now is to those blessed ones who are at all events nearest—not here to debate the question whether the martyrs at once enjoy the Beatific Vision—to His Throne. Build Thou the walls of Jerusalem.

I know very well how those reviewers of my first volume, against whom I would not be willingly found to stand, have thought that, without a most violent pressure, Jerusalem and Sion cannot be always interpreted as mediæval Saints have taught us. I trust that the essay at the end of the present volume, if GOD permits me to write it, may explain some of the difficulties which yet hang about this ques- tion. I need hardly add, not of myself, but from the Saints and Doctors whose commentary this is. It is the same contrast, though not exactly expressed in the same way, both in the LXX. and in the Vulgate. In the former, ἀγάθυνον, Κύριε, ἐν τῇ εὐδοκίᾳ σου· in the latter, Benigne fac Domine in bona voluntate tua Sion. I know not that a heathen poet has ever been to my mind quoted with more exquisite beauty than Virgil here:

And what kind of walls those shall be, let Tobit tell us. "Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires, and emeralds, and precious stones; thy walls, and towers, and battlements with pure gold; and the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with beryl, and carbuncles, and stones of Ophir; and all her streets shall say, Alleluia." God grant I once may see Thy endless joys; and of the same Partaker aye to be. Thy walls are made of precious stones, Thy bulwarks diamonds square; Thy gates are of right orient pearl, Exceeding rich and rare. Thy turrets and thy pinnacles With carbuncles do shine; Thy very streets are paved with gold, Surpassing clear and fine. Thy houses are of ivory, Thy windows crystal clear; Thy tiles are made of beaten gold;— O GOD, that I were there! Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness. They ask, Why is it said then? why not now? And they, in the first place, who take this sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist, see the fulfilment, entire, eternal, perfect, of that Sacrifice in the sight of the Lamb as it had been slain. They who would rather take the sacrifice of righteousness to refer solely to that of Calvary, see in this prophecy, the end and aim of our dear LORD's Passion. Therefore He tasted of death, that we should never taste of it; therefore He died, that we might live; therefore the Cross to obtain the Crown. Then shall they offer young bullocks upon Thine altar. And the third among the Evangelistic symbols tells us of the highest sense in which we are to take the promise:

In quâ formâ figuratur It would be too long, and would lead us too far from our subject, to see how mediæval writers, and especially the Car- thusian, dwell from this verse on the virtues of the Crucified as a foundation of the heavenly Jerusalem. And in the plural, as they tell us, we are to see those followers of the One True Victim who, for His sake, and keeping the two thousand cubits behind the very Ark, nevertheless, in their time, and after their degree, were sacrifices to God of a sweet-smelling savour: firstly and chiefly, the Martyrs; then, the Confessors; then, the Virgins; then, the Doctors; then, every righteous soul that shall have had the grace of perseverance to the end; among which God grant both those that shall read, and him that writes this book, to find a place, for JESUS CHRIST'S sake. And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, Who, according to the multitude of His mercies, does away our offences; and to the SON, That is the GOD of our health: and to the HOLY GHOST, the Free Spirit by Whom we are established;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.We beseech Thee, O LORD GOD, to turn Thy face from our sins, and to put out all our misdeeds; and as the publican, who stood afar off, was heard for the sake of his humility, so hear us for the merits of our Humility, that is to say of Him Who, being co-equal with Thee, His FATHER, yet for our sakes vouchsafed to take upon Him the form of a servant, our LORD JESUS CHRIST. Through. O GOD, Who, the more we hide our sins, the more bringest them into open day; Who out of doubt dost bring certainty, out of error, truth; visit us with the dew of Thy mercy: so putting out all our misdeeds, as to make us a new heart by the infusion of Thy HOLY GHOST, to the end that we, rejoicing in such an indweller, may have our mouth opened for the declaration of Thy praise. Amen. Through.

O LORD JESUS CHRIST, GOD of our salvation, Who by Thy salutary Passion dost extinguish all our evil Passions; give to us Thy servants forgiveness of our sins and remission of our guilt, to the end that from Thee, O LORD, we may one day receive eternal life. Amen. Through.

TITLE: To the chief musician, Maschil. A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Abimelech. [Rather: On the Supreme. An Instructive of David; when Doeg the Edomite went and told Saul, and said unto him, David is gone to the house of Abimelech.] ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST will exterminate and excommunicate every man that thirsteth after impiety from the riches of His goodness. The voice of CHRIST concerning Judas. The voice of the Prophet through the HOLY GHOST, against the devil, and Judas the traitor, and the insanity of all the companions that cannot be called back from his fellowship. The voice of CHRIST to Judas the traitor.

VEN. BEDE. Let CHRIST, as ever, be represented by David; let Saul be the persecuting Jews; let Doeg the Edomite, which by interpretation is the motion of blood, be Judas the traitor; let Abimelech the Priest be the elect disciples, in the midst of whom he hath both beheld and betrayed the LORD. Some say that Doeg is Antichrist, of whom Judas was a member; because, as the same Doeg slew eighty priests, so will Antichrist destroy all those who hold the faith of CHRIST. In the first part the Prophet inveighs against Judas, or against Antichrist; warning them not to be puffed up because of their sins, seeing that so heavy a retribution awaits them: "Why boastest thou thyself," &c. In the second part he prophesies his speedy destruction, "Wherefore GOD shall destroy," &c. In the third he saith that the saints who now marvel at the rage of the ministers of Satan, shall then wonder at their utter destruction. "The righteous shall see it," &c. In the fourth, the Prophet looketh for himself, in common with the saints, for the fruition of the Beatific Vision: "As for me, I am like a green olive tree," &c.

EUSEBIUS OF CÆSARÆA. A reproval of evil habits and the end to which they lead. S. ATHANASIUS. A Psalm accusatory of the wicked and evil doers. When it is sung, it may be taken against the words of Rabshakeh, otherwise the voice of CHRIST against Judas Iscariot.

Various Uses.Monastic. Tuesday. Matins. I. Nocturn.

Antiphons.Gregorian. The LORD, even the most mighty GOD hath spoken. Monastic. The same. Parisian. My heart is disquieted within me: and the fear of death is fallen upon me. Mozarabic. When the LORD shall bring again the captivity of Sion, then shall Jacob rejoice and Israel shall be right glad. 1 Why boastest thou thyself, thou tyrant: that thou canst do mischief; I know not on what translation Venerable Bede founded this interpretation. In the Hebrew, as we have it now, it is, as in the English version, four- score and five persons: in the Septuagint, followed therein by the Slavonic and other translations dependent on the LXX., it is 305 persons. 2 Whereas the goodness of GOD : endureth yet daily?

Here, right or wrong, our English version has, as in not a few other places, a beauty of its own. The tyrant on one side, the goodness of GOD on the other; the boast of the tyrant in doing mischief, the power of GOD exhibited in being kind to the unthankful and evil. He can do mischief indeed. He is a tyrant indeed. From that first mischief, that primeval root of all mischief, down to the saying of Caiaphas, by which this tyrant hoped to have won his complete victory; mischief in the sinner who followed his suggestions; mischief in the saints who yielded to his temptations; mischief against the innocent ones who suffered by his instigation. Why boastest thou thyself? For this reason: because thou canst kill the body; canst kill it by miserable torments; by such tortures as make the blood run cold to read of, and the mind almost refuse to believe. Why boastest thou thyself, thou tyrant? Because thou hast stirred up heresy after heresy, to vex and to harass the Church; scarcely ever giving her one year of peace, so devising that when there are not "fightings without," there should be "fear within. Why boastest thou thyself, thou tyrant? Because thou hast so prevailed even amongst the greatest saints; as with David in the matter of Bathsheba; as with Hezekiah in the matter of the ambassadors from Babylon; as with Martin when he gave in to the threat of an insolent and usurping king. But notice how it is written.

Not simply, Why boastest thou thyself? but, Why boastest thou thyself that thou canst do mischief? Therefore take courage, O servant of the LORD, whosoever thou art. He has prevailed against thee, thou wouldest say, a thousand times. I in no wise doubt it. He has a thousand times caused thee to cry out, "The good that I would I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do; a thousand times to say, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? But what mischief so long as that promise remains, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life? while that command stands fast, "Count it all joy when ye fall into divers [and horrible] temptations. And as S. Bonaventura says, though not on this verse, The malice

Here we have an utter divergence of our own version from the Vulgate and the LXX. The Vulgate has, Why dost thou glory in malice: thou who art powerful in iniquity? All the day long hath thy tongue devised unrighteousness: like a sharp razor thou hast worked deceit. Where, as is evident, all reference to the goodness of GOD is omitted. The LXX. and the Vulgate omit altogether, probably as not knowing what to make of it: others alter the order in which it stands, changing to the, and taking the as a preposition. of Satan is indeed multipresent, but is not omnipresent; may be multipotent, but is not cunetipotent; he may be the strong man (and yet, oh, how weak to the weakest Christian that stands to his arms!), but yet This is the stronger than he, Who once beheld him like lightning fall from heaven, Who now has bound him, like a chained beast, fast; Who will finally, utterly, once and for ever, bruise him under our feet: yes, and that shortly.

3 Thy tongue imagineth wickedness: and with lies thou cuttest like a sharp razor. 4 Thou hast loved unrighteousness more than goodness: and to talk of lies more than righteousness. All those who have much to do with the commentaries of the saints, must notice what we have had occasion to notice more than once in this poor commentary, how they pass over with scarcely a word, denunciations of wrath against the wicked, on which, had they been promises to the righteous, they would have dwelt at such enormous length. But, as mediaeval writers say, This is the true and beautiful meaning: With lies thou cuttest like a sharp razor. If there is any sin to be discovered, discovered it will be, just as a razor removing superfluous hair, shows the very flesh itself. But, as a razor, rightly held, does not really wound, so GOD keeps back the malice of the ungodly from really injuring, however much—witness the case of Shimei, as regarded David—it may lay the secrets of the heart bare. And, as they remind us, that advice, "Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return," (however kindly in the historical sense given,) is exactly, in a mystical sense, the counsel which Satan would give. A man has had some conviction of sin, and would fain at once get rid of it. But, the great Tempter so prevailing, the poor sinner tarries in Jericho, the accursed city, mixes in and with the world, till those feelings are lost, till in the man's own eyes the sin is covered over, and then he returns; returns to his original sin, returns, and the evil spirit brings back those seven spirits more wicked than himself, and—we all know the terrible ending.

5 Thou hast loved to speak all words that may do hurt: O thou false tongue. Omnia verba præcipitationis, as the Vulgate has it, and For want, I suppose of some higher topic, Lorinus, who always will say something, here enters into a dissertation as to the first Christian author in whom we find mention of a razor. It is in S. Sidonius Apollinaris, Lib. i. Epist. 2. But, as he also observes, Non refert. the LXX. even more forcibly, καταποντισμοῦ, of "plunging in the sea." The LXX. gives, and correctly, the latter clause in the accusative, false tongue, i.e. language of guile. Are we to take it of the Jews, and then, "we have no king but Cæsar," as some of the earlier fathers? Or shall we rather see in it that primæval deceit, "Ye shall not surely die?" Then surely WERE all words that might do hurt wrapped up in that one NOT. That was a καταποντισμός indeed, when man "came into deep waters, so that the floods ran over him." And yet again they explain it mystically: how, although Satan did not mean it so, nor for one moment think of the possibility that it should be so, but, in that fierce clamour of the Jews, in that unjust sentence of Pilate, we have the true καταποντισμός of the Gospel sweep-net, or seyne, which shall, when drawn to shore, be the salvation of the good fish, the casting away for ever of the bad.

6 Therefore shall GOD destroy thee for ever: he shall take thee, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling, and root thee out of the land of the living. In Gen. iii.

For ever: or, as it rather is, at last: the lying tongue is but for a moment. And therefore, as S. Gregory nobly says, that lying tongue was but for a moment which said, "Thou shalt not surely die." He meant it to deceive: deceive it did: he meant man to fall, and man did fall: but, in the long future, man had a better life prepared for him than that of the earthly paradise: man so surely lived, if he willed to live, that "whosoever overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." This, of a verity, shows THE false tongue, the tongue of him who is a liar and the father of it, destroyed for ever: destroyed in its intended meaning, but ratified, as was that saying of Caiaphas, in that meaning which was not intended. In the same way that our LORD's bitter mockery, His coronation, His investiture with a robe, first of white, then of purple; His adoration; His reed-sceptre, were, in one point of view, those words which the false tongue, because they should do hurt, therefore loved: but in the truer and everlasting meaning, they were prophecies, long ago prophesied of: prophecies, which, for a short time might have given the hosts of Satan joy, but which, in the end, point to one of the dearest possessions of the legions of the LORD of Hosts. Shall pluck thee out of thy dwelling. They inquire what dwelling that is, out of which this deceitful tongue is to be plucked. Tabernacle, as it is in the Vulgate; and that surely is the precise expression for the shortness of, whether in everyday life a lie, or in the life of the Church, a heresy. Some will have it of the ejection of those lying Jews from the once holy city after the terrible siege: some, of the Jews still, but in a less ter-

The Slavonic still more forcibly, ΚΑ ΓΛΑΓΟΛΙ ΠΟΤΟΠΗΛΑ.

rible sense, of their dispersion from their own land: others in a very matter-of-fact interpretation of the excommunication of the wretch, to whom primarily this Psalm applies after his murder of the fourscore and six that ware ephods, Doeg the Edomite. Out of the land of the living. And here almost for the first time, we have that dearest of all titles given to our future home. It is marvellous how even those who protest to study Holy Scripture, ay, and those who have studied it, and that earnestly too, miss one of the most glorious passages in connection with this verse, that are to be read in the Pentateuch. God pronounced Adam's curse, beginning with the malediction, for man's sake, of the earth—"In sorrow shalt thou eat of it,"—and culminating in "till thou return to the ground, for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. And what is Adam's reply? A reply, truly, as S. Thomas says, evincing the greatest faith which man ever showed except—if, indeed except,—the confession of the penitent thief. "And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. All living? And God had just pronounced the sentence, "Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.

It is marvellous, as a theologian of the seventeenth century says, how many and many a Christian soul, whose whole hope is nailed to the Resurrection, yet nevertheless passes over that marvellous declaration of Adam as if it were something put in, because it must be said somewhere, and by-the-by. Whereas, here, just at the very moment when that sentence had been pronounced on man,—ashes to ashes, dust to dust,—Eve is called, and that more than called; is entitled, as it were, by law; the mother of all; not mortals, but, of all living. This is the antitype in the first Adam, of the victory through which death by death was overthrown in the second Adam.

S. Greg. II., which also S. Hilary seems to say. S. Greg. Nyssen. Master of the Sentences. II. Distinct. 39. 7 The righteous also shall see this, and fear: and shall laugh him to scorn; 8 Lo, this is the man that took not God for his strength: but trusted unto the multitude of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.

Here, as we might expect, our mediæval commentators are full of the blessings of poverty, and the temptation of riches. One or two, and only one or two, have the courage to apply that general dogma to the state of the Church in their own days, so far as this world went, "rich and increased with goods, and having need of nothing." And it must always be remembered that the very first sign of decay in the Western Church—taking the Western Church (which is always to be remembered) as a very different thing from the Roman Court,—was the way in which this very question of poverty and riches, settled as it was, militated against the strict rules of the then strictest and holiest of orders. There is nothing which so illustrates that saying of the Apostle's, "How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out," than the conflict between those who held to the first fervour of their rules, the genuine, primitive Franciscans, and who yet so holding, fell into all kind of mystical heresies; and on the other, those who from Rome obtained licence to receive any amount of riches, and who therefore became what we unhappily know that the followers of S. Francis did become, a by-word and reproach to mediæval Europe. If any one thinks that this remark has nothing to do with the Psalm, let him rather take it in this point of view: as to each phase of our own individual lives, temptation, of whatever kind, from the world, the flesh, or the devil; whether ending in victory or defeat, or drawn out into a long conflict. In these things, every Christian man can find in the Psalms that which in the particular moment suits his particular need: in the same way that they fit into, they dovetail in with, the history of the Church.

9 As for me, I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God: my trust is in the tender mercy of God for ever and ever. 10 I will always give thanks unto thee for that thou hast done: and I will hope in thy Name, for thy saints like it well. They have, those mediæval writers, much to say on the colour of green, the daily colour of the Western Church; how it is the most refreshing to the eyes, how it gives the dearest hope of the coming spring, how, besides the gems which are of that hue, and which always have been believed to have possessed especial virtue, the various shades and distinctions of the colour, in which they say there are more diversities than in any other colour, may be seen the infinite variety of the graces of the HOLY GHOST. I will hope in Thy Name. That Name of which we have so often spoken: that Name which is, as it were, the Antiphon to so many Psalms: that Name, the dear love to which is so feebly expressed either in our own version, or in the LXX., or in the Vulgate, the Hebrew giving, I will hope in Thy Name, for it is the chief good of Thy saints.

And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, Whose goodness endureth yet daily; and to the SON, the Righteous, Who shall see His reward; and to the HOLY GHOST, in Whose trust is our tender mercy for ever and ever; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen. Only-Begotten WORD of the Unbegotten FATHER, Thou Mozarabic. Who art long-suffering towards the people that rise up against Thee, and of Thine infinite love dost endure the tyrant who boasteth that he can do mischief; grant of Thine infinite goodness that we may, at however great a distance, follow Thine example of pardon; and may also, however far below Thee, have our portion among those that have been forgiven. Through. (11.) O GOD, Almighty SAVIOUR, vouchsafe, we beseech Thee, Gregorian. that we who do confess that the SON of GOD is Co-equal and Consubstantial with Thee, the FATHER, may merit like a fruitful olive to be planted in the heavenly Jerusalem, for His merit's sake. Who. (1.)

TITLE: To the Chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil. A Psalm of David. LXX.: To the end over Macleth. Of understanding to David. Rather: on the Supreme; for the flutes, an instructive of David.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That which CHRIST bestoweth on Israel, by His coming. The prophet blameth the Jews and the infidels. This Psalm is to be read with the Gospel of S. Matthew. The voice of the HOLY GHOST blaming Judas and the unbelieving Jews, and all those who deny the works of GOD. The Advent and monition of the SAVIOUR. VEN. BEDE. In the first clause of the Psalm, the Church speaks, blaming those who, whether in word or deed, fear not to be corrupted: the foolish body. In the next he speaketh of the evils which they will receive, the same evils which they have inflicted on Christians, "Are they not all," &c. In the third, he warneth the faithful to bear with good courage the hardships of this world, till the judgment-seat of Majesty shall be set, when it shall be given to Are we to think that this refers to S. Matthew xxiii.? In the original there follows (and it shows how imperfectly these headings have come down to us): the Prophet finds fault with—

Here we have some clue to a date as to these most valuable headings. The original is, Atque omnes operibus Deum negantes increpantis. The use of the ablative after the verb, is a kind of foretaste of that same ablative taking the place of the nominative or accusative. This alteration is a mark of the fourth, or at latest of the fifth, century. all those that have done righteously, to receive good things. Who shall give. S. ATHANASIUS. A Psalm that accuseth the impious and iniquitous. ARABIC PSALTER. A prophecy of David concerning Babel and Sennacherib, ver. 15 (that is, the last clause of our eighth verse).

Various Uses. — Antiphons.Gregorian. The LORD turned again the captivity of His people. Parisian. The same. Monastic. The same. 1 The foolish body hath said in his heart : There is no God. 2 Corrupt are they, and become abominable in their wickedness : there is none that doeth good. 3 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men : to see if there were any that would understand, and seek after God. 4 But they are all gone out of the way, they are altogether become abominable : there is also none that doeth good, no not one. We have already spoken of these verses in Psalm xiv. 1—4. 5 Are not they without understanding that work wickedness : eating up my people as if they would eat bread? they have not called upon God. 6 They were afraid where no fear was : for God hath broken the bones of him that besieged thee; thou hast put them to confusion, because God hath despised them. 7 Oh, that the salvation were given unto Israel out of Sion : oh, that the Lord would deliver his people out of captivity ! 8 Then should Jacob rejoice : and Israel should be right glad.

And therefore : Glory be to the FATHER, Who looked down from heaven upon the children of men; and to the Son, Who is in the generation of the righteous; and to the Holy Ghost, by Whom the salvation is given unto Israel out of Sion; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen. See Vol. I., p. 167.

TITLE: To the chief musician on Neginoth, Maschil. A Psalm of David when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, "Doth not David hide himself with us? Otherwise: to the Supreme: for the stringed instruments: an instructive of David, when the Ziphites went and said, "Doth not David hide himself with us? The literal sense is given in the words: "Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strongholds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah. S. Augustine gives the mystical sense thus: Saul, the persecutor of David, as bearing the figure of a temporal kingdom, belonging not to life but to death, is a type of Satan. David, hiding from his persecutors in a certain village, Ziph, is a type of CHRIST, or of the Body of CHRIST. What then of the Ziphites? These Ziphites, when they had learned that David had hidden himself among them, betrayed him to the king his persecutor, saying, "Doth not David hide himself with us? The word Ziphites is by interpretation, men flourishing. Certain enemies, then, to holy David, were flourishing while he was hiding.

We may find them in mankind, if we are willing to understand this Psalm. First find David hiding, and we shall find his enemies flourishing. "For ye are dead," saith the Apostle to the members of CHRIST, "and your life is hid with CHRIST in GOD. These men that are hiding, when shall they be flourishing? "When CHRIST Who is your life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. Or we may take it of our LORD, Who chose rather to hide among the Jews, and when questioned by Pontius Pilate answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. Therefore here He was hidden; and all good men are hidden here; because their good is concealed, within, in the heart, where are faith, charity, hope, where also is their treasure.

1 Save me, O God, for thy Name's sake: and avenge me in thy strength. That Name, and the salvation by that Name, often and often we have heard of before; often and often shall we in these self-same Psalms; and, as S. Peter Chrysologus says, God forbid there ever should be a time when, if we have not that Name in our mouths, at all events when we have it not in our heart of hearts! It may well go on, Avenge me in Thy strength. Because as those loving mediæval writers tell us, Of all strength love is the greatest: "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned." In Thy strength. And what is that strength save the weakness of the Cross! where defeat is victory, where shame is glory, where reprobation is coronation, where, finally, death is life.

2 Hear my prayer, O God: and hearken unto the words of my mouth. 3 For strangers are risen up against me: and tyrants, which have not God before their eyes, seek after my soul. It is well said, Hear my prayer. Hear, the weaker word: but hearken: that is, so hear as to listen to, so listen to as to grant, the words of my mouth: my Mouth, indeed, my Mediator, my Daysman, my Advocate, hearken unto the words of The WORD; to the words of Him the true Aaron, of whom Thou hast said, "Is not Aaron thy Brother? I know that He can speak well." For strangers. Here that word, as we know from the title of the Psalm, means those of David's own people. So join the two expressions together in their higher sense; strangers, my own rebellious will and passions, have risen up against me: a word which one never could use except of a civil war or domestic rebellion. And tyrants: tyrants as being all the servants of, as all deriving their strength from, that one tyrant; the tyrant in opposition to THE King; the rebellious chief of Babylon in contradistinction to the peaceful Monarch in Jerusalem.

4 Behold, God is my helper: the LORD is with them that uphold my soul. S. Gregor. Moral. 22. 18. S. Matt. xxvi. 53. S. John xi. 43. Valencio in loc. In which sense shall we take it? Of the synagogue, looking for, and yearning after, in the midst, and in spite of, all her troubles, the Advent? Or of our LORD Himself, staying Himself on the love of the FATHER, as with that thought of the twelve legions of Angels; as with that declaration, "I know that Thou hearest Me always?" Or lastly, shall we take it of the Church, knowing that, as the FATHER was the Helper of the LORD, so That FATHER and That LORD will be her aiders, and against whatever enemies will uphold her soul? 5 He shall reward evil unto mine enemies : destroy thou them in thy truth. S. Augustine probably using a bad copy of the Latin translation, reads in virtute instead of in veritate; and therefore gives an interpretation which, however true in itself, is not the meaning of the Psalm. Destroy Thou them in Thy Truth. That dear truth on which my present Christian life hangs; "Resist the devil, and he shall flee from you;" that future dear truth, "And the God of all grace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly."

6 An offering of a free heart will I give thee, and praise thy Name, O LORD : because it is so comfortable. 7 For he hath delivered me out of all my trouble : and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies. And so again here, those ponderous commentators of the sixteenth century, Lutherans and Calvinists, who yet from the old stream of tradition derive so much beauty, find an argument against vows of any kind; because, as it seems, day by day, and hour by hour, the offering is to be free, which it cannot be if it is compelled. But with a deeper truth, Doctors and Councils of the Middle Ages use the same verse against those who devoted children to the religious life before they had the power of understanding what such a life meant. And S. Jerome, the strongest advocate of that life among all the primitive Fathers, who sometimes, with respect to marriage almost trembles on the verge of heresy, dwells in the same sense on this Psalm.

It is a verse that seems fated to be fought over; for a totally different controversy finds it a battle field; in the widest sense, Jansenism and Pelagianism; in the narrower, Augustinianism and semi-Pelagianism. It is a verse very dear to S. Prosper. And one cannot but remark, that of all the translations which could express the meaning of the last clause of the sixth verse, our own only Prayer Book version is so much the most telling. Who would set the For it is good of the Authorised translation, the quoniam bonum est of the Vulgate, the ὅτι ἀγαθόν of the LXX., even the Slavonic Ἰάκω ἐλήθῳ, compared to that word which is not only so perfectly English, but which shows how the English language gives the dearest and deepest senses of inspired writings—comfortable? And then, for the conclusion, let us hear our It is very curious to see how Lorinus takes occasion from this verse to attack a certain Scotchman Hume, of whose name, but from this exposition I am utterly

ignorant, as drawing from the latter clause of the verse an argument for the worst, the supra lapsarian, scheme of Calvinism. dear LORD speak in His own Person. Thou hast delivered Me. Thou hast delivered Me indeed from the false witnesses that agreed not together; Thou hast delivered Me from Annas, from Caiaphas, from Herod, from Pontius Pilate; Thou hast delivered Me from the scourging and coronation, and the shame, and the Crucifixion; and Mine eye hath seen his desire upon Mine enemies. And what was that desire? What save that petition, "FATHER, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And yet the word itself is even stronger in the original: Thou hast banqueted mine eyes. And only remember how many of those that then stood round the Cross and mocked, will hereafter be found written among the number of them that have been invited to sit down at the eternal marriage feast.

And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, Who is our Helper; and to the SON, for Whose Name's sake we are saved; and to the HOLY GHOST, in Whose strength we are avenged; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.Save us, O LORD, for Thy Name's sake, and avenge us in Thy strength; bring us out of tribulation, and fill us with gladness, to the end that while Thy salvation is fully bestowed on us, Thy glory may joyfully be chanted by us. Through Thy mercy. (11.) We beseech Thee, O LORD JESUS CHRIST, that we by Thy help being saved from our enemies, may both in will and deed follow Thee, our Head Which art in heaven. Who livest.

TITLE: To the chief musician on Neginoth, Maschil. A Psalm of David. Or, To the Supreme. For the stringed instruments. Vulgate. To the end. In the songs. An understanding of David.

Argument.VEN. BEDE. For the end, CHRIST: in the songs, in spiritual joys: an instructive of David: to instruct us that He was to be incarnate through Whom the Prophet expected to be delivered from trouble. Through the whole Psalm they use the words of the LORD. In the first part He asketh that, in His tribulation His prayer may not be overlooked, His petition may be speedily despatched. In the next place, that the iniquities of the Jews may be put an end to, because in their city was the contradiction of truth. Thirdly, He predicted the evils which He foreseeth to impend over the Jews. After this a pious consolation is introduced. EUSEBIUS. A Revelation of those things which were cruelly done against CHRIST. S. JEROME. This Psalm contains the words of the Mediator, Who, being GOD, took on Himself for our freedom the form of a servant.

Various Uses.Parisian. Friday. I. Nocturn.

Antiphons.Gregorian. The LORD turned * the captivity of His people. Parisian. I mourn in my prayer * and am vexed : the enemy crieth so. Mozarabic. Hide not Thyself from my petition, * take heed unto me, and hear me, O LORD. 1 Hear my prayer, O GOD : and hide not thyself from my petition. 2 Take heed unto me, and hear me : And first they notice how many have uttered that same prayer, and have been heard, not from the mercy, but from the anger of GOD. So it was with the people that desired the quails; so with those who asked for a king: so even with Satan himself. Again, of some who asked and were not heard, and yet of whom it cannot truly be said that GOD hid Himself from—or, as the Vulgate translates it, despised—their petition. So with Moses, and with S. Paul; while, again, some are both despised and not heard, as the five foolish virgins. S. Basil speaks of the reasons why men who ask are not heard. Sometimes the unworthiness of the asker, as David, when he besought that he might build the temple; sometimes that of those for whom the petition is made, as when Jeremiah was forbidden to pray for the Jews; and sometimes because of the listless way in which the petition was made, as when the Apostles failed to cast out the devil from the lunatic child. Most mediæval writers take the difference between the prayer and the petition, or, as it is in the Latin, depreciation, to be, that the one asks for that which is good, but the other prays against that which is evil. But, as we shall have occasion to see, and as S. Euthymius here says, these words are as often as not used in exactly the opposite sense.

Ruffinus. Ex. xvi. 23. 1 Sam. viii. 22. Job i. 12; ii. 6. 2 Sam. vii. 5. Jer. vii. 16, and xiv. 11. S. Matt. xvii. 21. How I mourn in my prayer, and am vexed. 3 The enemy crieth so, and the ungodly cometh K on so fast : for they are minded to do me some mischief; so maliciously are they set against me. But henceforth we must drop all allusion to the petition of sinners, yes, and even of saints, and see only the offering made by the LORD, of strong crying and tears, unto Him That was able to save Him from death, when He was heard in that He feared. And the Western Church shows that she receives this Psalm in this sense by reading the commentary of S. Augustine on it, for the three middle Lessons of Matins on Maundy Thursday. The enemy crieth so, as when they all cried, "Not this Man, but Barabbas:" as when "they that passed by reviled Him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou That destroyest the Temple, and buildest it in three days, save Thyself."

4 My heart is disquieted within me : and the fear of death is fallen upon me. 5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me : and an horrible dread hath overwhelmed me. And as they say, there can be but One, one time, one scene to which these words can truly apply. S. Hilary, while he takes them in the sense of that Agony which was suffered once, but can never be suffered again, nevertheless is careful to show how all this pain, misery, and shame was the portion of the WORD made flesh, in that He was Man, could not have been, so far as He was consubstantial with the FATHER, and with the HOLY GHOST. That passage, and this text (not that I am fond of dwelling on polemical discussions from dear verses in the Psalms,) have nevertheless given rise to long arguments as to how, in what sense, and how far, the fearfulness and trembling did come on our Blessed LORD. It is believed that notwithstanding, in so far as He was GOD, He knew that He must suffer many things of the Jews and the third day rise again; still, in His Human Nature, He was overwhelmed with an horrible dread, insomuch that His sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground. For in that fearful hour came upon His righteous Soul all the sinful thoughts and words and deeds that had been since man gave heed to the Tempter, and that should be till His Second Coming, when sin should be at an end; all the impenitence of desperate sinners, to whom His Passion would only be an increase of condemnation; all the

All these questions are discussed by the Master of the Sentences, Lib. iii. Distinct. 15, on the Infirmities of Man, which Christ in His Human Nature assumed; and 16, whether there was in Christ a necessity to suffer and to die. coldness and want of faith of those, who would not, so far as in them lay, in their own persons, fill up that which remained behind of the sufferings of CHRIST. 6 And I said, O that I had wings like a dove : for then would I flee away, and be at rest. 7 Lo, then would I get me away far off : and remain in the wilderness. 8 I would make haste to escape : because of the stormy wind and tempest. And in the first place we think of that Dove which once endeavoured to flee away from the ark, the only place of rest. No doubt, as so many medieval writers explain it, thinking that rest might be found on the whole wide face of the earth which it was impossible to obtain in the narrow prison of the ark. And see the result. The raven did find rest; rest, probably, on some of the carcasses floating on the surface of the water. But, as they go on to remark, the dove wished for some rest, as David here wishes: the dove found none in leaving her home, nor yet could David have found, nor yet will any true servant of GOD find, quiet and peace, by forsaking that home of duty which GOD has given him.

But there is a more beautiful sense which is dearer to the mystical writers. It is to be taken in connection with that verse in Hosea: "They shall seek to flee as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the LORD." And see in how lovely a manner this prophecy applies to our dear LORD: how He indeed desired to escape to His FATHER and to His Home from the hands of His twofold enemy,—the Jews on this side, the Romans on that, both leagued together against Him. And then observe how it proceeds: "I will place them in their houses, saith the LORD." Them: Him in the first place, Who died that He might open the passage; them, in the next, Who, through His sufferings shall have a portion in the many mansions which He died to secure for them. S. Hilary speaks very touchingly here on the yearningness of this petition—for petition it is—for deliverance. It is, he truly observes, a kind of prayer from the human to the Divine nature of our LORD; which, hypostatically united to-

It is in our version tremble. But that given above, which is also that of the Vulgate and the LXX., is the truer interpretation. It is worth while to quote the mystical verses in which Hugh of Saint Victor compre- hends the characteristics of the dove: Grex, visus, pulli, fel, oscula, pugna, capilli, Grana, latex, nidus, turris, gemitus, color, et pes, Nuncia, simplicitas, fimus, ova, Venus, fuga, cervix. gether, yet nevertheless could and did, the one petition, as it were, the other: the latter strengthens and comforts and supports the former. 9 Destroy their tongues, O LORD, and divide them: for I have spied unrighteousness and strife in the city.

In the first place: their tongues were truly destroyed and they themselves divided, when the testimony of the two false witnesses agreed not so together. Then, secondly, when the contradictory account of the soldiers that kept watch at the sepulchre, which, in itself was sufficient to condemn itself, received the promise of confirmation—a confirmation, the original expression for which shows by what means it was to be brought to pass—from the governor. And there is a wonderful beauty, except that the use of the lower word, (a very rare fault in our translation,) rather obscures it, in that I have seen unrighteousness in the city. For, as our LORD when He ascended the Cross had His Face turned toward the Temple, so He perceived, not only the unrighteousness of those who thirsted after His Soul, but also the strife between those Psalms which they constantly recited, and those words which they were then taking in their own mouths. S. Gregory applies the text to S. Paul's conduct with respect to the Pharisees and Sadducees, during his examination by the Sanhedrim: and not unreasonably observes that, in this respect, the master and teacher of the false witnesses against our LORD and the calumniators of His saints, excelled his agents. For of leviathan it is written: "The scales of his flesh are joined together; they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved." Whereas the defensive armour of his adherents is anything but firm in its jointure, piece into piece, and can so easily be pierced by that sword of the SPIRIT.

10 Day and night they go about within the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it. 11 Wickedness is therein: deceit and guile go not out of their streets. Day and night. For, as they say well; just as in the day of prosperity, and the night of adversity, the Captain of our salvation is ready to help; and not only ready to help, but His work is to take advantage of each separate characteristic either of the day or the night: As darkness shows us worlds of light We never saw by day; Moral. in Job xxxiv. 3.

so also is the ancient enemy ready to avail himself of every advantage which the especial difficulty of day or night may put into his power against us. But there is a very beautiful antithesis which the love of mediæval writers has attached to this verse. They see in it the diabolical caricature of one of the greatest miracles in the Old Testament, the march round Jericho before its walls fell down. For always be this remembered, that it seems to be one of Satan's chief delights to parody the works of GOD: as the ritual, the chancels, the chants, the monasteries, the vows of chastity, the cross fylfott of Buddhism are but a ghastly parody of the Catholic Church; and, which is so remarkable, a parody, it is to be believed, older than its original. In like manner, that which those saints who most deeply studied the Apocalypse tell us, of the probable Incarnation, the Resurrection from the dead, of the Antichrist. And so here they take the procession round Jericho, of our LORD, as the true Ark, attacking the city of this world by the seven virtues of the HOLY GHOST, by His seven words on the Cross; by the seven days, so to speak, in which He prepared for the glorious octave of the Resurrection. And with hatred only less than love, in the same degree that finite cannot compass the infinite power, does Satan in the seven deadly sins, day and night go about the walls of our souls. Deceit and guile.

They interpret it of the guile by which our LORD was sold for thirty pieces of silver, betrayed by a false kiss, condemned on the testimony of lying witnesses. And therefore go not out of their streets, because that same falsehood continued even after our dear LORD's Passion, continued when the chief priests gave large money to the soldiers, finally continued until those streets of Jerusalem, up one of which the Man of Sorrows passed to His Passion, became, as its prophesiers had foretold, a ploughed land, a place for flocks to lie down in.

S. Ambros. in Tobit. cap. 4. 12 For it is not an open enemy, that hath done me this dishonour: for then I could have borne it. 13 Neither was it mine adversary, that did magnify himself against me: for then peradventure I would have hid myself from him. 14 But it was even thou, my companion: my guide, and mine own familiar friend. And, referring, as it was impossible not to do, this whole passage to Judas Iscariot, they dwell on the horror which from the very beginning his treachery has impressed, not only on the doctrine, but on the ritual of the Church. How not only the greatest doctors of primitive ages, have dwelt on the progress of his crime from his first call to the Apostolate to his suicide: but how in various laws and canons S. Ambros. Euseb. Demonstr. Evangel. cap. 2. S. Prosper. de Promis. ill. 18 (the chapter is well worth reading). Origen. Tom. xxxii. in S. Johan. S. Isidor. de Pass. Dom. cap. 22.

that no Christian should be baptized by the name of Judas, so that if any one had any special devotion to the other S. Jude, he must christen his child Thaddeus: how, though Judas was a hundred times more guilty than Pontius Pilate, yet the Church abhors the sin of the one in her creed, but will not pollute her mouth with the utterance of the other: and how in the popular ceremonies of Easter Eve, in both the Eastern and Western Churches, as in being hung from the yard-arm in ships at sea, and the like, Judas yearly receives his meed of ignominy. My companion. And in all the versions used by the Church, it is much stronger than that: one of a like soul with me; unanimous: ἰσόψυχος. Perhaps one of an equal rank with me, comes nearer to the original. And notice, as they well say, how here also, to quote His own teaching with all reverence, "the first shall be last, and the last first. "Greater works than these shall ye do. And Judas among the rest. Of the same rank with the other Apostles in miracles; with the other Apostles in the same rank, so far as the world could tell, with their Almighty LORD. It is singular to observe how chary the primitive Church was of applying these verses to Judas; I suppose because they feared that the putting them into our dear LORD's mouth, with reference to the traitor, might give some advantage to the Arians.

But, as centuries swept away that heresy, the truer, the more comforting, the deeper meaning, was worked out more and more. For it is not an open enemy. And here all the ascetic writers refer with one consent to religious houses. As needless, thank GOD, as it would be miserable, as it would be incredible to such as love to image those convents of the Middle Ages at their best, that is at their saintliest; no need to dilate for one moment on the horrible miseries, the tremendous wickedness, the fearful violation of all human and Divine law, of which those holy writers speak. This was, and good reason why, a favourite text among the itinerant reformers of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries: even thou, My companion,—My companion daily in the Seven Hours of My Passion,—and Mine Own familiar friend. My guide. It is not so in the Hebrew. But the dear love of the Mediæval Church explained even this difficulty. He "was guide unto them that took JESUS. And even in another sense, as they fear not to say, he was the guide of our LORD Himself: that is, he, the infinite wisdom of Divine foresight so permitting it, resolved on all those tortuous ways by which the Immaculate Lamb was led to the judgmentseat, and was therein offered as the evening sacrifice of the whole world.

Lorinus, curiously enough, compares the decree of the French Parliament, passed the very year before that in which he wrote, which forbad, in horror of the murder of Henry IV., that the name of Ravaillac should ever be given in baptism. 15 We took sweet counsel together : and walked in the house of God as friends.

Or as it is in the Vulgate, with a deeper meaning, who together with me didst receive sweet food : and although that cannot be borne out by the Hebrew, yet no wonder that thousands of mediæval priests saw in the expression a prophecy of him who was to dip his hand in the same dish with our LORD. S. Ambrose, interpreting the Hebrew words in the same sense, nevertheless understands their mystical meaning differently. According to him, the sweet food was our dear LORD's own discourses, those sermons and parables of which Judas was equally a hearer with the rest of the Apostles. And walked in the house of God as friends. So all the authorised translations give, and that rightly : S. Jerome alone, by some extraordinary misunderstanding, or wonderful false reading, translates it, walked in the house of God in terror. And the Carthusian draws this good lesson, which I will give in his own words : Hence it appears that those persecutions and injuries are the harder to bear which are inflicted on us by our acquaintances and friends, especially when we have made sure of their love, and have deserved nothing but good from them. As therefore, the Passion of CHRIST was the more bitter, in that He was sold by a disciple, and put to death by His elect and peculiar people. And therefore He saith by Micah, "O My people, what have I done unto thee, or wherein have I wearied thee?" And again, "What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done unto it?"

16 Let death come hastily upon them, and let them go down quick into hell : for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them. We have already spoken of these, the so-called imprecatory clauses of the Psalms. And here Dathan and Abiram stand forth as the type of those sinners,—sacrilegious in like manner,—of whom David speaks. And among them. But it is more than this. In their very texture, inwoven into the whole fabric of their existence. 17 As for me, I will call upon God : and the LORD shall save me. Have I called : so it is in the LXX., and in the Vulgate, though not correctly. The Carmelite says well : He cried in the country, when He sowed the good seed among the multi- And in the same way they take the house of God, of that "large upper room," which, in one sense, was undoubtedly the

first Christian house of God, inasmuch as it contained the first Christian altar. And so S. Bruno. tudes: He cried in the Temple, when He preached the law: He cried in the place of death, when He raised the dead: He cried on the Cross, when He tasted of death: He cried to the FATHER, when into His Hands He commended His own Spirit. And the same writer well puts it, that we are to call upon God for the support of our corporeal life, for our deliverance from temporal pain, for the consolation of our innermost heart, for our escape from eternal punishment, for the remission of sin, both original and actual. 18 In the evening, and morning, and at noon-day will I pray, and that instantly: and he shall hear my voice. A.

And here we have the first authorization of the Canonical Hours: and therefore this one verse might supply the material for a large volume. But the earliest interpretation spoke of our LORD, and of Him only. At evening, that is, in that evening of the Passion wherein the evening sacrifice of the world was accomplished; at morning, namely, that moment, when before the rising of the sun, the stone was rolled away from the entrance of the sepulchre; at noonday, namely, that noon, when "He led them out as far as to Bethany, and lifted up His hands and blessed them; and it came to pass that, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and taken up into heaven. Then in the earliest commentators we find Vespers, Matins, and the Liturgy shadowed out. It would be endless to go through all the Scriptural illustrations of these especial times of prayer, from Daniel down to S. Paul and Silas. But it is worthy of notice, that the Jews from a very early period of their history, kept Tierce, Sexts, Nones: Tierce, because the law, they say, was then given; Sexts, because the brazen serpent was then reared up: Nones, because the smitten rock then poured forth its waters. It is most marvellous that the synagogue should so have foreshadowed the Church. For what responds to the giving of the Law, but the Descent of the HOLY GHOST, as at our Tierce?

What answers to the erection of the serpent on the pole, but the lifting up of CHRIST on the Tree of Life, as at our Sexts? What is the antitype of the stream gushing from the rock, but the water that flowed from the pierced Side of His People's True Rock, as at our Nones? And they find many an admirable reason why these three hours, rather than the seven (on which we shall also have hereafter to dwell,) should be named. Because of the three ever-blessed Persons of the Trinity; because of the three theological virtues of thought, word, and deed; because of the three classes into which all sins fall, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; because of our three great enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil. There is a remarkable sense which some early mediæval writers elicit. They say that by the evening, we are to understand those things which as the conclusion of the day, now gone by, are already past: the Nativity, the Passion, the Resurrection,—in short, our dear LORD's whole work on earth. By the morning, the glorious morning of the Resurrection; that time when the morning being now come JESUS shall stand on the shore of everlasting peace. By the noonday, the perfect and unclouded splendour of eternal blessedness:

Endless noonday, glorious noonday From the Sun of suns is there. And therefore truly He shall hear my voice follows the noonday, because the prayers of His people partially and imperfectly heard and answered before, shall then be fully accepted, shall then be more than ten thousand times realised. 19 It is he that hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me. As they very well observe, they are two almost opposite, and yet both lovely senses in which we may take the last clause. For there were many with me. On the one hand: the many, who took my part, were only the means by which He delivered my soul: by their prayers, or by their physical help, He assisted me; and in peace, because our alliance was the effect of peace. Thus, it is only what S. Paul says: "I know that this shall turn to my salvation, through your prayers, and the supply of the Spirit of JESUS CHRIST." Or, on the other hand: they take with me to mean: encamped on the same field of battle, and fighting against me. And then the verse is explained by that: "Though an host of men were laid against me, yet shall not my heart be afraid." In peace. "For He is our peace, Who hath made both one." The Chaldaic explanation gives also a beautiful sense: because in many afflictions His Word was with me. Yet one more interpretation. It is the wheat speaking of the tares: it is Elijah, complaining of his standing alone, while the prophets of Baal were so many.

Philip. i. 19. 20 Yea, even GOD, that endureth for ever, shall hear me, and bring them down: for they will not turn, nor fear GOD. The most noble explanation is that of a Greek saint: which sees our dear LORD, even God that endureth for ever, That is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever, That 1 About this verse S. Augustine has written admirably in his forty-eighth Epistle, Ed. S. Maur., but the passage is too long to quote. must be true, though every man be a liar, called on by the remembrance of that which He condescended to suffer from human falsehood—even now, according to the poor merits of His servants, to bring them down, the fighters against justice, the haters of the righteous, the lovers of a lie. Here, in our version, we have the word me inserted: and that most rightly. Some of the mediæval commentators interpreted the hear, the hearing them, not me, and puzzled themselves in what sense the enemies of David, and of the truer David, could be said to be heard.

21 He laid his hands upon such as be at peace with him : and he brake his covenant. 22 The words of his mouth were softer than butter, having war in his heart : his words were smoother than oil, and yet be they very swords.

And perhaps there is not another verse in the Psalms which has had so many different explanations—not of the original meaning, which is most perfectly clear—but of the deeper and truer sense. In the first place: he, the traitor of traitors—he, who afterwards repented after a sort—he laid his hands on Him That was at peace with him. He, so at peace with the only man of whom it is said, "Good were it for that man if he had never been born," that He permitted the fallen Apostle to lay his hands on His Own most sacred Body, when he gave Him the kiss of peace, wherewith He was wont (so tradition tells) to receive His disciples, returning from their various missions. He laid his hands—upon such as were at peace with him. As they most truly quote from that prophet who was the closest and most exact type of the "Man of Sorrows," of the "acquainted with grief"—so exact a type that modern Judaism interprets the 53rd chapter of Isaiah of him—from Jeremiah: "I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it." Although we have not now to do with the prophecy of Jeremiah, is not this most wonderful? The command to report the circumstances of His death Who was betrayed, as we have seen, by His friends. Report, say they: say the chief priests and elders, after they had taken counsel, to the soldiers that had kept watch at the sepulchre of the LORD; report: "His disciples came by night, and stole Him away while we slept." And we will report it. Exactly: so you will. And that report in the miserable times, when the whole history of the Resurrection was searched, inquired into, as a witness might be under cross-examination, was the terror of infidels; was the support of such as needed such an external kind of witness.

23 O cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall nourish thee: and shall not suffer the righteous to fall for ever. There are two different senses in which they took this casting the burden. The one—that which I suppose would be generally taken; thy burden—the heavy load of sin, sorrow, temptation, let it be what it may, the Man of Sorrows will bear them all. Or, in another sense; Cast thy burden on Him in the same way that the ship in a storm casts her burden on the anchor, which anchor holds on to its sure fixing place. And to my mind, that is the more beautiful sense of the two: a sense which, once entered into, may be followed out in these glorious verses:— And I see the good ship riding, all in a perilous road; The low reef booming on her lee; the swell of ocean poured,

Sea after sea, from stem to stern; the mainmast by the board: The bulwarks down; the rudder gone; the boats stove by the chains:— But courage still, brave mariners! the ANCHOR yet remains: And he will flinch—no, never an inch—until ye pitch sky high; Then he moves his head, as if he said: "Fear nought! for here am I." And He shall nourish thee. And look in what different ways. How will you have it? Of Joseph nourishing his father and his brethren: or of the widow woman commanded—though she little knew it—to sustain Elijah; or, of the miraculous provision of manna, or of quails, or of that in the great famine of Samaria, when the spoilers were spoiled? All this against famine. Or shall we take it of that dear love which can bring nourishment out of bitterness, as in the waters of Marah—or, out of absolute poison, as from the springs of Jericho—or from downright venom, as from the viper in Melita, which beast was the occasion of the sustenance of S. Paul and his company after the inhabitants of the island changed their minds, and said that the Apostle was a God.

It is remarkable how Arnobius, who interprets the word burden of all thoughts—care would be the nearest interpretation of all—dwells on the infinite mercy which allows us—not only allows, but commands us to commit all those troubles which haunt us, either from sin, or from temptation, or from bodily suffering, to Him Who therefore fell beneath the load of His Own Cross, that we might never fall under the weight of ours. And so also says S. Leo. 24 And as for them: thou, O GOD, shalt bring them into the pit of destruction. 25 The bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days : nevertheless, my trust shall be in thee, O LORD.

The most noble sermon, perhaps, which was preached in that century of sermons, the seventeenth, though not taken from, was yet, to a great extent, based on this verse : that of Vieyra's, from the text, "Go and sin no more." Thus he shows how there is a certain amount of sin, known only to Him Who knows all things, and differing in different persons, which once heaped up, the day of mercy is at an end. After having dwelt on those prophecies in Amos—"For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four"—"for three transgressions of Gaza, and for four"—and so on, he turns to this text as his proof that man's term of life is not so absolutely, determinately appointed, but that it may by his own wickedness be cut short. That sermon, to my mind, has a solemnity which can hardly find a parallel. They interpret the words of the Psalm, it is true, in other ways. It is a more curious than plausible interpretation of the shall not live out half their days, which S. Gregory gives. Every sin, he says, must be repented of : the life of a Christian, therefore, is made up of falls and penitence : therefore, he who is guilty of the falls, but knows nothing of the penitence, lives but half that which he ought to live : of such David speaks. It may perhaps be said, without any irreverence to one of the greatest Doctors of the Church, that, had all his interpretations been of the same character, he would scarcely have stood as high both in the East and West, as he does now.

And therefore : Glory be to the FATHER, That endureth for ever, and shall hear me, and bring mine enemies down ; and to the SON, the LORD, on Whom our burden is to be cast, and Who shall nourish us with His Own Body and Blood ; and to the HOLY GHOST, Who, when its tongues were destroyed and divided of old time, gave us that first Pentecost, the gifts of divers languages to His Apostles, for the propagation of the faith ; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : world without end. Amen.

Collects.LORD JESUS, Who wast before all ages with the FATHER and the HOLY GHOST, and yet didst in the latter days take Though I should hope not many, as Thomas Bozius, who, a Latin himself, turns this verse against the Eastern Church, and observes—which is perfectly true—that no Emperor of Constantinople reigned more than forty years, except one who held the sceptre for forty-three, and two who ruled for fifty-six. One can only be sorry that so good a man as Lorinus should have given a kind of endorsement to this interpretation. upon Thyself the nature of man, and wast betrayed by Thy companion and own familiar friend; grant, we beseech Thee, that we, praising Thee at morning, and evening, and noon-day, and that instantly, may hear Thy Voice, because Thou art pleased to hear ours. Who livest. (1.) God, Which perceivest us to be afflicted by the temptations which Thou permittest to attack us, give to us, we beseech Thee, that most powerful help, the victory of the holy Cross; to the end that we, who, by Thy example, strive to overcome the world, may also, because Thou hast gone before us into heaven, merit to follow Thee. Amen. Through Thy mercy. (11.)

We beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we, being heard by Thee, nourished by Thee, and by Thee set free from the billows of this world, may live out the full number of our days in Thy eternal kingdom. Through. (1.)

TITLE: To the Chief Musician upon Jonath-elem-rechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath. In the Vulgate: To the end; for the people which is put far away from the saints; David in the inscription of the title, when the Philistines detained him in Gath. Or rather, perhaps: To the Supreme, in the oppression of the band of exiles; a golden Song of David, when he was a captive by the Philistines of Gath.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST hath drawn us out from the depths of our sin, and from the abyss of perdition. The voice of the prophet concerning the elders of the Jews. The voice of CHRIST to the FATHER concerning the princes of the Jews. Every faithful soul prays against the sins of the flesh, and the flesh itself. The prophet speaketh of CHRIST, and concerning Judas the traitor, and a prayer for enemies.

VEN. BEDE. In the Hebrew we read thus: For the mute dove: the exile of David, humble and perfect: when the Philistines detained him in Gath. The mute dove, and David, humble and perfect, signify CHRIST in His Passion. As to our translation [i.e., the Vulgate] for the people which is put far off from the Saints; that is, for the companions of David who, while exiled in Gath were put far off from Judæa where was the Holy of holies, this signifies that the Psalm hath reference to the Disciples of CHRIST who were scandalized at the time of His Passion; and for whose faith, that it might not fail, the LORD Himself beareth witness that He made intercession. David, in the inscription of the title, signified the LORD in His Passion,—when the title set over Him was, the King of the Jews: that is, of all that believe in, and confess GOD. When the Philistines held him captive in Gath: when the Jews and the soldiers of Pilate had crucified Him: for Gath, which by interpretation is a winepress, setteth forth the hard torture of the Cross. In another way we may in the mute dove, and in the people far off from the Saints, understand all the faithful; who, being in exile from the eternal joy of the Saints, say with the Apostle, "While we are present in the body we are absent from the LORD:

for whom David ceaseth not to pray, That David in very deed, Who sitteth at the Right Hand of GOD, Who also maketh supplication for us. Likewise the Psalm may be understood in the person of the Church; which never ceaseth in this world to suffer trouble, being laden with divers afflictions. In the first section of the Psalm the Church, our mother, prays in the confidence that she will be delivered from our enemies: Be merciful. In the second she enumerates her own sufferings, returning thanks for that she hath been delivered from so many perils, and professes that she will never fear those evil things which must of necessity pass swiftly away. In the third place, she promises to sing the perpetual praises of the LORD in that future beatitude, when He shall have delivered us from the adversities of this world. Unto Thee, O God, &c.

SYRIAC. The just man's rendering of thanks because he hath been delivered from the enemy.

Various Uses. — Antiphons.Gregorian. Be merciful * unto me, O GOD. Monastic. Be merciful unto me, O GOD, * for man goeth about to devour me. Mozarabic. In Thee, O GOD, are my vows, * the praise which I will return to Thee. 1 Be merciful unto me, O GOD, for man goeth about to devour me: he is daily fighting, and troubling me. 2 Mine enemies are daily in hand to swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most Highest. We must take the whole Psalm, S. Augustine says, but more especially these first two verses, in connexion with the title: "When the Philistines took him in Gath;" for Gath, by interpretation is a winepress. And according to that very favourite mediæval metaphor, that spices only give out their strength when they are bruised,—as the strings of the lyre require to be strung to their full extent before they can give out their sweetest melody,—so and even more plainly, the grape cannot yield that juice which maketh glad both God and man, until it has been exposed to, and so to speak suffered in, the winepress. So Adam of S. Victor:

Parum sapis vim sinapis, Si non tangis, si non frangis; Et plus fragrant quando flagrat Thus injectum ignibus. Thus taught by the title, the whole Psalm so applies itself to the Son of David, simply and exclusively that not only the literal interpretation seems almost impossible, but that scarcely any other mystical explanation is allowable—For man goeth about to devour me. It is not wonderful that they should here make such a point of that parable where, though enemy in the original, yet in the Vulgate, it is said, that the MAN the enemy, soweth tares also. Every one who is acquainted in the slightest degree with the most ordinary ecclesiastical correspondence, to say nothing of the commentaries, of the middle ages, knows that the homo inimicus, occurs over and over again, wherever any temptation of the individual, or trial to the Church, is in question. And as it is well said by Jerome,—if Satan transforms himself into an Angel of Light, much more may he, and does he, transform himself into the image of that "man" whose whole race he, as far as he could, made like to himself in the disobedience of Adam. But then; of all Psalms that most dearly apply to our LORD's life in the years of His ministry, none surely can match with this.

3 Nevertheless, though I am sometime afraid: yet put I my trust in thee.

It is quite different in the Vulgate: From the height of the day shall I fear: but in Thee will I put my trust. In all likelihood, the two verses have been wrongly divided; as so often: so that the "O Thou most Highest" of the former verse, is indeed rightly joined with it in our translation, so far as its division goes: and, literally, the interpretation should be this, "Minc enemies are daily in hand to swallow me up, for they be many that fight against me out of pride. Where the Out of pride is expressed in our translation by, O Thou most Highest: in the Vulgate it is carried over into the next verse, and appears in height of the day. It is our work, not so much to inquire into the meaning of the Hebrew, as into the sense in which the Western Church took her own translation. Out of the twelve mystical interpretations,—which it is needless to go through,—these, perhaps, are the most striking. From the height of the day will I fear. "And it was about the sixth hour, and they crucified Him. So during that darkness which fell on the earth, surely if ever fearfulness and trembling came upon—it is not true as yet to say, the Church, but—the LORD's few followers, that was the place, so then was the time. And the words, so taken, have a higher meaning even than these.

The more we study the four histories of the Passion, the clearer it is that towards the afternoon of that day, what we should now call the popular feeling as regarded the Crucified One, had entirely changed. They passed by wagging their heads: true: but that was before noon: after the confession of the Good Thief, and the darkness, and the earthquake,—not one word more is recorded of insult: but everything to the contrary. We are far too apt to pass over one clause of one verse in S. Matthew. That the Centurion said: "Certainly this was a righteous man," "Truly this was the Son of God," every child can tell us. But we scarcely realise all that is meant by that expression of S. Matthew,—"Now when the Centurion, AND THEY THAT WERE WITH HIM, WATCHING JESUS, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, THEY feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. It was at the height of the day, at that sixth hour when they crucified Him, that the faith of the little band of His followers must have been most shaken; whereas after that time, each succeeding event, if it could work a kind of belief in the mere by-standers, much more must have aided in restoring or strengthening the faith of disciples.

4 I will praise GOD, because of his Word: I have put my trust in GOD, and will not fear what flesh can do unto me. It is rather remarkable that the first, the striking, mystical sense of Because of His word, should find so very slight recognition in the earlier Commentators. They rather take it in the sense of S. Peter: "If any speak, let him speak as the oracles of GOD:" whether that the word so preached to the Gentiles brings them in from darkness to light; or because that word teaches whatever we might otherwise think good, and be ready to extol in ourselves, of a verity is all His: ("Not unto us, O LORD: not unto us, but unto Thy Name,") —but this seems rather a far-fetched meaning; though the Carmelite seems to approve of it: or again; as if David were saying,—let others praise, and, in a certain sense, rightly praise, earthly actions, I will praise God. But in truth it must be That Word Which was in the beginning, Which was with GOD, Which was GOD, that the Psalmist will praise.

The excuse for these Commentators, so great and holy, who yet took this particular verse in a low sense, is clear. The Vulgate has: In Deo laudabo sermones meos. The plural, in the first place, set them wrong; in the next, the employment of Sermo, I have put my trust in God, namely, in God the Word Who was made Flesh to this end; that we might not be afraid what flesh can do to us. Made Flesh in the Incarnation, that the weariness and the hunger, and the thirst, and the coronation, and the scourging, might teach us S. Peter's lesson: "Forasmuch then as CHRIST has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind." Made Flesh in the Blessed Sacrament, to the end that, that dearest of all verses might in us be fulfilled; Convescens in edulium Se moriens in pretium Se regnans dat in premium.

And therefore it may well follow, I, for whom that most precious Flesh was torn on the Cross, I, by whom that most glorious Flesh, the more glorious because of its humiliation, has been again and again eaten, I will not be afraid what Flesh can do unto me. This is rather the interpretation of the more recent Commentators, such as Placidus. 5 They daily mistake my words : all that they imagine is to do me evil. Mistake: or, as it is in the Vulgate, execrated. The servant is not above his lord. If the Scribes and Pharisees sent out them that should feign themselves just men, for the sake of purposely mistaking His words, like to Whom never man spake, what great marvel if from that time till the end of the world, the poor, feeble, faltering words of His servants, should again and again sometimes purposely, sometimes really, be mistaken? If His enemies could pervert the "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up;" if His friends could misunderstand His, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth;" what wonder if they who speak in His Name should have their sayings in like manner distorted. They daily execrated my words. What marvel, then, if they called the Master of the house Beelzebub, that by the same name they should term them of His household. And then, in a higher sense still: they did indeed refuse and were scandalised at His words, when "from that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him:" when

instead of the name consecrated by the Church, Verbum. It would be a curious monograph which should detail the transient struggle for mastery between the two words, Sermo and Verbum, as the correlative of the Logos. It is singular how the former was always the Arianising term; the latter was finally crystallized in the teaching of the Catholic Church. On a smaller scale, in Portuguese, Protestant translations have Palavra; Catholic, always Verbo, and Verbo only.

to them, as to many now, even of those who call themselves His followers, His doctrine concerning the eating His own Flesh, and the drinking His own Blood, met only with the response: "This is an hard saying, Who can hear it?" All that they imagine is to do me evil. And, as they well say, how they imagined to do Him evil, almost every chapter of every Gospel teaches. By tempting Him: by lying in wait to observe Him: by sending forth spies that should feign themselves just men: by endeavouring to cast Him down from the precipice on which Nazareth was built; by taking up stones again, (wherefore, not for the first time,) to stone Him; all this before we enter on the Passion. But they of whom it might be said, All that they imagine is to do me good; how many are they? Some did imagine to do Him good, during His most holy life, forsaking Him in His most bitter Passion: other some, having held aloof from Him during that life, braved all shame and danger for His sake, during that death. S. Peter, and the other nine Apostles that forsook Him, an example of the one class; Joseph and Nicodemus of the other. But of men, not one from first to last clave to Him, unless it may be said that S. John did. Of women, besides the Blessed above women, two at least, most probably three, as they had ministered to Him in His life, so they were not afraid or ashamed to, as that strong Greek expression has it, "be glued" to Him in His Passion and Death. Thus it was that, here also, "the LORD chose new wars."

6 They hold all together, and keep themselves close: and mark my steps, when they lay wait for my soul. In the Vulgate, the mystical sense comes out far more deeply and earnestly; not indeed of the LORD and Master, to whom hitherto we have turned our thoughts, but of the servants who are not to be above that LORD, of the disciples who are not to be above that Master. They shall inhabit and hide. O most wonderful description of the sin that doth so easily beset us! Most marvellous antitype of that saying of old: "The Canaanites WOULD dwell in that land." And again, Judah "could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron:" and how it came to pass that even "when Israel was strong they put the Canaanites to tribute and did not utterly drive them out." And hide themselves. "Take us the foxes, the little foxes," skulking and hiding themselves by nature, because they are foxes; concealing themselves the more easily, because they are little foxes.

7 Shall they escape for their wickedness: thou, O GOD, in thy displeasure shalt cast them down. The Vulgate is entirely different: thus: They shall inhabit and hide themselves: they shall observe my footsteps. As they have waited for my soul, Thou shalt make them of no regard: in Thy anger, O God, Thou shalt break the people. O God, I have announced to Thee my life, Thou hast put all my tears in Thy sight. The two last verses form the Verse and Response on Wednesday. Shall they escape. And we are immediately reminded of Caiaphas's advice, that one man should die for the nation, and yet for all that, they did not escape; but the Romans came, and took away their place and nation. For nothing Thou shalt save them, is taken by S. Augustine in a very curious way. "With not any merit of theirs going before shalt Thou save them. I that before was a blasphemer, he saith, and a persecutor, and injurious. Therefore, of this man, not any good merits had gone before, nay, such things had gone before on account of which he would be condemned. Nothing of good he brought in, and saved was he. For nothing Thou shalt save them: that is, with the free gift of Thy grace. What had that robber brought to the Cross? From the lurking place to the judgment; from the judgment unto the tree; from the tree into Paradise. He believed, and therefore he spake. But even that very faith Who did give, but He that by him hung?"

8 Thou tellest my flittings; put my tears into thy bottle: are not these things noted in thy book? Thou tellest my flittings. So they notice twelve flights of David; and so the flittings of the Son of David were not only through Judæa, and Samaria, and Galilee, but also in times of greater danger, as when "they took up stones to cast at Him, but JESUS hid Himself, and went out of the Temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by:" or when on the Mount of precipitation, "He passing through the midst of them, went His way." Put my tears into Thy bottle. And we think of that strong crying and those tears which, unrecorded in the Gospels, were, nevertheless noted in God's Book by the great Apostle. Or, as they well say, if to Hezekiah GOD sent the message, "I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears;" if Jeremiah could so plead his own tears for Jerusalem, of how much more effect must those tears be, which together with the Blood of Calvary, were poured forth for the salvation of the world? In mediæval times, the pilgrimage to Vendôme was one of the most famous in Europe: for there was the relic enshrined in a crystal vessel, of a tear of CHRIST. Put my tears into Thy bottle. And what becomes of those tears afterwards, the hymn may tell us.

Bright with pearls the portal glitters, It is open evermore. that is, tears which cannot be carried into heaven, are transfigured into the decoration of its external gates. Are not these things noted in Thy Book? The text will come in very well: "He said unto them, What things? And they said unto Him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a Prophet mighty in deed and in word." In Thy Book. Even as it is written in another Psalm: "Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of Me, to do Thy will, O God." 9 Whensoever I call upon thee, then shall mine enemies be put to flight: this I know; for God is on my side. Whensoever I call upon Thee. And we are at once carried on to the "FATHER, I thank Thee, that Thou hast heard Me, and I know that Thou hearest Me always." For God is on my side, is, in the Vulgate, For Thou art my God. See, S. Augustine, how the one thing follows the other. If Thou art my God, then, whensoever I call, I shall be heard. There was but one, and there never shall be but that one, who saying, and not only with truth, but in the very highest and intensest sense, My God, was not heard, namely, in that cry on the Cross, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" And yet even here, in a truer sense, and in the fulness of time, as S. Paul says, "He was heard in that He feared." Then shall mine enemies be put to flight. As they gloriously were by that last "It is finished:" Satan vanquished, the bars and gates of hell burst, the kingdom of heaven open to all believers. Whensoever I call upon Thee, then shall mine enemies be put to flight.

10 In God's word will I rejoice: in the Lord's word will I comfort me. 11 Yea, in God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. So he had said before: and the reason of the repetition they take to be, that whenever the first expression of trust succeeded one of fear, this was necessary, lest the certainty that His enemies should be put to flight might savour of presumption. The great Carmelite, following S. Jerome and others, sees in this verse another manifestation of the Trinity, but surely less conveniently. They notice also that the difference of the expression, God's Word and the Lord's Word, may refer to His mercy and His justice, as much as to say that in one, not less than the other, would David put his trust. Notice further, that in the fourth verse, it is "what flesh," here it is, what man, can do unto me: the old distinction of the battle from within and from without.

12 Unto thee, O God, will I pay my vows: unto thee will I give thanks. 13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, and my feet from falling: that I may walk before God in the light of the living. And gloriously was this promise kept when the vow that the good Shepherd had made to give His life for the sheep, was accomplished on Calvary. Unto Thee will I give thanks. Not only in that "FATHER, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me," before the Passion was yet accomplished, but even more gloriously after the Resurrection, when He, returning from His exile, brought back the thank-offering of a ransomed world, as an oblation to His FATHER and our FATHER, to His GOD and our GOD. For Thou hast delivered my soul from death: even according to that saying, "Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell, neither shalt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption." That I may walk before God in the light of the living: Himself the Light that not only lightens this world, but that is the brightness of the celestial kingdom: "for the LORD GOD doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the Light thereof:" Himself the Light: "In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men." In another sense they take it of the conversion of heretics, translated out of the darkness and death of their former ignorance, into that light first of all implanted by Baptism and manifested in the Church militant now, hereafter to be more gloriously brilliant when her warfare is accomplished. It is well said, that in the deliverance of the soul from death, we have the work of the FATHER; of the feet from falling, that of the SON; of the walking in the Light of the Living, that of the HOLY GHOST, the LORD and Giver of life.

And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, in Whose Word we will rejoice; and to the SON, Who paid His vows in the evening sacrifice of the world; and to the HOLY GHOST, through Whom we trust to walk in the Light of the living; As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.Almighty GOD, the Preserver of Thy people in their invisible wars, Who permittest not them that put their trust in Thee to be oppressed by their enemies, wipe away, we beseech Thee, the tears of sin from the eyes of Thy servants; to the end that, we through Thy grace may both now conquer in every carnal battle, and may finally walk before Thee in the Light of the Living. Through. O GOD, we set forth to Thee, our Life, that Life which by death destroyed death; so that Thou, regarding not our merits, but His love, may both put our tears into Thy bottle in this life, and may everlastingly wipe them away in the Land of the Living. Amen. Through Thy mercy. We beseech Thee, Almighty GOD, that we, suppressing all carnal desires, and conquering all the allurements of the world, may be found worthy to behold Thy SON JESUS CHRIST in the Land of the Living. Through the same.

HAVING now reached that part of the Psalter in which the references to the details of David's life become more particular and express, it will be well if we endeavour to form a chronological table of their sequence. It is evident that any such attempt must of necessity be involved in a good deal of uncertainty. That which follows is based on the scheme proposed by my late grandfather, Dr. Mason Good, in his introduction to his translation of the Psalms. It has been familiar to me for many years, and the more I have had occasion to study it, the more I am convinced that in its main features it is correct. Some of the passages, in which allusions to historical details in the books of Samuel and Chronicles are seen have not, to the best of my knowledge, been noticed by any other writer. It will be interesting to trace the parallel, so far as it holds good, between the Psalms, as composed in the consecutive periods of David's exile, humiliation under Absalom, and final triumph, with the words spoken by the Son of David, followed also consecutively: nothing would perhaps bind the Psalms and Gospels more firmly together, than such a parallelism.

Period of Moses.Psalm. Author. Occasion. --- --- --- 90 Moses* (?) After the fiery serpents. Compare Numb. xxi. 7. 91 Moses (?) After the condemnation of the man twenty years old and upwards. Numb. xiv. 29. Psalm. Author. Occasion. --- --- --- (?) 115 (?) Samuel (?) After the victory over the Philistines at Mizpeh. 1 Sam. vii. 8. PERIOD OF DAVID. 1. His early Pastoral life. 1 David 26 David* 23 David* Soon after his unction by Samuel. 1 Sam. xvi. 13. 19 David* (?) 139 David* 8 David* At Winepress-tide, and after his victory over Goliath. Ver. 2. 2. His outset in Political life. 35 David* 64 David* 36 David* 59 David* "When Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him:" hence address to the God of frustration, Saul's plot having been frustrated by Michal's stratagem. 140 David* 143 David* 141 David*

3. His Exile. 131 David* (? On his march to Nob. 52 David* "When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech." 120 (? David (? After the destruction of the Priests by Doeg. Compare ver. 3. "What shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?" 86 David* 40 David* Probably in Keilah. Compare 1 Sam. xxiii. 2, "The LORD said unto David, go and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah. . . . So David and his men went to Keilah," with ver. 9, "Then said I, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book" (? Ahimelech's ephod, expressly said to have been brought to Keilah) "it is written of Me, that I should fulfil Thy will, O my God. (?) 13 David* 31 David* Almost certainly after his departure from Keilah. Compare "Thanks be to the LORD, for He hath showed me marvellous great kindness in a strong city. (?) 28 David* 62 David* Psalm. Author. Occasion. --- --- --- 54 David* "When the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?" 1 Sam. xxiii. 19. 27 David* 22 David* "In the midst of gloom." 142 David* "A prayer when he was in the cave." 1 Sam. xxiv. 3. That is, while Saul was sleeping at the entrance of one of the huge caves in the wilderness of Engedi, while David and his followers were in the interior. Compare ver. 9.

"Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks unto Thy Name." 57 David* "When he fled from Saul in the cave. That is, evidently, when he had made his escape; and thence, like 59, addressed to the God of frustration. 11 David* Almost certainly at this time. Compare ver. 1, "How say ye then to my soul that she should flee as a bird unto the hill? with 1 Sam. xxvi. 20, "The King of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge upon the mountains." 56 David* When the Philistines took him in Gath, probably towards the end of his four years' exile at Ziklag. 39 David* Probably in his march after the Amalekites who had smitten Ziklag. 1 Sam. xxx. 6, "David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him. This was the day, or the day but one, before the battle on Mount Gilboa.

4. His reign in Hebron.101 David* Probably, by its whole tenour, the first after his unction at Hebron. --- --- --- (?) 138 David* (?) 95 David* (Heb. iv. 7.) 75 Asaph* Probably after the murder of Ishbosheth. Compare ver. 5, "I said unto the fools, Deal not so madly," and ver. 8, "God is the Judge; He putteth down one and setteth up another."

5. His reign in Jerusalem.80 Asaph* Before his kingdom was firmly established. Compare ver. 2, "Before Ephraim, and Benjamin, and Manasseh," &c., (the three tribes that, next to his own, were then his warmest partizans,) with 1 Chron. ix. 3, "In Jerusalem"—that is, immediately after its capture—"dwelt of the --- --- --- II. L Psalm. Author. Occasion. children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim and Manasseh." --- --- --- (?) 33 David* (According to LXX. and Vulg.) 83 Asaph* Almost certainly during the danger from the great heathen confederation that attacked him at the beginning of his reign. Compare ver. 6, "The tabernacles of Edom and the Ishmaelites," &c. 125 (? David Perhaps on his march from Jerusalem against the allies. If so, "as for such as turn back unto their own wickedness" will apply to the tribe of Asher. Compare lxxxiii. 8, where Assur ought to be read Asher. 48 The Korhites Almost certainly after the victory: "Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind," referring to the storm which, Josephus tells us, dispersed the fleet which was to have assisted in the invasion. (?) 144 David* If this Psalm was composed at this time, then "Who subdueth my people that is under me" will again refer to the tribe of Asher. (?) 9 David* If on this occasion, the title is very appropriate: "To the Supreme, on the death-blow." 98 (? David Probably when the Ark was brought up to Jerusalem. 96 (?

David On the same occasion. 48 The Korhites* Probably on the second bringing up of the Ark. 68 David* On the same occasion. 24 David* When the Ark was brought into the sanctuary prepared for it. 47 The Korhites About this period. 15 David* At least after the ceremony of introducing the Ark into the sanctuary. The opening question of this Psalm seems more appropriate to this than to any other part of David's life. 27 David* At the commencement of the great confederacy of the Syrians, Moabites, Ammonites, Philistines, and Amalekites. 2 Sam. viii. 12. 20 David* The same. 60 David "When he strove with the Syrians of Naharaim, and with the Syrians of Zobah; when Joab returned and smote of Edom in the valley of Salt twelve thousand. That is, while David was attacking the Syrians in the north-east, the Edomites took advantage of his absence, and made an irruption in the south; on which he despatched Joab and part of the army to meet them. Compare "Gilead is mine, and Manasses is mine," as being just delivered from the Syrians, and now it is, "Who will bring me into Edom?"

This is only the latter half of Ps. 60, with several verses prefixed from Ps. 57. Probably at the same time. Probably before he marched against the united Syrians and Ammonites. 2 Sam. x. 16. Compare "Some put their trust in chariots, and some in horses," with 2 Sam. x. 18, "David slew the men of seven hundred chariots of the Syrians, and forty thousand horsemen."

6. Decline of David's power."When Nathan the Prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba." One can hardly doubt that "when I kept silence" refers to 2 Sam. xii. 16, the seven days that he was interceding for the child. After the fall of Rabbah. Compare "Thou shalt set a crown of pure gold upon his head" with 2 Sam. xii. 30, "And he took the king's crown from off his head, the weight thereof was a talent of gold . . . and it was set on David's head;" and again, "Thou shalt make them like a fiery oven," &c., with 2 Sam. xii. 31, "He made them (the Ammonites) pass through the brick-kilns." This is inserted, towards the end of David's reign, in Samuel; and yet this period, that of the last great success which he ever won, seems the latest to which it can be assigned. This is the first Psalm in which mention is made of the infidel faction at court, which culminated in the temporary success of Absalom. See ver. 6, "An unwise man," &c.

It speaks still more strongly of that faction. No doubt after the matter of Tamar: for it was not written at an early period of his life. See ver. 6. "O remember not the sins and offences of my youth!" while Psalm. Author. Occasion. --- --- --- "the sorrows of my heart are enlarged" seems an expression very applicable here. 14 David* The general wickedness still continues to gain ground. 53 David* (A recast of Ps. 14.) 12 David* The same. 10 (?) David Here for the first time a complaint is made that the courts of justice were affected by the increasing wickedness. Compare 2 Sam. xv. 4, "Absalom said, moreover, O that I were made a judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice." 58 David* The opening of this Psalm, "Are your minds set upon righteousness?" seems exactly to apply to that wish of Absalom's; and, probably, with reference to the troubles manifestly about to arise. It also is addressed to the GOD of frustration. 17 David* Compare especially ver. 13 and 14, "Up, LORD, disappoint him," &c. 70 David* "A recollection." A re-edition of part of Ps. 40. 73 Asaph* 82 Asaph* In both these we have the general profligacy, and especially the corruption, of the judges strongly set forth. 38 David* "A recollection." We learn from Josephus that at this time David was seized with a dangerous illness. Compare ver. 3, "There is no health in my flesh." 30 David* At the dedication—or, as it should be, the opening—of the house of David: the opening, that is, to his court after his recovery. "O LORD, my GOD, I cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed me," &c.

7. Rebellion of Absalom. 7 David* "Which he sang unto the LORD concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite:" or rather, the perfidious Benjamite—no doubt Shimei; the rather that no such name as Cush occurs elsewhere. 3 David* "When he fled from Absalom with his son." 5 David* This seems so completely the counterpart of 3, that it is impossible to doubt that it was written about the same time. (?) 6 David* As this comes in between 5, probably, and 7, certainly, composed in the wilderness, it may be referred to the same period. 42 The Korhites* This was clearly written after the king had passed over Jordan. 2 Sam. xvii. 22, "Therefore will I remember Thee concerning"—or rather, from—"the land of Jordan:" that is, from the tribe of Gad, where was Mahanaim. And doubtless, "One deep calleth unto another," refers to that very passage of Jordan, always a boisterous river, and then perhaps swollen by the equinoctial torrents.

This is so clearly a continuation of 42, that it must of necessity come here. This was manifestly written after the treachery of Ahithophel, ver. 9: "Yea, even mine own familiar friend," &c.: therefore it is extremely probable that the blessing on him that considereth the poor and needy refers to Barzillai, and the others, who with him assisted David at Mahanaim. This also manifestly refers to Ahithophel; and therefore, like the preceding, must have been written on one of the two or three days which elapsed between David's knowledge of his treachery and the tidings of his suicide. This has so much in it of the spirit of 109, that it is only reasonable to place it here. 88 Heman the Laureate* It would seem that like so many others of the king's friends, Heman remained in Jerusalem—and was there thrown into prison: "I am so fast in prison that I cannot get out." And this may account for 88 being the only Psalm which is unmingled gloom from beginning to end.

Observe how this is in the very spirit of 6 and 109, with the one exception, that no reference is made to any treachery. David having now probably heard of Ahithophel's death. Observe also the reference to "the waters," in the first verse, as if the writer was still by Jordan. This would seem to have been written after Absalom's defeat. Both 3 and 4 are night Psalms: but notice the difference of the safety in one, and the danger in the other. The expression, "From the ends of the earth," that is, the outskirts of the land,—proves that David was still on the east of Jordan; while "Thou shalt grant the King a long life," or rather, "Thou shalt prolong the King's life," and the general cheerfulness of the Psalm would lead us to think that it must have been written after the victory in the wood of Ephraim.

"When he was in the wilderness of Judah." Almost certainly at this time; the longing to be once more in the sanctuary; the reference to "those that seek after my soul to destroy it," and so manifestly pointing to Sheba, the son of Bichri; and the clause "all they that swear by him shall be commended," or, as it might be, "Every one that taketh the oath to him shall triumph:" all these can lead to no other conclusion.

8. Close of David's monarchy.The whole spirit of the Psalm would point out the time of David's return to Jerusalem; and notice (v. 4,) the reference to "the waters" again. Observe in ver. 5, "There did we rejoice thereof;" a very probable reference to the passage of Jordan at the very place where, under Joshua, "they went through the water on foot." And written at Jerusalem, because of ver. 12. The whole tenour of the Psalm answers admirably to this period; and compare ver. 5 with Psalm 66, ver. 12. (?) 49 The Kor-hites* 50 Asaph* 65 David* 99 (?) David 114 (?) David 81 Asaph* 84 The Kor-hites Here there seems a manifest reference to some crushed rebellion; while the last verse, "He shall drink of the brook," &c., would seem to point out David's triumphant passage over Jordan on his return. All that can be said of these Psalms is, that they were manifestly composed for the Feast of Weeks.

130 (?) David 78 Asaph* 29 David* 67 (?) David 100 (?) David 103 David* 104 (?) David 111 (?) David 112 (?) David 117 (?) David 145 David* These two Psalms, by their titles, were written for the winepress-tide or Feast of Trumpets. All that can be said of these Psalms is, that they appear to have been composed for the Feast of Tabernacles; and 29 manifestly refers to one of the equinoctial hurricanes, so common at that season, and to another, of which reference is made in Ezra x. 9, 13.

Psalm. Author. Occasion. --- --- --- 119 120 122 David* It is absolutely impossible to assign any period for these Psalms. 133 134 37 71 (?) David If this Psalm be David's, it manifestly belongs to the close of his reign; compare ver. 18, "Now also when I am old and grey headed," &c. 72 David* The last Psalm, as we learn from the conclusion, of David's composition, and manifestly written, not only as the title tells us "for Solomon," but after his coronation. REIGN OF SOLOMON. 132 (?) This Psalm was plainly written after David's death; compare vers. 10, 11, and before the dedication of the temple. 127 (?) "For Solomon." And plainly referring (compare ver. 3,) to his marriage with Pharaoh's daughter. 45 The Kor-hites* Acknowledged by all to have been composed for the same occasion. 128 (?) This coming close to 127, and on the same subject, was no doubt written at the same time. REIGN OF REHOBOAM. 74 Asaph This exactly answers to the state of Judah after the invasion of Shishak. Compare vers. 4-8 with 1 Kings xiv. 25, 26. 77 Asaph Being by the same author and in the same tone as the last, it may fairly be thought to belong to the same time. 79 Asaph* The same remark applies to this Psalm. 89 Ethan the Laureate This Psalm must have been written after David's death, in a time of great public sorrow, such as certainly did not occur during the reign of Solomon, nor till the invasion of Shishak, and it could not well have been later, because, reckoning Ethan to have been but twenty-one when his earliest Psalm was written, he must now have been ninety-eight.

Reign of Jehoshaphat.46 The Kor-hites* This so exactly corresponds with the victory gained by Jehoshaphat over the allied Moabites, Edomites, and Ammonites, over the cliff of Ziz, that even from internal evidence alone, one could scarcely have doubted its place here. But when its composition is attributed to the Korhites in the title, and when we find in the history, 2 Chron. xx. 19, that the Korhites did actually compose a Psalm on that occasion; its position here becomes morally certain. All that can be said is, that this Psalm has very much of the tone of the other, while the reference to the hills standing round about Jerusalem, taking into connection that the great victory was won just beyond those hills, gives an additional likelihood to this being the right position of the Psalm.

Reign of Hezekiah.Jewish tradition has always attributed this Psalm to the time of Hezekiah's recovery from his sickness. As the King's own hymn of praise is given in the Book of Isaiah, it seems only natural to conclude that this Psalm was not written by him; and by none so likely as by the prophet himself. This Psalm, at all events, corresponds very well with the repulsion of Sennacherib, and the destruction of his army. 87 The Kor-hites* This is certainly of the time of Hezekiah; because the only one period in which Babylon was on friendly terms with the Jews, was that of the embassy from Merodach Baladan to Jerusalem; and the only one place in the Psalms where Babylon is mentioned in friendly terms is ver. 4, "I will think upon Rahab and Babylon," &c.

The Babylonian Captivity.The whole tenour of this Psalm amply proves that it must have been written at this period: which may also be said of the next. 44 The Kor-hites* Manifestly from its opening verse, "When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion," written just before the return. The same thing may be said of this Psalm.

Psalm. Author. Occasion. --- --- --- 85 The Kor-hites* The first verse fixes its own period. 136 (?) Vers. 23 and 24 seem to have reference to the return from captivity; and when we find from the history, Ezra iii. 12, 13, that a Psalm was composed for the Dedication of the Temple, of which the chorus was "For His mercy endureth for ever;" there can be no reasonable doubt that this was it. 102 (?) This almost fixes itself to the period when the Samaritans had obtained the counter edict which forbad rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Compare ver. 14, "Thy servants think upon her stones, and it pitieth them to see her in the dust;" and again, "When the LORD shall build up Zion," which passages, taken by themselves, might refer to any time antecedent to the completion of the walls; but taken in connection with the deeply penitential character of the whole; and especially with ver. 10, "Thou hast taken me up, and cast me down,"—words so exactly applicable to the edict and the counter-edict—fix the Psalm with great certainty here. 146 (?) The reference at vers. 7 and 8, and the "loosing of the prisoners," &c. would seem to point out the return from the captivity as the period of this Psalm. 147 (?) During the rebuilding of the walls, or immediately after; see ver. 2, "The LORD doth build up"—(literally, "is building up") "Jerusalem," &c. And again, ver. 13, "For He hath made fast the bars of thy gates." 148 149 150 (?) Ezra As is well known, Jewish tradition ascribes these Psalms to the time when Ezra re-edited the Old Testament books and completed the Canon of the Psalms.

TITLE: Bible Version: To the Chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave. Vulgate: To the end; destroy not; David for the inscription of the title. Or better: To the GOD of frustration; a golden Psalm of David when he fled from Saul in the cave. VEN. BEDE. To the end signifieth the LORD, Who remaineth the perfection to us of all good things; because, when we shall have attained to Him, none occasion will there be for us to seek anything further. Destroy not. It is forbidden that David should be destroyed by Saul, seeing that he was ordained by GOD to the kingdom. For the inscription of the title. This applieth not to David, but to the LORD, that the title once written on the Cross should not be changed. When he fled. As David, when he fled from Saul, hid himself in a cave, so the Divinity of CHRIST was hidden from the perfidious Jews within the Temple of His Body. It may also be said, that the LORD so long suffered from the Jews, till He entered into the cave of the Sepulchre, especially seeing that this Psalm pertaineth not only to His Passion, but also to His Resurrection.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST our King breaketh the teeth of demoniac damnation. The voice of the Church to CHRIST. The voice of CHRIST to His FATHER in His Passion. And the voice of Paul, after the LORD'S Resurrection; and of the Church against heretics; and a prayer against sin. VEN. BEDE. The LORD CHRIST in the first part of the Psalm prayeth earnestly in His Passion as man: in the second, He commemorates the glory of His Resurrection as GOD: in the third He sets forth on that account the praises of His FATHER. EUSEBIUS OF CÆSAREA. A thanksgiving of David, and a prophecy of the calling of the nations.

Various Uses.Ambrosian. Friday of First Week. II. Nocturn.

Antiphons.Gregorian. Be merciful * unto me, O GOD. Parisian. My heart is ready, * O GOD, my heart is ready: I will sing and give praise. Mozarabic. As preceding Psalm. 1 Be merciful unto me, O GOD, be merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee: and under the shadow of thy wings shall be my refuge, until this tyranny be over-past. Hugh of S. Victor says well that this is the third Psalm which begins with Miserere—the 51st and 56th having already done so; and this because of our threefold danger from the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. "This," says S. Bernard, "is to me the one source of all my expectations, the one fountain of all promises: Miserere mei, Deus, miserere mei." This hemistich was adopted as his motto by Pope Nicholas III.: For my soul trusteth in Thee.

Serm. 9, in Ps. xc. 2 I will call unto the Most High God: even unto the God that shall perform the cause which I have in hand. It is a most remarkable explanation of this verse, as well as a singular example of the way in which mediæval writers felt their LORD to be one with them, and themselves one with Him, that they so dwell on the literal sense of the Vulgate: I will cry unto the Most High God: even unto the God Who hath done well unto me. So that, precisely as every Christian soul has a right to say, "Because Thou hast been my helper, therefore under the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice;" so, according to His humanity, it was with our LORD; so, to say it with the most infinite reverence, because the place where we are standing is holy ground,—just as David said, "The LORD That delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He shall deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine:" so the Son of David, according to His manhood, might say, "My FATHER, Who delivered Me out of the hand of Herod, and out of the hand of the Pharisees and Scribes, when they sought to tempt Me, and out of the hand of the enemy in the wilderness, He shall deliver Me out of the hand of this Philistine," that is, when our Master was approaching His last and hardest battle; and when He almost seemed to take these words on His own blessed lips, when He said, "FATHER, into Thine hands I commend My Spirit."

Unless saints had said it first, I should not, with all its beauty, have dared to take such an interpretation. S. Augustine, referring this text to ourselves, compares it with that in Isaiah: "I was found of them that sought Me not." In this sense: that if God was found of us, who (for the most part) neither did seek, nor could have sought, His grace in Baptism; how much more, now that we have that grace, will He be found of them who, using it, seek Him in a yet nearer way. Neither must we omit those Commentators who, still understanding the passage of man, interpret it thus: unto the God, Who is performing the cause which I have in hand. The cause; that is, the cause of my soul, For it is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do, of His good pleasure. A. Isaiah lxv. 1.

3 He shall send from heaven: and save me from the reproof of him that would eat me up. 4 God shall send forth his mercy and truth: Thus, they say, our LORD, in the midst of the cause which He had in hand, namely, our salvation on the Cross, encouraged Himself. He shall send from heaven; not now the Angel who appeared unto Him, comforting Him in His agony, but the Angel that rolled away the exceeding great stone, and sat upon it. And S. Augustine shows how the A. reproof of the Jews was turned to their own shame; so that even the heathen were amazed to see the manner in which the sometime people of God stood confounded by their own Scriptures. God shall send forth His mercy and truth. His mercy, in that the God of all mercy came into the world to redeem it; His truth, in that His promises, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head;" and "Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son," were, in the fulness of time, accomplished.

My soul is among lions. 5 And I lie even among the children of men, that are set on fire: whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. And still it is our LORD speaking from the Cross, even as He spoke in the 22nd Psalm, "Save Me from the lion's mouth." And notice also that the children of men are brought in as worse than lions. In the Vulgate occurs a clause which, though it cannot be fairly got out from the Hebrew, yet is so true in itself, and affords such a lovely contrast with another verse in the Psalms, that one cannot wonder at its being so dwelt on by mediæval writers. I slept in trouble. Compare this with the words that the same dear LORD puts into the mouth of all His followers: "I will lay me down in peace, and take my rest." He, therefore, slept in trouble, that we might take our rest in peace; He, therefore, as S. Paul teaches, tasted of death, that we might never taste of it.

6 Set up thyself, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth. It is worth while noticing with what beautiful truth it is that Shakespeare puts into the mouth of a brave heathen an expression, to which he has never given utterance in the person of a Christian, as knowing how, to them, death was, "of all terrible things the most terrible:" "Cowards die many times before their deaths: The valiant never taste of death but once." And here our LORD ceases to speak, and the Prophet take up His words. As one, long years after, when he beheld the Man of Sorrows hanging on the Cross, addressed Him as the LORD that was to come in His kingdom; so here that same Man of Sorrows, having but now cried out, "I lie even among the children of men," receives for answer, Set up Thyself, O God, above the heavens. Thou art now, he would say, set up high on the Cross; set up, a spectacle to men and to angels; set up, to be the scorn and mockery of those that are round about Thee, and that wag their heads in derision. But henceforth set up Thyself above the heavens. Thou, to Whom, according to Thy Godhead, the seat at the Right Hand of the FATHER appertained from all eternity, go and assume it according to Thy Manhood, in virtue of the merits of Thy precious Death and Passion. And Thy glory above all the earth. Because, exalted above the heavens, there to intercede for us, therefore shalt Thou have the glory above all the earth: because Thou didst suffer, therefore, according to Thy humanity, shalt Thou reign till Thou hast put all things under Thy Feet—those blessed Feet, once nailed for us to the Cross, that they might, even by that very suffering, bruise the head of the serpent.

7 They have laid a net for my feet, and pressed down my soul: they have digged a pit before me, and are fallen into the midst of it themselves. They have laid a net for my feet. And they well notice the marvellous type of one snare set for David and for the Son of David. Saul, when his daughter loved David, said, "I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him:" so, because the true David Himself loved humanity, (certainly not loved by it, for it is written, "We love Him, because He first loved us,") therefore, out of this very love, Satan laid a net, as it were, for His feet; and exactly as by Michal came David's after kingdom, so, by the love of His Church, the time shall come when He shall, even in this world, reign King of kings and LORD of lords. And furthermore notice: They have laid a net for my feet—pressed down my soul—digged a pit before me. Where, as Hugh of S. Victor teaches, we have manifestly the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, to which our LORD, as the Good Captain of our salvation, vouchsafed to be exposed in the wilderness. Some mediæval writers find an especial voice in the preposition before: that whereas apostates, and backsliders, and cowards would be more likely to be taken in a pit made behind them, He, Who ever went straight forward, had His pit set in the right onward path. And are fallen into the midst of it themselves. As those who went forth to tempt our LORD by entangling Him in His talk, the elders who brought to

S. Greg. Moral. in Job. xxvii. 25. Him the woman taken in adultery,—the Pharisees and Herodians, who, diametrically opposed to each other on the very question, asked whether it be lawful to give tribute to Cæsar,—the Sadducees, with their interrogation about the woman that had seven husbands,—were all taken in their own snare, so that they marvelled and left Him, and went their way, and at last no man durst ask Him any more questions: so also, and in a far higher sense, Satan himself fell into his own pit; Leviathan, endeavouring to swallow the bait of our LORD's Humanity, was dragged out of the scene of his former dominion by the hook of the Divinity. 8 My heart is fixed, O GOD, my heart is fixed: I will sing, and give praise. S. Bernard, Serm. 1, in Quadragesima.

Take it rather, My heart is ready; and then interpret David's resolution with the last Western Father. Dost Thou desire me to be a king? Is it Thy will that I should be a shepherd? Wilt Thou have me to remain a fugitive? Thou, Who hast given all, wilt Thou take away all, so as to cause me to become a beggar? My heart is ready. S. Paul truly says, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." But David, or rather, our truer David, goes far beyond. My heart is ready: I will sing and give praise. Hugh of S. Victor here sees the perfect pattern of a true and earnest confession. My heart is ready—there you have the true contrition for sin; I will sing—there is his open acknowledgment; and give praise—there the thankfulness for its pardon. Taking the words give praise, in another sense, as said of a musical instrument, in contradistinction to the I will sing, which refers to the voice,—and connecting this verse with the instrument of ten strings, they make these strings to be: our confession of the mystery of the Trinity; of the Incarnation; of the Nativity; of our LORD's life and miracles; of His Passion; His descent into hell, His Resurrection, His Ascension; the mission of the HOLY GHOST; and the foundation and existence of the Catholic Church.

[We are to observe that this and the four following verses form the beginning of the 108th Psalm, where My heart is fixed is given, as we have just now taken it, My heart is ready.] 9 Awake up, *my glory; awake, lute and harp: I myself will awake right early.

Here, as they delight to point out, we have the gradual steps which conducted our LORD from His first to that which shall be His last victory, so far as redeemed humanity is concerned; as it is written, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." Awake up, my glory. So might the Apostles have said, had they stood around the new sepulchre in the garden of Joseph, towards the midnight of that first Easter Eve. My glory, individually to each; my glory, inasmuch as we are members one of another, universally to all. Origen compares well—and would that he had said all things as well!—our LORD's descent into that sepulchre with David's entrance into the cave of Engedi. It was while He was there that Saul also entered in; "and the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose." Awake, lute and harp. But yet a second, before His final, triumph, awaited the Victor; that day in which it was asked, and reply was made, "Who is the King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty; the LORD, mighty in battle." And it is well said, lute and harp; that thereby the concord of the Church Triumphant, the lute, and the Church Militant, the harp, should be set forth. I myself will awake right early. "Then cometh the end." The final seal, the essential consequence of our LORD's Resurrection, is our own. Because He burst the bands of death, therefore we also; and then, and not till then, shall He put down all rule, and all authority and power.

And yet they also love to put these same words into our LORD's mouth. How it is now He Who is exhorting those, whom of His great love He condescends to call His glory, whether by the great things they shall do, or the greater which, like S. Paul, they shall suffer for His sake, to awake up. "If ye, then, be risen with CHRIST, seek those things which are above." And then, as both setting the pattern and giving the courage, He adds, "I, even I Myself, am He That comforteth you." I Myself will awake right early. So early, that the saying beforehand concerning the three days and the three nights was just, and only just, fulfilled. So eager was the Victor to return with the spoils of His triumph to His own; so gloriously was that promise fulfilled, "While they are yet speaking, I will hear." 10 I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the people: and I will sing unto thee among the nations.

Because, as the same saint observes, the cithara has six strings, whereby are signified the six corporal works of mercy. It is almost needless to observe that, according to the teaching of the Church for nearly *a thousand years, there were only six; even as there are only six mentioned in our LORD's prophecy of the Day of Judgment. Even as late as Rupert of Deutz the old tradition is clung to, till it gave way to the analogy of the spiritual works of mercy, and to the argument that, whereas every other work of love rendered to our dear LORD during his earthly life could be referred to one of the six, His Burial could not, except in a very forced way, find a place there. Hom. ii. in Cantic. S. Jerome, in S. Matt. xxv. 42. Zuccolius. S. Mark i. 6. 11 For the greatness of thy mercy reacheth unto the heavens : and thy truth unto the clouds.

12 Set up thyself, O GOD, above the heavens : and thy glory above all the earth. Taught by S. Paul, we see a prophecy of the vocation, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. Where observe : he puts the people—the Jews—first ; according to that commandment of our LORD, "beginning at Jerusalem." And of this double apposition they see the parallel in the next verse : For the greatness of Thy mercy reacheth unto the heavens : and Thy truth unto the clouds. The heavens, namely, the Jews, on whom, however mistily, the light of the Sun of Righteousness had dawned. The clouds, namely, the Gentiles, of whom it was written, "Darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people :" (it being manifest that they who were comparatively clear as an unclouded sky before their rejection of their King, sank down afterwards into grosser darkness than the nations around them : "For even unto this day the veil yet remaineth untaken away.")

The last verse is only a repetition of the sixth. Glory be to the FATHER, Who shall send from heaven and save me ; and to the SON, under the shadow of Whose wings shall be my refuge ; and to the HOLY GHOST, the Mercy and Truth sent forth to those whose soul is among lions. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : world without end. Amen.

Collects.Take away, we beseech Thee, O LORD, the iniquity of this Thy family, which putteth its trust under the shadow of Thy wings ; to the end that, Thy mercy being sent down from heaven, we may be preserved from the snares of our enemies, and from the nets of them that do evil. Through. Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, and hear the prayers of them that trust in Thee ; break Thou the strength of our adversaries, destroy Thou the hopes of them that lie in wait for us ; that we, being ever guided by Thy light, may with a ready heart exalt among the people the mercy of Thy truth, Who for us didst endure the shame of the Cross. Through Thy mercy. Grant, we beseech Thee, to us, O LORD, in all our troubles and adversities, the gift of Thy HOLY GHOST ; so that we, being guarded by Thy protection and bulwarks, may be in this world prepared for eternal joys, and in the world to come may possess them for evermore. Through.

TITLE: Bible Version: To the Chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David. Vulgate: In finem, Ne disperdas, David in tituli inscriptionem. Or, perhaps: To the Supreme, the GOD of frustration; a golden Song of David.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST shall render to His saints, in righteous judgment, a revenge concerning the slaughter of the poor. The Prophet speaketh concerning the elders of the Jews. And the Voice of CHRIST to the Jews, judging Him unjustly; and against the Priests, perversely condemning His members. VEN. BEDE. The word end and David in the inscription of the title signifieth CHRIST on the Cross; and Pilate is thereby admonished not to destroy that inscribed title which declared the LORD to be King. In the opening of the Psalm the LORD upbraideth the iniquity of the Jews: Are your minds set upon righteousness? In the second part He declareth, in most apt types, the vengeance that shall fall on them: Break their teeth, O God. In the third part He telleth what shall be the feeling of the just concerning the punishment of sinners: The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance.

SYRIAC PSALTER. A Psalm of David, when Saul threatened the priests because they would not make known to him the hiding-place of the same David, though they knew it themselves; but to us it setteth forth a manifestation of the just judgment of GOD.

Various Uses.Ambrosian. Friday of First Week. II. Nocturn.

Antiphons.Gregorian. As for the preceding. Parisian. Innumerable troubles have come about me; * let it be Thy pleasure, O LORD, to deliver me. Monastic. Do ye judge the thing that is right, O ye sons of men? 1 Are your minds set upon righteousness, O ye congregation: and do ye judge the thing that is right, O ye sons of men? Hence they gather, S. Jerome leading the way, that, even S. Hieron. in the corrupted state of human nature, and without regeneration, the sense of moral right and wrong remained, and still remains, to man: wherein S. Jerome was only the disciple of S. Paul, when he teaches concerning the Gentiles Ay. S. Greg. in Job. ix. 6. Acts i. 1. A. Serm. 20 de Sanctis. Rupert. S. John v. 46. that they "show the work of the law written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing, or else excusing, one another." They lay, of course, the stress on the sons of MEN, as distinguished from the sons of GOD. It is well said by the great French divine of his age, that, of all things, this is the most important to each individual man—that he should judge rightly concerning these ten things: concerning faith, the world, the devil, himself, GOD, the duty of each day, the opportunities afforded by time, strife, death, and the dead. And the Carmelite, equally well, compares the speech of those Jews who feigned themselves just men: "Mâster, we know that Thou art true, and teachest the way of GOD in truth," with our LORD's answer here: Are your minds set upon righteousness, O ye congregation?

2 Yea, ye imagine mischief in your heart upon the earth: and your hands deal with wickedness. It is well said, in your heart. For, of a certainty, with their mouths, both Jews and Gentiles sometimes uttered the very truth concerning our LORD: as when the chief priests declared that He should be born in Bethlehem; as when Caiaphas uttered that prophecy, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people; as when Pilate made that reply, "What I have written I have written." But further observe that the mischief they imagine is only upon the earth. Take it in either sense: either, as they generally understand it, that the miserable and insulting lie here becomes a glorious truth there—witness the crown of thorns, and the purple robe, and the sceptre of mockery; or, as S. Gregory will have it, that by the earth he means the Body of our LORD, which, in that He was consubstantial with us according to the flesh, was, like our own bodies, formed of the earth. And notice that here, in speaking of evil, the prophet begins from the thought, and proceeds to the deed: and your hands deal with wickedness; exactly as our LORD taught the Pharisees, how it is out of the heart that murders and adulteries come. But, when we are taught anything concerning the propagation of good, the order is reversed: "All that JESUS began both to do and to teach."

3 The ungodly are froward, even from their mother's womb: as soon as they are born, they go astray, and speak lies. It was a favourite idea of the primitive Fathers that the Jews are here especially specified, because they were froward, even from the womb of their mother the synagogue; in that the law was, so to speak, pregnant with the Gospel: "For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me." This text was a great weapon in the armoury of the Church, against those followers of Origen who taught that the human soul, pre-existent to the body, had sinned before its union with its companion. And, not ill, they take the verse of the Jews, who, from their very origin as a nation, did go astray, as in the matter of the calf; did speak lies, as when they said, "All that the LORD hath spoken unto us we will do and obey." As in the beginning, so at the end—still the same lies: "He is guilty of death;" "Now we know that Thou hast a devil." And CHRIST tells of the reason where He saith, "Ye seek to slay Me, a man that doth tell you the truth."

4 They are as venomous as the poison of a serpent: even like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ears; 5 Which refuseth to hear the voice of the charmer: charm he never so wisely. And we are at once reminded of that multitude, who stopped their ears and ran upon Stephen with one accord. Therefore, well might that repeated exhortation of our LORD be given: "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." And of a truth, they did refuse to hear the voice of the charmer. He Who should have charmed them to submission by His miracles, by His parables, by His teaching, by all that He did and all that He suffered,—He Who charmed never so wisely, when the destroyer was destroyed, the deceiver deceived, Life brought out of death, everlasting joy from temporary agony, how many had He to hear His last seven words of wisdom? How many followers were to be found at the mountain of Galilee before His Ascension, and in the large upper room after it? But while we condemn the Jews, let us take heed lest that happen to us which the Wise Man testifies, saying, "When the ungodly curseth Satan, he curseth his own soul;" take heed lest we refuse to hear the voice of the Charmer, charming us now no less wisely than His own people then; charming us by threatenings or allurements, through others or by ourselves, by pleasure or by pain, by sudden events or by gradual leading; anyhow, charming us never so wisely.

6 Break their teeth, O GOD, in their mouths; smite the jawbones of the lions, O LORD: let them fall away like water that runneth apace; and when they shoot their arrows, let them be rooted out. It is an ingenious remark of S. Jerome, that as the terrible strength of lions lies principally in their teeth, which teeth, nevertheless, are not ordinarily visible; so the most A. Ay.

dangerous assaults of the roaring lion, that goeth about seeking whom he may devour, are those which he conceals the best. They also teach us that whereas we, in this Psalm, are first told of the venom of the serpent, and then of the rage of the lion, it was after the same sort that the various sects of the Jews first sent emissaries, feigning themselves just men, to tempt our LORD, before (now no longer dissembling their malice) they cried out, "Away with Him! away with Him! crucify Him! crucify Him! And further that, as here there is no very decided victory asserted, or prayed for, over the serpent, the fulness of conquest is petitioned for against the lion, even as it was by the open rage of the Jews, and not by their secret guile, that the LORD'S Right Hand wrought out our salvation. Let them fall away. Well says S. Augustine: Be not terrified by certain streams which are called torrents; they are filled up with winter-waters. Do not fear; after a little that water falleth away. For a time it roareth, but it will soon subside; it cannot hold out long. . . . The whole of this age for a time is roaring, and is seeking whom it may drag along. Let all ungodly men, all proud ones echoing against the rocks of their pride as it were with waters rushing along, in no wise terrify you: winter waters they are, they cannot always flow;

it must needs be that they run down into their place, even unto the end. And, nevertheless, of this torrent of the world the LORD hath drunk; but in the way He hath drunk, in the passage over; for in the way of sinners He hath not stood. For of Him, what saith the Scripture? He shall drink of the brook in the way, therefore shall He lift up His Head: to wit, for this reason He hath been glorified, because He hath died; for this reason hath risen again, because He hath suffered. When they shoot their arrows, let them be rooted out. There is here a marvellous difference in the translations. The Vulgate has it, He bendeth his bow until they be made weak. The Bible translation, When he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces. And the interpretations are even more strangely different than are the versions. Some will have it that the he refers to the wicked; the sense then being, Let them shoot as long as they will, the only result will be that, without doing any harm to the righteous, they will simply weary themselves. Just as the men that sought to harm Lot, and were smitten with blindness, only "wearied themselves to find the door. Others, like S. Augustine, and, following him, the chief expositors of the Western Church, understand the he of GOD Himself;

in the sense that He will shoot His arrows, whether of correction in love, or simply of love, into the hearts of those sinners whom He is drawing to Himself, till they become weak, with that weakness of sorrow for sin, and of distrust in themselves, which is indeed the truest strength. Thirdly, almost all the Easterns, and among the Westerns

A. So the latest of Eastern S. Hilary, also understanding the subject of the Psalmist to be God, take this sending forth His arrows in the sense of judgment, and not of mercy. commentators, Anthemius, Patriarch of Jerusalem. 7 Let them consume away like a snail, and be like the untimely fruit of a woman : and let them not see the sun. Here the versions entirely differ. The Vulgate gives it, As wax that melteth, let them be taken away : the fire hath fallen from them, and they have not seen the sun. But, except that slug would be a fitter translation than snail, our version is undoubtedly the right one. But, according to that version, S. Albertus Magnus explains the comparison thus : that as a snail or slug is destroyed by salt, so David asks, by that "good" salt of purity and holiness, his enemies—and, mystically, the enemies of the Son of David—might come to nothing and be dissolved. But the greater part of mediæval writers, interpreting the Hebrew word as signifying wax, find here a prayer for the conversion of sinners : that is, that their stony heart may be, according to the prophet's promise, turned into a heart of flesh.

8 Or ever your pots be made hot with thorns : so let indignation vex him, even as a thing that is raw. Here, again, the discrepancy is not less. The Gallican : Before your bush shall bring forth thorns, as living ; so in his anger he shall swallow them up. The Vulgate : Before your thorns should understand the bush, as living ; so in anger he shall swallow them up. Or, according to the modern translation : Before they can breed revolt, set thorns in the midst of them ; as with force, as with fury, let them be scattered with a whirlwind. 9 The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance : he shall wash his footsteps in the blood of the ungodly. 10 So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous : doubtless there is a God that judgeth the earth.

And so the righteous did rejoice, not only when, reigning from the Tree, He saw the utter defeat of His enemies and ours by means of that very throne ; but when He beheld also that more glorious vengeance of love, by which, for every drop of the most precious Blood that He shed, myriads and myriads of elect souls should enter into His kingdom. The righteous shall rejoice when He seeth that, as it were in revenge of His Passion, the noble army of martyrs spring forward in His service ; in revenge of His weariness, and bearing all A manner of evil, such an uncounted multitude of confessors took up their special cross, to the end they might follow Him; when, in revenge of His sorrow, even unto death—of His weakness, even to falling beneath the load of the Cross—so many of His servants have rejoiced in long illnesses, have triumphed under false accusations, have endeavoured to realise to themselves the glorious octave of His beatitudes. So that a man shall say, Verily, there is a reward for the righteous. And it is well said, a man; for it is the Centurion who first confessed this truth, so that once more Gentiles should put to shame Jews. Doubtless there is a God that judgeth the earth. And that also was fulfilled, when He, Who shall come to judge the quick and the dead and the world by fire, was pleased, as Judge no less than King, on the Cross, to set the good on His right hand, and the evil on His left. Verily, there is a reward for the righteous. "Certainly, this was a righteous man."

And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, Who hath prepared a reward for the righteous; and to the SON, the GOD That shall judge the earth; and to the HOLY GHOST, Who alone can set the minds of men on righteousness. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.Almighty GOD, Who settest men's minds upon righteousness, and causest them to judge the thing that is right; grant that there may be neither evil on our lips, nor iniquity in our hearts; so that righteousness in works may precede good speaking in tongue. Through. GOD, Whose words are pure and Whose judgments are right; stretch forth Thy Right Arm for our defence; smite the jawbones of the lions, O LORD, which would devour us; that in Thee the multitude of the redeemed may rejoice, seeing that Thou art the Crown of the righteous, and that to Thee we may sing the psalm of joy, when we arrive at the fruit of well-doing. Amen. Through Thy mercy.

TITLE: Septuagint and Vulgate: To the end. Destroy me not. David, for the inscription of the title, when Saul sent and watched his house that he might slay him. On this title, S. Augustine and S. Hilary, among the western, and S. Gregory Nyssen, among the eastern doctors, have written the most fully. They show how the story of David, for whom, around his house, they laid wait, by night, is with the story of the Son of David, in the same night in which He was betrayed. And therefore S. Gregory Nyssen says boldly, that those words, Destroy them not, are the most sweet and gentle utterance of our LORD Himself: FATHER, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Or perhaps, rather, to the Supreme, GOD of frustration: a golden song of David; on the sending of Saul when they watched about the house to kill him.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST, by means of His Resurrection in the morning, hath given to us a life turned from sorrow to joy. The Voice of CHRIST to the Jews. VEN. BEDE. The title has been more than once explained before; when the Passion of CHRIST is described, and His kingdom that can never be removed. When Saul sent and watched his house that he might slay him: when the Chief Priests sent and watched the sepulchre of CHRIST, unto the end that they might, as it were, keep Him in death, having closed every door to His Resurrection. In the first place, the LORD makes His petition, that His enemies may not prevail against Him to hurt Him: Deliver Me from Mine enemies. Next, He prophesies how in the end of the world, the Jews shall be converted, and, with wonderful love, offers for them this petition; in the evening they will return. Thirdly, He prophesies what they will do after they have returned, and how He and His Saints will rejoice thereat: As for me I will sing of Thy power.

EUSEBIUS. The vocation of the Gentiles, and the rejection of the Jews. SYRIAC PSALTER. David made this Psalm when he heard that the Priests had been slain by a sword; but to us it declares the conversion of the Gentiles to the true faith, and the reprobation of the Jews.

Various Uses.Ambrosian. Friday of First Week. III. Nocturn.

Antiphons.Gregorian. As for preceding Psalm. Parisian. From them that rise up against me * defend me, O LORD, for the mighty men are gathered against me. Monastic. As for preceding Psalm. Ambrosian. From them that rise up against me * defend me, O LORD. 1 Deliver me from mine enemies, O GOD: defend me from them that rise up against me. 2 O deliver me from the wicked doers: and save me from the bloodthirsty men. A. That, as S. Augustine says, which our LORD suffered, we must also suffer; whether from the temptations of evil spirits, or of evil men, we have equal need to be delivered. The four petitions with which the Psalm begins, are interpreted of the four different stages to which the servants of Satan are allowed to proceed. Mine enemies: there you have the wish to hurt, even though the power be absent. Them that rise up against me; then, those who by their words or writings, do what harm they can to the cause of GOD. The wicked doers, made the confessors: and the bloodthirsty men, the martyrs.

3 For lo, they lie waiting for my soul: the mighty men are gathered against me, without any offence or fault of me, O LORD. Ay. Who lie waiting? They explain it differently. Some take it of the night in which the LORD was betrayed; other some, of our LORD's descent into hell; others, and probably in a truer way, take the they lie waiting for my soul, of all the reproaches, slanders, troubles, which He bore, Who, for our sake, not His own, was the Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. There cannot, they say, be a better commentary on this verse, than the declaration of Pilate: "Take ye Him, and judge Him; for I find no fault in Him." 4 They run and prepare themselves without my fault: arise thou therefore to help me, and behold. Ay. How they ran, how they prepared themselves, those emissaries of Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians, may well teach us: especially in that matter of the tribute money, when the two sects meet in opposition with each other, united against Him. If He had said that tribute to Cæsar was lawful, the Pharisees would have cried out against Him: if He had said that it was unlawful, the Herodians would have done the same thing. Arise Thou therefore to help me. In the first and highest sense, it is the prayer of our LORD to the FATHER: but there is a clear sense also, for all those who, treading in His footsteps, are reaching forward to His promises. And behold. Just as when Hezekiah had received the blasphemous letter of Rabshakeh, he "went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD."

5 Stand up, O LORD GOD of hosts, thou GOD of Israel, to visit all the heathen: and be not merciful unto them that offend of malicious wickedness. Ay. Stand up. In the first place from the grave; then, in Thine Ascent into the kingdom of heaven, when Thou wilt not leave us orphans; (for Israel, as we have seen, is by interpretation, he that sees GOD;) and also to visit all the heathen. We know not what,—we know not when,—the day of that visitation will be. Take it as you will, either of the day of our own death, or of the Day of Judgment. And then,—then most truly,—will the prophecy be fulfilled; then, will the heathen be,—those that have seldom, or have never been, "visited:" and as regards such, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Or, as regards the rest; see how David prays, with the whole force of his soul, for those enemies, only excepting them that offend of malicious wickedness. "There is a sin unto death: I do not say that ye shall pray for it."

6 They go to and fro in the evening: they grin like a dog, and run about through the city.

Rather, with the Bible Version, the LXX., and the Vulgate, They return at evening—convertentur ad vesperam. And the commentators all interpret it of the conversion of sinners, and especially of the Jews, at the evening of the world. For the doctors lay down that there are seven ages of the world: the first, from Adam to Noah; the second, from Noah to Abraham; the third, from Abraham to Moses; the fourth, from Moses to David; the fifth, from David till the carrying away to Babylon; the sixth, from the carrying away till CHRIST; the seventh, from CHRIST to the end of the world. So, then, the last age of the world begins from CHRIST, and is therefore called the evening. Up to that time the Gentiles abode in unbelief and idolatry; but at the Advent of CHRIST, and the preaching of the Apostles, they were converted. And though the Jews are not yet obedient to the faith, still the Prophet foretells their late return: "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their GOD, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days." That was the evening in which CHRIST brought peace to the world. "The dove came in the evening, bearing an olive-leaf." In that evening the light of grace was given to the Gentiles, as Zechariah foretold, "at evening time it shall be light." Or it may be that last awful evening of the world, when the LORD is coming to judgment, and those who have refused to seek Him before, must soon behold Him. They will then be moved to repentance, though they did not turn early in the

At this point the Commentary of John Mason Neale ceases. The pen, fallen from the hand of the great scholar, poet, and di- vine, is henceforth taken up by the weak fingers of his disciple. R. F. L. M S. John i. 1, 4. Cant. i. 7. A. A. Rev. i. 16. Ricard. Victorinus in Apoc. i. 16.

morning to see that "in the beginning was the WORD, the Life and Light of men; nor at noon-day to behold the Sun of Righteousness in the mid-heaven of His brightness; that vision which is prepared for those elect who search for Him, asking, "where Thou feedest, where Thou makest Thy flock to rest at noon. They grin like a dog. More, they howl, () and that for hunger, as the LXX., λιμάξουσιν, and the Vulgate, famem patientur. What that hunger is, let the Prophet tell us: "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD GOD, that I will send a famine in the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. Dogs the Jews called the Gentiles, as if being unclean. For even the LORD Himself, when after Him there cried a certain woman of Canaan, saith, "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. "Truth," she saith, "LORD," surely a true thing Thou sayest, a dog I am, "yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. And immediately the LORD: "O woman, great is thy faith. Therefore the nations are dogs, and for this reason they are hungry. And will go about the city. S. Hilary and Euthymius explain this of the Jews, mourning over the desolate ruins of Jerusalem, and seeking to trace the remains of its sacred places.

But others more happily take it of the Church, and of those who go up and down in it, guarding it from visible enemies by preaching the Word, and from invisible ones by prayer, who are indeed "the watchmen that go about the city. Even if these dogs be dumb and not preachers, yet they can go about the city with prayers for all, and especially for the afflicted members of the Church; in teaching whom they are like the dogs which licked the sores of Lazarus, not wounding them afresh with the tooth of calumny, but soothing and healing them with gentle words of consolation, teaching, warning, and prayer.

7 Behold, they speak with their mouth, and swords are in their lips: for who doth hear?

Not merely believing in their heart, nor recording in their writing, but preaching the Word boldly. And swords are in their lips. So Isaiah: "He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword." Here is that sword twice whetted, whereof the Apostle saith, "And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of GOD." Wherefore twice whetted? Because smiting out of both Testaments. With this sword were slain those whereof it was said to Peter, "Kill, and eat." This is that sharp two-edged sword which goes out of the mouth of the Son of Man, "piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit," cutting away carnal sins in the Old Testament, and spiritual ones in the New, and parting the bad from the good. And of it the LORD spake, saying, "I am not come to send peace on earth, but a sword." And again: "He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one." And spoken of the Passion, these words fitly apply to those children of Israel who killed the Paschal Lamb at evening, with their wicked cry, "Crucify Him." For who doth hear—to believe? That is, the preachers shall be wroth with men that are slow to believe. Thou seest a man slow before he is made Christian; suppose him to be converted, and then he would have all men to be Christians, and wondereth that not yet they are. It hath chanced to him at evening to have been converted; but because he hath been made hungering like a dog, he hath also on his lips a sword; he saith, Who doth hear? What is, Who doth hear? "Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the Arm of the LORD revealed?" The Jews did not believe, and nevertheless, through believing Jews, the Gospel went round about the city; and they said, For who doth hear?

A. 8 But thou, O LORD, shalt have them in derision: and thou shalt laugh all the heathen to scorn. Not only the unbelievers shall be derided, but those preachers who are discouraged, and doubt the spread of the Gospel; since far more will hear and believe than they suppose. Thou shalt laugh all the heathen to scorn. Because a most easy thing it will be for all nations to believe in Thee. And the chief reason why the heathen shall be laughed to scorn is, that while in the folly of worldly wisdom they reproach Him Who was crucified, dead, and buried, not understanding the mystery of His great loving-kindness, they do not believe Him to be the Son of God rising again from the dead, and the LORD of Majesty. 9 My strength will I ascribe unto thee: for thou art the GOD of my refuge.

The Hebrew is rather, I will wait on Thee, my strength. But the LXX. and the Vulgate both render it, I will keep my strength to Thee. And it is expounded of CHRIST, Who would not use His power against His persecutors, but delayed their punishment according to the FATHER's dispensation. That He could have punished them, yet did not, He showed, by making the soldiers fall to the ground by a single word, and yet praying on the Cross for His enemies. And He kept His strength, says S. Hilary, by taking again His life which He laid down, but which no man took from Him, and because His might and refuge were of Him into Whose Hands He commended His Spirit. And we may take it primarily of David, who, though entitled to the kingdom on the death of Saul, is content to leave the issue of events in God's hands. It holds, too, observes S. Augustine, of every soul of man. For those strong men have fallen for this reason; because

A. Santol. Victorin. in Ascens.

their strength to Thee they have not kept: that is, they that upon me have risen up and rushed, on themselves have relied. But I my strength to Thee will keep, because, if I withdraw, I fall; if I draw near, stronger I am made. For see, brethren, what there is in a human soul. It hath not of itself light, hath not of itself powers, but all that is fair in a soul is virtue and wisdom; but it neither is wise for itself, nor strong for itself, nor itself is light to itself, nor itself is virtue to itself. There is a certain origin and fountain of virtue, there is a certain root of wisdom, there is a certain region of unchangeable truth: from this the soul withdrawing is made dark, drawing near is made light. "They had an eye unto Him, and were lightened," because by withdrawing ye are made dark. Therefore, my strength will I keep to Thee: not from Thee will I withdraw, not on myself will I rely. For where was I, and where am I? Whence hast Thou taken me up? What iniquities of mine hast Thou remitted? Where was I lying? To what have I been raised up? I ought to have remembered these things: because in another Psalm is said, "When my father and my mother forsake me, the LORD taketh me up." My strength to Thee will I keep. And we are not left to seek for the cause of this confidence: for Thou art the God of my refuge. My high place, as the Hebrew; my lifter up, as the LXX. and Vulgate. And either truly, for it is spoken in the person of CHRIST, Whom the FATHER took up to the highest place, even the hypostatic union with Godhead. And because He hath so gone up on high, Who is our Head, we, His members, know that we shall follow. So runs the hymn of the Paris Breviary:

Nos membra, quo nostrum caput, Quo dux præivit, ibimus; Si jungat una mens simul, Nos una junget gloria. 10 GOD showeth me his goodness plenteously: and GOD shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies. A. S. Bernard. Serm. in Cant. lxvii.

The Bible Version here agrees more nearly with the LXX. and Vulgate, The God of my mercy shall prevent me. And S. Augustine, arguing against the Pelagians, explains it of prevenient grace, saying, "What good thing have I brought, that Thou shouldest have mercy on me, and shouldest justify me? What in me hast Thou found, save sins alone? Of Thine there is nothing else but the nature which Thou hast created; the other things are mine own evil things, which Thou hast blotted out. I have not first risen up to Thee, but to awake me Thou hast come: for His mercy shall prevent me. Before that anything of good I shall do, His mercy shall prevent me." And S. Bernard draws the same conclusion. "My God, he says, His mercy shall prevent me. And again, speaking to the LORD, he says, 'Let Thy tender mercies speedily prevent us, for we are brought very low.' Beautifully does the Bride later (if I err not) place these same words not in the same order, but follows herself the order of the Prophet, speaking in this wise: 'I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine.' Why thus? Doubtless that she may prove herself the more full of grace when she attributes all to grace, ascribing alike the first and last parts to it. Otherwise, how could she be full of grace, if she had aught that is not of grace? For grace cannot enter in where merit has already established itself. Therefore the full confession of grace denotes the fulness of grace itself in the soul of the confessor." And so the greatest of Latin poets, in his own lowly epitaph, acknowledges the sinfulness of man apart from the grace of GOD:

Hæres peccati, naturâ filius iræ, Exilique reus nascitur omnis homo. Unde superbit homo, cujus conceptio culpa, Nasci paena, labor vita, necesse mori? And the words, His mercy shall prevent me, are especially applied to the Manhood of CHRIST, united to Godhead from the first instant of its creation, before the very possibility of merit existed. And God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies. That desire is twofold—mercy and justice. Mercy up to the last possible moment, "FATHER, forgive them, for they know not what they do;" justice for the finally impenitent, "But those Mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before Me." The LXX. and Vulgate are different. The former has, My God will show to me [His mercy] amongst mine enemies. And this may be most fitly taken of the descent into hell, when He came amongst His ghostly enemies in the guise of a captive, but really as a conqueror. And so S. Peter the Venerable:

Mortis portis fractis, fortis Fortior vim sustulit, Et per crucem regem trucem Inferrorum perculit. Lumen clarum tenebrarum Sedibus resplenduit.

The Vulgate is: My God will show to me over [or concerning] mine enemies. And if we take the Chaldee Paraphrase as a guide, we shall supply the word vengeance. But it is better to explain it of the Divine foreknowledge of CHRIST, as to the destiny of the Jews, revealed to Him by the FATHER, and treated of in the following verse. But these are not the only variants. The old Roman Psalter reads, Show me good things amongst mine enemies: that is, Help me, while they perseEp. lib. ii. 13. cute. Or, with S. Peter Damiani, take it of the involuntary witness borne to CHRIST by the Jews by the very fact of their unbelief. The Gallican Psalter reads, Show me amongst mine enemies. And it may be taken of His being made a show of by Pilate, when he said, "Behold the Man; or of His manifestation in the person of His martyrs, or of His appearing at the Last Day, when His enemies shall look on Him "Whom they pierced. S. John xix. 5. Zech. xii. 10. 11 Slay them not, lest my people forget it: but scatter them abroad among the people, and put them down, O LORD, our defence. A.

It is not surprising that almost all the commentators agree in explaining this verse of the dispersion of the Jews, and their mysterious preservation, distinct from all nations among whom they dwell, according to the saying of Moses, "And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth unto the other. Slay them not, but drive them forth, to wander, as Cain, with the stain of righteous blood upon their hands. And yet not altogether in vengeance, but in mercy, "for in death no man remembereth Thee," that a remnant may be preserved which may return and believe. Lest my people forget it. And so the Apostle: "Because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear; for if GOD spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee. But the LXX. and Vulgate read, Lest they forget Thy law. And this is to be the especial sign of their separation. This is the mark which the Jews have: they hold fast by the remnant of their law; they are circumcised, they keep the Sabbaths, they sacrifice the Passover, they eat unleavened bread. These are therefore Jews; they have not been slain; they are necessary to believing nations. Why so? In order that He may show to us amongst our enemies His mercy. And there is yet another reason: "It is divinely appointed," observes S.

Peter Damiani, "by the providential arrangement of our Redeemer, that the remnant of the Jews should be preserved, as it were, to keep the house of the Law; that they should be in a measure our librarians, and carry with them everywhere over the world the books of sacred speech in the same tongue as that in which they were composed, in order that they, who are our enemies, should take from us all doubt, if any doubtful scruple should appear. Wherefore it is said by the Psalmist, My God, show me good among mine enemies; slay them not, lest they forget Thy law. And then follows: Scatter them abroad among the people. The LXX. and Vulgate are closer to the Hebrew, and read, Scatter them in Thy might; or, as the Bible Version, by Thy power. Not merely by the power of the Romans, but with punishments dealt by the same mighty Arm which once brought them out of the house of bondage. And so S. Gregory Nazianzen speaks: "Who of all those skilled in writing lamentations, and who could express suffering itself in speech, could lament their troubles fittingly? What books could contain it? The whole world itself, throughout which they are diversely scattered and dispersed, is the sole monument of their calamity. But there is another way in which we may take this verse. It is spoken also of the Apostles and their converts. Slay them not by martyrdom till they have preached the Word, teaching all nations; but scatter them in Thy might. And so S.

Paul answers the question, For who doth hear? in this wise: "But I say, Have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. And put them down, from prosperity and temporal glory, from their kingdom, from their priesthood, and all the honour of the law of their fathers. But let it be as it was to one of themselves, even Saul of Tarsus: bring them down in humility, that they may arise again in faith. As the hymn runs:

In te cadit superbia, The Hymn Anni rotato tempore. O Lord, our defence. Because, if they be not put down,—if a rival temple and sacrifice, an Aaronic priesthood instead of the order of Melchizedek, continue—the wheels of the Gospel chariot will be stayed; therefore, O Lord, My defence, FATHER of My Manhood, put them down, and hinder them from working such a result. 12 For the sin of their mouth, and for the words of their lips, they shall be taken in their pride: and why? their preaching is of cursing and lies. Here the Hebrew, LXX., and Roman Psalter all have— The sin of their mouth is the word of their lips: that which they spake, saying to Pilate, "If He were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered Him up unto thee." And again, "Sir, we remember that that Deceiver said, while He was yet alive, After three days I will rise again." The Vulgate reads sermonem labiorum in the accusative, governed either by the word slay or by put down. Therefore, slay not them, lest they forget Thy law; but there is something in them for Thee to slay, in order that Thou mayest fulfil that which hath been said above, "Be not merciful unto them that offend of malicious wickedness." What, therefore, wilt Thou slay? The sins of their mouth, the word of their lips. What in them wilt Thou slay? The "Crucify, crucify" which they cried out, not them that so cried out. For they willed to blot out, cut off, destroy CHRIST; but Thou, by

A. Pet. Lomb. gl. in loc.

raising to life CHRIST, Whom they willed to destroy, dost slay the sins of their mouth, the word of their lips. And further: they shall be taken in their pride. "A man is taken in his pride," observes the Master of the Sentences, "when, viewing the greatness of his sin, he perceives that he has dealt proudly, and that in vain. And S. Hilary takes it therefore of the compunction with which the remnant of the Jews will confess their sin when "there shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. So the quasi-Jerome explains it: they shall be made humble. But it may also be spoken of the judgments upon them in despite of their boasting, "We are Abraham's children, and were never in bondage to any man," and their saying, "Who gave Thee this power? whereon the LORD foretold, "The days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side; and "If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins. And why? their preaching is of cursing and lies. Cursing, when they said, "He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye Him? and "His blood be upon us. Lies, declaring, "Behold a man gluttonous and a wine-bibber; and "He stirreth up the people; and again, "His disciples came by night, and stole Him away. The LXX. and Vulgate render the passage differently.

They shall be declared of cursing and lying, in the consummation. That is, at the Last Day their blasphemy and falsehood shall be judged. But it may also be taken of the remnant which shall return. They shall have tidings brought to them by preaching, concerning Him Who was made a curse, as it is written, "He that is hanged is accursed of GOD," and Who was the subject of their lying. Touching all these things they shall be declared, that is, taught, that they may learn not to curse the Name of CHRIST, may learn not to speak falsely of Him, that they may be in the consummation—that is, perfected in the number of the good. And with this agrees the reading of Cassiodorus, They shall be torn away from cursing and lying. And so, turned from impiety, they shall be drawn from their cursing and lying, and this in the consummation, because, when the fulness of the Gentiles enters in, then shall the remnant of Israel be saved.

13 Consume them in thy wrath, consume them, that they may perish: and know that it is GOD that ruleth in Jacob, and unto the ends of the world.

And so it is written in another place, "They shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries. And yet again a further reason is given, "I will consume the filthiness out of thee. But the LXX. and Vulgate read it differently. In the consummation, in the wrath of consummation, and they shall not be. That is, the final conversion of the Jews will be worked out by GOD's remedial punishments, in His wrath which maketh perfect; for there is a wrath of consummation wherewith GOD sometimes punishes that He may perfect, and a wrath of consummation which punisheth that it may destroy. Their sins, then, are forgiven them in the wrath of consummation, whoso are willing to be converted. And there follows, And they shall not be: doubtless because, thus perfected in the wrath of consummation, they shall no more be in their pride. For so the Scripture explains not to be, saying, "The wicked are overthrown, and are not. It is, however, also spoken of the finally impenitent, and thus sounds a note of warning as well as of hope. For they shall be convicted by CHRIST, their Judge, in the consummation, that is, in the end of the world and the Last Judgment. Touching which consummation CHRIST speaks in the Gospels, "So shall it be in the consummation of the world. For then shall they look on Him Whom they pierced.

Whence the Psalmist adds more plainly, in the wrath of consummation, that is, in the Divine vengeance and rebuke of the Day of Judgment, they shall be convicted by CHRIST; for He will then say to them, "Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire. And they shall not be in the number of the elect, nor in glory, according to that saying, "The wicked will not behold the Majesty of the LORD. And know that it is God that ruleth in Jacob. Whereas formerly, not made subject to the righteousness of GOD, but going about to establish their own, they were puffed up against the Gentiles, whom they counted unclean as dogs, and thought that GOD had no care save for the Jews, justified, as they deemed, by the righteousness of the Law; now, purified by the wrath of consummation, and enlightened by grace, they will know that, as all have sinned, Jews and Gentiles, so all have come short of the glory and grace of GOD. For as He ruleth in Jacob by saving whom He will of the stock of Jacob, so also He ruleth unto the ends of the world, by saving whom He will, not only in all Judea and Samaria, but hearkening unto the voices of all that cry to Him from the ends of the earth, whether Jews or Gentiles, of all whom is formed that one Church, which is that Queen who came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon.

They did not know at first that He ruleth in Jacob; for when Pilate wrote the title on the Cross, they said, "Write not, The King of the Jews; but that He said, I am King of the Jews; and again, "We have no king but Cæsar. Nor did they remember His lordship over the ends of the world, according to the words of the Prophet, "Thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; the GOD of the whole earth shall He be called."

14 And in the evening they will return: grin like a dog, and will go about the city. 15 They will run here and there for meat; and grudge if they be not satisfied. S. A bertus Magnus.

This is the second part of the latter portion of the whole Psalm, wherein, after a first statement touching the conversion of the Jews, here the full conversion of the same Jews is added, and four things are spoken of: First, their conversion. Next, the affection of the converted, and their longing to convert others, They shall hunger. Thirdly, their anxiety to fulfil their longing, And will go about. Fourth and lastly, their compassion and distress for those whom they shall not be able to convert, and grudge if they be not satisfied. They will hunger to convert souls, accounting themselves as dogs, and not as sheep. So their humility is indicated, that they are not like the proud Pharisee, who counted himself a sheep, and not a dog. Or, as dogs, in the capacity of preachers eager to devour the fleshliness of others, "Come, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains. And hence it was said to Peter, "Kill, and eat. And note, that a good preacher is a good dog. First, because with his mouth he barks against tyrants and heretics, who are wolves and robbers; with his teeth he rends sins like flesh; with his tongue he heals the wounds left in the soul by sin, "And the dogs came and licked his sores; with the sense of smell he follows his prey, ever pressing on the track.

So the preacher follows CHRIST, keeping in His steps, "because CHRIST also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow in His steps. Such a dog was blessed Job, "My foot hath held His steps. He dies for his Master: "For Thy sake also are we killed all the day long. He is born blind, and remains so till he have for awhile sucked his mother's teats; so the preacher, till he have sucked the breasts of his mother, the Church. For the Church has two breasts, which are the two Testaments.

They will run here and there for meat. The LXX. and Vulgate render it, They shall be scattered, that they may eat. S. Hilary takes it to mean the hungering of the Jews after the oblations and sacrifices of the Temple, and their murmuring against the Divine decrees which deprive them of this food of their souls. But others for the most part explain it of the dispersion of preachers seeking to make converts, and their regret when the harvest is small. Therefore they who have acquired the true learning, are scattered, to eat, to wit, spiritual food, that the Gentiles may be converted, coming to the Catholic faith, as was said to Peter the Apostle in his vision, "Kill, and eat." It is meat they long for, because, as natural eating is to incorporate in one's self food from without, and to assimilate it, so spiritual eating is to incorporate one's neighbour by means of love, and to convert him to that true faith which the preacher holds. There follows, they will grudge if they be not satisfied. Teachers are satisfied when they see the people eagerly accept their preaching. On the other hand, they hunger and grudge if they see their words failing to bear fruit in the minds of unbelievers. So their grudge or murmur (as the Vulgate has it) is thus taken in a good sense, and means that they shall grieve, and show that grief by reproaching men, by imploring GOD, and by ascribing their unsuccess to their own sins.

16 As for me, I will sing of thy power, and will praise thy mercy betimes in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. The words mystically apply to CHRIST giving thanks to the FATHER for the conversion of the Jews and Gentiles. For the justification of the unrighteous is a work of vast power and mercy, exceeding the quickening of a dead body, or the creation of heaven and earth out of nothing. Dionysius will have it that CHRIST the SON here speaks of His Resurrection through the power of the FATHER, and because it was given Him to announce the tidings with joy and gladness on the first day of the week, when "joy cometh in the morning." And others prefer to attribute the words to each elect soul, when it comes to that morning which knows no evening of its blessedness, or of the glory of the Resurrection. And so speaks S. Augustine of the unending sabbath of heavenly rest. "The seventh day is without evening, and hath no sunset, because Thou hast hallowed it for everlasting continuance." And of this meaning the Cluniac sings:

In the morning, when temptations have been overcome; in the morning, when the night of this world shall have passed away; in the morning, when no longer the lyings in wait of robbers and of the devil and of his angels we dread; in the morning, when no more by the lamp of prophecy we walk, but Himself, the WORD of GOD, as it were a sun, we contemplate. With reason in another Psalm is said, "Early in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up." With reason also of the LORD Himself the Resurrection was at dawn, that there should be fulfilled that which hath been said in another Psalm, "Heaviness may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." S. Albertus Magnus drily observes, This verse may also be read against archdeacons, who are literally scattered through the episcopate, not to preach, but to eat, and who murmur if they are not provided for according to their fancy. Not like Eliezer,

who says, (Gen. xxiv. 33,) "I will not eat till I have told mine errand." And when he had finished, he was content with a little; for it is found in the same place, "And there was bread set before him." (Gen. xxiv. 33, Vulg.) A. D. C. For Thou hast been my defence (Vulg. lifter up) and refuge in the day of my trouble. It is spoken of CHRIST in the mystery of His Passion, for then He took refuge with His FATHER, praying and saying, "FATHER, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me." And also, when dying, He cried, "FATHER, into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit." And this befitted CHRIST, in so far as He was subject to passions, and in some wise a pilgrim. It also explains why humanity rejoices in CHRIST the LORD, because He has been its lifter up. For He Himself is lifted up when the whole Church is saved, according to that saying, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me." He adds: And My refuge in the day of My trouble. O how pleasant is that refuge, when granted in the time of trouble! For all flesh is under suspicion until it hear, "Come, ye blessed of My FATHER." But when we arrive at that most longed for speech, our refuge becomes eternal: a refuge from the devil and his angels, from the whirlwind of Divine wrath, from everlasting burning, as it is written, "Thou hast been a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall."

17 Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing : for thou, O GOD, art my refuge, and my merciful GOD. Ay. Here he gives thanks by works; for to sing is to praise by works. And observe that good men sing to GOD both in this life and in glory, because they have good works both here and there. My strength, or as the LXX. and Vulgate read, my helper. "What was I," exclaims S. Augustine, "unless Thou didst succour? How much despaired of was I, unless Thou didst heal? Where was I lying, unless Thou didst come to me? Later with a huge wound I was endangered, but that wound did call for an Almighty Physician." For Thou, O God, art my refuge. The Bible Version has it, my defence, coming nearer to the LXX. and Vulgate, my lifter up. Lifting up, first to grace, and then to glory. And that because Thou art my merciful God. For by Thy goodness I was created, by Thine Incarnation I was deified, by Thy conversation I was hallowed, by Thy Passion redeemed, by Thine Ascension glorified. And all this is of Thy mercy, "for the gift of GOD is eternal life;" and, moreover, "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us." S. Gregory the Great, commenting on the words of the Psalmist, observes, "Let us recall before our eyes the evils which we have done, and ponder how great is that goodness of GOD by which we are tolerated. Let us mark what are the bowels of His loving-kindness, that He does not merely pardon our faults, but promises the kingdom of heaven to penitents even after

A. S. Greg. Mag. Hom. in Evang. xviii. their faults; and let us say, from all the marrow of our hearts, My merciful God." Glory be to the FATHER, strong and merciful, Whose power and mercy I will sing; glory be to the SON, Who is the Power of the FATHER, Which I will sing; glory be to the HOLY GHOST, Who is the Mercy of the FATHER and the SON, which I set before me as the subject of my song. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.O Almighty LORD, Whose power and mercy we laud in the morning season, we beseech Thee, our Strength, to guard us, that we, freed from all blackness of darkness, may be illumined by the morning light. (1.) O CHRIST the LORD, restrain by the might of Thy power the mighty men that are gathered against me; and as for them that laid wait for Thy soul in the Passion, let their offspring be brought under the yoke of Thy service, that Thou only, O LORD, mayest be confessed the Redeemer of the world, when Thou arisest to help Thy Church. (11.) O CHRIST the LORD, the mighty men that laid wait for Thy soul gathered themselves fiercely against Thee, when at the time of Thy Passion the company of the proud rushed upon Thee; we therefore beseech Thee, hearken to the prayer of Thy Church, and take away the bloody sword from the hand of the enemy, that they may feel its edge blunted when they shall know that the doctrine of Thy Faith is preached by them who announce Thee. (11.)

Deliver us from our enemies, O LORD; and as Thou didst vouchsafe to lay down Thy life for us, save us evermore from them that rise up against us. (11.) O CHRIST, SON of GOD, Who, without cause of sin, wast even delivered unto death, and caught in the snare of the hunters; grant that, through Thine unmerited death, the death which we merit may be overcome, that Thou, Who, though innocent, wast given up for us, mayest through the gift of innocency make us come at length in blessedness to Thee. Through Thy mercy. (11.) O CHRIST, GOD of our salvation, Who by Thy Passion dost guard our passions, deliver us from the bloodthirsty men and from all our corruptions, that, shunning the deeds of flesh and blood, we may not share in the headlong ruin of the bloodthirsty men, but be added to the number of them that please Thee. Through Thy mercy. (11.)

The LORD vouchsafe to grant that we, protected by His help, aided by His mercy, glorified by His Resurrection, may with spotless minds lift up His praises in the holy Church. Amen.

TITLE: To the chief musician upon Shushan-eduth, Michtam [or, a golden Psalm] of David, to teach, when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand. Or, to the Supreme, for the Lily of Testimony, [that is, a lily-shaped instrument of music] a golden Psalm of David, for instruction, when he strove with Aram of the two rivers, and Aram of Zobah, &c. LXX. Vulgate: To the end, for them who shall be changed. In the inscription of the title, to David for instruction, when he wasted with fire Mesopotamia of Syria and Syria of Sobal, and Joab turned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt-pits twelve thousand. Syriac Psalter: Which David put forth, saying, If I fall into the hands of Saul, I perish, and took to flight, and they that were with him. To us it expresses the conversion of the Gentiles, and the abolition of Judaism.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST is a convenient bulwark in trouble. The Voice of the Apostles in the Passion of CHRIST. The Voice of CHRIST to the FATHER touching the Jews, and that of every believer. Concerning the devil, and sins, and the evil man. CHRIST prays that the enemies may not prevail to hurt Him. The Voice of the Apostles, when CHRIST suffered. The Prophet, concerning the Person of CHRIST. VEN. BEDE. To the end. He means that in CHRIST the SAVIOUR. For them that shall be changed, doubtless in the manner of which the Apostle speaks, "Ye were sometime darkness, but now light in the LORD." And in what manner they can be changed to this end is explained in order. In the inscription of the title, denotes JESUS CHRIST the King. So then they shall be changed, that deserting the devil, they will put their necks under CHRIST the King. He adds, for doctrine, to wit, Christian, for it is not enough to believe that CHRIST is a King, unless His doctrine also be kept. When he wasted with fire Mesopotamia of Syria and Syria of Sobal. These victories of David imply the triumph of CHRIST over the Gentiles, whom, kindling them with the fire of His love, He delivered from the kingdom of the ancient enemy (which Hadarezer denotes,) and made them tributary to His Faith. And inasmuch as Syria, which in Hebrew is called Aram, and is interpreted Lofty, implies the pride of the Gentiles, He burns up two tribes of Syria, Who corrects at once the words and deeds of the Gentiles, that they may bring the tribute of faith and works to the One true King. And Joab returned and smote of Edom in the valley of salt-pits, twelve thousand. The Valley of Salt-pits, which in Hebrew is called Ge-mélach, denotes weak and earthly wisdom, wherewith Gentile philosophy and

This is an error of Beda. Hadadezer or Hadarezer is "whose help is Hadad." Hadad is the name of a Syrian God, derived from to shout. Lat. Adodus. Macrob. Saturn. i. 23. This is correct. high-lands, from to be high. Jewish obstinacy are armed against CHRIST. But by the turning again of Joab (who, by interpretation, is He is a father,) both are smitten, as the teacher of the Faith presses more vigorously on them. Ge-melach, then, as it is a region of the Edomites, may denote the savour of Gentile knowledge; but it is better taken of the Jews who shall believe at the end of the world, either because of the twelve thousand, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, or because of the name of Edom, which often means the Jews, whence under its person is said of them, "The elder shall serve the younger." Therefore that people, which is changed from its old errors to the Faith, intreats in the first division that it may be restored by new benefits after the affliction which it has suffered by way of satisfaction: O GOD, Thou hast cast us out, &c. In the second place, after the Diapsalma, it asks that after the tribulation it has endured, it may be led by the LORD into the well-fenced city, seeking that help in trouble may be granted it, which is proved to be possible to GOD only, (That Thy beloved may be delivered,) and so forth.

EUSEBIUS OF CÆSAREA. The rejection of the Jewish people, and the calling of the Gentiles.

Various Uses.Ambrosian. Friday of First Week. III. Nocturn. Monastic. Wednesday. I. Nocturn.

Antiphons.Gregorian. As preceding. Parisian. Let the poor and needy * give praise unto Thy Name, O LORD. Ambrosian. As preceding. Monastic. Be Thou our help, O LORD, * in trouble. Lyons. The same. Mozarabic. First verse of the Psalm. 1 O GOD, thou hast cast us out, and scattered us abroad : thou hast also been displeased; O turn thee unto us again. The mournful character of this Psalm, contrary to what might be looked for from its title, has been noted by all the Fathers who have treated of it. The title itself has been dwelt upon and allegorized by S. Hilary, S. Augustine, Cassiodorus, and many others, but their happiest interpretations have been summed up as above by Beda. It is the key-note by which they pitched their explanation of the brief psalm which succeeds. And first then, let Lorinus tell us why this is not a triumphal chant, but rather a wail. David, looking back to the former times on the sins of the people, enume-

Rather, The LORD is Father.

rates the punishments of old time which GOD inflicted upon it, giving it over in His anger to its enemies, although He freed it at length in mercy. Thus the discourse seems not to be touching the Egyptian captivity, nor that yet to come in Babylon, but concerning the various wars with which the Hebrews were harassed in the promised land by divers nations, especially the Philistines. Thou hast cast us out from Thy protection, and destroyed us (Vulg. by suffering our foes to pass our borders, waste our cities, and slay our countrymen. Thou hast also been displeased with us, because of our sins. For the kingdom of Israel was much troubled in the time of the Judges. And it holds true of more than this; for GOD, because of Adam's sin, hath cast us out of Paradise, and destroyed us by subjecting us to heat and cold, hunger and thirst, disease, sorrow, and death; and this not unjustly, but in His righteous vengeance against those sins with which Thou art displeased. And as it is spoken firstly of the Jewish people, so it applies to the Christian Church, when GOD tries her by suffering. For in no other sense does He cast her out, for S. Paul says, "GOD hath not cast away His people which He foreknew. Whence also the Voice speaks to the Prophet Jeremy, "I have set thee to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

As though He had said, "Destroy vices and sins, build up virtues. He casts us out and destroys us when we sin, He has mercy and builds us up when we return to Him in penitence. Where note, observes S. Bonaventure, that GOD casts out the bad, by depriving them of grace, whence it is said, "They are cast down, and shall not be able to stand. He will cast them out in time to come, when He shall say, "Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire. He casts out the good, by exposing them to passions, delivered whence they say, "Our soul is escaped even as a bird. By depriving them of temporal blessings, whence, "My GOD, my GOD, why hast Thou forsaken me? He casts out the bad from spiritual charges, whence it is written, "Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to Me."

Pseudo-Hieron. Rom. xi. 2. Jer. i. 10. S. Bonaventura. Ps. xxxvi. 12. S. Matt. xxv. 41. Ps. cxxiv. 6. Ps. xxii. 1. Hosea iv. 6. Prov. xvi. 15. 1 Sam. xiv. 7. Deut. xxxii. 39. O turn Thee unto us again. This is the cry of the penitent in all ages, knowing that only "in the light of the King's countenance is life." And He Who bore the weapons of our warfare for us, and Who made Himself our servant, tells us that it is we, and not He, that need to be turned. Wherefore He speaks to each of us who longs to strike a blow for liberty, "Do all that is in thine heart; turn thee, behold I am with thee according to thy heart." But the LXX. and Vulgate have here not a prayer, but a thankful confession of His goodness. They read, Thou hast pitied us. Wherefore that Eternal FATHER of all, Who hath said, "I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal," so casts us out and destroys us, as yet to pity us in His anger. For He destroyed the temple of Jerusalem, but gave instead the Heavenly City to the Saints. He cast out from the working of the law, but, justifying the ungodly by faith, gave him the justification of faith; He dissolved the earthly kingdom, but made us kings in heaven. So mercy hath followed on displeasure, whilst an exceeding weight of eternal blessings compensates for the loss of earthly things present. And so too speaks Bernard of Morlaix:

2 Thou hast moved the land, and divided it: heal the sores thereof, for it shaketh. It is spoken of the fiery trials of Christians, when GOD moved all the whole Church and troubled it by the fierce persecutions of tyrants, so that the cry of the faithful went up that He would heal its sores, because it shook under the storm, though it could not be overthrown, because founded on the rock. And so the cry of the suffering Egyptian Church is heard still in the words of her primeval Liturgy. "Help them that are in prison, or in mines, or in courts of justice, or with sentence given against them, or in bitter slavery, or tribute, have mercy on all, free all; for Thou art our GOD, He that sets free the bound, He that raises those that are in misery, the Hope of the hopeless, the succour of the defenceless, the Resurrection of the fallen, the harbour of the tempest-tossed, the avenger of the afflicted." It is also spoken of sinful man, who is of the earth, earthy. GOD moves and breaks up the hard soil of the heart by His husbandmen, the preachers of the Gospel, convincing the guilty of sin, and making them shake with fear of judgment to come. And only He who has made us sore with that sword of the Spirit which He wields, can heal us again with His grace.

3 Thou hast showed thy people heavy things: thou hast given us a drink of deadly wine. Or, hard things. For CHRIST, by His teachings and His sufferings, has shown His people an example which they find hard and painful to follow so long as they are not conformed to Him. Hard for His whole mystical Body, the Church, in time of persecution, which "all that live godly in CHRIST JESUS shall suffer." Hard for the individual soul, which has to learn that GOD "scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." Wherefore we read of the sinner crying out, Woe is me! what is existence below, Trouble on trouble, and blow upon blow; What is in this world save sorrowful years, Much tribulation, and plentiful tears? The Hymn O quam giorificum. And the Master answers: Wouldst thou but ponder the promise I make, Willingly, joyfully, pain wouldst thou take; That in My kingdom the joys thou may'st see Of the Confessors who suffered for Me.

Rev. xiv. 10. Thou hast given us a drink of deadly wine. Not so, for the "wine of the wrath of GOD, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation," is for the finally impenitent only. The Bible Version is nearer the Hebrew, and terms it "wine of astonishment," () or intoxication. And then it may be taken of that Cup of the Passion promised to the sons of Zebedee, that which so numbs the sense of pain, that the Martyrs are ready to bear all so long as they may drink it, saying, "They have stricken me, and I was not sick: they have beaten me, and I felt it not; when shall I awake, I will seek it yet again." And so S. Bonaventure, singing of the sorrows of the Passion: The Hymn In passione Domini. A. Or, if we take the LXX. and Vulgate, wine of compunction or of goading, we get another beautiful meaning. Of goading is what? Not of killing; for it was not a killing that destroyeth, but a medicine that smarteth. And more; we goad oxen that they may advance in the furrows; and the stimulant for Christians in their path is the wine of GOD, the wondrous chalice of the Holy Eucharist.

4 Thou hast given a token for such as fear thee: that they may triumph because of the truth. And that Cup is the token, as it is written in another Psalm of the other species of the Sacrament, "He hath given meat to them that fear Him, He shall ever be mindful of His covenant." And so runs the hymn: Bread of the world, in mercy broken, Wine of the world, in mercy shed; By Whom the words of life were spoken, And in Whose death our sins are dead; Look on the heart by sorrow broken, Look on the tears by sinners shed, And be Thy feast to us the token, That by Thy grace our souls are fed. The quasi-Jerome explains this token of Holy Baptism, the especial sign given to them who seek to serve the LORD. But the majority take it of the various warnings given to the Apostles of impending persecution. That they may triumph because of the truth. If we take this of the Holy Eucharist, it will denote the reward of them who believe CHRIST's words touching It, as the hymn runs :

The Hymn and who object not, "This is a hard saying; who can hear it?" but hear the promise to the Church of Pergamus, "To him that overcometh, will I give to eat of the hidden manna." But if we follow the Bible Version and the Targum, we shall get a fresh idea. Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. What that banner is, the Church proclaims in her hymn for Passion Sunday: The Royal Banners forward go, The Cross shines forth in mystic glow. The Hymn And again, in another hymn: The Hymn

But the LXX. and Vulgate are totally different from the English in the latter clause of this verse; they read: "Thou hast given a token to them that fear thee, that they may flee from the face of the bow." And that bow, observes S. Augustine, is the Judgment of GOD. "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the House of GOD, and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of GOD?" The bow is bended, still in menacing posture it is, not yet in aiming. And see what there is in the bow: is there not an arrow to be shot forward? The string, however, is stretched back in a contrary direction to that in which it is to be shot; and the more the stretching thereof hath gone backward, with the greater swiftness it starteth forward. The more the judgment is deferred, with so much the greater swiftness it is to come. Therefore even for temporal tribulations let us give GOD thanks, because He hath given to His people a sign, that they should flee from the face of the bow. And that too remembering, as Gerhohus aptly points out, that "Thy arrows are very sharp, and the people shall be subdued unto Thee, even in the midst among the king's enemies."

A. 5 Therefore were thy beloved delivered: help me with thy right hand, and hear me. Rather, with A. V., LXX., and Vulgate, That Thy beloved may be delivered, which is the reason why the token is given, as declared in the vision of Ezekiel. "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark 1 Reading instead of . upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others He said in my hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite; let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity. Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark." And the mark is the Thau, or Cross set on us not with ink, but with the Blood of CHRIST and with the HOLY GHOST. Help me with Thy right hand. Not with Thy left hand, says Gerhohus, wherein are riches and glory, but with Thy right hand, wherein is length of days. Give me then little or much, or nought, from Thy left hand, according to Thy will, as Thou knowest to be expedient for me. But open Thy right hand abundantly, and fill all things living with plenteousness of blessing, whereby Thy blessed elect and beloved may be set at Thy right hand in the Judgment. And hearken unto me, praying for perseverance in the right way.

6 GOD hath spoken in his holiness, I will rejoice, and divide Sichem: and mete out the valley of Succoth.

C. S. John i. 14. Heb. i. 2. H. Ps. i. 2. Ps. xix. 5. D. C. Jer. xxxii. 41. Gen. xii. 6. Gen. xxxiii. 19. Gen. xlviii. 22. Josh. viii. 33. Judg. ix. 1 Kings xii. 16. S. John iv. H. A. He hath spoken in the Person of His Holy One, when "the Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us," and that by the truths of the Gospel. And the Incarnate Word says, I will rejoice. For two reasons, because His "delight is in the law" of His FATHER, and therefore He "rejoiceth as a giant to run His course," and also because He rejoices as the Bridegroom in the triumphs of His Bride the Church, and in pouring His blessing on her children. And so it is written, "Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good. And divide Sichem. Where note that Shechem was the first resting-place of Abraham in Canaan. Afterwards it was bought by Jacob with money, then further taken out of the hand of the Amorite with his sword and his bow. Lying between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, it was the place where the Israelites heard the second promulgation of the Law. It was the scene of the first schism and rebellion against the commonwealth of Israel, when Abimelech was made king there, and also of the second, when Jeroboam I. revolted from Rehoboam. And it appears again in the Gospels as Sychar, the place of Jacob's Well, where the LORD talked with the woman of Samaria.

In this last page in the Scripture history of the place many commentators have seen the fulfilment of the prediction. Others, with S. Hilary, take it to mean the division of the Judgment Day, fitly shadowed by the blessings and warnings of the Law pronounced from the two mountains which bordered the valley. And others again have found in the meaning of the word Shechem, which is "shoulder," a reference to the burden which CHRIST shares with His people. It is, says Cassiodorus, the burden of divine devotion, which is granted to all by heavenly division. This is the burden, without which we fall, bearing which we stand upright, of which it is written, "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. And mete out the valley of Succoth. As Sheehem, given up from the time of the Captivity to an alien and idolatrous race, typifies the Gentile Church, so the valley of Succoth, where Jacob made "booths" (Succoth) for his cattle, denotes the Hebrews subject to CHRIST. In the mention of the valley, Cardinal Hugo finds a reference to the Christian grace of humility, and in that of the booths or tabernacles, the tents of the great army of the Church militant, of which Balaam spoke in prophecy, "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob!"

7 Gilead is mine, and Manasses is mine: Ephraim also is the strength of my head; Judah is my law-giver; And in those words Gilead is mine, the Church has always set forth the glory of the Martyrs, for Gilead means the "Heap of Witness." So then, taking it in close union with the preceding verse, we may say with a poet of our own, as he dilates on the bliss of the "cloud of witnesses:" Here may the band, that now in triumph shines, And that (before they were invested thus) In earthly bodies carried heavenly minds, Pitch round about, in order glorious, Their sunny tents, and houses luminous; All their eternal days in songs employing, Joying their end, without end of their joying; While their Almighty Prince destruction is destroying.

And Manasses is mine. And as Manasseh ("forgetfulness") was so named by Joseph, because, said he, "God hath made me forget all my toil," so this is spoken of CHRIST, Who saith to the penitent sinner, "I will not remember thy sins," Who saith to the soul which He would win for Himself, "Forget also thine own people, and thy father's house," Who saith to His Church purified by affliction, "Thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more." And Manasses is His also, because His contemplative saints "press towards the mark of their high calling," forgetting those things which are behind. As also do the Confessors, who abandon wealth and home for the Gospel. Ephraim also is the strength of my head. And that because the Gentiles, though the younger in the Church, are its strength, as Ephraim was preferred to his elder brother Manasses. Again, as Ephraim denotes "fruitfulness," it will imply the Saints of active life. So the Holy Eastern Church in her august Liturgy prays, "Remember, LORD, them that bear fruit, and do good deeds in Thy holy

A. A. Church, and that remember the poor." Yet again, hear S. Augustine: Ephraim is interpreted fruitfulness. Mine, he saith, is fruitfulness, and this fruitfulness is the strength of my Head. For my Head is CHRIST. And whence is fruitfulness the strength of Him? Because unless a grain were to fall into the earth it would not be multiplied, alone it would remain. Fall then to earth did CHRIST in His Passion, and there followed fruitbearing in the Resurrection. Judah is my lawgiver. My king, say the LXX. and Vulgate. My sceptre, or else my leading-staff of battle, in stricter accordance with the Hebrew. However we take it, the reference is alike to the LORD, Who "sprang out of Judah," Who is alike "King of the Jews," the "Sceptre" which rose out of Israel, Who "alone did lead" His people, and Who is the Mediator, in Whose hand the Law was given. And so it is written of the Ascension of the LORD, "Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand."

Heb. vii. 14. S. Matt. xxvii. 37. Numb. xxiv. 17. Deut. xxxii. 12. Gal. iii. 19. S. Alb. Mag. Judg. i. 2. 8 Moab is my wash-pot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, be thou glad of me. Isa. lxvi. 21. B. Jer. i. 13; Ezek. xi. 3; xxiv. 6; Joel ii. 6, marg.

Where note that the humbling of Moab follows immediately on the exaltation of Judah, as in Balaam's prophecy. "A Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite all the corners of Moab." But the LXX. and Vulgate both read here, Moab is the pot of my hope. Wherein Dionysius a Rykel sees a prophecy of the descent of CHRIST, the "Hope of Israel," from Ruth the Moabitess, a vessel elected of GOD. Nor let it be thought unfit, he adds, that CHRIST should be denoted by Moab. For Moab, by interpretation, is "from the father," by which CHRIST may be understood, Who said of Himself, "I came forth from the FATHER." If we take here the reading of the Syriac Psalter, Moab is the washing of my feet, we shall be reminded of the lowliness with which the LORD washed the feet of His Apostles. And whereas the Law declares, "A Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD," the Æthiopic Psalter here singularly reads, Moab is my priest, my hope, pointing to that prophecy of Isaiah concerning the Gentiles, "I will also take of them for priests and Levites." But others also explain the pot, of those tried by the fire of suffering at the hands of the evil (of whom a pot is a frequent Scriptural type) till, when all the scum has been removed, only wholesome and refreshing food remains in the vessel. Over Edom will I cast out my shoe. And here the commentators have devised various reasons for this casting out of the shoe. Some interpret it as a sign of claiming the inheritance of the land, others conversely (with reference to Ruth iv. 7.) as a renunciation of such a claim. Again, it is explained as a token of

1 , literally, "seed of the father." superiority, as though Edom were compelled to feel the shoe of his conqueror on his neck, or, more peacefully, to become the disciple of a Master "Whose shoes" he is "not worthy to bear." Mystically, it is explained by S. Gregory the Great: What is meant by Edom, save the Gentiles, what by the shoe, save the taking of mortality? The LORD, therefore, declares that He casts His shoe over Edom, by making Himself known in the flesh to the Gentiles. Where note, that by the shoe, which is made of the skins of dead animals, our mortal nature is typified, which CHRIST took, the latchet of which is that unspeakable union of the Word to human nature, so great a mystery that the Baptist, unable to fathom it, confesses, "Whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose." And the holy author of the "Pricke of Conscience" adds yet another interpretation, that CHRIST sends His messengers, "shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace," into heathen lands. Wherefore is said, "How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter." Philistia, be thou glad of me. Here, as constantly, the LXX. and Vulgate turn the proper name into a common one, and render it the aliens, and further translate the remainder, are subjected to me. And thus it speaks of the conversion of the Gentiles to the Gospel, so that they should be "no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens of the saints, and of the household of God."

S. Greg. Mag. Hom. in Evang. i. 8. S. John i. 27. 9 Who will lead me into the strong city: who will bring me into Edom? S. Augustine, translating thus, the city of standing round, explains the verse of the great heathen population lying all round the small Jewish people, and later, round the Christian Church. The Carthusian sees a reference to the conversion of Rome, emphatically the strong city, by the preaching of the Prince of the Apostles, and also to that text of Isaiah, "The lofty city, He layeth it low." Others, as Cassiodorus, Ayguan, and Richard of Hampole, see in the strong city the heavenly Jerusalem, the longing of pilgrims here on earth. A. Urbs cœlestis, Urbs beata, Supra Petram collocata, Urbs in portu satis tuto, De longinquo te saluto, Te saluto, te suspiro, Te affecto, te requiro. Hildeb. Ven. The Hymn Extra por-tam. Who will bring us in? Let another sweet singer answer the question:

CHRISTE, Palma bellatorum, hoc in municipium, Introduc me, post solutum militare cingulum; Fac consortem donativi beatorum civium. S. Pet. Dam. The Hymn *Ad perennis vitæ fontem.* But why, after expressing a desire for the Celestial city, come back to Edom, which typifies earth? Because, observes Ayguan, the number of the Gentiles must be filled up, before the kingdom of God can come, and the Church prays that she may be brought into Edom, in order to hasten that blessed time. 10 Hast not thou cast us out, O God : wilt not thou, O God, go out with our hosts? A. This is the cry of the Martyrs, who die without seeing the dominion of the Church widened by their valour, or any such results as came of the wars of Moses and Joshua, and David. Was He then by any means forsaking, because He was not marching forth with their hosts? By not marching forth with their hosts, did He not the more lead down the Church even unto Idumæa, lead down the Church into the city of standing round? For if the Church chose to war and to use the sword, she would seem to be fighting for life present; but because she was despising life present, therefore there was made a heap of witness for the life which shall be.

11 O be thou our help in trouble : for vain is the help of man. And therefore it is not for life, abundance, peace, or any such gifts which man can take away or leave with us, that the Church prays, but only that He will bring her safe through the water-floods, and bestow those blessings which are eternal, that our very tribulations may be the way of our salvation. 12 Through God will we do great acts : for it is he that shall tread down our enemies. Wherefore the Holy Eastern Church speaks thus in her Great Compline that defiance of the infidel which she chants as a war-song in Lent alone. God is with us, know it, ye nations, and be made weak. For God is with us. Hear ye, to the ends of the earth. For God is with us. Though ye were strong, ye were made weak.

For God is with us. And if again ye shall strengthen yourselves, again shall ye be weakened. For God is with us. And if ye shall devise any counsel, the LORD will scatter it. For God is with us. And if ye speak any word, it shall not abide in you. For God is with us. And we will not be afraid of your fear, neither will we be troubled, For God is with us. And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, Who delivereth His beloved; and to the SON, Who is the Right Hand of the FATHER, wherewith He helps His people; and to the HOLY GHOST, Who is Himself the Love wherewith GOD loves His elect. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.Most merciful GOD, save Thy suppliant people with the MSS. help of Thy right hand: that while in tribulation it is roused Thomas. to good works, it may ever be comforted by Thy grace. (1.) Almighty and most merciful GOD, restorer and ruler of Ludolph. mankind, Who puttest down Thy faithful in order to raise them up, Who humblest them to bring them to the kingdom of heaven; keep with Thy loving mercy the ranks of them that believe in Thee; that flying to the remedy of confession of Thee, they may, when their sores are healed, attain, through Thy bounty, to the enjoyment of everlasting felicity. (1.) Help us, O LORD, in trouble, and hear us to our salvation; Mozarabic. that Thy beloved may be made anew by that same Hand which made them, so that by the fervour of that Arm, whereby they have been broken, they may attain the healing which they desire. (11.)

Give us help, O LORD, in trouble, for vain is the help of Mozarabic. man, in Thee we shall do great acts, Who strengthenest Thy servants and bringest the enemies to nought. (11.) Save Thy people, O LORD, with Thy right hand, and as Mozarabic. Thou didst give the Cross as a token to them that fear Thee, so grant the fullest worthiness of faith, that Thou mayest convert and receive them whom Thou didst cast out in their sins, and do Thou, Who wast made the price of sinners, vouchsafe needful help in trouble; and Thyself bring to nought the enemy which troubleth. Thyself lead Thy redeemed into the strong city. (11.)

TITLE: To the Chief Musician upon Neginah, a Psalm of David. LXX. and Vulgate: To the end, in the hymns, a Psalm of David. Or, To the Supreme, for the stringed instruments of David. Mozarabic: To the end. A Psalm of David. A prayer with good grace. Syriac Psalter: Of David, when Jonathan revealed unto him the counsel of Saul plotting his death. Spiritually, it means prayer and thanksgiving. Arabic Psalter: Of David; in the praises, touching the last end. N ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST is a most strong tower set against the face of the enemy. The Voice of the Church. The Voice of Paul the Apostle to the LORD concerning CHRIST. The Voice of the whole Church, asking that it may be sheltered under the covering of CHRIST'S wings. The Voice of CHRIST to the FATHER. The Prophet gives thanks. And information who they are that shall believe in CHRIST.

VEN. BEDE. In the hymns, is Greek, and is interpreted, In the praises, because the whole Psalm will sound the laudations of CHRIST. In the first part the faithful people makes its prayer from the ends of the earth, that its petition may be heard, in order that, persevering in the holy Church, it may be protected under the covering of His wings, Hear my crying, O God. In the second, it gives thanks, because He hath given His heritage to the righteous, and hallowed His Name for everlasting glory: whence it promises that it will ever give thanks to the LORD. For Thou, O Lord, hast heard my desires. EUSEBIUS OF CÆSAREA. Prayer with thanksgiving. S. ATHANASIUS. A Psalm of address, and prayer, and supplication.

Various Uses.Gregorian. Wednesday. Matins. [Common of Apostles, II. Nocturn. All Saints, III. Nocturn.] Monastic. The same. Ambrosian. Friday of First Week. Matins. Eastern Church. Mesorion of Third Hour.

Antiphons.Gregorian. Ferial. As preceding. [Common of Apostles. Thou hast given an heritage to them that fear Thy Name, O LORD. All Saints. O LORD, Hope of the Saints, and their strong tower, Thou hast given a heritage to them that fear Thy Name and they shall dwell in Thy tabernacle for ever.] Parisian. As Psalm lix. Ambrosian. The same. Mozarabic. From the ends of the earth have I cried unto Thee * O LORD. 1 Hear my crying, O GOD: give ear unto my prayer. In the double petition of the first verse, the commentators find a reference to temporal and spiritual, to outer and inner needs. For crying, say they, may be addressed to man, while prayer belongs to GOD only. Hear my crying in such wise, that men may see that Thou deliverest me from evil. Give ear unto my prayer, by storing within me Thy hidden treasure. Hear my crying, that without, there may be lamps shining with clear light, unquenchable. Give ear unto my prayer, that oil may secretly abound in the vessels within till the coming of the Bridegroom. Hear my prayer, that when seeking abroad for my Bridegroom, Thy Son, I may not turn aside by the flocks of His companions. Give ear unto my prayer, that when I find Him, I may hold Him and not let Him go.

Cant. i. 7. 2 From the ends of the earth will I call upon thee : when my heart is in heaviness. Whether these words apply literally to David's wanderings around En-gedi, on the very frontier of the kingdom of Israel, or, as the Greek Fathers prefer, to the Jews of the Captivity in Babylon, the mystical interpretation is clear. Spoken of the Church, she appears as that Queen who "came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon;" spoken of Saints, wherever they may be, they call from the ends of the earth, because of their communion in that Body which is spread everywhere; spoken of penitents, it tells how they turn again when they have come to the end of earthly pleasure and vanity, and have found no peace. And fitly the ends of the earth, for indulgence in earthly sin puts us far from God. When my heart is in heaviness. And thus it is the cry of the persecuted Church, when the Roman empire from India to Spain, from Syria to Æthiopia, reeked with the blood of martyrs. Again, it is the cry of the soul in time of temptation, for no one can be crowned unless he conquer, nor conquer unless he fight, nor fight unless he have enemies and temptations.

3 O set me up upon the rock that is higher than I : for thou hast been my hope, and a strong tower for me against the enemy. Here, as so often, the LXX. and Vulgate read the verse in the past tense. Thou hast set me up upon the Rock. "And that Rock," says the Apostle, "was CHRIST." That is higher than I. For "God hath given Him a Name which is above every name." Now, therefore, remarks S. Augustine, we perceive who is crying from the ends of the earth. Let us call to mind the Gospel: "Upon this Rock I will build My Church." Therefore she crieth from the ends of the earth whom He hath willed to be builded upon a Rock. Here in the LXX. and Vulgate, and Æthiopic, are the words, Thou hast led me down because Thou hast been my hope. Down into that future rest which He hath promised to His Saints, out of this present exile, and that by the way of Thy commandments. He leadeth down as being the Leader, and

A. A. S. Albertus Magnus. on Himself leadeth as being the Way, and to Himself leadeth home as being the Country. For Thou hast been my hope. Because Thou leadest not any save those who hope in Thee. Thou hast been my hope of pardon to release my sins, my hope of grace to do good works henceforward, my hope of glory in winning the prize. With this threefold hope, as a threefold cord, Thou leadest me to Thyself, "And a threefold cord is not quickly broken." And a strong tower for me against the enemy. Because the FATHER hath built a tower, even His SON, in the midst of His fruitful vineyard, and "the Name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." And we are not merely safe there, adds Gerhohus, but we can hurl the darts of work and prayer from its battlements to destroy our enemy.

4 I will dwell in thy tabernacle for ever : and my trust shall be under the covering of thy wings. B. If we take for ever to mean, as it often does, till the end of this world, the promise is that of abiding in the camp of Christian warfare till the battle is won. Not turning away to the enjoyment of worldly pleasure, but saying with Uriah the Hittite, "The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents, and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing." If for ever is to be taken in the higher sense of eternity, the reference will then be, as S. Hilary explains it, to the abiding of the Saints in heaven, as it is written, "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out." And my trust shall be under the covering of Thy wings. The wings of the LORD, observes S. Albert the Great, are justice and mercy. Under justice the righteous are sheltered, that they may not presume, under mercy the sinners, that they may not despair. And He, Who hath "healing in His wings," desires to gather us under their protection, "even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings." There is heat in the world, touchingly says S. Augustine, but there is great shade under the wings of God.

5 For thou, O LORD, hast heard my desires : and hast given an heritage unto those that fear thy Name. What was that desire? The prayer of CHRIST for the salvation of the world. "Desire of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for Thy possession." Him then the FATHER "hath appointed heir of all things." And because He has made us joint-heirs with Him, these words are true of all those who fear His Name. Especially the Western Church has de- Heb. i. 2. lighted to use them of the Apostles, who not only inherit with CHRIST the dominion over the Gentiles and the glories of heaven, but whose better heritage is CHRIST Himself. And so Santolius Victorinus, speaking of S. Barnabas: Quem propter, agro vendito, Opes caducas deseris, Magno rependens fonore, En fundus ipse fit tuus.

The Hymn Cielo datur quiescere. 6 Thou shalt grant the King a long life : that his years may endure throughout all generations. The marginal reading of the Bible Version is here more exact, and agrees with the LXX. and Vulgate. Thou shalt add days to the days of the King. To the days of this world Thou shalt add the days of eternity. And they are rightly called days of the King, which shall be formed from His glory. Even here we walk in the light of the King's days, those which our King and Sun of Righteousness, shrouded in the cloud of mortality, has enlightened by His teaching and example. He will add yet brighter days to us, which that same Sun and King of Righteousness, now that the cloud of mortality is withdrawn, frames in the calm glory of His supreme Godhead, wherein "the light of the moon is as the light of the sun," because assumed Manhood shines in GOD the SON with that glory which He, the Sun of Righteousness, had in His Godhead, before the world was made. The children of night and darkness know not these days, because every one that doeth evil hateth the light. But the Saints long for them, knowing that, as it is written, "One day in Thy courts is better than a thousand," and desire that light of which the Cluniac sings:

Luce replebere jam sine vespere, jam sine lunâ, Lux nova, lux ea, lux erit aurea, lux erit una. That his years may endure throughout all generations. Because the Manhood of CHRIST, united to the Godhead of the WORD, shares by virtue of the Hypostatic union in the Divine attributes, and thus fulfils the prophecy of Micah. "Thou, Bethlehem Ephratah . . . out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." 7 He shall dwell before GOD for ever : O prepare thy loving mercy and faithfulness, that they may preserve him. And this is spoken not only of CHRIST's throne in heaven, but also of every Saint who treads in His steps. Where note, remarks Ayguan, that three things are of the essence of formal blessedness, to wit, clear vision, true fruition, and firm or eternal hold. For who could be truly blessed, if he were not assured of the eternity of his blessedness? Since he would always dread a fall, and as such a dread is in itself a punishment, the blessed would be in a state of punishment, which is a contradiction. So they are made sure of that eternity, by looking on the divine essence in which it shines. That is the reason for adding before God, as though to say, Their inheritance is eternal, and they are sure of it, because they are before God, and their "eyes see the King in His beauty."

O prepare Thy loving mercy and faithfulness, that they may preserve him. So, it is a prayer for the grace of perseverance, lest any should "come short of the glory of God," through despair of His mercy, or distrust of His faithfulness. But the LXX. and Vulgate are different from this. They read, Who shall seek His mercy and truth? And the answer is, No one. For in the sight of God there will be no more sorrow, and therefore no more need of mercy, "for God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." They will not seek for truth, because the Truth Himself will be present to them in open vision, and in that day they shall ask Him nothing. And thus S. Peter Damiani: The Hymn Ad perennis vitæ fontem. To their first estate return they, freed from every mortal sore, And the Truth, for ever present, ever lovely, they adore, Drawing from that living fountain living sweetness evermore.

8 So will I alway sing praise unto thy Name: that I may daily perform my vows. Pet. Lomb. gloss. in loc. And while this verse has been truly interpreted of all Christians, performing their baptismal vows and praising God by daily holiness of life; and also of the Heavenly City, of which it is written, "Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody;" and yet again of the Church on earth, which has daily, through the ages, sung praise to God in the words of David; it is not strange that others should have seen in it the pledge of due fulfilment of the duties of the Religious and priestly life. Wherefore, says the Master of the Sentences, at the end of the ecclesiastical offices is said, "Bless we the LORD," figuring this divine praise after the present life, because in that which is to come we shall ever praise God for all good works which we do here. And this duty of daily recitation of the Church's offices is a primary one, because, as S. Bernard observes, nothing which thou canst offer to God pleases Him, if that to which thou art bound be neglected. Therefore, teaches Arvisinet, Remember thou art doing the work of Angels; believe that thou art standing with them before My throne; and with them worship, praise, bless, love. Imagine that thou art praying with Me in the garden of olives, and if thy mind be drawn to sleep, hear Me. Couldst not thou, my son, watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray.

And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, Who hath set me upon the Rock; and to the SON, Who is the Rock; and to the HOLY GHOST, the LORD of loving-mercy and faithfulness. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.O GOD, most merciful Comforter of our heaviness, protect Thy household from the face of the enemy, that guarded by Thee, the strong tower, it may attain to inhabit the everlasting tabernacles. (1.) The LORD vouchsafe to grant us: that conformed to His glory, and delivered from the corruption of the second death, we may sing to His Name in the presentation of our spiritual vows. (1.)

TITLE: To the Chief Musician, to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. LXX. and Vulgate: To the end, for Idithun, a Psalm of David. Mozarabic: To the Conqueror, for Idithun, a Psalm of David.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST is the Helper, in Whom the assembly of the Church ought to hope. The Voice of the Church, or of any one turned from evil to good. The Voice of CHRIST touching the Passion. The Prophet, concerning the Passion of CHRIST, or concerning the Jews. VEN. BEDE. Idithun is interpreted Leaping over (them), that is, the lovers of the world: for here is brought in the person of a soldier of CHRIST, who hath abandoned the desires of the world, On this name Jeduthun, see under Psalm xxxix. The interpretation "leaping over," though a favourite one with mediæval writers, is incorrect. The root is my, to praise, and the word is thus akin to Judah. The other interpretation appears in S. Gregory the Great, (Hom. in Evang. 29:) "Veniendo ad redemptionem nostram, quosdam ut ita dicam saltus fecit. De cælo venit in uterum, de utero venit

in præsepe, de præsepe venit in crucem, de cruce venit in sepulcrum, de sepulcro rediit in cælum." And so S. Notker, in a sequence for Ascension: Saltum de cælo dedit in virginalem ventrem; inde in pelagus sæculi, &c. and abideth with firmest hope in the LORD. That leaper over sins, of whom we have been speaking, seeing the world very full of errors and sorrows, in the first part of the Psalm acknowledges that his soul is subject to GOD, because he hath obtained the gift of salvation through the Only-Begotten SON of GOD, blaming those who wish to be called Christians in name only. Shall not my soul be subject to God! In the second part he again says that his soul is subject to GOD the FATHER, because through His Word he hath gained wholesome patience; strengthening the people with his faithful confession, that it should ever hope in the LORD with all the affection of the heart: My soul, wait thou still upon God. In the third division he warns the erring people, that they should rather trust in the LORD than in the fading happiness of this world. As for the children of men, they are but vanity; the children of men are deceitful upon the weights, &c.

SYRIAC PSALTER. Named from Jeduthun the singer. The literal sense is said to be when the servants of Abner and the servants of David played, and slew one another, and one of those who belonged to Abner slew Joab's brother, the youngest son of Zeruiah. And this Joab kept for long, and slew Abner, a giant of the time of Saul. The spiritual sense offers a remedy for sin, if we use penance and confession. EUSEBIUS OF CÆSARÆA. The doctrine of duties, (or, touching observances and duties towards GOD.) S. ATHANASIUS. A Psalm of glorying in GOD.

Various Uses.Monastic. The same. Ambrosian. Monday of Second Week. I. Nocturn.

Antiphons.Gregorian. Shall not my soul be subject to GOD? Monastic. Bless, ye nations, * our GOD. Parisian. Unto Thee, O GOD, * do we give thanks, and we will call upon Thy Name; we will tell of Thy wondrous works. Ambrosian. The GOD of my health, * and in GOD is my trust. 1 My soul truly waiteth still upon GOD: for of him cometh my salvation.

And so spake the dying patriarch, "I have waited for Thy salvation, O LORD. And that because it is sure to come, however our impatience may think it to linger. "Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. And the reward for those who do so wait is set forth by Isaiah. "It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our GOD; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the LORD, we have waited for Him; we will be glad, and rejoice in His salvation. But the Hebrew is yet deeper. My soul is silent to God: implying the hushed and awful reverence which befits His servants, and which the holy Cardinal Bona declares to be more fitting than any hymns or antiphons at the moment of the elevation of the LORD's Body in the Mass. The LXX. and Vulgate, however, agree here in reading, Shall not my soul be subject to God? For, as S. Gregory the Great observes, humility is the mother and mistress of all virtues, and we must begin by humbling ourselves in the sight of God, that He may lift us up. And shalt thou not be subject unto Him, O my soul? "Is not He thy FATHER that hath bought thee? Hath He not made thee and established thee?

"Let others, then," saith Dionysius the Carthusian, "be subject to the desires of the flesh, others to the princes of the world, others again to the promptings of devils, and to divers sins: I and my soul will obey the LORD. For no man can serve two masters whose wills are opposed. Since, then, we cannot obey God and the world, I prefer to serve God rather than the world. Whence it is written in Jeremiah, concerning disobedience, "Thou saidst, I will not serve; whereas CHRIST commandeth us, "Take My yoke upon you. And the Psalmist adds the reason of his obedience: For of Him cometh my salvation, because the Son, Who is my SAVIOUR, cometh from Him, since "God so loved the world, that He gave His Only-Begotten Son."

2 He verily is my strength and my salvation: he is my defence, so that I shall not greatly fall. The ancient Versions here agree in departing from the Hebrew, and translate, He is my God. For my salvation, says Gerhohus, is God the Son, Who, like God the FATHER, is Most High and Incomprehensible. He is God of all by nature; He is my God by grace; and He is my taker up, when, leaping to Him, I leave the vanities of the world behind my back. And since I have so great a Salvation and Defence, than Whom there is no stronger, I, leaping to Him, taken up by Him, shall not be moved any more. And as the Manhood of CHRIST, united to Godhead, can no more be moved, so too the redeemed, when taken up by God to bliss, shall not be moved any more, because they cannot fall. And this is what the Schoolmen call Beata necessitas non peccandi.

3 How long will ye imagine mischief against every man: ye shall be slain, all the sort of you; yea, as a tottering wall shall ye be, and like a broken hedge. Referring to the supposed meaning of Jeduthun. So the Vulgate, nearly agree- ing with A. V. The LXX. is stronger: I shall not be shaken any more. If we read it thus, the reference will be to the final overthrow of the wicked by the second death; while the comparison of them to a bowing wall will suggest those lines, Sic ubi Christus adest nobis, et aranea muro est: At cui Christus abest, et murus aranea fiet. But the true meaning of the passage is lost here, and is but little clearer in the Bible Version. The Æthiopic reads correctly, How long will ye attack a man, and slay him, all of you, [falling upon him] like a tottering wall, and an overthrown barrier? And so too Apollinarius:

The Syriac is nearly identical. The LXX. and Vulgate are almost the same up to the last clause, which they read in the dative, as meaning, [dealing with him] as with a tottering wall and an overthrown barrier. The Psalm seems spoken in the first instance of David, when he alone was aimed at by the counsel of Ahithophel: "All the people that are with him shall flee, and I will smite the king only. And it thus points to CHRIST, Who said to the attendants of Judas, "I have told you that I am He; if, therefore, ye seek Me, let these go their way: that the saying might be fulfilled, which He spake, Of them which Thou gavest Me have I lost none. How long, then, do ye rush upon a man? or, as He words it Himself elsewhere, "But now ye seek to kill Me, a man that hath told you the truth. I ask no partner in My Passion, I, Who need no helper to save all. I want no ambassador, I send before Me no herald. I am Myself the herald to them that sought Me not: I gave Myself up to them that seized Me not, that I might free them who were bound in the cords of death. And the words how long denote the continuance of persecution, since from the blood of righteous Abel they ceased not to rush on that Man.

Not merely on the members, as in the persecution of the Prophets and of the Fathers, but on the Head Himself, which is CHRIST. How long? For wars will never fail CHRIST's soldier, because the two cities are now mingled together, the one Jerusalem, the other Babylon, each at unity with itself. Here there is one king, there also but one; here there is one people, one there likewise; the one fights for righteousness, the other for unrighteousness; the one for truth, the other for error; the one that it may build up what is cast down, the other that it may cast down that which is built: and yet our City is gathered out of that other one. Wherefore the Cluniac says:

And now we fight the battle, But then shall wear the crown, Of full, and everlasting, And passionless renown. And now we watch and struggle, And now we live in hope, And Syon, in her anguish, With Babylon must cope. Ye slay, all of you. And they explain it of the suicide of their own souls which the persecutors commit when aiming at the ruin of the Church. Of them Lactantius speaks: They who wrestled against GOD lie low; they who overthrew His holy Temple have fallen in greater ruin; they who butchered the righteous breathed out their guilty souls amidst heaven-sent plagues and well-earned torments: tardily, but terribly. As though [I were] a tottering wall and a falling barrier. In your ignorance, not knowing that I, Whom ye "esteem stricken of GOD, smitten, and afflicted," am in truth a "defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land;" that the Man on Whom ye are rushing is the Eternal WORD of the FATHER. Others, referring the whole passage to the spiritual enemies of mankind, compare the soul of man, loosened by sin, and prone to evil, to a wall which needs but a little to ruin it altogether. For the unhappy flesh, observes S. Peter Chrysologus, can of itself bring about its own ruinous fall. Whereupon we may add that saying of S. Basil, that when, through sin, the wall of human nature has bulged out, it must be taken down, and built up again by GOD Himself. With living stones, adds S. Hilary, in the House of GOD. S. Ambrose sees in the tottering wall that middle wall of partition which CHRIST, our Peace, hath broken down. But, as we have seen, the whole figure is more truly interpreted of those persecutors who are ready to overwhelm the righteous, even at the cost of their own ruin.

Lactant. De mort. per-secut. i. Isa. liii. 4. Jer. i. 18. 4 Their device is only how to put him out whom GOD will exalt: their delight is in lies; they give good words with their mouth, but curse with their heart. The first clause of this verse differs alike from the Bible Version, (which, adhering closely to the Hebrew, runs, They only consult to cast him down from his excellency;) from the Syriac and Æthiopic, which are nearly the same; and from the LXX. and Vulgate, which agree in reading here, They have counselled to repel my price, or honour. (LXX. τιμὴν, S Ambrose. Vulg. precium.) My price. For when the traitor Judas brought back His price, the Jews refused to put it into the treasury, saying, "It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood." Mine honour, because "His citizens hated Him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us," and yet again, "they sought the more to kill Him, because He said that GOD was His 8.

FATHER, making Himself equal with GOD. My price, because the sinner who rejects the salvation offered to him "hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing. Or, as Remigius will have it, applying the words to CHRIST's soldier, they endeavour to turn me from my crown, my reward, by declaring the way to be too difficult, the task impossible. Not unlike this is the explanation of Cardinal Hugo, who takes it of seducers leading men away from paying that price in good works which GOD asks from them who would buy Him. Their delight is in lies. So the Hebrew, followed by Symmachus and S. Jerome, and the Syriac Psalter. And it will then refer to the Jewish slanders against CHRIST, as also to the Pagan calumnies against His followers. Of these lies, such as the worship of an ass's head, the murder of children, nocturnal orgies, and the like, we may read in Minucius Felix. But the Vulgate and Æthiopic read, I have run in thirst. It is true, observes S. Ambrose, that our LORD JESUS thirsted. Blessed is that thirst of the LORD, because He thirsted for us, and chiefly in His Passion. And then it was that He at length said, "I thirst. For He thirsted at the moment when He was pouring from His Side streams of living water, to quench the thirst of all. And I have run:

that is, I have hastened to take on Myself the thirst of all, that I might satisfy all with the abundance of My perennial fountain, for, as was said to the woman of Samaria, "Whosoever shall drink of the water which I shall give him, shall never thirst. And what is true of the Master is true also of His servants. For saints, too, run and thirst. They run, as S. Paul says, "I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. They thirst, as it is spoken, "Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. It is also true, notes S. Ambrose, (following the LXX., They ran in thirst,) in another sense, of sinners. For "they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. They give good words with their mouth, but curse with their heart. And this was fulfilled, says Cardinal Drogo, in the greeting of Judas. It had been so even before in that speech of the Pharisees, "Master, we know that Thou art true, and teachest the way of GOD in truth. The ungodly gave good words with their mouth to the martyrs,—flatteries, caresses, and promises of wealth, honour, and dignity, on condition of abandoning the faith of CHRIST; but cursed with their heart, because their object was simply evil and perverse. And so Adam of S. Victor:

5 Nevertheless, my soul, wait thou still upon God: for my hope is in him. 6 He truly is my strength and my salvation: he is my defence, so that I shall not fall. In this repetition of the opening thoughts of the Psalm the Fathers agree in seeing the inculcation of patience under affliction, of perseverance in the good way. And they dwell the more on this, because the LXX. and Vulgate both read, My patience is from Him. And there is another phrase wherein these versions agree. The words , which they rendered in verse 2, I shall not be moved, they here translate, I shall not emigrate, I shall not change my city. Most fitly is it said of those who seek the one Country, who yearn for the freedom of the Heavenly Jerusalem, whence they shall never depart. In Urbe meâ, Jerusalem summâ, Sunt en tot luces, Quot insunt felices, Quas et illustro Jugiter me ipso Lumine vero.

7 In God is my health, and my glory: the rock of my might, and in God is my trust. Saved I shall be in God, glorious I shall be in God; for not only saved, but also glorious: saved, because a just man have I been made out of an ungodly man, by Him justified; but glorious, because not only justified, but also honoured. For "whom He did predestinate, them He also called." Calling them, what hath He done here? "Whom He hath called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified." For the rock of my might, the LXX. and Vulgate read the God of my help. For, adds S. Augustine, He giveth help to men striving. To men striving against whom? "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers." God therefore is my help, and my trust is in God. And because He saved me of His free grace, observes S. Bruno, and glorified me, and is also my helper to do good works, my trust is in God, Who hath already bestowed such blessings upon me; and I have the hope of gaining those which are in God only—immortality and impassibility.

8 O put your trust in him alway, ye people: pour out your hearts before him, for God is our hope. The LXX. and Vulgate strengthen the first clause by A. A.

reading, All the congregation of the people. And it is explained of the assembly of the Church. The Psalmist speaks thus, because "Whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he; and yet more when this trust is the joint action of a larger number, for "where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. The blessing did come on them, as it is written, "The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul. Pour out your hearts before Him. He who puts on faith, comments S. Ambrose, ought first to strip off unbelief, and empty his heart of every pollution of sin, that his heart may be fit to contain spiritual grace. Therefore the Apostle says, "Be ye renewed in the spirit of your minds. For when the old wickedness is poured out, the new grace is received, whereby each man is renewed. Therefore the Son of God saith, Pour out your hearts before Him, because He knew that the FATHER would say, "I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh. And S. Basil adds that the counsel is that of a wise physician, who prescribes purging medicines to clear the system, before he gives restoratives; or like the housewife who washes a foul-smelling vase carefully before attempting to put perfumed unguents into it. And this must be thoroughly done, observes Cardinal Hugo;

for it is written, "Pour out thy heart like water before the LORD," that there may be in external signs no colour, in words no smell, in desire no taste, before the LORD, in order that He may deal with it according to His will. Like water, adds S. Albert, not like wine, which leaves a smell in the vase; nor like honey, leaving a taste; nor milk, leaving its colour. Yet, again, He pours out his heart before the LORD, who confesses his sins with copious tears. For the heart can no otherwise be poured out than by an abundant shower of weeping, as is spoken in the 42nd Psalm, "My tears have been my meat day and night: I pour out my heart by myself. For God is our hope. Wherefore we ought to make full confession to Him of our sins, knowing that He will in no wise cast out any that cometh to Him on account of their past wickedness. Do not keep back your hearts within your hearts: Pour out your hearts before Him. That perisheth not which ye pour out. For He is my Taker up. If He taketh up, why fear ye to pour out? "O cast thy burden upon the LORD."

9 As for the children of men, they are but vanity: the children of men are deceitful upon the weights, they are altogether lighter than vanity itself. S. John i. 13.

Whence we learn by contrast the steadfastness of the children of God. If the children of men be vanity, if they be deceitful, the sons of God may easily not be vain, since they are "born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. For the children of men seem to themselves to weigh equity, and to test justice by the accuracy of strict judgment, when they are hard to others and lax to themselves, unjust in their deeds, and censorious in their words. And note that the balance on which the sons of men are deceitful is threefold: to wit, the balance of redemption; the balance of buying and selling, and the balance of words or outward show. The first of these balances is CHRIST Himself, Who weighs all our merits and demerits, the one with rewards, the other with penalties. This is the balance of which Job speaks, "Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together. We are deceitful in this balance, notes S. Gregory, when we vainly hope that He is too merciful to punish sins, and therefore continue adding one fault to another. The second balance is that of merchants, by which is understood fair dealing in buying and selling. And of this is said, "Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances and just weights shall ye have. And this is spoken against all tricks of trade;

for he has not a just balance who sells a bad article as good, a small one as large, and who keeps one weight for selling and another for buying. Against such it is written, "A false balance is abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight. The third is the balance of speech, or outward seeming. He has a true balance herein who deceives not by word or sign. Of this balance of words and deeds is written, "Weigh thy words in a balance, and make a door and bar for thy mouth. Flatterers are deceitful on it who say one thing with their heart and another with the mouth, because the balance is not true between heart and mouth. And so too of hypocrites, who make one kind of show outside, and are very different within. But in truth the Hebrew does not imply deceit, but lightness; and the passage means that the children of men, when weighed in GOD's balance, will mount rapidly in the scale. And so it is written, "Thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting. And with this agrees the last clause, They are altogether lighter than vanity itself, where the LXX. and Vulgate read, They deceive [going] from vanity unto the same; that is, as the commentators note, from one vain act to another, not returning to better things.

10 O trust not in wrong and robbery, give not yourselves unto vanity: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them. Vain is iniquity, naught is iniquity, mighty is nothing save righteousness. Truth may be hidden for a time; conquered it cannot be. Iniquity may flourish for a time; abide it cannot. Thou art not rich, and wilt thou rob? What findest thou? what losest thou? O losing gain! thou findest money, thou losest righteousness. What thou robbest thou A.

1 S. Pet. v. 8. 1 Tim. vi. 17. S. Matt. v. 45. S. Prosper. G. S. Luke xii. 34. S. Luke xviii. 11. seest: by whom thou art robbed seest thou not? Knowest thou not thine enemy goeth about "like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour? That prey which thou desirest to rob is in a trap: thou seizest, and art seized. For robbery, therefore, be not covetous, O poor man; but fix thy desires upon GOD, "Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. He shall feed thee that hath made thee. Shall He that feedeth a robber not feed an innocent man? He shall feed thee that "maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain upon the just and on the unjust. Therefore for robbery be not covetous. This hath been said to a poor man, that perchance will steal something out of necessity. Let the rich man come forth: I have no necessity, he saith, to rob; to me nothing is wanting, all things abound. And do thou, too, hear: if riches flow, set not your heart upon them. Seest thou not that, if there the heart thou shalt have set, thou also wilt flow? And the rich, too, may rob, as S. Prosper observes; for he who gives not alms, robs the poor. And the warning extends, wisely teaches Gerhohus, to spiritual riches. Pour out your hearts before GOD, so as to store up with Him your treasure of riches, whether bodily or spiritual;

and store up your heart also therewith, because "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Not well nor prudently did he pour out his heart, who, counting up his riches, said, "GOD, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. The thanksgiving was, as it were, a channel which might have borne this Pharisee's riches along with his heart into heaven, had it not been gaping with the fissure of pride, whereby, in his contempt for others, he so boasted, as to take more pleasure in the shortcomings of others than in his own amendment.

11 GOD spake once, and twice I have also heard the same: that power belongeth unto GOD. C. Ps. ii. 7. Heb. i. 2. He spake once, in that He begat His SON, Who is the Eternal WORD. And He spake on this wise: "Thou art My SON; this day have I begotten Thee." I have heard it once, because He spake in the Law; I have heard it twice, because He "hath in these last days spoken unto us by His SON," manifest in the flesh. But the LXX. and Vulgate translate, I have heard these two things, namely, that power belongeth unto God— 12 And that thou, LORD, art merciful: for thou rewardest every man according to his work. A. Ay. G. That is, that the power of GOD is His justice and mercy, of which all the Scripture treats, because of which the Law and the Prophets were given, because of which CHRIST Himself was sent, and the Apostles. Let His power, then, be feared; let His mercy be loved; nor let His power be contemned because of His mercy, nor His mercy despaired of because of His power and justice. The Psalmist, therefore, says of the Incarnate WORD, I have heard these two things, that He is the Power of GOD, and also that He is the Justice of GOD; according to that Psalm, "Give the King Thy judgments, O GOD, and Thy righteousness unto the King's Son." And because it is so, the Psalmist turns to the SON, beseeching Him, Who is Himself Mercy, not to suffer him to be tempted above that he is able to bear; but to deliver him, knowing that "the FATHER judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the SON," and that the Judge of all the earth shall do right.

And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, of Whom cometh my salvation; and to the SON, Who is my Salvation, and the Rock of my might; and to the HOLY GHOST, Who spake by the Prophets of the power and mercy of GOD. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.Subdue our souls unto Thee, O LORD; for Thou art our very patience: that we, rejecting the uncertainty of riches, and despising all earthly vanity, may follow Thee only. (1.) Thou, O LORD, Who art the Hope of all, hearken and have pity, as we pour out our hearts before Thee in prayer, and subject us unto Thee, that we may serve Thee; and of Thy loving-kindness help us when we are subject to sin; remove from us all wrong and robbery, bestow on us the jewels of Thy riches, and grant that we may know Thee, desire Thee, and have Thee for our GOD all the days of our life. (11.) Unto Thee alone, O LORD, Whom all nature acknowledges as its Creator, our soul is subject. From Thee we receive the virtue of patience, that we be not moved by any stumbling-block; and to Thee we know that we owe all that we are. Grant, therefore, that we never be sustained with unrighteous hope, nor set our hearts upon deceitful riches; that we may be wont to rest in Thee only, and to the end that we may attain our petitions, make our hearts contrite before Thee. (11.)

O GOD, Might unbounded; let our soul and body be subdued unto Thee, and our life serve Thee most faithfully; vouchsafe to the soul that longing by which it may attain to Thee, and receive the prayer of our lips, so that the thousandformed one may not creep in. Overcome the hidden enemy with Thy might; prevent us with Thy blessing, and lead us by the way of life to joys everlasting. (11.)

TITLE: A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. Vulgate: A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Idumea. Syriac: Of David, literally, when he said to the King of Moab, "My father and mother tarried with thee when they fled from the face of Saul, and I likewise fled to thee." By us now it is taken as the thanksgiving of a perfect man to GOD in the spirit.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST is He on Whom we should direct the brightness of the mind in the morning thoughts. The voice of the Church concerning CHRIST, or that of any one withdrawing from darkness, and longing for CHRIST. VEN. BEDE. Psalm and David often denote CHRIST the LORD, often the Church, because CHRIST is in His members, and the members are contained in their Head. Wherefore words which signify the LORD the SAVIOUR are fitly ascribed to the Church, which is to speak in this Psalm. She therefore dwells in the desert of Idumea; that is, in the dryness of this world, where she thirsts and longs for CHRIST. Whence also Idumea, where David was in exile, is interpreted earthly. In the first part of the Psalm the Church longs after the power of the LORD, desiring to be filled with the fulness of all good things, that she may be found worthy of His praises: O God, Thou art my God: early will I seek Thee. In the second, she gives thanks, because, under the shadow of the LORD's wings, she has escaped the storms of the world; and she declares that CHRIST the King will rejoice with His Saints in GOD the FATHER, when His enemies are condemned under the earth, Have I not remembered, and so forth.

EUSEBIUS OF CASAREA. A thanksgiving of him who is perfect according to GOD. S. ATHANASIUS. A Psalm of thanksgiving.

Various Uses.- Ambrosian. Monday of the Second Week. Matins. I. Nocturn. - Eastern Church. Third Psalm of the Hexapsalmos. Matins and Compline.

Antiphons.The Gregorian Antiphons to this Psalm vary not only for every day in ordinary weeks, but for every festival, and are therefore too numerous to set down. Parisian. GOD * my GOD, I wake to Thee from the light; my soul thirsteth for Thee. Lyons. Thus will I bless Thee * while I live, I will lift up my hands in Thy Name. Ambrosian. As preceding Psalm. Mozarabic. In the wilderness, in the pathless, in the dry place, GOD, my GOD, I wake to Thee from the light. 1 O GOD, thou art my GOD : early will I seek thee.

Because of these opening words, this Psalm has been set apart from the infancy of the Church for morning use. Its daily recitation is enjoined in the Apostolical Constitutions, is urged by S. Athanasius and S. Chrysostom, and has never failed in either the East or the West in all the ages since. My God. The repetition of the Name of GOD, and the claiming Him for the Psalmist's very own, denotes, observes S. Chrysostom, deep love and eager pressing towards GOD, to the neglect of all earthly things. It is therefore taken chiefly of Him Who alone could with truth call GOD His own, as being One with Him, Consubstantial, Co-eternal. Early will I seek Thee. "In the beauty of holiness, from the womb of the morning," it is said of the SON, Who created the light, Who Himself rose from the dead very early in the morning. And it is spoken also of the faithful soul which turns eagerly to the first rays of the light, and opens its petals to the Sun. There is a sleep of the soul, says S. Augustine, there is a sleep of the body. Sleep of the body we all ought to have; but of this let us take heed, that our soul sleep not, for evil is the sleep of the soul. Good is the sleep of the body, whereby is recruited the health of the body; but the sleep of the soul is to forget her GOD. Therefore the Apostle saith, "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and CHRIST shall give thee light." Was the Apostle waking up one sleeping in body? Nay, but he was waking a soul sleeping, in order that she might be enlightened by CHRIST. And therefore the Bride in the Canticles answers to this appeal, "I sleep, but my heart waketh." Sleep, free from all temporal anxiety, waketh to the contemplation of GOD.

S. Chrysost. Hom. in 1 Cor. ii. A. 2 My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh also long-eth after thee : in a barren and dry land, where no water is. It is the cry of David, cut off in exile from the public rites of the Jewish Church, either (as the great majority of commentators prefer) when he was hiding from Saul in the wilderness of Ziph, which lay sufficiently near the borders of Edom to be called indifferently "of Judah" and "of IduS. Bernard. Hom. in Adv. vi. A.

mea; or, as Agellius, almost alone amongst the commentators, takes it, in the flight from Absalom, "in the plain of the wilderness. There are two reasons for adopting this view. First, the reference in the third verse to previous access to the sanctuary, which fits in with David's parting from the Ark, saying, "Carry back the Ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the sight of the LORD, He will bring me again, and show me both it and His habitation. Secondly, the title of king assumed by David in the last verse, which points to a time after the death of Saul. My soul thirsteth for Thee, the Fountain of living waters: it thirsts not for any gifts in this wilderness, but for everlasting rest, everlasting blessedness, which are nowhere save in Thee. My flesh also longeth after Thee. The LXX. and Vulgate here read, In how many ways my flesh [thirsteth] for Thee. Much more than even the soul; for the soul is immortal and impassible, the body mortal, and subject to passions, and therefore more in need. And its longing is for the Resurrection, that man may say, "In my flesh I shall see God. Wherefore S. Bernard observes, citing this Psalm, the soul of the Prophet desired the first Advent, whereby it knew that it should be redeemed; but much more did his flesh desire the second Advent, and its own glorification. In a barren and dry land, where no water is. For dry the LXX. and Vulgate read pathless.

The world is desert because the saints dwell not therein, since they are not of it; it is pathless, because it knows not CHRIST, Who is the Way; it hath no water, because the Fountain of Grace for cleansing is not there. Evil is the desert, and horrible, and to be feared; and, nevertheless, God hath pitied us, and hath made a Way in the desert, Himself, our LORD JESUS CHRIST; and hath made to us a consolation in the desert, in sending to us preachers of His Word; and hath given unto us water in the desert, by fulfilling with His HOLY SPIRIT His preachers, in order that there might be created in them a well of water springing up unto life everlasting. And lo! we have here all things, but they are not of the desert.

3 Thus have I looked for thee in holiness: that I might behold thy power and glory.

The LXX. and Vulgate read, Thus have I appeared to Thee in the Holy [Place. The Rabbins understand it of the Ark of the Covenant, and the splendour of the Hebrew ritual, from which David was now cut off. And they compare 1 Kings viii. 8, where "holy place" occurs, with 2 Chron. v. 9, where "ark" is the parallel word in the description of the dedication of Solomon's temple. And this agrees with the Authorized Version: As I have seen Thee in the sanctuary. It may then be taken of the LORD JESUS in the wilderness of this world, speaking of the glory which He had with His FATHER before the world began, and ere He emptied Himself of that glory, to take on Him the form of a servant. And, spoken of His servants, we may take it literally, as S. Athanasius does, of those compelled to fly to the desert because of their religion, and longing there for the solemn services of the Church. In this wise it is especially true of those early Confessors who were driven into the Thebaid under the persecuting reigns of Valerian and of Maximian. Mystically, it tells of the longing to depart and be with CHRIST, to be free from fleshly sin, to enjoy the vision of GOD, no more as in a glass darkly, but face to face. Where note, says the Carmelite, that we are taught in Exodus how we should appear before GOD. Thrice in a year should all males come unto Him;

so we also, thrice in our year of mortal life, should do the same. In the past, by recalling with grief our former sins, and repenting of them; in the present by doing good works while there is yet time, according to that saying of the Apostle, "Behold, now is the accepted time; in the future by a firm resolve to persevere in holiness, saying with Job, "Till I die, I will not remove mine integrity from me. My righteousness will I hold fast, and will not let it go. In these three periods of the year, then, every male,—that is, every perfect man,—ought to appear before GOD; which if he do, then GOD will appear to him, so that he will see GOD even as he is seen by GOD. And then he will say to GOD, In holy desire I have appeared to Thee, that I might behold Thy honour and glory.

4 For thy loving-kindness is better than the life itself: my lips shall praise thee. The LXX. and Vulgate here read, better than lives. Better than all the lives we men choose for ourselves, however various these may be; better than the active and contemplative lives, figured by Leah and Rachel, Martha and Mary; better than the four kinds of life typified in Ezekiel's vision, —the face of man, that of married persons; the face of a lion, the dweller in deserts, that of hermits; the face of an ox, which tillet the earth, that of prelates; the face of an eagle, that of the cloistered, soaring in contemplation. And reading in the singular, with S. Hilary and Cassiodorus, we shall find a reference to the martyrs, who counted not their lives dear unto themselves, so that they might finish their course with joy; and of whom it is accordingly written, "Right dear in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints." My lips shall praise Thee. So it proved to be when the language of praise and thanksgiving to CHRIST the Victor went up from the lips of the martyrs as their bodies suffered under the hands of torturers. Such is the triumphal prayer of S. Laurence in the Peristephanon, such the cheering words addressed to each other by the great forty martyrs

A. Menæa. March 9. on the frozen lake of Sebaste. And no fitter gloss can be found than the dying words of S. Polycarp of Smyrna: "God of Angels, God of Archangels, our Resurrection and Deliverance from sin, Ruler of all the elements and the whole habitable world, sheltering all the generation of the just who live in Thy sight, I, Thy servant, bless Thee, Who hast deemed me worthy of this passion, that I should receive the lot and crown of martyrdom, the beginning of the Cup, through JESUS CHRIST, in the unity of the HOLY GHOST; that when this day's sacrifice is ended, I may receive Thy true promise. Wherefore I bless Thee in all things, and make my boast in Thee, through the Eternal High Priest Almighty, JESUS CHRIST, by Whom and with Whom, and with the HOLY GHOST, glory be to Thee now and henceforth to ages of ages. Amen."

5 As long as I live will I magnify thee on this manner: and lift up my hands in thy Name. S. Albertus Magnus. Exod. xvii. 12. Lam. iii. 41. 1 Tim. ii. 8. Prov. xxxi. 20. 1 Thess. iv. 11. Rather with the Authorized Version, LXX., and Vulgate, Thus will I bless Thee while I live. Not only by constant praise and thanksgiving, as it is written, "Bless the LORD thy GOD alway," but I will so live that my conversation shall be a blessing of Thy Name, because I will rule my whole life to the honour, praise, and glory of that Name. For GOD is not less blessed by a righteous life than by a clear voice. And lift up my hands in Thy Name. Firstly, as Moses did during the battle with Amalek; as Jeremiah counsels, "Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto GOD in the heavens;" and as S. Paul directs, adding, that the hands should be "holy." Next, in almsgiving through compassion, "She stretcheth out her hand to the poor, yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy." Lastly, by general zeal and diligence in well-doing, "that ye study to work with your own hands."

6 My soul shall be satisfied, even as it were with marrow and fatness: when my mouth praiseth thee with joyful lips. It is true of that Heavenly Banquet of the Eucharist, wherein the Church makes her glad offering to GOD, truly a "feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined." Wherefore in that hymn of thanksgiving it is said, Jam confectus macie, Hoc pane impinguatus, Fortis sum in acie, Nam bene sum armatus. So, too, in the Antiphon for Corpus Christi, taken from Jacob's blessing of Asher, "The bread of CHRIST is fat, and He shall yield royal dainties." Again, it holds of those graces wherewith GOD cherishes the soul with warmth, and especially those typified by chrism or unction, because fat gives heat to the body; and therefore it is written in the Law, "All the fat is the LORD'S." Whereby we learn that all good desires come from Him, and must return to Him. And as the fat is parted from the flesh in sacrifice, so the saints are severed from among sinners; as it is written, "As is the fat taken away from the peace-offering, so was David chosen out of the children of Israel." Finally, the verse tells us of the endless rejoicing at the marriage-supper of the Lamb, whereof S. Peter Damiani tells us,

Ever full, but hungry ever, What they have, they still desire; Never suffer surfeit's loathing, Nor yet famine's torments dire: Hungering still, they eat, and eating, Still the Sacred Food require. 7 Have I not remembered thee in my bed: and thought upon thee when I was waking? Or, with the LXX. and Vulgate, If I have remembered, &c. And so S. Bernard in that loveliest hymn: Jesum quærens in lectulo, Clauso cordis cubiculo. That is, as S. Bruno teaches, in the peaceful quiet of a pure conscience, and as Richard of Hampole wisely adds, also in the time and place of sickness and pain. Yet again, notes S. Albert, the ease and quiet of the bed denotes a time of temporal prosperity, when it specially behoves the Christian to think on his GOD. And rising from the servant to the Master, let us hear the Carthusian, "On the Cross where I hung weak and dying, I remembered Thee, O My FATHER, saying, 'Why hast Thou forsaken Me?' and, 'FATHER, forgive them;' and yet further, 'FATHER, into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit.'" And thought upon Thee when I was waking in the early morn of My Resurrection. The Hebrew, however, does not speak of the morning, but of watches, to wit, of the night. And then we are reminded of those words of the Bride: "By night on my bed I sought Him whom my soul loveth. I sought Him, but found Him not." It is not thus He is to be found. Let the sentinels shake off their slumbers, arise, and watch, and they shall be blessed when the LORD cometh and findeth them so doing, for then (and note the bearing on the previous verse of the Psalm,) "He shall gird Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them."

8 Because thou hast been my helper : therefore under the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. A. Here S. Augustine beautifully observes, that we are the chickens under the hen's wings, but whereas the young of a hen do not need her protection when they are full grown, we, the more we are grown, more need the shadow of CHRIST's wings. I will rejoice. So the Bride: "I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste." 9 My soul hangeth upon thee: thy right hand hath upholden me.

So the Hebrew: The A. V. is different. My soul followeth hard after Thee, as it is written, "Draw me, we will run after Thee." The Vulgate has adhaesit, hath clung after Thee; the LXX., strongest of all, ikooλhθη, hath been glued behind Thee. What is that same glue? asks S. Augustine; the glue itself is love, which fastens us behind God, that we may follow Him. And S. Chrysostom compares this close and binding union to the nails of the Cross, to the hold which the roots of a tree have of the earth. But the Prayer Book Version in this place seems to be entitled to the preference, and we shall best come at its full meaning by comparing the prophecy of Isaiah concerning Eliakim, prefiguring CHRIST. Isa. xxii. 22. "The key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut and none shall open. And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups even unto the vessels of flagons." So we hang on Him, because we are the jewels of His FATHER's House, and are used to deck the Heir in His majesty, deriving ourselves all our own honour from our place as His ornaments, those ornaments wherewith "the Bridegroom decketh Himself." Thy right hand hath upholden me. Of this the very heathen had a type. In the right hand of Jupiter's statue often stood a figure of a winged Victory, shadowing forth the victory of that Right Hand which hath the pre-eminence, a victory which enables man to soar above the sky. Wherefore the hymn fitly says:

Ave dextra manus CHRISTI, Perforata plagâ tristi, Nos ad dextram jube sisti, Quos per crucem redemisti. 10 These also that seek the hurt of my soul : they shall go under the earth. 11 Let them fall upon the edge of the sword : that they may be a portion for foxes. The LXX. and Vulgate are slightly different from the first of these verses. They read: In vain have they sought after my soul, they shall go into the lower [LXX. lowest] parts of the earth. Not merely falling to the ground, as they did in Gethsemane, but going under it, into the grave of second death. It was fulfilled even in this life, remarks S. Augustine. Earth they were unwilling to lose, when they crucified CHRIST; they have gone into the lower places of the earth. What are the lower places of the earth? Earthly lusts. For every one that in prejudice of his salvation desireth earthly things, is under the earth; because earth he hath put before him, earth he hath put upon himself, and himself he hath laid beneath. Fearing to lose earth, they said of the LORD JESUS: "If we let Him thus alone, the Romans will come, and take away our place and nation." Behold, they have lost at the hands of the Romans the place, because they slew CHRIST.

Let them fall upon the edge of the sword. The sword wielded in this life by Titus and by Hadrian, the more terrible two-edged sword of judgment to come, proceeding out of the mouth of CHRIST. That they may be a portion for foxes. They would not have the Lamb for their King, and therefore they have been given up to the will of crafty and worldly princes, like that Herod whom the LORD called a "fox." Nay, more, they themselves have degenerated in character, and become wily and deceitful, and thus have had their portion with foxes. And it is written, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head," because the demons of craft and of pride are freely allowed room in the heart of the sinner, while he closes it against CHRIST, and therefore "He shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites." The Hebrew word however, more probably here means jackals, (which devour dead bodies, rather than foxes, which rarely do so,) and thus warns us against casting in our lot with the angels of him who goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Hugo Card. A. 12 But the King shall rejoice in GOD; all they also that swear by him shall be commended: for the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. That King, Whose kingdom, though it be not of this world, is yet in this world, as it is in heaven, CHRIST the King; King of the Jews, Who hath on His vesture and on His thigh a

O S. Luke i. 33. name written, "King of kings, and Lord of lords," Who shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end; the King, I say, crowned with a diadem of thorns, and sorrowful unto death in the desert of Edom, now raised up from death, shall rejoice in God, for in that He liveth, He liveth unto God, and is Himself God in God, as He hath said, "I am in the FATHER, and the FATHER in Me. And whereas He also saith, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth," He ever had that power in His Godhead, but in His Manhood the King hath received it from God, and therefore rightly He shall rejoice in God. Then follows the reward of loyalty, bestowed on those faithful ones who followed their King into the desert, when His enemies held His city against Him: All they that swear by Him shall be commended, who shall pledge themselves to Him in His Sacraments, the oaths of His military service, to be His faithful soldiers and servants unto their lives' end. And so it is written, "And all Judah rejoiced at the oath; for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought Him with all their desire, and He was found of them, and the LORD gave them rest round about. Nor are we at a loss to know what are the words of commendation; they run:

"Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy LORD. For the mouth of all them that speak lies shall be stopped. Even in this world, when they see the glory of the faith of the Saints, they will have nothing to allege against the truth of God, or the pure lives of His servants. But the perfect silence of slanderous tongues will not be till evil is overcome in the final victory of CHRIST, when He bars out of the Heavenly City "whosoever loveth and maketh a lie."

Glory be to the FATHER, Whom we seek early; and to the SON, Who watcheth in Himself and in His members, and by His watches intreats for His members mercy better than the life itself; and to the HOLY GHOST, Himself the mercy in judgment to be extolled above all life. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.O GOD, Author of light eternal, bestow abundance of perpetual brightness on them who watch to Thee early, that our lips may praise Thee, our life bless Thee, our morning meditation glorify Thee. (1.) In the morning we think of Thee, O LORD, because Thou, giving us Thy light, art our lifter up; for we confess that Thou wast born for us, and under the shadow of Thy wings, protected by Thy Cross, we praise Thee. Grant therefore that we who preach Thy gifts in the Holy Mystery, may enjoy Thee in the best gift of all. (11.) O LORD, unto Whom our soul watcheth from the light, grant that we may ever hasten from darkness unto light; that the mist of the mind may utterly pass away, and the fulness of Thy light abide in us. (11.) We beseech Thee, O LORD, that watching for Thy light, S. Jerome. and ever thirsting for Thee, we may, by Thy bounty, be fulfilled with good works. (1.)

O GOD, our GOD, grant that we may watch unto Thee in prayer from the light of the SPIRIT, and thirst for Thee, that by the gift of Thy grace, our soul may be filled with the marrow and fatness of virtue, whereby, as it clings to Thee, Thy right hand may lift it up unto the heavenly places. (1.)

TITLE: To the Chief Musician; a Psalm and Song of David. Vulgate: To the end; a Psalm of David. Arabic Psalter: Of David, when Saul persecuted him.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST delivers innocent souls from the arrows of the ungodly. The Voice of Paul. Concerning the Passion of CHRIST. The Voice of the Prophet in the HOLY GHOST, touching the Jews, and CHRIST, and His members. The Voice of the Martyrs of CHRIST. VEN. BEDE. The words of this title denote CHRIST, Who is to speak throughout the Psalm of His Passion. In the first part, the LORD prays that He may be delivered from the fear of the Jewish people, teaching that they were foiled in their snares, and that He hath risen again to glory. Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer. In the second place He mocks the cruelty of the Jews because they were sorely troubled by reason of their sins when, by the LORD's rising, His might was declared unto them, for then the rejoicing of the righteous, and the virtue of true faith, appeared.

SYRIAC PSALTER. Put forth by David when the Prophet Gad warned him, saying, Tarry not in Masrot, for Saul seeketh thy death. To us, spiritually, the triumph of the athletes, the instruction of them that fear GOD, and victory in the struggle. EUSEBIUS OF CÆSARÆA. The doctrine of an athlete who serves GOD. S. ATHANASIUS. A Psalm of address, prayer, and supplication.

Various Uses.Gregorian. Wednesday. Matins. [Common of Apostles, II. Nocturn.] Monastic. Wednesday. Lauds. [Common of Apostles, II. Nocturn.] Ambrosian. Monday of Second Week. Matins. I. Nocturn. Gregorian. Ferial. As preceding Psalm. [Common of Apostles. They have declared the works of the LORD * and have understood His deeds.] Monastic. Ferial. Preserve my life * O LORD, from fear of the enemy. Parisian. As Psalm lxii. Lyons. As Monastic. Ambrosian. As Psalm lxii. 1 Hear my voice, O GOD, in my prayer : preserve my life from fear of the enemy. L. There is a Jewish tradition in the Midrash that this Psalm was prophetic of Daniel, and that it was recited by him in the den of lions. It unquestionably contains several passages peculiarly apposite to that event. The Church has always interpreted it of CHRIST, and of the Martyrs, especially the Apostles. Stress has thus been laid on the latter clause of the first verse: Preserve my life from fear of the enemy. Not from the enemy himself, but from fear of him. Let him do his worst with the body, but let the soul remain unterrified, yielding neither to his menaces nor to his torture. So it is written, "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul." And still more, let there be no fear of that worst enemy of all, whose suggestions urge the human foes of the Church to their evil task. Let him be accosted in the words of S. Aurelius Prudentius:

Discede, CHRISTUS hic est, Hic CHRISTUS est, liquesce, Signum, quod ipse nosti, Dampnat tuam catervam. Isa. viii. 12. Therefore, "Neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid : sanctify the LORD of Hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread." 2 Hide me from the gathering together of the froward : and from the insurrection of wicked doers.

This is an acknowledgment of past help, not a prayer, in the LXX. and Vulgate. Thou hast protected me from the assembly of the evil. The gathering together, when "assembled together the chief priests and the scribes, and the elders of the people, into the palace of the high priest, and consulted that they might take JESUS by subtilty, and kill Him." The insurrection (LXX. and Vulgate, the multitude,) when "the whole multitude of them arose, and led Him to Pilate." The comment of S. Augustine on this passage has been embodied by the Western Church in the Office for Good Friday. Thus he speaks: "Now upon Himself, our Head, let us look: Like things many Martyrs have suffered; but nothing doth shine out so brightly as the Head of Martyrs, in Him let us rather behold what they have gone through. Protected He was from the multitude of malignants, GOD protecting Himself, the SON Himself and the Manhood He was carrying, protecting His flesh; because Son of Man He is, and SON of GOD He is; Son of GOD because of the form of GOD, Son of Man because of the form of a servant; having in His power to lay down His life, and to take it again. To Him what could enemies do? They killed the body: the soul they killed not. Observe; too little therefore it were for the LORD to exhort the Martyrs by word, unless He had enforced it with example. Ye know what a gathering together there was of malignant Jews, and what a multitude there was of men working iniquity." And it was true also of the Church in the ages of persecution, when the Christians were alike exposed to the formal inquisition of laws enacted by the Government, and to the savage attacks of infuriated mobs.

3 Who have whet their tongue like a sword: and shoot out their arrows, even bitter words. Let not the Jews say, We have not killed CHRIST. For to this end they gave Him to Pilate the judge, in order that they themselves might seem as it were guiltless of His Death. For when Pilate had said unto them: "Take ye Him, and judge Him according to your law;" they replied: "It is not lawful for us to put any man to death." The iniquity of their deed they wished to lay upon a human judge; but did they deceive GOD the Judge? O ye Jews, ye killed Him; Whence did ye kill Him? With the sword of the tongue, for ye did whet your tongues. And when did ye smite, except when ye cried out, "Crucify, Crucify." And thus ye crucified Him with your tongues at the third hour, as the soldiers did with their hands at the sixth. And shoot out their arrows, even bitter words. Of accusation, before Pilate, of reviling, before the Cross. The LXX. and Vulgate render, And bend their bow, a bitter thing. The Targum paraphrases thus: They have anointed their arrows with deadly and bitter poison. The bow smites secretly, the sword openly. They smote with the tongue as a sword openly, when they cried "Crucify." But they smote with the bow when they craftily plotted His death, and laid snares for Him, especially that He should be betrayed by a Disciple, which is a bitter thing.

S. Matt. xxvi. 3. S. Luke xxiii. 1. A. A. 4 That they may privily shoot at him that is perfect : suddenly do they hit him, and fear not. A. A. Yes, truly was it foretold of Him by His ancestor seventeen hundred years before: "The archers have sorely grieved Him, and shot at Him, and hated Him: but His bow abode in strength, and the arms of His hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel.)" Privity, in their secret councils, in their bargain with Judas, in the irregular trial before Caiaphas. At Him that is perfect, or, with the Vulgate, spotless. Other targets for archers are marked with spots to direct the aim; this one, remarks S. Augustine, had not even so much of spot as could be pierced with an arrow. Suddenly, for His capture followed at once on the bargain of Judas. And fear not. Because they knew Him not, and thus had not the fear of God before their eyes. S. Hilary applies this passage to the attacks of ghostly enemies on the newly-baptized, who are washed from the spots of sin, but are not as yet steadfast in the faith, nor experienced in resisting temptations.

5 They encourage themselves in mischief : and commune among themselves how they may lay snares, and say, that no man shall see them. Here the older versions agree in rendering: They have confirmed for themselves a wicked saying. That saying was, "Crucify, Crucify," which they repeated again and again in their hate, as it is written, "They were instant with loud voices, requiring that He should be crucified." Further hear, adds S. Augustine, in what manner they confirmed malignant discourse. They said, "His Blood be on us and on our children." They confirmed to themselves malignant discourse, not to the LORD, but to themselves. Death killed not the LORD, but He death; but them iniquity killed, because they would not kill iniquity. And they have continued to confirm a wicked saying, by denying the LORD's Resurrection from the dead. And commune among themselves how they may lay snares, and say, that no man shall see them. Plotting that the capture should be the act of a disciple, the condemnation that of a Roman judge, and the Crucifixion the deed of foreign soldiers, so that they might be held guiltless of all participation in the matter.

6 They imagine wickedness, and practise it : that they keep secret among themselves, every man in the deep of his heart. The A. V. is clearer, and shows that the passage means to point out the craftiness of all the plotters. The LXX. and Vulgate are widely unlike this, and read, They have searched out iniquity, they have failed in searching out [Vulg. with] searchings.

A man shall come, and [Vulg. to] a deep heart. The searching out is explained of their long plotting against the LORD, and especially of their treasonable bribe to Judas. The failure is the result of the Resurrection, and denotes the vain attempt to spread a story of the theft of the LORD's Body by the Disciples. They have failed as Diocletian and his colleagues failed, when they raised the column to commemorate the total overthrow of the Christian Faith, beneath which, ten years later, the empire bowed. A man shall come, and a deep heart. So read the LXX., followed by many Latin Fathers. The Psalmist speaks of The Man, Whose heart, S. Augustine remarks, is deep, that is, secret, presenting before human faces Man, keeping GOD within. To a deep heart. And it may be spoken of that gradual perfecting of CHRIST's human nature, whereby He came at last, even as Man, to the full knowledge of the deep things of GOD. But the reading of the Syriac Psalter is the loveliest of all. It is this: For the searching out from within the Son of Man, and from His deep heart. We shall find no worthier comment here than the language of S. Bernard, echoed by the voice of a singer of our Israel.

"Since we have once for all come to the most sweet Heart of JESUS, and as it is good for us to be here, let us not readily suffer ourselves to be torn from Him of Whom it is written, 'They that depart from Me shall be written in the earth.' What of those who draw near? Thou Thyself teachest us. Thou hast said to them which drew near to Thee, 'Rejoice, for your names are written in heaven.' Let us then come to Thee, and rejoice, and be glad in Thee, remembering Thy Heart. O how good, and how sweet to dwell in this Heart! At this temple, at this Holy of holies, at this Ark of the Covenant I will worship and praise the Name of the LORD, saying with David, My heart hath found that I should pray before my GOD. I too have found the Heart of the loving JESUS, my King, my Brother, and my Friend. Shall I not then worship? In this Thy Heart, therefore, O most sweet JESU, and in my own, new found, I will worship Thee, my GOD. Only suffer my prayers to enter into the sanctuary where Thou hearest, nay, draw me altogether into Thy Heart. So too the hymn:

A. A. S. Bernard. Serm. iii. in Pass. Dom. Cor tuum est apertum, ut intrem libere, Ut cordi cor insertum condatur intime, Ah JESU mi, amoris vi, Dedisti te, ut darem me, Ah amem te, ut amas me, JESU suavissime! Hic cordis firmamentum, hic tuta quies est, Amoris fulcimentum, hic certa salus est, In petre hoc foramine, In cordis hac macerie; Hic muniar, hic uniar, JESU carissime! The Hymn Cor meum tibi dedo. 7 But God shall suddenly shoot at them with a swift arrow: that they shall be wounded. Here the LXX. and Vulgate depart completely from the English version. The first clause they render, And God shall be exalted, connecting it with the previous sentence, A man shall come, and a deep heart. God shall be exalted in the human heart of CHRIST, by the perfect subjection of His own will to His FATHER'S. God, in the Person of CHRIST, shall be exalted by all the faithful who come to that Heart for comfort and shelter. The second clause in LXX. and Vulgate runs: Their smitings have become the arrows of children. That is, the Jewish weapons of attack were as idle as the toys of a child. Or, as it has also been taken, Their childish arrows have been their smitings, the ruin of their city and the scattering of their nation being the fruit of their useless attempt to stay the Gospel. Yet again, it has been interpreted of the preaching of the lowly Apostles, who, though they became as little children in docility and meekness, yet sent the arrows of their preaching home to many a heart. And with these arrows was the Church smitten when she said, I am wounded with love.

8 Yea, their own tongues shall make them fall: insomuch that whoso seeth them shall laugh them to scorn. The LXX. (in some copies) and Vulgate read, And their tongues became weak against them, all that saw them were troubled. It may be taken of the silence of the chief priests and rulers after the Resurrection, when, no longer daring to speak as they had done before, they feebly had recourse to the falsehood of the watch at the sepulchre. Yet again, their tongues became weak against themselves, because whereas they said that it was expedient that one man should die for the people, lest the Romans should come and take away their place and nation; the death of that Man proved their utter overthrow. Or it may be, their tongues became weak against the Apostles, and they were troubled when they saw them, as it is written, "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled;" and again, "They were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit with which" Stephen "spake." Moreover, because their own tongues have made them to fall; all that see them are troubled, and take the punishment of the Jews as a warning to themselves against rejecting the truth. Where note, that the Hebrew of this last clause is rather, "All that see them shall shake their heads," in fit requital of that day, when "they that passed by reviled Him, wagging their heads." So the prophecy is fulfilled, "Because My people have forgotten Me . . . every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head."

A. D. C. H. S. Greg. Mag. Moral. xxxiv. 5. Cant. v. 8, Vulg. 9 And all men that see it shall say, This hath God done : for they shall perceive that it is his work.

Here also the LXX. and Vulgate vary from the English Version. They read: And every man feared; they declared the works of God, and understood His deeds. The Prayer Book Version simply recognizes that the dispersion of the Jews is an act of Divine vengeance; the A. V., somewhat nearer to the Vulgate, brings in the idea of preaching. Because the Apostles feared God, observes S. Augustine, they feared not man, but declared the works of God, declared that a Man had come, and that God was exalted. And understood His deeds, by the illumination of the HOLY GHOST, especially after the Day of Pentecost, when CHRIST fulfilled His promise to them. What is, And they understood His deeds? Was it, O LORD JESU CHRIST, that Thou wast silent, and like a sheep for a victim wast being led, and didst not open before the shearer Thy mouth, and we thought Thee to be set in smiting and in grief, and knowing how to bear weakness? Was it that Thou wast hiding Thy beauty, O Thou beautiful in form before the sons of men? Was it that Thou didst not seem to have beauty or grace? Thou didst bear on the Cross men reviling and saying, "If He be the Son of God, let Him come down from the Cross." What servant of Thine and beloved of Thine, perchance knowing Thy power, cried not out and said, O that now He would come down, and all these that revile would be confounded! But it was not so: He must needs have died for the sake of men to die, and must rise again for the sake of men alway to live. This thing, they that would have had Him come down from the Cross, understood not; but when He rose again, and, being glorified, ascended into Heaven, they understood the works of God.

10 The righteous shall rejoice in the LORD, and put his trust in him : and all they that are true of heart shall be glad. It is spoken firstly of that Just One Who rejoiced in doing His FATHER's will, in the victory of His own Resurrection, in the glory of His Ascension. And then it holds of every faithful soul which is made glad by the Gospel tidings, and still more by the presence of CHRIST, risen and appearing bodily, as to the Apostles, invisibly in the hearts of Christians now. Thus the Church sings: Omnis fidelis gaudeat, Et grates Deo referat, Quantum quit tantum audeat Laudesque dignas offerat. A. A. Jesus in mundum veniens Se manifestum præbuit, Fines orbis pertransiens, Consolari nos voluit. Shall be glad. LXX. and Vulgate, Shall be praised. It was fulfilled in this world when, by the victory of Constantine, the despised Nazarenes were uplifted, and the finger of scorn was no longer pointed against them, when the Confessors of the previous persecution were honoured most of all living men, and next to the Martyrs in whose steps they had trodden. It will be fulfilled yet more blessedly when the LORD comes: "Who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of all hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God."

Glory be to GOD the FATHER, Who is the Deep Heart, and to the SON, Who cometh to that Deep Heart; and to the HOLY GHOST, Who is the Gladness wherewith the righteous shall rejoice in the LORD. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.O GOD, the Protection of all believers, keep Thy Church from the gathering together of the froward, who strive to assault it with secret arrows; that holding to Thee with a sound and right mind, it may always rejoice in the merits of the Saints. (1.) Protect us, O LORD, from the gathering together of our froward enemies, Thou Who didst bear the reproach of the Cross; that they who whetted their tongues as a sword against Thee, won over by the most healthful gift of Thy grace, may be swallowed up by the eating of the Church. (11.) Deliver my soul, O LORD, from fear of the enemy, and save it from the gathering together of the froward, that as it hath been brought out of the horrible pit by the wound of Thy Passion, it may, believing in Thee, be led to the freedom of everlasting glory. (11.)

GOD vouchsafe to grant us, that we, freed from the arrows of the enemy, delivered from the bow of falsehood, may be guarded by Him Who giveth all His Saints the glory of immortality for their hope of salvation. (2.)

TITLE: To the Chief Musician, a Psalm and Song of David. Vulgate: To the end. A Psalm of David. A Song: of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, to the people of the emigration, when they began to go forth. Syriac: Of David. Literally, when he brought up the Ark of God to Sion. To us, therefore, spiritually, it denotes the preaching of the Apostles. Arabic: Of David, concerning the emigration of the people.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST is the hope of all lands. The Voice of the Apostles with the praise of CHRIST. The Voice of the Prophet concerning the Apostles and the people. Truly the Voice of the Church. Of Baptism at length in the Passover. The Voice of the Church before Baptism.

VEN. BEDE. Since the first portions of the title are already remarked upon, we shall explain the latter in a few words. When the people of Israel had passed over into Chaldæa, the above-named Prophets foretold that they should return to their country after seventy years, and should restore, in a happier state, Jerusalem, which had been overthrown by the enemy. It does not follow that Jeremiah and Ezekiel composed the Psalm; but as it historically agrees with their date, it is prefaced with their names. Most authors assert that this was done by Ezra, saying that he fitted titles to all the Psalms, and collected them into one volume, as they had been unarranged and scattered, according to variety of authority and date, up to that time. Spiritually, the people which, leaving Babylon, hastened after the Captivity to Jerusalem, refers to them who, after past sin, and condemnation of the confusion of this world, emulously press into the Church of CHRIST. And to these the entire Psalm is, by the authority of the Fathers, to be adapted. That people which, abandoning the sins of the world, hath returned to the LORD, in the first opening of the Psalm, now free, acknowledging its Author, beseeches that its prayer may be heard, declaring the only happy man to be him that has succeeded in reaching His courts. The hymn befits Thee, O God, in Sion. In the second section it asserts the LORD to be the hope of all the ends of the earth, describing His power in varied praise by allegorical comparison, and saying that His Saints rejoice in Him with hymns of gladness. Hear us, O God of our salvation.

EUSEBIUS OF CÆSARÆA. The Calling of the Gentiles. S. ATHANASIUS. A Psalm with hymns.

Various Uses.Gregorian. Wednesday. Lauds. [Office of the Dead. Lauds.] Monastic. The same. Parisian. The same. Ambrosian. Monday of the Second Week. Matins. I. Nocturn.

Antiphons.Gregorian and Monastic. Ferial. Thee befits * the hymn, O God. [Office of Dead. Hear my prayer, and unto Thee shall all flesh come.] Parisian. Ferial. Hear us, O God of our salvation, * the hope of all the ends of the earth. Lyons. As Gregorian. Ambrosian. As Psalm lxii. Mozarabic. The outgoings of the morning, * and at evening Thou shalt be gladdened, O God. 1 Thou, O God, art praised in Sion : and unto thee shall the vow be performed in Jerusalem.

There is much contest amongst the expositors as to the intent and occasion of this Psalm. The title of the LXX. and Vulgate versions points to the beginning of the Captivity. Some readings bring it still lower, by adding the names of Haggai and Zechariah. S. Basil and Theodoret have objected to this view, as contradicting the language of Ps. cxxxvii., which implies that no Psalms were sung during the Captivity. To this Lorinus replies that the title does not show that this Psalm was recited by the people, or in Assyria, and besides, that the refusal to sing denoted no more than the absence of any public ritual, and does not exclude private recitation. The great majority of ancient commentators take this view of the Psalm, some holding it to be a prophecy of David's, and others a Psalm of much later date, classed under his name. Herein they are followed by some modern critics, as Hupfeld and Ewald. Again, the Psalm has been ascribed, as by the Syriac Psalter, to the festival held by David on bringing up the Ark to Jerusalem. This is accepted by Jansen of Ghent. A third view is that it is a Psalm of thanksgiving for the Levites after the cessation of a drought. This is the theory adopted by Agellius amongst older commentators, and Delitzsch in the present day. There is, however, a greater unanimity amongst the Fathers as to the mystical interpretation. Thou, O God, art praised in Sion, or, as the LXX. and Vulgate, The hymn befits Thee in Sion.

Not in Babylon, the city of confusion, but in Sion, the place of expectation. But thou art yet in Babylon. There I am, doubtless, but in flesh, not in heart. With the latter I sing, not with the former; for not in flesh I sing, but in heart. The sounding of the flesh even the citizens of Babylon hear, but the heart's sound the Builder of Jerusalem heareth. And so the Cluniac:

Even now by faith I see thee, Even here thy walls discern; To thee my thoughts are kindled, And pant, and strive, and yearn : And though my body may not, My spirit seeks thee fain, Till flesh and earth return me To earth and flesh again. And unto Thee shall the vow be performed in Jerusalem, the Vision of Peace, the Heavenly City, that vow which was made in the Church Militant below, made by pilgrims journeying through a strange land, and hastening to fulfil their promise in their own Country. The saints praise God indeed in the Way, but shall perfectly praise Him in their Country, when they see Him face to face. The first vow which we make to God in Baptism is to renounce the devil and all his works, and to keep God's holy Will and Commandments; but this vow, through the infirmity of the flesh, we cannot fully observe in this present life, but we shall perfectly perform it in the Heavenly Jerusalem.

2 Thou that hearest the prayer : unto thee shall all flesh come. Because of the prophecy of the Resurrection of the Body contained in this verse, the whole Psalm has been made part of the Western Office for the Dead, and this forms its Antiphon. The Vulgate differs a little, beginning, Hear my prayer. S. Augustine takes the verse to mean the prayer of the Church for the ingathering of the Gentiles, that all flesh, that is, men and women of all ages, ranks, capacities, and nations may continue, as they have begun, coming to CHRIST. Hear my prayer, now, in the Way, urges Gerhohus, which if Thou hear,—rather, because Thou wilt hear—all flesh shall come to Thee. For if the evil days were not shortened, as Thou sayest, no flesh could be saved; but for the elect's sake, as Thou promisest, and as I ask, trusting that promise, the evil days will be shortened; and when they are so, all flesh will come to Thee. That it may be fulfilled, "they twain," the Bridegroom and Bride, "shall be one flesh," doubtless all flesh shall come to Thee, as well that of which it is certain that it shall be saved, weak and frail though it be, but also that which shall not be saved, will then come to Thee, its Judge, when, as it is written, "Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God." And because it is so, the Church makes her petition to Him Who heareth the prayer, beseeching Him for all flesh, living and departed, that He will have mercy on it in that day. "Further, we offer to Thee for all the Saints, who have pleased Thee from

A. On the subject of the contrasted use of the words Sion and Jerusalem, see Vol. I. pp. 397—405. the beginning of the world; the patriarchs, prophets, righteous men, apostles, martyrs, confessors, bishops, priests, deacons, subdeacons, readers, singers, virgins, widows, laymen, and all whose names Thou knowest. We further offer to Thee for this people, that for the glory of Thy CHRIST Thou wilt make them a royal priesthood, a holy nation," &c. 3 My misdeeds prevail against me : O be thou merciful unto our sins. Rather, with the LXX. and Vulgate, (to which the A. V. is nearer,) The words of the ungodly have prevailed, as the passage is not a confession of personal guilt, but a prayer for help. And they explain it variously. To Thee, says S. Bruno, shall all flesh come, to Thee from Whom it departed through the words of the ungodly Adam and Eve, when they thought in their hearts, "We shall be as gods,"—words which have prevailed against us to bring us all under death. But Thou, Who art GOD the WORD, shalt be propitiated for our sins, blotting them out by Thy Atonement, and thus bringing us back to Thee, the True Life. And the words of the ungodly have prevailed in another sense, that of the spread of heathen errors over the face of the earth, which are yet to be swept away by the power of GOD. Yet again, it was true of the Church in many a persecution, when the very name of Christian seemed on the point of extinction; and most true when, in the great Arian trouble, the Catholics were as a flock of kids, while the Syrians (most literally, for the Patriarchate of Antioch was the Arian stronghold) filled the country.

4 Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and receivest unto thee : he shall dwell in thy court, and shall be satisfied with the pleasures of thy house, even of thy holy temple. Blessed is that Man, elect from thousands, whom Thou, O GOD the FATHER, hast chosen, and made GOD, not of adoption, but very natural GOD, Thy SON; not by the taking away of manhood, but by the taking of Manhood into GOD. Blessed, likewise, after Him, in Him, and through Him, is that man whom Thou choosest out of the world, and receivest to some ministry of salvation for himself and others. And as the words are spoken literally of the happiness of those whom GOD should suffer to return from Babylon to Jerusalem, so they hold spiritually of all whom GOD elects out of a state of sin, and brings to the riches of His grace. He shall dwell in Thy court, (A. V., Vulg., &c., courts.) Not at first in the inner chambers, but in the outer vestibule, in the Church Militant here on earth. And this is even more forcibly expressed by the rendering of some ancient Psalters, in Thy tabernacles,

More exactly, words of wickednesses, H. & A. the tents of the great army of GOD. The plural number, moreover, denotes the wide extent of the House of GOD, whether on earth or in heaven. On earth, for it is written, "O Israel, how great is the house of GOD, and how vast the place of His possession!" In heaven, for "in My FATHER'S house are many mansions." And shall be satisfied with the pleasures of Thy house. Not resting, like Lazarus, merely within the shelter of the gate, sore and hungering, but sitting at the Host's own table, clad in the purple of a king, in the fine linen of a priest, and faring sumptuously every day at the feast which the King makes for His SON. So, in the Church on earth, after Baptism in the outer court has given us a right to dwell therein, we are led on to the inner sanctuary, there to be filled with the good things from the Altar of GOD. True it is also of that House of GOD, the Shrine of Divinity, the Body of the LORD JESUS, whence, by the mystery of the Incarnation, His faithful people are filled with grace and strength.

We taste Thee, O Thou Living Bread, And long to feast upon Thee still; We drink of Thee, the Fountain Head, And thirst for Thee our souls to fill. Even of Thy holy temple. Thus we pass from glory to glory, till to the GOD of gods we appear. From the courts into the House, from the House into the Temple, He draws us, and we run after Him, because, as S. Bernard says, "our prize is to see GOD, to live with GOD, to live on GOD, to be with GOD, to be in GOD, Who will be all in all; to have GOD, Who is the highest good." But the LXX. and Vulgate read thus, joining the words to those which follow them: Thy temple is holy, wonderful in righteousness. What is more fitly styled the Temple of GOD than CHRIST Himself, in Whom dwelleth all the fulness of Godhead bodily? And it belongs to distributive justice to bestow rewards according to difference of merit. Wherefore the Temple of GOD, that is, CHRIST, is holy, and wonderful in righteousness, because, as righteousness directs, He bestows rewards on the just. And so it is said of Him, "He shall judge the world with righteousness." The Church Triumphant is also the Temple of GOD; holy, because there is no spot, or wrinkle, or imperfection there; wonderful in righteousness, unlike the righteousness of the Way, which is but filthy rags. And note, that it is not the structure of the building, its gold, its silver, nor its precious stones, to which the title wonderful is given, but its righteousness; for the holiness of CHRIST, not His majesty, is that which is set before His people to admire, love, and follow. Love ye righteousness, and ye are the Temple of GOD.

A. 5 Thou shalt show us wonderful things in thy righteousness, O God of our salvation : thou that art the hope of all the ends of the earth, and of them that remain in the broad sea.

The first clause of the verse is, as we have seen, construed differently, and with the preceding words, by the Vulgate. But as it stands above, it speaks of the marvels which followed the Crucifixion; not merely the rent veil, the torn rocks, the opened graves, and the Resurrection itself, but that crowning event which the Church calls the "Wonderful Ascension. Wonderful things again in the judgment on the guilty city; wonders in the triumphs of the Church over her persecutors, and in the calling of the Gentiles; and wonders yet to come in the awful portents which will herald the Second Coming of the LORD. And besides, our true Hezekiah, the "Strength of the LORD," will show us, who have come to Him from Babylon, all the house of His precious things,—the silver of His pure confessors, the gold of His martyrs, the spices of the incense of His perpetual intercession, the precious ointment of the HOLY GHOST, and all the house of His armour, the panoply of God, that they may be our very own, what time we take the Kingdom of Heaven by violence. Hear us, O God of our salvation, as we knock at the gate of Thy courts, as we call to Thee from afar. Thou that art the Hope of all the ends of the earth. Because all flesh shall come to Thee, not Jews alone, but Gentiles; for the holy Church throughout the world is formed from "all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.

And of them that remain in the broad sea. Because "the isles shall wait for His law," so that they, His messengers, who go down to the sea with the tidings of salvation, "shall declare His praise in the islands. If He were not the Hope of them which are in the sea afar, He would not have said to His disciples, "I will make you fishers of men. Now, in the sea, being taken by the nets of the faith, we rejoice that we there are swimming yet within the nets, because this sea is raging with storms, but the nets which have taken us will be drawn out to shore. The shore is the end of the sea; therefore the landing will be at the end of the world. So the Cluniac:

A. When the heavenly net is laden With fishes many and great; So glorious in its fulness, Yet so inviolate. He is the Hope of them who are in the broad sea, perishing in their sins, even in the very jaws of the monsters of the deep. So cries the Holy Eastern Church to Him at Whitsuntide: Sick with the tide of mortal cares, Tossing on sin as on the wave, Cast to the beast that never spares, Like Jonah, LORD, I cry, O save From the abyss which brings a grave. He is the Hope of them whose faith and endurance fail for a moment when they believe Him to be asleep during the storm, and who, in their terror, cry, "LORD, save us, we perish;" and of those whose over-bold confidence leads them to come to Him upon the water, and who become afraid, and begin to sink, till He catches them, as He did His chief Apostle. And He is the hope of them who are in the salt sea of penitential tears, feeling themselves afar from Him.

6 Who in his strength setteth fast the mountains: and is girded about with power. For, observes S. Hilary, the mountains are whatsoever powers lift themselves proudly against GOD, which He brings low, and binds surely in their place of punishment. But there are other mountains which are GOD's hills, humble in themselves, and exalted in Him; and of them also it is spoken. Especially of the Apostles, those holy hills on which Jerusalem is founded, those mountains of Israel which shoot forth their branches, and yield their fruit to His people of Israel. The Targum singularly reads here, Who prepareth food for the wild goats of the mountains, which may be interpreted of GOD's providential care even for sinners. And is girded about with power. They that put CHRIST in the midst, girded about,—make Him, that is, on all sides begirt. We all have Him in common, therefore He is in the midst: all we gird Him about that believe in Him; and because our faith is not of our strength, but of His power, therefore He is girded about in His power, not in our strength. Girded about with power, the power of His Godhead, by which, as with majesty, the Manhood of the WORD is girded.

7 Who stilleth the raging of the sea: and the noise of his waves, and the madness of the people. Here the LXX. and Vulgate read, Who troublest the depth of the sea. And it is explained of the hearts of ungodly men, which GOD searches to the very bottom, and turns into dry land, reclaiming them, and making them productive of the fruit of righteousness. The English Version tells us of the peace of the Church after the fiercest of all the persecutions, when that great raging sea of heathenism heard the voice of JESUS, saying, "Peace, be still; and there was a great calm." Of this, too, the noise of his waves speaks, reminding us not only of the edicts sounding across the world, but the deep roar of the amphitheatre, Christianos ad leones! Truly, the madness of the people. These latter words, however, are rendered by the Vulgate,

A. A. A. The nations shall be troubled, and are joined on to the next verse: 8 They also that dwell in the uttermost parts of the earth shall be afraid at thy tokens: thou that makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to praise thee. Troubled at first with that dim anticipation of a mighty change which Virgil expressed: Ultima Cumæi venit jam carminis ætas; Magnus ab integro sæclorum nascitur ordo, Jam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna: Jam nova progenies cælo demittitur alto. Ay. Troubled then at the actual coming of the Master, and at the miracles wrought by His Apostles; fearing at first with that servile dread which begets sadness, learning to fear Him afterwards with the loving awe which is the parent of joy, because "the fear of the LORD is honour, and glory, and gladness, and a crown of rejoicing." The sea, the people, is troubled, but the mountains which GOD hath set fast are unmoved while the waves dash against them.

Thou that makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to praise Thee. Or, with the Vulgate and LXX., Thou that shalt delight the outgoings of the morning and evening. By the morning he signifieth the prosperity of the world, by the evening he signifieth the trouble of the world. The morning signifieth prosperity, because the morning is glad, the sadness, as it were, of the night being overpast. But sad is the darkness when the evening cometh on; therefore, when the evening, as it were, of the world came, He offered an evening Sacrifice. Let each one, therefore, not fear the enemy, neither in the morning let him be corrupted. And Thou wilt accept and make delightful to the angels alike the repentance and conversion of the young who flee from their sins, and of the old who turn again at the close of life. Moreover, the Psalmist tells of the joy of the whole earth, from east to west, at the Coming of the Redeemer. Thus the Christian poet:

S. Cæl. Sedul. Hymn. in Nativ. A solis ortus cardine, Ad usque terræ limitem, CHRISTUM canamus principem, Natum Mariâ Virgine. Once again, it has been well taken to denote the ceaseless Daily Service throughout the world: And, as each meridian line Gains the travelled sun, that day, Still begin those rites divine, Still new priests begin to pray; Still are blessed the bread and wine, Still one prayer salutes his ray: Continent and ocean round Rolls the tided wave of sound. 9 Thou visitest the earth and blessest it : thou makest it very plenteous. By the earth is implied our human nature, because, though it be made up of an earthly body and a spiritual soul, yet, because we have more practical acquaintance with the earthly portion, God sometimes calls man by the name of earth. The LORD, then, visited the earth when He, by His Incarnation, united our manhood to the Person of the WORD. So spake Zacharias: "Blessed be the LORD GOD of Israel, for He hath visited and redeemed His people." And blessest it. Yet stronger are the LXX. and Vulgate, Thou hast intoxicated it. With the Wine of His Passion, good wine kept until now, the Bridegroom hath gladdened His guests. And madest it very plenteous in the riches of good works and spiritual gifts wherewith the faithful abound. Cardinal Hugo takes the verse as prophetic of the LORD's visitation as Judge, when He shall make the earth to overflow by giving up its dead, now plenteously revived, so that the dry bones shall live, and stand upon their feet, "an exceeding great army."

S. Luke i. 68. 10 The river of God is full of water : thou preparest their corn, for so thou providest for the earth. What, then, is this river of God? Let the Eastern Church answer: "As Thou art the Divine River of Mercy, and the abyss of much compassion, O merciful One, show the Divine streams of Thy mercy, and heal us all." Full of water : for with Him is the well of Life, flowing as a "pure river of water of Life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb." And because this is so, the Body shares in the titles of the Head: "He that believeth on Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water;" and therefore the first Hebrew believers, thus filled, were the river ("come out of the waters of Judah") which went forth to fertilize the earth. Yet again, the rivers of God are the Gospels, filled with the promises of God, set forth in the Beatitudes. And so Adam:

A. Paradisus his rigatur, His abundet, his lætatur, 1 And, most exactly, Thou makest it overflow, . Fons est CHRISTUS, hi sunt rivi, Fons est altus, hi proclivi, Ut saporem fontis vivi, Ministrant fidelibus. D. C. The whole passage may also be interpreted of the visitation of Pentecost, when the LORD poured out His Spirit on all flesh, and when the fount of Holy Baptism was filled with the graces of cleansing and hallowing. Thou preparest their corn. First, and most truly, of that principal Sheaf, cut down, ground in the mill of the Passion, and in the oven of suffering made into that Bread which is the Life of the world. He chose one little sheaf, and said, O Food for man's salvation, No sweeter sheaf the winds have kissed, Elect of GOD for Eucharist, Thou shalt become the Living Bread, For mortals' adoration. And, in the second place, the Psalm speaks to us of the Great Sower and Husbandman, Who puts the seed of His Word into our hearts, and cherisheth it till the day of His harvest; so providing for that new earth which shall stand when the old is passed away.

11 Thou waterest her furrows, thou sendest rain into the little valleys thereof: thou makest it soft with the drops of rain, and blessest the increase of it. There is a good deal of variation from this in the LXX. and Vulgate. Intoxicate its furrows, multiply its produce, let that which springeth up rejoice in the droppings thereof. As the former verse speaks of the Holy Eucharist under the species of Bread, so here the Carmelite finds a reference to the Chalice. The furrows, observes he, are the Apostles, who first tasted that heavenly draught; the produce is that succession of Saints who have followed in their footsteps in the strength of that Sacrament; the droppings are those first instructions in the mystery of the Faith given to those babes which cannot yet receive the full flood of instruction, nor follow the counsels of perfection, as the Saints who are the true produce of Apostolic teaching, the offspring of that universal Motherhood bestowed from the Cross on the Blessed Virgin, are wont to do. The English Version will supply another train of thought. The little valleys of the soul are those more hidden thoughts and actions which are counted but little things, but which are as truly filled in Saints with the stream of Divine grace as the more boldly-marked furrows which denote the principal actions of their lives. The hard ground of worldliness and impenitence is softened by the gentle showers of GOD's love, and He blesseth the increase in sanctification, and that a hundred-fold even in this world, and in the world to come with everlasting life. Thou sendest rain into the little valleys. We may take it, as the hymn does, of the gift of tears to lowly hearts—

JESU bone, CHRISTE mitis, Suscipe me, qui emittis Fontes in convallibus: Dona fontem lacrimarum, Ut fonte deliciarum Fruar in coelestibus. 12 Thou crownest the year with thy goodness: and thy clouds drop fatness.

Or, with the Vulgate, Bless the crown of the year of Thy goodness. That year of His goodness was when "the kindness and love of GOD our SAVIOUR toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the HOLY GHOST. The Saints are the crown of that year, the jewelled crown which JESUS wears as King of ransomed Israel. And note that He crowns the righteous in many ways. He crowns them eternally by election. So it is written, "Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD. In GOD's Hand, because no one is chosen to such a crown by his own antecedent merits. Next, He crowns by redemption. We lost our crown, as Jeremiah laments: "The crown is fallen from our head. CHRIST came to win it back by His death, when He wore the Crown of Thorns for us. Thirdly, He crowns in temptations, for a man "is not crowned, except he strive lawfully. Fourthly, He crowns by guarding us from being overcome of lust; and therefore the Virgins are diademed with gold, because of its purity. Of this it is said, "Having on His Head a golden crown. Fifthly, He crowns by giving the righteous wisdom and knowledge of the Scriptures. This crown, which is starry, belongs to the Doctors. For the star, by its brightness, denotes Scriptural wisdom, because as the star guides wanderers, so Holy Writ directs the erring.

"And upon her head a crown of twelve stars; doubtless because Scripture is chiefly concerned with the twelve articles of the Faith. The sixth is clear: GOD strengthens His own under torments, that they fail not. This crown belongs chiefly to the Martyrs, and it is of stone, which, by its hardness, denotes firm patience in adversity. Of this crown it is said, "Thou hast set on his head, O LORD, a crown of precious stone. In all these ways GOD blesses the crown of the righteous. And Thy clouds drop fatness. Rather, with the Bible Version, Thy paths drop fatness. The footsteps of the Incarnate GOD bring health and blessing wherever they tread, so that of Him we may reverently use the words of a heathen poet:

Lucret. i. 6. Te fugiunt venti, te nubila cœli, Adventumque tuum : tibi suaves dædala tellus Submittit flores ; tibi rident æquora ponti, Placatumque nitet diffuso lumine cœlum. G. The Vulgate, however, reads, Thy plains shall be filled with abundance, which, says Gerhohus, denotes that men who are just and plain dealers shall be filled with all good works. 13 They shall drop upon the dwellings of the wilderness : and the little hills shall rejoice on every side. Ay. Dwellings is also the version of the Syriac Psalter, but the LXX. and Vulgate reading, the beautiful places, is nearer to the A. V., pastures, and to that which is most probably intended, the oases in the waste. It means, says Lyguan, the Gentile wilderness, which shall rejoice at the Isa. xxxv. 1. Coming of CHRIST, according to the prophecy, "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the Desert shall rejoice, and blossom as a rose." And the Carthusian extends the reference to all sinners, whose hearts have not yet been made the garden of GOD. Nor is it strange that many should be reminded of the solitaries of the Thebaid, who made the Egyptian desert resound with the praises of CHRIST. And the little hills shall rejoice. The Eastern Fathers note here, that as the deserted idol temples were hallowed by Christian prayers, so too the hills whereon heathen rites once had been celebrated were now thronged by men who had embraced the angelic life, and worshipped the true GOD in purity. Athos and Sinai still testify to their words. The hills are also mystically explained as the more eminent Saints, such as Apostles and Martyrs, rising above the plains of which the Psalm spoke before.

14 The folds shall be full of sheep : the valleys also shall stand so thick with corn, that they shall laugh and sing. The A. V. is here more exact, The pastures are clothed with flocks, but the LXX. and Vulgate agree in reading, The rams of the sheep are clothed, which the commentators unite in explaining to mean, that the leaders of GOD's flock are clothed in righteousness, the marriage garment of the Lamb. The valleys, the humble Christians, shall be so blessed by GOD, that they shall laugh (rather, with A. V., LXX., and Vulg., shout) in glad triumph of heart, and then burst out into a song of thanksgiving to GOD. O blesséd is that land of GOD, Where Saints abide for ever, Where golden fields spread fair and broad, Where flows the crystal river. The strains of all its holy throng With ours to-day are blending;

Thrice blesséd is that harvest song Which never hath an ending. And therefore: Glory be to the FATHER, Whose temple is holy in righteousness; and to the SON, Who is that holy temple; and to the HOLY-GHOST, Who is that fatness which drops upon the pastures of the wilderness. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.O GOD, the Hope of all the ends of the earth, hearken to the humble prayer of Thy family, that while it praises Thee with tuneful harmony and the chanted hymn, it may, adorned by the inward flow of the Comforter, be enriched with abundant fruit. Through. (2.) Vouchsafe, O heavenly King, that we, delivered from the dryness of sin, and plenteously watered with the river of Thy mercy, may be well filled, and join in the hymn sung by Thy Saints. (1.) Hear us, O GOD of our salvation, and gird us with Thy might; and while we desire steadfastness of faith, let us attain the quiet of hope, and reach the rest of love. (11.) Hear us, O GOD of our Salvation, Who art the Hope of all the earth, and in Thy might make ready the mountains, which Thou makest bright with Thy power, and lofty with abundance of eminent virtues; for Thine it is to enrich us with higher graces, by which we may climb the steeps of a blessed life: that Thy Church, spread abroad in all the ends of the earth, may, while seeking loftiness of faith, attain the quiet of hope, and reach the summit of love. (11.)

Bless, O LORD, the crown of the year of Thy goodness in the day of our great solemnity, that our minds may shine with the plenteousness of doctrine, and the plains of Thy gifts may be fat with abundance, that nourishment together with Thy grace may be granted us, so that our flesh may be made glad with corn, and our soul with Divine virtues. (11.) We humbly beseech Thee, O GOD, that we may be united to the merits of Thine elect, that we may be joined in their rewards; and that, if we attain not to be graced with rewards, or decked with crowns, we may at last obtain pardon, and be saved from the pain of everlasting judgment. (1.) O GOD, merciful FATHER, the Hope of all the ends of the earth, and of them in the broad sea, we beseech Thee to pardon our iniquities, and to the end that the words of the ungodly prevail not for ever against us, let Thine invincible protection never forsake us. (1.)

TITLE: To the Chief Musician; A Song or Psalm. LXX. and Vulgate: To the end; a Song of a Psalm of Resurrection.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST is to be adored by all nations. The Voice of the Apostles. The Voice of Paul and of all Apostles for the edification of the people. Then, the Voice of the Martyrs. The Voice of the Apostles to the People. The Voice of the Church praising GOD. VEN. BEDR. The title is distinct, implying the joy of the LORD'S Resurrection, not only to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. Contrary to the persuasion of the Jews, who alleged that they alone of all belonged to the life of blessedness; our Mother, the Church, joyously chants her hope of the General Resurrection, interposing three pauses. In the first portion she exhorts all men to rejoice together in the LORD'S Resurrection, which should bring eternal rewards to all the faithful. O be joyful in God, all ye lands. In the second place, she invites all to come to the contemplation of GOD'S works, that one belief may unite those whom one reward awaits. O come hither, and behold the works of God. Thirdly, she again warns the Gentiles to bless the LORD, Who, though He try us with divers troubles, will yet bring us to the rest of His mercy. O praise our God, ye people. In the fourth part, she again invites all, that advised by the example of her deliverance, they may trust the LORD more fully, blessing Him because He has vouchsafed to hear her prayer. O come hither, and hearken, all ye that fear God, and I will tell you.

SYRIAC PSALTER. Uncertain. Of Sacrifice, and burnt-offering, and incense of rams. Spiritually, the calling of the Gentiles, and preaching. EUSEBIUS OF CÆSAREA. The calling of the Gentiles, and the preaching of the Apostles. S. ATHANASIUS. A Psalm of rejoicing and of the Resurrection.

Various Uses.Monastic. Wednesday. Matins. [Transfiguration. I. Nocturn.] Ambrosian. Monday of Second Week. Matins. II. Nocturn.

Antiphons.Gregorian. O bless * our GOD, ye people. Monastic. [Transfiguration. The disciples, coming to the LORD JESUS, fearing the Voice of the FATHER, fell on their faces.] Parisian. O come * hearken, and I will tell you what He hath done for my soul. Ambrosian. First verse of the Psalm. Mozarabic. Sing a Psalm to His Name, give glory to His praise, say unto GOD, O how terrible are Thy works. The occasion of this Psalm, as of the preceding one, is the subject of much doubt. A few commentators ascribe it to the later years of David; the Greek Fathers generally to the return from Babylon, perhaps at the dedication of the Second Temple; others count it as a Maccabee thanksgiving; and others again, followed by some modern critics, assume it to speak of the deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib. The words of the LXX. and Vulgate title, Of the Resurrection, are not in the Hebrew or Chaldee, and Leo Castro charges the Jews with erasing them. But although they are cited by various early Fathers, yet their absence from S. Hilary's Psalter and from the Hexapla seems to mark them as a late addition. They are, however, much commented on by the ancient and mediæval expositors, who interpret the whole Psalm by them as a key.

1 O be joyful in GOD, all ye lands : sing praises unto the honour of his Name, make his praise to be glorious. S. Hilary, commenting on the word ἀλαλάξατε, with which the LXX. opens this Psalm, reminds us that it is a battle-cry, and calls on all the Christian world to do its duty manfully in the fight, that it may chant the song of victory at the end. And because it is CHRIST's Resurrection which hath put the enemy to flight, let His Name be praised, and give the glory to His praise alone, and not to any works of man. But the praise must be the active praise of holy works, not merely the recitation of holy words. 2 Say unto GOD, O how wonderful art thou in thy works : through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies be found liars unto thee.

For wonderful, the early versions read terrible. And fitly, however we regard those works. Terrible in the expulsion from Eden, terrible in the Flood, terrible in the overthrow of the Egyptians. More terrible still in the stupendous mystery of the Incarnation, whereby the Creator of Angels endured to become a mortal, invisible in Himself, visible in our nature; Incomprehensible, Who willed to be comprehended; before all time, yet beginning to be in time. Terrible in the eclipse of the sun at His crucifixion, the three hours' darkness, and the rent rocks; terrible in the broken gates and bars of hell; terrible in His Resurrection. Not less so in the judgment by which He broke off the branches of His own olive-tree, that the wild Gentile boughs might be graffed in, an awful warning to us not to be high-minded, but to fear, and not to boast ourselves either against Jews, broken off of old, or against heretics, fallen later. We pray you to beware, says S. Augustine, whosoever ye are in the Church, do not revile them that are not within; but pray ye rather, that they too may be within; for GOD is able to graff them in

P A. again. Thine enemies shall be found liars. As when they ascribed the greatness of CHRIST's power to diabolic agency, saying, "This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils." And yet again when they bribed the soldiers to spread a false report of the stealing of His Body from the sepulchre. Still more in our own day, when the very existence of CHRIST as a personage belonging to history has been denied, on the express ground of the miraculous acts ascribed to Him. 3 For all the world shall worship thee : sing of thee, and praise thy Name. 4 O come hither, and behold the works of GOD : how wonderful he is in his doing toward the children of men. At the end of the third verse some copies of the LXX. and the Roman Psalter add, O most Highest. Vain have been the lies of the Jews; He Whom they branded as a deceiver is worshipped and praised over all the Gentile world, and not only there, but in the courts of heaven, because His Name is above every name. A little before, most lowly, now Most Highest; most lowly in the hands of lying enemies, Most Highest above the heads of praising Angels. Come hither, then, to hear the word of GOD : come to His Church, and behold, by truer contemplation, by the light of Faith, by the irradiation of the HOLY GHOST, how wonderful He is in His doing towards those Apostles whom He made the channels of His miracles; wonderful in His election to grace; wonderful in His judgment of sinners in the rejection of the Jews, in the call of the Gentiles.

5 He turned the sea into dry land : so that they went through the water on foot; there did we rejoice thereof. A. Spoken first of the Red Sea triumph, it tells of a greater triumph of GOD's power and grace. The world, notes S. Augustine, was a sea, bitter with saltness, troubled with tempest, raging with waves of persecution. Truly, the sea hath been turned into dry land, and now, the world that was filled with salt water thirsteth for water that is sweet, so that now the Gentile world cries: "My soul gaspeth unto Thee as a thirsty land." What He did for all the world He does for every soul flooded with the salt sea of penitential tears, drying it up, and making it able to bear fruit for Him. Next, the Vulgate reads, They shall go through the river on foot. And it is spoken of the courage with which the faithful shall pass through this life, not affected by the flood of worldliness, and yet on foot, because lowly, and not lifted up with pride, thus following more safely Him of Whom it is written in mystery: "With my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands." He went with His Cross alone, and returned LORD of Jews and Gentiles, of the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant, of men and angels. We did rejoice at the exodus from Egypt, at the entrance into Canaan; we shall rejoice, as the Vulgate reads, far more truly in passing from the way to our Country, from the waters of sin to the haven of quiet and safety. For even if we are joyous now, in hope we are joyous, but then in Him shall we be joyous. Even now in Him, yet through hope, but then "face to face."

6 He ruleth with his power for ever; his eyes behold the people: and such as will not believe shall not be able to exalt themselves. So He joins the two ideas Himself, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the FATHER, and of the SON, and of the HOLY GHOST." And thus His beholding is the look of compassion which He turns on His suffering people. Such as will not believe. The LXX. and Vulgate have, They that embitter, or that exasperate, the A. V. more exactly, the rebellious. They cannot exalt themselves, because a "haughty spirit goeth before a fall," and "the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, the same reproacheth the LORD, and shall be cut off from among His people." But they may be exalted by Him Who beareth His people on His wings.

7 O praise our GOD, ye people: and make the voice of his praise to be heard; Make it heard, by declaring it to others, that he who loves GOD may show his love to his neighbour also, by bringing him profitable tidings. Wherefore the priests bless GOD in the churches with a loud voice. For which reason it is said, "Behold now, praise the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, ye that by night stand in the house of the LORD." S. Augustine reads, Hear ye the voice of His praise, listen to the glad news of His Gospel. 8 Who holdeth our soul in life: and suffereth not our feet to slip. The Vulgate runs, Who hath set my soul unto life. And that not only by breathing into man the breath of life, but by giving him the natural law, which, had Adam kept it, would have preserved him alive. More than this, He set our soul unto the higher life of grace and glory, by means of faith. Nay, more than all, He has made us look to Himself, Who is emphatically the Life. And suffereth not our feet to slip, because He hath set those feet upon a Rock, firm and unshaken, and ordered our goings thereon. Not like Cain, who "went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod," which means wandering, but like Moses, to whom was said, "Stand thou here by Me," and of whom those words were then true, "His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold."

9 For thou, O GOD, hast proved us : thou also hast tried us, like as silver is tried. S. Cyrill. Alex. in Gen. lib. x. A. S. Ambros. in Ps. cxix. H. 20. 1 Cor. iii. 13. With fire, first of persecutions and sufferings, and then with the more searching fire of heavenly love. For the odour of a saintly life needs the divine fire to make its perfume known, as incense requires glowing coals to quicken its properties. As silver, which is purified by heat, not as stubble, which is burnt up by it. And note, that the precise moment when silver is truly refined, is that in which the finer can see his face exactly mirrored in the molten surface. Whereby we know that our purification is complete, when CHRIST can see His Image reflected in our hearts. And as earthen vessels continue porous and friable till they are baked, so we, who are earth in the hand of the potter, need fire to make us fit to be the receptacles of grace. The early Fathers, holding the doctrine of a purgatorial fire through which the very Saints, and even the Mother of GOD herself, must pass at the Last Day, dwell on this verse, and compare it with that saying of S. Paul, "The fire shall try every man's work."

10 Thou broughtest us into the snare : and laidest trouble upon our loins. Being crafty, He caught us with guile, and when He had so taken us, He put His yoke on our shoulders, and His burden on our backs, that in this world we might have tribulation. And literally, His martyrs were brought into the snare of dungeons, chains, and strangulation, and had scourges, heavy weights, and even plates of red-hot metal, laid upon their sides as they were extended upon the rack. 11 Thou sufferedst men to ride over our heads : we went through fire and water, and thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.

It is spoken of the persecuting Emperors, and of evil rulers, temporal and spiritual, in all ages. Lorinus, writing at a time when the Turkish corsairs ravaged the Mediterranean coasts, and even at times the shores of Northern Europe, applies the text to the hard lot of the Christian captives in Algiers and Morocco. Through fire and water. Again we are told of the sufferings of the martyrs, some winning their crown in fire, like S. Polycarp; some in water, as S. Clement of Rome. Or you may take it, as S. Ambrose does, of the first purification of the soul in Baptism, and the second cleansing by the fire of purgatory. Or it may be explained, with S. Augustine, of the mingled sorrows and pleasures of this life. S. Bernard expands this idea, and observes of a Saint lately departed, "He passed over right manfully, yea, and happily; he passed over through fire and water, he whom sorrow could not break, nor ease delay. The knowledge of good and evil lies in this mean, and this is to make trial here of pleasure and of trouble. Happy is that soul, which passes through both alike, neither clinging to pleasure, nor failing in trouble. Once more, the water of penitential tears, and the fire of divine love, are the fit preparation for entrance into the wealthy place of unity with GOD. A wealthy place. The Vulgate reads, a cool place.

And it will then tell us of that shelter with Him Who is a refuge from the heat, the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, of those cool waters and green pastures which wait for the Saints who have followed their Shepherd in this life. But if we take our English reading, a wealthy place, it will tell of that field of the Church wherein the treasure of grace is hidden, and of that more glorious Church where the treasure is no more hid, but open to all gazing eyes.

S. Ambros. in Ps. cxix. Serm. 3. A. S. Bernard. Vit. S. Malach. About the Holy City rolls a flood Of molten crystal, like a sea of glass; On which bright stream a strong foundation stood, Of living diamonds the building was; That all things else it wholly did surpass, Her streets, the stars, instead of stones, did pave, And little pearls for dust it seemed to have, On which soft streaming manna like pure snow did wave. The two preceding verses of the Psalm have been applied with much ingenuity to the vocation for the claustral life. Thou hast brought us into the snare of the cloister, binding us with the threefold cord of the monastic vow, and laidest trouble, the regular tasks and enforced duties of the convent, upon our loins. Thou hast set men, abbats and prelates, over our heads, whom we must obey: we go through fire and water in the various trials of that obedience, and then Thou hast brought us into a cool place, where we are free from the heat and anxiety of this world, and look forward to the coolness of the life to come.

12 I will go into thine house with burnt-offerings: and will pay thee my vows, which I promised with my lips, and spake with my mouth, when I was in trouble. Into Thine house, either by withdrawing into myself for secret communion with Thee, remembering that my body is the temple of the HOLY GHOST, or into the place of Thy A. public worship, or at last into the heavenly City. With burnt-offerings, having consumed all that is mine, by victory over self, and leaving only what is God's. So the Paris Breviary, singing of Confessors: Hymn. in Comm. Just. Corpus subegit castitas, Et liberam mentem fides; Amor supernis ignibus Totam litavit hostiam.

It is true of the Martyrs also, and chiefly of Him, their King, Who ascended into the Holy of holies with the whole burnt-offering of Himself. My vows, whether of baptism, of the religious or priestly life, or of self-dedication of any kind. And the word pay marks that such vows are debts, not mere voluntary offerings which need not be made. Which I promised with my lips. The Vulgate reads, which my lips distinguished (i.e. articulated. Where note, says Ayguan, that he distinguishes his vows, who vows discreetly, but he who vows indiscreetly, does not distinguish, because distinguishing belongs to discretion, and he distinguishes his vows of God's praise, who says in his heart that he is nothing, and God is all, that he needs God, not God him. And spake with my mouth, implying a distinct contract made with God, not a mere passing resolution of the mind, but a positive action of the will, binding itself to future performance. When I was in trouble. So the Patriarch, "And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God. And to all this He answers, to the first request, "When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee; to the second, "Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way;

to the third He replies, "The bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. For raiment, He declares, "Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment," and will say to His servants, "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and last of all, that we may come to our FATHER'S House in peace, He says, "In My FATHER'S house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. Wherefore let us keep the vow, and have the LORD for our God.

13 I will offer unto thee fat burnt-sacrifices, with the incense of rams: I will offer bullocks and goats. A. The LXX. and Vulgate read here marrowy burnt-offerings. Within may I keep Thy love, comments S. Augustine, it shall not be on the surface, in my marrow it shall be that I love Thee. For there is nothing more inward than our marrow; the bones are more inward than the flesh, the marrow is more inward than those same bones. Whosoever therefore on the surface loveth GOD, desireth rather to please men, but having some other affection within, he offereth not holocausts of marrow. The fat burnt-offerings are also explained of the Martyrs, as strong and resolute under torture. With the incense of rams. The rams are the rulers of the Church; the whole Body of CHRIST is speaking, this is what it offereth to GOD. The incense of rams is therefore the prayer offered as incense before GOD by the rulers of the Church. Bullocks, which labour in the LORD's field, signify doctors and preachers; while the goats are repentant sinners. Sinners, because of the LORD's own distinction between sheep and goats; repentant ones, because goats were the victims used in sin-offerings.

14 O come hither, and hearken, all ye that fear GOD : and I will tell you what he hath done for my soul. He calls not only the living, but the Patriarchs and Prophets of old time, who longed to see these things, to hearken to the Gospel tidings, and to rejoice with us. The Gentiles who serve GOD by the law of nature, are also summoned in these words to join the Church, that the law of grace may be explained to them. The soul which has been healed is eager to point out the Great Physician to those which are still suffering from disease. 15 I called unto him with my mouth : and gave him praises with my tongue.

I, a man, was crying to a stone, I was crying to a deaf stock, to idols deaf and dumb I was speaking; now, the image of GOD hath turned to the Creator thereof; I that was "saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth," now say, "Our FATHER, Which art in heaven." I called unto Him with my mouth. With my mouth now, not with the mouth of another. When I was crying to stones in the "vain conversation received by tradition from the fathers," with the mouth of others I was crying; when I have cried unto the LORD with that cry which Himself hath given, which Himself hath inspired, I called unto Him with my own mouth. And gave Him praises with my tongue. The LXX. and Vulgate read, And have exalted Him under my tongue. That is, notes S. Augustine, confessed Him secretly in my heart, as well as preached Him openly. Many Psalters, and the majority of mediæval expositors read, I have exulted under my tongue. And they explain it of spiritual joy within the heart. It is like the Bride, says one, "Honey and milk are under thy tongue;" so that my tongue may be busied with the praise of GOD and with holy prayers, and my spirit within rejoice in GOD my SAVIOUR. I exulted under my tongue, while that tongue was

A. 1 S. Pet. i. A. the pen of a ready writer uttering good words without, and within my heart was inditing a good word wholly in harmony with those outer words. The Hebrew would be more closely rendered, A song of praise was under my tongue, and it will then imply the absolute certainty of God's answer to prayer, and that the believer has his thanksgiving ready even while he is uttering his cry of supplication. 16 If I incline unto wickedness with mine heart: the LORD will not hear me. H. Not merely, notes S. Hilary, if I have actually done an evil deed, but if I have thought on it with pleasure, and given the assent of my will. And the Vulgate puts this very forcibly, If I have beheld iniquity in my heart. 17 But God hath heard me: and considered the voice of my prayer.

18 Praised be God who hath not cast out my prayer: nor turned his mercy from me. Lu. Because I have not inclined to wickedness with my heart, for thus speaks the Apostle, "Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him;" and it therefore urges us to perseverance. Not to vain confidence, for God, notes Lorinus, sometimes does cast out prayer. Moses was not heard for his sister, nor Samuel for Saul, nor Antiochus for himself, and there is a sin unto death, for which it is not said that we are to pray. Praised be God. Let all His Angels and Saints praise Him; heaven and earth, the sea and all that is therein. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, for He hath given me perseverance in crying unto Him, and turned not His mercy far from my prayer, and I have found it true, that, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

Glory be to the FATHER, Who hath heard my prayer; and to the SON, my Resurrection and Life, through Whose mediation my prayer hath reached the FATHER; and to the HOLY GHOST, the Mercy of FATHER and SON, which hath not been turned from me as I prayed. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.Ludolph. Instil into my mind, O LORD, the glory of Thy praise, that while we shun the burnings of this world, we may, under Thy guidance, be carried into eternal refreshment. (1.) Mozarabic. Grant, O LORD, that we who, believing in Thee, go into Thine house with burnt-offerings, may serve Thee with dedication of our works and sanctification of the body, that so Thou mayest not cast out our prayers, nor turn Thy mercy from us, whilst Thou dost inspire us to seek that which Thou knowest to be good for us. (11.) Let all the earth worship Thee, O LORD, and sing to Thee, being made partaker of incorrupt life; that as all things are framed by Thy handiwork, they may likewise be submitted to Thy sway. (11.) O GOD, Who hast willed that Thy Saints should be tried on earth by Thy wonted loving probation, but not that they should be tempted above the gift of endurance which Thou seest to be in them by Thy bounty, deliver us from all temptation, lest it overcome our mind; that serving Thee faithfully in well-pleasing obedience, Thou wouldst suffer us to be so tried, that temptation lead us not into the confusion of error, but bind us firmly in the embrace of truth. (11.)

O GOD, to Whom all the earth sings loud praise in rejoicing, and Whose glory it proclaims with the tuneful voice of a psalm, Whose awful might in Thy works it confesses, grant that our voices may yield Thee acceptable praise, and our prayers give Thee a perfect psalm, and celebrate Thee, the Maker of all powers; and inasmuch as Thine eyes behold the nations, and invisibly search the inmost parts of all things; we beseech Thee so to look on us graciously with Thine eyes, and to correct us so in mercy, that Thou mayest not pour Thy wrath upon us, angered by our misdeeds, nor restrain Thy mercy when Thou art intreated. And grant, that our very fear of Thee for our sins may be our chastisement, and our belief and confession of Thy Godhead, the reward of our pardon. Set our souls then, O LORD, unto life, that we may weep here for our doings, and win that grace which we have lost through sin. (11.)

We humbly beseech Thee, O LORD, open Thine ears to our prayers, and, granting us pardon of our sins, deliver us from our present troubles, and making us, by the death of our vices, a pure burnt-offering to Thee, unite us to the company of the Saints. (1.) Mozarabic. For the Saints.

TITLE: To the Chief Musician on Neginoth; a Psalm or Song. LXX. and Vulgate: To the end, in the hymns, a Psalm of a song of David. Or, To the Supreme, on the stringed instruments; a Psalm of Song.

Argument.ARG. THOMAS. That CHRIST is the Light of believers. The Prophet counsels believers. The Apostolic voice. The HOLY GHOST by the Prophet counsels believers. The voice of the Apostles. The Prophet, concerning the Advent of CHRIST and His Resurrection. VEN. BEDE. Hymn and Song denote praise, and that it may be shown that these are given to CHRIST the LORD alone, To the end is prefixed. After the "Song of Resurrection," the Prophet supplicates that we may be blessed, and be led to the knowledge of GOD, to which our own merits cannot attain. For, in the first part, speaking to the faithful, he prays that he may with them attain to be blessed by the LORD, so that, enlightened in heart, they may know that CHRIST the LORD is to be preached among all nations. God be merciful unto us. Then, turning to the LORD, he says in the spirit of prophecy that He is to have thanks given Him by the peoples, because He judges the nations in equity. Let the people praise Thee, O God, &c. Thirdly, he repeats the same verse which he had uttered above; adding this in a mystery, that the earth had already brought forth her fruit: and therefore, iterating the phrase, he again asks that we may be blessed. Let the people praise Thee, O God, . . . increase, &c.

SYRIAC PSALTER. It is uncertain who composed it. The people which brought David over the River Jordan sang it. To us it signifies the prophecy touching the call of the Gentiles, the preaching of the Apostles, and the judgment of the LORD. EUSEBIUS OF CÆSARÆA. The calling of the Gentiles, and the preaching of the Apostles. S. ATHANASIUS. A Psalm declaring things to come.

Various Uses.Gregorian and Monastic. Daily. Lauds. Ambrosian. Monday of Second Week. II. Nocturn.

Antiphons.Gregorian and Monastic. Vary with every day and festival. Parisian. The LORD show us the light * of His Countenance, that we may know Thy way upon earth, O LORD. Lyons. GOD * be merciful unto us, and bless us. Ambrosian. As preceding Psalm. Mozarabic. The LORD show us the light of His Countenance.

The use of this Psalm in the Gregorian and Monastic Psalters is peculiar. It is always said together with Ps. lxiii., under one Antiphon, and with but one Gloria, at the close. The custom is a very ancient one, and is mystically explained by Durandus, as follows: "It is asked, why the two foregoing Psalms, to wit, O God, Thou art my God, and God be merciful unto us, are united, and said under one Gloria Patri and one Antiphon. To which the reply is fourfold. First, because the Psalm, O God, Thou art my God, signifies thirst for GOD; in the Psalm, God be merciful, the Trinity is indicated. This is done therefore to signify thirst and continual longing for GOD. Secondly, to note that, before the persecution of Antichrist, the people of believing Gentiles, referred to by the Psalm, O God, Thou art my God, and the repentant people of the Jews, referred to by the Psalm, God be merciful, shall be one in faith; and after they are united, the tribulation of Antichrist will come. Thirdly, because the former Psalm signifies love of GOD; wherefore it is there said, My soul thirsteth for Thee. The latter Psalm signifies love of one's neighbour; wherefore it is said, That we may know Thy saving health among all nations, which two things are so joined together, that a Christian cannot have one without the other. Fourthly, because the grace of which the Church seems conscious in the former Psalm is evidently conferred in the latter;

wherefore there is an invitation to thanksgiving, when it is said there, Let the people praise Thee, O God. Again, at the end of the Psalm, O God, the Gloria Patri is not said, because therein human sorrow is treated of; whence it is there said, My soul thirsteth. For it is not every Psalm treating of sorrows and other adversities which praises Him for them, though they should do so. But in the following Psalm the Gloria Patri is subjoined, because in it the mercy of GOD is treated of. Psalm lxvii. is also used in several benedictions, as in the churching of women, and the blessing of bells, and in the processions for fine weather.

I GOD be merciful unto us, and bless us : and show us the light of his countenance, and be merciful unto us. The words first rise to a climax, and then are further emphasized by repetition of the opening prayer. Mercy for past error and sin is first sought, and then blessing. But as GOD blesses in many ways, sometimes granting only temporal gifts, the special desire of the suppliant is added—enlightenment by Divine grace. The prayer for mercy is repeated, because GOD's mercy is as necessary for perseverance in grace as for the original call to it. And observe, remarks Eusebius, that there is a clear reference to the Levitical benediction under the Law: "Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise shall ye bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: the LORD make His Face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the LORD lift up His Countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put My Name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them." So that the Psalm must have a prophetic relation to the return from exile, when the priests should resume the interrupted custom of benediction. The whole Psalm is the prayer of the Vineyard to the Husbandman, of the Church to GOD the FATHER, praying Him to send His rain to increase the fruits which He has planted and tilled Himself. But though it is collectively the cry of the whole vineyard, yet each section belongs to a different part. Be merciful is the cry of penitents; bless us, that of advancing Christians; show us the light of His Countenance, of dying ones; asking severally

A. for pardon, justification, wisdom, and glory. Observe the repetition of the words, be merciful unto us. Divine grace is as necessary for final perseverance, as for the first call to repentance. And show us the light of His Countenance. The Countenance or Face of the FATHER is the SON. For, saith He, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the FATHER." Therefore the Prophet saith, in the way of desire, Let His Countenance appear; that is, May the FATHER's Countenance, even the SON Himself, shine on us, here on earth, by His Incarnation. 2 That thy way may be known upon earth: thy saving health among all nations. A. Thy way is that which leadeth to Thee. What is it? We can learn it from the Gospel. The LORD saith, CHRIST saith, "I am the Way." But dost thou fear lest thou shouldst stray? He hath added, "I am the Truth." Who strayeth in the truth? He strayeth that hath departed from the truth. The Truth is CHRIST, the Way is CHRIST; walk therein. Dost thou fear lest thou die before thou attain unto Him? "I am the Life." "I am," He saith, "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." As if He were saying, What fearest thou? Through Me thou walkest, to Me thou walkest, in Me thou restest. And note, observes S. Albert, that we may know His way in three manners here on earth. By natural understanding, which is wisdom; "for the invisible things of Him are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made." By grace, through faith, "for now we see through a glass, darkly." And there is the glorious manner, by which it shall be known in our Country. "Then shall I know, even as I am known." And therefore rightly does the hymn address the Light of GOD'S Countenance:

Rom. i. 20. O Blessed Face, whose praise we sing! Here in the way we worship Thee; That in the Country of our King, Filled with Thy glory we may be. Brev. Misen. The Hymn *Omnis fidelis gaudet.* Thy saving health among all nations. It is the doom of Jewish isolation and supremacy. Let us not, then, stand outside with the envious elder brother, angry with his brother who was lost; but let us enter in, and be gladdened with that harmony which that great choir sang. And that it may become greater day by day, and be multiplied unto the end, we pray and cry: 3 Let the people praise thee, O GOD: yea, let all the people praise thee. A. Walk ye in the Way together with all nations; walk ye in the Way together with all peoples, O sons of peace, sons of the One Catholic Church. Walk ye in the Way, singing as ye go. Wayfarers do this to beguile their toil. Sing ye in this Way, I implore you by that same Way, sing ye in this Way; a new song sing ye, let no one there sing old ones; sing ye the love-songs of your fatherland, let no one sing old ones. New Way, new wayfarer, new song.

4 O let the nations rejoice and be glad : for thou shalt judge the folk righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. They shall be glad, and not in servile terror of the Judgment, because not only will it be just, and therefore merciful, instead of arbitrary and cruel, but Thou shalt govern and guide the nations in the right way, so that they shall be safe from all peril, because taught by Thee to avoid all sin. 5 Let the people praise thee, O GOD : let all the people praise thee. 6 Then shall the earth bring forth her increase : and GOD, even our own GOD, shall give us his blessing. The LXX., Vulgate, Syriac, and Æthiopic all translate, more correctly, The earth hath brought forth her fruit, and join these words to the preceding ones. It is a fresh reason for the exultation of the people, more glorious and joyous than the former. For the earth is that holy soil, of which is written, "Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation." The earth hath brought forth her fruit; Mary hath born JESUS.

So too the Western hymn : Gaude Virgo gloriosa, Verbum verbo concepisti, Gaude tellus fructuosa, Fructum vitæ protulisti. 7 GOD shall bless us : and all the ends of the world shall fear him. The mystery of the Holy Trinity is shadowed out in the triple recitation of the Name of GOD. GOD the FATHER, Unbegotten, Underived, shall bless us. Our own GOD, our Brother, GOD the SON, made like unto us, shall bless us. GOD the HOLY GHOST shall bless us. And the singular verb and pronoun which follow express the Unity. All the ends of the world shall fear Him. Not with the servile terror which the devils feel, but the filial awe of sons, the wholesome reverence of disciples, that by that fear we may be guarded from the wrath to come. Glory be to the FATHER, Who hath imprinted on us, His sons by adoption, His Countenance, that is, His Son by nature; and to the Son, Who is the FATHER's Countenance; and to the HOLY GHOST, the mercy and light of the Countenance of GOD.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Collects.Show the light of Thy Countenance upon us, O LORD, and vouchsafe us Thy perpetual blessing; that giving thanks to Thee in holy fear, we may attain to win the fruit of righteousness before the face of Thy majesty. Through. (1.) Let all the people praise Thee, O GOD, Thy prizes which Thou hast redeemed; and let them who were subject to punishment for unbelief, rejoice in being saved by Thy free grace. (11.) Show the light of Thy Countenance upon us, O LORD, and pour Thy blessing abundantly into our breasts; that our hearts, bedewed with the gladness of Thy light, may know Thy way upon earth, and be glad in the full knowledge of the holy faith among all nations. (11.) Knowing Thy way on earth, O LORD, and Thy saving health among all nations, we confess that CHRIST the LORD is both the Way and the Country, by Whom we pass on aright, and come to the fullest attainment. (2.)

O GOD, Who hast mercy on all; O GOD, Light of light and Fount of brightness; show the light of Thy merciful Countenance upon us, bless us, and make us to know Thy way on earth, that, walking therein without offence, rejoicing and being glad, we may reach the heavenly mansion. (9.)