Psalmorum XV. XXXI et XLI Interpretatio

The Interpretation of Saint Hilary on Psalms 15, 31, and 41, which has been lacking in editions up to now. (From the same source.) A Treatise on Psalm 15. 1. This psalm is marked beforehand by the inscription of a title; but what the title of David was, we do not find in history. Nevertheless, we recognize that the inscription of the title was made in the passion of the Lord; and it cannot be denied, according to interpretation, that this psalm seems to have prophesied concerning the passion and resurrection of Christ, which is evident in that place where it says, Verse: "For you will not leave my soul in hell, nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption." For David died and was buried; but Christ's flesh alone did not see corruption, nor could his soul be detained in hell. Therefore, the psalm which was to speak of his passion, resurrection, and inheritance was rightly marked by the inscription of a title. For what did the text of the title which Pilate affixed to his cross contain? "Jesus," it says, "King of the Jews." Which name he himself confessed, when Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" (Mark 15:26). "For this," he said, "I have come, and for this I was born.

But is the king of the carnal Jews from him over his holy mount Sion? I certainly do not think that the kingdom given to the Lord by the Father is on this earthly mountain which is in Judea. The Apostle teaches that his kingdom is heavenly: just as he shows that the city of Jerusalem itself is not this one which now serves with her children, but that which is above, our free mother, the heavenly Jerusalem. So too, these Jews who are circumcised by a circumcision made by hand are not the ones; but as the Apostle taught, saying: because the Jew who is seen openly is not here, nor is that circumcision which is in the flesh, but the circumcision of the heart, whose praise is not from men, but from God; and Jesus is not the king of those Jews who boast among men because of works, but of those whose glory is before God because of the hope of his grace. For see the Apostle saying before whom their glory is. For if, he says, Abraham was justified by works, he has glory among men (Rom. 4:2); why does he believe in him who can justify the impious, and hope for the gratuitous mercy of God? He has glory, but not before God.

Therefore, Christ is the king of the Jews, whose glory is not from men but from God. Finally, this psalm says significantly: "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance. The lots fell to me among the most powerful, and indeed my inheritance is exceedingly great." What then is the inheritance of the Lord, if not that of which it is written: "Ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance" (Ps. 2:8)? But sinners from the nations believe in him who can justify the impious. And if their glory is not from men but from God, Christ is also the king of those Jews. For it is not this Jew who appears openly, nor that circumcision which is performed openly in the flesh. But what does he say? Did not very many from that circumcision believe? It is true that they believed, but they themselves, reduced to the example of the Gentiles, first confessed themselves to be sinners and thus earned mercy, as Paul writes to the Galatians: "If you," he says, "being a Jew, live like a Gentile, how do you force the Gentiles to Judaize" (Gal. 2:11)? We are Jews by nature, and not sinners from the Gentiles, knowing that not all flesh is justified by the law. Therefore, wishing to gain something in Christ, he was found to be a sinner; because Christ came not to call the justified, but sinners.

Therefore, those who believed from a circumcision made by hand believed humbled to the sinful confession of the Gentiles, so that all would be the inheritance of Christ: not among those who will be justified by their own works, but among those who are justified by the gratuitous grace of God. And this is the inscription of the title, that he is the very king of the Jews. Thus this psalm narrates of which Jews Christ seems to be king, and what reason the inscription of the title has; not of those Jews who would be seen openly, and whose circumcision was open in the flesh, but rather of those Jews who are in the secret of Judah, whose circumcision is of the heart, whose glory is not from men but from God. Finally, let us see the text of the psalm, if it pertains to what we have said. Verse 1. "Keep me," he says, "Lord, for I have hoped in you." He who demands a debt does not hope: for if something is owed to me, I rightfully reclaim it. But if someone gives to me out of his will, not from an offering; from this custom of his, I will hope for his benevolence. Therefore, this one who did not magnify righteousness from works, but introduced the gratuitous grace of God, said, "Keep me, Lord, for I have hoped in you." I will say to the Lord, "You are my God." For the power of the Lord is in this, that he does to his servant what he wills, not what he is obliged to do. But if a reward is owed for works, he will give me what he is obliged to, not what he wills.

If a hired hand works, whether he wills or not, a wage is owed to him, and through this the grace of God is nullified, as the Apostle says: "For he who works, the wage is accepted by him as a debt, not by grace; but he who wishes to be saved not by his own works, but by the grace of God, as we all ought to believe; this man, hoping in God, will set for himself the good that God has willed, not what he has necessarily had." And through this he says significantly, VERSE 2: "I said to the Lord, 'You are my God.'" For the Lord never thanks a servant if he has done what he was ordered; but through all this he wishes his own benevolence and grace to be awaited, just as the Lord also says, teaching: "Which of you has a servant who plows or pastures? When he comes home, does he say to him, 'Go and lie down'? But he says, 'Go and serve me, and then you will eat.' Does the Lord thank the servant because he has done so? Truly I say to you, he does not. So also you, when you have done everything I have ordered you, say: 'We are useless servants; we have done what we had to do' (Luke 17:7)." Therefore, he who acknowledges that he has God ought to show such humility of service. But this confession is not of works, but of faith. And so the good herald of the New Testament says: "I said to my Lord, 'You are my God.'" And what does he say after this?

Since you have no need of my goods, verse 5, for the saints who are on earth. What more fitting consequence was there than that he said his goods are not necessary for the saints of the earth, nor are those goods of the Lord for the use of the saints who dwell on earth? But what are the goods of Christ, what are the goods of the New Testament, if not gratuitous gifts, if not the remission of sins? These goods are not necessary for the saints of the earth. Those who are healthy have no need of a physician, but those who are ill do (Mark 2:17). And he called those who justify themselves in their own works saints not of heaven but of earth; for their praise comes from men, not from God. Such were those whom the Lord notes as justifying themselves in the sight of men, who, when they rebuked him for associating with publicans, said, "I have not come to make the righteous just, but sinners" (Ibid.). Therefore, gratuitous grace and the remission of sins is not necessary for the just; but certainly for those just who think themselves just; for the truly just man comes from faith (or lives by faith). So these saints have no need of the goods of his Son. Hence he says below: "I will not gather their synagogues from my blood." For such redemption through my blood is not necessary for those who consider themselves just.

But why does he say: "They themselves made your wills wondrous in themselves; verse 4: their infirmities were multiplied; after this they hastened?" The Apostle treats this passage most fully in his letter to the Romans, that the law entered so that sin might be amplified. Where sin was amplified, there grace abounded (Rom. 5:20). For after they, having rejected the grace of God, were found in the works of the law, the will of God, by which it was calling them to its grace, was made wondrous in the lowest degree. Therefore, whoever wishes to be saved must desire to be freed by the grace of God. And so the psalm rightly says: "They themselves made your wills wondrous in themselves; their infirmities were multiplied; after this they hastened." For when the infirmities of those who wished to be justified by works were multiplied, the wills of God which called them to the faith of grace were made wondrous. Therefore, he says, "I will not gather their synagogues from my blood," that is, I will not redeem those who do not seek the redemption of my grace. "Nor will I remember," he says, "their names through your lips." For he who wishes to be saved by his own works does not confess my benefit; and he who has not confessed me before men, I will not confess him before my Father who is in heaven (Matt. 52). But if he was not going to gather such as these, it remained for him to show whom he would accept into his inheritance. And so he adds in order:

Verse 5. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup; you are the one who has kept my inheritance therein. For if he rejected those who are justified by works, he certainly preferred those whom God saves by grace. Therefore he says significantly: "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance." For when the Lord by his grace has saved those whom he gave as an inheritance, truly the Lord is the portion of his inheritance. Moreover, the son preserved the obedience, so that he might proclaim that his inheritance was not sought in his own blood, but that he would declare it given to him by God from God, and that he would confess the Lord to be the portion of his cup, that is, of his passion. For if the nations were redeemed from sin by the passion of the Lord, yet that passion of the Lord was the will of the Father, as he testifies in the Gospel saying (as the man he assumed speaks): "Father, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will" (Matthew 26:39). Therefore, if you consider the will of the Lord, he himself confessed, saying: "If it can be done, let this cup pass from me." Hence, even the redemption of the nations is to be received not in the will of the Son, but in the will of the Father. For he says, "Not what I will, but what you will." Therefore, this very grace by which the nations were redeemed through his death, the Son assigns not to himself, but to the Father. And so he asserts that the Lord is the portion of both his inheritance and his cup.

Verse 6. "The lots," he says, "have fallen to me among the most powerful: and indeed my inheritance is very great to me." For it was an ancient custom that the boundaries of possessions were measured with a cord; and therefore, when he speaks of the portion of his inheritance, he says, "the lots have fallen to me among the most powerful themselves." We receive testimony of this matter from the canticle of Moses, where it is written: "When God dispersed the sons of Adam, and established the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God, and the people of God became the portion of the Lord, Jacob the lot of his inheritance" (Deut. 32:8). And rightly, he who had said that God was the portion of his inheritance, said that the lots of his possession had fallen among the most powerful themselves. For who are the most powerful, if not those whom the Lord justifies, whom the Lord honors? Who will accuse the elect of God? God who justifies? who will condemn (Rom. 8:33)? Therefore, he who said that his inheritance would be among such men, rightly says: "The lots have fallen to me among the most powerful themselves." But that he says "have fallen," let no one take it as if he were saying that his inheritance is made worse, because everything that falls becomes worse; but he used a proper and necessary word. For where someone is chosen not on account of merit, there a kind of lot of grace falls; as in the assumption of the apostle who was substituted into the place of Judas, it is written that "the lot fell upon Matthias" (Acts 1:26).

Therefore, since such an inheritance has come to him only by the grace of the Lord, he says significantly: "The lots have fallen to me among the most powerful: and indeed my inheritance is very great to me." This new Adam speaks. Verse 7. I will bless the Lord who made me understand: for the Son knows nothing except what he has seen and heard from the Father. Therefore he blesses him who made him understand. And truly this understanding is not from man, but from God. For what man, when two inheritances are placed before him, one magnificent and rich in works, the other poor and needy, would choose the one that needs the mercy of another? But the Son, taught by the Father, prefers the inheritance of those who hope in God over those who are justified by their own works. Thus he beautifully says: I will bless the Lord who made me understand; and still, as if in the night, my reins taught me. What did his reins teach him? Namely, they made him understand, he says, that it is better to hope in the Lord than to be justified by one's own work. For did not the Lord himself, as if in the night, his reins teach him to hope in God? For his soul was saddened even to death. He learned to hope in God, and this is what he means when he says that he was taught this understanding by his reins as if in the night. And the following verses show that he is speaking of his passion, when he adds:

Verses 8-10. I kept the Lord always before my eyes, because he is at my right hand so that I may not be shaken. Because of this, my heart was gladdened, and my tongue exulted; moreover, my flesh will dwell in hope, because you will not abandon my soul to the underworld, nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption. And the text and its order here are clear; but because he named the reins, and said, "they taught me," as if in the night, lest they seem rather obscure, let us inquire. God is called the searcher of the reins and the heart, in which, as it were, the secrets of a person are held in two places. But in the heart is indeed the secret of the soul, while in the reins is the secret of the flesh; which differences between the inner and outer person the Apostle also teaches when he says: "I consent to the law according to the inner man; but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind" (Rom. 7:12). And in another place: "Therefore I myself indeed serve the law of God with my mind; but with my flesh, the law of sin" (Ibid. 25). Our Lord Jesus himself also reports that he feels a certain dissension of this kind, where he says: "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak"; for according to the inner man he consented to the law of the Father, that he might suffer; but according to the outer man, as he himself testifies, he trembled in the flesh. And so, because the reins contain the secrets of the flesh, which was weak at the time of the passion, he says that he was taught by his own reins, so that he himself might understand that, although he was the Son, he must hope in God.

He thinks similarly about this and the epistle which is written to the Hebrews. For although, he says, he was the Son of God, he learned obedience from those things which he suffered: and he was made perfect, the cause of eternal salvation for all who obey (Heb. 5:8). For thus his reins taught him, that he should always keep God before his eyes, so that he may not be shaken. That is, concerning the will: the spirit is ready, but the flesh is weak. And he said that he was taught by his reins specifically as if in the night; he did not say "into the night," but "as if in the night." For his senses were not completely darkened by the fear of death, he who said: "Truly not what I want, but what you want" (Matt. 26:39). But yet he was not without some disturbance, he who confessed weakness and sadness. For if elsewhere David says: "The fear of death fell upon me, fear and trembling seized me, and darkness covered me" (Ps. 55:6), rightly this darkness coming from the fear of death, which is agreed to have been very small in the Son of God, is called not "night," but "as if night." Therefore it is said significantly: "Moreover, as if in the night, my reins taught me." But what did they teach? Namely, what follows below, that he should always keep God before his sight, because he is at his right hand so that he may not be moved.

For this, he says, my heart was gladdened, and my tongue exulted; still, however, my flesh will dwell in hope: because you will not abandon my soul in the underworld, nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; you will fill me with joy at the sight of your face; delights are in your right hand. Therefore, there are also joys in the right hand of God, with all of which the Son was filled. For he had God at his right hand. "I kept the Lord," he says, "always before my eyes; because he is at my right side." But ascending into heaven, he himself was placed at the right hand of the Father. At his right hand: let us ask what the left hand of this right hand is. The Apostle knows in a certain place the arms of justice, right and left, glory indeed and ignobility. I consider the right hand to be the form of justice; but ignobility and infamy, the left hand. Yet both are arms of justice. But in order to reach the right-hand arms of justice, one must first serve in the left. In this world, ignobility, infamy, weakness, folly, and other such things must be undertaken; so that we may attain nobility, glory, virtue, wisdom: all of which we will receive when we have arrived there where Christ sits at the right hand of God. We are sown in ignobility, that we may rise again in glory; we are sown in mortality, that we may rise again into eternity.

Therefore, our Lord, having suffered in the time of his passion the mockeries of scourges and spittings, when he was accused as a blasphemer, when he was counted among thieves, placed in such ignobility and infamy, what was he doing but serving in the left-handed arms of justice? And so, at that time placed at the left hand of God, he was providing for him at his right hand, so that he would not be disturbed. But after he rose and ascended into heaven, arriving at the right hand, at the palm of justice, at glory, at nobility, he is filled with joy in the presence of God, and he has delights at his right hand. From these the Apostle encourages us with hope, saying: "Because the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with those future goods which will be opened up in us" (Rom. 8:18). For this reason, let us also more willingly glory in our infirmities, so that the power of God may protect us. And now indeed let the Father himself be at our right hand so that we may not be moved, about to transfer us later to his right hand, into the riches of our Lord Jesus Christ: to whom is glory. Amen.

TREATISE ON PSALM 31. The Psalm of David indicates by its meaning what prophecy it contains. The Apostle taught that the New Testament would be established through the calling of the Gentiles. In it, faith was to be justified without works, and in it the future remission of iniquities and the forgetting of sins through the free grace of God were promised: and the reason for this is manifest. But it is worth the effort to follow the entire text of the psalm, in which the affections of the psalm-singers are to be discerned. Who has seen, according to the flesh, the temptations entering into faith? For they saw that those whose righteousness would not be reckoned from works were indeed blessed. For the law entered so that sins might be multiplied: and the law forged wrath: and where there is no law, there is no transgression. Therefore, not undeservedly will he be called blessed who has not been under the law, but has rather been under grace. But what this faith requires, the psalmist noted by saying, VERSE 2: Nor has deceit been found in his mouth. I believe that he seeks a man such as the Lord praised when Nathanael came to him; such as were not in Israel, whom God had thus rebuked through the prophets: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me (Isa. 29:13). And there is no doubt that this is deceit: to have one thing on the lips, another in the heart. Thus David well says in another psalm, I believed, he says, because of what I spoke (Ps. 115:10). And the Apostle explains: because faith is believed in the heart for righteousness, but confession is made by the mouth for salvation (Rom. 10:10).

If in his heart he believes what his lips confess, there will be no deceit found in his mouth. But if someone honors God with his lips, while his heart is found far from Him, there is deceit in his mouth—by which we are especially marked at that time when we follow human teachings and our own counsels, rejecting the commandments of God. For it is written: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me" (Isa. 29:13). They honor me, following the commandments and teachings of men (Matt. 15). So too in the Gospel the Lord calls the teachers of the law hypocrites, passing over the will of God and establishing their own counsels. Now every hypocrite is a pretender and deceitful. And indeed it is manifest deceit to promise faith to God and to trust in human counsels. Men of this kind can neither remit iniquities nor cover sins, because they place their salvation more in the counsels of men than in the help of God. Finally, as if noting his own temptation in the wavering of faith, the prophet, chastising himself, commends what others should avoid, saying: when the heavy hand of God was upon him—that is, persevering in many trials—he had indeed cried out to God, but did not persevere in the cry; but at last fell silent, and from continued silence his bones grew old.

We have often noted what we should understand spiritually by "bones": for just as bones are the support and strength of the body, so patience is the support and strength of our mind. Thus, here, the one who could not persevere under the heavy hand of God upon him, but failed and fell silent, his bones are rightly said to have grown old—that is, his patience has grown old. Now, every old age brings weakness. And so it is clear that his patience has become weak. And he fittingly used "grown old," that is, returned to the old impatience: for the new man and the new birth have a persevering patience; hence the Apostle says, "Tribulation will produce patience, patience produces testing, testing produces hope; but hope does not disturb, because the love of God is spread abroad in our hearts" (Rom. 5). Therefore, because in the new man the love of God is spread abroad in the heart through the Holy Spirit, who cries out, "Abba, Father," his patience is rightly persevering, so that he can say, "Who will separate me from the love of God? Tribulation, distress, nakedness, hunger, the sword?" (Rom. 8:35). But the one who failed while crying out and hoping in God blesses that his bones have grown old; that is, they have returned to the old impatience, the love of the new birth, which never despairs of the Father, having failed.

What then does it teach? That this is a faithful promise to us: that if iniquities or the working of sin, even if the hand of the Lord has become heavy upon us and has burdened us with many temptations, our cry to God must not fail. What if we have been silent? That we return to old thoughts, seeking a remedy in our own counsels, applying cares and anxieties, and through our own wisdom abandoning the hope that comes from God, which is stronger than all our thoughts. And noting this, as it were, in temptation, the prophet sings, Verses 3 and 4: "Because I was silent, all my bones have grown old; when I had cried out all day and night, your hand was heavy upon me." And what does he say at last? "I was turned to misery, while a thorn was fixed in me." Therefore he clearly signifies that, from this fault—that in the temptations that came upon him he had ceased to cry out to God and to hope—with silence and taciturnity succeeding, he had taken up in his thoughts the cares and anxieties of his life, and through this he was turned to misery, having abandoned, that is, the hope of God's help; and he says significantly that a thorn was fixed in him. For the Lord teaches in the Gospel that thorns are the cares and anxieties of livelihood, by which the Word is choked; or that here the prophet says that a thorn—that is, the care and anxiety of life—was fixed in him, from the time when he was silent and ceased to cry out to God, through which he confesses that he was turned to misery.

And since these worldly cares and anxieties frequently creep into our minds, even when they are not attended to, he says: "Make my sin known to me." And he made a distinction, differentiating iniquity from sin; because iniquity cannot be unknown. The meaning of this word is more fitting in Greek. For they call it *ansdayan*, by which is signified the time when the world lived without law, when it still did not know God in its pagan life. But all who are converted to the Lord must confess that the life of the earlier time was damnable. But indeed, because we define the name of sin in this, in which someone enters into cares and anxieties and thoughts of being overcome—which are many and varied, and whose images occur frequently even to the unwilling good—who can detect them in his own observance? Therefore, concerning this, the prophet rightly seeks help from God by saying, Verse 5: "Make my sin known to me, O Lord." And in this, the name of sin from the beginning of the world is also understood, if we distinguish the transgression of the first-formed man himself, we find it manifestly. But it would be long to pursue this; yet the meanings distinguishing between sin and iniquity are also made manifest to those pursuing them. For he asks concerning sin, that it be made known to him; but concerning iniquity, he says he has not hidden it from himself. For that, because it was not without the knowledge of man, the medicine of humility remained for him, that he might proclaim it and confess it to the Lord.

But sin, whose variety could steal upon even the ignorant, whose multitude could deceive and lie hidden, he begged to be made known to him. He persisted, finally, in the significance of the word; and because he was separating iniquity from sin, he said: "I," he says, "will declare my iniquity against myself, O Lord." So much so that here he does not say, "I will declare my sin, O Lord," but "my iniquity." For he could not declare sin, knowledge of which he was seeking from the Lord. But the iniquity which he had in his conscience, this, he says, he will declare against himself before the Lord. For iniquity has no other remedy than confession to God. For we do ignorantly what the Lord makes known, when knowledge of it has brought about conversion, and it is necessary that penance follow. Thus after this iniquity, if he has confessed before the Lord and declared it against himself—that is, having become his own accuser—he will redeem the impiety of his heart. And here he says with prudent reasoning: "I said: I will declare my iniquity against myself, O Lord; and you have remitted the impiety of my heart." Finally, he who does not confess iniquity to the Lord receives pride against the Lord, and thus acquires impiety. For he does not acknowledge the Lord as father of all creation. On the contrary, the prophet calls him who will confess, and through this deprecates the charge of impiety, humble; which is, of course, the opposite of proud.

For this reason, he says, the humble and just man will pray to you in a time that is right. Therefore, there is a time when the just man is not right with the Lord. The prophet himself teaches in what follows, saying, Verse 6: "Truly, in the flood of many waters they will not approach him." Therefore, in the flood of many waters the time is not right for the just man to approach the Lord; for it is not for a just man to give boldness to his own soul, as the law also says: "You shall not give boldness to your soul." But if someone, profound and most high in mysteries, seeks the Lord, let him examine all his judgments: and if by chance he thinks he can suffice to endure all his fruits (or, his afflictions), that man will not be a just man, nor will he usefully attempt to approach the Lord and seek him in the flood of many waters; because in the exaltation of wisdom, he will have attempted to strike the hidden depths of his mysteries. Thus the apostle Paul says to him: "And you, in the multitude," he says, "of revelations exalted, a goad was given to my flesh, an angel of Satan who strikes me: for which reason I begged the Lord three times: and it was said to me: My grace suffices for you; for nothing is accomplished in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:7-9). And so here the prophet, when he had said: because the just and humble in the flood of many waters will not approach the Lord, he himself shows in what time the Lord is more sought by him, Verse 7: "You are," he says, "my refuge from the tribulation surrounding me.

And so here too he glories more in his infirmities, so that the power of God may protect him, as Paul says: "Therefore I will more gladly glory in my infirmities, so that the power of Christ may protect me" (ibid. 9). Finally, he also added: "My exultation, deliver me from those who surround me." He calls the Lord his exultation: because the wise man does not glory in his own wisdom, nor the strong man in his own strength; but each one glories in this, that he has known and fears the Lord. Therefore, "My exultation, deliver me from those who surround me." Verse 8. "Let me understand and be joined to you on this path on which you will walk: I will fix my eyes on you." There follows a precept that is commanded: "You will walk after your Lord God." And this is the faithful man: not to choose a path for himself, but to follow the path that the Lord shows, to consider right what he has commanded. Finally, he says: "I will fix my eyes on you"; so that, of course, they see nothing else except what the Lord directs: which he says more clearly in another psalm: "As the eyes of handmaids are in the hands of their mistress, so are our eyes to our Lord" (Ps. 123:2); that is, not that we are directed to aim at what is true by ourselves; but that the Lord turns our eyes, which ought to be in his hands; and because it is in his power, where he opens our sight, where he closes it.

If anyone does not willingly come to this refuge of God, let us learn how such a one is chastised by the prophet, to whom he is compared, what is forbidden. "Do not," he says, verse 9, "become like the horse and the mule, which have no understanding." For man obeys the word and listens to the voice. But those of whom it can be said: "I sought and there was no man, I called and there was none who heard" (Isa. 63:5), such are the horse and the mule: they must be forced with bit and halter to go where they do not wish. Hence the just man demands that their hard neck and hard jaws be softened by torment and violence. And the prophet kindly does not wish them to be left to their own hardness, whoever do not willingly approach the Lord; but rather that they be dragged by whatever punishments, provided they be saved. So he says: "With bit and halter lead their jaws, those who do not approach you." Verse 9. "Many are the scourges of the sinner." For through these the Lord manufactures salvation for sinners, for by inflicting blows and tribulations, he teaches the pride of sinners to grow accustomed to fear. But he who hopes in the Lord will be surrounded by mercy. For neither by bit nor halter is he to be led, nor by scourge is he to be reproved that he may approach, whose hope is always in the help of God. Therefore his mercy is near to him. Wherefore, as the prophet says, verse 11: "Rejoice in the Lord, and exult, O just, and let all of upright heart be glad." Through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom is glory for ever and ever. Amen.

TREATISE ON PSALM 41. I think the discipline of exposition to be generally preserved in all psalms, so that the title is examined first, and the entire psalm is adapted to it. For no one is so foolish that, when he has promised to speak about the cedar, he would describe an oak: much less would the Spirit of God, whom we believe to have spoken through the prophet, have noted one thing in the title and said another in the song of the psalm, just as in the present one David certainly sang those things which ought to be understood by the sons of Core (Numbers 16:8): for thus is the superscription of the psalm. Now we read that the synagogue of Core, in the time of Moses, murmured against the ordinance of God, so that they strove to usurp and seize for themselves the highest ministry of the priesthood which Aaron and his sons had undertaken according to the will of God. The Apostle notes this vice of covetousness and warns, arguing in a certain way: "Thus I say to you, through the grace which has been given to me in all of you, do not be wise beyond the measure which it is fitting for you to be wise" (Romans 12:3); "but let each one of you be wise according to that measure of faith which the Lord has imparted: For just as in one body we have many members, but all members do not have the same functions; so we, many, are one body in Christ, but each one is a member of the other, having diverse charisms" (ibid. 4-6). Therefore, to one is given ministry, to another prophecy, to another virtue, to another the word of doctrine.

If anyone, wishing to be wise beyond measure, should go beyond the measure of the Lord's division, he is found in the folly of Core, and will be called spiritually a son of Core; and for such as these this psalm, which he teaches, will be sung. Verse 2. As a stag desires the sources of waters, so my soul desires the living God. For I think that the sources of waters are not placed without reason, since it would have been near at hand to say, as a stag desires waters; but he preferred to name the sources of waters, that is, the origin and beginning of waters; knowing, evidently, through spiritual wisdom, which alone knows the roots of trees and the natures of beasts, that even this mute animal desires not just any nearby waters, but the very sources of waters, seeking the purer and cleaner beginnings of streams. By this example he wishes us to be reminded, that we too should desire more eagerly the very fountain of life and wisdom, the Lord, who is the head of all. For this one fountain is, from which many divisions of spiritual waters are produced, such as healings, such as prophecies, such as kinds of tongues, such as ministries, such as the word of knowledge, such as the word of teaching. But the modes of those near at hand are not to be sought in such a way that, through emulation and contention and discords, we neglect the desires of the fountain itself. For we neglect him whenever we are unwilling to preserve the measure of his division and ordering in peace and charity.

Thus, in the likeness of the sons of Core, whoever are found in this pride will be admonished by this psalm, so that they may rather understand toward what they ought to direct their desire, as the just man says: "As the deer longs for springs of water, so my soul longs for the living God." Verse 3. "When shall I come and appear before the face of God?" My tears have become my bread day and night, while it is said to me daily, "Where is your God?" But concerning this very thing—"when shall I come and appear"—it is shown to us that it is not to be obtained from nearby; and unless our tears are bread for us day and night, we shall never arrive at the face of the Lord. And the understanding of the sons of Core ought to follow the order of doctrine, so that it may know that through many tribulations and vexations and reproaches one arrives at the house of God, lest it be exalted in its pride, knowing that virtue is more proven in infirmities, nor should it snatch dignity for itself, because the Apostle says: "Have that same wisdom for yourselves which is in Christ Jesus," who, when he was in the form of God, did not consider it a usurpation to be equal to God; but he humbled himself, taking the form of a servant, and was found in habit as a man. He emptied himself unto death, the death of the cross (Phil. 2:5-8); on which, when he was affixed, he heard these reproaches: "Where is your God?" when those who were reproaching him said, "Let him come and free him" (Matt. 27:43).

Thus, as I have said, the synagogue of Core is taught through how many tribulations and tears one approaches the house: tears which the prophet beautifully says were in his bread, that is, in the food of eternal life; and he proceeds in order, so that in what follows he says: Verse 5. I have remembered these things, and I have poured out my soul in me, because I will cross over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle as far as the house of God. And indeed I think a little must be said beforehand here about the meaning of the word, what "I have poured out" is. He says he has poured himself out because he was about to cross over into the place of the tabernacle as far as the house of God. But the crossings as far as the house of God are goods of the spirit. Therefore, to pour out the soul is an operation of good hope: but what do we know of its common meaning? because whatever is poured out is thrown away and perishes, and is not so safe as when it is held back in a vessel. For this is to pour out, to pour out what you have had enclosed somewhere. Thus, he who said, "I have poured out my soul," is to be understood as having said nothing other than that he has thrown away and lost and held it cheap. How then did he throw away and lose it because he was about to cross over into the place of the tabernacle as far as the house of God? unless perhaps the precept of God makes it clear, who said to his disciples: Whoever saves his soul will lose it; and whoever loses it will save it (Luke 17:55). And indeed he kept the order: for when he had spoken beforehand about the tribulations, since his tears had become his bread day and night, while it is said to him daily, "Where is your God?

This,” he says, “I have remembered, and I have poured out my soul within me.” In this he is to be understood as having said nothing other than that he has cast away, lost, and held as nothing his life. How, then, has he poured out his soul to God? For the just man knows that, whenever tribulations, persecutions, and reproaches come upon him on account of the name of God, his soul must be lost, cast away, and held as nothing, so that it may be saved on the day of the Lord. And therefore here also he shows, significantly, that he has not poured out his soul because he has despaired of the hope of future life, but that he has poured out his soul because he was about to pass over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, all the way to the house of God. Therefore, taught by this psalm, whenever the enemy persecutes us and reproaches us with the name of the Lord, let us pour out our souls to him, ready to lose them, so that we may save them: not pouring them out as if we despaired of the assurance of God’s help, but because we are certain that they will be given back to us, and that we will pass over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, all the way to the house of God.

Whoever, then, this place of the admirable tabernacle may be, through which the passage will be up to the house of God, let us now begin to inquire here. In the ancient books we find a tabernacle made by Moses for the God of Israel, in which the ark of the covenant was kept (Exod. 26:1), and in this all the mysteries were celebrated, and here they appeared offering sacrifices before the face of God, until through Solomon the house of God was built, the ark passed from the tabernacle of skins into the temple built of stones: but that tabernacle which had been in the desert, and those skins which formerly covered the planks of the temple, were admirable in their mystery. Finally, in the Song of Songs, the bride praises her beginnings thus: "I am black and beautiful, daughters of Jerusalem, like the tabernacle of Cedar, like the skins of Solomon" (Song 1:4). And in another psalm, although David longed for the courts of the Lord, he nevertheless praises his tabernacles, saying: "How admirable, O Lord, my soul longs for the courts of the Lord" (Ps. 83:2). For indeed the tabernacle of God is admirable; but the house of God is more to be desired. Finally, David himself, when the kingdom of Israel was already at peace, while the ark of God lingered in Shiloh under the skins of the tabernacle, longed to build the house of God. But what did the prophet say to him? "You shall not build me a house" (2 Sam. 7:7): it is not for everyone to build the house of God.

Therefore, as if toward greater ascents, a passage must be made by us in the place of the tabernacle, so that we may arrive all the way to the house of God. And we are reminded by the example of Jerusalem, because the house of the Lord is not built first unless the enemy and sin have been conquered: but nevertheless we remain in the tabernacle for as long as the desert is crossed, and the land of the Jordan is entered—the beginning of the promised inheritance—and every Canaanite enemy is subdued. Now, there is this difference between the dignity of the tabernacle and the house: that in the tabernacle one does not always dwell; but in the house one always does, as David signifies in the ascents, saying: "Because the Lord chose Zion, he was pleased with it as his dwelling: this is my rest for ever and ever" (Psalm 132:13). But in the tabernacle there is no rest: for it must be moved in time of war, in which the cloud that signified the presence of God also withdrew from it. This likeness will rightly be compared to us: as long as we are pilgrims in this body, let us in this equanimity conquer all its vices, so that no enemy remains alive or vigorous. For God will visit us even in the tabernacle, and in a time of peace: but when a battle with the vices has arisen, our tabernacle must be drawn together and prepared for a military expedition; nor can it be spread out, nor can one delight in the rest of God at a time when the interruption of vices is peaceful: and God will precede you indeed in battle, so that if you walk after him, you may easily conquer your enemies.

But it cannot dwell in you at that time. Therefore, although you conquer, although you overcome the vices of the flesh, yet from that very struggle you stain your hands in your own blood. Nor will you be fit at this time to build the house of the Lord, just as David was rejected, who had worked in blood. But he builds the house of the Lord who enters into rest, who is disturbed by no vices, for whom every enemy is destroyed, who can say: "But for me the world is crucified, and I to the world" (Gal. 6:14); with whom all old things have passed away, new things have been made, such as the kingdom of Solomon is referred to as a figure of ours. But if in the course of this life no one is found so perfect, who, pure from every interruption of sin, can arrive at the house of God: yet I can say this, that I will pass over into the place of the tabernacle up to the house of God: that is, in this present life, so that as long as I am in this world, I pass into the place of the tabernacle; since indeed daily the struggle against flesh and blood, against spiritual wickednesses, must be waged. But when the habitation of this tabernacle has been dissolved, as the Apostle says, and I receive a house not made by hands, but eternal in the heavens; when the body of our humility has been transfigured into the likeness of the body of the Son of God: then I will arrive at the house of God, at which time it can dwell in me forever; and I will rightly sing, that I will pass over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle up to the house of God.

But this crossing of mine will be in the voice of exultation and confession, the sound of one feasting. Nor is it surprising, moreover, if the shadow of future goods bore the image of this joy, whether when David, transferring the ark of God from the tabernacle at Shiloh, entered Jerusalem with a chorus and timbrels, keeping a feast day, or when Solomon, after the temple was built, brought in all the ministry with great exultation of those singing and playing psalms to God. Nor is it surprising, I say, when each one of us will exchange this tabernacle of his body for that house not made by hand, but eternal in the heavens, if his crossing will be in the voice of exultation and confession, the sound of one feasting. Therefore, he who has received this hope has rightly rebuked the sadness of his soul, saying, VERSE: Why, O soul, are you sad, and why do you trouble me? Hope in God, for I will confess to him, the salvation of my face and my God. And see whether it does not suit this understanding which we have followed, that in a time of persecution and reviling of the name of God, the just man consoles his soul with this kind of hope. Why are you sad, O soul, and why do you trouble me? Hope in God, for I will confess to him.

Since it cannot be avoided that one who casts his soul into death is not disturbed by some sadness—especially since the Lord of all virtues Himself, the prince of faith Himself, the Son of God Himself, who before the time of the cross came and spoke with confidence, saying: "No one takes my soul from me; I have the power to lay down my soul and take it up again" (John 10:18)—yet in the very hour of death, He said: "My soul is troubled even to death" (Mark 14:34), and "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me" (Matthew 26:39), and in His final groan: "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). So also this psalm, showing the image of persecution in order, indicates how many conflicts and tribulations the just man must endure, through which his faith is to be tested and proved; therefore it says: "My God, my soul is troubled within me." For who is there whose soul is not troubled in the time of those who persecute the name of God? Besides that necessity of human frailty, besides bodily tremblings, there is a certain peculiar disturbance of faith, when the persecutors of the name of God seem to increase and dominate, and God does not avenge His servants, nor come to the aid of their tribulations, nor stretch out His powerful right hand against His enemies. And therefore, because no one in such a time retains the sense of God's judgments, that exclamation of the Lord is beautiful: "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46).

He shows that he does not understand the reason why he has been abandoned. And if that teacher of wisdom and expounder of the Father, the Son, is so disturbed that he asks the Father why he has abandoned him, what will the rest, however righteous, do when the depths of God’s judgments come upon them? Nevertheless, the psalm teaches what we ought to retain and do alone in these disturbances. For it is necessary that every righteous man, when he is tempted, when he is troubled, when he is distressed, when he comes into perturbation of soul, even if he does not understand why these things happen to him, should not abandon faith, nor condemn the belief which the prophet taught by saying: “Therefore I will remember you, Lord, from the land of Jordan and from Hermon, from a little mountain.” For because my soul is disturbed in me, “therefore,” he says, “I will remember you from the land of Jordan and Hermon.” For in the land of Jordan, the entrance to the promised inheritance is signified for the people of Israel. And since we, comparing spiritual things to spiritual, consider faith to be the entrance to our inheritance. For this is the gate of our promises. Thus, where the prophet wished to commend the beginning of our faith, he named the land of Jordan and Mount Hermon. So also in the Song of Songs, where the first calling of the Church is made: “Come,” it says, “from Lebanon, bride; come from Lebanon, bride; come from Lebanon” (Song 4:8): crossing, you will cross, and you will cross from the beginning of faith, from the head of Hermon.

Let no one be disturbed that in this passage Mount Sanir is also named, since Mount Sanir is the same as Hermon, which history teaches through Moses in Deuteronomy is situated in the land of the Jordan. And we received, it says, at that time the land from the hands of two kings of the Amorites, who were beside the Jordan, from the torrent as far as Hermon Sanir (Deut. 3:8). The Amorite named it Sanir. Therefore, the head of Hermon, which is in the land of the Jordan, is called the beginning of faith. For that reason, John is first heard there as the precursor, and Christ is first shown to John there; there the Lord is filled with the Holy Spirit, there the testimony of the Father’s voice is given: This is my son in whom I am well pleased (Matt. 3:17). Here, proceeding, the beginnings of virtues, here the beginnings of the signs by which the Son of God is believed to have been worked. Rightly, therefore, the head of Hermon is called the beginning of faith: whence it is fitting for us to be mindful of the saving face of our God, whenever our soul is disturbed in temptations. For the beginning of faith is the simple first credulity, by which we enter the way to faith in God through Jesus Christ. Wisdom, however, is sought among the perfect (1 Cor. 2:), what the varieties of God’s judgments are, what the depths of his thoughts are.

Even if in a time of persecutions, in the turmoil of imminent death, wisdom should fail, still the beginning of faith is not to be abandoned: but at least with that simple and bare credulity let us be mindful of God, knowing that the enemy has no power over us except insofar as it is permitted. Let us not, however, abuse the boast of the foolish woman, by whom it was said: "Where are the works of the righteousness of God? Job, what did the fear of the Lord profit you?" (Job 22:3). But whenever thought comes into this turmoil, it will be right, according to the teaching of this psalm, to say: "My God, my soul is troubled; therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan and Hermon, from the little mountain." Therefore, significantly, to Mount Hermon he adds the appellation "little": for the beginning of faith is a small mountain, and one with many ascents up to the kingdom of heaven through insults, through injuries, through tribulations, through the death of the cross—believing in God is the first ascent. For whenever in that most bitter summit of the cross my soul is troubled concerning the beginning of faith, concerning the little mountain, I will remember, Lord, who are the salvation of my face.

Deep calls to deep at the sound of your cataracts, that is, the channels of God's testing, which the earth will suffer: for who knows the heights of his thoughts and judgments? The flood is the mind of the Lord, whose greatness the righteous man, wishing to display, since he was speaking of his own tribulations, says: "Deep calls to deep at the sound of his cataracts." All your heights and your waves have passed over me. He gives the reason why his soul was troubled: for deep calls to deep at the sound of the cataracts. We have already spoken beforehand what we thought the deep to be; yet we give the reason what the prophet says about this very thing: "Your judgments, O Lord, are a great deep" (Psalm 35:7): for there is a great profundity in the heights of God's judgments, as if so frequently judgments follow upon judgments, so that the flesh may emerge, what the flesh may endure? See the apostle, although he was treating in peace, yet contemplating the mystery of God, disturbed, exclaims: "O the height of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments, how unsearchable are his ways" (Romans 11:33)! This height of God's heart is rightly called the deep, whose profundity no one knows: for there are many heights where there is no end. And rightly here deep calls to deep at the sound of your cataracts. Let us establish certain species of deeps, so that the treatment may shine more clearly.

Behold the Son of God coming in many signs and powers, healing the various illnesses of many, and is accused because he brings about cures. Who ever heard ill of one who did good? And the Father admits such impious contumely against his own Son: behold one abyss. The judgments of God are set in motion, false witnesses are compared as though against a blasphemer and irreligious man, when he was the sole true witness of God: and the impious give testimony and win the case: behold another abyss follows the former. He is struck, scourged, arrayed in a mock garment, the enemy exults and scoffs, all impiety passes into the Son of God: behold now a third abyss is summoned, the Lord of glory is condemned to the cross, placed among thieves and impious men. See how many judgments the abyss follows, so that it may rightly be said of this: All the heights and your channels have passed over me. And here I think enough has been said. But lest anyone seek and think we have passed over it deliberately, what it means when it says: Deep calls to deep at the sound of your cataracts, let us briefly take up again the voice of the cataracts. These visible cataracts of waters indeed have their own voices, because the outpourings of rivers must sound and roar. And whenever from the infinite lake of pools or springs they rise with a belching into the outflow of rivers, whose depth can never fail or be drained, it is well said of them: deep calls to deep at the sound of the cataracts.

But we must remember of what abysses the prophet speaks, of which we have also spoken before. And so we must know the cataracts of these: we find that all the outpourings of the judgments of God have resounded through the voices of the prophets, which I consider to be called cataracts here. Abyss calls to abyss in the voice of the cataracts. After the preaching of the prophets, the judgments of God followed, and they called forth, as it were, that voice which they had sent ahead, so that it might follow. The voice of a cataract was: "Let us oppress the just man, because he is useless to us, and is contrary to our works, and calls himself the Son of God" (Wisdom 2:12). Another voice of a cataract is: "Led as a sheep to the sacrifice, and like a lamb before its shearer, it did not open its mouth" (Isaiah 53:7). There is also another voice: "They pierced my hands and my feet, they counted all my bones" (Psalm 22:17). There is also that voice: "They divided my garments, and over my garment they cast lots" (Ibid. 19): "in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink" (Psalm 69:22). And what need is there now to recount all the voices of the cataracts, when the books of the prophets are full of the insults and the passion of the Lord? Therefore, since all the preachings have been followed by the faith of the things accomplished, in this voice of the cataracts abyss has called to abyss, so that the effect might fulfill the sounds of them. So, because the prophet was speaking of such abysses, he fittingly adds, saying:

Verse 10. Between day the Lord commanded his mercy, and by night he revealed it: with me is my prayer to the God of my life; I will say to God, "You are my protector, why have you forgotten?" He gives, clearly, teaching and consolation to all the righteous, so that if, overwhelmed by many waves of temptations, they suffer a disturbance of the mind, which is called the night of the eyes, they may remember that the powerful mercy of God is always revealed in this night, unless there is a time for the cause of mercy. But when we have come into danger, and the disturbance from despair of life has made a certain night for our heart, then if we are able to say: "With me is my prayer to my God; I will say, 'You are my protector, why have you abandoned me?'" This, therefore, is to be retained in the night; and when the other senses are disturbed, this nevertheless ought not to fail, that we cry out to the Lord: "Why have you abandoned me?" Concerning which speech we have previously treated: because even if we do not understand the reason for the judgments of God why he abandons us in some temptations, we nevertheless ought not to fail to implore mercy from him.

Why," he says, "do I walk about sad, while the enemy afflicts me, Verse 11, and breaks my bones?" Therefore this prayer of his will always be with the just man, even by night. What I have said: "He breaks my bones" is not, of course, to be understood as imminent death; but because here in tribulation his patience was being shattered, which is the foundation and strength of our mind, just as bones are of the body: he called patience "bones," which is shattered by constant tribulations. "While you break my bones," he says, "those who trouble me reproached me, saying daily: 'Where is your God?'" But although the just man feels this heavy hand, yet what must be done, and what remedy is to be obtained in persecutions, he teaches by saying, Verse: "Why are you sad, my soul, why do you disturb me? Hope in God, because I will confess to him, the saving face of mine and my God." With this example set before us, if any vexation, if any pressure, if any reproach of the name of God comes upon us, if our soul is sad, if it is disturbed, let us say: "Hope in God, because I will confess to him, with Jesus Christ our Lord protecting, to whom is glory for ever and ever. Amen.