1 Unto the end, for the hidden things of the Son. A psalm for David.
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VERS. 1.-- « Unto the end, for the hidden sons. » Nor is it added whose, by excellence he is the only-begotten of God. « Hidden. » Because other things of his are manifest, etc., *as far as* and of the punishment by which he judges, in purging, in converting, in blinding.
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VERS. 1.-- *Why.* Diapsalma, because it will be permitted to him (to Antichrist) to do such great things that he may be thought God: he adds, as it were, the voice of those who groan and who ask concerning the deferring of judgment. *Why.* He treats at length of the evils of that time, etc., *as far as* but opportunely, namely thus, *While the wicked man is proud.*
2 I will give praise to thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: I will relate all thy wonders.
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VERS. 2.-- « I will confess to thee, O Lord, with my whole « heart, etc. » The prophet sings joyfully, because the worship of the devil is destroyed by the coming of Christ: and Christ reigns, judges, helps.
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VERS. 2.-- *The poor man is set on fire, they are caught in the counsels which they devise.* Wondrously does the providence of God work out of evils, etc., *as far as* thus the evil are damned, the just are saved.
3 I will be glad, and rejoice in thee: I will sing to thy name, O thou most high.
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VERS. 3.-- *For the sinner is praised.* Therefore he is proud, or is caught, because he is praised by his own, by the fulfilling of the desires of his sensuality. The tongues of flatterers bind souls fast in sins: for it is a delight to do those things in which not only is no reprover feared, but a praiser is even heard.
4 When my enemy shall be turned back: they shall be weakened, and perish before thy face.
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VERS. 4.-- « When my enemy is turned back, etc., » « they shall perish, etc. » Because when thou hast turned the devil backward, his members are weakened, so that they can do no hurt, and they shall not be, or, they shall be utterly destroyed by thy assault, when thou shalt say, « Go, ye cursed, » or, they shall perish when God takes away iniquity from them.
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VERS. 4.-- *Of his wrath.* Of Antichrist's, because he will do all things turbulently and cruelly; or, of God's: he will not seek God by repenting; or, God will not seek him out, that he should take vengeance here, but is about to punish him more heavily in the time to come.
5 For thou hast maintained my judgment and my cause: thou hast sat on the throne, who judgest justice.
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VERS. 5.-- « Thou hast made my judgment and my « cause. » Because they have served me to my profit, because « thou hast sat. » « Thou judgest. » The Father, that Christ might die for the race of men. Or, Christ shall judge at the end, to whom the Father hath given all judgment.
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VERS. 5.-- *Defiled.* The cause of his wickedness is that he does not hold God before his eyes, and therefore his ways, that is, his thoughts and his works, are foul. *At all times.* His own, namely of his life, etc., *as far as* and because *he shall have dominion over all his enemies.*
6 Thou hast rebuked the Gentiles, and the wicked one hath perished; thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever.
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VERS. 6.-- « For ever and for ever. » The age is this present one which rolls on: the age of the age is eternal, of which that one is the image. Or, it is a determination, lest thou shouldst take this present one.
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VERS. 6.-- *He hath said,* etc. I will take possession of all nations, but not *without evil,* that is, without sin, which is proper to him. Or: I shall always be without evil; this he promises himself, *whose mouth is full of cursing,* etc. *I shall not be moved.* Or, he will think that he will come by evil arts, and not otherwise, from a mortal generation into an eternal one, which Simon Magus also thought.
7 The swords of the enemy have failed unto the end: and their cities thou hast destroyed. Their memory hath perished with a noise:
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VERS. 7.-- « The javelins. The power of the devil shall be destroyed at the end of the world. « Cities. » His peoples. « With a noise, » that is, with the greatest outcry, as happens when prosperous things are shut up with a heavy « end. » But on the contrary the Lord remaineth. « The end, » is the sword which he shall brandish at the second coming, judging openly, and which now judges secretly, up to which the javelins of the enemy avail somewhat, but then they shall wholly fail. « Of them. » In the plural, although above he said the enemy in the singular, because although the demons are many, yet because in malice they are alike, they are as it were one. « With a noise. » That is, both the din and the tumult of impiety hath perished: or, when impiety is overthrown, a din is made, because none comes to the highest peace but he who has fought with the vices with a great din. « His throne. » The judiciary power, he who was judged in humility shall judge in majesty.
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VERS. 7.-- *Under the tongue.* That is, his thoughts are of the labour of the saints and of bodily sorrow, which is plain in the martyrs. Or, the labour of the saints and the sorrow which lies in the punishments of the body is *under his tongue,* that is, it is the lighter; his tongue, which harms within: that other, namely, is the punishment without. Or, *under the tongue,* because words are more feared and will do more harm than stripes, by which the soul is cast headlong and will perish.
8 But the Lord remaineth for ever. He hath prepared his throne in judgment:
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VERS. 8.-- *In secret places,* etc., that is, in ambiguous ones, where it is not easily seen what is to be sought and what is not.
9 And he shall judge the world in equity, he shall judge the people in justice.
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VERS. 9.-- *His eyes are upon the poor man,* etc. He sets out the ambushes: *the eyes,* as though with mercy and affection; or, he so deceives others that his eyes look cruelly upon the poor in spirit. *A lion in his den,* etc. Because in him is violence and guile, etc., *as far as* through heretics and false brethren.
10 And the Lord is become a refuge for the poor: a helper in due time in tribulation.
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VERS. 10.-- « And he is become. » How great a thing it is, that he who is judge should be a refuge to the poor man, who desires nothing of the world. « In opportunities. » Man is not more opportunely turned away from the world, unless to these pleasures labours and sorrows be mingled.
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VERS. 10.-- *He shall bow himself down.* When through excessive prosperity he has let his mind slacken into idleness, he shall fall by a sudden destruction: and the Lord shall slay him with the spirit of his mouth. *Unto the end.* They deny that God sees, etc., *as far as* he rouses the Lord, *Arise, O Lord.*
11 And let them trust in thee who know thy name: for thou hast not forsaken them that seek thee, O Lord.
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VERS. 11.-- « Let them hope. » When they cease to hope in the things of the world. Those turned away from the world, seeking where to fix their hope, the knowledge of the name receives. The name is known, when he whose the name is, is known. His name is Lord, which he knows who willingly serves him, or, who is, and therefore let no one hope in transitory things, which have nothing besides "it was" and "it will be." For what in them is to come, when it has come, straightway becomes past, it is awaited with desire, it is lost with sorrow, it is not held with certainty. « For thou hast not forsaken. » The prophet provokes the faithful to praise, looking upon the benefits of the present time and of the time to come.
12 Sing ye to the Lord, who dwelleth in Sion: declare his ways among the Gentiles:
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VERS. 12.-- « Sion. » Contemplation, which is practised now, that we may come to the vision of peace, that is, from Sion into Jerusalem: but any zealous contemplation falls into error, unless the Lord dwell in it. « Pursuits. » That is, his commandments, upon which zeal is to be spent.
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VERS. 12.-- *Arise, O Lord God, and let thy hand be exalted, that thou mayest forget,* etc. He prays for judgment, that these things may be quickly ended here, things so great that no one would wish the time in which they happen to be prolonged. *Arise.* As it were unlooked for, that they may be crushed, while thine own, exalted with thee, are glorified.
13 For requiring their blood, he hath remembered them: he hath not forgotten the cry of the poor.
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VERS. 13.-- « For requiring. » But as if they who are sent to evangelize should say, No one believes us, and we are slain, he answered: not without fruit, because « requiring in vengeance their blood, » in the judgment, where there shall be glory to the slain, punishment to the slayer: « he hath remembered, etc » not after forgetfulness, but after a long time, according to the feeling of the weak, who think him forgetful, because it is not done so quickly as they wish: to whom also add, nay, he is not forgetful, as you think: and if I have said « he hath remembered, » this is against the complainers, who because of the delay think him forgetful.
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VERS. 13.-- *Wherefore hath the wicked provoked God.* And so now, both understanding and exulting concerning that judgment, he says, wherefore? that is, what does it profit to do such great evils? *For God hath said in his heart,* etc. This sense calls for a delivery, etc., *as far as* lest they toil, or grow angry. Christ bore with Judas and sent him to preach, and gave him the eucharist, that he might show that the gifts reach those who receive the faith, such as Judas was.
14 Have mercy on me, O Lord: see my humiliation which I suffer from my enemies.
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VERS. 14.-- « Have mercy. » In his own person he says what each one asks. « See. » The look of God is help, and when it comes, the light also puts the darkness to flight: from the pride of the enemy is measured the humility of the sufferer, because these are humbled just so much as those are exalted.
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VERS. 14.-- *For thou seest that thou considerest labour and sorrow.* This thou hast already foreordained, where thou deliverest them into thy hand. *To the fatherless,* etc. To him for whom the world dies as a father, by which he was carnally begotten, so that he may say: *The world is crucified to me, and I to the world.*
15 Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death, that I may declare all thy praises in the gates of the daughter of Sion.
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VERS. 15.-- « Who liftest me up from the gates of death, etc. » That is, from all covetous desires, by which one goes to death: death now is that very gladness in the enjoying of things desired; whence the Apostle: « A widow that liveth « in delights is dead. » « In the gates of the daughter « of Sion. » They are all the best pursuits, etc., *as far as* which neither eye hath seen, nor ear heard. Gates against gates, because these are of death, those of life. « Sion. » She begat all the Churches of the world, because there Christ was born, whence faith began.
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VERS. 15.-- *Break thou the arm.* By punishments he terrifies, by good things he soothes. *It shall be sought.* While it is still needful for our purging, as above, while the wicked man is proud, etc.; but because it shall not be found, that is, because there is now no one in whom there is room for his sin, smooth iron has no need of a file.
16 I will rejoice in thy salvation: the Gentiles have stuck fast in the destruction which they prepared. Their foot hath been taken in the very snare which they hid.
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VERS. 16.-- « I will exult. » Thus far the cry, thereafter the Church which is afflicted says, I will exult in Jesus. For by hope she is saved. « In the snare. » A hidden snare is a deceitful thought: the foot is the soul's love, which, if it be crooked, is called covetousness, if right, charity. For by it the soul is moved as it were to a place, whither it rejoices to have come by love. « In the snare » therefore, that is, in a fraudulent counsel: the foot, that is, the love which through fraud comes to a vain gladness, is caught, because that delight binds them, so that they dare not break off their love from thence and turn it to useful things. For if they should try, it is grief to leave the things which delight, and that grief does not suffer them to depart.
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VERS. 16.-- *The Lord shall reign for ever, and unto ages of ages.* This kingdom will be the more welcome for the evils that run alongside it, in that it will come when Antichrist has been destroyed; from this kingdom ye shall perish, O nations, but the poor shall have it, because *the desire of the poor,* etc.
17 The Lord shall be known when he executeth judgments: the sinner hath been caught in the works of his own hands.
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VERS. 17.-- *He shall be known.* Or, of the judgment to come, etc., *as far as* as certain men falsely think.
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VERS. 17.-- *The preparation of the heart.* Or, concupiscence, which is where a thing is sought more ardently with all the powers of the soul. Or, this, which God himself has prepared in their hearts. Or, that God may hear as soon as they wish to ask. *The ear,* etc. When members are named which in us are visible and bodily, in God powers of operation must be understood. *To judge for the fatherless and the humble,* etc. The second coming will be manifest, etc., *as far as* the author of evils will be damned with his own people.
18 The wicked shall be turned into hell, all the nations that forget God.
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VERS. 18.-- *Let sinners be turned.* Here is the canticle of the diapsalma, as it were the hidden gladness of the separation: which is made here not by place, but by affection, between the good and the evil. To sinners with Antichrist he foretells the end of evils; as it were this meanwhile, but at last *they shall be turned,* lest they rejoice in their own things. *Into hell,* lest they think themselves to be sent elsewhere.
19 For the poor man shall not be forgotten to the end: the patience of the poor shall not perish for ever.
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VERS. 19.-- *Patience.* Patiently, for this chiefly will God be mindful of the poor, namely because of their patience.
20 Arise, O Lord, let not man be strengthened: let the Gentiles be judged in thy sight.
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VERS. 20.-- *Arise.* He prays for the judgment to come. The prophet, speaking of the end of the world, foresaw the coming of Antichrist; whence as if terrified he cries: *arise.*
21 Appoint, O Lord, a lawgiver over them: that the Gentiles may know themselves to be but men.
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VERS. 21.-- *Let them know.* That is, being tormented let them find by experience that they were foolish men. ## PSALM X.-- *According to the Hebrews.*
22 Why, O Lord, hast thou retired afar off? why dost thou slight us in our wants, in the time of trouble?
23 Whilst the wicked man is proud, the poor is set on fire: they are caught in the counsels which they devise.
24 For the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul: and the unjust man is blessed.
25 The sinner hath provoked the Lord according to the multitude of his wrath he will not seek him:
26 God is not before his eyes: his ways are filthy at all times. Thy judgments are removed from his sight: he shall rule over all his enemies.
27 For he hath said in his heart: I shall not be moved from generation to generation, and shall be without evil.
28 His mouth is full of cursing, and of bitterness, and of deceit: under his tongue are labor and sorrow.
29 He sits in ambush with the rich in private places, that he may kill the innocent.
30 His eyes are upon the poor man: He lieth in wait in secret like a lion in his den. He lieth in ambush that he may catch the poor man: to catch the poor, whilst he draweth him to him.
31 In his net he will bring him down, he will crouch and fall, when he shall have power over the poor.
32 For he hath said in his heart: God hath forgotten, he hath turned away his face not to see to the end.
33 Arise, O Lord God, let thy hand be exalted: forget not the poor.
34 Wherefore hath the wicked provoked God? for he hath said in his heart: He will not require it.
35 Thou seest it, for thou considerest labour and sorrow: that thou mayst deliver them into thy hands. To thee is the poor man left: thou wilt be a helper to the orphan.
36 Break thou the arm of the sinner and of the malignant: his sin shall be sought, and shall not be found.
37 The Lord shall reign to eternity, yea, for ever and ever: ye Gentiles shall perish from his land.
38 The Lord hath heard the desire of the poor: thy ear hath heard the preparation of their heart.
39 To judge for the fatherless and for the humble, that man may no more presume to magnify himself upon earth.