Thomas Aquinas, on Ps 54:6

“Fear and trembling are come upon me: and darkness hath covered me.”

“"And I said: Who will give?" Above, the Psalmist set forth the affliction of heart that he suffered; now he sets forth the remedy he applied. And this remedy is above all the pursuit of contemplation, especially because in the works of the active life he is afflicted again. Gregory says: The evils that press upon us here compel us to go to God. And concerning this he does three things. First, he sets forth his desire for the contemplative life. Second, he shows what he did to dispose himself for it. Third, what he expects to be accomplished by God. The second, at "Behold, I went far away." The third, at "I waited." In contemplation, three things are required: facility for contemplating, the act of contemplation, and the effect. Facility is designated by wings. Hence he says, when he was afflicted in the active life: "I said, 'Who will give me wings like a dove?'" Considering that there is no remedy for escaping this affliction except through contemplation, and that he does not have the facility of escaping because he does not have wings by which he could fly. And there is a threefold wing corresponding to the three things required for contemplation. First, there is required the ordering of disordered affections, which is a certain disposition for contemplation; and this is had through the moral virtues. Hence the wings are the moral virtues, such as patience, humility, etc. Mal., last chapter: "Healing in his wings." Another wing is charity, which above all makes one fly into contemplation. Ezek. 1: "Their wings were joined together." Another wing is wisdom; and by the wings of wisdom, truth is contemplated, because without those wings one easily falls into errors if one contemplates divine things. Of these wings, Is. 40: "They shall take wings like eagles," which signifies wisdom through lofty flight. These things are said because wings are not fully possessed and are given so that they may be absolutely possessed. And all these are given by God. Sometimes they are given to certain people who have wings but have them impeded, as prelates when their resignation is accepted. And he says, "wings like a dove," not a raven. For the raven did not return to the ark, but the dove returned carrying a branch of a green olive. Those who do not return to the ark with holy affection fly like ravens, because they think of nothing but themselves -- namely, how they might discover some truth, like the philosophers. But those fly like doves who both contemplate and return to their neighbors, teaching what they have contemplated, carrying a branch of green olive in their mouths, bestowing the oil of mercy upon their neighbors. For the dove is a clean, lovable, mourning animal; so too the saints are moved by their neighbors and have compassion for them. It is also a simple animal; and so too the saints have simplicity. Mt. 10: "Simple as doves." The act of contemplation is signified by flight. "I will fly." In Sacred Scripture, the progress of good works is designated by a threefold movement of an animal: namely, by walking -- Jn. 12: "Walk while you have the light"; by running -- Ps. (118): "The way of your commandments," etc.; and by flying -- Is. 40: "They shall fly and not grow weary." Walking is designated through the moral virtues, by which a man lives humanly. Running through charity. Flying through contemplation. According to Richard of Saint Victor, contemplation is diversified as flight is among birds. Sometimes birds fly upward, sometimes downward, to the right, to the left, forward and backward, sometimes in circles. Sometimes they hover suspended and advance and retreat. So too in contemplation: to ascend is to consider sublime causes; to descend is to consider the lowest effects. Likewise, to go forward is to consider more general matters that pertain to many; to go backward is when one considers private matters. Likewise, to the right and to the left is when one considers certain circumstances. In a circular motion is when one considers the accidents of things; but when what is individual is signified, then there is rest. The effect is designated when he says, "and I will rest," namely in consideration. This rest is had in this life: Wis. 8: "Entering my house, I will rest with her." And in the fatherland: Ps. (4): "In peace, in the selfsame, I will sleep and I will rest."”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.