Commentary on the Psalms (In Psalmos Davidis Expositio)

The Psalmist has confessed that he suffered his affliction on account of his sin; here, however, he promises caution for the future. The title is this: "Unto the end, a canticle of David, for Idithun." And this is not new, although the title is new: for as is found in the history, 1 Chronicles 15, when David brought back the ark of the covenant which had been taken by the Philistines, he appointed four thousand singers who should sing the Psalms; and among these he set some whom he called Asaph, Idithun, and Ithamar, and this is set down in the title. And as Origen says, this custom existed also among the Greeks, that if there were ever any poets who recited songs before the people, if these had not been composed by the very ones reciting them but by others, the victory was not given to the reciter but to the poet. So too it happens with the Psalms; for David made all the Psalms, and some he himself sang before the ark, as is found in 2 Kings 6; others he gave to others to be sung; and therefore those to whom they were given were, as it were, singers, and the Psalms are entitled from them: partly because of their dignity, since they were prophets, and partly because of the mystery involved. Whence this pertains to the mystery of Idithun, which is interpreted "a man knowing within" or "leaping over," and it signifies one leaping over the vanity of the world, of which much is treated in this Psalm.

This Psalm, then, is divided into two parts. In the first he sets down the caution which he keeps for escaping dangers. In the second he shows the necessity of this caution, at the words, "Behold thou hast made my days measurable." As to the first he does two things. First he sets forth the caution. Second he shows the danger arising from it, at the words, "I was dumb." As to the first he does two things. First he sets forth the caution. Second he gives the reason for the caution, at the words, "I set a guard to my mouth." In this caution three things must be considered: namely, the purpose of taking care; whence he says, "I said," that is, with deliberation I determined and purposed in my heart: Ecclesiastes 2: "I said in my heart, I will go and abound with delights." Second, what he proposes must be considered: namely, "I will keep my ways," that is, my courses of action. And a man ought to keep the ways of God so as to imitate them: Job 23: "My foot hath followed his steps: I have kept his way and have not declined from it." Likewise he ought to keep his own ways lest he go astray: Deuteronomy 4: "Keep your ways and your pursuits." Third, the fruit which follows from this must be considered: "that I sin not with my tongue." Man ought diligently to guard himself from all sins, and especially from the sin of the tongue, because he easily slips into these: for the tongue is mobile, and readily breaks forth into evil. Or another reason is that the tongue is the immediate organ for expressing the inner conception of the heart. Hence as soon as a word is in the heart, it is on the tongue; and therefore it must be diligently guarded. Consequently the reason for this guarding is given: "I set a guard to my mouth, when the sinner stood against me"; as if to say: this is the reason why I so guard my ways, because the adversary is always against me. Elsewhere it was said that a man should set a guard over his heart: Proverbs 4: "With all watchfulness keep thy heart"; here he says that he sets a guard over his mouth, which is not to be closed altogether, but ought to be guarded, that is, kept from evil words as regards the time, and as regards the things he says: Ecclesiastes 8: "There is a time for every business, and there is opportunity." And why did I set a guard to my mouth? "When the sinner stood against me." This is expounded in three ways. One sense is: "against me," to lay snares; and then caution is all the more necessary: Ecclesiastes 5: "If thou hast understanding, answer thy neighbor: but if not, let thy hand be upon thy mouth"; Matthew 22: "that they might catch him in his speech." The second sense is: "against me," to do injury or to attack; because even then, when he attacks, you ought to be on guard, for therein lies virtue: 1 Peter 2: "when he was reviled, he did not revile." The third sense is: "against me," that is, in my sight, that he might be instructed; and then caution is necessary lest all things be uttered to all. For there are certain things to be uttered to the just which are not to be said to sinners: 1 Corinthians 3: "I could not speak to you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal"; Matthew 7: "Do not give that which is holy to dogs"; as if to say: I set a guard lest I disclose the secrets of doctrine to sinners.

"I was dumb." Here he sets down the danger of caution into which he could fall; on account of which he says: seeing sinners attacking against me, I proposed to keep silence altogether; whence he says, "I was dumb," that is, I was utterly silent. But sometimes it happens that on account of caution someone is indiscreetly silent at times; and sometimes someone is silent outwardly while being troubled inwardly. Ecclesiasticus 33: "The heart of a fool is like a wheel running before it." But this man was not troubled inwardly; therefore he says, "I was humbled," namely within, but there is a danger: for while I wished to keep silent from evils, "I was silent even from good things": either from good words which I did not speak, or from good men to whom I was unwilling to speak. Ephesians 4: "Let no evil speech proceed from your mouth, but that which is good for edification of faith," etc. Whence it follows: "and my sorrow was renewed"; as if to say: before I sorrowed over indiscreet speech, now I sorrow over indiscreet silence; as if to say: sorrow made me new again. But a remedy of inward charity is applied; and therefore he says: "My heart grew hot within me," that is, the heat of charity was stirred up in my heart. Proverbs 6: "Can a man hide fire in his bosom, and his garments not burn?" So it is impossible that a man should hide the words of God when his heart is inflamed with charity. Psalm 118: "Thy word is fiery," etc. But the cause of this stirring is meditation on divine things; whence he says: "and in my meditation a fire shall flame out." Nothing is loved except the good and the beautiful. Hence in exterior loves, bodily sight is the cause of love. And therefore if you wish to approach spiritual things, it is necessary that your heart be enkindled with the love of God. The effect of this stirring is that he who had proposed to keep silence is moved to speak; whence he says, "I spoke." Acts 2: "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak." Gregory: "The Spirit makes those whom it fills both ardent and speaking alike." Job 4: "Who can withhold the word he has conceived?" A like thing is said in Jeremiah 20: "The word of the Lord was made," etc. "And I said, I will speak no more," etc., and it follows, "and it became in my heart like a fire." Or, according to the Gloss, it is expounded, "I became deaf," that is, I was made deaf. God does not give grace to a man unless he uses it; and therefore when someone through negligence does not use the grace given to him, God takes it away from him, as is clear concerning the talent. Luke 19: "Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds." And therefore he says, "I became deaf and was humbled," that is, cast down; and then it does not sound as virtue but as fault: and therefore he says, "my heart grew hot" out of anxiety. Origen expounds otherwise: "I said, I will keep my ways" — a full stop. "That I sin not with my tongue, I set a guard to my mouth." And afterward, "while the sinner stood against me, I was dumb." Now there is a threefold kind of men. Some, placed in tribulations, curse those who persecute them; some bless them; some are in the middle, who at least arrive at this, that they are silent. Thus he escaped the first degree, because he set a guard to his mouth and did not curse. But because he was dumb and did not bless, he did not escape the second degree, because he felt sorrow and seethed within out of indignation, etc. Here he turns himself to God, and is enkindled.

"I spoke with my tongue: make known to me, O Lord, my end, and the number of my days." Here a double petition is set down. The first, at the words, "make known to me, O Lord, my end." "End" is here taken as Christ. Romans 10: "Christ is the end of the law." And he says: O Lord, make Christ known to me. The other petition is at the words, "make known to me the number of my days," that is, I wish to consider what the present life is, so that I may compare it to that end: for these days are evil, few, and imperfect; but those are most perfect: and then it is known that "the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us," as is said in Romans 8. And thus, "that I may know what is wanting to me," that is, in what way I am imperfect with respect to that life. Origen says that "end" is here taken for perfection. For every art has an end which it intends, which is its perfection; and thus he says, "make known to me my end," that is, what is the highest way of perfection, in which you wish me to walk. Psalm 118: "I have seen an end of all perfection." "And the number of my days": that is, my works, which are as days; as if to say: make me judge rightly how much my works are worth. And this, that I may know what is wanting to me, namely, from perfection. Or it can be expounded simply of the end of life: for as is said in Ecclesiastes 7, "In all thy works remember thy last end." And "the number of my days," etc., that is, how long I shall live, so that I may prepare myself for penance.

"Behold thou hast made my days measurable." Above the Psalmist recalled the caution shown through silence, the danger imminent from silence, and the remedy by which the danger is relieved; here, however, he shows the necessity of the aforesaid caution, which is taken from the misery of the present life: and concerning this he does two things. First he describes the misery of the present life. Second he seeks a remedy against it, at the words, "and now what is." As to the first he does two things. First he describes the misery of this life as regards life itself. Second as regards the occupation of life, at the words, "surely in an image." As to the first he does two things. First he describes this misery as regards life. Second he assigns the reason, at the words, "surely all things." He shows the misery of this life as regards its brevity, and as regards its weakness. As to the first he says: O Lord, I asked that you would declare to me the number of my days. But are my days numerable at all? Yes, because, "behold thou hast made my days measurable." Man is so constituted that if he had never sinned, he would not die, and so his days would not be measured; but by sinning he dies, and thus they can be numbered. Job 14: "The days of man are short, and the number of his months is with thee." But suppose the life were short, and could be so precious that it should be reckoned much: nevertheless this is nothing: for "my substance and my nature and my life are as nothing before thee," that is, in comparison with you; although it may seem to be something in comparison with the lowest creatures. Isaiah 40: "All nations are before him as if they were not." It can also be expressed thus: "my substance," that is, while I consider that which is before you, that is, the eternal goods which you will give to the saints, I reckon my substance as nothing. Or thus: those who consider the things of this world before you, that is, with the divine eye, reckon them as nothing.

"Surely all things." Here he assigns the reason according to the letter. "Universa" [all things], according to our text, is either the nominative singular, or the nominative neuter plural. If in the second way, then the sense is thus: "surely all things"; as if to say: it is not a wonder if the life of man is nothing before you, because "all things," that is, all lower things, are vanity. And therefore Jerome has, "for all things are vanity," so that it is, as it were, the reason for what precedes. Ecclesiastes 1: "All is vanity." And they are called vanity, because vanity is opposed to solidity and stability: for all things which are in the world are subject to mutability, and therefore are vain: and among these too, every man living is subject to mutability, and thus is vanity. Romans 8: "For the creature," that is, man, "was made subject to vanity, not willingly." Or according to the letter: "universa," if it is singular in number, then the sense is: "universal vanity," that is, all vanity, "is every man living," that is, is present in every man living worldly. A man is called vain from the fact that he follows changeable things: Jeremiah 2: "They walked after vanities, and became vain." Or thus: "every man living," that is, in a carnal way, "is all," that is, is perfect vanity.

"Surely man passeth as an image." Here he shows the misery of the human condition as regards occupation: and concerning this he does three things. First he shows that there is something in man which ought to resist vanity. Second he shows in general the vanity of man's occupation, at the words, "but yet." Third he shows this same thing in particular, at the words, "he layeth up treasures." He says therefore: every man is vanity; yet something is fixed in man, which always remains in him while he passes away; and this is the image. And this can be expounded in three ways. In one way, of the image of God, which belongs to man inasmuch as he is endowed with reason. Genesis 1: "Let us make man to our image and likeness." And this image ought to resist vanity; namely, reason, and ought to exclude vanity. And this is what he says: although man is subject to vanity, yet he is always endowed with reason. But because it is not here determined of whose image it is, note here a twofold image: one of the heavenly man, the other of the earthly man. 1 Corinthians 15: "As we have borne the image of the earthly, let us also bear the image of the heavenly." I say therefore that every man is vanity; yet every man passes into some image, because either through good works he represents in himself the image of the heavenly man, or through evil works the image of the earthly man. Or otherwise: image implies likeness. Now the course of this life is directed by some knowledge, because the affection is moved according to what is known. There is, however, a twofold knowledge. One, by which truth is known: and this is certain. The other is by likelihood: and this is, as it were, the knowledge of an image, because it does not attain to the very truth, but to a likeness of the truth. If man attained to the very truth as it is, he would not be troubled, because he would consider the condition of this life, and what we shall be after this life; and thus he would not be occupied in this life, but would tend toward those things which are in the other life. And therefore Jerome has: "insofar as man passes through in the image, so much is he troubled," that is, insofar as man falls short of the true knowledge of truth, so much is he troubled by occupation in this life, whether in goods or in evils. Luke 10: "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and art troubled about many things." When, therefore, he does good works, then he is not troubled in vain; but when he does not occupy himself in good things, then he is troubled in vain: Isaiah 49: "In vain I have spent my strength." And he gives an example of the occupation which troubles men, which is the occupation of avarice; and this troubles men the most. Concupiscence indeed occupies men for a time, and likewise anger. But, as is said in Ecclesiastes 5, "the covetous man is not satisfied with money"; and therefore concerning him he gives an example, saying, "he layeth up treasures, and he knoweth not for whom he shall gather them," that is, he gathers superfluous treasures in this life. Matthew 6: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth," namely vainly and in vain, "because you do not know for whom you gather them." Not for himself, because Job 27: "when the rich man shall sleep, he shall carry nothing away with him." Therefore for others, but he does not know for whom; because sometimes he does not gather for his children, since they do not survive him; and if they do survive, still he does not know what sort they will be, because sometimes they turn against their parents.

"And now what is my expectation," etc. Here he seeks the help of God against misery. And first he sets down the confidence from which his prayer proceeds. Second he sets forth the prayer, at the words, "deliver me from all my iniquities." Third he asks that it be heard, at the words, "hear." Sometimes a man is in misery: and then either he trusts to be freed by himself, or by another. If he trusts to be freed by himself, he does not wait for another, but has help in himself. If by another, then he waits, because he hopes to be helped by another. So it is in this misery, because the days are short, and he does not trust in himself, but says with Job 6: "Behold there is no help for me in myself"; but he waits for help from God; whence he says, "what is my expectation? Is it not the Lord?" as if to say: he alone can free me, because he alone is above all truth, who alone is truth. Isaiah 30: "Blessed are all they that wait for him." In expectation, too, there is delay; as if to say: I will wait. Habakkuk 2: "If he make any delay, wait for him, and my substance is with thee." Here is set down the reason for the confidence which he has concerning God. It is natural that a man should trust in God with whom he places what he has. He therefore who places all that he has in God can trust in God. And therefore he says: "my substance is with thee"; as if to say: even if in myself I am nothing, yet whatever I hope myself to be, and whatever I have, is in you: Hebrews 10: "knowing that you have a better and a lasting substance." Matthew 6: "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." 2 Timothy 1: "I know whom I have believed, and I am certain." The Gloss expounds this of Christ: "my substance is with thee," that is, you, Christ, will take from my flesh, because "he was made of the seed of David according to the flesh," Romans 1.

"Deliver me from all." Above the Psalmist set down the confidence he had concerning God, when he said, "and now what is my expectation," etc.: here, however, he sets forth to God his petition: and concerning this he does three things. First he asks from God the removal of guilt. Second he asks the removal of punishment. Third he assigns the reason for the conjunction of these petitions. The second, at the words, "remove." The third, at the words, "on account of iniquity." As to the first he does two things. First he asks the petition. Second he alleges the merit for being heard, at the words, "reproach." He says, therefore: "deliver me from all my iniquities," etc. Here it must be known that this petition is commendable on account of the thing petitioned for, which is necessary, namely, to be freed from sin. Job 11: "If thou wilt put away from thee the iniquity that is in thy hand, and let not injustice remain in thy tabernacle: then mayest thou lift up thy face without spot." Second, because he asks not by his own merits, but asks that it be given to him by God. Isaiah 43: "I am he that blot out thy iniquities for my own sake." Third, because he asks to be freed from all; for it is impious to ask pardon of sins from God, from whom total liberation is not hoped for. John 7: "I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day"; whence he says, "deliver me from all my iniquities," as if to say: I do not ask to be freed from one sin alone, but from all. Ezekiel 36: "you shall be cleansed from all your filthiness." Psalm 24: "Forgive me all my sins." Merit is taken from the part of the one who suffers. Tobit 3: "you forgive all the sins of men in tribulation." And therefore first he shows what he endures; second he shows the patience which he had; third he assigns the cause. He says, therefore, "thou hast made me a reproach to the fool"; which can be understood in two ways. In one way, that reproach is a punishment inflicted on him by God: because just as the proper reward of the virtuous is honor, so the punishment of sin is reproach. Malachi 2: "you have caused many to fall by the law." In another way, that God has caused it, namely patience, not reproach; but the cause of reproach comes from this, that he already begins to contemn earthly things, which fools and the unwise reckon as reproach, on account of the patience which I show. The patience which he had he shows when he says, "I was dumb." A sign of patience is that a man, when words of reproach are brought against him, does not render evil for evil, as Christ, 1 Peter 2, "when he was reviled, did not revile." And therefore he says, "I was dumb, and I opened not my mouth." And this can refer to two things. In one way, when he says, "I opened not," it designates the continuation of patience: because although someone may seem patient for a while and be silent, afterward, becoming impatient, he speaks a great deal. Isaiah 53: "He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth." Psalm 37: "But I, as a deaf man, heard not: and as a dumb man not opening his mouth"; as if to say: I had patience. Or, "I was dumb" from reproaches against my neighbor, "and I opened not my mouth" against God. The cause is, "because thou hast done it." And this can refer to what is said, "reproach." The cause why he endures injuries patiently is when he considers that this happens to him by divine judgment. David did this when he said, 2 Kings 16: "let him alone that he may curse." Proverbs 3: "My son, reject not the correction of the Lord: and do not faint when thou art chastised by him." Or it can refer to what he says, "I was dumb because thou hast done it," namely, given the patience. His second petition is concerning the removal of punishment. And first he sets down the petition; second the reason for the petition. He says, "remove thy scourges from me," that is, your lashes: and this can be expounded in two ways. Either of bodily scourges: and these are exterior, such as lashes and other adversities, by which man is set upon on account of his sins by God. Jeremiah 30: "I have struck thee with the wound of an enemy." Therefore remove these lashes from me. Likewise there are spiritual lashes, that is, interior, such as the remorse of conscience. Psalm 49: "I will reprove thee, and set before thy face." And these he asks to be removed. According to Origen, however, the cause of this petition is from strength. Exterior scourging is very useful insofar as it is patiently endured; but when it is not borne patiently, but one fails and despairs of oneself, it becomes harmful. 2 Corinthians 2: "console him, lest he be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow." And therefore, fearing this, he asks that the scourges be removed, because he has failed in strength, that is, from the violence of the blow. Isaiah 8: "with a strong hand he instructed me." 1 Kings 5: "the hand of the Lord was very heavy." Man fails in scourges in three ways. One way is common to good and evil men; this is bodily failing. Psalm 89: "and in thy wrath we have fainted." Another is of impatience; and this belongs to the wicked. Job 4: "now the scourge is come upon thee, and thou hast fainted." The other way is of the good, whereby someone fails from himself, and tends toward God. Psalm 118: "My soul hath fainted for thy salvation." And what is said here can be understood according to any of these ways; as if to say: I ask that you remove your scourges from me, because I am afflicted according to the third way of failing: for "I am consumed by the strength of thy hand in thy rebukes." Or because I despair, according to the second way. Or because I cannot bear it, according to the first way. Nor does it matter if it is said, according to another reading, "in thy rebukes I have failed," etc. "For iniquity thou hast corrected man." This is the reason why he sets forth a double petition: because first the cause is removed, and afterward the effect is removed. Guilt is the cause of the scourges: and therefore he says that man is scourged on account of sins. Whence he says, "thou hast corrected," that is, you have scourged man, "for iniquity," that is, on account of his sins. And therefore he first asks that sins be removed, because future punishments are for damnation, but the punishments of this life, as far as they are concerned in themselves, are for purgation, and are for correction. Psalm 31: "Many are the scourges of the sinner."

"And thou hast made his soul to waste away like a spider." Here is set down the manner or term of the correction, "to waste away," that is, to dry up. It can be expounded corporeally, when it refers to bodily tribulation; because bodily moisture and fatness are dried up, and thus life wastes away. Job 33: "his flesh shall waste away." Likewise in the same place: "his flesh is consumed with torments." In another way, that it refer to the soul. In man there is spiritually a twofold fatness. One is evil, through bodily delights. Deuteronomy 32: "he grew fat, and forsook God his maker"; and to be dried up from this fatness is good; and this is what he says: "thou hast made" my soul "to waste away," that is, you have dried up, "my soul like a spider," from the love of carnal things: for the spider is a warm animal, and is not fat, because it makes the most subtle threads; so a soul separated from carnal delights adheres by affection to invisible things, and produces invisible operations and affections. 2 Corinthians 4: "while we look not at the things which are seen," etc. Or, "to waste away," that is, to be dried up from the fatness of devotion, as Psalm 62 says: "let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness"; and this is an evil drying-up. This happens because the soul is made undevout, and clings to sins, and lacks the fatness of devotion, like a spider. Likewise the spider's web is fragile, so the thoughts of sinners are vain. Isaiah 59: "they have woven the webs of spiders," that is, useless and vain things, "have they made." Likewise the spider emits so much of those threads that it dies; so men die spiritually on account of the sins which they commit. James 1: "sin, when it is completed, begets death." And it is read thus: "his soul existing, like a spider, thou hast made to waste away," that is, to dry up with a good dryness. "Surely in vain is every man disquieted." Here is the defect of the correction; because although he thus makes it waste away, nevertheless many remain in their malice, or return to evil. And the fact that some are not vainly disquieted is not insofar as they are men, but insofar as they are lifted up by God from earthly things to the consideration of heavenly things.

"Hear my prayer, O Lord, and my supplication," etc. Here he asks that his petition be admitted: whereupon he asks that it be heard. And he sets down three things which make a petition acceptable to God. The first is the elevation of the mind toward God: and this is prayer, which is the ascent of the mind to God; whence he says, "hear my prayer, O Lord." Psalm 68: "but as for me, my prayer is to thee, O Lord." The second is the continuation of asking: and this is when he says, "and my supplication." James, last chapter: "the continual prayer of a just man availeth much." The third is the abundance of tears: and this he shows when he says, "give ear to my tears." "Be not silent." Here is set down the sign of being heard: whence he asks that God not be silent. Now God is said sometimes to be silent, with regard to the wicked, when he does not punish them; as is said in Isaiah 42: "I have held my peace, I have always been silent, I have been patient," etc. "Be not silent," that is, do not refrain from punishment. Likewise sometimes he is silent by not consoling the good: and thus he says, "be not silent," to my soul: but say to my soul, "I am thy salvation," Psalm 34. And this God does in this life, when he says to the sinner: "thy sins are forgiven thee," Luke 5. And also in the future, when he shall say, "come, ye blessed of my Father," etc., Matthew 25. Jerome has: "be not deaf to my tears," and it is continued with what precedes. "For I am a stranger with thee." Here he assigns the reason for his petition; as if to say: God commanded this, Exodus 22, namely, that strangers should be heard. And because I am a stranger, it is just that you hear me. I have left the world, and fled to you, and I am with you as a stranger, because in this world I have no permanent dwelling, but am like a pilgrim tending elsewhere, namely, to the homeland of eternal life, "as all my fathers were." For many are strangers in this world who have no affection for worldly things. "As all my fathers," namely the saints who were pilgrims, as the Apostle says, 2 Corinthians 5: "having food and wherewith to be covered, with these let us be content." 1 Timothy 6. "Forgive me." Here he asks for the hastening of being heard; as if to say: let what I ask be done quickly. And first he sets down the effect of the petition; second he determines the time; whence he says, "forgive me," namely my sins: because (Psalm 31), "blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." And this so that here, "I may be refreshed," namely from sin, or from the punishment which the evil one intends. Wisdom 4: "but if the just man be prevented with death, he shall be in refreshment." And do this, namely that you forgive me, "before I go hence," that is, before I depart from this world: because there is no forgiveness there. Job 10: "before I go and return no more, to a land that is dark," etc. "And shall be no more." This can be understood in two ways. In one way thus: forgive, etc., because after I shall have gone hence, I shall not be in a state where sins can be forgiven. Job 7: "my eye shall not return, that it may see good things," namely present ones. In another way thus: forgive, etc., because if I depart from this world unless you forgive my sins, I shall no more be in a good state of being. Job 18: "let the companions of him dwell in his tabernacle, who are not."