Commentary on the Psalms (In Psalmos Davidis Expositio)

Above he set down a Psalm in which David prayed concerning his persecution; here he sets down a Psalm for the giving of thanks: and first is set forth a Psalm for the benefits conferred upon the whole human race. Second, another for the benefits conferred upon himself, for the destruction of his enemies, or for the goods granted to him. Third, for the evils taken away, at the word "I will confess": for here he expresses the affection of a man considering the benefits of God granted to the human race, and giving thanks. The title, "Unto the end, a Psalm of David, for the winepresses" — since the other part was expounded above, I shall here expound only the last word. Here it must be considered that in Deuteronomy 16 it is said: "Seven days you shall keep the feast of tabernacles, when you have gathered in your fruits from the threshing floor and the winepress," and so on. For it must be known that David had a special devotion in celebrating the feasts, and he did something special for the praise of God. Now the feast of tabernacles was the chief one. And this took place at the vintage, in commemoration of the divine benefit, when he led the sons of Israel out of Egypt to dwell in tabernacles, and brought them into the land of promise where there are fruits: and therefore it was fitting that they should have the most beautiful fruits, at which time were the winepresses; and therefore it is said "for the winepresses." This according to the letter. But spiritually the winepress is the Church: Isaiah 5: "He planted a choice vineyard, he built a winepress in it"; Matthew 21: "He planted a vineyard, and dug a winepress in it." He says therefore "for the winepresses," that is, for the Churches of the world: and the Church is called a winepress, because just as in the winepress the wine is separated from the husks, so in the Church the good are separated from the wicked by the work of the ministers — even if not always in place, yet in affection. For the same reason it is also called a threshing floor: because the separation is made of the grain from the chaff. Likewise, from the words set down according to the letter, the spiritual sense is separated. Likewise the winepresses are the martyrdoms, in which the separation of souls from bodies takes place, while the bodies of those who for the name of Christ are trodden down by affliction and persecution remain shattered upon the earth, but their souls go forth to rest in the heavens.

This Psalm is divided into two parts. For first the Psalmist marvels at the divine excellence. Second, at his clemency, at the words "what is man." Concerning the first he does two things: first he shows that the majesty of God is to be marveled at; second, that it is manifest, at the words "out of the mouth of infants." Concerning the first he does two things: for first he sets it down as to be marveled at; second he makes manifest the reason for what has been said, at the words "for thy magnificence is elevated," and so on. He says therefore, "O Lord" — Lord of all: Esther 13: "Thou art Lord of all"; but especially "our Lord," who worship thee, who cleave to thee. Jerome has "our ruler": Judges 8: "I will not rule over you, nor shall my son, but the Lord shall rule over you." "How admirable is thy name," etc., namely, of thy divinity: Psalm 92: "The surges of the sea are wonderful," and so on. Genesis 32: "Why dost thou ask my name, which is wonderful?" Likewise, of Christ incarnate: Isaiah 9: "His name shall be called Wonderful." But is it only in Judea, as the Jews say, or in Africa, as the Donatists say? No; but "in all the earth": Malachi: "From the rising of the sun even to the going down, great is my name among the Gentiles." The reason for the wonder is added: "for thy magnificence is elevated," because thy greatness appears in the heavens. Wonder occurs when someone sees an effect and does not know the cause. A cause, therefore, is admirable in two ways: either because it is totally unknown, or because it does not produce an effect that manifests the cause perfectly. The first does not hold in God's case, because he does produce an effect: Romans 1: "The invisible things of God, by the things that are made, etc.," and so on. He produces, I say, an effect, but one that does not perfectly manifest the cause; and therefore he remains to be marveled at. And this is what he says: "thy magnificence," that is, thy praise or thy power, which is able to do great things. It "is elevated above the heavens," exceeding disproportionately the making of the heavens. Whence he excludes the error of those who say that God is the form of heaven; for according to this he would be proportioned to the heavens. Likewise the error of those who say that he acts from the necessity of nature: because in that case he would not extend himself above the heavens; yet he can do infinitely greater things. Or "above the heavens" may mean above the Scriptures, because he is more than can be commended in the Scriptures: Ecclesiasticus 43: "Glorify God as much as ever you can, for he will yet far exceed, and his magnificence is wonderful." Or "thy magnificence," that is, thy Son, God made man, "is elevated," in the ascension, "above the heavens": Ephesians 4: "He who descended, is the same who also ascended above all the heavens," and so on.

Then, when he says "out of the mouth," he shows that it is most manifest. And first he shows the manifestation; second, its reason, at the words "for I shall see." That it is manifest, he proves; because that is manifest which is implanted in all, however simple they may be, as it were by a certain natural knowledge. For there is a twofold kind of men who follow the natural and right instinct, namely, the simple, and the wise. That the wise should know God is no great thing; but that the simple should know him so, is. But there are some who pervert the natural instinct: and these reject the knowledge of God: Psalm 81: "They have not known" — that is, they were unwilling to know — "neither have they understood," and so on. Job 22: "They said to God: Depart from us; we desire not the knowledge of thy ways." But God brings it about that through them — that is, through the simple, who follow the natural instinct — those who pervert the natural instinct are confounded. By "infants" are designated the simple: 1 Peter 2: "As newborn babes, reasonable, without guile," and so on. He says, therefore: admirable indeed is thy name, yet in such a way that "out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise," thou who dost inwardly move them to this: and this "because of thy enemies," who are opposed to thy knowledge and understanding: Philippians 3: "enemies of the cross of Christ," and so on. "That thou mayest destroy the enemy and the avenger" — any persecutor whatsoever. Or Pharaoh, who would wish to avenge himself against one who confesses thy name: 2 Corinthians 10: "Destroying counsels, and every height that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God." Or the tyrant who assails thy holy name with arms: 1 Peter 2: "that doing well you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." Christ did this: for in Matthew 21, concerning the Hebrew children, Christ answered that praise had been perfected out of their words, who praised by the instinct of the Holy Spirit, even though it seemed to be done in a childish manner. This applies when the simple recognize God, while others pervert the pursuits of natural knowledge, so as not to know God himself. Likewise this is seen in the apostles, who were without letters and unlearned: Acts 4: simple as doves: Matthew 10: "and as sheep in the midst of wolves"; and they destroyed all the enemies of Christ. 1 Corinthians 1: "the foolish things of the world hath God chosen, that he may confound the wise; and the weak things," and so on.

Consequently he appends the reason for this manifestation, saying, "for." Tully says in his book On the Nature of the Gods, and it was also said by Aristotle, although it is not found in his books that are in our possession, that if some man were to enter a palace that he saw to be well arranged, there is no one so foolish that, although he did not see how it was made, he would not perceive that it had been fashioned by someone. We enter the world, and we do not see how it was made; but from this very fact, that it is so well ordered, we ought to perceive that it was made by someone. And this the order of the heavenly bodies especially shows. There were certain persons in error who attribute the causes of things to the necessity of matter; whence they say that all things were made on account of the hot and the cold, the dry and the moist, as elements which so came together. But even if this could have some appearance of truth in other things, it can in no way hold in the case of the heavenly bodies: because it cannot be attributed to the necessity of matter that this body should be so far distant from that one, and that they should complete their course in so much time. This, however, must be reduced to nothing other than an intellective cause. And therefore Scripture, when it wishes to make manifest the power of God, leads us back to the consideration of the heavens. Isaiah 40: "Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these things": therefore he says, "for I shall see thy heavens, the works of thy fingers." Now he says "the works of fingers" for three reasons. First, because what we make with our fingers, we make attentively and distinctly. And the things that are to be considered concerning the heavenly bodies are reduced to nothing but an intelligible cause; and therefore he says "the works of thy fingers": Psalm 135: "Who made the heavens in understanding." Or, it corresponds to what he said, "elevated." When someone lifts up something heavy, he puts his shoulder under it; but when he lifts up something light, he puts his finger under it; and therefore he says "the works of fingers," as though it were a light thing for him to make the heavens: Isaiah 40: "Who hath weighed the bulk of the earth with three fingers, and poised the heavens with the palm?" Or: the things we make with our fingers are works of subtlety. Therefore, to show that these works are more subtle than others, he says "the works of fingers," and so on. Now he names the moon, and not the sun, because of the Gentiles, who believed the sun to be the highest God: and therefore he sets down specifically "the moon and the stars," in which there is no manifest occasion for error: Ecclesiasticus 43: "The beauty of heaven is the glory of the stars: the Lord on high enlightening the world." Mystically, the apostles or the Scriptures are "the works of fingers." The three fingers are the three Persons; as though he were saying, the works of the whole Trinity, or of the Holy Spirit. "The moon" is the Church; "the stars," the doctors. And these God hath founded.

"What" — Above, the Psalmist marveled at the excellence of the divine majesty; and now he calls to mind two benefits divinely conferred upon men. Second, from this he ends the Psalm in praise, at the words "O Lord, our Lord," and so on. Concerning the first he does three things. First he shows the clemency of God toward men, by comparison with those things which are above men. Second, by comparison with the first man, at the words "with glory and honor." Third, by comparison with those things which are beneath man, at "and thou hast set him." Above man there is a twofold nature: namely, the divine, and the angelic. First, therefore, he sets down the benefits by comparison with God; second, by comparison with the angels, at the words "thou hast made him a little less." First let it be expounded according as it pertains to natural benefits; second, as to gratuitous benefits. And according to the first way, and concerning it, he does two things. First he sets down the special care of man by God; second, a special familiarity, at "or the son of man." It is a marvelous thing that someone great should be joined to someone small by a special familiarity: and therefore the Psalmist first calls to mind the smallness of man from his condition: "what is man" — so small a thing? Job 14: "Man born of a woman"; and Job 25: "Man is rottenness, and the son of man a worm." Second, as to his origin: because he is also base: Job 14: "Who can make him clean that is conceived of unclean seed?" And Job 10: "Is it not as milk, etc.," and so on. And therefore he says, "or the son of man?" But toward this one so small, so base, he says that he does two things: namely, that he is mindful of him, and that he visits him. The first pertains to care. The second, to special familiarity. And the manner of speaking is such as this: as if some craftsman had made great things, and among them one very small thing, namely a needle, and when he made the needle he showed that he had knowledge of it. But that in the arrangement of his works he should take care of the needle, would be a very wonderful thing; and therefore he says, "what is man," that among the great creatures thou art mindful of him? Ecclesiasticus 16: "Say not: I shall be hidden from God," etc., "and what is my soul," and so on. Because on account of smallness God does not forget thee. But what great thing is this? For God has care of all things: Wisdom 12: "For there is no other than thou, who hast care of all.." It must be said that he has a special care for man, namely, that in judgment his acts should be recompensed: Job 14: "Dost thou think it meet to open thy eyes upon such a one," and so on. Likewise, he not only has care for man, but has familiarity with him; and this is what he says: "for thou visitest him." Only the rational nature is capable of God, by knowing and loving. Insofar, therefore, as God is made present to us through love or knowledge, he visits us: Job 10: "Thy visitation hath preserved," and so on. Thus, then, great is the clemency of God in the comparison of man to God.

But there follows this concerning man in comparison to the angels, to whom man is found to be near. "Thou hast made him lower." In the angels the image of God is found through the simple intuition of truth, without inquiry; but in man, through discursive reasoning; and therefore in man it is diminished somewhat. Hence it is that men are called angels: Malachi 2: "They shall seek the law at his mouth: because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts." Man is also corruptible, but only a little; because at some time man in his homeland will know all things without discursive reasoning, and will be, as to his body, incorruptible: 1 Corinthians 15: "This corruptible must put on incorruption." Consequently he shows the clemency of God toward man by comparison with man himself, when he says, "with glory and honor," and so on. To be crowned belongs to kings. God made man as it were king of the lower things, and this is glory, namely, the brightness of the divine image: and this is a certain crown of man: 1 Corinthians 11: "Man is the image and glory of God": Psalm 4: "The light of thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us." But he is honored who is not subjected to anyone. For man, as to his soul, is subjected to no natural bodily creature, neither in his coming to be nor in his continuance: not in his coming to be, because he is not produced by a creature, and he acts freely; nor does he perish along with the body; and in this the honor of man consists; and therefore it is said, Wisdom 2: "neither did they judge the honor of holy souls," etc., down to "he made him": Psalm 48: "Man, when he was in honor, did not understand," and so on. Consequently, when he says, "thou hast set him," he sets down the clemency of God toward man by comparison with those things which are beneath man, because he willed that man should have dominion over these lower things: and concerning this he does three things. First he sets forth the dominion. Second, the capacity for exercising dominion. Third, the number of the subjects. The second, at the words "thou hast subjected all things." The third, at the words "sheep and oxen." He says, therefore: since man is king, thou hast given him dominion "over the works of thy hands": Genesis 1: "that he may have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth." This he has by reason, because he surpasses all animals: and therefore, immediately after he said "with glory and honor," he added: "Thou hast set him," that is, thou hast given him dominion. But note that he says that man has authority over the works of the hands, not of the fingers; because they are not subtle like the heavens, which are the works of the fingers. Man cannot subject these to himself; and therefore, second, he shows the capacity for exercising dominion. "All things," he says, "thou hast subjected," so that he might preside over them and rule them at his beck. This is signified in Genesis 2, where God brought all the animals to Adam. And this subjection was complete before sin; but now certain things resist, as a punishment for sin. Third, when he says "sheep and oxen," etc., he enumerates the subjects: and he sets down animals so that plants also may be understood. Now among animals, certain ones are subjected according to their whole kind, namely the tame and domestic animals according to their nature, namely sheep and oxen: and this he states in the feminine, "all of them," because herds are made chiefly of cows and ewes. There are others which are not subjected according to their whole kind: and of these, some are creatures that walk: and as to this he says, "moreover the beasts also of the field," etc.: namely boars, deer, and the like; some are flying creatures, namely birds; and some are swimming creatures, like fish.

These things can also be referred to the benefits of grace: and then in them all the mysteries of Christ are enumerated. First, that of the incarnation: "what is man?" He touches on two things: namely, the cause of the incarnation, and the incarnation itself: and he says, "what is man?" For God seemed to have forgotten man, when he expelled him from Paradise: he calls this to mind when it is brought back to that word of Psalm 105: "Remember us, O Lord." And thus the incarnation follows: because he visits man: and therefore he says, "or the son of man," and so on. Because, although he visited the whole human race, yet especially that man who was assumed in unity of hypostasis: Hebrews 1: "For nowhere doth he take hold of the angels: but of the seed of Abraham he taketh hold." The second is that of the passion. "Thou hast made him lower" on account of the passion. Hebrews 2: "But him who was made a little less than the angels, etc.," and so on. In the Hebrew it reads: "and thou wilt make him a little lower than God": because he is joined to God in unity of person; but made lower on account of the passibility he assumed. The third is the benefit of the resurrection, in the honor shown to the apostles, which he enumerates through the passion; Philippians 1: "That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow," and so on. John 5: "That all men may honor the Son, as they honor the Father." The fourth mystery is that of the ascension: "thou hast set him over," etc. Ephesians 1: "Setting him on his right hand, above all principality, and power," and so on. The fifth mystery is the coming to judgment: "thou hast subjected all things," etc., that is, thou hast made him judge over all: Hebrews 2: "but now we see not as yet all things subject to him": then all things will be subjected under his feet, that is, under his humanity, because "the head of Christ is God," 2 Corinthians 11. And the feet are the humanity: John 5: "And he hath given him power to do judgment." And these, at the judgment, are some good: and of these, some are subjects, signified by the sheep: 2 Kings, last chapter: "These that are sheep, what have they done?" Some are prelates, and these are signified by the oxen: Proverbs 14: "Where there are many crops, there is evident the strength of the ox." Some are evil: and of these there are three kinds: John 2: "all that is in the world, is either the concupiscence of the eyes, or the concupiscence of the flesh, or the pride of life." And first he sets down the lustful: and these are "the sheep and oxen and the beasts of the field," because they delight in bestial things: Joel 1: "The beasts have rotted in their own dung, the barns are destroyed." He says this, because they go by the broad way, Matthew 7. Second, the proud, signified by "the birds": Matthew 14: "the birds of the air ate it up": Deuteronomy 32: "the birds shall devour them with a most bitter bite." Third, the covetous, who "walk through the paths of the sea," literally; or of the world: Psalm 11: "the wicked walk round about": Job 1: "I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it."

Just as God is wonderful in the eminence of his majesty, so he is shown to be from his clemency; and therefore he concludes with an expression of wonder: "O Lord, our Lord," and so on. Yet it must be known that this Psalm is circular, because it has the same verse at the beginning and at the end. Some are semicircular, because they do not repeat the whole verse, but a part; as "Bless the Lord, O my soul," and at the end, "in every place of his dominion."