Verse 4
For I will behold thy heavens, the works of thy fingers: the moon and the stars which thou hast founded.
Quoniam videbo caelos tuos, opera digitorum tuorum, lunam et stellas quae tu fundasti.
Holy David places himself in the number of infants and sucklings, as though he might say: Truly out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings have I perfected praise. Being one of these for I was a shepherd, I shall sing now Thy praises. “For I will behold thy heavens,” that is, I shall consider attentively that admirable work of Thy hands and then I shall praise Thee as the Creator of such a great work. Now that word
tuos / thy is not in the Greek but it is in the Hebrew,
schameca, and so it is translated correctly in our version. Why would he say
tuos / thy, as he declares in saying
the works of thy fingers; he does not say the works of thy
arms but of thy
fingers, so that he may show the heavens were constructed by God with the greatest of ease; for it is with the fingers that subtle and precious works are fashioned, which need intelligence rather than labour. He is not thinking here of the sun but only of the moon and the stars, for David was wont to contemplate during the night time because that time is more suited to quiet contemplation. “ I rose,” he says, “at midnight to give praise to thee;”
[1] And elsewhere in Ps. Lxii: “ I will meditate on thee in the morning.”
[2] See also Isaias lxii: “My soul hath desired thee in the night.”
[3] For by night the heavens seem to be ornamented with the moon and the
stars. Finally, the word
fundasti / thou hast founded refers to the heavens, the moon and the stars created
ex nihilo / from nothing, as though the Prophet might say: Which Thou didst make from the foundation, when nothing of them existed previously.
[1] rose at midnight to give praise to thee; for the judgments of thy justification. Media nocte surgebam, ad confitendum tibi super judicia justificationis tuae. [Ps. Cxviii. 62]
[2] If I have remembered thee upon my bed, I will meditate on thee in the morning: Si memor fui tui super stratum meum, in matutinis meditabor in te. [Ps. Lxii. 7]
[3] My soul hath desired thee in the night: yea, and with my spirit within me in the morning early I will watch to thee. When thou shalt do thy judgments on the earth, the inhabitants of the world shall learn justice. Anima mea desideravit te in nocte, sed et spiritu meo in praecordiis meis de mane vigilabo ad te. Cum feceris judicia tua in terra, justitiam discent habitatores orbis. [Isai. Xxvi. 9]
Verse 5
What is man that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that thou visitest him?
Quid est homo, quod memor es ejus? aut filius hominis, quoniam visitas eum?
From the greatness of God as already set forth, he now proceeds to extolling God’s greatness towards men. ! “What is man,” he says, that you the Creator of heaven and earth deign to be mindful of him? As though he might say: This is the very greatest act of goodness, that the most high God should deign to be mindful of man, who is dust and ash. For what is recalled by God is not just a memory but an act of recalling so as to confer good things he adds in explanation: “or the son of man that thou visitest him?” Man and son of man mean here the same thing, unless perhaps this distinction is made to signify that God’s benefits were not bestowed only on the first man, who was a man, but not the son of a man; but also on all his posterity who are thus men and the sons of men. Visitation however refers to the special providence which God has towards men, but it refers especially to that providence which God showed when He cam into this world, assumed a human nature, was seen on earth and conversed with men. This is properly that visitation of which Zachary speaks in his Canticle: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people.”
[1] And see further on: “ the Orient from on high hath visited us.”
[2] Reasonably, this visitation greatly merits that admiration: “What is man..,” etc.
[1] Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people: Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel, quia visitavit, et fecit redemptionem plebis suae : [Luc. 1. 68]
[2] Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us: per viscera misericordiae Dei nostri, in quibus visitavit nos, oriens ex alto : [Luc. 1. 78]
Verse 6
Thou hast made him a little less than the angels, thou hast crowned him with glory and honour:
And hast set him over the works of thy hands.
Minuisti eum paulo minus ab angelis; gloria et honore coronasti eum;
et constituisti eum super opera manuum tuarum.
This verse has a twofold sense, literal and allegorical. According to the literal sense, three of God’s gifts to human nature are recalled:
firstly, man was created by God with a noble nature only a little lower than the Angels;
secondly, he was adorned with glory and honour, setting him over all the other lower creatures, because he was made in the image and likeness of God, being gifted with reason and free will; and
finally, because he would receive power and dominion in all the works of God, especially over the animals: and so he goes on to add (in the next verse).
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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