Verse 8
The law of the Lord is unspotted, converting souls: the testimony of the Lord is faithful, giving wisdom to little ones.
Lex Domini immaculata, convertens animas; testimonium Domini fidele, sapientiam praestans parvulis.
The Prophet now introduces a comparison, as though he might say: The heavens are beautiful, the sun is extremely beautiful, but the law of the Lord is more beautiful still; the heavens are bright, the sun is extremely bright, but the law of the Lord is much more bright; the heavens are useful to men, the sun us extremely useful, but the law of the Lord is more useful still. He now presents a series of six encomiums of the divine law. The first is: “The law of the Lord is unspotted, converting souls,” that is, the law of the Lord is perfectly beautiful; as one would expect, it is without
any stain or filth whatsoever, would expect, it is without any stain or filth whatsoever, because unlike human laws it permits no sin; and so when the law of the Lord is studied and well understood, it “converts souls,” that is, it converts them away from self-love and in consequence leads them to God, the author of law so beautiful. To the words converting souls there is understood the word is, and so we have explained it as meaning converted. A second encomium is found in the following words: “The testimony of the Lord is faithful, giving wisdom to little ones,” where by testimony is understood that same law (of the Lord). Indeed, in the Scriptures, and especially in the Psalms, the law of the Lord is not only referred to as precept, commandment, statute and so on, which in other writers mean law; but it is also referred to as testimony, justice, or justification, and judgement. This is evident, especially in
Psalm cxviii. The law of the Lord is called testimony, because it bears witness to men as to what is God’s will, what the Lord requires of us, what punishments He has prepared for those breaking the law, and what rewards for those who keep the law. And so he says, “ The testimony of the Lord is faithful,” that is, the law of the Lord, which will assuredly render rewards to the good and punishments to the wicked. “Giving wisdom to little ones,” that is, it is that which gives, or it gives, wisdom to the little ones, that is, to men with a poor understanding it gives the light of prudence, so that they may know how to do good works and to avoid sins; the Prophet in this text applies the words little ones to those men who are not strong in spiritual judgement, such as are all those who are friends of this world. By wisdom he understands spiritual prudence. which reforms habits and forms them in accordance with what is ordered by the divine law.
Verse 9
The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts: the commandment of the Lord is lightsome, enlightening the eyes.
Justitiae Domini rectae, laetificantes corda; praeceptum Domini lucidum, illuminans oculos.
The
third encomium of the divine Law is that, after coming to be loved (as in the first encomium) and to be observed (as in the second), it floods man with wonderful joy: for there is nothing more joyful than a good conscience. “The justice of the Lord,” he says, that is, the law of the Lord, or the commandments of the Law, which are called justices, because they are most just, and because they render just the observer (of the law); these commandments, I say, because they are just, are a cause of joy, that is, “they rejoice hearts;” for upright hearts fit very well with right commandments, and therefore they rejoice and are glad when an opportunity arrives of observing the commandments. The
fourth encomium is: “The commandment of the Lord is lightsome, enlightening the eyes,” that is, the law of the Lord, bright with the light of divine Wisdom, enlightens the eyes of the mind, because it makes for an understanding of the will of God, and seeing which things are really good and which are really bad. It also informs the rites of God, full of divine mysteries. Now the law of the Lord enlightens in the measure of a man’s disposition, for wisdom will not enter into a malevolent soul, because nothing is a greater impediment to the knowledge of God, in which true wisdom is found, than impurity of heart. “Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.”
[1]
[1] Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God. Beati mundo corde : quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt. [Matt. v. 8]
Verse 10
The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring for ever and ever: the judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves.
Timor Domini sanctus, permanens in saeculum saeculi; judicia Domini vera, justificata in semetipsa.
The
fifth encomium is that the law of the Lord makes the good things referred to above eternal and not just temporal. For “The fear of the Lord is holy.” that is, by which a person fears to offend God, which by another name is called piety, remaineth “for ever and ever,” with regard to its reward; the good things, which observation of the law produces, or a sincere fear making someone observe the law, do not end with death, but remain in eternity. This same idea is repeated elsewhere in Psalm ix: “ The patience of the poor shall not perish for ever.”
[1] In Hebrew it has fear of the Lord (is) tehorah, that is, pure, and in the Greek it is similar. And this means a filial fear, which is not mixed with servile fear, about which another Psalm says: “ Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord: he shall delight exceedingly in his commandments.”
[2] For he who fears with a servile fear keeps the commandments not willingly but unwillingly; but he who fears with a filial fear, “he shall delight exceedingly in his commandments,” that is, he strongly desires and wants to keep them. The last encomium is that the law of the Lord is true and is just in itself, not needing to be justified from another source. “the judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves,” that is, the commandments of the Lord, here called judgements because through them God judges men, and which are norms or rules for discerning virtues from vices, and good from evil works: these, I say, most tru commandments are justified in themselves, that is, they do not need to be justified by anything else as just: for by this are they proved to be just, that they are God’s commandments. And, moreover, the ten commandments, about which David speaks chiefly, because they are the first principles of natural law, contain in themselves such justice, that in every time and place, and in a particular case, they are just, and do not allow of exceptions; but other laws, in order to be just, frequently depend on circumstances of place, of time or of the persons involved.
[The last two sentences in the Commentary consider Hebrew text before affirming the translation in the Vulgate]
[1] For the poor man shall not be forgotten to the end: the patience of the poor shall not perish for ever. Quoniam non in finem oblivio erit pauperis; patientia pauperum non peribit in finem. [Psalm ix. 19]
[2] Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord: he shall delight exceedingly in his commandments. Alleluja, reversionis Aggaei et Zachariae. Beatus vir qui timet Dominum, in mandatis ejus volet nimis. [Ps. Cxi. 1]
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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