Title and subject matter
Titulum et argumentum
Unto the end, for them that shall be changed, for the sons of Core, for understanding. A canticle for the Beloved.
In finem, pro iis qui commutabuntur. Filiis Core, ad intellectum. Canticum pro dilecto.
All the Latin, Greek and Hebrew exegetes are in complete agreement and teach that this is a Psalm of praise for the Messiah and His Church, so that it is like a spiritual epithalamium;[1] and the title is well suited to this theme : for by them that shall be changed, the Prophet understands the faithful people who make up the Church; and it is said that they shall be changed because in this world they were to be changed through justification and in the next through resurrection; for those who were worshipping idols were to adore the true God; and they who were leading a wretched and mortal life on earth were to lead a happy, everlasting life in Heaven. They all understand the word dilecto / beloved to refer to Christ, of whom the heavenly Father says more than once: “This is my beloved Son,”[2] whom no-one knows who does not love Him most ardently, because he is all beauty and sweetness, indeed He is “the unspotted mirror” and “the brightness of eternal light.”[3] The sense of this title will therefore be: A canticle given to the sons of Core,[4] to be sung unto the end, with understanding and wisdom, and its material is for them that shall be changed and for the Beloved, that is for the Church and for Christ, for the Bride and for the Groom. Where we have for them that shall be changed, the Hebrew has for the lilies; but the Hebrew can mean either, that is, lilies or who shall be changed, as St. Jerome allows in his epistle ad Principiam virginem, in which he carefully explains the whole of this Psalm: and rightfully enough they who are to be changed can be called lilies, as speaking of the Church, which is a multitude of people who are to be changed, says the Groom in Cant., chapter ii: “As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.”[5]
[1] A nuptial song or poem in praise of the bride and bridegroom, and praying for their prosperity. Latin epithalamium, from Greek ἐπιθαλάμιον, neuter of ἐπιθαλάμιος, < ἐπί upon + θάλαμος bride chamber.
[2] And behold a voice from heaven, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Et ecce vox de caelis dicens : Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi complacui. [Matt. iii. 17] Et vide [Matt. xii. 18 & xvii. 5]
[3] For she is the brightness of eternal light, and the unspotted mirror of God's majesty, and the image of his goodness. candor est enim lucis aeternae, et speculum sine macula Dei majestatis, et imago bonitatis illius. [Sap. Vii. 26]
[4] Core was one of the leaders of a revolt against Moses and Aaron (Numbers xvi) concerning priestly and minsisterial prerogatives.. The sons of Core did not perish, however (Numbers 26:10, 11), and later we find their descendants among the singers (1 Chronicles 6:37; 2 Chronicles 20:19; Psalms 41, 43, 48, 83, 84, 86, 87), or among the door-keepers of the temple (1 Chronicles 9:19; 26:1, 19). Moses ordered the censers of Core and his companions to be beaten into plates and fastened to the altar as a warning to those who would usurp the priesthood.
[5] As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. SPONSUS. Sicut lilium inter spinas, sic amica mea inter filias. [Cant. ii. 2]
Verses 1 and 2
My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the king; My tongue is the pen of a scrivener that writeth swiftly.
Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum; dico ego opera mea regi. Lingua mea calamus scribae velociter scribentis.
These two lines serve as a preface for the entire Psalm and in this preface the Prophet declares that this Psalm is pure and unalloyed prophecy from the Holy Spirit, containing nothing elaborated from his own intellect: for although all divine Scripture is of God and inspired by the Holy Spirit, yet there is a big difference between prophecies and histories or epistles : for in uttering prophecies, the sacred writers did not work through their reasoning, reflection or recollection from memory, but they simply uttered or wrote what God showed to them : which is what Baruch testifies about
Jeremias. Saying: “(With his mouth) he pronounced all these words as if he were reading in a book (to me).”
[1] But when the sacred writers wrote histories or epistles, God inspired them with the will to write and directed them so that they wrote everything correctly and free from error; they used their own memory and intellect to record
events and to think about the explanations and order of writing : this is what the author of the second Book of Machabees testifies. David, therefore, when in the Psalms he sang histories of the good things God had given, or of his own calamities, or those of the whole people, employed his memory and his intellect and he did not compose these Psalms without his own effort, although he was always stimulated and guided by God. When, however, he sang or wrote Psalms of pure prophecy, as in this Psalm, he recognised nothing particular to himself apart from his unaided tongue or his hand serving to write. This is what he says in this preface, which he explains more clearly in II
Kings, chapter xxiii, where he says: “The spirit of the Lord hath spoken by me and his word by my tongue.”
[2] He says therefore: “My heart hath uttered a good word,” that is, My mind, from the fullness and abundance of divine illumination has put forth unto the hearing of men this Psalm, which contains a good word, namely a message which is pleasing and salvific for all men. But there are some other points to be noted regarding this general explanation.
Firstly, the prophet uses the word
eructavit[3] to show that he he is not speaking by virtue of his own will or the discoveries of his intelligence : for belching is an involuntary and not a chosen act, and the stomach belches forth from its fulness irrespective of whether a man wants to or not.
Secondly, the Prophet wanted to show that he did not express all the things he came to know through God’s illumination; but only a certain amount from that fullness : for belching is a sign of being full, but only a small amount is belched forth from that fullness. For the Prophets see many things which it is permitted to reveal to men. For this reason, Isaias said: “My secret to myself;”
[4] and those who receive revelations from God confess for the most part that they do not have the words with which they can explain the things they have themselves seen. Perhaps for this reason the Prophet said his “heart hath uttered a good word,” not “good words” in the plural number.
Thirdly, this Psalm calls the word good because it does not contain a prophecy of evil things such as the destruction of a city or the captivity of a people, and so on, which are often foretold by Prophets, but a foretelling of favourable and pleasant things which are to bring great joy and happiness.
Fourthly, God has described in these words the emanation of this (good) word from the heart of David so that He may allude to the production of the eternal Word, and He wants almost to lead us by the hand to an understanding of the eternal generation of the divine Word : for truly the eternal Father did not need the help of a spouse to produce His
Son, nor did He produce him by election, nor did He produce more sons; but from the fullness of His heart and from His most perfect intelligence, He produced, conformably with His nature, the Word of His mind, the only (begotten) Word and the highest good; properly he could say: “My heart hath uttered a good word.” There follows : “I speak my works to the king,” and there are not absent those who explain these words thus: “I speak my works to the king,” that is, I confess my sins to God; or, I speak these verses about the king; or, I consecrate my work to the king; in this Psalm, I address the king : I do not pass judgement on these explanations but I judge our explanation fits better with the words which precede and which follow; for our opinion is that this second part of the first verse gives the reason why David said: “My heart hath uttered a good word;” for it is as of said: I simply refer all my works to my king, who is God, and I do not attribute to myself what is not mine; and so I have not said : I wrote this Psalm, but “My heart hath uttered a good word,” that is, it did not proceed from my choice but from the fullness of Thy illumination. This is most clearly explained in the following line when it is said: “My tongue is the pen of a scrivener that writeth swiftly,” that is, my tongue put forth this Psalm, but it did do not as my tongue, which moves according to the command of my will, but as the Holy Spirit’s pen, like a scrivener that writeth swiftly. He says that his tongue is the pen of a scrivener that writeth swiftly, and he does not say that his tongue is the tongue of the Holy Spirit that speaketh swiftly, because he wants to show that his tongue in uttering the prophecies is a separate instrument so that it is truly (like) a pen; and it is not an instrument conjoined to the body like other body members; and he wanted to show that this prophecy would not disappear into the air like words pronounced by mouth, but would remain for ever like words written by a pen. The words
that writeth swiftly show that the Holy Spirit does not need time to consider what and how to write; for they write slowly who, when writing, think about what sentence or what words to use.
[1] And Baruch said to them: With his mouth he pronounced all these words as if he were reading to me: and I wrote in a volume with ink. Dixit autem eis Baruch : Ex ore suo loquebatur quasi legens ad me omnes sermones istos, et ego scribebam in volumine atramento. Jeremias xxxvi. 18]
[2] The spirit of the Lord hath spoken by me and his word by my tongue. Spiritus Domini locutus est per me, et sermo ejus per linguam meam. [II Reg. xxiii. 2]
[3] ēructō, āvī, ātus, 1, n. and a.: to belch out; to vomit, throw forth or out.
[4] Isaias xxiv. 16.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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