Bellarmine on Psalm XLIV: Verses 12 -13

 Verse 12

Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear: and forget thy people and thy father's house.

Audi, filia, et vide, et inclina aurem tuam; et obliviscere populum tuum, et domum patris tui.

He now addresses the Church herself, and he teaches faithfully and piously. He calls her daughter, either because he is speaking in the person of God the Father, as St. Jerome says, or because he is speaking as one of the Church fathers, as St. Augustine says. But when by bride is understood the Blessed Virgin Mary, then it is altogether fitting for David to call her daughter because she is his descendant 

according to the flesh. “Hearken, O daughter,” he says, that is, hear the voice of thy spouse, “and see,” that is, consider carefully what thou hearest, “and incline thy ear,” that is, humbly obey His commands, “ and forget thy people, and thy father's house,” that is, in order to serve thy spouse more easily, forget the world and the things that are in the world: for the Church was chosen from the world and has left the world; and although the Church is still in the world, yet it ought not to be of the world, just as her spouse is not of the world: the world is rightly said to be those people who love worldly things, and this same world is the dwelling of our ancient father Adam, who was cast out of paradise into this world; unless it is it is better by father to understand the devil, who is the father of all the wicked, as it says in John viii: “You are of your father the devil.”[1] And assuredly, those who think on what we said above concerning the ineffable love of the bridegroom, who delivered Himself so that He might rescue us out of the depths of a snare and bear us aloft to the highest heaven, there to make us His glorious bride, those who think on these things will have no difficulty in removing their love from this world so as to transfer it entirely to their Spouse. That word forget is to be much emphasised: for it means a radical removal of love for the world, so that it recedes not only from the mind and the heart but also from the memory entirely, so that it is as if it never was.

[1] Ioann. Viii. 44.

Verse 13

And the king shall greatly desire thy beauty; for he is the Lord thy God, and him they shall adore.

Et concupiscet rex decorem tuum, quoniam ipse est Dominus Deus tuus, et adorabunt eum.

He offers a reason why the Bride should forget her people and her father’s house, so that she may be totally focused on love and obedience for her Spouse: because the king desires to see her beauty and to have her at His side. The true beauty of a bride is interior, as is explained more clearly further on in the Psalm, where it says: “ All the beauty (glory) of the king's daughter is within,”[1] and it consists mainly in obedience to His commandments, but in charity, on which all the commandments depend; and that reason, he adds, “for he is the Lord thy God,” that is, He loves thy beauty which has been put in obedience to Him, “for he is the Lord thy God.” For there is nothing a master requires more from his servants, or God from His creatures, than obedience; and, so that we may understand this Spouse is the absolute Lord and true God, he adds: “and Him they shall adore,” that is, thy spouse is not such that thou mayst claim equality with Him; He is indeed thy spouse, but through grace, and thy Lord and the Lord of all creatures, by nature, and adoration of Him is owed by all of these. In the Hebrew, it does not have the word Deus / God, but only Dominus / Lord, where we have “for he is the Lord thy God.” But not only the Septuagint, but also St. Jerome, translate as the Lord thy God;  and from the adoration owed to Him is gathered that He is not only Lord but God, that is, not just any

lord but the supreme Lord. In this same line, in the Hebrew and in the Greek, it has and Him thou wilt adore; but there is no divergence in the meaning: for all creatures must adore God and hence the bride herself must also adore Him; and this reading, Him they shall adore, is not recent; for it is found in St. Augustine, St. Basil, St. Chrysostom and others; on the contrary, St. Jerome in his epistle ad Principiam says that the Septuagint translated it as Him they shall adore.  The Greek reading, which now has Him thou wilt adore,  is either not from the Septuagint translators or has been corrupted. And because, as we have often said, the Septuagint translators had the best Hebrew codices, it is probable that  the Hebrew reading was altered by an error of the scribes at that time, which would be easily done as the Hebrew words for they will adore and thou wilt adore are not different, save for the last letters, namely iod and vau, which could easily be changed because of their similarity.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.