Bellarmine on Psalm LXXXIV: Verse 14 (conclusion)

Verse 14

Justice shall walk before him: and shall set his steps in the way.

Justitia ante eum ambulabit, et ponet in via gressus suos.

The Prophet concludes by showing that Christ will be so perfectly just and holy that He will send forth the rays of His justice before Him, and by His light he will open a way for everyone seeking to make progress in this dark valley of our mortality. “Justice,” he says, “shall walk before him,” that is, Christ, like the sun and true light of this world, will send forth the rays of His justice and wisdom, as it is written in Psalm lxxxviii: “Mercy and truth shall go before thy face;”[1] and in Isai. lviii. 8: “Thy justice shall go before thy face;”[2] and so “he shall set his steps in the way (of Thy justice),” that is, He will advance on the journey of His pilgrimage so as to lead many pilgrims to the heavenly homeland. These three verses can be explained as relating to justification and good works of men believing in Christ : for St. Augustine explains them in both ways : “Truth is sprung out of the earth: and justice hath looked down from heaven,” that is, the truth of the confession of sins and of the praise of God begins through Christ to rise up from the mouths of earthly men, and then “justice hath looked down from heaven,” so that in confessing their sins and by giving praise, a man may be justified by God’s grace; but this very truth of confession will not rise up from the earth by the powers of the earth but by the assistance of God’s preventing grace; for “the Lord will give goodness,” who  maketh justice shine out in the hearts of sinners, and so “our earth shall yield her fruit.” Furthermore, the man justified by Christ’s grace will always have justice before his eyes, so as to do all things in accordance with justice : and so “Justice shall walk before him,” preferring the law of the Lord as (his) light, lest he should walk in darkness; and so, secure and rejoicing, he shall set his steps in the way, so as to arrive in due course happily in the heavenly homeland.

[1] Justice and judgment are the preparation of thy throne. Mercy and truth shall go before thy face: Justitia et judicium præparatio sedis tuae; misericordia et veritas præcedent faciem tuam. [Ps. lxxxviii. 15]

[2] Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall speedily arise, and thy justice shall go before thy face, and the glory of the Lord shall gather thee up. Tunc erumpet quasi mane lumen tuum; et sanitas tua citius orietur, et anteibit faciem tuam justitia tua, et gloria Domini colliget te. [Isai. lviii. 8]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.