Bellarmine on Psalm XCII: Verse 1

Verse 1

The Lord hath reigned, he is clothed with beauty: the Lord is clothed with strength, and hath girded himself.

Dominus regnavit, decorem indutus est : indutus est Dominus fortitudinem, et praecinxit se.

This beginning of the Psalm may rightly be applied to either the creation or to the redemption; it is not unknown for sentences of the divine Scriptures to have several literal meanings. “The Lord hath reigned,” is the same as if he were to have said : the Lord has acquired His kingdom, He has begun to reign. “He is clothed with beauty,” that is to say, with regal glory and majesty. “The Lord is clothed with strength,” that is, He has not only obtained (His kingdom with) glory, but with the power and strength necessary for majesty in a king. “And hath girded himself,” that is, He has girded Himself in preparation for ruling and governing. If these words are referred to the creation, God may be said to have begun His reign when He created the world since then, for the first time, He had subjects; if they are referred to the restoration, Christ obtained His kingdom at His resurrection, and then He was clothed with the beauty of His (now) glorious body; and He was also clothed with strength, because all power was given to Him in heaven and in earth,[1] so that henceforth He was subject to no creature but He had all things under his feet.[1] Finally, He hath girded Himself unto the extending of His kingdom through the preaching of the Apostles, even unto the ends of the earth.

[1] And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Et accedens Jesus locutus est eis, dicens : Data est mihi omnis potestas in caelo et in terra : [Matt. xxviii. 18] 

[2] And he hath subjected all things under his feet, and hath made him head over all the church, Et omnia subjecit sub pedibus ejus : et ipsum dedit caput supra omnem ecclesiam. [Ephes. i. 22]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.