Bellarmine on Psalm XCII: Verse 7 (conclusion)

Verse 7

Thy testimonies are become exceedingly credible: holiness becometh thy house, O Lord, unto length of days.

Testimonia tua credibilia facta sunt nimis; domum tuam decet sanctitudo, Domine, in longitudinem dierum.

Inasmuch as this relates to the first sense, the Prophet gives answer to a tacit objection which could be made : whence have we knowledge of what is said of the foundation of the earth, of the abyss of the waters and of the confinement of the water in lower places, for which things no witness was present since they preceded the creation of all men. The Prophet replies that he had this from the testimony of God, who revealed it to His servant Moses : and that this testimony was highly credible  because Moses, through many signs, miracles and other ways, had shown himself to be a faithful servant of God and a true Prophet. The same may be said about the second sense : for the testimonies of Christ, conveyed to us through the Apostles, are made so credible, firstly, because of the signs and miracles of Christ and the Apostles; secondly, because we see fulfilled what had been predicted;  thirdly, because of other reasons without end which make the Christian faith so greatly credible that no-one, having heard the preachers, can not believe them, without appearing extremely rash. From which the Prophet concludes that the house of God, that is the Church of God, in which such testimonies are contained and preached, ought to be kept holy and inviolate even to the consummation of the world. “Holiness,” he says, “becometh thy house,” that is, it is becoming that everyone should venerate her as holy; it is also becoming that those who are in her should be holy, and respond in holy ways to the holiness of Thy testimonies, and finally it is becoming that she should be kept by Thee inviolate and holy unto length of days, “so that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her.”[1]

[1] And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Et ego dico tibi, quia tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam. [Matth. xvi. 18]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.