Verses 4 & 5
For the Lord is great, and exceedingly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.
Quoniam magnus Dominus, et laudabilis nimis; terribilis est super omnes deos;
For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils: but the Lord made the heavens.
quoniam omnes dii gentium daemonia; Dominus autem caelos fecit.
He declares the glory of the lord and His wondrous works which a little earlier he said were to be praised always and everywhere : “For the Lord is great, and exceedingly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.” This is the glory of the Lord, that he is supremely great, whether you consider His power, His wisdom, His goodness, His authority, His riches, or any other attribute; and because of this greatness He is greatly to be praised and by virtue of the same thing He is to praised by all men : and hence the heavens and the earth are full of His glory; and finally, He is to be feared above all gods, that is, to such a degree does He rise above all who in any way might be called gods, that not only do they not dare to compare themselves to Him, but, like servants, or rather like slaves, they tremble before His majesty; for the Church sings of the good angels, who are gods through participation : “The Angels praise Thy Majesty, the Dominations worship it, the Powers stand in awe.”
[1] Of the wicked angels,who are (called) gods in e
rror by (some) people, Bl. James says in chapter ii of his Epistle: “The devils also believe and tremble.”
[2] Now, because David is chiefly speaking here of false gods, he provides a reason why our God is to be feared above all gods, saying: “For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils: but the Lord made the heavens,” that is, God is accordingly to be feared above all gods, namely the gods that are false and adored in error by people, because the gods of the gentiles are not true gods, but demons, that is, wicked spirits who through their pride deserted God their creator and have been condemned by Him to eternal torments: “But the Lord” is not a created Spirit but a creator Spirit who “made the heavens,” the greatest and most beautiful forms of all things, and everything which is contained under the heavens, that is, all created things. St. Jerome translated the Hebrew as
all the Gods of the peoples are graven things. But it is known that the Hebrew word
elilim properly signifies neither
demons nor
graven images. For
demon is written with a word translated as
graven image; the word
elilim seems to mean a
little god or
godling, because it is a diminutive formed from
el, which means God, so that the meaning is:
The gods of the gentiles are not gods but godlings, fallen stars that are vain and empty; but the Lord is the true and mighty God who made the heavens. Accordingly, the Septuagint translators referred this word to demons rather than to graven images, and these were what were chiefly adored by the gentiles, as the Apostle says in I
Corinth. x: “The things which the heathens sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God.”
[3][1] From the Common Preface of the Mass.
[2] Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well: the devils also believe and tremble. Tu credis quoniam unus est Deus : bene facis : et daemones credunt, et contremiscunt. [James ii. 19]
[3] But the things which the heathens sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God. And I would not that you should be made partakers with devils. Sed quae immolant gentes, daemoniis immolant, et non Deo. Nolo autem vos socios fieri daemoniorum : [I Cor. x. 20]
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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