Bellarmine on Psalm 147 : Verses 5 & 6

Verses 5 & 6 

Who giveth snow like wool: scattereth mists like ashes. He sendeth his crystal like morsels: who shall stand before the face of his cold?

Qui dat nivem sicut lanam, nebulam sicut cinerem spargit. Mittit crystallum suum sicut buccellas : ante faciem frigoris ejus quis sustinebit?

Moving from universal providence, the Prophet focuses on one particular effect, in which appear the admirable power and wisdom of God, on account of which the Lord deservedly should be praised, even by those who dwell above in the supernal Jerusalem, beyond temporal changes. One effect of the miraculous power and wisdom of God which is discernible by the senses and is known to all, may be perceived in the cold and heat of the atmosphere. For sometimes in certain regions there will suddenly be such a great quantity of snow, frost and ice that lakes and rivers, and even the seas are frozen over, and so hardened with ice that heavily laden wagons can be hauled across them just as if they were going over fields : St. Basil is a witness of this in his orat. in Quadraginta martyres;  and we ourselves have seen seen the like in Belgian Gaul. When the ice can scarcely be broken by iron bars, God, when it so pleases Him, sends a warm wind from His store, and by a word quickly melts the ice of all the rivers, lakes and seas, and waters flow down from rooftops, mountains and hills. Thus in a trice God replaces the severely rigorous cold with a gentle warmth. But let us explain each of the words : “Who giveth snow like wool,”that is, He sends snow from the sky in such abundance that every flake looks like flocks[1] of wool. In this text snow is compared to wool not 

only because of its lightness and whiteness but because of the size of the flakes : for sometimes it snows so lightly that the snowflakes seems like atoms; but it sometimes snows so heavily that the flakes are like flocks of wool. “Scattereth mists like ashes.” St. Jerome  in his commentary on this text reproves the Latin translator who used the word nebulam / mist when he should have used pruinam / frost; but the Latin translator has translated the Greek and not the Hebrew into the Latin idiom : and the Greek word used in this text properly means nebulam / mist. Although the Hebrew word means frost and fits in with the imagery of this text which is speaking of the cold, the texts can in fact be easily reconciled. Indeed, when a heavy frost sets in, it renders the air misty and caliginous,[2] and the frost itself hardens under the caliginous air. Moreover, the comparison of frost to ash relates to the heaviness of the frost, as we have said in the comparison of snow with wool. And so the sense is : He spreads the caliginous frost or mist from the frost so heavily that he seems to be spreading ashes; for the ashes, being spread out, make a sort of extremely thick mist. “He sendeth his crystal like morsels;” crystallus comes from a Greek word which we say means not only the common word crystal but also ice: and that it means ice in this 

context is plainly apparent from the Hebrew. Some commentators choose to translate crystallum in this context as hail, which is water frozen in the air; but hail is not like morsels, and in Hebrew it has his ice, not his hail; finally, hail normally falls in summer hence it is not made by the cold of winter, which is what is referred to here: “Who shall stand before the face of his cold?” The words therefore “who sendeth his crystal” do not mean : who makes it rain down from the sky; but : who, by His command, is the cause that coldest ice exists on earth ; in this way God was said to send the Prophets, and John is said to have been sent by God, who did not fall from the sky. The words like morsels refer to the pieces of ice which are found on the earth in the coldest of times, wherever there had been any water, which are similar to morsels of bread, because they have the shape of bread crumbs. “Who shall stand before the face of his cold?” This is an apostrophe2 of the prophet, admiring the rigour of the cold, as though he might say : Who can withstand such great cold? Who will not be frozen and perish? The Hebrew expression ante faciem / before the face of is very commonly used for coram / in the presence of.

[1] A lock, tuft or particle (of wool, cotton, etc.). OED.

[2] Misty, dim, murky; obscure, dark; also figurative. (Now archaic.) OED.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 147 : Verse 4

 Verse 4 

Who sendeth forth his speech to the earth: his word runneth swiftly.

Qui emittit eloquium suum terrae, velociter currit sermo ejus.

The Prophet has exhorted the holy city to praise God for the favours received; now he urges it to praise God for the favours granted to other nations, from which the city may learn how much greater are the gifts that it has received compared with those God granted to others. He therefore urges them to praise God, “Who sendeth forth his speech to the earth,” that is, who sends the precepts and decrees of His providence to the whole world, and “his word runneth swiftly,” that is, His precepts and decrees are carried most swiftly to all created beings, they quickly penetrate all things and are put into implementation. By these words, divine providence is signified, which is extended to all things, and with greatest speed, because God is everywhere, and  “upholds all things by the word of his power;” as it says in Hebrews i;[1] and “reacheth therefore from end to end mightily, and ordereth all things sweetly;”[2] hence David says to God in Ps. CXVIII : “ all things serve thee.”[3] St. Augustine ponders on the Greek words which translate as usque in velocitatem / at speed, instead of velociter / swiftly;  he says that the sense is that the word of God is carried with such great speed, not in the way that birds, the winds and lightning move at great speed, but they in their course equal this very speed, as it says in Wisdom vii : “For wisdom is more active than all active things,”[4] not because wisdom, or the word of God, is properly speaking moved, but because it is present in all places, as though it had flown there at top speed.

[1] Who being the brightness of his glory, and the figure of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, making purgation of sins, sitteth on the right hand of the majesty on high. qui cum sit splendor gloriae, et figura substantiae ejus, portansque omnia verbo virtutis suae, purgationem peccatorum faciens, sedet ad dexteram majestatis in excelsis : [Hebr. i 3]

[2] She reacheth therefore from end to end mightily, and ordereth all things sweetly. Attingit ergo a fine usque ad finem fortiter, et disponit omnia suaviter. [Wisdom viii 1]

[3] By thy ordinance the day goeth on: for all things serve thee. Ordinatione tua perseverat dies, quoniam omnia serviunt tibi. [Ps. CXVIII 91]

[4] For wisdom is more active than all active things: and reacheth everywhere by reason of her purity. Omnibus enim mobilibus mobilior est sapientia : attingit autem ubique propter suam munditiam. [Wisdom vii 24]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 147 : Verse 3

Verse 3

Who hath placed peace in thy borders: and filleth thee with the fat of corn.

Qui posuit fines tuos pacem, et adipe frumenti satiat te.

The holy city of Jerusalem is not only fully fortified but is exempt from the dangers of war; hence it has the name Jerusalem, that is, vision of peace. For the one who in the beginning tried to disturb the peace was quickly expelled with such great force that the Lord was to say : “I saw Satan like lightning falling from heaven.”[1] “Who hath placed,” he says, “peace in thy borders,” that is, He caused peace to spread throughout the whole of your land, even to its uttermost confines; He willed there to be peace within your borders and territories so that it was not possible for war to pass through them. Not only does this city abound in supplies of good things, but it also has the best and most exquisite things, and the very marrow itself of good things. “And filleth thee,” he says, “with the fat of corn:” where the excellence of the foodstuffs is noted by the use of the words the fat of corn, and the greatest of abundance by the words filleth thee. All these things most properly and strictly speaking are found in the soil of the heavenly homeland : for there will be found perfect peace between the 

lower parts and the higher, and between the higher and God, and between all the citizens of that city, the greater and the lesser. They will truly be of one heart and mind, and, as the Lord says in John xvii : “Made perfect in one.”[2] There too they will all be filled with the fat of corn, since the food of the soul is truth and wisdom; they, however, will have truth as it is in itself, not in figures and enigmas; they will taste the sweetness of the eternal Word, without the exterior covering of the sacraments or the Scriptures; they will drink directly from the fount of wisdom, not from its streams, and not from showers falling gently upon the earth.[3] Thus shall they be filled in truth, so as to never hunger or thirst in eternity.  In the Church militant, which also is Jerusalem to a certain extent, we have peace with God but at the same time we suffer affliction in the world. To the extent that it is within us, we make an effort to be at peace with everyone; but we dwell in the midst of those who hate peace. Hence “combats without, fears within”[4] are never absent, and we eat indeed of the fat of corn, but not without various coverings (of allegory). We have the Word of God, in the flesh, and we truly eat of that very flesh of the Word, but under the covering of a sacrament. We drink of the waters of wisdom, but as from a shower coming from the Scriptures; because we are not filled by these blessings, our happiness here in the meantime is to hunger and thirst (for their fullness). Much less do these words apply to the earthly Jerusalem, the old Synagogue of the Jews, to whom all these things applied in the sense of figures.

[1] And he said to them: I saw Satan like lightning falling from heaven. Et ait illis : Videbam Satanam sicut fulgor de caelo cadentem. [Luke x 18]

[2] I in them, and thou in me; that they may be made perfect in one: and the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast also loved me. Ego in eis, et tu in me : ut sint consummati in unum : et cognoscat mundus quia tu me misisti, et dilexisti eos, sicut et me dilexisti. [John xvii 23]

[3] Psalm LXXI 6.

[4] II Corinth. vii 5.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 147 : Title & theme, Verses 1 & 2

Title and subject matter

Among the Hebrews, this Psalm did not have a title because it is not a new Psalm but a continuation of the previous Psalm; but we are following the Septuagint Translators who begin here with the title Alleluia, and it is probable that in the ancient Hebrew codices which the Septuagint translators themselves had, this was a new Psalm with its own title. As far as the subject matter is concerned, the Prophet urges God’s people to praise Him for the many good things which have Him as their origin : the things which are spoken here apply firstly to the earthly Jerusalem, as St. Chrysostom teaches; and they apply still more to the Christian Church, as St. Chrysostom and St. Jerome teach; but they apply most perfectly to the heavenly Jerusalem, which is how St. Hilary and St. Augustine explain this Psalm.

Verse 1

Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise thy God, O Sion.

Lauda, Jerusalem, Dominum; lauda Deum tuum, Sion.

Jerusalem is the holy city; Sion is the nobler part of this city, where the Lord’s temple was built, and (the word) is used for the whole of the city itself; hence it means the same to say Praise O Jerusalem and Praise O Sion. If these words are applied to the heavenly Jerusalem, nothing could be more fittingly said; for that heavenly city has no-one working, either looking out for himself and for the things necessary to sustain life, or carrying out works of charity for others, since in that city no-one is poor or needy; and so everyone always has the time they can devote, and truly devote, to praising God. Rightly, therefore, is it said: “Praise the Lord,” as you are free from all other occupation; “praise thy God,” because you, before every other city, enjoy the Lord’s favours; finally, for it has been granted to you to see, or rather to understand, the beauty and the outstanding excellence of the Lord. The, Church journeying as an exile on earth, should also praise the Lord; but the Church cannot do all of these things, nor do them all the time, because she is frequently has cause for anxiety and many things trouble her. And if the Church herself cannot offer up praise always and in all things, much less could the synagogue of the Jews.

Verse 2

Because he hath strengthened the bolts of thy gates, he hath blessed thy children within thee.

Quoniam confortavit seras portarum tuarum, benedixit filiis tuis in te.

This is the reason why Jerusalem ought to praise the Lord, because He gave her security and abundance, in which the height of all good things consists : for security without abundance is security in penury, and abundance without security is abundance filled with fear and danger. God has therefore strengthened the gates of Jerusalem, so that she cannot be stormed by any force, and those who are within are safe, because nothing evil will enter and nothing good will leave, no foe will be admitted and no friend will be excluded, and into this city so well 

fortified, the divine blessing has introduced an abundance of all good things : for God has not blessed the children of Jerusalem with just this or that blessing, but rather with an absolute blessing, that is, as the Apostle is wont to say, “with (all) spiritual blessings in heavenly places.”[1] But these two are perfectly suited to the heavenly Jerusalem, where security is for eternity and the blessing is the enjoyment of the supreme good. They are also to be found in a certain way, but not in all, in the Church journeying in exile on earth : “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it,”[2] and there is not lacking in her many blessings; but meanwhile many wicked enter into her and many good desert her, He has mixed chaff with the wheat, bad fish with the good, goats with the lambs. Finally, they [security and abundance] are found, but very imperfectly, in the earthly Jerusalem : for, situated in the mountains and surrounded by mountains, she seemed to be adequately defended, and she was sometimes filled with people and resources; but more than once she was overthrown and destroyed by fire, showing that it is not chiefly of her that it is said here : “He hath strengthened the bolts of thy gates;” but rather what is said in Lamentations ii : “Her gates are sunk into the ground: he hath destroyed, and broken her bars: and the bulwark hath mourned, and the wall hath been destroyed together.”[3] In this time, there was not an abundance of good things , as we read in the same text : “They said to their mothers: Where is corn and wine? when they fainted away as the wounded in the streets of the city: when they breathed out their souls in the bosoms of their mothers.”[4]

[1] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ: Benedictus Deus et Pater Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui benedixit nos in omni benedictione spirituali in caelestibus in Christo. [Ephes. I 3]

[2] 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]

[3] The Lord hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Sion: he hath stretched out his line, and hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: and the bulwark hath mourned, and the wall hath been destroyed together.Her gates are sunk into the ground: he hath destroyed, and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more, and her prophets have found no vision from the Lord. Defixae sunt in terra portae ejus, perdidit et contrivit vectes ejus; regem ejus et principes ejus in gentibus : non est lex, et prophetae ejus non invenerunt visionem a Domino. Cogitavit Dominus dissipare murum filiae Sion; tetendit funiculum suum, et non avertit manum suam a perditione : luxitque antemurale, et murus pariter dissipatus est. [Lament. ii. 8 -9]

[4] They said to their mothers: Where is corn and wine? when they fainted away as the wounded in the streets of the city: when they breathed out their souls in the bosoms of their mothers. Matribus suis dixerunt : Ubi est triticum et vinum? cum deficerent quasi vulnerati in plateis civitatis, cum exhalarent animas suas in sinu matrum suarum.  [Lament. ii. 12]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 130: Verse 5 (conclusion)

Verse 5

Let Israel hope in the Lord, from henceforth now and for ever.

Speret Israel in Domino, ex hoc nunc et usque in saeculum.

From this conclusion to the Psalm may be understood the aim of this praise for humility : for the aim of this truly humble man was not to praise himself, but to warn his people how little trust they should place in themselves and how much they should place in God. He therefore says : “Let Israel hope in the Lord,” that is, if I as king and prophet dare not puff myself up on account of my power and wisdom, nor presuming upon myself rather I have placed all my hope in the Lord, it is certainly right that my people, Israel, who are also God’s people, should not believe they are something when they are nothing, nor should they trust in their own powers alone but should place their hope in the Lord, and they will hope in Him not today only, but tomorrow and for all time. 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 130: Verses 3 & 4

Verses 3 & 4

If I was not humbly minded, but exalted my soul: As a child that is weaned is towards his mother, so reward in my soul.

Si non humiliter sentiebam, sed exaltavi animam meam; sicut ablactatus est super matre sua, ita retributio in anima mea.

The prophet is not content with telling God, who searches deep into hearts, that he has always abhorred every form of pride. He confirms this by swearing an oath so that everyone may have greater faith in his words. He therefore says: “If I was not humbly minded” about myself, “but exalted my soul;” or, as the original text says more meaningfully : If I did not happily place myself on an equal footing with others, but raised myself above them. “As a child that is weaned is towards his mother,” that is, just as an infant recently weaned remains on his mother’s lap, wailing and crying, because he has been deprived of the sweetness of her milk, which for a time was the source of his delight: “so (may be the) reward in my soul,” that is, so is my soul deprived of the sweetness of divine consolation, which is my entire and only delight. How great this punishment may be, which the Prophet most holy prays on himself, may be understood only by those who, filled with the same spirit, have tasted how sweet God is. For the Psalms, composed by David like so many canticles of love, bear visible witness to the fact that, compared with the sweetness of divine love, he considers 

as nothing earthly attractions and delights, and his own royal status and majesty. “O how great,” says Psalm XXX, “is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee!” [1] and again Psalm XXXIII : “O taste, and see that the Lord  is sweet;”[2] and Psalm XXVI : “My heart hath said to thee: My face hath sought thee: thy face, O Lord, will I still seek. Turn not away thy face from me;”[3] and Psalm LXXVI : “My soul refused to be comforted: I remembered God, and was delighted;”[4] and Psalm LXXXV : “Give joy to the soul of thy servant, for to thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul. For thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild:”[5] and Psalm CIII : “I will take delight in the Lord;”[6] and Psalm LXII : “I will rejoice under the covert of thy wings: My soul hath stuck close to thee;”[7] finally, Psalm LXXII : “For what have I in heaven? and besides thee what do I desire upon earth? For thee my flesh and my heart hath fainted away: thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever?”[8] and in the same place, “But it is good for me to adhere to 

my God,”[9] as though he were to say : Others seek good things whatsoever, whether in heaven or on earth; “for me to adhere to my God,” is the highest “good,” He is the God of my heart, He is my share, my inheritance, my portion, my entire good, I am content with Him alone, and I shall be with Him for ever. When David, therefore, humble and simple like a tiny infant sucking milk from his mother’s breast, experienced his entire good in the milk of divine love, he could not wish a greater evil for himself than to become like an infant weaned off milk before his time, who could find no comfort when he saw he had been taken away from his mother’s breast. Concerning the words used, the phrase If I exalted my soul is translated from the Hebrew by St. Jerome as, If I made my soul to be silent. But the Septuagint did not read the Hebrew as to make silent but as I have exalted: for two of the Hebrew letters are very similar; nor should we have any doubt that the books used by the Septuagint translators were more correct than what St. Jerome had.  So, too, the words, “so reward in my soul,” were translated by St. Jerome from the Hebrew as, so my soul is weaned. But the Hebrew word can mean both reward and weaned, with a small change of letters. The Septuagint, where it had gamul, they read it as weaned, and where it had gemul, they read it as reward. St. Jerome read both as gamul; but the Septuagint reading, with which our Latin Vulgate edition is in agreement, is far better, firstly, because it is scarcely possible to understand what is meant by so my soul is weaned to me; secondly, because according to the Septuagint reading, it has the most elegant allusion in Hebrew of the word reward to the similar word weaned.

[1] O how great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee! Which thou hast wrought for them that hope in thee, in the sight of the sons of men. Quam magna multitudo dulcedinis tuae, Domine, quam abscondisti timentibus te! Perfecisti eis qui sperant in te, in conspectu filiorum hominum. [Ps. XXX 20]

[2] O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet: blessed is the man that hopeth in him. Gustate, et videte quoniam suavis est Dominus; beatus vir qui sperat in eo. [Ps. XXXIII 9]

[3] My heart hath said to thee: My face hath sought thee: thy face, O Lord, will I still seek. Turn not away thy face from me; decline not in thy wrath from thy servant. Be thou my helper, forsake me not; do not thou despise me, O God my Saviour.  Tibi dixit cor meum, exquisivit te facies mea; faciem tuam, Domine, requiram. Ne avertas faciem tuam a me; ne declines in ira a servo tuo. Adjutor meus esto; ne derelinquas me, neque despicias me, Deus salutaris meus.  [Psalm XXVI 8-9]

[4] In the day of my trouble I sought God, with my hands lifted up to him in the night, and I was not deceived. My soul refused to be comforted: I remembered God, and was delighted, and was exercised, and my spirit swooned away. In die tribulationis meae Deum exquisivi; manibus meis nocte contra eum, et non sum deceptus. Renuit consolari anima mea; memor fui Dei, et delectatus sum; et exercitatus sum, et defecit spiritus meus. [Ps. LXXVI 3-4]

[5] Give joy to the soul of thy servant, for to thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul. For thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild: and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee. laetifica animam servi tui, quoniam ad te, Domine, animam meam levavi. Quoniam tu, Domine, suavis et mitis, et multae misericordiae omnibus invocantibus te. [Ps. LXXXV 4]

[6] Let my speech be acceptable to him: but I will take delight in the Lord. Jucundum sit ei eloquium meum; ego vero delectabor in Domino. [Ps. CIII 34]

[7] Because thou hast been my helper. And I will rejoice under the covert of thy wings: My soul hath stuck close to thee: thy right hand hath received me. Quia fuisti adjutor meus, et in velamento alarum tuarum exsultabo. Adhaesit anima mea post te; me suscepit dextera tua. [Ps. LXII 8-9]

[8] For what have I in heaven? and besides thee what do I desire upon earth? For thee my flesh and my heart hath fainted away: thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever. Quid enim mihi est in caelo? et a te quid volui super terram? Defecit caro mea et cor meum; Deus cordis mei, et pars mea, Deus in aeternum. [Psalm LXXII 25-6]

[9] But it is good for me to adhere to my God, to put my hope in the Lord God: That I may declare all thy praises, in the gates of the daughter of Sion. Mihi autem adhaerere Deo bonum est, ponere in Domino Deo spem meam; ut annuntiem omnes praedicationes tuas in portis filiae Sion. [Psalm LXXII 28]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 130: Verses 1 & 2

Verse 1

Lord, my heart is not exalted: nor are my eyes lofty. 

Domine, non est exaltatum cor meum, neque elati sunt oculi mei.

The Prophet, secure in speaking the truth, addresses himself to God, whom no-one can deceive; in the presence of God, he says he has never been subject to the vice of pride, whether the inner workings of his heart or the visible, external signs (of his life) are considered. For many people are secretly proud within their heart, judging themselves to be great : but they feign humility on the outside; many too, with a pride no less puffed up, look down on their neighbours, and condemn them with a haughty and inflated heart. But David bore himself with a heart that was not exalted and with eyes that were not lofty.

Verse 2

Neither have I walked in great matters, nor in wonderful things above me.

neque ambulavi in magnis, neque in mirabilibus super me.

He has spoken about pride in the heart and in the eyes : now he adds pride arising from words and actions : for some people boast they can do, or have done, or would be able to do things greater and more wonderful than they really could; and in this they walk or get above themselves, in speaking ; others presume to do things which are beyond their abilities and they walk or get above themselves in their work and actions. David, however, stuck with his own level, grounded in true humility, and so neither in his speech nor in his actions did he get above himself in great and wonderful things, that is, he did not seek glory for himself in having done great and wonderful things beyond his abilities; nor did he try to do things he knew he could not achieve.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 130 : Title & theme

Title and subject matter

A Canticle of the Steps

Canticum graduum David.

In this Psalm, David sings of the virtue of his humility, and he is singing not in front of three or four people, but on the world’s stage; now although this is to praise himself greatly, it does not go against the precept in Proverbs xxvii: “Let another praise thee, and not thy own mouth: a stranger, and not thy own lips.”[1] In fact, while praising oneself is shameful, it may sometimes be done out of necessity; not to praise oneself when necessity requires it is foolish. Blessed Paul said: “For not he who commendeth himself, is approved, but he, whom God commendeth,”[2] and yet he saw it was necessary to rebut the calumnies of the pseudo-apostles. In this Psalm, David acknowledges in himself the virtue of humility, because he had often been accused of pride and ambition, for which vice he had a great abhorrence. In chapter xvii of Book I of Kings, his brother says to him : “I know thy pride, and the wickedness of thy heart;”[3] in Chapter xvii and elsewhere in the same book, Saul frequently seeks after David so as to ambush him; and in chapter xvi of Book II of Kings, Semei, cursing David, reproaches him for usurping Saul’s kingdom. David, therefore, in order to rebut these calumnies, calls God as a witness to the depths of his humility and singular modesty. Besides, even if no calumny had been put forward, he could proclaim his humility, not so as to speak out about his virtues, but so as to show that, even though he might stand out among all the men of Palestine by virtue of his strength, power, wisdom and other qualities, yet he could never place trust in his own powers; and so following his example, everyone should hope in God alone, as he says at the end of the Psalm. This is one of the Gradual Psalms and it teaches what true humility is and how there is no surer way to ascend the steps than through humility, as the Lord says: “Every one that … humbleth himself, shall be exalted.”[4]

[1] Let another praise thee, and not thy own mouth: a stranger, and not thy own lips. Laudet te alienus, et non os tuum; extraneus, et non labia tua. [Proverbs xxvii 2]

[2] For not he who commendeth himself, is approved, but he, whom God commendeth. Non enim qui seipsum commendat, ille probatus est : sed quem Deus commendat. [II Corinth. X 18]

[3] Now when Eliab his eldest brother heard this, when he was speaking with others, he was angry with David, and said: Why camest thou hither? and why didst thou leave those few sheep in the desert? I know thy pride, and the wickedness of thy heart: that thou art come down to see the battle. Quod cum audisset Eliab frater ejus major, loquente eo cum aliis, iratus est contra David, et ait : Quare venisti, et quare dereliquisti pauculas oves illas in deserto? Ego novi superbiam tuam, et nequitiam cordis tui : quia ut videres praelium, descendisti. [I Kings xvii 28]

[4] Because every one that exalteth himself, shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted. quia omnis, qui se exaltat, humiliabitur : et qui se humiliat, exaltabitur. [Luke xiv 11]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 128: Verses 5-7 (conclusion)

Verses 5 & 6

Let them be as grass on the tops of houses: which withered before it be plucked up: Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand: nor he that gathereth sheaves his bosom.

Fiant sicut foenum tectorum, quod priusquam evellatur exaruit, de quo non implevit manum suam qui metit, et sinum suum qui manipulos colligit.

There is another prayer which also refers to a prophecy : for it signifies that the happiness of the persecutors will be of a most brief duration, and with wonderful imagery he compares it to grass, which is in itself next to nothing and of no great worth; as it says in the Gospel : “that is today … and tomorrow is cast into the oven(’s furnace);”[1] but not satisfied with having compared it to grass, he adds that it is like grass which grows, not in the fields, but on the roofs of houses; that is, comparing it to the smallest of plants which grows on roofs, which is of no value and has no use : and for this reason no-one cuts it or binds it into bundles, but it is just left to dry up and die.  Now to us, who see nothing of less value and usefulness, this may seem an exaggeration, yet when we come to the last judgement, it will seem to be an understatement; for what will it be like to see those men who were once so rich and powerful, and who thought they had established for themselves their households in their kingdoms and empires, to see them, I say, wretches cast down into the entire world’s deepest pit? And to see those who, habituated to pleasure and enjoyment, incapable of enduring the slightest inconvenience, delivered into everlasting torments, there to remain with no consolation through all eternity.  

Verse 7

And they that have passed by have not said: The blessing of the Lord be upon you: we have blessed you in the name of the Lord.

Et non dixerunt qui praeteribant : Benedictio Domini super vos. Benediximus vobis in nomine Domini.

Because he has said that the grass on the roofs is not usually cut and gathered up, he now adds that those gathering (this grass) will not be blessed by passers-by in the way that those men are blessed who harvest hay or corn which springs up and grows in the fields; this refers to the greater confusion of the wicked, who are compared to the grass growing on the roofs. He therefore says : It has never been the case, nor will it ever be the case, that those who pass by should bless them that harvest you; for they are not harvesting you but those men who clean the roofs cast you into a fire or into the gutters. Now although the blessing of the passers-by pertains to the men harvesting, it also redounds to the benefit of what is being harvested; for the passers-by pray that the harvest will be ripe and plentiful; and so the absence and lack of a blessing redounds upon the wicked themselves, whom no-one will bless at the last judgement, and no-one will have pity on them; but they will be despised and condemned by all, because this pertains to the greatest disgrace. No-one will therefore say to them: “The blessing of the Lord be upon you;” but rather on the contrary, the words will be spoken by Christ the judge and by all His Saints: “Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire.”[2]

[1] Now if God clothe in this manner the grass that is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more you, O ye of little faith? Si autem foenum, quod hodie est in agro, et cras in clibanum mittitur, Deus sic vestit : quanto magis vos pusillae fidei? [Luke xii 28]

[2] Then he shall say to them also that shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. Tunc dicet et his qui a sinistris erunt : Discedite a me maledicti in ignem aeternum, qui paratus est diabolo, et angelis ejus : [Matthew xxv 41]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 128: Verse 4

Verse 4

The Lord who is just will cut the necks of sinners : Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Sion.

Dominus justus concidit cervices peccatorum. Confundantur, et convertantur retrorsum omnes qui oderunt Sion.

The Prophet now consoles God’s people, prophesying that divine vengeance on the wicked persecutors of the just is not far off, as though to say: Be of good spirit, ye just, your persecutors do indeed press upon your back or your neck : but soon the just Lord will not press upon their necks but will justly cut them and smash them with his sword into pieces, so that they will never more be able to harm you; and finally they shall be confounded who formerly were rejoicing and all those who hated and persecuted God’s people will be turned back, fleeing and falling. Note, firstly, that the verb concidet / he will cut is in the preterite in Greek and Hebrew, concidit / he cut. But St. Hilary and St. Augustine read it an interpret it as concidet / he will cut; hence it seems the reading was different in the Greek which they followed. The Hebrew language can indeed bear a change of tenses, so that we can read the preterite for the future. It is not easy for our Latin text to be changed. But whether we read the verb as he cut or he will cut, the sense remains the same. For God has already cut the necks of Pharaoh, Nabuchodonosor, Balthasar, Antiochus, Nero, Domitian and others like these; and in the future too He will cut the necks of all others who, in a similar fashion, are or will be persecutors of the just. Note, secondly, instead of the word cervices / necks, the Hebrew has laqueos / noose or funes / ropes; but it is more than likely that the Septuagint translators read the word not as it currently is in Hebrew but as a word 

which means necks or back; but it is no less likely that David retained the similitude, and so he said on my back, thus adding afterwards, He will cut the backs, so that he might show that the sinners would be punished with a similar but more serious penalty. Note, thirdly, that when God is said to cut the necks of sinners, the reference is to stubborn or proud sinners; for in relation to sinners who humbly confess their sins and desire to amend their lives, God does not cut their necks but heals their sickness. Note, fourthly, that the words be confounded and turned back are not properly speaking a prayer but a prophecy, as we have often shown. But anyone who wants to take the words in the sense they seem to convey will be able to explain them in a pious way, that it means confounding in a good sense which will lead to repentance and a turning away from sins and towards God; but the previous interpretation is more in keeping with the literal sense.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 128: Verse 3

Verse 3

The wicked have wrought upon my back: they have lengthened their iniquity.

Supra dorsum meum fabricaverunt peccatores; prolongaverunt iniquitatem suam.

What the Prophet said in his own words, he now repeats and confirms, using similes and metaphors; the people of God therefore say of their persecutors : “The wicked have wrought upon my back,” that is, they have applied the smith’s technique to my back, using my back like an anvil which metal smiths hammer repeatedly. In the Hebrew it has a word which the Septuagint translators render as they have wrought, and St. Jerome renders using the verb to plough; he renders the words as : Ploughing, they have ploughed my back, and truly it can mean either of these senses, for although we do not find any place in Scripture  (that I know of) where the Hebrew word means fabricare / to work, we do have in Gen, iv 22 and in III Kings vii 14, the word choresh from the same root, which means an artisan smith, from which charash is derived, which means to exercise the calling of a smith. Nor can there be any doubt that the Septuagint translators, most learned men, drew from the word fabri / artisan smith the verb fabricare / to work,  which in this context does not mean to construct a house with stones and wood (for the simile would appear inappropriate, if anyone were to say a house could be built or wrought on a 

man’s back); but, as we have said, according to the proper sense of the Hebrew it means to work with iron tools upon the back, as though upon an anvil; this simile signifies a steady and most grievous persecution : for nothing is hammered more frequently and forcefully than an anvil by smiths. The same is signified by the words that follow, “they have lengthened their iniquity;” for the prolongation of sin is the continuation of persecutions, which the good always suffer from the wicked. St. Jerome translates this as they have lengthened their furrow.  But although the Hebrew word which is currently found in the Hebrew text signifies furrow, if one letter is advanced or another is put back, it will mean iniquity, and without doubt it was read in this way by the Septuagint Elders; and because the letter vau ought to be placed before, it is clear from where it is currently placed that it is redundant and otiose. And so the Septuagint translators did not read the Hebrew as their furrow but as their iniquity, from the word avon, which is iniquity. But it is permissible to harmonise the Greek and the Latin with the Hebrew in this way and we greatly support the sentence as written in the Vulgate, without however denying that St. Jerome’s reading makes good sense, if it is explained as follows: The ploughmen have ploughed upon my back, they have lengthened their furrow, that is, they have placed an extremely heavy yoke upon my back, and the ploughmen have ploughed using me like a misused ox, and they have forced me to bear the yoke not for a short time but for a very long time, because they wanted to plough an extremely long furrow.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 128: Verses 1 & 2

Verse 1

Often have they fought against me from my youth, let Israel now say.

Saepe expugnaverunt me a juventute mea, dicat nunc Israel;

Although they find themselves in trouble, God’s people are consoled because they are now used to such anxieties and they have in the past always been delivered from them through God’s assistance. These words apply to the Jewish people who, while they are rebuilding the city and the temple, are attacked by neighbouring peoples; the words also apply to the Christ's Church, which has scarcely ever been able to draw breath amidst the attacks of pagans, heretics and false Christians. He therefore says: “Often have they fought against me from my youth, let Israel now say,” that is, God’s people, called Israel,[1] should not be surprised if they are attacked by enemies, for they are suffering nothing new but something that calls to mind past troubles, and the Prophet goes on: “Often have my enemies fought against me” right from my earliest age; for the Church being scarcely born, Abel suffered from Cain’s persecution, and from that time onwards the Church has very frequently suffered similar things. Concerning the choice of words, one thing alone is to be noted, the wording expugnaverunt / they have fought is used instead of oppugnaverunt / they have attacked; the Greek word means bellaverunt / they have waged war, and from the next verse it may be gathered that the enemy did not prevail; hence they fought but did not win, they waged war but did  not conquer.

[1] From the Hebrew name יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisra'el) meaning "God contends", from the roots שָׂרָה (sarah) meaning "to contend, to fight" and אֵל ('el) meaning "God". In the Old Testament, Israel (who was formerly named Jacob; see Genesis 32:28) wrestles with an angel. 

Verse 2

Often have they fought against me from my youth: but they could not prevail over me.

saepe expugnaverunt me a juventute mea; etenim non potuerunt mihi.

He gives a reason why their enemies frequently launched attacks and battles; and he says the cause was the fact that they could never prevail : for if they had once prevailed and had completely destroyed God’s people, there would have been no need for so many wars so many times renewed. What is here asserted is most true, and the history of the Church is testimony of it. The phrase they could not prevail over me, is either written instead of they could not in me (prevail), or they could not to me do harm, or prevail over me.  

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.