Bellarmine on Psalm 148 : Title & theme, Verses 1 & 2

Title and subject matter

The three final Psalms, which have Alleluia in their title, call upon all created things to praise their Creator; and in Psalm CXLVIII all created things are enumerated in order, and as if called to join a chorus, so that they can all sing in their own fashion; in the following Psalm he enjoins men to praise the supreme God, from whom they have received blessings so numerous and great; in the final Psalm he commands these men not only to praise God (with their tongues) but with every kind of musical instrument.

Verses 1 & 2

Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise ye him in the high places. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.

Alleluja. Laudate Dominum de caelis; laudate eum in excelsis. Laudate eum, omnes angeli ejus; laudate eum, omnes virtutes ejus.

The first to be invited are the angels who reside in the highest heaven, in the hall, as it were, of the eternal king. But the words Praise ye are not spoken as a command or, strictly speaking, by way of an exhortation, as if they were remiss in their duty; but as an invitation arising from love, as something to be desired and pleasing, as though the prophet, quite on fire with love, were to say: Oh that all created things would praise their Creator! And ye Angels, who are first in the order of creation, continue in your praise as you are wont to do. The words de coelis / from the heavens, refer to the place where the angels live, so that the sense is: Praise ye the Lord from your heavenly 

habitation, all ye who are in heaven. He repeats the same thing when he adds: “Praise ye him in the high places.” Next, he explains more clearly who they are that dwell in the high places, when he says: “Praise ye him, all his angels;” and he repeats the same using different words when he adds: “Praise ye him, all his hosts,” that is, all his armies, as it is put in Hebrew. The words virtutes eius / His hosts, should be understood as referring to God's armed forces and not to the sun, the moon and the stars, as some commentators would have it. This is clear firstly, from David’s practice of very frequently repeating the same idea in different words; secondly, from the Fathers who comment on this text, and especially from Chrysostom, who says virtutes / hosts in this context means the Cherubim, Seraphim and the other angels; thirdly, from chapter ii of Luke, where the angels are referred to as “a multitude of the heavenly army;”[1] fourthly, from Psal. CII, where the angels are said more clearly to be “ His hosts,” and “you ministers of his that do his will.”[2]

[1] Luke ii 13.

[2] Psal. CII 21.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.