On Psalms Search This Resource     in this Authorin this Sectionin all Sections   Navigator (Page 1 of 4) Previous Next   Page2   Buy This Resource 14 Volumes HardCover $385.00  Show me more …   Psalm LXXVIII. 1. This Psalm doth contain the things which are said to have been done among the old people: but the new and latter people is being admonished, to beware that it be not ungrateful regarding the blessings of God, and provoke His anger against it, whereas it ought to receive His grace. ...The Title thereof doth first move and engage our attention. For it is not without reason inscribed, "Understanding of Asaph :" but it is perchance because these words require a reader who doth perceive not the voice which the surface uttereth, but some inward sense. Secondly, when about to narrate and mention all these things, which seem to need a hearer more than an expounder: "I will open," he saith, "in parables my mouth, I will declare propositions from the beginning." Who would not herein be awakened out of sleep? Who would dare to hurry over the parables and propositions, reading them as if self-evident, while by their very names they signify that they ought to be sought out with deeper view? For a parable hath on the surface thereof the similitude of something: and though it be a Greek word, it is now used as a Latin word. And it is observable, that in parables, those which are called the similitudes of things are compared with things with which we have to do. But propositions, which in Greek are called problhmata, are questions having something therein which is to be solved by disputation. What man then would read parables and propositions cursorily? What man would not attend while hearing these words with watchful mind, in order that by understanding he may come by the fruit thereof? 2. "Hearken ye," He saith, "My people, to My law" (ver. 1). Whom may we suppose to be here speaking, but God? For it was Himself that gave a law to His people, whom when delivered out of Egypt He gathered together, the which gathering together is properly named a Synagogue, which the word Asaph is interpreted to signify. Hath it then been said, "Understanding of Asaph," in the sense that Asaph himself hath understood; or must it be figuratively understood, in the sense that the same Synagogue, that is, the same people, hath understood, unto whom is said, "Hearken, My people, unto My law"? Why is it then that He is rebuking the same people by the mouth of the Prophet, saying, "But Israel hath not known Me, and My people hath not understood"? But, in fact, there were even in that people they that understood, having the faith which was afterwards revealed, not pertaining to the letter of the law, but the grace of the Spirit. For they cannot have been without the same faith, who were able to foresee and foretell the revelation thereof that should be in Christ, inasmuch as even those old Sacraments were significants of those that should be. Had the prophets alone this faith, and not the people too? Nay indeed, but even they that faithfully heard the Prophets, were aided by the same grace in order that they might understand what they heard. But without doubt the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven was veiled in the Old Testament, which in the fulness of time should be unveiled in the New. "For," saith the Apostle, "they did drink of the Spiritual Rock following them, but the Rock was Christ." In a mystery therefore theirs was the same meat and drink as ours, but in signification the same, not in form; because the same Christ was Himself figured to them in a Rock, manifested to us in the Flesh. "But," he saith, "not in all of them God was well pleased." All indeed ate the same spiritual meat and drank the same spiritual drink, that is to say, Signifying something spiritual: but not in all of them was God well pleased. When; he saith, "not in all:" there were evidently there some in whom was God well pleased; and although all the Sacraments were common, grace, which is the virtue of the Sacraments, was not common to all. Just as in our times, now that the faith hath been revealed, which then was veiled, to all men that have been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, the Layer of regeneration is common; but the very grace whereof these same are the Sacraments, whereby the members of the Body of Christ are to reign together with their Head, is not common to all. For even heretics have the same Baptism, and false brethren too, in the communion of the Catholic name. 3. Nevertheless, neither then nor now without profit is the voice of him, saying, "Hearken ye, My people, to My law." Which expression is remarkable in all the Scriptures, how he saith not, "hearken thou," but, "hearken ye." For of many men a people doth consist: to which many that which followeth is spoken in the plural number. "Incline ye your ear unto the words of My mouth." "Hearken ye," is the same as, "Incline your ear:" and what He saith there, "My law," this He saith here in, "the words of My mouth." For that man doth godly hearken to the law of God, and the words of His mouth, whose ear humility doth incline: not he whose neck pride doth lift up. For whatever is poured in is received on the concave surface of humility, is shaken off from the convexity of swelling. Whence in another place, "Incline," he saith, "thine ear, and receive the words of understanding." We have been therefore sufficiently admonished to receive even this Psalm of this understanding of Asaph, to receive, I say, with inclined ear, that is, with humble piety. And it hath not been spoken of as being of Asaph himself, but to Asaph himself. Which thing is evident by the Greek article, and is found in certain Latin copies. These words therefore are of understanding, that is, of intelligence, which hath been given to Asaph himself: which we had better understand not as to one man, but as to the congregation of the people of God; whence we ought by no means to alienate ourselves. For although properly we say "Synagogue" of Jews, but "Church" of Christians, because a "Congregation" is wont to be understood as rather of beasts, but a "convocation" as rather of men: yet that too we find called a Church, and it perhaps is more suitable for us to say, "Save us, O Lord, our God, and congregate us from the nations, in order that we may confess to Thy Holy Name." Neither ought we to disdain to be, nay we ought to render ineffable thanks, for that we are, the sheep of His hands, which He foresaw when He was saying, "I have other sheep which are not of this fold, them too I must lead in, that there may be one flock and one Shepherd:" that is to say, by joining the faithful people of the Gentiles with the faithful people of the Israelites, concerning whom He had before said, "I have not been sent but to the sheep which have strayed of the house of Israel." For also there shall be congregated before Him all nations, and He shall sever them as a shepherd the sheep from the goats. Thus then let us hear that which hath been spoken. "Hearken ye, My people, to My law, incline ye your ear unto the words of My mouth:"not as if addressed to Jews, but rather as if addressed to ourselves, or at least as if these words were said as well to ourselves (as to them ). For when the Apostle had said, "But not in all them was God well pleased," thereby showing that there were those too in whom God was well pleased: he hath forthwith added, "For they were overthrown in the desert:" secondly he hath continued, "but these things have been made our figures." ...To us therefore more particularly these words have been sung. Whence in this Psalm among other things there hath been said, "That another generation may know, sons who shall be born and shall arise." Moreover, if that death by serpents, and that destruction by the destroyer, and the slaying by the sword, were figures, as the Apostle evidently doth declare, inasmuch as it is manifest that all those things did happen: for he saith not, in a figure they were spoken, or, in a figure they were written, but, in a figure, he saith, they happened to them: with how much greater diligence of godliness must those punishments be shunned whereof those were the figures? For beyond a doubt as in good things there is much more of good in that which is signified by the figure, than in the figure itself: so also in evil things very far worse are the things which are signified by the figures, while so great are the evil things which as figures do signify. For as the land of promise, whereunto that people was being led, is nothing in comparison with the Kingdom of Heaven, whereunto the Christian people is being led: so also those punishments which were figures, though they were so severe, are nothing in comparison with the punishments which they signify. But those which the Apostle hath called figures, the same this Psalm, as far as we are able to judge, calleth parables and propositions: not having their end in the fact of their having happened, but in those things whereunto they are referred by a reasonable comparison. Let us therefore hearken unto the law of God-us His people-and let us incline our ear unto the words of His mouth. 4. "I will open," he saith, "in parables My mouth, I will declare propositions from the beginning" (ver. 2). From what beginning he meaneth, is very evident in the words following. For it is not from the beginning, what time the Heaven and earth were made, nor what time mankind was created in the first man: but what time the congregation that was led out of Egypt; in order that the sense may belong to Asaph, which is interpreted a congregation. But O that He that hath said, "I will open in parables My mouth," would also vouchsafe to open our understanding unto them! For if, as He hath opened His mouth in parables, He would in like sort open the parables themselves: and as He declareth "propositions," He would declare in like sort the expositions thereof, we should not be here toiling: but now so hidden and closed are all things, that even if we are able by His aid to arrive at anything, whereon we may feed to our health, still we must eat the bread in the sweat of our face; and pay the penalty of the ancient sentence not with the labour of the body only, but also with that of the heart. Let him speak then, and let us hear the parables and propositions. 5. "How great things we have heard, and have known them, and our fathers have told them to us" (ver. 3). The Lord was speaking higher up. For of what other person could these words be thought to be, "Hearken ye, O My people, to My law"? Why is it then that now on a sudden a man is speaking, for here we have the words of a man, "our fathers have told them to us." Without doubt God, now about to speak by a man's ministry, as the Apostle saith, "Will ye to receive proof of Him that is speaking in me, Christ?" in His own person at first willed the words to be uttered, lest a man speaking His words should be despised as a man. For it is thus with the sayings of God which make their way to us through our bodily sense. The Creator moveth the subject creature by an invisible working; not so that the substance is changed into anything corporal and temporal, when by means of corporal and temporal signs, whether belonging to the eyes or to the ears, as far as men are able to receive it, He would make His will to be known. For if an angel is able to use air, mist, cloud, fire, and any other natural substance or corporal species; and man to use face, tongue, hand, pen, letters, or any other significants, for the purpose of intimating the secret things of his own mind: in a word, if, though he is a man, he sendeth human messengers, and he saith to one, "Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to his servant, Do this, and he doeth it;" with how much greater and more effectual power doth God, to whom as Lord all things together are subject, use both the same angel and man, in order that He may declare whatsoever pleaseth Him? ...For those things were heard in the Old Testament which are known in the New: heard when they were being prophesied, known when they were being fulfilled. Where a promise is performed, hearing is not deceived. "And our fathers," Moses and the Prophets, "have told unto us." 6. "They have not been hidden from their sons in another generation" (ver. 4). This is our generation wherein there hath been given to us regeneration. "Telling forth the praises of the Lord and His powers, and His wonderful works which He hath done." The order of the words is, "and our fathers have told unto us, telling forth the praises of the Lord." The Lord is praised, in order that He may be loved. For what object can be loved more to our health? "And He hath raised up a testimony in Jacob, and hath set a law in Jacob" (ver. 5). This is the beginning whereof hath been spoken above, "I will declare propositions from the beginning." So then the beginning is the Old Testament, the end is the New. For fear doth prevail in the law? "But the end of the law is Christ for righteousness to every one believing;" at whose bestowing "love is shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, which hath been given to us:" and love made perfect doth cast out fear, inasmuch as now without the Law the righteousness of God hath been made manifest. But inasmuch as He hath a testimony by the Law and the Prophets, therefore, "He hath raised up a testimony in Jacob." For even that Tabernacle which was set up with a work so remarkable and full of such wondrous meanings, is named the Tabernacle of Testimony, wherein was the veil over the Ark of the Law, like the veil over the face of the Minister of the Law; because in that dispensation there were "parables and propositions." For those things which were being preached and were coining to pass were hidden in veiled meanings, and were not seen in unveiled manifestations. But "when thou shall have passed over unto Christ," saith the Apostle, "the veil shall be taken away." For "all the promises of God in Him are yea, Amen." Whosoever therefore doth cleave to Christ, hath the whole of the good which even in the letters of the Law he perceiveth not: but whosoever is an alien from Christ, doth neither perceive, nor hath. "He hath set a law in Israel." After his usual custom he is making a repetition. For "He hath raised up a testimony," is the same as, "He hath set a law," and "in Jacob," is the same as "in Israel." For as these are two names of one man, so law and testimony are two names of one thing. Is there any difference, saith some one, between "hath raised up" and "hath set"? Yea indeed, the same difference as there is between "Jacob" and "Israel:" not because they were two persons, but these same two names were bestowed upon one man for different reasons; Jacob because of supplanting, for that he grasped the foot of his brother at his birth: but Israel because of the vision of God. So "raised up" is one thing, "set" is another. For, "He hath raised up a testimony," as far as I can judge, hath been said because by it something has been raised up; "For without the Law," saith the Apostle, "sin was dead: but I lived sometime without the Law: but at the coming in of the commandment sin revived." Behold that which hath been raised up by the testimony, which is the Law, so that what was lying hidden might appear, as he saith a little afterwards: "But sin, that it might appear sin, through a good thing hath wrought in me death." But "He hath set a law," hath been said, as though it were a yoke upon sinners, whence hath beensaid, "For upon a just man law hath not been imposed." It is a testimony then, so far forth as it doth prove anything; but a law so far forth as it doth command; though it is one and the same thing. Wherefore just as Christ is a stone, but to believers for the Head of the corner, while to unbelievers a stone of offence and a rock of scandal; so the testimony of the Law to them that use not the Law lawfully, is a testimony whereby sinners are to be convicted as deserving of punishment; but to them that use the same lawfully, is a testimony whereby sinners are shown unto whom they ought to flee in order to be delivered. ... 7. "How great things," he saith, "He hath commanded our fathers, to make the same known to their sons?" (ver. 5). "That another generation may know, sons who shall be born and shall rise up, and they may tell to their sons" (ver. 6). "That they may put their hope in God, and may not forget the works of God, and may seek out His commandments" (ver. 7). "That they may not become, like their fathers, a crooked and embittering generation: a generation that hath not guided their heart, and the spirit thereof hath not been trusted with God" (ver. 8). These words do point out two peoples as it were, the one belonging to the Old Testament, the other to the New: for in that he saith, he hath implied that they received the commandments, "to make them known to their sons," but that they did not know or do them: but they received them themselves, to the end "that another generation might know," what the former knew not. "Sons who shall be born and shall arise." For they that have been born have not arisen: because they had not their heart above, but rather on the earth. For the arising is with Christ: whence hath been said, "If ye have arisen with Christ, savour ye the things which are above." "And they may tell them," he saith, "to their sons, in order that they may put their hope in God." ..."And may not forget the works of God:" that is to say, in magnifying and vaunting their own works, as though they did them themselves; while "God it is that worketh," in them that work good things, "both to will and to work according to good will." "And may search out His commandments." ...The commandments which He hath commanded. How then should they still search out, whereas they have already learned them, save that by putting their hope in God, they do then search out His commandments, in order that by them, with His aid, they may be fulfilled? And he saith why, by immediately subjoining, "and its spirit hath not been trusted with God," that is, because it had no faith, which doth obtain what the Law doth enjoin. For when the spirit of man doth work together with the Spirit of God working, then there is fulfilled that which God hath commanded: and this doth not come to pass, except by believing in Him that doth justify an ungodly man. Which faith the generation crooked and embittering had not: and therefore concerning the same hath been said, "The spirit thereof hath not been trusted with God." For this hath been said much more exactly to point out the grace of God, which doth work not only remission of sins, but also doth make the spirit of man to work together therewith in the work of good deeds, as though he were saying, his spirit hath not believed in God. For to have the spirit trusted with God, is, not to believe that his spirit is able to do righteousness without God, but with God. For this is to believe in God: which is surely more than to believe God. For ofttimes we must believe even a man, though in him we must not believe. To believe in God therefore is this, in believing to cleave unto God who worketh good works, in order to work with Him well. ... 8. Lastly, "The sons of Ephrem bending and shooting bows, have been turned back in the day of war" (ver. 9). Following after the law of righteousness, unto the law of righteousness they have not attained. Why? Because they were not of faith. For they were that generation whereof the spirit hath not been trusted with God: but they were, so to speak, of works: because they did not, as they bended and shot their bows (which are outward actions, as of the works of the law), so guide their heart also, wherein the just man doth live by faith, which worketh by love; whereby men cleave to God, who worketh in man both to will and work according to good will For what else is bending the bow and shooting, and turning back in the day of war, but heeding and purposing in the day of hearing, and deserting in the day of temptation; flourishing arms, so to speak, beforehand, and at the hour of the action refusing to fight? But whereas he saith, "bending and shooting bows," when it would seem that he ought to have said, bending bows and shooting arrows. ...Some Greek copies to be sure are said to have "bending and shooting with bows," so that without doubt we ought to understand arrows. But whereas by the sons of Ephrem he hath willed that there be understood the whole of that embittering generation, it is an expression signifying the whole by a part. And perhaps this part was chosen whereby to signify the whole, because from these men especially some good thing was to have been expected. ...Although set at the left hand by his father as being the younger, Jacob nevertheless blessed with his right hand, and preferred him before his eider brother with a benediction of hidden meaning. ...For there was being figured how they were to be last that were first, and first were to be they that were last through the Saviour's coming, concerning whom hath been said, "He that is coming after me was made before me." In like manner righteous Abel was preferred before the elder brother; so to Ismael Isaac; so to Esau, though born before him, his twin brother Jacob; so also Phares himself preceded even in birth his twin brother, who had first thrust a hand out of the womb, and had begun to be born: 6 so David was preferred before his elder brother: and as the reason why all these parables and others like them preceded, not only of words but also of deeds, in like manner to the people of the Jews was preferred the Christian people, for redeeming the which as Abel by Cain so by the Jews was slain Christ. This thing was prefigured even when Jacob stretching out his hands cross-wise, with his right hand touched Ephrem standing on the left; and set him before Manasse standing on the right, whom he himself touched with the left hand.