Commentary on the Psalms 16 part 3/3

And leaving aside the mention of the whole inhabited world, the Prophet names the neighbouring city, which was then held fast in impiety, the citadel of the devil, the city that had a great name for its luxury—hinting at the whole from the part.

But to me it seems that he thus named all impiety and profligacy as well.

For he is wont to characterize manners of life by the names of cities, as when he says:

'Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom;

give ear to the law of your God, ye people of Gomorrah.'

And indeed he was speaking to the Jews;

but since they were doing the deeds of Sodom, he calls them by the names of Sodom.

And why dost thou marvel if he calls them thus from their country, when he even gives them such fathers, saying:

'Thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite'? And not even here does he halt his accusation, but he extends his word even to wild beasts—in the New Testament indeed the Scripture speaking thus,

and again in the Old, 'They have hatched vipers' eggs, and they weave a spider's web.'

'Are ye not as sons of the Ethiopians unto Me?' So then, here too He called the Tyrians, who had lived in impiety and lewdness, by such names.

'But even over these I shall prevail,' He says, 'and I shall master them, and master them so completely that they shall even do homage—and not merely do homage, but also bring gifts and firstfruits,' which is the greatest form of worship and a sign of obedience carried to excess.

'The rich among the people shall entreat thy face.'

What means 'shall entreat'? They shall honour, they shall glorify—those who are now great and lofty.

For indeed this comes to pass in the Church: all men honour and pay court to those who live in virtue, even though these be but poor and lowly, while the rich, though they abound in wealth and dignities—

for virtue is greater than all abundance.

And you see the Church honoured by all men.

And well did he say 'thy face,' that is, thy glory, thy beauty, thy comeliness.

Then, since he had made mention of the face, and of garments, and of beauty, lest any of the grosser sort should conceive of something perceptible to the senses, he added, saying, 'All the glory of the King's daughter is within.'

Enter into her mind, he says; consider well the beauty of the soul;

it is of those things that I am discoursing to thee. Even though I speak of raiment, though I speak of beauty, though I speak of gold, though of fringes, though I speak of things wrought with gold, or of any other such thing whatsoever, my word is about the mind, my teaching is about the soul, that which is spoken is about virtue, about the inward glory.

For this cause he again confidently brings his discourse back to bodily images, having once for all set right the grosser hearer by what has been said.

'Clothed in golden fringes, richly wrought.'

Another version: 'Arrayed in variegated garb by means of golden clasps;'

again by the name of gold he called virtue.

'If any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;'

setting before us virtue and vice under the names of these materials.

For lest thou shouldest suppose these outward things to be that which lies within, he does not suffer thee to be carried away by the outward appearances, but draws thy mind inward.

For just as a body appears beautiful when clothed in these adornments,

so too the soul is beautified when it has clothed itself in virtue.

'The virgins that follow after her shall be brought unto the King.'

'Her companions shall be brought unto thee.'

'They shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing;'

'they shall be led into the temple of the King.'

Do you see the fringed garments? Do you see the golden robe, the flower of virginity? This is the garment of the Church.

And consider for me the exactness of the Prophet.

For since it was not immediately, when the Church was first constituted, that the beauty of virginity blossomed, but only later and after some time, for this reason he too sets it down afterward, after she has forgotten her people and her father's house, and has put on that adornment, and has shone forth in beauty.

'After her, her companions shall be brought.'

'Her companions'—not simply in place, but also in manner of life, and in harmony with her in doctrine;

for one could not call the virgins of the heretics her companions;

for they are not near the Queen.

'They shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing.'

See how the apostolic teaching shines out here, and how that verdict is displayed also in the Prophet.

What verdict do I mean? That 'those who marry shall have tribulation in the flesh.'

But just as those women have tribulation, so these have rejoicing and gladness.

For the married woman is compelled to be anxious about children, and husband, and household, and servants, and kinsfolk, and in-laws, and sons-in-law, and grandchildren, and about having many children and about childlessness—for now is not the time to describe the snowdrifts of marriage cares;

but the virgin, crucified to the world, freed from present things, having risen above the cares of this life, having slipped through the tossing strait, and looking toward heaven every day, enjoys the joy of the Spirit and delights in rejoicing.

And the prophet hints not only at present things but also at things to come, when they, having bright and shining lamps, go forth to meet and receive the Bridegroom.

And here by 'the temple of the King' he means the royal palace, and by 'the bridal chamber' he means the nuptial rooms.

'Instead of thy fathers, sons were born to thee.'

Another translation: 'There shall be sons to thee, thy sons.'

Since above he had made mention of the people and the fathers, saying, 'Forget thy people, and thy father's house,'

showing that she would enjoy great prosperity even in this very respect, he added this.

For the barren woman is the mother of countless children.

So that even if you were torn away from your parents, yet the choirs of your children shall be so glorious, so bright and illustrious, as to fill the whole inhabited world.

But to me it seems that he means the apostles, who became teachers in her.

Then, describing their power and might and glory, he says:

'Thou shalt make them princes over all the earth.'

Does this need any interpretation? I for one do not think so, just as neither does the sun when it is shining bright;

and what has been said is clearer even than this;

for the apostles overran the whole inhabited world, and became rulers more lordly than all rulers, mightier than kings.

For kings, while they live, hold sway, but when they die they are brought to nothing;

but these, after they have died, hold sway all the more.

And whereas the laws of kings have their force within their own borders, the ordinances of the fishermen were extended everywhere throughout the inhabited world.

The king of the Romans could not legislate for the Persians, nor the king of the Persians for the Romans;

but these men of Palestine gave laws both to Persians, and Romans, and Thracians, and Scythians, and Indians, and

Moors, and to the whole inhabited world laid down laws;

and they prevailed not only while they were alive, but also after they had died.

And ten thousand times over would those who had received the law choose to give up their very souls rather than to depart from those laws.

'I will remember Your name in every generation and generation.'

'Therefore shall the peoples give thanks to You unto the age, and unto the age of the age.'

Another translator says, 'I will call to mind Your name throughout every generation.'

'Therefore shall the peoples praise You continually.'

Another, 'For this cause shall the peoples give thanks to You.'

He declared the greatness of the dominion from the length of the earth, from the breadth of the inhabited world, from the multitude of the nations that had been made subject.

He speaks also of its dignity from another side: that it shall be extended not only throughout every place of the inhabited world, but also throughout every age.

'For Your remembrance shall be immortal,' he says, 'recorded in our books, recorded in our polities, recorded in our ordinances.'

See how he prophesies also the perpetuity of his own prophecy.

For in saying, 'I will remember Your name in every generation and generation,' he made this plain.

'Even if I die,' he says, 'yet even in dying I will sing to You.'

For the body indeed shall be dissolved;

but the writings remain, and the law endures.

'Therefore shall the peoples give thanks to You.'

Where he began, there he brought it to a close—in Christ.

What manner of thing? That You have accomplished such great deeds, that You have set over us such rulers, that You have driven out wickedness, that You have planted virtue, that You have refashioned our nature, that You have wrought these unspeakable blessings;

the whole inhabited world shall offer up a hymn to You—not for a short time, nor for ten, or twenty, or a hundred years, nor in one part of the inhabited world, but land and sea, the peopled world and the unpeopled, shall sing throughout the whole age, confessing their gratitude for the good things that have come to pass.

For all these things let us also give thanks to the man-loving Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father be glory, together with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.