Commentary on the Psalms 62

Sing to the Lord a new song.

According to the higher, anagogical sense, the song of the New Covenant is called new.

For at that time all things became new.

'I will make with you,' He says, 'a new covenant.'

'If anyone is in Christ,' he says, 'he is a new creation.'

'Having put off,' he says, 'the old man, and having put on the new, which is renewed unto full knowledge after the image of Him who created him.'

Because of the new life, then, and all the other things, it is called the New Covenant, and the prophet now exhorts us to sing the new song that belongs to it.

But according to the historical sense, the song was that which they were about to sing over victories, over triumphant deeds, over trophies—a brilliant and notable song.

His praise is in the assembly of the holy ones.

Do you see how, before the words, he seeks the thanksgiving that is through one's life and deeds, and leads these people into the choir of those who sing hymns? For it is not enough to give thanks by words only, unless the virtue that comes through action also accompanies it.

His praise is in the assembly of the holy ones.

And he teaches something else here as well.

For he shows that it is with one accord and in complete harmony that we ought to offer up our praises.

For 'Church' is the name of a company and an assembly.

Let Israel be glad in Him who made him.

Before the particular benefits he sets down the universal one, all but exhorting by the very things he adds, and saying:

Give thanks to God, because He brought you into being when you were not, and breathed a soul into you.

For this too is no small part of His benefaction.

But here he shows something more as well.

For he indicates not simply the act of creation, but the intimate kinship, by speaking thus:

and he bids them give thanks, not because He made them, but because He made them also His own people.

Do you see how, uniting him to God and joining him to Him, he wishes him to give thanks not simply, but with pleasure, with gladness, and with a mind kindled to fervor? For all this he hinted at through the word 'Let him be glad.'

He seeks, therefore, the disposition of the one who gives thanks, in order that

that he may be kindled with longing, that he may be roused by love, that he may be wholly given up to the God whom he hymns.

just as also elsewhere, declaring the same thing, he said: 'As the hart panteth after the fountains of waters, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.'

And again: 'My soul thirsted for the strong and living God.'

And again: 'My soul thirsted for Thee; how manifoldly does my flesh long for Thee, in a land desert, and untrodden, and without water.'

which another interpreter rendered as: 'As in a parched land.'

For wishing to set forth the disposition of his own soul and his longing, he compares it to a parched land, to a thirsting hart.

And by these words too he again displays the same longing, saying:

'When shall I come and appear before the face of God?' For such are the souls of the saints, just as also Paul's soul did, groaning at the delay of its departure from hence.

'And let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King.'

Do you see that this, which I said before, is here hinted at—the intimate relationship, that he is His peculiar people? For this very reason he added the words, 'in their King,' declaring this.

For He was King not only according to the principle of creation, but also according to that of this intimate relationship.

'Let them praise His name in the dance.'

Behold again this harmony shining forth.

For it is on this account that there are choirs, that all in common and with one accord may offer up their praises.

This too Paul makes plain when he says, 'Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together.'

And the prayer itself hints at this, being offered up from what is common to all:

'Our Father, who art in the heavens;'

and, 'Forgive us our debts;'

and, 'Bring us not into temptation;'

and, 'Deliver us from the evil one;'

employing the plural form throughout.

Thus also in ancient times they were taught to sing psalms and to chant to God in concert, being from every side anointed unto love and unto concord:

'Let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and psaltery.'

Now some, taking the account of these instruments also in an anagogical sense, say that the timbrel demands the mortification of our flesh, while the psaltery signifies the looking toward heaven.

For indeed this instrument is moved from above, not from below, as the lyre is.

But for my part I would say this: that in ancient times they were led on in this way by means of these instruments, because of the grossness of their understanding, and because they had but lately been drawn away from idols.

As therefore He permitted sacrifices, so also He allowed these things, condescending to their weakness.

Here, then, he requires singing with gladness;

for this is the meaning of, 'Let them praise His name in the dance'—that is, with harmony, with a pure life.

Then again, stirring them up to greater eagerness, he tells also of the good will of Him who is hymned toward them.

'For the Lord taketh pleasure in His people.'

What could be equal to this good fortune, when God is gracious? 'And He will exalt the meek in salvation.'

See again how he sets forth both the things that are of God, and the things that are of men.

As therefore above, while requiring thanksgiving from them, he also brought in the things that are of God, saying:

'For the Lord taketh pleasure in His people;'

so here too again, while promising the things that come from God, he requires also the things that come from men, saying:

'And He will exalt the meek in salvation.'

For the exalting is of God;

but the being meek is of men.

For the things that come from God do not come to pass, unless the things that come from men go before.

And behold the greatness of the gift.

He did not say merely, 'He will save,' but, 'He will exalt them in salvation.' That is to say, He will not only deliver them from their dire straits, but will also make them observed of all and illustrious, granting them, together with salvation, glory as well.

Making this very thing plain, therefore, he adds again, saying:

The holy ones shall glory in glory.

Just as there he seeks out the meek, so here he seeks out the holy.

For everywhere God displays all His works together with wonders.

Thus He delivered them from Egypt, thus He brought them back from Babylon, making them more resplendent not in the deliverance from their afflictions alone, but also in the wonder of the things that came to pass.

And they shall exult upon their beds.

By the way he has thus continued, he shows their great freedom from fear, their great repose, their great gladness, their great delight.

And he says these things so that they may know that it was not by their own weapons, nor by their own power, but by the inclination of God that the whole thing came to pass; and that this favour must be drawn to oneself through humility of mind and gentleness.

The exaltations of God are in their throat, and two-edged swords are in their hands;

to execute vengeance among the nations, rebukes among the peoples.

Here he indicates a warfare accompanied by dancing, and that it is by singing and hymning that they shall thus prevail.

For by 'exaltations' he means the hymn-singing, the psalmody, the thanksgivings.

Wherefore another translator rendered 'the exaltations' as 'hymn-singings.'

To execute vengeance among the nations, rebukes among the peoples.

What does this mean? Since those who had prevailed the whole time were heaping reproaches upon them, He promises to convict them by deeds, and to show through their very deeds that it was not the weakness of God, but their own sins, that gave the enemy leave to prevail.

When, therefore, they had paid a sufficient penalty, the God who loves mankind did but incline His will, and affairs came to a wondrous change.

And behold the surpassing greatness of the victory.

To bind their kings in fetters, and their nobles in iron manacles.

Do you see the abundance of strength? For they did not merely drive off their foes, nor merely repel them,

but they even returned bearing them as captives, displaying to all the strength of God.

To execute upon them a judgment written down.

What is 'a judgment written down'? It is one that is manifest, acknowledged, and cannot be consigned to oblivion.

and by the magnitude of the great achievements, and by the surpassing greatness of the miracle-working, it extends through all time.

Such, then, he says, shall be the victory, and such the trophy, that it is plain to all, as clear as if inscribed upon a monument, and never to be blotted out.

This glory belongs to all His holy ones.

What is this glory? To conquer; or rather, not simply to conquer, but to conquer in this way, through the alliance of God, through the inclination that comes from above.

And behold how he makes mention of the holy ones, rousing them to the care of their life and virtue.

But it seems to me that he calls glory not the victory alone, but also the praise, and the melodies, and the hymns, teaching through all these things that, in hymning God, they will invest themselves with great glory and will render themselves more resplendent—by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the might, unto the ages of ages.