Then shall the fields be filled with fatness, then shall the borders of the desert grow fat, then shall the hills be girded with exultation, then shall the rams of the sheep be clothed. For that is the time of recompense. But the distinction of the recompense itself must be observed. For in the fields, whose use is in cultivation, those works which shall have been under the Law from the cultivation of God shall attain to fatness. But where the borders of the desert shall grow fat, the people of the Church, which was long a desert, is enriched with the good things of the promise. And in the hills girded with exultation, the glorious joys of the martyrs are announced; for these are loftier than the rest of the lands.
But when the rams of the sheep shall be clothed, that eternal and blessed garment of the patriarchs and prophets and apostles, who are the leaders of the holy flock, is shown, of which the blessed Apostle Paul says: 'For this corruptible must put on incorruption'; and again: 'wherein we would not be unclothed, but clothed upon, that this mortal may be swallowed up by life.' With this garment, therefore, the rams of the sheep are clothed, and with this habit of glorious immortality they are arrayed. But although diverse gifts of recompenses have been shown, yet besides these God grants no small hope of His mercy, saying through the prophet: 'and the valleys shall abound with corn': namely, the humbler men, but yet not of impious faith and work, shall obtain the fruit of life.
For they shall not be filled with abundance like the fields, nor grow fat out of the desert. They shall not be girded with exultation like the mountains, nor be clothed like the rams of the sheep — in all which things a gift of boundless glory is displayed — but they shall abound in grain, that is, they shall not lack the substance of living, because through the weakness of faith they are humble and, in the manner of valleys, are laid low beneath the hills raised up around them. And lest the prophetic word should be thought to signify these fields, these deserts, these hills, these rams, these valleys which lie beneath our sight as things lacking voice and sense, it added: 'For they shall cry out and sing a hymn' — chanting, that is, the praises of God for these varied rewards of recompense with tireless and mighty voices. PSALM 65.
'Unto the end, a canticle of a psalm. Make a joyful noise unto God, all the earth; sing ye a psalm to his name,' and the rest. The superscription of this psalm differs from the preceding one in that it has in itself 'a canticle of a psalm,' whereas in the earlier one 'a psalm of a canticle' was set forth; yet both alike are inscribed 'unto the end.' And so, according to the reasoning which we set forth at the beginning concerning the inscription of the titles, it is clear that this psalm is sung on account of the ordinances of spiritual doctrine obtained through the merit of good work: for when in the superscription it is 'a psalm of a canticle,' the deeds of good work are contained in the psalm through the proclamation of heavenly knowledge; but when it is 'a canticle of a psalm,' a hymn of spiritual knowledge attained through the obedience of action is displayed.
For a canticle is the function of the voice; but a psalm is produced from the tuning together, which they call harmony, of an instrument. And from unequal and dissimilar modes there is fashioned, by the skill of the craftsman, a fitting, consonant, and pleasing melody. By this example, out of the various ministries of our duty and knowledge, we prepare a work pleasing to God and consonant with itself. And of this understanding the psalms themselves will be our authorities: for when in the psalm of a canticle there is a proclamation of good work through the doctrine of knowledge and understanding, but in the canticle of a psalm a thanksgiving through the merit of deeds for the knowledge attained is to be understood. For this reason, therefore, in the present psalm the spirit of prophecy began from the doctrine of thanksgiving.
That the psalm is composed from the person of the prophets, the matter itself and the reasoning demonstrate. 'Make a joyful noise unto God, all the earth; sing ye a psalm to his name; give glory to his praise. Say unto God: How terrible are thy works! In the multitude of thy strength thine enemies shall lie unto thee.' First, then, he admonishes that a joyful noise is to be made unto God; secondly, that a psalm is to be sung to his name; thence, that glory is to be given to his praise; then, that it is to be said unto God: 'How terrible are thy works!'; lastly, that this is to be confessed: 'In the multitude of thy strength thine enemies shall lie unto thee.' But that we may understand the reason and order of this discourse so arranged, it is necessary to resolve in a few words that which brings difficulty. In the Latin codices we read thus:
'Make a joyful noise unto God, all the earth.' And as far as pertains to the usage of our speech, we call 'jubilation' the sound of a pastoral and rustic voice, when in the wilderness a sound of the voice is heard, either answering or seeking, drawn out at length and forced with effort through its expressiveness. But in the Greek books, which are nearest to the Hebrew, it is not written with the same signification. For they have it thus: 'alalaxate tō theō pasa hē gē'; and with them 'alalagmos,' which in Latin they render 'jubilum,' signifies the shout of an army doing battle, or of one trampling down the enemy in the charge, or of one attesting the success of victory with a cry of exultation. And this matter, where the manner of translation has so tempered it, we shall understand more fully in another psalm, when it says:
'All ye nations, clap your hands; make a joyful noise unto God with the voice of exultation.' But the voice of exultation differs from jubilation; yet by the condition of translation, because a proper term for the voice of one exulting was not found, through that which is called 'jubilation' the voice of one exulting is shown forth. Placed therefore in the battles of this life, and in this contest of our flesh and blood, fighting with spiritual arms against the devil and his hosts, we are admonished to make a joyful noise unto God with the voice of exultation. And lest the discourse should be referred to this inanimate mass of earth, our whole race, begotten from the earth in the first parent Adam, is shown under the plural number, when it is said: 'Make a joyful noise unto God, all the earth.' For at once both the duty of all is taught and their origin.
Every profane hearer, then, must be made to tremble by the word of our confession; and against the devil and his arms we must contend with the sound of our prayers, and the victory of our warfare must be shown forth with the voice of exultation. Let whoever stands outside the Church hear the voice of the praying people, let him behold the thronged sounds of hymns, and among the offices of the divine sacraments let him receive the response of devout confession. It is necessary that every adversary be terrified, and that war be waged against the devil, and that death be conquered by faith in the resurrection through such a jubilation of our exulting voice, as has been said.
He will know that this is pleasing to God, that this is a testimony of our hope — that the public and victorious voices of our exultation resound; of which the prophet is not neglectful, recalling them in another place: 'I went round about and offered in his tabernacle a sacrifice of jubilation.' And lest we should think the doctrine and observance of this jubilation to be empty, elsewhere he protests: 'Blessed is the people that knoweth jubilation.' It is necessary, therefore, for our faith, in the knowledge of which there is blessedness. For first in the order of the admonitions the prophet appointed that all the earth make a joyful noise unto God, secondly that it sing a psalm to his name. And so a joyful noise is to be made unto God, because the duty of an exulting voice is owed to him by us.
But a psalm is to be sung to his name, because, just as a psalm is produced through an instrument, so also our body — which is the instrument of the soul, of the affections, and of all our doings — must, by works of skill, be made pleasing. Worthily, therefore, must we act in the name of God, so that, as far as it can be brought about, we may comply with the words of the Lord who says: 'So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.' For the honorable conduct of our life is to be referred to the praise of him for whom we live. In short, this very thing is taught by what follows. For it follows:
'Sing a psalm to his name, give glory to his praise,' because from the psaltery of our instrument — that is, from the workings of the body serving the soul — a glorious praise is offered through us to God, when the nations, beholding our works, glorify our Father who is in heaven. And glory will be given to his praise, if we worthily sing a psalm to his name by the working of the instrument, that is, of our body. We are also taught by the admonitions that follow, in order, as the prophet, or the Spirit through the prophet, thus admonishes: 'Say unto God: How terrible are thy works!'
For who would not tremble at the majesty of him who established the ages, founded the world, measured out the seasons in their revolving alternation and course, adorned the heaven with stars, filled the earth with fruits, shut up the sea within its barriers, and chose man that he might either use these things or have dominion over them? For through all these the eternity of his power and might is known, as the apostle says: 'For the invisible things of him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, his eternal power also and Godhead.' These make terrible the name of the Creator, and the dignity of his works displays the majesty of him who wrought them. Of these works, therefore, is God to be proclaimed by us and confessed by others:
these things are not to be lyingly called gods. For some record that these came into existence by chance, others affirm that they have remained eternal; and therefore they contend that the world itself is a god, either because it stood firm of its own power when it willed, or because, since it lacks a beginning, it lacks the will of a ruling power. Others call the heaven alone a god, because it is fiery; others the air, because it is borne around by an indivisible motion and nature; others the waters, because they flow forth unweariedly. Very many have adored the metals of the earth, oaks, crags, and herbs as gods. Some have lyingly made gods either of the bones of decayed bodies or of the tombs of burnt-out pyres — being ignorant of God the Creator of all these things.
And therefore the prophet taught that such must be the order of our confession: 'Say unto God: How terrible are thy works! In the multitude of thy strength thine enemies shall lie unto thee' — that is, out of the multitude of God's mighty works, lying in the veneration of false names among gods. But because the enemies will lie, what ought to be done by all is thus taught: 'Let all the earth adore thee and sing a psalm to thee: let them sing a psalm to thy name, O Most High.' With the falsehood of the enemies in the so-called gods being demonstrated, the ordinances of our salvation are set forth: that all our earthly origin should adore and sing a psalm to the Most High, recognizing the true God and the Creator of all things, having forsaken the falsehoods of impieties. The diapsalma has marked off the sense.
For the discourse, directed to God with prayer, is now referred to men, whom the prophet, as standing far from the knowledge of God, calls to what is near, saying: 'Come and see the works of God.' The apostle too taught that there are many placed far from God, whom the exhortation of doctrine has, as it were, set in the neighborhood, when he says: 'And when he had come, he preached peace to those who were afar off, and peace to those who were near.' For out of the Law many, as remaining nearby, believed, once the nations afar off had been summoned. The prophetic proclamation, therefore, has called all to behold the works of God:
but not those works which are subjected to the sight of all — of the heaven, the air, the earth, and the sea, for these all behold — but those which are known only to the endeavors of the faithful, and by which human salvation has been provided for, together with a mighty terror of admirable powers: with Pharaoh coerced by the penalties of his impiety as an example of human fear, so that the terror of the condemnation of the irreligious might, through dread, initiate religion; when the sea dried up into a path on the land and the waters were turned into dry ground; when the people passed over the Jordan on foot, and, as Israel was about to enter the land of promise, the flowing waters being ordered to stand, the remaining channel of the river ran down to give safety for their crossing.
To behold, then, these works of God of the Law and the prophets, the prophet calls the nations, saying: 'Come and see the works of God; terrible in his counsels over the sons of men. Who turneth the sea into dry land; in the river they shall pass over on foot.' For he is to be understood as being God himself, out of whose terrible counsels human salvation was provided for through these works: so that the opinion concerning God — since no one beholding heaven does not perceive that God exists — knowledge and cognition of such works may confirm to us concerning their Author. But these things, although they are works of the powers of God, do not yet satisfy the hope and salvation of all. For only for the people of the Law was the sea changed into land, and the Jordan dried up for their journey.
But what does this profit toward the salvation of the whole earth? For to all this word 'Come' applies; because concerning all it had been prescribed: 'Let all the earth adore thee.' What, then, does the Jordan, dried up at that time, bestow upon me for salvation, born so long afterward? It bestows plainly. For first by its waters was granted the washing-away of sins, John preaching repentance: and through him by whom there had been a path for the people into the land of promise, through him is begun for us the way of the heavenly kingdom, and in the laver of a new generation the possession of eternal bodies, those very waters being consecrated by the baptism of the Lord. On account of which, to that which had been said: 'Come and see the works of the Lord, how terrible in his counsels over the sons of men.'
'Who turneth the sea into dry land; in the river they shall pass over on foot' — lest, from these things which were done before, the security of our hope should be cut off, since he had said of the future, 'they shall pass over,' therefore it is added: 'there we shall rejoice in him.' For through these waters of the Jordan there was and is a passage into that good land which was promised by the prophets, by the step of bodies to be washed; and there we rejoice in the beginnings of the heavenly sacrament. Both the time and the cause of this joy another prophet attests, saying: 'Rejoice, thou thirsty desert, and let the desert exult and flourish like a lily, and let the deserts of the Jordan bud forth and exult. Be strengthened, ye weak hands and feeble knees; be comforted, ye faint-hearted; grow strong in mind, fear not.'
'Behold, God will render judgment; he himself will come and save us. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear, and the tongue of the dumb shall be heard. Then shall the lame leap like a stag.' This, therefore, is that which is signified: 'there we shall rejoice in him.' These things were fulfilled at the coming of the Lord and the baptism of the Jordan and the healing of all infirmities. But that we shall rejoice 'there' pertains to the Jordan. For thus it was said: 'in the river they shall pass over on foot; there we shall rejoice.' But as to who this is 'in whom' we shall rejoice, the prophet added, saying: 'who shall have dominion in his power for ever'; we shall not be in doubt as to who this will be, if we recall this saying of the Gospel:
'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth: go ye now, teach all nations'; and of the apostle who says: 'Wherefore God also hath exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus is in the glory of God the Father.' And these things are not said of the power of his divinity. For that divinity, as it always rules, so also will it rule forever: but into the eternal glory of him the nature of the flesh, assumed from the Virgin, is translated. For 'Jesus' is the appellation of that man who was born of Mary; and to Jesus is given the name which is above every name.
For here it is not, as in other places, 'to Jesus Christ,' but 'to Jesus' only. For to him, adored by things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and confessed through every tongue to be in the glory of God the Father, the sovereignty of the eternal kingdom is given. But, as in many places, so here too our Latin has not expressed quite properly the signification of the Greek saying. For what is written among us: 'who shall have dominion in his power for ever,' among the Greeks is read thus: 'tō despozonti en tē dynasteia autou tou aiōnos.' What among us is 'for ever' is simple and common to all time, without the property of any particular definition: whereas among them 'tou aiōnos' has the signification of a certain and designated age.
For the only-begotten Son of God, although he has always reigned, has nevertheless not always reigned in the body. Therefore, where the dominion of a designated and, as it were, demonstrated age is contained, by the very virtue of the word, in that which is said 'tou aiōnos,' that time is shown in which, the body having been glorified into the glory of God, both the name of God and the kingdom are given. And the apostle indeed teaches absolutely the time of this dominion of the age, saying: 'when he shall have made void all rule and power and might, and the last enemy, death, shall be conquered; then alone shall he have dominion of the age in his power.' For now, although he reigns, yet the prince of this world has asked that he might sift the apostles like wheat;
and there are spiritual wickednesses in the heavenly places, against which blessed Paul has equipped us with spiritual arms, against which, as we do battle, the angels of our faith — who, according to the Gospels, daily behold God the Father in the heavens — accompany us, and the mercy of God protects us. And on account of this it follows: 'His eyes look upon the nations.' For from everyone who lingers in sins the countenance of the Lord is turned away. For this is the signified, unchangeable turning of God: not that he turns himself away or toward anything, as it were through a bodily nature, but that, remaining ever equal and the same, he is either absent or present to the help of each one according to the diversity of merits. For from the person of sinners it is thus written:
'Turn away thy face from their sins'; and again: 'Why turnest thou away thy face and thy right hand?'; and once more: 'Thou hast turned away thy face, and I was troubled.' But where the person of the just is treated, these things are said: 'The eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and his ears unto their prayers'; and again: 'Let thine eyes behold the things that are equitable'; and further: 'The light of thy countenance is stamped upon us, O Lord.' Therefore the incorporeal God protects the nations with the eyes of his mercy and, as it were, by the ministry of attending angels, and pours out upon all believers the gift of divine compassion. This the Jews deny; against these works of God the unbelieving people contradict, usurping glory to themselves in Abraham, as a chosen race.
And by the sayings that follow the prophet demonstrates this, connecting to that which he had said, 'His eyes look upon the nations,' this: 'let not them who provoke to wrath be exalted in themselves.' This, that they are exalted in themselves, the Lord condemns in the Gospels, saying: 'Do not prefer yourselves, saying: We have Abraham for our father; for God is able of these stones to raise up sons to Abraham.' But that they provoke to wrath, the prophets speak in every manner. Isaiah: 'You have provoked to wrath the Holy One of Israel.' To Ezekiel also the Spirit speaks: 'Son of man, I send thee to the house of Israel, who exasperate me.' And in the psalms: 'They exasperated his spirit'; and again:
'Many times I delivered them, but they exasperated me.' Everyone, therefore, who denies the working and mercy of God unto the salvation of the nations provokes to wrath the Author of mercy and salvation; because, glorious and exalted in themselves, they exasperate the wrath of him who alone is able to make men glorious. Again the interjection of the diapsalma teaches a change both of the sense and of the person. For under this signification frequently the one, sometimes both, are distinguished. For the preceding discourse was wholly from the person of the prophet, saying: 'Come and see the works of God, how terrible in his counsels over the sons of men';
but the following ought to be apostolic, so that, with these inviting and those proclaiming, the same doctrine of the proclamation of the Old and New Testament might be contained. The exhortation of these, therefore, is referred to the nations, when it is said: 'Bless our God, ye nations.' Not in vain did the word of prophecy add 'our.' Not indeed those whom you thought to be gods — the names of heroes, or the creations of the elements, or the material of metals — but 'our' God, and him whose works are recounted, who is terrible in his counsels over the sons of men, who turns the sea into dry land, who has dominion in his power for ever. And this is properly of apostolic doctrine, to proclaim God from the Law and the prophets in the Gospels. But that which follows:
'and hear the voice of his praise,' confounds the understanding. For the voice of praise is heard not of him who is praised, but of him who praises. And how are the nations admonished to hear, as it were, the voice of praise? But here too our Latin has not rendered the property of the saying in translation. For that which is written among us, 'and hear the voice of his praise,' is said by the Greeks thus: 'kai akoutisate tēn phōnēn tēs aineseōs autou.' By which word this is signified: that it can be heard so that they may produce the voice of his praise — which he will understand more fully who remembers that the Lord said in the Gospels: 'What I tell you in darkness, speak ye in the light; and what you hear in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops.'
For God is to be praised with constant and public proclamation, nor ought our faith to tremble in commemorating his mighty works. But what, at last, is the voice of his praise that is to be brought about to be heard? Surely that, namely, that he has set the soul of believers unto life, that he has bestowed constancy and perseverance in confessing upon the apostolic preaching and the confession of the martyrs, by whose runnings-about the proclamation of the heavenly kingdom has run through the circle of the earth as if upon certain feet — for 'their sound went out into all the earth.' And elsewhere the Holy Spirit, crying out the glory of the spiritual running: 'How beautiful are the feet of them that evangelize good things, that evangelize peace!' This, therefore, is the voice of the praise of God that is to be heard by the heralding of those who proclaim, the prophet attesting:
'Who hath set my soul unto life, and hath not suffered my feet to be moved.' For the apostles were not turned aside from the course of their preaching by the frights of human threats, nor was the firmness of their standing feet moved from the step of faith, but that they might always proclaim the Lord of judgment and of the eternal kingdom. But the spirit of prophecy, having spoken from the person of one, signifies that the matter itself pertains not to one name only. For when it had said, 'and hath not suffered my feet to be moved,' it added: 'For thou hast proved us, O God; thou hast tried us by fire, as silver is tried by fire.' And so the discourse, begun from one, is referred to many. For there is one Spirit, and one faith of believers, and according to what is in the Acts of the Apostles:
'The believers had one soul and one heart.' And so, when what was begun from one is designated toward many, unanimity is taught among the many. But what, at last, is the likeness of the comparison, that they are tried by fire, as silver is tried? And, as I judge, that is the sole reason for trying silver: that the dross which has adhered from the primal material of the earth may be smelted away, that whatever has been fraudulently mixed in from the nature of another metal may be purged. And so God tries those who believe in him, not as though ignorant of their faith:
but because, even according to the apostle, temptation brings proof, believers are tried not for the knowledge of God but for their own proof, so that, purged by fire and cleansed from the admixture of carnal vices, they may shine with the brightness of a tested innocence. But beholding the kinds of temptations and the diverse victories of the martyrs, we know by what means the soul is set unto life, by contempt of which they are not moved from the step of faith and testimony, though the devices of punishments rage against them. For some glory in the chains of prisons, some rejoice being struck with stripes, some submit the necks of their blessed heads to be severed by the power of the irreligious;
very many run onto the built-up pyres, and, while the ministers of punishment tremble, they leap into the fire with a bound of devoted haste; others, to be plunged into the deep, fall not into slaying waters but into the refreshment of eternal blessedness, offering their whole body to God as a victim, as it were a holocaust. Through these kinds of sufferings, then, the prophetic word runs on from the person of the apostles, evangelists, and martyrs, saying: 'Thou hast tried us by fire, as silver is tried by fire. Thou hast brought us into a snare,' that is, into the chains of custody; 'thou hast laid tribulations upon our back,' namely the penalties of stripes, in which Peter with the apostles rejoices and Paul exults; 'thou hast set men over our heads. We have passed through fire and water.'
He commemorates, that is, the glorious deaths of the martyrs — by sword, by fire, by the deep. But he who passes through fire and water is not abolished in them, but is led over through them into something else. And whither he is led over, the prophet is not ignorant, saying: 'thou hast brought us into refreshment.' Of this refreshment he makes mention in another place also, saying: 'Turn, O my soul, into thy rest, for the Lord hath done good to me. He hath delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from falling. I shall please the Lord in the region of the living' — exhorting, that is, his own soul into the rest of that blessed resurrection, in which, after the time of this death, every stain of human calamities being wiped away, there is no grieving, no weeping, no sinning, but living.
Into the refreshment of this blessedness, therefore, they were led out through fire and water. And lest either the swimming of one passing through the waters, or the leap of one leaping over the fire, or the introduction into refreshment should be thought to signify the rest of some common and earthly place, he added: 'I will enter into thy house with holocausts.' Holocausts are whole bodies of victims, which, because they were wholly brought to the fire of sacrifice, were called 'holocausts.' Through these kinds of punishments, therefore, the martyrs vowed their bodies as holocausts in testimony of faith, that they might enter into the house of God — that is, into the dwelling of the heavenly abode — with the sacrifices of their victims consummated. But what, at last, did they vow in this offering of their bodies?