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My dear Marcellinus,
Your steadfastness in Christ fills me with admiration. Not only are you bearing
well your present trial, with its attendant suffering; you are even living
under rule and, so the bearer of your letter tells me, using the leisure
necessitated by your recent illness to study the whole body of the Holy
Scriptures and especially the Psalms. Of every one of those, he says, you
are trying to grasp the inner force and sense. Splendid! I myself am devoted
to the Psalms, as indeed to the whole Bible; and I once talked with a certain
studious old man, who had bestowed much labour on the Psalter, and discoursed
to me about it with great persuasiveness and charm, expressing himself clearly
too, and holding a copy of it in his hand the while he spoke. So I am going
to write down for you the things he said.
Son, all the books of Scripture, both Old Testament and New, are inspired
by God and useful for instruction, as it is written; but to those who really
study it the Psalter yields especial treasure. Each book of the Bible has,
of course, its own particular message: the Pentateuch, for example, tells
of the beginning of the world, the doings of the patriarchs, the exodus of
Israel from Egypt, the giving of the Law, and the ordering of the tabernacle
and the priesthood; The Triteuch [Joshua, Judges, and Ruth] describes the
division of the inheritance, the acts of the judges, and the ancestry of
David; Kings and Chronicles record the doings of the kings, Esdras the
deliverance from exile, the return of the people, and the building of the
temple and the city; the Prophets foretell the coming of the Saviour, put
us in mind of the commandments, reprove transgressorts, and for the Gentiles
also have a special word. Each of these books, you see, is like a garden
which grows one special kind of fruit; by contrast, the Psalter is a garden
which, besides its special fruit, grows also some those of all the rest.
The creation, for instance, of which we read in Genesis, is spoken of in
Psalm 18, The heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament showest
His handiwork, and again in 23, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness
thereof: the inhabited earth and all that dwell therein. He Himself laid
the foundations of it on the seas." The exodus from Egypt, which Exodus,
Numbers, and Deuteronomy record, is fitly sung in Psalms 77, 105, 113. When
Israel came out of Egypt, says this last, the House of Jacob from among a
foreign people, Judah became his holy place and Israel came under his authority.
He sent Moses His servant, Psalm 104 declares, Aaron whom He had chosen.
He showed the words of His signs among them, and of His wonders in the land
of ham. Darkness He sent, and it was dark, and they were not obedient to
his word. He turned their waters into blood and slew their fish: their land
brought forth frogs, even in the king's apartments. He spake, and dog-flies
came, and flies in all their quarters; and so on, all through this Psalm
and the next, we find the same things treated. As for the tabernacle and
the priesthood, we have reference to them in Psalm 28, sung when the tabernacle
was carried forth, Bring unto the Lord, ye sons of God, bring unto the Lord
young rams, bring to the Lord glory and honour.
The doings of Joshua, the son of Nun, and of the Judges also are mentioned,
this time in Psalm 104, They built them cities to dwell in and sowed fields
and planted vineyards, for it was under Joshua that the promised land was
given into their hands. And when we read repeatedly in this same Psalm, They
cried unto the Lord in their trouble and He saved them out of their distress,
the period of the judges is referred to, for then it was that, when they
cried to Him, He raised up judges to deliver them form their oppressors,
each time the need arose. In the same way, Psalm 19 has the kings in mind
when singing, Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will gain
glory by the Name of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen,
but we are risen and stand upright. And Psalm 125 of the Gradual Psalms speaks
of that which Esdras tells, When the Lord turned the captivity of Sion, we
became as those comforted; and similarly Psalm 121, I was glad when they
said unto me, We will go into the House of the Lord. Our feet were set in
thy gates, O Jerusalem! Jerusalem is built as a city that has fellowhip within
itself: thither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, to testify to Israel.
You see, then, that all the subjects mentioned in the historical books are
mentioned also in one Psalm or another; but when we come to the matters of
which the Prophets speak we find that these occur in almost all. Of the coming
of the Saviour and how, althought He is God, He yet should dwell among us,
Psalm 49 says, God shall come openly, even our God, and He shall not keep
silence; and in Psalm 117 we read, Blessed is he that cometh in the Name
of the Lord! We have blessed you from the House of the Lord. God is the Lord,
and He has given us light. That He Who comes is Himself the Father's Word,
Psalm 106 thus sings, He sent His Word and healed them, and rescued them
out of all their distresses. For the God Who comes is this self-same Word
Whom the Father sends, and of this Word Who is the Father's Voice, Whom well
he knows to be the Son of God, the Psalmist sings again in 44, My heart is
inditing of a good Word; and also in 109, Out of the womb, before the down,
have I begotten Thee. Whom else, indeed, should any call God's very Offspring,
save His own Word and Wisdom? And he, who knows full well that it was through
the Word that God said, Let there be light, Let there be a firmament. Let
there be all things, says again in Psalm 32, By the Word of the Lord were
the heavens made, and all the host of them by the Breath of His mouth.
And, so far from being ignorant of the coming of Messiah, he makes mention
of it first and foremost in Psalm 44, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and
ever, a scepter of justice is the sceptre of Thy kingdom. Thou has loved
righteousness and hated lawlessness: wherefore God, even thy God, hath anointed
thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Further, lest any one should
think this coming was in appearance only, Psalm 86 shows that He Who was
to come should both come as man and at the same time be He by Whom all things
were made. Mother Sion shall say, A man, a man indeed is born in her: and
He himself, the Most Highest, founded her, it says; and that is equivalent
to saying The Word was God, all things were made by Him, and the Word became
flesh. Neither is the Psalmist silent about the fact that He should be born
of a virgin - no, he underlines it straight away in 44, which we were quoting,
but a moment since. Harken, O daughter, he says, and see and incline thine
ear, and forget thine own people and thy fathers's house. For the King has
desired thy beauty, and He is thy Lord. Is not this like what Gabriel said,
Hail, thou that art full of grace, the Lord is with thee? For the Psalmist,
having called Him the Anointed One, that is Messiah or Christ, fortwith declares
His human birth by saying, Harken, O daughter, and see; the only difference
being that Gabriel addresses Mary by an epithet, because he is of another
race from her, while David fitly calls her his own daughter, because it was
from him that she should spring.
Having thus shown that Christ should come in human form, the Psalter goes
on to show that He can suffer in the flesh He has assumed. It is as foreseeing
how the Jews would plot against Him that Psalm 2 sings, Why do the heathen
rage and peoples meditate vain things? The kings of the earth stood up and
their rulers took counsel together against the Lord and against His Christ.
And Psalm 21, speaking in the Saviour's own person, describes the manner
of His death. Thou has brought me into the dust of death, for many dogs have
compassed me, the assembly of the wicked have laid siege to me. They peirced
my hands and my feet, they numbered all my bones, they gazed and stared at
me, they parted my garments among them and cast lots for my vesture. They
pierced my hands and my feet- what else can that mean except the Cross? and
Psalms 87 and 68, again speaking in the Lord's own person, tell us further
that He suffered these things, not for His own sake but for ours. Thou has
made Thy wrath to rest upon me, says the one; and the other adds, I paid
them things I never took. For He did not die as being Himself liable to death:
He suffered for us, and bore in Himself the wrath that was the penalty of
our transgression, even as Isaiah says, Himself bore our weaknesses. So in
Psalm 136 we say, The Lord will make requital for me; and in the 71st the
Spirit says, He shall save the children of the poor and bring the slanderer
low, for from the hand of the mighty He has set the poor man free, the needy
man whom there was none to help.
Nor is this all. The Psalter further indicates beforehand the bodily Ascension
of the Saviour into heaven, saying in Psalm 23, Lift up your gates, ye princes,
and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come
in! And again in 46, God is gone up with a merry noise, the Lord with the
voice of the trumpet. The Session also it proclaims, saying in Psalm 109,
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on My right hand, until I make thine
enemies the footstool of thy feet. And Psalm 9 mentions also the coming
destruction of the devil, crying, Thou satest on Thy throne, Thou that judgest
righteousness, Thou hast rebuked the heathen and the wicked one is destroyed.
And that He should receive all judgement from the Father, this also the Psalter
does not hide from us, but foreshows Him as coming to be the judge of all
in 71, Give the King Thy judgements, O God, and Thy righteousness unto the
King's Son, that He may judge Thy people in righteousness and Thy poor with
justice. In Psalm 49 too we read, He shall call the heaven from above, and
the earth, that He may judge His people. And the heavens shall declare His
righteousness, that God is judge indeed. The 81st (82nd) like-wise says,
God standeth in the assembly of gods, in the midst He judges gods. The calling
of the Gentiles also is to be learnt from many passages in this same book,
especially in these words of Psalm 46, O clap your hands together, all ye
Gentiles, shout unto God with the voice of triumph; and again in the 71st,
the Ethiopians shall fall down before Him, His enemies shall lick the dust.
The kings of Tarsis and of the islands shall bring presents, the kings of
Arabia and Saba shall offer gifts. All these things are sung of in the Psalter;
and they are shown forth separately in the other books as well.
My old friend made rather a point of this, that the things we find in the
Psalms about the Saviour are stated in the other books of Scripture too;
he stressed the fact that one interpretation is common to them all, and that
they have but one voice in the Holy Spirit.
Moreover, he went on, the opposite is true, to some extent; for, just as
the Psalter includes the special subjects of all the other books, so also
do they often contain something of the special feature of the Psalter. Moses,
for example, writes a song; Isaiah does the same, and Habacuc offers prayer
in form of song. And in the same way in every book we see something alike
of prophecy, of law-giving, and of history; for the same Spirit is in all
and He, being by nature One and Indivisible, is given whole to each: yet
is He diverse in His manifestations to mankind, and each one who is taught
by and receives Him ministers the word according to the moment's need. Thus,
as I said before, Moses is at times a prophet and a psalmist, and the Prophets
on occasion both lay down laws (like Wash you, make you clean. Wash clean
your heart from wickedness, Jerusalem), and also record history, as when
Daniel relates the story of Susanna or Isaias tells us about the Rab-shakeh
and Sennacherib. Similarly the Psalter, whose special function is to utter
songs, generalizes in song matters that are treated in detail in the other
books, as I have shown you. It also even lays down laws at times, such as
Leave off from wrath and let go displeasure, incline thine heart from evil
and do good. Seek peace and ensue it, as well as telling us the history of
Israel's journey and prophesying the coming of the Saviour, as I said just
now.
You see, then, that the grace of the one Spirit is common to every writer
and all the books of Scripture, and differs in its expression only as need
requires and the Spirit wills. Obviously, therefore, the only thing that
matters is for each writer to hold fast unyieldingly the grace he personally
has received and so fulfil perfectly his individual mission. And, among all
the books, the Psalter has certainly a very special grace, a choiceness of
quality well worthy to be pondered; for, besides the characteristics which
it shares with others, it has this peculiar marvel of its own, that within
it are represented and portrayed in all their great variety the movements
of the human soul. It is like a picture, in which you see yourself portrayed,
and seeing, may understand and consequently form yourself upon the pattern
given. Elsewhere in the Bible you read only that the Law commands this or
that to be done, you listen to the Prophets to learn about the Saviour's
coming, or you turn to the historical books to learn the doings of the kings
and holy men; but in the Psalter, besides all these things, you learn about
yourself. You find depicted in it all the movements of your soul, all its
changes, its ups and downs, its failures and recoveries. Moreover, whatever
your particular need or trouble, from this same book you can select a form
of words to fit it, so that you do not merely hear and then pass on, but
learn the way to remedy your ill. Prohibitions of evil-doing are plentiful
in Scripture, but only the Psalter tells you how to obey these orders and
abstain from sin. Repentance, for example, is enjoined repeatedly; but to
repent means to leave off sinning, and it is the Psalms that show you how
to set about repenting and with what words your penitence may be expressed.
Again, Saint Paul says, Tribulation worketh endurance, and endurance experience,
and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed; but it is in the Psalms
that we find written and described how afflictions should be borne, and what
the afflicted ought to say, both at the time and when his troubles cease:
the whole process of his testing is set forth in them and we are shown exactly
with what words to voice our hope in God. Or take the commandment, In everything
give thanks. The Psalms not only exhort us to be thankful, they also provide
us with fitting words to say. We are told, too, by other writers that all
who would live godly in Christ must suffer persecution; and here again the
Psalms supply words with which both those who flee persecution and those
who suffer under it may suitably address themselves to God, and it does the
same for those who have been rescued from it. We are bidden elsewhere in
the Bible also to bless the Lord and to acknowledge Him: here in the Psalms
we are shown the way to do it, and with what sort of words His majesty may
meetly be confessed. In fact, under all the circumstances of life, we shall
find that these divine songs suit ourselves and meet our own souls' need
at every turn.
And herein is yet another strange thing about the Psalms. In the other books
of Scripture we read or hear the words of holy men as belonging only to those
who spoke them, not at all as though they were our own; and in the same way
the doings there narrated are to us material for wonder and examples to be
followed, but not in any sense things we have done ourselves. With this book,
however, though one does read the prophecies about the Saviour in that way,
with reverence and with awe, in the case of all the other Psalms it is as
though it were one's own words that one read; and anyone who hears them is
moved at heart, as though they voiced for him his deepest thoughts. To make
this clear and, like Saint Paul not fearing somewhat to repeat ourselves,
let us take some examples. The patriarchs spoke many things, all fitting
to themselves; Moses also spoke, and God answered; Elijah and Elisha, seated
on Mount Carmel, called upon the Lord and said, The Lord liveth, before Whom
I stand. And the other prophets, while speaking specially about the Saviour,
addressed themselves also at times to Israel or to the heathen. Yet no one
would ever speak the patriarchs' words as though they were his own, or dare
to imitate the utterance of Moses or use the words of Abraham concerning
the great Isaac, or about Ishmael and the home-born slave, as though they
were his own, even though like necessity oppressed him. Neither, if any man
suffer with those that suffer or be gripped with desire of some better thing,
would he ever say as Moses said, Show me Thyself, or If Thou remittest their
sin; then remit it; but if not, then blot me out of Thy book that Thou hast
written.No more would any one use the prophets' words of praise or blame
as though they were his own, or say, The Lord lives, in Whose sight I stand
today. For he who reads those books is clearly reading not his own words
but those of holy men and other people about whom they write; but the marvel
with the Psalter is that, barring those prophecies about the Saviour and
some about the Gentiles, the reader takes all its words upon his lips as
though they were his own, and each one sings the Psalms as though they had
been written for his special benefit, and takes them and recites them, not
as though someone else were speaking or another person's feelings being
described, but as himself speaking of himself, offering the words to God
as his own heart's utterance, just as though he himself had made them up.
Not as the words of the patriarchs or of Moses and the other prophets will
he reverence these: no, he is bold to take them as his own and written for
his very self. Whether he has kept the Law or whether he has broken it, it
is his own doings that the Psalms describe; every one is bound to find his
very self in them and, be he faithful soul or be he sinner, each reads in
them descriptions of himself.
It seems to me, moreover, that because the Psalms thus serve him who sings
them as a mirror, wherein he sees himself and his own soul, he cannot help
but render them in such a manner that their words go home with equal force
to those who hear him sing, and stir them also to a like reaction. Sometimes
it is repentance that is generated in this way, as by the conscience-stirring
words of Psalm 50; another time, hearing how God helps those who hope and
trust in Him, the listener too rejoices and begins to render thanks, as though
that gracious help already were his own. Psalm 3, to take another instance,
a man will sing, bearing his own afflictions in his mind; Psalms 10 and 11
he will use as the expression of his own faith and prayer; and singing the
53rd, 55th, 56th, and the 141st, it is not as though someone else were being
persecuted but out of his own experience that he renders praise to God. And
every other Psalm is spoken and composed by the Spirit in the selfsame way:
just as in a mirror, the movements of our own souls are reflected in them
and the words are indeed our very own, given us to serve both as a reminder
of our changes of condition and as a pattern and model for the amendment
of our lives.
This is the further kindness of the Saviour that, having become man for our
sake, He not only offered His own body to death on our behalf, that He might
redeem all from death, but also, desiring to display to us His own heavenly
and perfect way of living, He expressed this in His very self. It was as
knowing how easily the devil might deceive us, that He gave us, for our peace
of mind, the pledge of His own victory that He had won on our behalf. But
He did not stop there: He went still further, and His own self performed
the things He had enjoined on us. Every man therefore may both hear Him speaking
and at the same time see in His behaviour the pattern for his own, even as
He himself has bidden, saying, Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart.
Nowhere is more perfect teaching of virtue to be found than in the Lord's
own life. Forbearance, love of men, goodness, courage, mercy, righteousness,
all are found in Him; and in the same way no virtue will be lacking to him
who fully contemplates this human life of Christ. It was as knowing this
that Saint Paul said, Be ye imitators of me, even as I myself am of Christ.
The Greek legislators had indeed a great command of language; but the Lord,
the true Lord of all, Who cares for all His works, did not only lay down
precepts but also gave Himself as model of how they should be -carried out,
for all who would to know and imitate. And therefore, before He came among
us, He sketched the likeness of this perfect life for us in words, in this
same book of Psalms; in order that, just as He revealed Himself in flesh
to be the perfect, heavenly Man, so in the Psalms also men of good-will might
see the pattern life portrayed, and find therein the healing and correction
of their own.
Briefly, then, if indeed any more is needed to drive home the point, the
whole divine Scripture is the teacher of virtue and true faith, but the Psalter
gives a picture of the spiritual life. And, just as one who draws near to
an earthly king observes the formalities in regard to dress and bearing and
the correct forms of words lest, transgressing in these matters, he be deemed
a boor, so he who seeks to live the good life and learn about the Saviour's
conduct in the body is by the reading of this holy book first put in mind
of his own soul's condition and then supplied with fit words for a suppliant's
use. For it is a feature of this book that the Psalms which compose it are
of many different sorts. Some such as 72, 77, and 113, are narrative in form;
some are hortatory, like 31, 96, 102; some are prophetic, for example, 21,
44, 46, and 109; some, in whole or part, are prayers to God, as are 6, 15,
53, 101; some are confessions, notably the 50th, some denounce the wicked,
like 13; while yet others, such as 8, 97, 116, 124, and many more, voice
thanksgiving, praise, and jubilation, Psalm 65 alone of these having special
reference to the Resurrection of the Lord.
It is possible for us, therefore, to find in the Psalter not only the reflection
of our own soul's state, together with precept and example for all possible
conditions, but also a fit form of words wherewith to please the Lord on
each of life's occasions, words both of repentance and of thankfulness, so
that we fall not into sin; for it is not for our actions only that we must
give account before the judge, but also for our every idle word. Suppose,
then, for example, that you want to declare anyone to be blessed; you find
the way to do it in Psalm 1, and likewise in 31, 40, 111, 118, and 127. If
you want to rebuke the conspiracy of the Jews against the Saviour, you have
Psalm 2. If you are persecuted by your own family and opposed by many, say
Psalm 3; and when you would give thanks to God at your affliction's end,
sing 4 and 74 and 114-115. When you see the wicked wanting to ensnare you
and you wish your prayer to reach God's ears, then wake up early and sing
5; and if you feel yourself beneath the cloud of His displeasure, you can
say 6 and 37. If any plot against you, as did Ahithophel against David, and
someone tells you of it, sing Psalm 7, and put your trust in God Who will
deliver you.
Contemplating humanity's redemption and the Saviour's universal grace, sing
Psalm 8 to the Lord; and with this same Psalm or the 18th you may thank Him
for the vintage. For victory over the enemy and the saving of created things,
take not glory to yourself but, knowing that it is the Son of God Who has
thus brought things to a happy issue, say to Him Psalm 9; and, if any wishes
to alarm you, the 10th, still trusting in the Lord. When you see the boundless
pride of many, and evil passing great, so that among men (so it seems) no
holy thing remains, take refuge with the Lord and say Psalm 11. And if this
state of things be long drawn out, be not faint-hearted, as though God had
forgotten you, but call upon Him with Psalm 26. Should you hear others blaspheme
the providence of God, do not join with them in their profanity but intercede
with God, using the 13th and the 52nd. And if, by way of contrast, you want
to learn what sort of person is citizen of heaven's kingdom, then sing Psalm
14.
When, again, you need to pray against your enemies and those who straiten
you, Psalms 16, 85, 87, and 139 will all meet your need; and if you want
to know how Moses prayed, you have the 89th. When you have been delivered
from these enemies and oppressors, then sing Psalm 17; and when you marvel
at the order of creation and God's good providence therein and at the holy
precepts of the Law, 18 and 23 will voice your prayer; while 19 will give
you words to comfort and to pray with others in distress. When you yourself
are fed and guided by the Lord and, seeing it, rejoice, the 22nd awaits you.
Do enemies surround you? Then lift up your heart to God and say Psalm 24,
and you will surely see the sinners put to rout. If they persist, their murderous
intent unslaked, then let man's judgement go and pray to God, the Only Righteous,
that He alone will judge according unto right, using Psalms 25, 34, and 42.
If your foes press yet harder and become a veritable host, that scorns you
as not yet anointed, be not afraid, but sing again Psalm 26. Pay no attention
either to the weakness of your own humanity or to the brazenness of their
attack, but cry unceasingly on God, using Psalm 27. And when you want the
right way of approach to God in thankfulness, with spiritual understanding
sing Psalm 28. And finally, when you dedicate your home, that is your soul
in which you receive the Lord and the house of your senses, in which corporeally
your spirit dwells, give thanks and say the 29th and, from the Gradual Psalms,
the 126th.
Again, when you find yourself hated and persecuted by all your friends and
kinsfolk because of your faith in Christ, do not despair on this account
nor be afraid of them, but go apart and, looking to the future, sing Psalm
30. And when you see people baptized and ransomed from this evil world, be
filled with wonder at the love of God for men, and in thanksgiving for them
sing the 31st. And whenever a number of you want to sing together, being
all good and upright men, then use the 32nd. When you have fallen among enemies
but have escaped by wise refusal of their evil counsel, then also gather
holy men together and sing with them the 33rd. And when you see how zealous
are the lawless in their evil-doing, think not the evil is innate in them,
as some false teachers say, but read Psalm 35 and you will see they are
themselves the authors of their sin. And if you see these same wicked men
trying, among other evils, to attack the weak and you wish to warn their
victims to pay no heed to them, nor envy them, since they will soon be brought
to nought, both to yourself and others say the 36th.
When, on the other hand, it is your own safety that is in question, by reason
of the enemy's attacks, and you wish to bestir yourself against him, say
the 38th; and if, when he attacks, you then endure afflictions, and wish
to learn the value of endurance, sing Psalm 39. When you see people in poverty,
obliged to beg their bread, and you want to show them pity, you can applaud
those who have already helped them and incite others to like works of mercy
by using 40. Then again, if you are aflame with longing for God, be not disturbed
at the reviling of your enemies but, knowing the immortal fruit that such
desire shall bear, comfort your soul and ease your pains with hope in God,
and say the 41st. When you wish to recall in detail the loving-kindnesses
which God showed to the fathers, both in their exodus from Egypt and in the
wilderness, and to reflect how good God is and how ungrateful are men, you
have the 43rd, the 77th, the 88th, the 104th, the 105th, the 106th and also
the 113th. And the 45th will supply your need when after deliverance from
afflictions you flee to God, and want to give Him thanks and tell of all
His loving mercy shown towards yourself.
But suppose now that you have sinned and, having been put to confusion, are
repenting and begging for forgiveness, then you have the words of confession
and repentance in Psalm 50. Or you have been slandered, perhaps, before an
evil king, and you see the slanderer boasting of his deed: then go away and
say Psalm 51. And when they persecute and slander you, as did the Ziphites
and the strangers to King David, be not disturbed but with full confidence
in God sing praise to Him, using Psalms 53 and 55. If still the persecution
follows hard on you, and he who seeks your life enters (though he knows it
not) the very cave in which you hide, still you must not fear; for even in
such extremity as this you have encouragement in Psalm 56 and also in the
141st. The plotter, it may be, gives orders that a watch be kept over your
house, and yet you manage to escape; give thanks to God, then, and let Psalm
58 be written on your heart, as on a pillar, as a memorial of your deliverance.
And if not only your enemies cast you in the teeth but those also whom you
thought to be your friends reproach and slander you and hurt you sorely for
a time, you can still call upon God for help, using Psalm 54. Against hypocrites
and those who glory in appearances, say for their reproach the 57th. But
against those whose enmity is such that they would even take away your life,
you must simply oppose your own obedience to the Lord, having no fear at
all but all the more submitting to His will as they grow fiercer in their
rage, and your form of words for this will be the 61st Psalm. Should persecution
drive you to the desert, fear not as though you were alone in it, for God
is with you, and there at daybreak you may sing to Him the 62nd. And if even
there the fear of foes and their unceasing plots pursues you, be they never
so many or so insistent in their search for you, still you must not yield;
for the toy arrows of a child will be enough to wound them, while Psalms
63, 64, 69, and 70 are on your lips.
The 64th Psalm will meet your need, whenever you desire to sing praise to
God: and if you want to teach any one about the Resurrection, sing the 65th.
When asking mercy from the Lord, praise Him with the 66th. When you see wicked
men enjoying prosperity and peace and good men in sore trouble, be not offended
or disturbed at it but say Psalm 72. When God is angry with His people, you
have wise words of comfort in Psalm 73. When you have occasion to testify
concerning God, 9, 70, 74, 91, 104 to 107, 110, 125, 135, and 137 all fit
the case; and Psalm 75, when used intelligently, provides you with an answer
for the heathen and the heretics, showing that the knowledge of God is not
with them at all, but only in the Church. And when the enemy takes possession
of your place of refuge, even though sorely harassed and afflicted, do not
despair but pray: and when your crying has been heard, give thanks to God,
using Psalm 76. And if they have profaned the house of God and slain the
saints, throwing their bodies to the birds of prey, do not be crushed or
frightened at such cruelty, but, suffering with those that suffer it, plead
you for them with God, using Psalm 78.
Psalms 80 and 94 are suitable if you want to sing on a festival, together
with other servants of the Lord; and when the enemy once more muster round
you, threatening God's House and joining forces against His holy ones, do
not you be frightened of either their numbers or their strength, for you
have a very anchor of hope available in Psalm 82. If, moreover, you behold
the House of God and His eternal dwelling, and have a longing for them, as
the Apostle had, then say the 83rd; and when at length their anger is abated
and you are free again, voice your thanksgiving in the 84th and in the 114th
and 115th. To see the difference between the Church and schism and to confound
schismatics, you can say 86. To encourage yourself and others in the fear
of God and to show how fearless is the soul that hopes in Him, say 90.
Do you want to give thanks on the Lord's Day? Then say the 23rd; if on a
Monday, then the 94th; and if on a Friday, your words of praise are in the
92nd, for it was when the Crucifixion was accomplished that the House of
God was built, for all the enemy attempted to prevent it, so it is fitting
we should sing on Friday a song of victory, such as that Psalm is. Psalm
95 is apt, if God's House has been captured and destroyed and then re-built;
and when the land has rest from war and peace returns, sing that The Lord
is King in 96. You want to sing on Wednesday? The Psalm then is 93; for it
was on the fourth day from the Sabbath that the Lord through His betrayal
entered on His Passion, by which He should redeem us and by the which He
triumphed gloriously. So when you read in the Gospel how on the Wednesday
the jews took counsel against the Lord, seeing Him thus boldly challenging
the devil on our behalf, sing the words of this Psalm 93. And again, when
you see the providence and power of God in all things and want to instruct
others in His faith and obedience, get them first to say the 99th Psalm.
And when you have yourself experienced His power in judgement (for always
His justice is tempered by His mercy) the next Psalm will express your need.
If through the weakness of your nature and the strain of life you find yourself
at times downcast and poor, sing for your consolation Psalm 101 and use the
two that follow it to lift your heart in thankful praise to God, as in and
through all circumstances we should always do. Psalms 104, 106, 112, 116,
134, and 145 to 150 not only show the reasons why God should be praised,
but tell you how to do it. Have you faith, as the Lord bade, and believe
in the prayers you utter? Then say the 115th Psalm. You feel that, like the
Apostle, you can now press forward, forgetting all the things that lie behind?
Then you have the fifteen Gradual Psalms for every step of your advance.
Another time, perhaps, you find you have been led astray by others'
arguments-well, then, the moment you perceive it, stop your sinning, sit
down and weep, as they did of old by Babylon's waters, using the words of
Psalm 136. Since it is precisely by being tempted that one's worth is proved,
Psalm 138 will meet your need when you thank God for testing safely past.
And if the enemy once more gets hold of you and you desire to be free, then
say 139. For prayer and supplication, sing Psalms 5, 140 to 142, and 145.
Has some Goliath risen up against the people and yourself? Fear not, but
trust in God, as David did, and sing his words in Psalm 143. Then, marvelling
at God's kindnesses to everyone and mindful of His goodness to yourself and
all, praise Him, again in David's words, with Psalm 104. You want to sing
to Him? Use 95 and 97. If, weak as you are, you yet are chosen for some position
of authority among the brethren, you must not be puffed up as though. you
were superior to them, but rather glorify the Lord Who chose you and sing
Psalm 150, which is especially the Psalm of David. And for Psalms in praise
of God, having some of them the title Alleluia, you have all these, 104-106,
110-117, 134, 135, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, and 150.
If, again, you want to sing Psalms that speak especially about the Saviour,
you will find something in almost all of them; but 44 and 109 to relate
particularly to His Divine Begetting from the Father and His coming in the
flesh, while 21 and 68 foretell the Holy Cross, the grievous plots He bore
and how great things He suffered for our sakes. The 3rd and 108th also display
the snares and malice of the Jews and how Iscariot betrayed Him; 20, 49,
and 71 all set Him forth as judge and foretell His Second Coming in the flesh
to us; they also show the Gentiles' call. The 15th shows His resurrection
from the dead, in flesh, the 23rd and 46th His ascension into heaven. And
in the four Psalms 92, 95, 97, and 98, all the benefits deriving to us from
the Saviour's Passion are set forth together.
Such, then, is the character of the Book of Psalms, and such the uses to
which it may be put, some of its number serving for the correction of individual
souls, and many of them, as I said just now, foretelling the coming in human
form of our Saviour Jesus Christ. But we must not omit to explain the reason
why words of this kind should be not merely said, but rendered with melody
and song; for there are actually some simple folk among us who, though they
believe the words to be inspired, yet think the reason for singing them is
just to make them more pleasing to the ear! This is by no means so; Holy
Scripture is not designed to tickle the aesthetic palate, and it is rather
for the soul's own profit that the Psalms are sung. This is so chiefly for
two reasons. In the first place, it is fitting that the sacred writings should
praise God in poetry as well as prose, because the freer, less restricted
form of verse, in which the Psalms, together with the Canticles and Odes,
[the hymns of Exodus 15: 1-18, Deuteronomy 32:1-43, and Habacuc 3] are cast,
ensures that by them men should express their love to God with all the strength
and power they possess. And, secondly, the reason lies in the unifying effect
which chanting the Psalms has upon the singer. For to sing the Psalms demands
such concentration of a man's whole being on them that, in doing it, his
usual disharmony of mind and corresponding bodily confusion is resolved,
just as the notes of several flutes are brought by harmony to one effect;
and he is thus no longer to be found thinking good and doing evil, as Pilate
did when, though saying I find no crime in Him, he yet allowed the Jews to
have their way; nor desiring evil though unable to achieve it, as did the
elders in their sin against Susanna - or, for that matter, as does any man
who abstains from one sin and yet desires another every bit as bad. And it
is in order that the melody may thus express our inner spiritual harmony,
just as the words voice our thoughts, that the Lord Himself has ordained
that the Psalms be sung and recited to a chant.
Moreover, to do this beautifully is the heart's desire and joy, as it is
written, Is any among you happy? Let him sing! And if there is in the words
anything harsh, irregular or rough, the tune will smoothe it out, as in our
own souls also sadness is lightened as we chant, Why then art thou so heavy,
O my soul, why dost thou trouble me? and failure is acknowledged as one sings,
My feet were almost gone, and fear is braced by hope in singing, The Lord
is my helper, I will not fear what man can do to me.
Well, then, they who do not read the Scriptures in this way, that is to say,
who do not chant the divine Songs intelligently but simply please themselves,
most surely are to blame, for praise is not befitting in a sinner's mouth.
But those who do sing as I have indicated, so that the melody of the words
springs naturally from the rhythm of the soul and her own union with the
Spirit, they sing with the tongue and with the understanding also, and greatly
benefit not themselves alone but also those who want to listen to them. So
was it with the blessed David when he played to Saul: he pleased God and,
at the same time, he drove from Saul his madness and his anger and gave back
peace to his distracted spirit. In like manner, the priests by their singing
contributed towards the calming of the people's spirits and helped to unite
them with those who lead the heavenly choir. When, therefore, the Psalms
are chanted, it is not from any mere desire for sweet music but as the outward
expression of the inward harmony obtaining in the soul, because such harmonious
recitation is in itself the index of a peaceful and well-ordered heart. To
praise God tunefully upon an instrument, such as well-tuned cymbals, cithara,
or ten-stringed psaltery, is, as we know, an outward token that the members
of the body and the thoughts of the heart are, like the instruments themselves,
in proper order and control, all of them together living and moving by the
Spirit's cry and breath. And similarly, as it is written that By the Spirit
a man lives and mortifies his bodily actions, so he who sings well puts his
soul in tune, correcting by degrees its faulty rhythm so that at last, being
truly natural and integrated, it has fear of nothing, but in peaceful freedom
from all vain imaginings may apply itself with greater longing to the good
things to come. For a soul rightly ordered by chanting the sacred words forgets
its own afflictions and contemplates with joy the things of Christ alone.
So then, my son, let whoever reads this Book of Psalms take the things in
it quite simply as God-inspired; and let each select from it, as from the
fruits of a garden, those things of which he sees himself in need. For I
think that in the words of this book all human life is covered, with all
its states and thoughts, and that nothing further can be found in man. For
no matter what you seek, whether it be repentance and confession, or help
in trouble and temptation or under persecution, whether you have been set
free from plots and snares or, on the contrary, are sad for any reason, or
whether, seeing yourself progressing and your enemy cast down, you want to
praise and thank and bless the Lord, each of these things the Divine Psalms
show you how to do, and in every case the words you want are written down
for you, and you can say them as your own.
There is, however, one word of warning needed. No one must allow himself
to be persuaded, by any arguments what-ever, to decorate the Psalms with
extraneous matter or make alterations in their order or change the words
them-selves. They must be sung and chanted in entire simplicity, just as
they are written, so that the holy men who gave them to us, recognizing their
own words, may pray with us, yes and even more that the Spirit, Who spoke
by the saints, recognizing the selfsame words that He inspired, may join
us in them too. For as the saints' lives are lovelier than any others, so
too their words are better than ever ours can be, and of much more avail,
provided only they be uttered from a righteous heart. For with these words
they themselves pleased God, and in uttering them, as the Apostle says, they
subdued kingdoms, they wrought righteousness, they obtained promises, they
stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge
of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned
to flight armies of aliens, women received their dead by resurrection.
Let each one, therefore, who recites the Psalms have a sure hope that through
them God will speedily give ear to those who are in need. For if a man be
in trouble when he says them, great comfort will he find in them; if he be
tempted or persecuted, he will find himself abler to stand the test and will
experience the protection of the Lord, Who always defends those who say these
words. By them too a man will overthrow the devil and put the fiends to flight.
If he have sinned, when he uses them he will repent; if he have not sinned,
he will find himself rejoicing that he is stretching out towards the things
that are before and, so wrestling, in the power of the Psalms he will prevail.
Never will such a man be shaken from the truth, but those who try to trick
and lead him into error he will refute; and it is no human teacher who promises
us this, but the Divine Scripture itself. For God commanded Moses to write
the great song and to teach the people, and him whom He had appointed leader
He bade also to write Deuteronomy, to have it ever in his hand and to meditate
unceasingly upon its words; because these are sufficient in themselves both
to call men's minds to virtue and to bring help to any who ponder them sincerely.
It is a certain fact that when Joshua, the son of Nun, entered the land of
promise and saw the ordered ranks of the heathen and the Amorite kings all
drawn up against him, in face of all these swords and weapons he read Deuteronomy
in the ears of all and reminded them of the words of the Law, and then, having
thus armed the people, he overcame the foe. King Josiah also, when the book
was found, and had been read through to all, no longer feared his enemies.
And at any time when war was threatening Israel, the Ark in which the tables
of the Law were kept was carried out before the host, and was sufficient
help against any array, except when there was among those who bore it or,
elsewhere among the people, any prevailing hypocrisy or sin; for faith and
an honest state of mind are always necessary if the Law is to be an effectual
ally in the fulfilment of man's vows.
And I have heard, said the old man, from wise men, that in old days in Israel
they put demons to flight by reading of the Scriptures only, and in the same
way uncovered plots made by them against men.
For this reason he rebuked as being worthy of the utmost condemnation people
who neglect the Scriptures, while making use of impressive words from other
sources for the purposes of exorcism so-called. Those who did that were playing
with the sacred words, he said, and offering themselves as to daemons, as
did those Jews, the sort they tried in that way to exorcise the man at Ephesus.
On the other hand, daemons fear the words of holy men and cannot bear them;
for the Lord Himself is in the words of Scripture and Him they cannot bear,
as they showed when they cried out to Christ, I pray you, torment me not
before the time. In the same way Paul commanded the unclean spirits, and
demons were subject to the disciples. The hand of the Lord was on Elisha
the prophet also, and he prophesied about the waters to three kings, when
the minstrel played and sang according to His bidding. So also is it with
us today: if any one have at heart the interests of those who suffer, let
him use these words, and he will both help the suffer, let him use these
words, and he will both help the sufferers more and at the same time prove
his own faith to be true and strong; thus God, perceiving it, will grant
the suppliants perfect health. Well knew the holy Psalmist that, when he
said in Psalm 118, I will meditate in Thy judgements: and I will not forget
Thy words; and again, Thy statutes were my songs in the place of my sojourning.
For with these words they all worked out their own salvation, saying, If
Thy law were not my meditation, then had I perished in my humiliation. Paul
also strengthened his disciple with like words, saying, Ponder these things,
abide in them, that thy progress may be manifest.
And so you too, Marcellinus, pondering the Psalms and reading them intelligently,
with the Spirit as your guide, will be able to grasp the meaning of each
one, even as you desire. And you will strive also to imitate the lives of
those God-bearing saints who spoke them at the first. |
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