A Commentary on the Book of Psalms: Psalm 118 — Of the Excellence of Virtue Consisting in the Love and Observance of the Commandments of God
Psalm 118
Of the Excellence of Virtue Consisting in the Love and Observance of the Commandments of God
Explanation Of The Psalm
Aleph
1 The prophet, most properly, in praising the excellence and the advantage of the divine law, draws his first argument from happiness, that is, the ultimate end of man; for in the moral order the end holds the same place that first principles do in the order of nature. The meaning of the first verse, then, is, Blessed are they who, in their journey through life, are not soiled by the mud or dirt of sin: and they who escape being thus soiled, and thus blessed, are those “who walk in the law of the Lord;” they who abandon every other way, and choose that of the law of the Lord, as being the purest and the clearest. To come to particulars. The word “blessed” implies eternal happiness, which alone is complete happiness; and also temporal happiness, as far as such can be had in this world. The meaning, then, is, Blessed are they in eternity; and, even in this life, blessed are they, joyous and content, coveting nothing in this world, are those who live unblemished by sin, by reason of “their walking in the way of the Lord.” Christ himself informs us that the straight road to eternal happiness is the observance of his law. “If thou wilt enter into life keep the commandments.” With that, experience, as well as reason, teaches us that, even in this world, none lead a happier life than they who lead an upright and a pious one; for happy must that man be who has all he desires, and wishes for nothing bad; while wicked men wish for many things that are bad, and have not very many of the things that they wish for. On the contrary, the just wish for nothing that is bad, and they have whatever they wish for by reason of their wishing for God alone and the doing of his will. The word “undefiled” does not imply the absence of venial sin; if such were the case, we should not have even one to come under such a category. It means the absence of mortal sin, that alone, strictly speaking, leaves a stain on the soul. The metaphor seems to be taken from the spots one picks up in walking through muddy, dusty, or dirty places.
“In the way” means through life, which is most aptly called a way by reason of the constant changes in it, and, as Job has it, “must ever continue in the same state,” from the moment we commence it to the very last stage of our existence. “In the law of the Lord;”
giving us to understand that God’s law is a straight and clear path, because it prohibits all manner of sin. The law of the Lord is here opposed to the law of the flesh, which the Apostle designates as “the way of concupiscence,” full of the dust of pride, the mud of luxury, and the dirty water of avarice.
2 He explains the last verse by saying that it is not every observance of the law that will secure happiness. Many observe the law superficially, content with abstaining from murder, theft, adultery, while they do not, in reality, walk as they ought in the way of the Lord, inasmuch as they have a hatred for their neighbor, abound in wealth they have no use for, or indulge in fornication. He, then, that really wishes to be happy must “search his testimonies,” must seriously reflect on the meaning of the whole law, called “his testimonies,” by reason of its making God’s will known to us; for whoever will search the law will find that the precept, “thou shalt not kill,” prohibits not only murder, but also hatred and anger, as the Lord himself explained it; nay more, that it even obligates us to love, for “love is the fulfilling of the law;” and when God said, “Thou shalt not kill,” he said so lest love should be infringed on, which also will be found to apply to the other precepts by anyone “that will search them.” They may be truly said to search his testimonies who “seek him with their whole heart;” for he that seriously seeks for God with his whole heart longs for his grace in this world and a sight of him in the next; such a one most undoubtedly seeks to know God’s will in everything, and to walk according to it. Like travelers on their way to a place they wish to reach as quickly as possible, they earnestly inquire and ask of all they meet the easiest and most direct road to the place they are bound for; while those who travel without any fixed purpose, having no particular place in view, take very little trouble as to what road they may be travelling. The prophet, therefore, says, “Blessed are they that search his testimonies;” that is, I called those who walk in the Lord happy, but let it be understood that I mean those only who diligently examine the meaning of the whole law, and of him who gave it; a thing done only by those “who seek him with their whole heart,” who neither prefer, nor even put, any creature on a level with him, who do not divide their love between him and any creature, but love him solely on his own account, and creatures for him.
3 He proves his assertion, that they only who walk in the way of the Lord are undefiled, inasmuch as not one of those “that work iniquity,” and are thus found defiled on the road, have walked “in the ways,” that is, in the law of the Lord; a clear proof of which is, that it is the way of the Lord alone that preserves those who walk in it undefiled. His argument, then, stands thus, by reversing the case, “They that work iniquity,” and are, consequently, found defiled, have not walked in the way of the Lord; therefore, they who do walk in God’s path do not work iniquity, and are, consequently, undefiled. St. Augustine raises what he calls a serious question here. All the saints walk in the way of the Lord, therefore, they work not iniquity, and yet they say, through 1 Jn. 1:8, “If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us, and sin is iniquity.” They who work iniquity certainly do not walk in the way of the Lord, inasmuch as they work iniquity, because they walk in a way directly opposite to God’s way, as they do who commit mortal sin; while those who commit venial sin merely walk in a way a little outside of God’s way. Now, the saints who have the desire of walking in God’s way, and do so habitually, may be said to walk therein; and if they occasionally get off the path, by doing something not directly opposed to God’s law, they quickly get on it again through penance and confession.
4 He now draws another argument from the excellence of the legislator, as much as to say, These are not the commands of man, but of God; that God who requires implicit obedience from all his servants. To give greater weight to what he has to say thereon, he addresses God directly, saying, “Thou hast commanded thy commandments to be kept most diligently.” O Lord, you who can freely command your servants, and punish them severely if they disobey, and who can neither forgive nor forget the transgressor, “thou hast commanded,” not by way of advice, but by strict precept, “thy commandments to be kept,” not negligently or carelessly, but “most diligently” and studiously. Who, then, will not, at once, give their mind to a thorough observance of them?
5 Looking at the authority of him that commands, and the strictness of the order, the prophet wishes that God’s commands should be most implicitly obeyed, and he expresses such wish himself, to give an example to others of the obedience due by them to God; for, if he, a king, supreme head of his people, so trembles at God’s commands, and so ardently desires to comply with them, what should ordinary persons not do? “O, that my ways,” all my thoughts, words, and deeds, “may be directed,” may be made agreeable to your righteous law, “to keep thy justifications,” to observe your law, called “justifications” frequently in this Psalm. The law for variety’s sake gets different names in the Scripture, such as the precept, the command, the discourse, the speech, the word, sometimes the testimony, by reason of its bearing witness to what God’s will is, sometimes the justification, as in this passage, because it is through it we are justified; that is, made more just, according to the Apostle, who says, “the doers of the law shall be justified;” observe, though, that I said, they who observe the law shall be made more just, because the first justification, through which we are made just, from being sinners, cannot be ascribed to the law, but to grace, as the same Apostle has it, “For if justice be by the law, then Christ died in vain.”
6 He draws great fruit from directing his ways to keep the justifications of the Lord. They who regard the greatness of the legislator; and in their actions do not regard the rule of his divine law, and afterwards find their work out of shape, and not in conformity with the direct way of the law of God, they are fearfully confounded and disheartened, they can scarcely lift their eyes to God, saying to themselves, “Who am I that I should have dared to direct my thoughts, words, or deeds, to anything but what was agreeable to the straight way of the commands of the supreme legislator, who ordered them to be so zealously observed?” David, then, considering it of great importance, as it really is, to have no reason for being confused on such grounds, says, I always wished to direct my ways to keep God’s justifications, because then “I shall not be confounded,” I will have no reason for blushing before you, O Lord, “when I shall look into all thy commandments,” when I shall have tested all my actions by the rule of your commandments, to see if they are conformable to them. Hence, we learn how far removed from the spirit, and the piety of David, are they who do so many crooked things, anything but conformable to the law of God, and yet are quite unconscious of their deformity, by reason of their not reflecting on the greatness of the legislator.