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
Ghimel
17 In the next octave he enumerates the obstacles to the observance of the law, and prays for their removal out of his way. Death of the soul is the first obstacle, for men that are dead cannot observe the commandments of life as they ought, so as to obtain eternal life; and David, even if he could hope to consider himself as one of the living, still, “as no one knoweth whether he is worthy of love or hatred,” and, as he assumed the person of the sinner, he, therefore, for himself, or for them, prays and says, “Give bountifully to thy servant, enliven me; and I shall keep thy words;” that is to say, Give your servant, should he chance to be dead in sins, spiritual life, and then he will be able “to keep thy words.”
18 The passions of the soul, such as love, fear, desire, anger, and similar affections form the second obstacle, and often prevent men from coming to right conclusions. Concerning them, he says, “Open thou my eyes.” Remove, by the infusion of your light, the veil of passion from my intellectual visions with which, when so purified, “I will consider the wondrous things of thy law,” the wonderful justice, the wonderful wisdom, the wonderful advantages, and all the other wonderful things that shine forth in thy law.
19 The third obstacle lies in this pilgrimage of ours here below, for while we are here pilgrims, we must needs be earthly and carnal, while “the law is spiritual.” If God, then, through his grace, will not make us spiritual, we cannot observe a spiritual law. “I am a sojourner on the earth,” an earthly animal man, living on the earth, while I am in exile from my country; and, therefore, I ask, “that thou hide not thy commandments from me;” that is, that you may, through your grace, make me fit to receive your commandments.
20 The fourth obstacle is imperfection. The perfect, who love God and his law with their whole heart, and do good from the pure love of it, are very rare indeed. Very many have the best intentions, but there they stop. The prophet, then, speaking as if he were one of such, says, “My soul hath coveted to long for thy justifications at all times.” He dare not say, My soul hath coveted to observe your commandments, but, conscious of his infirmity, he says, “It hath coveted to long for,” and this very acknowledgment of imperfection is a regular petition for that perfection which God grants, when he makes one ardently long to observe his commandments.
21 The fifth and greatest obstacle of all is pride, that prevents man from submitting his neck to the yoke, but which David seems to think has no place in him, or in anyone like him, but solely in God’s enemies; thus, without any more ado, he simply execrates it. “Thou hast rebuked the proud,” who, from pure contempt, did not observe your commandments. Lucifer, for instance, hurled by God’s rebuke to hell, with such violence as to have the Lord himself say of him, “I saw Satan as lightning falling from heaven.” Adam, too, whose pride, in wishing to become equal to God, led him to disobey God, was rebuked by him, and bore the sentence of death for himself and for the whole human race. Finally, God will, on the last day administer a dreadful rebuke to all the wicked; and, therefore, the prophet adds, “They are accursed who decline from thy commandments,” to wit, those who decline especially through pride and contempt of the legislator, for such will be told specially, “Go ye cursed into everlasting fire.”
22–23 The proud not only refuse to obey God, but they even despise and insult those who obey him; but such insolence ultimately reverts on themselves, as David here predicts; for this, like other similar expressions in the Psalms, though in the form of an imprecation, is really a prediction. He, therefore, says, “Remove from me reproach and contempt;” the time will come when you will remove both from me, and cast them back on the proud who disobey you; “because I have sought after thy testimonies,” which they despised looking after. In the next verse he assigns a reason for this; it is, “For princes sat and spoke against me; but thy servant was employed in thy justifications.” Proud princes, sitting on their thrones, presiding at their councils, or luxuriating in their riches and their power, “spoke against me;” reproached me with obeying God’s commands; “but thy servant was employed in thy justifications;” regardless of their threats or their reproaches, I was entirely wrapt up in the consideration, the announcement, and the carrying out of your justifications.
24 An explanation of “I was employed in thy justifications;” for he says they were a sweet consolation to him in his troubles, and a faithful counsellor in his doubts.
Daleth
25 In the next eight verses David still assumes the person of one imperfect, who is kept back by the concupiscence of the flesh from the perfect observance of the commandments, and asks for grace and help to observe them. “My soul hath cleaved to the pavement;” to the groveling things of this world; “quicken me according to thy word;” grant that I may lead a life agreeable to your law; for, by my love for the things of this world I am become a carnal man; but, if I shall live according to your law, which is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God, and become one spirit with him. St. Augustine observes that, at present, the soul adheres to the flesh, or to earth, and thus becomes carnal, or earthly, and thus prevented from observing the law to perfection; but, after the resurrection in glory, the flesh will adhere to the soul, and the soul to God; and thus the flesh will then become spiritualized, will, to a certain extent, be deified, will observe the law to the fullest extent, without any trouble; or rather, will need no law, when it will carry out everything ordained by the law to the letter.
26 He makes a further acknowledgment of his own misery, and again asks for grace. “I have declared my ways;” I have not been ashamed to acknowledge my bad acts, I have openly avowed them; “and thou hast heard me,” and spared me with your usual mercy: “teach me thy justifications;” now that I am reconciled, I further beg of you to teach me thy justifications; that is, to make me keep your commandments; for, as we observed before, the word “teaching,” in this Psalm, implies more than imparting knowledge; it unites the being persuaded to do the thing so taught.
27 Being very desirous of advancing in the way of the Lord, he becomes more urgent again in praying to God for light. “Make me to understand the way of thy justifications.” Tell me what your commandments mean, how I should walk in your law; “and I shall be exercised in thy wondrous works;” I will be entirely taken up in putting your precepts into practice, precepts so wonderful as to appear nigh impossible of observance; such as, “Thou shalt love God with thy whole heart;” and, “Thou shalt not covet;” “Thou shalt love thy enemy;” and the like.
28 He comes again to acknowledge the infirmity of his flesh, and to ask for mercy; for, in this our pilgrimage, rarely will anyone be found not to relax at some time or another, and become drowsy and more tepid from the constant struggle between the spirit and the flesh. “My soul hath slumbered through heaviness;” while I am tired of the labor I have to undergo in the rebellion of the flesh against the spirit. “Strengthen thou me in thy words.” Strengthen me while I endeavor to keep your commandments, by the fervor of your grace, through which I may be able to persevere.
29 A copious explanation of the expression, “strengthen me,” in the previous verse “Remove from me the way of iniquity;” grant, through your grace, that I may keep far away from the way of iniquity, from the path of sin I had just entered on, “by slumbering, through heaviness;” “and out of thy law have mercy on me;” in your mercy, cause that I may tread in the path of your law, as the Hebrew clearly indicates.
30 He hitherto acknowledged his own inherent wretchedness; he now, in these verses, tells what the mercy of God may effect, as if he said, Hitherto I have chosen the path of falsehood, but, through that mercy, in which, “out of thy love, thou hast mercy on me,” now “I have chosen the way of truth,” have seriously proposed to walk in the true way, the way of thy commandments; and, through your mercy, “I have not forgotten thy judgments;” that is, thy commandments, however vehemently “the flesh may lust against the spirit.”
31 Of myself, “I have cleaved to the pavement,” but, through your mercy, I have stuck to thy testimonies; and though, in my flesh, I am a slave to the law of sin, in my soul I am a servant to your law, and, therefore, “put me not to shame,” to which I must come, if deprived of your help.
32 Of myself, “I have slumbered through heaviness,” but, through your mercy, “I have run the way of thy commandments;” I have observed them with delight, with readiness, with alacrity, “when thou didst enlarge my heart” by the infusion of your love, which makes “your yoke sweet and your burden light.”
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