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
76 The comfort he asks for is grace to observe the law; for he who grieves for his humiliation, by reason of having been deprived of grace, and thus having fallen into sin, will get great consolation, if a profusion of grace will enable him to observe God’s laws perfectly and thoroughly.
77 Having asked for the grace of observing the law, that he may draw comfort therefrom, he now tells us in what that comfort he so looks for consists. “Let thy tender mercies come to me and I shall live.” Have mercy on me, according to the multitude of your tender mercies, that I may get hold of the true life, that which alone is the happy and eternal life. St. Augustine pertinently observes, that he uses the word “live” without any addition, because wherever the word of life is thus used, it means eternal life; thus, “in him was life;” and again, “unto the resurrection of life.” “If thou wilt enter into life.”—“For thy law is my meditation;” here is the reason why he thus ventures to ask for God’s mercies, for it is only meet that God should regard one who is constantly occupied in meditating on his law.
78 The fourth reason assigned for getting grace to observe the law, is derived from the confusion it will prove to the wicked, just as the second reason was derived from the satisfaction it would afford to the just. “Let the proud be ashamed.” Grant me grace to observe your law to the letter, that those proud sinners, who by their persecutions and oppressions seek to make others follow their example, on seeing me, may be thus confounded and ashamed; and while they are thus confounded and ashamed, I will, with increased zeal and vigor, “be employed in thy commandments,” in meditating on them and observing them.
79 He now exhorts the pious, if there be any such, who may have been deceived by the sinners, and began to regard them, to return to themselves and unite with him. “Let those that fear thee and know thy testimonies,” let all those who fear God, and understand his law, “turn to me,” and observe it with me.
80 He concludes by asking again for the grace he had so often asked for, to enable him to observe the commandments of God with a perfect heart, so that he may not have to fear the disgrace of being confounded here or hereafter.
Caph
81 In the next eight verses David introduces one desirous of observing the commandments, but suffering severely from temptation, and asking in the most pitiable terms for help from heaven. “My soul hath fainted after thy salvation.” My desire of eternal salvation has been so great, that I have nearly fainted in consequence. “And in thy word I have very much hoped;” still your promises held out great hopes to me. Thus, while the delay to one’s salvation makes one faint, the hope built on promise strengthens and supports.
82 What an extraordinary expression for the prophet to use, as if the eyes could hear or could speak! But the eyes, the ears, and the tongue of the interior are one and the same, for the intellect hears, sees, and speaks. “My eyes have failed for thy word,” my mind, reflecting on the promised help so long deferred, has failed through desire for it, just as the eyes of the body, when fixed for a long time on some one spot, in which they expect something or some person, grow dim and fail, “saying: When wilt thou comfort me?” those eyes of my interior, that have so failed from looking out so long, explain the cause of their defect, when they say, When shall we have that perfect consolation that we may no longer fear a relapse, or a violation of your holy law.
83 I had good reason for saying, “When wilt thou comfort me?” because I am as arid and as void of the dew of consoling grace, from despair and the pressure of temptation, as a bottle that would be put in the frost when the cold is severest; for then the leathern bottles shrivel up and harden. A similar expression occurs in Psalm 142, “My soul is as earth without water unto thee.” Yet, however I may labor under such aridity, “I have not forgotten thy justifications;” thy commandments.
84 He urges the same petition, praying for consolation, and deliverance from temptation. “How many are the days of thy servant,” during which this affliction is to last? when will there be an end to the days of misery and temptation? “When wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?” When will you judge and condemn those that persecute and tempt me, that my persecution may cease on their condemnation? He makes no curious inquiries as to the number of the days of his life, or of those of the world, he merely expresses his desire of life everlasting, when all the wicked, consigned to hell, shall cease to harass the just, who, in the enjoyment of supreme and everlasting peace, will serve God in justice and holiness without any fear of their falling from it.
85 The special reason why he desires to be freed from the company of the wicked is, because they always tempt the pious, by relating the pleasures of the world, which are nothing but fables, filthy, fleeting pleasures, more fallacious than real—nothing like the round and solid pleasure that always flows from a pious observance of the law of the Lord.
86 Having said, “But not as thy law,” he now says, “All thy statutes are truth;” are full of promises, abounding in truth, and, therefore, confer pleasure of the truest sort on those that observe your law. The wicked, therefore, in relating their falsehoods, have “persecuted me unjustly;” and, therefore, “do thou help me” against their false machinations.
87 So grievously did these sinners, who, with their sweet words, sought to seduce me, press their persecutions, “that they almost made an end of me on earth;” still they did not succeed; for “I have not forgotten thy commandments.”
88 He returns to the first petition, and concludes this division by saying, “Quicken thou me according to thy mercy,” in a happy and everlasting life; and then, at length, I will most perfectly “keep the testimonies of thy mouth;” thy divine law.
Lamed
89–91 In the next eight verses the prophet argues, from the certainty of God’s promises, in exhorting to the observance of his law, which promises so much, both in this and the next life. “Forever, O Lord, thy word,” that is, thy promise, “standeth firm in heaven;” for, though it may not seem to stand firm on earth, when we see the just depressed, and the wicked exalted, still it stands quite firm in heaven; for God will certainly carry out anything he promised. He will cause the brief tribulation of the just to be turned into everlasting joy; and the short glory of the wicked to be turned into eternal disgrace and punishment. He repeats, or rather explains, the same idea when he adds, “Thy truth unto all generations;” it too, stands firm. So does the earth; so do the days; all observe your laws and regulations; and the reason is, “for all things serve thee;” and, therefore, in due time it will be seen how you will stand by your promise to the just.
92 Had I not been daily meditating on your law, when I learned the truth of your promises, I, possibly, overcome by temptation, would have “perished in my abjection.”
93 Strengthened by meditation on the promises that are made in the law, I now confidently assert that “Thy justifications will I never forget; for by them,” that is, by having observed them, “thou hast given me life,” by an increase of the life of grace and a promise of the life of glory.
94 It is written in Psalm 23, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof: the world and all they that dwell therein;” but I am peculiarly thine, because I avow myself to be thine. I wish to be thine, and having resolved to be a slave to no passion, I wish to have no other Lord; and, therefore, I have a right to ask you to save me, to protect what belongs to you, “For I have sought thy justifications.” And as I do belong to you, and am your servant alone, I ask for nothing but your commands, that I may obey them. Few, indeed, are they who can say, “I am thine;” for few are they whose affections are fixed on God alone.
95 It was not without reason that I said, “Save thou me,” because “the wicked have waited for me” in a place convenient for laying hold on me, to induce me to yield to temptation, and thus “destroy me;” but, through the assistance of your grace, “I have understood thy testimonies.” I understood what the law commanded, promised, and threatened under such circumstances.
96 “Having understood thy testimonies,” that is, thy law, “I have seen an end of all perfection;” that is, that the whole perfection of this life consisted “in thy commandment,” in that precept of love that “is exceedingly broad,” comprehending, as it does, all the commandments, and extending to God, all the Angels, all mankind, not excluding even our enemies.
Mem
97 In the next eight verses he again praises the law, by reason of the various advantages, as well as pleasures, that it brings with it. He first declares the love he entertains for the law, and tells us why, and enumerates its advantages. “O, how have I loved thy law.” What an ardent love have I not had for it; and, as constant conversation with the beloved is a sign of one’s love, “it is my meditation the whole day.” I think of nothing, speak of nothing, care for nothing but it.
98 The first advantage of the law is, that when a man reflects seriously on it, and observes it faithfully, it directs him what, how, when, and where he ought to speak and to do, or to be silent and take no action; a wisdom that is not enjoyed by the transgressors of the law, who have no regard for a rule, much in keeping with the first principles of rectitude. He, therefore, says, “through thy commandment thou hast made me wiser than my enemies.” By reflecting daily on thy commandments I have been made much wiser than my enemies; “for it is ever with me,” always before my eyes, so that I can never forget it.