Psalm CXXXII
9“Let Thy priests be clothed with righteousness, and let Thy saints sing with joyfulness” (ver. 9). When Thou risest from the dead, and goest unto Thy Father, let that royal Priesthood be clothed with faith, since “the righteous liveth by faith;” and, receiving the pledge of the Holy Spirit, let the members rejoice in the hope of resurrection, which went before in the Head: for to them the Apostle saith, “Rejoicing in hope.”
10“For Thy servant David’s sake, turn not away the face of Thine Anointed” (ver. 10). These words are addressed unto God the Father. “For Thy servant David’s sake, turn not away the face of Thine Anointed.” The Lord was crucified in Judæa; He was crucified by the Jews; harassed by them, He slept. He arose to judge those among whose savage hands He slept: and He saith elsewhere, “Raise Thou Me up again, and I shall reward them.” He both hath rewarded them, and will reward them. The Jews well know themselves how great were their sufferings after the Lord’s death. They were all expelled from the very city, where they slew Him. What then? have all perished even from the root of David and from the tribe of Judah? No: for some of that stock believed, and in fact many thousands of men of that stock believed, and this after the Lord’s resurrection.
They raged and crucified Him: and afterwards began to see miracles wrought in the Name of Him Crucified; and they trembled still more that His Name should have so much power, since when in their hands He seemed unable to work any; and pricked at heart, at length believing that there was some hidden divinity in Him whom they had believed like other men, and asking counsel of the Apostles, they were answered, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Since then Christ arose to judge those by whom He had been crucified, and turned away His Presence from the Jews, turning His Presence towards the Gentiles; God is, as it seemeth, besought in behalf of the remnant of Israel; and it is said unto Him, “For Thy servant David’s sake, turn not away the presence of Thine Anointed.” If the chaff be condemned, let the wheat be gathered together. May the remnant be saved, as Isaiah saith, “And the remnant hath” clearly “been saved:” for out of them were the twelve Apostles, out of them more than five hundred brethren, to whom the Lord showed Himself after His Resurrection: out of their number were so many thousands baptized, who laid the price of their possessions at the Apostles’ feet. Thus then was fulfilled the prayer here made to God: “For Thy servant David’s sake, turn not away the presence of Thine Anointed.”
11“The Lord hath made a faithful oath unto David, and He shall not repent” (ver. 11). What meaneth, “hath made an oath”? Hath confirmed a promise through Himself. What meaneth, “He shall not repent”? He will not change. For God suffereth not the pain of repentance, nor is He deceived in any matter, so that He would wish to correct that wherein He hath erred. But as when a man repents of anything, he wisheth to change what he hath done; thus where thou hearest that God repenteth, look for an actual change. God doth it differently from thee, although He calleth it by the name of repentance; for thou dost it, because thou hadst erred; while He doth it, because He avengeth, or freeth. He changed Saul’s kingdom, when He repented, as it is said: and in the very passage where the Scripture saith, “It repented Him;” it is said a little after, “for He is not a man that He should repent.” When therefore He changeth His works through His immutable counsel, He is said to repent on account of this very change, not of His counsel, but of His work. But He promised this so as not to change it. Just as this passage also saith: “The Lord sware, and will not repent, Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedec;” so also since this was promised so that it should not be changed, because it must needs happen and be permanent; he saith, “The Lord hath made a faithful oath unto David, and He shall not repent; Of the fruit of thy body shall I set upon thy seat.” He might have said, “of the fruit of thy loins,” wherefore did He choose to say, “Of the fruit of thy body”? Had He said that also, it would have been true; but He chose to say with a further meaning, Ex fructu ventris, because Christ was born of a woman without the man.
12What then? “The Lord hath made a faithful oath unto David, and He shall not shrink from it; Of the fruit of thy body shall I set upon thy seat. If thy children will keep My covenant and My testimonies that I shall learn them, their children also shall sit upon thy seat for evermore” (ver. 12). If thy children keep My covenant, their children also shall sit for evermore. The parents establish a desert on behalf of their children. What if his children should keep the covenant, and their children should not keep it? Why is the happiness of the children promised in relation to their parents’ deservings? For what saith He, “If thy children will keep My covenant, their children also shall sit for evermore”—He saith not, if thy children keep My covenant, they shall sit upon thy seat; and if their children keep My covenant, they also shall sit upon thy seat: but he saith, “If thy children keep My covenant, their children also shall sit upon thy seat for evermore”—except because He here wished their fruit to be understood by their children? “If thy children,” He saith, “will keep My covenant, and if thy children shall keep My testimonies that I shall learn them; their children also shall sit upon thy seat:” that is, this will be their fruit, that they sit upon thy seat. For in this life, brethren, do all of us who labour in Christ, all of us who tremble at His words, who in any way endeavour to execute His will, and groan while we pray His help that we may fulfil what He commandeth; do we already sit in those seats of bliss which are promised us? No: but holding His commandments, we hope this will come to pass. This hope is spoken of under the figure of sons; because sons are the hope of man living in this life, sons are his fruit.
For this reason also men, when excusing their avarice, allege that they are reserving for their children what they hoard up; and, unwilling to give to the destitute, excuse themselves under the name of piety, because their children are their hope. For all men who live according to this world, declare it to be their hope, to be fathers of children they may leave behind them. Thus then He describes hope generally under the name of children, and saith, “If thy children will keep My covenant and My testimonies that I shall learn them, their children also shall sit upon thy seat for evermore:”
that is, they shall have such fruits, that their hope shall not deceive them, that they may come there where they hope to come. At present therefore they are as fathers, men of hope for the future; but when they have attained what they hope, they are children; because they have brought forth and produced in their works that which they gain. And this is preserved unto them for the future, because futurity itself commonly signifieth children.
13Or if thou understand actual men to be meant by children, the words, “If thy children will keep My covenant and My testimonies that I shall teach them,” may mean, “If thy children will keep My covenant and testimonies that I shall teach them, and their children also;” that is, if they too keep My covenant; so that here thou must make a slight pause, and then infer that “they shall sit upon thy seat for evermore;” that is, both thy children and their children, but all if they keep My covenant. What then, if they keep it not? Hath the promise of God failed? No: but it is said and promised for this reason, that God foresaw: what, save that they would believe? But that no man should as it were threaten God’s promises, and prefer to place in his own power the fulfilment of what God promised: for this reason he saith, “He made an oath:” whereby he showeth that it will without doubt take place. How then hath He said here, “If they will keep My covenant”? Glory not in the promises, and leave out thy failing to keep the covenant. Then wilt thou be the son of David, if thou shalt keep the covenant; but if thou dost not keep it, thou wilt not be David’s son. God promised to the sons of David. Say not, I am David’s son if thou degenerate. If the Jews, who were born of this very stock, say not this (nay, they say it, but they are under a delusion. For the Lord saith openly, “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” He thereby denied them to be children, because they did not the works), how do we call ourselves David’s children, who are not of his race according to the flesh? It follows then that we are not children, save by imitating his faith, save by worshipping God, as he worshipped. If therefore what thou hopest not through descent, thou wilt not endeavour to obtain by works; how shall the sitting upon David’s seat be fulfilled in thee? And if it shall not be fulfilled in thee, thinkest thou that it shall not be fulfilled at all? And how hath He found it in the woodland tracts? and how did His feet stand? Whatsoever then thou mayest be, that house will stand.
14“For the Lord hath chosen Sion to be an habitation for Himself” (ver. 13). Sion is the Church Herself; She is also that Jerusalem unto whose peace we are running, who is in pilgrimage not in the Angels, but in us, who in her better part waiteth for the part that will return; whence letters have come unto us, which are every day read. This city is that very Sion, whom the Lord hath chosen.
15“This shall be My rest for ever” (ver. 14). These are the words of God. “My rest:” I rest there. How greatly doth God love us, brethren, since, because we rest, He saith that He also resteth! For He is not sometimes Himself disturbed, nor doth He rest as we do; but He saith that He resteth there, because we shall have rest in Him. “Here will I dwell: for I have a delight therein.”