Psalms 104 · The Lantern

Praise the Lord, O my soul: O Lord my God, thou art become exceeding glorious; thou art clothed with majesty and honour.

Thou deckest thyself with light as it were with a garment: and spreadest out the heavens like a curtain.

And, therefore, about this one [Jesus Christ] it is rightly said, "He has perfect hands to put on the holy things." For this one is truly he who "put on holy things," not those who were "bad examples" but these that are truly "holy." But if you want to hear about his more lofty garments, take the prophetic words, "Clothed with light as a garment, the abyss as a garment is his c…

"Clothed with light as a garment." Clothed with His Church, because she is made "light" in Him, who before was darkness in herself, as the apostle says: "You were sometime darkness, but now light in the Lord." [Ephesians 5:8] "Stretching out the heaven like a skin:" either as easily as thou dost a skin, if it be "as easily," so that you may take it after the letter; or let us u…

Others [unspecified pagan philosophers], however, have imagined the heavens to have the form of a hemisphere, because the inspired David says, "Who stretches out the heaven like a pavilion" which means a tent; and the blessed Isaiah: "He that establishes the heavens like a vault"; and because the sun, the moon and the stars, when they set, go round the earth from west to north…

Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: and maketh the clouds his chariot, and walketh upon the wings of the wind.

He maketh his angels spirits: and his ministers a flaming fire.

For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.

"Who makes spirits His angels, and flaming fire His ministers" [Psalm 104:4]: that is, those who are already spirits, who are spiritual, not carnal, He makes His Angels, by sending them to preach His gospel. "And flaming fire His ministers." For unless the minister that preaches be on fire, he enflames not him to whom he preaches.

[God] is the maker and creator of the angels. He brought into being and made them after his own image into a bodiless nature, some sort of spirit, as it were, and immaterial fire—as the divine David says: "Who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a burning fire." And he determined their lightness, fieriness, heat, extreme acuity, their keenness in their desire for God and…

He laid the foundations of the earth: that it never should move at any time.

You who founded the earth upon its own stability. And truly it is marvelous how great a mass of earth hangs by the power of God. It shall not be moved for ever and ever. For it stands unmoved, by the providence of God.

"He hath founded the earth upon its firmness." He hath founded the Church upon the firmness of the Church. What is the firmness of the Church, but the foundation of the Church.

And with regard to the earth it is again written in Job: He that hangeth the earth upon nothing; meaning, that it had nothing underneath it. And David in harmony with this, when he could discover nothing on which it was founded, says: He that hath founded the earth upon its own stability, as if he said, it hath been founded by thee upon itself, and not upon anything else.

Thou coveredst it with the deep like as with a garment: the waters stand in the hills.

Now, according to a Hebrew figure of speech, it is said of God in the eighteenth psalm that "he made darkness his secret place," to signify that those notions that should be worthily entertained of God are invisible and unknowable, because God conceals himself in darkness, as it were, from those who cannot endure the splendors of his knowledge or are incapable of looking at the…

The deep, like a garment, is his clothing. As is written elsewhere: "And he made darkness his hiding-place," and again: "The judgments of the Lord are a great deep." He signifies the unspeakable governance of God, and that we cannot comprehend the wisdom of God.

"The deep, like a garment, is its clothing." Whose? Is it perchance God's? But he had already said of His clothing, "Clothed with light as with a garment." I hear of God clothed in light, and that light, if we will, are we. What is, if we will? if we are no longer darkness. Therefore if God is clothed with light, whose clothing, again, is the deep?

At thy rebuke they flee: at the voice of thy thunder they are afraid.

At your rebuke they shall flee. And truly at God's command the water withdrew, and the earth appeared, as is also written in Genesis: "And God gathered the waters into one gathering." At the voice of your thunder they shall be afraid. For the thunder is the voice of the Lord. For he gave the command, and the waters were separated.

"From Your rebuke they shall fly" [Psalm 104:7]. And this was done, brethren; from God's rebuke the waters did fly; that is, they went back from pressing on the mountains. Now the mountains themselves stand forth, Peter and Paul: how do they tower! They who before were pressed down by persecutors, now are venerated by emperors.

"He looketh upon the earth, and it trembleth, He rebuketh the mountains, and they smoke." And again [the Book] saith, "At Thy rebuke they flee, and at the voice of Thy thunders they are afraid." And behold, according to the word of the Prophet, the fear of the Creator also resteth upon the natures which are speechless, because each of them is bound naturally to be afraid of Him…

They go up as high as the hills, and down to the valleys beneath: even unto the place which thou hast appointed for them.

Thou hast set them their bounds which they shall not pass: neither turn again to cover the earth.

He sendeth the springs into the rivers: which run among the hills.

All beasts of the field drink thereof: and the wild asses quench their thirst.

Beside them shall the fowls of the air have their habitation: and sing among the branches.

Over them the birds of heaven shall dwell. Remember the parable of the mustard seed, and the birds that dwell in it. From the midst of the rocks they shall give voice. Each thing in its own tongue praises the Lord. In the Hebrew it has "of the trees."

Then the Psalm goes on in its text, "Upon them the fowls of the heaven shall inhabit" [Psalm 104:12]. ...Upon the mountains, then, the fowls of the air shall have their habitation. We see these birds dwell upon the mountains, but many of them dwell in plains, many in valleys, many in groves, many in gardens, not all upon mountains.

From the midst of the rocks they shall give forth their voices. That is, from the midst of the two cherubim of which the Lord speaks, meaning from the space between them, that is, from the midst of the Two Testaments.

He watereth the hills from above: the earth is filled with the fruit of thy works.

He bringeth forth grass for the cattle: and green herb for the service of men;

Let Celsus then say distinctly that the great diversity among the products of the earth is not the work of Providence but that a certain fortuitous concurrence of atoms gave birth to qualities so diverse, and that it was owing to chance that so many kinds of plants and trees and herbs resemble one another, and that no disposing reason gave existence to them, and that they do no…

That he may bring forth bread out of the earth. He speaks of the Lord, who deigned to become man, as it is written: "I am the living bread, who came down from heaven."

"Bringing forth grass for the cattle, and green herb for the service of men" [Psalm 104:14]. This is true, I perceive; I recognise the creation: the earth doth bring forth grass for the cattle, and green herb for the service of men. But I perceive the words, "Thou shall not muzzle the mouth of the ox which treadeth out the corn: Doth God take care for oxen?

That he may bring food out of the earth, and wine that maketh glad the heart of man: and oil to make him a cheerful countenance, and bread to strengthen man's heart.

The trees of the Lord also are full of sap: even the cedars of Libanus which he hath planted;

Wherein the birds make their nests: and the fir-trees are a dwelling for the stork.

The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats: and so are the stony rocks for the conies.

The high mountains for the stags. This animal kills serpents and eats them. Therefore it fittingly dwells in the mountains, this one that slays the intelligible serpent — the one who was wiser in paradise than all the beasts, who deceived Eve. The rock is a refuge for the hedgehogs. He who is timid has the rock as his refuge: and the rock is Christ.

What then followeth? "The loftiest hills are for the stags" (ver. 18). The stags are mighty, spiritual, passing in their course over all the thorny places of the thickets and woods.

And so by the illumination of God himself he mounts to that manifold knowledge of him and begins to be nourished on more sublime and still more sacred mysteries, in accordance with these words of the prophet: "The high hills are a refuge for the stags, the rocks for the hedgehogs," which is fairly applied in the sense we have given, because whoever continues in simplicity and i…

He appointed the moon for certain seasons: and the sun knoweth his going down.

Consider that the sun, the moon and the stars, the lights of the sky which, though they shine with brilliant splendor, are yet creatures, and, whether they rise or fall in their daily performance of duty, they serve the will of the eternal Creator, bringing forth the beauty with which they are clothed and shining by day and by night.

"He appointed the Moon for certain seasons" (ver. 19). We understand spiritually the Church increasing from the smallest size, and growing old as it were from the mortality of this life; yet so, that it draweth nearer unto the Sun. I speak not of this moon visible to the eye, but of that which is signified by this name.

As you know, that psalm [104 (103 LXX)] contains the words "The sun knows the hour of its setting. You bring darkness, and it is night." What person, though unlettered, does not understand and know that when the sun reaches its setting, immediately night and darkness appear? Why, then, was it necessary for the prophet to say what is evidently understood by everyone?

Thou makest darkness that it maybe night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do move.

Then, even if anger boils up, it is easily cooled. If passion flares forth, the flames are readily quenched. If envy consumes us, it is not difficult to drive it away. The same thing happens that the prophet says happens when the sun rises. What did he say? "You made the darkness, and it was night.

You have set darkness, and it became night: in it all the beasts of the forest shall pass through. And according to the letter it has its own order: for night was made for this reason, that men might rest from their works, and that the beasts might go out to their feeding.

What then, when the sun went down, when our Lord suffered? There was a sort of darkness with the Apostles, hope failed, in those to whom He at first seemed great, and the Redeemer of all men. How so? "Thou didst make darkness, and it became night; wherein all the beasts of the forest shall move" (ver. 20).

The lions roaring after their prey: do seek their meat from God.

The sun ariseth, and they get them away together: and lay them down in their dens.

Man goeth forth to his work, and to his labour: until the evening.

O Lord, how manifold are thy works: in wisdom hast thou made them all; the earth is full of thy riches.

So is the great and wide sea also: wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.

Let us, therefore, in the faith of the disciples, converse frequently with our Master. For the world is like the sea to us, my brothers, of which it is written, "This is the great and wide sea, there go the ships; the Leviathan, which you have created to play therein." We float on this sea, as with the wind, through our own free will, for everyone directs his course according t…

This great and spacious sea with its arms. Is this not a matter of wondrous wisdom, how in the sea there are creeping things beyond number, and fish both greater and smaller: and how they are in the deep, and there draw their life, where, if a man should fall in, he dies, while they themselves, if they come onto the land, die?

After this the prophet added the words "The sea also, great and wide, in which are schools without number of living things." The sea is understood as the world, which is full of storms and dangerous waves, even full of bitterness and saltiness. It also has quite large fish that do not cease to devour the smaller ones.

There go the ships, and there is that leviathan: whom thou hast made to take his pastime therein.

This dragon which you formed to mock him. The Jews say: God made a great dragon, which is called Leviathan, and it is in the sea; and when, they say, the ocean recedes, the dragon turns. But let us say: This is the dragon who was cast out of paradise, who deceived Eve, and was given into this world to mock us. For how many monks and clerics has he cast down!

There is a passage, too, in the Book of Job, of which the devil is the subject: "This is the beginning of the creation of God, which he made to be a sport to his angels," which agrees with the psalm, where it is said, "There is that dragon which Thou hast made to be a sport therein." But these passages are not to lead us to suppose that the devil was originally created to be th…

Furthermore, the words "The sea also, great and wide, where ships move about" are not to be understood relative to the ships of wood that are carried over the sea by the force of the wind but to the catholic church. While the latter desires to reach the port of paradise by holy, just works, it is beaten by many waves of tribulation and the winds of various storms.

These wait all upon thee: that thou mayest give them meat in due season.

When thou givest it them they gather it: and when thou openest thy hand they are filled with good.

When thou hidest thy face they are troubled: when thou takest away their breath they die, and are turned again to their dust.

When thou lettest thy breath go forth they shall be made: and thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

But if our opponents say, How then is it, if the universe be not destroyed, that the Lord says that "heaven and earth shall pass away; " and the prophet, that "the heaven shall perish as smoke, and the earth shall grow old as a garment; " we answer, because it is usual for the Scriptures to call the change of the world from its present condition to a better and more glorious on…

One may concede that, in regard to the Word, it is clear that he created, but have doubts in regard to the Spirit. My reply to this is the testimony of Job, the righteous man of old, who wrote, "The spirit of God made me." So, too, David in one of his psalms says to God, "You shall send forth your spirit, and they shall be created; and you shall renew the face of the earth." Bu…

Hence it is that the true faith asserts that the Holy Spirit as well is the Creator, not created. How is the Spirit to be denied as Creator, by which the power of the heavens has been strengthened, as David says, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made and all their host by the breath of his mouth." And in another text: "When you send forth your spirit, they are created.…

The glorious majesty of the Lord shall endure for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works.

The earth shall tremble at the look of him: if he do but touch the hills, they shall smoke.

Who looks upon the earth, and makes it tremble. For our earth shall tremble on the day of judgment. And it signifies the earthly sinners. Who touches the mountains, and they smoke. If the mountains smoke, how much more the earth? The saints smoke, since we shall all be saved through fire. For it would not have smoke, unless there were fire.

And the Prophet said, "He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers;" and again, "He looketh on the earth and it trembleth; He rebuketh the mountains, and they smoke." And again the prophet Isaiah saith, "All the nations are accounted as nothing by Him." Now these things the Spirit of God spake concerning the power of God, that those things which were no…

On that verse of the Psalm: "He who looks upon the earth and makes it tremble," the Gloss says: "Then God looks upon the earth and makes it tremble, when he illumines the earthly man by the regard of his grace and converts him to his original principle, through which all things are begun and governed.

I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will praise my God while I have my being.

And so shall my words please him: my joy shall be in the Lord.

As for sinners, they shall be consumed out of the earth, and the ungodly shall come to an end: praise thou the Lord, O my soul, praise the Lord.

Psalms104