Homily 34, on Psalm 107
Latin source: Germanus Morin (ed.), Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Tractatus sive Homiliae in Psalmos , Anecdota Maredsolana III (Maredsoli, 1897) — public domain. Psalm numbering follows the Septuagint/Vulgate (Morin).
A song of a psalm of David. A "song" always refers to the mind, but a "psalm" refers to bodily things. To put it more plainly, a song refers to contemplation (theoria), whereas a psalm refers to practice (praxis), that is, to action. Since, then, it is written in the title, "A song of a psalm," rightly and consistently he says in the second verse, "I will sing and I will make melody in my glory."
"My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready." I am ready not only in deed, but also in heart and mind. "My heart is ready," in the mind; "my heart is ready," in deed, that is, in practice. Since I am ready not only in heart and mind but also in deed, therefore in the second place I say, "I will sing and I will make melody in my glory." "I will sing": that is, in my heart. "And I will make melody." Just as a psaltery is composed of many strings, and if one string is broken the psaltery is ruined, so too in our actions, if we transgress a single commandment, our psaltery is broken. Therefore he said, "I will sing and I will make melody in my glory." In other manuscripts it reads "in your glory"; but it is better to read according to the Hebrew "in my glory." What he says is this: "I will sing and I will make melody in my glory." This, O Lord, that I make melody to you, that I sing to you — I am doing no favor to you, but to myself. For in another psalm he says: "For you have no need of my goods." What, therefore, I do, I do for myself. For the fact that I serve you is my glory. We fast: do we thereby bestow anything on God? We do this for our own sins. We lie in sackcloth: what do we thereby furnish to the Lord? This alone do we furnish to him, that we may save our own souls; for this is what he himself desires. Just as a good and merciful physician, if he has healed someone, rejoices himself, and so does the one who has been healed, so too our Lord.
"Arise, O psaltery and harp." O psaltery, O harp, you were made and created to make melody to God: arise and make melody, why do you lie idle? O monk, you who stand upright in body, why does your soul lie idle, and you do not make melody to the Lord? "Cursed is the man who does the work of God negligently." If you are a psaltery, if you are a harp, why are you deaf, and do not glorify God? "I will arise at daybreak." God cannot be blessed and praised in the darkness, but he is blessed in the light. I say a wondrous thing: even if we rise in the night, we bless God in the light. For a Christian it is never night: for a Christian the sun of righteousness always rises.
And these things indeed we say according to the Jews. But according to the higher sense, it is the Lord who sings these things. "My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready." I am ready here, I am ready in the future: I save both on earth and I save in heaven; that is, I save both the angels and men. "Arise, O psaltery and harp." The Lord speaks to his own body: O psaltery and harp, you who descended into hell and lay there, arise and praise the Lord. And you see what he says. It is not he himself, who moves the harp and psaltery, that praises; but the harp and psaltery themselves, they themselves bless the Father. For he is God, and is blessed and praised by others; but his body, and the man whom he took upon himself, this itself praises the Lord. And so that you may know that the prophet speaks in the person of the Lord, and that I do not say this of myself, see what follows.
"I will confess to you among the peoples, O Lord." Understand "the peoples" as the Jews. "And I will make melody to you among the nations." He speaks of us. For by "the Jews" he means those who first believed from among the Jews. And notice the order: first he praises God among the peoples, and afterward he praises God among the nations. For first they believed from among the Jews, and afterward they believed from among the Gentiles.
"For your mercy is great above the heavens." There is no creature that does not stand in need of God's mercy. All of us stand in need of God's mercy. Gabriel, Michael, the Seraphim, the Cherubim, the Powers, the Dominions, are indeed holy, but they stand in need of the mercy of their creator. I do not disparage the angels, but I proclaim the creator; since the angels themselves gladly have their creator proclaimed. And we can say it another way: "For your mercy raises up from the earth to the heavens. And your truth reaches even to the clouds." Where are the Jews, where are those like the Jews, who understand only according to the letter? How is the truth of God "even to the clouds"? The Son of God says, "I am the way and the life and the truth": and he descended to the earth, and dwelt among men. And how is your truth "even to the clouds"? The sense is plain, that he speaks of the apostles and of the saints, that they should not rain their rain upon the Jews, but upon the Gentiles, as it is written: "I will command my clouds not to rain rain upon Israel." In these clouds, then, is the truth of God. But if the truth of God is in these clouds, how does Montanus say, and how do the Cataphrygians say, that what was not revealed to the apostles has been revealed to us?
"Be exalted above the heavens, O God." God is not exalted except above the heavens, he is not exalted above the earth. When we are earthly, we do not exalt God; but if from earthly we have been made heavenly, then we exalt God. And our Lord, when he was on earth, did not exalt us. Someone may say: You speak rashly, since he himself says in the Gospel: "When I have been lifted up, I will draw all things to myself." See what he says: When I have been lifted up into the heavens, then I will draw all things to myself. This sense is indeed pious, but I understand something else. When I have been lifted up, when I have been crucified, then I will draw all to myself. "That your beloved may be delivered." O wondrous understanding! for this reason the Lord is crucified and lifted up, that his beloved may be delivered. "That your beloved may be delivered," he says, "be exalted above the heavens, O God." What we asked for has come to pass: he has been exalted, and we have been delivered.
"God has spoken in his holy one": whether in the temple, or in each one of the saints, or in a prophet. He is heard in Moses, he is heard in an apostle; and more truly I say, he has spoken in his Son. What, then, has God spoken? These things that follow. "I will be exalted, and I will divide Shechem." For this reason, he says, I am crucified, that I may divide Shechem. "Shechem" is interpreted in our language as "shoulders." And "shoulders" are interpreted as "works." The sense, then, is this: for this reason I am crucified, that I may divide my works among my saints; for this reason I am crucified, that I may lay my sweet yoke and my light burden upon the necks of men. You have done, O Lord, what you promised: you have been exalted, and you have divided Shechem. "And I will measure out the valley of tabernacles." Truly our Lord and Savior entered down into this valley of tears, into the place of our lowliness, that is, into this world. However holy a man may be in this world, he does not yet know as he ought to know. "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part."
"Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine." Our Lord and Savior rejoices, possessing greater riches. "Gilead" is interpreted "migration": he rejoices, therefore, when the people migrated from among the Gentiles and came to him. "Manasseh" is interpreted "from forgetfulness." See, then, what he says. That son who received the substance and consumed it, and had forgotten me, now has remembered me; and he is called Manasseh, that is, "from forgetfulness," because he has not forgotten, but has returned to his father. And "Ephraim" is interpreted "fruitful." "Ephraim," he says, "is the receiving of my head." He has here put "receiving" for "crown": for that which is placed upon the head is a crown, and in the Scriptures the crown is called by various names. In another place it has: "His truth will surround you with a shield." And in another psalm: "Who crowns you in mercy and compassions." For just as there he put "shield" for "crown," so too here he has put "receiving" for "crown." See, then, what he says. You have become Gilead, you have become Manasseh, that is, you have migrated to the Lord, and after forgetfulness you have returned to your father: be Ephraim, be fruitful, have good works, and afterward you will be the crown of the Lord.
"Judah is my king." See in how great glory he is who does penance: for "Judah" is interpreted "confession." "Moab is the pot of my hope." A great mystery is recognized in few words. I beg you, pay careful attention: since it profits both me who speak, and you who hear. "Moab" is interpreted "from the father." "AB" means "father," "MO" means "from." Who is this one "from the father"? He who lost his father, who abandoned his father, who did not return to his own father, and is not worthy to be called Manasseh. Who is this Moab? An enemy of the Lord, of whose lineage, even to the fourth generation, and the tenth, and even forever, he shall not enter into the church of the Lord. Who is this Moab? He who is born of an unclean coupling in a dark cave. For from Lot and from his daughters two were born, Moab and Ammon, and Moab is the elder son. See, then, how a mystery is hidden in the letter. In darkness, in a cave: not in the sun, not in the light. "Moab," then, is interpreted "the devil," who has forgotten his father. In fine, Absalom too, who persecuted his own father, is interpreted "the devil." How, then, is this Moab "the pot of the Lord's hope"? "Pot" (lebes) is interpreted "cooking-pot" (olla). How is a cooking-pot the hope of the Lord? Is it, then, credible that Moab, who is interpreted "the devil," should be the pot of the Lord's hope? How is he the hope of the Lord? The Apostle says: "Whom I have handed over to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme." The devil is, as it were, the Lord's torturer-examiner. Those who do not walk rightly toward God are handed over to the devil. Why? That they may perish forever? And where then is the clemency of God? where is the merciful father? where is he who makes his sun rise over the just and sinners, and rains upon sinners and the just? What he says is this: I hand over, he says, sinners to the devil, that, being tormented by him, they may be converted to me. It is said also in Jeremiah: "What do you see, Jeremiah?" "A boiling pot," he says. See, then, that into this pot flesh is cast. This is written in Ezekiel. "And I cast," he says, "flesh into the pot": that it may become soft, and the hard may be converted to the Lord, and from a heart of stone may become a heart of flesh, so that where before it could not be written upon because of hardness, afterward it may be written upon because of softness. "I will kindle," he says, "this pot, and I will boil down the flesh and the bones, until they lose all moisture and filth." And see what is said afterward. "And let them learn," he says, "that I am the Lord." Great mercy, great sacrament. The flesh is cast into the pot, that it may be boiled down and may learn that he is the Lord. There are many things that might be said about Moab and the pot, but for now it would be too long.
"Into Idumea I will stretch out my shoe." "Idumea" is interpreted "earthly and bloody." The merciful God wills to possess not only heavenly things, but also earthly ones. "The foreigners have been made friends to me." He speaks of us, who have believed from among the Gentiles.
"Who will lead me into the fortified city?" No one, O Lord, for you are the one who says: "I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the nations there was no man with me." "For all have turned aside, together they have become useless: there is none that does good, there is not even one." Who, then, will lead me into the fortified city? No one, O Lord: since even Peter, who had promised to die for you, afterward denied you. What is this fortified city? Hell, where they are shut in, from which it is not permitted to go out. And truly from this city no other victor came out except the Lord. And truly this city is fortified. Moses could not come out of this city. And Jacob likewise entered into this city, and did not return. Do you wish to know that he did not return? In fine, he says to his sons: "Mourning I will descend to the netherworld." But he descended to the netherworld, because paradise had not yet been opened by the thief. This city is fortified against going out, but it is open for entering in. "Who will lead me even into Idumea?" Where is the place of punishments and of blood. For "Idumea" is interpreted "bloody." The place of the slaying of souls, where many souls are slain. For no one descended a victor into hell, except you alone, O Lord.
"You who have cast us off." Was it not you, O God, who have cast us off? He did not say, "Who cast us off," but "Who once cast us off." "And will you not go out, O God, in our powers?" These things are to be read interrogatively: "And will you not go out, O God, in our powers?" You who suffered for us, why do you not help us, but allow us to be trampled by the most cruel devil? "And will you not go out, O God, in our powers?" See what he says. He did not say, "you did not go out," but "will you not go out, O God, in our powers." This he means to say: When we labor, then God helps us. "For it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy." See what he says: Is it not of him who lies idle, nor of him who sleeps, but of God who has mercy? But see what he says: It is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy. If, then, we do not will and run, God will profit us nothing. It is ours to will and to run, and afterward God has mercy. For a sleeping athlete loses the victory.
"Give us help from tribulation." He did not say, "Give us help from delights," but "from tribulation." "To the Lord, when I was in tribulation, I cried out, and he heard me." He did not say, "when I was in delights I cried out," or "sleeping I cried out." Do you wish to be heard by the Lord? Be in tribulation: cry out, and you will be heard. If, then, anyone is not in tribulation, he cannot call upon the help of the Lord. "For vain is the salvation of man." "Cursed is the man who has his hope in man." There is no need to interpret this: this saying is plain to all. Someone hoped in an emperor, hoped in a prince, in a father, or a mother: in the course of some affair the spirit of the one in whom he hoped was suddenly taken away, and his salvation vanished. He did not say, "vain is the salvation of that man in whom he hopes," but "the salvation of him who hopes in man."
"In God we will do valiantly." Let us have hope in nothing except in God alone. Let us not say: If this should happen to me, or that, whence shall I have the means to live? I answer you: what is greater, if persecution should come, whence do you have the means to live? For a Christian there is always persecution, always nakedness is set before him. No one, then, ought to make arrangements about this life, let no one fear, let no one say: If I grow old, whence shall I have the means to live? if I become sick, whence do I live? You have Christ, and do you fear? If he feeds the birds of the sky, do you doubt that he can feed you? The devil feeds his own men, and shall Christ not feed his own servants? The devil makes the judges of this world and the rich, and can Christ not make it so that you do not beg? The devil gives gold and gems, and can Christ not give bread? Let us cast all anxiety out of our hearts, and let us say: "In God we will do valiantly." He himself will be our valor, he himself our bread, he himself will be our ruler. "And he himself will bring our enemies to nothing." He himself crowns us, he himself fights alongside us: or rather, he himself conquers in us. For what do we say? "In God we will do valiantly." For when we are strong, he himself will bring our enemies to nothing. He did not say "he will fight," or "he will slay," but "he will bring to nothing." He will bring them to nothing for this reason, that, if he should wish, he may make them strong, and glorify them. Let us, therefore, bless God: to whom be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.