Homily 38, on Psalm 111
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).
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord. I have often said that everything interpreted in the person of the righteous man refers to Christ. For if the saints are a type and figure of the Savior, who alone is truly holy — for example, Isaac is a type of the Lord the Savior, and Joseph, David, Solomon, and the rest of the saints — then this blessed man too, who is now being described, does indeed refer to a righteous man, and is truly spoken of a righteous man; but this righteous man is a type of the truly Righteous One. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord. For now we have divided up the psalm: let us now speak about the righteous man. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord. The one hundred and eleventh psalm is an alphabetical one. And indeed the one hundred and tenth is itself also arranged under the alphabet. The first little verse is written from ALEPH, Blessed is the man who fears the Lord. The second from BETH, In his commandments he shall greatly delight. The third GIMEL, His seed shall be mighty upon the earth, and so on all the way to the twenty-second letter, thau. Let us therefore, aided by your prayers, expound the individual verses.
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord. It is the beginning of the psalm: it does not yet say, Blessed is the man who loves the Lord. For to fear belongs to men who are beginning, but to love belongs to the perfect: since 'perfect love casts out fear.' Therefore he speaks of the beginning, that is, of a holy man who is just starting out. Let us then look at the order of the psalm. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord. He who fears the Lord, what does he do? Does he hear the words of God? Is he learned in the law? This is not what he says. What does he say? In his commandments he shall greatly delight. He who fears the Lord, who is blessed, gladly performs His commandments. In his commandments he shall greatly delight. See what he says. He did not say, he performs his commandments; for many act out of fear, and have no reward. For he who fears hell, and for that reason does not commit fornication, does not have as great a reward as the one who acts out of love for God. In his commandments he shall will, that is, he wills, he desires to perform His commandments. Just as someone, if he is in the heat, thirsts: so does he desire the commandments of the Lord. In the commandments of the Lord he shall greatly will. An intensification (auxesis): he does not merely perform His commandments, but wills them: and he wills them not in passing, but exceedingly.
The third verse is: His seed shall be mighty upon the earth. Because I have performed the commandments of God with my will, I am worthy to become a father of saints. Let us say it briefly, lest the discourse be drawn out too long. The generation of the upright shall be blessed. May the Lord grant that you also who hear me may be a generation of the upright.
Glory and riches are in his house. Glory and riches. Do we suppose that the glory and riches of the world are meant? Is it for this that a man does the will of God and His commandments, in order to obtain the riches of this world? And surely he does not perform the commandments of God unless he has despised the riches of the world. Glory and riches are in his house. The glory of believers, as the apostle says: 'Are you not my glory?' And riches. The riches of which the same apostle speaks, 'that you have been made rich in all knowledge.' And his righteousness endures unto the age of the age. He did not say, righteousness endures unto the age, and has an end: but, it endures unto the age of the age.
Unto the upright of heart a light has risen in the darkness. We were once in darkness, we were sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death: but a light has arisen for us, according to Isaiah. Merciful and compassionate and righteous. See the two things he says, Merciful and righteous. If you are a sinner, do not despair of pardon: He is merciful. But if you are proud, and put your confidence in the clemency of God, do not be negligent: He is also righteous. Merciful and compassionate and righteous. See what the prudence of the psalmist has done: righteousness is single, mercy is double. Merciful and compassionate and righteous.
Delightful is the man who shows mercy and lends. Because the Lord is merciful and compassionate, let the righteous man too imitate his Lord: let him also be merciful. Delightful is the man who shows mercy and lends. Does someone suppose that he is speaking about gold and about silver and about money? The righteous have so far been without anything to lend to others that they themselves received their food from others. So then, if I have nothing to give, am I no longer righteous? If I do not give alms, shall I not be counted in the number of the righteous? How many of the saints gave alms, yet fell from their holiness. The perfect gave no alms: they had nothing from which to give. Not to give alms is the crime of one who possesses: but as for the one who has nothing from which to give alms, he is free. However much he was willing to give, that much he gave, because he gave by his intention. Nevertheless the saints too have something from which to give alms. Peter also says: 'Silver and gold I have; but what I have, this I give to you, in the name of the Lord Jesus rise up and walk.' Which is greater, to give money, or to make a crippled man whole? Delightful is the man who shows mercy and lends. What are these alms? What is this that the righteous man lends? The second verse shows it. He shall order his words in judgment. He did not say, he shall order his gold and his silver or his money in judgment: but, he shall order his words in judgment. This is mercy, if a holy man teaches others who are not holy. He shall order his words in judgment. We have understood, then, what are the riches that are lent. But this that he says, he shall order his words in judgment, is that which is said in the Gospel, that we should not cast our pearls before swine: that is, that he may know what to bestow on each one, that each may know what he is able to receive, and what he is not able. Whence the holy man says: 'In my heart I have hidden your sayings, that I may not sin against you.' I did not give them to whomever I pleased: I did not send your holy thing to dogs, nor did I give pearls to swine. Great, therefore, is the danger for teachers, in being able to pour out the words of the Lord.
There are many things that might be said about the psalm. But since we are shut out by the hour, let us bless the almighty Lord: and let him who has such riches bestow them on those who have them not, while he who has them not let him gladly receive. And may the Lord grant to me also, that I too may have these riches: that I may both give to those who have them not, and heap up riches for those who have them: so that I may have this blessedness both in speaking and in hearing. 'For blessed is he who speaks into the ears of one who hears.' For what does it profit me to speak, if another does not take up my words? For what does it profit me to send wine, if what is sent is immediately poured out? You see that in the Gospel that water is put into the water-jar, and is turned into wine, and is kept so that it may not perish. Let us therefore diligently hear the words of God: to whom be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.