1 For the Leader; upon the Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
Jerome · AD 420 Long ago, when we spoke about the eightieth psalm, we said that the title of the eighth psalm, and of the eightieth, and of the eighty-third psalm — that is, of this one — is inscribed "for the winepresses." So we said that winepresses are like granaries, in which the crops are stored away. So let us see what he says.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 If therefore you feel the passions of this world, even when you are happy, you understand now that you are in the winepress....If therefore the world smile upon you with happiness, imagine yourself in the winepress, and say, "I found trouble and heaviness, and I did call upon the name of the Lord." He said not, I found trouble, without meaning, of such a kind as was hidden: for…
2 How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O HaShem of hosts!
Jerome · AD 420 My heart and my flesh have exulted in the living God. It is difficult that both the heart and the flesh of anyone should agree together in common. For if, according to the apostle, the spirit fights against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit, how does he here say: My heart and my flesh have exulted?
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 And what follows? "My soul longeth and faileth for the courts of the Lord" (ver. 2). It is not enough that it "longeth and faileth:" for what doth it fail? "For the courts of the Lord." The grape when pressed hath failed: but for what? So as to be changed into wine, and to flow into the vat, and into the rest of the storeroom, to be kept there in great quiet.
3 My soul yearneth, yea, even pineth for the courts of HaShem; my heart and my flesh sing for joy unto the living G-d.
Jerome · AD 420 For indeed the sparrow has found itself a home, and the turtledove a nest for itself where it may place its young. For the moment let us interpret it simply. See what he says. I desire, O Lord, your eternal tabernacles: my soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord: I desire to have some seat and little nest for my soul and my body.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 You have heard a groan in the winepress, "My soul longs and fails for the courts of the Lord:" hear how it holds out, rejoicing in hope: "My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God." Here they have rejoiced for that cause. Whence comes rejoicing, but of hope? Wherefore have they rejoiced? "In the living God." What has rejoiced in you?
Fulgentius of Ruspe · AD 533 In heart, let us migrate from living in this world, from which we are rapidly going to migrate in the body, that that heavenly dwelling may receive us, concerning which the apostle says that we have an eternal dwelling from God, a house not made by hands, in the heavens.
4 Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young; Thine altars, O HaShem of hosts, my King, and my G-d--.
Jerome · AD 420 Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord: that is, in the Church, whether the present one, or "the church of the firstborn." Forever and ever they will praise you. See what kind of office the martyrs have: it is that of the angels too. What they do in heaven, then, this we imitate on earth.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 ..."Blessed are those who dwell in Thy house" (ver. 4). ...If thou hast thy own house, thou art poor; if God's, thou art rich. In thy own house thou wilt fear robbers; of the house of God, He is Himself the wall.
5 Happy are they that dwell in Thy house, they are ever praising Thee. Selah
Jerome · AD 420 Blessed is the man whose help is from you. To begin is ours, to help is God's. He has arranged ascents in his heart. Daily he thinks how he may ascend, not how he may descend. Whoever is a sinner puts not ascents, but descents, in his heart. That is why Jacob too saw the angels ascending and descending.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 But how shall we come thither? "Happy is the man whose strength is in Thee"(ver. 5). He knew where he was, and that by reason of the frailty of his flesh he could not fly to that state of blessedness: he thought upon his own burden, as it is said elsewhere; "For the corruptible body weighs down the soul, and the earthly house depresses the understanding which has many thoughts.…
Bonaventure · AD 1257 Blessed is the man whose help is from You; he has disposed ascents in his heart, in the valley of tears, in the place which he has appointed. Since blessedness is nothing other than the enjoyment of the highest good, and the highest good is above us, no one can be made blessed unless he ascends above himself, not by a bodily ascent, but by one of the heart.
6 Happy is the man whose strength is in Thee; in whose heart are the highways.
Jerome · AD 420 In the valley of tears, in the place which he has set. Where "in the valley" is said, it is necessary that we understand, by contrast, also the mountain. Therefore whoever arranges ascents in his heart, where has he been placed? In the valley of tears.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 What then does God supply by His grace to him whom He taketh hold of to lead him on? He goes on to say: "He hath placed steps in his heart." ...Where does it place steps? "In his heart, in the valley of weeping" (ver. 6). So here thou hast for a winepress the valley of weeping, the very pious tears in tribulation are the new wine of those that love.
7 Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; yea, the early rain clotheth it with blessings.
Gregory of Nazianzus · AD 390 The Old Testament proclaimed the Father openly and the Son more obscurely. The New [Testament] manifested the Son and suggested the deity of the Spirit. Now the Spirit dwells among us and supplies us with a clearer demonstration of himself.
Bonaventure · AD 1257 It was fitting for the perfect Leader to show himself when there was opportunity to run toward the prize: and this is in the end of times, yet before the terminus, and in the approach to the final judgment, so that, spurred by the fear of judgment and drawn by the hope of reward and animated by the perfection of his example, we might vigorously and perfectly follow the Leader f…
8 They go from strength to strength, every one of them appeareth before G-d in Zion.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 And again, from the thought of those joys he returns to his own sighs. He sees what has come before in hope, and where he is in reality....Therefore returning to the groans proper to this place, he says, "O Lord God of virtues, hear my prayer: hearken, O God of Jacob" [Psalm 84:8]: for Jacob himself also You have made Israel out of Jacob.
9 O HaShem G-d of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O G-d of Jacob. Selah
Jerome · AD 420 Our protector, look, O God, and look upon the face of your Christ. See what he says, And look upon the face of your Christ. And a man prays, that the Father may look upon the face of the Son. But see what he says.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "Behold, O God our defender. And look on the face of Your Christ" [Psalm 84:9]. For when does God not look upon the face of His Christ? What is this, "Look on the face of Your Christ"? By the face we are known. What is it then, Look on the face of Your Christ? Cause Your Christ to become known to all.
10 Behold, O G-d our shield, and look upon the face of Thine anointed.
Jerome · AD 420 For better is one day in your courts above thousands. See what he says, "one day." Someone thinks it should be understood thus: It is better for me to have a little in the kingdom of heaven, than here the whole, that is, in this world. This understanding, indeed, is not a bad one.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "For one day in Your courts is better than a thousand" [Psalm 84:10]. Those courts they were for which he sighed, for which he fainted. "My soul longs and fails for the courts of the Lord:" one day there is better than a thousand days.
11 For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand; I had rather stand at the threshold of the house of my G-d, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Jerome · AD 420 For God loves mercy and truth. Two things God loves, mercy and truth. If he were only merciful, he would provoke us all to sins: if he loved only truth, no one would have hope of repentance. For this reason he seeks two things, and tempers the one by the other. If you are a sinner, hear that God is merciful, and do not despair, and do penance.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "I have chosen to be cast away in the house of the Lord, rather than to dwell in the tents of sinners" [Psalm 84:11]. For he found the valley of weeping, he found humility by which he might rise: he knows that if he would raise himself he shall fall, if he humble himself he shall be exalted: he has chosen to be cast away, that he may be raised up.
12 For HaShem G-d is a sun and a shield; HaShem giveth grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Jerome · AD 420 O Lord of hosts. See what he says, O Lord of hosts. Therefore when we have any sins in us, God, who is the Lord of hosts, is not our Lord: because the Lord is not the Lord of sinners, but of the righteous. Blessed is the man who hopes in you. He hopes in the Lord, who has no conscience of sins, who lifts free eyes to heaven.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 ..."Because God loveth mercy and truth" (ver. 12). The Lord loveth mercy, by which He first came to my help: He loveth truth, so as to give to him that believeth what He has promised. Hear in the case of the Apostle Paul, His mercy and truth, Paul who was first Saul the persecutor.
13 O HaShem of hosts, happy is the man that trusteth in Thee.