1 Give ye thanks to Yahweh—For he is good, For, age-abiding, is his lovingkindness.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 ...We are taught in this Psalm, when we chaunt Allelujah, which meaneth, Praise the Lord, that we should, when we hear the words, "Confess unto the Lord" (ver. 1), praise the Lord.
2 I pray you! let Israel, say, For, age-abiding, is his lovingkindness.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "Let Israel now confess that He is good, and that His mercy endureth for ever" (ver. 2). "Let the house of Aaron now confess that His mercy endureth for ever" (ver. 3). "Yea, let all now that fear the Lord confess that His mercy endureth for ever" (ver. 4).
3 I pray you! let the house of Aaron, say, For, age-abiding, is his lovingkindness.
4 I pray you! let them who revere Yahweh, say, For, age-abiding, is his lovingkindness.
Gregory of Nyssa · AD 395 Therefore, if one examines these matters and because of this despises whatever is held in honor among people and longs only for the divine life, knowing that "all flesh is grass and all the glory of people is as the flower of grass," is he likely to think of grass, which exists today and is gone tomorrow, as something worth striving for?
5 Out of a strait, called I on Yah, He answered me with enlargement.
6 Yahweh, is on my side, I will not fear, What can man, do unto me?
Hebrews · AD 69 Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
Athanasius of Alexandria · AD 373 And how should Christ, who said to Abraham, "Fear not, for I am with you," and encouraged Moses against Pharaoh and said to the son of Nun, "Be strong and of a good courage," himself be terrified before Herod and Pilate?
Desert Fathers · AD 500 A brother asked an old man, "What shall a man do in every temptation that comes on him and in every thought sent by the enemy?" He replied, "He must weep in the sight of the goodness of God, that he may aid and assist him. For it is written, 'The Lord is with me to help me, and I shall avenge myself upon my foes.' "
7 Yahweh, is on my side, with them who help me, I, therefore shall gaze upon them who hate me.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 Hear therefore what followeth: "The Lord is my helper: therefore shall I despise mine enemies" (ver. 7). From what class soever my enemies may arise, whether from the number of evil men, or from the number of evil angels; in the Lord's help, unto whom we chant the confession of praise, unto whom we sing Allelujah, they shall be despised.
8 It is, better to seek refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in man:
Jerome · AD 420 Avoid entertaining people of the world, especially those whose honors make them swell with pride. You are the priest of a crucified Lord who was poor and lived on the bread of strangers. It is a disgrace to you if the consul's lictors or soldiers keep watch before your door and if the governor of the province has a better dinner with you than in his own palace.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 But, when my enemies have been brought to contempt, let not my friend present himself unto me as a good man, so as to bid me repose my hope in himself: for "It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put any confidence in man."
9 It is, better to seek refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in nobles.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 Nor let any one, who may in a certain sense be styled a good angel, be regarded by myself as one in whom I ought to put my trust: for "no one is good, save God alone;" and when a man or an angel appear to aid us, when they do this of sincere affection, He doth it through them, who made them good after their measure.
10 All nations, have compassed me about, In the Name of Yahweh, surely I will make them be circumcised;
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "All nations compassed me round about, but in the Name of the Lord have I taken vengeance on them." He signifies the toils and the victory of the Church.
11 They have compassed me about—yea compassed me about, In the Name of Yahweh, surely I will make them be circumcised;
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "They kept me in on every side, they kept me in, I say, on every side; but in the Name of the Lord have I taken vengeance on them." As if the question were asked how she could have overcome so great evils, he looks back to the example, and declares what she had first suffered in her Head, by adding what follows, "They kept me in on every side:" and the words, "All nations," are…
12 They have compassed me about like wax bees, they have blazed up like the fire of thorns, In the Name of Yahweh, surely I will make them be circumcised.
Pachomius the Great · AD 348 When a thought oppresses you, do not be downhearted but put up with it in courage, saying, "They swarmed around me closer and closer, but I drove them back in the name of the Lord." Divine help will arrive at your side immediately, and you will drive them away from you, and courage will compass you round about, and the glory of God will walk with you; and "you will be filled to…
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "They came about me as bees do a hive, and burned up even as the fire among the thorns: and in the Name of the Lord have I taken vengeance on them" [Psalm 118:12]. Here then the order of the words corresponds with the order of events. For we rightly understand that our Lord Himself, the Head of the Church, was surrounded by persecutors, even as bees surround a hive.
13 Thou didst, thrust sore, at me that I might fall, But, Yahweh, hath helped me.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "I have been driven on like a heap of sand, so that I was falling, but the Lord upheld me" [Psalm 118:13]. For though there were a great multitude of believers, that might be compared to the countless sand, and brought into one communion as into one heap; yet "what is man, save Thou be mindful of Him?" He said not, the multitude of the Gentiles could not surpass the abundance o…
14 My might and melody, is Yah, and he hath become mine by salvation.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "The Lord is my strength and my praise, and has become my salvation" [Psalm 118:14]. Who then fall, when they are pushed, save they who choose to be their own strength and their own praise? For no man falls in the contest, except he whose strength and praise fails. He therefore whose strength and praise is the Lord, falls no more than the Lord falls.
15 The voice of shouting and salvation, is in the tents of the righteous, The right hand of Yahweh, is doing valiantly:
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "The voice of joy and health is in the dwellings of the righteous" (ver. 15); where they who raged against their bodies thought there was the voice of sorrow and destruction. For they did not know the inward joy of the saints in their future hope. Whence the Apostle also saith, "As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing;" and again, "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also."
16 The right hand of Yahweh, is exalted, The right hand of Yahweh, is doing valiantly.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 And there are some who suppose that God is fashioned after a bodily manner, when they read of his hand or finger, and they do not observe that these things are written not because of any fashion of a body, since in the godhead there are neither members nor parts, but they are expressions of the oneness of the godhead, that we may believe that it is impossible for either the Son…
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "The right hand of the Lord hath brought mighty things to pass" (ver. 16). What mighty things? saith he. "The right hand of the Lord," he saith, "hath exalted me." It is a mighty thing to exalt the humble, to deify the mortal, to bring perfection out of infirmity, glory from subjection, victory from suffering, to give help, to raise from trouble; that the true salvation of God…
17 I shall not die, but live, That I may recount the doings of Yah.
Athanasius of Alexandria · AD 373 Thus it is that sinners, and all those who are aliens from the catholic church, heretics and schismatics, since they are excluded from glorifying [God] with the saints, cannot properly even continue to be observers of the feasts.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 I am disposed, after careful examination, to doubt whether the expression so often used by the Lord, "the kingdom of heaven," can be found in these books [Old Testament].
18 Yah, chastened me sore, But, unto death, did not deliver me.
Clement of Alexandria · AD 215 Consider the carefulness and the wisdom and the power of this Educator [Christ]: "He shall not judge according to appearance or reprove according to gossip, but he shall render judgment with humility and shall reprove the sinners of the earth." And through the lips of David, he says, "The Lord chastising has chastised me, but he has not delivered me over to death." Indeed, the…
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 Nevertheless, let him point out to us, why the body of Christ, the holy Church, the people of adoption, suffered such indignities. "The Lord," he says, "hast chastened and corrected me, but He has not given me over unto death" [Psalm 118:18].
Desert Fathers · AD 500 [Syncletica] also said, 'When the devil does not use the goad of poverty to tempt us, he uses wealth for the same purpose. When he cannot win by scorn and mockery, he tries praise and flattery. If he cannot win by giving health, he tries illness. If he cannot win by comfort, he tries to ruin the soul by vexations that lead us to act against our monastic vows.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, I will enter therein, I will give thanks unto Yah.
Clement of Rome · AD 99 Let us therefore root this out quickly, and let us fall down before the Master and entreat him with tears, that he may show himself propitious and be reconciled to us and may restore us to the seemly and pure conduct that belongs to our love of the brothers.
Aphrahat the Persian Sage · AD 345 Our father Jacob too prayed at Bethel and saw the gate of heaven opened, with a ladder going up on high. This is a symbol of our Savior that Jacob saw: the gate of heaven is Christ, in accordance with what he said: "I am the gate of life; every one who enters by me shall live forever." David too said, "This is the gate of the Lord, by which the righteous enter." Again, the ladd…
Bonaventure · AD 1257 If, now, it is considered as fulfilling or perfecting, this again is threefold: it may be seen as vital food for the militant and triumphant Church, as the punishment of crimes, and as the final reward.
20 This, is the gate for Yahweh, Such as are righteous, shall enter therein.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 But consider how the gates of righteousness are entered into. "These are the gates of the Lord" he saith, "the righteous shall enter into them" (ver. 20).
21 I will thank thee, because thou hast answered me, And hast become mine, by salvation.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "I will confess unto You, O Lord, for You have heard me, and have become my salvation" [Psalm 118:21]. How often is that confession proved to be one of praise, that does not point out wounds to the physician, but gives thanks for the health it has received. But the Physician Himself is the Salvation.
22 A stone the builders refused, hath become the head of the corner:
Mark · AD 60 And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.
Tertullian · AD 220 For Jesus tells them [the disciples] that "the Son of man must suffer many things and be rejected," before his coming, at which his kingdom will be really revealed. In this statement he shows that it was his own kingdom that his answer to them had contemplated and that was now awaiting his own sufferings and rejection.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 Figuratively stated: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." If we take the stone literally, which stone did the builders reject, and it became the cornerstone? If we take the corner literally, on whose corner was this stone made the head?
23 From Yahweh, hath this come to pass, The same, is marvellous in our eyes.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "By the Lord was it made unto it" [Psalm 118:23]: that is, it is made into the head stone of the corner by the Lord. For although He would not have become this, had He not suffered: yet He became not this through those from whom He suffered.
24 This is the day, which Yahweh hath made, We will exult, and be glad therein.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 We must keep the law regarding Easter in such a way that we do not observe the fourteenth as the day of the resurrection; that day or one very close to it is the day of the passion, because the feast of the resurrection is kept on the Lord's day. Moreover, we cannot fast on the Lord's day; fasting on this day is what we criticize in the Manichaeans.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 What we have sung to God: This is the day which the Lord has made, hence let us speak of what the Lord has given. Here the Prophetic Scripture surely wanted us to understand something. That day which is not common, not conspicuous to the eyes of the flesh! It is not that day which rises and sets but the day which could know its dawn, not its setting!
Peter Chrysologus · AD 450 "And he summoned the twelve," the text says. After the long centuries of dreadful night, the eternal day, our Christ, shone forth. The world had long awaited the splendor of his dawning. In the case of his twelve apostles he desired to signify the twelve hours of this day.
25 Ah now, Yahweh, do save, we beseech thee, Ah now, Yahweh, do send success, we beseech thee!
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "Save me now, O Lord: prosper Thou well my way, O Lord" [Psalm 118:25]. Because it is the day of Salvation, "save me:" because we, returning from a long pilgrimage, are separated from those who hated peace, with whom we were peaceful, and who, when we spoke to them, made war upon us without a cause; "prosper well our way" as we return, since You have become our Way.
26 Blessed be he that entereth, In the Name of Yahweh, we have blessed you, out of the house of Yahweh.
Matthew · AD 60 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.
Pachomius the Great · AD 348 As for us, brothers, understanding these things, let us keep each to his own measure, the one who is considered a shepherd of souls as well as the one who is considered a sheep.
Bede · AD 735 "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." "In the name of the Lord" signifies "in the name of God the Father," just as [our Lord] himself said elsewhere to the unbelieving Jews, "I have come in the name of my Father, and you do not receive me; another will come in his own name, him you will receive." Christ came in the name of God the Father, because in everything that…
27 Yahweh is GOD, and hath shed on us light,—Bind ye the festal sacrifice with cords, Up to the horns of the altar.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 That Lord, who came in the Lord's Name, whom the builders refused, and who became the head Stone of the corner, that "Mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ," is God, He is equal with the Father, He hath showed us light, that we might understand what we believed, and declare it to you who understand it not as yet, but already believe it.
28 My GOD, thou art, and I will thank thee,—My Elohim, I will exalt thee.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 But that ye also may understand, "Declare a holy day in full assemblies, even unto the horns of the altar;" that is, even unto the inner house of God, from which we have blessed you, where are the high places of the altar. "Declare a holy day," not in a slothful manner, but "in full assemblies" (ver. 28).
29 Give ye thanks to Yahweh—For he is good, For, age-abiding, is his lovingkindness.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 Let us commend ourselves to God, my brothers, by works of mercy. "O praise the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endures forever." Give praise, for God is merciful, and he wishes to forgive the sins of those who give praise. In addition, offer sacrifice to him. O man, be merciful to your fellow mortals, and God will show mercy to you.