Psalms 72 · The Lantern

The `title of the two and seuentithe salm. `The salm of Asaph. God of Israel is ful good; to hem that ben of riytful herte.

Further, to persuade you that you have not understood anything of the Scriptures, I will remind you of another psalm, dictated to David by the Holy Spirit, which you say refers to Solomon, who was also your king. But it refers also to our Christ. But you deceive yourselves by the ambiguous forms of speech.

As this psalm is addressed to Solomon, the first verse of the psalm must be referred to him, and all the rest to the son of Solomon, not Rehoboam, who was king of Israel after him, but him that was of his seed according to the flesh, the Christ of God; for all who are acquainted with the holy Scriptures will agree that it is impossible to connect what is said in this psalm with…

"O God, Your judgment to the King give Thou, and Your justice to the King's Son" [Psalm 72:1]. The Lord Himself in the Gospel says, "The Father judges not any one, but all judgment He has given to the Son:" [John 5:22] this is then, "O God, Your judgment to the King give Thou." He that is King is also the Son of the King: because God the Father also is certainly King.

But my feet weren moued almeest; my steppis weren sched out almeest.

For Y louede feruentli on wickid men; seynge the pees of synneris.

For biholdyng is not to the deth of hem; and stidefastnesse in the sikenesse of hem.

Thei ben not in the trauel of men; and thei schulen not be betun with men.

[Daniel 11:24] "And there shall stand up in his place one despised, and the kingly honor shall not be given him; and he shall come privately and shall obtain the kingdom by fraud. And the arms of the fighter shall be overcome before his face and shall be broken, and the prince of the covenant as well.

So that now, concerning the things to be promised to the people through the kingdom of Zerubbabel, who was assigned for this through the divine judgment, it was not at all inappropriate for the prophet, speaking, to say, "he comes righteous and saving," so that he might show that he is present with them and that he has been chosen by God for the kingship in order to do these th…

"And He shall endure to the sun," or, "shall endure with the sun" (ver. 5). For thus some of our writers have thought would be more exactly translated that which in the Greek is συμπαραμενεῖ.

Therfore pride helde hem; thei weren hilid with her wickidnesse and vnfeithfulnesse.

Nor is it strange that they should suffer the drought of unbelief, whom the Lord deprived of the fertilizing shower of prophecy, saying, "I will command my clouds that they rain not on that vineyard." For there is a health-giving shower of salutary grace, as David also said: "He came down like rain on a fleece and like drops that fall on the earth." The divine Scriptures promis…

"And He shall come down like rain into a fleece, and like drops distilling upon the earth" [Psalm 72:6]. He has called to our minds and admonished us, that what was done by Gedeon the Judge, in Christ has its end.

Therefore, today the Lord was born according to the flesh in such secret silence that his generation was thoroughly ignorant of his birth. For the world did not know that he was born outside the knowledge of his father and that he was conceived outside the order of nature.

The wickidnesse of hem cam forth as of fatnesse; thei yeden in to desire of herte.

Thei thouyten and spaken weiwardnesse; thei spaken wickidnesse an hiy.

Thei puttiden her mouth in to heuene; and her tunge passide in erthe.

Therfor my puple schal be conuertid here; and fulle daies schulen be foundun in hem.

And thei seiden, How woot God; and whether kunnyng is an heiye, `that is, in heuene?

Lo! thilke synneris and hauynge aboundance in the world; helden richessis.

And Y seide, Therfor without cause Y iustifiede myn herte; and waischide myn hoondis among innocentis.

And Y was betun al dai; and my chastisyng was in morutidis.

If Y seide, Y schal telle thus; lo! Y repreuede the nacioun of thi sones.

I gesside, that Y schulde knowe this; trauel is bifore me.

Til Y entre in to the seyntuarie of God; and vndurstonde in the last thingis of hem.

And as they kept silence, I went on: "[The Scripture], speaking by David about this Christ, my friends, said no longer that `in His seed' the nations should be blessed, but `in Him.' So it is here: `His name shall rise up for ever above the sun; and in Him shall all nations be blessed.' But if all nations are blessed in Christ, and we of all nations believe in Him, then He is i…

And if, as David says in the seventy-first [LXX] psalm, "His name remains before the sun and before the moon, from one generation to another," how did he receive what he always had, even before he now received it? Or how is he exalted, being before his exaltation the Most High?

To Him are referred all the eloquent sayings of Scriptural wisdom, as for instance those of Solomon and others. And yet the Jews understand as applying to Solomon what is said of Christ in the Psalm: "Fairer in beauty are you than the sons of men; grace is poured out upon your lips." Solomon was not like that. And again, "May his name be blessed forever."

Netheles for gilis thou hast put to hem; thou castidist hem doun, while thei weren reisid.

Let us say again: "Blessed be God, who alone does wonderful things," who does all things and transforms them. Before yesterday you were captives, but now you are free and citizens of the church; lately you lived in the shame of your sins, but now you live in freedom and justice.

But whoever would be disposed to look for something more profound in the words of Christ, "If I had not done among them the works which none other man did" (for although such were done by the Father, or the Holy Spirit, yet no one else did them, for the whole Trinity is one and the same in substance), he will find that it was He who did it even when some man of God did somethin…

The marvelous deeds and miracles performed almost in our own day by the apostolic and most upright man, Emilian the priest, are so new that they urge us to relate them; yet, at the same time, so vast in scope that to recount them is frightening.

Hou ben thei maad into desolacioun; thei failiden sodeynli, thei perischiden for her wickidnesse.

As the dreem of men that risen; Lord, thou schalt dryue her ymage to nouyt in thi citee.

For myn herte is enflaumed, and my reynes ben chaungid;

and Y am dryuun to nouyt, and Y wiste not.

As a werk beeste Y am maad at thee; and Y am euere with thee.

Thou heldist my riythond, and in thi wille thou leddist me forth; and with glorie thou tokist me vp.

For whi what is to me in heuene; and what wolde Y of thee on erthe?

Mi fleische and myn herte failide; God of myn herte, and my part is God withouten ende.

For lo! thei that drawen awei fer hem silf fro thee, `bi deedli synne, schulen perische; thou hast lost alle men that doen fornycacioun fro thee.

But it is good to me to cleue to God; and to sette myn hope in the Lord God. That Y telle alle thi prechyngis; in the yatis of the douyter of Syon.

Psalms72