A prayer of David.
1. a new title, "a prayer of David", by which it is sufficiently indicated what this psalm is about, which, as it seems to me, is not unlike what is treated in the fifth psalm and many others. For it is a general complaint of the righteous people against the exceedingly harmful persecutors who kill the spirit, the hypocrites, with whom they have constant war, as it was between Esau and Jacob, for the righteousness and the word of the
Truth. Therefore, from what has been said before, which has been dealt with many times, this psalm will also be easy to understand.
V. 1. Hear, O Lord, righteousness; hearken unto my cry; hear my prayer, which cometh not out of a false mouth.
2. the plea, repeated three times and doubled, indicates a great movement and many tears, because in fact the falsehood of the wicked hurts spiritual people more than
their violence. For obvious violence can be recognized, and when the danger is recognized, it can be countered in some way; but falsehood brings destruction sooner than it can be recognized. Hence also Paul, 2 Cor. 11, 29, after holding said: "Who is weak, and I become not weak?" still greater against vexation, "Who is vexed, and I burn not?" He does not say, "I faint," but, "I burn," because it is a lesser thing to suffer with the weak, that is, to suffer with the suffering, than to burn for the sake of the vexed. And Apost. 20, 29. ff. he testifies that for three years he did not cease to admonish everyone with tears that they should beware of the abominable wolves who would come among them after his departure and speak perverse things. And Phil. 3, 18. f.: "For many walk, of whom I have often told you, but now I say also with weeping, the enemies of the cross of Christ; whose end is damnation, to whom the belly is their god."
If then the prophets and the apostles were inflamed and wept over the hypocrites of their time, when the Spirit was still more abundant in the church, what do we not have to fear? What tears can be sufficient for us in these depraved times, when there is such great certainty, when we think that the devils have either died or are asleep, although they reign with frightful tyranny, having taken the name of Christ and the saints on their side and boasting of it? But such times are even superfluously proclaimed before; but we are ignorant, and, like the Jews, ignorantly fulfill all that is foretold to us by the apostles, by the present ungodliness, but dream that this will be with others in the future. Woe to these last and exceedingly evil times!
4 The Hebrew text without the pronoun "my" [in the Vulgate] says par excellence: "Lord, hear the righteousness. In order to overcome the darkness of the Jews, who claim that David, by the sin of boasting of his righteousness here, deserved to fall into the sin of adultery afterwards, our theologians have also used this word.
so that they attributed this word to Christ alone. But it seems to me to be a more urgent request that he asks without further specification (absolute) that justice be heard than if he had said "his justice". For he shows in this verse almost in every single word on whom he had looked, and by what he had been moved to be so heated. For he looked at the multitude and greatness of the hypocrites, who alone presume, as they do all good works and righteousness, so also prayer and the mercy of God, although they do all this only in falsehood and only pretend. In this way, many weak people are deceived, so that the truth cannot be helped by any other means than prayer with tears, so that God may be awakened to hear, receive and defend righteousness, or that which is truly righteous, or the righteous cause, which is faith, the word and the works of faith, against the ungodly and harmful hypocrisy of those people. So it is a movement of godliness and love, in this way: Although I am unworthy, I who ask, yet the cause itself, since it is the cause of your word and faith, and in truth righteousness, is worthy that you do not let it be suppressed, for the seduction of the unhappy souls, whom those cruel wolves devour unceasingly with their fabricated words.
Some want to translate it like this: Hear, Lord of righteousness, like Ps. 4, 2: "Hear me, God of my righteousness", which I leave to the judgment of everyone. The Hebrew text is not against it, but I let myself be content with the former understanding. The other two words: "Heed my cry, hear my prayer," we want to understand just as in the fifth Psalm 17 ff]. understand. Then, what difference there is between "prayer" and "cry" has been sufficiently said in the sixth Psalm [v. 10].
6 "Not from the mouth of falsehood", or "from a false mouth". Obviously, he is here accusing the hypocrites, whose teachings and prayers he assigns to the false mouth. But it can be taken either as an assertion or as a wish, in this way: Hear us therefore, O Lord, for thou knowest our
Heart, that there be no falsehood on our lips; as we pray with our mouth, so we mean it in our heart, and as we teach, so we live simple-mindedly; whereas with them there is nothing that is not pretended. Like this: Hear, O Lord, righteousness, and see to it that we too, like them, do not pray and teach with a false mouth. Thus we see here the zeal and hatred against hypocrisy, which the saints reject and accuse with such great abhorrence.
V. 2. Speak thou in my cause, and look thou to the right. 1)
(7) I believe that the judicium in this passage is not the discernment or perspicacity of the mind, by which we decide on all things whether they are right or wrong (as some think), but the matter itself about which the opposing parties dispute, as Ps. 140:13: "I know that the Lord will execute the cause of the wretched and the right (judicium) of the poor. And Job 23:7: "Lay it before me at once, and I will gain my right (judicium)." And Cap. 31, 13: "Have I despised the right of my servant or my handmaid, when they have had a matter against me?" "This one is guilty of death" (judicium mortis), "this one is not guilty of death," they said of Jeremiah, Cap. 26, 11. 16.
8 The meaning is this: My cause and my right (judicium) is righteousness; I beg you, let it go forth from your face, for I know that what is condemned as evil and unrighteous in the eyes of men is righteous before you and in your eyes. Therefore, as it is in thy judgment before thy face, so let it be also before men, by revealing it. Let not the judgment of my cause remain as it is in the sight of men, when it is condemned; for, as Habakkuk 1:4 says, "Therefore it is not at all according to the law, neither can any right thing gain judicium; for the wicked overrepresents the righteous, therefore perverted judgments go." These words must also be
1) Vulgate: ve vultutuosuäiLiumnaeurllxiroäeat, oeuli tui viäeaut ae^uitates.
pray against the heretical judges and the tyrants in the church, from whom no judgment goes out for the truth, but only a condemnation judgment about it. For there is no other way to resist them than through prayer with lamentations and tears. I believe that this peculiar way of speaking (idiotismum) is sufficiently known, that the right goes out (egredi), that a speech goes out, a word goes out, a thing goes out 2c.
9. oculi tui videant aequitates, in Hebrew: rectitudines, or that which is right, of which above in the ninth Psalm 68 f.] is abundantly spoken of. For the prophet condemns the bloodthirsty hypocrites because of their wickedness, 3) that is, because in every matter they seek their own, therefore they condemn the cause of the righteous, since the same seeks that which is of God, that they may establish their wickednesses. For in this way the eyes of men look and notice wickedness (pravitatem). But since your eyes, O Lord, look only at what is right, show this also before all. This you will do when you defend my cause and suppress the cause of others. For as long as thou dost not do this, they will be hopeful without ceasing and boast that thine eyes look upon them and their wickedness as if it were righteousness, and that thou dost not respect and detest our righteousness as if it were wickedness.
(10) This verse has the same meaning as Habakkuk 1:13: "Thine eyes are pure, that thou canst not see evil, neither canst thou look on the affliction. Why then dost thou look upon the despisers, and hold thy peace, that the wicked devour him that is more pious than he?" Thus he again shows that it is something different when God is looked upon than when men look upon, and something different when judging according to the eyes of men than when judging according to the eyes of God.
2) In the original edition üaeretioos, which all editions have (as it seems to us, arbitrarily) changed into tieretmas.
3) It seems to us that Luther here by the expression: ü^pooritas suLKulnarios xravitatis leads a side blow against the inquisitores daereticae xravitutis, so that also well could be translated: So the prophet condemns the bloodthirsty hypocrites who persecute heresy.
(11) At the same time, as I have said, we must keep in mind that we should not rely on our strength or our wisdom. For no one has ever overcome a perverse man with words or with wisdom, nor has he ever defended the cause of faith by his own efforts, as has been proved in the case of all heretics, since neither the apostles, nor the prophets, nor even Christ himself could not overcome his hypocrites, since the wicked, even when they are overcome, do not want to be overcome. What should we wretched little worms presume to do against the antichrists, the strongest enemies of the church, if we leave our prayers and lamentations pending?
(12) I said above that our Latin interpreter liked to use the abstract "equity" (aequitatem) instead of "righteous being," while in concreto he translates not "an equitable one" but a righteous one (rectum). Equity seems to us to refer more to a moderation of the law than to the righteous being, which is the perfect fulfillment of the law.
V. 3. 4. You test my heart, and visit it by night, and purify me, and find nothing. I have determined that my mouth shall not transgress. I keep myself in the word of thy lips from the works of men, in the way of the murderer. 1)
The Hebrew text is not a little different [from the Vulgate], which Jerome translates thus: Probasti cor meum, visitasti nocte, conflasti me, non invenisti cogitationes meas transire os meum, in opera hominum propter verba labiorum tuorum ego observavi vias latronis. But what can be the meaning of this? Certainly Jerome has omitted the adverbium of negation before the verbum transire; nor does he observe the distinction which the verse has in Hebrew. However, although our [Latin] translation is not at all
1) Vulgate: I^rodasti cor et visitasti nocte, IMS ine examinastb et noMest inventa in nie iniHuitas. I7t non loyuatur os meurn opera Uominum, propter verda tadiorum tuorum ego custodivi vias uurus.
If this translation is very much in its own sense, let us see if it is in harmony with the Hebrew. Not that I think it should be rejected for that reason, or that I want to blame the Church of God for using this translation for such a long time. For what harm is there in the church having a different opinion of words that are badly translated than the words actually give, if only the latter is godly, since many things are also translated in the best way, the understanding of which the church has not yet had and explained, such as the prophecies of Christ and the apostles about the last times. For who in the church understands them? And yet the words are translated in the most authentic way. Yes, who can doubt that the church has the actual understanding of this passage, even though she does not know that the same is indicated by this passage? The same is the case with many others. For what should she [the church] not have that has the mind of Christ? And yet it is not necessary for her to know every passage of the Spirit in Scripture.
(14) This is what I want to say against the disgruntled people who, if anything is found to be different from what has been generally accepted, immediately interpret it as blasphemy against the church. We praise the diligence of others, but we must believe that we, too, are called to cultivate a portion of the Lord's field, not merely to eat from it, since it is written in Deut. 26:10: "When the new things come, you shall put away the old things." They were not able to eat all of it; some of it has been left for us. Otherwise, if it is enough that they taught, why is it not enough that they lived a good life? If it is enough in the same words, why not also in the same works, so that, being satisfied both in their words and in their works, no one teaches and does anything else than St. Jerome taught and did?
But let us return to the Psalm, in which I translate these two verses literally like this: Thou hast tried my heart, thou hast visited it by night, thou hast purified me, thou shalt not find, my thoughts my mouth shall not transgress. On the works of the
People, in the word of your lips, I have been mindful of the ways of the destroyer.
(15) First, let us deal with the first verse. He had asked that the Lord would judge the right and his cause, and look upon his righteousness; now he explains in what confidence he dares to ask thus. He says, Thou hast tried and tested me in many ways, that thou mightest know whether I am in an evil way, as he says in the 139th Psalm, v. 24, whether I sought mine own, as it is also said in the law of Moses, Ex. 16, 4, "That I might try the people, whether they walk in my law or not." And Deut. 8, 2: "The LORD led thee forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble thee, and try thee." Yet you have found nothing, but I have remained righteous in all things in your eyes, always seeking what is yours. Now this righteous being may thine eyes come to see, and judge my cause according to thy sight (conspectum), since they have never tried and examined that which is mine, and condemn and persecute it for no other cause than because they do not understand it, being blinded and captivated by their wickedness.
This abundance and accumulation in the prayer: "You test my heart, you visit it at night, you purify me," not only indicates temptations of various kinds, but also serves as emphasis and shows the greatness of the movement. It is as if someone who trusts in God in a clear conscience, who has been tested by long experience of temptations, and who in firm hope cannot now be put to shame, as the apostle Rom. 5, 3-5. but finally becomes discontented that his adversary stubbornly works against him, and irritated by the fact that he deceives very many, begins to confidently justify his cause before God against them and to say: "Behold, you know, Lord, that what I have said and done was right in your sight, and yet those wicked have such an abhorrence of it as if it were condemned, and deceive very many by their falsehoods. Jeremiah also experienced this in himself, saying, Cap. 17:16, 17: "Therefore, my shepherd, I did not flee from you, because I did not desire the days of the Lord, you know that.
I have preached, that is right in your sight. Be not thou terrible unto me, my confidence in adversity."
(17) But since everyone is going over this verse, we have to be somniare here and bring our own opinion, until someone else will offer something better. The first part, "You test my heart," seems to me to refer to the temptations by which man is afflicted in himself, namely, lack of goods, grief and other damage to goods and body, and temporal danger. For here man is examined whether he trusts more in God than in gold or any other good of fortune.
The other part, "Thou visitest it by night," refers to the spiritual temptations by which man, in his sins, is afflicted by his conscience with the fear of death and the terror of hell, so that he may be tested as to whether he trusts more in his works, wisdom and counsel than in the mere mercy of God. For we have said in the previous Psalm that the night is the appropriate time for these temptations, with which God Himself actually visits and severely punishes us.
19. The third part: "You purify me", or you test me by fire, like gold, is supposed to be the outward persecution, where man is deprived of his good name by poisonous tongues, is sullied with the most shameful names and disgraces, just as Christ was counted among the evildoers on the cross and seemed worthy in the eyes of all that he should suffer the greatest of evils, so that he, well afflicted and tested on all sides, may attain hope that does not come to shame, in which he dares, trusting in God, to justify himself in the cause of the word and faith against the hopeful hypocrites, even though he is not hopeful because of righteousness and the perfect use of the word and faith. For the cause of faith is always just and right, however wicked or perfect he may be who practices it.
20. "You will not find." Here is the middle of the verse, where the interpreter has added "in me" from his own, and "iniquitas" from the second part of the verse;
1004 XVI, 12 f. Works on the first 22 Psalms. Ps. 17, 3. 4. W. IV, 1276-1279. 1005
in a proper sense, but with a confused division. For this expression denotes both unrighteousness and a thought, counsel, or intention by which we undertake anything in the heart, as Ps. 10:2: "They devise wicked deceit." So it can be said that it is a speech in which something is omitted (ellipticam): "You will not find," namely, that I am on evil ways, as Ps. 139, 23. 24. says: "Search me, GOD, and know my heart; test me and know how I mean it. And see if I am in an evil way, and guide me in an everlasting way." For this is why he tests the heart, to see if it is evil; this, he says, is not found in him. But he says in the future tense: "You will find," by which he indicates that he was not only not found evil, but also intends to persevere in such a way that God will never find it. But in the following part, he completes what is omitted.
21. "My thoughts my mouth shall not transgress." I cannot even imagine why the interpreter, instead of saying: "my mouth shall not transgress," wanted to say: "that my mouth speak not," attaching to it from the beginning of the following verse: "the works of men." Though I do not remember to have read in Scripture this expression, that the mouth transgresseth the thoughts, yet I suppose that the sense is the same which is expressed in the first verse, "That goeth not out of a false mouth." For the mouth transgresses the thoughts or passes them by when it speaks more and further (ultra) than the heart thinks, so that heart and mouth do not remain the same, which is especially fitting for teachers who speak useless things and make many words and seduce souls. In order not to suffer the pain of the cross, they teach all kinds of things to please people, because they desire people's days and want to please people. It also applies to those who deny the truth out of fear of persecution or hope of gain. For among these are such people whose heart knows otherwise; yet their mouth transgresses these thoughts of the heart, that they may not suffer; a great
The part looks through the fingers and keeps silent, for the sake of this very fear or hope of gain. It is so necessary that a man either perish if he contradicts, or offend God if he does not contradict the statutes and works of men.
22 Jerome has escaped [the difficulty] quite nicely, so that one cannot know whether he intended the thoughts to pass the mouth, or the mouth to pass the thoughts, since he changes the indicative of the verb into the infinitive by saying: You have not found my thoughts passing my mouth, with confused division, as I have said, and with omission of the adverbial "not". But the verbum is the indicative of the future tense, in the singularis, "It will not pass," as well as, "Thou wilt not find," praising his perseverance in the same way. Our [Latin] translation can also have this sense, namely, that he was tested, and that unrighteousness was not found in him, that he spoke works of men, that is, that he could not have been brought by any temptations to leave the sorrow of the cross and the reproach of Christ, and to teach works of men, and by this unrighteousness to please men. "For if we were still pleasing men, we would not be Christ's servants," Gal. 1:10. Therefore he asks that righteousness be heard and that righteousness be looked upon.
23. "The thoughts" is the same word as Ps. 10, 2.: "They devise wicked wiles", which we usually call premeditation or plots, like Deut. 19, 19.: "As he thought to do to his brother." And it is 1) a very shrewd and fine saying, "The mouth passes by the thoughts," "when the mouth washes more than the heart knows," or, It passes by, that is, it despises; for it is a very special wickedness and perverseness (pravitatis malum) to despise the good thoughts of one's own heart for fear of the words and works of men. Now follows the other verse.
1) Erlanger: et statt est.
24. "On the works of men, in the word of thy lips, I have been mindful of the ways of the destroyer." The expression XXXX, which our Latin interpreter duras, Hieronymus latronis, translated, comes from the verb XXX, which means to destroy, to divide, to tear, therefore Reuchlin writes that instead of duras it should have been said dirutas. Now this ungodly ripper is a teacher who teaches works of men, by which the soul is more corrupted, destroyed, and divided in infinite manifold ways, as it is said of them Isa. 28:10: "Give here, give here; wait here, wait there; here a little, there a little." And Paul says [Eph. 4, 14.], "Lest we be weighed and swayed with all manner of wind of doctrine." And Heb. 13:9: "Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines: for it is a precious thing that the heart should be established; which is by grace, and not by meat, whereof they that handle it profit not." Dear, what is this but to be divided and divided into innumerable parts, when we leave the unity of faith, and are given over to works of men, sometimes to this, sometimes to that, sometimes again to another, and so on without end.
(25) Here belong the ceremonies of our time and the statutes, customs, places, festivals, pageants, sects, prayers, and such innumerable things as the sands of the sea, so that if we ourselves had to invent a name by which to call these teachers, we could not invent one more suitable than tornado, murderer, highwayman, who despise the public highway and wander about in their ways. They are in truth rippers, or, as Christ and Paul say, ravening wolves, who tear us from the faith in Christ and tear us into so many sects that no one can count them.
(26) So the meaning is: Against the works of men, which they pretend are taught by the word of your lips, although nothing less is taught by them, I have behaved in such a way that I was careful not to walk in the ways of these ravening robbers. And here, great attention is truly needed, because if the words of God are twisted to this, it is not at all possible.
It happens easily that one agrees to this tearing apart and this robbery. Isaiah also explains this beautifully and abundantly when he says: "Therefore the word of the Lord (see, the word of the Lord Himself) shall be to them: Give hither, give hither; give hither, give hither; wait hither, wait hither; wait hither, wait hither; here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall back, broken, entangled, and captive." And 2 Pet. 2, 2. f.: "By covetousness with fancied words shall false teachers work upon you, by whom shall the way of truth be blasphemed."
27 For even today the word of Christ, "He who hears you hears me," which he said of the word of the Gospel, has been used to fortify the whole shrine that is in the heart of the Roman Pontiff. Likewise the word Matth. 23, 3.: "All things whatsoever they say unto you, do", which is said of the law of the Lord, has likewise been twisted so that they may destroy the church by the laws of men, as they please. But above all, this most salutary word [Matth. 16, 19.]: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven" 2c., has been made a protection for this tyranny of the laws. So now the keys of the kingdom of heaven are the power to make many laws. Thus, since no one pays attention to the ways of the ravening wolf and the ripper, we have all been most miserably drawn into and entangled in works of men, as if they were commanded by the word of the lips of God.
28 Here there is a Hebrew idiom and an omission, since the relative and some verb is omitted, which we complete thus: To works of men, which they teach in the word of thy lips, as if he would say: I have seen that, while they lead us to works of men, which they lie that they are commanded in thy words, they draw us into the ways wherein they would exercise their rapacity against us. But he beautifully punishes their lying fiction, because he does not merely say, your word, but: "the word of your lips" is drawn to works of men. For in truth, since they are without right judgment, they do not take the meaning, but only the sound of the words, as it were, from the lips,
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and puff the same to their inclinations, as they please, as can be seen in the law and theology faculties, which award certificates of qualification and honorary titles (qualificatrice et graduatrice).
29. our [Latin] translation can give this sense, in this way: "Because of the words of your lips I have been careful not to follow hard ways", as if he wanted to say: I was the more careful not to follow their ways, because they made use of the words of your lips to make them firm, and thus handled me with fictitious words (as Peter [2 Ep. 2, 3] says), while in truth they were hard and difficult ways, since I was miserably torn by them, was in all things like one who is astray, and could not get a firm foothold in any thing. Is this not the very hardest work? Thus, what was a cause for others to follow them, was a cause for me not to follow them, since I know that nothing is subject to greater abuse than your word and name, and that therefore one must be more careful for the sake of your word than for any other thing.
(30) At the same time we want to indicate here that the Hebrew word is a generic or ambiguous one, which denotes both custodiam, by which something is preserved (servatur), as in the first verse, and also custodia, by which one turns something away from oneself, as in this verse, which in Latin would be more correctly expressed by observare than by custodire and conservare. For the word observare can be taken in both meanings, as in German "Acht haben," or actually, as Tauler often uses, "to perceive.
V. 5. Preserve (perfice) my walk upon thy footsteps, that my treads slide not.
Jerome has better (than the Vulgate, which puts perfice): Sustain (sustenta) my walk, namely, because one cannot in any way guard against the wiles of Satan, with which he seduced Eve, by one's own powers, lest he should warp our senses from the simplicity in Christ (2 Cor. 11, 3.], unless the Lord sustain our walk, provoked by our
humble prayer. For here free will is useless, nor is the first grace (as they call it) enough, but perseverance is needed, which is not in the will of man, but in the preservation of God.
(32) And take heed to the emphasis that it is greater to persevere than to begin, because it is necessary for those who will persevere that the hand of God sustain them. For many begin, few increase, the very few persevere to the end (perveniunt), as the Lord teaches in the Gospel [Luc. 8, 5. ff.] about the seed that was cast on different lands. And Moses began to pray with his hands held up [2 Mos. 17, 11. f.], but since he was weighed down by stopping, he needed those who held up his hands, Hur and Aaron. For "he that endureth to the end shall be saved" [Matt. 24:13]. But what is perseverance but a continual beginning, and a tireless suffering of resistance both from the devil and from our nature weighed down by sins.
33. "On your footsteps," as has been sufficiently said, is said in contrast to the ways of men. For we are more willing to do anything that either we ourselves have chosen, or that men have ordered, than what God has commanded. For with the commandments of men, nature remains, in that the old man is not touched, yes, the old man is nourished by the commandments of men, but with the commandments of God, he must be killed, changed and renewed. For man does not choose that in his ways, nor follow that which is contrary to or above his reason. But he cannot walk in God's commandments if he does not do and suffer many things that he does not want, that he flees, hates and does not understand. For here the old man is taken out and the new man is put on.
34. "That my footsteps do not slide." In Hebrew, it is not "that," but it seems to be a repetition of what has just been said (tauto- logia). For it is the same, that the feet slide not, and that the walk be preserved. He confesses, however, that his steps or feet should slide badly, that is,
They will become fickle and be led astray if they are not kept on the footsteps of God. For this is how those who are driven to and fro by the statutes of men like a reed is driven by the wind, which is proven by experience in all those who undertake to obtain rest by their own works, who are always learning and never come to the knowledge of the truth, and yet have the appearance of a godly being [2 Tim. 3:7, 5].
(35) Perseverance has another, much more serious danger from the other side, that is, from the right side, which is the safety, happiness and peace of the wicked, of which the 73rd Psalm, vv. 2-5, says: "But I almost stumbled with my feet, my footsteps almost slipped. For I was displeased with the glorifiers when I saw that the wicked were doing so well. For they are in no danger of death, but stand firm as a palace. They are not in trouble like other people, nor are they afflicted like other people." Here, in truth, ten thousand fall on the right, where there hardly a thousand fall on the left. For he speaks not only of the welfare of the wicked, who have their welfare and are secure in the gross sins of unchastity, gluttony, excess and treasure, for these deceive no one but those who willingly and knowingly allow themselves to be deceived, but most of all the hypocrites, who shine beautifully through the works of men, who are not troubled by any cross, and seem to lead an exceedingly good life, who draw the words of God's lips to their works, as is the life of bishops, priests and monks today. From these no one can be safe enough; here, if it is possible, even the elect are led into error. For in this way the pope and the bishops have become masters of the whole world, to whom the other clergy and monks bravely flatter.
(36) In all of these we do not see the least bit of the cross of Christ and true godliness, rather they are the greatest enemies of the cross, and yet they are famous because of the delusion they have and
Gives them the name of being godly for the sake of human works alone. For as people of no understanding we think, because they are fortunate in their ways, so that they have also humiliated great kings and condemned the most learned and best of men, that all their things are of God, while this prosperity is nothing but a powerful error, which the apostle preached in 2 Thess. 2:11. This is the maw and the open door of hell. Against this the prophet prays with such great fervor; therefore now follows, continuing the prayer he has begun:
V. 6. I cry unto thee, that thou, O God, wouldest hear me; incline thine ear unto me; hear my speech.
The two pronouns "to you" (te) and "to me" (mihi) have been omitted by our Latin translator or by some scribe, so Jerome has better translated it this way: I have called to you, for you, GOD, will hear me; incline your ears to me; hear my speech. But he begins with gratitude and the confession that he had been heard before. By this he seeks to win goodwill, and prepares, as it were, an attack of prayer. For as we shall see, he will immediately bring an emphasis into the prayer, moved by the size and quantity of the rippers and the wolves, which he would like to resist, and save so many wretched souls, and yet he cannot. As if he said in fervent and, as it were, presumptuous displeasure: Behold, thou hast heard me often before, when I called upon thee; now also I pray; incline thine ears unto me, and hear my words, since I ask for so great and necessary things for so many thousands of those who perish, against so great persecutions of those who bring them to ruin.
38. nor is there anything wrong with the fact that the Hebrew text says in the future tense: You, God, will hear me, and our interpreter: You, God, have heard me, in the past tense; for it is in the prophetic manner that the prophet comprehends both the past and the future, and this seems to be the meaning, which we would say in common speech: I have confidence that I shall not speak in vain, knowing how thou (according to thy goodness) hast graciously rewarded me.
1012 L. xvi, M-22. Works on the first 22 Psalms. Ps. 17, 6-8. W. iv, 128S-1293. 1013
you are accustomed to listen to. The Hebrew language does not have a conjunctive, but instead uses the indicative of the future tense. In this way Christ says Joh. 11, 41. f.: "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. But I know that thou hearest me always." And thus this difficulty is removed, which also plagued Augustine at times, since it seems that just the opposite should have been said: Thou hast heard me, because I have called unto thee. But it is much more beautiful, I have called because thou hearest, that the mercy may be praised according to which he either promises or hears, which moves to this and is the cause that we dare to call upon him, much more than the calling of the one who prays, to whom in and of itself nothing is due.
39 "Incline thine ears" is a common expression in the Psalter, by which, however, (as was said in the preceding [Ps. 5, § 17 ff.]) the humility of the praying is expressed and the height of the listening majesty, which looks upon the lowly in heaven and on earth [Ps. 113, 6.], that is, inclines its ear to the petitions of men, turning away its face without doubt from the hopeful.
V. 7. 8. Prove your wondrous goodness, O Savior of those who trust in you, against those who oppose your right hand. Protect me as the apple of your eye; shelter me under the shadow of your wings.
40) For so 1) these two verses are divided in the Hebrew. And with much greater emphasis the Hebrew reads XXXX XXXX thou Savior of the faithful, or of the trusting, without nearer relation (absolute) than [as it is said in the Vulgate]: who makest blessed them that trust in thee. For "in thee" is added by the interpreter. Behold, then, the force and impetuosity of the prayer in all the individual words, with how great a movement and with how great an anxiety it persists and urges.
1) "so", namely as in our Bible. In the Vulgate, the words: "Against those who oppose your right hand" are drawn to the following verse, which all editions except Weimar's have falsely imitated. That Luther wants these words to be taken to the seventh verse is proven by this passage, but especially by the following
41 First, it is said: "Prove miraculously" (mirifica), not merely: Show. That is, make them see how wonderful mercy is. In what way? "Behold, brethren, your profession; not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But whatsoever is foolish in the sight of the world, that God hath chosen to shame the wise; and whatsoever is weak in the sight of the world, that God hath chosen to shame what is strong; and what is base in the sight of the world, and what is despised, that God hath chosen, and what is nothing, to bring to nought what is something; that no flesh should glory in His sight" [1 Cor. 1:26-29]. And again the same Paul says 1 Tim. 1, 15: "This is ever certainly true, and a precious word, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." For these are wonders of God's mercy, that He makes blessed the sinners whom He should condemn, and makes glorious the unworthy who should be despised, and in short, exalts the lowly, the rejected, the lowly. This knowledge of God is sweet, fills the hearts with the Holy Spirit, and makes them joyful and strong.
42. "Thy goodness." He does not say, The righteousness, the power, the wisdom of those people, as he had said in the preceding Psalm [v. 4. Vulg.], "I will not gather their heaps that are of the blood," 2c. For this is not only wonderful and lovely in our eyes, but also vexatious and condemnable in the eyes of the wicked, who will not be fools, sinners, and wicked men. Therefore they cannot bear that their wisdom, power and righteousness should be punished, despised, condemned, nor that the mercy of God should be praised. Therefore, they always resist God and boast of Him that He alone is God to the righteous, that He makes no one blessed but the righteous, and that He condemns no one but sinners. They never understand neither what sin is, nor what justice is, nor what mercy is, nor what God is, just as our scholastic theology, that is, the godless, unintelligent, seductive theology, errs. For God does not make fictitious sinners blessed, but true sinners, for His mercy is
not a fictitious one, but a true one; he does not act against us with words, but with deed (rebus). For a righteous man is he who in truth acknowledges himself to be a sinner, as Paul says [1 Tim. 1:15.], "Among whom I am the foremost."
43 "You Savior of those who trust" or believe. He beautifully reminds God of his work and his glory. For his work is to make blessed those who trust in him, as he says Ps. 91, 14. [Vulg.]: "For in me he has trusted, and I will deliver him; I will protect him, for he knows my name." And Jer. 39:16-18: "Go, and tell EbedMelech the Moor: Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and for no good; and thou shalt see it in that day. But I will save thee in that day, saith the LORD; and thou shalt not be given to the men of whom thou art afraid. For I will save thee from falling by the sword, but thou shalt bring thy life as a prey, because thou hast trusted in me, saith the Lord.
44. Dear one, who should not be moved to trust in such a rich promise of majesty, which is advertised to a man with so many words? The Lord is truly kind (dulcis), but only to those who have experienced it. Therefore, as his work is, so is his name; "as his name is, so is his glory" [Ps. 48:11]; as his glory is, so is his love; as his love is, so is our blessedness. He is not, therefore, a Savior of the wise, the mighty, the righteous, the holy, but only of those who trust, whoever they may be. It does not matter if you have been a sinner, a tax collector, a prostitute, a robber [Matth. 9, 2.]: "Be of good cheer, my son, your sins are forgiven you" for the sake of this very trust of yours; and they will not only be forgiven, but this trust will also produce love towards God, through which you will henceforth avoid sin, overcome it and despise death and all evils.
45. "Against them that set themselves against thy right hand." This must be referred to the word "thou Savior," viz.
of those who trust in you against those who oppose your right hand. Thereby he arouses bitter hatred against the adversaries, since their nonsensical behavior already rages no longer against what is his, but against what is God's. They set themselves against your right hand, it is about your cause.
See, then, how soon a violent movement can make an excellent speaker. Does he not prove to be an exceedingly good orator? He praises his cause, he puts himself in favor, he accuses the adversaries, he stirs up hatred against them, and with marvelous art makes the judge not only benevolent, but also heated and eager, and that (which is the highest adornment of oratory) with very short and substantial words; not as if God required this in order that he might be moved, but the more our faith flares up, the more God works through him. But we have said that the wicked, because they do not recognize God nor His works, since they do not think of Him as wonderful, but rather think of Him according to their own sense, necessarily set themselves against the right hand of God.
Almost everyone is unanimous in the opinion that the arm and right hand of God signify the power and strength of God, since this figurative speech is taken from people who use the right hand as their most effective and powerful limb and instrument of the body. However, Augustine almost everywhere takes the right hand of God for the gracious disposition of God, which does not contradict the truth, since the right hand, the power or strength of God is the grace, the favor, the mercy of God Himself, through which He powerfully sustains us against the will of all enemies. Therefore Isaiah, Cap. 53, 1Christ calls us "the arm of the LORD". And Ps. 98, 1. it says: "He conquers with his right hand, and with his holy arm." Paul calls Christ 1 Cor. 1, 24 "divine power and divine wisdom"; Rom. 1, 16 he calls the gospel "a power of God".
In short, the word of God, that Christ is preached to us, is that by which we are preserved, sustained, built up and united, as it were by an unconquerable right, an immovable rock, an unshakable foundation, a cornerstone, a victorious horn.
1016 L. xvi, 24-26. Works on the first 22 Psalms. Ps. 1. 7, 7. 8. W. iv, 1295-1298. 1017
to gain the victory in everything and through everything. This is to be said once and for all of the right hand of God, because by nothing else than by his word he makes us alive, begets, nourishes, educates, trains, protects, preserves us, and leads us in triumph into eternal life. Thus it is said in Ps. 118, 15. f.: "The right hand of the Lord keeps the victory, the right hand of the Lord is exalted" 2c. But I do not know if the opinion of Augustine can always hold true and exist everywhere, because of Ps. 21, 9. where it says: "Your right will find those who hate you." In this passage the right of the Lord does not seem to be taken for grace, mercy or the word of grace, one would have to understand it in the way Christ says Joh. 12, 48: "The word which I have spoken will judge him at the last day."
The other verse: "Keep me as the apple of his eye." This is taken from Deut. 32:10: "He led him, and kept him as the apple of his eye." The second part of this verse is also taken from the same chapter: "Protect me under the folds of your wings," for it says there, v. 11: "As an eagle carries out its young, and hovers over them. He spread forth his wings, and took him, and bare them upon his wings." So also Christ says Matt. 23:37: "How often have I gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her chicks under her wings!"
But this verse contains a repetition (est tautologicus), by which he makes the danger great, and in the movement of a great concern behaves as if he could not be sufficiently protected from the persecutions of the wicked. This is indeed so, and we see it also in the apostles Peter and Paul, who so often inculcate and repeat the dangers of human statutes that it seems they could not have made us as careful as they would have liked. Therefore, here is the emotion of a man who is afraid of a very great danger and flees from it, as we see in little children who rush to the bosom of their parents and cling tightly to their necks as soon as they fear any danger.
51 We must also have such a mindset.
against God, our Father, against the fear of hypocrites and saints of works, from whom we should take care, as Christ also commanded [Matth. 7, 15.], so that He may guard us most diligently and carefully. For in truth one cannot be sufficientlyware of this evil, since it derives its origin and reputation even from the example of really and truly godly and holy fathers. Since everyone now considers it extremely godly to follow their works, no one at the same time takes care that he should not have imitated their works, but the faith that was the source of them, even though one must do far different works. For to follow the works of the fathers is said to belong to the pagan virtues, and Virgil may praise the brave deeds of the fathers, represented in gold in chased work (caelata), 1) and Cicero may seek glory in the fact that he is rich in examples of virtue in his family. We Christians must certainly look more to faith, as it says in 2 Cor. 4, 13: "But because we have the same spirit of faith, we also believe, therefore we also speak." And Heb. 13, 7. "Remember your teachers, who have told you the word of God, which end look on, and follow their faith." And in the eleventh chapter he only cites the faith of the fathers as an example, as he also says in Rom. 4, 23. f. that the faith of Abraham was written for our sake, so that we also might believe.
Since even the most holy works of the holy fathers are dangerous and harmful, if an example is made of them without the faith by which they were sanctified, what dangers and prayers must not so many rules, statutes, decrees, laws of the most godless men bring with them, whose works they cannot prove by any examples of the fathers, but invent everything from their own heads, and deceive the souls of men?
And from this you can see what need there is for the request of careful guarding, for such an extensive prayer, for the so persistent and urgent concern of this prophet, yes, of the people of God in this Psalm.
1) VirA. lit). I, v. 640 f.
In truth, a thousand fall on the left and ten thousand on the right, because the cunning of the dragon corrupts more people than the violence of the lion. And what do the great multitude of preachers in the church, who are not right in the doctrine of faith, present to us from the stories of the saints but some wretched works? until, since faith has been extinguished, there is nothing left but pagan superstition, where once the church of God was, and only the name of the church has remained, but the thing itself is completely lost.
But even the request that the eyeball be protected is not without mystery. For faith is the eye, yes, the apple of the eye, which nian must guard very carefully, because it is very easily injured. For just as a man, when the apple of his eye is corrupted, walks blindly in darkness, so a man without faith is completely in darkness. Thus it is said in Luc. 11, 34: "The eye is the light of the body. If then thine eye be single, thy whole body is light. But if thine eye be evil, thy body also is dark.
The same secret is found "in the shadow of the wings". For the two wings are the words of both testaments, but the shadow is the faith in God's word, the darkness of the spiritual soul, in which it is safely hidden from the vultures and predatory teachers.
V. 9. before the wicked who disturb me (afflixerunt, before my enemies who stand around and around after my soul.
56. This verse is connected with the previous words: "Protect me, shield me from the wicked" (that is, from those who are holy, righteous and great by their works, not by faith). Jerome, instead of afflixerunt [they have afflicted], has more properly vastaverunt [they have disturbed]. For this is lamented, that by ungodly teachers mainly the church of God is disturbed. So also Paul says of himself Gal. 1, 13: "I persecuted the church of God and disturbed it." For the persecution as a very obvious evil does less harm than the disturbing, which is a glaring evil under the name of something exceedingly good. But afflixerunt can stand for the pain that the people of God suffer through the disturbance of the church of God.
tes, which is hardly surpassed by any other pain.
57 In Hebrew it is more emphatically said: "Before the wicked"; they have disturbed me. As if he wanted to say: I fought with the tyrants as with quite external enemies, and here I increased and became strong. But these ungodly ones, these inward enemies, who instead of being shepherds, prove to be wolves, instead of angels of light are angels of Satan, instead of servants of Christ are servants of Antichrist, these are the ones, finally, God be lamented, who disturb me in the most miserable way. Here, great and careful protection is necessary, as for the apple of one's eye. Just as 1) I have otherwise disturbed the tyrants and the world, so I am now defeated and disturbed by my own household.
58 [Vulgate:] Inimici mei animam meam circumdederunt. The Hebrew text does not have meam, but so: My enemies in the soul 2) have raised a siege (in anima, obsederunt) against me, where the word "soul" seems to me to refer to the enemies, because he adds at the end: "against me," to describe the snorting rage of the wicked, with which they rage against the disciples of faith, for their own righteousness. For we have said in the 11. 3) Psalm [§ 33] that in Scripture actually the sensation of desire and disgust, or of coveting and loathing, is ascribed to the soul, as Gen. 34, 8.: "My son Shechem's heart (anima) longs for your daughter." Whereas Deut. 26, 30: "My soul shall be disgusted with you." And Deut. 21, 5: "Our soul is disgusted at this loose food."
59 Therefore the meaning of this part is: Those who are hostile to me in my soul, that is, with great desire and heat they have surrounded me, or made a circle against me, as it is said in Ezek. 25, 15. It says: "Therefore the Philistines have smelled themselves and atoned for the old hatred, according to all their will (tota anima), to the harm of my people." This
1) Hua vies. So the Weimarsche, In the original edition of the Erlanger and in the Baseler: Haas viei.
2) Jenaer and Erlanger: animo instead of: anima in the other editions.
3) In all editions: "ks. 10", according to the Vulgate count.
1020 xvi, 28-3o. Works on the first 22 Psalms. Ps. 17, 9. 10. W. iv, 1302-1305. 1021
We Germans are also accustomed to punish the nonsense of an impatient desire in this way: "He acts as if it meant his life. An example of this can be seen in the Jews who followed Christ and Paul, and in our time in the magistrates who persecute heretics, in the sophists, the flatterers of the pope, and in the monastic sects. Lucas summarizes this "soul" or burning desire with regard to Paul in these words, Apost. 9, 1.: "But Paul 2) still snorted with threats and murders against the disciples of the Lord." For we see how those who burn with this desire (hac anima) draw breath with sharp and hurried snorting, until they can accomplish what they fiercely demand to do, so that it seems as if they wanted to breathe out the soul. But also in Latin anima is taken for the breath (anhelitu), as in Plautus: Does the breath (anima) of your wife stink?
60. in Latin it does not read well: circumdederunt or obsederunt adversum me, but in Hebrew it is good and contains much in itself, if one takes the word circumdederunt without closer relation (absoluto statu), in this way: My enemies have undertaken a siege with incredible eagerness - by which, however, they subdue more than is in their powers - and have set themselves in a circle, and all this against me, that they may disturb me and put me out of the way.
61 Thus you see how suitably and briefly he describes the power, the multitude, and the pretensions of the ungodly teachers, how they conspire together, how they are on all sides inferior to the godly, how they help one another, how they all have good confidence down to the last man 3) and rage against the doctrine of godliness, how all this can be better understood by example and experience than taught by words.
1) kravitatis üaeretica" ms^istris can also mean: the magisters who teach heresy. This expression, mL^istris instead of In^uisitoridus, Luther has chosen, because it aims at the Prierias, muZistruir" 8acri pulatii, who was at the same time the highest heresy judge. Cf. Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. XVIII, Introduction p. 16.
2) In all editions: Saul instead of: Saul.
3) In all editions sperant, for which probably better Spirant they should be read "snort".
V. 10. Their fat ones hold together, they speak proudly with their mouths. 4)
Jerome has it a little differently according to the Hebrew: Ore suo locuti sunt superbe, but it is the same sense. Dear, what is adipem claudere? The literal meaning escapes us, so we must resort to the figurative interpretation. It is Ps. 78:31 [Vulg.], "And he slew their fat ones, and the elect in Israel he hindered." And before that, Deut. 32:15: "He became fat and thick and strong," where it is clear that the fat ones mean the rich, the noble, the mighty, "the great Hansen" who stand out before the others. Likewise Ezek. 34, 3. [Vulg.], "That which was fat ye slaughtered." And also in German, in figurative speech, we call the rich and those who (as they say) sit in fat, the fat ones. These form Agag, the king of the Amalekites, a very fat man, 1 Sam. 15, 32., 5) and Eglon, the king of the Moabites, who was likewise very fat. Judg. 3, 17. 22. Therefore it is said in 3 Mos. 3, 16. f.: "All fat is the Lord's. Let this be a perpetual custom." It was also not permitted for the Jews to eat blood or fat, which means that the spirit may have wanted to indicate that we should not let ourselves be blown out by good days, and not be troubled by adversities; nor live calmly and joyfully in that case, and be angry and grieved in this case; nor look up admiringly to the great as flatterers, nor be afraid of their terror.
63 So we have "the fat" of the ungodly teachers, the rich and powerful of this world. For so it goes with the doctrine of ungodliness, that the mighty of the world cleave unto it. For the food of Behemoth is chosen, Habak. 1, 16 [Vulg.], while the poor and lowly only adhere to the word of godliness. But this fatness of the wicked is "closed" (clauditur), as I understand it, when the rich and the strong unite, join together, hold the same and do the same, like a circle or a wreath closed and united in itself.
loeuturn est superdiam.
5) In the Vulgate: pinZuissiinus.
den wird. "They come together and hold over the heap, the great Hansen." This is pictured 1 Sam. 23, 26. since Saul and his men surrounded David like a garland (in modum coronae [Vulg.] that they sing him. In this sense it says Ps. 119, 23: "The princes also sit and speak against me," and again [v. 161]: "The princes persecute me without cause," and Ps. 54, 5: "Defiant ones stand after my soul." The examples in the church are before our eyes.
64 "They speak proudly with their mouths," or pride. This is spoken of in the 10th Psalm, v. 2: "Because the wicked are proud" and Ps. 12, 5 [Vulg.]: "We will make our tongue great." For trusting in their fatness, they not only do not hear the poor man's counsel, as he calls it Ps. 14:6, but also defiantly disgrace him and demand recantation or command silence. We, they say, are the teachers of the people, we teach what is right, but all others must obey. But why does he say, "with their mouth"? can anyone also speak with his nose? But he distinguishes their mouth from the mouth of GOD. For he who speaks the truth speaks with the mouth of God; he who speaks with his own mouth speaks lies. Christ says John 8:44: "When he speaketh lies, he speaketh of his own."
V. 11. Where we walk, they surround us; their eyes they direct to bring us down to the earth. 1)
Jerome: Incedentes adversum me, nunc circumdederunt me, oculos suos posuerunt declinare in terram. I do not understand at all what this [in the Vulgate and in Jerome's translation] is supposed to mean. The Hebrew does not say adversum me, nor projicientes me. But I translate it this way: Ambulaverunt, nunc circumdederunt me, oculos suos posuerunt ad declinationes in terra. Passing over the opinion of others, I venture this explanation: After he said that the wicked had laid siege with burning desire against the people of GOD, then
1) Vulgate: krchieisntss ras, nnno airenrnützäernnt ni6. Oenlvs snos siatnerunt. üeolinurs in tkri-run.
had fortified themselves by the great multitude of the great ones of this world, and had spoken proudly and contemptuously of him and against him, he now reports the ungodly certainty and presumption of them which sprang from this, saying:
(66) Ambulaverunt, that is, they are hardened by confidence in their fat, and walk along proudly and confidently, so that the verb ambulaverunt or incesserunt stands without closer relation (absolute), for: They are incessants; "they walk along, are sure of their things, have already caught me," abide in their ways and counsels, being sure that all they undertake is right, and all that is contrary is ungodly. And so they sing songs of victory even before the victory. And: nunc circumdederunt me, that is, they consider me already captured and defeated, even before they catch me, so sure and certain are they. For thus the adverb nunc seems to me to be used to indicate certainty or presumption, as if it were desperate and already done for the people of God. For such confidence and thoughts and speeches have the wicked, where they see themselves fortified by the multitude of the great, against the poor, solitary (paucum) and lowly, saying, "It is now done, it is finished."
(67) Nor can I see how the adverb nunc in this place could express anything other than what I have said. For since, as is quite clear, he speaks of the future power and cunning, indeed, since he asks against it, it cannot mean the present one, except insofar as it is present in its madness and presumption; therefore he will ask afterwards that God will precede the wicked. For indeed, if God did not precede, it would be the same as if the power were already present, which, in the opinion of all, seems so certain to occur.
How now our interpreter with his projicientes me wants to agree with this, I do not know, unless we wanted to say, that those who step in with too much certainty consider the people of God as a thing that can be thrown away, which is easily and contemptuously thrown out, as the apostle calls himself a refuse and garbage of this world, 1 Cor. 4, 13. And it seems
1024 D- xvi- 32-34. Works on the first 22 Psalms. Ps. 17, 11-13. w. iv, 1308-isii. 1025
as if David had drawn this Psalm from his own history, 1 Sam. 23, 19. when Saul with the Siphites persecuted him so that it was desperate for him; and that he had applied this example to prophecy, for the words fit very well.
68 Oculos suos posuerunt declinare in terra. I would like to understand this to mean that it is said of the reputation of persons, that it is a complaint of the godly people against the wicked, who stubbornly cling to persons, seek high things, despise the lowly, contrary to the commandment of the Lord, Ex 23:2: "Thou shalt not follow the multitude to evil, nor answer in judgment, that thou depart from the right according to the multitude." So they do not fix their eyes on the simple matter of truth, but let them be diverted and give them over to obedience to all the will of the great and the many who rule on earth. So the meaning is: They let themselves think that I am already defeated, despise my cause, and look at it and turn their eyes to where their fat is closed. All that they do, their eyes are drawn and led, they agree with it and applaud it, and in this they are obstinate, because they have resolved to keep them so turned away, completely turned away from the cause of truth, as if they wanted to do God a service.
But he adds: in terra [on earth, which must not be referred to the eyes, but to the things (causas). Therefore I have translated: to the deviations on earth (ad declinationes in terra), that is, the earthly (terrenas). That is to say, they follow the hint of the great ones on earth, and wherever those deviate and strive, they also deviate; forgetting all the heavenly commandments of God, they stubbornly follow the earthly 1) deviations and the earthly things of the wise. Therefore they are reminded in vain, in vain I give account, in vain I pray; they are moved more by their fat than by my words. Therefore nothing remains but that I take refuge in you, who judge rightly.
1) Only the Jena edition has here terreoas Indian all other editions terreas ^irvene^.
V. 12. like a lion desiring prey, like a young lion sitting in the den. 2)
Here is a manifest error of the interpreter, for the Hebrew has not susceperunt me, but similitudo ejus [its image]. For in this psalm it does not deal with the catching, but with the taking of the wicked, by which they would gladly cut off the godly. Hence Jerome: Similitudo ejus sicut leonis desiderantis praedam, et quasi catuli leonis sedentis in occultis [his image is like that of a lion desiring prey, and like a young lion sitting in secret]. And the sense is evident and easy, as we had it also in the 10th Psalm, v. 9. "He lieth in wait in secret, as a lion in the den," where, as well as here, the cruel pursuits and lurking of the wicked are indicted. For it has been said there [Ps. 10, § 77] that this hidden thing is that which is concealed with art and cunning, that the simple and godly may be caught. A truly beautiful and appropriate simile, for just as a lion lies in wait to kill animals in the flesh, so a godless teacher tries everything to destroy souls. And Christ interprets this verse Matth. 7, 15. like this: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing (behold, the stalking in secret), but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
Thus we see that the Psalm does not speak of the persecution of tyrants, but of the wicked, who deceive many to destruction. But at the same time, when they are resisted, they threaten, and if they can, they even kill the saints of God. But the arrogance and pride of Moab is greater than his power [Isa. 16, 6.], and desires more than he is able, as it is said there.
V. 13. Arise, O Lord, overcome him and humble him; deliver my soul from the wicked by the sword. 3)
2) Vulgate: Zuseepei-not ras sieut teo paratus aä xraedarn, et, kieub eatuMs leonls yaditavs in additiv.
3) Vulgate: LxsurM homily, xraeveni eom, kuxplanta euru, eripe animam ineu.ro ad iinxio, krarueam tuurn, ud inimieis rnanus tuae.
In my opinion, there is hardly a passage in the Psalter that is as dark as this one, even in Hebrew. In our case, however, there is, first of all, the even darker [Latin] translation, and secondly, the confusion in the division. Therefore, we want to divide this verse again as it is in Hebrew, namely, according to Jerome's process in this way: Arise, O Lord, come before his face, bend it, save my soul from the wicked, who is thy sword. So it is obvious that ab inimicis manus tuae belongs to the following verse, and that frameam tuam is badly put into the accusative, also badly referred to "my soul", since it must be referred to the wicked. But if someone should like to call his soul a sword somewhere, his sense shall not be stubbornly taken away from him.
73. So he says: Since these ravening wolves try everything, and have many and great helpers, so that it is impossible for us, who are few, to endure or avoid their attacks (machinas), we have nothing else but to lift up our eyes to you, so that you may hear us and forestall the wicked, and make us cautious and wise by your spirit, so that we may avoid his deadly thoughts, and so that, when he comes, you may humble him through us who are ready, and make us triumph over him.
74 For God does not come before and cast down so that the wicked may no longer fei, but so that he may not harm, just as He does not take away the basilisk and the dragon, but yet gives that one may walk on them and trample them underfoot, Ps. 91:13. He does not remove the temptation, but He does not lead into temptation. So Paul teaches the Ephesians [Cap. 6, 11. ff.] that they should be armed with the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit, and be booted up on the legs to push the gospel.
75. "Save (salva) or deliver (eripe) my soul from the wicked, who is your sword." This passage is well to note that the heretics and the false teachers are a punishment (plaga) inflicted by God's wrath, not unlike the punishment of old of the
The punishment must rather be averted by a humble prayer to God, and God must be reconciled. Therefore, the punishment must rather be averted and God reconciled by a humble prayer to God than by fighting against them with the powers of reason or learning, so that the victory may be in the mercy of God, who was moved by our tears, not in our works. For it is not for us to save our souls from these ungodly ones, much less to overcome them, as he says here, "Save my soul from the ungodly." Now if we despise this prayer and attack them with violence, fire, and insults (as is done nowadays), there is no doubt that the attackers are twofold heretics and incomparably more wicked than those who attack them, because they attack the wrath of God with their insults, and with their violence, and with mere arrogance: but what nonsense can be greater than this?
But take heed how terrible an expression he uses, that he calls the wicked "a sword" of God; for a rod or a staff would be a lighter wrath. The rod hews and saves the soul from hell, as Solomon says [Proverbs 23:14]. Therefore God out of great mercy says Ps. 89, 33: "I will punish their sin with the rod, and their iniquity with plagues." But the sword kills and separates the soul [from the body], and as GOD is great, so is His sword great, and the great sword corrupts great and many people.
The first, pure church was often beaten with the paternal rod, less often with the sword, and this beating was, in the eyes of the flesh, very harsh and violent, but in reality and in the eyes of the Lord, exceedingly mild. This was followed by the persecution of the heretics, which seemed far less severe in the eyes of the flesh. But it was far more cruel and harmful, because it corrupted many more people. However, there was still something of the mercy of God left, because the truth was given on the day when the fathers fought with the Scriptures, and the Word of God reigned in many.
At this last exceedingly evil time rages
1028 L- xvi, 36-38. Works on the first 22 Psalms. Ps. 17, 13. 14. W. iv, 1314-13:7. 1029
Under the rule of the church alone that sword of the wicked with terrifying tyranny, in that no one opposes it. Here everything seems to be quite peaceful and mild, since the tyrants do not persecute, the heretics are not fought with. Being thus free from these two persecutions, we almost all perish by the sword of the wicked, not seeing that under this peace the most cruel persecution prevails, since, after God's word is extinguished, we are drawn to hell in heaps by the word of men.
(78) In my judgment, however, among all the swords of the wicked, we will rightly have to consider Pelagian wickedness the greatest and most harmful. For, as we see, this psalm, indeed, the whole of Scripture, is especially zealous against it. For what do the prophets and the apostles have more to do with than to fight for the righteousness of faith against the righteousness of men? Therefore the Pelagian error is in truth the error of all lines, which has been suppressed many times, but never eradicated. All other errors have been eradicated after some time, but this one the prophets have put down, Christ and Paul have overcome it, but nevertheless it crept in again and again until Pelagius was born, raised its head and began to defend it freely. Then God had mercy on us again and awakened Augustine, who put him down for a while. But after Augustine, he rose again and finally kept the upper hand, because not only did no one oppose him, but the Roman Church even commanded and forced him, the universities taught him publicly, the bishops, the princes and the whole world followed him, as if he were an exceedingly good and Christian cause. For the fact that some in Paris and elsewhere began to rebel against it, as we see, did nothing.
(79) Yes, this error is the source of all idolatry, and always has a different appearance, depending on when it appears. For when have there ever been idolaters who did not make themselves believe that they pleased God by their virtues and powers? And with what then goes the pelagia
What is the difference between the two? Therefore, Pelagius is justified in taking his name from the sea (a pelago), because this error is a kind of sea of error that floods the whole world. For it is actually the wisdom of the flesh itself, which is always hostile to God and never subject to Him, Rom. 8, 7.
V. 14: Of the people of your hand, O Lord, of the people of this world, who have their portion in this life, whom you fill with your treasure, who have children in abundance, and leave the rest to their young. 1)
This is a verse in Hebrew. We will now continue with this very dark passage as we started and see if we can do anything. First we want to look at the translations. From our Latin translation nothing can be inferred, much less from Jerome, who translated thus: A viris manus tuae, Domine, qui mortui sunt in profundo, quorum pars in vita, et quorum de absconditis tuis replesti ventrem, qui saturabuntur filiis, et qui dimittent reliquias suas parvulis suis. Dear, what must we hear here! I am forced to use the worst teacher, that is, myself, therefore I will present my opinion without prejudice and presumption. Whoever has better, let him help me; whoever does not have it, let him judge mine favorably. I translate first word for word: Of the men of your hand, O Lord, of the men of this world (de substantia), their part is in life, and with your hidden things you will fill their belly, they will be filled with children, they have put aside their leftovers for their little children.
The first part of the verse consists of five members, the last has only one member. But with these words, which are full of extraordinarily diminutive speech (tapinosi), he explains who the wicked one is, that sword of God in relation to whom he has asked that his soul be saved from him, and describes him with six characteristics. The first
is: "Of the men of your hand, O Lord", which is the same as if he said: Of the lost and hardened people, who must be damned for eternity. For in such a manner he seems to call them men of the hand of the LORD, because of what is said 2 Mos. 14, 30. f.: "They saw the Egyptians dead on the shore of the sea, and the great hand which the LORD had shewed upon the Egyptians." And Deut. 32:41: "When I shall whet the lightning of my sword, and my hand shall take hold to punish; then will I again avenge myself on mine enemies, and recompense them that hate me." Isa. 9, 12: "In all this his wrath is not yet abated; his hand is yet stretched out." Job 19:21: "For the hand of God has moved me." Therefore one also says in German of those who are struck by the blow: "The hand of God has touched him." But it seems to be something common with this prophet that he takes the hand of GOD for the vengeance of GOD, as we have seen Ps. 10, 14.: "It is in your hands," as also Ps. 21, 9.: "Your hand will find all your enemies." And Ps. 39, 11.: "I am faint from the punishment of thy hand." Therefore also the apostle Hebr. 10, 31. speaks with a voice of thunder: "Terrible is it to fall into the hands of the living GOD," as is more expansively said in the 10th Psalm [§89. § 101 f.].
The second characteristic: "Of the people of this world" (a viris de substantia). For this Jerome has, "They that are dead in the deep." For it is the same expression throughout; here: "of the people" (a viris), which in the first characteristic meant: "of the people of your hand" (although now the word, which stands in both places, has some relationship with the word "death" in the Hebrew), so that for Jerome there can be no reason, why he wanted to translate there "of the people", here "who are dead", because it should have been translated either in both places 1) "of those who are dead" or in both places "of the people".
83) For in both places the Hebrew word is not or or another, by which some outstanding
1) It seems to us that the words: n viris sou are too much, so we have omitted them.
man, but which is sometimes translated by few or despised people, as Deut. 4, 27.: "And shall be left a lowly rabble," as if he wanted to indicate the yeast of the people and the least among men, as he said Ps. 12, 9.: "Where such loose people rule among men." And Isa. 3:4, "I will give them young men to be princes, and childish ones shall rule over them." This may have moved the Latin interpreter to say, "of few" (a paucis), not because they are few in number, but much more in position. Their number is the greatest of all, but among them there is no one or only a few men who have done a great work or have a great name, as it is said in Isa. 3:1 f.: "The Lord will take from Jerusalem and Judah mighty men and men of war," 2c. which nicely explains the meaning of this word. Therefore, they are little people and are kept only for the vengeance of God, among whom there is not one man worthy of God, although there are many of them.
De substantia ["of this world"], which our interpreter de terra, Jerome, has translated in profundo, is the same expression that David also uses in Ps. 39, 6. "Behold, my days are as the breadth of a hand before thee, and my life (substantia) is as nothing before thee," where it is wanted that substantia signifies a certain duration of time, as if he meant to say, Substantia mea, that is, the time that I am here and live is as nothing before thee 2) as also Job 7:16. [Vulg.], "For my days are nothing," and this meaning pleases me very well. For David took this passage from the Psalm of Moses, Ps. 90, 4. f. [Vulg.], "For a thousand years are before thee as the day that passed yesterday, and as a night watch; what is thought to be nothing shall be their years." Hence comes the word [Ps. 39:6, Vulg.], "Behold, thou hast appointed my days to be measured." In the Hebrew it is said of a short measure, namely, a handbreadth, as if to say the word, Job 14:1, "Man, born of woman, liveth a short time," and after that [v. 5. Vulg.], "The days of man are short."
2) Weimarsche: äo instead of: to.
1032 D. xvi, 4o-i2. Works on the first 22 Psalms. Ps. 17, 14. W. iv, 1320-1323. 1033
The meaning is: Save my soul from the people of this world (de substantia) or from the people of the world (viris substantiae) (that is, from the very least people, who are only here for this extremely short life, that is, from the children of this very uncertain world, who have nothing but the short and uncertain existence or duration of this life), because they are rejected people and people of your hand. And it could seem that our Latin interpreter intended this, since he said: A paucis de1 ) terra already few of the earth), that is, of those who are the least and of the earth, earthly minded, and devoted only to this temporal life.
The third characteristic is: "They have their part in their life. In vitis, for it is [in Hebrew] "life" in the plural. So also in the preceding Psalm [Ps. 16, 11.]: "You make known to me the way to life" (vitarum). So the meaning is: The portion and happiness of these people is not in the future life, but in the present goods. For "they grow old in good days," as Job says [Cap. 21, 13], are content with that and consider the valuable (desiderabile) land as nothing, receive their reward here, because they are people of your hand.
The prophet uses "life" in the plural, because of the many ways of using this life, as Augustine aptly says about the word Ps. 63, 4: "For your goodness is better than life" (vitas). He says: "There are many kinds of human life (vitae), one chooses the country life, another the life of a merchant, still another the soldier's life, another again another. So also today we choose different (as it is called) orders or states of life. But few of them prepare themselves for death and long for eternal life; all of them would rather remain in the state they are in, being satisfied with that part of their life, than die. In this crude nature are above all those godless hypocrites, who are most attached to this life, fear death
1) In all editions cle is missing, which must stand according to the Vulgate.
and do not care about eternal life, like the Jews in the desert.
Is it not an extraordinarily diminishing speech (tapinosis) that the desire of the godless people is directed only to this very miserable life? They are content with it, they do not like to leave it. And it is not to be wondered at, since they not only do not have the faith that overcomes sin and death, which is a mercy of God that is better than any state in life, but also fight it with all their might, although they do nothing but pretend that they desire life and despise death, that they are chosen and desire eternal life. But there is falsehood in their spirit, and in fact they deny it.
89. The fourth characteristic is, "And with your hidden things you will fill their belly." What is this but that they are belly servants, and born only to eat and drink? For it has been said in the 4th, 5th, 10th, and 14th Psalms, that the teachers of ungodliness are everywhere in Scripture ascribed avarice and belly-servants, of whom also the apostle says [Phil. 3:19.], "Whose belly is their god." But God, who hates unbelief and ungodliness, also lets his wrath come upon them, as Ps. 78, 21. f. is said of them, and as Paul Col. 3, 6. speaks: "The wrath of God comes upon the children of unbelief." Therefore, he fills their belly with his bars (absconditis), and gives them what they desire, and "makes them atone for their lust," as it says in the same 78th Psalm, v. 29, that is, he fills their belly, he gives them what they desire, and makes them take their reward in this life, because they do not wait for the one to come.
90. But he says: "With your hidden things", that is, what you have kept (reservatis). Thus he calls the goods and chattels (substantiam) of this world, with which God nourishes (pascit) people in this life. For in every year God lets this come forth again and hands it out, as it were, from His secret store. For a man can neither miss where it comes from, nor could he find it if he sought for it, if God did not of His own free will miraculously provide everything.
gave. So this expression is similar to the one in the 135th Psalm, v. 7: "He brings forth the winds out of his treasures" (thesauris, that means out of the hidden), because "the wind blows where it wants, but you do not know from where it comes or where it goes", Joh. 3, 8. So it is also with the bread, wine and all things, of which this life needs; they all come, and we use them, and do not know where they come from. By this word he punishes at the same time in a very special way the foolishness of godlessness, that it knows well that the things of which it uses are not its own, nor even in its power. But even so, it does not yet learn to trust in God. Yes, which word in this whole verse does not attack the foolish godlessness with many images? Everything is said in the most suitable, strongest and most complete way, if only it would be considered with an attentive heart.
91. the fifth characteristic is: "they will be satisfied with children", that is, they will have children in abundance, for this they also desire among other things, that they have beautiful, fertile, rich wives, beget many beautiful, in every respect praiseworthy sons and daughters, so that they get their way and the thing with the children goes out according to all their desires. For the word "they shall be satisfied" refers not only to the number of children, but much more to the condition of them, namely, that they may be rich, honored, prosperous, and fit for all the splendor of this world. Children may have. For we see this desire everywhere among parents, and David says here that this vice prevailed among the godless Jews of his time.
And he speaks much more expansively of Ps. 144:10 ff. where he interprets this verse thus: "Deliver me from the murderous sword of the wicked, and deliver and deliver me from the hand of the strange children, whose mouth speaketh vain things, and whose right hand is an ungodly hand, whose sons are as new plantings in their youth, whose daughters are well-formed, beautifully adorned like the temple. Their storehouses are full, and can give out one store after another; their sheep are fruitful, great is their number.
Their oxen are fat; there is no falling down of a wall, nor harm, nor clamor in their streets. Blessed are the people, they say, to whom it is so; blessed are the people, whose God is the Lord. Does he not say here with oratorical fullness the same thing that he touches here in this verse in extreme brevity (dialectico compendio)?
So also Paul says very briefly Phil. 3, 18. f.: "I also say with weeping, the enemies of the cross of Christ; for whom the belly is their god, which end is condemnation, and their glory is put to shame, of those who are earthly minded. And what speech could have more aptly portrayed the lives of bishops, monks and all clergy? Do they not all seek all this more than even the world? But, surely, they are not satiated with children? In any case, they are also sorry that they are not free to do so; without a doubt, they would surpass the worldly people in this respect as well. But what is the matter with them that they do not have children and wives, since instead of these they have their spiritual creatures and flatterers according to their will alone, to whom they turn everything? Not [says the Prophet this], as if one should not provide the children with a respectable sustenance, but that one satiates oneself on the children, that one pleases oneself in the splendid and abundant provision of the children, and thereby wants to be counted among the godly people, this he punishes.
The sixth characteristic is: "And they leave their remaining things to their young. That is, they are careful to set aside and keep much that is superfluous to them (for they are not satisfied with what is necessary), which they may leave to their heirs, only so that their children after them may be rich and prosperous, which is also what the poet Persius punished the pagans for. Thus the bishops and clergy anxiously strive only that they may increase the inheritance of Christ, and thus leave it behind them increased. But they do this only as very good and holy people, that is, as godless. For nowadays it is called governing the churches well, when one increases their treasures, builds houses, provides the children, that is, their descendants, with the means that they can indulge. In this verse, therefore, he has described the whole disposition of the wicked.
1036 n. Lvi, tt-L6. Works on the first 22 Psalms. Ps. 17, 14. 15. w. iv, 1326-1329. 1037
who, although they are only earthly-minded, still want to appear as good people, and by their appearance, then also by their hypocritical teachings, corrupt very many.
95 "The rest" in this place is that which is superfluous, and is to be understood as that which is superfluous, namely, the superfluity of the parents, lest anyone understand it as being said of the remaining lumps, which, when the best things have been taken away, are wont to be left, as it were, as lees, since here he understands rich inheritances. Hence it is also derived in Hebrew from a word meaning an advantage, an abundance.
96 And dimiserunt [in the Vulgate) stands for: they have put back (reposuerunt), that is, they have heaped up with all diligence treasures that are superfluous to them in order to enrich their children and heirs.
97 Knowing this, it is easy to rhyme together the Latin translation (nostram, the Vulgate) and that of Jerome. For "of the enemies of thy hand" is different only in expression from "of the people of thy hand," for they are indeed enemies and reprobate people. "Of a few from the earth" has been brought into agreement [§§ 84. 85). Jerome calls them "dead in the depths," perhaps because they live in the highest esteem and enjoy only this briefly measured (spatio) time, but inwardly they are dead before God. The word: Divide eos invita eorum (divide them in their life) will thus coincide with the other: Give them their part (partire eos), that is, give them their reward in their life, as they have chosen the lot of this life. The rest is not contrary to each other.
V. 15. but I will behold thy face in righteousness; I will be satisfied when I awake in thy image. 1)
Jerome has more correctly: I will see your face in righteousness, when I will be awake in your image. This he contrasts with what he had said of the ungodly. They are earthly-minded, they are satisfied with children, and they take their part in this life; but to me this life is contemptible, I hasten to the life to come, where, not in riches but in righteousness, I shall see not these perishable earthly things, but thy face itself. I shall not be satisfied with children according to the flesh, but when I shall be awakened) by thy image; as it is said in 1 John 3:2, "But we know that when it shall appear, we shall be like it," so that similitudine tua must not be drawn to "I shall awaken," but to "I shall be satisfied"; for by the manifested face of God, which is the glory and the clarity of God, we shall be satisfied. And beautifully he has put a word of resurrection: "when I awake", namely from the sleep of death, so that he may teach us that our satiety is not in this life, but in the life to come. There is nothing that would go against the right sense in our Latin translation of this verse, for the glory of God will appear when we have risen from the sleep of death and have been made like Him. But the Hebrew text indicates the resurrection more clearly than our Latin translation.
sxeetni tno, satiabor, euni apparuerit ^loria tna.
2) Only the Basel edition has interpunctuated correctly here. According to Luther's explanation that follows immediately, there must be a comma after evi^ilavero.