publicly recited by Martin Luther in 1531,*) in the month of March.
This second Psalm, as we learn from the Acts of the Apostles [Cap. 4, 25. ff.], served to offer God the first prayer and the first thanksgiving in the Church of the New Testament. For when the disciples were gathered together, they sang and praised God, asking that in such great dangers and such great rages of the adversaries, their hearts might be strengthened and the word preached with all joy. This passage proves sufficiently that this psalm contains something especially excellent, since the apostles, who had just been filled with the Holy Spirit and were facing the first challenge or the first severe affliction (paroxysm), take hold of it by praying it, and in this way both comfort themselves and fortify themselves against all violence of the enemies. Both of these things are also very necessary for us in these last times, since we are attacked by the devil and the world with violence and cunning, as well as with all kinds of adversity and every kind of misfortune for the sake of God's word.
But it is a prophetic psalm, in which we also should praise God and pray with the apostles against the rage of the world, and certainly we should receive consolation with the apostles, which he holds out to us in abundance and emphasizes with good words and sayings. For this is what David does in this psalm, that he comforts and teaches the church about the kingdom of Christ, how it should be spread, even if the powers in the world and in the air [Eph. 2:2] do not want to allow it. Therefore it serves primarily to confirm the article about the new testament or the kingdom of Christ, that it will be a spiritual kingdom, that Christ is an eternal king who will have no successor, that he is also a priest who teaches the church; yes, that he is God by nature and brings eternal righteousness and wisdom to us.
Since this is explained in detail, it is full of comfort, and yet the prophet shows that this kingdom will be so weak in outward appearance that one would like to think that it would fall away at any moment. For it does not have any foundation or strength that can be seen, as is the case with the empires of the world, which rely on their power, wealth, large number of people and the great extent of their territory. This empire lacks all this protection; without any foundation it hangs on the mere word, like a drop of water on a bucket.
This is approximately the content of this psalm. Therefore, it is useful to teach the church, so that we may learn all the circumstances of this kingdom: what kind of king Christ is, when, where, and how he will rule his kingdom, what is consistent with this kingdom, what is contrary to it, what are the fruits or effects of this kingdom, what is its appearance before the world, what is before God and in the spirit; those who know these things have a certain and right idea of this kingdom. Then it also serves us for consolation. For we are reminded in advance that the devil and the betters will set themselves against this kingdom, and all that is high in the betters, whether through the delusion of holiness or a peculiar wisdom: all these, the prophet prophesies, will set themselves against this kingdom with common counsel.
But, you will say, this frightens more than it should comfort. Not at all. For this is also added, that both the devil and the world with all their powers and all their might 1) will do nothing else than to make God laugh and finally provoke such great indignation that all those who oppose this kingdom must perish. That one knows this is useful-
1) Jenaer and Erlanger: orünixotkutiu instead of: oinnj potdntiu.
*) In the original "1532". Because of our change, compare the first note to this writing.
It is a comforting and consoling message, and serves to give us the right idea of this kingdom, so that we do not lose heart and become despondent when we are misled by these aversions that attack this kingdom. In our time, the gospel first had great success, for everyone hoped for the same thing that the apostles hoped for before they were taught about this kingdom by the Holy Spirit, namely, that this teaching would bring worldly freedom and a quiet and peaceful life in good discipline. But since first Muenzer, who was driven by the spirit of sedition, began to stir up unrest, then Carlstadt, Zwingli and other fanatical teachers disrupted the churches, and now the real picture of this kingdom was seen, namely in the church itself confusion, in the worldly regime turmoil, Finally, in the saints the highest weakness, and since, as the poet 1) says, only this One salvation was, that one hoped for no salvation in the face of so many and such great dangers, which broke in from all ropes, then only (therefore) very many people became fainthearted and jumped off and even began to hate the gospel.
What else was the cause of this evil but that they did not know the nature of the kingdom of Christ? For it is of such a nature that it is attacked by all cords from the devil and from the world. Those who do not know this will fall away in danger and condemn the gospel as a rebellious doctrine. So that David may first fortify the hearts against these aversions, in this psalm he depicts the kingdom of Christ according to all its circumstances, and especially he makes this circumstance clear as a master in the art of oratory, that this kingdom will have so many and mighty adversaries. For from there he makes his beginning and speaks:
V. 1. Why do the Gentiles rage and the people talk in vain?
This is a very emphatic (patheticum) beginning, and an extraordinarily appropriate figure of speech. For the prophet is full of wonder, saying, What is this thing? The heathen rage, the people talk and
1) VirgNius, lik. Ill, v. 510.
not against the king of the Persians, not against the Turk, but "against the Lord. Must not these suggestions be ridiculous, foolish and futile? Therefore, no one should be afraid, no one should be frightened by these counsels, the outcome of which will show that they were completely null and void. For they are not undertaken against men, as it seems, but against the Lord. Thus he immediately draws us away from fear to hope, and gives the consolation that the people and the Gentiles will perish if they do not drop these counsels, because they counsel against God and not against men.
Read the writings of the papists and listen to their sermons, and you will find that they base themselves on this single ground of proof, that they say that nothing good has come from our teaching. For immediately after our gospel was preached, the terrible peasant revolt followed, disagreements arose in the church and mobs, discipline fell away, and as if the bars of the laws were broken, all began to make use of the greatest licentiousness; as indeed it is true. For there is now a greater licentiousness in all vices than was the case in former times, when the common people were kept in check by fear, who now, like a licentious horse, do everything according to their will. For it despises the bonds of the church with which it was previously held under the papacy, and also abuses the negligence of the secular authorities. All these damages, which are by no means small, our adversaries impose on our doctrine or on the gospel.
But postpone your judgment a little and first think about the whole thing a little more carefully, put its reason for proof into vain dialectical form and see whether this is a good conclusion: This theologian is evil, therefore theology is also evil. This jurist is not worthy, therefore the knowledge of law is also evil. This magister is a fornicator, therefore the arts he teaches are fornication. Would we not say that he would be nonsensical who would take these conclusions as good and established?
and yet the conclusions that our adversaries make are not much more understandable. But listen 1) to the Psalm which predicts that when this king will begin his kingdom, that is, when he will begin to teach, the raging of the nations will follow, the rebellion of the peoples, the battles and wars of the kings, the plots and counsel of the princes. Against whom? Against the Lord and his anointed.
Therefore, you must first fortify your conscience and, warned by the Holy Spirit in this scripture, firmly believe that the world will stir up rebellion. Do not attribute the cause of this uproar to this king or to his word, but to the devil and the ungodly world, and rather hold to the opposite, saying: "Although evil follows the teaching of this king, the teaching is not evil, but rather the people are evil who oppose the good teaching and want it suppressed. For this is a true and certain conclusion, that the more zealously the world sets itself against this holy doctrine, the angrier and more wicked it is, and that for the sake of men's error there must be no malicious gossip about the doctrine. The Jews crucify Christ, will we for that reason accuse the Teacher, Christ? We must therefore be prepared beforehand to say: What is it to God, what is it to His word, if men are evil? This is man's fault, not God's, who for this reason sends His Son and His Word so that people may be saved, but if they do not want to, they will be lost through their own fault. Christ will not cease to be God's Son for His sake, and God will not reject Him for His sake, whom He has appointed King over all things.
So the beginning of this psalm serves to instruct us that we should learn that when the kingdom or the word of God comes, it comes with rebellion and the raging of kings and princes. The cause of this is indicated by Christ in the Gospel, when he says [Luc. 11, 21. f.] that the devil, like a strong man in armor, holds his palace in peace, but when
1) Erlanger: aüi instead of: audi.
If a stronger one comes over him, then he rages and tries everything; as the histories also show. For as often as Christ tries to cast out the devil, how great a rage, how great impetuosity afflicts the possessed! For the devil hates Christ, he hates his word, and he does not want to give way to him or to the word. Therefore, when Christ stops and forces him, he becomes indignant and furious, and tries all his strength, arousing kings and princes, popes and bishops, citizens and peasants, so that they go against the word.
Our opponents do not see this, and thus show that they do not know at all what the kingdom of Christ is like; they only understand what the kingdom of the world is like. Therefore, because they do not see in Christ's kingdom the peace without which the kingdoms of the world cannot exist, they condemn and reject both the word and the kingdom of Christ, preferring the kingdoms of the world. But this psalm teaches us something quite different, namely that we should cling to the kingdom of Christ, even though all men rage. For what is that to us? For our peace is outside this turmoil and is certain, and our King remains King, even against the will of the gates of hell and the world. The world does not see this, not even those who are rich in the wisdom of the world, therefore they strive with great zeal to get us away from this king, and to lead us to their thoughts, so that we too may be anxious to keep the peace of the world. Those who deal with them hold counsel and think that peace can be preserved by human effort. But in truth these attempts are futile and foolish, which the world makes for its own sake, because it has no knowledge of this kingdom. For as you labor in vain with your counsels to prevent the devil from rebelling against Christ, so you also labor in vain to restrain his hands, eyes, tongues, and feet, that is, the princes of the world and the ungodly teachers. For if Christ only begins to open his mouth and speak softly, the devil immediately rages in his limbs, his eyes sparkle, his hands glow, his heart is set on fire, and he sets in motion all that
there is only power and wealth in the world to suppress the word.
Learn that this is the cause that even in our time sedition and so many ungodly opinions have arisen in the church. For the devil does not like the word. Since Christ is now thundering through his gospel in the whole world, exposing the papal idolatry and abominations, it is certainly not to be expected that the devil should be silent or bite off so much damage to his kingdom, 1) since we have seen that he raged so horribly when the holy man John Hus only rebuked some things concerning life (moralia). For he did not, as we do, reject the sacrifice of the Mass, not the merits, not other services; he doubted the primacy of the pope, he maintained that indulgences should not be sold, he denied purgatory, which he saw yielded so much money: and yet the devil was so moved by this that he at the same time involved Germany and Bohemia in a terrible and protracted war.
So the Holy Spirit instructs and comforts us in this psalm, so that we may firmly cling to this king, and rather look to him than to the troubles and other ailments. For this is the nature of this kingdom, that it cannot be without troubles, not through its fault, but because the devil and the ungodly world cannot stand this king. Learn this, and when troubles arise, when the heathen rage, the people talk, the kings revolt, and the princes counsel how they will oppress this king, be of good courage and do not be moved by this danger. For the second Psalm foretold that it would come to pass that the whole world would be stirred up when this king opened his mouth. That therefore the kings and princes are racing against us at this time, that Zwingli, Carlstadt and others are stirring up unrest in the church, that the citizens and peasants despise the gospel, is nothing new or unusual, and for this reason we should not throw away the gospel, but rather give thanks to your Lord, who has brought us to the-
1) This sentence: [niUaettneSretautcliKMlrrnlnrsteta. is ironic. For ease of understanding, we have given it negative.
The kingdom which we rightly esteem more highly than the peace and goods of the world, and for whose sake we gladly bear all the outrages and dangers of which the following verse also speaks.
V. 2 The kings of the land rebel, and the lords counsel with one another against the Lord and His anointed.
The Holy Spirit names here four ranks of men who oppose this king in common council. The first are "the kings" or monarchs, who have great dignity and power before others. The second are "the heathen," that is, the subjects of the kings. "The people" are the citizenry (plebes) or the cities (respublicae). But "the lords" are the inferior persons in authority, and all who are able to do something by counsel and wisdom. 2) What, then, did the Holy Spirit omit? What did he not say would be contrary to this kingdom? Power, wisdom, wealth, righteousness, holiness are excellent gifts of God, and yet the world abuses them against the kingdom of God. Is this not the utmost wickedness? But be mindful that the kingdoms are not condemned, not the principatus, not other gifts. For this does not follow: the kingdoms of the world fight against Christ's kingdom, therefore they are evil in themselves; just as this is not a correct conclusion: the iron with which the side of the Lord was opened on the cross was not a good creature; but a distinction must be made between the creature or thing and its abuse. The creature is good, even if it is abused. For the abuse does not come from the thing, but from the evil heart. Thus, civil justice, rights themselves, the arts, studies are by their nature good things, but the abuse is evil, because the world abuses these gifts against God.
2) Interesting is what the old translator offers here (more explaining than translating): "The third are the peoples and people, that is, the great mighty cities and respndliane, such as Genoa, Venice and such imperial cities. But the councillors, the fourth, are all those who are in regiments and have command, as, of the great lords, councillors, scholars and jurists."
Interpretations on the Psalms.
In this passage, the world with its kingdoms, pagans, people and lords is portrayed to us in such abuse, for no other reason than so that we, having been prepared beforehand, will not become despondent when this happens to us, that the world cries out that there is nothing with us but heresy, error, rebellion and outrage, and therefore surely condemns us, but it itself triumphs and boasts against us because of its wisdom, honor, power, yes, also because of its justice. We must get used to these sayings and therefore not lose heart. For the Holy Spirit has reminded us of this before, saying that the kings will oppose this kingdom, and the lords will take counsel to overthrow it. These, then, are the cause of the turmoil and uproar, not we, who are humble, peaceable, and calm siud; and the kind of doctrine we bring is not stormy, but exceedingly peaceable. Otherwise, if for the fault of the doctrine these disturbances occurred, it could not be otherwise than that all of us who profess this doctrine would also be restless and stormy. Now, however, we do this with the utmost diligence, that we pray for peace, that we wish that all cause for agitation be cut off. But our adversaries, as their nobility testifies, go about day and night stirring up trouble, pronouncing judgments on our necks, and inciting the lords of the world against us: and yet they accuse our doctrine as if it were seditious and stirring up trouble; but they, they say, are children of peace.
Therefore, we should comfort ourselves with this psalm and firmly believe that the world, when it rages in this way, even though it attacks us, does not attack us alone, but another, who, even though we are a small, weak, little and often oppressed group, is the Lord, and not an ordinary lord, as the lords of the world are, but the Lord of the whole creature. Is not the world an exceedingly great fool, since it thinks itself the most clever of all? If a naked child wanted to oppose a thousand men in armor, who would not
1) Instead of eatapbrMtis in the editions, probably eataptiraetis should be read.
be moved to pity by his certain danger? If someone promised to make the light of the sun invisible with a lit straw, who would not laugh at that? But it is precisely in this foolishness, in this certain danger, that the world moves on and on, since it sets itself against the Word and the church; for it sets itself against the Lord and the Creator of all things Himself. This psalm wants to instill this confidence and comfort in our hearts. But we need a large and wide-open eye, so that with one glance we may embrace all kings with all their wisdom and power, and consider them as a lighted straw, which he who created heaven and earth and all things can extinguish with one breath.
If we estimate in a human way the pagans, the kings, the people, the lords, they are something immeasurably great; therefore we tremble when we compare our weakness with their power. But what does the Spirit teach in this passage? He contrasts this as it were infinite power with the one Lord, and is surprised that the world can be so foolish as to think that it can do something against the Lord, when in truth it is like a speck of fire compared to a whole sea. As if to say: Is it not utter foolishness that you should undertake to dry up a whole sea? Just as we ourselves, when we are in danger, hardly believe this, so also kings and lords never allow themselves to be persuaded that they are a speck; they think that they are like conflagrations. But already from the beginning of the world, the outcome and experience have taught the highest monarchs, who sat down against this Lord, otherwise.
Therefore, the whole emphasis lies on what he says in the second verse, that the heathen rage, the people talk, the kings rebel and the lords counsel "against the Lord" first of all, then also against Christ or "his anointed". For it is not for nothing that he remembers the Lord first, but wants to show us that God the Father is primarily attacked by the angry world, even though the world says that it does not set itself against God the Father, the Creator of all things,
and also the papists today say that they are not opposed to his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, whom they also confess with their mouths as the Savior of the world; but against his gospel, which is foolishness to the wise of this world, and an offence and heresy to those who are full of their own righteousness, just as the Jews did not want to be regarded as opposing God, the Creator of heaven and earth, but the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth, whom they did not receive as the Son of God promised in Moses and the prophets, but persecuted as a rebellious and blasphemous man, and finally killed.
But because he is the anointed of the Father, that is, appointed and sent by the Father to be like the sun against the world, which is, as it were, a speck, it happens that all who either reject this Son or set themselves against him run against God, the Creator of all things. On both sides, then, the world deceives itself, however gloriously it may boast of its wisdom. First, it does not see this great Lord against whom it rebels. Secondly, it does not see its weakness, that it is like a dark and small spark compared to the brightness of the sun. But we must judge things rightly and base our judgment not on the opinions of the world, but on the word, which compares the world with all its power to a fading speck. If this undertakes to dry up the sea, it will be swallowed up and covered in an instant. Whoever believes this has the right knowledge of Christ and his kingdom. But the consolation is even greater and more abundant in that it is not we who are attacked by the wrathful and angry world, but that the Anointed of God Himself is attacked, who is the Head of the Church, and God Himself, who is the Head of Christ, as Paul says [1 Cor. 11:3]. Therefore, what will the world obtain? or how is it possible that we should be endangered? Surely the world will not be able to subdue the Anointed One whom God has appointed, nor will it even be able to defeat the Lord or cast him down from heaven. Why then do we fear, why then do we tremble at this so foolish and futile
the nobility of the world? Why do we not rather laugh at the utter foolishness of the world?
Therefore, in the name of Jesus, whom the Father has appointed anointed, let us also sing this psalm in our churches, as the apostles sang it, and mock the much-vaunted proof of our adversaries, since they presume to govern us and hold it against us: What good has come from our teaching, since riots, wars, heresies, and mobs have arisen in great numbers after the spread of the gospel; these speeches, I say, let us scoff at, and rather mock them with the Holy Spirit, saying: Why do the heathen rage? why do men counsel in vain? why do kings assemble against the Lord? why do lords plot against his anointed? For if the world would do its duty, it would kiss the Son and accept the Father's commandment from the Son. Now it is doing neither; it is taking up arms, it is making wars, it is creating sects, so that we may firmly believe that the Holy Spirit has not lied, who so lukewarmly foretold through his servant David that it would happen that when this king came with his thunder, not a tree or two, but the whole world would be moved and everything that is great in the world, as he says in another Psalm [Ps. 104:32], that the earth shall shake and the mountains be moved [Ps. 46:3, 4].
That is why even the godly have these thoughts that they wish they had rather kept silent than spoken, since such great movements have arisen. But throw these thoughts far away, and certainly consider that we are dealing here with greater things than the tranquil life of the world and peace, with all the goods of the world. For it is a matter here of recognizing, exalting and worshipping the one whom God the Father has appointed as His anointed. Those who do not want to do this may still rage, be indignant, rage, set heaven and earth in motion. But the Lord, who has appointed his anointed, will cast them into hell, but the word and the church and the head of his church, Christ, he will preserve forever. Amen.
V. 3. Let us break their bands and throw off their ropes.
Here the Holy Spirit explains the cause of the raging, and what plots they make, and what the kings and lords consult with one another, namely, that they deal with it with all their might and with all their effort, that they may break the bonds of Christ and the Father. For this is Satan's purpose, not only to humiliate us, not only to kill us who teach and believe, but also to utterly destroy and destroy the word, the name of Christ, baptism, and all that our religion has. Because we therefore teach Christ with the greatest fidelity, he begins to rage; he takes the hearts of lords, of kings, of wise men, of mighty men, even of the great multitude. Here they all lie down in common counsel to break these bonds, that is, to extinguish the Word and to take up the cause of idolatry. On both sides, therefore, we are beset by Satan, who is armed with power and cunning. He exercises power through kings, pagans, lords, people; but he uses cunning when he awakens in us the delusion that the word can be preserved and peace maintained at the same time. For by nature we all have an abhorrence of unrest, the disadvantages of which are known and in sight, and we love peace, the most beautiful of all things, as he says. But whoever indulges in these thoughts will gradually be brought to the point of losing the kingdom of Christ over the desire to have peace.
Therefore, we must learn to fix our eyes firmly on this King of ours and pay attention to him, and not be moved by the noise of weapons and the disturbances that are stirred up, but rather firmly believe that kings, lords, pagans and people and the whole world, when they sit down against this King, are an hour, but Christ is a tremendously great mountain. Whoever has this firmly in his heart will not be moved by the attempts of the devil and the world. Sects may arise, churches may be troubled, he will say: What is that to me? The world may go to ruin, if only the Lord will help me.
Christ remains unharmed. Peace is the most beautiful of all things, but if it cannot be preserved, what else is lost but a little spark of the creatures? But in Christ I have righteousness, blessedness and eternal life. These are the true goods, compared to which the peace of the world and other advantages of this life are nothing, because they are uncertain and last a short time. In this way we must comfort ourselves, otherwise it will happen that, moved by these bodily adversities, if we do not set the spiritual and eternal against them, we will tremble, fear and complain as in a great calamity, and from this little spark will finally arise a great conflagration, which will completely take away and devour Christ with all his gifts in us.
David sees in his spirit the raging of the world, which opposes Christ with all its power, but is not troubled by it in his heart, so that we too may not be troubled by the Turk, the Pope, the kings and lords when they oppose this king. For they are foolish and blind, and do not see that they are doing an impossible thing by endeavoring to suppress the gospel. In the same way, we are to overcome the other aversions. Muenzer aroused a riot in Thuringia, Carlstadt and Zwingli aroused frightful unrest in the church by trying to persuade others that in the Lord's Supper the body and blood of Christ are not received with the mouth, but only bread and wine. With these others join, and little by little this harmful doctrine fills France, Italy, and other nations. Truly a great evil on both sides, that both the secular government and the church are so shaken. What shall we do now, who are not the authors of these disturbances, but only spectators? Shall we therefore harden ourselves almost to death? as I have indeed done more than once and, wanting to remedy this evil, felt that I was so wounded that (God is my witness) my faith was in grave danger and became weak. But finally, by the grace of God, I realized that these very thoughts, worries, sorrows, and
I have been a victim of the ignorance of the kingdom of Christ and harmful foolishness. Therefore, I have regained my courage and said: This is happening through no fault of my own, so let the authors of these evils torture themselves, not me. I will do everything I can to see if I can control these evils, but if I cannot, I will not consume myself in suffering. If one coiner, one Carlstadt, one Zwingli is not enough for the devil, he may raise more of them. I know that this is the nature of this kingdom, that the devil does not like it. He stubbornly tries tooth and nail to destroy the churches and to oppose the word. But that afterwards a tremendous cry is raised: that unrest arises which was not there before, that peace is taken away, that the licentiousness of the great crowd is stimulated, - of these complaints many think that they are just. But why do these people not also complain that the gospel is so despised? Why do they not complain about the tremendous stubbornness of the opponents of the word and the unseemly raving, about the dishonor done to Christ? Certainly they consider the benefits of peace greater than Christ; they are more moved by them than by the glory of God and the salvation of souls. But if you are not moved or troubled by these great things, do you not think that Christ will say to you: If the harm of my kingdom does not move you, if you do not grieve that my kingdom is being torn apart in such manifold and shameful ways, why should I grieve over your harm, that peace is being disturbed, and other things? Yes, you may rather perish completely than that my kingdom should perish.
It would be desirable to recognize this king and his kingdom in this way, so that we would also despise those who despise him and trust only in the goods of this king, not in the goods and advantages of the world.
For behold, how great is the ungodliness of the adversaries. The gospel, which proclaims the grace of God, which promises righteousness and eternal life, is called by them
"Bands" and "ropes" or a yoke. But what would you do with such a shameful beggar, who, if you offered him a thousand guilders as a gift, would unkindly refuse the gift and say that it would only be a burden for him? Would you not judge that he was worth dying of hunger and thirst? But it is with this sin that kings, lords, pagans and people provoke God. He gives them the Word and with it eternal life, but they take up arms so that they will not be forced to enjoy these gifts; therefore, they instigate wars and fill everything with unrest, because God promises that for the sake of His Son He will forgive sins and give all goods abundantly, even in this life. Is the world not worthy to be thrown into the eternal fire?
Therefore, remember that the kingdom of Christ is of such a nature that the whole world resists it, and especially everything that has authority in the world through dignity, power, wisdom, justice and wealth. Therefore, hearts must be fortified so that they do not tremble for its sake, but think that these troubles cannot be avoided or prevented by any moderation or in any other way. For the world always remains the same, and easily yields to the will of the devil, who hates the word to the uttermost; yea, even our flesh and the wisdom of the flesh with our own conscience opposes this kingdom and this king. Therefore, let no one think that he is playing a child's game when he confesses the Word and faith in Christ. For he will realize that his adversaries are the kings and lords whom the devil stirs up. Even though we are no match for them, God still wants us to take up the fight with them, so that He may bring glory and show His wisdom and power in our weakness, by giving power from heaven, which even the gates of hell cannot resist, to put to shame the wisdom and power of all the opponents of the Word.
In this place, then, do you have a description of the thoughts, the precepts, and the counsels of kings and lords, of the heathen and the people, yea, even of your flesh and conscience, which the devil also afflicts, there-
with you intend to break this bond and throw this yoke off you. The kings and lords use force and weapons, but your heart fights against this kingdom with unbelief, because it doubts the promises, because it does not allow the comfort of the forgiveness of sins, of righteousness by grace in vain, and of eternal life. We must therefore be prepared beforehand to remember, as this Psalm will soon say, that this King was appointed by God the Father. Therefore, when the world rages, when your conscience trembles, be confident and strong, so that your faith will not fall away. No one will push this king from his throne on which God the Father has placed him, and you have been reminded of these dangers by the Holy Spirit through the holy prophets so long before. Therefore, the projectiles that you foresee will harm you less.
So also Sirach reminds [Cap. 2, 1. f. Vulg.]: "My child, if you want to be God's servant, stand in righteousness and fear, and send your soul to contest. Dampen thine heart and suffer thyself, and incline thine ear and receive the words of wisdom" (intellectus). Therefore, let him who will not go into battle, but forsake the banners, abstain from this realm altogether. For the devil will never cease, by the mouth of lords and kings, by ungodly teachers, yea, even by your conscience, to sing this verse, "Let us break their bands, and cast from us their yoke." But consider, and tell me the truth, whether this is not a grievous challenge and an exceedingly grievous sin, that the world should call the gospel, this lovely message of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life, which Christ has purchased for us and given us freely, "bands" and a "yoke"?
Look in the spirit at all the kingdoms of the whole world, and you will see that they are exceedingly unequal, and, that I say so, completely separated from each other, not only as far as external (carnal) power is concerned, but much more in what concerns religion, laws and customs.
How many idols did the one city of Rome have? how many of Greece? how many of Egypt? And yet they have given religion
The Romans, even when they were masters of the Greeks, did not hate the Greeks because their worship was different. The Romans, even when they were the masters of the Greeks, did not hate the Greeks because their worship was different, but rather accepted their worship, as the Histories indicate with regard to the Eleusian sacrifices, the serpent of Epidauru, 1) the image of the goddess Jdea etc. The world always bore this infinite diversity with the highest equanimity. Even with us, before the light of the Gospel went out, how great was the diversity of the services, not only in the different districts, but also in each individual church! This has never been an offense to anyone. But when Christ comes with his Gospel to abolish this diversity and to unite all in one body, then all those who are totally different in religion conspire with each other and become one, as it were, to suppress this kingdom. For what was the Pabst's kingdom but a monster with different heads, especially if one looks at the monks, of whom this one chose Augustine, that one Franciscus, a third Dominic, a fourth Benedictus, 2) depending on whether he thought he was worthy of the highest esteem. The pope tolerated this diversity, and although the monks hated each other with irreconcilable (vatiniano) hatred, now that the Gospel has been revealed, they agree to oppose it, and unanimously put together their counsels, their efforts, and their fortunes (opes). Who does not see that this is done by Satan's wiles, who can tolerate all other religions, but hates and persecutes this One, which is the true one, and makes men judge that it is an unbearable yoke?
But why does the world do this? Go
1) Aesculapius was worshipped at Epidaurus under the image of a serpent. The Eleusian services were held in honor of Ceres. In honor of Ceres.
2) The word "erwählte" is added by us to give sense. - Instead of putunt in the Erlanger we have assumed with the Wittenberger and the Jenaer: putavit. The old translator offers here: "one has ... Benedictum immediately as a God raised up and held, thereby he vermeinte to become blessed."
The gospel has no other purpose than to free our consciences from the fear of death, to make us believe in the forgiveness of sins, and to give us the hope of eternal life through the Son of God who was given for us. The gospel teaches these things in such a way that it does not condemn, abolish, or change authority, laws, goods, or other things, but leaves them in their proper place, and is only concerned to heal consciences, so that they may not be without comfort and help, oppressed by sins and the fear of death. Why does the world not allow this? Why does it call it a yoke, why does it call it a bond, and why does it refuse to tolerate it? I answer: It does not want to lose its righteousness, it does not want its wisdom to be put to shame, yes, it does not want to let go of its honor and its power, and, to say it in one word, it does not want to and cannot keep the first commandment, but fights against it with all the powers of the will, of the intellect, and stakes all its possessions on it. It should love God and prefer Him to all things, but it loves itself and its own; it should exalt the justice of God alone and base itself on it, but it respects its own justice so highly that it does not care about God's justice at all. Therefore, the world, like a monkey loves its young, only that which belongs to the world, it delights in it, it is proud of it, it puffs itself up with it; everything else that is outside of it, and only stands in faith, it carelessly neglects and tramples it underfoot as an unknown treasure.
But the gospel has only to do with placing Christ before the souls and eyes of all, and commands that all look to him alone, cling to him alone, rely on and trust in him alone, who took our flesh and in our flesh overcame the devil, killed death, and devastated and destroyed hell. Of him alone it preaches that he alone is wise, because he alone knows and does the will of the Father. He alone is called righteous, because he not only has not committed sin, but also can and will communicate his righteousness to all who believe in him. Him
alone it calls a mighty one, because he alone overcame the strong one who keeps his palace and robbed him of his armor [Luc. 11, 21. ff.]. Therefore it wants us to trust in his wisdom, justice and power alone, and only then it promises that we too will be wise, just and mighty. If we lack this wisdom, we are in truth fools, sinners and weak. But the world wants to tear this doctrine as if it were a band, and seeks to throw it off as a yoke.
Thus, all the dispute with this king is about the first commandment, and the Holy Spirit, through this prophecy, primarily wanted to strengthen our hearts against this trouble, that the most powerful kings and lords, the holiest and wisest people, by whose wisdom kingdoms and communities are ruled, by whose justice and equity they flourish, oppose this king for no other reason than because they do not want to be fools before God; They cannot bear to hear that laws, discipline, respectability and other good works are of no use in attaining eternal life and the forgiveness of sins. Therefore they rage, rage, counsel, and rebel against the gospel as a seditious and pernicious doctrine, which gives rise to licentiousness, which prevents good works, or at least rejects and condemns them, since it says that they are of no use for righteousness.
But how true this accusation is, pious people may judge. For the gospel does not condemn good works, for that would be to condemn and abolish the law; rather, it establishes the law, as Paul teaches [Rom. 3:31], since it shows the way in which one can satisfy the law, and continues to exhort one to do the law and to good works. One thing forbids that we should not trust in these things as if we would thereby be justified before God. For it teaches that we are to build righteousness on the crucified Son of God alone. If we take hold of this in faith, it promises that we will be righteous before God, even though we are sinners before ourselves and before the world; it promises that we will be strong, even though we are weak; it promises that we will be wise, even though we are weak.
We are fools in the sight of the world. Therefore, it commands us to trust in the crucified Son of God. But the world refuses to do so because it does not see this righteousness, power and wisdom. Therefore, it does not want to lose the present things, which it sees before its eyes and holds with its hands, and does not want to be bound to the invisible and nowhere appearing things, of which the gospel preaches. That is why it calls it bonds, that is why it calls it a yoke with which it is bound and oppressed, so that it does not give up the opinion that the wisdom, righteousness and power that it has is something significant.
That is where such speeches come from: What? Is man nothing? Does he not have a free will? Is God the cause that the wicked are condemned? For why did He not create them righteous? Are our ancestors, who did not know this, all damned? but you alone are wise, righteous and blessed? One hears and reads such speeches everywhere, and the blind people cannot be helped, since they do not want to hear. For we diligently remind, write, preach and cry out that one should make use of God's wisdom, power and other creatures in this life to govern and order earthly affairs; there is their place, where our reason, as it were, runs in their racecourse, works and cares as much as it can, but before God all this is nothing, also counts for nothing, because there a better justice and a greater power is required than we possess. But there is a story told to a deaf person, for they cry out against it, calling it bondage and an unbearable yoke, because they see that their wisdom and righteousness are bound before God as a useless and ineffective one. "We do not want this one to rule over us" [Luc. 19, 14.], they cry out, like the Jews, condemning the doctrine alike, and those who agree with it, calling them rebels, heretics, and possessed by the devil. But they, like the Pharisees and scribes, boast of the chair of Moses, the name of the church, and take only the name of the church.
1) It seems to us that before xutet one of is lacking; after that we have translated.
claimed for themselves the possession of justice and wisdom, even with weapons and sword.
This is the true image of the world; it hates Christ the King and His kingdom, and tries everything that it thinks can serve to suppress this kingdom. But what is the hope of the church in such great dangers?
V. 4. But He who dwells in heaven laughs at them, and the Lord mocks them.
This is the voice of the Holy Spirit, sent by the mouth of the prophet because of our smallness and small number, which he sees, and also because of the great multitude and power of the kings and adversaries. For everything that is high in the world unites and unites its forces against the church, which, as it is small in number, so also lacks in general all the gifts with which the world flaunts. Therefore, since it is overwhelmed with adversities, as with the waters of the sea, since it overestimates so many kings' armaments, power, wealth, with which it is attacked, it fears and trembles. For the human heart is not of iron or stone, but of flesh and soft, therefore it is moved in such certain dangers. For it does not happen that a Christian has only one enemy against him, but kings and lords, pagans and people stand up against him, as the Holy Spirit prophesies in this passage, yes, all devils attack one and lay themselves against him, that I meanwhile say nothing of the anxieties with which he is afflicted in conscience.
In this great danger, the merciful Lord comes with his word, and opposes this multitude of evils and aversions with other far greater things. For he not only says, as in the 11th Psalm 2) [v. 5. Vulg.], "The eyes of the Lord look upon the poor," but he also says of these enemies of the church and all their attempts: "He that dwelleth in heaven laugheth at them, and the Lord mocketh at them." Thus, with one word of comfort, he completely puts down all that there is of raging men, lords, kings and devils. Those who set themselves against the church are, to be sure
2) In the editions: in 10. pkalino.
great and mighty; they are also many, they are rich in wisdom, they have the name of being righteous; whereas we are a little multitude and weak, therefore, besides being crushed to the ground by the multitude and greatness of the majesties of the world, we are also troubled and frightened by our conscience and weakness, which we are well aware of. Therefore, we must learn this consolation, so that we will not be dismayed by such a frightening picture, but speak: I also know One who dwells in a fortified and impregnable castle, to which not only lords and kings, but even Satan cannot reach. For all these are either on earth or in the air, but the house of this King is heaven itself, where neither the power of men nor of the devil can do anything.
Therefore, out of contempt for the adversaries of the church, he does not call him by name who is in the stronghold of heaven, but simply says XXXXX XXX, "who dwells in heaven". This he opposes, completely full of spirit and faith, in defiance and contempt of all the raging of the world and of hell, as if he wanted to say: "The pagans and kings may come, the people and the lords, the Anabaptists may come, the Sacramentarians, the rebels, and other spirits of the imagination, but because they are powerful on earth they will not ascend to heaven. They are wretched worms of the earth; there they rage, rage, rage. But what does he who dwells in heaven do? Is he afraid, as we are? Does he tremble and be moved? Clearly, this is not the case, but he ridicules the foolishness and futility of men. This is a new and unheard-of speech. For reason confidently says that God either does not see such things, and therefore everything happens by chance, or if he sees it and does not defend the wicked, he is weak. For she thinks that if one sees that it is unseemly, and suffers it, when one can prevent it, it is a sign of an unjust and unreasonable mind. Reason adorns God with such honor that it judges him to be either foolish, because he neither sees nor knows many things, or evil, because he does not defend against what he sees.
Against such blasphemies the Holy Spirit equips us here, so that we do not think for the sake of it that God does not see the intentions of the wicked, since He sees through their fingers. How great and how horrible is the cruelty and inhumanity of the Turk! With how great hatred the popes and the bishops glow against the word and the true members of the church! The attacks of the tyrants are also hostile. We should not think that our Father in heaven does not know this, or that it is hidden from his eyes. He sees it, but is not moved to anger as quickly as we are; he hides his anger and laughs for a while, not only because he sees that such pretensions are in vain, but because he gives room for repentance.
This is a spiritual thought by which the church and all its members are to be instructed, so that we too may be led from the visible things to the invisible. The visible and tangible things are the raging of the world, the tyranny of the Turk and the Pope. But this laughter of Him who dwells in heaven is invisible to us, therefore it must be believed; then it will happen that we also laugh, since the enemies of the church speak vain things. For the fact that the Holy Spirit says that God laughs and mocks the ungodly is done for our sake, so that we too may laugh with God, and not be unwilling or tremble when popes, bishops, lords and kings deal with suppressing the gospel by force, yes, when the devil showers the church with all kinds of aversions, for they are vain counsels. But we learn that this laughter is almost impossible for us, because we can neither despise the visible nor grasp the invisible; we feel the power and authority of kings and lords, the wisdom of the world, the malice of Satan, yes, the burden of sin and our conscience; therefore we do not laugh, but howl, let our courage sink, despair, and in this way embitter our whole life. But wrongly. For what good is it if we grieve ourselves to death? For the world can never be helped; the devil will never become kinder.
Therefore, we should learn to lift up our hearts in such dangers, and laugh
with our God, of whom it is certain that he will not always laugh, but will finally be angry with the wicked and frighten them, as will follow immediately. But our laughter will be all the easier if we do not forget what he said before about the Lord and his anointed. For this we must hold as certain, that all these temptations, all this raging and raging of the world against us is done for Christ's sake. He alone is the cause that the world and the devil, yes, even our own heart is ungracious to us, as he himself says [John 15:19]: "If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." It is the same with sin. For who should not be surprised that the world, which lives in sins, which not only does not believe the forgiveness of sins, but, since it is offered in the Word, also rejects it, nevertheless lives in the highest security, whereas the members of the church, who hear the forgiveness of sins, take hold of it and believe to some extent, are alone plagued day and night by fear and almost consumed by heartache?
What is the cause of this? Nothing else but that they are Christians and take hold of the word of Christ. Therefore the devil inculcates sin in them, torments them with fear of death and eternal damnation, and never allows godly hearts to rest. What then shall we do? Shall we weep and lament, lose heart and die of grief? Not at all. For in this way we will accomplish nothing. Rather, let us lift up our heads, as Christ commands (Luc. 21:28) when he prophesies of his future (adventu), and laugh, even though the devil and the world (yes, even sin and our conscience in us) are raging. For since the punishment of the wicked is still delayed, it is certain that God also laughs, who is in heaven, and cannot be cast down from it by the wicked; he therefore rightly laughs at the futile attempts; and we, too, may think that we would laugh, 1) if we were in such a high place and in such a
1) In the Wittenberg: visnros instead of: risuros.
fortified castle. For we would firmly believe that even if the power and the rage of the kings, the lords and also the devil were still so great, they would remain down here on earth and could not reach us. But these thoughts show our unbelief. For all of us who believe in Christ are in truth in the same heaven in which the Lord dwells, if not in the flesh, yet in faith and word.
In this way one must ascend from the visible things to the invisible ones, and eyes and heart must be directed away from the present, to the heavenly, where these outrages are not only in vain, but overcome fifteen hundred years ago. For thus Christ says [John 16:33], "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world," and comforts us because of the judgment [John 16:11] that the prince of the world is already judged. Since these conquered enemies renew the war again, they do nothing but make God laugh. Children make us laugh when they take a straw and want to strangle dogs or pigs with it, as with a knife; and no one among us could refrain from laughing if he saw a fool who took a little stick in his hand and ran with great power against a tower, thus trying to throw the tower down, for such an undertaking would be foolish and futile. In this way we would also think of the world's undertakings, armaments, power, wrath and rage, if we would lift up our hearts and minds to the one who dwells in heaven and look at him rightly. For if you compare the Turk, the pope, the bishops, the kings and lords, and the whole kingdom of Satan with this, are they not like such a fool as tries to overturn a mighty tower with a stick? They therefore play a game and a joke on GOtte, "make a carnival play for him when they are at their angriest," and in truth, when they are busy with such thoughts and undertakings, they are nothing else but a gankel booth and, as we say in German, "unsers HErrn GOtte's Gaukelsack".
This is a hidden wisdom, which is learned only from the word that draws us away from the present and visible and brings us over to the absent and invisible. The present is that if we confess Christ and believe in him, the world is senseless and raging. But do not let this cause you to be distressed in your conscience; leave this feeling and this unpleasant sight, and go with Moses into the mist and darkness, that is, take hold of the invisible things, climb up to the Lord and the word of His promise, and learn that God laughs at this unbelievable foolishness, that the world with the devil undertakes to harm and overthrow the kingdom of God. The wretched people do not see that all their power is only earthly, but that this King dwells in heaven, since they cannot ascend.
But all that I say of the kings, or of the adversaries of the gospel, I say of every man's conscience in particular, that we should learn to rise up and be strong, not against tyrants, but against ourselves. For the devil oppresses and persecutes us more by our own heart and conscience than by sword and tyranny. For the Turk can do no greater harm than to cut off the head and strangle it; but our heart can cause us such a disputation, such a grief, that we would be lost in it for eternity, if we were not saved by the Spirit and the word of the Lord. Therefore, the devil is nowhere more powerful, more cunning, stronger, holier, more righteous, than in our hearts. When we have conquered him here, when we have thrown him out of this seat with firm faith and have gone to the invisible, then we will not regard the wrathful lords, kings and tyrauns a hair's breadth. But if they frighten us, this fear does not come from them, but from our heart, which is weak and clings to the present, but cannot grasp the absent and invisible.
Therefore, we should learn to be strong in all dangers, but especially against ourselves and our heart. For there the devil has an exceedingly firm seat and is aptly supported by
the past. For he knows that we are sinners, therefore he holds the register of our sins and the sad handwriting [Col. 2, 14.] before our eyes and presses us. Yea, he seizes also the present, and confronts us with it, that we believe not yet as firmly as we ought, love not yet as fervently, and are also contested with impatience. Since he makes this great, for he is a cunning and mighty speaker, the courage is broken, and the heart is frightened, not only by the raving of lords and kings, but also by the rustling of a falling leaf. Therefore, let us fortify our hearts, and let us sound to the invisible and to the darkness of the word, and let us not be afraid nor terrified of what we feel within us or outside of us, which is tangible and visible and perceived by the flesh. We are to strip off all our feeling and go where this verse leads us, namely to the invisible. And when Satan holds out to you: Behold, thou art a sinner, thou believest not so, thou lovest not so as the word requires, thou sayest against it: Why do you trouble me with these visible things? I feel them very well, and it is not necessary that you teach me about them; it is necessary that I follow the word and go to the invisible, that is, to the one who dwells in heaven, and to the word of him in whose eyes everything that frightens me is a mere joke and common carnival games) as they are called, which are set up not to frighten, but to cause laughter etc.
In this way, this verse must be applied in the work not only in the external dangers that are directed against us by the enemies of the Word, by the Turks, by the Pope, the bishops, the kings, the lords, who are all armed with power, with wisdom, with righteousness, but also in spiritual"! Temptations, when the devil terrifies the conscience by accusing us in ourselves, because of the sins we have committed. Whoever then has well grasped this verse will laugh at Satan, so-
1) In all editions: sueetuenla privialia, but we do not find the word privialis in our dictionaries. We suppose that trivial should be read in, because in Suetonius is found: Inüi triviales.
probably his accusations as well as his threats. He will say, "What is that to me? This also moves my God, who dwells in heaven, to laugh. You will not be able to do anything with your accusations and sorrow, but I too will laugh with my God, for I know that your pretensions are in vain. For though I am a sinner, though the punishment of sin is eternal death, yet for this reason I will not cease to laugh, because he who sits at the right hand of God, who has done enough for sins, and has overcome and cast you down in his flesh, sits at the right hand of God, for you attack not only me, but also him who overcame you, the Son of God etc.
For this must be held without wavering, that all persecution, even spiritual persecution, which takes place in our hearts through the devil, is for Christ's sake. For to believe in the forgiveness of sins through Christ is the highest article of our faith, and it is true that whoever believes this article has forgiveness of sins. That is why the devil tries so hard to take this faith from us. But whoever follows the thoughts of the devil with which he plagues us in order to extinguish the hope of the forgiveness of sins, sins. Let us not therefore follow the thoughts of our heart, which accuses us of sin, and holds that the hope of the forgiveness of sins does not belong to him, for that would be to follow Satan, who torments us not only indirectly through princes and tyrants, but also directly through sin and our heart; but let us oppose him with great courage, and say: By no means shalt thou afflict and terrify me. For he is risen full of the dead, who commanded me to be confident. Therefore I will laugh, but not howl, as thou wilt, as if I were alone and without helpers.
But how much effort it takes and how long it takes to learn this art, experience will teach everyone. The words, of course, have been learned very easily: The righteous will be without all fear; a Christian need fear neither sin nor death, but can laugh at the devil and his threats.
you could be of cheerful heart when either your conscience accuses you, or heresies and aversions arise. For the flesh immediately begins to tremble, and would that everything were quiet even from anguish. But because it comes quite differently, and everything is unjust, ungodly, foolish, unholy, blasphemous, tempestuous and restless, which comes to light and is before the eyes, so by this visible is displaced the invisible, of which the Holy Spirit teaches us in this passage. Therefore, we should get used to these storms, in which a Christian must live and move constantly, and hide ourselves in the darkness, and seize the invisible. Then we will laugh at the raging of the Turk, the popes, the tyrants, the mobs, the heretics and all those who are opposed to the kingdom of Christ, as if it were a joking game. He who is able to do this everywhere and at all times is a true doctor of theology. But neither Peter nor Paul nor the other apostles have always been able to do this. Therefore, we too should confess that we are students and not teachers in this art, although we do not even deserve the name of students, since while God laughs, we are either unwilling or displeased.
V. 5. He will speak to them in his wrath one day, and with his fury he will terrify them.
The previous verse described the patience of God, which is unpleasant to us, but with God it is common and ordinary. For he tolerates the raging of the wicked, the mob, the kings, the lords, and the people's nonsense for a time, and, as the poet says, does not immediately send his thunderbolts when people sin. In the meantime, the church is in tribulation and sighs, desiring that vengeance be taken on the wicked, as Christ indicates in the parable of the unjust judge, Luc. 18, 2. f.. For it seems to the godly that this patience of God is without end, and therefore it is almost unbearable, since it afflicts and humbles those who must bear the cross, not just for one or two years, but for several years, and yet this suffering of ours (patientia) is nothing when compared to the suffering of the holy patriarchs,
who lived five hundred, six hundred and even more years in the same temptation. These have not, like us, heard only these twenty-seven years, 1) but all their lives the song of the wicked: "Let us break their bands", God does not see, he does not understand this etc. For the wicked finally fall into this security, since God is so long-suffering and so lukewarm in postponing punishment. But when the wicked thus surely glory, but the godly are grieved and sigh, then it is imminent that God, who laughed when the godly wept and sighed, but the wicked surely raged, will be moved to anger. This is the end of this song.
So this verse contains an exceedingly sweet promise, as they are everywhere in the Psalms, Ps. 9, 10: "The Lord is the poor man's shelter, a slit in his trouble"; and Ps. 10, 14: "Thou seest misery and distress; thou bringest justice to the poor and the fatherless"; and Ps. 68, 24: "Thy foot shall be dyed in the blood of the enemy"; and Ps. 110, 6: "The Lord shall bruise the head of great lands." Not only the examples in the holy scriptures, but also those of the Gentiles agree with these promises. For this is how it is constantly admitted in the world: truth and justice suffer, and especially in the church truth is ridiculed, scorned, even beaten, as if there were no God, or at least God did not see or care about human affairs. But if you look at the end, you will see that the truth is indeed attacked, but that it cannot be suppressed, because He who dwells in heaven, though He laughs for a time at the futile pretensions of the wicked, does not always laugh, but also speaks, and that in anger, and in such a manner that
1) This time determination, which would point us to the year 1544 from the year 1517, does not come from Luther himself, but was set by Veit Dietrich at the time when he was preparing this writing for printing. At that time, the editors of Luther's writings allowed themselves such changes very often; therefore, we not infrequently encounter in later editions of one and the same writing other time indications than in the first, because the editors reckoned up to their days. - We encounter such a time indication again in the following Col. 110.
the wicked become ashamed, who, as if they had already won the victory, celebrated joyful triumphs.
This promise, therefore, is our hope, and serves chiefly to raise up our wretched consciences, which almost oppress those who sing, "Let lins break their bands." For it is not in our powers that we should impose silence upon them, that they should not sing, nor can we so stop up our ears that we should not hear this song of the wicked. Therefore, we must disregard this assurance, and bear it, and overcome by patience until the time when the Lord begins to speak. For he has a tremendous voice, like a trumpet, which silences the wicked, while we can hardly make a sound before their clamor.
The particle XX does not designate a certain time or hour (terminum), but is an indefinite word: It will come to pass that he speaks, however long it may take that he finally speaks; and then the laughter, which is hidden as long as the wicked sing safely, will be revealed, as the 91st Psalm, v. 8, says: "You will see with your eyes how it is recompensed to the wicked." For the judgments of God are not hidden; at last the wrath of God is seen in bright light, of which the wicked think that He sleeps, and judge that He is not mindful of what they do. The examples of this are before our eyes. The rule of the Romans was exceedingly powerful, and yet, since it intended the destruction of Christ's kingdom, it itself was destroyed and came to ruin, but the church, which held fast to the faith in the promises, remained unharmed, even though it was severely afflicted. Therefore, those who lived at that time saw with their eyes the retribution, that a thousand fell on the right and ten thousand on the left, and yet the church remained unharmed.
Thus, under King Hezekiah, the people of God had a miserable appearance. The Assyrian, who had carried away ten tribes captive, besieged Jerusalem and had severely afflicted the other parts of the kingdom of Judah. At that time, the Lord laughed as at a futile undertaking, but the afflicted ones
The church could not laugh, but was completely in tears and mourning. But hasn't the laughter of God finally been revealed? After all, didn't the church also begin to laugh when in one night one hundred and eighty-five thousand men were killed by the angel of the Lord? For she sees with her bodily eyes the vengeance on the wicked. Afterward the people, when they were captives in Babylon, saw with their eyes the destruction of Babylon. Thus the histories show that this promise is not empty, but that, although the time is not revealed to us in which the Lord will save the godly, but destroy the ungodly, it will certainly happen, if only we do not become fainthearted, and, strong in faith, persevere in prayer. For as we said above about the unjust judge, God wants to be reminded and provoked by our petitions. Therefore, he wants the tribulation to be felt and borne, but salvation to be believed.
But we also do not want to conceal our experience, not only so that it may be known that this verse is true, but also so that we may gratefully celebrate God by recognizing and firmly keeping in memory and praising his tremendously great benefits and the wonderful way of saving and preserving. The pope and the bishops, the kings and princes who adhere to the pope, have they not sung this verse to the point of hoarseness for almost thirty years now: "Let us break their bonds and throw off their yoke"? Therefore they have made many counsels, and the only thing they lacked was that they did not have the victory in their hands, since they divided the reward of victory among themselves, our princes' cities and castles. But what have they achieved? Have not those who played the first roles in this play (fabulae) perished? and may God grant that they too would not have perished for eternity! But those who are still left, are they not in misfortune, and poorer than Irus? 2) Since they are either through their fault
1) Compare note Col. 108.
2) Jrus is the name of a beggar in Jthaca, which occurs in Homer; it is used proverbially of a poor person.
have lost what was bequeathed to them by their ancestors, or can only keep and protect it with great difficulty. And the end of the misfortune and the punishments is not yet here; every day they make their cause worse and sink deeper into misfortune. '
Therefore let us persevere in the faith and confession of the word, and not be found among the number of those who, as Sirach says [Cap. 2:16], have lost endurance in suffering. They may afflict us, afflict us, afflict us, even kill us, and yet, if we do not despair, if we bear these afflictions in the hope of salvation, the Lord will not forsake us. For he promises here that he will speak in his wrath, and that those will be terrified. Therefore we must pay attention to the particles of the indefinite time: "Once he will speak to them," or he will finally speak once, namely when it seems to him to be the right time. For the laughter in heaven is hidden, but this speaking will be felt on earth. For he will speak to those singers who fill everything with horrible cries, crying, "Let us tear, let us tear!" When he will speak to these, they will truly hear him. But then it will happen, not now, as we wish, to whom every delay under the cross seems long. Therefore, we would like God to speak now, but He will not. But then he will speak, namely when we almost despair and think that he will remain silent forever.
But what or how will he speak? Here one must pay attention to the Hebrew way of speaking. For when the Scripture says that God speaks, it means a word that carries with it a thing (verbum reale), or an action, not merely a sound, as our word is. For God does not have a mouth nor a tongue, for He is a Spirit. Therefore, this is called God's mouth and tongue [Ps. 33, 9.]: "When he speaks, it comes to pass", and when he speaks, the mountains tremble, the kingdoms are destroyed, yes, the whole earth trembles. This is a different speech than ours. When the sun rises, when the sun sets, God speaks; when the fruit grows, when men are born, God speaks.
God. Therefore, God's words are not empty air, but exceedingly great and wonderful things, which we see with our eyes and grasp with our hands. For when the Lord, as Moses writes, said, Let the sun, let the moon, let the earth bring forth trees etc., immediately what he said came to pass. No one heard this voice, but the works and the things themselves we see before our eyes and grasp with our hands. Thus, in this passage, the Holy Spirit also comforts the godly who groan and languish under the cross, and frightens the ungodly so that they will not be sure, but will certainly believe that God will speak. But if this is done in anger, it is done without end, without hope of help. For when the Lord is angry, it is not a game or a joke, but the wicked feel this word of wrath, both in this life, through many tribulations, and in the life to come, if they do not convert and repent. Such a word of wrath is heard today in Hungary and Germany, since it is plagued by the Turk because of its idolatry and contempt of the Gospel. 1)
But he also uses to speak in grace when he gives peace, a rich yield of the fields, good authorities, godly teachers. These are words of grace. Thus the 147th Psalm, v. 15. says: "He sends his speech on earth; his word runs swiftly." For he lays down how this is to be understood, namely [v. 16. f.] that he gives snow, hoarfrost, closes etc. But this way of speaking is only in the holy language (which I often encourage the youth to learn, but almost in vain, because their knowledge contributes extraordinarily much to the clear understanding of the Scriptures), which is taken from Moses, who in the first chapter of the first book of Moses, when he mentions that God created all things out of nothing, thereafter speaks thus: "God said, Let there be light, let there be a firmament" etc., "and there was light", and "God made the firmament". From this passage this way of speaking is taken. For as the Greek poets have Homer, the Latin ones Virgil, whom they follow in
1) In 1532 there was a great so-called Türkennoth, to which the Protestants had to thank the Nuremberg Religious Peace (July 23, 1532).
The holy prophets learned from Moses to speak rightly of God's deeds. For they saw that "to speak" is "to do" with God, and that the word is a deed.
At this point, however, it is frightening that the prophet says that God will speak in His wrath. For it is certain that at this word whole rationels will fall and will not be able to protect themselves in any way by their own strength or power, so that they will not fall. This is what God spoke in His wrath when He sent the Romans against the holy city of Jerusalem; when He sent the Vandals and the Goths against Rome afterwards. These were tremendous and great words, and a voice of iron that brought down the mightiest rulers. In this way he speaks in his anger when he sends pestilence, famine and other plagues. This will finally be the end of the world's rage, that it will arouse the majesty against it, that it will speak, not words like those of men, which only strike the ears, but which frighten the conscience and are terrifying to behold, namely many thousands of cruel warriors and other plagues, which destroy whole kingdoms from the ground up. But how much better it would be to bear Christ's yoke and not to throw it off; although it is hard on the flesh (for those must bear the cross who want to belong to Christ [nomina dant], for they have powerful and many adversaries, as we have said), yet the Holy Spirit has consolation and peace, not a brief one like that of the world, for whose sake the world throws off this yoke, but an eternal one. The Father chastises the Son, whom he loves. So also Christ speaks in wrath against the flesh, but he also speaks in grace for the spirit. Those who do not want to suffer this yoke, these bonds, will hear another voice, namely many thousands of Turks, who rage and devastate everything far and wide with fire and sword.
But it is not enough for the Lord to have spoken thus in anger to the wicked; the voice of his wrath is followed by terror, so that his enemies are suddenly so distressed in their hearts that they do not know which way to turn, and this is the beginning of destruction. Such a fighter, then, is he who dwells in heaven: in the beginning he conceals his-
new wrath and laughs at the futile attempts. But if the wicked do not want to desist from it, he does not wound the feet, not the hands, he does not tear the eyes, but only terrifies the hearts. When this has happened, even defenseless and few people can easily prevail over them. We have done many things against the Turks in these twenty years, but we have had no luck with them. Why is that? Our sins have aroused the wrath of God against us. Since he wanted to execute the punishment on us, he armed the Turks, our enemies, against us with anger and cruelty, but he gave us a despondent heart, so that we are rightly reproached for having forgotten our bravery and no longer having the kindness of our ancestors. In this way he has terrified his people, the Jews, under Nebucadnezzar, the Babylonians under Darms and Cyrus, the Persians under Alexander, the Greeks under the rule of the Romans. For the enemies of Christ at all times this verse has overthrown and terrified, and will also overthrow the Turk and the Pope. For it was written by the Holy Spirit to kill and destroy the whole world, because it will not cease from its raging against the Lord and his anointed.
Furthermore, because he says that the Lord will speak, it follows that the wicked are incorrigible and do not want to be healed by those who bring the word of the Lord, which is a word of grace, to them. For if they would pay attention to the word and let themselves be taught, they would give up the endeavor to set themselves against God. But since they do not listen, and surely continue to despise the word and the wholesome teaching, they are forced to hear another voice, which is the voice of wrath, and to which all the opponents of the word must be exposed. For if men will not repent, and blindly pursue their way, this verse follows, that the Lord speaks in his wrath, and terrifies the impenitent. This is the sin of Germany, which threatens certain destruction. For though we exhort with great zeal to accept the Word and to leave off ungodly services, yet the bishops and
Some princes will not listen, but will only be more inflamed against us. Therefore, we too will wait for this voice of wrath, which the wicked will have to hear against their will and to their destruction. In the meantime, let us do as Lot did in Sodom, as Abraham did among the Chaldeans, as the captives did in Babylon. For though they tried to set the ungodly world right, they were not able to do so, but even suffered unworthy treatment, their souls being tormented day and night. And we too cannot hear the blasphemies of the popes and see their idolatry without great heartache. But what shall we do? They do not want to be helped, and just as the apostles could not move Jerusalem to repentance, so our bishops are hastening to their ruin. This we must suffer until the Lord begins to preach to them, not with such a voice as ours, which they despise like a dream, but with the voice of wrath, which with one breath overthrows empires and kingdoms. By such examples, however, we are taught that wherever the Word is, certain calamities and desolations will follow for the sake of those who oppose the Word; and yet, in this ruin of the world, the Word will not fall, but will stand firm. The church, too, will stand, however afflicted and however small it may be. For the sake that the ungodly may be terrified, this King will not cease to be King, but for this reason He speaks in His wrath, for this reason He terrifies His enemies, so that the Word and the Church may remain intact. For the church is able to do this only through the power of God, that it suffers, and yet does not collapse, but remains, yes, gathers strength under the cross and increases. That is why this psalm continues, as if the godless enemies were far away, to teach us about the victory of the Word and the majesty of our King, and says:
V. 6. But I have established my king on my holy mountain Zion.
Here you see the certain judgment that the divine majesty threatens, she/it will overthrow all
1) Jenaer and Erlanger: ^uidkiu instead:
and disturb those who are opposed to His word, and God promises that He will nevertheless raise up His King, Christ and His kingdom, that is, His word. But all this can be grasped in faith alone, not with the flesh or the senses. For the flesh cannot believe that in the One Man Jesus, born of Mary, everything stands, that for the sake of this One the whole world must fall away and perish rather than that any harm should come to His kingdom. For if the kings and princes believed this, they would be careful, they would accept him, they would not hate him, and they would not dare to oppress him. But because they do not believe, because they look only at the visible, that is, at their power and wealth, but neglect and despise the invisible, that is, the Word, they fall as blind men, one after the other, until they all perish. Old and new examples of this are before our eyes. For Christ, as Daniel says [Cap. 2, 34. 35. 45.], is the stone that fills the whole world; those who oppose it will be crushed to dust; and Christ himself says Luc. 20, 18: "Whosoever falls on this stone will be crushed, but on whom it falls it will crush him."
Even today it is nothing new that this is preached about Christ; the examples of the four monarchies are before our eyes, which we see lying in the dust because they stubbornly opposed this kingdom. On the other hand, the church, which has been severely afflicted by the world at all times, endures, grows, is joyful, praises God, extols His benefits, even though the devil and the world are raging and indignant; and this for the sake of this verse, because it sees here that this king of theirs has been appointed and decreed on Zion. From there, whoever wants to push him down, may do so; we rejoice and give thanks to God that all the schemes of the world and the devil are in vain. Therefore, trusting in this verse, we surely despise them and laugh.
But one must pay special attention at this point, firstly to the person who speaks, that is, God the Father; secondly to the person of whom the Father speaks; thirdly also to the place which the Holy Spirit calls.
Pay careful attention to these three things, and set them against everything that does not agree with these persons and this place, and despise it as if it were nothing. For if mau regard this verse aright, it fills heaven and earth in such a manner that apart from it nothing can be seen, however great and glorious it may be in the sight of the world. For who is it that says, "I"? Is it not the Lord of heaven and earth, who created all things out of nothing by the power of his word? With this compare the world and all the power of the world, what will it be, what will it be able to do against this Lord? Is not the world there through his speaking? Will not, when he says it, the world cease to exist and suddenly fall away? Now this Lord over all things, who alone is eternal, who alone is wise, who alone is just, who alone is almighty God, says: "I have appointed my King."
See also this person, who and how he is. The world also has its kings, who rule by divine authority, as Paul says [Rom. 13, 1. Vulg.]: "All authority is from God", and yet they are, as Peter calls them [1 Petr. 2, 13. Vulg.], "a human creature", that is, appointed by human order, and they are only commanded to care for external and physical things. But this King, our Lord Jesus Christ, is directly ordained by the eternal Father Himself to be a King, and He is called the Father's King, or the King appointed by the Father. "I," He says, "have appointed My King," He thus separates Him from all the kings of the world. For though God has also appointed the others, as Paul says, "All authority is from God," yet He does not call them His kings. Therefore this is a glorious, and very peculiar (eximius) king, whom the Lord and the eternal Father has appointed to be his king, and therefore the other kings rightly revere him, hold him in honor, accept him, and, as he says afterwards [v. 12.], kiss him as the one precious stone, in comparison with which all other kings and kingdoms are hardly bricks and dung.
But to what purpose does it serve that he designates the place and says that he is appointed king on the holy mountain Zion? But this is
It is to this that one must pay attention in the first place. For this reason, he has a bodily place in mind, so that we may firmly believe that this king, who is appointed by God, is a true man and, I say, a person who appears (personam personatam), who can be grasped, seen with the eyes, and touched with the hands. For one must not follow the foolish imagination of people who hide themselves in corners, perform certain bodily exercises, and wait until God speaks to them, imagining that everything they think or dream are prophecies and rays of the Holy Spirit. For this was also the folly of the monks. But if God had wanted to instruct us in this way, to speak to us and to enlighten us, He would not have indicated a certain person, but especially He would not have indicated a place on earth from which one should expect this king, where one should hear him. But now this person is indicated in the most certain way, firstly that he is the Son of God, secondly that he is king in Zion, that is, the son of David, the heir of David and the one promised to David, that he should be the king of the circumcised people over whom David ruled. Therefore, we are to accept this man, who teaches in Zion, reveals himself in Zion, that he is the king appointed by God. For though in thy name "Zion" is a synecdoche, for it denotes not stones and wood, but those who dwell in Zion, yet it is a bodily place, and teaches us that we are to accept this King who is called the King in Zion.
If Zion were to be taken as a matter of fact, it would be the end of us Gentiles, because we do not possess this mountain today, but the godless children of Hagar (Agareni --- the Turks) have it. But now our salvation and all comfort for us lies in the fact that we have, confess and accept this King, who was on the holy mountain Zion, that is, who was promised to David that he, as the angel says to Mary [Luc. 1, 32.st.], should be a king over the house of Jacob forever, and sit on the throne of his father David. Because the Father Himself made this promise to David, it is rightly said that he was appointed king by God on the throne of Jacob.
Mount Zion, on which David sat as king. This, then, is the title of our King, which is written on the crown with which the eternal Father has adorned him, that he should be king in Zion on the holy mountain Zion and in the city Jerusalem, our Lord Jesus Christ, who was born in the days of Mary the Virgin. All the prophets prophesy that he will be seated on Mount Zion as the son and heir of David. Thus Zechariah [Cap. 9:9] says, "O daughter of Zion, rejoice; behold, thy King cometh." And Isaiah [Cap. 2, 3.], "From Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." And Ps. 110, 2. "The Lord shall send the scepter of thy kingdom out of Zion." Isa. 59:20: "There shall come out of Zion a redeemer." Obadiah, v. 17.: "Out of Mount Zion shall be salvation."
These testimonies of the prophets lead us all to the fleshly Zion, that is, to the people and the seat of David, that we should expect that from there righteousness and a river of pure water will go forth. This comfort is finally given to us by the Holy Spirit in these troubles and hatreds of the devil and the world, as if to say: Thou little host, fear not, endure and suffer all wrongs, let the world be haughty in its riches and power, until the day of wrath come and subdue the impenitent. But the kingdom of my king will remain firm. For he is set up king by me, break from them; but as they have not set up this king, so shall they not put him down.
But why does he call Zion a holy mountain, since it was nothing but stones and wood, and the people who inhabited it flesh and blood, just like the people of other nations and cities? But would not this exalted title much more properly fit the mountain on which was the temple and the worship? I answer: I have often said that nothing is more difficult for us to believe than that we are holy. For the offences both of ourselves and of others, and the infirmities known to us, are offensive to us. Therefore, just as others cannot be persuaded that we are holy, so we ourselves do not dare to give ourselves this honor.
write. But this opinion that we and they are holy should not be withdrawn from other people or from ourselves, but as it is common in German to call someone a -good alum, a good housemother, so it should be something acceptable to us in the church to call someone holy. But, as I have said, so our weakness, and weakness well known to us, moves us. For because we are flesh and blood, because we do not walk in the clouds, but occupy ourselves with the mean works of housekeeping and worldly government, these things -as it were- obscure holiness. Therefore, it is very useful that hearts be properly instructed on this seemingly easy question.
But Alan usually answers in this way: Mount Zion, or the people who lived in Zion, had a twofold holiness, or in two ways they were a holy people. First, because they had the word of God and the worship of God. By this word stones and wood and also the people themselves were sanctified, in such a way that if someone killed a Jew, he was said to have killed a holy person, not for the sake of the person himself, but for the sake of the place and the people, which was sanctified by the word of God, yes, by God Himself who dwelt there. Secondly, there was another holiness, and a greater holiness, for because God dwelt among this people through His Word, so in this people alone was the true Church, which is holy by faith, and nowhere else. For the saints knew that the Blessed Seed would come, and that the Son of God would become man and offer Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. In this faith they obtained forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit through the promised Seed, and were sanctified in truth; and for the sake of these truly sanctified ones, though few in number, the whole nation was thereafter called holy, because it was the only one in which holy people lived. This is a greater and truer holiness than that of which we spoke before.
Thus, with us, the fourth commandment, "Honor your father and mother," sanctifies these stands, so that I can
can rightly say: The father is holy, the mother is holy, the authorities are holy, namely according to a general holiness, because it is a divine commandment that we should obey them. But this is such a commandment that it unites not only One People, but all everywhere. Therefore this divine order goes over all nations. But after this, father and mother, likewise the rulers, who are Christians, have another holiness, which is not so general, but a special one, because they are baptized in the name of Jesus and sanctified by faith in the promise and by the Holy Spirit. In this way Mount Zion was a holy mountain, first of all by the legal holiness, because there was the word and the legal services; secondly also by the holiness by grace, because it had the promise of the forgiveness of sins by the future seed, which was then fulfilled and spread from there through the apostles into the whole world, but then also believed by the saints and, that I say so, taken possession of by faith.
But the right answer and the right opinion is this, that Mount Zion is called holy, not for its own sake, nor for the sake of the people, but for the sake of the king. For as it is a common saying among us that we call it a robber's castle where robbers dwell, a merchant's city where merchants live: so also Zion is called a holy mountain, not by David who dwelt thereon, but by Christ, who is so holy that he sanctifies them that believe on him, that is, that he forgives sins and gives the Holy Ghost. This is the holiness of this mountain, which he has from the King. Since this King remains, we will also remain, even if the Pope, the Turk and everything else that always hates or disputes this King should crumble, and we will not stop hoping in this King of ours until we see that he has fallen from his throne, on which God the Father has placed him. But we believe that this "I" who has established His King will not suffer the world to break what He has established, as the experience of all times proves. For the enemies
of this king have all fallen away, but he is unharmed and reigns.
Therefore learn, first, that this King is appointed by the Father; secondly, that he is to be waited for and found in the holy mountain of Zion. Therefore let us turn our eyes hither, and we shall not err; but the world shall err, which despiseth Zion, and stirreth up trouble against this King.
So far the prophet has taught us about the appointed and declared rebellious king, together with his rebellious doctrine. But I call him rebellious, not that he is to blame for it, but because the world, that is, the kings, peoples, lords, wise men, saints, clergy (religiosi) are angry with him and therefore begin to rage and stir up trouble. Although this prophecy is not at all cheerful, it is nevertheless necessary to fortify us, so that we do not become fainthearted when this happens, and we are accused with our king and his doctrine as if we were rebellious. For in this danger we have him as our defender and justifier who speaks here and says, "I have appointed my king."
This is our only consolation, to which we cling, yes, in which we stand and are even hopeful, putting par excellence out of sight, and not caring about all kings and lords, all heathens and people, with all their power and strength. For this "I" is stronger, mightier, wiser than all these. Therefore he will preserve his king against the raging of the world; if he is preserved, we who are his subjects will also be preserved. Thus we must hold fast to the invisible things which this psalm shows us, and put the visible things out of sight. But now the prophet continues, and after he has described the place or the seat of this king, he also indicates his office, so that one may know not only where he is, but also what is to be expected from him, what he will do.
V. 7. I will preach of such a way that the Lord has said to me: You are my son, today I have begotten you.
These words are common and well known in all churches and monasteries, but by no means understood in such a way that they weigh so heavily and
so great things in themselves. For, to say many things in a few words, here the whole law is taken away, and the ministry of Christ is described in the purest way, that he will not wield the sword, not set up a new world regime, but will be a teacher, who is to instruct men about an unheard-of, but eternal decision of God.
Although other kings also give laws and rule by laws, their main office is not to teach or to give laws, but to punish the wicked with the sword and to defend the good. They are therefore, as it were, executioners and caning masters of God. For so Paul says [Rom. 13, 4.] that they bear the sword to the wicked for terror and vengeance. Therefore their real office is not teaching, because they do not rule the consciences, not the hearts, but only keep the hands in check, and as a swineherd rules the swine and feeds them simply according to the five senses, so the kings of the world are shepherds, who rule not the consciences, but the bodies, like cattle. But our King, of whom the Holy Spirit prophesies here, is such a King, who is ordained and appointed by God, the eternal Father, to teach. He is therefore at the same time also a priest, teacher, theologian, who is to instruct and instruct his own about God, and only the consciences rule.
This is the difference that distinguishes our king from all other kings, and one must be extremely careful about it. For this is the devil's constant care and untiring purpose, that he should mix this kingdom with the kingdoms of the world, and make of Christ, who is a teacher of consciences, a worldly king; and the pope, a peculiar instrument of the devil, has utterly cast away Christ, inasmuch as he is a teacher, and taken up the sword; yea, even the keys which Christ gave to the church, he has perverted to worldly purposes. In the same way, the spirits or sectarians are seduced by the same thoughts and seize the world's reign. For they do away with the former regiments and establish new customs and new practices. This, they think, is the noblest fruit of the Gospel. I myself have heard that Zwingli in Marburg, with great
Hochmuth publicly said that he had taken off the red hats that the Swiss had used for a while as men of war when they were at war. Carlstadt was no more understanding when he said that it would be a good thing if he left school and his studies and no longer called himself a doctor, but a new layman. For so he wrote on the titles of his books, 1) he was a new layman. But these inconsistencies arise from another ignorance, namely the ignorance of the kingdom of Christ. Because they do not distinguish between the kingdom of Christ and the kingdoms of the world, they put Christianity in a change of some external things.
But Christ leaves these things to the kings of the world, but to his own he says [Luc. 22:26], "But not so ye." For his kingdom is in word, and his office is to teach; to the kings of the world he leaves the care of swine. For these are provided with the stick with which they can drive the cattle, but his office is, as the Psalm speaks here, that he preaches and tells of God's counsel (decreto). This is a very clear description of the kingdom of Christ and the real difference, but truly few grasp it. The harmful confusion of the two kingdoms constantly clings to the hearts, to such an extent that it is difficult even for the spiritually minded to distinguish this kingdom from the kingdom of the world. But those who firmly believe that after this life there is another life, that they need the service of kings and authorities in this life, but they use this King, Christ, for another and eternal life.
The change of persons should not disturb the reader, for it is very common in Hebrew, as when they say, "Long live my lord the king," they mean nothing else than: Thou king shalt live. So in this place, if the change of person is removed, the understanding will be easier: I have set my king on my holy mountain Zion, that he may preach my counsel,
1) Compare Walch, St. Louis Edition, vol. XX, Ein!., p. I8d.
that he is my son, whom I have begotten this day. But the holy scripture sticks to its way, to which one must get used, although this sometimes makes the sense a little darker, as in the 91st Psalm, v. 9: "The Lord is his confidence, you have made the Most High your refuge." The sense would be clearer if the second person had also been used in the first place: the Lord is thy confidence, thou hast made the Most High thy refuge. And yet to him who considers it- well, this change of person will not seem altogether useless. For how much more weighty is it in this place that he introduces the king himself preaching about God's counsel! For, as I have said, his main purpose is to show that this king is also a teacher. Then, without a doubt, the Holy Spirit also intends to teach us that God does everything through the Son. For when the Son preaches the commandment, the Father Himself also preaches, who is in the Son, but one with the Son; and when we preach of this counsel, Christ Himself preaches, as He says [Luc. 10:16], "He that heareth you heareth Me."
But this is very fitting that here it is described that the king will speak or preach orally. For this passage is definitely to be understood of oral preaching, and not of spiritual. That he said above [v. 6.], "I have appointed my King," this verse God sings to himself and to his Son; but to us our King sings, "I will preach." For he is a public teacher, sent to preach, as he says Matt. 11:5, "To the poor the gospel is preached." This office he has, if one does not believe that he is a worldly prince. For he does not bring the sword, but the word. This is the scepter of this king, therefore receive him as a guide of the conscience, as a priest and teacher; and this is also the cause that the other kings set themselves against him. For if he were silent, if this king did not preach, the world would be quiet. But this preaching arouses the whole world and brings them to arms.
The word statutum (XX) has a very broad meaning and usually denotes a ceremony, "a way, custom". For in general
it agrees with the German word "Recht". For this is also used in a very broad sense, as when we say "country right, city right, father right, daughter right" etc. Now in this place it denotes a new way of teaching. For since Moses prescribed many ceremonies, and the kings of the earth also have their laws and statutes, this king comes with a new way that is different from all the regulations of Moses and the other kings. But this must be taken to mean that he will abolish all laws, even Mosiah's, because they are of no use in attaining eternal blessedness. For when it comes to eternal life, forgiveness of sins, death, and in short, everything that concerns the conscience, Moses is to be silent, the laws and all kings are to be silent, but this teacher and king alone is to be heard, of whom it is promised here that he will preach.
But here consider carefully the circumstances of the time. For when this prophecy was written by David through the Holy Spirit, the law was in force and the Mosaic priesthood was in its highest bloom. If this king should not bring a different teaching than Moses, this promise would be in vain. For the law of Moses already existed at that time. Again, if this king will preach something different, as this very promise clearly entails, then it is to be asked what could be taught more gloriously than that which Moses taught, who brought the holy ten commandments, the highest and truly divine wisdom, which teaches us about the highest and holiest works? For what is there greater than that which the first commandment teaches of trusting in God and loving God? And not less is that which follows of the right use of the divine name, of the right invocation, of thanksgiving, of the diligent occupation with the word. For of the teaching of the second tablet, since it is much less, I ask nothing here. These are the highest works and the highest divine services, which Moses indeed indicated, but which are commanded and written by the divine wisdom itself. Therefore, the holy ten commandments are, as far as doing is concerned (de facto), the highest teaching, to which nothing in the whole world is equal.
Now the question is, what kind of teaching is this, of which it is promised here that it shall be spread by Christ? For this conclusion is clear: since during the time when the law and the priesthood existed, a teacher is promised who is to teach the church, it follows that he will bring a different teaching than that of the Mosis, the Levites, the priests, and the prophets, who were there at the time when this promise was written, and who governed and taught the church. For that he promises this teacher is as much as if he said, "Hitherto you have had no king for a teacher, who taught this commandment, which this my king will teach. You have had teachers, but not the right ones, not the ones that would be sufficient, so you should expect this teacher of mine, who will not teach like Moses; for what would it serve to promise you what you already have in your hands? but he will bring a different, greater, better, more useful and holier teaching.
But what is this teaching? What is this "way"? Certainly this: "The Lord has said to me, You are my Son." A splendid interpreter of this verse is St. Paul in the beginning of the Epistle to the Romans [Cap. 1, 1-4.], where he says: "God promised long before through His prophets in the holy Scriptures the gospel of His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and powerfully proved to be a Son of God according to the Spirit, sanctifying since the time He rose from the dead. "etc. This is the new teaching, which, as the Psalm says here, is to be spread in the world through the Son of God. The old teaching is that of Moses: fear God, trust in God, love God and your neighbor as yourself; but this is far more excellent. For it does not teach what we should do; that is the law's actual office; it demands certain works from us and threatens the wrath of God if we do not perform them. Therefore, it does nothing but frighten, threaten, and afflict us and does not let us rest. Because it is impossible for us to perform what it demands from ui/s. This king is not such a teacher; he does not demand of us our works, but gives us his own; he does not teach us who we are, because that is what the law does, but he teaches us who we are.
who he is, so that we may accept him and enjoy his gifts, even though we have not done what Moses requires.
The teaching of this king is therefore different from all other teachings, even from the law, which is the most perfect teaching when it comes to works, or what we should do. But the doctrine of this King teaches not of works, but of the Person, to whom the Lord said, "Thou art my Son." A short teaching, purely and simply presented, without prolixity, without circumstance. But if one considers these few words, further explanations present themselves quite naturally, as indicated by the Gospel, which portrays this person more clearly and teaches that he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin mother Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, died, and was raised again from death by his own power; that he sits at the right hand of the Father, and that it was commanded from heaven that we should hear him, that we should fix our eyes on him alone, as the Jews in the wilderness fixed their eyes on the bronze serpent, and not depart from his words; but that whatever he speaks and does, we should firmly believe that it is all for our salvation. For the gospel deals with this everywhere, which is why it so diligently shows us both the miraculous works and the preaching of Christ, in order to praise him to us, to invite us to accept him, to follow him, and to pay attention to him. For if we do this, we will not go astray anywhere, but will keep the right way to salvation.
This is a loftier and more excellent teaching than the law, which only has to do with teaching what we should do. The gospel, however, does not throw away the law, for even the law is God's voice, which all must obey, but even though the law remains, the gospel teaches something higher. For since no one can obey the law, it preaches about the Son of God, whom the Father begot "today," that is, from eternity, and appointed him as a king on Zion, that is, he willed that he should be born man and teach. Here the hearts are necessarily stimulated to voluntarily accept this so great king.
and to pay attention to his works. Therefore, this is the highest article of our faith, to know that the Son of Mary is the eternal Son of God, sent by the Father to preach, not to fight. For he has his power in his mouth, not the sword in his hand. And the epitome of his teaching is this, that he says: God, the eternal Father, has begotten me forever. This is the main point of our faith and the highest article of the Gospel, which is why the devil has so seriously opposed it through Arius and his godless descendants.
And even now the devil does not cease to make this article unstable through our hearts. For from where do the terrors, the tears, the sighs, the lamentations of the godly arise, but because this article is not yet firm enough in our hearts? For if we were certain that this Jesus was the Son of God, what would we fear? For it is certain that he is on our side and that he is sent to us by the Father. Now, we wretched people are challenged by sins, we fear death, we fear damnation only for the sake of it, because the conscience doubts whether Christ is the Son of God. For if we believed this for certain, we would despise sin as if it were nothing, we would laugh at death and the devil as downcast and defenseless enemies. For what are sins, death and the devil against the Son of God? But that we do not believe this is a defect, not in the teacher or his words, but in us, who are either totally unbelieving or weak in faith. This, then, is the teaching of our King, that he preaches that the eternal God has said from eternity, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you." But you see that nothing is said here about our things or works, for that is what the law does, but that only this Son of God is held up to us with his words and deeds.
But let us now compare this with each other. The Psalm calls him a king in the previous verse and says explicitly that he was appointed king in Zion. Therefore, it follows in a good and certain conclusion that he is a man, for how could he be a king?
Otherwise, could he be king in a physical place? This is also the reason why he says that he was appointed king by God. But it is not for God to appoint him, but for him to appoint, for he is the Creator; but this king is appointed, therefore he is a man, a creature. This proves the appointment and the anointing and the bodily place, that he is a true, visible and tangible man, who also teaches with a human voice. Also, people never had any doubt about this, and no faith was necessary for this. For they saw with their eyes that he was a man, having flesh, bone, and blood, and that which belongs not to God, but to a man, and even to a creature. But is it enough to know this about this king? It is by no means enough, but he is also the Son of God, begotten from eternity. This could not be seen with eyes, therefore the king himself teaches this, and faith is necessary.
But in order that the text may not be distorted, the words must be well considered: "You are my Son, today I have begotten you." God is outside of time, he is a spiritual being, therefore he cannot beget of himself anything temporal, nothing corporeal, but he begets that which is like him, that is, which is eternal and spiritual. But because he says these words to the person who is appointed in Zion to be a king in a bodily and visible place, what follows? Is it not this, that this person, born in time of the Virgin Mary, was present before he was conceived by the Holy Ghost in the body of Mary, and that from everlasting? For "today", as we will say hereafter, has no beginning with God, nor does it have an end. Thus, the present text unites in this person the Godhead and humanity, that they are one, so that one can rightly say: This person is GOtt.
This doctrine, which is presented to us in this psalm, let us hold fast against the tongues of the devil, which have presumed to make this article unstable, even against the foolishness of our reason. For when foolish men begin to dispute about the perfection of the divine majesty, they fall and tumble, as
Lucifer from heaven, in blasphemies. For what can we wretched people even think of such great things after we have departed from the Word? Rather, we follow this Psalm, which has stood firm and unharmed against all heresies for three thousand years, and clearly and roundly states that this King is both man and eternal God. We also want to agree with this description, and everything that we hear or think that deviates from this description, we want to curse and condemn as being exaggerated, blasphemous and conceived by the devil.
The godless Arius allowed the name of the Son of God, but thereby he kept and defended the blasphemous doctrine that we are also God's children in the same way. How much more correctly Paul said that we are adopted children [Gal. 4, 5. Eph. 1, 5.], but this one is by nature the Son, and therefore calls Him or the image of the invisible God [Col. 1, 15^. Further, how appropriately, how powerfully does the epistle to the Hebrews use the testimony of this Psalm, when it says [Heb. 1, 5.], "To what angel did God ever say, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?" For it also exalts this king above the nature (naturam) of the angels, which after all takes the first place among the creatures; and rightly so, for by the Son of God the angels and the archangels were created. And Paul therefore calls the Son Col. 1, 15. πρωτότοχον πάσης χτίσεως, the
Firstborn before all creatures, that he might set him apart and above the angels and all other creatures.
In this simplicity we should live, and not go to the deep and exceedingly wide sea, that we would dispute about such great things. For this article is very slippery, first because of its subtlety (subtilitatem), but then also because of our weakness. It is therefore a complete folly and a very dangerous undertaking if one wants to investigate these things more closely. For if we could do this, we would not need the Scriptures as a guide; indeed, even this teacher and king would not be necessary to us. But those who do not care about the Scriptures and, trusting in their sharpness, do not need them.
132 XVIII, 68-70. Interpretation of the second Psalm. Ps. 2, 7. W. V, IS3-ISS. 133
The people who go to such great things are masters of God and not disciples; therefore, like Phaeton who wanted to rule the sun, they are overthrown and fall.
God complains about this presumption when He says in the prophet [Is. 46:5], "To whom do you compare Me?" For this is peculiar to all heretics, hypocrites and enthusiasts, that they invent an image of God for themselves. A monk confesses with his mouth that he believes that Christ is the Son of God, but he imputes something to this Son of God according to his will, and thinks that he means the cap and the peculiar way of living, and that in return he will be given eternal life. But, O hypocrite, who commanded you to make such a nose for the Son of God, that I should say so? Who made you certain that God would have such a thing from you? Therefore, if a monk lives according to his rule in the holiest way, he is no more understanding or better than Arius, who said that God is only one (unus), but Christ is called the Son of God, because he is the most perfect and first creature, through whom all other creatures are made. For if Christ is the Son of God, and we are to be satisfied only with the fact that God has sent Him as Savior, why do we depend on the fact that He is the Son of God? Why does a monk put such trust in his work, which he himself has chosen? This evil comes from the fact that the heart abandons the word or does not respect it, and makes its own thoughts about God. For all those who deal with their own thoughts (speculator) are formers, and form what in truth is not, for they follow their reason, whereas in these things one must only follow the word; for reason can neither comprehend such great things by itself, nor defeat or overcome its thoughts.
Such people, who followed their own thoughts (speculatores), were Zwingli and Carlstadt. For after they had departed from the word which says that the bread is the body of Christ and the wine the blood of Christ, they had to invent something else. This their child (foetum) or thought they cherished as a mother cherishes her child, and all that they subsequently read in the Fathers, of which they thought it to be
served their cause. But the sanctuary must be treated with greater reverence. This king, who has the office of a teacher, should have been heard, his word should have been kept, but not a delusion sought, which is foreign to his word, or is not in accord with it as it is. For although Christ says of the bread, "This is my body," they say: This bread is nothing but bread, and although he says of the cup that it is the blood of the New Testament, they maintain that the wine is only wine and signifies, but is not this blood. Who is so blind that he should not see that this is contrary to one another? And yet some people raise these enthusiasts even to heaven.
As for the present passage, we are to believe and confess with this Psalm that Christ, who is Teacher in Zion and King, is the Son of God, born from eternity of the Father, above, apart from, and before all creatures. He is therefore not a creature after this birth; as Athanasius rightly says, begotten, not created. If here your reason objects to you, and thoughts arise such as the Turks have: Are there then two Gods? say thou, No, there is but One God; yet is the Father, and is the Son. How so: Answer humbly: I do not know. For God did not want this to be seen with the eyes; He only presented it in words and wanted it to be believed. If we do this, we do not err. For we follow the light which God Himself has kindled; but our reason is blind and cannot see such great things.
Here again the persons are changed. For he could have said: I am the Son of God; but the Father is introduced speaking. But this is done for the sake of drawing everything to the Father as the author, as Christ is wont to do in his sermons. Everywhere he introduces the image of the Father; he says that he speaks by command of the Father. He says that the Father does what he himself does; he does not say that he does anything of his own will, but by the command of the Father, so that through Christ all may know the Father, believe in the Father and praise the Father. This is a peculiar way of this teacher, which the Holy Spirit wanted to indicate in this passage, because
He attributes this word to the Father and yet shows that this King is the Teacher. For he wants to lead us to the Father through Christ, just as Christ does. But this also serves to comfort the hearts. For the conscience also grows pale and fears the name of God. For it recognizes its sins and fears His wrath. Therefore it abhors the voice of God and would rather hear the Turk or the devil, as this attitude is beautifully depicted in the history of the legislation, where the people exclaim: "Do not let God speak to us, otherwise we would die; speak to us. For just as the majesty of God cannot be seen with human eyes, so our ears cannot bear His voice.
Christ sees this, therefore, whatever he speaks and does, he always refers to God the Father, in order to bring this terror out of our hearts, and to remove this sad picture, which we ourselves invent, from our eyes. For what is there in Christ that is not full of comfort, lovable and kind? Therefore, when you see him hanging on the cross, when you see him overflowing with blood, and attribute this to God's will according to his words, will not the most terrifying name of God become sweet to you? and you will not only fear nothing evil from God, who sent his Son for this purpose, but also be filled with certain hope in his mercy and love towards you and the whole human race. To this end, what the Holy Spirit says is useful and helpful. The Holy Spirit attributes this word to the Father: "You are my Son." Christ Himself everywhere attributes the image and will of the Father, not for His sake, as if it were necessary for Him to speak in this way, but for the sake of our conscience, so that we may be sure that we have a mediator who stands between us and God, who represents us as our mediator, who loves us, who dies for us according to the will of His eternal Father.
This way of teaching is new and unknown to the world and completely hidden from the wicked, but it is known to the godly. These hear this teacher in Zion with the greatest willingness.
He is the Son of God, who, although he himself teaches, nevertheless teaches us the word which the Father speaks. "The Lord," he says, "has said to me, 'You are my son,' as if to say: 'My doctrine is not mine; I only tell and declare that which is spoken to me.' Therefore he that heareth me heareth the Father. For though I preach, yet it is not I that preach, but it is One Word which I speak, and the Father heareth etc. It is useful to learn this, so that we do not think that the Father is differently disposed towards us than we hear from the Son, who truly, because he dies for us, cannot hate us. Think the same of the Father and believe it. For Christ's voice is the voice of the invisible Father. For the Son speaks from the mouth of the Father, and again the Father from the mouth of the Son, for the Father and the Son are One [John 10:30]. In this way, although the persons are different (that is, the Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Father), the will is the same and the word is the same.
But this also serves that we do not want to turn away from Christ with our thoughts, do not want to seek, hear and call upon the Father, but, as Christ says to Philip (Jn. 14:9-11), we should certainly think that when we look at, hear, call upon and worship Christ, we look at, hear, call upon and worship God the Father. Therefore, we should cling to this teacher and not let ourselves be drawn away from his words. For what you hear from him, you hear from the eternal and invisible Father, and there is no other God to be sought apart from Christ, nor any other will of God. Therefore, those who indulge in their thoughts and speculate (speculantur) about God and His will without Christ lose God altogether. Therefore, what the Holy Spirit says here, "The Lord has said to me," is to be understood of the true Godhead, as the epistle to the Hebrews (Cap. 1, 5] uses this testimony.
Teachers have disputed in many ways about the phrase: "Today I have begotten you". For some interpret it from the birth of Christ, others from the resurrection and the time of the New Testament, but we want to keep it as it reads (^τόι> ), or
after the letter. Because the Hebrew word actually means "to beget". This cannot be understood at this point from natural or temporal birth (for it is not spoken in reference to men, but about God), therefore it denotes the eternal and invisible birth. Therefore, it is such a word that cannot be understood or comprehended by human reason. The Son proclaims it to us, but if we do not believe it, we will never understand it. For it is a word which is brought to us out of the light, since no one can come to it, in which God dwells. Then it can be understood when it is spoken among men by men, but here, since the eternal Father, who is a Spirit, speaks this word from His Son, it cannot be understood. But you see in this passage a twofold preaching. The first is an inward one, as the Lord speaks to the Son. We neither hear it nor understand it, but it is only understood by the one who speaks it and by the one to whom it is said. The other sermon is an outward one, as the Son speaks to us, "The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son." This we hear, but we do not understand it either, for it wants to be grasped and can be grasped with faith alone. I therefore understand this passage of the eternal begetting.
I do not dislike Augustine's discussion, since he compares the verbum that stands in the past time with the adverbium of the present time, and says that in the sight of God there is neither past nor future, but outside of time and in eternity everything is present. And yet the Holy Spirit wanted to use the past time to indicate the perfect birth, otherwise, if we want to speak as the matter is, the Son of God is born today, daily and always. For eternity has neither past nor future. In this way, the word "today" must be understood of time, namely as it is before God, not of our time. For God does not speak to us, but to Him who is with God apart from time. We have the difference of the times, that with us "today" something an-
1) Erlanger: visibittzm instead of: invisibilera.
is different from yesterday and tomorrow. This difference does not know eternity, where there is no time, neither past nor future, but a constant today, as Peter says [2. Ep. 3, 8.): "One day before the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like One day." For the beginning, the end and the middle of time are One Moment with God.
We speak these words like parrots without understanding. For we are temporal, or, that I speak more correctly. A small piece of time. For what we have been is gone, but what is to come we do not have. Thus we have nothing of time but something that is only a moment, that which is present. So the adverb "today" refers to the eternal birth of the Son, which clearly proves that he is not a creature, since he is born "today", that is, in eternity, without beginning and without end, in a completely present (praesentissima, that I say so) birth. But I have said above [Col. 130]: if one compares these with each other, that this Son is born from eternity, and yet is King in Zion, then it follows that his birth is a twofold one, outside of time and in time, and that this person, who is born of the Virgin Mary, is at the same time true man and true God. But how this happened or could have happened, to discuss this in more detail (disputes), beware of that. Follow the word in simple faith, which teaches us about these things, and flee the disputes. For this is not a fiction of men, that of this man born of Mary it is said that he is God, that he is begotten of the Father from eternity; the Scripture alone teaches us this. Therefore, we are to believe it as an article that has been taught and revealed to us by God without our doing, and we are not to measure such great things by our begging rod, since we have only a brief moment of time, but do not even understand eternity.
You have therefore the most important articles of our faith, indicated in this Psalm, who and how the King Christ is, namely, begotten of the Father from eternity, and set up on Mount Zion; then, how His kingdom is, namely, that He is a
Teacher be beyond the Law and Moses. For he teaches not of our works, but of himself, that he is the eternal Son of God, that he may provoke us to accept him, and to trust in his merits and works. Whoever accepts and believes these, this King will soon reveal Himself further to him through His words and deeds. You will not despise or neglect his word, for you know that he is the Son of God; you will also look at his deeds and hear with the greatest pleasure that he became man, that he suffered death on the cross, that he raised himself from death. For you will firmly believe that this was not done for his sake, since he lacked nothing because he is the Son of God, but for your sake, so that you might be free from death, from sin, from the snares and tyranny of the devil. So you will trust in this King and will certainly believe that you will attain eternal life. All this will follow if you will firmly keep this article that Christ is God's eternal Son.
But those who do not hold to this article will either, like the Turks, when they exalt Christ, judge that he is a prophet; or, like the pope, they will not esteem his works and words highly, but will seek other help through which they hope for forgiveness of sins and eternal life. For these also know that he was born of Mary and suffered under Pontius Pilate, but all this is to them only a historical event; they are not stirred to faith, they do not thereby grasp a certain hope of blessedness, but as they read the histories of the kings of Judah or Israel, so they also know this of Christ. For it cannot be otherwise. The whole gospel only becomes a history when one has lost this main article of the eternal birth of Christ. For everything is based on this. Therefore, for those who hold on to this, the words and deeds of Christ are not dead history, but living things, which are held up to us for this reason by the Son of God, so that we may live through them.
Therefore, mark this verse with the utmost diligence: "You are my Son, today I have begotten you." They are few words, but
They have a tremendous weight and cannot be comprehended by reason. For when reason is outside of time and temporal things, it is completely blind and dull, for it sees and knows nothing. Therefore faith is necessary, but reason, as Paul commands of the women in the church [1 Cor. 14:34, 1 Tim. 2:12], should speak nothing but be silent. But as the Holy Spirit has taught us about this King by what precedes (a priori), or (if it should be permissible to speak so) from the effectual cause (ab efficienti causa), that he was begotten of the Father from eternity, so he will now continue to describe him according to what follows (a posteriori), and will show by the effects that this King is not only man, but also God.
V. 8: "Cry unto me, and I will give thee the heathen for an inheritance, and the end of the world for a possession.
This is to be referred to the description of the kingdom and the person at the same time. Arius has also claimed this passage for himself against the deity [of Christ^. He says: If Christ is God by nature, then he is already the Lord of the Gentiles and of the world to its end. But here he claims as a lesser of God, and receives what he had not before; so he is not God, but the most perfect creature, hence he also has the name and is called a son of God. Thus the perceptive minds become a workshop of the devil when they allow themselves to be led astray from the word and rely on their intellect. Yes rather we turn the whole proof around, and conclude thus: The Son is here set as Lord over the end of the race, that is, over all creatures, so it follows that he is God by nature. For the Lord says thus: "I will leave my glory to no other" [Is. 48, 11]. But to this he gives his honor, so he does not give it to a stranger, but to him who is his equal, that is, to God. And yet the difference of persons remains, for there is one who gives, but another demands that it be given, indeed, he is commanded to demand. But why this? If he is God, why does he take himself
not what is his? What is it necessary for him to demand?
I answer: The Psalm speaks of the Son of God, not as he was from eternity, for after this manner he is the Lord of the creature; he receives nothing, but has everything; but it speaks of the King of Zion, that is, of the Son of God who became man, of the man born of the Virgin Mary, and begins his kingdom in the fleshly Zion, through the Gospel. To this man, who is humbled among the angels, God gives dominion over the Gentiles, that all should obey him, that all should hope for forgiveness of sins and eternal life through him, and the Son is commanded to demand this dominion, so that his reverence for the Father and his unspeakable humility may be shown everywhere. He does not force himself, he does not seize it of his own will, but remains in the humiliation of the cross, as he says [Matth. 11, 29]: "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble in heart", and waits until the Father exalts him. This, then, is a Johannine way of speaking, that is, Christ's own, for this is the way He used to speak [John 14:28]: "The Father is greater than I." [v. 24. "The words that I speak are not mine." [Jn. 5, 17.:] "My Father worketh, and I also work." For everywhere he is wont to cite the Father as the author, and to ascribe all that is his to the Father, not only to terrify the ungodly, but also to comfort the godly, as we said just before.
Therefore, learn to use this verse against the Arians. Christ receives dominion over the Gentiles, but he receives it in such a way that he himself is the Lord, that through him the Gentiles should receive righteousness and judgment, grace and truth, as the 89th Psalm, v. 15, testifies. These are things that are not even in the hands of angels, but only God forgives sins and makes righteous, only God delivers from death and eternal damnation, only God gives the Holy Spirit, also only God is true. Since the Son is commanded to pour this out to the Gentiles, who does not see that he is God by nature? For
these are not works of the creature, and yet this person, to whom this is given by God the Father Himself, is the seed of David, and he holds the throne of his father David. Therefore, just as the word "I will give" is full of anguish to the Arians, so it is full of comfort to us. For since the Son of God appeared in our flesh as the seed of David, this word belongs to the proof of which St. Paul speaks Rom. 1:4, that he was powerfully proven to be the only begotten Son of God, who has everything from the Father.
In this way the word "heischen" does not give us an offence, but it edifies us, and teaches that we should not, after the manner of the Gentiles, Turks and Jews, when we want to ask something, run without reverence to God as to an unknown Lord, but go to the Son, the mediator between us and God, to whom the Father has given all things, as Christ says, citing as it were this very passage of the Psalm [Matth. 28, 18.]: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." Thus we shall obtain what we desire, and our hearts will not be in doubt, as the hearts of the Turks and the Jews necessarily doubt, since they call upon Him whom they do not know. But we know Christ, who is proved to be the Son of God, since authority over the Gentiles was given to him. Therefore, by praying in his name, we obtain all that we ask. This is what I wanted to say at the beginning against the pernicious doctrine of the Arians in a few words, in order to strengthen the highest article of our faith; now let us explain the words.
This king was installed on the throne of his father David in Zion. There, in the people of David, he began his kingdom, not with the sword, like David, but only with words, because he is a preacher. But the kingdom that began in Zion and in David's people does not end there, but the borders of this kingdom will be extended over all the nations and to the end of the world, that is, the kingdom that began in Jerusalem, the word that was first preached in Zion, will be extended over the whole earth, as the 19th Psalm, v. 4 f., says: "There is no language nor speech that can be spoken.
do not hear their voice. Their cord goes out into all the earth, and their speech to the end of the world. Therefore, the preceding verse is to be connected with this one, so that because Christ is praised as the Lord and King of the whole world, one does not fall into the foolishness of thinking that all worldly kingdoms are for that reason either not lawful rulers or a robbery, as some people speak of it quite inconsistently. For the preceding verse says that this king is a teacher, therefore he will not destroy the worldly regiments, will not change the civil laws, will not usurp kingdoms. These will remain in the same position they had before in the world, that is, the kings and princes who execute their office will be blessed, but those who administer their office carelessly will suffer punishment.
This king will not change this course or order of the world. For his kingdom is not of this world, but to all kingdoms and to all dominions he will bring the new word and the new doctrine, which testifies of him, that all who believe in him and are baptized shall have forgiveness of sins and eternal life. This is the kingdom of this king, this is his dominion, this is his emperorship. Therefore, those who do not believe in him, who do not accept him, will be punished with eternal death, and cannot work their way out of sins, nor escape the punishment of sin.
But this kingdom of our king, this doctrine of his, is the cause of the troubles of which this psalm spoke in the beginning. For the heathen rage, the people talk, the kings rebel, the lords conspire, only for the sake that they may reject this king and his doctrine by which he rules; and for this cause the heathen and the people are armed not only with reason and wisdom, but also with free will, by which they fashion themselves into an honorable and seemingly holy life. For if this were not to some extent within the powers of man, what would discipline, what would laws avail? But that some let their lusts be kept in check by the bonds of the laws, while others, like raging dogs, attack the
Who does not see that this is the work of human reason, which it can accomplish by itself, even without the Holy Spirit?
Now with these gifts, namely the light of reason and the freedom of the will, the pagans puff themselves up and wish that this king be suppressed, who at the same time condemns and rejects the light of reason and the freedom of the will as things that are not useful for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. For this king teaches that the forgiveness of sins and eternal life can only be obtained through his death and merits, and that this power was given to him by the Father. Furthermore, he wants people to use the light of reason and their discretion or free will to govern the things of this world and to prove themselves honorable in the outer life. For reason and the will serve for these two things. But this seems to be something too small for the heathen, and they want to be saved by these natural gifts. Since Christ condemns this, they cause trouble and condemn this teacher or king with his teaching.
How then, you will say, is Christ a king of the Gentiles, since the Gentiles will not have him and condemn him, since they make outrages against him? I answer: If the Gentiles, who reject Christ, would do this for their benefit, then the King Christ would certainly suffer harm; but the Gentiles reject Christ to them to the highest danger and to their very certain ruin. Therefore, Christ's kingdom is not harmed in this way, but the unbelieving world harms itself and brings condemnation upon itself. Therefore, this verdict remains: The Lord has given Christ dominion over all Gentiles, therefore he calls all Gentiles to faith through his gospel. Those who hear the gospel and obey it receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life. But those who do not believe remain in sins and cannot get out of sins either by the power of reason or by the powers of free will. Therefore, they do not harm the kingdom
Christ, whom they oppose, but themselves.
Therefore, this verse does not only serve to show that the law of Moses should be abolished, since the new kingdom instituted by Christ should also be brought to the Gentiles, but that everything should be abolished that can be arranged by the reason and the will of man, because it is of no use for salvation and eternal life. Therefore, not good discipline, not other virtues that can be devised by the will, not works that one takes upon oneself, no matter how difficult they may be, deserve the forgiveness of sins, nor do they reconcile us to God, but only faith in the Son of God. But, as I have said, this doctrine is the cause of unrest and turmoil in the world. For why are we condemned today, but because we say that this King alone is our righteousness? because we claim that by believing in him alone one obtains forgiveness of sins and eternal life? But the raging of the world shall not move us. For we know from this Psalm that to our King was given dominion over all the Gentiles, that they might be his own, that is, that through him they might be saved and receive forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit. But those who will not acknowledge him will be judged differently later.
Therefore the word "heathen" is not to be taken merely for what it means outwardly (pro materia), but it includes all that the heathen have, righteousness, wisdom, power, laws, and other things by which they believe themselves to be secure both against misfortune in civil life and against eternal evil. Look at the Roman Empire, which was gloriously fortified not only by power but also by laws; in it you will find excellent men, whose virtue is exalted in the Scriptures to the heavens. These the world admires and praises, and especially the hearts are taken by their zeal for the worship of God. But what does this psalm say? "Cry unto me, and I will give thee the heathen," that is, the Roman empire will not be helped by its power, not by its laws, not by its virtue, not by its worship; it will not be helped by the power, not by its laws, not by its virtue, not by its worship.
are yours and given to you, that is, if they believe in you, they will please me and be in grace, but if not, I will reject them and destroy them, and they will not be able to protect themselves. Therefore, this verse serves to comfort us against the sorrow of the cross. For, as the psalm said in the beginning, the heathen rage, the people rage, the kings rebel, the lords take counsel, and this does not happen without dangers for the church and certain disadvantages. But here we are to hold firmly to the fact that Christ demanded dominion over the Gentiles and that it was given to him by God the Father. Therefore, even if the world is nonsensical, even if the devil rages with all hell, they will still not get the upper hand. For Christ's kingdom exists and will exist, and he will reign in the midst of his enemies.
In this way we should also rise up in a special (privata) fight, when the hearts are frightened by the law, by sin, by death. Then we are to take hold of this verse: "I will give you the Gentiles as your own, and the end of the world as your inheritance," that is, we are to hold that Christ is set over all things by the power (auctoritate) of the Father, so that salvation depends on him alone. Since we have been baptized into his death, since we call on his name, since we rely on his word, we are to firmly believe that the victory will be ours, and that through him we will rule over death and hell. For God the Father does not preach here about garlic or onions; he gives everything into his hands to the Son, so that those who believe in him may be saved through him, but those who do not believe will be lost and condemned. Therefore, let not the world, let not the devil, let not our hearts terrify us. We are indeed afflicted and oppressed in many ways, but on this very path the Son of God has gone before us. He, too, felt the raging of the heathen and the threats and plots of the kings, but finally he proved to be a king over all nations on earth and as the ruler for the blessedness of the believers and the condemnation of the unbelievers.
There is therefore a glorious consolation here before-
held for the believers, that we have him for our Lord, who is the Lord over all the earth, whom the kings and all the Gentiles, even the devil himself, must serve and obey, or perish and perish. If you look at the matter, there is nothing like this before your eyes, and yet the outcome shows that the Holy Spirit is telling the truth. See what Christ's kingdom was like in the time of the apostles. Few, and that the most despised and the yeast of the people, it was who preached this king and denounced him to the world. The synagogue, on the other hand, was resplendent in dignity and power, and opposed these new teachers with all its might. Finally, there was the Roman Empire, which shed the blood of many thousands of martyrs to suppress this king, and it did not seem at that time that Christ had dominion over the Gentiles. The Gentiles seemed to rule, not only over the apostles, whom they killed with impunity, but even over Christ, whom they blasphemed: and yet, who does not see that both the synagogue and the Roman empire are given over to this king fei? Because they would not accept him, they have come to such ruin that there are scarcely any traces or shadow of so great a power left. Thus this verse overthrew everything that opposed Christ, and we should not doubt that the enemies of Christ, who today oppose the gospel, will perish in the same way. For it is not an empty word: "I will give you the Gentiles" etc.
Just as the kings of the land rebel, just as the heathen rage, but finally realize that their efforts are in vain and that their destruction is certain, death, sin and the law rage in our hearts in the same way. But because it is written here, "I will give you the Gentiles as your own," these enemies of ours can indeed rise up and do something, but they will not be able to win. For this is given to our King, who is established on Zion. His alone is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. We should do the same with heretics and those who stir up trouble in the church. Zwingli and Carlstadt are now stirring up trouble, trying to persuade the simple that in the holy
The Lord's Supper is eaten only bread and drunk only wine. But Christ's words, by which he clearly teaches (affirmat) that this bread is his body and this cup his blood, they wickedly and ungodly pervert according to the vanity of their hearts. Therefore I have no doubt that they will also suffer punishment for this ungodliness and will finally experience with their great damage that Christ reigns. 1)
The emphasis therefore lies from the word "Gentiles". For it must not be taken merely (nude), only from the bodies or the material according to ((pro materia), but it comprehends the righteousness, wisdom, power, will, reason and all other gifts. All these things the Father subjects to Christ and makes guilty, so that he rejects and condemns the Gentiles with all they have, if they are not in Christ and through Christ in grace. In the world the laws, the striving for virtue, the discipline, the righteousness etc. are indeed something significant, but compared to Christ they are nothing and deserve eternal damnation. For grace and truth are given to us only through Christ, whom the Father has appointed Lord over all things, even over sin, death and the devil.
But I have said above that this serves to prove that he is the Son of God or God by nature, for it is not in any creature to give life, to put away death, and to blot out sin. Since Christ does this, and does it according to the will, by command, and by the gift of the Father, it follows that he is God, according to the word [Isa. 42:8], "I will give my glory to no other." Rightly, therefore, does the Epistle to the Hebrews [Cap. 1, 5.] say, "To what angel did he say, Thou art my Son?" And we also rightly say in the same way here: "To which angel did he give the Gentiles for his own possession and the end of the world for his inheritance?
V. 9. You shall smash them with an iron scepter; like pots you shall break them.
The previous verse has taught that this king is appointed by divine command,
1) From this passage, the year 1531 results with great probability as the time of the writing of this scripture. Compare the first note Col. 74.
to destroy, to overthrow and to condemn all that there is of God-worship, wisdom, power and righteousness in the whole world and among all pagans. For to this king alone is this honor reserved, that in his name shall be justified and live all who are justified. Therefore the Jews may have innumerable Moses, if the one is not enough for them; the Gentiles may have their teachers of law and righteousness; the monks and saints of works may have certain marks of their spiritual state: if they do not have this King, if they are not adorned and endowed with his righteousness, they are and remain in the kingdom of the devil, in sins and in death. And this is the cause that the world, as the Holy Spirit prophesied in the beginning of this Psalm, sets itself against this King with all its strength and does not want to suffer these bonds. It does not want, as we also learn today, that its wisdom should be condemned; it does not want its righteousness to be accused as if it were sin; it does not want its power to be despised as weakness; in short, it does not want to suffer the judgment that all its own is nothing. For if the miserable good (substantia) that consists in metal, namely gold and silver, makes men puffed up and proud, how much more will service, righteousness, and knowledge of the law that God has given, make the weak hearts puffed up!
When the world hears that these supreme gifts are rejected by the gospel and only this king is praised, it is not only angered, but it also arms itself and strives with all its might to save its gifts from this disgrace. This gives rise to the most bitter battles, that the world and this king meet with hostile hearts, but in that it comes to such an end as the 118th Psalm, v. 22, prophesies: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." He compares this king to a stone that the builders reject, that is, throw away as if it were of no use. On the other hand, just as they think that the stone is rejected, so they adorn themselves, their righteousness, their works with the title that they please God, that they are the Church and God's people. This contradiction
and rejection must be everywhere where this stone is and where there are builders, that is, such people who boast that they are the church and claim the possession of the right doctrine and the holy services for themselves. But what will finally be the end of this dispute? Certainly this, of which the Psalm says: the rejected stone becomes the cornerstone that supports the whole building, and it happens that "whoever falls on this stone will be crushed, but on whom it falls it will crush him. For this is how Christ interprets Matth. 22, 44. this Psalm, and the opinion of this passage is also completely the same.
He says, "You will crush them with an iron scepter or rod," that is, the world will be aroused against you, it will not suffer this judgment of itself, it will use force and weapons; but how will it go out? Certainly in such a way that they will finally be crushed and perish. For you have an iron or demented rod or scepter, which they will not be able to bear etc. If someone likes more the translation in the Latin Bible, XXXX: reges eos [you will rule them], or as Jerome translates: Thou shalt feed her [, he may follow her], for even this image is not without grace and not inappropriate. For so we also use to speak in German: "Thou shalt give them a little bit to eat, when they shall have to die", thou shalt give them such food, on which they will perish.
Therefore, this verse is a threatening word and frightens the wicked who oppose this king; for us, however, it is comforting, who are united with this king and know that, as far as the world is concerned, he is a weak king who suffers in many weaknesses, whether it be that the tyrants and the powerful in the world oppose him, or false brethren and the founders of herds and heresies, or even our own conscience; but the weakness of our King is not so great, nor the power of the adversaries so great, that all who oppose him should not at last fall and perish. Therefore we should hold on to this comfort when the world rages and rages with violence and weapons against this King. For even though the world has great power,
Although this king is very weak, for he has nothing to fight with but the word of the gospel, which, as we see, is surely despised by the world, yet this very word, which is so despised and disdained in the world, will finally destroy all his enemies. For it is, as the prophet speaks here, an iron scepter, whereas the world is an earthen vessel; therefore the potter's vessel is broken by a small blow of iron.
Why, you will say, does the Holy Spirit call the gospel by this name, since it is in truth a word that refreshes and saves souls, just as Christ did not come to destroy the world, but to save the world [Luc. 9:56], but here the Holy Spirit prophesies something quite different, that he will destroy the world? I answer: It is true that this is Christ's ministry, that he makes blessed, that he frees from sins and gives eternal life. Paul also rightly calls the gospel [Rom. 1:16] a power of God that saves all who believe in it. For those who accept Christ and believe his words truly attain salvation. Therefore the Scripture also calls him a cornerstone, which bears the whole weight of the building, on which the whole building rests so that it will not fall. But those who do not accept Christ and hate his word, how can they escape destruction by casting away their salvation? Those who do not want to be founded on this stone, but brazenly go against it, who either fall on this stone, or on whom this stone falls, how will they not be hurt?
Therefore Christ also says, Joh. 12, 47. f.: "I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He that despiseth me, and receiveth not my words, hath already he that judgeth him: the word which I have spoken, the same shall judge him at the last day." The gospel is a scepter or rod of salvation to all who believe in it, but those who reject it must necessarily perish, because they reject their salvation. This happens, not because the word is to blame, which is holy and offers life, but because the word is not to blame.
It is their fault, because they reject this salvation that is offered to them, and rather, like the Jews, they base themselves on the law and the sacrifices, like the monks on their vows and human statutes, like all saints of works on the services that they have chosen for themselves. For why do they not humble themselves? why do they not give glory to God? why do they not confess that they are wretched sinners and accept Christ? For then it would be a gospel to their salvation and a rod to their life.
Therefore, this description should be well remembered, that the gospel is called an iron scepter, but those who oppose the gospel are called a potsherd or a potter's vessel. It truly does not take much effort, if you have an iron hammer in your hand, to break an earthen pot. For what need is there of thy strength, what need of the force of arms? The iron that falls on the pot by chance will break it. So this description serves to indicate the insurmountable power of the Word, which is not seen with eyes but is hidden. For if one follows the judgment of the world or of reason, what is there weaker than the word? what more contemptible? For it does not seem to be iron, but a straw or light chaff, which loses its hold by a weak breeze or wind, and cannot stand. For so the kings, the pope, the bishops, and the whole multitude of the wicked think of us, that we are few in number and miserable beggars, who are not even in esteem with our own. Surely, therefore, they despise us and the word we preach, not fearing from us ruin or any calamity. For they are many, and they have great power, dignity and wealth. That is why they laugh at it as an amusing foolishness when we threaten that their so great contempt for the word will be followed by a certain punishment.
Likewise, what were Peter, Paul, and the other apostles compared with the synagogue, whose doctrine, worship, and whole priesthood they had undertaken to change? The chief priests laughed with glee at this nobility. But behold, what did they do?
follows. Has not this weak voice of Peter, Paul and the others been in truth a voice of iron, a hammer with which the synagogue has been shattered like a potsherd and crushed to dust, to such an extent that not even a potsherd is left in which (as Isaiah [Cap. 30:14] says, imitating this image) fire could be taken from the hearth? For the wretched people are not only scattered over the whole earth like broken pieces, but not even a piece is left that would be useful for anything; they are utterly rejected and neither useful for the worldly regime nor for the church. The same will happen to those who nowadays oppose the Word, to the pope and his comrades, to the Turk, to our flocks and enthusiasts, who disturb the congregations with false teachings about Holy Communion, baptism, etc. All of these are painted by the Holy Spirit. All these the Holy Spirit paints here to be broken pieces, in which not even a little fire can be carried. But now this power of the Word is not before us, indeed, the opposite is seen; it seems as if our doctrine, since the multitude of the adversaries is so great, will completely fall away; but the godless teachers, idolatry, tyranny seem to retain the upper hand.
Therefore, this verse serves to comfort us, so that we do not lose heart and despair, but firmly believe that, just as before God the enemies of the Word have already been judged and plunged into hell, so this judgment will also be revealed in its time. For the Word of God, which like a mighty river cannot be restrained by any force, will do what it tends to do according to its nature, namely, it will make the faithful blessed, but it will condemn and crush the ungodly, and that because the author of this Word is wisdom, power and divine justice; therefore it is above all that we have and are. For what is the pope with his righteousnesses? what is the Turk with his power? what are the Sacramentians? what are the Anabaptists with their pithanologiis and their beautifully made-up proofs? In truth, nothing but efficient and useless bubbles of water, which
are puffed up and seem to be something, but suddenly disappear. But let us, especially in these last times, take great comfort from the insurmountable power of the Word. For it is impossible that our hearts should not be troubled at such a great multitude of aversions and the weakness of the church. For it is not a game or a joke that the whole world should lay itself against us. If you compare the Turks and the Papists, they are very dissimilar, and want to be, but in this they agree that they fight against Christ and want this doctrine to be abolished. There is also a great danger for us from false brethren and the originators of ungodly doctrines; yes, our hearts also fight against us, and seek to make this comfort doubtful, which we have through Christ.
Therefore, it is necessary that we magnify the Word and its consolation, and firmly believe that all wisdom, righteousness, and tyranny that is either outside us or within us must either yield to the Word or fall and perish. How great the power of the devil is from without, we feel in the tyrant, but truly it is far more powerful in our hearts. For he has a very large part of us, namely our flesh; this he provokes, so that he torments the hearts with despair, sadness, evil conscience about sin, and other such truly fiery darts. But we are to firmly believe, based on the prophecy of this psalm, that against all these evils and all difficulties, our King Christ sits, who is the Son of God, and adorned with this title, that he is "a King of kings," Revelation 19:16, and that he has in his hand a hammer of iron; but the tyrants, the heretics, and everything that opposes this word, is the vessel of a potter. Now when the battle comes between these, it is impossible for the earthen vessel to overpower the iron; the iron will crush and crush the broken pieces. But true righteousness, wisdom, blessedness and life will remain with us, as we believe, whether the world and the devil want it or not. For the word of the Lord abides forever, our High Priest and King Christ abides, so
we also who believe in him will remain; but the enemies of the word will all fall and perish, amen.
The Holy Spirit, in using the simile of the earthen vessel, has in mind not only that it can be broken very easily and without any effort, but also that earthen vessels, when broken, are of no use at all. Wooden vessels can be burned, and they serve to light fires with; if iron, silver, or gold vessels are broken, the remains are still of some use, but the pieces of a pottery vessel are of no use at all; thus the enemies of the word will be eternally rejected.
V. 10. Let yourselves therefore be instructed, O kings, and let yourselves be chastened, O judges of the earth.
Hitherto the prophet, full of the Holy Spirit, has depicted Christ and his kingdom; now he adds an exhorting sermon, the like of which cannot be found in all the Scriptures. For other writers are in the habit of doing this: they praise the rulers (imperia) and authorities, and exhort the subjects to obedience; and they do well at it. But the prophet does it quite differently. He speaks not to the peasants, not to the servants, not to the children, that they should be obedient, but to the kings themselves, commanding them to be instructed and chastened. What have you ever heard that is like this, that those are commanded to be chastened who rule over others? Is it not a great hope to speak so contemptuously to the kings in general, to exclude none, but to address all at once as fools who understand nothing, as if they lived without laws, without all discipline? For if they are already understanding beforehand, why does he say, "Let yourselves be guided"? If they are guided by laws, why does he say, "Let yourselves be disciplined," or, "Take discipline"?
And this is the cause that this king, as the prophet said in the beginning, does not reign without cross and many plagues from countless enemies. For because he exhorts all other kings without exception to discipline, because he violates their laws, righteousness, wisdom
and calls the kings and judges of the earth themselves fools who need a master to teach them justice and discipline, so they rebel against him, do not want to be taught, do not want to be considered fools.
You will say, then are the rulers (imperia) evil, or the laws to be condemned? Not at all. For the kingdoms and the laws are ordered by God Himself. But look at this king, what he is like. He is not a worldly king, but he is a teacher who teaches how to obtain forgiveness of sins and eternal life. To whom: you transfer the laws and the rulers to this area, as if they could be useful to attain salvation, you are mistaken. Therefore, he does not condemn the wisdom and righteousness of kings when they remain in their place, that is, when they direct and govern things subject to reason by their wisdom, and also entice others to obey the laws and serve the common peace by living honorably. For here also diligence and virtue have their reward, for God gives prosperity. But if, trusting in these gifts, one despises the word, rejects the mediator Christ, and hopes for blessedness from the same etc., this is the sin that this king condemns in the most powerful, wise and holy people here, and therefore commands them to come to him, to learn from him, to hear him etc.
Therefore, not only Moses and the law are rejected here, but also all rulers (imperia) with all the gifts they have, with their wisdom, power, laws, discipline, virtues, with all spiritual states (religionibus) and everything they do, because it is of no use at all for salvation. But it is shown that salvation is in this One, if you listen to him as a teacher, if you surrender to him, that he governs you, accustoms you, forms and shapes you. For this King, as they say, is all in all (fac totum). GOtte pleases nothing, GOtte is nothing pleasant except this king. Therefore, those who do not accept this king, who do not throw themselves at his feet, who do not use him as a mediator, God hates them, rejects them and condemns them for eternity, eighth their works for nothing,
156 L. xvm, 94-M. Interpretation of the second
their virtues for nothing, their special efforts for nothing, their righteousness and holiness for nothing, by which they believe to make themselves pleasing to God. For he alone is the Son in whom the Father is well pleased; he alone has and possesses everything, according to the Father's will.
Therefore, this verse also serves to strengthen us against the great trouble with which the church is plagued. For if one looks at what is really going on, the opposite happens; for kings and lords do not allow themselves to be instructed, but seek to break this bond of discipline with all their might, as the Spirit said above [v. 3]. To this is added the devil, who with all hell sets himself against this teacher, and stirreth up false prophets. Our hearts are not calm either. For agitated by the law, sin and the fear of death, they seek other protection than this teacher. Here we are to encourage ourselves, and comfort ourselves with this verse, that this alone is the teacher by whom we can be rightly instructed, and it shall come to pass that those who do not hear him shall perish in short, with all their gifts and everything on which they rely. Thus the Lord says in Isaiah, Cap. 52, 15: "Kings will shut their mouths against him," that is, all the kings of the earth will be in comparison to him, like a disciple against his teacher; the teacher speaks and teaches, the disciple is silent and listens.
This is the way kings should behave if they want to attain salvation, and of course all those who want to be saved keep their mouths shut and obey the voice of the gospel, but the majority do the opposite. For our King is set for a sign which is contradicted [Luc. 2:34]. But those who contradict, what profit will they have from it? Certainly that they will be condemned and rejected by God. For the sentence is passed that not only the kings and lords shall depart from this king, but also the gates of hell and all the angels. For he alone shall fill heaven and earth and all things, as Paul says [Eph. 1:20 ff.] to our consolation, that we may cling to him in steadfast faith, and hope for salvation through him alone. This is the right theo
logy, which instructs and aligns the hearts in the highest dangers.
The time particle "now" is not idle, because it denotes the time when the gospel was spread by the apostles. If you consider the outward appearance here, not only the highest weakness is before your eyes, but also obvious danger in the matter. For a few and despised people from among the least of your people are spreading a new kind of doctrine in the world, teaching that one becomes blessed through Christ crucified, in such a way that they condemn everything else that is done to attain blessedness. This trouble the Holy Spirit sees, and therefore says [Vulg.], "Now be wise, ye kings," that is, let yourselves be instructed and taught, "and be wise, ye judges of the earth," that is, let yourselves be chastened, let your righteousness and worship be punished, and obey this Teacher; who shall teach you the right way to salvation etc. Therefore, as above [v. 7.] Christ himself said that he would preach, so in this place the Holy Spirit exhorts that no one neglect this preacher. For he makes Christ the King a teacher, and shows that the whole world is his school; but his pupils are the kings and judges. But if these are to hear this teacher, how can we doubt that those who are lower down are also to hear him? In short, this king teaches the whole world, so that all may know that they have been in error with all their righteousness and merits.
But as the Holy Spirit calls all into this school together, there are only a few who admit this teacher. Therefore, riots, raving, indignation, and everything that an angry heart can think of follow. And yet this teacher finally triumphs, but the disobedient disciples perish, as he will say soon after [v. 12] and also said above [v. 9]. Therefore the words "be understanding" and "be instructed" must be taken in all their gravity. For the Holy Spirit indicates that kings, judges, etc., though they have knowledge of the law and practice virtue, are fools and fools if they do not hear this teacher and let themselves be instructed by him. For
If the knowledge of Christ is lacking, all wisdom is foolishness, all righteousness is unrighteousness and sin, and even life itself is death. In this verse, therefore, the Holy Spirit sums up the whole world and subjects everything to Christ. He speaks to the kings as if they were locusts, to the wise men of the world as if they were children. For he sees what will finally happen if they do not hear this King, namely that they will be thrown into the eternal fire with all their wisdom, righteousness and power. For this is God's commandment, that all should humble themselves, that they should shut their mouths, as Isaiah Cap. 52, 15. says, that they should recognize that this king alone is the one through whom life and salvation should come. Those who obey this commandment will be saved, those who do not will perish.
V. 11. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.
So far the prophet has taught that the King Christ is established on Mount Zion, and has also described him, how he is constituted and how great he is, namely the Son of God, begotten from eternity, true God, and yet also born in the time of man, that he might take the throne of his father David and rule in Zion. After that he said that this kingdom should be extended to the end of the world. For unto this King are all nations given, that he should be King over all kings, and Lord over all lords, upon whom be the eyes and ears and hearts of all men, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, whether they be righteous or sinners, whether they be spiritual or temporal authorities. For all things rest on this King alone: he alone has life, he alone justifies, he alone saves. To this teaching, which is the most noble part of this psalm, the prophet attaches an exhortation, in which he names the same people he named in the beginning, namely the kings and judges who rage when this king exercises his office, and reminds them to stop raging and to humble themselves and become disciples, so that they may be judged and condemned as sinners and rejected people, and hear this Son.
This verse also belongs to this admonition, for he not only commands them to listen, but after they have heard this king, he also wants them to desist from their rebellion and serve him, and adds the cause: for, he says, this king is the Lord or the true God. For here is the name called the Tetragrammaton [namely, Jehovah, and which in Scripture alone is attributed to GOtte. The Jews by no means admit that the person whom the prophet called a "king" above [v. 6.] is here called "the HErr" or Jehovah; but they contend in vain. For immediately he adds [v. 12.], "Kiss the Son." But because the word "kiss" is a word signifying a service of God, the Father wills that all should worship and serve this Son, and indicates that when this King is served, the true GOOD is served, and that those who would serve the true GOOD should do so in the Son. In this way Hosea in the third chapter [v. 5] connects the service of God and this king, when he says: "Then the children of Israel will turn and seek the Lord their God and their king David." For since the Father and the Son are One, the Father cannot be worshipped without the Son, and the Father commands that those who would serve Him in truth should serve the Son and hear Him. But those who deny the Son, like the Jews and the Turks, also deny God Himself and are detestable idolaters.
Therefore, we are to reject the dreams of the Jews, and firmly believe that the person of the Son, who is the Son of David and sits in the Castle of David as King, is God, and in this place is called by the exalted name of God [Jehovah]. This is the first thing that needed to be remembered here. The other is that we must also pay attention to the actual meaning of the words. For you know how these words have been perverted in the Church of the Pope, by which the service against God is signified. This has happened because no one has taken the trouble to look carefully at the text, or rather because God has blinded us with such ingratitude.
We did not see what was in front of our eyes. For if you search the books of the newer theologians, you will see that serving God is nothing else than fleeing into the desert, leaving the duties of the world and home regiment behind and hiding in a monastery.
But if this were the correct description, to what purpose are the commandments, of which the books of the apostles are full, of the love of husbands and wives for one another, of the obedience of servants, of the cheap and benevolent behavior of masters, of the careful attention in the government of the commonwealth? Do not these very commandments show that the Gospel praises all these estates? What nonsense, therefore, was it to teach that "to serve" is to flee these estates, to change not only one's dress, but also one's nature and sex? For what does a monk do other than that he wants to be something other than a man (masculus) against God's order? Is this not the utmost nonsense? I remember that there were two outstanding jurists in Erfurt. When they were about to die, they said with heavy sighs: "Oh, if we had not been teachers of law, but monks, how much happier we would die now! But what had passed away could not be made up for. Therefore, there seemed to be only one thing left that could help them, namely, they ordered that, in addition to the masses (sacra), which they bought at a high price, their corpses should also be clothed in monastic robes, and thus they would be buried in monastic clothing. Did they not clearly indicate that they did not know that they had served God in their office?
Therefore, the right description must be given so that you will certainly think that serving God does not consist in changing your clothes, changing your sex, relying on your office in the betting and domestic regiment, and hiding in a monastery. All this is something external and can be pretended. But this is even an abomination, that one undertakes these things without command.
1) Instead of: et xoUtiois in the Erlanger is to be read: xo1itioi8 et.
of the word, out of one's own devotion, as it is called. Beware, therefore, that you do not adorn such things with that lofty title, that they are worship or service of God. But what am I disputing about "human" statutes? Not even the Jews dare to adorn their sacrifices and other legal observances, which are known to be commanded by God, with this title and call them a service against God. For if the Psalm said: Come to Jerusalem, sacrifice, cleanse your clothes, fast, worship at the cherubim etc., then we would certainly be forced to declare that this is actually the service against God; but of these things the Psalm says nothing, but speaks of a new kingdom and of a new doctrine, which is established after Moses.
Therefore, put out of sight everything that is spiritual (religionum) and worshipful, even those that God instituted through Moses Himself. For this new king has come, therefore a new service is also established. A Jew can keep his circumcision, a monk can keep his cap, but it is necessary that he be certain that this is not a service that God has imposed, not a service with which this king wants to be worshipped. But because both, a monk and a Jew, keep this as a service, they are condemned at this point by the Holy Spirit, and another form or way of service is prescribed.
But what kind of way this is, can be shown from the holy ten commandments, where it says: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only" [Deut. 6, 13. Matth. 4, 10.]. I use to distinguish these two parts in such a way that "worship" is said by a man who is converted to God, but "serve" by the man who is sent by God; or, as Christ uses to speak in the same way [John 10:9], "worship" is said by the one who goes in to God, but "serve" by the one who goes out from God. For he who worships falls on his knees and shows signs of submission; this is, as it were, a suffering (passiva) service. For by thus turning to the Lord in certain confidence in his mercy for Christ's
he receives forgiveness of sins and is made righteous. And after he is accepted in grace in this way, he goes out from God and turns to men, and carries out the commandment of God concerning service to men. Now that Paul has been justified by faith, he does the works of a righteous person (justa), that is, he fulfills his office with teaching, a godly ruler with governing, a householder with works, and so they serve God. For they do not, like the monks, what they like, but what God commands.
Serving God, then, is nothing other than doing what God commands and acknowledging that this is the obedience due. The monks and other teachers of the pope did not know this, otherwise they would not have asked to go to the monasteries and to leave the offices in the world and domestic regiment. It would have been enough for them, in whatever profession they were, if they had kept in mind the holy ten commandments and practiced the works that are commanded; but they would not have invented new works that are quite contrary to the ordinary way of life, as those of the monks and the whole papacy are. In this way, I wanted to remind in general what it means to serve God.
Furthermore, although the Jews deny that Christ is called "the Lord" in this passage, nevertheless, because the whole Psalm speaks of the new King, who is set up in Zion, and to whom the Gentiles and the ends of the earth are given, and whom the kings are commanded to serve, it must be indicated here in particular, as it were, what it means to serve your kings Christ. But we do not want to depart from the general description. For to serve the King Christ is nothing else than to hear this King, and then to do in his name everything that our profession or office requires, so that the opinion is: You kings and judges, and all that is high in the church or in the secular government, let go of everything that exists in the whole world, including Moses, laws, rights, etc., and listen to this King, offer yourselves to him as disciples, listen to him. This is the first part of the service. After that put into practice what you have heard and do
it in the name of this King, as Paul says Col. 3, 17.: "All things whatsoever ye do in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord JEsu, giving thanks unto God and the Father through him."
Therefore, "serving Christ" is not putting on a cap, it is not dealing with Mosaic ceremonies, but it is a completely spiritual thing; not in the way that the monks call something spiritual (spirituale), which only goes on in the heart, but it is a spiritual service that comes from the spirit. For he who speaks, preaches, teaches the words of the spirit is rightly said to speak spiritually. In the same way, he who does holy works, that is, he who does what is commanded in the Ten Commandments, is said to live spiritually. Thus a householder lives spiritually who governs his house in faith in the Son of God. For spiritual obedience is to do in faith in the Son of God what you are commanded to do by the commandment of God. Then you have what it means to serve this king; not, as the monks are wont to do, to go into a monastery, not to choose this or that work, but to look at this king and hear him, and then do what you have heard.
But why does he add: "Serve him with fear"? In doing so, he is secretly aiming at the kings. Because they are endowed with power and wealth, they violently oppose this king. For persecuting Christ is not really found among the little people, who can easily be kept in check, but among the kings of the world, who are presumptuous of their power and their goods. The Holy Spirit has these especially in mind and admonishes them to turn this pride into humility and to fear this king, so that no one will know that they are kings. For to be a king and to serve are things that are contrary to each other, and yet the Spirit wants even the kings to serve, that is, to recognize that they are servants of this king, and more servants than their own subjects find. Therefore he inserts a threat into the exhortation. Because he sees that they are puffed up and secure because of their power, he reminds them that they should humble themselves and abandon everything they rely on,
and humbly throw themselves at the feet of this king and hear him.
But does not this Psalm protect the Anabaptists? For when he teaches that kings should serve, he wants them to take off the crowns, the scepters and the other insignia that give them dignity and elevate them above the ordinary position of men. So he puts them badly in a row with others, so that there is no difference between a king and a miller etc. This is by no means the case. For kings as kings, and judges as judges, shall render the new service. They are not to throw away their kingdoms, but to keep them, and yet to reverence and hear this King, and to establish their laws according to his word, that is, to decree nothing contrary to the word of Christ. Therefore, the Holy Spirit does not abolish or change the worldly laws, but subjects them to this King, so that they will not be against him. Therefore, not only kings and lords should keep their office, but also those who hold high ecclesiastical offices (titulos). Namely, the pope and the bishops shall remain in their position, only they shall acknowledge this king and humbly bow before him and accept his word.
But the prophet describes this service very emphatically, as he commands that they should serve this king with fear. But this is for the purpose, as I said above, of noticing the persons with whom the Holy Spirit speaks. Kings puff themselves up because of their power and wealth, judges or teachers because of their wisdom, and in general they are all worksaints, that is, they hold fast to the delusion of their holiness and regard themselves as righteous. These, therefore, are the ones to whom the Holy Spirit says, "Serve with fear." For others, who suffer tribulation, who, lacking human assistance, have to struggle not only with hunger, but also with sins and their consciences, are already in the fear of God; therefore, this sermon does not go to them, but that one must believe the forgiveness of sins through the Son of God, who became a sacrifice for us, of which the Psalm immediately continues, saying, "Rejoice with
Trembling." For the Holy Spirit does not want us to fear in such a way that we, overwhelmed by fear, despair, but just as he wants presumption to be removed, and therefore commands us to fear, so he also wants despair to be removed, and commands us to remain on the middle road, fearing and hoping at the same time, as if he wanted to say: Just as this King does not want to suffer the pride of kings and the righteousness of saints, so he does not want to suffer the rejection of the poor and the foolish people who cannot advise themselves. But he wills this, that thou mayest both fear, and so escape hopefulness or presumption, and rejoice, that thou mayest escape despair. Those who do not want to fear him, he threatens with misfortune, for he has an iron scepter; but those who fear him in such a way that they rejoice at the same time, that is, that they firmly believe that they will be justified solely through the mercy of God and the good deed of Christ, they are in truth children of God, who fear God, not as a tyrant, but like children their parents, with reverence. For they mix the fear of God with joy and hope, and yet they remain in humble reverence, so that their courage does not become too great and become presumptuous. This is the right service to God, which we realize can never be unlearned. But our adversaries, the enthusiasts, despise it as something known and, as they say, worn on their shoes, so they occupy themselves with other things in which some glory of special spiritual gifts seems to be chased.
In this way the 147th Psalm, v. 11. connects this: "The Lord is pleased with those who fear him and hope in his goodness." Why does he add, "In those who fear him"? Certainly for the sake of those who hope in him, who trust in his wisdom and righteousness; in them he has no pleasure. But only those who fear him, that is, those who recognize themselves as sinners, and therefore do not puff themselves up, but humbly bow their heads, are pleasing to him. For when you feel terror in this way, you must
You must not let your heart slacken too much; you must not think that God is angry with you, that he has rejected you, that he wants to destroy you, but you must lift up your eyes and look at Christ, who placed himself as mediator between God and us, and took our sins on his neck, and suffered the penalty of death for them on the cross. This sight, like the sight of the serpent of brass, will alleviate the fear so that it does not become too great and turn into despair.
But, as I have said, this is something very difficult, and it is with great difficulty that Christians come to understand this part of the psalm. We hear the words and see that they are easy, but the heart does not allow these things when it becomes serious, as others that have sprouted from human wisdom. Therefore, our whole life is not enough to learn only this One Art. For nature rushes on both sides and is exceedingly impetuous, as the poet also says:
Nescia mens hominum fati sortisque futurae, Et servare modum, rebus sublata secundis. [And a similar saying is found in Basil: "For it is equally difficult to bring the soul through happily in the difficulties of great trades, and not to be moved to hopefulness in things clearly at hand." For when the heart is puffed up by prosperity, there is no measure of hopefulness, as can be seen in the rich people of the world, and the Turkish people are an excellent example of this today. Against them, therefore, the Holy Spirit says: Fear, be not hopeful, but serve this king with fear. On the other hand, when things go badly, no animal is so distraught with fear as man, for there is no measure of complaint, and we easily fall into despair. This is our nature; we are extremely depraved in both respects, whether we are in adversity or in prosperity.
1) Virgil, lik. X, v. 501
Therefore, we must make every effort to moderate and govern the sinful impetuous nature and go to this King, who is not only the only physician of these abominable diseases, but also the guide, as he says [Matth. 11, 29.]:. "Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart." The complaint of the apostle Paul is well known, as he says, Rom. 7, 22. f.: "I delight in God's law according to the inward man; but I see another law in my members, which is contrary to the law in my mind," that is, the whole nature disputes against God's law. This is truly a frightening word, but he adds a harsher one: "The law in my members," he says, "takes me captive to sin," that is, I may or may not want to, so I am forced to serve sin, against the law of God. Thus we see in the young people the impulse of unchastity, which, whether they want to or not, draws them to sin, and neither in reason nor in free will is there so much power that they could suppress this raging impulse; thus the old people are devoured by avarice.
But as these vices assail and afflict a certain age of life, so all Christians are assailed and afflicted, yea, utterly consumed, either by sadness in evil days, or by security when things are well. Such people we all are by nature; sins take us captive, that we cannot rejoice with fear, or fear with gladness. This mixture is so utterly difficult, and utterly impossible, to balance the burden (temperamentum ponderis, to use a philosophical term in theological matters), which the Holy Spirit lays out here. For to fear and to rejoice are quite opposite emotions, and yet, if we are to be Christians, both are necessary, both to fear and to rejoice.
The newer theologians have discussed a great deal about servile and filial fear, and it is easy to see what difference there is between a father who chastises his son and an executioner. For when the father chastises the son, he does not let
He sees the end of the chastisement (virgae), that is, he feels that the wrath will be put away at the same time as the rod. Even though it hurts him, even though he fears the wrath of the Father, he still retains the hope of mercy. A thief does not have such a heart when he is punished and the executioner seizes him. For he knows that the executioner's heart is such that he will not show him mercy and will not be satisfied until he has strangled the thief with the rope. Therefore he despairs because he does not foresee an end to the punishment. This example [of father and son], which is taken from the household, is very glorious, but when we are in punishment, we are not persuaded that God is a father toward us. Therefore we do not fear Him with childlike fear, for we do not see His intention to instruct us, but with servile fear, for we think that He is angry without end. Now who could be wise here, when he feels the punishments of sins, and say: You are a child of God, but God chastises you as a father chastises his son whom he loves; "his anger lasts for a moment" [Ps. 30:6], "the Lord will not be angry forever" [Jer. 3:12], he would do what the Holy Spirit commands in this passage.
David was well versed in this art, as his sermons testify. Experience also shows that he did not give up hope in the punishment, for he continued to call upon God. Although the joy was very weak, he overcame the fear, because he saw the end of the chastisement, so that he would not be completely devoured, which happens to the wicked. If you look at the flesh, even in David it is almost overwhelmed with fear, so that he does not feel joy, and yet, as Paul says [Rom. 7:25], he serves the law of God with his mind. Even while suffering the punishment of banishment, he calls upon God; he does not think that, as with an executioner, there is no place for grace; even while suffering the plagues, he thinks of himself: He is a Father, he will not be angry forever. It is therefore easy to say that the right fear of God is a filial fear, that is, mixed with joy or hope, but if you give the leader the right fear, he will not be angry with you.
If you follow the same path, you will feel that the joy will be overwhelmed and extinguished by fear. But therefore do not lose heart, do not despair, wait for the Lord and take hold of His word, which proclaims that the wrath of God lasts only for a moment, but that He delights in life [Ps. 30:6], that is, God wants us to live, He does not want us to perish, and for this reason He has imposed the plagues. So it will happen that you will feel at least a drop of joy, which will gradually grow, so that it will finally overcome fear. The exercise is difficult, but it is such that, as the examples testify, the saints of God have learned to put it into practice. We must follow in their footsteps and learn this art, but the Holy Spirit will help us, especially if we pray.
Many young people fear the Lord and do not plunge into pleasures like the slaves of the devil. If you look at their hearts, you will see that they are so challenged with the lust of unchastity that they do not even feel a drop of chastity, but still desire with all their heart that it be given to them. What need of many words? They judge and feel that their hearts are like whorehouses in which there is nothing of chastity, and yet chastity is hidden in the innermost heart, but suppressed by the feeling of unchastity, until the time comes when they enter into marriage. For although they cannot be without carnal desire, yet their hearts sigh for chastity, which they feel is not there; they wish it were there, and against their will bear this burning of unchastity. Therefore, just as this chastity, hidden as it were in a corner, is almost extinguished by the feeling of unchastity, so also this joy is not felt, but fear has taken over everything, and yet fear does not retain the victory. Thus other passions also have the upper hand as far as feeling is concerned, but at last virtue and hope gain the upper hand as far as strength is concerned. For the power of virtue is greater than that of fear, unchastity and other passions.
This must be learned and practiced in such a way
will carry. For it cannot be otherwise; "God's power is mighty in the weak" [2 Cor. 12:9]. Paul, too, would have liked to have a pure fear, a pure joy, a pure chastity, that is, a pure sense of these gifts which he had and of which he needed. But if this were granted to us in this life, it would no longer be a miserable life, but a lovely paradise. If a young man, an old man, had no sense of sin, if he were not plagued with despair, he would be in the very kingdom of heaven. But this life is not to be like that, indeed, it cannot even be like that; pure joy is not to be felt, fear is to be mixed in. For as long as this flesh lives, it does what is of the flesh. This we shall never fully amend, therefore we shall not despair. For the spirit is hidden, which God sees; and because we take hold of Christ in faith, he gladly forgives the sins of the flesh. This is one part of the service of God, that we serve the King Christ in fear, and rejoice in him with trembling. But there is a great reason why he combines joy with trembling. For if one felt pure joy, certainty would follow; certainty would be followed by presumption, but presumption would be followed by condemnation. For God cannot tolerate presumption. But we will mix this when we are joyful in God, but rightly dismayed in ourselves. For we are not only foolish but also wretched sinners. There is therefore sufficient cause for us to tremble and fear for ourselves.
But you must not stop there. For if you see nothing but that you are a sinner, despair will follow. Therefore, we must lift up our eyes and look to Christ, and then fear will be followed by joy. For then we will say: I am indeed a sinner, but for that reason I will not despair. For Christ is righteous; indeed, Christ took my sins upon Himself, and suffered for them, and rose again, that I might be clothed with His righteousness. Therefore, if there is no counsel with me, He is given to me by God to be my wisdom; if I am poor and helpless, He is mighty and rich etc. This is only the pure service of God, with which
Christ wants to be worshipped by us, who is separated from all superstition. For the Holy Spirit does not care about them, just as he does not care about all other things that are established by human counsel. He leaves the kings their crowns and scepters. If a monk wants to fast, if he wants to use other clothes and a different way of life than other people, he does not care about that either; he wants this to be subject to human reason and to be kept as it is convenient for each one; only that the one rule be observed, that we give no one any trouble. But this he requires of all, whether they be kings, or monks, or saints, or mighty men, that they humble themselves before this King, that they hear him, boast of him alone, rejoice in him alone, but humble themselves in themselves and all their own. Those who do this service, if they do it in the name of Jesus, all that they do in their profession is pleasing to God.
Therefore, we too should learn to perform this service of God, and set it apart from all outward things. For God does not care whether you are a king or a servant, a husband or without marriage, a man or a woman, a teacher or a student. These are human orders or creatures, as Peter calls them [2 Ep. 2, 13.], over which we are to be lords and rulers, as God has willed. He does not care whether you fast or eat, if you do it only for your benefit. He says: all this has nothing to do with me and with my service. For my service is that you honor me, receive everything from me, know me, speak of me, praise me, that all that is in the whole world is mine; that you confess that you are sinners when you are without me, foolish and weak; likewise, that you recognize me, that I am not a tyrant; that I do not humble you for this reason, because I want to destroy you, but to bring you away from arrogance and to teach you to be humble. When this has been accomplished by me through the cross, I want you to be raised up again, to lift up your heads and eyes to my Christ. For when either wisdom, or righteousness, or strength is lacking, there you have the source of all wisdom and righteousness. So
you will serve me with fear and rejoice with trembling. The trembling is very great in feeling, but the joy is small in feeling, but it will finally triumph with great power.
When I was a young person, I hated this verse, because I did not like to hear that God should be feared. This was because I did not know that fear should be mixed with joy or hope, that is, I did not know the difference between our works and Christ's works. Our works are evil, as the whole nature is corrupt; therefore, we must not be secure, but fear the judgment of God. Whereas Christ's works are holy and perfect, therefore we must keep hope of mercy. For he was not born for his own sake, put under the law, and finally crucified; he wanted these to be our gifts. Therefore, we should fear so that joy is not completely excluded. But it must be a true joy. For it is not so shut up in the heart that outward signs of it should not appear. A calm heart and one that truly believes that God is reconciled to us for the sake of Christ, makes the face joyful and the eyes friendly, it loosens the tongue to the praise of God. In this way, says the Holy Spirit, you will serve this King, that there may be inward and outward joy, yet joined with reverence, lest you become swine and all-sure, descending to carnal joy. For if you do the security of it, God is not offended by mirth; yea, he is offended by sadness, and enjoins mirth. Thus it was forbidden in the law for mourners to offer sacrifice, and Malachi says [Cap. 2, 13.] that sacrifices are defiled by sadness. Therefore we should be joyful, but in such a way that we do not become secure, but that fear is added to joy, and hope to fear.
This is an admonition against the hopeful and for the fainthearted who are too humiliated. For it is as much blasphemy to despair as to be presumptuous. For God has not willed that we in heaven or on earth
but in the middle. The feet point downward, but the head points upward, and even though we live on earth, we are commanded that our walk should be in heaven. In short, those who are Christians are not altogether (purely) fearful, nor altogether joyful. With fear is joined joy, with trembling hope, with tears laughter, that we may think that we shall not fully rejoice until we have put off this flesh; as it cannot put off fear, so it is profitable for it to be in fear, lest it should become secure. In this way, the present Psalm has described the service of God. For only this is a right worship of God, when one fears and trusts in GOtt. Where these two pieces are properly mixed, the whole life is righteous and holy. The outward ceremonies and all the outward works are easily arranged when these two things are in proper balance. Now he adds a threat and a consolation to conclude the prophecy properly.
V. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish out of the way: for his wrath shall soon be kindled. But good to all who trust in him.
Here, a very harsh threat is added to the exhortation. But it serves to dampen the hope of kings, wise men, saints and all those who trust in the creature apart from God. But our nature is so corrupt, we are so inclined to presumption and security when everything is going well, that it is impossible for us to stand unless the Holy Spirit changes our hearts. Not laws, not any punishments can ward off this infirmity; only the voice that sounds from heaven drives away this hopefulness and moderates joy through fear. Now, as for the grammar, those who understand Hebrew know that here it must be read: "Kiss", not as the Latin text has: Apprehendite [seize]. Therefore, we leave the seventy interpreters 1) their opinion, but for this reason we do not want to speak of
1) Also in the Septuagint, as in the Vulgate, the translation is "seize", as the following shows.
of the right interpretation, which the Hebrew requires.
Where the Septuagint translated δράξα- σ&αι παιδείαν, the Hebrew reads παιδείαν] XX, and the meaning of this word extends very far. For it is an adjective and means: pure, chosen. Hence Jerome translates, Adorate pure [worship pure? But by antonomasia, 1) which makes a proper name out of a generic name, it is afterwards transferred to other things, and because of the excellence peculiar to it (individui], wheat or grain is so [viz. XX] called, as a chosen thing. Thus we understand by the apostle Paul, by the prophet David, by the philosopher Aristotle, by the man of war George of Frundsberg 2) (Fronsberg) etc. Because of the excellence often a generic name becomes a proper name. Thus Christ is preferably called the righteous, the wise, the high priest, the son of man, the king etc. In this way, 12, used substantively, also denotes a son, as a particularly chosen, dear and pleasant thing for the parents. If David had wanted to speak according to Hebrew, he would have said f2. But he uses 12 in the same meaning by antonomasia, to make the prophecy dark before the devil and the wicked, who are not worthy to see it. This is, as far as I can see, the right reason for this designation. In the 19th Psalm, v. 9, it is adjective: "The commandments of the Lord are pure" (purum); the Latin translation has lucidum shell?
But, you will say, what is the purpose of the word "kisses"? It means a ceremony. But the kinds of kisses are very different. The bride in the Song of Songs says [Cap. 1, 1.]: "He kisses me with the kiss of his mouth", which is a kiss of love and a sign of the highest love. Therefore Peter also says 3) [1. Ep.
1) Compare A. Crull, Lehrbuch der deutschen Sprache, p. 156.
2) Georg von Frundsberg (Frunsberg), the famous leader of the Lansquenets, was a contemporary of Luther. He won the Battle of Pavia on February 25, 1525, in which the King of France, Francis I, was taken prisoner by the troops of Emperor Carl V. He was the first to be captured in the battle.
3) In all editions erroneously: kuntus. But in all passages of Paul (Rom. 16, 16. 1 Cor. 16, 20. 2 Cor. 13, 12. 1 Thess. 5, 26.) it says: "with your holy kiss".
5, 14]: "Greet one another with the kiss of love". Another is the kiss of hands, which is, according to our custom, paying homage. We use it against those whom we recognize as our masters. Another is the kiss of the feet, by which the extreme humiliation is indicated, and Christ made use of it at the Lord's Supper, so that he indicated that he was the least in the kingdom of heaven [Matth. 11, 11.] and servant of all [Marc. 9, 35.]. For he became our servant and took us for his lords, since he worked for us and bore our sins. Thus the kiss of the hands and the kiss of the feet agree in their meaning, although the latter is a sign of a deeper humiliation. Jerome, therefore, has not expressed the word, but the sense, since he translates, "Worship," but in this he has erred in expressing the noun XX by an adverbial: "Worship purely." If he had translated it by a noun, he would have made it right: worship the pure, the elect, the shining. For so we also use to say: my light, my little heart.
Therefore, the Holy Spirit praises us the Son of God with very beautiful and quite eloquent words: "Kiss", be subject, fall down, humble yourselves, recognize yourselves as subjects. Whose, or before whom? Before your most elect, before the purest, in whom alone the Father is well pleased, as the Father testifies from heaven [Matth. 3, 17.]: "This is my dear Son," and Christ himself says in John [Cap. 3, 35.]: "The Father loves the Son." These very sayings this Psalm has in itself, and prophesies of them, naming the Son with the Hebrew word XX, as if to say, He is my beloved, my pure, my elect, in whom I have all my delight, "my heart, my joy." Therefore, worship the 4) one who is the only pleasure of God, and is in the highest pleasure with him, so you will worship God, do God a pleasing service etc. Bow your knees before him, kiss his feet etc.
4) Wittenberger: euni; Jenaer and Erlanger: vsuiri. We have followed the former reading. - Immediately following we have deleted the comma, which in all editions is after suiunia.
Furthermore, these sayings indicate that Christ is not a mere man, since the Father ascribes His glory to His Son and commands that the Son be worshipped. Moses says [Deut. 6:13, Matt. 4:10], "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and serve Him alone," and in Isaiah [Cap. 42:8] the Lord says, "I will not give My glory to any other." Now since God cannot be a liar, and yet here commands that this king be worshipped, it follows that this king, who is established on Zion, is by nature God. Therefore, I have also shown above that the Jews, even though they claim that the preceding verse does not refer to this king, but to God Himself, must nevertheless admit, if they are not completely nonsensical, that God here refers us all to the Son by His commandment, and wants the Son to be served and worshipped. Therefore, this statement agrees with these words of the Gospel [Matth. 17, 5.]: "This is my dear Son, whom you shall hear." [Joh. 6, 47. 8, 51.:] "He that believeth on me shall never see death." [Joh. 14, 1.:] "If ye believe in God, ye believe also in me." [Joh. 7, 16.:] "My doctrine is not mine." [Joh. 12, 49. f. 14, 10.:] "What I speak, the Father speaks." [Jn. 5, 17.:] "My Father worketh hitherto, and I also work." [Joh. 5, 19. 27.:] "The Father has given me everything." [Joh. 5, 22.:] "The Father has given judgment to the Son." [Jn. 8, 15.:] "The Son judges no one." [Joh. 5, 21.:] "As the Father makes alive, so also the Son" etc.
In these sayings the one refers to the other, the father to the son, and the son to the father, so that it cannot be doubtful to us that this king is true, right, natural God, and if you do not worship and accept this king, God cannot be served. For the Father and the Son are One [John 10:30]. In vain, therefore, is it that the Turk, in vain that the pope, in vain that a monk dwells (speculatur) on his thoughts of God apart from Christ. For the Turk says that he worships God who made heaven and earth; the Jew says the same. But because both deny that Christ is the Son of God, they not only lack God, but also worship an idol.
of their heart, for they invent such a God as they themselves want to trot out, not as God has revealed Himself. But God hath an abomination against them, and stoppeth his ears against their prayers. For he will hear and see no one, except in his Son.
Thus Christ says to Philip, John 14:9, "Philip, he that seeth me seeth the Father." For when Philip asks, "Show us the Father," Christ answers in amazement, "So long am I with you, and you do not know me?" as if to say: Where are your thoughts and dreams leading you? If you do not fix your eyes and heart firmly on me, you will never find either God or the Father. "For the Father is in me, and I in the Father; and the words that I speak, I speak not of myself, but the Father which dwelleth in me, the same doeth the works. "etc. [In this way it is seen that the Father, as it were weary of having dominion over Himself, has given all the government of the whole creature into the hand and bosom of the Son; and indeed this has been done from eternity, but afterwards it has finally been made known by revelation and declaration. For the Son has always had this honor from eternity, but it was not made known until his name was spread throughout the world through the gospel.
Secondly, this verse also serves to dismiss the law and the legal worship. For the Psalm does not say that one should worship in the temple at Jerusalem, but names another service. He says: "If you want to worship God, if you want to offer Him a pleasing sacrifice, and serve Him in such a way that you do something that is pleasing to Him, you must do nothing else but kiss this son. In this way you will serve God, and God will be reconciled with you. But this cannot be persuaded to the world. Therefore, Arius stands up and spreads his blasphemous teaching against the Son of God. The Turk considers it a great shame that we believe that Christ is the Son of God and worship him. Although the pope is wary of these blasphemies, he does not recognize Christ as the Son of God.
Son of God because he is not satisfied with his sacrifice, and teaches that we can accomplish with our works what the Son of God accomplished with his blood and death.
Therefore, we should be mindful of this testimony that this King is the Son of God, born of the Father in eternity, and presented to us that we should kiss him and serve him, that is, that we should firmly believe that we are reconciled to God through him, so that, although we rightly fear God's wrath because of our sins, we nevertheless hope for blessedness by trusting in this mediator. When we have rendered this service to the Son, the Father is satisfied and demands nothing more from us as far as reconciliation and the hope of eternal life are concerned. But the obedience that follows, because we do everything in faith in the Son of God, even though it is imperfect, still pleases God and has both physical and spiritual reward.
This is the brief epitome of the whole worship of God, which is exceedingly easy as far as outward works are concerned, for it does not consist in changing outward things. If a servant wants to be a Christian, it is not necessary for him to change his status; so also a worldly authority person. For with God there is no respect of person [Eph. 6, 9]. But it is necessary that the heart be changed, and that you, where before you almost despaired because of sin, now have the certain hope of forgiveness through Christ; that you, where before you delighted in sin, now hate sin and flee; that where before you were sluggish and negligent in obeying God, now you should do so with the greatest zeal and willingness, so that you do not offend God anywhere 1) with words or works etc. In this way, the mind and heart must be changed so that you do not judge God according to your heart, but according to the word that the Son of God holds up to you. When you have done this, then reason can freely operate in its realm: you can take a wife,
1) Erlanger: nee nbi instead of: neeudi.
You can govern your household, you can do this or that work to earn your living. God leaves all this to your judgment, that you order and govern it.
Thus, the form and manner of the right worship of God is quite simple, but the world does not obey; it prefers to change everything rather than its heart and conscience, to worship everything more easily than this king. A monk thinks that he does the highest service to God when he changes his dress, when he leaves his profession, when he hides in a monastery where he eats, drinks, sleeps in a new way etc. In such a way he thinks to be born again and to become a new man, and yet only the outward behavior is changed; but the mind and the spirit remain the same; it remains the same blasphemous opinion that the wicked Cain had, since, while he was about to murder his brother, he nevertheless hoped to be in favor with God because of his sacrifice. But this is truly a shameful and blasphemous delusion. For God cares nothing whether you are circumcised or in the foreskin, just as He cares nothing whether you walk or stand on the path, whether you wear a white or a black garment. These are outward things, which each one may arrange as he pleases, if he only takes care of his neighbor, so that he does not offend him. Thus, God does not care whether you live under the worldly regime or in solitude; but that is a manifest sin, if you rely on your profession and choose another state according to your own will.
But he is concerned about this, yes, he commands and commands that you change your heart, that you instill in your conscience a new opinion and new thoughts of God, that you say: I recognize and adore the Son of God, the Lord Jehovah Christ, and because he is my mediator, I hope that through him I am reconciled to God and that my sins are forgiven. With such a heart I will go and till my field, do my work, take a wife, serve my Lord etc. Such a service the Psalm demands in this place and such a form of worship it prescribes. But, as I said, the world does not accept the wholesome teaching. It considers it to be the
right worship, if they change something by heart or in outward things. Thus, the nonsensical Anabaptists cry that they are right saints when they do not carry weapons, when they put on a gray skirt, when they hang their heads sadly. But is it not easy for every peasant to change these things? But that they trust in Christ and serve God with fear, the foolish people do not touch that with a finger.
And it is certain that no man who deals with laws or righteousnesses can perform this right service; not even with their thoughts can they attain it. For the teaching is revealed from heaven, which grows in no man's heart or head; the Holy Spirit must be the teacher and guide here. Since this can only be obtained through faith in Christ, but the works saints throw away faith and keep the law, it is impossible for them to perform this service. Therefore, as I have said, the Christian religion is exceedingly easy when one looks at the outward works, but when one looks at this spiritual service, it is exceedingly difficult. For this cannot be done unless the heart is changed. True religion, therefore, requires the heart and mind, not a work or other outward things, though these follow if you have the heart. For where the heart is, there is everything. He who loves you sincerely will not deny you money, not effort, not himself. And this is the cause that true religion is without hypocrisy [Jac. 3, 17.], and not hypocritical, as the Pharisaical, which is only external, does not change the heart.
Therefore, the right service of God is to kiss this Son, that is, to worship Him in such a way that one sees nothing in heaven and on earth but Him, nor trusts in anything else but Him, as the first commandment commands [Ex. 20:4]: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness, either of things in heaven above, or of things in the earth beneath, or of things in the waters under the earth." With this commandment, God has taken His people captive and bound them to spiritual sight, and has withdrawn them from all wandering thoughts; and yet they are in abeyance.
Godliness, as history testifies. For they judged that God would be praised if the creature he had created were praised. Hence came the worship of the sun, the moon, and the host of heaven, while God had expressly commanded that only the mercy seat should be worshipped. In this way we should also beware of the images of heaven and earth, and cling to the Son alone, so that we will surely grasp the Father and the whole Godhead. For Paul also says [Col. 2, 9.]: "In Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Therefore, you will not find God in the sun, not in the moon, not in other creatures; only in the Son born of Mary will He be found. In Him alone is blessedness, grace and life; everything you think of God apart from Him is a vain thought and pure idolatry.
The papists do not know this. When they teach about the service of God, they either understand only the services they have chosen for themselves, or, if they are the least evil, they lead people to Moses and the obedience of the Law or the holy Ten Commandments. And it is true, God has prescribed the ten commandments for this reason, so that we may keep them. But if this obedience is most perfect, that is, as complete as it can be rendered only by men, we cannot rest in it; in this obedience we not only do not take hold of God, but even flee from God. But those who look to Christ find such a God before whom they do not fear, but whom they accept with reverence and a certain confidence in His mercy. Therefore, just as the holy Jews knew of no other God than the one who commanded that He be invoked at the mercy seat, just as they knew of no other worship than that which was held in the Temple, which was ordained for this purpose by God Himself, so we alone cling to the Son, find in Him the Father, receive life and blessedness in Him. This is our wisdom, which we Christians are, that we subdue the wandering thoughts of our hearts, and cling to the Son alone, and know of no God but the Son. For it is the Son who is the
after he is exalted. Those who either do not know him or have lost him are tossed about in the midst of the sea of perdition and cannot reach the harbor of salvation. On the other hand, those who have Christ and look upon him as upon the bronze serpent with a steady gaze, that is, those who believe that he was given for our sins according to the will of the Father, are safe from the devil and possess the true God, eternal life, righteousness and wisdom.
There is therefore great power in the word "kiss," for it means that we are to accept this Son with all our heart, and neither see nor hear anything else but Christ, namely the crucified One. But whoever has something else in mind in religion or seeks something higher, will deceive himself and miss the way to salvation. We should use our reason and wisdom for other things, to govern the household, to direct our works, to buy and sell; but because it is a matter of the service of God, then one must close all ways to reason, and adhere to this Son alone. In itself it is not evil to change one's clothes, as a monk does; nor is fasting to mortify the body etc. For this we blame only in the respect that it is done with the ungodly delusion, as if these things were useful for obtaining the forgiveness of sins. If you get rid of this delusion, you will live forever, even if you keep the cap, if you only kiss the Son sincerely, that is, if you only base yourself on His merit and grace. This, therefore, is the head of the service of God, everything else being, as it were, only the tail; and yet the world pays no attention to this head, and puts its trust in the hypocritical alteration of outward things. Therefore the Holy Spirit adds:
Lest he be angry, and ye perish in the way.
The prophet sees that this teaching is despised in the world. Jews, Turks and all pagans judge that it is something quite incongruous that we worship a man who endures all the common sufferings of the flesh which
He was counted among the murderers and put on the cross. Although the papists are not offended by this weakness of Christ, they teach another way to life than Christ and his works. They do not deny Christ's sacrifice in words, but since they attribute to his works and sacrifices that they merit the forgiveness of sins, do they not thereby set up a different Christ from the one given to us by the Father, that he might be our righteousness and wisdom, our sanctification and redemption? Therefore, instead of the kiss which the Holy Spirit commands to be given to the Son, they kiss their masses, their fasts, their caps; but Christ they kiss with the Judas kiss. For they hate this doctrine and persecute it with every kind of cruelty.
This the Holy Spirit sees, therefore he warns and threatens: Either worship this one, or you shall know that you remain under the wrath. For if it is a question of how God is to be reconciled, how one can obtain forgiveness of sins: either kiss the Son, or you will perish; here there is no third (medium). Thus John proclaims [Cap. 3, 36.], "He that believeth not the Son, upon him abideth the wrath of GOtt." Likewise^. 18]: "He that believeth not is already judged," whether he be a king or a shepherd, a carthorse or a man of war, whether he be celibate or married, whether he be a physician or a lawyer: if he kiss not the Son, that is, if he have not set all hope of blessedness upon the Son, though he torment himself with fasting unto death, though he burn his body with fire, he shall perish in the wrath of God.
In this way the Holy Spirit comprehends the whole world in one word, with all its wisdom, righteousness, merits, worship, with all its adoration and mortification, and attributes everything to the kissing of the Son: If you kiss the Son, it is right; if not, you will perish in the way. For it will happen, he says, that the Son will finally be angry; now he offers you his kiss, so that he may be kissed by you again. For with very special love he takes
of the whole human race. For he cometh into our flesh, not to judge, not to condemn, but to kiss us, and to shew us the love that he hath toward us. Therefore, if you do not kiss him again, no worship of God, no righteousness, no wisdom will save you, but you will remain under wrath forever and perish in wrath. But the world does not care about these threats, it thinks it will turn out quite differently; it hopes for the grace of God through its works and righteousness; but in vain. For the judgment is clear: "He who does not believe will be condemned" [Marc. 16, 16].
The seventy interpreters have translated: Lest ye perish from the righteous way (de via justa). Therefore the interpreters made a difference; the one is a good way, the other an evil one. But this is contrary to the Hebrew. For there it simply says, "That ye perish not in the way." The opinion, therefore, is this, that the Holy Spirit simply forbids that we should not trust in any ways that are ours, though they may have a beautiful appearance and seem to be very good. The kingdom of the pope has a great appearance; the civil rights are also rightly praised as an excellent gift of God and necessary for public tranquility; a Carthusian also has a beautifully shining path on which he walks; so also the other orders have their certain paths. But all that there is in the whole world, if you do not kiss the Son, is nothing but wrath and condemnation, and wrath will cause these ways to be stopped and to perish. For if the worship of the ancient people could not stand, since this Son had been rejected and rejected; if those who had the covenant, the legislation, the worship, the priesthood, the temple, perished at the same time as their ways: what shall we say of the self-chosen ways, without God's word, such as those of the papists are?
Therefore the emphasis lies on the word "ways". For he does not say, "You will perish in error," but "in the way," that is, the way that is necessary to attain salvation.
The worship and works you have chosen for yourself will be your undoing. But it is a pity that a monk who does nothing day and night but torture his body does nothing with this diligence but is thrown into the fire of hell. Thus the Jews, who fight with great zeal for the law and the sacrifices, have a way on which they think they will get straight into life, but they perish on this way, so that they wander about astray in soul and body. Thus the Roman empire had a way on which it thought it could overcome all dangers. But all these perished on their way and with their way, because they did not kiss the Son. Nowadays, we also see by God's grace that the Pabst perishes before our eyes with his many ways. For the wrath of this Son is a divine wrath and has power; it is not a vain or powerless wrath; he wants to be taken for God and worshipped, or threatens destruction.
But this reinforces the threat that the Holy Spirit adds that this wrath will soon burn. For with this he understands both that this wrath is an almighty one and that it is very near. When it passes away, it seems to be very far away, not only for those who do not experience this wrath, but also for the godly who are tormented and martyred in the meantime. But the verdict is certain: "He will soon burn," that is, he will certainly come, and he will come when they speak: It is peace and has no need. Thus the Jews did not think that their doom was so near. In our time, too, the papacy began to fall when it was most secure. Even now I do not know what hope the enemies of the gospel have, but it will happen according to the saying [Ps. 55:24]: "The wicked will not bring their ways to the half." Now the popes have been trying to seize the Roman Empire for more than six hundred years, but they have been deceived in their hopes, and all of them have fallen in their attempts, most shamefully those who were best equipped with wisdom and cunning.
But this is also a cause of the judgment and the fall of the wicked, that even though the Son will soon be angry, the godly also press for this fall with their prayers. Therefore, as Christ says about the unjust judge and the widow [Luc. 18, 7.], God will also save His elect who cry out to Him day and night, and soon He will do so. So it is said in the Revelation of John [Cap. 2, 5]. He will come soon. To us, of course, who suffer in the meantime, the wrath seems to be far delayed and slow, for the hope that is withdrawn is painful to the heart; but for the wicked it comes very quickly. For they are then assailed by it when they think they are safest. Therefore they seem to perish in a moment. Now that they hear these threats, they surely despise them, as is said in the fable of a highwayman. When he robbed a wanderer, and the latter reproached him that he would have to suffer punishment for it on the last day, the robber said: "Well, if the punishment is postponed so long, then it is well with me. Now that I have this hope, give me your shirt as well as your skirt.
Such people are all the wicked. But when the punishment seizes them, then they sing this foolish song: I would not have meant that. When Lot faithfully admonished the people of Sodom, they even attacked him with invective. They said [Gen. 19, 9.]: You came in as a stranger and want to rule us? Then, of course, they were safe. But when the sun went out in the morning, they were consumed by fire from heaven and the earth swallowed them up. This is how this wrath shows up, which is coming soon, and before the wicked can believe it.
This is therefore an exceedingly grave and terrifying threat, which would kill us by the mere remembrance of it, if the Holy Spirit had not added the comfort of which we are in need. For he makes a distinction between those who kiss this Son and those who do not kiss him. Now those who will not kiss this Son, but are puffed up because of their righteousness, he is angry with them and threatens them with destruction. But those who kiss the Son, who are in fear because of their sins, and yet for the sake of the Son, he is angry with them.
Those who have hope for the sake of God are blessed, he says. So also the angels at the tomb of the Lord make a distinction, when they say to the women [Matth. 28, 5.], "Do not be afraid." For they had not come to frighten those who loved and sought Christ, but to frighten the guardians who had promised their help to the Pharisees and chief priests to suppress Christ's honor. Now as the persons are different, so are the sermons. The sermon of mercy belongs to the lost and afflicted, for these must be raised up. But the sermon of wrath and punishment belongs to the hard and secure, for these must be crushed with the hammer of the law. Thus there are, as it were, two worlds: one of the devil, in which people are safe and hopeful, not caring about God and the Gospel. These are warned by the Holy Spirit that they should throw off their security, or it will happen that they perish with their ways. The other world is Christ's. In it are the afflicted and misfortune-stricken people who are tormented by the consciousness of their sin, and fear the punishment of sins, death and the wrath of God, and yet, seeing that the Son of God has become the sacrifice for sin, hope in the divine mercy. These the Holy Spirit comforts with the glorious word: "Blessed are all those who trust in Him" or hope.
But at the same time he teaches about the right service of God, that serving God is nothing else than putting all one's trust in this king and relying on his help and support against death, sin and the devil. Hence the word "trust" explains the kiss of which he said above, as if to say: Look to this King, be joyful and of good cheer, and take hold in your heart good thoughts from God through this Son, who is presented to you by God the Father, that you should kiss Him. For all the other things in the world will make you sad; they will bring you neither comfort nor help against death and sin, not even the most holy life, your good works or your righteousness. But in this Son you will find the source of blessedness and all comfort. Therefore do not trust in
but also hold fast that if you trust in him you will be blessed.
In this way, this psalm describes the heavenly religion and the right services, with the true church and its head Christ, that although the church is secret and hidden in the world, and the devil and the ungodly, even our flesh seem to rule, yet the church by faith
In this King, finally, triumph and win against the devil and the whole world, according to these words: "Blessed are all those who trust in him. Therefore, in the great tribulations with which the poor Church, oppressed as it were on all sides, has to struggle today, we too should hold on to this consolation with both hands, that since we trust in Christ, the Son of God, we are blessed. Amen.