Anno 1534.
The 101st Psalm. 1534.
[1. A Psalm of David.]
Bon grace and justice will I sing, and praise thee, O Lord.
2. I act carefully and honestly with those who belong to me and walk faithfully in my house.
3. I do not take an evil thing, I hate the transgressor and do not let him stay with me.
4. a wicked heart must depart from me; I will not suffer the wicked.
(5) I will destroy him who slandered his neighbor in secret; I do not like him who is proud and has great courage.
6. mine eyes look for the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; and I delight to have godly servants.
7 I will not keep false people in my house; liars do not prosper with me.
8. early will I destroy all the wicked of the land, and cut off all the transgressors from the city of the LORD.
Preface.
This psalm is the one that praises and thanks God for the worldly class, as the 127th and 128th and many others do; and has always been sung among other psalms in the church by the spiritual lords, who alone wanted to be the holy, praised people of God and the church, but neither knew nor understood anything about how they praised the class so highly in such psalms with their mouths, which they daily held in disgrace and almost trampled underfoot. And if they had understood such psalms, I think they would have left them outside and never sung them again, because it is an unrighteous thing for such holy people to sing and praise the worldly state in public in church, which is not a good thing.
1) Erlanger: the churches.
They were contemptuous of their rank only because they would have liked to see themselves and only the lords on earth, and that all other lords would have become monks. And truly, they have almost reached or exceeded the halfway mark, so that worldly lords have forgotten their office, shunned the church and masses, and the clergy have even abandoned their priesthood, engaged in hunting, warfare and entirely worldly activities. But God made this psalm, and others like it, sing through their mouths, just as He spoke to Balaam through the donkey, even though the foolish prophet could not understand it [Deut. 22:28].
(2) But much more is this psalm against the sedevacantists, who pretend to great holiness by condemning households, marriages, and other things.
In this interpretation Luther gives an excellent, thorough instruction to those who are in the highest position in the secular government. Köstlin, after he has communicated the content of this writing in a detailed manner, makes the following accurate judgment about it (Köstlin, M. Luther [3rd ed.], Vol. II, p. 305): "Among the classical writings of the German man Luther, this writing deserves one of the first places, - among those which refer to the subject matter at hand, the first. The first edition appeared under the title: "Der 61. Psalm, Durch v. Mar. Luth. Ausgelegt. Wittemberg. AI. v. XXXIIII." At the end: "Gedruckt zu Wittemberg, durch Hans Lufft. M. D. XXXV." In the collective editions: in the Wittenberg (1553), vol. Ill, p. 453; in the Jena (1568), vol.VI, p. 135; in the Altenburg, vol.VI, p. 181; in the Leipzig, vol, VI, p. 356 and in the Erlangen, vol. 39, p. 265. We give the text according to the Erlangen edition, which brings the original print, comparing the Wittenberg and the Jena.
The high and low estate of the earth. For he teaches and comforts such people who are in the same ranks and must be, so that they do not run away and leave everything behind. And especially he teaches the high estates, where one must keep court and court servants. Therefore David, who was a king and had to keep court servants, sets himself as an example,
as a pious king or prince should look after his servants. And although I myself am inexperienced at court and know little of the treachery and cunning that reigns there, nevertheless, as much as I have heard and learned from others, I will add to it as best I can, and also make use of the histories, so that I may hit and give the words of the psalm all the more clearly.