St. Thomas Aquinas: Commentary on the Psalms: 10

 

St. Thomas Aquinas: Commentary on the Psalms: 10

 

This psalm can be explained literally of David, or mystically of Christ, or allegorically. Morally it concerns the just man, and heretics, as the Gloss explains.

 

Therefore, David first sets forth his confidence, In the Lord I put my trust: as liberated by God's righteous judgment, weighing sinners down and lifting up the poor.

 

Some people counseled David when he was fleeing so that he would go to a fortified place and indeed to the mountains; or, so that he would hide there as a sparrow would. For (what reason)? Lo, the wicked have bent their bow, etc. This can be explained in two ways. First, so that these words are not David's, but (instead are those) of others: and so, Get thee away, because They (the wicked) have bent their bow. Or, (second), these words are David's, as if he were saying, In the Lord I put my trust:...for they have bent their bow, they have prepared their arrows etc. And (with respect to the second of these), he does three things. First, he sets forth their perverse solicitude, second, their perverse intention, at, to shoot, and third, their unjust activity, at, For, they have destroyed the things which thou hast made.

 

(This could can also be said) mystically of Christ. And so, "I, the Christ, In the Lord I put my trust: how, then, do you, the pharisees, say...get thee away...to the mountain, that is, to the observances of the law given on Mount Sinai. Deuteronomy 33:2: The Lord came from Sinai, and from Seir he rose up to us; and unless you do this, Lo, the wicked have bent their bow etc, that is, they have readied themselves to kill you and your disciples; For they have destroyed the things which thou hast made, that is, they have killed.

 

For, lo, the wicked, that is the heretics, Have bent their bow, that is, have drawn (or "turned") sacred scripture towards themselves, just as those who aim a bow: They have prepared their arrows, eloquence full of poison, In the quiver, that is, in memory and knowledge: Jeremiah 5:16: Their quiver is as an open sepulcher. To shoot the upright of heart, that is the just, In the dark, that is, deceitfully: Jeremiah 9:8: Their tongue is a piercing arrow.

 

"These (wicked men) have acted so; but what does the just Lord, seeing this, do in his might?" Jeremiah 33:16: This is the name that they shall call him, The Lord our just one. He answers (his) question, and sets down what the just one does. First, (he sets forth) his judicial power, or the rank of the judge, second, the judge's examination, at, His eyes, and third, the condemnation of those closely examined, at, He that loveth iniquity.

 

If a judge always punishes, he is cruel; if he always pardons, he is remiss. God, however, both pardons and punishes; for that reason, the judgment seat of mercy has a place, and this is the temple.

 

His eyelids examine the sons of men. By eyelids is signified discernment, for just as the eyelids direct the sight of the eye, so too does discernment regulate human wisdom. Sometimes he punishes, other times he spares, sometimes he gives kindnesses, and at other times he bears (these gifts) away.

 

He examines the sons of men, because by these very (examinations), some are made better, while others (are made) worse; or, by the scriptures, some are made better, others worse: for some understand (scriptures) well and are not tired (by the effort), but are engaged busily (by them), while the evil do the contrary.

 

He shows that as much as it is on the part of God, He is not the ruin of wicked (men), but rather (this ruin) is on our part; whence he says, He that loveth iniquity, that is, sin: John 3:20: Every one that doth evil, does iniquity, because sin is iniquity. (Such a person) hates his own soul: Wisdom 16:14: A man through malice hates his own soul.

 

 

But it is asked, how could anyone hate himself?

 

It is to be said that the sinner after a fashion hates himself; but simply (speaking), no one hates himself: Ephesians 5:29: No man ever hates his own flesh.

 

But that the evil hate themselves in a way, and that even the good hates themselves after a fashion, is made clear in this way: Our soul has two faces (so to speak); one turned to God in accordance with reason, the other turned to flesh in accordance with the sensitive nature, which comprehends things in so far as they are bodily. And as everything delights in its proper good, so too does man delight in that which he considers to be his soul. Sinners consider their soul to be that which they principally aspire after. For everything is (identified with) that which is pre-eminent in it, just as a king is his kingdom, or his rule. Therefore, the former having a sensitive nature delight in it; however, the latter, having an intellectual nature, love it. And so, no one hates his soul insofar as it is that which he principally considers. The good, therefore, hate their souls with respect to its sensitive nature, while the evil hate its intellectual aspect.