TRV
Augustine of Hippo
Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 7,530 passages across 62 books
On Psalms
Psalms 22:20
· 2 passages
Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
"Deliver My soul from the sword." "Deliver My soul" from the tongue of dissension. "And My only One from the hand of the dog" [Psalm 22:20]. And from the power of the people, barking after their custom, deliver My Church.
Let each one also think this about his own life, that he may hate in it that private affection that is undoubtedly transitory and may love in it that union and sense of sharing of which it was said, “They had one soul and heart toward God.” Thus, your soul is not your own but is shared by all the brothers whose souls are also yours, or, rather, whose souls form with yours not souls but one soul, the single soul of Christ, of which the psalm says that it is delivered from the hand of the dog. From this it is an easy step to contempt of death.
Psalms 22:21
Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
"Save Me from the lion's mouth:" save Me from the mouth of the kingdom of this world: "and my humility from the horns of the unicorns" [Psalm 22:21]. And from the loftiness of the proud, exalting themselves to special pre-eminence, and enduring no partakers, save My humility.
Psalms 22:22
I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
"I will declare Your name to My brethren" [Psalm 22:22]. I will declare Your name to the humble, and to My Brethren that love one another as they have been beloved by Me. [John 17:6, 21] "In the midst of the Church will I sing of You." In the midst of the Church will I with rejoicing preach You.
Psalms 22:23
Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
"You that fear the Lord, praise Him." "You that fear the Lord," seek not your own praise, but "praise Him." "All you seed of Jacob, magnify Him" [Psalm 22:23]. All you seed of him whom the elder shall serve, magnify Him.
Psalms 22:24
For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
"Let all the seed of Israel fear Him." Let all who have been born to a new life, and restored to the vision of God "fear Him." "Since He has not despised, nor disregarded the prayer of the poor man" [Psalm 22:24]. Since He has not despised the prayer, not of him who, crying unto God in the words of sins was loath to overpass a vain life, but the prayer of the poor man, not swollen up with transitory pomps. "Nor has He turned away His face from Me." As from him who said, I will cry unto You, but You will not hear. "And when I cried unto Him He heard Me."
Psalms 22:25
· 2 passages
My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
The circumcision of the heart [refers to] the will that is pure from all unlawful desire; [it] comes not from the letter, inculcating and threatening, but from the Spirit, assisting and healing. Such doers of the law have their praise … not of people but of God, who by his grace provides the grounds on which they receive praise, of whom it is said, “My soul shall make its boast of the Lord,” and to whom it is said, “My praise shall be of You.”
"With You is My praise" [Psalm 22:25]. For I seek not My own praise, [John 8:50] for You are My praise, who dwellest in the holy place; and, praise of Israel, You hear The Holy One now beseeching You. "In the great Church I will confess You." In the Church of the whole world "I will confess You." "I will offer My vows in the sight of them that fear Him." I will offer the sacraments of My Body and Blood in the sight of them that fear Him.
Psalms 22:26
The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
"The poor shall eat, and be filled" [Psalm 22:26]. The humble and the despisers of the world shall eat, and imitate Me. For so they will neither desire this world's abundance, nor fear its want. "And they shall praise the Lord, who seek Him." For the praise of the Lord is the pouring out of that fullness. "Their hearts shall live for ever and ever." For that food is the food of the heart.
Psalms 22:27
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
"All the borders of the earth shall remember themselves, and be turned to the Lord" [Psalm 22:27]. They shall remember themselves: for, by the Gentiles, born in death and bent on outward things, God had been forgotten; and then shall all the borders of the earth be turned to the Lord. "And all the kindreds of the nations shall worship in His sight." And all the kindreds of the nations shall worship in their own consciences.
Psalms 22:28
For the kingdom is the LORD'S: and he is the governor among the nations.
"For the kingdom is the Lord's, and He shall rule over the nations" [Psalm 22:28]. For the kingdom is the Lord's, not proud men's: and He shall rule over the nations.
Psalms 22:29
All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
"All the rich of the earth have eaten, and worshipped" [Psalm 22:29]. The rich of the earth too have eaten the Body of their Lord's humiliation, and though they have not, as the poor, been filled even to imitation, yet they have worshipped. "In His sight shall fall all that descend to earth." For He alone sees how all they fall, who abandoning a heavenly conversation, make choice, on earth, to appear happy to men, who see not their fall.
Psalms 22:30
A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
"And My Soul shall live to Him." And My Soul, which in the contempt of this world seems to men as it were to die, shall live, not to itself, but to Him. "And My seed shall serve Him" [Psalm 22:30]. And My deeds, or they who through Me believe in Him, shall serve Him.
Psalms 22:31
They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
"The generation to come shall be declared to the Lord" [Psalm 22:31]. The generation of the New Testament shall be declared to the honour of the Lord. "And the heavens shall declare His righteousness." And the Evangelists shall declare His righteousness. "To a people that shall be born, whom the Lord has made." To a people that shall be born to the Lord through faith.
Psalms 23:1
· 2 passages
A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
The Church speaks to Christ: "The Lord feeds me, and I shall lack nothing" [Psalm 23:1]. The Lord Jesus Christ is my Shepherd, "and I shall lack nothing."
When you say, “The Lord is my shepherd,” no proper grounds are left for you to trust in yourself.
Psalms 23:2
· 2 passages
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
The pastures that this good shepherd has prepared for you, in which he has settled you for you to take your fill, are not various kinds of grasses and green things, among which some are sweet to the taste, some extremely bitter, which as the seasons succeed one another are sometimes there and sometimes not. Your pastures are the words of God and his commandments, and they have all been sown as sweet grasses. These pastures had been tasted by that man who said to God, “How sweet are your words to my palate, more so than honey and the honeycomb in my mouth!”
"In a place of pasture there has He placed me" [Psalm 23:2]. In a place of fresh pasture, leading me to faith, there has He placed me to be nourished. "By the water of refreshing has He brought me up." By the water of baptism, whereby they are refreshed who have lost health and strength, has He brought me up.
Psalms 23:3
· 2 passages
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
“He has converted my soul.” This is a confession rightly to boast about.… You will make it truly … and with an unalterable conscience, if you say it, not on account of your merits but for the sake of his name.
"He has converted my soul: He has led me forth in the paths of righteousness, for His Name's sake" [Psalm 23:3]. He has brought me forth in the narrow ways, wherein few walk, of His righteousness; not for my merit's sake, but for His Name's sake.