TRV
Augustine of Hippo
Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 7,530 passages across 62 books
Commentary
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.
Psalms 23:4
· 2 passages
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
As long as you remain in this present life, you are walking in the midst of vices, of worldly pressures, which are the shadow of death. Let Christ shine in your heart, who lights the lamp of our minds with the love of God and neighbor; and you will not fear any evils, since he is with you.
"Yea, though I walk in the midst of the shadow of death" [Psalm 23:4]. Yea, though I walk in the midst of this life, which is the shadow of death. "I will fear no evil, for You are with me." I will fear no evil, for You dwell in my heart by faith: and You are now with me, that after the shadow of death I too may be with You. "Your rod and Your staff, they have comforted me." Your discipline, like a rod for a flock of sheep, and like a staff for children of some size, and growing out of the natural into spiritual life, they have not been grievous to me; rather have they comforted me: because You are mindful of me.
Psalms 23:5
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
"You have prepared a table in my sight, against them that trouble me" [Psalm 23:5]. Now after the rod, whereby, while a little one, and living the natural life, I was brought up among the flock in the pastures; after that rod, I say, when I began to be under the staff, You have prepared a table in my sight, that I should no more be fed as a babe with milk, [1 Corinthians 3:2] but being older should take meat, strengthened against them that trouble me. "You have fattened my head with oil." You have gladdened my mind with spiritual joy. "And Your inebriating cup, how excellent is it!" And Your cup yielding forgetfulness of former vain delights, how excellent is it!
Psalms 23:6
· 2 passages
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
"And Your mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:" that is, as long as I live in this mortal life, not Yours, but mine. "That I may dwell in the house of the Lord for length of days" [Psalm 23:6]. Now Your mercy shall follow me not here only, but also that I may dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
In the sacred Eloquence we read, “His mercy goes before me,” and, “His mercy shall follow me.” It predisposes a person before he wills, to prompt his willing. It follows the act of willing, lest one’s will be frustrated. Otherwise, why are we admonished to pray for our enemies, who are plainly not now willing to live piously, unless it is that God is even now at work in them and in their wills? Or again, why are we admonished to ask in order to receive, unless it is that he who grants us what we will is he through whom it comes to pass that we will? We pray for enemies, therefore, that the mercy of God should go before them, as it goes before us; we pray for ourselves that his mercy shall follow us.
Psalms 24:1
A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
"The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the compass of the world, and all they that dwell therein" [Psalm 24:1]; when the Lord, being glorified, is announced for the believing of all nations; and the whole compass of the world becomes His Church.