TRV
Cassiodorus
Late Patristic · AD 500–800 · 444 passages across 36 books
Commentary
Psalms 32:6
For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
One who is no stranger to sin ought to immerse himself in prayers of supplication. O saving medicine! To counteract the diseases of all sinners, various remedies are offered to the ill. But this is a single remedy; if it is taken with a pure mind, the poisons of all transgressions are overcome.
Psalms 32:7
Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
A refuge is a place to which one flees so that dangers may be avoided. But this man did not take flight to remote and solitary places, to the fortifications of the camps or to the help provided by men, but to God who was able to scatter the spiritual enemies encircling him.
Psalms 32:8
I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
You see here that sinners do not possess understanding except when the gracious Lord grants it to the converted, for understanding implies doing the right thing and directing one’s prayers to the Lord’s commands. This is the understanding which the psalm’s heading indicates and that the Lord’s power pours out in mercy on the penitent.
Psalms 32:11
Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.
The just should “be glad in the Lord,” not in themselves, for one who rejoices in himself is deceived by a false presumption … but one who finds joy in the Lord enjoys perpetual delight.
Psalms 33:2
Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
The harp and the lute are within us, or rather, we ourselves are the instruments when in their likeness we sing by the Lord’s grace through the quality of our actions.
Psalms 33:5
He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.
He describes the Lord by telling what he has done or what he does every day. We say that we love the things in which we are often engaged. So here the Lord’s love of mercy is celebrated in song … because he often imparts this mercy as a gift.… Since in this world he shows his love of mercy when he scatters it far and wide, when he bears with sinners, when he patiently waits for blasphemers, when he offers life to the unworthy and other similar acts that plainly ought to be attributed to divine compassion.… What follows is the statement that “the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord.” It is just this mercy that preserves us when we are miserable, when we struggle in the battle because of the devil’s attack, when we are distracted from the commands of heaven by the weakness of our flesh.… Therefore let us seek the mercy with which the entire world is filled.
Psalms 33:6
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
If we examine the passage more carefully, he even indicates the holy Trinity here. For by using the term word he reveals the Son, by adding “of the Lord” he speaks of the Father, and with the phrase “by the spirit of his mouth” he surely wants the Holy Spirit to be understood, who proceeded from the Father before all time. And in order that you may understand the unity manifest in three persons, he refers to his mouth, rather than their mouths.
Psalms 33:8
Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
The prophet rightly asks that all things be moved by the Lord, because everything that is arranged by his ordering is always applied to useful matters. But although he had earlier spoken about all things in a general way, he now turns his attention to people. Even though the universe needs to be administered by his command, the human race has the greatest need of such administration; the human race is known to be subject to acts of sin because it has become corrupted from its original nature because of vices that creep into it.
Psalms 33:11
The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
We properly understand his counsel as the secret of the incarnation, since it was known to have been granted in order to provide counsel for the human race. It is not undone in any age, but remains for eternity, because the triumphant death of the Lord forever abolished the destruction brought about by the devil.
Psalms 33:13
The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.
A person does not look to the Lord, but the Lord looks to a person … for when it says “and he looks upon,” it indicates the graces of the One who shows compassion, for we say that we look upon those to whom we claim that something has been bestowed. Consider that he does not say that sins were looked upon, but people. When he looks upon sins, he punishes, but when he focuses his attention on a person, then he pardons.
Psalms 33:15
He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.
God has “fashioned the hearts” of those to him he has granted the gifts of his understanding. We say that modelers fashion, since they compose forms in accordance with the needs of their work. Likewise, the Lord also forms the minds of the just and sets them in order to guide them to the gifts of his mercy.
Psalms 33:19
To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
These are the two prayers of the most faithful Christian: to be rescued from eternal death at the coming judgment and to spend time here with spiritual nourishment. The Lord rescues the souls of the just from death when he raises them from the power of the devil, when by his kindness he frees those held captive by sin. In hunger, he feeds them while they are in this world, when there is a lack of good things. He does not cease to nourish with spiritual food those whom he has redeemed.
Psalms 33:20
· 2 passages
Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.
When the psalmist says “he waits,” he indicates the endurance of the Christian … since it is endurance that makes the martyrs glorious, that watches over the good things of our faith, that conquers everything that stands against us, not by fighting against God’s will, but by enduring, not by complaining, but by giving thanks. Endurance suppresses deceptive luxury, it overcomes the heat of anger, it removes the jealousy that lays waste the human race, it renders people gentle, it smiles appropriately at the kind, and it sets the cleansed in good order for the rewards that are to come. Endurance wipes away the dregs of every pleasure; it makes souls appear bright. Through endurance we serve as God’s soldiers, through it we conquer the devil, through it we arrive as the blessed to his heavenly kingdom, for it is written, “in your endurance you will gain possession of your souls.”
The psalmist’s word waits reflects the patience of the Christian.… Patience is what makes glorious martyrs, what guards the blessings of our faith, what conquers all adversity not by wrestling but by enduring, not by grumbling but by giving thanks. Patience represses the extravagance that beguiles us. It overcomes hot anger, it removes the envy that ravages the human race, it makes people gentle, it smiles becomingly on the kind, and it orders people who are cleansed to attain the rewards that are to come. Patience wipes away the dregs of all pleasure; patience makes souls pure. Through patience we soldier for Christ, through it we conquer the devil, through it we blessedly attain the kingdom of heaven. As Scripture says, “In your patience you shall possess your souls.”
Psalms 34:4
· 2 passages
I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
By saying “from all,” nothing is left which you might have suspected was still standing in opposition.
“I sought the Lord” not in the expansive space of lands nor through broad and expansive regions, but in the heart. If we reflect on his majesty there, we find it present in every way.
Psalms 34:5
They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
His light is said to be inaccessible when the unique and omnipotent character of its substance is described. But when the grace of the holy Godhead pours itself forth, one both approaches him and is offered blessed illumination.
Psalms 34:6
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
The word this indicates the person poor in spirit who is not only devoid of worldly riches, but also of abundant vices. This is the poor person who is enlightened as he approaches God, whose face does not blush, and his prayer is heard appropriately, leading to his salvation when he cries to the Lord; afterwards he comes forth not to be freed from a single affliction, but from all earthly distresses. This takes places regularly for the just when they yield their souls to holy conduct and are taken from the chaotic disaster of this world to lasting freedom from care.
Psalms 34:11
Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
This is not the fear that leads to dread, but the kind that leads to love. Fear of people is full of bitterness, but this fear is full of sweetness. The first compels us to slavery, but the second draws us toward freedom. Finally, the first fears confinement, but the second opens up the kingdom of heaven. So he rightly professes that this second type of fear is useful and we ought to learn it with an eager mind.
Psalms 34:14
Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
To see good days it is insufficient simply to abstain from evil acts; our compassion must also compel us to perform good works. The first stage of virtue is not to covet what belongs to others, but then the higher stage is not to hold back our own possessions from those in need. In the first stage, we escape blame, but in the second we win the palm of compassion.