Cassiodorus — Commentary on Scripture

The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.

When the wicked person sees someone working on developing good character, he feels convinced that he is being indicted personally. He gnashes his teeth and becomes outraged. If he cannot corrupt someone’s character, then he immediately attempts to do away with his life.

The way in which consolation is offered to us is amazing, for who should delight himself in the pompous display of one whose audacity he knows will soon perish? If we would rather not be disturbed by jealousy, then let us follow what the Lord does. Let us laugh at him whose downfall we foresee; let us regard the unhappy things which we possess as things that will perish in time. Let us believe these things with all tenacity, since they have been promised to us in truth. It will happen in the way described, that the sinner will depart under derision, although he once boasted in a happiness that was not to last.

Psalms 37:28

For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

You observe here that what destroys a person itself perishes and only those things last which cause him to remain in the kingdom of God.

Psalms 37:36

Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.

One passes out of this world in two ways, either when it is left through a person’s superior way of life, or when it is forsaken in the end by the dead. So the one who has passed on to God with a most holy way of life no longer sees a sinner as a powerful individual, since he sees everything in which humans boast as powerless.… This world is known as the place of sinners where they both carry out their wicked deeds and where their wealth, with all its transitory joy, is piled high. But this place is destroyed along with their prosperity, when the glory of the entire corruptible world is brought to an end.

Psalms 37:40

And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.

Free to Hope. Cassiodorus: He also adds the reason for the liberation: it is because “they have hoped in him”—not because they have not sinned, but because they have placed their hope in the Lord’s compassion. This can also be applied to the judgment, when he will deign to present an eternal reward to his saints.

Psalms 38:15

For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.

He always trusted in the Lord who is able to transform sorrow into joy.

Psalms 39:8

Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish.

Although this holy man was conducting himself in noble devotion, he still asks to be freed from all of his iniquities by the Lord’s mercy.

Psalms 40:2

He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

Just as the mud of a lake stinks and is heavy, so also the sins of people are like mud, causing people to shudder because of their smell and causing them to drown because of their weight. When we walk in the commandments of the Lord Christ, he sets our feet upon the Rock.

Psalms 40:4

Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

Among other things, the Lord’s name is eternal Savior. The one who puts his trust in the Lord’s name is the one who believes that he must be saved by the Lord’s grace rather than by his own merits.

Psalms 40:7

Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,

This verse embraces the mysteries of the Old and New Testaments, for it says that at a later time God no longer accepted the sacrifices and offerings which were earlier being performed to honor him through the sacrifice of cattle which fed the priests. It is certainly true that he considered it fitting to accept these kinds of offerings, since there seemed to be a certain prefiguration of the body of Christ through them. But once the Messiah himself, the Lord Christ, who had been foretold, arrived and offered himself for us all as the compassionate Victim, it was unnecessary that such a preliminary figure as the Old Testament sacrifices still endure, now that the truth had reached fulfillment.… The body which was previously promised through the images of the sacrifices … was now fulfilled by his coming.

Psalms 40:11

Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.

The “mercy” was that he saved human nature, wounded by the vice of transgression, by his holy incarnation; the “truth” was that through the blessing of the promised resurrection, he sits at the right hand of the Father and from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

Psalms 41:4

I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.

Every sin is a sickness of the soul. As it grows stronger, the health of the inner person decreases. He who cried out to the Physician was aware of his illness, but in that understanding he was already healthy in so far as he recognized that he was weak. So he wishes for his soul to be healed, namely, by the forgiveness of sins.

Psalms 41:12

And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.

What a truly holy innocence and simplicity, a truly blessed humility!.… He did not defend himself with any struggle. He was moving toward the cross with a peaceful spirit, going to die with a tranquil mind. He fulfilled all the words predicted by the prophets by his own undefiled integrity. He felt grief at the misfortunes of his persecutors, and when he was hung on the cross, he prayed for his enemies in an act of incredible mercy, for he had determined that all the faithful should also do this.… Now that he has laid aside the weakness inherent in a mortal body, the God-Man, one of two natures, also continues in these two distinct and complete natures in eternal glory. His name is above every name; his power commands heaven and earth.

Psalms 42:2

My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

Christ the Lord is the fountain of waters from which flows everything that restores us. Flowing streams can often run dry, but a fountain is always supplied with water. So we are rightly invited to hurry to the liquid of the sacred source; there our desire is never able to experience thirst.

Psalms 42:4

When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.

Rejoicing refers to the singing of psalms, while confession must include lamentation over sins. The combination of these two things undoubtedly makes for a complete Christian.… What is sweeter and more salutary than to praise God and to continually accuse oneself.

Psalms 42:6

O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.

God is not to be sought from the height of arrogance, but the remembrance of him is found in situations of lowly humility.

Psalms 42:8

Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.

It is precisely what is learned in quietness that is later manifested in distress. The words of the Law are learned in restful times, but their fruit is later displayed in affliction.

Psalms 51:1-4

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

“Who can understand his sins? Cleanse me from my hidden faults, O Lord.” See, the door of the third section opens, in which the prophet implores that all his sins would be washed away until the eloquence of his mouth would be rendered acceptable in the sight of the Lord. But because transgressions occur by means of human errors in three manners—thought, word and deed—he attests that that immense sea of sins, condensed in brevity, originates from two sources. The “hidden” sin is that which is called “original,” in which we are conceived, born and sin by a secret will, such as when we covet our neighbor’s property, when we desire to take vengeance on our enemies, when we want to be exalted above others, when we seek after tastier foods, and do things similar to these things. They sprout up and quietly seize us in such a way that they seem to be hidden to many until the deed is done. But if these things should be rendered visible to someone—as Solomon warns, “Do not go after your evil desires”20—we nonetheless ought to notice that there are many sins which we altogether do not know, of…

“Who can understand his sins? Cleanse me from my hidden faults, O Lord.” See, the door of the third section opens, in which the prophet implores that all his sins would be washed away until the eloquence of his mouth would be rendered acceptable in the sight of the Lord. But because transgressions occur by means of human errors in three manners—thought, word and deed—he attests that that immense sea of sins, condensed in brevity, originates from two sources. The “hidden” sin is that which is called “original,” in which we are conceived, born and sin by a secret will, such as when we covet our neighbor’s property, when we desire to take vengeance on our enemies, when we want to be exalted above others, when we seek after tastier foods, and do things similar to these things. They sprout up and quietly seize us in such a way that they seem to be hidden to many until the deed is done. But if these things should be rendered visible to someone—as Solomon warns, “Do not go after your evil desires”20—we nonetheless ought to notice that there are many sins which we altogether do not know, of which we are able to understand neither their origins nor their manners of snatching us away. One must understand the phrase “Who understands all his sins?” from this perspective, because when he will go on to say in Psalm 51, “My sin is always before me” and elsewhere, “I have made my sin known to you,” how can it not be understood that whenever he sins he is compelled to confess? But if you add the word “all,” then this objection is shown to be obviated.

Psalms 51:10-14

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

As for the fact that he says, “And he has looked upon,” he indicates the grace of the one who shows mercy. We say that they see that we look upon those to whom we declare that something has also been offered. And consider that he did not say that the sins were seen, but rather the sons of men were. For when God looks at their sins, he punishes them; when he looks at a person, he absolves them, just as he will say in Psalm 51, “Turn your face from my sins,” and elsewhere, “Do not turn your face away from me.” Thus, we must understand and retain this salutary distinction.

Psalms 56:1-2

To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath. Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.

“Have mercy upon me, Lord, because man has trampled me underfoot; all day long he wages war and afflicts me.” The virgin mother Church, who gives birth to the faithful people and yet does not lose her virginity, asks her heavenly bridegroom with pious tears that she would not be allowed to be oppressed by her enemies, even as she recognizes that she still dwells in the misfortune of this world. “Trampled underfoot” refers back to that which he had spoken in the title in regards to the winepress, for wine is pressed out to the same degree that a grape is thoroughly crushed. Here he absolutely indicates the “man” to be the devil, just as in the gospel the Lord speaks of the very man, “Now the hostile man, who sowed the thistles, is the devil.” The phrase “all day long he wages war and afflicts me” follows. He describes what the holy church endures in this world, namely, that she is recognized to be enduring the attacks of the devil without any letup, just as the apostle says, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers and authorities of this darkness.” It is a dir…

“Have mercy upon me, Lord, because man has trampled me underfoot; all day long he wages war and afflicts me.” The virgin mother Church, who gives birth to the faithful people and yet does not lose her virginity, asks her heavenly bridegroom with pious tears that she would not be allowed to be oppressed by her enemies, even as she recognizes that she still dwells in the misfortune of this world. “Trampled underfoot” refers back to that which he had spoken in the title in regards to the winepress, for wine is pressed out to the same degree that a grape is thoroughly crushed. Here he absolutely indicates the “man” to be the devil, just as in the gospel the Lord speaks of the very man, “Now the hostile man, who sowed the thistles, is the devil.” The phrase “all day long he wages war and afflicts me” follows. He describes what the holy church endures in this world, namely, that she is recognized to be enduring the attacks of the devil without any letup, just as the apostle says, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers and authorities of this darkness.” It is a dire war because it is hidden. It is a difficult war because it is being waged with one who is stronger. For what sort of war is it to come into conflict with an enemy and not to see his ambushes? Also, our adversary is not lacking in diligence and does not ever withdraw when defeated, but he comes back all the more savagely to the same extent that he happened to be able to be defeated by divine grace. But we call it a war in a figure of speech, using the word in a sense opposite to its meaning (antiphrasis7), much as we speak of a grove which has no glow or a fish pond which has no fish. Therefore, let no one of the faithful complain that he is harassed by the very frequent contrivances of the devil, because if we wish to belong to Christ, we will always endure the devil as our enemy here.