HOMILY 26
HOMILY 26
ON PSALM 98 (99)
D HE LORD IS KINGj the peoples tremble.' There are three psalms that begin with the same versicle, the . ninety-second, the ninety-sixth, and the ninety-eighth.
Although the opening versicle is the same in each psalm, the verse ending is different. How, then, does the ninety-second psalm begin? 'The Lord is king, in splendor robed.'1 The ninety-sixth, however, says: 'The Lord is king; let the earth rejoice';2 the ninety-eighth: 'The Lord is king; the peoples tremble.'3 You see that the order of these psalms seems almost in reverse. 'The Lord is king: the peoples tremble' logically should be first; 'The Lord is king; let the earth rejoice' should be second; and last, 'The Lord is king, in splendor robed.'
The reversed order, however, furnishes a clue for our exegesis. 'The Lord is king, in splendor robed.' The Lord is king, and He is robed in the splendor of patriarchs and prophets and a people that believes. He is robed in splendor: the patriarchs and prophets have been as the garment of Christ; they are the loincloth mentioned in Jeremia-the girdle that he wore about his loins. Would you know that the saints are like a girdle and the vestment" of God? God Himself says to Jeremia: 'As close as the loincloth clings to a man's loins, so had I made my people cling to me';4 God's people are as close to Him as man's clothing is to his body. But because
IPs. 92.1.
2 Ps. 96.1.
3 Ps. 98.1.
4 Cf. Jer. 13.11, 1; d. Commentary on Jeremia 13.1-12, PL 24.764 (931).
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this loincloth, this splendor in which the Lord had been robed, was cast off on the other side of the Pharat, and laid aside in the cleft of a rock and there rotted,5 and was taken into captivity by the Assyrians, what does the Lord do? He is not naked; He cannot be without a loincloth; He cannot be without a covering. Because the first people had been lost, He makes Himself a garment of the Gentiles.
And what does the psaln;tist say? 'The Lord is king; let the earth rejoice: Let the earth rejoice, the whole world, that is, of those who believe. Would you like proof that Scripture speaks of the Gentiles as a loincloth? 'The Lord: it says,
'is king, let the earth rejoice; let the many isles be glad: Not one isle, Judea, but the many islands, in other words, the whole world.
Someone may say to me: Give me an example from Holy Writ where Judea alone is spoken of as an island. Everything we say, we ought to confirm from Sacred Scripture. 'A judicial fact shall be established only on the testimony of two or three witnesses.'6 The word of the witness does nol have as much weight as the precept of God. We read in the prophet Ezechiel: 'And you, son of man, speak to the in· habitants of this isle:1 that is, of Judea.s Because, therefore, one island has been abandoned, Scripture now says: 'Let the many isles be glad: So of the first people, the loincloth, the psalmist says: 'The Lord is king, in splendor robed'; of the second gathered from among the Gentiles: 'The Lord is king; let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad.'
Now, of a third people, he says: 'The Lord is king; the peoples tremble: Whether they be of the Jews, or of the Gentiles, if they do not believe, let them tremble. 'Why do the nations rage and the peoples utter folly?'9
'The Lord is king; the peoples tremble: The Lord has 5 Cf. Jer. 13.4·12; cf. Letter 7.3, PL 22.340 (19).
6 Deut. 19.15.
7 Cf. Isa. 20.6; Ezech. 27.2, 3.
8 Cf. Commentary on lsaia 59.16, 17, PL 24.582 (711).
9 Ps.2.1.
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suffered; the Lord has been crucified; the Lord has died; the Lord has risen from the dead; the Lord has ascended triumphantly into heaven. 'The Lord is king, the peoples tremble.' Who are these people? Let us cite an example from the Gospel:l{) 'A certain nobleman went into a far country to obtain for himself a kingdom.' What is further away from earth than heaven? He left earth, he went to heaven to obtain for himself a kingdom. 'But his citizens hated him; and they sent a delegation after him to say, "We do not wish this man to be king over us.'"
But he received the kingdom, and returned to his wicked citizens. He returned to them who did not want him for king. And now the Holy Spirit says to the wicked citizens: Whether you will or not: 'The Lord is king; the peoples tremble.' 0 the kindness of the Holy Spirit! He did not say, let them perish, but let them tremble. He wished to point out their fault, not their punishment. They tremble and the Lord intercedes for them. And what does He say? 'Come to me, all you who are burdened.'ll
I have received a kingdom from the Father-rather, not I, but the manhood that I have assumed has received it. I give as God; I receive as man.
'He is throned upon the cherubim; the earth quakes.' As long as earth is undisturbed, it cannot be healed. The psalmist is not speaking of the earthquake in which we see the earth violently shaken and every kind of living creature in terror, but of our own earthliness that cannot be healed as long as it is complacent. When it is disturbed and trembles, then, it will regain its health. 'On whom shall
I rest; says the Lord, 'but upon him that is the lowly and afflicted man who trembles at my word?'12
Because the earthliness of the trembling man has been stirred up, that is why He who is throned upon the cherubim begins to make
His throne upon trembling earth. Happy the man who is 10 Luke 19.12·16.
II Matt. 11.28.
12 Cf. Isa. 66.2.
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God's throne; happy the man in whom God always is enthroned!
There is a variety of attitudes and postures; either we are sitting or standing or walking or lying down. Unhappy the man for whom God is lying down, for God lies down with the man who is lying down. Just as He weeps with the tearful, and laughs with the joyous, He lies prostrate with the fallen. Just as He thirsts with the thirsty, and hungers with the hungry, and is naked with the naked, He lies prostrate with the prostrate. God, so to speak, lies prostrate with the man who has been prostrated from his wounds. But the man who is walking has God walking with him. He who is walking seems, indeed, to be better off than he who is reclining; but still he has not yet arrived at the happiness of the man who is standing. Even in the case of Adam when he was hiding from God, God for him was walking about in the afternoon.
Somebody may assert: If Adam had offended God and had been cast out of Paradise, any man for whom God is walking is utterly unhappy. But I say: If Adam had been struck down completely and given no opportunity for repentance, then, God would have been lying dormant for him; but because God is giving him an opportunity to repent, that is why for him God is walking.
Moses hears from God: 'Then you stand here near me.'13
And Stephen the martyr, while he was fighting, saw Jesus standing at the right side of the Father. The concept of God as seated, however, bears a twofold connotation. If He is sitting among us, we are happy; but if He is sitting with others while we are walking, then, we are unhappy. To this effect, Daniel says:14 'The books were opened, and thrones were set up' and God is seated as the Judge. Although the one being judged is certainly unhappy, nevertheless, the one for whom God is sitting is happy.
13 Cf. Deut. 5.31.
14 Cf. Dan. 7.10, 9; cf. Homily 14 on Ps. 81, p. 102.
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Likewise in our psalm, God is described as enthroned upon the cherubim. Now as cherubim means a 'treasury of knowledge,'15 the man who possesses a treasury of knowledge is the throne of God. This treasury of knowledge is not, however, of mere knowledge; it also is a treasury of works, for that only is true knowledge which is confirmed by works. Otherwise, the promise of knowledge is sheer vanity, when the one who makes the promise deliberately sets out to destroy knowledge.
'The King in his might loves justice: Every sinner fears the judgment of God; he does not want to know the judge, he wants to meet with mercy. The man of holiness, however, both heeds God and glorifies Him in his body; he does not fear the judge, he loves Him. For example, if a judge should come, very severe and even dubbed a blood-drinker in his reputation for cruelty, any murderer would dread a judge of that kind. The man, however, who has done no evil and hates it, not only does not fear the judge, but even loves him.
For what does the good man say? It is a good thing that such a judge is coming; there have been so many robberies, so many vices are being practiced, there are so many murders; it is well that such a judge come. The faithful servant does not fear the judge but loves him. Then is the Scripture fulfilled: 'The King in his might loves justice.'
'You have established right ways.'16 What this means is:
You have made all men good, but by their own vice they have corrupted themselves. You created man in justice. Note what the psalmist said: 'right ways'; not one way, but many.
Everything You have made has been made right.
'And worship his footstool for it is holy.'17 What is this footstool of Jesus that is holy? We read in another place:
'The heavens are my throne, the earth is my footstool';18 and here, 'worship his footstool.' If earth is Jesus' footstool, and the psalm says worship His footstool, then is earth to 15 Cf. Letter 53.8, PL 22.548 (280).
16 Cf. Ps. 98 (99).4.
17 Cf. Ps. 98 (99).5.
18 Isa. 66.!.
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be adored? How, then, do we read in the Apostle,19 that we must worship the Creator, not the creature. In Scripture, adoration conveys two different notions: worship as an act toward God, and worship in the sense of reverence. When we use the word 'worship' in relation to God, we mean the adoration that is proper to God. When, however, we use the term with reference to man, as for example Sara worshiped
Abraham, and Elia, Achab a most ungodly king, it does not mean that Elia worshiped Achab as if he were God, but that this worship was more like a greeting.
Now, we are ready to examine ,the words: 'And worship his footstool,' and see in which way the word 'worship' is intended. Do we adore God's footstool just as we adore God, or in the same sense that we worship and pay respect to a man?
We have read in the Lamentations of Jeremia and in another of the prophets: 'How has the Lord hallowed his footstooll'20
In this passage, His footstool is Jerusalem, or the Temple; hence, the reference is historical.
We shall now consider the versicle: 'And worship his footstool' from another point of view. If feet rest upon a footstool, then the words: 'Let us worship in the place where his feet have stood,'21 likewise refer to a footstool. In that event, we may hold to the letter and mean, for example, the place where He was born, where He was crucified, where He arose from the dead. This is the explanation for beginners. On the other hand, Jesus' footstool is the soul of the one who believes. Happy the man in whose heart Jesus sets His feet every day! If only He would set His feet in my. heart! If only His footsteps would cling to my heart forever! If only
I may say with the Spouse: 'I took hold of him and would not let him gO.'22 The Spouse is quick to take offense; He loves constant purity; whenever He sees defilement, He withdraws at once.
19 Cf. Rom. 1.25.
20 Cf. Lam. 2.1.
21 Cf. Ps. 131.7.
22 Cant. 3.4.
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'And worship his footstool, for it is holy.' Not every footstool of His, but every holy one, as many as persevere in holiness. 'Worship his footstool'; worship, for example, Peter and Paul and the rest of the apostles, that is, venerate them.
'For it is holy.' Worship those who persevere in holiness, but do not worship those who have been footstools and are no longer faithful. Judas the betrayer, for instance, was God's footstool, but because he is not holy, do not worship him. I have read in the book of a certain author: 'The Incarnation, that is, the human nature which God deigned to assume from Mary, He calls His footstool.'23 Granted assuredly that a human nature has been assumed, and in relation to God every creature is His footstool, nevertheless, this footstool of His human nature is united to God and to His throne_
Notice what a daring thing I am venturing to say: I adore the footstool that once was, just as I adore the throne. 'And even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer.'24 Perhaps He had a footstool before His death, before His Resurrection, when He was eating, when He was drinking, when He was suffering our tokens of affections. After He arose, however, and ascended triumphantly into heaven, I do not distinguish the throne from the footstool. Do you question and ask: How is this, or why? How it is, I do not know, yet I believe that it is so.
Do you wonder that I do not understand the mystery of divinity when I do not know my very own self? Do you ask me how the Incarnation and divinity are one, when I do not know how I myself have life? To have perceived there is a God is to have believed; to acknowledge God is to honor
Him. Enough for me to know that it is written; enough for me to know that I believe; more than that, I neither want nor desire, for if I shall desire to know more, I shall begin to believe less. We are called the faithful, not the rationals.
23 Cf. Commentarioli in ps. 98.5; d. Origen, in lsaia, Homily 5.1; Ambrose, de Spirit1t Sancto 3.11.
24 2 Cor. 5.16; cf. Commentary on Jeremia 17.5,6, PL 24.787 (958).
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Then, too, the Lord asks: 'Do you believe that I can do this?'25
And He says to the woman: 'Thy faith has saved thee,'26 not reasoning, not searching, not weighing and examining, not why or how it was done. She believed because it was done, and it was done because she believed.
'Moses and Aaron were his priests; and Samuel, among those who called upon his name.' Many err in thinking that blessed Samuel was a priest. He was not a priest;27 he was a Levite. Even his garment was not like that of a priest, but like that of a Levite, for it is written: 'And his mother made him a garment, a linen ephod.'28 EPHOD means garment;
BAD means linen, of course, but no one except the Levites wore a linen garment. The priests of God, moreover, had vestments of five different colors, namely, of gold, hyacinth, byssus, purple, scarlet,29 All the members of the priestly class wore such garments, but the Levites wore an 'ephod bad,' a linen garment. Consequently, this is the distinction implied in the words: 'Moses and Aaron were among his priests, and Samuel, among those who called upon his name.' The former are priests; the latter, a Levite. Nevertheless, before God it is not a question of dignity, but of works.
As a matter of fact, the works Moses did, Samuel did too.
Moses resisted God and prevented Him from destroying His people when God said to him: 'Let me alone, that I may strike this people.'30 Just see the power of Moses! What does
God say to him? Let Me alone; You are compelling Me, your prayers, as it were, restrain Me; your prayers hold back My hand. I shoot an arrow; I hurl a javelin; and your prayers are the shield of the people. Let Me alone that I might strike down this people. Along with this, consider the compassionate kindness of God. When He says: 'Let me alone,' He shows
25 Matt. 9.28.
26 Matt. 9.22.
27 Cf. Against Jovinian l.23. PL 23.253 (274) ..
28 Cf. 1 Kings 2.18. 19. LXX; d. Letter 29.5. PL 22.439 (144).
29 Cf. Letter 64.15, PL 22.615 (363); 14. PL 22.615 (362).
30 Cf. Exod. 32.10; d. Letter 128.4. PL 22.1099 (965).
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that if Moses will continue to importune Him, He will not strike. If you, too, will not let Me alone, I shall not strike; let Me alone, and I shall strike. In other words, what does
He say? Do not cease your persistent entreaty, and I shall not strike.
Let us see if Samuel persistently importuned God in this way. We read in the Book of Kings31 that he prevented God from venting His wrath against the people, and although it was harvest time, the Lord sent rain, thunder, and lightning.
What does Scripture say in Kings? 'And there came hail stones and struck down the Philistines.'32 See how wise the fire, how wise the hail! Where Samuel is, the thunderbolts do not dare to strike, for they see the prophet of God, they see the Levite. Samuel's hands were threatening the thunderbolts. He was praying and the lightning strokes were held back. Why have I said all this? Because Moses and Aaron and Samuel with different titles performed the same mighty deeds. Let us bless the Lord to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
31 I Kings 12.17-19.
32 Cf. I Kings 7.10; d. Jos. 10.11.