This he says a second time to make it clear that His kingdom does indeed begin in Jerusalem but goes out to all kingdoms. Just as the Word and His grace to forgive sins are for Jews and heathen alike, so also the cross and the relief from it are in full sway in all places, both among the Jews and among the heathen. The kingdoms, of course, cannot actually come together in one place.
23. He has broken my strength in midcourse.
This is the way it goes in Christs kingdom according to the outer man. He breaks, punishes, and humbles His beloved saints and permits them to be tortured here in time that they may be strong and powerful, not outwardly but inwardly. The world, however, which He raises up and strengthens in its way here in time, He will humble in the end. Therefore the prophet and the spiritual people comfort themselves with the thought that they are oppressed with Christ temporally here on earth, but not at the He has shortened my days.
He cuts short the life of the old man, although this verse refers especially to the holy martyrs. Thus St. Peter says (1 Peter 4:17) that the time has come for the judgment to begin with the household of God, that is, on His saints. But the end will come upon the house of Satan.
Although He breaks me as under and oppresses me, I will not on this account run away from Him; but I will hope in Him, cry to Him, and plead with Him all the more, as all His saints do.
Take me not hence in the midst of my days.
That is, do not let me die unprepared. Those who are ,tired of life and desire death, like David (1 Chron. 23:1), Abraham (Gen. 25:8), and Paul (Phil. 1:23), are removed at the end of their days; for they have said good-by to life and demand death. But those who cling to this life and love it are still in the midst of their days, as King Hezekiah says (Is. 38:10 ff.). These do not like to die, and they bear the judgment and the affliction of Christ with difficulty.
Thou whose years endure throughout all generations!
That is, consider that Thou art eternal and that I live such a short time. No one can escape Thee; but for me time could quickly run out, so that I could fail to obtain Thy grace. Thy punishment, however, cannot fail; for Thou, who art everlasting, wilt surely come.
25. Of old Thou didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Thy hands.
In His deity Christ, together with the Father, is Creator of all creatures; for the apostle quotes this verse (Heb. 1:10).
26. They will perish, but Thou dost endure; they will all wear out like a garment. Thou changest them like raiment, and they pass away.
Just as the heavens will not endure, much less the earth; hence all creatures and also the heavens will be changed. They will not pass away and perish; they will be renewed.
27. But Thou art the same.
Thou wilt not be a different God or a new God, as the Jews will say when they hear that Thou art man and God. They will charge Thy people with having a new God, different from the one who founded the earth in the beginning. But while heaven and earth may change, Thou remainest the same.
And Thy years have no end.
This the Jews and heathen have imagined; but Thy kingdom remains, and Thy people will be with 28. The children of Thy servants.
These are the people in Christendom who are baptized and taught by the apostles, for preachers are servants of God.
Children are heirs and continue, while servants, to whom God gives an earthly reward, do not continue in the eternal inheritance with the children (John 8:35).
Their posterity shall be established before Thee.
These are the same children, the believers in Christ. They are a spiritual posterity and heirs, yes, joint heirs with their fathers, prepared eternally before God, although rejected in time before the world.
Christ's kingdom has no end.
- 83 THE SIXTH PENITENTIAL PSALM 1. Out of the depths I cry to Thee, O Lord!
2. Lord, hear my voice! Let Thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
3. If Thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, Lord, who shall stand?
4. But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared.
5. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His Word I hope; 6. my soul waits for the Lord, from one morning watch to the next, from one morning watch to the next.
7. O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with Him is plenteous redemption.
8. And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
1. Out of the depths I cry to Thee, O Lord!
THESE are noble, passionate, and very profound words of a truly penitent heart that is most deeply moved in its distress. In fact, this cannot be understood except by those who have felt and experienced it. We are all in deep and great misery, but we do not all feel our condition.
Crying is nothing but a strong and earnest longing for God's grace, which does not arise in a person unless he sees in what depth he is lying.
2. Lord, hear my voice! Let Thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
Thou dost not answer. Thou forsakest. Thou despisest my desperate cry. Yet there is no one who can help but Thee alone. Therefore let Thy ears hear and regard my cry. This is the expression of the soul when it feels that no creature will give heed to its distress, yes, that even God and all creatures seem to be striving against it. There follows, therefore:
3. If Thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities.
That is, if Thou shouldst hold my sins before Thee, look at them, and not forgive them. Yet Thou alone art a gracious and mighty Forgiver, and no one but Thee can forgive.
Lord, who shall stand?
What good would it do if all creatures were gracious to me and disregarded and forgave my sins, but God marked and retained them? And again, what does it matter if all creatures heap sins upon me and hold them against me, as long as God forgives and pays no attention to them? This is the thought of the next of these psalms (143:2): "O Lord, enter not into judgment with Thy servant; for no man living is righteous before Thee." And this verse gives the contents of this psalm: a consideration of the severe judgment of God, who cannot and will not let even one sin go unpunished. Whoever, therefore, does not consider the judgment of God, does not fear; and whoever does not fear, does not cry out; and whoever does not cry out, finds no grace.
Therefore the fear of the judgment of God must always exist in the right kind of person because of the old Adam, whom God hates and resists. Furthermore, with this fear there must be hope for grace because of the mercy which is favorable to this fear because of the new man, who is an enemy of the old and therefore agrees with the judgment of God. Thus fear and hope go hand in hand. And just as the judgment of God produces fear, so fear results in crying out, and the cry brings mercy. As long as the old man lives, the fear, that is, the crucifixion and execution of this old man, must not cease; nor dare the judgment of God be forgotten. And whoever would live without this crucifying and this fear and the judgment of God, does not live aright. Thus it is written (Ps. 10:5–6): "Thy judgments are out of his sight, and he says: I shall not be moved; I shall not meet adversity."
4. But there is forgiveness with Thee.
Therefore there is no refuge in any other person where one could stand or abide. St. Paul says (Rom.
8:31): "If God is for us, who is against us?" By the same token, who will be for us if God is against us?
With Him alone is forgiveness. Therefore good works cannot help. If anyone wants to amount to something before God, he must insist on grace, not on merit.
That Thou mayest be feared.
As already stated, if anyone does not fear God, he does not implore, nor is he forgiven. In order, therefore, to gain God's grace, He and He alone is to be feared, just as He alone forgives. For if anyone fears something besides God, he seeks the favor and mercy of this other thing and does not care about - 84 God. But whoever fears God desires His grace and does not care about anything that is not God; for he knows that no one can harm him if God is gracious to him.
5. I wait for the Lord.
Up to this point the psalmist has described the fear, the cross of the old man, and also how this is to be borne. Now he describes the hope, the life of the new man, and how one should walk in it. These two things are taught in all the psalms, indeed, in all Holy Writ. For God deals strangely with His children.
He blesses them with contradictory and disharmonious things, for hope and despair are opposites. Yet His children must hope in despair; for fear is nothing else than the beginning of despair, and hope is the beginning of recovery. And these two things, direct opposites by nature, must be in us, because in us two natures are opposed to each other, the old man and the new man. The old man must fear, despair, and perish; the new man must hope, be raised up, and stand. Both of these are in one person and even in one handiwork at the same time. Just as a wood carver, by chiseling and taking away the wood that does not belong to the carving, enhances the form of his work, so hope, which forms the new man, grows in the midst of fear that cuts down the old Adam.
Therefore the psalmist says: "I wait for the Lord; that is, in this crying and cross-bearing I did not retreat or despair; nor did I trust in my own merit. I trusted in God's grace alone, which I desire, and I wait for God to help me when it pleases Him." Now there are some who want to set the goal, appoint the hour and measure, and prescribe to God how they are to be helped. And if they do not experience this, they despair; or, if possible, they seek help elsewhere. These do not tarry and wait for the Lord. God is supposed to wait for them, be ready at once, and help exactly as they themselves have designed. Those who wait for the Lord, however, ask for mercy; but they leave it to God's gracious will when, how, where, and by what means He helps them. They have no doubt about His aid, but they do not give it a name. They let God christen and name it, even if it is delayed immeasurably long. But he who designates the help, does not receive it; for he does not wait and submit to God's council, will, and delay.
My soul has become a tarrying and waiting thing, as if he said: The very essence and life of my soul has been nothing but a mere tarrying and waiting for the Lord. According to the Latin, this means: "I have waited for the Lord; my soul has been waiting and expectant." My soul has become a "waiter."
This expresses a firm, steady waiting, in which the soul feels only that it is tarrying and waiting, as expressed in Ps. 40:1: "Waiting, I have waited for the Lord." So here: I have waited so firmly for the Lord that my soul has become a "waiter"; and its whole life has become a tarrying, a hoping, and a waiting.
And in His Word I hope.
That is, upon His pledge and promise; for to hope and to wait without the Word of God is tempting God. Now this is the nature of the inner man, that he has within him that constant waiting, hoping, trusting, and believing in God. Therefore God does not forsake him; for He has promised mercy and help to all who trust in Him, rely on Him, and wait for Him. And this same Word and promise of God is the whole content of the new man, who lives not by bread but by that same Word of God (Matt. 4:4).
6. My soul waits for the Lord, from one morning watch to the next.
That is, my soul always has its face directed straight toward God and confidently awaits His coming and His help, no matter how it may be delayed, as in Ps. 123:2: "Our eyes look to the Lord our God, till
He have mercy upon us."
This verse expresses the length of such waiting, just as the next shows the measure, namely, the Word. Scripture divides the night into four parts and calls them "watches" or "guards"; for the city watchmen guard, watch, and wait by night, to see if someone is coming or going. Each watch lasts three hours: The first, from six to nine; the second, from nine to twelve; the third, from twelve to three; and the fourth, the morning watch, from three to daylight, that is, six. We shall omit profound exegesis here.21 It is enough to say that one must wait for the Lord from one morning to the next, namely, constantly and steadily. And if God were to delay the whole day, we should wait until the next day.
For this reason he mentions the morning watch or time especially and not the evening or night watch: In the morning all work begins, while it ends in the evening and rests during the night. He wants to say: Once you have begun to trust in God, then do not stop. Let the evening and the night pass; just