Psalm CXXXVIII.5694    Lat. CXXXVII.

1. The title of this Psalm is brief and simple, and need not detain us; since we know whose resemblance David wore, and since in him we recognise ourselves also, for we too are members of that Body. The whole title is, “To David himself.” Let us see then, what is to David himself. The title of the Psalm is wont to tell us what is treated of within it: but in this, since the title informs us not of this, but tells us only to Whom it is chanted, the first verse tells us what is treated of in the whole Psalm, “I will confess to Thee.” This confession then let us hear. But first I remind you, that the term confession in Scripture, when we speak of confession to God, is used in two senses, of sin, and of praise. But confession of sin all know, confession of praise few attend to. So well known is confession of sin, that, wherever in Scripture we hear the words, “I will confess to Thee, O Lord,” or, “we will confess to Thee,” forthwith, through habitually understanding in this way, our hands hurry to beating our breast: so entirely are men wont not to understand confession to be of aught, save of sin. But was then our Lord Jesus Christ Himself too a sinner, who saith in the Gospel, “I confess to Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth”?5695    Confiteor Tibi. Matt. xi. 25. He goeth on to say what He confesseth, that we might understand His confession to be of praise, not of sin, “I confess to Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.” He praised the Father, he praised God, because He despiseth not the humble, but the proud. And such confession are we now going to hear, of praise of God, of thanksgiving. “With my whole heart.” My whole heart I lay upon the altar of Thy praise, an whole burnt-offering5696    [He adds: “A whole burnt offering is a sacrifice where the whole is burnt, for the Greek word ὅλον, (holocaustum, Lat.) meaneth ‘whole.’”—C.] of praise I offer to Thee.…“I will confess to Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: for Thou hast heard the words of my mouth” (ver. 1). What mouth, save my heart? For there have we the voice which God heareth, which ear of man knoweth not at all. We have then a mouth within, there do we ask, thence do we ask, and if we have prepared a lodging or an house for God, there do we speak, there are we heard. “For He is not far from every one of us, for in Him we live, and move, and have our being.”5697    Acts xvii. 27, 28. Nought maketh thee far off from God, save sin only. Cast down the middle wall of sin, and thou art with Him whom thou askest.

2. “And before the Angels will I sing unto Thee.” Not before men will I sing, but before the Angels. My song is my joy; but my joy in things below is before men, my joy in things above before the Angels. For the wicked knoweth not the joy of the just: “There is no joy, saith my God, to the wicked.”5698    Isa. xlviii. 22, lvii. 21. The wicked rejoiceth in his tavern, the martyr in his chain. In what did that holy Crispina rejoice, whose festival is kept to-day? She rejoiced when she was being seized, when she was being carried before the judge, when she was being put into prison, when she was being brought forth bound, when she was being lifted up on the scaffold,5699    Catasta. when she was being heard, when she was being condemned: in all these things she rejoiced; and the wretches thought her wretched, when she was rejoicing before the Angels.

3. “I will worship toward Thy holy Temple” (ver. 2). What holy Temple? That where we shall dwell, where we shall worship. For we hasten that we may adore. Our heart is pregnant and cometh to the birth, and seeketh where it may bring forth. What is the place where God is to be worshipped?…“The Temple of God is holy,” saith the Apostle, “which Temple ye are.”5700    1 Cor. iii. 17. But assuredly, as is manifest, God dwelleth in the Angels. Therefore when our joy, being in spiritual things, not in earthly, taketh up a song to God, to sing before the Angels, that very assembly of Angels is the Temple of God, we worship toward God’s Temple. There is a Church below, there is a Church above also; the Church below, in all the faithful; the Church above, in all the Angels. But the God of Angels came down to the Church below, and Angels ministered to Him on earth,5701    Matt. iv. 11. while He ministered to us; for, “I came not,” saith He, “to be ministered unto, but to minister.”5702    Matt. xx. 28.…The Lord of Angels died for man. Therefore, “I will worship toward Thy holy Temple;” I mean, not the temple made with hands, but that which Thou hast made for Thyself.

4. “And I will confess to Thy Name in Thy mercy and Thy truth.”…These also which Thou hast given to me, do I according to my power give to Thee in return: mercy, in aiding others; truth, in judging. By these God aideth us, by these we win God’s favour. Rightly, therefore, “All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth.” No other ways are there whereby He can come to us, no other whereby we can come to Him. “For Thou hast magnified Thy holy Name over everything.” What sort of thanksgiving is this, brethren? He hath magnified His holy Name over Abraham. Of Abraham was born Isaac; over that house God was magnified; then Jacob; God was magnified, who said, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then came his twelve sons. The name of the Lord was magnified over Israel. Then came the Virgin Mary. Then Christ our Lord, “dying for our sins, rising again for our justification,” 5703    Rom. iv. 25. filling the faithful with His Holy Spirit, sending forth men to proclaim throughout the Gentiles, “Repent ye,” etc.5704    Matt. iii. 2. Behold, “He hath magnified His holy Name above all things.”

5. “In what day soever I call upon Thee, do Thou quickly hear me” (ver. 3). Wherefore, “quickly”? Because Thou hast said, “While yet thou art speaking I will say, Lo, here I am.”5705    Isa. lviii. 9. Wherefore, “quickly”? Because now I seek not earthly happiness, I have learnt holy longings from the New Testament. I seek not earth, nor earthly abundance, nor temporal health, nor the overthrow of my enemies, nor riches, nor rank: nought of these do I seek: therefore “quickly hear me.” Since Thou hast taught me what to seek, grant what I seek.…

6. Let us see then what he seeketh, with what right he hath said, “quickly hear me.” For what seekest thou, that thou shouldest quickly be heard? “Thou shalt multiply me.” In many ways may multiplication be understood.…For men are multiplied in their soul with cares: a man seemeth to be multiplied in soul, in whom vices even are multiplied. That is the multiplication of want, not of fulness. What then dost thou desire, thou who hast said, “quickly hear me,” and hast withdrawn thyself entirely from the body, from every earthly thing, from every earthly desire, so as to say to God, “Thou shalt multiply me in my soul”? Explain yet further what thou desirest. Thou shalt multiply me, saith he, in my soul “with virtue.”…

7. “Let all the kings of the earth confess to Thee, O Lord” (ver. 4). So shall it be, and so it is, and that daily; and it is shown that it was not said in vain, save that it was future. But neither let them, when they confess to Thee, when they praise Thee, desire earthly things of Thee. For what shall the kings of the earth desire? Have they not already sovereignty? Whatever more a man desire on earth, sovereignty is the highest point of his desire. What more can he desire? It must needs be some loftier eminence. But perhaps the loftier it is, the more dangerous. And therefore the more exalted kings are in earthly eminence, the more ought they to humble themselves before God. What do they do? “Because they have heard all the words of Thy mouth.” In a certain nation were hidden the Law and the Prophets, “all the words of Thy mouth:” in the Jewish nation alone were “all the words of Thy mouth,” the nation which the Apostle praiseth, saying, “What advantage hath the Jew? Much every way; chiefly because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.” These were the words of God.