Psalms 17

That sword will be the “word of God living and more active than any double edged sword,” here in the place of a straight sword, which is entrusted to my spirit for driving out the enemies.

We speak fully and clearly when we use words taken from divine Scripture.… The righteous person alone cleanses his tongue, lips and the voice itself from using more common words, as one acquainted with that verse: “You will give an account of every careless word on the day of judgment.” The ears of God do not hear words offered from lying lips, but they receive any word offered from a cleansed tongue accustomed to meditating on divine words.

Who can with confidence say, “I am pure from sins”? Christ alone is truly and properly able to say these words.… When gold is tested by fire, it remains pure and shining. According to Isaiah, out of all people since the beginning of the age, Christ alone “did not sin, nor was there any deceit found in his mouth.”

Since I do not know how to ask for manifest punishment of them, whereas you are aware, having as you do hidden treasuries of wisdom, inflict on them the punishments you best know.

Even before I make the request, my predicament does not escape you, nor are you ignorant of all the designs in my heart that I experience in the night and ponder by day.

It becomes Christians to pray for peace and quiet but not to abandon steadfast faith and truth even at the peril of death. For the Lord is our Leader, “who will save them that put their hope in him.”

Even if now [the way] is full of pain and without joy, later it will bear the fruit of righteousness for those who have been trained in it.

Through impure thoughts our adversary like a lion overcomes our mind.

The written words say that God has wings.… But we will not on that account say that God’s spiritual and indestructible essence is winged.… What, then, are we to understand by the wings? The help, security, shelter, defense and unconquerable aid that God gives us.

"Arise, O Lord, prevent them, and cast them down" [Psalm 17:13]. Arise, O Lord, Thou whom they suppose to be asleep, and regardless of men's iniquities; be they blinded before by their own malice, that vengeance may prevent their deed; and so cast them down.

"Mine enemies have compassed about My soul;" "they have shut up their own fat" [Psalm 17:10]. They have been covered with their own gross joy, after that their desire has been satiated with wickedness. "Their mouth has spoken pride." And therefore their mouth spoke pride, in saying, "Hail, King of the Jews," [Matthew 27:29] and other like words.

"Hear My righteousness, O God, consider My supplication." "Hearken unto My prayer, not in deceitful lips:" not going forth to You in deceitful lips.

"Make Your mercies marvellous" [Psalm 17:7]. Let not Your mercies be disesteemed, lest they be loved too little. "Who savest them that hope in You from such as resist Your right hand:" from such as resist the favour, whereby You favour Me.

"From the face of the ungodly who have troubled Me."

"Deliver My soul from the ungodly." Deliver My soul, by restoring Me after the death, which the ungodly have inflicted on Me. "Your weapon: from the enemies of Your hand" [Psalm 17:14]. For My soul is Your weapon, which Your hand, that is, Your eternal Power, has taken to subdue thereby the kingdoms of iniquity, and divide the righteous from the ungodly. This weapon then "deliver from the enemies of Your hand," that is, of Your Power, that is, from Mine enemies. "Destroy them, O Lord, from off the earth, scatter them in their life." O Lord, destroy them from off the earth, which they inhabit, scatter them throughout the world in this life, which only they think their life, who despair of life eternal. "And by Your hidden things their belly has been filled." Now not only this visible punishment shall overtake them, but also their memory has been filled with sins, which as darkness are hidden from the light of Your truth, that they should forget God. "They have been filled with swine's flesh." They have been filled with uncleanness, treading under foot the pearls of God's words. "And they have left the rest to their babes:" crying out, "This sin be upon us and upon our children." [Matthew 27:25]

"To perfect My steps in Your paths" [Psalm 17:5]. That the love of the Church might be perfected in the strait ways, whereby she arrives at Your rest. "That My footsteps be not moved." That the signs of My way, which, like footsteps, have been imprinted on the Sacraments and Apostolical writings, be not moved, that they may mark them who would follow Me. Or at least, that I may still abide fixedly in eternity, after that I have accomplished the hard ways, and have finished My steps in the straits of Your paths.

"That My mouth may not speak the works of men" [Psalm 17:4]. That nothing may proceed out of My mouth, but what relates to Your glory and praise; not to the works of men, which they do beside Your will. "Because of the words of Your lips." Because of the words of Your peace, or of Your prophets. "I have kept hard ways." I have kept the toilsome ways of human mortality and suffering.

What the Lord has commanded seems hard and harsh, that any who wish to follow him should deny themselves. But nothing can be hard and harsh that is commanded by one who helps us to do what he commands. You see, both these things are true, both what is said to him in the psalm: “Because of the words of your lips I have kept to hard ways”; and what he himself said, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” The fact is, whatever is hard in the commandments is made easy by charity.

"Casting Me forth they have now compassed Me about" [Psalm 17:11]. Casting Me forth outside the city, they have now compassed Me about on the Cross. "Their eyes they have determined to turn down on the earth." The bent of their heart they have determined to turn down on these earthly things: deeming Him, who was slain, to endure a mighty evil, and themselves, that slew Him, none.

"But I shall appear in Your righteousness in Your sight" [Psalm 17:15]. But I, Who have not appeared to them that, with their filthy and darkened heart, cannot see the light of wisdom, "I shall appear in Your righteousness in Your sight."

Why talk about those treasures of wisdom and knowledge, about those divine riches, if not because they are what suffices us? And why talk about that multitudinous sweetness, if not because it is what satisfies us?… In one of the psalms somebody, one of us, or in us, or for us says to him, “I will be satisfied when your glory is revealed.” … He will convert us and show us his face, and “we shall be saved”; we shall be satisfied, and it will suffice us.

When shall we be satisfied?… “When your glory is revealed.” Now though, the glory of our God, the glory of our Christ, is concealed; and with it is concealed ours also. But “when Christ appears, your life, then you too will appear with him in glory.”

What this future glory will be like, however, how richly it will flourish, with what splendor it will blaze out, while we can sing its praises, we cannot possibly explain. Why not? Because we read, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it come up into the human heart, what things God has prepared for those who love him.” So if that is what has to be said about the eternal good things of heaven, … what must God himself be, who has prepared such great and wonderful things? What, I repeat, must almighty God be like? What but unfathomable, inexpressible, incomprehensible, surpassing all things, beyond all things, apart from all things? He excels, after all, every one of his creatures; he goes far beyond everything he has made; he surpasses the whole universe. I mean, if you are looking for greatness, he is greater; if for beauty, he is more beautiful still; if for delightfulness, he is still more delightful; if for splendor, he is more brilliant; if for justice, he is more just; if for strength, he is stronger; if for fatherly care, he is kinder. Reason, after all, in no way allows us to equate the thing made with its maker or the work with its craftsman.

"I have cried out, for You have heard Me, O God" [Psalm 17:6]. With a free and strong effort have I directed My prayers unto You: for that I might have this power, You have heard Me when praying more weakly. "Incline Your ear to Me, and hear My words." Let not Your hearing forsake My humiliation.

"You have proved and visited Mine heart in the night-season" [Psalm 17:3]. For this Mine heart has been proved by the visitation of tribulation. "You have examined Me by fire, and iniquity has not been found in Me." Now not night only, in that it is wont to disturb, but fire also, in that it burns, is this tribulation to be called; whereby when I was examined I was found righteous.

"Keep Me, O Lord, as the apple of Your eye": which seems very little and minute: yet by it is the sight of the eye directed, whereby the light is distinguished from the darkness; as by Christ's humanity, the divinity of the Judgment distinguishing between the righteous and sinners. "In the covering of Your wings protect Me." In the defence of Your love and mercy protect Me.

"Let My judgment from Your countenance go forth." From the enlightening of the knowledge of You, let Me judge truth. Or at least, let My judgment go forth, not in deceitful lips, from Your countenance, that is, that I may not in judging utter anything else than I understand in You. "Let My eyes see equity:" the eyes, of course, of the heart.

"As a lion ready for prey, have they taken Me" [Psalm 17:12]. They have taken Me, like that adversary who "walks about, seeking whom he may devour." [1 Peter 5:8] "And as a lion's cub dwelling in secret places." And as his cub, the people to whom it was said, "You are of your father the devil:" [John 8:44] meditating on the snares, whereby they might circumvent and destroy the just One.

Never by our sole diligence or zeal or by our most tireless efforts can we reach perfection. Human zeal is not enough to win the sublime rewards of blessedness. The Lord must be there to help us and to guide our hearts toward what is good. Every moment we must join in the prayer of David: “Direct my footsteps along your paths so that my feet do not move astray” and “He has settled my feet on a rock and guided my footsteps”—all this so that the invisible guide of the human spirit may direct back toward love of virtue our free will, which in its ignorance of the good and its obsession with passion is carried headlong into sin.

Here the psalmist is not criticizing the children’s food, as some would think (for those things that enter the mouth do not make a person unclean), but he regards those to whom God has given many offspring unwise when they leave behind them not excellence but their evils as an inheritance.

The demons surround our mind and try to entangle it like a wild beast, … and the richest baits are sinners who themselves have been allured by desires.

Although many times [David had] Saul in his grasp, he refrained from doing away with him and instead rendered good for evil; hence he recalled even the night in which he did this, when by night he saved the sleeping Saul from death and allowed no one to deal him a lethal blow. Now, in a figurative manner he calls his disasters “nights” on account of the gloom of discouragement, as likewise he refers to the test as burning: “you examined me by fire,” he says, “and no wrong was found in me.” In other words, just as you would test gold of some sort, you found me unadulterated, O Lord; so far be it from me to harm the enemy that I even kept my tongue free of abuse against him, and what he continues to do I refrained from mentioning.

His prayer is to enjoy such protection as does the apple of the eye, which has eyelids as a kind of rampart and eyelashes for a palisade; it also has eyebrows as mounds, conducting the stream of sweat to the temples and warding off from the faculty of sight any harm from that source.

This should be the careful consideration of wise people, that since the days of this life are short and the time uncertain, death should never be unexpected for those who are to die. Those who know that they are mortal should not come to an unprepared end. Therefore this, which has been proclaimed by the voice of the prophet, should be taken up in the hearts of those praying, so that it may be said, not with the lips only but also with the heart.… For we are always in need of divine help. This is the unconquerable courage of human devotion, that we always have a protector without whom we are not able to be brave.

Although some psalms contain prayers combined sporadically with other diverse material, this psalm is almost entirely a supplication in its composition. Therefore it is appropriately designated as such from the start, since its purpose is entirely focused on zeal for prayer.

“In the paths,” that is, “in your commandments”; for if we are devoted followers on the ways that are truly the right ones, then we will obtain the rewards of our heavenly fatherland.

When sins are avoided, the path is hard, and the ascent is always difficult. But when we slip toward vices, the road is easy and downhill. But the Lord Christ appeared before us in this world and demonstrated the laws of meekness and self-control. So he rightly says that through the commands of the Lord he walked the hard ways of people with undefiled feet.

Human weakness is not strong enough to reach the Father on its own. For when he hears, he graciously shows his indulgence, and he bestows his mercy in advance so that he is able to accept the prayers of those who implore him.

The Father’s protection is compared to wings. Mercy and love are, so to speak, the wings of the Father with which he asks to be protected. This comparison is drawn from the example of birds who guard their own dear offspring by spreading out their wings.

In the [present] life we need the light of the sacred Scriptures and the refreshment of the heavenly sacraments, but in the future we shall have no need of such aids. According to the word of the psalmist, whoever appears there will be fully satisfied with justice when the glory of the Lord is made manifest.

"Arise." Here he sets forth the other petition, that is, the overthrow of the enemies. And he sets forth three things. First, the petition. Second, the explanation, at "Rescue my soul." Third, the reason for the petition, at "From your hidden ones." Concerning the first, he does two things. First, he addresses the concealment of help. Second, for the destruction of the adversary. He says, therefore: You seem to sleep while you allow me to be afflicted; but "Arise, O Lord, forestall him," so that you may come to my aid more quickly than he can harm me. "And trip him up," that is, undermine him, as it were, by cunning: Job 5: "He catches the wise in their own craftiness." Prov. 19: "A man's cunning trips up his steps." "Trip him up" in two things: namely, in my deliverance; and regarding this he says, "Rescue my soul from the wicked one," who persecutes me against justice, and therefore is wicked. Ps. 42: "Rescue me from the unjust and deceitful man." And the reason for this is that my soul is a sword, that is, a sharp blade on both sides, by which the Devil was destroyed. And this is properly said of the soul of Christ: Is. 27: "On that day the Lord will visit Leviathan with his hard and strong sword."

Next he sets forth the manner; hence he says, "Their fatness." Fatness in Scripture is sometimes taken in a good sense, sometimes in a bad sense. In a good sense, insofar as it signifies devotion of mind: Ps. 62: "Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness." In a bad sense: first, insofar as it signifies wickedness of heart; second, of mouth; third, of deed. And therefore it designates detestable malice: Job 21: "The bowels of the wicked are full of fat, and his bones are moistened with marrow." And this is manifold. Sometimes it is delight in the sin they commit: Prov. 2: "They rejoice when they have done evil and exult in the worst things." Also pride and falsehood: Job 11: "A vain man is puffed up with pride and thinks himself born free, like the colt of a wild donkey." Also carnal sensibility. He says, therefore, "Their fatness," that is, their carnal sense, or pride, or delight, "they have shut up" within themselves, so as not to grasp the spiritual sense. Jerome has, "With their fat," that is, with the abundance of temporal goods and worldly power, "they have enclosed me." Second, regarding the mouth: "Their mouth has spoken pride." And this is when the Jews spoke against Christ: Mt. 27: "If you are the King of Israel," etc.

Above, the Psalmist described divine justice and showed that he observed it; here he sets forth a prayer in which he asks to be heard on account of his justice. The title is "A prayer of David." And it is the first Psalm that is titled from prayer, because it is entirely a prayer; and therefore it begins with prayer, because among tribulations the singular refuge is prayer. Ps. 108: "In return for my love, they slandered me; but I prayed." This Psalm is therefore divided into two parts. In the first, he prays for his own stability; in the second, he asks for deliverance from evil, at "I cried out." Concerning the first, he does two things. First, he asks to be heard; second, he sets forth his petition, at "From your countenance." It should be considered, moreover, that in the hearing of prayer there is a threefold degree. First, the one to whom the petition is made hears the words. Second, he attends to the meaning. Third, he fulfills what is asked. First, therefore, he asks to be heard, saying, "Hear," etc. Dan. 9: "Hear, O Lord God, the prayer of your servant." Second, in the hearing he sets forth the merit of the petitioner; and therefore he says, "my justice"; as if to say: in me there is merit that you should hear me. The Gloss says: Justice has a voice before God, by which it penetrates heaven. Jas., last chapter: "The persistent prayer of a just man avails much." Jn. 9: "God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God, God hears him." Second, he asks that God attend to the meaning of the prayer: "attend to my supplication." The Gloss says: "supplication," which is for the removal of evils. Another reading has, "attend to my songs," as if to the spiritual meaning. Ps. 129: "Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication." Third, that he hear the words of the one praying; and therefore he says, "Give ear to my prayer, which is not on deceitful lips," but on simple ones. Is. 53: "Deceit was not in his mouth." But since God hears all things, why is he said to hear some things and not others? Wis. 1: "The Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from the deceitful and will withdraw from thoughts that are without understanding." God is not said to hear except true words, and not those that come from deceitful lips; and therefore he says, "not on deceitful lips." Ps. 11: "Deceitful lips, from a double heart," etc. And thus "deceitful" is taken in two ways: namely, pretense with respect to the mouth, and with respect to deeds, when the deed does not agree with the mouth. The Pharisee who said (Lk. 18), "I am not like the rest of men," etc., was not heard; but the other, who prayed not on deceitful lips but rightly, was heard, because "he went down to his house justified." The Gloss says: Deceitful lips are those who say "Lord, Lord" and do not do the will of my Father.

"Make wonderful." Here the petition is set forth, and it is twofold. The first concerns his own deliverance. The second concerns the overthrow of enemies: "Arise, O Lord, forestall him." Concerning the first, he does two things. First, he asks for deliverance. Second, he adds the necessity for deliverance, at "My enemies." Concerning the first, he does three things. First, he asks for mercy. Second, for salvation, at "You who save." Third, the manner of deliverance, at "Guard me as the pupil of the eye." He says, therefore, "Make wonderful." That someone should be delivered from a small enemy is not marvelous; but when someone is delivered from the greatest evil or enemy, this is marvelous; and this is what he asks: "Make wonderful," that is, deliver me wondrously. And this not according to human judgment, but according to your mercy. Sir. 36: "Renew signs and work new wonders; glorify your hand and your right arm; stir up fury and pour out wrath; lift up the adversary and afflict the enemy." And the reason for this is that it is yours and proper to you: "You who save those who hope in you." Sir. 2: "No one has hoped in the Lord and been confounded." "And you save from those who resist your right hand." The right hand of God, or his power, operates spiritually in good things: Prov. 3: "Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and glory." The demons or sinners are said to resist the right hand of God, because they impede spiritual goods. Or the right hand of God is said to be Christ: Ps. 117: "The right hand of God has wrought power." The Jews resist this by contradicting his teaching: Jn. 7: "How does this man know letters, having never learned?" And by disparaging his works: Jn. 9: "This man is not from God, who does not keep the Sabbath." Lk. 11: "By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he casts out demons." But there is a question against the Psalm (Ps. 75): "You are terrible, and who will resist you?" No one, therefore, can contradict his will: Job 9: "God, whose anger no one can resist." And it must be said that no one can effectively resist him, but one can have the will or purpose of resisting.

Next he shows from what it is fitting to be delivered: "from the face of the wicked who have afflicted me," that is, from the power and presence of demons, or of false brethren. 2 Cor. 11: "In perils from false brethren." "Who have afflicted me" with temptations and persecutions. Exod. 1: "The Egyptians hated the children of Israel and afflicted them, mocking them." So we ought to ask to be delivered from sin: Sir. 21: "Flee from sin as from the face of a serpent."

"My enemies." Here he sets forth the necessity for deliverance. And concerning this he does two things. First, he sets forth the affliction he suffers. Second, the likeness of the affliction, at "They received me." Concerning the first, he does two things. First, he sets forth the affliction. Second, the manner of the affliction, at "Their fatness," etc. He says, therefore: "My enemies" -- demons or sins -- so afflict me that they "have surrounded my soul," that is, they so enclose me on every side that I find no way of liberation. And he says "soul," because they seek nothing but the soul. Bodily enemies seek to take away life; but spiritual enemies seek the soul. Or it can be understood of Christ, whose soul the Jews surrounded with their malice. Ps. 117: "They surrounded me like bees," etc. Likewise, Ps. 21: "Many dogs surrounded me; the council of the wicked besieged me."

He says, "Your sword, from the enemies of your hand" -- supply "rescue": Ps. 68: "Attend to my soul and deliver it." Or "rescue your sword from the enemies," that is, take away the blade and the power that they have from you: Wis. 6: "Power has been given to you by God." And the will that they have of themselves: Zech. 13: "Sword, arise against my shepherd." Or "trip them up" in their frustration, "and rescue my soul from the enemies of your hand," that is, of Christ, your Son; for the Son is called the hand of the Father: Deut. 32: "I will lift up my hand to heaven," that is, "my Son." "O Lord, separate them from the few of the earth in their life." Because they persecute me for this reason: to establish their kingdom. There is a twofold reading here. In the Roman Psalter, it reads: "O Lord, divide them in their life"; as if to say: they have their eyes on the earth, and therefore they do evil; but exclude them from the land you gave them. But how? Will they go to one place? No; rather, scatter them throughout the whole world. The other reading: "Lord, separate them from the few of the earth"; as if to say: separate them from the land, and from the few, that is, from the society of the elect, in their life, that is, while they live. Or because we read that when destruction was imminent, they were warned by an angel that the faithful should depart and go to the kingdom of Agrippa. And therefore, "separate them from the few," that is, the Christians, who were preserved. "Their belly is filled from your hidden stores," that is, from sins not confessed: Prov. 28: "He who hides his crimes will not prosper." Job 31: "If I concealed my sin as men do and hid my iniquity in my bosom." Or here the reason for the petition is set forth, and this reason is twofold: namely, it can refer to sins or to benefits for which they are ungrateful. If in the first way, then: first he sets forth the abundance of sins. If in the second way, he shows how God's benefits were passed on to their children. He says, therefore, regarding the first: "Their belly is filled from your hidden stores," that is, from sins that are hidden from him -- not that God does not see them, but because he does not wish to see them. Hab. 1: "Your eyes are too pure, O Lord, to behold evil, and you cannot look upon iniquity." "Their belly is filled," that is, their conscience, or memory, or carnal concupiscence, or sensuality. "They are satisfied with children," that is, with sins, or evil works. Evil works are called the children of the wicked, just as good works are the children of the good. Another reading has, "They are satisfied with swine's flesh," that is, with the filth of sins; and this is the explanation of what he says, "from your hidden stores." "And they divided their remains to their little ones"; as if to say: they are passed on to their children, who imitated their sins. Wis. 4: "From the wicked, all the children who are born are witnesses of wickedness against their parents in their interrogation." Or "they are satisfied with children," that is, for the benefit of their children, "and they divided their remains to their little ones," whom they obligated to sin as far as they could. Mt. 27: "His blood be upon us and upon our children." Or "they are satisfied with children," that is, on behalf of their children; as if to say: they are so filled with sins that it sufficed for them and for their children; that is, the remaining sins that they themselves did not commit, they left for their children to commit. If in the second way, then: they received a twofold benefit. First, spiritual, because the law. And therefore he says, "from your hidden stores" of wisdom, "their belly is filled," that is, their carnal sense. Ps. 147: "He has not done likewise to every nation." Second, temporal goods, because "they are satisfied with children," and what is more, they left them to them. Jerome's reading has, from that place: "Rescue my soul from the wicked one, who is, as it were, your sword" -- Is. 10: "Woe to Assyria, the rod of fury" -- "from the men of your hand, who are dead in the depths, whose portion is in this life"; as if to say: rescue my soul from the wicked one, that is, from Saul, "and from the men of your hand," who resist your hand, "who are dead in the depths," that is, in sin, "whose portion is in this life, whose belly is filled," etc. Saul, according to the Gloss, signifies death; and just as David reigned in peace after the death of Saul, so Christ, having conquered death, after the resurrection.

Next he determines what he asks: "Perfect my steps in your paths," namely of justice. Job 4: "Where is your strength, your patience, and the perfection of your ways?" And this, so that my footsteps, that is, my affections, may not be moved from your commandments. Or Christ asks for the Church, that her steps be perfected and that her footsteps, that is, her sacraments, not be moved. Likewise, since from actions habits are generated, actions leave footsteps in the will. Or, literally, David asks that he not be hurled down from the precipices over which he passed while fleeing from Saul: 1 Sam. 24: "Saul pursued him over the steepest rocks." Another reading has: "Sustain my steps in my paths, and my footsteps will not slip." Or that Christ, according to his humanity, be perfected forever in the glory of divinity: Jn. 17: "Glorify me, Father, with yourself, with the glory that I had before the world was."

Second, he explains by what fire he was examined, when he says, "On account of the words of your lips, I kept to hard ways." Hard ways are adversities; and I endured this on account of the words of your lips, that is, in order to keep your words, or to proclaim your words. Jer. 20: "The word of the Lord became a reproach and a derision to me." Jerome has, "that I might keep to the broad ways." Robbers seek byways to hide; so did David when Saul pursued him. Ps. 17: "He made my feet like those of deer." Spiritually, this is said of Christ, punished among robbers as a malefactor: Jn. 18: "If this man were not a malefactor, we would not have handed him over to you." If you begin the verse at "On account of the works of men, I kept to hard ways," you may say that the hard ways are the works of men. Prov. 4: "I will show you the way of wisdom; I will lead you along the paths of equity, which when you have entered," etc.

Third, regarding deed. First, he shows how one proceeds to deed. Second, the cause of this, at "They have set their eyes." In the action he sets forth two things. First, the contempt. Second, the eagerness to do harm; and yet when someone despises, he is not eager to harm. And therefore he says, "casting me out," that is, despising me. Is. 33: "He has cast away cities; he has not regarded men." And yet "they surrounded me on every side with eagerness." And this the Jews did to Christ, when they cast him out of the city: Lk. 4. "And they surrounded me," gathering together for the spectacle to mock him (Acts 7). And the reason for this is that they do not look to God but to earthly things: Ps. 3: "There is no salvation for him in his God." "They set their eyes to turn them toward the earth," namely, the sinners set the intention of their heart to turn toward earthly things, with deliberation and persistence. Prov. 17: "The eyes of fools," that is, of sinners, "are on the ends of the earth." And therefore they do not receive the light of grace: Eccl. 2: "The eyes of the wise man are in his head; the fool," that is, the sinner, "walks in darkness," that is, in sins. Dan. 13: "They turned away their eyes so as not to see heaven." And this literally occurred among the Jews, when they said (Jn. 11): "Lest perhaps the Romans come and take away our place and our nation." Or "toward the earth," that is, toward the flesh of Christ, whose weakness alone they considered, and not his divinity; as if to say: they set their eyes, etc.

"But I." Here he shows the hope of being heard. And he sets forth two things: namely, the justice that he has and the vision of God. And these follow from each other, because through justice one arrives at the vision of God: Ps. 14: "Who will dwell in your tabernacle?" etc. "He who enters without stain and works justice." Another reading: "But I in justice shall see your face," and therefore "I shall appear in your sight," that is, I shall come to see you; "and I shall be satisfied when your glory appears," that is, when I see you, I shall be filled with all good things. Ps. 102: "Who fills your desire with good things" -- namely, "your glory," in which all good things are. Those others are satisfied with swine's flesh, according to the Septuagint. Our reading says, "in the land of the holy ones," etc. Is. 26: "Let the wicked one be taken away, lest he see the glory of God." "But I shall be satisfied." 1 Jn. 3: "When he appears, we shall be like him."

"I." Above, the Psalmist asked to be established in good; here he asks to be delivered from evil. And concerning this he does three things. First, he asks to be heard in his petition. Second, he sets it forth, at "Make your mercies wonderful." Third, he manifests the hearing of his petition, at "But I." Concerning the first, he does two things. First, he sets forth the hope conceived from God. Second, from this he asks to be heard, at "Incline your ear." He says, therefore, "I cried out." The order seems reversed, because it would seem more fitting to say, "Because I cried out, you heard me." And therefore it is explained in three ways. In one way, according to the Gloss: "I cried out." In a cry there is a stronger and freer intention of the mind. Then those cry out who pray with great devotion and freedom of heart. And whence comes this? "Because you heard me," namely by giving freedom. Gregory says: God hears no one whom he does not inspire to pray, that is, by some devotion of the soul. Ps. 118: "My soul longed to desire," etc. In another way, according to Augustine in the tenth book of the City of God, the word "because" does not designate a cause but a sign; as if to say: this is a sign that I cried out, that you heard me. In a third way: because when someone is heard once, he asks again more confidently. And therefore he says, "Because you heard me, I cried out." Jerome has, "plainly, because you heard me." He always joins these two together -- the cry and the hearing -- because he who cries out thus is heard: Jonah 2: "I cried out of my tribulation to the Lord, and he heard me." Ps. 141: "I cried to you; I said, 'You are,'" etc. Next he asks to be heard. And he who hears first listens; therefore he says, "Incline" -- since the Lord is in a high place, he must incline his ear to hear the one who is below. The Lord sits in his majesty; and if he wished to deal with our affairs according to the height of his justice, we would not be saved, because Is. 64: "All our justices are as a menstrual cloth." And therefore it is necessary that he incline, and then hear: Dan. 9: "Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear."

That his cause has been examined before God, he shows when he says, "You have tested," etc. And first he sets forth the order of the examination. Second, he explains what was found: "and no iniquity was found." He says, therefore, "You have tested my heart." There is a difference between testing and examining: testing seeks the reason for the deed; examining seeks the deed itself. The reason for the deed pertains more to the heart, but the deed pertains more to the body. He says, therefore, "You have tested my heart," that is, you showed it to be proven, that it is not disturbed on account of the tribulations I suffer. When God examines, he does three things. He tests, visits, and examines. He tests when he judges whether one has uprightness of heart, because if one does not have it, he does not bother to examine further; but when one has this, one needs to be examined as to whether one has firmness. Jer. 17: "I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give to each one according to his way." But this examination is harsh and strong, such that no one could endure it unless aided by God: Job 6: "What is my strength that I should endure, and what is my end that I should be patient? My strength is not the strength of stones, nor is my flesh of bronze." And therefore he first speaks of visitation: Ps. 88: "I will visit with a rod" -- either by helping or by correcting. "You visited in the night." But the same thing can be understood by "night" and "fire," because it disturbs the soul: Job 30: "At night my bone is pierced with pains." And burning does the same. Or "in the night," that is, in the failure of spiritual understanding. Sometimes one has an upright heart, and temptation and negligence come upon him; and this is in the night. And in this the Lord visits by helping against temptations, and he shakes off negligence and strengthens: Ps. 70: "When my strength fails, do not forsake me." Or "in the night," that is, in quiet and silence, and then he visits through consolations: Mt. 25: "At midnight a cry was made: Behold, the bridegroom comes." "You examined me by fire," that is, by tribulation; because then it appears whether one is a good friend, one who does not withdraw: Sir. 6: "There is a friend for his own occasion, and he will not abide in the day of tribulation." Through this examination, moreover, innocence and perfection are found, because he examines whether innocence is found in him. And this is indeed found in the Psalmist. First he sets forth his innocence. Second, his perfection, at "No iniquity was found in me." But against this, 1 Jn. 1: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." And Prov. 20: "Who can say: My heart is clean?" Eccl. 7: "There is no just man on earth who does good and does not sin." The Gloss adds: "not even an infant of one day." It must be said that he speaks of the iniquity of sin by which one departs from God in tribulation. The perfection of innocence is found in him to such an extent that he does not speak the works of men, that is, sin; as if to say: not only in his heart, but not even on his lips is there iniquity. Job 6: "You will not find iniquity on my tongue, nor will iniquity sound in my mouth." Eph. 4: "Let no evil speech proceed from your mouth." Or thus: "No iniquity was found in me, that my mouth should not speak" -- with what follows next, "the works of men," etc. As if to say: you saw that in me there is no iniquity; and this, because it does not befit me to speak of it -- yet you saw this. Prov. 27: "Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips." Jerome has it thus: "You tested my heart, you visited in the night; you refined me and did not find my thoughts rising to my mouth"; as if to say: the disturbance did not advance so far as to come from the heart to the mouth through murmuring.

Next he sets forth the manner of deliverance, which is diligently and safely; therefore he says, "Guard me as the pupil of the eye." The pupil of the eye is guarded with diligence, because nothing that could harm it is permitted to approach; so also God does in guarding his servant: Deut. 32: "He led him about and taught him and guarded him as the pupil of his eye." Zech. 2: "He who touches you touches the pupil of my eye." Or according to the Gloss, the pupil of the eye is said to be Christ, who directs: Sir. 3 says the power of sight is in the pupil, by which we discern good from evil; and Christ discerns the faithful from the unfaithful and the evil from the good. To manifest this diligent guarding, he uses a twofold metaphor: namely, of shadow and of wings. For shadow refreshes from the heat, and so also the protection of God refreshes, giving security. Likewise, with her wings the hen guards her chicks against the hawk; so also God, with his wings, which are charity and mercy, defends the just from the rapacity of demons. Mt. 23: "How often I wished to gather you, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!" With these wings, therefore, God lifts us to heavenly things: Ps. 88: "Mercy and truth shall go before your face; blessed is the people," etc. Jer. 31: "With everlasting love I have loved you; therefore I have drawn you, having mercy." Or the pupil of the eye is said to be the soul, because just as the pupil, which is in the middle of the eye, is surrounded by many membranes for its defense, and a man puts forth his hand and nearly everything he has lest it be harmed, so a man ought to do for his soul: Job 2: "Skin for skin," etc., because, as Mk. 8 says, "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?" etc. Or "Guard me as the pupil of the eye," that is, as Christ; "protect me under the shadow of your wings," that is, under the guardianship of the angels: Ps. 90: "He has given his angels charge over you," etc. Or the two wings are the two arms of Christ extended on the cross: Deut. 32: "He spread his wings and took them up and carried them on his shoulders."

"From your countenance." A judge does not pronounce a sentence unless the petition has been heard and the case examined. And therefore here he sets forth the petition and asks three things. First, the sentence. Second, the examination of the case, at "You have tested." Third, the quality of the sentence: "perfect." Concerning the first, he does two things. First, he asks for judgment. Second, for its moderation, at "Let your eyes." He says, therefore: "From your countenance," that is, from your knowledge, "let my judgment come forth," that is, in my favor. Jer. 10: "Correct me, O Lord, but with judgment, not in your fury, lest perhaps you reduce me to nothing." But here he asks for a judgment not of severity -- Is. 64: "All our justices are as a menstrual cloth" -- but of equity, according to what human nature can bear. And therefore he says, "Let your eyes see equity," that is, let them judge a judgment of fairness. Is. 11: "He will reprove with equity for the meek of the earth." Job 22: "Let him set equity against me, and my judgment will come to victory"; as if to say: I do not ask for judgment because my cause has been examined by you.

The likeness is purposefully set forth with respect to violence: "Like a lion ready for prey, they received me" -- either from God, or the soldiers from Pilate. With respect to deceit: "like a young lion dwelling in hiding places." The lion attacks in the open field, but its cub, lurking in secret, devours or attacks the seized prey. Mt. 26: For he was betrayed with a kiss, seized at night, condemned by false witnesses, and the chief priest tore his garments.

The soul of each of the righteous—clearly of those who pull sinners from impiety to piety—is as a sharpened sword against the spirits of evil. This sword, O our Lord, which you sharpened against your enemies, save from the enemies of your hand.

He teaches us that even if we are virtuous, we should trust not in ourselves but in God, and that we should pray to him that like the pupil of the eye he protect the mind—our soul’s eye—from evil of the opposing powers.