then the answer will be made him, "Thy sins are forgiven, S. Luke vii. go in peace." 32 I will run the way of thy commandments : when thou hast set my heart at liberty. 48, 50. A. The second clause should run, as in LXX., Vulgate, and A. V., when Thou shalt enlarge my heart. I could not run, if Thou didst not enlarge my heart. It is not as though I could do it of my own will, without needing Thy help, but only when Thou hast enlarged my heart. And that enlarging is delight in righteousness. It is the gift of God, that in obeying His precepts we should not be straitened with fear of punishment, but enlarged with love and delight for righteousness. This enlargement and breadth of His is promised in His saying, "I will dwell in them, and walk in them." 2 Cor. vi. 16. How wide must be that place where GOD walks! In this wide place "love is shed abroad in our hearts by the HOLY Rom. v. 5. GHOST which is given unto us." Wherefore it is also said, "Let there be rivers of waters in the streets.' Prov. v. 16. 1 Kings iv. 29. H. C. G. And there is a further sense of enlarging the heart, that of making it wider in knowledge and understanding of wisdom, (as we read of Solomon, that "GOD gave him wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart,") so as not to take up narrow and inadequate notions concerning the mysteries of the Faith, for it is written, "Wisdom crieth Prov. i. 20. without, she uttereth her voice in the streets." Under either interpretation, that is a deep saying of a Saint, "Narrow is s. Prosper. the way unto life, but no man can run in it save with widened heart." The Prayer Book rendering set my heart at liberty is not a bad paraphrase, since the original meaning is that of giving a sense of cheerfulness and freedom, which lends vigour for the race. For that man does not run here in the way who is slow in forgiving or in bestowing, according to that fault censured by the Apostle, "grudgingly, or of neces- 2 Cor. ix. 7. sity." He runs who giveth with simplicity, and showeth mercy with cheerfulness, from the very joy of a loving mind, Rom. xii. 8. looking for eternal things in return for temporal things, not tepidly, not sluggishly, but readily and promptly, with a good and ready will in charity which never faileth. But here we, too many of us, may stand and lament. Alas, we do not run with the Psalmist: would that we could even halt to Canaan with Jacob, or at least creep forward like children to Bp. Cowper. our Father's house. Many, instead of running, lie down, or go back, like carnal Israelites, to the flesh-pots of Egypt, for whom it had "been better not to have known the way of righteousness," than to refuse, in such fashion, to run therein. And we may sum up the whole force of the verse in a pithy saying of one commentator: That is a truly wide Hugo Card. heart which has room enough in it for all, friends or enemies, alike. 2 S. Pet. ii. 21. MSS. Id. Mozarabic. COLLECTS. Remove from us, O LORD, the way of unrighteousness, and with Thy law have mercy on us, that Thou mayest take away the habit of sin, and grant us perseverance in living aright. (1.) O Gop, Who by the power of Thy Word loosest the soul which cleaveth to earthly things, we beseech Thee, let not the sleep of death press upon us, but rather arouse us Thyself to the way of truth. (1.) Remove our goings, O LORD, from the way of unrighteousness, and appoint our course in the path of Thy commandments. Lift up, by Thine healing medicine, our soul which cleaveth to the ground, and when Thou hast taught it with Thy statutes, quicken it by the might of Thy Word. (11.) HE. He, the fifth letter, is of uncertain meaning, but probably S. Ambros. denotes a fissure or window; and may be so interpreted in explaining this section, which is a prayer for the light of grace and for guidance of the eyes (ver. 37); which latter are the windows through which the soul looks out upon the world; and again, a favourite allegory with medieval writers Philo Carp. is that the Prophets of the Old Testament are windows in the wall of the Law, giving glimpses of CHRIST, Whom that Law Theodoret. hides altogether under type and shadow; while our own powers of understanding are also windows to let spiritual light in on our souls; notions which both find their place in this section. C. S. Ambros. 33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes : and I shall keep it unto the end. "He who is his own pupil," remarks S. Bernard, “has a fool for his master." A soldier who enters on a march does not settle for himself the order of his going, nor begin the journey at his own will, nor yet choose pleasant short-cuts, lest he should fall out of rank, away from the standards, but gets the route from his general, and keeps to it; advances in a prescribed order, walks armed, and goes straight on to the end of his march, to find there the supplies provided by the commissariat. If he goes by any other road, he gets no rations, and finds no quarters ready, because the general's orders are that all things of this kind shall be prepared for those who follow him, and turn not aside to the right hand or the left. And thus he who follows his general does not break down, and that for good reasons; for the general consults not for his own convenience, but for the capability of his whole army. And this too is CHRIST's order of march, as He leads His great host out of the spiritual Egypt to the C. A. eternal Land of Promise. We need then to ask Him to teach us the way, and we need too to keep it unto the end, lest we should miss the Golden City at the last. It is not then the old Law, with Moses as leader, that we ask for, but the new Law, of which is written, "Out of Zion shall go forth the Isa. ii. 3. law, and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem;" that WORD Himself in flesh being the Captain of our salvation. And the LORD shall Himself tell us what is His answer to this 66 prayer. 'Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; but this shall be My covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; Jer.xxxi. 31. After those days, saith the LORD, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their GOD, and they shall be My people." 34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law: yea, I shall keep it with my whole heart. : Origen. A. C. We learn from this prayer that God's law is no easy Agellius. matter to comprehend, nor in the power of unassisted man, since we require God's direct aid to master it. For, as one of the profoundest intellects of old time observes it is no easy nor trifling thing, but needs at once GoD's help and our own zeal, that we may draw from it practical utility and mental understanding, as well for active as for contemplative purposes. And therefore the Psalmist's prayer is for a knowledge of the spirit which quickeneth, to be had only from GOD's teaching, that he may add it to the knowledge of the letter that killeth, which he has been able to acquire for himself. This notion comes out further in the LXX. and Vulgate rendering, I will search out Thy law, endeavouring s. Bruno to penetrate into its deep and dark sayings, and to learn their Carth. mystical sense. And whereas in a previous verse he pro- Bp. Cowper. mised perseverance in the law, he now adds a promise of sincerity, saying, I will keep it with my whole heart. This pledge can be fulfilled in but one way, by keeping those two precepts on which hang all the Law and the Prophets. "Thou shalt love the LORD thy GOD with all thy heart, and s. Matt. with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; and thou shalt love xxii. 37, 39. thy neighbour as thyself." There are plenty of people, observes Cardinal Hugo, who keep the law in boxes and chests, Hugo Card. but the heart is a better storehouse for it. 35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments for therein is : my desire. We are like the paralytic, impotent to go of ourselves, till A. CHRIST saith to any one of us, "Arise, take up thy bed, and Bridges. 24. A. go unto thine house." But if I take Him for my strength, Hab. iii. 19. "He will make my feet like hinds' feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places." Note, moreover, that it is no longer guidance in the way, but in the path which he asks. And this notes the narrowness of the road by which Cf. S. Greg. We must needs journey, for a path or track (LXX. Tρißw, Moral.xxvii. Vulg. semita) is a much closer and narrower thing than a high-road. There is a further notion, going deeper yet, which is, that the Hebrew, here found, means a footBellarmine. path, not a way for horses and carriages, and thus tells us that the way of GOD's commandments is not that of pomp Ps. xxxii. 10. and luxury, nor yet that of men "like horse and mule, which have no understanding," but is meant only for the humble and intelligent believer. And Origen bids us note that the word means a trodden way, so that we cannot plead its impassability or its unknown course as excuses for declining to enter on it, seeing that CHRIST and the Saints our example who followed Him, have traversed it from end to end and left their tracks full in our view. And thus Adam of S. Victor styles our LORD: Origen. The Sequence, Zyma vetus expurgetur. JESU Victor, JESU vita, JESU, vitæ via trita. JESU, Victor, Life, and stay, JESU, life's well-trodden way. Ric. Hamp. For therein is my desire. That is, it is not servile fear of punishment, but love for God and His way which leads me Pet Lomb. to seek Him. And so the Master of the Sentences lays down that under the Gospel law the only obedience which is meritorious is that which is voluntary. Lib. ii. C. Hugo Card. S. Mark ix. 24. A. Job i. 9. 36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies and not to covetousness. 66 : It is well said incline, for the head which is bowed forward in humility sees better than that which is flung back in pride. And note that this prayer, coming as it does after the declaration in the previous verse of delight in GOD's law, is a confession of the insufficiency of man's will unless aided by Divine grace. It is the same cry as that of the father of the possessed child; LORD, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief." And in saying Thy testimonies, and not covetousness, the Psalmist intreats that his service of GOD may be free and disinterested, not for the sake of temporal benefits to be obtained as the reward of piety. For in this wise we escape the sneer which the tempter directed against holy Job, saying, "Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not Thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that 1 From the root an, to tread under foot. See Gesenius in voce. he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth Thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse Thee to Thy face." And there is further a warning against covetousness in itself, an evil denounced alike by Prophets and Apostles; Jeremiah saying of sinful Israel, "From the least of them even unto the greatest of them Jer. vi. 13. every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely;" and S. Paul adds, "Mortify therefore covetousness, which is idolatry." Col. iii. 5. They are careful to remind us that covetousness is not limited to greed of money, but that it equally extends to craving for B. rank, power, reputation, or other worldly gain, in contrast with our LORD's counsel, "Lay not up for yourselves trea- S. Matt. vi. sure upon earth but lay up for yourselves treasures 19. in heaven." There is, however, a further meaning in the Hebrew, which the commentators have missed, for it denotes unjust gain, or rapine, a natural result of greed. There is no sin, observes a shrewd Christian, which a cove- Bp. Cowper. tous man will not commit for his gain. We should beware of all sins, but especially of mother-sins. Nor do they fail S. Chrysost. to remind us how the greatest sin the world has known, the betrayal of the Son of GOD into the hands of His enemies, sprang from this one vice. 37 O turn away mine eyes, lest they behold vanity and quicken thou me in thy way. 21. Jer. ii. 5; X. 18, &c. The primary meaning of the first clause here seems to be Anastatius. a prayer against any tampering with idolatry or heathen Deut. xxxii. usages, a sense in which vanity occurs very frequently in 1 Kings xvi. Holy Writ. And there is much force then in the literal 13. 2 Kings xvii. rendering, which is, Make mine eyes to pass on one side from 15. seeing vanity, as contrasted with the steady look of the pil- Isa. xli. 29; grim towards the goal of his journey, whereas vanity, as has xliv.9. been aptly said, is the "mirage" of the desert which would 15; xvi. 19; lure him from the right way. There is a further sense of xviii. 15; li. vanity, akin to that already named, which is false teaching Kay. in the Name of GOD, or religious delusions of any kind, Ezek. xiii. 6, which may mislead even Saints. But the force of the word 8, 9; xxi. 29, extends much further even than this, and includes all things Cocceius. which are not of GOD, and are therefore unstable and unreal, and so to be shunned by those who desire the true riches. It is in this widest sense that the commentators prefer to take it, and warn us that the eyes are the windows by which death enters the soul. And therefore, because all things in Vieyra. this world are vanity, the Psalmist finds it impossible for him to turn his eyes himself where they will see no vanity, &c. A. but must needs pray to GOD to do it for him. It is well s. Ambros. said then, against this peril, Quicken Thou me in Thy way; for he who is in God's way does not behold vanity. CHRIST |