Friends of David also delivered this psalm, as if he were now pleased for the salvation that was born from his seed for the world; this was a glorious crown for him, and length of days and glory and magnificence, and delight and joy and hope and unshakeable grace.

Our belief that there are two natures in Christ the Lord, one divine and one human, is a matter of salvation. These two natures endure without change in one person for ever. This statement of faith bears frequent repetition, because, when it is frequently heard and believed, it brings life. In the initial narrative of this psalm, the words of the prophet are directed toward God the Father concerning the Lord’s incarnation. The second part describes his diverse virtues and glory, describing his life from the point at which he suffered until he attained the height and peak of all things by the Father’s gracious gift. In the third, the same prophet turns to the Lord Christ, and here in the manner of those who make wishes, he asks that what he knows is to come will be done at the judgment.

I think that these words had been prophesied by those who had spoken long before David. Since David had learned from the lofty oracles that those words were looking not only at the strength of his own salvation but also that which was going to come forth from his seed, concerning which he said he would rejoice and praise with enthusiasm. Having been assured of those things and the enemies having been thoroughly subjugated with mighty power, to you, God, the author of the victory, he grants the prize of his victory. And he rejoices and praises as he is snatched from the snares of the enemies, nor does he rejoice so much in his own deliverance as in that salvation sent from you. As he seeks your deliverance with lofty vows from his own lips, he will entreat you often for the advent of his deliverance; his prayer frequently uttered, he never fails in hope, nor will his request be in vain.

Having prophesied the promises made earlier to David, he then explains the reason why these things are going to happen. For what is that reason unless hope in God in which the one who has received mercy does not falter and in that very hope granted by God most high he does not waver from a firm and steady foundation?

He longed to eat the Passover, to lay down his life when he willed and to take it up again when he willed; and all these you have granted to him.

The crown of the Lord is the church gathered from the various nations, about which Paul in the person of the believers says, My joy and my crown.^[1]

Christ is the crown of the rational nature.

And what is here more fitly understood than that very desire of good of which we are speaking? For good begins then to be longed for when it has begun to grow sweet. But when good is done by fear of penalty, not by the love of righteousness, good is not yet well done. Nor is that done in the heart that seems to be done in the act, when a person would rather not do it if he could evade it with impunity. Therefore the blessing of sweetness is God’s grace, by which is caused in us that what he prescribes to us delights us, and we desire it—that is, we love it; in which if God does not precede us, not only is it not perfected but it is not even begun, from us. For if without him we are able to do nothing, we are able neither to begin nor to perfect, because to begin, it is said, His mercy shall prevent me;^[1] to finish, it is said, His mercy shall follow me.^[2]

He indicates that humanity is ever adorned with the anticipatory grace of the Godhead, because no one offers anything to God first unless what is good is granted by a heavenly gift.

He prayed for his resurrection . . . and you answered his prayer. . . . Long endurance for the church he asked, throughout this present age, and then eternity for evermore.

He sought life; he lived as a man. Having been limited in life, in death he received length of days not just to old age but to eternity.

It is the Father of all who imparts continuance forever and ever on those who are saved. For life does not arise from us nor from our own nature, but it is bestowed according to the grace of God.

Great is his glory. In what way is it great? Not in the assumption of deity but in the salvation of humanity.

This is the blessing that you will give him forever and ever . . . with the vision of your face you will delight his human nature, which he has lifted up to you.

For that reason you placed glory and great honor on him, and you gave him eternal blessing, because he hoped in the Lord and in his mercy he was not deeply disturbed.

From the place [of exaltation] the Father says to his Son, Let your hand be found by all your enemies; let your right, which received the nails on the cross, find those who hated you; discard them as earthen vessels in a fire in the time of your appearance. Then in your wrath you will throw them into disorder, and the fire will devour them.

They are only called enemies as long as they are led astray by the devil’s enticements. But when they return to Christ the Lord, they are called servants, children and friends.

You will set them on fire within, as consciousness of their impiety burns them. After being convicted by their own consciences and thrown into confusion by the Lord’s vengeance, they will be given over to eternal fire to be devoured.

An oven is a round structure made of bronze for baking bread. . . . Sinners are rightly compared with it, since at the coming judgment they will be tormented both with mental grief and with punitive pain, because with a stubborn mind they have lived in opposition to the Lord’s laws. The time of the Lord’s anger is the day of judgment when the Son of Man will be seen by all, but only the righteous will look on him also through the contemplation of his divinity. . . . Earlier, in praise for the Lord Christ, the psalmist described the honor and glory of Christ through the diverse character of his graces. Now . . . he says that his enemies will be afflicted with various punishments so that they might be rendered as disgusting as he is marvelous. . . . They will be sentenced to be devoured by undying flames. No delay accompanies the Lord’s command, but as soon as he determines it, it is completed.

But the seed of the godless and the fruit of the wicked are their words, teachings and unrighteous writings, which they have disseminated through people after they are forgotten. God, being good, scatters each one and destroys them from the midst so that neither the fruit nor the seed of the wicked remains.

To divert evils that loom over some people, we mean to push them aside to another place where there is no iniquity to punish. This is exactly what happened with the suffering of the Lord. For when the Jews believed that Roman power would be a threat to them if they had accepted the Lord Savior as King, it seemed right to them to divert those evils upon him which they believed would befall them when the Romans took up the role of avengers. They came up with a plan saying, It is expedient that one man die for all.^[1] But this they were not able to establish, that is, to complete according to their vow. For without knowing it, they spoke the truth. It was necessary that one should die for all. The truth was indeed uttered, but with an evil vow. Therefore they will suffer punishment for such a deed, because they did not have a pure conscience.

Turned away [is] an expression properly applied to the sinner, for Cain went out from the face of the Lord,^[1] and the psalmist says, You will make them turn their back. One who is righteous does not turn away from the Lord but runs to meet him and says, My eyes are ever toward the Lord.^[2] And when the Lord said, Whom shall I send? Isaiah offered himself of his own accord and said, Behold, here I am.^[3]

Not for being lowly is God exalted, nor does he receive what he does not possess; instead, what he possesses he reveals . . . your exaltation is revealed in your ineffable power, which we shall continue to celebrate and sing, recounting your marvelous works.

Exalted though you are, then, you are shown to be more exalted through your power and in outdoing all the arrogant, as by inflicting the blow on them from on high. For this reason we shall not cease singing your praises always.

To sing means to proclaim the words of the Lord with the mouth. To make music on the harp means to fulfill the divine commands faithfully through good works.