For all He rendered to me?
I will take up the cup of salvation,
And call upon the name of the Lord.
Precious in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His holy ones.
O Lord, I am Your servant;
I am Your servant and the son of Your handmaid.
You broke apart my bonds;
I will offer a sacrifice of praise;
I shall pay my vows to the Lord
In the presence of all His people,
In the courts of the Lord’s house,
In your midst, O Jerusalem. (Psa 115:3–9 LXX [Psa 116:12–19])
I will take the chalice of salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord. This is indeed a worthy promise, but it would be hazardous presumption if it rested on human powers. Who can endow confessors with endurance of tortures except Him who deigned to accept the chalice of suffering on our behalf? To show with certainty that this is impossible for human powers, they next said: And I will call upon the name of the Lord. By relying on His help they believed that they were achieving what they thought their bodily frailty inadequate to perform. The death of martyrs is defined most beautifully and briefly as: The chalice of salvation. Chalice, because it is drunk in due measure; of salvation, because through the Lord’s generosity it is served for eternal salvation. Of this chalice the Lord also said in the gospel: Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink?
After He had said that He would offer the sacrifice of praise, He adds: In the courts of the house of the Lord, so that you would not believe that it could be discharged anywhere whatsoever. Those courts are the catholic Church spread throughout the world, in which are contained all most genuine Christians, but not the heretics who are segregated through their empty wickedness. His words: I will pay my vows to the Lord, is a promise to offer Himself. The vow of all the faithful is self-offering to Christ and abiding in the right belief of the Church. Observe what follows, so that you may recognize the nature of this house of the Lord.
Notice his information here about the house of the Lord which He mentioned in the previous short verse: it is in the sight of all his people, for it is right that He who deigned to suffer for the salvation of all should receive public praise. The Lord is most perfectly aware of it even if it is performed in the recess of the heart. This contributes to the edification of the people, if a good confession is absorbed by the ears of the community at large. As Christ says in the gospel: He who confesses before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven. He added: In the midst of thee, Jerusalem, where the Lord’s peace resides, and where the unity of the holy people rejoices in contemplation of the Lord.
Cassiodorus, Explanation of the Psalms 115.13, 18–19
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