The works of His hands are truth and judgment;
Faithful are all His commandments,
Established unto ages of ages,
Made in truth and uprightness.
He sent redemption to His people;
He commanded His covenant forever;
Holy and fearful is His name. Psalm 110 (111):7–9
The proposition is: He has sent redemption to His people, He has commanded his covenant forever. The anticipated conclusion ensues: Therefore holy and fearful is His name. Let us listen to the rest that follows. They have reached the beginning of the third section, in which they proclaim that the Lord Savior will come, and that He is worthy of fear, love, and praise in unremitting exultation. The words: He has sent redemption to His people, are aptly used, for as captives they were seen to be in need of this; but the price was not one which a tyrant could exact, but one which the person who was forgiven could obtain. The captive gained his redemption; he who had been held in subjection obtained the greater price for it. Next comes: He has commanded his eternal covenant. We speak of mandating when instructions are given to absent people through intermediaries; this clearly happened when He transmitted the New Testament through the apostles and evangelists to the Gentiles. The word eternal is rightly used, because it denotes that no other testament will succeed it in the way in which the Old Testament was seen to be supplanted. The New Testament was a universal consummation, for it rendered the fullness which had been previously promised. Hence it is rightly called eternal, because it is seen to require nothing in addition. They added: Holy and fearful is His name. Holy has reference to the incarnation; as He Himself says: Preserve my soul, for I am holy. Fearful indicates the omnipotence of the exalted Godhead; as another psalm has it: You are fearsome, and who shall stand against You? [Ps 75 (76):8] The two epithets have the purpose of making us love our Patron, and making us fear our Judge. The two are fittingly combined to ensure that love alone may not make us indifferent, and fear alone may not make us despair.
Cassiodorus, Explanation of the Psalms 110.9
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