O Lord, I will sing of Your mercies forever;
I will proclaim Your truth with my mouth from generation to generation;
For You said, “Mercy shall be built up forever;
Your truth shall be prepared in the heavens.
I made a covenant with My chosen ones;
I swore to David My servant,
I shall prepare your seed forever,
And I shall build your throne from generation to generation.” (Ps 89:1–4)
Ethan [the psalmist] is to tell of the Lord’s mercies, whichever abide eternally unwavering, and are to be hymned with neverending praises; for the Lord showed wonderful devotion to the human race in order to seek back what was lost and to save what was wounded. This is the truth that the holy man had announced that he would proclaim. He was right to proclaim it with confidence since the Lord had promised it unconditionally. He who follows the words of truth cannot be deceived. But let us examine the meaning of Mercy shall be built up forever. There are certain groups that cannot come into being without the prospect of destruction, such as worshippers of idols and those who pursue wicked practices. These men cannot be built up for good unless they have been brought down by their vices; as Jeremiah was told: Behold, I have set thee to build up and to destroy. But the Lord’s mercy is not destroyed, but ever flourishes and increases.
He then recounts the Lord’s words which he earlier mentioned as the Lord’s utterance. Though the Lord seems to have made a proclamation to all, this covenant He made only with the elect who chose to put faith in His gift so that those who boasted physical descent from the seed of David would not bind Him to such a promise. He added: I have sworn to David my servant; God’s oath is seen to lie in the certainty of His promise, for only He who has the power to fulfill what He has pledged gives a just and definitive promise. Human frailty is prevented from binding itself with promises on oath because it does not lie in its power to carry out what it pledges. So God most fully swears when He promises all things in His own right.
We have reached the promises made by the Father to His servant David. The Lord Christ, who was to come by physical origin from David’s seed, was prepared forever as King of kings and Lord of lords. The phrase, I will prepare, has reference to His humanity, not His divinity, by which He is consubstantial, almighty, and coeternal with the Father. Next comes: And I will build up your abode forever and ever. This promise refers wholly to the Lord Savior. At that time He was promised the throne which was later to be installed in the hearts of the saints; for every saint is the abode of the Lord, in which he sits in the dignity of His majesty as though it were the most splendid throne. As we read of the Holy Spirit as well: And there appeared to them parted tongues, as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
Cassiodorus, Explanation of the Psalms 88.2–4
No comments:
Post a Comment