The Reign of the Lord in Sion; That Is, of Christ in His Church
Explanation of the Psalm
1 According to the first interpretation, we are given to understand, in this first verse, that the kingdom of God was established in Jerusalem in David’s time, notwithstanding the indignation and annoyance of its idolatrous enemies. “The Lord hath reigned.” The Lord, after having expelled the idolatrous Jebusans and Chanaaneans, established his kingdom in Jerusalem. Though David was king, he felt he had his power from God, and owed him his kingdom. “Let the people be angry,” in spite of the pagans and idolaters. “He that sitteth on the Cherubim;” the same Lord that sits on the Cherubim, hath reigned, no matter how the earth, that is, the idolaters therein, may be troubled at it. God literally sits on the Cherubim, because he chose the propitiatory for his seat, which was supported by two gilded Cherubim, under which was the Ark, which formed the footstool of the Lord. In a spiritual sense, God is said to sit on the Cherubim, because he presides over all the choirs of Angels, or because Cherubim signify fulness of knowledge, in which God excels all created beings. We, too, may become Cherubim, and have God presiding over us, if we can obtain that fulness of knowledge that God requires, the knowledge of his will, the knowledge of his law, and, since “love is the fulfilling of his law,” we will become Cherubim, and have God sitting on us, when we shall have that love, as it is written, “The soul of the just man is the seat of wisdom.”—”Let the earth be moved” is only a repetition of “Let the People be angry;” for the Holy Spirit wished to show that they who feel anger towards God are no more than earth, and cannot harm God, who sits in heaven on the Cherubim; nor need we fear, if we, too, become Cherubim, and have God sitting on us. Referring the verse to Christ, the meaning would be, that his kingdom was declared after his resurrection and ascension, for then it began to be preached through the world, and at once the people got angry, and the earth was moved, at their fighting against their Lord for their idols; but, in spite of all their opposition, Christ our Lord reigned, and the idols were destroyed. And though it would appear that the anger of the idolaters had the victory over the bodies of the saints, it was only an apparent victory; for the bodies of the saints will be newly formed by him who conquered death in his own person, and they will live; but the idols, once demolished, will never be put together again.
2 In the first exposition, a reason is assigned here for the inutility of the anger of those people against God, who established his kingdom in Sion, and the reason is, because he is “great,” “and high above all people;” that is, he excels all in greatness, power, and wisdom, so as to be excelled by no one. According to the second interpretation, it means that Christ, who reigns supreme in the Church, militant as well as triumphant, represented by Sion and Jerusalem, is great and high above all people, so that nobody can resist him.
3 The prophet now exhorts the people, instead of being angry with God, to turn to him, and celebrate his name with praise; for his name “is terrible and holy.” His name is said to be terrible and holy, because it is the name of a most powerful and just Judge or King, terrible by reason of his power, just by reason of his holiness.
4 A reason assigned for God’s or Christ’s name being terrible and holy. The name of the Lord, who is a most just King, is terrible and holy, because his dignity, his holiness, his authority requires that he should love justice, and that all his judgments should proceed from a pure love of justice, and not from anger, from fear, or from any pressure from without. Thou hast prepared directions; thou hast done judgments and justice in Jacob.” To prove that what he said regarding the king’s love for justice was true, he addresses Christ or God, saying, It must be true that you do love justice, for, you have “prepared directions;” wholesome and salutary laws calculated to direct the people and to reform their manners; and, with that, you have shown your love for justice; for, “thou hast done judgment and justice in Jacob,” by punishing sin, and rewarding virtue; many examples of which are to be found in the Old and New Testament. For, though God suffers the pious to be afflicted, and the wicked to prosper in this world, he, however, ultimately delivers and crowns the former, and condemns and torments the latter, certainly in the other world, and not unfrequently in this.
5 From what has been said the prophet infers that God ought to be adored, and exhorts all to do it diligently. According to the first interpretation, he exhorts them to adore God not only as God, but also in the Ark of the covenant, which was his footstool, for we read in Paralipomenon 28, “In which the Ark of the Lord, and the footstool of our God might rest;” and no wonder it should be called the footstool of the Lord, for the propitiatory that was supported by the Cherubim was God’s seat, and the Ark being under that was naturally called his footstool. He, therefore, says, “Exalt ye the Lord our God,” by praising and magnifying his majesty with heart and voice. “And adore his footstool,” by bowing and prostrating yourselves before the Ark of the Covenant, which is his footstool; “for it is holy,” by reason of its relation to God, to whom it is dedicated, and in honor of whom it is adored. Hence, we justly infer that sacred things, such as the images of Christ and of his saints, their relics and altars, sacred vessels, and the like, are, by reason of their relation to God, worthy of a certain degree of reverence and adoration. According to the second interpretation, the prophet exhorts all to adore the human nature of Christ, that was the footstool of the divinity in a much more intimate and noble manner than was the wooden Ark. The latter contained the word of God on tables of stone; but the Word itself was contained in the other. The one merely contained the tables of the law, as a vessel would hold its contents; while the other was hypostatically united to its contents, the Word; so that John truly expressed it when he said, “The Word was made flesh.” And we are to adore Christ not only as man, but also under the sacramental species, as has been justly proved by the fathers from this same passage.
6 The prophet now proposes a model for our imitation in three celebrated characters, who “exalted” God, and “adored his footstool,” and “invoked his name,” and were, in consequence, heard by him, and got the power of working many miracles through him. He names three of the principal persons who were so remarkable among the Jews. Moses, who was the leader, and at the same time a high priest; Aaron, who was high priest only; and Samuel, who was a civil ruler only; for though Samuel is sometimes called a priest by the holy fathers; he in reality was not a priest, he was only a Levite. In the first place, he was not of the family of Aaron, to whom the priesthood was confined. Secondly, when Samuel ministered, he was dressed in a linen ephod, the peculiar dress of the Levites. Thirdly, his father, Elcana, was only a Levite, and not a priest. Fourthly, David himself evidently distinguishes him from Moses and Aaron, whom he classes among the priests, while he designates Samuel as merely among those that called upon the name of the Lord. “They called upon the name of the Lord.” He proves that they were friends of God, for they prayed to him for themselves and for their people, and he heard them as being faithful friends. The Scriptures bear testimony to that, as far as Moses and Aaron are concerned most clearly; as also to Samuel, to whom he addressed himself in the night, and heard Samuel in reply.
7 Though he did not speak to Samuel in the pillar of the cloud, he spoke to Moses and Aaron; and thus, the expression applies to the majority of those named. “They kept his testimonies.” The reason why they were so promptly heard, for as the Lord himself says, “If any one love me he will keep my word;” and, therefore, he that wishes God to hear his prayer, must hear God in his commandments, “They kept his testimonies;” all his commandments which regarded all men, “and the commandment which he gave them;” they not only observed the precepts that bind men in general, but the peculiar obligation of governing and directing and teaching the people committed to them; for princes and rulers are not exempt from the commandments, but they should rather be remarkable for their observance of them, to show a good example to those they govern.
8 When Moses and Aaron invoked you, you heard them in your mercy, and took vengeance on their enemies, and on all their wicked inventions.
9 The prophet concludes by a repetition of the fifth verse, it being the essence of the Psalm, and containing the whole object of it. There is a slight difference however, for, in the fifth verse, “adore his footstool,” is here, “adore at his holy mountain;” and “for it is holy,” is here, “for the Lord our God is holy.” According to interpretation No. 1, the meaning is, David exhorts the Jews to adore the Lord on mount Sion where the tabernacle was, and the temple was to be. According to interpretation No. 2, he exhorts Christians to adore God in the Catholic Church, the holy mountain, the spiritual Sion, and to avoid the conventicles of heretics and schismatics, because the Lord our God is holy, and, in consequence, hates the mountains polluted by the filth of false religions; and, as he is himself holy, so he wishes to be adored in his holy mountain, the assembly of the faithful.