Bellarmine on Psalm 50: Verses 17 to 20 (conclusion)

1542-1641. Rijksmuseum, CC0, Wikimedia Commons

Today we presenting the commentary on Psalm 6 written by the great polymath, Scripture scholar and apologist, St Robert Bellarmine (1542-1641).

“One of Bellarmine’s confreres in the College of Cardinals called him ‘the most learned churchman since St. Augustine’and I’d agree with that,” Fr. Baker[1] said. “His knowledge of Scripture and Theology — he seemed to know the entire Bible by heart, plus the teachings not only of nearly every pope, but of many bishops, too! — it’s just astonishing. Bellarmine was truly a polymath.” [From an interview published in the National Catholic Register in September 2017]
[1] Author of a translation of Bellarmine’s Controversies of the Christian Faith, published by Keep the Faith Books (2016)

The Latin is reproduced courtesy of the Digital Collection site  - UANL and is accompanied by my fairly literal translation. The Scripture excerpts (Douay Rheims/Vulgate) are taken from the DRBO site but the verse numbering follows that of Bellarmine’s Latin text.

Verse 17

For if thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it: with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted.

Quoniam si voluisses sacrificium, dedissem utique; holocaustis non delectaberis.

He provides the reason why he wants to offer a sacrifice of praise, which is to say because sacrifices of animals are not pleasing to God, as if he were to say: “my mouth shall declare thy praise,” since I know you are pleased by a sacrifice of praise, not by sacrifices of irrational animals. For if they were pleasing to you, I would not delay in offering them. Now the meaning is not that sacrifices of cattle is in no way pleasing to God, since it is plain enough from the Book of Leviticus that they were instituted

by God and ordered to be offered. But they are said not to be pleasing in themselves, as if the slaughter of animals might of itself be a work pleasing to God, or useful or necessary. They are also said not to be pleasing when compared with the sacrifice of the Eucharist, as appears from the the first chapter of Malachias[1] where it is said that the old sacrifices will cease when a clean oblation will be offered to all the gentiles. The sacrifices are also said not to be pleasing when they are offered by sinners, as is said in Isaias, chapter I;[2] and see “ Obedience is more pleasing to God than the oblation of victims;”[3] 

Finally, they are said not to be pleasing unto the removal of sins since “It is impossible,” as says the Apostle, “that with the blood of oxen and goats sin should be taken away;”[4] and in this sense David says here: “ if thou hadst desired sacrifice,” for the remission of my sins, “I would indeed have given it,” but because “with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted,” this in order that you may forgive me my sins through their grace, “my mouth shall declare thy praise.;” for, as we said above in the commentary on the Psalm, a sacrifice of praise is most pleasing to God, since it is blazes with the fire of charity on the heart’s altar. In the Hebrew, it expresses it a little differently. If read literally, it says: For thou wilt not a sacrifice, and I will give one: a burnt offering will not please Thee. But it seems the negation must be repeated when he says, and I will give one, so that the sense might be: For thou wilt not a sacrifice, and I will not give one. The Septuagint interpreters have read in place of negation a particle giving a conditional (imperfect subjunctive) sense: for it can be placed so that the Hebrew is read: For if thou were to have wanted a sacrifice, I would have given one. Which is the same as what we have in the Septuagint version: “For if thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it.”

[1] For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation: for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts. Ab ortu enim solis usque ad occasum, magnum est nomen meum in gentibus, et in omni loco sacrificatur : et offertur nomini meo oblatio munda, quia magnum est nomen meum in gentibus, dicit Dominus exercituum. [Malach. I. 11]
[2] See, e.g., To what purpose do you offer me the multitude of your victims, saith the Lord? I am full, I desire not holocausts of rams, and fat of fatlings, and blood of calves, and lambs, and buck goats. Quo mihi multitudinem victimarum vestrarum? dicit Dominus. Plenus sum : holocausta arietum, et adipem pinguium, et sanguinem vitulorum et agnorum et hircorum, nolui.[Isai. I. 11]
[3] Cf.And Samuel said: Doth the Lord desire holocausts and victims, and not rather that the voice of the Lord should be obeyed? For obedience is better than sacrifices: and to hearken rather than to offer the fat of rams. Et ait Samuel : Numquid vult Dominus holocausta et victimas, et non potius ut obediatur voci Domini? Melior est enim obedientia quam victimae : et auscultare magis quam offerre adipem arietum. [I Reg. xv. 22]
[4] Hebr. x. 4.

Verse 18

A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus; cor contritum et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies.

He explains more clearly that a sacrifice of praise is pleasing to God when it proceeds from a contrite and humbled heart, that is to say when a man, acknowledging his misery and God’s mercy, is humbled beneath His powerful hand; and when he accords to God honour and glory, but to himself shame and confusion: “ To thee, O Lord, justice: but to us confusion of face;”[1] and shortly after: “ O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our princes, and to our fathers that have sinned. But to thee, the Lord our God, mercy and forgiveness.”[2] The spirit is afflicted because the heart is contrite; for in the Hebrew codex and in the Greek codex, the word is repeated: the contrite spirit and the contrite heart. Now a translator preferred to vary the vocabulary, but the sense is the same;  for what is called an afflicted spirit is a soul suffering pain, and put in tribulation on account of sin committed against God. The spirit is contrite  when the soul is affected by grief or admission of guilt, as though it were cut in pieces and ground into dust, retaining no longer its stony hardness and resistance. 

This contrition of spirit is however a most pleasing sacrifice to God; for by however many sins God is offended, so much is he pleased by repentance, and therefore quite rightly  are added the words: “ A contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise,” “ for God hates the proud and He resists them; but to the humble,” who willingly subject themselves to Him, “He always gives grace.”[3]

[1] To thee, O Lord, justice: but to us confusion of face, as at this day to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel to them that are near, and to them that are far off in all the countries whither thou hast driven them, for their iniquities by which they have sinned against thee. Tibi, Domine, justitia : nobis autem confusio faciei, sicut est hodie viro Juda, et habitatoribus Jerusalem, et omni Israel, his qui prope sunt, et his qui procul in universis terris, ad quas ejecisti eos propter iniquitates eorum, in quibus peccaverunt in te. [Dan. ix. 7]
[2] O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our princes, and to our fathers that have sinned. Domine, nobis confusio faciei, regibus nostris, principibus nostris, et patribus nostris, qui peccaverunt. But to thee, the Lord our God, mercy and forgiveness, for we have departed from thee: Tibi autem Domino Deo nostro misericordia et propitiatio, quia recessimus a te, [Dan. ix. 8, 9]
[3] Cf But he giveth greater grace. Wherefore he saith: God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. majorem autem dat gratiam. Propter quod dicit : Deus superbis resistit, humilibus autem dat gratiam. [Iac. iv. 6]

Verse 19

Deal favourably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion; that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.

Benigne fac, Domine, in bona voluntate tua Sion, ut aedificentur muri Jerusalem.

This is the last reason David uses so as to be pleasing to God, to obtain perfect justification and reparation after such a grave lapse. He says that this, his reparation, may be of benefit to all people, just as his fall harmed all the people. And so he asks that this benefit may be for himself and for the City of Sion and Jerusalem. “Deal favourably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion;” that is, if I am not worthy of being heard, respect the city of which I am the head, and confer a benefit on it by healing its head, “in thy good will,” that is, according to your good pleasure, by which it was pleasing to you to choose this city as your own, particular seat. “That the walls of Jerusalem may be built up;” that is, that thus the walls of Jerusalem, which were crumbling, might be built up again. He refers to himself as the walls of Jerusalem, as the one who, like the walls, guarded and protected the people; this metaphor is also used of Christ the King: “ a wall and a bulwark shall be set therein;”[1] see also: “ I will make thee to this people as a strong wall of brass.”[2] In Hebrew, it reads: “Build the walls of Jerusalem,” which fell because of my fall; restore to me a well-furnished spirit and abundant grace, that, just like the city walls, I may guard and defend your people.

[1] In that day shall this canticle be sung the land of Juda. Sion the city of our strength a saviour, a wall and a bulwark shall be set therein. In die illa cantabitur canticum istud in terra Juda : Urbs fortitudinis nostrae Sion; salvator ponetur in ea murus et antemurale. [Isai. Xxvi. 1]
[2] And I will make thee to this people as a strong wall of brass: and they shall fight against thee, and shall not prevail: for I am with thee to save thee, and to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Et dabo te populo huic in murum aereum, fortem : et bellabunt adversum te, et non praevalebunt, quia ego tecum sum ut salvem te, et eruam te, dicit Dominus : [Hierem. xv.20]

Verse 20

The effects of justification are works of justice,

which are pleasing to God, as the Apostle says in Hebrews xiii: “And do not forget to do good, and to impart; for by such sacrifices God's favour is obtained.”[1]  see also I Pet. ii: “Offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”[2] “Then,” he says, that is, when I am perfectly restored and justified, “shalt thou accept the sacrifice of justice,” which is to say my good works and those of my people; “oblations and whole burnt offerings:” which are good works, whether spiritual oblations or spiritual burnt offerings. Spiritual oblations are when someone makes a gift of his goods out of charity, by giving alms.A holocaust is truly when someone offers himself in complete submission to God, according as it is writtent in Romans xii: “ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,etc;”[3]  “Then shall they lay calves upon thy altar;” that is, when men shall see thatthese sacrifices are most acceptable to you, many will come running and will eagerly lay sacrifices upon your altar, not ordinary ones but the very best of all.For the sacrifice of calves was the most precious sacrifice of all; and placing these calves upon your altar is nothing less than offering up the works of perfect justice to the Lord God. St Augustine explains in his own way this text as being about the building of the heavenly Jerusalem, where sacrifices of justice, perfect in every way, are offered. Theodoretus and Euthymius explain the text as a referece to the building of the Christian Church which is set up on earth; they add that the verses may be understood as being about the rebuilding of Jerusalem which was carried out in the days of Nehemiah: David, his sin laid aside and having obtained forgiveness, foresaw in spirit the common sin of the entire people, on account of which Jerusalem was to be destroyed; and he prayed at the same time for the forgiveness of his own sin and the restoration of the city.

[1] And do not forget to do good, and to impart; for by such sacrifices God's favour is obtained. Beneficentiae autem et communionis nolite oblivisci : talibus enim hostiis promeretur Deus. [Hebr, xiii. 16]
[2] Be you also as living stones built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. et ipsi tamquam lapides vivi superaedificamini, domus spiritualis, sacerdotium sanctum, offerre spirituales hostias, acceptabiles Deo per Jesum Christum. [I Pet. ii. 5]

[3] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your reasonable service. Obsecro itaque vos fratres per misericordiam Dei, ut exhibeatis corpora vestra hostiam viventem, sanctam, Deo placentem, rationabile obsequium vestrum. [Rom. Xii. 1]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.