Bellarmine on Psalm 37: Verses 9-11

We continue with St Robert Bellarmine's commentary on Psalm 37, the third in the series of seven Penitential Psalms.

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.

Where footnotes are included, the text follows each verse.

Verse 9

Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my groaning is not hidden from thee.

Domine, ante te omne desiderium meum, et gemitus meus a te non est absconditus.

Because he said the groaning in his heart aroused a roaring, he explains now to whom he is groaning in his heart, and says he is groaning to Him who “searcheth hearts”[1] and “knows what the Spirit desireth.”[2] “Lord,” he says, all my desire is before thee,” that is, Thou, Lord, seeth my every desire, which is no other than finally to be delivered from my evil concupiscence so that I may arrive at the sabbath of perfect rest. On this, he ads, “my groaning is not hidden from thee.” This is like what the Apostle says in Rom. Viii: “ Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of our body.”[3]

[1] See, e.g., 1 Paralipomenon (1 Chronicles) xxviii:9; Romans viii:27; and Apocalypse (Revelation) ii:23.

[2] And he that searcheth the hearts, knoweth what the Spirit desireth; because he asketh for the saints according to God. Qui autem scrutatur corda, scit quid desideret Spiritus : quia secundum Deum postulat pro sanctis.  [Romans viii:27]

[3] And not only it, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of our body. Non solum autem illa, sed et nos ipsi primitias spiritus habentes : et ipsi intra nos gemimus adoptionem filiorum Dei exspectantes, redemptionem corporis nostri. [ Romans viii:27]

Verse 10

My heart is troubled, my strength hath left me, and the light of my eyes itself is not with me.

Cor meum conturbatum est, dereliquit me virtus mea, et lumen oculorum meorum, et ipsum non est mecum.

He continues to describe the corruption of human nature and says, “My heart is troubled,” which refers to the war within him between the lower and higher parts; and he adds, “my strength hath left me,” so that, whether he wants it or not, he suffers from evil desires and says with the Apostle: “ To will, is present with me; but to accomplish that which is good, I find not.”[1] He adds at the end: “and the light of my eyes itself is not with me,” because not only weakness in his will but also ignorance in his mind have arisen from this same rebellion. For we often judge things not as they are but as they seem to us when we are badly impaired, as in the case of those who are suffering from a fever judge to be bitter that which is really sweet and sweet that which is bitter. And so he does not say: “The light of my eyes is extinguished,” but “is not with me,” for the light of intelligence and prayer is assuredly in the rational soul; but because a corrupted body damages the soul, which is frequently impaired by carnal passions, we cannot make use of it, and so he says: “ and the light of my eyes itself,” I say, “the light of my eyes,” which is to say the interior

light, “is not with me” in practice, even though it is really in me. Therefore while it is with me as regards to essence, it is  not with me as regards to use.

[1] For I know that there dwelleth not in me, that is to say, in my flesh, that which is good. For to will, is present with me; but to accomplish that which is good, I find not. Scio enim quia non habitat in me, hoc est in carne mea, bonum. Nam velle, adjacet mihi : perficere autem bonum, non invenio. [Rom. vii. 18]

Verse 11

My friends and my neighbours have drawn near, and stood against me. 

Amici mei et proximi mei adversum me appropinquaverunt, et steterunt;

Having described the interior war which is continually waged within a man, he now describes the exterior war, the persecutions and maulings which are all the punishments of sins. First of all, he complains that his friends and neighbours have become his enemies, which happened chiefly in the rebellion of his son Absalom, with whom many of his friends and neighbours conspired against him. But modern exegetes of the Hebrew text have explained this differently to the received version in the Vulgate; the Hebrew text has, my friends and my neighbours (as) from a region of leprosy stood against me. In a like manner, St Jerome, whose example many follow, translates this text as meaning only that David’s friends and neighbours were not made into his enemies but did not dare to come near to help him or console him; and so they stood afar from his vicinity. Since the Septuagint has ήγγισαν and the Latin translator rendered this as appropinquaverunt / they came near, it certainly was not hard to say not  appropinquaverunt / they came near but longe steterunt / they stood afar off; nor does the Hebrew prevent this reading, for the Hebrew which denotes my leprosy (pl for sing) or my wounds, is read by the Septuagint translators, whose codices were more correct, as appropinquaverunt / they came near. They are the same letters, except for the last, which may easily be changed into another, because they are not different except that one is bigger than the other. iod, if extended a little, becomes vau, and so an error in the books could easily occur, and one be put instead of the other. And they say in the following verse: “ de longe steterunt / they stood afar off.” This is true, but this utterance is not about those persons, as now we shall explain.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.