Bellarmine on Psalm 101: Verses 26-29 (Conclusion)

Today we conclude St Robert Bellarmine's commentary on Psalm 101, the fifth of the 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 section. 

Verses 26-28

In the beginning, O Lord, thou foundedst the earth: and the heavens are the works of thy hands.

Initio tu, Domine, terram fundasti, et opera manuum tuarum sunt caeli.

They shall perish but thou remainest: and all of them shall grow old like a garment: And as a vesture thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed.

Ipsi peribunt, tu autem permanes; et omnes sicut vestimentum veterascent. Et sicut opertorium mutabis eos, et mutabuntur;

But thou art always the selfsame, and thy years shall not fail.

tu autem idem ipse es, et anni tui non deficient.

He proves God alone to be eternal, because He alone is immutable; this reason is clearly theological and a priori, as the schools teach. That God alone is immutable he proves  from the fact that, always remaining the same, He changed the heavens from not being to being, and He will change them again from being to not being; and what is said of the heavens may be understood of the whole world, of which the greatest and post noble portion is heaven. “In the beginning, O Lord, thou foundedst the earth,” that is, from the beginning before the world was, Thou Lord wast in being, and Thou didst make the earth, which is the lower part of the world, from its foundations, and Thou didst not found the earth on something already existing. “And the heavens are the works of thy hands,” that is, Thou didst create not only the earth but also the heavens, which are the higher part of the world; Thou didst this alone, not through angels or other agents, but with Thy own hands, that is, by Thy own power and wisdom; and thus did Thou lead the whole world from not being into being. “They,” namely the heavens, “shall perish but thou remainest.” This may be understood in a twofold manner. Firstly, in this manner of an hypothesis: Even if the heavens were to grow old, be changed and perish, Thou would remain the same. As in the Gospel of Matthew it says: “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled.”[1] Luke says: “It is easier for heaven and earth

to pass, than one tittle of the law to fall.”[2] This means absolutely, but a change not with regards to substance but to mode. For the heavens will perish, grow old and change, as regards the stars, the influence of heat, the generation of inferior things; in the same as the earth will perish, as regards the production of plants and animals, and the whole world will be consumed, as regards the shape and condition which it now has; for the Apostle writes: “ for the fashion of this world passeth away;”[3] and “ For the things which are seen, are temporal; but the things which are not seen, are eternal.”[4] Where he calls temporal all things that are seen by us, because even those things which are mild and heavenly according to the manner in which we see them, they will have an end. For we see the earth clothed with trees, stocked with cattle, and decorated with buildings; we see the skies now clear, now cloudy; we see the stars in continuous motion: and all these things are temporal and will have an end. “ We look for new heavens and a new

earth according to his promises,”as St. Peter writes.[5] “all of them shall grow old like a garment:,” that is, all the heavens, as regards their external shape and mode, will be consumed. “And as a vesture thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed,” that is, like an old cloak, Thou wilt remove this celestial garment from the heavens and clothe them anew: and as the heavens are changed, so shall man, when he changes clothes, as regards his external appearance but not as regards his inner substance. “But thou art always the selfsame, and thy years shall not fail,” that is, in no way shalt Thou change howsoever many years may pass. For by no reason can God be changed for the reason is evident, since anything which can be changed is in potency unto the acquiring of something else; but God is pure and most perfect act, in fact of infinite perfection and so He can acquire nothing since He is lacking in nothing.

[1] For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled. Amen quippe dico vobis, donec transeat caelum et terra, jota unum aut unus apex non praeteribit a lege, donec omnia fiant. [Matt. v. 18] 
[2] And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fall. Facilius est autem caelum et terram praeterire, quam de lege unum apicem cadere. [Luc. Xvi. 17]
[3] And they that use this world, as if they used it not: for the fashion of this world passeth away. et qui utuntur hoc mundo, tamquam non utantur : praeterit enim figura hujus mundi. [I Cor. Vii. 31]
[4] While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen, are temporal; but the things which are not seen, are eternal. non contemplantibus nobis quae videntur, sed quae non videntur. Quae enim videntur, temporalia sunt : quae autem non videntur, aeterna sunt.  [II Cor. iv. 18]

[5] But we look for new heavens and a new earth according to his promises, in which justice dwelleth. Novos vero caelos, et novam terram secundum promissa ipsius exspectamus, in quibus justitia habitat. [II Pet. Iii. 13]

Verse 29

The children of thy servants shall continue: and their seed shall be directed for ever.

Filii servorum tuorum habitabunt; et semen eorum in saeculum dirigetur.

Having described God’s eternity and this world’s consummation and restoration, he foretells that participating in the renewed world will be God’s servants and children, and the children of these servants, unto eternity; not because in this future world there will be propagation of children, but because all the faithful servants of God, with their posterity, who will have followed their piety, will attain unto that blessed peace; and this is the promise once made to Abraham, see Genesis xvii: “ I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and between thy seed after thee in their generations, by a perpetual covenant.”[1] By servants of God, we understand the Patriarchs; by their children, the Apostles; by the children of the Apostles, the rest of the faithful Christians. “The children of thy servants shall continue,” that is, the Apostles with their ancestors the Patriarchs, will dwell in Thy kingdom, in a restored 

heaven, in the heavenly Jerusalem; “and their seed shall be directed for ever,” that is, not only these but also however

many they shall beget through the Gospel, if they remain in faith and love, “shall be directed for ever,” that is, they will remain in all prosperity, righteous and constant in eternity. In Hebrew, it has, and their seed will persevere before thy face; St. Jerome translates it thus. But the Hebrew word has a very broad meaning, and it can mean to be directed, to be made steady, to remain and to persevere. The words translated as in eternity mean rather in thy presence or before thy face. The sense is however the same; for to remain before God is to remain for as long as God will remain, which will be without end. There is a similar phrase in Psalm lxxi: “ His name continueth with the sun and before the moon,”[2] that is, for as long as the sun and the 

moon shall continue. Behold, O reader, whither true penitence leads, which was described at the beginning 

of the Psalm; for it leads to eternal happiness with God: without penitence the sinner will remain in eternal torments with the devil.

[1] And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and between thy seed after thee in their generations, by a perpetual covenant: to be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee. Et statuam pactum meum inter me et te, et inter semen tuum post te in generationibus suis, foedere sempiterno : ut sim Deus tuus, et seminis tui post te. [Ge.n. xvii. 7]
[2] Cf. Let his name be blessed for evermore: his name continueth before the sun. And in him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed: all nations shall magnify him. Sit nomen ejus benedictum in saecula; ante solem permanet nomen ejus. Et benedicentur in ipso omnes tribus terrae; omnes gentes magnificabunt eum. [Ps. Lxxi. 17]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.