Bellarmine on Psalm 142: Title and subject matter

Today, we begin a new series of posts featuring St Robert Bellarmine's commentary on Psalm 142, the last 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.

Title and subject matter

The Hebrew text has only, A Psalm of David; the Septuagint translators added the other words for the sake of explaining the subject matter, as St. Hilary confirms. The Latin fathers explain this Psalm as being about the passion of Christ, a second David whom Judas followed as an avenger, like a second Absalom,  according to Augustine; or like the Jewish people, according to Gregory. But it ought not to be doubted that the Psalm can be explained as being literally about David himself who, acknowledging Absalom’s persecution as being a punishment for his own sin, lamented his sins and begged for mercy from God. For this reason, the Catholic Church numbers this Psalm among the seven Penitential Psalms, for David will provide by his example a form of praying for true penitents; this is the sense which was chosen by St John Chrysostom.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.