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26. Homily 26 On Psalm 98 (99)
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HOMILY 26 ON PSALM 98 (99) DHE LORD IS KINGj the peoples tremble.' There are three psalms that begin with the same versicle, the . ninety-second, the ninety-sixth, and the ninety-eighth. Although the opening versicle is the same in each psalm, the verse ending is different. How, then, does the ninety-second psalm begin? 'The Lord is king, in splendor robed.'1 The ninety-sixth, however, says: 'The Lord is king; let the earth rejoice';2 the ninety-eighth: 'The Lord is king; the peoples tremble.'3 You see that the order of these psalms seems almost in reverse. 'The Lord is king: the peoples tremble' logically should be first; 'The Lord is king; let the earth rejoice ' should be second; and last, 'The Lord is king, in splendor robed.' The reversed order, however, furnishes a clue for our exegesis . 'The Lord is king, in splendor robed.' The Lord is king, and He is robed in the splendor of patriarchs and prophets and a people that believes. He is robed in splendor: the patriarchs and prophets have been as the garment of Christ; they are the loincloth mentioned in Jeremia-the girdle that he wore about his loins. Would you know that the saints are like a girdle and the vestment" of God? God Himself says to Jeremia: 'As close as the loincloth clings to a man's loins, so had I made my people cling to me';4 God's people are as close to Him as man's clothing is to his body. But because IPs. 92.1. 2 Ps. 96.1. 3 Ps. 98.1. 4 Cf. Jer. 13.11, 1; d. Commentary on Jeremia 13.1-12, PL 24.764 (931). 204 HOMILY 26 205 this loincloth, this splendor in which the Lord had been robed, was cast off on the other side of the Pharat, and laid aside in the cleft of a rock and there rotted,5 and was taken into captivity by the Assyrians, what does the Lord do? He is not naked; He cannot be without a loincloth; He cannot be without a covering. Because the first people had been lost, He makes Himself a garment of the Gentiles. And what does the psaln;tist say? 'The Lord is king; let the earth rejoice: Let the earth rejoice, the whole world, that is, of those who believe. Would you like proof that Scripture speaks of the Gentiles as a loincloth? 'The Lord: it says, 'is king, let the earth rejoice; let the many isles be glad: Not one isle, Judea, but the many islands, in other words, the whole world. Someone may say to me: Give me an example from Holy Writ where Judea alone is spoken of as an island. Everything we say, we ought to confirm from Sacred Scripture. 'A judicial fact shall be established only on the testimony of two or three witnesses.'6 The word of the witness does nol have as much weight as the precept of God. We read in the prophet Ezechiel: 'And you, son of man, speak to the in· habitants of this isle:1 that is, of Judea.s Because, therefore, one island has been abandoned, Scripture now says: 'Let the many isles be glad: So of the first people, the loincloth, the psalmist says: 'The Lord is king, in splendor robed'; of the second gathered from among the Gentiles: 'The Lord is king; let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad.' Now, of a third people, he says: 'The Lord is king; the peoples tremble: Whether they be of the Jews, or of the Gentiles, if they do not believe, let them tremble. 'Why do the nations rage and the peoples utter folly?'9 'The Lord is king; the peoples tremble: The Lord has 5 Cf. Jer. 13.4·12; cf. Letter 7.3, PL 22.340 (19). 6 Deut. 19.15. 7 Cf. Isa. 20.6; Ezech. 27.2, 3. 8 Cf. Commentary on lsaia 59.16, 17, PL 24.582 (711). 9 Ps.2.1. [54.205.238.173] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 21:05 GMT) 206 SAINT JEROME suffered; the Lord has been crucified; the Lord has died; the Lord has risen from the dead; the Lord has ascended triumphantly into heaven. 'The Lord is king, the peoples tremble.' Who are these people? Let us cite an example from the Gospel:l{) 'A certain nobleman went into a far country to obtain for himself...