The Homilies of Saint Jerome, Volume 1 (1–59 on the Psalms)

59. Homily 59 On Psalm 149

HOMILY 59 ON PSALM 149 nHE ONE-HUNDRED-FORTY-NINTH PSALM has been read . which begins with the words: 'Sing to the Lord a new song.' The venerable priest has explained that Psalms 95 and 97 have this same introduction. The ninetyfifth psalm is entitled: 'A song for David himself, when the house was built after the captivity:1 and alludes to the house of Christ that is built after ca,ptivity, that is, after repentance for sin. Since, therefore, he has given us an excellent interpretation of the opening verse of our psalm: 'Sing to the Lord a new song'-that it is a new people that sings a new song-let us run quickly through the rest of it. 'Let Israel be glad in their maker.' Let them be glad who discern God, for the meaning here of Israel is 'perceiving God.' 'Let the children of Sian rejoice in their king.' Children of the Church, children of a new people, let them rejoice in their king, in Christ, who reigns over them. Just listen to how lightly we are striking only the high tones! 'Let them praise his name in choir.'2 Wherever there is a choir many voices blend into one song. In the same way that separate chords produce a single effect, so, too, do separate voices harmonize as one. In other words, when the faithful gather together, they form the Lord's choir. Let them praise His name in choir; where there is dissension, where there is jealousy, there is no choir. 'Let them praise his name in choir, let them sing praise to him with timbrel and I Cf. Ps. 95.1; 96.1, LXX. 2 Cf. Ps. 149.3. 424 HOMILY 59 425 psaltery.'S May this choir of ours have song; may it have timbrel and psaltery. Let us crucify our bodies for Christ and sing to God with a timbrel of this kind. 'Let them sing praise to him with timbrel and psaltery.' A timbrel is not made of flesh but of skin, and as long as we are carnal, we are not timbrels. You cannot make a timbrel unless you remove all the flesh and draw the skin tight; a timbrel cannot contract; the membrane must be stretched taut. Let not sin contract us, but justice expand us. We must hasten on over the rest of the psalm. Let them sing praise to Him with timbrel and psaltery. What we sing in choir, let us play on the psaltery. The psaltery is a kind of musical instrument that is quite similar to a harp, but not identical with it. You pluck the strings of a harp downwards, but the psaltery upwards. The common term for psaltery is polyphthongum. So much for that. The prophet, therefore, bids us sing a new song to the Lord, not downwards on the harp, but upwards, on the psaltery. 'For the Lord loves his people, and he exalts the meek to victory.'4 'Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.'5 If, then, the Gospel says: Blessed are the meek-that is, the patient-for they will possess the earth; and this psalm says: He exalts the meek to victory; and they are the meek who will possess the earth; that being the case, this earth is not downwards, but upwards. What are the words of the psalmist? 'He exalts the meek to victory.' Certainly, if these meek were to be in possession of the earth, that is, downwards, he would not say, God 'exalts.' 'Let the faithful exult in glory.' In what glory? 'Awake, a my glory; awake, psaltery and harp; I will wake the dawn.'6 In glory: 'For the Spirit had not yet been given, seeing that Jesus had not yet been glorified,'1 that is, He had not yet 3 Ibid. 4 Cf. Ps. 149.4. 5 Matt. 5.4. 6 Cf. Ps. 107.3. 7 John 7.39. 426 SAINT JEROME been crucified. Scripture says: The Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not been glorified, meaning that He had not been crucified. 'Let the faithful exult in glory.' Why am I stressing this point? Because the psalmist says: Let the faithful exult in glory, but I say: let the faithful exult in the cross. 'But as for me, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus...