Misericordiam et judicium. The prophet exhorteth all by his example, to follow mercy and justice.
King Dauid gratfully celebrateth the two general diuine vertues, Mercie and Iustice: 2. by his owne example exhorteth al, especially Superiors, to direct their wayes in sinceritie, 4. and to seperate the wicked from conuersation of the good.
1A psalm for David himself. Mercy and judgment I will sing to thee, O Lord: I will sing,Salmo dello stesso Davidde. Della misericordia, e della giustizia a te canterò laude, o Signore:A Psalme to Dauid himselfe. MERCIE and iudgement I wil sing to thee • Lord: I wil sing,Psalmus ipsi David. Misericordiam et judicium cantabo tibi, Domine; / psallam, 2And I will understand in the unspotted way, when thou shalt come to me. I walked in the innocence of my heart, in the midst of my house.Le canterò, e studierò la via dell'innocenza: quando sia, che tu venga a me. Io camminava nell'innocenza del cuor mio: in mezzo della mia casa.and I shal vnderstand in the immaculate way, when thou shalt come to me. I walked through in the inocencie of my hart, in the middes of my house.et intelligam in via immaculata: quando venies ad me ? / Perambulabam in innocentia cordis mei, in medio domus meæ. 3I will not set before my eyes any unjust thing: I hated the workers of iniquities.Io non mi proponeva mai cosa ingiusta: odiai quei, che prevaricavano. Non ebbi dimestichezza con uomo di cuor depravato:I did not propose before mine eies any vniust thing: I hated them that do preuarication.Non proponebam ante oculos meos rem injustam; / facientes prævaricationes odivi; / non adhæsit mihi 4The perverse heart did not cleave to me: and the malignant, that turned aside from me, I would not know.non conobbi il maligno, che si allontanava dalla mia strada.A peruerse hart hath not cleaued to me: the malignant declining from me I knew not.cor pravum; / declinantem a me malignum non cognoscebam. 5The man that in private detracted his neighbour, him did I persecute. With him that had a proud eye, and an unsatiable heart, I would not eat.Il detrattore segreto del suo prossimo, questo io lo perseguitava. Con uomo di occhio superbo, e di cuor insaziabile, con questo io non mi poneva a mensa.One secretly detracting from his neighbour, him did I persecute. One of a proud eye, and vnsatiable hart, with him I did not eate.Detrahentem secreto proximo suo, hunc persequebar: / superbo oculo, et insatiabili corde, cum hoc non edebam. 6My eyes were upon the faithful of the earth, to sit with me: the man that walked in the perfect way, he served me.Gli occhi miei son rivolti agli uomini fedeli del paese per farli sedere presso di me: miei ministri eran quelli, che camminavano nell'innocenza.Mine eies are towards the faithful of the earth that they may sit with me. A man that walketh in the immaculate way, he did minister to me.Oculi mei ad fideles terræ, ut sedeant mecum; / ambulans in via immaculata, hic mihi ministrabat.
7He that worketh pride shall not dwell in the midst of my house: he that speaketh unjust things did not prosper before my eyes.Non abiterà nella mia casa colui, che ha il tratto superbo: colui, che par lava iniquamente non trovò grazia dinanzi a me.He that doth proudly shal not dwel in the middes of my house: he that speaketh vniust thinges, hath not directed in the sight of mine eies.Non habitabit in medio domus meæ qui facit superbiam; / qui loquitur iniqua non direxit in conspectu oculorum meorum. 8In the morning I put to death all the wicked of the land: that I might cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord.Al mattino io toglieva dalla terra i peccatori: affine di sterminare dalla città di Dio tutti quelli, che operano l'iniquità.In the morning did I kil al the sinners of the earth: that I might destroy out of the citie of our Lord, al those that worke iniquitie.In matutino interficiebam omnes peccatores terræ, / ut disperderem de civitate Domini omnes operantes iniquitatem.
100:1
Muis
Himself. He describes the conduct which he was resolved to follow in ruling, (Calmet) or alluding to the pious king Josias. (Theodoret) (4 Kings xxii.) The sentiments are not confined to rulers alone, (Berthier) though this psalm might be styled, "the mirror of princes." (Muis)
Calmet
Mercy and judgment. The chief qualifications of a king. (Calmet)
Whether I am treated with clemency or with rigour, I will praise thee. (Chaldean)
St. Augustine
No one should presume, since there is judgment, nor despair, since mercy goes before. (St. Jerome) (St. Augustine)
Haydock
I will sing, and I will understand. Piety is one of the best means to acquire the intelligence of these heavenly hymns, and of the whole scripture. (Haydock)
Haydock
We might translate the Hebrew (Calmet) and Vulgate, Mercy and judgment I will sing, to thee, Lord, will I sing psalms. (Haydock)
100:2
Challoner
I will understand, etc. That is, I will apply my mind, I will do my endeavour, to know and to follow the perfect way of thy commandments: not trusting in my own strength, but relying on thy coming to me by thy grace. (Challoner)
I will watch over my conduct.
Berthier
When thou. So St. Jerome and Houbigant read, though Septuagint have "when wilt thou come to me?" (Berthier)
He is impatient of having the ark: but is well apprized that God will not dwell in a polluted soul, or in a wicked city: therefore he promises to remove such obstacles.
Berthier
I walked. Or "will walk." All the other verbs should be in the future; (Calmet) though that is of no consequence. (Berthier)
Haydock
David had studied to regulate his interior and his family before, as much as he did afterwards. (Haydock)
Haydock
His fall was most likely (Berthier) subsequent to this event, 1 Kings 6:11. (Haydock)
Worthington
He acknowledges that he had done what he here mentions, by God's assistance. (Worthington)
100:3
Calmet
Thing. Or Hebrew, "word of Belial." I will neither suffer an evil word or action to pass without reproof. (Calmet)
100:4
Calmet
Know. I looked upon them with such contempt, (Eusebius) or I highly disapproved of their conduct, (St. Augustine) and would have no society with them. (Calmet)
Menochius
David was, in a manner, forced to tolerate Joab; but he shewed sufficiently his displeasure, and ordered his successor to punish him, as soon as it could be done with safety to the state. (Menochius)
100:5
St. Jerome
Persecute. Or abhor (Worthington) with a perfect hatred. We must shew our displeasure if we hear detraction, (Haydock) that we may not partake in the crime. (St. Jerome)
Calmet
The court is most likely to be infected with this vice, as people are continually endeavouring to supplant their rivals. (Calmet)
Calmet
Heart. Hebrew, "wide heart," which is sometimes taken in a good sense, 3 Kings 4:29. But here it denotes the ambitious and misers, Proverbs 28:25. (Calmet)
100:6
Calmet
Faithful. A prince cannot do every thing himself. But he ought to make choice of the most virtuous and skilful ministers. (Calmet)
100:7
Calmet
Prosper. Hebrew, "shall not be pleasing," (St. Jerome; Haydock) or "maintain himself." (Calmet)
100:8
St. Isidore
Morning. Without delay, (Worthington; Jeremias 21:12.; Haydock) and with a mind composed. (St. Isidore, Pelus 1:ep. 321.)
Haydock
The Jews explain this of the judgment of zeal, by which a person might kill a notorious criminal, without any trail, (Calmet) in imitation of Phinees and Mathathias, 1 Machabees 2:24. (Haydock)
St. Augustine
God alone will punish all malefactors at the last day. (St. Augustine)
Ovid
The Fathers admonish us to resist temptations at the beginning. (Calmet) Principiis obsta; sero medicina paratur Cum mala per longas convaluere moras. (Ovid)
100:2
I will understand, etc.... That is, I will apply my mind, I will do my endeavour, to know and to follow the perfect way of thy commandments: not trusting to my own strength, but relying on thy coming to me by thy grace.
100:1
These tvvo capital diuine vertues are euer ioyned in al Gods vvorkes, for both vvhich experienced tovvards him selfe, the Psalmist rendereth thankes and praises.
100:2
I wil do myn endeuoure to knovv the immaculate vvay,
vvhich I can not do, but by thy grace coming vnto me. For by helpe therof I did as folovveth.
100:5
That is, al and euerie one thus wickedly disposed I abhorred.
100:6
I kept such vnder, as a seruant or slaue.
100:7
Prospered not, gotte no benefite by me.
100:8
Speedely and without delay I cutte of al disordered people:
that others might not be corrupted by them.
100:1
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 9.12
31. The boy then being restrained from weeping, Evodius took up the Psalter, and began to sing—the whole house responding—the Psalm, “I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto Thee, O Lord.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 167.20
20. It is, therefore, by all means just that they be forgiven, because they have forgiven others, and that what they need be given to them, because they have given to others. For God uses mercy when He judgeth, and uses judgment when He showeth mercy. Hence the Psalmist says: “I will sing of mercy and of judgment unto Thee, O Lord.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 20.6
… but in the second, of which He goes on to speak, all, as we shall learn, have a part, both the blessed and the wretched. The one is the resurrection of mercy, the other of judgment. And therefore it is written in the psalm, “I will sing of mercy and of judgment: unto Thee, O Lord, will I sing.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Enchiridion 94
Thus, when reprobate angels and men are left to endure everlasting punishment, the saints shall know more fully the benefits they have received by grace. Then, in contemplation of the actual facts, they shall see more clearly the meaning of the expression in the psalms, “I will sing of mercy and judgment;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Care to Be Had for the Dead 16
… whether thereby the minds of mortals be instructed, or whether deceived; whether consoled, or whether terrified: according as unto each one there is to be either a showing of mercy, or a taking of vengeance, by Him to Whom, not without a meaning, the Church doth sing “of mercy and of judgment.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 21.3
3. You cannot distinguish between what God does in mercy and what He does in judgment, because you can neither understand nor use the words of our Psalter: "I will sing of mercy and judgment unto Thee, O Lord."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 36.4
… Because, therefore, He saw that all were sinners, and that none was exempt from the death of sin, His mercy had first to be craved, and afterwards His judgment must be executed; for of Him the psalm had sung, “Mercy and judgment will I sing to Thee, O Lord.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 54.5
… And why not now? Listen to the sequel: “For I am not come,” He says, “to judge the world, but to save the world;” that is, to bring the world into a state of salvation. Now, therefore, is the season of mercy, afterwards will be the time for judgment: for He says, “I will sing to Thee, O Lord, of mercy and judgment.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 9.8
… I know that is a trouble to thee: but do thou even longer wait, endure; I come, and come quickly.” But to the loving soul the time moves slowly. Hear her singing, like a lily as she is from amid the thorns; hear her sighing and saying, “I will sing, and will understand in a faultless way: when will thou come unto me?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 101.1
1. In this Psalm, we ought to seek in the whole body of it what we find in the first verse: “Mercy and judgment will I sing unto Thee, O Lord” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 119.19
… and quicken Thou me according to Thy judgment” ( ver. 149 ). For first God according to His loving-mercy taketh away punishment from sinners, and will give them life afterwards, when righteous, according to His judgment; for it is not without a meaning that it is said unto Him, “My song shall be of mercy and judgment: unto Thee, O Lord;”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults 12.6
… neither have I walked in great matters, nor in wonderful things above me. If I was not humbly minded;” and again, “He that worketh pride shall not dwell in the midst of my house;”
100:2
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 3.17
120. In this passage too He was walking, as we read, in Solomon’s porch on the day of the dedication, that is, Christ was walking in the breast of the wise and prudent, to dedicate his good affection to Himself. What that porch was the prophet teaches, saying: “I will walk in the midst of Thy house in the innocency of my heart.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 101.3
3. “I will sing to the harp, and will have understanding, in the spotless way. When Thou shalt come unto me” (
100:3
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 101.4
4. “I set no wicked thing before my eyes” (
100:4
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 101.6
6. “When the wicked man departed from me, I knew him not” (
100:5
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 44
… for they are worthy even of crowns, when they bear what is said nobly; but in anxiety for you that so speak. For him that is evil reported of falsely, the Scriptures pronounce “blessed;” but the evil-speaker they expel from the holy Mysteries, nay even from the very precincts. For it is said, (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 93.8
… all cases a praiseworthy thing, it would have sufficed for the Lord to say, “Blessed are they which are persecuted,” without adding “for righteousness’ sake.” Moreover, if to inflict persecution were in all cases blameworthy, it would not have been written in the sacred books, “Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I persecute [cut off, E.V.].”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.80
176. Augustin answered: He who sins, sins not on the authority of the law, but against the authority of the law. But since you ask what is the justification of persecution, I ask you in turn whose voice it is that says in the psalm, "Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 35.24
… For if persecution could not be done rightly, it had not been said in a certain Psalm, “Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him did I persecute.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 101.7
7. “Whoso privily slandered his neighbour, him I persecuted” (
100:6
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 2.10
106. Then, again, because the Angel is sent to Cornelius, the Holy Spirit speaks to Peter: “For the eyes of the Lord are over the faithful of the earth.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 47
… Humility. Wherefore Christ also begins with it, saying, “Blessed are the poor.” This head hath not locks and ringlets, but beauty, such as to gain God’s favor. For, “Unto whom shall I look,” saith He, “but unto him that is meek and humble, and trembleth at my words?” And, “Mine eyes are upon the meek of the earth.”
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 1.22
… “With all modesty,” he says. It is not enough for him to have his own modesty unless it be enhanced by the modesty of his children, companions, and servants, as David says,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 101.9
9. And whence wast thou fed? And what pleased thee, when he did not eat with thee? “Mine eyes,” he saith, “were upon such as are faithful in the land, that they might sit with me” (
100:7
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 101.10
10. “The proud man hath not dwelt in the midst of my house” (
100:8
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 7.19
… It is sufficient at present to refer to the manner in which in the Psalms the just man is represented as saying, among other things, “Every morning will I destroy the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all workers of iniquity from the city of Jehovah.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 109.2
… He should remember the words that are said: “When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst unto him; and hast been partaker with adulterers;” and in another place, “I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 101.11
11. “In the morning I destroyed all the ungodly that were in the land. That I may root out all wicked doers from the city of the Lord” (
Ecumenical Councils Letter of the Council to St. Agatho 1
… and we slew them with anathema, as lapsed concerning the faith and as sinners, in the morning outside the camp of the tabernacle of God, that we may express ourselves after the manner of David,
100:3
… 2 times vir B.: II Sam. 16, 7; 20, 1); elsewhere: praevacicatio (πονηρά): Nah. 1, 11; praevacicatori (ἀπαράνομος): II Sam. 23, 6; iniquus (ὁ λοιμός): I Sam. 25, 25 and 30, 22; apostata: Iob. 34, 18; iniustus (παράνομος): Ps. 100, 3; inquis (ἄρρων): Prov. 16, 27.
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.