Cantate Domino. An exhortation to praise God for the coming of Christ and his kingdom.
Al peoples & nations are inuited to praise the blessed Trinitie, 3. for Christs Incarnation, and spiritual kingdom in al the world. ••. euen sensles creatures acknowledging his maiestie, 13. and iudicial powre.
1A canticle for David himself, when the house was built after the captivity. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: sing to the Lord, all the earth.Cantico dello stesso Davidde. Cantate al Signore un nuovo cantico: terra tutta canta il Signore.A Canticle to Dauid himselfe, when the house was built after the captiuitie. SING ye to our Lord a new song: sing to our Lord al the earth.Canticum ipsi David, quando domus ædificabatur post captivitatem. Cantate Domino canticum novum; / cantate Domino omnis terra. 2Sing ye to the Lord and bless his name: shew forth his salvation from day to day.Cantate il Signore, e benedite il nome di lui, annunziate ogni giorno la salute recata da lui.Sing ye to our Lord, and blesse his name: shewforth his saluation from day to day.Cantate Domino, et benedicite nomini ejus; / annuntiate de die in diem salutare ejus. 3Declare his glory among the Gentiles: his wonders among all people.Annunziate la gloria di lui tralle genti, e le sue meraviglie a tutti i popoli.Shewforth his glorie among the Gentiles, his meruelous workes in al peoples.Annuntiate inter gentes gloriam ejus; / in omnibus populis mirabilia ejus. 4For the Lord is great, and exceedingly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.Imperocché il Signore è grande, grandemente laudabile: egli è terribile sopra tutti gli dei:Because our Lord is great, and exceeding laudable: he is terrible aboue al goddes.Quoniam magnus Dominus, et laudabilis nimis: / terribilis est super omnes deos. 5For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils: but the Lord made the heavens.Imperocché tutti gli dei delle genti sono demonj: ma il Signore ha creati i cielo.Because al the goddes of the Gentiles are diuels, but our Lord made the heauens.Quoniam omnes dii gentium dæmonia; / Dominus autem cælos fecit. 6Praise and beauty are before him: holiness and majesty in his sanctuary.La gloria, e lo splendore sono intorno a lui: la santità, e la magnificenza nel suo santuario.Confession, and beauty in his sight: holinesse, and magnificence in his sanctification.Confessio et pulchritudo in conspectu ejus; / sanctimonia et magnificentia in sanctificatione ejus. 7Bring ye to the Lord, O ye kindreds of the Gentiles, bring ye to the Lord glory and honour:Presentate al Signore, voi famiglie delle nazioni, presentate al Signore gloria, ed onore:Bring to our Lord ye families of Gentiles, bring ye to our Lord glorie and honour:Afferte Domino, patriæ gentium, / afferte Domino gloriam et honorem; 8Bring to the Lord glory unto his name. Bring up sacrifices, and come into his courts:presentate al Signore gloria qual conviensi al suo nome. Prendete le ostie, ed entrate nell'atrio di lui:bring to our Lord glorie vnto his name. Take vp hoastes, and enter into his courtes:afferte Domino gloriam nomini ejus. / Tollite hostias, et introite in atria ejus;
9Adore ye the Lord in his holy court. Let all the earth be moved at his presence.adorate il Signore nel santo atrio di lui. Dinanzi a lui stia in timore, e tremore tutta quanta la terra:adore ye our Lord in his holie court. Let al the earth be moued before his face:adorate Dominum in atrio sancto ejus. / Commoveatur a facie ejus universa terra; 10Say ye among the Gentiles, the Lord hath reigned. For he hath corrected the world, which shall not be moved: he will judge the people with justice.dite tralle nazioni: Il Signore ha preso possesso del regno. Imperocché egli ha emendata la terra, la quale non sarà smossa: egli giudicherà i popoli con equità.say ye among the Gentiles that our Lord hath reigned. For he hath corrected the round world which shal not be moued: he wil iudge peoples in equitie.dicite in gentibus, quia Dominus regnavit. / Etenim correxit orbem terræ, qui non commovebitur; / judicabit populos in æquitate. 11Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, let the sea be moved, and the fulness thereof:Rallegrimi i cieli, ed esulti la terra: il mare sia in movimento con tutte le cose ond'egli è ripieno:Let the heauens be glad, and the earth reioyce, the sea be moued, and the fulnesse therof:Lætentur cæli, et exsultet terra; / commoveatur mare et plenitudo ejus; 12The fields and all things that are in them shall be joyful. Then shall all the trees of the woods rejoicetripudieranno le campagne, e tutto quello, che in esse si trova. Allora esulteranno tutti gli alberi delle selve dinanzi al Signore,the fieldes shal be glad, and al things, that are in them. Then shal the trees of the woodes reioycegaudebunt campi, et omnia quæ in eis sunt. / Tunc exsultabunt omnia ligna silvarum 13before the face of the Lord, because he cometh: because he cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with justice, and the people with his truth.perché è venuto, perché venuto egli è a governare la terra. Governerà la terra con equità; governerà i popoli secondo la sua verità.before the face of our Lord, because he cometh: because he cometh to iudge the earth. He wil iudge the round world in equitie, and peoples in his truth.a facie Domini, quia venit, / quoniam venit judicare terram. / Judicabit orbem terræ in æquitate, / et populos in veritate sua.
95:1
Challoner
When the house was built, etc. Alluding to that time, and then ordered to be sung; but principally relating to the building of the Church of Christ, after our redemption from the captivity of satan. (Challoner)
Berthier
Captivity. The greater canticle of David, (1 Paralipomenon xvi.) was probably divided, on that occasion, (Calmet) into three. This forms the second part, from ver. 23; as the psalm civ., to ver. 16., does the first. The three last verses of David's canticle, (ver. 34.) occur [in] Psalm 105:1, 47. But in reality, there are so many variations, that it seems most probable, (Haydock) that he revised that work, and left us the three psalms in their present form. This perhaps relates to the establishment of the Church, though it might be also sung at the return from Babylon. (Berthier)
Calmet
Modern Jews understand it of their future re-union under the Messias. (Kimchi) (Calmet)
Worthington
The rebuilding of the temple is foretold, as a figure of man's redemption. (Worthington)
Berthier
New canticle. As the blessed do, (Apocalypse 5:9., and 15:4.) and those who receive the Messias, Isaias 42:10. (Berthier)
St. Augustine
Love sings the new canticle. (St. Augustine)
Berthier
Earth. And not Judea alone, ver. 7. (Berthier)
95:2
Worthington
Lord....his name. As ver. 7., and 8. The plural and singular denote the Trinity. (Worthington)
St. Augustine
Shew forth. Septuagint, "evangelize," bene nuntiate. (St. Augustine)
Haydock
"Tell the glad tidings" of salvation incessantly. This preaching shall continue for ever. (Haydock)
95:5
Devils. Hebrew elilim, "diminutive gods, (Haydock) nothings, (Calmet) vain things." (Montanus) (1 Paralipomenon)
Haydock
We have idols, as Protestants read here. These were in fact, either devils, or vain imaginations of men. St. Paul says, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, 1 Corinthians 8:4. They cannot claim self-existence, and if the true God were not to support those creatures, the sun, etc., which have been the objects of adoration, they would presently cease to be. (Haydock)
Calmet
This most plausible species of idolatry is therefore refuted, since the Lord made the heavens. (Calmet)
Worthington
The Creator alone can be considered as God; the devils prompt the people to adore other things. (Worthington)
Berthier
It would appear but a small praise for the Lord to be feared above all gods, (Haydock) if they were "nothing." Hence the Septuagint have used the word devils, to signify, that these potent, but maleficent beings, which the pagans adored, were infinitely beneath God, and worse than nothing. (Berthier)
95:6
Calmet
Before him. At his disposal; whereas the idols can bestow nothing. (Calmet)
Haydock
Sanctuary, or "sanctification." (Worthington) 1 Paralipomenon, in his place. (Haydock)
95:7
Haydock
Kindreds; patriae, or families, as it is expressed, 1 Paralipomenon xvi. (Haydock)
95:8
Menochius
Sacrifices. Hebrew Mincha, "the oblation" of flour, etc., (Haydock) which denotes the blessed Eucharist, and the spiritual sacrifices of prayer, etc. (Menochius)
Berthier
Victims shall cease, but the pure oblation shall continue among the Gentiles, Malachias 1:11. (Berthier)
Calmet
Courts. This shews that their conversion is predicted, since they could not otherwise come thither. (Calmet)
95:9
Houbigant
Moved. Hebrew, "in labour," (Isaias 26:17.; Theodoret; Calmet) or "fear ye before him all the earth." (Houbigant)
Haydock
In Paralipomenon, the sentences are in a different order. (Haydock)
95:10
Du Hamel
Reigned. St. Bernard says, "the kingdom of Jesus is in the wood." (Du Hamel)
Tournemine
St. Justin Martyr (Dialogue with Trypho) accuses the Jews of retrenching apo tou xulou, "from the wood," which all the Latin Fathers, except St. Jerome, acknowledge in their copies. That ancient author, being born among the Samaritans, could hardly be so ignorant of the Hebrew text, and his antagonist does not attempt to refute the charge; so that it seems probable, that they were in the original, (Berthier) and since erased by the Jews, from the Septuagint, who added them, (Worthington) by the spirit of prophecy. (Tournemine)
Faber
But how came Christians to permit this to be done in their Hebrew, Greek, and Latin copies? The words in question may have been, therefore, a marginal gloss, which had crept into the text. (Faber, Justiniani, etc.)
Calmet
They do not occur in the parallel passage, (1 Paralipomenon) nor in the Vulgate, though they be retained in the Roman breviary. (Calmet)
Amama
Lindan objects this perfidy of the Jews to the Reformers, not reflecting, that he thus condemns the Vulgate. Genebrard is of opinion, that "the Septuagint were inspired to add these words, which some half-learned critics have thought proper to expunge with an impiety which is now but too common." The Popes have not, however, thought that the cross stood in need of this support. (Amama)
Haydock
The Chaldean and Syriac, as well as all the copies of the Septuagint extant, and the Arabic and Ethiopic versions taken from it, and all the Greek interpreters and Fathers, (except St. Justin) with St. Jerome, both in his versions from the Hebrew and Septuagint, omit these words, which are found in the Roman, Gothic, and other psalters. Origen's Hexapla seem to have most enabled the Greeks to discern the interpolation, which the Latins retained longer, not having such easy access to that work. Whatever may be the decision on this important matter, it is certain that the reign of Christ was propagated from the wood, in a wonderful manner, as he there began to draw all to himself, and the prophet seems evidently to allude to the times when Christ proclaimed, the kingdom of God is at hand, and when the conversion of the Gentiles, and the institution of the blessed Eucharist (ver. 8.) would fill all the world with rapture. (Haydock)
Berthier
The positive testimony of St. Justin, and the Italic version used by the Latin Fathers, (Berthier) Tertullian, St. Augustine, etc., (Worthington) seems of more weight to prove the authenticity of the words, than the simple omission in the copies of Origen, and St. Jerome, etc., to evince the contrary. (Berthier)
Berthier
Corrected. Evil morals and idolatry, (Menochius) rather than the physical order of the globe, Psalm 92:1. (Berthier)
Haydock
Hebrew, "he hath balanced," (Houbigant) or established. (Haydock)
Haydock
The Christian faith shall not be abolished, (Menochius) or corrected. (Haydock)
Tertullian
"Faith is not to be reformed." (Tertullian)
Justice. Ancient psalters add, "and the Gentiles in his wrath," ver. 13., and Psalm 98:8.
95:11
Haydock
Fulness. Its raging billows, (Calmet) fishes, (Menochius) those who live upon the water. (Haydock)
Calmet
Let al testify their joy. Every thing is animated by the psalmist. (Calmet)
95:13
Calmet
Judge. Or "rule," as he invites all to rejoice. (Calmet)
Haydock
But this will be done by all nature, when God shall punish the wicked. (Haydock)
Worthington
He now judges by his ministers, and will pass sentence at the last day. (Worthington)
Haydock
This verse is added, instead of the last three in 1 Paralipomenon xvi., which occur in Psalm cv. (Haydock)
95:1
When the house was built, etc.... Alluding to that time, and then ordered to be sung: but principally relating to the building of the church of Christ, after our redemption from the captivity of Satan.
95:1
Inspired to Dauid, and written by him:
prophecying the restauration of the temple, after the future captiuitie. And that in figure of the vniuersal redemption of mankind by Christ, from the captiuitie of the diuel.
Concordance • 1. Par. 16. v. 23.
For a new benefite, farre greater then the deliuerie of Israel from Aegypt.
95:2
The same wordes [Sing to our Lord] thrise repeted, signifie the Blessed Trinitie, as some Fathers note. Likewise v. 7. and 8. Bring ye to our Lord, &c. in both places concluding in the singular number, blesse his name, bring to his name, importing one God.
95:5
VVhat creatures soeuer spiritual or corporal, visible or inuisible the paganes serue for goddes, stil they •e diuels that deceiue them, and diuers wayes vsurpe diuine honour, making such idolaters to thinke, that there is diuine powre, where none is.
He only is true God, who is Creator of heauen, and of al creatures. For no creature can create anie thing at al, that is, make anie thing of nothing but only God.
95:10
Diuers ancient Doctors read more in this place: Our Lord hath reigned from the wood, to witte, Christ by his death on the crosse conquered the diuel, sinne, and death, and thence begane to reigne. S. Iustinus Martyr, dialogo aduers. Triphonem. Tertullian li. aduers. Iudaeos. c. 9. & 13 & aduers. Marcionem. li. 3 c. 19. &. 21. S Augustin in this place, according to the old Roman Psalter. Before him Arnobius, and after him Cassiadorus and others, wherby it is probable, that it was sometimes in the Hebrew text, and blotted out by the Iewes.
95:11
The Psalmist in abundance of spirite inuiteth al creatures to praise God, as Daniel in his Canticle. c. 3.
95:13
Christ iudgeth now in the world by his ministers discerning and deciding causes, rewarding and punishing, but especially he wil iudge al in the last day.
95:1
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 The First Apology 41
… Give Glory to the Lord, the Father everlasting. Receive grace, and enter His presence, and worship in His holy courts. Let all the earth fear before His face; let it be established, and not shaken. Let them rejoice among the nations. The Lord hath reigned from the tree.”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.9.1
… the old, that giving of the law which took place formerly; and He points out as the new, that manner of life required by the Gospel, of which David says, “Sing unto the Lord a new song;”
Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 10.4.9
9. Not only to the faithful, but also to unbelievers, has he confirmed the record of ancient events; he that worketh miracles, he that doeth great things, the Master of all, the Creator of the whole world, the omnipotent, the all-merciful, the one and only God. To him let us sing the new song,
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 38
I. Christ is born , glorify ye Him. Christ from heaven, go ye out to meet Him. Christ on earth; be ye exalted. Sing unto the Lord all the whole earth;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 8.24
… that which incredulity instituted, faith took away; that which aversion from divine worship and service instituted, conversion to the one true and holy God took away. Nor was this the case only in Egypt, for which country alone the spirit of the demons lamented in Hermes, but in all the earth, which sings to the Lord a new song,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Of Holy Virginity 27
… With loins girded, and lamps burning, wait for the Lord, when He cometh from the marriage. Ye shall bring unto the marriage of the Lamb a new song, which ye shall sing on your harps. Not surely such as the whole earth singeth, unto which it is said, “Sing unto the Lord a new song; sing unto the Lord, the whole earth”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.47
… for there it is said, "I will sing a new song unto Thee, O God: upon a psaltery, and an instrument of ten strings, will I sing praise unto Thee." And see whether he belongs to this song who refuses to communicate with the whole earth. For elsewhere it is said, "O sing unto the Lord a new song; sing unto the Lord, all the earth."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 66.7
… For so the Psalm itself says, “When the house was in building after the captivity;” and what says it, “Sing unto the Lord a new song, sing unto the Lord all the earth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 96.2
2. “O sing unto the Lord a new song; sing unto the Lord, all the earth” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 98.1
… The old man is the old life, and the new man the new life: the old life is derived from Adam, the new life is formed in Christ. But in this Psalm, the whole world is enjoined to sing a new song. More openly elsewhere the words are these: “O sing unto the Lord a new song; sing unto the Lord, all the whole earth;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 106.32
… of this world cast out:” and again of the Apostle, when he saith, “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.” Meditate on these and such like things, examine also the Old Testament, and see what is sung in that Psalm, the title of which is, When the temple was being built after the captivity:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 149.1
… for he hath followed old strife, not new charity. In new charity what is there? Peace, the bond of an holy society, a spiritual union, a building of living stones. Where is this? Not in one place, but throughout the whole world. This is said in another Psalm, “Sing unto the Lord, all the earth.”
95:2
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 96.3
3. “Sing unto the Lord, bless His Name: be telling good tidings of His salvation from day to day” (
95:4
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 11.1
… Or seest Thou at the time that which cometh to pass in time? Why, therefore, do I place before Thee so many relations of things? Not surely that Thou mightest know them through me, but that I may awaken my own love and that of my readers towards Thee, that we may all say, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 1.29
… and in return for our patient endurance of the sufferings of time, He reserves for us an everlasting reward. But who are you, that we should deign to speak with you even about your own gods, much less about our God, who is “to be feared above all gods? For all the gods of the nations are idols; but the Lord made the heavens.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 50.2
… for we are like, not equal: He, because equal, is therefore like. We have heard who are the gods that being made are justified, because they are called the sons of God: and who are the gods that are not Gods, to whom the God of gods is terrible? For another Psalm saith, “He is terrible over all gods.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 96.4
4. “For the Lord is great, and cannot worthily be praised” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 136.3
… In the Scriptures I know not whether it can, at least easily, be found, that the Angels are openly called gods; but when it had been said of the Lord God, “He is terrible, above all gods,” he adds, as by way of exposition why he says this, “for the gods of the heathen are devils,”
95:5
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 55
… And in order that the Holy Spirit may convince [us] of this, He said by the holy David, ‘The gods of the nations, reputed gods, are idols of demons, and not gods;’
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 79
… And we have it recorded by Moses in the beginning of Genesis, that the serpent beguiled Eve, and was cursed. And we know that in Egypt there were magicians who emulated the mighty power displayed by God through the faithful servant Moses. And you are aware that David said, ‘The gods of the nations are demons.’ ”
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 On the Resurrection, Fragments 5
… For if the heathen believe in their gods, which are idols (“which have ears, and they hear not; they have eyes, and they see not” ), that they can do all things, though they be but devils, as saith the Scripture, “The gods of the nations are devils,”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 3.6.3
3. When, however, the Scripture terms them [gods] which are no gods, it does not, as I have already remarked, declare them as gods in every sense, but with a certain addition and signification, by which they are shown to be no gods at all. As with David: “The gods of the heathen are idols of demons;”
Tertullian † AD 220 On Idolatry 20
… But if I speak of them as gods, something must be added to make it appear that I do not call them gods. For even the Scripture names “gods,” but adds “their,” viz. “of the nations:” just as David does when he had named “gods,” where he says, “But the gods of the nations are demons.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 3.2
… agreeably to their ancient institutions, that they received oracles and predictions from those whom they accounted gods, this people alone, who were taught to view with contempt all those who were considered gods by the heathen, as not being gods, but demons, according to the declaration of the prophets, “For all the gods of the nations are demons,”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 4.29
… For we know that there are many creatures more honourable than man; and we have read that “God standeth in the congregation of gods,” but of gods who are not worshipped by the nations, “for all the gods of the nations are idols.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 8.3
… The defence of this passage will lead us to a deeper and more searching inquiry into the meaning and application of the words “gods” and “lords.” Divine Scripture teaches us that there is “a great Lord above all gods.” And by this name “gods” we are not to understand the objects of heathen worship (for we know that “all the gods of the heathen are demons”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.60
… They have a mouth, and speak not; they have eyes, and see not; they have ears, and hear not; and neither is there any breath in their mouth. Let them who make them become like unto them, and all those who trust in them.” Also in the ninety-fifth Psalm: “All the gods of the nations are demons, but the Lord made the heavens.”
St Basil the Great † AD 379 The Letters 8.3
… From this the consubstantiality is proved. For God in essence or substance is co-essential or con-substantial with God in essence or substance. But when even man is called “god” as in the words, “I have said ye are gods,” and “dæmon” as in the words, “The gods of the nations are dæmons,”
St Basil the Great † AD 379 The Letters 189
… Nay, Holy Scripture does not even shrink from using this term in the case of things of a totally opposite character, as when it applies the title god to idols. “Let the gods,” it is written, “who have not made heaven and earth, be taken away, and cast beneath the earth;” and again, “the gods of the nations are idols.”
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 On the Holy Trinity, and of the Godhead of the Holy Spirit 1
… Further, the Divine Scripture is not sparing in this use of the name even in the case of things incongruous, as when it names idols by the appellation of God. For it says, “Let the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth perish, and be cast down beneath the earth ”; and, “all the gods of the heathen are devils
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose 17.1
… For salvation is not sure unless everyone worship in truth the true God, that is the God of the Christians, under Whose sway are all things; for He alone is the true God, Who is to be worshipped from the bottom of the heart; for “the gods of the heathen,” as Scripture says, “are devils.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 102.19
… Lest, moreover, these worshippers should think that our Scriptures intend only to declare that such affections of the human heart spring naturally from the worship of idols, it is written in the plainest terms, “All the gods of the nations are devils.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 9.23
… us, since in our own Scriptures we read, “The God of gods, the Lord hath spoken;” and again, “Confess to the God of gods;” and again, “He is a great King above all gods.” And where it is said, “He is to be feared above all gods,” the reason is forthwith added, for it follows, “for all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 19.23
… one might suppose that this prohibition extends only to the very wicked demons and earthly spirits, whom this philosopher calls very small and inferior,—for even these are in the Scripture called gods, not of the Hebrews, but of the nations, as the Septuagint translators have shown in the psalm where it is said, “For all the gods of the nations are demons,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 21.9
… In this sense the world is also called evil, where it is written, "that He might deliver us from this present evil age." In the same way, in the expression, "whose god is their belly," it is only in connection with the word whose that the belly is called god. So also, in the Psalms, the devils would not be called gods without adding "of the nations."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 1.15
… Nor should that seem incredible. For we also read in the Gospel that the demons confessed Him; and in our prophets it is written in this wise: “For the gods of the nations are demons.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 48.14
… This shall ye say to them, “The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from those that are under the heavens.” He is not such a god: for our God is above all gods. Above all what gods? “For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 86.11
… But we do not worship these, he says; we do not worship them, these are symbols. What then do ye worship? Something else that is worse: for the gods of the gentiles are devils. What then? Neither, say they, do we worship devils. Ye have certainly nothing else in your temples, nothing else inspires your prophets than a devil.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 97.12
… What meaneth, “above all gods”? Who are they? Idols have not life, have not sense: devils have life and sense; but they are evil. What great thing is it that Christ is exalted above devils? He is exalted above devils: but neither is this very great; the heathen gods indeed are devils,
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus 147
… Aha I am warm I have seen the fire,” went on “and the residue thereof he maketh a god and falleth down unto it and saith ‘Deliver me for thou art my god’” and so the prophet laments over them and says “Know that their heart is ashes.” And the Psalmist David has taught us to sing “For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.”
95:6
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 2.4
… For the name of “deity” is given, in an equivocal sense, to the idols of the heathen, seeing that “all the gods of the heathen are demons,” and in another sense marks the contrast of the one with the many, of the true with the false, of those who are not Gods with Him who is God
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 122.3
… “I will teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.” For as “confession and beauty are before God,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 96.7
7. “Confession and beauty are before Him” (
95:7
Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 5
… and in every place they offer clean sacrifices to my Name.” Again, in the Psalms, David says: “Bring to God, ye countries of the nations”—undoubtedly because “unto every land” the preaching of the apostles had to “go out” —“bring to God fame and honour; bring to God the sacrifices of His name: take up victims and enter into His courts.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 96.8
8. What then? If “confession and beauty are before Him: holiness and greatness in His sanctification” (
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret 3.6
… They marched with joy to the grove, put the coffin on a car and went before it leading a vast concourse of people, singing the psalms of David, while at every pause they shouted “Shame be to all them that worship molten images.”
95:8
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Of Holy Virginity 30
30. Ye also who have not yet made this vow, who are able to receive it, receive it. Run with perseverance, that ye may obtain. Take ye each his sacrifices, and enter ye into the courts
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 96.9
9. “Ascribe unto the Lord glory unto His Name” (
95:9
St Methodius † AD 311 Oration Concerning Simeon and Anna On the Day that They Met in the Temple 1
… “For then shalt Thou be shown forth,” He says, “as upon a kingly charger, by Thy pure and chaste mother, in the temple, and that in the grace and beauty of the flesh assumed by Thee.” All these things the prophet, summing up for the sake of greater clearness, exclaims in brief: “The Lord is in His holy temple;” “Fear before Him all the earth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 96.10
10. “O worship the Lord in His holy court” (
95:10
Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 10
Come, now, if you have read in the utterance of the prophet in the Psalms, “God hath reigned from the tree ,”
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 3.19
Come now, when you read in the words of David, how that “the Lord reigneth from the tree,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 39
… and this truth David everywhere loudly proclaimed, “He shall judge the people in righteousness,” and, “God is a righteous Judge, strong and patient” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 93.7
… “Holiness becometh Thine house, O Lord!” Thine house, the whole of Thine house, not here and there: but the whole of Thine house, throughout the whole world. Why throughout the whole of the round world? “Because He hath set aright the round world, which cannot be moved.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 96.11
11. “Tell it out among the nations, that the Lord reigneth from the wood: and that it is He who hath made the round world so fast that it cannot be moved” (
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 55
… But they themselves watched and gazed on Me, they parted My raiment among them, and for My robe they cast lots .” And lest the course of your own evil doings should seem to have been foretold, and no power in the Crucified predicted, ye read not, indeed, that the Lord descended from the cross, but ye did read, “The Lord reigned on the tree
95:11
St Hippolytus † AD 235 On the Psalms 9
On the Words in Psalm xcvi. 11 : “Let the Sea Roar (Be Moved), and the Fulness Thereof.”
St Gregory Thaumaturgus † AD 270 Four Homilies 1
… and the heavenly kingdom is urgent to summon those who mind celestial things to join the divine service of the incorporeal choirs. To-day is fulfilled the word of David, “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad. The fields shall be joyful, and all the trees of the wood before the Lord, because He cometh.”
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 3.1
1. Rejoice, ye heavens, and let the earth be glad
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 96.2
… For we know that many barbarous nations have already believed in Christ: Christ already possesseth regions where the Roman empire hath never yet reached; what is as yet closed to those who fight with the sword, is not closed to Him who fighteth with wood. For “the Lord hath reigned from the wood.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 96.12
12. “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad” (
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 2.6
It must not be supposed that the heavens or the luminaries are endowed with life . For they are inanimate and insensible . So that when the divine Scripture saith, Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad
95:12
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 80.8
… For what is a boar but a savage swine, a furious swine? “A boar from the wood hath laid her waste.” “From the wood,” from the Gentiles. For she was a vineyard, but the Gentiles were woods. But when the Gentiles believed, there was said what? “Then there shall exult all the trees of the woods.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 96.13
13. “The plains shall be joyful, and all things that are in them” (
95:13
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 96.14
14. “Before the face of the Lord. For He cometh, for He cometh to judge the world” (
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus 146
… Such treatment was never suffered by any criminal charged with witchcraft or robbery of the dead, by murderer or by adulterer. But for the present I will leave the judges alone, for the Lord is at hand “Who judges the world with righteousness and the people with his truth;”
95:6
… herself by her very condition to pity (cf. Ex. 22, 22; Deut. 24, 17; 19, 21; 14, 29; 26, 12-13; 16, 11, 14; 10, 18; 27, 19; 22, 24); very often, having no close relatives to defend her, she is at the mercy of the violent (cf. Job 22, 9; 34, 3, 21; Ps. 95, 6; Wis. 4, 10; Is. 1, 23; 10, 2; Jer. 7, 6; Ex. 22, 7, 25; Mal. 3, 5, etc.); she is consoled and helped only by the charitable man (cf. Job 29, 13; 31, 16; Jer. 22, 3; …
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.