Letter to Marcellinus on the Interpretation of the Psalms 1–16

I admire your purpose in Christ, my dear Marcellinus. For you are bearing the present trial well, though you have suffered much in it, and you do not neglect your discipline. When I asked the man who brought your letter how you were spending your time after your illness, I learned that you give your leisure to the whole divine Scripture, but read the book of the Psalms most often, and strive to grasp the meaning contained in each psalm. For this I commend you, since I too have a great love for that book, as indeed for all Scripture. And being so disposed, I met a studious old man, and I want to write to you what he, holding the Psalter, told me about it; for his account has a certain charm and persuasiveness, together with sound reason. He spoke thus:

"All our Scripture, my son, old and new, is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, as it is written; but the book of Psalms holds a certain persuasive observation for those who attend to it. For each book ministers and announces its own message: thus the Pentateuch tells of the beginning of the world and the deeds of the patriarchs, the exodus of Israel from Egypt and the ordering of the law; the Triteuch tells of the allotment of the land, the deeds of the judges, and the genealogy of David; the books of Kingdoms and Chronicles tell the deeds of kings; Ezra tells of the release from captivity, the return of the people, and the building of the temple and of the city; the Prophets contain prophecies about the coming of the Saviour, reminders of the commandments, rebukes against transgressors, and prophecies for the nations. But the book of Psalms, like a garden, … shows, singing them together with them.

For it sings of the things of Genesis in the eighteenth: "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands"; and in the twenty-third: "The earth is the Lord's and its fullness, the world and all who dwell in it; he himself founded it upon the seas." The things of Exodus and Numbers and … psalm, and in the hundred and thirteenth psalm, saying: "When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people, Judea became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion." It also sings these things in the hundred and fourth: "He sent Moses his servant, Aaron whom he chose; he set among them the words of his signs and of his wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness, and it grew dark, and … his words. He turned their waters into blood and killed their fish. Their land swarmed with frogs in the chambers of their kings. He spoke, and the dog-fly came, and gnats in all their borders." And in general one can find this whole psalm, and the hundred and fifth, written about the same things. And the things of the priesthood and of the tabernacle it proclaims in the twenty-eighth psalm, "at the going out of the tabernacle": "Bring to the Lord, you sons of God, bring to the Lord young rams; bring to the Lord glory and honour."

The things of Joshua son of Nun and of the Judges it shows somewhat in the hundred and sixth, saying: "And they founded cities to dwell in, and sowed fields, and planted vineyards"; for under Joshua the land of promise was given to them. And when it says repeatedly in the same psalm, "And they cried to the Lord in their affliction, and he saved them out of their distresses," it signifies the book of Judges; for then, when they cried out, he raised up judges in their time and saved the people from those who afflicted them. And it sings somewhat of the things of the Kingdoms in the nineteenth, saying: "Some in chariots and some in horses, but we will be magnified in the name of the Lord our God. They were bound and fell, but we have risen and been set upright. Lord, save the king, and hear us … on whatever day we call upon you." The things of Ezra it sings in the fifth of the Songs of Ascent: "When the Lord turned the captivity of Zion, we became as those comforted"; and again in the hundred and twenty-first: "I was glad at those who said to me: Let us go to the house of the Lord. Our feet were standing in your courts, (Jerusalem;) Jerusalem, whose sharing is together; for there the tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord, a testimony for …"

And it signifies the things of the Prophets in almost every psalm. Concerning the coming of the Saviour, and that, being God, he will come, it says thus in the forty-ninth psalm: "God will come openly, our God, and will not keep silence"; [and in the hundred and seventeenth: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; we have blessed you from the house] of the Lord; God is the Lord, and he has shone upon us." And that he is the Word of the Father it sings thus in the hundred and sixth: "He sent his Word and healed them, and rescued them from their corruptions." For the God who comes is himself also the Word who is sent. Knowing that this Word is the Son of God, it sings the voice of the Father in the forty-fourth psalm: "My heart has poured forth a good Word"; and again in the hundred and ninth: "From the womb before the morning star I begot you." For what else would anyone call the offspring of the Father but his Word and Wisdom? Knowing that it was he to whom [the Father] said, ["Let there be light," and "Let there be a] firmament," and all things, this book too contains it, saying: "By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made firm, and by the Spirit of his mouth all their power."

And it was not ignorant that Christ himself would come; indeed it speaks of him especially in the forty-fourth psalm: "Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of your kingdom. You loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows." And lest anyone think that he came only in appearance, it signifies that he would become man, and that he is the one through whom all things came to be, saying in the eighty-sixth: "Mother Zion, a man will say, and a man was born in her, and the Most High himself founded her." For this is the same as saying: "And the Word was God; all things came into being through him; and the Word became flesh." Therefore, knowing also the birth from a virgin, it did not keep silence, but at once gives some indication of it in the forty-fourth psalm, saying: "Hear, daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father's house, for the king has desired your beauty." For this again is like what was said by Gabriel: "Hail, favoured one, the Lord is with you." … Fittingly it addresses her as daughter. For having called him Christ, it at once declared also his human birth from the Virgin, saying, "Hear, daughter." And Gabriel calls Mary by name, being a stranger to her by birth; but David [calls her daughter], since she was of his seed …

[Having said that] he would become [man], it consequently signifies also that he would be capable of suffering in the flesh. And seeing the plot being made by the Jews, it sings in the second psalm: "Why did the nations rage, and the peoples meditate vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ." And in the twenty-first it tells the manner of his death in the person of the Saviour: "[You have brought me down] into the dust of death; [for many dogs surrounded me,] a gathering of evildoers encircled me. They dug my hands and my feet; they numbered all my bones. They looked and stared at me; they divided my garments among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots." The digging of the hands and feet—what else does it signify but the cross? Teaching all these things, it adds that the Lord suffers them not for his own sake but for ours. And it says again in his person, in the eighty-seventh: "Your wrath lay heavily upon me"; and in the sixty-eighth: "Then I repaid what I did not take." For he did not die [as one liable to death], but suffered for us, and bore upon himself the wrath against us for our transgression, as he says through Isaiah: "He himself took our infirmities"; and as we say in the hundred and thirty-seventh psalm: "The Lord will repay on my behalf"; and as the Spirit says in the seventy-first: "And he will save the sons of the poor and humble the slanderer, for he rescued the poor from the hand of the powerful, and the needy who had no helper."

Therefore it also foretells his bodily ascent into the heavens, and says in the twenty-third: "Lift up your gates, O rulers, and be lifted up, eternal gates, and the King of glory shall come in"; and in the forty-sixth: "God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet." It announces his session, saying in the hundred and ninth: "The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet"; and in the ninth it proclaims aloud the destruction of the devil that has come about: "You sat on a throne, you who judge righteousness; you rebuked the nations, and the ungodly one perished." And that he received all judgment from the Father it did not hide, but foretells that he is coming as judge of all, in the seventy-first: "O God, give your judgment to the king and your righteousness to the king's son, to judge your people in righteousness and your poor in judgment"; and in the forty-ninth it says: "He will call the heaven above and the earth, to judge his people"; and, "The heavens will declare his righteousness, for God is judge"; and in the eighty-first: "God stood in the assembly of gods; in the midst he judges gods." And indeed the calling of the nations can be learned from it in many places, but especially from the forty-sixth: "All you nations, clap your hands …"; and in the seventy-first: "Before him the Ethiopians will fall down, and his enemies will lick the dust; the kings of Tarshish and the islands will bring gifts … the kings of the Arabs and Saba will offer gifts; and all the kings of the earth will worship him; all the nations will serve him." These things are sung in the Psalms, and in each of the other [books] …

Knowing this, again, he said that in each book of Scripture the same things about the Saviour are signified in a special way, and that this is the message common to them all and the same harmony of the Spirit. For just as one can find the things of the others in this book, so too the things of this book are often found in the others. For Moses too writes a song, and Isaiah sings, and Habakkuk prays with a song. Again, in each book one can see prophecies and legislation and histories. For the same Spirit is over all; and according to the distribution of him made to each, each ministers and fulfils the grace given to him, whether it is prophecy, or legislation, or the record of history, or the grace of the psalms. But since the Spirit, from whom all the distributions come, is one and the same, and is himself indivisible by nature, therefore the whole is in each, while according to the ministry the manifestations and distributions of the Spirit come to each; and so, according to the need at hand, each often ministers the word as the Spirit supplies; so that, as I said before, Moses, while legislating, sometimes prophesies and sings; and the prophets, while prophesying, sometimes give commands—"Wash yourselves, become clean"; "Wash your heart from wickedness, Jerusalem"—and sometimes narrate history, Daniel the things concerning Susanna, and Isaiah those concerning the Rabshakeh and Sennacherib. So too the book of Psalms, having its own character as songs, sings with melody, in broad voice, the things that are told at length in the other books, as was said before. Indeed it too sometimes legislates: "Cease from anger and forsake wrath," and, "Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." And sometimes it narrates the journey of Israel, and prophesies about the Saviour, as was said before.

Such, then, is the grace of the Spirit, common to all; let it be found in each and the same among all, as need requires and the Spirit wills. For more and less make no difference in this matter, as long as each tirelessly fulfils and completes his own ministry. But the book of Psalms, even so, has a certain grace of its own and a special character. For besides the other things in which it has relation and fellowship with the other books, it has this marvel of its own: it has the movements of each soul, and their changes and corrections, written and portrayed in itself, so that whoever wishes can find there what forms him, as it is written there. For in the other books one only hears the law commanding what one must and must not do; one listens to prophecies so as only to know of the coming Saviour; and one attends to histories, from which one can learn the deeds of kings and of saints. But in the book of Psalms, besides learning these things, the hearer also perceives and is taught in it the movements of his own soul; and further, according to what he suffers and by what he is gripped, he can take from it again the pattern of the words, so that he does not merely hear and pass on, but learns how, by speaking and acting, he should heal his passion. For in the other books too there are forbidding words that prohibit what is base; but in this one it is also portrayed how one must abstain. For example, there is a command to repent, and to repent is to cease from sin; but here is portrayed both how to repent and what one should say in repentance. And again Paul has said: "Affliction produces endurance in the soul, endurance proven character, proven character hope, and hope does not put to shame." But in the Psalms it is written and engraved how one should bear afflictions, what the afflicted should say, and what after the afflictions, how each is tested, and what are the words of those who hope in the Lord. Again, there is a commandment to give thanks in everything; but the Psalms also teach what those giving thanks should say. Then, hearing from others, "All who wish to live godly will be persecuted," we are taught by these how those who flee should cry out, and what words those who are persecuted, and those rescued after persecution, should offer to God. We are commanded to bless the Lord and to confess him; but in the Psalms we are shown how one should praise the Lord, and with what words we may fittingly confess him. And in each case one would find the divine songs thus set out for us, and our movements and states.

And this too is a wonder in the Psalms: in the other books the saints speak, and readers, reciting what is written about those of whom it is written, are telling of others; and the hearers regard themselves as other than those of whom the word speaks, and the deeds that are told become, at most, objects of wonder and emulation, for imitation. But whoever takes up this book goes through the prophecies about the Saviour with wonder and worship, as is usual in the other Scriptures; but the other psalms he reads as if they were his own words; and the hearer, as if he himself were speaking, is pierced to the heart and [moved] by the words of the songs as his own. For the sake of clarity one should not hesitate, like the blessed apostle, to say the same thing again. Very many words of the patriarchs exist, spoken by them as their own; and Moses spoke, and God answered; and Elijah and Elisha, sitting on Mount Carmel, called upon the Lord and always said, "As the Lord lives, before whom I stand today." And the words of the other holy prophets concern first the Saviour, and then very many were addressed to the nations and to Israel. And yet no one would ever say the words of the patriarchs as his own, nor would anyone dare to imitate and speak Moses' own words, nor Abraham's about his servant and about Ishmael, or about the great Isaac; even if the same need and necessity should overtake someone, would anyone dare to say them as his own? And even if someone suffers with those who suffer, and at some time conceives a longing for something better, he would never say, as though it were his own, what Moses said: "Show yourself to me," or again: "If you will forgive them their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me out of your book which you have written." Nor would anyone, taking the prophets' words as his own, blame or praise those who do things like those whom they blamed and praised; nor would anyone imitate and say as his own word, "As the Lord lives, before whom I stand today." For whoever reads those books plainly speaks the words not as his own but as those of the saints and of those signified through them. But the Psalms—and this is the marvel—apart from the prophecies about the Saviour and the nations, he who says them speaks as his own words, and each sings them as written about himself, and does not receive and go through them as if another were speaking or as signifying another; … but he is disposed as one speaking about himself; and whatever is said, he offers to God as having done it himself and as speaking from himself. For he will not be wary of these as of the words of the patriarchs and of Moses and of the other prophets; rather, the one who sings them is bold to say them as his own and as written about himself. For the Psalms contain both the one who has kept the commandment and the one who has transgressed it, and the deeds of each; and everyone must, either as having kept the commandment or as having transgressed it, say the …

And it seems to me that these become for the one who sings them like a mirror, so that he perceives himself and the movements of his own soul in them, and, perceiving them so, recites them. For the one who hears the reader also receives the song as spoken about himself; and either, convicted by his conscience and pierced to the heart, he will repent, or, hearing about hope in God and the help that comes to those who believe, he exults as though such grace had come to him, and begins to give thanks to God. When, then, someone sings the third psalm, considering his own afflictions, he will think the words in the psalm are his own; and then he recites the tenth and the fifteenth as expressing his own confidence and prayer; and the fiftieth psalm as speaking himself the words proper to his own repentance; and the fifty-third, the fifty-fifth, the fifty-sixth, and the hundred and forty-first, when one sings them, he sings them to the Lord as his own words, not as though another were being persecuted, but as the one who suffers, sharing the same disposition. And in general each psalm has been spoken and composed by the Spirit in such a way that in them, as was said before, the movements of our soul are perceived, and all of them are spoken as about us and are ours as our own words, for the remembrance of the movements within us and for the correction of our way of life. For what the psalmists said can also be types and patterns for us.

This again is the grace of the Saviour: having become man for us, he offered his own body to death on our behalf, so as to free all from death; and wishing to show us his heavenly and well-pleasing way of life, he portrayed it in himself, so that no one might any longer easily be deceived by the enemy, having as a pledge of safety the victory he won for us over the devil. For this reason he not only taught but also did what he taught, so that each one might hear him speaking and, looking as at an image, take from him the example for acting, hearing: "Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart." One could not find a more perfect teaching toward virtue than that which the Lord portrayed in himself. For whether forbearance, or love of mankind, or goodness, or courage, or mercy, or righteousness, one will find all of them done in him, so that nothing toward virtue is lacking to one who contemplates this human life of his. Knowing this, Paul said: "Be imitators of me, as I also am of Christ." The lawgivers among the Greeks have their grace only in speaking; but the Lord, as truly Lord of all and caring for his works, not only legislates but also gave himself as a pattern, so that those who wish might know the power of acting. For this reason, even before his coming among us, he made this sound in those who sing psalms, so that, just as he showed in himself the pattern of the earthly and the heavenly man, so also from the Psalms whoever wishes can learn the movements and dispositions of souls, finding in them also the remedy and correction of each movement.

If one must speak still more persuasively: all divine Scripture is a teacher of virtue and of true faith, but the book of Psalms also has in some way the image of the conduct of souls. For as one who goes in to a king is formed in his bearing and his words, lest by speaking otherwise he be thrown out as uneducated, so the divine book first reminds the one who runs in virtue and wishes to understand the Saviour's way of life in the body, through the reading, of the movements of the soul, and so then forms and teaches those who read such words. Now—so that one may first observe this about the book—some psalms are in narrative, some in prayer, some in … Those in narrative are [the 18th], 43rd, 76th, 77th, 88th, 104th, 105th, 106th, 113th, …. Those in prayer: …, 67th, 89th, 101st, 131st, 141st. Those in petition, prayer, and supplication: the 5th, 6th, 11th, …, 15th, 24th, 27th, 30th, 34th, 37th, 42nd, 53rd, 54th, 55th, 56th, 58th, 59th, 60th, 63rd, …, 85th, 87th, 137th, 139th. One is in petition and thanksgiving: the 138th. Those in petition alone: the 3rd, 25th, 68th, 69th, 70th, 73rd. Those in confession: the 9th, 74th, …, 104th, …. For not only concerning works … Those that combine confession and narrative: the 9th, 74th, 105th, 106th, 117th. One combining confession and narrative with praise: the 110th. One is in exhortation: the 36th. Those in prophecy: the 20th, 21st, 44th, 46th, 75th. One is announcing, with prophecy: the 109th. One was spoken as exhorting, with song: the 149th. Those describing the virtuous life are … Those that proclaim praise are …, 116th, 134th, 144th, 145th, 146th, 148th, 150th. Those of thanksgiving are the 8th, 9th, 17th, 33rd, 49th (?), …. Another showing eagerness with song is the 107th. One exhorting to courage is the 80th. Those accusing the ungodly and lawless are …. One is of invocation: the 4th. Those proclaiming words of boasting in the Lord are the 22nd and 26th, 38th, 39th, 41st, 61st, 75th, …. Those speaking words of hymn are the 47th and 64th. One is of shouting and about the resurrection: the 65th. And another speaks only words of shouting: the [99th?].

Such being the arrangement of the Psalms, it is possible for readers to find in each, as I said before, the movements and state of their own soul, and so for each case the pattern and the teaching: what one can say to please the Lord, and with what words one can correct oneself and give thanks to the Lord, so that he who [speaks otherwise] may not fall into ungodliness. For we must give account to the Judge not only for our works but even for an idle word. If, then, you wish to call someone blessed, you have how one should do it, and on what ground, and what one should say: the 1st, the 31st, the 40th, the 111th, the 118th, and the 127th. If you wish to rebuke the plot of the Jews against the Saviour, you have the second song. If you are persecuted by your own people and have many rising up against you, say the 3rd psalm. If, so afflicted, you have called upon the Lord and, having been heard, wish to give thanks, sing the fourth, the 74th, and the 114th. And if, seeing evildoers still wishing to lie in wait for you, you want your prayer to be heard, rise early in the morning and sing the 5th. If you perceive a threat from the Lord and see yourself troubled by it, you can say the 6th and the 37th. And if some take counsel against you, as Ahithophel did against David, and someone tells you of it, sing the 7th, and take courage in God who rescues you.

Seeing the grace of the Saviour extended everywhere and the human race saved, if you wish to address the Lord, sing the 8th. And again, if you wish to sing a song of the winepress, giving thanks to the Lord, you have the same 8th and the 83rd. For the overthrow of the enemy and the saving of the creation, not boasting in yourself but knowing that it was the Son of God who accomplished it, say the 9th psalm, spoken about him. And if someone wishes to trouble you greatly, keep your confidence in the Lord and sing the 10th. When you see the pride of the many and wickedness abounding, so that nothing holy remains among men, take refuge in the Lord and say the 11th. When the plot of the enemies drags on, do not lose heart as though forgotten by God, but call upon the Lord, singing the …