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*H Unto the end, understanding for the sons of Core.
Ver. 1. Understanding. See Ps. xxxi. M. — Core, who composed, (T.) or sung (M.) most of the psalms in this second part. T. — Pieces of a joyful nature were generally assigned to them, according to the Jews and S. Jer. Ps. lxxxiv. M. — They were descendants of the famous schismatic, the miraculous preservation of whose innocent children teaches us, that the good will not be punished with the guilty, and that we must be raised above this earth, lest hell devour us. Num. xvi. 31. and xxvi. 10. W. — The sentiments of the captives, (C.) and of every sincere Christian, are here expressed. S. Aug. — David may have been the author, (C.) as it is generally believed. Bert.
*H As the hart panteth after the fountains of water; so my soul panteth after thee, O God.
Ver. 2. Waters. This was sung at the baptism of Catechumens, (S. Aug.) teaching them to thirst after heaven. H. — The hart being infected with poison, thirsts exceedingly, as sinners must do for pardon. W.
*H My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?
Ver. 3. Strong. Most Bibles before Clement VIII. read "fountain." C. — El signifies both God and strong. Bert. — The Levites desired earnestly to serve God in his temple; Christians must wish to appear before him in heaven, (C.) when they will be free from temptations. Idols may destroy, but they cannot give life. W.
* Summa
*S Part 3, Ques 82, Article 4
[II-II, Q. 82, Art. 4]
Whether Joy Is an Effect of Devotion?
Objection 1: It would seem that joy is not an effect of devotion. As stated above (A. 3, ad 2), Christ's Passion is the chief incentive to devotion. But the consideration thereof causes an affliction of the soul, according to Lam. 3:19, "Remember my poverty . . . the wormwood and the gall," which refers to the Passion, and afterwards (Lam. 3:20) it is said: "I will be mindful and remember, and my soul shall languish within me." Therefore delight or joy is not the effect of devotion.
Obj. 2: Further, devotion consists chiefly in an interior sacrifice of the spirit. But it is written (Ps. 50:19): "A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit." Therefore affliction is the effect of devotion rather than gladness or joy.
Obj. 3: Further, Gregory of Nyssa says (De Homine xii) [*Orat. funebr. de Placilla Imp.] that "just as laughter proceeds from joy, so tears and groans are signs of sorrow." But devotion makes some people shed tears. Therefore gladness or joy is not the effect of devotion.
_On the contrary,_ We say in the Collect [*Thursday after fourth Sunday of Lent]: "That we who are punished by fasting may be comforted by a holy devotion."
_I answer that,_ The direct and principal effect of devotion is the spiritual joy of the mind, though sorrow is its secondary and indirect effect. For it has been stated (A. 3) that devotion is caused by a twofold consideration: chiefly by the consideration of God's goodness, because this consideration belongs to the term, as it were, of the movement of the will in surrendering itself to God, and the direct result of this consideration is joy, according to Ps. 76:4, "I remembered God, and was delighted"; but accidentally this consideration causes a certain sorrow in those who do not yet enjoy God fully, according to Ps. 41:3, "My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God," and afterwards it is said (Ps. 41:4): "My tears have been my bread," etc. Secondarily devotion is caused as stated (A. 3), by the consideration of one's own failings; for this consideration regards the term from which man withdraws by the movement of his devout will, in that he trusts not in himself, but subjects himself to God. This consideration has an opposite tendency to the first: for it is of a nature to cause sorrow directly (when one thinks over one's own failings), and joy accidentally, namely, through hope of the Divine assistance. It is accordingly evident that the first and direct effect of devotion is joy, while the secondary and accidental effect is that "sorrow which is according to God" [*2 Cor. 7:10].
Reply Obj. 1: In the consideration of Christ's Passion there is something that causes sorrow, namely, the human defect, the removal of which made it necessary for Christ to suffer [*Luke 24:25]; and there is something that causes joy, namely, God's loving-kindness to us in giving us such a deliverance.
Reply Obj. 2: The spirit which on the one hand is afflicted on account of the defects of the present life, on the other hand is rejoiced, by the consideration of God's goodness, and by the hope of the Divine help.
Reply Obj. 3: Tears are caused not only through sorrow, but also through a certain tenderness of the affections, especially when one considers something that gives joy mixed with pain. Thus men are wont to shed tears through a sentiment of piety, when they recover their children or dear friends, whom they thought to have lost. In this way tears arise from devotion. _______________________
*H My tears have been my bread day and night, whilst it is said to me daily: Where is thy God?
Ver. 4. Bread. Ovid imitates this: Cura dolorque animi lachrymæque alimenta fuére. Met. x. — The tears of compunction obtain the remission of sin. S. Jer. — God. Thus the idolaters derided those who could not point at their God. H. — The Babylonians had conquered all the surrounding nations, and despised their deities. C. — The wicked laugh at the just, who are for a time in distress, comforting themselves with weeping. W. — Those who saw David wandering (H.) in the mountains, at a distance from the tabernacle, might ask him what religion or God he followed. M.
* Summa
*S Part 2, Ques 32, Article 4
[I-II, Q. 32, Art. 4]
Whether sadness causes pleasure?
Objection 1: It would seem that sadness does not cause pleasure. For nothing causes its own contrary. But sadness is contrary to pleasure. Therefore it does not cause it.
Obj. 2: Further, contraries have contrary effects. But pleasures, when called to mind, cause pleasure. Therefore sad things, when remembered, cause sorrow and not pleasure.
Obj. 3: Further, as sadness is to pleasure, so is hatred to love. But hatred does not cause love, but rather the other way about, as stated above (Q. 29, A. 2). Therefore sadness does not cause pleasure.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Ps. 41:4): "My tears have been my bread day and night": where bread denotes the refreshment of pleasure. Therefore tears, which arise from sadness, can give pleasure.
_I answer that,_ Sadness may be considered in two ways: as existing actually, and as existing in the memory: and in both ways sadness can cause pleasure. Because sadness, as actually existing, causes pleasure, inasmuch as it brings to mind that which is loved, the absence of which causes sadness; and yet the mere thought of it gives pleasure. The recollection of sadness becomes a cause of pleasure, on account of the deliverance which ensued: because absence of evil is looked upon as something good; wherefore so far as a man thinks that he has been delivered from that which caused him sorrow and pain, so much reason has he to rejoice. Hence Augustine says in _De Civ. Dei_ xxii, 31 [*Gregory, Moral. iv.] that "oftentimes in joy we call to mind sad things . . . and in the season of health we recall past pains without feeling pain . . . and in proportion are the more filled with joy and gladness": and again (Confess. viii, 3) he says that "the more peril there was in the battle, so much the more joy will there be in the triumph."
Reply Obj. 1: Sometimes accidentally a thing is the cause of its contrary: thus "that which is cold sometimes causes heat," as stated in _Phys._ viii, 1. In like manner sadness is the accidental cause of pleasure, in so far as it gives rise to the apprehension of something pleasant.
Reply Obj. 2: Sad things, called to mind, cause pleasure, not in so far as they are sad and contrary to pleasant things; but in so far as man is delivered from them. In like manner the recollection of pleasant things, by reason of these being lost, may cause sadness.
Reply Obj. 3: Hatred also can be the accidental cause of love: i.e. so far as some love one another, inasmuch as they agree in hating one and the same thing. ________________________
FIFTH
*S Part 3, Ques 82, Article 4
[II-II, Q. 82, Art. 4]
Whether Joy Is an Effect of Devotion?
Objection 1: It would seem that joy is not an effect of devotion. As stated above (A. 3, ad 2), Christ's Passion is the chief incentive to devotion. But the consideration thereof causes an affliction of the soul, according to Lam. 3:19, "Remember my poverty . . . the wormwood and the gall," which refers to the Passion, and afterwards (Lam. 3:20) it is said: "I will be mindful and remember, and my soul shall languish within me." Therefore delight or joy is not the effect of devotion.
Obj. 2: Further, devotion consists chiefly in an interior sacrifice of the spirit. But it is written (Ps. 50:19): "A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit." Therefore affliction is the effect of devotion rather than gladness or joy.
Obj. 3: Further, Gregory of Nyssa says (De Homine xii) [*Orat. funebr. de Placilla Imp.] that "just as laughter proceeds from joy, so tears and groans are signs of sorrow." But devotion makes some people shed tears. Therefore gladness or joy is not the effect of devotion.
_On the contrary,_ We say in the Collect [*Thursday after fourth Sunday of Lent]: "That we who are punished by fasting may be comforted by a holy devotion."
_I answer that,_ The direct and principal effect of devotion is the spiritual joy of the mind, though sorrow is its secondary and indirect effect. For it has been stated (A. 3) that devotion is caused by a twofold consideration: chiefly by the consideration of God's goodness, because this consideration belongs to the term, as it were, of the movement of the will in surrendering itself to God, and the direct result of this consideration is joy, according to Ps. 76:4, "I remembered God, and was delighted"; but accidentally this consideration causes a certain sorrow in those who do not yet enjoy God fully, according to Ps. 41:3, "My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God," and afterwards it is said (Ps. 41:4): "My tears have been my bread," etc. Secondarily devotion is caused as stated (A. 3), by the consideration of one's own failings; for this consideration regards the term from which man withdraws by the movement of his devout will, in that he trusts not in himself, but subjects himself to God. This consideration has an opposite tendency to the first: for it is of a nature to cause sorrow directly (when one thinks over one's own failings), and joy accidentally, namely, through hope of the Divine assistance. It is accordingly evident that the first and direct effect of devotion is joy, while the secondary and accidental effect is that "sorrow which is according to God" [*2 Cor. 7:10].
Reply Obj. 1: In the consideration of Christ's Passion there is something that causes sorrow, namely, the human defect, the removal of which made it necessary for Christ to suffer [*Luke 24:25]; and there is something that causes joy, namely, God's loving-kindness to us in giving us such a deliverance.
Reply Obj. 2: The spirit which on the one hand is afflicted on account of the defects of the present life, on the other hand is rejoiced, by the consideration of God's goodness, and by the hope of the Divine help.
Reply Obj. 3: Tears are caused not only through sorrow, but also through a certain tenderness of the affections, especially when one considers something that gives joy mixed with pain. Thus men are wont to shed tears through a sentiment of piety, when they recover their children or dear friends, whom they thought to have lost. In this way tears arise from devotion. _______________________
*H These things I remembered, and poured out my soul in me: for I shall go over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God: With the voice of joy and praise; the noise of one feasting.
Ver. 5. These sarcasms fill me with grief, (C.) while the solemn ceremonies of religion, which, I remember, were observed in the temple, cause my heart to overflow with joy. Bert. — I shall. Prot. "I had gone with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God with the voice of joy and praise; with a multitude that kept holiday." Yet the holidays of the Catholic Church are now ridiculed by many. Prot. H. — The original may have several other meanings. The tabernacle may here designate the musach of the Levites. 4 K. xvi. 18. C. — Feasting. Some such religious feasts were prescribed. Deut. xii. 12. H. — David was not permitted to build the temple, nor to enter the tabernacle: but he speaks of heaven. W.
*H Why art thou sad, O my soul? and why dost thou trouble me? Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance,
Ver. 6. My countenance. Heb. "his," as Aquila, &c. read. C. — Yet as the words are repeated, (v. 12.) there seems to be a fault in the text, (Bert.) owing to v, "his" being taken in here, instead of explaining it by and, v. 7. H. — The arrangement of the letters in the Vulg. is preferable. C.
*H And my God. My soul is troubled within my self: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan and Hermoniim, from the little hill.
Ver. 7. Little hill of Sion. I hope that I shall soon again behold the fertile regions along the Jordan. C. — But these hills of Hermon, &c. are nothing when compared with heaven: They serve only to remind us of our banishment. Bert. — The difficulties of our present abode, hemmed in on all sides, teach us to place our hopes in heaven. W.
*H Deep calleth on deep, at the noise of thy flood-gates. All thy heights and thy billows have passed over me.
Ver. 8. Flood-gates. The Hebrews imagined there were immense reservoirs of water above, (C.) which might serve to drown the earth, as at the deluge. Gen. vii. 11. Both heaven and earth seemed to be armed against the psalmist. H. — One affliction succeeded another, (C.) and God appeared to have abandoned his servants to temptations. But he enables them to come off with victory, and fills them with more joy in their trials: so that they may sing in heart, and pray. W.
*H In the daytime the Lord hath commanded his mercy; and a canticle to him in the night. With me is prayer to the God of my life.
Ver. 9. Night. In affliction, as well as in prosperity, we must praise the Lord. Rom. Sept. "in the night he will manifest it." — Mercy. H. — This is very beautiful, but not agreeable with the original. Bert.
*H Whilst my bones are broken, my enemies who trouble me have reproached me; Whilst they say to me day by day: Where is thy God?
Ver. 11. Whilst. Prot. As, "with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me." H. — Thus the martyrs were tortured and upbraided. C.
*H Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why dost thou disquiet me? Hope thou in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, and my God.
Ver. 12. Countenance. To whom I look up with confidence. M. — The just are comforted with the hope of God's sight. W.