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*H A psalm of a canticle, for the sons of Core, on the second day of the week.
Ver. 1. On the, &c. is not in Heb. nor Euseb. &c. It means Sunday, (S. Amb. W.) or rather Monday, being sung on that day. S. Jer. &c. H. — The subject of the former canticle is continued, in thanksgiving to God, for some signal victory, or for the peace which God afforded to his people, after the death of Cambyses. C. — The Fathers explain it of the propagation and peace of the Church. H.
*H Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.
Ver. 2. City, or temple, which lay to the north of old Jerusalem, on Sion. C. — Yet Genebrard, &c. place this mountain south of Salem. M. — The concourse of priests and people gave it the appearance of a great city. Ezec. xl. 2. Is. xiv. 13. — The Church is built upon a rock. C. — The Jews and Christians are under the greatest obligation of praising God. W.
*H With the joy of the whole earth is mount Sion founded, on the sides of the north, the city of the great king.
Ver. 3. With. Heb. "the beautiful situation, the joy of the whole earth, (M.) Sion, sides of," &c. Chal. "Sion, thou art beautiful as a bride." Christ's Church is thus described. Apoc. xxi. 2. C. — Its figure, (H.) the temple, was the glory of the whole country. Ps. xxv. 8. Lam. ii. 15. C. — But the Church alone extends to the sides of the north, or over the world. W.
*H In her houses shall God be known, when he shall protect her.
Ver. 4. Houses. Heb. "palaces;" Sept. "towers." Βαρεσι, a word which has again been mistaken for gravibus or gradibus, as v. 14. and Ps. xliv. 9. God is the defence of his people, (Prov. xviii. 10.) the Church, Mat. xvi. 18. C. — All particular houses, or churches, must come to the unity of faith, (W.) and to the seat of Peter. S. Iræn. iii.
* Summa
*S Part 3, Ques 183, Article 3
[II-II, Q. 183, Art. 3]
Whether Duties Differ According to Their Actions?
Objection 1: It would seem that duties do not differ according to their actions. For there are infinite varieties of human acts both in spirituals and in temporals. Now there can be no certain distinction among things that are infinite in number. Therefore human duties cannot be differentiated according to a difference of acts.
Obj. 2: Further, the active and the contemplative life differ according to their acts, as stated above (Q. 179, A. 1). But the distinction of duties seems to be other than the distinction of lives. Therefore duties do not differ according to their acts.
Obj. 3: Further, even ecclesiastical orders, states, and grades seemingly differ according to their acts. If, then, duties differ according to their acts it would seem that duties, grades, and states differ in the same way. Yet this is not true, since they are divided into their respective parts in different ways. Therefore duties do not differ according to their acts.
_On the contrary,_ Isidore says (Etym. vi, 19) that "_officium_ (duty) takes its name from _efficere_ (to effect), as though it were instead of _efficium,_ by the change of one letter for the sake of the sound." But effecting pertains to action. Therefore duties differ according to their acts.
_I answer that,_ As stated above (A. 2), difference among the members of the Church is directed to three things: perfection, action, and beauty; and according to these three we may distinguish a threefold distinction among the faithful. One, with regard to perfection, and thus we have the difference of states, in reference to which some persons are more perfect than others. Another distinction regards action and this is the distinction of duties: for persons are said to have various duties when they are appointed to various actions. A third distinction regards the order of ecclesiastical beauty: and thus we distinguish various grades according as in the same state or duty one person is above another. Hence according to a variant text [*The Septuagint] it is written (Ps. 47:4): "In her grades shall God be known."
Reply Obj. 1: The material diversity of human acts is infinite. It is not thus that duties differ, but by their formal diversity which results from diverse species of acts, and in this way human acts are not infinite.
Reply Obj. 2: Life is predicated of a thing absolutely: wherefore diversity of lives results from a diversity of acts which are becoming to man considered in himself. But efficiency, whence we have the word "office" (as stated above), denotes action tending to something else according to _Metaph._ ix, text. 16 [*Ed. Did. viii, 8]. Hence offices differ properly in respect of acts that are referred to other persons; thus a teacher is said to have an office, and so is a judge, and so forth. Wherefore Isidore says (Etym. vi, 19) that "to have an office is to be officious," i.e. harmful "to no one, but to be useful to all."
Reply Obj. 3: Differences of state, offices and grades are taken from different things, as stated above (A. 1, ad 3). Yet these three things may concur in the same subject: thus when a person is appointed to a higher action, he attains thereby both office and grade, and sometimes, besides this, a state of perfection, on account of the sublimity of the act, as in the case of a bishop. The ecclesiastical orders are particularly distinct according to divine offices. For Isidore says (Etym. vi): "There are various kinds of offices; but the foremost is that which relates to sacred and Divine things." _______________________
FOURTH
*H For behold the kings of the earth assembled themselves: they gathered together.
Ver. 5. Earth is superfluous. S. Jer. ad Sun. C. — Yet it is found in the Vat. Sept. &c. H. — The kings of the earth assembled against the Church, (Ps. ii. 2.) as many came to oppose Jerusalem, under Cambyses. Ezec. xxxviii. 2. 13. C.
*H So they saw, and they wondered, they were troubled, they were moved:
Ver. 6. Saw. They could not say, like Cæsar, Veni, vidi, vici. For they no sooner came to invade the unsuspecting people, than they began to tremble. Ezec. xxxviii. 11. &c. Ps. xlv. 7. H.
*H Trembling took hold of them. There were pains as of a woman in labour.
Ver. 7. There, denotes the promptitude of vengeance, as well as the following allusion. Is. xiii. 8. 1 Thes. v. 3.
*H With a vehement wind thou shalt break in pieces the ships of Tharsis.
Ver. 8. Vehement. Heb. "eastern." — Tharsis, such strong-built ships, as might go to Tarsus, in Cilicia, (Gen. x. 4. C.) or to India. M. — The merchants of Tharsis, the naval officers, shall say, &c. There shall be a great commotion, &c. Ezec. xxxviii. 13. 19. — The same storm proved fatal to the land and sea-forces of Cambyses. His navy is mentioned by Herodotus, (iii. 11. and 44.) and was probably stationed over against Acco, or Ptolemais, as the king perished at the foot of Carmel. C. — Nothing maketh a deeper impression than the sentiments of religion. God's grace enableth the soul to sustain all conflicts, and to overcome. W.
*H As we have heard, so have we seen, in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God hath founded it for ever.
Ver. 9. Seen. All the promises have been fulfilled. How could any one have thought that we should have been permitted to dedicate this temple under the patronage of the king of Persia? 1 Esd. vi. 8. Who would not have feared, lest the Christian religion should perish, under such violent persecutions? Converts admire its beauty and strength. C. — The completion of the prophecies is a wonderful confirmation and comfort of Christians, (W.) whose faith is founded indeed for ever. H. — The gates of hell shall not prevail. M.
*H We have received thy mercy, O God, in the midst of thy temple.
Ver. 10. Temple. Ναου. Sept. S. Amb. &c. though the Vat. and Alex. copies have Λαου, "people," with the Arab. Ethiop. S. Aug. &c. H. — In the Church we receive many graces, (C.) even Christ himself, (S. Amb.) to which those who refuse to be Catholics, can have no title. W.
*H According to thy name, O God, so also is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of justice.
Ver. 11. Earth. All who hear of the wonders of God, must praise him; and who can be ignorant of what He has done, (C.) in the defeat of the enemies of his people, (H.) of Sennacherib, Cambyses, &c.? Yet all the earth will be instructed only by the propagation of the Gospel. C. — Justice, against thy enemies, (H.) though this word may here imply "mercy," in opposition to the judgments, v. 12. C. — These perfections are never at variance. W.
*H Let mount Sion rejoice, and the daughters of Juda be glad; because of thy judgments, O Lord.
Ver. 12. Juda. Sept. Sym. &c. have "Judea," (C.) which would intimate, that the psalm was composed after the captivity. But the Hebrew reads Yehuda, "Juda," with S. Jerom. H.
*H Surround Sion, and encompass her: tell lye in her towers.
Ver. 13. Surround. Heb. "walk round, (H.) tell her towers." S. Jer.
*H Set your hearts on her strength; and distribute her houses, that ye may relate it in another generation.
Ver. 14. Strength. Perhaps the outward wall, (Ezec. xl. 5.) not seen in Solomon's temple. — Houses. Heb. palaces. Sept. "houses built like towers." Βαρεις. Jerusalem was not rebuilt or fortified, when the second temple was dedicated. 2 Esd. i. 3. C. — The fortresses of the Church are the holy Fathers and Doctors, who watch in her defence. Her pillars shall not fail. The particular Churches are all united in the same faith, and these reflections ought to prevail on all to embrace the same. W.
*H For this is God, our God unto eternity, and for ever and ever: he shall rule us for evermore.
Ver. 15. Our God. Christ incarnate works all this. He shall rule over the Church, not for three or four hundred years only, but as long as time shall last, and He shall have a Church triumphant in eternity. W. — Evermore. Heb. hal-moth. The letters being differently arranged, are rendered, "in death." S. Jer. "even unto death." Prot. (H.) "in youth," (Chal.) or "in the secret" of Providence. It may form a part of the following title, "over the young women," as Ps. ix. and xlv. C. — But then it would probably come after lamnatseach. The psalmist inculcates the perpetual duration of the Church under God's conduct, by three terms. In sæculum & ultra...usque ad mortem, "till death," (Pagn.) or "incessantly." Sym. H. — This psalm may also express the sentiments of a penitent, (Bert.) or of one who is put in possession of unchangeable felicity. H.