The Second Decade (Verses 12–23)

The holy Prophet has shown that those who seek the Lord receive mercy and help from above. This seeking is roused by hope; and hope is rooted in the fear of God. Consequently, the fear of God is the support of trustful hope for those in extremity. For this reason the holy Prophet turns his song further to the inculcation of the fear of God, explaining wherein it consists, verses 13–15, and presenting incentives to its cultivation and preservation in the heart by pointing to the fruits of that fear—that is, showing how God is toward those who fear Him, verses 16–19, and what is the temporal and eternal lot of the latter, verses 20–22. This is the same as what was expressed above in the words: prompt hearing of prayer, and deliverance from trials and afflictions—in life, in death, and after death.

Because of the special importance of this subject, the holy Prophet considered it necessary to call for particular attention: come, he says, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord (verse 12).

Verses 13–15. The fear of God is not a bore sentiment but a moral and religious force, lying deep in the heart and governing all of life. Therefore, as the Prophet says in effect: if you wish to find the mercy of God, which alone can grant a peaceful life and good days—cultivate the fear of God, as I have indicated; but not an idle fear, rather one witnessed by deeds, namely: restrain your tongue from evil speech and your lips from deceit; turn away from evil and do good; and seek peace with all as the foremost good.

Verses 16–22. If you order your life in this way, you will be granted God’s special attentiveness toward you, verse 16, prompt hearing in prayer, verse 18, and the nearness of the Lord, verse 19, with His readiness to save you from every trial and affliction, in life, verse 20, in death, verse 21, and after death, verses 22–23.

Whoever, inspired by the fear of God, lives as described—doing good and turning from evil—is righteous. But upon the righteous the eyes of the Lord are fixed, to watch over them, and His ears are turned to them, to hear their prayer quickly. Upon the one who does not live thus, but does evil, the wrathful face of God is turned, to destroy even the memory of him from the earth. Therefore, as soon as the righteous cry to the Lord, He hears them. For He is near to those who have a contrite heart and humble spirit—and being near, He quickly saves them (verses 16–19).

Let the righteous too have many afflictions: such is already their lot on earth; but the Lord delivers them from all of them. Amid all the destructive effects of trials and troubles, the Lord keeps them whole—preserving whole their moral and religious ordering in this life; and after death He not infrequently glorifies their holy bones with incorruption. The death of sinners, on the contrary, is dreadful—and those who, persecuting the righteous, triumph here will see there how wrongly they understood the arrangements of this life.

Verse 23. Thus does the Lord deliver the souls of His servants—those who hope in Him will not be disappointed in their expectation.

Such is the entire flow of thought in the psalm. Having pondered well everything said above, everyone can now easily form a picture of its whole content, coming as close as possible to the thoughts that swarmed in the soul of the holy Prophet when the song poured forth from his heart. Though everything in the psalm has now become more or less clear, this is still far from fulfilling the intention with which the composition of these notes was undertaken. Here only the foundations have been laid for the real work—that is, the drawing of practical guidance for the use of this psalm and its application to one’s own life.

It is not enough to know the content of the psalm—one must also know how to draw from each verse edifying thoughts for oneself. When reading the psalms, one must give the mind free scope to survey all the expanse of truths to which the words of the psalms allude, and to nourish itself on all of them and nourish the heart. Whoever stops at mere knowledge does the work only halfway. The Psalter is used in the Church not for the mere enlargement of knowledge, but preeminently for the cultivation of a spirit of faith and piety. Whoever wishes to enter into the intentions of the Holy Church—take a verse, sit down and think: what does it teach you? What truths does it bring to mind? And how can all of that be applied to your life? To this task, with God’s help, we shall now proceed.