Blessed is he that considers the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
Read Chapter 41
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
2. "Blessed is he that understandeth upon the needy and poor One: in the evil day shall the Lord deliver him" (ver. 1). For the evil day will come: will thou, hill thou, come it will: the Day of Judgment will come upon thee, an evil day if thou "understand not the needy and poor." For what now thou wilt not believe, shall be made manifest in the end. But neither shalt thou escape, when it shall be made manifest, because thou believest not, when it is kept secret. Invited art thou, what thou seest not to believe, lest when thou see, thou be put to the blush. "Understand then upon the needy and poor One," that is, Christ: understand in Him the hidden riches, whom poor thou seest. "In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." For thereby in the evil day shall He deliver thee, in that He is God: but in that He is man, and that which in Him is human hath raised to life, and changed for the better, He hath lifted (thee ) to heaven. But He who is God, who would have one person i...
1. The solemn day of the Martyrs hath dawned; therefore to the glory of the Passion of Christ, the Captain of Martyrs, who spared not Himself, ordering His soldiers to the fight; but first fought, first conquered, that their fighting He might encourage by His example, and aid with His majesty, and crown with His promise: let us hear somewhat from this Psalm pertaining to His Passion. I commend unto you oftentimes, nor grieve I to repeat, what for you is useful to retain, that our Lord Jesus Christ speaketh often Of Himself, that is, in His own Person, which is our Head; often in the person of His Body, which are we and His Church; but so that the words sound as from the mouth of one, that we may understand the Head and the Body to consist together in the unity of integrity, and not be separated the one from the other; as in that marriage whereof it is said, "They two shall be one flesh." If then we acknowledge two in one flesh, let us acknowledge two in one voice. First, that which res...
Understandeth. Believing with eagerness, (Haydock) or reflecting seriously on Jesus Christ, (Berthier) who was pleased to be poor for our sakes. (Haydock)
And the poor, is not in the ancient Septuagint, (Eusebius) nor Hebrew But it only expresses the same idea as the word needy, (Berthier) being added to show the extreme misery to which our Saviour was reduced. (Haydock)
The Fathers explain the passage in this sense, though some would suppose, that David speaks of his own conduct, (Calmet) or of those who adhered to him in his distress, while most followed Absalom. (Flaminius)
Day of death or judgment. Happy the man, who makes the life of Christ his constant meditation, (Berthier) and endeavours to imitate his example, and divine charity! (Haydock)
The Church recites this psalm for the sick. Those who assist them may hope for similar treatment. But such as are not scandalized at Christ, on account of his poverty and afflictions, may be pronounced blessed, (Luke vii. 23.) as He will...
Himself; implying, that David composed this psalm, though the word is not expressed in Hebrew or Greek. (Berthier; T. iii.)
The same articles, however, occur, which have been thus rendered before. (Haydock)
Some explain this psalm of the sickness of Ezechias, (Ven. Bede) or of that of David, a little before the revolt of Absalom. (Rab. Muis; Bossuet)
This may be described as a figure of our Saviour's sufferings. (Calmet)
For it would be rash not to acknowledge, that He is here the principal object in view, (Theodoret) since he has applied (ver. 10.) to the traitor's conduct, (Calmet) and all the rest may properly allude to the same events. The psalmist speaks of the Messias in the six first verses, and introduces him, in the remainder, uttering his own sentiments, (Berthier) respecting his passion and resurrection. (Worthington) (Isaias liii. 4.) (Menochius)
