Psalm 76 - And after the last plague the people were freed

AELW 11:17-19

"The first [water, Ex. 7:17 ff.]: “My soul refuses to be comforted” (v. 2). Here the water of pleasure has been turned into blood, so that one cannot drink it or have pleasure in drinking it, for such water is blood and death for the soul.

The second [frogs, Ex. 8:2 ff.]: “And was exercised” (v. 3). Here are born the frogs that weary the soul with their harsh croaking. They are the memories and remnants of past sins that make the soul sick of pleasures.

The third [gnats, Ex. 8:16 ff.]: “And my spirit swooned away” (v. 3). This third sign is effective. The magicians of Egypt cannot imitate it, because here is the finger of God (Ex. 8:18). A man, too, can turn water into blood and pleasure into disgust, as well as stir up the croaking of frogs and the clamor of the conscience, but they cannot produce gnats. These are the tiny flies that sting and bite sharply without noise. They denote the proddings of conscience and remorse.

The fourth [flies, Ex. 8:21 ff.]: “My eyes awaited the night watches” (v. 4). Here follows the putting out of the evil light, so that now one does not want to see the things that are of the world. This is what flies of a different kind do. They keep us from seeing external things. And so “God has given them the spirit of insensibility, eyes that they should not see” (Rom. 11:8).

The fifth [death of the cattle, Ex. 9:3 ff.]: “I have been troubled,” or, according to the Hebrew, “I was stunned.” Here he becomes confounded and senseless, when the promptings of the flesh and its lusts are killed like cattle, the tickling of desire and of all that is in the world ceases.

The sixth [boils, Ex. 9:9 ff.]: “And I did not speak” (v. 4). He sends boils and ulcers in the sixth place. These inflict suffering so that they impose silence on all sins, so that there is no desire either to speak or to think of them. Often, indeed, we are not even moved, and still we think and speak about evils.

The seventh [hail, Ex. 9:18 ff.]: “I thought upon the days of old” (v. 5). These are the hard and strong thoughts about the coming Judgment. They crush everything green, everything that sprouts from the flesh.

The eighth [locusts, Ex. 10:4 ff.]: “And I meditated in the night with my own heart” (v. 6). This is the locust, incessantly gnawing at the carnal soul and eating into its vigorous flesh.

The ninth [darkness, Ex. 10:21 ff.]: “And I was exercised” (v. 6). This is a darkness that is felt for three days. During that time nothing can be seen or done, so that, instead of the lust of the flesh and of the eyes and the pride of life, faith, hope, and charity, which those three would darken, might shine forth.

The tenth [death of the firstborn, Ex. 12:29 ff.]: “And I searched my spirit” (v. 6). Here the firstborn are killed."

Psalm 76 - The Name of God is great

AELW 11:6

Psalm 76:1 In Judah God is known; His Name is great in Israel.

"The name of God is great wherever He is, and He is everywhere. But it is not called great except where it is known to be great, namely, in the mind and heart of one who worships and magnifies Him. Hence “the name is great” is the same as “to have great knowledge concerning it.” But great knowledge is to know its greatness. And this is what it means that God is known in Judah."

Volume 11 - Psalms 76 - 126

LUTHER’S
WORKS
VOLUME 11
FIRST LECTURES
ON THE PSALMS
II
Psalms 76–126
HILTON C. OSWALD
Editor
HERBERT J. A. BOUMAN
Translator

Psalm 75 - How to study the Bible

AELW 10:461-462

A LESSON

"All who want to study in the Bible and sacred letters should with extreme diligence take note of this verse for themselves: In the hand of the Lord there is a cup of pure wine (v. 8). That is to say, Scripture is not in our power nor in the ability of our mind. Therefore in its study we must in no way rely on our understanding, but we must become humble and pray that He may bring that understanding to us, since it is not given except to those who are bowed down and humble. Let the misery of the Jews serve as an example. They show their pride in saying: “He has not dealt thus with every nation, and His judgments He has not made manifest to them” (Ps. 147:20). They think that they have Scripture and the cup completely in their hand and power, and for that reason they interpret it in accordance with their own idea. But here the psalmist says that it is in the hand of the Lord. For God can remove Scripture or its meaning from those who do not know and do not pay attention and think that they still have it, as happened to the Jews, since it has been taken away from them. It has been removed in this way, that it has been shown that the cup was not in their hand but in the Lord’s hand, and He gives it to whom He will. Job 9:5: “He has removed mountains, and they did not know it.” So also in the preceding psalm: “They did not know, as in the going out above the highest top, for they put up their ensigns for signs” (Ps. 74:5, 4). “In the going out,” that is, in the outward letter and shadow, and they chose it above the top, that is, they established the literal sense above the spiritual sense.

Thus it happens to all the proud and stubborn who rely on their own puffed-up idea that God tips the truth and the pure wine away from them toward others and leaves them the dregs, as long as they are ignorant So it happens to the heretics, who strongly insist that they have the truth for themselves, and before they understand, they have the dregs, which they drink, for God has taken the pure wine away from them, and He sends them the operation of error, as the apostle says (2 Thess. 2:10), because the cup of pure wine is in His hand. The pure truth cannot stand at the same time with the pride of the heart."

Psalm 74 - Defiling Holy Things

AELW 10:453-454

"This psalm (Ps. 74) can also be interpreted as referring to our extremely bad morals, for we are as bad as the Turks or worse in the way we profane holy things. This rage of offenses in defiling holy things is lasting long enough, so that the church quite properly prays: “O God, why hast Thou cast us off unto the end? Why is Thy wrath enkindled? What things the enemy has done wickedly in the sanctuary!” Who is the enemy? The devil. But also: “A man’s foes are those of his own household” (Matt. 10:36), and “My friends and my neighbors have drawn near and stood against me” (Ps. 38:11).

First, in the distribution and handling of the church’s endowments and goods, who can enumerate the evils and abuses?

Second, in the luxury, pomp, and pride of the priests.

Third, in the foolhardy way of administering the sacraments, the Word of God, the power of the judiciary and jurisdiction. In these matters things are happening in the church of such a nature that the Lord puts up with them with more displeasure than with the blasphemies of the Turks.

Fourth. See how many monstrosities take place “in the midst of the solemnity” and whether all of God’s festival days are not being suppressed and silenced in the land? Since indeed festivals are today observed so that people may more freely do the evils that they could not do on other days because of their manual labor. Here we do not see our signs, but they put up their ensigns for signs, and they set fire to the sanctuary of God and defile it with every kind of evil lust and sins. In this way God’s name is provoked and blasphemed in our midst. Therefore God seems to have turned His right hand away from the midst of His bosom to the end.

But perhaps it does not yet appear how they have thrown it down with ax and hatchet and have cut down its gates with axes at the same time. The Turk does this in a mystical and literal manner, while we do it spiritually, as shown above in the commentary, not indeed by heretical teachings but by offensive words and deeds, in such a way that the Word of God would now seem to be preached in vain, because there are no gates through which it might enter. But axes, that is, the most serious kind of offenses, have powerfully cut them down."

Psalm 74 - Speech like a cancer

AELW 10:441

Psalm 74:6. As with axes in a grove of trees they cut down at once its gates.

"This is the condition of the treacherous and heretics, that they are not content with their own destruction but destroy many with them and pour forth their poison and spread it far and wide, as the apostle says: “Their speech spreads like a cancer” (2 Tim. 2:17), and their speech indeed is profitable for the subversion of the hearers (2 Tim. 2:14). Here the psalmist complains of the same thing when he says: “As with axes, etc.” It is not a great thing that trees and stones are destroyed, nor does the prophet lament this. For, according to Augustine, he will not be great who thinks it a great thing that trees and stones fall, and mortals die, but that they are destroyed in spirit, as also the Lord shows as he weeps over Jerusalem. The Romans devastated the Jews physically, but they devastate themselves far worse by means of their teachings."

Psalm 74 - Faith has an exit from visible things

AELW 10:440

"For faith does not put up evident things, but rather things that do not appear. Nor does it put them up at the entrance from above, but at the entrance from below, or at the exit from below. Note that there is a remarkable agreement in the words. Faith has an exit from visible things and an entrance to the invisible things above, and therefore it is the sign or signs of things that do not appear. Unbelief, on the other hand, has an exit from invisible things and an entrance to visible things from above. That is, the spirit through humility leads upward from the letter and the flesh, while unbelief through pride leads downward from the spirit."

Psalm 73 - Better than others?

AELW 10:417-418

"How few are there even today whose feet are not moved when they see the prosperity of sinners. When one looks at them in their riches, display of luxury, and gluttony, he stops and looks with open mouth. Indeed, in the presence of some spectacle we stand and gape, and meanwhile forget our own affairs. He is an exceedingly rare person who goes his way with eyes and ears closed. But these things, too, are for many a cause of lukewarmness, because when they look at the corrupt habits of others, they regard themselves as better than those people by far, because they themselves are not like other men. And so, by the very fact of pleasing themselves they become abominable to God, failing to consider that perhaps those people, soon to be converted, will be much better than they. Meanwhile they themselves have buried the talent of God’s grace in the ground."

Psalm 71 - Strengh of Christ

AELW 19:398-399

"My mouth will tell of your righteousness,

of your salvation all day long,

though I know not its measure."
Psalm 71:15

"My mouth shall show forth Thy righteousness, as if to say: “I add to all Thy praise in this way, that I proclaim Thy righteousness and invisible salvation, for according to what is seen everything appears unjust and lost. For we are struck down and killed, and yet we are saved by that very fact. And as we praise Thee while we are being struck in this way, we confess that this is for our benefit. Others, who praise only the good that they see, do not think so. Thus we are even regarded as unjust, and yet this is our righteousness. And so, always hopeful in evil times, we add praise to total praise.” What follows says the same thing: Because I have not known learning, as if to say: “I do not, like them, make my way in the letter and visible righteousness and the Law, which Moses, or a man, wrote. But I will enter, I will go inside, I will approach inwardly to spiritual righteousness, which is the strength of Christ, which cannot be written in letters like the law of Moses. And this is the whole reason why I am regarded by them as unrighteous, since they have only the letter and the written righteousness. But because of this, the more righteous I am, the more lost I am regarded by those who know only the literal and external salvation and who praise God only in it. But, this having been despised, I do not acknowledge it, and it does not please me. Therefore I will add to all this Thy praise, and I will enter into the power of the Lord.”

But these words seem obscure. Yet when they are taken with reference to the Jews, they will first appear easily understood. Then follows: Thou hast taught me, O God (v. 17), namely, “Thou Thyself, in all these things, so that I may not acknowledge the letter but enter into Thy power, etc.”

Psalm 71 - In sickness and in health...

AELW 10:398

"But as for me, I will always have hope;

I will praise you more and more."
Psalm 71:14

"14. But I will always hope, even when they seek evil for me. Hope is easier in good times but more difficult in bad times. Therefore only a saint always hopes, always blesses, like Job. The next words express the same truth: I will add to all Thy praise, as if to say: “I will praise Thee not only in good times, when there is material for total praise, but also in bad times, when there appears to be no material for praise, except for those who live in hope and in the present evil and visible things see and hope for invisible things at the same time. One who does not see such things, but sees only the present, cannot praise God except in good times, for he does not know what evil is and what it is for. Therefore he cannot add to all praise like the one who hopes. Such a one knows that these things happen not only not unjustly but even serve a useful purpose, which those people do not realize. Therefore he continues:"

Psalm 70 - A footnote

AELW 10:391, note 8

"This passage Scripture teaches the same as blessed Gregory, who said: “Whenever we look at sinners, we must first of all weep over ourselves in their misfortune.” Behold, how he does not please himself, but is weak with the weak."

to which is noted...

"Similar expressions are found in Gregory’s De pastorali cura, e.g., II, 10: “Whenever something in another person’s weakness displeases you, consider what you are yourself, so that your spirit may curb its tendency to chide him because it fears in itself what it chides in others.” WA III, 446, n. 1."

Psalm 70 - Make haste O God, to deliver me

AELW 10:391

Psalm 70:1
"Make haste, O God to deliver me;
make haste to help me, O Lord"

"Therefore this psalm, whose opening words we recite so often day and night, is to be commended to all priests, so that they will not mumble it so coldly and perfunctorily, but help the church of God with this prayer with all their heart. For if the church were helped, we, too, would be saved, since it is our mother hen and we are its chicks. It is not without reason that the Holy Spirit decreed the opening words of this psalm as the beginning in every canonical hour. Therefore remember to say: “O God (since there is no one else to help the church except Thee, our God), be pleased to deliver me (that is, do Thou help me, so that tyrants, heretics, and those easily offended may not oppress me. And when I shall have been helped by Thee and first have salvation for myself, I can easily come to the assistance of others with Thy help), therefore hasten to help me.” Truly, we are not without tyrants and persecutors today who oppress the poor and do not judge the causes of widows and orphans. Since none but the rich and the powerful can afford the ceremony and din of the court, the poor man who is drawn to court will have spent more than he ever had before justice would be done to him. Against them we must pray that those whom they persecute be patient. Furthermore, there is no lack of heretics and many scoffers, full of inconstancy and trifles."

Psalm 69 - Without fear

AELW 10:367-368

"16. For Thy mercy is kind, as explained in the gloss. At the time of the martyrs mercy was very kind, because the wretchedness was very bitter. So it was also at the time of the heretics. This is now much more the ease, but to none except a few. For to the few the great wretchedness of the church appears in its peace, which the Lord bewailed above all when He wept over Jerusalem and said (Luke 19:42): “If you had known even now, in this your day, what makes for your peace; but now it is hidden from your eyes.” Thus if we, too, would know the things that make for our peace, namely, since they are worse than every affliction, we would without doubt act differently. As I have said, everybody would shape and make the biggest affliction for himself. For thus it is written: “Thou hast prepared a table before me against all who afflict me” (Ps. 23:5). Let no priest under any circumstances approach the altar, unless he is burdened with many afflictions and filled with many miseries. But since peace and security do not let us see such things, let us labor and show what we ought to consider, that we may see many miseries, so that thus we may magnify and make propitious the mercy of the Lord. For it is not possible to make the mercy of God large and good, unless a person first makes his miseries large and evil or recognizes them to be such. To make God’s mercy great is not, as is commonly supposed, to think that God considers sins as small or that He does not punish them. Indeed, this especially means to reduce mercy. For how can one who regards evil as something small regard as something great the good by means of which the evil is removed? Hence our total concern must be to magnify and aggravate our sins and thus always to accuse them more and more, and earnestly judge and condemn them. The more deeply a person has condemned himself and magnified his sins, the more is he fit for the mercy and grace of God. This is what the apostle has forbidden, that we should please ourselves in even one point (Rom. 15:1), but that we should above all and in all things be displeased and thus with Job fear all our works (Job 9:28). For he who is pleased with himself cannot stand in the fear of God and be without presumption. But what is worse than being without fear?"

Psalm 69 - The foolish heir

AELW 10:361

"there is no greater iniquity than the highest equity, no greater injustice than the highest justice, no greater loss than the greatest gain, so there is no greater adversity than prosperity and no greater danger than no danger at all. This is so because it makes people careless. “When they shall say, ‘peace and security,’ then shall sudden destruction come upon them” (1 Thess. 5:3). Nothing is safe where everything is safe, nothing so sick as when everything is healthy; there is no temptation when all is temptation, no persecution when all is persecution. Thus the devil now fights the church with the greatest persecution, because he fights with no persecution, but rather with security and idleness. Therefore woe to us, who are so snatched away by present things and foolishly do not see the devil’s trap! We act like the foolish heir who knew only how to squander the magnificent estate left by his parents and did nothing to build it up but always carried away from the pile."

Psalm 69 - To which I would humbly add..."Christ is still Lord of the Church."

AELW 10:351-352

"This psalm speaks literally about the suffering of the Lord in His own person. At the same time all the sufferings and weaknesses of the church are also told here. These can be classified in three groups.

The first was the trouble and persecution in the time of the martyrs, and because this was perceptible, it was easily understood as referring to it [namely, the persecution and punishments]. And there God really chose the weak things to put the strong to shame (1 Cor. 1:27). His church was weak at that time, and through that weakness it conquered, not by the power of this age.

The second was the presence of heretics in the time of the teachers [error and heresy]. And there God really chose the foolish to put the wise to shame (1 Cor. 1:27), that is, those who are wise in their own eyes. The church conquered their wisdom through the foolishness of faith.

The third is now the prevalence of the lukewarm and the evil [peace and security]. For surfeit now reigns to such an extent that there is much worship of God everywhere, but it is only going through the motions, without love and spirit, and there are very few with any fervor. And all this happens because we think we are something and are doing enough. Consequently we try nothing, and we hold to no strong emotion, and we do much to ease the way to heaven, by means of indulgences, by means of easy doctrines, feeling that one sigh is enough. And here God properly chose the things that are not to destroy the things that are. For one who from a sincere heart considers himself to be nothing without a doubt is fervent and hastens toward progress and that which is good. Concerning all three of these he prays here: Save Me, O Lord, for the waters have come up to My soul (v. 1). The waters were the sufferings which the Jews inflicted on Christ. The waters were the persecutors of the martyrs, let loose against the church by demons. The waters were and are the heretics let loose against the same church by the same demons. The waters are the vast number of lukewarm and nominal Christians let loose on the church to the present day by the same demons. In the past the psalmist cried out against tyrants and heretics. He is still crying out now against those half-Christians, saying: “The waters have come up to My soul,” and other words to follow. All of these are now going strong. About them Mal. 1:8 says: “If you offer what is lame and the sick, is it not evil? Offer it to your leader to see if it will please him, or if he will regard you with favor, says the Lord of hosts.” For in fact this kind of praying and singing is going on in the churches, in a sluggish spirit and on one foot (that is, with the body only), namely, the left one so that if that kind of homage were offered to a man, it would be despised. How much more, then, will it be spurned by so great a majesty! And the whole presence of the devil is against us, to make half-Christians in this way. We think he is gone, but he is very much present. Indeed, he does not fight us with adversity or heresy, because he perceives that there he would be overcome, but with prosperity, security, and peace. All of these come because we are without the fear of God and do not consider ourselves as altogether nothing but think that we are doing enough, as I said earlier. Therefore the church is in a bad way, for “Behold, in peace my bitterness is most bitter” (Is. 38:17). As Bernard says, “What was bitter under the tyrants is more bitter under heretics and most bitter under peaceful and secure conditions.” Therefore these waters are now coming up to His soul."

Psalm 68 - Fear is the highest form of worship

AELW 10:346

"The more the saints come to know the goodness, wisdom, and majesty of God, the more they conduct themselves with fear and reverence toward Him, so that they truly rejoice in Him with fear. Consequently, if you are not yet filled with awe and reverence, fear and trembling, do not think you know God. “Serve the Lord with fear” (Ps. 2:11), and “Let all the ends of the earth fear Him” (Ps. 67:7). Ps. 47:2 “For the Lord is high, terrible.” “How terrible is this place” (Gen. 28:17). This fear is the highest form of worship of God, and it is not worship unless it is one of perfect love and faith and hope. It is offered in a most excellent way by the angels. For “the pillars of heaven tremble before Him” (Job 26:11). About this Ps. 19:19 says: “The fear of the Lord is holy.” Hence also Jacob in Gen. 31:42 swears by the “Fear of Isaac,” his father. This is one of the names of God used because of the excellence of the gift."

Psalm 68 - According to Luther, my glory is receding ;-)

AELW 10:341

"any community is a kind of mountain. Hence the church is a mountain. Therefore on the crown (that is, on the chief priesthood) are the hairs as its ornament. For baldness is the head’s disgrace, as hair is its glory. For the hair of the head is its glory and adornment (cf. 1 Cor. 11:7 f.)."

Psalm 62 - The power and hope of the mercy of God

AELW 10:301

"Between these two, namely, fear of the power and hope of the mercy of God, we must always take our stand, so that in this way we are ground for the Lord between the upper and lower millstone and are crushed between the upper and lower teeth and are passed into the bowels of Christ. Indeed, the work of every creature shows us this instruction, like gold in a furnace and every work in its workshop."

Psalm 60 - So great a majesty speaks to you...

AELW 10:286

"God has spoken in His holy place. I think it is the first grace and a marvelous honor from God when it has been given to someone so to read and hear the words of Scripture as if he thought he was hearing them from God Himself. How will not such a person feel all his hair stand on end when he thinks of it that so great a majesty is speaking to him? Thus Job 26:14 reads: “And when we have heard scarcely a drop of His Word, who shall be able to behold the thunder of His greatness?” But we read and hear that Word so sluggishly, as if it were offered us by sheer accident or without anyone behind it. And we neither see nor feel how great He is who is speaking. Hence the church deservedly claims this happy boast in saying, “God has spoken in His holy place.” And therefore I will rejoice, he says, since the Word of God is a good and excellent word."

Psalm 59 - A beggar suffers poverty in the hope of future things...

AELW 10:279

"only the poor have the Gospel preached and it is preached by Christ and the apostles, it is not proper for us to be well off in this life, but rather to suffer poverty in the hope of future things. "

Pslam 59 - Pride of the Spirit

AELW 10:275

"From this[below] it is clear how correctly Scripture calls such iniquity their own “inventions” in Ps. 81:12: “They shall walk in their own inventions,” because the things established and desired are their own. But this is spiritual idolatry, not to be still but rather to fight back, and this is the unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit, because it is precisely through pride of the spirit that grace is resisted. Pride refuses to give in to God, but prefers to yield to itself."

To prefer	inanimate things things of feeling things of reason	to God is	great greater the greatest	iniquity.
This is produced by		greed. wantonness. pride.
And these three are in the world		the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16)

Psalm 54 - The Name of God is Christ Himself

AELW 10:252-253

I will give praise to Thy name, for it is good. He does not say, “for it bestows good,” but because of its being good, not bestowing good; as if to say: “Because of the name itself, not because of any advantage to be gained by it.” For in the preceding Ps. 52:9 we read: “The name of the Lord is good in the presence of His saints,” that is, the name of the Lord does not give the saints anything good beyond what it is in itself, but it is in itself their good thing. And so He gives Himself, and He does not give, but is Himself the good and complete blessing of the saints. For as it is said that “God gives Himself to the saints,” which means that “God is the good of his saints,” so also His name gives Him to them, that is, it is their good. But the name of God is Christ Himself, the Son of God, the Word by which He verbalizes Himself and the name by which He calls Himself in eternity."

Psalm 54 - Not with bustle and worldly power

...but in the Name of the Lord

AELW 10:249-250

"The saints, however, are in silence and patience and in hope (spes), not in physical activity (res), like those people, for they are saved by the name of the Lord. This does not come about except in hope and patience and silence, whereas the ungodly seek to be saved in bustle and physical activity (res), indeed by the vanity of physical activity. Thus Ps. 44:5 declares: “Through Thy name we will despise those who rise up against us.” Then follows (Ps. 44:6): “I will not trust in my bow.” Again Is. 52:12 says: “You shall not go out in a tumult,” and Is. 9:5: “For every violent taking of spoils, with tumult, and garment mingled with blood, shall be burned and fuel for the fire,” that is, those who desire to be saved through impatience and in worldly tumult will be condemned and will perish. This actually happened in the destruction of Jerusalem, where the Jews, having rejected Christ, who saves in silence and hope, sought to save themselves against the Romans in tumult and physical activity itself in conformity with the world and were burned up with the whole city, for they were not in humility and patience. So Christ acted. He gained the upper hand over the devil and the yoke of his burden, not with bustle and worldly power but in the name of the Lord, so that, as in the case of Midian, the demons would kill and destroy themselves (Is. 9:4), for He sent a sword on earth and came to set a man against his father (Matt. 10:34, 35). And so a good strife comes in order that a bad peace may be disrupted. This is what the prophet has in mind when he says (Is. 9:4): “Thou hast overcome the yoke of his burden, as in the day of Midian,” for there the enemies were slain without the sword and the shedding of blood, simply by the sound of the trumpets (Judg. 7:22). And the reason is: “Unto us a Child is born” (Is. 9:6). This is “humility,” namely, in the name of the Lord. We must not attempt to be saved by our own powers or by the world’s resources, but in humility, that is, in the name of the Lord, being fully aware of the fact that we possess absolutely nothing of salvation in ourselves, so that we may not trust in our bow, and our sword will not save us."

Psalm 53 - God is sought

AELW 10:247

"Or that seek after God. First, God is sought as if He were lost. One who has never had a certain thing wants (quaerit) it; but he who has lost something he had seeks (requirit) it. But man had God in the beginning and then lost Him in Paradise through disobedience. And he has become so ignorant that he does not seek God. Indeed, man, completely immersed in the flesh, wants (quaerit) and seeks (requirit) sins and evils.

Second, God is sought, that is, again and again. This means He is sought continually, constantly, always, and persistently, going from day to day, from strength to strength, and thus coming closer and closer. For God appears to those who have faith in Him, and is found by those who do not tempt Him (Wisd. of Sol. 1:2). But first it is a matter of knowing, and then of seeking. For he who does not understand does not seek; he who does not know does not love. I desire nothing unknown. But fools, because they have only feeling, and do not understand but merely feel, always and constantly seek themselves and their own interests, and therefore they all busily turn aside (that is, they turn downwards to themselves; they do not lift themselves up to spiritual things). And thus they become unprofitable, useful neither to themselves nor to God nor to their neighbor, indeed, harmful to all, especially to themselves, They exist only numerically, and in other things they are a hindrance."

Psalm 51 - Opened by Faith

AELW 10: 242

"O Lord, open Thou my lips. This properly belongs to the church, because the mouth of the whole Scripture has now been opened and the praise of Christ is publicly proclaimed. But it is opened by faith, without which it is closed, and silent, as it is written: “I have believed, therefore have I spoken” (Ps. 116:10). For faith opens the mouth especially toward God (thus we are now speaking) and concerning God speaking in truth."

Psalm 51 - This checklist won't sell many books

AELW 10:235

"Against Thee have I sinned, that Thou mayest be justified" (Psalm 51, v. 4)

"this should be understood thus by setting forth some theses.

First. All men are in sins before God and commit sin, that is, they are sinners in fact.

Second. To this God Himself bore witness through the prophets and established the same at last by the suffering of Christ, for it is on account of the sins of men that He made Him suffer and die.

Third. God is not justified in Himself, but in His words and in us.

Fourth. We become sinners then when we acknowledge ourselves to be such, for such we are before God."

Psalm 50 - אֵ֤ל׀ אֱֽלֹהִ֡ים יְֽהוָ֗ה - God, God, God

AELW 10:230

Psalm 50, verse 1
אֵ֤ל׀ אֱֽלֹהִ֡ים יְֽהוָ֗ה el - 'elohiym - YHWH God, God, God

Psalm 50:1

The Mighty One, God, the Lord,

speaks and summons the earth

from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.

"God, God, God has spoken (that is, He will speak, in the future). This is what the Latin translation should be [Deus, deus, deus], for in the Hebrew we have three names of God. Consequently Jerome put it thus: “The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken.” He translates the first name etymologically, namely, אֵל. But (according to the apostle) God spoke anciently in the prophets, but at last in these days in the beloved Son (Heb. 1:1–2). What, then, has He said?

He has called the earth, because He came to call sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). He sent His own Word. This is what He spoke. For “to speak” (loqui) is to send and direct the word openly to someone else. “To say” (dicere), however, is only to bring the word forth and to establish and determine it distinctly. It is not so with “speak” (loqui). Such a difference in these two words is plain in the Scriptures. For whatever God said came into being and was done. And thus His Word always comes into being and is done, as is stated in many Scripture passages. For then God speaks without intermediary through the internal Word, and that is omnipotent and efficacious. But quite often He also spoke many things that were not done and heard and received by men. Therefore God’s speaking and God’s Word differ greatly. Hence He has spoken in the beloved Son according to His flesh."

Psalm 45 - Grace is poured upon Your lips

AELW 10:215-216

"Grace is poured upon Your lips. Experience has made this clear and continues to do so. For when Christ and the apostles preached invisible and incomprehensible things, which eye has not seen, etc., and for the sake of these ordered people to despise all visible things, good as well as evil, they would never have prevailed if there had not been an attracting grace in their word. Not so Moses or any human lawgiver. For they commanded only temporal things, and if they had commanded invisible things, they would never have been persuasive, because there would not be grace but rather indignation and wrath on their lips. Therefore here too, the prophet said: "My tongue is the pen of a writer." For the tongue of Moses was not such a pen when he spoke the letter. Therefore, when he urged something absent, future, or difficult upon the Jews in the wilderness, such as taking the enemies by storm or eating of meats, etc., there was no grace on his lips, because they were not moved except by the bare word. But in the new law my tongue, he says, which speaks spirit and whose speech is the utterance of the heart, is always covered with grace. For wherever the Word of the Spirit is preached, it is not preached without result. For "grace is poured upon Your lips." Therefore, a distinction must be made here: The lips of Christ transcend personal ones."

Psalm 38 - Pleasure is an illusion of the soul

AELW 10:181

"in truth every desire and worldly pleasure is an illusion of the soul, because the desire and concern for it is always greater than the experience itself. But the opposite is true in spiritual things. For in things of the flesh the desire burns sometimes for days and nights and hours, but the experience lasts only a moment and is mixed with disappointments, according to the saying (Prov. 14:13): “Laughter shall be mingled with sorrow, and mourning takes over the ends of joy.” Therefore, is not the soul truly deceived which is most ardently kindled with desires and hopes as for something great and lasting, only to find that when it comes it fades away as it comes? Since the pleasure is in a moment, its beginning and end are the same. It rages and stops at the same time, and when it begins it comes to an end. Yet the wretched soul is snatched into it with such great burnings, because it is one to be deceived. So the birds are deceived by the snares. So a boy is deceived by copper coins instead of gold. Indeed, such a deception with regard to gold and silver and other wares is very common, and the appearance deceives everybody. They are inflamed by the appearance, but when they learn what it really is, they are deceived. And God lets this happen so that He may thus instruct us about all things which are of the flesh, because they are vanity and a deception of souls. For we, too, have deserved to suffer even that literal illusion of things from each other, because we love this injurious and pernicious illusion of the soul, so that thus the letter runs with the mystery. If you show me a yellow coin, and I am incited to regard it as gold, but you give me a copper one, are you not deceiving me? So the devil and the world show their delights, and we are strongly aroused. But he gives us wormwood, and in a moment we are not deceived, since it is indeed true, “Not everything that is yellow is gold.”

In spiritual things, on the contrary, the desire is less and the experience is greater, because the spiritual good has genuine substance. When you find a hard nut, you despise it; but open it, and the kernel will be most agreeable. So also the appearance of wine is sometimes sickening but its taste is very smooth."

Psalm 33 - Affliction in the world, peace in the Lord Christ

AELW 10:152

"Some rejoice in the Lord by taking pleasure in the blessings of spiritual salvation. It is these the apostle encourages with the words (Phil. 4:4): “Brethren, rejoice in the Lord, and again I say, rejoice.” At the same time these people have sadness in the world, for “blessed are those who mourn” (Matt. 5:4). Thus they have affliction in the world and peace in the Lord Christ at the same time. Therefore we read in 2 Cor. 1:4: “Who comforts us in all our affliction.” Others, however, take their pleasure in the world, in the flesh, in the devil, in evil things, and rejoice when they have done evil (that is, in doing evil). This should not be understood in the sense that they rejoice over the evil deed, but that their joy is not in good works but in evil, for they rejoice in things of the flesh. And about these the Lord says: “Woe to you who laugh now. Truly, I say to you, you shall weep.” And again: “Woe to you who have your consolation here” (cf. Luke 6:25, 24)."

Psalm 32 - Made Holy, made a Saint

AELW 10:151

"It is to be observed that in Scripture a saint denotes one whom the scholastic theologians call one “who is established in grace that bestows grace.” Thus Is. 55:3 reads: “I will give you the faithful holy things of David,” or “the sure mercies of David,” for He has made many holy. Consequently the apostle always calls the Christians saints (Rom. 1:7)."

Psalm 32 - Blessed are they whose inquities are forgiven

AELW 10:145

"Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven. This is at once in opposition to the hypocrites, who do not need forgiveness and, like healthy people, have no use for a doctor. For they do not think they have iniquities but rely on themselves as righteous and do not eat with the tax collectors and sinners, because they are not like other people (cf. Luke 15:2; 18:9 ff.). So the Pharisees rejected Christ, who bears the sins of the world, because they have none. And they say, “Are we blind?” And He said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin; but now that you say: ‘We see,’ your sin remains” (John 9:40–41).

Let us hear, then, what the line of argument is here. No one is blessed except the one whose iniquities are forgiven. Therefore the corollary is: No one is without iniquity, no one is not a child of wrath, and so he needs to have his sins forgiven. But this happens only through Christ. Therefore no one will be saved on his own, but through Christ alone. And this is also the argument of blessed Paul’s entire Epistle to the Romans, to which almost all the words of the epistle speak, as is clear to anyone who looks into it. For he says (Rom. 1:18, 17): “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven”; again: “The righteousness of God is revealed, etc.” The meaning is this: No human being knew that the wrath of God is upon all men and that all are in sin before God, but through His Gospel He has revealed from heaven both how we may be saved from that wrath and by what righteousness we may be set free, namely, through Christ."

Psalm 31 - Vanity is the absence of truth

AELW 10:139

"You have hated those who regard vanities. Because God is a God of truth, He rightly hates vanities, that is, the absence of truth, as is everything that is outside of Christ who, or rather, whose faith and Word, is the truth promised of old in the Law. Supervain is more than vain. Those who after such great brightness of the Gospel still obstinately look to their own Messiah act inanely beyond all inanity and vainly beyond all vanity, for they expect a Messiah in earthly things. But I, he says, will hope in the Lord, that is, in spiritual things with which the Lord of truth is, for those things are both true and truths, and I will rejoice, not in the pleasure of the world, but in Thy mercy."

Psalm 29 - Glory and Honor

AELW 10:133

"Glory and honor are distinguished in this way, that honor is reverence shown to the honored person, while glory is the pouring out and spreading of such honor upon many, namely, that many may know him who is to be honored and the honor. Thus they differ in the manner of backward and forward movement, of flux and reflux. For to the extent that a person is honored, the people are turned toward the honored one. But to the extent that one is glorified, that honor is diffused to those who honor, so that more people may honor more and more."

Psalm 28 - Deeds correspond to words, gestures of the body to the state of mind

Psalm 28, verse 2

"Hear my cry for mercy

as I call to you for help,

as I lift up my hands

toward your Most Holy Place."

"Lift up hands. Augustine says, “I am crucified for them, when they ought to become Your temple.” Second, it is to be understood thus: Hands are literally raised to heaven during prayer. In the third place, it denotes that works ought to be lifted up, they ought to be spiritual and heavenly and directed toward God. And for such and with such people prayer is effective. On the contrary, to drop hands refers to earthly works, etc. Therefore he prays in vain who does not lift up his hands in a mystical and genuine elevation. For deeds should correspond to words, and the gestures of the body to the state of the mind."

Psalm 27 - To be hidden

AELW 10:125

"Tabernacle is the church or the body of Christ, which, however, in a mystical sense is also the church. And in it is hidden every believer. This hiding must not be understood in a physical sense, because the saints are certainly placed on the candlestick (cf. Mark 4:21). This does not mean, however, that all his glory is in his soul alone, but rather because man is called inward and hidden in that he does not live in a worldly and carnal fashion, that is to say, he withdraws himself from the life, the customs, and the activity of the world. Indeed, as the apostle says (2 Cor. 10:3), that even though they live in the flesh, they do not wage war according to the flesh. And 1 Peter 4:4 says: “They are surprised that you do not join them, etc.” Therefore to be hidden is nothing else than not running with those who live carnally, something the carnal people certainly see plainly. Yet they do not live like those who live spiritually."

A Note...

Just for the record. Volume 10 of the American Edition of Luther's Works records his lectures on the Psalms. There are not notes for every Psalm, so if it looks like big jumps here, I'm just tracking with Luther....

Psalm 18 - God turns everthing to good

AELW 10: 123-124

"in dealing with the saints, God turns everything to good contrary to what they feared, so that what seemed evil and unfavorable to the saints will be proved to have been the very best, and what is propitious and choice to the wicked God subsequently turns into the most unfovorable and the opposite of what they hoped for. In line with this, Ps. 112:10 says: “The desire of sinners shall perish,” and Is. 47:10–11 says the same. For such a person despises spiritual goods and loves the physical."

Psalm 18 - Was the blessed Martin Luther watching the nightly news?

AELW 10:123

"the perverted think that the whole world is ruled by rashness and error, that God is sleeping here and is unjust there, and they see the vices of all very clearly; they even see the mote in the neighbor’s eye, but not the beam in their own (Matt. 7:2 f.)."

Psalm 18 - When they have prosperity, they abuse it, and when they suffer adversity they complain.

AELW 10:122

"the saints make use of all creation, and all things work together for them for good for the purpose of enjoying God. On the contrary, the wicked enjoy the whole creation and make use of it rather than of God, and so they pervert everything, not that God and the creature become something else, but they are perverted in the heart and regarded as something else than what they are. And this is what Eccl. 1:2 calls vanity. Again, in a similar way with regard to reward and punishment [anagogically], for the saints have pleasure in all things, as the psalmist says (Ps. 92:4): “Thou, O Lord, hast made me glad through Thy work.” On the contrary, the whole world will fight against those who have no understanding, and all things are perverted for them. Therefore even the evils of this life are holy, harmless, and chosen for the good, because they sanctify and increase their merits. They are harmless things, because they help rather than hinder. They are chosen things (that is, voluntary and agreeable), because they lovingly carry the cross of the Lord and joy-fully bear the sufferings of Christ. On the contrary, however, evils hurt the wicked much more, because through them they fall into blasphemies and curses and impatience, and they always become worse: they go from good to bad, and from bad to worse. Therefore all things are perverted for them, because when they have prosperity, they abuse it, and when they suffer adversity they complain."

Psalm 18 - The prayers of Saints

AELW 10:121

"Smoke in a good sense denotes the adoration of prayer that ascends to the throne of God, as in Rev. 8:3–4, “There was given to him much incense, which represents the prayers of the saints … and the smoke of the incense (that is, the petitions of the prayers) rose up from the hand of the angel.” In Song of Sol. 3:6 we read: “What is that coming up like a column of smoke arising from aromatic spices, from myrrh and frankincense?” For prayer, especially earnest prayer, is the ascent of the mind to God. On the contrary, smoke used in a bad sense is blasphemy and insolence against the Most High and superiors, as in Rev. 14:11 and 19:3: “And the smoke of their torments (that is, the blasphemy of the damned) goes up.” Also Ps. 104:32: “Who touches the mountains, and they smoke,” that is, He strikes down the proud, and they are filled with rage and wrath. Thus an angry person breathes smoke from his nostrils and snorts like an enraged horse."

Psalm 17 - The hidden things of God

AELW 10:112

"The hidden things of God are threefold. First, according to approval. For thus He knows what He approves and does not know the things He disapproves. In this sense it is taken here. [Thus Ps. 11:7: “His countenance has seen uprightness.” Above (v. 2): “Let Thine eyes see the things that are equitable.” Hab. 1:13: “Thine eyes are pure, Thou canst not look on iniquity.”] Second, according to punishment. Thus He knows and sees what He punishes or wants to punish. Ps. 51:9 “Turn Thy face from my sins.” And above, Ps. 10:11: “He turns away His face so as not to see to the end.” However, He takes no notice, if you will, of the things that are hidden, which He forgives. Ps. 32:1: “Blessed are they whose sins are covered.” The things that are open are spoken of in the opposite way. Third, more in keeping with the argument or identical with the first, the hidden things are those which, humanly speaking, are openly carried on and which lie open in the view of men. These are the things that are something in the eyes of the world but are nothing in the eyes of God, as 1 Cor. 1:27 says: “He has chosen the weak things of the world.” On this account he adds here I will appear in Thy sight in righteousness (v. 15), “where not Thy hidden things but Thy bright things are.” Therefore, what is hidden before God is clear before the world, and vice versa."

Psalm 17 - The right hand is Christ

AELW 10:111

"The right hand is Christ, the Son of God, as Ps. 118:16 says: “The right hand of the Lord has made strength,” for the Son of God is the strength, power, and wisdom of God, 1 Cor. 1:24, 30. Second, the right hand of God is the grace or faithfulness or work of God. Thus blessed Augustine correctly says by way of explanation that the right hand means God’s propitiation and favor, according to Ps. 45:4: “Thy right hand shall conduct Thee wonderfully.” The left hand, however, is God’s rule or freely given grace, which is common to all. Third, the right hand is the awarding of glory in the future, as Matt. 25:33–34 says, “He will place these on His right hand and those on His left, and then He will say, etc.” Therefore the right hand is, first, Christ; second, it is the merit of Christians; and third, it is their reward. However, the hand of God is impartial for all His works. But the left hand is only the bestowal of this life. Therefore the right hand of God is the gracious strength of God with which He helps the elect."

Psalm 16 - The desires of Christ

AELW 10:105

"Desires of Christ are the killing and crucifixion of the flesh and the contempt of all visible things, as well as the sanctification of the spirit and love of the invisible. But it is the great wonders of God that bring this about. Therefore He does these wonders only in them, that is, the saints, and even for them or to them, because only the spiritual and the saints understand these wonders. But to the unwise they seem foolish and their life madness, as the apostle says (1 Cor. 1:23): “To the Gentiles folly and to the Jews a stumbling block.” These are indeed wonders, that what is weak in the eyes of the world is strong in the eyes of God, and in each case the opposite is true: What is exalted before men is abominable before God, etc. (Luke 16:15). In these it is all the will of Christ, which the Father accomplished through His Spirit “in the saints,” and for the saints themselves unto glow and understanding."

Psalm 9 - Suffer with all your powers

AELW 10:91-92

"Confess is a single word in Hebrew that among Hebrews means as much as all these among us: praise, give thanks, recompense and acknowledge a benefit received. From this word comes “Judah” and “Jew,” that is, such a confessor or praiser or acknowledger of the blessings of God. And of such “Jews” “Jesus of Nazareth” is king (John 19:19 f.), leading them in His title of glory.

Some people confess with their lips only. They are the ones who say one thing in the heart and another with the mouth, like the sinner who has evil intentions and sings to God nevertheless. Concerning them Ps. 78:36–37 says: “They lied to Him with their tongue, but their heart was not right before Him.” Others confess with their heart, but not with the whole heart. These are the ones who confess with half a heart and do not do, or do sluggishly, what they say and understand. But those confess with the whole heart who are ready to do and suffer with all their powers, just as it is in their hearts."

Psalm 8 - Strength destroyed by weakness

AELW 10:89

"Who ever heard of strength being destroyed by weakness? Who has seen glory crushed by shame and not rather by greater glory? But this is what Christ did. In lowliness, weakness, and shame He stripped the whole world of its strength, honor, and glory, and altogether annihilated it and transferred it to Himself "

Psalm 8 - Raining the saving rain of the Word

AELW 10:88

"Heavens (v. 3) is the name here given to the apostles, the preachers of a new and heavenly law, because they preach heavenly things and things that come down from above. Therefore Bernard, On Canticles, sermon 27, says: “The church has her own ‘heavens,’ spiritual men, outstanding in life and judgment, pure in faith, strong in hope, broad in charity, elevated in contemplation. And these, raining the saving rain of the Word, thunder with rebukes, flash with miracles, proclaim the glory of God. They are stretched like tents over the whole earth.” And the apostle agrees, saying (1 Cor. 15:49): “If we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” Therefore he says: When I see, that is, “believe” and “approve,” I will not be envious like “the avenger” and “the enemy” (v. 2). And, in my opinion, this is the meaning, that after the avenger and his law have been destroyed, a new law and “the heavens,” its proclaimers, are to be received. He will achieve this destruction not by [riotous] force, but by the humility of his people, that is, by the preaching of the humble and the evangelization of the poor"

Psalm 7 - Life on earth, Life in Heaven.

AELW 10:84

"Life on the earth is the substance of this world by means of which bodily life is preserved. And the life in heaven is the Word of God and grace, by means of which the life of the spirit is preserved."

Psalm 7 - Those who are friends only to friends are confused.

AELW 10:83

"[it] is not enough before God, that someone does good only to the good and to friends, unless he is roundly and completely the same person to all the good and evil, to friends and enemies. For this is the Christian religion, to be just to all without a selection according to the person and physical partiality. Just as the fig tree produces figs, whether it stands among thorns or among roses, so it is with the vine (cf. James 3:12). “A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit” (Matt. 7:18). But those who are friends only to their friends are confused. Concerning them the Lord says (Matt. 7:16): “Are figs gathered from thistles?” Thus they do not gather thorns from fig trees, because they are thorny to enemies, but gentle to friends."

Psalm 6 - Rebuked in mercy

AELW 10:81-82

"Now draw together the weight of feelings in this psalm, and you will see that it cannot be heard without many tears. (1) Everyone who has been rebuked is afraid that the wrath of God is upon him. This fear makes him very uneasy and seems long, and therefore he prays “not to be rebuked in anger,” but in mercy, that is, that this very thing that was mentioned be done to him. (2) He is afraid he will be chastised without fruit while there is only wrath. Therefore he sighs the same prayer because of these two, for it is hard to be struck by one who is angry and to be struck only in a punitive way without constructive result. (3) He is “weak” and unable to withstand or repel these. (4) He cannot easily bear it. And these again are two burdens, namely, that he cannot escape them, and yet cannot bear them either. Therefore he calls himself “weak” and says that his “bones are troubled.” (5) His soul is not only “troubled” because of these, something that happens with all of them, but it is by itself troubled also through its own suffering, and that exceedingly. (6) This fear and excessive trembling seems endless to everyone who experiences it. Therefore he says, “How long?” This delay is an intensification of all those other woes. (7) He says “Turn” because the Lord’s being turned away is cause for weeping. (8) So that the “mercy” of God may not be lost but be glorified, there is here again another kind of feeling of love to God and of worship. (9) “For in death there is no one who remembers Thee,” that is, “who will promote Thy fame before others.” (10) “In Sheol there is no one to confess,” even if he were to “remember Him,” but rather he utters curses. This is a remarkable verse, that the saints dread blasphemy of God more than hell. Thus someone prayed that if he were damned, he would nevertheless praise and glorify God. Therefore he does not say here, “Lest I be in hell,” but, “Lest there be no remembrance of Him,” which is what happens in hell. And not for this reason, that it is hell, does he pray that he may not come to hell, but for the reason that there is no praise of God there. Therefore he prays that his body may be saved from death and his soul from hell. (11) “He has toiled in his groaning” in a singular way. (12) “He washes his bed every night, etc.” (13) He “waters his couch with his own tears.” (14) He abhors his sins [because those which agitate him are great] with a holy and intensive “rage.” (15) All afflict him, and he is alone among them all."