Chapter
X: KING DAVID'S PROPHECIES ON THE MESSIAS; AND HIS SANCTIFICATION.
1.
We dedicate this chapter to the Holy Prophet and King, David, on
various accounts a figure of Jesus Christ: born in Bethlehem, he offered
up his life in order to challenge and defeat Goliath, figure of Satan, and
for envy was unjustly persecuted whilst magnanimously he pardoned his
aggressors. And in a very
special way he represents Christ as king and founder of the dynasty from
which the Messias - King and Prophet - would spring, and who would sit on
David's throne.
2. The importance of
David however does not end as simply a figure, but above all he stands out
and excels as prophet, one of the foremost who spoke about the Messias;
his prophetic vision embraced the past, present and future, and this is
why some of his psalms unfold in periods far distant from his own lifetime,
periods which he nevertheless lived through in prophetic vision.
We assert and define that the Psalter, or Book of Psalms in the
Bible containing 150 psalms, was written in its entirety by the Holy
Prophet David; thus we settle once and for all the possibility discussed
in the Church until now that perhaps some of the psalms might not have
been written by David. The Psalms resume the Mysteries of Jesus Christ in a grand
style at once harmonious and sublime.
3. The divine origin
of the Messias is stated in the following verse of Psalm II: "The
Lord hath said to me: Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee"
(II, 7). Saint Paul confirms this Davidic doctrine in his Epistle to
the Hebrews (I, 5): "For, to which of the Angels hath He said at any
time: Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee?" Psalm CIX, 3 reaffirms this: "Before the Day-star I
begot Thee", expressing clearly the eternal generation of the Word,
as likewise the creation of the Soul of Christ before all things admirably
expressed in the word `Day-star'. Psalm
CIX, 1 also contains the doctrine of the Pre-existence of the Soul of
Christ united to the Divine Word, in the following phrases rich with
meaning: "The Lord said to my Lord: sit Thou at my right hand: until
I make Thy enemies Thy footstool".
This cannot refer to the Word of God, for the Three Divine Persons
are one sole God and Lord; and therefore speaks of the Soul of Christ,
David's Lord, who is at the same time creature of God, and who from his
creation sits at the right hand of the Father.
This same Psalm in verse 4 states the doctrine of the Eternal High
Priesthood of Christ: "The Lord hath sworn and He will not repent:
Thou art a Priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech"; -
a priesthood which is the hypostatic union of the Soul of Christ with the
Word of God, which extends in the Incarnation of this Second Divine Person
to the whole corporeal nature of Christ.
4. Psalm XLIV, 10 and
following, beautifully sets our the
doctrine of the pre-existence of the Soul of Mary, created imme-diately
after the Soul of Christ, associated to the Divine Council and espoused
with the Soul of Christ: "The Queen stood on thy right hand, in
gilded clothing: surrounded with variety".
The Soul of Mary is this Queen, at the right hand of the King - the
Soul of Christ,- and She is vested with royalty and adorned with virtue
and grace to unimaginable degree. This
latter is the meaning of the words "surrounded with variety"
according to the Vulgate, and which the Hebrew text gives as "crowned
with Ophir" - which in gold,- and both texts have the same meaning:
the glory and splendour in the Soul of Mary.
The 14th verse of the same psalm refers to Mary, Daughter of God
the Father, and Temple and Tabernacle of the Most Holy Trinity who
encloses within Herself the three-fold glory of God: "All the glory
of the King's daughter is within, in golden borders".
5. Psalm XXXIII, 8
proves the Pre-existence of the Most Divine Soul of Christ in speaking of
his interventions to free God's servants from their enemies: "The
Angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear Him, and shall
deliver them". Also
Psalm XXXIV, 5 & 6: "... and let the Angel of the Lord strai-ten
them". "... and let the Angel of the Lord pursue them".
As we already know, this Angel of the Lord so often mentioned in
Holy Scripture is by dogmatic definition the Most Divine Soul of Christ.
Psalm XCVIII, 6-7 likewise proves the preexistence of the Divine
Souls of Christ and Mary through the interventions which the Sacred Text
describes: "They called upon the Lord, and He heard them: He spoke to
them in the pillar of the Cloud".
This Cloud which the Chosen People saw so many times, through which
the Soul of Christ would act, is defined infallibly to be the Soul of Mary.
6. The Doctrine of the
Incarnation of the Word of God is treated in Psalm XXXIX, 7, which in the
Vulgate reads: "Sacrifice and oblation Thou didst not desire; but
thou hast made me perfect ears", and according to the Hebrew text:
"... but Thou hast pierced ears for me", while the Greek text
reads: "... but a body Thou hast fitted to me".
Saint Paul in his epistle to the Hebrews (X, 5) refers to this
psalm verse, taking the expression found in the Greek text: "Sacrifice
and oblation Thou didst not desire: but a body Thou hast fitted to
me". These three bible versions agree to the true meaning of the
text, namely: that the Soul of Christ is speaking in advance of His
Incarnation, when He would take flesh in order to become the Propitiatory
Victim and do away with levitical sacrifices; and this is the same as
saying: for our salvation Christ became a slave, or in other words
obedient unto death, even to the death of the Cross.
To have the ears pierced is the mark of a slave, while the
expression "Thou hast made me perfect ears" mentions the part
which refers to the whole, which is the body, and it is through the ears
moreover that we receive the orders of superiors.
7. In the Psalms there
is also reference to the Birth of Christ (LXXXIV, 12): "Truth is
sprung out of the Earth".
Christ refers to Himself as the Truth, and is sprung out of the
Earth which is Mary, for He became Flesh in her most Pure Womb.
Furthermore we know by definition of Pope Gregory XVII, that when
the Story of Creation tells us that God created Heaven and Earth, the word
`Earth' signifies in the first place the Divine Soul of Mary, created
immediately after `Heaven' which is the Most Divine Soul of Christ.
Here is the text of Genesis: "In the beginning God created
Heaven and Earth" (Gen. I, 1).
8. Christ was sent by
the Father to preach the Gospel and to teach fidelity to the Law of God,
and carried out the most high mission entrusted to Him with infinite zeal.
In His doctrine are to be found peace, health and the salvation of
souls. Psalm XYXIX, 10-11,
refers to this public life of Christ: "I have de-clared thy justice
in a great church: ... I have not hid thy justice within my heart: I have
declared thy truth and thy salva-tion.
I have not concealed thy mercy and thy truth from a great council".
Christ Himself proclaims His Gospel, and later by means of His
Apostles and their successors, to the Universal Church, expressed by the
term `great church'.
9. The 21st is the
most impressive of all psalms, describ-ing with wealth of detail the
Passion and Death of Christ; here David portrays the sufferings of Christ
to us in amazing and pathetic detail.
Our Lord Jesus Christ spoke this psalm as He hung from the Cross,
in order to testify that it had been fulfilled in Him word for word.
10. Verse 2 describes
the utter and entire abandonment of Christ in his Humanity apart from the
very highest faculties of His Soul, crying out with expressions of bitter
desolation: "O God my God, look upon Me: why hast Thou forsaken Me?
Far from my salvation are the words of my sins".
The first part of this quotation corresponds to Saint Jerome's
translation of the Hebrew text, apart from the words "look upon
Me"; and the second part corresponds to the Vulgate translation of
the Greek text. To this verse
the Vulgate and the Greek text include the words "look upon Me",
which are not found in the Hebrew, and neither in the Gospels, but we
assert that Christ spoke them. This
Holy Council affirms the following: that Christ, addressing His Father,
pleaded that He look upon His Divine Face and not upon the sins of men.
Saint Paul gives the interpretation of this verse in masterly
fashion (Gal. III, 13): "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the
law, being made a curse for us; for it is written: cursed is every one
that hangeth on a tree"; and in the 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians,
adds: "Him, who knew no sin, He hath made sin for us, that we might
be made the justice of God in Him".
By His divine decree, God placed the sins of all the world upon
Christ, which decree Christ accepted willingly and freely, having thus to
make reparation for those infinite offenses with His Passion and Death;
and without losing the beatific vision and corresponding joy in the
highest point of His Soul, this vision is veiled in the lower part of His
Soul, that part in man which corresponds to feeling and suffering, making
it possible for Christ to experience
at the same time the fullness of joy in His Soul together with the
greatest possible suffering both in His Soul and in His Body.
11. The verses that
follow (Ps. XXI, 7ff), describe further aspects of the Passion: "But
I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the
people"; - true description of the state of Christ's sacred Body
after the outrages He suffered. The
psalm continues: "All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: they
have spoken with the lips, and wagged the head".
Further on Christ sees Himself surrounded by His enemies, who
condemn Him to death: "Many calves have surrounded me: fat bulls have
besieged me". The Psalmist continues the description with astonishing
realism: "I am poured out like water; and all my bones are racked".
This refers to the continuous shedding of the Redeemer's Most
Precious Blood, as drop by drop His Life ebbs away; His bones are pulled
out of joint as His Body is stretched to reach the holes maliciously
placed in the Cross. Verse 16
describes another suffering in the Passion: "My strength is dried up
like a potsherd, and my tongue hath cleaved to my jaws", which we
complete with Psalm LXVIII, 22: "And they gave me gall for my food:
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink"; all expressive of
the burning thirst with which Christ was consumed.
12. Verses 17 & 18
(Ps. XXI) give a perfect summary of the most bloody Crucifixion of Christ,
surrounded by that hellish mob of persecutors: "For many dogs have
encompassed me; the council of the malignant hath besieged me.
They have pierced my hands and feet.
They have numbered all my bones.
And they looked and stared upon me".
Verse 19 describes another incident: "They parted my garments
amongst them; and upon my vesture they cast lots".
13. In verse 25 Christ
speaks of Mary at the foot of the Cross, at one with His Sacrifice, as may
be seen in the light of our correct interpretation: "Neither hath She
turned away her face from me: and when I cried to Him it was She who heard
Me". We assert that the
exact meaning of this verse is that Mary, absorbed in the contemplation of
Jesus' Face, watches Him with indescribable love and consoles Him in this
moment when Christ is apparently abandoned by the Father, to whom He cries
and is not heard. It is Mary
who listens to Her Son and comforts Him.
The need of Mary's presence on Calvary close to the Cross is
wonderfully expressed in verse 20: "But Thou, O Lord, remove not thy
help to a distance from me; look towards my defence", whose meaning
we interpret and affirm to be the follow-ing: Christ requests His Father
that no one separate Mary from the Cross, for her presence is needed in
order to complete the Sacri-fice of Calvary; the words `help' and `defence'
refer here to the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Help and Advocate of Christ and
of His Mystical Body.
14. In verse 21, as we
interpret and declare, Christ beseech-es the Father to free Mary from the
physical death which She dearly longs for: "Deliver, O God, my Soul
from the sword: my only one
from the hand of the dog". The
Divine Souls of Christ and Mary are fused into a single Soul because of
their Espousal; Mary is indicated by the words `only one' of the Vulgate
text, which the Greek text gives as `Only-begotten Daughter',- and the two
terms have the same meaning: the Only One and Only-begotten Daughter of
God amongst all His creatures.
15. Other verses at
the end of the psalm speak of the Church, cleansed and renewed on Calvary. Verse 22 is astonishing, once correctly interpreted: "Save
me from the lion's mouth; and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns",
which refers to Christ's Mystical Body.
The word `lowness' has the same scope and meaning as `heel',
applied to the Church Militant.
16. Verse 23 reads:
"I will declare thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the Church
will I praise Thee"; and verse 26: "With Thee is my praise in a
great Church: I will pay my vows in the sight of them that fear Him".
Christ speaks in the name of His ministers, represented on Calvary
by Saint John the Evangel-ist; through them Christ will proclaim
Redemption to the Universal Church, and perpetuate the Sacrifice of
Calvary, eternal Covenant between God and man, through the, Holy Sacrifice
of Mass, whose purpose above all is to adore God and give Him praise.
And for the good of our souls He will leave us the recently
instituted Sacrament of the Eucharist, as the following verse describes:
"The poor shall eat and shall be filled; and they shall praise the
Lord that seek Him: their hearts shall live for ever and ever".
17. Psalm XV, 10
foretells the Resurrection of Christ: "Because thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell; nor wilt thou give thy holy one to see corruption".
18. Psalm XLVI, 6, 8
& 9, speaks of the Ascension of the Lord: "God is ascended with
jubilee, and the Lord with the sound of trumpet ... For God is the king of
all the earth ... God shall reign over the nations: God sitteth on his
holy throne". Psalm
LXVII, 19 touches the same theme: "Thou hast ascended on high, thou
hast led captivity captive ... ".
Saint Paul (Eph. IV, 8) interprets this verse as follows: "Ascending
on high, he led captivity captive ...", meaning that He took to
Heaven those who were waiting in Abraham's bosom and left to us all, the
hope of gaining paradise.
19. Psalm XXIII is a
hymn of triumph that celebrates Christ's entry into Heaven, victorious
over the devil, sin and death: "Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and
be ye lifted up, O eternal gates; and the King of Glory shall enter in.
Who is this King of Glory? the Lord who is strong and mighty: the
Lord mighty in battle" (XXIII, 7-8).
And Psalm XV, 11: "Thou shalt fill me with joy with thy
countenance: at thy right hand are delights even for ever".
20. The Mystical Body
of Christ is mysteriously described in Psalm CXVII, 22: "The stone
which the builders rejected; the same is become the head of the
corner". Saint Paul in
his letter to the Ephesians interprets this verse: "Now therefore,
you are no more strangers and foreigners: but you are fellow citizens with
the saints, and the domestics of God: built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief corner-stone"
(II, 19-20). Saint Peter
quoting the same psalm-verse, also interprets it: "Behold, I lay in
Sion a chief corner-stone, elect, precious: and he that shall believe in
Him, shall not be confounded" (I Pet. II, 6).
21. To crown and
complete the mysteries of the Life of Christ prophesied by David in the
Psalter, we consider now the events which are forerunners to the
establishment of the Messianic Kingdom:
22. Psalm XCVI, 2ff
describes the final chastisement: "Clouds and darkness are round
about him: justice and judgement are the establishment of his throne.
A fire shall go before him, and shall burn his enemies round about.
His lightnings have shone forth to the world: the earth saw, and
trembled". Here we see
announced thousands of years ago the same events foretold in so many
prophecies, above all those of recent years: the three days of darkness
and the hail of fire which will purify mankind, destroying her two third
parts, for in this way God will let His Wrath fall upon the godless.
Psalm XLIX, 3 expresses this same truth in these words: "A
fire shall burn before him: and a mighty tempest shall be round about him".
23. On the 3rd day of
darkness Christ shall appear on the clouds of Heaven, full of majesty and
glory, as announced in Psalm XLIX, 1ff: "The God of gods, the Lord
hath spoken: and he hath called the earth, from the rising of the sun to
the going down thereof (1): out of Sion the loveliness of his beauty (2).
God shall come manifestly: our God shall come, and shall not keep
silence ... (3). He shall
call Heaven from above, and the Earth to judge his people (4). Gather ye together his saints to Him, who have made a
covenant with Him in the sacrifices (5)".
These verses offer us an impressive, vivid and true description of
the Second Coming of Christ, and of the Last Judgement that occurs in the
self-same instant. We now
determine the exact meaning of various phrases in these verses.
The expression "The God of gods" means the God of the
sons of God: both angels and men who by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost
become gods by grace. When
the Psalmist in verse 1 says: "He hath called the earth", he is
telling us that God will call all humanity living and dead, from all parts
of the universe, in the very same moment of the resurrection of the dead.
Psalm LXIV, 3 is more specific: "all flesh shall come to Thee".
Continuing with Psalm XLIX, we interpret and declare that the words
`Heaven' and `Earth' of verse 4 should be understood as referring to
Christ and Mary, the Supreme Judge and his Divine Spouse, for both by Will
of the Father will come to judge mankind - this latter
indicated by the words `his people'.
Verse 5 contains the following doctrine: all the saints will be
gathered at the Last Judgement, including in this word `saints' all the
Angels and Blessed in Heaven, and including too all the souls who a moment
before had been in Purgatory, and likewise all those of children's Limbo,
for these two places will have ceased to exist; as well those who survive
the final chastisement. All
will be judged by Christ the Supreme Judge, and together with Christ will
in turn judge the reprobate. Psalm
XCVII, 9 speaks of the Last Judgement as follows: "He shall judge the
world with justice, and the people with equity".
And Psalm XCVI, 6: "The Heavens declared his justice: and all
people saw his glory".
24. The last Judgement
will consist in the general revela-tion to all of the infinite power and
majesty of Christ the King - true God and true Man; and likewise the
revelation to all of the divine greatness and sanctity of the Mother of
God, the Virgin Mary, Queen and Mistress of all creation; of the immense
dignity of her virginal spouse, Joseph Most Holy; and of the most exalted
virtue of those other Saints who are higher than the Angels.
Likewise the general revelation of the excellence of the choirs of
angels, according to their hierarchies, who, faithful to God, were
confirmed in grace; as also the holiness and virtues of all the other
blessed in Heaven, and of the survivors of the chastisement.
And in deserving contrast the revelation to all of the wickedness
of the angels who rebelled as well as of all the reprobates of the human
race, who rejected Christ and with per-verse loyalty followed Satan.
At the same time the Last Judgement will consist in the passing of
sentence on all by the Supreme Judge, of eternal life for the good and
condemnation to the eternal torments of hell for the wicked; mankind, both
the good and the wicked, with their respective bodies.
The survivors receive sentence of entry into the Messianic Kingdom
of absolute peace on the earth made new, confirmed for ever in grace.
25. The Psalmist also
pens verses which foretell the joys of the Messianic Kingdom: "The
Lord hath reigned: he is clothed with beauty: the Lord is clothed with
strength, and hath girded Himself. For
He hath established the world which shall not be moved; thenceforward thy
throne was made firm" (XCII, 1 & 2).
These verses beautifully express the happiness of the Messianic
Kingdom in which man will recover all the gifts and graces that he lost
through original sin, and the earth will be restored to the happiness of
paradise, and to even higher degree, besides the guarantee forever to men
of salvation, as Ps. XCVI, 11 well describes: "Light is risen to the
just and joy to the right of heart".
Psalm XXXV vs. 9-10 likewise tells of the delights of the Messianic
Kingdom: "They shall be inebriated with the plenty of thy house: and
thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure.
For with thee is the fountain of life: and in thy light we shall
see the light". This
last verse clearly shows that in the Messianic Kingdom the elect will
enjoy the beatific vision. Nature
which until then shall groan and shall be in labour, will leap for joy:
"the fields and all things
that are in them shall be joyful" (XCV, 12).
"The rivers shall clap their hands: the mountains shall
rejoice together" (XCVII, 8). And
the following text of Saint Paul will be fulfilled: "Because the
creature also itself shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption,
into the liberty of the glory of the children of God" (Rom. VIII,
21).
26. Before ending this
chapter, it is important to treat the question of the sanctification
during life of the Holy Prophet David, implicit in Psalm L, 13-14: "Cast
me not away from thy face; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and strengthen me with a
perfect spirit". Psalm
LXXXV, 2 confirms this text: "Preserve my soul, for I am holy".
27. In the light of
these texts we define that the Prophet and King Saint David possessed in
his lifetime the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.
The Book of Ecclesiasticus also confirms the sanctification of
David: "The Lord took away his sins, and exalted his strength for
ever" (Eccl. XLVII, 13).
28. In that first Book
of Kings, the Lord speaks to Samuel concerning David: "Fill thy horn
with oil, and come, that I may send thee to Isai the Bethlehemite: for I
have provided me a king among his sons" (XVI, 1).
Saint Catherine Emmerick, Doctor of the Church, refers in her
revelations to the singular piety of David as a youth, going often to pray
in a cave where he was favoured with many apparitions from Heaven.
In view of these two references, we define that the Most Divine
Soul of Christ accompanied by the Divine Soul of Mary appeared to the
young prophet as he prayed in the Nativity Cave of the Messias, and that
placing the Sacrament of the Triple Benediction on the head of His elect,
sanctified him and anointed him king.
The Lord wished to have a visible ceremony later of this divine
annointing by means of the oil poured over his head by Samuel.
29. Sadly, Saint
David, Prophet and King, committed a grave sin of adultery besides others
connected with this, for failing to mortify the sense of sight, and even
went so far as the terrible sin of homicide with the premeditated death of
Urias. God was angered against David, and by means of the Prophet
Nathan threw the crime in his face. But
the Holy King at once recognized his guilt, besought pardon of God and did
hard penance for his sins the rest of his life, and suffered as well many
misfortunes upon his household. Psalm
L, 3 gives evidence of his deep repentance: "Have mercy on me, O God,
according to thy great mercy, and according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies, blot out my iniquities".
And verse 6: "Against Thee only have I sinned, and have done
evil before Thee"; Psalm XXXVII, 18 adds: "For I am ready for
scourges: and my sorrow is continually before me".
29. Worthy of
admiration are the many psalms which owe their inspiration to David's
repentance.
