The soul aspireth after heaven; rejoicing in the mean time, in being in the communion of God’s church upon earth.
[1] Unto the end, for the winepresses, a psalm for the sons of Core. [2] How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! [3] My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God. [4] For the sparrow hath found herself a house, and the turtle a nest for herself where she may lay her young ones: Thy altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God. [5] Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord: they shall praise thee for ever and ever. [6] Blessed is the man whose help is from thee: in his heart he hath disposed to ascend by steps, [7] In the vale of tears, in the place which he hath set. [8] For the lawgiver shall give a blessing, they shall go from virtue to virtue: the God of gods shall be seen in Sion. [9] O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. [10] Behold, O God our protector: and look on the face of thy Christ. [11] For better is one day in thy courts above thousands. I have chosen to be an abject in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners. [12] For God loveth mercy and truth: the Lord will give grace and glory. [13] He will not deprive of good things them that walk in innocence: O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.Commentary
[6] “In his heart he hath disposed to ascend by steps”: Ascensiones in corde suo disposuit. As by steps men ascended to the temple of God situated on a hill; so the good Christian ascends towards the eternal temple by certain steps of virtue disposed or ordered within the heart: and this whilst he lives as yet in the body, in this vale of tears, the place which man hath set: that is, which he hath brought himself to: being cast out of paradise for his sin.
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