9 But with what profit is this? “O God of virtues turn Thou nevertheless”. Although these things have been done, “Turn Thou nevertheless.” “Look from heaven and see, and visit this vineyard.” “And perfect Thou her whom Your right hand has planted”. No other plant Thou, but this make Thou perfect. For she is the very seed of Abraham, she is the very seed in whom all nations shall be blessed: there is the root where is borne the graffed wild olive. “Perfect Thou this vineyard which Your right hand has planted.” But wherein does He perfect? “And upon the Son of man, whom You have strengthened to Yourself.” What can be more evident? Why do ye still expect, that we should still explain to you in discourse, and should we not rather cry out with you in admiration, “Perfect Thou this vineyard which Your right hand has planted, and upon the Son of man” perfect her? What Son of man? Him “whom You have strengthened to Yourself.” A mighty stronghold: build as much as you are able. “For other foundation no one is able to lay, except that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus.”
10. “Things burned with fire, and dug up, by the rebuke of Your countenance shall perish”. What are the things burned with fire and dug up which shall perish from the rebuke of His countenance? Let us see and perceive what are the things burned with fire and dug up. Christ has rebuked what? Sins: by the rebuke of His countenance sins have perished. Why then are sins burned with fire and dug up? Of all sins, two things are the cause in man, desire and fear. Think, examine, question your hearts, sift your consciences, see whether there can be sins, except they be either of desire, or of fear. There is set before you a reward to induce you to sin, that is, a thing which delights you; you do it, because you desire it. But perchance you will not be allured by bribes; you are terrified with menaces, thou do it because you fear. A man would bribe you, for example, to bear false witness. Countless cases there are, but I am setting before you the plainer cases, whereby ye may imagine the rest. Have you hearkened unto God, and have you said in your heart, “What does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, but of his own soul suffer loss?” I am not allured by a bribe to lose my soul to gain money. He turns himself to stir up fear within you, he who was not able to corrupt you with a bribe, begins to threaten loss, banishment, massacres, perchance, and death. Therein now, if desire prevailed not, perchance fear will prevail to make you sin....What had evil fear done? It had dug up, as it were. For love does inflame, fear does humble: therefore, sins of evil love, with fire were lighted: sins of evil fear were dug up. On the one hand, evil fear does humble, and good love does light; but in different ways respectively. For even the husbandman interceding for the tree, that it should not be cut down, says, “I will dig about it, and will apply a basket of dung.” The dug trench does signify the godly humility of one fearing, and the basket of dung the profitable squalid state of one repenting. But concerning the fire of good love the Lord says, “Fire I have come to send into the world.” With which fire may the fervent in spirit burn, and they too that are inflamed with the love of God and their neighbour. And thus, as all good works are wrought by good fear and good love, so by evil fear and evil love all sins are committed. Therefore, “Things set alight with fire and dug up,” to wit, all sins, “by the rebuke of Your countenance shall perish.”
11. “Let Your hand be upon the Man of Your right hand, and upon the Son of Man whom You have strengthened Yourself”. “And we depart not from You....You will quicken us, and Your Name we will invoke”. You shall be sweet to us, “You will quicken us.” For aforetime we did love earth, not You: but You have mortified our members which are upon the earth. For the Old Testament, having earthly promises, seems to exhort that God should not be loved for nought, but that He should be loved because He gives something on earth. What do you love, so as not to love God? Tell me. Love, if you can, anything which He has not made. Look round upon the whole creation, see whether in any place you are held with the birdlime of desire, and hindered from loving the Creator, except it be by that very thing which He has Himself created, whom you despise. But why do you love those things, except because they are beautiful? Can they be as beautiful as He by whom they were made? You admire these things, because you see not Him: but through those things which you admire, love Him whom you see not. Examine the creation; if of itself it is, stay therein: but if it is of Him, for no other reason is it prejudicial to a lover, than because it is preferred to the Creator. Why have I said this? With reference to this verse, brethren. Dead, I say, were they that did worship God that it might be well with them after the flesh: “For to be wise after the flesh is death:” and dead are they that do not worship God gratis, that is, because of Himself He is good, not because He gives such and such good things, which He gives even to men not good. Money will you have of God? Even a robber has it. Wife, abundance of children, soundness of body, the world's dignity, observe how many evil men have. Is this all for the sake of which thou dost worship Him? Your feet will totter, you will suppose yourself to worship without cause, when you see those things to be with them who do not worship Him. All these things, I say, He gives even to evil men, Himself alone He reserves for good men. “You will quicken us;” for dead we were, when to earthly things we did cleave; dead we were, when of the earthly man we did bear the image. “You will quicken us;” You will renew us, the life of the inward man You will give us. “And Your Name we will invoke;” that is, You we will love. You to us will be the sweet forgiver of our sins, You will be the entire reward of the justified. “O Lord God of virtues, convert us, and show Your face, and we shall be whole”.
Source: The Enarrations, or Expositions, on the Psalms (New Advent)