Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive; thou hast received gifts in men. Yea for those also that do not believe, the dwelling of the Lord God. (Psalm 67:19 DR)
The Psalmist turns now from the descent of the Lord on Mt. Sinai to give the Law to Moses to the ascent of Christ following His resurrection. That this is the prophetic import of this passage is confirmed by St. Paul who quotes it concerning the outpouring of God’s grace:
But to every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the giving of Christ. Wherefore he saith: Ascending on high, he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to men. Now that he ascended, what is it, but because he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. (Ephesians 4:7-10 DR)
However, while the ascension of our Lord is prophetically manifested here, there remain some points of obscurity, which will be taken in order.
The first regards the notion of leading captivity captive, and to what precisely this refers. St. Augustine considers two possibilities:
But what is, “You have led captivity captive?” Is it because He has conquered death, which was holding captive those over whom it reigned? Or has he called men themselves captivity, who were being held captive under the devil? (St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 67, 23.)
While the first meaning is virtually contained in the meaning of the passage, both St. Augustine and St. Bellarmine agree that it is more fittingly in reference to men who were held captive and have been freed from the captivity of sin to serve in a better captivity, as it were. St. Bellarmine sees a parallel between the thousands of saints (angels) who descend with the Lord in the previous passage and those who now ascend alongside:
“Thou hast ascended on high.” St. Paul, [Ephes. 4,] applies this passage to Christ’s ascension; and the meaning is, the Lord formerly descended on Sinai, accompanied by many millions of Angels; but thou, the Messias, is forever ascended on high, to the highest heavens; “hast led captivity captive;” made those who had been captives to the devils captives to yourself, commuted a most miserable captivity into a most glorious one; and thus, in triumph, accompanied by the countless myriads of the saints so redeemed, you entered into your kingdom. (St. Robert Bellarmine, A Commentary on the Book of the Psalms, 67, 17-18.)
St. Augustine (whom St. Bellarmine follows here) draws from various imagery in the New Testament concerning “catching men,” the “easy yoke” of Christ and the servitude to righteousness to tease out the meaning of the Psalmist here:
For why should not captivity be happy, if even for a good purpose men may be caught? Whence to Peter has been said, “From henceforth you shall catch men.” [Luke 5:10] Led captive therefore they are because caught, and caught because subjugated, being sent under that gentle yoke, [Matthew 11:30] being delivered from sin whereof they were servants, and being made servants of righteousness [Romans 6:18] whereof they were children. Whence also He is Himself in them, that has given gifts to men, and has received gifts in men. And thus in that captivity, in that servitude, in that chariot, under that yoke, there are not thousands of men lamenting, but thousands of men rejoicing. (St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 67, 23.)
In St. Augustine’s commentary on this Psalm in particular we get a fascinating glimpse of the patristic approach to reading and interpreting the Psalms. As can be seen in this passage, he is not randomly assigning figures and images in the Psalms to spiritual meanings or arbitrarily superimposing New Testament theology. That this “captivity” should refer to a “happy captivity” is only drawn out because it accords with the meaning of the previous passage. Thus, the notion of a “happy captivity” is confirmed by the previous passage in which thousands are said to be rejoicing. Thus, both the polyvalent nature of the passage and the poetic parallelism lead to this conclusion that Christ’s ascension lead from one captivity to another, as it were, which accords with St. Paul’s words:
But thanks be to God, that you were the servants of sin, but have obeyed from the heart, unto that form of doctrine, into which you have been delivered. Being then freed from sin, we have been made servants of justice… But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end life everlasting. (Romans 6:17-18, 22 DR)
St. Paul’s meaning is that our nature as creatures entails that we will be servant of something. Apart from grace we are servants of sin whether we recognize it or not, and this freedom from sin does not put us into a neutral state, as such a state does not exist. We will either serve sin or serve God, both of which have their own fruits and rewards. The captivity to sin is the miserable captivity, as it leads to death, but the captivity to righteousness is the blessed captivity, for it leads to eternal life.
But another obscurity remains, for while the next clause is straightforward enough in its import, the issue is that St. Paul’s quotation of it switches the recipient of the gifts. Consider the two passages:
Thou hast received gifts in men. (Psalm 67:19 DR)
He gave gifts to men. (Ephesians 4:8 DR)
In the Psalm the Lord is the one who receives gifts in men, whereas in St. Paul’s quotation it is the men who receive gifts from God in the form of grace. There seems on the surface to be a contradiction here since the recipient and the gift differ between the two.
St. Augustine notes this seeming discrepancy but reminds the reader (as he does elsewhere in his explanations on the Psalms) that what is said of Christ in the Psalms is also said of His Body, the Church. Thus, Christ on His ascension receives gifts in men in that the charity which God pours into their hearts incorporates them into His Body. But this self-same charity is that which He gives to men as a gift of His overflowing grace. Thus, the Psalm and St. Paul are describing the same reality from different angles:
And let it not move us that the Apostle making mention of that same testimony says not, “You have received gifts in men;” but, “He has given gifts unto men.” For he with Apostolic authority has spoken thus according to the faith that the Son is God with the Father. For in respect of this He has given gifts to men, sending to them the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son. But forasmuch as the self-same Christ is understood in His Body which is the Church, wherefore also His members are His saints and believers, whence to them is said, “But you are the Body of Christ, and the members,” [1 Corinthians 12:27] doubtless He has Himself also received gifts in men. Now Christ has gone up on high, and sits at the right hand of the Father: [Mark 16:19] but unless He were here also on the earth, He would not thence have cried, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” [Acts 9:4] When the Same says Himself, “Inasmuch as to one of My least you have done it, to Me you have done it:” [Matthew 25:40] why do we doubt that He receives in His members, the gifts which the members of Him receive? (St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 67, 22.)
St. John in his Gospel accords well with this understanding, and even draws out the same descent/ascent parallel from this Psalm:
And of his fulness we all have received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. (John 1:16-17 DR)
In the final clause of this verse the Psalmist notes that this ascension has universal implications, for these men who are received as gifts are numbered even from among the unbelievers, to be brought into the dwelling of the Lord, which is His Church:
And the unbelieving, too, He sometimes draws by means of sickness and outward circumstances; yea, many also by means of visions have come to make their abode with Jesus. (St. Hippolytus of Rome)
This animation was pretty straightforward. I found a great image of the ascension and cut out the figure in Photoshop and brought it into After Effects.
I wanted there to be a gold-ish background for the animation, so I found one and applied Stretch to it and modified the parameters to create the look seen here. I then precomped the figure and applied some slight wiggle animation and finally duplicated it a few times and masked them within the composition to create the layout.
Enjoy.
Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive; thou hast received gifts in men. Yea for those also that do not believe, the dwelling of the Lord God.
(Psalm 67:19 DR)
View a higher quality version of this gif here: