Psalm 67:36
cause and effect
God is wonderful in his saints: the God of Israel is he who will give power and strength to his people. Blessed be God. (Psalm 67:36 DR)
As embodied beings, we are naturally ordered to see the greatness of things in their effects. That is, since we are not purely intellectual beings we do not directly perceive essences but rather indirectly through discursive reasoning. As such, our senses form the substrate, as it were, of our knowledge of things; as St. Thomas notes, there is nothing in the mind which is not first in the senses.
Thus, when we perceive a thing or a person as great, we do so by means of their acts or words, the outward manifestations of their self, their interior word, as it were. We call an artist great whose works of art are particularly noteworthy or beautiful; a musician is great whose compositions are timeless and moving. Generals are great who win spectacular battles, and saints are great whose life exude holiness and charity.
As the Psalmist concludes this truly amazing paen to the Church, he stops to consider that God’s greatness and wonder is perceived in His saints; thus, God is wonderful in His saints. The Psalmist certainly does not mean this exclusively, as God is wonderful in His own essence, but rather from the subjective view of limited creatures God’s wonder and goodness is perceived (as all of God’s essence is) in His effects— in this case, the glory of His saints.
This statement is made—as as previous noted—in the prophetic context of the Day of Judgment, when God will judge the world and all therein. This will be the day of the vindication of His saints, when their faith and charity for God are seen by all. Then the majesty of God’s splendor will be revealed by means of those He has redeemed and refashioned into the likeness of His Son, as their glory will be a reflection of His glory as they participate in His divine nature:
“God is wonderful in his saints;” for then will the whole world clearly understand that God, in raising his saints from the lowest depths to the greatest height, from profound abasement to the highest and most exalted glory, was truly “wonderful;” for “the God of Israel,” of his chosen people, will then “give power and strength to his people,” will endow his elect with true and real immortality. (St. Robert Bellarmine, A Commentary on the Book of the Psalms, 67, 34.)
St. Augustine understands this day as when the name of Israel will be finally fulfilled, as Israel means “seeing God,” and the saints will see God as He is in the Beatific Vision. Our Lord’s Resurrection is the power and strength which He gives to His people, enabling them to rise on the last day into eternal life:
“He Himself shall give virtue and strength to His people, blessed be God:” to His people now frail and weak. For “we have this treasure in earthen vessels.” [2 Corinthians 4:7] But then by a most glorious changing even of our bodies, “He Himself shall give virtue and strength to His people.” For this body is sown in weakness, shall rise in virtue. [1 Corinthians 15:43] He Himself then shall give the virtue which in His own flesh He has sent before, whereof the Apostle says, “the power of His Resurrection.” [Philippians 3:10] (St. Augustine, Exposition on the Psalms, 67, 40.)
The Church as the mystical Body of Christ is thus lifted up with her Head to partake of the Divine nature, participating in the Resurrection in the most complete sense of the term, for she truly is our Lord’s mystical Body, as this Psalm has spent so much time demonstrating. Her glory is the effect of God’s grace working within her and bestowed upon her, and God is seen as truly wonderful in her:
Therefore, if you be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above; where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God: Mind the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth. For you are dead; and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ shall appear, who is your life, then you also shall appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4 DR)
I kind of wanted the final animation of this Psalm to be a bit simpler. I found this nice mountain image and brought it into After Effects and applied some pixel sorting to it. I then applied some directional blur to smooth out the result and give a bit more of a surreal effect. I added some text on top and text boxes and applied some light wiggle to the position and finally added in some color correction to finish this off.
Enjoy.
God is wonderful in his saints: the God of Israel is he who will give power and strength to his people. Blessed be God.
(Psalm 67:36 DR)
View a higher quality version of this gif here: