Psalm 67:4
a different kind of rejoicing
And let the just feast, and rejoice before God: and be delighted with gladness. (Psalm 67:4 DR)
It is probably against (admittedly silly and shallow) modern sensibilities and sentimentalities, but one of the promises that is often given to the righteous in the Scriptures is that they will rejoice over the destruction of their enemies. This is not because of some deep-seated vengeance (for “revenge is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord” [Romans 12:19 DR) but rather the righteous have their minds and hearts attuned—as it were—to God’s justice, so that when they behold the recompense that God gives to the wicked they rejoice in that justice precisely because it is God’s justice.
The Psalmist here deploys similar language, for after beholding the destruction of the wicked whose schemes and power vanish like smoke, the righteous are called to rejoice and feast in response to that event. Again, it is right that they do so, for in bringing to nothing the machinations of the iniquitous God shows forth His justice. It is worth noting that the Psalmist places the impetus for this solely in God’s agency; His people cannot retcon their own desire for vengeance. He even uses exceptionally strong language elsewhere:
The just shall rejoice when he shall see the revenge: he shall wash his hands in the blood of the sinner. (Psalm 57:11 DR)
Also noteworthy is that they are rejoicing before God, which entails that their hearts and actions are right with Him; thus this rejoicing is not a celebration of vengeance for vengeance’s sake or some form of schadenfreude. Instead they are rejoicing in what God has done, in the character of God that loves righteousness and overthrows wickedness. This is the same delight which flows from a mindset that St. Paul counter-intuitively describes:
But if thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat; if he thirst, give him to drink. For, doing this, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good. (Romans 12:20-12 DR)
The righteous can both do good to those who wish them evil and delight in the overthrowing of the wicked precisely because they leave vengeance to God. They are not consumed with recompense as their enemies are, which is why they are able to rejoice when God’s justice is revealed. This refusal to repay is not winking at injustice or relativizing evil but is waiting for perfect justice that only God can bring forth in His own time. It is a whole-hearted confidence that God will settle all accounts and make all things right in the end, which allows the righteous to do good to their enemies yet feast and rejoice when those same enemies receive their reward for their wicked deeds. In this manner the saints in heaven can forever rejoice in God’s justice. St. Thomas in the Supplement to the Summa (that is, the collected earlier writings compiled to fill out the schema) asks whether the just in heaven will rejoice when they are able to behold the punishment of the damned. The initial objection sounds as if St. Thomas was anticipating an objection a modern may have:
Objection 1. It would seem that the blessed do not rejoice in the punishment of the wicked. For rejoicing in another's evil pertains to hatred. But there will be no hatred in the blessed. Therefore they will not rejoice in the unhappiness of the damned. (ST, Supplement, Q94, A3.)
In the sed contra he quotes Psalm 57:11 (as quoted above) and then answers that they will indeed rejoice in the punishment of the damned and that this is right and good:
I answer that, A thing may be a matter of rejoicing in two ways. First directly, when one rejoices in a thing as such: and thus the saints will not rejoice in the punishment of the wicked. Secondly, indirectly, by reason namely of something annexed to it: and in this way the saints will rejoice in the punishment of the wicked, by considering therein the order of Divine justice and their own deliverance, which will fill them with joy. And thus the Divine justice and their own deliverance will be the direct cause of the joy of the blessed: while the punishment of the damned will cause it indirectly. (ibid.)
Thus, the righteous rejoice in the punishment of the wicked not for punishment’s sake but rather that the punishment exists within the order of Divine justice. Because their hearts and minds have been reoriented (within the Beatific Vision) to perceive justice and sin as God does, it is wholly right for them to behold this as God does; in fact, it would be wrong per impossible for them to do otherwise, for then they would conceive of justice differently than God and thus would not be united in the Beatific Vision.
The hope of the righteous is that God’s justice will prevail, and that—as the Scriptures say—He will wipe every tear form their eyes. This is what provides fortitude and hope in the midst of this vale of tears, for in the end God’s justice will prevail:
The consequence of this signal punishment of the wicked will be, that the just, who have been so supported by God, “will feast;” will be refreshed in soul and body, and will “rejoice before God;” will give full vent to their joy; but, with such modesty and gravity, as becomes those who know that God’s eyes are always on them; “and be delighted with gladness;” will find such pleasure in their gladness, that they will have no occasion to turn to any carnal or dangerous pleasure. (St. Robert Bellarmine, A Commentary on the Book of the Psalms, 67, 3.)
I took a different take on this animation than the commentary and reflection above, opting instead to focus on the feasting and rejoicing aspect of the verse. However, since our Lord’s death on the cross and Resurrection is the defeat of death and sin and thus the reason for our feasting and rejoicing, I think there is a nice relation nevertheless. I decided to take a Eucharist approach to this passage, in which the feasting is literal within the Mass, as we participate in Christ’s own life and true presence through the blessed sacrament of the altar.
This animation was pretty simple. I found some nice golden metal textures and mated them to some ellipses to create a paten and then drew the host. I added some slight rotation on the paten and added in a dark background for contrast. I masked the text to wrap around the paten shape and also added a looping rotation to that for some visual interest. Pretty simple, but I like how it turned out.
Enjoy.
And let the just feast, and rejoice before God: and be delighted with gladness.
(Psalm 67:4 DR)
View a higher quality version of this gif here: