Fathers

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What the Fathers say

Psalms 44:7

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

"For Thou hast saved us from our enemies" [Psalm 44:7]. This too is spoken of the future under the figure of the past. But this is the reason that it is spoken of as if it were past, that it is as certain as if it were past. Give heed, wherefore many things are expressed by the Prophets as if they were past; whereas it is things future, not past facts that are the subject of prophecy. For the future Passion of our Lord Himself was foretold: and yet it says, "They pierced My hands and My feet. …

ON THE PSALMS, Psalm 44 ↗

Thomas Aquinas

Whence do you have this hope? From God. And he shows this through experience. "For you have saved us from those who afflict us": either in the present, because even if they harm us bodily, they nevertheless cannot harm us spiritually; or in the future. The saints are afflicted in two ways: sometimes in bodily things, by words or by deeds. 1 Sam. 1: "Her rival also afflicted her." Sometimes they are afflicted spiritually, when those who dwell near them sin. And from these afflictions they are freed by God. …

Exposition on the Psalms of David ↗