[Scriptum compendiosum Psalterii intentionem declarans]

The incarnation, passion, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord, and every virtue of the divine words, you will also find in the psalms if you search with an intimate mind and reach the marrow of understanding through the grace of God. Whence Jerome says of the praises of the psalms and their salutary effects: "A song adorns the soul, invites spirits to help, puts demons to flight, dispels darkness, works holiness for the sinful man. It is a refreshment for the mind, deletes sins, is similar to the alms of the saints, increases faith, as the sun illuminates, as water sanctifies, as fire burns away sin, as oil flows down. Oil is mercy, the sun is joy, a portion chosen by the angels. It shows God, offends the devil, extinguishes illicit will, casts out bitterness, depresses all fury, breaks envy. It is the persistent praise of God, it is like honey. The song of the psalms is the poem of the elect before God. It expels all sin, shows the bond of charity, penetrates all things, suffers all things, supplies all things, teaches all things, signifies all things, magnifies the soul, builds a high tower, purifies the mouth, gladdens the heart, attracts the senses, kills every evil, instructs in perfection, demonstrates high things, grants the desire for the heavenly kingdom, makes peace between body

and soul. It kindles a spiritual fire in the heart against all vices. It is a care, a good contest, and daily food. It expels the habit of all evils. It puts on a breastplate, defends like a helmet, is the hope of salvation, the consolation of sorrows, the protection of labors, the notice of eternal light, the fountain of holiness, chastises every young man, gives the kingdom of heaven upon the earth, takes away the tedium of the soul, is a wonderful trumpet. Whoever loves the song of the psalms persistently cannot love sin, because he has the praise of God in his heart. In the end he will rejoice before God and will vivify his soul in heaven before God for ages of ages." This is Jerome.

This most brief subsequent recollection is an exposition upon the Psalter, extracted from the glosa ordinaria standard medieval commentary upon the Psalter and the postils of the blessed one, with the expositions of the psalm titles, divisions, and continuations omitted to avoid the prolixity and tedium of the readers. And it is to be known that although any psalm might be explained by those helping and even by the same doctor frequently and in a manifold sense, in this recollection, however, each psalm is explained in that sense to which the letter seems to be applied most easily. And it is also to be known that a psalm is called the praise of God.