“O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth! For thy magnificence is elevated above the heavens. Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise, because of thy enemies, that thou mayst destroy the enemy and the avenger. For I will behold thy heavens, the works of thy fingers: the moon and the stars which thou hast founded.”
The beginning of this Psalm begins with exuberant praise, praising the “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all” (Ephesians 4:6), because God gives His name in Exodus: “God said to Moses: ‘I AM WHO AM’” (Exodus 3:14), showing that the very existence of all things is admirable and beautiful, with all things carrying the beauty of this name: “All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made” (John 1:3). This takes a greater meaning in light of the Incarnation, because “They shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:23), for in the coming of Jesus, heavenly reality was opened to you by grace: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you shall see the heaven opened” (John 1:51), that you may know the love of God, with all things being upheld by this love, and thereby reminding you of how loved you are: “Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all the earth is full of his glory” (Isaias 6:3), and so you can walk with Him always, your mind ever turned to Jesus and either His creating or saving work: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus in good works, which God hath prepared that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). Even this reality, however, and this beautiful walk, do not do justice to the wonderfulness of His love for you: “Glorify the Lord as much as ever you can, for he will yet far exceed, and his magnificence is wonderful” (Ecclesiasticus 43:32). Though He has filled the earth with visible signs of His love, and the Scriptures with words declaring this love: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love” (Jeremias 31:3), it still cannot be fully grasped, for it is infinite and unchanging: “And the darkness” of your limited mind “did not comprehend it” (John 1:5); “For I am the Lord, and I change not” (Malachias 3:6) in its sheer infinity: “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: and of his greatness there is no end” (Psalm 144:3). There is a twofold meaning to what follows, that out of the mouths of babies comes perfect praise. The first is in the literal sense, that the cries of baptized babies and the innocent love of children are beautiful songs of praise, showing the simplicity of God’s love. The second is that here is an extolling the little, those who know that they are God’s little children, helpless without Him, and who cry out in simplicity, “I love you, Abba,” or “I love you, Jesus,” therefore Jesus says: “I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones” (Matthew 11:25). In comparison with the infinite, extraordinary, perfect glory and love of God, you can only be a babe upon His breast, the treasure of His Heart, and receive from Him all that you need: “Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26). This is considered perfect praise, “because of thy enemies,” who are the wise in this world and lack love, not walking in the ways of divine love, but condemning the truth: “He hat scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble” (Luke 1:51-52). Thus, it is a look at the juxtaposition between the little that loves and the great that loves not, for “the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25), therefore “the foolish things of the world hath God chosen, that he may confound the wise; and the weak things of the world hath God chosen, that he may confound the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:27). The little ones will then in turn show by their love the failings of those that didn’t love, like white being set against black, that it may appear even blacker: “Know you not that we shall judge angels?” (1 Corinthians 6:3); “And the armies that are in heaven followed him on white horses,” which represent the resurrected, glorified bodies of the saints, to which the love that filled their souls extended, “clothed in fine linen, white and clean” (Apocalypse 19:14), which denotes being clothed in love pure and innocent: “That you may be blameless, and sincere children of God, without reproof” (Philippians 2:15). The Psalmist then includes himself amongst these spiritual children, going to God with a trusting love, seeing spiritual reality in light of God’s love: “Which things also we speak, not in the learned words of human wisdom; but in the doctrine of the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:13), which is what is meant by “beholding the heavens: “In the beginning God created heaven, and earth” (Genesis 1:1), that is, what is invisible as well as what is visible. This is the work of His fingers, for as Moses was given the guide to the spiritual life by the finger of God: “And the Lord, when he had ended these words in mount Sinai, gave to Moses two stone tables of testimony, written with the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18), therefore the “works of His fingers” can denote the writings of Scripture, which are God’s love letter to you: “For the word of God is living and effectual, and more piercing than any two edged sword; and reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit” (Hebrews 4:12), therefore “the heavens shall be folded together as a book” (Isaias 34:4). Or, this can be looking at the saints and other Catholics in whom the love of God is manifest, with a fire in their heart that is plainly seen: “And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like a burning fire upon the top of the mount, in the eyes of the children of Israel” (Exodus 24:17), and seeing them as pieces of art that He crafted with love: “O Lord, thou art our father, and we are clay: and thou art our maker, and we all the works of thy hands” (Isaias 64:8). Thus, Jesus is denoted by the sun: “He hath set his tabernacle in the sun: and he, as a bridegroom coming out his bride chamber, hath rejoiced as a giant to run the way” (Psalm 18:6), and His love is reflected by the moon, which is a figure of Mary, and imitated by the little lights of the saints: “And I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven” (Genesis 26:4); “But they that are learned” in the wisdom of divine love “shall shine as the brightness of the firmament: and they that instruct many to justice, as stars for all eternity” (Daniel 12:3). Thus, it is of great spiritual benefit to read the Scriptures, and understanding them can be understood either by the writings of different saints, or by reading their lives, that one can know the love of God and the beautiful number of ways through which this love is expressed.