The Word's Manifestation Expands Worship to All Nations
Apollinaris is explaining how the sequence of the psalms mirrors the spread of God's worship from Israel alone to all nations through the incarnate Word.
So the arrangement of these songs followed the same order. After the prayer for Israel came thanksgiving, and hymns were proclaimed beforehand, and acts of worship toward God. For by his mercy and truth, because of the glory of the word of God above every name of his—that is, what has now been accomplished—God is glorified in the name of the Word as he was never glorified before. Before the manifestation of the Word, the worship of God occupied only a portion of the earth. He was hymned as maker of all things, and he was proclaimed as the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, but all of this had its knowledge and honor only as far as the Hebrew nation. But when his living oracle appeared, coming forth from God and revealed to the world through a body, then every nation and the whole inhabited world runs together to the worship of God, serves the name of the Word, and glorifies God in the presence of the Word. Now worship has increased among the nations according to mercy, and it is preserved for Israel according to the truth of the promises.
Psalm 137 (138):3. He shows the great favor and the swift obedience, and the supply of power given to souls in the name of Christ (Psalm 138:3; LXX 137:3). For Christ says, "If you ask anything in my name, I will do it" (John 14:14). And the apostle says that the supply of the Spirit comes to those who believe.
Psalm 137 (138):5. Let the providence of God be hymned, because God is great and his greatness is revealed through providence. Just as through the seraphim the glory of God in his present providence and economy was hymned when they cried out, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory" (Isaiah 6:3) (Psalm 138:5; LXX 137:5; Ps 137:6).
Psalm 137 (138):6. Because, he says, the human creation enjoys the gift of God, and the lesser and formerly more dishonored part of it—the nations—is not now overlooked either. For to God all things are lowly, even the highest, so that these too are known by him from afar, because they cannot draw near to the unapproachable height of God. Since all things are small before God, it is no wonder if he extends his benefits even to the smallest—that is, to those who had no hope and were without God in the world, whom the apostle calls "those who are not" (1 Corinthians 1:28).
Psalm 137 (138):7–8a. He brings in the second part, the portion of Israel, which has been caught up in afflictions but will be restored to salvation. Through this your enemies are struck by God, and they themselves will obtain salvation from God. "The Lord will repay on my behalf." For he will repay on behalf of the wronged nation, so as to rescue them from the hands of those who oppress them (Psalm 138:8; LXX 137:8c).
Psalm 137 (138):8c. Even if, he says, we do not produce fruits worthy of your love, yet because we are your works, we ask not to be overlooked (Psalm 138:8; LXX 137:8c).
Psalm 138 (139):5. Here he appears to place soul and body together as one, arranging both under a single formation, because he says that God has knowledge of the soul's properties from its formation (Psalm 139:5; LXX 138:5). Just as another has said, "He who formed the spirit of man within him" (Zechariah 12:1). For the work is not divided. Even if the making of the soul is more beautiful than that of the body, it is not as if made by hands according to the shaping of matter, but inspired according to its subsistence from divine power.
Greek
τοιαύτην οὖν εἶχε τάξιν καὶ ἡ τούτων σύνθεσις τῶν ᾀσμάτων, μετὰ τὴν
ὑπὲρ Ἰσραὴλ δέησιν εὐχαριστίας ἀκολουθήσης καὶ ὕμνων προδηλουμένων καὶ προσκυνήσεων τῶν πρὸς θεόν, ἐπεί τε τῷ ἐλέει αὐτοῦ καὶ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ διὰ τὴν τοῦ λόγου τοῦ θεοῦ ὑπὲρ ἅπαν ὄνομα αὐτοῦ δόξαν (τουτέστι τὸ νῦν ἐπιτετελεσμένον) τὸ δοξάζεσθαι τὸν θεὸν ἐν τῷ τοῦ λόγου ὀνόματι ὡς οὔ ποτε πρότερον ἐδοξάσθη, διότι γῆς μόριον κατεῖχεν ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ λατρεία πρὸ τῆς ἐκφανείας τοῦ λόγου. καὶ ποιητὴς μὲν ἁπάντων ἀνυμνεῖτο καὶ θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ κατηγγέλλετο, ταῦτα δὲπάντα μέχρι τοῦ Ἑβραίων ἔθνους εἶχε τὴν γνῶσιν καὶ τὴν τιμήν· ὁπότε δὲ τὸ ζῶν λόγιον αὐτοῦ πέφηνεν ἐξελθὸν παρὰ θεοῦ καὶ εἰς τὸν κόσμον διὰ σώματος ἐκκαλυφθέν, τότε πᾶν ἔθνος καὶ πᾶσα ἡ οἰκουμένη πρὸς τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ λατρείαν συντρέχει καὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ λόγου δουλεύει καὶ τὸν θεὸν ἐν τῇ τοῦ λόγου παρουσίᾳ δοξάζει, νῦν μὲν ἐν ἔθνεσι τὸ σέβας πεπλεονακὸς κατὰ τὸν ἔλεον, φυλαττόμενον δὲ καὶ τῷ Ἰσραὴλ κατὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν τὴν τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν. 279 Ps 137,3 Μεγάλην δηλοῖ τὴν εὐμένειαν καὶ ταχείαν τὴν ὑπακοὴν ἐν ὀνόματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ δυνάμεως ἐπιχορηγίαν εἰς ψυχὰς διδομένην. λέγει γὰρ Χριστὸς Ἐάν τι αἰτήσητε ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου, ἐγὼ ποιήσω· καὶ τοῦ πνεύματος ἐπιχορηγίαν ὁ ἀπόστολός φησιν εἰς τοὺς πιστεύοντας γίνεσθαι. 280 Ps 137,5 Ὑμνείσθω ἡ θεοῦ πρόνοια διότι μέγας θεὸς καὶ τὸ μεγαλεῖον αὐτοῦ διὰ τῆς προνοίας ἐκφαίνεται, καθὰ καὶ διὰ τῶν σεραφὶμ ἀνυμνεῖτο τὴν ἐν τῇ παρούσῃ προνοίᾳ καὶ οἰκονομίᾳ δόξαν θεοῦ βοώντων ἐν τῷ λέγειν Ἅγιος ἅγιος ἅγιος κύριος σαβαώθ, πλήρης πᾶσα ἡ γῆ τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ. 281 Ps 137,6 Ὅτι, φησίν, ἀπολαύει τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ δωρεᾶς ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη κτίσις, καὶ ταύτης γε ἡ ἐλάττων καὶ ἀτιμωτέρα πρότερον οὖσα ἐθνικὴ οὐδὲ αὐτὴ νῦν ὑπεροφθεῖσα, διότι θεῷ πάντα ταπεινὰ καὶ τὰ ὑψηλότατα, ὡς καὶ ταῦτα πόρρωθεν γινώσκεσθαι διὰ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι τῷ ἀνεφίκτῳ ὕψει τοῦ θεοῦ συνεγγίζειν. ἅτε οὖν πάντων ὄντων μικρῶν πρὸς θεόν, οὐδὲν θαυμαστόν, εἰ καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ μικρότατα διήκει 39 ταῖς εὐεργεσίαις, τουτέστιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχοντας καὶ ἀθέους ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ οὓς μηδὲ ὄντας ὁ ἀπόστολος κέκληκεν. 282 Ps 137,7.8a ∆εύτερον ἐπιφέρει τὸ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ μέρος θλίψεσι μὲν ἐναποληφθέν, ἐπισκευασθησόμενον δὲ εἰς σωτηρίαν· δι' οὗ σοι πολέμιοι πλήσσονται πρὸς θεοῦ, αὐτοὶ δὲ σωτηρίας τῆς παρὰ θεοῦ τεύξονται. Κύριος ἀνταποδώσει ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ· ἀνταποδώσει γὰρ ὑπὲρ ἠδικημένου τοῦ ἔθνους ὥστε αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν βιαζομένων χειρῶν ἐξελέσθαι. 283 Ps 137,8c Εἰ καὶ καρπούς, φησίν, ἀξίους τῆς σῆς ἀγάπης οὐ παρεχόμεθα, ἀλλ' ὅτι γέ ἐσμεν ἔργα σά, μὴ παροφθῆναι ἀξιοῦμεν. 284 Ps 138,5 Ἐνταῦθα δὲ φαίνεται καὶ ψυχὴν καὶ σῶμα εἰς ἓν τιθεὶς καὶ ὑπὸ μίαν πλάσιν ἑκάτερα τάττων, ὅτι δὴ τῶν ψυχικῶν ἰδιωμάτων τὴν γνῶσιν ἀπὸ τῆς διαπλάσεως ἔχειν φησὶ τὸν θεόν, καθὰ καὶ ἕτερος εἴρηκεν Ὁ πλάσας πνεῦμα ἀνθρώπου ἐν αὐτῷ. οὐ γὰρ ἐν διαστάσει τὸ ποίημα, ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ καλλίων ἡ τῆς ψυχῆς ποίησις παρὰ τὴν τοῦ σώματος, οὐχ οἱονεὶ χειροποιητὸς οὖσα κατὰ τὴν τῆς ὕλης μόρφωσιν ἀλλ' ἐμπνευστὴ κατὰ τὴν ἐκ θείας δυνάμεως ὑπόστασιν.