Expositions on the Psalms
Digital Psalms version 2007
(public domain)
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2
St. Aurelius Augustin on the Psalms
Compiled
from the public domain on the Internet with great thanks to the
work
of Harry Plantinga and the board of the Christian Classics Ethereal
Library,
an incredible useful digital library residing at
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF1-08/TOC.htm
Also
New Advent at: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1801.htm
which
also has full text of many of the church fathers.
Augustine’s
commentary on Psalms has also been recently been published in
a
series of 3 volumes available at www.Amazon.com from New City Press,
2000-4
under the title Expositions of the Psalms (vols. 1-3) ed. by John
Rotelle,
Maria Boulding and Michael Fiedrowicz (ca. $16 paperback). It is
also
available in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers classic series of the
Church
Fathers.
published
by Eerdmans. The Greek font used is Greekth.ttf freely available
at:
http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/index.cfm
This
electronic version was compiled from online sources in January 2007
by
Ted Hildebrandt. – Enjoy.
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Table of
Contents: Augustine Psalms:
1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11,
12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20,
21,
22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30,
31,
32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40,
41,
42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50,
51,
52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60,
61,
62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70,
71,
72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80,
81,
82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90,
91,
92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100,
101,
102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110,
111,
112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120,
121,
122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130,
131,
132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140,
141,
142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150.
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Psalm 1
4
Exposition
on Psalm 1
1.
"Blessed is the man that has not gone away in the counsel of the
ungodly" (ver.
1).
This is to be understood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord
the
man that has not gone away in the counsel of the ungodly," as "the
man of
earth
did," 1 Corinthians 15:47 who consented to his wife deceived by the
serpent,
to
the transgressing the commandment of God. "Nor stood in the way of
sinners."
For
He came indeed in the way of sinners, by being born as sinners are; but He
"stood"
not therein, for that the enticements of the world held Him not. "And has
not
sat in the seat of pestilence." He willed not an earthly kingdom, with
pride,
which
is well taken for "the seat of pestilence;" for that there is hardly
any one
who
is free from the love of rule, and craves not human glory. For a
"pestilence" is
disease
widely spread, and involving all or nearly all. Yet "the seat of
pestilence"
may
be more appropriately understood of hurtful doctrine; "whose word spreads
as
a
canker." 2 Timothy 2:17 The order too of the words must be considered:
"went
away,
stood, sat." For he "went away," when he drew back from God. He
"stood,"
when
he took pleasure in sin. He "sat," when, confirmed in his pride, he
could not
go
back, unless set free by Him, who neither "has gone away in the counsel of
the
ungodly,
nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of pestilence."
2.
"But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law will he
meditate by day
and
by night (ver. 2). The law is not made for a righteous man," 1 Timothy 1:9
says
the Apostle. But it is one thing to be in the law, another under the law. Whoso
is
in the law, acts according to the law; whoso is under the law, is acted upon
according
to the law: the one therefore is free, the other a slave. Again, the law,
which
is written and imposed upon the servant, is one thing; the law, which is
mentally
discerned by him who needs not its "letter," is another thing.
"He will
meditate
by day and by night," is to be understood either as without ceasing; or
"by
day" in joy, "by night" in tribulations. For it is said,
"Abraham saw my day,
and
was glad:" John 8:5-6 and of tribulation it is said, "my reins also
have
instructed
me, even unto the night."
3.
"And he shall be like a tree planted hard by the running streams of
waters" (ver.
3);
that is either Very "Wisdom," Proverbs viii which vouchsafed to
assume man's
nature
for our salvation; that as man He might be "the tree planted hard by the
running
streams of waters;" for in this sense can that too be taken which is said
in
another
Psalm, "the
it
is said, "He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost;" Matthew 3:11 and
again, "If
any
man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink;" John 7:37 and again,
"If you
knew
the gift of God, and who it is that asks water of you, you would have asked
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Psalm 1
5
of
Him, and He would have given you living water, of which whoso drinks shall
never
thirst, but it shall be made in him a well of water springing up into
everlasting
life." Or, "by the running streams of waters" may be by the sins
of the
people,
because first the waters are called "peoples" in the Apocalypse;
Revelation
17:15 and again, by "running stream" is not unreasonably understood
"fall,"
which has relation to sin. That "tree" then, that is, our Lord, from
the
running
streams of water, that is, from the sinful people's drawing them by the way
into
the roots of His discipline, will "bring forth fruit," that is, will
establish
Churches;
"in His season," that is, after He has been glorified by His
Resurrection
and
Ascension into heaven. For then, by the sending of the Holy Ghost to the
Apostles,
and by the confirming of their faith in Him, and their mission to the
world,
He made the Churches to "bring forth fruit." "His leaf also
shall not fall,"
that
is, His Word shall not be in vain. For, "all flesh is grass, and the glory
of man
as
the flower of grass; the grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of
the
Lord
abides for ever. Isaiah 40:6-8 And whatsoever He does shall prosper" that
is,
whatsoever
that tree shall bear; which all must be taken of fruit and leaves, that is,
deeds
and words.
4.
"The ungodly are not so," they are not so, "but are like the
dust which the wind
casts
forth from the face of the earth" (ver. 4). "The earth" is here
to be taken as
that
steadfastness in God, with a view to which it is said, "The Lord is the
portion
of
mine inheritance, yea, I have a goodly heritage." With a view to this it
is said,
"Wait
on the Lord and keep His ways, and He shall exalt you to inherit the
earth."
With
a view to this it is said, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the
earth."
Matthew 5:5 A comparison too is derived hence, for as this visible earth
supports
and contains the outer man, so that earth invisible the inner man. "From
the
face of" which "earth the wind casts forth the ungodly," that
is, pride, in that it
puffs
him up. On his guard against which he, who was inebriated by the richness
of
the house of the Lord, and drunken of the torrent stream of its pleasures,
says,
"Let
not the foot of pride come against me." From this earth pride cast forth
him
who
said, "I will place my seat in the north, and I will be like the Most
High."
Isaiah
14:13-14 From the face of the earth it cast forth him also who, after that he
had
consented and tasted of the forbidden tree that he might be as God, hid himself
from
the Face of God. Genesis 3:8 That his earth has reference to the inner man,
and
that man is cast forth thence by pride, may be particularly seen in that which
is
written,
"Why is earth and ashes proud? Because, in his life, he cast forth his
bowels."
Sirach 10:9 For, whence he has been cast forth, he is not unreasonably
said
to have cast forth himself.
5.
"Therefore the ungodly rise not in the judgment" (ver. 5):
"therefore," namely,
because
"as dust they are cast forth from the face of the earth." And well
did he
say
that this should be taken away from them, which in their pride they court,
namely,
that they may judge; so that this same idea is more clearly expressed in
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Psalm 1
6
the
following sentence, "nor sinners in the counsel of the righteous."
For it is usual
for
what goes before, to be thus repeated more clearly. So that by
"sinners" should
be
understood the "ungodly;" what is before "in the judgment,"
should be here "in
the
counsel of the righteous." Or if indeed the ungodly are one thing, and
sinners
another,
so that although every ungodly man is a sinner, yet every sinner is not
ungodly;
"The ungodly rise not in the judgment," that is, they shall rise
indeed, but
not
that they should be judged, for they are already appointed to most certain
punishment.
But "sinners" do not rise "in counsel of the just," that
is, that they
may
judge, but peradventure that they may be judged; so as of these it were said,
"The
fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide, he
shall
receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall then suffer loss:
but
he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."
6.
"For the Lord knows the way of the righteous" (ver. 6). As it is
said, medicine
knows
health, but knows not disease, and yet disease is recognised by the art of
medicine.
In like manner can it be said that "the Lord knows the way of the
righteous,"
but the way of the ungodly He knows not. Not that the Lord is ignorant
of
anything, and yet He says to sinners, "I never knew you." Matthew
7:23 "But
the
way of the ungodly shall perish;" is the same as if it were said, the way
of the
ungodly
the Lord knows not. But it is expressed more plainly that this should be
not
to be known of the Lord, namely, to "perish;" and this to be known of
the
Lord,
namely, to "abide;" so as that to be should appertain to the
knowledge of
God,
but to His not knowing not to be. For the Lord says, "I Am that I
Am," and,
"I
Am has sent me."
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Psalm 2
7
Exposition
on Psalm 2
1.
"Why do the heathen rage, and the people meditate vain things?" (ver.
1). "The
kings
of the earth have stood up, and the rulers taken counsel together, against the
Lord,
and against His Christ" (ver. 2). It is said, "why?" as if it
were said, in vain.
For
what they wished, namely, Christ's destruction, they accomplished not; for this
is
spoken of our Lord's persecutors, of whom also mention is made in the Acts of
the
Apostles. Acts 4:26
2.
"Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yoke from us"
(ver. 3).
Although
it admits of another acceptation, yet is it more fitly understood as in the
person
of those who are said to "meditate vain things." So that "let us
break their
bonds
asunder, and cast away their yoke from us," may be, let us do our
endeavour,
that the Christian religion do not bind us, nor be imposed upon us.
3.
"He that dwells in the heavens shall laugh them to scorn, and the Lord
shall
have
them in derision" (ver. 4). The sentence is repeated; for "He who
dwells in
the
heavens," is afterwards put, "the Lord;" and for "shall
laugh them to scorn," is
afterwards
put, "shall have them in derision." Nothing of this however must be
taken
in a carnal sort, as if God either laughs with cheek, or derides with nostril;
but
it is to be understood of that power which He gives to His saints, that they
seeing
things to come, namely, that the Name and rule of Christ is to pervade
posterity
and possess all nations, should understand that those men "meditate a
vain
thing." For this power whereby these things are foreknown is God's
"laughter"
and "derision." "He that dwells in the heavens shall laugh them
to
scorn."
If by "heavens" we understand holy souls, by these God, as
foreknowing
what
is to come, will "laugh them to scorn, and have them in derision."
4.
"Then He shall speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore
displeasure"
(ver. 5). For showing more clearly how He will "speak unto them," he
added,
He will "vex them;" so that "in His wrath," is, "in
His sore displeasure."
But
by the "wrath and sore displeasure" of the Lord God must not be
understood
any
mental perturbation; but the might whereby He most justly avenges, by the
subjection
of all creation to His service. For that is to be observed and
remembered
which is written in the Wisdom of Solomon, "But You, Lord of
power,
judgest with tranquillity, and with great favour orderest us." Wisdom
12:18
The
"wrath" of God then is an emotion which is produced in the soul which
knows
the
law of God, when it sees this same law transgressed by the sinner. For by this
emotion
of righteous souls many things are avenged. Although the "wrath" of
God
can
be well understood of that darkening of the mind, which overtakes those who
transgress
the law of God.
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Psalm 2
8
5.
"Yet am I set by Him as King upon Sion, His holy hill, preaching His
decree"
(ver.
6). This is clearly spoken in the Person of the very Lord our Saviour Christ.
But
if Sion signify, as some interpret, beholding, we must not understand it of
anything
rather than of the Church, where daily is the desire raised of beholding
the
bright glory of God, according to that of the Apostle, "but we with open
face
beholding
the glory of the Lord." 2 Corinthians 3:18 Therefore the meaning of this
is,
Yet I am set by Him as King over His holy Church; which for its eminence and
stability
He calls a mountain. "Yet I am set by Him as King." I, that is, whose
"bands"
they were meditating "to break asunder," and whose "yoke"
to "cast
away."
"Preaching His decree." Who does not see the meaning of this, seeing
it is
daily
practised?
6.
"The Lord has said unto me, You are My Son, today have I begotten
You" (ver.
7).
Although that day may also seem to be prophetically spoken of, on which Jesus
Christ
was born according to the flesh; and in eternity there is nothing past as if it
had
ceased to be, nor future as if it were not yet, but present only, since
whatever
is
eternal, always is; yet as "today" intimates presentiality, a divine
interpretation
is
given to that expression, "Today have I begotten You," whereby the
uncorrupt
and
Catholic faith proclaims the eternal generation of the power and Wisdom of
God,
who is the Only-begotten Son.
7.
"Ask of Me, and I shall give You the nations for Your inheritance"
(ver. 8). This
has
at once a temporal sense with reference to the Manhood which He took on
Himself,
who offered up Himself as a Sacrifice in the stead of all sacrifices, who
also
makes intercession for us; so that the words, "ask of Me," may be
referred to
all
this temporal dispensation, which has been instituted for mankind, namely, that
the
"nations" should be joined to the Name of Christ, and so be redeemed
from
death,
and possessed by God. "I shall give You the nations for Your
inheritance,"
which
so possess them for their salvation, and to bear unto You spiritual fruit.
"And
the uttermost parts of the earth for Your possession." The same repeated,
"The
uttermost parts of the earth," is put for "the nations;" but
more clearly, that
we
might understand all the nations. And "Your possession" stands for
"Your
inheritance."
8.
"You shall rule them with a rod of iron," with inflexible justice,
and "You shall
break
them like a potter's vessel" (ver. 9); that is, "You shall
break" in them
earthly
lusts, and the filthy doings of the old man, and whatsoever has been
derived
and inured from the sinful clay. "And now understand, you kings"
(ver.
10).
"And now;" that is, being now renewed, your covering of clay worn
out, that
is,
the carnal vessels of error which belong to your past life, "now
understand," ye
who
now are "kings;" that is, able now to govern all that is servile and
brutish in
you,
able now too to fight, not as "they who beat the air, but chastening your
bodies,
and bringing them into subjection." 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 "Be
instructed,
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Psalm 2
9
all
you who judge the earth." This again is a repetition; "Be
instructed" is instead
of
"understand;" and "ye who judge the earth" instead of
"ye kings." For He
signifies
the spiritual by "those who judge the earth." For whatsoever we
judge, is
below
us; and whatsoever is below the spiritual man, is with good reason called
"the
earth;" because it is defiled with earthly corruption.
9.
"Serve the Lord with fear;" lest what is said, "You kings and
judges of the
earth,"
turn into pride: "And rejoice with trembling" (ver. 11). Very
excellently is
"rejoice"
added, lest "serve the Lord with fear" should seem to tend to misery.
But
again,
lest this same rejoicing should run on to unrestrained inconsiderateness,
there
is added "with trembling," that it might avail for a warning, and for
the
careful
guarding of holiness. It can also be taken thus, "And now ye kings
understand;"
that is, And now that I am set as King, be ye not sad, kings of the
earth,
as if your excellency were taken from you, but rather "understand and be
instructed."
For it is expedient for you, that you should be under Him, by whom
understanding
and instruction are given you. And this is expedient for you, that
you
lord it not with rashness, but that you "serve the Lord" of all
"with fear," and
"rejoice"
in bliss most sure and most pure, with all caution and carefulness, lest ye
fall
therefrom into pride.
10.
"Lay hold of discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry, and you
perish
from
the righteous way" (ver. 12). This is the same as, "understand,"
and, "be
instructed."
For to understand and be instructed, this is to lay hold of discipline.
Still
in that it is said, "lay hold of," it is plainly enough intimated
that there is some
protection
and defence against all things which might do hurt unless with so great
carefulness
it be laid hold of. "Lest at any time the Lord be angry," is
expressed
with
a doubt, not as regards the vision of the prophet to whom it is certain, but as
regards
those who are warned; for they, to whom it is not openly revealed, are
wont
to think with doubt of the anger of God. This then they ought to say to
themselves,
let us "lay hold of discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry, and
we
perish from the righteous way." Now, how "the Lord be angry" is
to be taken,
has
been said above. And "ye perish from the righteous way." This is a
great
punishment,
and dreaded by those who have had any perception of the sweetness
of
righteousness; for he who perishes from the way of righteousness, in much
misery
will wander through the ways of unrighteousness.
11.
"When His anger shall be shortly kindled, blessed are all they who put
their
trust
in Him;" that is, when the vengeance shall come which is prepared for the
ungodly
and for sinners, not only will it not light on those "who put their trust
in"
the
Lord, but it will even avail for the foundation and exaltation of a kingdom for
them.
For he said not, "When His anger shall be shortly kindled," safe
"are all they
who
put their trust in Him," as though they should have this only thereby, to
be
exempt
from punishment; but he said, "blessed;" in which there is the sum
and
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Psalm 2
10
accumulation
of all good things. Now the meaning of "shortly" I suppose to be
this,
that it will be something sudden, while sinners will deem it far off and long
to
come.
Psalm 3 11
Exposition
on Psalm 3
A
psalm of David, when he fled from the face of Absalom his son.
1.
The words, "I slept, and took rest; and rose, for the Lord will take me
up," lead
us
to believe that this Psalm is to be understood as in the Person of Christ; for
they
sound
more applicable to the Passion and Resurrection of our Lord, than to that
history
in which David's flight is described from the face of his rebellious son.
And,
since it is written of Christ's disciples, "The sons of the bridegroom
fast not
as
long as the bridegroom is with them;" Matthew 9:15 it is no wonder if by
his
undutiful
son be here meant that undutiful disciple who betrayed Him. From
whose
face although it may be understood historically that He fled, when on his
departure
He withdrew with the rest to the mountain; yet in a spiritual sense, when
the
Son of God, that is the Power and Wisdom of God, abandoned the mind of
Judas;
when the Devil wholly occupied him; as it is written, "The Devil entered
into
his heart," John 13:27 may it be well understood that Christ fled from his
face;
not that Christ gave place to the Devil, but that on Christ's departure the
Devil
took possession. Which departure, I suppose, is called a flight in this Psalm,
because
of its quickness; which is indicated also by the word of our Lord, saying,
"That
you do, do quickly." John 13:27 So even in common conversation we say of
anything
that does not come to mind, it has fled from me; and of a man of much
learning
we say, nothing flies from him. Wherefore truth fled from the mind of
Judas,
when it ceased to enlighten him. But Absalom, as some interpret, in the
Latin
tongue signifies, Patris pax, a father's peace. And it may seem strange,
whether
in the history of the kings, when Absalom carried on war against his
father;
or in the history of the New Testament, when Judas was the betrayer of our
Lord;
how "father's peace" can be understood. But both in the former place
they
who
read carefully, see that David in that war was at peace with his son, who even
with
sore grief lamented his death, saying, "O Absalom, my son, would God I had
died
for you!" 2 Samuel 18:33 And in the history of the New Testament by that
so
great
and so wonderful forbearance of our Lord; in that He bore so long with him
as
if good, when He was not ignorant of his thoughts; in that He admitted him to
the
Supper in which He committed and delivered to His disciples the figure of His
Body
and Blood; finally, in that He received the kiss of peace at the very time of
His
betrayal; it is easily understood how Christ showed peace to His betrayer,
although
he was laid waste by the intestine war of so abominable a device. And
therefore
is Absalom called "father's peace," because his father had the peace,
which
he had not.
2.
"O Lord, how are they multiplied that trouble me!" (ver. 1). So
multiplied
indeed
were they, that one even from the number of His disciples was not wanting,
who
was added to the number of His persecutors. "Many rise up against me; many
say
unto my soul, There is no salvation for him in his God" (ver. 2). It is
clear that
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Psalm 3
12
if
they had had any idea that He would rise again, assuredly they would not have
slain
Him. To this end are those speeches, "Let Him come down from the cross, if
He
be the Son of God;" and again, "He saved others, Himself He cannot
save."
Matthew
27:42 Therefore, neither would Judas have betrayed Him, if he had not
been
of the number of those who despised Christ, saying, "There is no salvation
for
Him in His God."
3.
"But You, O Lord, art my taker." It is said to God in the nature of
man, for the
taking
of man is, the Word made Flesh. "My glory." Even He calls God his
glory,
whom
the Word of God so took, that God became one with Him. Let the proud
learn,
who unwillingly hear, when it is said to them, "For what have you that
thou
did
not receive? Now if you received it, why do you glory as if you had not
received
it?" 1 Corinthians 4:7 "And the lifter up of my head" (ver. 3).
I think that
this
should be here taken of the human mind, which is not unreasonably called the
head
of the soul; which so inhered in, and in a sort coalesced with, the
supereminent
excellency of the Word taking man, that it was not laid aside by so
great
humiliation of the Passion.
4.
"With my voice have I cried unto the Lord" (ver. 4); that is, not
with the voice
of
the body, which is drawn out with the sound of the reverberation of the air;
but
with
the voice of the heart, which to men speaks not, but with God sounds as a cry.
By
this voice Susanna was heard; and with this voice the Lord Himself
commanded
that prayer should be made in closets, Matthew 6:6 that is, in the
recesses
of the heart noiselessly. Nor would one easily say that prayer is not made
with
this voice, if no sound of words is uttered from the body; since even when in
silence
we pray within the heart, if thoughts interpose alien from the mind of one
praying,
it cannot yet be said, "With my voice have I cried unto the Lord."
Nor is
this
rightly said, save when the soul alone, taking to itself nothing of the flesh,
and
nothing
of the aims of the flesh, in prayer, speaks to God, where He only hears.
But
even this is called a cry by reason of the strength of its intention. "And
He
heard
me out of His holy mountain." We have the Lord Himself called a mountain
by
the Prophet, as it is written, "The stone that was cut out without hands
grew to
the
size of a mountain." Daniel 2:34-35 But this cannot be taken of His
Person,
unless
peradventure He would speak thus, out of myself, as of His holy mountain
He
heard me, when He dwelt in me, that is, in this very mountain. But it is more
plain
and unembarrassed, if we understand that God out of His justice heard. For it
was
just that He should raise again from the dead the Innocent who was slain, and
to
whom evil had been recompensed for good, and that He should render to the
persecutor
a meet reward, who repaid Him evil for good. For we read, "Your
justice
is as the mountains of God."
5.
"I slept, and took rest" (ver. 5). It may be not unsuitably remarked,
that it is
expressly
said, "I," to signify that of His own Will He underwent death,
according
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Psalm 3
13
to
that, "Therefore does My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that
I
might
take it again. No man takes it from Me; I have power to lay it down, and I
have
power to take it again." John 10:17-18 Therefore, says He, you have not
taken
Me as though against My will, and slain Me; but "I slept, and took rest;
and
rose,
for the Lord will take me up." Scripture contains numberless instances of
sleep
being put for death; as the Apostle says, "I would not have you to be
ignorant,
brethren, concerning them which are asleep." Nor need we make any
question
why it is added, "took rest," seeing that it has already been said,
"I slept."
Repetitions
of this kind are usual in Scripture, as we have pointed out many in the
second
Psalm. But some copies have, "I slept, and was cast into a deep
sleep." And
different
copies express it differently, according to the possible renderings of the
Greek
words, egw de ekokoimhqhn kei upnwse. Unless perhaps sleeping may be
taken
of one dying, but sleep of one dead: so that sleeping may be the transition
into
sleep, as awakening is the transition into wakefulness. Let us not deem these
repetitions
in the sacred writings empty ornaments of speech. "I slept, and took
rest,"
is therefore well understood as "I gave Myself up to My Passion, and death
ensued."
"And I rose, for the Lord will take Me up." This is the more to be
remarked,
how that in one sentence the Psalmist has used a verb of past and future
time.
For he has said, both "I rose," which is the past, and "will
take Me up,"
which
is the future; seeing that assuredly the rising again could not be without that
taking
up. But in prophecy the future is well joined to the past, whereby both are
signified.
Since things which are prophesied of as yet to come in reference to time
are
future; but in reference to the knowledge of those who prophesy they are
already
to be viewed as done. Verbs of the present tense are also mixed in, which
shall
be treated of in their proper place when they occur.
6.
"I will not fear the thousands of people that surround me" (ver. 6).
It is written
in
the Gospels how great a multitude stood around Him as He was suffering, and
on
the cross. "Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God" (ver. 7). It is not
said to God,
"Arise,"
as if asleep or lying down, but it is usual in holy Scripture to attribute to
God
what He does in us; not indeed universally, but where it can be done suitably;
as
when He is said to speak, when by His gift Prophets speak, and Apostles, or
whatsoever
messengers of the truth. Hence that text, "Would you have proof of
Christ,
who speaks in me?" 2 Corinthians 13:3 For he does not say, of Christ, by
whose
enlightening or order I speak; but he attributes at once the speaking itself to
Him,
by whose gift he spoke.
7.
"Since You have smitten all who oppose me without a cause." It is not
to be
pointed
as if it were one sentence, "Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God; since You
have
smitten all who oppose me without a cause." For He did not therefore save
Him,
because He smote His enemies; but rather He being saved, He smote them.
Therefore
it belongs to what follows, so that the sense is this; "Since You have
smitten
all who oppose me without a cause, You have broken the teeth of the
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 3
14
sinners;"
that is, thereby have You broken the teeth of the sinners, since You have
smitten
all who oppose me. It is forsooth the punishment of the opposers, whereby
their
teeth have been broken, that is, the words of sinners rending with their
cursing
the Son of God, brought to nought, as it were to dust; so that we may
understand
"teeth" thus, as words of cursing. Of which teeth the Apostle speaks,
"If
you bite one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another."
Galatians
5:15 The teeth of sinners can also be taken as the chiefs of sinners; by
whose
authority each one is cut off from the fellowship of godly livers, and as it
were
incorporated with evil livers. To these teeth are opposed the Church's teeth,
by
whose authority believers are cut off from the error of the Gentiles and
various
opinions,
and are translated into that fellowship which is the body of Christ. With
these
teeth Peter was told to eat the animals when they had been killed, that is, by
killing
in the Gentiles what they were, and changing them into what he was
himself.
Of these teeth too of the Church it is said, "Your teeth are as a flock of
shorn
sheep, coming up from the bath, whereof every one bears twins, and there is
not
one barren among them." These are they who prescribe rightly, and as they
prescribe,
live; who do what is written, "Let your works shine before men, that
they
may bless your Father which is in heaven." Matthew 5:16 For moved by their
authority,
they believe God who speaks and works through these men; and
separated
from the world, to which they were once conformed, they pass over into
the
members of the Church. And rightly therefore are they, through whom such
things
are done, called teeth like to shorn sheep; for they have laid aside the
burdens
of earthly cares, and coming up from the bath, from the washing away of
the
filth of the world by the Sacrament of Baptism, every one bears twins. For they
fulfil
the two commandments, of which it is said, "On these two commandments
hang
all the Law and the Prophets;" Matthew 22:40 loving God with all their
heart,
and with all their soul, and with all their mind, and their neighbour as
themselves.
"There is not one barren among them," for much fruit they render unto
God.
According to this sense then it is to be thus understood, "You have broken
the
teeth of the sinners," that is, You have brought the chiefs of the sinners
to
nought,
by smiting all who oppose Me without a cause. For the chiefs according to
the
Gospel history persecuted Him, while the lower people honoured Him.
8.
"Salvation is of the Lord; and upon Your people be Your blessing"
(ver. 8). In
one
sentence the Psalmist has enjoined men what to believe, and has prayed for
believers.
For when it is said, "Salvation is of the Lord," the words are
addressed
to
men. Nor does it follow, "And upon Your people" be "Your
blessing," in such
wise
as that the whole is spoken to men, but there is a change into prayer
addressed
to God Himself, for the very people to whom it was said, "Salvation is
of
the Lord." What else then does he say but this? Let no man presume on
himself,
seeing
that it is of the Lord to save from the death of sin; for, "Wretched man
that I
am,
who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God through
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm
3
15
Jesus
Christ our Lord." Romans 7:24-25 But do Thou, O Lord, bless Your people,
who
look for salvation from You.
9.
This Psalm can be taken as in the Person of Christ another way; which is that
whole
Christ should speak. I mean by whole, with His body, of which He is the
Head,
according to the Apostle, who says, "You are the body of Christ, and the
members."
1 Corinthians 12:27 He therefore is the Head of this body; wherefore in
another
place he says, "But doing the truth in love, we may increase in Him in all
things,
who is the Head, Christ, from whom the whole body is joined together and
compacted."
Ephesians 4:15-16 In the Prophet then at once, the Church, and her
Head
(the Church founded amidst the storms of persecution throughout the whole
world,
which we know already to have come to pass), speaks, "O Lord, how are
they
multiplied that trouble me! many rise up against me;" wishing to
exterminate
the
Christian name. "Many say unto my soul, There is no salvation for him in
his
God."
For they would not otherwise hope that they could destroy the Church,
branching
out so very far and wide, unless they believed that God had no care
thereof.
"But You, O Lord, art my taker;" in Christ of course. For into that
flesh
the
Church too has been taken by the Word, "who was made flesh, and dwelt in
us;"
John 1:14 for that "In heavenly places has He made us to sit together with
Him."
Ephesians 2:6 When the Head goes before, the other members will follow;
for,
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" Romans 8:35 Justly then
does
the Church say, "You are my taker. My glory;" for she does not
attribute her
excellency
to herself, seeing that she knows by whose grace and mercy she is what
she
is. "And the lifter up of my head," of Him, namely, who, "the
First-born from
the
dead," Colossians 1:18 ascended up into heaven. "With my voice have I
cried
unto
the Lord, and He heard me out of His holy mountain." This is the prayer of
all
the Saints, the odour of sweetness, which ascends up in the sight of the Lord.
For
now the Church is heard out of this mountain, which is also her head; or, out
of
that justice of God, by which both His elect are set free, and their
persecutors
punished.
Let the people of God also say, "I slept, and took rest; and rose, for the
Lord
will take me up;" that they may be joined, and cleave to their Head. For
to
this
people is it said, "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and
Christ
shall lay hold on you." Ephesians 5:14 Since they are taken out of
sinners,
of
whom it is said generally, "But they that sleep, sleep in the night."
Let them say
moreover,
"I will not fear the thousands of people that surround me;" of the
heathen
verily that compass me about to extinguish everywhere, if they could, the
Christian
name. But how should they be feared, when by the blood of the martyrs
in
Christ, as by oil, the ardour of love is inflamed? "Arise, O Lord, save
me, O my
God."
The body can address this to its own Head. For at His rising the body was
saved;
who "ascended up on high, led captivity captive, gave gifts unto
men." For
this
is said by the Prophet, in the secret purpose of God, until that ripe harvest
Matthew
9:37 which is spoken of in the Gospel, whose salvation is in His
Resurrection,
who vouchsafed to die for us, shed out our Lord to the earth. "Since
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 3
16
You
have smitten all who oppose me without a cause, You have broken the teeth
of
the sinners." Now while the Church has rule, the enemies of the Christian
name
are
smitten with confusion; and, whether their curses or their chiefs, brought to
nought.
Believe then, O man, that "salvation is of the Lord: and," Thou, O
Lord,
may
"Your blessing" be "upon Your people."
10.
Each one too of us may say, when a multitude of vices and lusts leads the
resisting
mind in the law of sin, "O Lord, how are they multiplied that trouble me!
many
rise up against me." And, since despair of recovery generally creeps in
through
the accumulation of vices, as though these same vices were mocking the
soul,
or even as though the Devil and his angels through their poisonous
suggestions
were at work to make us despair, it is said with great truth, "Many say
unto
my soul, There is no salvation for him in his God. But You, O Lord, art my
taker."
For this is our hope, that He has vouchsafed to take the nature of man in
Christ.
"My glory;" according to that rule, that no one should ascribe ought
to
himself.
"And the lifter up of my head;" either of Him, who is the Head of us
all,
or
of the spirit of each several one of us, which is the head of the soul and
body.
For
"the head of the woman is the man, and the head of the man is
Christ."
1
Corinthians 11:3 But the mind is lifted up, when it can be said already,
"With the
mind
I serve the law of God;" Romans 7:25 that the rest of man may be reduced
to
peaceable
submission, when in the resurrection of the flesh "death is swallowed up
in
victory." 1 Corinthians 15:54 "With my voice I have cried unto the
Lord;" with
that
most inward and intensive voice. "And He heard me out of His holy
mountain;"
Him, through whom He has succoured us, through whose mediation
He
hears us. "I slept, and took rest; and rose, for the Lord will take me
up." Who
of
the faithful is not able to say this, when he calls to mind the death of his
sins,
and
the gift of regeneration? "I will not fear the thousands of people that
surround
me."
Besides those which the Church universally has borne and bears, each one
also
has temptations, by which, when compassed about, he may speak these
words,
"Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God:" that is, make me to arise.
"Since You
have
smitten all who oppose me without a cause:" it is well in God's
determinate
purpose
said of the Devil and his angels; who rage not only against the whole
body
of Christ, but also against each one in particular. "You have broken the
teeth
of
the sinners." Each man has those that revile him, he has too the prime
authors of
vice,
who strive to cut him off from the body of Christ. But "salvation is of
the
Lord."
Pride is to be guarded against, and we must say, "My soul cleaved after
You."
"And upon Your people" be "Your blessing:" that is, upon
each one of us.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 4 17
Exposition on Psalm 4
To
the end, a psalm song to David.
1.
"Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that
believes."
Romans
10:4 For this "end" signifies perfection, not consumption. Now it may
be
a
question, whether every Song be a Psalm, or rather every Psalm a Song; whether
there
are some Songs which cannot be called Psalms, and some Psalms which
cannot
be called Songs. But the Scripture must be attended to, if haply
"Song" do
not
denote a joyful theme. But those are called Psalms which are sung to the
Psaltery;
which the history as a high mystery declares the Prophet David to have
used.
Of which matter this is not the place to discourse; for it requires prolonged
inquiry,
and much discussion. Now meanwhile we must look either for the words
of
the Lord Man after the Resurrection, or of man in the Church believing and
hoping
on Him.
2.
"When I called, the God of my righteousness heard me" (ver. 1). When
I called,
God
heard me, the Psalmist says, of whom is my righteousness. "In tribulation
You
have enlarged me." You have led me from the straits of sadness into the
broad
ways of joy. For, "tribulation and straitness is on every soul of man that
does
evil." Romans 2:9 But he who says, "We rejoice in tribulations,
knowing that
tribulation
works patience;" up to that where he says, "Because the love of God
is
shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us;" he has no
straits
of heart, they be heaped on him outwardly by them that persecute him. Now
the
change of person, for that from the third person, where he says, "He
heard," he
passes
at once to the second, where he says, "You have enlarged me;" if it
be not
done
for the sake of variety and grace, it is strange why the Psalmist should first
wish
to declare to men that he had been heard, and afterwards address Him who
heard
him. Unless perchance, when he had declared how he was heard, in this very
enlargement
of heart he preferred to speak with God; that he might even in this
way
show what it is to be enlarged in heart, that is, to have God already shed
abroad
in the heart, with whom he might hold converse interiorly. Which is rightly
understood
as spoken in the person of him who, believing on Christ, has been
enlightened;
but in that of the very Lord Man, whom the Wisdom of God took, I
do
not see how this can be suitable. For He was never deserted by It. But as His
very
prayer against trouble is a sign rather of our infirmity, so also of that
sudden
enlargement
of heart the same Lord may speak for His faithful ones, whom He has
personated
also when He said, "I was an hungered, and you gave Me no meat; I
was
thirsty, and you gave Me no drink," Matthew 25:42 and so forth. Wherefore
here
also He can say, "You have enlarged me," for one of the least of His,
holding
converse
with God, whose "love" he has "shed abroad in his heart by the
Holy
Ghost,
which is given unto us." Romans 5:5 "Have mercy upon me and hear my
prayer."
Why does he again ask, when already he declared that he had been heard
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 4 18
and
enlarged? It is for our sakes, of whom it is said, "But if we hope for
that we
see
not, we wait in patience;" Romans 8:25 or is it, that in him who has
believed
that
which is begun may be perfected?
3.
"O you sons of men, how long heavy in heart" (ver. 2). Let your
error, says he,
have
lasted at least up to the coming of the Son of God; why then any longer are
you
heavy in heart? When will you make an end of crafty wiles, if now when the
truth
is present ye make it not? "Why do ye love vanity, and seek a lie?"
Why
would
ye be blessed by the lowest things? Truth alone, from which all things are
true,
makes blessed. For, "vanity is of deceivers, and all is vanity."
Ecclesiastes
1:2 "What profit has a man of all his labour, wherewith he labours
under
the sun?" Why then are you held back by the love of things temporal? Why
follow
ye after the last things, as though the first, which is vanity and a lie? For
you
would have them abide with you, which all pass away, as does a shadow.
4.
"And know ye that the Lord has magnified his Holy One" (ver. 3). Whom
but
Him,
whom He raised up from below, and placed in heaven at His right hand?
Therefore
does he chide mankind, that they would turn at length from the love of
this
world to Him. But if the addition of the conjunction (for he says, "and
know
ye")
is to any a difficulty, he may easily observe in Scripture that this manner of
speech
is usual in that language, in which the Prophets spoke. For you often find
this
beginning, "And" the Lord said unto him, "And" the word of
the Lord came to
him.
Which joining by a conjunction, when no sentence has gone before, to which
the
following one may be annexed, peradventure admirably conveys to us, that the
utterance
of the truth in words is connected with that vision which goes on in the
heart.
Although in this place it may be said, that the former sentence, "Why do
ye
love
vanity, and seek a lie?" is as if it were written, Do not love vanity, and
seek a
lie.
And being thus read, it follows in the most direct construction, "and know
ye
that
the Lord has magnified His Holy One." But the interposition of the
Diapsalma
forbids
our joining this sentence with the preceding one. For whether this be a
Hebrew
word, as some would have it, which means, so be it; or a Greek word,
which
marks a pause in the psalmody (so as that Psalma should be what is sung in
psalmody,
but Diapsalma an interval of silence in the psalmody; that as the
coupling
of voices in singing is called Sympsalma, so their separation Diapsalma,
where
a certain pause of interrupted continuity is marked): whether I say it be the
former,
or the latter, or something else, this at least is probable, that the sense
cannot
rightly be continued and joined, where the Diapsalma intervenes.
5.
"The Lord will hear me, when I cry unto Him." I believe that we are
here
warned,
that with great earnestness of heart, that is, with an inward and
incorporeal
cry, we should implore help of God. For as we must give thanks for
enlightenment
in this life, so must we pray for rest after this life. Wherefore in the
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 4
19
person,
either of the faithful preacher of the Gospel, or of our Lord Himself, it may
be
taken, as if it were written, the Lord will hear you, when you cry unto Him.
6.
"Be angry, and sin not" (ver. 4). For the thought occurred, Who is
worthy to be
heard?
or how shall the sinner not cry in vain unto the Lord? Therefore, "Be
angry,"
says he, "and sin not." Which may be taken two ways: either, even if
you
be
angry, do not sin; that is, even if there arise an emotion in the soul, which
now
by
reason of the punishment of sin is not in our power, at least let not the
reason
and
the mind, which is after God regenerated within, that with the mind we should
serve
the law of God, although with the flesh we as yet serve the law of sin,
Romans
7:25 consent thereunto; or, repent ye, that is, be ye angry with yourselves
for
your past sins, and henceforth cease to sin. "What you say in your
hearts:"
there
is understood, "say ye:" so that the complete sentence is, "What
ye say in
your
hearts, that say ye;" that is, be ye not the people of whom it is said,
"with
their
lips they honour Me, but their heart is far from
chambers
be ye pricked." This is what has been expressed already "in
heart." For
this
is the chamber, of which our Lord warns us, that we should pray within, with
closed
doors. Matthew 6:6 But, "be ye pricked," refers either to the pain of
repentance,
that the soul in punishment should prick itself, that it be not
condemned
and tormented in God's judgment; or, to arousing, that we should
awake
to behold the light of Christ, as if pricks were made use of. But some say
that
not, "be ye pricked," but, "be ye opened," is the better
reading; because in the
Greek
Psalter it is katanughte, which refers to that
enlargement of the heart, in
order
that the shedding abroad of love by the Holy Ghost may be received.
7.
"Offer the sacrifice of righteousness, and hope in the Lord" (ver.
5). He says the
same
in another Psalm, "the sacrifice for God is a troubled spirit."
Wherefore that
this
is the sacrifice of righteousness which is offered through repentance it is not
unreasonably
here understood. For what more righteous, than that each one should
be
angry with his own sins, rather than those of others, and that in
self-punishment
he
should sacrifice himself unto God? Or are righteous works after repentance the
sacrifice
of righteousness? For the interposition of Diapsalma not unreasonably
perhaps
intimates even a transition from the old life to the new life: that on the old
man
being destroyed or weakened by repentance, the sacrifice of righteousness,
according
to the regeneration of the new man, may be offered to God; when the
soul
now cleansed offers and places itself on the altar of faith, to be encompassed
by
heavenly fire, that is, by the Holy Ghost. So that this may be the meaning,
"Offer
the sacrifice of righteousness, and hope in the Lord;" that is, live
uprightly,
and
hope for the gift of the Holy Ghost, that the truth, in which you have
believed,
may
shine upon you.
8.
But yet, "hope in the Lord," is as yet expressed without explanation.
Now what
is
hoped for, but good things? But since each one would obtain from God that
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm
4
20
good,
which he loves; and they are not easy to be found who love interior goods,
that
is, which belong to the inward man, which alone should be loved, but the rest
are
to be used for necessity, not to be enjoyed for pleasure; excellently did he
subjoin,
when he had said, "hope in the Lord" (ver. 6), "Many say, Who
shows us
good
things?" This is the speech, and this the daily inquiry of all the foolish
and
unrighteous;
whether of those who long for the peace and quiet of a worldly life,
and
from the frowardness of mankind find it not; who even in their blindness dare
to
find fault with the order of events, when involved in their own deservings they
deem
the times worse than these which are past: or, of those who doubt and
despair
of that future life, which is promised us; who are often saying, Who knows
if
it's true? or, who ever came from below, to tell us this? Very exquisitely
then,
and
briefly, he shows (to those, that is, who have interior sight), what good
things
are
to be sought; answering their question, who say, "Who shows us good
things?"
"The
light of Your countenance," says he, "is stamped on us, O Lord."
This light is
the
whole and true good of man, which is seen not with the eye, but with the mind.
But
he says, "stamped on us," as a penny is stamped with the king's
image. For
man
was made after the image and likeness of God, Genesis 1:26 which he
defaced
by sin: therefore it is his true and eternal good, if by a new birth he be
stamped.
And I believe this to be the bearing of that which some understand
skilfully;
I mean, what the Lord said on seeing Cćsar's tribute money, "Render to
Cćsar
the things that are Cćsar's; and to God the things that are God's."
Matthew
22:21 As if He had said, In like manner as Cćsar exacts from you the
impression
of his image, so also does God: that as the tribute money is rendered to
him,
so should the soul to God, illumined and stamped with the light of His
countenance.
(Ver. 7.) "You have put gladness into my heart." Gladness then is not
to
be sought without by them, who, being still heavy in heart, "love vanity,
and
seek
a lie;" but within, where the light of God's countenance is stamped. For
Christ
dwells
in the inner man, Ephesians 3:16-17 as the Apostle says; for to Him does it
appertain
to see truth, since He has said, "I am the truth." John 14:6 And
again,
when
He spoke in the Apostle, saying, "Would you receive a proof of Christ, who
speaks
in me?" 2 Corinthians 13:3 He spoke not of course from without to him,
but
in his very heart, that is, in that chamber where we are to pray.
9.
But men (who doubtless are many) who follow after things temporal, know not
to
say anything else, than, "Who shows us good things?" when the true
and certain
good
within their very selves they cannot see. Of these accordingly is most justly
said,
what he adds next: "From the time of His corn, of wine, and oil, they have
been
multiplied." For the addition of His, is not superfluous. For the corn is
God's:
inasmuch
as He is "the living bread which came down from heaven." John 6:51
The
wine too is God's: for, "they shall be inebriated," he says,
"with the fatness of
your
house." The oil too is God's: of which it is said, "You have fattened
my head
with
oil." But those many, who say, "Who shows us good things?" and
who see
not
that the kingdom of heaven is within them: these, "from the time of His
corn,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 4
21
of
wine, and oil, are multiplied." For multiplication does not always betoken
plentifulness,
and not, generally, scantiness: when the soul, given up to temporal
pleasures,
burns ever with desire, and cannot be satisfied; and, distracted with
manifold
and anxious thought, is not permitted to see the simple good. Such is the
soul
of which it is said, "For the corruptible body presses down the soul, and
the
earthly
tabernacle weighs down the mind that muses on many things."
Wisdom
9:15 A soul like this, by the departure and succession of temporal goods,
that
is, "from the time of His corn, wine, and oil," filled with
numberless idle
fancies,
is so multiplied, that it cannot do that which is commanded, "Think on the
Lord
in goodness, and in simplicity of heart seek Him." Wisdom 1:1 For this
multiplicity
is strongly opposed to that simplicity. And therefore leaving these,
who
are many, multiplied, that is, by the desire of things temporal, and who say,
"Who
shows us good things?" which are to be sought not with the eyes without,
but
with simplicity of heart within, the faithful man rejoices and says, "In
peace,
together,
I will sleep, and take rest" (ver. 8). For such men justly hope for all
manner
of estrangement of mind from things mortal, and forgetfulness of this
world's
miseries; which is beautifully and prophetically signified under the name
of
sleep and rest, where the most perfect peace cannot be interrupted by any
tumult.
But this is not had now in this life, but is to be hoped for after this life.
This
even the words themselves, which are in the future tense, show us. For it is
not
said, either, I have slept, and taken rest; or, I do sleep, and take rest; but,
"I
will
sleep, and take rest." Then shall "this corruptible put on
incorruption, and this
mortal
shall put on immortality; then shall death be swallowed up in victory."
1
Corinthians 15:54 Hence it is said, "But if we hope for that we see not,
we wait
in
patience." Romans 8:25
10.
Wherefore, consistently with this, he adds the last words, and says,
"Since
Thou,
O Lord, in singleness hast made me dwell in hope." Here he does not say,
wilt
make; but, "hast made." In whom then this hope now is, there will be
assuredly
that which is hoped for. And well does he say, "in singleness." For
this
may
refer in opposition to those many, who being multiplied from the time of His
corn,
of wine, and oil, say, "Who shows us good things?" For this
multiplicity
perishes,
and singleness is observed among the saints: of whom it is said in the
Acts
of the Apostles, "and of the multitude of them that believed, there was
one
soul,
and one heart." Acts 4:32 In singleness, then, and simplicity, removed,
that
is,
from the multitude and crowd of things, that are born and die, we ought to be
lovers
of eternity, and unity, if we desire to cleave to the one God and our Lord.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 5
22
Exposition on
Psalm 5
1.
The title of the Psalm is, "For her who receives the inheritance."
The Church
then
is signified, who receives for her inheritance eternal life through our Lord
Jesus
Christ; that she may possess God Himself, in cleaving to whom she may be
blessed,
according to that, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the
earth."
Matthew
5:5 What earth, but that of which it is said, "You are my hope, my
portion
in the land of the living"? And again more clearly, "The Lord is the
portion
of
mine inheritance and of my cup." And conversely the word Church is said to
be
God's
inheritance according to that, "Ask of Me, and I shall give you the
heathen
for
your inheritance." Therefore is God said to be our inheritance, because He
feeds
and sustains us: and we are said to be God's inheritance, because He orders
and
rules us. Wherefore it is the voice of the Church in this Psalm called to her
inheritance,
that she too may herself become the inheritance of the Lord.
2.
"Hear my words, O Lord" (ver. 1). Being called she calls upon the
Lord; that the
same
Lord being her helper, she may pass through the wickedness of this world,
and
attain unto Him. "Understand my cry." The Psalmist well shows what
this cry
is;
how from within, from the chamber of the heart, without the body's utterance,
it
reaches
unto God: for the bodily voice is heard, but the spiritual is understood.
Although
this too may be God's hearing, not with carnal ear, but in the
omnipresence
of His Majesty.
3.
"Attend Thou to the voice of my supplication;" that is, to that
voice, which he
makes
request that God would understand: of which what the nature is, he has
already
intimated, when he said, "Understand my cry. Attend Thou to the voice of
my
supplication, my King, and my God" (ver. 2). Although both the Son is God,
and
the Father God, and the Father and the Son together One God; and if asked of
the
Holy Ghost, we must give no other answer than that He is God; and when the
Father,
and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are mentioned together, we must
understand
nothing else, than One God; nevertheless Scripture is wont to give the
appellation
of King to the Son. According then to that which is said, "By Me man
comes
to the Father," John 14:6 rightly is it first, "my King;" and
then, "my God."
And
yet has not the Psalmist said, Attend You; but, "Attend Thou." For
the
Catholic
faith preaches not two or three Gods, but the Very Trinity, One God. Not
that
the same Trinity can be together, now the Father, now the Son, now the Holy
Ghost,
as Sabellius believed: but that the Father must be none but the Father, and
the
Son none but the Son, and the Holy Ghost none but the Holy Ghost, and this
Trinity
but One God. Hence when the Apostle had said, "Of whom are all things,
by
whom are all things, in whom are all things," Romans 11:36 he is believed
to
have
conveyed an intimation of the Very Trinity; and yet he did not add, to Them
be
glory; but, "to Him be glory."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 5
23
4.
"Because I will pray unto You (ver. 3). O Lord, in the morning You will
hear
my
voice." What does that, which he said above, "Hear Thou," mean,
as if he
desired
to be heard immediately? But now he says, "in the morning You will
hear;"
not, hear Thou: and, "I will pray unto You;" not, I do pray unto You:
and, as
follows,
"in the morning I will stand by You, and will see;" not, I do stand
by You,
and
do see. Unless perhaps his former prayer marks the invocation itself: but being
in
darkness amidst the storms of this world, he perceives that he does not see
what
he
desires, and yet does not cease to hope, "For hope that is seen, is not
hope."
Romans
8:24 Nevertheless, he understands why he does not see, because the night
is
not yet past, that is, the darkness which our sins have merited. He says
therefore,
"Because
I will pray unto You, O Lord;" that is, because You are so mighty to
whom
I shall make my prayer, "in the morning You will hear my voice." You
are
not
He, he says, that can be seen by those, from whose eyes the night of sins is
not
yet
withdrawn: when the night then of my error is past, and the darkness gone,
which
by my sins I have brought upon myself, then "You will hear my voice."
Why
then did he say above not, "You will hear," but "hear
Thou"? Is it that after
the
Church cried out, "hear Thou," and was not heard, she perceived what
must
needs
pass away to enable her to be heard? Or is it that she was heard above, but
does
not yet understand that she was heard, because she does not yet see by whom
she
has been heard; and what she now says, "In the morning You will
hear," she
would
have thus taken, In the morning I shall understand that I have been heard?
Such
is that expression, "Arise, O Lord," that is, make me arise. But this
latter is
taken
of Christ's resurrection: but at all events that Scripture, "The Lord your
God
proves
you, that He may know whether ye love Him," Deuteronomy 13:3 cannot
be
taken in any other sense, than, that you by Him may know, and that it may be
made
evident to yourselves, what progress you have made in His love.
5.
"In the morning I will stand by You, and will see" (ver. 3). What is,
"I will
stand,"
but "I will not lie down"? Now what else is, to lie down, but to take
rest on
the
earth, which is a seeking happiness in earthly pleasures? "I will stand
by," he
says,
"and will see." We must not then cleave to things earthly, if we
would see
God,
who is beheld by a clean heart. "For You are not a God who hast pleasure
in
iniquity.
The malignant man shall not dwell near You, nor shall the unrighteous
abide
before Your eyes. You have hated all that work iniquity, You will destroy all
that
speak a lie. The man of blood, and the crafty man, the Lord will
abominate"
(vers.
4-6). Iniquity, malignity, lying, homicide, craft, and all the like, are the
night
of
which we speak: on the passing away of which, the morning dawns, that God
may
be seen. He has unfolded the reason, then, why he will stand by in the
morning,
and see: "For," he says, "You are not a God who hast pleasure in
iniquity."
For if He were a God who had pleasure in iniquity, He could be seen
even
by the iniquitous, so that He would not be seen in the morning, that is, when
the
night of iniquity is over.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm
5
24
6.
"The malignant man shall not dwell near You:" that is, he shall not
so see, as to
cleave
to You. Hence follows, "Nor shall the unrighteous abide before Your
eyes."
For
their eyes, that is, their mind is beaten back by the light of truth, because
of the
darkness
of their sins; by the habitual practice of which they are not able to sustain
the
brightness of right understanding. Therefore even they who see sometimes,
that
is, who understand the truth, are yet still unrighteous, they abide not therein
through
love of those things, which turn away from the truth. For they carry about
with
them their night, that is, not only the habit, but even the love, of sinning.
But
if
this night shall pass away, that is, if they shall cease to sin, and this love
and
habit
thereof be put to flight, the morning dawns, so that they not only understand,
but
also cleave to the truth.
7.
"You have hated all that work iniquity." God's hatred may be
understood from
that
form of expression, by which every sinner hates the truth. For it seems that
she
too hates those, whom she suffers not to abide in her. Now they do not abide,
who
cannot bear the truth. "You will destroy all that speak a lie." For
this is the
opposite
to truth. But lest any one should suppose that any substance or nature is
opposite
to truth, let him understand that "a lie" has relation to that which
is not,
not
to that which is. For if that which is be spoken, truth is spoken: but if that
which
is not be spoken, it is a lie. Therefore says he, "You will destroy all
that
speak
a lie;" because drawing back from that which is, they turn aside to that
which
is not. Many lies indeed seem to be for some one's safety or advantage,
spoken
not in malice, but in kindness: such was that of those midwives in Exodus,
Exodus
1:19 who gave a false report to Pharaoh, to the end that the infants of the
children
of
for
the disposition shown; since those who only lie in this way, will attain in
time
to
a freedom from all lying. For in those that are perfect, not even these lies
are
found.
For to these it is said, "Let there be in your mouth, yea, yea; nay, nay;
whatsoever
is more, is of evil." Matthew 5:37 Nor is it without reason written in
another
place, "The mouth that lies slays the soul:" Wisdom 1:11 lest any
should
imagine
that the perfect and spiritual man ought to lie for this temporal life, in the
death
of which no soul is slain, neither his own, nor another's. But since it is one
thing
to lie, another to conceal the truth (if indeed it be one thing to say what is
false,
another not to say what is true), if haply one does not wish to give a man up
even
to this visible death, he should be prepared to conceal what is true, not to
say
what
is false; so that he may neither give him up, nor yet lie, lest he slay his own
soul
for another's body. But if he cannot yet do this, let him at all events admit
only
lies of such necessity, that he may attain to be freed even from these, if they
alone
remain, and receive the strength of the Holy Ghost, whereby he may despise
all
that must be suffered for the truth's sake. In fine, there are two kinds of
lies, in
which
there is no great fault, and yet they are not without fault, either when we are
in
jest, or when we lie that we may do good. That first kind, in jest, is for this
reason
not very hurtful, because there is no deception. For he to whom it is said
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 5
25
knows
that it is said for the sake of the jest. But the second kind is for this
reason
the
more inoffensive, because it carries with it some kindly intention. And to say
truth,
that which has no duplicity, cannot even be called a lie. As if, for example, a
sword
be intrusted to any one, and he promises to return it, when he who intrusted
it
to him shall demand it: if he chance to require his sword when in a fit of
madness,
it is clear it must not be returned then, lest he kill either himself or
others,
until soundness of mind be restored to him. Here then is no duplicity,
because
he, to whom the sword was intrusted, when he promised that he would
return
it at the other's demand, did not imagine that he could require it when in a
fit
of madness. But even the Lord concealed the truth, when He said to the
disciples,
not yet strong enough, "I have many things to say unto you, but ye
cannot
bear them now:" John 16:12 and the Apostle Paul when he said, "I
could
not
speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal." 1 Corinthians 3:1
Whence
it
is clear that it is not blamable, sometimes not to speak what is true. But to
say
what
is false is not found to have been allowed to the perfect.
8.
"The man of blood, and the crafty man, the Lord will abominate." What
he said
above,
"You have hated all that work iniquity, You will destroy all that speak a
lie,"
may well seem to be repeated here: so that one may refer "the man of
blood"
to
"the worker of iniquity," and "the crafty man" to the
"lie." For it is craft, when
one
thing is done, another pretended. He used an apt word too, when he said,
"will
abominate."
For the disinherited are usually called abominated. Now this Psalm is,
"for
her who receives the inheritance;" and she adds the exulting joy of her
hope,
in
saying, "But I, in the multitude of Your mercy, will enter into Your
house" (ver.
7).
"In the multitude of mercy:" perhaps he means in the multitude of
perfected
and
blessed men, of whom that city shall consist, of which the Church is now in
travail,
and is bearing few by few. Now that many men regenerated and perfected,
are
rightly called the multitude of God's mercy, who can deny; when it is most
truly
said, "What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that
Thou
visitest
him? I will enter into Your house:" as a stone into a building, I suppose,
is
the
meaning. For what else is the house of God than the
it
is said, "for the
are"?
Of which building He is the cornerstone, Ephesians 2:20 whom the Power
and
Wisdom of God coeternal with the Father assumed.
9.
"I will worship at Your holy temple, in Your fear." "At the
temple," we
understand
as, "near" the temple. For he does not say, I will worship
"in" Your
holy
temple; but, "I will worship at Your holy temple." It must be
understood too
to
be spoken not of perfection, but of progress toward perfection: so that the
words,
"I will enter into Your house," should signify perfection. But that this
may
come
to a happy issue, "I will" first, he says, "worship at Your holy
temple." And
perhaps
on this account he added, "in Your fear;" which is a great defence to
those
that
are advancing toward salvation. But when any one shall have arrived there, in
Psalm 5
26
him
comes to pass that which is written, "perfect love casts out fear." 1
John 4:18
For
they do not fear Him who is now their friend, to whom it is said,
"henceforth I
will
not call you servants, but friends," John 15:15 when they have been
brought
through
to that which was promised.
10.
"O Lord, lead me forth in Your justice because of mine enemies" (ver.
8). He
has
here sufficiently plainly declared that he is on his onward road, that is, in
progress
toward perfection, not yet in perfection itself, when he desires eagerly
that
he may be led forth. But, "in Your justice," not in that which seems
so to men.
For
to return evil for evil seems justice: but it is not His justice of whom it is
said,
"He
makes His sun to rise on the good and on the evil:" for even when God
punishes
sinners, He does not inflict His evil on them, but leaves them to their
own
evil. "Behold," the Psalmist says, "he travailed with injustice,
he has
conceived
toil, and brought forth iniquity: he has opened a ditch, and dug it, and
has
fallen into the pit which he wrought: his pains shall be turned on his own
head,
and
his iniquity shall descend on his own pate." When then God punishes, He
punishes
as a judge those that transgress the law, not by bringing evil upon them
from
Himself, but driving them on to that which they have chosen, to fill up the
sum
of their misery. But man, when he returns evil for evil, does it with an evil
will:
and on this account is himself first evil, when he would punish evil.
11.
"Direct in Your sight my way." Nothing is clearer, than that he here
sets forth
that
time, in which he is journeying onward. For this is a way which is traversed
not
in any regions of the earth, but in the affections of the heart. "In Your
sight,"
he
says, "direct my way:" that is, where no man sees; who are not to be
trusted in
their
praise or blame. For they can in no wise judge of another man's conscience,
wherein
the way toward God is traversed. Hence it is added, "for truth is not in
their
mouth" (ver. 9). To whose judgment of course then there is no trusting,
and
therefore
must we fly within to conscience, and the sight of God. "Their heart is
vain."
How then can truth be in their mouth, whose heart is deceived by sin, and
the
punishment of sin? Whence men are called back by that voice, "Wherefore do
ye
love vanity, and seek a lie?"
12.
"Their throat is an open sepulchre." It may be referred to signify
gluttony, for
the
sake of which men very often lie by flattery. And admirably has he said,
"an
open
sepulchre:" for this gluttony is ever gaping with open mouth, not as
sepulchres,
which, on the reception of corpses, are closed up. This also may be
understood
hereby, that with lying and blind flattery men draw to themselves those
whom
they entice to sin; and as it were devour them, when they turn them to their
own
way of living. And when this happens to them, since by sin they die, those by
whom
they are led along, are rightly called open sepulchres: for themselves too are
in
a manner lifeless, being destitute of the life of truth; and they take in to
themselves
dead men, whom having slain by lying words and a vain heart, they
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 5
27
turn
unto themselves. "With their own tongues they dealt craftily:" that
is, with
evil
tongues. For this seems to be signified, when he says "their own."
For the evil
have
evil tongues, that is, they speak evil, when they speak craftily. To whom the
Lord
says, "How can you, being evil, speak good things?" Matthew 12:34
13.
"Judge them, O God: let them fall from their own thoughts" (ver. 10).
It is a
prophecy,
not a curse. For he does not wish that it should come to pass; but he
perceives
what will come to pass. For this happens to them, not because he
appears
to have wished for it, but because they are such as to deserve that it should
happen.
For so also what he says afterwards, "Let all that hope in You
rejoice," he
says
by way of prophecy; since he perceives that they will rejoice. Likewise is it
said
prophetically, "Stir up Your strength, and come:" for he saw that He
would
come.
Although the words, "Let them fall from their own thoughts," may be
taken
thus
also, that it may rather be believed to be a wish for their good by the Psalmist,
while
they fall from their evil thoughts, that is, that they may no more think evil.
But
what follows, "drive them out," forbids this interpretation. For it
can in no
wise
be taken in a favourable sense, that one is driven out by God. Wherefore it is
understood
to be said prophetically, and not of ill will; when this is said, which
must
necessarily happen to such as chose to persevere in those sins, which have
been
mentioned. "Let them," therefore, "fall from their own
thoughts," is, let them
fall
by their self-accusing thoughts, "their own conscience also bearing
witness,"
as
the Apostle says, "and their thoughts accusing or excusing, in the
revelation of
the
just judgment of God." Romans 2:15-16
14.
"According to the multitude of their ungodlinesses drive them out:"
that is,
drive
them out far away. For this is "according to the multitude of their
ungodlinesses,"
that they should be driven out far away. The ungodly then are
driven
out from that inheritance, which is possessed by knowing and seeing God:
as
diseased eyes are driven out from the shining of the light, when what is
gladness
to others is pain to them. Therefore these shall not stand in the morning,
and
see. And that expression is as great a punishment, as that which is said,
"But
for
me it is good to cleave to the Lord," is a great reward. To this
punishment is
opposed,
"Enter thou into the joy of Your Lord;" Matthew 25:21 for similar to
this
expulsion
is, "Cast him into outer darkness." Matthew 25:30
15.
"Since they have embittered You, O Lord: I am," says He, "the
Bread which
came
down from heaven;" John 6:51 again, "Labour for the meat which wasts
not;"
John 6:27 again, "Taste and see that the Lord is sweet." But to
sinners the
bread
of truth is bitter. Whence they hate the mouth of him that speaks the truth.
These
then have embittered God, who by sin have fallen into such a state of
sickliness,
that the food of truth, in which healthy souls delight, as if it were bitter
as
gall, they cannot bear.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 5
28
16.
"And let all rejoice that hope in You;" those of course to whose
taste the Lord
is
sweet. "They will exult for evermore, and You will dwell in them"
(ver. 11).
This
will be the exultation for evermore, when the just become the
and
He, their Indweller, will be their joy. "And all that love Your name shall
glory
in
You:" as when what they love is present for them to enjoy. And well is it
said,
"in
You," as if in possession of the inheritance, of which the title of the
Psalm
speaks:
when they too are His inheritance, which is intimated by, "You will dwell
in
them." From which good they are kept back, whom God, according to the
multitude
of their ungodlinesses, drives out.
17.
"For You will bless the just man" (ver. 12). This is blessing, to
glory in God,
and
to be inhabited by God. Such sanctification is given to the just. But that they
may
be justified, a calling goes before: which is not of merit, but of the grace of
God.
"For all have sinned, and want the glory of God." Romans 3:23
"For whom
He
called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also
glorified."
Romans
8:30 Since then calling is not of our merit, but of the goodness and mercy
of
God, he went on to say, "O Lord, as with the shield of Your good will You
have
crowned
us." For God's good will goes before our good will, to call sinners to
repentance.
And these are the arms whereby the enemy is overcome, against
whom
it is said, "Who will bring accusation against God's elect?" Again,
"if God
be
for us, who can be against us? Who spared not His Only Son, but delivered
Him
up for us all." "For if, when we were enemies, Christ died for us;
much more
being
reconciled shall we be saved from wrath through Him." Romans 5:10 This is
that
unconquerable shield, whereby the enemy is driven back, when he suggests
despair
of our salvation through the multitude of tribulations and temptations.
18.
The whole contents of the Psalm, then, are a prayer that she may be heard,
from
the words, "hear my words, O Lord," unto, "my King, and my
God." Then
follows
a view of those things which hinder the sight of God, that is, a knowledge
that
she is heard, from the words, "because I shall pray unto You, O Lord, in
the
morning
You will hear my voice," unto, "the man of blood and the crafty man
the
Lord
will abominate." Thirdly, she hopes that she, who is to be the house of
God,
even
now begins to draw near to Him in fear, before that perfection which casts
out
fear, from the words, "but I in the multitude of Your mercy," unto,
"I will
worship
at Your holy temple in Your fear." Fourthly, as she is progressing and
advancing
amongst those very things which she feels to hinder her, she prays that
she
may be assisted within, where no man sees, lest she be turned aside by evil
tongues,
for the words, "O Lord, lead me forth in Your justice because of my
enemies,"
unto, "with their tongues they dealt craftily." Fifthly, is a
prophecy of
what
punishment awaits the ungodly, when the just man shall scarcely be saved;
and
of what reward the just shall obtain, who, when they were called, came, and
bore
all things manfully, till they were brought to the end, from the words,
"judge
them,
O God," unto the end of the Psalm.
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Psalm 6
29
Exposition
on Psalm 6
To
the end, in the hymns of the eighth, a psalm to David.
1.
"Of the eighth," seems here obscure. For the rest of this title is
more clear. Now
it
has seemed to some to intimate the day of judgment, that is, the time of the
coming
of our Lord, when He will come to judge the quick and dead. Which
coming,
it is believed, is to be, after reckoning the years from Adam, seven
thousand
years: so as that seven thousand years should pass as seven days, and
afterwards
that time arrive as it were the eighth day. But since it has been said by
the
Lord, "It is not yours to know the times, which the Father has put in His
own
power:"
Acts 1:7 and, "But of the day and that hour knows no man, no, neither
angel,
nor Power, neither the Son, but the Father alone:" Mark 13:32 and again,
that
which is written, "that the day of the Lord comes as a thief," shows
clearly
enough
that no man should arrogate to himself the knowledge of that time, by any
computation
of years. For if that day is to come after seven thousand years, every
man
could learn its advent by reckoning the years. What comes then of the Son's
even
not knowing this? Which of course is said with this meaning, that men do not
learn
this by the Son, not that He by Himself does not know it: according to that
form
of speech, "the Lord your God tries you that He may know;"
Deuteronomy
13:3 that is, that He may make you know: and, "arise, O Lord;" that
is,
make us arise. When therefore the Son is thus said not to know this day; not
because
He knows it not, but because He causes those to know it not, for whom it
is
not expedient to know it, that is, He does not show it to them; what does that
strange
presumption mean, which, by a reckoning up of years, expects the day of
the
Lord as most certain after seven thousand years?
2.
Be we then willingly ignorant of that which the Lord would not have us know:
and
let us inquire what this title, "of the eighth," means. The day of
judgment may
indeed,
even without any rash computation of years, be understood by the eighth,
for
that immediately after the end of this world, life eternal being attained, the
souls
of the righteous will not then be subject unto times: and, since all times have
their
revolution in a repetition of those seven days, that peradventure is called the
eighth
day, which will not have this variety. There is another reason, which may
be
here not unreasonably accepted, why the judgment should be called the eighth,
because
it will take place after two generations, one relating to the body, the other
to
the soul. For from Adam unto Moses the human race lived of the body, that is,
according
to the flesh: which is called the outward and the old man, and to which
the
Old Testament was given, that it might prefigure the spiritual things to come
by
operations, albeit religious, yet carnal. Through this entire season, when men
lived
according to the body, "death reigned," as the Apostle says,
"even over those
that
had not sinned." Now it reigned "after the similitude of Adam's
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Psalm 6
30
transgression,"
Romans 5:14 as the same Apostle says; for it must be taken of the
period
up to Moses, up to which time the works of the law, that is, those
sacraments
of carnal observance, held even those bound, for the sake of a certain
mystery,
who were subject to the One God. But from the coming of the Lord, from
whom
there was a transition from the circumcision of the flesh to the circumcision
of
the heart, the call was made, that man should live according to the soul, that
is,
according
to the inner man, who is also called the "new man" Colossians 3:10 by
reason
of the new birth and the renewing of spiritual conversation. Now it is plain
that
the number four has relation to the body, from the four well known elements
of
which it consists, and the four qualities of dry, humid, warm, cold. Hence too
it
is
administered by four seasons, spring, summer, autumn, winter. All this is very
well
known. For of the number four relating to the body we have treated elsewhere
somewhat
subtly, but obscurely: which must be avoided in this discourse, which
we
would have accommodated to the unlearned. But that the number three has
relation
to the mind may be understood from this, that we are commanded to love
God
after a threefold manner, with the whole heart, with the whole soul, with the
whole
mind: of each of which severally we must treat, not in the Psalms, but in the
Gospels:
for the present, for proof of the relation of the number three to the mind, I
think
what has been said enough. Those numbers then of the body which have
relation
to the old man and the Old Testament, being past and gone, the numbers
too
of the soul, which have relation to the new man and the New Testament, being
past
and gone, a septenary so to say being passed; because everything is done in
time,
four having been distributed to the body, three to the mind; the eighth will
come,
the day of judgment: which assigning to deserts their due, will transfer at
once
the saint, not to temporal works, but to eternal life; but will condemn the
ungodly
to eternal punishment.
3.
In fear of which condemnation the Church prays in this Psalm, and says,
"Reprove
me not, O Lord, in Your anger" (ver. 1). The Apostle too mentions the
anger
of the judgment; "Thou treasurest up unto yourself," he says,
"anger against
the
day of the anger of the just judgment of God." Romans 2:5 In which he
would
not
be reproved, whosoever longs to be healed in this life. "Nor in Your rage
chasten
me." "Chasten," seems rather too mild a word; for it avails
toward
amendment.
For for him who is reproved, that is, accused, it is to be feared lest his
end
be condemnation. But since "rage" seems to be more than
"anger," it may be a
difficulty,
why that which is milder, namely, chastening, is joined to that which is
more
severe, namely, rage. But I suppose that one and the same thing is signified
by
the two words. For in the Greek qumoj, which is in the first
verse, means the
same
as orgh,
which is in the second verse. But when the Latins themselves too
wished
to use two distinct words, they looked out for what was akin to
"anger,"
and
"rage" was used. Hence copies vary. For in some "anger" is
found first, and
then
"rage:" in others, for "rage," "indignation" or
"choler" is used. But whatever
the
reading, it is an emotion of the soul urging to the infliction of punishment.
Yet
Psalm 6 31
this
emotion must not be attributed to God, as if to a soul, of whom it is said,
"but
Thou,
O Lord of power, judgest with tranquillity." Wisdom 12:18 Now that which
is
tranquil, is not disturbed. Disturbance then does not attach to God as judge:
but
what
is done by His ministers, in that it is done by His laws, is called His anger.
In
which
anger, the soul, which now prays, would not only not be reproved, but not
even
chastened, that is, amended or instructed. For in the Greek it is, Paideuhj,
that
is, instruct. Now in the day of judgment all are "reproved" that hold
not the
foundation,
which is Christ. But they are amended, that is, purged, who "upon this
foundation
build wood, hay, stubble. For they shall suffer loss, but shall be saved,
as
by fire." What then does he pray, who would not be either reproved or
amended
in
the anger of the Lord? what else but that he may be healed? For where sound
health
is, neither death is to be dreaded, nor the physician's hand with caustics or
the
knife.
4.
He proceeds accordingly to say, "Pity me, O Lord, for I am weak: heal me,
O
Lord,
for my bones are troubled" (ver. 2), that is, the support of my soul, or
strength:
for this is the meaning of "bones." The soul therefore says, that her
strength
is troubled, when she speaks of bones. For it is not to be supposed, that
the
soul has bones, such as we see in the body. Wherefore, what follows tends to
explain
it, "and my soul is troubled exceedingly" (ver. 3), lest because he
mentioned
bones, they should be understood as of the body. "And You, O Lord,
how
long?" Who does not see represented here a soul struggling with her
diseases;
but
long kept back by the physician, that she may be convinced what evils she has
plunged
herself into through sin? For what is easily healed, is not much avoided:
but
from the difficulty of the healing, there will be the more careful keeping of
recovered
health. God then, to whom it is said, "And You, O Lord, how long?"
must
not be deemed as if cruel: but as a kind convincer of the soul, what evil she
has
procured for herself. For this soul does not yet pray so perfectly, as that it
can
be
said to her, "Whilst you are yet speaking I will say, Behold, here I
am."
Isaiah
65:24 That she may at the same time also come to know, if they who do
turn
meet with so great difficulty, how great punishment is prepared for the
ungodly,
who will not turn to God: as it is written in another place, "If the
righteous
scarcely be saved, where shall the sinner and ungodly appear?"
1
Peter 4:18
5.
"Turn, O Lord, and deliver my soul" (ver. 4). Turning herself she
prays that God
too
would turn to her: as it is said, "Turn ye unto Me, and I will turn unto
you,
says
the Lord." Zechariah 1:3 Or is it to be understood according to that way
of
speaking,
"Turn, O Lord," that is make me turn, since the soul in this her
turning
feels
difficulty and toil? For our perfected turning finds God ready, as says the
Prophet,
"We shall find Him ready as the dawn." Since it was not His absence
who
is
everywhere present, but our turning away that made us lose Him; "He was in
this
world," it is said, "and the world was made by Him, and the world
knew Him
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Psalm 6
32
not."
John 1:10 If, then, He was in this world, and the world knew Him not, our
impurity
does not endure the sight of Him. But while we are turning ourselves,
that
is, by changing our old life are fashioning our spirit; we feel it hard and
toilsome
to be wrested back from the darkness of earthly lusts, to the serene and
quiet
and tranquillity of the divine light. And in such difficulty we say,
"Turn, O
Lord,"
that is, help us, that that turning may be perfected in us, which finds You
ready,
and offering Yourself for the fruition of them that love You. And hence
after
he said, "Turn, O Lord," he added, "and deliver my soul:"
cleaving as it were
to
the entanglements of this world, and suffering, in the very act of turning,
from
the
thorns, as it were, of rending and tearing desires. "Make me whole,"
he says,
"for
Your pity's sake." He knows that it is not of his own merits that he is
healed:
for
to him sinning, and transgressing a given command, was just condemnation
due.
Heal me therefore, he says, not for my merit's sake, but for Your pity's sake.
6.
"For in death there is no one that is mindful of You" (ver. 5). He
knows too that
now
is the time for turning unto God: for when this life shall have passed away,
there
remains but a retribution of our deserts. "But in hell who shall confess
to
You?"
Luke xvi That rich man, of whom the Lord speaks, who saw Lazarus in
rest,
but bewailed himself in torments, confessed in hell, yea so as to wish even to
have
his brethren warned, that they might keep themselves from sin, because of
the
punishment which is not believed to be in hell. Although therefore to no
purpose,
yet he confessed that those torments had deservedly lighted upon him;
since
he even wished his brethren to be instructed, lest they should fall into the
same.
What then is, "But in hell who will confess to You?" Is hell to be
understood
as that place, whither the ungodly will be cast down after the
judgment,
when by reason of that deeper darkness they will no more see any light
of
God, to whom they may confess anything? For as yet that rich man by raising
his
eyes, although a vast gulf lay between, could still see Lazarus established in
rest:
by comparing himself with whom, he was driven to a confession of his own
deserts.
It may be understood also, as if the Psalmist calls sin, that is committed in
contempt
of God's law, death: so as that we should give the name of death to the
sting
of death, because it procures death. "For the sting of death is sin."
1
Corinthians 15:56 In which death this is to be unmindful of God, to despise His
law
and commandments: so that by hell the Psalmist would mean that blindness of
soul
which overtakes and enwraps the sinner, that is, the dying. "As they did
not
think
good," the Apostle says, "to retain God in" their
"knowledge, God gave them
over
to a reprobate mind." Romans 1:28 From this death, and this hell, the soul
earnestly
prays that she may be kept safe, while she strives to turn to God, and
feels
her difficulties.
7.
Wherefore he goes on to say, "I have laboured in my groaning." And as
if this
availed
but little, he adds, "I will wash each night my couch" (ver. 6). That
is here
called
a couch, where the sick and weak soul rests, that is, in bodily gratification
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Psalm 6
33
and
in every worldly pleasure. Which pleasure, whoso endeavours to withdraw
himself
from it, washes with tears. For he sees that he already condemns carnal
lusts;
and yet his weakness is held by the pleasure, and willingly lies down therein,
from
whence none but the soul that is made whole can rise. As for what he says,
"each
night," he would perhaps have it taken thus: that he who, ready in spirit,
perceives
some light of truth, and yet, through weakness of the flesh, rests
sometime
in the pleasure of this world, is compelled to suffer as it were days and
nights
in an alternation of feeling: as when he says, "With the mind I serve the
law
of
God," he feels as it were day; again when he says, "but with the
flesh the law of
sin,"
Romans 7:25 he declines into night: until all night passes away, and that one
day
comes, of which it is said, "In the morning I will stand by You, and will
see."
For
then he will stand, but now he lies down, when he is on his couch; which he
will
wash each night, that with so great abundance of tears he may obtain the most
assured
remedy from the mercy of God. "I will drench my bed with tears." It
is a
repetition.
For when he says, "with tears," he shows with what meaning he said
above,
"I will wash." For we take "bed" here to be the same as
"couch" above.
Although,
"I will drench," is something more than, "I will wash:"
since anything
may
be washed superficially, but drenching penetrates to the more inward parts;
which
here signifies weeping to the very bottom of the heart. Now the variety of
tenses
which he uses; the past, when he said, "I have laboured in my
groaning;"
and
the future, when he said, "I will wash each night my couch;" the
future again,
"I
will drench my bed with tears;" this shows what every man ought to say to
himself,
when he labours in groaning to no purpose. As if he should say, It has not
profited
when I have done this, therefore I will do the other.
8.
"My eye is disordered by anger" (ver. 7): is it by his own, or God's
anger, in
which
he makes petition that he might not be reproved, or chastened? But if anger
in
that place intimate the day of judgment, how can it be understood now? Is it a
beginning
of it, that men here suffer pains and torments, and above all the loss of
the
understanding of the truth; as I have already quoted that which is said,
"God
gave
them over to a reprobate mind"? Romans 1:28 For such is the blindness of
the
mind. Whosoever is given over thereunto, is shut out from the interior light of
God:
but not wholly as yet, while he is in this life. For there is "outer
darkness,"
Matthew
25:30 which is understood to belong rather to the day of judgment; that
he
should rather be wholly without God, whosoever while there is time refuses
correction.
Now to be wholly without God, what else is it, but to be in extreme
blindness?
If indeed God "dwell in inaccessible light," 1 Timothy 6:16 whereinto
they
enter, to whom it is said, "Enter thou into the joy of your Lord." It
is then the
beginning
of this anger, which in this life every sinner suffers. In fear therefore of
the
day of judgment, he is in trial and grief; lest he be brought to that, the
disastrous
commencement of which he experiences now. And therefore he did not
say,
my eye is extinguished, but, "my eye is disordered by anger." But if
he mean
that
his eye is disordered by his own anger, there is no wonder either in this. For
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Psalm 6
34
hence
perhaps it is said, "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath;"
Ephesians
4:26 because the mind, which, from her own disorder, is not permitted
to
see God, supposes that the inner sun, that is, the wisdom of God, suffers as it
were
a setting in her.
9.
"I have grown old in all mine enemies." He had only spoken of anger
(if it were
yet
of his own anger that he spoke): but thinking on his other vices, he found that
he
was entrenched by them all. Which vices, as they belong to the old life and the
old
man, which we must put off, that we may put on the new man, Colossians 3:9-
10
it is well said, "I have grown old." But "in all mine
enemies," he means, either
amidst
these vices, or amidst men who will not be converted to God. For these,
even
if they know them not, even if they bear with them, even if they use the same
tables
and houses and cities, with no strife arising between them, and in frequent
converse
together with seeming concord: notwithstanding, by the contrariety of
their
aims, they are enemies to those who turn unto God. For seeing that the one
love
and desire this world, the others wish to be freed from this world, who sees
not
that the first are enemies to the last? For if they can, they draw the others
into
punishment
with them. And it is a great grace, to be conversant daily with their
words,
and not to depart from the way of God's commandments. For often the
mind
which is striving to go on to God-ward, being rudely handled in the very
road,
is alarmed; and generally fulfils not its good intent, lest it should offend
those
with whom it lives, who love and follow after other perishable and transient
goods.
From such every one that is whole is separated, not in space, but in soul.
For
the body is contained in space, but the soul's space is her affection.
10.
Wherefore after the labour, and groaning, and very frequent showers of tears,
since
that cannot be ineffectual, which is asked so earnestly of Him, who is the
Fountain
of all mercies, and it is most truly said, "the Lord is nigh unto them
that
are
of a broken heart:" after difficulties so great, the pious soul, by which
we may
also
understand the Church, intimating that she has been heard, see what she adds:
"Depart
from me, all you that work iniquity; for the Lord has heard the voice of
my
weeping" (ver. 8). It is either spoken prophetically, since they will depart,
that
is,
the ungodly will be separated from the righteous, when the day of judgment
arrives,
or, for this time present. For although both are equally found in the same
assemblies,
yet on the open floor the wheat is already separated from the chaff,
though
it be hid among the chaff. They can therefore be associated together, but
cannot
be carried away by the wind together.
11.
"For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping; The Lord has heard my
supplication;
the Lord has received my prayer" (ver. 9). The frequent repetition of
the
same sentiments shows not, so to say, the necessities of the narrator, but the
warm
feeling of his joy. For they that rejoice are wont so to speak, as that it is
not
enough
for them to declare once for all the object of their joy. This is the fruit of
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm
6
35
that
groaning in which there is labour, and those tears with which the couch is
washed,
and bed drenched: for, "he that sows in tears, shall reap in joy:"
and,
"blessed
are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted."
12.
"Let all mine enemies be ashamed and vexed" (ver. 10). He said above,
"depart
from
me all you:" which can take place, as it has been explained, even in this
life:
but
as to what he says, "let them be ashamed and vexed," I do not see how
it can
happen,
save on that day when the rewards of the righteous and the punishments
of
the sinners shall be made manifest. For at present so far are the ungodly from
being
ashamed, that they do not cease to insult us. And for the most part their
mockings
are of such avail, that they make the weak to be ashamed of the name of
Christ.
Hence it is said, "Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me before men, of him
will
I be ashamed before My Father." But now whosoever would fulfil those
sublime
commands, to disperse, to give to the poor, that his righteousness may
endure
for ever; and selling all his earthly goods, and spending them on the needy,
would
follow Christ, saying, "We brought nothing into this world, and truly we
can
carry nothing out; having food and raiment, let us be therewith content;"
1
Timothy 6:7-8 incurs the profane raillery of those men, and by those who will
not
be made whole, is called mad; and often to avoid being so called by desperate
men,
he fears to do, and puts off that, which the most faithful and powerful of all
physicians
has ordered. It is not then at present that these can be ashamed, by
whom
we have to wish that we be not made ashamed, and so be either called back
from
our proposed journey, or hindered, or delayed. But the time will come when
they
shall be ashamed, saying as it is written, "These are they whom we had
sometimes
in derision, and a parable of reproach: we fools counted their life
madness,
and their end to be without honour: how are they numbered among the
children
of God, and their lot is among the saints? Therefore have we erred from
the
way of truth, and the light of righteousness has not shined into us, nor the
sun
risen
upon us: we have been filled with the way of wickedness and destruction,
and
have walked through rugged deserts, but the way of the Lord we have not
known.
What has pride profited us, or what has the vaunting of riches brought us?
All
those things are passed away like a shadow." Wisdom 5:3-9
13.
But as to what he says, "Let them be turned and confounded," who
would not
judge
it to be a most righteous punishment, that they should have a turning unto
confusion,
who would not have one unto salvation? After this he added,
"exceeding
quickly." For when the day of judgment shall have begun to be no
longer
looked for, when they shall have said, "Peace, then shall sudden
destruction
come
upon them." Now whensoever it come, that comes very quickly, of whose
coming
we give up all expectation; and nothing makes the length of this life be felt
but
the hope of living. For nothing seems more quick, than all that has already
passed
in it. When then the day of judgment shall come, then will sinners feel how
that
all the life which passes away is not long. Nor will that any way possibly
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Psalm 6
36
seem
to them to have come tardily, which shall have come without their desiring,
or
rather without their believing. Although it can too be taken in this place
thus,
that
inasmuch as God has heard, so to say, her groans, and her long and frequent
tears,
she may be understood to be freed from her sins, and to have tamed every
disordered
impulse of carnal affection: as she says, "Depart from me, all you that
work
iniquity, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping:" and when she
has
had
this happy issue, it is no marvel if she be already so perfect as to pray for
her
enemies.
The words then, "Let all mine enemies be ashamed, and vexed," may
have
this meaning; that they should repent of their sins, which cannot be effected
without
confusion and vexation. There is then nothing to hinder us from taking
what
follows too in this sense, "let them be turned and ashamed," that is,
let them
be
turned to God, and be ashamed that they sometime gloried in the former
darkness
of their sins; as the Apostle says, "For what glory had ye sometime in
those
things of which you are now ashamed?" Romans 6:21 But as to what he
added,
"exceeding quickly," it must be referred either to the warm affection
of her
wish,
or to the power of Christ; who converts to the faith of the Gospel in such
quick
time the nations, which in their idols' cause did persecute the Church.
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Psalm 7
37
Exposition on Psalm 7
A
psalm to David himself, which he sung to the Lord, for the words of Chusi, son
of
Jemini.
1.
Now the story which gave occasion to this prophecy may be easily recognised
in
the second book of Kings. 2 Samuel 15:34-37 For there Chusi, the friend of
king
David, went over to the side of Absalom, his son, who was carrying on war
against
his father, for the purpose of discovering and reporting the designs which
he
was taking against his father, at the instigation of Achitophel, who had
revolted
from
David's friendship, and was instructing by his counsel, to the best of his
power,
the son against the father. But since it is not the story itself which is to be
the
subject of consideration in this Psalm, from which the prophet has taken a veil
of
mysteries, if we have passed over to Christ, let the veil be taken away.
2
Corinthians 3:16 And first let us inquire into the signification of the very
names,
what
it means. For there have not been wanting interpreters, who investigating
these
same words, not carnally according to the letter, but spiritually, declare to
us
that
Chusi should be interpreted silence; and Gemini, right-handed; Achitophel,
brother's
ruin. Among which interpretations, Judas, that traitor, again meets us,
that
Absalom should bear his image, according to that interpretation of it as a
father's
peace; in that his father was full of thoughts of peace toward him: although
he
in his guile had war in his heart, as was treated of in the third Psalm. Now as
we
find in the Gospels that the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ are called
sons,
Matthew
9:15 so in the same Gospels we find they are called brethren also. For the
Lord
on the resurrection says, "Go and say to My brethren." John 20:17 And
the
Apostle
calls Him "the first begotten among many brethren." The ruin then of
that
disciple,
who betrayed Him, is rightly understood to be a brother's ruin, which we
said
is the interpretation of Achitophel. Now as to Chusi, from the interpretation
of
silence,
it is rightly understood that our Lord contended against that guile in
silence,
that is, in that most deep secret, whereby "blindness happened in part to
Gentiles
might enter in, and "so all
to
this profound secret and deep silence, he exclaimed, as if struck with a kind
of
awe
of its very depth, "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge
of
God!
how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For
who
has known the wind of the Lord, or who has been His counsellor?"
Romans
11:33-34 Thus that great silence he does not so much discover by
explanation,
as he sets forth its greatness in admiration. In this silence the Lord,
hiding
the sacrament of His adorable passion, turns the brother's voluntary ruin,
that
is, His betrayer's impious wickedness, into the order of His mercy and
providence:
that what he with perverse mind wrought for one Man's destruction,
He
might by providential overruling dispose for all men's salvation. The perfect
soul
then, which is already worthy to know the secret of God, sings a Psalm unto
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Psalm 7
38
the
Lord, she sings "for the words of Chusi," because she has attained to
know the
words
of that silence: for among unbelievers and persecutors there is that silence
and
secret. But among His own, to whom it is said, "Now I call you no more
servants;
for the servant knows not what his lord does; but I have called you
friends,
for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you:
John
15:15 among His friends, I say, there is not the silence, but the words of the
silence,
that is, the meaning of that silence set forth and manifested. Which
silence,
that is, Chusi, is called the son of Gemini, that is, righthanded. For what
was
done for the Saints was not to be hidden from them. And yet He says, "Let
not
the
left hand know what the right hand does." Matthew 6:3 The perfect soul
then,
to
which that secret has been made known, sings in prophecy "for the words of
Chusi,"
that is, for the knowledge of that same secret. Which secret God at her
right
hand, that is, favourable and propitious unto her, has wrought. Wherefore this
silence
is called the Son of the right hand, which is, "Chusi, the son of
Gemini."
2.
"O Lord my God, in You have I hoped: save me from all them that persecute
me,
and deliver me" (ver. 1). As one to whom, already perfected, all the war
and
enmity
of vice being overcome, there remains no enemy but the envious devil, he
says,
"Save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me (ver. 2): lest at
any
time
he tear my soul as a lion." The Apostle says, "Your adversary the
devil, as a
roaring
lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Peter 5:8 Therefore
when
the Psalmist said in the plural number, "Save me from all them that
persecute
me:" he afterwards introduced the singular, saying, "lest at any time
he
tear
my soul as a lion." For he does not say, lest at any time they tear: he
knew
what
enemy and violent adversary of the perfect soul remained. "Whilst there be
none
to redeem, nor to save:" that is, lest he tear me, while Thou redeemest
not,
nor
savest. For, if God redeem not, nor save, he tears.
3.
And that it might be clear that the already perfect soul, which is to be on her
guard
against the most insidious snares of the devil only, says this, see what
follows.
"O Lord my God, if I have done this" (ver. 3). What is it that he
calls
"this"?
Since he does not mention the sin by name, are we to understand sin
generally?
If this sense displease us, we may take that to be meant which follows:
as
if we had asked, what is this that you say, "this"? He answers,
"If there be
iniquity
in my hands." Now then it is clear that it is said of all sin, "If I
have repaid
them
that recompense me evil" (ver. 4). Which none can say with truth, but the
perfect.
For so the Lord says, "Be perfect, as your Father which is in heaven; who
makes
His sun to rise upon the good and the evil, and rains on the just and the
unjust."
Matthew 5:43, 45 He then who repays not them that recompense evil, is
perfect.
When therefore the perfect soul prays "for the words of Chusi, the son of
Jemini,"
that is, for the knowledge of that secret and silence, which the Lord,
favourable
to us and merciful, wrought for our salvation, so as to endure, and with
all
patience bear, the guiles of this betrayer: as if He should say to this perfect
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 7
39
soul,
explaining the design of this secret, For you ungodly and a sinner, that your
iniquities
might be washed away by My blood-shedding, in great silence and great
patience
I bore with My betrayer; will you not imitate me, that you too may not
repay
evil for evil? Considering then, and understanding what the Lord has done
for
him, and by His example going on to perfection, the Psalmist says, "If I
have
repaid
them that recompense me evil:" that is, if I have not done what You have
taught
me by Your example: "may I therefore fall by mine enemies empty." And
he
says well, not, If I have repaid them that do me evil; but, who "recompense."
For
who so recompenses, had received somewhat already. Now it is an instance of
greater
patience, not even to repay him evil, who after receiving benefits returns
evil
for good, than if without receiving any previous benefit he had had a mind to
injure.
If therefore he says, "I have repaid them that recompense me evil:"
that is,
If
I have not imitated You in that silence, that is, in Your patience, which You
have
wrought for me, "may I fall by mine enemies empty." For he is an
empty
boaster,
who, being himself a man, desires to avenge himself on a man; and while
he
openly seeks to overcome a man, is secretly himself overcome by the devil,
rendered
empty by vain and proud joy, because he could not, as it were, be
conquered.
The Psalmist knows then where a greater victory may be obtained, and
where
"the Father which sees in secret will reward." Matthew 6:6 Lest then
he
repay
them that recompense evil, he overcomes his anger rather than another man,
being
instructed too by those writings, wherein it is written, "Better is he
that
overcomes
his anger, than he that takes a city." Proverbs 16:32 "If I have
repaid
them
that recompense me evil, may I therefore fall by my enemies empty." He
seems
to swear by way of execration, which is the heaviest kind of oath, as when
one
says, If I have done so and so, may I suffer so and so. But swearing in a
swearer's
mouth is one thing, in a prophet's meaning another. For here he mentions
what
will really befall men who repay them that recompense evil; not what, as by
an
oath, he would imprecate on himself or any other.
4.
"Let the enemy" therefore "persecute my soul and take it"
(ver. 5). By again
naming
the enemy in the singular number, he more and more clearly points out
him
whom he spoke of above as a lion. For he persecutes the soul, and if he has
deceived
it, will take it. For the limit of men's rage is the destruction of the body;
but
the soul, after this visible death, they cannot keep in their power: whereas
whatever
souls the devil shall have taken by his persecutions, he will keep. "And
let
him tread my life upon the earth:" that is, by treading let him make my
life
earth,
that is to say, his food. For he is not only called a lion, but a serpent too,
to
whom
it was said, "Earth shall you eat." Genesis 3:14 And to the sinner
was it
said,
"Earth you are, and into earth shall you go." Genesis 3:19 "And
let him bring
down
my glory to the dust." This is that dust which "the wind casts forth
from the
face
of the earth," to wit, vain and silly boasting of the proud, puffed up,
not of
solid
weight, as a cloud of dust carried away by the wind. Justly then has he here
spoken
of the glory, which he would not have brought down to dust. For he would
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 7
40
have
it solidly established in conscience before God, where there is no boasting.
"He
that glories," says the Apostle, "let him glory in the Lord." 1
Corinthians 1:31
This
solidity is brought down to the dust if one through pride despising the secrecy
of
conscience, where God only proves a man, desires to glory before men. Hence
comes
what the Psalmist elsewhere says, "God shall bruise the bones of them that
please
men." Now he that has well learned or experienced the steps in overcoming
vices,
knows that this vice of empty glory is either alone, or more than all, to be
shunned
by the perfect. For that by which the soul first fell, she overcomes the
last.
"For the beginning of all sin is pride:" and again, "The
beginning of man's
pride
is to depart from God."
5.
"Arise, O Lord, in Your anger" (ver. 6). Why yet does he, who we say
is
perfect,
incite God to anger? Must we not see, whether he rather be not perfect,
who,
when he was being stoned, said, "O Lord, lay not this sin to their
charge"?
Acts
7:60 Or does the Psalmist pray thus not against men, but against the devil and
his
angels, whose possession sinners and the ungodly are? He then does not pray
against
him in wrath, but in mercy, whosoever prays that that possession may be
taken
from him by that Lord "who justifies the ungodly." Romans 4:5 For
when
the
ungodly is justified, from ungodly he is made just, and from being the
possession
of the devil he passes into the
punishment
that a possession, in which one longs to have rule, should be taken
away
from him: this punishment, that he should cease to possess those whom he
now
possesses, the Psalmist calls the anger of God against the devil. "Arise,
O
Lord;
in Your anger." "Arise" (he has used it as "appear"),
in words, that is, human
and
obscure; as though God sleeps, when He is unrecognised and hidden in His
secret
workings. "Be exalted in the borders of mine enemies." He means by
borders
the possession itself, in which he wishes that God should be exalted, that
is,
be honoured and glorified, rather than the devil, while the ungodly are justified
and
praise God. "And arise, O Lord my God, in the commandment that You have
given:"
that is, since You have enjoined humility, appear in humility; and first
fulfil
what You have enjoined; that men by Your example overcoming pride may
not
be possessed of the devil, who against Your commandments advised to pride,
saying,
"Eat, and your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods."
Genesis 3:5
6.
"And the congregation of the people shall surround You." This may be
understood
two ways. For the congregation of the people can be taken, either of
them
that believe, or of them that persecute, both of which took place in the same
humiliation
of our Lord: in contempt of which the multitude of them that persecute
surrounded
Him; concerning which it is said, "Why have the heathen raged, and
the
people meditated vain things?" But of them that believe through His
humiliation
the multitude so surrounded Him, that it could be said with the
greatest
truth, "blindness in part is happened unto
Gentiles
might come in:" Romans 11:25 and again, "Ask of me, and I will give
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 7 41
You
the Gentiles for Your inheritance, and the boundaries of the earth for Your
possession."
"And for their sakes return Thou on high:" that is, for the sake of
this
congregation
return Thou on high: which He is understood to have done by His
resurrection
and ascension into heaven. For being thus glorified He gave the Holy
Ghost,
which before His exaltation could not be given, as it is written in the
Gospel,
"for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet
glorified."
John 7:39 Having then returned on high for the sake of the
congregation
of the people, He sent the Holy Ghost: by whom the preachers of the
Gospel
being filled, filled the whole world with Churches.
7.
It can be taken also in this sense: "Arise, O Lord, in Your anger, and be
exalted
in
the borders of mine enemies:" that is, arise in Your anger, and let not
mine
enemies
understand You; so that to "be exalted," should be this, become high,
that
You
may not be understood; which has reference to the silence spoken of above.
For
it is of this exaltation thus said in another Psalm, "And He ascended upon
Cherubim,
and flew:" and, "He made darkness His secret place." In which
exaltation,
or concealment, when for their sins' desert they shall not understand
You,
who shall crucify You, "the congregation" of believers "shall
surround You."
For
in His very humiliation He was exalted, that is, was not understood. So that,
"And
arise, O Lord my God, in the commandment that You have given:" may
have
reference to this, that is, when Thou showest Yourself, be high or deep that
mine
enemies may not understand You. Now sinners are the enemies of the just
man,
and the ungodly of the godly man. "And the congregation of the people
shall
surround
You:" that is, by this very circumstance, that those who crucify You
understand
You not, the Gentiles shall believe in You, and so "shall the
congregation
of the people surround You." But what follows, if this be the true
meaning,
has in it more pain, that it begins already to be perceived, than joy that it
is
understood. For it follows, "and for their sakes return Thou on
high," that is, and
for
the sake of this congregation of the human race, wherewith the Churches are
crowded,
return Thou on high, that is, again cease to be understood. What then is,
"and
for their sakes," but that this congregation too will offend You, so that
You
may
most truly foretell and say, "Thinkest Thou when the Son of man shall
come,
He
will find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8 Again, of the false prophets, who
are
understood
to be heretics, He says, "Because of their iniquity the love of many
shall
wax cold." Matthew 24:12 Since then even in the Churches, that is, in that
congregation
of peoples and nations, where the Christian name has most widely
spread,
there shall be so great abundance of sinners, which is already, in great
measure,
perceived; is not that famine of the word Amos 8:11 here predicted,
which
has been threatened by another prophet also? Is it not too for this
congregation's
sake, who, by their sins, are estranging from themselves that light
of
truth, that God returns on high, that is, so that faith, pure and cleansed from
the
corruption
of all perverse opinions, is held and received, either not at all, or by the
very
few of whom it was said, "Blessed is he that shall endure to the end, the
same
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 7
42
shall
be saved"? Mark 13:13 Not without cause then is it said, "and for the
sake of
this"
congregation "return Thou on high:" that is, again withdraw into the
depth of
Your
secrecy, even for the sake of this congregation of the peoples, that has Your
name,
and does not Your deeds.
8.
But whether the former exposition of this place, or this last be the more
suitable,
without
prejudice to any one better, or equal, or as good, it follows very
consistently,
"the Lord judges the people." For whether He returned on high,
when,
after the resurrection, He ascended into heaven, well does it follow, "The
Lord
judges the people:" for that He will come from thence to judge the quick
and
the
dead. Or whether He return on high, when the understanding of the truth leaves
sinful
Christians, for that of His coming it has been said, "Do you think the Son
of
Man
on His coming will find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8 "The
Lord" then
"judges
the people." What Lord, but Jesus Christ? "For the Father judges no
man,
but
has committed all judgment unto the Son." John 5:22 Wherefore this soul
which
prays perfectly, see how she fears not the day of judgment, and with a truly
secure
longing says in her prayer, "Your kingdom come: judge me," she says,
"O
Lord,
according to my righteousness." In the former Psalm a weak one was
entreating,
imploring rather the mercy of God, than mentioning any desert of his
own:
since the Son of God came "to call sinners to repentance." Matthew
9:13
Therefore
he had there said, "Save me, O Lord, for Your mercy's sake;" that is,
not
for
my desert's sake. But now, since being called he has held and kept the
commandments
which he received, he is bold to say, "Judge me, O Lord,
according
to my righteousness, and according to my harmlessness, that is upon
me."
This is true harmlessness, which harms not even an enemy. Accordingly,
well
does he require to be judged according to his harmlessness, who could say
with
truth, "If I have repaid them that recompense me evil." As for what
he added,
"that
is upon me," it can refer not only to harmlessness, but can be understood
also
with
reference to righteousness; that the sense should be this, Judge me, O Lord,
according
to my righteousness, and according to my harmlessness, which
righteousness
and harmlessness is upon me. By which addition he shows that this
very
thing, that the soul is righteous and harmless, she has not by herself, but by
God
who gives brightness and light. For of this he says in another Psalm,
"You, O
Lord,
wilt light my candle." And of John it is said, that "he was not the
light, but
bore
witness of the light." John 1:8 "He was a burning and shining
candle."
John
5:35 That light then, whence souls, as candles, are kindled, shines forth not
with
borrowed, but with original, brightness, which light is truth itself. It is
then so
said,
"According to my righteousness, and according to my harmlessness, that is
upon
me," as if a burning and shining candle should say, Judge me according to
the
flame which is upon me, that is, not that wherewith I am myself, but that
whereby
I shine enkindled of you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 7
43
9.
"But let the wickedness of sinners be consummated" (ver. 9). He says,
"be
consummated,"
be completed, according to that in the Apocalypse, "Let the
righteous
become more righteous, and let the filthy be filthy still."
Revelation
22:11 For the wickedness of those men appears consummate, who
crucified
the Son of God; but greater is theirs who will not live uprightly, and hate
the
precepts of truth, for whom the Son of God was crucified. "Let the
wickedness
of
sinners," then he says, "be consummated," that is, arrive at the
height of
wickedness,
that just judgment may be able to come at once. But since it is not
only
said, "Let the filthy be filthy still;" but it is said also,
"Let the righteous
become
more righteous;" he joins on the words, "And You shall direct the
righteous,
O God, who searches the hearts and reins." How then can the righteous
be
directed but in secret? when even by means of those things which, in the
commencement
of the Christian ages, when as yet the saints were oppressed by the
persecution
of the men of this world, appeared marvellous to men, now that the
Christian
name has begun to be in such high dignity, hypocrisy, that is pretence,
has
increased; of those, I mean, who by the Christian profession had rather please
men
than God. How then is the righteous man directed in so great confusion of
pretence,
save while God searches the hearts and reins; seeing all men's thoughts,
which
are meant by the word heart; and their delights, which are understood by the
word
reins? For the delight in things temporal and earthly is rightly ascribed to
the
reins;
for that it is both the lower part of man, and that region where the pleasure
of
carnal generation dwells, through which man's nature is transferred into this
life
of
care, and deceiving joy, by the succession of the race. God then, searching our
heart,
and perceiving that it is there where our treasure is, that is, in heaven;
searching
also the reins, and perceiving that we do not assent to flesh and blood,
but
delight ourselves in the Lord, directs the righteous man in his inward
conscience
before Him, where no man sees, but He alone who perceives what each
man
thinks, and what delights each. For delight is the end of care; because to this
end
does each man strive by care and thought, that he may attain to his delight. He
therefore
sees our cares, who searches the heart. He sees too the ends of cares, that
is
delights, who narrowly searches the reins; that when He shall find that our
cares
incline
neither to the lust of the flesh, nor to the lust of the eyes, nor to the pride
of
life,
1 John 2:16 all which pass away as a shadow, but that they are raised upward
to
the joys of things eternal, which are spoilt by no change, He may direct the
righteous,
even He, the God who searches the hearts and reins. For our works,
which
we do in deeds and words, may be known unto men; but with what mind
they
are done, and to what end we would attain by means of them, He alone
knows,
the God who searches the hearts and reins.
10.
"My righteous help is from the Lord, who makes whole the upright in
heart"
(ver.
10). The offices of medicine are twofold, on the curing infirmity, the other
the
preserving health. According to the first it was said in the preceding Psalm,
"Have
mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak;" according to the second it is said in
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm
7
44
this
Psalm, "If there be iniquity in my hands, if I have repaid them that
recompense
me evil, may I therefore fall by my enemies empty." For there the
weak
prays that he may be delivered, here one already whole that he may not
change
for the worse. According to the one it is there said, "Make me whole for
Your
mercy's sake;" according to this other it is here said, "Judge me, O
Lord,
according
to my righteousness." For there he asks for a remedy to escape from
disease;
but here for protection from falling into disease. According to the former
it
is said, "Make me whole, O Lord, according to Your mercy:" according
to the
latter
it is said, "My righteous help is from the Lord, who makes whole the
upright
in
heart." Both the one and the other makes men whole; but the former removes
them
from sickness into health, the latter preserves them in this health. Therefore
there
the help is merciful, because the sinner has no desert, who as yet longs to be
justified,
"believing on Him who justifies the ungodly;" Romans 4:5 but here the
help
is righteous, because it is given to one already righteous. Let the sinner then
who
said, "I am weak," say in the first place, "Make me whole, O
Lord, for Your
mercy's
sake;" and here let the righteous man, who said, "If I have repaid
them
that
recompense me evil," say, "My righteous help is from the Lord, who
makes
whole
the upright in heart." For if he sets forth the medicine, by which we may
be
healed
when weak, how much more that by which we may be kept in health. For if
"while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, how much more being now
justified
shall we be kept whole from wrath through Him." Romans 5:8-9
11.
"My righteous help is from the Lord, who makes whole the upright in
heart."
God,
who searches the hearts and reins, directs the righteous; but with righteous
help
makes He whole the upright in heart. He does not as He searches the hearts
and
reins, so make whole the upright in heart and reins; for the thoughts are both
bad
in a depraved heart, and good in an upright heart; but delights which are not
good
belong to the reins, for they are more low and earthly; but those that are good
not
to the reins, but to the heart itself. Wherefore men cannot be so called
upright
in
reins, as they are called upright in heart, since where the thought is, there
at
once
the delight is too; which cannot be, unless when things divine and eternal are
thought
of. "You have given," he says, "joy in my heart," when he
had said, "The
light
of Your countenance has been stamped on us, O Lord." For although the
phantoms
of things temporal, which the mind falsely pictures to itself, when tossed
by
vain and mortal hope, to vain imagination oftentimes bring a delirious and
maddened
joy; yet this delight must be attributed not to the heart, but to the reins;
for
all these imaginations have been drawn from lower, that is, earthly and carnal
things.
Hence it comes, that God, who searches the hearts and reins, and perceives
in
the heart upright thoughts, in the reins no delights, affords righteous help to
the
upright
in heart, where heavenly delights are coupled with clean thoughts. And
therefore
when in another Psalm he had said, "Moreover even to-night my reins
have
chided me;" he went on to say as touching help, "I foresaw the Lord
alway in
my
sight, for He is on my right hand, that I should not be moved." Where he
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 7
45
shows
that he suffered suggestions only from the reins, not delights as well; for he
had
suffered these, then he would of course be moved. But he said, "The Lord
is
on
my right hand, that I should not be moved;" and then he adds,
"Wherefore was
my
heart delighted;" that the reins should have been able to chide, not
delight him.
The
delight accordingly was produced not in the reins, but there, where against the
chiding
of the reins God was foreseen to be on the right hand, that is, in the heart.
12.
"God the righteous judge, strong (in endurance) and long-suffering"
(ver. 11).
What
God is judge, but the Lord, who judges the people? He is righteous; who
"shall
render to every man according to his works." Matthew 16:27 He is strong
(in
endurance); who, being most powerful, for our salvation bore even with
ungodly
persecutors. He is long-suffering; who did not immediately, after His
resurrection,
hurry away to punishment, even those that persecuted Him, but bore
with
them, that they might at length turn from that ungodliness to salvation: and
still
He bears with them, reserving the last penalty for the last judgment, and up to
this
present time inviting sinners to repentance. "Not bringing in anger every
day."
Perhaps
"bringing in anger" is a more significant expression than being angry
(and
so
we find it in the Greek copies); that the anger, whereby He punishes, should
not
be
in Him, but in the minds of those ministers who obey the commandments of
truth
through whom orders are given even to the lower ministries, who are called
angels
of wrath, to punish sin: whom even now the punishment of men delights
not
for justice' sake, in which they have no pleasure, but for malice' sake. God
then
does
not "bring in anger every day," that is, He does not collect His
ministers for
vengeance
every day. For now the patience of God invites to repentance: but in the
last
time, when men "through their hardness and impenitent heart shall have
treasured
up for themselves anger in the day of anger, and revelation of the
righteous
judgment of God, Romans 2:5 then He will brandish His sword."
13.
"Unless ye be converted," He says, "He will brandish His
sword" (ver. 12).
The
Lord Man Himself may be taken to be God's double-edged sword, that is, His
spear,
which at His first coming He will not brandish, but hides as it were in the
sheath
of humiliation: but He will brandish it, when at the second coming to judge
the
quick and dead, in the manifest splendour of His glory, He shall flash light on
His
righteous ones, and terror on the ungodly. For in other copies, instead of,
"He
shall
brandish His sword," it has been written, "He shall make bright His
spear:"
by
which word I think the last coming of the Lord's glory most appropriately
signified:
seeing that is understood of His person, which another Psalm has,
"Deliver,
O Lord, my soul from the ungodly, Your spear from the enemies of Your
hand.
He has bent His bow, and made it ready." The tenses of the words must not
be
altogether overlooked, how he has spoken of "the sword" in the
future, "He will
brandish;"
of "the bow" in the past, "He has bent:" and these words of
the past
tense
follow after.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 7 46
14.
"And in it He has prepared the instruments of death: He has wrought His
arrows
for the burning" (ver. 13). That bow then I would readily take to be the
Holy
Scripture, in which by the strength of the New Testament, as by a sort of
string,
the hardness of the Old has been bent and subdued. From thence the
Apostles
are sent forth like arrows, or divine preachings are shot. Which arrows
"He
has wrought for the burning," arrows, that is, whereby being stricken they
might
be inflamed with heavenly love. For by what other arrows was she stricken,
who
says, "Bring me into the house of wine, place me among perfumes, crowd me
among
honey, for I have been wounded with love"? By what other arrows is he
kindled,
who, desirous of returning to God, and coming back from wandering,
asks
for help against crafty tongues, and to whom it is said, "What shall be
given
you,
or what added to you against the crafty tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty,
with
devastating coals:" that is, coals, whereby, when you are stricken and set
on
fire,
you may burn with so great love of the kingdom of heaven, as to despise the
tongues
of all that resist you, and would recall you from your purpose, and to
deride
their persecutions, saying, "Who shall separate me from the love of
Christ?
shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword?
For I am persuaded," he says, "that neither death, nor life, nor
angel, nor
principality,
nor things present, not things to come, nor power, nor height, nor
depth,
nor other creature, shall be able to separate me from the love of God, which
is
in Christ Jesus our Lord." Thus for the burning has He wrought His arrows.
For
in
the Greek copies it is found thus, "He has wrought His arrows for the
burning."
But
most of the Latin copies have "burning arrows." But whether the
arrows
themselves
burn, or make others burn, which of course they cannot do unless they
burn
themselves, the sense is complete.
15.
But since he has said that the Lord has prepared not arrows only, but
"instruments
of death" too, in the bow, it may be asked, what are "instruments of
death"?
Are they, per-adventure, heretics? For they too, out of the same bow, that
is,
out of the same Scriptures, light upon souls not to be inflamed with love but
destroyed
with poison: which does not happen but after their deserts: wherefore
even
this dispensation is to be assigned to the Divine Providence, not that it makes
men
sinners, but that it orders them after they have sinned. For through sin
reaching
them with an ill purpose, they are forced to understand them ill, that this
should
be itself the punishment of sin: by whose death, nevertheless, the sons of
the
Catholic Church are, as it were by certain thorns, so to say, aroused from
slumber,
and make progress toward the understanding of the holy Scriptures. "For
there
must be also heresies, that they which are approved," he says, "may
be made
manifest
among you:" 1 Corinthians 11:19 that is, among men, seeing they are
manifest
to God. Or has He haply ordained the same arrows to be at once
instruments
of death for the destruction of unbelievers, and wrought them burning,
or
for the burning, for the exercising of the faithful? For that is not false that
the
Apostle
says, "To the one we are the savour of life unto life, to the other the
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 7 47
savour
of death unto death; and who is sufficient for these things?"
2
Corinthians 2:16 It is no wonder then if the same Apostles be both instruments
of
death in those from whom they suffered persecution, and fiery arrows to
inflame
the hearts of believers.
16.
Now after this dispensation righteous judgment will come: of which the
Psalmist
so speaks, as that we may understand that each man's punishment is
wrought
out of his own sin, and his iniquity turned into vengeance: that we may
not
suppose that that tranquillity and ineffable light of God brings forth from
Itself
the
means of punishing sin; but that it so orders sins, that what have been
delights
to
man in sinning, should be instruments to the Lord avenging. "Behold,"
he says,
"he
has travailed with injustice." Now what had he conceived, that he should
travail
with injustice? "He has conceived," he says, "toil." Hence
then comes that,
"In
toil shall you eat your bread." Genesis 3:17 Hence too that, "Come
unto Me all
you
that toil and are heavy laden; for My yoke is easy, and My burden light."
For
toil
will never cease, except one love that which cannot be taken away against his
will.
For when those things are loved which we can lose against our will, we must
needs
toil for them most miserably; and to obtain them, amid the straitnesses of
earthly
cares, while each desires to snatch them for himself, and to be beforehand
with
another, or to wrest it from him, must scheme injustice. Duly then, and quite
in
order, has he travailed with injustice, who has conceived toil. Now he brings
forth
what, save that with which he has travailed, although he has not travailed
with
that which he conceived? For that is not born, which is not conceived; but
seed
is conceived, that which is formed from the seed is born. Toil is then the seed
of
iniquity, but sin the conception of toil, that is, that first sin, to
"depart from
God."
Sirach 10:12 He then has travailed with injustice, who has conceived toil.
"And
he has brought forth iniquity." "Iniquity" is the same as
"injustice:" he has
brought
forth then that with which he travailed. What follows next?
17.
"He has opened a ditch, and dug it" (ver. 15). To open a ditch is, in
earthly
matters,
that is, as it were in the earth, to prepare deceit, that another fall therein,
whom
the unrighteous man wishes to deceive. Now this ditch is opened when
consent
is given to the evil suggestion of earthly lusts: but it is dug when after
consent
we press on to actual work of deceit. But how can it be, that iniquity
should
rather hurt the righteous man against whom it proceeds, than the
unrighteous
heart whence it proceeds? Accordingly, the stealer of money, for
instance,
while he desires to inflict painful harm upon another, is himself maimed
by
the wound of avarice. Now who, even out of his right mind, sees not how great
is
the difference between these men, when one suffers the loss of money, the other
of
innocence? "He will fall" then "into the pit which he has
made." As it is said in
another
Psalm, "The Lord is known in executing judgments; the sinner is caught in
the
works of his own hands."
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Psalm 7
48
18.
"His toil shall be turned on his head, and his iniquity shall descend on
his pate"
(ver.
16). For he had no mind to escape sin: but was brought under sin as a slave,
so
to say, as the Lord says, "Whosoever sinneth is a slave." John 8:34
His iniquity
then
will be upon him, when he is subject to his iniquity; for he could not say to
the
Lord, what the innocent and upright say, "My glory, and the lifter up of
my
head."
He then will be in such wise below, as that his iniquity may be above, and
descend
on him; for that it weighs him down and burdens him, and suffers him not
to
fly back to the rest of the saints. This occurs, when in an ill regulated man
reason
is a slave, and lust has dominion.
19.
"I will confess to the Lord according to His justice" (ver. 17). This
is not the
sinner's
confession: for he says this, who said above most truly, "If there be
iniquity
in my hands:" but it is a confession of God's justice, in which we speak
thus,
Verily, O Lord, You are just, in that Thou both so protectest the just, that
Thou
enlightenest them by Yourself; and so orderest sinners, that they be punished
not
by Yours, but by their own malice. This confession so praises the Lord, that
the
blasphemies of the ungodly can avail nothing, who, willing to excuse their evil
deeds,
are unwilling to attribute to their own fault that they sin, that is, are
unwilling
to attribute their fault to their fault. Accordingly they find either fortune
or
fate to accuse, or the devil, to whom He who made us has willed that it should
be
in our power to refuse consent: or they bring in another nature, which is not
of
God:
wretched waverers, and erring, rather than confessing to God, that He should
pardon
them. For it is not fit that any be pardoned, except he says, I have sinned.
He,
then, that sees the deserts of souls so ordered by God, that while each has his
own
given him, the fair beauty of the universe is in no part violated, in all
things
praises
God: and this is not the confession of sinners, but of the righteous. For it is
not
the sinner's confession when the Lord says, "I confess to You, O Lord of
heaven
and earth, because You have hid these things from the wise, and revealed
them
to babes." Matthew 11:25 Likewise in Ecclesiasticus it is said,
"Confess to
the
Lord in all His works: and in confession you shall say this, All the works of
the
Lord
are exceeding good." Which can be seen in this Psalm, if any one with a
pious
mind, by the Lord's help, distinguish between the rewards of the righteous
and
the penalties of the sinners, how that in these two the whole creation, which
God
made and rules, is adorned with a beauty wondrous and known to few. Thus
then
he says, "I will confess to the Lord according to His justice," as
one who saw
that
darkness was not made by God, but ordered nevertheless. For God said, "Let
light
be made, and light was made." Genesis 1:3 He did not say, Let darkness be
made,
and darkness was made: and yet He ordered it. And therefore it is said,
"God
divided between the light, and the darkness: and God called the light day,
and
the darkness He called night." Genesis 1:4-5 This is the distinction, He
made
the
one and ordered it: but the other He made not, but yet He ordered this too. But
now
that sins are signified by darkness, so is it seen in the Prophet, who says,
"And
your darkness shall be as the noon day:" Isaiah 5 8: 10 and in the
Apostle,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 7
49
who
says, "He that hates his brother is in darkness:" 1 John 2:11 and
above all that
text,
"Let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of
light."
Romans
13:12 Not that there is any nature of darkness. For all nature, in so far as
it
is nature, is compelled to be. Now being belongs to light: not being to
darkness.
He
then that leaves Him by whom he was made, and inclines to that whence he
was
made, that is, to nothing, is in this sin endarkened: and yet he does not
utterly
perish,
but he is ordered among the lowest things. Therefore after the Psalmist
said,
"I will confess unto the Lord:" that we might not understand it of
confession
of
sins, he adds lastly, "And I will sing to the name of the Lord most
high." Now
singing
has relation to joy, but repentance of sins to sadness.
20.
This Psalm can also be taken in the person of the Lord Man: if only that which
is
there spoken in humiliation be referred to our weakness, which He bore.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 8
50
Exposition on Psalm 8
To
the end, for the wine-presses, a psalm of David himself.
1.
He seems to say nothing of wine-presses in the text of the Psalm of which this
is
the
title. By which it appears, that one and the same thing is often signified in
Scripture
by many and various similitudes. We may then take wine-presses to be
Churches,
on the same principle by which we understand also by a threshing-floor
the
Church. For whether in the threshing-floor, or in the wine-press, there is
nothing
else done but the clearing the produce of its covering; which is necessary,
both
for its first growth and increase, and arrival at the maturity either of the
harvest
or the vintage. Of these coverings or supporters then; that is, of chaff, on
the
threshing-floor, the corn; and of husks, in the presses, the wine is stripped:
as
in
the Churches, from the multitude of worldly men, which is collected together
with
the good, for whose birth and adaptating to the divine word that multitude
was
necessary, this is effected, that by spiritual love they be separated through
the
operation
of God's ministers. For now so it is that the good are, for a time,
separated
from the bad, not in space, but in affection: although they have converse
together
in the Churches, as far as respects bodily presence. But another time will
come,
the corn will be stored up apart in the granaries, and the wine in the cellars.
"The
wheat," says he, "He will lay up in garners; but the chaff He will
burn with
fire
unquenchable." Luke 3:17 The same thing may be thus understood in another
similitude:
the wine He will lay up in cellars, but the husks He will cast forth to
cattle:
so that by the bellies of the cattle we may be allowed by way of similitude
to
understand the pains of hell.
2.
There is another interpretation concerning the wine-presses, yet still keeping
to
the
meaning of Churches. For even the Divine Word may be understood by the
grape:
for the Lord even has been called a Cluster of grapes; which they that were
sent
before by the people of
staff,
crucified as it were. Numbers 13:23 Accordingly, when the Divine Word
makes
use of, by the necessity of declaring Himself, the sound of the voice,
whereby
to convey Himself to the ears of the hearers; in the same sound of the
voice,
as it were in husks, knowledge, like the wine, is enclosed: and so this grape
comes
into the ears, as into the pressing machines of the wine-pressers. For there
the
separation is made, that the sound may reach as far as the ear; but knowledge
be
received in the memory of those that hear, as it were in a sort of vat; whence
it
passes
into discipline of the conversation and habit of mind, as from the vat into
the
cellar: where if it do not through negligence grow sour, it will acquire
soundness
by age. For it grew sour among the Jews, and this sour vinegar they
gave
the Lord to drink. John 19:29 For that wine, which from the produce of the
vine
of the New Testament the Lord is to drink with His saints in the kingdom of
His
Father, Matthew 26:29 must needs be most sweet and most sound.
Psalm 8
51
3.
"Wine-presses" are also usually taken for martyrdoms, as if when they
who
have
confessed the name of Christ have been trodden down by the blows of
persecution,
their mortal remains as husks remained on earth, but their souls
flowed
forth into the rest of a heavenly habitation. Nor yet by this interpretation do
we
depart from the fruitfulness of the Churches. It is sung then, "for the
wine-
presses,"
for the Church's establishment; when our Lord after His resurrection
ascended
into heaven. For then He sent the Holy Ghost: by whom the disciples
being
fulfilled preached with confidence the Word of God, that Churches might be
collected.
4.
Accordingly it is said, "O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is Your Name in
all
the
earth!" (ver. 1). I ask, how is His Name wonderful in all the earth? The
answer
is,
"For Your glory has been raised above the heavens." So that the
meaning is
this,
O Lord, who art our Lord, how do all that inhabit the earth admire You! for
Your
glory has been raised from earthly humiliation above the heavens. For hence
it
appeared who You were that descended, when it was by some seen, and by the
rest
believed, whither it was that You ascended.
5.
"Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings You have made perfect praise,
because
of Your enemies" (ver. 2). I cannot take babes and sucklings to be any
other
than those to whom the Apostle says, "As unto babes in Christ I have given
you
milk to drink, not meat." 1 Corinthians 3:1-2 Who were meant by those who
went
before the Lord praising Him, of whom the Lord Himself used this
testimony,
when He answered the Jews who bade Him rebuke them, "Have ye not
read,
out of the mouth of babes and sucklings You have made perfect praise?"
Matthew
21:16 Now with good reason He says not, You have made, but, "You
have
made perfect praise." For there are in the Churches also those who now no
more
drink milk, but eat meat: whom the same Apostle points out, saying, "We
speak
wisdom among them that are perfect;" 1 Corinthians 2:6 but not by those
only
are the Churches perfected; for if there were only these, little consideration
would
be had of the human race. But consideration is had, when they too, who are
not
as yet capable of the knowledge of things spiritual and eternal, are nourished
by
the faith of the temporal history, which for our salvation after the Patriarchs
and
Prophets was administered by the most excellent Power and Wisdom of God,
even
in the Sacrament of the assumed Manhood, in which there is salvation for
every
one that believes; to the end that moved by Its authority each one may obey
Its
precepts, whereby being purified and "rooted and grounded in love,"
he may be
able
to run with Saints, no more now a child in milk, but a young man in meat,
"to
comprehend
the breadth, the length, the height, and depth, to know also the
surpassing
knowledge of the love of Christ." Ephesians 3:17-19
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 8
52
6.
"Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings You have made perfect praise,
because
of Your enemies." By enemies to this dispensation, which has been
wrought
through Jesus Christ and Him crucified, we ought generally to understand
all
who forbid belief in things unknown, 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 and promise certain
knowledge:
as all heretics do, and they who in the superstition of the Gentiles are
called
philosophers. Not that the promise of knowledge is to be blamed; but
because
they deem the most healthful and necessary step of faith is to be
neglected,
by which we must needs ascend to something certain, which nothing
but
that which is eternal can be. Hence it appears that they do not possess even
this
knowledge,
which in contempt of faith they promise; seeing that they know not so
useful
and necessary a step thereof. "Out of the mouth," then "of babes
and
sucklings
You have made perfect praise," Thou, our Lord, declaring first by the
Apostle,
"Except ye believe, you shall not understand;" and saying by His own
mouth,
"Blessed are they that have not seen, and shall believe." John 20:29
"Because
of the enemies:" against whom too that is said, "I confess to You, O
Lord
of heaven and earth, because You have hid these things from the wise, and
revealed
them unto babes." Matthew 11:25 "From the wise," he says, not
the really
wise,
but those who deem themselves such. "That You may destroy the enemy and
the
defender." Whom but the heretic? For he is both an enemy and a defender,
who
when he would assault the Christian faith, seems to defend it. Although the
philosophers
too of this world may be well taken as the enemies and defenders:
forasmuch
as the Son of God is the Power and Wisdom of God by which every
one
is enlightened who is made wise by the truth: of which they profess
themselves
to be lovers, whence too their name of philosophers; and therefore they
seem
to defend it, while they are its enemies, since they cease not to recommend
noxious
superstitions, that the elements of this world should be worshipped and
revered.
7.
"For I shall see Your heavens, the works of Your fingers" (ver. 3).
We read that
the
law was written with the finger of God, and given through Moses, His holy
servant:
by which finger of God many understand the Holy Ghost. Wherefore if,
by
the fingers of God, we are right in understanding these same ministers filled
with
the Holy Ghost, by reason of this same Spirit which works in them, since by
them
all holy Scripture has been completed for us; we understand consistently
with
this, that, in this place, the books of both Testaments are called "the
heavens."
Now
it is said too of Moses himself, by the magicians of king Pharaoh, when they
were
conquered by him, "This is the finger of God." Exodus 8:19 And what
is
written,
"The heavens shall be rolled up as a book." Although it be said of
this
ćthereal
heaven, yet naturally, according to the same image, the heavens of books
are
named by allegory. "For I shall see," he says, "the heavens, the
works of Your
fingers:"
that is, I shall discern and understand the Scriptures, which Thou, by the
operation
of the Holy Ghost, hast written by Your ministers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 8
53
8.
Accordingly the heavens named above also may be interpreted as the same
books,
where he says, "For Your glory has been raised above the heavens:" so
that
the
complete meaning should be this, "For Your glory has been raised above the
heavens;"
for Your glory has exceeded the declarations of all the Scriptures: "Out
of
the mouth of babes and sucklings You have made perfect praise," that they
should
begin by belief in the Scriptures, who would arrive at the knowledge of
Your
glory: which has been raised above the Scriptures, in that it passes by and
transcends
the announcements of all words and languages. Therefore has God
lowered
the Scriptures even to the capacity of babes and sucklings, as it is sung in
another
Psalm, "And He lowered the heaven, and came down:" and this did He
because
of the enemies, who through pride of talkativeness, being enemies of the
cross
of Christ, even when they do speak some truth, still cannot profit babes and
sucklings.
So is the enemy and defender destroyed, who, whether he seem to
defend
wisdom, or even the name of Christ, still, from the step of this faith,
assaults
that truth, which he so readily makes promise of. Whereby too he is
convicted
of not possessing it; since by assaulting the step thereof, namely faith,
he
knows not how one should mount up thereto. Hence then is the rash and blind
promiser
of truth, who is the enemy and defender, destroyed, when the heavens,
the
works of God's fingers, are seen, that is, when the Scriptures, brought down
even
to the slowness of babes, are understood; and by means of the lowness of the
faith
of the history, which was transacted in time, they raise them, well nurtured
and
strengthened, unto the grand height of the understanding of things eternal, up
to
those things which they establish. For these heavens, that is, these books, are
the
works
of God's fingers; for by the operation of the Holy Ghost in the Saints they
were
completed. For they that have regarded their own glory rather than man's
salvation,
have spoken without the Holy Ghost, in whom are the bowels of the
mercy
of God.
9.
"For I shall see the heavens, the works of Your fingers, the moon and the
stars,
which
You have ordained." The moon and stars are ordained in the heavens; since
both
the Church universal, to signify which the moon is often put, and Churches in
the
several places particularly, which I imagine to be intimated by the name of
stars,
are established in the same Scriptures, which we believe to be expressed by
the
word heavens. But why the moon justly signifies the Church, will be more
seasonably
considered in another Psalm, where it is said, "The sinners have bent
their
bow, that they may shoot in the obscure moon the upright in heart."
10.
"What is man, that You are mindful of him? or the son of man, that Thou
visitest
him?" (ver. 4). It may be asked, what distinction there is between man and
son
of man. For if there were none, it would not be expressed thus, "man, or
son of
man,"
disjunctively. For if it were written thus, "What is man, that You are
mindful
of him, and son of man, that Thou visitest him?" it might appear to be a
repetition
of the word "man." But now when the expression is, "man or son
of-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 8
54
man,"
a distinction is more clearly intimated. This is certainly to be remembered,
that
every son of man is a man; although every man cannot be taken to be a son of
man.
Adam, for instance, was a man, but not a son of man. Wherefore we may
from
hence consider and distinguish what is the difference in this place between
man
and son of man; namely, that they who bear the image of the earthy man, who
is
not a son of man, should be signified by the name of men; but that they who
bear
the image of the heavenly Man, 1 Corinthians 15:49 should be rather called
sons
of men; for the former again is called the old man and the latter the new; but
the
new is born of the old, since spiritual regeneration is begun by a change of an
earthy,
and worldly life; and therefore the latter is called son of man.
"Man" then
in
this place is earthy, but "son of man" heavenly; and the former is
far removed
from
God, but the latter present with God; and therefore is He mindful of the
former,
as in far distance from Him; but the latter He visits, with whom being
present
He enlightens him with His countenance. For "salvation is far from
sinners;"
and, "The light of Your countenance has been stamped upon us, O
Lord."
So
in another Psalm he says, that men in conjunction with beasts are made whole
together
with these beasts, not by any present inward illumination, but by the
multiplication
of the mercy of God, whereby His goodness reaches even to the
lowest
things; for the wholeness of carnal men is carnal, as of the beasts; but
separating
the sons of men from those whom being men he joined with cattle, he
proclaims
that they are made blessed, after a far more exalted method, by the
enlightening
of the truth itself, and by a certain inundation of the fountain of life.
For
he speaks thus: "Men and beasts You will make whole, O Lord, as Your
mercy
has been multiplied, O God. But the sons of men shall put their trust in the
covering
of Your wings. They shall be inebriated with the richness of Your house,
and
of the torrent of Your pleasures You shall make them drink. For with You is
the
fountain of life, and in Your light shall we see light. Extend Your mercy to
them
that know You." Through the multiplication of mercy then He is mindful of
man,
as of beasts; for that multiplied mercy reaches even to them that are afar off;
but
He visits the son of man, over whom, placed under the covering of His wings,
He
extends mercy, and in His light gives light, and makes him drink of His
pleasures,
and inebriates him with the richness of His house, to forget the sorrows
and
the wanderings of his former conversation. This son of man, that is, the new
man,
the repentance of the old man begets with pain and tears. He, though new, is
nevertheless
called yet carnal, while he is fed with milk; "I would not speak unto
you
as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal," says the Apostle. And to show that
they
were
already regenerate, he says, "As unto babes in Christ, I have given you
milk
to
drink, not meat." And when he relapses, as often happens, to the old life,
he
hears
in reproof that he is a man; "Are ye not men," he says, "and
walk as men?"
11.
Therefore was the son of man first visited in the person of the very Lord Man,
born
of the Virgin Mary. Of whom, by reason of the very weakness of the flesh,
which
the Wisdom of God vouchsafed to bear, and the humiliation of the Passion,
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Psalm 8
55
it
is justly said, "You have lowered Him a little lower than the Angels"
(ver. 5).
But
that glorifying is added, in which He rose and ascended up into heaven;
"With
glory,"
he says, "and with honour have You crowned Him; and hast set Him over
the
works of Thine hands" (ver. 6). Since even Angels are the works of God's
hands,
even over Angels we understand the Only-begotten Son to have been set;
whom
we hear and believe, by the humiliation of the carnal generation and
passion,
to have been lowered a little lower than the Angels.
12.
"You have put," he says, "all things in subjection under His
feet." When he
says,
"all things," he excepts nothing. And that he might not be allowed to
understand
it otherwise, the Apostle enjoins it to be believed thus, when he says,
"He
being excepted which put all things under Him." 1 Corinthians 15:27 And to
the
Hebrews he uses this very testimony from this Psalm, when he would have it
to
be understood that all things are in such sort put under our Lord Jesus Christ,
as
that
nothing should be excepted. Hebrews 2:8 And yet he does not seem, as it
were,
to subjoin any great thing, when he says, "All sheep and oxen, yea,
moreover,
the beasts of the field, birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, which
walk
through the paths of the sea" (ver. 7). For, leaving the heavenly
excellencies
and
powers, and all the hosts of Angels, leaving even man himself, he seems to
have
put under Him the beasts merely; unless by sheep and oxen we understand
holy
souls, either yielding the fruit of innocence, or even working that the earth
may
bear fruit, that is, that earthly men may be regenerated unto spiritual
richness.
By
these holy souls then we ought to understand not those of men only, but of all
Angels
too, if we would gather from hence that all things are put under our Lord
Jesus
Christ. For there will be no creature that will not be put under Him, under
whom
the pre-eminent spirits, that I may so speak, are put. But whence shall we
prove
that sheep can be interpreted even, not of men, but of the blessed spirits of
the
angelical creatures on high? May we from the Lord's saying that He had left
ninety
and nine sheep in the mountains, that is, in the higher regions, and had
come
down for one? For if we take the one lost sheep to be the human soul in
Adam,
since Eve even was made out of his side, Genesis 2:21-22 for the spiritual
handling
and consideration of all which things this is not the time, it remains that,
by
the ninety and nine left in the mountains, spirits not human, but angelical,
should
be meant. For as regards the oxen, this sentence is easily despatched; since
men
themselves are for no other reason called oxen, but because by preaching the
Gospel
of the word of God they imitate Angels, as where it is said, "You shall
not
muzzle
the ox that treads out the corn." How much more easily then do we take
the
Angels themselves, the messengers of truth, to be oxen, when Evangelists by
the
participation of their title are called oxen? "You have put under"
therefore, he
says,
"all sheep and oxen," that is, all the holy spiritual creation; in
which we
include
that of holy men, who are in the Church, in those wine-presses to wit,
which
are intimated under the other similitude of the moon and stars.
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Psalm 8
56
13.
"Yea moreover," says he, "the beasts of the field." The
addition of "moreover"
is
by no means idle. First, because by beasts of the plain may be understood both
sheep
and oxen: so that, if goats are the beasts of rocky and mountainous regions,
sheep
may be well taken to be the beasts of the field. Accordingly had it been
written
even thus, "all sheep and oxen and beasts of the field;" it might be
reasonably
asked what beasts of the plain meant, since even sheep and oxen could
be
taken as such. But the addition of "moreover" besides, obliges us,
beyond
question,
to recognise some difference or another. But under this word,
"moreover,"
not only "beasts of the field," but also "birds of the air, and
fish of the
sea,
which walk through the paths of the sea" (ver. 8), are to be taken in.
What is
then
this distinction? Call to mind the "wine-presses," holding husks and
wine; and
the
threshing-floor, containing chaff and corn; and the nets, in which were
enclosed
good fish and bad; and the ark of Noah, in which were both unclean and
clean
animals: and you will see that the Churches for a while, now in this time,
unto
the last time of judgment, contain not only sheep and oxen, that is, holy
laymen
and holy ministers, but "moreover beasts of the field, birds of the air,
and
birds
of the sea, that walk through the paths of the sea." For the beasts of the
field
were
very fitly understood, as men rejoicing in the pleasure of the flesh where they
mount
up to nothing high, nothing laborious. For the field is also "the broad
way,
that
leads to destruction:" Matthew 7:13 and in a field is Abel slain. Genesis
4:8
Wherefore
there is cause to fear, lest one coming down from the mountains of
God's
righteousness ("for your righteousness," he says, "is as the
mountains of
God")
making choice of the broad and easy paths of carnal pleasure, be slain by
the
devil. See now too "the birds of heaven," the proud, of whom it is
said, "They
have
set their mouth against the heaven." See how they are carried on high by
the
wind,
"who say, We will magnify our tongue, our lips are our own, who is our
Lord?"
Behold too the fish of the sea, that is, the curious; who walk through the
paths
of the sea, that is, search in the deep after the temporal things of this
world:
which,
like paths in the sea, vanish and perish, as quickly as the water comes
together
again after it has given room, in their passage, to ships, or to whatsoever
walks
or swims. For he said not merely, who walk the paths of the sea; but "walk
through,"
he said; showing the very determined earnestness of those who seek
after
vain and fleeting things. Now these three kinds of vice, namely, the pleasure
of
the flesh, and pride, and curiosity, include all sins. And they appear to me to
be
enumerated
by the Apostle John, when he says, "Love not the world; for all that is
in
the world is the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life."
1
John 2:15-16 For through the eyes especially prevails curiosity. To what the
rest
indeed
belong is clear. And that temptation of the Lord Man was threefold: by
food,
that is, by the lust of the flesh, where it is suggested, "command these
stones
that
they be made bread:" Matthew 4:3 by vain boasting, where, when stationed
on
a
mountain, all the kingdoms of this earth are shown Him, and promised if He
would
worship: Matthew 4:8-9 by curiosity, where, from the pinnacle of the
temple,
He is advised to cast Himself down, for the sake of trying whether He
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57
would
be borne up by Angels. Matthew 4:6 And accordingly after that the enemy
could
prevail with Him by none of these temptations, this is said of him, "When
the
devil had ended all his temptation." Luke 4:13 With a reference then to
the
meaning
of the wine-presses, not only the wine, but the husks too are put under
His
feet; to wit, not only sheep and oxen, that is, the holy souls of believers,
either
in
the laity, or in the ministry; but moreover both beasts of pleasure, and birds
of
pride,
and fish of curiosity. All which classes of sinners we see mingled now in the
Churches
with the good and holy. May He work then in His Churches, and
separate
the wine from the husks: let us give heed, that we be wine, and sheep or
oxen;
not husks, or beasts of the field, or birds of heaven, or fish of the sea,
which
walk
through the paths of the sea. Not that these names can be understood and
explained
in this way only, but the explanation of them must be according to the
place
where they are found. For elsewhere they have other meanings. And this rule
must
be kept to in every allegory, that what is expressed by the similitude should
be
considered agreeably to the meaning of the particular place: for this is the
manner
of the Lord's and the Apostles' teaching. Let us repeat then the last verse,
which
is also put at the beginning of the Psalm, and let us praise God, saying,
"O
Lord
our Lord, how wonderful is Your name in all the earth!" For fitly, after
the
matter
of the discourse, is the return made to the heading, whither all that
discourse
must be referred.
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Psalm
9
58
Exposition on Psalm 9
1.
The inscription of this Psalm is, "To the end for the hidden things of the
Son, a
Psalm
of David himself." As to the hidden things of the Son there may be a
question:
but since he has not added whose, the very only-begotten Son of God
should
be understood. For where a Psalm has been inscribed of the son of David,
"When,"
he says, "he fled from the face of Absalom his son;" although his
name
even
was mentioned, and therefore there could be no obscurity as to whom it was
spoken
of: yet it is not merely said, from the face of son Absalom; but
"his" is
added.
But here both because "his" is not added, and much is said of the
Gentiles,
it
cannot properly be taken of Absalom. 2 Samuel xv For the war which that
abandoned
one waged with his father, no way relates to the Gentiles, since there
the
people of
for
the hidden things of the only-begotten Son of God. For the Lord Himself too,
when,
without addition, He uses the word Son, would have Himself, the Only-
begotten
to be understood; as where He says, "If the Son shall make you free, then
shall
you be free indeed." John 8:36 For He said not, the Son of God; but in
saying
merely,
Son, He gives us to understand whose Son it is. Which form of expression
nothing
admits of, save His excellency of whom we so speak, that, though we
name
Him not, He can be understood. For so we say, it rains, clears up, thunders,
and
such like expressions; and we do not add who does it all; for that the
excellency
of the doer spontaneously presents itself to all men's minds, and does
not
want words. What then are the hidden things of the Son? By which expression
we
must first understand that there are some things of the Son manifest, from
which
those are distinguished which are called hidden. Wherefore since we
believe
two advents of the Lord, one past, which the Jews understood not: the
other
future, which we both hope for; and since the one which the Jews understood
not,
profited the Gentiles; "For the hidden things of the Son" is not
unsuitably
understood
to be spoken of this advent, in which "blindness in part is happened to
For
notice of two judgments is conveyed to us throughout the Scriptures, if any
one
will give heed to them, one hidden, the other manifest. The hidden one is
passing
now, of which the Apostle Peter says, "The time is come that judgment
should
begin from the house of the Lord." 1 Peter 4:17 The hidden judgment
accordingly
is the pain, by which now each man is either exercised to purification,
or
warned to conversion, or if he despise the calling and discipline of God, is
blinded
unto damnation. But the manifest judgment is that in which the Lord, at
His
coming, will judge the quick and the dead, all men confessing that it is He by
whom
both rewards shall be assigned to the good, and punishments to the evil. But
then
that confession will avail, not to the remedy of evils, but to the accumulation
of
damnation. Of these two judgments, the one hidden, the other manifest, the
Lord
seems to me to have spoken, where He says, "Whoso believes in Me has
passed
from death unto life, and shall not come into judgment;" John 5:24 into
the
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Psalm 9
59
manifest
judgment, that is. For that which passes from death unto life by means of
some
affliction, whereby "He scourges every son whom He receives,"
Hebrews
12:6 is the hidden judgment. "But whoso believes not," says He,
"has
been
judged already:" John 3:18 that is, by this hidden judgment has been
already
prepared
for that manifest one. These two judgments we read of also in Wisdom,
whence
it is written, "Therefore unto them, as to children without the use of
reason,
You gave a judgment to mock them; But they that have not been corrected
by
this judgment have felt a judgment worthy of God." Wisdom 12:25-26 Whoso
then
are not corrected by this hidden judgment of God, shall most worthily be
punished
by that manifest one....
2.
"I will confess unto You, O Lord, with my whole heart" (ver. 1). He
does not,
with
a whole heart, confess unto God, who doubts of His Providence in any
particular:
but he who sees already the hidden things of the wisdom of God, how
great
is His invisible reward, who says, "We rejoice in tribulations;"
Romans 5:3
and
how all torments, which are inflicted on the body, are either for the
exercising
of
those that are converted to God, or for warning that they be converted, or for
just
preparation of the obdurate unto their last damnation: and so now all things
are
referred to the governance of Divine Providence, which fools think done as it
were
by chance and at random, and without any Divine ordering. "I will tell all
Your
marvels." He tells all God's marvels, who sees them performed not only
openly
on the body, but invisibly indeed too in the soul, but far more sublimely
and
excellently. For men earthly, and led wholly by the eye, marvel more that the
dead
Lazarus rose again in the body, than that Paul the persecutor rose again in
soul.
But since the visible miracle calls the soul to the light, but the invisible
enlightens
the soul that comes when called, he tells all God's marvels, who, by
believing
the visible, passes on to the understanding of the invisible.
3.
"I will be glad and exult in You" (ver. 2). Not any more in this
world, not in
pleasure
of bodily dalliance, not in relish of palate and tongue, not in sweetness of
perfumes,
not in joyousness of passing sounds, not in the variously coloured forms
of
figure, not in vanities of men's praise, not in wedlock and perishable
offspring,
not
in superfluity of temporal wealth, not in this world's getting, whether it
extend
over
place and space, or be prolonged in time's succession: but, "I will be
glad and
exult
in You," namely, in the hidden things of the Son, where "the light of
Your
countenance
has been stamped on us, O Lord:" for, "You will hide them," says
he,
"in
the hiding place of Your countenance." He then will be glad and exult in
You,
who
tells all Your marvels. And He will tell all Your marvels (since it is now
spoken
of prophetically), "who came not to do His own will, but the will of Him
who
sent Him." John 6:3 8
4.
For now the Person of the Lord begins to appear speaking in this Psalm. For it
follows,
"I will sing to Your Name, O Most High, in turning mine enemy
behind."
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Psalm 9
60
His
enemy then, where was he turned back? Was it when it was said to him, "Get
behind,
Satan"? Matthew 16:23 For then he who by tempting desired to put
himself
before, was turned behind, by failing in deceiving Him who was tempted,
and
by availing nothing against Him. For earthly men are behind: but the heavenly
man
is preferred before, although he came after. For "the first man is of the
earth,
earthy:
the second Man is from heaven, heavenly." 1 Corinthians 15:47 But from
this
stock he came by whom it was said, "He who comes after me is preferred
before
me." John 1:15 And the Apostle forgets "those things that are behind,
and
reaches
forth unto those things that are before." Philippians 3:13 The enemy,
therefore,
was turned behind, after that he could not deceive the heavenly Man
being
tempted; and he turned himself to earthy men, where he can have
dominion
.... For in truth the devil is turned behind, even in the persecution of the
righteous,
and he, much more to their advantage, is a persecutor, than if he went
before
as a leader and a prince. We must sing then to the Name of the Most High
in
turning the enemy behind: since we ought to choose rather to fly from him as a
persecutor,
than to follow him as a leader. For we have whither we may fly and
hide
ourselves in the hidden things of the Son; seeing that "the Lord has been
made
a refuge for us."
5.
"They will be weakened, and perish from Your face" (ver. 3). Who will
be
weakened
and perish, but the unrighteous and ungodly? "They will be weakened,"
while
they shall avail nothing; "and they shall perish," because the
ungodly will
not
be; "from the face" of God, that is, from the knowledge of God, as he
perished
who
said, "But now I live not, but Christ lives in me." Galatians 2:20
But why will
the
ungodly "be weakened and perish from your face?" "Because,"
he says, "You
have
made my judgment, and my cause:" that is, the judgment in which I seemed
to
be judged, You have made mine; and the cause in which men condemned me
just
and innocent, You have made mine. For such things served Him for our
deliverance:
as sailors too call the wind theirs, which they take advantage of for
prosperous
sailing.
6.
"Thou sat on the throne Who judgest equity" (ver. 4). Whether the Son
say this
to
the Father, who said also, "You could have no power against Me, except it
were
given
you from above," John 19:11 referring this very thing, that the Judge of
men
was
judged for men's advantage, to the Father's equity and His own hidden things:
or
whether man say to God, "Thou sat on the throne Who judgest equity,"
giving
the
name of God's throne to his soul, so that his body may peradventure be the
earth,
which is called God's "footstool:" Isaiah 66:1 for "God was in
Christ,
reconciling
the world unto Himself:" 2 Corinthians 5:19 or whether the soul of the
Church,
perfect now and without spot and wrinkle, Ephesians 5:27 worthy, that is,
of
the hidden things of the Son, in that "the King has brought her into His
chamber,"
Song of Songs 1:4 say to her spouse, "Thou sat upon the throne Who
judgest
equity," in that You have risen from the dead, and ascended up into
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Psalm 9
61
heaven,
and sittest at the right hand of the Father: whichsoever, I say, of those
opinions,
whereunto this verse may be referred, is preferred, it transgresses not the
rule
of faith.
7.
"You have rebuked the heathen, and the ungodly has perished" (ver.
5). We take
this
to be more suitably said to the Lord Jesus Christ, than said by Him. For who
else
has rebuked the heathen, and the ungodly perished, save He, who after that He
ascended
up into heaven, sent the Holy Ghost, that, filled by Him, the Apostles
should
preach the word of God with boldness, and freely reprove men's sins? At
which
rebuke the ungodly perished; because the ungodly was justified and was
made
godly. "You have effaced their name for the world, and for the world's
world.
The name of the ungodly has been effaced. For they are not called ungodly
who
believe in the true God. Now their name is effaced "for the world,"
that is, as
long
as the course of the temporal world endures. "And for the world's
world."
What
is "the world's world," but that whose image and shadow, as it were,
this
world
possesses? For the change of seasons succeeding one another, while the
moon
is on the wane, and again on the increase, while the sun each year returns to
his
quarter, while spring, or summer, or autumn, or winter passes away only to
return,
is in some sort an imitation of eternity. But this world's world is that which
abides
in immutable eternity. As a verse in the mind, and a verse in the voice, the
former
is understood, the latter heard; and the former fashions the latter; and hence
the
former works in art and abides, the latter sounds in the air and passes away.
So
the
fashion of this changeable world is defined by that world unchangeable which
is
called the world's world. And hence the one abides in the art, that is, in the
Wisdom
and Power of God: but the other is made to pass in the governance of
creation.
If after all it be not a repetition, so that after it was said "for the
world,"
lest
it should be understood of this world that passes away, it were added "for
the
world's
world." For in the Greek copies it is thus, eid ton
aiwna, kai eij ton aipna ton aipnoj which the Latins have for the most rendered,
not, "for the
world,
and for the world's world;" but, "for ever, and for the world's
world," that in
the
words "for the world's world," the, words "for ever,"
should be explained. "The
name,"
then, "of the ungodly You have effaced for ever," for from henceforth
the
ungodly
shall never be. And if their name be not prolonged unto this world, much
less
unto the world's world.
8.
"The swords of the enemy have failed at the end" (ver. 6). Not
enemies in the
plural,
but this enemy in the singular. Now what enemy's swords have failed but
the
devil's? Now these are understood to be various erroneous opinions, whereby
as
with swords he destroys souls. In overcoming these swords, and in bringing
them
to failure, that sword is employed, of which it is said in the seventh Psalm,
"If
you be not converted, He will brandish His sword." And peradventure this
is
the
end, against which the swords of the enemy fail; since up to it they are of
some
avail.
Now it works secretly, but in the last judgment it will be brandished openly.
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Psalm
9
62
By
it the cities are destroyed. For so it follows, "The swords of the enemy
have
failed
at the end: and You have destroyed the cities." Cities indeed wherein the
devil
rules, where crafty and deceitful counsels hold, as it were, the place of a
court,
on which supremacy attend as officers and ministers the services of all the
members,
the eyes for curiosity, the ears for lasciviousness, or for whatsoever else
is
gladly listened to that bears on evil, the hands for rapine or any other
violence or
pollution
soever, and all the other members after this manner serving the
tyrannical
supremacy, that is, perverse counsels. Of this city the commonalty, as it
were,
are all soft affections and disturbing emotions of the mind, stirring up daily
seditions
in a man. So then where a king, where a court, where ministers, where
commonalty
are found, there is a city. Now again would such things be in bad
cities,
unless they were first in individual men, who are, as it were, the elements
and
seeds of cities. These cities He destroys, when on the prince being shut out
thence,
of whom it was said, "The prince of this world" has been "cast
out,"
John
12:31 these kingdoms are wasted by the word of truth, evil counsels are laid
to
sleep, vile affections tamed, the ministries of the members and senses taken
captive,
and transferred to the service of righteousness and good works: that as the
Apostle
says, "Sin should no more reign in" our "mortal body,"
Romans 6:12 and
so
forth. Then is the soul at peace, and the man is disposed to receive rest and
blessedness.
"Their memorial has perished with uproar:" with the uproar, that is,
of
the
ungodly. But it is said, "with uproar," either because when
ungodliness is
overturned,
there is uproar made: for none passes to the highest place, where there
is
the deepest silence, but he who with much uproar shall first have warred with
his
own vices: or "with uproar," is said, that the memory of the ungodly
should
perish
in the perishing even of the very uproar, in which ungodliness riots.
9.
"And the Lord abides for ever" (ver. 7). "Wherefore" then
"have the heathen
raged,
and the people imagined vain things against the Lord, and against His
anointed:"
for "the Lord abides for ever. He has prepared His seat in judgment,
and
He shall judge the world in equity." He prepared His seat when He was
judged.
For by that patience Man purchased heaven, and God in Man profited
believers.
And this is the Son's hidden judgment. But seeing He is also to come
openly
and in the sight of all to judge the quick and the dead, He has prepared His
seat
in the hidden judgment: and He shall also openly "judge the world in
equity:"
that
is, He shall distribute gifts proportioned to desert, setting the sheep on His
right
hand, and the goats on His left. Matthew 25:33 "He shall judge the people
with
justice"(ver. 8). This is the same as was said above, "He shall judge
the world
in
equity." Not as men judge who see not the heart, by whom very often worse
men
are acquitted than are condemned: but "in equity" and "with
justice" shall the
Lord
judge, "conscience bearing witness, and thoughts accusing, or else
excusing."
Romans
2:15
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Psalm
9
63
10.
"And the Lord has become a refuge to the poor" (ver. 9). Whatsoever
be the
persecutions
of that enemy, who has been turned behind, what harm shall he do to
them
whose refuge the Lord has become? But this will be, if in this world, in
which
that one has an office of power, they shall choose to be poor, by loving
nothing
which either here leaves a man while he lives and loves, or is left by him
when
he dies. For to such a poor man has the Lord become a refuge, "an Helper
in
due
season, in tribulation." Lo, He makes poor, for "He scourges every
son whom
He
receives." Hebrews 12:6 For what "an Helper in due season" is,
he explained
by
adding "in tribulation." For the soul is not turned to God, save when
it is turned
away
from this world: nor is it more seasonably turned away from this world,
except
toils and pains be mingled with its trifling and hurtful and destructive
pleasures.
11.
"And let them who know Your Name, hope in You" (ver. 10), when they
shall
have
ceased hoping in wealth, and in the other enticements of this world. For the
soul
indeed that seeks where to fix her hope, when she is torn away from this
world,
the knowledge of God's Name seasonably receives. For the mere Name of
God
has now been published everywhere: but the knowledge of the name is, when
He
is known whose name it is. For the name is not a name for its own sake, but for
that
which it signifies. Now it has been said, "The Lord is His Name."
Wherefore
whoso
willingly submits himself to God as His servant, has known this name.
"And
let them who know Your Name hope in You" (ver. 10). Again, the Lord says
to
Moses, "I am That I am; and You shall say to the children of Israel, I Am,
has
sent
me." Exodus 3:14 "Let them" then "who know Your Name, hope
in You;"
that
they may not hope in those things which flow by in time's quick revolution,
having
nothing but "will be" and "has been." For what in them is
future, when it
arrives,
straightway becomes the past; it is awaited with eagerness, it is lost with
pain.
But in the nature of God nothing will be, as if it were not yet; or has been,
as
if
it were no longer: but there is only that which is, and this is eternity. Let
them
cease
then to hope in and love things temporal, and let them apply themselves to
hope
eternal, who know His name who said, "I am That I am;" and of whom it
was
said,
"I Am has sent me." Exodus 3:14 "For You have not forsaken them
that seek
You,
O Lord." Whoso seek Him, seek no more things transient and perishable;
"For
no man can serve two masters." Matthew 6:24
12.
"Sing to the Lord, who dwells in Sion" (ver. 11), is said to them,
whom the
Lord
forsakes not as they seek Him. He dwells in Sion, which is interpreted
watching,
and which bears the likeness of the Church that now is; as Jerusalem
bears
the likeness of the Church that is to come, that is, the city of Saints already
enjoying
life angelical; for Jerusalem is by interpretation the vision of peace. Now
watching
goes before vision, as this Church goes before that one which is
promised,
the city immortal and eternal. But in time it goes before, not in dignity:
because
more honourable is that whither we are striving to arrive, than what we
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Psalm 9
64
practise,
that we may attain to arrive; now we practise watching, that we may
arrive
at vision. But again this same Church which now is, unless the Lord inhabit
her,
the most earnest watching might run into any sort of error. And to this Church
it
was said, "For the
1
Corinthians 3:17 again, "that Christ may dwell in the inner man in your
hearts by
faith."
Ephesians 3:17 It is enjoined us then, that we sing to the Lord who dwells
in
Sion, that with one accord we praise the Lord, the Inhabitant of the Church.
"Show
forth His wonders among the heathen." It has both been done, and will not
cease
to be done.
13.
"For requiring their blood He has remembered" (ver. 12). As if they,
who were
sent
to preach the Gospel, should make answer to that injunction which has been
mentioned,
"Show forth His wonders among the heathen," and should say, "O
Lord,
who has believed our report?" Isaiah 53:1 and again, "For Your sake
we are
killed
all the day long;" the Psalmist suitably goes on to say, That Christians
not
without
great reward of eternity will die in persecution, "for requiring their
blood
He
has remembered." But why did he choose to say, "their blood"?
Was it, as if
one
of imperfect knowledge and less faith should ask, How will they "show them
forth,"
seeing that the infidelity of the heathen will rage against them; and he
should
be answered, "For requiring their blood He has remembered," that is,
the
last
judgment will come, in which both the glory of the slain and the punishment
of
the slayers shall be made manifest? But let no one suppose "He has
remembered"
to be so used, as though forgetfulness can attach to God; but since
the
judgment will be after a long interval, it is used in accordance with the
feeling
of
weak men, who think God has forgotten, because He does not act so speedily as
they
wish. To such is said what follows also, "He has not forgotten the cry of
the
poor:"
that is, He has not, as you suppose, forgotten. As if they should on hearing,
"He
has remembered," say, Then He had forgotten; No, "He has not
forgotten,"
says
the Psalmist, "the cry of the poor."
14.
But I ask, what is that cry of the poor, which God forgets not? Is it that cry,
the
words
whereof are these, "Pity me, O Lord, see my humiliation at the hands of my
enemies"?
(ver. 13). Why then did he not say, Pity "us" O Lord, see our
humiliation
at the hands of "our" enemies, as if many poor were crying; but as if
one,
Pity "me," O Lord? Is it because One intercedes for the Saints,
"who" first
"for
our sakes became poor, though He was rich;" 2 Corinthians 8:9 and it is He
who
says, "Who exaltest me from the gates of death (ver. 14), that I may
declare
all
Your praises in the gates of the daughter of Sion"? For man is exalted in
Him,
not
that Man only which He bears, which is the Head of the Church; but
whichsoever
one of us also is among the other members, and is exalted from all
depraved
desires; which are the gates of death, for that through them is the road to
death.
But the joy in the fruition is at once death itself, when one gains what he
has
in abandoned wilfulness coveted: for "coveting is the root of all
evil:"
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Psalm 9
65
1
Timothy 6:10 and therefore is the gate of death, for "the widow that lives
in
pleasures
is dead." 1 Timothy 5:6 At which pleasures we arrive through desires as
it
were through the gates of death. But all highest purposes are the gates of the
daughter
of Sion, through which we come to the vision of peace in the Holy
Church
.... Or haply are the gates of death the bodily senses and eyes, which were
opened
when the man tasted of the forbidden tree, Genesis 3:7... and are the gates
of
the daughter of Sion the sacraments and beginnings of faith, which are opened
to
them that knock, that they may arrive at the hidden things of the Son?...
15.
Then follows, "I will exult for Your salvation:" that is, with
blessedness shall I
be
holden by Your salvation, which is our Lord Jesus Christ, the Power and
Wisdom
of God. Therefore says the Church, which is here in affliction and is
saved
by hope, as long as the hidden judgment of the Son is, in hope she says,
"I
will
exult for Your salvation:" for now she is worn down either by the roar of
violence
around her, or by the errors of the heathen. "The heathen are fixed in the
corruption,
which they made" (ver. 15). Consider ye how punishment is reserved
for
the sinner, out of his own works; and how they that have wished to persecute
the
Church, have been fixed in that corruption, which they thought to inflict. For
they
were desiring to kill the body, while they themselves were dying in soul.
"In
that
snare which they hid, has their foot been taken." The hidden snare is
crafty
devising.
The foot of the soul is well understood to be its love: which, when
depraved,
is called coveting or lust; but when upright, love or charity .... And the
Apostle
says, "That being rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to take
in."
Ephesians 3:17-18 The foot then of sinners, that is, their love, is taken in
the
snare,
which they hide: for when delight shall have followed on to deceitful
dealing,
when God shall have delivered them over to the lust of their heart; that
delight
at once binds them, that they dare not tear away their love thence and apply
it
to profitable objects; for when they shall make the attempt, they will be
pained
in
heart, as if desiring to free their foot from a fetter: and giving way under
this
pain
they refuse to withdraw from pernicious delights. "In the snare" then
"which
they
have hid," that is, in deceitful counsel, "their foot has been
taken," that is,
their
love, which through deceit attains to that vain joy whereby pain is purchased.
16.
"The Lord is known executing judgments" (ver. 16). These are God's
judgments.
Not from that tranquillity of His blessedness, nor from the secret
places
of wisdom, wherein blessed souls are received, is the sword, or fire, or wild
beast,
or any such thing brought forth, whereby sinners may be tormented: but
how
are they tormented, and how does the Lord do judgment? "In the
works," he
says,
"of his own hands has the sinner been caught."
17.
Here is interposed, "The song of the diapsalma" (ver. 16): as it were
the hidden
joy,
as far as we can imagine, of the separation which is now made, not in place,
but
in the affections of the heart, between sinners and the righteous, as of the
corn
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Psalm 9
66
from
the chaff, as yet on the floor. And then follows, "Let the sinners be
turned
into
hell" (ver. 17): that is, let them be given into their own hands, when
they are
spared,
and let them be ensnared in deadly delight. "All the nations that forget
God."
Because "when they did not think good to retain God in their knowledge,
God
gave them over to a reprobate mind." Romans 1:28
18.
"For there shall not be forgetfulness of the poor man to the end"
(ver. 18); who
now
seems to be in forgetfulness, when sinners are thought to flourish in this
world's
happiness, and the righteous to be in travail: but "the patience,"
says He,
"of
the poor shall not perish for ever." Wherefore there is need of patience
now to
bear
with the evil, who are already separated in will, till they be also separated
at
the
last judgment.
19.
"Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail" (ver. 19). The future judgment
is prayed
for:
but before it come, "Let the heathen," says he, "be judged in
Your sight:" that
is,
in secret; which is called in God's sight, with the knowledge of a few holy and
righteous
ones. "Place a lawgiver over them, O Lord." (ver. 20). He seems to me
to
point out Antichrist: of whom the Apostle says, "When the man of sin shall
be
revealed."
"Let the heathen know that they are men." That they who will be set
free
by the Son of God, and belong to the Son of Man, and be sons of men, that is,
new
men, may serve man, that is, the old man the sinner, "for that they are
men."
20.
And because it is believed that he is to arrive at so great a pitch of empty
glory,
and
he will be permitted to do so great things, both against all men and against
the
Saints
of God, that then some weak ones shall indeed think that God cares not for
human
affairs, the Psalmist interposing a diapsalma, adds as it were the voice of
men
groaning and asking why judgment is deferred.
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Psalm 10
67
Exposition
on Psalm 10
"Why,
O Lord," says he, "have You withdrawn afar off?" (ver. 1). Then
he who
thus
inquired, as if all on a sudden he understood, or as if he asked, though he
knew,
that he might teach, adds, "Thou despisest in due seasons, in
tribulations:"
that
is, Thou despisest seasonably, and causest tribulations to inflame men's minds
with
longing for Your coming. For that fountain of life is sweeter to them that
have
much thirst. Therefore he hints the reason of the delay, saying, "Whilst
the
ungodly
vaunts himself, the poor man is inflamed" (ver. 2). Wondrous it is and
true
with what earnestness of good hope the little ones are inflamed unto an
upright
living by comparison with sinners. In which mystery it comes to pass, that
even
heresies are permitted to exist; not that heretics themselves wish this, but
because
Divine Providence works this result from their sins, which both makes
and
ordains the light; but orders only the darkness, that by comparison therewith
the
light may be more pleasant, as by comparison with heretics the discovery of
truth
is more sweet. For so, by this comparison, the approved, who are known to
God,
are made manifest among men.
1.
"They are taken in their thoughts, which they think:" that is, their
evil thoughts
become
chains to them. But how become they chains? "For the sinner is praised,"
says
he, "in the desires of his soul" (ver. 3). The tongues of flatterers
bind souls in
sin.
For there is pleasure in doing those things, in which not only is no reprover
feared,
but even an approver heard. "And he that does unrighteous deeds is
blessed."
Hence "are they taken in their thoughts, which they think."
2.
"The sinner has angered the Lord" (ver. 4). Let no one congratulate
the man that
prospers
in his way, to whose sins no avenger is nigh, and an approver is by. This
is
the greater anger of the Lord. For the sinner has angered the Lord, that he
should
suffer
these things, that is, should not suffer the scourging of correction. "The
sinner
has angered the Lord: according to the multitude of His anger He will not
search
it out." Great is His anger, when He searches not out, when He as it were
forgets
and marks not sin, and by fraud and wickedness man attains to riches and
honours:
which will especially be the case in that Antichrist, who will seem to
man
blessed to that degree, that he will even be thought God. But how great this
anger
of God is, we are taught by what follows.
3.
"God is not in his sight, his ways are polluted in all time" (ver.
5). He that
knows
what in the soul gives joy and gladness, knows how great an ill it is to be
abandoned
by the light of truth: since a great ill do men reckon the blindness of
their
bodily eyes, whereby this light is withdrawn. How great then the punishment
he
endures, who through the prosperous issue of his sins is brought to that pass,
that
God is not in his sight, and that his ways are polluted in all time, that is,
his
thoughts
and counsels are unclean! "Your judgments are taken away from his
Psalm 10
68
face."
For the mind conscious of evil, while it seems to itself to suffer no
punishment,
believes that God does not judge, and so are God's judgments taken
away
from its face; while this very thing is great condemnation. "And he shall
have
dominion over all his enemies." For so is it delivered, that he will
overcome
all
kings, and alone obtain the kingdom; since too according to the Apostle, who
preaches
concerning him, "He shall sit in the temple of God, exalting himself
above
all that is worshipped and that is called God."
4.
And seeing that being delivered over to the lust of his own heart, and
predestinated
to extreme condemnation, he is to come, by wicked arts, to that vain
and
empty height and rule; therefore it follows, "For he has said in his
heart, I
shall
not move from generation to generation without evil" (ver. 6): that is, my
fame
and my name will not pass from this generation to the generation of
posterity,
unless by evil arts I acquire so lofty a principality, that posterity cannot
be
silent concerning it. For a mind abandoned and void of good arts, and estranged
from
the light of righteousness, by bad arts devises a passage for itself to a fame
so
lasting,
as is celebrated even in posterity. And they that cannot be known for good,
desire
that men should speak of them even for ill, provided that their name spread
far
and wide. And this I think is here meant, "I shall not move from
generation to
generation
without evil." There is too another interpretation, if a mind vain and
full
of error supposes that it cannot come from the mortal generation to the
generation
of eternity, but by bad arts: which indeed was also reported of Simon,
when
he thought that he would gain heaven by wicked arts, and pass from the
human
generation to the generation divine by magic. Acts 8:9 Where then is the
wonder,
if that man of sin too, who is to fill up all the wickedness and
ungodliness,
which all false prophets have begun, and to do such "great signs; that,
if
it were possible, he should deceive the very elect," Matthew 24:24 shall
say in
his
heart, "I shall not move from generation to generation without evil"?
5.
"Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness and deceit" (ver. 7).
For it is a
great
curse to seek heaven by such abominable arts, and to get together such
earnings
for acquiring the eternal seat. But of this cursing his mouth is full. For
this
desire shall not take effect, but within his mouth only will avail to destroy
him,
who dared promise himself such things with bitterness and deceit, that is,
with
anger and insidiousness, whereby he is to bring over the multitude to his side.
"Under
his tongue is toil and grief." Nothing is more toilsome than
unrighteousness
and ungodliness: upon which toil follows grief; for that the toil is
not
only without fruit, but even unto destruction. Which toil and grief refer to
that
which
he has said in his heart, "I shall not be moved from generation to
generation
without
evil." And therefore, "under his tongue," not on his tongue,
because he
will
devise these things in silence, and to men will speak other things, that he may
appear
good and just, and a son of God.
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Psalm 10
69
6.
"He lies in ambush with the rich" (ver. 8). What rich, but those whom
he will
load
with this world's gifts? And he is therefore said to lie in ambush with them,
because
he will display their false happiness to deceive men; who, when with a
perverted
will they desire to be such as they, and seek not the good things eternal,
will
fall into his snares. "That in the dark he may kill the innocent."
"In the dark," I
suppose,
is said, where it is not easily understood what should be sought, or what
avoided.
Now to kill the innocent, is of an innocent to make one guilty.
7.
"His eyes look against the poor," for he is chiefly to persecute the
righteous, of
whom
it is said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven"
Matthew 5:3 (ver. 9). "He lies in wait in a secret place, as a lion in his
den."
By a lion in a den, he means one in whom both violence and deceit will
work.
For the first persecution of the Church was violent, when by proscriptions,
by
torments, by murders, the Christians were compelled to sacrifice: another
persecution
is crafty, which is now conducted by heretics of any kind and false
brethren:
there remains a third, which is to come by Antichrist, than which there is
nothing
more perilous; for it will be at once violent and crafty. Violence he will
exert
in empire, craft in miracles. To the violence, the word "lion"
refers; to craft,
the
words "in his den." And these are again repeated with a change of
order. "He
lies
in wait," he says, "that he may catch the poor;" this has
reference to craft: but
what
follows, "To catch the poor while he draws him," is put to the score
of
violence.
For "draws" means, he brings him to himself by violence, by whatever
tortures
he can.
8.
Again, the two which follow are the same. "In his snare he will humble
him," is
craft
(ver. 10). "He shall decline and fall, while he shall have domination over
the
poor,"
is violence. For a "snare" naturally points to "lying in
wait:" but domination
most
openly conveys the idea of terror. And well does he say, "He will humble
him
in his snare." For when he shall begin to do those signs, the more
wonderful
they
shall appear to men, the more those Saints that shall be then will be despised,
and,
as it were, set at nought: he, whom they shall resist by righteousness and
innocence,
shall seem to overcome by the marvels that he does. But "he shall
decline
and fall, while he shall have domination over the poor;" that is, while he
shall
inflict whatsoever punishments he will upon the servants of God that resist
him.
9.
But how shall he decline, and fall? "For he has said in his heart, God has
forgotten;
He turns away His face, that He see not unto the end" (ver. 11). This is
declining,
and the most wretched fall, while the mind of a man prospers as it were
in
its iniquities, and thinks that it is spared; when it is being blinded, and
kept for
an
extreme and timely vengeance: of which the Psalmist now speaks: "Arise, O
Lord
God, let Your hand be exalted" (ver. 12): that is, let Your power be made
manifest.
Now he had said above, "Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail, let the
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Psalm 10
70
heathen
be judged in Your sight:" that is, in secret, where God alone sees. This
comes
to pass when the ungodly have arrived at what seems great happiness to
men:
over whom is placed a lawgiver, such as they had deserved to have, of whom
it
is said, "Place a lawgiver over them, O Lord, let the heathen know that
they are
men."
But now after that hidden punishment and vengeance it is said, "Arise, O
Lord
God, let Your hand be exalted;" not of course in secret, but now in glory
most
manifest. "That Thou forget not the poor unto the end;" that is, as
the
ungodly
think, who say, "God has forgotten, He turns away His face, that He
should
not see unto the end." Now they deny that God sees unto the end, who say
that
He cares not for things human and earthly, for the earth is as it were the end
of
things;
in that it is the last element, in which men labour in most orderly sort, but
they
cannot see the order of their labours, which specially belongs to the hidden
things
of the Son. The Church then labouring in such times, like a ship in great
waves
and tempests, awakes the Lord as if He were sleeping, that He should
command
the winds, and calm should be restored. Matthew 8:24-26 He says
therefore,
"Arise, O Lord God, let Your hand be exalted, that Thou forget not the
poor
unto the end."
10.
Accordingly understanding now the manifest judgment, and in exultation at it,
they
say, "Wherefore has the ungodly angered God?" (ver. 13); that is,
what has it
profited
him to do so great evil? "For he said in his heart, He will not require
it."
Then
follows, "For You see toil and considerest anger, to deliver them into
Thine
hands"
(ver. 14). This sentence looks for distinct explanation, wherein if there
shall
be error it becomes obscure. For thus has the ungodly said in his heart, God
will
not require it, as though God regarded toil and anger, to deliver them into His
hands;
that is, as though He feared toil and anger, and for this reason would spare
them,
lest their punishment be too burdensome to Him, or lest He should be
disturbed
by the storm of anger: as men generally act, excusing themselves of
vengeance,
to avoid toil or anger.
11.
"The poor has been left unto You." For therefore is he poor, that is,
has
despised
all the temporal goods of this world, that Thou only may be his hope.
"You
will be a helper to the orphan," that is, to him to whom his father this
world,
by
whom he was born after the flesh, dies, and who can already say, "The
world
has
been crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Galatians 6:14 For of such
orphans
God becomes the Father. The Lord teaches us in truth that His disciples
do
become orphans, to whom He says, "Call no man father on earth."
Matthew
23:9 Of which He first Himself gave an example in saying, "Who is my
mother,
and who my brethren?" Matthew 12:48 Whence some most mischievous
heretics
would assert that He had no mother; and they do not see that it follows
from
this, if they pay attention to these words, that neither had His disciples
fathers.
For as He said, "Who is my mother?" so He taught them, when He said,
"Call
no man your father on earth."
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Psalm 10
71
12.
"Break the arm of the sinner and of the malicious" (ver. 15); of him,
namely,
of
whom it was said above, "He shall have dominion over all his
enemies." He
called
his power then, his arm; to which Christ's power is opposed, of which it is
said,
"Arise, O Lord God, let Your hand be exalted. His fault shall be required,
and
he shall not be found because of it;" that is he shall be judged for his
sins, and
himself
shall perish because of his sin. After this, what wonder if there follow,
"The
Lord shall reign for ever and world without end; ye heathen shall perish out
of
His earth"? (ver. 16). He uses heathen for sinners and ungodly.
13.
"The Lord has heard the longing of the poor" (ver. 17): that longing
wherewith
they
were burning, when in the straits and tribulations of this world they desired
the
day of the Lord. "Thine ear has heard the preparation of their
heart." This is the
preparation
of the heart, of which it is sung in another Psalm, "My heart is
prepared,
O God, my heart is prepared:" of which the Apostle says, "But if we
hope
for what we see not, we do with patience wait for it." Romans 8:25 Now, by
the
ear of God, we ought, according to a general rule of interpretation, to
understand
not a bodily member, but the power whereby He hears; and so (not to
repeat
this often) by whatever members of His are mentioned, which in us are
visible
and bodily, must be understood powers of operation. For we must not
suppose
it anything bodily, in that the Lord God hears not the sound of the voice,
but
the preparation of the heart.
14.
"To judge for the orphan and the humble" (ver. 18): that is, not for
him who is
conformed
to this world, nor for the proud. For it is one thing to judge the orphan,
another
to judge for the orphan. He judges the orphan even, who condemns him;
but
he judges for the orphan, who delivers sentence for him. "That man add not
further
to magnify himself upon earth." For they are men, of whom it was said,
"Place
a lawgiver over them, O Lord: let the heathen know that they are men." But
he
too, who in this same passage is understood to be placed over them, will be
man,
of whom it is now said, "That man add not further to magnify himself upon
earth:"
namely, when the Son of Man shall come to judge for the orphan, who has
put
off from himself the old man, and thus, as it were, buried his father.
15.
After the hidden things then of the Son, of which, in this Psalm, many things
have
been said, will come the manifest things of the Son, of which a little has been
now
said at the end of the same Psalm. But the title is given from the former,
which
here occupy the larger portion. Indeed, the very day of the Lord's advent
may
be rightly numbered among the hidden things of the Son, although the very
presence
of the Lord itself will be manifest. For of that day it is said, that no man
knows
it, neither angels, nor powers, nor the Son of man. Mark 13:32 What then
so
hidden, as that which is said to be hidden even to the Judge Himself, not as
regards
knowledge, but disclosure? But concerning the hidden things of the Son,
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Psalm 10
72
even
if any one would not wish to understand the Son of God, but of David
himself,
to whose name the whole Psalter is attributed, for the Psalms we know are
called
the Psalms of David, let him give ear to those words in which it is said to
the
Lord, "Have mercy on us, O Son of David:" Matthew 20:30 and so even
in this
manner
let him understand the same Lord Christ, concerning whose hidden things
is
the inscription of this Psalm. For so likewise is it said by the Angel:
"God shall
give
unto Him the throne of His father David." Luke 1:32 Nor to this
understanding
of it is the sentence opposed in which the same Lord asks of the
Jews,
"If Christ be the Son of David, how then does he in spirit call Him Lord,
saying,
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit on my right hand, until I put Your
enemies
under Your feet." Matthew 22:43-44 For it was said to the unskilled, who
although
they looked for Christ's coming, yet expected Him as man, not as the
Power
and Wisdom of God. He teaches then, in that place, the most true and pure
faith,
that He is both the Lord of king David, in that He is the Word in the
beginning,
God with God, John 1:1 by which all things were made; and Son, in
that
He was made to him of the seed of David according to the flesh. For He does
not
say, Christ is not David's Son, but if you already hold that He is his Son,
learn
how
He is his Lord: and do not hold in respect of Christ that He is the Son of Man,
for
so is He David's Son; Romans 1:3 and leave out that He is the Son of God, for
so
is He David's Lord.
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Psalm
11
73
Exposition on
Psalm 11
To
the end, a psalm of David himself.
1.
This title does not require a fresh consideration: for the meaning of, "to
the
end,"
has already been sufficiently handled. Let us then look to the text itself of
the
Psalm, which to me appears to be sung against the heretics, who, by rehearsing
and
exaggerating the sins of many in the Church, as if either all or the majority
among
themselves were righteous, strive to turn and snatch us away from the
breasts
of the one True Mother Church: affirming that Christ is with them, and
warning
us as if with piety and earnestness, that by passing over to them we may
go
over to Christ, whom they falsely declare they have. Now it is known that in
prophecy
Christ, among the many names in which notice of Him is conveyed in
allegory,
is also called a mountain. We must accordingly answer these people, and
say,
"I trust in the Lord: how say ye to my soul, Remove into the mountains as
a
sparrow?"
(ver. 1). I keep to one mountain wherein I trust, how say ye that I
should
pass over to you, as if there were many Christs? Or if through pride you
say
that you are mountains, I had indeed need to be a sparrow winged with the
powers
and commandments of God: but these very things hinder my flying to
these
mountains, and placing my trust in proud men. I have a house where I may
rest,
in that I trust in the Lord. For even "the sparrow has found her a
house," and,
"The
Lord has become a refuge to the poor." Let us say then with all
confidence,
lest
while we seek Christ among heretics we lose Him, "In the Lord I trust: how
say
ye to my soul, Remove into the mountains as a sparrow?"
2.
"For, lo, sinners have bent the bow, they have prepared their arrows in
the
quiver,
that they may in the obscure moon shoot at the upright in heart" (ver. 2).
These
be the terrors of those who threaten us as touching sinners, that we may pass
over
to them as the righteous. "Lo," they say, "the sinners have bent
the bow:" the
Scriptures,
I suppose, by carnal interpretation of which they emit envenomed
sentences
from them. "They have prepared their arrows in the quiver:" the same
words,
that is, which they will shoot out on the authority of Scripture, they have
prepared
in the secret place of the heart. "That they may in the obscure moon shoot
at
the upright in heart:" that when they see, from the Church's light being
obscured
by
the multitude of the unlearned and the carnal, that they cannot be convicted,
they
may corrupt good manners by evil communications. 1 Corinthians 15:33 But
against
all these terrors we must say, "In the Lord I trust."
3.
Now I remember that I promised to consider in this Psalm with what
suitableness
the moon signifies the Church. There are two probable opinions
concerning
the moon: but of these which is the true, I suppose it either impossible
or
very difficult for a man to decide. For when we ask whence the moon has her
light,
some say that it is her own, but that of her globe half is bright, and half
dark:
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Psalm 11
74
and
when she revolves in her own orbit, that part wherein she is bright gradually
turns
towards the earth, so as that it may be seen by us; and that therefore at first
her
appearance is as if she were horned.... According to this opinion the moon in
allegory
signifies the Church, because in its spiritual part the Church is bright, but
in
its carnal part is dark: and sometimes the spiritual part is seen by good
works,
but
sometimes it lies hid in the conscience, and is known to God alone, since in
the
body
alone is it seen by men.... But according to the other opinion also the moon is
understood
to be the Church, because she has no light of her own, but is lighted by
the
only-begotten Son of God, who in many places of holy Scripture is
allegorically
called the Sun. Whom certain heretics being ignorant of, and not able
to
discern Him, endeavour to turn away the minds of the simple to this corporeal
and
visible sun, which is the common light of the flesh of men and flies, and some
they
do pervert, who as long as they cannot behold with the mind the inner light of
truth,
will not be content with the simple Catholic faith; which is the only safety to
babes,
and by which milk alone they can arrive in assured strength at the firm
support
of more solid food. Whichever then of these two opinions be the true, the
moon
in allegory is fitly understood as the Church. Or if in such difficulties as
these,
troublesome rather than edifying, there be either no satisfaction or no leisure
to
exercise the mind, or if the mind itself be not capable of it, it is sufficient
to
regard
the moon with ordinary eyes, and not to seek out obscure causes, but with
all
men to perceive her increasings and fulnesses and wanings; and if she wanes to
the
end that she may be renewed, even to this rude multitude she sets forth the
image
of the Church, in which the resurrection of the dead is believed.
4.
Next we must enquire, what in this Psalm is meant by "the obscure
moon," in
which
sinners have prepared to shoot at the upright in heart? For not in one way
only
may the moon be said to be obscure: for when her monthly course is finished,
and
when her brightness is interrupted by a cloud, and when she is eclipsed at the
full,
the moon may be called obscure. It may then be understood first of the
persecutors
of the Martyrs, for that they wished in the obscure moon to shoot at
the
upright in heart; whether it be yet in the time of the Church's youth, because
she
had not yet shone forth in greatness on the earth, and conquered the darkness
of
heathen superstitions; or by the tongues of blasphemers and such as defame the
Christian
name, when the earth was as it were beclouded, the moon, that is, the
Church,
could not be clearly seen; or when by the slaughter of the Martyrs
themselves
and so great effusion of blood, as by that eclipse and obscuration,
wherein
the moon seems to exhibit a bloody face, the weak were deterred from the
Christian
name; in which terror sinners shot out words crafty and sacrilegious to
pervert
even the upright in heart. And secondly, it can be understood of these
sinners,
whom the Church contains, because at that time, taking the opportunity of
this
moon's obscurity, they committed many crimes, which are now tauntingly
objected
to us by the heretics, whereas their founders are said to have been guilty
of
them. But howsoever that be which was done in the obscure moon, now that the
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75
Catholic
name is spread and celebrated throughout the whole world, what concern
of
mine is it to be disturbed by things unknown? For "in the Lord I
trust;" nor do I
listen
to them that say to my soul, "Remove into the mountains as a sparrow. For,
lo,
sinners have bent the bow, that they may in the obscure moon shoot at the
upright
in heart." Or if the moon seem even now obscure to them, because they
would
make it uncertain which is the Catholic Church, and they strive to convict
her
by the sins of those many carnal men whom she contains; what concern is this
to
him, who says in truth, "In the Lord I trust"? By which word every
one shows
that
he is himself wheat, and endures the chaff with patience unto the time of
winnowing.
5.
"In the Lord," therefore, "I trust." Let them fear who
trust in man, and cannot
deny
that they are of man's party, by whose grey hairs they swear; and when in
conversation
it is demanded of them, of what communion they are, unless they say
that
they are of his party, they cannot be recognised.... Or perhaps you will say
that
it
is written, "You shall know them by their works"? Matthew 7:16 I see
indeed
marvellous
works the daily violences of the Circumcelliones, with the bishops and
presbyters
for their leaders, flying about in every direction, and calling their
terrible
clubs "
of
Macarius, respecting which they raise an invidious cry, most men have not seen
them,
and no one sees them now: and any Catholic who saw them could say, if he
wished
to be a servant of God, "In the Lord I trust."...
6.
Let the Catholic soul then say, "In the Lord I trust; how say ye to my
soul,
Remove
into the mountains as a sparrow? For, lo, the sinners have bent the bow,
they
have prepared their arrows in the quiver, that they may in the obscure moon
shoot
at the upright in heart:" and from them let her turn her speech to the
Lord
and
say, "For they have destroyed what You have perfected" (ver. 3). And
this let
her
say not against these only, but against all heretics. For they have all, as far
as
in
them lies, destroyed the praise which God has perfected out of the mouth of
babes
and sucklings, when they disturb the little ones with vain and scrupulous
questions,
and suffer them not to be nourished with the milk of faith. As if then it
were
said to this soul, why do they say to you, "Remove into the mountains as a
sparrow;"
why do they frighten you with sinners, who "have bent the bow, to
shoot
in the obscure moon at the upright in heart"? She answers, Therefore it is
they
frighten me, "because they have destroyed what You have perfected."
Where
but
in their conventicles, where they nourish not with milk, but kill with poison
the
babes
and ignorant of the interior light. "But what has the Just done?" If
Macarius,
if
Cćcilianus, offend you, what has Christ done to you, who said, "My peace I
give
unto you, My peace I leave with you;" John 14:27 which you with your
abominable
dissensions have violated? What has Christ done to you? who with
such
exceeding patience endured His betrayer, as to give to him, as to the other
Apostles,
the first Eucharist consecrated with His own hands, and blessed with His
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Psalm 11
76
own
mouth. What has Christ done to you? who sent this same betrayer, whom He
called
a devil, John 6:70 who before betraying the Lord could not show good faith
even
to the Lord's purse, John 12:6 with the other disciples to preach the kingdom
of
heaven; Matthew 10:5-7 that He might show that the gifts of God come to those
that
with faith receive them, though he, through whom they receive them, be such
as
Judas was.
7.
"The Lord is in His holy temple" (ver. 4), yea in such wise as the
Apostle says,
"For
the temple of God is holy, which" temple "you are." 1
Corinthians 3:17 "Now
if
any man shall violate the temple of God, him shall God destroy." He
violates the
temple
of God, who violates unity: for he "holds not the head, from which the
whole
body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies
according
to the working after the measure of every part makes increase of the
body
to the edifying of itself in love." The Lord is in this His holy temple;
which
consists
of His many members, fulfilling each his own separate duties, by love
built
up into one building. Which temple he violates, who for the sake of his own
pre-eminence
separates himself from the Catholic society. "The Lord is in His
holy
temple; the Lord, His seat is in heaven." If you take heaven to be the
just
man,
as you take the earth to be the sinner, to whom it was said, "Earth you
are,
and
unto earth shall you go;" Genesis 3:19 the words, "The Lord is in His
holy
temple"
you will understand to be repeated, while it is said, "The Lord, His seat
is
in
heaven."
8.
"His eyes look upon the poor." His to Whom the poor man has been
left, and
Who
has been made a refuge to the poor. And therefore all the seditions and
tumults
within these nets, Matthew 13:47 until they be drawn to shore, concerning
which
heretics upbraid us to their own ruin and our correction, are caused by those
men,
who will not be Christ's poor. But do they turn away God's eyes from such as
would
be so? "For His eyes look upon the poor." Is it to be feared lest, in
the
crowd
of the rich, He may not be able to see the few poor, whom He brings up in
safe
keeping in the bosom of the Catholic Church? "His eyelids question the
sons
of
men." Here by that rule I would wish to take "the sons of men"
of those that
from
old men have been regenerated by faith. For these, by certain obscure
passages
of Scripture, as it were the closed eyes of God, are exercised that they
may
seek: and again, by certain clear passages, as it were the open eyes of God,
are
enlightened that they may rejoice. And this frequent closing and opening in the
holy
Books are as it were the eyelids of God; which question, that is, which try the
"sons
of men;" who are neither wearied with the obscurity of the matter, but
exercised;
nor puffed up by knowledge, but confirmed.
9.
"The Lord questions the righteous and ungodly" (ver. 5). Why then do
we fear
lest
the ungodly should be any hurt to us, if so be they do with insincere heart
share
the sacraments with us, seeing that He "questions the righteous and the
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Psalm 11
77
ungodly."
"But whoso loves iniquity, hates his own soul:" that is, not him who
believes
God, and puts not his hope in man, but only his own soul does the lover
of
iniquity hurt.
10.
"He shall rain snares upon the sinners" (ver. 6). If by clouds are
understood
prophets
generally, whether good or bad, who are also called false prophets: false
prophets
are so ordered by the Lord God, that by them He may rain snares upon
sinners.
Matthew 24:24 For no one, but the sinner, falls into a following of them,
whether
by way of preparation for the last punishment, if he shall choose to
persevere
in sin; or to dissuade from pride, if in time he shall come to seek God
with
a more sincere intent. But if by clouds are understood good and true prophets
only;
by these too it is clear that God rains snares upon sinners, although by them
He
waters also the godly unto fruitfulness. "To some," says the Apostle,
"we are
the
savour of life unto life; to some the savour of death unto death."
2
Corinthians 2:16 For not prophets only, but all who with the word of God water
souls,
may be called clouds. Who when they are understood amiss, God rains
snares
upon sinners; but when they are understood aright, He makes the hearts of
the
godly and believing fruitful. As, for instance, the passage, "and they two
shall
be
in one flesh," Ephesians 5:31 if one interpret it with an eye to lust, He
rains a
snare
upon the sinner. But if you understand it, as he who says, "But I speak
concerning
Christ and the Church," Ephesians 5:32 He rains a shower on the
fertile
soil. Now both are effected by the same cloud, that is, holy Scripture. Again
the
Lord says, "Not that which goes into your mouth defiles you, but that
which
comes
out." Matthew 15:11 The sinner hears this, and makes ready his palate for
gluttony:
the righteous hears it, and is guarded against the superstitious distinction
in
meats. Here then also out of the same cloud of Scripture, according to the
several
desert of each, upon the sinner the rain of snares, upon the righteous the
rain
of fruitfulness, is poured.
11.
"Fire and brimstone and the blast of the tempest is the portion of their
cup."
This
is their punishment and end, by whom the name of God is blasphemed; that
first
they should be wasted by the fire of their own lusts, then by the ill savour of
their
evil deeds cast off from the company of the blessed, at last carried away and
overwhelmed
suffer penalties unspeakable. For this is the portion of their cup: as
of
the righteous, "Your cup inebriating how excellent is it! for they shall
be
inebriated
with the richness of Your house." Now I suppose a cup is mentioned for
this
reason, that we should not suppose that anything is done by God's providence,
even
in the very punishments of sinners, beyond moderation and measure. And
therefore
as if he were giving a reason why this should be, he added, "For the Lord
is
righteous, and has loved righteousnesses" (ver. 7). The plural not without
meaning,
but only because he speaks of men, is as that righteousnesses be
understood
to be used for righteous men. For in many righteous men there seem,
so
to say, to be righteousnesses, whereas there is one only righteousness of God
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Psalm 11 78
whereof
they all participate. Like as when one face looks upon many mirrors, what
in
it is one only, is by those many mirrors reflected manifoldly. Wherefore he
recurs
to the singular, saying, "His face has seen equity." Perhaps,
"His face has
seen
equity," is as if it were said, Equity has been seen in His face, that is,
in
knowledge
of Him. For God's face is the power by which He is made known to
them
that are worthy. Or at least, "His face has seen equity," because He
does not
allow
Himself to be known by the evil, but by the good; and this is equity.
12.
But if any one would understand the moon of the synagogue, let him refer the
Psalm
to the Lord's passion, and of the Jews say, "For they have destroyed what
You
have perfected;" and of the Lord Himself, "But what has the Just
done?"
whom
they accused as the destroyer of the Law: whose precepts, by their corrupt
living,
and by despising them, and by setting up their own, they had destroyed, so
that
the Lord Himself may speak as Man, as He is wont, saying, "In the Lord I
trust;
how say ye to my soul, Remove into the mountains as a sparrow?" by
reason,
that is, of the fear of those who desire to apprehend and crucify Him. Since
the
interpretation is not unreasonable of sinners wishing to "shoot at the
upright in
heart,"
that is, those who believed in Christ, "in the obscure moon," that
is, the
Synagogue
filled with sinners. To this too the words, "The Lord is in His holy
temple;
the Lord, His seat is in heaven," are suitable; that is, the Word in Man,
or
the
very Son of Man who is in heaven. John 3:13 "His eyes look upon the
poor;"
either
on to Him whom He assumed as God, or for whom He suffered as
"His
eyelids question the sons of men." The closing and opening of the eyes,
which
is probably meant by the word eyelids, we may take to be His death and
resurrection,
whereby He tried the sons of men His disciples, terrified at His
passion,
and gladdened by the resurrection. "The Lord questions the righteous and
ungodly,"
even now from out of Heaven governing the Church. "But whoso loves
iniquity,
hates his own soul." Why it is so, what follows teaches us. For "He
shall
rain
snares upon the sinners:" which is to be taken according to the exposition
above
given, and so on with all the rest to the end of the Psalm.
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Psalm 12
79
Exposition on
Psalm 12
To
the end, for the eighth, a psalm of David.
1.
It has been said on the sixth Psalm, that "the eighth" may be taken
as the day of
judgment.
"For the eighth" may also be taken "for the eternal age;" for
that after
the
time present, which is a cycle of seven days, it shall be given to the Saints.
2.
"Save me, O Lord, for the holy has failed;" that is, is not found: as
we speak
when
we say, Corn fails, or, Money fails. "For the truths have been minished
from
among
the sons of men" (ver. 1). The truth is one, whereby holy souls are
enlightened:
but forasmuch as there are many souls, there may be said in them to
be
many truths: as in mirrors there are seen many reflections from one face.
3.
"He has talked vanity each man to his neighbour" (ver. 2). By
neighbour we
must
understand every man: for that there is no one with whom we should work
evil;
"and the love of our neighbour works no evil." Romans 13:10
"Deceitful lips,
with
a heart and a heart they have spoken evil things." The repetition,
"with a heart
and
a heart," signifies a double heart.
4.
"May the Lord destroy all deceitful lips" (ver. 3). He says
"all," that no one may
suppose
himself excepted: as the Apostle says, "Upon every soul of man that does
evil,
of the Jew first, and of the Greek." Romans 2:9 "The tongue speaking
great
things:"
the proud tongue.
5.
"Who have said, We will magnify our tongue, our lips are our own, who is
Lord
over
us?" (ver. 4). Proud hypocrites are meant, putting confidence in their
speech
to
deceive men, and not submitting themselves to God.
6.
"Because of the wretchedness of the needy and the sighing of the poor, now
I
will
arise, says the Lord" (ver. 5). For so the Lord Himself in the Gospel
pitied His
people,
because they had no ruler, when they could well obey. Whence too it is
said
in the Gospel, "The harvest is plenteous, but the labourers are few."
Matthew
9:37 But this must be taken as spoken in the person of God the Father,
who,
because of the needy and the poor, that is, who in need and poverty were
lacking
spiritual good things, vouchsafed to send His own Son. From thence
begins
His sermon on the mount to Matthew, where He says, "Blessed are the poor
in
spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3 "I will
place in
salvation."
He does not say what He would place: but, "in salvation," must be
understood
as, in Christ; according to that, "For my eyes have seen Your
salvation."
Luke 2:30 And hence He is understood to have placed in Him what
appertains
to the taking away the wretchedness of the needy, and the comforting
the
sighing of the poor. "I will deal confidently in Him:" according to
that in the
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Psalm 12
80
Gospel,
"For He taught them as one having authority, and not as their
scribes."
Matthew
7:29
7.
"The words of the Lord" are "pure words" (ver. 6). This is
in the person of the
Prophet
himself, "The words of the Lord" are "pure words." He says
"pure,"
without
the alloy of pretence. For many preach the truth impurely;
Philippians
1:16 for they sell it for the bribe of the advantages of this life. Of such
the
Apostle says, that they declared Christ not purely. "Silver tried by the
fire for
the
earth." These words of the Lord by means of tribulations approved to
sinners.
"Purified
seven times:" by the fear of God, by godliness, by knowledge, by might,
by
counsel, by understanding, by wisdom. Isaiah 11:2 For seven steps also of
beatitude
there are, which the Lord goes over, according to Matthew, in the same
sermon
which He spoke on the Mount, "Blessed" are "the poor in spirit,
blessed
the
meek, blessed they that mourn, blessed they which do hunger and thirst after
righteousness,
blessed the merciful, blessed the pure in heart, blessed the
peacemakers."
Matthew 5:3-9 Of which seven sentences, it may be observed how
all
that long sermon was spoken. For the eighth where it is said,
"Blessed" are
"they
which suffer persecution for righteousness' sake," Matthew 5:10 denotes
the
fire
itself, whereby the silver is proved seven times. And at the termination of
this
sermon
it is said, "For He taught them as one having authority, and not as their
scribes."
Matthew 7:29 Which refers to that which is said in this Psalm, "I deal
confidently
in Him."
8.
"You, O Lord, shall preserve us, and keep us from this generation to eternity"
(ver.
7): here as needy and poor, there as wealthy and rich.
9.
"The ungodly walk in a circle round about" (ver. 8): that is, in the
desire of
things
temporal, which revolves as a wheel in a repeated circle of seven days; and
therefore
they do not arrive at the eighth, that is, at eternity, for which this Psalm
is
entitled. So too it is said by Solomon, "For the wise king is the winnower
of the
ungodly,
and he brings on them the wheel of the wicked.—After Thine height You
have
multiplied the sons of men." For there is in temporal things too a
multiplication,
which turns away from the unity of God. Hence "the corruptible
body
weighs down the soul, and the earthy tabernacle presses down the mind that
muses
upon many things." Wisdom 9:15 But the righteous are multiplied
"after the
height
of God," when "they shall go from strength to strength."
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Psalm 13
81
Exposition on Psalm 13
Unto
the end, a psalm of David.
1.
"For Christ is the end of the law to every one that believes." Romans
10:4 "How
long,
O Lord, will You forget me unto the end?" (ver. 1) that is, put me off as
to
spiritually
understanding Christ, who is the Wisdom of God, and the true end of all
the
aim of the soul. "How long dost Thou turn away Your face from me?" As
God
does
not forget, so neither does He turn His face away: but Scripture speaks after
our
manner. Now God is said to turn away His face, when He does not give to the
soul,
which as yet has not the pure eye of the mind, the knowledge of Himself.
2.
"How long shall I place counsel in my soul?" (ver. 2). There is no
need of
counsel
but in adversity. Therefore "How long shall I place counsel in my
soul?" is
as
if it were said, How long shall I be in adversity? Or at least it is an answer,
so
that
the meaning is this, So long, O Lord, will You forget me to the end, and so
long
turn away Your face from me, until I shall place counsel in my own soul: so
that
except a man place counsel in his own soul to work mercy perfectly, God will
not
direct him to the end, nor give him that full knowledge of Himself, which is
"face
to face." "Sorrow in my heart through the day?" How long shall I
have, is
understood.
And "through the day" signifies continuance, so that day is taken for
time:
from which as each one longs to be free, he has sorrow in his heart, making
entreaty
to rise to things eternal, and not endure man's day.
3.
"How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?" either the devil, or
carnal
habit.
4.
"Look on me, and hear me, O Lord my God" (ver. 3). "Look on
me," refers to
what
was said, "How long" dost "Thou turn away Your face from
me." "Hear,"
refers
to what was said, "How long will You forget me to the end? Lighten my
eyes,
that I sleep not in death." The eyes of the heart must be understood, that
they
be
not closed by the pleasurable eclipse of sin.
5.
"Lest at any time mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him" (ver.
4). The
devil's
mockery is to be feared. "They that trouble me will exult, if I be
moved;"
the
devil and his angels; who exulted not over that righteous man, Job, when they
troubled
him; because he was not moved, that is, did not draw back from the
steadfastness
of his faith. Job 2:3
6.
"But I have hoped in Your mercy" (ver. 5). Because this very thing,
that a man
be
not moved, and that he abide fixed in the Lord, he should not attribute to
self:
lest
when he glories that he has not been moved, he be moved by this very pride.
"My
heart shall exult in Your salvation;" in Christ, in the Wisdom of God.
"I will
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Psalm 13
82
sing
to the Lord who has given me good things;" spiritual good things, not
belonging
to man's day. "And I will chant to the name of the Lord most high"
(ver.
6);
that is, I give thanks with joy, and in most due order employ my body, which is
the
song of the spiritual soul. But if any distinction is to be marked here,
"I will
sing"
with the heart, "I will chant" with my works; "to the
Lord," that which He
alone
sees, but "to the name of the Lord," that which is known among men,
which
is
serviceable not for Him, but for us.
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Psalm
14
83
Exposition on
Psalm 14
To
the end, a psalm of David himself.
1.
What "to the end" means, must not be too often repeated. "For
Christ is the end
of
the law for righteousness to every one that believes;" Romans 10:4 as the
Apostle
says. We believe in Him, when we begin to enter on the good road: we
shall
see Him, when we shall get to the end. And therefore is He the end.
2.
"The fool has said in his heart, There is no God" (ver. 1). For not
even have
certain
sacrilegious and abominable philosophers, who entertain perverse and false
notions
of God, dared to say, "There is no God." Therefore it is, has said
"in his
heart;"
for that no one dares to say it, even if he has dared to think it. "They
are
corrupt,
and become abominable in their affections:" that is, while they love this
world
and love not God; these are the affections which corrupt the soul, and so
blind
it, that the fool can even say, "in his heart, There is no God. For as
they did
not
like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate
mind."
Romans 1:28 "There is none that does goodness, no not up to one."
"Up to
one,"
can be understood either with that one, so that no man be understood: or
besides
one, that the Lord Christ may be excepted. As we say, This field is up to
the
sea; we do not of course reckon the sea together with the field. And this is
the
better
interpretation, so that none be understood to have done goodness up to
Christ;
for that no man can do goodness, except He shall have shown it. And that
is
true; for until a man know the one God, he cannot do goodness.
3.
"The Lord from heaven looked out upon the sons of men, to see if there be
one
understanding,
or seeking after God" (ver. 2). It may be interpreted, upon the
Jews;
as he may have given them the more honourable name of the sons of men,
by
reason of their worship of the One God, in comparison with the Gentiles; of
whom
I suppose it was said above, "The fool has said in his heart, There is no
God,"
etc. Now the Lord looks out, that He may see, by His holy souls: which is
the
meaning of, "from heaven." For by Himself nothing is hid from Him.
4.
"All have gone out of the way, they have together become useless:"
that is, the
Jews
have become as the Gentiles, who were spoken of above. "There is none that
does
good, no not up to one" (ver. 3), must be interpreted as above.
"Their throat is
an
open sepulchre." Either the voracity of the ever open palate is signified:
or
allegorically
those who slay, and as it were devour those they have slain, into
whom
they instil the disorder of their own conversation. Like to which with the
contrary
meaning is that which was said to Peter, "Kill and eat;" Acts 10:13
that he
should
convert the Gentiles to his own faith and good conversation. "With their
tongues
they have dealt craftily." Flattery is the companion of the greedy and of
all
bad
men. "The poison of asps is under their lips." By "poison,"
he means deceit;
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Psalm
14
84
and
"of asps," because they will not hear the precepts of the law, as
asps "will not
hear
the voice of the charmer;" which is said more clearly in another Psalm.
"Whose
mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:" this is, "the poison of
asps."
"Their
feet are swift to shed blood." He here shows forth the habit of ill doing.
"Destruction
and unhappiness" are "in their ways." For all the ways of evil
men
are
full of toil and misery. Hence the Lord cries out, "Come unto Me, all you
that
labour
and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. Take My yoke upon you, and
learn
of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. For My yoke is easy and My
burden
light." Matthew 11:28-30 "And the way of peace have they not
known:"
that
way, namely, which the Lord, as I said, mentions, in the easy yoke and light
burden.
"There is no fear of God before their eyes." These do not say,
"There is no
God;"
but yet they do not fear God.
5.
"Shall not all, who work iniquity, know?" (ver. 4). He threatens the
judgment.
"Who
devour My people as the food of bread:" that is, daily. For the food of
bread
is
daily food. Now they devour the people, who serve their own ends out of them,
not
referring their ministry to the glory of God, and the salvation of those over
whom
they are.
6.
"They have not called upon the Lord." For he does not really call
upon Him,
who
longs for such things as are displeasing to Him. "There they trembled for
fear,
where
no fear was" (ver. 5): that is, for the loss of things temporal. For they
said,
"If
we let Him thus alone, all men will believe in Him; and the Romans will come,
and
take away both our place and nation." John 11:48 They feared to lose an
earthly
kingdom, where no fear was; and they lost the kingdom of heaven, which
they
ought to have feared. And this must be understood of all temporal goods, the
loss
of which when men fear, they come not to things eternal.
7.
"For God is in the just generation." It refers to what went before,
so that the
sense
is, "shall not all they that work iniquity know that the Lord is in the
just
generation;"
that is, He is not in them who love the world. For it is unjust to leave
the
Maker of the worlds, and "serve the creature more than the Creator."
Romans
1:25 You have shamed the counsel of the poor, for the Lord is his hope"
(ver.
6): that is, you have despised the humble coming of the Son of God, because
ye
saw not in Him the pomp of the world: that they, whom he was calling, should
put
their hope in God alone, not in the things that pass away.
8.
"Who will give salvation to Israel out of Sion?" (ver. 7). Who but He
whose
humiliation
you have despised? is understood. For He will come in glory to the
judgment
of the quick and the dead, and the kingdom of the just: that, forasmuch
as
in that humble coming "blindness has happened in part unto Israel, that
the
fulness
of the Gentiles might enter in," Romans 11:25 in that other should happen
what
follows, "and so all Israel should be saved." For the Apostle too
takes that
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Psalm 14
85
testimony
of Isaiah, where it is said, "There shall come out of Sion He who shall
turn
away ungodliness from Jacob:" Isaiah 59:20 for the Jews, as it is here,
"Who
shall
give salvation to Israel out of Sion?" "When the Lord shall turn away
the
captivity
of His people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad." It is a
repetition,
as is usual: for I suppose, "Israel shall be glad," is the same as,
"Jacob
shall
rejoice."
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Psalm 15
86
Exposition
on Psalm 15
A
psalm of David himself.
1.
Touching this title there is no question. "O Lord who shall sojourn in
Your
tabernacle?"
(ver. 1). Although tabernacle be sometimes used even for an
everlasting
habitation: yet when tabernacle is taken in its proper meaning, it is a
thing
of war. Hence soldiers are called tent-fellows, as having their tents together.
This
sense is assisted by the words, "Who shall sojourn?" For we war with
the
devil
for a time, and then we need a tabernacle wherein we may refresh ourselves.
Which
specially points out the faith of the temporal Dispensation, which was
wrought
for us in time through the Incarnation of the Lord. "And who shall rest in
Your
holy mountain?" Here perhaps he signifies at once the eternal habitation
itself,
2 Corinthians 5:1-2 that we should understand by "mountain" the
supereminence
of the love of Christ in life eternal.
2.
"He who walks without stain, and works righteousness" (ver. 2). Here
he has
laid
down the proposition; in what follows he sets it forth in detail.
3.
"Who speaks the truth in his heart." For some have truth on their
lips, and not in
their
heart. As if one should deceitfully point out a road, knowing that there were
robbers
there, and should say, If you go this way, you will be safe from robbers;
and
it should turn out that in fact there were no robbers found there: he has
spoken
the
truth, but not in his heart. For he supposed it to be otherwise, and spoke the
truth
in ignorance. Therefore it is not enough to speak the truth, unless it be so
also
in
heart. "Who has practised no deceit in his tongue" (ver. 3). Deceit
is practised
with
the tongue, when one thing is professed with the mouth, another concealed in
the
breast. "Nor done evil to his neighbour." It is well known that by
"neighbour,"
every
man should be understood. "And has not entertained slander against his
neighbour,"
that is, has not readily or rashly given credence to an accuser.
4.
"The malicious one has been brought to nought in his sight" (ver. 4).
This is
perfection,
that the malicious one have no force against a man; and that this be "in
his
sight;" that is, that he know most surely that the malicious is not, save
when
the
mind turns itself away from the eternal and immutable form of her own
Creator
to the form of the creature, which was made out of nothing. "But those
that
fear the Lord, He glorifies:" the Lord Himself, that is. Now "the
fear of the
Lord
is the beginning of wisdom." As then the things above belong to the
perfect,
so
what he is now going to say belongs to beginners.
5.
"Who swears unto his neighbour, and deceives him not." "Who has
not given
his
money upon usury, and has not taken rewards against the innocent" (ver.
5).
These
are no great things: but he who is not able to do even this, much less able is
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Psalm 15
87
he
to speak the truth in his heart, and to practise no deceit in his tongue, but
as the
truth
is in the heart, so to profess and have it in his mouth, "yea, yea; nay,
nay;"
Matthew
5:37 and to do no evil to his neighbour, that is, to any man; and to
entertain
no slander against his neighbour: all which are the virtues of the perfect,
in
whose sight the malicious one has been brought to nought. Yet he concludes
even
these lesser things thus, "Whoso does these things shall not be moved for
ever:"
that is, he shall attain unto those greater things, wherein is great and
unshaken
stability. For even the very tenses are, perhaps not without cause, so
varied,
as that in the conclusion above the past tense should be used, but in this the
future.
For there it was said, "The malicious one has been brought to nought in
his
sight:"
but here, "shall not be moved for ever."
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Psalm 16 88
Exposition
on Psalm 16
The
inscription of the title, of David himself.
1.
Our King in this Psalm speaks in the character of the human nature He assumed,
of
whom the royal title at the time of His passion was eminently set forth.
2.
Now He says as follows; "Preserve me, O Lord, for in You have I
hoped" (ver.
1):
"I have said to the Lord, You are my God, for Thou requirest not my
goods"
(ver.
2): for with my goods Thou dost not look to be made blessed.
3.
"To the saints who are on His earth" (ver. 3): to the saints who have
placed their
hope
in the land of the living, the citizens of the heavenly
spiritual
conversation is, by the anchor of hope, fixed in that country, which is
rightly
called God's earth; although as yet in this earth too they be conversant in
the
flesh. "He has wonderfully fulfilled all My wishes in them." To those
saints
then
He has wonderfully fulfilled all My wishes in their advancement, whereby
they
have perceived, how both the humanity of My divinity has profited them that
I
might die, and the divinity of the humanity that I might rise again.
4.
"Their infirmities have been multiplied" (ver. 4): their infirmities
have been
multiplied
not for their destruction, but that they might long for the Physician.
"Afterwards
they made haste." Accordingly after infirmities multiplied they made
haste,
that they might be healed. "I will not gather together their assemblies by
blood."
For their assemblies shall not be carnal, nor will I gather them together as
one
propitiated by the blood of cattle. Isaiah 1:11-12 "Nor will I be mindful
of
their
names within My lips." But by a spiritual change what they have been shall
be
forgotten; nor by Me shall they be any more called either sinners, or enemies,
or
men; but righteous, and My brethren, and sons of God through My peace.
5.
"The Lord is the portion of Mine inheritance, and of My cup" (ver.
5). For
together
with Me they shall possess the inheritance, the Lord Himself. Let others
choose
for themselves portions, earthly and temporal, to enjoy: the portion of the
Saints
is the Lord eternal. Let others drink of deadly pleasures, the portion of My
cup
is the Lord. In that I say, "Mine," I include the Church: for where
the Head is,
there
is the body also. For into the inheritance will I gather together their
assemblies,
and by the inebriation of the cup I will forget their old names. "You
are
He who will restore to Me My inheritance:" that to these too, whom I free,
may
be known "the glory wherein I was with You before the world was
made."
John
17:5 For You will not restore to Me that which I never lost, but You will
restore
to these, who have lost it, the knowledge of that glory: in whom because I
am,
You will restore to Me.
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Psalm 16
89
6.
"The lines have fallen to me in glorious places" (ver. 6). The
boundaries of my
possession
have fallen in Your glory as it were by lot, like as God is the
possession
of the Priests and Levites. Numbers 18:20 "For Mine inheritance is
glorious
to Me." "For Mine inheritance is glorious," not to all, but to
them that see;
in
whom because I am, "it is to Me."
7.
"I will bless the Lord, who has given Me understanding" (ver. 7):
whereby this
inheritance
may be seen and possessed. "Yea moreover too even unto night my
reins
have chastened Me." Yea besides understanding, even unto death, My
inferior
part, the assumption of flesh, has instructed Me, that I might experience
the
darkness of mortality, which that understanding has not.
8.
"I foresaw the Lord in My sight always" (ver. 8). But coming into
things that
pass
away, I removed not My eye from Him who abides ever, foreseeing this, that
to
Him I should return after passing through the things temporal. "For He is
on My
right
hand, that I should not be moved." For He favours Me, that I should abide
fixedly
in Him.
9.
"Wherefore My heart was glad, and My tongue exulted" (ver. 9).
Wherefore
both
in My thoughts is gladness, and in my words exultation. "Moreover too My
flesh
shall rest in hope." Moreover too My flesh shall not fail unto
destruction, but
shall
sleep in hope of the resurrection.
10.
"For You will not leave My soul in hell" (ver. 10). For You will
neither give
My
soul for a possession to those parts below. "Neither will You grant Thine
Holy
One
to see corruption." Neither will You suffer that sanctified body, whereby
others
are to be also sanctified, to see corruption. "You have made known to Me
the
paths of life" (ver. 11). You have made known through Me the paths of
humiliation,
that men might return to life, from whence they fell through pride; in
whom
because I am, "You have made known to Me." "You will fill Me
with joy
with
Your countenance." You will fill them with joy, that they should seek
nothing
further,
when they shall see You "face to face;" in whom because I am,
"You will
fill
Me." "Pleasure is at Your right hand even to the end." Pleasure
is in Your
favour
and mercy in this life's journey, leading on even to the end of the glory of
Your
countenance.
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Psalm 17
90
Exposition
on Psalm 17
A
prayer of David himself.
1.
This prayer must be assigned to the Person of the Lord, with the addition of
the
Church,
which is His body.
2.
"Hear My righteousness, O God, consider My supplication" (ver. 1).
"Hearken
unto
My prayer, not in deceitful lips:" not going forth to You in deceitful
lips. "Let
My
judgment from Your countenance go forth" (ver. 2). From the enlightening
of
the
knowledge of You, let Me judge truth. Or at least, let My judgment go forth,
not
in deceitful lips, from Your countenance, that is, that I may not in judging
utter
anything
else than I understand in You. "Let My eyes see equity:" the eyes, of
course,
of the heart.
3.
"You have proved and visited Mine heart in the night-season" (ver.
3). For this
Mine
heart has been proved by the visitation of tribulation. "You have examined
Me
by fire, and iniquity has not been found in Me." Now not night only, in
that it
is
wont to disturb, but fire also, in that it burns, is this tribulation to be
called;
whereby
when I was examined I was found righteous.
4.
"That My mouth may not speak the works of men" (ver. 4). That nothing
may
proceed
out of My mouth, but what relates to Your glory and praise; not to the
works
of men, which they do beside Your will. "Because of the words of Your
lips."
Because of the words of Your peace, or of Your prophets. "I have kept hard
ways."
I have kept the toilsome ways of human mortality and suffering.
5.
"To perfect My steps in Your paths" (ver. 5). That the love of the
Church might
be
perfected in the strait ways, whereby she arrives at Your rest. "That My
footsteps
be not moved." That the signs of My way, which, like footsteps, have
been
imprinted on the Sacraments and Apostolical writings, be not moved, that
they
may mark them who would follow Me. Or at least, that I may still abide
fixedly
in eternity, after that I have accomplished the hard ways, and have finished
My
steps in the straits of Your paths.
6.
"I have cried out, for You have heard Me, O God" (ver. 6). With a
free and
strong
effort have I directed My prayers unto You: for that I might have this
power,
You have heard Me when praying more weakly. "Incline Thine ear to Me,
and
hear My words." Let not Your hearing forsake My humiliation.
7.
"Make Your mercies marvellous" (ver. 7). Let not Your mercies be
disesteemed,
lest they be loved too little.
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Psalm 17
91
8.
"Who savest them that hope in You from such as resist Your right
hand:" from
such
as resist the favour, whereby Thou favourest
apple
of Your eye" (ver. 8): which seems very little and minute: yet by it is
the
sight
of the eye directed, whereby the light is distinguished from the darkness; as
by
Christ's humanity, the divinity of the Judgment distinguishing between the
righteous
and sinners. "In the covering of Your wings protect Me." In the
defence
of
Your love and mercy protect
troubled
Me" (ver. 9).
9.
"Mine enemies have compassed about My soul;" "they have shut up
their own
fat"
(ver. 10). They have been covered with their own gross joy, after that their
desire
has been satiated with wickedness. "Their mouth has spoken pride."
And
therefore
their mouth spoke pride, in saying, "Hail, King of the Jews,"
Matthew
27:29 and other like words.
10.
"Casting Me forth they have now compassed Me about" (ver. 11).
Casting Me
forth
outside the city, they have now compassed Me about on the Cross. "Their
eyes
they have determined to turn down on the earth." The bent of their heart
they
have
determined to turn down on these earthly things: deeming Him, who was
slain,
to endure a mighty evil, and themselves, that slew Him, none.
11.
"As a lion ready for prey, have they taken Me" (ver. 12). They have
taken Me,
like
that adversary who "walks about, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Peter
5:8
"And
as a lion's whelp dwelling in secret places." And as his whelp, the people
to
whom
it was said, "You are of your father the devil:" John 8:44 meditating
on the
snares,
whereby they might circumvent and destroy the just One.
12.
"Arise, O Lord, prevent them, and cast them down" (ver. 13). Arise, O
Lord,
Thou
whom they suppose to be asleep, and regardless of men's iniquities; be they
blinded
before by their own malice, that vengeance may prevent their deed; and so
cast
them down.
13.
"Deliver My soul from the ungodly." Deliver My soul, by restoring Me
after
the
death, which the ungodly have inflicted on Me. "Your weapon: from the
enemies
of Your hand" (ver. 14). For My soul is Your weapon, which Your hand,
that
is, Your eternal Power, has taken to subdue thereby the kingdoms of iniquity,
and
divide the righteous from the ungodly. This weapon then "deliver from the
enemies
of Your hand," that is, of Your Power, that is, from Mine enemies.
"Destroy
them, O Lord, from off the earth, scatter them in their life." O Lord,
destroy
them from off the earth, which they inhabit, scatter them throughout the
world
in this life, which only they think their life, who despair of life eternal.
"And
by
Your hidden things their belly has been filled." Now not only this visible
punishment
shall overtake them, but also their memory has been filled with sins,
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Psalm 17
92
which
as darkness are hidden from the light of Your truth, that they should forget
God.
"They have been filled with swine's flesh." They have been filled
with
uncleanness,
treading under foot the pearls of God's words. "And they have left the
rest
to their babes:" crying out, "This sin be upon us and upon our
children."
Matthew
27:25
14.
"But I shall appear in Your righteousness in Your sight" (ver. 15).
But I, Who
have
not appeared to them that, with their filthy and darkened heart, cannot see the
light
of wisdom, "I shall appear in Your righteousness in Your sight."
"I
shall be satiated, when Your glory shall be manifested." And when they
have
been
satiated with their uncleanness, that they could not know Me, I shall be
satiated,
when Your glory shall be manifested, in them that know Me. In that verse
indeed
where it is said, "filled with swine's flesh," some copies have,
"filled with
children:"
for from the ambiguity of the Greek a double interpretation has resulted.
Now
by "children" we understand works; and as by good children, good
works, so
by
evil, evil.
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Psalm
18
93
Exposition on
Psalm 18
To
the end, for the servant of the Lord, David himself.
1.
That is, for the strong of hand, Christ in His Manhood. "The words of this
song
which
he spoke to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him out of the
hands
of his enemies, and of the hand of Saul; and he said, On the day when the
Lord
delivered him out of the hands of his enemies and of the hand of Saul:"
namely,
the king of the Jews, whom they had demanded for themselves.
1
Samuel 8:5 For as "David" is said to be by interpretation, strong of
hand; so
"Saul"
is said to be demanding. Now it is well known, how that People demanded
for
themselves a king, and received him for their king, not according to the will
of
God,
but according to their own will.
2.
Christ, then, and the Church, that is, whole Christ, the Head and the Body,
says
here,
"I will love You, O Lord, My strength" (ver. 1). I will love You, O
Lord, by
whom
I am strong.
3.
"O Lord, My stay, and My refuge, and My deliverer" (ver. 2). O Lord,
who hast
stayed
Me, because I sought refuge with You: and I sought refuge, because You
have
delivered Me. "My God is My helper; and I will hope in Him." My God,
who
hast
first afforded me the help of Your call, that I might be able to hope in You.
"My
defender, and the horn of My salvation, and My redeemer." My defender,
because
I have not leant upon Myself, lifting up as it were the horn of pride
against
You; but have found You a horn indeed, that is, the sure height of
salvation:
and that I might find it, You redeemed Me.
4.
"With praise will I call upon the Lord, and I shall be safe from Mine
enemies"
(ver.
3). Seeking not My own but the Lord's glory, I will call upon Him, and there
shall
be no means whereby the errors of ungodliness can hurt Me.
5.
"The pains of death," that is, of the flesh, have "compassed Me
about. And the
overflowings
of ungodliness have troubled Me" (ver. 4). Ungodly troubles stirred
up
for a time, like torrents of rain which will soon subside, have come on to
trouble
Me.
6.
"The pains of hell compassed Me about" (ver. 5). Among those that
compassed
Me
about to destroy Me, were pains of envy, which work death, and lead on to the
hell
of sin. "The snares of death prevented Me." They prevented Me, so
that they
wished
to hurt Me first, which shall afterwards be recompensed unto them. Now
they
seize unto destruction such men as they have evilly persuaded by the boast of
righteousness:
in the name but not in the reality of which they glory against the
Gentiles.
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Psalm 18 94
7.
"And in Mine oppression I called upon the Lord, and cried unto My God. And
He
heard My voice from His holy temple" (ver. 6). He heard from My heart,
wherein
He dwells, My voice. "And My cry in His sight entered into His ears;"
and
My cry, which I utter, not in the ears of men, but inwardly before Him
Himself,
"entered into His ears."
8.
"And the earth was moved and trembled" (ver. 7). When the Son of Man
was
thus
glorified, sinners were moved and trembled. "And the foundations of the
mountains
were troubled." And the hopes of the proud, which were in this life,
were
troubled. "And were moved, for God was angry with them." That is,
that the
hope
of temporal goods might have now no more establishment in the hearts of
men.
9.
"There went up smoke in His wrath" (ver. 8). The tearful supplication
of
penitents
went up, when they came to know God's threatenings against the
ungodly.
"And fire burns from His face." And the ardour of love after
repentance
burns
by the knowledge of Him. "Coals were kindled from Him." They, who
were
already
dead, abandoned by the fire of good desire and the light of righteousness,
and
who remained in coldness and darkness, re-enkindled and enlightened, have
come
to life again.
10.
"And He bowed the heaven, and came down" (ver. 9). And He humbled the
just
One, that He might descend to men's infirmity. "And darkness under His
feet."
And
the ungodly, who savour of things earthly, in the darkness of their own
malice,
knew not Him: for the earth under His feet is as it were His footstool.
11.
"And He mounted above the cherubim, and did fly" (ver. 10). And He
was
exalted
above the fulness of knowledge, that no man should come to Him but by
love:
for "love is the fulfilling of the law." Romans 13:10 And full soon
He
showed
to His lovers that He is incomprehensible, lest they should suppose that
He
is comprehended by corporeal imaginations. "He flew above the wings of the
winds."
But that swiftness, whereby He showed Himself to be incomprehensible,
is
above the powers of souls, whereon as upon wings they raise themselves from
earthly
fears into the air of liberty.
12.
"And has made darkness His hiding place" (ver. 11). And has settled
the
obscurity
of the Sacraments, and the hidden hope in the heart of believers, where
He
may lie hid, and not abandon them. In this darkness too, wherein "we yet
walk
by
faith, and not by sight," 2 Corinthians 5:7 as long as "we hope for
what we see
not,
and with patience wait for it." Romans 8:25 "Round about Him is His
tabernacle."
Yet they that believe Him turn to Him and encircle Him; for that He is
in
the midst of them, since He is equally the friend of all, in whom as in a
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Psalm
18
95
tabernacle
He at this time dwells. "Dark water in clouds of air." Nor let any
one on
this
account, if he understand the Scripture, imagine that he is already in that
light,
which
will be when we shall have come out of faith into sight: for in the prophets
and
in all the preachers of the word of God there is obscure teaching.
13.
"In respect of the brightness in His sight" (ver. 12): in comparison
with the
brightness,
which is in the sight of His manifestation. "His clouds have passed
over."
The preachers of His word are not now bounded by the confines of Judća,
but
have passed over to the Gentiles. "Hail and coals of fire." Reproofs
are figured,
whereby,
as by hail, the hard hearts are bruised: but if a cultivated and genial soil,
that
is, a godly mind, receive them, the hail's hardness dissolves into water, that
is,
the
terror of the lightning-charged, and as it were frozen, reproof dissolves into
satisfying
doctrine; and hearts kindled by the fire of love revive. All these things
in
His clouds have passed over to the Gentiles.
14.
"And the Lord has thundered from heaven" (ver. 13). And in confidence
of the
Gospel
the Lord has sounded forth from the heart of the just One. "And the
Highest
gave His voice;" that we might entertain it, and in the depth of human
things,
might hear things heavenly.
15.
"And He sent out His arrows, and scattered them" (ver. 14). And He
sent out
Evangelists
traversing straight paths on the wings of strength, not in their own
power,
but His by whom they were sent. And "He scattered them," to whom they
were
sent, that to some of them they should be "the savour of life unto life,
to
others
the savour of death unto death." 2 Corinthians 2:16 "And He
multiplied
lightnings,
and troubled them." And He multiplied miracles, and troubled them.
16.
"And the fountains of water were seen. And the fountains of water
springing
up
into everlasting life," John 4:14 which were made in the preachers, were
seen.
"And
the foundations of the round world were revealed" (ver. 15). And the
Prophets,
who were not understood, and upon whom was to be built the world of
believers
in the Lord, were revealed. "At Your chiding, O Lord:" crying out,
"The
of
Your displeasure;" saying, "Except ye repent, you shall all likewise
perish."
Luke
13:5
17.
"He has sent down from on high, and has fetched Me (ver. 16): by calling
out
of
the Gentiles for an inheritance "a glorious Church, not having spot, or
wrinkle."
Ephesians
5:27 "He has taken Me out of the multitude of waters." He has taken
Me
out of the multitude of peoples.
18.
"He has delivered Me from My strongest enemies" (ver. 17). He has
delivered
Me
from Mine enemies, who prevailed to the afflicting and overturning of this
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm
18
96
temporal
life of Mine. "And from them which hate Me; for they are too strong for
Me:"
as long as I am under them knowing not God.
19.
"They have prevented Me in the day of My affliction" (ver. 18). They
have
first
injured Me, in the time when I am bearing a mortal and toilsome body. "And
the
Lord has become My stay." And since the stay of earthly pleasure was
disturbed
and torn up by the bitterness of misery, the Lord has become My stay.
20.
"And has brought Me forth into a broad place" (ver. 19). And since I
was
enduring
the straits of the flesh, He brought Me forth into the spiritual breadth of
faith.
"He has delivered Me, because He desired Me." Before that I desired
Him,
He
delivered Me from My most powerful enemies (who were envious of Me when
I
once desired Him), and from them that hated Me, because I do desire Him.
21.
"And the Lord shall reward Me according to My righteousness" (ver.
20). And
the
Lord shall reward Me according to the righteousness of My good will, who
first
showed mercy, before that I had the good will. "And according to the
cleanness
of My hands He will recompense Me." And according to the cleanness
of
My deeds He will recompense Me, who has given Me to do well by bringing
Me
forth into the broad place of faith.
22.
"Because I have kept the ways of the Lord" (ver. 21). That the
breadth of good
works,
that are by faith, and the long-suffering of perseverance should follow
after.
23.
"Nor have I walked impiously apart from My God." "For all His
judgments are
in
My sight" (ver. 22). "For" with persevering contemplation I
weigh "all His
judgments,"
that is, the rewards of the righteous, and the punishments of the
ungodly,
and the scourges of such as are to be chastened, and the trials of such as
are
to be proved. "And I have not cast out His righteousness from Me:" as
they do
that
faint under their burden of them, and return to their own vomit.
24.
"And I shall be undefiled with Him, and I shall keep Myself from Mine
iniquity"
(ver. 23).
25.
"And the Lord shall reward Me according to My righteousness (ver. 24).
Accordingly
not only for the breadth of faith, which works by love; but also for
the
length of perseverance, will the Lord reward Me according to My
righteousness.
"And according to the cleanness of My hands in the sight of His
eyes."
Not as men see, but "in the sight of His eyes." For "the things
that are seen
are
temporal; but the things that are not seen are eternal:" 2 Corinthians
4:18
whereto
the height of hope appertains.
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Psalm 18
97
26.
"With the holy You shall be holy" (ver. 25). There is a hidden depth
also,
wherein
You are known to be holy with the holy, for that Thou makest holy. "And
with
the harmless You shall be harmless." For Thou harmest no man, but each one
is
bound by the bands of his own sins. Proverbs 5:22
27.
"And with the chosen You shall be chosen." (ver. 26). And by him whom
Thou
choosest,
You are chosen. "And with the froward You shall be froward." And with
the
froward Thou seemest froward: for they say, "The way of the Lord is not
right:"
Ezekiel 18:25 and their way is not right.
28.
"For You will make whole the humble people" (ver. 27). Now this seems
froward
to the froward, that You will make them whole that confess their sins.
"And
You will humble the eyes of the proud." But them that are "ignorant
of
God's
righteousness, and seek to establish their own," Romans 10:3 You will
humble.
29.
"For you will light My candle, O Lord" (ver. 28). For our light is
not from
ourselves;
but "You will light my candle, O Lord. O my God, You will enlighten
my
darkness." For we through our sins are darkness; but "You, O my God,
wilt
enlighten
my darkness."
30.
"For by You shall I be delivered from temptation" (ver. 29). For not
by myself,
but
by You, shall I be delivered from temptation. "And in my God shall I leap
over
the
wall." And not in myself, but in my God shall I leap over the wall, which
sin
has
raised between men and the heavenly
31.
"My God, His way is undefiled" (ver. 30). My God comes not unto men,
except
they shall have purified the way of faith, whereby He may come to them;
for
that "His way is undefiled." "The words of the Lord have been
proved by fire."
The
words of the Lord are tried by the fire of tribulation. "He is the
Protector of
them
that hope in Him." And all that hope not in themselves, but in Him, are
not
consumed
by that same tribulation. For hope follows faith.
32.
"For who is God, but the Lord?" (ver. 31) whom we serve. "And
who God, but
our
God?" And who is God, but the Lord? whom after good service we sons shall
possess
as the hoped-for inheritance.
33.
"God, who has girded me with strength" (ver. 32). God, who has girded
me
that
I might be strong, lest the loosely flowing folds of desire hinder my deeds and
steps.
"And has made my way undefiled." And has made the way of love,
whereby
I
may come to Him, undefiled, as the way of faith is undefiled, whereby He comes
to
me.
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Psalm
18
98
34.
"Who has made my feet perfect like harts' feet" (ver. 33). Who has
made my
love
perfect to surmount the thorny and dark entanglements of this world. "And
will
set me up on high." And will fix my aim on the heavenly habitation, that
"I
may
be filled with all the fulness of God." Ephesians 3:19
35.
"Who teaches my hands for battle" (ver. 34). Who teaches me to work
for the
overthrow
of mine enemies, who strive to shut the kingdom of heaven against us.
"And
You have made mine arms as a bow of steel." And You have made my
earnest
striving after good works unwearied.
36.
"And You have given me the defence of my salvation, and Your right hand
has
held
me up" (ver. 35). And the favour of Your grace has held me up. "And
Your
discipline
has directed me to the end." And Your correction, not suffering me to
wander
from the way, has directed me that whatsoever I do, I refer to that end,
whereby
I may cleave to You. "And this Your discipline, it shall teach me."
And
that
same correction of Thine shall teach me to attain to that, whereunto it has
directed
me.
37.
"You have enlarged my steps under me" (ver. 36). Nor shall the
straits of the
flesh
hinder me; for You have enlarged my love, working in gladness even with
these
mortal things and members which are under me. "And my footsteps have not
been
weakened." And either my goings, or the marks which I have imprinted for
the
imitation of those that follow, have not been weakened.
38.
"I will follow up mine enemies, and seize them" (ver. 37). I will
follow up my
carnal
affections, and will not be seized by them, but will seize them, so that they
may
be consumed. "And I will not turn, till they fail." And from this
purpose I will
not
turn myself to rest, till they fail who make a tumult about me.
39.
"I will break them, and they shall not be able to stand" (ver. 38):
and they shall
not
hold out against me. "They shall fall under my feet." When they are
cast down,
I
will place before me the loves whereby I walk for evermore.
40.
"And You have girded me with strength to the war" (ver. 39). And the
loose
desires
of my flesh have You bound up with strength, that in such a fight I may not
be
encumbered. "You have supplanted under me them that rose up against
me."
You
have caused them to be deceived, who followed upon me, that they should be
brought
under me, who desired to be over me.
41.
"And you have given mine enemies the back to me" (ver. 40). And you
have
turned
mine enemies, and hast made them to be a back to me, that is, to follow me.
"And
You have destroyed them that hate me." But such other of them as have
persisted
in hatred, You have destroyed.
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Psalm 18
99
42.
"They have cried out, and there was none to save them" (ver. 41). For
who can
save
them, whom You would not save? "To the Lord, and He did not hear
them."
Nor
did they cry out to any chance one, but to the Lord: and He did not judge them
worthy
of being heard, who depart not from their wickedness.
43.
"And I will beat them as small as dust before the face of the wind"
(ver. 42).
And
I will beat them small; for dry they are, receiving not the shower of God's
mercy;
that borne aloft and puffed up with pride they may be hurried along from
firm
and unshaken hope, and as it were from the earth's solidity and stability.
"As
the
clay of the streets I will destroy them." In their wanton and loose course
along
the
broad ways of perdition, which many walk, will I destroy them.
44.
"You will deliver Me from the contradictions of the people" (ver.
43). You will
deliver
Me from the contradictions of them who said, "If we send Him away, all
the
world will go after Him."
45.
"You shall make Me the head of the Gentiles. A people whom I have not
known
have served Me." The people of the Gentiles, whom in bodily presence I
have
not visited, have served Me. "At the hearing of the ear they have obeyed
Me"
(ver.
44). They have not seen Me with the eye: but, receiving my preachers, at the
hearing
of the ear they have obeyed Me.
46.
"The strange children have lied unto Me." Children, not to be called
Mine, but
rather
strange children, to whom it is rightly said, "You are of your father the
devil,"
John 8:44 have lied unto Me. "The strange children have waxen old"
(ver.
45).
The strange children, to whom for their renovation I brought the new
Testament,
have remained in the old man. "And they have halted from their own
paths."
And like those that are weak in one foot, for holding the old they have
rejected
the new Testament, they have become halt, even in their old Law, rather
following
their own traditions, than God's. For they brought frivolous charges of
unwashen
hands, Matthew 15:2 because such were the paths, which themselves
had
made and worn by long use, in wandering from the ways of God's commands.
47.
"The Lord lives, and blessed be my God." "But to be carnally
minded is
death:"
Romans 8:6 for "the Lord lives, and blessed be my God. And let the God
of
my salvation be exalted" (ver. 46). And let me not think after an earthly
fashion
of
the God of my salvation; nor look from Him for this earthly salvation, but that
on
high.
48.
"O God, who givest Me vengeance, and subduest the people under Me"
(ver.
47).
O God, who avengest Me by subduing the people under
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Psalm 18
100
from
My angry enemies:" the Jews crying out, "Crucify Him, Crucify
Him."
John
19:6
49.
"From them that rise up against Me You will exalt Me" (ver. 48). From
the
Jews
that rise up against Me in My passion, You will exalt Me in My resurrection.
"From
the unjust man You will deliver Me." From their unjust rule You will
deliver
Me.
50.
"For this cause will I confess to You among the Gentiles, O Lord"
(ver. 49).
For
this cause shall the Gentiles confess to You through Me, O Lord. "And I
will
sing
unto Your Name." And You shall be more widely known by My good deeds.
51.
"Magnifying the salvation of His King" (ver. 50). God, who magnifies,
so as to
make
wonderful, the salvation, which His Son gives to believers. "And showing
mercy
to His Christ:" God, who shows mercy to His Christ: "To David and to
His
seed
for evermore:" to the Deliverer Himself strong of hand, who has overcome
this
world; and to them whom, as believers in the Gospel, He has begotten for
evermore.
What things soever are spoken in this Psalm which cannot apply to the
Lord
Himself personally, that is to the Head of the Church, must be referred to the
Church.
For whole Christ speaks here, in whom are all His members.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm
19
101
Exposition on Psalm
19
To
the end, a psalm of David himself.
1.
It is a well-known title; nor does the Lord Jesus Christ say what follows, but
it
is
said of Him.
2.
"The heavens tell out the glory of God" (ver. 1). The righteous
Evangelists, in
whom,
as in the heavens, God dwells, set forth the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ,
or
the glory wherewith the Son glorified the Father upon earth. "And the
firmament
shows forth the works of His hands." And the firmament shows forth
the
deeds of the Lord's power, that now made heaven by the assurance of the Holy
Ghost,
which before was earth by fear.
3.
"Day unto day utters word" (ver. 2). To the spiritual the Spirit
gives out the
fulness
of the unchangeable Wisdom of God, the Word which in the beginning is
God
with God. John 1:1 "And night unto night announces knowledge." And to
the
fleshly,
as to those afar off, the mortality of the flesh, by conveying faith,
announces
future knowledge.
4.
"There is no speech nor language, in which their voices are not
heard" (ver. 3).
In
which the voices of the Evangelists have not been heard, seeing that the Gospel
was
preached in every tongue.
5.
"Their sound is gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends
of the
world"
(ver. 4).
6.
"In the sun has He set His tabernacle." Now that He might war against
the
powers
of temporal error, the Lord, being about to send not peace but a sword on
earth,
Matthew 10:34 in time, or in manifestation, set so to say His military
dwelling,
that is, the dispensation of His incarnation. "And He as a bridegroom
coming
forth out of His chamber" (ver. 5). And He, coming forth out of the
Virgin's
womb, where God was united to man's nature as a bridegroom to a bride.
"Rejoiced
as a giant to run His way." Rejoiced as One exceeding strong, and
surpassing
all other men in power incomparable, not to inhabit, but to run His
way.
For, "He stood not in the way of sinners."
7.
"His going forth is from the highest heaven" (ver. 6). From the
Father is His
going
forth, not that in time, but from everlasting, whereby He was born of the
Father.
"And His meeting is even to the height of heaven." And in the fulness
of
the
Godhead He meets even to an equality with the Father. "And there is none
that
may
hide himself from His heat." But whereas, "the Word was even made
flesh,
and
dwelt in us," John 1:14 assuming our mortality, He permitted no man to
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Psalm 19
102
excuse
himself from the shadow of death; for the heat of the Word penetrated even
it.
8.
"The law of the Lord is undefiled, converting souls" (ver. 7). The
law of the
Lord,
therefore, is Himself who came to fulfil the law, not to destroy it;
Matthew
5:17 an undefiled law, "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His
mouth,"
1 Peter 2:22 not oppressing souls with the yoke of bondage, but
converting
them to imitate Him in liberty. "The testimony of the Lord is sure,
giving
wisdom to babes." "The testimony of the Lord is sure;" for,
"no man knows
the
Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him,"
Matthew
11:27 which things have been hidden from the wise and revealed to
babes;
Luke 10:21 for, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the
humble."
James
4:6
9.
"The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart" (ver. 8).
All the statutes
of
the Lord are right in Him who taught not what He did not; that they who should
imitate
Him might rejoice in heart, in those things which they should do freely
with
love, not slavishly with fear. "The commandment of the Lord is lucid,
enlightening
the eyes." "The commandment of the Lord is lucid," with no veil
of
carnal
observances, enlightening the sight of the inner man.
10.
"The fear of the Lord is chaste, enduring for ever" (ver. 9).
"The fear of the
Lord;"
not that distressing fear under the law, dreading exceedingly the
withdrawal
of temporal goods, by the love of which the soul commits fornication;
but
that chaste fear wherewith the Church, the more ardently she loves her Spouse,
the
more carefully does she take heed of offending Him, and therefore,
"perfect
love
casts" not "out" this "fear," 1 John 4:18 but it
endures for ever.
11.
"The judgments of the Lord are true, justified together." The
judgments of
Him,
who "judges no man, but has committed all judgment unto the Son,"
John
5:22 are justified in truth unchangeably. For neither in His threatenings nor
His
promises does God deceive any man, nor can any withdraw either from the
ungodly
His punishment, or from the godly His reward. "To be desired more than
gold,
and much precious stone" (ver. 10). Whether it be "gold and stone
itself
much,"
or "much precious," or "much to be desired;" still, the
judgments of God
are
to be desired more than the pomp of this world; by desire of which it is
brought
to pass that the judgments of God are not desired, but feared, or despised,
or
not believed. But if any be himself gold and precious stone, that he may not be
consumed
by fire, but received into the treasury of God, more than himself does he
desire
the judgments of God, whose will he preferrs to his own. "And sweeter than
honey
and the honey comb." And whether one be even now honey, who,
disenthralled
already from the chains of this life, is awaiting the day when he may
come
up to God's feast; or whether he be yet as the honey comb, wrapped about
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Psalm 19
103
with
this life as it were with wax, not mixed and become one with it, but filling
it,
needing
some pressure of God's hand, not oppressing but expressing it, whereby
from
life temporal it may be strained out into life eternal: to such an one the
judgments
of God are sweeter than he himself is to himself, for that they are
"sweeter
than honey and the honey comb."
12.
"For Your servant keeps them" (ver. 11). For to him who keeps them
not the
day
of the Lord is bitter. "In keeping them there is great reward." Not
in any
external
benefit, but in the thing itself, that God's judgments are kept, is there great
reward;
great because one rejoices therein.
13.
"Who understands sins?" (ver. 12.) But what sort of sweetness can
there be in
sins,
where there is no understanding? For who can understand sins, which close
the
very eye, to which truth is pleasant, to which the judgments of God are
desirable
and sweet? yea, as darkness closes the eye, so do sins the mind, and
suffer
it not to see either the light, or itself.
14.
"Cleanse me, O Lord, from my secret faults." From the lusts which lie
hid in
me,
cleanse me, O Lord. "And from the" faults "of others preserve
Your servant"
(ver.
13). Let me not be led astray by others. For he is not a prey to the faults of
others,
who is cleansed from his own. Preserve therefore from the lusts of others,
not
the proud man, and him who would be his own master, but, Your servant. "If
they
get not the dominion over me, then shall I be undefiled." If neither my
own
secret
sins, nor those of others, get the dominion over me, then shall I be
undefiled.
For there is no third source of sin, but one's own secret sin, by which
the
devil fell, and another's sin, by which man is seduced, so as by consenting to
make
it his own. "And I shall be cleansed from the great offence." What
but pride?
for
there is none greater than apostasy from God, which is "the beginning of
the
pride
of man." Sirach 10:12 And he shall indeed be undefiled, who is free from
this
offence also; for this is the last to them who are returning to God, which was
the
first as they departed from Him.
15.
"And the words of my mouth shall be pleasing, and the meditation of my
heart
is
always in Your sight" (ver. 14). The meditation of my heart is not after
the vain
glory
of pleasing men, for now there is pride no more, but in Your sight alway,
who
regardest a pure conscience. "O Lord, my Helper, and my Redeemer"
(ver.
15).
O Lord, my Helper, in my approach to You; for You are my Redeemer, that I
might
set out unto You: lest any attributing to his own wisdom his conversion to
You,
or to his own strength his attaining to You, should be rather driven back by
You,
who resistest the proud; for he is not cleansed from the great offence, nor
pleasing
in Your sight, who redeemest us that we may be converted, and helpest us
that
we may attain unto You.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 20
104
Exposition on
Psalm 20
To
the end, a psalm of David.
1.
This is a well-known title; and it is not Christ who speaks; but the prophet
speaks
to Christ, under the form of wishing, foretelling things to come.
2.
"The Lord hear You in the day of trouble" (ver. 1). The Lord hear You
in the
day
in which Thou said, "Father glorify Your Son." "The name of the
God of
Jacob
protect You." For to You belongs the younger people. Since "the elder
shall
serve
the younger."
3.
"Send You help from the Holy, and from Sion defend You" (ver. 2).
Making for
You
a sanctified Body, the Church, from watching safe, which waits when You
shall
come from the wedding.
4.
"Be mindful of all Your sacrifice" (ver. 3). Make us mindful of all
Your injuries
and
despiteful treatment, which You have borne for us. "And be Your whole
burnt
offering
made fat." And turn the cross, whereon You were wholly offered up to
God,
into the joy of the resurrection.
5.
"Diapsalma." The Lord render to You according to Thine Heart"
(ver. 4). The
Lord
render to You, not according to their heart, who thought by persecution they
could
destroy You; but according to Thine Heart, wherein Thou knew what profit
Your
passion would have. John 12:32 "And fulfil all Your counsel."
"And fulfil all
Your
counsel," not only that whereby Thou laid down Your life for Your friends,
John
15:13 that the corrupted grain might rise again to more abundance;
John
12:24 but that also whereby "blindness in part has happened unto
the
fulness of the Gentiles might enter in, and so all
Romans
11:25-26
6.
"We will exult in Your salvation" (ver. 5). We will exult in that
death will in no
wise
hurt You; for so You will also show that it cannot hurt us either. "And in
the
name
of the Lord our God will we be magnified." And the confession of Your
name
shall not only not destroy us, but shall even magnify us.
7.
"The Lord fulfil all Your petitions." The Lord fulfil not only the
petitions which
You
made on earth, but those also whereby Thou intercedest for us in heaven.
"Now
have I known that the Lord has saved his Christ" (ver. 6). Now has it been
shown
to me in prophecy, that the Lord will raise up His Christ again. "He will
hear
Him from His holy heaven." He will hear Him not from earth only, where He
prayed
to be glorified; John 17:1 but from heaven also, where interceding for us at
the
Right Hand of the Father, Hebrews 7:25 He has from thence shed abroad the
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Psalm 20
105
Holy
Spirit on them that believe in Him. "In strength is the safety of His
right
hand."
Our strength is in the safety of His favour, when even out of tribulation He
gives
help, that "when we are weak, then we may be strong." 2 Corinthians
12:10
"For
vain is" that "safety of man," which comes not of His right hand
but of His
left:
for thereby are they lifted up to great pride, whosoever in their sins have
secured
a temporal safety.
8.
"Some in chariots, and some in horses" (ver. 7). Some are drawn away
by the
ever
moving succession of temporal goods; and some are preferred to proud
honours,
and in them exult: "But we will exult in the name of the Lord our
God."
But
we, fixing our hope on things eternal, and not seeking our own glory, will
exult
in the name of the Lord our God.
9.
"They have been bound, and fallen" (ver. 8). And therefore were they
bound by
the
lust of temporal things, fearing to spare the Lord, lest they should lose their
place
by "the Romans:" John 11:48 and rushing violently on the stone of
offence
and
rock of stumbling, they fell from the heavenly hope: to whom the blindness in
part
of
establish
their own. "But we are risen, and stand upright." But we, that the
Gentile
people
might enter in, out of the stones raised up as children to Abraham,
Matthew
3:9 who followed not after righteousness, have attained to it, and are
risen;
Romans 9:30 and not by our own strength, but being justified by faith, we
stand
upright.
10.
"O Lord, save the King:" that He, who in His Passion has shown us an
example
of conflict, should also offer up our sacrifices, the Priest raised from the
dead,
and established in heaven. "And hear us in the day when we shall call on
You"
(ver. 9). And as He now offers for us, "hear us in the day when we shall
call
on
You."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm
21
106
Exposition on Psalm
21
To
the end, a psalm of David himself.
1.
The title is a familiar one; the Psalm is of Christ.
2.
"O Lord, the King shall rejoice in Your strength" (ver. 1). O Lord,
in Your
strength,
whereby the Word was made flesh, the Man Christ Jesus shall rejoice.
"And
shall exult exceedingly in Your salvation." And in that, whereby Thou
quickenest
all things, shall exult exceedingly.
3.
"You have given Him the desire of His soul" (ver. 2). He desired to
eat the
Passover,
Luke 22:15 and to lay down His life when He would, and again when
He
would to take it; and You have given it to Him. John 10:18 "And hast not
deprived
Him of the good pleasure of His lips." "My peace," says He,
"I leave
with
you:" John 14:27 and it was done.
4.
"For You have presented Him with the blessings of sweetness" (ver.
3). Because
He
had first quaffed the blessing of Your sweetness, the gall of our sins did not
hurt
Him. "Diapsalma. You have set a crown of precious stone on His Head."
At
the
beginning of His discoursing precious stones were brought, and compassed
Him
about; His disciples, from whom the commencement of His preaching should
be
made.
5.
"He asked life; and You gave Him:" He asked a resurrection, saying,
"Father,
glorify
Your Son;" John 17:1 and You gave it Him, "Length of days for ever
and
ever"
(ver. 4). The prolonged ages of this world which the Church was to have,
and
after them an eternity, world without end.
6.
"His glory is great in Your salvation" (ver. 5). Great indeed is His
glory in the
salvation,
whereby You have raised Him up again. "Glory and great honour shall
Thou
lay upon Him." But You shall yet add unto Him glory and great honour,
when
You shall place Him in heaven at Your right hand.
7.
"For You shall give Him blessing for ever and ever." This is the
blessing which
You
shall give Him for ever and ever: "You shall make Him glad in joy together
with
Your countenance" (ver. 6). According to His manhood, You shall make Him
glad
together with Your countenance, which He lifted up to You.
8.
"For the King hopes in the Lord." For the King is not proud, but
humble in
heart,
he hopes in the Lord. "And in the mercy of the Most Highest He shall not
be
moved"
(ver. 7). And in the mercy of the Most Highest His obedience even unto
the
death of the Cross shall not disturb His humility.
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Psalm 21 107
9.
"Let Your hand be found by all Your enemies." Be Your power, O King,
when
Thou
comest to judgment, found by all Your enemies; who in Your humiliation
discerned
it not. "Let Your right hand find out all that hate You" (ver. 8).
Let the
glory,
wherein Thou reignest at the right hand of the Father, find out for
punishment
in the day of judgment all that hate You; for that now they have not
found
it.
10.
"You shall make them like a fiery oven:" You shall make them on fire
within,
by
the consciousness of their ungodliness: "In the time of Your
countenance:" in
the
time of Your manifestation. "The Lord shall trouble them in His wrath, and
the
fire
shall devour them" (ver. 9). And then, being troubled by the vengeance of
the
Lord,
after the accusation of their conscience, they shall be given up to eternal
fire,
to
be devoured.
11.
"Their fruit shall Thou destroy out of the earth." Their fruit,
because it is
earthly,
shall Thou destroy out of the earth. "And their seed from the sons of
men"
(ver.
10). And their works; or, whomsoever they have seduced, You shall not
reckon
among the sons of men, whom You have called into the everlasting
inheritance.
12.
"Because they turned evils against You." Now this punishment shall be
recompensed
to them, because the evils which they supposed to hang over them by
Your
reign, they turned against You to Your death. "They imagined a device,
which
they were not able to establish" (ver. 11). They imagined a device,
saying,
"It
is expedient that one die for all:" John 11:50 which they were not able to
establish,
not knowing what they said.
13.
"For You shall set them low." For You shall rank them among those
from
whom
in degradation and contempt You will turn away. "In Your leavings You
shall
make ready their countenance" (ver. 12). And in these things that Thou
leavest,
that is, in the desires of an earthly kingdom, You shall make ready their
shamelessness
for Your passion.
14.
"Be Thou exalted, O Lord, in Your strength" (ver. 13). Be Thou, Lord,
whom
in
humiliation they did not discern, exalted in Your strength, which they thought
weakness.
"We will sing and praise Your power." In heart and in deed we will
celebrate
and make known Your marvels.
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Psalm 22 108
Exposition
on Psalm 22
To
the end, for the taking up of the morning, a psalm of David.
1.
"To the end," for His own resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself
speaks.
John
20:1-17 For in the morning on the first day of the week was His resurrection,
whereby
He was taken up, into eternal life, "Over whom death shall have no more
dominion."
Romans 6:9 Now what follows is spoken in the person of The
Crucified.
For from the head of this Psalm are the words, which He cried out,
while
hanging on the Cross, sustaining also the person of the old man, whose
mortality
He bare. For our old man was nailed together with Him to the Cross.
Romans
6:6
2.
"O God, my God, look upon me, why have You forsaken me far from my
salvation?"
(ver. 1). Far removed from my salvation: for "salvation is far from
sinners."
"The words of my sins." For these are not the words of righteousness,
but
of
my sins. For it is the old man nailed to the Cross that speaks, ignorant even
of
the
reason why God has forsaken him: or else it may be thus, The words of my
sins
are far from my salvation.
3.
"My God, I will cry unto You in the daytime, and You will not hear (ver.
2). My
God,
I will cry unto You in the prosperous circumstances of this life, that they be
not
changed; and You will not hear, because I shall cry unto You in the words of
my
sins. "And in the night-season, and not to my folly." And so in the
adversities
of
this life will I cry to You for prosperity; and in like manner You will not
hear.
And
this Thou doest not to my folly, but rather that I may have wisdom to know
what
You would have me cry for, not with the words of sins out of longing for life
temporal,
but with the words of turning to You for life eternal.
4.
"But Thou dwellest in the holy place, O Thou praise of
Thou
dwellest in the holy place, and therefore will not hear the unclean words of
sins.
The "praise" of him that sees You; not of him who has sought his own
praise
in
tasting of the forbidden fruit, that on the opening of his bodily eyes he
should
endeavour
to hide himself from Your sight.
5.
"Our Fathers hoped in You." All the righteous, namely, who sought not
their
own
praise, but Yours. "They hoped in You, and You delivered them" (ver.
4).
6.
"They cried unto You, and were saved." They cried unto You, not in
the words
of
sins, from which salvation is far; and therefore were they saved. "They
hoped in
You,
and were not confounded" (ver. 5). "They hoped in You," and
their hope did
not
deceive them. For they placed it not in themselves.
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Psalm 2 109
7.
"But I am a worm, and no man" (ver. 6). But I, speaking now not in
the person
of
Adam, but I in My own person, Jesus Christ, was born without human
generation
in the flesh, that I might be as man beyond men; that so at least human
pride
might deign to imitate My humility. "The scorn of men, and outcast of the
people."
In which humility I was made the scorn of men, so as that it should be
said,
as a reproachful railing, "Be thou His disciple:" John 9:28 and that
the people
despise
Me.
8.
"All that saw Me laughed Me to scorn" (ver. 7). All that saw Me
derided Me.
"And
spoke with the lips, and shook the head." Matthew 27:39 And they spoke,
not
with the heart, but with the lips.
9.
For they shook their head in derision, saying, "He trusted in the Lord,
let Him
deliver
Him:" Matthew 27:43 "let Him save Him, since He desires Him"
(ver. 8).
These
were their words; but they were spoken "with the lips."
10.
"Since You are He who drew Me out of the womb" (ver. 9). Since You
are He
who
drew Me, not only out of that Virgin womb (for this is the law of all men's
birth,
that they be drawn out of the womb), but also out of the womb of the Jewish
nation;
by the darkness whereof he is covered, and not yet born into the light of
Christ,
whosoever places his salvation in the carnal observance of the Sabbath, and
of
circumcision, and the like. "My hope from My mother's breasts."
"My hope," O
God,
not from the time when I began to be fed by the milk of the Virgin's breasts;
for
it was even before; but from the breasts of the Synagogue, as I have said, out
of
the womb, You have drawn Me, that I should not suck in the customs of the
flesh.
11.
"I have been strengthened in You from the womb" (ver. 10). It is the
womb of
the
Synagogue, which did not carry Me, but threw Me out: but I fell not, for Thou
heldest
me. "From My mother's womb You are My God." "From My mother's
womb:
My mother's womb did not cause that, as a babe, I should be forgetful of
You.
12.
"You are My God," "depart not from Me; for trouble is hard at
hand" (ver. 11).
You
are, therefore, My God, depart not from Me; for trouble is nigh unto Me; for
it
is in My body. "For there is none to help." For who helps, if Thou
helpest not?
13.
"Many calves came about Me." The multitude of the wanton populace
came
about
oppression,
"closed Me in."
14.
"They opened their mouth upon Me" (ver. 13). They opened their mouth
upon
Me,
not out of Your Scripture, but of their own lusts. "As a ravening and
roaring
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 22 110
lion."
As a lion, whose ravening is, that I was taken and led; and whose roaring,
"Crucify,
Crucify." John 19:6
15.
"I was poured out like water, and all My bones were scattered" (ver.
14). "I
was
poured out like water," when My persecutors fell: and through fear, the
stays
of
My body, that is, the Church, My disciples were scattered from Me.
Matthew
26:56 "My heart became as melting wax, in the midst of my belly." My
wisdom,
which was written of Me in the sacred books, was, as if hard and shut up,
not
understood: but after that the fire of My Passion was applied, it was, as if
melted,
manifested, and entertained in the memory of My Church.
16.
"My strength dried up as a potsherd" (ver. 15). My strength dried up
by My
Passion;
not as hay, but a potsherd, which is made stronger by fire. "And My
tongue
cleaved to My jaws." And they, through whom I was soon to speak, kept
My
precepts in their hearts. "And You brought Me down to the dust of
death."
And
to the ungodly appointed to death, whom the wind casts forth as dust from the
face
of the earth, You brought Me down.
17.
"For many dogs came about Me" (ver. 16). For many came about Me
barking,
not
for truth, but for custom. "The council of the malignant came about Me."
The
council
of the malignant besieged
pierced
with nails My hands and feet.
18.
"They numbered distinctly all My bones" (ver. 17). They numbered
distinctly
all
My bones, while extended on the wood of the Cross. "Yea, these same
regarded,
and beheld Me." Yea, these same, that is, unchanged, regarded and
beheld
Me.
19.
"They divided My garments for themselves, and cast the lot upon My
vesture"
(ver.
18).
20.
"But You, O Lord, withhold not Your help far from Me" (ver. 19). But
You, O
Lord,
raise Me up again, not as the rest of men, at the end of the world, but
immediately.
"Look to My defence." "Look," that they in no wise hurt Me.
21.
"Deliver My soul from the sword." "Deliver My soul" from
the tongue of
dissension.
"And My only One from the hand of the dog" (ver. 20). And from the
power
of the people, barking after their custom, deliver My Church.
22.
"Save Me from the lion's mouth:" save Me from the mouth of the
kingdom of
this
world: "and my humility from the horns of the unicorns" (ver. 21).
And from
the
loftiness of the proud, exalting themselves to special pre-eminence, and
enduring
no partakers, save My humility.
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Psalm 22
111
23.
"I will declare Your name to My brethren" (ver. 22). I will declare
Your name
to
the humble, and to My Brethren that love one another as they have been
beloved
by Me. John 17:6, 21 "In the midst of the Church will I sing of You."
In
the
midst of the Church will I with rejoicing preach You.
24.
"You that fear the Lord, praise Him." "You that fear the
Lord," seek not your
own
praise, but "praise Him." "All you seed of Jacob, magnify
Him" (ver. 23). All
you
seed of him whom the elder shall serve, magnify Him.
25.
"Let all the seed of
and
restored to the vision of God "fear Him." "Since He has not
despised, nor
disregarded
the prayer of the poor man" (ver. 24). Since He has not despised the
prayer,
not of him who, crying unto God in the words of sins was loath to overpass
a
vain life, but the prayer of the poor man, not swollen up with transitory
pomps.
"Nor
has He turned away His face from Me." As from him who said, I will cry
unto
You, but You will not hear. "And when I cried unto Him He heard Me."
26.
"With You is My praise" (ver. 25). For I seek not My own praise, John
8:50
for
You are My praise, who dwellest in the holy place; and, praise of
hear
The Holy One now beseeching You. "In the great Church I will confess
You."
In the Church of the whole world "I will confess You." "I will
offer My
vows
in the sight of them that fear Him." I will offer the sacraments of My
Body
and
Blood in the sight of them that fear Him.
27.
"The poor shall eat, and be filled" (ver. 26). The humble and the
despisers of
the
world shall eat, and imitate Me. For so they will neither desire this world's
abundance,
nor fear its want. "And they shall praise the Lord, who seek Him."
For
the
praise of the Lord is the pouring out of that fulness. "Their hearts shall
live for
ever
and ever." For that food is the food of the heart.
28.
"All the borders of the earth shall remember themselves, and be turned to
the
Lord"
(ver. 27). They shall remember themselves: for, by the Gentiles, born in
death
and bent on outward things, God had been forgotten; and then shall all the
borders
of the earth be turned to the Lord. "And all the kindreds of the nations
shall
worship in His sight." And all the kindreds of the nations shall worship
in
their
own consciences.
29.
"For the kingdom is the Lord's, and He shall rule over the nations"
(ver. 28).
For
the kingdom is the Lord's, not proud men's: and He shall rule over the nations.
30.
"All the rich of the earth have eaten, and worshipped" (ver. 29). The
rich of the
earth
too have eaten the Body of their Lord's humiliation, and though they have
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Psalm 22
112
not,
as the poor, been filled even to imitation, yet they have worshipped. "In
His
sight
shall fall all that descend to earth." For He alone sees how all they
fall, who
abandoning
a heavenly conversation, make choice, on earth, to appear happy to
men,
who see not their fall.
31.
"And My Soul shall live to Him." And My Soul, which in the contempt
of this
world
seems to men as it were to die, shall live, not to itself, but to Him.
"And My
seed
shall serve Him" (ver. 30). And My deeds, or they who through Me believe
in
Him,
shall serve Him.
32.
"The generation to come shall be declared to the Lord" (ver. 31). The
generation
of the New Testament shall be declared to the honour of the Lord.
"And
the heavens shall declare His righteousness." And the Evangelists shall
declare
His righteousness. "To a people that shall be born, whom the Lord has
made."
To a people that shall be born to the Lord through faith.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm
23
113
Exposition
on Psalm 23
A
psalm of David himself.
1.
The Church speaks to Christ: "The Lord feeds me, and I shall lack
nothing"
(ver.
1). The Lord Jesus Christ is my Shepherd, "and I shall lack nothing."
2.
"In a place of pasture there has He placed me" (ver. 2). In a place
of fresh
pasture,
leading me to faith, there has He placed me to be nourished. "By the water
of
refreshing has He brought me up." By the water of baptism, whereby they
are
refreshed
who have lost health and strength, has He brought me up.
3.
"He has converted my soul: He has led me forth in the paths of
righteousness,
for
His Name's sake" (ver. 3). He has brought me forth in the narrow ways,
wherein
few walk, of His righteousness; not for my merit's sake, but for His
Name's
sake.
4.
"Yea, though I walk in the midst of the shadow of death" (ver. 4).
Yea, though I
walk
in the midst of this life, which is the shadow of death. "I will fear no
evil, for
You
are with me." I will fear no evil, for Thou dwellest in my heart by faith:
and
You
are now with me, that after the shadow of death I too may be with You.
"Your
rod and Your staff, they have comforted me." Your discipline, like a rod
for
a
flock of sheep, and like a staff for children of some size, and growing out of
the
natural
into spiritual life, they have not been grievous to me; rather have they
comforted
me: because You are mindful of me.
5.
"You have prepared a table in my sight, against them that trouble me"
(ver. 5).
Now
after the rod, whereby, while a little one, and living the natural life, I was
brought
up among the flock in the pastures; after that rod, I say, when I began to
be
under the staff, You have prepared a table in my sight, that I should no more
be
fed
as a babe with milk, 1 Corinthians 3:2 but being older should take meat,
strengthened
against them that trouble me. "You have fattened my head with oil."
You
have gladdened my mind with spiritual joy. "And Your inebriating cup, how
excellent
is it!" And Your cup yielding forgetfulness of former vain delights, how
excellent
is it!
6.
"And Your mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:" that is, as
long as I
live
in this mortal life, not Yours, but mine. "That I may dwell in the house
of the
Lord
for length of days" (ver. 6). Now Your mercy shall follow me not here
only,
but
also that I may dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
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Psalm 24
114
Exposition
on Psalm 24
A
psalm of David himself, on the first day of the week.
1.
A Psalm of David himself, touching the glorifying and resurrection of the Lord,
which
took place early in the morning on the first day of the week, which is now
called
the Lord's Day.
2.
"The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof, the compass of the
world, and
all
they that dwell therein" (ver. 1); when the Lord, being glorified, is
announced
for
the believing of all nations; and the whole compass of the world becomes His
Church.
"He has founded it above the seas." He has most firmly established it
above
all the waves of this world, that they should be subdued by it, and should
not
hurt it. "And has prepared it above the rivers" (ver. 2). The rivers
flow into the
sea,
and men of lust lapse into the world: these also the Church, which, when
worldly
lusts have been conquered by the grace of God, has been prepared by love
for
the reception of immortality, subdues.
3.
"Who shall ascend into the mount of the Lord?" Who shall ascend to
the height
of
the righteousness of the Lord? "Or who shall stand in His holy
place?" (ver. 3).
Or
who shall abide in that place, whither He shall ascend, founded above the seas,
and
prepared above the rivers?
4.
"The innocent of hand, and the pure in heart" (ver. 4). Who then
shall ascend
thither,
and abide there, but the guiltless in deed, and pure in thought? "Who has
not
received his soul in vain." Who has not reckoned his soul among things
that
pass
away, but feeling it to be immortal, has longed for an eternity steadfast and
unchangeable.
"And has not sworn in deceit to his neighbour." And therefore
without
deceit, as things eternal are simple and undeceiving, has so behaved
himself
to his neighbour.
5.
"This man shall receive blessing from the Lord, and mercy from the God of
his
salvation"
(ver. 5).
6.
"This is the generation of them that seek the Lord" (ver. 6). For
thus are they
born
that seek Him. "Of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob.
Diapsalma."
Now
they seek the face of God, who gave the pre-eminence to the younger born.
Romans
9:12
7.
"Take away your gates, you princes" (ver. 7). All you, that seek rule
among
men,
remove, that they hinder not, the entrances which you have made, of desire
and
fear. "And be lifted up, you everlasting gates." And be lifted up,
you entrances
of
eternal life, of renunciation of the world, and conversion to God. "And
the King
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Psalm 24
115
of
glory shall come in." And the King, in whom we may glory without pride,
shall
come
in: who having overcome the gates of death, and having opened for Himself
the
heavenly places, fulfilled that which He said, "Be of good cheer, for I
have
overcome
the world." John 16:33
8.
"Who is this King of glory?" Mortal nature is awe-struck in wonder,
and asks,
"Who
is this King of glory?" "The Lord strong and mighty." He whom
you
deemed
weak and overwhelmed. "The Lord mighty in battle" (ver. 8). Handle
the
scars,
and you will find them made whole, and human weakness restored to
immortality.
The glorifying of the Lord, which was owing to earth, where It
warred
with death, has been paid.
9.
"Take away your gates, you princes." Let us go hence straightway into
heaven.
Again,
let the Prophet's trumpet cry aloud, "Take away too, you princes of the
air,
the
gates, which you have in the minds of men who 'worship the host of heaven.'"
2
Kings 17:16 "And be lifted up, you everlasting gates." And be lifted
up, you
doors
of everlasting righteousness, of love, and chastity, through which the soul
loves
the One True God, and goes not a-whoring with the many that are called
gods.
"And the King of glory shall come in" (ver. 9). "And the King of
glory shall
come
in," that He may at the right hand of the Father intercede for us.
10.
"Who is this King of glory?" What! do you too, prince of the power of
this air,
Ephesians
2:2 marvel and ask, "Who is this King of glory?" "The Lord of
powers,
He
is the King of glory" (ver. 10). Yea, His Body now quickened, He who was
tempted
marches above you; He who was tempted by the angel, the deceiver, goes
above
all angels. Let none of you put himself before us and stop our way, that he
may
be worshipped as a god by us: neither principality, nor angel, nor power,
separates
us from the love of Christ. Romans 8:39 It is good to trust in the Lord,
rather
than to trust in a prince; that he who glories, should glory in the Lord.
1
Corinthians 1:31 These indeed are powers in the administration of this world,
but
"the Lord of powers, He is the King of glory."
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Psalm 25
116
Exposition
on Psalm 25
To
the end, a psalm of David himself.
1.
Christ speaks, but in the person of the Church: for what is said has reference
rather
to the Christian People turned unto God.
2.
"Unto You, O Lord, have I lift up my soul" (ver. 1): with spiritual
longing have
I
lift up the soul, that was trodden down on the earth with carnal longings.
"O my
God,
in You I trust, I shall not be ashamed" (ver. 2). O my God, from trusting
in
myself
I was brought even to this weakness of the flesh; and I who on abandoning
God
wished to be as God, fearing death from the smallest insect, was in derision
ashamed
for my pride; now, therefore, "in You I trust, I shall not be
ashamed."
3.
"And let not my enemies mock me." And let them not mock me, who by
ensnaring
me with serpent-like and secret suggestions, and prompting me with
"Well
done, well done," have brought me down to this. "For all that wait
upon
You
shall not be confounded" (ver. 3).
4.
"Let them be confounded who do vain things unrighteously." Let them
be
confounded
who act unrighteously for the acquiring things that pass away. "Make
Your
ways, O Lord, known to me, and teach me Your paths" (ver. 4): not those
which
are broad, and lead the many to destruction; Matthew 7:13 but Your paths,
narrow,
and known to few, teach Thou me.
5.
"In Your truth guide me:" avoiding error. "And teach me:"
for by myself I know
nothing,
but falsehood. "For You are the God of my salvation; and for You have I
waited
all the day" (ver. 5). For dismissed by You from
my
journey into a far country, Luke 15:13 I cannot by myself return, unless Thou
meetest
the wanderer: for my return has throughout the whole tract of this world's
time
waited for Your mercy.
6.
"Remember Your compassions, O Lord" (ver. 6). Remember the works of
Your
mercy,
O Lord; for men deem of You as though You had forgotten. "And that
Your
mercies are from eternity." And remember this, that Your mercies are from
eternity.
For Thou never wast without them, who hast subjected even sinful man to
vanity
indeed, but in hope; Romans 8:20 and not deprived him of so many and
great
consolations of Your creation.
7.
"Remember not the offences of my youth and of my ignorance" (ver. 7).
The
offences
of my presumptuous boldness and of my ignorance reserve not for
vengeance,
but let them be as if forgotten by You. "According to Your mercy, be
mindful
of me, O God." Be mindful indeed of me, not according to the anger of
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Psalm 25
117
which
I am worthy, but according to Your mercy which is worthy of You. "For
Your
goodness, O Lord." Not for my deservings, but for Your goodness, O Lord.
8.
"Gracious and upright is the Lord" (ver. 8). The Lord is gracious,
since even
sinners
and the ungodly He so pitied, as to forgive all that is past; but the Lord is
upright
too, who after the mercy of vocation and pardon, which is of grace without
merit,
will require merits meet for the last judgment. "Wherefore He will
establish
a
law for them that fail in the way." For He has first bestowed mercy to
bring them
into
the way.
9.
"He will guide the meek in judgment." He will guide the meek, and
will not
confound
in the judgment those that follow His will, and do not, in withstanding
It,
prefer their own. "The gentle He will teach His ways" (ver. 9). He
will teach
His
ways, not to those that desire to run before, as if they were better able to
rule
themselves;
but to those who do not exalt the neck, nor lift the heel, when the easy
yoke
and the light burden is laid upon them. Matthew 11:30
10.
"All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth" (ver. 10). And what
ways will
He
teach them, but mercy wherein He is placable, and truth wherein He is
incorrupt?
Whereof He has exhibited the one in forgiving sins, the other in judging
deserts.
And therefore "all the ways of the Lord" are the two advents of the
Son of
God,
the one in mercy, the other in judgment. He then attains unto Him holding on
His
ways, who seeing himself freed by no deserts of his own, lays pride aside, and
henceforward
bewares of the severity of His trial, having experienced the
clemency
of His help. "To them that seek His testament and His testimonies."
For
they
understand the Lord as merciful at His first advent, and as the Judge at His
second,
who in meekness and gentleness seek His testament, when with His Own
Blood
He redeemed us to a new life; and in the Prophets and Evangelists, His
testimonies.
11.
"For Your Name's sake, O Lord, You will be favourable to my sin; for it is
manifold"
(ver. 11). You have not only forgiven my sins, which I committed
before
I believed; but also to my sin, which is manifold, since even in the way
there
is no lack of stumbling, You will be made favourable by the sacrifice of a
troubled
spirit.
12.
"Who is the man that fears the Lord?" from which fear he begins to
come to
wisdom.
"He shall establish a law for him in the way, which he has chosen"
(ver.
12).
He shall establish a law for him in the way, which in his freedom he has
taken,
that he may not sin now with impunity.
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Psalm 25
118
13.
"His soul shall dwell in good, and his seed shall, by inheritance, possess
the
earth"
(ver. 13). And his work shall possess the stable inheritance of a renewed
body.
14.
"The Lord is the stay of them that fear Him" (ver. 14). Fear seems to
belong to
the
weak, but the Lord is the stay of them that fear Him. And the Name of the
Lord,
which has been glorified throughout the whole world, is a stay to them that
fear
Him. "And His testament, that it may be manifested unto them." And He
makes
His testament to be manifested unto them, for the Gentiles and the bounds
of
the earth are Christ's inheritance.
15.
"My eyes are ever unto the Lord; for He shall pluck my feet out of the
snare"
(ver.
15). Nor would I fear the dangers of earth, while I look not upon the earth:
for
He upon whom I look, will pluck my feet out of the snare.
16.
"Look upon me, and have mercy upon me; for I am single and poor"
(ver. 16).
For
I am a single people, keeping the lowliness of Your single Church, which no
schisms
or heresies possess.
17.
"The tribulations of my heart have been multiplied" (ver. 17). The
tribulations
of
my heart have been multiplied by the abounding of iniquity and the waxing cold
of
love. Matthew 24:12 "O bring Thou me out of my necessities." Since I
must
needs
bear this, that by enduring unto the end I may be saved, bring Thou me out
of
my necessities.
18.
"See my humility and my travail" (ver. 18). See my humility, whereby
I never,
in
the boast of righteousness, break off from unity; and my travail, wherein I
bear
with
the unruly ones that are mingled with me. "And forgive all my sins."
And,
propitiated
by these sacrifices, forgive all my sins, not those only of youth and my
ignorance
before I believed, but those also which, living now by faith, I commit
through
infirmity, or the darkness of this life.
19.
"Consider mine enemies, how they are multiplied" (ver. 19). For not
only
without,
but even within, in the Church's very communion, they are not wanting.
"And
with an unrighteous hate they hate me." And they hate me who love them.
20.
"Keep my soul, and deliver me." Keep my soul, that I turn not aside
to imitate
them;
and draw me out from the confusion wherein they are mingled with me.
"Let
me not be confounded, for I have put my trust in You" (ver. 20). Let me
not
be
confounded, if haply they rise up against me: for not in myself, but in You
have
I
put my trust.
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Psalm 25
119
21.
"The innocent and the upright have cleaved to me, for I have waited for
You,
O
Lord" (ver. 21). The innocent and the upright, not in bodily presence
only, as
the
evil, are mingled with me, but in the agreement of the heart in the same
innocence
and uprightness cleave to me: for I have not fallen away to imitate the
evil;
but I have waited for You, expecting the winnowing of Your last harvest.
22.
"Redeem
people,
O God," whom You have prepared to see You, out of his troubles, not
those
only which he bears without, but those also which he bears within.
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Psalm 26
120
Exposition on Psalm 26
Of
David himself.
1.
It may be attributed to David himself, not the Mediator, the Man Christ Jesus,
but
the whole Church now perfectly established in Christ.
2.
"Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my innocence" (ver. 1). Judge
me, O
Lord,
for, after the mercy which You first showed me, I have some desert of my
innocence,
the way whereof I have kept. "And trusting in the Lord I shall not be
moved."
And yet not even so trusting in myself, but in the Lord, I shall abide in
Him.
3.
"Prove me, O Lord, and try me" (ver. 2). Lest, however, any of my
secret sins
should
be hid from me, prove me, O Lord, and try me, making me known, not to
You
from whom nothing is hid, but to myself, and to men. "Burn my reins and my
heart."
Apply a remedial purgation, as it were fire, to my pleasures and thoughts.
"For
Your mercy is before my eyes" (ver. 3). For, that I be not consumed by
that
fire,
not my merits, but Your mercy, whereby You have brought me on to such a
life,
is before my eyes. "And I have been pleasing in Your truth." And
since my
own
falsehood has been displeasing to me, but Your truth pleasing, I have myself
been
pleasing also with it and in it.
4.
"I have not sat with the council of vanity" (ver. 4). I have not
chosen to give my
heart
to them who endeavour to provide, what is impossible, how they may be
blessed
in the enjoyment of things transitory. "And I will not enter in with them
that
work wickedly." And since this is the very cause of all wickedness,
therefore I
will
not have my conscience hid, with them that work wickedly.
5.
"I have hated the congregation of evil doers." But to arrive at this
council of
vanity,
congregations of evil doers are formed, which I have hated. "And I will
not
sit
with the ungodly" (ver. 5). And, therefore, with such a council, with the
ungodly,
I will not sit, that is, I will not place my consent. "And I will not sit
with
the
ungodly."
6.
"I will wash mine hands amid the innocent" (ver. 6). I will make
clean my
works
among the innocent: among the innocent will I wash mine hands, with
which
I shall embrace Your glorious gifts. "And I will compass Your altar, O
Lord."
7.
"That I may hear the voice of Your praise." That I may learn how to
praise You.
"And
that I may declare all Your wondrous works" (ver. 7). And after I have
learned,
I may set forth all Your wondrous works.
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Psalm 26
121
8.
"O Lord, I have loved the beauty of Your house:" of Your Church.
"And the
place
of the habitation of Your glory" (ver. 8): where Thou dwellest, and art
glorified.
9.
"Destroy not my soul with the ungodly" (ver. 9). Destroy not then,
together with
them
that hate You, my soul, which has loved the beauty of Your house. "And my
life
with the men of blood." And with them that hate their neighbour. For Your
house
is beautified with the two commandments.
10.
"In whose hands is wickedness." Destroy me not then with the ungodly
and the
men
of blood, whose works are wicked. "Their right hand is full of gifts"
(ver. 10).
And
that which was given them to obtain eternal salvation, they have converted
into
the receiving this world's gifts, "supposing that godliness is a
trade."
1
Timothy 6:5
11.
"But I have walked in mine innocence: deliver me, and have mercy on
me"
(ver.
11). Let so great a price of my Lord's Blood avail for my complete
deliverance:
and in the dangers of this life let not Your mercy leave me.
12.
"My foot has stood in uprightness." My Love has not withdrawn from
Your
righteousness.
"In the Churches I will bless You, O Lord" (ver. 12). I will not hide
Your
blessing, O Lord, from those whom You have called; for next to the love of
You
I join the love of my neighbour.
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Psalm 27
122
Exposition
on Psalm 27
Of
David himself, before he was anointed.
1.
Christ's young soldier speaks, on his coming to the faith. "The Lord is my
light,
and
my salvation: whom shall I fear?" (ver. 1). The Lord will give me both
knowledge
of Himself, and salvation: who shall take me from Him? "The Lord is
the
Protector of my life: of whom shall I be afraid?" The Lord will repel all
the
assaults
and snares of mine enemy: of no man shall I be afraid.
2.
"Whilst the guilty approach unto me to eat up my flesh" (ver. 2).
Whilst the
guilty
come near to recognise and insult me, that they may exalt themselves above
me
in my change for the better; that with their reviling tooth they may consume
not
me, but rather my fleshly desires. "Mine enemies who trouble me." Not
they
only
who trouble me, blaming me with a friendly intent, and wishing to recall me
from
my purpose, but mine enemies also. "They became weak, and fell."
Whilst
then
they do this with the desire of defending their own opinion, they became
weak
to believe better things, and began to hate the word of salvation, whereby I
do
what displeases them.
3.
"If camps stand together against me, my heart will not fear." But if
the
multitude
of gain-sayers conspire to stand together against me, my heart will not
fear,
so as to go over to their side. "If war rise up against me, in this will I
trust"
(ver.
3). If the persecution of this world arise against me, in this petition, which
I
am
pondering, will I place my hope.
4.
"One have I asked of the Lord, this will I require." For one petition
have I asked
the
Lord, this will I require. "That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all
the
days
of my life" (ver. 4). That as long as I am in this life, no adversities
may
exclude
me from the number of them who hold the unity and the truth of the
Lord's
faith throughout the world. "That I may contemplate the delight of the
Lord."
With this end, namely, that persevering in the faith, the delightsome vision
may
appear to me, which I may contemplate face to face. "And I shall be
protected,
His temple." And death being swallowed up in victory, I shall be
clothed
with immortality, being made His temple.
5.
"For He has hidden me in His tabernacle in the day of my evils" (ver.
5). For He
has
hidden me in the dispensation of His Incarnate Word in the time of
temptations,
to which my mortal life is exposed. "He has protected me in the
secret
place of His tabernacle." He has protected me, with the heart believing
unto
righteousness.
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Psalm 27
123
6.
"On a rock has He exalted me." And that what I believed might be made
manifest
for salvation, He has made my confession to be conspicuous in His own
strength.
"And now, lo! He has exalted mine head above mine enemies" (ver. 6).
What
does He reserve for me at the last, when even now the body is dead because
of
sin, lo! I feel that my mind serves the law of God, and is not led captive
under
the
rebellious law of sin? "I have gone about, and have sacrificed in His
tabernacle
the
sacrifice of rejoicing." I have considered the circuit of the world,
believing on
Christ;
and in that for us God was humbled in time, I have praised Him with
rejoicing:
for with such sacrifice He is well pleased. "I will sing and give praises
to
the Lord." In heart and in deed I will be glad in the Lord.
7.
"Hear my voice, O Lord, wherewith I have cried unto You" (ver. 7).
Hear, Lord,
my
interior voice, which with a strong intention I have addressed to Your ears.
"Have
mercy upon me, and hear me." Have mercy upon me, and hear me therein.
8.
"My heart has said to You, I have sought Your countenance" (ver. 8).
For I have
not
exhibited myself to men; but in secret, where Thou alone hearest, my heart has
said
to You; I have not sought from You anything without You as a reward, but
Your
countenance. "Your countenance, O Lord, will I seek." In thus search
will I
perseveringly
persist: for not anything that is common, but Your countenance, O
Lord,
will I seek, that I may love You freely, since nothing more precious do I
find.
9.
"Turn not away Your face from me" (ver. 9): that I may find what I
seek. "Turn
not
aside in anger from Your servant:" lest, while seeking You, I fall in with
somewhat
else. For what is more grievous than this punishment to one who loves
and
seeks the truth of Your countenance? "Be Thou my Helper." How shall I
find
it,
if Thou help me not? "Leave me not, neither despise me, O God my
Saviour."
Scorn
not that a mortal dares to seek the Eternal; for Thou, God, dost heal the
wound
of my sin.
10.
"For my father and my mother have left me" "But the Lord took me
up." But
the
Lord, who can give me Himself, took me up.
11.
"Appoint me a law, O Lord, in Your way" (ver. 11). For me then who am
setting
out toward You, and commenting so great a profession, of arriving at
wisdom,
from fear, appoint, O Lord, a law in Your way, lest in my wandering
Your
rule abandon me. "And direct me in the right path because of mine
enemies."
And
direct me in the right way of its straits. For it is not enough to begin, since
enemies
cease not until the end is attained.
12.
"Deliver me not up unto the souls of them that trouble me" (ver. 12).
Suffer not
them
that trouble me to be satiated with my evils. "For unrighteous witnesses
have
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Psalm 27
124
risen
up against me." For there have risen up against me they that speak falsely
of
me,
to remove and call me back from You, as if I seek glory of men. "And
iniquity
has
lied unto itself." Therefore iniquity has been pleased with its own lie.
For me it
has
not moved, to whom because of this there has been promised a greater reward
in
heaven.
13.
"I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the
living" (ver. 13).
And
since my Lord has first suffered these things, if I too despise the tongues of
the
dying ("for the mouth that lies slays the soul" Wisdom 1:11), I
believe to see
the
good things of the Lord in the land of the living, where there is no place for
falsity.
14.
"Wait on the Lord, quit yourself like a man: and let your heart be strong,
yea
wait
on the Lord" (ver. 14). But when shall this be? It is arduous for a
mortal, it is
slow
to a lover: but listen to the voice, that deceives not, of him that says,
"Wait
on
the Lord." Endure the burning of the reins manfully, and the burning of
the
heart
stoutly. Think not that what thou dost not as yet receive is denied you. That
thou
faint not in despair, see how it is said, "Wait on the Lord."
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Psalm 28
125
Exposition
on Psalm 28
Of
David himself.
1.
It is the Voice of the Mediator Himself, strong of hand in the conflict of the
Passion.
Now what He seems to wish for against His enemies, is not the wish of
malevolence,
but the declaration of their punishment; as in the Gospel,
Matthew
11:20-24 with the cities, in which though He had performed miracles, yet
they
had not believed on Him, He does not wish in any evil will what He says, but
predicts
what is impending over them.
2.
"Unto You, O Lord, have I cried; My God, be not silent from me" (ver.
1). Unto
You,
O Lord, have I cried; My God, separate not the unity of Your Word from that
which
as Man I am. "Lest at any time Thou be silent from me: and I shall be like
them
that go down into the pit." For from this, that the Eternity of Your Word
ceases
not to unite Itself to Me, it comes that I am not such a man as the rest of
men,
who are born into the deep misery of this world: where, as if You are silent,
Your
Word is not recognised. "Hear, O Lord, the voice of my supplication, whist
I
pray
unto You, while I hold up my hands to Your holy temple" (ver. 2). Whilst I
am
crucified for their salvation, who on believing become Your holy temple.
3.
"Draw not My Soul away with sinners, and destroy me not with them that
work
iniquity,
with them that speak peace with their neighbours" (ver. 3). With them
that
say unto Me, "We know that You are a Master come from God." John 3:2
"But
evil in their hearts." But they speak evil in their hearts.
4.
"Give unto them according to their works" (ver. 4). Give unto them
according to
their
works, for this is just. "And according to the malice of their
affections." For
aiming
at evil, they cannot discover good. "According to the works of their hands
give
Thou unto them." Although what they have done may avail for salvation to
others,
yet give Thou unto them according to the works of their wills. "Pay them
their
recompense." Because, for the truth which they heard, they wished to
recompense
deceit; let their own deceit deceive them.
5.
"For they have not had understanding in the works of the Lord" (ver.
5). And
whence
is it clear that this has befallen them? From this forsooth, "for they
have
not
had understanding in the works of the Lord." This very thing, in truth,
has
been,
even now, their recompense, that in Him whom they tempted with malicious
intent
as a Man, they should not recognise God, with what design the Father sent
Him
in the Flesh. "And the works of His hands." Nor be moved by those
visible
works,
which are laid out before their very eyes. "You shall destroy them, and
not
build
them up." Let them do Me no hurt, nay, nor again in their endeavour to
raise
engines
against My Church, let them anything avail.
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Psalm 28 126
6.
"Blessed be the Lord, for He has heard the voice of My prayer" (ver.
6).
7.
"The Lord My Helper and My Protector" (ver. 7). The Lord helping Me
in so
great
sufferings, and protecting Me with immortality in My resurrection. "In Him
has
My Heart trusted, and I have been helped." "And My Flesh has
flourished
again:"
that is, and My Flesh has risen again. "And of my will I will confess unto
Him."
Wherefore, the fear of death being now destroyed, not by the necessity of
fear
under the Law, but with a free will with the Law, shall they who believe in
Me,
confess unto Him; and because I am in them, I will confess.
8.
"The Lord is the strength of His people" (ver. 8). Not that people
"ignorant of
the
righteousness of God, and willing to establish their own." Romans 10:3 For
they
thought not themselves strong in themselves: for the Lord is the strength of
His
people, struggling in this life's difficulties with the devil. "And the
protector of
the
salvation of His Christ." That, having saved them by His Christ after the
strength
of war, He may protect them at the last with the immortality of peace.
9.
"Save Your people, and bless Your inheritance" (ver. 9). I intercede
therefore,
after
My Flesh has flourished again, because You have said, "Desire of Me, and I
will
give You the heathen for Your inheritance;" "Save Your people, and
bless
Your
inheritance:" for "all Mine are Yours." John 17:10 "And
rule them, and set
them
up even for ever." And rule them in this temporal life, and raise them
from
hence
into life eternal.
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Psalm 29 127
Exposition
on Psalm 29
A
psalm of David himself, of the consummation of the tabernacle.
1.
A Psalm of the Mediator Himself, strong of hand, of the perfection of the
Church
in this world, where she wars in time against the devil.
2.
The Prophet speaks, "Bring unto the Lord, O you Sons of God, bring unto
the
Lord
the young of rams" (ver. 1). Bring unto the Lord yourselves, whom the
Apostles,
the leaders of the flocks, have begotten by the Gospel.
1
Corinthians 4:15 "Bring unto the Lord glory and honour" (ver. 2). By
your
works
let the Lord be glorified and honoured. "Bring unto the Lord glory to His
name."
Let Him be made known gloriously throughout the world. "Worship the
Lord
in His holy court." Worship the Lord in your heart enlarged and
sanctified.
For
you are His regal holy habitation.
3.
"The Voice of the Lord is upon the waters" (ver. 3). The Voice of
Christ is upon
the
peoples. "The God of majesty has thundered." The God of majesty, from
the
cloud
of the flesh, has awfully preached repentance. "The Lord is upon many
waters."
The Lord Jesus Himself, after that He sent forth His Voice upon the
peoples,
and struck them with awe, converted them to Himself, and dwelt in them.
4.
"The Voice of the Lord is in power" (ver. 4). The Voice of the Lord
now in
them
themselves, making them powerful. "The Voice of the Lord is in great
might."
The Voice of the Lord working great things in them.
5.
"The Voice of the Lord breaking the cedars" (ver. 5). The Voice of
the Lord
humbling
the proud in brokenness of heart. "The Lord shall break the cedars of
Libanus."
The Lord by repentance shall break them that are lifted on high by the
splendour
of earthly nobility, when to confound them He shall have "chosen the
base
things of this world," 1 Corinthians 1:28 in the which to display His
Divinity.
6.
"And shall bruise them as the calf of Libanus" (ver. 6). And when
their proud
exaltation
has been cut off, He will lay them low after the imitation of His Own
humility,
who like a calf was led to slaughter Isaiah 53:7 by the nobility of this
world.
"For the kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers agreed together
against
the
Lord, and against His Christ." "And the Beloved is as the young of
the
unicorns."
For even He the Beloved, and the Only One of the Father, "emptied
Himself"
of His glory; and was made man, Philippians 2:7 like a child of the Jews,
that
were "ignorant of God's righteousness," Romans 10:3 and proudly
boasting of
their
own righteousness as peculiarly theirs.
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Psalm 29
128
7.
"The Voice of the Lord cutting short the flame of fire" (ver. 7). The
Voice of the
Lord,
without any harm to Himself, passing through all the excited ardour of them
that
persecute Him, or dividing the furious rage of His persecutors, so that some
should
say, "Is not this haply the very Christ;" others, "Nay; but He
deceives the
people:"
John 7:41, 12 and so cutting short their mad tumult, as to pass some over
into
His love, and leave others in their malice.
8.
"The Voice of the Lord moving the wilderness" (ver. 8). The Voice of
the Lord
moving
to the faith the Gentiles once "without hope, and without God in the
world;"
Ephesians 2:12 where no prophet, no preacher of God's word, as it were,
no
man had dwelt. "And the Lord will move the desert of Cades." And then
the
Lord
will cause the holy word of His Scriptures to be fully known, which was
abandoned
by the Jews who understood it not.
9.
"The Voice of the Lord perfecting the stags" (ver. 9). For the Voice
of the Lord
has
first perfected them that overcame and repelled the envenomed tongues.
"And
will
reveal the woods." And then will He reveal to them the darknesses of the
Divine
books, and the shadowy depths of the mysteries, where they feed with
freedom.
"And in His temple does every man speak of His glory." And in His
Church
all born again to an eternal hope praise God, each for His own gift, which
He
has received from the Holy Spirit.
10.
"The Lord inhabites the deluge" (ver. 10). The Lord therefore first
inhabites
the
deluge of this world in His Saints, kept safely in the Church, as in the ark.
"And
the Lord shall sit a King for ever." And afterward He will sit reigning in
them
for ever.
11.
"The Lord will give strength to His people" (ver. 11). For the Lord
will give
strength
to His people fighting against the storms and whirlwinds of this world, for
peace
in this world He has not promised them. John 16:33 "The Lord will bless
His
people in peace." And the same Lord will bless His people, affording them
peace
in Himself; for, says He, "My peace I give unto you, My peace I leave with
you."
John 14:27
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Psalm 30 129
Exposition
on Psalm 30
To
the end, the psalm of the canticle of the dedication of the house, of David
himself.
1.
To the end, a Psalm of the joy of the Resurrection, and the change, the
renewing
of
the body to an immortal state, and not only of the Lord, but also of the whole
Church.
For in the former Psalm the tabernacle was finished, wherein we dwell in
the
time of war: but now the house is dedicated, which will abide in peace
everlasting.
2.
It is then whole Christ who speaks. "I will exalt You, O Lord, for You
have
taken
Me up" (ver. 1). I will praise Your high Majesty, O Lord, for You have
taken
Me up. "You have not made Mine enemies to rejoice over Me." And
those,
who
have so often endeavoured to oppress Me with various persecutions
throughout
the world, You have not made to rejoice over Me.
3.
"O Lord, My God, I have cried unto You, and You have healed Me" (ver.
2). O
Lord,
My God, I have cried unto You, and I no longer bear about a body enfeebled
and
sick by mortality.
4.
"O Lord, You have brought back My Soul from hell, and You have saved Me
from
them that go down into the pit" (ver. 3). You have saved Me from the
condition
of profound darkness, and the lowest slough of corruptible flesh.
5.
"Sing to the Lord, O you saints of His." The prophet seeing these
future things,
rejoices,
and says, "Sing to the Lord, O you saints of His. And make confession of
the
remembrance of His holiness" (ver. 4). And make confession to Him, that He
has
not forgotten the sanctification, wherewith He has sanctified you, although all
this
intermediate period belong to your desires.
6.
"For in His indignation is wrath" (ver. 5). For He has avenged
against you the
first
sin, for which you have paid by death. "And life in His will." And
life eternal,
whereunto
you could not return by any strength of your own, has He given,
because
He so would. "In the evening weeping will tarry." Evening began, when
the
light of wisdom withdrew from sinful man, when he was condemned to death:
from
this evening weeping will tarry, as long as God's people are, amid labours
and
temptations, awaiting the day of the Lord. "And exultation in the
morning."
Even
to the morning, when there will be the exultation of the resurrection, which
has
shone forth by anticipation in the morning resurrection of the Lord.
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Psalm 30 130
7.
"But I said in my abundance, I shall not be moved for ever" (ver. 6).
But I, that
people
which was speaking from the first, said in mine abundance, suffering now
no
more any want, "I shall not be moved for ever."
8.
"O Lord, in Your will You have afforded strength unto my beauty"
(ver. 7). But
that
this my abundance, O Lord, is not of myself, but that in Your will You have
afforded
strength unto my beauty, I have learned from this, " You turned away
Your
Face from me, and I became troubled;" for You have sometimes turned away
Your
Face from the sinner, and I became troubled, when the illumination of Your
knowledge
withdrew from me.
9.
"Unto You, O Lord, will I cry, and unto my God will I pray" (ver. 8).
And
bringing
to mind that time of my trouble and misery, and as it were established
therein,
I hear the voice of Your First-Begotten, my Head, about to die for me, and
saying
"Unto You, O Lord, will I cry, and unto My God will I pray."
10.
"What profit" is there in the shedding of My blood, while I go down
to
corruption?
"Shall dust confess unto You?" For if I shall not rise immediately,
and
My
body shall become corrupt, "shall dust confess unto You?" that is,
the crowd
of
the ungodly, whom I shall justify by My resurrection? "Or declare Your
truth?"
Or
for the salvation of the rest declare Your truth?
11.
"The Lord has heard, and had mercy on Me, the Lord has become My
helper."
Nor
did "He suffer His holy One to see corruption" (ver. 10).
12.
"You have turned My mourning into joy to Me" (ver. 11). Whom I, the
Church,
having received, the First-Begotten from the dead, Revelation 1:5 now in
the
dedication of Your house, say, "You have turned my mourning into joy to
me.
You
have put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness." You have torn off
the
veil of my sins, the sadness of my mortality; and hast girded me with the first
robe,
with immortal gladness.
13.
"That my glory should sing unto You, and I should not be pricked"
(ver. 12).
That
now, not my humiliation, but my glory should not lament, but should sing
unto
You, for that now out of humiliation You have exalted me; and that I should
not
be pricked with the consciousness of sin, with the fear of death, with the fear
of
judgment. "O Lord, my God, I will confess unto You for ever." And
this is my
glory,
O Lord, my God, that I should confess unto You for ever, that I have
nothing
of myself, but that all my good is of You, who art "God, All in all."
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Psalm 31
131
Exposition
on Psalm 31
To
the end, a psalm of David himself, an ecstasy.
1.
To the end a Psalm of David Himself, the Mediator strong of hand in
persecutions.
For the word ecstasy, which is added to the title, signifies a transport
of
the mind, which is produced either by a panic, or by some revelation. But in
this
Psalm
the panic of the people of God troubled by the persecution of all the
heathen,
and by the failing of faith throughout the world, is principally seen. But
first
the Mediator Himself speaks: then the People redeemed by His Blood gives
thanks:
at last in trouble it speaks at length, which is what belongs to the ecstasy;
but
the Person of the Prophet himself is twice interposed, near the end, and at the
end.
2.
"In You, O Lord, have I trusted, let Me not be put to confusion for
ever" (ver.
1).
In You, O Lord, have I trusted, let Me never be confounded, while they shall
insult
Me as one like other men. "In Your righteousness rescue Me, and deliver
Me."
And in Your righteousness rescue Me from the pit of death, and deliver Me
out
of their company.
3.
"Bend down Thine ear unto Me" (ver. 2). Hear Me in My humiliation,
nigh at
hand
unto Me. "Make haste to deliver Me." Defer not to the end of the
world, as
with
all who believe in Me, My separation from sinners. "Be unto Me a God who
protects
Me." Be unto Me God, and Protector. "And a house of refuge, that You
may
save Me." And as a house, wherein taking refuge I may be saved.
4.
"For You are My strength, and My refuge" (ver. 3). For You are unto
Me My
strength
to bear My persecutors, and My refuge to escape them. "And for Your
Name's
sake You shall be My guide, and shall nourish Me." And that by Me You
may
be known to all the Gentiles. I will in all things follow Your will; and, by
assembling,
by degrees, Saints unto Me, You shall fulfil My body, and My perfect
stature.
5.
"You shall bring Me out of this trap, which they have hidden for Me"
(ver. 4).
You
shall bring Me out of these snares, which they have hidden for Me. "For
You
are
My Protector."
6.
"Into Your hands I commend My Spirit" (ver. 5). To Your power I
commend
My
Spirit, soon to receive It back. "You have redeemed Me, O Lord God of
truth."
Let
the people too, redeemed by the Passion of their Lord, and joyful in the
glorifying
of their Head, say, "You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth."
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Psalm 31
132
7.
"Thou hatest them that hold to vanity uselessly" (ver. 6). Thou
hatest them that
hold
to the false happiness of the world. "But I have trusted in the
Lord."
8.
"I will be glad, and rejoice in Your mercy:" which does not deceive
me. "For
You
have regarded My humiliation:" wherein You have subjected me to vanity in
hope.
Romans 8:20 "You have saved my soul from necessities" (ver. 7). You
have
saved
my soul from the necessities of fear, that with a free love it may serve You.
9.
"And hast not shut me up into the hands of the enemy" (ver. 8). And
hast not
shut
me up, that I should have no opening for recovering unto liberty, and be given
over
for ever into the power of the devil, ensnaring me with the desire of this
life,
and
terrifying me with death. "You have set my feet in a large room." The
resurrection
of my Lord being known, and my own being promised me, my love,
having
been brought out of the straits of fear, walks abroad in continuance, into
the
expanse of liberty.
10.
"Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am troubled" (ver. 9). But what is
this
unlooked-for
cruelty of the persecutors, striking such dread into me? "Have mercy
on
me, O Lord." For I am now no more alarmed for death, but for torments and
tortures.
"My eye has been disordered by anger." I had my eye upon You, that
You
should
not abandon me: You are angry, and hast disordered it. "My soul, and my
belly."
By the same anger my soul has been disturbed, and my memory, whereby I
retained
what my God has suffered for me, and what He has promised me.
11.
"For my life has failed in pain" (ver 10). For my life is to confess
You, but it
failed
in pain, when the enemy had said, Let them be tortured until they deny Him.
"And
my years in groanings." The time that I pass in this world is not taken
away
from
me by death, but abides, and is spent in groanings. "My strength has been
weakened
by want." I want the health of this body, and racking pains come on me:
I
want the dissolution of the body, and death forbears to come: and in this want
my
confidence
has been weakened. "And my bones have been disturbed." And my
steadfastness
has been disturbed.
12.
"I have been made a reproach above all mine enemies" (ver 11). All
the
wicked
are my enemies; and nevertheless they for their wickednesses are tortured
only
till they confess: I then have overpassed their reproach, I, whose confession
death
does not follow, but racking pains follow upon it. "And to my neighbours
too
much." This has seemed too much to them, who were already drawing near to
know
You, and to hold the faith that I hold. "And a fear to mine
acquaintance."
And
into my very acquaintance I struck fear by the example of my dreadful
tribulation.
"They that did see me, fled without from me." Because they did not
understand
my inward and invisible hope, they fled from me into things outward
and
visible.
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Psalm 31
133
13.
"I have been forgotten, as one dead from the heart" (ver. 12). And
they have
forgotten
me, as if I were dead from their hearts. "I have become as a lost
vessel."
I
have seemed to myself to be lost to all the Lord's service, living in this
world,
and
gaining none, when all were afraid to join themselves unto me.
14.
"For I have heard the rebuking of many dwelling by in a circuit"
(ver. 13). For
I
have heard many rebuking me, in the pilgrimage of this world near me, following
the
circuit of time, and refusing to return with me to the eternal country.
"Whilst
they
were assembling themselves together against me, they conspired that they
might
take my soul." That my soul, which should by death easily escape from
their
power,
might consent unto them, they imagined a device, whereby they would not
suffer
me even to die.
15.
"But I have hoped in You, O Lord; I have said, You are my God" (ver.
14). For
You
have not changed, that You should not save, Who dost correct.
16.
"In Your hands" are "my lots" (ver. 15). In Your power are
my lots. For I see
no
desert for which out of the universal ungodliness of the human race You have
elected
me particularly to salvation. And though there be with You some just and
secret
order in my election, yet I, from whom this is hid, have attained by lot unto
my
Lord's vesture. John 19:24 "Deliver me from the hands of mine enemies, and
from
them that persecute me."
17.
"Make Your Face to shine upon Your servant" (ver. 16). Make it known
to
men,
who do not think that I belong unto You, that Your Face is bent upon me,
and
that I serve You. "Save me in Your mercy."
18.
"O Lord, let me not be confounded, for I have called upon You" (ver.
17). O
Lord,
let me not be put to shame by those who insult me, for that I have called
upon
You. "Let the ungodly be ashamed, and be brought down to hell." Let
them
rather
who call upon stones be ashamed, and made to dwell with darkness.
19.
"Let the deceitful lips be made dumb" (ver. 18). In making known to
the
peoples
Your mysteries wrought in me, strike with dumb amazement the lips of
them
that invent falsehood of me. "Which speak iniquity against the Righteous,
in
pride
and contempt." Which speak iniquity against Christ, in their pride and
contempt
of Him as a crucified man.
20.
"How great" is "the multitude of Your sweetness, O Lord"
(ver. 19). Here the
Prophet
exclaims, having sight of all this, and admiring how manifoldly plenteous
is
Your sweetness, O Lord. "Which You have hid for them that fear You."
Even
those,
whom Thou correctest, Thou lovest much: but lest they should go on
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 31 134
negligently
from relaxed security, Thou hidest from them the sweetness of Your
love,
for whom it is profitable to fear You. "You have perfected it for them
that
hope
in You." But You have perfected this sweetness for them that hope in You.
For
Thou dost not withdraw from them what they look for perseveringly even unto
the
end. "In sight of the sons of men." For it does not escape the notice
of the sons
of
men, who now live no more after Adam, but after the Son of Man. "You will
hide
them in the hidden place of Your Countenance:" which seat You shall
preserve
for everlasting in the hidden place of the knowledge of You for them that
hope
in You. "From the troubling of men." So that now they suffer no more
trouble
from men.
21.
"You will protect them in Your tabernacle from the contradiction of
tongues"
(ver.
20). But here meanwhile while evil tongues murmur against them, saying,
Who
has come thence? You will protect them in the tabernacle, that of faith in
those
things, which the Lord wrought and endured for us in time.
22.
"Blessed be the Lord; for He has made His mercy marvellous, in the city of
compassing"
(ver. 21). Blessed be the Lord, for after the correction of the sharpest
persecutions
He has made His mercy marvellous to all throughout the world, in the
circuit
of human society.
23.
"I said in my ecstasy" (ver. 22). Whence that people again speaking
says, I said
in
my fear, when the heathen were raging horribly against me. "I have been
cast
forth
from the sight of Your eyes." For if You had regard to me, You would not
suffer
me to endure these things. "Therefore Thou heardest, O Lord, the voice of
my
prayer, when I cried unto You." Therefore putting a limit to correction,
and
showing
that I have part in Your care, Thou heardest, O Lord, the voice of my
prayer,
when I raised it high out of tribulation.
24.
"Love the Lord, all you His saints" (ver. 23). The Prophet again
exhorts,
having
sight of these things, and says, "Love the Lord, all you His saints; for
the
Lord
will require truth." Since "if the righteous shall scarcely be saved,
where
shall
the sinner and the ungodly appear?" 1 Peter 4:18 "And He will repay
them
that
do exceeding proudly." And He will repay them who even when conquered
are
not converted, because they are very proud.
25.
"Quit you like men, and let your heart be strengthened" (ver. 24):
working
good
without fainting, that you may reap in due season. "All you who trust in
the
Lord:"
that is, you who duly fear and worship Him, trust ye in the Lord.
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Psalm 32
135
Exposition on
Psalm 32
To
David himself; for understanding.
1.
To David himself; for understanding; by which it is understood that not by the
merits
of works, but by the grace of God, man is delivered, confessing his sins.
2.
"Blessed are they whose unrighteousness is forgiven, and whose sins are
covered"
(ver. 1): and whose sins are buried in oblivion. "Blessed is the man to
whom
the Lord has not imputed sin, nor is there guile in his mouth" (ver. 2):
nor
has
he in his mouth boastings of righteousness, when his conscience is full of
sins.
3.
"Because I kept silence, my bones waxed old:" because I made not with
my
mouth
"confession unto salvation," Romans 10:10 all firmness in me has
grown
old
in infirmity. "Through my roaring all the day long" (ver. 3): when I
was
ungodly
and a blasphemer, crying against God, as though defending and excusing
my
sins.
4.
"Because day and night Your Hand was heavy upon me:" because, through
the
continual
punishment of Your scourges, "I was turned in misery, while a thorn was
fixed
through me" (ver. 4): I was made miserable by knowing my misery, being
pricked
with an evil conscience.
5.
"I acknowledged my sin, and my unrighteousness have I not hid:" that
is, my
unrighteousness
have I not concealed. "I said, I will confess against myself my
unrighteousness
to the Lord:" I said, I will confess, not against God (as in my
ungodly
crying, when I kept silence), but against myself, my unrighteousness to
the
Lord. "And Thou forgavest the iniquity of my heart" (ver. 5); hearing
the word
of
confession in the heart, before it was uttered with the voice.
6.
"For this shall every one that is holy pray unto You in an acceptable
time:" for
this
wickedness of heart shall every one that is righteous pray unto You. For not
by
their own merits will they be holy, but by that acceptable time, that is, at
His
coming,
who redeemed us from sin. "Nevertheless in the flood of great waters they
shall
not come nigh him" (ver. 6): nevertheless, let none think, when the end
has
come
suddenly, as in the days of Noah, Matthew 24:37-41 that there remains a
place
of confession, whereby he may draw nigh unto God.
7.
"You are my refuge from the pressures, which have compassed me
about:" You
are
my refuge from the pressure of my sins, which has compassed my heart. "O
Thou,
my Rejoicing, deliver me from them that compass me about" (ver. 7): in
You
is my joy: deliver me from the sorrow which my sins bring upon me.
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Psalm 32
136
8.
Diapsalma. The answer of God: "I will give you understanding, and will set
you
in
the way in which you shall go;" I will give you understanding after
confession,
that
you depart not from the way in which you should go; lest you wish to be in
your
own power. "I will fix Mine Eyes upon you" (ver. 8); so will make
sure upon
you
My Love.
9.
"Be not ye like unto horse or mule, which have no understanding:" and
therefore
would govern themselves. But says the Prophet, "Hold in their jaws with
bit
and bridle." Do Thou then, O God, unto them "that will not come nigh
You"
(ver.
9), what man does to horse and mule, that by scourges Thou make them to
bear
Your rule.
10.
"Many are the scourges of the sinner:" much is he scourged, who,
confessing
not
his sins to God, would be his own ruler. "But he that trusts in the Lord,
mercy
compasses
him about" (ver. 10); but he that trusts in the Lord, and submits himself
to
His rule, mercy shall compass him about.
11.
"Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, you righteous:" be glad, and
rejoice, you
righteous,
not in yourselves, but in the Lord. "And glory, all you that are right in
heart"
(ver. 11): and glory in Him, all you who understand that it is right to be
subject
unto Him, that so ye may be placed above all things beside.
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Psalm 33
137
Exposition
on Psalm 33
1.
"Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous:" rejoice, O you righteous, not
in
yourselves,
for that is not safe; but in the Lord. "For praise is comely to the
upright"
(ver. 1): these praise the Lord, who submit themselves unto the Lord; for
else
they are distorted and perverse.
2.
"Praise the Lord with harp:" praise the Lord, presenting unto Him
your bodies a
living
sacrifice. Romans 12:1 "Sing unto Him with the psaltery for ten
strings"
(ver.
2): let your members be servants to the love of God, and of your neighbour,
in
which are kept both the three and the seven commandments.
3.
"Sing unto Him a new song:" sing unto Him a song of the grace of
faith. "Sing
skilfully
unto Him with jubilation" (ver. 3): sing skillfully unto Him with
rejoicing.
4.
"For the Word of the Lord is right:" for the Word of the Lord is
right, to make
you
that which of yourselves ye cannot be. "And all His works are done in
faith"
(ver.
4): lest any think that by the merit of works he has arrived at faith, when in
faith
are done all the works which God Himself loves.
5.
"He loves Mercy and Judgment:" for He loves Mercy, which now He shows
first;
and Judgment, wherewith He exacts that which He has first shown. "The
earth
is full of the Mercy of the Lord" (ver. 5): throughout the whole world are
sins
forgiven unto men by the Mercy of the Lord.
6.
"By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made firm:" for not by
themselves,
but
by the Word of the Lord were the righteous made strong. "And all the
strength
of
them by the Breath of His Mouth" (ver. 6). And all their faith by His Holy
Spirit.
7.
"He gathers the waters of the sea together as into a bottle:" He
gathered the
people
of the world together, to confession of mortified sin, lest through pride they
flow
too freely. "He lays up the deep in storehouses" (ver. 7): and keeps
in them
His
secrets for riches.
8.
"Let all the earth fear the Lord:" let every sinner fear, that so he
may cease to
sin.
"Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him" (ver. 8):
not of the
terrors
of men, or of any creature, but of Him let them stand in awe.
9.
"For He spoke, and they were made:" for no other one made those
things which
are
to fear; but He spoke, and they were made. "He commanded, and they were
created"
(ver. 9): He commanded by His Word, and they were created.
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Psalm 33
138
10.
"The Lord brings the counsel of the heathen to nought;" of them that
seek not
His
Kingdom, but kingdoms of their own. "He makes the devices of the people of
none
effect:" of them that covet earthly happiness. "And reproves the
counsels of
princes"
(ver. 10): of them that seek to rule over such peoples.
11.
"But the counsel of the Lord stands for ever;" but the counsel of the
Lord,
whereby
He makes none blessed but him that submits unto Himself, stands for
ever.
The thoughts of His Heart to all generations" (ver. 11): the thoughts of
His
Wisdom
are not mutable, but endure to all generations.
12.
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord:" one nation is blessed,
belonging
to the heavenly city, which has not chosen save the Lord for their God:
"And
the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance" (ver. 12): and
which
not of itself, but by the gift of God, has been chosen, that He by possessing
it
may not suffer it to be uncared for and miserable.
13.
"The Lord looks from Heaven; He beholds all the sons of men" (ver.
13). From
the
souls of the righteous, the Lord looks mercifully upon all who would rise to
newness
of life.
14.
"From His prepared habitation:" from His habitation of assumed
Humanity,
which
He prepared for Himself. "He looks upon all the inhabitants of the
earth"
(ver.
14): He looks mercifully upon all who live in the flesh, that He may be over
them
in ruling them.
15.
"He fashions their hearts singly:" He gives spiritually to their
hearts their
proper
gifts, so that neither the whole body may be eye, nor the whole hearing;
1
Corinthians 12:17 but that one in this manner, another in that manner, may be
incorporated
with Christ. "He understands all their works" (ver. 15). Before Him
are
all their works understood.
16.
"A king shall not be saved by much strength:" he shall not be saved
who rules
his
own flesh, if he presume much upon his own strength. "Neither shall a
giant be
saved
by much strength" (ver. 16): nor shall he be saved whoever wars against
the
habit
of his own lust, or against the devil and his angels, if he trust much to his
own
might.
17.
"A horse is a deceitful thing for safety:" he is deceived, who thinks
either that
through
men he gains salvation received among men, or that by the impetuosity of
his
own courage he is defended from destruction. "In the abundance of his
strength
shall
he not be saved" (ver. 17).
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Psalm 33
139
18.
"Behold, the Eyes of the Lord are upon them that fear Him:" because
if thou
seek
salvation, behold, the love of the Lord is upon them that fear Him. "Upon
them
that hope in His mercy" (ver. 18): that hope not in their own strength,
but in
His
mercy.
19.
"To deliver their souls from death, and to keep them alive in famine"
(ver. 19).
To
give them the nourishment of the Word, and of Everlasting Truth, which they
lost
while presuming on their own strength, and therefore have not even their own
strength,
from lack of righteousness.
20.
"My soul shall be patient for the Lord:" that hereafter it may be
filled with
dainties
incorruptible, meanwhile, while here it remains, my soul shall be patient
for
the Lord. "For He is our Helper and Defender" (ver. 20): our Helper
He is,
while
we endeavour after Him; and our Defender, while we resist the adversary.
21.
"For our heart shall rejoice in Him:" for not in ourselves, wherein
without Him
there
is great need; but in Himself shall our heart rejoice. "And we have
trusted in
His
holy Name" (ver. 21); and therefore have we trusted that we shall come to
God,
because unto us absent has He sent, through faith, His own Name.
22.
"Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we have hoped in
You"
(ver.
22): let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us; for hope confounds not, because we
have
hoped in You.
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Psalm 34
140
Exposition
on Psalm 34
A
psalm of David, when he changed his countenance before Abimelech, and he
sent
him away, and he departed.
1.
Because there was there a sacrifice after the order of Aaron, and afterwards He
of
His Own Body and Blood appointed a sacrifice after the order of Melchizedek;
He
changed then His Countenance in the Priesthood, and sent away the kingdom
of
the Jews, and came to the Gentiles. What then is, "He affected"? He
was full of
affection.
For what is so full of affection as the Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who,
seeing our infirmity, that He might deliver us from everlasting death,
underwent
temporal death with such great injury and contumely? "And He
drummed:"
because a drum is not made, except when a skin is extended on wood;
and
David drummed, to signify that Christ should be crucified. But, "He
drummed
upon
the doors of the city:" what are "the doors of the city," but
our hearts which
we
had closed against Christ, who by the drum of His Cross has opened the hearts
of
mortal men? "And was carried in His Own Hands:" how "carried in
His Own
Hands"?
Because when He commended His Own Body and Blood, He took into
His
Hands that which the faithful know; and in a manner carried Himself, when
He
said, "This is My Body." Matthew 26:26 "And He fell down at the
doors of the
gate;"
that is, He humbled Himself. For this it is, to fall down even at the very
beginning
of our faith. For the door of the gate is the beginning of faith; whence
begins
the Church, and arrives at last even unto sight: that as it believes those
things
which it sees not, it may deserve to enjoy them, when it shall have begun to
see
face to face. So is the title of the Psalm; briefly we have heard it; let us
now
hear
the very words of Him that affects, and drums upon the doors of the city.
2.
"I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall be ever in my
mouth" (ver. 1).
So
speaks Christ, so also let a Christian speak; for a Christian is in the Body of
Christ;
and therefore was Christ made Man, that that Christian might be enabled to
be
an Angel, who says, "I will bless the Lord at all times." When shall
I "bless the
Lord"?
When He blesses you? When the goods of this world abound? When you
have
great abundance of corn, oil, and wine, of gold and silver, of servants and
cattle;
when this mortal health remains unwounded and sound; when all that are
born
to you grow up, nothing is withdrawn by immature death, happiness wholly
reigns
in your house, and all things overflow around you; then shall you bless the
Lord?
No; but "at all times." Therefore both then, and when according to
the time,
or
according to the scourges of our Lord God, these things are troubled, are taken
away,
are seldom born to you, and born pass away. For these things come to pass,
and
thence follows penury, need, labour, pain, and temptation. But you, who hast
sung,
"I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall be ever in my
mouth,"
both
when He gives them, bless; and when He takes them away, bless. For it is He
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141
that
gives, it is He that takes away: but Himself from him that blesses Him He
takes
not away.
3.
But who is it that blesses the Lord at all times, except the humble in heart.
For
very
humility taught our Lord in His Own Body and Blood: because when He
commends
His Own Body and Blood, He commends His Humility, in that which
is
written in this history, in that seeming madness of David, which we have passed
by,
"And his spittle ran down over his beard." 1 Samuel 21:13 When the
Apostle
was
read, You heard the same spittle, but running down over the beard. One says
perhaps,
What spittle have we heard? Was it not read but now, where the Apostle
says,
"The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom?" But now
it was
read,
"But we preach," says he, "Christ crucified" (for then He
drummed), "unto
the
Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which
are
called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the Power of God, and the Wisdom of
God.
Because the Foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the Weakness of God
is
stronger than men." 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 For spittle signifies
foolishness;
spittle
signifies weakness. But if the Foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the
Weakness
of God is stronger than men; let not the spittle as it were offend you, but
observe
that it runs down over the beard: for as by the spittle, weakness; so by the
beard,
strength is signified. He covered then His Strength by the body of His
Weakness,
and that which without was weak, appeared as it were in spittle; but
within
His Divine Strength was covered as a beard. Therefore humility is
commended
unto us. Be humble if you would bless the Lord at all times, and that
His
praise should be ever in your mouth....
4.
But wherefore does man bless the Lord at all times? Because he is humble.
What
is it to be humble? To take not praise unto himself. Who would himself be
praised,
is proud: who is not proud, is humble. Wouldest thou not then be proud?
That
you may be humble, say what is here written; "In the Lord shall my soul be
praised:
the humble shall hear thereof and be glad" (ver. 2). Those then who will
not
be praised in the Lord, are not humble, but fierce, rough, lifted up, proud.
Gentle
cattle would the Lord have; be thou the Lord's jumentum; that is, be thou
humble.
He sits upon you, He rules you: fear not lest you stumble, and fall
headlong:
that indeed is your infirmity; but consider Who sits upon you. You are
an
ass's colt, but you carry Christ. For even He on an ass's colt came into the
city;
and
that beast was gentle.... "Be not ye as the horse or as the mule, which
have no
understanding."
For horse and mule sometimes lift up their neck, and by their own
fierceness
throw off their rider. They are tamed with the bit, with bridle, with
stripes,
until they learn to submit, and to carry their master. But you, before your
jaws
are bruised with the bridle, be humble, and carry your Lord: wish not praise
for
yourself, but praised be He who sits upon you, and say thou, "In the Lord
shall
my
soul be praised; the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad."...
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142
5.
Now follows, "O magnify the Lord with me" (ver. 3). Who is this that
exhorts
us,
that we should magnify the Lord with him? Whoever, Brethren, is in the body
of
Christ, ought for this to labour, that the Lord may be magnified with him. For
he
loves the Lord, whoever he is. And how does he love Him? So as not to envy
his
fellow-lover .... Let them blush who so love God as to envy others. Abandoned
men
love a charioteer, and whoever loves a charioteer or hunter, wishes the whole
people
to love with him, and exhorts, saying, Love with me this pantomime, love
with
me this or that shame. He calls among the people that shame may be loved
with
him; and does not a Christian call in the Church, that the Truth of God may
be
loved with him? Stir up then love in yourselves, Brethren; and call to every
one
of
yours, and say, "O magnify the Lord with me." Let there be in you
that fervour.
Wherefore
are these things recited and explained? If you love God, bring quickly
to
the love of God all who are joined unto you, and all who are in your house; if
the
Body of Christ is loved by you, that is, if the unity of the Church, bring them
quickly
to enjoy, and say, "O magnify the Lord with me."
6.
"And let us exalt His Name together." What is, "let us exalt His
Name
together"?
That is, in one. For many copies so have it, "O magnify the Lord with
me;
and let us exalt His Name in one." Whether it be said,
"together," or "in one,"
it
is the same thing. Therefore bring quickly whom you can, by exhorting, by
transporting,
by beseeching, by disputing, by rendering a reason, with meekness,
with
gentleness. Bring them quickly unto love; that if they magnify the Lord, they
may
magnify Him in one....
7.
"I sought the Lord, and He heard me" (ver. 4). Where heard the Lord?
Within.
Where
gives He? Within. There you pray, there you are heard, there you are
blessed.
You have prayed, you are heard, you are blessed; and he knows not who
stands
by you: it is all carried on in secret, as the Lord says in the Gospel,
"Enter
into
your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is
in
secret; and your Father which sees in secret, shall reward you openly."
Matthew
6:6 When therefore you enter into your chamber, you enter into your
heart.
Blessed are they who rejoice when they enter into their heart, and find
therein
nought of evil....
8.
"I sought the Lord, and He heard me." Who then are not heard, seek not
the
Lord.
Attend, Holy Brethren; he said not, I sought gold from the Lord, and He
heard
me; I sought from the Lord long life, and He heard me; I sought from the
Lord
this or that, and He heard me. It is one thing to seek anything from the Lord,
another
to seek the Lord Himself. "I sought" (says he) "the Lord, and He
heard
me."
But you, when you pray, saying, Kill that my enemy, seekest not the Lord,
but,
as it were, makest yourself a judge over your enemy, and makest your God an
executioner.
How do you know that he is not better than thou, whose death you
seek?
In that very thing haply he is, that he seeks not yours. Therefore seek not
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143
from
the Lord anything without, but seek the Lord Himself, and He will hear you,
and
while thou yet speakest, He will say, "Lo, here I am." Isaiah
65:24...
9.
I have said who was the exhorter, namely, that lover who would not alone
embrace
what he loves, and says, "Approach unto Him, and be ye lightened"
(ver.
5).
For he says what he himself proved. For some spiritual person in the Body of
Christ,
or even our Lord Jesus Christ Himself according to the flesh, the Head
exhorting
His Own Members, says; what? "Approach unto Him, and be ye
lightened."
Or rather some spiritual Christian invites us to approach to our Lord
Jesus
Christ Himself. But let us approach to Him and be lightened; not as the Jews
approached
to Him, that they might be darkened; for they approached to Him that
they
might crucify Him: let us approach to Him that we may receive His Body and
Blood.
They by Him crucified were darkened; we by eating and drinking The
Crucified
are lightened. "Approach unto Him, and be ye lightened." Lo, this is
said
to
the Gentiles. Christ was crucified amid the Jews raging and seeing; the
Gentiles
were
absent; lo, they have approached who were in darkness, and they who saw
not
are lightened. Whereby approach the Gentiles? By following with faith, by
longing
with the heart, by running with charity. Your feet are your charity. Have
two
feet, be not lame. What are your two feet? The two commandments of love, of
your
God, and of your Neighbour. With these feet run thou unto God, approach
unto
Him, for He has both exhorted you to run, and has Himself shed His Own
Light,
as he has magnificently and divinely continued. "And your faces shall not
be
ashamed." "Approach" (says he) "unto Him, and be ye
lightened; and your
faces
shall not be ashamed." No face shall be ashamed but of the proud.
Wherefore?
Because he would be lifted up, and when he has suffered insult, or
ignominy,
or mischance in this world, or any affliction, he is ashamed. But fear
not
thou, approach unto Him, and you shall not be ashamed....
10.
As the Prophet testifies, "The poor man cried, and the Lord heard
him" (ver.
6).
He teaches you how you may be heard. Therefore are you not heard, because
you
are rich. Lest haply thou say, you cried and wast not heard, hear wherefore;
"The
poor man cried, and the Lord heard him." As poor cry thou, and the Lord
hears.
And how shall I cry as poor? By not, if you have anything, presuming
therefrom
upon your own strength: by understanding that you are needy; by
understanding
that so long are you poor, as you have not Him who makes you
rich.
But how did the Lord hear him? "And saved him out of all his
troubles." And
how
saves He men out of all their troubles? "The Angel of the Lord shall send
round
about them that fear Him, and shall deliver them" (ver. 7). So it is
written,
brethren,
not as some bad copies have it, "The Lord shall send His Angel round
about
them that fear Him, and He shall deliver them:" but thus, "The Angel
of the
Lord
shall send round about them that fear Him, and shall deliver them." Whom
called
He here the Angel of the Lord, who shall send round about them that fear
Him,
and shall deliver them? Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself is called in Prophecy,
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144
the
Angel of the great Counsel, the Messenger of the great Counsel; so the
Prophets
called Him. Even He then, the Angel of the great Counsel, that is, the
Messenger,
shall send unto them that fear the Lord, and shall deliver them. Fear
not
then lest you be hid: wheresoever you have feared the Lord, there does that
Angel
know you, who shall send to succour you, and shall deliver you.
11.
Now will He speak openly of the same Sacrament, whereby He was carried in
His
Own Hands. "O taste and see that the Lord is good" (ver. 8). Doth not
the
Psalm
now open itself, and show you that seeming insanity and constant madness,
the
same insanity and sober inebriety of that David, who in a figure showed I
know
not what, when in the person of king Achis they said to him, How is it?
When
the Lord said, "Except a man eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, he shall
have
no life in him"? John 6:53 And they in whom reigned Achis, that is, error
and
ignorance,
said; what said they? "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
John
6:52 If you are ignorant, "Taste and see that the Lord is good:" but
if you
understand
not, you are king Achis: David shall change His Countenance and shall
depart
from you, and shall quit you, and shall depart.
12.
"Blessed is the man that trusts in Him." Why needs this to be
explained at
length?
Whoever trusts not in the Lord, is miserable. Who is there that trusts not in
the
Lord? He that trusts in himself....
13.
"O fear the Lord, all you His saints, for there is no want to them that
fear Him"
(ver.
9). For many therefore will not fear God the Lord, lest they suffer hunger. It
is
said to them, Defraud not; and they say, Whence can I feed myself? No art can
be
without imposture; no business can be without fraud. But fraud God punishes:
fear
God. But if I should fear God, I shall not have whence to live. "O fear
the
Lord,
all you His saints, for there is no want to them that fear Him." He
promises
plenty
to him that trembles, and doubts, lest haply if he should fear God, he should
lose
things superfluous. The Lord fed you despising Him, and will He desert you
fearing
Him? Attend, and say not, Such an one is rich, and I am poor. I fear the
Lord,
he by not fearing how much has he gained, and I by fearing am bare! See
what
follows; "The rich do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord
shall
not want any good thing" (ver. 10). If thou receive it according to the
letter,
He
seems to deceive you, for you see that many rich men that are wicked die in
their
riches, and are not made poor while they live; you see them grow old, and
come
even to the end of life amid great abundance and riches. You see their
funeral
pomp celebrated with great profusion, the man himself brought rich even
to
the sepulchre, having expired in beds of ivory, his family weeping around; and
you
say in your mind, if haply you know some both sins and crimes done by him: I
know
what things that man has done; lo, he has grown old, he has died in his bed,
his
friends follow him to the grave, his funeral is celebrated with all this pomp;
I
know
what he has done; the Scripture has deceived me, and has spoken falsely,
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Psalm 34 145
where
I hear and sing; "The rich do lack and suffer hunger." When was this
man in
need?
when did he suffer hunger? "But they that seek the Lord shall not want any
good
thing." Daily I rise up to Church, daily I bend the knee, daily I seek the
Lord,
and
have nothing good: this man sought not the Lord, and he has died in the midst
of
all these good things! Thus thinking, the snare of offence chokes him; for he
seeks
mortal food on the earth, and seeks not a true reward in heaven, and so he
puts
his head into the devil's noose, his jaws are tied close, and the devil holds
him
fast
unto evil doing, that so he may imitate the evil men, whom he sees to die in
such
plenty.
14.
Therefore understand it not so .... When you are filled with spiritual riches,
can
you
be poor? And was he therefore rich, because he had a bed of ivory; and are
you
poor who hast the chamber of your heart filled with such jewelry of virtues,
justice,
truth, charity, faith, endurance? Unfold your riches, if you have them, and
compare
them with the riches of the rich. But such an one has found in the market
mules
of great value, and has bought them. If you could find faith to be sold, how
much
would you give for that, which God wills that you should have gratis, and
you
are ungrateful? Those rich then lack, they lack, and what is heavier, they lack
bread
.... For He has said, "I am the Living Bread which came down from
Heaven."
John
6:51 And again, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after
righteousness:
for they shall be filled." "But they that seek the Lord shall not
want
any
good thing:" but what manner of good, I have already said.
15.
"Come, you children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the
Lord"
(ver.
11). You think, brethren, that I say this: think that David says it; think that
an
Apostle
says it; nay think that our Lord Jesus Christ Himself says it; "Come, you
children,
hearken unto Me." Let us hearken unto Him together: hearken ye unto
Him
through us. For He would teach us; He the Humble, He that drums, He that
affects,
would teach us....
16.
"What man is he that desires life, and loves to see good days?" (ver.
12). He
asks
a question. Doth not every one among you answer, I? Is there any man among
you
that loves not life, that is, that desires not life, and loves not to see good
days?
Do
ye not daily thus murmur, and thus speak; How long shall we suffer these
things?
Daily are they worse and worse: in our fathers' time were days more
joyful,
were days better. O if you could ask those same, your fathers, in like
manner
would they murmur to you of their own days. Our fathers were happy,
miserable
are we, evil days have we: such an one ruled over us, we thought that
after
his death might some refreshing be given to us; worse things have come: O
God,
show unto us good days! "What man is he that desires life, and loves to
see
good
days?" Let him not seek here good days. A good thing he seeks, but not in
its
right
place does he seek it. As, if you should seek some righteous man in a
country,
wherein he lived not, it would be said to you, A good man you seek, a
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Psalm 34
146
great
man you seek, seek him still, but not here; in vain you seek him here, you
will
never find him. Good days you seek, together let us seek them, seek not
here
.... Read the Scriptures....
17.
Let not a Christian then murmur, let him see whose steps he follows: but if he
loves
good days, let him hearken unto Him teaching and saying, "Come, you
children,
hearken unto Me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord." What would
you?
Life and good days. Hear, and do. "Keep your tongue from evil" (ver.
13).
This
do. I will not, says a miserable man, I will not keep my tongue from evil, and
yet
I desire life and good days. If a workman of yours should say to you, I indeed
lay
waste this vineyard, yet I require of you my reward; you brought me to the
vineyard
to lop and prune it, I cut away all the useful wood, I will cut short also
the
very trunks of the vines, that you have thereon nothing to gather, and when I
have
done this, you shall repay to me my labour. Wouldest thou not call him mad?
Wouldest
thou not drive him from your house or ever he put his hand to the knife?
Such
are those men who would both do evil, and swear falsely, and speak
blasphemy
against God, and murmur, and defraud, and be drunken, and dispute,
and
commit adultery, and use charms, and consult diviners, and withal see good
days.
To such it is said, you can not doing ill seek a good reward. If you are
unjust,
shall
God also be unjust? What shall I do, then? What do you desire? Life I desire,
good
days I desire. "Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips that they speak
no
guile,"
that is, defraud not any, lie not to any.
18.
But what is, "Depart from evil"? (ver. 14). It is little that thou
injure none,
murder
none, steal not, commit not adultery, do no wrong, speak no false witness;
"Depart
from evil." When you have departed, you say, Now I am safe, I have done
all,
I shall have life, I shall see good days. Not only says he, "Depart from
evil,"
but
also, "and do good." It is nothing that thou spoil not: clothe the
naked. If you
have
not spoiled, you have declined from evil; but you will not do good, except
thou
receive the stranger into your house. So then depart from evil, as to do good.
"Seek
peace, and ensue it." He has not said, You shall have peace here; seek it,
and
ensue it. Whither shall I ensue it? Whither it has gone before. For the Lord is
our
peace, has risen again, and has ascended into Heaven. "Seek peace, and
ensue
it;"
because when thou also hast risen, this mortal shall be changed, and you shall
embrace
peace there where no man shall trouble you. For there is perfect peace,
where
you will not hunger....
19.
"The Eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous:" fear not then; labour;
the eyes
of
the Lord are upon you. "And His Ears are open unto their prayers"
(ver. 15).
What
would you more? If an householder in a great house should not hearken to a
servant
murmuring, he would complain, and say, What hardship do we here suffer,
and
none hears us. Can you say this of God, What hardships I suffer, and none
hears
me? If He heard me, haply, do you say, He would take away my tribulation:
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147
I
cry unto Him, and yet have tribulation. Only do thou hold fast His ways, and
when
you are in tribulation, He hears you. But He is a Physician, and still have
you
something of putrefaction; you cry out, but still He cuts, and takes not away
His
Hand, until He has cut as much as pleases Him. For that Physician is cruel
who
hears a man, and spares his wound and putrefaction. How do mothers rub
their
children in the baths for their health. Do not the little ones cry out in their
hands?
Are they then cruel because they spare not, nor hearken unto their tears?
Are
they not full of affection? And yet the children cry out, and are not spared.
So
our
God also is full of charity, but therefore seems He not to hear, that He may
spare
and heal us for everlasting.
20.
Haply say the wicked, I securely do evil, because the Eyes of the Lord are not
upon
me: God attends to the righteous, me He sees not, and whatever I do, I do
securely.
Immediately added the Holy Spirit, seeing the thoughts of men, and said,
"But
the Face of the Lord is against them that do evil; to cut off the remembrance
of
them from the earth" (ver. 16).
21.
"The righteous cried, and the Lord heard them, and delivered them out of
all
their
troubles" (ver. 17). Righteous were the Three Children; out of the furnace
cried
they unto the Lord, and in His praises their flames cooled. The flame could
not
approach nor hurt the innocent and righteous Children praising God, and He
delivered
them out of the fire. Daniel 3:28 Some one says, Lo, truly righteous
were
those who were heard, as it is written, "The righteous cried, and the Lord
heard
them, and delivered them out of all their troubles:" but I have cried, and
He
delivers
me not; either I am not righteous, or I do not the things which He
commands
me, or haply He sees me not. Fear not: only do what He commands;
and
if He deliver you not bodily, He will deliver you spiritually. For He who took
out
of the fire the Three Children, did He take out of the fire the Maccabees?
2
Maccabbees 7:3 Did not the first sing hymns in the flames, these last in the
flames
expire? The God of the Three Children, was not He the God also of the
Maccabees?
The one He delivered, the other He delivered not. Nay, He delivered
both:
but the Three Children He so delivered, that even the carnal were
confounded;
but the Maccabees therefore He delivered not so, that those who
persecuted
them should go into greater torments, while they thought that they had
overcome
God's Martyrs. He delivered Peter, when the Angel came unto him
being
in prison, and said, "Arise, and go forth," Acts 12:7 and suddenly
his chains
were
loosed, and he followed the Angel, and He delivered him. Had Peter lost
righteousness
when He delivered him not from the cross? Did He not deliver him
then?
Even then He delivered him. Did his long life make him unrighteous? Haply
He
heard him more at last than at first, when truly He delivered him out of all
his
troubles.
For when He first delivered him, how many things did he suffer
afterwards!
For thither He sent him at last, where he could have suffered no evil.
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22.
"The Lord is nigh unto them that have broken their heart; and saves such
as be
lowly
in spirit" (ver. 18). God is High: let a Christian be lowly. If he would
that
the
Most High God draw nigh unto him, let him be lowly. A great mystery,
Brethren.
God is above all: you raise yourself, and touchest not Him: thou
humblest
yourself, and He descends unto you. "Many are the troubles of the
righteous"
(ver. 19): does He say, "Therefore let Christians be righteous, therefore
let
them hear My Word, that they may suffer no tribulation? He promises not this;
but
says, "Many are the troubles of the righteous." Rather, if they be
unrighteous
they
have fewer troubles, if righteous they have many. But after few tribulations,
or
none, these shall come to tribulation everlasting, whence they shall never be
delivered:
but the righteous after many tribulations shall come to peace
everlasting,
where they shall never suffer any evil. "Many are the tribulations of
the
righteous: but the Lord delivers him out of all."
23.
"The Lord keeps all their bones: not one of them shall be broken"
(ver. 20):
this
also, Brethren, let us not receive carnally. Bones are the firm supports of the
faithful.
For as in flesh our bones give firmness, so in the heart of a Christian it is
faith
that gives firmness. The patience then which is in faith, is as the bones of
the
inner
man: this is that which cannot be broken. "The Lord keeps all their bones:
not
one of them shall be broken." If of our Lord God Jesus Christ he had said
this,
"The
Lord keeps all the bones of His Son; not one of them shall be broken;" as
is
prefigured
of Him also in another place, when the lamb was spoken of that should
be
slain, and it was said of it, "Neither shall you break a bone
thereof:"
Exodus
12:46 then was it fulfilled in the Lord, because when He hung upon the
Cross,
He expired before they came to the Cross, and found His Body lifeless
already,
and would not break His legs, that it might be fulfilled which was written.
John
19:33 But He gave this promise to other Christians also, "The Lord keeps
all
their
bones; not one of them shall be broken." Therefore, Brethren, if we see
any
Saint
suffer tribulation, and haply either by a Physician so cut, or by some
persecutor
so mangled, that his bones be broken; let us not say, This man was not
righteous,
for this has the Lord promised to His righteous, of whom He said, "The
Lord
keeps all their bones; not one of them shall be broken." Wouldest thou see
that
He spoke of other bones, those which we called the firm supports of faith, that
is,
patience and endurance in all tribulations? For these are the bones which are
not
broken. Hear, and see ye in the very Passion of our Lord, what I say. The Lord
was
in the middle Crucified; near Him were two thieves: the one mocked, the
other
believed: the one was condemned, the other justified: the one had his
punishment
both in this world, and that which shall be, but unto the other said the
Lord,
"Verily I say unto you, Today shall you be with Me in Paradise;"
Luke
23:43 and yet those who came broke not the bones of the Lord, but of the
thieves
they broke: as much were broken the bones of the thief who blasphemed,
as
of the thief who believed. Where then is that which is spoken, "The Lord
keeps
all
their bones; not one of them shall be broken"? Lo, unto whom He said,
"Today
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shall
you be with Me in Paradise," could He keep all his bones? The Lord answers
you:
Yea, I kept them: for the firm support of his faith could not be broken by
those
blows whereby his legs were broken.
24.
"The death of sinners is the worst" (ver. 21). Attend, Brethren, for
the sake of
those
things which I said. Truly Great is the Lord, and His Mercy, truly Great is
He
who gave to us to eat His Body, wherein He suffered such great things, and His
Blood
to drink. How regards He them that think evil and say, "Such an one died
ill,
by beasts was he devoured: he was not a righteous man, therefore he perished
ill;
for else would he not have perished." Is he then righteous who dies in his
own
house
and in his own bed? This then (do you say) it is whereat I wonder; because I
know
the sins and the crimes of this same man, and yet he died well; in his own
house,
within his own doors, with no injury of travel, with none even in mature
age.
Hearken, "The death of sinners is worst." What seems to you a good
death, is
worst
if you could see within. You see him outwardly lying on his bed, do you see
him
inwardly carried to hell? Hearken, Brethren, and learn from the Gospel what
is
the "worst death" of sinners. Were there not two in that age, a rich
man who was
clothed
in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day; another a poor
man
who lay at his door full of sores, and the dogs came and licked his sores, and
he
desired to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table? Now it
came
to pass that the poor man died (righteous was that poor man), and was
carried
by Angels into Abraham's bosom. He who saw his body lying at the rich
man's
door, and no man to bury it, what haply said he? So die he who is my
enemy;
and whoever persecutes me, so may I see him. His body is accursed with
spitting,
his wounds stink; and yet in Abraham's bosom he rests. Luke 16:19-22 If
we
are Christians, let us believe: if we believe not, Brethren, let none feign
himself
a
Christian. Faith brings us to the end. As the Lord spoke these things, so are
they.
Doth
indeed an astrologer speak unto you, and it is true, and does Christ speak,
and
it is false? But by what sort of death died the rich man? What sort of death
must
it not be in purple and fine linen, how sumptuous, how pompous! What
funeral
ceremonies were there! In what spices was that body buried! And yet when
he
was in hell, being in torments, from the finger of that despised poor man he
desired
one drop of water to be poured upon his burning tongue, and obtained it
not.
Learn then what means, "The death of sinners is worst;" and ask not
beds
covered
with costly garments, and to have the flesh wrapped in many rich things,
friends
exhibiting a show of lamentation, a household beating their breasts, a
crowd
of attendants going before and following when the body is carried out,
marble
and gilded memorials. For if you ask those things, they answer you what is
false,
that of many not light sinners, but altogether wicked, the death is best, who
have
deserved to be so lamented, so embalmed, so covered, so carried out, so
entombed.
But ask the Gospel, and it will show to your faith the soul of the rich
man
burning in torments, which was nothing profited by all those honours and
obsequies,
which to his dead body the vanity of the living did afford.
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25.
But because there are many kinds of sinners, and not to be a sinner is
difficult,
or
perhaps in this life impossible, he added immediately, of what kind of sinners
the
death is worst. "And they that hate the righteous one" (says he)
"shall perish."
What
righteous one, but "Him that justifies the ungodly"? Romans 4:5 Whom,
but
our
Lord Jesus Christ, who is also "the propitiation for our sins"? 1
John 2:2 Who
then
hate Him, have the worst death; because they die in their sins, who are not
through
Him reconciled to our God. "For the Lord redeems the souls of His
servants."
But according to the soul is death to be understood either the worst or
best,
not according to bodily either dishonour, or honours which men see. "And
none
of them which trust in Him shall perish" (ver. 22); this is the manner of
human
righteousness, that mortal life, however advanced, because without sin it
cannot
be, in this perishes not, while it trusts in Him, in whom is remission of sins.
Amen.
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35
151
Exposition
on Psalm 35
1.
...The title of it causes us no delay, for it is both brief, and to be
understood not
difficult,
especially to those nursed in the Church of God. For so it is, "To David
himself."
The Psalm then is to David himself: now David is interpreted, Strong in
hand,
or Desirable. The Psalm then is to the Strong in hand, and Desirable, to Him
who
for us has overcome death, who unto us has promised life: for in this is He
Strong
in hand, that He has overcome death for us; in this is He Desirable, that He
has
promised unto us life eternal. For what stronger than that Hand which touched
the
bier, and he that was dead rose up? Luke 7:14 What stronger than that Hand
which
overcame the world, not armed with steel, but pierced with wood? Or what
more
desirable than He, whom not having seen, the Martyrs wished even to die,
that
they might be worthy to come unto Him? Therefore is the Psalm unto Him: to
Him
let our heart, to Him our tongue sing worthily: if yet Himself shall deign to
give
somewhat to sing....
2.
"Judge Thou, O Lord" (says he), "them that hurt me, and fight
Thou against
them
that fight against me" (ver. 1). "If God be for us, who can be
against us?"
Romans
8:31 And whereby does God this for us? "Take hold" (says he) "of
arms
and
shield, and rise up to my help" (ver. 2). A great spectacle is it, to see
God
armed
for you. And what is His Shield, what are His Arms? "Lord," in
another
place
says the man who here also speaks, "as with the shield of Your good-will
have
You compassed us." But His Arms, wherewith He may not only us defend,
but
also strike His enemies, if we have well profited, shall we ourselves be. For
as
we
from Him have this, that we be armed, so is He armed from us. But He is
armed
from those whom He has made, we are armed with those things which we
have
received from Him who made us. These our arms the Apostle in a certain
place
calls, "The shield of Faith, the helmet of Salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit,
which is the Word of God." Ephesians 6:16-17 He has armed us with such
arms
as you have heard, arms admirable, and unconquered, insuperable and
shining;
spiritual truly and invisible, because we have to fight also against
invisible
enemies. If you see thine enemy, let thine arms be seen. We are armed
with
faith in those things which we see not, and we overthrow enemies whom we
see
not....
3.
"Pour forth the weapon, and stop the way against them that persecute
me" (ver.
3).
Who are they that persecute you? Haply your neighbour, or he whom you have
offended,
or to whom you have done wrong, or who would take away what is
yours,
or against whom you preach the truth, or whose sin you rebuke, or whom
living
ill by your well living you offend. There are indeed even these enemies to
us,
and they persecute us: but other enemies we are taught to know, those against
whom
we fight invisibly, of whom the Apostle warns us, saying, "We wrestle not
against
flesh and blood," Ephesians 6:12 that is, against men; not against those
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whom
you see, but against those whom you see not; "against principalities,
against
powers,
against the rulers of the world, of this darkness."... "The whole
world lies
in
wickedness;" therefore the Apostle explained of what world they were
rulers, he
said,
"of this darkness." The rulers of this world, I say, are the rulers
of this
darkness....
4.
And what follows? "Let them be confounded and put to shame, that seek
after
my
soul" (ver. 4): for to this end they seek after it, to destroy it. For I
would that
they
would seek it for good! for in another Psalm he blames this in men, that there
was
none who would seek after his soul: "Refuge failed me: there was none that
would
seek after my soul." Who is this that says, "There was none that
would seek
after
my soul"? Is it haply He, of whom so long before it was predicted,
"They
pierced
My Hands and My Feet, they numbered all My Bones, they stared and
looked
upon Me, they have parted My Garments among them, and cast lots for My
Vesture"?
Now all these things were done before their eyes, and there was none
who
would seek after His Soul....
5.
...Many have been confounded to their health: many, put to shame, have passed
over
from the persecution of Christ to the society of His members with devoted
piety;
and this would not have been, had they not been confounded and put to
shame.
Therefore he wished well to them.... Let them not go before, but follow; let
them
not give counsel, but take it. For Peter would go before the Lord, when the
Lord
spoke of His future Passion: he would to Him as it were give counsel for His
health.
The sick man to the Saviour give counsel for His health! And what said he
to
the Lord, affirming that His future Passion? "Be it far from You, Lord. Be
gracious
to Yourself. This shall not be to You." He would go before that the Lord
might
follow; and what said He? "Get behind Me, Satan." Matthew 16:22-23 By
going
before you are Satan, by following you will be a disciple. The same then is
said
to these also, "Let them be turned back and brought to confusion that
think
evil
against me." For when they have begun to follow after, now they will not
think
evil against me, but desire my good.
6.
What of others? For all are not so conquered as to be converted and believe:
many
continue in obstinacy, many preserve in heart the spirit of going before, and
if
they exert it not, yet they labour with it, and finding opportunity bring it
forth.
Of
such, what follows? "Let them be as dust before the wind" (ver. 5).
"Not so are
the
ungodly, not so; but as the dust which the wind drives away from the face of
the
earth." The wind is temptation; the dust are the ungodly. When temptation
comes,
the dust is raised, it neither stands nor resists. "Let them be as dust
before
the
wind, and let the Angel of the Lord trouble them." "Let their way be
darkness
and
slipping" (ver. 6). A horrible way! Darkness alone who fears not? A
slippery
way
alone who avoids not? In a dark and slippery way how shall you go? where
set
foot? These two ills are the great punishments of men: darkness, ignorance; a
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slippery
way, luxury. "And let the Angel of the Lord persecute them;" that
they be
not
able to stand. For any one in a dark and slippery way, when he sees that if he
move
his foot he will fall, and there is no light before his feet, haply resolves to
wait
until light come; but here is the Angel of the Lord persecuting them. These
things
he predicted would come upon them, not as though he wished them to
happen.
Although the Prophet in the Spirit of God so speaks these things, even as
God
does the same, with sure judgment, with a judgment good, righteous, holy,
tranquil;
not moved with wrath, not with bitter jealousy, not with desire of
wreaking
enmities, but of punishing wickedness with righteousness; nevertheless,
it
is a prophecy.
7.
But wherefore these so great evils? By what desert? Hear by what desert.
"For
without
cause have they hid for me the corruption of their trap" (ver. 7). For Him
that
is our Head, observe, the Jews did this: they hid the corruption of their trap.
For
whom hid they their trap? For Him who saw the hearts of those that hid. But
yet
was He among them like one ignorant, as though He were deceived, whereas
they
were in that deceived, that they thought Him to be deceived. For therefore
was
He as though deceived, living among them, because we among such as they
were
so to live, as to be without doubt deceived. He saw His betrayer, and chose
him
the more to a necessary work. By his evil He wrought a great good: and yet
among
the twelve was he chosen, lest even the small number of twelve should be
without
one evil. This was an example of patience to us, because it was necessary
that
we should live among the evil: it was necessary that we should endure the
evil,
either knowing them or knowing them not: an example of patience He gave
you
lest you should fail, when you have begun to live among the evil. And
because
that School of Christ in the twelve failed not, how much more ought we to
be
firm, when in the great Church is fulfilled what was predicted of the mixture
of
the
evil....
8.
But yet what is to be done? "Without a cause have they hid for me the
corruption
of their trap." What means, "Without a cause"? I have done them
no
evil,
I have hurt them not at all. "Vainly have they reviled my soul." What
is,
"Vainly"?
Speaking falsely, proving nothing. "Let a trap come upon them which
they
know not of" (ver. 8). A magnificent retribution, nothing more just! They
have
hidden a trap that I might know not: let a trap come upon them which they
know
not of. For I know of their trap. But what trap is coming upon them? That
which
they know not of. Let us hear, lest haply he speak of that. "Let a trap
come
upon
them, which they know not of." Perhaps that is one which they hid for him,
that
another which shall come upon themselves. Not so: but what? "The wicked
shall
be holden with the cords of his own sins." Proverbs 5:22 Thereby are they
deceived,
whereby they would deceive. Thence shall come mischief to them,
whence
they endeavoured mischief. For it follows, "And let the net which they
have
hidden catch themselves, and let them fall into their own trap." As if any
one
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154
should
prepare a cup of poison for another, and forgetting should drink it up
himself:
or as if one should dig a pit, that his enemy might fall there into in the
darkness
and himself forgetting what he had dug, should first walk that way, and
fall
into it....
9.
This then for the wicked that would hurt me: what for me? "But my soul
shall
rejoice
in the Lord" (ver. 9); as in Him from whom it has heard, "I am your
salvation;"
as not seeking other riches from without; as not seeking to abound in
pleasures
and good things of earth; but loving freely the true Spouse, not from
Him
wishing to receive anything that may delight, but Him alone proposing to
itself,
by whom it may be delighted. For what better than God will be given unto
me?
God loves me: God loves you. See He has proposed to you, Ask what you
will.
Matthew 7:7 If the emperor should say to you, Ask what you will, what
commands,
what dignities, wouldest thou burst forth with! What great things
would
you propose to yourself, both to receive and to bestow! When God says
unto
you, Ask what you will, what will you ask? empty your mind, exert your
avarice,
stretch forward as far as possible, and enlarge your desire: it is not any
one,
but Almighty God that said, Ask what you will. If of possessions you are a
lover,
you will desire the whole earth, that all who are born may be your
husbandmen,
or your slaves. And what when you have possessed the whole earth?
You
will ask the sea, in which yet you can not live. In this greediness the fishes
will
have the better of you. But perhaps you will possess the islands. Pass over
these
also; ask the air although you can not fly; stretch your desire even unto the
heavens,
call your own the sun, the moon, and the stars, because He who made all
said,
Ask what you will: yet nothing will you find more precious, nothing will you
find
better, than Himself who made all things. Him seek, who made all things, and
in
Him and from Him shall you have all things which He made. All things are
precious,
because all are beautiful; but what more beautiful than He? Strong are
they;
but what stronger than He? And nothing would He give you rather than
Himself.
If anything better you have found, ask it. If thou ask anything else, you
will
do wrong to Him, and harm to yourself, by preferring to Him that which He
made,
when He would give to you Himself who made....
"But
my soul shall be joyful in the Lord; it shall rejoice in His salvation."
The
salvation
of God is Christ: "For my eyes have seen Your salvation." Luke 2:30
10.
"All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto You" (ver. 10). Who
can speak
anything
worthily of these words? I think them only to be pronounced, not to be
expounded.
Why do you seek this or that? What is like unto your Lord? Him have
you
before you. "The unrighteous have declared unto me delights, but not after
Your
law, O Lord!" Persecutors have been who have said, Worship Saturn,
worship
Mercury. I worship not idols (says he): "Lord, who is like unto You?
They
have eyes, and see not; ears have they, but they hear not." "Lord,
who is like
unto
You," who hast made the eye to see, the ear to hear? But I (says he)
worship
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155
not
idols, for them a workman made. Worship a tree or mountain; did a workman
make
them also? Here too, Lord, who is like unto You? Earthly things are shown
unto
me; You are Creator of the earth. And from these haply they turn to the
higher
creation, and say to me, Worship the Moon, worship this Sun, who with his
light,
as a great lamp in the Heavens, makes the day. Here also I plainly say,
"Lord,
who is like unto You?" The Moon and the Stars You have made, the Sun to
rule
the day have You kindled, the Heavens have You framed together. There are
many
invisible things better. But haply here also it is said to me, Worship Angels,
adore
Angels. And here also will I say, "Lord, who is like unto You?" Even
the
Angels
You have created. The Angels are nothing, but by seeing You. It is better
with
them to possess You, than by worshipping them to fall from You.
11.
O Body of Christ, Holy Church, let all your bones say, "Lord, who is like
unto
you?"
And if the flesh under persecution has fallen away, let the bones say,
"Lord,
who
is like unto You?" For of the righteous it is said, "The Lord keeps
all their
bones;
not one of them shall be broken." Of how many righteous have the bones
under
persecution been broken? Finally, "The just shall live by faith," and
"Christ
justifies
the ungodly." Romans 4:5 But how justifies He any except believing and
confessing?
"For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the
mouth
confession is made unto salvation." Romans 10:10 Therefore also that
thief,
although
from His theft led to the judge, and from the judge to the cross, yet on the
very
cross was justified: with his heart he believed, with his mouth he confessed.
For
neither to a man unrighteous and not already justified, would the Lord have
said,
"Today shall you be with Me in Paradise," Luke 23:43 and yet his
bones
were
broken. For when they came to take down the bodies, by reason of the
approaching
Sabbath, the Lord was found already dead, and His Bones were not
broken.
John 19:33 But of those that yet lived, that they might be taken down, the
legs
were broken, that so from this pain having died, they might be buried. Were
then
of the one thief, who persisted in his ungodliness on the cross, the bones
broken,
and not also of the other who with his heart believed, and with his mouth
made
confession unto salvation? Where then is that which was said, "The Lord
keeps
all his bones; not one of them shall be broken;" except that in the Body
of
the
Lord the name of bones is given to all the righteous, the firm in heart, the
strong,
yielding to no persecutions, no temptations, so as to consent unto evil?...
12.
"Which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him; yea, the
poor
and
needy from him that spoils him."... Who that deliverest, but He who is
Strong
in
hand? Even that David shall deliver the poor from him that is too strong for
him.
For the devil was too strong for you, and held you, because he conquered
you,
when you consented unto him. But what has the Strong in hand done? "No
man
enters into a strong man's house, to spoil his goods, except he first bind the
strong
man." Matthew 12:29 By His own Power, most Holy, most Magnificent,
has
He bound the devil by pouring forth the weapon to stop the way against him,
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that
He may deliver the poor and needy, to whom there was no helper. For who is
your
helper but the Lord to whom you say, "O Lord, My Strength, and My
Redeemer."
If you will presume of your own strength, thereby will you fall,
whereof
you have presumed: if of another's, he would lord it over you, not succour
you.
He then alone is to be sought Who has redeemed them, and made them free,
and
has given His Blood to purchase them, and of His servants has made them His
Brethren....
13.
Let then our Head say, "False witnesses did rise up, they laid to My
charge
things
that I knew not" (ver. 11). But let us say to our Head, Lord, what knew
Thou
not? Did Thou indeed know not anything? Did You not know the hearts of
them
that charged You? Did You not foresee their deceits? Did You not give
Yourself
into their hands knowingly? Had You not come that You might suffer by
them?
What then knew Thou not? He knew not sin, and thereby He knew not sin,
not
by not judging, but by not committing. There are phrases of this kind also in
daily
use, as when you say of any one, He knows not to stand, that is, he does not
stand;
and, He knows not to do good, because he does not good; and, He knows
not
to do ill, because he does not ill.... What knew not Christ so much, as to
blaspheme?
Thereof was He called in question by His persecutors, and because He
spoke
truth, He was judged to have spoken blasphemy. Matthew 26:65 But by
whom?
By them of whom it follows, "They rewarded Me evil for good, and
barrenness
to My Soul" (ver. 12). I gave unto them fruitfulness, they rewarded Me
barrenness;
I gave life, they death; I honour, they dishonour; I medicine, they
wounds;
and in all these which they rewarded Me, was truly barrenness. This
barrenness
in the tree He cursed, when seeking fruit He found none.
Matthew
21:19 Leaves there were, and fruit there was not: words there were, and
deeds
there were not. See of words abundance, and of deeds barrenness. "Thou
that
preachest a man should not steal, stealest: thou that sayest a man should not
commit
adultery, committest adultery." Romans 2:21-22 Such were they who
charged
Christ with things that He knew not.
14.
"But I, when they troubled me, clothed myself with sackcloth, and humbled
my
soul with fasting, and my prayer shall return into my own bosom" (ver.
13)
... Brethren, if for some little space with pious curiosity we lift the veil,
and
search
with the intent eye of the heart the inner part of this Scripture, we find that
even
this the Lord did. Sackcloth, haply He calls His mortal flesh. Wherefore
Sackcloth?
For the likeness of sinful flesh. For the Apostle says, "God sent His
Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, that through sin He might condemn sin in the
flesh:"
Romans 8:3 that is, He clothed His Own Son with sackcloth, that through
sackcloth
He might condemn the goats. Not that there was sin, I say not in the
Word
of God, but not even in that Holy Soul and Mind of a Man, which the Word
and
Wisdom of God had so joined to Himself as to be One Person. Nay, nor even
in
His very Body was any sin, but the likeness of sinful flesh there was in the
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Lord;
because death is not but by sin, Romans 5:12 and surely that Body was
mortal.
For had It not been mortal, It had not died; had It not died, It had not risen
again;
had It not risen again, It had not showed us an example of eternal life. So
then
death, which is caused by sin, is called sin; as we say the Greek tongue, the
Latin
tongue, meaning not the very member of flesh, but that which is done by the
member
of flesh. For the tongue in our members is one among others, as the eyes,
nose,
ears, and the rest: but the Greek tongue is Greek words, not that the tongue is
words,
but that words are by the tongue.... So then the sin of the Lord is that which
was
caused by sin; because He assumed flesh, of the same lump which had
deserved
death by sin. For to speak more briefly, Mary who was of Adam died for
sin,
Adam died for sin, and the Flesh of the Lord which was of Mary died to put
away
sin. With this sackcloth the Lord clothed Himself, and therefore was He not
known,
because He lay hid under sackcloth. "When they," says He,
"troubled Me,
I
clothed Myself with sackcloth:" that is, they raged, I lay hid. For had He
not
willed
to lie hid neither could He have died, since in one moment of time one drop
only
of His Power, if indeed it is to be called a drop, He put forth, when they
wished
to seize Him, and at His one question, "Whom seek ye?" they all went
back
and fell to the ground. John 18:4, 6 Such power could He not have humbled
in
passion, if He had not lain hid under sackcloth.
15.
Again, if we have understood the sackcloth, how understand we the fasting?
Wished
Christ to eat, when He sought fruit on the tree, Mark 11:13 and if He had
found,
would He have eaten? Wished Christ to drink, when He said to the woman
of
Samaria, "Give Me to drink"? John 4:7 when He said on the Cross, "I
thirst"?
For
what hungered, for what thirsted Christ, but our good works? Because in them
that
crucified and persecuted Him He had found no good works, He fasted; for
they
rewarded barrenness to His soul. For what a fast was His, who found barely
one
thief, whom on the Cross He might taste! For the Apostles had fled, and had
hidden
themselves in the multitude. And even Peter, who even to the death of his
Lord
had promised to persevere, had now thrice denied Him, had now wept, and
still
lay hid in the multitude, still feared lest He should be known. Lastly, having
seen
Him dead, all of them despaired of their own safety and despairing He found
them,
after His resurrection, and when He spoke with them, found them grieving
and
mourning, no longer hoping anything .... In great fasting had the Lord
remained,
had He not refreshed them that He might feed on them. For He
refreshed
them, He comforted them, He confirmed them, and into His Own Body
converted
them. In this manner then was our Lord also in fasting.
16.
"And My prayer shall return into Mine Own Bosom." In the bosom of
this
verse
is plainly a great depth, and may the Lord grant that it be fathomable by us.
For
in the "bosom" a secret is understood. And we ourselves, Brethren,
are here
well
admonished to pray within our own bosom, where God sees, where God
hears,
where no human eye penetrates, where none sees but He who succours;
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where
Susanna prayed, and her voice, though it was not heard by men, yet by God
was
heard.... We read also that in the mount Jesus prayed alone, Matthew 14:23
we
read that He passed the night in prayer, Luke 6:12 even at the time of His
Passion.
What then? "And My prayer shall return into Mine Own Bosom." I know
not
what better to understand concerning the Lord: take meanwhile what now
occurs;
perhaps something better will occur hereafter, either to me or to some
better:
"My prayer shall return into Mine Own Bosom:" this I understand to be
said,
because in His Own Bosom He had the Father. "For God was in Christ
reconciling
the world unto Himself." 2 Corinthians 5:19 In Himself He had Him to
whom
He prayed. He was not far from Him, for Himself had said, "I am in the
Father,
and the Father in Me." John 14:10 But because prayer rather belongs to
very
Man (for according as Christ is the Word, He prays not, but hears prayer; and
seeks
not to be succoured for Himself, but with the Father succours all): what is,
"My
prayer shall return into Mine Own Bosom," but in Me My Manhood invokes
in
Me My Godhead.
17.
"As a Neighbour, as our Brother, so I pleased Him: as one mourning and
sorrowful,
so I humbled myself" (ver. 14). Now looks He back to His Own Body:
let
us now look to this. When we rejoice in prayer, when our mind is calmed, not
by
the world's prosperity, but by the light of Truth: (who perceives this light,
knows
what I say, and he sees and acknowledges what is said, "As a Neighbour, as
our
Brother, so I pleased Him"): even then our soul pleases God, not placed
afar
off,
for, "In Him," says one, "we live and move and have our
being," Acts 17:28
but
as a Brother, as a Neighbour, as a Friend. But if it be not such that it can so
rejoice,
so shine, so approach, so cleave unto Him, and sees itself far off thence,
then
let it do what follows, "As one mourning and sorrowful, so I humbled
Myself.
As
our Brother, so I pleased Him," said He, drawing near; "As one
mourning and
sorrowful,
so I humbled Myself," said He, removed and set afar off.... Did not
Peter
draw near, when he said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living
God"?
And
yet the same man became afar off by saying, "Be it far from You, Lord;
this
shall
not be unto You." Lastly, what said He, his Neighbour, as it were, to him
drawing
near? "Blessed are you, Simon, Barjona." To him afar off, as it were,
and
unlike,
what said He? "Get behind Me, Satan." Matthew 16:16-23 To him drawing
near,
"Flesh and blood," says He, "has not revealed it unto you, but
My Father,
which
is in Heaven." His Light is shed over you, in His Light you shine. But
when
having
become afar off, he spoke against the Lord's Passion, which should be for
our
Salvation, "Thou savourest not," said He, "the things that be of
God, but those
that
be of men." One rightly placing together both of these says in a certain
Psalm,
"I
said in my ecstasy, I am cast off from before Thine Eyes." In my ecstasy,
would
he
not have said, had he not drawn near; for ecstasy is the transporting of the
mind.
He poured over himself his own soul, and drew near unto God; and through
some
cloud and weight of the flesh being again cast down to earth, and
recollecting
where he had been, and seeing where he was, he said, "I am cast off
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from
before Thine Eyes." This then, "As a Neighbour, as our Brother, so I
pleased
Him,"
may He grant to be done in us; but when that is not, let even this be done,
"As
one mourning and sorrowful, so I humbled myself."
18.
"And against Me they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together"
(ver. 15),
against
Me only: they rejoicing, I sorrowful. But we heard just now in the Gospel,
"Blessed
are they that mourn." Matthew 5:5 If they are blessed that mourn,
miserable
are they that laugh. "Against Me they rejoiced, and gathered themselves
together:
scourges were gathered together against Me, and they knew not."
Because
they laid to My charge things that I knew not, they also knew not Whom
they
charged.
19.
"They tempted Me, and mocked Me with mocking" (ver. 16). That is,
they
derided
Me, they insulted Me; this of the Head, this of the Body. Consider,
Brethren,
the glory of the Church which now is; remember its past dishonours,
remember
how once were Christians everywhere put to flight, and wherever
found,
mocked, beaten, slain, exposed to beasts, burned, men rejoicing against
them.
As it was to the Head, so it is also to the Body. For as it was to the Lord on
the
Cross, so has it been to His Body in all that persecution which was made but
now:
nor even now cease the persecutions of the same. Wherever men find a
Christian,
they are wont to insult, to persecute, to deride him, to call him dull,
senseless,
of no spirit, of no knowledge. Do they what they will, Christ is in
Heaven:
do they what they will, He has honoured His punishment, already has He
fixed
His Cross in the foreheads of all; the ungodly is permitted to insult, to rage
he
is not permitted; but yet from that which the tongue utters, is understood what
he
bears in his heart: "They gnashed upon Me with their teeth."
20.
"Lord, when will You look on? Rescue My Soul from their deceits, My
Darling
from the lions" (ver. 17). For to us the time is slow; and in our person
is
this
said, "When will You look on?" that is, when shall we see vengeance
upon
those
who insult us? When shall the Judge, overcome by weariness, hear the
widow?
Luke 18:3 But our Judge, not from weariness, but from love, delays our
salvation;
from reason, not from need; not that He could not even now succour us,
but
that the number of us all may be filled up even to the end. And yet out of our
desire,
what do we say? "Lord, when will You look on? Rescue My Soul from
their
deceits, My Darling from the lions:" that is, My Church from raging
powers.
21.
Lastly, would you know what is that Darling? Read the words following: "I
will
confess unto You, O Lord, in the great Congregation; in a weighty people will
I
praise You" (ver. 18). Truly says He, "I will confess unto You:"
for confession is
made
in all the multitude, but not in all is God praised: the whole multitude hears
our
confession, but not in all the multitude is the praise of God. For in all the
whole
multitude, that is, in the Church which is spread abroad in the whole world,
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is
chaff, and wheat: the chaff flies, the wheat remains; therefore, "in a
weighty
people
will I praise You." In a weighty people, which the wind of temptation
carries
not away, in such is God praised. For in the chaff He is ever blasphemed....
22.
"Let not them that are Mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over Me:" for
they
rejoice
over Me because of My chaff. "Who hate Me without a cause;" that is,
whom
I never hurt; "winking with their eyes" (ver. 19): that is,
pretending
hypocrites,
"For they spoke indeed peace to Me" (ver. 20). What is, "winking
with
their
eyes"? Declaring by their looks, what they carry not in their heart. And
who
are
these "winking with their eyes"? "For they spoke indeed peace to
Me; and with
wrath
devised craftily." "Yea they opened their mouth wide against Me"
(ver. 21).
First
winking with their eyes, those lions sought to ravish and devour; first
fawning
they spoke peace, and then with wrath devised craftily. What peace spoke
they?
"Master, we know that Thou acceptest not man's person, and teachest the
way
of God in truth. Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cćsar, or not?" They
spoke
indeed
peace unto Me. What then? Did You not know them, and they deceived
You,
winking with their eyes? Truly He knew them; therefore said He, "Why do
you
tempt Me, you hypocrites?" Matthew 22:16-18 Afterward, "they opened
their
mouth
wide against Me," crying, "Crucify Him, Crucify Him! Luke 23:21 and
said,
Aha, Aha, our eyes have seen it." This, when they insulted Him, "Aha,
Aha,
Prophesy
unto us, Thou Christ." Matthew 26:68 As their peace was pretended
when
they tempted Him concerning the money, so now insulting was their praise.
"They
said, Aha, Aha, our eyes have seen it" (ver. 21): that is, Your deeds,
Your
miracles.
This Man is the Christ. "If He be the Christ, let Him come down from
the
Cross, and we will believe Him. He saved others, Himself He cannot save."
"Our
eyes have seen it." This is all whereof He boasted Himself, when "He
called
Himself
the Son of God." John 19:7 But the Lord was hanging patient upon the
Cross:
His power had He not lost, but He showed His patience. For what great
thing
was it for Him to come down from the Cross, who could afterward rise again
from
the sepulchre? But He seems to have yielded to His insulters; and this,
beloved,
that having risen again He should show Himself to His own, and not to
them,
and this is a great mystery; for His resurrection signified the New Life, but
the
New Life is known to His friends, not to His enemies.
23.
"This You have seen, O Lord; keep not silence" (ver. 22). What is,
"keep not
silence"?
Judge Thou. For of judgment is it said in a certain place, "I have kept
silence;
shall I keep silence for ever?" And of the delaying of judgment it is said
to
the
sinner, "These things have you done, and I kept silence;" "You
thought that I
was
altogether such an one as yourself." How keeps He silence, who speaks by
the
Prophets,
who speaks with His own mouth in the Gospel, who speaks by the
Evangelists,
who speaks by us, when we speak the truth? What then? He keeps
silence
from judgment, not from precept, not from doctrine. But this His judgment
the
Prophet in a manner invokes, and predicts: "You have seen, O Lord: keep
not
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silence;"
that is, You will not keep silence, needs must that You will judge. "O
Lord,
be not far from Me." Until Your judgment come, be not far from Me, as You
have
promised, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
24.
"Arise, Lord, and attend to My judgment" (ver. 23). To what judgment?
That
You
are in tribulation; that You are tormented with labours and pains? Do not
even
many wicked men suffer the same? To what judgment? Therefore are You
righteous,
because Thou sufferest these things? No: but what? "To My judgment."
What
follows? "Attend to My judgment; even to My cause, My God, and My
Lord."
Not to My punishment, but to My cause: not to that which the robber has in
common
with Me, but to that whereof is said, "Blessed are they which are
persecuted
for righteousness' sake." Matthew 5:10 For this cause is distinguished.
For
punishment is equal to good and bad. Therefore Martyrs, not the punishment,
but
the cause makes, for if punishment made Martyrs, all the mines would be full
of
Martyrs, every chain would drag Martyrs, all that are executed with the sword
would
be crowned. Therefore let the cause be distinguished; let none say, because
I
suffer, I am righteous. Because He who first suffered, suffered for
righteousness'
sake,
therefore He added a great exception, "Blessed are they which are
persecuted
for
righteousness' sake." For many having a good cause do persecution, and
many
having
a bad cause suffer persecution. For if persecution could not be done rightly,
it
had not been said in a certain Psalm, "Whoso privily slanders his
neighbour, him
did
I persecute."... Let none then say, I suffer persecution: let him not sift
the
punishment,
but prove the cause: lest if he prove not the cause, he be numbered
with
the ungodly. Therefore how watchfully, how excellently has This Man
recommended
Himself, "O Lord, attend to My judgment," not to My punishments;
"even
to My cause, My God, and My Lord."
25.
"Judge me, O Lord, according to My righteousness" (ver. 24); that is,
attend to
My
cause. Not according to My punishment, but "according to My righteousness,
O
Lord, My God," that is, according to this judge Thou Me. "And let
them not
rejoice
over Me;" that is, Mine enemies.
26.
"Let them not say in their heart, Aha, aha, so would we have it"
(ver. 25); that
is,
We have done what we could, we have slain him, we have taken him away.
"Let
them not say:" show them that they have done nothing. "Let them not
say,
We
have swallowed him up." Whence say those Martyrs, "If the Lord had
not
been
on our side, then they had swallowed us up quick." What is, "had
swallowed
us
up"? Had passed into their own body. For that you swallow up, which you
pass
into
your own body. The world would swallow you up; swallow thou the world,
pass
it into your own body: kill and eat. As it was said to Peter, "Kill and
eat;"
Acts
10:13 do thou kill in them what they are, make them what you are. But if
they
on the other hand persuade you to ungodliness, you are swallowed up by
them.
Not when they persecute you are you swallowed up by them, but when they
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persuade
you to be what they are. "Let them not say, We have swallowed him
up."
Do
thou swallow up the body of Pagans. Why the body of Pagans? It would
swallow
you up. Do thou to it, what it would to you. Therefore perhaps that calf,
being
ground to powder, was cast into the water and given to the children of Israel
to
drink, Exodus 32:20 that so the body of ungodliness might be swallowed up by
Israel.
"Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at
mine
hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour" (ver. 26); so that we
may
swallow up them ashamed and brought to confusion. "Who speak evil against
me:"
let them be ashamed, let them be brought to confusion.
27.
What do you say now, the Head with the Members? "Let them shout for joy
and
be glad that favour My righteous cause:" who cleave to My Body. Yea, let
them
say "continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which has pleasure in the
prosperity
of His servant" (ver. 27). "And my tongue shall speak of Your
righteousness,
and of Your praise all the day long" (ver. 28). And whose tongue
endures
to speak the praise of God all the day long? See now I have made a
discourse
something longer; you are wearied. Who endures to praise God all the
day
long? I will suggest a remedy, whereby you may praise God all the day long if
you
will. Whatever you do, do well, and you have praised God. When you sing an
hymn,
you praise God, but what does your tongue, unless your heart also praise
Him?
Have you ceased from singing hymns, and departed, that you may refresh
yourself?
Be not drunken, and you have praised God. Do you go away to sleep?
Rise
not to do evil, and you have praised God. Do you transact business? Do no
wrong,
and you have praised God. Do you till your field? Raise not strife, and you
have
praised God. In the innocency of your works prepare yourself to praise God
all
the day long.
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163
Exposition on Psalm 36
1.
... "The ungodly has said in himself that he will sin: there is no fear of
God
before
his eyes" (ver. 1). Not of one man, but of a race of ungodly men he
speaks,
who
fight against their own selves, by not understanding, that so they may live
well;
not because they cannot, but because they will not. For it is one thing, when
one
endeavours to understand some thing, and through infirmity of flesh cannot;
as
says the Scripture in a certain place, "For the corruptible body presses
down the
soul,
and the earthly tabernacle weighs down the mind that muses upon many
things;"
but another when the human heart acts mischievously against itself, so
that
what it could understand, if it had but good will thereto, it understands not,
not
because
it is difficult, but because the will is contrary. But so it is when men love
their
own sins, and hate God's Commandments. For the Word of God is your
adversary,
if thou be a friend to your ungodliness; but if you are an adversary to
your
ungodliness, the Word of God is your friend, as well as the adversary of your
ungodliness....
2.
"For he has wrought deceitfully in His sight" (ver. 2). In whose
sight? In His,
whose
fear was not before the eyes of him that did work deceitfully. "To find
out
his
iniquity, and hate it." He wrought so as not to find it. For there are men
who as
it
were endeavour to seek out their iniquity, and fear to find it; because if they
should
find it, it is said to them, Depart from it: this you did before you knew; you
did
iniquity being in ignorance; God gives pardon: now you have discovered it,
forsake
it, that to your ignorance pardon may easily be given; and that with a clear
face
you may say to God, "Remember not the sins of my youth, and of my
ignorance."
Thus he seeks it, thus he fears lest he find it; for he seeks it deceitfully.
When
says a man, I knew not that it was sin? When he has seen that it is sin, and
ceases
to do the sin, which he did only because he was ignorant: such an one in
truth
would know his sin, to find it out, and hate it. But now many "work
deceitfully
to find out their iniquity:" they work not from their heart to find it out
and
hate it. But because in the very search after iniquity, there is deceit, in the
finding
it there will be defence of it. For when one has found his iniquity, lo now it
is
manifest to him that it is iniquity. Do it not, you say. And he who wrought
deceitfully
to find it out, now he has found, hates it not; for what says he? How
many
do this! Who is there that does it not? And will God destroy them all? Or at
least
he says this: if God would not these things to be done, would men live who
commit
the same? Do you see that you worked deceitfully to find out your
iniquity?
For if not deceitfully but sincerely you had wrought, you would now
have
found it out, and hated it; now you have found it out, and you defend it;
therefore
you worked deceitfully, when you sought it.
3.
"The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he would not understand,
that
he
might do good" (ver. 3). You see that he attributes that to the will: for
there are
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Psalm 36 164
men
who would understand and cannot, and there are men who would not
understand,
and therefore understand not. "He would not understand, that he might
do
good."
4.
"He has meditated iniquity on his bed." What said He, "On his
bed?" (ver. 4).
"The
ungodly has said in himself, that he will sin:" what above he said, in
himself,
that
here he said, "On his bed." Our bed is our heart: there we suffer the
tossing of
an
evil conscience; and there we rest when our conscience is good. Whoso loves
the
bed of his heart, let him do some good therein. There is our bed, where the
Lord
Jesus Christ commands us to pray. "Enter into your chamber, and shut your
door."
Matthew 6:6 What is, "Shut your door?" Expect not from God such
things
as
are without, but such as are within; "and your Father which sees in
secret, shall
reward
you openly." Who is he that shuts not the door? He who asks much from
God
such things, and in such wise directs all his prayers, that he may receive the
goods
that are of this world. Your door is open, the multitude sees when you pray.
What
is it to shut your door? To ask that of God, which God alone knows how He
gives.
What is that for which you pray, when you have shut the door? What "eye
has
not seen, nor ear heard, or has entered into the heart of man." And haply
it has
not
entered into your very bed, that is, into your heart. But God knows what He
will
give: but when shall it be? When the Lord shall be revealed, when the Judge
shall
appear....
5.
"He has set himself in every way that is not good." What is, "he
has set
himself"?
He has sinned perseveringly. Whence also of a certain pious and good
man
it is said, "He has not stood in the way of sinners." As this
"has not stood," so
that
"has set himself." "But wickedness has he not hated." There
is the end, there
the
fruit: if a man cannot but have wickedness, let him at least hate it. For when
you
hate it, it scarcely occurs to you to do any wickedness. For sin is in our
mortal
body,
but what says the Apostle? "Let not sin reign in your mortal body, that
you
should
obey it in the lusts thereof." Romans 6:12 When begins it not to be
therein?
When
that shall be fulfilled in us which he says, "When this corruptible shall
have
put
on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality."
1
Corinthians 15:54 Before this come to pass, there is a delighting in sin in the
body,
but greater is the delighting and the pleasure in the Word of Wisdom, in the
Commandment
of God. Overcome sin and the lust thereof. Sin and iniquity do
thou
hate, that you may join yourself to God, who hates it as well as thou. Now
being
joined in mind unto the Law of God, in mind you serve the Law of God.
And
if in the flesh thou therefore servest the law of sin, Romans 7:25 because
there
are in you certain carnal delightings, then will there be none when you shall
no
longer fight. It is one thing not to fight, and to be in true and lasting
peace;
another
to fight and overcome; another to fight and to be overcome; another not to
fight
at all, but to be carried away....
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6.
"Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and Your truth reaches even unto
the
clouds"
(ver. 5). I know not what Mercy of Him he means, which is in the
heavens.
For the Mercy of the Lord is also in the earth. You have it written, "The
earth
is full of the Mercy of the Lord." Of what Mercy then speaks He, when He
says,
"Your Mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens"? The gifts of God are partly
temporal
and earthly, partly eternal and heavenly. Whoso for this worships God,
that
he may receive those temporal and earthly goods, which are open to all, is
still
as
it were like the brutes: he enjoys indeed the Mercy of God, but not that which
is
excepted,
which shall not be given, save only to the righteous, to the holy, to the
good.
What are the gifts which abound to all? "He makes His sun to rise on the
evil
and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." Matthew
5:45
Who
has not this Mercy of God, first that he has being, that he is distinguished
from
the brutes, that he is a rational animal, so as to understand God; secondly,
that
he enjoys this light, this air, rain, fruits, diversity of seasons, and all the
earthly
comforts, health of body, the affection of friends, the safety of his family?
All
these are good, and they are God's gifts....
7.
But this man rightly understood what mercy he should pray for from God.
"Your
Mercy, O Lord, is in the Heavens; and Your Truth reaches even to the
clouds."
That is, the Mercy which Thou givest to Your Saints, is Heavenly, not
earthly;
is Eternal, not temporal. And how couldest Thou declare it unto men?
Because
"Your Truth reaches even unto the clouds." For who could know the
Heavenly
Mercy of God, unless God should declare it unto men? How did He
declare
it? By sending His truth even unto the clouds. What are the clouds? The
Preachers
of the Word of God .... Truth reached even to the clouds: therefore unto
us
could be declared the Mercy of God, which is in Heaven and not in earth. And
truly,
Brethren, the clouds are the Preachers of the Word of Truth. When God
threatens
through His Preachers, He thunders through the clouds. When God
works
miracles through His Preachers, He lightens through the clouds, He terrifies
through
the clouds, and waters by the rain. Those Preachers, then, by whom is
preached
the Gospel of God, are the clouds of God. Let us then hope for Mercy,
but
for that which is in the Heavens.
8.
"Your Righteousness is like the mountains of God: Your Judgments are a
great
deep"
(ver. 6). Who are the mountains of God? Those who are called clouds, the
same
are also the mountains of God. The great Preachers are the mountains of
God.
And as when the sun rises, he first clothes the mountains with light, and
thence
the light descends to the lowest parts of the earth: so our Lord Jesus Christ,
when
He came, first irradiated the height of the Apostles, first enlightened the
mountains,
and so His Light descended to the valley of the world. And therefore
says
He in a certain Psalm, "I lifted up my eyes unto the mountains, from
whence
comes
my help." But think not that the mountains themselves will give you help:
for
they receive what they may give, give not of their own. And if thou remain in
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166
the
mountains, your hope will not be strong: but in Him who enlightens the
mountains,
ought to be your hope and presumption. Your help indeed will come to
you
through the mountains, because the Scriptures are administered to you through
the
mountains, through the great Preachers of the Truth: but fix not your hope in
them.
Hear what He says next following: "I lifted up my eyes unto the mountains,
from
whence comes my help." What then? Do the mountains give you help? No;
hear
what follows, "My help comes from the Lord, which made Heaven and
earth."
Through the mountains comes help, but not from the mountains. From
whom
then? "From the Lord, which made Heaven and earth."...
9.
"Your Judgments are like the great abyss." The abyss he calls the
depth of sin,
whither
every one comes by despising God; as in a certain place it is said, "God
gave
them over to their own hearts' lusts, to do the things which are not
convenient."
Romans 1:28 ... Because then they were proud and ungrateful, they
were
held worthy to be delivered up to the lusts of their own hearts, and became a
great
abyss, so that they not only sinned, but also worked craftily, lest they should
understand
their iniquity, and hate it. That is the depth of wickedness, to be
unwilling
to find it out and to hate it. But how one comes to that depth, see; "Your
Judgments
are the great abyss." As the mountains are by the Righteousness of
God,
who through His Grace become great: so also through His Judgments come
they
unto the depth, who sink lowest. By this then let the mountains delight you,
by
this turn away from the abyss, and turn yourself unto that, of which it is
said,
"My
help comes from the Lord." But whereby? "I have lifted up my eyes
unto the
mountains."
What means this? I will speak plainly. In the Church of God you find
an
abyss, you find also mountains; you find there but few good, because the
mountains
are few, the abyss broad; that is, you find many living ill after the wrath
of
God, because they have so worked that they are delivered up to the lusts of
their
own
heart; so now they defend their sins and confess them not; but say, Why?
What
have I done? Such an one did this, and such an one did that. Now will they
even
defend what the Divine Word reproves. This is the abyss. Therefore in a
certain
place Proverbs 18:3 says the Scripture (hear this abyss), "The sinner when
he
comes unto the depth of sin despises." See, "Your Judgments are like
the great
abyss."
But yet not are you a mountain; not yet are you in the abyss; fly from the
abyss,
tend towards the mountains; but yet remain not on the mountains. "For your
help
comes from the Lord, which made Heaven and earth."
10.
Because he said, Your Mercy is in the Heavens, that it may be known to be
also
on earth, he said, "O Lord, Thou savest man and beast, as Your Mercy is
multiplied,
O God" (ver. 7). Great is Your Mercy, and manifold is Your Mercy, O
God;
and that showest Thou both to man and beast. For from whom is the saving
of
men? From God. Is not the saving of beasts also from God? For He who made
man,
made also beasts; He who made both, saves both; but the saving of beasts is
temporal.
But there are who as a great thing ask this of God, which He has given
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to
beasts. "Your Mercy, O God, is multiplied," so that not only unto
men, but unto
beasts
also is given the same saving which is given to men, a carnal and temporal
saving.
11.
Have not men then somewhat reserved with God, which beasts deserve not,
and
whereunto beasts arrive not? They have evidently. And where is that which
they
have. "The children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your
wings."
Attend,
my Beloved, to this most pleasant sentence; "Thou savest man and
beast."
First,
he spoke of "man and beast," then of "the children of men;"
as though "men"
were
one, "the children of men" other. Sometimes in Scripture children of
men is
said
generally of all men, sometimes in some proper manner, with some proper
signification,
so that not all men are understood; chiefly when there is a
distinction.
For not without reason is it here put; "O Lord, Thou savest man and
beast:
but the children of men;" as though setting aside the first, he keeps separate
the
children of men. Separate from whom? Not only from beasts, but also from
men,
who seek from God the saving of beasts, and desire this as a great thing.
Who
then are the children of men? Those who put their trust under the shadow of
His
wings. For those men together with beasts rejoice in possession, but the
children
of men rejoice in hope: those follow after present goods with beasts, these
hope
for future goods with Angels....
12.
"They shall be satiated with the fulness of Your House" (ver. 8). He
promises
us
some great thing. He would speak it, and He speaks it not. Can He not, or do
not
we receive it? I dare, my Brethren, to say, even of holy tongues and hearts, by
which
Truth is declared to us, that it can neither be spoken, which they declared,
nor
even thought of. For it is a great thing, and ineffable; and even they saw
through
a glass darkly, as says the Apostle, "For now we see through a glass
darkly;
but then face to face." 1 Corinthians 13:12 Lo, they who saw through a
glass
darkly, thus burst forth. What then shall we be, when we shall see face to
face?
That with which they travailed in heart, and could not with their tongue
bring
forth, that men might receive it. For what necessity was there that he should
say,
"They shall be satiated with the fulness of Your House"? He sought a
word
whereby
to express from human things what he would say; and because he saw
that
men drowning themselves in drunkenness receive indeed wine without
measure,
but lose their senses, he saw what to say; for when shall have been
received
that ineffable joy, then shall be lost in a manner the human soul, it shall
become
Divine, and be satiated with the fulness of God's House. Wherefore also in
another
Psalm it is said, "Your cup inebriating, how excellent is it!" With
this cup
were
the Martyrs satiated when going to their passion, they knew not their own.
What
so inebriated as not to know a wife weeping, not children, not parents? They
knew
them not, they thought not that they were before their eyes. Wonder not:
they
were inebriated. Wherewith were they so? Lo, they had received a cup
wherewith
they were satiated. Wherefore he also gives thanks to God, saying,
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"What
shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits towards me? I will take the
cup
of Salvation, and call upon the Name of the Lord." Therefore, Brethren of
men,
let us be children and let us trust under the shadow of His wings and be
satiated
with the fulness of His House. As I could, I have spoken; and as far as I
can
I see; and how far I see, I cannot speak. "And of the torrent of Your
Pleasure
shall
Thou give them to drink." A torrent we call water coming with a flood.
There
will
be a flood of God's Mercy to overflow and inebriate those who now put their
trust
under the shadow of His wings. What is that Pleasure? As it were a torrent
inebriating
the thirsty. Let him then who thirsts now, lay up hope: whoso thirsts
now,
let him have hope; when inebriated, he shall have possession: before he have
possession,
let him thirst in hope. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst
after
righteousness, for they shall be filled." Matthew 5:6
13.
With what fountain then will you be overflowed, and whence runs such a
torrent
of His Pleasure? "For with You," says he, "is the fountain of
Life." What is
the
fountain of Life, but Christ? He came to you in the flesh, that He might bedew
your
thirsty lips: He will satisfy you trusting, who bedewed you thirsting.
"For
with
You is the fountain of Life; in Your Light shall we see light" (ver. 9).
Here a
fountain
is one thing, light another: there not so. For that which is the Fountain,
the
same is also Light: and whatever you will you call It, for It is not what you
call
It:
for you can not find a fit name: for It remains not in one name. If you should
say,
that It is Light only, it would be said to you, Then without cause am I told to
hunger
and thirst, for who is there that eats light? It is said to me plainly,
directly,
"Blessed
are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." Matthew 5:6, 8 If It is
Light,
my eyes must I prepare. Prepare also lips; for That which is Light is also a
Fountain:
a Fountain, because It satisfies the thirsty: Light, because It enlightens
the
blind. Here sometimes, light is in one place, a fountain in another. For
sometimes
fountains run even in darkness; and sometimes in the desert you suffer
the
sun, findest no fountain: here then can these two be separated: there you shall
not
be wearied, for there is a Fountain; there you shall not be darkened, for there
is
Light.
14.
"Show forth Your Mercy unto them that know You; Your Righteousness to
them
that are of a right heart" (ver. 10). As I have said, Those are of a right
heart
who
follow in this life the Will of God. The will of God is sometimes that you
should
be whole, sometimes that you should be sick. If when you are whole God's
Will
be sweet, and when you are sick God's Will be bitter; you are not of a right
heart.
Wherefore? Because you will not make right your will according to God's
Will,
but wilt bend God's Will to yours. That is right, but you are crooked: your
will
must be made right to That, not That made crooked to you; and you will have
a
right heart. It is well with you in this world; be God blessed, who comforts
you:
it
goes hardly with you in this world; be God blessed, because He chastens and
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proves
you; and so will you be of a right heart, saying, "I will bless the Lord
at all
times:
His Praise shall be ever in my mouth."
15.
"Let not the foot of pride come against me" (ver. 11). But now he
said, The
children
of men shall put their trust under the shadow of Your wings: they shall be
satiated
with the fulness of Your House. When one has begun to be plentifully
overflowed
with that Fountain, let him take heed lest he grow proud. For the same
was
not wanting to Adam, the first man: but the foot of pride came against him,
and
the hand of the sinner removed him, that is, the proud hand of the devil. As he
who
seduced him, said of himself, "I will sit in the sides of the north;"
Isaiah 14:13
so
he persuaded him, by saying, "Taste, and you shall be as gods." Genesis
3:5 By
pride
then have we so fallen as to arrive at this mortality. And because pride had
wounded
us, humility makes us whole. God came humbly, that from such great
wound
of pride He might heal man. He came, for "The Word was made Flesh, and
dwelt
among us." John 1:34 He was taken by the Jews; He was reviled of them.
You
heard when the Gospel was read, what they said, and to Whom they said,
"You
have a devil:" and He said not, You have a devil, for you are still in
your
sins,
and the devil possesses your hearts. He said not this, which if He had said, He
had
said truly: but it was not meet that He should say it, lest He should seem not
to
preach
Truth, but to retort evil speaking. He let go what He heard as though He
heard
it not. For a Physician was He, and to cure the madman had He come. As a
Physician
cares not what he may hear from the madman; but how the madman
may
recover and become sane; nor even if he receive a blow from the madman,
cares
he; but while he to him gives new wounds, he cures his old fever: so also the
Lord
came to the sick man, to the madman came He, that whatever He might hear,
whatever
He might suffer, He should despise; by this very thing teaching us
humility,
that being taught by humility, we might be healed from pride: from
which
he here prays to be delivered, saying, "Let not the foot of pride come
against
me; neither let the hand of the sinner remove me." For if the foot of
pride
come,
the hand of the sinner removes. What is the hand of the sinner? The
working
of him that advises ill. Have you become proud? Quickly he corrupts you
who
advises ill. Humbly fix yourself in God, and care not much what is said to
you.
Hence is that which is elsewhere spoken, "From my secret sins cleanse Thou
me;
and from others' sins also keep Your servant." What is, "From my
secret
sins"?
"Let not the foot of pride come against me." What is, "From
other men's
sins
also keep Your servant"? "Let not the hand of the wicked remove
me." Keep
that
which is within, and you shall not fear from without.
16.
But wherefore so greatly do you fear this? Because it is said, "Thereby
have
fallen
all that work iniquity" (ver. 12); so that they have come into that abyss
of
which
it is said, "Your judgments are like the great abyss:" so that they
have come
even
to that deep wherein sinners who despise have fallen. "Have fallen."
Whereby
did they first fall? By the foot of pride. Hear the foot of pride. "When
Psalm 36 170
they
knew God, they glorified Him not as God." Therefore came against them the
foot
of pride, whereby they came into the depth. "God gave them over to their
own
hearts'
lusts, to do those things which are not convenient." Romans 1:21-24 The
root
of sin, and the head of sin feared he who said, "Let not the foot of pride
come
against
me." Wherefore said he, "the foot"? Because by walking proudly
man
deserted
God, and departed from Him. His foot, called he his affection. "Let not
the
foot of pride come against me: let not the hand of the wicked remove me:"
that
is,
let not the works of the wicked remove me from You, that I should wish to
imitate
them. But wherefore said he this against pride, "Thereby have fallen all
that
work iniquity"? Because those who now are ungodly, have fallen by pride.
Therefore
when the Lord would caution His Church, He said, "It shall watch your
head,
and you shall watch his heel." Genesis 3:15 The serpent watches when the
foot
of pride may come against you, when you may fall, that he may cast you
down.
But watch thou his head: the beginning of all sin is pride. Sirach 10:13
"Thereby
have fallen all that work iniquity: they are driven out, and are not able to
stand."
He first, who in the Truth stood not, then, through him, they whom God
sent
out of Paradise. Whence he, the humble, who said that he was not worthy to
unloose
His shoe's latchet, is not driven out, but stands and hears Him, and
rejoices
greatly because of the Bridegroom's voice; not because of his own, lest the
foot
of pride come against him, and he be driven out, and be not able to stand....
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Exposition
on Psalm 37
On
the first part of the psalm.
1.
With terror do they hear of the coming of the last day, who will not be secure
by
living
well: and who fain would live ill, long. But it was for useful purposes that
God
willed that day to remain unknown; that the heart may be ever ready to expect
that
of which it knows it is to come, but knows not when it is to come. Seeing,
however,
that our Lord Jesus Christ was sent to us to be our "Master," He
said,
that
"of the day not even the Son of Man knew," Mark 13:32 because it was
not
part
of His office as our Master that through Him it should become known to us.
For
indeed the Father knows nothing that the Son knows not; since that is the Very
Knowledge
of the Father Itself, which is His Wisdom; now His Son, His Word, is
"His
Wisdom." But because it was not for our good to know that, which however
was
known to Him who came indeed to teach us, though not to teach us that which
it
was not good for us to know, He not only, as a Master, taught us something, but
also,
as a Master, left something untaught. For, as a Master, He knew how both to
teach
us what was good for us, and not to teach us what was injurious. Now thus,
according
to a certain form of speech, the Son is said not to know what He does
not
teach: that is, in the same way that we are daily in the habit of speaking, He
is
said
not to know what He causes us not to know....
2.
This it is that disturbs you who are a Christian; that you see men of bad lives
prospering,
and surrounded with abundance of things like these; you see them
sound
in health, distinguished with proud honours; you see their family unvisited
by
misfortune; the happiness of their relatives, the obsequious attendance of
their
dependants,
their most commanding influence, their life uninterrupted by any sad
event;
you see their characters most profligate, their external resources most
affluent;
and your heart says that there is no Divine judgment; that all things are
carried
to and fro by accidents, and blown about in disorderly and irregular
motions.
For if God, you say, regarded human affairs, would his iniquity flourish,
and
my innocence suffer? Every sickness of the soul has in Scripture its proper
remedy.
Let him then whose sickness is of that kind that he says in his heart things
like
these, let him drink this Psalm by way of potion....
3.
"Be not envious because of evil-doers, neither be envious against the
workers of
iniquity"
(ver. 1). "For they shall soon wither like the grass, and shall fade like
the
herbs
of the meadow" (ver. 2). That which to you seems long, is "soon"
in the
sight
of God. Conform you yourself to God; and it will be "soon" to you.
That
which
he here calls "grass," that we understand by the "herbs of the
meadow."
They
are some worthless things, occupying the surface only of the ground, they
have
no depth of root. In the winter then they are green; but when the summer sun
shall
begin to scorch, they will wither away. For now it is the season of winter.
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Your
glory does not as yet appear. But if your love has but a deep root, like that
of
many
trees during winter, the frost passes away, the summer (that is, the Day of
Judgment)
will come; then will the greenness of the grass wither away. Then will
the
glory of the trees appear. "For you" (says the Apostle) "are
dead,"
Colossians
3:3 even as trees seem to be in winter, as it were dead, as it were
withered.
What is our hope then, if we are dead? The root is within; where our root
is,
there is our life also, for there our love is fixed. "And your life is hid
with
Christ
in God." Colossians 3:3 When shall he wither who is thus rooted? But when
will
our spring be? When our summer? When will the honour of foliage clothe us
around,
and the fulness of fruit make us rich? When shall this come to pass? Hear
what
follows: "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also
appear
with Him in glory." And what then shall we do now? "Be not envious
because
of the evil-doers, neither be envious against the workers of iniquity. For
they
shall soon wither like the grass, and fade like the herb of the meadow."
4.
What should you do then? "Trust in the Lord" (ver. 3). For they too
trust, but
not
"in the Lord." Their hope is perishable. Their hope is short-lived,
frail,
fleeting,
transitory, baseless. "Trust thou in the Lord." "Behold,"
you say, "I do
trust;
what am I to do?"
"And
do good." Do not do that evil which you behold in those men, who are
prosperous
in wickedness. "Do good, and dwell in the land." Lest haply you
should
be doing good without "dwelling in the land." For it is the Church
that is
the
Lord's land. It is her whom He, the Father, the tiller of it, waters and
cultivates.
For
there are many that, as it were, do good works, but yet, in that they do not
"dwell
in the land," they do not belong to the husbandman. Therefore do thou your
good,
not outside of the land, but do thou "dwell in the land." And what
shall I
have?
"And
you shall be fed in its riches." What are the riches of that land? Her
riches
are
her Lord! Her riches are her God! He it is to whom it is said, "The Lord
is the
portion
of mine inheritance, and of my cup." In a late discourse we suggested to
you,
dearly beloved, that God is our possession, and that we are at the same time
God's
possession. Hear how that He is Himself the riches of that land.
"Delight
yourself in the Lord" (ver. 4). As if you had put the question, and had
said
"Show me the riches of that land, in which you bid me dwell," he
says,
"Delight
yourself in the Lord."
5.
"And He shall give you the desires of your heart." Understand in
their proper
signification,
"the desires of your heart." Distinguish the "desires of your
heart"
from
the desires of your flesh; distinguish as much as you can. It is not without a
meaning
that it is said in a certain Psalm, "God is" (the strength) "of
mine heart."
For
there it says in what follows: "And God is my portion for ever." For
instance:
One
labours under bodily blindness. He asks that he may receive his sight. Let him
ask
it; for God does that too, and gives those blessings also. But these things are
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asked
for even by the wicked. This is a desire of the flesh. One is sick, and prays
to
be made sound. From the point of death he is restored to health. That too is a
desire
of the flesh, as are all of such a kind. What is "the desire of the
heart"? As
the
desire of the flesh is to wish to have one's eyesight restored, to enable him,
that
is,
to see that light, which can be seen by such eyes; so "the desire of the
heart"
relates
to a different sort of light. For, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for
they shall
see
God. Delight you yourself in the Lord; and He shall give you the desires of
your
heart."
6.
"Behold" (you say), "I do long after it, I do ask for it, I do
desire it. Shall I then
accomplish
it?" No. Who shall then? "Reveal your way unto the Lord: trust also
in
Him,
and He shall bring it to pass" (ver. 5). Mention to Him what you suffer,
mention
to Him what thou dost desire. For what is it that you suffer? "The flesh
lusts
against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh." Galatians 5:17 What
is it
then
that thou dost desire? "Wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from
the
body of this death?" Romans 7:24 And because it is He "Himself"
that "will
bring
it to pass," when you shall have "revealed your ways unto Him;"
hear what
follows:
"The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord." What is it then
that He
is
to bring to pass, since it is said, "Reveal your way unto Him, and He will
bring
it
to pass"? What will He bring to pass?
"And
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light" (ver. 6). For now,
"your
righteousness"
is hid. Now it is a thing of faith; not yet of sight. You believe
something
that you may do it. You do not yet see that in which you believe. But
when
you shall begin to see that, which you believed before, "your
righteousness
will
be brought forth to the light," because it is your faith that was your
righteousness.
For "the just lives by faith."
7.
"And He shall bring forth your judgment as the noon-day." That is to
say, "as
the
clear light." It was too little to say, "as the light." For we
call it "light" already,
even
when it but dawns: we call it light even while the sun is rising. But never is
the
light brighter than at mid-day. Therefore He will not only "bring forth
your
righteousness
as the light," but "your judgment shall be as the noon-day." For
now
do
you make your "judgment" to follow Christ. This is your purpose: this
is your
choice:
this is your "judgment."...
8.
"What should I do then?" Hear what "Submit you to the Lord, and
entreat Him"
(ver.
7). Be this your life, to obey His commandments. For this is to submit you to
Him;
and to entreat Him until He give you what He has promised. Let good works
"continue;"
let prayer "continue." For "men ought always to pray, and not to
faint."
Luke
18:1 Wherein do you show that you are "submitted to Him"? In doing
what
He
has commanded. But haply thou dost not receive your wages as yet, because as
yet
you are not able. For He is already able to give them; but you are not already
able
to receive them. Exercise you yourself in works. Labour in the vineyard; at
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the
close of the day crave your wages. "Faithful is He" who brought you
into the
vineyard.
"Submit you to the Lord, and entreat Him."
9.
"See! I do so; I do 'submit to the Lord, and I do entreat.' But what do
you think?
That
neighbour of mine is a wicked man, living a bad life, and prosperous! His
thefts,
adulteries, robberies, are known to me. Lifted up above every one, proud,
and
raised on high by wickedness, he deigns not to notice me. In these
circumstances,
how shall I hold out with patience?" This is a sickness; drink, by
way
of remedy. "Fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his
way." He
prospers,
but it is "in his way:" you suffer, but it is in God's way! His
portion is
prosperity
on his way, misery on arriving at its end: yours, toil on the road,
happiness
in its termination. "The Lord knows the way of the righteous; and the
way
of the ungodly shall perish." Thou walkest those ways which "the Lord
knows,"
and if thou dost suffer toil in them, they do not deceive you. The "way of
the
ungodly" is but a transitory happiness; at the end of the way the
happiness is at
an
end also. Why? Because that way is "the broad road;" its termination
leads to
the
pit of hell. Now, your way is narrow; and "few there be" that enter
in through
it:
Matthew 7:13-14 but into how ample a field it comes at the last, you ought to
consider.
"Fret not yourself at him who prospers in his way; because of the man
who
brings wicked devices to pass."
"Cease
from anger, and forsake wrath" (ver. 8). Wherefore are you angry?
Wherefore
is it that, through that passion and indignation, thou dost blaspheme, or
almost
blaspheme? Against "the man who brings wicked devices to pass, cease
from
anger, and forsake wrath." Do you not know whither that wrath tempts you
on?
You are on the point of saying unto God, that He is unjust. It tends to that.
"Look!
why is that man prosperous, and this man in adversity?" Consider what
thought
it begets: stifle the wicked notion. "Cease from anger, and forsake
wrath:"
so
that now returning to your senses, you may say, "My eye is disturbed
because
of
wrath." What eye is that, but the eye of faith? To the eye of your faith I
appeal.
Thou
believed in Christ: why did you believe? What did He promise you? If it was
the
happiness of this world that Christ promised you, then murmur against Christ;
yes!
murmur against Him, when you see the wicked flourishing. What of
happiness
did He promise? What, save in the Resurrection of the Dead? But what
in
this life? That which was His portion. His portion, I say! Do you, servant and
disciple,
disdain what your Lord, what your Master bore?...
"For
evil-doers shall be cut off" (ver. 9). "But I see their
prosperity." Believe Him
who
says, "they shall be cut off;" Him who sees better than thou, since
His eye
anger
cannot cloud. "For evil-doers shall be cut off. But those that wait upon
the
Lord,"—not
upon any one that can deceive them; but verily on Him who is the
Truth
itself,—"But those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the
land."
What
"land," but that Jerusalem, with the love of which whosoever is
inflamed,
shall
come to peace at the last.
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10.
"But how long is the sinner to flourish? How long shall I have to
endure?" You
are
impatient; that which seems long to you, will soon come to pass. It is
infirmity
makes
that seem long, which is really short, as is found in the case of the longings
of
sick men. Nothing seems so long as the mixing of the potion for him when
thirsty.
For all that his attendants are making all speed, lest haply the patient be
angry;
"When will it be done? (he cries). When will it be drest? When will it be
served?"
Those who are waiting upon you are making haste, but your infirmity
fancies
that long which is being done with expedition. Behold ye, therefore, our
Physician
complying with the infirmity of the patient, saying, "How long shall I
have
to endure? How long will it be?"
"Yet
a little while, and the sinner shall not be" (ver. 10). Is it certainly
among
sinners,
and because of the sinner, that you murmur. "A little while, and he shall
not
be." Lest haply because I said, "They that wait upon the Lord, they
shall
inherit
the land," you should think that waiting to be of very long duration. Wait
"a
little
while," you shall receive without end what you wait for. A little while, a
moderate
space. Review the years from Adam's time up to this day; run through
the
Scriptures. It is almost yesterday that he fell from Paradise! So many ages
have
been
measured out, and unrolled. Where now are the past ages? Even so, however,
shall
the few which remain, pass away also. Had you been living throughout all
that
time, since Adam was banished from Paradise up to this present day, you
would
certainly see that the life, which had thus flown away, had not been of long
duration.
But how long is the duration of each individual's life? Add any number
of
years you please: prolong old age to its longest duration: what is it? Is it
not but
a
morning breeze? Be it so, however, that the Day of Judgment is far off, when
the
reward
of the righteous and of the unrighteous is to come: your last day at all
events
cannot be far off. Make yourself ready against this! For such as you shall
have
departed from this life, shall you be restored to the other. At the close of
that
short
life, you will not yet be, where the Saints shall be, to whom it shall be said,
"Come,
you blessed of My Father: inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
beginning
of the world." Matthew 25:34 You will not yet be there? Who does not
know
that? But you may already be there, where that beggar, once "covered with
sores,"
was seen at a distance, at rest, by that proud and unfruitful "rich
man" in
the
midst of his torments. Surely hid in that rest you wait in security for the Day
of
Judgment,
when you are to receive again a body, to be changed so as to be made
equal
to an Angel. How long then is that for which we are impatient, and are
saying,
"When will it come? Will it tarry long?" This our sons will say
hereafter,
and
our sons' sons will say too; and, though each one of these in succession will
say
this same thing, that "little while" that is yet to be, passes away,
as all that is
already
past has passed away already! O thou sick one! "Yet a little while, and
the
sinner
shall not be. Yea, you shall diligently consider his place, and you shall not
find
him."...
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11.
"But the meek shall inherit the land" (ver. 11). That land is the one
of which
we
have often spoken, the holy Jerusalem, which is to be released from these her
pilgrimages,
and to live for ever with God, and on God. Therefore, "They shall
inherit
the land." What shall be their delight? "And they shall delight
themselves
in
the abundance of peace." Let the ungodly man delight himself here in the
multitude
of his gold, in the multitude of his silver, in the multitude of his slaves,
in
the multitude, lastly, of his baths, his roses, his intoxicating wines, his
most
sumptuous
and luxurious banquets. Is this the power you envy? Is this the glory
that
delights you? Would not his fate be worthy to be deplored, even if he were to
be
so for ever? What shall be your delights? "And they shall delight
themselves in
the
abundance of peace." Peace shall be your gold. Peace shall be your silver.
Peace
shall be your lands. Peace shall be your life, your God Peace. Peace shall be
to
you whatsoever thou dost desire....
On
the Second Part of the Psalm.
1.
Then follow these words: "The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes
upon
him
with his teeth" (ver. 12): "But the Lord shall laugh at him"
(ver. 13). At
whom?
Surely at the sinner, "gnashing upon" the other "with his
teeth." But
wherefore
shall the Lord "laugh at him"? "For He foresees that his day is
coming."
He
seems indeed full of wrath, while, ignorant of the morrow that is in store for
him,
he is threatening the just. But the Lord beholds and "foresees his
day." "What
day?"
That in which "He will render to every man according to his works."
For he
is
"treasuring up unto himself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation
of the
just
judgment of God." Romans 2:6, 5 But it is the Lord that foresees it; thou
dost
not
foresee it. It has been revealed to you by Him who foresees it. You did not
know
of the "day of the unrighteous," in which he is to suffer punishment.
But He
who
knows it has revealed it to you. It is a main part of knowledge to join
yourself
to
Him who has knowledge. He has the eyes of knowledge: have thou the eyes of a
believing
mind. That which God "sees," be thou willing to believe. For the day
of
the
unjust, which God foresees, will come. What day is that? The day for all
vengeance!
For it is necessary that vengeance should be taken upon the ungodly,
that
vengeance be taken upon the unjust, whether he turn, or whether he turn not.
For
if he shall turn from his ways, that very thing, that his "injustice is
come to an
end,"
is the infliction of vengeance....
2.
"The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast
down
the
poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright heart" (ver. 14).
"Their
weapon
shall enter into their own heart" (ver. 15). It is an easy thing for his
weapon,
that is, his sword, to reach your body, even as the sword of the
persecutors
reached the body of the Martyrs, but when the body had been smitten,
"the
heart" remained unhurt; but his heart who "drew out the sword
against" the
body
of the just did not clearly remain unhurt. This is attested by this very Psalm.
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It
says, Their weapon, that is, "Their sword shall," not go into their
body, but,
"their
weapon shall go into their own heart." They would fain have slain him in
the
body.
Let them die the death of the soul. For those whose bodies they sought to
kill,
the Lord has freed from anxiety, saying, "Fear not them who kill the body,
but
cannot
kill the soul." Matthew 10:28...
3.
"And their bows shall be broken." What is meant by, "And their
bows shall be
broken"?
Their plots shall be frustrated. For above He had said, "The wicked have
drawn
out the sword and bent their bows." By the "drawing out of the
sword" he
would
have understood open hostility; but by the" bending of the bow,"
secret
conspiracies.
See! His sword destroys himself, and his laying of snares is
frustrated.
What is meant by frustrated? That it does no mischief to the righteous.
How
then, for instance (you ask), did it do no mischief to the man, whom it thus
stripped
of his goods, whom it reduced to straitened circumstances by taking away
his
possessions? He has still cause to sing, "A little that a righteous man
has, is
better
than great riches of the ungodly" (ver. 16).
4.
... "For the arms of the wicked shall be broken" (ver. 17). Now by
"their arms"
is
meant their power. What will he do in hell? Will it be what the rich man had to
do,
he who was wont "to fare sumptuously" in the upper world, and in hell
"was
tormented"?
Therefore their arms shall be broken; "but the Lord upholds the
righteous."
How does He "uphold" them? What says He unto them? Even what is
said
in another Psalm, "Wait on the Lord, be of good courage; and let your
heart
be
strengthened. Wait, I say, on the Lord." What is meant by this, "Wait
on the
Lord"?
Thou sufferest but for a time; you shall rest for ever: your trouble is short;
your
happiness is to be everlasting. It is but for "a little while" you
are to sorrow;
your
joy shall have no end. But in the midst of trouble does your "foot"
begin to
"slip"?
The example even of Christ's sufferings is set before you. Consider what
He
endured for you, in whom no cause was found why He should endure it? How
great
soever be your sufferings, you will not come to those insults, those
scourgings,
to that robe of shame, to that crown of thorns, and last of all to that
Cross,
which He endured; because that is now removed from the number of human
punishments.
For though under the ancients criminals were crucified, in the
present
day no one is crucified. It was honoured, and it came to an end. It came to
an
end as a punishment; it is continued in glory. It has removed from the place of
execution
to the foreheads of Emperors. He who has invested His very sufferings
with
such honour, what does He reserve for His faithful servants?...
5.
But observe whether that was fulfilled in his case which the Psalm now speaks
of.
"The Lord strengthens the righteous.—Not only so" (says that same
Paul, while
suffering
many evils), "but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation
works
patience, and patience experience; and experience hope; but hope makes not
ashamed,
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost,
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which
is given unto us." Romans 5:3-5 Justly is it said by him, now righteous,
now
"strengthened."
As therefore those who persecuted him did no harm to him, when
now
"strengthened," so neither did he himself do any harm to those whom
he
persecuted.
"But the Lord," he says, "strengthens the righteous."...
6.
Therefore "the Lord does strengthen the righteous." In what way does
He
strengthen
them? "The Lord knows the ways of the spotless ones" (ver. 18). When
they
suffer ills, they are believed to be walking ill ways by those who are
ignorant,
by
those who have not knowledge to discern "the ways of the spotless
ones." He
who
"knows those ways," knows by what way to lead His own, "them
that are
gentle,"
in the right way. Whence in another Psalm he said, "The meek shall He
guide
in judgment; them that are gentle will He teach His way." How, think you,
was
that beggar, who lay covered with sores before the rich man's door,
Luke
16:20 spurned by the passers by! How did they, probably, close their nostrils
and
spit at him! The Lord, however, knew how to reserve Paradise for him. How
did
they, on the other hand, desire for themselves the life of him who was
"clad in
purple
and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day!" Luke 16:19 But the
Lord,
who foresaw that man's "day coming," knew the torments, the torments
without
end, that were in store for him. Therefore "The Lord knows the ways of
the
upright."
7.
"And their inheritance shall be for ever" (ver. 18). This we hold by
faith. Doth
the
Lord too know it by faith? The Lord knows those things with as clear a
manifestation,
as we cannot speak of even when we shall be made equal to the
Angels.
For the things that shall be manifest to us, shall not be equally manifest to
us
as they are now to Him, who is incapable of change. Yet even of us ourselves
what
is said? "Beloved, now are we the sons of God: and it does not yet appear
what
we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him,
for
we shall see Him as He is." 1 John 3:2 There is therefore surely some
blissful
vision
reserved for us; and if it can be now in some measure conceived, "darkly
and
through a glass," 1 Corinthians 13:12 yet cannot we in any way express in
language
the ravishing beauty of that bliss, which God reserves for them that fear
Him,
which He consummates in those that hope in Him. It is for that destination
that
our hearts are being disciplined in all the troubles and trials of this life.
Wonder
not that it is in trouble that you are disciplined for it. It is for something
glorious
that you are being disciplined. Whence comes that speech of the now
strengthened
righteous man: "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to
be
compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us"? Romans 8:18 What is
that
promised glory to be, but to be made equal to the Angels and to see God?
How
great a benefit does he bestow on the blind man, who makes his eyes sound
so
as to be able to see the light of this life.... What reward then shall we give
unto
that
Physician who restores soundness to our inward eyes, to enable them to see a
certain
eternal Light, which is Himself?...
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8.
"They shall not be ashamed in the evil time" (ver. 19). In the day of
trouble, in
the
day of distress, they shall not be "ashamed," as he is ashamed whose
hope
deceives
him. Who is the man that is "ashamed"? He who says, "I have not
found
that
which I was in hopes of." Nor undeservedly either; for you hoped it from
yourself
or from man, your friend. But "cursed is he that puts his trust in
man."
You
are ashamed, because your hope has deceived you; your hope that was set on
a
lie. For "every man is a liar." But if thou dost place your hopes on
your God, you
are
not made "ashamed." For He in whom you have put your trust, cannot be
deceived.
Whence also the man whom we mentioned just above, the now
"strengthened"
righteous man, when fallen on an evil time, on the day of
tribulation,
what says he to show that he was not "ashamed"? "We glory in
tribulation;
knowing that tribulation works patience, and patience experience, and
experience
hope; but hope makes not ashamed." Whence is it that hope "makes not
ashamed"?
Because it is placed on God. Therefore follows immediately, "Because
the
love of God is spread in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which is given unto
us."
Romans
5:3-5 The Holy Spirit has been given to us already: how should He
deceive
us, of whom we possess such an "earnest" already? "They shall
not be
ashamed
in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied."...
9.
"For the wicked shall perish. But the enemies of the Lord, when they shall
begin
to
glory, and to be lifted up, immediately shall consume away utterly, even as the
smoke"
(ver. 20). Recognise from the comparison itself the thing which he
intimates.
Smoke, breaking forth from the place where fire has been, rises up on
high,
and by the very act of rising up, it swells into a large volume: but the larger
that
volume is, the more unsubstantial does it become; for from that very largeness
of
volume, which has no foundation or consistency, but is merely loose, shifting
and
evanescent, it passes into air, and dissolves; so that you perceive its very
largeness
to have been fatal to it. For the higher it ascends, the farther it is
extended,
the wider the circumference which it spreads itself over, the thinner, and
the
more rare and wasting and evanescent does it become. "But the enemies of
the
Lord,
when they shall begin to glory, and to be lifted up, immediately shall
consume
away utterly even as the smoke." Of such as these was it said, "As
Jannes
and
Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the Truth; men of corrupt
minds,
reprobate concerning the faith." 2 Timothy 3:8 But how is it that they
resist
the
Truth, except by the vain inflation of their swelling pride, while they raise
themselves
up on high, as if great and righteous persons, though on the point of
passing
away into empty air? But what says he of them? As if speaking of smoke,
he
says, "They shall proceed no farther, for their folly shall be manifest
unto all
men,
even as theirs also was."...
10.
"The wicked borrows, and pays not again" (ver. 20). He receives, and
will not
repay.
What is it he will not repay? Thanksgiving. For what is it that God would
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have
of you, what does He require of you, except that He may do you good? And
how
great are the benefits which the sinner has received, and which he will not
repay!
He has received the gift of being; he has received the gift of being a man;
and
of a being highly distinguished above the brutes; he has received the form of a
body,
and the distinction of the senses in the body, eyes for seeing, ears for
hearing,
the nostrils for smelling, the palate for tasting, the hands for touching, and
the
feet for walking; and even the very health and soundness of the body. But up
to
this point we have these things in common even with the brute; he has received
yet
more than this; a mind capable of understanding, capable of Truth, capable of
distinguishing
right from wrong; capable of seeking after, of longing for, its
Creator,
of praising Him, and fixing itself upon Him. All this the wicked man has
received
as well as others; but by not living well, he fails to repay that which he
owes.
Thus it is, "the wicked borrows, and pays not again:" he will not
requite
Him
from whom he has received; he will not return thanks; nay, he will even
render
evil for good, blasphemies, murmuring against God, indignation. Thus it is
that
he "borrows, and pays not again; but the righteous shows mercy, and
lends"
(ver.
21). The one therefore has nothing; the other has. See, on the one side,
destitution:
see, on the other, wealth. The one receives and "pays not again:" the
"other
shows mercy, and lends:" and he has more than enough. What if he is poor?
Even
so he is rich; do you but look at his riches with the eyes of Religion. For you
look
at the empty chest; but dost not look at the conscience, that is full of
God....
11.
"For such as shall bless Him shall inherit the land" (ver. 23), that
is, they shall
possess
that righteous One: the only One who both is truly righteous, and makes
righteous:
who both was poor in this world, and brought great riches to it,
wherewith
to make those rich whom He found poor. For it is He who has enriched
the
hearts of the poor with the Holy Spirit; and having emptied out their souls by
confession
of sins, has filled them with the richness of righteousness: He who was
able
to enrich the fisherman, who, by forsaking his nets, spurned what he
possessed
already, but sought to draw up what he possessed not. For "God has
chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty."
1
Corinthians 1:27 And it was not by an orator that He gained to Himself the
fisherman;
but by the fisherman that He gained to Himself the orator; by the
fisherman
that He gained the Senator; by the fisherman that He gained the
Emperor.
For "such as shall bless Him shall inherit the land;" they shall be
fellow-
heirs
with Him, in that "land of the living," of which it is said in
another Psalm,
"You
are my hope, my portion in the land of the living."...
12.
Observe what follows: "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord;
and
he
delights in His way" (ver. 23). That man may himself "delight in the
Lord's
way,"
his steps are ordered by the Lord Himself. For if the Lord did not order the
steps
of man, so crooked are they naturally, that they would always be going
through
crooked paths, and by pursuing crooked ways, would be unable to return
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181
again.
He however came, and called us, and redeemed us, and shed His blood; He
has
given this ransom; He has done this good, and suffered these evils. Consider
Him
in what He has done, He is God! Consider Him in what He has suffered, He
is
Man! Who is that God-Man? Had not you, O man, forsaken God, God would
not
have been made Man for you! For that was too little for you to requite, or for
Him
to bestow, that He had made you man; unless He Himself should become
Man
for you also. For it is He Himself that has "ordered our steps;" that
we should
"delight
in His way."...
13.
Now if man were to be through the whole of his life in toil, and in sufferings,
in
pain, in tortures, in prison, in scourgings, in hunger, and in thirst, every
day and
every
hour through the whole length of life, to the period of old age, yet the whole
life
of man is but a few days. That labour being over, there is to come the Eternal
Kingdom;
there is to come happiness without end; there is to come equality with
the
Angels; there is to come Christ's inheritance, and Christ, our "joint
Heir,"
Romans
8:17 is to come. How great is the labour, for which you receive so great a
recompense?
The Veterans who serve in the wars, and move in the midst of
wounds
for so many years, enter upon the military service from their youth, and
quit
it in old age: and to obtain a few days of repose in their old age, when age
itself
begins to weigh down those whom the wars do not break down, how great
hardships
do they endure; what marches, what frosts, what burning suns; what
privations,
what wounds, and what dangers! And while suffering all these things,
they
fix their thoughts on nothing but those few days of repose in old age, at which
they
know not whether they will ever arrive. Thus it is, the "steps of a good
man
are
ordered by the Lord, and he delights in His way." This is the point with
which
I
commenced. If you "delight in the way" of Christ, and art truly a
Christian (for
he
is a Christian indeed who does not despise the way of Christ, but
"delights in"
following
Christ's "way" through His sufferings), do not thou go by any other
way
than
that by which He Himself has also gone. It appears painful, but it is the very
way
of safety; another perhaps is delightful, but it is full of robbers. "And
he
delights
in His way."
14.
"Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds
his
hand"
(ver. 24). See what it is "to delight in" Christ's "way."
Should it happen that
he
suffers some tribulation; some forfeiture of honour, some affliction, some
loss,
some
contumely, or all those other accidents incident to mankind frequently in this
life,
he sets the Lord before him, what kind of trials He endured! and, "though
he
fall
he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds his hand," because
He
has
suffered before him. For what should you fear, O man, whose steps are
ordered
so, that you should "delight in the way of the Lord"? What should you
fear?
Pain? Christ was scourged. Shouldest thou fear contumelies? He was
reproached
with, "You have a devil," who was Himself casting out the devils.
Haply
you fear faction, and the conspiracy of the wicked. Conspiracy was made
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against
Him. You can not make clear the purity of your conscience in some
accusation,
and sufferest wrong and violence, because false witnesses are listened
to
against you. False witness was borne against Him first, not only before His
death,
but also after His resurrection....
On
the Third Part of the Psalm.
1.
"I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous
forsaken,
nor
his seed begging bread" (ver. 25).
If
it is spoken but in the person of one single individual, how long is the whole
life
of
one man? And what is there wonderful in the circumstance, that a single man,
fixed
in some one part of the earth, should not, throughout the whole space of his
life,
being so short as man's life is, have ever seen "the righteous forsaken,
nor his
seed
begging bread," although he may have advanced from youth to age. It is not
anything
worthy of marvel; for it might have happened, that before his lifetime
there
should have been some "righteous man seeking bread;" it might have
happened,
that there had been some one in some other part of the earth not where
he
himself was. Hear too another thing, which makes an impression upon us. Any
single
one among you (look you) who has now grown old, may perhaps, when,
looking
back upon the past course of his life, he turns over in his thoughts the
persons
whom he has known, not find any instance of a righteous man begging
bread,
or of his seed begging bread, suggest itself to him; but nevertheless he turns
to
the inspired Scriptures, and finds that righteous Abraham was straitened, and
suffered
hunger in his own country, and left that land for another; he finds too that
the
son of the very same man, Isaac, removed to other countries in search of bread,
for
the same cause of hunger. And how will it be true to say, "I have never
seen
the
righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread"? And if he finds this true
in
the
duration of his own life, he finds it is otherwise in the inspired writings,
which
are
more trustworthy than human life is.
2.
What are we to do then? Let us be seconded by your pious attention, so that we
may
discern the purpose of God in these verses of the Psalm, what it is He would
have
us understand by them. For there is a fear, lest any unstable person, not
capable
of understanding the Scriptures spiritually, should appeal to human
instances,
and should observe the virtuous servants of God to be sometimes in
some
necessity, and in want, so as to be compelled to beg bread: should
particularly
call to mind the Apostle Paul, who says, "In hunger and thirst; in cold
and
nakedness;" 2 Corinthians 11:27 and should stumble thereat, saying to
himself,
"Is that certainly true which I have been singing? Is that certainly true,
which
I have been sounding forth in so devout a voice, standing in church? 'I have
never
seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.'" Lest he should
say
in
his heart, "Scripture deceives us;" and all his limbs should be
paralyzed to good
works:
and when those limbs within him, those limbs of the inner man, shall have
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been
paralyzed (which is the more fearful paralysis), he should henceforth leave
off
from good works, and say to himself, "Wherefore do I do good works?
Wherefore
do I break my bread to the hungry, and clothe the naked, and take
home
to mine house him who has no shelter, Isaiah 58:7 putting faith in that which
is
written? 'I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging
bread;'
whereas
I see so many persons who live virtuously, yet for the most part suffering
from
hunger. But if perhaps I am in error in thinking the man who is living well,
and
the man who is living ill, to be both of them living well, and if God knows
him
to be otherwise; that is, knows him, whom I think just, to be unjust, what am I
to
make of Abraham's case, who is commended by Scripture itself as a righteous
person?
What am I to make of the Apostle Paul, who says, 'Be followers of me,
even
as I also am of Christ.' 1 Corinthians 11:1 What? that I should myself be in
evils
such as he endured, 'In hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness'?"
2
Corinthians 11:27
3.
Whilst therefore he thus thinks, and while his limbs are paralyzed to the power
of
good works, can we, my brethren, as it were, lift up the sick of the palsy;
and,
as
it were, "lay open the roof" of this Scripture, and let him down
before the Lord.
Luke
5:19 For you observe that it is obscure. If obscure therefore, it is covered.
And
I behold a certain patient paralytic in mind, and I see this roof, and am
convinced
that Christ is concealed beneath the roof. Let me, as far as I am able, do
that
which was praised in those who opened the roof, and let down the sick of the
palsy
before Christ; that He might say unto him, "Son, be of good cheer, your
sins
be
forgiven you." Luke 5:20 For it was so that He made the inner man whole of
his
palsy, by loosing his sins, by binding fast his faith....
4.
But who is "the righteous" man, who "has never been seen
forsaken, nor his
seed
begging bread"? If you understand what is meant by "bread," you
understand
who
is meant by him. For the "bread" is the Word of God, which never
departs
from
the righteous man's mouth.... See now if "holy meditation does 'keep
you'" in
the
rumination of this bread, then "have you never seen the righteous
forsaken, nor
his
seed begging bread."
5.
"He is always merciful, and lends" (ver. 26). "Fśneratur"
is used in Latin
indeed,
both for him who lends, and for him who borrows. But in this passage the
meaning
is more plain, if we express it by "fśnerat." What matters it to us,
what
the
grammarians please to rule? It were better for us to be guilty of a barbarism,
so
that
you understand, than that in our propriety of speech ye be left unprovided.
Therefore,
that "righteous man is all day merciful, and (fśnerat) lends." Let
not
the
lenders of money on usury, however, rejoice. For we find it is a particular
kind
of
lender that is spoken of, as it was a particular kind of bread; that we may, in
all
passages,
"remove the roof," and find our way to Christ. I would not have you
be
lenders
of money on usury; and I would not have you be such for this reason,
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because
God would not have you.... Whence does it appear that God would not
have
it so? It is said in another place, "He that puts not out his money to
usury."
And
how detestable, odious, and execrable a thing it is, I believe that even
usurers
themselves
know. Again, on the other hand, I myself, nay rather our God Himself
bids
you be an usurer, and says to you, "Lend unto God." If you lend to
man, have
you
hope? and shall you not have hope, if you lend to God? If you have lent your
money
on usury to man, that is, if you have given the loan of your money to one,
from
whom you expect to receive something more than you have given, not in
money
only, but anything, whether it be wheat, or wine, or oil, or whatever else
you
please, if you expect to receive more than you have given, you are an usurer,
and
in this particular are not deserving of praise, but of censure. "What
then," you
say,
"am I to do, that I may 'lend' profitably?" Consider what the usurer
does. He
undoubtedly
desires to give a less sum, and to receive a larger; do thou this also;
give
thou a little, receive much. See how your principal grows, and increases!
Give
"things temporal," receive "things eternal:" give earth,
receive heaven! And
perhaps
you would say, "To whom shall I give them?" The self-same Lord, who
bade
you not lend on usury, comes forward as the Person to whom you should
lend
on usury! Hear from Scripture in what way you may "lend unto the
Lord."
"He
that has pity on the poor, lends unto the Lord." Proverbs 10:17 For the
Lord
wants
not anything of you. But you have one who needs somewhat of you: you
extend
it to him; he receives it. For the poor has nothing to return to you, and yet
he
would himself fain requite you, and finds nothing wherewith to do it: all that
remains
in his power is the good-will that desires to pray for you. Now when the
poor
man prays for you, he, as it were, says unto God, "Lord, I have borrowed
this;
be Thou surety for me." Then, though you have no bond on the poor man to
compel
his repayment, yet you have on a sponsible security. See, God from His
own
Scriptures says unto you; "Give it, and fear not; I repay it. It is to Me
you
give
it." In what way do those who make themselves sureties for others, express
themselves?
What is it that they say? "I repay it: I take it upon myself. It is to me
you
are giving it." Do we then suppose that God also says this, "I take
it on
Myself.
It is unto me you give it"? Assuredly, if Christ be God, of which there is
no
doubt, He has Himself said, "I was an hungred, and you gave Me meat."
Matthew
25:35 And when they said unto Him, "When saw we You hungry?"
Matthew
25:37 that He might show Himself to be the Surety for the poor, that He
answers
for all His members, that He is the Head, they the members, and that
when
the members receive, the Head receives also; He says, "Inasmuch as you
have
done it to one of the least of these that belong to Me, you have done it unto
Me."
Matthew 25:40 Come, thou covetous usurer, consider what you have given;
consider
what you are to receive. Had you given a small sum of money, and he to
whom
you had given it were to give you for that small sum a great villa, worth
incomparably
more money than you had given, how great thanks would you
render,
with how great joy would you be transported! Hear what possession He to
whom
you have been lending bestows. "Come, you blessed of My Father,
receive"
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Matthew
25:34—What? The same that they have given? God forbid! What you
gave
were earthly things, which, if you had not given them, would have become
corrupted
on earth. For what could you have made of them, if you had not given
them?
That which on earth would have been lost, has been preserved in heaven.
Therefore
what we are to receive is that which has been preserved. It is your desert
that
has been preserved, your desert has been made your treasure. For consider
what
it is that you are to receive. Receive—"the kingdom prepared for you from
the
foundation of the world." On the other hand, what shall be their sentence,
who
would
not "lend"? "Go ye into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his
angels."
Matthew 25:41 And what is the kingdom which we receive called?
Consider
what follows: "And these shall go into everlasting burning; but the
righteous
into life eternal." Matthew 25:46 Make interest for this; purchase this.
Give
your money on usury to earn this. You have Christ throned in heaven,
begging
on earth. We have discovered in what way the righteous lends. "He is
alway
merciful, and lends."
6.
"And his seed is blessed." Here too let not any carnal notion suggest
itself. We
see
many of the sons of the righteous dying of hunger; in what sense then will his
seed
be blessed? His seed is that which remains of him afterwards; that wherewith
he
sowes here, and will hereafter reap. For the Apostle says, "Let us not be
weary
in
well-doing; for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. As we have
therefore
time,"
he says, "let us do good unto all men." Galatians 6:9-10 This is that
"seed"
of
yours which shall "be blessed." You commit it to the earth, and
gather ever so
much
more; and do you lose it in committing it to Christ? See it expressly termed
"seed"
by the Apostle, when he was speaking of alms. For this he says; "He which
sowes
sparingly, shall reap also sparingly; and he which sowes in blessings, shall
also
reap in blessings." 2 Corinthians 9:6...
7.
Observe therefore what follows, and be not slothful. "Depart from evil,
and do
good"
(ver. 27). Do not think it to be enough for you to do, if thou dost not strip
the
man who is already clothed. For in not stripping the man who is already
clothed,
you have indeed "departed from evil:" but do not be barren, and
wither.
So
choose not to strip the man who is clothed already, as to clothe the naked. For
this
is to "depart from evil, and to do good." And you will say,
"What advantage
am
I to derive from it?" He to whom you lend has already assured you of what
He
will
give you. He will give you everlasting life. Give to Him, and fear not! Hear
too
what follows: "Depart from evil, and do good, and dwell for
evermore." And
think
not when you give that no one sees you, or that God forsakes you, when
haply
after you have given to the poor, and some loss, or some sorrow for the
property
you have lost, should follow, and you should say to yourself, "What has it
profited
me to have done good works? I believe God does not love the men who
do
good." Whence comes that buzz, that subdued murmur among you, except that
those
expressions are very common? Each one of you at this present moment
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186
recognises
these expressions, either in his own lips, or on those of his friend. May
God
destroy them; may He root out the thorns from His field; may He plant "the
good
seed," and "the tree bearing fruit"! For wherefore are you
afflicted, O man,
that
you have given some things away to the poor, and hast lost certain other
things?
Do you see not that it is what you have not given, that you have lost?
Wherefore
do you not attend to the voice of your God? Where is your faith?
wherefore
is it so fast asleep? Wake it up in your heart. Consider what the Lord
Himself
said unto you, while exhorting you to good works of this kind: "Provide
yourselves
bags which wax not old; a treasure in the heavens that fails not, where
no
thief approaches." Luke 12:33 Call this to mind therefore when you are
lamenting
over a loss. Wherefore do you lament, thou fool of little mind, or rather
of
unsound mind? Wherefore did you lose it, except that thou did not lend it to
Me?
Wherefore did you lose it? Who has carried it off? You will answer, "A
thief."
Was it not this, that I forewarned you of? that you should not lay it up
where
the thief could approach? If then he who has lost anything, grieves, let him
grieve
for this, that he did not lay it up there, whence it could not be lost.
8.
"For the Lord loves judgment, and forsakes not His Saints" (ver. 28).
When the
Saints
suffer affliction, think not that God does not judge, or does not judge
righteously.
Will He, who warns you to judge righteously, Himself judge
unrighteously?
He "loves judgment, and forsakes not His Saints." But (think) how
the
"life" of the Saints is "hid with Him," in such a manner,
that who now suffer
trouble
on earth, like trees in the winter-time, having no fruit and leaves, when He,
like
a newly-risen sun, shall have appeared, that which before was living in their
root,
will show itself forth in fruits. He does then "love judgment, and does
not
forsake
His Saints."...
9.
"But the unrighteous shall be punished; the seed of the wicked shall be
cut off."
Just
as the "seed of the" other "shall be blessed," so shall the
"seed of the wicked
be
cut off." For the "seed" of the wicked is the works of the
wicked. For again, on
the
other hand, we find the son of the wicked man flourish in the world, and
sometimes
become righteous, and flourish in Christ. Be careful therefore how you
take
it; that you may remove the covering, and make your way to Christ.
Luke
5:19 Do not take the text in a carnal sense; for you will be deceived. But
"the
seed
of the wicked"—all the works of the wicked—"will be cut off:"
they shall
have
no fruit. For they are effective indeed for a short time; afterwards they shall
seek
for them, and shall not find the reward of that which they have wrought. For
it
is the expression of those who lose what they have wrought, that text which
says,
"What has pride profited us, or what good has riches with our vaunting
brought
us? All those things are passed away like a shadow." Wisdom 5:8-9
"The
seed
of the wicked," then, "shall be cut off."
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10.
"The righteous shall inherit the land" (ver. 29). Here again let not
covetousness
steal
on you, nor promise you some great estate; hope not to find there, what you
are
commanded to despise in this world. That "land" in the text, is a
certain "land
of
the living," the kingdom of the Saints. Whence it is said: "You are
my hope, my
portion
in the land of the living." For if your life too is the same life as that
there
spoken
of, think what sort of "land" you are about to inherit. That is
"the land of
the
living;" this the land of those who are about to die: to receive again,
when
dead,
those whom it nourished when living. Such then as is that land, such shall
the
life itself be also: if the life be for ever, "the land" also is to
be thine "for ever."
And
how is "the land" to be thine "for ever"?
"And
they shall dwell therein" (it says) "for ever." It must
therefore be another
land,
where "they are to dwell therein for ever." For of this land (of this
earth) it is
said,
"Heaven and earth shall pass away." Matthew 24:35
11.
"The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom" (ver. 30). See here is
that
"bread."
Observe with what satisfaction this righteous man feeds upon it; how he
turns
wisdom over and over in his mouth. "And his tongue talks of
judgment."
"The
law of his God is in his heart" (ver. 31). Lest haply you should think him
to
have
that on his lips, which he has not in his heart, lest you should reckon him
among
those of whom it is said, "This people honour Me with their lips, but
their
heart
is far from Me." Isaiah 29:13 And of what use is this to him?
"And
none of his steps shall slide." The "word of God in the heart"
frees from the
snare;
the "word of God in the heart" delivers from the evil way; "the
word of God
in
the heart" delivers from "the slippery place." He is with you,
Whose word
departs
not from you. Now what evil does he suffer, whom God keeps? Thou
settest
a watchman in your vineyard, and feelest secure from thieves; and that
watchman
may sleep, and may himself fall, and may admit a thief. But "He who
keeps
Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." "The law of his God is in
his heart,
and
none of his steps shall slide." Let him therefore live free from fear; let
him live
free
from fear even in the midst of the wicked; free from fear even in the midst of
the
ungodly. For what evil can the ungodly or unrighteous man do to the
righteous?
Lo! see what follows.
"The
wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to slay him" (ver. 32). For he
says,
what
it was foretold in the book of Wisdom that he should say, "He is grievous
unto
us, even to behold; for his life is not like other men's." Wisdom 2:15
Therefore
he "seeks to slay him." What? Doth the Lord, who keeps him, who
dwells
with him, who departs not from his lips, from his heart, does He forsake
him?
What then becomes of what was said before: "And He forsakes not His
Saints"?
12.
"The wicked therefore watches the righteous, and seeks to slay him. But
the
Lord
will not leave him in his hands" (ver. 33). Wherefore then did He leave
the
Martyrs
in the hands of the ungodly? Wherefore did they do unto them
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188
"whatsoever
they would"? Matthew 17:12 Some they slew with the sword; some
they
crucified; some they delivered to the beasts; some they burnt by fire; others
they
led about in chains, till wasted out by a long protracted decay. Assuredly
"the
Lord
forsakes not His Saints." He will not "leave him in his hands."
Lastly,
wherefore
did He leave His own Son in "the hands of the ungodly"? Here also, if
you
would have all the limbs of your inner man made strong, remove the covering
of
the roof, and find your way to the Lord. Hear what another Scripture,
foreseeing
our
Lord's future suffering at the hands of the ungodly, says. What says it?
"The
earth
is given into the hands of the wicked." Job 9:24 What is meant by
"earth"
being
"given into the hands of the ungodly"? The delivering of the flesh
into the
hands
of the persecutors. But God did not leave "His righteous One" there:
from
the
flesh, which was taken captive, He leads forth the soul unconquered....
"The
Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when there shall be
judgment
for him" (ver. 33). Some copies have it, "and when He shall judge
him,
there
shall be judgment for him." "For him," however, means when
sentence is
passed
upon him. For we can express ourselves so as to say to a person, "Judge
for
me,"
i.e. "hear my cause." When therefore God shall begin to hear the
cause of His
righteous
servant, since "we must all" be presented "before the tribunal
of Christ,"
and
stand before it to receive every one "the things he has done in this
body,"
2
Corinthians 5:10 whether good or evil, when therefore he shall have come to
that
Judgment,
He will not condemn him; though he may seem to be condemned in this
present
life by man. Even though the Proconsul may have passed sentence on
Cyprian,
yet the earthly seat of judgment is one thing, the heavenly tribunal is
another.
From the inferior tribunal he receives sentence of death; from the superior
one
a crown, "Nor will He condemn him when there shall be judgment for
him."
13.
"Wait on the Lord" (ver. 34). And while I am waiting upon Him, what
am I to
do?—"and
keep His ways." And if I keep them, what am I to receive? "And He
shall
exalt you to inherit the land." "What land"? Once more let not
any estate
suggest
itself to your mind:—the land of which it is said, "Come, you blessed of
My
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world."
Matthew 25:34 What of those who have troubled us, in the midst of whom
we
have groaned, whose scandals we have patiently endured, for whom, while
they
were raging against us, we have prayed in vain? What will become of them?
What
follows? "When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it."...
"I
have seen the ungodly lifted up on high, and rising above the cedars of
Libanus"
(ver.
35). And suppose him to be "lifted up on high;" suppose him to be
towering
above
the "rest;" what follows?
"I
passed by, and, lo, he was not! I sought him, and his place could nowhere be
found!"
(ver. 36). Why was he "no more, and his place nowhere to be found"?
Because
you have "passed by." But if you are yet carnally-minded, and that
earthly
prosperity
appears to you to be true happiness, you have not yet "passed by"
him;
you
are either his fellow, or you are below him; go on, and pass him; and when
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189
you
have made progress, and hast passed by him, you observe him by the eye of
faith;
you see his end, you say to yourself, "Lo! he who so swelled before, is
not!"
just
as if it were some smoke that thou were passing near to. For this too was said
above
in this very Psalm, "They shall consume and fade away as the
smoke."...
14.
"Keep innocency" (ver. 37); keep it even as you used to keep your
purse, when
thou
were covetous; even as you used to hold fast that purse, that it might not be
snatched
from your grasp by the thief, even so "keep innocency," lest that be
snatched
from your grasp by the devil. Be that your sure inheritance, of which the
rich
and the poor may both be sure. "Keep innocency." What does it profit
you to
gain
gold, and to lose innocence?
"Keep
innocency, and take heed unto the thing which is right." Keep thou your
eyes
"right," that you may see "the thing which is right;" not
perverted, wherewith
you
look upon the wicked; not distorted, so that God should appear to you
distorted
and wrong, in that He favours the wicked, and afflicts the faithful with
persecutions.
Do you not observe how distorted your vision is? Set right your
eyes,
and "behold the thing that is right." What "thing that is
right"? Take no heed
of
things present. And what will you see?
"For
there is a remainder for the man that makes peace." What is meant by
"there
is
a remainder"? When you are dead, you shall not be dead. This is the
meaning of
"there
is a remainder." He will still have something remaining to him, even after
this
life, that is to say, that "seed," which "shall be
blessed." Whence our Lord
says,
"He that believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live;" John
11:25—
"seeing
there is a remainder for the man that makes peace."
15.
"But the transgressors shall be destroyed in the self-same thing"
(ver. 38).
What
is meant by, "in the self-same thing"? It means for ever: or all
together in
one
and the same destruction.
"The
remainder of the wicked shall be cut off." Now there is "(a
remainder) for the
man
that makes peace:" they therefore who are not peace-makers are ungodly.
For,
"Blessed
are the peace-makers: for they shall be called the children of God."
Matthew
5:9
16.
"But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord, and He is their
strength in the
time
of trouble" (ver. 39). "And the Lord shall help them, and deliver
them; He
shall
deliver them from the sinners" (ver. 40). At present therefore let the
righteous
bear
with the sinner; let the wheat bear with the tares; let the grain bear with the
chaff:
for the time of separation will come, and the good seed shall be set apart
from
that which is to be consumed with fire. Matthew 13:30 The one will be
consigned
to the garner, the other to "everlasting burning;" for it was for
this
reason
that the just and the unjust were at the first together; that the one should
lay
a
stumbling-block, that the other should be proved; that afterwards the one
should
be
condemned, the other receive a crown....
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190
Exposition
on Psalm 38
A
psalm to David himself, on the remembrance of the Sabbath.
1.
What does this recollection of the Sabbath mean? What is this Sabbath? For it
is
with
groaning that he "calls it to recollection." You have both heard
already when
the
Psalm was read, and you will now hear it when we shall go over it, how great
is
his groaning, his mourning, his tears, his misery. But happy he who is wretched
after
this manner! Whence the Lord also in the Gospel Matthew 5:4 called some
who
mourn blessed. "How should he be blessed if he is a mourner? How blessed,
if
he is miserable?" Nay rather, he would be miserable, if he were not a
mourner.
Such
an one then let us understand here too, calling the Sabbath to remembrance
(viz.),
some mourner or other: and would that we were ourselves that "some one or
other"!
For there is here some person sorrowing, groaning, mourning, calling the
Sabbath
to remembrance. The Sabbath is rest. Doubtless he was in some
disquietude,
who with groaning was calling the Sabbath to remembrance....
2.
"O Lord, rebuke me not in Thine indignation; neither chasten me in Your
hot
displeasure"
(ver. 1). For it will be that some shall be chastened in God's "hot
displeasure,"
and rebuked in His "indignation." And haply not all who are
"rebuked"
will be "chastened;" yet are there some that are to be saved in the
chastening.
So it is to be indeed, because it is called "chastening," but yet it
shall
be
"so as by fire." But there are to be some who will be
"rebuked," and will not be
"corrected."
For he will at all events "rebuke" those to whom He will say, "I
was
an
hungred, and you gave me no meat." Matthew 25:42... "Neither chasten
me in
Your
hot displeasure;" so that You may cleanse me in this life, and make me
such,
that
I may after that stand in no need of the cleansing fire, for those "who
are to be
saved,
yet so as by fire." 1 Corinthians 3:15 Why? Why, but because they
"build
upon
the foundation, wood, stubble, and hay." Now they should build on it,
"gold,
silver,
and precious stones;" 1 Corinthians 3:12 and should have nothing to fear
from
either fire: not only that which is to consume the ungodly for ever, but also
that
which is to purge those who are to escape through the fire. For it is said,
"he
himself
shall be saved, yet so as by fire." And because it is said, "he shall
be
saved,"
that fire is thought lightly of. For all that, though we should be "saved
by
fire,"
yet will that fire be more grievous than anything that man can suffer in this
life
whatsoever....
3.
Now on what ground does this person pray that he may not be "rebuked in
indignation,
nor chastened in hot displeasure"? (He speaks) as if he would say
unto
God, "Since the things which I already suffer are many in number, I pray
You
let
them suffice;" and he begins to enumerate them, by way of satisfying God;
offering
what he suffers now, that he may not have to suffer worse evils hereafter.
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191
4.
"For Thine arrows stick fast in me, and Your hand presses me sore"
(ver. 2).
"There
is no soundness in my flesh, from the face of Your anger" (ver. 3). He has
now
begun telling these evils, which he is suffering here: and yet even this
already
was
from the wrath of the Lord, because it was of the vengeance of the Lord.
"Of
what
vengeance?" That which He took upon Adam. For think not that punishment
was
not inflicted upon him, or that God had said to no purpose, "You shall
surely
die;"
Genesis 2:17 or that we suffer anything in this life, except from that death
which
we earned by the original sin.... Whence then do His "arrows stick fast
in"
him?
The very punishment, the very vengeance, and haply the pains both of mind
and
of body, which it is necessary for us to suffer here, these he describes by
these
self-same
"arrows." For of these arrows holy Job also made mention, Job 6:4 and
said
that the arrows of the Lord stuck fast in him, while he was labouring under
those
pains. We are used, however, to call God's words also arrows; but could he
grieve
that he should be struck by these? The words of God are arrows, as it were,
that
inflame love, not pain .... We may then understand the "arrows sticking
fast,"
thus:
Your words are fixed fast in my heart; and by those words themselves is it
come
to pass, that I "called the Sabbath to remembrance:" and that very
remembrance
of the Sabbath, and the non-possession of it at present, prevents me
from
rejoicing at present; and causes me to acknowledge that there "is neither
health
in my very flesh," neither ought it to be so called when I compare this
sort
of
soundness to that soundness which I am to possess in the everlasting rest;
where
"this
corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on
immortality,"
1 Corinthians 15:53 and see that in comparison with that soundness
this
present kind is but sickness.
5.
"Neither is there any rest in my bones, from the face of my sin." It
is commonly
enquired,
of what person this is the speech; and some understand it to be Christ's,
on
account of some things which are here said of the Passion of Christ; to which
we
shall shortly come; and which we ourselves shall acknowledge to be spoken of
His
Passion. But how could He who had no sin, say, "There is no rest in my
bones,
from
the face of my sin."...For if we were to say that they are not the words
of
Christ,
those words, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" will also
not
be the words of Christ. For there too you have, "My God, My God, why have
You
forsaken Me?" "The words of mine offences are far from my
health." Just as
here
you have, "from the face of my sins," so there also you have,
"the words of
my
offences." And if Christ is, for all that, without "sin," and
without "offences,"
we
begin to think those words in the Psalm also not to be His. And it is
exceedingly
harsh and inconsistent that that Psalm should not relate to Christ,
where
we have His Passion as clearly laid open as if it were being read to us out of
the
Gospel. For there we have, "They parted My garments among them, and cast
lots
upon My vesture." Why should I mention that the first verse of that Psalm
was
pronounced
by the Lord Himself while hanging on the Cross, with His own
mouth,
saying, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" What did He
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mean
to be inferred from it, but that the whole of that Psalm relates to Him, seeing
He
Himself, the Head of His Body, pronounced it in His own Person? Now when
it
goes on to say, "the words of mine offences," it is beyond a doubt
that they are
the
words of Christ. Whence then come "the sins," but from the Body,
which is the
Church?
Because both the Head and the Body of Christ are speaking. Why do they
speak
as if one person only? Because "they twain," as He has said,
"shall be one
flesh."
Genesis 2:24 "This" (says the Apostle) "is a great mystery; but
I speak
concerning
Christ and the Church."...For why should He not say, "my sins,"
who
said,
"I was an hungred, and you gave Me no meat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me
no
drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me not in. I was sick and in prison, and
you
visited Me not." Matthew 25:42-43 Assuredly the Lord was not in prison.
Why
should He not say this, to whom when it was said, "When saw we You a
hungred,
and thirsty, or in prison; and did not minister unto You?" He replied,
that
He
spoke thus in the person of His Body. "Inasmuch as you did it not unto one
of
the
least of Mine, you did it not unto Me." Matthew 25:44-45 Why should He not
say,
"from the face of my sins," who said to Saul, "Saul, Saul, why
do you
persecute
Me," Acts 9:4 who, however, being in Heaven, now suffered from no
persecutors?
But just as, in that passage, the Head spoke for the Body, so here too
the
Head speaks the words of the Body; while you hear at the same time the
accents
of the Head Itself also. Yet do not either, when you hear the voice of the
Body,
separate the Head from it; nor the Body, when you hear the voice of the
Head:
because "they are no more twain, but one flesh." Matthew 19:6
6.
"There is no soundness in my flesh from the face of your anger." But
perhaps
God
is unjustly angry with you, O Adam; unjustly angry with you, O son of man;
because
now brought to acknowledge that your punishment, now that you are a
man
that has been placed in Christ's Body, you have said, "There is no
soundness
in
my flesh from the face of Your anger." Declare the justice of God's anger:
lest
you
should seem to be excusing yourself, and accusing Him. Go on to tell whence
the
"anger" of the Lord proceeds. "There is no soundness in my flesh
from the face
of
Your anger; neither is there any rest in my bones." He repeats what he
said
before,
"There is no soundness in my flesh;" for, "There is no rest in
my bones," is
equivalent
to this. He does not however repeat "from the face of Your anger;"
but
states
the cause of the anger of God. "There is no rest in my bones from the face
of
my
sins."
7.
"For mine iniquities have lifted up my head; and are like a heavy burden
too
heavy
for me to bear" (ver. 4). Here too he has placed the cause first, and the
effect
afterwards.
What consequence followed, and from what cause, he has told us.
"Mine
iniquities have lift up mine head." For no one is proud but the
unrighteous
man,
whose head is lifted up. He is "lifted up," whose "head is
lifted up on high"
against
God. You heard when the lesson of the Book of Ecclesiasticus was read:
"The
beginning of pride is when a man departs from God." He who was the first
to
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refuse
to listen to the Commandment, "his head iniquity lifted up" against
God.
And
because his iniquities have lifted up his head, what has God done unto him?
They
are "like a heavy burden, too heavy for me to bear"! It is the part
of levity to
lift
up the head, just as if he who lifts up his head had nothing to carry. Since
therefore
that which admits of being lifted up is light, it receives a weight by
which
it may be weighed down. For "his mischief returns upon his own head, and
his
violent dealing comes down upon his own pate." "They are like a heavy
burden,
too heavy for me to bear."
8.
"My wounds stink and are corrupt" (ver. 5). Now he who has wounds is
not
perfectly
sound. Add to this, that the wounds "stink and are corrupt."
Wherefore
do
they "stink"? Because they are "corrupt:" now in what way
this is explained in
reference
to human life, who does not understand? Let a man but have his soul's
sense
of smelling sound, he perceives how foully sins stink. The contrary to which
stink
of sin, is that savour of which the Apostle says, "We are the sweet savour
of
Christ
unto God, in every place, unto them which be saved." 2 Corinthians 2:15
But
whence is this, except from hope? Whence is this, but from our "calling
the
Sabbath
to remembrance"? For it is a different thing that we mourn over in this
life,
from that which we anticipate in the other. That which we mourn over is
stench,
that which we reckon upon is fragrance. Were there not therefore such a
perfume
as that to invite us, we should never call the Sabbath to remembrance. But
since,
by the Spirit, we have such a perfume, as to say to our Betrothed,
"Because
of
the savour of Your good ointments we will run after You;" Song of Songs
1:3-4
we
turn our senses away from our own unsavourinesses, and turning ourselves to
Him,
we gain some little breathing-time. But indeed, unless our evil deeds also did
smell
rank in our nostrils, we should never confess with those groans, "My
wounds
stink and are corrupt." And wherefore? "from the face of my
foolishness."
From
the same cause that he said before, "from the face of my sins;" from
that
same
cause he now says, "from the face of my foolishness."
9.
"I am troubled, I am bowed down even unto the end" (ver. 6).
Wherefore was he
"bowed
down"? Because he had been "lifted up." If you are "humble,
you shall be
exalted;"
if you exalt yourself, you shall be "bowed down;" for God will be at
no
loss
to find a weight wherewith to bow you down .... Let him groan on these
things;
that he may receive the other; let him "call the Sabbath to
remembrance,"
that
he may deserve to arrive at it. For that which the Jews used to celebrate was
but
a sign. Of what thing was it the sign? Of that which he calls to remembrance,
who
says, "I am troubled, and am bowed down even unto the end." What is
meant
by
even "unto the end"? Even to death.
"I
go mourning all the day long." "All day long," that is,
"without intermission."
By
"all the day long," he means, "all my life long." But from
what time has he
known
it? From the time that he began to "call the Sabbath to remembrance."
For
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so
long as he "calls to remembrance" what he no longer possesses, would
you not
have
him "go mourning"? "All the day long have I gone mourning."
10.
"For my soul is filled with illusions, and there is no soundness in my
flesh"
(ver.
7). Where there is the whole man, there there is soul and flesh both. The
"soul
is filled with illusions;" the flesh has "no soundness." What
does there
remain
that can give joy? Is it not meet that one should "go mourning"?
"All the
day
long have I gone mourning." Let mourning be our portion, until our soul be
divested
of its illusions; and our body be clothed with soundness. For true
soundness
is no other than immortality. How great however are the soul's illusions,
were
I even to attempt to express, when would the time suffice me? For whose
soul
is not subject to them? There is a brief particular that I will remind you of,
to
show
how our soul is filled with illusions. The presence of those illusions
sometimes
scarcely permits us to pray. We know not how to think of material
objects
without images, and such as we do not wish, rush in upon the mind; and
we
wish to go from this one to that, and to quit that for another. And sometimes
you
wish to return to that which you were thinking of before, and to quit that
which
you are now thinking of; and a fresh one presents itself to you; you wish to
call
up again what you had forgotten; and it does not occur to you; and another
comes
instead which you would not have wished for. Where meanwhile was the
one
that you had forgotten? For why did it afterwards occur to you, when it had
ceased
to be sought after; whereas, while it was being sought for, innumerable
others,
which were not desired, presented themselves instead of it? I have stated a
fact
briefly; I have thrown out a kind of hint or suggestion to you, brethren,
taking
up
which, you may yourselves suggest the rest to yourselves, and discover what it
is
to mourn over the "illusions" of our "soul." He has
received therefore the
punishment
of illusion; he has forfeited Truth. For just as illusion is the soul's
punishment,
so is Truth its reward. But when we were set in the midst of these
illusions,
the Truth Itself came to us, and found us overwhelmed by illusions, took
upon
Itself our flesh, or rather took flesh from us; that is, from the human race.
He
manifested
himself to the eyes of the Flesh, that He might "by faith" heal those
to
whom
He was going to reveal the Truth hereafter, that Truth might be manifested
to
the now healed eye. For He is Himself "the Truth," John 14:6 which He
promised
unto us at that time, when His Flesh was to be seen by the eye, that the
foundation
might be laid of that Faith, of which the Truth was to be the reward.
For
it was not Himself that Christ showed forth on earth; but it was His Flesh that
He
showed. For had He showed Himself, the Jews would have seen and known
Him;
but had they "known Him, they would never have crucified the Lord of
Glory."
1 Corinthians 2:10 But perhaps His disciples saw Him, when they said
unto
Him, "Show us the Father, and it suffices us;" John 14:8 and He, to
show that
it
was not Himself that had been seen by them, added: "Have I been so long
with
you,
and have ye not known Me, Philip? He that sees Me, sees the Father also."
John
14:9 If then they saw Christ, wherefore did they yet seek for the Father? For
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if
it were Christ whom they saw, they would have seen the Father also. They did
not
therefore yet see Christ, who desired that the Father should be shown unto
them.
To prove that they did not yet see Him, hear that, in another place, He
promised
it by way of reward, saying, "He who loves Me, keeps My
commandments;
and whoso loves Me, shall be loved of My Father; and I will love
Him
and" (as if it were said to Him, "what will You give unto him, as
Thou lovest
him?"
He says), "I will manifest Myself unto him." John 14:21 If then He
promises
this by way of a reward unto them that love Him, it is manifest that the
vision
of the Truth, promised to us, is of such a nature, that, when we have seen it,
we
shall no longer say, "My soul is filled with illusions."
11.
"I am become feeble, and am bowed down greatly" (ver. 8). He who
calls to
mind
the transcendent height of the Sabbath, sees how "greatly" he is
himself
"bowed
down." For he who cannot conceive what is that height of rest, sees not
where
he is at present. Therefore another Psalm has said, "I said in my trance,
I am
cast
out of the sight of Your eyes." For his mind being taken up thither, he
beheld
something
sublime; and was not yet entirely there, where what he beheld was; and
a
kind of flash, as it were, if one may so speak, of the Eternal Light having
glanced
upon
him, when he perceived that he was not yet arrived at this, which he was able
after
a sort to understand, he saw where he himself was, and how he was cramped
and
"bowed down" by human infirmities. And he says, "I said in my
trance, I am
cast
out of the sight of Your eyes." Such is that certain something which I saw
in
my
trance, that thence I perceive how far off I am, who am not already there. He
was
already there who said that he was "caught up into the third Heaven, and
there
heard
unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." But he was
recalled
to us, in order that, as requiring to be made perfect, he might first mourn
his
infirmity, and afterwards be clothed with might. Yet encouraged for the
ministration
of his office by having seen somewhat of those things, he goes on
saying,
"I heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to
utter."
2
Corinthians 12:4 Now then what use is it for you to ask, either of me or of any
one,
the "things which it is not lawful for man to utter." If it was not
lawful for
him
to utter them, to whom is it lawful to hear them? Let us however lament and
groan
in Confession; let us own where we are; let us "call the Sabbath to
remembrance,"
and wait with patience for what He has promised, who has, in His
own
Person also, showed forth an example of patience to us. "I am become
feeble,
and
bowed down greatly."
12.
"I have roared with the groaning of my heart." You observe the
servants of
God
generally interceding with groaning; and the reason of it is asked, and there
is
nothing
apparent, but the groaning of some servant of God, if indeed it does find
its
way at all to the ears of a person placed near him. For there is a secret
groaning,
which
is not heard by man: yet if the thought of some strong desire has taken so
strong
hold of the heart, that the wound of the inner man finds expression in some
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uttered
exclamation, the reason of it is asked; and a man says to himself,
"Perhaps
this
is the cause of his groaning;" and, "Perhaps this or that has
befallen him."
Who
can determine, but He in whose Eyes and Ears he groaned? Therefore he
says,
"I roared with the groaning of mine heart;" because if men ever hear
a man's
groanings,
they for the most part hear but the groaning of the flesh; they do not
hear
him who groans "with the groaning of his heart." Some one has carried
off his
goods;
he "roars," but not "with the groaning of his heart:"
another because he has
buried
his son, another his wife; another because his vineyard has been injured by
a
hailstorm; another because his cask has turned sour; another because some one
has
stolen his beast; another because he has suffered some loss; another because
he
fears some man who is his enemy: all these "roar" with the
"groaning of the
flesh."
The servant of God, however, because he "roars" from the recollection
of
the
Sabbath, where the Kingdom of God is, which flesh and blood shall not
possess,
says, "I have roared with the groaning of my heart."
13.
And who observed and noticed the cause of his groaning? "All my desire is
before
You" (ver. 9). For it is not before men who cannot see the heart, but it
is
before
You that all my desire is open! Let your desire be before Him; and "the
Father,
who sees in secret, shall reward you." Matthew 6:6 For it is your heart's
desire
that is your prayer; and if your desire continues uninterrupted, your prayer
continues
also. For not without a meaning did the Apostle say, "Pray without
ceasing."
Are we to be "without ceasing" bending the knee, prostrating the
body,
or
lifting up our hands, that he says, "Pray without ceasing"? Or if it
is in this
sense
that we say that we "pray," this, I believe, we cannot do
"without ceasing."
There
is another inward kind of prayer without ceasing, which is the desire of the
heart.
Whatever else you are doing, if you do but long for that Sabbath, you do not
cease
to pray. If you would never cease to pray, never cease to long after it. The
continuance
of your longing is the continuance of your prayer. You will be ceasing
to
speak, if you cease to long for it. Who are those who have ceased to speak?
They
of whom it is said, "Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall
wax
cold." Matthew 24:12 The freezing of charity is the silence of the heart;
the
burning
of charity is the cry of the heart. If love continues still you are still lifting
up
your voice; if you are always lifting up your voice, you are always longing
after
something;
if always longing for something absent, you are calling "the Sabbath
rest
to remembrance." And it is important you should understand too before whom
the
"roaring of your heart" is open. Now then consider what sort of
desires those
should
be, that are before the eyes of God. Should it be the desire for the death of
our
enemy? a thing which men flatter themselves they lawfully wish for? For
sometimes
we pray for what we ought not. Let us consider what they flatter
themselves
they pray for lawfully! For they pray that some person may die, and
his
inheritance come to them. But let those too, who pray for the death of their
enemies,
hear the Lord saying, "Pray for your enemies." Matthew 5:44 Let them
not
pray for this, that their enemies may die; but rather pray for this, that they
may
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be
reclaimed; then will their enemies be dead; for from the time that they are
reclaimed,
henceforth they will be enemies no longer. "And all my desire is before
You."
What if we suppose that our desire is before Him, and that yet that very
"groaning"
is not before Him? How can that be, since our desire itself finds its
expression
in "groaning"? Therefore follows, "And my groaning is not hid
from
You."
From
You indeed it is not hid; but from many men it is hid. The servant of God
sometimes
seems to be saying in humility, "And my groaning is not hid from
You."
Sometimes also he seems to smile. Is then that longing dead in his heart? If
however
there is the desire within, there is the "groaning" also. It does not
always
find
its way to the ears of man; but it never ceases to sound in the ears of God.
14.
"My heart is troubled" (ver. 10). Wherefore is it troubled? "And
my courage
has
failed me." Generally something comes upon us on a sudden; the "heart
is
troubled;"
the earth quakes; thunder is sent from Heaven; a formidable attack is
made
upon us, or a horrible sound heard. Perhaps a lion is seen on the road; the
"heart
is troubled." Perhaps robbers lie in wait for us; the "heart is
troubled:" we
are
filled with a panic fear; from every quarter something excites anxiety.
Wherefore?
Because "my courage has failed me." For what would be feared, did
that
courage still remain unmoved? Whatever bad tidings were brought, whatever
threatened
us, whatever sound was heard, whatever were to fall, whatever
appeared
horrible, would inspire no terror. But whence that trouble? "My courage
fails
me." Wherefore has my courage failed me? "The light of my eyes also
is
gone
from me." Thus Adam also could not see "the light of his eyes."
For the
"light
of his eyes" was God Himself, whom when he had offended, he fled to the
shade,
and hid himself among the trees of Paradise. Genesis 3:8 He shrunk in
alarm
from the face of God: and sought the shelter of the trees; thenceforth among
the
trees he had no more "the light of his eyes," at which he had been
wont to
rejoice....
15.
"My lovers;" why should I henceforth speak of my enemies? "My
lovers and
my
neighbours drew nigh, and stood over against me" (ver. 11). Understand
this
that
he says, "Stood over against me." For if they stood over against me,
they fell
against
themselves. "My lovers and my neighbours drew nigh and stood over
against
me." Let us now recognise the words of the Head speaking; now let our
Head
in His Passion begin to dawn upon us. Yet again when the Head begins to
speak,
do not sever the Body from it. If the Head would not separate itself from
the
words of the Body, should the Body dare to separate itself from the sufferings
of
the Head? Do thou suffer in Christ's suffering: for Christ, as it were, sinned
in
your
infirmity. For just now He spoke of your sins, as if speaking in His own
Person,
and called them His own.... To those who wished to be near His exaltation,
yet
thought not of His humility, He answered and said to them, "Can ye drink
of
the
cup that I shall drink of?" Matthew 20:22 Those sufferings of the Lord
then are
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198
our
sufferings also: and were each individual to serve God well, to keep faith
truly,
to
render to each their dues, and to conduct himself honestly among men, I should
like
to see if he does not suffer even that which Christ here details in the account
of
His Passion. "My lovers and my neighbours drew nigh, and stood over
against
me."
16.
"And my neighbours stood afar off." Who were the
"neighbours" that drew
nigh,
and who were those who stood afar off? The Jews were "neighbours"
because
"near kinsmen," they drew near even when they crucified Him: the
Apostles
also were His "neighbours;" and they also "stood afar off,"
that they
might
not have to suffer with Him. This may also be understood thus: "My
friends,"
that is, those who feigned themselves "My friends:" for they feigned
themselves
His friends, when they said, "We know that Thou teachest the way of
God
in truth;" Matthew 22:16 when they wished to try Him, whether tribute
ought
to
be paid to Cćsar; when He convinced them out of their own mouth, they wished
to
seem to be His friends. "But He needed not that any should testify of man,
for
He
Himself knew what was in man;" John 2:25 so that when they spoke unto Him
words
of friendship, He answered them, "Why do you tempt Me, you
hypocrites?"
Matthew
22:18 "My friends and my neighbours" then "drew near and stood
over
against
me, and my neighbours stood afar off." You understand what I said. I
called
those neighbours who "drew nigh," and at the same time "stood
afar off."
For
they "drew nigh" in the body, but "stood afar off" in their
heart. Who were in
the
body so near to Him as those who lifted Him on the Cross? Who in heart so as
those
who blasphemed Him? Hear this sort of distance described by the Prophet
Isaiah;
observe this nearness and distance at one and the same time. "This people
honours
Me with their lips:" behold, with their body they draw near; "but
their
heart
is far from Me." Isaiah 29:13 The same persons are at the same time
"near"
and
"afar off" also: with their lips they are near, in heart afar off.
However,
because
the Apostles also stood afar off, through fear, we understand it more
simply
and properly of them; so that we mean by it, that some drew near, and
others
stood afar off; since even Peter, who had followed more boldly than the
rest,
was still so far off, that being questioned and alarmed, he thrice denied the
Lord,
with whom he had promised to "be ready to die." Who afterwards that,
from
being
afar off, he might be made to draw nigh, heard after the resurrection the
question,
"Lovest thou Me?" and said, "I love You;" John 21:15 and by
so saying
was
brought "nigh," even as by denying Him, he had become "far
off;" till with the
threefold
confession of love, he had put away from him his threefold denial. "And
my
neighbours stood afar off."
17.
"They also that sought after my soul were preparing violence against
me" (ver.
12).
It is now plain who "sought after His soul;" viz. those who had not
His soul,
in
that they were not in His Body. They who were "seeking after His
soul," were
far
removed from His soul; but they were "seeking it" to destroy it. For
His soul
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may
be "sought after" in a right way also. For in another passage He
finds fault
with
some persons, saying, "There is no man to care for My soul." He finds
fault
with
some for not seeking after His soul; and again, with others for seeking after
it.
Who is he that seeks after His soul in the right way? He who imitates His
sufferings.
Who are they that sought after His soul in the wrong way? Even those
who
"prepared violence against Him," and crucified Him.
18.
He goes on: "Those who sought after My faults had spoken vanity."
What is,
"sought
after My faults"? They sought after many things, and found them not.
Perhaps
He may have meant this: "They sought for criminal charges against
me."
For
they sought for somewhat to say against Him, and "they found not."
Matthew
26:60 For they were seeking to find evil things to say of "the Good;"
crimes
of the Innocent; When would they find such things in Him, who had no
sin?
But because they had to seek for sins in Him who had no sin, it remained for
them
to invent that which they could not find. Therefore, "those who sought
after
My
faults have spoken vanity," i.e., untruth, "and imagined deceit all
the day
long;"
that is, they meditated treachery without intermission. You know how
atrocious
false-witness was borne against the Lord, before He suffered. You know
how
atrocious false-witness was borne against Him, even after His resurrection.
For
those soldiers who watched His sepulchre of whom Isaiah spoke, "I will
appoint
the wicked for His burial" (for they were wicked men, and would not
speak
the truth, and being bribed they disseminated a lie), consider what
"vanity"
they
spoke. They also were examined, and they said, "While we slept, His
disciples
came and stole Him away." Matthew 28:13 This it is, "to speak
vanity."
For
if they were sleeping, how could they know what had been done?
19.
He says then, "But I as a deaf man heard not" (ver. 13). He who
replied not to
what
He heard, did, as it were, not hear them. "But I as a deaf man heard not.
And
I
was as a dumb man that opens not his mouth." And he repeats the same
things
again.
"And
I became as a man that hears not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs"
(ver.
14).
As if He had nothing to say unto them, as if He had nothing wherewith to
reproach
them. Had He not already reproached them for many things? Had He not
said
many things, and also said, "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees,"
Matthew
23:13 and many things besides? Yet when He suffered, He said none of
these
things; not that He had not what to say, but He waited for them to fulfil all
things,
and that all the prophecies might be fulfilled of Him, of whom it had been
said,
"And as a sheep before her shearer is dumb, so opens He not His
mouth."
Isaiah
53:7 It behoved Him to be silent in His Passion, though not hereafter to be
silent
in Judgment. For He had come to be judged, then, who was hereafter
coming
to judge; and who was for this reason to come with great power to judge,
that
He had been judged in great humility.
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200
20.
"For in You, O Lord, do I hope; You will hear, O Lord, my God" (ver.
15). As
if
it were said to Him, "Why did you not open your mouth? Why did You not
say,
'Refrain'?
Why did You not rebuke the unrighteous, while hanging on the Cross?"
He
goes on and says, "For in You, O Lord, do I hope; Thou, O Lord my God,
wilt
hear."
He warns you what to do, should tribulation haply befall. For you seek to
defend
yourself, and perhaps your defence is not listened to by any one. Then are
you
confounded, as if you had lost your cause; because you have none to defend or
to
bear testimony in your favour. "Keep" but your "innocence"
within, where no
one
can pervert your cause. False-witness has prevailed against you before men.
Will
it then prevail before God, where your cause has to be pleaded? When God
shall
be Judge, there shall be no other witness than your own conscience. In the
presence
of a just judge, and of your own conscience, fear nothing but your own
cause.
If you have not a bad cause, you will have no accuser to dread; no false-
witness
to confute, nor witness to the truth to look for. Do but bring into court a
good
conscience, that you may say, "For in You, O Lord, do I hope; Thou, O Lord
my
God, wilt hear."
21.
"For I said, Let not mine enemies ever rejoice over me. And when my feet
slip,
they
magnify themselves against me" (ver. 16). Again He returns to the
infirmity
of
His Body: and again the Head takes heed of Its "feet." The Head is
not in such a
manner
in Heaven, as to forsake what It has on earth; He evidently sees and
observes
us. For sometimes, as is the way of this life, our feet are "turned aside,"
and
they slip by falling into some sin; there the tongues of the enemy rise up with
the
bitterest malignity. From this then we discern what they really had in view,
even
while they kept silence. Then they speak with an unsparing harshness;
rejoicing
to have discovered what they ought to have grieved for. "And I said, Lest
at
any time my adversaries should rejoice over me." I said this indeed; and
yet it
was
perhaps for my correction that You have caused them to "magnify themselves
against
me, when my feet slipped;" that is to say, when I stumbled, they were
elated,
and said many things. For pity, not insult, was due from them to the weak;
even
as the Apostle speaks: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you
which
are
spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness;" and he combines
the
reason
why: "considering yourself also, lest you also be tempted." Galatians
6:1
Not
such as these were the persons of whom He speaks: "And when my feet
slipped,
they rejoiced greatly against me;" but they were such as those of whom
He
says elsewhere: "They that hate me will rejoice if I fall."
22.
"For I am prepared for the scourges" (ver. 17). Quite a magnificent
expression;
as
if He were saying, "It was even for this that I was born; that I might
suffer." For
He
was not to be born, but from Adam, to whom the scourge is due. But sinners
are
in this life sometimes not scourged at all, or are scourged less than their
deserts:
because the wickedness of their heart is given over as already desperate.
Those,
however, for whom eternal life is prepared, must needs be scourged in this
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life:
for that sentence is true: "My son, faint not under the chastening of the
Lord,
neither
be weary when you are rebuked of Him." Proverbs 3:11 "For whom the
Lord
loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives."
Hebrews
12:6 Let not mine enemies therefore insult over me; let "them not
magnify
themselves;" and if my Father scourges me, "I am prepared for the
scourge;"
because there is an inheritance in store for me. You will not submit to
the
scourge: the inheritance is not bestowed upon you. For "every son"
must needs
be
scourged. So true it is that "every son" is scourged, that He spared
not even
Him
who had no sin. For "I am prepared for the scourges."
23.
"And my sorrow is continually before me." What "sorrow" is
that? Perhaps, a
sorrow
for my scourge. And, in good truth, my brethren, in good truth, let me say
unto
you, men do mourn for their scourges, not for the causes on account of which
they
are scourged. Not such was the person here. Listen, my brethren: If any
person
suffers any loss, he is more ready to say, "I did not deserve to suffer
it,"
than
to consider why he suffered it, mourning the loss of money, not mourning
over
that of righteousness. If you have sinned, mourn for the loss of your inward
treasure.
You have nothing in your house, but perhaps you are still more empty in
heart;
but if your heart is full of its Good, even your God, why do you not say,
"The
Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord was it done.
Blessed
be the Name of the Lord." Job 1:21 Whence then was it that He was
grieving?
Was it for the "scourging" wherewith He was scourged? God forbid.
"And
my sorrow" (says He) "is continually before me." And as if we
were to say,
"What
sorrow? whence comes that sorrow?" he says: "For I declare mine
iniquity;
and
I will have a care for my sin" (ver. 18). See here the reason for the
sorrow! It
is
not a sorrow occasioned by the scourge; not one for the remedy, not for the
wound.
For the scourge is a remedy against sins. Hear, brethren; We are
Christians,
and yet if any one's son dies, he mourns for him but does not mourn for
him
if he sins. It is then, when he sees him sinning, that he ought to make
mourning
for him, to lament over him. It is then he should restrain him, and give
him
a rule to live by; should impose a discipline upon him: or if he has done so,
and
the other has not taken heed, then was the time when he ought to have been
mourned
over; then he was more fatally dead while living in luxury, than when, by
death,
he brought his luxury to its close: at that time, when he was doing such
things
in your house, he was not only "dead, but he stank also." John 11:39
These
things
were worthy to be lamented, the others were such as might well be endured;
those,
I say, were tolerable, these worthy to be mourned over. They were to be
mourned
over in the same way that you have heard this person mourn over them:
"For
I declare mine iniquity. I will have a care for my sin." Be not free from
anxiety
when you have confessed your sin, as if always able to confess your sin,
and
to commit it again. Do thou "declare your iniquity in such a manner, as to
have
a care for your sin." What is meant by "having a care of your
sin"? To have a
care
of your wound. If you were to say, "I will have a care of my wound,"
what
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would
be meant by it, but I will do my endeavour to have it healed. For this is
"to
have
a care for one's sin," to be ever struggling, ever endeavouring, ever
exerting
one's
self, earnestly and zealously, to heal one's wound. Behold! you are from day
to
day mourning over your sins; but perhaps your tears indeed flow, but your
hands
are unemployed. Do alms, redeem your sins, let the poor rejoice of your
bounty,
that you also may rejoice of the Grace of God. He is in want; so are you in
want
also: he is in want at your hands; so are you also in want at God's hand. Do
you
despise one who needs your aid; and shall God not despise you when you
need
His? Do thou therefore supply the needs of him who is in want of your aid;
that
God may supply your needs within. This is the meaning of, "I will have a
care
for
my sin." I will do all that ought to be done, to blot out and to heal my
sin. "And
I
will have a care for my sin."
24.
"But mine enemies live" (ver. 19). They are well off: they rejoice in
worldly
prosperity,
while I am suffering, and "roaring with the groaning of my heart." In
what
way do His enemies "live," in that He has said of them already, that
they
have
"spoken vanity"? Hear in another Psalm also: "Whose sons are as
young
plants;
firmly rooted." But above He had said, "Whose mouth speaks vanity.
Their
daughters
polished after the similitude of a temple: their garners full bursting forth
more
and more; their cattle fat, their sheep fruitful, multiplying in their streets;
no
hedge
falling into ruin; no cry in their streets." "Mine enemies" then
"live." This is
their
life; this life they praise; this they set their hearts upon: this they hold
fast to
their
own ruin. For what follows? They pronounce "the people that is in such a
case"
blessed. But what do you say, who "hast a care for your sin"? What do
you
say,
who "confessest your iniquity"? He says, "Blessed is the people
whose God is
the
Lord."
"But
mine enemies live, and are strengthened against me, and they that hate me
wrongfully
are multiplied." What is "hate me wrongfully"? They hate me, who
wish
their good, whereas were they simply requiting evil for evil, they would not
be
righteous; were they not to requite with good the good done to them, they
would
be ungrateful: they, however, who "hate wrongfully," actually return
evil
for
good. Such were the Jews; Christ came unto them with good things; they
requited
Him evil for good. Beware, brethren, of this evil; it soon steals upon us.
Let
no one of you think himself to be far removed from the danger, because we
said,
"Such were the Jews." Should a brother, wishing your good, rebuke
you, and
you
hate him, you are like them. And observe, how easily, how soon it is
produced;
and avoid an evil so great, a sin so easily committed.
25.
"They also that render evil for good, were speaking evil of me, because I
have
pursued
the thing that is just" (ver. 20). Therefore was it that I was requited
evil
for
good. What is meant by "pursued after the thing that is just"? Not
forsaken it.
That
you might not always understand persecutio in a bad sense, He means by
persecutus
pursued after, thoroughly followed. "Because I have followed the thing
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203
that
is just." Hear also our Head crying with a lamentable voice in His
Passion:
"And
they cast Me forth, Your Darling, even as a dead man in abomination." Was
it
not enough that He was "dead"? wherefore "in abomination"
also? Because He
was
crucified. For this death of the Cross was a great abomination in their eyes,
as
they
did not perceive that it was spoken in prophecy, "Cursed is every one that
hangs
on a tree." Deuteronomy 21:23 For He did not Himself bring death; but He
found
it here, propagated from the curse of the first man; and this same death of
ours,
which had originated in sin, He had taken upon Himself, and hung on the
Tree.
Lest therefore some persons should think (as some of the Heretics think),
that
our Lord Jesus Christ had only a false body of flesh; and that the death by
which
He made satisfaction on the Cross was not a real death, the Prophet notices
this,
and says, "Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree." He shows then
that the
Son
of God died a true death, the death which was due to mortal flesh: lest if He
were
not "accursed," you should think that He had not truly died. But
since that
death
was not an illusion, but had descended from that original stock, which had
been
derived from the curse, when He said, "You shall surely die:" Genesis
2:17
and
since a true death assuredly extended even to Him, that a true life might
extend
itself to us, the curse of death also did extend to Him, that the blessing of
life
might extend even unto us. "And they cast Me forth, Your Darling, even as
a
dead
man in abomination."
26.
"Forsake me not, O Lord; O my God, depart not from me" (ver. 21). Let
us
speak
in Him, let us speak through Him (for He Himself intercedes for us), and let
us
say, "Forsake me not, O Lord my God." And yet He had said, "My
God! My
God!
why have You forsaken Me?" Matthew 27:46 and He now says, "O My God,
depart
not from Me." If He does not forsake the body, did He forsake the Head?
Whose
words then are these but the First Man's? To show then that He carried
about
Him a true body of flesh derived from him, He says, "My God, My God
why
have You forsaken Me?" God had not forsaken Him. If He does not forsake
You,
who believest in Him, could the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, One
God,
forsake Christ? But He had transferred to Himself the person of the First
Man.
We know by the words of an Apostle, that "our old man is crucified with
Him."
Romans 6:6 We should not, however, be divested of our old nature, had He
not
been crucified "in weakness." For it was to this end that He came
that we may
be
renewed in Him, because it is by aspiration after Him, and by following the
example
of His suffering, that we are renewed. Therefore that was the cry of
infirmity;
that cry, I mean, in which it was said, "Why have You forsaken Me?"
Thence
was it said in that passage above, "the words of mine offences." As
if He
were
saying, These words are transferred to My Person from that of the sinner.
27.
"Depart not from me. Make haste to help me, Lord of my salvation"
(ver. 22).
This
is that very "salvation," Brethren, concerning which, as the Apostle
Peter
says,
"Prophets have enquired diligently," 1 Peter 1:10 and though they
have
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Psalm 38 204
enquired
diligently, yet have not found it. But they searched into it, and foretold of
it;
while we have come and have found what they sought for. And see, we
ourselves
too have not as yet received it; and after us shall others also be born, and
shall
find, what they also shall not receive, and shall pass away, that we may, all
of
us
together, receive the "penny of salvation in the end of the day,"
with the
Prophets,
the Patriarchs, and the Apostles. For you know that the hired servants, or
labourers,
were taken into the vineyard at different times; yet did they all receive
their
wages on an equal footing. Matthew 20:9 Apostles, then, and Prophets, and
Martyrs,
and ourselves also, and those who will follow us to the end of the world,
it
is in the End itself that we are to receive everlasting salvation; that
beholding the
face
of God, and contemplating His Glory, we may praise Him for ever, free from
imperfection,
free from any punishment of iniquity, free from every perversion of
sin:
praising Him; and no longer longing after Him, but now clinging to Him for
whom
we used to long to the very end, and in whom we did rejoice, in hope. For
we
shall be in that City, where God is our Bliss, God is our Light, God is our
Bread,
God is our Life; whatever good thing of ours there is, at being absent from
which
we now grieve, we shall find in Him. In Him will be that "rest,"
which
when
we "call to remembrance" now, we cannot choose but grieve. For that
is the
"Sabbath"
which we "call to remembrance;" in the recollection of which, so
great
things
have been said already; and so great things ought to be said by us also, and
ought
never to cease being said by us, not with our lips indeed, but in our heart:
for
therefore do our lips cease to speak, that we may cry out with our hearts.
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Exposition
on Psalm 39
1.
The title of this Psalm, which we have just chanted and proposed to discuss,
is,
"On
the end, for Idithun, a Psalm for David himself." Here then we must look
for,
and
must attend to, the words of a certain person who is called Idithun; and if
each
one
of ourselves may be Idithun, in that which he sings he recognises himself, and
hears
himself speak. For you may see who was called Idithun, according to the
ancient
descent of man; let us, however, understand what this name is translated,
and
seek to comprehend the Truth in the translation of the word. According
therefore
to what we have been able to discover by enquiry in those names which
have
been translated from the Hebrew tongue into the Latin, by those who study
the
sacred writings, Idithun being translated is "over-leaping them." Who
then is
this
person "over-leaping them"? or who those whom he has
"over-leaped"? ... For
there
are some persons, yet clinging to the earth, yet bowed down to the ground,
yet
setting their hearts on what is below, yet placing their hopes in things that
pass
away,
whom he who is called "over-leaping them" has
"over-leaped."
2.
You know that some of the Psalms are entitled, "Songs of Degrees;"
and in the
Greek
it is obvious enough what the word anabamwn means. For anabaqmoi
are
degrees (or steps) of them that ascend, not of them that descend. The Latin,
not
being
able to express it strictly, expresses it by the general term; and in that it
called
them "steps," left it undetermined, whether they were
"steps" of persons
ascending
or descending. But because there is no "speech or language where their
voices
are not heard among them," the earlier language explains the one which
comes
after it: and what was ambiguous in one is made certain in another. Just
then
as there the singer is some one who is "ascending," so here is it
some one
who
is "over-leaping. "...Let this Idithun come still to us, let him
"over-leap" those
whose
delight is in things below, and take delight in these things, and let him
rejoice
in the Word of the Lord; in the delight of the law of the Most High....
3.
"I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue"
(ver.
1)....
For it is not without reason that the tongue is set in a moist place, but
because
it
is so prone to slip. Perceiving therefore how hard it was for a man to be under
the
necessity of speaking, and not to say something that he will wish unsaid, and
filled
with disgust at these sins, he seeks to avoid the like. To this difficulty is
he
exposed
who is seeking to "leap beyond."... Although I have "leaped
beyond" the
pleasures
of earth, although the fleeting passions for things temporal ensnare me
not,
though now I despise these things below, and am rising up to better things
than
these, yet in these very better things the satisfaction of knowledge in the
sight
of
God is enough for me. Of what use is it for me to speak what is to be laid hold
of,
and to give a handle to cavillers? Therefore, "I said, I will take heed to
my
ways,
that I sin not with my tongue. I keep my mouth with a bridle." Wherefore
is
this?
Is it on account of the religious, the thoughtful, the faithful, the holy ones?
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206
God
forbid! These persons hear in such a manner, as to praise what they approve;
but
as for what they disapprove, perhaps, among much that they praise they rather
excuse
than cavil at it; on account of what persons then do you "take heed to
your
ways,"
and place a guard on your lips "that you may not sin with your
tongue"?
Hear:
it is, "While the wicked stands over against me." It is not "by
me" that he
takes
up his station, but "against me." Why?... Even the Lord Himself says,
"I have
yet
many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." John 16:12 And
the
Apostle, "I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto
carnal."
1
Corinthians 3:1 Yet not as to persons to be despaired of, but as to those who
still
required
to be nourished. For he goes on to say, "As babes in Christ, I have fed
you
with milk, and not with meat; for hitherto ye were not able." Well, tell
it unto
us
even now. "Neither yet now are you able." 1 Corinthians 3:2 Be not
therefore
impatient
to hear that which as yet you are not capable of; but grow that you may
be
"able to bear it." It is thus we address the little one, who yet
requires to be fed
with
kindly milk in the bosom of Mother Church, and to be rendered meet for the
"strong
meat" of the Lord's Table. But what can I say even of that kind to the
sinner,
who "takes his stand against me," who either thinks or pretends
himself
capable
of what he "cannot bear;" so that when I say anything unto him, and
he
has
failed to comprehend it, he should not suppose that it was not he that had
failed
to comprehend, but I who had broken down. Therefore because of this
sinner,
who "takes up his stand against me, I keep my mouth as it were with a
bridle."
4.
"I became deaf, and was humbled, I held my peace from good" (ver. 2).
For this
person,
who is "leaping beyond," suffers some difficulty in a certain stage
to
which
he has already attained; and he desires to advance beyond, even from
thence,
to avoid this difficulty. I was afraid of committing a sin; so that I spoke
not;
that I imposed on myself the necessity of silence: for I had spoken thus,
"I
will
take heed to my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue." Whilst I was too
much
afraid of saying anything wrong, I kept silence from all that is good. For
whence
could I say good things, except that I heard them? "It is Thou that shall
make
me to hear of joy and gladness." And the "friend of the bridegroom
stands
and
hears Him, and rejoices on account of the bridegroom's voice," John 3:29
not
his
own. That he may speak true things, he hears what he is to say. For it is he
that
"speaks
a lie," that "speaks of his own." John 8:44... When therefore I
had "put a
bridle,"
as it were, "on my lips;" and constrained myself to silence, because
I saw
that
everywhere speech was dangerous, then, says he, that came to pass upon me,
which
I did not wish, "I became deaf, and was humbled;" not humbled myself,
but
was
humbled; "and I held my peace even from good." Whilst afraid of
saying any
evil,
I began to refrain from speaking what is good: and I condemned my
determination;
for "I was holding my peace even from what is good."
"And
my sorrow was stirred up again" (ver. 2). Inasmuch as I had found in
silence
a
kind of respite from a certain "sorrow," that had been inflicted upon
me by those
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207
who
cavilled at my words, and found fault with me: and that sorrow that was
caused
by the cavillers, had ceased indeed; but when "I held my peace even from
good,
my sorrow was stirred up again." I began to be more grieved at having
refrained
from saying what I ought to have said, than I had before been grieved by
having
said what I ought not. "And my sorrow was stirred up again."
5.
"And while I was musing, the fire burned" (ver. 3)....I reflected on
the words of
my
Lord, "Thou wicked and slothful servant, you ought to have put My money to
the
exchangers, and I at My coming should receive it again with usury."
Matthew
25:26-27 And that which follows may God avert from those who are His
stewards!
Bind him hand and foot, and let him be cast into outer darkness;
Matthew
25:30 the servant, who was not a waster of his master's goods, so as to
destroy
them, but was slothful in laying them out to improve them. What ought
they
to expect, who have wasted them in luxury, if they are condemned who
through
slothfulness have kept them? "As I was musing, the fire burned." And
as
he
was in this state of wavering suspense, between speaking and holding his
peace,
between those who are prepared to cavil and those who are anxious to be
instructed,
... in this state of suspense, he prays for a better place, a place different
from
this his present stewardship, in which man is in such difficulty and in such
danger,
and sighing after a certain "end," when he was not to be subject to
these
things,
when the Lord is to say to the faithful dispenser, "Enter thou into the
joy of
your
Lord," Matthew 25:27 he says, "Then spoke I with my tongue." In
this
fluctuation,
in the midst of these dangers and these difficulties, because, that in
consequence
of the abundance of offences "the love of many is waxing cold,"
Matthew
24:12 although the law of the Lord inspires delight, in this fluctuation
then,
(I say), "then spoke I with my tongue." To whom? not to the hearer
whom I
would
fain instruct; but to Him who hears and takes heed also, by whom I would
fain
be instructed myself. "I spoke with my tongue" to Him, from whom I
inwardly
hear whatever I hear that is good or true.—What did You say?
"Lord,
make me to know mine end" (ver. 4). For some things I have passed by
already;
and I have arrived at a certain point, and that to which I have arrived is
better
than that from which I have advanced to this; but yet there remains a point,
which
has to be left behind. For we are not to remain here, where there are trials,
offences,
where we have to bear with persons who listen to us and cavil at us.
"Make
me to know mine end;" the end, from which I am still removed, not the
course
which is already before me.
6.
The "end" he speaks of, is that which the Apostle fixed his eye upon,
in his
course;
and made confession of his own infirmity, perceiving in himself a different
state
of things from that which he looked for elsewhere. For he says, "Not that
I
have
already attained, or am already perfect. Brethren, I count not myself to have
apprehended."
Philippians 3:12-13 And that you might not say, "If the Apostle has
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208
not
apprehended, have I apprehended? If the Apostle is not perfect, am I
perfect?"...
7.
"And the number of my days, what it is." I ask of "the number of
my days, what
it
is." I can speak of "number" without number, and understand
"number without
number,"
in the same sense as "years without years" may be spoken of. For where
there
are years, there is a sort of "number" at all events, also. But yet,
"You are the
same,
and Your years shall not fail." "Make me to know the number of my
days;"
but
"to know what it is." What then? that number in which you are, think
you that
it
"is" not? Assuredly, if I weigh the matter well, it has no being; if
I linger behind,
it
has a sort of being; if I rise above it, it has none. If, shaking off the
trammels of
these
things, I contemplate things above, if I compare things that pass away with
those
that endure, I see what has a true being, and what rather seems to be, than
really
is. Should I say that these days of mine "are;" and shall I rashly
apply this
word
so full of meaning to this course of things passing away? To such a degree
have
I my own self almost ceased to "be, failing" as I am in my weakness,
that He
escaped
from my memory, who said, "I AM HE THAT IS." Exodus 3:14 Hath
then
any number of days any existence? In truth it has, and it is "number
without
end."...
Everything is swept on by a series of moments, fleeting by, one after the
other;
there is a torrent of existences ever flowing on and on; a "torrent,"
of which
He
"drank in the way," who has now "lift up His Head." These
days then have no
true
being; they are gone almost before they arrive; and when they are come, they
cannot
continue; they press upon one another, they follow the one the other, and
cannot
check themselves in their course. Of the past nothing is called back again;
what
is yet to be, is expected as something to pass away again: it is not as yet
possessed,
while as yet it is not arrived; it cannot be kept when once it has arrived.
He
asks then concerning "the number of his days, which is;" not that
which is
"not:"
and (which confounds me by a still greater and more perplexing difficulty)
at
once "is," and "is not." We can neither say that
"is," which does not continue;
nor
that it "is not," when it has come and is passing. It is that
absolute "IS," that
true
"IS," that "IS" in the true sense of the word, that I long
for; that "IS;" which
"is"
in that "Jerusalem" which is "the Bride" of my Lord;
Revelation 21:9 where
there
will not be death, there will not be failing; there will be a day that passes
not
away,
but continues: which has neither a yesterday to precede it, nor a tomorrow
pressing
close upon it. Revelation 21:25 This "number of my days, which is,"
this
(I
say), "make Thou me to know."
8.
"That I may know what is wanting to me." For while I am struggling
here, "this"
is
wanting unto me: and so long as it is wanting unto me, I do not call myself
perfect.
So long as I have not received it, I say, "not that I have already
attained,
either
am already perfect; but I am pressing towards the prize of God's high
calling."
This let me receive as the prize of my running the race! There will be a
certain
resting-place, to terminate my course; and in that resting-place there will
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be
a Country, and no pilgrimage, no dissension, no temptation. Make me then to
know
"this number of my days, which is, that I may know what is wanting unto
me;"
because I am not there yet; lest I should be made proud of what I already am,
that
"I may be found in Him, not having my own righteousness." Philippians
3:9...
9.
"Behold, you have made my days old" (ver. 5). For these days are
"waxing old."
I
long for new days "that never shall wax old," that I may say,
"Old things have
passed
away; behold, things are become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17 Already new in
hope;
then in reality. For though, in hope and in faith, made new already, how
much
do we even now do after our old nature! For we are not so completely
"clothed
upon" with Christ, as not to bear about with us anything derived from
Adam.
Observe that Adam is "waxing old" within us, and Christ is being
"renewed"
in us. "Though our outward man is perishing, yet is our inward man
being
renewed day by day." 2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore, while we fix our
thoughts
on sin, on mortality, on time, that is hastening by, on sorrow, and toil,
and
labour, on stages of life following each other in succession, and continuing
not,
passing on insensibly from infancy even to old age; while, I say, we fix our
eyes
on these things, let us see here "the old man," the "day that is
waxing old;"
the
Song that is out of date; the Old Testament; when however we turn to the inner
man,
to those things that are to be renewed in place of these which are to be
changed,
let us find the "new man," the "new day," the "new
song," the "New
Testament;"
and that "newness," let us so love, as to have no fears of its
"waxing
old."...
This man, therefore, who is hasting forward to those things which are new,
and
"reaching forward to those things which are before," says,
"Lord, make me to
know
mine end, and the number of my days, which really is, that I may know what
is
wanting unto me." See he still drags with him Adam; and even so he is
hasting
unto
Christ. "Behold," says he, "you have made my days old." It
is those days that
are
derived from Adam, those days, I say, that you have made old. They are
waxing
old day by day: and so waxing old, as to be at some day or other consumed
also.
"And my substance is as nothing before You." "Before You, O
Lord, my
substance
is as nothing." "Before You;" who seest this; and I too, when I
see it, see
it
only when "before You."
When
"before men" I see it not. For what shall I say? What words shall I
use to
show,
that which I now am is nothing in comparison of That which truly
"IS"? But
it
is within that it is said; it is within that it is felt, so far as it is felt.
"Before You,
O
Lord," where Your eyes are; and not where the eyes of men are. And where
Your
eyes are, what is the state of things? "That which I am is as
nothing."
10.
"But, verily, every man living is altogether vanity." "But,
verily." For what
was
he saying above? Behold, I have already "leaped beyond" all mortal
things,
and
despised things below, have trampled under foot the things of earth, have
soared
upwards to the delights of the law of the Lord, I have been afloat in the
dispensation
of the Lord, have yearned for that "End" which Itself is to know no
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end,
have yearned for the number of my days that truly "is," because the
number
of
days like these has no real being. Behold, I am already such a one as this; I
have
already
overleaped so much; I am longing for those things which abide. "But
verily,"
in the state in which I am here, so long as I am here, so long as I am in this
world,
so long as I bear mortal flesh, so long as the life of man on earth is a trial,
so
long as I sigh among causes of offence, as long as while I "stand" I
am in "fear
lest
I fall," Job 3:25 as long as both my good and my ill hangs in uncertainty,
"every
man living is altogether vanity."...
11.
"Albeit man walks in the Image" (ver. 6). In what "Image,"
save that of Him
who
said, "Let Us make man in Our Image, after Our Likeness." Genesis
1:26
"Albeit
man walks in the Image." For the reason he says "albeit," is,
that this is
some
great thing. And this "albeit" is followed by
"nevertheless," that the "albeit"
which
you have already heard, should relate to what is beyond the sun; but this
"nevertheless,"
which is to follow, to what is "under the sun," and that the one
should
relate to the Truth, the other to "vanity." "Albeit," then,
"that man walks in
the
Image, nevertheless he is disquieted in vain." Hear the cause of his
"disquieting,"
and see if it be not a vain one; that you may trample it under foot,
that
you may "leap beyond it," and may dwell on high, where that
"vanity" is not.
What
"vanity" is that? "He heaps up riches, and knows not for whom he
may be
gathering
them together." O infatuated vanity! "Blessed is the man that makes
the
Lord
his trust, and has not respected vanities, nor lying deceits." To you
indeed, O
covetous
man, to you I seem to be out of my senses, these words appear to you to
be
"old wives' tales." For you, a man of great judgment, and of great
prudence, to
be
sure, are daily devising methods of acquiring money, by traffic, by
agriculture,
by
eloquence perhaps, by making yourself learned in the law, by warfare, perhaps
you
even add that of usury. Like a shrewd man as you are, you leave nothing
untried,
whereby you may pile coin on coin; and may store it up more carefully in
a
place of secrecy. You plunder others; you guard against the plunderer; you are
afraid
lest you should yourself suffer the wrong, that you yourself do; and even
what
you do suffer, does not correct you.... Examine your own heart, and that
prudence
of yours, which leads you to deride me, to think me out of my senses for
saying
these things: and tell me now, "You are heaping up treasures; for whom are
you
gathering them together?" I see what you would tell me; as if what you
would
say
had not occurred to the person described here; you will say, I am keeping them
for
my children? This is the voice of parental affection; the excuse of injustice.
"I
am
keeping them" (you say) "for my children." So then you are
keeping them for
your
children, are you? Did not Idithun then know this? Assuredly he did; but he
reckoned
it one of the things of the "old days," that have waxed old, and
therefore
he
despised it: because he was hastening on to the new "days."...
12.
For He, "by whom all things were made," Colossians 1:16 has built
"mansions"
for all of us: thither He would have that which we have go before us;
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that
we may not lose it on earth. When, however, you have kept them on earth, tell
me
for whom you are to "gather them together"? You have children: add
one more
to
their number; and give something to Christ also. "He is disquieted in
vain."
13.
"And now" (ver. 7). "And now," says this Idithun,—looking
back on a certain
"vain"
show, and looking up to a certain Truth, standing midway where he has
something
beyond him, and something also behind him, having below him the
place
from which he took his spring, having above him that toward which he has
stretched
forth;—"And now," when I have "over-leaped" some things,
when I have
trampled
many things under foot, when I am no longer captivated by things
temporal;
even now, I am not perfect, "I have not yet apprehended."
Philippians
3:13 "For it is by hope that we are saved; but hope that is seen is not
hope;
for what a man sees, why does he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we
see
not, then do we with patience wait for it." Romans 8:24-25 Therefore he
says:
"And
now what wait I for? Is it not for the Lord?" He is my expectation, who
has
given
me all those things, that I might despise them. He will give unto me Himself
also,
even He who is above all, and "by whom all things were made,"
Colossians
1:16 and by whom I was made amongst all; even He, the Lord, is my
Expectation!
You see Idithun, brethren, you see in what way he waits for Him! Let
no
man therefore call himself perfect here; he deceives and imposes upon himself;
he
is beguiling himself, he cannot have perfection here, and what avails it that
he
should
lose humility?...
"And
my substance is ever before You." Already advancing, already tending
towards
Him, and to some extent already beginning to "be," still (he says)
"my
substance
is ever before You." Now that other substance is also before men. You
have
gold, silver, slaves, estates, trees, cattle, servants. These things are
visible
even
to men. There is a certain "substance that is ever before You."
14.
"Deliver me from all my transgressions" (ver. 8). I have
"over-leaped" a great
deal
of ground, a very great deal of ground already; but, "If we say that we
have
no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the Truth is not in us." 1 John 1:8 I have
"over-
leaped"
a great deal: but still do I "beat my breast," and say, "Forgive
us our debts,
as
we forgive our debtors." Matthew 6:12 Thou therefore art "my
expectation!"
my
"End." For "Christ is the end of the Law unto righteousness,
unto every man
that
believes." Romans 10:4 From all mine offences: not only from those, that I
may
not relapse into those which I have already "over-leaped;" but from
all,
without
exception, of those on account of which I now beat my breast, and say,
"Forgive
us our debts." "Deliver me from all mine offences:" me being
thus
minded,
and holding fast what the Apostle said, "As many of us as be perfect, let
us
be thus minded." Philippians 3:15 For at the time that he said that he was
not
"already
perfect," he then immediately goes on and says, "As many of us as be
perfect,
let us be thus minded."...Are you then, O Apostle, not perfect, and are we
perfect?
But has it escaped you, that he did just now call himself "perfect"?
For he
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does
not say, "As many of you as are perfect, be ye thus minded;" but
"As many of
us
as be perfect, let us be thus minded;" after having said a little before,
"Not that I
have
already attained; either am already perfect." In no other way then can you
be
perfect
in this life, than by knowing that you cannot be perfect in this life. This
then
will be your perfection, so to have "over-leaped" some things, as to
have still
some
point to which you are hastening on: so as to have something remaining, to
which
you will have to leap on, when everything else has been passed by. It is
such
faith as this that is secure; for whoever thinks that he has already attained,
is
"exalting
himself," so as to be "abased" hereafter. Luke 18:14...
15.
"You have made me the reproach of the foolish." You have so willed
it, that I
should
live among those, and preach the Truth among those, who love vanity; and
I
cannot but be a laughing-stock to them. "For we have been made a spectacle
unto
this
world, and unto angels, and unto men:" 1 Corinthians 4:9 to angels who
praise,
to men who censure, us; or rather to angels, some of whom praise, some of
whom
are censuring us: and to men also, some of whom are praising, and some
censuring
us .... Both the one and the other are arms to us: the one "on the right
hand,"
the other "on the left:" arms however they are both of them; both of
these
kinds
of arms, both those "on the right hand," and those "on the
left;" both those
who
praise, and those who censure; both those who pay us honour, and those who
heap
dishonour upon us; with both these kinds I contend against the devil; with
both
of these I smite him; I defeat him with prosperity, if I be not corrupted by
it;
by
adversity, if I am not broken in spirit by it.
16.
"I became dumb; and I opened not my mouth" (ver. 9). But it was to
guard
against
"the foolish man," that "I became dumb, and opened not my
mouth." For to
whom
should I tell what is going on within me? "For I will hear what the Lord
God
will speak in me; for He will speak peace unto His people." But
"There is no
peace,"
says the Lord, "to the wicked." Isaiah 48:22 "I was dumb, and
opened not
my
mouth; because it is Thou that made me." Was this the reason that you
opened
not
your mouth, "because God made you"? That is strange; for did not God
make
your
mouth, that you should speak? "He that planted the ear, does He not hear?
He
that
formed the eye, does He not see?" God has given you a mouth to speak with;
and
do you say, "I was dumb, and opened not my mouth, because You made
me"?
Or
does the clause, "Because You made me," belong to the verse that
follows?
"Remove
Your stroke away from me" (ver. 10). Because it is "Thou that hast
made
me,"
let it not be Your pleasure to destroy me utterly; scourge, so that I may be
made
better, not so that I faint; beat me, so that I may be beaten out to a greater
length
and breadth, not so that I may be ground to powder. "By the heaviness of
Your
hand I fainted in corrections." That is, I "fainted" while You
were correcting
me.
And what is meant by "correcting" me? except what follows.
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17.
"Thou with rebukes hast chastened man for iniquity; You have made my life
to
consume
away like a spider" (ver. 11). There is much that is discerned by this
Idithun;
by every one who discerns as he does; who overleaps as he does. For he
says,
that he has fainted in God's corrections; and would fain have the stroke
removed
away from him, "because it is He who made him." Let Him renew me,
who
also made me; let Him who created me, create me anew. But yet, Brethren,
do
we suppose that there was no cause for his fainting, so that he wishes to be
"renewed,"
to be "created anew"? It is "for iniquity," says he,
"that You have
chastened
man." All this, my having fainted, my being weak, my "crying out of
the
deep," all of this is because of "iniquity;" and in this You
have not condemned,
but
hast "chastened" me. "You have chastened man for sin." Hear
this more
plainly
from another Psalm: "It is good for me that You have afflicted me, that I
might
learn Your righteousness." I have been "afflicted," and at the
same time "it
is
good for me;" it is at once a punishment, and an act of favour. What has
He in
store
for us after punishment is over, who inflicts punishment itself by way of
favour?
For He it is of whom it was said, "I was brought low, and He made me
whole:"
and, "It is good for me that You have afflicted me, that I might learn
Your
righteousness."
"Thou chastenest man for iniquity." And that which is written,
"Thou
formest my grief in teaching me," could only be said unto God by one who
was
"leaping beyond" his fellows; "Thou formest my grief in teaching
me;" Thou
makest,
that is to say, a lesson for me out of my sorrow. It is Thou that formest
that
very grief itself; Thou dost not leave it unformed, but formest it; and that
grief,
that has been inflicted by You, when formed, will be a lesson unto me, that I
may
be set free by You. For the word finges is used in the sense of
"forming," as it
were
moulding, my grief; not in the sense of "feigning" it; in the same
way that
fingit
is applied to the artist, in the same sense that figulus is derived from
fingere.
Thou
therefore "hast chastened man for iniquity." I see myself in
afflictions; I see
myself
under punishment; and I see no unrighteousness in You. If I therefore am
under
punishment, and if there is no unrighteousness with You, it remains that
Thou
must have been "chastening man for iniquity."
18.
And by what means have You "chastened" him? Tell us, O Idithun, the
manner
of
your chastening; tell us in what way you have been "chastened."
"And You
have
made my life consume like a spider." This is the chastening! What consumes
away
sooner than the spider? I speak of the creature itself; though what can be
more
liable to "consume away" than the spider's webs? Observe too how
liable to
decay
is the creature itself. Do but set your finger lightly upon it, and it is a
ruin:
there
is nothing at all more easily destroyed. To such a state have You brought my
life,
by chastening me "because of iniquity." When chastening makes us
weak,
there
is a kind of strength that would be a fault .... It was by a kind of strength
that
man
offended, so as to require to be corrected by weakness: for it was by a certain
"pride"
that he offended; so as to require to be chastened by humility. All proud
persons
call themselves strong men. Therefore have many "come from the East
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and
the West," and have attained "to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac,
and Jacob,
in
the kingdom of Heaven." Matthew 8:11 Wherefore was it that they so
attained?
Because
they would not be strong. What is meant by "would not be strong"?
They
were
afraid to presume of their own merits. They did not "go about to establish
their
own righteousness," that they might "submit themselves to the righteousness
of
God." Romans 10:3 ... Behold! you are mortal; and you bear about you a
body
of
flesh that is corrupting away: "And you shall fall like one of the
princes. You
shall
die like men," and shall fall like the devil. What good does the remedial
discipline
of mortality do you? The devil is proud, as not having a mortal body, as
being
an angel. But as for you, who have received a mortal body, and to whom
even
this does no good, so as to humble you by so great weakness, you shall
"fall
like
one of the princes." This then is the first grace of God's gift, to bring
us to the
confession
of our infirmity, that whatever good we can do, whatever ability we
have,
we may be that in Him; that "He that glories, may glory in the Lord."
1
Corinthians 1:31 "When I am weak," says he, "then am I
strong."
2
Corinthians 12:10
19.
"But surely every man living disquiets himself in vain." He returns
to what he
mentioned
a little before. Although he be improving here, yet for all that, "every
man
living disquiets himself in vain;" forasmuch as he lives in a state of
uncertainty.
For who has any assurance even of his own goodness? "He is
disquieted
in vain." Let him "cast upon the Lord the burden" of his care;
let him
cast
upon Him whatever causes him anxiety. "Let Him sustain you;" let Him
keep
you.
For on this earth what is there that is certain, except death? Consider the
whole
sum of all the good or the ill of this life, either those belonging to
righteousness,
or those belonging to unrighteousness; what is there that is certain
here,
except death? Have you been advancing in goodness? You know what you
are
today; what you will be tomorrow, you know not! Are you a sinner? you know
what
you are today; what you will be tomorrow, you know not! You hope for
wealth;
it is uncertain whether it will fall to your lot. You hope to have a wife; it
is
uncertain
whether you will obtain one, or what sort of one you will obtain. You
hope
for sons: it is uncertain whether they will be born to you. Are they born? it
is
uncertain
whether they will live: if they live, it is uncertain whether they will grow
up
in virtue, or whether they will fall away. Whichever way you turn, all is
uncertain,
death alone is certain. Are you poor? It is uncertain whether you will
grow
rich. Are you unlearned? It is uncertain whether you will become learned.
Are
you in feeble health, it is uncertain whether you will regain your strength.
Are
you
born? It is certain that you will die: and in this certainty of death itself,
the day
of
your death is uncertain. Amidst these uncertainties, where death alone is
certain,
while even of that the hour is uncertain, and while it alone is studiously
guarded
against, though at the same time it is in no way to be escaped, "every man
living
disquiets himself in vain."...
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20.
"Hear my prayer, O Lord" (ver. 12). Whereof shall I rejoice? Whereof
should I
groan?
I rejoice on account of what is past, I groan longing for these which are not
yet
come. "Hear my prayer, and give ear unto my cry. Hold not Your peace at my
tears."
For do I now no longer weep, because I have already "passed by," have
"left
behind" so great things as these? "Do I not weep much the more?"
For, "He
that
increases knowledge, increases sorrow." Ecclesiastes 1:18 The more I long
for
what
is not here, do I not so much the more groan for it until it comes? do I not so
much
the more weep until it comes?...
21.
"For I am a sojourner with You." But with whom am I a
"sojourner"? When I
was
with the devil, I was a "sojourner;" but then I had a bad host and
entertainer;
now,
however, I am with You; but I am a "sojourner" still. What is meant
by a
sojourner?
I am a "sojourner" in the place from which I am to remove; not in the
place
where I am to dwell for ever. The place where I am to abide for ever, should
be
rather called my home. In the place from which I am to remove I am a
"sojourner;"
but yet it is with my God that I am a sojourner, with whom I am
hereafter
to abide, when I have reached my home. But what home is that to which
you
are to remove from this estate of a sojourner? Recognise that home, of which
the
Apostle speaks, "We have an habitation of God, an house not made with
hands,
eternal in the Heavens." 2 Corinthians 5:1 If this house is eternal in the
Heavens,
when we have come to it, we shall not be sojourners any more. For how
should
you be a sojourner in an eternal home? But here, where the Master of the
house
is some day to say to you, "Remove," while you yourself know not when
He
will
say it, be thou in readiness. And by longing for your eternal home, you will be
keeping
yourself in readiness for it. And be not angry with Him, because He gives
you
notice to remove, when He Himself pleases. For He made no covenant with
you,
nor did He bind Himself by any engagement; nor did you enter upon the
tenancy
of this house on a certain stipulation for a definite term: you are to quit,
when
it is its Master's pleasure. For therefore is it that you now dwell there free
of
charge.
"For I am a sojourner with You, and a stranger." Therefore it is
there is my
country:
it is there is my home. "I am a sojourner with You, and a stranger."
Here
too
is understood "with You." For many are strangers with the devil: but
they who
have
already believed and are faithful, are, it is true, "strangers" as
yet, because
they
have not yet come to that country and to that home: but still they are
strangers
with
God. For so long as we are in the body, we are strangers from the Lord, and
we
desire, whether we are strangers, or abiding here, "we may be accepted
with
Him."
2 Corinthians 5:9 I am a "sojourner with You; and a stranger, as all my
fathers
were." If then I am as all my fathers were, shall I say that I will not
remove,
when they have removed? Am I to lodge here on other terms, than those
on
which they lodged here also?...
22.
"Grant me some remission, that I may be refreshed before I go hence"
(ver.
13).
Consider well, Idithun, consider what knots those are which you would have
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216
"loosed"
unto you, that you might be "refreshed before you go hence." For you
have
certain fever-heats from which you would fain be refreshed, and you say,
"that
I may be refreshed," and "grant me a remission." What should He
remit, or
loosen
unto you, save that difficulty under which, and in consequence of which,
you
say, "Forgive us our debts. Grant me a remission before I go hence, and be
no
more."
Set me free from my sins, "before I go hence," that I may not go
hence
with
my sins. Remit them unto me, that I may be set at rest in my conscience, that
it
may be disburthened of its feverish anxiety, the anxiety with which "I am
sorry
for
my sin. Grant me a remission, that I may be refreshed" (before everything
else),
"before I go hence, and be no more." For if you grant me not a
"remission,
that
I may be refreshed," I shall "go and be no more." "Before I
go" thither, where
if
I go, I shall thenceforth "be no more. Grant me a remission, that I may be
refreshed."
A question has suggested itself, how he will be no more.... What is
meant
then by "shall be no more," unless Idithun is alluding to what is
true
"being,"
and what is not true "being." For he was beholding with the mind,
with
which
he could do so, with the "mind's eye," by which he was able to behold
it,
that
end, which he had desired to have shown unto him, saying, "Lord, make me
to
know
mine end." He was beholding "the number of his days, which truly
is;" and
he
observed that all that is below, in comparison of that true being, has no true
being.
For those things are permanent; these are subject to change; mortal, and
frail,
and the eternal suffering, though full of corruption, is for this very reason
not
to
be ended, that it may ever be being ended without end. He alluded therefore to
that
realm of bliss, to the happy country, to the happy home, where the Saints are
partakers
of eternal Life, and of Truth unchangeable; and he feared to "go"
where
that
is not, where there is no true being; longing to be there, where
"Being" in the
highest
sense is! It is on account of this contrast then, while standing midway
between
them, he says, "Grant me a remission, that I may be refreshed before I go
hence
and be no more." For if Thou "grantest me not a remission" of my
sins, I
shall
go from You unto all eternity! And from whom shall I go to all eternity?
From
Him who said, I Am HE that Am: from Him who said, "Say unto the
children
of Israel, I Am has sent me unto you." Exodus 3:14 He then who goes
from
Him, in the contrary direction, goes to non-existence....
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Exposition
on Psalm 40
1.
Of all those things which our Lord Jesus Christ has foretold, we know part to
have
been already accomplished, part we hope will be accomplished hereafter. All
of
them, however, will be fulfilled, because He is "the Truth" who
speaks them,
and
requires of us to be as "faithful," as He Himself speaks them
faithfully....
2.
Let us say then what this Psalm says. "I waited patiently for the
Lord" (ver. 1). I
waited
patiently for the promise of no mere mortal who can both deceive and be
himself
deceived: I waited for the consolation of no mere mortal, who may be
consumed
by sorrow of his own, before he gives me comfort. Should a brother
mortal
attempt to comfort me, when he himself is in sorrow likewise? Let us
mourn
in company; let us weep together, let us "wait patiently" together,
let us
join
our prayers together also. Whom did I wait for but for the Lord? The Lord,
who
though He puts off the fulfilment of His promises, yet never recalls them? He
will
make it good; assuredly He will make it good, because He has made many of
His
promises good already: and of God's truth we ought to have no fears, even if
as
yet He had made none of them good. Lo! let us henceforth think thus, "He
has
promised
us everything; He has not as yet given us possession of anything; He is a
sponsible
Promiser; a faithful Paymaster: do you but show yourself a dutiful
exactor
of what is promised; and if you be "weak," if you be one of the
little ones,
claim
the promise of His mercy. Do you not see tender lambs striking their dams'
teats
with their heads, in order that they may get their fill of milk?... "And He
took
heed
unto me, and heard my cry." He took heed to it, and He heard it. See you
have
not waited in vain. His eyes are over you. His ears turned towards you. For,
"the
eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their
cry."
What
then? Did He not see you, when you used to do evil and to blaspheme Him?
What
then becomes of what is said in that very Psalm, "The face of the Lord is
upon
them that do evil"? But for what end? "that He may cut off the
remembrance
of
them from the earth." Therefore, even when thou were wicked, He "took
heed
of
you;" but He "took no heed to you." So then to him who
"waited patiently for
the
Lord," it was not enough to say, "He took heed of me, He says,
"He took heed
to
me;" that is, He took heed by comforting me, that He might do me good.
What
was
it that He took heed to? "and He heard my cry."
3.
And what has He accomplished for you? What has He done for you? "He
brought
me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon
a
rock, and established my goings" (ver. 2). He has given us great blessings
already:
and still He is our debtor; but let him who has this part of the debt repaid
already,
believe that the rest will be also, seeing that he ought to have believed
even
before he received anything. Our Lord has employed facts themselves to
persuade
us, that He is a faithful promiser, a liberal giver. What then has He
already
done? "He has brought me out of a horrible pit." What horrible pit is
that?
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218
It
is the depth of iniquity, from the lusts of the flesh, for this is meant by
"the miry
clay."
Whence has He brought you out? Out of a certain deep, out of which you
cried
out in another Psalm, "Out of the deep have I called unto You, O
Lord." And
those
who are already "crying out of the deep," are not absolutely in the
lowest
deep:
the very act of crying is already lifting them up. There are some deeper in
the
deep, who do not even perceive themselves to be in the deep. Such are those
who
are proud despisers, not pious entreaters for pardon; not tearful criers for
mercy:
but such as Scripture thus describes. "The sinner when he comes into the
depth
of evil despises." Proverbs 18:3 For he is deeper in the deep, who is not
satisfied
with being a sinner, unless instead of confessing he even defends his sins.
But
he who has already "cried out of the deep," has already lifted up his
head in
order
that he might "cry out of the deep," has been heard already, and has
been
"brought
out of the horrible pit, and out of the mire and clay." He already has
faith,
which
he had not before; he has hope, which he was before without; he now walks
in
Christ, who before used to go astray in the devil. For on that account it is
that he
says,
"He has set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings." Now
"that
Rock
was Christ." 1 Corinthians 10:4 Supposing that we are "upon the
rock," and
that
our "goings are ordered," still it is necessary that we continue to
walk; that we
advance
to something farther. For what did the Apostle Paul say when now upon
the
Rock, when his "goings had now been established"? "Not as though
I had
already
attained, either were already perfect: Brethren, I count not myself to have
apprehended."
Philippians 3:12-13 What then has been done for you, if you have
not
apprehended? On what account do you return thanks, saying, "But I have
obtained
mercy"? 1 Timothy 1:13 Because his goings are now established,
because
he now walks on the Rock? ... Therefore, when he was saying, "I press
forward
toward the prize of my high calling," because "his feet were now set
on
the
Rock," and "his goings were ordered," because he was now walking
on the
right
way, he had something to return thanks for; something to ask for still;
returning
thanks for what he had received already, while he was claiming that
which
still remained due. For what things already received was he giving thanks?
For
the remission of sins, for the illumination of faith; for the strong support of
hope,
for the fire of charity. But in what respects had he still a claim of debt on
the
Lord?
"Henceforth," he says, "there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness."
There
is therefore something due me still. What is it that is due? "A crown of
righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day." He
was
at first a loving Father to "bring him forth from the horrible pit;"
to forgive his
sins,
to rescue him from "the mire and clay;" hereafter he will be a
"righteous
Judge,"
requiting to him walking rightly, what He promised; to him (I say), unto
whom
He had at the first granted that power to walk rightly. He then as a
"righteous
Judge" will repay; but whom will he repay? "He that endures unto the
end,
the same shall be saved." Matthew 10:22
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219
4.
"And He has put a new song in my mouth." What new song is this?
"Even a
hymn
unto our God" (ver. 3). Perhaps you used to sing hymns to strange gods;
old
hymns,
because they were uttered by the "old man," not by the "new
man;" let the
"new
man" be formed, and let him sing a "new song;" being himself
made "new,"
let
him love those "new" things by which he is himself made new. For what
is
more
Ancient than God, who is before all things, and is without end and without
beginning?
He becomes "new" to you, when you return to Him; because it was by
departing
from Him, that you had become old; and had said, "I have waxed old
because
of all mine enemies." We therefore utter "a hymn unto our God;"
and the
hymn
itself sets us free. "For I will call upon the Lord to praise Him, and I
will be
safe
from all mine enemies." For a hymn is a song of praise. Call on God to
"praise"
Him, not to find fault with Him....
5.
If haply any one asks, what person is speaking in this Psalm? I would say
briefly,
"It is Christ." But as you know, brethren, and as we must say
frequently,
Christ
sometimes speaks in His own Person, in the Person of our Head. For He
Himself
is "the Saviour of the Body." Ephesians 5:23 He is our Head; the Son
of
God,
who was born of the Virgin, suffered for us, "rose again for our
justification,"
sits "at the right hand of God," to "make intercession for
us:"
Romans
8:34 who is also to recompense to the evil and to the good, in the
judgment,
all the evil and the good that they have done. He deigned to be come
our
Head; to become "the Head of the Body," by taking of us that flesh in
which
He
should die for us; that flesh which He also raised up again for our sakes, that
in
that
flesh He might place before us an instance of the resurrection; that we might
learn
to hope for that of which we heretofore despaired, and might henceforth have
our
feet upon the rock, and might walk in Christ. He then sometimes speaks in the
name
of our Head; sometimes also He speaks of us who are His members. For
both
when He said, "I was an hungred, and you gave Me meat," Matthew 25:35
He
spoke on behalf of His members, not of Himself: and when He said, "Saul,
Saul,
why do you persecute Me?" Acts 9:4 the Head was crying on behalf of its
members:
and yet He did not say, "Why do you persecute My members?" but,
"Why
do you persecute Me?" If He suffers in us, then shall we also be crowned
in
Him.
Such is the love of Christ. What is there can be compared to this? This is the
thing
on account of which "He has put a hymn in our mouth," and this He
speaks
on
behalf of His members.
6.
"The just shall see, and shall fear, and shall trust in the Lord."
"The just shall
see."
Who are the just? The faithful; because it is "by faith that the just
shall live."
Habakkuk
2:4 For there is in the Church this order, some go before, others follow;
and
those who go before make themselves "an example" to those who follow;
and
those
who follow imitate those who go before. But do those then follow no one,
who
exhibit themselves as an ensample to them that come after? If they follow no
one
at all, they will fall into error. These persons then must themselves also
follow
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220
some
one, that is, Christ Himself.... "The just," therefore, "shall
see, and shall
fear."
They see a narrow way on the one hand; on the other side, "a broad
road:"
on
this side they see few, on the other many. But you are a just man; count them
not,
but weigh them; bring "a just balance," not a "deceitful"
one: because you are
called
just. "The just shall see, and fear," applies to you. Count not
therefore the
multitudes
of men that are filling the "broad ways," that are to fill the circus
tomorrow;
celebrating with shouts the City's Anniversary, while they defile the
City
itself by evil living. Look not at them; they are many in number; and who can
count
them? But there are a few travelling along the narrow road. Bring forth the
balance,
I say. Weigh them; see what a quantity of chaff you lift up on the one
side,
against a few grains of corn on the other. Let this be done by "the
just," the
"believers,"
who are to follow. And what shall they who precede do? Let them not
be
proud, let them not "exalt themselves;" let them not deceive those
who follow
them.
How may they deceive those who follow them? By promising them
salvation
in themselves. What then ought those who follow to do? "The just shall
see,
and fear: and shall trust in the Lord;" not in those who go before them.
But
indeed
they fix their eyes on those who go before them, and follow and imitate
them;
but they do so, because they consider from Whom they have received the
grace
to go before them; and because they trust in Him. Although therefore they
make
these their models, they place their trust in Him from whom the others have
received
the grace whereby they are such as they are. "The just shall see it, and
fear,
and shall trust in the Lord." Just as in another Psalm, "I lift up my
eyes unto
the
hills," we understand by hills, all distinguished and great spiritual
persons in
the
Church; great in solidity, not by swollen inflation. By these it is that all
Scripture
has been dispensed unto us; they are the Prophets, they are the
Evangelists;
they are sound Doctors: to these "I lift up my eyes, from whence shall
come
my help." And lest you should think of mere human help, he goes on to say,
"My
help comes from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. The just shall see
it,
and fear, and shall trust in the Lord."...
7.
"Blessed is that man that makes the name of the Lord his trust, and has
not
respected
vanities or lying madnesses" (ver. 4). Behold the way by which you
would
fain have gone. Behold the "multitude that fill the Broad way." It is
not
without
reason "that" road leads to the amphitheatre. It is not without
reason it
leads
to Death. The "broad way" leads unto death, Matthew 7:13 its breadth
delights
for time: its end is straitness to all eternity. Aye; but the multitudes
murmur;
the multitudes are rejoicing together; the multitudes are hastening along;
the
multitudes are flocking together! Do not thou imitate them; do not turn aside
after
them: they are "vanities, and lying madnesses." Let the Lord your God
be
your
hope. Hope for nothing else from the Lord your God; but let the Lord your
God
Himself be thine hope. For many persons hope to obtain from God's hands
riches,
and many perishable and transitory honours; and, in short, anything else
they
hope to obtain at God's hands, except only God Himself. But do thou seek
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221
after
your God Himself: nay, indeed, despising all things else, make your way unto
Him!
Forget other things, remember Him. Leave other things behind, and "press
forward"
Philippians 3:14 unto Him. Surely it is He Himself, who set you right,
when
turned away from the right path; who, now that you are set in the right path,
guides
you aright, who guides you to your destination. Let Him then be your hope,
who
both guides you, and guides you to your destination. Whither does worldly
covetousness
lead you? And to what point does it conduct you at the last? Thou at
first
desired a farm; then you would possess an estate; you would shut out your
neighbours;
having shut them out, you set your heart on the possessions of other
neighbours;
and extended your covetous desires till you had reached the shore:
arriving
at the shore, thou covetest the islands: having made the earth your own,
you
would haply seize upon heaven. Leave thou all your loves. He who made
heaven
and earth is more beautiful than all.
8.
"Blessed is the man that makes the name of the Lord his hope, and who has
not
regarded
vanities and lying madnesses." For whence is it that "madness"
is called
"lying"?
Insanity is a lying thing, even as it is sanity that sees the Truth. For what
you
see as good things, you are deceived; you are not in your sound senses: a
violent
fever has driven you to frenzy: that which you are in love with is not a
reality.
Thou applaudest the charioteer; you cheer the charioteer; you are madly in
love
with the charioteer. It is "vanity;" it is "a lying
madness." "It is 'not'" (he
cries).
"Nothing can be better; nothing more delightful." What can I do for
one in a
state
of high fever? Pray ye for such persons, if you have any feelings of
compassion
in you. For the physician himself also in a desperate case generally
turns
to those in the house, who stand around weeping; who are hanging on his
lips
to hear his opinion of the patient who is sick and in danger. The physician
stands
in a state of doubt: he sees not any good to promise; he fears to pronounce
evil,
lest he should excite alarm. He devises a thoroughly modest sentence: "The
good
God can do all things. Pray ye for him." Which then of these madmen shall
I
check?
Which of them will listen to me? Which of them would not call us
miserable?
Because they suppose us to have lost great and various pleasures, of
which
they are madly fond, in that we are not as madly in love with them as they
are:
and they do not see that they are "lying" pleasures.... "And has
not respected
vanities,
and lying madnesses." "Such a one has won," he cries; "he
harnessed
such
and such a horse," he proclaims aloud. He would fain be a kind of diviner;
he
aspires
to the honours of divination by abandoning the fountain of Divinity; and he
frequently
pronounces an opinion, and is frequently mistaken. Why is this? Even
because
they are "lying madnesses." But why is it that what they say
sometimes
comes
true? That they may lead astray the foolish ones; that by loving the
semblance
of truth there, they may fall into the snare of falsehood: let them be left
behind,
let them be "given over," let them be "cut off." If they
were members of
us,
they must be mortified. "Mortify," he says, "your members which
are upon the
earth."
Colossians 3:5 Let our God be our hope. He who made all things, is better
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Psalm 40 222
than
all! He who made what is beautiful, is more beautiful than all that is such. He
who
made whatever is mighty, is Himself mightier. He who made whatever is
great,
is Himself greater. He will be unto you everything that you love. Learn in
the
creature to love the Creator; and in the work Him who made it. Let not that
which
has been made by Him detain thine affections, so that you should lose Him
by
whom you yourself were made also. "Blessed," then, "is the man
that makes the
Name
of the Lord his trust, and has not respected vanities and lying
madnesses."...
9.
We will give him other sights in exchange for such sights as these. And what
sights
shall we present to the Christian, whom we would fain divert from those
sights?
I thank the Lord our God; He in the following verse of the Psalm has
shown
us what sights we ought to present and offer to spectators who would fain
have
sights to see? Let us now suppose him to be weaned from the circus, the
theatre,
the amphitheatre; let him be looking after, let him by all means be looking
after,
some sight to see; we do not leave him without a spectacle. What then shall
we
give in exchange for those? Hear what follows.
"Many,
O Lord my God, are the wonderful works which You have made" (ver. 5).
He
used to gaze at the "wonderful works" of man; let him now contemplate
the
wonderful
works of God. "Many are the wonderful works" that God "has
made."
Why
are they become vile in his eyes? He praises the charioteer guiding four
horses;
running all of them without fault and without stumbling. Perhaps the Lord
has
not made such "wonderful works" in things spiritual. Let him control
lust, let
him
control cowardice, let him control injustice, let him control imprudence, I
mean,
the passions which falling into excess produce those vices; let him control
these
and bring them into subjection, and let him hold the reins, and not suffer
himself
to be carried away; let him guide them the way he himself would have
them
go; let him not be forced away whither he would not. He used to applaud the
charioteer,
he himself shall be applauded for his own charioteering; he used to call
out
that the charioteer should be invested with a dress of honour; he shall himself
be
clothed with immortality. These are the spectacles, these the sights that God
exhibits
to us. He cries out of heaven, "My eyes are upon you. Strive, and 'I will'
assist
you; triumph, and I will crown you."
"And
in Your thought there is none that is like unto You." Now then look at the
actor!
For the man has by dint of great pains learned to walk upon a rope; and
hanging
there he holds you hanging in suspense. Turn to Him who exhibits
spectacles
far more wonderful. This man has learned to walk upon the rope; but
has
he caused another to walk on the sea? Forget now your theatre; behold our
Peter;
not a walker on the rope, but, so to speak, a walker on the sea. And do thou
also
walk on other waters (though not on those on which Peter walked, to
symbolize
a certain truth), for this world is a sea. It has a deleterious bitterness; it
has
the waves of tribulations, the tempests of temptations; it has men in it who,
like
fish, delight in their own ruin, and prey upon each other; walk thou here, set
thou
your foot on this. You would see sights; be yourself a "spectacle."
That your
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Psalm 40
223
spirit
may not sink, look on Him who goes before you, and says, "We have been
made
a spectacle unto this world, and unto angels, and unto men."
1
Corinthians 4:9 Tread thou on the waters; suffer not yourself to be drowned in
the
sea. You will not go there, you will not "tread it under foot,"
unless it be His
bidding,
who was Himself the first to walk upon the sea. For it was thus that Peter
spoke.
"If You are, bid me come unto You on the waters." Matthew 14:28 And
because
"He was," He heard him when praying; He granted his wish to him when
expressing
his desire; He raised him up when sinking. These are the "wonderful
works"
that the "Lord has made." Look on them; let faith be the eye of him
who
would
behold them. And do thou also likewise; for although the winds alarm you,
though
the waves rage against you, and though human frailty may have inspired
you
with some doubt of your salvation, you have it in your power to "cry
out," you
may
say "Lord, I perish." Matthew 14:30 He who bids you walk there,
suffers you
not
to perish. For in that thou now walkest "on the Rock," you fear not
even on the
sea!
If you are without "the Rock," you must sink in the sea; for the Rock
on
which
you must walk is such an one as is not sunk in the sea,
10.
Observe then the "wonderful works" of God. "I have declared, and
have
spoken;
they are multiplied beyond number." There is "a number," there
are some
over
and above the number. There is a fixed number that belongs to that heavenly
Jerusalem.
For "the Lord knows them that are His;" 2 Timothy 2:19 the Christians
that
fear Him, the Christians that believe, the Christians that keep the
commandments,
that walk in God's ways, that keep themselves from sins; that if
they
fall confess: they belong to "the number." But are they the only
ones? There
are
also some "beyond the number." For even if they be but a few (a few
in
comparison
of the numbers of the larger majority), with how great numbers are
our
Churches filled, crowded up to the very walls; to what a degree do they annoy
each
other by the pressure, and almost choke each other by their overflowing
numbers.
Again, out of these very same persons, when there is a public spectacle,
there
are numbers flocking to the amphitheatre; these are over and above "the
number."
But it is for this reason that we say this, that they may be in "the
number."
Not being present, they do not hear this from us; but when you have
gone
from hence, let them hear it from you. "I have declared," he says,
"and have
spoken."
It is Christ who speaks. "He has declared it," in His own Person, as
our
Head.
He has Himself declared it by His members. He Himself has sent those who
should
"declare" it; He Himself has sent the Apostles. "Their sound is
gone out
into
all lands, and their words unto the ends of the world." How great the
number
of
believers that are gathered together; how great the multitudes that flock
together;
many of them truly converted, many but in appearance: and those who
are
truly converted are the minority; those who are so but in appearance are the
majority:
because "they are multiplied beyond the number."
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11.
...These are the "wonderful works" of God; these are the
"thoughts" of God, to
which
"no man's thoughts are like;" that the lover of sight-seeing may be
weaned
from
curiosity: and with us may seek after those more excellent, those more
profitable
things, in which, when he shall have attained unto them, he will
rejoice....
12.
"Sacrifice and offering You did not desire" (ver. 6), says the Psalm
to God. For
the
men of old time, when as yet the true Sacrifice, which is known to the
faithful,
was
foreshown in figures, used to celebrate rites that were figures of the reality
that
was to be hereafter; many of them understanding their meaning; but more of
them
in ignorance of it. For the Prophets and the holy Patriarchs understood what
they
were celebrating; but the rest of the "stiff-necked people" were so
carnal, that
what
was done by them was but to symbolize the things that were to come
afterwards;
and it came to pass, when that first sacrifice was abolished; when the
burnt-offerings
of "rams, of goats, and of calves," and of other victims, had been
abolished,
"God did not desire them." Why did God not desire them? And why did
He
at the first desire them? Because all those things were, as it were, the words
of
a
person making a promise; and the expressions conveying a promise, when the
thing
that they promise is come, are no longer uttered.... Those sacrifices then, as
being
but expressions of a promise, have been abrogated. What is that which has
been
given as its fulfilment? That "Body;" which you know; which you do
not all
of
you know; which, of you who do know it, I pray God all may not know it unto
condemnation.
Observe the time when it was said; for the person is Christ our
Lord,
speaking at one time for His members, at another in His own person.
"Sacrifice
and offering," said He, "You did not desire." What then? Are we
left at
this
present time without a sacrifice? God forbid!
"But
a Body have You perfected for me." It was for this reason that You did not
desire
the others; that You might "perfect" this; before You
"perfected" this, You
desired
the others. The fulfilment of the promise has done away with the words
that
express the promise. For if they still hold out a promise, that which was
promised
is not yet fulfilled. This was promised by certain signs; the signs that
convey
the promise are done away; because the Substance that was promised is
come.
We are in this "Body." We are partakers of this "Body." We
know that
which
we ourselves receive; and you who know it not yet, will know it bye and
bye;
and when you come to know it, I pray ye may not receive it unto
condemnation.
"For he that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation
unto
himself." 1 Corinthians 11:29 "A Body" has been
"perfected" for us; let us be
made
perfect in the Body.
13.
"Burnt-offerings also for sin have You not required." "Then said
I, Lo, I
come!"
(ver. 7). It is time that what "was promised should come;" because
the
signs,
by means of which they were promised, have been put away. And indeed,
Brethren,
observe these put away; those fulfilled. Let the Jewish nation at this time
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show
me their priest, if they can! Where are their sacrifices? They are brought to
an
end; they are put away now. Should we at that time have rejected them? We do
reject
them now; because, if you chose to celebrate them now, it were
unseasonable;
unfitting at the time; incongruous. You are still making promises; I
have
already received! There has remained to them a certain thing for them to
celebrate;
that they might not remain altogether without a sign .... In such a case
then
are they; like Cain with his mark. The sacrifices, however, which used to be
performed
there, have been put away; and that which remained unto them for a
sign
like that of Cain, has by this time been fulfilled; and they know it not. They
slay
the Lamb; they eat the unleavened bread. "Christ has been sacrificed for
us, as
our
Passover." 1 Corinthians 5:7 Lo, in the sacrifice of Christ, I recognise
the
Lamb
that was slain! What of the unleavened bread? "Therefore," says he,
"let us
keep
the feast; not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of wickedness" (he
shows
what is meant by "old;" it is "stale" flour; it is sour),
"but in the unleavened
bread
of sincerity and truth." 1 Corinthians 5:8 They have continued in the
shade;
they
cannot abide the Sun of Glory. We are already in the light of day. We have
"the
Body" of Christ, we have the Blood of Christ. If we have a new life, let
us
"sing
a new song, even a hymn unto our God." "Burnt offerings for sin You
did
not
desire. Then said I, Lo, I come!"
14.
"In the head of the Book it is written of me, that I should fulfil Your
will: O
my
God, I am willing, and Your Law is within my heart" (ver. 8). Behold! He
turns
His regards to His members. Behold! He has Himself "fulfilled the
will" of
the
Father. But in what "beginning of a Book" is it written of Him?
Perhaps in the
beginning
of this Book of Psalms. For why should we seek far for it, or examine
into
other books for it? Behold! It is written in the beginning of this Book of
Psalms!
"His will is in the Law of the Lord;" that is, "'O my God, I am
willing,'
and
'Your Law is within my heart;'" that is the same as, "And in His Law
does he
meditate
day and night."
15.
"I have well declared Your righteousness in the great congregation"
(ver. 9).
He
now addresses His members. He is exhorting them to do what He has already
done.
He has "declared;" let us declare also. He has suffered; let us
"suffer with
Him."
He has been glorified; we shall be "glorified with Him." Romans 8:17
"I
have
declared Your righteousness in the great congregation." How great an one
is
that?
In all the world. How great is it? Even among all nations. Why among all
nations?
Because He is "the Seed of Abraham, in whom all nations shall be
blessed."
Genesis 22:18 Why among all nations? "Because their sound has gone
forth
into all lands." "Lo! I will not refrain my lips, O Lord, and that
You know."
My
lips speak; I will not "refrain" them from speaking. My lips indeed
sound
audibly
in the ears of men; but "You know" mine heart. "I will not
refrain my lips,
O
Lord; that You know." It is one thing that man hears; another that God
"knows."
That
the "declaring" of it should not be confined to the lips alone, and
that it might
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not
be said of us, "Whatsoever things they say unto you, do; but do not after
their
works;"
Matthew 23:3 or lest it should be said to the people, "praising God with
their
lips, but not with their heart," "This people honours Me with their
lips, but
their
heart is far from Me;" Isaiah 29:31 do thou make audible confession with
your
lips; draw nigh with your heart also. "For with the heart man believes
unto
righteousness;
but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
Romans
10:10 In case like unto which that thief was found, who, hanging on the
Cross
with the Lord, did on the Cross acknowledge the Lord. Others had refused
to
acknowledge Him while working miracles; this man acknowledged Him when
hanging
on the Cross. That thief had every other member pierced through; his
hands
were fastened by the nails; his feet were pierced also; his whole body was
fastened
to the tree; the body was not disengaged in its other members; the heart
and
the tongue were disengaged; "with the heart" he "believed; with
the tongue"
he
made "confession." "Remember me, O Lord," he said,
"when Thou comest into
Your
kingdom." He hoped for the coming of his salvation at a time far remote;
he
was
content to receive it after a long delay; his hope rested on an object far
remote.
The day, however, was not postponed! The answer was, "This day shall
you
be with Me in Paradise." Paradise has happy trees! This day have you been
with
Me on "the Tree" of the Cross. This day shall you be with Me on
"the Tree"
of
Salvation....
16.
"I have not hid my righteousness within my heart" (ver. 10). What is
meant by
"my
righteousness"? My faith. For, "the just shall live by faith."
As suppose the
persecutor
under threat of punishment, as they were once allowed to do, puts you
to
the question, "What are you? Pagan or Christian?" "A
Christian." That is his
"righteousness."
He believes; he "lives by faith." He does not "hide his
righteousness
within his heart." He has not said in his heart, "I do indeed believe
in
Christ;
but I will not tell what I believe to this persecutor, who is raging against
me,
and threatening me. My God knows that inwardly, within my heart, I do
believe.
He knows that I renounce Him not." Lo! you say that you have this
inwardly
within your heart! What have you upon your lips? "I am not a Christian."
Your
lips bear witness against your heart. "I have not hid my righteousness
within
my
heart."...
17.
"I have declared Your Truth and Your Salvation." I have declared Your
Christ.
This
is the meaning of, "I have declared Your Truth and Your Salvation."
How is
"Your
Truth" Christ? "I am the Truth." John 14:6 How is Christ
"His Salvation"?
Simeon
recognised the infant in His Mother's hands in the Temple, and said, "For
my
eyes have seen Your Salvation." Luke 2:30 The old man recognised the little
child;
the old man having himself "become a little child" in that infant,
having
been
renewed by faith. For he had received an oracle from God; and it said this,
"The
Lord had said unto him, that he was not to depart out of this life, until he
had
seen
the "Salvation of God." This "Salvation of God" it is a
good thing to have
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shown
unto men; but let them cry, "Show us Your mercy, O Lord, and grant us
Your
Salvation."...
18.
"I have not concealed Your mercy and Your Truth from the great
congregation."
Let us be there; let us also be numbered among the members of this
Body:
let us not keep back "the mercy" of the Lord, and "the
Truth" of the Lord.
Wouldest
thou hear what "the mercy of the Lord" is? Depart from your sins; He
will
forgive your sins. Wouldest thou hear what "the truth" of the Lord
is? Hold
fast
righteousness. Your righteousness shall receive a crown. For mercy is
announced
to you now; "Truth" is to be shown unto you hereafter. For God is not
merciful
in such a way as not to be just, nor just in such a way as not to be
merciful.
Does that mercy seem to you an inconsiderable one? He will not impute
unto
you all your former sins: you have lived ill up to this present day; you are
still
living;
this day live well; then you will not "conceal" this
"mercy." If this is meant
by
"mercy," what is meant by "truth"?...
19.
"Remove not Thou Your mercies far from me, O Lord" (ver. 11). He is
turning
his
attention to the wounded members. Because I have not "concealed Your mercy
and
Your Truth from the great congregation," from the Unity of the Universal
Church,
look Thou on Your afflicted members, look on those who are guilty of
sins
of omission, and on those who are guilty of sins of commission: and withhold
not
Thou Your mercies. "Your mercy and Your Truth have continually preserved
me."
I should not dare to turn from my evil way, were I not assured of remission; I
could
not endure so as to persevere, if I were not assured of the fulfilment of Your
promise....
"Innumerable
evils have compassed me about" (ver. 12). Who can number sins?
Who
can count his own sins, and those of others? A burden under which he was
groaning,
who said, "Cleanse Thou me from my secret faults; and from the faults
of
others, spare Thou Your servant, O Lord." Our own are too little; those
"of
others"
are added to the burden. I fear for myself; I fear for a virtuous brother, I
have
to bear with a wicked brother; and under such burthen what shall we be, if
God's
mercy were to fail? "But You, Lord, remove not afar off." Be Thou
near
unto
us! To whom is the Lord near? "Even" unto them that "are of a
broken heart."
He
is far from the proud: He is near to the humble. "For though the Lord is
high,
yet
has He respect unto the lowly." But let not those that are proud think
themselves
to be unobserved: for the things that are high, He "beholds afar
off."
He
"beheld afar off" the Pharisee, who boasted himself; He was near at
hand to
succour
the Publican, who made confession. Luke 18:9-14 The one extolled his
own
merits, and concealed his wounds; the other boasted not of his merits, but laid
bare
his wounds. He came to the Physician; he knew that he was sick, and that he
required
to be made whole; he "dared not lift up his eyes to Heaven: he smote
upon
his breast." He spared not himself, that God might spare him; he
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acknowledged
himself guilty, that God might "ignore" the charge against him. He
punished
himself, that God might free him from punishment....
20.
"Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I could not see."
There is a
something
for us "to see;" what prevents us so that we see it not? Is it not
iniquity?
From
beholding this light your eye is prevented perhaps by some humour
penetrating
into it; perhaps by smoke, or dust, or by something else that has been
thrown
into it: and you have not been able to raise your wounded eye to
contemplate
this light of day. What then? Will you be able to lift up your wounded
heart
unto God? Must it not be first healed, in order that you may see? Do you not
show
your pride, when you say, "First let me see, and then I will
believe"? Who is
there
who says this? For who that would fain see, says, "Let me see, and then I
will
believe"? I am about to manifest the Light unto you; or rather the Light
Itself
would
fain manifest Itself to you! To whom? It cannot manifest Itself to the blind.
He
does not see. Whence is it that he sees not? It is that the eye is clogged by
the
multitude
of sins....
21.
"They are more than the hairs of my head." He subjects the number of
the
"hairs
of his head" to calculation. Who is there can calculate the number of the
hairs
of his head? Much less can he tell the number of his sins, which exceed the
number
of the hairs of his head. They seem to be minute; but they are many in
number.
You have guarded against great ones; you do not now commit adultery,
or
murder; you do not plunder the property of others; you do not blaspheme; and
do
not bear false witness; those are the weightier kind of sins. You have guarded
against
great sins, what are you doing about your smaller ones? You have cast off
the
weight; beware lest the sand overwhelm you. "And my heart has forsaken
me."
What
wonder if your heart is forsaken by your God, when it is even
"forsaken" by
itself?
What is meant by "fails me," "forsakes me"? Is not capable
of knowing
itself.
He means this: "My heart has forsaken me." I would fain see God with
mine
heart,
and cannot from the multitude of my sins: that is not enough; mine heart
does
not even know itself. For no one thoroughly knows himself: let no one
presume
upon his own state. Was Peter able to comprehend with his own heart the
state
of his own heart, who said, "I will be with You even unto death"?
Luke 22:33
There
was a false presumption in the heart; there was lurking in that heart at the
same
time a real fear: and the heart was not able to comprehend the state of the
heart.
Its state was unknown to the sick heart itself: it was manifest to the
physician.
That which was foretold of him was fulfilled. God knew that in him
which
he knew not in himself: because his heart had forsaken him, his heart was
unknown
to his heart.
22.
"Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me" (ver. 13). As if he were saying,
"'If You
will,
You can make me clean.' Matthew 8:2 Be pleased to deliver me. O Lord,
look
upon me to help me." Look, that is, on the penitent members, members that
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lie
in pain, members that are writhing under the instruments of the surgeon; but
still
in hope.
23.
"Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to
destroy
it" (ver. 14). For in a certain passage he makes an accusation, and says,
"I
looked
upon my right hand, and beheld; and there was no man who sought after
my
soul;" that is, there was no man to imitate Mine example. Christ in His
Passion
is
the Speaker. "I looked on my right hand," that is, not on the ungodly
Jews, but
on
My own right hand, the Apostles,—"and there was no man who sought after
My
soul." So thoroughly was there no man to "seek after My soul,"
that he who
had
presumed on his own strength, "denied My soul." But because a man's
soul is
sought
after in two ways, either in order that you may enjoy his society; or that
you
may persecute him; therefore he here speaks of others, whom he would have
"confounded
and ashamed," who are "seeking after his soul." But lest you
should
understand
it in the same way as when he complains of some who did not "seek
after
his soul," He adds, "to destroy it;" that is, they seek after my
soul in order to
my
death....
24.
"Let them be turned backward and put to shame that wish me evil."
"Turned
backwards."
Let us not take this in a bad sense. He wishes them well; and it is His
voice,
who said from the Cross, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what
they
do." Luke 23:34 Wherefore then does he say to them, that they should
return
"backwards"?
Because they who before were proud, so that they fell, are now
become
humble, so that they may rise again. For when they are before, they are
wishing
to take precedence of their Lord; to be better than He; but if they go
behind
Him, they acknowledge Him to be better than they; they acknowledge that
He
ought to go before; that He should precede, they follow. Thence He thus
rebukes
Peter giving Him evil counsel. For the Lord, when about to suffer for our
salvation,
also foretold what was to happen concerning that Passion itself; and
Peter
says, "Be it far from You," Matthew 16:22 "God forbid it!"
"This shall not
be!"
He would fain have gone before his Lord; would have given counsel to his
Master!
But the Lord, that He might make him not go before Him, but follow after
Him,
says, "Get behind, Satan!" It is for this reason He said
"Satan," because you
are
seeking to go before Him, whom you ought to follow; but if you are behind, if
thou
follow Him, you will henceforth not be "Satan." What then? "Upon
this Rock
I
will build My Church." Matthew 16:18...
25.
"Let them speedily bear away their own confusion, that say unto me, Well
done!
Well done!" (ver. 15). They praise you without reason. "A great man!
A
good
man! A man of education and of learning; but why a Christian?" They praise
those
things in you which you should wish not to be praised; they find fault with
that
at which you rejoice. But if perhaps you say, "What is it you praise in
me, O
man?
That I am a virtuous man? A just man? If you think this, Christ made me
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this;
praise Him." But the other says, "Be it far from you. Do yourself no
wrong!
You
yourself made yourself such." "Let them be confounded who say unto
me,
Well
done! Well done!" And what follows?
"Let
all those that seek You, O Lord, rejoice and be glad" (ver. 16). Those who
"seek"
not me, but "You;" who say not to me, "Well done! Well done!"
but see me
"glory
in You," if I have anything whereof to glory; for "he who glories,
let him
glory
in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:31 "Let all those who seek You, Lord,
rejoice
and
be glad."
"And
say continually, the Lord be magnified." For even if the sinner becomes
righteous,
you should give the glory to "Him who justifies the ungodly."
Romans
4:5 Whether therefore it be a sinner, let Him be praised who calls him to
forgiveness;
or one already walking in the way of righteousness, let Him be
praised
who calls him to receive the crown! Let the Name of the Lord be
magnified
continually by "such as love Your salvation."
"But
I" (ver. 17). I for whom they were seeking evil, I whose "life they
were
seeking,
that they might take it away." But turn you to another description of
persons.
But I to whom they said, "Well done! Well done!" "I am poor and
needy."
There is nothing in me that may be praised as my own. Let Him rend my
sackcloth
in sunder, and cover me with His robe. For, "Now I live, not I myself;
but
Christ lives in me." Galatians 2:20 If it is Christ that "lives in
you," and all that
you
have is Christ's, and all that you are to have hereafter is Christ's also; what
are
you
in yourself? "I am poor and needy." Now I am not rich, because I am
not
proud.
He was rich who said, "Lord, I thank You that I am not as other men
are;"
Luke
18:11 but the publican was poor, who said, "Lord, be merciful to me a
sinner!"
The one was belching from his fulness; the other from want was crying
piteously,
"I am poor and needy!" And what would you do, O poor and needy
man?
Beg at God's door; "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Matthew
7:7—
"As
for me, I am poor and needy. Yet the Lord cares for me."—"Cast your
care
upon
the Lord, and He shall bring it to pass." What can you effect for yourself
by
taking
care what can you provide for yourself? Let Him who made you "care for
you."
He who cared for you before thou were, how shall He fail to have a care of
you,
now that you are what He would have you be? For now you are a believer,
now
you are walking in the "way of righteousness." Shall not He have a
care for
you,
who "makes His sun rise on the good and on the evil, and sends rain on the
just
and on the unjust"? Matthew 5:45...
"You
are my Help, and my Deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God" (ver. 17). He
is
calling upon God, imploring Him, fearing lest he should fall away: "Make
no
tarrying."
What is meant by "make no tarrying"? We lately read concerning the
days
of tribulation: "Unless those days should be shortened, there should no
flesh
be
saved." Matthew 24:22 The members of Christ—the Body of Christ extended
everywhere—are
asking of God, as one single person, one single poor man, and
beggar!
For He too was poor, who "though He was rich, yet became poor, that you
through
His poverty might be made rich." 2 Corinthians 8:9 It is He that makes
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rich
those who are the true poor; and makes poor those who are falsely rich. He
cries
unto Him; "From the end of the earth I cried unto You, when my heart was
in
heaviness."
There will come days of tribulations, and of greater tribulations; they
will
come even as the Scripture speaks: and as days advance, so are tribulations
increased
also. Let no one promise himself what the Gospel does not promise....
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232
Exposition
on Psalm 41
To
the people, on the Feast of the Martyrs.
1.
The solemn day of the Martyrs has dawned; therefore to the glory of the Passion
of
Christ, the Captain of Martyrs, who spared not Himself, ordering His soldiers
to
the
fight; but first fought, first conquered, that their fighting He might
encourage
by
His example, and aid with His majesty, and crown with His promise: let us hear
somewhat
from this Psalm pertaining to His Passion. I commend unto you
oftentimes,
nor grieve I to repeat, what for you is useful to retain, that our Lord
Jesus
Christ speaks often of Himself, that is, in His own Person, which is our
Head;
often in the person of His Body, which are we and His Church; but so that
the
words sound as from the mouth of one, that we may understand the Head and
the
Body to consist together in the unity of integrity, and not be separated the
one
from
the other; as in that marriage whereof it is said, "They two shall be one
flesh."
If then we acknowledge two in one flesh, let us acknowledge two in one
voice.
First, that which responding to the reader we have sung, though it be from
the
middle of the Psalm, from that I will take the beginning of this Sermon.
"Mine
enemies speak evil of Me, When He shall die, then shall His Name perish"
(ver.
5). This is the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ: but see if herein are not
understood
the members also. This was spoken also when our Lord Himself
walked
in the flesh here on earth .... When they saw the people go after Him, they
said,
"When He shall die, then shall His Name perish;" that is, when we
have slain
Him,
then shall His Name be no more in the earth, nor shall He seduce any, being
dead;
but by that very slaying of Him shall men understand, that He was but a man
whom
they followed, that there was in Him no hope of salvation, and shall desert
His
Name, and it shall no more be. He died, and His Name perished not, but His
Name
was sown as seed: He died, but He was a grain, which dying, the corn
immediately
sprang up. John 12:24 When glorified then was our Lord Jesus
Christ,
began they much more, and much more numerously to trust in Him; then
began
His members to hear what the Head had heard. Now then our Lord Jesus
Christ
being in heaven set down, and Himself in us labouring on earth, still spoke
His
enemies, "When He shall die, then shall His Name perish." For hence
stirred
up
the devil persecutions in the Church to destroy the Name of Christ. Unless
haply
ye think, brethren, that those Pagans, when they raged against Christians,
said
not this among themselves, "to blot out the Name of Christ from the
earth."
That
Christ might die again, not in the Head, but in His Body, were slain also the
Martyrs.
To the multiplying of the Church availed the Holy Blood poured forth, to
help
Its seminating came also the death of the Martyrs. "Precious in the sight
of
the
Lord is the death of His Saints." More and more were the Christians
multiplied,
nor was it fulfilled which spoke the enemies, "When He shall die, then
shall
His Name perish." Even now also is it spoken. Down sit the Pagans, and
compute
them the years, they hear their fanatics saying, A time shall come when
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Christians
shall be none, and those idols must be worshipped as before they were
worshipped:
still say they, "When He shall die, then shall His Name perish."
Twice
conquered, now the third time be wise! Christ died, His Name has not
perished:
the Martyrs died, multiplied more is the Church, grows through all
nations
the Name of Christ. He who foretold of His own Death, and of His
Resurrection,
He who foretold of His Martyrs' death, and of their crown, He
Himself
foretold of His Church things yet to come, if truth He spoke twice, has He
the
third time lied? Vain then is what ye believe against Him; better is it that
you
believe
in Him, that you may "understand upon the needy and poor One;" that
"though
He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His
poverty
might be rich." 2 Corinthians 8:9...
2.
"Blessed is he that understands upon the needy and poor One: in the evil
day
shall
the Lord deliver him" (ver. 1). For the evil day will come: will thou,
nill
thou,
come it will: the Day of Judgment will come upon you, an evil day if thou
"understand
not the needy and poor." For what now you will not believe, shall be
made
manifest in the end. But neither shall you escape, when it shall be made
manifest,
because you believe not, when it is kept secret. Invited are you, what you
see
not to believe, lest when thou see, thou be put to the blush. "Understand
then
upon
the needy and poor One," that is, Christ: understand in Him the hidden
riches,
whom poor you see, "In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge."
Colossians 2:3 For thereby in the evil day shall He deliver you, in
that
He is God: but in that He is man, and that which in Him is human has raised
to
life, and changed for the better, He has lifted (you) to heaven. But He who is
God,
who would have one person in man and with man, could neither decrease nor
increase,
neither die nor rise again. He died out of man's infirmity, but God dies
not
.... But as we rightly say, Such a man died, though his soul dies not; so we
rightly
say, Christ died, though His Divinity dies not. Wherefore died? Because
needy
and poor. Let not His death offend you, and avert you from beholding His
Divinity.
"Blessed is he that understands upon the needy and poor One."
Consider
also
the poor, the needy, the hungry and thirsty, the naked, the sick, the
prisoners;
understand
also upon such poor, for if upon such thou understand, you understand
upon
Him who said, "I was an hungred, I was thirsty, I was a stranger, naked,
sick,
in
prison;" Matthew 25:35-36 so in the evil day shall the Lord deliver
you....
3.
"And deliver him not into the hand of his enemy" (ver. 2). The enemy
is the
devil.
Let none think of a man his enemy, when he hears these words. Haply one
thought
of his neighbour, of him who had a suit with him in court, of him who
would
take from him his own possession, of him who would force him to sell to
him
his house. Think not this; but that enemy think of, of whom said the Lord,
"an
enemy
has done this." Matthew 13:28 For He it is who suggests that for things
earthly
he be worshipped, for overthrow the Christian Name this enemy cannot.
For
he has seen himself conquered by the fame and praises of Christ, he has seen,
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whereas
he slew Christ's Martyrs, that they are crowned, he triumphed over. He
has
begun to be unable to persuade men that Christ is nought; and because by
reviling
Christ, he now with difficulty deceives, by lauding Christ, he endeavours
to
deceive. Before this what said he? Whom worship ye? A Jew, dead, crucified, a
man
of no moment, who could not even from himself drive away death. When
after
His Name he saw running the whole human race, saw that in the Name of the
Crucified
temples are thrown down, idols are broken, sacrifices abolished; and that
all
these things predicted in the Prophets are considered by men, by men with
wonder
astonished, and closing now their hearts against the reviling of Christ; he
clothes
himself with praise of Christ, and begins to deter from the faith in another
manner.
Great is the law of Christ, powerful is that law, divine, ineffable! but who
fulfills
it? In the name of our Saviour, "tread upon the lion and the dragon."
By
reviling
openly roared the lion; by lauding craftily lurks the dragon. Let them
come
to the faith, who doubted; and not say, Who fulfills it? If on their own
strength
they presume, they will not fulfil it. Presuming on the grace of God let
them
believe, presuming (on it) let them come; to be aided come, not to be judged.
So
live all the faithful in the Name of Christ, each one in his degree fulfilling
the
commands
of Christ, whether married, or celibates and virgins, they live as much
as
God grants them to live; neither presume they in their own strength, but know
that
in Him they ought to glory....
4.
"The Lord help him" (ver. 3). But when? Haply in heaven, haply in the
life
eternal,
that so it remain to worship the devil for earthly needs, for the necessities
of
this life. Far be it! You have "promise of the life that now is, and of
that which
is
to come." 1 Timothy 4:8 He came unto you on earth, by Whom were made
heaven
and earth. Consider then what He says, "The Lord help him, on his bed of
pain."
The bed of pain is the infirmity of the flesh; lest you should say, I cannot
hold,
and carry, and tie up my flesh; you are aided that you may. The Lord help
you
on your bed of pain. Your bed did carry you, you carried not your bed, but
wast
a paralytic inwardly; He comes who says to you, "Take up your bed, and go
your
way into your house." Mark 2:11 "The Lord help him on his bed of
pain."
Then
to the Lord Himself He turns, as though it were asked, Why then, since the
Lord
helps us, suffer we such great ills in this life, such great scandals, such
great
labours,
such disquiet from the flesh and the world? He turns to God, and as
though
explaining to us the counsel of His healing, He says, "You have turned all
his
bed in his infirmity." By the bed is understood anything earthly. Every
soul
that
is infirm in this life seeks for itself somewhat whereon to rest, because
intensity
of labour, and of the soul extended toward God, it can hardly endure
perpetually,
somewhat it seeks on earth whereon to rest, and in a manner with a
kind
of pausing to recline, as are those things which innocent ones love .... The
innocent
man rests in his house, his family, his wife, his children; in his poverty,
his
little farm, his orchard planted with his own hand, in some building fabricated
with
his own study; in these rest the innocent. But yet God willing us not to have
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love
but of life eternal, even with these, though innocent delights, mixes
bitterness,
that
even in these we may suffer tribulation, and so He turns all our bed in our
infirmity.
"You have turned all his bed in his infirmity." Let him not then
complain,
when in these things which he has innocently, he suffers some
tribulations.
He is taught to love the better, by the bitterness of the worse; lest
going
a traveller to his country, he choose the inn instead of his own home.
5.
But why this? Because He "scourges every son whom He receives."
Hebrews
12:6 Why this? Because to men sinning was it said, "In the sweat of your
face
shall you eat bread." Genesis 3:19 Therefore because all these
chastisements,
in
which all our bed is turned in our infirmity, man ought to acknowledge that he
suffers
for sin; let him turn himself, and say what follows: "I said, Lord, be
merciful
unto me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against You" (ver. 4). O Lord,
by
tribulations do Thou exercise me; to be scourged You judge every son whom
You
will receive, who spared not even the Only-Begotten. He indeed without sin
was
scourged; but I say, "I have sinned against You."...
6.
"Mine enemies speak evil of Me, When He shall die, then shall His Name
perish"
(ver. 5). Of this we have already spoken, and from this began.
7.
"And entered in to see" (ver. 6). What Christ suffered, that suffers
also the
Church;
what the Head suffered, that suffer also the Members. "For the disciple is
not
above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord." Matthew 10:24...
If
to Christ's Members you belong, come within, cling to the Head. Endure the
tares
if you are wheat, endure the chaff if you are grain. Matthew 13:30 Endure the
bad
fish within the net if you are a good fish. Wherefore before the time of
winnowing
do you fly away? Wherefore before the time of harvest, do you root up
the
corn also with yourself? Wherefore before you have come to the shore, have
you
broken the nets? "They go abroad, and tell it."
8.
"All mine enemies whisper against Me unto the same thing" (ver. 7).
Against
Me
all unto the same thing. How much better with me unto the same thing, than
against
me "unto the same thing." What is, "Against me unto the same
thing"?
With
one counsel, with one conspiring. Christ then speaks unto you, You consent
against
Me, consent ye to Me: why against Me? wherefore not with Me? That
same
thing if you had always had, you had not divided you into schisms. For, says
the
Apostle, "I beseech you, brethren, that you all speak the same thing, and
that
there
be no division among you." 1 Corinthians 1:10 "All mine enemies
whisper
against
Me unto the same thing:" against Me do they "devise evil to Me."
To
themselves
rather, for "they have gathered iniquity to themselves;" but therefore
to
Me,
because by their intention they are to be weighed: for not because to do
nothing
was in their power, to do nothing was in their will. For the devil lusted to
extinguish
Christ, and Judas would slay Christ; yet Christ slain and rising again,
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we
are made alive, but to the devil and to Judas is rendered the reward of their
evil
will,
not of our salvation.... The intention wherewith they spoke, not what they
spoke,
did He consider, who related that they spoke evil of Him, "Against Me they
devised
evil to Me." And what evil to Christ, to the Martyrs what evil? All has
God
turned to good.
9.
"An ungodly word do they set forth against Me" (ver. 8). What sort of
ungodly
word?
Listen to the Head Itself. "Come, let us kill Him, and the inheritance
shall
be
ours." Mark 12:7 Fools! How shall the inheritance be yours? Because ye
killed
Him?
Lo! ye even killed Him; yet shall not the inheritance be yours. "Shall not
He
that
sleeps add this also, that He rise again"? When ye exulted that you had
slain
Him,
He slept; for He says in another Psalm, "I slept." They raged and
would slay
Me;
"I slept." If I had not willed, I had not even slept. "I
slept," because "I have
power
to lay down My life, and I have power to take it again." John 10:18
"I laid
Me
down and slept, and rose up again." Rage then the Jews; be "the earth
given
into
the hands of the wicked," Job 9:24 be the flesh left to the hands of
persecutors,
let them on wood suspend it, with nails transfix it, with a spear pierce
it.
"Shall He that sleeps, not add this, that He rise up again?"
Wherefore slept He?
Because
"Adam is the figure of Him that was to come." Romans 5:14 And Adam
slept,
when out of his side was made Eve. Genesis 2:21 Adam in the figure of
Christ,
Eve in the figure of the Church; whence she was called "the mother of all
living."
Genesis 3:20 When was Eve created? While Adam slept. When out of
Christ's
side flowed the Sacraments of the Church? While He slept upon the
Cross....
10.
"The man of My peace, in whom I trusted, which did eat of My bread, has
enlarged
his heel against Me" (ver. 9): has raised up his foot against Me: would
trample
upon Me. Who is this man of His peace? Judas. And in him did Christ
trust,
that He said, "in whom I trusted"? Did He not know him from the
beginning?
Did
He not before he was born know that he would be? Had He not said to all His
disciples,
"I have chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil"? John 6:70 How
then
trusted He in him, but that He is in His Members, and that because many
faithful
trusted in Judas, the Lord transferred this to Himself?..."The man of My
peace,
in whom I trusted, which did eat of My bread." How showed He him in His
Passion?
By the words of His prophecy: by the sop He marked Him out, that it
might
appear said of him, "Which did eat of My bread." John 13:26 Again,
when
he
came to betray Him, He granted him a kiss, Matthew 26:49 that it might appear
said
of him, "The man of My peace."
11.
"But You, O Lord, be merciful unto Me" (ver. 10). This is the person
of a
servant,
this is the person of the needy and poor: for, "Blessed is he that
understands
upon the needy and poor One." See, as it was spoken, "Be merciful
unto
Me, and raise Me up, and I will requite them," so is it done. For the Jews
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slew
Christ, lest they should lose their place. John 11:48 Christ slain, they lost
their
place. Rooted out of the kingdom were they, dispersed were they. He, raised
up,
requited them tribulation, He requited them unto admonition, not yet unto
condemnation.
For the city wherein the people raged, as a ramping and a roaring
lion,
crying out, "Crucify Him, Crucify Him," Luke 23:21 the Jews rooted
out
therefrom,
has now Christians, by not one Jew is inhabited. There is planted the
Church
of Christ, whence were rooted out the thorns of the synagogue. For truly
this
fire blazed "as the fire of thorns." But the Lord was as a green
tree. This said
Himself,
when certain women mourned Christ as dying.... "For if they do these
things
in a green tree, what shall be done in a dry?" When can a green tree be
consumed
by the fire of thorns? For they blazed as fire among thorns. Fire
consumes
thorns, but whatsoever green tree it is applied to, is not easily
kindled....
Yet lest ye think that God the Father of Christ could raise up Christ, that
is,
the Flesh of His Son, and that Christ Himself, though He be the Word equal
with
the Father, could not raise up His own Flesh; hear out of the Gospel,
"Destroy
this
temple, and in three days I will raise it up." John 2:19 "But,"
said the
Evangelist
(lest even after this we should doubt), "He spoke of the temple of His
Body.
Raise Me up, and I will requite them."
12.
"By this I know that Thou favourest Me, that Mine enemies shall not
triumph
over
Me" (ver. 11.) Because the Jews did triumph, when they saw Christ
crucified;
they
thought that they had fulfilled their will to do Him hurt: the fruits of their
cruelty
they saw in effect, Christ hanging on the Cross: they shook their heads,
saying,
"If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the Cross." Matthew 27:39-
40
He came not down, who could; His Potency He showed not, but patience
taught.
For if, on their saying these things, He had come down from the Cross, He
would
have seemed as it were to yield to them insulting, and not being able to
endure
reproach, would have been believed conquered: more firm remained He
upon
the Cross, than they insulting; fixed was He, they wavering. For therefore
shook
they their heads, because to the true Head they adhered not. He taught us
plainly
patience. For mightier is that which He did, who would not do what the
Jews
challenged. For much mightier is it to rise from the sepulchre, than to come
down
from the Cross. "That Mine enemies shall not triumph over Me." They
triumphed
then at that time. Christ rose again, Christ was glorified. Now see they
in
His Name the human race converted: now let them insult, now shake the head:
rather
now let them fix the head, or if they shake the head, in wonder and
admiration
let them shake....
13.
"But as for Me, Thou upholdest Me, because of Mine innocence" (ver.
12).
Truly
innocence; integrity without sin, requiting without debt, scourging without
desert.
"Thou upholdest Me because of Mine innocence, and hast made Me strong
in
Your sight for ever." You have made Me strong for ever, You made Me weak
for
a time: You have made Me strong in Your sight, You made Me weak in sight
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of
men. What then? Praise to Him, glory to Him. "Blessed be the Lord God of
Israel."
For He is the God of Israel, our God, the God of Jacob, the God of the
younger
son, the God of the younger people. Let none say, Of the Jews said He
this,
I am not Israel; rather the Jews are not Israel. For the elder son, he is the
elder
people
reprobated; the younger, the people beloved. "The elder shall serve the
younger:"
Genesis 25:13 now is it fulfilled: now, brethren, the Jews serve us, they
are
as our satchellers, we studying, they carry our books. Hear wherein the Jews
serve
us, and not without reason.... With them are the Law and the Prophets, in
which
Law, and in which Prophets, Christ is preached. When we have to do with
Pagans,
and show this coming to pass in the Church of Christ, which before was
predicted
of the Name of Christ, of the Head and Body of Christ, lest they think
that
we have forged these predictions, and from things which have happened, as
though
they were future, had made them up, we bring forth the books of the Jews.
The
Jews forsooth are our enemies, from an enemy's books convince we the
adversary
.... If any enemy clamour and say, "You for yourselves have forged
prophecies;"
be the books of the Jews brought forth, because the elder shall serve
the
younger. Therein let them read those predictions, which now we see fulfilled;
and
let us all say, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, from everlasting to
everlasting,
and all the people shall say, So be it, So be it."
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Exposition
on Psalm 42
1.
We have undertaken the exposition of a Psalm corresponding to your own
"longings,"
on which we propose to speak to you. For the Psalm itself begins with
a
certain pious "longing;" and he who sings so, says, "Like as the
hart desires the
water-brooks,
so longs my soul after You, O God" (ver. 1). Who is it then that
says
this? It is ourselves, if we be but willing! And why ask, who it is other than
yourself,
when it is in your power to be the thing which you are asking about? It is
not
however one individual, but it is "One Body;" but "Christ's Body
is the
Church."
Colossians 1:24 Such "longing" indeed is not found in all who enter
the
Church:
let all however who have "tasted" the sweetness "of the
Lord," and who
own
in Christ that for which they have a relish, think that they are not the only
ones;
but that there are such seeds scattered throughout "the field" of the
Lord, this
whole
earth: and that there is a certain Christian unity, whose voice thus speaks,
"Like
as the hart desires the water-brooks, so longs my soul after You, O God."
And
indeed it is not ill understood as the cry of those, who being as yet
Catechumens,
are hastening to the grace of the holy Font. On which account too
this
Psalm is ordinarily chanted on those occasions, that they may long for the
Fountain
of remission of sins, even "as the hart for the water-brooks." Let
this be
allowed;
and this meaning retain its place in the Church; a place both truthful and
sanctioned
by usage. Nevertheless, it appears to me, my brethren, that such "a
longing"
is not fully satisfied even in the faithful in Baptism: but that haply, if they
know
where they are sojourning, and whither they have to remove from hence,
their
"longing" is kindled in even greater intensity.
2.
The title then of it is, "On the end: a Psalm for understanding for the
sons of
Korah."
We have met with the sons of Korah in other titles of Psalms: and
remember
to have discussed and stated already the meaning of this name. Yet we
must
even now take notice of this title in such a way, that what we have said
already
should be no prejudice against our saying it again: for all were not present
in
every place where we said it. Now Korah may have been, as indeed he was, a
certain
definite person; and have had sons, who might be called "the sons of
Korah;"
let us however search for the secret of which this is the sacrament, that
this
name may bring to light the mystery with which it is pregnant. For there is
some
great mystery in the matter that the name "sons of Korah" is given to
Christians.
Why "sons of Korah"? They are "sons of the bridegroom, sons of
Christ."
Why then does "Korah" stand for Christ? Because "Korah" is
equivalent
to
"Calvaria."...Therefore, the "sons of the bridegroom," the
sons of His Passion,
the
sons redeemed by His Blood, the sons of His Cross, who bear on their
forehead
that which His enemies erected on Calvary, are called "the sons of
Korah;"
to them is this Psalm sung as a Psalm for "understanding." Let then
our
understanding
be roused: and if the Psalm be sung to us, let us follow it with our
"understanding."...Run
to the brooks; long after the water-brooks. "With God is
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240
the
fountain of Life;" a "fountain" that shall never be dried up: in
His "Light" is a
Light
that shall never be darkened. Long thou for this light: for a certain fountain,
a
certain light, such as your bodily eyes know not; a light to see which the
inward
eye
must be prepared; a fountain, to drink of which the inward thirst is to be
kindled.
Run to the fountain; long for the fountain; but do it not anyhow, be not
satisfied
with running like any ordinary animal; run thou "like the hart." What
is
meant
by "like the hart"? Let there be no sloth in your running; run with
all your
might:
long for the fountain with all your might. For we find in "the hart"
an
emblem
of swiftness.
3.
But perhaps Scripture meant us to consider in the stag not this point only, but
another
also. Hear what else there is in the hart. It destroys serpents, and after the
killing
of serpents, it is inflamed with thirst yet more violent; having destroyed
serpents,
it runs to "the water-brooks," with thirst more keen than before. The
serpents
are your vices, destroy the serpents of iniquity; then will you long yet
more
for "the Fountain of Truth." Perhaps avarice whispers in your ear
some dark
counsel,
hisses against the word of God, hisses against the commandment of God.
And
since it is said to you, "Disregard this or that thing," if thou
prefer working
iniquity
to despising some temporal good, you choose to be bitten by a serpent,
rather
than destroy it. Whilst, therefore, you are yet indulgent to your vice, your
covetousness
or your appetite, when am I to find in you "a longing" such as this,
that
might make you run to the water-brooks?...
4.
There is another point to be observed in the hart. It is reported of stags ...
that
when
they either wander in the herds, or when they are swimming to reach some
other
parts of the earth, that they support the burdens of their heads on each other,
in
such a manner as that one takes the lead, and others follow, resting their
heads
upon
him, as again others who follow do upon them, and others in succession to
the
very end of the herd; but the one who took the lead in bearing the burden of
their
heads, when tired, returns to the rear, and rests himself after his fatigue by
supporting
his head just as did the others; by thus supporting what is burdensome,
each
in turn, they both accomplish their journey, and do not abandon each other.
Are
they not a kind of "harts" that the Apostle addresses, saying,
"Bear ye one
another's
burdens, and so fulfil the Law of Christ"? Galatians 6:2...
5.
"My soul is thirsty for the living God" (ver. 2). What I am saying,
that "as the
hart
pants after the water-brooks, so longs my soul after You, O God," means
this,
"My
soul is thirsty for the living God." For what is it thirsty? "When
shall I come
and
appear before God?" This it is for which I am thirsty, to "come and
to appear
before
Him." I am thirsty in my pilgrimage, in my running; I shall be filled on
my
arrival.
But "When shall I come?" And this, which is soon in the sight of God,
is
late
to our "longing." "When shall I come and appear before
God?" This too
proceeds
from that "longing," of which in another place comes that cry,
"One
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241
thing
have I desired of the Lord; that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the
house
of the Lord all the days of my life." Wherefore so? "That I may
behold" (he
says)
"the beauty of the Lord." "When shall I come and appear before
the
Lord?"...
6.
"My tears have been my meat day and night, while they daily say unto me,
Where
is your God?" (ver. 3). My tears (he says) have been not bitterness, but
"my
bread."
Those very tears were sweet unto me: being thirsty for that fountain,
inasmuch
as I was not as yet able to drink of it, I have eagerly made my tears my
meat.
For he said not, "My tears became my drink," lest he should seem to
have
longed
for them, as for "the water-brooks:" but, still retaining that thirst
wherewith
I
burn, and by which I am hurried away towards the water-brooks, "My tears
became
my meat," while I am not yet there. And assuredly he does but the more
thirst
for the water-brooks from making his tears his meat.... "And they daily
say
unto
me, Where is your God?" For if a Pagan should say this to me, I cannot
retort
it
upon him, saying, "Where is thine?" inasmuch as he points with his
finger to
some
stone, and says, "Lo, there is my God!" When I have laughed at the
stone,
and
he who pointed to it has been put to the blush, he raises his eyes from the
stone,
looks up to heaven, and perhaps says, pointing his finger to the Sun,
"Behold
there my God! Where, I pray, is your God?" He has found something to
point
out to the eyes of the flesh; whereas I, on my part, not that I have not a God
to
show to him, cannot show him what he has no eyes to see. For he indeed could
point
out to my bodily eyes his God, the Sun; but what eyes has he to which I
might
point out the Creator of the Sun?...
7.
"I thought on these things, and poured out my soul above myself"
(ver. 4).
When
would my soul attain to that object of its search, which is "above my
soul,"
if
my soul were not to "pour itself out above itself"? For were it to
rest in itself, it
would
not see anything else beyond itself; and in seeing itself, would not, for all
that,
see God. Let then my insulting enemies now say, "Where is your God?"
aye,
let
them say it! I, so long as I do not "see," so long as my happiness is
postponed,
make
my tears my "bread day and night." Let them still say, "Where is
your God?"
I
seek my God in every corporeal nature, terrestrial or celestial, and find Him
not:
I
seek His Substance in my own soul, and I find it not, yet still I have thought
on
these
things, and wishing to "see the invisible things of my God, being
understood
by
the things made," Romans 1:20 I have poured forth my soul above myself,
and
there
remains no longer any being for me to attain to, save my God. For it is
"there"
is the "house of my God." His dwelling-place is above my soul; from
thence
He beholds me; from thence He created me; from thence He directs me and
provides
for me; from thence he appeals to me, and calls me, and directs me; leads
me
in the way, and to the end of my way....
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8.
For when I was "pouring out my soul above myself," in order to reach
my God,
why
did I do so? "For I will go into the place of Your Tabernacle." For I
should be
in
error were I to seek for my God without "the place of His
tabernacle." "For I
will
go into the place of Your wonderful tabernacle, even unto the house of
God."
"I
will go," he says, "into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even
unto the
house
of God!" For there are already many things that I admire in "the
tabernacle."
See
how great wonders I admire in the tabernacle! For God's tabernacle on earth is
the
faithful; I admire in them the obedience of even their bodily members: that in
them
"Sin does not reign so that they should obey its lusts; neither do they
yield
their
members instruments of unrighteousness unto sin; but unto the living God in
good
works." Romans 6:12-13 I admire the sight of the bodily members warring in
the
service of the soul that serves God .... And wonderful though the tabernacle
be,
yet
when I come to "the house of God," I am even struck dumb with
astonishment.
Of
that "house" he speaks in another Psalm, after he had put a certain
abstruse and
difficult
question to himself (viz., why is it that it generally goes well with the
wicked
on earth, and ill with the good?), saying, "I thought to know this; it is
too
painful
for me, until I go into the sanctuary of God, and understand of the last
things."
For it is there, in the sanctuary of God, in the house of God, is the fountain
of
"understanding." There he "understood of the last things;"
and solved the
question
concerning the prosperity of the unrighteous, and the sufferings of the
righteous.
How does he solve it? Why, that the wicked, when reprieved here, are
reserved
for punishments without end; and the good when they suffer here, are
being
tried in order that they may in the end obtain the inheritance. And it was in
the
sanctuary of God that he understood this, and "understood of the last
things."...For
he tells us of his progress, and of his guidance thither; as if we had
been
saying, "You are admiring the tabernacle here on earth; how came you to
the
sanctuary
of the house of God?" he says, "In the voice of joy and praise; the
sound
of
keeping holiday." Here, when men keep festival simply for their own
indulgence,
it is their custom to place musical instruments, or to station a chorus of
singers,
before their houses, or any kind of music that serves and allures to
wantonness.
And when these are heard, what do we passers by say? "What is
going
on here?" And we are told in answer, that it is some festival. "It is
a birthday
that
is being celebrated" (say they), "there is a marriage here;"
that those songs
may
not appear out of place, but the luxurious indulgence may be excused by the
festive
occasion. In the "house of God" there is a never-ending festival: for
there it
is
not an occasion celebrated once, and then to pass away. The angelic choir makes
an
eternal "holiday:" the presence of God's face, joy that never fails.
This is a
"holiday"
of such a kind, as neither to be opened by any dawn, nor terminated by
any
evening. From that everlasting perpetual festivity, a certain sweet and
melodious
strain strikes on the ears of the heart, provided only the world do not
drown
the sounds. As he walks in this tabernacle, and contemplates God's
wonderful
works for the redemption of the faithful, the sound of that festivity
charms
his ears, and bears the "hart" away to "the water-brooks."
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9.
But seeing, brethren, so long as "we are at home in this body, we are
absent
from
the Lord;" 2 Corinthians 5:6 and "the corruptible body presses down
the soul,
and
the earthly tabernacle weighs down the mind that muses on many things;"
Wisdom
9:15 even though we have some way or other dispersed the clouds, by
walking
as "longing" leads us on, and for a brief while have come within
reach of
that
sound, so that by an effort we may catch something from that "house of
God,"
yet
through the burden, so to speak, of our infirmity, we sink back to our usual
level,
and relapse to our ordinary state. And just as there we found cause for
rejoicing,
so here there will not be wanting an occasion for sorrow. For that hart
that
made "tears" its "bread day and night," borne along by
"longing to the water-
brooks"
(that is, to the spiritual delights of God), "pouring forth his soul above
himself,"
that he may attain to what is "above" his own soul, walking towards
"the
place
of the wonderful tabernacle, even unto the house of God," and led on by
the
sweetness
of that inward spiritual sound to feel contempt for all outward things,
and
be borne on to things spiritual, is but a mortal man still; is still groaning
here,
still
bearing about the frailty of flesh, still in peril in the midst of the
"offences"
Matthew
18:7 of this world. He therefore glances back to himself, as if he were
coming
from that world; and says to himself, now placed in the midst of these
sorrows,
comparing these with the things, to see which he had entered in there,
and
after seeing which he had come forth from thence;
"Why
art you cast down, O my soul, and why do you disquiet me?" (ver. 5). Lo,
we
have just now been gladdened by certain inward delights: with the mind's eye
we
have been able to behold, though but with a momentary glance, something not
susceptible
of change: why do you still "disquiet me, why are you" still
"cast
down"?
For thou dost not doubt of your God. For now you are not without
somewhat
to say to yourself, in answer to those who say, "Where is your God?"
I
have
now had the perception of something that is unchangeable; why do you
disquiet
me still?
"Hope
in God." Just as if his soul was silently replying to him, "Why do I
disquiet
you,
but because I am not yet there, where that delight is, to which I was, as it
were,
rapt for a moment? Am I already 'drinking' from this 'fountain' with nothing
to
fear?"... Still "Hope in God," is his answer to the soul that
disquiets him, and
would
fain account for her disquiet from the evils with which this world abounds.
In
the mean while dwell in hope: for "hope that is seen is not hope; but if
we hope
for
that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." Romans 8:24-25
10.
"Hope in God." Why "hope"? "For I will confess unto
Him." What will you
"confess"?
"My God is the saving health of my countenance." My
"health" (my
salvation)
cannot be from myself; this it is that I will say, that I will
"confess." It is
my
God that is "the saving health of my countenance." For to account for
his fears,
in
the midst of those things, which he now knows, having come after a sort to the
"understanding"
of them, he has been looking behind him again in anxiety, lest the
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enemy
be stealing upon him: he cannot yet say, "I am made whole every
whit."
For
having but "the first-fruits of the Spirit, we groan within ourselves;
waiting for
the
adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body." Romans 8:23 When that
"health"
(that
salvation) is perfected in us, then shall we be living in the house of God for
ever,
and praising for ever Him to whom it was said, "Blessed are they that
dwell
in
Your house, they will be praising You world without end." This is not so
yet,
because
the salvation which is promised, is not as yet in being; but it is "in
hope"
that
I confess unto God, and say, "My God is the saving health of my
countenance."
For it is "in hope" that "we are saved; but hope that is seen,
is not
hope."...
11.
"My soul is disquieted on account of myself" (ver. 6). Is it
disquieted on
account
of God? It is on my own account it is disquieted. By the Unchangeable it
was
revived; it is by the changeable it is disquieted. I know that the
righteousness
of
God remains; whether my own will remain steadfast, I know not. For I am
alarmed
by the Apostle's saying, "Let him that thinks he stands, take heed lest he
fall."
1 Corinthians 10:12 Therefore since "there is no soundness in me for
myself,"
there is no hope either for me of myself. "My soul is disquieted on
account
of myself."... "Therefore I remember You, O Lord, from the land of
Jordan,
and from the little hill of Hermon." From whence did I remember you?
From
the "little hill," and from the "land of Jordan." Perhaps
from Baptism, where
the
remission of sins is given. For no one runs to the remission of sins, except he
who
is dissatisfied with himself; no one runs to the remission of sins, but he who
confesses
himself a sinner; no one confesses himself a sinner, except by humbling
himself
before God. Therefore it is from "the land of Jordan I have remembered
you,
and from the hill;" observe, not "of the great hill," that you
may make of the
"little
hill" a great one: for "whoso exalts himself shall be abased, and
whoso
humbles
himself shall be exalted." If you would also ask the meanings of the
names,
Jordan means "their descent." Descend then, that you may be
"lifted up:"
be
not lifted up, lest you be cast down. "And the little hill of
Hermon." Hermon
means
"anathematizing." Anathematize yourself, by being displeased with
yourself;
for if you are pleased with yourself, God will be displeased with you.
Because
then God gives us all good things, because He Himself is good, not
because
we are worthy of it; because He is merciful, not because we have in
anything
deserved it; it is from "the land of Jordan, and from Hermon," that I
remember
you. And because he so remembers with humility, he shall earn his
exaltation
to fruition, for he is not "exalted" in himself, who "glories in
the Lord."
12.
"Deep calls unto deep with the voice of your water-spouts" (ver. 7).
I may
perhaps
finish the Psalm, aided as I am by your attention, whose fervour I
perceive.
As for your fatigue in hearing, I am not greatly solicitous, since you see
me
also, who speak, toiling in the heat of these exertions. Assuredly it is from
your
seeing
me labouring, that you labour with me: for I am labouring not for myself,
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but
for you. "Deep calls unto deep with the voice of your water-spouts."
It was
God
whom he addressed, who "remembered him from the land of Jordan and
Hermon."
It was in wonder and admiration he spoke this: "Abyss calls unto abyss
with
the voice of Your water-spouts." What abyss is this that calls, and to
what
other
abyss? Justly, because the "understanding" spoken of is an
"abyss." For an
"abyss"
is a depth that cannot be reached or comprehended; and it is principally
applied
to a great body of water. For there is a "depth," a
"profound," the bottom
of
which cannot be reached by sounding. Furthermore, it is said in a certain
passage,
"Your judgments are a mighty abyss," Scripture meaning to suggest
that
the
judgments of God are incomprehensible. What then is the "abyss" that
calls,
and
to what other "abyss" does it call? If by "abyss" we
understand a great depth,
is
not man's heart, do you not suppose, "an abyss"? For what is there
more
profound
than that "abyss"? Men may speak, may be seen by the operations of
their
members, may be heard speaking in conversation: but whose thought is
penetrated,
whose heart seen into? What he is inwardly engaged on, what he is
inwardly
capable of, what he is inwardly doing or what purposing, what he is
inwardly
wishing to happen, or not to happen, who shall comprehend? I think an
"abyss"
may not unreasonably be understood of man, of whom it is said elsewhere,
"Man
shall come to a deep heart, and God shall be exalted." If man then is an
"abyss,"
in what way does "abyss" call on "abyss"? Does man
"call on" man as
God
is called upon? No, but "calls on" is equivalent to "calls to
him." For it was
said
of a certain person, he calls on death; Wisdom 1:16 that is, lives in such a
way
as
to be inviting death; for there is no man at all who puts up a prayer, and
calls
expressly
on death: but men by evil-living invite death. "Deep calls on deep,"
then,
is,
"man calls to man." Thus is it wisdom is learned, and thus faith,
when "man
calls
to man." The holy preachers of God's word call on the "deep:"
are they not
themselves
"a deep" also?...
13.
"Deep calls to deep with the voice of Your water-spouts." I, who
tremble all
over,
when my soul was disquieted on account of myself, feared greatly on
account
of Your "judgments."...Are those judgments slight ones? They are
great
ones,
severe, hard to bear; but would they were all. "Deep calls to deep with
the
voice
of Your water-spouts," in that Thou threatenest, You say, that there is
another
condemnation in store even after those sufferings. "Deep calls on deep
with
the voice of Your water-spouts." "Whither then shall I go from Your
presence?
And whither shall I flee from Your Spirit?" seeing that deep calls to
deep,
and after those sufferings severer ones are to be dreaded.
14.
"All Your overhangings and Your waves are come upon me." The
"waves" in
what
I already feel, the "overhangings" in that Thou denouncest. All my
sufferings
are
Your waves; all Your denouncements of judgments are Your
"overhangings."
In
the "waves" that deep "calls;" in the
"overhangings" is the other "deep" which it
"calls
to." In this that I suffer are all Your waves; in the severer punishment
that
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246
Thou
threatenest, all Your "overhangings" are come unto me. For He who
threatens
does not let His judgments fall upon us, but keeps them suspended over
us.
But inasmuch as Thou sittest at liberty, I have thus spoken unto my soul.
"Hope
in God: for I will confess unto Him. My God is the saving health of my
countenance."
The more numerous my sufferings, the sweeter will be Your mercy.
15.
Therefore follows: "The Lord will commend His loving-kindness in the day-
time;
and in the night-time will He declare it" (ver. 8). In tribulation no man
has
leisure
to hear: attend, when it is well with you; hear, when it is well with you;
learn,
when you are in tranquillity, the discipline of wisdom, and store up the word
of
God as you do food. For in tribulation every one must be profited by what he
heard
in the time of security. For in prosperity God "commends to you His
mercy,"
in case thou serve Him faithfully, for He frees you from tribulation; but it
is
"in the night" only that He "declares" His mercy to you,
which He
"commended"
to you by day. When tribulation shall actually come, He will not
leave
you destitute of His help; He will show you that which He commended to
you
in the daytime is true. For it is written in a certain passage, "The mercy
of the
Lord
is seasonable in the time of affliction, as clouds of rain in the time of
drought."
"The Lord has commended His loving-kindness in the day-time, and in
the
night will He declare it." He does not show that He is thine Helper,
unless
tribulation
come, from whence you must be rescued by Him who promised it to
you
"in the day-time." Therefore we are warned to be like "the
ant." For just as
worldly
prosperity is signified by "the day," adversity by the night, so
again in
another
way worldly prosperity is expressed by "the summer," adversity by the
winter.
And what is it that the ant does? She lays up in summer what will be useful
to
her in winter. Whilst therefore it is summer, while it is well with you, while
you
are
in tranquillity, hear the word of the Lord. For how can it be that in the midst
of
these
tempests of the world, you should pass through the whole of that sea,
without
suffering? How could it happen? To what mortal's lot has it fallen? If even
it
has been the lot of any, that very calm is more to be dreaded. "The Lord
has
commended
His loving-kindness in the day-time, and in the night-time will He
declare
it."... "There is with me prayer unto the God of my life." This
I make my
business
here; I who am the "hart thirsting and longing for the water-brooks,"
calling
to mind the sweetness of that strain, by which I was led on through the
tabernacle
even to the house of God; while this "corruptible body presses down the
soul,"
Wisdom 9:15 there is yet with me "prayer unto the God of my life."
For in
order
to making supplication unto God, I have not to buy anything from places
beyond
the sea; or in order that He may hear me, have I to sail to bring from a
distance
frankincense and perfumes, or have I to bring "calf or ram from the
flock."
There is "with me prayer to the God of my life." I have within a
victim to
sacrifice;
I have within an incense to place on the altar; I have within a sacrifice
wherewith
to propitiate my God. "The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit."
What
sacrifice
of a "troubled spirit" I have within, hear.
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16.
"I will say unto God, You are my lifter up. Why have You forgotten
me?" (ver.
9).
For I am suffering here, even as if You had forgotten me. But You are trying
me,
and I know that Thou dost but put off, not take utterly from me, what You
have
promised me. But yet, "Why have You forgotten me?" So cried our Head
also,
as if speaking in our name. "My God, my God, why have You forsaken
me?"
I
will say unto God, "You are my lifter up; why have You forgotten me?"
17.
"Why have You rejected me?" "Rejected" me, that is to say,
from that height
of
the apprehension of the unchangeable Truth. "Why have You rejected
me?"
Why,
when already longing for those things, have I been cast down to these, by
the
weight and burden of my iniquity? This same voice in another passage said,
"I
said
in my trance" (i.e., in my rapture, when he had seen some great thing or
other),
"I said in my trance, I am cast out of the sight of Your eyes." For
he
compared
these things in which he found himself, to those toward which he had
been
raised; and saw himself cast out far "from the sight of God's eyes," as
he
speaks
even here, "Why have You rejected me? Why go I mourning, while mine
enemy
troubles me, while he breaks my bones?" Even he, my tempter, the devil;
while
offences are everywhere on the increase, because of the abundance of which
"the
love of many is waxing cold." Matthew 24:12 When we see the strong
members
of the Church generally giving way to the causes of offence, does not
Christ's
body say, "The enemy breaks my bones"? For it is the strong members
that
are "the bones;" and sometimes even those that are strong sink under
their
temptations.
For whosoever of the body of Christ considers this, does he not
exclaim,
with the voice of Christ's Body, "Why have You rejected me? Why go I
mourning,
while mine enemy troubles me, while he breaks my bones?"
You
may see not my flesh merely, but even my "bones." To see those who
were
thought
to have some stability, giving way under temptations, so that the rest of
the
weak brethren despair when they see those who are strong succumbing; how
great,
my brethren, are the dangers!
18.
"They who trouble me cast me in the teeth." Again that voice!
"While they say
daily
unto me, Where is your God?" (ver. 10). And it is principally in the
temptations
of the Church they say this, "Where is your God?" How much was this
cast
in the teeth of the Martyrs! Those men so patient and courageous for the name
of
Christ, how often was it said to them, "Where is your God?" "Let
Him deliver
you,
if He can." For men saw their torments outwardly; they did not inwardly
behold
their crowns! "They who trouble me cast me in the teeth, while they say
daily
unto me, Where is your God?" And on this account, seeing "my soul is
disquieted
on account of myself," what else should I say unto it than those words:
"Why
art you cast down, O my soul; and why do you disquiet me?" (ver. 11). And,
as
it seems to answer, "Wouldest thou not have me disquiet you, placed as I
am
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248
here
in so great evils? Wouldest thou have me not disquiet you, panting as I am
after
what is good, thirsting and labouring as I am for it?" What should I say,
but,
"Hope
thou in God; for I will yet confess unto Him" (ver. 11). He states the
very
words
of that confession; he repeats the grounds on which he fortifies his hope.
"He
is the health of my countenance, and my God."
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249
Exposition
on Psalm 43
1.
This Psalm is a short one; it satisfies the mental cravings of the hearers,
without
imposing
too severe a trial on the hunger of those fasting. Let our soul feed upon
it;
our soul, which he who sings in this Psalm, speaks of as "cast down;"
cast
down,
I suppose, either in consequence of some fist, or rather in consequence of
some
hunger he was in. For fasting is a voluntary act; being an-hungered is an
involuntary
thing. That which is an-hungered, is the Church, is the Body of Christ:
and
that "Man" who is extended throughout the whole world, of which the
Head is
above,
the limbs below: it is His voice which ought by this time to be perfectly
known,
and perfectly familiar, to us, in all the Psalms; now chanting joyously,
now
sorrowing; now rejoicing in hope, now sighing at its actual state, even as if
it
were
our own. We need not then dwell long on pointing out to you, who is the
speaker
here: let each one of us be a member of Christ's Body; and he will be
speaker
here....
2.
"Judge me, O Lord, and separate my cause from the ungodly nation"
(ver. 1). I
do
not dread Your judgment, because I know Your mercy. "Judge me, O
God," he
cries.
Now, meanwhile, in this state of pilgrimage, Thou dost not yet separate my
place,
because I am to live together with the "tares" even to the time of
the
"harvest:"
Thou dost not as yet separate my rain from theirs; my light from theirs:
"separate
my cause." Let a difference be made between him who believes in You,
and
him who believes not in You. Our infirmity is the same; but our consciences
not
the same: our sufferings the same; but our longings not the same. "The
desire
of
the ungodly shall perish," but as to the desire of the righteous, we might
well
doubt,
if He were not "sure" who promised. The object of our desires is He
Himself,
who promises: He will give us Himself, because He has already given
Himself
to us; He will give Himself in His immortality to us then immortal, even
because
He gave Himself in His mortality to us when mortal....
3.
And since patience is needful in order to endure, until the harvest, a certain
distinction
without separation, if we may so speak (for they are together with us,
and
therefore not yet separated; the tares however being still tares, and the corn
still
corn, and therefore they are already distinct); since then a kind of strength
is
needful,
which must be implored of Him who bids us to be strong, and without
whose
making us strong, we should not be what He bids us to be; of Him who
said,
"He that endures unto the end shall be saved," Matthew 24:31 lest the
soul's
powers
should be impaired in consequence of her ascribing any strength to herself,
he
subjoins immediately,
"For
Thou, O God, art my strength: why have You cast me off, and why go I
mourning,
while the enemy harasses me?" (ver. 2). I go mourning: the enemy is
harassing
me with daily temptations: inspiring either some unlawful love, or some
ungrounded
cause of fear; and the soul that fights against both of them, though not
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250
taken
prisoner by them, yet being in danger from them, is contracted with sorrow,
and
says unto God, "Why?"
Let
her then ask of Him, and hear "Why?" For she is in the Psalm
enquiring the
cause
of her dejection; saying, "Why have You cast me off? and why go I
mourning?"
Let her hear from Isaiah; let the lesson which has just been read,
suggest
itself to her. "The spirit shall go forth from me, and every breath have I
made.
For iniquity have I a little afflicted him; I hid my face from him, and he
departed
from me sorrowful in the ways of his heart." Isaiah 57:16-17 Why then
did
you ask, "Why have You cast me off, and why go I mourning?" You have
heard,
it was "for iniquity." "Iniquity" is the cause of your
mourning; let
"Righteousness"
be the cause of your rejoicing! You would sin; and yet you would
fain
not suffer; so that it was too little for you to be yourself unrighteous,
without
also
wishing Him to be unrighteous, in that you would fain not be punished by
Him.
Consider a speech of a better kind in another Psalm. "It is good for me
that
You
have humbled me, that I might learn Your righteousnesses." By being lifted
up,
I had learned my own iniquities; let me by being "humbled," learn
"Your
righteousnesses."
"Why go I mourning, while the enemy harasses me?" Thou
complainest
of the enemy. It is true he does harass you; but it was you who "gave
place"
Ephesians 4:27 to him. And even now there is a course open to you; choose
the
course of prudence; admit your King, shut the tyrant out.
4.
But in order that she may do this, hear what she says, what she supplicates,
what
she
prays for. Pray thou for what you hear; pray for it when you hear it; let these
words
be the voice of us all: "O send out Your Light and Your Truth. They have
led
me, and brought me on unto Your holy hill, and into Your Tabernacles"
(ver.
3).
For that very "Light" and "Truth" are indeed two in name;
the reality expressed
is
but One. For what else is the "Light" of God, except the
"Truth" of God? Or
what
else is the "Truth" of God, except the "Light" of God? And
the one Person of
Christ
is both of these. "I am the Light of the world: he that believes in Me,
shall
not
walk in darkness." "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." He
is Himself "the
Light:"
He is Himself "the Truth." Let Him come then and rescue us, and
"separate
at
once our cause from the ungodly nation; let Him deliver us from the deceitful
and
unjust man," let him separate the wheat from the tares, for at the time of
harvest
He will Himself send His Angels, that they may "gather out of His
kingdom
all things that offend," Matthew 13:41 and cast them into flaming fire,
while
they gather together the corn into the garner. He will send out His
"Light,"
and
His "Truth;" for that they have already "brought us and led us
to His holy hill,
and
into His Tabernacles." We possess the "earnest;" we hope for the
prize. "His
holy
Hill" is His holy Church. It is that mountain which, according to Daniel's
vision,
Daniel 2:35 grew from a very small "stone," till it crushed the
kingdoms of
the
earth; and grew to such a size, that it "filled the face of the
earth." This is the
"hill,"
from which he tells us that his prayer was heard, who says, "I cried unto
the
Lord
with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill." Let no one of those
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251
that
are without that mountain, hope to be heard unto eternal life. For many are
heard
in their prayers for many things. Let them not congratulate themselves on
being
heard; the devils were heard in their prayer, that they might be sent into the
swine.
Let us desire to be heard unto eternal life, by reason of our longing, through
which
we say, "Send out Your Light and Your Truth." Matthew 8:31-32 That is
a
"Light"
which requires the eye of the heart. For "Blessed" (He says)
"are the pure
in
heart, for they shall see God." Matthew 5:8 We are now on His Hill, that
is, in
His
Church, and in His Tabernacle. The "tabernacle" is for persons
sojourning; the
house,
for those dwelling in one community. The tabernacle is also for those who
are
both from home, and also in a state of warfare. When you hear of a tabernacle,
form
a notion of a war; guard against an enemy. But what shall the house be?
"Blessed
are they that dwell in Your house: they will be alway praising You."
5.
Now then that we have been led on even to "the Tabernacle," and are
placed on
"His
holy Hill," what hope do we carry with us?
"Then
will I go in unto the Altar of God" (ver. 4). For there is a certain
invisible
Altar
on high, which the unrighteous man approaches not. To that Altar he alone
draws
nigh, who draws nigh to this one without cause to fear. There he shall find
his
Life, who in this one "separates his cause." "And I will go in
unto the Altar of
God."
From His holy Hill, and from His Tabernacle, from His Holy Church, I will
go
in unto the Altar of God on High. What manner of Sacrifice is there? He
himself
who goes in is taken for a burnt-offering. "I will go in unto the Altar of
God."
What is the meaning of what he says, "The Altar of my God"?
"Unto
God, who makes glad my youth." Youth signifies newness: just as if he
said,
"Unto God, who makes glad my newness." It is He who makes glad my
newness,
who has filled my old estate with mourning. For now "I go mourning"
in
oldness,
then shall "I stand," exulting in newness!
"Yea,
upon the harp will I praise You, O God my God." What is the meaning of
"praising
on the harp," and praising on the psaltery? For he does not always do so
with
the harp, nor always with the psaltery. These two instruments of the
musicians
have each a distinct meaning of their own, worthy of our consideration
and
notice. They are both borne in the hands, and played by the touch; and they
stand
for certain bodily works of ours. Both are good, if one knows how to play
the
psaltery, or to play the harp. But since the psaltery is that instrument which
has
the
shell (i.e. that drum, that hollow piece of wood, by straining on which the
chords
resound) on the upper part of it, whereas the harp has that same concave
sounding-board
on the lower part, there is to be a distinction made between our
works,
when they are "upon the harp," when "on the psaltery:" both
however are
acceptable
to God, and grateful to His ear. When we do anything according to
God's
Commandments, obeying His commands and hearkening to Him, that we
may
fulfil His injunctions, when we are active and not passive, it is the psaltery
that
is playing. For so also do the Angels: for they have nothing to suffer. But
when
we suffer anything of tribulation, of trials, of offences on this earth (as we
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252
suffer
only from the inferior part of ourselves; i.e. from the fact that we are
mortal,
that
we owe somewhat of tribulation to our original cause, and also from the fact
of
our suffering much from those who are not "above"); this is "the
harp." For
there
rises a sweet strain from that part of us which is "below:" we
"suffer," and
we
strike the psaltery, or shall I rather say we sing and we strike the harp....
6.
And again, in order that he may draw the sound from that sounding-board
below,
he addresses his soul: he says, "Why are you sorrowful, O my soul, and
why
do you disquiet me?" (ver. 5). I am in tribulations, in weariness, in
mourning,
"Why
do you disquiet me, O my soul?" Who is the speaker, to whom is he
speaking?
That it is the soul to which he is speaking, everybody knows: for it is
obvious:
the appeal is addressed to it directly: "Why are you sorrowful, O my soul,
and
why do you disquiet me?" The question is as to the speaker. It is not the
flesh
addressing
the soul, surely, since the flesh cannot speak without the soul. For it is
more
appropriate for the soul to address the flesh, than for the flesh to address
the
soul
.... We perceive then that we have a certain part, in which is "the image
of
God;"
viz. the mind and reason. It was that same mind that prayed for "God's
Light"
and "God's Truth." It is the same mind by which we apprehend right
and
wrong:
it is by the same that we discern truth from falsehood. It is this same that
we
call "understanding;" which "understanding," indeed, is
wanting to the brutes.
And
this "understanding" whoever neglects in himself, and holds it in
less account
than
the other parts of his nature, and casts it off, just as if he had it not, is
addressed
in the Psalm, "Be not as the horse and the mule, which have no
understanding."
It is our "understanding" then that is addressing our soul. The
latter
is withered away from tribulations, worn out in anguish, made
"sorrowful" in
temptations,
fainting in toils. The mind, catching a glimpse of Truth above, would
fain
rouse her spirits, and she says, "Why are you sorrowful, O my
soul?"...
7.
These expressions, brethren, are safe ones: but yet be watchful in good works.
Touch
"the psaltery," by obeying the Commandments; touch the harp, by
patiently
enduring
your sufferings. You have heard from Isaiah, "Break your bread to the
hungry;"
Isaiah 58:7 think not that fasting by itself is sufficient. Fasting chastens
your
own self: it does not refresh others. Your distress will profit you, if you
afford
comfort to others. See, you have denied yourself; to whom will you give
that
of which you have deprived yourself? Where will you bestow what you have
denied
yourself? How many poor may be filled by the breakfast we have this day
given
up? Fast in such a way that you may rejoice, that you have breakfasted,
while
another has been eating; fast on account of your prayers, that you may be
heard
in them. For He says in that passage, "Whilst you are yet speaking I will
say,
Here
I am," provided you will with cheerful mind "break your bread to the
hungry."
For generally this is done by men reluctantly and with murmurs, to rid
themselves
of the wearisome importunity of the beggar, not to refresh the bowels
of
him that is needy. But it is "a cheerful giver" that "God
loves."
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43
253
2
Corinthians 9:7 If you give your bread reluctantly, you have lost both the
bread,
and
the merit of the action. Do it then from the heart: that He "who sees in
secret,"
Matthew
6:6 may say, "while you are yet speaking, Here I am." How speedily
are
the
prayers of those received, who work righteousness! And this is man's
righteousness
in this life, fasting, alms, and prayer. Wouldest thou have your
prayer
fly upward to God? Make for it those two wings of alms and fasting. Such
may
God's "Light" and God's "Truth" find us, that He may find
us without cause
for
fear, when He comes to free us from death, who has already come to undergo
death
for us. Amen.
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254
Exposition on Psalm
44
1.
This Psalm is addressed "to the sons of Korah," as its title shows.
Now Korah is
equivalent
to the word baldness; and we find in the Gospel that our Lord Jesus
Christ
was crucified in "the place of a skull." It is clear then that this
Psalm is sung
to
the "sons of His 'Passion.'" Now we have on this point a most certain
and most
evident
testimony from the Apostle Paul; because that at the time when the Church
was
suffering under the persecutions of the Gentiles, he quoted from hence a
verse,
to insert by way of consolation, and encouragement to patience. For that
which
he inserted in his Epistle, is said here: "For Your sake are we killed all
the
day
long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter." Romans 8:36 Let us then
hear
in this Psalm the voice of the Martyrs; and see how good is the cause which
the
voice of the Martyrs pleads, saying, For Your sake, etc....
2.
The title then is not simply "To the sons of Korah," but, "For
understanding, to
the
sons of Korah." This is the case also with that Psalm, the first verse of
which
the
Lord Himself uttered on the Cross: "My God, My God, look upon Me; why
have
You forsaken Me?" For "transferring us in a figure" 1
Corinthians 4:6 to
what
He was saying, and to His own Body (for we are also "His Body," and
He is
our
"Head"), He uttered from the Cross not His own cry, but ours. For God
never
"forsook"
Him: nor did He Himself ever depart from the Father; but it was in
behalf
of us that He spoke this: "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?"
For
there follows, "Far from My health are the words of My offences:" and
it
shows
in whose person He said this; for sin could not be found in Him....
3.
"O God, we have heard with our ears; our fathers have told us the work
that
You
did in their days, and in the days of old" (ver. 1). Wondering wherefore,
in
these
days, He has seemingly forsaken those whom it was His will to exercise in
sufferings,
they recall the past events which they have heard of from their fathers;
as
if they said, It is not of these things that we suffer, that our fathers told
us! For
in
that other Psalm also, He said this, "Our fathers trusted in You; they
trusted, and
Thou
delivered them. But I am a worm and no man; a reproach of men, and the
outcast
of the people." They trusted, and Thou delivered them; have I then hoped,
and
have You forsaken me? And have I believed upon You in vain? And is it in
vain
that my name has been written in Your Book, and Your name has been
inscribed
on me? What our fathers told us was this:
"Your
hand destroyed the nations; and You planted them: Thou weakened the
peoples,
and cast them out" (ver. 2). That is to say: "You drove out 'the
peoples'
from
their own land, that You might bring 'them' in, and plant them; and might by
Your
mercy establish their kingdom." These are the things that we heard from
our
fathers.
But perhaps it was because they were brave, were men of battle, were
invincible,
were well-disciplined, and warlike, that they could do these things. Far
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255
from
it. This is not what our fathers told us; this is not what is contained in
Scripture.
But what does it say, but what follows?
"For
they gat not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own
arm
save them; but Your right hand, and Thine arm, and the light of Your
countenance"
(ver. 3). Your "right hand" is Your Power: Thine "arm" is
Your Son
Himself.
And "the light of Your countenance." What means this, but that You
were
present with them, in miracles of such a sort that Your presence was
perceived.
For when God's presence with us appears by any miracle, do we see His
face
with our own eyes? No. It is by the effect of the miracle He intimates to man
His
presence. In fact, what do all persons say, who express wonder at facts of this
description?
"I saw God present." "But Your right hand, and Your arm, and the
light
of Your countenance; because You pleased in them:" i.e. so dealt with
them,
that
You were well-pleasing in them: that whoso considered how they were being
dealt
with, might say, that "God is with them of a truth;" and it is God
that moves
them.
4.
"What? Was He then other than now He is?" Away with the supposition.
For
what
follows?
"You
are Yourself my King and my God." (ver. 4). "You are Yourself;"
for You
are
not changed. I see that the times are changed; but the Creator of times is
unchanged.
"You are Yourself my King and my God." You are wont to guide me:
to
govern me, to save me. "You who commandest salvation unto Jacob."
What is,
"You
who commandest"? Even though in Your own proper Substance and Nature,
in
which You are whatsoever You are, You were hid from them; and though You
did
not converse with the fathers in that which You are in Yourself, so that they
could
see You "face to face," yet by any created being whatsoever "Thou
commandest
salvation unto Israel." For that sight of You "face to face" is
reserved
for
those set free in the Resurrection. And the very "fathers" of the New
Testament
too,
although they saw Your mysteries revealed, although they preached the secret
things
so revealed to them, nevertheless said that they themselves saw but "in a
glass,
darkly," but that "seeing face to face" 1 Corinthians 13:12 is
reserved to a
future
time, when what the Apostle himself speaks of shall have come. "When
Christ
our life shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory."
Colossians
3:4 It is against that time then that vision "face to face" is
reserved for
you,
of which John also speaks: "Beloved, we are now the sons of God: and it
does
not yet appear what we shall be. We know that, when He shall appear, we
shall
be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." 1 John 3:2 Although then at
that
time
our fathers saw You not as You are, "face to face," although that
vision is
reserved
against the resurrection, yet, even though they were Angels who
presented
themselves, it is Thou, "Who commandest salvation unto Jacob." You
are
not only present by Your own Self; but by whatsoever created being You
appeared,
it is Thou that dost "command" by them, that which Thou doest by Your
own
Self in order to the salvation of Your servants: but that which they do whom
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256
Thou
"commandest" it, is done to procure the salvation of Your servants.
Since
then
You are Yourself "my King and my God, and Thou commandest salvation
unto
Jacob," wherefore are we suffering these things?
5.
But perhaps it is only what is past that has been described to us: but nothing
of
the
kind is to be hoped for by us for the future. Nay indeed, it is still to be
hoped
for.
"Through You will we winnow away our enemies" (ver. 5). Our fathers then
have
declared to us a work that Thou did "in their days, and in the days of
old,"
that
Your hand destroyed the Gentiles: that Thou "cast out the peoples; and
planted
them." Such was the past; but what is to be hereafter? "Through You
we
shall
winnow away our enemies." A time will come, when all the enemies of
Christians
will be winnowed away like chaff, be blown like dust, and be cast off
from
the earth.... Thus much of the future. "I will not trust in my bow,"
even as our
fathers
did not in "their sword. Neither shall my sword help me" (ver. 6).
6.
"For You have saved us from our enemies" (ver. 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. They
told
all My bones;" not, "They shall pierce," and "shall
tell." "They looked and
stared
upon Me;" not "They shall look and stare upon Me." "They
parted My
garments
among them." It does not say, "They shall part" them. All these
things
are
expressed as if they were past, although they were yet to come: because to God
things
to come also are as certain as if they were past .... It is for this reason, in
consequence
of their certainty, that those things which are yet future, are spoken
of
as if past. This it is then that we hope. For it is, "You have saved us
from our
enemies,
and hast put them to shame that hated us."
7.
"In God will we boast all the day long" (ver. 8). Observe how he
intermingles
words
expressive of a future time, that you may perceive that what was spoken of
before
as in past time was foretold of future times. "In God will we boast all
day
long;
and in Your name will we confess for ever." What is, "We shall
boast"?
What,
"We shall confess"? That You have "saved us from our
enemies;" that You
are
to give us an everlasting kingdom: that in us are to be fulfilled the words,
"Blessed
are they that dwell in Your house: they will be always praising You."
8.
Since then we have the certainty that these things are to be hereafter, and
since
we
have heard from our fathers that those we spoke of were in time past, what is
our
state at present? "But now You have cast us off, and put us to shame"
(ver. 9).
You
have "put us to shame" not before our own consciences, but in the
sight of
men.
For there was a time when Christians were persecuted; when in every place
Psalm 44
257
they
were outcasts, when in every place it used to be said, "He is a
Christian!" as if
it
conveyed an insult and reproach. Where then is He, "our God, our
King," who
"commands
salvation unto Jacob"? Where is He who did all those works, which
"our
fathers have told us"? Where is He who is hereafter to do all those things
which
He revealed unto us by His Spirit? Is He changed? No. These things are
done
in order to "understanding, for the sons of Korah." For we ought to
"understand"
something of the reason, why He has willed we should suffer all
these
things in the mean time. What "all things"? "But now You have
cast us off
and
put us to shame: and goest not forth, O God, in our powers." We go forth
to
meet
our enemies, and You go not forth with us. We see them: they are very
strong,
and we are without strength. Where is that might of Thine? Where Your
"right
hand," and Your power? Where the sea dried up, and the Egyptian pursuers
overwhelmed
with the waves? Where Amalek's resistance subdued by the sign of
the
Cross? Exodus 17:12 "And You, O God, goest not forth in our powers."
9.
"You have turned us away backward in presence of our enemies" (ver.
10), so
that
they are, as it were, before; we, behind; they are counted as conquerors, we as
conquered.
"And they which hate us spoiled for themselves." What did they
"spoil"
but ourselves?
10.
"You have given us like sheep appointed for meat, and hast scattered us
among
the
nations" (ver. 11). We have been "devoured" by "the
nations." Those persons
are
meant, who, through their sufferings, have by process of assimilation, becomes
part
of the "body" of the Gentile world. For the Church mourns over them,
as over
members
of her body, that have been devoured.
11.
"You have sold Your people for no price" (ver. 12). For we see whom
You
have
made over; what You have received, we have not seen. "And there was no
multitude
in their jubilees." For when the Christians were flying before the pursuit
of
enemies, who were idolaters, were there then held any congregations and
"jubilees"
to the honour of God? Were those Hymns chanted in concert from the
Churches
of God, that are wont to be sung in concert in time of peace, and to be
sounded
in a sweet accord of the brotherhood in the ears of God?
12.
"You made us a reproach to our neighbours; a scorn and a derision to them
that
are
round about us" (ver. 13). "You made us a similitude among the
heathen" (ver.
14).
What is meant by a "similitude"? It is when men in imprecating a
curse make
a
"similitude" of his name whom they detest. "So may thou
die;" "So may thou be
punished!"
What a number of such reproaches were then uttered! "So may thou be
crucified!"
Even in the present day there are not wanting enemies of Christ (those
very
Jews themselves), against whom whensoever we defend Christ, they say unto
us,
"So may thou die as He did." For they would not have inflicted that
kind of
death
had they not an intense horror of dying by such a death: or had they been
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258
able
to comprehend what mystery was contained in it. When the ointment is
applied
to the eyes of the blind man, he does not see the eye-salve in the
physician's
hand. For the very Cross was made for the benefit even of the
persecutors
themselves. Hereby they were healed afterwards; and they believed in
Him
whom they themselves had slain. "You made us a similitude among the
heathen;
a shaking of the head among the peoples," a "shaking of the
head" by
way
of insult. "They spoke with their lips, they shook the head." This
they did to
the
Lord: this to all His Saints also, whom they were able to pursue, to lay hold
of,
to
mock, to betray, to afflict, and to slay.
13.
"My shame is continually before me; and the confusion of my face has
covered
me"
(ver. 15). "For the voice of him that reproaches and blasphemes"
(ver. 16):
that
is to say, from the voice of them that insult over me, and who make it a charge
against
me that I worship You, that I confess You! and who make it a charge
against
me that I bear that name by which all charges against me shall be blotted
out.
"For the voice of him that reproaches and blasphemes," that is, of
him that
speaks
against me. "By reason of the enemy and the persecutor." And what is
the
"understanding"
conveyed here? Those things which are told us of the time past,
will
not be done in our case: those which are hoped for, as to be hereafter, are not
as
yet manifest. Those which are past, as the leading out of Your people with
great
glory
from Egypt; its deliverance from its persecutors; the guiding of it through
the
nations, the placing of it in the kingdom, whence the nations had been
expelled.
What are those to be hereafter? The leading of the people out of this
Egypt
of the world, when Christ, our "leader" shall appear in His glory:
the
placing
of the Saints at His right hand; of the wicked at His left; the condemnation
of
the wicked with the devil to eternal punishment; the receiving of a kingdom
from
Christ with the Saints to last for ever. These are the things that are yet to
be:
the
former are what are past. In the interval, what is to be our lot? Tribulations!
"Why
so?" That it may be seen with respect to the soul that worships God, to
what
extent
it worships God; that it may be seen whether it worships Him "freely"
from
whom
it received salvation "freely."...What have you given unto God? You
were
wicked,
and thou were redeemed! What have you given unto God? What is there
that
you have not "received" from Him "freely"? With reason is
it named "grace,"
because
it is bestowed (gratis, i.e.) freely. Romans 11:6 What is required of you
then
is this, "that thou too shouldest worship "Him freely;" not
because He gives
you
things temporal, but because He holds out to you things eternal....
14.
"All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten You" (ver. 17).
What is
meant
by, "have not forgotten You"? "Neither have we behaved ourselves
frowardly
in Your covenant."
"Our
heart has not turned back; and You have turned aside our goings out of Your
way"
(ver. 18). See here is "understanding," in that "our heart has
not gone back;"
that
we have not "forgotten You, have not behaved frowardly in Your
covenant;"
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259
placed
as we are in great tribulations, and persecutions of the Gentiles. "You
have
turned
aside our goings out of Your way." Our "goings" were in the
pleasures of
the
world; our "goings" were in the midst of temporal prosperities. You
have taken
"our
goings out of Your way;" and hast shown us how "strait and narrow is
the
way
that leads unto life." Matthew 7:14 What is meant by, "hast turned
aside our
goings
out of Your way"? It is as if He said, "You are placed in the midst
of
tribulation;
you are suffering many things; you have already lost many things that
you
loved in this life: but I have not abandoned you on the way, the narrow way
that
I am teaching you. You were seeking "broad ways." What do I tell you?
This
is
the way we go to everlasting life; by the way ye wish to walk, you are going to
death.
How "broad and wide is the road that leads to destruction: and" how
"many
there
be that find it! How strait and narrow the way that leads unto life, and"
how
"few
there be" that walk therein! Matthew 7:13-14 Who are the few? They who
patiently
endure tribulations, patiently endure temptations; who in all these
troubles
do not "fall away:" who do not rejoice in the word "for a
season" only;
and
in the time of tribulation fade away, as on the sun's arising; but who have the
"root"
of "love," according to what we have lately heard read in the
Gospel....
15.
"For You have brought us low in the place of infirmity" (ver. 18):
therefore
You
will exalt us in the place of strength. "And the shadow of death has
covered
us"
(ver. 19). For this mortality of ours is but the "shadow" of death.
The true
death
is condemnation with the devil.
16.
"If we have forgotten the Name of our God." Here is the
"understanding" of
the
"sons of Korah." "And stretched out our hands to a strange
God" (ver. 20).
"Shall
not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart" (ver. 21).
He
"knows," and yet He "searches them out"? If He knows the
secrets of the heart,
what
do the words, "Shall not God search it out," do there? He
"knows" it in
Himself;
He "searches it out" for our sakes. For it is for this reason God
sometimes
"searches
a thing out;" and speaks of that becoming known to Himself, which He
is
Himself making known to you. He is speaking of His own work, not of His
knowledge.
We commonly say, "A gladsome day," when it is fine. Yet is it the day
itself
that experiences delight? No: we speak of the day as gladsome, because it
fills
us with delight. And we speak of a "sullen sky." Not that there is
any such
feeling
in the clouds, but because men are affected with sullenness at the sight of
such
an appearance of the skies, it is called sullen for this reason, that it makes
us
sullen.
So also God is said to "know" when He causes us to know. God says to
Abraham,
"Now I know that you fear God." Genesis 22:12 Did He then not know
it
before then? But Abraham did not know himself till then: for it was in that
very
trial
he came to know himself .... And God is said to "know" that which He
had
caused
him to know. Did Peter know himself, when he said to the Physician, "I
will
be with You even unto death?" Luke 22:33 The Physician had felt his pulse,
and
knew what was going on within His patient's soul: the patient knew it not. The
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260
crisis
of trial came; and the Physician approved the correctness of His opinion: the
sick
man gave up his presumption. Thus God at once "knows" it and
"searches it
out."
"He knows it already. Why does He 'search it out'?" For your sake:
that you
may
come to know your own self, and may return thanks to Him that made you.
"Shall
not God search it out?"
17.
"For, for Your sake we are killed all the day long: we are counted as
sheep for
the
slaughter" (ver. 22). For you may see a man being put to death; you do not
know
why he is being put to death. God knows this. The thing in itself is hid. But
some
one will say to me, "See, he is detained in prison for the name of Christ,
he
is
a confessor for the name of Christ." Why do not heretics also confess the
name
of
Christ, and yet they do not die for His sake? Nay more; let me say it, in the
Catholic
Church itself, do you think there either are, or have been wanting persons
such
as would suffer for the sake of glory among men? Were there no such
persons,
the Apostle would not say, "Though I give my body to be burned, and
have
not charity, it profits me nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:3 He knew therefore
that
there
might be some persons, who did this not from "charity," but out of
vainglory.
It
is therefore hid from us; God alone sees this; we cannot see it. He alone can
judge
of this, who "knows the secrets of the heart." "For," for
Your sake "are we
killed
all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter." I have
already
mentioned
that from hence the Apostle Paul had borrowed a text for the
encouragement
of the Martyrs: that they might not "faint in the tribulations"
undergone
by them for the name of Christ.
18.
"Awake; why sleepest Thou, O Lord?" (ver. 23). Who is addressed, and
who is
the
speaker? Would not he be more correctly said to sleep and slumber, who
speaks
such words as these? He replies to you, I know what I am saying: I know
that
"He that keeps Israel does not sleep:" but yet the Martyrs cry,
"Awake; why
sleepest
Thou, O Lord?" O Lord Jesus, You were slain; Thou "slept" in
Your
Passion;
to us You have now "awaked" from sleep. For "we" know that
You have
now
"awaked" again. To what purpose have You awaked and risen again? The
Gentiles
that persecute us, think You to be dead; do not believe You to have risen
again.
"Arise Thou" then to them also! "Why sleepest Thou," though
not to us, yet
to
them? For if they already believed You to have risen again, could they
persecute
us who believe in You? But why do they persecute? "Destroy, slay so
and
so, whoever have believed in You, such an one, who died an ill death!" As
yet
to
them "Thou sleepest;" arise to them, that they may perceive that You
have
"awaked"
again; and may be at rest. Lastly, it has come to pass, while the Martyrs
die,
and say these things; while they sleep, and "awaken" Christ, truly
dead in their
sleepings,
Christ has, in a certain sense, risen again in the Gentiles; i.e. it becomes
believed,
that He has risen again; so by degrees they themselves, becoming
converted
to Christ by believing, collected a numerous body: such as the
persecutors
dreaded; and the persecutions have come to an end. Why? Because
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Christ,
who before was asleep to them, as not believing, has risen in the Gentiles.
"Arise,
and cast us not off for ever!"
19.
"Wherefore hidest Thou Your face:" as if You were not present; as if
you had
forgotten
us? "And forgettest our misery and trouble?" (ver. 24).
20.
"For our soul is bowed down to the dust" (ver. 25). Where is it bowed
down?
"To
the dust:" i.e. dust persecutes us. They persecute us, of whom You have
said,
"The
ungodly are not so; but are like the dust, which the wind drives away from
the
face of the earth." "Our belly has cleaved to the earth." He
seems to me to have
expressed
the punishment of the extreme of humiliation, in which, when any one
prostrates
himself, "his belly cleaves to the earth." For whosoever is humbled
so as
to
be on his knees, has yet a lower degree of humiliation to which he can come:
but
he who is so humbled, that his "belly cleaves to the ground," there
is no farther
humiliation
for him. Should one wish to do still farther, it will, after that point, be
not
bowing him down, but crushing him. Perhaps then he may have meant this:
We
are "bowed down very low" in this dust; there is no farther point to
which
humiliation
can go. Humiliation has now reached its highest point: let mercy then
come
also....
21.
"Arise, O Lord, help us" (ver. 26). And indeed, dearly beloved, He
has arisen
and
helped us. For when he awaked (i.e. when He arose again, and became known
to
the Gentiles) on the cessation of persecutions, even those who had cleaved to
the
earth were raised up from the earth, and on performing penance, have been
restored
to Christ's body, feeble and imperfect though they were: so that in them
was
fulfilled the text, "Your eyes did see my substance yet being imperfect;
and in
Your
book shall they all be written."
"Arise,
O Lord, help us, and redeem us for Your Name's sake;" that is to say,
freely;
for Your Name's sake, not for the sake of my merits: because You have
vouchsafed
to do it, not because I am worthy that You should do it unto me. For
this
very thing, that "we have not forgotten You;" that "our heart
has not gone
back;"
that we "have not stretched out our hands to any strange god;" how
should
we
have been able to achieve, except with Your help? How should we have
strength
for it, except through Your appealing to us within, exhorting us, and not
forsaking
us? Whether then we suffer in tribulations, or rejoice in prosperities,
redeem
Thou us, not for our merits, but for Your Name's sake.
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262
Exposition
on Psalm 45
1.
This Psalm, even as we ourselves have been singing with gladness together with
you,
we would beg you in like manner to consider with attention together with us.
For
it is sung of the sacred Marriage-feast; of the Bridegroom and the Bride; of
the
King
and His people; of the Saviour and those who are to be saved .... His sons are
we,
in that we are the "children of the Bridegroom;" and it is to us that
this Psalm
is
addressed, whose title has the words, "For the sons of Korah, for the
things that
shall
be changed."
2.
Why need I explain what is meant by, "for the things that shall be
changed"?
Every
one who is himself "changed," recognises the meaning of this. Let him
who
hears
this, "for the things that shall be changed," consider what was
before, and
what
is now. And first let him see the world itself to be changed, lately
worshipping
idols, now worshipping God; lately serving things that they
themselves
made, now serving Him by whom they themselves were made.
Observe
at what time the words, "for the things that shall be changed," were
said.
Already
by this time the Pagans that are left are in dread of the "changed"
state of
things:
and those who will not suffer themselves to be "changed" see the
churches
full;
the temples deserted; see crowds here, and there solitude! They marvel at the
things
so changed; let them read that they were foretold; let them lend their ears to
Him
who promised it; let them believe Him who fulfils that promise. But each one
of
us, brethren, also undergoes a change from "the old" to "the new
man:" from an
infidel
to a believer: from a thief to a giver of alms: from an adulterer to a man of
chastity;
from an evildoer to a doer of good. To us then be sung the words, "for the
things
that shall be changed;" and so let the description of Him by whom they
were
changed, begin.
3.
For it goes on, "For the things that shall be changed, to the sons of
Korah for
understanding;
a song for the beloved." For that "beloved" One was seen by His
persecutors,
but yet not for "understanding." For "had they known Him, they
would
never have crucified the Lord of Glory." 1 Corinthians 2:8 In order to
this
"understanding,"
other eyes were required by Him when He said, "He that sees
Me,
sees My Father also." John 14:9 Let the Psalm then now sound of Him, let
us
rejoice
in the marriage-feast, and we shall be with those of whom the marriage is
made,
who are invited to the marriage; and the very persons invited are the Bride
herself.
For the Church is "the Bride," Christ the Bridegroom. There are
commonly
spoken by balladists certain verses to Bridegrooms and Brides, called
Epithalamia.
Whatever is sung there, is sung in honour of the Bride and
Bridegroom.
Is there then no Bridechamber in that marriage-feast to which we are
invited?
Whence then does another Psalm say, "He has set up His tabernacle in the
Sun;
and He is even as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber." The nuptial
union
is that of "the Word," and the flesh. The Bridechamber of this union,
the
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Virgin's
womb. For the flesh itself was united to the Word: whence also it is said,
"Henceforth
they are not twain, but one flesh." The Church was assumed unto Him
out
of the human race: so that the Flesh itself, being united to the Word, might be
the
Head of the Church: and the rest who believe, members of that Head....
4.
"Mine heart has uttered a good word" (ver. 1). Who is the speaker?
The Father,
or
the Prophet? For some understand it to be the Person of the Father, which says,
"Mine
heart has uttered a good word," intimating to us a certain unspeakable
generation.
Lest you should haply think something to have been taken unto Him,
out
of which God should beget the Son (just as man takes something to himself
out
of which he begets children, that is to say, an union of marriage, without
which
man
cannot beget offspring), lest then you should think that God stood in need of
any
nuptial union, to beget "the Son," he says, "Mine heart has
uttered a good
word."
This very day your heart, O man, begets a counsel, and requires no wife:
by
the counsel, so born of your heart, you build something or other, and before
that
building subsists, the design subsists; and that which you are about to
produce,
exists already in that by which you are going to produce it; and you
praise
the fabric that as yet is not existing, not yet in the visible form of a
building,
but
on the projecting of a design: nor does any one else praise your design, unless
either
you show it to him, or he sees what you have done. If then by the Word
"all
things
were made," John 1:3 and the Word is of God, consider the fabric reared by
the
Word, and learn from that building to admire His counsels! What manner of
Word
is that by which heaven and earth were made; Hebrews 11:3 and all the
splendour
of the heavens; all the fertility of the earth; the expanse of the sea; the
wide
diffusion of air; the brightness of the constellations; the light of sun and
moon?
These are visible things: rise above these also; think of the Angels,
"Principalities,
Thrones, Dominions, and Powers." Colossians 1:16 All were made
by
Him. How then were these good things made? Because there was "uttered
forth
'a
good Word,'" by which they were to be made....
5.
It proceeds: "I speak of the things which I have made unto the King."
Is the
Father
still speaking? If the Father is still speaking, let us enquire how this also
can
be understood by us, consistently with the true Catholic Faith, "I speak
of the
things
that I have made unto the King." For if it is the Father speaking of His
own
works
to His Son, our "King," what works is the Father to speak of to the
Son,
seeing
that all the Father's works were made by the Son's agency? Or, in the
words,
"I speak of My works unto the King," does the word, "I
speak," itself
signify
the generation of the Son? I fear whether this can ever be made intelligible
to
those slow of comprehension: I will nevertheless say it. Let those who can
follow
me, do so: lest if it were left unsaid, even those who can follow should not
be
able. We have read where it is said in another Psalm, "God has spoken
once."
So
often has He spoken by the Prophets, so often by the Apostles, and in these
days
by His Saints, and does He say, "God has spoken once"? How can He
have
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264
spoken
but "once," except with reference to His "Word"? Hebrews
1:1-2 But as
the
"Mine heart has uttered a good Word," was understood by us in the
other
clause
of the generation of the Son, it seems that a kind of repetition is made in the
following
sentence, so that the "Mine heart has uttered a good Word," which had
been
already said, is repeated in what He is now saying, "I speak." For
what does
"I
speak" mean? "I utter a Word." And whence but from His heart,
from His very
inmost,
does God utter the Word? You yourself do not speak anything but what
you
bring forth from your "heart," this word of yours which sounds once
and
passes
away, is brought forth from no other place: and do you wonder that God
"speaks"
in this manner? But God's "speaking" is eternal. You are speaking
something
at the present moment, because you were silent before: or, look you,
you
have not yet brought forth your word; but when you have begun to bring it
forth,
you as it were "break silence;" and bring into being a word, that did
not exist
before.
It was not so God begat the "Word." God's "speaking" is
without
beginning,
and without end: and yet the "Word" He utters is but "One."
Let Him
utter
another, if what He has spoken shall have passed away. But since He by
whom
it is uttered abides, and That which is uttered abides; and is uttered but
once,
and has no end, that very "once" too is said without beginning, and
there is
no
second speaking, because that which is said once, does not pass away. The
words
"Mine heart has uttered a good Word," then, are the same thing with,
"I
speak
of the things which I have made unto the King." Why then, "I speak of
the
things
which I have made"? Because in the Word Itself are all the works of God.
For
whatever God designed to make in the creation already existed in "the
Word;"
and
would not exist in the reality, had it not existed in the Word, just as with
you
the
thing would not exist in the building, had it not existed in your design: even
as
it
is said in the Gospel: "That which was made in Him was life." John
1:3-4 That
which
was made then was in existence; but it had its existence in the Word: and all
the
works of God existed there, and yet were not as yet "works."
"The Word"
however
already was, as this "Word was God, and was with God:" and was the
Son
of God, and One God with the Father. "I speak of the things I have made unto
the
King." Let him hear Him "speaking," who apprehends "the
Word:" and let him
see
together with the Father the Everlasting Word; in whom exist even those
things
that are yet to come: in whom even those things that are past have not
passed
away. These "works" of God are in "the Word," as in the
Word, as in the
Only-Begotten,
as in the "Word of God."
6.
What follows then? "My tongue is the pen of a writer writing
rapidly." What
likeness,
my brethren, what likeness, I ask, has the "tongue" of God with a
transcriber's
pen? What resemblance has "the rock" to Christ? 1 Corinthians 10:4
What
likeness does the "lamb" bear to our Saviour, John 1:29 or what
"the lion" to
the
strength of the Only-Begotten? Revelation 5:5 Yet such comparisons have
been
made; and were they not made, we should not be formed to a certain extent
by
these visible things to the knowledge of the "Invisible One." So then
with this
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265
mean
simile of the pen; let us not compare it to His excellent greatness, so let us
not
reject it with contempt. For I ask, why He compares His "tongue" to
"the pen
of
a writer writing rapidly"? But how swiftly soever the transcriber writes,
still it is
not
comparable to that swiftness of which another Psalm says, "His word runs
very
swiftly." But it appears to me (if human understanding may presume so far)
that
this too may be understood as spoken in the Person of the Father: "My
tongue
is
the pen of a writer." Inasmuch as what is spoken by the
"tongue," sounds once
and
passes away, what is written, remains; seeing then that God utters "a Word,"
and
the Word which is uttered does not sound once and pass away, but is uttered
and
yet continues, God chose rather to compare this to words written than to
sounds.
But what He added, saying, "of one writing swiftly," stimulates the
mind
unto
"understanding." Let it however not slothfully rest here, thinking of
transcribers,
or thinking of some kind of quick shorthand writers: if it be this it
sees
in the passage, it will be resting there. Let it think swiftly what is the
meaning
of
that word "swiftly." The "swiftly" of God is such that
nothing exceeds in
swiftness.
For in writings letter is written after letter; syllable after syllable; word
after
word: nor do we pass to the second except when the first is written out. But
there
nothing can exceed the swiftness, where there are not several words; and yet
there
is not anything omitted: since in the One are contained all things.
7.
Lo! now then that Word, so uttered, Eternal, the Co-eternal Offspring of the
Eternal,
will come as "the Bridegroom;" "Fairer than the children of
men" (ver. 2).
"Than
the children of men." I ask, why not than the Angels also? Why did he say,
"than
the children of men," except because He was Man? Lest you should think
"the
Man Christ" 1 Timothy 2:5 to be any ordinary man, he says, "Fairer
than the
children
of men." Even though Himself "Man," He is "fairer than the
children of
men;"
though among the children of men, "fairer than the children of men:"
though
of the children of men, "fairer than the children of men."
"Grace is shed
abroad
on Your lips." "The Law was given by Moses. Grace and Truth came by
Jesus
Christ." John 1:17...
8.
There have not been wanting those who preferred understanding all the
preceding
passage also of the Prophet's own person; and would have even this
verse,
"Mine heart has uttered forth a good word," understood as spoken by
the
Prophet,
supposed to be uttering a hymn. For whoever utters a hymn to God, his
heart
is, as it were, "uttering forth a good word," just as his heart who blasphemes
God,
is uttering forth an evil word. So that even by what follows, "I speak of
the
things
which I have made unto the King," he meant to express that man's chief
work
was but to praise God. To Him it belongs to satisfy you, by His beauty; to
you
to praise Him with thanksgiving....
9.
"My tongue is the pen of a writer writing quickly." There have been
persons
who
have understood the Prophet to have been describing in this manner what he
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was
writing; and therefore to have compared his tongue to "the pen of a writer
writing
quickly:" but that he chose to express himself in the words "writing
quickly,"
to signify, that he was writing of things which were to come
"quickly;"
that
"writing quickly" should be understood to be equivalent to
"writing things that
are
quick;" i.e. writing things that would not long tarry. For God did not
tarry long
to
manifest Christ. How quickly is that perceived to have rolled by, which is
acknowledged
to be already past! Call to mind the generations before you; you
will
find that the making of Adam is but a thing of yesterday. So do we read that
all
things have gone on from the very beginning: 2 Peter 3:4 they were therefore
done
"quickly." The day of Judgment also will be here "quickly."
Do thou
anticipate
its "quick" coming. It is to come "quickly;" do thou become
converted
yet
more "quickly." The Judge's face will appear: but observe thou what
the
Prophet
says, "Let us come before" (let us "prevent") "His
face with confession."
10.
"Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O most Mighty" (ver. 3). What is
meant
by
"Your sword," but "Your word"? It was by that sword He
scattered His
enemies;
by that sword he divided the son from the father, "the daughter from the
mother,
the daughter-in-law from the mother-in-law." We read these words in the
Gospel,
"I came not to send peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:34 And, "In
one
house
shall five be divided against each other; three against two, and two against
three;"
Luke 12:52 i.e. "the father against the son, the daughter against the
mother,
the
daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law." By what "sword," but
that which
Christ
brought, was this division wrought? And indeed, my brethren, we see this
exemplified
daily. Some young man is minded to give himself up to God's service;
his
father is opposed to it; they are "divided against each other:" the
one promises
an
earthly inheritance, the other loves an heavenly; the one promises one thing,
the
other
prefers another. The father should not think himself wronged: God alone is
preferred
to him. And yet he is at strife with the son, who would fain give himself
to
God's service. But the spiritual sword is mightier to separate them, than the
ties
of
carnal nature to bind them together. This happens also in the case of a mother
against
her daughter; still more also in that of a daughter-in-law against a mother-
in-law.
For sometimes in one house mother-in-law and daughter-in law are found
orthodox
and heretical respectively. And where that sword is forcibly felt, we do
not
dread the repetition of Baptism. Could daughter be divided against mother;
and
could not daughter-in-law be divided against mother-in-law?...
11.
What does he mean to express by the "thigh"? The flesh. Whence those
words,
"A
prince shall not depart from Judah; and a lawgiver from his thighs"? Did
not
Abraham
himself (to whom was promised the seed in which "all the nations of the
earth
were to be blessed"), when he sent his servant to seek and to bring home a
wife
for his son, being by faith fully persuaded, that in that, so to speak,
contemptible
seed was contained the great Name; that is, that the Son of God was
to
come of the seed of Abraham, out of all the children of men; did not he, I say,
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267
cause
his servant to swear unto him in this manner, saying, "Put your hand under
my
thigh," Genesis 24:2 and so swear; as if he had said, "Put your hand
on the
altar,
or on the Gospel, or on the Prophet, or on any holy thing."
"Put" (he says)
"your
hand under my thigh;" having full confidence, not ashamed of it as
unseemly,
but understanding therein a truth. "With Your beauty and Your glory."
Take
to You that righteousness, in which You are at all times beautiful and
glorious.
"And speed on, and proceed prosperously, and reign" (ver. 4). Do we
not
see
it so? Is it not already come to pass? He has "sped on; has proceeded
prosperously,
and He reigns;" all nations are subdued unto Him. What a thing was
it
to see that "in the Spirit," of which same thing it is now in our
power to
experience
in the reality! At the time when these words were said, Christ did not
yet
"reign" thus; had not yet sped on, nor "proceeded
prosperously." They were
then
being preached, they have now been fulfilled: in many things we have God's
promise
fulfilled already; in some few we have to claim its fulfilment yet.
12.
"Because of truth, meekness, and righteousness." Truth was restored
unto us,
when
"the Truth sprung out of the earth: and Righteousness looked out from
heaven."
Christ was presented to the expectation of mankind, that in Abraham's
Seed
"all nations should be blessed." The Gospel has been preached. It is
"the
Truth."
What is meant by "meekness"? The Martyrs have suffered; and the
kingdom
of God has made much progress from thence, and advanced throughout
all
nations; because the Martyrs suffered, and neither "fell away," nor
yet offered
resistance;
confessing everything, concealing nothing; prepared for everything,
shrinking
from nothing. Marvellous "meekness"! This did the body of Christ, by
its
Head it learned. He was first "led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a
lamb
before
his shearer is dumb, even so opened not His mouth;" Isaiah 53:7 meek to
that
degree, that while hanging on the Cross, He said, "Father, forgive them,
for
they
know not what they do." Luke 23:34 Why because of
"righteousness"? He
will
come also to judge, and to "render to every man according to his
works." He
spoke
"the truth;" He patiently endured unrighteousness: He is to bring
"righteousness"
hereafter.
13.
"And Your right hand shall lead You on marvellously." We shall be
guided on
by
His right hand: He by His own. For He is God, we mortal men. He was led on
by
His own right hand; i.e. by His own power. For the power which the Father has,
He
has also; the Father's immortality He has also; He has the Father's Divinity,
the
Father's
Eternity, the Father's Power. Marvellously will His right hand lead Him
on,
performing the works of God; undergoing human sufferings, overthrowing the
evil
wills of men by His own goodness. Even now, He is being led on even to
places
where as yet He is not; and it is His own right hand that is leading Him on.
For
that is leading Him thither which He has Himself bestowed upon His Saints.
"Your
right hand shall lead You on marvellously."
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268
14.
"Thine arrows are sharp, are most powerful" (ver. 5); words that
pierce the
heart,
that kindle love. Whence in the Song of Songs it is said, "I am wounded
with
love." Song of Songs 2:5 For she speaks of being "wounded with
love;" that
is,
of being in love, of being inflamed with passion, of sighing for the
Bridegroom,
from
whom she received the arrow of the Word. "Thine arrows are sharp, are most
powerful;"
both piercing, and effective; "sharp, most powerful." "The
peoples
shall
fall under You." Who have "fallen"? They who were
"wounded" have also
"fallen."
We see the nations subdued unto Christ; we do not see them "fall." He
explains
where they "fall," viz. "in the heart." It was there they
lifted themselves
up
against Christ, there they "fall" down before Christ. Saul was a
blasphemer of
Christ:
he was then lifted up, he prays to Christ, "he is fallen," he is
prostrate
before
Him: the enemy of Christ is slain, that the disciple of Christ may live! By
an
arrow launched from heaven, Saul (not as yet Paul, but still Saul), still
lifted up,
still
not yet prostrate, is wounded in "the heart:" he received the arrow,
he fell "in
heart."
For though he fell prostrate on his face, it was not there that he fell down in
heart:
but it was there where he said aloud, "Lord, what dost Thou bid me
do?"
Acts
9:6 But just now thou were going to bind the Christians, and to bring them to
punishment:
and now you say unto Christ, "What dost Thou bid me do?" O arrow
sharp
and most mighty, by whose stroke "Saul" fell, so as to become
"Paul." As it
was
with him, so was it also with "the peoples;" consider the nations,
observe their
subjection
unto Christ. "The peoples" (then) "shall fall under You in the
heart of
the
King's enemies;" that is, in the heart of Your enemies. For it is Him that
he
calls
King, Him that he recognises as King. "The peoples shall fall under You in
the
heart of the King's enemies." They were "enemies" before; they
have been
stricken
by thine arrows: they have fallen before You. Out of enemies they have
been
made friends: the enemies are dead, the friends survive. This is the meaning
of,
"for those which shall be changed." We are seeking to
"understand" each single
word,
and each separate verse; yet so far only are we to seek for their
"understanding,"
as to leave no one to doubt that they are spoken of Christ.
15.
"Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever" (ver. 6). Because God has
"'blessed
You'
for ever," on account of the "grace poured over Your lips." Now
the throne of
the
Jewish Kingdom was a temporal one; belonging to those who were under the
Law,
not to those who were under "grace:" He came to "redeem those
who were
under
the Law," and to place them under "Grace." His "Throne is
for ever and
ever."
Why? for that first throne of the Kingdom was but a temporal one: whence
then
have we a "throne for ever and ever"? Because it is God's throne. O
divine
Attribute
of Eternity! for God could not have a temporal throne. "Your throne, O
God,
is for ever and ever—a sceptre of direction is the sceptre of Your
Kingdom."
"The
sceptre of direction" is that which directs mankind: they were before
crooked,
distorted; they sought to reign for themselves: they loved themselves,
loved
their own evil deeds: they submitted not their own will to God; but would
fain
have bent God's will to conformity with their own lusts. For the sinner and the
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unrighteous
man is generally angry with God, because it rains not! and yet would
have
God not be angry with himself, because he is profligate. And it is pretty
much
for this very reason that men daily sit, to dispute against God: "This is
what
He
ought to have done: this He has not well done." Thou forsooth see what you
do.
He knows not what He does! It is you that are crooked! His ways are right.
When
will you make the crooked coincide with the straight? It cannot be made to
coincide
with it. Just as if you were to place a crooked stick on a level pavement; it
does
not join on to it; it does not cohere; it does not fit into the pavement. The
pavement
is even in every part: but that is crooked; it does not fit into that which is
level.
The will of God then is "equal," your own is "crooked:" it
is because you
can
not be conformed unto it, that it seems "crooked" unto you: rule you
yourself
by
it; seek not to bend it to your own will: for you can not accomplish it; that
is at
all
times "straight"! Wouldest thou abide in Him? "Correct you
yourself;" so will
the
sceptre of Him who rules you, be unto you "a rule of direction."
Thence is He
also
called King, from "ruling." For that is no "ruler" that
does not correct.
Hereunto
is our King a King of "right ones." Just as He is a Priest (Sacerdos)
by
sanctifying
us, so is He our King, our Ruler, by "ruling" us....
16.
"You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity" (ver. 7). See
there "the rod
of
direction" described. "You have loved righteousness, and hated
iniquity." Draw
near
to that "rod;" let Christ be your King: let Him "rule" you
with that rod, not
crush
you with it. For that rod is "a rod of iron;" an inflexible rod.
"You shall rule
them
with a rod of iron: and break them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Some
He
rules;
others He "breaks in pieces:" He "rules" them that are
spiritual: He "breaks
in
pieces" them that are carnal.... Would He so loudly declare that He was
about to
smite
you, if He wished to smite you? He is then holding back His hand from the
punishment
of your offences; but do not thou hold back. Turn you yourself to the
punishment
of your offences: for unpunished offences cannot be: punishment
therefore
must be executed either by yourself, or by Him: do thou then plead
guilty,
that He may reprieve you. Consider an instance in that penitential Psalm:
"Hide
Your face from my sins." Did he mean "from me"? No: for in
another
passage
he says plainly, "Hide not Your face from me." "Turn" then
"Your face
from
my sins." I would have You not see my sins. For God's "seeing"
is
animadverting
upon. Hence too a Judge is said to "animadvert" on that which he
punishes;
i.e. to turn his mind on it, to bend it thereon, even to the punishment of
it,
inasmuch as he is the Judge. So too is God a Judge. "Turn Thou Your face
from
my
sins." But you yourself, if you would have God turn "His face"
from them, turn
not
your own face from them. Observe how he proposes this to God in that very
Psalm:
"I acknowledge," he says, "my transgression, and my sin is ever
before
me."
He would fain have that which he wishes to be ever before his own eyes, not
be
before God's eyes. Let no one flatter himself with fond hopes of God's mercy.
His
sceptre is "a sceptre of righteousness." Do we say that God is not
merciful?
What
can exceed His mercy, who shows such forbearance to sinners; who takes no
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account
of the past in all that turn unto Him? So love thou Him for His mercy, as
still
to wish that He should be truthful. For mercy cannot strip Him of His attribute
of
justice: nor justice of that of mercy. Meanwhile during the time that He
postpones
your punishment, do not thou postpone it.
17.
"Therefore, God, Your God, has anointed You." It was for this reason
that He
anointed
you, that you might love righteousness, and hate iniquity. And observe in
what
way he expresses himself. "Therefore, God, Your God, has anointed
You:"
i.e.
"God has anointed You, O God." "God" is
"anointed" by God. For in the Latin
it
is thought to be the same case of the noun repeated: in the Greek however there
is
a most evident distinction; one being the name of the Person addressed; and one
His
who makes the address, saying, "God has anointed You." "O God,
Your God
has
anointed You," just as if He were saying, "Therefore has Your God, O
God,
anointed
You." Take it in that sense, understand it in that sense; that such is the
sense
is most evident in the Greek. Who then is the God that is "anointed"
by
God?
Let the Jews tell us; these Scriptures are common to us and them. It was
God,
who was anointed by God: you hear of an "Anointed" one; understand it
to
mean
"Christ." For the name of "Christ" comes from
"chrism;" this name by which
He
is called "Christ" expresses "unction:" nor were kings and
prophets anointed in
any
kingdom, in any other place, save in that kingdom where Christ was
prophesied
of, where He was anointed, and from whence the Name of Christ was
to
come. It is found nowhere else at all: in no one nation or kingdom. God, then,
was
anointed by God; with what oil was He anointed, but a spiritual one? For the
visible
oil is in the sign, the invisible oil is in the mystery; the spiritual oil is
within.
"God" then was "anointed" for us, and sent unto us; and God
Himself was
man,
in order that He might be "anointed:" but He was man in such a way as
to be
God
still. He was God in such a way as not to disdain to be man. "Very man and
very
God;" in nothing deceitful, in nothing false, as being everywhere true,
everywhere
"the Truth" itself. God then is man; and it was for this cause that
"God"
was "anointed," because God was Man, and became "Christ."
18.
This was figured in Jacob's placing a stone at his head, and so sleeping.
Genesis
28:11-18 The patriarch Jacob had placed a stone at his head: sleeping with
that
stone at his head, he saw heaven opened, and a ladder from heaven to earth,
and
Angels ascending and descending; after this vision he awaked, anointed the
stone,
and departed. In that "stone" he understood Christ; for that reason
he
anointed
it. Take notice what it is whereby Christ is preached. What is the
meaning
of that anointing of a stone, especially in the case of the Patriarchs who
worshipped
but One God? It was however done as a figurative act: and he
departed.
For he did not anoint the stone, and come to worship there constantly,
and
to perform sacrifice there. It was the expression of a mystery; not the
commencement
of sacrilege. And notice the meaning of "the stone." "The Stone
which
the builders refused, this is become the head of the corner." Notice here
a
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great
mystery. The "Stone" is Christ. Peter calls Him "a living Stone,
disallowed
indeed
of men, but chosen of God." 1 Peter 2:4 And the stone is set at "the
head,"
because
"Christ is the Head of the man." 1 Corinthians 11:3 And "the
stone" was
anointed,
because "Christ" was so called from His being anointed. And in the
revelation
of Christ, the ladder from earth to heaven is seen, or from heaven to
earth,
and the Angels ascending and descending. What this means, we shall see
more
clearly, when we have quoted the testimony from the Lord Himself in the
Gospel.
You know that Jacob is the same as Israel. For when he wrestled with the
Angel,
and "prevailed," and had been blest by Him over whom he prevailed,
his
named
was changed, so that he was called "Israel;" just as the people of
Israel
"prevailed"
Luke 23:23 against Christ, so as to crucify Him, and nevertheless was
(in
those who believed in Christ) blest by Him over whom it prevailed. But many
believed
not; hence the halting of Jacob. Here we have at once, blessing and
halting.
Blessing on those who became believers; for we know that afterward
many
of that people did believe: Halting on the other hand in those who believed
not.
And because the greater part believed not, and but few believed, therefore that
a
halting might be produced, He touched "the breadth of his thigh."
Genesis 32:25
What
is meant by the breadth of the thigh? The great multitude of his
descendants....
19.
"God, Your God, has anointed You." We have been speaking of God, who
was
"anointed;"
i.e. of Christ. The name of Christ could not be more clearly expressed
than
by His being called "God the Anointed." In the same way in which He
was
"beautiful
before the children of men," so is He here "anointed with the oil of
gladness
above His fellows." Who then are His "fellows"? The children of
men;
for
that He Himself (as the Son of Man) became partaker of their mortality in
order
to make them partakers of His Immortality.
20.
"Out of Your garments is the smell of myrrh, amber, and cassia" (ver.
8). Out
of
Your garments is perceived the smell of fragrant odours. By His garments are
meant
His Saints, His elect, His whole Church, which he shows forth, as His
garment,
so to speak; His robe "without spot and wrinkle," Ephesians 5:27
which
on
account of its spots He has "washed" in His blood; on account of its
"wrinkles"
extended
on His Cross. Hence the sweet savour which is signified by certain
perfumes
there mentioned. Hear Paul, that "least of the Apostles" (that
"hem of
that
garment," which the woman with the issue of blood touched, and was
healed),
hear
him saying: "We are a sweet savour of Christ, in every place, both in them
that
are saved, and in them that perish." 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 He did not say,
"We
are
a sweet savour in them that are saved, and a foul savour in them that are
lost:"
but,
as far as relates to ourselves, "we are a sweet savour both in them that
are
saved,
and in them that perish."... They who loved him were saved by the odour of
"sweet
savour;" they who envied him, perished by means of that "sweet
savour."
To
them that perished then he was not a foul "savour," but a "sweet
savour." For it
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was
for this very reason they the more envied him, the more excellent that grace
was
which reigned in him: for no man envies him who is unhappy. He then was
glorious
in the preaching of God's Word, and in regulating his life according to the
rule
of that "rod of direction;" and he was loved by those who loved
Christ in him,
who
followed after and pursued the odour of sweet savour; who loved the friend of
the
bridegroom: that is to say, by the Bride Herself, who says in the Song of
Songs,
"We will run after the sweet savour of your perfumes." But the
others, the
more
they beheld him invested with the glory of the preaching of the Gospel, and
of
an irreproachable life, were so much the more tortured with envy, and found
that
sweet savour prove death to them.
21.
"Out of your ivory palaces, whereby kings' daughters have made You
glad."
Choose
whichever you please, "ivory" palaces, or "magnificent," or
"royal"
palaces,
it is out of these that the kings' daughters have made Christ glad. Would
you
understand the spiritual sense of "ivory palaces"? Understand by them
the
magnificent
houses, and tabernacles of God, the hearts of the Saints; and by these
self-same
"kings" those who rule their flesh; who bring into subjection to
themselves
the rebellious commonalty of human affections, who chastise the body,
and
reduce it to bondage: for it is from these that the daughters of kings have
made
Him
glad. For all the souls that have been born through their preaching and
evangelizing
are "daughters of kings:" and the Churches, as the daughters of
Apostles,
are daughters of kings. For He is "King of kings;" they themselves
kings,
of whom it was said, "You shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the
twelve
tribes
of Israel." Matthew 19:28 They preached the "Word of Truth;" and
begat
Churches
not for themselves, but for Him.... Therefore as "raising up seed to their
brother,"
to as many as they begat, they gave the name not of "Paulians" or
"Petrians,"
but of "Christians." Observe whether that sense is not wakefully kept
in
these
verses. For when he said, "out of the ivory palaces, he spoke of mansions
royal,
ample, honourable, peaceful, like the heart of the Saints; he added,
"Whereby
the kings' daughters have made You glad in Thine honour." They are
indeed
daughters of kings, daughters of your Apostles, but still "in Thine
honour:"
for
they raised up seed to their brother. Hence Paul, when he saw those whom he
had
raised up unto his Brother, running after his own name, exclaimed, "Was
Paul
crucified
for you?" 1 Corinthians 1:13 ... No; for he says, "Or were ye
baptized in
the
name of Paul?"
"The
daughters of kings have made You glad in Thine honour." Keep, hold fast
this
"in Thine honour." This is meant by having "a wedding
garment;" seeking His
honour,
His glory. Understand moreover by "kings' daughters" the cities,
which
were
founded by kings, and have received the faith: and out of the ivory palaces
(palaces
rich, the proud, the lifted up). "Kings' daughters have made You glad in
Thine
honour;" in that they sought not the honour of their founders, but have
sought
Thine honour. Show me at Rome a temple of Romulus held in so great
honour
as I can show you the Monument of Peter. In Peter, who is honoured but
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He
who died for us? For we are followers of Christ, not followers of Peter. And
even
if we were born from the brother of Him that is dead, yet are we named after
the
name of Him who is dead. Deuteronomy 25:26 We were begotten by the one,
but
begotten to the other. Behold, Rome, Carthage, and several other cities are the
daughters
of kings, and yet have they "made glad the King in His honour:" and
all
these
make up one single Queen.
22.
What a nuptial song! Behold in the midst of songs full of rejoicing, comes
forth
the Bride herself. For the Bridegroom was coming. It was He who was being
described:
it was on Him all our attention was fixed.
"Upon
Your right hand stood the Queen" (ver. 9). She which stands on the left is
no
Queen. For there will be one standing on "the left" also, to whom it
will be
said,
"Go into everlasting fire." Matthew 25:41 But she shall stand on the
right
hand,
to whom it will be said, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the
kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matthew 25:34 On
Your
right hand stood the Queen, "in a vesture of gold, clothed about with
various
colours."
What is the vesture of this Queen? It is one both precious, and also of
various
colours: it is the mysteries of doctrine in all the various tongues: one
African,
one Syrian, one Greek, one Hebrew, one this, and one that; it is these
languages
that produce the various colours of this vesture. But just as all the
various
colours of the vesture blend together in the one vesture, so do all the
languages
in one and the same faith. In that vesture, let there be diversity, let there
be
no rent. See we have "understood" the various colours of the
diversity of
tongues;
and the vesture to refer to unity: but in that diversity itself, what is meant
by
the "gold"? Wisdom itself. Let there be any diversity of tongues you
please, but
there
is but one "gold" that is preached of: not a different gold, but a
different form
of
that gold. For it is the same Wisdom, the same doctrine and discipline that
every
language preaches. In the languages there is diversity; gold in the thoughts.
23.
The Prophet addresses this Queen (for he delights in singing to her), and
moreover
each one of us, provided, however, we know where we are, and
endeavour
to belong to that body, and do belong to it in faith and hope, being
united
in the membership of Christ. For it is us whom he addresses, saying,
"Hearken,
O daughter, and behold" (ver. 10), as being one of the "Fathers"
(for
they
are "daughters of kings"), although it be a Prophet, or although it
be an
Apostle
that is addressing her; addressing her, as a daughter, for we are
accustomed
to speak in this way, "Our fathers the Prophets, our fathers the
Apostles;"
if we address them as "fathers," they may address us as children: and
it
is
one father's voice addressing one daughter. "Hearken, O daughter, and
see."
"Hear"
first; afterward "see." For they came to us with the Gospel; and that
has
been
preached to us, which as yet we do not see, and which on hearing of it we
believed,
which by believing it, we shall come to see: even as the Bridegroom
Himself
speaks in the Prophet, "A people whom I have not known served me. In
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the
hearing of me with the ear it obeyed me." What is meant by on
"hearing of me
with
the ear"? That they did not "see." The Jews saw Him, and
crucified Him; the
Gentiles
saw Him not, and believed. Let the Queen who comes from the Gentiles
come
in "the vesture of gold, clothed with various colours;" let her come
from
among
the Gentiles clad in all languages, in the unity of Wisdom: let it be said
unto
her, "Hearken, O daughter, and see." If you will not hear, you shall
not "see."
"And
incline your ear." It is not enough to "hearken;" hearken with
humility: bow
down
your ear. "Forget also your own people, and your father's house."
There was
a
certain "people," and a certain house of your father, in which you
were born, the
people
of Babylon, having the devil for your king. Whencesoever the Gentiles
came,
they came from their father the devil; but they have renounced their sonship
to
the devil. "Forget also your own people, and your father's house."
He, in making
you
a sinner, begat you loathsome: the Other, in that "He justifies the
ungodly,"
Romans
4:5 begets you again in beauty.
24.
"For the King has greatly desired your beauty" (ver. 11). What
"beauty" is that,
save
that which is His own work? "Greatly desired the beauty"—Of whom? Of
her
the
sinner, the unrighteous, the ungodly, such as she was with her
"father," the
devil,
and among her own "people"? No, but hers of whom it is said,
"Who is this
that
comes up made white?" She was not white then at the first, but was
"made"
white
afterwards. For "though your sins shall be as scarlet, I will make them
white
as
snow." Isaiah 1:18 "The king has greatly desired your beauty."
What King is
this?
"For He is the Lord your God." Now consider whether you ought not to
forego
that your father, and your own people, and to come to this King, who is
your
God? Your God is "your King," your "King" is also your
Bridegroom. Thou
weddest
to your King, who is your God: being endowed by Him, being adorned by
Him;
redeemed by Him, and healed by Him. Whatever you have, wherewith to be
pleasing
to Him, you have from Him.
25.
"And the daughters of Tyre shall worship Him with gifts" (ver. 12).
It is that
selfsame
"King, who is your God," that the daughters of Tyre shall worship
with
gifts.
The daughters of Tyre are the daughters of the Gentiles; the part standing for
the
whole. Tyre, a city bordering on this country, where the prophecy was
delivered,
typified the nations that were to believe in Christ. Thence came that
Canaanitish
woman, who was at first called "a dog;" for that you may know that
she
was from thence, the Gospel speaks thus. "He departed into the parts of
Tyre
and
Sidon, and behold a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts," with all
the
rest that is related there. She who at first, at the house of her
"father," and
among
her "own people," was but "a dog," who by coming to, and
crying after that
"King,"
was made beautiful by believing in Him, what did she obtain to hear? "O
woman,
great is your faith." Matthew 15:21-28 "The King has greatly desired
your
beauty.
And the daughters of Tyre shall worship with gifts." With what gifts?
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Even
so would this King be approached, and would have His treasuries filled: and
it
is He Himself who has given us that wherewith they may be filled, and may be
filled
by you. Let them come (He says) and "worship Him with gifts." What is
meant
by "with gifts"?... "Give alms, and all things are clean unto
you." Come
with
gifts to Him that says, "I will have mercy rather than sacrifice." To
that
Temple
that existed aforetime as a shadow of that which was to come, they used to
come
with bulls, and rams, and goats, with every different kind of animal for
sacrifice:
that with that blood one thing should be done, and another be typified by
it.
Now that very blood, which all these things used to figure, has come: the King
Himself
has come, and He Himself would have your "gifts." What gifts? Alms.
For
He Himself will judge hereafter, and will Himself hereafter account
"gifts" to
certain
persons. "Come" (He says), "ye blessed of My Father." Why?
"I was an
hungred,
and you gave Me meat," Matthew 25:34-35 etc. These are the gifts with
which
the daughters of Tyre worship the King; for when they said, "When saw we
You?"
He who is at once above and below (whence those "ascending" and
"descending"
are spoken of ), said, "Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the
least
of Mine, you have done it unto Me." Matthew 25:40
26.
... "The rich among the people shall entreat Your face." Both they
who shall
entreat
that face, and He whose face they will entreat, are all collectively but one
Bride,
but one Queen, mother and children belonging all together unto Christ,
belonging
unto their Head....
27.
"All the glory of her, the King's daughter, is from within" (ver.
13). Not only is
her
robe, outwardly, "of gold, and of various colours;" but He who loved
her
beauty,
knew her to be also beautiful within. What are those inward charms?
Those
of conscience. It is there Christ sees; it is there Christ loves her: it is
there
He
addresses her, there punishes, there crowns. Let then your alms be done in
secret;
for "all the glory of her, the King's daughter, is from within."
"With fringes
of
gold, clothed with various colours" (ver. 14). Her beauty is from within;
yet in
the
"fringes of gold" is the diversity of languages: the beauty of
doctrine. What do
these
avail, if them be not that beauty "from within"? "The virgins
shall be brought
unto
the King after her." It has been fulfilled indeed. The Church has
believed; the
Church
has been formed throughout all nations. And to what a degree do virgins
now
seek to find favour in the eyes of that King! Whence are they moved to do
so?
Even because the Church preceded them. "The virgins shall be brought unto
the
King after her. Her near kinswomen shall be brought unto You." For they
that
are
brought unto Him are not strangers, but her "near kinswomen," that
belong to
her.
And because he had said, "unto the King," he says, turning the
discourse to
Him,
"her near kinswomen shall be brought unto You."
28.
"With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought and shall be led into
the
Temple
of the King" (ver. 15). The "Temple of the King" is the Church
itself: it is
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the
Church itself that enters into "the Temple of the King." Whereof is
that Temple
constructed?
Of the men who enter the Temple? Who but God's "faithful" ones are
its
"living stones"? 1 Peter 2:4 "They shall be led into the Temple
of the King."
For
there are virgins without the Temple of the King, the nuns among the heretics:
they
are virgins, it is true; but what will that profit them, unless they be led
into the
"Temple
of the King"? The "Temple of the King" is in unity: the
"Temple of the
King"
is not ruinous, is not rent asunder, is not divided. The cement of those living
stones
is "charity."
29.
"Instead of your fathers, children are born to you" (ver. 16).
Nothing can be
more
manifest. Now consider the "Temple of the King" itself, for it is on
its behalf
he
speaks, on account of the unity of the body that is spread throughout all the
world:
for those very persons who have chosen to be virgins, cannot find favour
with
the King unless they be led into the Temple of the King. "Instead of your
fathers,
are your children born to you." It was the Apostles begat you: they were
"sent:"
they were the preachers: they are "the fathers." But was it possible
for them
to
be with us in the body for ever? Although one of them said, "I desire to
depart,
and
to be with Christ, which is far better: to abide in the flesh is necessary for
your
sakes."
It is true he said this, but how long was it possible for him to remain here?
Could
it be till this present time, could it be to all futurity? Is the Church then
left
desolate
by their departure? God forbid. "Instead of your fathers, children have
been
born to you." What is that? The Apostles were sent to you as
"fathers,"
instead
of the Apostles sons have been born to you: there have been appointed
Bishops.
For in the present day, whence do the Bishops, throughout all the world,
derive
their origin? The Church itself calls them fathers; the Church itself brought
them
forth, and placed them on the thrones of "the fathers." Think not
yourself
abandoned
then, because you see not Peter, nor seest Paul: seest not those through
whom
thou were born. Out of your own offspring has a body of "fathers" been
raised
up to you. "Instead of your fathers, have children been born to you."
Observe
how widely diffused is the "Temple of the King," that "the
virgins that
are
not led to the Temple of the King," may know that they have nothing to do
with
that marriage. "You shall make them princes over all the earth." This
is the
Universal
Church: her children have been made "princes over all the earth:" her
children
have been appointed instead of the "fathers." Let those who are cut
off
own
the truth of this, let them come to the One Body: let them be led into the
Temple
of the King. God has established His Temple everywhere: has laid
everywhere
"the foundations of the Prophets and Apostles." Ephesians 2:20 The
Church
has brought "forth sons;" has made them "instead of her
fathers" to be
"princes
over all the earth."
30.
"They shall be mindful of your name in every generation and generation;
therefore
shall the peoples confess unto You" (ver. 17). What does it profit then to
"confess"
indeed and yet to confess out of "the Temple"? What does it profit to
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pray,
and yet not to pray on the Mount? "I cried," says he, "unto the
Lord with my
voice:
and He heard me out of His holy hill." Out of what "hill"? Out
of that of
which
it is said, "A city set upon a hill cannot be hid." Matthew 5:14 Of
what
"hill"?
Out of that hill which Daniel saw "grow out of a small stone, and break
all
the
kingdoms of the earth; and cover all the face of the earth." Daniel
2:34-35
There
let him pray, who hopes to receive: there let him ask, who would have his
prayer
heard: there let him confess, who wishes to be pardoned. "Therefore shall
the
peoples confess unto you for ever, world without end." For in that eternal
life it
is
true indeed there will no longer be the mourning over sins: but yet in the
praises
of
God by that everlasting City which is above, there will not be wanting a
perpetual
confession of the greatness of that happiness. For to that City itself, to
which
another Psalm sings, "Glorious things are spoken of you, O City of
God," to
her
who is the very Bride of Christ, the very Queen, a "King's daughter, and a
King's
consort;"...the peoples shall for this very cause confess even to herself;
the
hearts
of all, now enlightened by perfect charity, being laid bare, and made
manifest,
that she may know the whole of herself most completely, who here is, in
many
parts of her, unknown to herself....
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Exposition
on Psalm 46
1.
It is called, "A Psalm, to the end, for the sons of Korah, for things
secret."
Secret
is it then; but He Himself, who in the place of Calvary was crucified, you
know,
has rent the veil, Matthew 27:51 that the secrets of the temple might be
discovered.
Furthermore since the Cross of our Lord was a key, whereby things
closed
might be opened; let us trust that He will be with us, that these secrets may
be
revealed. What is said, "To the end," always ought to be understood
of Christ.
For
"Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that
believes."
Romans
10:4 But The End He is called, not because He consumes, but because He
perfects.
For ended call we the food which is eaten, and ended the coat which is
woven,
the former to consumption, the latter to perfection. Because then we have
not
where to go farther when we have come to Christ, Himself is called the end of
our
course. Nor ought we to think, that when we have come to Him, we ought to
strive
any further to come also to the Father. For this thought Philip also, when he
said
to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it suffices us." When he said,
"It
suffices
us," he sought the end of satisfaction and perfection. Then said He,
"Have
I
been so long time with you, and have you not known Me, Philip: he that has seen
Me,
has seen the Father." John 14:8-9 In Him then have we the Father, because
He
is
in the Father, and the Father in Him, and He and His Father are One.
2.
"Our God is a refuge and strength" (ver. 1). There are some refuges
wherein is
no
strength, whereto when any flees, he is more weakened than strengthened.
Thou
fleest, for example, to some one greater in the world, that you may make
yourself
a powerful friend; this seems to you a refuge. Yet so great are this world's
uncertainties,
and so frequent grow the ruins of the powerful day by day, that
when
to such refuge you have come, you begin to fear more than ever
therein
.... Our refuge is not such, but our refuge is strength. When thither we have
fled,
we shall be firm.
3.
"A helper in tribulations, which find us out too much." Tribulations
are many,
and
in every tribulation unto God must we flee; whether it be a tribulation in our
estate,
or in our body's health, or about the peril of those dearest to us, or any
other
thing
necessary to the sustaining of this life, refuge ought there to be none at all
to
a
Christian man, other than his Saviour, other than his God, to whom when he has
fled,
he is strong. For he will not in himself be strong, nor will he to himself be
strength,
but He will be his strength, who has become his refuge. But, dearly
beloved,
among all tribulations of the human soul is no greater tribulation than the
consciousness
of sin. For if there be no wound herein, and that be sound within
man
which is called conscience, wherever else he may suffer tribulation, thither
will
he flee, and there find God .... You see, dearly beloved, when trees are cut
down
and proved by the carpenters, sometimes in the surface they seem as though
injured
and rotten; but the carpenter looks into the inner marrow as it were of the
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tree,
and if within he find the wood sound, he promises that it will last in a
building;
nor will he be very anxious about the injured surface, when that which is
within
he declares sound. Furthermore, to man anything more inward than
conscience
is not found; what then profits it, if what is without is sound, and the
marrow
of conscience has become rotton? These are close and vehement
overmuch,
and as this Psalm says, too great tribulations; yet even in these the Lord
has
become a helper by forgiving sin. For the consciences of the ungodly hates
nothing
save indulgence; for if one says he has great tribulations, being a
confessed
debtor to the treasury, when he beholds the narrowness of his estate, and
sees
that he cannot be solvent; if on account of the distrainers every year hanging
over
him, he says that he suffers great tribulations, and does not breathe freely
except
in hope of indulgence, and that in things earthly; how much more the
debtor
of penalties out of the abundance of sins: when shall he pay what he owes
out
of his evil conscience, when if he pay, he perishes? For to pay this debt, is
to
undergo
the penalties. Remains then that of His indulgence, we may be secure, yet
so
that, indulgence received, we return not again to contract debts....
4.
Now then, such security received, what say they? "Therefore will not we
fear,
when
the earth shall be confounded" (ver. 2). Just before anxious, suddenly
secure;
out
of too great tribulations set in great tranquillity. For in them Christ was
sleeping,
therefore were they tossed: Christ awoke (as but now we heard out of the
Gospel),
He commanded the winds, and they were still. Matthew 8:24-26 Since
Christ
is in each man's heart by faith, it is signified to us, that his heart as a
ship in
this
world's tempest is tossed, who forgets his faith: as though Christ sleeping it
is
tossed,
but Christ awaking comes tranquillity. Nay, the Lord Himself, what said
He?
"Where is your faith?" Luke 8:25 Christ aroused, aroused up faith,
that what
had
been done in the ship, might be done in their hearts. "A helper in
tribulations,
which
found us out too much." He caused that therein should be great
tranquillity.
5.
See what tranquillity: "Therefore will not we fear when the earth shall be
confounded,
and the mountains shall be carried into the heart of the sea." Then we
shall
find not fear. Let us seek mountains carried, and if we can find, it is
manifest
that
this is our security. The Lord truly said to His disciples, "If you have
faith as a
grain
of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Be Thou removed, and be
Thou
cast into the sea, and it shall be done." Haply "to this
mountain," He said of
Himself;
for He is called a Mountain: "It shall come to pass in the last days, that
the
mountain of the Lord shall be manifest." Isaiah 2:2 But this Mountain is
placed
above
other mountains; because the Apostles also are mountains, supporting this
Mountain.
Therefore follows, "In the last days the Mountain of the Lord shall be
manifest,
established in the top of the mountains." Therefore passes It the tops of
all
mountains, and on the top of all mountains is It placed; because the mountains
are
preaching The Mountain. But the sea signifies this world, in comparison of
which
sea, like earth seemed the nation of the Jews. For it was not covered over
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with
the bitterness of idolatry, but, like dry land, was surrounded with the
bitterness
of the Gentiles as with sea. It was to be, that the earth be confounded,
that
is, that nation of the Jews; and that the mountains be carried into the heart
of
the
sea, that is, first that great Mountain established in the top of the
mountains.
For
He deserted the nation of the Jews, and came among the Gentiles. He was
carried
from the earth into the sea. Who carrying Him? The Apostles, to whom He
had
said, "If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this
mountain,
Be thou removed, and be you cast into the sea, and it shall be done:"
that
is, through your most faithful preaching it shall come to pass, that this
mountain,
that is, I Myself, be preached among the Gentiles, be glorified among
the
Gentiles, be acknowledged among the Gentiles, and that be fulfilled which was
predicted
of Me, "A people whom I have not known shall serve Me."...
6.
"The waters thereof roared, and were troubled" (ver. 3): when the
Gospel was
preached,
"What is this? He seems to be a setter forth of strange gods:" Acts
17:18
this
the Athenians; but the Ephesians, with what tumult would they have slain the
Apostles,
when in the theatre, for their goddess Diana, they made such an uproar,
as
to be shouting, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!" Acts 19:34 Amidst
which
waves
and roaring of the sea, feared not they who to that refuge had fled. Nay, the
Apostle
Paul would enter in to the theatre, and was kept back by the disciples,
because
it was necessary that he should still abide in the flesh for their sakes. But
yet,
"the waters thereof roared, and were troubled: the mountains shook at the
mightiness
thereof." Whose might? The sea's? or rather God's, of whom was said,
"refuge
and strength, a helper in tribulations, which have found us out too much?"
For
shaken were the mountains, that is, the powers of this world. For one thing are
the
mountains of God, another the mountains of the world: the mountains of the
world,
they whose head is the devil, the mountains of God, they whose Head is
Christ.
But by these mountains were shaken those mountains. Then gave they their
voices
against Christians, when the mountains were shaken, the waters roaring; for
the
mountains were shaken, and there was made a great earthquake, with quaking
of
the sea. But against whom this? Against the City founded upon a rock. The
waters
roar, the mountains shake, the Gospel being preached. What then, the City
of
God? Hear what follows.
7.
"The streams of the river make glad the City of God" (ver. 4). When
the
mountains
shake, when the sea rages, God deserts not His City, by the streams of
the
river. What are these streams of the river? That overflowing of the Holy
Spirit,
of
which the Lord said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.
He
that
believes in Me, out of his bosom shall flow rivers of living water." John
7:37-
38
These rivers then flowed out of the bosom of Paul, Peter, John, the other
Apostles,
the other faithful Evangelists. Since these rivers flowed from one river,
many
"streams of the river make glad the City of God." For that you might
know
this
to be said of the Holy Spirit, in the same Gospel next said the Evangelist,
"But
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this
spoke He of the Spirit, which they that were to believe in Him should receive.
For
the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet
glorified."
John
7:39 Jesus being glorified after His Resurrection, glorified after His
Ascension,
on the day of Pentecost came the Holy Spirit, and filled the believers,
Acts
2:1-2 who spoke with tongues, and began to preach the Gospel to the
Gentiles.
Hence was the City of God made glad, while the sea was troubled by the
roaring
of its waters, while the mountains were confounded, asking what they
should
do, how drive out the new doctrine, how root out the race of Christians
from
the earth. Against whom? Against the streams of the river making glad the
City
of God. For thereby showed He of what river He spoke; that He signified the
Holy
Spirit, by "the streams of the river make glad the City of God." And
what
follows?
"The Most High has sanctified His tabernacle:" since then there
follows
the
mention of Sanctification, it is manifest that these streams of the river are
to be
understood
of the Holy Spirit, by whom is sanctified every godly soul believing in
Christ,
that it may be made a citizen of the City of God.
8.
"God is in the midst of her: she shall not be moved" (ver. 5). Let
the sea rage,
the
mountains shake; "God is in the midst of her: she shall not be
moved." What
is,
"in the midst of her"? That God stands in any one place, and they
surround Him
who
believe in Him? Then is God circumscribed by place; and broad that which
surrounds,
narrow that which is surrounded? God forbid. No such thing imagine of
God,
who is contained in no place, whose seat is the conscience of the godly: and
so
is God's seat in the hearts of men, that if man fall from God, God in Himself
abides,
not falls like one not finding where to be. For rather does He lift up you,
that
you may be in Him, than so lean upon you, as if thou withdraw yourself, to
fall.
Himself if He withdraw, fall will you: yourself if thou withdraw, fall will not
He.
What then is, "God is in the midst of her"? It signifies that God is
equal to all,
and
accepts not persons. For as that which is in the middle has equal distances to
all
the boundaries, so God is said to be in the middle, because He consults equally
for
all. "God is in the midst of her: she shall not be moved." Wherefore
shall she
not
be moved? Because God is in the midst of her. He is "the Helper in
tribulations
that
have found us out too much. God shall help her with His Countenance." What
is,
"with His Countenance"? With manifestation of Himself. How manifests
God
Himself,
so as that we see His Countenance? I have already told you; you have
learned
God's Presence; we have learned it through His works. When from Him
we
receive any help so that we cannot at all doubt that it was granted to us by
the
Lord,
then God's Countenance is with us.
9.
"The heathen are troubled" (ver. 6). And how troubled? why troubled?
To cast
down
the City of God, in the midst whereof is God? To overthrow the tabernacle
sanctified,
which God helps with His Countenance? No: with a wholesome trouble
are
the heathen now troubled. For what follows? "And the kingdoms are
bowed."
Bowed,
says He, are the kingdoms; not now erected that they may rage, but bowed
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that
they may adore. When were the kingdoms bowed? When that came to pass
which
was predicted in another Psalm, "All kings shall fall down before Him, all
nations
shall serve Him." What cause made the kingdoms to bow? Hear the cause.
"The
Most High gave His Voice, and the earth was moved." The fanatics of
idolatry,
like frogs in the marshes, clamoured, the more tumultuously, the more
sordidly,
in filth and mire. And what is the brawling of frogs to the thunder of the
clouds?
For out of them "the Most High gave His Voice, and the earth was
moved:"
He thundered out of His clouds. And what are His clouds? His Apostles,
His
preachers, by whom He thundered in precepts, lightened in miracles. The
same
are clouds who are also mountains: mountains for their height and firmness,
clouds
for their rain and fruitfulness. For these clouds watered the earth, of which
it
was said, "The Most High gave His Voice, and the earth was moved."
For it is of
those
clouds that He threatens a certain barren vineyard, whence the mountains
were
carried into the heart of the sea; "I will command," says He,
"the clouds that
they
rain no rain upon it." Isaiah 5:6 This was fulfilled in that which I have
mentioned,
when the mountains were carried into the heart of the sea; when it was
said,
"It was necessary that the word of God should have been spoken first to
you;
but
seeing ye put it from you, we turn to the Gentiles;" Acts 13:46 then was
fulfilled,
"I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it." The nation
of
the
Jews has just so remained as a fleece dry upon the ground. For this, you know,
happened
in a certain miracle, the ground was dry, the fleece only was wet, yet
rain
in the fleece appeared not. Judges 6:36-40 So also the mystery of the New
Testament
appeared not in the nation of the Jews. What there was the fleece, is
here
the veil. For in the fleece was veiled the mystery. But on the ground, in all
the
nations
open lies Christ's Gospel; the rain is manifest, the Grace of Christ is bare,
for
it is not covered with a veil. But that the rain might come out of it, the
fleece
was
pressed. For by pressure they from themselves excluded Christ, and the Lord
now
from His clouds rains on the ground, the fleece has remained dry. But of them
then
"the Most High gave His Voice," out of those clouds; by which Voice
the
kingdoms
were bowed and worshipped.
10.
"The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our taker up"
(ver. 7). Not
any
man, not any power, not, in short, Angel, or any creature either earthly or
heavenly,
but "the Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our taker up."
He
who
sent Angels, came after Angels, came that Angels might serve Him, came that
men
He might make equal to Angels. Mighty Grace! If God be for us, who can be
against
us? "The Lord of Hosts is with us." What Lord of Hosts is with us?
"If" (I
say)
"God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but
delivered
Him up for us all; how has He not with Him also freely given us all
things."
Romans 8:31-32 Therefore be we secure, in tranquillity of heart nourish
we
a good conscience with the Bread of the Lord. "The Lord of Hosts is with
us;
the
God of Jacob is our taker up." However great be your infirmity, see who
takes
you
up. One is sick, a physician is called to him. His own taken-up, the Physician
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calls
the sick man. Who has taken him up? Even He. A great hope of salvation; a
great
Physician has taken him up. What Physician? Every Physician save He is
man:
every Physician who comes to a sick man, another day can be made sick,
beside
Him. "The God of Jacob is our taker up." Make yourself altogether as
a
little
child, such as are taken up by their parents. For those not taken up, are
exposed;
those taken up are nursed. Do you think God has so taken you up, as
when
an infant your mother took you up? Not so, but to eternity. For your voice is
in
that Psalm, "My father and my mother forsake me, but the Lord has taken me
up."
11.
"Come and see the works of the Lord" (ver. 8). Now of this taking up,
what
has
the Lord done? Consider the whole world, come and see. For if you come not,
you
see not; if you see not, you believe not; if you believe not, you stand afar
off:
if
you believed, you come; if you believed, you see. For how came we to that
mountain?
Not on foot? Is it by ship? Is it on the wing? Is it on horses? For all that
pertain
to space and place, be not concerned, trouble not yourself, He comes to
you.
For out of a small stone He has grown, and become a great mountain, so that
He
has filled all the face of the earth. Why then would you by land come to Him,
who
fills all lands? Lo, He has already come: watch thou. By growing He wakes
even
sleepers; if yet there is not in them so deep sleep, as that they be hardened
even
against the mountain coming; but they hear, "Awake, you that sleepest, and
arise
from the dead, and Christ shall give you light." Ephesians 5:14 For it was
a
great
thing for the Jews to see the stone. For the stone was yet small: and small
they
deservedly despised it, and despising they stumbled, and stumbling they were
broken;
remains that they be ground to powder. For so was it said of the stone,
"Whosoever
shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall
fall,
it will grind him to powder." Luke 20:18 It is one thing to be broken,
another
to
be ground to powder. To be broken is less than to be ground to powder: but
none
grinds He coming exalted, save whom He broke lying low. For now before
His
coming He lay low before the Jews, and they stumbled at Him, and were
broken;
hereafter shall He come in His Judgment, glorious and exalted, great and
powerful,
not weak to be judged, but strong to judge, and grind to powder those
who
were broken stumbling at Him. For "A stone of stumbling and a rock of
offence,"
1 Peter 2:8 is He to them that believe not. Therefore, brethren, no
wonder
if the Jews acknowledged not Him, whom as a small stone lying before
their
feet they despised. They are to be wondered at, who even now so great a
mountain
will not acknowledge. The Jews at a small stone by not seeing stumbled;
the
heretics stumble at a mountain. For now that stone has grown, now say we
unto
them, Lo, now is fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel, "The stone that was
small
became
a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." Daniel 2:35 Wherefore
stumble
ye at Him, and go not rather up to Him? Who is so blind as to stumble at a
mountain?
Came He to you that you should have whereat to stumble, and not have
whereto
to go up? "Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord."
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Isaiah
2:3 Isaiah says this: "Come ye, and let us go up." What is,
"Come ye, and
let
us go up"? "Come ye," is, Believe ye. "Let us go up,"
is, Let us profit. But they
will
neither come, nor go up, nor believe, nor profit. They bark against the
mountain.
Even now by so often stumbling on Him they are broken, and will not
go
up, choosing always to stumble. Say we to them, "Come ye, and see the
works
of
the Lord:" what "prodigies He has set forth through the earth."
Prodigies are
called,
because they portend something, those signs of miracles which were done
when
the world believed. And what thereafter came to pass, and what did they
portend?
12.
"He makes wars to cease unto the end of the earth" (ver. 9). This not
yet see
we
fulfilled: yet are there wars, wars among nations for sovereignty; among sects,
among
Jews, Pagans, Christians, heretics, are wars, frequent wars, some for the
truth,
some for falsehood contending. Not yet then is this fulfilled, "He makes
wars
to cease unto the end of the earth;" but haply it shall be fulfilled. Or
is it now
also
fulfilled? In some it is fulfilled; in the wheat it is fulfilled, in the tares
it is not
yet
fulfilled. What is this then, "He makes wars to cease unto the end of the
earth"?
Wars He calls whereby it is warred against God. But who wars against
God?
Ungodliness. And what to God can ungodliness do? Nothing. What does an
earthen
vessel dashed against the rock, however vehemently dashed? With so
much
greater harm to itself it comes, with how much the greater force it comes.
These
wars were great, frequent were they. Against God fought ungodliness, and
earthen
vessels were dashed in pieces, even men by presuming on themselves, by
too
much prevailing by their own strength. This is that, the shield whereof Job
also
named
concerning one ungodly. "He runs against God, upon the stiff neck of his
shield."
Job 15:26 What is, "upon the stiff neck of his shield"? Presuming too
much
upon his own protection. Were they such who said, "God is our refuge and
strength,
a Helper in tribulations which have found us out too much"? or in
another
Psalm, "For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save
me."
When
one learns that in himself he is nothing, and help in himself has none, arms
in
him are broken in pieces, wars are made to cease. Such wars then destroyed that
Voice
of the Most High out of His holy clouds, whereby the earth was moved, and
the
kingdoms were bowed. These wars has He made to cease unto the end of the
earth.
"He shall break the bow, and dash in pieces the arms, and burn the shield
with
fire." Bow, arms, shield, fire. The bow is plots; arms, public warfare;
shields,
vain
presuming of self-protection: the fire wherewith they are burned, is that
whereof
the Lord said, "I have come to send fire on the earth;" Luke 12:49 of
which
fire says the Psalm, "There is nothing hid from the heat thereof."
This fire
burning,
no arms of ungodliness shall remain in us, needs must all be broken,
dashed
in pieces, burned. Remain thou unharmed, not having any help of your
own;
and the more weak you are, having no arms your own, the more He takes
you
up, of whom it is said, "The God of Jacob is our taker up."...But
when God
takes
us up, does He send us away unarmed? He arms us, but with other arms,
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arms
Evangelical, arms of truth, continence, salvation, faith, hope, charity. These
arms
shall we have, but not of ourselves: but the arms which of ourselves we had,
are
burnt up: yet if by that fire of the Holy Spirit we are kindled, whereof it is
said,
"He
shall burn the shields with fire;" you, who wished to be powerful in
yourself,
has
God made weak, that He may make you strong in Him, because in yourself
you
were made weak.
13.
What then follows? "Be still." To what purpose? "And see that I
am God" (ver.
10).
That is, Not ye, but I am God. I created, I create anew; I formed, I form anew;
I
made, I make anew. If you could not make yourself, how can you make yourself
anew?
This sees not the contentious tumult of man's soul; to which contentious
tumult
is it said, "Be still." That is, restrain your souls from
contradiction. Do not
argue,
and, as it were, arm against God. Else yet live your arms, not yet burned up
with
fire. But if they are burned, "Be still;" because you have not
wherewith to
fight.
But if you be still in yourselves, and from Me seek all, who before presumed
on
yourselves, then shall you "see that I am God." "I will be
exalted among the
heathen,
I will be exalted in the earth." Just before I said, by the name of earth
is
signified
the nation of the Jews, by the name of sea the other nations. The
mountains
were carried into the heart of the sea; the nations are troubled, the
kingdoms
are bowed; the Most High gave His Voice, and the earth was moved.
"The
Lord of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our taker up" (ver. 11).
Miracles
are done among the heathen, full filled is the faith of the heathen; burned
are
the arms of human presumption. Still are they, in tranquillity of heart, to
acknowledge
God the Author of all their gifts. And after this glorifying, does He
yet
desert the people of the Jews? of which says the Apostle, "I say unto you,
lest
ye
should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened unto
Israel,
until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." Romans 11:25 That is, until
the
mountains be carried hither, the clouds rain here, the Lord here bows the
kingdoms
with His thunder, "until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." And
what
thereafter? "And so all Israel shall be saved." Therefore, here too
observing
the
same order, "I will be exalted" (says He) "among the heathen, I
will be exalted
in
the earth;" that is, both in the sea, and in the earth, that now might all
say what
follows:
"the God of Jacob is our taker up."
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Exposition
on Psalm 47
1.
The title of the Psalm goes thus. "To the end: for the sons of Korah: a
Psalm of
David
himself." These sons of Korah have the title also of some other Psalms,
and
indicate
a sweet mystery, insinuate a great Sacrament: wherein let us willingly
understand
ourselves, and let us acknowledge in the title us who hear, and read,
and
as in a glass set before us behold who we are. The sons of Korah, who are
they?
... Haply the sons of the Bridegroom. For the Bridegroom was crucified in
the
place of Calvary. Recollect the Gospel, Matthew 27:33 where they crucified
the
Lord, and you will find Him crucified in the place of Calvary. Furthermore,
they
who deride His Cross, by devils, as by beasts, are devoured. For this also a
certain
Scripture signified. When God's Prophet Elisha was going up, children
called
after him mocking, "Go up thou bald head, Go up thou bald head:" but
he,
not
so much in cruelty as in mystery, made those children to be devoured by bears
out
of the wood. 2 Kings 2:23-24 If those children had not been devoured, would
they
have lived even till now? Or could they not, being born mortal, have been
taken
off by a fever? But so in them had no mystery been shown, whereby
posterity
might be put in fear. Let none then mock the Cross of Christ. The Jews
were
possessed by devils, and devoured; for in the place of Calvary, crucifying
Christ,
and lifting on the Cross, they said as it were with childish sense, not
understanding
what they said, "Go up, thou bald head." For what is, "Go
up"?
"Crucify
Him, Crucify Him." Luke 23:21 For childhood is set before us to imitate
humility,
and childhood is set before us to beware of foolishness. To imitate
humility,
childhood was set before us by the Lord, when He called children to
Him,
Matthew 18:2 and because they were kept from Him, He said, "Suffer them
to
come unto Me, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." Matthew 19:14 The
example
of childhood is set before us to beware of foolishness by the Apostle,
"Brethren,
be not children in understanding:" and again he proposes it to imitate,
"Howbeit
in malice be ye children, that in understanding ye may be men."
1
Corinthians 14:20 "For the sons of Korah" the Psalm is sung; for
Christians then
is
it sung. Let us hear it as sons of the Bridegroom, whom senseless children
crucified
in the place of Calvary. For they earned to be devoured by beasts; we to
be
crowned by Angels. For we acknowledge the humility of our Lord, and of it are
not
ashamed. We are not ashamed of Him called in mystery "the bald"
(Calvus),
from
the place of Calvary. For on the very Cross whereon He was insulted, He
permitted
not our forehead to be bald; for with His own Cross He marked it.
Finally,
that you may know that these things are said to us, see what is said.
2.
"O clap your hands, all you nations" (ver. 1). Were the people of the
Jews all the
nations?
No, but blindness in part is happened to Israel, that senseless children
might
cry, "Calve," "Calve;" and so the Lord might be crucified
in the place of
Calvary,
that by His Blood shed He might redeem the Gentiles, and that might be
fulfilled
which says the Apostle, "Blindness in part is happened unto Israel, until
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287
the
fulness of the Gentiles be come in." Romans 11:25 Let them insult, then,
the
vain,
and foolish, and senseless, and say, "Calve," "Calve;" but
ye redeemed by
His
Blood which was shed in the place of Calvary, say, "O clap your hands, all
you
nations;" because to you has come down the Grace of God. "O clap your
hands."
What is "O clap"? Rejoice. But wherefore with the hands? Because with
good
works. Do not rejoice with the mouth while idle with the hands. If you
rejoice,
"clap your hands." The hands of the nations let Him see, who joys has
deigned
to give them. What is, the hands of the nations? The acts of them doing
good
works. "O clap your hands, all you nations: shout unto God with the voice
of
triumph."
Both with voice and with hands. If with the voice only it is not well,
because
the hands are slow; if only with the hands it is not well, because the
tongue
is mute. Agree together must the hands and tongue. Let this confess, these
work.
"Shout unto God with the voice of triumph."
3.
"For the Lord Most High is terrible" (ver. 2). The Most High in
descending
made
like one ludicrous, by ascending into Heaven is made terrible. "A great
King
over
all the earth." Not only over the Jews; for over them also He is King. For
of
them
also the Apostles believed and of them many thousands of men sold their
goods,
and laid the price at the Apostles' feet, Acts 4:34 and in them was fulfilled
what
in the title of the Cross was written, "The King of the Jews."
Matthew 27:37
For
He is King also of the Jews. But "of the Jews" is little. "O
clap your hands, all
you
nations: for God is the King of all the earth." For it suffices not Him to
have
under
Him one nation: therefore such great price gave He out of His side, as to
buy
the whole world.
4.
"He has subdued the people under us, and the nations under our feet"
(ver. 3).
Which
subdued, and to whom? Who are they that speak? Haply Jews? Surely, if
Apostles;
surely, if Saints. For under these God has subdued the people and the
nations,
that today are they honoured among the nations, who by their own
citizens
earned to be slain: as their Lord was slain by His citizens, and is honoured
among
the nations; was crucified by His own, is adored by aliens, but those by a
price
made His own. For therefore bought He us, that aliens from Him we might
not
be. Do you think then these are the words of Apostles, "He has subdued the
people
under us, and the nations under our feet"? I know not. Strange that
Apostles
should speak so proudly, as to rejoice that the nations were put under
their
feet, that is, Christians under the feet of Apostles. For they rejoice that we
are
with
them under the feet of Him who died for us. For under Paul's feet ran they,
who
would be of Paul, to whom He said, "Was Paul crucified for you?"
1
Corinthians 1:13 What then here, what are we to understand? "He has
subdued
the
people under us, and the nations under our feet." All pertaining to
Christ's
inheritance
are among "all the nations," and all not pertaining to Christ's
inheritance
are among "all the nations:" and you see so exalted in Christ's Name
is
Christ's
Church, that all not yet believing in Christ lie under the feet of Christians.
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288
For
what numbers now run to the Church; not yet being Christians, they ask aid of
the
Church; to be succoured by us temporally they are willing, though eternally to
reign
with us as yet they are unwilling. When all seek aid of the Church, even they
who
are not yet in the Church, has He not "subdued the people under us, and
the
nations
under our feet"?
5.
"He has chosen an inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob, whom He
loved"
(ver.
4). A certain beauty of Jacob He has chosen for our inheritance. Esau and
Jacob
were two brothers; in their mother's womb both struggled, and by this
struggle
their mother's bowels were shaken; and while they two were yet therein,
the
younger was elected and preferred to the elder, and it was said, "Two
peoples
are
in your womb, and the elder shall serve the younger." Genesis 25:23 Among
all
nations is the elder, among all nations the younger; but the younger is in good
Christians,
elect, godly, faithful; the elder in the proud, unworthy, sinful, stubborn,
defending
rather than confessing their sins: as was also the very people of the
Jews,
"being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their
own
righteousness." Romans 10:3 But for that it is said, "The elder shall
serve the
younger;"
it is manifest that under the godly are subdued the ungodly, under the
humble
are subdued the proud. Esau was born first, and Jacob was born last; but
he
who was last born, was preferred to the first-born, who through gluttony lost
his
birthright.
So you have it written, Genesis 25:30-34 He longed for the pottage, and
his
brother said to him, If you will that I give it you, give me your birthright.
He
loved
more that which carnally he desired, than that which spiritually by being
born
first he had earned: and he laid aside his birthright, that he might eat
lentils.
But
lentils we find to be the food of the Egyptians, for there it abounds in Egypt.
Whence
is so magnified the lentil of Alexandria, that it comes even to our country,
as
if here grew no lentil. Therefore by desiring Egyptian food he lost his
birthright.
So
also the people of the Jews, of whom it is said, "in their hearts they
turned back
again
into Egypt." Acts 7:39 They desired in a manner the lentil, and lost their
birthright.
6.
"God is gone up with jubilation" (ver. 5). Even He our God, the Lord
Christ, is
gone
up with jubilation; "the Lord with the sound of a trumpet." "Is
gone up:"
whither,
save where we know? Whither the Jews followed Him not, even with
their
eyes. For exalted on the Cross they mocked Him, ascending into Heaven they
did
not see Him. "God has gone up with jubilation." What is jubilation,
but
admiration
of joy which cannot be expressed in words? As the disciples in joy
admired,
seeing Him go into Heaven, whom they had mourned dead; truly for the
joy,
words sufficed not: remained to jubilate what none could express. There was
also
the voice of the trumpet, the voice of Angels. For it is said, "Lift up
your
voice
like a trumpet." Angels preached the ascension of the Lord: they saw the
Disciples,
their Lord ascending, tarrying, admiring, confounded, nothing speaking,
but
in heart jubilant: and now was the sound of the trumpet in the clear voice of
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the
Angels, "You men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into Heaven? this is
Jesus."
Acts 1:11 As if they knew not that it was the same Jesus. Had they not just
before
seen Him before them? Had they not heard Him speaking with them? Nay,
they
not only saw the figure of Him present, but handled also His limbs. Of
themselves
then knew they not, that it was the same Jesus? But they being by very
admiration,
from joy of jubilation, as it were transported in mind, the Angels said,
"that
same is Jesus." As though they said, If you believe Him, this is that same
Jesus,
whom crucified, your feet stumbled, whom dead and buried, you thought
your
hope lost. Lo, this is the same Jesus. He has gone up before you, "He
shall so
come
in like manner as you have seen Him go into Heaven." His Body is removed
indeed
from your eyes, but God is not separated from your hearts: see Him going
up,
believe in Him absent, hope for Him coming; but yet through His secret
Mercy,
feel Him present. For He who ascended into Heaven that He might be
removed
from your eyes, promised unto you, saying, "Lo, I am with you always,
even
unto the end of the world." Matthew 28:20 Justly then the Apostle so
addressed
us, "The Lord is at hand; be careful for nothing." Philippians 4:5-6
Christ
sits above the Heavens; the Heavens are far off, He who there sits is near....
7.
"Sing praises to our God, sing praises" (ver. 6). Whom as Man mocked
they,
who
from God were alienated. "Sing praises to our God." For He is not Man
only,
but
God. Man of the seed of David, Romans 1:3 God the Lord of David, of the
Jews
having flesh. "Whose" (says the Apostle) "are the fathers, of
whom as
concerning
the flesh Christ came." Romans 9:5 Of the Jews then is Christ, but
according
to the flesh. But who is this Christ who is of the Jews according to the
flesh?
"Who is over all, God blessed for ever." God before the flesh, God in
the
flesh,
God with the flesh. Nor only God before the flesh, but God before the earth
whence
flesh was made; nor only God before the earth whereof flesh was made,
but
even God before the Heaven which was first made; God before the day which
was
first made; God before Angels; the same Christ is God: for "In the
beginning
was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1
8.
"For God is the King of all the earth" (ver. 7). What? And before was
He not
God
of all the earth? Is He not God of both heaven and earth, since by Him surely
were
all things made? Who can say that He is not his God? But not all men
acknowledged
Him their God; and where He was acknowledged, there only, so to
say,
He was God. "In Judah is God known." Not yet was it said to the sons
of
Korah,
"O clap your hands, all you nations." For that God known in Judah, is
King
of
all the earth: now by all He is acknowledged, for that is fulfilled which
Isaiah
says,
"He is your God who has delivered you, the God of the whole earth shall He
be
called." Isaiah 54:5 "Sing ye praises with understanding." He
teaches us and
warns
us to sing praises with understanding, not to seek the sound of the ear, but
the
light of the heart. The Gentiles, whence ye were called that you might be
Christians,
adored gods made with hands, and sang praises to them, but not with
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290
understanding.
If they had sung with understanding, they had not adored stones.
When
a man sensible sang to a stone insensible, did he sing with understanding?
But
now, brethren, we see not with our eyes Whom we adore, and yet correctly we
adore.
Much more is God commended to us, that with our eyes we see Him not. If
with
our eyes we saw Him, haply we might despise. For even Christ seen, the Jews
despised;
unseen, the Gentiles adored.
9.
"God shall reign over all nations" (ver. 8). Who reigned over one
nation, "shall
reign"
(says He) "over all nations." When this was said, God reigned over
one
nation.
It was a prophecy, the thing was not yet shown. Thanks be to God, we now
see
fulfilled what before was prophesied. A written promise God sent unto us
before
the time, the time fulfilled He has repaid us. "God shall reign over all
nations,"
is a promise. "God sits upon His Holy Seat." What then was promised
to
come,
now being fulfilled, is acknowledged and held. "God sits upon His Holy
Seat."
What is His Holy Seat? Haply says one, The Heavens, and he understands
well.
For Christ has gone up, Acts 1:2 as we know, with the Body, wherein He
was
crucified, and sits at the right hand of the Father; thence we expect Him to
come
to judge the quick and the dead. 2 Timothy 4:1 "God sits upon His Holy
Seat."
The Heavens are His Holy Seat. Will you also be His Seat? think not that
you
can not be; prepare for Him a place in your heart. He comes, and willingly
sits.
The same Christ is surely "the Power of God, and the Wisdom of God:"
1
Corinthians 1:24 and what says the Scripture of Wisdom Herself? The soul of
the
righteous is the seat of Wisdom. Wisdom 7:27 If then the soul of the righteous
is
the seat of Wisdom, be your soul righteous, and you shall be a royal seat of
Wisdom.
And truly, brethren, all men who live well, who act well, converse in
godly
charity, does not God sit in them, and Himself command? Your soul obeys
God
sitting in it, and itself commands the members. For your soul commands your
members,
that so may move the foot, the hand, the eye, the ear, and itself
commands
the members as its servants, but yet itself serves its Lord sitting within.
It
cannot well rule its inferior, unless its superior it have not disdained to
serve.
10.
"The princes of the peoples are gathered together unto the God of
Abraham"
(ver.
9). The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
Exodus
3:6 True it is, God said this, and thereupon the Jews prided themselves,
and
said, "We are Abraham's children;" John 8:33 priding themselves in
their
father's
name, carrying his flesh, not holding his faith; by seed cleaving to Him, in
manners
degenerating. But the Lord, what said He to them so priding themselves?
"If
you are Abraham's children, do the works of Abraham." John 8:39
Again...
"The princes of the peoples:" the princes of the nations: not the
princes of
one
people, but the princes of all people have "gathered together unto the God
of
Abraham."
Of these princes was that Centurion too, of whom but now when the
Gospel
was read ye heard. For he was a Centurion having honour and power
among
men, he was a prince among the princes of the peoples. Christ coming to
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291
him,
he sent his friends to meet Him, nay unto Christ truly passing over to him he
sent
his friends, and asked that He would heal his servant who was dangerously
sick.
And when the Lord would come, he sent to Him this message: "I am not
worthy
that You should enter under my roof, but say in a word only, and my
servant
shall be healed." "For I also am a man set under authority, having
under
me
soldiers." Luke 7:6-7 See how he kept his rank! first he mentioned that he
was
under
another, and afterwards that another was under him. I am under authority,
and
I am in authority; both under some I am, and over some I am.... As though he
said,
If I being set under authority command those who are under me, Thou who
art
set under no man's authority, canst not Thou command Your creature, since all
things
were made by You, and without You was nothing made. "Say," then, said
he,
"in a word, and my servant shall be healed. For I am not worthy that You
should
enter under my roof."... Admiring at his faith, Jesus reprobates the Jews'
misbelief.
For sound to themselves they seemed, whereas they were dangerously
sick,
when their Physician not knowing they slew. Therefore when He reprobated,
and
repudiated their pride what said he? "I say unto you, that many shall come
from
the east and west," not belonging to the kindred of Israel: many shall
come to
whom
He said, "O clap your hands, all you nations;" "and shall sit
down with
Abraham,
and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven." Abraham begat them
not
of his own flesh; yet shall they come and sit down with him in the kingdom of
heaven,
and be his sons. Whereby his sons? Not as born of his flesh, but by
following
his faith. "But the children of the kingdom," that is, the Jews,
"shall be
cast
into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Matthew
8:12 They shall be condemned to outer darkness who are born of the
flesh
of Abraham, and they shall sit down with him in the kingdom of heaven,
who
have imitated Abraham's faith.
11.
And what they who belonged to the God of Abraham? "For the mighty gods of
the
earth are greatly lifted up." They who were gods, the people of God, the
vineyard
of God, whereof it is said, "Judge between Me and My vineyard,"
Isaiah
5:3 shall go into outer darkness, shall not sit down with Abraham, and
Isaac,
and Jacob, are not gathered unto the God of Abraham. Wherefore? "For the
mighty
gods of the earth;" they who were mighty gods of the earth, presuming
upon
earth. What earth? Themselves; for every man is earth. For to man was it
said,
"Dust you are, and unto dust shall you return." Genesis 3:19 But man
ought
to
presume upon God, and thence to hope for help, not from himself. For the earth
rains
not upon itself, nor shines for itself; but as the earth from heaven expects
rain
and
light, so man from God ought to expect mercy and truth. They then, "the
mighty
gods of the earth, were greatly lifted up," that is, greatly prided
themselves:
they thought no physician necessary for themselves, and therefore
remained
in their sickness, and by their sickness were brought down even to death.
The
natural branches were broken off that the humble wild olive tree might be
grafted
in. Romans 11:17 Hold we fast then, brethren, humility, charity, godliness:
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since
we are called, on their proving reprobate, even by their example let us fear to
pride
ourselves.
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Psalm
48
293
Exposition
on Psalm 48
1.
The title of this Psalm is, "A song of praise, to the sons of Korah, on
the second
day
of the week." Concerning this what the Lord deigns to grant receive ye
like
sons
of the firmament. For on the second day of the week, that is, the day after the
first
which we call the Lord's day, which also is called the second week-day, was
made
the firmament of Heaven. Genesis 1:6-8 ... The second day of the week then
we
ought not to understand but of the Church of Christ: but the Church of Christ
in
the
Saints, the Church of Christ in those who are written in Heaven, the Church of
Christ
in those who to this world's temptations yield not. For they are worthy of
the
name of "firmament." The Church of Christ, then, in those who are
strong, of
whom
says the Apostle, "We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the
weak,"
Romans 15:1 is called the firmament. Of this it is sung in this Psalm. Let
us
hear, acknowledge, associate, glory, reign. For Her called firmament, hear also
in
the Apostolic Epistles, "the pillar and firmament of the truth." 1
Timothy 3:15...
2.
"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised" (ver. 1) .... That is,
"in the city of
our
God, in His holy mountain." This is the city set upon an hill, which
cannot be
hid:
this is the candle which is not hidden under a bushel, Matthew 5:14-15 to all
known,
to all proclaimed. Yet are not all men citizens thereof, but they in whom
"great
is the Lord, and greatly to be praised." What then is that city: let us
see
whether
perhaps, since it is said, "In the city of our God, in His holy
mountain,"
we
ought not to enquire for this mountain where also we may be heard.... What
then
is that mountain, brethren? One is it with great care to be enquired for, with
great
solicitude investigated, with labour also to be occupied and ascended. But if
in
any part of the earth it is, what shall we do? Shall we go abroad out of our
own
country,
that to that mountain we may arrive? Nay, then we are abroad, when in it
we
are not. For that is our city, if we are members of the King, who is the head
of
the
same city .... For there was a certain corner-stone contemptible, whereat the
Jews
stumbled, Romans 9:32 cut out of a certain mountain without hands, that is,
coming
of the kingdom of the Jews without hands, because human operation went
not
with Mary of whom was born Christ. Matthew 1:16 But if that stone, when the
Jews
stumbled thereat, had remained there, you had not had whither to ascend. But
what
was done? What says the prophecy of Daniel? What but that the stone grew,
and
became a great mountain? How great? So that it filled the whole face of the
earth.
Daniel 2:35 By growing, then, and by filling the whole face of the earth, that
mountain
came to us. Why then seek we the mountain as though absent, and not as
being
present ascend to it; that in us the Lord may be "great, and greatly to be
praised"?
3.
Further, ... when he had said, "in the city of our God, in His holy
mountain,"
what
added he? "Spreading abroad the joys of the whole earth, the mountains of
Sion"
(ver. 2). Sion is one mountain, why then "mountains"? Is it that to
Sion
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294
belonged
also those which came from the other side, so as to meet together on the
Corner
Stone, and become two walls, as it were two mountains, one of the
circumcision,
the other of the uncircumcision; one of the Jews, the other of the
Gentiles:
no longer adverse, although diverse, because from different sides, now in
the
corner not even diverse. "For He is our peace, who has made both
one."
Ephesians
2:14 The same Corner Stone "which the builders rejected, is become the
Head
Stone of the corner." The mountain has joined in itself two mountains; one
house
there is, and two houses; two, because coming from different sides; one,
because
of the Corner Stone, wherein both are joined together. Hear also this,
"the
mountains
of Sion: the sides of the North are the city of the great King."... See
the
Gentiles;
"the sides of the North:" the sides of the North are joined to the
city of
the
great King. The North is wont to be contrary to Sion: Sion forsooth is in the
South,
the North over against the South. Who is the North, but He who said, "I
will
sit in the sides of the North, I will be like the Most High"? Isaiah
14:13-14
The
devil had held dominion over the ungodly, and possessed the nations serving
images,
adoring demons; and all whatsoever there was of human kind anywhere
throughout
the world, by cleaving to Him, had become North. But since He who
binds
the strong man, takes away his goods, Matthew 12:29 and makes them His
own
goods; men delivered from infidelity and superstition of devils, believing in
Christ,
are fitted on to that city, have met in the corner that wall that comes from
the
circumcision, and that was made the city of the great King, which had been the
sides
of the North. Therefore also in another Scripture is it said, "Out of the
North
come
clouds of golden colour: great is the glory and honour of the Almighty."
Job
37:22 For great is the glory of the physician, when from being despaired of the
sick
recovers. "Out of the North come clouds," and not black clouds, not
dark
clouds,
not lowering, but "of golden colour." Whence but by grace illumined
through
Christ? See, "the sides of the North are the city of the great
King."...
4.
Let the Psalm then follow, and say, "God shall be known in her
houses." Now in
her
"houses," because of the mountains, because of the two walls, because
of the
two
sons. "God shall be known in her houses," but he commends grace,
therefore
he
added, "when He shall take her up." For what would that city have
been, unless
He
had taken her up? Would it not immediately have fallen, unless it had such
foundation?
For "other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ."
1 Corinthians 3:11 Let none then glory in his own merits; but "he that
glories,
let him glory in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:31 ... The Lord then has taken
up
this city, and is known therein, that is, His grace is known in that city: for
whatever
that city has, which glories in the Lord, it has not of itself. For because
of
this it is said, "What have you that thou did not receive?" 1
Corinthians 4:7
5.
"For, lo, the kings of the earth are gathered together" (ver. 3).
Behold now those
sides
of the North, see how they come, see how they say, "Come ye, and let us go
up
to the mountain of the Lord: and He will teach us His way, and we will walk in
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it."
Isaiah 2:3 "And have come together in one." In what one, but that
"corner-
stone"?
Ephesians 2:20 "They saw it, and so they marvelled" (ver. 4). After
their
marvelling
at the miracles and glory of Christ, what followed? "They were
troubled,
they were moved" (ver. 5), "trembling took hold upon them."
Whence
took
trembling hold upon them, but from the consciousness of sins? Let them run
then,
king after a king; kings, let them acknowledge the King. Therefore says He
elsewhere,
"Yet have I been set by Him a King upon His holy hill of Sion."...A
King
then was heard of, set up in Sion, to Him were delivered possessions even to
the
uttermost parts of the earth. Kings behoved to fear lest they should lose the
kingdom,
lest the kingdom be taken from them. As wretched Herod feared, and for
the
Child slew the children. Matthew 2:16 But fearing to lose his kingdom, he
deserved
not to know the King. Would that he too had adored the King with the
Magi:
not by ill-seeking the kingdom, slain the Innocents, and perished guilty. For
as
concerning him, he destroyed the Innocents: but as for Christ, even a Child,
the
children
dying for Him did He crown. Therefore behoved kings to fear when it
was
said, "Yet have I been set a King by Him upon His holy hill of Sion,"
and
inheritance
to the uttermost parts of the earth shall He give Him, who set Him up
King
.... Thence also this is said to them, "Understand now therefore, O you
kings;
be
instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice unto
Him
with trembling." And what did they? "There pains as of a woman in
travail."
What
are the pains "as of a woman in travail," but the pangs of a
penitent? See the
same
conception of pain and travail: "Of Your fear" (says Isaiah) "we
have
conceived,
we have travailed of the Spirit of salvation." Isaiah 26:17-18 So then
the
kings conceived from the fear of Christ, that by travailing they brought forth
salvation
by believing on Him whom they had feared. "There pains as of a woman
in
travail:" when of travail you hear, expect a birth. The old man travails,
but the
new
man is born.
6.
"With a strong wind You shall break the ships of Tarshish" (ver. 6).
Briefly
understood,
this is, You shall overthrow the pride of the nations. But where in this
history
is mentioned the overthrowing of the pride of the nations? Because of "the
ships
of Tarshish." Learned men have enquired for Tarshish a city, that is, what
city
was signified by this name: and to some it has seemed that Cilicia is called
Tarshish,
because its metropolis is called Tarsus. Of which city was the Apostle
Paul,
being born in Tarsus of Cilicia. Acts 21:39 But some have understood by it
Carthage,
being haply sometimes so named, or in some language so signified. For
in
the Prophet Isaiah it is thus found: "Howl, you ships of Carthage."
But in
Ezekiel
by some interpreters the word is translated Carthage, by some Tarshish:
and
from this diversity it can be understood that the same which was called
Carthage,
is called Tharsus. But it is manifest, that in the beginning of its reign
Carthage
flourished with ships, and so flourished, that among other nations they
excelled
in trafficking and navigation. For when Dido, flying from her brother,
escaped
to the parts of Africa, where she built Carthage, the ships which had been
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prepared
for commerce in his country she had taken with her for her flight, the
princes
of the country consenting to it; and the same ships also when Carthage was
built
failed not in traffic. And hence that city became too proud, so that justly by
its
ships may be understood the pride of the nations, presuming on things
uncertain,
as on the breath of the winds. Now let none presume on full sails, and
on
the seeming fair state of this life, as of the sea. Be our foundation in Sion:
there
ought
we to be established, not to be "carried about with every wind of
doctrine."
Ephesians
4:14 Whoso then by the uncertain things of this life had been puffed up,
let
them be overthrown, and be all the pride of the nations subjected to Christ,
who
shall
"with a strong wind break all the ships of Tarshish:" not of any
city, but of
"Tarshish."
How "with a strong wind"? With very strong fear. For so all pride
feared
Him that shall judge, as on Him humble to believe, lest Him exalted it
should
fear.
7.
"As we have heard, so have we seen" (ver. 7). Blessed Church! at one
time you
have
heard, at another time you have seen. She heard in promises, sees in
performance:
heard in Prophecy, sees in the Gospel. For all things which are now
fulfilled
were before prophesied. Lift up your eyes then, and stretch them over the
world;
see now His "inheritance even to the uttermost parts of the earth:"
see now
is
fulfilled what was said, "All kings shall fall down before Him: all
nations shall
serve
Him:" see fulfilled what was said, "Be Thou exalted, O God, above the
heavens,
and Your glory above all the earth." See Him whose feet and hands were
pierced
with nails, whose bones hanging on the tree were counted, upon whose
vesture
lots were cast: Matthew 27:35 see reigning whom they saw hanging; see
sitting
in Heaven Matthew 26:64 whom they despised walking on earth: see thus
fulfilled,
"All the ends of the earth shall remember, and turn to the Lord, and all
the
kindreds of the nations shall worship before Him." Seeing all this,
exclaim
with
joy, "As we have heard, so have we seen." Justly the Church herself
is so
called
out of the Gentiles .... They to whom the Prophets were not sent, first heard
and
understood the Prophets: they who first heard not, afterwards hearing
marvelled.
They remained behind to whom they were sent, carrying the books,
understanding
not the truth: having the tables of the Testament, and not holding
the
inheritance. But we,..."As we have heard, so have we seen." And where
do
you
hear? where do you see? "In the city of the Lord of Hosts, in the city of
our
God.
God has founded it for ever." Let not heretics insult, divided into
parties, let
them
not exalt themselves who say, "Lo, here is Christ, or lo, there."
Matthew
24:23 Whoso says, "Lo, here is Christ, or lo, there," invites to
parties.
Unity
God promised. The kings are gathered together in one, not dissipated
through
schisms. But haply that city which has held the world, shall sometime be
overthrown?
Far be the thought! "God has founded it for ever." If then God has
founded
it for ever, why fearest thou lest the firmament should fall?
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8.
"We have received Your mercy, O God, in the midst of Your people"
(ver. 8).
Who
have received, and where received? Hath not the same Your people received
Your
mercy. If Your people has received Your mercy, how then, "in the midst of
Your
people"? As if they who received were one party, they in the midst of whom
they
received another. A great mystery, but yet well known. When hence also, that
is,
out of these verses, has been extracted and brought forth what ye know; it will
be
not ruder, but sweeter. Now forsooth all are reckoned the people of God, who
carry
His Sacraments, but not all belong to His Mercy. All forsooth receiving the
Sacrament
of the Baptism of Christ, are called Christians, but not all live worthily
of
that Sacrament. There are some of whom says the Apostle, "Having a form of
godliness,
but denying the power thereof." 2 Timothy 3:5 Yet on account of this
form
of godliness they are named among God's people. As to the floor, until the
corn
is threshed, belongs not the wheat only, but the chaff. But will it also belong
to
the garner? In the midst then of an evil people is a good people, which has
received
the Mercy of God. He lives worthily of the Mercy of God who hears, and
holds,
and does what the Apostle says, "We beseech you that you receive not the
Grace
of God in vain." 2 Corinthians 6:1 Whoso then receives not the Grace of
God
in vain, the same receives not only the Sacrament, but also the Mercy of God
as
well.... So those who have the Sacraments, and have not good manners, are both
said
to be of God, and not of God; are both said to be His, and to be strangers: His
because
of His own Sacraments, strangers because of their own vice. So also
strange
daughters: Song of Songs 2:2 daughters, because of the form of godliness;
strange,
because of their loss of virtue. Be the lily there; let it receive the Mercy of
God:
hold fast the root of a good flower, be not ungrateful for soft rain coming
from
heaven. Be thorns ungrateful, let them grow by the showers: for the fire they
grow,
not for the garner. In the midst of Your people not receiving Your mercy,
we
have received Your mercy. For "He came unto His own, and His own received
Him
not," yet, in the midst of them, "as many as received Him, to them
gave He
power
to become the sons of God." John 1:11-12...
9.
For when he had said, "We have received Your mercy in the midst of Your
people,"
he signified that there is a people not receiving the mercy of God, in the
midst
of whom some do receive the mercy of God: and then lest it should occur to
men
that there are so few, as to be nearly none, how did He console them in the
words
following? "According to Your Name, O God, so is Your praise unto the
ends
of the earth" (ver. 9). What is this? ...That is, as You are known through
all
the
earth, so You are also praised through all the earth, nor are there wanting who
now
praise You through all the earth. But they praise You who live well. For,
"According
to Your Name, O God, so is Your praise," not in a part, but "unto the
ends
of the earth." "Your right hand is full of righteousness." That
is, many are
they
also who shall stand at Your right hand. Not only shall they be many who
shall
stand at Your left hand, but there also shall be a full heap set at Your right
hand.
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10.
"Let mount Zion rejoice, and the daughters of Judah be glad, because of
Your
judgments,
O Lord" (ver. 10). O mount Zion, O daughters of Judah, you labour
now
among tares, among chaff, among thorns ye labour: yet be glad because of
God's
judgments. God errs not in judgment. Live ye separate, though separate ye
were
not born; not vainly has a voice gone forth from your mouth and heart,
"Destroy
not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men." He shall
winnow
with such art, carrying in His hand a fan, that not one grain of wheat shall
fall
into the heap of chaff prepared to be burned, nor one beard of chaff pass to
the
heap
to be laid up in the garner. Matthew 3:12 Be glad, O you daughters of Judća,
because
of the judgments of God that errs not, and do not yet judge rashly. To you
let
it belong to collect, to Him let it belong to separate. But think not that the
"daughters
of Judah" are Jews. Judah is confession; all the sons of confession are
all
the sons of Judah. For "salvation is of the Jews," John 4:22 is
nothing else than
that
Christ is of the Jews. This says also the Apostle, "He is not a Jew which
is one
outwardly;
neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but he is a
Jew
which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit,
and
not
in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God." Romans 2:28-29 Be
such
a
Jew; glory in the circumcision of the heart, though you have not the
circumcision
of
the flesh. Let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of Your judgments, O
Lord.
11.
"Walk about Zion, and embrace her" (ver. 11). Be it said to them who
live ill,
in
the midst of whom is the people, which has received the mercy of God. In the
midst
of you is a people living well, "Walk about Zion." But how?
"embrace her."
Not
with scandals, but with love go round about her: that so those who live well in
the
midst of you ye may imitate, and by imitation of them, be incorporate with
Christ,
whose members they are. "Walk about Zion, go round about her: speak in
the
towers thereof." In the height of her bulwarks, set forth the praises
thereof.
12.
"Set your hearts upon her might" (ver. 12). Not that you may have the
form of
godliness,
deny the power thereof, 2 Timothy 3:5 but, "upon her might set your
hearts.
Speak ye in her towers." What is the might of this city? Whoso would
understand
the might of this city, let him understand the force of love. That is a
virtue
which none conquers. Love's flame no waves of the world, no streams of
temptation,
extinguish. Of this it is said, "Love is strong as death."
Song
of Songs 8:6 For as when death comes, it cannot be resisted; by whatever
arts,
whatever medicines, you meet it; the violence of death can none avoid who is
born
mortal; so against the violence of love can the world do nothing. For from the
contrary
the similitude is made of death; for as death is most violent to take away,
so
love is most violent to save. Through love many have died to the world, to live
to
God; by this love inflamed, the martyrs, not pretenders, not puffed up by vain-
glory,
not such as they of whom it is written, "Though I give my body to be
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burned,
and have not charity, it profits me nothing," 1 Corinthians 13:3 but men
whom
truly a love of Christ and of the truth led on to this passion; what to them
were
the temptations of the tormentors? Greater violence had the eyes of their
weeping
friends, than the persecutions of enemies. For how many were held by
their
children, that they might not suffer? to how many did their wives fall upon
their
knees, that they might not be left widows? How many have their parents
forbidden
to die; as we know and read in the Passion of the Blessed Perpetua! All
this
was done; but tears, however great, and with whatever force flowing, when
did
they extinguish the ardour of love? This is the might of Sion, to whom
elsewhere
it is said, "Peace be within your walls, and prosperity within your
palaces."
13.
What here understand we, "Set your hearts upon her might, and distribute
her
houses"?
That is, distinguish house from house. Do not confound. For there is a
house
having the form of godliness, and not having godliness; but there is a house
having
both form and godliness. Distribute, confound not. But then ye distribute
and
confound not, when you "set your hearts upon her might;" that is,
when
through
love you are made spiritual. Then ye will not judge rashly, then ye will
see
that the evil harms not the good as long as we are in this floor.
"Distribute her
houses."
There can be also another understanding. The two houses, one coming of
the
circumcision, one of the uncircumcision, it is commanded the Apostles to
distribute.
For when Saul was called, and made the Apostle Paul, agreeing in unity
with
his fellow Apostles, he so with thorn determined, that they should go to the
circumcision,
he to the uncircumcision. By that dispensation of their Apostleship,
they
distributed the houses of the city of the great King; and meeting in the
corner,
divided
the Gospel in dispensation, in love united it. And truly this is rather to be
understood;
for it follows and shows that it is here said to the preachers,
"distribute
her
houses: that you may tell it to the generation following:" that is, that
even to
us,
who were to come after them, their dispensation of the Gospel should reach:
For
not for those only they laboured, with whom they lived in the earth; nor the
Lord
for those Apostles only to whom He deigned to show Himself alive after His
Resurrection,
but for us also. For to them He spoke, and signified us when He
spoke,
"Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world." Matthew
28:20
Were
they then to be here alway, even to the end of the world? Also He said,
"Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe in Me
through
their word." John 17:20 Therefore He considers us, because He suffered
on
account of us. Justly then it is said, "That ye may tell it to the
generation
following."
14.
Tell what? "For this is God, even our God" (ver. 13). The earth was
seen, the
earth's
Creator was not seen; the flesh was held, God in the flesh was not
acknowledged.
For the flesh was held by those from whom had been taken the
same
flesh, for of the seed of Abraham was the Virgin Mary. At the flesh they
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stayed,
the Divinity they did not understand. O Apostles, O mighty city, preach
thou
on the towers, and say, "This is God, even our God." So, even so as
He was
despised,
as He lay a stone before the feet of the stumbling, that He might humble
the
hearts of the confessing; even so, "This is God, even our God."
Certainly He
was
seen, as was said, "Afterward did He show Himself upon earth, and
conversed
with
men." Baruch 3:37 "This is God, even our God." He is also Man,
and who is
there
will know Him? "This is God, even our God." But haply for a time as
the
false
gods. For because they can be called gods, but cannot be so, for a time they
are
even called so. For what says the Prophet, or what warns He to be said to
them?
This shall you say to them, "The gods that have not made the heavens and
the
earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from those that are under the
heavens."
He is not such a god: for our God is above all gods. Above all what
gods?
"For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the
heavens."
The
same then is our God. "This is God, even our God." For how long?
"For ever
and
ever: He shall rule us for ever." If He is our God, He is also our King.
He
protects
us, being our God, lest we die; He rules us, being our King, lest we fall.
But
by ruling us He does not break us; for whom He rules not, He breaks. "You
shall
rule them," says He, "with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces
like a
potter's
vessel." But there are whom He rules not; these He spares not, as a
potter's
vessel
dashing them in pieces. By Him then let us wish to be ruled and delivered,
"for
He is our God for ever and ever, and He shall rule us for ever."
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Exposition
on Psalm 49
The
First Part.
1.
..."Hear ye these things, all you nations" (ver. 1). Not then you
only who are
here.
For of what power is our voice so to cry out, as that all nations may hear?
For
Our Lord Jesus Christ has proclaimed it through the Apostles, has proclaimed
it
in so many tongues that He sent; and we see this Psalm, which before was only
repeated
in one nation, in the Synagogue of the Jews, now repeated throughout the
whole
world, throughout all Churches; and that fulfilled which is here spoken of,
"Hear
ye these words, all you nations."... Of whom you are: "With ears
ponder, all
you
that dwell in the world." This He seems to have repeated a second time,
lest to
have
said "hear," before, were too little. What I say, he says,
"hear, with ears
ponder,"
that is, hear not cursorily. What is, "with ears ponder"? It is what
the
Lord
said, "he that has ears to hear, let him hear:" Matthew 11:15 for as
all who
were
in His presence must have had ears, what ears did He require save those of
the
heart, when He said, "he that has ears to hear, let him hear"? The
same ears
also
this Psalm does smite. "With ears ponder, all you that dwell in the
world."
Perhaps
there is here some distinction. We ought not indeed to narrow our view,
but
there is no harm in explaining even this view of the sense. Perhaps there is
some
difference between the saying, "all nations," and the saying,
"all you that
dwell
in the world." For perchance he would have us understand the expression,
"dwell
in," with a further meaning, so as to take all nations for all the wicked,
but
the
dwellers of the world all the just. For he does inhabit who is not held fast:
but
he
that is occupied is inhabited, and does not inhabit. Just as he does possess
whatever
he has, who is master of his property: but a master is one who is not held
in
the meshes of covetousness: while he that is held fast by covetousness is the
possessed,
and not the possessor....
2.
Therefore let even the ungodly hear: "Hear ye this, all you nations."
Let the just
also
hear, who have not heard to no purpose, and who rather rule the world than
are
ruled by the world: "with ears ponder, all you that dwell in the
world."
3.
And again he says, "both all you earthborn, and sons of men" (ver.
2). The
expression
"earthborn" he does refer to sinners; the expression "sons of
men" to
the
faithful and righteous. You see then that this distinction is observed. Who are
the
"earthborn"? The children of the earth. Who are the children of the
earth? They
who
desire earthly inheritances. Who are the "sons of men"? They who
appertain
to
the Son of
Sanctity,
and have concluded that Adam was a man, but not the son of man; that
Christ
was the Son of Man, but was God also. For whosoever pertain to Adam, are
"earthborn:"
whosoever pertain to Christ, are "sons of men." Nevertheless, let all
hear,
I withhold my discourse from no one. If one is "earthborn," let him
hear,
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because
of the judgment: another is a "son of man," let him hear for the
kingdom's
sake.
"The rich and poor together." Again, the same words are repeated. The
expression
"rich" refers to the "earthborn;" but the word
"poor" to the "sons of
men."
By the "rich" understand the proud, by the "poor" the
humble .... He says in
another
Psalm, "The poor shall eat and be satisfied." How has he commended
the
poor?
"The poor shall eat and be satisfied." What eat they? That Food which
the
faithful
know. How shall they be satisfied? By imitating the Passion of their Lord,
and
not without cause receiving their recompense. "The poor shall eat and be
satisfied,
and they shall praise the Lord who seek Him." What of the rich? Even
they
eat. But how eat they? "All the rich upon the earth have eaten and
worshipped."
He said not, "Have eaten and are satisfied;" but, "have eaten
and
worshipped."
They worship God indeed, but they will not display brotherly
humaneness.
These eat and worship; those eat and are filled: yet both eat. Of the
eater
what he eats is required: let him not be forbidden by the distributor to eat,
but
let
him be admonished to fear him who does require his account. Let these words
then
be heard by sinners and righteous, nations, and those who inhabit the world,
"earthborn
and sons of men, the rich and the poor together:" not divided, not
separated.
That is for the time of the harvest to do, the hand of the winnower will
effect
that. Matthew 3:12 Now together let rich and poor hear, let goats and sheep
feed
in the same pasture, until He come who shall separate the one on His right
hand,
the other on His left. Matthew 25:32 Let them all hear together the teacher,
lest
separated from one another they hear the voice of the Judge.
4.
And what is it they are now to hear? "My mouth shall speak of wisdom, and
the
meditation
of my heart understanding" (ver. 3). And this repetition is perhaps
made,
lest perchance if he had said only "my mouth," you should suppose
that one
spoke
to you who had understanding but in his lips. For many have understanding
in
their lips, but have not in their heart, of whom the Scripture says, "This
people
honours
me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." Isaiah 29:13 What
says
he
then who speaks to you? when he has said, "My mouth shall speak of
wisdom,"
in
order that you may know that what is poured forth from the mouth flows from
the
bottom of the heart, he has added, "And the meditation of my heart of
understanding."
5.
"I will incline mine ear to the parable, I will show my proposition upon
the
harp"
(ver. 4) .... And why "to a parable"? Because "now we see
through a glass
darkly,"
1 Corinthians 13:12 as says the Apostle; "while we are at home in the
body,
we are absent from the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:6 For our vision is not yet
that
face to face, where there are no longer parables, where there no longer are
riddles
and comparisons. Whatever now we understand we behold through riddles.
A
riddle is a dark parable which it is hard to understand. Howsoever a man may
cultivate
his heart and apply himself to apprehend mysteries, so long as we see
through
the corruption of this flesh, we see but in part .... But as He was seen by
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those
who believed, and by those who crucified Him, when He was judged; so will
He
be seen, when He shall have begun to be judge, both by those whom He shall
condemn,
and by those whom He shall crown. But that vision of divinity, which
He
has promised to them that love Him, when He says, "He that loves Me shall
be
loved
of My Father, and he that loves Me keeps My commandments, and I will
love
him, and will manifest Myself to him:" John 14:21 this the ungodly shall
not
see.
This manifestation is in a certain way familiar: He keeps it for His own, He
will
not show it to the ungodly. Of what sort is the vision itself? Of what sort is
Christ?
Equal to the Father. Of what sort is Christ? "In the beginning was the
Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1 For this
vision
we sigh now, and groan so long as we sojourn here; to this vision we shall
be
brought home at the last, this vision now we see but darkly. If then we see now
darkly,
let us "incline our ear to the parable," and then let us "show
our proposition
upon
the harp:" let us hear what we say, do what we enjoin.
6.
And what has he said? "And wherefore shall I fear in the evil day? The
iniquity
of
my heel shall compass me" (ver. 5). He begins something obscurely.
Therefore
he
ought the rather to fear if the iniquity of his heel shall compass him. Nay,
for let
not
man fear, he says, who has not power to escape. For example, he who fears
death,
what shall he do to escape death? Let him tell me how he is to escape what
Adam
owes, he who is born of Adam. But let him consider that he is born of
Adam,
and has followed Christ, and ought to pay what Adam owes, and obtain
what
Christ has promised. Therefore, he who fears death can no wise escape: but
he
who fears the damnation which the ungodly shall hear, "Go ye into
everlasting
fire,"
Matthew 25:41 has an escape. Let him not fear then. For why should he
fear?
Will the iniquity of his heel compass him? If then he avoid "the iniquity
of
his
heel," and walk in the ways of God, he shall not come to the evil day: the
evil
day,
the last day, shall not be evil to him .... Now while they live, let them take
heed
to themselves, let them put away iniquity from their heel: let them walk in
that
way, let them walk in the way of which He says Himself, "I am the way, the
truth,
and the life:" John 14:6 and let them not fear in the evil day, for He
gives
them
safety who became "The Way." Therefore let them avoid the iniquity of
their
heel.
With the heel a man slips. Let your Love observe. What was said by God to
the
Serpent? "She shall mark your head, and you shall mark her heel." The
devil
marks
your heel, in order that when you slip he may overthrow you. He marks
your
heel, do thou mark his head. What is his head? The beginning of an evil
suggestion.
When he begins to suggest evil thoughts, then do thou thrust him away
before
pleasure arises, and consent follows; and so shall you avoid his head, and
he
shall not grasp your heel. But wherefore said He this to Eve? Because through
the
flesh man does slip. Our flesh is an Eve within us. "He that loves his
wife," he
says,
"loves himself." What means "himself"? He continues, and
says, "For no
man
ever yet has hated his own flesh." Ephesians 5:28-29 Because then the
devil
would
make us slip through the flesh, just as he made that man Adam to slip,
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through
Eve; Eve is bidden to mark the head of the devil, because the devil marks
her
heel. "If then the iniquity of our heel shall compass us, why fear we in
the evil
day,"
since being converted to Christ we are able not to do iniquity; and there will
be
nothing to compass us, and we shall joy and not sorrow in the last day?
7.
But who are they whom the "iniquity of their heel shall compass"?
"They who
trust
in their virtue, and in the abundance of their riches do glory" (ver. 6).
Therefore
such sins will I avoid, and the "iniquity of my heel" shall never
compass
me.
What is avoiding such sins? Let us not trust in our own virtue, let us not
glory
in
the abundance of our own riches, but let us glory in Him who has promised to
us,
being humble, exaltation, and has threatened condemnation to men exalted;
and
then iniquity of our heel shall never compass us.
8.
There are some who rely on their friends, others rely on their virtue, others
on
their
riches. This is the presumption of mankind which relies not on God. He has
spoken
of virtue, he has spoken of riches, he speaks of friends. "Brother redeems
not,
shall man redeem?" (ver. 7). Do you expect that man shall redeem you from
the
wrath to come? If brother redeem you not, shall man redeem you? Who is the
brother,
who if He has not redeemed you, no man will redeem? It is He who said
after
His resurrection, "Go, tell My brethren." Matthew 28:10 Our Brother
He has
willed
to be: and when we say to God, "Our Father," this is manifested in
us. For
he
that says to God, "Our Father;" says to Christ, "Brother."
Therefore let him that
has
God for his Father and Christ for his Brother, not fear in the evil day.
"For the
iniquity
of his heel shall not compass him;" for he relies not on his virtue, nor
glories
in the abundance of his riches, nor vaunts himself of his powerful friends.
Let
him rely on Him who died for him, that he might not die eternally: who for his
sake
was humbled, in order that he might be exalted; who sought him ungodly, in
order
that He might be sought by him faithful. Therefore if He redeem not, shall
man
redeem? Shall any man redeem, if the Son of man redeem not? If Christ
redeem
not, shall Adam redeem? "Brother redeems not, shall man redeem?"
9.
"He shall not give to God his propitiation, and the price of the
redemption of his
soul"
(ver. 8). He trusts in his virtue, and in the abundance of his riches does
glory,
who
"shall not give to God his propitiation:" that is, satisfaction
whereby he may
prevail
with God for his sins: "nor the price of the redemption of his soul,"
who
relies
on his virtue, and on his friends, and on his riches. But who are they that
give
the price of the redemption of their souls? They to whom the Lord says,
"Make
to yourselves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness, that they may
receive
you into everlasting habitations." Luke 16:9 They give the price of the
redemption
of their soul who cease not to do almsdeeds. So those whom the
Apostle
charges by Timothy he would not have to be proud, lest they should glory
in
the abundance of their riches. Lastly, what they possessed he would not have to
grow
old in their hands: but that something should be made of it to be for the price
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of
the redemption of their souls. For he says, "Charge them that are rich in
this
world,
that they be not high-minded: nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living
God,
who gives us richly all things to enjoy." 1 Timothy 6:17 And as if they
had
said,
"What shall we then make of our riches?" he continues, "Let them
be rich in
good
works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate," 1 Timothy 6:18 and
they
will not lose that. How know we? Hear what follows. "Let them lay up for
themselves
a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on
the
true life." 1 Timothy 6:19 So shall they give the price of the redemption
of
their
soul. And our Lord counsels this: "Make for yourselves bags which wax not
old,
a treasure in the heavens that fails not, where thief approaches not, neither
moth
corrupts." Luke 12:33 God would not have you lose your wealth, but He has
given
you counsel to change the place thereof. Let your love understand. Suppose
your
friend were just now to enter your house, and find you had placed your store
of
grain in a damp place, and he knew the natural proneness of grain to decay,
which
thou perchance knew not, he would give you counsel of this sort, saying,
"Brother,
you are losing what with great toil you have gathered, you have placed it
in
a damp place, in a few days this grain will decay." "And what am I to
do,
brother?
"Raise it into a higher place." You would hearken to your friend
suggesting
that you should raise grain from a lower to a higher chamber, and do
you
not hearken to Christ charging you to lift your treasure from earth to heaven,
where
not what you keep in store may be paid to you, but that you may keep in
store
earth, may receive heaven, may keep in store things mortal, may receive
things
everlasting, that while you lend Christ to receive at your hands but a small
loan
upon earth, He may repay you a great recompense in Heaven? Nevertheless,
they
whom "the iniquity of their heel shall compass," because they trust
in their
virtue,
and in the abundance of their riches do glory, and rely on human friends
who
are able to help them in nothing, "shall not give to God their
propitiation, and
the
price of the redemption of their souls."
10.
And what has he said of such a man? "Yea, he has laboured for ever, and
shall
live
till the end" (ver. 9). His labour shall be without end, his life shall
have an
end.
Wherefore says he, "He shall live till the end"? Because such men
think life
to
be nought but daily enjoyments. So when many poor and needy men of our
times,
unstable, and not looking to what God does promise them for their labours,
see
rich men in daily feastings, in the splendour and glitter of gold and of
silver,
they
say what? "These are the only people; they really live!" This is a
saying, be it
said
no longer: we both warn you, and it remains to warn you, that it be said by
fewer
persons than it would be said, if we had not warned you. For we do not
presume
to say that we so say these words, as that it be not said, but that it be said
by
fewer persons: for it will be said even unto the end of the world. It is too
little
that
he says, "he lives;" he adds and says, he thunders, do you think that
he alone
lives?
Let him live! his life will be ended: because he gives not the price of the
redemption
of his soul, his life will end, his labour will not end. "He laboured for
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ever,
and shall live till the end." How shall he live till the end? As he lived
that
was
"clothed with purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every
day,"
Luke
16:19 who, being proud and puffed up, spurned the man full of sores lying
before
his gate, whose sores the dogs licked, and who longed for the crumbs which
fell
from his table. What did those riches profit him? Both changed places: the one
was
borne from the rich man's gate into Abraham's bosom, the other from his rich
feasts
was cast into the fire; the one was in peace, the other burned; the one was
sated,
the other thirsted; the one had laboured till the end, but he lived for ever;
the
other
had lived till the end, but he laboured for ever. And what did it profit the
rich
man,
who asked, while lying in torments in hell, that a drop of water should be
poured
upon his tongue from the finger of Lazarus, saying, "For I am burning here
in
this flame," Luke 16:24 and it was not granted to him? One longed for the
drop
from
the finger, as the other had for the crumbs from the rich man's table; but the
labour
of the one is ended, and the life of the other is ended: the labour of this is
for
ever, the life of that is for ever. We who labour perchance here on the earth,
have
not our life here: and shall not be so placed hereafter, for our life shall be
Christ
for ever: while they who "will" have their life here, shall labour
for ever and
live
till the end.
11.
"For he shall not see death, though he shall have seen wise men
dying" (ver.
10).
The man who laboured for ever and shall live till the end, "shall not see
death,
though
he shall have seen wise men dying." What is this? He shall not
comprehend
what death is, whenever he shall have seen wise men dying. For he
says
to himself, "this fellow, for all he was wise and dwelled with wisdom and
worshipped
God with piety, is he not dead? Therefore I will enjoy myself while I
live;
for if they that are wise in other respects, could do anything, they would not
have
died." Just as the Jews saw Christ hanging on the Cross and despised Him,
saying,
"If this Man were the Son of God, He would come down from the Cross:"
Matthew
27:40, 42 not seeing what death is. If they had seen what death is; if they
had
seen, I say. He died for a time, that He might live again for ever: they lived
for
a
time, that they might die for ever. But because they saw Him dying, they saw
not
death,
that is to say, they understood not what was very death. What say they even
in
Wisdom? "Let us condemn Him with a most shameful death, for by His own
sayings
He shall be respected;" for if he is indeed the Son of God, He will
deliver
Him
from the hands of His adversaries: He will not suffer His Son to die, if He is
truly
His Son. But when they saw themselves insulting Him upon the Cross, and
Him
not descending from the Cross, they said, He was indeed but a
was
it spoken: and surely He could have come down from the Cross, He that could
rise
again from the tomb: but He taught us to bear with those who insult us; He
taught
us to be patient of the tongues of men, to drink now the cup of bitterness,
and
afterwards to receive everlasting salvation....
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12.
"The imprudent and unwise shall perish together." Who is "the
imprudent"?
He
that looks not out for himself for the future. Who is "the unwise"?
He that
perceives
not in what evil case he is. But do thou perceive in what evil case you
are
now, and look out that thou be in a good case for the future. By perceiving in
what
evil case you are, you will not be unwise: by looking out for yourself for the
future,
you will not be imprudent. Who is he that looks out for himself? That
servant
to whom his master gave what he should expend, and afterwards said to
him,
"You can not be my steward, give an account of your stewardship;" and
who
answered,
"What shall I do? I cannot dig, to beg I am ashamed;" Luke 16:1-2,
etc.
had,
nevertheless, by even his master's goods made to himself friends, who might
receive
him when he was put out of his stewardship. Now he cheated his master in
order
that he might get to himself friends to receive him: fear not thou lest thou be
cheating,
the Lord Himself exhorts you to do so: He says Himself to you, "Make
to
yourself friends of the mammon of unrighteousness." Luke 16:9 Perhaps what
you
have got, you have gotten of unrighteousness: or perhaps this very thing is
unrighteousness,
that you have and another has not, you abound and another
needs.
Of this mammon of unrighteousness, of these riches which the unrighteous
call
riches, make to yourself friends, and you shall be prudent: you are gaining for
yourself,
and art not cheating. For now you seem to lose it. Will you lose it if thou
place
it in a treasury? For boys, my brethren, no sooner find some money,
wherewith
to buy something, than they put it in a money-box, which they open not
until
afterwards: do they, because they see not what they have got, on that account
lose
it? Fear not: boys put in a money-box, and are secure: do you place it in the
hand
of Christ, and fear? Be prudent, and provide for yourself against the future in
Heaven.
Be therefore prudent, copy the ant, as says the Scripture: "Store in
summer,
lest you hunger in winter;" the winter is the last day, the day of
tribulation;
the winter is the day of offences and of bitterness: gather what may be
there
for you for the future: but if you do not so, you will perish both imprudent
and
unwise.
13.
But that rich man Luke 16:22 too died, and a like funeral was made for him.
See
to what men have brought themselves: they regard not what a wicked life he
led
while he lived, but what pomp followed him when he died! O happy he, whom
so
many lament! But the other lived in such sort, that few lament. For all ought
to
lament
a man living so sadly. But there is the funeral train; he is received in a
costly
tomb, he is wound in costly robes, he is buried in perfumes and spices.
Secondly,
what a monument he has! How marbled! Doth he live in that same
monument?
He is therein dead. Men deeming these to be good things, have
strayed
from God, and have not sought the true good things, and have been
deceived
with the false. To this end see what follows. He who gave not the price
of
the redemption of his soul, who understood not death, because he saw wise men
dying,
he became imprudent and unwise, in order that he might die with them.
And
how shall they perish, who "shall leave their riches to aliens"?...
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14.
But do those same aliens indeed serve them who are called their own? Hear in
what
they serve them, observe how they are ridiculed: why has he said, "to
strangers"?
Because they can do them no good. Nevertheless, wherein do they
seem
to themselves to do good? "And their tombs shall be their house for
ever"
(ver.
11). Now because these tombs are erected, the tombs are a house. For often
you
hear a rich man saying, I have a house of marble which I must quit, and I
think
not for myself of an eternal house, where I shall alway be. When he thinks to
make
for himself a monument of marble or of sculpture, he is deeming as it were
of
an eternal house: as if therein this rich man would abide! If he would abide
there,
he would not burn in hell. We must consider that the place where the spirit
of
an evil doer abides, is not where the mortal body is laid: but "their
tombs shall
be
their house for ever. Their dwelling places are from generation to
generation."
"Dwelling
places" are wherein they abode for a season: "house" is wherein
they
will
abide as it were for ever, that is to say, their tombs. Thus they leave their
dwelling
places, where they abode while they lived, to their families, and they pass
as
it were to everlasting houses, to their tombs. What profit to them are
"their
dwelling
places, from generation to generation"? Now suppose a generation and
generation
are sons, grandsons there will be, and great grandsons; what do their
dwelling
places, what do they profit them? What? Hear: "they shall invoke their
names
in their lands." What is this? They shall take bread and wine to their
tombs,
and
there they shall invoke the names of the dead. Do you consider how loudly
was
invoked the name of the rich man after his death, when men drank them drunk
at
his monument, and there came down not one drop upon his own burning
tongue?
Men minister to their own belly, not to the ghosts of their friends. The
souls
of the dead nothing does reach, but what they have done of themselves while
alive:
but if they have done nought of themselves while alive, nothing does reach
them
dead. But what do the survivors? They will but "invoke their names in
their
lands."
15.
"And man though he was in honour perceived not, he was compared to the
beasts
without sense, and was made like to them" (ver. 12) .... They ought, on
the
contrary,
to have made ready for themselves an eternal house in good works, to
have
made ready for themselves everlasting life, to have sent before them
expenditure,
to have followed their works, to have ministered to a needy
companion,
to have given to him with whom they were walking, not to have
despised
Christ covered with sores before their gate, who has said, "Inasmuch as
you
have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, you have done it unto
Me."
Matthew 25:40 However, "man being in honour has not understood." What
is,
"being in honour"? Being made after the image and likeness of God,
man is
preferred
to beasts. For God has not so made man as He made a beast: but God has
made
man for beasts to minister to: is it to his strength then, and not to his
understanding?
Nay. But he "understood not;" and he who was made after the
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image
of God, "is compared to the beasts without sense, and is made like unto
them."
Whence it is said elsewhere, "Be not like to horse and mule, in which
there
is
no understanding."
16.
"This their own way is an offence to them" (ver. 13). Be it an
offence to them,
not
to you. But when will it be so to you too? If you think such men to be blessed.
If
you perceive that they be not blessed, their own way will be an offence to
themselves;
not to Christ, not to His Body, not to His members. "And afterwards
they
shall bless with their mouth." What means, "Afterwards they shall
bless with
their
mouth"? Though they have become such, that they seek nothing but temporal
goods,
yet they become hypocrites: and when they bless God, with lips they bless,
and
not with heart. Christians like these, when to them eternal life is commended,
and
they are told, that in the name of Christ they ought to be despisers of riches,
do
make grimaces in their hearts: and if they dare not do it with open face, lest
they
blush, or lest they should be rebuked by men, yet they do it in heart, and
scorn;
and there remains in their mouth blessing, and in their heart cursing.
The
Second Part.
1.
"Like sheep laid in hell, death is their shepherd" (ver. 14). Whose?
Of those
whose
way is a stumbling-block to themselves. Whose? Of those who mind only
things
present, while they think not of things future: of those who think not of any
life,
but of that which must be called death. Not without cause, then, like sheep in
hell,
have they death to their shepherd. What means, "they have death to their
shepherd"?
For is death either some thing or some power? Yea, death is either the
separation
of the soul from the body, or a separation of the soul from God, and that
indeed
which men fear is the separation of the soul from the body: but the real
death,
which men do not fear, is the separation of the soul from God. And ofttimes
when
men fear that which does separate the soul from the body, they fall into that
wherein
the soul is separated from God. This then is death. But how is "death
their
shepherd"?
If Christ is life, the devil is death. But we read in many places in
Scripture,
how that Christ is life. But the devil is death, not because he is himself
death,
but because through him is death. For whether that (death) wherein Adam
fell
was given man to drink by the persuasion of him: or whether that wherein the
soul
is separated from the body, still they have him for the author thereof, who
first
falling through pride envied him who stood, and overthrew him who stood
with
an invisible death, in order that he might have to pay the visible death. They
who
belong to him have death to their shepherd: but we who think of future
immortality,
and not without reason do wear the sign of the Cross of Christ on the
forehead,
have no shepherd but life. Of unbelievers death is the shepherd, of
believers
life is the shepherd. If then in hell are the sheep, whose shepherd is
death,
in heaven are the sheep, whose shepherd is life. What then? Are we now in
heaven?
In heaven we are by faith. For if not in heaven, where is the "Lift up
your
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heart"?
If not in heaven, whence with the Apostle Paul, "For our conversation is
in
heaven"?
Philippians 3:20 In body we walk on earth, in heart we dwell in heaven.
We
dwell there, if thither we send anything which holds us there. For no one
dwells
in heart, save where thought is: but there his thought is, where his treasure
is.
He has treasured on earth, his heart does not withdraw from earth: he has
treasured
in heaven, his heart from heaven does not come down: for the Lord says
plainly,
"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Matthew 6:12
2.
They, then, whose shepherd is death, seem to flourish for a time, and the
righteous
to labour: but why? Because it is yet night. What means, it is night? The
merits
of the righteous appear not, and the felicity of the unrighteous has, as it
were,
a name. So long as it is winter, grass appears more verdant than a tree. For
grass
flourishes through the winter, a tree is as it were dry through the winter:
when
in summer time the sun has come forth with greater heat, the tree, which
seemed
dry through the winter, is bursting with leaves, and puts forth fruits, but
the
grass withers: you will see the honour of the tree, the grass is dried. So also
now
the righteous labour, before that summer comes. There is life in the root, it
does
not yet appear in the branches. But our root is love. And what says the
Apostle?
That we ought to have our root above, in order that life may be our
shepherd,
because our dwelling ought not to quit heaven, because in this earth we
ought
to walk as if dead; so that living above, below we may be dead; not so as
that
being dead above, we may live below .... Our labour shall appear in the
morning,
and there shall be fruit in the morning: so that they that now labour shall
hereafter
reign, and they that now boast them and are proud, shall hereafter be
brought
under. For what follows? "Like sheep laid in hell, death is their
shepherd;
and
the righteous shall reign over them in the morning."
3.
Endure thou the night, yearn for the morning. Think not because the night has
life,
the morning too has not life. Doth then he that sleeps live, and he that rises
live
not? Is not he that sleeps more like death? And who are they that sleep? They
whom
the Apostle Paul rouses, if they choose but to awake. For to certain he says,
"Awake,
you that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you
light."
Ephesians 5:14 They then that are lightened by Christ watch now, but the
fruit
of their watchings appears not yet: in the morning it shall appear, that is,
when
doubtful things of this world shall have passed away. For these are very
night:
for do they not appear to you like darkness? ... But they on whom men have
trampled,
and who were ridiculed for believing, shall hear from Life Itself, whom
they
have for shepherd, "Come, you blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom
which
was prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Therefore the
righteous
"shall reign over them," not now, but "in the morning." Let
no one say,
Wherefore
am I a Christian? I rule no one, I would rule the wicked. Be not in
haste,
you shall reign, but "in the morning." "And the help of them
shall grow old
in
hell from their glory." Now they have glory, in hell they shall grow old.
What is
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"the
help of them"? Help from money, help from friends, help from their own
might.
But when a man shall be dead, "in that day shall perish all his
thoughts."
How
great glory he seemed to have among men, while he lived, so great oldness
and
decay of punishments shall he have, when he shall be dead in hell.
4.
"Nevertheless, God shall redeem my soul" (ver. 15). Behold the voice
of one
hoping
in the future: "Nevertheless, God shall redeem my soul." Perhaps it
is the
voice
of one still wishing to be relieved from oppression. Some one is in prison, he
says,
"God shall redeem my soul:" some one is in bond, "God shall
redeem my
soul:"
some one is suffering peril by sea, is being tossed by waves and raging
tempests,
what says he? "God shall redeem my soul." They would be delivered for
the
sake of this life. Not such is the voice of this man. Hear what follows:
"God
shall
redeem my soul from the hand of hell, when He shall have received me." He
is
speaking of this redemption, which Christ now shows in Himself. For He has
descended
into hell, and has ascended into heaven. What we have seen in the Head
we
have found in the Body. For what we have believed in the Head, they that have
seen,
have themselves told us, and by themselves we have seen: "For we are"
all
"one
body." Romans 12:5 But are they better that hear, we worse to whom it has
been
told? Not so says The Life Itself, Our Shepherd Himself. For He rebukes a
certain
disciple of His, doubting and desiring to handle His scars, and when he had
handled
the scars and had cried out, saying, "My Lord and my God," John 20:28
seeing
His disciple doubting, and looking to the whole world about to believe,
"Because
you have seen Me," He says, "you have believed: blessed are they that
see
not, and believe." "But God shall redeem my soul from the land of
hell, when
He
has received me." Here then what? Labour, oppression, tribulation,
temptation:
expect
nothing else. Where joy? In future hope....
5.
...Perchance your heart says, Wretch that I am, I suppose to no purpose I have
believed,
God does not regard things human. God therefore does awaken us: and
He
says what? "Fear not, though a man have become rich" (ver. 16). For
why did
you
fear, because a man has become rich? You feared that you had believed to no
purpose,
that perchance you should have lost the labour for your faith, and the
hope
of your conversion: because perchance there has come in your way gain with
guilt,
and you could have been rich, if you had seized upon that same gain with the
guilt,
and needed not have laboured; and you, remembering what God has
threatened,
have refrained from guilt, and have contemned the gain: you see
another
man that has made gain by guilt, and has suffered no harm; and you fear to
be
good. "Fear not," says the Spirit of God to you, "though a man
shall have
become
rich." Wouldest thou not have eyes but for things present? Things future
He
has promised, who has risen again; peace in this world, and repose in this
life,
He
has not promised. Every man does seek repose; a good thing he is seeking, but
not
in the proper region thereof he is seeking it. There is no peace in this life;
in
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Heaven
has been promised that which on earth we are seeking: in the world to
come
has been promised that which in this world we are seeking.
6.
"Fear not, though a man be made rich, and though the glory of his house be
multiplied."
Wherefore "fear not"? "For when he shall die, he shall not
receive
anything"
(ver. 17). You see him living, consider him dying. Thou markest what
he
has here, mark what he takes with him. What does he take with him? He has
store
of gold, he has store of silver, numerous estates, slaves: he dies, these
remain,
he knows not for whom. For though he leaves them for whom he will, he
keeps
them not for whom he will. For many have gained even what was not left
them,
and many have lost what was left them. All these things then remain, and he
takes
with him what? Perhaps some one says, He takes that with him in which he
is
wound, and that which is expended upon him for a costly and marble tomb, to
erect
a monument, this he takes with him. I say, not even this. For these things are
presented
to him without his feeling them. If you deck a man sleeping and not
awake,
he has the decorations with him on the couch: perhaps the decorations are
resting
upon the body of him as he lies, and perhaps he sees himself in tatters
during
sleep. What he feels is more to him than what he feels not. Though even
this
when he shall have awaked will not be: yet to him sleeping, that which he saw
in
sleep was more than that which he felt not. Why then, brethren, should men say
to
themselves, Let money be spent at my death: why do I leave my heirs rich?
Many
things will they have of mine, let me too have something of my own for my
body.
What shall a dead body have? what shall rotting flesh have? what shall flesh
not
feeling have? If that rich man had anything, whose tongue was dry, then man
has
something of his own. My brethren, do we read in the Gospel, that this rich
man
appeared in the fire with all-silken and fine-linen coverings? Was he of such
sort
in hell as he was in feastings at table? When he thirsted and desired a drop,
all
those
things were not there. Therefore man carries not with him anything, nor does
the
dead take with him that which the burial takes. For where feeling is, there is
the
man; where is no feeling, the man is not. There lies fallen the vessel which
contained
the man, the house which held the man. The body let us call the house,
the
spirit let us call the inhabitant of the house. The spirit is tormented in
hell:
what
does it profit him, that the body lies in spices and perfumes, wound in costly
linens?
just as if the master of the house should be sent into banishment, and you
should
garnish the walls of his house. He in banishment is in need, and does faint
with
hunger, he scarce finds to himself one hovel where he may snatch a sleep,
and
you say, "Happy is he, for his house has been garnished." Who would
not
judge
that you were either jesting or wast mad? Thou dost garnish the body, the
spirit
is tormented. Give something to the spirit, and you have given something to
the
dead man. But what will you give him, when he desired one drop, and received
not?
For the man scorned to send before him anything. Wherefore scorned?
"because
this their way is a stumbling-block to them." He minded not any but the
present
life, he thought not but how he might be buried, wound in costly
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vestments.
His soul was taken from him, as the Lord says: "You fool, this night
your
soul shall be taken from you, and whose shall those things be which you have
provided?"
Luke 12:20 And that is fulfilled which this Psalm says: "Fear not,
though
a man be made rich, and though the glory of his house be multiplied: for
when
he shall die he shall not receive anything, nor shall his glory descend
together
with him."
7.
Let your love observe: "For his soul shall be blessed in his life"
(ver. 18). As
long
as he lived he did well for himself. This all men say, but say falsely. It is a
blessing
from the mind of the blesser, not from the truth itself. For what do you
say?
Because he ate and drank, because he did what he chose, because he feasted
sumptuously,
therefore he did well with himself. I say, he did ill for himself. Not I
say,
but Christ. He did ill for himself. For that rich man, when he feasted
sumptuously
every day, was supposed to do well with himself: but when he began
to
burn in hell, then that which was supposed to be well was found to be ill. For
what
he had eaten with men above, he digested in hell beneath. Unrighteousness I
mean,
brethren, on which he used to feast. He used to eat costly banquets with the
mouth
of flesh, with his heart's mouth he used to eat unrighteousness. What he ate
with
his heart's mouth with men above, this he digested amid those punishments in
the
places beneath. And verily he had eaten for a time, he digested ill for
everlasting.
Is then unrighteousness eaten? perhaps some one says: what is it that
he
says? Unrighteousness eaten? It is not I that say: hear the Scripture: "As
a sour
grape
is vexation to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes, so is unrighteousness to them
that
use it." Proverbs 10:26 For he that shall have eaten unrighteousness, that
is, he
that
shall have had unrighteousness wilfully, shall not be able to eat
righteousness.
For
righteousness is bread. Who is bread? "I am the living bread which came
down
from heaven." John 6:51 Himself is the bread of our heart .... Is then
even
righteousness
eaten? If it were not eaten, the Lord would not have said, "Blessed
are
they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness." Matthew 5:6
Therefore
"since
his soul shall be blessed in life," in life it "shall" be
blessed, in death it shall
be
tormented....
8.
"He shall confess to You, when You shall have done him good." Be not
of such
sort,
brethren: see ye how that to this end we say these words, to this end we sing,
to
this end we treat, to this end toil—do not these things. Your business does
prove
you:
sometimes in your business ye hear the truth, and you blaspheme. The
Church
ye blaspheme. Wherefore? Because you are Christians. "If so it be, I
betake
myself to Donatus's party: I will be a heathen." Wherefore? Because you
have
eaten bread, and the teeth are in pain. When you saw the bread itself, you
praised;
you begin to eat, and the teeth are in pain; that is, when you were hearing
the
Word of God you praised: when it is said to you, "Do this," you
blaspheme, do
not
so ill: say this, "The bread is good, but I cannot eat it." But now
if you see with
the
eyes, you praise, when you begin to close the teeth you say, "Bad is this
bread,
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and
like him that made it." So it comes to pass that you confess to God, when
God
does
you good and you lie when you sing, "I will alway bless God, His praise is
ever
in my mouth." How alway? If alway gain, alway He is blessed: if sometime
there
is loss, He is not blessed, but blasphemed. Forsooth you bless alway,
forsooth
His praise is ever in your mouth! You will be such as just now he
describes:
"He will confess to You, when You shall have done him good."
9.
"He shall enter even unto the generations of his fathers" (ver. 19):
that is, he
shall
imitate his fathers. For the unrighteous, that now are, have brothers, have
fathers.
Unrighteous men of old, are the fathers of the present; and they that are
now
unrighteous, are the fathers of unrighteous posterity: just as the fathers of
the
righteous,
the righteous of old, are the fathers of the righteous that now are; and
they
that now are, are the fathers of them that are to be. The Holy Spirit has willed
to
show that righteousness is not evil when men murmur against her: but these
men
have their father from the beginning, even to the generation of their fathers.
Two
men Adam begat, and in one was unrighteousness, in one was righteousness:
unrighteousness
in Cain, righteousness in Abel. 1 John 3:12 Unrighteousness
seemed
to prevail over righteousness, because Cain unrighteous slew Abel
righteous
Genesis 4:8 in the night. Is it so in the morning? Nay, "but the righteous
shall
reign over them in the morning." The morning shall come, and it shall be
seen
where Abel is, and where Cain. So all men who are after Cain, and so all who
are
after Abel, even unto the end of the world. "He shall enter even unto the
generations
of his fathers: even to eternity he shall not see light." Because even
when
he was here, he was in darkness, taking pleasure in false goods, and not
loving
real goods: even so he shall go hence into hell: from the darkness of his
dreams
the darkness of torments shall receive him. Therefore, "even to eternity
he
shall
not see light."
But
wherefore this? What he has written in the middle of the Psalm, the same also
he
has writ at the end: "Man, though he was in honour, understood not, was
compared
to the beasts without sense, and was made like to them" (ver. 20). But
ye,
brethren, consider that you be men made after the image and likeness of God.
The
image Genesis 1:26 of God is within, is not in the body; is not in these ears
which
you see, and eyes, and nostrils, and palate, and hands, and feet; but is made
nevertheless:
wherein is the intellect, wherein is the mind, wherein the power of
discovering
truth, wherein is faith, wherein is your hope, wherein your charity,
there
God has His Image: there at least ye perceive and see that these things pass
away;
for so he has said in another Psalm, "Though man walks in an image, yet he
is
disquieted in vain: he heaps up treasures, and knows not for whom he shall
gather
them." Be not disquieted, for of whatsoever kind these things be, they are
transitory,
if you are men who being in honour understand. For if being men in
honour
ye understand not, you are compared to the beasts without sense, and are
made
like to them.
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315
Exposition
on Psalm 50
1.
How much avails the Word of God to us for the correction of our life, both
regarding
His rewards to be expected, and His punishments to be feared, let each
one
measure in himself; and let him put his conscience without deceit before His
eyes,
and not flatter himself in a danger so great: for you see that even our Lord
God
Himself does flatter no one: though He comforts us by promising His
blessings,
and by strengthening our hope; yet them that live ill and despise His
word
He assuredly spares not. Let each one examine himself, while it is time, and
let
him see where he is, and either persevere in good, or be changed from evil. For
as
he says in this Psalm, not any man whatever nor any angel whatever, but,
"The
Lord,
the God of gods, has spoken" (ver. 1). But in speaking, He has done what?
"He
has called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down." He
that
"has
called the world from the rising of the sun unto the going down," is Our
Lord
and
Saviour Jesus Christ, "the Word made Flesh," John 1:14 in order that
He
might
dwell in us. Our Lord Jesus Christ then is the "God of gods;" because
by
Himself
were all things made, and without Himself was nothing made. The Word
of
God, if He is God, is truly the God of gods; but whether He be God the Gospel
answers,
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word
was God." John 1:1 And if all things were made by Himself, as He says in
the
sequel, then if any were made gods, by Himself were they made. For the one
God
was not made, and He is Himself alone truly God. But Himself the only God,
Father
and Son and Holy Ghost, is one God.
2.
But then who are those gods, or where are they, of whom God is the true God?
Another
Psalm says, "God has stood in the synagogue of gods, but in the midst He
judges
gods." As yet we know not whether perchance any gods be congregated in
heaven,
and in their congregation, for this is "in the synagogue," God has
stood to
judge.
See in the same Psalm those to whom he says, "I have said, You are gods,
and
children of the Highest all; but you shall die like men, and fall like one of
the
princes."
It is evident then, that He has called men gods, that are deified of His
Grace,
not born of His Substance. For He does justify, who is just through His
own
self, and not of another; and He does deify who is God through Himself, not
by
the partaking of another. But He that justifies does Himself deify, in that by
justifying
He does make sons of God. "For He has given them power to become
the
sons of God." John 1:12 If we have been made sons of God, we have also
been
made
gods: but this is the effect of Grace adopting, not of nature generating. For
the
only Son of God, God, and one God with the Father, Our Lord and Saviour
Jesus
Christ, was in the beginning the Word, and the Word with God, the Word
God.
The rest that are made gods, are made by His own Grace, are not born of His
Substance,
that they should be the same as He, but that by favour they should
come
to Him, and be fellow-heirs with Christ. For so great is the love in Him the
Heir,
that He has willed to have fellow-heirs. What covetous man would will this,
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to
have fellow-heirs? But even one that is found so to will, will share with them
the
inheritance, the sharer having less himself, than if he had possessed alone:
but
the
inheritance wherein we are fellow-heirs of Christ, is not lessened by multitude
of
possessors, nor is it made narrower by the number of fellow-heirs: but is as
great
for many as it is for few, as great for individuals as for all.
"See," says the
Apostle,
"what love God has bestowed upon us, that we should be called, and be,
the
sons of God." 1 John 3:1 And in another place, "Dearly beloved, we
are the
sons
of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be." We are therefore in
hope,
not yet in substance. "But we know," he says, "that when He
shall have
appeared,
we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." 1 John 3:2 The
Only
Son is like Him by birth, we like by seeing. For we are not like in such sort
as
He, who is the same as He is by whom He was begotten: for we are like, not
equal:
He, because equal, is therefore like. We have heard who are the gods that
being
made are justified, because they are called the sons of God: and who are the
gods
that are not Gods, to whom the God of gods is terrible? For another Psalm
says,
"He is terrible over all gods." And as if you should enquire, what
gods? He
says,
"For all the gods of the nations are devils." To the gods of the
nations, to the
devils,
terrible: to the gods made by Himself, to sons, lovely. Furthermore, I find
both
of them confessing the Majesty of God, both the devils confessed Christ, and
the
faithful confessed Christ. "You are Christ, the Son of the living
God,"
Matthew
16:16 said Peter. "We know who You are, You are the Son of God," said
the
devils. A like confession I hear, but like love I find not; nay even here love,
there
fear. To whom therefore He is lovely, the same are sons; to whom He is
terrible,
are not sons; to whom He is lovely, the same He has made gods; those to
whom
He is terrible He does prove not to be gods. For these are made gods, those
are
reputed gods; these Truth makes gods, those error does so account.
3.
"The God," therefore, "of gods, the Lord has spoken" (ver.
1). Hath spoken
many
ways. By Angels He has Himself spoken, by Prophets He has Himself
spoken,
by His own mouth He has Himself spoken, by His faithful He does
Himself
speak, by our lowliness, when we say anything true, He does Himself
speak.
See then, by speaking diversely, many ways, by many vessels, by many
instruments,
yet He does Himself sound everywhere, by touching, moulding,
inspiring:
see what He has done. For "He has spoken, and has called the world."
What
world?
is
the portion of Donatus. Africa indeed alone He has not called, but even
He
has not severed. For He that "has called the world from the rising of the
sun
unto
the going down," leaving out no parts that He has not called, in His
calling
has
found
say
well, that the voice of the God of gods has come even into
stayed
in
going
down." There is no place where may lurk the conspiracies of heretics, they
have
no place wherein they may hide themselves under the shadow of falsehood;
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317
for
"there is none that can hide himself from the heat thereof." He that
has called
the
world, has called even the whole world: He that has called the world, has
called
as much as He has formed. Why do false christs and false prophets rise up
against
me? why is it that they strive to ensnare me with captious words, saying,
"Lo!
here is Christ, Lo! He is there!" Matthew 24:23 I hear not them that point
out
portions:
the God of gods has pointed out the whole: "He" that "has called
the
world
from the rising of the sun unto the going down," has redeemed the whole;
but
has condemned them that lay false claim to portions.
4.
But we have heard the world called from the rising of the sun unto the going
down:
whence does He begin to call, who has called? This thing also hear ye:
"Out
of
Sion is the semblance of His beauty" (ver. 2). Evidently the Psalm does
agree
with
the Gospel, which says, "Throughout all nations, beginning at
Luke
24:47 Hear, "Throughout all nations:" He has called the world from
the
rising
of the sun unto the going down." Hear, "Beginning at
Sion
is the semblance of His beauty." Therefore, "He has called the world
from the
rising
of the sun unto the going down," agrees with the words of the Lord, who
says,
"It behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day; and
that
repentance
and remission of sins should be preached in His Name throughout all
nations."
Luke 24:46-47 For all nations are from the rising of the sun unto the
going
down. But that, "Out of Sion is the semblance of His beauty," that
thence
begins
the beauty of His Gospel, that thence He began to be preached, being
"beautiful
in form beyond the sons of men," agrees with the words of the Lord,
who
says, "Beginning at
with
new: the two Seraphim say to one another, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of
Sabaoth."
Isaiah 6:3 The two Testaments are both in tune, and the two Testaments
have
one voice: let the voice of the Testaments in tune be heard, not that of
pretenders
disinherited. This thing then has the God of gods done, "He has called
the
world from the rising of the sun unto the going down, His semblance going
before
out of Sion." For in that place were His disciples, Acts 1:4 who received
the
Holy
Ghost sent from heaven on the fiftieth day after His resurrection. Thence the
Gospel,
thence the preaching, thence the whole world filled, and that in the Grace
of
Faith.
5.
For when the Lord Himself had come, because He came to suffer, He came
hidden:
and though He was strong in Himself, He appeared in the flesh weak. For
He
must needs appear in order that He might not be perceived; be despised, in
order
that He might be slain. There was semblance of glory in divinity, but it lay
concealed
in flesh. "For if they had known, they would never have crucified the
Lord
of glory." 1 Corinthians 2:8 So then He walked hidden among the Jews,
among
His enemies, doing marvels, suffering ills, until He was hanged on the tree,
and
the Jews seeing Him hanging both despised Him the more, and before the
Cross
wagging their heads they said, "If He be the Son of God, let Him come
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318
down
from the Cross." Matthew 27:39-40 Hidden then was the God of gods, and
He
gave forth words more out of compassion for us than out of His own majesty.
For
whence, unless assumed from us, were those words, "My God, My God, why
have
You forsaken me?" But when has the Father forsaken the Son, or the Son the
Father?
Are not Father and Son one God? Whence then, "My God, My God, why
have
You forsaken Me," save that in the Flesh of infirmity there was
acknowledged
the voice of a sinner? For as He took upon Him the likeness of the
flesh
of sin, Romans 8:3 why should He not take upon Him the voice of sin?
Hidden
then was the God of gods, both when He walked among men, and when
He
hungered, and when He thirsted, and when fatigued He sat, and when with
wearied
body He slept, and when taken, and when scourged, and when standing
before
the judge, and when He made answer to him in his pride, "You could have
no
power against Me, except it had been given you from above;" John 19:11 and
while
led as a victim "before His shearer He opened not His mouth," Isaiah
53:7
and
while crucified, and while buried, He was always hidden God of gods. What
took
place after He rose again? The disciples marvelled, and at first believed not,
until
they touched and handled. Luke 24:37-40 But flesh had risen, because flesh
had
been dead: Divinity which could not die, even still lay hid in the flesh of Him
rising.
Form could be seen, limbs held, scars handled: the Word by whom all
things
were made, who does see? who does hold? who does handle? And yet "the
Word
was made flesh, and dwelled among us." John 1:14 And Thomas, that was
holding
Man, understood God as he was able. For when he had handled the scars,
he
cried out, "My Lord, and my God." Yet the Lord was showing that form,
and
that
flesh, which they had seen upon the Cross, which had been laid in the
sepulchre.
He stayed with them forty days .... But what was said to Thomas
handling?
"Because you have seen, you have believed; blessed are they that see
not,
and believe." John 20:29 We are foretold. That world called from the
rising of
the
sun unto the going down sees not, and believes. Hidden then is the God of
gods,
both to those among whom He walked, and to those by whom He was
crucified,
and to those before whose eyes He rose, and to us who believe in Him in
heaven
sitting, whom we have not seen on earth walking. But even if we were to
see,
should we not see that which the Jews saw and crucified? It is more, that not
seeing
we believe Christ to be God, than that they seeing deemed Him only to be
man.
They in a word by thinking evil slew, we by believing well are made alive.
6.
What then, brethren? This God of gods, both then hidden, and now hidden, shall
He
ever be hidden? Evidently not: hear what follows: "God shall come
manifest"
(ver.
3). He that came hidden, shall come manifest. Hidden He came to be judged,
manifest
He shall come to judge: hidden He came that He might stand before a
judge,
manifest He shall come that He may be judge even of judges: "He shall
come
manifest, and shall not be silent." But why? Is He now silent? And whence
are
all the words that we say? whence those precepts? whence those warnings?
whence
that trumpet of terror? He is not silent, and is silent: is not silent from
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319
warning,
is silent from avenging: is not silent from precept, is silent from
judgment.
For He suffers sinners daily doing evil things, not caring for God, not in
their
conscience, not in heaven, not in earth: all these things escape Him not, and
universally
He does admonish all; and whenever He chastises any on earth, it is
admonition,
not yet condemnation. He is silent then from judgment, He is hidden
in
heaven, as yet He intercedes for us: He is long-suffering to sinners, not
putting
forth
His wrath, but awaiting penitence. He says in another place: "I have held
my
peace,
shall I always hold my peace?" Isaiah 42:14 When then He shall not hold
His
peace, "God shall come manifest." What God? "Our God." And
the God
Himself,
who is our God: for he is not God, who is not our God. For the gods of
the
nations are devils: the God of Christians is very God. Himself shall come, but
"manifest,"
not still to be mocked, not still to be buffeted and scourged: He shall
come,
but "manifest," not still to be smitten with a reed upon the head,
not still to
be
crucified, slain, buried: for all these things God being hidden has willed to
suffer.
"He shall come manifest, and shall not be silent."
7.
But that He shall come to judgment, the following words teach. "Fire shall
go
before
Him." Do we fear? Be we changed, and we shall not fear. Let chaff fear the
fire:
what does it to gold? What you may do is now in your power, so you may not
experience,
for want of being corrected, that which is to come even against your
will.
For if we might so bring it about, brethren, that the day of judgment should
not
come; I think that even then it were not for us to live ill. If the fire of the
day
of
judgment were not to come, and over sinners there impended only separation
from
the face of God, in whatever affluence of delights they might be, not seeing
Him
by whom they were created, and separated from that sweetness of His
ineffable
countenance, in whatever eternity and impunity of sin, they ought to
bemoan
themselves. But what shall I say, or to whom shall I say? This is a
punishment
to lovers, not to despisers. They that have begun to feel in any degree
the
sweetness of wisdom and truth, know what I say, how great a punishment it is
to
be only separated from the face of God: but they that have not tasted that
sweetness,
if not yet they yearn for the face of God, let them fear even fire; let
punishments
terrify those, whom rewards win not. Of no value to you is what God
promises,
tremble at what He threatens. The sweetness of His presence shall come;
you
are not changed, you are not awakened, you sigh not, you long not: you
embrace
your sins and the delights of your flesh, you are heaping stubble to
yourself,
the fire will come. "Fire shall burn in His presence." This fire will
not be
like
your hearth-fire, into which nevertheless, if you are compelled to thrust your
hand,
you will do whatsoever he would have you who does threaten this
alternative.
If he say to you, "write against the life of your father, write against
the
lives
of your children, for if thou do not, I thrust your hand into your fire:"
you
will
do it in order that your hand be not burned, in order that your member be not
burned
for a time, though it is not to be ever in pain. Your enemy threatens then
but
so light an evil, and you do evil; God threatens eternal evil, and doest thou
not
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good?
To do evil not even menaces should compel you: from doing good not even
menaces
should deter you. But by the menaces of God, by menaces of everlasting
fire,
you are dissuaded from evil, invited to good. Wherefore does it grieve you,
except
because you believe not? Let each one then examine his heart, and see what
faith
does hold there. If we believe a judgment to come, brethren, let us live well.
Now
is time of mercy, then will be time of judgment. No one will say, "Call me
back
to my former years." Even then men will repent, but will repent in vain:
now
let
there be repentance, while there is fruit of repentance; now let there be
applied
to
the roots of the tree a basket of dung, Luke 13:8 sorrow of heart, and tears;
lest
He
come and pluck up by the roots. For when He shall have plucked up, then the
fire
is to be looked for. Now, even if the branches have been broken, they can
again
be grafted in: Romans 11:19 then, "every tree which brings not forth good
fruit,
shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire." Matthew 3:10
"Fire shall
burn
in His presence."
8.
"And a mighty tempest round about Him" (ver. 3). "A mighty
tempest," in order
to
winnow so great a floor. In this tempest shall be that winnowing whereby from
the
saints shall be put away everything impure, from the faithful every unreality;
from
godly men and them that fear the Word of God, every scorner and every
proud
man. For now a sort of mixture does lie there, from the rising of the sun
unto
the going down. Let us see then how He will do that is to come, what He will
do
with that tempest which "shall be a mighty tempest round about Him."
Doubtless
this tempest is to make a sort of separation. It is that separation which
they
waited not for, who broke the nets, before they came to land. Luke 5:6 But in
this
separation there is made a sort of distinction between good men and bad men.
There
be some that now follow Christ with lightened shoulders without the load of
the
world's cares, who have not heard in vain, "If you will be perfect, go and
sell
all
that you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven: and
come,
follow Me;" Matthew 19:21 to which sort is said, "You shall sit upon
twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
shall
be judging with the Lord: but others to be judged, but to be placed on the
right
hand. For that there will be certain judging with the Lord, we have most
evident
testimony, which I have but now quoted: "You shall sit upon twelve
thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of
9.
But what the Lord did after His resurrection, signified what is to be to us
after
our
resurrection, in that number of the kingdom of heaven, where shall be no bad
man....
Lastly, those seven thousand of whom reply was made to Elias, "I have left
me
seven thousand men that have not bowed knees before Baal," 1 Kings 19:18
far
exceed that number of fishes. Therefore the hundred and fifty-three fishes
John
21:11 does not alone express just such a number of saints, but Scripture does
express
the whole number of saints and righteous men by so great a number for a
particular
reason; to wit, in order that in those hundred and fifty-three all may be
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321
understood
that pertain to the resurrection to eternal life. For the Law has ten
commandments:
Deuteronomy 4:13 but the Spirit of Grace, through which alone
the
Law is fulfilled, Isaiah 11:2-3 is called sevenfold. The number then must be
examined,
what mean ten and seven: ten in commandments, seven in the grace of
the
Holy Spirit: by which grace the commandments are fulfilled. Ten then and
seven
contain all that pertain to the resurrection, to the right hand, to the kingdom
of
heaven, to life eternal, that is, they that fulfil the Law by the Grace of the
Spirit,
not
as it were by their own work or their own merit. But ten and seven, if you
count
from one unto seventeen, by adding all the numbers by steps, so that to one
you
may add two, add three, add four, that they may become ten, by adding five
that
they may become fifteen, by adding six that they may become twenty-one, by
adding
seven that they may become twenty-eight, by adding eight that they may
become
thirty-six, by adding nine that they may become forty-five, by adding ten
that
they may become fifty-five, by adding eleven that they may become sixty-six,
by
adding twelve that they may become seventy-eight, by adding thirteen that they
may
become ninety-one, by adding fourteen that they may become one hundred
and
five, by adding fifteen that they may become one hundred and twenty, by
adding
sixteen that they may become one hundred and thirty-six, by adding
seventeen,
make up one hundred and fifty-three, you will find a vast number of all
saints
to belong to this number of a few fishes. In like manner then as in five
virgins,
countless virgins; as in five brethren of him that was tormented in hell,
thousands
of the people of the Jews; as in the number of one hundred and fifty-
three
fishes, thousands of thousands of saints: so in twelve thrones, not twelve
men,
but great is the number of the perfect.
10.
But I see what is next required of us; in like manner as in the case of the
five
virgins,
a reason was given why many should belong to five, and why to those five
many
Jews, and why to a hundred and fifty-three many perfect—to show why and
how
to the twelve thrones not twelve men, but many belong. What mean the
twelve
thrones, which signify all men everywhere that have been enabled to be so
perfect
as they must be perfect, to whom it is said, "You shall sit over the
twelve
tribes
of
number
twelve? Because the very "everywhere" which we say, we say of the
whole
world: but the compass of lands is contained in four particular quarters,
East,
West, South, and North: from all these quarters they being called in the
Trinity
and made perfect in the faith and precept of the Trinity,—seeing that three
times
four are twelve, you perceive wherefore the saints belong to the whole
world;
they that shall sit upon twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of
since
the twelve tribes of
For
like as they that are to judge are from the whole world, so also they that are
to
be
judged are from the whole world. The Apostle Paul of himself, when he was
reproving
believing laymen, because they referred not their causes to the Church,
but
dragged them with whom they had matters before the public, said, "Do you
not
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know
that we shall judge Angels?" 1 Corinthians 6:3 See after what sort He has
made
Himself judge: not only himself, but also all that judge aright in the Church.
11.
Since then it is evident, that many are to judge with the Lord, but that others
are
to be judged, not however on equality, but according to their deserts; He will
come
with all His Angels, Matthew 25:31 when before Him shall be gathered all
nations,
and among all the Angels are to be reckoned those that have been made so
perfect,
that sitting upon twelve thrones they judge the twelve tribes of
men
are called Angels: the Apostle says of himself, "As an angel of God ye
received
me." Galatians 4:14 Of John Baptist it is said, "Behold, I send My
Angel
before
Your face, that shall prepare Your way before You." Therefore, coming
with
all Angels, together with Him He shall have the Saints also. For plainly says
Isaias
also, "He shall come to judgment with the elders of the people."
Isaiah 3:14
Those
"elders of the people," then, those but now named Angels, those
thousands
of
many men made perfect coming from the whole world, are called Heaven. But
the
others are called earth, yet fruitful. Which is the earth that is fruitful?
That
which
is to be set on the right hand, unto which it shall be said, "I was an
hungred,
and
you gave Me to eat:" Matthew 25:35 truly fruitful earth in which the
Apostle
does
joy, when they sent to him to supply his necessities: "Not because I ask a
gift,"
he says, "but I require fruit." Philippians 4:17 And he gives thanks,
saying,
"Because
at length you have budded forth again to be thoughtful for me."
Philippians
4:10 He says, "You have budded forth again," as to trees which had
withered
away with a kind of barrenness. Therefore the Lord coming to judgment
(that
we may now hear the Psalm, brethren), He will do what? "He will call the
heaven
from above" (ver. 4). The heaven, all the Saints, those made perfect that
shall
judge, them He shall call from above, to be sitters with Him to judge the
twelve
tribes of
heaven
is always above? But those that He here calls heaven, the same elsewhere
He
calls heavens. What heavens? That tell out the glory of God: for, "The
heavens
tell
out the glory of God:" whereof is said, "Into all the earth their
sound has gone
forth,
and into the ends of the world their words." For see the Lord severing in
judgment:
"He shall call the heaven from above and the earth, to sever His
people."
From whom but from evil men? Of whom here afterwards no mention is
made,
now as it were condemned to punishment. See these good men, and
distinguish.
"He shall call the heaven from above, and the earth, to sever His
people."
He calls the earth also, not however to be associated, but to be
dissociated.
For at first He called them together, "when the God of gods spoke and
called
the world from the rising of the sun unto the going down," He had not yet
severed:
those servants had been sent to bid to the marriage, Matthew 22:3 who
had
gathered good and bad. But when the God of gods shall come manifest and
shall
not keep silence, He shall so call the "heaven from above" that it
may judge
with
Him. For what the heaven is, the heavens themselves are; just as what the
earth
is, the lands themselves, just as what the Church is, the Churches themselves:
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"He
shall call the heaven from above, and the earth, to sever His people." Now
with
the heaven He severs the earth, that is, the heaven with Him does sever the
earth.
How does He sever the earth? In such sort that He sets on the right hand
some,
others on the left. But to the earth severed, He says what? "Come, you
blessed
of My Father, receive the kingdom which was prepared for you from the
beginning
of the world. For I was an hungred, and you gave me to eat," and so
forth.
But they say, "When saw we You an hungred?" And He, "Inasmuch as
you
have
done it unto one of the least of Mine, you have done it unto Me." "He
shall
call
therefore the heaven from above, and the earth, to sever His people."
12.
"Gather to Him His righteous" (ver. 5). The voice divine and
prophetic, seeing
future
things as if present does exhort the Angels gathering. For He shall send His
Angels,
and before Him shall be gathered all nations. Matthew 25:32 Gather to
Him
His righteous. What righteous men save those that live of faith and do works
of
mercy? For those works are works of righteousness. You have the Gospel:
"Beware
of doing your righteousness before men to be seen of them." Matthew 6:1
And
as if it were inquired, What righteousness? "When therefore you do
alms," He
says.
Therefore alms He has signified to be works of righteousness. Those very
persons
gather for His righteous: gather those that have had compassion on the
"needy,"
that have considered the needy and poor: gather them, "The Lord
preserve
them, and make them to live;" "Gather to Him His righteous: who order
His
covenant above sacrifices:" that is, who think of His promises above those
things
which they work. For those things are sacrifices, God saying, "I will have
mercy
more than sacrifice." "Who keep His covenant more than
sacrifice."
13.
"And the Heaven shall declare His righteousness" (ver. 6). Truly this
righteousness
of God to us the "heavens have declared," the Evangelists have
foretold.
Through them we have heard that some will be on the right hand, to
whom
the Householder says, "Come, you blessed of My Father, receive."
Matthew
25:34 Receive what? "A kingdom." In return for what thing? "I
was an
hungred,
and you gave Me to eat." What so valueless, what so earthly, as to break
bread
to the hungry? At so much is valued the kingdom of heaven. "Break your
bread
to the hungry, and the needy without covering bring into your house; if you
see
one naked, clothe him." Isaiah 58:7 If you have not the means of breaking
bread,
hast not house into which you may bring, hast not garment wherewith you
may
cover: give a cup of cold water, Matthew 10:42 cast two mites into the
treasury.
Mark 12:42 As much the widow does buy with two mites, as Peter buys,
by
leaving the nets, Matthew 4:20 as Zacchćus buys by giving half his goods.
Luke
19:8 Of so much worth is all that you have. "The heavens shall declare His
righteousness,
for God is Judge." Truly judge not confounding but severing. For
"the
Lord knows them that are His." 2 Timothy 2:19 Even if grains lie hid in
the
chaff,
they are known to the husbandman. Let no one fear that he is a grain even
among
the chaff; the eyes of our winnower are not deceived. Fear not lest that
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tempest,
which shall be round about Him, should confound you with chaff.
Certainly
mighty will be the tempest; yet not one grain will it sweep from the side
of
the corn to the chaff: because not any rustic with three-pronged fork, but God,
Three
in One, is Judge. And the heavens shall declare His righteousness: for God
is
Judge. Let heavens go, let the heavens tell, into every land let their sound go
out,
and unto the ends of the world their words: and let that body say, "From
the
ends
of the world unto You have I cried, when my heart was in heaviness." For
now
mingled it groans, divided it shall rejoice. Let it cry then and say,
"Destroy
not
my soul with ungodly men, and with men of blood my life." He destroys not
together,
because God is Judge. Let it cry to Him and say, "Judge me, O Lord, and
sever
my cause from the nation unholy:" let it say, He shall do it: there shall
be
gathered
to Him His righteous ones. He has called the earth that He may sever His
people.
14.
"Hear, my people, and I will speak to you" (ver. 7). He shall come
and shall
not
keep silence; see how that even now, if you hear, He is not silent. Hear, my
people,
and I will speak to you. For if you hear not, I will not speak to you.
"Hear,
and
I will speak to you." For if you hear not, even though I shall speak, it
will not
be
to you. When then shall I speak to you? If you hear? When do you hear? If you
are
my people. For, "Hear, my people:" you hear not if you are an alien
people.
"Hear,
my people, and I will speak to you:
"Your
God," is properly said to that man whom God does keep more as one of His
family,
as though in His household, as though in His peculiar: "Your God am I."
What
will you more? Requirest thou a reward from God, so that God may give
you
something; so that what He has given you may be your own? Behold God
Himself,
who shall give, is your own. What richer than He? Gifts you were
desiring,
you have the Giver Himself. "God, your God, I am."
15.
What He requires of man, let us see; what tribute our God, our Emperor and
our
King does enjoin us; since He has willed to be our King, and has willed us to
be
His province? Let us hear His injunctions. Let not a poor man tremble beneath
the
injunction of God: what God enjoins to be given to Himself, He does Himself
first
give that enjoins: be ye only devoted. God does not exact what He has not
given,
and to all men has given what He does exact. For what does He exact? Let
us
hear now: "I will not reprove you because of your sacrifices" (ver.
8). I will not
say
to you, Wherefore have you not slain for me a fat bull? why have you not
selected
the best he-goat from your flock? Wherefore does that ram amble among
your
sheep, and is not laid upon mine altar? I will not say, Examine your fields
and
your pen and your walls, seeking what you may give
you
because of your sacrifices." What then: Dost Thou not accept my
sacrifices?
"But
your holocausts are always in My sight" (ver. 9). Certain holocausts
concerning
which it is said in another Psalm, "If You had desired sacrifice, I
would
surely have given, with holocausts You will not be delighted:" and again
he
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325
turns
himself, "Sacrifice to God is a troubled spirit, a heart broken and humbled
God
does not despise." Which be then holocausts that He despises not? Which
holocausts
that are always in His sight? "Kindly, O Lord," he says, "deal
in Your
good
will with Sion, and be the walls of
the
sacrifice of righteousness, oblations, and holocausts." He says that
certain
holocausts
God will accept. But what is a holocaust? A whole consumed with fire:
causis
is burning,
There
is a certain fire of most burning love: be the mind inflamed with love, let the
same
love hurry off the limbs to its use, let it not allow them to serve cupidity,
in
order
that we may wholly glow with fire of divine love that will offer to God a
holocaust.
Such "holocausts of yours are in My sight always."
16.
As yet that
thereof
which He has in His sight always, and is still thinking of oxen, of sheep, of
he-goats:
let it not so think: "I will not accept calves of your house."
Holocausts I
named;
at once in mind and thought to earthly flocks you were running, therefrom
you
were selecting for Me some fat thing: "I will not accept calves of your
house."
He
is foretelling the New Testament, wherein all those sacrifices have ceased. For
they
were then foretelling a certain Sacrifice which was to be, with the Blood
whereof
we should be cleansed. "I will not accept calves of your house, nor he-
goats
of your flocks."
17.
"For mine are all the beasts of the wood" (ver. 10). Why should I ask
of you
what
I have made? Is it more yours, to whom I have given it to possess, than Mine,
who
have made it? "For mine are all the beasts of the wood." But
perchance that
which
I bind not to my stall; but this ox and sheep and he-goat—these are my
own.
"Cattle on the mountain, and oxen." Mine are those which you possess
not,
Mine
are these which you possess. For if you are My servant, the whole of your
property
is Mine. For it cannot be, that is the property of the master which the
servant
has gotten to himself, and yet that not be the property of the Master which
the
Master Himself has created for the servant. Therefore Mine are the beasts of
the
wood which you have not taken; Mine are also the cattle on the mountains
which
are yours, and the oxen which are at your stall: all are My own, for I have
created
them.
18.
"I know all the winged creatures of heaven" (ver. 11). How does He
know? He
has
weighed them, has counted. Which of us knows all the winged creatures of
heaven?
But even though to some man God give knowledge of all the winged
creatures
of heaven, He does not Himself know in the same manner as He gives
man
to know. One thing is God's knowledge, another man's: in like manner as
there
is one possession of God's, another of man's: that is, God's possessing is one
thing,
man's another. For what you possess you have not wholly in your power, or
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326
else
your ox, so long as it lives, is in your power; so as that it either die not,
or be
not
to be fed. With whom there is the highest power, there is highest and most
secret
cognition. Let us ascribe this to God, while praising God. Let us not dare to
say,
How knows God? Do not, I pray you, brethren, of me expect this, that I
should
unfold to you, how God does know: this only I say, He does not so know as
a
man, He does not so know as an Angel: and how He knows I dare not say,
because
also I cannot ken. One thing, nevertheless, I ken, that even before all the
winged
creatures of heaven were, God knew that which He was to create. What is
that
knowledge? O man, you begin to see, after that you had been formed, after
that
you had received sense of seeing. These fowls sprung of the water at the word
of
God, saying, "Let the waters bring forth fowls." Genesis 1:20 Whereby
did God
know
the things which He commanded the water to bear forth? Now surely He
knew
what He had created, and before He created He knew. So great then is the
knowledge
of God, so that with Himself they were in a certain ineffable manner
before
they were created: and of you does He expect to receive what He had,
before
He created? "I know all the winged creatures of heaven," which thou
to Me
canst
not give. The things which you were about to slay for Me, I know all: not
because
I made I know, but in order that I might make. "And the beauty of the
field
is with Me." The fairness of the field, the abundance of all things
engendering
upon earth, "is with Me," He says. How with Him? Were they so,
even
before they were made? Yea, for with Him were all things to come, and with
Him
are all things by-gone: things to come in such sort, that there be not
withdrawn
from Him all things by-gone. With Him are all things by a certain
cognition
of the ineffable wisdom of God residing in the Word, and the Word
Himself
is all things. Is not the beauty of the field in a manner with Him, inasmuch
as
He is everywhere, and Himself has said, "Heaven and earth I fill"?
What with
Him
is not, of whom it is said, "If I shall have ascended into heaven, You are
there;
and if I shall have descended into hell, You are present"? With Him is the
whole:
but it is not so with Him as that He does suffer any contamination from
those
things which He has created, or any want of them. For with you, perchance,
is
a pillar near which you are standing, and when you are weary, you lean against
it.
Thou needest that which is with you, God needs not the field which is which
Him.
With Him is field, with Him beauty of earth, with Him beauty of heaven,
with
Him all winged creatures, because He is Himself everywhere. And wherefore
are
all things near Him? Because even before that all things were, or were created,
to
Him were known all things.
19.
Who can explain, who expound that which is said to Him in another Psalm,
"For
my goods Thou needest not"? He has said that He needs not from us any
necessary
thing. "If I shall be hungry, I will not tell you" (ver. 12). He that
keeps
according
to your carnality I speak: because you will suffer hunger when you have
not
eaten, perhaps you think even God does hunger that He may eat. Even though
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327
He
shall be hungry, He tells not you: all things are before Him, whence He will He
takes
what is needful for Him. These words are said to convince little
understanding;
not that God has declared His hunger. Though for our sake this
God
of gods deigned even to hunger. He came to hunger, and to fill; He came to
thirst,
and give drink; He came to be clothed with mortality, and to clothe with
immortality;
He came poor, to make rich. For He lost not His riches by taking to
Him
our poverty, for, "In him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
hidden."
Colossians 2:3 "If I shall be hungry, I will not tell you. For Mine is the
whole
world, and the fulness thereof." Do not then labour to find what to give
Me,
without
whom I have what I will.
20.
Why then dost still think of your flocks? "Shall I eat the flesh of bulls,
or shall
I
drink the blood of he-goats?" (ver. 13). You have heard what of us He
requires
not,
who wills to enjoin us somewhat. If of such things ye were thinking, now
withdraw
your thoughts from such things: think not to offer God any such thing. If
you
have a fat bull, kill for the poor: let them eat the flesh of bulls, though
they
shall
not drink the blood of he-goats. Which, when you shall have done, He will
account
it to you, that has said, "If I shall be hungry, I will not tell
you:" and He
shall
say to you, "I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat." "Shall I eat
the flesh of
bulls,
or shall I drink the blood of he-goats?" Matthew 25:35
21.
Say then, Lord our God, what dost Thou enjoin your people, Your Israel?
"Immolate
to God the sacrifice of praise" (ver. 14). Let us also say to Him,
"In me,
O
God, are your vows, which I will render of prose to You." I had feared
lest You
might
enjoin something which would be out of my power, which I was counting to
be
in my pen, and but now perchance it had been taken away by a thief. What dost
Thou
enjoin me? "Immolate to God the sacrifice of praise." Let me revert
to
myself,
wherein I may find what I may immolate: let me revert to myself; in
myself
may I find immolation of praise: be Your altar my conscience. We are
without
anxiety, we go not into
covetous
dealer do we sift: God requires of us the sacrifice of praise. Zacchćus
had
the sacrifice of praise in his patrimony; Luke 19:8 the widow had it in her
bag;
Mark
12:42 some poor host or other has had it in his jar: another neither in
patrimony,
nor in bag, nor in jar, has had anything, had it wholly in his heart:
salvation
was to the house of Zacchćus; and more this poor widow cast in than
those
rich men: this man, that does offer a cup of cold water, shall not lose his
reward:
Matthew 10:42 but there is even "peace on earth to men of good will."
Luke
2:14 "Immolate to God the sacrifice of praise." O sacrifice
gratuitous, by
grace
given! I have not indeed bought this to offer, but You have given: for not
even
this should I have had. And this is the immolation of the sacrifice of praise,
to
render thanks to Him from whom you have whatever of good you have, and by
whose
mercy is forgiven you whatsoever of evil of yours you have. "Immolate to
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God
the sacrifice of praise: and render to the Highest your prayers." With
this
odour
the Lord is well pleased.
22.
"And call thou upon Me in the day of your tribulation: and I will draw you
forth,
and you shall glorify Me" (ver. 15). For thou oughtest not to rely on your
powers,
all your aids are deceitful. "Upon Me call thou in the day of tribulation:
I
will
draw you forth, and you shall glorify Me." For to this end I have allowed
the
day
of tribulation to come to you: because perchance if you were not troubled, you
would
not call on Me: but when you are troubled, you call on Me; when you call
upon
Me, I will draw you forth; when I shall draw you forth, you shall glorify Me,
that
you may no more depart from Me. A certain man had grown dull and cold in
fervour
of prayer, and said, "Tribulation and grief I found, and on the Name of
the
Lord
I called." He found tribulation as it were some profitable thing; he had
rotted
in
the slough of his sins; now he had continued without feeling, he found
tribulation
to be a sort of caustic and cutting. "I found," he says,
"tribulation and
grief,
and on the Name of the Lord I called." And truly, brethren, tribulations
are
known
to all men. Behold those afflictions that abound in mankind; one afflicted
with
loss bewails; another smitten with bereavement mourns; another exiled from
country
grieves and desires to return, deeming sojourning intolerable; another's
vineyard
is hailed upon, he observes his labours and all his toil spent in vain.
When
can a human being not be made sad? An enemy he finds in a friend. What
greater
misery in mankind? These things all men do deplore and grieve at, and
these
are tribulations: in all these they call upon the Lord, and they do rightly.
Let
them
call upon God, He is able either to teach how it must be borne, or to heal it
when
borne. He knows how not to suffer us to be tried above that we are able to
bear.
1 Corinthians 10:13 Let us call upon God even in those tribulations: but
these
tribulations do find us; as in another Psalm is written, "Helper in
tribulations
which
have found us too much:" there is a certain tribulation which we ought to
find.
Let such tribulations find us: there is a certain tribulation which we ought to
seek
and to find. What is that? The above-named felicity in this world, abundance
of
temporal things: that is not indeed tribulation, these are the solaces of our
tribulation.
Of what tribulation? Of our sojourning. For the very fact that we are
not
yet with God, the very fact that we are living amid trials and difficulties,
that
we
cannot be without fear, is tribulation: for there is not that peace which is
promised
us. He that shall not have found this tribulation in his sojourning, does
not
think of going home to his father-land. This is tribulation, brethren. Surely
now
we do good works, when we deal bread to the hungry, home to the stranger,
and
the like: tribulation even this is. For we find pitiful objects upon whom we
show
pity; and the pitiful case of pitiful objects makes us compassionate. How
much
better now would it be with you in that place, where you find no hungry
man
whom you may feed, where you find no stranger whom you may take in, no
naked
man whom you may cover, no sick man whom you may visit, no litigant
whom
you may set at one! For all things in that place are most high, are true, are
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holy,
are everlasting. Our bread in that place is righteousness, our drink there is
wisdom,
our garment there is immortality, our house is everlasting in the heavens,
our
steadfastness is immortality: does sickness come over? Doth weariness weigh
down
to sleep? No death, no litigation: there peace, quiet, joy, righteousness. No
enemy
has entrance, no friend falls away. What is the quiet there? If we think and
observe
where we are, and where He that cannot lie has promised that we are to
be,
from His very promise we find in what tribulation we are. This tribulation none
finds,
but he that shall have sought it. You are whole, see if you are miserable; for
it
is easy for him that is sick to find himself miserable: when you are whole, see
if
you
are miserable; that you are not yet with God. "Tribulation and grief I
found,
and
on the Name of the Lord I called." "Immolate," therefore,
"to God the sacrifice
of
praise." Praise Him promising, praise Him calling, praise Him exhorting,
praise
Him
helping: and understand in what tribulation you are placed. Call upon (Him),
you
shall be drawn forth, you shall glorify, shall abide.
23.
But see what follows, my brethren. For now some one or other, because God
had
said to him, "Immolate to God the sacrifice of praise," and had
enjoined in a
manner
this tribute, did meditate to himself and said, I will rise daily, I will
proceed
to Church, I will say one hymn at matins, another at vespers, a third or
fourth
in my house, daily I do sacrifice the sacrifice of praise, and immolate to my
God.
Well you do indeed, if you do this: but take heed, lest now thou be careless,
because
now you do this: and perchance your tongue bless God, and your life
curse
God. O my people, says to you the God of gods, the Lord that spoke,
"calling
the earth from the rising of the sun unto the setting," though yet you are
placed
amid the tares, Matthew 13:25 "Immolate the sacrifice of praise to your
God,
and render to Him your prayers:" but take heed lest you live ill, and
chant
well.
Wherefore this? For, "Unto the sinner, says God, why do you tell out My
judgments,
and takest My Covenant in your mouth?" (ver. 16). You see, brethren,
with
what trembling we say these words. We take the Covenant of God in our
mouth,
and we say these words. We take the Covenant of God in our mouth, and
we
preach to you the instruction and judgment of God. And what says God to the
sinner?
"Why do you?" Doth He then forbid preachers that be sinners? And
where
is
that, "What they say do, but what they do, do not"? Matthew 23:3
Where is that,
"Whether
in truth or on occasion Christ be preached"? Philippians 1:18 But these
words
were said, lest they should fear that hear, from whomsoever it be that they
hear:
not that they should be without care that speak good words, and do evil
deeds.
Now therefore, brethren, you are without care: if you hear good words ye
hear
God, through whomsoever it be that you may hear. But God would not
dismiss
without reproof them that speak: lest with their speaking alone, without
care
for themselves they should slumber in evil life, and say to themselves,
"For
God
will not consign us to perdition, through whose mouth He has willed that so
many
good words should be spoken to His people." Nay, but hear what you speak,
whoever
you are that speakest: and thou that writ be heard yourself, first hear
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yourself;
and speak what a certain man does speak in another Psalm, "I will hear
what
in me speaks the Lord God, for He shall speak peace to His people." What
am
I then, that hear not what in me He speaks, and will that other hear what
through
me He speaks? I will hear first, will hear, and chiefly I will hear what
speaks
in me the Lord God, for He shall speak peace to His people. Let me hear,
and
"chasten my body, and to servitude subject it, lest perchance to others
preaching,
myself be found a cast-away." 1 Corinthians 9:27 "Why do you tell out
my
judgments?" Wherefore to you what profits not you? He admonishes him to
hear:
not to lay down preaching, but to take up obedience. "But you, why do you
take
My Covenant in they mouth?"
24.
"But you hate instruction" (ver. 17). Thou hatest discipline. When I
spare, you
sing
and praisest: when I chasten, you murmur, as though, when I spare, I am your
God:
and, when I chasten, I am not your God. "I rebuke and chasten those whom I
love."
Revelation 3:19 "But you hate instruction: and hast thrown My sayings
behind
you." The words that are said through you, you throw behind you. "And
you
have thrown My sayings behind you:" to a place where they may not be seen
by
you, but may load you. "And you have thrown My sayings behind you."
25.
"If you saw a thief, you consented unto him, and with adulterers you made
your
portion" (ver. 18). Lest perchance you should say, I have not committed
theft,
I
have not committed adultery. What if he pleased you that has committed? Have
you
not with the very pleasing consented? Have you not by approval made your
portion
with him that has committed? For this is, brethren, to consent with a thief,
and
to make with an adulterer your portion: for even if you commit not, and
approvest
what is committed, you are an accessory in the deed: for "the sinner is
praised
in the longings of his soul, and he that does iniquity shall be blessed."
Thou
doest not evil things, you praise evil-doers. For is this a small evil?
"Thou
made
your portion with adulterers."
26.
"Your mouth has abounded in malice, and your tongue has embraced
deceit"
(ver.
19). Of the malevolence and deceit, brethren, of certain men he speaks, who
by
adulation, though they know what they hear to be evil, yet lest they offend
those
from whom they hear, not only by not reproving but by holding their peace
do
consent. Too little is it, that they do not say, You have done evil: but they
even
say,
You have done even well: and they know it to be evil: but their mouth
abounds
in malice, and their tongue embraces deceit. Deceit is a sort of guile in
words,
of uttering one thing, thinking another. He says not, your tongue has
committed
deceit or perpetrated deceit, but in order to point out to you a kind of
pleasure
taken in the very evil doing, He has said, "Hath embraced." It is too
little
that
you do it, you are delighted too; you praise openly, you laugh to yourself.
Thou
dost push to destruction a man heedlessly putting forth his faults, and
knowing
not whether they be faults: thou that know it to be a fault, sayest not,
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Psalm 50 331
"Whither
are you rushing?" If thou were to see him heedlessly walk in the dark,
where
you knew a well to be, and were to hold your peace, of what sort would you
be?
would you not be set down for an enemy of his life? And yet if he were to fall
into
a well, not in soul but in body he would die. He does fall headlong into his
vices,
he does expose before you his evil doings: you know them to be evil, and
praisest
and laughest to yourself. Oh that at length he were to be turned to God at
whom
you laugh, and whom you would not reprove, and that he were to say, "Let
them
be confounded that say to me, Well, well."
27.
"Sitting against your brother you detracted" (ver. 20). And this
"sitting" does
belong
to that whereof he has spoken above in, "has embraced." For he that
does
anything
while standing or passing along, does it not with pleasure: but if he for
this
purpose sits, how much leisure does he seek out to do it! That very evil
detraction
you were making with diligence, you were making sitting; you would
thereon
be wholly engaged; you were embracing your evil, you were kissing your
craftiness.
"And against your mother's son you laid a stumbling-block." Who is
"mother's
son"? Is it not brother? He would repeat then the same that he had said
above,
"your brother." Hath he intimated that any distinction must be
perceived by
us?
Evidently, brethren, I think a distinction must be made. Brother against
brother
does
detract, for example's sake, as though for instance one strong, and now a
doctor
and scholar of some weight, does detract from his brother, one perchance
that
is teaching well and walking well: but another is weak, against him he lays a
stumbling-block
by detracting from the former. For when the good are detracted
from
by those that seem to be of some weight and to be learned, the weak fall
upon
the stumbling-block, who as yet know not how to judge. Therefore this weak
one
is called "mother's son," not yet father's, still needing milk, and
hanging on the
breast.
He is borne as yet in the bosom of his mother the Church, he is not strong
enough
to draw near to the solid food of his Father's table, but from the mother's
breast
he draws sustenance, unskilled in judging, inasmuch as yet he is animal and
carnal.
"For the spiritual man judges all things," 1 Corinthians 2:15 but
"the
animal
man perceives not those things which are of the Spirit of God; for they are
foolishness
to him." 1 Corinthians 2:14 To such men says the Apostle, "I could
not
speak
unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as to babes in Christ I gave
you
milk to drink, not meat; for you were not able, but not even now are you
able."
1 Corinthians 3:1-2 A mother I have been to you: as is said in another place,
"I
became a babe among you, even as a nurse cherishing her own children." Not
a
nurse
nursing children of others, but a nurse cherishing her own children. For there
are
mothers who when they have borne give to nurses: they that have borne
cherish
not their children, because they have given them to be nursed; but those
that
cherish, cherish not their own, but those of others: but he himself had borne,
he
was himself cherishing, to no nurse did commit what he had borne; for he had
said,
"Of whom I travail again until Christ be formed in you." Galatians
4:19 He
did
cherish them, and gave milk. But there were some as it were learned and
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spiritual
men who detracted from Paul. "His letters indeed, say they, are weighty
and
powerful; but the presence of his body weak, and speech contemptible:"
2
Corinthians 10:10 he says himself in his Epistle, that certain his detractors
had
said
these words. They were sitting, and were detracting against their brother, and
against
that their mother's son, to be fed with milk, they were laying a stumbling-
block.
"And against your mother's son you laid a stumbling-block."
28.
"These things have you done, and I held my tongue" (ver. 21).
Therefore the
Lord
our God shall come, and shall not keep silence. Now, "These things have
you
done,
and I held my tongue." What is, "I held my tongue"? From
vengeance I have
desisted,
my severity I have deferred, patience to you I have prolonged, your
repentance
I have long looked for... "You have imagined iniquity, that I shall be
like
unto you;" You have imagined that I shall be like unto you, while you will
not
be
like unto Me. For, "Be ," he says, "perfect, even as your
Father, which is in the
heavens,
who makes His sun to rise on the good and evil." Matthew 5:48, 45 Him
you
would not copy, who gives good things even to evil men, insomuch that
sitting
thou dost detract even from good men. "I will reprove you," when
"God
manifest
shall come, our God, and shall not keep silence," "I will reprove
you."
And
what to you shall I do in reproving you? what to you shall I do? Now yourself
you
see not, I will make you see yourself. Because if you should see yourself, and
shouldest
displease yourself, you would please Me: but because not seeing
yourself
you have pleased yourself, you will displease both Me and yourself; Me
when
you shall be judged; yourself when you shall burn. But what to you shall I
do?
He says. "I will set you before your face." For why would you escape
yourself?
At your back you are to yourself, you see not yourself: I make you see
yourself:
what behind your back you have put, before your face will I put; you
shall
see your uncleanness, not that you may amend, but that you may blush....
29.
But, "understand these things, you that forget God" (ver. 22). See
how He
cries,
and keeps not silence, spares not. You had forgotten the Lord, did not think
of
your evil life. Perceive how you have forgotten the Lord. "Lest at length
He
seize
like a lion, and there be none to deliver." What is "like a
lion"? Like a brave
one,
like a mighty one, like him whom none can withstand. To this he made
reference
when he said, "Lion." For it is used for praise, it is used also for
showing
evil.
The devil has been called lion: "Your adversary," He says, "like
a roaring
lion,
goes about seeking whom He may devour." 1 Peter 5:8 May it not be that
whereas
he has been called lion because of savage fierceness, Christ has been
called
Lion for wondrous mightiness? And where is that, "The Lion has prevailed
of
the tribe of
30.
"Sacrifice of praise shall glorify Me" (ver. 23). How shall
"sacrifice of praise
glorify
Me"? Assuredly sacrifice of praise does no wise profit evil men, because
they
take Your Covenant in their mouth, and do damnable things that displease
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Your
eyes. Straightway, he says, even to them this I say, "Sacrifice of praise
shall
glorify
Me." For if you live ill and speakest good words, not yet do you praise:
but
again,
if, when you begin to live well, to your merits thou dost ascribe your living
well,
not yet do you praise .... Therefore the Publican went down justified, rather
than
that Pharisee. Therefore hear ye that live well, hear ye that live ill:
"Sacrifice
of
praise shall glorify Me." No one offers Me this sacrifice, and is evil. I
say not,
Let
there not offer Me this any one that is evil; but no one does offer Me this,
that
is
evil. For he that praises, is good: because if he praises, he does also live
well,
because
if he praises, not only with tongue he praises, but life also with tongue
does
agree.
31.
"And there is the way whereby I will show him the salvation of God."
In
sacrifice
of praise "is the way." What is "the salvation of God"?
Christ Jesus. And
how
in sacrifice of praise to us is shown Christ? Because Christ with grace came
to
us. These words says the Apostle: "But I live, now not I, but Christ lives
in me:
but
that in flesh I live, in faith I live of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave
Himself
for me." Galatians 2:20 Acknowledge then sinners, that there would not
need
physician, if they were whole. Matthew 9:12 For Christ died for the ungodly.
Romans
5:6 When then they acknowledge their ungodlinesses, and first copy that
Publican,
saying, "Lord, be merciful to me a sinner:" Luke 18:13 show wounds,
beseech
Physician: and because they praise not themselves, but blame
themselves,—"So
that he that glories, not in himself but in the Lord may glory,"
1
Corinthians 1:31—they acknowledge the cause of the coming of Christ, because
for
this end He came, that He might save sinners: for "Jesus Christ
came," he says,
"into
this world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." 1 Timothy 1:15 Further,
those
Jews, boasting of their work, thus the same Apostle does rebuke, in saying,
that
they to grace belonged not, who to their merits and their works thought that
reward
was owing. Galatians 5:4 He therefore that knows himself to belong to
grace,
does know what is Christ and what is Christ's because he needs grace. If
grace
it is called, gratis it is given; if gratis it is given, not any merits of time
have
preceded
that it should be given....
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334
Exposition
on Psalm 51
1.
Neither must this multitude's throng be defrauded, nor their infirmity
burthened.
Silence
we ask, and quiet, in order that our voice, after yesterday's labour, be able
with
some little vigour to last out. It must be believed, that your love has met
together
in greater numbers today for nothing else, but that you may pray for those
whom
an alien and perverse inclination does keep away. For we are speaking
neither
of heathens nor of Jews, but of Christians: nor of those that are yet
Catechumens,
but of many that are even baptized, from the Laver of whom you do
no
wise differ, and yet to their heart you are unlike. For today how many brethren
of
ours we think of, and deplore their going unto vanities and lying insanities,
to
the
neglect of that to which they have been called. Who, if in the very circus from
any
cause they chance to be startled, do immediately cross themselves, and stand
bearing
It on the forehead, in the very place, from whence they had withdrawn, if
they
had borne It in heart. God's mercy must be implored, that He may give
understanding
for condemning these things, inclination to flee them, and mercy to
forgive.
Opportunately, then, of Penitence a Psalm today has been chanted. Speak
we
even with the absent: there will be to them for our voice your memory. Neglect
not
the wounded and feeble, but that you may more easily make whole, whole ye
ought
to abide. Correct by reproving, comfort by addressing, set an example by
living
well, He will be with them that has been with you. For now that you have
overpassed
these dangers, the fountain of God's mercy is not closed. Where you
have
come they will come; where you have passed they will pass. A grievous
thing
it is indeed, and exceeding perilous, nay ruinous, and for certain a deadly
thing,
that witting they sin. For in one way to these vanities does he run that
despises
the voice of Christ; in another way, he that knows from what he is
fleeing.
But that not even of such men we ought to despair, this Psalm does show.
2.
For there is written over it the title thereof, "A Psalm of David himself,
when
there
came to him Nathan the prophet, when he went in unto Bersabee." Bersabee
was
a woman, wife of another. With grief indeed we speak, and with trembling;
but
yet God would not have to be hushed what He has willed to be written. I will
say
then not what I will, but what I am obliged; I will say not as one exhorting to
imitation,
but as one instructing you to fear. Captivated with this woman's beauty,
the
wife of another, the king and prophet David, from whose seed according to the
flesh
the Lord was to come, Romans 1:3 committed adultery with her. This thing
in
this Psalm is not read, but in the title thereof it appears; but in the book of
Kings
2
Samuel 11:2-17 it is more fully read. Both Scriptures are canonical, to both
without
any doubt by Christians credit must be given. The sin was committed, and
was
written down. Moreover her husband in war he caused to be killed: and after
this
deed there was sent to him Nathan the prophet; 2 Samuel 12:1 sent by the
Lord,
to reprove him for so great an outrage.
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335
3.
What men should beware of, we have said; but what if they shall have fallen
they
should imitate, let us hear. For many men will to fall with David, and will not
to
rise with David. Not then for falling is the example set forth, but if you
shall
have
fallen for rising again. Take heed lest you fall. Not the delight of the
younger
be
the lapse of the elder, but be the fall of the elder the dread of the younger.
For
this
it was set forth, for this was written, for this in the Church often read and
chanted:
let them hear that have not fallen, lest they fall; let them hear that have
fallen,
that they may rise. So great a man's sin is not hushed, is proclaimed in the
Church.
There men hear that are ill hearers, and seek for themselves countenance
for
sinning: they look out for means whereby they may defend what they have
made
ready to commit, not how they may beware of what they have not
committed,
and they say to themselves, If David, why not I too? Thence that soul
is
more unrighteous, which, forasmuch as it has done it because David did,
therefore
has done worse than David. I will say this very thing, if I shall be able,
more
plainly. David had set forth to himself none for a precedent as you have: he
had
fallen by lapse of concupiscence, not by the countenance of holiness: thou
dost
set before your eyes as it were a holy man, in order that you may sin: thou
dost
not copy his holiness, but dost copy his fall. Thou dost love that in David,
which
in himself David hated: you make you ready to sin, you incline to sin: in
order
that you may sin you consult the book of God: the Scriptures of God for this
you
hear, that you may do what displeases God. This did not David; he was
reproved
by a Prophet, he stumbled not over a Prophet. But others hearing to their
health,
by the fall of a strong man measure their weakness: and desiring to avoid
what
God condemns, from careless looking do restrain their eyes. Them they fix
not
upon the beauty of another's flesh, nor make themselves careless with perverse
simpleness;
they say not, "With good intent I have observed, of kindness I have
observed,
of charity I have long looked." For they set before themselves the fall of
David,
and they see that this great man for this purpose has fallen, in order that
little
men may not be willing to look on that whereby they may fall. For they
restrain
their eyes from wantonness, not readily do they join themselves in
company,
they do not mingle with strange women, they raise not complying eyes
to
strange balconies, to strange terraces. For from afar David saw her with whom
he
was captivated. 2 Samuel 11:2 Woman afar, lust near. What he saw was
elsewhere,
in himself that whereby he fell. This weakness of the flesh must be
therefore
minded, the words of the Apostle recollected, "Let not sin therefore reign
in
your mortal body." Romans 6:12 He has not said, let there not be; but,
"let there
not
reign." There is sin in you, when you take pleasure; there reigns, if you
shall
have
consented. Carnal pleasure, especially if proceeding unto unlawful and
strange
objects, is to be bridled, not let loose: by government to be tamed, not to
be
set up for government. Look and be without care, if you have nothing whereby
you
may be moved. But you make answer, "I contain with strong
resolution." Are
you
any wise stronger than David?
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336
4.
He admonishes, moreover, by such an example, that no one ought to lift himself
up
in prosperous circumstances. For many fear adverse circumstances, fear not
prosperous
circumstances. Prosperity is more perilous to soul than adversity to
body.
First, prosperity does corrupt, in order that adversity may find something to
break.
My brethren, stricter watch must be kept against felicity. Wherefore, see ye
after
what manner the saying of God amid our own felicity does take from us
security:
"Serve ye," He says, "the Lord in fear, and exult unto Him with
trembling."
In exultation, in order that we may render thanks; in trembling, lest we
fall.
This sin did not David, when he was suffering Saul for persecutor. When holy
David
was suffering Saul his enemy, when he was being vexed by his
persecutions,
when he was fleeing through various places, in order that he might
not
fall into his hands, he lusted not for her that was another's, he slew not
husband
after
committing adultery with wife. He was in the infirmity of his tribulation so
much
the more intimate with God as he seemed more miserable. Something useful
is
tribulation; useful the surgeon's lancet rather than the devil's temptation. He
became
secure when his enemies were overthrown, pressure was removed,
swelling
grew out. This example therefore does avail to this end, that we should
fear
felicity. "Tribulation," he says, "and grief I found, and on the
name of the
Lord
I called."
5.
But it was done; I would say these words to those that have not done the like,
in
order
that they should watch to keep their uncorruptness, and that while they take
heed
how a great one has fallen, they that be small should fear. But if any that has
already
fallen hears these words, and that has in his conscience any evil thing; to
the
words of this Psalm let him advert; let him heed the greatness of the wound,
but
not despair of the majesty of the Physician. Sin with despair is certain death.
Let
no one therefore say, If already any evil thing I have done, already I am to be
condemned:
God pardons not such evil things, why add I not sins to sins? I will
enjoy
this word in pleasure, in wantonness, in wicked cupidity: now hope of
amendment
having been lost, let me have even what I see, if I cannot have what I
believe.
This Psalm then, while it makes heedful those that have not believed, so
does
not will them that have fallen to be despaired of. Whoever you are that hast
sinned,
and hesitatest to exercise penitence for your sin, despairing of your
salvation,
hear David groaning. To you Nathan the prophet has not been sent,
David
himself has been sent to you. Hear him crying, and with him cry: hear him
groaning,
and with him groan; hear him weeping, and mingle tears; hear him
amended,
and with him rejoice. If from you sin could not be excluded, be not hope
of
pardon excluded. There was sent to that man Nathan the prophet, observe the
king's
humility. He rejected not the words of him giving admonition, he said not,
Darest
thou speak to me, a king? An exalted king heard a prophet, let His humble
people
hear Christ.
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6.
Hear therefore these words, and say thou with him: "Have pity upon me, O
God,
after
Your great mercy" (ver. 1). He that implores great mercy, confesses great
misery.
Let them seek a little mercy of You, that have sinned in ignorance: "Have
pity,"
he says, "upon me, after Your great mercy." Relieve a deep wound
after
Your
great healing. Deep is what I have, but in the Almighty I take refuge. Of my
own
so deadly wound I should despair, unless I could find so great a Physician.
"Have
pity upon me, O God, after Your great mercy: and after the multitude of
Your
pities, blot out my iniquity." What he says, "Blot out my
iniquity," is this,
"Have
pity upon me, O God." And what he says, "After the multitude of Your
pities,"
is this, "After Your great mercy." Because great is the mercy, many
are the
mercies;
and of Your great mercy, many are Your pitying. Thou dost regard
mockers
to amend them, dost regard ignorant men to teach them, dost regard men
confessing
to pardon. Did he this in ignorance? A certain man had done some, aye
many
evil things he had done; "Mercy," he says, "I obtained, because
ignorant I
did
it in unbelief." 1 Timothy 1:13 This David could not say, "Ignorant I
did it."
For
he was not ignorant how very evil a thing was the touching of another's wife,
and
how very evil a thing was the killing of the husband, who knew not of it, and
was
not even angered. They obtain therefore the mercy of the Lord that have in
ignorance
done it; and they that have knowing done it, obtain not any mercy it
may
chance, but "great mercy."
7.
"More and more wash me from mine unrighteousness" (ver. 2). What is,
"More
and
more wash"? One much stained. More and more wash the sins of one
knowing.
Thou that hast washed off the sins of one ignorant. Not even thus is it to
be
despaired of Your mercy. "And from my delinquency purge Thou me."
According
to the manner in which He is physician, offer a recompense. He is God,
offer
sacrifice. What will you give that you may be purged? For see upon whom
you
call, upon a Just One you call. He hates sins, if He is just; He takes
vengeance
upon
sins, if He is just; you will not be able to take away from the Lord God His
justice:
entreat mercy, but observe the justice: there is mercy to pardon the sinner,
there
is justice to punish the sin. What then? Thou askest mercy; shall sin
unpunished
abide? Let David answer, let those that have fallen answer, answer
with
David, and say, No, Lord, no sin of mine shall be unpunished; I know the
justice
of Him whose mercy I ask: it shall not be unpunished, but for this reason I
will
not that Thou punish me, because I punish my sin: for this reason I beg that
Thou
pardon, because I acknowledge.
8.
"For mine iniquity I acknowledge, and my delinquency is before me
ever" (ver.
3).
I have not put behind my back what I have done, I look not at others, forgetful
of
myself, I pretend not to pull out a straw from my brother's eye, when there is
a
beam
in my eye; Matthew 7:5 my sin is before me, not behind me. For it was
behind
me when to me was sent the Prophet, and set before me the parable of the
poor
man's sheep. For says Nathan the Prophet to David, "There was a certain
rich
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man
having very many sheep; but a poor man his neighbour had one little ewe
sheep,
which in his bosom and of his own food he was feeding: there came a
stranger
to the rich man, nothing from his flock he took, for the lithe ewe sheep of
the
poor man his neighbour he lusted; her he slew for the stranger: what does he
deserve?"
But the other being angry does pronounce sentence: then the king,
evidently
knowing not wherein he had been taken, declared the rich man deserving
of
death, and that the sheep be restored fourfold. Most sternly and most justly.
But
his
sin was not yet before him, behind his back was what he had done: his own
iniquity
he did not yet acknowledge, and therefore another's he did not pardon. But
the
Prophet, being for this purpose sent, took from his back the sin, and before
his
eyes
placed it, so that he might see that sentence so stern to have been pronounced
against
himself. For cutting and healing his heart's wound, he made a lancet of his
tongue....
9.
"Against You alone have I sinned, and before You an evil thing have I
done"
(ver.
4). What is this? For before men was not another's wife debauched and
husband
slain? Did not all men know what David had done? 2 Samuel 11:4, 15
What
is, "Against You alone have I sinned, and before You an evil thing have I
done."
Because Thou alone art without sin. He is a just punisher that has nothing
in
Him to be punished; He is a just reprover that has nothing in Him to be
reproved.
"That you may be justified in Your sayings, and conquer when You are
judged."
To whom he speaks, brethren, to whom he speaks, is difficult to
understand.
To God surely he speaks, and it is evident that God the Father is not
judged.
What is, "And conquer when You are judged"? He sees the future Judge
to
be
judged, one just by sinners to be judged, and therein conquering, because in
Him
was nothing to be judged. For alone among men could truly say the God-
Man,
"If you have found in Me sin, say." John 8:46 But perchance there was
what
escaped
men, and they found not what was really there, but was not manifest. In
another
place John 14:30 He says, "Behold there comes the Prince of the
world,"
being
an acute observer of all sins; "Behold," He says, "there comes
the Prince of
this
world," with death afflicting sinners, presiding over death: for, "By
the malice
of
the devil death came into the world." Wisdom 2:24 "Behold," He
says, "there
comes
the Prince of the world:"—He said these words close upon His Passion:—
"and
in Me he shall find nothing," nothing of sin, nothing worthy of death,
nothing
worthy
of condemnation. And as if it were said to Him, Why then dost Thou die?
He
continues and says, "But that all men may know that I do the will of My
Father;
arise, let us go hence." I suffer, He says, undeserving, for men
deserving,
in
order that them I may make deserving of My Life, for whom I undeservedly
suffer
their death. To Him then, having no sin, says on the present occasion the
Prophet
David, "Against You only have I sinned, and before You an evil thing
have
I done, that You may be justified in Your sayings, and conquer when You are
judged."
For Thou overcomest all men, all judges; and he that deems himself just,
before
You is unjust: Thou alone justly judgest, having been unjustly judged, That
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hast
power to lay down Your life, and hast power again to take it. John 10:18 Thou
conquerest,
then, when You are judged. All men Thou overcomest, because You
are
more than men, and by You were men made.
10.
"For, behold, in iniquities I was conceived" (ver. 5). As though he
were saying,
They
are conquered that have done what thou, David, hast done: for this is not a
little
evil and little sin, to wit, adultery and man-slaying. What of them that from
the
day that they were born of their mother's womb, have done no such thing?
even
to them do you ascribe some sins, in order that He may conquer all men
when
He begins to be judged. David has taken upon him the person of mankind,
and
has heeded the bonds of all men, has considered the offspring of death, has
adverted
to the origin of iniquity, and he says, "For, behold, in iniquities I was
conceived."
Was David born of adultery; being born of Jesse, 1 Samuel 16:18 a
righteous
man, and his own wife? What is it that he says himself to have been in
iniquity
conceived, except that iniquity is drawn from Adam? Even the very bond
of
death, with iniquity itself is engrained? No man is born without bringing
punishment,
bringing desert of punishment. A Prophet says also in another place,
"No
one is clean in Your sight, not even an infant, whose life is of one day upon
earth."
For we know both by the Baptism of Christ that sins are loosed, and that
the
Baptism of Christ avails the remission of sins. If infants are every way
innocent,
why do mothers run with them when sick to the Church? What by that
Baptism,
what by that remission is put away? An innocent one I see that rather
weeps
than is angry. What does Baptism wash off? what does that Grace loose?
There
is loosed the offspring of sin. For if that infant could speak to you, it would
say,
and if it had the understanding which David had, it would answer you, Why
do
you heed me, an infant? Thou dost not indeed see my actions: but I in iniquity
have
been conceived, "And in sins has my mother nourished me in the womb."
Apart
from this bond of mortal concupiscence was Christ born without a male, of
a
virgin conceiving by the Holy Ghost. He cannot be said to have been conceived
in
iniquity, it cannot be said, In sins His mother nourished Him in the womb, to
whom
was said, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the Virtue of the
Highest
shall overshadow you." Luke 1:35 It is not therefore because it is sin to
have
to do with wives that men are conceived in iniquity, and in sins nourished in
the
womb by their mother; but because that which is made is surely made of flesh
deserving
punishment. For the punishment of the flesh is death, and surely there is
in
it liability to death itself. Whence the Apostle spoke not of the body as if to
die,
but
as if dead: "The body indeed is dead," he says, "because of sin,
but the Spirit is
life
because of righteousness." Romans 8:10 How then without bond of sin is
born
that
which is conceived and sown of a body dead because of sin? This chaste
operation
in a married person has not sin, but the origin of sin draws with it
condign
punishment. For there is no husband that, because he is an husband, is not
subject
to death, or that is subject to death for any other reason but because of sin.
For
even the Lord was subject to death, but not on account of sin: He took upon
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Him
our punishment, and so looses our guilt. With reason then, "In Adam all
die,
but
in Christ shall all be made alive." 1 Corinthians 15:22 For, "Through
one
man,"
says the Apostle, "sin has entered into this world, and through sin death,
and
so
has passed unto all men, in that all have sinned." Romans 5:12 Definite is
the
sentence:
"In Adam," he says, "all have sinned." Alone then could
such an infant
be
innocent, as has not been born of the work of Adam.
11.
"For, behold, truth You have loved: uncertain and hidden things of Your
wisdom,
You have manifested to me" (ver. 6). That is, You have not left
unpunished
even the sins of those whom Thou dost pardon. "Truth You have
loved:"
so mercy You have granted first, as that You should also preserve truth.
Thou
pardonest one confessing, pardonest, but only if he punishes himself: so
there
are preserved mercy and truth: mercy because man is set free; truth, because
sin
is punished. "Uncertain and hidden things of Your wisdom You have
manifested
to me." What "hidden things"? What "uncertain things"?
Because God
pardons
even such. Nothing is so hidden, nothing so uncertain. For this uncertainty
the
Ninevites repented, for they said, though after the threatenings of the
Prophet,
though
after that cry, "Three days and Nineve shall be overthrown:" Jonah
3:4
they
said to themselves, Mercy must be implored; they said in this sort reasoning
among
themselves, "Who knows whether God may turn for the better His
sentence,
and have pity?" Jonah 3:9 It was "uncertain," when it is said,
"Who
knows?"
on an uncertainty they did repent, certain mercy they earned: they
prostrated
them in tears, in fastings, in sackcloth and ashes they prostrated them,
groaned,
wept, God spared. Nineve stood: was Nineve overthrown? One way
indeed
it seems to men, and another way it seemed to God. But I think that it was
fulfilled
that the Prophet had foretold. Regard what Nineve was, and see how it
was
overthrown; overthrown in evil, built in good; just as Saul the persecutor was
overthrown,
Paul the preacher built. Acts 9:4 Who would not say that this city, in
which
we now are, was happily overthrown, if all those madmen, leaving their
triflings,
were to run together to the Church with contrite heart, and were to call
upon
God's mercy for their past doings? Should we not say, Where is that
what
there was not, it is built. So is said to Jeremiah, "Behold, I will give
to you to
root
up, to dig under, to overthrow, to destroy," and again, "to build,
and to plant."
Thence
is that voice of the Lord, "I will smite and I will heal."
Deuteronomy 32:39
He
smites the rottenness of the deed, He heals the pain of the wound. Physicians
do
thus when they cut; they smite and heal; they arm themselves in order to
strike,
they
carry steel, and come to cure. But because great were the sins of the
Ninevites,
they said, "Who knows?" This uncertainty had God disclosed to His
servant
David. For when he had said, before the Prophet standing and convicting
him,
"I have sinned:" straightway he heard from the Prophet, that is, from
the
Spirit
of God which was in the Prophet, "Your sin is put away from you."
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2
Samuel 12:13 "Uncertain and hidden things" of His wisdom He
manifested to
him.
12.
"You shall sprinkle me," he says, "with hyssop, and I shall be
cleansed" (ver.
7).
Hyssop we know to be a herb humble but healing: to the rock it is said to
adhere
with roots. Thence in a mystery the similitude of cleansing the heart has
been
taken. Do thou also take hold, with the root of your love, on your Rock: be
humble
in your humble God, in order that you may be exalted in your glorified
God.
You shall be sprinkled with hyssop, the humility of Christ shall cleanse you.
Despise
not the herb, attend to the efficacy of the medicine. Something further I
will
say, which we are wont to hear from physicians, or to experience in sick
persons.
Hyssop, they say, is proper for purging the lungs. In the lung is wont to
be
noted pride: for there is inflation, there breathing. It was said of Saul the
persecutor
as of Saul the proud, that he was going to bind Christians, breathing
slaughter:
Acts 9:1 he was breathing out slaughter, breathing out blood, his lung
not
yet cleansed. Hear also in this place one humbled, because with hyssop
purged:
"You shall wash me," that is, shall cleanse me: "and above snow
I shall be
whitened."
"Although," he says, "your sins shall have been like scarlet,
like snow I
will
whiten." Isaiah 1:18 Out of such men Christ does present to Himself a
vesture
without
spot and wrinkle. Ephesians 5:27 Further, His vesture on the mount,
which
shone forth like whitened snow, Matthew 17:2 signified the Church
cleansed
from every spot of sin.
13.
But where is humility from hyssop? Hear what follows: "To my hearing You
shall
give exultation and gladness, and bones humbled shall exult" (ver. 8). I
will
rejoice
in hearing You, not in speaking against You. You have sinned, why
defendest
you yourself? You will speak: suffer thou; hear, yield to divine words,
lest
you be put to confusion, and be still more wounded: sin has been committed,
be
it not defended: to confession let it come, not to defence. Thou engagest
yourself
as defender of your sin, you are conquered: no innocent patron have you
engaged,
your defence is not profitable to you. For who are you that defendest
yourself?
You are meet to accuse yourself. Say not, either, "I have done
nothing;"
or,
"What great thing have I done?" or, "Other men as well have
done." If in doing
sin
you say you have done nothing, you will be nothing, you will receive nothing:
God
is ready to give indulgence, you close the door against yourself: He is ready
to
give, do not oppose the bar of defence, but open the bosom of confession.
"To
my
hearing You shall give exultation and gladness."...
14.
"Turn Thou away Your face from my sins, and all mine iniquities blot
out"
(ver.
9). For now bones humbled exult, now with hyssop cleansed, humble I have
become.
"Turn Thou away Your face," not from me, but "from my
sins." For in
another
place praying he says, "Turn not away Your face from me." He that
would
not
that God's face be turned away from himself, would that God's face be turned
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Psalm 51 342
away
from his sins. For to sin, when God turns not Himself away, he adverts: if he
adverts,
he animadverts. "And all mine iniquities blot out." He is busied with
that
capital
sin: he reckons on more, he would have all his iniquities to be blotted out:
he
relies on the Physician's hand, on that "great mercy," upon which he
has called
in
the beginning of the Psalm: "All mine iniquities blot out." God turns
away His
face,
and so blots out; by "turning away" His face, sins He blots out. By
"turning
towards,"
He writes them. You have heard of Him blotting out by turning away,
hear
of Him by turning towards, doing what? "But the countenance of the Lord is
upon
men doing evil things, that He may destroy from the earth the remembrance
of
them:" He shall destroy the remembrance of them, not by "blotting out
their
sins."
But here he does ask what? "Turn away Your face from my sins." Well
he
asks.
For he himself does not turn away his face from his own sins, saying, "For
my
sin I acknowledge." With reason you ask and well askest, that God turn
away
from
your sin, if thou from thence dost not turn away your face: but if you set your
sin
at your back, God does there set His face. Do thou turn sin before your face,
if
you
will that God thence turn away His face; and then safely you ask, and He
hears.
15.
"A clean heart create in me, O God" (ver. 10). "Create"—he
meant to say, "as
it
were begin something new." But, because repentant he was praying (that had
committed
some sin, which before he had committed, he was more innocent), after
what
manner he has said "create" he shows. "And a right spirit renew
in my inner
parts."
By my doing, he says, the uprightness of my spirit has been made old and
bowed.
For he says in another Psalm, "They have bowed my soul." And when a
man
does make himself stoop unto earthly lusts, he is "bowed" in a
manner, but
when
he is made erect for things above, upright is his heart made, in order that
God
may be good to him. For, "How good is the God of Israel to the upright of
heart!"
Moreover, brethren, listen. Sometimes God in this world chastises for his
sin
him that He pardons in the world to come. For even to David himself, to whom
it
had been already said by the Prophet, "Your sin is put away," 2
Samuel 12:13
there
happened certain things which God had threatened for that very sin. For his
son
Absalom against him waged bloody war, and many ways humbled his
father.
2 Samuel 15:10 He was walking in grief, in the tribulation of his
humiliation,
so resigned to God, that, ascribing to Him all that was just, he
confessed
that he was suffering nothing undeservedly, having now an heart
upright,
to which God was not displeasing. A slanderous person and one throwing
in
his teeth harsh curses 2 Samuel 16:10 he patiently heard, one of the soldiers
on
the
opposite side, that were with his unnatural son. And when he was heaping
curses
upon the king, one of the companions of David, enraged, would have gone
and
smitten him; but he is kept back by David. And he is kept back how? For that
he
said, God sent him to curse me. Acknowledging his guilt he embraced his
penance,
seeking glory not his own, praising the Lord in that good which he had,
praising
the Lord in that which he was suffering, "blessing the Lord alway, ever
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Psalm 51
343
His
praise was in his mouth." Such are all the upright in heart: not those
crooked
persons
who think themselves upright and God crooked: who when they do any
evil
thing, rejoice; when they suffer any evil thing, blaspheme; nay, if set in
tribulation
and scourging, they say from their distorted heart, "O God, what have I
done
to You?" Truly it is because they have done nothing to God, for they have
done
all to themselves. "And an upright spirit, renew in my inner parts."
16.
"Cast me not forth from Your face" (ver. 11). Turn away Your face
from my
sins:
and "cast me not forth from Your face." Whose face he fears, upon the
face
of
the Same he calls. "And Your Holy Spirit take not away from me." For
in one
confessing
there is the Holy Spirit. Even now, to the gift of the Holy Spirit it
belongs,
that what you have done displeases you. The unclean spirit sins do
please;
the Holy One they displease. Though then thou still implore pardon, yet
you
are joined to God on the other part, because the evil thing that you have
committed
displeases you: for the same thing displeases both you and Him. Now,
to
assail your fever, you are two, thou and the Physician. For the reason that
there
cannot
be confession of sin and punishment of sin in a man of himself: when one
is
angry with himself, and is displeasing to himself, then it is not without the
gift
of
the Holy Spirit, nor does he say, Your Holy Spirit give to me, but, "Take
not
away
from me."
17.
"Give back to me the exultation of Your salvation" (ver. 12).
"Give back" what
I
had; what by sinning I had lost: to wit, of Your Christ. For who without Him
can
be
made whole? Because even before that He was Son of Mary, "In the beginning
He
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God;" John 1:1
and
so, by the holy fathers a future dispensation of flesh taken upon Him, was
looked
for; as is believed by us to have been done. Times are changed, not faith.
"And
with Principal Spirit confirm me." Some have here understood the Trinity
in
God,
Itself God; the dispensation of Flesh being excepted therefrom: since it is
written,
"God is a Spirit." John 4:24 For that which is not body, and yet is,
seems
to
exist in such sort as that it is spirit. Therefore some understand here the
Trinity
spoken
of: "In upright Spirit," the Son; in "Holy Spirit," Holy
Ghost; in "Principal
Spirit,"
Father. It is not any heretical opinion, therefore, whether this be so, or
whether
"upright Spirit" He would have to be taken of man himself (when He
says,
"An upright spirit renew in my inner parts"), which I have bowed and
distorted
by sinning, so that in that case the Holy Spirit be Himself the Principal
Spirit:
which also he would not have to be taken away from him, and thereby
would
have himself to be confirmed therein.
18.
But see what he annexes: "With Principal Spirit," he says,
"confirm Thou me."
Wherein
"confirm"? Because You have pardoned me, because I am secure, that
what
You have forgiven is not to be ascribed, on this being made secure and with
this
grace confirmed, therefore I am not ungrateful. But I shall do what? "I
would
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Psalm 51 344
teach
unrighteous men Your ways" (ver. 13). Being myself of the unrighteous
(that
is, one that was myself an unrighteous man, now no longer unrighteous; the
Holy
Spirit not having been taken away from me, and I being confirmed with
Principal
Spirit). "I would teach unrighteous men Your ways." What ways will
you
teach unrighteous men? "And ungodly men to You shall be converted."
If
David's
sin is counted for ungodliness, let not ungodly men despair of themselves,
forasmuch
as God has spared an ungodly man; but let them take heed that to Him
they
be converted, that His ways they learn. But if David's deed is not counted for
ungodliness,
but this is properly call ungodliness, namely, to apostatize from God,
not
to worship one God, or never to have worshipped, or to have forsaken, Him
whom
one did worship, then what he says has the force of superabundance, "And
ungodly
men shall to You be converted." So full are you of the fatness of mercy,
that
for those converted to You, not only sinners of any sort, but even ungodly,
there
is no cause for despair. Wherefore? That believing on Him that justifies an
ungodly
man, their faith may be counted for righteousness. Romans 4:5
19.
"Deliver me from bloods, O God, God of my health" (ver. 14). The
Latin
translator
has expressed, though by a word not Latin, yet an accuracy from the
Greek.
For we all know that in Latin, sanguines (bloods) are not spoken of, nor yet
sanguina
(bloods in the neuter), nevertheless because the Greek translator has thus
used
the plural number, not without reason, but because he found this in the
original
language the Hebrew, a godly translator has preferred to use a word not
Latin,
rather than one not exact. Wherefore then has he said in the plural number,
"From
bloods"? In many bloods, as in the origin of the sinful flesh, many sins
he
would
have to be understood. The Apostle having regard to the very sins which
come
of the corruption of flesh and blood, says, "Flesh and blood shall not
possess
the
same
Apostle, that flesh shall rise again and shall itself gain incorruption, as He
says
Himself, "This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal put
on
immortality."
1 Corinthians 15:53 Because then this corruption is of sin, by the
name
thereof sins are called. In like manner as both that morsel of flesh and
member
which plays in the mouth when we articulate words is called a tongue,
and
that is called a tongue which by the tongue is made, so we call one tongue the
Greek,
another the Latin; for the flesh is not diverse, but the sound. In the same
manner,
then, as the speech which is made by the tongue is called a tongue; so also
the
iniquity which is made by blood is called blood. Heeding, then, his many
iniquities,
as in the expression above, "And all my iniquities blot out," and
ascribing
them to the corruption of flesh and blood, "Free me," he says,
"from
bloods:"
that is, free me from iniquities, cleanse me from all corruption .... Not yet
is
the substance, but certain hope. "And my tongue shall exult of Your
righteousness."
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20.
"O Lord, my lips You shall open, and my mouth shall tell of Your
praise" (ver.
15).
"Your praise," because I have been created: "Your praise,"
because sinning I
have
not been forsaken: "Your praise," because I have been admonished to
confess:
"Your praise," because in order that I might be secured I have been
cleansed.
21.
"Because if You had willed sacrifice, I would have given it surely"
(ver. 16).
David
was living at that time when sacrifices of victim animals were offered to
God,
and he saw these times that were to be. Do we not perceive ourselves in these
words?
Those sacrifices were figurative, foretelling the One Saving Sacrifice. Not
even
we have been left without a Sacrifice to offer to God. For hear what he says,
having
a concern for his sin, and wishing the evil thing which he has done to be
forgiven
him: "If You had willed," he says, "sacrifice, I would have
given it
surely.
With holocausts You will not be delighted." Nothing shall we therefore
offer?
So shall we come to God? And whence shall we propitiate Him? Offer;
certainly
in yourself you have what you may offer. Do not from without fetch
frankincense,
but say, "In me are, O God, Your vows, which I will render of praise
to
You." Do not from without seek cattle to slay, you have in yourself what
you
may
kill. "Sacrifice to God is a spirit troubled, a heart contrite and humbled
God
despises
not" (ver. 17). Utterly he despises bull, he-goat, ram: now is not the
time
that
these should be offered. They were offered when they indicated something,
when
they promised something; when the things promised come, the promises are
taken
away. "A heart contrite and humbled God despises not." You know that
God
is
high: if you shall have made yourself high, He will be from you; if you shall
have
humbled yourself, He will draw near to you.
22.
See who this is: David as one man was seeming to implore; see ye here our
image
and the type of the Church.
"Deal
kindly, O Lord, in Your good will with Sion" (ver. 18). With this Sion
deal
kindly.
What is Sion? A city holy. What is a city holy? That which cannot be
hidden,
being upon a mountain established. Sion in prospect, because it has
prospect
of something which it hopes for. For Sion is interpreted "prospect,"
and
God.
"And be the walls of
will
with Sion, and be the walls of
ascribe
her merits: do Thou with her deal kindly, "Be the walls of
be
the battlements of our immortality laid, in faith and hope and charity.
23.
"Then You shall accept the sacrifice of righteousness" (ver. 19). But
now
sacrifice
for iniquity, to wit, a spirit troubled, and a heart humbled; then the
sacrifice
of righteousness, praises alone. For, "Blessed they that dwell in Your
house,
for ever and ever they shall praise You:" for this is the sacrifice of
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righteousness.
"Oblations and holocausts." What are "holocausts"? A whole
victim
by
fire consumed. When a whole beast was laid upon the altar with fire to be
consumed,
it was called a holocaust. May divine fire take us up whole, and that
fervour
catch us whole. What fervour? "Neither is there that hides himself from
the
heat thereof." What fervour? That whereof speaks the Apostle: "In
spirit
fervent."
Romans 12:11 Be not merely our soul taken up by that divine fire of
wisdom,
but also our body; that it may earn their immortality; so be it lifted up for
a
holocaust, that death be swallowed into victory. "Oblations and
holocausts."
"Then
shall they lay upon thine altar calves." Whence "calves"? What
shall He
therein
choose? Will it be the innocence of the new age, or necks freed from the
yoke
of the law?...
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Exposition
on Psalm 52
1.
The title of the Psalm has: "At the end, understanding of David, when
there
came
Doeg the Edomite and told Saul, David has come into the house of
Abimelech:"
whereas we read that he had come into the house of Achimelech.
And
it may chance that we do not unreasonably suppose, that because of the
similarity
of a name and the difference of one syllable, or rather of one letter, the
titles
have been varied. In the manuscripts, however, of the Psalms, when we
looked
into them, rather Abimelech we have found than Achimelech. And since in
another
place you have a most evident Psalm, intimating not a dissimilarity of
name,
but an utterly different name; when, for instance, David changed his face
before
King Achish, not before king Abimelech, and he sent him away, and he
departed:
and yet the title of the Psalm is thus written, "When he changed his
countenance
in the presence of Abimelech"—the very change of name makes us
the
rather intent upon a mystery, lest you should pursue the quasi-facts of
history,
and
despise the sacred veilings....
2.
Observe ye two kinds of men; the one of men labouring, the other of those
among
whom they labour: the one of men thinking of earth, the other of heaven:
the
one of men weighing down their heart unto the deep, the other of men with
Angels
their heart conjoining: the one trusting in earthly things, wherein this world
abounds,
the other confiding in heavenly things, which God, who lies not, has
promised.
But mingled are these kinds of men. We see now the citizen of
one
wears purple, is a Magistrate, is Ćdile, is Proconsul, is Emperor, does direct
the
earthly republic: but he has his heart above, if he is a Christian, if he is a
believer,
if he is godly, if he is despising those things wherein he is, and trusts in
that
wherein he is not yet. Of which kind was that holy woman Esther, who,
though
she was wife of a king, incurred the danger of interceding for her
countrymen:
and when she was praying before God, where she could not lie, in her
prayer
said, that her royal ornaments were to her but as the cloth of a menstruous
woman.
Esther 14:16 Despair we not then of the citizens of the kingdom of
heaven,
when we see them engaged in any of
earthly
in republic earthly: nor again let us forthwith congratulate all men that we
see
doing matters heavenly; because even the sons of pestilence sit sometimes in
the
seat of Moses, of whom is said, "What things they say, do ye: but what
things
they
do, do not: for they say, and do not." Matthew 23:3 Those, amid earthly
things,
lift up heart unto heaven, these, amid heavenly words, trail heart upon
earth.
But there will come time of winnowing, when both are to be severed with
greatest
diligence, in order that no grain may pass over unto the heap of chaff that
is
to be burned, that not one single straw may pass over to the mass that is to be
stored
in the barn. Matthew 3:12 So long as then now it is mingled, hear we thence
our
voice, that is, voice of the citizens of the kingdom of heaven (for to this we
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ought
to aspire, to bear with evil men here, rather than be borne with by good
men):
and let us conjoin ourselves to this voice, both with ear and with tongue,
and
with heart and work. Which if we shall have done, we are here speaking in
those
things which we hear. Let us therefore speak first of the evil body of
kingdom
earthly.
3.
"Why does he glory in malice that is mighty?" (ver. 1). Observe, my
brethren,
the
glorying of malignity, the glorying of evil men. Where is glorying? "Why
does
he
glory in malice that is mighty?" That is, he that in malice is mighty, why
does
he
glory? There is need that a man be mighty, but in goodness, not in malice. Is
it
any
great thing to glory in malice? To build a house does belong to few men, any
ignorant
man you please can pull down. To sow wheat, to dress the crop, to wait
until
it ripen, and in that fruit on which one has laboured to rejoice, does belong
to
few
men: with one spark any man you please can burn all the crop. To breed an
infant,
when born to feed him, to educate, to bring him on to youth's estate, is a
great
task: to kill him in one moment of time any one you please is able. Therefore
those
things which are done for destruction, are most easily done. "He that
glories,
let
him glory in the Lord:" 1 Corinthians 1:31 he that glories, let him glory
in
goodness.
Thou gloriest, because you are mighty in evil. What are you about to do,
O
mighty man, what are you about to do, boasting yourself much? You are about
to
kill a man: this thing also a scorpion, this also one fever, this also a
poisonous
fungus
can do. To this is your mightiness reduced, that it be made equal to a
poisonous
fungus? This therefore do the good citizens of
malice
but in goodness glory: firstly, that not in themselves, but in the Lord they
glory.
Secondly, that those things which make for edification they earnestly do,
and
do such things as are strong to abide: but things which make for destruction
they
may do, for the discipline of men advancing, not for the oppression of the
innocent.
To this mightiness then that earthly body being compared, why may it
not
hear out of these words, "Why does he glory in malice that is
mighty?"
4.
"In iniquity the whole day upon injustice has your tongue thought"
(ver. 2): that
is,
in the whole of time, without weariness, without intermission, without
cessation.
And when you do not, you think, so that when anything of evil is away
from
your hands, from your heart it is not away; either you do an evil thing, or
while
you can not do, you say an evil thing, that is, thou evil-speakest: or when not
even
this you can do, you will and thinkest an evil thing. "The whole
day," then,
that
is, without intermission. We expect punishment to this man. Is he to himself a
small
punishment? Thou threatenest him: thou, when you threaten him, wilt send
him
whither? Unto evil? Send him away unto himself. In order that you may vent
much
rage, you are going to give him into the power of beasts: unto himself he is
worse
than beasts. For a beast can mangle his body: of himself he cannot leave his
heart
whole. Within, against himself he does rage of himself, and do you from
without
seek for stripes? Nay, pray God for him, that he may be set free from
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himself.
Nevertheless in this Psalm, my brethren, there is not a prayer for evil
men,
or against evil men, but a prophecy of what is to result to evil men. Think not
therefore
that the Psalm of ill-will says anything: for it is said in the spirit of
prophecy.
5.
There follows then what? All your might and all your thought of iniquity all
the
day,
and meditation of malignity in your tongue without intermission, has
performed
what, done what? "As with a sharp razor you have done deceit" (ver.
3).
See
what do evil men to Saints, they scrape their hair. What is it that I have
said?
If
there be such citizens of
King,
saying, "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the
soul:"
that
hear the voice which but now from the Gospel has been read, "What does it
profit
a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and of himself make wreck:"
Matthew
16:26 they despise all present good things, and above all life itself. And
what
is Doeg's razor to do to a man on this earth meditating on the kingdom of
heaven,
and about to be in the kingdom of heaven, having with him God, and
about
to abide with God? What is that razor to do? Hair it is to scrape, it is to
make
a
man bald. And this belongs to Christ, who in the Place of a Skull was
crucified.
Matthew
27:33 It makes also the son of Core, which is interpreted baldness.
1
Chronicles 6:22 For this hair signifies a superfluity of things temporal. Which
hairs
indeed are not made by God superfluously on the body of men, but for a sort
of
ornament: yet because without feeling they are cut off, they that cleave to the
Lord
with their heart, so have these earthly things as they have hair. But
sometimes
even something of good with "hair" is wrought, when you break bread
to
the hungry, the poor without roof you bring into your house; if you shall have
seen
one naked, you cover him: Isaiah 58:7 lastly, the Martyrs themselves also
imitating
the Lord, blood for the Church shedding, hearing that voice, "As Christ
laid
down His life for us, so also ought we also to lay down for the brethren,"
1
John 3:16 in a certain way with their hair did good to us, that is, with those
things
which that razor can lop off or scrape. But that therefore even with the very
hair
some good can be done, even that woman a sinner intimated, who, when she
had
wept over the feet of the Lord, with her hair wiped what with tears she wetted.
Luke
7:38 Signifying what? That when you shall have pitied any one, you ought to
relieve
him also if you can. For when you have pity, you shed as it were tears:
when
you relieve, you wipe with hair. And if this to any one, how much more to
the
feet of the Lord. The feet of the Lord are what? The holy Evangelists, whereof
is
said, "How beautiful are the feet of them that tell of peace, that tell of
good
things!"
Therefore like a razor let Doeg whet his tongue, let him whet deceit as
much
as he may: he will take away superfluous temporal things; will he necessary
things
everlasting?
6.
"You have loved malice above benignity" (ver. 4). Before you was
benignity;
herself
you should have loved. For you were not going to expend anything, nor
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were
you going to fetch something to love by a distant voyage. Benignity is before
you,
iniquity before you: compare and choose. But perchance you have an eye
wherewith
you see malignity, and hast no eye wherewith you see benignity. Woe
to
the iniquitous heart. What is worse, it does turn away itself, that it may not
see
what
it is able to see. For what of such has been said in another place? "He
would
not
understand that he might do good." For it is not said, he could not: but
"he
would
not," he says, "understand that he might do good," he closed his
eyes from
present
light. And what follows? "Of iniquity he has meditated in his bed;"
that is,
in
the inner secrecy of his heart. Some reproach of this kind is heaped upon this
Doeg
the Edomite, a malignant body, a motion of earth, not abiding, not heavenly.
"You
have loved malignity above benignity." For will you know how an evil man
does
see both, and the former he does rather choose, from the other does turn
himself
away? Wherefore does he cry out when he suffers anything unjustly?
Wherefore
does he then exaggerate as much as he can the iniquity, and praise
benignity,
censuring him that has wrought in him malignity above benignity? Be
he
then a rule to himself for seeing: out of himself he shall be judged. Moreover,
if
he
do what is written, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself;"
Matthew 22:39
and,
"Whatsoever good things ye will that men should do unto you, these also do
ye
do unto them:" Matthew 7:12 at home he has means of knowing, because what
on
himself he will not have to be done, he ought not to do to another. "You
have
loved
malice above benignity." Iniquitously, inordinately, perversely you would
raise
water above oil: the water will be sunk, the oil will remain above. You would
under
darkness place a light: the darkness will be put to flight, the light will
remain.
Above heaven you would place earth, by its weight the earth will fall into
its
place. Thou therefore will be sunk by loving malice above benignity. For never
will
malice overcome benignity. "You have loved malice above benignity:
iniquity
more
than to speak of equity." Before you is equity, before you is iniquity:
one
tongue
you have, whither you will you turn it: wherefore then rather to iniquity
and
not to equity? Food of bitterness do you not give to your belly, and food of
iniquity
do you give to your malignant tongue? As you choose whereon to live, so
choose
what you may speak. Thou preferrest iniquity to equity, and preferrest
malice
to benignity; thou indeed preferrest, but above what can ever be but
benignity
and equity? But you, by placing yourself in a manner upon those things
which
it is necessary should go beneath, will not make them to be above good
things,
but thou with them will be sunk unto evil things.
7.
Because of this there follows in the Psalm, "You have loved all words of
sinking
under" (ver. 5). Rescue therefore yourself, if you can, from sinking
under.
From
shipwreck you are fleeing, and dost embrace lead! If you will not sink, catch
at
a plank, be borne on wood, let the Cross carry you through. But now because
you
are a Doeg the Edomite, a "motion," and "of earth," you do
what? "You have
loved
all words of sinking-under, a tongue deceitful." This has preceded, words
of
sinking-under
have followed a tongue deceitful. What is a tongue deceitful? A
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minister
of guile is a tongue deceitful, of men bearing one thing in heart, another
thing
from mouth bringing forth. But in these is overthrowing, in these sinking
under.
8.
"Wherefore God shall destroy you at the end" (ver. 6): though now you
seem to
flourish
like grass in the field before the heat of the sun. For, "All flesh is
grass,
and
the brightness of man as the bloom of grass: the grass has withered, and the
bloom
has fallen down: but the word of the Lord abides for everlasting."
Isaiah
40:6-8 Behold that to which you may bind yourself, to what "abides for
everlasting."
For if to grass, and to the bloom of grass, you shall have bound
yourself,
since the grass shall wither, and the bloom shall fall down, "God shall
destroy
you at the end:" and if not now, certainly at the end He shall destroy,
when
that
winnowing shall have come, and the heap of chaff from the solid grain shall
have
been separated. Is not the solid grain for the barns, and the chaff for the
fire?
Shall
not the whole of that Doeg stand at the left hand, when the Lord is to say,
"Go
ye into fire everlasting, which has been prepared for the devil and his
angels"?
Matthew
25:41 Therefore "God shall destroy at the end: shall pluck you out, and
shall
remove you from your dwelling." Now then this Doeg the Edomite is in a
dwelling:
"But a servant abides not in the house for ever." John 8:35 Even he
works
something of good, even if not with his doings, at least with the words of
God,
so that in the Church, when he "seeks his own," Philippians 2:21 he
would
say,
at least, those things which are of Christ.
"But
He shall remove you from your dwelling." "Verily, verily, I say unto
you,
they
have received their reward." Matthew 6:2 "And your root from the land
of the
living."
Therefore in the land of the living we ought to have root. Be our root
there.
Out of sight is the root: fruits may be seen, root cannot be seen. Our root is
our
love, our fruits are our works: it is needful that your works proceed from
love,
then
is your root in the land of the living. Then shall be rooted up that Doeg, nor
any
wise shall he be able there to abide, because neither more deeply there has he
fixed
a root: Matthew 13:5 but it shall be with him in like manner as it is with
those
seeds on the rock, which even if a root they throw out, yet, because moisture
they
have not, with the risen sun forthwith do wither. But, on the other hand, they
that
fix a root more deeply, hear from the Apostle what? "I bow my knees for
you
to
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you may be in love rooted and
grounded."
And because there now is root, "That ye may be able," he says,
"to
comprehend
what is the height, and breadth, and length, and depth: to know also
the
supereminent knowledge of the love of Christ, that you may be filled unto all
the
fulness of God." Of such fruits so great a root is worthy, being so
single, so
budding,
for buddings so deeply grounded. But truly this man's root shall be
rooted
up from the land of the living.
9.
"And the just shall see, and shall fear; and over him they shall
laugh" (ver. 7).
Shall
fear when? Shall laugh when? Let us therefore understand, and make a
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352
distinction
between those two times of fearing and laughing, which have their
several
uses. For so long as we are in this world, not yet must we laugh, lest
hereafter
we mourn. We have read what is reserved at the end for this Doeg, we
have
read and because we understand and believe, we see but fear. This, therefore,
has
been said, "The just shall see, and shall fear." So long as we see
what will
result
at the end to evil men, wherefore do we fear? Because the Apostle has said,
"In
fear and trembling work out your own salvation:" Philippians 2:12 because
it
has
been said in a Psalm, "Serve the Lord in fear, and exult unto Him with
trembling."
Wherefore "with fear"? "Wherefore let him that thinks himself to
stand,
see that he fall not." 1 Corinthians 10:12 Wherefore "with
trembling"?
Because
he says in another place: "Brethren, if a man shall have been overtaken in
any
delinquency, you that are spiritual instruct such sort in the spirit of
gentleness;
heeding
yourself, lest you also be tempted." Galatians 6:1 Therefore, the just
that
are
now, that live of faith, so see this Doeg, what to him is to result, that
nevertheless
they fear also for themselves: for what they are today, they know;
what
tomorrow they are to be, they know not. Now, therefore, "The just shall
see,
and
they shall fear." But when shall they laugh? When iniquity shall have
passed
over;
when it shall have flown over; as now to a great degree has flown over the
time
uncertain; when shall have been put to flight the darkness of this world,
wherein
now we walk not but by the lamp of the Scriptures, and therefore fear as
though
in night. For we walk by prophecy; whereof says the Apostle Peter, "We
have
a more sure prophetic word, to which giving heed ye do well, as to a lamp
shining
in a dark place, until the day shine, and the day-star arise in your
hearts."
2
Peter 1:19 So long then as by a lamp we walk, it is needful that with fear we
should
live. But when shall have come our day, that is, the manifestation of Christ,
whereof
the same Apostle says, "When Christ shall have appeared, your life, then
ye
also shall appear with Himself in glory," Colossians 3:4 then the just
shall
laugh
at that Doeg....
10.
But what shall they then say that shall laugh? "And over him they shall
laugh;
and
shall say, Behold a man that has not set God for his helper" (ver. 8). See
ye the
body
earthly! "As much as you shall have, so great shall you be," is a
proverb of
covetous
men, of grasping men, of men oppressing the innocent, of men seizing
upon
other men's goods, of men denying things entrusted to their care. Of what
sort
is this proverb? "As much as you shall have, so great shall you be;"
that is, as
much
as you shall have had of money, as much as you shall have gotten, by so
much
the more mighty shall you be. "Behold a man that has not set God for his
helper,
but has trusted in the multitude of his riches." Let not a poor man, one
perchance
that is evil, say, I am not of this body. For he has heard the Prophet
saying,
"He has trusted in the multitude of his riches:" forthwith if he is
poor, he
heeds
his rags, he has observed near him perchance a rich man among the people
of
God more richly apparelled, and he says in his heart, Of this man he speaks;
does
he speak of me? Do not thence except yourself, do not separate yourself,
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unless
you shall have seen and feared, in order that you may hereafter laugh. For
what
does it profit you, if thou dost want means, and you burn with cupidity?
When
our Lord Jesus Christ to that rich man that was grieved, and that was
departing
from Him, had said, "Go, sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and
you
shall have treasure in heaven, and come follow Me:" Matthew 19:21 and
great
hopelessness
for rich men foretold, so that He said, more easily could a camel pass
through
the eye of a needle, than a rich man enter into the
Matthew
19:24 were not forthwith the disciples grieved, saying with themselves,
"Who
shall be able to be saved?" Therefore when they were saying, "Who
shall be
able
to be saved?" did they think of the few rich men, did there escape them so
great
a multitude of poor men? Could they not say to themselves, If it is hard, aye
an
impossible thing, that rich men should enter into the kingdom of heaven, as it
is
impossible
that a camel should enter through the eye of a needle, let all poor men
enter
into the kingdom of heaven, be the rich alone shut out? For how few are the
rich
men? But of poor men are thousands innumerable. For not the coats are we to
look
upon in the kingdom of heaven; but for every one's garment shall be reckoned
the
effulgence of righteousness: there shall be therefore poor men equal to Angels
of
God, clothed with the stoles of immortality, they shall shine as the sun in the
kingdom
of their Father: what reason is there for us about a few rich men to be
concerned,
or distressed? This thought not the Apostles; but when the Lord had
spoken
this, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than
for a
rich
man to enter into the kingdom of heaven:" they saying to themselves,
"Who
shall
be able to be saved," meant what? Not means, but desires; for they saw
even
poor
men themselves, even if not having money, yet to have covetousness. And
that
you may know, that not money in a rich man, but covetousness is condemned,
attend
to what I say; Thou observest that rich man standing near you, and
perchance
in him is money, and is not covetousness; in you is not money, and is
covetousness.
A poor man full of sores, full of woe, licked by dogs, having no
help,
having no morsel, not having perchance a mere garment, was borne by the
Angels
unto Abraham's bosom. Luke 16:22 Ho! being a poor man, are you glad
now;
for are even sores by you to be desired? Is not your patrimony soundness?
There
is not in this Lazarus the merit of poverty, but that of godliness. For you see
who
was borne up, you see not whither he was borne up. Who was borne up by
Angels?
A poor man, full of woe, full of sores. Whither was he borne up? Unto
Abraham's
bosom. Read the Scriptures, and you shall find Abraham to have been a
rich
man. Genesis 13:2 In order that you may know, that not riches are blamed;
Abraham
had much gold, silver, cattle, household, was a rich man, and unto his
bosom
Lazarus, a poor man, was borne up. Unto bosom of rich man, poor man:
are
not rather both unto God rich men, both in cupidity poor men?...
11.
Therefore that man having been condemned that "has trusted in the
multitude
of
his riches, and has prevailed in his vanity:" for what more vain, than he
that
thinks
coin more to avail than God? Therefore that man having been condemned
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354
that
said, blessed of the people to whom these things are: thou that sayest,
"Blessed
the people of whom is the Lord their own God," dost think of yourself
what?
dost hope for yourself what? "But I;" now at length hear that body:
"But I
am
like an olive, fruit-bearing in the house of God" (ver. 9). Not one man
speaks,
but
that olive fruit-bearing, whence have been pruned the proud branches, and the
humble
wild olive graffed in. Romans 11:17 "Like an olive, fruit-bearing in the
house
of God, I have trusted in the mercy of God." He did what? "In the
multitude
of
his riches:" therefore his root shall be plucked out from the land of the
living.
"But
I," because "like an olive, fruit-bearing in the house of God,"
the root
whereof
is nourished, is not rooted out, "have trusted in the mercy of God."
But
perchance
now? For even herein men err sometimes. God indeed they worship,
and
are not now like to that Doeg: but though on God they rely, it is for temporal
things
nevertheless; so that they say to themselves, I worship my God, who will
make
me rich upon earth, who to me will give sons, who to me will give a wife.
Such
things indeed gives none but God, but God would not have Himself for the
sake
of such things to be loved. For to this end oftentimes those things He gives
even
to evil men, in order that some other thing good men of Him may learn to
seek.
In what manner then do you say, "I have trusted in the mercy of God"?
Perchance
for obtaining temporal things? Nay but, "For everlasting and world
without
end." The expression, "For everlasting," he willed to repeat by
adding,
"world
without end," in order that by there repeating he might affirm how rooted
he
was in the love of the kingdom of heaven, and in the hope of everlasting
felicity.
12.
"I will confess to You for ever, because You have done" (ver. 10).
"Hast done
what?"
Doeg You have condemned, David You have crowned. "I will confess to
You
for ever, because You have done." Great confession, "Because you have
done"!
"Hast done" what? except these very things which above have been
spoken
of,
that like an olive fruit-bearing in the house of God, I should trust in the
mercy
of
God for everlasting and world without end? You have done: an ungodly man
cannot
justify himself. But who is He that justifies? "Believing," he says,
"on
Him"
that justifies "the ungodly." Romans 4:5 "For what have you
which you have
not
received? But if you have received, why do you glory as if you have not
received,
as if of yourself you have?" 1 Corinthians 4:7 Be it far from me that I
should
so glory, says he, that is opposed against Doeg, that bears with Doeg upon
earth,
until he remove from his dwelling, and be rooted up from the land of the
living.
I glory not as if I have not received, but in God I glory. "And I will
confess
to
You because You have done," that is, because You have done not according
to
my
merits, but according to Your mercy. But I have done what? If you recollect,
"Before,
I was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious." But you, what have
you
done? "But mercy I have obtained, because ignorant I did it." 1
Timothy 1:13
"I
will confess to You for ever, because You have done."
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Psalm 52 355
13.
"And I will look for Your name, for it is pleasant." Bitter is the
world, but
Your
name is pleasant. Even if certain sweet things are in the world, yet with
bitterness
they are digested. Your name is preferred, not only for greatness but
also
for pleasantness. "For unjust men have told to me their delights, but it
is not
as
Your law, O Lord." For if there were nothing sweet to the Martyrs, they
would
not
have suffered with equanimity so great bitterness of tribulations. Their
bitterness
by any one was experienced, their sweetness easily could no one taste.
The
name of God therefore is pleasant to men loving God above all
pleasantnesses.
"I will look for Your name, for it is pleasant." And to what dost
Thou
prove that it is pleasant? Give me a palate to which it is pleasant. Praise
honey
as much as you are able, exaggerate the sweetness thereof with what words
you
shall have the power: a man knowing not what honey is, unless he shall have
tasted,
what you say knows not. Therefore the rather to the proof the Psalm
inviting
you says what? "Taste and see that sweet is the Lord." Taste you will
not,
and
you say, Is it pleasant? What is pleasant? If you have tasted, in your fruit be
it
found,
not in words alone, as it were only in leaves, lest by the curse of the Lord,
to
wither like that fig-tree Matthew 21:19 you should deserve. "Taste,"
he says,
"and
see, that sweet is the Lord." Taste and see: then you shall see, if you
shall
have
tasted. But to a man not tasting, how do you prove? By praising the
pleasantness
of the name of God, whatsoever things you shall have said are words:
something
else is taste. The words of His praise there hear even the ungodly, but
none
taste how sweet it is, but the Saints. Further, a man discerning the sweetness
of
the name of God, and wishing to unfold and wishing to show the same, and not
finding
persons to whom he may unfold it; for to the Saints there is no need that he
show
it, because they even of themselves taste and know, but the ungodly cannot
discern
what they will not taste: does, I say, what, because of the sweetness of the
name
of God? He has borne him forthwith away from the crowds of the ungodly.
"And
I will look," he says, "for Your name, for it is pleasant, in the
sight of Your
Saints."
Pleasant is Your name, but not in the sight of the ungodly. I know how
sweet
a thing it is, but it is to them that have tasted.
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53
356
Exposition
on Psalm 53
1.
Of this Psalm we undertake to treat with you, as far as the Lord supplies us. A
brother
bids us that we may have the will, and prays that we may have the power.
If
anything in haste perchance I shall have passed over, He that even to us deigns
to
give what we shall be enabled to say, will supply it in you. The title of it
is: "At
the
end, for Maeleth, understanding to David himself." "For
Maeleth," as we find
in
interpretations of Hebrew names, seems to say, For one travailing, or in pain.
But
who there is in this world that travails and is in pain, the faithful
acknowledge,
because
thereof they are. Christ here travails, Christ here is in pain: the Head is
above,
the members below. For one not travailing nor in pain would not say,
"Saul,
Saul, why do you persecute me?" Acts 9:4 Him, with whom when
persecuting
He was travailing, being converted, He made to travail. For he also
was
himself afterwards enlightened, and grafted on those members which he used
to
persecute; being pregnant with the same love, he said, "My little
children, of
whom
again I travail, until Christ be formed in you." Galatians 4:19 For the
members
therefore of Christ, for His Body which is the Church, Colossians 1:24
for
that same One Man, that is, for that very unity, whereof the Head is above,
this
Psalm
is sung.... Who are they, then, amid whom we travail and groan, if in the
Body
of Christ we are, if under Him, the Head, we live, if amongst His members
we
are counted? Who they are, hear ye.
2.
"The unwise man has said in his heart, There is no God" (ver. 1).
Such sort is it
of
men amid whom is pained and groans the Body of Christ. If such is this sort of
men,
of not many do we travail; as far as seems to occur to our thoughts, very few
there
are; and a difficult thing it is to meet with a man that says in his heart,
"There
is
no God;" nevertheless, so few there are, that, fearing amid the many to
say this,
in
their heart they say it, for that with mouth to say it they dare not. Not much
then
is
that which we are bid to endure, hardly is it found: uncommon is that sort of
men
that say in their heart, "There is no God." But, if it be examined in
another
sense,
is not that found to be in more men, which we supposed to be in men few
and
uncommon, and almost in none? Let them come forth into the midst that live
evil
lives, let us look into the doings of profligate, daring, and wicked men, of
whom
there is a great multitude; who foster day by day their sins, who, their acts
having
been changed into habit, have even lost sense of shame: this is so great a
multitude
of men, that the Body of Christ, set amid them, scarce dares to censure
that
which it is not constrained to commit, and deems it a great matter for itself
that
the integrity of innocence be preserved in not doing that which now, by habit,
either
it does not dare to blame, or if it shall have dared, there breaks out the
censure
and recrimination of them that live evil lives, more readily than the free
voice
of them that live good lives. And those men are such as say in their heart,
"There
is no God." Such men I am confuting. Whence confuting? That their
doings
please God, they judge. He does not therefore affirm, "some say," but
"The
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357
unwise
man has said in his heart, There is no God." Which men do so far believe
there
is a God, that the same God they judge with what they do to be pleased. But
if
thou being wise dost perceive, how "the unwise man has said in his heart,
There
is
no God," if thou give heed, if thou understand, if thou examine; he that
thinks
that
evil doings please God, Him he does not think to be God. For if God is, He is
just;
if He is just, injustice displeases Him, iniquity displeases. But you, when you
think
that iniquity pleases Him, dost deny God. For if God is one Whom iniquity
displeases,
but God seems not to you to be one whom iniquity displeases, and
there
is no God but one whom iniquity displeases, then when you say in your
heart,
God does countenance my iniquities, you say nothing else than, "There is
no
God."
3.
Let us advert also to that sense, which concerning Christ our Lord Himself, our
Head
Himself, does present itself. For when Himself in form of a servant
Philippians
2:7 appeared on earth, they that crucified Him said, "He is not God."
Because
Son of God He was, truly God He was. But they that are corrupted and
have
become abominable said what? "He is not God:" let us slay Him,
"He is not
God."
You have the voice of these very men in the book of Wisdom. For after
there
had gone before the verse, "The unwise man has said in his heart, There is
no
God;"
as if reasons were required why the unwise man could say this, he has
subjoined,
"Corrupted they are, and abominable have become in their iniquities"
(ver.
2). Hear ye those corrupted men. "For they have said with themselves, not
rightly
thinking:" Wisdom 2:1 corruption begins with evil belief, thence it
proceeds
to depraved morals, thence to the most flagrant iniquities, these are the
grades.
But what with themselves said they, thinking not rightly? "A small thing
and
with tediousness is our life." Wisdom 2:1 From this evil belief follows
that
which
also the Apostle has spoken of, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we
shall
die."
1 Corinthians 15:32 But in the former passage more diffusely luxury itself is
described:
"Let us crown us with roses, before they be withered; in every place let
us
leave the tokens of our gladness." Wisdom 2:8-9 After the more diffuse
description
of that luxury, what follows? "Let us slay the poor just man:"
Wisdom
2:10 this is therefore saying, "He is not God." Soft words they
seemed
but
now to say: "Let us crown us with roses, before they be withered."
What more
delicate,
what more soft? Wouldest thou expect, out of this softness, Crosses,
swords?
Wonder not, soft are even the roots of brambles; if any one handle them,
he
is not pricked: but that wherewith you shall be pricked from thence has birth.
"Corrupted,"
therefore, are those men, "and abominable have become in their
iniquities."
They say, "If Son of God He is, let Him come down from the Cross."
Matthew
27:40 Behold them openly saying, "He is not God."...
4.
"The Lord from Heaven has looked forth upon the sons of men, that He might
see
if there is one understanding and seeking after God" (ver. 3). What is
this?
"Corrupted
they are," all these that say, "There is no God"? And what? Did
it
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358
escape
God, that they were become such? Or indeed to us would their inward
thought
be opened, except by Him it were told? If then He understood, if then He
knew,
what is this which has been said, "that He might see"? For the words
are of
one
inquiring, of one not knowing. "God from Heaven has looked forth,"
etc. And
as
though He had found what He sought by looking upon, and by looking down
from
Heaven, He gives sentence: "All men have gone aside, together useless they
have
become: there is not one that does good, not so much as one" (ver. 4). Two
questions
arise somewhat difficult: for if God looks out from Heaven, in order that
He
may see if there is one understanding or seeking after God; there steals upon
an
unwise
man the thought, that God knows not all things. This is one question: what
is
the other? If there is not one that does good, is not so much as one; who is he
that
travails amid bad men? The former question then is solved as follows:
ofttimes
the Scripture speaks in such manner, that what by the gift of God a
creature
does, God is said to do.... For hence has been said the following also,
"For
the
Spirit searches all things, even the depth of God;" 1 Corinthians 2:10 not
because
He that knows all things searches, but because to you has been given the
Spirit,
which makes you also to search: and that which by His own gift you do, He
is
said to do; because without Him you would not do it: therefore God is said to
do,
when you do. And because this by the gift of God you doest, God from heaven
is
"looking forth upon the sons of men." The former question then, according
to
our
measure, thus has been solved.
5.
What is that which looking forth we acknowledge? What is that which looking
forth
God acknowledges? What (because here He gives it) does He acknowledge?
Hear
what it is; that "All have gone aside, together useless they have become:
there
is not one that does good, there is not so much as one." What then is that
other
question, but the same whereof a little before I have made mention? If,
"There
is not one that does good, is not so much as one," no one remains to groan
amid
evil men. Stay, says the Lord, do not hastily give judgment. I have given to
men
to do well; but of Me, He says, not of themselves: for of themselves evil they
are:
sons of men they are, when they do evil; when well, My sons. For this thing
God
does, out of sons of men He makes sons of God: because out of Son of God
He
has made Son of Man. See what this participation is: there has been promised
to
us a participation of Divinity: He lies that has promised, if He is not first
made
partaker
of mortality. For the Son of God has been made partaker of mortality, in
order
that mortal man may be made partaker of divinity. He that has promised that
His
good is to be shared with you, first with you has shared your evil: He that to
you
has promised divinity, shows in you love. Therefore take away that men are
sons
of God, there remains that they are sons of men: "There is none that does
good,
is not so much as one."
6.
"Shall not all know that work iniquity, that devour My people for the food
of
bread"?
(ver. 5) .... There is therefore here a people of God that is being devoured.
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Psalm 53 359
Nay,
"There is not one that does good, there is not so much as one." We
reply by
the
rule above. But this people that is devoured, this people that suffers evil
men,
this
that groans and travails amid evil men, now out of sons of men have been
made
sons of God: therefore are they devoured. For, "The counsel of the needy
man
you have confounded, because the Lord is his hope." For ofttimes, in order
that
the people of God may be devoured, this very thing in it is despised, that it
is
the
people of God. I will pillage, he says, and despoil; if he is a Christian, what
will
he do to me? ... But what follows? "I will convince you, and will set you
before
your face." You will not now know so as you should be displeasing to
yourself,
you shall know so as you may mourn. For God cannot but show to the
unrighteous
their iniquity. If He is not to show, who will they be that are to say,
"What
has profited us pride, and what has boasting of riches bestowed upon us?"
Wisdom
5:8 For then shall they know, that now will not know. "Shall not all
know?"
etc. Why has He added, "for the food of bread"? As it were as bread,
they
eat
My people. For all other things which we eat, we can eat now these, now
those;
not always this vegetable, not always this flesh, not always these apples: but
always
bread. What is then, "Devour My people for the food of bread"?
Without
intermission,
without cessation they devour.
7.
"On God they have not called." He is comforting the man that groans,
and
chiefly
by an admonition, lest by imitating evil men, who ofttimes prosper, they
delight
in evil doing. There is kept for you that which to you has been promised:
their
hope is present, thine is future, but theirs is transient, thine sure; theirs
false,
thine
true. For they "upon God have not called." Do not daily such men ask
of
God?
They do "not" ask of God. Give heed, if I am able to say this by the
aid of
God
Himself. God gratuitously will have Himself to be worshipped, gratuitously
will
have Himself to be loved, that is chastely to be loved; not Himself to be loved
for
the reason that He gives anything besides Himself, but because He gives
Himself.
He then that calls upon God in order that He may be made rich, on God
does
not call: for upon that He calls which to himself he wills to come .... But now
you
would have coffer full, and conscience void: God fills not coffer, but breast.
What
do outward riches profit you, if inward need presses you? Therefore those
men
that for the sake of worldly comforts, that for the sake of earthly good
things,
that
for the sake of present life and earthly felicity, call upon God, do not call
upon
God.
8.
For this reason what follows concerning them? "There have they feared with
fear,
where there was no fear" (ver. 6). For is there fear, if a man lose
riches?
There
is no fear there, and yet in that case men are afraid. But if a man lose
wisdom,
truly there is fear, and in that case he is not afraid .... You have feared to
give
back money, and hast willed to lose fidelity. The Martyrs took not away
property
of other persons, but even their own they despised that they might not
lose
fidelity: and it was too little to lose money, when they were proscribed; they
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360
took
also their life when they suffered: they lost life, in order that unto
everlasting
life
they might find it. Matthew 10:39 Therefore there they feared, where they
ought
to have been afraid. But they that of Christ have said, "He is not
God," have
there
feared where was no fear. For they said, "If we shall have let Him go,
there
will
come the Romans, and will take away from us both place and kingdom."
John
11:48 O folly and imprudence saying in its heart, "He is not God"!
You have
feared
to lose earth, you have lost Heaven: you have feared lest there should come
the
Romans, and take away from you place and kingdom! Could they take away
from
you God? What then remains? what but that thou confess, that you have
willed
to keep, and by keeping ill hast lost? For you have lost both place and
nation
by slaying Christ. For you did will rather to slay Christ, than to lose place;
and
you have lost place, and nation, and Christ. In fearing, they have slain
Christ:
but
wherefore this? "For God has scattered the bones of them that please
men."
Willing
to please men, they feared to lose their place. But Christ Himself, of
whom
they said, "He is not God," willed rather to displease such men, as
they
were:
sons of men, not sons of God, He willed rather to displease. Thence were
scattered
their bones, His bones no one has broken. "They were confounded, for
God
has despised them." In very deed, brethren, as far as regards them, great
confusion
has come to them. In the place where they crucified the Lord, whom for
this
cause they crucified, that they might not lose both place and nation, the Jews
are
not. "God," therefore, "has despised them:" and yet in
despising He warned
them
to be converted. Let them now confess Christ, and say, He is God, of whom
they
said, "He is not God." Let them return to the inheritance of their fathers,
to
the
inheritance of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, let them possess with these
very
persons life eternal: though they have lost life temporal. Wherefore this?
Because
out of sons of men have been made sons of God. For so long as they
remain,
and will not, there is not one that does good, there is not so much as one.
"They
were confounded, for God has despised them." And as though to these very
persons
He were turned, He says, "Who shall give out of Sion salvation to
(ver.
7). O you fools, you revile, insult, buffet, besmear with spittings, with
thorns
ye
crown, upon the Cross ye lift up; whom? "Who shall give out of Sion
salvation
to
God's
turning away the captivity of His people." For there turns away the
captivity
of
His people, no one but He that has willed to be a captive in your own hands.
But
what men shall understand this thing? "Jacob shall exult, and
rejoice."
"
elder
was servant, Genesis 25:23 shall himself exult, for he shall himself
understand.
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Psalm 54
361
Exposition
on Psalm 54
1.
The title of this Psalm has fruit in the prolixity thereof, if it be
understood: and
because
the Psalm is short, let us make up our not having to tarry over the Psalm
by
tarrying over the title. For upon this depends every verse which is sung. If
any
one,
therefore, observe that which on the front of the house is fixed, secure he
will
enter;
and, when he shall have entered, he will not err. For this on the post itself
is
prominently
marked, namely, in what manner within he may not be in error. The
title
thereof stands thus: "At the end, in hymns, understanding to David
himself,
when
there came the Ziphites, and said to Saul, Behold, is not David hidden with
us?"
That Saul was persecutor of the holy man David, very well we know: that
Saul
was bearing the figure of a temporal kingdom, not to life but to death
belonging,
this also to your Love we remember to have imparted. And also that
David
himself was bearing the figure of Christ, or of the Body of Christ, you
ought
both to know and to call to mind, you that have already learned. What then
of
the Ziphites? There was a certain village, Ziph, whereof the inhabitants were
Ziphites,
in whose country David had hidden himself, when Saul would find and
slay
him. These Ziphites then, when they had learned this, betrayed him to the
king
his persecutor, saying, "Behold, is not David hidden with us?" Of no
good to
them
indeed was their betrayal, and to David himself of no harm. For their evil
disposition
was shown: but Saul not even after their betrayal could seize David;
but
rather in a certain cave in that very country, when into his hands Saul had
been
given
to slay, David spared him, and that which he had in his power he did not.
1
Samuel 24:4 But the other was seeking to do that which he had not in his power.
Let
them that have been Ziphites take heed: let us see those whom to us the Psalm
presents
to be understood by the occasion of those same men.
2.
If we inquire then by what word is translated Ziphites, we find, "Men
flourishing."
Flourishing then were certain enemies to holy David, flourishing
before
him hiding. We may find them in mankind, if we are willing to understand
the
Psalm. Let us find here at first David hiding, and we shall find his
adversaries
flourishing.
Observe David hiding: "For you are dead," says the Apostle to the
members
of Christ, "and your life is hid with Christ in God." Colossians 3:3
These
men,
therefore, that are hiding, when shall they be flourishing? "When
Christ," he
says,
"your life, shall have appeared, then ye also with Him shall appear in
glory."
Colossians
3:4 When these men shall be flourishing, then shall be those Ziphites
withering.
For observe to what flower their glory is compared: "All flesh is grass,
and
the honour of flesh as the flower of grass." Isaiah 40:6 What is the end?
"The
grass
has withered, and the flower has fallen off." Where then shall be David?
See
what
follows: "But the Word of the Lord abides for ever."...
3.
These men sometimes are observed of the weak sons of light, and their feet
totter,
when they have seen evil men in felicity to flourish, and they say to
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362
themselves,
"Of what profit to me is innocence? What does it advantage me that I
serve
God, that I keep His commandments, that I oppress no one, from no one
plunder
anything, hurt no one, that what I can I bestow? behold, all these things I
do,
and they flourish, I toil." But why? Wouldest thou also wish to be a
Ziphite?
They
flourish in the world, wither in judgment, and after withering, into fire
everlasting
shall be cast: would you also choose this? Are you ignorant of what He
has
promised you, who to you has come, what in Himself here He displayed? If
the
flower of the Ziphites were to be desired, would not Himself your Lord also in
this
world have flourished? Or indeed was there wanting to Him the power to
flourish?
Nay but here He chose rather amid the Ziphites to hide, and to say to
Pontius
Pilate, as if to one being himself also a flower of the Ziphites, and in
suspicion
about His kingdom, "My kingdom is not of this world." John 18:36
Therefore
here He was hidden: and all good men are hidden here, because their
good
is within, it is concealed, in the heart it is, where is faith, where charity,
where
hope, where their treasure is. Do these good things appear in the world?
Both
these good things are hidden, and the reward of these good things is
hidden....
4.
"O God, in Your name make me safe, and in Your virtue judge me" (ver.
1). Let
the
Church say this, hiding amid the Ziphites. Let the Christian body say this,
keeping
secret the good of its morals, expecting in secret the reward of its merits,
let
it say this: "In Your virtue judge me." You have come, O Christ,
humble You
have
appeared, despised You have been, scourged hast been, crucified hast been,
slain
hast been; but, on the third day hast risen, on the fortieth day into Heaven
hast
ascended: Thou sittest at the right hand of the Father, and no one sees: Your
Spirit
thence You have sent, which men that were worthy have received; fulfilled
with
Your love, the praise of that very humility of Thine throughout the world and
nations
they have preached: Your name I see to excel among mankind, but
nevertheless
as weak to us have You been preached. For not even did that Teacher
of
the Gentiles say, that among us he knew anything, "Save Christ Jesus, and
Him
crucified;"
1 Corinthians 2:2 in order that of Him we might choose the reproach,
rather
than the glory of the flourishing Ziphites. Nevertheless, of Him he says
what?
"Although He died of weakness, yet He lives of the power of God." He
came
then that He might die of weakness, He is to come that He may judge in the
power
of God: but through the weakness of the Cross His name has been
illustrious.
Whosoever shall not have believed upon the name made illustrious
through
weakness, shall stand in awe at the Judge, when He shall have come in
power.
But, lest He that once was weak, when He shall have come strong, with
that
fan send us to the left hand; may He "save us in His name, and judge us in
His
virtue."
For who so rash as to have desired this, as to say to God, for instance
"Judge
me"? Is it not wont to be said to men for a curse, "God judge
you"? So
evidently
it is a curse, if He judge you in His virtue; and shall not have saved you
in
His name: but when in name precedent He shall have saved you, to your health
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in
virtue consequent He shall judge. Be thou without care: that judgment shall not
to
you be punishment, but dividing. For in a certain Psalm thus is said:
"Judge me,
O
God, and divide my cause from the nation unholy."...
5.
"O God, hearken to my prayer, in Your ears receive the words of my
mouth"
(ver.
2) .... To You may my prayer attain, driven forth and darted out from the
desire
of Your eternal blessings: to Your ears I send it forth, aid it that it may
reach,
lest it fall short in the middle of the way, and fainting as it were it fall
down.
But
even if there result not to me now the good things which I ask, I am secured
nevertheless
that hereafter they will come. For even in the case of transgressions a
certain
man is said to have asked of God, and not to have been hearkened to for his
good.
For privations of this world had inspired him to prayer, and being set in
temporal
tribulations he had wished that temporal tribulations should pass away,
and
there should return the flower of grass; and he says, "My God, my God, why
have
You forsaken me?" The very voice of Christ it is, but for His members'
sake.
"The
words," he says, "of my transgressions I have cried to You throughout
the
day,
and You have not hearkened: and by night, and not for the sake of folly to
me:"
that is, "and by night I have cried, and You have not hearkened; and
nevertheless
in this very thing that You have not hearkened, it is not for the sake
of
folly to me that You have not hearkened, but rather for the sake of wisdom that
You
have not hearkened, that I might perceive what of You I ought to ask. For
those
things I was asking which to my cost perchance I should have received."
Thou
askest riches, O man; how many have been overset through their riches?
Whence
do you know whether to you riches may profit? Have not many poor men
more
safely been in obscurity; having become rich men, so soon as they have
begun
to blaze forth, they have been a prey to the stronger? How much better they
would
have lain concealed, how much better they would have been unknown, that
have
begun to be inquired after not for the sake of what they were, but for the sake
of
what they had! In these temporal things therefore, brethren, we admonish and
exhort
you in the Lord, that you ask not anything as if it were a thing settled, but
that
which God knows to be expedient for you. For what is expedient for you, you
know
not at all. Sometimes that which you think to be for you is against you, and
that
which you think to be against you is for you. For sick you are; do not dictate
to
the physician the medicines he may choose to set beside you. If the teacher of
the
Gentiles, Paul the Apostle, says, "For what we should pray for as we
ought, we
know
not," Romans 8:26 how much more we? Who nevertheless, when he seemed
to
himself to pray wisely, namely, that from him should be taken away the thorn of
the
flesh, the angel of Satan, that did buffet him, in order that he might not in
the
greatness
of the revelations be lifted up, heard from the Lord what? Was that done
which
he wished? Nay, in order to that being done which was expedient, he heard
from
the Lord, I say, what? "Thrice," he says, "I besought the Lord
that He would
take
it from me; and He said to me, My Grace suffices for you: for virtue in
weakness
is made perfect." 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 Salve to the wound I have
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364
applied;
when I applied it I know, when it should be taken away I know. Let not a
sick
man draw back from the hands of the physician, let him not give advice to the
physician.
So it is with all these things temporal. There are tribulations; if well you
worship
God, you will know that He knows what is expedient for each man: there
are
prosperities; take the more heed, lest these same corrupt your soul, so that it
withdraw
from Him that has given these things....
6.
"For aliens have risen up against me" (ver. 3). What
"aliens"? Was not David
himself
a Jew of the tribe of
of
kindred,
but in flower .... But see the Ziphites, see them for a time flourishing.
With
reason "alien" sons. You amid the Ziphites hiding said what?
"Blessed the
people
whereof the Lord is its God." Out of this affection this prayer is being
sent
forth
into the ears of the Lord, when it is said, "for aliens have risen up
against
me."
7.
"And mighty men have sought after my soul." For in a new manner, my
brethren,
they would destroy the race of holy men, and the race of them that
abstain
from hoping in this world, all they that have hope in this world. Certainly
commingled
they are, certainly together they live. Very much to one another are
opposed
these two sorts: the one of those that place no hope but in things secular,
and
in temporal felicity, and the other of those that do firmly place their hope in
the
Lord God. And though concordant are these Ziphites, do not much trust to
their
concord: temptations are wanting; when there shall have come any
temptation,
so as that a person may be reproved for the flower of the world, I say
not
to you he will quarrel with the Bishop, but not even to the Church Herself will
he
draw near, lest there fall any part of the grass. Wherefore have I said these
words,
brethren? Because now gladly ye all hear in the name of Christ, and
according
as you understand, so ye shout out at the word; ye would not indeed
shout
at it unless ye understood. This your understanding ought to be fruitful. But
whether
it is fruitful, temptation does try; lest suddenly when you are said to be
ours,
through temptation ye be found aliens, and it be said, "Aliens have risen
up
against
me, and mighty men have sought my soul." Be not that said which follows,
"They
have not set forth God before their face." For when will he set God before
his
face, before whose eyes there is nought but the world? namely, how he may
have
coin upon coin, how flocks may be increased, how barns may be filled, how
it
may be said to his soul, "You have many good things, be merry, feast, take
your
fill."
Doth he set before his face Him, that unto one so boasting and so blooming
with
the flower of the Ziphites says, "Fool" (that is, "man not
understanding,"
"man
unwise"), "this night shall be taken from you your soul; all these
things
which
you have prepared, whose shall they be?" Luke 12:20
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365
8.
"For behold, God helps me" (ver. 4). Even themselves know not
themselves,
amid
whom I am hiding. But if they too were to set God before their face, they
would
find in what manner God helps me. For all holy men are helped by God, but
within,
where no one sees. For in like manner as the conscience of ungodly men is
a
great punishment, so a great joy is the very conscience of godly men. "For
our
glory
this is," says the Apostle, "the testimony of our conscience."
2
Corinthians 1:12 In this within, not in the flower of the Ziphites without,
does
glory
that man that now says, "For behold God helps me." Surely though afar
off
are
to be those things which He promises, this day have I a sweet and present help;
today
in my heart's joy I find that without cause certain say, "Who does show to
us
good
things? For there is signed upon us the light of Your countenance, O Lord,
You
have put pleasantness into my heart." Not into my vineyard, not into my
flock,
not into my cask, not into my table, but "into my heart." "For
behold God
helps
me." How does He help you? "And the Lord is the lifter up of my
soul."
9.
"Turn away evil things unto mine enemies" (ver. 5). So however green
they are,
so
however they flourish, for the fire they are being reserved. "In Your
virtue
destroy
Thou them." Because to wit they flourish now, because to wit they spring
up
like grass: do not thou be a man unwise and foolish, so that by giving thought
to
these things thou perish for ever and ever. For, "Turn Thou away evil
things
unto
mine enemies." For if you shall have place in the body of David Himself,
in
His
virtue He will destroy them. These men flourish in the felicity of the world,
perish
in the virtue of God. Not in the same manner as they flourish, do they also
perish:
for they flourish for a time, perish for everlasting: flourish in unreal good
things,
perish in real torments. "In Your strength destroy," whom in Your
weakness
You have endured.
10.
"Voluntarily I will sacrifice to You" (ver. 6). Who can even
understand this
good
thing of the heart, at another's speaking thereof, unless in himself he has
tasted
it? What is, "Voluntarily I will sacrifice to You"?... For what
sacrifice here
shall
I take, brethren? or what worthily shall I offer to the Lord for His mercy?
Victims
shall I seek from flock of sheep, ram shall I select, for any bull in the
herds
shall I look out, frankincense indeed from the land of the Sabćans shall I
bring?
What shall I do? What offer; except that whereof He speaks, "Sacrifice of
praise
shall honour Me"? Wherefore then "voluntarily"? Because truly I
love that
which
I praise. I praise God, and in the self-same praise I rejoice: in the praise of
Himself
I rejoice, at whom being praised, I blush not. For He is not praised in the
same
manner as by those who love the theatrical follies is praised either by a
charioteer,
or a hunter, or actor of any kind, and by their praisers, other praisers
are
invited, are exhorted, to shout together: and when all have shouted, ofttimes,
if
their
favourite is overcome, they are all put to the blush. Not so is our God: be He
praised
with the will, loved with charity: let it be gratuitous (or voluntary) that He
is
loved and that He is praised. What is "gratuitous"? Himself for the
sake of
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366
Himself,
not for the sake of something else. For if you praise God in order that He
may
give you something else, no longer freely do you love God. You would blush,
if
your wife for the sake of riches were to love you, and perchance if poverty
should
befall you, should begin to think of adultery. Seeing that therefore you
would
be loved by your partner freely, will you for anything else love God? What
reward
are you to receive of God, O covetous man? Not earth for you, but Himself
He
keeps, who made heaven and earth. "Voluntarily I will sacrifice to
You:" do it
not
of necessity. For if for the sake of anything else you praise God, out of
necessity
you praise. These things also which He has given, because of the Giver
are
good things. For He gives entirely, He gives these temporal things: and to
certain
men to their good, to certain men to their harm, after the height and depth
of
His judgments.... "Voluntarily I will sacrifice to You." Wherefore
"voluntarily"?
Because gratis. What is gratis? "And I will confess to Your name, O
Lord,
for it is a good thing:" for nothing else, but because a "good
thing" it is.
Doth
he say, "I will confess to Your name, O Lord," because Thou givest me
fruitful
manors, because Thou givest me gold and silver, because Thou givest me
extended
riches, abundant money, most exalted dignity? Nay. But what? "For it is
a
good thing." Nothing I find better than Your name.
11.
"For out of all tribulation You have delivered me" (ver. 7). For this
cause I
have
perceived how good a thing is Your name: for if this I were able before
tribulations
to acknowledge, perchance for me there had been no need of them.
But
tribulation has been applied for admonition, admonition has redounded to
Your
praise. For I should not have understood where I was, except of my
weakness
I had been admonished. "Out of all tribulations," therefore,
"You have
delivered
me. And upon mine enemies my eye has looked back:" upon those
Ziphites
"my eye has looked back." Yea, their flower I have passed over in
loftiness
of heart, unto You I have come, and thence I have looked back upon
them,
and have seen that "All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the
flower
of
grass:" Isaiah 40:6 as in a certain place is also said, "I have seen
the ungodly
man
to be exalted and raised up like the cedars of Lebanon: I passed by, and, lo!
he
was not." Wherefore "he was not"? Because you have passed by.
What is,
"because
you have passed by"? Because not to no purpose have you heard "Lift
up
your
heart;" because not on earth, where you would have rotted, you have
remained;
because you have lifted your soul to God, and you have mounted
beyond
the cedars of Lebanon, and from that elevation hast observed: and "Lo! he
was
not;" and you have sought him, and there has not been found place for him.
No
longer is labour before you; because you have entered into the sanctuary of
God,
and hast understood for the last things. So also here thus he concludes.
"And
upon
mine enemies my eye has looked back." This do ye therefore, brethren, with
your
souls; lift up your hearts, sharpen the edge of your mind, learn truly to love
God,
learn to despise the present world, learn voluntarily to sacrifice the
offerings
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367
of
praise; to the end that, mounting beyond the flower of the grass, you may look
back
upon your enemies.
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368
Exposition
on Psalm 55
1.
Of this Psalm the title is: "At the end, in hymns, understanding to David
himself."
What the "end" is, we will briefly call to your recollection, because
you
have
known it. "For the end of the Law is Christ, for righteousness unto every
man
believing."
Romans 10:4 Be the attention therefore directed unto the End, directed
unto
Christ. Wherefore is He called the end? Because whatever we do, to Him we
refer
it, and when to Him we shall have come home, more to ask we shall not
have.
For there is an end spoken of which does consume, there is an end spoken of
which
does make perfect. In one sense, for instance, we understand it, when we
hear,
there is ended the food which was in eating; and in another sense we
understand
it when we hear, there is ended the vesture which was in weaving: in
each
case we hear, there is ended; but the food so that it no longer is, the vesture
so
that it is perfected. Our end therefore ought to be our perfection, our
perfection
Christ.
For in Him we are made perfect, because of Himself the Head, the
Members
are we. And he has been spoken of as "the End of the Law," because
without
Him no one does make perfect the Law. When therefore ye hear in the
Psalms,
"At the end,"—for many Psalms are thus superscribed,—be not your
thought
upon consuming, but upon consummation.
2.
"In hymns:" in praises. For whether we are troubled and are
straitened, or
whether
we rejoice and exult, He is to be praised, who both in tribulations does
instruct,
and in gladness does comfort. For the praise of God from the heart and
mouth
of a Christian man ought not to depart; not that he may be praising in
prosperity,
and speaking evil in adversity; but after the manner that this Psalm
does
prescribe, "I will speak good of the Lord in every time, alway the praise
of
Him
is in my mouth." Thou dost rejoice; acknowledge a Father indulging: you
are
troubled;
acknowledge a Father chastening. Whether He indulge, or whether He
chasten,
He is instructing one for whom He is preparing an inheritance.
3.
What then is, "Understanding to David himself"? David indeed was, as
we
know,
a holy prophet, king of
of
his seed there came for our salvation after the flesh the Lord Jesus Christ,
Romans
1:3 often under that name He is figured, and David instead of Christ is in
a
figure set down, because of the origin of the Flesh of the Same. For after some
sort
He is Son of David, after some sort He is the Lord of David; Son of David
after
the flesh, Lord of David after the divinity. For if by Him have been made all
things,
John 1:3 by Him also David himself has been made, out of whose seed He
came
to men. Moreover, when the Lord had questioned the Jews, whose Son they
affirmed
Christ to be, they made answer, "David's:" where the Lord chides the
Jews,
when they said that He was the Son of David. He saw that they had stayed at
the
flesh, and had lost sight of the divinity; and He reproves them by propounding
a
question: "How then does David himself in spirit call Him Lord, 'The Lord
has
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Psalm 55
369
said
unto my Lord.'...If then He in spirit calls Him Lord, how is He is Son?"
Matthew
22:43-45 A question He propounded; His being Son He denied not. You
have
heard "Lord;" say ye how He is his "Son:" you have heard
"Son;" say how
He
is "Lord." This question the Catholic Faith solves. How
"Lord"? Because "In
the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God."
John 1:1 How "Son"? Because "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt
among
us." John 1:14 Because then David in a figure is Christ, but Christ, as we
have
often reminded your Love, is both Head and Body; neither ought we to speak
of
ourselves as alien from Christ, of whom we are members, nor to count
ourselves
as if we were any other thing: because "The two shall be in one
flesh."
Genesis
2:24 "This is a great Sacrament," says the Apostle, "but I speak
in regard
of
Christ and the Church." Ephesians 5:32 Because then whole Christ is
"Head and
Body;"
when we hear, "Understanding to David himself," understand we
ourselves
also
in David. Let the members of Christ understand, and Christ in His members
understand,
and the members of Christ in Christ understand: because Head and
Members
are one Christ. The Head was in heaven, and was saying, "Why do you
persecute
Me?" Acts 9:4 We with Him are in heaven through hope, Himself is
with
us on earth through love. Therefore "understanding to David himself."
Be we
admonished
when we hear, and let the Church understand: for there belongs to us
great
diligence to understand in what evil we now are, and from what evil we
desire
to be delivered, remembering the Prayer of the Lord, where at the end we
say,
"Deliver us from evil." Matthew 6:13 Therefore amid many tribulations
of
this
world, this Psalm complains somewhat of understanding. He laments not with
it,
who has not understanding. But furthermore, dearly beloved, we ought to
remember,
that after the image of God we have been made, and that not in any
other
part than in the understanding itself. For in many things by beasts we are
surpassed:
but when a man knows himself to have been made after the image of
God,
Genesis 1:26 therein something in himself he acknowledges to be more than
has
been given to dumb animals. But on consideration of all those things which a
man
has, he finds himself in this thing peculiarly distinguished from a dumb
animal,
in that he has himself an understanding. Whence certain men despising in
themselves
that peculiar and especial thing which from their Maker they had
received,
the Maker Himself reproves, saying, "Do not become like horse and
mule,
in which there is no understanding."...
4.
"Hear Thou, O God, my entreaty, and despise not my prayer: give heed unto
me,
and hearken unto me" (ver. 1). Of one earnest, anxious, of one set in
tribulation,
are these words. He is praying, suffering many things, from evil
yearning
to be delivered: it remains that we hear in what evil he is, and when he
begins
to speak, let us acknowledge there ourselves to be; in order that the
tribulation
being shared, we may conjoin prayer. "I have been made sad in my
exercise,
and have been troubled" (ver. 2). Where made sad, where troubled? "In
my
exercise," he says. Of evil men, whom he suffers, he has made mention, and
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Psalm 55 370
the
same suffering of evil men he has called his "exercise." Think ye not
that
without
profit there are evil men in this world, and that no good God makes of
them.
Every evil man either on this account lives that he may be corrected, or on
this
account lives that through him a good man may be exercised. O that therefore
they
that do now exercise us would be converted, and together with us be
exercised!
Nevertheless, so long as they are such as to exercise, let us not hate
them:
because in that wherein any one of them is evil, whether unto the end he is
to
persevere, we know not; and ofttimes when to yourself you seem to have been
hating
an enemy, you have been hating a brother, and know not. The devil and his
angels
in the holy Scriptures have been manifested to us, that for fire everlasting
they
have been destined. Of them only must amendment be despaired
of.
... Therefore since this rule of Love for you is fixed, that imitating the
Father
you
should love an enemy: for, He says, "love your enemies:" Luke 6:27 in
this
precept
how would you be exercised, if you had no enemy to suffer? You see then
that
he profits you somewhat: and let God sparing evil men profit you, so that thou
show
mercy: because perchance thou too, if you are a good man, out of an evil
man
hast been made a good man: and if God spared not evil men, not even you
would
be found to return thanks. May He therefore spare others, that has spared
you
also. For it were not right, when you had passed through, to close up the way
of
godliness.
5.
Whence then does this man pray, set among evil men, with whose enmities he
was
being exercised? Why says he, "I have been made sad in my exercise, and
have
been troubled"? While he is extending his love so as to love enemies, he
has
been
affected with disgust, being bayed at all around by the enmities of many men,
by
the frenzy of many and under a sort of human infirmity he has sunk. He has
seen
himself now begin to be pierced through with an evil suggestion of the devil,
to
bring on hatred against his enemies: wrestling against hatred in order to
perfect
love
herself, in the very fight, and in the wrestling, he has been troubled. For
there
is
his voice in another Psalm, "My eye has been troubled, because of
anger." And
what
follows there? "I have waxen old among all mine enemies." As if in
storm
and
waves he were beginning to sink, like Peter. Matthew 14:30 For he does
trample
the waves of this world, that loves enemies. Christ on the sea was walking
fearless,
from whose heart there could not by any means be taken away the love of
an
enemy, who hanging on the Cross did say, "Father, forgive them, for they
know
not
what they do." Luke 23:34 Peter too would walk. He as Head, Peter as Body:
because,
"Upon this rock," He says, "I will build My Church."
Matthew 16:18 He
was
bidden to walk, and he was walking by the Grace of Him bidding, not by his
own
strength. But when he saw the wind mighty, he feared; and then he began to
sink,
being troubled in his exercise. By what mighty wind? "By the voice of the
enemy,
and by the tribulation of the sinner" (ver. 3). Therefore, in the same
manner
as he cried out on the waves, "Lord, I perish, save me," Matthew
14:30 a
similar
voice from this man has preceded, "Hearken unto me." Wherefore? For
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371
what
do you suffer? Of what do you groan? "I have been made sad in my
exercise."
To be exercised indeed among evil men You have set me, but too much
they
have risen up, beyond my powers: calm Thou one troubled, stretch forth a
hand
to one sinking. "For they have brought down upon me iniquity, and in anger
they
were shadowing me." You have heard of waves and winds: one as it were
humbled
they were insulting, and he was praying: on every side against him with
the
roar of insult they were raging, but he within was calling upon Him whom they
did
not see....
6.
But this man being troubled and made sad was praying, his eye being disturbed
as
it were on account of anger. But the anger of a brother if it shall have been
inveterate
is then hatred. Anger does trouble the eye, hatred does quench it: anger
is
a straw, hatred is a beam. Sometimes you hate and chidest an angry man: in you
is
hatred, in him whom you chide anger: with reason to you is said, "Cast out
first
the
beam from your own eye, and so you shall see to cast out the straw from your
brother's
eye." Matthew 7:5 For that you may know how much difference there is
between
anger and hatred: day by day men are angry with their sons, show me
them
that hate their sons! This man being troubled was praying even when made
sad,
wrestling against all revilings of all revilers; not in order that he might
conquer
any one of them by giving back reviling, but that he might not hate any
one
of them. Hence he prays, hence asks: "From the voice of the enemy and from
the
tribulation of the sinner." "My heart has been troubled in me"
(ver. 4). This is
the
same as elsewhere has been said, "My eye because of anger has been
troubled."
And if eye has been troubled, what follows? "And fear of death has
fallen
upon me." Our life is love: if life is love, death is hatred. When a man
has
begun
to fear lest he should hate him that he was loving, it is death he is fearing;
and
a sharper death, and a more inward death, whereby soul is killed, not body.
You
minded a man raging against you; what was he to do, against whom your own
Lord
had given you security, saying, "Fear not them that kill the body"?
Matthew
10:28 He by raging kills body, thou by keeping hatred hast killed soul;
and
he the body of another, thou your own soul. "Fear," therefore,
"of death has
fallen
upon me."
7.
"Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, and darkness has covered
me"
(ver.
5). "And I have said," "He that hates his brother, is in
darkness until now."
1
John 2:9, 11 If love is light, hatred is darkness. And what says to himself one
set
in
that weakness and troubled in that exercise? "Who shall give me wings as
to a
dove,
and I shall fly and shall rest?" (ver. 6). Either for death he was
wishing, or
for
solitude he was longing. So long, he says, as this is the work with me, as this
command
is given me, that I should love enemies, the revilings of these men,
increasing
and shadowing me, do derange my eye, perturb my sight, penetrate my
heart,
slay my soul. I could wish to depart, but weak I am, lest by abiding I should
add
sins to sins: or at least may I be separated for a little space from mankind,
lest
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my
wound suffer from frequent blows, in order that when it has been made whole
it
may be brought back to the exercise. This is what takes place, brethren, and
there
arises ofttimes in the mind of the servant of God a longing for solitude, for
no
other reason than because of the multitude of tribulations and scandals, and he
says,
"Who shall give me wings?" Doth he find himself without wings, or
rather
with
bound wings? If they are wanting, be they given; if bound, be they loosed;
because
even he that looses a bird's wings, either gives, or gives back to it its
wings.
For it had not as though its own them, wherewith it could not fly. Bound
wings
make a burden. "Who," he says, "shall give me wings as to a
dove, and I
shall
fly and shall rest?" Shall rest, where? I have said there are two senses
here:
either,
as says the Apostle, "To be dissolved and to be with Christ, for it is by
far
the
best thing." Philippians 1:23... Even he that amended cannot be, is yours,
either
by
the fellowship of the human race, or ofttimes by Church Communion; he is
within,
what will you do? whither wilt go? whither separate yourself, in order that
these
things you may not suffer? But go to him, speak, exhort, coax, threaten,
reprove.
I have done all things, whatever powers I had I have expended and have
drained,
nothing I see have I prevailed; all my labour has been spent out, sorrow
has
remained. How then shall my heart rest from such men, except I say, "Who
shall
give me wings?" "As to a dove," however, not as to a raven. A
dove seeks a
flying
away from troubles, but she loses not love. For a dove as a type of love is
set
forth, and in her the plaint is loved. Nothing is so fond of plaints as a dove:
day
and
night she complains, as though she were set here where she ought to complain.
What
then says this lover? Revilings of men to bear I am unable, they roar, with
frenzy
are carried away, are inflamed with indignation, in anger they shadow me;
to
do good to them I am unable; O that I might rest somewhere, being separated
from
them in body, not in love; lest in me there should be troubled love itself:
with
my
words and my speech no good can I do them, by praying for them perchance I
shall
do good. These words men say, but ofttimes they are so bound, that to fly
they
are not able. For perchance they are not bound with any birdlime, but are
bound
by duty. But if they are bound with care and duty, and to leave it are unable,
let
them say, "I was wishing to be dissolved and to be with Christ, for it is
by far
the
best thing: to abide in the flesh is necessary because of you."
Philippians 1:23-
24
A dove bound back by affection, not by cupidity, was not able to fly away
because
of duty to be fulfilled, not because of little merit. Nevertheless a longing
in
heart must needs be; nor does any man suffer this longing, but he that has
begun
to
walk in that narrow way: Matthew 7:14 in order that he may know that there are
not
wanting to the Church persecutions, even in this time, when a calm is seen in
the
Church, at least with respect to those persecutions which our Martyrs have
suffered.
But there are not wanting persecutions, because a true saying is this,
"All
that
will godly to live in Christ, shall suffer persecution." 2 Timothy 3:12...
8.
"Behold I have gone afar fleeing, and have abode in the desert" (ver.
7). In what
desert?
Wherever you shall be, there will gather them together other men, the
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desert
with you they will seek, will attach themselves to your life, you can not
thrust
back the society of brethren: there are mingled with you also evil men; still
exercise
is your due portion, "Behold I have gone afar, and have abode in the
desert."
In what desert? It is perchance in the conscience, whither no man enters,
where
no one is with you, where you are and God. For if in the desert, in any
place,
what will you do with men gathering themselves together? For you will not
be
able to be separated from mankind, so long as among men you live?
9.
"I was looking for him that should save me from weakness of mind and
tempest"
(ver. 8). Sea there is, tempest there is: nothing for you remains but to cry
out,
"Lord, I perish." Matthew 14:30 Let Him stretch forth hand, who does
the
waves
tread fearlessly, let Him relieve your dread, let Him confirm in Himself
your
security, let Him speak to you within, and say to you, "Give heed to Me,
what
I have borne:" an evil brother perchance you are suffering, or an enemy
without
art suffering; which of these have I not suffered? There roared without
Jews,
within a disciple was betraying. There rages therefore tempest, but He does
save
men from weakness of mind, and tempest. Perchance your ship is being
troubled,
because He in you is sleeping. The sea was raging, the bark wherein the
disciples
were sailing was being tossed; but Christ was sleeping: at length it was
seen
by them that among them was sleeping the Ruler and Creator of winds; they
drew
near and awoke Christ; Matthew 8:24-25 He commanded the winds, and
there
was a great calm. With reason then perchance your heart is troubled, because
you
have forgotten Him on whom you have believed: beyond endurance you are
suffering,
because it has not come into your mind what for you Christ has borne. If
unto
your mind comes not Christ, He sleeps: awake Christ, recall faith. For then in
you
Christ is sleeping, if you have forgotten the sufferings of Christ: then in you
Christ
is watching, if you have remembered the sufferings of Christ. But when
with
full heart you shall have considered what He has suffered, will not you too
with
equanimity endure? and perchance rejoicing, because you have been found in
some
likeness of the sufferings of your King. When therefore on these things
thinking
you have begun to be comforted and to rejoice, He has arisen, He has
commanded
the winds; therefore there is a great calm. "I was looking for Him that
should
save me from weakness of mind and tempest."
10.
"Sink, O Lord, and divide the tongues of them" (ver. 9). He is
referring to men
troubling
him and shadowing him, and he has wished this thing not of anger,
brethren.
They that have wickedly lifted up themselves, for them it is expedient
that
they be sunk. They that have wickedly conspired, it is expedient for them that
their
tongues should be divided: to good let them consent, and let their tongues
agree
together. But if to one purpose there were a whispering against me, he says,
all
mine enemies, let them lose their "one purpose" in evil, divided be
the tongues
of
them, let them not with themselves agree together. "Sink, O Lord, and
divide
the
tongues of them." Wherefore "sink"? Because themselves they have
lifted up.
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Wherefore
"divide"? Because for an evil thing they have united. Recollect that
tower
of proud men made after the deluge: what said the proud men? Lest we
perish
in a deluge, let us make a lofty tower. Genesis 11:4 In pride they were
thinking
themselves to be fortified, they built up a lofty tower, and the Lord
divided
the tongues of them. Then they began not to understand one another;
hence
arose the beginning of many tongues. For before, one tongue there was: but
one
tongue for men agreeing was good, one tongue for humble men was good: but
when
that gathering together did into a union of pride fall headlong, God spared
them;
even though He divided the tongues, lest by understanding one another they
should
make a destructive unity. Through proud men, divided were the tongues;
through
humble Apostles, united were the tongues. Spirit of pride dispersed
tongues,
Spirit Holy united tongues. For when the Holy Spirit came upon the
disciples,
with the tongues of all men they spoke, Acts 2:4 by all men they were
understood:
tongues dispersed, into one were united. Therefore if still they rage
and
are Gentiles, it is expedient for them divided to have their tongues. They
would
have one tongue; let them come to the Church; because even among the
diversity
of tongues of flesh, one is the tongue in faith of heart.
11.
"For I have seen iniquity and contradiction in the city." With reason
this man
was
seeking the desert, for he saw iniquity and contradiction in the city. There is
a
certain
city turbulent: the same it was that was building a tower, the same was
confounded
and called
Genesis
11:9 thence is gathered the Church into the desert of a good conscience.
For
he saw contradiction in the city. "Christ comes."—"What
Christ?" you
contradict—"Son
of God."—"And has God a Son?" you contradict—"He was born
of
a virgin, suffered, rose again."—"And whence is it possible for this
to be
done?"
you contradict.—Give heed at least to the glory of the Cross itself. Now on
the
brow of kings that Cross has been fixed, over which enemies insulted. The
effect
has proved the virtue. It has subdued the world, not with steel, but with
wood.
The wood of the Cross deserving of insults has seemed to enemies, and
before
the wood itself standing they were wagging the head, and saying, "If Son
of
God
He is, let Him come down from the Cross." Matthew 27:40 He was stretching
forth
His hands to a people unbelieving and contradicting. For if just he is that of
faith
lives, Romans 1:17 unjust he is that has not faith. By that which here he says
"iniquity,"
I understand unbelief. The Lord therefore was seeing in the city
iniquity
and contradiction, and was stretching forth His hands to a people
unbelieving
and contradicting: and nevertheless waiting for these same, He was
saying,
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Luke 23:34
Even
now
indeed there rage the remnant of that city, even now they contradict. From the
brows
of all men now He is stretching forth hands to the remnant unbelieving and
contradicting.
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12.
"Day and night there will compass it upon the walls thereof iniquity, and
labour."
"Upon the walls thereof;" upon the fortifications thereof, holding as
it
were
the heads thereof, the noble men thereof. If that noble man were a Christian,
not
one would remain a pagan! Oft-times men say, "no one would remain a pagan,
if
he were a Christian." Ofttimes men say, "If he too were made a Christian,
who
would
remain a pagan?" Because therefore not yet they are made Christians, as if
walls
they are of that city unbelieving and contradicting. How long shall these
walls
stand? Not always shall they stand. The
the
walls of the city unbelieving and contradicting shall fall. Joshua 6:5 Until it
come
to pass, this man is being troubled in his exercise; and enduring the remains
of
men contradicting, he would choose wings for flying away, would choose the
rest
of the desert. Yea let him continue amid men contradicting, let him endure
menaces,
drink revilings, and look for Him that will save him from weakness of
mind
and tempest: let him look upon the Head, the pattern for his life, let him be
made
calm in hope, even if he is troubled in fact. "Day and night there will
compass
it upon the walls thereof iniquity; and labour in the midst thereof and
injustice."
And for this reason labour is there, because iniquity is there: because
injustice
is there, therefore also labour is there. But let them hear him stretching
forth
hands. "Come unto Me, all you that labour." Matthew 11:28 You cry,
you
contradict,
you revile: He on the contrary, "Come unto Me, all you that labour,"
in
your
pride, and you shall rest in My humility. "Learn of Me," He says,
"for meek I
am
and humble in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls." Matthew
11:29
For
whence do they labour, but because they are not meek and humble in heart?
God
humble was made, let man blush to be proud.
13.
"There has not failed from the streets thereof usury and deceit"
(ver. 11).
Usury
and deceit are not hidden at least, because they are evil things, but in public
they
rage. For he that in his house does any evil thing, however for his evil thing
does
blush: "In the streets thereof usury and deceit." Money-lending even
has a
profession,
Money-lending also is called a science; a corporation is spoken of, a
corporation
as if necessary to the state, and of its profession it pays revenue; so
entirely
indeed in the streets is that which should have been hidden. There is also
another
usury worse, when you forgive not that which to you is owed; and the eye
is
disturbed in that verse of the prayer, "Forgive us our debts—as we too
forgive
our
debtors." For what there will you do, when you are going to pray, and
coming
to
that same verse? An insulting word you have heard: you would exact the
punishment
of condemnation. Do but consent to exact just so much as you have
given,
thou usurer of injuries! With the fist you have been smitten, slaying you
seek,
Evil usury! How will you go to prayer? If you shall have left praying, which
way
will you come round unto the Lord? Behold you will say: "Our Father which
art
in heaven, hallowed be Your Name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done,
as
in heaven so on earth." You will say, "Our daily bread give us
today." You will
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come
to, "Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors." Matthew
6:9-12
Even
in that evil city let there abound these usuries; let them not enter the walls
where
the breast is smitten! What will you do? because there thou and that verse
are
in the midst? Petitions for you has a heavenly Lawyer composed. He that knew
what
used there to be done, said to you, "Otherwise you shall not obtain."
"Verily,
verily,
I say unto you, that if you shall have forgiven men sins, they shall be
forgiven
you; but if you shall not have forgiven sins unto men, neither will your
Father
forgive you." Matthew 6:14 Who says this? He that knows what there is
being
done, in the place whereat you are standing to make request. See how
Himself
has willed to be your Advocate; Himself your Counsellor, Himself the
Assessor
of the Father, Himself your Judge has said, "Otherwise you shall not
receive."
What will you do? You will not receive, unless you shall speak; will not
receive
if falsely you shall speak. Therefore either you must do and speak, or else
what
you ask you will not earn; because they that this do not do, are in the midst
of
those evil usuries. Be they engaged therein, that yet do idols either adore or
desire:
do not thou, O people of God, do not thou, O people of Christ, do not thou
the
Body of Him the Head! Give heed to the bond of your peace, give heed to the
promise
of your life. For what does it profit you, that you exact for injuries which
you
have endured? does vengeance refresh you? Therefore, over the evil of
another
shall you rejoice? You have suffered evil; pardon thou; be not ye two....
14.
"For if an enemy had upbraided me" (ver. 12). And indeed above he was
"troubled
in his exercise" by the voice of the enemy and by the tribulation of the
sinner,
perhaps being placed in that city, that proud city that was building a tower,
which
was "sunk," that divided might be the tongues: give heed to his
inward
groaning
because of perils from false brethren. "For if an enemy had upbraided
me,
I would have undergone it assuredly, and if he that did hate me had over me
spoken
great words," that is, through pride had on me trampled, did magnify
himself
above me, did threaten me all in his power: "I would hide myself
assuredly
from him." From him that is abroad, you would hide yourself where?
Amid
those that are within. But now see whether anything else remains, but that
thou
seek solitude. "But you," he says, "man of one mind, my guide
and my
friend"
(ver. 13). Perchance sometimes good counsel you have given, perchance
sometimes
you have gone before me, and some wholesome advice you have given
me:
in the
me
took sweet morsels" (ver. 14). What are the sweet morsels? Not all they
that
are
present know: but let them not be soured that do know, in order that they may
be
able to say to them that as yet know not: "Taste ye and see, how sweet is
the
Lord."
"In the House of God we have walked with consent." Whence then
dissension?
Thou that wast within, hast become one without. He has walked with
me
in the House of God with consent: another house has he set up against the
House
of God. Wherefore has that been forsaken, wherein we have walked with
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consent?
wherefore has that been deserted, wherein together we did take sweet
morsels?
15.
"Let there come death upon them, and let them go down unto Hell
living" (ver.
15).
How has he cited and has made us call to mind that first beginning of schism,
when
in that first people of the Jews certain proud men separated themselves, and
would
without have sacrificed? A new death upon them came: the earth opened
herself,
and swallowed them up alive. Numbers 16:31 "Let there come," he says,
"death
upon them, and let them go down into Hell living." What is
"living"?
knowing
that they are perishing, and yet perishing. Hear of living men perishing
and
being swallowed up in a gulf of the earth, that is, being swallowed up in the
voraciousness
of earthly desires. You say to a man, What ails you, brother?
Brethren
we are, one God we invoke, in one Christ we believe, one Gospel we
hear,
one Psalm we sing, one Amen we respond, one Hallelujah we sound, one
Easter
we celebrate: why are you without and I am within? Ofttimes one
straitened,
and perceiving how true are the charges which are made, says, May
God
requite our ancestors! Therefore alive he perishes. In the next place you
continue
and thus givest warning. At least let the evil of separation stand alone,
why
do you adjoin thereto that of rebaptism? Acknowledge in me what you have;
and
if you hate me, spare thou Christ in me. And this evil thing does frequently
and
very greatly displease them.... Because they themselves have the Scriptures in
their
hands, and know well by daily reading how the Church Catholic through the
whole
world is so spread, that in a word all contradiction is void; and that there
cannot
be found any support for their schism they know well: therefore unto the
lower
places living they go down, because the evil which they do, they know evil
to
be. But the former a fire of divine indignation consumed. For being inflamed
with
desire of strife, from their evil leaders they would not depart. There came
upon
fire a fire, upon the heat of dissension the heat of consuming. "For
naughtiness
is in their lodgings, in the midst of them." "In their
lodgings," wherein
they
tarry and pass away. For here they are not alway to be: and nevertheless in
defence
of a temporal animosity they are fighting so fiercely. "In their lodgings
is
iniquity;
in the midst of them is iniquity:" no part of them is so near the middle
of
them
as their heart.
16.
"Therefore to the Lord I have cried out" (ver. 16). The Body of
Christ and the
oneness
of Christ in anguish, in weariness, in uneasiness, in the tribulation of its
exercise,
that One Man, Oneness in One Body set, when He was wearying His
soul
in crying out from the ends of the earth; says, "From the ends of the
earth to
You
I have cried out, when My heart was being vexed." Himself one, but a
oneness
that One! and Himself one, not in one place one, but from the ends of the
earth
is crying as one. How from the ends of the earth should there cry one, except
there
were one? "I to the Lord have cried out." Rightly do thou cry out to
the Lord,
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cry
not to Donatus: lest for you he be instead of the Lord a lord, that under the
Lord
would not be a fellow-servant.
17.
"In evening, in morning, at noon-day I will recount and will tell forth,
and He
shall
hearken to my voice" (ver. 18). Do thou proclaim glad tidings, keep not
secret
that which you have received, "in evening" of things gone by,
"in morning"
of
things to be, at "noonday" of things ever to be. Therefore, to that
which he says
"in
evening" belongs that which he recounts: to that which he says, "in
morning,"
belongs
that which he tells forth: to that which he says "at noon-day,"
belongs that
wherein
his voice is hearkened to. For the end is at noon-day; that is to say,
whence
there is no going down unto setting. For at noon-day there is light full
high,
the splendour of wisdom, the fervour of love. "In evening and in morning
and
at noon-day." "In evening," the Lord on the Cross; "in
morning," in
Resurrection;
"at noon-day," in Ascension. I will recount in evening the patience
of
Him dying, I will tell forth in morning the life of Him rising, I will pray
that He
hearken
at noon-day sitting at the right hand of the Father. He shall hearken to my
voice,
That intercedes for us. Romans 8:34 How great is the security of this man.
How
great the consolation, how great the refuge "from weakness of mind and
tempest,"
against evil men, against ungodly men both without and within, and in
the
case of those that are without though they had been within.
18.
Therefore, my Brethren, those that in the very congregation of these walls ye
see
to be rebellious men, proud, seeking their own, lifted up; not having a zeal
for
God
that is chaste, sound, quiet, but ascribing to themselves much; ready for
dissension,
but not finding opportunity; are the very chaff of the Lord's floor.
Matthew
3:12 From hence these few men the wind of pride has dislodged: the
whole
floor will not fly, save when He at the last shall winnow. But what shall we
do,
save with this man sing, with this man pray, with this man mourn and say
securely,
"He shall redeem in peace my soul" (ver. 18). Against them that love
not
peace:
"in peace He shall redeem my soul." "Because with those that
hated peace I
was
peace-making." "He shall redeem in peace my soul, from those that
draw near
to
me." For from those that are afar from me, it is an easy case: not so soon
does
he
deceive me that says, Come, pray to an idol: he is very far from me. Are you a
Christian?
A Christian, he says. Out of a neighbouring place he is my adversary,
he
is at hand. "He shall redeem in peace my soul, from those that draw near
to me:
for
in many things they were with me." Wherefore have I said, "draw near
to me"?
Because
"in many things they were with me." In this verse two propositions
occur.
"In
many things they were with me." Baptism we had both of us, in that they
were
with
me: the Gospel we both read, they were in that with me: the festivals of
martyrs
we celebrated, they were there with me: Easter's solemnity we attended,
they
were there with me. But not entirely with me: in schism not with me, in
heresy
not with me. In many things with me, in few things not with me. But in
these
few things wherein not with me, there is no profit to them of the many things
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wherein
they were with me. For see, brethren, how many things has recounted the
Apostle
Paul: one thing, he has said, if it shall have been wanting, in vain are those
things.
"If with the tongues of men and of angels I shall speak," he says,
"if I have
all
prophecy, and all faith, and all knowledge; if mountains I shall remove, if I
shall
bestow all my goods upon the poor, if I shall deliver my body even so that it
be
burned." 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 How many things he has enumerated! To all
these
many things let there be wanting one thing, charity; the former in number are
more,
the latter in weight is greater. Therefore in all Sacraments they are with me,
in
one charity not with me: "In many things they were with me." Again,
by a
different
expression: "For in many things they were with me." They that
themselves
have separated from me, with me they were, not in few things, but in
many
things. For throughout the whole world few are the grains, many are the
chaffs.
Therefore he says what? In chaff with me they were, in wheat with me they
were
not. And the chaff is nearly related to the wheat, from one seed it goes forth,
in
one field is rooted, with one rain is nourished, the same reaper it suffers,
the
same
threshing sustains, the same winnowing awaits, but not into one barn enters.
19.
"God will hear me, and He shall humble them That is before ages"
(ver. 19).
For
they rely on some leader or other of theirs that has begun but yesterday.
"He
shall
humble them That is before ages." For even if with reference to time
Christ is
of
Mary the Virgin, nevertheless before ages: "In the beginning He is the
Word
and
the Word with God, and the Word God." John 1:1 "He shall humble them
That
is
before ages. For to them is no changing:" of them I "speak to whom is
no
changing."
He knew of some to persevere, and in the perseverance of their own
wickedness
to die. For we see them, and to them is no changing: they that die in
that
same perverseness, in that same schism, to them is no changing. God shall
humble
them, shall humble them in damnation, because they are exalted in
dissension.
To them is no changing, because they are not changed for the better,
but
for the worse: neither while they are here, nor in the resurrection. For all we
shall
rise again, but not all shall be changed. Wherefore? Because "'To them is
no
changing:
and they have not feared God."...
20.
"He stretches forth His hand in requiting" (ver. 20). "They have
polluted His
Testament."
Read the testament which they have polluted: "In your seed shall be
blessed
all nations." Thou against these words of the Testator sayest what? The
Christ?
Of whom it is said, "In your seed shall be blessed all nations."
After
Donatus
will you go? Set aside Christ, and then secede. See therefore what
follows:
"They have polluted His Testament." What Testament? To Abraham have
been
spoken the promises, and to his seed. The Apostle says, "Nevertheless, a
man's
testament confirmed no one makes void, or super-adds to: to Abraham have
been
spoken the promises, and to his seed. He says not, And to seeds, as if in
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many;
but as if in one, And to your Seed, which is Christ." Galatians 3:15-16 In
this
Christ, therefore, what Testament has been promised? "In your seed shall
be
blessed
all nations." Thou that hast given up the unity of all nations, and in a
part
hast
remained, hast polluted His Testament....
21.
"And His heart has drawn near" (ver. 22). Of whom do we understand
it,
except
of Him, by the anger of whom they have been divided? How "has his heart
drawn
near"? In such sort, that we may understand His will. For by heretics has
been
vindicated the Catholic Church, and by those that think evil have been
proved
those that think well. For many things lay hid in the Scriptures: and when
heretics
had been cut off, with questions they troubled the
those
things were opened which lay hid, and the will of God was understood.
Thence
is said in another Psalm, "In order that they might be excluded that have
been
proved with silver." For let them be excluded, He has said, let them come
forth,
let them appear. Whence even in silver-working men are called
"excluders,"
that
is, pressers out of form from the sort of confusion of the lump. Therefore
many
men that could understand and expound the Scriptures very excellently,
were
hidden among the people of God: but they did not declare the solution of
difficult
questions, when no reviler again urged them. For was the Trinity perfectly
treated
of before the Arians snarled thereat? Was repentance perfectly treated of
before
the Novatians opposed? So not perfectly of Baptism was it treated, before
rebaptizers
removed outside contradicted; nor of the very oneness of Christ were
the
doctrines clearly stated which have been stated, save after that this
separation
began
to press upon the weak: in order that they that knew how to treat of and
solve
these questions (lest the weak should perish vexed with the questions of the
ungodly),
by their discourses and disputations should bring out unto open day the
dark
things of the Law .... This obscure sense see in what manner the Apostle
brings
out into light; "It is needful," he says, "that also heresies
there be, in order
that
men proved may be made manifest among you." 1 Corinthians 11:19 What is
"men
proved"? Proved with silver, proved with the word. What is "may be
made
manifest"?
May be brought out. Wherefore this? Because of heretics. So therefore
these
also "have been divided because of the anger of His countenance, and His
heart
has drawn near."
22.
"His discourses have been softened above oil, and themselves are
darts" (ver.
21).
For certain things in the Scriptures were seeming hard, while they were
obscure;
when explained, they have been softened. For even the first heresy in the
disciples
of Christ, as it were from the hardness of His discourse arose. For when
He
said, "Except a man shall have eaten My flesh and shall have drunk My
blood,
he
shall not have life in himself:" they, not understanding, said to one
another,
"Hard
is this discourse, who can hear it?" Saying that, "Hard is this
discourse,"
they
separated from Him: He remained with the others, the twelve. When they had
intimated
to Him, that by His discourse they had been scandalized, "Will ye
also,"
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He
says, "choose to go?" Then Peter: "You have the Word of life
eternal: to whom
shall
we go?" Attend, we beseech you, and you little ones learn godliness. Did
Peter
by any means at that time understand the secret of that discourse of the
Lord?
Not yet he understood: but that good were the words which he understood
not,
godly he believed. Therefore if hard is a discourse, and not yet is understood,
be
it hard to an ungodly man, but to you be it by godliness softened: for whenever
it
is solved, it both will become for you oil, and even unto the bones it will
penetrate.
23.
Furthermore, just as Peter, after their having been scandalized by the
hardness,
as
they thought, of the discourse of the Lord, even then said, "to whom shall
we
go?"
so he has added, "Cast upon the Lord your care, and He shall Himself
nourish
you
up" (ver. 22). A little one you are, not yet you understand the secret
things of
words:
perchance from you the bread is hidden, and as yet with milk you must be
fed:
1 Corinthians 3:1 be not angry with the breasts: they will make you fit for the
table,
for which now little fitted you are. Behold by the division of heretics many
hard
things have been softened: His discourses that were hard have been softened
above
oil, and they are themselves darts. They have armed men preaching the
Gospel:
and the very discourses are aimed at the breast of every one that hears, by
men
instant in season and out of season: by those discourses, by those words, as
though
by arrows, hearts of men unto the love of peace are smitten. Hard they
were,
and soft they have been made. Being softened they have not lost their virtue,
but
into darts have been converted.... Upon the Lord cast yourself. Behold you will
cast
yourself upon the Lord, let no one put himself in the place of the Lord.
"Cast
upon
the Lord your care."...
24.
But to the others what? "But You, O God, shall bring them down unto the
pit
of
corruption" (ver. 23). The pit of corruption is the darkness of sinking
under.
When
blind leads blind, they both fall into a ditch. Matthew 15:14 God brings
them
down into the pit of corruption, not because He is the author of their own
guilt,
but because He is Himself the judge of their iniquities. "For God has
delivered
them unto the desires of their heart." Romans 1:24 For they have loved
darkness,
and not light; they have loved blindness, and not seeing. For behold the
Lord
Jesus has shone out to the whole world, let them sing in unity with the whole
world:
"For there is not one that can hide himself from the heat of Him."
But they
passing
over from the whole to a part, from the body to a wound, from life to a
limb
cut off, shall meet with what, but going into the pit of corruption?
25.
"Men of bloods and of deceitfulness." Men of bloods, because of
slayings he
calls
them: and O that they were corporal and not spiritual slayings. For blood
from
the flesh going forth, is seen and shuddered at: who sees the blood of the
heart
in a man rebaptized? Those deaths require other eyes. Although even about
these
visible deaths Circumcelliones armed everywhere remain not quiet. And if
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we
think of these visible deaths, there are men of bloods. Give heed to the armed
man,
whether he is a man of peace and not of blood. If at least a club only he were
to
carry, well; but he carries a sling, carries an axe, carries stones, carries
lances;
and
carrying these weapons, wherever they may they scour, for the blood of
innocent
men they thirst. Therefore even with regard to these visible deaths there
are
men of bloods. But even of them let us say, O that such deaths alone they
perpetrated,
and souls they slew not. These that are men of bloods and of deceit,
let
them not suppose that we thus wrongly understand men of bloods, of them that
kill
souls: they themselves of their Maximianists have so understood it. For when
they
condemned them, in the very sentence of their Council they have set down
these
words: "Swift are the feet of them to shed the blood" (of the
proclaimers),
"tribulation
and calamity are in the ways of them, and the way of peace they have
not
known." This of the Maximianists they have said. But I ask of them, when
have
the Maximianists shed the body's blood; not because they too would not
shed,
if there were so great a multitude as could shed, but because of the fear in
their
minority rather they have suffered somewhat from others, than have
themselves
at any time done any such thing. Therefore I question the Donatist and
say:
In your Council you have set down of the Maximianists, "Swift are the feet
of
them
to shed blood." Show me one of whom the Maximianists have hurt so much
as
a finger! What other thing to me is he to answer, than that which I say? They
that
have separated themselves from unity, and who slay souls by leading astray,
spiritually,
not carnally, do shed blood. Very well you have expounded, but in
your
exposition acknowledge their own deeds. "Men of bloods and of
deceitfulness."
In guile is deceitfulness, in dissimulation, in seduction. What
therefore
of those very men that have been divided because of the anger of His
countenance?
They are themselves men of bloods and of deceit.
26.
But of them he says what? "They shall not halve their days." What is,
"They
shall
not halve their days"? They shall not make progress as much as they think:
within
the time which they expect, they shall perish. For he is that partridge,
whereof
has been said, "In the half of his days they shall leave him, and in his
last
days
he shall be an unwise one." They make progress, but for a time. For what
says
the Apostle? "But evil men and seducers shall make progress for the worse,
themselves
erring, and other men into error driving." 2 Timothy 3:13 But "a
blind
man
leading a blind man, together into a ditch they fall." Matthew 15:14
Deservedly
they fall "into the pit of corruption." What therefore says he? They
shall
make progress for the worse: not however for long. For a little before he has
said,
"But further they shall not make progress:" 2 Timothy 3:9 that is,
"shall not
halve
their days." Let the Apostle proceed and tell wherefore: "For the
madness of
them
shall be manifest to all men, as also was that of the others." "But I
in You
will
hope, O Lord." But deservedly they shall not halve their days, because in
man
they
have hoped. But I from days temporal have reached unto day eternal.
Wherefore?
Because in You I have hoped, O Lord.
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Exposition
on Psalm 56
1.
Just as when we are going to enter into any house, we look on the title to see
whose
it is and to whom it belongs, lest perchance inopportunely we burst into a
place
whereunto we ought not; and again, in order that we may not through
timidity
withdraw from that which we ought to enter: as if in a word we were to
read,
These estates belong to such an one or to such an one: so on the lintel of this
Psalm
we have inscribed, "At the end, for the people that from holy men were put
afar
off, to David himself, at the inscription of the Title, when the Allophyli held
him
in
from
holy men were put afar off at the inscription of the Title. For this does
belong
to
that David whom now ye know how to understand spiritually. For there is here
commended
to our notice no other than He of whom has been said, "The end of
the
Law is Christ for righteousness to every man believing." Romans 10:4
Therefore
when you hear, "at the end," unto Christ give heed, lest tarrying in
the
way
thou arrive not at the end....
2.
Who are then the people that from holy men were put afar off at the inscription
of
the Title? Let the Title itself declare to us that people. For there was
written a
certain
title at the Passion of the Lord, when the Lord was crucified: there was in
that
place a Title inscribed in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin, "The King of
the
Jews;"
John 19:19 in three tongues as though by three witnesses the Title was
confirmed:
because "in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall stand every
word."...
3.
What therefore means that which to the title itself still belongs, namely, that
"the
Allophyli held him in Geth"? Geth was a certain city of the Allophyli,
that is,
of
strangers, to wit, of people afar from holy men. All they that refuse Christ
for
King
become strangers. Wherefore strangers are they made? Because even that
vine,
though by Him planted, when it had become sour what heard it? "Wherefore
have
you been turned into sourness, O alien vine?" It has not been said, My
vine:
because
if Mine, sweet; if sour, not Mine; if not Mine, surely alien. "There held
him,"
then, "Allophyli in Geth." We find indeed, brethren, David himself,
son of
Jesse,
king of
was
sought by Saul, and was in that city and with the king of that city,
1
Samuel 2 1: 10 but that there he was detained we read not. Therefore our David,
the
Lord Jesus Christ out of the seed of that David, not alone they held, but there
hold
Him still Allophyli in Geth. Of Geth we have said that it is a city. But the
interpretation
of this name, if asked for, signifies "press."...How therefore here
is
He
held in Geth? Held in a winepress is His Body, that is, His Church. What is, in
a
winepress? In pressings. But in a winepress fruitful is the pressing. A grape
on
the
vine sustains no pressing, whole it seems, but nothing thence flows: it is
thrown
into a winepress, is trodden, is pressed; harm seems to be done to the
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grape,
but this harm is not barren; nay, if no harm had been applied, barren it
would
have remained.
4.
Let whatsoever holy men therefore that are suffering pressing from those that
have
been put afar off from the saints, give heed to this Psalm, let them perceive
here
themselves, let them speak what here is spoken, that suffer what here is
spoken
of.... Private enmities therefore let no one think of, when about to hear the
words
of this Psalm: "Know ye that for us the wrestling is not against flesh and
blood,
but against princes and powers, and spiritual things of wickedness,"
Ephesians
6:12 that is, against the devil and his angels; because even when we
suffer
men that annoy us, he is instigating, he is inflaming, as it were his vessels
he
is moving. Let us give heed therefore to two enemies, him whom we see, and
him
whom we see not; man we see, the devil we see not; man let us love, of the
devil
beware; for man pray, against the devil pray, and let us say to God, "Have
pity
on me, O Lord, for man has trodden me down" (ver. 1). Fear not because man
has
trodden you down: have thou wine, a grape you have become in order that you
should
be trodden. "All day long warring he has troubled me," every one that
has
been
put afar off from the saints. But why should not here be understood even the
devil
himself? Is it because mention is made of "man"? does therefore the
Gospel
err,
because it has said, "A man that is an enemy has done this"? Matthew
13:28
But
by a kind of figure may he also be called a man, and yet not be a man.
Whether
therefore it was him whom he that said these words was beholding, or
whether
it was the people and each one that was put afar off from holy men,
through
which kind the devil troubles the people of God, who cleave to holy men,
who
cleave to the Holy One, who cleave to the King, at the title of which King
being
indignant they were as though beaten back, and put afar off: let him say,
"Have
pity on me, O Lord, for man has trodden me down:" and let him faint not in
this
treading down, knowing Him on whom he is calling, and by whose example
he
has been made strong. The first cluster in the winefat pressed is Christ. When
that
cluster by passion was pressed out, Isaiah 63:3 there flowed that whence
"the
cup
inebriating is how passing beautiful!" Let His Body likewise say, looking
upon
its Head, "Have pity on me, O Lord, for man has trodden me down: all day
long
warring he has troubled me." "All day long," at all times. Let
no one say to
himself,
There have been troubles in our fathers' time, in our time there are not. If
you
suppose yourself not to have troubles, not yet have you begun to be a
Christian.
And where is the voice of the Apostle, "But even all that will live godly
in
Christ, persecutions shall suffer." 2 Timothy 3:12 If therefore you suffer
not any
persecution
for Christ, take heed lest not yet you have begun godly to live in
Christ.
But when you have begun godly to live in Christ, you have entered into the
winepress;
make ready yourself for pressings: but be not thou dry, lest from the
pressing
nothing go forth.
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5.
"Mine enemies have trodden me down all day long" (ver. 2). They that
have
been
put afar off from holy men, these are mine enemies. All day long: already it
has
been said, "From the height of the day." What means, "from the
height of the
day"?
Perchance it is a high thing to understand. And no wonder, because the
height
of the day it is. For perchance they for this reason have been put afar off
from
holy men, because they were not able to penetrate the height of the day,
whereof
the Apostles are twelve shining hours. Therefore they that crucified Him,
as
if man, in the day have erred. But why have they suffered darkness, so that
they
should
be put afar off from holy men? Because on high the day was shining, Him
in
the height hidden they knew not. "For if they had known, never the Lord of
Glory
would they have crucified." 1 Corinthians 2:8...
6.
"For many men that war against me, shall fear" (ver. 3). Shall fear
when? When
the
day shall have passed away, wherein they are high. For for a time high they
are,
when the time of their height is finished they will fear. "But I in You
will
hope,
O Lord." He says not, "But I will not fear:" but, "Many
men, that war
against
me, shall fear." When there shall have come that day of Judgment, then
"shall
mourn for themselves all the tribes of the earth." Matthew 24:30 When
there
shall
have appeared the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, then secure shall be all
holy
men. For that thing shall come which they hoped for, which they longed for,
the
coming whereof they prayed for: but to those men no place for repentance
shall
remain, because in that time wherein fruitful might have been repentance,
their
heart they hardened against a warning Lord. Shall they too raise up a wall
against
a judging God? The godliness of this man do thou indeed acknowledge,
and
if in that Body you are, imitate him. When he had said, "Many men, that
war
against
me, shall fear:" he did not continue, "But I will not fear;"
lest to his own
powers
ascribing his not fearing, he too should be amid high temporal things, and
through
pride temporal he should not deserve to come to rest everlasting: rather he
has
made you to perceive whence he shall not fear. "But I," he says,
"in you will
hope,
O Lord:" he has not spoken of his confidence: but of the cause of his
confidence.
For if I shall not fear, I may also by hardness of heart not fear, for
many
men by too much pride fear nothing....
7.
"In God I will praise my discourses, in God I have hoped: I will not fear
what
flesh
does to me" (ver. 4). Wherefore? Because in God I will praise my
discourses.
If
in yourself you praise your discourses: I say not that you are not to fear; it
is
impossible
that thou have not to fear. For your discourses either false you will
have,
and therefore your own, because false: or if your discourses shall be true,
and
you shall deem yourself not to have them from God but of yourself to speak;
true
they will be, but you will be false: but if you shall have known that you can
say
nothing true in the wisdom of God, in the faith of the Truth, save that which
from
Him you have received, of whom is said, "For what have you which you
have
not received?" 1 Corinthians 4:7 Then in God you are praising your
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discourses,
in order that in God you may be praised by the discourses of
God....
"In God I have hoped, I will not fear what flesh does to me." Were
you not
the
same that a little before wast saying, "Have pity on me, O Lord, for man
has
trodden
me down; all day long warring he has troubled me"? How therefore here,
"I
will not fear what flesh does to me"? What shall he do to you? Thou
yourself a
little
before hast said, "Hath trodden me down, has troubled me." Nothing
shall he
do,
when these things he shall do? He has had regard to the wine which flows
from
treading, and has made answer, Evidently he has trodden down, evidently
has
troubled; but what to me shall he do? A grape I was, wine I shall be: "In
God I
have
hoped, I will not fear what flesh does to me."
8.
"All day long my words they abhorred" (ver. 5). Thus they are, you
know.
Speak
truth, preach truth, proclaim Christ to the heathen, proclaim the Church to
heretics,
proclaim to all men salvation: they contradict, they abhor my words. But
when
my words they abhor, whom think ye they abhor, save Him in whom I shall
praise
my discourses? "All day long my words they abhorred." Let this at
least
suffice,
let them abhor words, no farther let them proceed, censure, reject! Be it far
from
them! Why should I say this? When words they reject, when words they hate,
those
words which from the fount of truth flow forth, what would they do to him
through
whom the very words are spoken? what but that which follows, "Against
me
all the counsels of them are for evil?" If the bread itself they hate, how
spare
they
the basket wherein it is ministered? "Against me all the counsels of them
are
for
evil." If so even against the Lord Himself, let not the Body disdain that
which
has
gone before in the Head, to the end that the Body may cleave to the Head.
Despised
has been your Lord, and will you have yourself be honoured by those
men
that have been put afar off from holy men? Do not for yourself wish to claim
that
which in Him has not gone before. "The disciple is not greater than his
Master;
the servant is not greater than his Lord. If the Master of the family they
have
called Beelzebub, how much more them of His household?" Matthew 10:24-
25
Against me all the counsels of them are for evil."
9.
"They shall sojourn, and shall hide" (ver. 6). To sojourn is to be in
a strange
land.
Sojourners is a term used of those then that live in a country not their own.
Every
man in this life is a foreigner: in which life ye see that with flesh we are
covered
round, through which flesh the heart cannot be seen. Therefore the
Apostle
says, "Do not before the time judge anything, until the Lord come, and He
shall
enlighten the hidden things of darkness, and shall manifest the thoughts of
the
heart; and then praise shall be to each one from God." 1 Corinthians 4:5
Before
that
this be done, in this sojourning of fleshly life every one carries his own
heart,
and
every heart to every other heart is shut. Furthermore, those men of whom the
counsels
are against this man for evil, "shall sojourn, and shall hide:"
because in
this
foreign abode they are, and carry flesh, they hide guile in heart; whatsoever
of
evil
they think, they hide. Wherefore? Because as yet this life is a foreign one.
Let
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387
them
hide; that shall appear which they hide, and they too will not be hidden.
There
is also in this hidden thing another interpretation, which perchance will be
more
approved of. For out of those men that have been put afar off from holy men,
there
creep in certain false brethren, and they cause worse tribulations to the Body
of
Christ; because they are not altogether avoided as if entirely aliens .... Not
even
those
men nevertheless let us fear, brethren: "I will not fear what flesh does
to
me."
Even if they sojourn, even if they go in, even if they feign, even if they
hide,
flesh
they are: do thou in the Lord hope, nothing to you shall flesh do. But he
brings
in tribulation, brings in treading down. There is added wine, because the
grape
is pressed: your tribulation will not be unfruitful: another sees you, imitates
you:
because thou also in order that you might learn to bear such a man, to your
Head
hast looked up, that first cluster, unto whom there has come in a man that he
might
see, has sojourned, and has hidden, to wit, the traitor Judas. All men,
therefore,
that with false heart go in, sojourning and hiding, do not thou fear: the
father
of these same men, Judas, with your Lord has been: and He indeed knew
him;
although Judas the traitor was sojourning and hiding, nevertheless, the heart
of
him was open to the Lord of all: knowingly He chose one man, whereby He
might
give comfort to you that wouldest not know whom you should avoid. For
He
might have not chosen Judas, because He knew Judas: for He says to His
disciples,
"Have not I chosen you twelve, and one out of you is a devil?" John
6:70
Therefore
even a devil was chosen. Or if chosen he was not, how is it that He has
chosen
twelve, and not rather eleven?
temptation.
Whence could He give an example to you, that wouldest not know
what
men you should avoid as evil, of what men you should beware as false and
artificial,
sojourning and hiding, except He say to you, Behold, with Myself I have
had
one of those very men! There has gone before an example, I have borne, to
suffer
I have willed that which I knew, in order that to you knowing not I might
give
consolation. That which to Me he has done, the same he will do to you also:
in
order that he may be able to do much, in order that he may make much havoc,
he
will accuse, false charges he will allege....
10.
"These same men shall mark my heel." For they shall sojourn and hide
in such
sort,
that they may mark where a man slips. Intent they are upon the heel, to see
when
a slip may chance to be made; in order that they may detain the foot for a
fall,
or trip up the foot for a stumble; certes that they may find that which they
may
accuse.
And what man so walks, that nowhere he slips? For example, how
speedily
is a slip made even in tongue? For it is written, "Whosoever in tongue
stumbles
not, the same is a perfect man." James 3:2 What man I pray would dare
himself
to call or deem perfect? Therefore it must needs be that every one slip in
tongue.
But let them that shall sojourn and shall hide, carp at all words, seeking
somewhere
to make snares and knotty false accusations, wherein they are
themselves
entangled before those whom they strive to entangle: in order that they
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may
themselves be taken and perish before that they catch other men in order to
destroy
them.... Whatever good thing I have said, whatever true thing I have said,
of
God I have said it, and from God have said it: whatever other thing perchance I
have
said, which to have said I ought not, as a man I have said, but under God I
have
said. He that strengthens one walking, does menace one straying, forgive one
acknowledging,
recalls the tongue, recalls him that slipped.... Attend thou unto the
discourses
of him whom you blame, whether perchance he may teach you
something
to your health. And what, he says, shall he be able to teach to my
health,
that has so slipped in word? This very thing perchance he is teaching you
to
your health, that you be not a carper at words, but a gatherer of precepts.
"As
my
soul has undergone." I speak of that which I have undergone. He was
speaking
as
one experienced: "As my soul has undergone. They shall sojourn and
hide." Let
my
soul undergo all men, men without barking, men within hiding, let it undergo.
From
without coming, like a river comes temptation: on the Rock let it find you,
let
it strike against, not throw you down; the house has been founded upon a Rock.
Matthew
7:25 Within he is, he shall sojourn and hide: suppose chaff is near you,
let
there come in the treading of oxen, let there come in the roller of
temptations;
you
are cleansed, the other is crushed.
11.
"For nothing You shall save them" (ver. 7). He has taught us even for
these
very
men to pray. However "they shall sojourn and hide," however deceitful
they
be,
however dissemblers and liers in wait they be; do thou pray for them, and do
not
say, Shall God amend even such a man, so evil, so perverse? Do not despair:
give
heed to Him whom you ask, not him for whom you ask. The greatness of the
disease
do you see, the might of the Physician do you not see? "They shall sojourn
and
hide: as my soul has undergone." Undergo, pray: and there is done what?
"For
nothing
You shall save them." You shall make them safe so as that nothing to You
it
may be, that is, so that no labour to You it may be. With men they are
despaired
of,
but Thou with a word dost heal; You will not toil in healing, though we are
astounded
in looking on. There is another sense in this verse, "For nothing You
shall
save them:" with not any merits of their going before You shall save
them....
They shall not bring to You he-goats, rams, bulls, not gifts and spices shall
they
bring You in Your temple, not anything of the drink-offering of a good
conscience
do they pour thereon; all in them is rough, all foul, all to be detested:
and
though they to You bring nothing whereby they may be saved; "For nothing
You
shall save them," that is, with the free gift of Your Grace....
12.
"In anger the peoples You shall bring down." You are angry and dost
bring
down,
dost rage and save, dost terrify and call. Thou fillest with tribulations all
things,
in order that being set in tribulations men may fly to You, lest by pleasures
and
a wrong security they be seduced. From You anger is seen, but that of a father.
A
father is angry with a son, the despiser of his injunctions: being angry with
him
he
boxes him, strikes, pulls the ear, drags with hand, leads to school. How many
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men
have entered, how many men have filled the House of the Lord, in the anger
of
Him brought down, that is, by tribulations terrified and with faith filled? For
to
this
end tribulation stirs up; in order to empty the vessel which is full of
wickedness,
so as that it may be filled with grace.
13.
"O God, my life I have told out to You" (ver. 8). For that I live has
been Your
doing,
and for this reason I tell out my life to You. But did not God know that
which
He had given? What is that which you tell out to Him? Will you teach God?
Far
be it. Therefore why says he, "I have told out to You"? Is it
perchance because
it
profits You that I have told out my life? And what does it profit God? To the
advantage
of God it does profit. I have told out to God my life, because that life
has
been God's doing. In like manner as his life Paul the Apostle did tell out,
saying,
"I that before was a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious," he
shall
tell
out his life. "But mercy I have obtained." 1 Timothy 1:13 He has told
out his
life,
not for himself, but for Him: because he has told it out in such sort, that in
Him
men believe, not for his own advantages, but for the advantages of Him....
"O
God,
my life I have told out to You. You have put my tears in Your sight." You
have
hearkened to me imploring You. "As also in Your promise." Because as
You
had
promised this thing, so You have done. You have said You would hearken to
one
weeping. I have believed, I have wept, I have been hearkened unto; I have
found
You merciful in promising, true in repaying.
14.
"Turned be mine enemies backward" (ver. 9). This thing to these very
men is
profitable,
no ill to these men he is wishing. For to go before they are willing,
therefore
to be amended they are not willing. Thou warnest thine enemy to live
well,
that he amend himself: he scorns, he rejects your word: "Behold him that
advises
me; behold him from whom I am to hear the commandments whereby I
shall
live!" To go before you he wills, and in going before is not amended. He
minds
not that your words are not yours, he minds not that your life to God you
tell
out, not to yourself. In going before therefore he is not amended: it is a good
thing
for him that he be turned backward, and follow him whom to go before he
willed.
The Lord to His disciples was speaking of His Passion that was to be. Peter
shuddered,
and says, "Far be it, O Lord;" Matthew 16:22 he that a little before
had
said,
"You are the Christ, Son of the living God," having confessed God,
feared
for
Him to die, as if but a man. But the Lord who so came that He might suffer
(for
we could not otherwise be saved unless with His blood we were redeemed), a
little
before had praised the confession of Peter .... But immediately when the Lord
begins
to speak of His Passion, he feared lest He should perish by death, whereas
we
ourselves should perish unless He died; and he says, "Far be it, O Lord,
this
thing
shall not be done." And the Lord, to him to whom a little before He had
said,
"Blessed
you are, and upon this Rock I will build my Church," says, "Go back
behind,
Satan, an offence you are to Me." Why therefore "Satan" is he,
that a little
before
was "blessed," and a "Rock"? "For you savour not the
things which are of
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God,"
He says, "but those things which are of man." Matthew 16:23 A little
before
he
savoured the things which are of God: because "not flesh and blood has
revealed
to you, but My Father which is in the Heavens." When in God he was
praising
his discourse, not Satan but Peter, from
of
human infirmity, carnal love of man, which would be for an impediment to his
own
salvation, and that of the rest, Satan he is called. Why? Because to go before
the
Lord he willed, and earthly counsel to give to the heavenly Leader. "Far
be it,
O
Lord, this thing shall not be done." You say, "Far be it," and
you say, "O Lord:"
surely
if Lord He is, in power He does: if Master He is, He knows what He does,
He
knows what He teaches. But you will to lead your Leader, teach your Master,
command
your Lord, choose for God: much you go before, go back behind. Did
not
this too profit these enemies? "Turned be Mine enemies backward;" but
let
them
not remain backward. For this reason let them be turned backward, lest they
go
before; but so that they follow, not so that they remain.
15.
"In whatsoever day I shall have called upon You, behold I have known that
my
God
are You" (ver. 9). A great knowledge. He says not, "I have known that
God
You
are:" but, "that my God are You." For thine He is, when you He
succours:
thine
He is, when thou to Him art not an alien. Whence is said, "Blessed the
people
of whom is the Lord the God of the same." Wherefore "of whom
is"? For
of
whom is He not? Of all things indeed God He is: but of those men the God
peculiarly
He is said to be, that love Him, that hold Him, that possess Him, that
worship
Him, as though belonging to His own House: the great family of Him are
they,
redeemed by the great blood of the Only Son. How great a thing has God
given
to us, that His own we should be, and He should be ours! But in truth
foreigners
afar have been put from holy men, sons alien they are. See what of
them
is said in another Psalm: "O Lord, deliver me," he says, "from
the hand of
alien
sons, of whom the mouth has spoken vanity, and the right hand of them is a
right
hand of iniquity."...
16.
Let us therefore love God, brethren, purely and chastely. There is not a chaste
heart,
if God for reward it worships. How so? Reward of the worship of God shall
not
we have? We shall have evidently, but it is God Himself whom we worship.
Himself
for us a reward shall be, because "we shall see Him as He is." 1 John
3:2
Observe
that a reward you shall obtain .... I will tell you, brethren: in these human
alliances
consider a chaste heart, of what sort it is towards God: certainly human
alliances
are of such sort, that a man does not love his wife, that loves her because
of
her portion: a woman her husband does not chastely love, that for these reasons
loves
him, because something he has given, or because much he has given. Both a
rich
man is a husband, and one that has become a poor man is a husband. How
many
men proscribed, by chaste wives have been the more beloved! Proved have
been
many chaste marriages by the misfortunes of husbands: that the wives might
not
be supposed to love any other object more than their husband, not only have
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they
not forsaken, but the more have they obeyed. If therefore a husband of flesh
freely
is loved, if chastely he is loved; and a wife of flesh freely is loved, if
chastely
she is loved; in what manner must God be loved, the true and truth-
speaking
Husband of the soul, making fruitful unto the offspring of everlasting
life,
and not suffering us to be barren? Him, therefore, so let us love, as that any
other
thing besides Himself be not loved: and there takes place in us that which we
have
spoken of, that which we have sung, because even here the voice is ours:
"In
whatsoever
day I shall have called upon You, behold, I have known that my God
are
You." This is to call upon God, freely to call upon Him. Furthermore, of
certain
men has been said what? "Upon the Lord they have not called." The
Lord
they
seemed as it were to call unto themselves and they besought Him about
inheritances,
about increasing money, about lengthening this life, about the rest of
temporal
things: and concerning them the Scripture says what? "Upon the Lord
they
have not called." Therefore there follows what? "There they have
feared with
fear,
where there was no fear." What is, "where there was no fear"?
Lest money
should
be stolen from them, lest anything in their house should be made less;
lastly,
lest they should have less of years in this life, than they hoped for
themselves:
but there have they trembled with fear, where there was no fear.... "In
God
I will praise the word, in the Lord I will praise the discourse" (ver.
10): "in
God
I have hoped, I will not fear what man does unto me" (ver. 11). Now this
is
the
very sense which above has been repeated.
17.
"In me, O God, are Your vows, which I will render of praise to You"
(ver. 12).
"Vow
ye, and render to the Lord your God." What vow, what render? Perchance
those
animals which were offered at the altars aforetime? No such thing offer
thou:
in yourself is what you may vow and render. From the heart's coffer bring
forth
the incense of praise; from the store of a good conscience bring forth the
sacrifice
of faith. Whatsoever thing you bring forth, kindle with love. In yourself
be
the vows, which you may render of praise to God. Of what praise? For what has
He
granted you? "For You have rescued my soul from death" (ver. 13).
This is that
very
life which he tells out to Him: "O God, my life I have told out to
You." For I
was
what? Dead. Through myself I was dead: through You I am what? Alive.
Therefore
"in me, O God, are Your vows, which I will render of praise to You."
Behold
I love my God: no one does tear Him from me: that which to Him I may
give,
no one does tear from me, because in the heart it is shut up. With reason is
said
with that former confidence, "What should man do unto me?" Let man
rage,
let
him be permitted to rage, be permitted to accomplish that which he attempts:
what
is he to take away? Gold, silver, cattle, men servants, maid servants, estates,
houses,
let him take away all things: does he by any means take away the vows,
which
are in me, which I may render of praise to God? The tempter was permitted
to
tempt a holy man, Job; Job 1:12 in one moment he took away all things:
whatever
of possessions he had had, he carried off: took away inheritance, slew
heirs;
and this not little by little, but in a crowd, at one blow, at one swoop, so
that
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all
things were on a sudden announced: when all was taken away, alone there
remained
Job, but in him were vows of praise, which he might render to God, in
him
evidently there were: the coffer of his holy breast the thieving devil had not
rifled,
full he was of that wherefrom he might sacrifice. Hear what he had, hear
what
he brought forth: "The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away; as has
pleased
the Lord, so has been done: be the name of the Lord blessed." Job 1:21 O
riches
interior, whither thief does not draw near! God Himself had given that
whereof
He was receiving; He had Himself enriched him with that whereof to Him
he
was offering that which He loved. Praise from you God requires, your
confession
God requires. But from your field will you give anything? He has
Himself
rained in order that you may have. From your coffer will you give
anything?
He has Himself put in that which you are to give. What will you give,
which
from Him you have not received? "For what have you which you have not
received?"
1 Corinthians 4:7 From the heart will you give? He too has given faith,
hope,
and charity: this you must bring forth: this you must sacrifice. But evidently
all
the other things the enemy is able to take away against your will; this to take
away
he is not able, unless thou be willing. These things a man will lose even
against
his will: and wishing to have gold, will lose gold; and wishing to have
house,
will lose house: faith no one will lose, except him that shall have despised
her.
18.
"Because You have rescued my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my
feet
from slipping: that I may be pleasing before God in the light of the
living"
(ver.
13). With reason he is not pleasing to alien sons, that are put afar off from
holy
men, because they have not the light of the living, whence they may see that
which
to God is pleasing. "Light of the living," is light of the immortal,
light of
holy
men. He that is not in darkness, is pleasing in the light of the living. A man
is
observed,
and the things which belong to him; no one knows of what sort he is:
God
sees of what sort he is. Sometimes even the devil himself he escapes; except
he
tempt, he finds not: just as concerning that man of whom just now I have made
mention:...
"Doth Job by any means worship God for nought?" Job 1:9 For this
was
true light, this the light of the living, that gratis he should worship God.
God
saw
in the heart of His servant His gratuitous worship. For that heart was pleasing
in
the sight of the Lord in the light of the living: the devil's sight he escaped,
because
in darkness he was. God admitted the tempter, not in order that He might
Himself
know that which He did know, but in order that to us to be known and
imitated
He might set it forth. Admitted was the tempter; he took away everything,
there
remained the man bereft of possessions, bereft of family, bereft of children,
full
of God. A wife certainly was left. Job 2:9 Merciful do ye deem the devil, that
he
left him a wife? He knew through whom he had deceived Adam.... With wound
smitten
from head even unto feet, whole nevertheless within, he made answer to
the
woman tempting, out of the light of the living, out of the light of his heart:
"you
have spoken as though one of the unwise women," Job 2:10 that is, as
though
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one
that has not the light of the living. For the light of the living is wisdom,
and
the
darkness of unwise men is folly. You have spoken as though one of the unwise
women:
my flesh you see, the light of my heart you see not. For she then might
more
have loved her husband, if the interior beauty she had known, and had
beheld
the place where he was beautiful before the eyes of God: because in Him
were
vows which he might render of praise to God. How entirely the enemy had
forborne
to invade that patrimony! How whole was that which he was possessing,
and
that because of which yet more to be possessed he hoped for, being to go on
"from
virtues unto virtue." Therefore, brethren, to this end let all these
things serve
us,
that God gratis we love, in Him hope always, neither man nor devil fear.
Neither
the one nor the other does anything, except when it is permitted: permitted
for
no other reason can it be, except because it does profit us. Let us endure evil
men,
let us be good men: because even we have been evil. Even as nothing God
shall
save men, of whom we dare to despair. Therefore of no one let us despair, for
all
men whom we suffer let us pray, from God let us never depart. Our patrimony
let
Him be, our hope let Him be, our safety let Him be. He is Himself here a
comforter,
there a remunerator, everywhere Maker-alive, and of life the Giver, not
of
another life, but of that whereof has been said, "I am the Way, and the
Truth,
and
the Life:" John 14:6 in order that both here in the light of faith, and
there in
the
light of sight, as it were in the light of the living, in the sight of the Lord
we
may
be pleasing.
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Exposition
on Psalm 57
1.
We have heard in the Gospel just now, brethren, how loves us our Lord and
Saviour
Jesus Christ, God with the Father, Man with us, out of our own selves,
now
at the right hand of the Father; you have heard how much He loves us....
2.
Because then this Psalm is singing of the Passion of the Lord, see what is the
title
that it has: "at the end." The end is Christ. Romans 10:4 Why has He
been
called
end? Not as one that consumes, but one that consummates.
3.
"At the end, corrupt not, for David himself, for the inscription of the
title; when
he
fled from the face of Saul into a cavern." We referring to holy Scripture,
do find
indeed
how holy David, that king of
has
received the name thereof, had suffered for persecutor Saul the king of his
own
people, as many of you know that have either read or have heard the
Scriptures.
King David had then for persecutor Saul: and whereas the one was
most
gentle, the other most ferocious: the one mild, the other envious; the one
patient,
the other cruel; the one beneficent, the other ungrateful: he endured him
with
so much mildness, that when he had gotten him into his hands him he
touched
not, hurt not.... What reference has this to Christ? If all things which then
were
being done, were figures of things future, we find there Christ, and by far in
the
greatest degree. For this, "corrupt not for the inscription of the
title," I see not
how
it belongs to that David. For not any "title" was inscribed over
David himself
which
Saul would "corrupt." But we see in the Passion of the Lord that
there had
been
written a title, "King of the Jews:" in order that this title might
put to the
blush
these very men, seeing that from their King they withheld not their hands.
For
in them Saul was, in Christ David was. For Christ, as says the Apostolic
Gospel,
is, as we know, as we confess, of the seed of David after the flesh; for
after
the Godhead He is above David, above all men, above heaven and earth,
above
angels, above all things visible and invisible.... And because already it had
been
sung through the Holy Spirit, "Unto the end, corrupt not, for the inscription
of
the title:" Pilate answered them, "What I have written, I have
written:"
John
19:22 why do ye suggest to me falsehood? I corrupt not truth.
4.
What therefore is, "When he fled from the face of Saul into a
cavern"? Which
thing
indeed the former David also did: but because in him we find not the
inscription
of the title, in the latter let us find the flight into the cavern.
1
Samuel 24:3 For that cavern wherein David hid himself did figure somewhat.
But
wherefore hid he himself? It was in order that he might be concealed and not
be
found. What is to be hidden in a cavern? To be hidden in earth. For he that
flees
into
a cavern, with earth is covered so that he may not be seen. But Jesus did carry
earth,
flesh which He had received from earth: and in it He concealed Himself, in
order
that by Jews He might not be discovered as God. "For if they had known,
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never
the Lord of glory would they have crucified." 1 Corinthians 2:8 Why
therefore
the Lord of glory found they not? Because in a cavern He had hidden
Himself,
that is, the flesh's weakness to their eyes He presented, but the Majesty of
the
Godhead in the body's clothing, as though in a hiding-place of the earth, He
hid
.... But wherefore even unto death willed He to be patient? It was in order
that
He
might flee from the face of Saul into a cavern. For a cavern may be understood
as
a lower part of the earth. And certainly, as is manifest and certain to all,
His
Body
in a Tomb was laid, which was cut in a Rock. This Tomb therefore was the
Cavern;
thither He fled from the face of Saul. For so long the Jews did persecute
Him,
even until He was laid in a cavern. Whence prove we that so long they
persecuted
Him, until therein He was laid? Even when dead, and, on the Cross
hanging,
with lance they wounded Him. John 19:34 But when shrouded, the
funeral
celebrated, He was laid in a cavern, no longer had they anything which to
the
Flesh they might do. Rose therefore the Lord again out of that cavern unhurt,
uncorrupt,
from that place whither He had fled from the face of Saul: concealing
Himself
from ungodly men, whom Saul prefigured, but showing Himself to His
members.
For the members of Him rising again by His members were handled: for
the
members of Him, the Apostles, touched Him rising again and believed;
Luke
24:39 and behold nothing profited the persecution of Saul. Hear we therefore
now
the Psalm; because concerning the title thereof enough we have spoken, as far
as
the Lord has deigned to give.
5.
"Have pity on me, O God, have pity on me, for in You has trusted my
Soul"
(ver.
1). Christ in the Passion says, "Have pity on Me, O God." To God, God
says,
"Have
pity on Me!" He that with the Father has pity on you, in you cries,
"Have
pity
on Me." For that part of Him which is crying, "Have pity on Me,"
is thine:
from
you this He received, for the sake of you, that you should be delivered, with
Flesh
He was clothed. The flesh itself cries: "Have pity on Me, O God, have pity
on
me:" Man himself, soul and flesh. For whole Man did the Word take upon
Him,
and
whole Man the Word became. Let it not therefore be thought that there Soul
was
not, because the Evangelist thus says: "The Word was made flesh, and
dwelled
in us." John 1:14 For man is called flesh, as in another place says the
Scripture,
"And all flesh shall see the salvation of God." Shall anywise flesh
alone
see,
and shall Soul not be there?... You hear the Master praying, learn thou to
pray.
For
to this end He prayed, in order that He might teach how to pray: because to
this
end He suffered, in order that He might teach how to suffer; to this end He
rose
again, in order that He might teach how to hope for rising again. "And in
the
shadow
of Your wings I will hope, until iniquity pass over." This now evidently
whole
Christ does say: here is also our voice. For not yet has passed over, still
rife
is
iniquity. And in the end our Lord Himself said there should be an abounding of
iniquity:
"And since iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold; but he
that
shall have persevered unto the end, the same shall be saved." Matthew
24:12
But
who shall persevere even unto the end, even until iniquity pass over? He that
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shall
have been in the Body of Christ, he that shall have been in the members of
Christ,
and from the Head shall have learned the patience of persevering. Thou
passest
away, and behold passed are your temptations; and you go into another life
whither
have gone holy men, if holy you have been. Into another life have gone
Martyrs;
if Martyr you shall have been, thou also goest into another life. Because
"thou"
hast passed away hence, has by any means iniquity therefore passed away?
There
are born other unrighteous men, as there die some unrighteous men. In like
manner
therefore as some unrighteous men die and others are born: so some just
men
go, and others are born. Even unto the end of the world neither iniquity will
be
wanting to oppress, nor righteousness to suffer....
6.
"I will cry to God most high" (ver. 2). If most high He is, how hears
He you
crying?
Confidence has been engendered by experience: "to God," he says,
"who
had
done good to me." If before that I was seeking Him, He did good to me,
when
I
cry shall He not hearken to me? For good to us the Lord God has done in sending
to
us our Saviour Jesus Christ, that He might die for our offences, and rise again
for
our justification. Romans 4:25 For what sort of men has He willed His Son to
die?
For ungodly men. But ungodly men were not seeking God, and have been
sought
of God. For He is Most High in such sort, as that not far from Him is our
misery
and our groaning: because "near is the Lord to them that have bruised the
heart."
"God that has done good to me."
7.
"He has sent from heaven and has saved me" (ver. 3). Now the Man
Himself,
now
the Flesh Itself, now the Son of God after His partaking of ourselves, of Him
it
is manifest, how He was saved, and has sent from heaven the Father and has
saved
Him, has sent from heaven, and has raised Him again: but in order that you
may
know, that also the Lord Himself has raised again Himself; both truths are
written
in Scripture, both that the Father has raised Him again, and that Himself
Himself
has raised again. Hear ye how the Father has raised Him again: the
Apostle
says, "He has been made," he says, "obedient unto death, even
the death
of
the Cross: wherefore God also has exalted Him, and has given Him a name
which
is above every name." Philippians 2:8-9 You have heard of the Father
raising
again and exalting the Son; hear ye how that He too Himself His flesh has
raised
again. Under the figure of a
explained
to us what it was that He said: "But this," he says, "He spoke
of the
person
of a man, out of the person of the flesh, He says, "He has saved me. He
has
given
unto reproach those that trampled on me." Them that have trampled on Him,
that
over Him dead have insulted, that Him as though man have crucified, because
God
they perceived not, them He has given unto reproach. See ye whether it has
not
been so done. The thing we do not believe as yet to come, but fulfilled we
acknowledge
it. The Jews raged against Christ, they were overbearing against
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Christ.
Where? In the city of
puffed
up, there their necks they lifted up. After the Passion of the Lord thence
they
were rooted out; and they lost the kingdom, wherein Christ for King they
would
not acknowledge. In what manner they have been given unto reproach, see
ye:
dispersed they have been throughout all nations, nowhere having a settlement,
nowhere
a sure abode. But for this reason still Jews they are, in order that our
books
they may carry to their confusion. For whenever we wish to show Christ
prophesied
of, we produce to the heathen these writings. And lest perchance men
hard
of belief should say that we Christians have composed these books, so that
together
with the Gospel which we have preached we have forged the Prophet,
through
whom there might seem to be foretold that which we preach: by this we
convince
them; namely, that all the very writings wherein Christ has been
prophesied
are with the Jews, all these very writings the Jews have. We produce
documents
from enemies, to confound other enemies. In what sort of reproach
therefore
are the Jews? A document the Jew carries, wherefrom a Christian may
believe.
Our librarians they have become, just as slaves are wont behind their
masters
to carry documents, in such sort that these faint in carrying, those profit by
reading.
Unto such a reproach have been given the Jews: and there has been
fulfilled
that which so long before has been foretold, "He has given unto reproach
those
that trampled on me." But how great a reproach it is, brethren, that this
verse
they
should read, and themselves being blind should look upon their mirror! For in
the
same manner the Jews appear in the holy Scripture which they carry, as
appears
the face of a blind man in a mirror: by other men it is seen, by himself not
seen.
8.
You were inquiring perhaps when he said, "He has sent from heaven and has
saved
me." What has He sent from heaven? Whom has He sent from heaven? An
Angel
has He sent, to save Christ, and through a servant is the Lord saved? For all
Angels
are creatures serving Christ. For obedience there might have been sent
Angels,
for service they might have been sent, not for succour: as is written,
"Angels
ministered unto Him," Matthew 4:11 not like men merciful to one
indigent,
but like subjects to One Omnipotent. What therefore "has He sent from
heaven,
and has saved me"? Now we hear in another verse what from heaven He
has
sent. "He has sent from heaven His mercy and His truth." For what
purpose?
"And
has drawn out my soul from the midst of the lions' whelps." "Hath
sent," he
says,
"from heaven His mercy and His truth:" and Christ Himself says,
"I am
Truth."
There was sent therefore Truth, that it should draw out my soul hence from
the
midst of the lions' whelps: there was sent mercy. Christ Himself we find to be
both
mercy and truth; mercy in suffering with us, and truth in requiting us.... Who
are
the lions' whelps? That lesser people, unto evil deceived, unto evil led away
by
the
chiefs of the Jews: so that these are lions, those lions' whelps. All roared,
all
slew.
For we are to hear even here the slaying of these very men, presently in the
following
verses of this Psalm.
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9.
"And has drawn out," he says, "my soul from the midst of the
lions' whelps"
(ver.
4). Why do you say, "And has drawn out my soul"? For what had you
suffered,
that your soul should be drawn out? "I have slept troubled." Christ
has
intimated
His death....
10.
Whence "troubled"? Who troubling? Let us see in what manner he brands
an
evil
conscience upon the Jews, wishing to excuse themselves of the slaying of the
Lord.
For to this end, as the Gospel speaks, to the judge they delivered Him, that
they
might not themselves seem to have killed Him .... Let us question Him, and
say,
since You have slept troubled, who have persecuted You? who have slain
You?
was it perchance Pilate, who to soldiers gave You, on the Tree to be hanged,
with
nails to be pierced? Hear who they were, "Sons of men" (ver. 5). Of
them He
speaks,
whom for persecutors He suffered. But how did they slay, that steel bare
not?
They that sword drew not, that made no assault upon Him to slay; whence
slew
they? "Their teeth are arms and arrows, and their tongue a sharp
sword." Do
not
consider the unarmed hands, but the mouth armed: from thence the sword
proceeded,
wherewith Christ was to be slain: in like manner also as from the
mouth
of Christ, that wherewith the Jews were to be slain. For He has a sword
twice
whetted: Revelation 1:16 and rising again He has smitten them, and has
severed
from them those whom He would make His faithful people. They an evil
sword,
He a good sword: they evil arrows, He good arrows. For He has Himself
also
arrows good, words good, whence He pierces the faithful heart, in order that
He
may be loved. Therefore of one kind are their arrows, and of another kind their
sword.
"Sons of men, their teeth are arms and arrows, and their tongue a sharp
sabre."
Tongue of sons of men is a sharp sabre, and their teeth arms and arrows.
When
therefore did they smite, save when they clamoured, "Crucify,
crucify"?
11.
And what have they done to You, O Lord? Let the Prophet here exult! For
above,
all those verses the Lord was speaking: a Prophet indeed, but in the person
of
the Lord, because in the Prophet is the Lord.... "Be exalted," he
says, "above the
Heavens,
O God." Man on the Cross, and above the Heavens, God. Let them
continue
on the earth raging, Thou in Heaven be judging. Where are they that were
raging?
where are their teeth, the arms and arrows? Have not "the stripes of them
been
made the arrows of infants"? For in another place a Psalm this says,
desiring
to
prove them vainly to have raged, and vainly unto frenzies to have been driven
headlong:
for nothing they were able to do to Christ when for the time crucified,
and
afterwards when He was rising again, and in Heaven was sitting. How do
infants
make to themselves arrows? Of reeds? But what arrows? or what powers?
or
what bows? or what wound? "Be Thou exalted above the Heavens, O God, and
above
all the earth Your glory" (ver. 6). Wherefore exalted above the Heavens, O
God?
Brethren, God exalted above the Heavens we see not, but we believe: but
above
all the earth His glory to be not only we believe, but also see. But what kind
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of
madness heretics are afflicted with, I pray you observe. They being cut off
from
the
bond of the
communicate
with the whole earth, where is spread abroad the glory of Christ. But
we
Catholics are in all the earth, because with all the world we communicate,
wherever
the Glory of Christ is spread abroad. For we see that which then was
sung,
now fulfilled. There has been exalted above the Heavens our God, and above
all
the earth the Glory of the Same. O heretical insanity! That which you see not
you
believe with me, that which thou seest you deny; you believe with me in
Christ
exalted above the Heavens, a thing which we see not; and deniest His Glory
over
all the earth, a thing which we see.
12.
...Let your Love see the Lord speaking to us, and exhorting us by His
example:
"A trap they have prepared for My feet, and have bowed down My Soul"
(ver.
7). They wished to bring It down as if from Heaven, and to the lower places
to
weigh It down: "They have bowed My Soul: they have dug before My face a
pit
and
themselves have fallen into it." Me have they hurt, or themselves? Behold
He
has
been exalted above the Heavens, God, and behold above all the earth the Glory
of
the Same: the
Since
therefore they did that which to have done they ought not, there has been
done
in their case that which to have suffered they ought: themselves have dug a
ditch,
and themselves have fallen into it. For their persecuting Christ, to Christ did
no
hurt, but to themselves did hurt. And do not suppose, brethren, that themselves
alone
has this befallen. Every one that prepares a pit for his brother, it must needs
be
that himself fall into it....
13.
But the patience of good men with preparation of heart accepts the will of
God:
and glories in tribulations, saying that which follows: "Prepared is my
heart,
O
God, I will sing and play" (ver. 8). What has he done to me? He has
prepared a
pit,
my heart is prepared. He has prepared pit to deceive, shall I not prepare heart
to
suffer? He has prepared pit to oppress, shall I not prepare heart to endure?
Therefore
he shall fall into it, but I will sing and play. Hear the heart prepared in
an
Apostle, because he has imitated his Lord: "We glory," he says,
"in tribulations:
because
tribulation works patience: patience probation, probation hope, but hope
makes
not ashamed: because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts through
the
Holy Spirit, which has been given to us." Romans 5:3 He was in
oppressions,
in
chains, in prisons, in stripes, in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness,
2
Corinthians 11:27 in every wasting of toils and pains, and he was saying,
"We
glory
in tribulations." Whence, but that prepared was his heart? Therefore he
was
singing
and playing.
14.
"Rise up, my glory" (ver. 9). He that had fled from the face of Saul
into a
cavern,
says, "Rise up, my glory:" glorified be Jesus after His Passion.
"Rise up,
psaltery
and harp." He calls upon what to rise? Two organs I see: but Body of
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Christ
one I see, one flesh has risen again, and two organs have risen. The one
organ
then is the psaltery, the other the harp. Organs is the word used for all
instruments
of musicians. Not only is that called an organ, which is great, and
blown
into with bellows; but whatsoever is adapted to playing and is corporeal,
whereof
for an instrument the player makes use, is said to be an organ. But
distinguished
from one another are these organs.... What therefore do these two
organs
figure to us? For Christ the Lord our God is waking up His psaltery and His
harp;
and He says, "I will rise up at the dawn." I suppose that here ye now
perceive
the
Lord rising. We have read thereof in the Gospel: Mark 16:2 see the hour of the
Resurrection.
How long through shadows was Christ being sought? He has shone,
be
He acknowledged; "at the dawn" He rose again. But what is psaltery?
what is
harp?
Through His flesh two kinds of deeds the Lord has wrought, miracles and
sufferings:
miracles from above have been, sufferings from below have been. But
those
miracles which He did were divine; but through Body He did them, through
flesh
He did them. The flesh therefore working things divine, is the psaltery: the
flesh
suffering things human is the harp. Let the psaltery sound, let the blind be
enlightened,
let the deaf hear, let the paralytics be braced to strength, the lame
walk,
the sick rise up, the dead rise again; this is the sound of the Psaltery. Let
there
sound also the harp, let Him hunger, thirst, sleep, be held, scourged, derided,
crucified,
buried. When therefore you see in that Flesh certain things to have
sounded
from above, certain things from the lower part, one flesh has risen again,
and
in one flesh we acknowledge both psaltery and harp. And these two kinds of
things
done have fulfilled the Gospel, and it is preached in the nations: for both the
miracles
and the sufferings of the Lord are preached.
15.
Therefore there has risen psaltery and harp in the dawn, and he confesses to
the
Lord; and says what? "I will confess to You among the peoples, O Lord, and
will
play to You among the nations: for magnified even unto the Heavens has been
Your
mercy, and even unto the clouds Your truth" (ver. 10). Heavens above
clouds,
and clouds below heavens: and nevertheless to this nearest heaven belong
clouds.
But sometimes clouds rest upon the mountains, even so far in the nearest
air
are they rolled. But a Heaven above there is, the habitations of Angels,
Thrones,
Dominions, Principalities, Powers. This therefore may perchance seem to
be
what should have been said: "Unto the Heavens Your truth, and even unto
the
clouds
Your mercy." For in Heaven Angels praise God, seeing the very form of
truth,
without any darkness of vision, without any admixture of unreality: they see,
love,
praise, are not wearied. There is truth: but here in our own misery surely
there
is mercy. For to a miserable one must be rendered mercy. For there is no
need
of mercy above, where is no miserable one. I have said this because that it
seems
as though it might have been more fittingly said, "Magnified even unto the
Heavens
has been Your truth, and even unto the clouds Your mercy." For
"clouds"
we
understand to be preachers of truth, men bearing that flesh in a manner dark,
whence
God both gleams in miracles, and thunders in precepts.... Glory to our
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Lord,
and to the Mercy of the Same, and to the Truth of the Same, because neither
has
He forsaken by mercy to make us blessed through His Grace, nor defrauded us
of
truth: because first Truth veiled in flesh came to us and healed through His
flesh
the
interior eye of our heart, in order that hereafter face to face we may be able
to
see
It. 1 Corinthians 13:12 Giving therefore to Him thanks, let us say with the
same
Psalm the last verses, which sometime since too I have said, "Be Thou
exalted
above the Heavens, O God, and above all the earth Your glory" (ver. 11).
For
this to Him the Prophet said so many years before; this now we see; this
therefore
let us also say.
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Exposition
on Psalm 58
1.
The words which we have sung must be rather hearkened to by us, than
proclaimed.
For to all men as it were in an assemblage of mankind, the Truth cries,
"If
truly indeed justice ye speak, judge right things, you sons of men" (ver.
1). For
to
what unjust man is it not an easy thing to speak justice? or what man if
questioned
about justice, when he has not a cause, would not easily answer what is
just?
Inasmuch as the hand of our Maker in our very hearts has written this truth,
"That
which to yourself you would not have done, do not thou to another."
Tobit
4:15 Of this truth, even before that the Law was given, no one was suffered
to
be ignorant, in order that there might be some rule whereby might be judged
even
those to whom Law had not been given. But lest men should complain that
something
had been wanting for them, there has been written also in tables that
which
in their hearts they read not. For it was not that they had it not written, but
read
it they would not. There has been set before their eyes that which in their
conscience
to see they would be compelled; and as if from without the voice of
God
were brought to them, to his own inward parts has man been thus driven, the
Scripture
saying, "For in the thoughts of the ungodly man there will be
questioning."
Wisdom 1:9 Where questioning is, there is law. But because men,
desiring
those things which are without, even from themselves have become
exiles,
there has been given also a written law: not because in hearts it had not
been
written, but because you were a deserter from your heart, you are seized by
Him
that is everywhere, and to yourself within art called back. Therefore the
written
law, what cries it, to those that have deserted the law written in their
hearts?
Romans 2:15 "Return ye transgressors to the heart." Isaiah 46:8 For
who
has
taught you, that you would have no other man draw near your wife? Who has
taught
you, that you would not have a theft committed upon you? Who has taught
you,
that you would not suffer wrong, and whatever other thing either universally
or
particularly might be spoken of? For many things there are, of which severally
if
questioned men with loud voice would answer, that they would not suffer.
Come,
if you are not willing to suffer these things, are you by any means the only
man?
do you not live in the fellowship of mankind? He that together with you has
been
made, is your fellow; and all men have been made after the image of God,
Genesis
1:26 unless with earthly coverings they efface that which He has formed.
That
which therefore to yourself you will not have to be done, do not thou to
another.
For you judge that there is evil in that, which to suffer you are not willing:
and
this thing you are constrained to know by an inward law; that in your very
heart
is written. You were doing somewhat, and there was a cry raised in your
hands:
how are you constrained to return to your heart when this thing you suffer
in
the hands of others? Is theft a good thing? No! I ask, is adultery a good
thing?
All
cry, No! Is man-slaying a good thing? All cry, that they abhor it. Is coveting
the
property of a neighbour a good thing? No! is the voice of all men. Or if yet
you
confess
not, there draws near one that coveteth your property: be pleased to
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answer
what you will have. All men therefore, when of these things questioned,
cry
that these things are not good. Again, of doing kindnesses, not only of not
hurting,
but also of conferring and distributing, any hungry soul is questioned thus:
"you
suffer hunger, another man has bread, and there is abundance with him
beyond
sufficiency, he knows you to want, he gives not: it displeases you when
hungering,
let it displease you when full also, when of another's hungering you
shall
have known. A stranger wanting shelter comes into your country, he is not
taken
in: he then cries that inhuman is that city, at once among barbarians he might
have
found a home. He feels the injustice because he suffers; thou perchance
feelest
not, but it is meet that thou imagine yourself also a stranger; and that thou
see
in what manner he will have displeased you, who shall not have given that,
which
thou in your country will not give to a stranger." I ask all men. True are
these
things? True. Just are these things? Just. But hear ye the Psalm. "If
truly
therefore
justice ye speak, judge right things, you sons of men." Be it not a
justice
of
lips, but also of deeds. For if you act otherwise than you speak, good things
you
speak,
and ill you judge.
2.
But now to the present case let us come, if you please. For the voice is that
sweet
voice, so well known to the ears of the Church, the voice of our Lord Jesus
Christ,
and the voice of His Body, the voice of the Church toiling, sojourning upon
earth,
living amid the perils of men speaking evil and of men flattering. You will
not
fear a threatener, if you love not a flatterer. He therefore, of whom this is
the
voice,
has observed and has seen, that all men speak justice. For what man does
dare
not to speak it, lest he be called unjust? When, therefore, as though he were
hearing
the voices of all men, and were observing the lips of all men, he cried out
to
them, "If truly indeed justice ye speak,"—if not falsely justice ye
speak, if not
one
thing on lips does sound, while another thing is concealed in
hearts,—"judge
right
things, you sons of men." Hear out of the Gospel His own voice, the very
same
as is in this Psalm: "Hypocrites," says the Lord to the Pharisees,
"how are
you
able good things to speak, when you are evil men? ...Either make the tree
good,
and the fruit thereof good: or make the tree evil, and the fruit thereof
evil."
Matthew
12:33-34 Why will you whiten you, wall of mud? I know your inward
parts,
I am not deceived by your covering: I know what you hold forth, I know
what
you cover. "For there was no need for Him, that any one to Him should bear
testimony
of man: for He knew Himself what was in man." John 2:25 For He
knew
what was in man, who had made man, and who had been made Man, in
order
that He might seek man....
3.
But now ye do what? Why these things to you do I speak? "Because in heart
iniquities
ye work on earth" (ver. 2). Iniquities perchance in heart alone? Hear
what
follows: both their heart hands do follow, and their heart hands do serve, the
thing
is thought of, and it is done; or else it is not done, not because we would
not,
but
because we could not, Whatever you will and canst not, for done God does
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count
it. "For in heart Iniquities ye work on earth." What next?
"Iniquities your
hands
knit together." What is, "knit together"? From sin, sin, and to
sin, sin,
because
of sin. What is this? A theft a man has committed, a sin it is: he has been
seen,
he seeks to slay him by whom he has been seen: there has been knit together
sin
with sin: God has permitted him in His hidden judgment to slay that man
whom
he has willed to slay: he perceives that the thing is known, he seeks to slay
a
second also; he has knit together a third sin: while these things he is
planning,
perchance
that he may not be found out, or that he may not be convicted of having
done
it, he consults an astrologer; there is added a fourth sin: the astrologer
answers
perchance with some hard and evil responses, he runs to a soothsayer, that
expiation
may be made; the soothsayer makes answer that he is not able to expiate:
a
magician is sought. And who could enumerate those sins which are knit together
with
sins? "Iniquities your hands do knit together." So long as you knit
together,
you
bind sin upon sin. Loose yourself from sins. But I am not able, you say. Cry to
Him.
"Unhappy man I, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"
Romans
7:24 For there shall come the Grace of God, so that righteousness shall be
your
delight, as much as you delighted in iniquity; and thou, a man that out of
bonds
hast been loosed, shall cry out to God, "You have broken asunder my
bonds."
"You have broken asunder my bonds," is what else but, "You have
remitted
my sins"? Hear why chains they are: the Scripture makes answer, "with
the
chains of his sins each one is bound fast." Proverbs 5:22 Not only bonds,
but
chains
also they are. Chains are those which are made by twisting in: that is,
because
with sins sins you were knitting together....
4.
"Alienated are sinners from the womb, they have gone astray from the
belly,
they
have spoken false things" (ver. 3). And when iniquity they speak, false
things
they
speak; because deceitful is iniquity: and when justice they speak, false things
they
speak; because one thing with mouth they profess, another thing in heart they
conceal.
"Alienated are sinners from the womb." What is this? Let us search
more
diligently:
for perhaps he is saying this, because God has foreknown men that are
to
be sinners even in the wombs of their mothers. For whence when Rebecca was
yet
pregnant, and in womb was bearing twins, was it said, "Jacob I have loved,
but
Esau
I have hated"? For it was said, "The elder shall serve the
younger." Hidden at
that
time was the judgment of God: but yet from the womb, that is, from the very
origin,
alienated are sinners. Whence alienated? From truth. Whence alienated?
From
the blessed country, from the blessed life. Perchance alienated they are from
the
very womb. And what sinners have been alienated from the womb? For what
men
would have been born, if therein they had not been held? Or what men today
would
be alive to hear these words to no purpose, unless they were born?
Perchance
therefore sinners have been alienated from a certain womb, wherein
that
charity was suffering pains, which speaks through the Apostle, "Of whom
again
I am in labour, until Christ be formed in you." Galatians 4:19 Expect thou
therefore;
be formed: do not to yourself ascribe a judgment which perchance you
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405
know
not. Carnal you are as yet, conceived you have been: from that very time
when
you have received the name of Christ, by a sort of sacrament you have been
born
in the bowels of a mother. For not only out of bowels a man is born, but also
in
bowels. First he is born in bowels, in order that he may be able to be born of
bowels.
Wherefore it has been said even to Mary, "For that which is born in you,
is
of the Holy Spirit." Not yet of Her It had been born, but already in Her
It had
been
born. Therefore there are born within the bowels of the Church certain little
ones,
and a good thing it is that being formed they should go forth, so that they
drop
not by miscarriage. Let the mother bear you, not miscarry. If patient you shall
have
been, even until thou be formed, even until in you there be the sure doctrine
of
truth, the maternal bowels ought to keep you. But if by your impatience you
shall
have shaken the sides of your mother, with pain indeed she expels you out,
but
more to your loss than to hers.
5.
For this reason therefore have they gone astray from the belly, because
"they
have
spoken false things"? Or rather have they not for this reason spoken false
things,
because they have gone astray from the belly? For in the belly of the
Church
truth abides. Whosoever from this belly of the Church separated shall have
been,
must needs speak false things: must needs, I say, speak false things; whoso
either
conceived would not be, or whom when conceived the mother has expelled.
Thence
heretics exclaim against the Gospel (to speak in preference of those whom
expelled
we lament). We repeat to them: behold Christ has said, "It behoved Christ
to
suffer, and from the dead to rise again the third day." Luke 24:46 I
acknowledge
there
our Head, I acknowledge there our bridegroom: acknowledge thou also with
me
the Bride....
6.
"Indignation to them after the similitude of a serpent" (ver. 4). A
great thing you
are
to hear. "Indignation to them after the similitude of a serpent." As
if we had
said,
What is that which you have said? there follows, "As if of a deaf
asp."
Whence
deaf? "And closing its ears." Therefore deaf, because it closes its
ears.
"And
closing its ears." "Which will not hearken to the voice of men
charming, and
of
the medicine medicated by the wise man" (ver. 5). As we have heard,
because
even
men speak who have learned it with such research as they were able, but
nevertheless
it is a thing which the Spirit of God knows much better than any men.
For
it is not to no purpose that of this he has spoken, but because it may chance
that
true is even that which we have heard of the asp. When the asp begins to be
affected
by the Marsian charmer, who calls it forth with certain peculiar
incantations,
hear what it does .... Give heed what is spoken to you for a simile's
sake,
what is noted you for avoidance. So therefore here also there has been given
a
certain simile derived from the Marsian, who makes incantation to bring forth
the
asp from the dark cavern; surely into light he would bring it: but it loving
its
darkness,
wherein coiled up it hides itself, when it will not choose to come forth,
nevertheless
refusing to hear those words whereby it feels itself to be constrained,
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406
is
said to press one ear against the ground, and with its tail to stop up the
other,
and
therefore as much as possible escaping those words, it comes not forth to the
charmer.
To this as being like, the Spirit of God has spoken of certain persons
hearing
not the Word of God, and not only not doing, but altogether, that they may
not
do it, refusing to hear.
7.
This thing has been done even in the first times of the faith. Stephen the
Martyr
was
preaching the Truth, and to minds as though dark, in order to bring them forth
into
light, was making incantation: when he came to make mention of Christ,
whom
they would not hear at all, of them the Scripture says what? of them relates
what?
"They shut," he says, "their ears." Acts 7:57 But what they
did afterwards,
the
narrative of the passion of Stephen does publish. They were not deaf, but they
made
themselves deaf.... For this thing they did at the point where Christ was
named.
The indignation of these men was as the indignation of a serpent. Why
your
ears do ye shut? Wait, hear, and if you shall be able, rage. Because they
chose
not to do anything but rage, they would not hear. But if they had heard,
perchance
they would have ceased to rage. The indignation of them was as the
indignation
of a serpent....
8.
"God has broken utterly the teeth of them in their own mouth" (ver.
6). Of
whom?
Of them to whom indignation is as the similitude of a serpent, and of an
asp
closing up its ears, so that it hears not the voice of men charming, and of
medicine
medicated by the wise man. The Lord has done to them what? "Hath
broken
utterly the teeth of them in their own mouth." It has been done, this at
first
has
been done, and now is being done. But it would have sufficed, my brethren,
that
it should have been said, "God has broken utterly the teeth of them."
The
Pharisees
would not hear the Law, would not hear the precepts of truth from
Christ,
being like to that serpent and asp. For in their past sins they took delight,
and
present life they would not lose, that is, joys earthly for joys heavenly....
What
is,
"in their own mouth"? In such sort, that with their own mouth against
themselves
they should make declaration: He has compelled them with their
mouth
against themselves to give sentence. They would have slandered Him,
because
of the tribute: Matthew 22:17-18 He said not, "It is lawful to pay
tribute,"
or,
"It is not lawful to pay tribute." And He willed to break utterly
their teeth,
wherewith
they were gaping in order to bite; but in their own mouth He would do
it.
If He said, Let there be paid to Cćsar tribute, they would have slandered Him,
because
He had spoken evil to the nation of the Jews, by making it a tributary. For
because
of sin they were paying tribute, having been humbled, as to them in the
Law
had been foretold. We have Him, say they, a maligner of our nation, if He
shall
have bidden us to pay tribute: but if He say, Do not pay, we have Him for
saying
that we should not be under allegiance to Cćsar. Such a double noose as it
were
to catch the Lord they laid. But to whom had they come? To Him that knew
how
to break utterly the teeth of them in their own mouth. "Show to Me the
coin,"
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Matthew
22:19 He says. Why do you tempt Me, you hypocrites?" Of paying
tribute
do ye think? To do justice are you willing? the counsel of justice do ye
seek?
"If truly justice ye speak, judge right things, you sons of men." But
now
because
in one way ye speak, in another way judge, hypocrites you are: "Why do
you
tempt Me, you hypocrites?" Now I will break utterly your teeth in your
mouth:
"show to Me the coin." And they showed it to Him. And He says not, it
is
Cćsar's:
but asks Whose it is? in order that their teeth in their own mouth might be
utterly
broken. For on His inquiring, of whom it had the image and inscription,
they
said, of Cćsar. Even now the Lord shall break utterly the teeth of them in
their
own mouth. Now you have made answer, now have been broken utterly your
teeth
in your mouth. "Render unto Cćsar the things which are of Cćsar, and unto
God
the things which are of God." Matthew 22:21 Cćsar seeks his image; render
it:
God seeks His image; render it. Let not Cćsar lose from you his coin: let not
God
lose in you His coin. And they found not what they might answer. For they
had
been sent to slander Him: and they went back, saying, that no one to Him
could
make answer. Wherefore? Because broken utterly had been the teeth of
them
in their own mouth. Of that sort is also the following: "In what power
doest
Thou
these things? I also will ask of you one question, answer me." And He
asked
them
of John, whence was the Baptism of John, from heaven, or of men? so that
whatever
they might answer might tell against themselves....
9.
The Lord displeased that Pharisee, who to dinner had bidden Him, because a
woman
that was a sinner drew near to His feet, and he murmured against Him,
saying,
"If this man were a prophet, He would know what woman drew near to His
feet."
Luke 7:39 O thou that art no prophet, whence do you know that He knew
not
what woman drew near to His feet? Because indeed He kept not the purifying
of
the Jews, which outwardly was as it were kept in the flesh, and was afar from
the
heart, this thing he suspected of the Lord. And in order that I may not speak
at
length
on this point, even in his mouth He willed to break utterly the teeth of him.
For
He set forth to him: "A certain usurer had two debtors, one was owing five
hundred
pence, the other fifty: both had not wherewithal to pay, he forgave both.
Which
loved him the more?" Luke 7:41-42 To this end the one asks, that the other
may
answer: to this end he answers that the teeth of him in his mouth may be
broken
utterly....
10.
"The jaw-bones of lions the Lord has broken utterly." Not only of
asps. What
of
asps? Asps treacherously desire to throw in their venom, and scatter it, and
hiss.
Most
openly raged the nations, and roared like lions. "Wherefore have raged the
nations,
and the peoples meditated empty things?" When they were lying in wait
for
the Lord. Is it lawful to give tribute to Cćsar, or is it not lawful?
Matthew
22:17 Asps they were, serpents they were, broken utterly were the teeth
of
them in their own mouth. Afterwards they cried out, "Crucify,
Crucify." Now is
there
no tongue of asp, but roar of lion. But also "the jaw-bones of lions the
Lord
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58
408
has
broken utterly." Perchance here there is no need of that which he has not
added,
namely, "in the mouth of them." For men lying in wait with captious
questions,
were forced to be conquered with their own answer: but those men that
openly
were raging, were they by any means to be confuted with questions?
Nevertheless,
even their jaw-bones were broken utterly: having been crucified, He
rose
again, ascended into heaven, was glorified as the Christ, is adored by all
nations,
adored by all kings. Let the Jews now rage, if they are able. We have also
in
the case of heretics this as a warning and precedent, because themselves also
we
find
to be serpents with indignation made deaf, not choosing to hear the
"medicine
medicated
by the wise man:" and in their own mouth the Lord has broken utterly
the
teeth of them....
11.
"They shall be despised like water running down" (ver. 7). Be not
terrified,
brethren,
by certain streams, which are called torrents: with winter waters they are
filled
up; do not fear: after a little it passes by, that water runs down; for a time
it
roars,
soon it will subside: they cannot hold long. Many heresies now are utterly
dead:
they have run in their channels as much as they were able, have run down,
dried
are the channels, scarce of them the memory is found, or that they have been.
"They
shall be despised like water running down." But not they alone; the whole
of
this age for a time is roaring, and is seeking whom it may drag along. Let all
ungodly
men, all proud men resounding against the rocks of their pride as it were
with
waters rushing along and flowing together, not terrify you, winter waters they
are,
they cannot alway flow: it must needs be that they run down unto their place,
unto
their end. And nevertheless of this torrent of the world the Lord has drunk.
For
He has suffered here, the very torrent He has drunk, but in the way He has
drunk,
but in the passage over: because in way of sinners He has not stood. But of
Him
says the Scripture what? "Of the torrent in the way He shall drink,
therefore
He
shall lift up His Head;" that is, for this reason glorified He has been,
because
He
has died; for this reason has risen again, because He has suffered....
12.
"Like wax melted they shall be taken away" (ver. 8). For you were
about to
say,
all men are not so made weak, like myself, in order that they may believe:
many
men do persevere in their evil, and in their malice. And of the same fear
thou
nothing: "Like wax melted they shall be taken away." Against you they
shall
not
stand, they shall not continue: with a sort of fire of their own lusts they
shall
perish.
For there is here a kind of hidden punishment, of it the Psalm is about to
speak
now, to the end of it. There are but a few verses; be attentive. There is a
certain
punishment future, fire of hell, fire everlasting. For future punishment has
two
kinds: either of the lower places it is, where was burning that rich man, who
was
wishing for himself a drop of water to be dropped on his tongue off the finger
of
the poor man, whom before his gate he had spurned, when he says, "For I am
tormented
in this flame." Luke 16:24 And the second is that at the end, whereof
they
are to hear, that on the left hand are to be set: "Go ye into fire
everlasting, that
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409
has
been prepared for the devil and his angels." Matthew 25:41 Those
punishments
shall be manifest at that time, when we shall have departed out of this
life,
or when at the end of the world men shall have come to the resurrection of the
dead.
Now therefore is there no punishment, and does God suffer sins utterly
unpunished
even unto that day? There is even here a sort of hidden punishment, of
the
same he is treating now .... We see nevertheless sometimes with these
punishments
just men to be afflicted, and to these punishments unjust men to be
strangers:
for which reason did totter the feet of him that afterwards rejoicing says,
"How
good is the God of Israel to men right in heart! But my own feet have been
almost
shaken, because I have been jealous in the case of sinners, beholding the
peace
of sinners." For he had seen the felicity of evil men, and well-pleased he
had
been
to be an evil man, seeing evil men to reign, seeing that it was well with them,
that
they abounded in plenty of all things temporal, such as he too, being as yet
but
a
babe, was desiring from the Lord: and his feet did totter, even until he saw
what
at
the end is either to be hoped for or to be feared. For he says in the same
Psalm,
"This
thing is a labour before me, until I enter into the sanctuary of God, and
understand
unto the last things." It is not therefore the punishments of the lower
places,
not the punishments of that fire everlasting after the resurrection, not those
punishments
which as yet in this world are common to just men and unjust men,
and
ofttimes more heavy are those of just men than those of unjust men; but some
punishment
or other of the present life the Spirit of God would recommend to our
notice.
Give heed, hear ye me about to speak of that which you know: but a more
sweet
thing it is when it is declared in a Psalm, which, before it was declared, was
deemed
obscure. For behold I bring forth that which already ye knew: but because
these
things are brought forth from a place where you have never yet seen them, it
comes
to pass that even known things, as if they were new things, do delight you.
Hear
ye the punishment of ungodly men: "Like wax," he says, "melted
they shall
be
taken away." I have said that through their lusts this thing to them is
done. Evil
lust
is like a burning and a fire. Doth fire consume a garment, and does not the
lust
of
adultery consume the soul? Of meditated adultery when the Scripture was
speaking
it says, "Shall one bind fire in his bosom, and his garments shall he not
burn
up?" Proverbs 6:27 Thou bearest in your bosom live coals; burned through
is
your
vest; you bear in thought adultery, and whole then is your soul? But these
punishments
few men do see: therefore them the Spirit of God does exceedingly
recommend
to our notice. Hear the Apostle saying, "God has given them up unto
the
lusts of their heart." Romans 1:24 Behold, the fire from the face of which
like
wax
they are melting. For they loose themselves from a certain continence of
chastity;
therefore even these same men, going unto their lusts, as loose and
melting
are spoken of. Whence melting? whence loose? From the fire of lusts.
"God
has given them up unto the lusts of their heart, so that they do those things
which
beseem not, being filled full of all iniquity."...
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13.
"There has fallen upon them fire, and they have not seen the sun."
You see in
what
manner he speaks of a certain punishment of darkening. "Fire has fallen
upon
them,"
fire of pride, a smoky fire, fire of lust, fire of wrath. How great a fire is
it?
He
upon whom it shall have fallen, shall not see the sun. Therefore has it been
said,
"Let not the sun go down upon your wrath." Ephesians 4:26 Therefore,
brethren,
fire of evil lust fear ye, if you will not melt like wax, and to perish from
the
face of God. For there falls upon you that fire, and the sun you shall not see.
What
sun? Not that which together with you see both beasts and insects, and good
men
and evil men: because "He makes His sun to rise upon good men and evil
men."
Matthew 5:45 But there is another sun, whereof those men are to speak,
"And
the sun has not risen to us, passed away are all those things as it were a
shadow.
Therefore we have strayed from the way of truth, and the light of
righteousness
has not shone to us, and the sun has not risen to us." Wisdom 5:6...
14.
"Before that the bramble brings forth your thorns: as though living, as
though
in
anger, it shall drink them up" (ver. 9). What is the bramble? Of prickly
plants it
is
a kind, upon which there are said to be certain of the closest thorns. At first
it is
a
herb; and while it is a herb, soft and fair it is: but thereon there are
nevertheless
thorns
to come forth. Now therefore sins are pleasant, and as it were they do not
prick.
A herb is the bramble; even now nevertheless there is a thorn. "Before
that
the
bramble brings forth thorns:" is before that of miserable delights and
pleasures
the
evident tortures come forth. Let them question themselves that love any object,
and
to it cannot attain; let them see if they are not racked with longing: and when
they
have attained to that which unlawfully they long for, let them mark if they are
not
racked with fear. Let them see therefore here their punishments; before that
there
comes that resurrection, when in flesh rising again they shall not be changed.
"For
all we shall rise again, but not all we shall be changed." 1 Corinthians
15:51
For
they shall have the corruption of the flesh wherein to be pained, not that
wherein
to die: otherwise even those pains would be ended. Then the thorns of that
bramble,
that is, all pains and piercings of tortures shall be brought forth. Such
thorns
as they shall suffer that are to say, "These are they whom sometimes we
had
in derision:" Wisdom 5:3 thorns of the piercing of repentance, but of one
too
late
and without fruit like the barrenness of thorns. The repentance of this time is
pain
healing: repentance of that time is pain penal. Wouldest thou not suffer those
thorns?
here be thou pierced with the thorns of repentance; in such sort that thou
do
that which has been spoken of, "Turned I have been in sorrow, when the
thorn
was
piercing: my sin I have known, and mine iniquity I have not covered: I have
said,
I will declare against me my shortcoming to the Lord, and You have remitted
the
ungodliness of my heart." Now do so, now be pierced through, be there not
in
you
done that which has been said of certain execrable men, "They have been
cloven
asunder, and have not been pierced through." Observe them that have been
cloven
asunder and have not been pierced through. You see men cloven asunder,
and
you see them not pierced through. Behold beside the Church they are, and it
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411
does
not repent them, so as they should return whence they have been cloven
asunder.
The bramble hereafter shall bring forth their thorns. They will not now
have
a healing piercing through, they shall have hereafter one penal. But even now
before
that the bramble produces thorns, there has fallen upon them fire, that
suffers
them not to see the sun, that is, the wrath of God is drinking up them while
still
living: fire of evil lusts, of empty honours, of pride, of their covetousness:
and
whatsoever
is weighing them down, that they should not know the truth, so that
they
seem not to be conquered, so that they be not brought into subjection even by
truth
herself. For what is a more glorious thing, brethren, than to be brought in
subjection
and to be overcome by truth? Let truth overcome you willing: for even
unwilling
she shall of herself overcome you....
15.
As yet the punishments of the lower places have not come, as yet fire
everlasting
has not come: let him that is growing in God compare himself now
with
an ungodly man, a blind heart with an enlightened heart: compare ye two
men,
one seeing and one not seeing in the flesh. And what so great thing is vision
of
the flesh? Did Tobias by any means have fleshly eyes? Tobit 4:3-19 His own
son
had, and he had not; and the way of life a blind man to one seeing did show.
Therefore
when you see that punishment, rejoice, because in it you are not.
Therefore
says the Scripture, "The just man shall rejoice when he shall have seen
vengeance"
(ver. 10). Not that future punishment; for see what follows: "his hands
he
shall wash in the blood of the sinner." What is this? Let your love
attend. When
man-slayers
are smitten, ought anywise innocent men to go thither and wash their
hands?
But what is, "in the blood of the sinner he shall wash his hands"?
When a
just
man sees the punishment of a sinner, he grows himself; and the death of one is
the
life of another. For if spiritually blood runs from those that within are dead,
do
thou,
seeing such vengeance, wash therein your hands; for the future more cleanly
live.
And how shall he wash his hands, if a just man he is? For what has he on his
hands
to be washed, if just he is? "But the just man of faith shall live."
Romans
1:17 Just men therefore he has called believers: and from the time that
you
have believed, at once you begin to be called just. For there has been made a
remission
of sins. Even if out of that remaining part of your life some sins are
yours,
which cannot but flow in, like water from the sea into the hold;
nevertheless,
because you have believed, when you shall have seen him that
altogether
is turned away from God to be slain in that blindness, there falling upon
him
that fire so that he see not the sun—then do thou that now through faith seest
Christ,
in order that you may see in substance (because the just man lives of faith),
observe
the ungodly man dying, and purge yourself from sins. So you shall wash
in
a manner your hands in the blood of the sinner.
16.
"And a man shall say, If therefore there is fruit to a just man"
(ver. 10).
Behold,
before that there comes that which is promised, before that there is given
life
everlasting, before that ungodly men are cast forth into fire everlasting, here
in
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this
life there is fruit to the just man. What fruit? "In hope rejoicing, in
tribulation
enduring."
Romans 12:12 What fruit to the just man? "We glory in tribulations,
knowing
that tribulation works patience, but patience probation, but probation
hope:
but hope confounds not: because the love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts
through the Holy Spirit, that has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5 Doth he
rejoice
that is a drunkard; and does he not rejoice that is just? In love there is
fruit
to
a just man. Miserable the one, even when he makes himself drunken: blessed
the
other, even when he hungers and thirsts. The one wine-bibbing does gorge, the
other
hope does feed. Let him see therefore the punishment of the other, his own
rejoicing,
and let him think of God. He that has given even now such joy of faith,
of
hope, of charity, of the truth of His Scriptures, what manner of joy is He
making
ready against the end? In the way thus He feeds, in his home how shall He
fill
him? "And a man shall say, If therefore there is fruit to the just
man." Let them
that
see believe, and see, and perceive. Rejoice shall the just man when he shall
have
seen vengeance. But if he has not eyes whence he may see vengeance, he
will
be made sad, and will not be amended by it. But if he sees it, he sees what
difference
there is between the darkened eye of the heart, and the eye enlightened
of
the heart: between the coolness of chastity and the flame of lust, between the
security
of hope and the fear there is in crime. When he shall have seen this, let
him
separate himself, and wash his hands in the blood of the same. Let him profit
by
the comparison, and say, "Therefore there is fruit to the just man:
therefore
there
is a God judging them in the earth." Not yet in that life, not yet in fire
eternal,
not yet in the lower places, but here in earth....
17.
If somewhat too prolix we have been, pardon us. We exhort you in the name of
Christ,
to meditate profitably on those things which you have heard. Because even
to
preach the truth is nought, if heart from tongue dissents; and to hear the
truth
nothing
profits, if a man upon the rock build not. He that builds upon a Rock, is
the
same that hears and does: Matthew 7:24 but he that hears and does not, builds
upon
sand: he that neither hears nor does, builds nothing....
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Exposition
on Psalm 59
The
First Part.
1.
As the Scripture is wont to set mysteries of the Psalms on the titles, and to deck
the
brow of a Psalm with the high announcement of a Mystery, in order that we
that
are about to go in may know (when as it were upon the door-post we have
read
what within is doing) either of whom the house is, or who is the owner of that
estate:
so also in this Psalm there has been written a title, of a title. For it has,
"At
the
end, corrupt not for David himself unto the inscription of the title."
This is that
which
I have spoken of, title of Title. For what the inscription of this title is, which
to
be corrupted he forbids, the Gospel to us does indicate. For when the Lord was
being
crucified, a title by Pilate was inscribed and set, "King of the
Jews,"
Matthew
27:37 in three tongues, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin: John 19:20 which
tongues
in the whole world mostly do prevail.... Therefore "corrupt not" is
most
proper
and prophetic; since indeed even those Jews made suggestion at that time
to
Pilate, and said, "Do not write King of the Jews, but write, that Himself
said
that
He was King of the Jews:" John 19:21 for this title, say they, has
established
Him
King over us. And Pilate, "What I have written, I have written." And
there
was
fulfilled, "corrupt not."
2.
Nor is this the only Psalm which has an inscription of such sort, that the
Title be
not
corrupted. Several Psalms thus are marked on the face, but however in all the
Passion
of the Lord is foretold. Therefore here also let us perceive the Lord's
Passion,
and let there speak to us Christ, Head and Body. So always, or nearly
always,
let us hear the words of Christ from the Psalm, as that we look not only
upon
that Head, the one mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus.
1
Timothy 2:5 ... But let us think of Christ, Head and whole Body, a sort of
entire
Man.
For to us is said, "But you are the Body of Christ and members,"
1
Corinthians 12:27 by the Apostle Paul. If therefore He is Head, we Body; whole
Christ
is Head and Body. For sometimes you find words which do not suit the
Head,
and unless you shall have attached them to the Body, your understanding
will
waver: again you find words which are proper for the Body, and Christ
nevertheless
is speaking. In that place we must have no fear lest a man be
mistaken:
for quickly he proceeds to adapt to the Head, that which he sees is not
proper
for the Body....
3.
Let us hear, therefore, what follows: "When Saul sent and guarded his
house in
order
that he might kill him." This though not to the Cross of the Lord, yet to
the
Passion
of the Lord does belong. For Crucified was Christ, and dead, and buried.
That
sepulchre was therefore as it were the house: to guard which the government
of
the Jews sent, when guards were set to the sepulchre of Christ. Matthew 27:66
There
is indeed a story in the Scripture of the Reigns, of the occasion when Saul
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sent
to guard the house in order that he might kill David. 1 Samuel 19:11 ... But in
like
manner as Saul effected not his purpose of slaying David: so this could not the
government
of the Jews effect, that the testimony of guards sleeping should avail
more
than that of Apostles watching. For what were the guards instructed to say?
We
give to you, they say, as much money as you please; and say ye, that while
you
were sleeping there came His disciples, and took Him away. Behold what sort
of
witnesses of falsehood against truth and the Resurrection of Christ, His
enemies,
through Saul figured, did produce. Enquire, O unbelief, of sleeping
witnesses,
let them reply to you of what was done in the tomb. Who, if they were
sleeping,
whence knew it? If watching, wherefore detained they not the thieves?
Let
him say therefore what follows.
4.
"Deliver me from mine enemies, my God, and from men rising up upon me,
redeem
Thou me" (ver. 1). There has been done this thing in the flesh of Christ,
it
is
being done in us also. For our enemies, to wit the devil and his angels, cease
not
to
rise up upon us every day, and to wish to make sport of our weakness and our
frailness,
by deceptions, by suggestions, by temptations, and by snares of
whatsoever
sort to entangle us, while on earth we are still living. But let our voice
watch
unto God, and cry out in the members of Christ, under the Head that is in
heaven,
"Deliver me from mine enemies, my God, and from men rising up upon
me,
redeem Thou me."
5.
"Deliver me from men working iniquity, and from men of bloods, save Thou
me"
(ver. 2). They indeed were men of bloods, who slew the Just One, in whom
no
guilt they found: they were men of bloods, because when the foreigner washed
his
hands, and would have let go Christ, they cried, "Crucify, Crucify:"
Matthew
27:23 they were men of bloods, on whom when there was being charged
the
crime of the blood of Christ, they made answer, giving it to their posterity to
drink,
"His blood be upon us and upon our sons." Matthew 27:25 But neither
against
His Body did men of bloods cease to rise up; for even after the
Resurrection
and Ascension of Christ, the Church suffered persecutions, and she
indeed
first that grew out of the Jewish people, of which also our Apostles were.
There
at first Stephen was stoned, Acts 7:58 and received that of which he had his
name.
For Stephanus does signify a crown. Lowly stoned but highly crowned.
Secondly,
among the Gentiles rose up kingdoms of Gentiles, before that in them
was
fulfilled that which had been foretold, "There shall adore Him all the
kings of
the
earth, all nations shall serve Him:" and there roared the fierceness of
that
kingdom
against the witnesses of Christ: there was shed largely and frequently the
blood
of Martyrs: wherewith when it had been shed, being as it were sown, the
field
of the Church more productively put forth, and filled the whole world as we
now
behold. From these therefore, men of bloods, is delivered Christ, not only
Head,
but also Body. From men of bloods is delivered Christ, both from them that
have
been, and from them that are, and from them that are to be; there is delivered
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415
Christ,
both He that has gone before, and He that is, and He that is to come. For
Christ
is the whole Body of Christ; and whatsoever good Christians that now are,
and
that have been before us, and that after us are to be, are an whole Christ, who
is
delivered from men of bloods; nor is this voice void, "And from men of
bloods
save
Thou me."
6.
"For behold they have hunted my soul .... There have rushed upon me strong
men"
(ver. 3). We must not however pass on from these strong men: diligently we
must
trace who are the strong men rising up. Strong men, upon whom but upon
weak
men, upon powerless men, upon men not strong? And praised nevertheless
are
the weak men, and condemned are the strong men. If it would be perceived
who
are strong men, at first the devil himself the Lord has called a strong man:
"No
one," He says, "is able to go into the house of a strong man, and to
carry off
his
vessels, unless first he shall have bound the strong man." Matthew 12:29
He
has
bound therefore the strong man with the chains of His dominion: and his
vessels
He has carried off, and His own vessels has made them. For all
unrighteous
men were vessels of the devil .... But there are among mankind certain
strong
men of a blameable and damnable strength, that are confident indeed, but
on
temporal felicity. That man does not seem to you to have been strong, of whom
now
from the Gospel Luke 12:16 has been read: how his estate brought forth
abundance
of fruits, and he being troubled, hit upon the design of rebuilding, so
that,
having pulled down his old barns, he should construct new ones more
capacious,
and, these having been finished, should say to his soul, "You have
many
good things, soul, feast, be merry, be filled."... There are also other
men
strong,
not because of riches, not because of the powers of the body, not because
of
any temporally pre-eminent power of station, but relying on their
righteousness.
This
sort of strong men must be guarded against, feared, repulsed, not imitated: of
men
relying, I say, not on body, not on means, not on descent, not on honour; for
all
such things who would not see to be temporal, fleeting, falling, flying? but
relying
on their own righteousness.... "Wherefore," say they, does your
Master eat
with
publicans and sinners? Matthew 9:11 O you strong men, to whom a Physician
is
not needful! This strength to soundness belongs not, but to insanity. For even
than
men frenzied nothing can be stronger, more mighty they are than whole men:
but
by how much greater their powers are, by so much nearer is their death. May
God
therefore turn away from our imitation these strong men .... The same are
therefore
the strong men, that assailed Christ, commending their own justice. Hear
ye
these strong men: when certain men of
sent
by them to take Christ, and not daring to take Him (because when he would,
then
was He taken, that truly was strong): Why therefore, say they, "could ye
not
take
Him?" And they made answer, "No one of men did ever so speak as
He." And
these
strong men, "Hath by any means any one of the Pharisees believed on Him,
or
any one of the Scribes, but this people knowing not the Law?" John 7:45-49
They
preferred themselves to the sick multitude, that was running to the Physician:
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whence
but because they were themselves strong? and what is worse, by their
strength,
all the multitude also they brought over unto themselves, and slew the
Physician
of all....
7.
What next? "Neither iniquity is mine, nor sin mine, O Lord" (ver. 4).
There
have
rushed on indeed strong men on their own righteousness relying, they have
rushed
on, but sin in me they have not found. For truly those strong men, that is, as
it
were righteous men, on what account would they be able to persecute Christ,
unless
it were as if a sinner? But, however, let them look to it how strong they be,
in
the raging of fever not in the vigour of soundness: let them look to it how
strong
they
be, and how as though just against an unrighteous man they have raged. But,
however,
"neither iniquity is mine, nor sin mine, O Lord. Without iniquity I did
run,
and I was guided." Those strong men therefore could not follow me running:
therefore
a sinner they have deemed me, because my steps they have not seen.
8.
"Without iniquity I did run, and was guided; rise up to meet me, and
see." To
God
is said this. But why? If He meet not, is He unable to see? It is just as if
you
were
walking in a road, and from afar by some one you could not be recognised,
you
would call to him and wouldest say, Meet me, and see how I am walking; for
when
from afar you espy me, my steps you are not able to see. So also unless God
were
to meet, would He not see how without iniquity he was guided, and how
without
sin he was running? This interpretation indeed we can also accept,
namely,
"Rise up to meet me," as if "help me." But that which he
has added, "and
see,"
must be understood as, make it to be seen that I run, make it to be seen that I
am
guided: according to that figure wherein this also has been said to Abraham,
"Now
I know that you fear God." Genesis 22:12 God says, "Now I know:"
whence,
but because I have made you to know? For unknown to himself every one
is
before the questioning of temptation: just as of himself Peter Matthew 26:35-69
in
his confidence was ignorant, and by denying learned what kind of powers he
had,
in his very stumbling he perceived that it was falsely he had been confident:
he
wept, and in weeping he earned profitably to know what he was, and to be what
he
was not. Therefore Abraham when tried, became known to himself: and it was
said
by God, "Now I know," that is, now I have made you to know. In like
manner
as
glad is the day because it makes men glad; and sad is bitterness because it
makes
sad one tasting thereof: so God's seeing is making to see. "Rise up,
therefore,"
he says, "to meet me, and see" (ver. 5). What is, "and
see"? And help
me,
that is, in those men, in order that they may see my course, may follow me; let
not
that seem to them to be crooked which is straight, let not that seem to them to
be
curved which keeps the rule of truth.
9.
Something else I am admonished to say in this place of the loftiness of our
Head
Himself:
for He was made weak even unto death, and He took on Him the
weakness
of flesh, in order that the chickens of Jerusalem He might gather under
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His
wings, like a hen showing herself weak with her little ones. Matthew 23:37
For
have we not observed this thing in some bird at some time or other, even in
those
which build nests before our eyes, as the house-sparrows, as swallows, so to
speak,
our annual guests, as storks, as various sorts of birds, which before our eyes
build
nests, and hatch eggs, feed chickens, as the very doves which daily we see;
and
some bird to become weak with her chickens, have we not known, have we
not
looked upon, have we not seen? In what way does a hen experience this
weakness?
Surely a known fact I am speaking of, which in our sight is daily taking
place.
How her voice grows hoarse, how her whole body is made languid? The
wings
droop, the feathers are loosened, and you see around the chickens some sick
thing,
and this is maternal love which is found as weakness. Why was it therefore,
but
for this reason, that the Lord willed to be as a Hen, saying in the Holy
Scripture,
"
even
as a hen her chickens under her wings, and you have not been willing." But
He
has gathered all nations, like as a hen her chickens....
10.
"And You, Lord God of virtues, God of Israel." Thou God of
thought
to be but God of one nation, which worships You, when all nations
worship
idols, Thou God of Israel, "Give heed unto the visiting all nations."
Fulfilled
be that prophecy wherein Isaiah in Your person speaks to Your Church,
Your
holy City, that barren one of whom many more are the sons of Her forsaken
than
of her that has a husband. To Her indeed has been said, "Rejoice, thou
barren,
that
bearest not," Isaiah 54:1 etc., more than of the Jewish nation which has a
Husband,
which has received the Law, more than of that nation which had a
visible
king. For your king is hidden, and more sons to you there are by a hidden
Bridegroom....
The Prophet adds, "Enlarge the place of Your tabernacle, and Your
courts
fix thou: there is no cause for you to spare, extend further your cords, and
strong
stakes set thou again and again on the right and on the left." Isaiah 54:2
Upon
the right keep good men, on the left keep evil men, Matthew 25:33 until
there
come the fan: Matthew 3:12 occupy nevertheless all nations; bidden to the
marriage
be good men and evil men, filled be the marriage with guests;
Matthew
22:9 it is the office of servants to bid, of the Lord to sever. "Cities
which
had
been forsaken You shall inhabit:" Isaiah 54:3 forsaken of God, forsaken of
Prophets,
forsaken of Apostles, forsaken of the Gospel, full of demons. For You
shall
prevail; and blush not because abominable You have been. Therefore though
there
have risen up upon you strong men, blush not: when against the name of
Christ
laws were enacted, when ignominy and infamy it was to be a Christian.
"Blush
not because abominable You have been: for confusion for everlasting You
shall
forget, of the ignominy of Your widowhood You shall not be mindful."...
11.
"Have not pity upon all men that work iniquity." Here evidently He is
terrifying.
Whom would He not terrify? What man falling back upon his own
conscience
would not tremble? Which even if to itself it is conscious of godliness,
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418
strange
if it be not in some sort conscious of iniquity. For whosoever does sin, also
does
iniquity. 1 John 3:4 "For if You shall have marked iniquities, O Lord,
what
man
shall abide it?" And nevertheless a true saying it is, and not said to no
purpose,
and neither is nor will it be possible to be void, "Have not pity upon all
men
that work iniquity." But He had pity even upon Paul, who at first as Saul
wrought
iniquity. For what good thing did he, whence he might deserve of God?
Did
he not hate His Saints unto death? Acts 9:1 did he not bear letters from the
chief
of the priests, to the end that wheresoever he might find Christians, to
punishment
he should hurry them? When bent upon this, when thither proceeding,
breathing
and panting slaughter, as the Scripture testified of him, was he not from
Heaven
with a mighty voice summoned, thrown down, raised up; blinded,
lightened;
slain, made alive; destroyed, restored? In return for what merit? Let us
say
nothing; himself rather let us hear: "I that before have been," he
says, "a
blasphemer,
and persecutor; and injurious, but mercy I have obtained."
1
Timothy 1:13 Surely "You would not have pity upon all men that work
iniquity:"
this in two ways may be understood: either that in fact not any sins does
God
leave unpunished; or that there is a sort of iniquity, on the workers whereof
God
has indeed no pity.
12.
All iniquity, be it little or great, punished must needs be, either by man
himself
repenting,
or by God avenging. For even he that repents punishes himself.
Therefore,
brethren, let us punish our own sins, if we seek the mercy of God. God
cannot
have mercy on all men working iniquity as if pandering to sins, or not
rooting
out sins. In a word, either you punish, or He punishes....
13.
But let us see now another way in which this sentence may be understood.
There
is a certain iniquity, on the worker whereof it cannot be that God have
mercy.
You enquire, perchance, what that is? It is the defending of sins. When a
man
defends his sins, great iniquity he works: that thing he is defending which
God
hates. And see how perversely, how iniquitously. Whatever of good he has
done,
to himself he would have it to be ascribed; whatever of evil, to God. For in
this
manner men defend sins in the person of God, which is a worse
sin....
Therefore you defend your sin in such sort, that you lay blame on God. So
the
guilty is excused, so that the Judge may be charged. However on men working
iniquity
God has no pity at all.
14.
"Let them be converted at the evening" (ver. 6). Of certain men he is
speaking
that
were once workers of iniquity, and once darkness, being converted in the
evening.
What is, "in the evening"? Afterward. What is "at the
evening"? Later.
For
before, before that they crucified Christ, they ought to have acknowledged
their
Physician. Wherefore, when He had been crucified—rising again, into
Heaven
ascending—after that He sent His Holy Spirit, wherewith were fulfilled
they
that were in one house, and they began to speak with the tongues of all
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419
nations,
there feared the crucifiers of Christ; they were pricked through with their
consciences,
they besought counsel of safety from the Apostles, they heard,
"Repent,
and be baptized each one of you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and
your sins shall be remitted unto you." Acts 2:38 After the slaying of
Christ,
after
the shedding of the blood of Christ, remitted are your sins.... "Let these
be
converted,"
therefore, they also "at evening." Let them yearn for the grace of
God,
perceive
themselves to be sinners; let those strong men be made weak, those rich
men
be made poor, those just men acknowledge themselves sinners, those lions be
made
dogs. "Let them be converted at evening, and suffer hunger as dogs. And
they
shall go around the city." What city? That world, which in certain places
the
Scripture
calls "the city of standing round:" that is, because in all nations
everywhere
the world had encompassed the one nation of Jews, where such words
were
being spoken, and it was called "the city of standing round." Around
this city
shall
go those men, now having become hungry dogs. In what manner shall they
go
around? By preaching. Saul out of a wolf was made a dog at evening, that is,
being
late converted by the crumbs of his Lord, in His grace he ran, and went
around
the city.
15.
"Behold, themselves shall speak in their mouth, and a sword is on the lips
of
them"
(ver. 7). Here is that sword twice whetted, whereof the Apostle says, "And
the
sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." Ephesians 6:17 Wherefore
twice
whetted? Wherefore, but because smiting out of both Testaments? With this
sword
were slain those whereof it was said to Peter, "Slay, and eat." Acts
10:13
"And
a sword is on the lips of them. For who has heard?" They all speak in
their
mouth,
"Who has heard?" That is, they shall be angry with men that are slow
to
believe.
They that a little before were even themselves unwilling to believe, do
feel
disgust from men not believing. And truly, brethren, so it is. You see a man
slow
before he is made a Christian; you cry to him daily, hardly he is converted:
suppose
him to be converted, and then he would have all men to be Christians, and
wonders
that not yet they are. It has chanced out to him at evening to have been
converted:
but because he has been made hungering like a dog, he has also on his
lips
a sword; he says, "Who has heard?" What is, "Who has
heard?" "Who has
believed
our hearing, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"
Isaiah
53:1 "For who has heard?" The Jews believe not: they have turned them
to
the
nations, and have preached. The Jews did not believe; and nevertheless
through
believing Jews the Gospel went around the city, and they said, "For who
has
heard?" "And You, Lord, shall deride them" (ver. 8). All nations
are to be
Christian,
and you say, "Who has heard?" What is, "shall deride them"?
"As
nothing
You shall esteem all nations." Nothing for You it shall be; because a most
easy
thing it will be for all nations to believe in You.
16.
"My strength to You I will keep" (ver. 9). For those strong men have
fallen for
this
reason; because their strength to You they have not kept: that is, they that
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Psalm 59 420
upon
me have risen up and rushed, on themselves have relied. But I "my strength
to
You will keep:" because if I withdraw, I fall; if I draw near, stronger I
am made.
For
see, brethren, what there is in a human soul. It has not of itself light, has
not of
itself
powers: but all that is fair in a soul, is virtue and wisdom: but it neither is
wise
for itself, nor strong for itself, nor itself is light to itself, nor itself is
virtue to
itself.
There is a certain origin and fountain of virtue, there is a certain root of
wisdom,
there is a certain, so to speak, if this also must be said, region of
unchangeable
truth: from this the soul withdrawing is made dark, drawing near is
made
light. "Draw near to Him, and be made light:" because by withdrawing
you
are
made dark. Therefore, "my strength, I will keep to You:" not from You
will I
withdraw,
not on myself will I rely. "My strength, to You I will keep: because, O
God,
my lifter up You are." For where was I, and where am I? Whence have You
taken
me up? What iniquities of mine have You remitted? Where was I lying? To
what
have I been raised up? I ought to have remembered these things: because in
another
Psalm is said, "For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the
Lord
has taken me unto Him."
17.
"My God, the mercy of Him shall come before me" (ver. 10). Behold
what is,
"My
strength, to You I will keep:" on myself I will in no ways at all rely.
For what
good
thing have I brought, that you should have mercy on me, and shouldest
justify
me? What in me have You found, save sins alone? Of Thine there is
nothing
else but the nature which Thou hast created: the other things are my own
evil
things which You have blotted out. I have not first risen up to You, but to
awake
me You have come: for "His mercy shall come before me." Before that
anything
of good I shall do, "His mercy shall come before me." What answer
here
shall
the unhappy Pelagius make? "My God has shown to me among mine
enemies"
(ver. 11). How great mercy He has put forth concerning me, among mine
enemies
He has showed. Let one gathered compare himself with men forsaken,
and
one elect with men rejected: let the vessel of mercy compare itself with the
vessels
of wrath; and let it see how out of one lump God has made one vessel unto
honour,
another unto dishonour.
"For
so God, willing to show wrath, and to manifest His power, has brought in, in
much
patience, the vessels of wrath, which have been perfected unto perdition."
Romans
9:22 And wherefore this? "In order that He might make known His riches
upon
the vessels of mercy." If therefore vessels of wrath He has brought in,
wherein
He might make known His riches upon the vessels of mercy, most rightly
has
been said, "His mercy shall come before me: My God has showed to me
among
mine enemies:" that is however great mercy He has had concerning me, to
me
He has showed it among these men concerning whom He has not had mercy.
For
unless the debtor be in suspense, he is less grateful to him by whom the debt
has
been forgiven. "My God has showed to me among mine enemies."
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18.
But of the enemies themselves what? "Slay them not, lest sometime they
forget
Your
law." He is making request for his enemies, he is fulfilling the
commandment....
Slay not them of whom the sins Thou slayest. But what is it to
be
slain? To forget the law of the Lord. It is real death, to go into the pit of
sin; this
indeed
may be also understood of the Jews. Why of the Jews, "Slay not them, lest
sometime
they forget Your law"? Those very enemies of mine, that have slain me,
do
not Thou slay. Let the nation of the Jews remain: certes conquered it has been
by
the Romans, certes effaced is the city of them, Jews are not admitted into
their
city,
and yet Jews there are. For all those provinces by the Romans have been
subjugated.
Who now can distinguish the nations in the
from
the other, inasmuch as all have become Romans and all are called Romans?
The
Jews nevertheless remain with a mark; nor in such sort conquered have they
been,
as that by the conquerors they have been swallowed up. Not without reason
is
there that Cain, on whom, when he had slain his brother, God set a mark in
order
that no one should slay him. Genesis 4:15 This is the mark which the Jews
have:
they hold fast by the remnant of their law, they are circumcised, they keep
Sabbaths,
they sacrifice the Passover; they eat unleavened bread. These are
therefore
Jews, they have not been slain, they are necessary to believing nations.
Why
so? In order that He may show to us among our enemies His mercy. "My
God
has shown to me in mine enemies." He shows His mercy to the wild-olive
grafted
on branches that have been cut off because of pride. Behold where they lie,
that
were proud, behold where you have been grafted, that lied: and be not thou
proud,
lest you should deserve to be cut off.
19.
"Scatter them abroad in Your virtue" (ver. 11). Now this thing has
been done:
throughout
all nations there have been scattered abroad the Jews, witnesses of
their
own iniquity and our truth. They have themselves writings, out of which has
been
prophesied Christ, and we hold Christ. And if sometime perchance any
heathen
man shall have doubted, when we have told him the prophecies of Christ,
at
the clearness whereof he is amazed, and wondering has supposed that they were
written
by ourselves, then out of the copies of the Jews we prove, how this thing
so
long time before had been foretold. See after what sort by means of our enemies
we
confound other enemies. "Scatter them abroad in Your virtue:" take
away from
them
"virtue," take away from them their strength. "And bring them
down, my
protector,
O Lord." "The transgressions of their mouth, the discourse of their
lips:
and
let them be taken in their pride: and out of cursing and lying shall be
declared
consummations,
in the anger of consummation, and they shall not be" (ver. 12).
Obscure
words these are, and I fear lest they be not well instilled....
The
Second Part.
1.
For, behold, the Jews are enemies, whom this Psalm seems to imply; the law of
God
they hold, and therefore of them has been said, "Slay not them, lest
sometime
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Psalm 59
422
they
forget Your law:" in order that the nation of Jews might remain, and by it
remaining
the number of Christians might increase. Throughout all nations they
remain
certainly, and Jews they are, nor have they ceased to be what they were:
that
is, this nation has not so yielded to Roman institutions, as to have lost the
form
of Jews; but has been subjected to the Romans so as that it still retains its
own
laws; which are the laws of God. But what in their case has been done?
"You
tithe
mint and cummin, and have forsaken the weightier matters of the law, mercy,
and
judgment, straining a gnat, but swallowing a camel." Matthew 23:23-24 This
to
them the Lord says. And in truth so they are; they hold the law, hold the
Prophets;
read all things, sing all things: the light of the Prophets therein they see
not,
which is Christ Jesus. Not only Him now they see not, when he is sitting in
Heaven:
but not even at that time saw they Him, when among them humble He
was
walking, and they were made guilty by shedding the blood of the Same; but
not
all. This even today we commend to the notice of your Love. Not all: because
many
of them were turned to Him whom they slew, and by believing on Him, they
obtained
pardon even for the shedding of His blood: and they have given an
example
for men; how they ought not to despair that sin of whatsoever kind would
be
remitted to them, since even the killing of Christ was remitted to them
confessing....
2.
What in them will You slay? The Crucify, Crucify, which they cried out, not
them
that cried out. For they willed to blot out, cut off, destroy Christ: but Thou,
by
raising to life Christ, whom they willed to destroy, dost slay the
"transgressions
of
their mouth, the discourse of their lips." For in that He whom they cried
out
should
be destroyed, lives, they are taken with dread: and that He whom on earth
they
despised, in heaven is adored by all nations, they wonder: thus are there slain
the
transgressions of them, and the discourse of their lips. What is, "let
them be
taken
in their pride"? Because to no purpose have strong men rushed on, and it
has
fallen
out to them as it were to think themselves to have done somewhat, and they
have
prevailed against the Lord. They were able to crucify a man, weakness might
prevail
and virtue be slain; and they thought themselves somewhat, as it were
strong
men, as it were mighty men, as it were prevailing, as it were a lion prepared
for
prey, as it were fat bulls, as of them in another place he makes mention:
"Fat
bulls
have beset me." But what have they done in the case of Christ? Not life,
but
death
they have slain .... And what now has come to pass in those men that have
been
converted? For it was told to them that He whom they slew rose again. They
believed
Him to have risen again, because they saw that He, being in Heaven,
thence
sent the Holy Spirit, and filled those that on Him believed; and they found
themselves
to have condemned nought, and to have done nought. Their doing
issued
in emptiness, the sin remained. Because therefore the doing was made void,
but
the sin remained upon the doers; they were taken in their pride, they saw
themselves
under their iniquity. It remained therefore for them to confess the sin,
and
for Him to pardon, that had given Himself up to sinners, and to forgive His
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Psalm 59
423
death,
having been slain by men dead, and making alive men dead. They were
taken
therefore in their pride.
3.
"And out of cursing and lying shall be declared consummations, in anger of
consummation,
and they shall not be." This too with difficulty is understood, to
what
is joined the "and they shall not be." What shall they not be? Let us
therefore
examine
the context above: when they shall have been taken in their pride, "there
shall
be declared out of cursing and lying consummations." What are
consummations?
Perfections: for to be consummated, is to be perfected. One thing
it
is to be consummated, another thing to be consumed. For a thing is
consummated
which is so finished as that it is perfected: a thing is consumed
which
is so finished that it is not. Pride would not suffer a man to be perfected,
nothing
so much hinders perfection. For let your Love attend a little to what I am
saying;
and see an evil very pernicious, very much to be guarded against. What
sort
of evil do ye think it is? How long could I enlarge upon how much evil there
is
in pride? The devil on that account alone is to be punished. Certes he is the
chief
of
all sinners: certes he is the tempter to sin: to him is not ascribed adultery,
not
wine-bibbing,
not fornication, not the robbing of others' goods: by pride alone he
fell.
And since pride's companion is envy, it must needs be that a proud man
should
envy .... In a word, all vices in evil-doings are to be feared, pride in well-
doings
is more to be feared. It is no wonder, then, that so humble is the Apostle, as
to
say, "When I am made weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:10 For
lest he
should
himself be tempted by this sin, what sort of medicine does he say was
applied
to him against swelling by the Physician, who knew what He was healing?
"Lest
by the greatness," he says, "of the revelations I should be exalted,
there was
given
to me a thorn of my flesh, the angel of Satan, to buffet me: wherefore thrice
the
Lord I besought, that it should depart from me: and He said to me, My grace is
sufficient
for you, for virtue in weakness is made perfect." 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
See
what the consummations are. An Apostle, the teacher of Gentiles, father of the
faithful
through the Gospel, received a thorn of the flesh whereby he might be
buffeted.
Which of us would dare to say this, unless he had not been ashamed to
confess
this? For if we shall have said that Paul had not suffered this; while to him
as
it were honour we give, a liar we make him. But because truthful he is, and
truth
he has spoken; it behoves us to believe that there was given to him an angel
of
Satan, lest by the greatness of the revelations he should be exalted. Behold
how
much
to be feared is the serpent of pride....
4.
What is, "in the anger of consummation shall be declared
consummations"?
There
is an anger of consummation, and there is an anger of consuming. For every
vengeance
of God is called anger: sometimes God avenges, to the end that He may
make
perfect; sometimes He avenges, to the end that He may condemn. How does
He
avenge, to the end that He may make perfect? "He scourges every son whom
He
receives." Hebrews 12:6 How does He avenge, to the end that He may
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condemn?
When He shall have set ungodly men on the left hand, and shall have
said
to them, "Go ye into fire everlasting, that has been prepared for the
devil and
his
angels." Matthew 25:41 This is the anger of consuming, not that of
consummation.
But "there shall be declared consummations in the anger of
consummation;"
it shall be preached by the Apostles, that "where sin has
abounded,
grace shall much more abound," Romans 5:20 and the weakness of man
has
belonged to the healing of humility. Those men thinking of this, and finding
out
and confessing their iniquities, "shall not be." "Shall not
be" what? In their
pride.
5.
"And they shall know how God shall have dominion of Jacob, and of the ends
of
the earth" (ver. 13). For before they thought themselves just men, because
the
Jewish
nation had received the Law, because it had kept the commandments of
God:
it is proved to them that it has not kept them, since in the very
commandments
of God Christ it perceived not, because "blindness in part has
happened
to
not
to despise the Gentiles, of whom they deemed as of dogs and sinners. For just
as
alike they have been found in iniquity, so alike they will attain unto
salvation.
"Not
only to Jews," says the Apostle, "but also even to Gentiles." Romans
2:10
For
to this end the Stone which the builders set at nought, has even been made for
the
Head of the corner, in order that two in itself It might join: for a corner
does
unite
two walls. The Jews thought themselves exalted and great: of the Gentiles
they
thought as weak, as sinners, as the servants of demons, as the worshippers of
idols,
and yet in both was there iniquity. Even the Jews have been proved sinners;
because
"there is none that does good, there is not even so much as one:"
they
have
laid down their pride, and have not envied the salvation of the Gentiles,
because
they have known their own and their weakness to be alike: and in the
Corner
Stone being united, they have together worshipped the Lord....
6.
"They shall be converted at evening" (ver. 14): that is, even if
late, that is, after
the
slaying of our Lord Jesus Christ: "They shall be converted at evening: and
hereafter
they shall suffer hunger as dogs." But "as dogs," not as sheep
or calves:
"as
dogs," as Gentiles, as sinners; because they too have known their sin that
thought
themselves righteous .... It is a good thing therefore for a sinner to be
humbled;
and no one is more incurable than he that thinks himself whole. "And
they
shall go around the city." Already we have explained "city;" it
is the "city of
standing
round;" all nations.
7.
"They shall be scattered abroad in order that they may eat" (ver.
15); that is, in
order
that they may gain others, in order that into their Body they may change
believers.
"But if they shall not be filled, they shall murmur." Because above
also
he
had spoken of the murmur of them, saying, "For who has heard?"
"And You, O
Lord,"
he says, "shall deride them, saying, Who has heard?" Wherefore?
Because,
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as
nothing You shall count all nations. Let the Psalm be concluded. See ye the
Corner
Ephesians 2:20 exulting, now with both walls rejoicing. The Jews were
proud,
humbled they have been; Gentiles were despairing, raised up they have
been:
let them come to the Corner, there let them meet, there run together, there
find
the kiss of peace; from different parts let them come, but with differing not
come,
those of Circumcision, these of uncircumcision. Far apart were the walls,
but
before that to the Corner they came: but in the Corner let them hold
themselves,
and now let the whole Church from both walls, say what? "But I will
sing
of Your power, and I will exult in the morning of Your mercy" (ver. 16).
In
the
morning when temptations have been overcome, in the morning when the
night
of this world shall have passed away; in the morning when no longer the
lyings
in wait of robbers and of the devil and of his angels we dread, in the
morning
when no longer by the lamp of prophecy we walk, but Himself the Word
of
God as it were a Sun we contemplate. "And I will exult in the morning of
Your
mercy."
With reason in another Psalm is said, "In the morning I will stand by You,
and
I will meditate." With reason also of the Lord Himself the Resurrection
was at
dawn,
that there should be fulfilled that which has been said in another Psalm,
"In
the
evening shall tarry weeping and in the morning exultation." For at even
the
disciples
mourned our Lord Jesus Christ as dead, at dawn at Him rising again they
exulted.
"For You have become my taker up, and my refuge in the day of my
tribulation."
8.
"My Helper, to You I will play, because Thou, O God, art my taker up"
(ver.
17).
What was I, unless You succoured? How much despaired of was I, unless
You
healed? Where was I lying, unless You came to me? Certes with a huge
wound
I was endangered, but that wound of mine did call for an Almighty
Physician.
To an Almighty Physician nothing is incurable.... Lastly, thinking of all
good
things whatsoever we may have, either in nature or in purpose, or in
conversion
itself, in faith, in hope, in charity, in good morals, in justice, in fear of
God;
all these to be only by His gifts, he has thus concluded: "My God is my
mercy:"
He being filled with the good things of God has not found what he might
call
his God, save "his mercy." O name, under which no one must despair!
If thou
say,
my salvation, I perceive that He gives salvation; if thou say, my refuge, I
perceive
that you take refuge in Him; if thou say, my strength, I perceive that He
gives
to you strength: "my mercy," is what? All that I am is of Your
mercy....
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426
Exposition on
Psalm 60
1.
David the king was one man, but not one man he figured; sometimes to wit he
figured
the Church of many men consisting, extended even unto the ends of the
earth:
but sometimes One Man he figured, Him he figured that is Mediator of God
and
men, the Man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5 In this Psalm therefore, or rather in
this
Psalm's title, certain victorious actions of David are spoken of:... "To
the end,
in
behalf of those men that shall be changed unto the title's inscription, unto
teaching
for David himself, when he burned up Mesopotamia in
Sobal,
and turned Joab, and smote
thousand."
We read of these things in the books of the Reigns, that all those
persons
whom he has named, were defeated by David, that is,
done,
so there they have been written, so they are read: let him read that will.
Nevertheless,
as the Prophetic Spirit in the Psalms' titles is wont to depart
somewhat
from the expression of things done, and to say something which in
history
is not found, and hence rather to admonish us that titles of this kind have
been
written not that we may know things done, but that things future may be
prefigured
.... But here this thing is inserted for this especial reason, that there it is
not
written that he burned up Mesopotamia in
us
begin to examine these things after the significations of things future, and to
bring
out the dimness of shadows into the light of the word.
2.
What is "to the end" ye know. For "the end of the law is
Christ." Those that are
changed
ye know. For who but they that do pass from old life into new?... "For
you
were sometime darkness, but now light in the Lord." Ephesians 5:8 But they
are
changed "into the title's inscription,"...who into the
over
from the kingdom of the devil. It is well that they are changed unto this
title's
inscription.
But they are changed, as follows, "unto teaching." He added,
"for
David
himself unto teaching:" that is, are changed not for themselves, but for
David
himself, and are changed unto teaching.... When therefore would Christ
have
changed us, unless He had done that which He spoke of, "Fire I have come
to
send
into the world"? Luke 12:49 If therefore Christ came to send into the
world
fire,
to wit to its health and profit, we must inquire not how He is to send the
world
into
fire, but how into the world fire. Inasmuch as therefore He came to send fire
into
the world, let us inquire what is
to
the Hebrew language, wherein first this Scripture was written.
they
say is interpreted, "exalted calling." Now the whole world by calling
has been
exalted,
and
humbled. Sobal is interpreted "empty antiquity." Thanks to Christ
that has
burned
her. Whenever old bushes are burned up, green places succeed; and more
speedily
and more plentifully, and more fully green, fresh ones spring out, when
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fire
has gone before them to the burning up of the old. Let not therefore the fire
of
Christ
be feared, hay it consumes. "For all flesh is hay, and all the glory of
man as
flower
of hay." Isaiah 40:6 He burns up therefore those things with that fire.
"And
turned
Joab." Joab is interpreted enemy. There was turned an enemy, as you will
understand
it. If turned unto flight, the devil it is: if converted to the faith, a
Christian
it is. How unto flight? From the heart of a Christian: "The Prince of this
world,"
He says, "now has been cast out." John 12:31 But how can a Christian
turned
to the Lord be an enemy turned? Because he has become a believer that had
been
an enemy. "Smote
ought
to be smitten. For why should one live earthly, that ought to live heavenly?
There
has been slain therefore life earthly, let there live life heavenly. "For
as we
have
borne the image of the earthly, let us bear also the image of Him that is from
Heaven."
1 Corinthians 15:49 See it slain: "Mortify your members which are upon
earth."
Colossians 3:5 But when he had smitten
in
the valley of salt-pits." Twelve thousand is a perfect number, to which
perfect
number
also the number of the twelve Apostles is ascribed: for not to no purpose
is
it, but because through the whole world was to be sent the Word. But the Word
Ezekiel
37:9 of God, which is Christ, is in clouds, that is, in the preachers of truth.
But
the world of four parts does consist. The four parts thereof are exceeding well
known
to all, and often in the Scriptures they are mentioned: they are the same as
the
name of the four winds, East, West, North, and South. To all these four parts
was
sent the Word, so that in the Trinity all might be called. The number twelve
four
times three do make. With reason therefore twelve thousand earthly things
were
smitten, the whole world was smitten: for from the whole world was chosen
out
the Church, mortified from earthly life. Why "in the valley of
salt-pits"? A
valley
is humility: salt-pits signify savour. For many men are humbled, but
emptily
and foolishly, in empty oldness they are humbled. One suffers tribulation
for
money, suffers tribulation for temporal honour, suffers tribulation for the
comforts
of this life; he is to suffer tribulation and to be humbled: why not for the
sake
of God? why not for the sake of Christ? why not for the savour of salt? Do
you
not know that to you has been said, "You are the salt of earth," and,
"If the salt
shall
have been spoiled, for no other thing will it be of use, but to be cast
out"?
Matthew
5:13 A good thing it is therefore wisely to be humbled. Behold now are
not
heretics being humbled? Have not laws been made even by men to condemn
them,
against whom divine laws do reign, which even before had condemned
them?
Behold they are humbled, behold they are put to flight, behold persecution
they
suffer, but without savour; for folly, for emptiness. For now the salt has been
spoiled:
therefore it has been cast out, to be trodden down of men. We have heard
the
title of the Psalm, let us hear also the words of the Psalm.
3.
"God, You have driven us back, and hast destroyed us" (ver. 1). Is
that David
speaking
that smote, that burned up, that defeated, and not they to whom He did
these
things, that is to say, their being smitten and driven back, that were evil
men,
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and
again their being made alive and returning in order that they might be good
men?
That destruction indeed that David made, strong of hand, our Christ, whose
figure
that man was bearing; He did those things, He made this destruction with
His
sword and with His fire: for both He brought into this world. Both "Fire I
have
come
to send into the world," Luke 12:49 you have in the Gospel: and "A
sword I
have
come to send into the earth," Matthew 10:34 you have in the Gospel. He
brought
in fire, whereby might be burned up Mesopotamia in
Sobal:
He brought in a sword whereby might be smitten
destruction
was made for the sake of "those that are changed unto the title's
inscription."
Hear we therefore the voice of them: to their health smitten they
were,
being raised up let them speak. Let them say, therefore, that are changed into
something
better, changed unto the title's inscription, changed unto teaching for
David
himself; let them say, "You have had mercy upon us." You have
destroyed
us,
in order that You might build us; You have destroyed us that were ill built,
hast
destroyed
empty oldness; in order that there may be a building unto a new man,
building
to abide for everlasting....
4.
"You have moved the earth, and hast troubled it" (ver. 2). How has
the earth
been
troubled? In the conscience of sinners. Whither go we? Whither flee we,
when
this sword has been brandished, "Repent, for near has drawn the kingdom of
Heaven"?
Matthew 3:2 "Heal the crushings thereof, for moved it has been."
Unworthy
it is to be healed, if moved it has not been: but you speak, preachest,
threatenest
us with God, of coming judgment holdest not your peace, of the
commandment
of God you warn, from these things you abstain not; and he that
hears,
if he fears not, if he is not moved, is not worthy to be healed. Another hears,
is
moved, is stung, smites the breast, sheds tears....
5.
The first labour is, that you should be displeasing to yourself, that sins you
should
battle out, that you should be changed into something better: the second
labour,
in return for your having been changed, is to bear the tribulations and
temptations
of this world, and amid them to hold on even unto the end. Of these
things
therefore when he was speaking, while pointing out such things, he adds
what?
"You have shown to Your people hard things" (ver. 3): to Your people
now,
made
tributary after the victory of David. "You have shown to Your people hard
things."
Wherein? In persecutions which the
so
much blood of martyrs was spilled. "You have given us to drink of the wine
of
goading."
"Of goading" is what? Not of killing. For it was not a killing that
destroys,
but a medicine that smarts. "You have given us to drink of the wine of
goading."
6.
Wherefore this? "You have given to men fearing You, a sign that they
should
flee
from the face of the bow" (ver. 4). Through tribulations temporal, he
says,
You
have signified to Your own to flee from the wrath of fire everlasting. For,
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429
says
the Apostle Peter, "Time it is that Judgment begin with the House of
God."
1
Peter 4:17 And exhorting the Martyrs to endurance, when the world should rage,
when
slaughters should be made at the hands of persecutors, when far and wide
blood
of believers should be spilled, when in chains, in prisons, in tortures, many
hard
things Christians should suffer, in these hard things, I say, lest they should
faint,
Peter says to them, "Time it is that Judgment begin with the House of
God,"
etc.
What therefore is to be in the Judgment? The bow is bended, still in menacing
posture
it is, not yet in aiming. And see what there is in the bow: is there not an
arrow
to be shot forward? The string however is stretched back in a contrary
direction
to that in which it is going to be shot; and the more the stretching thereof
has
gone backward, with the greater swiftness it starts forward. What is it that I
have
said? The more the Judgment is deferred, with so much the greater swiftness
it
is to come. Therefore even for temporal tribulations to God let us render
thanks,
because
He has given to His people a sign, "that they should flee from the face of
the
bow:" in order that His faithful ones having been exercised in
tribulations
temporal,
may be worthy to avoid the condemnation of fire everlasting, which is to
find
out all them that do not believe these things.
7.
"That Your beloved may be delivered: save me with Your right hand, and
hearken
unto me" (ver. 5). With Your right hand save me, Lord: so save me as that
at
the right hand I may stand. Not any safety temporal I require, in this matter
Your
Will be done. For a time what is good for us we are utterly ignorant: for
"what
we should pray for as we ought we know not:" Romans 8:26 but "save me
with
Your right hand," so that even if in this time I suffer sundry
tribulations,
when
the night of all tribulations has been spent, on the right hand I may be found
among
the sheep, not on the left hand among the goats. Matthew 25:33 "And
hearken
unto me." Because now I am deserving that which You are willing to
give;
not "with the words of my transgressions" I am crying through the
day, so
that
Thou hearken not, and "in the night so that Thou hearken not," and
that not for
folly
to me," but truly for my warning, by adding savour from the valley of
salt-
pits,
so that in tribulation I may know what to ask: but I ask life everlasting;
therefore
hearken unto me, because Your right hand I ask....
8.
"God has spoken in His Holy One" (ver. 6) .... In what Holy One of
His? "God
was
in Christ reconciling the world to Himself." 2 Corinthians 5:19 In that
Holy
One,
of whom elsewhere you have heard, "O God, in the Holy One is Your
way."
"I
will rejoice and will divide Sichima .... and the valley of tabernacles I will
measure
out." Sichima is interpreted shoulders. But according to history, Jacob
returning
from Laban his father-in-law with all his kindred, hid the idols in
Sichima
Genesis 35:4 which he had from
dwelled,
and at length was coming from thence. But tabernacles he made there
because
of his sheep and herds, and called the place Tabernacles. And these I will
divide,
says the Church. What is this, "I will divide Sichima"? If to the
story where
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430
the
idols were hidden is the reference, the Gentiles it signifies; I divide the
Gentiles.
I divide, is what? "For not in all men is there faith." I divide, is
what?
Some
will believe, others will not believe .... The shoulders are divided, in order
that
their sins may burthen some men, while others may take up the burden of
Christ.
For godly shoulders He was requiring when He said, "For My yoke is
gentle,
and My burden is light." Matthew 11:30 Another burden oppresses and
loads
you, but Christ's burden relieves you: another burden has weight, Christ's
burden
has wings. For even if thou pull off the wings from a bird, thou dost
remove
a kind of weight; and the more weight you have taken away, the more on
earth
it will abide. She that you have chosen to disburden lies there: she flies not,
because
you have taken off a weight: let there be given back the weight, and she
flies.
Such is Christ's burden; let men carry it, and not be idle: let them not be
heeded
that will not bear it; let them bear it that will, and they shall find how
light
it
is, how sweet, how pleasant, how ravishing unto Heaven, and from earth how
transporting
.... Perchance because of the sheep of Jacob, "the valley of
Tabernacles"
is to be understood of the nation of the Jews, and the same is
divided:
for they have passed from thence that have believed, the rest have
remained
without.
9.
"Mine is Galaad" (ver. 7). These names are read in the Scriptures of
God.
Galaad
has the voice of an interpretation of its own and of a great Mystery: for it is
interpreted
"the heap of testimony." How great a heap of testimony in the
Martyrs?
"Mine
is Galaad," mine is a heap of testimony, mine are the true Martyrs ....
Then
meanly
esteemed was the Church among men, then reproach on Her a Widow was
being
thrown, because Christ's She was, because the sign of the Cross on her brow
She
was wearing: not yet was there honour, censure there was then: when
therefore
not honour, but censure there was, then was made a heap of witness; and
through
the heap of witness was the Love of Christ enlarged; and through the
enlargement
of the Love of Christ, were the Gentiles possessed. There follows,
"And
mine is Manasses;" which is interpreted forgotten. For to Her had been
said,
"Confusion
for everlasting You shall forget, and of the reproach of Your
widowhood
You shall not be mindful." Isaiah 54:4 There was therefore a
confusion
of the Church once, which now has been forgotten: for of Her confusion
and
of the "reproach" of Her widowhood now She is not mindful. For when
there
was
a sort of confusion among men, a heap of witness was made. Now no longer
does
any even remember that confusion, when it was a reproach to be a Christian,
now
no one remembers, now all have forgotten, now "Mine is Manasses, and
Ephraim
the strength of My head." Ephraim is interpreted fruitfulness. Mine, he
says,
is fruitfulness, and this fruitfulness is the strength of My Head. For My Head
is
Christ. And whence is fruitfulness the strength of Him? Because unless a grain
were
to fall into the earth, it would not be multiplied, alone it would remain.
John
12:24 Fall then to earth did Christ in His Passion, and there followed fruit-
bearing
in the Resurrection. He was hanging and was being despised: the grain
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431
was
within, it had powers to draw after it all things. How in a grain do numbers of
seeds
lie hid, something abject it appears to the eyes, but a power turning into
itself
matter and bringing forth fruit is hidden; so in Christ's Cross virtue was
hidden,
there appeared weakness. O mighty grain! Doubtless weak is He that
hangs,
Doubtless before Him that people did wag the head, Doubtless they said,
"If
Son of God He is, let Him come down from the Cross." Matthew 27:40 Hear
the
strength of Him: that which is a weak thing of God, is stronger than men.
1
Corinthians 1:25 With reason so great fruitfulness has followed: it is mine,
says
the
Church.
10.
"Juda is my king:
the
tribe of Juda. What Juda, but He to whom Jacob himself said, "Juda, your
brethren
shall praise you"? Genesis 49:8 What therefore should I fear, when Juda
my
king says, "Fear not them that kill the body"? Matthew 10:28 "
my
hope." Wherefore "pot"? Because tribulation. Wherefore "of
my hope"?
Because
there has gone before Juda my king ....
For
that nation was born of sin, Genesis 19:37 that nation was born of the
daughters
of
it
to have remained barren, than thus to have become mothers. But this was a kind
of
figure of them that abuse the law. For do not heed that law in the Latin
language
is
of the feminine gender: in Greek of the masculine gender it is: but whether it
be
of
the feminine gender in speaking, or of the masculine, the expression makes no
difference
to the truth. For law has rather a masculine force, because it rules, is not
ruled.
But moreover, the Apostle Paul says what? "Good is the law, if any one use
it
lawfully." 1 Timothy 1:8 But those daughters of
father.
But in the same manner as good works begin to grow when a man uses well
the
law: so arise evil works, when a man ill uses the law. Furthermore, they ill
using
their father, that is, ill using the law, engendered the Moabites, by whom are
signified
evil works. Thence the tribulation of the Church, thence the pot boiling
up.
Of this pot in a certain place of prophecy is said, "A pot heated by the
North
wind."
Whence but by the quarters of the devil, who has said, "I will set my seat
at
the
North"? Isaiah 14:13 The chiefest tribulations therefore arise against the
Church
from none except from those that ill use the law....
11.
"Into Idumća I will stretch out my shoe" (ver. 8). The Church speaks,
"I will
come
through even unto Idumća." Let tribulations rage, let the world boil with
offences,
even unto those very persons that lead an earthly life (for Idumća is
interpreted
earthly), even unto those same, "even unto Idumća, I will stretch out
my
shoe." Of what thing the shoe except of the Gospel? "How beautiful
the feet of
them
that tell of peace, that tell of good things," Romans 10:15 and "the
feet shod
unto
the preparation of the Gospel of peace." Ephesians 6:15 ... In these times
we
see,
brethren, how many earthly men do perpetrate frauds for the sake of gain, for
frauds
perjuries; on account of their fears they consult fortune-tellers, astrologers:
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432
all
these men are Edomites, earthly; and nevertheless all these men adore Christ,
under
His own shoe they are; now even unto Idumća is stretched out His shoe.
"To
Me Allophyli have been made subject." Who are "Allophyli"? Men of
other
race,
not belonging to My race. They "have been made subject," because many
men
adore Christ, and are not to reign with Christ.
12.
"Who will lead Me down into the city of standing round?" (ver. 9).
What is the
city
of standing round? If you remember already, I have made mention thereof in
another
Psalm, wherein has been said, "And they shall go around the city."
For the
city
of standing round is the compassing around of the Gentiles, which
compassing
around of the Gentiles in the middle thereof had the one nation of the
Jews,
worshipping one God: the rest of the compassing around of the Gentiles to
idols
made supplication, demons they did serve. And mystically it was called the
city
of standing round; because on all sides the Gentiles had poured themselves
around,
and had stood around that nation which did worship one God.... "Who will
lead
me down even unto Idumća?"
13.
"Wilt not Thou, O God, that hast driven us back? And will not Thou, O God,
march
forth in our powers?" (ver. 10). Wilt not Thou lead us down, that hast
driven
us back? But wherefore "hast driven us back"? Because You have
destroyed
us. Wherefore hast destroyed us? Because angry You have been, and
hast
had pity on us. Thou therefore wilt lead down, that hast driven back; Thou, O
God,
that will not march forth in our powers, wilt lead down. What is, "will
not
march
forth in our powers"? The world is to rage, the world is to tread us down,
there
is to be a heap of witnesses, built of the spilled blood of martyrs, and the
raging
heathen are to say, "Where is the God of them?" Then "You will
not march
forth
in our powers:" against them You will not show Yourself, You will not show
Your
power, such as You have shown in David, in Moses, in Joshua the son of
Nun,
when to their might the Gentiles yielded, and when the slaughter had been
ended,
and the great laying waste repaired, into the land which Thou promised
Thou
leddest in Your people. This thing then You will not do, "You will not
march
forth in our powers," but within You will work. What is, "will not
march
forth"?
Wilt not show Yourself. For indeed when in chains the Martyrs were being
led
along, when they were being shut up in prison, when they were being led forth
to
be mocked, when to the beasts they were exposed, when they were being
smitten
with the sword, when with fire they were being burned, were they not
despised
as though forsaken, as though without helper? In what manner was God
working
within? in what manner within was He comforting? in what manner to
these
men was He making sweet the hope of life everlasting? in what manner was
He
not forsaking the hearts of them, where the man was dwelling in silence, well
if
good, ill if evil? Was He then by any means forsaking, because He was not
marching
forth in the powers of them? By not marching forth in the powers of
them,
did He not the more lead down the Church even unto Idumća, lead down
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433
the
Church even unto the city of standing around? For if the Church chose to war
and
to use the sword, She would seem to be fighting for life present: but because
she
was despising life present, therefore there was made a heap of witness for the
life
that shall be.
14.
Thou therefore, O God, that will not march forth in our powers, "Give to
us aid
from
tribulation, and vain is the safety of man" (ver. 11). Go now they that
salt
have
not, and desire safety temporal for their friends, which is empty oldness.
"Give
to us aid:" from thence whence You were supposed to forsake, thence
succour.
"In God we will do valour, and Himself to nothing shall bring down our
enemies"
(ver. 12). We will not do valour with the sword, not with horses, not
with
breastplates, not with shields, not in the mightiness of an army, not abroad.
But
where? Within, where we are not seen. Where within? "In God we will do
virtue:"
and as if abjects, and as if trodden down, men as if of no consideration we
shall
be, but "Himself to nothing shall bring down our enemies." In a word,
this
thing
has been done to our enemies. Trodden down have been the Martyrs: by
suffering,
by enduring, by persevering even unto the end, in God they have done
valour.
Himself also has done that which follows: to nothing He has brought down
the
enemies of them. Where are now the enemies of the Martyrs, except perchance
that
now drunken men with their cups do persecute those whom at that time
frenzied
men did use with stones to persecute?
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434
Exposition
on Psalm 61
1.
The title of it does not detain us. For it is "Unto the end, in hymns, to
David
himself.
"In hymns," to wit in praises. "Unto the end," to wit unto
Christ.... But the
voice
in this Psalm (if we are among the members of Him, and in the Body, even
as
upon His exhortation we have the boldness to trust) we ought to acknowledge to
be
our own, not that of any foreigner. But I have not so called it our own, as if
it
were
of those only that are now in presence; but our own, as being of us that are
throughout
the whole world, that are from the East even unto the West. And in
order
that you may know it thus to be our voice, He speaks here as if one Man: but
He
is not One Man; but even as One, the Unity is speaking. But in Christ we all
are
one man: because of this One Man the Head is in Heaven, and the members
are
yet toiling on earth: and because they are toiling see what He says.
2.
"Hearken, O God, to my supplication, give heed to my prayer" (ver.
1). Who
says?
He, as if One. See whether one: "From the ends of the earth to You I have
cried,
while my heart was being vexed" (ver. 2). Now therefore not one: but for
this
reason one, because Christ is One, of whom all we are the members. For what
one
man cries from the ends of the earth? There cries not from the ends of the
earth
any but that inheritance, of which has been said to the Son Himself,
"Demand
of Me, and I will give to You the nations for Your inheritance, and for
Your
possession the boundaries of the earth." This therefore Christ's
possession,
this
Christ's inheritance, this Christ's Body, this Christ's one Church, this the
Unity
which
we are, is crying from the ends of the earth .... But wherefore have I cried
this
thing? "While my heart was being vexed." He shows himself to be
throughout
all
nations in the whole round world, in great glory, but in great tribulation. For
our
life in this sojourning cannot be without temptation: because our advance is
made
through our temptation, nor does a man become known to himself unless
tempted,
nor can he be crowned except he shall have conquered, nor can he
conquer
except he shall have striven, nor can he strive except he shall have
experienced
an enemy, and temptations. This Man therefore is being vexed, that
from
the ends of the earth is crying, but nevertheless He is not forsaken. For
ourselves
who are His Body He has willed to prefigure also in that His Body
wherein
already He has both died and has risen again, and into Heaven has
ascended,
in order that whither the Head has gone before, thither the members
may
be assured that they shall follow. Therefore us He did transfer by a figure
into
Himself,
when He willed to be tempted of Satan.
3.
But now there was read in the Gospel, how the Lord Jesus Christ in the
wilderness
was being tempted of the devil. Matthew 4:1 Christ entirely was
tempted
of the devil. For in Christ you were being tempted, because Christ of you
had
for Himself flesh, of Himself for you salvation; of you for Himself death, of
Himself
for you life; of you for Himself revilings, of Himself for you honours;
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435
therefore
of you for Himself temptation, of Himself for you victory. If in Him
tempted
we have been, in Him we overcome the devil.... "On the Rock You have
exalted
me." Now therefore here we perceive who is crying from the ends of the
earth.
Let us call to mind the Gospel: "Upon this Rock I will build My
Church."
Matthew
16:18 Therefore She cries from the ends of the earth, whom He has
willed
to be built upon a Rock. But in order that the Church might be built upon
the
Rock, who was made the Rock? Hear Paul saying: "But the Rock was
Christ."
On
Him therefore built we have been. For this reason that Rock whereon we have
been
built, Matthew 7:24 first has been smitten with winds, flood, rain, when
Christ
of the devil was being tempted. Behold on what firmness He has willed to
establish
you. With reason our voice is not in vain, but is hearkened unto: for on
great
hope we have been set: "On the Rock You have exalted me."...
4.
"You have led me down, because You have been made my hope: a tower of
strength
from the face of the enemy" (ver. 3). My heart is vexed, says that Unity
from
the ends of the earth, and I toil amid temptations and offences: the heathen
envy,
because they have been conquered; the heretics lie in wait, hidden in the
cloak
of the Christian name: within in the Church itself the wheat suffers violence
from
the chaff: amid all these things when my heart is vexed, I will cry from the
ends
of the earth. But there forsakes me not the Same that has exalted me upon the
Rock,
in order to lead me down even unto Himself, because even if I labour, while
the
devil through so many places and times and occasions lies in wait against me,
He
is to me a tower of strength, to whom when I shall have fled for refuge, not
only
I shall escape the weapons of the enemy, but even against him securely I shall
myself
hurl whatever darts I shall please. For Christ Himself is the tower, Himself
for
us has been made a tower from the face of the enemy, who is also the Rock
whereon
has been built the Church. Are you taking heed that you be not smitten of
the
devil? Flee to the Tower; never to that tower will the devil's darts follow
you:
there
you will stand protected and fixed. But in what manner shall you flee to the
Tower?
Let not a man, set perchance in temptation, in body seek that Tower, and
when
he shall not have found it, be wearied, or faint in temptation. Before you is
the
Tower: call to mind Christ, and go into the Tower. ...
5.
"A sojourner I will be in Your tabernacle even unto ages" (ver. 4).
You see how
he,
of whom we have spoken, is he that cries. Which of us is a sojourner even unto
ages?
For a few days here we live, and we pass away: for sojourners here we are,
inhabitants
in Heaven we shall be. You are a sojourner in that place where you are
to
hear the voice of the Lord your God, "Remove." For from that Home
everlasting
in the Heavens no one will bid you to remove. Here therefore a
sojourner
you are. Whence also is said in another Psalm, "A sojourner I am with
You
and a stranger, as all my fathers were." Here therefore sojourners we are;
there
the Lord shall give to us mansions everlasting: "Many are," He says,
"the
mansions
in My Father's house." John 14:2Those mansions not as though to
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Psalm 61 436
sojourners
He will give, but as though to citizens to abide for everlasting. Here
however,
brethren, because for no small time the Church was to be on this earth,
but
because here shall be the Church even unto the end of the world: therefore
here
He has said, "A dweller I will be in Your tabernacle even unto
ages."...Well,
of
a few days you would choose that the temptations should be: but how would
She
gather together all Her sons, unless for a long time She were to be here,
unless
even
unto the end She were to be prolonged? Do not envy the rest of mankind that
hereafter
shall be: do not, because you have already passed over, wish to cut down
the
bridge of mercy: be it here even for ever. And what of temptations, which
needs
must abound, by how much the more offences come? For Himself says,
"Because
iniquity has abounded, the love of many shall wax cold." Matthew 24:12
But
that Church, which cries from the ends of the earth, is in these circumstances
whereof
he speaks in continuation. "But he that shall have persevered even unto
the
end, the same shall be saved." But whence shall you persevere?... "I
shall be
covered
up in the veiling of Your wings." Behold the reason why we are in safety
amid
so great temptations, until there come the end of the world, and ages
everlasting
receive us; namely, because we are covered up in the veiling of His
Wings.
There is heat in the world, but there is a great shade under the wings of
God.
6.
"For Thou, O God, hast hearkened to my prayer" (ver. 5). What prayer?
That
wherewith
he begins: "Hearken, O God, to my supplication."... "You have
given
inheritance
to men fearing Your name." Let us continue therefore in the fear of
God's
name: the eternal Father deceives us not. Sons labour, that they may receive
the
inheritance of their parents, to whom when dead they are to succeed: are we
not
labouring to receive an inheritance from that Father, to whom not dying we
succeed;
but together with Him in the very inheritance for everlasting are to live?
7.
"Days upon days of the King You shall add to the years of Him" (ver.
6). This is
therefore
the King of whom we are the members. A King Christ is, our Head, our
King.
You have given to Him days upon days; not only those days in that time that
has
end, but days upon those days without end. "I will dwell," he says,
"in the
house
of the Lord, for length of days." Wherefore for length of days, but
because
now
is the shortness of days? For everything which has an end, is short: but of
this
King
are days upon days, so that not only while these days pass away, Christ
reigns
in His Church, but the Saints shall reign together with Him in those days
which
have no end.... For years of God have been also spoken of: "But You are
the
very
Same, and Your years shall not fail." In the same manner as years, so
days, so
one
day. Whatsoever you will you say of eternity. Whatever you will you say for
this
reason, because whatever you shall have said, it is too little that you have said.
For
you must needs say somewhat, to the end that there may be something
whereby
you may meditate on that which cannot be told. "Even unto the day of
generation
and of generation." Of this generation and of the generation that shall
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Psalm 61
437
be:
of this generation which is compared to the moon, because as the moon is new,
waxes,
is full, wanes, and vanishes, so are these mortal generations; and of the
generation
wherein we are born anew by rising again, and shall abide for
everlasting
with God, when now no longer we are like the moon, but like that of
which
says the Lord, "Then the righteous shall shine like the sun in the kingdom
of
their Father." Matthew 13:43 For the moon by a figure in the Scriptures is
put
for
the mutability of this mortal state....
8.
"He shall abide for everlasting in the sight of God" (ver. 7);
according to what,
or
because of what? "His mercy and truth who shall seek for Him?" He
says also
in
another place, "All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth, to men
seeking
His
testament and His testimonies." Large is the discourse of truth and mercy,
but
shortness
we have promised. Briefly hear ye what is truth and mercy: because no
small
thing is that which has been said, "All the ways of the Lord are mercy and
truth."
Mercy is spoken of, because our merits God regarded not, but His own
goodness,
in order that He might forgive us all our sins, and might promise life
everlasting:
but truth is spoken of, because He fails not to render those things
which
He has promised. Let us acknowledge it here, and let us do it; so that, just
as
to us God has shown forth His mercy and His truth, mercy in forgiving our sins,
truth
in showing forth His promises; so also, I say, let us execute mercy and truth,
mercy
concerning the weak, concerning the needy, concerning even our enemies;
truth
in not sinning, and in not adding sin upon sin.... Who is therefore he that
does
this,
save one out of those few, of whom is said, "He that shall have continued
unto
the end, the same shall be saved"? With reason here also "His mercy
and
truth
who shall seek for Him?" Why is there "for Him"? "Who shall
seek," would
be
sufficient. Why has he added, "for Him," but because many men seek to
learn
His
mercy and truth in His books? And when they have learned, for themselves
they
live, not for Him; 2 Corinthians 5:15 their own things they seek, not the
things
which are of Jesus Christ: Philippians 2:21 they preach mercy and truth, and
do
not mercy and truth. But by preaching it, they know it: for they would not
preach
it, unless they knew it. But he that loves God and Christ, in preaching the
mercy
and truth of the Same, does himself seek her for Him, not for himself: that
is,
not in order that himself may have by this preaching temporal advantages, but
in
order that he may do good to His members, that is, His faithful ones, by
ministering
with truth of that which he knows: in order that he that lives, no longer
for
himself may live, but for Him that for all men has died. 2 Corinthians 5:15
9.
"So I will play music to Your name, that I may render my vows from day
unto
day"
(ver. 8). If you play music to the name of God, play not for a time. Will you
for
ever play? will you for everlasting play? Render to Him your vows from day
unto
day. What is, render to Him your vows from day unto day? From this day
unto
that day. Continue to render vows in this day, until thou come to that day:
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Psalm 61 438
that
is, "He that shall have continued even unto the end, the same shall be
saved."
Matthew
24:13
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Psalm 62
439
Exposition
on Psalm 62
1.
The title of it is, "Unto the end, in behalf of Idithun, a Psalm to David
himself."
I
recollect that already to you has been explained what Idithun is.... Let us see
how
far
he has leaped over, and whom he has "leaped over," and in what place,
though
he
has leaped over certain men, he is situate, whence as from a kind of spiritual
and
secure position he may behold what is below .... He being set, I say, in a
certain
fortified place, does say, "Shall not my soul be subject to God?"
(ver. 1).
For
he had heard, "He that does exalt himself shall be humbled; and he that
humbles
himself shall be exalted:" Matthew 23:12 and fearful lest by leaping over
he
should be proud, not elated by those things which were below, but humble
because
of Him that was above; to envious men, as it were threatening to him a
fall,
who were grieved that he had leaped over, he has made answer, "Shall not
my
soul
be subject to God?"... "For from Himself is my salvation."
"For Himself is my
God
and my salvation, my taker up, I shall not be moved more" (ver. 2). I know
who
is above me, I know who stretches forth His mercy to men that know Him, I
know
under the coverings of whose wings I should hope: "I shall not be moved
more."...
2.
Therefore, down from the higher place fortified and protected, he, to whom the
Lord
has been made a refuge, he, to whom is God Himself for a fortified place,
has
regard to those whom he has leaped over, and looking down upon them speaks
as
though from a lofty tower: for this also has been said of Him, "A Tower of
strength
from the face of the enemy:" he gives heed therefore to them, and says,
"How
long do ye lay upon a man?" (ver. 3). By insulting, by hurling reproaches,
by
laying wait, by persecuting, you lay upon a man burthens, you lay upon a man
as
much as a man can bear: but in order that a man may bear, under him is He that
has
made man. If to a man ye look, "slay ye, all of you." Behold, lay
upon, rage,
"slay
ye, all of you." "As though a wall bowed down, and as a fence smitten
against;"
lean against, smite against, as if going to throw down. And where is, "I
shall
not be moved more"? But wherefore? "I shall not be moved more."
Because
Himself
is God my Saving One, my taker up, therefore ye men are able to lay
burdens
upon a man; can you anywise lay upon God, who protects man? "Slay ye,
all
of you." What is that size of body in one man so great as that he may be
slain
by
all? But we ought to perceive our person, the person of the Church, the person
of
the Body of Christ. For one Man with His Head and Body is Jesus Christ, the
Saviour
of the Body and the Members of the Body: two in one Flesh, and in one
voice,
and in one passion, and, when iniquity shall have passed over, in one rest.
The
sufferings therefore of Christ are not in Christ alone; nay, there are not any
save
in Christ. For if Christ you understand to be Head and Body, the sufferings of
Christ
are not, save in Christ: but if Christ thou understand of Head alone, the
sufferings
of Christ are not in Christ alone. For if the sufferings of Christ are in
Christ
alone, to wit in the Head alone; whence says a certain member of Him, Paul
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Psalm 62 440
the
Apostle, "In order that I may supply what are wanting of the oppressions
of
Christ
in my flesh"? Colossians 1:24 If therefore in the members of Christ you
are,
whatsoever
man you are that art hearing these words, whosoever you are that dost
hear
these words (but however, thou dost hear, if in the members of Christ you
are):
whatsoever thing you suffer from those that are not in the members of Christ,
was
wanting to the sufferings of Christ. Therefore it is added because it was
wanting;
you fill up the measure, you cause it not to run over: you suffer so much
as
was to be contributed out of your sufferings to the whole suffering of Christ,
that
has suffered in our Head, and does suffer in His members, that is, in our own
selves.
Unto this our common republic, as it were each of us according to our
measure
pays that which we owe, and according to the powers which we have, as
it
were a quota of sufferings we contribute. The storehouse of all men's
sufferings
will
not be completely made up, save when the world shall have been
ended
.... That whole City therefore is speaking, from the blood of righteous Abel
even
to the blood of Zacharias. Matthew 23:35 Thence also hereafter from the
blood
of John, through the blood of the Apostles, through the blood of Martyrs,
through
the blood of the faithful ones of Christ, one City speaks, one man says,
"How
long do ye lay upon a man? Slay ye, all of you." Let us see if you efface,
let
us
see if you extinguish, let us see if you remove from the earth the name
thereof,
let
us see if you peoples do not meditate of empty things, saying, "When shall
She
die,
and when shall perish the name of Her?" "As though She were a wall
bowed
down,
and a fence smitten against," lean ye against Her, smite against Her. Hear
from
above: "My taker up, I shall not be moved more:" for as though a heap
of
sand
I have been smitten against that I might fall, and the Lord has taken me up.
3.
"Nevertheless, mine honour they have thought to drive back" (ver. 4).
Conquered
while they slay men yielding, by the blood of the slain multiplying the
faithful,
yielding to these and no longer being able to kill; "Nevertheless, mine
honour
they have thought to drive back." Now because a Christian cannot be
killed,
pains are taken that a Christian should be dishonoured. For now by the
honour
of Christians the hearts of ungodly men are tortured: now that spiritual
Joseph,
after his selling by his brethren, after his removal from his home into
up
tale of a false witness, after that there had come to pass that which of him
was
said,
"Iron passed through the soul of him:" now he is honoured, now he is
not
made
subject to brethren selling him, but corn he supplies to them hungering.
Genesis
42:5 Conquered by his humility and chastity, uncorruptness, temptations,
sufferings,
now honoured they see him, and his honour they think to check .... Is it
all
against one man, or one man against all; or all against all, or one against
one?
Meanwhile,
when he says, "ye lay upon a man," it is as it were upon one man: and
when
he says, "Slay all you," it is as if all men were against one man:
but
nevertheless
it is also all against all, because also all are Christians, but in One.
But
why must those various errors hostile to Christ be spoken of as all together?
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Psalm 62
441
Are
they also one? Truly them also as one I dare to speak of: because there is one
City
and one city, one People and one people, King and king. One City and one
city
is what?
besides
She is called, yet
over
that Christ is King....
4.
Give heed, brethren, give heed, I entreat you. For it delights me yet to speak
a
few
words to you of this beloved City. For "most glorious things of You have
been
spoken,
City of
forget
me." For dear is the one Country, and truly but one Country, the only
Country:
besides Her whatsoever we have, is a sojourning in a strange land. I will
say
therefore that which you may acknowledge, that of which you may approve: I
will
call to your minds that which you know, I will not teach that which you know
not.
"Not first," says the Apostle, "that which is spiritual, but
that which is natural,
afterwards
that which is spiritual." 1 Corinthians 15:46 Therefore the former city
is
greater by age, because first was born Cain, and afterwards Abel: Genesis 4:1-2
but
in these the elder shall serve the younger. Genesis 25:23 The former greater by
age,
the latter greater in dignity. Wherefore is the former greater by age? Because
"not
first that which is spiritual, but that which is natural." 1 Corinthians
15:46
Wherefore
is the latter greater in dignity? Because "the elder shall serve the
younger."
Genesis 25:23 ... Cain first built a city, and in that place he built where
no
city was. But when
there
was not a city, but there was a city at first which was called Jebus, whence
the
Jebusites. This having been captured, overcome, made subject, there was built
a
new city, as though the old were thrown down; and it was called
Joshua
18:28 vision of peace, City of
Adam,
not yet does belong to
iniquity,
and the punishment of sin, having been consigned to death, and he
belongs
in a manner to a sort of old city. But if he is to be in the people of God; his
old
self will be thrown down, and he will be built up new. For this reason
therefore
Cain
built a city where there was not a city. For from mortality and from
naughtiness
every one sets out, in order that he may be made good hereafter. "For
as
by the disobedience of one man many were made sinners, so by the obedience
of
One Man many shall be made just." Romans 5:19 And all we in Adam do die:
1
Corinthians 15:22 and each one of us of Adam was born. Let him pass over to
conquered
Jebusites, in order that there may be built up
off
the old man, and put on the new." And now to them built in
shining
by the light of Grace, is said, "You have been sometime darkness, but now
light
in the Lord." Ephesians 5:8 The evil city therefore from the beginning
even
unto
the end does run on, and the good City by the changing of evil men is built
up.
And these two cities are meanwhile mingled, at the end to be severed; against
each
other mutually in conflict, the one for iniquity, the other for the truth. And
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Psalm 62
442
sometimes
this very temporal mingling brings it to pass that certain men belonging
to
the city
men
belonging to
difficult
I seem to have propounded. Be patient, until it be proved by examples.
"For
all things" in the old people, as writes the Apostle, "in a figure
used to befall
them:
but they have been written for our amendment, upon whom the end of the
world
has come." 1 Corinthians 10:11 Regard therefore that people as also set to
intimate
an after people; and see then what I say. There were great kings in
say,
wicked citizens of
men
from thence to be dissevered at the end, to no one but to the devil do belong.
Again
we find citizens of
the
ministers of his kingdom, and set them over his Satraps; and so there were
ordering
the matters of
being
fulfilled and done in the Church, and in these times .... Every earthly
commonwealth,
sometime assuredly to perish, whereof the kingdom is to pass
away,
when there shall come that kingdom, whereof we pray, "Your kingdom
come;"
Matthew 6:10 and whereof has been foretold, "And of His kingdom shall
be
no end:" Luke 1:33 an earthly commonwealth, I say, has our citizens
conducting
the affairs of it. For how many faithful, how many good men, are both
magistrates
in their cities, and are judges, and are generals, and are counts, and are
kings?
All that are just and good men, having not anything in heart but the most
glorious
things, which of You have been said, City of
doing
bond-service in the city which is to pass away, even there by the doctors of
the
with
the king as supreme, or with governors as though sent by God for the
punishment
of evil men, but for the praise of good men: " 1 Peter 2:13-14 or as
servants,
that to their masters they should be subject, Ephesians 6:5 even
Christians
to Heathens, and the better should keep faith with the worse, for a time
to
serve, for everlasting to have dominion. For these things do happen until
iniquity
do pass away. Servants are commanded to bear with masters unjust and
capricious:
the citizens of
of
mile,
go with him other twain." Matthew 5:41...
5.
"I have run in thirst." For they were rendering evil things for good
things: for
them
was I thirsting: mine honour they thought to drive back: I was thirsting to
bring
them over into my body. For in drinking what do we, but send into our
members
liquor that is without, and suck it into our body? Thus did Moses in that
head
of the calf. Exodus 3 2: 10 The head of the calf is a great sacrament. For the
head
of the calf was the body of ungodly men, in the similitude of a calf eating
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hay,
seeking earthly things: because all flesh is hay. Isaiah 40:6... And what now
is
more
evident, than that into that City Jerusalem, of which the people
type,
by Baptism men were to be made to pass over? Therefore in water it was
scattered,
in order that for drink it might be given. For this even unto the end this
man
thirsts; he runs and thirsts. For many men He drinks, but never will He be
without
thirst. For thence is, "I thirst, woman, give Me to drink." John 4:7
That
Samaritan
woman at the well found the Lord thirsting, and by Him thirsting she
was
filled: she first found Him thirsting, in order that He might drink her
believing.
And when He was on the Cross, "I thirst," John 19:28 He said,
although
they
gave not to Him that for which He was thirsting. For for themselves He was
thirsting:
but they gave vinegar, not new wine, wherewith are filled up the new
bottles,
but old wine, but old to its loss. Matthew 9:17 For old vinegar also is said
of
the old men, of whom has been said, "For to them is no changing;"
namely, that
the
Jebusites should be overthrown, and
6.
So also the Head of this body even unto the end from the beginning runs in
thirst.
And as if to Him were being said, Why in thirst? what is wanting to You, O
Body
of Christ, O
so
great height also even in this world established, what is wanting to You? There
is
fulfilled that which has been foretold of you, "There shall adore Him all
kings of
the
earth, all nations shall serve Him." ...They that at
the
Churches, at
honour,
obey Her—not only those very persons that bear the Sacraments of Christ,
and
hate the commandments of Christ, but also they, that bear not even the mere
Sacraments,
Heathen though they be, Jews though they be,—they honour, praise,
proclaim,
"but with their mouths they were blessing." I heed not the mouth, He
knows
that has instructed me, "with their heart they were cursing." In that
place
they
were cursing, where "mine honour they thought to drive back."
7.
What do You, O Idithun, Body of Christ, leaping over them? What dost Thou
amid
all these things? What will You? wilt faint? will You not persevere even unto
the
end? will You not hearken, "He that shall have persevered even unto the
end,
the
same shall be saved," Matthew 10:22 though for that iniquity abounds, the
love
of
many shall wax cold? Matthew 24:12 And where is it that You have leaped
over
them? where is it that Your conversation is in Heaven? Philippians 3:20 But
they
cleave unto earthly things, as though earthborn they mind the earth, and are
earth,
the serpent's food. Genesis 3:14 What do you amid these
things?...
"Nevertheless, to God my soul shall be made subject" (ver. 5). And
who
would
endure so great things, either open wars, or secret lyings-in-wait? Who
would
endure so great things amid open enemies, amid false brethren? Who would
endure
so great things? Would a man? and if a man would, would a man of
himself?
I have not so leaped over that I should be lifted up, and fall: "To God my
soul
shall be made subject: for from Himself is my patience." What patience is
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there
amid so great scandals, except that "if for that which we do not see we
hope,
through
patience we look for it"? Romans 8:25 There comes my pain, there will
come
my rest also; there comes my tribulation, there will come my cleansing also.
For
does gold glitter in the furnace of the refiner? In a necklace it will glitter,
in an
ornament
it will glitter: let it suffer however the furnace, in order that being
cleansed
from dross it may come into light. This is the furnace, there is there chaff,
there
gold, there fire, into this blows the refiner: in the furnace burns the chaff,
and
the
gold is cleansed; the one into ashes is turned, of dross the other is cleansed.
The
furnace is the world, the chaff unrighteous men, the gold just men; the fire
tribulation,
the refiner God: that which therefore the refiner wills I do; wherever
the
Maker sets me I endure it. I am commanded to endure, He knows how to
cleanse.
Though there burn the chaff to set me on fire, and as if to consume me;
that
into ashes is burned, I of dross am cleansed. Wherefore? Because "to God
my
soul
shall be made subject: for from Himself is my patience."
8.
"For Himself is my God and My Saving One, my Taker up, I will not remove
hence"
(ver. 6). Because "Himself is my God," therefore He calls me:
"and my
Saving
One," therefore He justifies me: "and my Taker up," therefore He
glorifies
me.
For here I am called and am justified, but there I am glorified; and from
thence
where I am glorified, "I will not remove." For a sojourner I am with
You on
earth
as all my fathers were. Therefore from my lodging I shall remove, from my
Heavenly
home I shall not remove. "In God is my salvation and my glory" (ver.
7).
Saved I shall be in God, glorious I shall be in God: for not only saved, but
also
glorious,
saved, because a just man I have been made out of an ungodly man, by
Him
justified; Romans 4:2 but glorious, because not only justified, but also
honoured.
For "those whom He has predestined, those also He has called."
Romans
8:30 Calling them, what has He done here? "Whom He has called, the
same
also He has justified; but whom He has justified, the same also He has
glorified."
Justification therefore to salvation belongs, glorifying to honour. How
glorifying
to honour belongs, it is not needful to discuss. How justification belongs
to
salvation, let us seek some proof. Behold there comes to mind out of the
Gospel:
there were some who to themselves were seeming to be just men, and they
were
finding fault with the Lord because He admitted to the feast sinners, and with
publicans
and sinners was eating; to such men therefore priding themselves, strong
men
of earth very much lifted up, much glorying of their own soundness, such as
they
counted it, not such as they had, the Lord answered what? "They that are
whole
need not a Physician, but they that are sick." Matthew 9:13 Whom calls He
whole,
whom calls He sick? He continues and says, "I have not come to call just
men,
but sinners unto repentance." Matthew 9:12 He has called therefore
"the
whole"
just men, not because the Pharisees were so, but because themselves they
thought
so to be; and for this reason were proud, and grudged sick men a
physician,
and being more sick than those, they slew the Physician. He has called
whole,
however, righteous men, sick, the sinners. My being justified therefore,
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says
that man that leaps over, from Himself I have: my being glorified, from
Himself
I have: "For God is my salvation and my glory." "My
salvation," so that
saved
I am: "my glory," so that honoured I am. This thing hereafter: now
what?
"God
of my help, and my hope is in God;" until I attain unto perfect
justification
and
salvation. "For by hope we are saved: but hope which is seen, is not
hope."
Romans
8:24...
9.
"Hope ye in Him all the council of the people" (ver. 8). Imitate ye
Idithun, leap
over
your enemies; men fighting against you, stopping up your way, men hating
you,
leap ye over: "Hope in Him all the council of the people: pour out before
Him
your
hearts:"...By imploring, by confessing, by hoping. Do not keep back your
hearts
within your hearts: "Pour out before Him your hearts." That perishes
not
which
you pour out. For He is my Taker up. If He takes up, why do you fear to
pour
out? "Cast upon the Lord your care, and hope in Him." What fear ye
amid
whisperers,
slanderers hateful to God, Romans 1:29-30 where they are able openly
assailing,
where they are unable secretly lying in wait, falsely praising, truly at
enmity,
amid them what fear ye? "God is our Helper." Do they anywise equal
God?
Are they anywise stronger than He? "God is our Helper," be ye without
care.
"If
God is for us, who is against us?" Romans 8:31 "Pour out before Him
your
hearts,"
by leaping over unto Him, by lifting up your souls: "God is our
helper."...
"Nevertheless, vain are the sons of men, and liars are the sons of men in
the
balances, in order that they may deceive, being at one because of vanity"
(ver.
9).
Certainly many men there are: behold there is that one man, that one man that
was
cast forth from the multitude of guests. Matthew 22:11 They conspire, they all
seek
things temporal, and they that are carnal things carnal, and for the future
they
hope
them, whosoever do hope: even if because of variety of opinions they are in
division,
nevertheless because of vanity they are at one. Divers indeed are errors
and
of many forms, and the kingdom against itself divided shall not stand:
Matthew
12:25 but alike in all is the will vain and lying, belonging to one king,
with
whom into fire everlasting it is to be thrown headlong Matthew 25:41—
"these
men because of vanity are at one." And for them see how He thirsts, see
how
He runs in thirst.
10.
He turns therefore Himself to them, thirsting for them: "Do not hope in
iniquity"
(ver. 10). For my hope is in God. You that will not draw near and pass
over,
"do not hope in iniquity." For I that have leapt over, my hope is in
God; and
is
there anywise iniquity with God? Romans 9:14 This thing let us do, that thing
let
us do, of that thing let us think, thus let us adjust our lyings in wait;
"Because
of
vanity being at one." Thou thirstest: they that think of those things
against you
are
given up by those whom you drink. "Do not hope in vanity." Vain is
iniquity,
nought
is iniquity, mighty is nothing save righteousness. Truth may be hidden for
a
time, conquered it cannot be. Iniquity may flourish for a time, abide it
cannot.
"Do
not hope upon iniquity: and for robbery be not covetous." You are not
rich,
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Psalm 62
446
and
will you rob? What do you find? What do you lose? O losing gains! Thou
findest
money, you lose righteousness. "For robbery be not
covetous."...
Therefore, vain sons of men, lying sons of men, neither rob, nor, if
there
flow riches, set heart upon them: no longer love vanity, and seek lying. For
"blessed
is the man who has the Lord God for his hope, and who has not had
regard
unto vanities, and lying follies." You would deceive, you would commit a
fraud,
what bring ye in order that you may cheat. Deceitful balances. For
"lying,"
he
says, "are the sons of men in the balances," in order that they may
cheat by
bringing
forth deceitful balances. By a false balance ye beguile men looking on:
know
ye not that one is he that weighs, Another He that judges of the weight? He
sees
not, for whom you weigh, but He sees that weighs you and him. Therefore
neither
fraud nor robbery covet ye any longer, nor on those things which you have
set
your hope: I have admonished, have foretold, says this Idithun.
11.
What follows? "Once has God spoken, these two things I have heard, that
power
is of God (ver. 11), and to You, O Lord, is mercy, for You shall render to
each
one after his works" (ver. 12).... "Once has God spoken." What
do you say,
Idithun?
If thou that had leapt over them art saying, "Once He has spoken;" I
turn
to
another Scripture and it says to me, "In many quarters and in many ways
formerly
God has spoken to the fathers in the prophets." Hebrews 1:1 What is,
"Once
has God spoken"? Is He not the God that in the beginning of mankind
spoke
to Adam? Genesis 3:17 Did not the Selfsame speak to Cain, to Noe, to
Abraham,
to Isaac, to Jacob, to all the Prophets, and to Moses? One man Moses
was,
and how often to him spoke God? Behold even to one man, not once but
ofttimes
God has spoken. Secondly, He has spoken to the Son when standing here,
"You
are My beloved Son." Matthew 3:17 God has spoken to the Apostles, He has
spoken
to all the Saints, even though not with voice sounding through the cloud,
nevertheless
in the heart where He is Himself Teacher. What is therefore, "Once
has
God spoken"? Much has that man leapt over in order to arrive at that
place,
where
once God has spoken. Behold briefly I have spoken to your Love. Here
among
men, to men ofttimes, in many ways, in many quarters, through creatures
of
many forms God has spoken: by Himself once God has spoken, because One
Word
God has begotten .... For it could not be but that God did Himself know that
which
by the Word He made: John 1:3 but if that which He made He knew, in
Him
there was that which was made before it was made. For if in Him was not that
which
was made before it was made, how knew He that which He made? For you
can
not say that God made things He knew not. God therefore has known that
which
He has made. And how knew He before He made, if there cannot be known
any
but things made? But by things made there cannot be known any but things
previously
made, by you, to wit, who art a man made in a lower place, and set in a
lower
place: but before that all these things were made, they were known by Him
by
whom they were made, and that which He knew He made. Therefore in that
Word
by which He made all things, before that they were made, were all things;
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Psalm 62
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and
after they have been made there are all things; but in one way here, in another
there,
in one way in their own nature wherein they have been made, in another in
the
art by which they have been made. Who could explain this? We may
endeavour:
go ye with Idithun, and see.
12.
...For even the Lord says, "Many things I have to say to you, but ye
cannot
bear
them now." John 16:12 What is therefore, "These two things I have
heard"?
These
two things which to you I am about to say not of myself to you I say, but
what
things I have heard I say. "Once has God spoken:" One Word has He,
the
Only-begotten
God. In that Word are all things, because by the Word were made
all
things. One Word has He, "in whom all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge
are
hidden." Colossians 2:3 One Word He has, "once has God spoken."
"These
two
things," which to you I am about to say, these I have heard: not of myself
I
speak,
not of myself I say: to this belongs the "I have heard." John 8:26
But the
friend
of the Bridegroom stands and hears Him, that he may speak the truth. For
he
hears Him, lest by speaking a lie, of his own he should speak: John 8:44 lest
you
should say, Who are you that sayest this thing to me? whence do you say this
to
me? I have heard these two things, and I that speak to you that I have heard
these
two things, am one who also does know that once God has spoken. Do not
despise
a hearer saying to you certain two things for you so necessary; him, I say,
that
by leaping over the whole creation has attained unto the Only-begotten Word
of
God, where he has learned that "once God has spoken."
13.
Let him therefore now say certain two things. For greatly to us belong these
two
things. "For power is of God, and to You, O Lord, is mercy." Are
these the
two
things, power and mercy? These two evidently: perceive ye the power of God,
perceive
ye the mercy of God. In these two things are contained nearly all the
Scriptures.
Because of these two things are the Prophets, because of these two, the
Patriarchs,
because of these the Law, because of these Himself our Lord Jesus
Christ,
because of these the Apostles, because of these all the preaching and
spreading
of the word of God in the Church, because of these two, because of the
power
of God, and His mercy. His power fear ye, His mercy love ye. Neither so on
His
mercy rely, as that His power ye despise: nor so the power fear ye, as that of
mercy
ye despair. With Him is power, with Him mercy. This man He humbles,
and
that man He exalts: this man He humbles with power, that man He exalts in
mercy.
"For if God, willing to show wrath and to prove His power, has in much
patience
borne with the vessels of wrath, which have been perfected unto
perdition"
Romans 9:22—you have heard of power: inquire for mercy—"and that
He
might make known," He says, "His riches unto the vessels of
mercy." It
belongs
therefore to His power to condemn unjust men. And to Him who would
say,
What have you done? "For thou, O man, who are you that should make
answer
to God?" Romans 9:20 Fear therefore and tremble at His power: but hope
for
His mercy. The devil is a sort of power; ofttimes however he wishes to hurt,
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Psalm 62
448
and
is not able, because that power is under power. For if the devil could hurt as
much
as he would; no one of just men would remain, nor could any one of the
faithful
be on earth. The same through his vessels smites against, as it were, a wall
bowed
down: but he only smites against, so far as he receives power. But in order
that
the wall may not fall, the Lord will support: for He that gives power to the
tempter,
does Himself to the tempted extend mercy. For according to measure the
devil
is permitted to tempt. And, "You will give us to drink in tears in a
measure."
Do
not therefore fear the tempter permitted to do somewhat: for you have a most
merciful
Saviour. So much he is permitted to tempt as is profitable for you, that
you
may be exercised, may be proved; in order that by yourself you may be found
out,
that know not yourself. For where, or from whence, ought we to be secure,
except
by this power and mercy of God? After that Apostolic saying, "Faithful is
God,
that does not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able."
1
Corinthians 10:13 ...Fear not the enemy: so much he does as he has received
power
to do, Him fear thou that has the chief power: Him fear, that does as much
as
He wills, and that does nothing unjustly, and whatever He shall have done, is
just.
We might suppose something or other to be unjust: inasmuch as God has
done
it, believe it to be just.
14.
Therefore, you say, if any one slay an innocent man, does he justly or
unjustly?
Unjustly certainly. Wherefore does God permit this? ... The counsel of
God
to tell to you, O man, I am not able: this thing however I say, both that the
man
has done unjustly that has slain an innocent person, and that it would not have
been
done unless God permitted it: and though the man has done unjustly, yet God
has
not unjustly permitted this. Let the reason lie concealed in that person
whoever
it
be, for whose sake you are moved, whose innocence does much move you. For
to
you speedily I might make answer. He would not have been slain unless he
were
guilty: but you think him innocent. I might speedily say this to you. For you
could
not examine his heart, sift his deeds, weigh his thoughts, so that you could
say
to me, unjustly he was slain. I might easily therefore make answer: but there
is
forced
upon my view a certain Just One, without dispute just, without doubt just,
who
had no sin, slain by sinners, betrayed by a sinner; Himself Christ the Lord, of
whom
we cannot say that He has any iniquity, for "those things which He robbed
not
He paid," is made an objection to my answer. And why should I speak of
Christ?
"With you I am dealing," you say. And I with you. About Him you
propose
a question, about Him I am solving the question. For therein the counsel
of
God we know, which except by His own revealing we should not know: so that
when
you shall have found out that counsel of God, whereby He has permitted His
innocent
Son to be slain by unjust men, and such a counsel as pleases you, and
such
a counsel as cannot displease you, if you are just, you may believe that in
other
things also by His counsel God does the same, but it escaped you. Ah!
brethren,
need there was of the blood of a just one to blot out the handwriting of
sins;
need there was of an example of patience, of an example of humility; need
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449
there
was of the Sign of the Cross to beat down the devil and his angels; need for
us
there was of the Passion of our Lord; for by the Passion of the Lord redeemed
has
been the world. How many good things has the Passion of the Lord done! And
yet
the Passion of this Just One would not have been, unless unrighteous men had
slain
the Lord. What then? is this good thing which to us has been granted by the
Lord's
Passion to be ascribed to the unjust slayers of Christ? Far be it. They willed,
God
permitted. They guilty would have been, even if only they had willed it: but
God
would not have permitted it, unless just it had been .... Accordingly, my
brethren,
both Judas the foul traitor to Christ, and the persecutors of Christ,
malignant
all, ungodly all, unjust all, are to be condemned all: and nevertheless the
Father
His own proper Son has not spared, but for the sake of us all He has
delivered
Him up. Romans 8:32 Order if you are able; distinguish if you are able
(these
things): render to God your vows, which your lips have uttered: see what
the
unjust has here done, what the Just One. The one has willed, the Other has
permitted:
the one unjustly has willed, the Other justly has permitted. Let unjust
will
be condemned, just permission be glorified. For what evil thing has befallen
Christ,
in that Christ has died? Both evil were they that evil willed to do, and yet
nothing
of evil did He suffer on whom they did it. Slain was mortal flesh, slaying
death
by death, giving a lesson of patience, sending before an example of
Resurrection.
How great good things of the Just One were wrought by the evil
things
of the unjust! This is the great mystery of God: that even a good thing
which
you do He has Himself given it to you, and by your evil He does good
Himself.
Do not therefore wonder, God permits, and in judgment permits: He
permits,
and in measure, number, weight, He permits. With Him is not iniquity:
Romans
9:14 do thou only belong to Him; on Himself your hope set thou, let
Himself
be your Helper, your Salvation: in Him be there the fortified place, the
tower
of strength, your refuge let Himself be, and He will not suffer you to be
tempted
above that which you are able to bear, but will make with the temptation
also
an escape, that you may be able to support it: 1 Corinthians 10:13 so that His
suffering
you to bear temptation, be His power; His suffering not any more on you
to
be done than you are able to bear, be His mercy: "for power is of God, and
to
You,
O Lord, is mercy, because You will render to each one after his works."
15.
That thirst of the Church, would fain drink up that man also whom you see. At
the
same time also, in order that you may know how many in the mixed multitude
of
Christians with their mouth do bless, and in their heart curse, this man having
been
a Christian and a believer returns as a penitent, and being terrified by the
power
of the Lord, turns him to the mercy of the Lord. For having been led astray
by
the enemy when he was a believer, long time he has been an astrologer, led
astray,
leading astray, deceived, deceiving, he has allured, has beguiled, many lies
he
has spoken against God, That has given to men power of doing that which is
good,
and of not doing that which is evil. He used to say, that one's own will did
not
adultery, but Venus; one's own will did not manslaying, but Mars; and God did
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450
not
what is just, but Jupiter; and many other blasphemous things, and not light
ones.
From how many Christians do ye think he has pocketed money? How many
from
him have bought a lie, to whom we used to say, "Sons of men, how long are
you
dull of heart, wherefore love ye vanity, and seek a lie"? Now, as of him
must
be
believed, he has shuddered at his lie, and being the allurer of many men, he
has
perceived
at length that by the devil he has himself been allured, and he turns to
God
a penitent. We think, brethren, that because of great fear of heart it has come
to
pass. For what must we say? If out of a heathen an astrologer were converted,
great
indeed would be the joy: but nevertheless it might appear, that, if he had
been
converted, he was desiring the clerical office in the Church. A penitent he is,
he
seeks not anything save mercy alone. He must be recommended therefore both
to
your eyes and hearts. Him whom you see in hearts love ye, with eyes guard ye.
See
ye him, mark ye him, and whithersoever he shall have gone his way, to the
rest
of the brethren that now are not here, point him out: and such diligence is
mercy;
lest that leader astray drag back his heart and take it by storm. Guard ye
him,
let there not escape you his conversation, his way: in order that by your
testimony
it may be proved to us that truly to the Lord he has been turned. For
report
will not be silent about his life, when to you he is thus presented both to be
seen
and to be pitied. You know in the Acts of the Apostles how it is written, that
many
lost men, that is, men of such arts, and followers of naughty doctrines,
brought
unto the Apostles all their books; and there were burned so many
volumes,
that it was the writer's task to make a valuation of them, and write down
the
sum of the price. Acts 19:19 This truly was for the glory of God, in order that
even
such lost men might not be despaired of by Him that knew how to seek that
which
had been lost. Therefore this man had been lost, is now sought, found,
Luke
15:32 led hither, he brings with him books to be burned, by which he had
been
to be burned, so that when these have been thrown into the fire, he may
himself
pass over into a place of refreshment. Know ye that he, brethren, once
knocked
at the Church door before Easter: for before Easter he began to ask of the
Church
Christ's medicine. But because the art wherein he had been practised is of
such
sort as that it was suspected of lying and deceit, he was put off that he might
not
tempt; at length however he was admitted, that he might not more dangerously
be
tempted. Pray for him through Christ. Straightway today's prayer pour out for
him
to the Lord our God. For we know and are sure, that your prayer effaces all
his
impieties. The Lord be with you.
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451
Exposition
on Psalm 63
1.
This psalm has the title, "For David himself, when he was in the desert of
Idumća."
By the name of Idumća is understood this world. For Idumća was a
certain
nation of men going astray, where idols were worshipped. In no good sense
is
put this Idumća. If not in a good sense it is put, it must be understood that
this
life,
wherein we suffer so great toils, and wherein to so great necessities we are
made
subject, by the name of Idumća is signified. Even here is a desert where
there
is much thirst, and you are to hear the voice of One now thirsting in the
desert.
But if we acknowledge ourselves as thirsting, we shall acknowledge
ourselves
as drinking also. For he that thirsts in this world, in the world to come
shall
be satisfied, according to the Lord's saying, "Blessed are they that
hunger and
thirst
after righteousness, for the same shall be satisfied." Matthew 5:6
Therefore
in
this world we ought not to love fulness. Here we must thirst, in another place
we
shall be filled. But now in order that we may not faint in this desert, He
sprinkles
upon us the dew of His word, and leaves us not utterly to dry up, so that
there
should not be in our case any seeking of us again, but that we may so thirst
as
that we may drink. But in order that we may drink, with somewhat of His Grace
we
are sprinkled: nevertheless we thirst. And what says our soul to God?
2.
"God, my God, unto You from the light I watch" (ver. 1). What is to
watch? It
is,
not to sleep. What is to sleep? There is a sleep of the soul; there is a sleep
of the
body.
Sleep of body we all ought to have: because if sleep of body is not taken, a
man
faints, the body itself faints. For our frail body cannot long sustain a soul
watching
and on the stretch on active works; if for a long time the soul shall have
been
intent on active pursuits, the body being frail and earthly holds her not,
sustains
her not for ever in activity, and faints and falls. Therefore God has granted
sleep
to the body, whereby are recruited the members of the body, in order that
they
may be able to sustain the soul watching. But of this let us take heed, namely,
that
our soul herself sleep not: for evil is the sleep of the soul. Good is the
sleep of
the
body, whereby is recruited the health of the body. But the sleep of the soul is
to
forget her God. Whatsoever soul shall have forgotten her God, sleeps. Therefore
the
Apostle says to certain persons that forgot their God, and being as it were in
sleep,
did act the follies of the worship of idols—the Apostle, I say, says to certain
persons,
"Rise, you that sleepest, and rise up from the dead, and Christ shall
enlighten
you." Ephesians 5:14 Was the Apostle waking up one sleeping in body?
Nay,
but he was waking a soul sleeping, inasmuch as he was waking her, in order
that
she might be lightened by Christ. Therefore as to these same watchings says
this
man, "God, my God, unto You from the light I watch." For you would
not
watch
of yourself, unless there should arise your Light, to wake you from sleep.
For
Christ lightens souls, and makes them to watch: but if His light He takes away,
they
slumber. For for this cause to Him there is said in another psalm,
"Lighten my
eyes,
that I may never slumber in death."...
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3.
"My soul has thirsted for You" (ver. 2). Behold that desert of
Idumća. See how
here
he thirsts: but see what good thing is here, "Hath thirsted for You."
For there
are
they that thirst, but not for God. For every one that wills anything to be
granted
to
him, is in the heat of longing; the longing itself is the thirst of the soul.
And see
ye
what longings there are in the hearts of men: one longs for gold, another longs
for
silver, another longs for possessions, another inheritance, another abundance
of
money,
another many herds, another a wife, another honours, another sons. You
see
those longings, how they are in the hearts of men. All men are inflamed with
longing,
and scarce is found one to say, "My soul has thirsted for You." For
men
thirst
for the world: and perceive not themselves to be in the desert of Idumća,
where
their souls ought to thirst for God....
4.
Wisdom therefore must be thirsted after, righteousness must be thirsted after.
With
it we shall not be satisfied, with it we shall not be filled, save when this
life
shall
have been ended, and we shall have come to that which God has promised.
For
God has promised equality with Angels: Luke 20:36 and now the Angels thirst
not
as we do, they hunger not as we do; but they have the fulness of truth, of
light,
of
immortal wisdom. Therefore blessed they are, and out of so great blessedness,
because
they are in that City, the Heavenly Jerusalem, afar from whence we now
are
sojourning in a strange land, they observe us sojourners, and they pity us, and
by
the command of the Lord they help us, in order that to this common country
sometime
we may return, and there with them sometime with the Lord's fountain
of
truth and eternity we may be filled. Now therefore let our soul thirst: whence
does
our flesh also thirst, and this in many ways? "In many ways for You,"
he
says,
"my flesh also." Because to our flesh also is promised Resurrection.
As to
our
soul is promised blessedness, so also to our flesh is promised
resurrection
.... For if God has made us that were not, is it a great thing for Him to
make
again us that were? Therefore let not this seem to you to be incredible,
because
ye see dead men as it were decaying, and passing into ashes and into dust.
Or
if any dead man be burned, or if dogs tear him in pieces, do ye think that from
this
he will not rise again? All things which are dismembered, and into a sort of
dust
do decay, are entire with God. For into those elements of the world they pass,
whence
at first they have come, when we were made: we do not see them; but yet
God
will bring them forth, He knows whence, because even before we were, He
created
us from whence He knew. Such a resurrection of the flesh therefore to us
is
promised, as that, although it be the same flesh that now we carry which is to
rise
again, yet it has not the corruption which now it has. For now because of the
corruption
of frailty, if we eat not, we faint and are hungry; if we drink not, we
faint
and are thirsty; if long time we watch, we faint and sleep; if long time we
sleep,
we faint, therefore we watch.... Secondly, see how without any standing is
our
flesh: for infancy passes away into boyhood, and you seek infancy, and
infancy
is not, for now instead of infancy is boyhood: again this same also passes
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453
into
youth, you seek boyhood and findest not: the young man becomes a middle-
aged
man, you seek the young man and he is not: the middle-aged man becomes
an
old man, you seek a middle-aged man and findest not: and an old man dies, you
seek
an old man and findest not: our age therefore stands not still: everywhere is
weariness,
everywhere faintness, everywhere corruption. Observing what a hope
of
resurrection God promises to us, in all those our manifold faintings we thirst
for
that
incorruption: and so our flesh manifoldly does thirst for God.
5.
Nevertheless, my brethren, the flesh of a good Christian and a believer even in
this
world for God does thirst: for if the flesh has need of bread, if it has need
of
water,
if it has need of wine, if it has need of money, if this flesh has need of a
beast,
from God it ought to seek it, not from demons and idols and I know not
what
powers of this world. For there are certain who when they suffer hunger in
this
world, leave God and ask Mercury or ask Jove to give unto them, or her whom
they
call "Heavenly," or any the like demons: not for God their flesh
thirsts. But
they
that thirst for God, everywhere ought to thirst for Him, both soul and flesh:
for
to the soul also God gives His bread, that is the Word of Truth: and to the
flesh
God
gives the things which are necessary, for God has made both soul and flesh.
For
the sake of your flesh you ask of demons: has God made the soul, and the
demons
made the flesh? He that has made the soul, the Same has made the flesh
also:
He that has made both of them, the Same feeds both of them. Let either part
of
us thirst for God, and after labour manifold let either simply be filled.
6.
But where thirsts our soul, and our flesh manifoldly, not for any one but for
You,
O Lord, that is our God? it thirsts where? "In a land desert, and without
way,
and
without water." Of this world we have spoken, the same is Idumća, this is
the
desert
of Idumća, whence the Psalm has received its title. "In a land
desert." Too
little
it is to say "desert," where no man dwells; it is besides, both
"without way,
and
without water." O that the same desert had even a way: O that into this a
man
running,
even knew where he might thence get forth! ...Evil is the desert, horrible,
and
to be feared: and nevertheless God has pitied us, and has made for us a way in
the
desert, Himself our Lord Jesus Christ: John 14:6 and has made for us a
consolation
in the desert, in sending to us preachers of His Word: and has given to
us
water in the desert, by fulfilling with the Holy Spirit His preachers, in order
that
there
might be created in them a well of water springing up unto life everlasting.
John
4:14 And, lo! we have here all things, but they are not of the desert....
7.
"Thus in a holy thing I have appeared to You, that I might see Your power
and
Your
glory" (ver. 3) .... Unless a man first thirst in that desert, that is in
the evil
wherein
he is, he never arrives at the good, which is God. But "I have appeared to
You,"
he says, "in a holy thing." Now in a holy thing is there great
consolation. "I
have
appeared to You," is what? In order that You might see me: and for this
reason
You have seen me, in order that I might see You. "I have appeared to You,
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Psalm 63 454
that
I might see." He has not said, "I have appeared to You, that You
might see:"
but,
"I have appeared to You, that I might see Your power and Your glory."
Whence
also the Apostle, "But now," he says, "knowing God, nay, having
been
known
of God." Galatians 4:9 For first you have appeared to God, in order that
to
you
God might be able to appear. "That I might see Your power and Your
glory."
In
truth in that forsaken place, that is, in that desert, if as though from the
desert a
man
strives to obtain enough for his sustenance, he will never see the power of the
Lord,
and the glory of the Lord, but he will remain to die of thirst, and will find
neither
way, nor consolation, nor water, whereby he may endure in the desert. But
when
he shall have lifted up himself to God, so as to say to Him out of all his
inward
parts, "My soul has thirsted for You; how manifoldly for You also my
flesh!"
lest perchance even the things necessary for the flesh of others he ask, and
not
of God, or else long not for that resurrection of the flesh, which God has
promised
to us: when, I say, he shall have lifted up himself, he will have no small
consolations.
8.
...But you have heard but now when the Gospel was being read in what terms
He
has notified His Majesty: "I and My Father are One." John 10:30
Behold how
great
a Majesty and how great an Equality with the Father has come down to the
flesh
because of our infirmity. Behold how greatly beloved we have been, before
that
we loved God. If before that we loved God, so much by Him we were
beloved,
as that His Son, Equal with Himself, He made a Man for our sake, what
does
He reserve for us now loving Him? Therefore many men think it to be a very
small
thing that the Son of God has appeared on earth; because they are not in the
Holy
One, to them has not appeared the power of the Same and the glory of the
Same:
that is, not yet have they a heart made holy, whence they may perceive the
eminence
of that virtue, and may render thanks to God, nor that to which for their
own
sakes so great an One came, unto what a nativity, unto what a Passion, they
are
not able to see, His glory and His power.
9.
"For better is Your mercy than lives." Many are the lives of men, but
one life
God
promises: and He gives not this to us as if for our merits but for His
mercy
.... For what is so just a thing as that a sinner should be punished? Though a
just
thing it be that a sinner should be punished, it has belonged to the mercy of
Him
not to punish a sinner but to justify him, and of a sinner to make a just man,
and
of an ungodly man to make a godly man. Therefore "His mercy is better than
lives."
What lives? Those which for themselves men have chosen. One has chosen
for
himself a life of business, another a country life, another a life of usury,
another
a military life; one this, another that. Divers are the lives, but "better
is
Your"
life "than" our "lives."... "My lips shall praise
You." My lips would not
praise
You, unless before me were to go Your mercy. By Your gift You I praise,
through
Your mercy You I praise. For I should not be able to praise God, unless
He
gave me to be able to praise Him.
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455
10.
"So I will speak good of You in my life, and in Your name I will lift up
my
hands"
(ver. 5). Now in my life which to me You have given, not in that which I
have
chosen after the world with the rest among many lives, but that which You
have
given to me through Your mercy, that I should praise You. "So I will speak
good
of You in my life." What is "so"? That to Your mercy I may
ascribe my life
wherein
You I praise, not to my merits. "And in Your name I will lift up my
hands."
Lift up therefore hands in prayer. Our Lord has lifted up for us His hands
on
the Cross, and stretched out were His hands for us, and therefore were His
hands
stretched out on the Cross, in order that our hands might be stretched out
unto
good works: because His Cross has brought us mercy. Behold, He has lifted
up
hands, and has offered for us Himself a Sacrifice to God, and through that
Sacrifice
have been effaced all our sins. Let us also lift up our hands to God in
prayer:
and our hands being lifted up to God shall not be confounded, if they be
exercised
in good works. For what does he that lifts up hands? Whence has it been
commanded
that with hands lifted up we should pray to God? For the Apostle
says,
"Lifting up pure hands without anger and dissension." 1 Timothy 2:8
It is in
order
that when you lift up hands to God, there may come into your mind your
works.
For whereas those hands are lifted up that you may obtain that which you
will,
those same hands you think in good works to exercise, that they may not
blush
to be lifted up to God. "In your name I will lift up my hands." Those
are our
prayers
in this Idumća, in this desert, in the land without water and without way,
where
for us Christ is the Way, John 14:6 but not the way of this earth.
11.
...Already our fathers are dead, but God lives: here we could not always have
fathers,
but there we shall alway have one living Father, when we have our father-
land....
What sort of country is that? But you love here riches. God Himself shall
be
to you your riches. But you love a good fountain. What is more passing clear
than
that wisdom? What more bright? Whatsoever is an object of love here, in
place
of all you shall have Him that has made all things, "as though with marrow
and
fatness my soul should be filled: and lips of exultation shall praise Your
name."
In this desert, in Your name I will lift up my hands: let my soul be filled as
though
with marrow and fatness, "and my lips with exultation shall praise Your
name."
For now is prayer, so long as there is thirst: when thirst shall have passed
away,
there passes away praying and there succeeds praising. "And lips of
exultation
shall praise Your name."
12.
"If I have remembered You upon my bed, in the dawnings I did meditate on
you
(ver. 7): because You have become my helper" (ver. 8). His "bed"
he calls his
rest.
When any one is at rest, let him be mindful of God; when any one is at rest,
let
him not by rest be dissolved, and forget God: if mindful he is of God when he
is
at rest, in his actions on God he does meditate. For the dawn he has called
actions,
because every man at dawn begins to do something. What therefore has he
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Psalm 63
456
said?
If therefore I was not mindful on my bed, in the dawn also I did not meditate
on
You. Can he that thinks not of God when he is at leisure, in his actions think
of
God?
But he that is mindful of Him when he is at rest, on the Same does meditate
when
he is doing, lest in action he should come short. Therefore he has added
what?
"Because You have become my helper." For unless God aid our good
works,
they cannot be accomplished by us. And worthy things we ought to work:
that
is, as though in the light, since by Christ showing the way we work.
Whosoever
works evil things, in the night he works, not in the dawn; according to
the
Apostle, saying, "They that are drunken, in the night are drunken; and
they that
sleep,
in the night do sleep; let us that are of the day, be sober." He exhorts
us that
after
the day we should walk honestly: "As in the day, honestly let us
walk."
Romans
13:13 And again, "You," he says, "are sons of light, and sons of
day; we
are
not of night nor of darkness." Who are sons of night, and sons of
darkness?
They
that work all evil things. To such a degree they are sons of night, that they
fear
lest the things which they work should be seen .... No one therefore in the
dawn
works, except him that in Christ works. But he that while at leisure is
mindful
of Christ, on the Same does meditate in all his actions, and He is a helper
to
him in a good work, lest through his weakness he fail. "And in the
covering of
Your
wings I will exult." I am cheerful in good works, because over me is the
covering
of Your wings. If thou protect me not, forasmuch as I am a chicken, the
kite
will seize me. For our Lord Himself says in a certain place to that Jerusalem,
a
certain
city, where He was crucified: "Jerusalem," He says, "Jerusalem,
how often
I
have willed to gather your sons, as though a hen her chickens, and you would
not."
Matthew 23:37 Little ones we are: therefore may God protect us under the
shadow
of His wings. What when we shall have grown greater? A good thing it is
for
us that even then He should protect us, so that under Him the greater, alway we
be
chickens. For alway He is greater, however much we may have grown. Let no
one
say, let Him protect me while I am a little one: as if sometime he would attain
to
such magnitude, as should be self-sufficient. Without the protection of God,
nought
you are. Alway by Him let us desire to be protected: then alway in Him we
shall
have power to be great, if alway under Him little we be. "And in the
covering
of
Your wings I will exult."
13.
"My soul has been glued on behind You" (ver. 9). See ye one longing,
see ye
one
thirsting, see ye how he cleaves to God. Let there spring up in you this
affection.
If already it is sprouting, let it be rained upon and grow: let it come to
such
strength, that you also may say from the whole heart, "My soul has been
glued
on behind You." Where is that same glue? The glue itself is love. Have
thou
love,
wherewith as with glue your soul may be glued on behind God. Not with
God,
but behind God; that He may go before, you may follow. For he that shall
have
willed to go before God, by his own counsel would live, and will not follow
the
commandments of God. Because of this even Peter was rebuked, when he
willed
to give counsel to Christ, who was going to suffer for us.... "Far be it
from
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Psalm 63
457
You,
O Lord, be Thou merciful to Yourself." And the Lord, "Go back behind
Me,
Satan:
for you savour not the things which are of God, but the things which are of
men."
Matthew 16:22-23 Wherefore, the things which are of men? Because to go
before
Me you desire, go back behind Me, in order that you may follow me: so
that
now following Christ he might say, "My soul has been glued on behind
You."
With
reason he adds, "Me Your right hand has taken up." This Christ has
said in
us:
that is in the Man which He was bearing for us, which He was offering for us,
He
has said this. The Church also said this in Christ, she says it in her Head:
for
she
too has suffered here great persecutions, and by her individual members even
now
she suffers....
14.
"But themselves in vain have sought my soul. They shall go unto the lower
places
of the earth" (ver. 9). Earth they were unwilling to lose, when they
crucified
Christ:
into the lower places of the earth they have gone. What are the lower
places
of the earth? Earthly lusts. Better it is to walk upon earth, than by lust to
go
under
earth. For every one that in prejudice of his salvation desires earthly things,
is
under the earth: because earth he has put before him, earth upon himself he has
put,
and himself beneath he has laid. They therefore fearing to lose earth, said
what
of the Lord Jesus Christ, when they saw great multitudes go after Him,
forasmuch
as He was doing wonderful things? "If we shall have let Him go alive,
there
will come the Romans, and will take away from us both place and nation."
John
11:48 They feared to lose earth, and they went under the earth: there befell
them
even what they feared. For they willed to kill Christ, that they might not lose
earth;
and earth they therefore lost, because Christ they slew. For when Christ had
been
slain, because the Lord Himself had said to them, "The kingdom shall be
taken
from you, and shall be given up to a nation doing righteousness:"
Matthew
21:43 there followed them great calamities of persecutions: there
conquered
them Roman emperors, and kings of the nations: they were shut out
from
that very place where they crucified Christ, and now that place is full of
Christian
praisers: it has no Jew, it has been cleared of the enemies of Christ, it has
been
fulfilled with the praisers of Christ. Behold, they have lost at the hands of
the
Romans
the place, because Christ they slew, who to this end slew, that they might
not
lose the place at the hands of the Romans. Therefore, "They shall enter
into the
lower
places of the earth."
15.
"They shall be delivered unto the hands of the sword" (ver. 10). In
truth, thus it
has
visibly befallen them, they have been taken by storm by enemies breaking in.
"Portions
of foxes they shall be." Foxes he calls the kings of the world, that then
were
when Judća was conquered. Hear in order that you may know and perceive,
that
those he calls foxes. Herod the king the Lord Himself has called a fox.
"Go
ye,"
He says, "and tell that fox." Luke 13:32 See and observe, my
brethren: Christ
as
King they would not have, and portions of foxes they have been made. For
when
Pilate the deputy governor in Judća slew Christ at the voices of the Jews, he
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458
said
to the same Jews, "Your King shall I crucify?" John 19:15 Because He
was
called
King of the Jews, and He was the true King. And they rejecting Christ said,
"We
have no king but Cćsar." They rejected a Lamb, chose a fox: deservedly
portions
of foxes they were made.
16.
"The King in truth," is so written, because they chose a fox, a King
in truth
they
would not have. "The King in truth:" that is, the true King, to whom
the title
was
inscribed, when He suffered. For Pilate set this title inscribed over His Head,
"The
King of the Jews," in the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin tongues: in order that
all
they
that should pass by might read of the glory of the King, and the infamy of the
Jews
themselves, who, rejecting the true King, chose the fox Cćsar. "The King
in
truth
shall rejoice in God." They have been made portions of foxes.... "
Stopped up
is
the mouth of men speaking unjust things." No one dares now openly to speak
against
Christ, now all men fear Christ. "For stopped up is the mouth of men
speaking
unjust things." When in weakness the Lamb was, even foxes were bold
against
the Lamb. There conquered the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Revelation 5:5
and
the foxes were silenced.
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Psalm 64
459
Exposition on
Psalm 64
1.
Though chiefly the Lord's Passion is noticed in this Psalm, neither could the
Martyrs
have been strong, unless they had beheld Him, that first suffered; nor such
things
would they have endured in suffering, as He did, unless they had hoped for
such
things in the Resurrection as He had showed of Himself: but your Holiness
knows
that our Head is our Lord Jesus Christ, and that all that cleave unto Him are
the
members of Him the Head ....And let no one say, that now-a-days in
tribulation
of passions we are not. For alway you have heard this fact, how in
those
times the whole Church together as it were was smitten against, but now
through
individuals she is tried. Bound indeed is the devil, that he may not do as
much
as he could, that he may not do as much as he would: nevertheless, he is
permitted
to tempt as much as is expedient to men advancing. It is not expedient
for
us to be without temptations: nor should we beseech God that we be not
tempted,
but that we be not "led into temptation." Matthew 6:13
2.
Say we, therefore, ourselves also: "Hearken, O God, to my prayer, while I
am
troubled;
from fear of the enemy deliver my soul" (ver. 1). Enemies have raged
against
the Martyrs: for what was that voice of Christ's Body praying? For this it
was
praying, to be delivered from enemies, and that enemies might not have
power
to slay them. Were they not therefore hearkened to, because they were
slain;
and has God forsaken His servants of a contrite heart, and despised men
hoping
in Him? Far be it. For "who has called upon God, and has been forsaken;
who
has hoped in Him, and has been deserted by Him?" Sirach 2:10 They were
hearkened
to therefore, and they were slain; and yet from enemies they were
delivered.
Others being afraid gave consent, and lived, and yet the same by
enemies
were swallowed up. The slain were delivered, the living were swallowed
up.
Thence is also that voice of thanksgiving, "Perchance alive they would
have
swallowed
us up."...Therefore for this prays the voice of the Martyrs, "From
fear
of
the enemy deliver Thou my soul:" not so that the enemy may not slay me,
but
that
I may not fear an enemy slaying. For that to be fulfilled in the Psalm the
servant
prays, which but now in the Gospel the Lord was commanding. What but
now
was the Lord commanding? "Fear not them that kill the body, but the soul
are
not
able to kill; but Him rather fear ye, that has power to kill both body and soul
in
the
hell of fire." Matthew 10:28 And He repeated, "Yea, I say unto you,
fear Him."
Luke
12:5 Who are they that kill the body? Enemies. What was the Lord
commanding?
That they should not be feared. Be prayer offered, therefore, that He
may
grant what He has commanded. "From fear of the enemy deliver my
soul."
Deliver
me from fear of the enemy, and make me submit to the fear of You. I
would
not fear him that kills the body, but I would fear Him that has power to kill
both
body and soul in the hell of fire. For not from fear would I be free: but from
fear
of the enemy being free, under fear of the Lord a servant.
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3.
"You have protected me from the gathering together of malignants, and from
the
multitude of men working iniquity" (ver. 2). Now upon Himself our Head let
us
look. Like things many Martyrs have suffered: but nothing does shine out so
brightly
as the Head of Martyrs; in Him rather let us behold what they have gone
through.
Protected He was from the multitude of malignants, God protecting
Himself,
the Son Himself and the Manhood which He was carrying protecting His
flesh:
because Son of Man He is, and Son of God He is; Son of God because of the
form
of God, Son of Man because of the form of a servant: having in His power to
lay
down His life: and to take it again. John 10:18 To Him what could enemies
do?
They killed body, soul they killed not. Observe. Too little therefore it were
for
the
Lord to exhort the Martyrs with word, unless He had enforced it by example.
You
know what a gathering together there was of malignant Jews, and what a
multitude
there was of men working iniquity. What iniquity? That wherewith they
willed
to kill the Lord Jesus Christ. "So many good works," He says, "I
have
shown
to you, for which of these will you to kill Me?" John 10:32 He endured all
their
infirm, He healed all their sick, He preached the Kingdom of Heaven, He
held
not His peace at their vices, so that these same should have been displeasing
to
them, rather than the Physician by whom they were being made whole: for all
these
His remedies being ungrateful, like men delirious in high fever raving at the
physician,
they devised the plan of destroying Him that had come to heal them; as
though
therein they would prove whether He were indeed a man, that could die, or
were
somewhat above men, and would not suffer Himself to die. The word of
these
same men we perceive in the wisdom of Solomon: "with death most
vile,"
say
they, "let us condemn Him; let us question Him, for there will be regard
in the
discourses
of Him; for if truly Son of God He is, let Him deliver Him." Let us see
therefore
what was done.
4.
"For they have whet like a sword their tongues" (ver. 3). Which says
another
Psalm
also, "Sons of men; their teeth are arms and arrows, and their tongue is a
sharp
sword." Let not the Jews say, we have not killed Christ. For to this end
they
gave
Him to Pilate the judge, in order that they themselves might seem as it were
guiltless
of His death .... But if he is guilty because he did it though unwillingly,
are
they innocent who compelled him to do it? By no means. But he gave sentence
against
Him, and commanded Him to be crucified: and in a manner himself killed
Him;
ye also, O you Jews, killed Him. Whence did ye kill Him? With the sword of
the
tongue: for you did whet your tongues. And when did ye smite, except when
you
cried out, "Crucify, Crucify"? Luke 23:21
5.
But on this account we must not pass over that which has come into mind, lest
perchance
the reading of the Divine Scriptures should disquiet any one. One
Evangelist
says that the Lord was crucified at the sixth hour, John 19:14 and
another
at the third hour: Mark 15:25 unless we understand it, we are disquieted.
And
when the sixth hour was already beginning, Pilate is said to have sat on the
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judgment-seat:
and in reality when the Lord was lifted up upon the tree, it was the
sixth
hour. But another Evangelist, looking unto the mind of the Jews, how they
wished
themselves to seem guiltless of the death of the Lord, by his account
proves
them guilty, saying, that the Lord was crucified at the third hour. But
considering
all the circumstance of the history, how many things might have been
done,
when before Pilate the Lord was being accused, in order that He might be
crucified;
we find that it might have been the third hour, when they cried out,
"Crucify,
Crucify." Therefore with more truth they killed at the time when they
cried
out. The ministers of the magistrate at the sixth hour crucified, the
transgressors
of the law at the third hour cried out: that which those did with hands
at
the sixth hour, these did with tongue at the third hour. More guilty are they
that
with
crying out were raging, than they that in obedience were ministering. This is
the
whole of the Jews' sagacity, this is that which they sought as some great
matter.
Let us kill and let us not kill: so let us kill, as that we may not ourselves
be
judged
to have killed.
6.
"They have bended the bow, a bitter thing, in order that they may shoot in
secret
One
unspotted" (ver. 4). The bow he calls lyings in wait. For he that with
sword
fights
hand to hand, openly fights: he that shoots an arrow deceives, in order to
strike.
For the arrow smites, before it is foreseen to come to wound. But whom
could
the lyings in wait of the human heart escape? Would they escape our Lord
Jesus
Christ, who had no need that any one should bear witness to Him of man?
"For
Himself knew what was in man," John 2:25 as the Evangelist testifies.
Nevertheless,
let us hear them, and look upon them in their doings as if the Lord
knew
not what they devise. The expression he used, "They have bended the
bow,"
is
the same as, "in secret:" as if they were deceiving by lyings in
wait. For you
know
by what artifices they did this, how with money they bribed a disciple that
clave
to Him, in order that He might be betrayed to them, Matthew 26:14-15 how
they
procured false witnesses; with what lyings in wait and artifices they wrought,
"in
order that they might shoot in secret One unspotted." Great iniquity!
Behold
from
a secret place there comes an arrow, which strikes One unspotted, who had
not
even so much of spot as could be pierced with an arrow. A Lamb indeed He is
unspotted,
wholly unspotted, alway unspotted; not one from whom spots have
been
removed but that has contracted not any spots. For He has made many
unspotted
by forgiving sins, being Himself unspotted by not having sins.
"Suddenly
they shall shoot Him, and shall not fear." O heart hardened, to wish to
kill
a Man that did raise the dead! "Suddenly:" that is, insidiously, as
if
unexpectedly,
as if not foreseen. For the Lord was like to one knowing not, being
among
men knowing not what He knew not and what He knew: yea, knowing not
that
there was nothing that He knew not, and that He knew all things, and to this
end
had come in order that they might do that which they thought they did by their
own
power.
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7.
"They have confirmed to themselves malignant discourse" (ver. 5).
There were
done
so great miracles, they were not moved, they persisted in the design of the
evil
discourse. He was given up to the judge: the judge trembles, and they tremble
not
that have given Him up to the judge: trembles power, and ferocity trembles
not:
he would wash his hands, and they stain their tongues. But wherefore this?
"They
have confirmed to themselves malignant discourse." How many things did
Pilate,
how many things that they might be restrained! What said he? what did he?
But
"they have confirmed to themselves malignant discourse: Crucify,
crucify."
Luke
23:21 The repetition is the confirmation of the "malignant
discourse." Let us
see
in what manner "they have confirmed to themselves malignant
discourse."
"Your
King shall I crucify?" They said, "We have no king but Cćsar
alone."
John
19:15 He was offering for King the Son of God: to a man they betook
themselves:
worthy were they to have the one, and not have the Other. "I find not
anything
in this Man," says the judge, "wherefore He is worthy of death."
And
they
that "confirmed malignant discourse," said, "His blood be upon
us and upon
our
sons." Matthew 27:25 "They confirmed malignant discourse," not
to the Lord,
but
to "themselves." For how not to themselves when they say, "Upon
us and upon
our
sons"? That which therefore they confirmed, to themselves they confirmed:
because
the same voice is elsewhere, "They dug before my face a ditch, and fell
into
it." Death killed not the Lord, but He death: but them iniquity killed,
because
they
would not kill iniquity....
8.
"They told, in order that they might hide traps: they said, Who shall see
them?"
(ver.
5). They thought they would escape Him, whom they were killing, that they
would
escape God. Behold, suppose Christ was a man, like the rest of men, and
knew
not what was being contrived for Him: does God also know not? O heart of
man!
wherefore have you said to yourself, Who sees me? when He sees that has
made
you? "They said, Who shall see them?" God did see, Christ also was
seeing:
because
Christ is also God. But wherefore did they think that He saw not? Hear
the
words following.
9.
"They have searched out iniquity, they have failed, searching
searchings" (ver.
6):
that is, deadly and acute designs. Let Him not be betrayed by us, but by His
disciple:
let Him not be killed by us, but by the judge: let us do all, and let us seem
to
have done nothing....
10.
But what befell them? "They failed searching searchings." Whence? Because
he
says, "Who shall see them?" that is, that no one saw them. This they
were
saying,
this among themselves they thought, that no one saw them. See what
befalls
an evil soul: it departs from the light of truth, and because itself sees not
God,
it thinks that itself is not seen by God....
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463
11.
For what follows? "There shall draw near a man and a deep heart."
They said,
Who
shall see us? They failed in searching searchings, evil counsels. There drew
near
a man to those same counsels, He suffered Himself to be held as a man. For
He
would not have been held except He were man, or have been seen except He
were
man, or have been smitten except He were man, or have been crucified or
have
died except He were man. There drew near a man therefore to all those
sufferings,
which in Him would have been of no avail except He were Man. But if
He
were not Man, there would not have been deliverance for man. There has
drawn
near a Man "and a deep heart," that is, a secret "heart:"
presenting before
human
faces Man, keeping within God: concealing the "form of God," wherein
He
is
equal with the Father, Philippians 2:6 and presenting the form of a servant,
wherein
He is less than the Father. For Himself has spoken of both: but one thing
there
is which He says in the form of God, another thing in the form of a servant.
He
has said in the form of God, "I and the Father are one:" John 10:30
He has said
in
the form of a servant, "For the Father is greater than I." John 14:28
Whence in
the
form of God says He, "I and the Father are one"?...
12.
"Arrows of infants have been made the strokes of them" (ver. 7).
Where is that
savageness?
where is that roar of the lion, of the people roaring and saying,
"Crucify,
Crucify"? Where are the lyings in wait of men bending the bow? Have
not
"the strokes of them been made the arrows of infants"? You know in
what
manner
infants make to themselves arrows of little canes. What do they strike, or
whence
do they strike? What is the hand, or what the weapon? what are the arms,
or
what the limbs?
13.
"And the tongues of them have been made weak upon them" (ver. 8). Let
them
whet
now their tongues like a sword, let them confirm to themselves malignant
discourse.
Deservedly to themselves they have confirmed it, because "the tongues
of
them have been made weak upon them." Could this be strong against God?
"Iniquity,"
he says, "has lied to itself;" "their tongues have been made
weak upon
them."
Behold, the Lord has risen, that was killed.... What do you think of Him
who
from the cross came not down, and from the tomb rose again? What therefore
did
they effect? But even if the Lord had not risen again, what would they have
effected,
except what the persecutors of the martyrs have also effected? For the
Martyrs
have not yet risen again, and nevertheless they have effected nothing; of
them
not yet rising again we are now celebrating the nativities. Where is the
madness
of their raging? To what did they bring those their searchings, in which
searchings
they failed, so that even, when the Lord was dead and buried, they set
guards
at the tomb? For they said to Pilate, "That deceiver;" by this name
the Lord
Jesus
Christ was called, for the comfort of His servants when they are called
deceivers;
they say therefore to Pilate, "That deceiver said when yet living, After
three
days I will rise again:" Matthew 27:63 ... They set for guards soldiers at
the
sepulchre.
At the earth quaking, the Lord rose again: such miracles were done
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about
the sepulchre, that even the very soldiers that had come for guards were
made
witnesses, if they chose to tell the truth: but the same covetousness which
had
led captive a disciple, the companion of Christ, led captive also the soldier
that
was
guard of the sepulchre. We give you, they say, money; Matthew 28:12-13 and
say
ye, while yourselves were sleeping there came His disciples, and took Him
away....
Sleeping witnesses ye adduce: truly you yourself hast fallen asleep, that in
searching
such devices hast failed. If they were sleeping, what could they see? if
nothing
they saw, how are they witnesses? But "they failed in searching
searchings:"
failed of the light of God, failed in the very completion of their
designs:
when that which they willed, nowise they were able to complete, surely
they
failed. Wherefore this? Because "there drew near a Man and a deep heart,
and
God
was exalted."...
14.
"And every man feared" (ver. 9). They that feared not, were not even
men.
"Every
man feared;" that is, every one using reason to perceive the things which
were
done. Whence they that feared not, must rather be called cattle, rather beasts
savage
and cruel. A lion ramping and roaring is that people as yet. But in truth
every
man feared: that is, they that would believe, that trembled at the judgment to
come.
"And every man feared: and they declared the works of God."...
"And every
man
has feared: and they have declared the works of God, and His doings they
have
perceived." What is, "His doings they have perceived"? Was it, O
Lord Jesus
Christ,
that You were silent, and like a sheep for a victim wast being led, and did
not
open before the shearer Your mouth, Isaiah 53:7 and we thought You to be set
in
smiting and in grief, Isaiah 53:4 and knowing how to bear weakness?
Isaiah
53:3 Was it that You were hiding Your beauty, O Thou beautiful in form
before
the sons of men? Was it that You did not seem to have beauty nor grace?
Isaiah
53:2 Thou bore on the Cross men reviling and saying, "If Son of God He is,
let
Him come down from the Cross." Matthew 27:40 ... This thing they, that
would
have
had Him come down from the Cross, perceived not: but when He rose again,
and
being glorified ascended into Heaven, they perceived the works of God.
15.
"The just man shall rejoice in the Lord" (ver. 10). Now the just man
is not sad.
For
sad were the disciples at the Lord's being crucified; overcome with sadness,
sorrowing
they departed, they thought they had lost hope. He rose again, even
when
appearing to them He found them sad. He held the eyes of two men that
walked
in the way, so that by them he was not known, and He found them
groaning
and sighing, and He held them until He had expounded the Scriptures,
and
by the same Scriptures had shown that so it ought to have been done as it was
done.
For He showed in the Scriptures, how after the third day it behoved the Lord
to
rise again. Luke 24:46 And how on the third day would He have risen again, if
from
the Cross He had come down? ... Therefore let us all rejoice in the Lord, let
us
all after the faith be One Just Man, and let us all in one Body hold One Head,
and
let us rejoice in the Lord, not in ourselves: because our Good is not ourselves
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to
ourselves, but He that has made us. Himself is our good to make us glad. And
let
no one rejoice in himself, no one rely on himself, no one despair of himself:
let
no
one rely on any man, whom he ought to bring in to be the partner of his own
hope,
not the giver of the hope.
16.
Now because the Lord has risen again, now because He has ascended into
Heaven,
now because He has showed that there is another life, now because it is
evident
that His counsels, wherein He lay concealed in deep heart, were not
empty,
because to this end That Blood was shed to be the price of the redeemed;
now
because all things are evident, because all things have been preached, because
all
things have been believed, under the whole of heaven, "the just man shall
rejoice
in the Lord, and shall hope in Him; and all men shall be praised that are
right
in heart."...God is displeasing to you, and you are pleasing to yourself,
of
perverted
and crooked heart you are: and this is the worse, that the heart of God
you
would correct by your heart, to make Him do what you will have whereas you
ought
to do what He wills. What then? You would make crooked the heart of God
which
alway is right, according to the depravity of your own heart? How much
better
to correct your heart by the rectitude of God? Hath not your Lord taught you
this,
of Whose Passion but now were we speaking? Was He not bearing your
weakness,
when He said, "Sad is My soul even unto death"? Matthew 26:38 Was
He
not figuring yourself in Himself, when He was saying, "Father, if it be
possible,
let there pass from Me this cup"? Matthew 26:39 For the hearts of the
Father
and of the Son were not two and different: but in the form of a servant He
carried
your heart, that He might teach it by His example. Now behold trouble
found
out as it were another heart of yours, which willed that there should pass
away
that which was impending: but God would not. God consents not to your
heart,
do thou consent to the heart of God.
17.
What follows? If "there shall be praised all men right in heart,"
there shall be
condemned
the crooked in heart. Two things are set before you now, choose while
there
is time .... If of crooked heart you have become, there will come that
Judgment,
there will appear all the reasons on account of which God does all these
things:
and thou that wouldest not in this life correct your heart by the rectitude of
God,
and prepare yourself for the right hand, where "there shall be praised all
men
right
in heart," will be on the left, where at that time you shall hear,
"Go ye into
fire
everlasting, that has been prepared for the devil and his angels."
Matthew
25:41 And will there be then time to correct the heart? Now therefore
correct,
brethren, now correct. Who does hinder? Psalm is chanted, Gospel is read,
Reader
cries, Preacher cries; long-suffering is the Lord; you sin, and He spares;
still
you sin, still He spares, and still you add sin to sin. How long is God long-
suffering?
You will find God just also. We terrify because we fear; teach us not to
fear,
and we terrify no more. But better it is that God teach us to fear, than that
any
man
teach us not to fear.... Thou bringest forth grain, barn expect thou; bringest
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forth
thorns, fire expect thou. But not yet has come either the time of the barn or
the
time of the fire: now let there be preparation, and there will not be fear. In
the
name
of Christ both we who speak are living, and you to whom we speak are
living:
for amending our plan, and changing evil life into a good life, is there no
place,
is there no time? Can it not, if you will, be done today? Can it not, if you
will,
be now done? What must thou buy in order to do it, what specifics must thou
seek?
To what Indies must thou sail? What ship prepare? Lo, while I am speaking,
change
the heart; and there is done what so often and so long while is cried out for,
that
it be done, and which brings forth everlasting punishment if it be not done.
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467
Exposition
on Psalm 65
1.
The voice of holy prophecy must be confessed in the very title of this Psalm. It
is
inscribed, "Unto the end, a Psalm of David, a song of Jeremiah and
Ezekiel, on
account
of the people of transmigration when they were beginning to go forth."
How
it fared with our fathers in the time of the transmigration to Babylon, is not
known
to all, but only to those that diligently study the Holy Scriptures, either by
hearing
or by reading. For the captive people Israel from the city of Jerusalem was
led
into slavery unto Babylon. 2 Kings 24:14 But holy Jeremiah prophesied, that
after
seventy years the people would return out of captivity, and would rebuild the
very
city Jerusalem, which they had mourned as having been overthrown by
enemies.
But at that time there were prophets in that captivity of the people
dwelling
in Babylon, among whom was also the prophet Ezekiel. But that people
was
waiting until there should be fulfilled the space of seventy years, according
to
the
prophecy of Jeremiah. It came to pass, when the seventy years had been
completed,
the temple was restored which had been thrown down: and there
returned
from captivity a great part of that people. But whereas the Apostle says,
"these
things in figure happened unto them, but they have been written for our
sakes,
upon whom the end of the world has come:" 1 Corinthians 10:11 we also
ought
to know first our captivity, then our deliverance: we ought to know the
Babylon
wherein we are captives, and the Jerusalem for a return to which we are
sighing.
For these two cities, according to the letter, in reality are two cities. And
the
former Jerusalem indeed by the Jews is not now inhabited. For after the
crucifixion
of the Lord vengeance was taken upon them with a great scourge, and
being
rooted up from that place where, with impious licentiousness being
infuriated,
they had madly raged against their Physician, they have been dispersed
throughout
all nations, and that land has been given to Christians: and there is
fulfilled
what the Lord had said to them, "Therefore the kingdom shall be taken
away
from you, and it shall be given to a nation doing justice." Matthew 21:43
But
when
they saw great multitudes then following the Lord, preaching the kingdom
of
Heaven, and doing wonderful things, the rulers of that city said, "If we
shall
have
let Him go, all men will go after Him, and there shall come the Romans, and
shall
take from us both place and nation." John 11:48 That they might not lose
their
place, they killed the Lord; and they lost it, even because they killed.
Therefore
that city, being one earthly, did bear the figure of a certain city
everlasting
in the Heavens: but when that which was signified began more
evidently
to be preached, the shadow, whereby it was being signified, was thrown
down:
for this reason in that place now the temple is no more, which had been
constructed
for the image of the future Body of the Lord. We have the light, the
shadow
has passed away: nevertheless, still in a kind of captivity we are: "So
long
as
we are," he says, "in the body, we are sojourning afar from the
Lord."
2
Corinthians 5:6
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468
2.
And see ye the names of those two cities, Babylon and Jerusalem. Babylon is
interpreted
confusion, Jerusalem vision of peace. Observe now the city of
confusion,
in order that you may perceive the vision of peace; that you may endure
that,
sigh for this. Whereby can those two cities be distinguished? Can we anywise
now
separate them from each other? They are mingled, and from the very
beginning
of mankind mingled they run on unto the end of the world. Jerusalem
received
beginning through Abel, Babylon through Cain: for the buildings of the
cities
were afterwards erected. That Jerusalem in the land of the Jebusites was
built:
for at first it used to be called Jebus, Joshua 18:28 from thence the nation of
the
Jebusites was expelled, when the people of God was delivered from Egypt, and
led
into the land of promise. But Babylon was built in the most interior regions of
Persia,
which for a long time raised its head above the rest of nations. These two
cities
then at particular times were built, so that there might be shown a figure of
two
cities begun of old, and to remain even unto the end in this world, but at the
end
to be severed. Whereby then can we now show them, that are mingled? At that
time
the Lord shall show, when some He shall set on the right hand, others on the
left.
Jerusalem on the right hand shall be, Babylon on the left.... Two loves make
up
these two cities: love of God makes Jerusalem, love of the world makes
Babylon.
Therefore let each one question himself as to what he loves: and he shall
find
of which he is a citizen: and if he shall have found himself to be a citizen of
Babylon,
let him root out cupidity, implant charity: but if he shall have found
himself
a citizen of Jerusalem, let him endure captivity, hope for liberty .... Now
therefore
let us hear of, brethren, hear of, and sing of, and long for, that city
whereof
we are citizens. And what are the joys which are sung of to us? In what
manner
in ourselves is formed again the love of our city, which by long sojourning
we
had forgotten? But our Father has sent from thence letters to us, God has
supplied
to us the Scriptures, by which letters there should be wrought in us a
longing
for return: because by loving our sojourning, to enemies we had turned
our
face, and our back to our fatherland. What then is here sung?
3.
"For You a hymn is meet, O God, in Sion" (ver. 1). That fatherland is
Sion:
Jerusalem
is the very same as Sion; and of this name the interpretation ye ought to
know.
As Jerusalem is interpreted vision of peace, so Sion Beholding, that is,
vision
and contemplation. Some great inexplicable sight to us is promised: and this
is
God Himself that has built the city. Beauteous and graceful the city, how much
more
beauteous a Builder it has! "For You a hymn is meet, O God," he says.
But
where?
"In Sion:" in Babylon it is not meet. For when a man begins to be
renewed,
already
with heart in Jerusalem he sings, with the Apostle saying, "Our
conversation
is in the Heavens." Philippians 3:20 For "in the flesh though
walking,"
he says, "not after the flesh we war." 2 Corinthians 10:3 Already in
longing
we are there, already hope into that land, as it were an anchor, we have
sent
before, lest in this sea being tossed we suffer shipwreck. In like manner
therefore
as of a ship which is at anchor, we rightly say that already she is come to
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land,
for still she rolls, but to land in a manner she has been brought safe in the
teeth
of winds and in the teeth of storms; so against the temptations of this
sojourning,
our hope being grounded in that city Jerusalem causes us not to be
carried
away upon rocks. He therefore that according to this hope sings, in that
city
sings: let him therefore say, "For You a hymn is meet, O God, in
Sion."...
4.
"And to You shall there be paid a vow in Jerusalem." Here we vow, and
a good
thing
it is that there we should pay. But who are they that here do vow and pay
not?
They that persevere not even unto the end Matthew 24:13 in that which they
have
vowed. Whence says another Psalm, "Vow ye, and pay ye unto the Lord your
God:"
and, "to You shall it be paid in Jerusalem." For there shall we be
whole, that
is,
entire in the resurrection of just men: there shall be paid our whole vow, not
soul
alone, but the very flesh also, no longer corruptible, because no longer in
Babylon,
but now a body heavenly and changed. What sort of change is promised?
"For
we all shall rise again," says the Apostle, "but we shall not all be
changed....
Where is, O death, your sting?" For now while there begin in use the
first-fruits
of the mind, from whence is the longing for Jerusalem, many things of
corruptible
flesh do contend against us, which will not contend, when death shall
have
been swallowed up in victory. Peace shall conquer, and war shall be ended.
But
when peace shall conquer, that city shall conquer which is called the vision of
peace.
On the part of death therefore shall be no contention. Now with how great a
death
do we contend! For thence are carnal pleasures, which to us even unlawfully
do
suggest many things: to which we give no consent, but nevertheless in giving
no
consent we contend....
5.
"Hearken," he says, "to my prayer, unto You every flesh shall
come" (ver. 2).
And
we have the Lord saying, that there was given to Him "power over every
flesh."
John 17:2 That King therefore began even now to appear, when there was
being
said, "Unto You every flesh shall come." "To You," he says,
"every flesh
shall
come." Wherefore to Him shall "every" flesh come? Because flesh
He has
taken
to Him. Whither shall there come every flesh? He took the first-fruits thereof
out
of the womb of the Virgin; and now that the first-fruits have been taken to
Him,
the rest shall follow, in order that the holocaust may be completed. Whence
then
"every flesh"? Every man. And whence every man? Have all been
foretold, as
going
to believe in Christ? Have not many ungodly men been foretold, that shall
be
condemned also? Do not daily men not believing die in their own unbelief?
After
what manner therefore do we understand, "Unto You every flesh shall
come"?
By "every flesh" he has signified, "flesh of every kind:"
out of every kind
of
flesh they shall come to You. What is, out of every kind of flesh? Have there
come
poor men, and have there not come rich men? Have there come humble men,
and
not come lofty men? Have there come unlearned men, and not come learned
men?
Have there come men, and not come women? Have there come masters, and
not
come servants? Have there come old men, and not come young men; or have
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there
come young men, and not come youths; or have there come youths, and not
come
boys; or have there come boys, and have there not been brought infants? In a
word,
have there come Jews (for thence were the Apostles, thence many thousands
of
men at first betraying, afterwards believing Acts 2:41), and have there not
come
Greeks;
or have there come Greeks, and not come Romans; or have there come
Romans,
and not come Barbarians? And who could number all nations coming to
Him,
to whom has been said, "Unto You every flesh shall come"?
6.
"The discourses of unjust men have prevailed over us, and our iniquities
You
shall
propitiate" (ver. 3).... Every man, in whatsoever place he is born, of
that same
land
or region or city learns the language, is habituated to the manners and life of
that
place. What should a boy do, born among Heathens, to avoid worshipping a
stone,
inasmuch as his parents have suggested that worship? from them the first
words
he has heard, that error with his milk he has sucked in; and because they
that
used to speak were elders, and the boy that was learning to speak was an
infant,
what could the little one do but follow the authority of elders, and deem
that
to be good which they recommended? Therefore nations that are converted to
Christ
afterwards, and taking to heart the impieties of their parents, and saying
now
what the prophet Jeremias himself said, "Truly a lie our fathers have
worshipped,
vanity which has not profited them" —when, I say, they now say this,
they
renounce the opinions and blasphemies of their unjust parents .... There have
led
us away men teaching evil things, citizens of Babylon they have made us, we
have
left the Creator, have adored the creature: have left Him by whom we were
made,
have adored that which we ourselves have made. For "the discourses of
unjust
men have prevailed over us:" but nevertheless they have not crushed us.
Wherefore?
"Our impieties You shall propitiate," is not said except to some
priest
offering
somewhat, whereby impiety may be expiated and propitiated. For impiety
is
then said to be propitiated, when God is made propitious to the impiety. What
is
it
for God to be made propitious to impiety? It is, His becoming forgiving, and
giving
pardon. But in order that God's pardon may be obtained, propitiation is
made
through some sacrifice. There has come forth therefore, sent from God the
Lord,
One our Priest; He took upon Him from us that which He might offer to the
Lord;
we are speaking of those same first-fruits of the flesh from the womb of the
Virgin.
This holocaust He offered to God. He stretched out His hands on the
Cross,
in order that He might say, "Let My prayer be directed as incense in Your
sight,
and the lifting up of My hands an evening sacrifice." As ye know, the Lord
about
eventide hung on the Cross: Matthew 27:46 and our impieties were
propitiated;
otherwise they had swallowed up: the discourses of unjust men had
prevailed
over us; there had led us astray preachers of Jupiter, and of Saturn, and
of
Mercury: "the discourses of ungodly men had prevailed over us." But
what will
You
do? "Our impieties You will propitiate." You are the priest, Thou the
victim;
Thou
the offerer, Thou the offering. Hebrews 9:7...
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471
7.
"Blessed is he whom You have chosen, and hast taken to You" (ver. 4).
Who is
he
that is chosen by Him and taken to Him? Was any one chosen by our Saviour
Jesus
Christ, or was Himself after the flesh, because He is man, chosen and taken
to
Him? ... Or has not rather Christ Himself taken to Him some blessed one, and
the
same whom He has taken to Him is not spoken of in the plural number but in
the
singular? For one man He has taken to Him, because unity He has taken to
Him.
Schisms He has not taken to Him, heresies He has not taken to Him: a
multitude
they have made of themselves, there is not one to be taken to Him. But
they
that abide in the bond of Christ and are the members of Him, make in a
manner
one man, of whom says the Apostle, "Until we all arrive at the
acknowledging
of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age
of
the fulness of Christ." Ephesians 4:13 Therefore one man is taken to Him,
to
which
the Head is Christ; because "the Head of the man is Christ."
1
Corinthians 11:3 The same is that blessed man that "has not departed in
the
counsel
of ungodly men," and the like things which there are spoken of: the same
is
He that is taken to Him. He is not without us, in His own members we are,
under
one Head we are governed, by one Spirit we all live, one fatherland we all
long
for .... And to us He will give what? "He shall inhabit," he says,
"in Your
courts."
Jerusalem, that is, to which they sing that begin to go forth from Babylon:
"He
shall inhabit in Your courts: we shall be filled with the good things of Your
House."
What are the good things of the House of God? Brethren, let us set before
ourselves
some rich house, with what numerous good things it is crowded, how
abundantly
it is furnished, how many vessels there are there of gold and also of
silver;
how great an establishment of servants, how many horses and animals, in a
word,
how much the house itself delights us with pictures, marble, ceilings, pillars,
recesses,
chambers:—all such things are indeed objects of desire, but still they are
of
the confusion of Babylon. Cut off all such longings, O citizen of Jerusalem,
cut
them
off; if you will return, let not captivity delight you. But have you already
begun
to go forth? Do not look back, do not loiter on the road. Still there are not
wanting
foes to recommend you captivity and sojourning: no longer let there
prevail
against you the discourses of ungodly men. For the House of God long
thou,
and for the good things of that House long thou: but do not long for such
things
as you are wont to long for either in your house, or in the house of your
neighbour,
or in the house of your patron....
8.
"Your holy Temple is marvellous in righteousness" (ver. 5). These are
the good
things
of that House. He has not said, Your holy Temple is marvellous in pillars,
marvellous
in marbles, marvellous in glided ceilings; but is "marvellous in
righteousness."
Without you have eyes wherewith you may see marbles, and gold:
within
is an eye wherewith may be seen the beauty of righteousness. If there is no
beauty
in righteousness, why is a righteous old man loved? What brings he in
body
that may please the eyes? Crooked limbs, brow wrinkled, head blanched with
gray
hairs, dotage everywhere full of plaints. But perchance because your eyes this
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decrepit
old man pleases not, your ears he pleases: with what words? with what
song?
Even if perchance when a young man he sang well, all with age has been
lost.
Doth perchance the sound of his words please your ears, that can hardly
articulate
whole words for loss of teeth? Nevertheless, if righteous he is, if another
man's
goods he coveteth not, if of his own that he possesses he distributes to the
needy,
if he gives good advice, and soundly judges, if he believes the entire faith,
if
for his belief in the faith he is ready to expend even those very shattered
limbs,
for
many Martyrs are even old men; why do we love him? What good thing in him
do
we see with the eyes of the flesh? Not any. There is therefore a kind of beauty
in
righteousness, which we see with the eye of the heart, and we love, and we
kindle
with affection: how much men found to love in those same Martyrs, though
beasts
tare their limbs! Is it possible but that when blood was staining all parts,
when
with the teeth of monsters their bowels gushed out, the eyes had nothing but
objects
to shudder at? What was there to be loved, except that in that hideous
spectacle
of mangled limbs, entire was the beauty of righteousness? These are the
good
things of the House of God, with these prepare yourself to be
satisfied....
"Blessed they which hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they
shall
be filled." Matthew 5:6 "Your holy Temple is marvellous in
righteousness."
And
that same temple, brethren, do not imagine to be anything but yourselves.
Love
ye righteousness, and you are the Temple of God.
9.
"Hearken to us, O God, our Saviour" (ver. 5). He has disclosed now
Whom he
names
as God. The "Saviour" specially is the Lord Jesus Christ. It has
appeared
now
more openly of Whom he had said, "Unto You every flesh shall come."
That
One
Man that is taken unto Him into the Temple of God, is both many and is One.
In
the person of One he has said, "Hearken, O God, i.e., to my hunger:"
and
because
the same One of many is composed, now he says, "Hearken to us, O God,
our
Saviour." Hear Him now more openly preached: "Hearken to us, O God,
our
Saviour,
the Hope of all the ends of the earth and in the sea afar." Behold
wherefore
has been said "Unto You every flesh shall come." From every quarter
they
come. "Hope of all the ends of the earth," not hope of one corner,
not hope of
Judća
alone, not hope of Africa alone, not hope of Pannonia, not hope of East or
of
West: but "Hope of all the ends of the earth, and in the sea afar:"
of the very
ends
of the earth. "And in the sea afar:" and because in the sea,
therefore afar. For
the
sea by a figure is spoken of this world, with saltness bitter, with storms
troubled;
where men of perverse and depraved appetites have become like fishes
devouring
one another. Observe the evil sea, bitter sea, with waves violent,
observe
with what sort of men it is filled. Who desires an inheritance except
through
the death of another? Who desires gain except by the loss of another? By
the
fall of others how many men wish to be exalted? How many, in order that they
may
buy, desire for other men to sell their goods? How they mutually oppress, and
how
they that are able do devour! And when one fish has devoured, the greater the
less,
itself also is devoured by some greater .... Because evil fishes that were
taken
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within
the nets they said they would not endure; they themselves have become
more
evil than they whom they said they could not endure. For those nets did take
fishes
both good and evil. The Lord says, "The kingdom of Heaven is like to a
sein
cast
into the sea, which gathers of every kind, which, when it had been filled,
drawing
out, and sitting on the shore, they gathered the good into vessels, but the
evil
they cast out: so it shall be," He says, "in the consummation of the
world."
Matthew
13:47-49 He shows what is the shore, He shows what is the end of the
sea.
"The angels shall go forth, and shall sever the evil from the midst of the
just,
and
shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing
of
teeth."
Ha! ye citizens of Jerusalem that are within the nets, and are good fishes;
endure
the evil, the nets break ye not: together with them you are in a sea, not
together
with them will you be in the vessels. For "Hope" He is "of the
ends of the
earth,"
Himself is Hope "also in the sea afar." Afar, because also in the
sea.
10.
"Preparing mountains in His strength" (ver. 6). Not in their
strength. For He
has
prepared great preachers, and those same He has called mountains; humble in
themselves,
exalted in Him. "Preparing mountains in His strength." What says one
of
those same mountains? "We ourselves in our own selves have had the answer
of
death,
in order that in ourselves we should not trust, but in God that raises the
dead."
2 Corinthians 1:9 He that in himself does trust, and in Christ trusts not, is
not
of those mountains which He has prepared in His strength. "Preparing
mountains
in His strength: girded about in power." "Power," I understand:
"girded
about,"
is what? They that put Christ in the midst, "girded about" they make
Him,
that
is on all sides begirt. We all have Him in common, therefore in the midst He
is:
all we gird Him about that believe in Him: and because our faith is not of our
strength,
but of His power; therefore girded about He is in His power; not in our
own
strength.
11.
"That troublest the bottom of the sea" (ver. 7). He has done this: it
is seen what
He
has done. For He has prepared mountains in His strength, has sent them to
preach:
girded about He is by believers in power: and moved is the sea, moved is
the
world, and it begins to persecute His saints. "Girded about in power: that
troublest
the bottom of the sea." He has not said, that troublest the sea; but
"the
bottom
of the sea." The bottom of the sea is the heart of ungodly men. For just
as
from
the bottom more thoroughly all things are stirred, and the bottom holds firm
all
things: so whatsoever has gone forth: by tongue, by hands, by various powers
for
the persecution of the Church, from the bottom has gone forth. For if there
were
not the root of iniquity in the heart, all those things would not have gone
forth
against Christ. The bottom He troubled, perchance in order that the bottom
He
might also empty: for in the case of certain evil men He emptied the sea from
the
bottom, and made the sea a desert place. Another Psalm says this, "That
turns
sea
into dry land." All ungodly and heathen men that have believed were sea,
have
been
made land; with salt waves at first barren, afterwards with the fruit of
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474
righteousness
productive. "That troublest the bottom of the sea: the sound of its
waves
who shall endure?" "Who shall endure," is what? What man shall
endure
the
sound of the waves of the sea, the behests of the high powers of the world? But
whence
are they endured? Because He prepares mountains in His strength. In that
therefore
which he has said "who shall" endure he says thus: We ourselves of
our
own
selves should not be able to endure those persecutions, unless He gave
strength.
12.
"The nations shall be troubled" (ver. 8). At first they shall be
troubled: but
those
mountains prepared in the strength of Christ, are they troubled? Troubled is
the
sea, against the mountains it dashes: the sea breaks, unshaken the mountains
have
remained. "The nations shall be troubled, and all men shall fear."
Behold
now
all men fear: they that before have been troubled do now all fear. The
Christians
feared not, and now the Christians are feared. All that did persecute do
now
fear. For He has overcome that is girded about with power, to Him has come
every
flesh in such sort, that the rest by their very minority do now fear. And all
men
shall fear, that inhabit the ends of the earth, because of Your signs. For
miracles
the Apostles wrought, and thence all the ends of the earth have feared and
have
believed. "Outgoings in morning and in evening You shall delight:"
that is,
Thou
makest delightful. Already in this life what is there being promised to us?
There
are outgoings in morning, there are outgoings in the evening. By the
morning
he signifies the prosperity of the world, by the evening he signifies the
trouble
of the world .... At first when he was promising gain, it was morning to
you:
but now evening draws on, sad you have become. But He that has given you
an
outgoing in the morning, will give one also in the evening. In the same manner
as
you have contemned the morning of the world by the light of the Lord, so
contemn
the evening also by the sufferings of the Lord, in saying to your soul,
What
more will this man do to me, than my Lord has suffered for me? May I hold
fast
justice, not consent to iniquity. Let him vent his rage on the flesh, the trap
will
be
broken, and I will fly to my Lord, that says to me, "Do not fear them that
kill
the
body, but the soul are not able to kill." Matthew 10:28 And for the body
itself
He
has given security, saying, "A hair of your head shall not perish."
Luke 21:18
Nobly
here he has set down, "You will delight outgoings in morning and in
evening."
For if thou take not delight in the very outgoing, you will not labour to
go
out thence. Thou runnest your head into the promised gain, if you are not
delighted
with the promise of the Saviour. And again you yield to one tempting
and
terrifying, if thou find no delight in Him that suffered before you, in order
that
He
might make an outgoing for you.
13.
"You have visited the earth, and hast inebriated it" (ver. 9). Whence
hast
inebriated
the earth? "Your cup inebriating how glorious it is!" "You have
visited
the
earth, and hast inebriated it." You have sent Your clouds, they have
rained
down
the preaching of the truth, inebriated is the earth. "You have multiplied
to
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65
475
enrich
it." Whence? "The river of God is filled with water." What is
the river of
God?
The people of God. The first people was filled with water, wherewith the
rest
of the earth might be watered. Hear Him promising water: "If any man
thirst,
let
him come to Me and drink: he that believes in Me, rivers of living water from
his
belly shall flow:" John 7:37-38 if rivers, one river also; for in respect
of unity
many
are one. Many Churches and one Church, many faithful and one Bride of
Christ:
so many rivers and one river. Many Israelites believed, and were fulfilled
with
the Holy Spirit; from thence they were scattered abroad through the nations,
they
began to preach the truth, and from the river of God that was filled with
water,
was the whole earth watered. "You have prepared food for them: because
thus
is Your preparing." Not because they have deserved of You, whom You have
forgiven
sins: the merits of them were evil, but Thou for Your mercy's sake,
"because
thus is Your preparing," thus "You have prepared food for them."
14.
"The furrows thereof inebriate Thou" (ver. 10). Let there be made
therefore at
first
furrows to be inebriated: let the hardness of our breast be opened with the
share
of the word of God, "The furrows thereof inebriate Thou: multiply the
generations
thereof." We see, they believe, and by them believing other men
believe,
and because of those others believe; and it is not sufficient for one man,
that
having become himself a believer, he should gain one. So is multiplied seed
too:
a few grains are scattered, and fields spring up. "In the drops thereof it
shall
rejoice,
when it shall rise up." That is, before it be perchance enlarged to the
bulk
of
a river, "when it shall rise up, in its drops," that is, in those
meet for it, "it shall
rejoice."
For upon those that are yet babes, and upon the weak, are dropped some
portions
of the sacraments, because they cannot receive the fulness of the truth.
Hear
in what manner he drops upon babes, while they are rising up, that is, in their
recent
rising having small capacities: the Apostle says, "To you I could not
speak
as
if to spiritual, but as if to carnal, as if to babes in Christ." 1
Corinthians 3:1
When
he says, "to babes in Christ," he speaks of them as already risen up,
but not
yet
meet to receive that plenteous wisdom, whereof he says, "Wisdom we speak
among
perfect men." 1 Corinthians 2:6 Let it rejoice in its drops, while it is
rising
up
and is growing, when strengthened it shall receive wisdom also: in the same
manner
as an infant is fed with milk, and becomes fit for meat, and nevertheless at
first
out of that very meat for which it was not fit, for it milk is made.
15.
"You shall bless the crown of the year of Your goodness" (ver. 11).
Seed is
now
sowing, that which is sown is growing, there will be the harvest too. And now
over
the seed the enemy has sown tares; and there have risen up evil ones among
the
good, false Christians, having like leaf, but not like fruit. For those are
properly
called tares, which spring up in the manner of wheat, for instance darnel,
for
instance wild oats, and all such as have the first leaf the same. Therefore of
the
sowing
of the tares thus says the Lord: "There has come an enemy, and has sown
over
them tares;" Matthew 13:25 but what has he done to the grain? The wheat is
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65
476
not
choked by the tares, nay, through endurance of the tares the fruit of the wheat
is
increased. For the Lord Himself said to certain workmen desiring to root up the
tares,
"Suffer ye both to grow unto the harvest." Matthew 13:30... Conquer
the
devil,
and you will have a crown. "You shall bless the crown of the year of Your
goodness."
Again he makes reference to the goodness of God, lest any one boast
of
his own merits. "Your plains shall be filled with abundance."
16.
"The ends of the desert shall grow fat, and the hills shall be encircled
with
exultation"
(ver. 12). Plains, hills, ends of the desert, the same are also men.
Plains,
because of the equality: because of equality, I say, from thence just peoples
have
been called plains. Hills, because of lifting up: because God does lift up in
Himself
those that humble themselves. Ends of the desert are all nations.
Wherefore
ends of the desert? Deserted they were, to them no Prophet had been
sent:
they were in like case as is a desert where no man passes by. No word of God
was
sent to the nations: to the people Israel alone the Prophets preached. We came
to
the Lord; the wheat believed among that same people of the Jews. For He said
at
that time to the disciples, "You say, far off is the harvest: look back,
and see
how
white are the lands to harvest." There has been therefore a first harvest,
there
will
be a second in the last age. The first harvest was of Jews, because there were
sent
to them Prophets proclaiming a coming Saviour. Therefore the Lord said to
His
disciples, "See how white are the lands to harvest:" John 4:35 the
lands, to wit,
of
Judća. "Other men," He says, "have laboured, and into their
labours you have
entered."
John 4:38 The Prophets laboured to sow, and you with the sickle have
entered
into their labours. There has been finished therefore the first harvest, and
thence,
with that very wheat which then was purged, has been sown the round
world;
so that there arises an other harvest, which at the end is to be reaped. In the
second
harvest have been sown tares, now here there is labour. Just as in that first
harvest
the Prophets laboured until the Lord came: so in that second harvest the
Apostles
laboured, and all preachers of the truth labour, even until at the end the
Lord
send unto the harvest His Angels. Aforetime, I say, a desert there was,
"but
the
ends of the desert shall grow fat." Behold where the Prophets had given no
sound,
the Lord of the Prophets has been received, "The ends of the desert shall
grow
fat, and with exultation the hills shall be encircled."
17.
"Clothed have been the rams of the sheep" (ver. 13): "with
exultation" must be
understood.
For with what exultation the hills are encircled, with the same are
clothed
the rams of the sheep. Rams are the very same as hills. For hills they are
because
of more eminent grace; rams, because they are leaders of the
flocks....
"They shall shout:" thence they shall abound with wheat, because they
shall
shout. What shall they shout? "For a hymn they shall say." For one
thing it is
to
shout against God, another thing to say a hymn; one thing to shout iniquities,
another
thing to shout the praises of God. If thou shout in blasphemy, thorns you
have
brought forth: if you shout in a hymn, you abound in wheat.
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477
Exposition
on Psalm 66
1.
This Psalm has on the title the inscription, "For the end, a song of a
Psalm of
Resurrection."
When ye hear "for the end," whenever the Psalms are repeated,
understand
it "for Christ:" the Apostle saying, "For the end of the law is
Christ, for
righteousness
to every one believing." Romans 10:4 In what manner therefore here
Resurrection
is sung, you wilt hear, and whose Resurrection it is, as far as Himself
deigns
to give and disclose. For the Resurrection we Christians know already has
come
to pass in our Head, and in the members it is to be. The Head of the Church
is
Christ, Colossians 1:18 the members of Christ are the Church. That which has
preceded
in the Head, will follow in the Body. This is our hope; for this we
believe,
for this we endure and persevere amid so great perverseness of this world,
hope
comforting us, before that hope becomes reality .... The Jews did hold the
hope
of the resurrection of the dead: and they hoped that themselves alone would
rise
again to a blessed life because of the work of the Law, and because of the
justifications
of the Scriptures, which the Jews alone had, and the Gentiles had not.
Crucified
was Christ, "blindness in part happened unto Israel, in order that the
fulness
of the Gentiles might enter in:" Romans 11:25 as the Apostle says. The
resurrection
of the dead begins to be promised to the Gentiles also that believe in
Jesus
Christ, that He has risen again. Thence this Psalm is against the presumption
and
pride of the Jews, for the comfort of the Gentiles that are to be called to the
same
hope of resurrection.
2.
...Thence he begins, "Be joyful in God." Who? "Every land"
(ver. 1). Not
therefore
Judća alone. See, brethren, after what sort is set forth the universality of
the
Church in the whole world spread abroad: and mourn ye not only the Jews,
who
envied the Gentiles that grace, but still more for heretics wail ye. For if
they
are
to be mourned, that have not been gathered together, how much more they that
being
gathered together have been divided? "Jubilate in God every land."
What is
"jubilate"?
Into the voice of rejoicings break forth if you cannot into that of words.
For
"jubilation" is not of words, but the sound alone of men rejoicing is
uttered, as
of
a heart labouring and bringing forth into voice the pleasure of a thing
imagined
which
cannot be expressed. "Be joyful in God every land:" let no one jubilate
in a
part:
let every land be joyful, let the Catholic Church jubilate. The Catholic
Church
embraces the whole: whosoever holds a part and from the whole is cut off,
should
howl, not jubilate.
3.
"But play ye to His name" (ver. 2). What has he said? By you
"playing" let His
name
be blessed. But what it is to "play"? To play is also to take up an
instrument
which
is called a psaltery, and by the striking and action of the hands to
accompany
voices. If therefore ye jubilate so that God may hear; play also
something
that men may both see and hear: but not to your own name .... For if for
the
sake of yourselves being glorified ye do good works, we make the same reply
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as
He made to certain of such men, "Verily I say unto you, they have received
their
reward:" Matthew 6:2 and again, "Otherwise no reward ye will have
with
your
Father that is in Heaven." Matthew 6:1 You will say, ought I, then, to
hide
my
works, that I do them not before men? No. But what says He? "Let your
works
shine
before men." In doubt then I shall remain. On one side You say to me,
"Take
heed
that you do not your righteousness before men:" on the other side You say
to
me,
"Let your good works shine before men;" what shall I keep? what do?
what
leave
undone? A man can as well serve two masters commanding different things
as
one commanding different things. I command not, says the Lord, different
things.
The end observe, for the end sing: with what end you do it, see thou. If for
this
reason you do it, that you may be glorified, I have forbidden it: but if for
this
reason,
that God may be glorified, I have commanded it. Play therefore, not to
your
own name, but to the name of the Lord your God. Play ye, let Him be lauded:
live
ye well, let Him be glorified. For whence have ye that same living well? If for
everlasting
ye had had it, you would never have lived ill; if from yourselves ye had
had
it, you never would have done otherwise than have lived well. "Give glory
to
His
praise." Our whole attention upon the praise of God he directs, nothing
for us
he
leaves whence we should be praised. Let us glory thence the more, and rejoice:
to
Him let us cleave, in Him let us be praised. You heard when the Apostle was
being
read, "See ye your calling, brethren, how not many wise after the flesh,
not
many
mighty, not many noble, but the foolish things of the world God has chosen
to
confound the wise." 1 Corinthians 1:26-27 ... But the Lord chose
afterwards
orators
also; but they would have been proud, if He had not first chosen fishermen;
He
chose rich men; but they would have said that on account of their riches they
had
been chosen, unless at first He had chosen poor men: He chose Emperors
afterwards;
but better is it, that when an Emperor has come to Rome, he should lay
aside
his crown, and weep at the monument of a fisherman, than that a fisherman
should
weep at the monument of an Emperor. "For the weak things of the world
God
has chosen to confound the strong," etc. 1 Corinthians 1:27 ... And what
follows?
The Apostle has concluded, "That there might not glory before God any
flesh."
See ye how from us He has taken away, that He might give glory: has taken
away
ours, that He might give His own; has taken away empty, that He might give
full;
has taken away insecure, that He might give solid....
4.
"Say ye to God, How to be feared are Your works!" (ver. 3). Wherefore
to be
feared
and not to be loved? Hear thou another voice of a Psalm: "Serve ye the
Lord
in fear, and exult unto Him with trembling." What means this? Hear the
voice
of the Apostle: "With fear," he says, "and trembling, your own
salvation
work
ye out." Philippians 2:12 Wherefore with fear and trembling? He has
subjoined
the reason: "for God it is that works in you both to will and to work
according
to good will." Philippians 2:13 If therefore God works in you, by the
Grace
of God you work well, not by your strength. Therefore if you rejoice, fear
also:
lest perchance that which was given to a humble man be taken away from a
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479
proud
one .... Brethren, if against the Jews of old, cut off from the root of the
Patriarchs,
we ought not to exalt ourselves, but rather to fear and say to God,
"How
to be feared are Your works:" how much less ought we not to exalt
ourselves
against the fresh wounds of the cutting off! Before there had been cut off
Jews,
graffed in Gentiles; from the very graft there have been cut off heretics; but
neither
against them ought we to exalt ourselves; lest perchance he deserve to be
cut
off, that delights to revile them that are cut off. My brethren, a bishop's
voice,
however
unworthy, has sounded to you: we pray you to beware, whosoever you
are
in the Church, do not revile them that are not within; but pray ye rather, that
they
too may be within. For God is able again to graft them in. Romans 11:23 Of
the
very Jews the Apostle said this, and it was done in their case. The Lord rose
again,
and many believed: they perceived not when they crucified, nevertheless
afterwards
they believed in Him, and there was forgiven them so great a
transgression.
The shedding of the Lord's blood was forgiven the manslayers, not
to
say, God-slayers: "for if they had known, the Lord of glory they never
would
have
crucified." 1 Corinthians 2:8 Now to the manslayers has been forgiven the
shedding
of the blood of Him innocent: and that same blood which through
madness
they shed, through grace they have drunk .... O fulness of Gentiles, say
thou
to God, "How to be feared are Your works!" and so rejoice thou as
that you
may
fear, be not exalted above the branches cut off.
5.
"In the multitude of your power Your enemies shall lie to You." For
this
purpose
he says, "to You your enemies shall lie," in order that great may be
Your
power.
What is this? With more attention hearken. The power of our Lord Jesus
Christ
most chiefly appeared in the Resurrection, from whence this Psalm has
received
its title. And rising again, He appeared to His disciples. Acts 10:40 He
appeared
not to His enemies, but to His disciples. Crucified He appeared to all
men,
rising again to believers: so that afterwards also he that would might believe,
and
to him that should believe, resurrection might be promised. Many holy men
wrought
many miracles; no one of them when dead did rise again: because even
they
that by them were raised to life, were raised to life to die.... Because
therefore
the
Jews might say, when the Lord did miracles, Moses has done these things,
Elias
has done, Eliseus has done them: they might for themselves say these words,
because
those men also did raise to life dead men, and did many miracles:
therefore
when from Him a sign was demanded, of the peculiar sign making
mention
which in Himself alone was to be, He says, "This generation crooked and
provoking
seeks a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of Jonas
the
Prophet: for as Jonas was in the belly of the whale three days and three
nights,
so
shall be also the Son of Man in the heart of the earth three days and three
nights."
Matthew 12:39-40 In what way was Jonas in the belly of the whale? Was
it
not so that afterwards alive he was vomited out? Hell was to the Lord what the
whale
was to Jonas. This sign peculiar to Himself He mentioned, this is the most
mighty
sign. It is more mighty to live again after having been dead, than not to
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480
have
been dead. The greatness of the power of the Lord as He was made Man, in
the
virtue of the Resurrection does appear....
6.
Observe also the very lie of the false witnesses in the Gospel, and see how it
is
about
Resurrection. For when to the Lord had been said, "What sign showest Thou
to
us, that Thou doest these things?" John 2:18 besides that which He had spoken
about
Jonah Matthew 12:39 through another similitude of this same thing also He
spoke,
that you might know this peculiar sign had been especially pointed out:
"Destroy
this Temple," He says, "and in three days I will raise it up."
And they
said,
"In forty and six years was built this temple, and will You in three days
raise
it
up?" John 2:19-20 And the evangelist explaining what it was, "But
this," he
says,
"spoke Jesus of the Temple of His Body." John 2:21 Behold this His
power
He
said He would show to men in the same thing as that from whence He had
given
the similitude of a Temple, because of His flesh, which was the Temple of
the
Divinity hidden within. Whence the Jews outwardly saw the Temple, the Deity
dwelling
within they saw not. Out of those words of the Lord false witnesses made
up
a lie to say against Him, out of those very words wherein He mentioned His
future
Resurrection, in speaking of the Temple. For false witnesses, when they
were
asked what they had heard Him say, alleged against Him: "We heard Him
saying,
I will destroy this Temple, and after three days I will raise it up."
"After
three
days I will raise up," they had heard: "I will destroy," they
had not heard: but
had
heard "destroy ye." One word they changed and a few letters, in order
to
support
their false testimony. But for whom do you change a word, O human
vanity,
O human weakness? For the Word, the Unchangeable, do you change a
word?
Thou changest your word, do you change God's Word? ... Wherefore said
they
that You had said, "I will destroy;" and said not that which Thou
saidest,
"destroy
ye"? It was, as it were, in order that they might defend themselves from
the
charge of destroying the Temple without cause. For Christ, because He willed
it,
died: and nevertheless ye killed Him. Behold we grant you, O you liars, Himself
destroyed
the Temple. For it has been said by the Apostle, "That loved me, and
gave
up Himself for me." Galatians 2:20 It has been said of the Father,
"That His
own
Son spared not, but gave Him up for us all." Romans 8:32 ... By all means
be
it
that Himself destroyed the Temple, Himself destroyed that said, "Power I
have
to
lay down My Soul, and power I have again to take it: no one takes it from Me,
but
I Myself lay it down from Me, and again I take it." John 10:18 Be it that
Himself
has destroyed the Temple in His Grace, in your malice. "In the multitude
of
Your power your enemies shall lie to You." Behold they lie, behold they
are
believed,
behold You are oppressed, behold You are crucified, behold You are
insulted,
behold head is wagged at You, "If Son of God He is, let Him come down
from
the Cross." Matthew 27:49 Behold when You will, life Thou layest down,
and
with lance in the side art pierced, and Sacraments from Your side flow forth;
John
19:34 You are taken down from the Tree, wound in linens, laid in the
sepulchre,
there are set guards lest Your disciples take You away; there comes the
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481
hour
of Your Resurrection, earth is shaken, tombs are cloven, Thou risest again in
secret,
appearest openly. Where then are those liars? Where is the false testimony
of
evil will? Have not Your enemies in the multitude of Your power lied to You?
7.
Give them also those guards at the Tomb, let them recount what they have seen,
let
them take money and lie too. Matthew 28:12 ... They too were added to the lie
of
the enemies: increased was the number of liars, that increased might be the
reward
of believers. Therefore they lied, "in the multitude of Your power"
they
lied:
to confound liars You have appeared to men of truth, and You have appeared
to
those men of truth whom You have made men of truth.
8.
Let Jews remain in their lies: to You, because in the multitude of Your power
they
lied, let there be done that which follows, "Let every land worship You,
and
play
to You, play to Your name, O Most Highest" (ver. 4). A little before, Most
Lowly,
now Most Highest: Most Lowly in the hands of lying enemies; Most
Highest
above the head of praising Angels. O you Gentiles, O most distant
nations,
leave lying Jews, come confessing. "Come ye, and see the works of the
Lord:
terrible in counsels above the sons of men" (ver. 5). Son of Man indeed He
too
has been called, and verily Son of Man He became: very Son of God in the
form
of God; Philippians 2:6 very Son of Man in form of a servant: but do not
judge
of that form by the condition of others alike: "terrible" He is
"in counsels
above
the sons of men." Sons of men took counsel to crucify Christ, being
crucified
He blinded the crucifiers. What then have ye done, sons of men, by
taking
keen counsels against your Lord, in whom was hidden Majesty, and to sight
shown
weakness? You were taking counsels to destroy, He to blind and save; to
blind
proud men, to save humble men: but to blind those same proud men, to the
end
that, being blinded they might be humbled, being humbled might confess,
having
confessed might be enlightened. "Terrible in counsels above the sons of
men."
Terrible indeed. Behold blindness in part to Israel has happened:
Romans
11:25 behold the Jews, out of whom was born Christ, are without: behold
the
Gentiles, that were against Judća, in Christ are within. "Terrible in
counsels
above
the sons of men."
9.
Wherefore what has He done by the terror of His counsel? He has turned the sea
into
dry land. For this follows, "That has turned the sea into dry land"
(ver. 6). A
sea
was the world, bitter with saltness, troubled with tempest, raging with waves
of
persecutions, sea it was: truly into dry land the sea has been turned, now
there
thirsts
for sweet water the world that with salt water was filled. Who has done
this?
He "that has turned the sea into dry land." Now the soul of all the
Gentiles
says
what? "My soul is as it were land without water to You." "That
has turned the
sea
into dry land. In the river they shall pass over on foot." Those same
persons
that
have been turned into dry land, though they were before sea, "in the river
on
foot
shall pass over." What is the river? The river is all the mortality of the
world.
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482
Observe
a river: some things come and pass by, other things that are to pass by do
succeed.
Is it not thus with the water of a river, that from earth springs and flows?
Every
one that is born must needs give place to one going to be born: and all this
order
of things rolling along is a kind of river. Into this river let not the soul
greedily
throw herself, let her not throw herself, but let her stand still. And how
shall
she pass over the pleasures of things doomed to perish? Let her believe in
Christ,
and she will pass over on foot: she passes over with Him for Leader, on
foot
she passes over.
10.
"There we will be joyous in Him." O you Jews, of your own works boast
ye:
lay
aside the pride of boasting of yourselves, take up the Grace of being joyous in
Christ.
For therein we will be joyous, but not in ourselves: "there we will be
joyous
in Him." When shall we joy? When we shall have passed over the river on
foot.
Life everlasting is promised, resurrection is promised, there our flesh no
longer
shall be a river: for a river it is now, while it is mortality. Observe whether
there
stands still any age. Boys desire to grow up; and they know not how by
succeeding
years the span of their life is lessened. For years are not added to but
taken
from them as they grow: just as the water of a river alway draws near, but
from
the source it withdraws. And boys desire to grow up that they may escape the
thraldom
of elders; behold they grow up, it comes to pass quickly, they arrive at
youth:
let them that have emerged from boyhood retain, if they are able, their
youth:
that too passes away. Old age succeeds: let even old age be everlasting;
with
death it is removed. Therefore a river there is of flesh that is born. This
river
of
mortality, so that it does not by reason of concupiscence of things mortal
undermine
and carry him away, he easily passes over, that humbly, that is on foot,
passes
over, He being leader that first has passed over, that of the flood in the way
even
unto death has drunk, and therefore has lifted up the head. Passing over
therefore
on foot that river, that is, easily passing over that mortality that glides
along,
"there we will be joyous in Him." But now in what save in Him, or in
the
hope
of Him? For even if we are joyous now, in hope we are joyous; but then in
Him
we shall be joyous. And now in Him, but through hope: "but then face to
face."
1 Corinthians 13:12 "There we will be joyous in Him."
11.
In whom? "In Him that reigns in His virtue for everlasting" (ver. 7).
For what
virtue
have we and is it everlasting? If everlasting were our virtue, we should not
have
slipped, should not have fallen into sin, we should not have deserved penal
mortality.
He, of His good pleasure, took up that whereunto our desert threw us
down.
"That reigns in His virtue for everlasting." Of Him partakers let us
be made,
in
whose virtue we shall be strong, but He in His own. We enlightened, He a light
enlightening:
we, being turned away from Him, are in darkness; turned away from
Himself
He cannot be. With the heat of Him we are warmed; from whence
withdrawing
we had grown cold, to the Same drawing near again we are warmed.
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Psalm 66 483
Therefore
let us speak to Him that He may keep us in His virtue, because "in Him
we
will be joyous that reigns in His virtue for everlasting."
12.
But this thing is not granted to believing Jews alone.... "The eyes of Him
do
look
upon the Gentiles." And what do we? The Jews will murmur; the Jews will
say,
"what He has given to us, the same to them also; to us Gospel, to them
Gospel;
to us the Grace of Resurrection, and to them the Grace of Resurrection;
does
it profit us nothing that we have received the Law, and that in the
justifications
of the Law we have lived, and have kept the commandments of the
fathers?
Nothing will it avail? The same to them as to us." Let them not strive,
let
them
not dispute. "Let not them that are bitter be exalted in their own
selves." O
flesh
miserable and wasting, are you not sinful? Why cries out your tongue? Let
the
conscience be listened to. "For all men have sinned, and need the glory of
God."
Romans 3:23 Know yourself, human weakness. Thou received the Law, in
order
that a transgressor also of the Law you might be: Romans 5:20 for you have
not
kept and fulfilled that which you received. There has come to you because of
the
Law, not the justification which the Law enjoins, but the transgression which
you
have done. If therefore there has abounded sin, why do you envy Grace more
abounding.
Be not bitter, for "let not them that are bitter be exalted in their own
selves."
He seems in a manner to have uttered a curse in "Let not them that are
bitter
be exalted;" yea, be they exalted, but not "in themselves." Let
them be
humbled
in themselves, exalted in Christ. For, "he that humbles himself shall be
exalted;
and he that exalts himself shall be humbled." Matthew 23:12 "Let not
them
that are bitter be exalted in their own selves."
13.
"Bless our God, you nations" (ver. 8). Behold, there have been driven
back
they
that are bitter, reckoning has been made with them: some have been
converted,
some have continued proud. Let not them terrify you that grudge the
Gentiles
Gospel Grace: now has come the Seed of Abraham, in whom are blessed
all
nations. Genesis 12:3 Bless ye Him in whom you are blessed, "Bless our
God,
you
nations: and hear ye the voice of His praise." Praise not yourselves, but
praise
Him.
What is the voice of His praise? That by His Grace we are whatever of good
we
are. "Who has set my Soul unto life" (ver. 9) Behold the voice of his
praise:
"Who
has set my Soul unto life." Therefore in death she was: in death she was,
in
yourself.
Thence it is that you ought not to have been exalted in yourselves.
Therefore
in death she was, in yourself: where will it be in life, save in Him that
said,
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"? John 14:6 Just as to certain
believers
the
Apostle says, "You were sometime darkness, but now light in the
Lord."
Ephesians
5:8... "And has not given unto motion my feet." He has set my Soul
unto
life, He guides the feet that they stumble not, be not moved and given unto
motion;
He makes us to live, He makes us to persevere even unto the end, in order
that
for everlasting we may live....
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14.
"For you have proved us, O God; You have fired us as silver is fired"
(ver. 10).
Hast
not fired us like hay, but like silver: by applying to us fire, You have not
turned
us into ashes, but You have washed off uncleanness, "You have fired us, as
silver
is fired." And see in what manner God is angry against them, whose Soul He
has
set unto life. "You have led us into a trap:" not that we might be
caught and
die,
but that we might be tried and delivered from it. "You have laid
tribulations
upon
our back." For having been to ill purpose lifted up, proud we were: having
been
to ill purpose lifted up, we were bowed down, in order that being bowed
down,
we should be lifted up for good. "You have laid tribulations on our
back:"
"You
have set men over our heads" (ver. 11). All these things the Church has
suffered
in sundry and various persecutions: She has suffered this in Her
individual
members, even now does suffer it. For there is not one, that in this life
could
say that he was exempt from these trials. Therefore there are set even men
over
our heads: we endure those whom we would not, we suffer for our betters
those
whom we know to be worse. But if sins be wanting, a man is justly superior:
but
by how much there are more sins, by so much he is inferior. And it is a good
thing
to consider ourselves to be sinners, and thus endure men set over our heads:
in
order that we also to God may confess that deservedly we suffer. For why do
you
suffer with indignation that which He does who is just? "You have laid
tribulations
upon our back: You have set men over our heads." God seems to be
angry,
when He does these things: fear not, for a Father He is, He is never so
angry
as to destroy. When ill you live, if He spares, He is more angry. In a word,
these
tribulations are the rods of Him correcting, lest there be a sentence from Him
punishing....
15.
"We have passed through fire and water." Fire and water are both
dangerous in
this
life. Certainly water seems to extinguish fire, and fire seems to dry up water.
Thus
also these are the trials, wherein abounds this life. Fire burns, water
corrupts:
both
must be feared, both the burning of tribulation and the water of corruption.
Whenever
there is adversity, and anything which is called unhappiness in this
world,
there is as it were fire: whenever there is prosperity, and the world's plenty
flows
about one, there is as it were water. See that fire burn you not, nor water
corrupt
.... Hasten not to the water: through fire pass over to the water, that you
may
pass over the water also. Therefore also in the mystic rites and in catechising
and
in exorcising, there is first used fire. For whence ofttimes do the unclean
spirits
cry out, "I burn," if that is not fire? But after the fire of
Exorcism we come
to
Baptism: so that from fire to water, from water unto refreshment. But as in the
Sacraments,
so it is in the temptations of this world: the straitness of fear draws
near
first, in place of fire; afterwards fear being removed, we ought to be afraid
lest
worldly happiness corrupt. But when the fire has not made you burst, and
when
you have not sunk in the water, but hast swum out; through discipline you
pass
over to rest, and passing over through fire and water, you are led forth into a
place
of refreshment. For of those things whereof the signs are in the Sacraments,
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Psalm 66
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there
are the very realities in that perfection of life everlasting .... But we are
not
torpid
there, but we rest: nor though it be called heat, shall we be hot there, but we
shall
be fervent in spirit. Observe that same heat in another Psalm: "nor is
there
any
one that hides himself from the heat thereof." What says also the Apostle?
"In
spirit
fervent." Romans 12:11 Therefore, "we have gone over through fire and
water:
and You have led us forth into a cool place."
16.
Observe how not only concerning a cool place, but neither of that very fire to
be
desired he has been silent: "I will enter into Your House in
holocausts" (ver.
13).
What is a holocaust? A whole sacrifice burned up, but with fire divine. For a
sacrifice
is called a holocaust, when the whole is burned. One thing are the parts of
sacrifices,
another thing a holocaust: when the whole is burned and the whole
consumed
by fire divine, it is called a holocaust: when a part, a sacrifice. Every
holocaust
indeed is a sacrifice: but not every sacrifice a holocaust. Holocausts
therefore
he is promising, the Body of Christ is speaking, the Unity of Christ is
speaking,
"I will enter into Your House in holocausts." All that is mine let
Your
fire
consume, let nothing of mine remain to me, let all be Yours. But this shall be
in
the Resurrection of just men, "when both this corruptible shall be clad in
incorruption,
and this mortal shall be clad in immortality: then shall come to pass
that
which has been written, 'Death is swallowed up in victory.'"
1
Corinthians 15:54 Victory is, as it were, fire divine: when it swallows up our
death
also, it is a holocaust. There remains not anything mortal in the flesh, there
remains
not anything culpable in the spirit: the whole of mortal life shall be
consumed,
in order that in life everlasting it may be consummated, that from death
we
may be preserved in life. These therefore will be the holocausts. And what
shall
there be "in the holocausts"?
17.
"I will render to You my vows, which my lips have distinguished"
(ver. 14).
What
is the distinction in vows? This is the distinction, that yourself thou
censure,
Him
thou praise: perceive yourself to be a creature, Him the Creator: yourself
darkness,
Him the Enlightener, to whom you should say, "You shall light my
lamp,
O Lord my God, You shall enlighten my darkness." For whenever you shall
have
said, O soul, that from yourself you have light, you will not distinguish. If
you
will not distinguish, you will not render distinct vows. Render distinct vows,
confess
yourself changeable, Him unchangeable: confess yourself without Him to
be
nothing, but Himself without you to be perfect; yourself to need Him, but Him
not
to need you. Cry to Him, "I have said to the Lord, My God are You, for my
good
things Thou needest not." Now though God takes you to Him for a
holocaust,
He grows not, He is not increased, He is not richer, He becomes not
better
furnished: whatsoever He makes of you for your sake, is the better for you,
not
for Him that makes. If you distinguish these things, you render the vows to
your
God which your lips have distinguished.
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18.
"And my mouth has spoken in my tribulation." How sweet ofttimes is
tribulation,
how necessary! In that case what has the mouth of the same spoken in
his
tribulation? "Holocausts marrowed I will offer to You" (ver. 15).
What is
"marrowed"?
Within may I keep Your love, it shall not be on the surface, in my
marrow
it shall be that I love You. For there is nothing more inward than our
marrow:
the bones are more inward than the flesh, the marrow is more inward than
those
same bones. Whosoever therefore on the surface loves God, desires rather to
please
men, but having some other affection within, he offers not holocausts of
marrow:
but into whosesoever marrow He looks, him He receives whole. "With
incense
and rams." The rams are the rulers of the Church: the whole Body of
Christ
is speaking: this is the thing which he offers to God. Incense is what?
Prayer.
"With incense and rams." For especially the rams do pray for the
flocks. "I
will
offer to You oxen with he-goats." Oxen we find treading out corn, and the
same
are offered to God. The Apostle has said, that of the preachers of the Gospel
must
be understood that which has been written, "Of the ox treading out corn
the
mouth
you shall not muzzle. Doth God care for oxen?" Therefore great are those
rams,
great the oxen. What of the rest, that perchance are conscious of certain sins,
that
perchance in the very road have slipped, and, having been wounded, by
penitence
are being healed? Shall they too continue, and to the holocausts shall
they
not belong? Let them not fear, he has added he-goats also. "I will offer
to
You
oxen with he-goats." By the very yoking are saved the he-goats; of
themselves
they have no strength, being yoked to bulls they are accepted. For they
have
made friends of the mammon of iniquity, that the same may receive them
into
everlasting tabernacles. Luke 16:9 Therefore those he-goats shall not be on
the
left, because they have made to themselves friends of the mammon of iniquity.
But
what he-goats shall be on the left? They to whom shall be said, "I
hungred,
and
you gave me not to eat:" Matthew 25:42 not they that have redeemed their
sins
by
almsdeeds.
19.
Come ye, hear, and I will tell, all you that fear God" (ver. 16). Let us
come, let
us
hear, what he is going to tell, "Come ye, hear, and I will tell." But
to whom,
"Come
ye, and hear"? "All you that fear God." If God ye fear not, I
will not tell. It
is
not possible that it be told to any where the fear of God is not. Let the fear
of
God
open the ears, that there may be something to enter in, and a way whereby
may
enter in that which I am going to tell. But what is he going to tell? "How
great
things
He has done to my soul." Behold, he would tell: but what is he going to
tell?
Is it perchance how widely the earth is spread, how much the sky is extended,
and
how many are the stars, and what are the changes of sun and of moon? This
creation
fulfills its course: but they have very curiously sought it out, the Creator
thereof
have not known. Wisdom 13:1 This thing hear, this thing receive, "O you
that
fear God, how great things He has done to my soul:" if you will, to yours
also.
"How
great things He has done to my soul." "To Him with my mouth I have
cried"
(ver.
17). "And this very thing, he says, has been done to his soul; that to Him
with
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his
mouth he should cry, has been done, he says, to his soul. Behold, brethren,
Gentiles
we were, even if not in ourselves, in our parents. And what says the
Apostle?
"You know, when Gentiles ye were, to idols without speech how ye went
up,
being led." 1 Corinthians 12:2 Let the Church now say, "how great
things He
has
done to my soul." "To Him with my mouth I have cried." I a man
to a stone
was
crying, to a deaf stock I was crying, to idols deaf and dumb I was speaking:
now
the image of God has been turned to the Creator thereof. I that was
"saying to
a
stock, My father you are; and to a stone, You have begotten me:" now say,
"Our
Father,
which art in Heaven." Matthew 6:9... "To Him with my mouth I have
cried,
and I have exalted Him under my tongue." See how in secret He would be
uncorrupt
that offers marrowed holocausts. This do ye, brethren, this imitate, so
that
you may say, "Come ye, see how great things He has done to my soul."
For all
those
things of which he tells, by His Grace are done in our soul. See the other
things
of which he speaks.
20.
"If I have beheld iniquity in my heart, may not the Lord hearken"
(ver. 18).
Consider
now, brethren, how easily, how daily men blushing for fear of men do
censure
iniquities; He has done ill, He has done basely, a villain the fellow is: this
perchance
for man's sake he says. See whether you behold no iniquity in your
heart,
whether perchance that which you censure in another, you are meditating to
do,
and therefore against him dost exclaim, not because he has done it, but because
he
has been found out. Return to yourself, within be to yourself a judge. Behold
in
your
hid chamber, in the very inmost recess of the heart, where thou and He that
sees
are alone, there let iniquity be displeasing to you, in order that you may be
pleasing
to God. Do not regard it, that is, do not love it, but rather despise it, that
is,
contemn it, and turn away from it. Whatever pleasing thing it has promised to
allure
you to sin; whatever grievous thing it has threatened, to drive you on to evil
doing;
all is nought, all passes away: it is worthy to be despised, in order that it
may
be trampled upon; not to be eyed lest it be accepted....
21.
"Therefore God has hearkened to me" (ver. 19). Because I have not
beheld
iniquity
in my heart. "And He has listened to the voice of my prayer."
"Blessed be
my
God, that has not thrust away my supplication and His mercy from me" (ver.
20).
Gather the sense from that place, where he says, "Come ye, hear, and I
will
tell
you, all you that fear God, how great things He has done to my soul:" he
has
both
said the words which you have heard, and at the end thus he has concluded:
"Blessed
be my God, that has not thrust away my supplication and His mercy from
me."
For thus there arrives at the Resurrection he that speaks, where already we
also
are by hope: yea both it is we ourselves, and this voice is ours. So long
therefore
as here we are, this let us ask of God, that He thrust not from us our
supplication,
and His mercy, that is, that we pray continually, and He continually
pity.
For many become feeble in praying, and in the newness of their own
conversion
pray fervently, afterwards feebly, afterwards coldly, afterwards
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negligently:
as if they have become secure. The foe watches: you sleep. The Lord
Himself
has given commandment in the Gospel, how "it behoves men always to
pray
and not to faint." And he gives a comparison from that unjust judge, who
neither
feared God, nor regarded man, whom that widow daily importuned to hear
her;
and he yielded for weariness, that was not influenced by pity: and the naughty
judge
says to himself, "Though neither God I fear, nor men I regard, even
because
of
the weariness which this widow daily puts upon me, I will hear her cause, and
will
avenge her." And the Lord says, "If a naughty judge has done this,
shall not
your
Father avenge His chosen, that to Him do cry day and night? Yea, I say unto
you,
He shall make judgment of them speedily." Therefore let us not faint in
prayer.
Though He puts off what He is going to grant, He puts it not away: being
secure
of His promise, let us not faint in praying, and this is by His goodness.
Therefore
he has said, "Blessed is my God, that has not thrust away my
supplication
and His mercy from me." When you have seen your supplication "not
thrust
away from you," be secure, that His mercy has not been thrust away from
you.
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Exposition
on Psalm 67
1.
Your Love remembers, that in two Psalms, which have been already treated of,
we
have stirred up our soul to bless the Lord, and with godly chant have said,
"Bless
thou, O my soul, the Lord." If therefore we have stirred up our soul in
those
Psalms
to bless the Lord, in this Psalm is well said, "May God have pity on us,
and
bless
us" (ver. 1). Let our soul bless the Lord, and let God bless us. When God
blesses
us, we grow, and when we bless the Lord, we grow, to us both are
profitable.
He is not increased by our blessing, nor is He lessened by our cursing.
He
that curses the Lord, is himself lessened: he that blesses the Lord, is himself
increased.
First, there is in us the blessing of the Lord, and the consequence is that
we
also bless the Lord. That is the rain, this the fruit. Therefore there is
rendered
as
it were fruit to God the Husbandman, raining upon and tilling us. Let us chant
these
words with no barren devotion, with no empty voice, but with true heart. For
most
evidently God the Father has been called a Husbandman. John 15:1 The
Apostle
says, "God's husbandry you are, God's building you are."
1
Corinthians 3:9 In things visible of this world, the vine is not a building,
and a
building
is not a vineyard: but we are the vineyard of the Lord, because He tills us
for
fruit; the building of God we are, since He who tills us, dwells in us. And
what
says
the same Apostle? "I have planted, Apollos has watered, but the increase
God
has
given. Therefore neither he that plants is anything, nor he that waters, but He
that
gives the increase, even God." 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 He it is therefore that
gives
the
increase. Are those perchance the husbandmen? For a husbandman he is called
that
plants, that waters: but the Apostle has said, "I have planted, Apollos
has
watered."
Do we enquire whence himself has done this? The Apostle makes
answer,
"Yet not I, but the Grace of God with me." 1 Corinthians 15:10
Therefore
whithersoever
thou turn you, whether through Angels, you will find God your
Husbandman;
whether through Prophets, the Same is your Husbandman; whether
through
Apostles, the very Same acknowledge to be your Husbandman. What then
of
us? Perchance we are the labourers of that Husbandman, and this too with
powers
imparted by Himself, and by Grace granted by Himself....
2.
"Lighten His countenance upon us." You were perchance going to
enquire, what
is
"bless us"? In many ways men would have themselves to be blessed of
God: one
would
have himself to be blessed, so that he may have a house full of the
necessary
things of this life; another desires himself to be blessed, so that he may
obtain
soundness of body without flaw; another would have himself to be blessed,
if
perchance he is sick, so that he may acquire soundness; another longing for
sons,
and perchance being sorrowful because none are born, would have himself to
be
blessed so that he may have posterity. And who could number the various
wishes
of men desiring themselves to be blessed of the Lord God? But which of us
would
say, that it was no blessing of God, if either husbandry should bring him
fruit,
or if any man's house should abound in plenty of things temporal, or if the
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very
bodily health be either so maintained that it be not lost, or, if lost, be
regained?...
3.
"Every soul that is blessed is simple," not cleaving to things
earthly nor with
glued
wings grovelling, but beaming with the brightness of virtues, on the twin
wings
of twin love does spring into the free air; and sees how from her is
withdrawn
that whereon she was treading, not that whereon she was resting, and
she
says securely, "The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away; as it has
pleased
the
Lord, so has been done: be the name of the Lord blessed."...But let not
perchance
any weak man say, when shall I be of so great virtue, as was holy Job?
The
mightiness of the tree you wonder at, because but now you have been born:
this
great tree, whereat you wonder, under the branches and shade whereof you
cool
yourself, has been a switch. But do you fear lest there be taken away from
you
these things, when such you shall have become? Observe that they are taken
away
from evil men also. Why therefore do you delay conversion? That which you
fear
when good to lose, perchance if evil you will lose still. If being good you
shall
have
lost them, there is by you the Comforter that has taken them away: the coffer
is
emptied of gold; the heart is full of faith: without, poor you are, but within,
rich
you
are: your riches with you you carry, which you would not lose, even if naked
from
shipwreck you should escape. Why does not the loss, that perchance, if evil,
you
will lose, find you good; forasmuch as you see evil men also suffer loss? But
with
greater loss they are stricken: empty is the house, more empty the conscience
is.
Whatsoever evil man shall have lost these things, has nothing to hold by
without,
has nothing within whereon he may rest. He flees when he has suffered
loss
from the place where before the eyes of men with the display of riches he
used
to vaunt himself; now in the eyes of men to vaunt himself he is not able: to
himself
within he returns not, because he has nothing. He has not imitated the ant,
he
has not gathered to himself grains, while it was summer. What have I meant by,
while
it was summer? While he had quietude of life, while he had this world's
prosperity,
when he had leisure, when happy he was being called by all men, his
summer
it was. He should have imitated the ant, he should have heard the Word of
God,
he should have gathered together grains, and he should have stored them
within.
There had come the trial of tribulation, there had come upon him a winter
of
numbness, tempest of fear, the cold of sorrow, whether it were loss, or any
danger
to his safety, or any bereavement of his family; or any dishonour and
humiliation;
it was winter; the ant falls back upon that which in summer she has
gathered
together; and within in her secret store, where no man sees, she is
recruited
by her summer toils. When for herself she was gathering together these
stores
in summer, all men saw her: when on these she feeds in winter, no one sees.
What
is this? See the ant of God, he rises day by day, he hastens to the Church of
God,
he prays, he hears lection, he chants hymn, he digests that which he has
heard,
with himself he thinks thereon, he stores within grains gathered from the
threshing-floor.
They that providently hear those very things which even now are
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being
spoken of, do thus, and by all men are seen to go forth to the Church, go
back
from Church, to hear sermon, to hear lection, to choose a book, open and
read
it: all these things are seen, when they are done. That ant is treading his
path,
carrying
and storing up in the sight of men seeing him. There comes winter
sometime,
for to whom comes it not? There chances loss, there chances
bereavement:
other men pity him perchance as being miserable, who know not
what
the ant has within to eat, and they say, miserable he whom this has befallen,
or
what spirits, do you think, has he whom this has befallen? how afflicted is he?
He
measures by himself, has compassion according to his own strength; and thus
he
is deceived: because the measure wherewith he measures himself, he would
apply
to him whom he knows not .... O sluggard, gather in summer while you are
able;
winter will not suffer you to gather, but to eat that which you shall have
gathered.
For how many men so suffer tribulation, that there is no opportunity
either
to read anything, or to hear anything, and they obtain no admittance,
perchance,
to those that would comfort them. The ant has remained in her nest, let
her
see if she has gathered anything in summer, whereby she may recruit herself in
winter.
4.
...There is a double interpretation, both must be given: "lighten,"
he says, "Your
face
upon us," show to us Your countenance. For God does not ever light His
countenance,
as if ever it had been without light: but He lights it upon us, so that
what
was hidden from us, is opened to us, and that which was, but to us was
hidden,
is unveiled upon us, that is, is lightened. Or else surely it is, "Your
image
lighten
upon us:" so that he said this, in "lighten Your countenance upon
us:" You
have
imprinted Your countenance upon us; You have made us after Thine image
and
Your likeness, Genesis 1:26 You have made us Your coin; but Thine image
ought
not in darkness to remain: send a ray of Your wisdom, let it dispel our
darkness,
and let there shine in us Your image; let us know ourselves to be Thine
image,
let us hear what has been said in the Song of Songs, "If You shall not
have
known
Yourself, O Thou fair one among women." Song of Songs 1:8 For there is
said
to the Church, "If You shall not have known Yourself." What is this?
If You
shall
not have known Yourself to have been made after the image of God. O Soul
of
the Church, precious, redeemed with the blood of the Lamb immaculate,
observe
of how great value You are, think what has been given for You. Let us
say,
therefore, and let us long that He "may lighten His face upon us." We
wear
His
face: in like manner as the faces of emperors are spoken of, truly a kind of
sacred
face is that of God in His own image: but unrighteous men know not in
themselves
the image of God. In order that the countenance of God may be
lightened
upon them, they ought to say what? "You shall light my candle, O Lord
my
God, You shall light my darkness." I am in the darkness of sins, but by
the ray
of
Your wisdom dispelled be my darkness, may Your countenance appear; and if
perchance
through me it appears somewhat deformed, by You be there reformed
that
which by You has been formed.
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5.
"That we may know on earth Your way" (ver. 2). "On earth,"
here, in this life,
"we
may know Your way." What is, "Your way"? That which leads to
You. May
we
acknowledge whither we are going, acknowledge where we are as we go;
neither
in darkness we can do. Afar You are from men sojourning, a way to us
You
have presented, through which we must return to You. "Let us acknowledge
on
earth Your way." What is His way wherein we have desired, "That we
may
know
on earth Your way"? We are going to enquire this ourselves, not of
ourselves
to learn it. We can learn of it from the Gospel: "I am the Way,"
John
14:6 the Lord says: Christ has said, "I am the Way." But do you fear
lest you
stray?
He has added, "And the Truth." Who strays in the Truth? He strays
that has
departed
from the Truth. The Truth is Christ, the Way is Christ: walk therein. Do
you
fear lest you die before thou attain unto Him? "I am the Life: I am,"
He says,
"the
Way and the Truth and the Life." As if He were saying, "What do you
fear?
Through
Me you walk, to Me you walk, in Me you rest." What therefore means,
"We
may know on earth Your Way," but "we may know on earth Your
Christ"?
But
let the Psalm itself reply: lest ye think that out of other Scriptures there
must
be
adduced testimony, which perchance is here wanting: by repetition he has
shown
what signified, "That we may know on earth Your Way:" and as if you
were
inquiring, "In what earth, what way?" "In all nations Your
Salvation." In
what
earth, you are inquiring? Hear: "In all nations." What way are you
seeking?
Hear:
"Your Salvation." Is not perchance Christ his Salvation? And what is
that
which
the old Symeon has said, that old man, I say, in the Gospel, preserved full
of
years even unto the infancy of the Word? Luke 2:30 For that old man took in
his
hands the Infant Word of God. Would He that in the womb deigned to be,
disdain
to be in the hands of an old man? The Same was in the womb of the virgin,
as
was in the hands of the old man, a weak infant both within the bowels, and in
the
old man's hand, to give us strength, by whom were made all things; and if all
things,
even His very mother. He came humble, He came weak, but clothed with a
weakness
to be changed into strength, because "though He was crucified of
weakness,
yet He lives of the virtue of God," 2 Corinthians 13:4 the Apostle says.
He
was then in the hands of an old man. And what says that old man? Rejoicing
that
now he must be loosed from this world, seeing how in his own hand was held
He
by whom and in whom his Salvation was upheld; he says what? "Now You let
go,"
he says, "O Lord, Your servant in peace, for my eyes have seen Your
Salvation."
Luke 2:29-30 Therefore, "May God bless us, and have pity on us; may
He
lighten His countenance upon us, that we may know on earth Your Way!" In
what
earth? "In all nations." What Way? "Your Salvation."
6.
What follows because the Salvation of God is known in all nations? "Let
the
peoples
confess to You, O God" (ver. 3); "confess to You," he says,
"all peoples."
There
stands forth a heretic, and he says, In Africa I have peoples: and another
from
another quarter, And I in Galatia have peoples. Thou in Africa, he in Galatia:
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therefore
I require one that has them everywhere. You have indeed dared to exult
at
that voice, when you heard, "Let the peoples confess to You, O God."
Hear the
following
verse, how he speaks not of a part: "Let there confess to You all
peoples."
Walk ye in the Way together with all nations; walk ye in the Way
together
with all peoples, O sons of peace, sons of the One Catholic Church, walk
ye
in the Way, seeing as you walk. Wayfarers do this to beguile their toil. Sing
ye
in
this Way; I implore you by that Same Way, sing ye in this Way: a new song
sing
ye, let no one there sing old ones: sing ye the love-songs of your fatherland,
let
no one sing old ones. New Way, new wayfarer, new song. Hear thou the
Apostle
exhorting you to a new song: "Whatever therefore is in Christ is a new
creature;
old things have passed away, behold they have been made new." A new
song
sing ye in the way, which you have learned "on the earth." In what
earth? "In
all
nations." Therefore even the new song does not belong to a part. He that
in a
part
sings, sings an old song: whatever he please to sing, he sings an old song, the
old
man sings: divided he is, carnal he is. Truly in so far as carnal he is, so far
he
is
old; and in so far as he is spiritual, so far new. See what says the Apostle:
"I
could
not speak to you as if to spiritual, but as if to carnal." 1 Corinthians
3:1
Whence
proves he them carnal? "For while one says, I am of Paul; but another, I
of
Apollos: are you not," he says, "carnal?" 1 Corinthians 3:4
Therefore in the
Spirit
a new song sing thou in the safe way. Just as wayfarers sing, and ofttimes in
the
night sing. Awful round about all things do sound, or rather they sound not
around,
but are still around; and the more still the more awful; nevertheless, even
they
that fear robbers do sing. How much more safely you sing in Christ! That
way
has no robber, unless thou by forsaking the way fallest in the hands of a
robber....
Why fear ye to confess, and in your confession to sing a new song
together
with all the earth; in all the earth, in Catholic peace, do you fear to
confess
to God, lest He condemn you that hast confessed? If having not confessed
you
lie concealed, having confessed you will be condemned. Thou fearest to
confess,
that by not confessing canst not be concealed: thou will be condemned if
you
have held your peace, that might have been delivered, by having confessed.
"O
God, confess to You all peoples."
7.
And because this confession leads not to punishment, he continues and says,
"Let
the nations rejoice and exult" (ver. 4). If robbers after confession made
do
wail
before man, let the faithful after confessing before God rejoice. If a man be
judge,
the torturer and his fear exact from a robber a confession: yea sometimes
fear
wrings out confession, pain extorts it: and he that wails in tortures, but
fears to
be
killed if he confess, supports tortures as far as he is able: and if he shall have
been
overcome by pain, he gives his voice for death. Nowise therefore is he joyful;
nowise
exulting: before he confesses the claw tears him; when he has confessed,
the
executioner leads him along a condemned felon: wretched in every case. But
"let
the nations rejoice and exult." Whence? Through that same confession. Why?
Because
good He is to whom they confess: He exacts confession, to the end that
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494
He
may deliver the humble; He condemns one not confessing, to the end that He
may
punish the proud. Therefore be thou sorrowful before you confess, after
having
confessed exult, now you will be made whole. Your conscience had
gathered
up evil humours, with boil it had swollen, it was torturing you, it suffered
you
not to rest: the Physician applies the fomentations of words, and sometimes
He
lances it, He applies the surgeon's knife by the chastisement of tribulation:
do
thou
acknowledge the Physician's hand, confess thou, let every evil humour go
forth
and flow away in confession: now exult, now rejoice, that which remains
will
be easy to be made whole...."Let the nations rejoice and exult, for You
judge
the
peoples in equity." And that unrighteous men may not fear, he has added,
"and
the
nations on the earth Thou directest." Depraved were the nations and
crooked
were
the nations, perverse were the nations; for the ill desert of their depravity,
and
crookedness and perverseness, the Judge's coming they feared: there comes
the
hand of the same, it is stretched out mercifully to the peoples, they are
guided
in
order that they may walk the straight way; why should they fear the Judge to
come,
that have first acknowledged Him for a Corrector? To His hand let them
give
up themselves, Himself guides the nations on the earth. But guided nations
are
walking in the Truth, are exulting in Him, are doing good works; and if
perchance
there comes in any water (for on sea they are sailing) through the very
small
holes, through the crevices into the hold, pumping it out by good works, lest
by
more and more coming it accumulate, and sink the ship, pumping it out daily,
fasting,
praying, doing almsdeeds, saying with pure heart, "Forgive us our debts,
as
also we forgive our debtors" Matthew 6:12—saying such words walk thou
secure,
and exult in the way, sing in the way. Do not fear the Judge: before you
were
a believer, you found a Saviour. You ungodly He sought out that He might
redeem,
you redeemed will He forsake so as to destroy? "And the nations on earth
Thou
directest."
8.
He exults, rejoices, exhorts, he repeats those same verses in exhortation.
"The
earth
has given her fruit" (ver. 6). What fruit? "Let all peoples confess
to You."
Earth
it was, of thorns it was full; there came the hand of One rooting them up,
there
came a calling by His majesty and mercy, the earth began to confess; now
the
earth gives her fruit. Would she give her fruit unless first she were rained
on?
Would
she give her fruit, unless first the mercy of God had come from above? Let
them
read to me, you say, how the earth being rained upon gave her fruit. Hear of
the
Lord raining upon her: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand."
Matthew
3:2 He rains, and that same rain is thunder; it terrifies: fear thou Him
thundering,
and receive Him raining. Behold, after that voice of a thundering and
raining
God, after that voice let us see something out of the Gospel itself. Behold
that
harlot of ill fame in the city burst into a strange house into which she had
not
been
invited by the host, but by One invited she had been called; Luke 7:37 called
not
with tongue, but by Grace. The sick woman knew that she had there a place,
where
she was aware that her Physician was sitting at meat. She has gone in, that
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was
a sinner; she dares not draw near save to the feet: she weeps at His feet, she
washes
with tears, she wipes with hair, she anoints with ointment. Why do you
wonder?
The earth has given her fruit. This thing, I say, came to pass by the Lord
raining
there through His own mouth; there came to pass the things whereof we
read
in the Gospel; and by His raining through His clouds, by the sending of the
Apostles
and by their preaching the truth, the earth more abundantly has given her
fruit,
and that crop now has filled the round world.
9.
The fruit of the earth was first in Jerusalem. For from thence began the
Church:
there
came there the Holy Spirit, and filled full the holy men gathered together in
one
place; miracles were done, with the tongues of all men they spoke. They were
filled
full of the Spirit of God, the people were converted that were in that place,
fearing
and receiving the divine shower, by confession they brought forth so much
fruit,
that all their goods they brought together into a common stock, making
distribution
to the poor, in order that no one might call anything his own, but all
things
might be to them in common, and they might have one soul and one heart
unto
God. Acts 4:32 For there had been forgiven them the blood which they had
shed,
it had been forgiven them by the Lord pardoning, in order that now they
might
even learn to drink that which they had shed. Great in that place is the fruit:
the
earth has given her fruit, both great fruit, and most excellent fruit. Ought by
any
means that earth alone to give her fruit? "May there bless us God, our
God,
may
there bless us God" (ver. 7). Still may He bless us: for blessing in
multiplication
is wont most chiefly and properly to be perceived. Let us prove this
in
Genesis; see the works of God: God made light, Genesis 1:3 and God made a
division
between light and darkness: the light He called day, and the darkness He
called
night. It is not said, He blessed the light. For the same light returns and
changes
by days and nights. He calls the sky the firmament between waters and
waters:
it is not said, He blessed the sky: He severed the sea from the dry land, and
named
both, the dry land earth, and the gathering together of the waters sea:
neither
here is it said, God blessed....
10.
How should we will that to us He come? By living well, by doing well. Let not
things
past please us; things present not hold us; let us not "close the
ear" as it
were
with tail, let us not press down the ear on the ground; lest by things past we
be
kept back from hearing, lest by things present we be entangled and prevented
from
meditating on things future; let us reach forth unto those things which are
before,
let us forget things past. Philippians 3:13 And that for which now we toil,
for
which now we groan, for which now we sigh, of which now we speak, which
in
part, however small soever, we perceive, and to receive are not able, we shall
receive,
we shall thoroughly enjoy in the resurrection of the just. Our youth shall
be
renewed as an eagle's, if only our old man we break against the Rock of Christ.
Whether
those things be true, brethren, which are said of the serpent, or those
which
are said of the eagle, or whether it be rather a tale of men than truth, truth
is
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nevertheless
in the Scriptures, and not without reason the Scriptures have spoken
of
this: let us do whatever it signifies, and not toil to discover how far that is
true.
Be
thou such an one, as that your youth may be able to be renewed as an eagle's.
And
know thou that it cannot be renewed, except thine old man on the Rock shall
have
been broken off: that is, except by the aid of the Rock, except by the aid of
Christ,
you will not be able to be renewed. Do not thou because of the
pleasantness
of the past life be deaf to the word of God: do not by things present
be
so held and entangled, as to say, I have no leisure to read, I have no leisure
to
hear.
This is to press down the ear upon the ground. Do thou therefore not be such
an
one: but be such an one as on the other side you find, that is, so that thou
forget
things
past, unto things before reach yourself out, in order that thine old man on
the
Rock you may break off. And if any comparisons shall have been made for
you,
if you have found them in the Scriptures, believe: if you shall not have found
them
spoken of except by report, do not very much believe them. The thing itself
perchance
is so, perchance is not so. Do thou profit by it, let that comparison avail
for
your salvation. You are unwilling to profit by this comparison, by some other
profit,
it matters not provided thou do it: and, being secure, wait for the Kingdom
of
God, lest your prayer quarrel with you. For, O Christian man, when you say,
Your
Kingdom come, how do you say, "Your kingdom come"? Matthew 6:10
Examine
your heart: see, behold, "Your kingdom come:" He cries out to you,
"I
come:"
do you not fear? Often we have told Your Love: both to preach the truth is
nothing,
if heart from tongue dissent: and to hear the truth is nothing, if fruit
follow
not hearing. From this place exalted as it were we are speaking to you: but
how
much we are beneath your feet in fear, God knows, who is gracious to the
humble;
for the voices of men praising do not give us so much pleasure as the
devotion
of men confessing, and the deeds of men now righteous. And how we
have
no pleasure but in your advances, but by those praises how much we are
endangered,
He knows, whom we pray to deliver us from all dangers, and to deign
to
know and crown us together with you, saved from every trial, in His Kingdom.
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497
Exposition
on Psalm 68
1.
Of this Psalm, the title seems not to need operose discussion: for simple and
easy
it appears. For thus it stands: "For the end, for David himself a Psalm of
a
Song."
But in many Psalms already we have reminded you what is "at the end: for
the
end of the Law is Christ for righteousness to every man believing:"
Romans
10:4 He is the end which makes perfect, not that which consumes or
destroys.
Nevertheless, if any one endeavours to inquire, what means, "a Psalm of
a
Song:" why not either "Psalm" or "Song," but both; or
what is the difference
between
Psalm of Song, and Song of Psalm, because even thus of some Psalms the
titles
are inscribed: he will find perchance something which we leave for men
more
acute and more at leisure than ourselves....
2.
"Let God rise up, and let His enemies be scattered" (ver. 1). Already
this has
come
to pass, Christ has risen up, "who is over all things, God blessed for
ever,"
Romans
9:5 and His enemies have been dispersed through all nations, to wit, the
Jews;
in that very place, where they practised their enmities, being overthrown in
war,
and thence through all places dispersed: and now they hate, but fear, and in
that
very fear they do that which follows, "And let them that hate Him flee
from
His
face." The flight indeed of the mind is fear. For in carnal flight,
whither flee
they
from the face of Him who everywhere shows the efficacy of His presence?
"Whither
shall I depart," says he, "from Your Spirit, and from Your face
whither
shall
I flee?" With mind, therefore, not with body, they flee; to wit, by being
afraid,
not by being hidden; and not from that face which they see not, but from
that
which they are compelled to see. For the face of Him has His presence in His
Church
been called....
3.
"As smoke fails, let them fail" (ver. 2). For they lifted up
themselves from the
fires
of their hatred unto the vapouring of pride, and against Heaven setting their
mouth,
and shouting, "Crucify, Crucify," John 19:6 Him taken captive they
derided,
Him hanging they mocked: and being soon conquered by that very Person
against
whom they swelled victorious, they vanished away. "As wax melts from
the
face of fire, so let sinners perish from the face of God." Though
perchance in
this
passage he has referred to those men, whose hard-heartedness in tears of
penitence
is dissolved: yet this also may be understood, that he threatens future
judgment;
because though in this world like smoke, in lifting up themselves, that
is,
in priding themselves, they have melted away, there will come to them at the
last
final damnation, so that from His face they will perish for everlasting, when
in
His
own glory He shall have appeared, like fire, for the punishment of the
ungodly,
and the light of the righteous.
4.
Lastly, there follows, "And let just men be joyous, and exult in the sight
of God,
let
them delight in gladness" (ver. 3). For then shall they hear, "Come,
you blessed
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Psalm 68
498
of
My Father, receive ye the kingdom." "Let them be joyous,"
therefore, that have
toiled,
"and exult in the sight of God." For there will not be in this
exultation, as
though
it were before men, any empty boasting; but (it will be) in the sight of Him
who
unerringly looks into that which He has granted. "Let them delight in
gladness:"
no longer exulting with trembling, as in this world, so long as "human
life
is a trial upon earth." Secondly, he turns himself to those very persons
to
whom
he has given so great hope, and to them while here living he speaks and
exhorts:
"Sing ye to God, psalm ye to His name" (ver. 4). Already on this
subject
in
the exposition of the Title we have before spoken that which seemed meet. He
sings
to God, that lives to God: He psalms to His name, that works unto His Glory.
In
singing thus, in psalming thus, that is, by so living, by so working, "a
way make
ye
to Him," he says, "that has ascended above the setting." A way
make ye to
Christ:
so that through the beautiful feet of men telling good tidings, Isaiah 52:7
the
hearts of men believing many have a way opened to Him. For the Same is He
that
has ascended above the "setting:" either because the new life of one
turned to
Him
receives Him not, except the old life shall have set by his renouncing this
world,
or because He ascended above the setting, when by rising again He
conquered
the downfall of the body. "For The Lord is His name." Which if they
had
known, the Lord of glory they never would have crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:8
5.
"Exult ye in the sight of Him," O you to whom has been said,
"Sing ye to God,
psalm
ye to the name of Him, a way make ye to Him that has ascended above the
setting,"
also "exult in the sight of Him:" as if "sorrowful, yet alway
rejoicing."
2
Corinthians 6:10 For while you make a way to Him, while you prepare a way
whereby
He may come and possess the nations, you are to suffer in the sight of
men
many sorrowful things. But not only faint not, but even exult, not in the sight
of
men, but in the sight of God. "In hope rejoicing, in tribulation
enduring:"
Romans
12:12 "exult ye in the sight of Him." For they that in the sight of
men
trouble
you, "shall be troubled by the face of Him, the Father of orphans and
Judge
of
widows" (ver. 5). For desolate they suppose them to be, from whom ofttimes
by
the
sword of the Word of God Matthew 10:34 both parents from sons, and
husbands
from wives, are severed: but persons destitute and widowed have the
consolation
"of the Father of orphans and Judge of widows:" they have the
consolation
of Him that say to Him, "For my father and my mother have forsaken
me,
but the Lord has taken up me:" and they that have hoped in the Lord,
continuing
in prayers by night and by day: 1 Timothy 5:5 by whose face those
men
shall be troubled when they shall have seen themselves prevail nothing, for
that
the whole world has gone away after Him. John 12:19 For out of those
orphans
and widows, that is, persons destitute of partnership in this world's hope,
the
Lord for Himself does build a Temple: whereof in continuation he says,
"The
Lord
is in His holy place."
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Psalm 68 499
6.
For what is His place he has disclosed, when he says, "God that makes to
dwell
men
of one mood in a house" (ver. 6): men of one mind, of one sentiment: this
is
the
holy place of the Lord. For when he had said, "The Lord is in His holy
place:"
as
though we were inquiring in what place, since He is everywhere wholly, and no
place
of corporal space contains Him; forthwith he has subjoined somewhat, that
we
should not seek Him apart from ourselves, but rather being of one mood
dwelling
in a house, we should deserve that He also Himself deign to dwell among
us.
This is the holy place of the Lord, the thing that most men seek to have, a
place
where
in prayer they may be hearkened unto .... For as in a great house of a man,
the
Lord thereof does not abide in every place whatsoever, but in some place
doubtless
more private and honourable: so God dwells not in all men that are in
His
house (for He dwells not in the vessels of dishonour), but His holy place are
they
whom "He makes to dwell of one mood," or "of one manner, in a
house." For
what
are called tropoi
in Greek, by both modi and mores (moods and manners),
in
Latin may be interpreted. Nor has the Greek writer, "Who makes to
dwell," but
only
"makes to dwell." "The Lord," then, "is in His holy
place."...
7.
But to prove that by His Grace He builds to Himself this place, not for the
sake
of
the merits preceding of those persons out of whom He builds it, see what
follows:
"Who leads forth men fettered, in strength." For He looses the heavy
bonds
of sins, wherewith they were fettered so that they could not walk in the way
of
the commandments: but He leads them forth "in strength," which before
His
Grace
they had not. "Likewise men provoking that dwell in the tombs:" that
is,
every
way dead, taken up with dead works. For these men provoke Him to anger
by
withstanding justice: for those fettered men perchance would walk, and are not
able,
and are praying of God that they may be able, and are saying to Him, "From
my
necessities lead me forth." By whom being heard, they give thanks, saying,
"You
have broken asunder my bonds." But these provoking men that dwell in the
tombs,
are of that kind, which in another passage the Scripture points out, saying,
"From
a dead man, as from one that is not, confession perishes." Sirach 17:28
Whence
there is this saying, "When a sinner shall have come into the depth of
evil
things,
he despises." Proverbs 18:3 For it is one thing to long for, another thing
to
fight
against righteousness: one thing from evil to desire to be delivered, another
thing
one's evil doings to defend rather than to confess: both kinds nevertheless the
Grace
of Christ leads forth in strength. With what strength, but that wherewith
against
sin even unto blood they are to strive? For out of each kind are made meet
persons,
whereof to construct His holy place; those being loosened, these being
raised
to life. For even of the woman, whom Satan had bound for eighteen years,
by
His command He loosed the bonds; Luke 13:16 and Lazarus' death by His
voice
He overcame. John 11:43 He that has done these things in bodies, is able to
do
more marvellous things in characters, and to make men of one mood to dwell in
a
house: "leading forth men fettered in strength, likewise men provoking
that
dwell
in the tombs."
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Psalm 68 500
8.
"O God, when You went forth before Your people" (ver. 7). His going
forth is
perceived,
when He appears in His works. But He appears not to all men, but to
them
that know how to spy out His works. For I do not now speak of those works
which
are conspicuous to all men, Heaven and earth and sea and all things that in
them
are; but the works whereby He leads forth men fettered in strength, likewise
men
provoking that dwell in the tombs, and makes them of one manner to dwell in
a
house. Thus He goes forth before His people, that is, before those that do
perceive
this His Grace. Lastly, there follows, "When You went by in the desert,
the
earth was moved" (ver. 8). A desert were the nations, which knew not God:
a
desert
they were, where by God Himself no law had been given, where no Prophet
had
dwelled, and foretold the Lord to come. "When," then, "You went
by in the
desert,"
when You were preached in the nations; "the earth was moved," to the
faith
earthly men were stirred up. But whence was it moved? "For the heavens
dropped
from the face of God." Perchance here some one calls to mind that time,
when
in the desert God was going over before His people, before the sons of
Israel,
by day in the pillar of cloud, by night in the brightness of fire;
Exodus
13:21 and determines that thus it is that "the heavens dropped from the
face
of God," for manna He rained upon His people: Exodus 16:15 that the same
thing
also is that which follows, "Mount Sina from the face of the God of Israel,"
"with
voluntary rain severing God to Your inheritance" (ver. 9), namely, the God
that
on Mount Sina spoke to Moses, when He gave the Law, so that the manna is
the
voluntary rain, which God severed for His inheritance, that is, for His people;
because
them alone He so fed, not the other nations also: so that what next he says,
"and
it was weakened," is understood of the inheritance being itself weakened;
for
they
murmuring, fastidiously loathed the manna, longing for victuals of flesh, and
those
things on which they had been accustomed to live in Egypt. Numbers 11:5-
6...
Lastly, all those men in the desert were stricken down, nor were any of them
except
two found worthy to go into the land of promise. Numbers 14:23-24
Although
even if in the sons of them that inheritance be said to have been
perfected,
we ought more readily to hold to a spiritual sense. For all those things in
a
figure did happen to them; 1 Corinthians 10:11 until the day should break, and
the
shadows should be removed. Song of Songs 2:17
9.
May then the Lord open to us that knock; and may the secret things of His
mysteries,
as far as Himself vouchsafes, be disclosed. For in order that the earth
might
be moved to the Truth when into the desert of the Gentiles the Gospel was
passing,
"the Heavens dropped from the face of God." These are the Heavens,
whereof
in another Psalm is sung, "The Heavens are telling forth the glory of
God."...
So here also, "the Heavens dropped;" but "from the face of
God." For
even
these very persons have been "saved through faith, and this not of
themselves,
but God's gift it is, not of works, lest perchance any man should be
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Psalm 68
501
lifted
up. For of Himself we are the workmanship," Ephesians 2:8-10 "that
makes
men
of one mood to dwell in a house."
10.
But what is that which follows, "Mount Sina from the face of the God of
Israel"?
Must there be understood "dropped;" so that what he has called by the
name
of Heavens, the same he has willed to be understood under the name of
Mount
Sina also; just as we said that those are called mountains, which were
called
Heavens? Nor in this sense ought it to move us that He says
"mountain," not
mountains,
while in that place they were called "Heavens," not Heaven: for in
another
Psalm also after it had been said, "The Heavens are telling forth the
glory
of
God:" after the manner of Scripture repeating the same sense in different
words,
subsequently
there is said, "And the firmament tells the works of His hands."
First
he
said "Heavens," not "Heaven:" and yet afterwards not
"firmaments," but
"firmament."
For God called the firmament Heaven, Genesis 1:8 as in Genesis has
been
written. Thus then Heavens and Heaven, mountains and mountain, are not a
different
thing, but the very same thing: just as Churches many, and the One
Church,
are not a different thing, but the very same thing. Why then "Mount Sina,
which
genders unto bondage"? Galatians 4:24 as says the Apostle. Is perchance
the
Law itself to be understood in Mount Sina, as that which "the Heavens
dropped
from the face of God," in order that the earth might be moved? And is this
the
very moving of the earth, when men are troubled, because the Law they cannot
fulfil?
But if so it is, this is the voluntary rain, whereof in confirmation he says,
"Voluntary
rain God severing to Your inheritance:" because "He has not done so
to
any nation, and His judgment He has not manifested to them." God therefore
set
apart
this voluntary rain to His inheritance because He gave the Law. And "there
was
made weak," either the Law, or the inheritance. The Law may be understood
to
have been made weak, because it was not fulfilled; not that of itself it is
weak,
but
because it makes men weak, by threatening punishment, and not aiding
through
grace. For also the very word the Apostle has used, where he says, "For
that
which was impossible of the Law, wherein it was made weak through the
flesh:"
Romans 8:3 willing to intimate that through the Spirit it is fulfilled:
nevertheless,
itself he has said is made weak, because by weak men it cannot be
fulfilled.
But the inheritance, that is, the people, without any doubt is understood
to
have been made weak by the giving to them of the Law. For "the Law came
in,
that
transgression might abound." Romans 5:20 But that which follows, "But
You
have
made it perfect," to the Law is thus referred, forasmuch as it is made
perfect,
that
is, is fulfilled after that which the Lord says in the Gospel, "I have not
come to
annul
the Law, but to fulfil." Matthew 5:17... There is in these words yet
another
sense:
which seems to me more to approve itself. For much more in accordance
with
the context, grace itself is understood to be the voluntary rain, because with
no
preceding merits of works it is given gratis. "For if grace, no longer of
works:
otherwise
grace no longer is grace." Romans 11:6... "But to humble men He gives
grace."
James 4:6 And it was made weak, but You have made it perfect:" because
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Psalm 68
502
"virtue
in weakness is perfected." 2 Corinthians 12:9 Some copies indeed, both
Latin
and Greek, have not "Mount Sina;" but, "from the face of the God
of Sina,
from
the face of the God of Israel." That is, "The Heavens dropped from
the face
of
God:" and, as if enquiry were made of what God, "from the face of the
God," he
says,
"of Sina, from the face of the God of Israel," that is, from the face
of the God
that
gave the Law to the people of Israel. Why then "the Heavens dropped from
the
face of God," from the face of this God, but because thus was fulfilled
that
which
had been foretold, "Blessing He shall give that has given the Law"?
The
Law
whereby to terrify a man that relies on human powers; blessing, whereby He
delivers
a man that hopes in God. Thou then, O God, hast made perfect Your
inheritance;
because it is made weak in itself, in order that it may be made perfect
by
You.
11.
"Thine animals shall dwell therein" (ver. 10). "Yours," not
their own; to You
subject,
not for themselves free; for You needy, not for themselves sufficient.
Lastly,
he continues, "You have prepared in Your own sweetness for the needy, O
God."
"In Your own sweetness," not in his meetness. For the needy he is,
for he
has
been made weak, in order that he may be made perfect: he has acknowledged
himself
indigent, that he may be replenished. This is that sweetness, whereof in
another
place is said, "The Lord shall give sweetness, and our land shall give her
fruit:"
in order that a good work may be done not for fear, but for love; not for
dread
of punishment, but for love of righteousness. For this is true and sound
freedom.
But the Lord has prepared this for one wanting, not for one abounding,
whose
reproach is that poverty: of which sort in another place is said,
"Reproach
to
these men that abound, and contempt to proud men." For those he has called
proud,
whom he has called them that abound.
12.
"The Lord shall give the Word" (ver. 11): to wit, food for His
animals which
shall
dwell therein. But what shall these animals work to whom He shall give the
word?
What but that which follows? "To them preaching the Gospel in much
virtue."
With what virtue, but with that strength wherein He leads forth men
fettered?
Perchance also here he speaks of that virtue, wherewith in preaching the
Gospel
they wrought wondrous signs. Who then "shall give the Word to men
preaching
the Gospel with much virtue"? "The King," he says, "of the
virtues of
the
Beloved" (ver. 12). The Father therefore is King of the virtues of the
Son. For
the
Beloved, when there is not specified any person that is beloved, by a
substitution
of name, of the Only Son is understood. Is not the Son Himself King
of
His virtues, to wit of the virtues serving Himself? Because with much virtue
the
King
of Virtues shall give the Word to men preaching the Gospel, of Whom it has
been
said, "The Lord of Virtues, He is the King of Glory?" But his not
having said
King
of Virtues, but "King of the Virtues of the beloved," is a most usual
expression
in the Scriptures, if any one observe: which thing chiefly appears in
those
cases where even the person's own name is already expressed, so that it
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cannot
at all be doubted that it is the same person of whom something is said. Of
which
sort also is that which in the Pentateuch in many passages is found: "And
Moses
did it, as the Lord commanded Moses." He said not that which is usual in
our
expressions, And Moses did, as the Lord commanded him; but, "Moses did as
the
Lord commanded Moses," as if one person were the Moses whom He
commanded,
and another person the Moses who did, whereas it is the very same.
In
the New Testament such expressions are most difficult to find. Romans 1:3-
14...
"The King," therefore, "of the virtues of the Beloved,"
thus may be
understood,
as if it were to be said, the King of His virtues, because both King of
Virtues
is Christ, and the Beloved is the very same Christ. However, this sense has
not
so great urgency, as that no other can be accepted: because the Father also may
be
understood as King of the virtues of His Beloved Son, to whom the Beloved
Himself
says, "All Mine are Yours, and Thine Mine." John 17:10 But if
perchance
it
is asked, whether God the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ can be called King
also,
I know not whether any one would dare to withhold this name from Him in
the
passage where the Apostle says, "But to the King of ages, immortal,
invisible,
the
only God." 1 Timothy 1:17 Because even if this be said of the Trinity itself,
therein
is also God the Father. But if we do not carnally understand, "O God, Your
Judgment
to the King give Thou, and Your justice to the Son of the King:" I know
not
whether anything else has been said than, "to Your Son." King
therefore is the
Father
also. Whence that verse of this Psalm, "King of the virtues of the
Beloved;"
in
either way may be understood. When therefore he had said, "The Lord shall
give
the Word to men preaching the Gospel with much virtue:" because virtue
itself
by Him is ruled, and serves Him by whom it is given; the Lord Himself, he
says,
who shall give the Word to men preaching the Gospel with much virtue, is
the
King of the virtues of the Beloved.
13.
In the next place there follows, "Of the Beloved, and of the beauty of the
House
to divide the spoils." The repetition belongs to eulogy.... But whether it
be
repeated,
or whether it be received as spoken once, the word which has been set
down,
namely, "Beloved," I suppose that thus must be understood that which
follows,
"and of the beauty of a house to divide the spoils;" as if there were
said,
"Chosen
even to divide the spoils of the beauty of a house," that is, Chosen even
for
dividing the spoils. For beautiful Christ has made His House, that is, the
Church,
by dividing to Her spoils: in the same manner as the Body is beautiful in
the
distribution of the members. "Spoils" moreover those are called that
are
stripped
off from conquered foes. What this is the Gospel advises us in the passage
where
we read, "No one goes into the house of a strong man to spoil his vessels,
unless
first he shall have bound the strong man." Matthew 12:29 Christ therefore
has
bound the devil with spiritual bonds, by overcoming death, and by ascending
from
Hell above the Heavens: He has bound him by the Sacrament of His
Incarnation,
because though finding nothing in Him deserving of death, yet he was
permitted
to kill: and from him so bound He took away his vessels as though they
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were
spoils. For he was working in the sons of disobedience, Ephesians 2:2 of
whose
unbelief he made use to work his own will. These vessels the Lord
cleansing
by the remission of sins, sanctifying these spoils wrested from the foe
laid
prostrate and bound, these He has divided to the beauty of His House; making
some
apostles, some prophets, some pastors and doctors, Ephesians 4:11 for the
work
of the ministry, for the building up of the Body of Christ. For as the body is
one,
and has many members, and though all the members of the body are many,
the
body is one: so also is Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12 "Are all Apostles? Are
all
Prophets?
Are all Powers? Have all the gifts of healings? Do all speak with
tongues?
Do all interpret?" 1 Corinthians 12:29 "But all these things works
one
and
the same Spirit, dividing to each one his own gifts, as He wills."
1
Corinthians 12:11 And such is the beauty of the house, whereto the spoils are
divided,
that a lover thereof with this fairness being enkindled, cries out, "O
Lord,
I
have loved the grace of Your House."
14.
Now in that which follows, he turns himself to address the members
themselves,
whereof the beauty of the House is composed, saying, "If you sleep in
the
midst of the lots, wings of a dove silvered, and between the shoulders thereof
in
the freshness of gold" (ver. 13). First, we must here examine the order of
the
words,
in what manner the sentence is ended; which certainly awaits, when there
is
said, "If you sleep:" secondly, in that which he says, namely,
"wings of dove
silvered,"
whether in the singular number it must be understood as being, "of this
wing"
thereof, or in the plural as, "these wings." But the singular number
the
Greek
excludes, where always in the plural we read it written. But still it is
uncertain
whether it be these wings; or whether, "O you wings," so as that he
may
seem
to speak to the wings themselves. Whether therefore by the words which
have
preceded, that sentence be ended, so that the order is, "The Lord shall
give
the
Word to men preaching the Gospel with much virtue, if you sleep in the midst
of
the lots, O you wings of a dove silvered:" or by these which follow, so
that the
order
is, "If you sleep in the midst of the lots, the wings of a dove silvered
with
snow
shall be whitened in Selmon:" that is, the wings themselves shall be
whitened,
if you sleep in the midst "of the lots:" so that he may be understood
to
say
this to them that are divided to the beauty of the House, as it were spoils;
that
is,
if you sleep in the "midst of the lots," O you that are divided to
the beauty of
the
House, "through the manifestation of the Spirit unto profit," 1
Corinthians 12:7
so
that "to one indeed is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, to
another
the
word of knowledge," etc., if then ye sleep in the midst of the lots, then
the
wings
of a dove silvered with snow shall be whitened in Selmon. It may also be
thus:
"If you being the wings of a dove silvered, sleep in the midst of the
lots, with
snow
they shall be whitened in Selmon," so as that those men be understood who
through
grace receive remission of sins. Whence also of the Church Herself, is
said
in the Song of Songs, "Who is She that goes up whitened?" For this
promise
of
God is held out through the Prophet, saying, "If your sins shall have been
like
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505
scarlet,
like snow I will whiten them." It may also thus be understood, so that in
that
which has been said, "wings of a dove silvered," there be understood,
you
shall
be, so that this is the sense, O you that like as it were spoils to the beauty
of
the
house are divided, if you sleep in the "midst of the lots," wings of
a dove
silvered
you shall be: that is, into higher places you shall be lifted up, adhering
however
to the bond of the Church. For I think no other dove silvered can be
better
perceived here, than that whereof has been said, "One is My dove."
Song
of Songs 6:9 But silvered She is because with divine sayings she has been
instructed:
for the sayings of the Lord in another place are called "silver with fire
refined,
purged sevenfold." Some great good thing therefore it is, to sleep in the
midst
of the lots, which some would have to be the Two Testaments, so that to
"sleep
in the midst of the lots" is to rest on the authority of those Testaments,
that
is,
to acquiesce in the testimony of either Testament: so that whenever anything
out
of them is produced and proved, all strife is ended in peaceful
acquiescence....
15.
"Between the shoulders," however. This is indeed a part of the body,
it is a part
about
the region of the heart, at the hinder parts however, that is, at the back:
which
part of that dove silvered he says is "in the greenness of gold,"
that is, in the
vigour
of wisdom, which vigour I think cannot be better understood than by love.
But
why on the back, and not on the breast? Although I wonder in what sense this
word
is put in another Psalm, where there is said, "Between His shoulders He
shall
overshadow
you, and under His wings you shall hope:" forasmuch as under wings
there
cannot be overshadowed anything but what shall be under the breast. And in
Latin,
indeed, "between the shoulders," perchance in some degree of both
parts
may
be understood, both before and behind, that we may take shoulders to be the
parts
which have the head between them; and in Hebrew perchance the word is
ambiguous,
which may in this manner also be understood: but the word that is in
the
Greek, metafrena, signifies not anything but at the back, which is
"between
the
shoulders." Is there for this reason there the greenness of gold, that is,
wisdom
and
love, because in that place there are in a manner the roots of the wings? or
because
in that place is carried that light burden? For what are even the wings
themselves,
but the two commandments of love, whereon hangs the whole Law
and
the Prophets? Matthew 22:40 what is that same light burden, but that same
love
which in these two commandments is fulfilled? For whatever thing is difficult
in
a commandment, is a light thing to a lover. Nor on any other account is rightly
understood
the saying, "My burden is light," Matthew 11:30 but because He gives
the
Holy Spirit, whereby love is shed abroad in our hearts, Romans 5:5 in order
that
in love we may do freely that which he that does in fear does slavishly; nor is
he
a lover of what is right, when he would prefer, if so be it were possible, that
what
is right should not be commanded.
16.
It may also be required, when it has not been said, if you sleep in the lots,
but
"in
the midst of the lots;" what this is, "in the midst of the
lots." Which expression
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506
indeed,
if more exactly it were translated from the Greek, would signify, "in the
midst
between the lots," which is in no one of the interpreters I have read:
therefore
I suppose, that what has been said signifies much the same, to wit the
expression,
"in the midst of the lots." Hence therefore what seems to me I will
explain.
Ofttimes this word is wont to be used for uniting and pacifying one thing
and
another, that they may not mutually disagree: as when God is establishing His
covenant
between Himself and His people, this word the Scripture uses; for
instead
of that expression which is in Latin between Me and you, the Greek has, in
the
midst of Me and you. So also of the sign of Circumcision, when God speaks to
Abraham,
He says, "There shall be a testament between Me and you and all your
seed:"
Genesis 17:4, 7 which the Greek has, in the midst of Me and you, and the
midst
of your seed. Also when He was speaking to Noe of the bow in the clouds to
establish
a sign, Genesis 9:12 this word very often He repeats: and that which the
Latin
copies have, between Me and you, or between Me and every living soul, and
whatever
suchlike expressions there are used, is found in the Greek to be, in the
middle
of Me and you, which is ana meson. David also and Jonathan establish a
sign
between them, 1 Samuel 20:42 that they may not disagree with a difference of
thought:
and that which in Latin is expressed, between both, in the middle of both,
the
Greek has expressed in the same word, which is ava meson. But it was best
that
in this passage of the Psalms our translators said not, "among the
lots," which
expression
is more suited to the Latin idiom; but, "in the midst of the lots,"
as
though
"in the midst between the lots," which rather is the reading in the
Greek,
and
which is wont to be said in the case of those things which ought to have a
mutual
consent .... But why in the "lots" the Testaments should be
perceived,
though
this word is Greek, and the Testament is not so named, the reason is,
because
through a testament is given inheritance, which in Greek is called
klhronomia, and an heir klhronomoj. Now klhroj in Greek is the term
for lot,
and
lots according to the promise of God are called those parts of the inheritance
which
were distributed to the people. Numbers 18:20 Whence the tribe of Levi
was
commanded not to have lot among their brethren, because they were sustained
by
tithes from them. For, I think, they that have been ordained in the grades of
the
Ecclesiastical
Ministry have been called both Clergy and Clerks, because Matthias
by
lot was chosen, who we read was the first that was ordained by the Apostles.
Acts
1:26 Henceforth, because of inheritance which is given by testament, as
though
by that which is made that which makes, by the name of "lots" the
Testaments
themselves are signified.
17.
Nevertheless, to me here another sense also occurs, if I mistake not, to be
preferred;
understanding by cleri the inheritances themselves: so that, whereas the
inheritance
of the Old Testament, although in a shadow significant of the future, is
earthly
felicity; but the inheritance of the New Testament is everlasting
immortality;
to "sleep in the midst of the lots" is not too earnestly now to seek
the
former,
and still patiently to look for the latter .... And because so well they have
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507
slept,
on them, as it were on wings now flies, and with praises is exalted, the
Church:
to wit, the Dove silvered, in order that by this fame of theirs, posterity
having
been invited to imitate them, while in like manner the rest also sleep, there
may
be added wings whereby even unto the end of the world sublimely she may
be
preached.
18.
"While He that is above the heavens distinguishes kings over Her, with
snow
they
shall be made white in Selmon" (ver. 14). While He "above the
heavens," He
that
ascended over all heavens that He might fulfil all things, "while He
distinguishes
kings over Her," that is, over that same "Dove silvered." For
the
Apostle
continues and says, and "He has Himself given some for Apostles, and
some
Prophets, and some Evangelists, and some Pastors and Teachers."
Ephesians
4:11 For what other reason is there to distinguish kings over Her, save
for
the work of the Ministry, for the edification of the Body of Christ: when she
is
indeed
Herself the Body of Christ? But they are called kings from ruling: and what
more
than the lusts of the flesh, that sin may not reign in their mortal body to
obey
the
desires thereof, that they yield not their members instruments of iniquity unto
sin,
but yield themselves to God, as though from the dead living, and their
members
instruments of righteousness to God? Romans 6:12-13 For thus shall the
kings
be distinguished from foreigners, because they draw not the yoke with
unbelievers:
secondly, in a peaceful manner being distinguished from one another
by
their proper gifts. For not all are Apostles, or all Prophets, or all Teachers,
or all
have
gifts of healings, or all with tongues do speak, or all interpret.
1
Corinthians 12:29-30 "But all these things works one and the same Spirit,
dividing
proper gifts to each one as He wills." 1 Corinthians 12:11 In giving which
Spirit
He that is above the Heavens distinguishes kings over the Dove silvered. Of
which
Holy Spirit, when, sent to His Mother full of grace, the Angel was speaking,
to
her enquiring in what manner it could come to pass that she was announced as
going
to bear, seeing she knew not a man: Luke 1:34 ... he says, "The Holy
Spirit
shall
come over upon you, and the virtue of the Most Highest shall overshadow
you,"
that is, shall make a shadow for you, "wherefore that Holy Thing which
shall
be
born of you, shall be called the Son of God." Luke 1:35 That
"shadow" again is
understood
of a defence against the heat of carnal lusts: whence not in carnal
concupiscence,
but in spiritual belief, the Virgin conceived Christ. But the shadow
consists
of light and body: and further, The "Word" that "was in the
beginning,"
John
1:1 that true Light, John 1:9 in order that a noonday shadow might be made
for
us; "the Word," I say, "was made Flesh, and dwelled in us."
John 1:14...
19.
But this mountain he calls the "mountain of God, a mountain fruitful, a
mountain
full of curds" (ver. 15), or "a mountain fat." But here what
else would he
call
fat but fruitful? For there is also a mountain called by that name, that is to
say,
Selmon.
But what mountain ought we to understand by "the mountain of God, a
mountain
fruitful, a mountain full of curds," but the same Lord Christ? Of whom
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Psalm 68 508
also
another Prophet says, "There shall be manifest in the last times the
mountain
of
the Lord prepared on the top of the mountains"? Isaiah 2:2 He is Himself
the
"Mountain
full of curds," because of the babes to be fed with grace as though it
were
with milk; 1 Corinthians 3:1 a mountain rich to strengthen and enrich them
by
the excellence of the gifts; for even the milk itself whence curd is made, in a
wonderful
manner signifies grace; for it flows out of the overflowing of the
mother's
bowels, and of a sweet compassion unto babes freely it is poured forth.
But
in the Greek the case is doubtful, whether it be the nominative or the
accusative:
for in that language mountain is of the neuter gender, not of the
masculine:
therefore some Latin translators have not translated it, "unto the
Mountain
of God," but, "the Mountain of God." But I think, "unto
Selmon the
Mountain
of God," is better, that is, "unto" the Mountain of God which is
called
Selmon:
according to the interpretation which, as we best could, we have
explained
above.
20.
Secondly, in the expression, "Mountain of God, Mountain full of
curds,"
Mountain
"fruitful," let no one dare from this to compare the Lord Jesus
Christ
with
the rest of the Saints, who are themselves also called mountains of God.... For
there
were not wanting men to call Him, some John Baptist, some Elias, some
Jeremias,
or one of the Prophets; Matthew 16:14 He turns to them and says, "Why
do
ye imagine mountains full of curds, a mountain," he says, "wherein it
has
pleased
God to dwell therein"? (ver. 16). "Why do ye imagine?" For as
they are a
light,
because to themselves also has been said, "You are the Light of the
world,"
Matthew
5:14 but something different has been called "the true Light which
enlightens
every man," John 1:9 so they are mountains; but far different is the
Mountain
"prepared on the top of the mountains." Isaiah 2:2 These mountains
therefore
in bearing that Mountain are glorious: one of which mountains says, "but
from
me far be it to glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through
whom
to me the world has been crucified, and I to the world:" Galatians 6:14 so
that
"he has glories, not in himself, but in the Lord may glory." 1
Corinthians 1:31
"Why"
then "do ye imagine mountains full of curds," that "Mountain
wherein it
has
pleased God to dwell therein"? Not because in other men He dwells not, but
because
in them through Him. "For in Him dwells all the fulness of the
Godhead,"
Colossians
2:9 not in a shadow, as in the temple made by king Solomon,
1
Kings 8:27 but "bodily," that is, solidly and truly.... "For
there is One God, and
One
Mediator of God and men, the Man Christ Jesus," 1 Timothy 2:5 Mountain of
mountains,
as Saint of saints. Whence He says, "I in them and You in Me."
John
17:23 "Why then do ye imagine mountains full of curds, the mountain
wherein
it has pleased God to dwell in Him?" For those mountains full of curds
that
Mountain the Lord shall inhabit even unto the end, that something they may
be
to whom He says, "for without Me nothing you are able to do." John
15:5
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Psalm 68 509
21.
Thus comes to pass that also which follows: "The Chariot of God is of ten
thousands
manifold:" or "of tens of thousands manifold:" or, "ten
times thousand
times
manifold" (ver. 17). For one Greek word, which has there been used,
murioplasion, each Latin interpreter
has rendered as best he could, but in Latin
it
could not be adequately expressed: for a thousand with the Greeks is called
xilia, but muriadej are a number of tens of
thousands: for one muriaj are ten
thousands.
Thus a vast number of saints and believers, who by bearing God
become
in a manner the chariot of God, he has signified under this name. By
abiding
in and guiding this, He conducts it, as though it were His Chariot, unto the
end,
as if unto some appointed place. For, "the beginning is Christ; secondly,
that
are
of Christ, at the appearing of Him; then the end." 1 Corinthians 15:23-24
This
is
Holy Church: which is that which follows, "thousands of men
rejoicing." For in
hope
they are joyful, until they be conducted unto the end, which now they look
for
through patience. Romans 12:12 For admirably, when he had said, "Thousands
of
men rejoicing:" immediately he added, "The Lord is in them."
That we may not
wonder
why they rejoice, "The Lord is in them." For through many
tribulations we
must
needs enter into the kingdom of God, Acts 14:22 but, "The Lord is in
them."
Therefore
even if they are as it were sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing,
2
Corinthians 6:10 though not now in that same end, to which they have not yet
come,
yet in hope they are rejoicing, and in tribulation patient: for, "The Lord
is in
them,
in Sina in the holy place." In the interpretations of Hebrew names, we
find
Sina
interpreted commandment: and some other interpretations it has, but I think
this
to be more agreeable to the present passage. For giving a reason why those
thousands
rejoice, whereof the Chariot of God does consist, "The Lord," he
says,
"is
in them, in Sins in the holy place:" that is, the Lord is in them, in the
commandment;
which commandment is holy, as says the Apostle: "Therefore the
law
indeed is holy, and the commandment is holy, and just, and good."
Romans
7:12...
22.
In the next place, turning his address to the Lord Himself, "You have gone
up,"
he
says, "on high, You have led captivity captive, You have received gifts in
men"
(ver.
18). Of this the Apostle thus makes mention, thus expounds in speaking of
the
Lord Christ: "But unto each one of us," he says, "is given grace
after the
measure
of the giving of Christ: for which cause he says, He has gone up on high,
He
has led captive captivity, He has given gifts to men." Ephesians 4:7-8...
And let
it
not move us that the Apostle making mention of that same testimony says not,
"You
have received gifts in men;" but, "He has given gifts unto men."
For he with
Apostolic
authority has spoken thus according to the faith that the Son is God with
the
Father. For in respect of this He has given gifts to men, sending to them the
Holy
Spirit, which is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son. But forasmuch as the
self-same
Christ is understood in His Body which is the Church, wherefore also
His
members are His saints and believers, whence to them is said, "But you are
the
Body
of Christ, and the members," 1 Corinthians 12:27 doubtless He has Himself
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Psalm 68
510
also
received gifts in men. Now Christ has gone up on high, and sits at the right
hand
of the Father: Mark 16:19 but unless He were here also on the earth, He
would
not thence have cried, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" Acts
9:4
When
the Same says Himself, "Inasmuch as to one of My least you have done it,
to
Me you have done it:" Matthew 25:40 why do we doubt that He receives in
His
members,
the gifts which the members of Him receive?
23.
But what is, "You have led captivity captive"? Is it because He has
conquered
death,
which was holding captive those over whom it reigned? Or has he called
men
themselves captivity, who were being held captive under the devil? Which
thing's
mystery even the title of that Psalm does contain, to wit, "when the house
was
being built after the captivity:" that is, the Church after the coming in
of the
Gentiles.
Calling therefore those very men who were being held captive a
captivity,
as when "the service" is spoken of there are understood those that
serve
also,
that same captivity he says by Christ has been led captive. For why should
not
captivity be happy, if even for a good purpose men may be caught? Whence to
Peter
has been said, "From henceforth you shall catch men." Luke 5:10 Led
captive
therefore they are because caught, and caught because subjugated, being
sent
under that gentle yoke, Matthew 11:30 being delivered from sin whereof they
were
servants, and being made servants of righteousness Romans 6:18 whereof
they
were children. Whence also He is Himself in them, that has given gifts to
men,
and has received gifts in men. And thus in that captivity, in that servitude,
in
that
chariot, under that yoke, there are not thousands of men lamenting, but
thousands
of men rejoicing. For the Lord is in them, in Sina, in the holy place....
24.
But what next does he adjoin? "For they that believe not to dwell"
(ver. 18): or,
as
some copies have, "For not believing to dwell:" for what else are men
not
believing,
but they that believe not? To whom this has been said, is not easy to
perceive.
For as though a reason were being given of the above words, when it had
been
said, "You have led captivity captive, You have received gifts in
men:" there
has
been added in continuation, "for they that believe not to dwell,"
that is, not
believing
that they should dwell. What is this? Of whom says he this? Did that
captivity,
before it passed into a good captivity, show whence it was an evil
captivity?
For through not believing they were possessed by the enemy, "that
works
in the sons of unbelief: among whom you were sometime, while you were
living
among them." Ephesians 2:2 By the gifts therefore of His grace, He that
has
received
gifts in men, has led captive that captivity. For they believed not that they
should
dwell. For faith has thence delivered them, in order that now believing they
may
dwell in the House of God, even they too becoming the House of God, and
the
Chariot of God, consisting of thousands of men rejoicing.
25.
Whence he that was singing of these things, in the Spirit foreseeing them, even
he
too being fulfilled with joy has burst forth a hymn, saying, "The Lord God
is
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Psalm
68
511
blessed,
blessed is the Lord God from day unto day" (ver. 19). Which some copies
have,
"by day daily," because the Greeks have it thus, hmeran
kaq hmeran:
which
more exactly would be expressed by, "by day daily." Which expression
I
think
signifies the same as that which has been said, to wit, "from day unto
day."
For
daily this He does even unto the end, He leads captive captivity, receiving
gifts
in men.
26.
And because He leads that chariot unto the end, He continues and says, "A
prosperous
journey there shall make for us the God of our healths, our God, the
God
of making men safe" (ver. 20). Highly is grace here commended. For who
would
be safe, unless He Himself should make whole? But that it might not occur
to
the mind, Why then do we die, if through His grace we have been made safe?
immediately
he added below, "and the Lord's is the outgoing of death:" as though
he
were saying, Why are thou indignant, O lot of humanity, that you have the
outgoing
of death? Even your Lord's outgoing was no other than that of death.
Rather
therefore be comforted than be indignant: for even "the Lord's is the
outgoing
of death." "For by hope we have been saved: but if that which we see
not
we
hope for, through patience we wait for it." Romans 8:24-25 Patiently
therefore
even
death itself let us suffer, by the example of Him, who though by no sin He
was
debtor to death, and was the Lord, from whom no one could take away life,
but
Himself laid it down of Himself, yet had Himself the outgoing of death.
27.
"Nevertheless, God shall break in pieces the heads of His enemies, the
scalp of
hair
of men walking on in their transgressions" (ver. 21): that is, too much
exalting
themselves,
being too proud in their transgressions: wherein at least they ought to
be
humble, saying, "O Lord, be Thou merciful to me a sinner." Luke 18:13
But He
shall
break in pieces their heads: for he that exalts himself shall be humbled.
Luke
18:14 And thus though even of the Lord be the outgoing of death:
nevertheless
the same Lord, because He was God, and died after the flesh of His
own
will, not of necessity, "shall break in pieces the heads of His
enemies:" not
only
of those who mocked and crucified Him, and wagged their heads, and said,
"If
Son of God He is, let Him come down from the Cross;" Matthew 27:40 but
also
of all men lifting up themselves against His doctrine, and deriding His death
as
though it were of a man. For that very same One of whom has been said,
"Others
He saved, Himself He cannot save," Matthew 27:42 is the "God of our
healths,"
and is the "God of saving men:" but for an example of humility and of
patience,
and to efface the handwriting of our sins, He even willed that the
outgoing
of death should be His own, that we might not fear that death, but rather
this
from which He has delivered us through that. Nevertheless, though mocked
and
dead, "He shall break in pieces the heads of His enemies," of whom He
says,
"Raise
Thou me up, and I shall render to them:" whether it be good things for
evil
things,
while to Himself He subdues the heads of them believing, or whether just
things
for unjust things, while He punishes the heads of them proud. For in either
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way
are shattered and broken the heads of enemies, when from pride they are
thrown
down, whether by humility being amended, or whether unto the lowest
depths
of hell being hurled.
28.
"The Lord has said, Out of Basan I will be turned" (ver. 22): or, as
some copies
have,
"Out of Basan I will turn." For He turns that we may be safe, of whom
above
has
been said, "God of our healths, and God of saving men." For to Him
elsewhere
also
is said, "O God of virtues, turn Thou us, and show Your face, and safe we
shall
be." Also in another place, "Turn us, O God of our healths." But
he has said,
"Out
of Basan I will turn." Basan is interpreted confusion. What is then, I
will turn
out
of confusion, but that there is confounded because of his sins, he that is
praying
of the mercy of God that they may be put away? Thence it is that the
Publican
dared not even to lift up his eyes to Heaven: Luke 18:13 so, on
considering
himself, was he confounded; but he went down justified, Luke 18:14
because
"the Lord has said, Out of Basan I will turn." Basan is also
interpreted
drought:
and rightly the Lord is understood to turn out of drought, that is, out of
scarcity.
For they that think themselves to be in plenty, though they be famished;
and
full, though they be altogether empty; are not turned.... "I will turn
unto the
deep
of the sea." If, "I will turn," why, "unto the deep of the
sea"? Unto Himself
indeed
the Lord turns, when savingly He turns, and He is not surely Himself the
deep
of the sea. Doth perchance the Latin expression deceive us, and has there
been
put "unto the deep," for a translation of what signifies
"deeply"? For He does
not
turn Himself: but He turns those that in the deep of this world lie sunk down
with
the weight of sins, in that place where one that is turned says, "From the
depths
I have cried to You, O Lord." But if it is not, "I will turn,"
but, "I will be
turned
unto the deep of the sea;" our Lord is understood to have said, how by His
own
mercy He was turned even unto the deep of the sea, to deliver even those that
were
sinners in most desperate case. Though in one Greek copy I have found, not,
"unto
the deep," but "in the depths," that is, en
buqoij:
which strengthens the
former
sense, because even there God turns to Himself men crying from the
depths.
And even if He be understood Himself there to be turned, to deliver such
sort
also, it is not beside the purpose: and so then He turns, or else to deliver
them
is
so turned, that His foot is stained in blood. Which to the Lord Himself the
Prophet
speaks: "That Your foot may be stained in blood" (ver. 23): that is,
in
order
that they themselves who are turned to You, or to deliver whom You are
turned,
though in the deep of the sea by the burden of iniquity they may have been
sunk,
may make so great proficiency by Your Grace (for where there has
abounded
sin, there has superabounded grace Romans 5:20), that they may
become
Your foot among Your members, to preach Your Gospel, and for Your
name's
sake drawing out a long martyrdom, even unto blood they may contend.
For
thus, as I judge, more meetly is perceived His foot stained in blood.
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Psalm 68 513
29.
Lastly, he adds, "The tongue of Your dogs out of enemies by Himself,"
calling
those
very same that had been about to strive for the faith of the Gospel, even
dogs,
as though barking for their Lord. Not those dogs, whereof says the Apostle,
"Beware
of dogs:" Philippians 3:2 but those that eat of the crumbs which fall from
the
table of their masters. For having confessed this, the woman of Canaan merited
to
hear, "O woman, great is your faith, be it done to you as you will."
Matthew
15:27-28 Dogs commendable, not abominable; observing fidelity
towards
their master, and before his house barking against enemies. Not only "of
dogs"
he has said, but "of Your dogs:" nor are their teeth praised, but
their tongue
is:
for it was not indeed to no purpose, not without a great mystery, that Gedeon
was
bidden to lead those alone, who should lap the water of the river like dogs;
Judges
7:5 and of such sort not more than three hundred among so great a
multitude
were found. In which number is the sign of the Cross because of the
letter
T, which in the Greek numeral characters signifies three hundred. Of such
dogs
in another Psalm also said, "They shall be turned at even, and hunger they
shall
suffer as dogs." For even some dogs have been reproved by the Prophet
Isaiah,
not because they were dogs, but because they knew not how to bark, and
loved
to sleep. Isaiah 5 6: 10 In which place indeed he has shown, that if they had
watched
and barked for their Lord, they would have been praiseworthy dogs: just
as
they are praised, of whom is said, "The tongue of Your dogs."...
30.
"There have been seen Your steps, O God" (ver. 24). The steps are
those
wherewith
You have come through the world, as though in that chariot You were
going
to traverse the round world; which chariot of clouds He intimates to be His
holy
and faithful ones in the Gospel, where He says, "From this time you shall
see
the
Son of Man coming in the clouds." Mark 13:26 Leaving out that coming
wherein
He shall be Judge of quick and dead, 2 Timothy 4:1 "From this time,"
He
says,
"you shall see the Son of Man coming in clouds." These "Your
steps have
been
seen," that is, have been manifested, by the revealing the grace of the
New
Testament.
Whence has been said, "How beautiful are the feet of them that
proclaim
peace, that proclaim good things!" Romans 10:15 For this grace and
those
steps were lying hid in the Old Testament: but when there came the fulness
of
time, and it pleased God to reveal His Son, Galatians 4:4 that He might be
proclaimed
among the Gentiles, "there were seen Your steps, O God: the steps of
my
God, of the King who is in the holy place." In what holy place, save in
His
Temple?
"For the Temple of God is holy," he says, "which you are."
1
Corinthians 3:17
31.
But in order that those steps might be seen, "there went before princes
conjoined
with men psalming, in the midst of damsels players on timbrels" (ver.
25).
The princes are the Apostles: for they went before, that the peoples might
come
in multitudes. "They went before" proclaiming the New Testament:
"conjoined
with men psalming," by whose good works that were even visible, as it
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68
514
were
with instruments of praise, God was glorified. But those same princes are
"in
the
midst of damsels players on timbrels," to wit, in an honourable ministry:
for
thus
in the midst are ministers set over new Churches; for this is
"damsels:" with
flesh
subdued praising God; for this is "players on timbrels," because
timbrels are
made
of skin dried and stretched.
32.
Therefore, that no one should take these words in a carnal sense, and by these
words
should conceive in his mind certain choral bands of wantonness, he
continues
and says, "In the Churches bless ye the Lord" (ver. 26): as though he
were
saying, wherefore, when you hear of damsels, players on timbrels, do ye
think
of wanton pleasures? "In the Churches bless ye the Lord." For the
Churches
are
pointed out to you by this mystic intimation: the Churches are the damsels,
with
new grace decked: the Churches are the players on the timbrels, with
chastened
flesh being spiritually tuneful. "In the Churches," then, "bless
ye the
Lord
God from the wells of Israel." For from thence He first chose those whom
He
made
wells. For from thence were chosen the Apostles; and they first heard, "He
that
shall have drunk of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst, but
there
shall
be made in him a well of water springing unto life everlasting." John 4:14
33.
"There is Benjamin the younger in a trance" (ver. 27). There is Paul
the last of
the
Apostles, who says, "For even I am an Israelite, out of the seed of
Abraham,
out
of the tribe of Benjamin." Philippians 3:5 But evidently "in a
trance," all men
being
amazed at a miracle so great as that of his calling. For a trance is the mind's
going
out: which thing sometimes chances through fear; but sometimes through
some
revelation, the mind suffering separation from the corporal senses, in order
that
that which is to be represented may be represented to the spirit. Whence even
thus
may be understood that which here has been written, namely, "in a
trance;"
for
when to that persecutor there had been said from Heaven, "Saul, Saul, why
do
you
persecute me:" Acts 9:4 there being taken from him the light of the eyes
of
flesh,
he made answer to the Lord, whom in spirit he saw, but they that were with
him
heard the voice of him replying, though seeing no one to whom he was
speaking.
Here also the trance may be understood to be that one of his, whereof he
himself
speaking, says, that he knew a man caught up even unto the third Heaven;
but
whether in the body, or whether out of the body, he knew not:
2
Corinthians 12:2 but that he being caught up into Paradise, heard ineffable
words,
which it was not lawful for a man to speak. "Princes of Juda the leaders
of
them,
princes of Zabulon, princes of Nephthalim." Since he is indicating the
Apostles
as princes, wherein is even "Benjamin the younger in a trance," in
which
words
that Paul is indicated no one doubts; or when under the name of princes
there
are indicated in the Churches all men excelling and most worthy of
imitation:
what mean these names of the tribes of Israel? ... For the names are
Hebrew:
whereof Juda is said to be interpreted confession, Zabulon habitation of
strength,
Nephthalim my enlargement. All which words do intimate to us the most
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Psalm 68 515
proper
princes of the Church, worthy of their leadership, worthy of imitation,
worthy
of honours. For the Martyrs in the Churches hold the highest place, and by
the
crown of holy worth they do excel. But however in martyrdom the first thing is
confession,
and for this is next put on strength to endure whatsoever shall have
chanced;
then after all things have been endured, straits being ended, breadth
follows
in reward. It may also thus be understood; that whereas the Apostle chiefly
commends
these three things, faith, hope, love; 1 Corinthians 13:13 confession is
in
faith, strength in hope, breadth in love. For of faith the substance is, that
with
the
heart men believe unto righteousness, but with the mouth confession be made
unto
salvation. Romans 10:10 But in sufferings of tribulations the thing itself is
sorrowful,
but the hope is strong. For, "if that which we see not we hope for,
through
patience we wait for it." Romans 8:25 But breadth the shedding abroad of
love
in the heart does give. For "love perfected casts out fear:" which
fear "has
torment,"
1 John 4:18 because of the straits of the soul....
34.
"Command, O God, Your Virtue" (ver. 28). For one is our Lord Jesus
Christ,
through
whom are all things, 1 Corinthians 8:6 and we in Him, of whom we read
that
He is "the Virtue of God and the Wisdom of God." 1 Corinthians 1:24
But
how
does God command His Christ, save while He commends Him? For "God
commends
His love in us, in that while yet we were sinners, for us Christ died."
Romans
5:8 "How has He not also with Him given to us all things?" Romans
8:32
"Command,
O God, Your Virtue: confirm, O God, that which You have wrought
in
us." Command by teaching, confirm by aiding.
35.
"From Your Temple in Jerusalem, to You kings shall offer presents"
(ver. 29).
Jerusalem,
which is our free mother, Galatians 4:26 because the same also is Your
holy
Temple: from that Temple then, "to You kings shall offer presents."
Whatever
kings be understood, whether kings of the earth, or whether those whom
"He
that is above the heavens distinguishes over the dove silvered;" "to
You kings
shall
offer presents." And what presents are so acceptable as the sacrifices of
praise?
But there is a noise against this praise, from men bearing the name of
Christian,
and having diverse opinions. Be there done that which follows, "Rebuke
Thou
the beasts of the cane" (ver. 30). For both beasts they are, since by not
understanding
they do hurt: and beasts of the cane they are, since the sense of the
Scriptures
they wrest according to their own misapprehension. For in the cane the
Scriptures
are as reasonably perceived, as language in tongue, according to the
mode
of expression whereby the Hebrew or the Greek or the Latin tongue is
spoken
of, or the like; that is to say, by the efficient cause the thing which is
being
effected
is implied. Now it is usual in the Latin language for writing to be called
style,
because with the stilus it is done: so then cane also, because with a cane it
is
done.
The Apostle Peter says, that "men unlearned and unstable do wrest the
Scriptures
to their own proper destruction:" 2 Peter 3:16 these are the beasts of the
cane,
whereof here is said, "Rebuke Thou the beasts of the cane."
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516
36.
Concerning these also is that which follows, "The congregation of bulls amid
the
cows of the peoples, in order that there may be excluded they that have been
tried
with silver." Calling them bulls because of the pride of a stiff and
untamed
neck:
for he is referring to heretics. But by "the cows of the peoples," I
think souls
easily
led astray must be understood, because easily they follow these bulls. For
they
lead not astray entire peoples, among whom are men grave and stable;
whence
has been written, "In a people grave I will praise You:" but only the
cows
which
they may have found among those peoples. "For of these are they that steal
into
houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, who are led with
various
lusts, alway learning, and at the knowledge of the truth never arriving."
2
Timothy 3:6-7 ... For, "may be excluded," has been said, meaning, may
appear,
may
stand forth: as he says, "may be made manifest." Whence also, in the
art of
the
silversmith, they are called exclusores, who out of the shapelessness of the
lump
are skilled to mould the form of a vessel. For many meanings of the holy
Scriptures
are concealed, and are known only to a few of singular intelligence, and
are
never vindicated so suitably and acceptably as when our diligence to make
answer
to heretics constrains us. For then even they that neglect the pursuits of
learning,
shaking off their slumber, are stirred up to a diligent hearing, in order
that
their opponents may be refuted. In a word, how many senses of holy
Scriptures
concerning Christ as God have been vindicated against Photinus, how
many
concerning Christ as man against Manichćus, how many concerning the
Trinity
against Sabellius, how many concerning the Unity of the Trinity against
Arians,
Eunomians, Macedonians? How many concerning the Catholic Church in
the
whole world spread abroad, against Donatists, and Luciferians, and others,
whoever
they be, that with like error dissent from the truth: how many against the
rest
of heretics, whom to enumerate or mention were too long a task, and for the
present
work unnecessary? ... Of whom, as it were bulls, that is, not subject to the
peaceful
and gentle yoke of discipline, the Apostle makes mention, in the place
where
he has said that such an one must be chosen for the Episcopate as is "able
to
exhort
in sound doctrine and to convince the gainsayers. For there are many
unruly;"
Titus 1:9-10 these are bulls with uplifted neck, impatient of plough and
yoke:
vain-talkers and leaders astray of minds; which minds this Psalm has
intimated
under the name of cows....
37.
"There shall come ambassadors out of Egypt, Ethiopia shall prevent the
hands
of
Him" (ver. 31). Under the name of Egypt or of Ethiopia, he has signified
the
faith
of all nations, from a part the whole: calling the preachers of reconciliation
ambassadors.
"For Christ," he says, "we have an embassy, God as it were
exhorting
through us: we beseech you for Christ to be reconciled to God."
2
Corinthians 5:20 Not then of the Israelites alone, whence the Apostles were
chosen,
but also from the rest of the nations that there should be preachers of
Christian
peace, in this manner has been mystically prophesied. But by that which
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he
says, "shall prevent the hands of Him," he says this, shall prevent
the vengeance
of
Him: to wit, by turning to Him, in order that their sins may be forgiven, lest
by
continuing
sinners they be punished. Which thing also in another Psalm is said,
"Let
us come before the face of Him in confession." As by hands he signifies
vengeance,
so by face, revelation and presence, which will be in the Judgment.
Because
then, by Egypt and Ethiopia he has signified the nations of the whole
world;
immediately he has subjoined, "to God (are) the kingdoms of the
earth."
Not
to Sabellius, not to Arius, not to Donatus, not to the rest of the bulls stiff-
necked,
but "to God (are) the kingdoms of the earth." But the greater number
of
Latin
copies, and especially the Greek, have the verses so punctuated, that there is
not
one verse in these words, "to God the kingdoms of the earth," but,
"to God," is
at
the end of the former verse, and so there is said, "Ethiopia shall come
before the
hands
of her to God," and then there follows in another verse, "Kingdoms of
the
earth,
sing ye to God, psalm ye to the Lord" (ver. 32). By which punctuation,
doubtless
to be preferred by the agreement of many copies, and those deserving of
credit,
there seems to me to be implied faith which precedes works: because
without
the merits of good works through faith the ungodly is justified, just as the
Apostle
said, "To one believing in Him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is
counted
for righteousness:" Romans 4:5 in order that afterwards faith itself
through
love may begin to work. For those alone are to be called good works,
which
are done through love of God. But these faith must needs go before, so that
from
thence these may begin, not from these this .... This is faith, whereof to the
Church
Herself is said in the Song of Songs, "You shall come and shall pass hence
from
the beginning of faith." For She has come like the chariot of God in
thousands
of men rejoicing, having a prosperous course, and She has passed over
from
this world to the Father: in order that there may come to pass in Her that
which
the Bridegroom Himself says, who has passed hence from this world to the
Father,
John 13:1 "I will that where I am, these also may be with Me:" John
17:24
but
from the beginning of faith. Because then in order that good works may
follow,
faith does precede; and there are not any good works, save those which
follow
faith preceding: nothing else seems to have been meant in, "Ethiopia shall
come
before the hands of her to God," but, Ethiopia shall believe in God. For
thus
she
"shall come before the hands of her," that is, the works of her. Of
whom,
except
of Ethiopia herself? For this in the Greek is not ambiguous: for the word
"of
her" there in the feminine gender most clearly has been put down. And thus
nothing
else has been said than "Ethiopia shall come before her hands to
God,"
that
is, by believing in God she shall come before her works. For, "I
judge," says
the
Apostle, "that a man is justified through faith without the works of the
Law. Is
He
God of the Jews only? Is He not also of the Gentiles?" So then Ethiopia,
which
seems
to be the utmost limit of the Gentiles, is justified through faith, without the
works
of the Law .... For the expression in Greek, xeira authj, which most
copies
have, both of "hand of her" and "her own hand" may be
understood: but
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518
that
which is uncommon in the Greek copies, xeiraj authj, by both "hands of
her"
and "her own hands," in Latin may be expressed.
38.
Henceforward, as if through prophecy all things had been discoursed of which
now
we see fulfilled, he exhorts to the praise of Christ, and next He foretells His
future
Advent. "Kingdoms of earth, sing ye to God, psalm ye to the Lord: psalm
ye
to God, who has ascended above the Heaven of Heavens to the East" (ver.
33).
Or,
as some copies have it, "who has ascended above the Heaven of Heaven to
the
East."
In these words he perceives not Christ, who believes not His Resurrection
and
Ascension. But has not "to the East," which he has added, expressed
the very
spot;
since in the quarters of the East is where He rose again, and whence He
ascended?
Therefore above the Heaven of Heaven He sits at the right hand of the
Father.
This is what the Apostle says, "the Same is He that has ascended above all
Heavens."
Ephesians 4:10 For what of Heavens does remain after the Heaven of
Heaven?
Which also we may call the Heavens of Heavens, just as He has called
the
firmament Heaven: Genesis 1:8 which Heaven, however, even as Heavens we
read
of, in the place where there is written, "and let the waters which are
above the
Heavens
praise the name of the Lord." And forasmuch as from thence He is to
come,
Acts 1:11 to judge quick and dead, observe what follows: "behold, He shall
give
His voice, the voice of power." He that like a lamb before the shearer of
Him
was
without voice, Isaiah 53:7 "behold shall give His voice," and not the
voice of
weakness,
as though to be judged; but "the voice of power," as though going to
judge.
For God shall not be hidden, as before, and in the judgment of men not
opening
His mouth; but "God shall come manifest, our God, and He shall not be
silent."
Why do ye despair, you unbelieving men? Why do ye mock? What says
the
evil servant? "My Lord delays to come." Luke 12:45 "Behold, He
shall give
His
voice, the voice of power."
39.
"Give ye glory to God, above Israel is the magnificence of Him" (ver.
34). Of
whom
says the Apostle, "Upon the Israel of God." Galatians 6:16 For
"not all that
are
out of Israel, are Israelites:" Romans 9:6 for there is also an Israel
after the
flesh.
Whence he says, "See ye Israel after the flesh." 1 Corinthians 10:18
"For not
they
that are sons of the flesh, are sons of God, but sons of promise are counted
for
a
seed." Romans 9:8 Therefore at that time when without any intermixture of
evil
men
His people shall be, like a heap purged by the fan, Matthew 3:12 like Israel in
whom
guile is not, John 1:47 then most pre-eminent "above Israel" shall be
"the
magnificence"
of "Him: and the virtue of Him in the clouds." For not alone He
shall
come to judgment, but with the elders of His people: Isaiah 3:14 to whom He
has
promised that they shall sit upon thrones to judge, Matthew 19:28 who even
shall
judge angels. 1 Corinthians 6:3 These be the clouds.
40.
Lastly, lest of anything else the clouds be understood, he has in continuation
added,
"Wonderful is God in His saints, the God of Israel" (ver. 35). For at
that
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519
time
even most truly and most fully there shall be fulfilled the name Israel itself,
which
is one "seeing God:" for we shall see Him as He is. 1 John 3:2
"He Himself
shall
give virtue and strength to His people, blessed be God:" to His people now
frail
and weak. For "we have this treasure in earthen vessels." 2
Corinthians 4:7
But
then by a most glorious changing even of our bodies, "He Himself shall
give
virtue
and strength to His people." For this body is sown in weakness, shall rise
in
virtue.
1 Corinthians 15:43 He Himself then shall give the virtue which in His own
flesh
He has sent before, whereof the Apostle says, "the power of His
Resurrection."
Philippians 3:10 But strength whereby shall be destroyed the
enemy
death. 1 Corinthians 15:26 Now then of this long and difficultly understood
Psalm
we have at length by His own aid made an end. "Blessed be God. Amen."
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Exposition
on Psalm 69
1.
We have been born into this world, and added to the people of God, at that
period
wherein already the herb from a grain of mustard seed has spread out its
branches;
wherein already the leaven, which at first was contemptible, has
leavened
three measures, that is, the whole round world repeopled by the three
sons
of Noe: Genesis 9:19 for from East and West and North and South shall come
they
that shall sit down with the Patriarchs, Matthew 8:11 while those shall have
been
driven without, that have been born of their flesh and have not imitated their
faith.
Unto his glory then of Christ's Church our eyes we have opened; and that
barren
one, for whom joy was proclaimed and foretold, because she was to have
more
sons than she that had the husband, her we have found to be such an one as
has
forgotten the reproaches and infamy of her widowhood: and so we may
perhaps
wonder when we chance to read in any prophecy the words of Christ's
humiliation,
or our own. And it may be, that we are less affected by them; because
we
have not come at that time when these things were read with zest, in that
tribulation
abounded. But again if we think of the abundance of tribulations, and
observe
the way wherein we are walking (if indeed we do walk in it), how narrow
it
is, and how through straits and tribulations it leads unto rest everlasting,
Matthew
7:14 and how that very thing which in human affairs is called felicity, is
more
to be feared than misery; since indeed misery ofttimes does bring out of
tribulation
a good fruit, but felicity does corrupt the soul with a perverse security,
and
gives place for the Devil the Tempter—when, I say, we shall have judged
prudently
and rightly, as the salted victim did, that "human life upon earth is
trial,"
and
that no one is at all secure, nor ought to be secure, until he be come to that
country,
whence no one that is a friend goes forth, into which no one that is an
enemy
is admitted, even now in the very glory of the Church we acknowledge the
voices
of our tribulation: and being members of Christ, subject to our Head in the
bond
of love, and mutually supporting one another, we will say from the Psalms,
that
which here we have found the Martyrs said, who were before us; that
tribulation
is common to all men from the beginning even unto the end....
2.
The Title of the Psalm is: "Unto the end, in behalf of those that shall be
changed,
to David himself." Now of the change for the better hear thou; for change
either
is for the worse or for the better .... That we have been changed then for the
worse,
to ourselves let us ascribe: that for the better we are changed, let us praise
God.
"For those," then, "that shall be changed," this Psalm is.
But whence has this
change
been made but by the Passion of Christ? The very word Pascha in Latin is
interpreted
passage. For Pascha is not a Greek word but a Hebrew. It sounds
indeed
in the Greek language like Passion, because pasxein signifies to suffer:
but
if the Hebrew expression be examined, it points to something else. Pascha
does
intimate passage. Of which even John the Evangelist has admonished us, who
(just
before the Passion when the Lord was coming to the supper wherein He set
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forth
the Sacrament of His Body and Blood) thus speaks: "But when there had
come
the hour, wherein Jesus was to pass from this world to the Father." John
13:1
He
has expressed then the "passage" of the Pascha. But unless He passed
Himself
hence
to the Father, who came for our sake, how should we have been able to pass
hence,
who have not come down for the sake of taking up anything, but have
fallen?
But He Himself fell not; He but came down, in order that He might raise
up
him that had fallen. The passage therefore both of Him and of us is hence to the
Father,
from this world to the kingdom of Heaven, from life mortal to life
everlasting,
from life earthly to life heavenly, from life corruptible to life
incorruptible,
from intimacy with tribulations to perpetual security. Accordingly,
"In
behalf of them that shall be changed," the Psalm's title is. The cause
therefore
of
our change, that is, the very Passion of the Lord and our own voice in
tribulations
in the text of the Psalm let us observe, let us join in knowing, join in
groaning,
and in hearing, in joint-knowing, joint-groaning, let us be changed, in
order
that there may be fulfilled in us the Title of the Psalm, "In behalf of
them
that
shall be changed."
3.
"Save me, O God, for the waters have entered in even unto my soul"
(ver. 1).
That
grain is despised now, that seems to give forth humble words. In the garden it
is
buried, though the world will admire the greatness of the herb, of which herb
the
seed
was despised by the Jews. For in very deed observe ye the seed of the
mustard,
minute, dull coloured, altogether despicable, in order that therein may be
fulfilled
that which has been said, We have seen Him, and He had neither form nor
comeliness.
Isaiah 53:2 But He says, that waters have come in even unto His soul;
because
those multitudes, which under the name of waters He has pointed out,
were
able so far to prevail as to kill Christ.... Whence then does He so cry out, as
though
He were suffering something against His will, except because the Head
does
prefigure the Members? For He suffered because He willed: but the Martyrs
even
though they willed not; for to Peter thus He foretold his passion: "When
you
shall
be old," He says, "another shall gird you, and lead you whither you
will not."
John
21:18 For though we desire to cleave to Christ, yet we are unwilling to die:
and
therefore willingly or rather patiently we suffer, because no other passage is
given
us, through which we may cleave to Christ. For if we could in any other way
arrive
at Christ, that is, at life everlasting, who would be willing to die? For while
explaining
our nature, that is, a sort of association of soul and body, and in these
two
parts a kind of intimacy of gluing and fastening together, the Apostle says,
that
"we have a House not made with hands, everlasting in the Heavens:"
2
Corinthians 5:1 that is, immortality prepared for us, wherewith we are to be
clothed
at the end, when we shall have risen from the dead; and he says, "Wherein
we
are not willing to be stripped, but to be clothed upon, that the mortal may be
swallowed
up of life." 2 Corinthians 5:4 If it might so be, we should so will, he
says,
to become immortal, as that now that same immortality might come, and
now
as we are it should change us, in order that this our mortal body by life
should
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522
be
swallowed up, and the body should not be laid aside through death, so as at the
end
again to have to be recovered. Although then from evil to good things we
pass,
nevertheless the very passage is somewhat bitter, and has the gall which the
Jews
gave to the Lord in the Passion, has something sharp to be endured, whereby
they
are shown that gave Him vinegar to drink. Matthew 27:34 ... For here both
sweet
are temporal pleasures, and bitter are temporal tribulations: but who would
not
drink the cup of tribulation temporal, fearing the fire of hell; and who would
not
contemn the sweetness of the world, longing for the sweetness of life eternal?
From
hence that we may be delivered let us cry: lest perchance amidst oppressions
we
consent to iniquity, and truly irreparably we be swallowed up.
4.
"Fixed I am in the clay of the deep, and there is no substance" (ver.
2). What
called
the clay? Is it those very persons that have persecuted? For out of clay man
has
been made. Genesis 2:7 But these men by falling from righteousness have
become
the clay of the deep, and whosoever shall not have consented to them
persecuting
and desiring to draw him to iniquity, out of his clay does make gold.
For
the clay of the same shall merit to be converted into a heavenly form, and to
be
made associate of those of whom says the Title of the Psalm, "in behalf of
them
that
shall be changed." But at the time when these were the clay of the deep, I
stuck
in them: that is, they held Me, prevailed against Me, killed Me.
"Fixed" then
"I
am in the clay of the deep, and there is no substance." What is this,
"there is no
substance"?
Can it be that clay itself is not a substance? What is then, "fixed I
am"?
Can it be that Christ has thus stuck? Or has He stuck, and was not, as has
been
said in the book of Job, "the earth delivered into the hands of the
ungodly
man"?
Job 9:24 Was He fixed in body, because it could be held, and suffered even
crucifixion?
For unless with nails He had been fixed, crucified He had not been.
Whence
then "there is no substance"? Is that clay not a substance? But we
shall
understand,
if it be possible, what is, "and there is no substance," if first we
shall
have
understood what is a substance. For there is substance spoken of even of
riches,
as we say, he has substance, and he has lost substance....
5.
God is a sort of substance: for that which is no substance, is nothing at all.
To
be
a substance then is to be something. Whence also in the Catholic Faith against
the
poisons of certain heretics thus we are built up, so that we say, Father and
Son
and
Holy Spirit are of one substance. What is, of one substance? For example, if
gold
is the Father, gold is also the Son, gold also the Holy Spirit. Whatever the
Father
is because He is God, the same is the Son, the same the Holy Spirit. But
when
He is the Father, this is not what He is. For Father He is called not in
reference
to Himself, but in reference to the Son: but in reference to Himself God
He
is called. Therefore in that He is God, by the same He is a substance. And
because
of the same substance the Son is, without doubt the Son also is God. But
yet
in that He is Father, because it is not the name of the substance, but is
referred
to
the Son; we do not say that the Son is Father in the same manner as we say the
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Son
is God. Thou askest what the Father is; we answer, God. Thou askest what is
the
Father and the Son: we answer, God. If questioned of the Father alone, answer
thou
God: if questioned of both, not Gods, but God, answer thou. We do not reply
as
in the case of men, when you inquire what is father Abraham, we answer a man;
the
substance of him serves for answer: you inquire what is his son Isaac, we
answer,
a man; of the same substance are Abraham and Isaac: you inquire what is
Abraham
and Isaac, we answer not man, but men. Not so in things divine. For so
great
in this case is the fellowship of substance, that of equality it allows,
plurality
allows
not. If then it shall have been said to you, when you tell me that the Son is
the
same as the Father, in fact the Son also is the Father; answer thou, according
to
the
substance I have told you that the Son is the same as the Father, not according
to
that term which is used in reference to something else. For in reference to
Himself
He is called God, in reference to the Father is called Son. And again, the
Father
in reference to Himself is called God, in reference to the Son He is called
Father.
The Father as He is called in reference to the Son, is not the Son: the Son
as
He is called in reference to the Father, is not the Father: what the Father is
called
in reference to Himself and the Son in reference to Himself, the same is
Father
and Son, that is, God. What is then, "there is no substance"? After
this
interpretation
of substance, how shall we be able to understand this passage of the
Psalm,
"Fixed I am in the clay of the deep, and there is no substance"? God
made
man,
Genesis 1:27 He made substance; and O that he had continued in that which
God
made Him! If man had continued in that which God made him, in him would
not
have been fixed He whom God begot. But moreover because through iniquity
man
fell from the substance wherein he was made Genesis 3:6 (for iniquity itself is
no
substance; for iniquity is not a nature which God formed, but a perverseness
which
man made); the Son of God came to the clay of the deep, and was fixed;
and
that was no substance wherein He was fixed, because in the iniquity of them
He
was fixed. "All things by Him were made, and without Him there was made
nothing."
John 1:3 All natures by Him were made, iniquity by Him was not made,
because
iniquity was not made. Those substances by Him were made, which praise
Him.
The whole creation praising God is commemorated by the three children in
the
furnace, and from things earthly to things heavenly, or from things heavenly to
things
earthly reaches the hymn of them praising God. Not that all these things
have
sense to praise; but because all things being well meditated upon, do beget
praise,
and the heart by considering creation is fulfilled to overflowing with a
hymn
to the Creator. All things do praise God, but only the things which God has
made.
Do ye observe in that hymn that covetousness praises God? There even the
serpent
praises God, covetousness praises not. For all creeping things are there
named
in the praise of God: there are named all creeping things; but there are not
there
named any vices. For vices out of ourselves and out of our own will we
have:
and vices are not a substance. In these was fixed the Lord, when He suffered
persecution:
in the vice of the Jews, not in the substance of men which by Him
was
made.
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6.
"I have come into the depth of the sea, and the tempest has made Me to
sink
down."
Thanks to the mercy of Him who came into the depth of the sea, and
vouchsafed
to be swallowed by the sea whale, but was vomited forth the third day.
Matthew
12:40 He came into the depth of the sea, in which depth we were thrust
down,
in which depth we had suffered shipwreck: He came thither Himself, and
the
tempest made Him to sink down: for there He suffered waves, those very men;
tempests,
the voices of men saying, "Crucify, Crucify." John 19:6 Though Pilate
said,
I find not any cause in this Man why He should be killed: there prevailed the
voices
of them, saying, "Crucify, Crucify." The tempest increased, until He
was
made
to sink down that had come into the depth of the sea. And the Lord suffered
in
the hands of the Jews that which He suffered not when upon the waters He was
walking:
Matthew 14:25 the which not only He had not suffered Himself, but had
not
allowed even Peter to suffer it.
7.
"I have laboured, crying, hoarse have become my jaws" (ver. 3). Where
was
this?
When was this? Let us question the Gospel. For the Passion of our Lord in
this
Psalm we perceive. And, indeed, that He suffered we know; that there came in
waters
even unto His Soul, because peoples prevailed even unto His death, we
read,
we believe; in the tempest that He was sunk down, because tumult prevailed
to
His killing, we acknowledge: but that He laboured in crying, and that His jaws
were
made hoarse, not only we read not, but even on the contrary we read, that He
answered
not to them a word, in order that there might be fulfilled that which in
another
Psalm has been said, "I have become as it were a man not hearing, and
having
not in his mouth reproofs." And that which in Isaiah has been prophesied,
"like
a sheep to be sacrificed He was led, and like a lamb before one shearing Him,
so
He opened not His mouth." Isaiah 53:7 If He became like a man not hearing,
and
having not in His mouth reproofs, how did He labour crying, and how were
His
jaws made hoarse? Is it that He was even then silent, because He was hoarse
with
having cried so much in vain? And this indeed we know to have been His
voice
on the Cross out of a certain Psalm: "O God, My God, why have You
forsaken
Me?" But how great was that voice, or of how long duration, that in it
His
jaws should have become hoarse? Long while He cried, "Woe unto you,
Scribes
and Pharisees:" long while He cried, "Woe unto the world because of
offences."
Matthew 18:7 And truly hoarse in a manner He cried, and therefore was
not
understood, when the Jews said, What is this that He says? "Hard is this
saying,
who is able to hear it?" We know not what He says. He said all these
words:
but hoarse were His jaws to them that understood not His words. "My eyes
have
failed from hoping in My God." Far be it that this should be taken of the
person
of the Head: far be it that His eyes should have failed from hoping in His
God:
in whom rather there was God reconciling the world to Himself,
2
Corinthians 5:19 and Who was the Word made flesh and dwelled in us, so that
not
only God was in Him, but also He was Himself God. Not so then: the eyes of
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Himself,
our Head, failed not from hoping in His God: but the eyes of Him have
failed
in His Body, that is, in His members. This voice is of the members, this
voice
is of the Body, not of the Head. How then do we find it in His Body and
members?...
8.
Thus "there have been multiplied above the hairs of My head they that hate
Me
gratis"
(ver. 4). How multiplied? So as that they might add to themselves even one
out
of the twelve. Matthew 26:14 "There have been multiplied above the hairs
of
My
head they that hate Me for nought." With the hairs of His head He has
compared
His enemies. With reason they were shorn when in the place of Calvary
He
was crucified. Matthew 27:33 Let the members accept this voice, let them
learn
to be hated gratis. For now, O Christian, if it must needs be that the world
hate
you, why do you not make it hate you gratis, in order that in the Body of your
Lord
and in this Psalm sent before concerning Him, you may acknowledge your
own
voice? How shall it come to pass that the world hate you gratis? If thou no
wise
hurtest any one, and art still hated: for this is gratis, without cause...
9.
"O God, You have known mine improvidence" (ver. 5). Again out of the
mouth
of
the Body. For what improvidence is there in Christ? Is He not Himself the
Virtue
of God, and the Wisdom of God? Doth He call this His improvidence,
whereof
the Apostle speaks, "the foolishness of God is wiser than men"?
1
Corinthians 1:25 Mine improvidence, that very thing which in Me they derided
that
seem to themselves to be wise, You have known why it was done. For what
was
so much like improvidence, as, when He had it in His power with one word to
lay
low the persecutors, to suffer Himself to be held, scourged, spit upon,
buffeted,
with
thorns to be crowned, to the tree to be nailed? It is like improvidence, it
seems
a foolish thing; but this foolish thing excels all wise men. Foolish indeed it
is:
but even when grain falls into the earth, if no one knows the custom of
husbandmen,
it seems foolish ... Improvidence it appears; but hope makes it not to
be
improvidence. He then spared not Himself: because even the Father spared Him
not,
but delivered Him up for us all. Romans 8:32 And of the Same, "Who loved
me,"
says the Apostle, "and delivered up Himself for me:" Galatians 2:20
for
except
a grain shall have fallen into the land so that it die, fruit, He says, it will
not
yield.
John 12:24 This is the improvidence. "And my transgressions from You are
not
concealed." It is plain, clear, open, that this must be perceived to be
out of the
mouth
of the Body. Transgressions none had Christ: He was the bearer of
transgressions,
but not the committer. "Are not concealed:" that is, I have
confessed
to You, all my transgressions, and before my mouth You have seen
them
in my thought, hast seen the wounds which You were to heal. But where?
Even
in the Body, in the members: in those believers out of whom there was now
cleaving
to Him that member, who was confessing his sins.
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10.
"Let them not blush in Me, that wait for You, O Lord, Lord of
virtues" (ver. 6).
Again,
the voice of the Head, "Let them not blush in Me:" let it not be said
to
them,
Where is He on whom you were relying? Let it not be said to them, Where
is
He that was saying to you, Believe ye in God, and in Me believe? John 14:1
"Let
them not blush in Me, that wait for You," O Lord, Lord of virtues. Let
them
not
be confounded concerning Me, that seek You, O God of Israel." This also
may
be
understood of the Body, but only if thou consider the Body of Him not one
man:
for in truth one man is not the Body of Him, but a small member, but the
Body
is made up of members. Therefore the full Body of Him is the whole
Church.
With reason then says the Church, "Let them not blush in Me, that wait
for
You, O Lord, Lord of virtues."...
11.
"For because of You I have sustained upbraiding, shamelessness has covered
my
face" (ver. 7). No great thing is that which is spoken of in "I have
sustained:"
but
that which is spoken of in "for Your sake I have sustained," is. For
if you
sustain
because you have sinned; for your own sake you sustain, not for the sake
of
God. For to you what glory is there, says Peter, if sinning you are punished,
and
you
bear it? But if you sustain because you have kept the commandment of God,
truly
for the sake of God you sustain, and your reward remains for everlasting,
because
for the sake of God you have sustained revilings. 1 Peter 2:20 For to this
end
He first sustained in order that we might learn to sustain..."
Shamelessness has
covered
my face." Shamelessness is what? Not to be confused. Lastly, it seems to
be
as it were a fault, when we say, the man is shameless. Great is the
shamelessness
of the man, that he does not blush. Therefore shamelessness is a
kind
of folly. A Christian ought to have this shamelessness, when he comes among
men
to whom Christ is an offence. If he shall have blushed because of Christ, he
will
be blotted out from the book of the living. Thou must needs therefore have
shamelessness
when You are reviled because of Christ; when they say,
Worshipper
of the Crucified, adorer of Him that died ill, venerator of Him that was
slain!
here if you shall blush you are a dead man. For see the sentence of Him that
deceives
no one. "He that shall have been ashamed of Me before men, I will also
be
ashamed of him before the Angels of God." Watch therefore yourself whether
there
be in you shamelessness; be thou boldfaced, when you hear a reproach
concerning
Christ; yea be boldfaced. Why do you fear for your forehead which
you
have armed with the sign of the Cross?...
12.
"An alien I have become to My brethren, and a stranger to the sons of My
mother"
(ver. 8). To the sons of the Synagogue He became a stranger ... Why so?
Why
did they not acknowledge? Why did they call Him an alien? Why did they
dare
to say, we know not whence He is? "Because the zeal of Thine House has
eaten
Me up:" that is, because I have persecuted in them their own iniquities,
because
I have not patiently borne those whom I have rebuked, because I have
sought
Your glory in Your House, because I have scourged them that in the
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Temple
dealt unseemly: John 2:15 in which place also there is quoted, "the zeal
of
Thine
House has eaten Me up." Hence an alien, hence a Stranger; hence, we know
not
whence He is. They would have acknowledged whence I am, if they had
acknowledged
that which You have commanded. For if I had found them keeping
Your
commandments, the zeal of Thine House would not have eaten Me up. "And
the
reproaches of men reproaching You have fallen upon Me." Of this testimony
Paul
the Apostle has also made use (there has been read but now the very lesson),
and
says, "Whatsoever things aforetime have been written, have been written
that
we
might be instructed." Romans 15:4... Why "You"? Is the Father
reproached,
and
not Christ Himself? Why have "the reproaches of men reproaching You fallen
upon
Me"? Because, "he that has known Me, has known the Father also:"
John
14:9 because no one has reviled Christ without reviling God: because no one
honours
the Father, except he that honours the Son also. John 5:23
13.
"And I have covered in fasting My Soul, and it became to Me for a
reviling"
(ver.
10). His fasting was, when there fell away all they that had believed in Him;
because
also it was His hunger, that men should believe in Him: because also it
was
His thirst, when He said to the woman, I thirst, "give Me to drink:"
John 4:7
yea
for her faith He was thirsting. And from the Cross when He was saying, "I
thirst,"
John 19:28 He was seeking the faith of them for whom He had said,
"Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do." Luke 23:34 But what did
those
men give to drink to Him thirsty? Vinegar. Vinegar is also called old. With
reason
of the old man they gave to drink, because they willed not to be new. Why
willed
they not to become new? Because to the title of this Psalm whereon is
written,
"For them that shall be changed," they belonged not. Therefore,
"I have
covered
in fasting My Soul." Lastly, He put from Him even the gall which they
offered:
He chose rather to fast than to accept bitterness. For they enter not into
His
Body that are embittered, whereof in another place a Psalm says, "They
that
are
embittered shall not be exalted in themselves." Therefore, "I have
covered in
fasting
My Soul: and it became to Me for a reviling." This very thing became to
Me
for a reviling, that I consented not to them, that is, from them I fasted. For
he
that
consents not to men seducing to evil, fasts from them; and through this fasting
earns
reviling, so that he is upbraided because he consents not to the evil thing.
14.
"And I have set sackcloth my garment" (ver. 11). Already before we
have said
something
of the sackcloth, from whence there is this, "But I, when they were
troubling
Me, was covering myself with sackcloth, and was humbling My Soul in
fasting.
I have set sackcloth for My garment:" that is, have set against them My
flesh,
on which to spend their rage, I have concealed My divinity.
"Sackcloth,"
because
mortal the flesh was: in order that by sin He might condemn sin in the
flesh.
Romans 8:3 "And I have set sackcloth my garment: and I have been made to
them
for a parable," that is, for a derision. It is called a parable, whenever
a
comparison
is made concerning some one, when he is evil spoken of. "So may this
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man
perish," for example, "as that man did," is a parable: that is,
a comparison and
likeness
in cursing. "I have been made to them," then, "for a
parable."
15.
"Against Me were reviling they that were sitting in the gate" (ver.
12). "In the
gate"
is nothing else but in public. "And against Me they were chanting, they
that
were
drinking wine." Do ye think, brethren, that this has befallen Christ
alone?
Daily
to Him in His members it happens: whenever perchance it is necessary for
the
servant of God to forbid excess of wine and luxuries in any village or town,
where
there has not been heard the Word of God, it is not enough that they sing,
nay
more even against him they begin to sing, by whom they are forbidden to sing.
Compare
ye now His fasting and their wine.
16.
"But I with My prayer with You, O Lord" (ver. 13). But I was with
You. But
how?
With You by praying. For when you are evil spoken of, and know not what
you
may do; when at you are hurled reproaches, and you find not any way of
rebuking
him by whom they are hurled; nothing remains for you but to pray. But
remember
even for that very man to pray. "But I with my prayer with You, O
Lord.
It is the time of Your good pleasure, O God." For behold the grain is
being
buried,
there shall spring up fruit. "It is the time of Your good pleasure, O
God."
Of
this time even the Prophets have spoken, whereof the Apostle makes mention:
"Behold
now the time acceptable, behold now the day of salvation."
2
Corinthians 6:2 "It is the time of Your good pleasure, O God. In the
multitude of
Your
mercy." This is the time of good pleasure, "in the multitude of Your
mercy."
For
if there were not a multitude of Your mercy, what should we do for the
multitude
of our iniquity? "In the multitude of Your mercy; Hearken to me in the
truth
of Your Salvation." Because He has said, "of Your mercy," he has
added
truth
also: for "mercy and truth" are all the ways of the Lord. Why mercy?
In
forgiving
sins. Why truth? In fulfilling the promises.
17.
"Save Thou Me from the mire, that I may not stick" (ver. 14). From
that
whereof
above he had spoken, "Fixed I am in the clay of the deep, and there is no
substance."
Furthermore, since you have duly received the exposition of that
expression,
in this place there is nothing further for you to hear particularly. From
hence
he says that he must be delivered, wherein before he said that he was fixed:
"Save
Thou Me from the mire, that I may not stick." And he explains this
himself:
"Let
Me be rescued from them that hate Me." They were themselves therefore the
clay
wherein he had stuck. But the following perchance suggests itself. A little
before
he had said, Fixed I am; now he says, Save Thou Me from the mire, that I
may
not stick:" whereas after the meaning of what was said before he ought to
have
said, Save Thou Me from the mire where I had stuck, by rescuing Me, not by
causing
that I stick not. Therefore He had stuck in flesh, but had not stuck in spirit.
He
says this, because of the infirmity of His members. Whenever perchance you
are
seized by one that urges you to iniquity, your body indeed is taken, in regard
to
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the
body you are fixed in the clay of the deep: but so long as you consent not, you
have
not stuck; but if you consent, you have stuck. Let then your prayer be in that
place,
in order that as your body is now held, so your soul may not be held, so you
may
be free in bonds.
18.
"Let not the tempest of waters drown Me" (ver. 15). But already he
had been
drowned.
"I have come into the depth of the sea," you have said, and "the
tempest
has
drowned Me," you have said. It has drowned after the flesh, let it not
drown
after
the Spirit. They to whom was said, If they shall have persecuted you in one
city,
flee ye into another; Matthew 10:23 had this said to them, that neither in
flesh
they
should stick, nor in spirit. For we must not desire to stick even in flesh; but
as
far
as we are able we ought to avoid it. But if we shall have stuck, and shall have
fallen
into the hands of sinners: then in body we have stuck, we are fixed in the
clay
of the deep, it remains to entreat for the soul that we stick not, that is,
that we
consent
not, that the tempest of water drown us not, so that we go into the deep of
the
clay. "Neither let the deep swallow Me, nor the pit close her mouth upon
Me."
What
is this, brethren? What has he prayed against? Great is the pit of the depth of
human
iniquity: every one, if he shall have fallen into it, will fall into the deep.
But
yet if a man being there placed confesses his sins to his God, the pit will not
shut
her mouth upon him: as is written in another Psalm, "From the depths I
have
cried
to You, O Lord; Lord, hearken unto my voice." But if there is done in him
that
which another passage of Scripture says, "When a sinner shall have come
into
the
depth of evil things, he will despise," Proverbs 18:3 upon him the pit has
shut
her
mouth. Why has she shut her mouth? Because she has shut his mouth. He has
lost
confession, really dead he is, and there is fulfilled in him that which
elsewhere
is
spoken of, "From a dead man, as from one that is not, there perishes
confession."
Sirach 17:28...
19.
"Hearken unto me, O Lord, for sweet is Your mercy" (ver. 16). He has
given
this
as a reason why He ought to be hearkened unto, because sweet is the mercy of
God....
To a man set in trouble the mercy of God must needs be sweet. Concerning
this
sweetness of the mercy of God see ye what in another place the Scripture
says:
"Like rain in drought, so beautiful is the mercy of God in trouble."
Sirach
35:20 That which there he says to be "beautiful," the same he says
here to
be
"sweet." Not even bread would be sweet, unless hunger had preceded.
Therefore
even when the Lord permits or causes us to be in any trouble, even then
He
is merciful: for He does not withdraw nourishment, but stirs up longing.
Accordingly
what says he now, "Hearken to me, O Lord, for sweet is Your
mercy"?
Now do not Thou defer hearkening, in so great trouble I am, that sweet to
me
is Your mercy. For to this end You deferred to succour, in order that to me
that
wherewith
You succoured might be sweet: but now no longer is there cause why
Thou
must defer; my trouble has arrived at the appointed measure of distress, let
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Your
mercy come to do the work of goodness. "After the multitude of Your pities
have
regard unto me:" not after the multitude of my sins.
20.
"Turn not away Your face from Your child" (ver. 17). And this is a
commending
of humility; "from Your child," that is, "from Your little
one:"
because
now I have been rid of pride through the discipline of tribulation, "turn
not
away Your face from Your child." This is that beautiful mercy of God,
whereof
he spoke above. For in the following verse he explains that whereof he
spoke:
"For I am troubled, speedily hearken Thou unto me." What is
"speedily"?
Now
there is no cause why Thou must defer it: I am troubled, my affliction has
gone
before; let Your mercy follow.
21.
"Give heed to my soul, and redeem her," does need no exposition: let
us see
therefore
what follows. "Because of mine enemies deliver me" (ver. 18). This
petition
is evidently wonderful, neither briefly to be touched upon, nor hastily to
be
skipped over; truly wonderful: "Because of mine enemies deliver me."
What is,
"Because
of mine enemies deliver me"? ... I see no reason for this petition,
"Because
of mine enemies deliver me:" unless we understand it of something else,
which
when I shall have spoken by the help of the Lord, He shall judge in you,
that
dwells in you. There is a kind of secret deliverance of holy men: this for
their
own
sakes is made. There is one public and evident: this is made because of their
enemies,
either for their punishment, or for their deliverance. For truly God
delivered
not the brothers in the book of Maccabees from the fires of the
persecutor.
2 Maccabbees vii ... But again the Three Children openly were
delivered
from the furnace of fire; Daniel 3:26 because their body also was
rescued,
their safety was public. The former were in secret crowned, the latter
openly
delivered: all however saved .... There is then a secret deliverance, there is
an
open deliverance. Secret deliverance does belong to the soul, open deliverance
to
the body as well. For in secret the soul is delivered, openly the body. Again,
if
so
it be, in this Psalm the voice of the Lord let us acknowledge: to the secret
deliverance
does belong that whereof he spoke above, "Give heed to my soul, and
redeem
her." There remains the body's deliverance: for on His arising and
ascending
into the Heavens, and sending the Holy Ghost from above, there were
converted
to His faith they that at His death did rage, and out of enemies they were
made
friends through His grace, not through their righteousness. Therefore he has
continued,
"Because of mine enemies deliver me. Give heed to my soul," but this
in
secret: but "because of mine enemies deliver" even my body. For mine
enemies
it
will profit nothing if soul alone You shall have delivered; that they have done
something,
that they have accomplished something, they will believe. "What profit
is
there in my blood, while I go down into corruption?" Therefore "give
heed to
my
soul, and redeem her," which Thou alone know: secondly also, "because
of
mine
enemies deliver me," that my flesh may not see corruption.
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531
22.
"You know my reproach, and my confusion, and my shame" (ver. 19).
What is
reproach?
What is confusion? What shame? Reproach is that which the enemy
casts
in the teeth. Confusion is that which gnaws the conscience. Shame is that
which
causes even a noble brow to blush, because of the upbraiding with a
pretended
crime. There is no crime; or even if there is a crime, it does not belong
to
him, against whom it is alleged: but yet the infirmity of the human mind
ofttimes
is made ashamed even when a pretended crime is alleged; not because it
is
alleged, but because it is believed. All these things are in the Body of the
Lord.
For
confusion in Him could not be, in whom guilt was not found. There was
alleged
as a crime against Christians, the very fact that they were Christians. That
indeed
was glory: the brave gladly received it, and so received it as that they
blushed
not at all for the Lord's name. For fearlessness had covered the face of
them,
having the effrontery of Paul, saying, "for I blush not because of the
Gospel:
for
the virtue of God it is for salvation to every one believing." Romans 1:16
O
Paul,
are not you a venerator of the Crucified? Little it is, he says, for me not to
blush
for it: nay, therein alone I glory, wherefore the enemy thinks me to blush.
"But
from me far be it to glory, save in the Cross of Jesus Christ, through whom to
me
the world is crucified, and I to the world." Galatians 6:14 At such a brow
as
this
then reproach alone could be hurled. For neither could there be confusion in a
conscience
already made whole, nor shame in a brow so free. But when it was
being
alleged against certain that they had slain Christ, deservedly they were
pricked
through with evil conscience, and to their health confounded and
converted,
so that they could say, "You have known my confusion." Thou
therefore,
O Lord, hast known not only my reproach but also my confusion, in
certain
shame also: who, though in me they believe, publicly blush to confess me
before
ungodly men, human tongue having more influence with them than promise
divine.
Behold ye therefore them: even such are commended to God, not that so
He
may leave them, but that by aiding them He may make them perfect. For a
certain
man believing and wavering has said, "I believe, O Lord, help my
unbelief."
Mark 9:24
23.
"In Your sight are all they that trouble Me" (ver. 20). Why I have
reproach,
You
know; why confusion, You know; why shame, You know: therefore deliver
Thou
me because of mine enemies, because You know these things of me, they
know
not; and thus, because they are themselves in Your sight, not knowing these
things,
they will not be able to be either confounded or corrected, unless openly
You
shall have delivered me because of mine enemies. "Reproach my heart has
expected,
and misery." What is, "has expected"? Hath foreseen these things
as
going
to be, has foretold them as going to be. For He came not for any other
purpose.
If He had been unwilling to die, neither would He have willed to be born:
for
the sake of resurrection He did both. For there were two particular things
known
to us among mankind, but one thing unknown. For we knew that men were
born
and died: that they rose again and lived for everlasting we knew not. That He
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532
might
show to us that which we knew not, He took upon Him the two things
which
we knew. To this end therefore He came. "Reproach my heart has expected
and
misery." But the misery of whom? For He expected misery, but rather of the
crucifiers,
rather of the persecutors, that in them should be misery, in Him mercy.
For
pitying the misery of them even while hanging on the Cross, He says,
"Father,
forgive
them, for they know not what they do." Luke 23:34 What then did it profit,
that
I expected? That is, what did it profit that I foretold? What did it profit
that I
said
to this end I had come? I came to fulfil that which I said, "I waited for
one
that
together should be made sorrowful, and there was not; and men comforting,
and
I found not:" that is, there was none. For that which in the former verse
He
said,
"I waited for one that together should be made sorrowful," the same
is in the
following
verse, "and men comforting." But that which in the former verse is,
"and
there
was not;" the same in the following verse is, "and I found not."
Therefore
another
sentence is not added, but the former is repeated. Which sentence if we
reconsider,
a question may arise. For were His disciples nowise made sorrowful
when
He was led to the Passion, when on the tree hanged, when dead? So much
were
they made sorrowful, that Mary Magdalene, who first saw Him, rejoicing
told
them as they were mourning what she had seen. The Gospel speaks of these
things:
it is not our presumption, not our suspicion: it is evident that the disciples
grieved,
it is evident that they mourned. Strange women were weeping, when to
the
Passion He was being led, unto whom turning He says, "Weep ye, but for
yourselves,
do not for Me." Luke 23:28... Peter certainly loved very much, and
without
hesitation threw himself to walk on the waves, Matthew 14:29 and at the
voice
of the Lord he was delivered: and though following Him when led to the
Passion,
with the boldness of love, yet being troubled, thrice he denied Him.
Whence,
except because an evil thing it seemed to him to die? For he was
shunning
that which he thought an evil thing. This then even in the Lord he was
lamenting,
which he was himself shunning. On this account even before he had
said,
"Far be it from You, O Lord, merciful be Thou to Yourself: there shall not
come
to pass this thing:" Matthew 16:22 at which time he merited to hear,
"Satan;"
after
that he had heard, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar -jona." Therefore in
that
sorrowfulness
which the Lord felt because of those for whom He prayed, "Father,
forgive
them, for they know not what they do:" Luke 23:34 no companion He
found.
"And I waited for one that together should be made sorrowful, and there
was
not." There was not at all. "And men comforting, and I found
not." Who are
men
comforting? Men profiting. For they comfort us, they are the comfort of all
preachers
of the Truth.
24.
"And they gave for My food gall, and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to
drink"
(ver. 22). This was done indeed to the letter. And the Gospel declares this
to
us. But we must understand, brethren, that the very fact that I found not
comforters,
that the very fact that I found not one that together should be made
sorrowful,
this was My gall, this to Me was bitter, this was vinegar: bitter because
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69
533
of
grief, vinegar because of their old man. For we read, that to Him indeed gall
was
offered, as the Gospel speaks; but for drink, not for food. Matthew 27:34
Nevertheless,
we must so take and consider that when fulfilled, which here had
been
before predicted, "They gave for My food gall:" and in that very
action, not
only
in this saying, we ought to seek for a mystery, at secret things to knock, to
enter
the rent veil of the Temple, to see there a Sacrament, both in what there has
been
said and in what there has been done. "They gave," He says, "for
My food
gall:"
not the thing itself which they gave was food, for it was drink: but "for
food
they
gave it." Because already the Lord had taken food, and into it there had
been
thrown
gall. But He had taken Himself pleasant food, when He ate the Passover
with
His disciples: therein He showed the Sacrament of His Body. Unto this food
so
pleasant, so sweet, of the Unity of Christ, of which the Apostle makes mention,
saying,
"For one bread, One Body, being many we are;" 1 Corinthians 10:17
unto
this
pleasant food who is there that adds gall, except the gainsayers of the Gospel,
like
those persecutors of Christ? For less the Jews sinned in crucifying Him
walking
on earth, than they that despise Him sitting in Heaven. That which then
the
Jews did, in giving above the food which He had already taken that bitter
draught
to drink, the same they do that by evil living bring scandal upon the
Church:
the same do embittered heretics, "But let them not be exalted in their own
selves."
They give gall after so delectable meat. But what does the Lord? He
admits
them not to His Body. In this mystery, when they presented gall, the Lord
Himself
tasted, and would not drink. Matthew 27:34 If we did not suffer them,
neither
at all should we taste: but because it is necessary to suffer them, we must
needs
taste. But because in the members of Christ such sort cannot be, they can be
tasted,
received into the Body they cannot be. "And they gave for My food gall,
and
in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink." I was thirsting, and vinegar
I
received:
that is, for the faith of them I longed, and I found oldness.
25.
"Let the table of them be made in their own presence for a trap"
(ver. 23). Like
the
trap which for Me they set, in giving Me such a draught, let such a trap be for
them.
Why then, "in their own presence"? "Let the table of them be
made for a
trap,"
would have been sufficient. They are such as know their iniquity, and in it
most
obstinately do persevere: in their own presence there is made a trap for them.
These
are they that, being too destructive, "go down into Hell alive."
Lastly, of
persecutors
what has been said? Except that the Lord were in us, perchance alive
they
had swallowed us up. What is alive? Consenting to them, and knowing that
we
ought not to consent to them. Therefore in their own presence there is made a
trap,
and they are not amended. Even though in their own presence there is a trap,
let
them not fall into it. Behold they know the trap, and thrust out foot, and bow
their
necks to be caught. How much better were it to turn away from the trap, to
acknowledge
sin, to condemn error, to be rid of bitterness, to pass over into the
Body
of Christ, to seek the Lord's glory! But so much prevails presumption of
mind,
that even in their own presence the trap is, and they fall into it. "Let
the eyes
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534
of
them be darkened, that they see not," follows here: that whereas without
benefit
they
have seen, it may chance to them even not to see. "Let the table of
them,"
therefore,
"be made in their own presence for a trap." It is not from one
wishing,
but
from one prophesying: not in order that it may come to pass, but because it
will
come to pass. This we have often remarked, and you ought to remember it:
lest
that which the prescient mind says in the Spirit of God, it should seem with
ill
will
to imprecate.... Let it then be done to them, "both for a requital and for
a
stumbling-block."
And is this by any means unjust? It is just. Why? For it is "for a
requital."
For not anything would happen to them, which was not owed. "For a
requital"
it is done, "and for a stumbling-block:" for they are themselves a
stumbling-block
to themselves. "Let the eyes of them be darkened, that they see
not,
and the back of them alway bow Thou down" (ver. 24). This is a
consequence.
For
they, whose eyes have been darkened that they see not, it follows, must have
their
back bowed down. How so? Because when they have ceased to take
knowledge
of things above, they must needs think of things below. He that well
hears,
"lift up the heart," a bowed back has not. For with stature erect he
looks for
the
hope laid up for him in Heaven; most especially if he send before him his
treasure,
whither his heart follows. Matthew 6:21 But, on the other hand, they
perceive
not the hope of future life; already being blinded, they think of things
below:
and this is to have a bowed back: from which disorder the Lord delivered
that
woman. For Satan has bound her eighteen years, and her that was bowed
down
He raised up: Luke 13:16 and because on the Sabbath He did it, the Jews
were
scandalized; suitably were they scandalized at her being raised up,
themselves
being bowed. "Pour forth upon them Your anger, and let the
indignation
of Your anger overtake them" (ver. 25), are plain words: but
nevertheless,
in "overtake them" we perceive them as it were fleeing. But whither
are
they to flee? Into Heaven? You are there. Into Hell? You are present. Their
wings
they will not take to fly straight: "Let the indignation of Your anger
overtake
them," let it not permit them to escape.
26.
"Let the habitation of them become forsaken" Acts 1:20 (ver. 26).
This is now
evident.
For in the same manner as He has mentioned not only a secret deliverance
of
His, saying, "Give heed to My soul, and redeem her;" but also one
open after
the
body, adding, "because of mine enemies deliver me:" so also to these
men He
foretells
how there are to be certain secret misfortunes, whereof a little before He
was
speaking .... For the blindness of the Jews was secret vengeance: but the open
was
what? "Let their habitation become forsaken, and in their tabernacles let
there
not
be any one to inhabit." There has come to pass this thing in the very city
Jerusalem,
wherein they thought themselves mighty in crying against the Son of
God,
"Crucify, Crucify;" John 19:6 and in prevailing because they were
able to kill
Him
that raised dead men. How mighty to themselves, how great, they seemed!
There
followed afterwards the vengeance of the Lord, stormed was the city, utterly
conquered
the Jews, slain were I know not how many thousands of men. No one
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of
the Jews is permitted to come thither now: where they were able to cry against
the
Lord, there by the Lord they are not permitted to dwell. They have lost the
place
of their fury: and O that even now they would know the place of their rest!
What
profit to them was Caiaphas in saying, "If we shall have let go this man
thus,
there
will come the Romans, and take away from us both place and kingdom"?
John
11:48 Behold, both they did not let Him go alive, and He lives: and there
have
come the Romans, and have taken from them both place and kingdom. But
now
we heard, when the Gospel was being read, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often
would
I have gathered together your sons, as a hen her chickens under her wings,
and
you would not? Behold there is left to you your house forsaken."
Matthew
23:37-38...
27.
Why so? "For Him whom You have smitten they have themselves persecuted,
and
upon the pain of my wounds they have added" (ver. 27). How then have they
sinned
if they have persecuted one by God smitten? What sin is ascribed to their
mind?
Malice. For the thing was done in Christ which was to be. To suffer indeed
He
had come, and He punished him through whom He suffered. For Judas the
traitor
was punished, and Christ was crucified: but us He redeemed by His blood,
and
He punished him in the matter of his price. For he threw down the price of
silver,
for which by him the Lord had been sold; Matthew 27:5 and he knew not
the
price wherewith he had himself by the Lord been redeemed. This thing was
done
in the case of Judas. But when we see that there is a sort of measure of
requital
in all men, and that not any one can be suffered to rage more than he has
received
power to do: how have they "added," or what is that smiting of the
Lord?
Without
doubt He is speaking in the person of him from whom He had received a
body,
from whom He had taken unto Him flesh, that is in the person of mankind,
of
Adam himself who was smitten with the first death because of his sin.
Genesis
3:6 Mortal therefore here are men born, as born with their punishment: to
this
punishment they add, whosoever do persecute men. For now here man would
not
have had to die, unless God had smitten him. Why then do you, O man, rage
more
than this? Is it little for a man that some time he is to die? Each one of us
therefore
bears his punishment: to this punishment they would add that persecute
us.
This punishment is the smiting of the Lord. For the Lord smote man with the
sentence:
"What day you shall have touched it," He says, "with death you
shall
die."
Genesis 2:17 Out of this death He had taken upon Him flesh, and our old
man
has been crucified together with Him. Romans 6:6 By the voice of that man
He
has said these words, "Him whom You have smitten they have themselves
persecuted,
and upon the pain of My wounds they have added." Upon what pain of
wounds?
Upon the pain of sins they have themselves added. For sins He has called
His
wounds. But do not look to the Head, consider the Body; according to the
voice
whereof has been said by the Same in that Psalm, wherein He showed there
was
His voice, because in the first verse thereof He cried from the Cross,
"God,
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536
My
God, look upon Me, why have You forsaken Me?" There in continuation He
says,
"Afar from My safety are the words of Mine offences."...
28.
"Lay Thou iniquity upon their iniquity" (ver. 28). What is this? Who
would not
be
afraid? To God is said, "Lay Thou iniquity upon their iniquity."
Whence shall
God
lay iniquity? For has He iniquity to lay? For we know that to be true which
has
been spoken through Paul the Apostle, "What then shall we say? Is there
anywise
iniquity with God? Far be it." Romans 9:14 Whence then, "Lay Thou
iniquity
upon iniquity"? How must we understand this? May the Lord be with us,
that
we may speak, and because of your weariness may be able to speak briefly.
Their
iniquity was that they killed a just Man: there was added another, that they
crucified
the Son of God. Their raging was as though against a man: but "if they
had
known, the Lord of Glory they had never crucified." 1 Corinthians 2:8 They
with
their own iniquity willed to kill as it were a man: there was laid iniquity
upon
their
own iniquity, so that the Son of God they should crucify. Who laid this
iniquity
upon them? He that said, "Perchance they will reverence My Son,"
Matthew
21:37 Him I will send. For they were wont to kill servants sent to them,
to
demand rent and profit. He sent the Son Himself, in order that Him also they
might
kill. He laid iniquity upon their own iniquity. And these things did God do
in
wrath, or rather in just requital? For, "May it be done to them," He
says, "for a
requital
and for a stumbling-block." They had deserved to be so blinded as not to
know
the Son of God. And this God did, laying iniquity upon their iniquity; not in
wounding,
but in not making whole. For in like manner as you increase a fever,
increasest
a disorder, not by adding disorder, but by not relieving: so because they
were
of such sort as that they merited not to be healed, in their very naughtiness
in
a
manner they advanced; as it is said, "But evil men and wicked doers
advance for
the
worse:" 2 Timothy 3:13 and iniquity is laid upon their own iniquity.
"And let
them
not enter in Your righteousness." This is a plain thing.
29.
"Let them be blotted out from the book of the living" (ver. 29). For
had they
been
some time written therein? Brethren, we must not so take it, as that God
writes
any one in the book of life, and blots him out. If a man said, "What I
have
written
I have written," John 19:22 concerning the title where it had been
written,
"King
of the Jews:" does God write any one, and blot him out? He foreknows, He
has
predestined all before the foundation of the world that are to reign with His
Son
in life everlasting. Romans 8:29 These He has written down, these same the
Book
of Life does contain. Lastly, in the Apocalypse, what says the Spirit of God,
when
the same Scripture was speaking of the oppressions that should be from
Antichrist?
"There shall give consent to him all they that have not been written in
the
book of life." Revelation 13:8 So then without doubt they will not consent
that
have
been written. How then are these men blotted out from that book wherein
they
were never written? This has been said according to their own hope, because
they
thought of themselves that they were written. What is, "let them be
blotted
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Psalm 69
537
out
from the book of life"? Even to themselves let it be evident, that they
were not
there.
By this method of speaking has been said in another Psalm, "There shall
fall
from
Your side a thousand, and tens of thousands from on Your right hand:" that
is,
many men shall be offended, even out of that number who thought that they
would
sit with You, even out of that number who thought that they would stand at
Your
right hand, being severed from the left-hand goats: Matthew 25:33 not that
when
any one has there stood, he shall afterwards fall, or when any one with Him
has
sat, he shall be cast away; but that many men were to fall into scandal, who
already
thought themselves to be there, that is, many that thought that they would
sit
with You, many that hoped that they would stand at the right hand, will
themselves
fall. So then here also they that hoped as though by the merit of their
own
righteousness themselves to have been written in the book of God, they to
whom
is said, "Search the Scriptures, wherein ye think yourselves to have life
eternal:"
John 5:39 when their condemnation shall have been brought even to their
own
knowledge, shall be effaced from the book of the living, they shall know
themselves
not to be there. For the verse which follows, explains what has been
said:
"And with just men let them not be written." I have said then
"Let them be
effaced,"
according to their hope: but according to Your justice I say what?
30.
"Poor and sorrowful I am" (ver. 30). Why this? Is it that we may
acknowledge
that
through bitterness of soul this poor One does speak evil? For He has spoken
of
many things to happen to them. And as if we were saying to Him, "Why such
things?"—"Nay,
not so much!" He answers, "poor and sorrowful I am." They have
brought
Me to want, unto this sorrow they have set Me down, therefore I say these
words.
It is not, however, the indignation of one cursing, but the prediction of one
prophesying.
For He was intending to recommend to us certain things which
hereafter
He says of His poverty and His sorrow, in order that we may learn to be
poor
and sorrowful. For, "Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of
Heaven."
Matthew 5:3 And, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be
comforted."
This therefore He does Himself before now show to us: and so, "poor
and
sorrowful I am." The whole Body of Him says this. The Body of Christ in
this
earth
is poor and sorrowful. But let Christians be rich. Truly if Christians they
are,
they
are poor; in comparison with the riches celestial for which they hope, all
their
gold
they count for sand. "And the health of Your countenance, O God, has taken
Me
up." Is this poor One anywise forsaken? When do you deign to bring near to
your
table a poor man in rags? But again, this poor One the health of the
countenance
of God has taken up: in His countenance He has hidden His need. For
of
Him has been said, "You shall hide them in the hiding place of Your
countenance."
But in that countenance what riches there are would ye know?
Riches
here give you this advantage, that you may dine on what you will,
whenever
you will: but those riches, that you may never hunger. "The health of
Your
countenance, O God, has taken Me up." For what purpose? In order that no
longer
I may be poor, no longer sorrowful? "I will praise the name of the Lord
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Psalm 69
538
with
a song, I will magnify Him in praise" (ver. 31). Now it has been said,
this
poor
One praises the name of the Lord with a song, he magnifies Him in praise.
When
would He have ventured to sing, unless He had been refreshed from
hunger?
"I will magnify Him with praise." O vast riches! What jewels of God's
praise
has he brought out of his inward treasures! These are my riches! "The Lord
has
given, the Lord has taken away." Job 1:21 Then miserable he has remained?
Far
be it. See the riches: "As it has pleased the Lord, so has been done, be
the
name
of the Lord blessed."
31.
"And it shall please God:" that I shall praise Him, shall please:
"above a new
calf,
bearing horns and hoofs." More grateful to Him shall be the sacrifice of
praise
than the sacrifice of a calf. "The sacrifice of praise shall glorify
me."
"Immolate
to God the sacrifice of praise." So then His praise going forth from my
mouth
shall please God more than a great victim led up to His altar.... Therefore
above
this calf my praising shall please You, such as hereafter will be, after
poverty
and sorrow, in the eternal society of Angels, where neither adversary there
shall
be in battle to be tossed, nor sluggard from earth to be stirred up. "Let
the
needy
see and rejoice" (ver. 32). Let them believe, and in hope be glad. Let them
be
more needy, in order that they may deserve to be filled: lest while they belch
out
pride's satiety, there be denied them the bread whereon they may healthily
live.
"Seek
the Lord," ye needy, hunger ye and thirst; Matthew 5:6 for He is Himself
the
living bread that came down from Heaven. John 6:33, 51 "Seek the Lord, and
your
soul shall live." You seek bread, that your flesh may live: the Lord seek
ye,
that
your soul may live. Isaiah 55:3
32.
"For the Lord has hearkened to the poor" (ver. 33). He has hearkened
to the
poor,
and He would not have hearkened to the poor, unless they were poor. Will
you
be hearkened to? Poor be thou: let sorrow cry out from you, and not
fastidiousness.
"And His fettered ones He has not despised." Being offended at His
servants,
He has put them in fetters: but them crying from the fetters He has not
despised.
What are these fetters? Mortality, the corruptibleness of the flesh are the
fetters
wherewith we have been bound. And would ye know the weight of these
fetters?
Of them is said, "The body which is corrupted weighs down the soul."
Wisdom
9:15 Whenever men in the world will to be rich, for these fetters they are
seeking
rags. But let the rags of the fetters suffice: seek so much as is necessary
for
keeping off want, but when you seek superfluities, you long to load your
fetters.
In such a prison then let the fetters abide even alone. "Sufficient for
the day
be
the evil thereof." Matthew 6:34 "Let there praise Him heavens and
earth, sea
and
all things creeping in them" (ver. 34). The true riches of this poor man
are
these,
to consider the creation, and to praise the Creator. "Let there praise Him
heavens
and earth, sea and all things creeping therein." And does this creation
alone
praise God, when by considering of it God is praised?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 69
539
33.
Hear thou another thing also: "for God shall save Sion" (ver. 35). He
restores
His
Church, the faithful Gentiles He does incorporate with His Only-Begotten; He
beguiles
not them that believe in Him of the reward of His promise. "For God
shall
save Sion; and there shall be built the cities of Juda." These same are
the
Churches.
Let no one say, when shall it come to pass that there be built the cities
of
Juda? O that you would acknowledge the Edifice, and be a living stone, that
you
might enter into Her. Even now the cities of Juda are being built. For Juda is
interpreted
confession. By confession of humility there are being built the cities of
Juda:
in order that there may remain without the proud, who blush to confess.
"For
God
shall save Sion." What Sion? Hear in the following words: "and the
seed of
His
servants shall possess Her, and they that love His name shall dwell
therein"
(ver.
36)....
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Psalm 70
540
Exposition
on Psalm 70
1.
Thanks to the "Corn of wheat," because He willed to die and to be
multiplied:
thanks
to the only Son of God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who disdained
not
to undergo our death, in order that He might make us worthy of His life.
Behold
Him that was single until He went hence; as He said in another Psalm,
"Single
I am until I go hence;" for He was a single corn of wheat in such sort as
that
He had in Himself a great fruitfulness of increase; in how many corns
imitating
the Passion of Him we exult, when we celebrate the nativities of the
Martyrs!
Many therefore members of Him, under one Head our Saviour Himself,
being
bound together in the bond of love and peace (as you judge it fit that you
know,
for you have often heard), are one man: and of the same, as of one man, the
voice
is ofttimes heard, in the Psalms, and thus one cries as though it were all,
because
all in one are one....
2.
There is then in this Psalm the voice of men troubled, and so indeed of Martyrs
amid
sufferings in peril, but relying on their own Head. Let us hear them, and
speak
with them out of sympathy of heart, though it be not with similarity of
suffering.
For they are already crowned, we are still in peril: not that such sort of
persecutions
do vex us as have vexed them, but worse perchance in the midsts of
all
kinds of so great scandals. For our own times do more abound in that woe,
which
the Lord cried: "Woe to the world because of scandals." Matthew 18:7
And,
"Because
iniquity has abounded, the love of man shall wax cold." Matthew 24:12
For
not even that holy Lot at Sodom suffered corporal persecution from any one,
or
had it been told him that he should not dwell there: Genesis 19:19 the
persecution
of him were the evil doings of the Sodomites. Now then that Christ
sits
in Heaven, now that He is glorified, now that necks of kings are made subject
to
His yoke, and their brows placed beneath His sign, now that not any one
remains
to dare openly to trample upon Christians, still, however, we groan amid
instruments
and singers, still those enemies of the Martyrs, because with words
and
steel they have no power, with their own wantonness do persecute them. And
O
that we were sorrowing for Heathens alone: it would be some sort of comfort, to
wait
for those that not yet have been signed with the Cross of Christ; when they
should
be signed, and when, by His authority attached, they should cease to be
mad.
We see besides men wearing on their brow the sign of Him, at the same time
on
that same brow wearing the shamelessness of wantonness, and on the days and
celebrations
of the Martyrs not exulting but insulting. And amid these things we
groan,
and this is our persecution, if there is in us the love which says, "Who
is
weak,
and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I burn not?"
2
Corinthians 11:29 Not any servant of God, then, is without persecution: and
that
is
a true saying which the Apostle says, "But even all men that will to live
godly in
Christ,
shall suffer persecution." 2 Timothy 3:12...
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Psalm 70
541
3.
"O God, to my aid make speed" (ver. 1). For need we have for an
everlasting aid
in
this world. But when have we not? Now however being in tribulation, let us
especially
say, "O God, to my aid make speed." "Let them be confounded and
fear
that
seek my soul." Christ is speaking: whether Head speak or whether Body
speak;
He is speaking that has said, "Why do you persecute Me?" Acts 9:4 He
is
speaking
that has said, "Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of Mine,
to
Me you have done it." Matthew 25:40 The voice then of this Man is known to
be
of the whole man, of Head and of Body: that need not often be mentioned,
because
it is known. "Be they confounded," he says, "and fear that seek
my soul."
In
another Psalm He says, "I was looking unto the right and saw, and there
was not
one
that would know Me: flight has perished from Me, and there is not one to seek
out
My soul." There of persecutors He says, that there was not one to seek out
His
soul:
but here, "Let them be confounded and fear that seek My soul."...And
where
is
that which you have heard from your Lord, "Love ye your enemies, do good
to
them
that hate you, and pray for them that persecute you"? Matthew 5:44 Behold
you
suffer persecution, and cursest them from whom you suffer, how do you
imitate
the Passions of your Lord that have gone before, hanging on the cross and
saying,
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Luke 23:34 To
persons
saying such things the Martyr replies and says, you have set before me the
Lord,
saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do:"
understand
thou
my voice also, in order that it may be thine too: for what have I said
concerning
mine enemies? "Let them be confounded and fear." Already such
vengeance
has been taken on the enemies of the Martyrs. That Saul that persecuted
Stephen,
he was confounded and feared. He was breathing out slaughters, he was
seeking
some to drag and slay: a voice having been heard from above, "Saul, Saul,
why
do you persecute Me," Acts 9:4 he was confounded and laid low, and he was
raised
up to obedience, that had been inflamed unto persecuting. This then the
Martyrs
desire for their enemies, "Let them be confounded and fear." For so
long
as
they are not confounded and fear, they must needs defend their actions:
glorious
they
think themselves, because they hold, because they bind, because they
scourge,
because they kill, because they dance, because they insult, and because of
all
these doings they be some time confounded and fear. For if they be
confounded,
they will also be converted: because converted they cannot be, unless
they
shall have been confounded and shall have feared. Let us then wish these
things
to our enemies, let us wish them without fear. Behold I have said, and let
me
have said it with you, may all that still dance and sing and insult the Martyrs
"be
confounded and fear:" at last within these walls confounded may they beat
their
breasts!
4.
"Let them be turned away backward and blush that think evil things to
me" (ver.
2).
At first there was the assault of them persecuting, now there has remained the
malice
of them thinking. In fact, there are in the Church distinct seasons of
persecutions
following one another. There was made an assault on the Church
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 70
542
when
kings were persecuting: and because kings had been foretold as to persecute
and
as to believe, when one had been fulfilled the other was to follow. There came
to
pass also that which was consequent; kings believed, peace was given to the
Church,
the Church began to be set in the highest place of dignity, even on this
earth,
even in this life: but there is not wanting the roar of persecutors, they have
turned
their assaults into thoughts. In these thoughts, as in a bottomless pit, the
devil
has been bound, he roars and breaks not forth. For it has been said
concerning
these times of the Church, "The sinner shall see, and shall be
angry."
And
shall do what? That which he did at first? Drag, bind, smite? He does not this.
What
then? "With his teeth he shall gnash, and shall pine away." And with
these
men
the Martyr is, as it were, angry, and yet for these men the Martyr prays. For
in
like
manner as he has wished well to those men concerning whom he has said,
"Let
them be confounded and fear that seek my soul:" so also now, "Let
them be
turned
backward, and blush, that think evil things to me." Wherefore? In order
that
they
may not go before, but follow. For he that censures the Christian religion, and
on
his own system wills to live, wills as it were to go before Christ, as though
He
indeed
had erred and had been weak and infirm, because He either willed to suffer
or
could suffer in the hands of the Jews; but that he is a clever man for guarding
against
all these things; in shunning death, even in basely lying to escape death,
and
slaying his soul that he may live in body, he thinks himself a man of singular
and
prudent measures. He goes before in censuring Christ, in a manner he
outstrips
Christ: let him believe in Christ, and follow Christ. For that which had
been
desired but now for persecutors thinking evil things, the same the Lord
Himself
said to Peter. Now in a certain place Peter willed to go before the
Lord
.... A little before, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar -jona, for flesh and
blood has
not
revealed it to you, but My Father which is in Heaven:" now in a moment,
"Go
back
behind Me, Satan." Matthew 16:23 What is, "Go back behind Me"?
Follow
Me.
You will to go before Me, you will to give Me counsel, it is better that thou
follow
My counsel: this is, "go back," go back behind Me. He is silencing
one
outstripping,
in order that he may go backward; and He is calling him Satan,
because
he wills to go before the Lord. A little before, "blessed;" now,
"Satan."
Whence
a little before, "blessed"? Because, "to you," He says,
"flesh and blood
has
not revealed it, but My Father which is in Heaven." Whence now,
"Satan"?
Because
"you savour not," He says, "the things which are of God, but the
things
which
are of men." Let us then that would duly celebrate the nativities of the
Martyrs,
long for the imitation of the Martyrs; let us not wish to go before the
Martyrs,
and think ourselves to be of better understanding than they, because we
shun
sufferings in behalf of righteousness and faith which they shunned not.
Therefore
be they that think evil things, and in wantonness feed their hearts,
"turned
backward and blush." Let them hear from the Apostle afterwards saying,
"But
what fruit had ye some time in those things at which you now blush?"
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Psalm 70 543
5.
What follows? "Let them be turned away forthwith blushing, that say to me,
Well,
well" (ver. 3). Two are the kinds of persecutors, revilers and flatterers.
The
tongue
of the flatterer does more persecute than the hand of the slayer: for this also
the
Scripture has called a furnace. Truly when the Scripture was speaking of
persecution,
it said, "Like gold in a furnace it has proved them" (speaking of
Martyrs
being slain), "and as the holocaust's victim it has received them."
Wisdom
3:6 Hear how even the tongue of flatterers is of such sort: "The
proving,"
he
says, "of silver and of gold is fire; but a man is proved by the tongue of
men
praising
him." Proverbs 27:21 That is fire, this also is fire: out of both you
ought
to
go forth safe. The censurer has broken you, you have been broken in the furnace
like
an earthen vessel. The Word has moulded you, and there has come the trial of
tribulation:
that which has been formed, must needs be seasoned; if it has been
well
moulded, there has come the fire to strengthen. Whence He said in the
Passion,
"Dried up like a potsherd has been My virtue." For Passion and the
furnace
of tribulation had made Him stronger....
6.
And what comes to pass when they are all turned back and blush, whether it be
they
that seek my soul, or they that think evil things to me, or they that with
perverse
and feigned benevolence with tongue would soften the stroke which they
inflict,
when they shall have been themselves turned away and confounded; there
shall
come to pass what? "Let them exult and be joyous in You:" not in me,
not in
this
man or in that man; but in whom they have been made light that were
darkness.
"Let them exult and be joyous in You, all that seek You" (ver. 4). One
thing
it is to seek God, another thing to seek man. "Let them be joyous that
seek
You."
They shall not be joyous then that seek themselves, whom You have first
sought
before they sought You. Not yet did that sheep seek the Shepherd, it had
strayed
from the flock, and He went down to it; Luke 15:4 He sought it, and
carried
it back upon His shoulders. Will He despise you, O sheep, seeking Him,
who
has first sought you despising Him and not seeking Him? Now then begin
thou
to seek Him that first has sought you, and has carried you back on His
shoulders.
Do thou that which He speaks of, "They that are My sheep hear My
voice,
and follow Me." John 10:27 If then you seek Him that first has sought you,
and
hast become a sheep of His, and you hear the voice of your Shepherd, and
followest
Him; see what He shows to you of Himself, what of His Body, in order
that
as to Himself you may not err, as to the Church you may not err, that no one
may
say to you, that is Christ which is not Christ, or that is the Church which is
not
the Church. For many men have said that Christ had no flesh, and that Christ
has
not risen in His Body: do not thou follow the voices of them. Hear thou the
voice
of Himself the Shepherd, that was clothed with flesh, in order that He might
seek
lost flesh. He has risen again, and He says, "Handle ye and see; for a
spirit
has
not flesh and bones as you see Me have." Luke 24:39 He shows Himself to
you,
the voice of Him follow thou. He shows also the Church, that no one may
deceive
you by the name of Church. "It behoved," He says, "Christ to
suffer, and
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Psalm 70
544
to
rise again from the dead the third day, and that there should be preached
repentance
and remission of sins through all nations, beginning with Jerusalem."
Luke
24:46-47 You have the voice of Your Shepherd, do not thou follow the voice
of
strangers: John 10:5 and a thief you shall not fear, if you shall have followed
the
voice of the Shepherd. But how shall you follow? If you shall neither have said
to
any man, as if it were by his own merit, Well, well: nor shall have heard the
same
with joy, so that your head be not made fat with the oil of a sinner. "Let
all
them
exult and be joyous in You, that seek You; and let them say"—let them say
what,
that exult? "Be the Lord alway magnified!" Let all them say this,
that exult
and
seek You. What? "Be the Lord alway magnified; yea, they that love Your
salvation."
Not only, "Be the Lord magnified;" but also, "alway."...A
sinner you
are,
be He magnified in order that He may call; you confess, be He magnified in
order
that He may forgive: now you live justly, be He magnified in order that He
may
direct: you persevere even unto the end, be He magnified in order that He
may
glorify. "Be the Lord," then, "alway magnified; yea, they love
His saving
health."
For from Him they have salvation, not from themselves. The saving health
of
the Lord our God, is the Saviour our Lord Jesus Christ: whosoever loves the
Saviour,
confesses himself to have been made whole; whosoever confesses
himself
to have been made whole, confesses himself to have been sick. Not their
own
saving health, as if they could save themselves of themselves: not as it were
the
saving health of a man, as though by him they could be saved. "Do
not," he
says,
"confide in princes, and in the sons of men, in whom there is no
safety."
Why
so? "Of the Lord is safety, and upon Your people is Your blessing."
7.
Behold, "Be the Lord magnified:" will you never, will you nowhere? In
Him
was
something, in me nothing: but if in Him is whatsoever I am, be He, not I. But
thou
then what? "But I am needy and poor" (ver. 5). He is rich, He
abounding, He
needing
nothing. Behold my light, behold whence I am illumined; for I cry, "You
shall
illumine my candle, O Lord." What then of you? "But I am needy and
poor."
I
am like an orphan, my soul is like a widow destitute and desolate: help I seek,
alway
mine infirmity I confess. There have been forgiven me my sins, now I have
begun
to follow the commandments of God: still, however, I am needy and poor.
Why
still needy and poor? Because "I see another law in my members fighting
against
the law of my mind." Romans 7:23 Why needy and poor? Because,
"blessed
are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness." Matthew 5:6 Still I
hunger,
still I thirst: my fulness has been put off, not taken away. "O God, aid
Thou
me." Most suitably also Lazarus is said to be interpreted, "one
aided:" that
needy
and poor man, that was transported into the bosom of Abraham; Luke 16:23
and
bears the type of the Church, which ought alway to confess that she has need
of
aid. This is true, this is godly. "I have said to the Lord, My God You
are." Why?
"For
my goods Thou needest not." He needs not us, we need Him: therefore He is
truly
Lord. For you are not the very true Lord of your servant: both are men, both
needing
God. But if you suppose your servant to need you, in order that you may
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 70 545
give
him bread; thou also needest your servant, in order that he may aid your
labours.
Each one of you does need the other. Therefore neither of you is truly
lord,
and neither of you truly servant. Hear thou the true Lord, of whom you are
the
true servant: "I have said to the Lord, My God You are." Why are You
Lord?
"Because
my goods Thou needest not"? But what of you? "But I am needy and
poor."
Behold the needy and poor: may God feed, may God alleviate, may God
aid:
"O God," he says, "aid Thou me."
8.
"My helper and deliverer are You; O Lord, delay not." You are the
helper and
deliverer:
I need succour, help Thou; entangled I am, deliver Thou. For no one
will
deliver from entanglings except You. There stand round about us the nooses
of
various cares, on this side and on that we are torn as it were with thorns and
brambles,
we walk a narrow way, perchance we have stuck fast in the brambles:
let
us say to God, "You are my deliverer." He that showed us the narrow
way,
Matthew
7:14 has taught us to follow it....
9.
What is, "delay not"? Because many men say, it is a long time till
Christ comes.
What
then: because we say, "delay not," will He come before He has
determined
to
come? What means this prayer, "delay not"? May not Your coming seem
to me
to
be too long delayed. For to you it seems a long time, to God it seems not long,
to
whom a thousand years are one day, or the three hours of a watch. But if you
shall
not have had endurance, late for you it will be: and when to you it shall be
late,
you will be diverted from Him, and will be like unto those that were wearied
in
the desert, and hastened to ask of God the pleasant things which He was
reserving
for them in the Land; and when there were not given on their journey the
pleasant
things, whereby perchance they would have been corrupted, they
murmured
against God, and went back in heart unto Egypt: to that place whence in
body
they had been severed, in heart they went back. Do not thou, then, so, do not
so:
fear the word of the Lord, saying, "Remember Lot's wife." Luke 17:32
She too
being
on the way, but now delivered from the Sodomites, looked back; in the place
where
she looked back, there she remained: she became a statue of salt, in order to
season
you. For to you she has been given for an example, in order that you may
have
sense, may not stop infatuated on the way. Observe her stopping and pass on:
observe
her looking back, and do thou be reaching forth unto the things before, as
Paul
was. Philippians 3:13 What is it, not to look back. "Of the things behind
forgetful,"
he says. Therefore you follow, being called to the heavenly reward,
whereof
hereafter you will glory. For the same Apostle says, "There remains for
me
a crown of righteousness, which in that day the Lord, the just Judge, shall
render
to me." 2 Timothy 4:8
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Exposition
on Psalm 71
1.
In all the holy Scriptures the grace of God that delivers us commends itself to
us,
in order that it may have us commended. This is sung of in this Psalm, whereof
we
have undertaken to speak .... This grace the Apostle commends: by this he got
to
have the Jews for enemies, boasting of the letter of the law and of their own
justice.
This then commending in the lesson which has been read, he says thus:
"For
I am the least of the Apostles, that am not worthy to be called an Apostle,
because
I persecuted the Church of God." 1 Corinthians 15:9 "But therefore
mercy,"
he says, "I obtained, because ignorant I did it in unbelief." 1
Timothy 1:13
Then
a little afterwards, "Faithful the saying is, and worthy of all
acceptation, that
Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am first."
1
Timothy 1:15 Were there before him not any sinners? What then, was he the first
then?
Yea, going before all men not in time, but in evil disposition. "But
therefore,"
he says, "mercy I obtained," in order that in me Christ Jesus might
show
all long-suffering, for the imitation of those that shall believe in Him unto
life
eternal: that is, every sinner and unjust man, already despairing of himself,
already
having the mind of a gladiator, so as to do whatsoever he wills, because he
must
needs be condemned, may yet observe the Apostle Paul, to whom so great
cruelty
and so very evil a disposition was forgiven by God; and by not despairing
of
himself may he be turned unto God. This grace God does commend to us in this
Psalm
also....
2.
The title then of this Psalm is, as usual, a title intimating on the threshold
what
is
being done in the house: "To David himself for the sons of Jonadab, and
for
those
that were first led captive." Jonadab (he is commended to us in the
prophecy
of
Jeremiah) was a certain man, who had enjoined his sons not to drink wine, and
not
to dwell in houses, but in tents. But the commandment of the father the sons
kept
and observed, and by this earned a blessing from the Lord. Now the Lord had
not
commanded this, but their own father. But they so received it as though it were
a
commandment from the Lord their God; for even though the Lord had not
commanded
that they should drink no wine and should dwell in tents; yet the Lord
had
commanded that sons should obey their father. In this case alone a son ought
not
to obey his father, if his father should have commanded anything contrary to
the
Lord his God. For indeed the father ought not to be angry, when God is
preferred
before him. But when a father does command that which is not contrary
to
God; he must be heard as God is: because to obey one's father God has
enjoined.
God then blessed the sons of Jonadab because of their obedience, and
thrust
them in the teeth of His disobedient people, reproaching them, because
while
the sons of Jonadab were obedient to their father, they obeyed not their God.
But
while Jeremiah was treating of these topics, he had this object in regard to
the
people
of Israel, that they should prepare themselves to be led for captivity into
Babylon,
and should not hope for any other thing, but that they were to be
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547
captives.
The title then of this Psalm seems from thence to have taken its hue, so
that
when he had said, "Of the sons of Jonadab;" he added, "and of
them that were
first
led captive:" not that the sons of Jonadab were led captive, but because
to
them
that were to be led captive there were opposed the sons of Jonadab, because
they
were obedient to their father: in order that they might understand that they
had
been made captive, because they were not obedient to God. It is added also
that
Jonadab is interpreted, "the Lord's spontaneous one." What is this,
the Lord's
spontaneous
one? Serving God freely with the will. What is, the Lord's
spontaneous
one? "In me are, O God, Your vows, which I will render of praise to
You."
What is, the Lord's spontaneous one? "Voluntarily I will sacrifice to
You."
For
if the Apostolic teaching admonishes a slave to serve a human master, not as
though
of necessity, but of good will, and by freely serving make himself in heart
free;
how much more must God be served with whole and full and free will, who
sees
your very will? ... The first man made us captive, the second man has
delivered
us from captivity. "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be
made
alive." But in Adam they die through the flesh's nativity, in Christ they
are
delivered
through the heart's faith. It was not in your power not to be born of
Adam:
it is in your power to believe in Christ. Howsoever much then you shall
have
willed to belong to the first man, unto captivity you will belong. And what is,
shall
have willed to belong? or what is, shall belong? Already you belong, cry out,
"Who
shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Romans 7:24 Let us hear
then
this
man crying out this.
3.
"O God, in You I have hoped, O Lord, I shall not be confounded for
everlasting"
(ver. 1). Already I have been confounded, but not for everlasting. For
how
is he not confounded, to whom is said, "What fruit had ye in these things
wherein
ye now blush?" Romans 6:21 What then shall be done, that we may not
be
confounded for everlasting? "Draw near unto Him, and be ye enlightened,
and
your
faces shall not blush." Confounded you are in Adam, withdraw from Adam,
draw
near unto Christ, and then you shall not be confounded. "In You I have
hoped,
O Lord, I shall not be confounded for everlasting." If in myself I am now
confounded,
in You I shall not be confounded for everlasting.
4.
"In Your own righteousness deliver me, and save me" (ver. 2). Not in
my own,
but
in Your own: for if in my own, I shall be one of those whereof he says,
"Being
ignorant
of God's righteousness, and their own righteousness willing to establish,
to
the righteousness of God they were not made subject." Romans 10:3
Therefore,
"in
Your own righteousness," not in mine. For mine is what? Iniquity has gone
before.
And when I shall be righteous, Your own righteousness it will be: for by
righteousness
given to me by You I shall be righteous; and it shall be so mine, as
that
it be Yours, that is, given to me by You. For I believe in Him that justifies
an
ungodly
man, so that my faith is counted for righteousness. Romans 4:5 Even so
then
the righteousness shall be mine, not however as though my own, not as
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548
though
by my own self given to myself: as they thought who through the letter
made
their boast, and rejected grace .... It is a small thing then that thou
acknowledge
the good thing which is in you to be from God, unless also on that
account
thou exalt not yourself above him that has not yet, who perchance when
he
shall have received, will outstrip you. For when Saul was a stoner of Stephen,
Acts
7:59 how many were the Christians of whom he was persecutor!
Nevertheless,
when he was converted, all that had gone before he surpassed.
Therefore
say thou to God that which you hear in the Psalm, "In You I have
hoped,
O Lord, I shall not be confounded for everlasting: in Your own
righteousness,"
not in mine, "deliver me, and save me." "Incline unto me Thine
ear."
This also is a confession of humility. He that says, "Incline unto
me," is
confessing
that he is lying like a sick man laid at the feet of the Physician
standing.
Lastly, observe that it is a sick man that is speaking: "Incline unto me
Thine
ear, and save me."
5.
"Be Thou unto me for a protecting God" (ver. 3). Let not the darts of
the enemy
reach
unto me: for I am not able to protect myself. And a small thing is
"protecting:"
he has added, "and for a walled place, that You may save me."
"For a
walled
place" be Thou to me, be Thou my walled place .... Behold, God Himself
has
become the place of your fleeing unto, who at first was the fearful object of
your
fleeing from. "For a walled place," he says, be Thou to me,
"that You may
save
me." I shall not be safe except in You: except You shall have been my
rest,
my
sickness shall not be able to be made whole. Lift me from the earth; upon You
I
will lie, in order that I may rise unto a walled place. What can be better
walled?
When
unto that place you shall have fled for refuge, tell me what adversaries you
will
dread? Who will lie in wait, and come at you? A certain man is said from the
summit
of a mountain to have cried out, when an Emperor was passing by, "I
speak
not of you:" the other is said to have looked back and to have said,
"Nor I of
you."
He had despised an Emperor with glittering arms, with mighty army. From
whence?
From a strong place. If he was secure on a high spot of earth, how secure
are
you on Him by whom heaven and earth were made? I, if for myself I shall
have
chosen another place, shall not be able to be safe. Choose thou indeed, O
man,
if you shall have found one, a place better walled. There is not then a place
whither
to flee from Him, except we flee to Him. If you will escape Him angry,
flee
to Him appeased. "For my firmament and my refuge You are." "My
firmament"
is what? Through You I am firm, and by You I am firm. "For my
firmament
and my refuge You are:" in order that I may be made firm by You, in
whatever
respects I shall have been made infirm in myself, I will flee for refuge
unto
You. For firm the grace of Christ makes you, and immovable against all
temptations
of the enemy. But there is there too human frailness, there is there still
the
first captivity, there is there too the law in the members fighting against the
law
of the mind, and willing to lead captive in the law of sin: Romans 7:23 still
the
body
which is corrupt presses down the soul. Wisdom 9:15 Howsoever firm thou
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549
be
by the grace of God, so long as thou still bearest an earthly vessel, wherein
the
treasure
of God is, something must be dreaded even from that same vessel of clay.
2
Corinthians 4:7 Therefore "my firmament You are," in order that I may
be firm
in
this world against all temptations. But if many they are, and they trouble me:
"my
refuge You are." For I will confess mine infirmity, to the end that I may
be
timid
like a "hare," because I am full of thorns like a
"hedgehog." And as in
another
Psalm is said, "The rock is a refuge for the hedgehogs and the
hares:" but
the
Rock was Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:4
6.
"O God, deliver me from the hand of the sinner" (ver. 4). Generally,
sinners,
among
whom is toiling he that is now to be delivered from captivity: he that now
cries,
"Unhappy man I, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The
grace
of God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 7:24-25 Within is a foe,
that
law
in the members; there are without also enemies: unto what do you cry? Unto
Him,
to whom has been cried, "From my secret sins cleanse me, O Lord, and from
strange
sins spare Your servant."... But these sinners are of two kinds: there are
some
that have received Law, there are others that have not received: all the
heathen
have not received Law, all Jews and Christians have received Law.
Therefore
the general term is sinner; either a transgressor of the Law, if he has
received
Law; or only unjust without Law, if he has not received the Law. Of both
kinds
speaks the Apostle, and says, "They that without Law have sinned, without
Law
shall perish, and they that in the Law have sinned, by the Law shall be
judged."
Romans 2:12 But thou that amid both kinds dost groan, say to God that
which
you hear in the Psalm, "My God, deliver me from the hand of the
sinner."
Of
what sinner? "From the hand of him that transgresses the Law, and of the
unjust
man." He that transgresses the Law is indeed also unjust; for not unjust
he
is
not, that transgresses the Law: but every one that transgresses the Law is
unjust,
not
every unjust man does transgress the Law. For, "Where there is not a
Law,"
says
the Apostle, "neither is there transgression." Romans 4:15 They then
that
have
not received Law, may be called unjust, transgressors they cannot be called.
Both
are judged after their deservings. But I that from captivity will to be
delivered
through Your grace, cry to You, "Deliver me from the hand of the
sinner."
What is, from the hand of him? From the power of him, that while he is
raging,
he lead me not unto consenting with him; that while he lies in wait, he
persuade
not to iniquity. "From the hand of the sinner and of the unjust
man."...
7.
Lastly, there follows the reason why I say this: "for You are my
patience" (ver.
5).
Now if He is patience rightly, He is that also which follows, "O Lord, my
hope
from
my youth." My patience, because my hope: or rather my hope, because my
patience.
"Tribulation," says the Apostle, "works patience, patience
probation, but
probation
hope, but hope confounds not." Romans 5:3-5 With reason in You I
have
hoped, O Lord, I shall not be confounded for everlasting. "O Lord, my hope
from
my youth." From your youth is God your hope? Is He not also from your
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550
boyhood,
and from thine infancy? Certainly, says he. For see what follows, that
you
may not think that I have said this, "my hope from my youth," as if
God
noways
profited mine infancy or my boyhood; hear what follows: "In You I have
been
strengthened from the womb." Hear yet: "From the belly of my mother
You
are
my Protector" (ver. 6). Why then, "from my youth," except it was
the period
from
which I began to hope in You? For before in You I was not hoping, though
You
were my Protector, that led me safe unto the time, when I learned to hope in
You.
But from my youth I began in You to hope, from the time when You armed
me
against the Devil, so that in the girding of Your host being armed with Your
faith,
love, hope, and the rest of Your gifts, I waged conflict against Thine
invisible
enemies, and heard from the Apostle, "There is not for us a wrestling
against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, and powers," etc.
Ephesians
5:12 There a young man it is that does fight against these things: but
though
he be a young man, he falls, unless He be the hope of Him to whom he
cries,
"O Lord, my hope from my youth." "In You is my singing
alway." Is it only
from
the time when I began to hope in You until now? Nay, but "alway."
What is,
"alway"?
Not only in the time of faith, but also in the time of sight. For now, "So
long
as we are in the body we are absent from the Lord: for by faith we walk, not
by
sight:" 2 Corinthians 5:6 there will be a time when we shall see that
which
being
not seen we believe: but when that has been seen which we believe, we shall
rejoice:
but when that has been seen which they believed not, ungodly men shall
be
confounded. Then will come the substance whereof there is now the hope. But,
"Hope
which is seen is not hope. But if that which we see not we hope for, through
patience
we wait for it." Romans 8:24 Now then you groan, now unto a place of
refuge
you run, in order that you may be saved; now being in infirmity you entreat
the
Physician: what, when you shall have received perfect soundness also, what
when
you shall have been made "equal to the Angels of God," Matthew 22:30
will
you
then perchance forget that grace, whereby you have been delivered? Far be it.
8.
"As it were a monster I have become unto many" (ver. 7). Here in time
of hope,
in
time of groaning, in time of humiliation, in time of sorrow, in time of
infirmity,
in
time of the voice from the fetters—here then what? "As it were a monster I
have
become
unto many." Why, "As it were a monster"? Why do they insult me
that
think
me a monster? Because I believe that which I see not. For they being happy
in
those things which they see, exult in drink, in wantonness, in chamberings, in
covetousness,
in riches, in robberies, in secular dignities, in the whitening of a
mud
wall, in these things they exult: but I walk in a different way, contemning
those
things which are present, and fearing even the prosperous things of the
world,
and secure in no other thing but the promises of God. And they, "Let us
eat
and
drink, for tomorrow we die." 1 Corinthians 15:32 What do you say? Repeat
it:
"let
us eat," he says, "and drink." Come now, what have you said
afterwards? "for
tomorrow
we die." You have terrified, not led me astray. Certainly by the very
thing
which you have said afterwards, you have stricken me with fear to consent
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551
with
you. "For tomorrow we die," you have said: and there has preceded,
"Let us
eat
and drink." For when you had said, "Let us eat and drink;" you
added, "for
tomorrow
we die." Hear the other side from me, "Yea let us fast and pray, 'for
tomorrow
we die.'" I keeping this way, strait and narrow, "as it were a monster
have
become unto many: but You are a strong helper." Be Thou with me, O Lord
Jesus,
to say to me, faint not in the narrow way, I first have gone along it, I am the
way
itself, John 14:6 I lead, in Myself I lead, unto Myself I lead home. Therefore
though
"a monster I have become unto many;" nevertheless I will not fear,
for
"You
are a strong Helper."
9.
"Let my mouth be fulfilled with praise, that with hymn I may tell of Your
glory,
all
the day long Your magnificence" (ver. 8). What is "all the day
long"? Without
intermission.
In prosperity, because Thou dost comfort: in adversity, because Thou
dost
correct: before I was in being, because Thou made; when I was in being,
because
You gave health: when I had sinned, because You forgave; when I was
converted,
because You helped; when I had persevered, because You crowned.
10.
My hope from my youth, "cast me not away in time of old age" (ver.
9). What
is
this time of old age? "When my strength shall fail, forsake Thou not
me." Here
God
makes this answer to you, yea indeed let your strength fail, in order that in
you
mine may abide: in order that you may say with the Apostle, "When I am
made
weak, then I am mighty." 2 Corinthians 12:10 Fear not, that you be cast
away
in that weakness, in that old age. But why? Was not your Lord made weak
on
the Cross? Did not most mighty men and fat bulls before Him, as though a man
of
no strength, made captive and oppressed, shake the head and say, "If Son
of
God
He is, let Him come down from the Cross"? Has he deserted because He was
made
weak, who preferred not to come down from the Cross, lest He should seem
not
to have displayed power, but to have yielded to them reviling? What did He
hanging
teach you, that would not come down, but patience amid men reviling, but
that
you should be strong in your God? Perchance too in His person was said,
"As
it
were a monster I have become unto many, and You are a strong Helper." In
His
person
according to His weakness, not according to His power; according to that
whereby
He had transformed us into Himself, not according to that wherein He
had
Himself come down. For He became a monster unto many. And perchance the
same
was the old age of Him; because on account of its oldness it is not
improperly
called old age, and the Apostle says, "Our old man has been crucified
together
with Him." Romans 6:6 If there was there our old man, old age was there;
because
old, old age. Nevertheless, because a true saying is, "Renewed as an
eagle's
shall be Your youth;" He rose Himself the third day, promised a
resurrection
at the end of the world. Already there has gone before the Head, the
members
are to follow. Why do you fear lest He should forsake you, lest He cast
you
away for the time of old age, when your strength shall have failed? Yea at that
time
in you will be the strength of Him, when your strength shall have failed.
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552
11.
Why do I say this? "For mine enemies have spoken against me, and they that
were
keeping watch for My soul, have taken counsel together (ver. 10): saying,
God
has forsaken Him, persecute Him, and seize Him, for there is no one to
deliver
Him" (ver. 11). This has been said concerning Christ. For He that with the
great
power of Divinity, wherein He is equal to the Father, had raised to life dead
persons,
on a sudden in the hands of enemies became weak, and as if having no
power,
was seized. When would He have been seized, except they had first said in
their
heart, "God has forsaken Him?" Whence there was that voice on the
Cross,
"My
God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" So then did God forsake Christ,
though
"God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself," 2 Corinthians
5:19
though
Christ was also God, out of the Jews indeed according to the flesh, "Who
is
over
all things, God blessed for ever," Romans 9:5—did God forsake Him? Far be
it.
But in our old man our voice it was, because our old man was crucified together
with
Him: Romans 6:6 and of that same our old man He had taken a Body,
because
Mary was of Adam. Therefore the very thing which they thought, from
the
Cross He said, "Why have You forsaken Me?" Matthew 27:46 Why do these
men
think Me left alone to their evil? What is, think Me forsaken in their evil?
"For
if they had known, the Lord of glory they had never crucified.
1
Corinthians 2:8 Persecute and seize Him." More familiarly however,
brethren,
let
us take this of the members of Christ, and acknowledge our own voice in these
words:
because even He used such words in our person, not in His own power and
majesty;
but in that which He became for our sakes, not according to that which
He
was, who has made us.
12.
"O Lord, my God, be not far from me" (ver. 12). So it is, and the
Lord is not
far
off at all. For, "The Lord is nigh unto them that have bruised the
heart." "My
God,
unto my help look Thou." "Be they confounded and fail that engage my
soul"
(ver.
13). What has he desired? "Be they confounded and fail." Why has he
desired
it?
"That engage my soul"? What is, "That engage my soul"?
Engaging as it were
unto
some quarrel. For they are said to be engaged that are challenged to quarrel.
If
then so it is, let us beware of men that engage our soul. What is, "That
engage
our
soul"? First provoking us to withstand God, in order that in our evil
things
God
may displease us. For when are you right, so that to you the God of Israel
may
be good, good to men right in heart? When are you right? Will you hear?
When
in that good which you do, God is pleasing to you; but in that evil which
you
suffer God is not displeasing to you. See ye what I have said, brethren, and be
ye
on your guard against men that engage your souls. For all men that deal with
you
in order to make you be wearied in sorrows and tribulations, have this aim,
namely,
that God may be displeasing to you in that which you suffer, and there
may
go forth from your mouth, "What is this? For what have I done?" Now
then
have
you done nothing of evil, and art you just? He unjust? A sinner I am, you
say;
I confess, just I call not myself. But what, sinner, have you by any means
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553
done
so much evil as he with whom it is well? As much as Gaiuseius? I know the
evil
doings of him, I know the iniquities of him, from which I, though a sinner, am
very
far; and yet I see him abounding in all good things, and I am suffering so
great
evil things. I do not then say, O God, "what have I done" to You,
because I
have
done nothing at all of evil; but because I have not done so much as to deserve
to
suffer these things. Again, art you just, He unjust? Wake up, wretched man,
your
soul has been engaged! I have not, he says, called myself just. What then do
you
say? A sinner I am, but I did not commit so great sins, as to deserve to suffer
these
things. You say not then to God, just I am, and You are unjust: but you say,
unjust
I am, but You are more unjust. Behold your soul has been engaged, behold
now
your soul wages war. What? Against whom? Your soul, against God; that
which
has been made against Him by whom it was made. Even because you are in
being
to cry out against Him, you are ungrateful. Return, then, to the confession of
your
sickness, and beg the healing hand of the Physician. Think thou not they are
happy
who flourish for a time. You are being chastised, they are being spared:
perchance
for you chastised and amended an inheritance is being kept in
reserve....
Lastly, see what follows, "Let them put on confusion and shame, that
think
evil things to me." "Confusion and shame," confusion because of
a bad
conscience,
shame because of modesty. Let this befall them, and they will be
good....
13.
"But I alway in You will hope, and will add to all Your praise" (ver.
14). What
is
this? "I will add to all Your praise," ought to move us. More perfect
will you
make
the praise of God? Is there anything to be superadded? If already that is all
praise,
will you add anything? God was praised in all His good deeds, in every
creature
of His, in the whole establishment of all things, in the government and
regulation
of ages, in the order of seasons, in the height of Heaven, in the
fruitfulness
of the regions of earth, in the encircling of the sea, in every excellency
of
the creature everywhere brought forth, in the sons of men themselves, in the
giving
of the Law, in delivering His people from the captivity of the Egyptians,
and
all the rest of His wonderful works: not yet He had been praised for having
raised
up flesh unto life eternal. Be there then this praise added by the
Resurrection
of our Lord Jesus Christ: in order that here we may perceive His
voice
above all past praise: thus it is that we rightly understand this also....
14.
"My mouth shall tell out Your righteousness" (ver. 15): not mine.
From thence
I
will add to all Your praise: because even that I am righteous, if righteous I
am, is
Your
righteousness in me, not my own: for Thou dost justify the ungodly.
Romans
4:5 "All the day long Your salvation." What is, "Your
salvation"? Let no
one
assume to himself, that he saves himself, "Of the Lord is Salvation."
Not any
one
by himself saves himself, "Vain is man's salvation." "All the
day long Your
Salvation:"
at all times. Something of adversity comes, preach the Salvation of the
Lord:
something of prosperity comes, preach the Salvation of the Lord. Do not
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preach
in prosperity, and hold your peace in adversity: otherwise there will not be
that
which has been said, "all the day long." For all the day long is day
together
with
its own night. Do we when we say, for example, thirty days have gone by,
mention
the nights also; do we not under the very term days include the nights
also?
In Genesis what was said? "The evening was made, and the morning was
made,
one day." Genesis 1:5 Therefore a whole day is the day together with its
own
night: for the night does serve the day, not the day the night. Whatever you do
in
mortal flesh, ought to serve righteousness: whatever you do by the
commandment
of God, be it not done for the sake of the advantage of the flesh,
lest
day serve night. Therefore all the day long speak of the praise of God, to wit,
in
prosperity and in adversity; in prosperity, as though in the day time; in
adversity,
as though in the night time: all the day long nevertheless speak of the
praise
of God, so that you may not have sung to no purpose, "I will bless God at
every
time, alway the praise of Him is in my mouth."...
15.
Therefore, he says, "For I have not known tradings." What are these
tradings?
Let
traders hear and change their life; and if they have been such, be not such;
let
them
not know what they have been, let them forget; lastly, let them not approve,
not
praise; let them disapprove, condemn, be changed, if trading is a sin. For on
this
account, O thou trader, because of a certain eagerness for getting, whenever
you
shall have suffered loss, you will blaspheme; and there will not be in you that
which
has been spoken of, "all the day long Your praise." But whenever for
the
price
of the goods which you are selling, thou not only liest, but even falsely
swearest;
how in your mouth all the day long is there the praise of God? While, if
you
are a Christian, even out of your mouth the name of God is being blasphemed,
so
that men say, see what sort of men are Christians! Therefore if this man for
this
reason
speaks the praise of God all the day long, because he has not known
tradings;
let Christians amend themselves, let them not trade. But a trader says to
me,
behold I bring indeed from a distant quarter merchandise unto these places,
wherein
there are not those things which I have brought, by which means I may
gain
a living: I ask but as reward for my labour, that I may sell dearer than I have
bought:
for whence can I live, when it has been written, "the worker is worthy of
his
reward"? Luke 10:7 But he is treating of lying, of false swearing. This is
the
fault
of me, not of trading: for I should not, if I would, be unable to do without
this
fault.
I then, the merchant, do not shift my own fault to trading: but if I lie, it is
I
that
lie, not the trade. For I might say, for so much I bought, but for so much I
will
sell;
if you please, buy. For the buyer hearing this truth would not be offended, and
not
a whit less all men would resort to me: because they would love truth more
than
gain. Of this then, he says, admonish me, that I lie not, that I forswear not;
not
to
relinquish business whereby I maintain myself. For to what do you put me when
you
put me away from this? Perchance to some craft? I will be a shoemaker, I will
make
shoes for men. Are not they too liars? are not they too false-swearers? Do
they
not, when they have contracted to make shoes for one man, when they have
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received
money from another man, give up that which they were making, and
undertake
to make for another, and deceive him for whom they have promised to
make
speedily? Do they not often say, today I am about it, today I'll get them
done?
Secondly, in the very sewing do they not commit as many frauds? These are
their
doings and these are their sayings: but they are themselves evil, not the
calling
which they profess. All evil artificers, then, not fearing God, either for
gain,
or for fear of loss or want, do lie, do forswear themselves; there is no
continual
praise of God in them. How then do you withdraw me from trading?
Wouldest
thou that I be a farmer, and murmur against God thundering, so that,
fearing
hail, I consult a wizard, in order to learn what to do to protect me against
the
weather; so that I desire famine for the poor, in order that I may be able to
sell
what
I have kept in store? Unto this do you bring me? But good farmers, you say,
do
not such things. Nor do good traders do those things. But why, even to have
sons
is an evil thing, for when their head is in pain, evil and unbelieving mothers
seek
for impious charms and incantations? These are the sins of men, not of
things.
A trader might thus speak to me—Look then, O Bishop, how thou
understand
the tradings which you have read in the Psalm: lest perchance thou
understand
not, and yet forbid me trading. Admonish me then how I should live; if
well,
it shall be well with me: one thing however I know, that if I shall have been
evil,
it is not trading that makes me so, but my iniquity. Whenever truth is spoken,
there
is nothing to be said against it.
16.
Let us inquire then what he has called tradings, which indeed he that has not
known,
all the day long does praise God. Trading even in the Greek language is
derived
from action, and in the Latin from want of inaction: but whether it be from
action
or want of inaction, let us examine what it is. For they that are active
traders,
rely as it were upon their own action, they praise their works, they attain
not
to the grace of God. Therefore traders are opposed to that grace which this
Psalm
does commend. For it does commend that grace, in order that no one may
boast
of his own works. Because in a certain place is said, "Physicians shall
not
raise
to life," ought men to abandon medicine? But what is this? Under this name
are
understood proud men, promising salvation to men, whereas "of the Lord is
Salvation."...
With reason the Lord drove from the Temple them to whom He said,
"It
is written, My House shall be called the House of prayer, but you have made it
a
house of trading;" that is, boasting of your works, seeking no inaction,
nor
hearing
the Scripture speaking against your unrest and trading, "be ye still, and
see
that
I am the Lord."...
17.
But there is in some copies, "For I have not known literature." Where
some
books
have "trading," there others "literature:" how they may
accord is a hard
matter
to find out; and yet the discrepancy of interpreters perchance shows the
meaning,
introduces no error. Let us inquire then how to understand literature also,
lest
we offend grammarians in the same way as we did traders a little before:
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Psalm 71 556
because
a grammarian too may live honourably in his calling, and neither forswear
nor
lie. Let us examine then the literature which he has not known, in whose
mouth
all the day long is the praise of God. There is a sort of literature of the
Jews:
for to them let us refer this; there we shall find what has been said: just as
when
we were inquiring about traders, on the score of actions and works, we
found
that to be called detestable trading, which the Apostle has branded, saying,
"For
being ignorant of God's righteousness, and willing to establish their own, to
the
righteousness of God they were not made subject." Romans 10:3... Just as
then
we
found out the former charge against traders, that is men boasting of action,
exalting
themselves because of business which admits no inaction, unquiet men
rather
than good workmen; because good workmen are those in whom God works;
so
also we find a sort of literature among the Jews .... Moses wrote five books:
but
in
the five porches encircling the pool, John 5:2 sick men were lying, but they
could
not be healed. See how the letter remained, convicting the guilty, not saving
the
unrighteous. For in those five porches, a figure of the five books, sick men
were
given over rather than made whole. What then in that place did make whole a
sick
man? The moving of the water. When that pool was moved there went down a
sick
man, and there was made whole one, one because of unity: whatsoever other
man
went down unto that same moving was not made whole. How then was there
commended
the unity of the Body crying from the ends of the earth? Another man
was
not healed, except again the pool were moved. The moving of the pool then
did
signify the perturbation of the people of the Jews when the Lord Jesus Christ
came.
For at the coming of an Angel the water in the pool was perceived to be
moved.
The water then encircled with five porches was the Jewish nation
encircled
by the Law. And in the porches the sick lay, and in the water alone when
troubled
and moved they were healed. The Lord came, troubled was the water; He
was
crucified, may He come down in order that the sick man may be made whole.
What
is, may He come down? May He humble Himself. Therefore whosoever ye
be
that love the letter without grace, in the porches ye will remain, sick ye will
be,
lying
ill, not growing well .... For the same figure also it is that Eliseus at first
sent
a
staff by his servant to raise up the dead child. There had died the son of a
widow
his
hostess; it was reported to him, to his servant he gave his staff: go thou, he
says,
lay it on the dead child. Did the prophet not know what he was doing? The
servant
went before, he laid the staff upon the dead, the dead arose not. "For if
there
had been given a law which could have made alive, surely out of the law
there
had been righteousness." Galatians 3:21 The law sent by the servant made
not
alive: and yet he sent his staff by the servant, who himself afterwards
followed,
and made alive. 2 Kings 4:20-36 For when that infant arose not, Eliseus
came
himself, now bearing the type of the Lord, who had sent before his servant
with
the staff, as though with the Law: he came to the child that was lying dead, he
laid
his limbs upon it. The one was an infant, the other a grown man: he contracted
and
shortened in a manner the size of his full growth, in order that he might fit
the
dead
child. The dead then arose, when he being alive adapted himself to the dead:
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557
and
the Master did that which the staff did not; and grace did that which the
letter
did
not. They then that have remained in the staff, glory in the letter; and
therefore
are
not made alive. But I will to glory concerning Your grace.... In that same
grace
I
glorying "literature have not known:" that is, men on the letter
relying, and from
grace
recoiling, with whole heart I have rejected.
18.
With reason there follows, "I will enter into the power of the Lord:"
not my
own,
but the Lord's. For they gloried in their own power of the letter, therefore
grace
joined to the letter they knew not .... But because "the letter kills, but
the
Spirit
makes alive:" 2 Corinthians 3:6 "I have not known literature, and I
will enter
into
the power of the Lord." Therefore this verse following does strengthen and
perfect
the sense, so as to fix it in the hearts of men, and not suffer any other
interpretation
to steal in from any quarter. "O Lord, I will be mindful of Your
righteousness
alone" (ver. 16). Ah! "alone." Why has he added
"alone," I ask you?
It
would suffice to say, "I will be mindful of Your righteousness."
"alone," he
says,
entirely: there of my own I think not. "For what have you which you have
not
received? But if also you have received, why do you glory as if you have not
received."
1 Corinthians 4:7 Your righteousness alone does deliver me, what is my
own
alone is nought but sins. May I not glory then of my own strength, may I not
remain
in the letter; may I reject "literature," that is, men glorying of
the letter, and
on
their own strength perversely, like men frantic, relying: may I reject such
men,
may
I enter into the power of the Lord, so that when I am weak, then I may be
mighty;
in order that Thou in me may be mighty, for, "I will be mindful of Your
righteousness
alone."
19.
"O God, You have taught me from my youth" (ver. 17). What have you
taught
me?
That of Your righteousness alone I ought to be mindful. For reviewing my
past
life, I see what was owing to me, and what I have received instead of that
which
was owing to me. There was owing punishment, there has been paid grace:
there
was owing hell, there has been given life eternal. "O God, You have taught
me
from my youth." From the very beginning of my faith, wherewith You have
renewed
me, You taught me that nothing had preceded in me, whence I might say
that
there was owing to me what You have given. For who is turned to God save
from
iniquity? Who is redeemed save from captivity? But who can say that unjust
was
his captivity, when he forsook his Captain and fell off to the deserter? God is
for
our Captain, the devil a deserter: the Captain gave a commandment, the
deserter
suggested guile: where were your ears between precept and deceit? was
the
devil better than God? Better he that revolted than He that made you? Thou
believed
what the devil promised, and found what God threatened. Now then out
of
captivity being delivered, still however in hope, not yet in substance, walking
by
faith, not yet by sight, "O God," he says, "You have taught me
from my youth."
From
the time that I have been turned to You, renewed by You who had been
made
by You, re-created who had been created, re-formed who had been formed:
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Psalm 71 558
from
the time that I have been converted, I have learned that no merits of mine
have
preceded, but that Your grace has come to me gratis, in order that I might be
mindful
of Your righteousness alone.
20.
What next after youth? For, "You have taught me," he says, "from
my youth:"
what
after youth? For in that same first conversion of yours you learned, how
before
conversion you were not just, but iniquity preceded, in order that iniquity
being
banished, there might succeed love: and having been renewed into a new
man,
only in hope, not yet in substance, you learned how nothing of your good had
preceded,
and by the grace of God you were converted to God: now perchance
since
the time that you have been converted will you have anything of your own,
and
on your own strength oughtest thou to rely? Just as men are wont to say, now
leave
me, it was necessary for you to show me the way; it is sufficient, I will walk
in
the way. And he that has shown you the way, "will you not that I conduct
you to
the
place?" But you, if you are conceited, "let me alone, it is enough, I
will walk in
the
way." You are left, and through your weakness again you will lose the way.
Good
were it for you that He should have conducted you, who first put you in the
way.
But unless He too lead you, again also you will stray: say to Him then,
"Conduct
me, O Lord, in Your way, and I will walk in Your truth." But your
having
entered on the way, is youth, the very renewal and beginning of the faith.
For
before you were walking through your own ways a vagabond; straying
through
woody places, through rough places, torn in all your limbs, you were
seeking
a home, that is, a sort of settlement of your spirit, where you might say, it
is
well; and being in security might say it, at rest from every uneasiness, from
every
trial, in a word from every captivity; and thou did not find. What shall I say?
Came
there to you one to show you the way? There came to you the Way itself,
and
you were set therein by no merits of thine preceding, for evidently you were
straying.
What, since the time that you have set foot therein do you now direct
yourself?
Doth He that has taught you the way now leave you? No, he says: "You
have
taught me from my youth; and even until now I will tell forth Your
wonderful
works." For a wonderful thing is that which still Thou doest; namely,
that
Thou dost direct me, who in the way hast put me: and these are Your
wonderful
works. What do you think to be the wonderful works of God? What is
more
wonderful among God's wonderful works, than the raising the dead? But am
I
by any means dead, you say? Unless dead you had been, there would not have
been
said to you, "Rise, you that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ
shall
enlighten
you." Ephesians 5:14 Dead are all unbelievers, all unrighteous men; in
body
they live, but in heart they are extinct. But he that raises a man dead
according
to the body, does bring him back to see this light and to breathe this air:
but
he that raises is not himself light and air to him; he begins to see, as he saw
before.
A soul is not so resuscitated. For a soul is resuscitated by God; though
even
a body is resuscitated by God: but God, when He does resuscitate a body, to
the
world does bring it back: when He does resuscitate a soul, to Himself He
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559
brings
it back. If the air of this world be withdrawn, there dies body: if God be
withdrawn,
there dies soul. When then God does resuscitate a soul, unless there be
with
her He that has resuscitated, she being resuscitated lives not. For He does not
resuscitate,
and then leave her to live to herself: in the same manner as Lazarus,
when
he was resuscitated after being four days dead, was resuscitated by the
Lord's
corporal presence.... The Lord withdrew from that same city or from that
spot,
did Lazarus cease to live? Not so is the soul resuscitated: God does
resuscitate
her, she dies if God shall have withdrawn. For I will speak boldly,
brethren,
but yet the truth. Two lives there are, one of the body, another of the
soul:
as the life of the body is the soul, so the life of the soul is God: in like
manner
as, if the soul forsake, the body dies: so the soul dies, if God forsake. This
then
is His grace, namely, that He resuscitate and be with us. Because then He
does
resuscitate us from our past death, and does renew in a manner our life, we
say
to Him, "O God, You have taught me from my youth." But because He
does
not
withdraw from those whom He resuscitates, lest when He shall have
withdrawn
from them they die, we say to Him, "and even until now I will tell forth
Your
wonderful works:" because while You are with me I live, and of my soul
You
are the life, which will die if she be left to herself. Therefore while my life
is
present,
that is, my God, "even until now," what next?
21.
"And even unto oldness and old age" (ver. 18). These are two terms
for old
age,
and are distinguished by the Greeks. For the gravity succeeding youth has
another
name among the Greeks, and after that same gravity the last age coming
on
has another name; for presbuthj signifies grave, and gerwn old. But because
in
the Latin language the distinction of these two terms holds not, both words
implying
old age are inserted, oldness and old age: but ye know them to be two
ages.
"You have taught me Your grace from my youth; and even until now;"
after
my
youth, "I will tell forth Your wonderful works," because You are with
me in
order
that I may not die, who hast come in order that I may rise: "and even unto
oldness
and old age," that is, even unto my last breath, unless with me You shall
have
been, there will not be any merit of mine; may Your grace alway remain with
me.
Even one man would say this, thou, he, I; but because this voice is that of a
certain
great Man, that is, of the Unity itself, for it is the voice of the Church; let
us
investigate the youth of the Church. When Christ came, He was crucified, dead,
rose
again, called the Gentiles, they began to be converted, became Martyrs strong
in
Christ, there was shed faithful blood, there arose a harvest for the Church:
this
is
Her youth. But seasons advancing let the Church confess, let Her say,
"Even
until
now I will tell forth Your wonderful works." Not only in youth, when Paul,
when
Peter, when the first Apostles told: even in advancing age I myself, that is,
Your
Unity, Your members, Your Body, "will tell forth Your marvellous
works."
What
then? "And even unto oldness and old age," I will tell forth Your
wonderful
works:
even until the end of the world here shall be the Church. For if She were
not
to be here even unto the end of the world; to whom did the Lord say,
"Behold,
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560
I
am with you always, even unto the consummation of the world"? Why was it
necessary
that these things should be spoken in the Scriptures? Because there were
to
be enemies of the Christian Faith who would say, "for a short time are the
Christians,
hereafter they shall perish, and there shall come back idols, there shall
come
back that which was before. How long shall be the Christians?" "Even
unto
oldness
and old age:" that is, even unto the end of the world. When thou,
miserable
unbeliever, dost expect Christians to pass away, you are passing away
yourself
without Christians: and Christians even unto the end of the world shall
endure;
and as for you with thine unbelief when you shall have ended your short
life,
with what face will you come forth to the Judge, whom while you were living
you
blasphemed? Therefore "from my youth, and even until now, and even unto
oldness
and old age, O Lord, forsake not me." It will not be, as mine enemies say,
even
for a time. "Forsake not me, until I tell forth Thine arm to every
generation
that
is yet to come." And the Arm of the Lord has been revealed to whom?
Isaiah
53:1 The Arm of the Lord is Christ. Do not Thou then forsake me: let not
them
rejoice that say, "only for a set time the Christians are." May there
be persons
to
tell forth Thine arm. To whom? "To every generation that is yet to
come." If
then
it be to every generation that is yet to come, it will be even unto the end of
the
world:
for when the world is ended, no longer any generation will come on.
22.
"Your power and Your righteousness" (ver. 19). That is, that I may
tell forth to
every
generation that is yet to come, Thine arm. And what has Thine arm effected?
This
then let me tell forth, that same grace to every generation succeeding: let me
say
to every man that is to be born, nothing you are by yourself, on God call thou,
your
own are sins, merits are God's: punishment to you is owing, and when reward
shall
have come, His own gifts He will crown, not your merits. Let me say to
every
generation that is to come, out of captivity you have come, unto Adam you
belonged.
Let me say this to every generation that is to come, that there is no
strength
of mine, no righteousness of mine; but "Your strength and Your
righteousness,
O God, even unto the most high mighty works which You have
made."
"Your power and Your righteousness," as far as what? even unto flesh
and
blood?
Nay, "even unto the most high mighty works which You have made." For
the
high places are the heavens, in the high places are the Angels, Thrones,
Dominions,
Principalities, Powers: to You they owe it that they are; to You they
owe
it that they live, to You they owe it that righteously they live, to You they
owe
it that blessedly they live. "Your power and Your righteousness," as
far as
what?
"Even unto the most high mighty works which You have made." Think not
that
man alone belongs to the grace of God. What was Angel before he was made?
What
is Angel, if He forsake him who has created? Therefore "Your power and
Your
justice even unto the most high mighty works which You have made."
23.
And man exalts himself: and in order that he may belong to the first captivity,
he
hears the serpent suggesting, "Taste, and you shall be as Gods."
Genesis 3:5
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Psalm 71
561
Men
as Gods? "O God, who is like unto You?" Not any in the pit, not in
Hell, not
in
earth, not in Heaven, for all things You have made. Why does the work strive
with
the Maker? "O God, who is like unto You?" But as for me, says
miserable
Adam,
and Adam is every man, while I perversely will to be like unto You, behold
what
I have become, so that from captivity to You I cry out: I with whom it was
well
under a good king, have been made captive under my seducer; and cry out to
You,
because I have fallen from You. And whence have I fallen from You? While
I
perversely seek to be like unto You....
24.
Ill straying, ill presuming, doomed to die by withdrawing from the path of
righteousness:
behold he breaks the commandment, he has shaken off from his
neck
the yoke of discipline, uplifted with high spirit he has broken in sunder the
reins
of guidance: where is he now? Truly captive he cries, "O Lord, who is like
unto
You?" I perversely willed to be like unto You, and I have been made like
unto
a beast! Under Your dominion, under Your commandment, I was indeed like:
"But
a man in honour set has not perceived, he has been compared to beasts
without
sense, and has been made like unto them." Now out of the likeness of
beasts
cry though late and say, "O God, who is like unto You?"
25.
"How great troubles have You shown to me, many and evil!" (ver. 20).
Deservedly,
proud servant. For you have willed perversely to be like your God,
who
had been made after the image of your Lord. Genesis 1:27 Wouldest thou
have
it to be well with you, when withdrawing from that good? Truly God says to
you,
if you withdraw from Me, and it is well with you, I am not your good. Again,
if
He is good, and in the highest degree good, and of Himself to Himself good, and
by
no foreign good thing good, and is Himself our chief good; by withdrawing
from
Him, what will you be but evil? Also if He is Himself our blessedness, what
will
there be to one withdrawing from Him, except misery? Return thou then after
misery,
and say, "O Lord, who is like unto You? How great troubles have You
shown
to me, many and evil!"
26.
But this was discipline; admonition, not desertion. Lastly, giving thanks, he
says
what? "And being turned You have made me alive, and from the bottomless
places
of the earth again You have brought me back." But when before? What is
this
"again"? You have fallen from a high place, O man, disobedient slave,
O thou
proud
against your Lord, you have fallen. There hast come to pass in you, "every
one
that exalts himself shall be humbled:" may there come to pass in you,
"every
one
that humbles himself shall be exalted." Luke 14:11 Return thou from the
deep.
I
return, he says, I return, I acknowledge; "O God, who is like unto You?
How
great
troubles have You shown to me, many and evil! and being turned You have
made
me alive, and from the bottomless places of the earth again You have
brought
me back." "We perceive," I hear. You have brought us back from
the
bottomless
places of the earth, hast brought us back from the depth and drowning
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562
of
sin. But why "again"? When had it already been done? Let us go on, if
perchance
the latter parts of the Psalm itself do not explain to us the thing which
here
we do not yet perceive, namely, why he has said "again." Therefore
let us
hear:
"How great troubles You have shown to me, many and evil! And being
turned
You have made me alive, and from the bottomless places of the earth again
You
have brought me back." What then? "You have multiplied Your
righteousness,
and being turned You have comforted me, and from the bottomless
places
of the earth again You have brought me back" (ver. 21). Behold a second
"again"!
If we labour to unravel this "again" when written once, who will be
able
to
unravel it when doubled? Now "again" itself is a redoubling, and once
more
there
is written "again." May He be with us from whom is grace, may there
be
with
us the arm also which we are telling forth to every generation that is to come:
may
He be with us Himself, and as with the key of His Cross open to us the
mystery
that is locked up. For it was not to no purpose that when He was crucified
the
veil of the temple was rent in the midst, but to show that through His Passion
the
secret things of all mysteries were opened. Matthew 27:51 May He then
Himself
be with men passing over unto Him, be the veil taken away:
2
Corinthians 3:16 may our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ tell us why such a voice
of
the Prophet has been sent before, "You have shown to me troubles many and
evil:
and being turned You have made me alive, and from the bottomless places of
the
earth again You have brought me back." Behold this is the first
"again" which
has
been written. Let us see what this is, and we shall see why there is a second
"again."
27.
...Therein Christ died, wherein you are to die: and therein Christ rose again,
wherein
you are to rise again. By His example He taught you what you should not
fear,
for what you should hope. You feared death, He died: you despaired of rising
again,
He rose again. But you say to me, He rose again, do I by any means rise
again?
But He rose again in that which for you He received of you. Therefore your
nature
in Him has preceded you; and that which was taken of you, has gone up
before
you: therein therefore thou also hast ascended. Therefore He ascended first,
and
we in Him: because that flesh is of the human race .... Behold one
"again."
Hear
of its being fulfilled from the Apostle: "If then you have risen with
Christ,
the
things which are above seek ye, where Christ is sitting on the right hand of
God;
the things which are above mind ye, not the things which are upon the
earth."
Colossians
3:1-2 He then has gone before: already we also have risen again, but
still
in hope. Hear the Apostle Paul saying this same thing: "Even we ourselves
groan
in ourselves, looking for the adoption, the redemption of our body." What
is
it
then that Christ has granted to you? Hear that which follows: "For by hope
we
are
saved: but hope which is seen is not hope. For that which a man sees, why
does
he hope for? But if that which we see not we hope for, through patience we
wait
for it." We have been brought back therefore again from the bottomless
places
in hope. Why again? Because already Christ had gone before. But because
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563
we
shall rise again in substance, for now in hope we are living, now after faith
we
are
walking; we have been brought back from the bottomless places of the earth,
by
believing in Him who before us has risen again from the bottomless place of
the
earth .... You have heard one "again," you have heard the other:
"again;" one
"again"
because of Christ going before; and the other, yet however in hope, and a
thing
which remains to be in substance. "You have multiplied Your
righteousness,"
already in me believing, already in those that first have risen again
in
hope.... "You have multiplied Your righteousness, and being turned You
have
comforted
me:" and because of the body to rise again at the end, even from the
bottomless
places of the earth again You have brought me back.
28.
"For I will confess to You in the vessels of a Psalm Your truth"
(ver. 22). The
vessels
of a Psalm are a Psaltery. But what is a Psaltery? An instrument of wood
and
strings. What does it signify? There is some difference between it and a
harp:
... there seems to be signified by the Psaltery the Spirit, by the harp the
flesh.
And
because he had spoken of two bringings back of ours from the bottomless
places
of the earth, one after the Spirit in hope, the other after the body in
substance;
hear thou of these two: "For I will confess to You in the vessels of a
Psalm
Your truth." This after the Spirit: concerning the body what? "I will
psalm
to
You on a harp, Holy One of Israel."
29.
Again hear this because of that same "again" and "again."
"My lips shall exult
when
I shall psalm to You" (ver. 23). Because lips are wont to be spoken of
both
belonging
to the inner and to the outward man, it is uncertain in what sense lips
have
been used: there follows therefore, "And my soul which You have
redeemed."
Therefore regarding the inward lips having been saved in hope,
brought
back from the bottomless places of the earth in faith and love, still
however
waiting for the redemption of our body, Romans 8:23 we say what?
Already
he has said, "And my soul which You have redeemed." But lest you
should
think the soul alone redeemed, wherein now you have heard one
"again,"
"but
still," he says; why still? "but still my tongue also:"
therefore now the tongue
of
the body: "all day long shall meditate of Your righteousness" (ver.
24): that is,
in
eternity without end. But when shall this be? Hereafter at the end of the
world,
at
the resurrection of the body and the changing into the Angelic state. Whence is
it
proved that this is spoken of the end, "but still my tongue also all day
long shall
meditate
of Your righteousness"? "When they shall have been confounded and
shall
have blushed, that seek evil things for me." When shall they be
confounded,
when
shall they blush, save at the end of the world? For in two ways they shall be
confounded,
either when they shall believe in Christ, or when Christ shall have
come.
For so long as the Church is here, so long as grain groans amid chaff, so
long
as wheat groans amid tares, so long as vessels of mercy groan amid vessels of
wrath
made for dishonour, 2 Timothy 2:20 so long as lily groans amid thorns,
there
will not be wanting enemies to say, "When shall he die, and his name
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perish?"
"Behold there shall come the time when Christians shall be ended and
shall
be no more: as they began at a set time, so even unto a particular time they
shall
be." But while they are saying these things and without end are dying, and
while
the Church is continuing preaching the Arm of the Lord to every generation
that
is to come; there shall come Himself also at last in His glory, Matthew 25:31
there
shall rise again all the dead, each with his cause: there shall be severed good
men
to the right hand, but evil men to the left, and they shall be confounded that
did
insult, they shall blush that did mock: and so my tongue after resurrection
shall
meditate
of Your righteousness, all day long of Your praise, "when they shall have
been
confounded and shall have blushed, that seek evil things for me."
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565
Exposition
on Psalm 72
1.
"For Salomon" indeed this Psalm's title is fore-noted: but things are
spoken of
therein
which could not apply to that Salomon king of Israel after the flesh,
according
to those things which holy Scripture speaks concerning him: but they
can
most pertinently apply to the Lord Christ. Whence it is perceived, that the
very
word
Salomon is used in a figurative sense, so that in him Christ is to be taken.
For
Salomon is interpreted peace-maker: and on this account such a word to Him
most
truly and excellently does apply, through Whom, the Mediator, having
received
remission of sins, we that were enemies are reconciled to God. For "when
we
were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son."
Romans
5:10 The Same is Himself that Peace-maker.... Since then we have found
out
the true Salomon, that is, the true Peace-maker: next let us observe what the
Psalm
does teach concerning Him.
2.
"O God, Your judgment to the King give Thou, and Your justice to the
King's
Son"
(ver. 1). The Lord Himself in the Gospel says, "The Father judges not any
one,
but all judgment He has given to the Son:" John 5:22 this is then, "O
God,
Your
judgment to the King give Thou." He that is King is also the Son of the
King:
because God the Father also is certainly King. Thus it has been written, that
the
King made a marriage for His Son. Matthew 22:2 But after the manner of
Scripture
the same thing is repeated. For that which he has said in, "Your
judgment;"
the same he has otherwise expressed in, "Your justice:" and that
which
he
has said in, "the King," the same he has otherwise expressed in,
"to the King's
Son."...But
these repetitions do much commend the divine sayings, whether the
same
words, or whether in other words the same sense be repeated: and they are
mostly
found in the Psalms, and in the kind of discourse whereby the mind's
affection
is to be awakened.
3.
Next there follows, "To judge Your people in justice, and Your poor in
judgment"
(ver. 2). For what purpose the royal Father gave to the royal Son His
judgment
and His justice is sufficiently shown when he says, "To judge Your
people
in justice;" that is, for the purpose of judging Your people. Such an
idiom
is
found in Salomon: "The Proverbs of Salomon, son of David, to know wisdom
and
discipline:" Proverbs 1:1 that is, the Proverbs of Salomon, for the
purpose of
knowing
wisdom and discipline. So, "Your judgment give Thou, to judge Your
people:"
that is, "Your judgment" give Thou for the purpose of judging Your
people.
But that which he says before in, "Your people," the same he says
afterwards
in, "Your poor:" and that which he says before in, "in
justice;" the same
afterward
in, "in judgment:" according to that manner of repetition. Whereby
indeed
he shows, that the people of God ought to be poor, that is, not proud, but
humble.
For, "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
Heaven."
Matthew
5:3 In which poverty even blessed Job was poor even before he had lost
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those
great earthly riches. Which thing for this reason I thought should be
mentioned,
because there are certain persons who are more ready to distribute all
their
goods to the poor, than themselves to become the poor of God. For they are
puffed
up with boasting wherein they think their living well should be ascribed to
themselves,
not to the grace of God: and therefore now they do not even live well,
however
great the good works which they seem to do....
4.
But seeing that he has changed the order of the words (though he had first
said,
"O
God, Your judgment to the King give Thou, and Your justice to the King's
Son,"
putting judgment first, then justice), and has put justice first, then
judgment,
saying,
"To judge Your people in justice, and Your poor in judgment:" he does
more
clearly show that he has called judgment justice, proving that there is no
difference
made by the order in which the word is placed, because it signifies the
same
thing. For it is usual to say "wrong judgment" of that which is
unjust: but
justice
iniquitous or unjust we are not wont to speak of. For if wrong and unjust it
be;
no longer must it be called justice. Again, by putting down judgment and
repeating
it under the name of justice, or by putting down justice and repeating it
under
the name of judgment, he clearly shows that he specially names that
judgment
which is wont to be put instead of justice, that is, that which cannot be
understood
of giving an evil judgment. For in the place where He says, "Judge not
according
to persons, but right judgment judge ye;" John 7:24 He shows that there
may
be a wrong judgment, when He says, "right judgment judge ye:" lastly,
the
one
He does forbid, the other He does enjoin. But when without any addition He
speaks
of judgment, He would at once have just judgment to be understood: as is
that
which He says, "You forsake the weightier matters of the Law, mercy and
judgment."
Matthew 23:23 That also which Jeremiah says is, "making his riches
not
with judgment." He says not, making his riches by wrong or unjust
judgment,
or
not with judgment right or just, but not with judgment: calling not anything
judgment
but what is right and just.
5.
"Let the mountains bear peace to the people, and the hills justice"
(ver. 3). The
mountains
are the greater, the hills the less. These are without doubt those which
another
Psalm has, "little with great." For those mountains did exult like
rams, and
those
hills like lambs of the sheep, at the departure of Israel out of Egypt, that
is, at
the
deliverance of the people of God from this world's servitude. Those then that
are
eminent in the Church for passing sanctity, are the mountains, who are meet to
teach
other men also, 2 Timothy 2:2 by so speaking as that they may be faithfully
taught,
by so living as that they may imitate them to their profit: but the hills are
they
that follow the excellence of the former by their own obedience. Why then
"the
mountains peace: and the hills justice"? Would there perchance have been
no
difference,
even if it had been said thus, Let the mountains bear justice to the
people
and the hills peace? For to both justice, and to both peace is necessary: and
it
may be that under another name justice herself may have been called peace. For
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Psalm 72
567
this
is true peace, not such as unjust men make among them. Or rather with a
distinction
not to be overlooked must that be understood which he says, "the
mountains
peace, and the hills justice"? For men excelling in the Church ought to
counsel
for peace with watchful care; lest for the sake of their own distinctions by
acting
proudly they make schisms and dissever the bond of union. But let the hills
so
follow them by imitation and obedience, that they prefer Christ to them: lest
being
led astray by the empty authority of evil mountains (for they seem to excel),
they
tear themselves away from the Unity of Christ....
6.
Thus also most pertinently may be understood, "let the mountains bear
peace to
the
people," namely, that we understand the peace to consist in the
reconciliation
whereby
we are reconciled to God: for the mountains receive this for His
people....
"Let the mountains, therefore, receive peace for the people, and the hills
justice:"
so that in this manner, both being at one, there may come to pass that
which
has been written, "justice and peace have kissed one another." But
that
which
other copies have, "let the mountains receive peace for the people, and
let
the
hills:" I think must be understood of all sorts of preaching of Gospel
peace,
whether
those that go before, or those that follow after. But in these copies this
follows,
"in justice He shall judge the poor of the people." But those copies
are
more
approved of which have that which we have expounded above, "let the
mountains
bear peace to the people, and the hills justice." But some have, "to
Your
people;"
some have not to "Your," but only "to the people."
7.
"He shall judge the poor of the people, and shall save the sons of the
poor" (ver.
4).
The poor and the sons of the poor seem to me to be the very same, as the same
city
is Sion and the daughter of Sion. But if it is to be understood with a
distinction,
the poor we take to be the mountains, but the sons of the poor the hills:
for
instance, Prophets and Apostles, the poor, but the sons of them, that is, those
that
profit under their authority, the sons of the poor. But that which has been
said
above,
"shall judge;" and afterwards, "shall save;" is as it were
a sort of exposition
in
what manner He shall judge. For to this end He shall judge, that He may save,
that
is, may sever from those that are to be destroyed and condemned, those to
whom
He gives "salvation ready to be revealed at the" last time. 1 Peter
1:5 For by
such
men to Him is said, "Destroy not with ungodly men my soul:" and,
"Judge
Thou
me, O God, and sever my cause from the nation unholy." We must observe
also
that he says not, He shall judge the poor people, but, "the poor of the
people."
For
above when he had said, "to judge Your people in justice and Your poor in
judgment,"
the same he called the people of God as His poor, that is, only the good
and
those that belong to the right hand side. But because in this world those for
the
right
and those for the left feed together, who, like lambs and goats at the last are
to
be put asunder; Matthew 25:32 the whole, as it is mingled together, he has
called
by the name of the People. And because even here he puts judgment in a
good
sense, that is, for the purpose of saving: therefore he says, "He shall
judge
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Psalm 72
568
the
poor of the people," that is, shall sever for salvation those that are
poor among
the
people. "And He shall humble the false-accuser." No false-accuser can
be
more
suitably recognised here than the devil. False accusation is his business.
"Doth
Job worship God gratis?" Job 1:9 But the Lord Jesus does humble him, by
His
grace aiding His own, in order that they may worship God gratis, that is, may
take
delight in the Lord. He humbled him also thus; because when in Him the
devil,
that is, the prince of this world, had found nothing, John 14:30 he slew Him
by
the false accusations of the Jews, whom the false-accuser made use of as his
vessels,
working in the sons of unbelief. Ephesians 2:2...
8.
"And He shall endure to the sun," or, "shall endure with the
sun" (ver. 5). For
thus
some of our writers have thought would be more exactly translated that which
in
the Greek is sumparamenei. But if in Latin it
could have been expressed in
one
word, it must have been expressed by compermanebit: however, because in
Latin
the word cannot be expressed, in order that the sense at least might be
translated,
it has been expressed by, "He shall endure with the sun." For He
shall
co-endure
to the sun is nothing else but, "He shall endure with the sun." But
what
great
matter is it for Him to endure with the sun, through whom all things were
made,
and without whom nothing was made, John 1:3 save that this prophecy has
been
sent before for the sake of those who think that the religion of the Christian
name
up to a particular time in this world will live, and afterwards will be no
more?
"He shall endure" therefore "with the sun," so long as the
sun rises and sets,
that
is, so long as these times revolve, there shall not be wanting the Church of
God,
that is, Christ's body on earth. But that which he adds, "and before the
moon,
generations
of generations:" he might have expressed by, and before the sun, that
is,
both with the sun and before the sun: which would have been understood by
both
with times and before times. That then which goes before time is eternal: and
that
is truly to be held eternal which by no time is changed, as, "in the
beginning
was
the Word." John 1:1 But by the moon he has chosen rather to intimate the
waxings
and wanings of things mortal. Lastly, when he had said, "before the
moon,"
wishing in a manner to explain for what purpose he inserted the moon,
"generations,"
he says, "of generations." As though he were saying, before the
moon,
that is, before the generations of generations which pass away in the
departure
and succession of things mortal, like the lunar wanings and waxings.
And
thus what is better to be understood by His enduring before the moon, than
that
He takes precedence of all mortal things by immortality? Which also as
follows
may not impertinently be taken, that whereas now, having humbled the
false-accuser,
He sits at the right hand of the Father, this is to endure with the sun.
For
the brightness of the eternal glory is understood to be the Son: Hebrews 1:3 as
though
the Sun were the Father, and the Brightness of Him His Son. But as these
things
may be spoken of the invisible Substance of the Creator, not as of that
visible
creation wherein are bodies celestial, of which bright bodies the sun has the
pre-eminence,
from which this similitude has been drawn: just as they are drawn
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569
even
from things earthly, to wit, stone, lion, lamb, man having two sons, and the
like:
therefore having humbled the false-accuser, He endures with the sun: because
having
vanquished the devil by the Resurrection, He sits at the right hand of the
Father,
Mark 16:19 where He dies no more, and death no longer over Him shall
have
dominion. Romans 6:9 This too is before the moon, as though the First-born
from
the dead were going before the Church, which is passing on in the departure
and
succession of mortals. These are "the generations of generations." Or
perchance
it is because generations are those whereby we are begotten mortally;
but
generations of generations those whereby we are begotten again immortally.
And
such is the Church which He went before, in order that He might endure
before
the moon, being the First-born of the dead. To be sure, that which is in the
Greek
geneaj genewn, some have interpreted, not
"generations," but, "of a
generation
of generations:" because geneaj is of ambiguous case in
Greek, and
whether
it be the genitive singular thj geneaj, that is, of the
generation, or the
accusative
plural taj geneaj, that is, the generations, does not clearly appear,
except
that deservedly that sense has been preferred wherein, as though explaining
what
he had called "the moon," he added in continuation, "generations
of
generations."
9.
"And He shall come down like rain into a fleece, and like drops distilling
upon
the
earth" (ver. 6). He has called to our minds and admonished us, that what
was
done
by Gedeon the Judge, in Christ has its end. For he asked a sign of the Lord,
that
a fleece laid on the floor should alone be rained upon, and the floor should be
dry;
and again, the fleece alone should be dry, and the floor should be rained upon;
and
so it came to pass. Judges 6:36-38 Which thing signified, that, being as it
were
on
a floor in the midst of the whole round world, the dry fleece was the former
people
Israel. The same Christ therefore Himself came down like rain upon a
fleece,
when yet the floor was dry: whence also He said, "I am not sent but to the
sheep
which were lost of the house of Israel." Matthew 15:24 There He chose out
a
Mother by whom to receive the form of a servant, wherein He was to appear to
men:
there the disciples, to whom He gave this same injunction, saying, "Into
the
way
of the nations go ye not away, and into the cities of the Samaritans enter ye
not:
go ye first to the sheep which are lost of the house of Israel." Matthew
10:5-6
When
He says, go ye first to them, He shows also that hereafter, when at length
the
floor was to be rained upon, they would go to other sheep also, which were not
of
the old people Israel, concerning whom He says, "I have other sheep which
are
not
of this fold, it behoves Me to bring in them also, that there may be one flock
and
one Shepherd." John 10:16 Hence also the Apostle: "for I say,"
he says, "that
Christ
was a minister of the Circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the
promises
of the fathers." Romans 15:8 Thus rain came down upon the fleece, the
floor
being yet dry. But inasmuch as he continues, "but that the nations should
glorify
God for His mercy:" Romans 15:9 that when the time came on, that should
be
fulfilled which by the Prophet He says, "a people whom I have not known
has
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Psalm 72
570
served
Me, in the hearkening of the ear it has obeyed Me:" we now see, that of
the
grace
of Christ the nation of the Jews has remained dry, and the whole round
world
through all nations is being rained upon by clouds full of Christian grace.
For
by another word he has indicated the same rain, saying, "drops
distilling:" no
longer
upon the fleece, but "upon the earth." For what else is rain but
drops
distilling?
But that the above nation under the name of a fleece is signified, I think
is
either because they were to be stripped of the authority of teaching, just as a
sheep
is stripped of its skin; or because in a secret place He was hiding that same
rain,
which He willed not should be preached to uncircumcision, that is, be
revealed
to uncircumcised nations.
10.
"There shall arise in His days justice and abundance of peace, until the
moon
be
taken away" (ver. 7). The expression tollatur some have interpreted by
"be
taken
away," but others by "be exalted," translating one Greek word,
which is
there
used, antanaireqh, just as each of them thought good. But they who have
said,
"be removed," and they who have said, "be taken away," do
not so very much
differ.
For by the expression, "be removed," custom does teach us that there
should
be rather implied, that a thing is taken away and is no more, than that it is
raised
to a higher place: but "be taken away" can be understood in no other
way at
all,
than that a thing is destroyed: that is, it is no more: but by "be
exalted," only
that
it is raised to a higher place. Which indeed when it is put in a bad sense is
wont
to signify pride: as is the passage, "In your wisdom be not exalted."
But in a
good
sense it belongs to a more exceeding honour, as, for instance, when anything
is
being raised; as is, "In the nights exalt ye your hands unto holy places,
and bless
ye
the Lord." Here then if we have understood the expression, "be
removed," what
will
be, "until the moon be removed," but that it be so dealt with that it
be no
more?
For perchance he willed this also to be perceived, that mortality is to be no
longer,
"when the last enemy shall be destroyed, death:" 1 Corinthians 15:26
so
that
abundance of peace may be brought down so far as that nothing may
withstand
the felicity of the blessed from the infirmity of mortality: which will
come
to pass in that age, of which we have the faithful promise of God through
Jesus
Christ our Lord, concerning which it is said, "There shall arise in His
days
justice
and abundance of peace:" until, death being utterly overcome and
destroyed,
all mortality be consumed. But if under the term moon, not the
mortality
of the flesh through which the Church is now passing, but the Church
Herself
in general has been signified, which is to endure for everlasting, being
delivered
from this mortality, thus must be taken the expression, "There shall arise
in
His days justice and abundance of peace, until the moon be exalted;" as
though
it
were said, There shall arise in His days justice, to conquer the contradiction
and
rebellion
of the flesh, and whereby there may be made a peace so increasing and
abundant,
until the moon be exalted, that is, until the Church be lifted up, through
the
glory of the Resurrection to reign with Him, who went before Her in this glory,
the
first-born of the dead, that He might sit at the right hand of the Father;
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Psalm 72
571
Mark
16:19 thus with the sun enduring before the moon, in the place whereunto
hereafter
was to be exalted the moon also.
11.
"And He shall be Lord from sea even unto sea, and from the river even unto
the
ends of the round world" (ver. 8): He to wit concerning whom he had said,
"There
shall arise in His days justice and abundance of peace, until the moon be
exalted."
If the Church here is properly signified under the term moon, in
continuation
he showed how widely that same Church He was going to spread
abroad,
when He added, "and He shall be Lord from sea even unto sea." For the
land
is encircled by a great sea which is called the Ocean: from which there flows
in
some small part in the midst of the lands, and makes those seas known to us,
which
are frequented by ships. Again, in "from sea even unto sea" He has
said,
that
from any one end of the earth even unto any other end, He would be Lord,
whose
name and power in the whole world were to be preached and to prevail
exceedingly.
To which, that there might not be understood in any other manner,
"from
sea even unto sea:" He immediately added, "and from the river even
unto
the
ends of the round world." Therefore that which He says in "even unto
the ends
of
the round world," the same He had said before in "from sea even unto
sea." But
in
that which now He says, "from the river," He has evidently expressed
that He
willed
Christ to publish at length His power from that place from whence also He
began
to choose His disciples, to wit from the river Jordan, where upon the Lord,
on
His baptism, when the Holy Ghost descended, there sounded a voice from
Heaven,
"This is My beloved Son." Matthew 3:17 From this place then His
doctrine
and the authority of the heavenly ministry setting out, is enlarged even
unto
the ends of the round world, when there is preached the Gospel of the
kingdom
in the whole world, for a testimony unto all nations: and then shall come
the
end. Matthew 24:14
12.
"In His presence shall fall down the Ethiopians, and His enemies shall
lick the
earth"
(ver. 9). By the Ethiopians, as by a part the whole, He has signified all
nations,
selecting that nation to mention especially by name, which is at the ends
of
the earth. By "in His presence shall fall down" has been signified,
shall adore
Him.
And because there were to be schisms in various quarters of the world,
which
would be jealous of the Church Catholic spread abroad in the whole round
world,
and again those same schisms dividing themselves into the names of men,
and
by loving the men under whose authority they had been rent, opposing
themselves
to the glory of Christ which is throughout all lands; so when He had
said,
"in His presence shall fall down the Ethiopians," He added, "and
His enemies
shall
lick the earth:" that is, shall love men, so that they shall be jealous of
the
glory
of Christ, to whom has been said, "Be Thou exalted above the Heavens, O
God,
and above all the earth Your glory." For man earned to hear, "Earth
you are,
and
unto earth you shall go." Genesis 3:19 By licking this earth, that is,
being
delighted
with the vainly talking authority of such men, by loving them, and by
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counting
them for the most pleasing of men, they gainsay the divine sayings,
whereby
the Catholic Church has been foretold, not as to be in any particular
quarter
of the world, as certain schisms are, but in the whole universe by bearing
fruit
and growing so as to attain even unto the very Ethiopians, to wit, the remotest
and
foulest of mankind.
13.
"The kings of Tharsis and the isles shall offer gifts, the kings of the Arabians
and
of Saba shall lead presents" (ver. 10). This no longer requires an
expounder
but
a thinker; yea it does thrust itself upon the sight not only of rejoicing
believers,
but
also of groaning unbelievers—except perchance we must inquire why there
has
been said, "shall lead presents." For there are wont to be led those
things
which
can walk. For could it by any means have been spoken with reference to the
sacrifice
of victims? Far be it that such "righteousness" should arise in His
days.
But
those gifts which have been foretold as to be led, seem to me to signify men,
whom
into the fellowship of the Church of Christ the authority of kings does lead:
although
even persecuting kings have led gifts, knowing not what they did, in
sacrificing
the holy Martyrs. "And there shall adore Him all kings of the earth, all
nations
shall serve Him" (ver. 11).
14.
But while he is explaining the reasons why so great honour is paid Him by
kings,
and He is served of all nations: "because He has delivered," he says,
"the
needy
man from the mighty, and the poor man, to whom was no helper"(ver. 12).
This
needy and poor man is the people of men believing in Him. In this people are
also
kings adoring Him. For they do not disdain to be needy and poor, that is,
humbly
confessing sins, and needing the glory of God Romans 3:23 and the grace
of
God, in order that this King, Son of the King, may deliver them from the
mighty
one. For this same mighty one is he who above was called the Slanderer:
whom
mighty to subdue men to himself, and to hold them bound in captivity, not
his
virtue did make, but men's sins. The same is himself also called strong;
therefore
here mighty also. But He that has humbled the slanderer and has entered
into
the house of the strong man to bind him and to spoil his vessels,
Matthew
12:29 He "has delivered the needy and the poor man." For this neither
the
virtue of any one could accomplish, nor any just man, nor any Angel. When
then
there was no helper, by His coming He saved them Himself.
15.
But it might occur to one; if because of sins man was held by the devil, have
sins
pleased Christ, who saved the needy man from the mighty? Far be it. But
"He
it
is that shall spare the helpless and poor man" (ver. 13): that is, shall
remit sins to
the
man, humble and not trusting in his own merits, or hoping for salvation
because
of his own virtue, but needing the grace of his Saviour. But when he has
added,
"and the souls of the poor He shall save:" he has recommended to our
notice
both the aids of grace; both that which is for the remission of sins, when he
says,
"He shall spare the poor and needy man;" and that which does consist
in the
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imparting
of righteousness, when he has added, "and the souls of the poor He shall
save."
For no one is meet of himself for salvation (which salvation is perfect
righteousness),
unless God's grace aid: because the fulness of the law is nought but
love,
which does not exist in us of ourselves, but is shed abroad in our hearts
through
the Holy Spirit which has been given unto us. Romans 5:5
16.
"From usuries and iniquity He shall redeem the souls of them" (ver.
14). What
are
these usuries but sins, which are also called debts? Matthew 6:12 But I think
they
have been called usuries, because more of ill is found in the punishments than
has
been committed in the sins. For, for example's sake, while a man-slayer kills
only
the body of a man, but can no wise hurt the soul; of himself both soul and
body
is destroyed in hell. Because of such despisers of present commandment and
deriders
of future punishment has been said, "I coming would have exacted with
usuries,"
Matthew 25:27 from these usuries are redeemed the souls of the poor by
that
blood which has been shed for the remission of sins. He shall redeem, I say,
from
usuries, by remitting sins which owed larger punishments: but He shall
redeem
from iniquity, by helping them by grace even to do righteousness.
Therefore
the same two things have been repeated which were said above. For in
that
which is above, "He shall spare the helpless and poor man," there is
understood
"from usuries:" but in that which there he says, "and the souls
of the
poor
He shall save;" there seems to have been implied, "from
iniquity:" so that the
words
"He shall redeem," are understood with both. So when He shall spare
the
poor
and helpless man, and shall save the souls of the poor: thus "from usuries
and
iniquity
He shall redeem the souls of them. And honourable shall be the name of
Him
in the presence of them." For they give honour to His name for so great
benefits,
and they respond that "meet and right it is" to render thanks to the
Lord
their
God. Or, as some copies have it, "and honourable is the name of them in
the
presence
of Him:" for even if Christians seem despicable to this world, the name
of
them in the presence of Him is honourable, who to them has given it, no longer
remembering
those names in His lips, whereby before they used to be called, when
they
were bound fast by the superstitions of the Gentiles, or signed with names
derived
from their own evil deserts, before they were Christians, which name is
honourable
in the presence of Him, even if it seems despicable to enemies.
17.
"And He shall live, and there shall be given to Him of the gold of
Arabia" (ver.
15).
There would not have been said, "and He shall live" (for of whom
could not
this
be said, though living for ever so brief a space of time on this earth?) unless
that
life were being recommended to our notice, wherein He "dies no more, and
death
over Him shall have no more dominion." Romans 6:9 And thus, "and He
shall
live," that was despised in death: for, as another Prophet says,
"there shall be
taken
away from the earth the life of Him." Isaiah 53:8 But what is, "and
there
shall
be given to Him of the gold of Arabia"? For the fact that from thence even
the
former Salomon received gold, in this Psalm has been in a figure transferred
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unto
another true Salomon, that is, the true Peace-maker. For the former did not
have
dominion "from the river even unto the ends of the round world." Thus
then
has
been prophesied, that even the wise men of this world in Christ would believe.
But
by Arabia we understand the Gentiles; by gold wisdom which does as much
excel
among all doctrines as gold among metals. Whence has been written,
"Receive
ye prudence as silver, and wisdom as proved gold." Proverbs 8:10 "And
they
shall pray concerning Himself alway." That which the Greek has, peri
autou, some have interpreted by
"concerning Himself," some "for Himself," or
"for
Him." But what is, "concerning Himself," except perchance that
for which we
pray,
saying, "Your kingdom come"? Matthew 6:10 For Christ's coming shall
make
present to believers the kingdom of God. But how to understand "for
Him"
is
difficult; except that when prayer is made for the Church, for Himself prayer
is
made,
because she is His Body. For concerning Christ and the Church has been
sent
before a great Sacrament, Ephesians 5:32 "there shall be two in one
flesh."
But
now that which follows, "all the day long," that is, in all time,
"they shall bless
Him,"
is sufficiently evident.
18.
"And there shall be a firmament on the earth, on the tops of the
mountains"
(ver.
16). For, "all the promises of God in Him are Yea," 2 Corinthians
1:20 that
is,
in Him are confirmed: because in Him has been fulfilled whatever has been
prophesied
for our salvation. For the tops of the mountains it is meet to understand
as
the authors of the divine Scriptures, that is, those persons through whom they
were
supplied: wherein He is indeed Himself the Firmament: for unto Him all
things
that have been divinely written are ascribed. But this He willed should be
on
earth; because for the sake of those that are upon earth, they were written.
Whence
He came also Himself upon earth, in order that He might confirm all
these
things, that is, in Himself might show them to have been fulfilled. "For
it
was
necessary," He says, "for all things to be fulfilled which were
written in the
Law,
and the Prophets, and Psalms, concerning Me:" Luke 24:44 that is, "in
the
tops
of the mountain." Isaiah 2:2 For so there comes in the last time the
evident
Mount
of the Lord, prepared on the summit of the mountains: of which here he
speaks,
"in the tops of the mountains." "Highly superexalted above
Libanus shall
be
His fruit." Libanus we are wont to take as this world's dignity: for
Libanus is a
mountain
bearing tall trees, and the name itself is interpreted whiteness. For what
marvel,
if above every brilliant state of this world there is superexalted the fruit of
Christ,
of which fruit the lovers have contemned all secular dignities? But if in a
good
sense we take Libanus, because of the "cedars of Libanus which He has
planted:"
what other fruit must be understood, that is being exalted above this
Libanus,
except that whereof the Apostle speaks when he is going to speak
concerning
that love of his, "yet a pre-eminent way to you I show"?
1
Corinthians 12:31 For this is put forward even in the first rank of divine
gifts, in
the
place where he says, "but the fruit of the Spirit is love:" Galatians
5:22 and
with
this are conjoined the remaining words as consequent. "And they shall
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Psalm 72 575
flourish
from the city like hay of the earth." Because city is used ambiguously,
and
there
is not annexed of Him, or of God, for there has not been said, "from the
city"
of
Him, or "from the city" of God, but only "from the city:"
in a good sense it is
understood,
in order that from the city of God, that is, from the Church, they may
flourish
like grass; but grass bearing fruit, as is that of wheat: for even this is
called
grass in Holy Scripture; as in Genesis there is a command for the earth to
bring
forth every tree and every grass, and there is not added every wheat: which
without
doubt would not have been passed over unless under the name of grass
this
also were understood; and in many other passages of the Scriptures this is
found.
But if we must take, "and they shall flourish like the grass of the
earth," in
the
same manner as is said, "all flesh is grass, and the glory of a man like
the
flower
of grass:" Isaiah 40:6 certainly then that city must be understood which
does
intimate this world's society: for it was not to no purpose that Cain was the
first
to build a city. Genesis 4:17 Thus the fruit of Christ being exalted above
Libanus,
that is, above enduring trees and undecaying timbers, because He is the
everlasting
fruit, all the glory of a man according to the temporal exaltation of the
world
is compared to grass; for by believers and by men already hoping for life
eternal
temporal felicity is despised, in order that there may be fulfilled that which
has
been written, "all flesh is grass, and all the glory of flesh as the
flower of
grass:
the grass has dried, the flower has fallen off, but the word of the Lord does
endure
for ever." There is the fruit of Him exalted above Libanus. For always
flesh
has
been grass, and the glory of flesh as the flower of grass: but because it was
not
clearly
proved what felicity ought to have been chosen and preferred, the flower of
grass
was esteemed for a great matter: not only it was by no means despised, but it
was
even chiefly sought after. As if therefore at that time He shall have begun to
be
thus, when there is reproved and despised whatever used to flourish in the
world,
thus has been said, "superexalted above Libanus shall be the fruit of Him,
and
they shall flourish from the city like grass of the earth:" that is,
glorified above
all
things shall be that which is promised for everlasting, and compared to the
grass
of the earth shall be whatever is counted a great matter in the world.
19.
"Be," therefore, "the name of Him blessed for ever: before the
sun endures the
name
of Him" (ver. 17). By the sun times are signified. Therefore for
everlasting
endures
the name of Him. For eternity does precede times, and is not bounded by
time.
"And there shall be blessed in Him all the tribes of the earth." For
in Him is
fulfilled
that which has been promised to Abraham. "For He says not, In seeds, as
though
in many; but as though in one, And to your Seed, which is Christ."
Galatians
3:16 But to Abraham is said, "In your Seed shall be blessed all the tribes
of
the earth." Genesis 22:18 And not the sons of the flesh but the sons of
promise
are
counted in the Seed. Romans 9:8 "All nations shall magnify Him." As
if in
explanation
there is repeated that which above has been said. For because they
shall
be blessed in Him, they shall magnify Him; not of themselves making Him to
be
great, that of Himself is great, but by praising and confessing Him to be
great.
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576
For
thus we magnify God: thus also we say, "Hallowed be Your name,"
Matthew
6:9 which is indeed always holy.
20.
"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has done wonderful things
alone"
(ver.
18). Contemplating all things above spoken of, a hymn bursts forth; and the
Lord
God of Israel is blessed. For that is being fulfilled which has been spoken to
that
barren woman, "and He that has delivered You, the God of Israel, shall
Himself
be called of the whole earth." Isaiah 54:5 "He does" Himself
"marvellous
things
alone:" for whosoever do them, He does Himself work in them, "who
does
wonderful
things alone." "And blessed be the name of His glory for everlasting,
and
for age of age" (ver. 19). For what else should the Latin interpreters
have said,
who
could not have said for everlasting, and for everlasting of everlasting? For it
sounds
as if one thing were meant in the expression "for everlasting," and
another
thing
in the expression "for age:" but the Greek has eij
ton aiwna, kai eij tou
aiwnoj, which perchance more meetly might have
been rendered by, "for age,
and
for age of age:" so that by "for age," might have been
understood as long as
this
age endures; but "for age of age," that which after the end of this
is promised
to
be. "And there shall be fulfilled with the glory of Him every land: so be
it, so be
it."
You have commanded, O Lord, so it is coming to pass: so it is coming to pass,
until
that which began with the river, may attain fully even unto the ends of the
round
world.
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Exposition
on Psalm 73
1.
This Psalm has an inscription, that is, a title, "There have failed the
hymns of
David,
the son of Jesse. A Psalm of Asaph himself." So many Psalms we have on
the
titles whereof is written the name David, nowhere there is added, "son of
Jesse,"
except in this alone. Which we must believe has not been done to no
purpose,
nor capriciously. For everywhere God does make intimations to us, and
to
the understanding thereof does invite the godly study of love. What is,
"there
have
failed the hymns of David, the son of Jesse"? Hymns are praises of God
accompanied
with singing: hymns are songs containing the praise of God. If there
be
praise, and it be not of God, it is no hymn: if there be praise, and God's
praise,
and
it be not sung, it is no hymn. It must needs then, if it be a hymn, have these
three
things, both praise, and that of God, and singing. What is then, "there
have
failed
the hymns"? There have failed the praises which are sung unto God. He
seems
to tell of a thing painful, and so to speak deplorable. For he that sings
praise,
not only praises, but only praises with gladness: he that sings praise, not
only
sings, but also loves him of whom he sings. In praise, there is the speaking
forth
of one confessing; in singing, the affection of one loving. "There have
failed"
then
"the hymns of David," he says: and he has added, "the son of
Jesse." For
David
was king of Israel, son of Jesse, 1 Samuel 16:19 at a certain time of the Old
Testament,
at which time the New Testament was therein hidden, like fruit in a
root.
For if thou seek fruit in a root, you will not find, and yet do you not find
any
fruit
in the branches, except that which has gone forth from the root .... And in
like
manner
as Christ Himself to be born after the flesh was hidden in the root, that is
in
the seed of the Patriarchs, and at a certain time must be revealed, as at the
fruit
appearing,
according as it is written, "there has flourished a shoot from the root of
Jesse:"
Isaiah 11:1 so also the New Testament itself which is in Christ, in those
former
times was hidden, being known to the Prophets alone, and to the very few
godly
men, not by the manifestation of things present, but by the revelation of
things
future. For what means it, brethren (to mention but one thing), that
Abraham
sending his faithful servant to espouse a wife for his only son, makes
him
swear to him, and in the oath says to him, "Put your hand under my thigh,
and
swear"?
What was there in the thigh of Abraham, where he put his hand in
swearing?
What was there there, except that which even then was promised to
him,
"In your seed shall be blessed all nations"? Genesis 22:18 Under the
name of
thigh,
flesh is signified. From the flesh of Abraham, through Isaac and Jacob, and
not
to mention many names, through Mary was our Lord Jesus Christ.
2.
But that the root was in the Patriarchs, how shall we show? Let us question
Paul.
The Gentiles now believing in Christ, and desiring as it were to boast over
the
Jews who crucified Christ; although also from that same people there came
another
wall, meeting in the corner, that is, in Christ Himself, the wall of
uncircumcision,
that is, of the Gentiles, coming from a different quarter: when, I
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say,
the nations were lifting up themselves, he does thus depress them. "For if
thou,"
he says, "being cut out of the natural wild olive, hast been graffed in
among
them,
do not boast against the branches: for if you boast, thou dost not bear the
root,
but the root you." Romans 11:17-18 Therefore he speaks of certain branches
broken
off from the root of the Patriarchs because of unbelief, and the wild olive
therein
graffed in, that it might be partaker of the fatness of the olive, that is, the
Church
coming out of the Gentiles. And who does graff the wild olive on the
olive?
The olive is wont to be graffed on the wild olive; the wild olive on the olive
we
never saw. For whosoever may have done so will find no berries but those of
the
wild olive. For that which is graffed in, the same grows, and of that kind the
fruit
is found. There is not found the fruit of the root but of the graft. The
Apostle
showing
that God did this thing by His Omnipotence, namely, that the wild olive
should
be graffed into the root of the olive, and should not bear wild berries, but
olive—ascribing
it to the Omnipotence of God, the Apostle says this, "If you have
been
cut out of the natural wild olive and against nature hast been graffed into a
good
olive, do not boast," he says, "against the branches."...
3.
In the time then of the Old Testament, brethren, the promises from our God to
that
carnal people were earthly and temporal. There was promised an earthly
kingdom,
there was promised that land into which they were also led, after being
delivered
from Egypt: by Jesus son of Nave they were led into the land of promise,
where
also earthly Jerusalem was built, where David reigned: they received the
land,
after being delivered from Egypt, by passing through the Red Sea.... Such
were
also those promises, which were not to endure, through which however were
figured
future promises which were to endure, so that all that course of temporal
promises
was a figure and a sort of prophecy of things future. Accordingly when
that
kingdom was failing, where reigned David, the son of Jesse, that is, one that
was
a man, though a Prophet, though holy, because he saw and foresaw Christ to
come,
of whose seed also after the flesh He was to be born: nevertheless a man,
nevertheless
not yet Christ, nevertheless not yet our King Son of God, but king
David
son of Jesse: because then that kingdom was to fail, through the receiving
of
which kingdom at that time God was praised by carnal men; for this thing alone
they
esteemed a great matter, namely, that they were delivered temporally from
those
by whom they were being oppressed, and that they had escaped from
persecuting
enemies through the Red Sea, and had been led through the desert, and
had
found country and kingdom: for this alone they praised God, not yet
perceiving
the thing which God was designing beforehand and promising in these
figures.
In the failing therefore of those things for which the carnal people, over
whom
reigned that David, was praising God, "there failed the hymns of
David,"
not
the Son of God, but the "son of Jesse."...
4.
Whose voice is the Psalm? "Of Asaph." What is Asaph? As we find in
interpretations
from the Hebrew language into the Greek, and those again
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579
translated
to us from the Greek into the Latin, Asaph is interpreted Synagogue. It
is
the voice therefore of the Synagogue. But when you have heard Synagogue, do
not
forthwith abhor it, as if it were the murderer of the Lord. That Synagogue was
indeed
the murderer of the Lord, no man doubts it: but remember, that from the
Synagogue
were the rams whereof we are the sons. Whence it is said in a Psalm,
"Bring
ye to the Lord the sons of rams." What rams are thence? Peter, John,
James,
Andrew, Bartholomew, and the rest of the Apostles. Hence also he too at
first
Saul, afterwards Paul: that is, at first proud, afterwards humble ....
Therefore
even
Paul came to us from the Synagogue, and Peter and the other Apostles from
the
Synagogue. Therefore when you have heard the voice of the Synagogue, do
not
look to the deserving thereof, but observe the offspring. There is speaking
therefore
in this Psalm, the Synagogue, after the failing of the hymns of David, the
son
of Jesse that is, after the failing of things temporal, through which God was
wont
to be praised by the carnal people. But why did these fail, except in order
that
others might be sought for? That there might be sought for what? Was it
things
which were not there? No, but things which were there being hidden in
figures:
not which were not yet there, but which there as it were in a sort were
concealed
in certain secret things of mysteries. What things? "These," says the
Apostle
himself, "were our figures." 1 Corinthians 10:6...
5.
It was the Synagogue therefore, that is, they that there worshipped God after a
godly
sort, but yet for the sake of earthly things, for the sake of these present
things
(for there are ungodly men who seek the blessings of present things from
demons:
but this people was on this account better than the Gentiles, because
although
it were blessings present and temporal, yet they sought them from the
One
God, who is the Creator of all things both spiritual and corporal). When
therefore
those godly men after the flesh were observing—that is that Synagogue
which
was made up of good men, men for the time good, not spiritual men, such
as
were the Prophets therein, such as were the few that understood the kingdom
heavenly,
eternal—that Synagogue, I say, observed what things it received from
God,
and what things God promised to that people, abundance of things earthly,
land,
peace, earthly felicity: but in all these things were figures, and they not
perceiving
what was there concealed in things figured, thought that God gave this
for
a great matter, and had nothing better to give to men loving Him and serving
Him:
they remarked and saw certain sinners, ungodly, blasphemers, servants of
demons,
sons of the Devil, living in great naughtiness and pride, yet abounding in
such
things earthly, temporal, for which sort of things they were serving God
themselves:
and there sprang up a most evil thought in the heart, which made the
feet
to totter, and almost slip out of God's way. And behold this thought was in the
people
of the Old Testament: I would it be not in our carnal brethren, when now
openly
there is being proclaimed the felicity of the New Testament....
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6.
"How good is the God of Israel!" But to whom? "To men right in
heart" (ver. 1).
To
men perverse what? Perverse He seems. So also in another Psalm He says:
"With
a holy man holy You shall be, and with the innocent man innocent You
shall
be, and with the perverse man perverse You shall be." What is, perverse
You
shall
be with the perverse man? Perverse the perverse man shall think You. Not
that
by any means God is made perverse. Far be it: what He is, He is. But in like
manner
as the sun appears mild to one having clear, sound, healthy, strong eyes,
but
against weak eyes does dart hard spears, so to say; the former looking at it it
does
invigorate, the latter it does torture, though not being itself changed, but
the
man
being changed: so when you shall have begun to be perverse, and to you God
shall
seem to be perverse, you are changed, not He. That therefore to you will be
punishment
which to good men is joy. He calling to mind this thing, says, "How
good
is the God of Israel to men right in heart!"
7.
But what to you? "But my feet were almost moved" (ver. 2). When were
the feet
moved,
except when the heart was not right? Whence was the heart not right?
Hear:
"My steps were well nigh overthrown." What he has meant by
"almost," the
same
he has meant by "well nigh:" and what he has meant by "my feet
were
almost
moved," the same he has meant by "my steps were overthrown."
Almost
my
feet were moved, almost my steps were overthrown. Moved were the feet: but
whence
were the feet moved and the steps overthrown? Moved were the feet to
going
astray, overthrown were the steps to falling: not entirely, but
"almost." But
what
is this? Already I was going to stray, I had not gone: already I was falling, I
had
not fallen.
8.
But why even this? "For I was jealous," he says, "in the case of
sinners, looking
on
the peace of sinners" (ver. 3). I observed sinners, I saw them to have
peace.
What
peace? Temporal, transient, falling, and earthly: but yet such as I also was
desiring
of God. I saw them that served not God to have that which I desired in
order
that I might serve God: and my feet were moved and my steps were almost
overthrown.
But why sinners have this, he says briefly: "Because there is no
avoidance
of their death, and there is a firmament in their scourge" (ver. 4). Now I
have
perceived, he says, why they have peace, and flourish on the earth; because
of
their death there is no avoidance, because death sure and eternal does await
them,
which neither does avoid them, nor can they avoid it, "because there is no
avoidance
of their death, and there is a firmament in their scourge." And there is a
firmament
in their scourge. For their scourge is not temporal, but firm for
everlasting.
Because of these evil things then which are to be to them eternal, now
what?
"In the labours of men they are not, and with men they shall not be
scourged"
(ver. 5). Doth not even the devil himself escape scourging with men, for
whom
nevertheless an eternal punishment is being prepared?
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Psalm 73
581
9.
Wherefore on this account what do these men, while they are not scourged,
while
they labour not with men? "Therefore," he says "there has holden
them
pride"
(ver. 6). Observe these men, proud, undisciplined; observe the bull, devoted
for
a victim, suffered to stray at liberty; and to damage whatever he may, even up
to
the day of his slaughter. Now it is a good thing, brethren, that we should hear
in
the
very words of a prophet of this bull as it were, whereof I have spoken. For
thus
of
him the Scripture does make mention in another place: he says that they are, as
it
were, made ready as for a victim, and that they are spared for an evil liberty.
Proverbs
7:22 "Therefore," he says, "there has holden them pride."
What is, "there
has
holden them pride"? "They have been clothed about with their iniquity
and
ungodliness."
He has not said, covered; but, "clothed about," on all sides covered
up
with their ungodliness. Deservedly miserable, they neither see nor are seen,
because
they are clothed about; and the inward parts of them are not seen. For
whosoever
could behold the inward parts of evil men, that are as it were happy for
a
time, whosoever could see their torturing consciences, whosoever could examine
their
souls racked with such mighty perturbations of desires and fears, would see
them
to be miserable even when they are called happy. But because "they are
clothed
about with their iniquity and ungodliness," they see not; but neither are
they
seen. The Spirit knew them, that says these words concerning them: and we
ought
to examine such men with the same eye as that wherewith we know that we
see,
if there is taken from our eyes the covering of ungodliness....
10.
At first these men are being described. "There shall go forth as if out of
fat
their
iniquity" (ver. 7)....A poor beggar commits a theft; out of leanness has
gone
forth
the iniquity: but when a rich man abounds in so many things, why does he
plunder
the things of others? Of the former the iniquity out of leanness, of the
other
out of fatness, has gone forth. Therefore to the lean man when you say, Why
have
you done this? Humbly afflicted and abject he replies, Need has compelled
me.
Why have you not feared God? Want was urgent. Say to a rich man, Why
doest
thou these things, and fearest not God?—supposing you to be great enough
to
be able to say it—see if he even deigns to hear; see if even against yourself
there
will not go forth iniquity out of his fatness. For now they declare war with
their
teachers and reprovers, and become enemies of them that speak the truth,
having
been long accustomed to be coaxed with the words of flatterers, being of
tender
ear, of unsound heart. Who would say to a rich man, You have ill done in
robbing
other men's goods? Or perchance if any man shall have dared to speak,
and
he is such a man as he could not withstand, what does he reply? All that he
says
is in contempt of God. Why? Because he is proud. Why? Because he is fat.
Why?
Because he is devoted for a victim. "They have passed over unto purpose of
heart."
Here within they have passed over. What is, "they have passed over"?
They
have
crossed over the way. What is, "they have passed over"? They have
exceeded
the
bounds of mankind, men like the rest they think not themselves. They have
passed
over, I say, the bounds of mankind. When you say to such a man, Your
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Psalm 73
582
brother
this beggar is; when you say to such a man, Your brother this poor man is;
the
same parents you have had, Adam and Eve: do not heed your haughtiness, do
not
heed the vapour unto which you have been elevated; although an establishment
waits
about you, although countless gold and silver, although a marbled house
does
contain you, although fretted ceilings cover you, thou and the poor man
together
have for covering that roof of the universe, the sky; but you are different
from
the poor man in things not your own, added to you from without: yourself
see
in them, not them in you. Observe yourself, how you are in relation to the poor
man;
yourself, not that which you have. For why do you despise your brother? In
the
bowels of your mothers ye were both naked. Forsooth, even when you shall
have
departed this life, and these bodies shall have rotted, when the soul has been
breathed
forth, let the bones of the rich and poor man be distinguished! I am
speaking
of the equality of condition, of that very lot of mankind, wherein all men
are
born: for both here does a man become rich, and a poor man will not alway be
here:
and as a rich man does not come rich, so neither does he depart rich; the very
same
is the entrance of both, and like is the departure. I add, that perchance ye
will
change
conditions. Now everywhere the Gospel is being preached: observe a
certain
poor man full of sores, who was lying before the gate of a rich man,
Luke
16:19 and was desiring to be filled with crumbs, which used to fall from the
table
of the rich man; observe also that likeness of yours who was clothed with
purple
and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. It chanced, I say, for that
poor
man to die, and to be borne by the Angels into the bosom of Abraham: but
the
other died and was buried; for the other's burial perchance no one
cared
.... Brethren, how great was the toil of the poor man! Of how long duration
were
the luxuries of the rich man! But the condition which they have received in
exchange
is everlasting .... Deservedly too late he will say, "Send Lazarus,"
Luke
16:27 "let him tell even my brethren;" since to himself there is not
granted
the
fruit of repentance. For it is not that repentance is not given, but
everlasting
will
be the repentance, and no salvation after repentance. Therefore these men
"have
passed over unto purpose of heart."
11.
"They have thought and have spoken spitefulness" (ver. 8). But men do
speak
spitefulness
even with fear: but these men how? "Iniquity on high they have
spoken."
Not only they have spoken iniquity; but even openly, in the hearing of
all,
proudly; "I will do it;" "I will show you;" "you shall
know with whom you
have
to do;" "I will not let you live." Thou might have but thought
such things, not
have
given utterance to them! Within the chambers of thought at least the evil
desire
might have been confined, he might have at least restrained it within his
thought.
Why? Is he perchance lean? "There shall go forth as if out of fatness the
iniquity
of them." "Iniquity on high they have spoken."
12.
"They have set against Heaven their mouth, and their tongue has passed
over
above
the earth" (ver. 9). For this, "has passed over above the earth"
is, they pass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 73
583
over
all earthly things? What is it to pass over all earthly things? He does not
think
of
himself as a man that can die suddenly, when he is speaking; he does menace as
if
he were alway to live: his thought does transcend earthly frailty, he knows not
with
what sort of vessel he is enwrapped; he knows not what has been written in
another
place concerning such men: "His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return
unto
his earth, in that day shall perish all his thoughts." But these men not
thinking
of
their last day, speak pride, and unto Heaven they set their mouth, they
transcend
the
earth. If a robber were not to think of his last day, that is, the last day of
his
trial,
when sent to prison, nothing would be more monstrous than he: and yet he
might
escape. Whither do you flee to escape death? Certain will that day be. What
is
the long time which you have to live? How much is the long time which has an
end,
even if it were a long time? To this there is added that it is nought: and the
very
thing which is called long time is not a long time, and is uncertain. Why does
he
not think of this? Because he has set against Heaven his mouth, and his tongue
has
passed over above the earth. "And full days shall be found in them."
13.
"Therefore there shall return hither My people" (ver. 10). Now Asaph
himself
is
returning hither. For he saw these things abound to unrighteous men, he saw
them
abound to proud men: he is returning to God, and is beginning to inquire and
discuss.
But when? "When full days shall be found in them." What is "full
days"?
"But
when there came the fulness of time, God sent His Son." Galatians 4:4 This
is
the
very fulness of time, when He came to teach men that things temporal should
be
despised, that they should not esteem as a great matter whatever object evil
men
covet, that they should suffer whatever evil men fear. He became the way, He
recalled
us to inward thought, admonished us of what should be sought of God.
And
see from what thought reacting upon itself, and in a manner recalling the
waves
of its impulse, he does pass over unto choosing true things.
14.
"And they said, How has God known, and is there knowledge in the Most
High?"
(ver. 11). See through what thought they pass. Behold unjust men are
happy,
God does not care for things human. Doth He indeed know what we do?
See
what things are being said. We are inquiring, brethren, "How has God
known,"
etc. (no longer let Christians say it). For how does it appear to you that
God
knows not, and that there is no knowledge in the Most High? He replies,
"Lo!
themselves
they are sinners, and in the world they have gotten abundant riches"
(ver.
12). Both sinners they are, and in the world they have gotten abundant riches.
He
confessed that he willed not to be a sinner in order that he might have riches.
A
carnal
soul for things visible and earthly would have sold its justice. What sort of
justice
is that which is retained for the sake of gold, as if gold were a more
precious
thing than justice herself, or as if when a man denies the deposit of
another
man's goods, he to whom he denied them should suffer a greater loss, than
he
that denies them to him. The former does lose a garment, the latter fidelity.
"Lo!
they are themselves sinners, and in the world they have gotten abundant
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 73
584
riches."
On this account therefore God knows not, and on this account there is no
knowledge
in the Most High.
15.
"And I said, therefore without cause I have justified my heart" (ver.
13). In that
I
serve God, and have not these things; they serve him not, and they abound in
these
things: "therefore without cause I have justified my heart, and have
washed
among
the innocent my hands." This without cause I have done. Where is the
reward
of my good life? Where is the wage of my service? I live well and am in
need;
and the unjust man does abound. "And I have washed among the innocent
my
hands. And I have been scourged all the day long" (ver. 14). From me the
scourges
of God do not impart. I serve well, and I am scourged; he serves not, and
is
honoured. He has proposed to himself a great question. The soul is disturbed,
the
soul does pass over things which are to pass away unto despising things earthly
and
to desiring things eternal. There is a passage of the soul herself in this
thought;
where
she does toss in a sort of tempest she will reach the harbour. And it is with
her
as it is with sick persons, who are less violently sick, when recovery is far
off:
when
recovery is at hand they are in higher fever; physicians call it the
"critical
accession"
through which they pass to health: greater fever is there, but leading to
health:
greater heat, but recovery is at hand. So also is this man enfevered. For
these
are dangerous words, brethren, offensive, and almost blasphemous, "How
has
God known?" This is why I say, "and almost;" He has not said,
God has not
known:
he has not said, there is no knowledge in the Most High: but as if
inquiring,
hesitating, doubting. This is the same as he said a little before, "My
steps
were almost overthrown." He does not affirm it, but the very doubt is
dangerous.
Through danger he is passing to health. Hear now the health:
"Therefore
in vain I have justified my heart, and have washed among the innocent
my
hands: and I have been scourged all the day long, and my chastening was in
the
morning." Chastening is correction. He that is being chastened is being
corrected.
What is, "in the morning"? It is not deferred. That of the ungodly is
being
deferred, mine is not deferred: the former is too late or is not at all; mine
is
in
the morning.
16.
"If I said, I shall declare thus; behold, the generation of Your sons I
have
reprobated"
(ver. 15): that is, I will teach thus. How will you teach? that there is no
knowledge
in the Most High, that God does not know? Will you propound this
opinion,
that without cause men live justly who do live justly; that a just man has
lost
his service, because God does more show favour to evil men, or else He does
care
for no one? Will you tell this, declare this? He does restrain himself by an
authority
repressing him. What authority? A man wishes some time to break out in
this
sentiment: but he is recalled by the Scriptures directing us alway to live
well,
saying,
that God does care for things human, that He makes a distinction between
a
godly man and an ungodly man. Therefore this man also wishing to put forth this
sentiment,
does recollect himself. And what says he? "I have reprobated the
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Psalm 73
585
generation
of Your sons." If I shall declare thus, the generation of just men I shall
reprobate.
As also some copies have it, "Behold, the generation of your sons with
which
I have been in concert:" that is, with which consisting of Your sons I
have
been
in concert; that is, with which I have agreed, to which I have been
conformed:
I have been out of time with all, if so I teach. For he does sing in
concert
who gives the tune together; but he that gives not the tune together does
not
sing in concert. Am I to say something different from that which Abraham
said,
from that which Isaac said, from that which Jacob said, from that which the
Prophets
said? For all they said that God does care for things human, am I to say
that
He cares not? Is there greater wisdom in me than in them? Greater
understanding
in me than in them? A most wholesome authority has called back
his
thought from ungodliness. And what follows? That he might not reprobate, he
did
what? "And I undertook to know" (ver. 16). May God be with him in
order
that
he may know. Meanwhile, brethren, from a great fall he is being withheld,
when
he does not presume that he already knows, but has undertaken to know that
which
he knew not. For but now he was willing to appear as if knowing, and to
declare
that God has no care of things human. For this has come to be a most
naughty
and ungodly doctrine of unrighteous men. Know, brethren, that many men
dispute
and say that God cares not for things human, that by chances all things are
ruled,
or that our wills have been made subject to the stars, that each one is not
dealt
with according to his deserts, but by the necessity of his stars,—an evil
doctrine,
an impious doctrine. Unto these thoughts was going that man whose feet
were
almost moved, and whose steps were all but overthrown, into this error he
was
going; but because he was not in tune with the generation of the sons of God,
he
undertook to know, and condemned the knowledge wherein with God's just
men
he agreed not. And what he says let us hear; how that he undertook to know,
and
was helped, and learned something, and declared it to us. "And I
undertook,"
he
says, "to know." "In this labour is before me." Truly a
great labour; to know in
what
manner both God does care for things human, and it is well with evil men,
and
good men labour. Great is the importance of the question; therefore, "and
this
labour
is before me." As it were there is standing in my face a sort of wall, but
you
have
the voice of a Psalm, "In my God I shall pass over the wall."
17.
...And he has done this; for he says how long labour is before him; "until
I
enter
into the sanctuary of God, and understand upon the last things" (ver. 17).
A
great
thing it is, brethren: now for a long time I labour, he says, and before my
face
I see a sort of insuperable labour, to know in what manner both God is just,
and
does care for things human, and is not unjust because men sinning and doing
wicked
actions have happiness on this earth; but the godly and men serving God
are
wasted ofttimes in trials and in labours; a great difficulty it is to know
this, but
only
"until I enter into the Sanctuary of God." For in the Sanctuary what
is
presented
to you, in order that you may solve this question? "And I
understand,"
he
says, "upon the last things:" not present things. I, he says, from
the Sanctuary of
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Psalm 73
586
God
stretch out my eye unto the end, I pass over present things. All that which is
called
the human race, all that mass of mortality is to come to the balance, is to
come
to the scale, thereon will be weighed the works of men. All things now a
cloud
does enfold: but to God are known the merits of each severally. "And I
understand,"
he says, "upon the last things:" but not of myself; for before me
there
is
labour. Whence "may I understand upon the last things"? Let me enter
into the
Sanctuary
of God. In that place then he understood also the reason why these men
now
are happy.
18.
To wit, "because of deceitfulness You have set upon them" (ver. 18).
Because
deceitful
they are, that is fraudulent; because deceitful they are, they suffer deceits.
What
is this, because fraudulent they are they suffer a fraud? They desire to play a
fraud
upon mankind in all their naughtinesses, they themselves also suffer a fraud,
in
choosing earthly good things, and in forsaking the eternal. Therefore,
brethren,
in
their very playing off a fraud they suffer a fraud. In that which but now I
said,
brethren,
"What manner of wit has he who to gain a garment does lose his
fidelity?"
has he whose garment he has taken suffered a fraud, or he that is smitten
with
so great a loss? If a garment is more precious than fidelity, the former does
suffer
the greater loss: but if incomparably good faith does surpass the whole
world,
the latter shall seem to have sustained the loss of a garment; but to the
former
is said, "What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world, but suffer
the
loss
of his own soul?" Matthew 16:26 Therefore what has befallen them?
"Because
of deceitfulness You have set for them: You threw them down while
they
were being exalted." He has not said, You threw them down because they
were
lifted up: not as it were after that they were lifted up You threw them down;
but
in their very lifting up they were thrown down. For thus to be lifted up is
already
to fall.
19.
"How have they become a desolation suddenly?" (ver. 19). He is
wondering at
them,
understanding unto the last things. "They have vanished." Truly like
smoke,
which
while it mounts upward, does vanish, so they have vanished. How does he
say,
"They have vanished"? In the manner of one who understands the last
things:
"they
have perished because of their iniquity." "Like as the dream of one
rising
up"
(ver. 20). How have they vanished? As vanishes the dream of one rising up.
Fancy
a man in sleep to have seen himself find treasures; he is a rich man, but only
until
he awakes. "Like as the dream of one rising up:" so they have
vanished, like
the
dream of one awaking. It is sought then and it is not: there is nothing in the
hands,
nothing in the bed. A poor man he went to sleep, a rich man in sleep he
became:
had he not awoke, he were a rich man: he woke up, he found the care
which
he had lost while sleeping. And these men shall find the misery which they
had
prepared for themselves. When they shall have awoke from this life, that thing
does
pass away which was grasped as if in sleep. "Like as the dream of one
rising
up."
And that there might not be said, "What then? a small thing does their
glory
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Psalm 73
587
seem
to you, a small thing does their state seem to you, small things seem to you
inscriptions,
images, statues, distinctions, troops of clients?" "O Lord," he
says, "in
Your
city their image You shall bring to nothing."...He has taken away the
pride
of
rich men, he gives counsel. As if they were saying, We are rich men, thou dost
forbid
us to be proud, dost prohibit us from boasting of the parade of our riches:
what
then are we to do with these riches? Is it come to this, that there is nothing
which
they may do therewith? "Be they rich," he says, "in good works;
let them
readily
distribute, communicate." 1 Timothy 6:18 And what does this profit?
"Let
them
treasure unto themselves a good foundation for the future, that they may lay
hold
of true life." 1 Timothy 6:19 Where ought they to lay up treasure for
themselves?
In that place whereunto he set his eye, when entering into the
Sanctuary
of God. Let there shudder all our rich brethren, abounding in money,
gold,
silver, household, honours, let them shudder at that which but now has been
said,
"You shall bring to nothing their image." Are they not worthy to
suffer these
things,
to wit that God bring to nothing their image in His city, because also they
have
themselves brought to nothing the image of God in their earthly city?
20.
"Because my heart was delighted" (ver. 21). He is saying with what
things he
is
tempted: "because my heart was delighted," he says, "my reins
also were
changed."
When those temporal things delighted me, my reins were changed. It
may
also be understood thus: "because my heart was delighted" in God,
"my reins
also
were changed, that is, my lusts were changed, and I became wholly chaste.
"My
reins were changed." And hear how. "And I was brought unto nothing,
and I
knew
not" (ver. 22). I, the very man, who now say these things of rich men,
once
longed
for such things: therefore "even I was brought to nothing" when my
steps
were
almost overthrown. "And I was brought unto nothing, and I knew not."
We
must
not therefore despair even of them, against whom I was saying such things.
21.
What is, "I knew not"? "As it were a beast I became to You, and
I am alway
with
You" (ver. 23). There is a great difference between this man and others.
He
became
as it were a beast in longing for earthly things, when being brought to
nothing
he knew not things eternal: but he departed not from his God, because he
did
not desire these things of demons, of the devil. For this I have already
brought
to
your notice. The voice is from the Synagogue, that is, from that people which
served
not idols. A beast indeed I became, when desiring from my God things
earthly:
but I never departed from That my God.
22.
Because then, though having become a beast, I departed not from my God,
there
follows, "You have held the hand of my right hand." He has not said
my
right
hand, but "the hand of my right hand." If the hand of the right hand
it is, a
hand
has a hand. "The hand You have held of my right hand," in order that
You
might
conduct me. For what has he put hand? For power. For we say that a man
has
that in his hand which he has in his power: just as the devil said to God
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Psalm 73 588
concerning
Job, "Lay to Your hand, and take away the things which he has."
Job
1:11 What is, lay to Your hand? Put forth power. The hand of God he has
called
the power of God: as has been written in another place, "death and life
are
in
the hands of the tongue." Proverbs 18:21 Hath the tongue hands? But what
is, in
the
hands of the tongue? In the power of the tongue. What is, in the power of the
tongue?
"Out of your mouth you shall be justified, and out of your mouth you
shall
be condemned." Matthew 12:37 "You have held," therefore,
"the hand of my
right
hand," the power of my right hand. What was my right hand? That I was
alway
with You. Unto the left I was holding, because I became a beast, that is,
because
there was an earthly concupiscence in me: but the right was mine, because
I
was alway with you. Of this my right hand You have held the hand, that is, hast
directed
the power. What power? "He gave them power to become sons of God."
John
1:12 He is beginning now to be among the sons of God, belonging to the
New
Testament. See in what manner the hand of his right hand was held. "In
Your
will
You have conducted me." What is, "in your will"? Not in my
merits. What is,
"in
Your will"? Hear the apostle, who was at first a beast longing for things
earthly,
and living after the Old Testament. He says what? "I that at first was a
blasphemer,
and persecutor, and injurious: but mercy I obtained." 1 Timothy 1:13
What
is, "in Your will"? "By the grace of God I am what I am."
1
Corinthians 15:10 "And in glory You have taken me up." Now to what
glory he
was
taken up, and in what glory, who can explain, who can say? Let us await it,
because
in the Resurrection it will be, in the last things it will be.
23.
And he is beginning to think of that same Heavenly felicity, and to reprove
himself,
because he has been a beast, and has longed for things earthly. "For what
have
I in Heaven, and from You what have I willed upon earth?" (ver. 25). By
your
voice I see that you have understood. He compared with his earthly will the
heavenly
reward which he is to receive; he saw what was there being reserved for
him;
and while thinking and burning at the thought of some ineffable thing, which
neither
eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor into the heart of man has ascended,
1
Corinthians 2:9 he has not said, this or that I have in Heaven, but, "what
have I
in
Heaven?" What is that thing which I have in Heaven? What is it? How great
is
it?
Of what sort is it? "And," since that which I have in heaven does not
pass away,
"from
You what have I willed upon earth?"... Thou reservest, he says, for me in
Heaven
riches immortal, even Yourself, and I have willed from You on earth that
which
even ungodly men have, which even evil men have, which even abandoned
men
have, money, gold, silver, jewels, households, which even many wicked men
have:
which even many profligate women have, many profligate men: these things
as
a great matter I have desired of my God upon earth: though my God reserves
Himself
for me in Heaven!
24.
"My heart and my flesh has failed, O God of my heart" (ver. 26). This
then for
me
in Heaven has been reserved, "God of my heart, and my portion is my
God."
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What
is it, brethren? Let us find out our riches, let mankind choose their parts.
Let
us
see men torn with diversity of desires: let some choose war-service, some
advocacy,
some various and sundry offices of teaching, some merchandise, some
farming,
let them take their portions in human affairs: let the people of God cry,
"my
portion is my God." Not for a time "my portion;" but "my
portion is my God
for
everlasting." Even if I alway have gold, what have I? Even if I did not
alway
have
God, how great a good should I have? To this is added, that He promises
Himself
to me, and He promises that I shall have this for everlasting. So great a
thing
I have, and never have it not. Great felicity: "my portion is God!"
How long?
"For
everlasting." For behold and see after what sort He has loved him; He has
made
his heart chaste: "God of my heart, and my portion is God for
everlasting."
His
heart has become chaste, for nought now God is loved, from Him is not sought
any
other reward. He that does seek any other reward from God, and therefore is
willing
to serve God, more precious does make that which he wills to receive, than
Him
from whom he wills to receive. What then, is there no reward belonging to
God?
None except Himself. The reward belonging to God, is God Himself. This
he
loves, this he esteems; if any other thing he shall have loved, the love will not
be
chaste. You are receding from the Fire immortal, you will grow cold, will be
corrupted.
Do not recede. Recede not, it will be your corruption, it will be your
fornication.
Now he is returning, now he is repenting, now he is choosing
repentance,
now he is saying, "my portion is God." And after what sort is he
delighted
with that Same, whom he has chosen for his portion.
25.
"Behold, they that put themselves afar from You shall perish" (ver.
27). He
therefore
departed from God, but not far: for "I have become as it were a
beast,"
he
says, and "I am alway with You." But they have departed afar, because
not only
things
earthly they have desired, but have sought them from demons and the
Devil.
"They that put themselves afar from You shall perish." And what is
it, to
become
afar from God? "You have destroyed every man that commits fornication
away
from You." To this fornication is opposed chaste love. What is chaste
love?
Now
the soul does love her Bridegroom: what does she require of Him, from Her
Bridegroom
whom she loves? Perchance in like manner as women choose for
themselves
men either as sons-in-law or as bridegrooms: she perchance chooses
riches,
and loves his gold, and estates, and silver and cattle and horses, and
household,
and the like. Far be it. He does love Him alone, for nought he does love
Him:
because in Him he has all things, for "by Him were made all things."
John
1:3
26.
But you do what? "But for me to cleave to God is a good thing" (ver.
28). This
is
whole good. Will you have more? I grieve at your willing. Brethren, what will
you
have more? Than to cleave to God nothing is better, when we shall see Him
face
to face. 1 Corinthians 13:12 But now what? For yet as a stranger I am
speaking:
"to cleave," he says, "to God is a good thing:" but now in
my sojourning
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(for
not yet has come the substance), I have "to put in God my hope." So
long
therefore
as you have not yet cloven, therein put your hope. You are wavering,
cast
forward an anchor to the land. Not yet do you cleave by presence, cleave fast
by
hope. "To put in God my hope." And by doing what here will you put in
God
your
hope? What will be your business, but to praise Him whom you love, and to
make
others to be fellow-lovers of Him with you? Lo, if you should love a
charioteer,
would you not carry along other men to love him with you? A lover of
a
charioteer whithersoever he goes does speak of him, in order that as well as he
others
also may love him. For nought are loved abandoned men, and from God is
reward
required in order that He may be loved? Love thou God for nought, grudge
God
to no one .... For what follows? "In order that I may tell forth all Your
praises
in
the courts of the daughter of Sion." "In the courts:" for the
preaching of God
beside
the Church is vain. A small thing it is to praise God and to tell forth all His
praise.
In the courts of the daughter of Sion tell thou forth. Make for unity, do not
divide
the people; but draw them unto one, and make them one. I have forgotten
how
long I have been speaking. Now the Psalm being ended, even judging by this
closeness,
I suppose I have held a long discourse: but it does not suffice for your
zeal;
you are too impetuous. O that with this impetuosity ye would seize upon the
kingdom
of Heaven.
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Exposition
on Psalm 74
1.
This Psalm's Title is, "Of the Understanding of Asaph." Asaph in
Latin is
translated
congregation, in Greek Synagogue. Let us see what this Synagogue has
understood.
But let us understand firstly Synagogue: from thence we shall
understand
what the Synagogue has understood. Every congregation is spoken of
under
the general name of Synagogue: one both of beasts and of men may be
called
a congregation; but here there is no congregation of beasts when we heard
"understanding."...
for this the Psalm's Title does prescribe, saying, "Of the
understanding
of Asaph." It is therefore a certain understanding congregation
whereof
we are about to hear the voice. But since properly Synagogue is said of
the
congregation of the people of Israel, so that wheresoever we may have heard
Synagogue,
we are no longer wont to understand any but the people of the Jews;
let
us see whether perchance the voice in this Psalm be not of that same people.
But
of what sort of Jews and of what sort of people of Israel? For they are not of
the
chaff, but perchance of the grain; Matthew 3:12 not of the broken branches,
but
perchance of those that are strengthened. "For not all that are of Israel
are
Israelites."
Romans 9:6 ... There are therefore certain Israelites, of whom was he
concerning
whom was said, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom guile is not."
John
1:47 I do not say in the same manner as we are Israelites, for we also are the
seed
of Abraham. For to the Gentiles the Apostle was speaking, when he said,
"Therefore
the seed of Abraham you are, heirs according to promise."
Galatians
3:29 According to this therefore all we are Israelites, that follow the
footsteps
of the faith of our father Abraham. But let us understand here the voice
of
the Israelites in the same manner as the Apostle says, "For I also am an
Israelite,
of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin." Romans 11:1 Here
therefore
let us understand that whereof the Prophets have spoken, "a remnant
shall
be saved." Romans 9:27 Of the remnant therefore saved let us hear in this
place
the voice; in order that there may speak that Synagogue which had received
the
Old Testament, and was intent upon carnal promises; and by this means it
came
to pass that their feet were shaken. For in another Psalm, where too the title
has
Asaph, there is said what? "How good is the God of Israel to men right in
heart.
But my feet were almost moved." And as if we were saying, whence were
your
feet moved? "Well nigh," he says, "my steps were overthrown,
because I was
jealous
in the case of sinners, looking on the peace of sinners." For while
according
to the promises of God belonging to the Old Testament he was looking
for
earthly felicity, he observed it to abound with ungodly men; that they who
worshipped
not God were enriched with those things which he was looking for
from
God: and as though without cause he had served God, his feet tottered .... But
opportunely
it has chanced not by our own but by God's dispensation, that just
now
we heard out of the Gospel, that "the Law was given by Moses, Grace and
Truth
came by Jesus Christ." John 1:17 For if we distinguish between the two
Testaments,
Old and New, there are not the same Sacraments nor the same
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promises;
nevertheless, the same commandments for the most part .... When
examined
they are either all found to be the same, or there are scarce any in the
Gospel
which have not been spoken by the Prophets. The Commandments are the
same,
the Sacraments are not the same, the Promises are not the same. Let us see
wherefore
the commandments are the same; because according to these we ought
to
serve God. The Sacraments are not the same, for some Sacraments there are
giving
Salvation, others promising a Saviour. The Sacraments of the New
Testament
give Salvation, the Sacraments of the Old Testament did promise a
Saviour.
When therefore you have now the things promised, why do you seek the
things
promising, having now the Saviour? ... God through the New Testament has
taken
out of the hands of His sons those things which are like the playthings of
boys,
in order that He might give something more useful to them growing up, on
that
account must He be supposed not to have given those former things Himself.
He
gave both Himself. But the Law itself through Moses was given, Grace and
Truth
came through Jesus Christ: John 1:17 Grace because there is fulfilled
through
love that which by the letter was being enjoined, Truth because there is
being
rendered that which was promised. This thing therefore this Asaph has
understood.
In a word, all things which to the Jews had been promised have been
taken
away. Where is their kingdom? Where the Temple? Where the Anointing?
Where
is Priest? Where are now the Prophets among them? From what time there
came
He that by the Prophets was foretold, in that nation there is now nothing of
these
things; now she has lost things earthly, and not yet does seek things
Heavenly.
2.
You should not therefore hold fast things earthly, although God does bestow
them....
See ye how that in fearing to lose things earthly, the Jews slew the King of
Heaven.
And what was done to them? They lost even those very things earthly:
and
in the place where they slew Christ, there they were slain: and when, being
unwilling
to lose the land, they slew the Giver of life, that same land being slain
they
lost; and at that very time when they slew Him, in order that by that very time
they
might be admonished of the reason wherefore they suffered these things. For
when
the city of the Jews was overthrown, they were celebrating the Passover, and
with
many thousands of men the whole nation itself had met together for the
celebration
of that festival. In that place God (through evil men indeed, but yet
Himself
good; through unjust men, but Himself just and justly) did so take
vengeance
upon them, that there were slain many thousands of men, and the city
itself
was overthrown. Of this thing in this Psalm "the understanding of
Asaph"
does
complain, and in the very plaint the understanding as it were does distinguish
things
earthly from things heavenly, does distinguish the Old Testament from the
New
Testament: in order that you may see through what things you are passing,
what
you should look for, what to forsake, to what to cleave. Thus then he begins.
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3.
"Wherefore have You repelled us, O God, unto the end?" (ver. 1).
"Hast
repelled
unto the end," in the person of the congregation which is properly called
Synagogue.
"Wherefore have You repelled us, O God, unto the end?" He censures
not,
but inquires "wherefore," for what purpose, because of what have You
done
this?
What have You done? "You have repelled us unto the end." What is,
"unto
the
end"? Perchance even unto the end of the world. Have You repelled us unto
Christ,
who is the End to every one believing? Romans 10:4 For, "Wherefore have
You
repelled us, O God, unto the end?" "Your spirit has been angry at the
sheep of
Your
flock." Wherefore wast Thou angry at the sheep of Your flock, but because
to
things earthly we were cleaving, and the Shepherd we knew not?
4.
"Remember Thou Your congregation, which You have possessed from the
beginning"
(ver. 2). Can this by any means be the voice of the Gentiles? Hath He
possessed
the Gentiles from the beginning? Nay, but He has possessed the seed of
Abraham,
the people of Israel even according to the flesh, born of the Patriarchs
our
fathers: of whom we have become the sons, not by coming out of their flesh,
but
by imitating their faith. But those, possessed by God from the beginning, what
befell
them? "Remember Your congregation which You have possessed from the
beginning.
You have redeemed the rod of Your inheritance." That same
congregation
of Yours, being the rod of Your inheritance, You have redeemed.
This
same congregation he has called "the rod of the inheritance." Let us
look back
to
the first thing that was done, when He willed to possess that same
congregation,
delivering
it from Egypt, what sign He gave to Moses, when Moses said to Him,
"What
sign shall I give that they may believe me, that You have sent me? And
God
says to him, What do you bear in your hand? A rod. Cast it on to the
ground,"
etc.
Exodus 4:1-3 What does it intimate? For this was not done to no purpose. Let
us
inquire of the writings of God. To what did the serpent persuade man? To
death.
Therefore death is from the serpent. If death is from the serpent, the rod in
the
serpent is Christ in death. Therefore also when by serpents in the desert they
were
being bitten and being slain, the Lord commanded Moses to exalt a brazen
serpent
in the desert, and admonish the people that whosoever by a serpent had
been
bitten, should look thereupon and be made whole. Numbers 21:8 Thus also it
was
done: thus also men, bitten by serpents, were made whole of the venom by
looking
upon a serpent. John 3:14 To be made whole of a serpent is a great
Sacrament.
What is it to be made whole of a serpent by looking upon a serpent? It
is
to be made whole of death by believing in one dead. And nevertheless Moses
feared
and fled. Exodus 4:3 What is it that Moses fled from that serpent? What,
brethren,
save that which we know to have been done in the Gospel? Christ died
and
the disciples feared, and withdrew from that hope wherein they had been.
Luke
24:21 ... But, at that time some thousands of the Jews themselves, the
crucifiers
of Christ, believed: and because they had been found at hand, they so
believed
as that they sold all that they had, and the price of their goods before the
feet
of the Apostles they laid. Acts 4:34-35 Because then this thing was hidden,
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and
the redemption of the rod of God was to be more conspicuous in the Gentiles:
he
explains of what he says that which he has said, "You have redeemed the
rod of
Your
inheritance." This he has said not of the Gentiles in whom it was evident.
But
of what? "Mount Sion." Yet even Mount Sion can be otherwise
understood.
"That
one which You have dwelled in the same." In the place where the People
was
aforetime, where the Temple was set up, where the Sacrifices were celebrated,
where
at that time were all those necessary things giving promise of Christ. A
promise,
when the thing promised is bestowed is now become superfluous....
5.
"Lift up Your hand upon their pride at the end" (ver. 3). As You
repelled us at
the
end, so "lift up Your hand upon the pride of them at the end." The
pride of
whom?
Of those by whom Jerusalem was overthrown. But by whom was it, but by
the
kings of the Gentiles? Well was the hand of Him lifted up upon the pride of
them
at the end: for they too have now known Christ. "For the end of the Law is
Christ
for righteousness to every one believing." Romans 10:4 How well does he
wish
for them! As if angry he is speaking, and he is seeming to speak evil: and O
that
there would come to pass the evil which he speaks: nay now in the name of
Christ
that it is coming to pass let us rejoice. Now they holding the sceptre are
being
made subject to the Word of the Cross: now is coming to pass that which
was
foretold, "there shall adore Him all the kings of the earth, all nations
shall
serve
Him." Now on the brows of kings more precious is the sign of the Cross,
than
the jewel of a crown. "Lift up Your hand upon the pride of them at the
end.
How
great things has the enemy of malice wrought in Your holy places!" In
those
which
were Your holy places, that is, in the temple, in the priesthood, in all those
sacraments
which were at that time. In good sooth the enemy at that time wrought.
For
the Gentiles at that time who did this, were worshipping false Gods, were
adoring
idols, were serving demons: nevertheless they wrought many evil things
on
the Saints of God. When could they if they had not been permitted? But when
would
they have been permitted, unless those holy things, at first promised, were
no
longer necessary, when He that had promised was Himself holden? Therefore,
"how
great things has the enemy of malice wrought in Your holy places!"
6.
"And all they have boasted, that hate You" (ver. 4). Observe the
servants of
demons,
the servants of idols: such as at that time the Gentiles were, when they
overthrew
the temple and city of God, "and they boasted." "In the midst of
Your
festival."
Remember what I said, that Jerusalem was overthrown at the time when
the
very festival was being celebrated: at which festival they crucified the Lord.
Gathered
together they raged, gathered together they perished. "They have set
signs,
their own signs, and they have not known" (ver. 5). They had signs to
place
there,
their standards, their eagles, their own dragons, the Roman signs; or even
their
statues which at first in the temple they placed; or perchance "their
signs" are
the
things which they heard from the prophets of their demons. "And they have
not
known."
Have not known what? How "you should have had no power against Me,
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except
it had been given you from above." John 19:11 They knew not how that not
on
themselves honour was conferred, to afflict, to take, or overthrow the city,
but
their
ungodliness was made as it were the axe of God. They were made the
instrument
of Him enraged, not so as to be the kingdom of Him pacified. For God
does
that which a man also ofttime does. Sometimes a man in a rage catches up a
rod
lying in the way, perchance any sort of stick, he smites therewith his son, and
then
throwes the stick into the fire and reserves the inheritance for his son: so
sometime
God through evil men does instruct good men, and through the temporal
power
of them that are to be condemned He works the discipline of them that are
to
be saved. For why do you suppose, brethren, that discipline was even thus
inflicted
upon that nation, in order that it might perish utterly? How many out of
this
nation did afterwards believe, how many are yet to believe? Some are chaff,
others
grain; over both however there comes in the threshing-drag; but under one
threshing-drag
the one is broken up, the other is purged. How great a good has
God
bestowed upon us by the evil of Judas the traitor! By the very ferocity of the
Jews
how great a good was bestowed upon believing Gentiles! Christ was slain in
order
that there might be on the Cross One for him to look to who had been stung
by
the serpent....
7.
Now let us hasten over the verses following after the destruction of Jerusalem,
for
the reason that they are both evident, and it does not please me to tarry over
the
punishment
even of enemies. "As if in a forest of trees with axes, they have cut
down
the doors thereof at once; with mattock and hammer they have thrown Her
down"
(ver. 6). That is, conspiring together, with firm determination, "with
mattock
and hammer" they have thrown Her down. "They have burned with fire
Your
Sanctuary, they have defiled on the ground the Tabernacle of Your name"
(ver.
7).
8.
"They have said in their heart (the kindred of them is in one)"—Have
said
what?
"Come ye, let us suppress the solemnities of the Lord from the land"
(ver.
8).
"Of the Lord," has been inserted in the person of this man, that is,
in the person
of
Asaph. For they raging would not have called Him the Lord whose temple they
were
overthrowing. "Come ye, let us suppress all the solemnities of the Lord
from
the
land." What of Asaph? What understanding has Asaph in these words? What?
Doth
he not profit even by the discipline accorded? Is not the mind's crookedness
made
straight? Overthrown were all things that were at first: nowhere is there
priest,
nowhere Altar of the Jews, nowhere victim, nowhere Temple. Is there then
no
other thing to be acknowledged which succeeded this departing? Or indeed
would
this promissory sign have been taken away, unless there had come that
which
was being promised? Let us see therefore in this place now the
understanding
of Asaph, let us see if he profits by tribulation. Observe what he
says:
"Our signs we have not seen, no longer is there prophet, and us He will
not
know
as yet" (ver. 9). Behold those Jews who say that they are not known as
yet,
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that
is, that they are yet in captivity, that not yet they are delivered, do yet
expect
Christ.
Christ will come, but He will come as Judge; the first time to call,
afterwards
to sever. He will come, because He has come, and that He will come is
evident;
but hereafter from above He will come. Before you He was, O Israel. You
were
bruised because you stumbled against Him lying down: that you may not be
ground
to powder, observe Him coming from above. For thus it was foretold by
the
prophet: "Whoever shall stumble upon that stone shall be bruised, and upon
whomsoever
it shall have come, it shall grind him to powder." He does bruise
when
little, He shall grind to powder when great. Now your signs you see not, now
there
is no prophet: and you say, "and us He will not know as yet:" because
yourselves
know not Him as yet. "No longer is there a prophet; and us He will not
know
as yet."
9.
"How long, O God, shall the enemy revile?" (ver. 10). Cry out as if
forsaken, as
if
deserted: cry out like a sick man, who hast chosen rather to smite the
physician
than
to be made whole: not as yet does He know you. See what He has done, who
does
not know you as yet. For they to whom there has been no preaching of Him,
shall
see; and they that have not heard shall understand: and thou yet criest out,
"No
longer is there a prophet, and us He will not know as yet." Where is thine
understanding?
"The adversary does provoke Your name at the end." For this
purpose
the adversary does provoke Your name at the end, that being provoked
You
may reprove, reproving You may know them at the end: or certainly, "at the
end,"
in the sense of even unto the end.
10.
"Wherefore dost Thou turn away Your hand, and Your right hand from the
midst
of Your bosom unto the end?" (ver. 11). Again, another sign which was
given
to Moses. For in like manner as above from the rod was a sign, so also from
the
right hand now. For when that thing had been done concerning the rod, God
gave
a second sign: "thrust," He says, "your hand into your bosom,
and he thrust
it:
draw it forth, and he drew it forth: and it was found white," Exodus 4:6
that is,
unclean.
For whiteness on the skin is leprosy, Leviticus 13:25 not fairness of
complexion.
For the heritage of God itself, that is, His people, being cast out
became
unclean. But what says He to him? Draw it back into your bosom. He
drew
it back, and it was restored to its own colour. When doest Thou this, says this
Asaph?
How long dost Thou alienate Your right hand from Your bosom, so that
being
without unclean it remains? Draw it back, let it return to its colour, let it
acknowledge
the Saviour. "Wherefore do you turn away Your hand, and Your
right
hand from the midst of Your bosom unto the end?" These words he cries,
being
blind, not understanding, and God does what He does. For wherefore came
Christ?
"Blindness in part happened unto Israel, in order that the fulness of the
Gentiles
might enter in, and so all Israel might be saved." Romans 11:25 Therefore
now,
O Asaph, acknowledge that which has gone before, in order that you may at
least
follow, if you were not able to go before. For not in vain came Christ, or in
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vain
was Christ slain, or in vain did the corn fall into the ground; but it fell
that it
might
rise manifold. John 12:24 A serpent was lifted up in the desert, in order that
it
might cure of the poison him that was smitten. Numbers 21:9 Observe what was
done.
Do not think it to be a vain thing that He came: lest He find you evil, when
He
shall have come a second time.
11.
Asaph has understood, because on the Title of the Psalm there is,
"understanding
of Asaph." And what says he? "But God, our King before the
worlds,
has wrought Salvation in the midst of the earth" (ver. 12). On the one
hand
we
cry, "No longer is there prophet, and us He will not know as yet:"
but on the
other
hand, "our God, our King, who is before the worlds" (for He is
Himself in
the
beginning of the Word John 1:1 by whom were made the worlds), "has
wrought
Salvation in the midst of the earth." "God therefore, our King before
the
worlds,"
has done what? "has wrought Salvation in the midst of the earth:" and
I
am
yet crying as if forsaken! ...Now the Gentiles are awake, and we are snoring,
and
as though God has forsaken us, in dreams we are delirious. "He has wrought
Salvation
in the midst of the earth."
12.
Now therefore, O Asaph, amend yourself according to your understanding, tell
us
what sort of Salvation God has wrought in the midst of the earth. When that
earthly
Salvation of yours was overthrown, what did He do, what did He promise?
"You
confirmed in Your virtue the sea" (ver. 13). As though the nation of the
Jews
were
as it were dry land severed from the waves, the Gentiles in their bitterness
were
the sea, and on all sides they washed about that land: behold, "You have
confirmed
in Your virtue the sea," and the land remained thirsting for Your rain.
"You
have confirmed in Your virtue the sea, You have broken in pieces the heads
of
dragons in the water." Dragons' heads, that is, demons' pride, wherewith
the
Gentiles
were possessed, You have broken in pieces upon the water: for those
persons
whom they were possessing, Thou by Baptism hast delivered.
13.
What more after the heads of dragons? For those dragons have their chief, and
he
is himself the first great dragon. And concerning him what has He done that has
wrought
Salvation in the midst of the earth? Hear: "You have broken the head of
the
dragon" (ver. 14). Of what dragon? We understand by dragons all the demons
that
war under the devil: what single dragon then, whose head was broken, but the
devil
himself ought we to understand? What with him has He done? "You have
broken
the head of the dragon." That is, the beginning of sin. That head is the
part
which
received the curse, to wit that the seed of Eve should mark the head of the
serpent.
Genesis 3:15 For the Church was admonished to shun the beginning of
sin.
Which is that beginning of sin, like the head of a serpent? The beginning of
all
sin
is pride. Ecclesiastes 10:13 There has been broken therefore the head of the
dragon,
has been broken pride diabolical. And what with him has He done, that
has
wrought Salvation in the midst of the earth? "You have given him for a
morsel
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Psalm 74 598
to
the Ethiopian peoples." What is this? How do I understand the Ethiopian
peoples?
How but by these all nations? And properly by black men: for Ethiopians
are
black. They are themselves called to the faith who were black; the very same
indeed,
so that there is said to them, "for you were sometime darkness, but now
light
in the Lord."... Thence was also that calf which the people worshipped,
unbelieving,
apostate, seeking the gods of the Egyptians, forsaking Him who had
delivered
them from the slavery of the Egyptians: whence there was enacted that
great
Sacrament. For when Moses was thus angry with them worshipping and
adoring
the idol, Exodus 32:19 and, inflamed with zeal for God, was punishing
temporally,
in order that he might terrify them to shun death everlasting; yet the
head
itself of the calf he cast into the fire, and ground to powder, destroyed,
scattered
on the water, and gave to the people to drink: so there was enacted a
great
Sacrament. O anger prophetic, and mind not perturbed but enlightened! He
did
what? Cast it into the fire, in order that first the form itself may be
obliterated;
piece
by piece grind it down, in order that little by little it may be consumed: cast
it
into the water, give to the people to drink! What is this but that the
worshippers
of
the devil were become the body of the same? In the same manner as men
confessing
Christ become the Body of Christ; so that to them is said, "but you are
the
Body of Christ and the members." 1 Corinthians 12:27 The body of the devil
was
to be consumed, and that too by Israelites was to be consumed. For out of that
people
were the Apostles, out of that people the first Church .... Thus the devil is
being
consumed with the loss of his members. This was figured also in the serpent
of
Moses. For the magicians did likewise, and casting down their rods they
exhibited
serpents: but the serpent of Moses swallowed up the rods of all those
magicians.
Exodus 7:12 Let there be perceived therefore even now the body of the
devil:
this is what is coming to pass, he is being devoured by the Gentiles who
have
believed, he has become meat for the Ethiopian peoples. This again, may be
perceived
in, "You have given him for meat to the Ethiopian peoples," how that
now
all men bite him. What is, bite him? By reproving, blaming, accusing. Just as
has
been said, by way of prohibition indeed, but yet the idea expressed: "but
if you
bite
and eat up one another, take heed that you be not consumed of one another."
Galatians
5:15 What is, bite and eat up one another? You go to law with one
another,
you detract from one another, you heap revilings upon one another.
Observe
therefore now how that with these bitings the devil is being consumed.
What
man, when angry with his servant, even a heathen, would not say to him,
Satan?
Behold the devil given for meat. This says Christian, this says Jew, this
says
heathen: him he worships, and with him he curses!...
14.
"You have cleft the fountains and torrents" (ver. 15): in order that
they might
flow
with the stream of wisdom, might flow with the riches of the faith, might
water
the saltness of the Gentiles, in order that they might convert all unbelievers
into
the sweetness of the faith by their watering .... In some men the Word of God
becomes
a well of water springing up unto life eternal; John 4:14 but others
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Psalm 74 599
hearing
the Word, and not so keeping it as that they live well, yet not keeping
silence
with tongue, they become torrents. For they are properly called torrents
which
are not perennial: for sometimes also in a secondary sense torrent is used
for
river: as has been said, "with the torrent of Your pleasures You shall
give them
to
drink." For that torrent shall not ever be dried up. But torrents properly
are those
rivers
named, which in summer fail, but with winter rains are flooded and run.
You
see therefore a man sound in faith, that will persevere even unto the end, that
will
not forsake God in any trial; for the sake of the truth, not for the sake of
falsehood
and error, enduring all difficulties. Whence is this man so vigorous, but
because
the Word has become in him a well of water springing up unto life
eternal?
John 4:14 But the other receives the Word, he preaches, he is not silent,
he
runs: but summer proves whether he be fountain or torrent. Nevertheless
through
both be the earth watered, by Him who has wrought Salvation in the midst
of
the earth: let the fountains overflow, let the torrents run.
15.
"You have dried up the rivers of Etham" (ver. 15) .... What is Etham?
For the
word
is Hebrew. What is Etham interpreted? Strong, stout. Who is this strong and
stout
one, whose rivers God dries up? Who but that very dragon? For "no one
enters
into the house of a strong man that he may spoil his vessels, unless first he
shall
have bound fast the strong man." Mark 12:29 This is that strong man on his
own
virtue relying, and forsaking God: this is that strong man, who says, "I
will
set
my seat by the north, and I will be like the Most High." Isaiah 14:13 Out
of
that
very cup of perverse strength he has given man to drink. Strong they willed to
be,
who thought that they would be Gods by means of the forbidden food. Adam
became
strong, over whom was reproachfully said, "Behold, Adam has become
like
one of us." Genesis 3:22 ... As though they were strong, "to the
righteousness
of
God they have not been made subject." Romans 10:3 Observe ye that a man
has
put
out of the way his own strength, and remained weak, needy, standing afar off,
not
daring even to raise his eyes to Heaven; but smiting his breast, and saying,
"O
Lord,
merciful be Thou to me a sinner." Luke 18:13 Now he is weak, now he
confesses
his weakness, he is not strong: dry land he is, be he watered with
fountains
and torrents. They are as yet strong who rely on their own virtue. Be
their
rivers dried up, let there be no advancement in the doctrines of the Gentiles,
of
wizards, of astrologers, of magic arts: for dried up are the rivers of the
strong
man:
"You have dried up the rivers of Etham." Let there dry up that doctrine;
let
minds
be flooded with the Gospel of truth.
16.
"Your own is the day and Your own is the night" (ver. 16). Who is
ignorant of
this,
seeing that He has Himself made all these things; for by the Word were made
all
things? John 1:3 To that very One Himself who has wrought Salvation in the
midst
of the earth, to Him is said, "Your own is the night." Something here
we
ought
to perceive which belongs to that very Salvation which He has wrought in
the
midst of the earth. "Your own is the day." Who are these? The
spiritual. "And
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Psalm 74
600
Your
own is the night." Who are these? The carnal.... "You have made
perfect sun
and
moon:" the sun, spiritual men, the moon, carnal men. As yet carnal he is,
may
he
not be forsaken, and may he too be made perfect. The sun, as it were a wise
man:
the moon, as it were an unwise man: You have not however forsaken. For
thus
it is written, "A wise man endures as the sun, but a foolish man as the
moon is
changed."
Sirach 27:11 What then? Because the sun endures, that is, because the
wise
man endures as the sun, a foolish man is changed like the moon, is one as yet
carnal,
as yet unwise, to be forsaken? And where is that which has been said by
the
Apostle, "To the wise and unwise a debtor I am"? Romans 1:14
17.
"You have made all the ends of the earth" (ver. 17) .... Behold in
what manner
He
has made the ends of the earth, that has wrought Salvation in the midst of the
earth.
"You have made all the ends of the earth. Summer and spring You have
made
them." Men fervent in the Spirit are the summer. You, I say, hast made men
fervent
in the Spirit: You have made also the novices in the Faith, they are the
"spring."
"Summer and Spring You have made them." They shall not glory as if
they
have not received: "You have made them."
18.
"Mindful be Thou of this Your creature" (ver. 18). Of what creature
of Thine?
"The
enemy has reviled the Lord." O Asaph, grieve over thine old blindness in
understanding:
"the enemy has reviled the Lord." It was said to Christ in His own
nation,
"a sinner is this Man: we know not whence He is:" we know Moses, to
him
spoke
God; this Man is a Samaritan. "And the unwise people has provoked Your
name."
The unwise people Asaph was at that time, but not the understanding of
Asaph
at that time. What is said in the former Psalm? "As it were a beast I have
become
unto You, and I am alway with You:" because He went not to the gods
and
idols of the Gentiles. Although he knew not, being like a beast, yet he knew
again
as a man. For he said, "alway I am with You, like a beast:" and what
afterwards
in that place in the same Psalm, where Asaph is? "You have held the
hand
of my right hand, in Your will You have conducted me, and with glory You
have
taken me up." In Your will, not in my righteousness: by Your gift, not by
my
work.
Therefore here also, "the enemy has reviled the Lord: and the unwise
people
has
provoked Your name." Have they all then perished? Far be it .... For even
the
Apostle
Paul through unbelief had been broken, and through faith unto the root he
was
restored. So evidently "the unwise people provoked Your name," when
it was
said,
"If Son of God He is let Him come down from the Cross." Matthew 27:40
19.
But what do you say, O Asaph, now in understanding? "Deliver not to the
beasts
a soul confessing to You" (ver. 19) .... To what beasts, save to those the
heads
whereof were broken in pieces upon the water? For the same devil is called,
beast,
lion, and dragon. Do not, he says, give to the Devil and his Angels a soul
confessing
to You. Let the serpent devour, if still I mind things earthly, if for
things
earthly I long, if still in the promises of the Old Testament, after the
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Psalm 74
601
revealing
of the New, I remain. But forasmuch as now I have laid down pride, and
my
own righteousness I will not acknowledge, but Your Grace; against me let
proud
beasts have no power. "The souls of Your poor forget Thou not unto the
end."
Rich we were, strong we were: but You have dried up the rivers of Etham:
no
longer we establish our own righteousness, but we acknowledge Your Grace;
poor
we are, hearken to Your beggars. Now we do not dare to lift our eyes to
Heaven,
but smiting our breasts we say, "O Lord, be Thou merciful to me a
sinner."
Luke 18:13
20.
"Have regard unto Your Testament" (ver. 20). Fulfil that which You
have
promised:
the tables we have, for the inheritance we are looking. "Have regard
unto
Your Testament," not that old one: not for the sake of the
ask,
not for the sake of the temporal subduing of enemies, not for the sake of
carnal
fruitfulness of sons, not for the sake of earthly riches, not for the sake of
temporal
welfare: "Have regard unto Your Testament," wherein You have
promised
the
understanding
is Asaph, no beast is Asaph, now he sees that which was spoken of,
"Behold,
the days come, says the Lord, and I will accomplish with the House of
their
Fathers." "Have regard unto Your Testament: for they that have been
darkened
have been filled of the earth of unrighteous houses:" because they had
unrighteous
hearts. Our "houses" are our hearts: therein gladly dwell they that
are
blessed
with pure heart. Matthew 5:8 "Have regard," therefore, "unto
Your
Testament:"
and let the remnant be saved: Romans 9:27 for many men that give
heed
to earth are darkened, and filled with earth. For there has entered into their
eyes
dust, and it has blinded them, and they have become dust which the wind
sweeps
from the face of the earth. "They that have been darkened have been filled
of
the earth of unrighteous houses." For by giving heed to earth they have
been
darkened,
concerning whom there is said in another Psalm, "Let their eyes be
blinded,
that they see not, and their back ever bow Thou down." With earth, then,
"they
that have been darkened have been filled, with the earth of unrighteous
houses:"
because they have unrighteous hearts....
21.
"Let not the humble man be turned away confounded" (ver. 21). For
them
pride
has confounded. "The needy and helpless man shall praise Your name."
You
see,
brethren, how sweet ought to be poverty: ye see that poor and helpless men
belong
to God, but "poor in spirit, for of them is the
Matthew
5:3 Who are the poor in spirit? The humble, men trembling at the words
of
God, confessing their sins, neither on their own merits, nor on their own
righteousness
relying. Who are the poor in spirit? They who when they do
anything
of good, praise God, when anything of evil, accuse themselves. "Upon
whom
shall rest My Spirit," says the Prophet, "but upon the humble man,
and
peaceful,
and trembling at My words?" Isaiah 66:2 Now therefore Asaph has
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Psalm 74
602
understood,
now to the earth he adheres not, now the earthly promises out of the
Old
Testament he requires not....
22.
"Arise, O Lord, judge Thou my cause" (ver. 22) .... Because I am not
able to
show
my God, as if I were following an empty thing, they revile me. And not only
Heathen,
or Jew, or heretic; but sometimes even a Catholic brother does make a
grimace
when the promises of God are being preached, when a future resurrection
is
being foretold. And still even he, though already washed with the water of
eternal
Salvation, bearing the Sacrament of Christ, perchance says, "and what man
has
yet risen again?" And, "I have not heard my father speaking out of
the grave,
since
I buried him!" "God has given to His servants a law for time, to
which let
them
betake themselves: for what man comes back from beneath?" And what shall
I
do with such men? Shall I show them what they see not? I am not able: for not
for
the sake of them ought God to become visible .... I see not, he says: what am I
to
believe? Your soul is seen then, I suppose? Fool, your body is seen: your soul
who
does see? Since therefore your body alone is seen, why are you not buried?
He
marvels that I have said, If body alone is seen, why are you not buried? And he
answers
(for he knows as much as this), Because I am alive. How know I that you
are
alive, of whom I see not the soul? How know I? You will answer, Because I
speak,
because I walk, because I work. Fool, by the operations of the body I know
you
to be living, by the works of creation can you not know the Creator? And
perchance
he that says, when I shall be dead, afterwards I shall be nothing; has
both
learned letters, and has learned this doctrine from Epicurus, who was a sort of
doting
philosopher, or rather lover of folly not of wisdom, whom even the
philosophers
themselves have named the hog: who said that the "chief good" was
pleasure
of body; this philosopher they have named the hog, wallowing in carnal
mire.
From him perchance this lettered man has learned to say, I shall not be, after
I
have died. Dried be the rivers of Etham! Perish those doctrines of the
Gentiles,
flourish
the plantations of
what
they cannot see! Certainly all those things which throughout the world now
are
seen, when God was working Salvation in the midst of the earth, when those
things
were being spoken of, they were not then as yet: and behold at that time
they
were foretold, now they are shown as fulfilled, and still the fool says in his
heart,
"there is no God." Woe to the perverse hearts: for so will there come
to pass
the
things which remain, as there have come to pass the things which at that time
were
not, and were being foretold as to come to pass. Hath God indeed performed
to
us all the things which He promised, and concerning the Day of Judgment alone
has
He deceived us? Christ was not on the earth; He promised, He has performed:
no
virgin had conceived; He promised, He has performed: the precious Blood had
not
been shed whereby there should be effaced the handwriting of our death; He
promised,
He has performed: not yet had flesh risen again unto life eternal; He
promised,
He has performed: not yet had the Gentiles believed; He promised, He
has
performed: not yet heretics armed with the name of Christ, against Christ were
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Psalm 74
603
warring;
He foretold, He has performed: not yet the idols of the Gentiles from the
earth
had been effaced; He foretold, He has performed: when all these things He
has
foretold and performed, concerning the Day of Judgment alone has He lied? It
will
come by all means as these things came; for even these things before they
came
to pass were future, and as future were first foretold, and afterwards they
came
to pass. It will come, my brethren. Let no one say, it will not come: or, it
will
come,
but far off is that which will come. But to yourself it is near at hand to go
hence
.... If you shall have done that which the devil does suggest, and shall have
despised
that which God has commanded; there will come the Judgment Day, and
you
will find that true which God has threatened, and that false which the devil
has
promised....
"Remember Your reproaches, those which are from the imprudent
man
all the day long." For still Christ is reviled: nor will there be wanting
all the
day
long, that is, even unto the end of time, the vessels of wrath. Still is it
being
said,
"Vain things the Christians do preach:" still is it being said,
"A fond thing is
the
resurrection of the dead." "Remember Your reproaches." But what
reproaches,
save
those "which are from the imprudent man all the day long?" Doth a
prudent
man
say this? Nay, for a prudent man is said to be one far-seeing. If a prudent man
is
one far-seeing, by faith he sees afar: for with eyes scarce that before the
feet is
seen.
23.
"Forget not the voice of them that implore You" (ver. 23). While they
groan
for
and expect now that which You have promised from the New Testament, and
walk
by that same Faith, "do Thou not forget the voice of them imploring
You."
But
those still say, "Where is Your God? Let the pride of them that hate You
come
up
always to You." Do not forget even their pride. Nor does He forget: no
doubt
He
does either punish or amend.
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604
Exposition
on Psalm 75
1.
...The Title of this Psalm thus speaks: "At the end, corrupt not."
What is,
"corrupt
not?" That which You have promised, perform. But when? "At the
end."
To
this then let the mind's eye be directed, "unto the end." Let all the
things which
have
occurred in the way be passed over, in order that we may attain to the end.
Let
proud men exult because of present felicity, let them swell with honours,
glitter
in gold, overflow with domestics, be encircled with the services of clients:
these
things pass away, they pass away like a shadow. When that end shall have
come,
when all who now hope in the Lord are to rejoice, then to them shall come
sorrow
without end. When the meek shall have received that which the proud
deride,
then the vapouring of the proud shall be turned into mourning. Then shall
there
be that voice which we know in the Book of Wisdom: for they shall say at
that
time when they see the glory of the Saints, who, when they were in
humiliation,
endured them; who, when they were exalted, consented not—at that
time
then they shall say, "These are they whom sometime we have had in
derision."
Wisdom 5:3 Where they also say, "What has pride profited us, and the
boasting
of riches has bestowed upon us what?" All things have passed away like
a
shadow. Because on things corruptible they relied, their hope shall be
corrupted:
but
our own hope at that time shall be substance. For in order that the promise of
God
may remain whole and sure and certain towards us, we have said out of a
heart
of faith, "at the end corrupt not." Fear not, therefore, lest any
mighty man
should
corrupt the promises of God. He does not corrupt, because He is truthful;
He
has no one more mighty by whom His promise may be corrupted: let us be
then
sure concerning the promises of God; and let us sing now from the place
where
the Psalm begins.
2.
"We will confess to You, O Lord, we will confess to You, and will invoke
Your
name"
(ver. 1). Do not invoke, before thou confess: confess, and invoke. For Him
whom
you are invoking, unto yourself you call. For what is it to invoke, but unto
yourself
to call? If He is invoked by you, that is, if He is called to you, unto whom
does
He draw near? To a proud man He draws not near. High indeed He is, one
lifted
up attains not unto Him. In order that we may reach all exalted objects, we
raise
ourselves, and if we are not able to reach them, we look for some appliances
or
ladders, in order that being exalted we may reach exalted objects: contrariwise
God
is both high, and by the lowly He is reached. It is written, "Nigh is the
Lord to
them
that have bruised the heart." The bruising of the heart is Godliness,
humility.
He
that bruises himself is angry with himself. Let him make himself angry in order
that
he may make Him merciful; let him make himself judge, in order that he may
make
Him Advocate. Therefore God does come when invoked. Unto whom does
He
come? To the proud man He comes not.... Take heed therefore what ye do: for
if
He knows, He is not unobservant. It is better therefore that He be unobservant
than
known. For what is that same being unobservant, but not knowing? What is,
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605
not
to know? Not to animadvert. For even as the act of one avenging
animadversion
is wont to be spoken of. Here one praying that He be unobservant:
"Turn
away Your face from my sins." What then will you do if He shall have
turned
away His face from you? A grievous thing it is, and to be feared, lest He
forsake
you. Again, if He turn not away His face, He animadverts. God knows this
thing,
God can do this thing, namely, both turn away face from one sinning, and
not
turn away from one confessing.... Confess therefore and invoke. For by
confessing
you purge the
Confess
and invoke. May He turn away face from your sins, not turn away from
you:
turn away face from that which you have wrought, not turn away from that
which
He has Himself wrought. For you, as man, He has Himself wrought, your
sins
you have yourself wrought....
3.
But that there is a strengthening of the sense in repetition, by many passages
of
the
Scriptures we are taught. Thence is that which the Lord says, "Verily,
Verily."
John
1:51 Thence in certain Psalms is, "So be it, So be it." To signify
the thing,
one
"So be it" would have been sufficient: to signify confirmation, there
has been
added
another "So be it."...Countless passages of such sort there are
throughout all
the
Scriptures. With these it is sufficient that we have commended to your notice a
way
of speaking which you may observe in all like cases: now to the substance
attend:
"We will confess to You," he says, "and we will invoke." I
have said why
before
invocation confession does precede: because he whom you invoke, you
invite.
But he wills not to come when invoked, if you shall have been lifted up:
lifted
up if you shall have been, you will not be able to confess. And you deny not
any
things to God that He knows not. Therefore your confession does not teach
Him,
but it purges you.
4.
...Hear ye now the words of Christ. For these seemed not as it were to be His
words,
"We will confess to You, O God, we will confess to You, and will invoke
Your
name." Now begins the discourse in the person of the Head. But whether
Head
speaks or whether members speak, Christ speaks: He speaks in the person of
the
Head, He speaks in the person of the Body. But what has been said? There
shall
be two in one flesh. Genesis 2:24 "This is a great Sacrament:"
"I," he says,
"speak
in Christ and in the Church." Ephesians 5:32 And He Himself in the
Gospel,
"Therefore no longer two, but one flesh." Matthew 19:6 For in order
that
you
may know these in a manner to be two persons, and again one by the bond of
marriage,
as one He speaks in Isaiah, and says, "As upon a Bridegroom he has
bound
upon me a mitre, and as a Bride he has clothed me with an ornament."
Isaiah
6 1: 10 A Bridegroom He has called Himself in the Head, a Bride in the
Body.
He is speaking therefore as One, let us hear Him, and in Him let us also
speak.
Let us be the members of Him, in order that this voice may possibly be ours
also.
"I will tell forth," he says, "all Your marvellous things."
Christ is preaching
Himself,
He is preaching Himself even in His members now existing, in order that
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He
may guide unto Him others, and they may draw near that were not, and may be
united
with those members of Him, through which members of Him the Gospel
has
been preached; and there may be made one Body under one Head, in one
Spirit,
in one Life.
5.
And he says what? "When I shall have received," he says, "the
time, I will judge
justices"
(ver. 2). When shall He judge justices? When He shall have received the
time.
Not yet is the precise time. Thanks to His mercy: He first preaches justices,
and
then He judges justices. For if He willed to judge before He willed to preach,
who
would be found that should be delivered: who would meet Him that should be
absolved?
Now therefore is the time of preaching: "I will tell," he says,
"all Your
marvellous
works." Hear Him telling, hear Him preaching: for if you shall have
despised
Him, "when I shall have received the time," He says, "I will
judge
justices."
I forgive, He says, now sins to one confessing, I will not spare hereafter
one
despising .... He has received a time as Son of Man; He does govern times as
Son
of God. Hear how as Son of Man He has received the time of judging. He
says
in the Gospel, "He has given to Him power to execute judgment, because Son
of
Man He is." John 5:27 According to His nature as Son of God, He has never
received
power of judging, because He never lacked the power of judging:
according
to His nature as Son of Man He has received a time, as of being born,
and
of suffering, as of dying, and of rising again, and of ascending, so of coming
and
of judging. In Him His Body also says these words, for not without them He
will
judge. For He says in the Gospel, "You shall sit upon twelve thrones
judging
the
twelve tribes of
Head
and Body in the Saints, "when I shall have received the time, I will judge
justices."
6.
But now what? "The earth has flowed down" (ver. 3). If the earth has
flowed
down,
whence has it flowed down except by sins? Therefore also they are called
delinquencies.
To delinquish is as it were by a kind of liquidity to slip down from
the
stability of firmness in virtue and righteousness. For it is through desire of
lower
things that every man sinneth: as he is strengthened by the love of higher
things,
so he falls down and as it were melts away by desire of lower things. This
flux
of things by the sins of man the merciful forgiver observing, being a merciful
forgiver
of sins, not yet an exactor of punishments, He observes and says: The
earth
herself indeed has flowed down by them that dwell in her. That which
follows
is an exposition, not an addition. As though thou were saying, in what
manner
has the earth flowed down? Have the foundations been withdrawn, and
has
anything therein been swallowed up in a sort of gulf? What I mean by earth is
all
they that dwell therein. I have found, he says, the earth sinful. And I have
done
what?
"I have strengthened the pillars thereof." What are the pillars which
He has
strengthened?
Pillars He has called the Apostles. So the Apostle Paul concerning
his
fellow-Apostles says, "who seemed to be pillars." Galatians 2:9 And
what
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would
those pillars have been, except by Him they had been strengthened? For on
occasion
of a sort of earthquake even these very pillars rocked: at the Passion of
the
Lord all the Apostles despaired. Therefore those pillars which rocked at the
Passion
of the Lord, by the Resurrection were strengthened. The Beginning of the
building
has cried out through the pillars thereof, and in all those pillars the
Architect
Himself has cried out. For the Apostle Paul was one pillar of them when
he
said, "Would ye receive a proof of Him that speaks in me—Christ?"
2
Corinthians 13:3 Therefore, "I," he says, "have strengthened the
pillars thereof:"
I
have risen again, I have shown that death is not to be feared, I have shown to
them
that fear, that not even the body itself does perish in the dying. There
terrified
them wounds, there strengthened them scars. The Lord Jesus could have
risen
again without any scar: for what great matter were it for that power, to
restore
the frame of the body to such perfect soundness, as that no trace at all of
past
wound should appear? He had power whence He might make it whole even
without
scar: but He willed to have that whereby He might strengthen the rocking
pillars.
7.
We have heard now, brethren, that which day by day is not kept secret: let us
hear
now what He has cried through these pillars .... He cries what? "I have
said to
unjust
men, Do not unjustly" (ver. 4) .... But already they have done, and they
are
guilty:
already there has flowed down the earth, and all they that dwell therein.
Pricked
to the heart were they that crucified Christ, Acts 2:37 they acknowledged
their
sin, they learned something of the Apostle, that they might not despair of the
pardon
of the Preacher. For as Physician He had come, and therefore had not come
to
the whole. "For there is no need," He says, "to the whole of a
physician, but to
them
that are sick. I have not come to call righteous men, but sinners to
repentance."
Matthew 9:12-13 Therefore, "I have said to unjust men, Do not
unjustly."
They heard not. For of old to us it was spoken: we heard not, we fell,
were
made mortal, were begotten mortal: the earth flowed down. Let them hear
the
Physician even now in order that they may rise, Him that came to the sick man,
Him
whom they would not hear when whole in order that they might not fall, let
them
hear when lying down in order that they may rise.... "I have said to
unjust
men,
Do not unjustly; and to the delinquent, Do not exalt your horn." There
shall
be
exalted in you the horn of Christ, if your horn be not exalted. Your horn is of
iniquity,
the horn of Christ is of majesty.
8.
"Be not therefore lifted up: speak not iniquity against God" (ver. 5)
.... What
says
He in another Psalm? "These things you have done," having enumerated
certain
sins. "These things you have done," He says, "and was
silent." What is, "I
was
silent"? He is never silent with commandment, but meanwhile He is silent
with
punishment: He is keeping still from vengeance, He does not pronounce
sentence
against the condemned. But this man says thus, I have done such and
such
things, and God has not taken vengeance; behold I am whole, nought of ill
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has
befallen me. "These things you have done, and I was silent: you have
suspected
iniquity, that I shall be like unto you." What is, "that I shall be
like unto
you"?
Because you are unjust, even Me you have deemed unjust; as though an
approver
of your misdeeds, and no adversary, no avenger thereof. And what
afterwards
says He to you? "I will convict you, and will set you before your own
face"?
What is this? Because now by sinning behind your back you set yourself,
seest
not yourself, examinest not yourself; I will set you before yourself, and will
bring
upon you punishment from yourself. So also here, "Speak not iniquity
against
God." Attend. Many men speak this iniquity; but dare not openly, lest as
blasphemers
they be abhorred by godly men: in their heart they gnaw upon these
things,
within they feed upon such impious food; it delights them to speak against
God,
and if they break not out with tongue, in heart they are not silent. Whence in
another
Psalm is said, "The fool has said in his heart, There is no God." The
fool
has
said, but he has feared men: he would not say it where men might hear; and he
said
it in that place where He might Himself hear concerning whom he said it.
Therefore
here also in this Psalm (dearly beloved attend), whereas that which He
said,
"Do not speak iniquity against God," this He saw many men do in
heart, He
has
also added, "for neither from East, nor from West, nor from the deserts of
the
mountains
(ver. 6), for God is Judge" (ver. 7). Of your iniquities God is Judge. If
God
He is, everywhere He is present. Whither will you take yourself away from
the
eyes of God, so that in some quarter you may speak that which He may not
hear?
If from the East God judges, withdraw into the West, and say what you will
against
God: if from the West, go into the East, and there speak: if from the deserts
of
the mountains He judges, go into the midst of the peoples, where you may
murmur
to yourself. From no place judges He that everywhere is secret,
everywhere
open; whom it is allowed no one to know as He is, and whom no one
is
permitted not to know. Take heed what you doest. You are speaking iniquity
against
God. "The Spirit of the Lord has filled the round world" (another
Scripture
says
this), "and that which contains all things has knowledge of the voice:
wherefore
he that speaks unjust things cannot be hid." Wisdom 1:7-8 Do not
therefore
think God to be in places: He is with you such an one as you shall have
been.
What is such an one as you shall have been? Good, if you shall have been
good;
and evil to you He will seem, if evil you shall have been; but a Helper, if
good
you shall have been; an Avenger, if evil you shall have been. There you have
a
Judge in your secret place. Willing to do something of evil, from the public
you
retire
into your house, where no enemy may see; from those places of your house
which
are open and before the eyes of men, you remove yourself into a chamber;
you
fear even in your chamber some witness from some other quarter, you retire
into
your heart, there you meditate. He is more inward than your heart.
Whithersoever
therefore you shall have fled, there He is. From yourself whither
will
you flee? Will you not follow yourself whithersoever you shall flee? But since
there
is One more inward even than yourself, there is no place whither you may
flee
from God angry, but to God reconciled. There is no place at all whither you
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may
flee. Will you flee from Him? Flee to Him.... What then shall we do now?
"Let
us come before His face," en ecomologhsei, come before in confession: He
shall
come gentle whom you had made angry. "Neither from the deserts of the
mountains,
for God is Judge:" not from the East, not from the West, not from the
deserts
of the mountains. Wherefore? "For God is Judge." If in any place He
were,
He
would not be God: but because God is Judge, not man, do not expect Him out
of
places. His place you will be, if you are good, if after having confessed you
shall
have invoked Him.
9.
"One He humbles, and another He exalts" (ver. 7). Whom humbles, whom
exalts
this Judge? Observe these two men in the temple, and you see whom He
humbles
and whom He exalts. "They went up into the
"the
one a Pharisee, and the other a Publican...."Verily I say unto you, that
Publican
went down justified more than that Pharisee: for every one that exalts
himself
shall be humbled; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted." Thus has
been
explained a verse of this Psalm. God the Judge does what? "One He humbles,
and
another He exalts:" He humbles the proud, He exalts the humble.
10.
"For the cup in the hand of the Lord of pure wine is full of mixed"
(ver. 8).
Justly
so. "And He has poured out of this upon this man; nevertheless, the dreg
thereof
has not been emptied; there shall drink all the sinners of earth." Let us
be
somewhat
recruited; there is here some obscurity.... The first question that meets
us
is this, "of pure wine it is full of mixed." How "of pure,"
if "of mixed"? But
when
he says, "the cup in the hand of the Lord" (to men instructed in the
Church
of
Christ I am speaking), you ought not indeed to paint in your heart God as it
were
circumscribed with a human form, lest, though the temples are shut up, you
forge
images in your hearts. This cup therefore does signify something. We will
find
out this. But "in the hand of the Lord," is, in the power of the
Lord. For the
hand
of God is spoken of for the power of God. For even in reference to men
ofttimes
is said, in hand he has it: that is, in his power he has it, when he chooses
he
does it. "Of pure wine it is full of mixed." In continuation he has
himself
explained:
"He has inclined," he says, "from this unto this man;
nevertheless the
dreg
thereof has not been emptied." Behold how it was full of mixed wine. Let
it
not
therefore terrify you that it is both pure and mixed: pure because of the
genuineness
thereof, mixed because of the dreg. What then in that place is the
wine,
and what the dreg? And what is, "He has inclined from this unto this
man,"
in
such sort that the dreg thereof was not emptied?
11.
Call ye to mind from whence he came to this: "one He humbles, and another
He
exalts." That which was figured to us in the Gospel through two men, a
Pharisee
and a Publican, Luke 18:10 this let us, taking in a wider sense,
understand
of two peoples, of Jews and of Gentiles: the people of the Jews that
Pharisee
was, the people of the Gentiles that Publican .... As those by being proud
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have
withdrawn, so these by confessing have drawn near. The cup therefore full of
pure
wine in the hand of the Lord, as far as the Lord gives me to understand,... the
cup
of pure wine full of the mixed, seems to me to be the Law, which was given to
the
Jews, and all that Scripture of the Old Testament, as it is called; there are
the
weights
of all manner of sentences. For therein the New Testament lies concealed,
as
though in the dreg of corporal Sacraments. The circumcision of the flesh is a
thing
of great mystery, and there is understood from thence the circumcision of the
heart.
The
from
it the Body of the Lord. The land of promise is understood to be the
but
in all those kinds of sacrifices is understood that one Sacrifice and only
victim
of
the Cross, the Lord, instead of all which sacrifices we have one; because even
those
figured these, that is, with those these were figured. That people received the
Law,
they received commandments just and good. Exodus 20:1-17 What is so just
as,
you shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you
shall
not
speak false testimony, honour your father and mother, you shall not covet the
property
of your neighbour, one God you shall adore, and Him alone you shall
serve,
all these things belong to the wine. But those things carnal have as it were
sunk
down in order that they might remain with them, and there might be poured
forth
from thence all the spiritual understanding. But "the cup in the hand of
the
Lord,"
that is, in the power of the Lord: "of pure wine," that is, of the
mere Law:
"is
full of mixed," that is, is together with the dreg of corporal Sacraments.
And
because
the one He humbles, the proud Jew, and the other He exalts, the
confessing
Gentile; "He has inclined from this unto this," that is, from the
Jewish
people
unto the Gentile people. Hath inclined what? The Law. There has distilled
from
thence a spiritual sense. "Nevertheless, the dreg thereof has not been
emptied,"
for all the carnal Sacraments have remained with the Jews. "There shall
drink
all the sinners of the earth." Who shall drink? "All the sinners of
the earth."
Who
are the sinners of the earth? The Jews were indeed sinners, but proud: again,
the
Gentiles were sinners, but humble. All sinners shall drink, but see, who the
dreg,
who the wine. For those by drinking the dreg have come to nought: these by
drinking
the wine have been justified. I would dare to speak of them even as
inebriated,
and I shall not fear: and O that all you were thus inebriated. Call to
mind,
"Your cup inebriating, how passing beautiful!" But why? Do ye think,
my
brethren,
that all those who by confessing Christ even willed to die, were sober?
So
drunk they were, that they knew not their friends. All their kindred, who
strove
to
divert them from the hope of Heavenly rewards by earthly allurements, were not
acknowledged,
were not heard by them drunken. Were they not drunken, whose
heart
had been changed? Were they not drunken, whose mind had been alienated
from
this world? "There shall drink," he says, "all the sinners of
the earth." But
who
shall drink the wine? Sinners shall drink, but in order that they may not
remain
sinners; in order that they may be justified, in order that they may not be
punished.
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Psalm 75 611
12.
"But I," for all drink, but separately I, that is, Christ with His
Body, "for ever
will
rejoice, I will Psalm to the God of Jacob" (ver. 9): in that promise to be
at the
end,
whereof is said, "corrupt not." "And all the horns of sinners I
will break, and
there
shall be exalted the horns of the Just" (ver. 10). This is, the one He
humbles,
the
other He exalts. Sinners would not have their horns to be broken, which
without
doubt will be broken at the end. You will not have Him then break them,
do
thou today break them. For you have heard above, do not despise it: "I
have
said
to unjust men, Do not unjustly, and to the delinquents, Do not exalt the
horn."
When
you have heard, do not exalt the horn, you have despised and hast exalted
the
horn: you shall come to the end, where there shall come to pass, "All the
horns
of
sinners I will break, and there shall be exalted the horns of the Just."
The horns
of
sinners are the dignities of proud men: the horns of the Just are the gifts of
Christ.
For by horns exultations are understood. Thou hatest on earth earthly
exultation,
in order that you may have the heavenly. Thou lovest the earthly, He
does
not admit you to the Heavenly: and unto confusion will belong your horn
which
is broken, just as unto glory it will belong, if your horn is exalted. Now
therefore
there is time for making choice, then there will not be. You will not say,
I
will be let go and will make choice. For there have preceded the words, "I
have
said
to the unjust." If I have not said, make ready an excuse, make ready a
defence:
but if I have said, seize first upon confession, lest you come unto
damnation;
for then confession will be too late, and there will be no defence.
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Psalm 76
612
Exposition
on Psalm 76
1.
The Jews are wont to glory in this Psalm which we have sung, saying,
"Known
in
Judća is God, in
whom
God is not known, and to say that to themselves alone God is known;
seeing
that the Prophet says, "Known in Judća is God." In other places
therefore
He
is unknown. But God is known in very deed in Judća, if they understand what
is
Judća. For indeed God is not known except in Judća. Behold even we say this,
that
except a person shall have been in Judća, known to him God cannot be. But
what
says the Apostle? He that in secret is a Jew, he that is so in circumcision of
the
heart, not in letter but in spirit. Romans 2:29 There are therefore Jews in
circumcision
of the flesh, and there are Jews in circumcision of the heart. Many of
our
holy fathers had both the circumcision of the flesh, for a seal of the faith,
and
circumcision
of the heart, for the faith itself. From these fathers these men
degenerating,
who now in the name do glory, and have lost their deeds; from these
fathers,
I say, degenerating, they have remained Jews in flesh, in heart Heathens.
For
these are Jews, who are out of Abraham, from whom Isaac was born, and out
of
him Jacob, and out of Jacob the twelve Patriarchs, and out of the twelve
Patriarchs
the whole people of the Jews. But they were generally called Jews for
this
reason, that
twelve,
and from his stock the Royalty came among the Jews. For all this people
after
the number of the twelve sons of Jacob, had twelve tribes. What we call
tribes
are as it were distinct houses and congregations of people. That people, I
say,
had twelve tribes, out of which twelve tribes one tribe was
which
were the kings; and there was another tribe, Levi, out of which were the
priests.
But because to the priests serving the temple no land was allotted,
Numbers
18:20 but it was necessary that among twelve tribes all the Land of
promise
should be shared: there having been therefore taken out one tribe of
higher
dignity, the tribe of Levi, which was of the priests, there would have
remained
eleven, unless by the adoption of the two sons of Joseph the number
twelve
were completed.
What
this is, observe. One of the twelve sons of Jacob was Joseph .... This Joseph
had
two sons, Ephraim and Manasse. Jacob, dying, as though by will, received
those
his grandsons into the number of sons, and said to his son Joseph, "The
rest
that
are born shall be to you; but these to me, and they shall divide the land with
their
brethren." Genesis 48:5 As yet there had not been given nor divided the
land
of
promise, but he was speaking in the Spirit, prophesying. The two sons therefore
of
Joseph being added, there were made up nevertheless twelve tribes, since now
there
are thirteen. For instead of one tribe of Joseph, two were added, and there
were
made thirteen. There being taken out then the tribe of Levi, that tribe of
priests
which did serve the
whom
the land was divided, there remain twelve. In these twelve was the tribe of
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Psalm 76
613
1
Samuel 9:1 and he was rejected as being an evil king; after there was given
from
the
tribe of
Kings.
1 Samuel 16:12 But Jacob had spoken of this, when he blessed his sons,
"there
shall not fail a prince out of Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until there
come
He to whom the promise has been made." Genesis 49:10 But from the tribe
of
you
have but now heard, out of the seed of David born of Mary. 2 Timothy 2:8
But
as regards the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, wherein He is equal with the
Father,
He is not only before the Jews, but also before Abraham himself;
John
8:58 nor only before Abraham, but also before Adam; nor only before Adam,
but
also before Heaven and earth and before ages: for all things by Himself were
made,
and without Him there was made nothing. John 1:3 Because therefore in
prophecy
has been said, "there shall not fail a prince out of
Genesis
49:10 former times are examined, and we find that the Jews always had
their
kings of the tribe of
was
king when the Lord was born. Thence began foreign kings, from Herod.
Luke
3:1 Before Herod all were of the tribe of
come
He to whom the promise had been made. Therefore when the Lord Himself
came,
the kingdom of the Jews was overthrown, and removed from the Jews. Now
they
have no king; because they will not acknowledge the true King. See now
whether
they must be called Jews. Now ye do see that they must not be called
Jews.
They have themselves with their own voice resigned that name, so that they
are
not worthy to be called Jews, except only in the flesh. When did they sever
themselves
from the name? They said, "We have no king but Cćsar." John 19:15
O
you who are called Jews and are not, if you have no king but Cćsar, there has
failed
a Prince of Judah: there has come then He to whom the promise has been
made.
They then are more truly Jews, who have been made Christians out of Jews:
the
rest of the Jews, who in Christ have not believed, have deserved to lose even
the
very name. The true Judća, then, is the
King,
who has come out of the tribe of
in
Him of whom the Apostle was just now speaking, in writing to Timothy, "Be
thou
mindful that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, of the seed of David, after
my
Gospel." 2 Timothy 2:8 For of Judah is David, and out of David is the Lord
Jesus
Christ. We believing in Christ do belong to
Christ.
We, that with eyes have not seen, in faith do keep Him. Let not therefore
the
Jews revile, who are no longer Jews. They said themselves, "We have no
king
but
Cćsar." John 19:15 For better were it for them that their king should be
Christ,
of
the seed of David, of the tribe of
of
the seed of David after the flesh, but God above all things blessed for ever,
Romans
9:5 He is Himself our King and our God; our King, inasmuch as born of
the
tribe of
who
is before
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614
John
1:3 both spiritual and corporal. For if all things by Himself were made; even
Mary
herself, out of whom He was born, by Himself was made....
2.
"Known in Judća is God, in
Concerning
they
were not the true Jews, so neither was that the true
said
to be? One seeing God. And how have they seen God, among whom He
walked
in the flesh; and while they supposed Him to be man, they slew Him?... "In
the
Lord says, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom guile is not." John
1:47 If a
true
Israelite is he in whom guile is not, the guileful and lying are not true
Israelites.
Let them not say then, that with them is God, and great is His name in
Name."
3.
"And there has been made in peace a place for Him, and His habitation is
in
Sion"
(ver. 2). Again, Sion is as it were the country of the Jews; the true Sion is
the
handed
down to us: Judća is interpreted confession,
Judća
is
is
made a place for God; because "there has been made in peace a place for
Him."
So
long as then you confess not your sins, in a manner you are quarrelling with
God.
For how are you not disputing with Him, who art praising that which
displeases
Him? He punishes a thief, you praise theft: He punishes a drunken man,
you
praise drunkenness. You are disputing with God, you have not made for Him
a
place in your heart: because in peace is His place. And how do you begin to
have
peace
with God? Thou beginnest with Him in confession. There is a voice of a
Psalm,
saying, "Begin ye to the Lord in confession." What is, "Begin ye
to the
Lord
in confession"? Begin ye to be joined to the Lord. In what manner? So that
the
same thing may displease you as displeases Him. There displeases Him your
evil
life; if it please yourself, you are disunited from Him; if it displease you,
through
confession to Him you are united....
4.
"There He has broken the strength of bows, and the shield, and the sword,
and
the
battle" (ver. 3). Where has He broken? In that eternal peace, in that
perfect
peace.
And now, my brethren, they that have rightly believed see that they ought
not
to rely on themselves: and all the might of their own menaces, and whatsoever
is
in them whetted for mischief, this they break in pieces; and whatsoever they
deem
of great virtue wherewith to protect themselves temporally, and the war
which
they were waging against God by defending their sins, all these things He
has
broken there.
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Psalm 76
615
5.
"Thou enlightening marvellously from the eternal mountains" (ver. 4).
What are
the
eternal mountains? Those which He has Himself made eternal; which are the
great
mountains, the preachers of truth. Thou dost enlighten, but from the eternal
mountains:
the great mountains are first to receive Your light, and from Your light
which
the mountains receive, the earth also is clothed. But those great mountains
the
Apostles have received, the Apostles have received as it were the first streaks
of
the rising light .... Wherefore also, in another place, a Psalm says what?
"I have
lifted
up my eyes unto the mountains, whence there shall come help to me." What
then,
in the mountains is your hope, and from thence to you shall there come help?
Have
you stayed at the mountains? Take heed what you do. There is something
above
the mountains: above the mountains is He at whom the mountains tremble.
"I
have lifted up," he says, "my eyes unto the mountains, whence there
shall come
help
to me." But what follows? "My help," he says, "is from the
Lord, who has
made
Heaven and earth." Unto the mountains indeed I have lifted up eyes,
because
through
the mountains to me the Scriptures were displayed: but I have my heart in
Him
that does enlighten all mountains....
6.
"There have been troubled all the unwise in heart" (ver. 5) .... How
have they
been
troubled? When the Gospel is preached. And what is life eternal? And who is
He
that has risen from the dead? The Athenians wondered, when the Apostle Paul
spoke
of the resurrection of the dead, and thought that he spoke but fables. But
because
he said that there was another life which neither eye has seen, nor ear
heard,
nor has it gone up into the heart of man, 1 Corinthians 2:9 therefore the
unwise
in heart were troubled. But what has befallen them? "They have slept their
sleep,
and all men of riches have found nothing in their hands." They have loved
things
present, and have gone to sleep in the midst of things present: and so these
very
present things have become to them delightful: just as he that sees in a dream
himself
to have found treasure, is so long rich as he wakes not. The dream has
made
him rich, waking has made him poor. Sleep perchance has held him
slumbering
on the earth, and lying on the hard ground, poor and perchance a
beggar;
in sleep he has seen himself to lie on an ivory or golden bed, and on
feathers
heaped up; so long as he is sleeping, he is sleeping well, waking he has
found
himself on the hard ground, whereon sleep had taken him. Such men also
are
these too: they have come into this life, and through temporal desires, they
have
as it were slumbered here; and them riches, and vain pomps that fly away,
have
taken, and they have passed away: they have not understood how much of
good
might be done therewith. For if they had known of another life, there they
would
have laid up unto themselves the treasure which here was doomed to perish:
like
as Zacchćus, the chief of the Publicans, saw that good when he received the
Lord
Jesus in his house, and he says, "The half of my goods I give to the poor,
and
if
to any man I have done any wrong, fourfold I restore." Luke 19:8 This man
was
not
in the emptiness of men dreaming, but in the faith of men awake....
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7.
"By Your chiding, O God of Jacob, there have slept all men that have
mounted
horses"
(ver. 6). Who are they that have mounted horses? They that would not be
humble.
To sit on horseback is no sin; but it is a sin to lift up the neck of power
against
God, and to deem one's self to be in some distinction. Because you are
rich,
you have mounted; God does chide, and you sleep. Great is the anger of Him
chiding,
great the anger. Let your Love observe the terrible thing. Chiding has
noise,
the noise is wont to make men wake. So great is the force of God chiding,
that
he said, "By Your chiding, O God of Jacob, there have slept all men that
have
mounted
horses." Behold what a sleep that Pharaoh slept who mounted horses. For
he
was not awake in heart, because against chiding he had his heart hardened.
Exodus
14:8 For hardness of heart is slumber. I ask you, my brethren, how they
sleep,
who, while the Gospel is sounding, and the Amen, and the Hallelujah,
throughout
the whole world, yet will not condemn their old life, and wake up unto
a
new life. There was the Scripture of God in Judća only, now throughout the
whole
world it is sung. In that one nation one God who made all things was
spoken
of, as to be adored and worshipped; now where is He unsaid? Christ has
risen
again, though derided on the Cross; that very Cross whereon He was derided,
He
has now imprinted on the brows of kings: and men yet sleep....
8.
"You are terrible, and who shall withstand You at that time by Your
anger?"
(ver.
7). Now they sleep, and perceive not You angry; but for cause that they
should
sleep, He was angry. Now that which sleeping they perceived not, at the
end
they shall perceive. For there shall appear the Judge of quick and dead.
"And
who
shall withstand You at that time by Your anger?" For now they speak that
which
they will, and they dispute against God and say, who are the Christians? or
who
is Christ? or what fools are they that believe that which they see not, and
relinquish
the pleasures which they see, and follow the faith of things which are
not
displayed to their eyes! You sleep and snore, ye speak against God, as much as
you
are able. "How long shall sinners, O Lord, how long shall sinners glory,
they
answer
and will speak iniquity?" But when does no one answer and no one speak,
except
when he turns himself against himself?...
9.
"From Heaven You have hurled judgment: the earth has trembled, and has
rested"
(ver. 8). She which now does trouble herself, she which now speaks, has to
fear
at the end and to rest. Better had she now rested, that at the end she might
have
rejoiced. Rested? When? "When God arose unto judgment, that He might
save
all the meek in heart" (ver. 9). Who are the meek in heart? They that on
snorting
horses have not mounted, but in their humility have confessed their own
sins.
"For the thought of a man shall confess to You, and the remnants of the
thought
shall celebrate solemnities to You" (ver. 10). The first is the thought,
the
latter
are the remnants of the thought. What is the first thought? That from whence
we
begin, that good thought whence you will begin to confess. Confession unites
us
to Christ. But now the confession itself, that is, the first thought, does
produce
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in
us the remnants of the thought: and those very "remnants of thought shall
celebrate
solemnities to You." What is the thought which shall confess? That
which
condemns the former life, that whereunto that which it was is displeasing,
in
order that it may be that which it was not, is itself the first thought. But
because
thus
you ought to withdraw from sins, with the first thought after having confessed
to
God, that it may not escape your memory that you have been a sinner; in that
you
have been a sinner, thou dost celebrate solemnities to God. Furthermore it is
to
be understood as follows. The first thought has confession, and departure from
the
old life. But if you shall have forgotten from what sins you have been
delivered,
thou dost not render thanks to the Deliverer, and dost not celebrate
solemnities
to your God. Behold the first confessing thought of Saul the Apostle,
now
Paul, who at first was Saul, when he heard a voice from Heaven! ...He put
forth
the first thought of obedience: when he heard, "I am Jesus of Nazareth,
whom
you persecute." "O Lord," he says, "what dost Thou bid me
to do?"
Acts
9:5-6 This is a thought confessing: now he is calling upon the Lord, whom he
persecuted.
In what manner the remnants of the thought shall celebrate
solemnities,
in the case of Paul you have heard, when the Apostle himself was
being
read: "Be thou mindful that Christ Jesus has risen from the dead, of the
seed
of
David, after my Gospel." 2 Timothy 2:8 What is, be thou mindful? Though
effaced
from your memory be the thought, whereby at first you have confessed: be
the
remnant of the thought in the memory....
10.
Even once was Christ sacrificed for us, when we believed; then was thought;
but
now there are the remnants of thought, when we remember Who has come to
us,
and what He has forgiven us; by means of those very remnants of thought, that
is,
by means of the memory herself, He is daily so sacrificed for us, as if He were
daily
renewing us, that has renewed us by His first grace. For now the Lord has
renewed
us in Baptism, and we have become new men, in hope indeed rejoicing,
in
order that in tribulation we may be patient: Romans 12:12 nevertheless, there
ought
not to escape from our memory that which has been bestowed upon us. And
if
now your thought is not what it was,—for the first thought was to depart from
sin:
but now thou dost not depart, but at that time departed,—be there remnants of
thought,
lest He who has made whole escape from memory....
11.
"Vow ye, and pay to the Lord our God" (ver. 11). Let each man vow
what he is
able,
and pay it. Do not vow and not pay: but let every man vow, and pay what he
can.
Be not slow to vow: for you will accomplish the vows by powers not your
own.
You will fail, if on yourselves ye rely: but if on Him to whom you vow ye
rely,
you will be safe to pay. "Vow ye, and pay to the Lord our God." What
ought
we
all in common to vow? To believe in Him, to hope from Him for life eternal, to
live
godly according to a measure common to all. For there is a certain measure
common
to all men. To commit no theft is not a thing enjoined merely upon one
devoted
to continence, and not enjoined upon the married woman: to commit no
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618
adultery
is enjoined upon all men: not to love wine-bibbing, whereby the soul is
swallowed
up, and does corrupt in herself the
alike:
not to be proud, is enjoined to all men alike: not to slay man, not to hate a
brother,
not to lay a plot to destroy any one, is enjoined to all in common. The
whole
of this we all ought to vow. There are also vows proper for individuals: one
vowes
to God conjugal chastity, that he will know no other woman besides his
wife:
so also the woman, that she will know no other man besides her husband.
Other
men also vow, even though they have used such a marriage, that beyond this
they
will have no such thing, that they will neither desire nor admit the like: and
these
men have vowed a greater vow than the former. Others vow even virginity
from
the beginning of life, that they will even know no such thing as those who
having
experienced have relinquished: and these men have vowed the greatest
vow.
Others vow that their house shall be a place of entertainment for all the
Saints
that may come: a great vow they vow. Another vowes to relinquish all his
goods
to be distributed to the poor, and go into a community, into a society of the
Saints:
a great vow he does vow. "Vow ye, and pay to the Lord our God." Let
each
one
vow what he shall have willed to vow; let him give heed to this, that he pay
what
he has vowed. If any man does look back with regard to what he has vowed
to
God, it is an evil. Some woman or other devoted to continence has willed to
marry:
what has she willed? The same as any virgin. What has she willed? The
same
as her own mother. Hath she willed any evil thing? Evil certainly. Why?
Because
already she had vowed to the Lord her God. For what has the apostle Paul
said
concerning such? Though he says that young widows may marry if they will:
1
Timothy 5:14 nevertheless he says in a certain passage, "but more blessed
she
will
be, if so she shall have remained, after my judgment." 1 Corinthians 7:40
He
shows
that she is more blessed, if so she shall have remained; but nevertheless that
she
is not to be condemned, if she shall have willed to marry. But what says he
concerning
certain who have vowed and have not paid? "Having," he says,
"judgment,
because the first faith they have made void." 1 Timothy 5:12 What is,
"the
first faith they have made void"? They have vowed, and have not paid. Let
no
brother
therefore, when placed in a monastery, say, I shall depart from the
monastery:
for neither are they only that are in a monastery to attain unto the
answer
him, but they have not vowed; you have vowed, you have looked back.
When
the Lord was threatening them with the day of judgment, He says what?
"Remember
wife?
She was delivered from
the
place where she looked back, there she remained. For she became a statue of
salt,
Genesis 19:26 in order that by considering her men might be seasoned, might
have
sense, might not be infatuated, might not look back, lest by giving a bad
example
they should themselves remain and season others. For even now we are
saying
this to certain of our brethren, whom perchance we may have seen as it
were
weak in the good they have purposed. And will you be such an one as he
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Psalm 76
619
was?
We put before them certain who have looked back. They are savourless in
themselves,
but they season others, inasmuch as they are mentioned, in order that
fearing
their example they may not look back. "Vow ye, and pay." For that
wife of
from
her place whither she had arrived she looked back. A widow who had vowed
so
to remain has willed to marry, she has willed the thing which was lawful to her
who
has married, but to herself was not lawful, because from her place she has
looked
back. There is a virgin devoted to continence, already dedicated to God; let
her
have also the other gifts which truly do adorn virginity itself, and without
which
that virginity is unclean. For what if she be uncorrupt in body and corrupt in
mind?
What is it that he has said? What if no one has touched the body, but if
perchance
she be drunken, be proud, be contentious, be talkative? All these things
God
does condemn. If before she had vowed, she had married, she would not have
been
condemned: she has chosen something better, has overcome that which was
lawful
for her; she is proud, and does commit so many things unlawful. This I say,
it
is lawful for her to marry before that she vowes, to be proud is never lawful.
O
thou
virgin of God, you have willed not to marry, which is lawful: thou dost exalt
yourself,
which is not lawful. Better is a virgin humble, than a married woman
humble:
but better is a married woman humble, than a virgin proud. But she that
looked
back upon marriage is condemned, not because she has willed to marry;
but
because she had already gone before, and is become the wife of
back.
Be not slow, that are able, whom God does inspire to seize upon higher
callings:
for we do not say these things in order that you may not vow, but in order
that
you may vow and may pay. Now because we have treated of these matters,
thou
perchance wast willing to vow, and now art not willing to vow. But observe
what
the Psalm has said to you. It has not said, "Vow not;" but, "Vow
and pay."
Because
you have heard, "pay," will you not vow? Therefore were you willing
to
vow,
and not to pay? Nay, do both. One thing is done by your profession, another
thing
will be perfected by the aid of God. Look to Him who does guide you, and
you
will not look back to the place whence He is leading you forth. He that guides
you
is walking before you; the place from whence He is guiding you is behind
you.
Love Him guiding, and He does not condemn you looking back.
12.
"All they that are in the circuit of Him shall offer gifts." Who are
in the circuit
of
Him? ... Whatever is common to all is in the midst. Why is it said to be in the
midst?
Because it is at the same distance from all, and at the same proximity to all.
That
which is not in the middle, is as it were private. That which is public is set
in
the
middle, in order that all they that come may use the same, may be enlightened.
Let
no one say, it is mine: lest he should be wanting to make his own share of that
which
is in the midst for all. What then is, "All they that are in the circuit
of Him
shall
offer gifts"? All they that understand truth to be common to all, and who
do
not
make it as it were their own by being proud concerning it, they shall offer
gifts;
because they have humility: but they that make as it were their own that
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which
is common to all, as though it were set in the middle, are endeavouring to
lead
men astray to a party, these shall not offer gifts.... "To Him
terrible." Let
therefore
all men fear that are in the circuit of Him. For therefore they shall fear,
and
with trembling they shall praise; because they are in the circuit of Him, to
the
end
that all men may attain unto Him, and He may openly meet all, and openly
enlighten
all. This is, to stand in awe with others. When you have made him as it
were
your own, and no longer common, you are exalted unto pride; though it is
written,
"Serve ye the Lord in fear, and exult unto Him with trembling."
Therefore
they
shall offer gifts, who are in the circuit of Him. For they are humble who know
truth
to be common to all.
13.
To whom shall they offer gifts? "To Him terrible, and to Him that takes
away
the
spirit of princes" (ver. 12). For the spirits of princes are proud
spirits. They
then
are not His Spirits; for if they know anything, their own they will it to be,
not
public;
but, that which sets Himself forth as equal toward all men, that sets
Himself
in the midst, in order that all men may take as much as they can, whatever
they
can; not of what is any man's, but of what is God's, and therefore of their own
because
they have become His. Therefore they must needs be humble: they have
lost
their own spirit, and they have the Spirit of God .... For if you shall have
confessed
yourself dust, God out of dust does make man. All they that are in the
circuit
of Him do offer gifts. All humble men do confess to Him, and do adore
Him.
"To Him terrible they offer gifts." Whence to Him terrible exult ye
with
trembling:
"and to Him that takes away the spirit of princes:" that is, that
takes
away
the haughtiness of proud men. "To Him terrible among the kings of the
earth."
Terrible are the kings of the earth, but He is above all, that does terrify the
kings
of the earth. Be thou a king of the earth, and God will be to you terrible.
How,
will you say, shall I be a king of the earth? Rule the earth, and you will be a
king
of the earth. Do not therefore with desire of empire set before your eyes
exceeding
wide provinces, where you may spread abroad your kingdoms; rule
thou
the earth which you bear. Hear the Apostle ruling the earth: "I do not so
fight
as
if beating air, but I chasten my body, and bring it into captivity, lest
perchance
preaching
to other men, I myself become a reprobate." 1 Corinthians 9:26-27...
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Psalm 77
621
Exposition
on Psalm 77
1.
This Psalm's lintel is thus inscribed: "Unto the end, for Idithun, a Psalm
to
Asaph
himself." What "Unto the end" is, you know. Idithun is
interpreted "leaping
over
those men," Asaph is interpreted "a congregation." Here
therefore there is
speaking
"a congregation that leaps over," in order that it may reach the End,
which
is Christ Jesus....
2.
"With my voice," he says, "to the Lord I have cried" (ver.
1). But many men cry
unto
the Lord for the sake of getting riches and avoiding losses, for the safety of
their
friends, for the security of their house, for temporal felicity, for secular
dignity,
lastly, even for mere soundness of body, which is the inheritance of the
poor
man. For such and such like things many men do cry unto the Lord; scarce
one
for the sake of the Lord Himself. For an easy thing it is for a man to desire
anything
of the Lord, and not to desire the Lord Himself; as if forsooth that which
He
gives could be sweeter than Himself that gives. Whosoever therefore does cry
unto
the Lord for the sake of any other thing, is not yet one that leaps over ....
He
does
indeed hearken to you at the time when thou dost seek Himself, not when
through
Himself thou dost seek any other thing. It has been said of some men,
"They
cried, and there was no one to save them; to the Lord, and He hearkened not
unto
them." For why? Because the voice of them was not unto the Lord. This the
Scripture
does express in another place, where it says of such men, "On the Lord
they
have not called." Unto Him they have not ceased to cry, and yet upon the
Lord
they have not called. What is, upon the Lord they have not called? They have
not
called the Lord unto themselves: they have not invited the Lord to their heart,
they
would not have themselves inhabited by the Lord. And therefore what has
befallen
them? "They have trembled with fear where fear was not." They have
trembled
about the loss of things present, for the reason that they were not full of
Him,
upon whom they have not called. They have not loved gratis, so that after the
loss
of temporal things they could say, "As it has pleased the Lord, so has
been
done,
be the name of the Lord blessed." Job 1:21 Therefore this man says,
"My
voice
is unto the Lord, and He does hearken unto me." Let him show us how this
comes
to pass.
3.
"In the day of tribulation I have sought out God" (ver. 2). Who are
you that
doest
this thing? In the day of your tribulation take heed what you seek out. If a
jail
be the cause of tribulation, you seek to get forth from jail: if fever be the
cause
of
tribulation, you seek health: if hunger be the cause of tribulation, you seek
fulness:
if losses be the cause of tribulation, you seek gain: if expatriation be the
cause
of tribulation, you seek the home of your flesh. And why should I name all
things,
or when could I name all things? Do you wish to be one leaping over? In
the
day of your tribulation seek out God: not through God some other thing, but
out
of tribulation God, that to this end God may take away tribulation, that you
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Psalm 77
622
may
without anxiety cleave unto God. "In the day of my tribulation, I have
sought
out
God:" not any other thing, but "God I have sought out." And how
have you
sought
out? "With my hands in the night before Him."...
4.
Tribulation must not be thought to be this or that in particular. For every
individual
that does not yet leap over, thinks that as yet to be no tribulation, unless
it
be a thing which may have befallen this life of some sad occasion: but this
man,
that
leaps over, does count this whole life to be his tribulation. For so much does
he
love his supernal country, that the earthly pilgrimage is of itself the
greatest
tribulation.
For how can this life be otherwise than a tribulation, I pray you? how
can
that not be a tribulation, the whole whereof has been called temptation? You
have
it written in the book of Job, Job 7:1 is not human life a temptation upon
earth?
Hath he said, human life is tempted upon earth? Nay, but life itself is a
temptation.
If therefore temptation, it must surely be a tribulation. In this
tribulation
therefore, that is to say in this life, this man that leaps over has sought
out
God. How? "With my hands," he says. What is, "with my
hands"? With my
works.
For he was not seeking any thing corporeal, so that he might find and
handle
something which he had lost, so that he might seek with hands coin, gold,
silver,
vesture, in short everything which can be held in the hands. Howbeit, even
our
Lord Jesus Christ Himself willed Himself to be sought after with hands, when
to
His doubting disciple He showed the scars. John 20:27... What then, to us
belongs
not the seeking with hands? It belongs to us, as I have said, to seek with
works.
When so? "In the night." What is, "in the night"? In this
age. For it is night
until
there shine forth day in the glorified advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. For
would
ye see how it is night? Unless we had here had a lantern, we should have
remained
in darkness. For Peter says," We too have more sure the prophetic
discourse,
whereunto ye do well to give heed, as to a lantern shining in a dark
place,
until day shine, and the day-star arise in your hearts." 2 Peter 1:19
There is
therefore
to come day after this night, meanwhile in this night a lantern is not
lacking.
And this is perchance what we are now doing: by explaining these
passages,
we are bringing in a lantern, in order that we may rejoice in this night.
Which
indeed ought alway to be burning in your houses. For to such men is said,
"The
Spirit quench ye not." And as though explaining what he was saying, he
continues
and says, "Prophecy despise ye not:" that is, let the lantern alway
shine
in
you. And even this light by comparison with a sort of ineffable day is called
night.
For the very life of believers by comparison with the life of unbelievers is
day
.... Night and day—day in comparison with unbelievers, night in comparison
with
the Angels. For the Angels have a day, which we have not yet. Already we
have
one that unbelievers have not: but not yet have believers that which Angels
have:
but they will have, at the time when they will be equal to the Angels of God,
that
which has been promised to them in the Resurrection. Matthew 22:30 In this
then
which is now day and yet night; night in comparison with the future day for
which
we yearn, day in comparison with the past night which we have renounced:
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Psalm 77
623
in
this night then, I say, let us seek God with our hands. Let not works cease,
let us
seek
God, be there no idle yearning. If we are in the way, let us expend our means
in
order that we may be able to reach the end. With hands let us seek God....
"With
my
hands in the night before Him, and I have not been deceived."
5.
... "My soul has refused to be comforted" (ver. 2). So great
weariness did here
possess
me, that my soul did close the door against all comfort. Whence such
weariness
to him? It may be that his vineyard has been hailed on, or his olive has
yielded
no fruit, or the vintage has been interrupted by rain. Whence the weariness
to
him? Hear this out of another Psalm. For therein is the voice of the same:
"weariness
has bowed me down, because of sinners forsaking Your law." He says
then
that he was overcome with so great weariness because of this sort of evil
thing;
so as that his soul refused to be comforted. Weariness had well nigh
swallowed
him up, and sorrow had ingulfed him altogether beyond remedy, he
refuses
to be comforted. What then remained? In the first place, see whence he is
comforted.
Had he not waited for one who might condole with him?... "I have
been
mindful of God, and I have been delighted" (ver. 3). My hands had not
wrought
in vain, they had found a great comforter. While not being idle, "I have
been
mindful of God, and I have been delighted." God must therefore be praised,
of
whom this man being mindful, has been delighted, and has been comforted in
sorrowful
case, and refreshed when safety was in a manner despaired of: God must
therefore
be praised. In fine, because he has been comforted, in continuation he
says,
"I have babbled." In that same comfort being made mindful of God, I
have
been
delighted, and have "babbled." What is, "I have babbled"? I
have rejoiced, I
have
exulted in speaking. For babblers they are properly called, that by the
common
people are named talkative, who at the approach of joy are neither able
nor
willing to be silent. This man has become such an one. And again he says
what?
"And my spirit has fainted."
6.
With weariness he had pined away; by calling to mind God, he had been
delighted,
again in babbling he had fainted: what follows? "All mine enemies have
anticipated
watches" (ver. 4). All mine enemies have kept watch over me; they
have
exceeded in keeping watch over me; in watching they have been beforehand
with
me. Where do they not lay traps? Have not mine enemies anticipated all
watches?
For who are these enemies, but they of whom the Apostle says, "You
have
not wrestling against flesh and blood." Ephesians 6:12 ... Against the
devil
and
his angels we are waging hostilities. Rulers of the world he has called them,
because
they do themselves rule the lovers of the world. For they do not rule the
world,
as if they were rulers of heaven and earth: but he is calling sinners the
world....
With the devil and his angels there is no concord. They do themselves
grudge
us the
because
"all mine enemies have anticipated watches." They have watched more
to
deceive
than I to guard myself. For how can they have done otherwise than
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anticipate
watches, that have set everywhere scandals, everywhere traps?
Weariness
does invest the heart, we have to fear lest sorrow swallow us up: in joy
to
fear lest the spirit faint in babbling: "all mine enemies have anticipated
watches."
In fine, in the midst of that same babbling, whiles you are speaking, and
art
speaking without fear, how much is oft-times found which enemies would lay
hold
of and censure, whereon they would even found accusation and slander—"he
said
so, he thought so, he spoke so!" What should man do, save that which
follows?
"I have been troubled, and I spoke not." Therefore when he was
troubled,
lest
in his babbling enemies anticipating watches should seek and find slanders, he
spoke
not....
7.
"I have thought on ancient days" (ver. 5). Now he, as if he were one
who had
been
beaten out of doors, has taken refuge within: he is conversing in the secret
place
of his own heart. And let him declare to us what he is doing there. It is well
with
him. Observe what things he is thinking of, I pray you. He is within, in his
own
house he is thinking of ancient days. No one says to him, you have spoken ill:
no
one says to him, you have spoken much: no one says to him, you have thought
perversely.
Thus may it be well with him, may God aid him: let him think of the
ancient
days, and let him tell us what he has done in his very inner chamber,
whereunto
he has arrived, over what he has leaped, where he has abode. "I have
thought
on ancient days; and of eternal years I have been mindful." What are
eternal
years? It is a mighty thought. See whether this thought requires anything
but
great silence. Apart from all noise without, from all tumult of things human
let
him
remain quiet within, that would think of those eternal years. Are the years
wherein
we are eternal, or those wherein our ancestors have been, or those
wherein
our posterity are to be? Far be it that they should be esteemed eternal. For
what
part of these years does remain? Behold we speak and say, "in this
year:" and
what
have we got of this year, save the one day wherein we are. For the former
days
of this year have already gone by, and are not to be had; but the future days
have
not yet come. In one day we are, and we say, in this year: nay rather say thou,
today,
if you desire to speak of anything present. For of the whole year what have
you
got that is present? Whatsoever thereof is past, is no longer; whatsoever
thereof
is future, is not yet: how then, "this year"? Amend the expression:
say,
today.
You speak truth, henceforth I will say, "today." Again observe this
too, how
today
the morning hours have already past, the future hours have not yet come.
This
too therefore amend: say, in this hour. And of this hour what have you got?
Some
moments thereof have already gone by, those that are future have not yet
come.
Say, in this moment. In what moment? While I am uttering syllables, if I
shall
speak two syllables, the latter does not sound until the former has gone by: in
a
word, in that same one syllable, if it chance to have two letters, the latter
letter
does
not sound, until the former has gone by. What then have we got of these
years?
These years are changeable: the eternal years must be thought on, years that
stand,
that are not made up of days that come and depart; years whereof in another
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place
the Scripture says to God, "But You are the Self-same, and Your years
shall
not
fail." On these years this man that leaps over, not in babbling without,
but in
silence
has thought.
8.
"And I have meditated in the night with my heart" (ver. 6). No
slanderous
person
seeks for snares in his words, in his heart he has meditated. "I
babbled."
Behold
there is the former babbling. Watch again, that your spirit faint not. I did
not,
he says, I did not so babble as if it were abroad: in another way now. How
now?
"I did babble, and did search out my spirit." If he were searching
the earth to
find
veins of gold, no one would say that he was foolish; nay, many men would
call
him wise, for desiring to come at gold: how great treasures has a man within,
and
he digs not! This man was examining his spirit, and was speaking with that
same
his spirit, and in the very speaking he was babbling. He was questioning
himself,
was examining himself, was judge over himself. And he continues; "I did
search
my spirit." He had to fear lest he should stay within his own spirit: for
he
had
babbled without; and because all his enemies had anticipated watches, he
found
there sorrow, and his spirit fainted. He that did babble without, lo, now does
begin
to babble within in safety, where being alone in secret, he is thinking on
eternal
years....
9.
And you have found what? "God will not repel for everlasting" (ver.
7).
Weariness
he had found in this life; in no place a trustworthy, in no place a
fearless
comfort. Unto whatsoever men he betook himself, in them he found
scandal,
or feared it. In no place therefore was he free from care. An evil thing it
was
for him to hold his peace, lest perchance he should keep silence from good
words;
to speak and babble without was painful to him, lest all his enemies,
anticipating
watches, should seek slanders in his words. Being exceedingly
straitened
in this life, he thought much of another life, where there is not this trial.
And
when is he to arrive thither? For it cannot but be evident that our suffering
here
is the anger of God. This thing is spoken of in Isaiah, "I will not be an
avenger
unto you for everlasting, nor will I be angry with you at all times."
Isaiah
57:16... Will this anger of God always abide? This man has not found this in
silence.
For he says what? "God will not repel for everlasting, and He will not add
any
more that it should be well-pleasing to Him still." That is, that it
should be
well-pleasing
to Him still to repel, and He will not add the repelling for
everlasting.
He must needs recall to Himself His servants, He must needs receive
fugitives
returning to the Lord, He must needs hearken to the voice of them that
are
in fetters. "Or unto the end will He cut off mercy from generation to
generation?"
(ver. 8).
10.
"Or will God forget to be merciful?" (ver. 9). In you, from you unto
another
there
is no mercy unless God bestow it on you: and shall God Himself forget
mercy?
The stream runs: shall the spring itself be dried up? "Or shall God forget
to
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be
merciful: or shall He keep back in anger His mercies?" That is, shall He
be so
angry,
as that He will not have mercy? He will more easily keep back anger than
mercy.
11.
"And I said." Now leaping over himself he has said what? "Now I
have
begun:"
(ver. 10), when I had gone out even from myself. Here henceforth there is
no
danger: for even to remain in myself, was danger. "And I said, Now I have
begun:
this is the changing of the right hand of the Lofty One." Now the Lofty
One
has begun to change me: now I have begun something wherein I am secure:
now
I have entered a certain palace of joys, wherein no enemy is to be feared: now
I
have begun to be in that region, where all mine enemies do not anticipate
watches.
"Now I have begun: this is the changing of the right hand of the Lofty
One."
12.
"I have been mindful of the works of the Lord" (ver. 11). Now behold
him
roaming
among the works of the Lord. For he was babbling without, and being
made
sorrowful thereby his spirit fainted: he babbled within with his own heart,
and
with his spirit, and having searched out that same spirit he was mindful of the
eternal
years, was mindful of the mercy of the Lord, how God will not repel him
for
everlasting; and he began now fearlessly to rejoice in His works, fearlessly to
exult
in the same. Let us hear now those very works, and let us too exult. But let
even
us leap over in our affections, and not rejoice in things temporal. For we too
have
our bed. Why do we not enter therein? Why do we not abide in silence? Why
do
we not search out our spirit? Why do we not think on the eternal years? Why
do
we not rejoice in the works of God? In such sort now let us hear, and let us
take
delight
in Himself speaking, in order that when we shall have departed hence, we
may
do that which we used to do while He spoke; if only we are making the
beginning
of Him whereof he spoke in, "Now I have begun." To rejoice in the
works
of God, is to forget even yourself, if you can delight in Him alone. For what
is
a better thing than He? Do you not see that, when you return to yourself, you
return
to a worse thing? "for I shall be mindful from the beginning of Your
wonderful
works."
13.
"And I will meditate on all Your works, and on Your affections I will
babble"
(ver.
12). Behold the third babbling! He babbled without, when he hinted; he
babbled
in his spirit within, when he advanced: he babbled on the works of God,
when
he arrived at the place toward which he advanced. "And on Your
affections:"
not on any affections. What man does live without affections? And do
ye
suppose, brethren, that they who fear God, worship God, love God, have not
any
affections? Will you indeed suppose and dare to suppose, that painting, the
theatre,
hunting, hawking, fishing, engage the affections, and the meditation on
God
does not engage certain interior affections of its own, while we contemplate
the
universe, and place before our eyes the spectacle of the natural world, and
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Psalm 77
627
therein
labour to discover the Maker, and find Him nowhere unpleasing, but
pleasing
above all things?
14.
"O God, Your way is in the Holy One" (ver. 13). He is contemplating
now the
works
of the mercy of God around us, out of these he is babbling, and in these
affections
he is exulting. At first he is beginning from thence, "Your way is in the
Holy
One?" What is that way of Thine which is in the Holy One? "I
am," He says,
"the
Way, the Truth, and the Life." John 14:6 Return therefore, you men, from
your
affections.... "Who is a great God, like our God?" Gentiles have
their
affections
regarding their gods, they adore idols, they have eyes and they see not;
ears
they have and they hear not; feet they have and they walk not. Why do you
walk
to a God that walks not? I do not, he says, worship such things, and what do
you
worship? The divinity which is there. Thou dost then worship that whereof
has
been said elsewhere, "for the Gods of the nations are demons." Thou
dost
either
worship idols, or devils. Neither idols, nor devils, he says. And what do you
worship?
The stars, sun, moon, those things celestial. How much better Him that
has
made both things earthly and things celestial. "Who is a great God like
our
God?"
15.
"You are the God that doest wonderful things alone" (ver. 14). You
are indeed
a
great God, doing wonderful things in body, in soul; alone doing them. The deaf
have
heard, the blind have seen, the feeble have recovered, the dead have risen, the
paralytic
have been strengthened. But these miracles were at that time performed
on
bodies, let us see those wrought on the soul. Sober are those that were a
little
before
drunken, believers are those that were a little before worshippers of idols:
their
goods they bestow on the poor that did rob before those of
others....
"Wonderful things alone." Moses too did them, but not alone: Elias
too
did
them, even Eliseus did them, the Apostles too did them, but no one of them
alone.
That they might have power to do them, You were with them: when Thou
did
them they were not with You. For they were not with You when Thou did
them,
inasmuch as Thou made even these very men. How "alone"? Is it
perchance
the
Father, and not the Son? Or the Son, and not the Father? Nay, but Father and
Son
and Holy Ghost. For it is not three Gods but one God that does wonderful
things
alone, and even in this very leaper-over. For even his leaping over and
arriving
at these things was a miracle of God: when he was babbling within with
his
own spirit, in order that he might leap over even that same spirit of his, and
might
delight in the works of God, he then did wonderful things himself. But God
has
done what? "You have made known unto the people Your power." Thence
this
congregation
of Asaph leaping over; because He has made known in the peoples
His
virtue. What virtue of His has He made known in the peoples? "But we
preach
Christ
crucified,... Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God."
1
Corinthians 1:23 If then the virtue of God is Christ, He has made known Christ
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Psalm 77
628
in
the peoples. Do we not yet perceive so much as this; and are we so unwise, are
we
lying so much below, do we so leap over nothing, as that we see not this?
16.
"You have redeemed in Thine arm Your people" (ver. 15). "With
Thine arm,"
that
is, with Your power. "And to whom has the arm of the Lord been
revealed?"
Isaiah
53:1 "You have redeemed in Thine arm Your people, the sons of
of
Joseph." How as if two peoples, "the sons of
sons
of Joseph among the sons of
distinction
to be made. Let us search out our spirit, perchance God has placed
there
something—God whom we ought even by night to seek with our hands, in
order
that we may not be deceived—perchance we shall discover even ourselves in
this
distinction of "sons of
people
to be understood, has willed that the people of the Gentiles be understood.
Why
the people of the Gentiles by Joseph? Because Joseph was sold into
his
brethren. Genesis 3 7:2 8 That Joseph whom the brethren envied, and sold him
into
exalted,
flourished, reigned. And by all these things he has signified what? What
but
Christ sold by His brethren, banished from His own land, as it were into the
persecutions:
now exalted, as we see; inasmuch as there has been fulfilled in Him,
"There
shall adore Him all kinds of the earth, all nations shall serve Him."
Therefore
Joseph is the people of the Gentiles, but
nation.
God has redeemed His people, "the sons of
means
of what? By means of the corner stone, Ephesians 2:20 wherein the two
walls
have been joined together.
17.
And he continues how? "The waters have seen You, O God, and they have
feared
and the abysses have been troubled" (ver. 16). What are the waters? The
peoples.
What are these waters has been asked in the Apocalypse,
Revelation
17:15 the answer was, the peoples. There we find most clearly waters
put
by a figure for peoples. But above he had said, "You have made known in
the
peoples
Your virtue." With reason therefore, "the waters have seen You, and
they
have
feared." They have been changed because they have feared. What are the
abysses?
The depths of waters. What man among the peoples is not troubled, when
the
conscience is smitten? Thou seekest the depth of the sea, what is deeper than
human
conscience? That is the depth which was troubled, when God redeemed
with
His arm His people. In what manner were the abysses troubled? When all
men
poured forth their consciences in confession.
18.
In praises of God, in confessions of sins, in hymns and in songs, in prayers,
"There
is a multitude of the sound of waters. The clouds have uttered a voice"
(ver.
17). Thence that sound of waters, thence the troubling of the abysses,
because
"the clouds have uttered a voice." What clouds? The preachers of the
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Psalm 77
629
word
of truth. What clouds? Those concerning which God does menace a certain
vineyard,
which instead of grape had brought forth thorns and He says, "I will
command
My clouds, that they rain no rain upon it." Isaiah 5:6 In a word, the
Apostles
forsaking the Jews, went to the Gentiles: in preaching Christ among all
nations,
"the clouds have uttered a voice." "For Thine arrows have gone
through."
Those
same voices of the clouds He has again called arrows. For the words of the
Evangelists
were arrows. For these things are allegories. For properly neither an
arrow
is rain, nor rain is an arrow: but yet the word of God is both an arrow
because
it does smite; and rain because it does water. Let no one therefore any
longer
wonder at the troubling of the abysses, when "Thine arrows have gone
through."
What is, "have gone through"? They have not stopped in the ears, but
they
have pierced the heart. "The voice of Your thunder is in the wheel"
(ver. 18).
What
is this? How are we to understand it? May the Lord give aid. When boys we
were
wont to imagine, whenever we heard thunderings from Heaven, that
carriages
were going forth as it were from the stables. For thunder does make a
sort
of rolling like carriages. Must we return to these boyish thoughts, in order to
understand,
"the voice of Your thunder is in the wheel," as though God has
certain
carriages
in the clouds, and the passing along of the carriages does raise that
sound?
Far be it. This is boyish, vain, trifling. What is then, "The voice of
Your
thunder
is in the wheel"? Your voice rolls. Not even this do I understand. What
shall
we do? Let us question Idithun himself, to see whether perchance he may
himself
explain what he has said: "The voice," he says, "of Your thunder
is in the
wheel."
I do not understand. I will hear what you say, "Your lightnings have
appeared
to the round world." Say then, I had no understanding. The round world
is
a wheel. For the circuit of the round world is with reason called also an
"orb:"
whence
also a small wheel is called an "orbiculus." "The voice of Your
thunder is
in
the wheel:" Your "lightnings have appeared to the round world."
Those clouds
in
a wheel have gone about the round world, have gone about with thundering and
with
lightning, they have shaken the abyss, with commandments they have
thundered,
with miracles they have lightened. "Unto every land has gone forth the
sound
of them, and unto the ends of the orb the words of them." "The land
has
been
moved and made to tremble:" that is, all men that dwell in the land. But
by a
figure
the land itself is sea. Why? Because all nations are called by the name of
sea,
inasmuch as human life is bitter, and exposed to storms and tempests.
Moreover
if thou observe this, how men devour one another like fishes, how the
stronger
does swallow up the weaker—it is then a sea, unto it the Evangelists
went.
19.
"Your way is in the sea" (ver. 19). But now Your way was in the Holy
One,
now
"Your way is in the sea:" because the Holy One Himself is in the sea,
and
with
reason even did walk upon the waters of the sea. Matthew 14:25 "Your way
is
in the sea," that is, Your Christ is preached among the Gentiles....
"Your way is
in
the sea, and Your paths in many waters," that is, in many peoples.
"And Your
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630
footsteps
will not be known." He has touched certain, and wonder were it if it be
not
those same Jews. Behold now the mercy of Christ has been so published to the
Gentiles,
that "Your way is in the sea. Your footsteps will not be known." How
so,
by
whom will they not be known, save by those who still say, Christ has not yet
come?
Why do they say, Christ has not yet come? Because they do not yet
recognise
Him walking on the sea.
20.
"You have led home Your people like sheep in the hand of Moses and of
Aaron"
(ver. 20). Why He has added this is somewhat difficult to discover.... They
banished
Christ; sick as they were, they would not have Him for their Saviour; but
He
began to be among the Gentiles, and among all nations, among many peoples.
Nevertheless,
a remnant of that people has been saved. The ungrateful multitude
has
remained without, even the halting breadth of Jacob's thigh. Genesis 32:32 For
the
breadth of the thigh is understood of the multitude of lineage, and among the
greater
part of the Israelites a certain multitude became vain and foolish, so as not
to
know the steps of Christ on the waters. "You have led home Your people
like
sheep,"
and they have not known You. Though You have done such great benefits
unto
them, hast divided sea, hast made them pass over dry land between waters,
hast
drowned in the waves pursuing enemies, in the desert hast rained manna for
their
hunger, leading them home "by the hand of Moses and Aaron:" still
they
thrust
You from them, so that in the sea was Your Way, and Your steps they knew
not.
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Psalm 78
631
Exposition
on Psalm 78
1.
This Psalm does contain the things which are said to have been done among the
old
people: but the new and latter people is being admonished, to beware that it be
not
ungrateful regarding the blessings of God, and provoke His anger against it,
whereas
it ought to receive His grace .... The Title thereof does first move and
engage
our attention. For it is not without reason inscribed, "Understanding of
Asaph:"
but it is perchance because these words require a reader who does
perceive
not the voice which the surface utters, but some inward sense. Secondly,
when
about to narrate and mention all these things, which seem to need a hearer
more
than an expounder: "I will open," he says, "in parables my
mouth, I will
declare
propositions from the beginning." Who would not herein be awakened out
of
sleep? Who would dare to hurry over the parables and propositions, reading
them
as if self-evident, while by their very names they signify that they ought to
be
sought out with deeper view? For a parable has on the surface thereof the
similitude
of something: and though it be a Greek word, it is now used as a Latin
word.
And it is observable, that in parables, those which are called the similitudes
of
things are compared with things with which we have to do. But propositions,
which
in Greek are called problhmata, are questions having
something therein
which
is to be solved by disputation. What man then would read parables and
propositions
cursorily? What man would not attend while hearing these words
with
watchful mind, in order that by understanding he may come by the fruit
thereof?
2.
"Hearken ye," He says, "My people, to My law" (ver. 1).
Whom may we
suppose
to be here speaking, but God? For it was Himself that gave a law to His
people,
whom when delivered out of
gathering
together is properly named a Synagogue, which the word Asaph is
interpreted
to signify. Hath it then been said, "Understanding of Asaph," in the
sense
that Asaph himself has understood; or must it be figuratively understood, in
the
sense that the same Synagogue, that is, the same people, has understood, unto
whom
is said, "Hearken, My people, unto My law"? Why is it then that He is
rebuking
the same people by the mouth of the Prophet, saying, "But Israel has not
known
Me, and My people has not understood"? Isaiah 1:3 But, in fact, there were
even
in that people they that understood, having the faith which was afterwards
revealed,
not pertaining to the letter of the law, but the grace of the Spirit. For they
cannot
have been without the same faith, who were able to foresee and foretell the
revelation
thereof that should be in Christ, inasmuch as even those old Sacraments
were
significants of those that should be. Had the prophets alone this faith, and
not
the
people too? Nay indeed, but even they that faithfully heard the Prophets, were
aided
by the same grace in order that they might understand what they heard. But
without
doubt the mystery of the
Testament,
which in the fulness of time should be unveiled in the New. "For,"
says
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Psalm 78
632
the
Apostle, "they did drink of the Spiritual Rock following them, but the
Rock
was
Christ." 1 Corinthians 10:4 In a mystery therefore theirs was the same
meat
and
drink as ours, but in signification the same, not in form; because the same
Christ
was Himself figured to them in a Rock, manifested to us in the Flesh.
"But,"
he
says, "not in all of them God was well pleased." 1 Corinthians 10:5
All indeed
ate
the same spiritual meat and drank the same spiritual drink, that is to say,
signifying
something spiritual: but not in all of them was God well pleased. When,
he
says, "not in all:" there were evidently there some in whom was God
well
pleased;
and although all the Sacraments were common, grace, which is the virtue
of
the Sacraments, was not common to all. Just as in our times, now that the faith
has
been revealed, which then was veiled, to all men that have been baptized in the
name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Matthew 28:19 the
Laver
of regeneration is common; but the very grace whereof these same are the
Sacraments,
whereby the members of the Body of Christ are to reign together with
their
Head, is not common to all. For even heretics have the same Baptism, and
false
brethren too, in the communion of the Catholic name.
3.
Nevertheless, neither then nor now without profit is the voice of him, saying,
"Hearken
ye, My people, to My law." Which expression is remarkable in all the
Scriptures,
how he says not, "hearken thou," but, "hearken ye." For of
many men a
people
does consist: to which many that which follows is spoken in the plural
number.
"Incline ye your ear unto the words of My mouth." "Hearken
ye," is the
same
as, "Incline your ear:" and what He says there, "My law,"
this He says here
in,
"the words of My mouth." For that man does godly hearken to the law
of God,
and
the words of His mouth, whose ear humility does incline: not he whose neck
pride
does lift up. For whatever is poured in is received on the concave surface of
humility,
is shaken off from the convexity of swelling. Whence in another place,
"Incline,"
he says, "your ear, and receive the words of understanding."
Proverbs
5:1 We have been therefore sufficiently admonished to receive even this
Psalm
of this understanding of Asaph, to receive, I say, with inclined ear, that is,
with
humble piety. And it has not been spoken of as being of Asaph himself, but to
Asaph
himself. Which thing is evident by the Greek article, and is found in certain
Latin
copies. These words therefore are of understanding, that is, of intelligence,
which
has been given to Asaph himself: which we had better understand not as to
one
man, but as to the congregation of the people of God; whence we ought by no
means
to alienate ourselves. For although properly we say "Synagogue" of
Jews,
but
"Church" of Christians, because a "Congregation" is wont to
be understood as
rather
of beasts, but a "convocation" as rather of men: yet that too we find
called a
Church,
and it perhaps is more suitable for us to say, "Save us, O Lord, our God,
and
congregate us from the nations, in order that we may confess to Your Holy
Name."
Neither ought we to disdain to be, nay we ought to render ineffable
thanks,
for that we are, the sheep of His hands, which He foresaw when He was
saying,
"I have other sheep which are not of this fold, them too I must lead in,
that
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633
there
may be one flock and one Shepherd:" John 10:16 that is to say, by joining
the
faithful people of the Gentiles with the faithful people of the Israelites,
concerning
whom He had before said, "I have not been sent but to the sheep which
have
strayed of the house of
congregated
before Him all nations, and He shall sever them as a shepherd the
sheep
from the goats. Matthew 25:32 Thus then let us hear that which has been
spoken.
"Hearken ye, My people, to My law, incline ye your ear unto the words of
My
mouth:" not as if addressed to Jews, but rather as if addressed to
ourselves, or
at
least as if these words were said as well to ourselves (as to them). For when
the
Apostle
had said, "But not in all them was God well pleased," thereby showing
that
there were those too in whom God was well pleased: he has forthwith added,
"For
they were overthrown in the desert:" secondly he has continued, "but
these
things
have been made our figures."... To us therefore more particularly these
words
have been sung. Whence in this Psalm among other things there has been
said,
"That another generation may know, sons who shall be born and shall
arise."
Moreover,
if that death by serpents, and that destruction by the destroyer, and the
slaying
by the sword, were figures, as the Apostle evidently does declare,
inasmuch
as it is manifest that all those things did happen: for he says not, in a
figure
they were spoken, or, in a figure they were written, but, in a figure, he says,
they
happened to them: with how much greater diligence of godliness must those
punishments
be shunned whereof those were the figures? For beyond a doubt as in
good
things there is much more of good in that which is signified by the figure,
than
in the figure itself: so also in evil things very far worse are the things
which
are
signified by the figures, while so great are the evil things which as figures
do
signify.
For as the land of promise, whereunto that people was being led, is
nothing
in comparison with the
people
is being led: so also those punishments which were figures, though they
were
so severe, are nothing in comparison with the punishments which they
signify.
But those which the Apostle has called figures, the same this Psalm, as far
as
we are able to judge, calls parables and propositions: not having their end in
the
fact
of their having happened, but in those things whereunto they are referred by a
reasonable
comparison. Let us therefore hearken unto the law of God—us His
people—and
let us incline our ear unto the words of His mouth.
4.
"I will open," he says, "in parables My mouth, I will declare
propositions from
the
beginning" (ver. 2). From what beginning he means, is very evident in the
words
following. For it is not from the beginning, what time the Heaven and earth
were
made, nor what time mankind was created in the first man: but what time the
congregation
that was led out of
Asaph,
which is interpreted a congregation. But O that He that has said, "I will
open
in parables My mouth," would also vouchsafe to open our understanding
unto
them! For if, as He has opened His mouth in parables, He would in like sort
open
the parables themselves: and as He declares "propositions," He would
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declare
in like sort the expositions thereof, we should not be here toiling: but now
so
hidden and closed are all things, that even if we are able by His aid to arrive
at
anything,
whereon we may feed to our health, still we must eat the bread in the
sweat
of our face; and pay the penalty of the ancient sentence Genesis 3:19 not
with
the labour of the body only, but also with that of the heart. Let him speak
then,
and let us hear the parables and propositions.
5.
"How great things we have heard, and have known them, and our fathers have
told
them to us" (ver. 3). The Lord was speaking higher up. For of what other
person
could these words be thought to be, "Hearken ye, O My people, to My
law"?
Why is it then that now on a sudden a man is speaking, for here we have the
words
of a man, "our fathers have told them to us." Without doubt God, now
about
to
speak by a man's ministry, as the Apostle says, "Will ye to receive proof
of Him
that
is speaking in me, Christ?" 2 Corinthians 13:3 in His own person at first
willed
the words to be uttered, lest a man speaking His words should be despised
as
a man. For it is thus with the sayings of God which make their way to us
through
our bodily sense. The Creator moves the subject creature by an invisible
working;
not so that the substance is changed into anything corporal and temporal,
when
by means of corporal and temporal signs, whether belonging to the eyes or
to
the ears, as far as men are able to receive it, He would make His will to be
known.
For if an angel is able to use air, mist, cloud, fire, and any other natural
substance
or corporal species; and man to use face, tongue, hand, pen, letters, or
any
other significants, for the purpose of intimating the secret things of his own
mind:
in a word, if, though he is a man, he sends human messengers, and he says
to
one, "Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to his
servant,
Do
this, and he does it;" Luke 7:8 with how much greater and more effectual
power
does God, to whom as Lord all things together are subject, use both the
same
angel and man, in order that He may declare whatsoever pleases Him? ... For
those
things were heard in the Old Testament which are known in the New: heard
when
they were being prophesied, known when they were being fulfilled. Where a
promise
is performed, hearing is not deceived. "And our fathers," Moses and
the
Prophets,
"have told unto us."
6.
"They have not been hidden from their sons in another generation"
(ver. 4). This
is
our generation wherein there has been given to us regeneration. "Telling
forth
the
praises of the Lord and His powers, and His wonderful works which He has
done."
The order of the words is, "and our fathers have told unto us, telling
forth
the
praises of the Lord." The Lord is praised, in order that He may be loved.
For
what
object can be loved more to our health? "And He has raised up a testimony
in
Jacob,
and has set a law in Jacob" (ver. 5). This is the beginning whereof has
been
spoken
above, "I will declare propositions from the beginning." So then the
beginning
is the Old Testament, the end is the New. For fear does prevail in the
law.
"But the end of the law is Christ for righteousness to every one
believing;"
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Romans
10:4 at whose bestowing "love is shed abroad in our hearts through the
Holy
Spirit, which has been given to us:" Romans 5:5 and love made perfect does
cast
out fear, 1 John 4:18 inasmuch as now without the Law the righteousness of
God
has been made manifest. But inasmuch as He has a testimony by the Law and
the
Prophets, Romans 3:21 therefore, "He has raised up a testimony in
Jacob." For
even
that Tabernacle which was set up with a work so remarkable and full of such
wondrous
meanings, is named the Tabernacle of Testimony, wherein was the veil
over
the
because
in that dispensation there were "parables and propositions." For
those
things
which were being preached and were coining to pass were hidden in veiled
meanings,
and were not seen in unveiled manifestations. But "when you shall have
passed
over unto Christ," says the Apostle, "the veil shall be taken
away."
2
Corinthians 3:16 For "all the promises of God in Him are yea, Amen."
2
Corinthians 1:20 Whosoever therefore does cleave to Christ, has the whole of
the
good which even in the letters of the Law he perceives not: but whosoever is
an
alien from Christ, does neither perceive, nor has. "He has set a law in
After
his usual custom he is making a repetition. For "He has raised up a
testimony,"
is the same as, "He has set a law," and "in Jacob," is the
same as "in
names
of one thing. Is there any difference, says some one, between "has raised
up"
and "has set"? Yea indeed, the same difference as there is between
"Jacob"
and
"
bestowed
upon one man for different reasons; Jacob because of supplanting, for
that
he grasped the foot of his brother at his birth: Genesis 25:26 but
of
the vision of God. Genesis 32:28 So "raised up" is one thing,
"set" is another.
For,
"He has raised up a testimony," as far as I can judge, has been said
because by
it
something has been raised up; "For without the Law," says the Apostle,
"sin was
dead:
but I lived sometime without the Law: but at the coming in of the
commandment
sin revived." Romans 7:8-9 Behold that which has been raised up
by
the testimony, which is the Law, so that what was lying hidden might appear,
as
he says a little afterwards: "But sin, that it might appear sin, through a
good
thing
has wrought in me death." Romans 7:13 But "He has set a law,"
has been
said,
as though it were a yoke upon sinners, whence has been said, "For upon a
just
man law has not been imposed." 1 Timothy 1:9 It is a testimony then, so
far
forth
as it does prove anything; but a law so far forth as it does command; though
it
is one and the same thing. Wherefore just as Christ is a stone, but to
believers
for
the Head of the corner, while to unbelievers a stone of offence and a rock of
scandal;
so the testimony of the Law to them that use not the Law lawfully,
1
Timothy 1:8 is a testimony whereby sinners are to be convicted as deserving of
punishment;
but to them that use the same lawfully, is a testimony whereby
sinners
are shown unto whom they ought to flee in order to be delivered....
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7.
"How great things," he says, "He has commanded our fathers, to
make the same
known
to their sons?" (ver. 5). "That another generation may know, sons who
shall
be
born and shall rise up, and they may tell to their sons" (ver. 6).
"That they may
put
their hope in God, and may not forget the works of God, and may seek out His
commandments"
(ver. 7). "That they may not become, like their fathers, a crooked
and
embittering generation: a generation that has not guided their heart, and the
spirit
thereof has not been trusted with God" (ver. 8). These words do point out
two
peoples as it were, the one belonging to the Old Testament, the other to the
New:
for in that he says, he has implied that they received the commandments,
"to
make
them known to their sons," but that they did not know or do them: but they
received
them themselves, to the end "that another generation might know,"
what
the
former knew not. "Sons who shall be born and shall arise." For they
that have
been
born have not arisen: because they had not their heart above, but rather on the
earth.
For the arising is with Christ: whence has been said, "If you have arisen
with
Christ, savour ye the things which are above." Colossians 3:1 "And
they may
tell
them," he says, "to their sons, in order that they may put their hope
in
God."...
"And may not forget the works of God:" that is to say, in magnifying
and
vaunting
their own works, as though they did them themselves; while "God it is
that
works," in them that work good things, "both to will and to work
according to
good
will." Philippians 2:13 "And may search out His
commandments."... The
commandments
which He has commanded. How then should they still search out,
whereas
they have already learned them, save that by putting their hope in God,
they
do then search out His commandments, in order that by them, with His aid,
they
may be fulfilled? And he says why, by immediately subjoining, "and its
spirit
has
not been trusted with God," that is, because it had no faith, which does
obtain
what
the Law does enjoin. For when the spirit of man does work together with the
Spirit
of God working, then there is fulfilled that which God has commanded: and
this
does not come to pass, except by believing in Him that does justify an ungodly
man.
Romans 4:5 Which faith the generation crooked and embittering had not: and
therefore
concerning the same has been said, "The spirit thereof has not been
trusted
with God." For this has been said much more exactly to point out the grace
of
God, which does work not only remission of sins, but also does make the spirit
of
man to work together therewith in the work of good deeds, as though he were
saying,
his spirit has not believed in God. For to have the spirit trusted with God,
is,
not to believe that his spirit is able to do righteousness without God, but
with
God.
For this is to believe in God: which is surely more than to believe God. For
ofttimes
we must believe even a man, though in him we must not believe. To
believe
in God therefore is this, in believing to cleave unto God who works good
works,
in order to work with Him well....
8.
Lastly, "The sons of Ephrem bending and shooting bows, have been turned
back
in
the day of war" (ver. 9). Following after the law of righteousness, unto
the law
of
righteousness they have not attained. Romans 9:31 Why? Because they were
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not
of faith. For they were that generation whereof the spirit has not been trusted
with
God: but they were, so to speak, of works: because they did not, as they
bended
and shot their bows (which are outward actions, as of the works of the
law),
so guide their heart also, wherein the just man does live by faith, which
works
by love; whereby men cleave to God, who works in man both to will and
work
according to good will. For what else is bending the bow and shooting, and
turning
back in the day of war, but heeding and purposing in the day of hearing,
and
deserting in the day of temptation; flourishing arms, so to speak, beforehand,
and
at the hour of the action refusing to fight? But whereas he says, "bending
and
shooting
bows," when it would seem that he ought to have said, bending bows and
shooting
arrows.... Some Greek copies to be sure are said to have "bending and
shooting
with bows," so that without doubt we ought to understand arrows. But
whereas
by the sons of Ephrem he has willed that there be understood the whole of
that
embittering generation, it is an expression signifying the whole by a part. And
perhaps
this part was chosen whereby to signify the whole, because from these
men
especially some good thing was to have been expected.... Although set at the
left
hand by his father as being the younger, Jacob nevertheless blessed with his
right
hand, and preferred him before his elder brother with a benediction of hidden
meaning.
Genesis 48:14 ... For there was being figured how they were to be last
that
were first, and first were to be they that were last, Matthew 20:16 through the
Saviour's
coming, concerning whom has been said, "He that is coming after me
was
made before me." John 1:27 In like manner righteous Abel was preferred
before
the elder brother; so to Ismael Isaac; so to Esau, though born before him,
his
twin brother Jacob; so also Phares himself preceded even in birth his twin
brother,
who had first thrust a hand out of the womb, and had begun to be born: so
David
was preferred before his elder brother: 1 Samuel 16:12 and as the reason
why
all these parables and others like them preceded, not only of words but also of
deeds,
in like manner to the people of the Jews was preferred the Christian people,
for
redeeming the which as Abel by Cain, Genesis 4:8 so by the Jews was slain
Christ.
This thing was prefigured even when Jacob stretching out his hands cross-
wise,
with his right hand touched Ephrem standing on the left; and set him before
Manasse
standing on the right, whom he himself touched with the left hand.
Genesis
48:14
9.
But what that is which he says, "they have been turned back in the day of
war,"
the
following words do teach, wherein he has most clearly explained this:
"they
have
not kept," he says, "the testament of God, and in His law they would
not
walk"
(ver. 10). Behold what is, "they have been turned back in the day of
war:"
they
have not kept the testament of God. When they were bending and shooting
bows,
they did also utter the words of most forward promise, saying, "Whatsoever
things
the Lord our God has spoken we will do, and we will hear." Exodus 19:8
"They
have been turned back in the day of war:" because the promise of obedience
not
hearing but temptation does prove. But he whose spirit has been trusted with
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638
God,
keeps hold on God, who is faithful, and "does not suffer him to be tempted
above
that which he is able; but will make with the temptation a way of escape
also,"
1 Corinthians 10:13 that he may be able to endure, and may not be turned
back
in the day of war.... Therefore these men have been thus branded: "a
generation,"
he says, "which has not directed their heart." It has not been said,
works,
but heart. For when the heart is directed, the works are right; but when the
heart
is not directed, the works are not right, even though they seem to be right.
And
how the crooked generation has not directed the heart, has sufficiently been
shown,
when he says, "and the spirit thereof has not been trusted with God."
For
God
is right: and therefore by cleaving to the right, as to an immutable rule, the
heart
of a man can be made right, which in itself was crooked....
10.
"And they forgat His benefits, and the wonderful works of Him which He
showed
to them; before their fathers the wonderful things which He did" (ver.
11).
What
this is, is not a question to be negligently passed over. Concerning those
very
fathers he was speaking a little before, that they had been a generation
crooked
and embittering.... What fathers, inasmuch as these are the very fathers,
whom
he would not have posterity to be like? If we shall take them to be those out
of
whom the others had derived their being, for example, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
by
this time they had long since fallen asleep, when God showed wonderful things
in
where
it is said that God showed to them wonderful things before their fathers.
Were
they perchance present in spirit? For of the same the Lord says in the
Gospel,
"for all do live to Him." Luke 20:38 Or do we more suitably
understand
thereby
the fathers Moses and Aaron, and the other elders who are related in the
same
Scripture also to have received the Spirit, of which also Moses received, in
order
that they might aid him in ruling and bearing the same people?
Numbers
11:17 For why should they not have been called fathers? It is not in the
same
manner as God is the One Father, who does regenerate with His Spirit those
whom
He does make sons for an everlasting inheritance; but it is for the sake of
honour,
because of their age and kindly carefulness: just as Paul the elder says,
"Not
to confound you I am writing these things, but as my dearly beloved sons I
am
admonishing you:" 1 Corinthians 4:14 though he knew of a truth that it had
been
said by the Lord, "Call ye no man your father on earth, for One is your
Father,
even God." Matthew 23:9 And this was not said in order that this term of
human
honour should be erased from our usual way of speaking: but lest the grace
of
God whereby we are regenerated unto eternal life, should be ascribed either to
the
power or even sanctity of any man. Therefore when he said, "I have
begotten
you;"
he first said, "in Christ," and "through the Gospel;" lest
that might be
thought
to be of him, which is of God .... Accordingly, the
understood
for a figure of this world. "The plain of Thanis" is the smooth
surface
of
lowly commandment. For lowly commandment is the interpretation of Thanis.
In
this world therefore let us receive the commandment of humility, in order that
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in
another world we may merit to receive the exaltation which He has promised,
who
for our sake here became lowly.
11.
For He that "did burst asunder the sea and made them go through, did
confine
the
waters as it were in bottles" (ver. 13), in order that the water might
stand up
first
as if it were shut in, is able by His grace to restrain the flowing and ebbing
tides
of carnal desires, when we renounce this world, so that all sins having been
thoroughly
washed away, as if they were enemies, the people of the faithful may
be
made to pass through by means of the Sacrament of Baptism. He that "led
them
home
in the cloud of the day, and in the whole of the night in the illumination of
fire"
(ver. 14), is able also spiritually to direct goings if faith cries to Him,
"Direct
Thou
my goings after Your word." Of Whom in another place is said, "For
Himself
shall make your courses right, and shall prolong your goings in peace"
through
Jesus Christ our Lord, whose Sacrament in this world, as it were in the
day,
is manifest in the flesh, as if in a cloud; but in the Judgment it will be
manifest
like as in a terror by night; for then there will be a great tribulation of the
world
like as it were fire, and it shall shine for the just and shall burn for the
unjust.
"He that burst asunder the rock in the desert, and gave them water as in a
great
deep" (ver. 15); "and brought out water from the rock, and brought
down
waters
like rivers" (ver. 16), is surely able upon thirsty faith to pour the gift
of the
Holy
Spirit (the which gift the performance of that thing did spiritually signify),
to
pour,
I say, from the Spiritual Rock that followed, which is Christ: who stood and
cried,
"If any is thirsty, let him come to Me:" John 7:37 and, "he that
shall have
drunk
of the water which I shall give, rivers of living water shall flow out of his
bosom."
John 4:14 For this He spoke, as is read in the Gospel, John 7:39 to the
Spirit,
which they were to receive that believed in Him, unto whom like the rod
drew
near the wood of the Passion, in order that there might flow forth grace for
believers.
12.
And yet, "they," like a generation crooked and embittering,
"added yet to sin
against
Him" (ver. 17): that is, not to believe. For this is the sin, whereof the
Spirit
does
convict the world, as the Lord says, "Of sin indeed because they have not
believed
on Me." John 16:9 "And they exasperated the Most High in
drought,"
which
other copies have, "in a place without water," which is a more exact
translation
from the Greek, and does signify no other thing than drought. Was it in
that
drought of the desert, or rather in their own? For although they had drank of
the
rock, they had not their bellies but their minds dry, freshening with no
fruitfulness
of righteousness. In that drought they ought the more faithfully to have
been
suppliant unto God, in order that He who had given fulness unto their jaws,
might
give also equity to their manners. For unto him the faithful soul does cry,
"Let
my eyes see equity."
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13.
"And they tempted God in their hearts, in order that they might seek
morsels
for
their souls" (ver. 18). It is one thing to ask in believing, another thing
in
tempting.
Lastly there follows, "And they slandered God, and said, Shall God be
able
to prepare a table in the desert?" (ver. 19). "For He smote the rock,
and the
waters
flowed, and torrents gushed forth: will He be able to give bread also, or to
prepare
a table for His people?" (ver. 20). Not believing therefore, they sought
morsels
for their souls. Not so the Apostle James does enjoin a morsel to be asked
for
the mind, but does admonish that it be sought by believers, not by such as
tempt
and slander God. "But if any one of you," he says, "does lack
wisdom, let
him
ask of God, who does give to all men abundantly, and does not upbraid, and it
shall
be given to him: but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering." James 1:5-6
This
faith
had not that generation which "had not directed their heart, and the
spirit
thereof
had not been trusted with God."
14.
"Wherefore the Lord heard, and He delayed, and fire was lighted in Jacob,
and
wrath
went up into
has
called anger fire: although in strict propriety fire did also burn up many men.
What
is therefore this that he says, "The Lord heard, and He delayed"? Did
He
delay
to conduct them into the land of promise, whither they were being led:
which
might have been done in the space of a few days, but on account of sins
they
must needs be wasted in the desert, where also they were wasted during forty
years?
And if this be so, He did then delay the people, not those very persons who
tempted
and slandered God: for they all perished in the desert, and their children
journeyed
into the land of promise. Or did He delay punishment, in order that He
might
first satisfy unbelieving concupiscence, lest He might be supposed to be
angry,
because they were asking of Him what He was not able to do? "He
heard,"
then,
"and He delayed to avenge:" and after He had done what they supposed
He
was
not able to do, then "anger went up upon
15.
Lastly, when both these things have been briefly touched, afterwards he is
evidently
following out the order of the narrative. "Because they believed not in
God,
nor hoped in His saving health" (ver. 22). For when he had told why fire
was
lighted
in Jacob, and anger went up upon
believed
not in God, nor hoped in His saving health:" immediately subjoining the
evident
blessings for which they were ungrateful, he says, "and He commanded
the
clouds above, and opened the doors of Heaven" (ver. 23). "And He
rained
upon
them manna to eat, and gave them bread of Heaven" (ver. 24). "Bread
of
angels
man did eat: dainties He sent them in abundance" (ver. 25). He brought
over
the South Wind from Heaven, and in His virtue He led in the South West
Wind"
(ver. 26). "And He rained upon them fleshes like dust, and winged fowls
like
the sand of the sea" (ver. 27). "And they fell in the midst of their
camp,
around
their tabernacles" (ver. 28). "And they ate and were filled
exceedingly; and
their
desire He brought to them: they were not deprived of their desire" (ver.
29).
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641
Behold
why He had delayed. But what He had delayed let us hear. "Yet the morsel
was
in their mouths, and the anger of God came down upon them" (ver. 30).
Behold
what He had delayed. For before "He delayed:" and afterwards,
"fire was
lighted
in Jacob and anger went up upon
that
He might first do what they had believed that He could not do, and then might
bring
upon them what they deserved to suffer. For if they placed their hope in
God,
not only would their desires of the flesh but also those of the spirit have
been
fulfilled.
For he that... "opened the doors of Heaven, and rained upon them manna
to
eat," that He might fill the unbelieving, is not without power to give to
believers
Himself
the true Bread from Heaven, which the manna did signify: which is
indeed
the food of Angels, whom being incorruptible the Word of God does
incorruptibly
feed: the which in order that man might eat, He became flesh, and
dwelled
in us. John 1:44 For Himself the Bread by means of the Evangelical
clouds
is being rained over the whole world, and, the hearts of preachers like
heavenly
doors, being opened, is being preached not to a murmuring and tempting
synagogue,
but to a Church believing and putting hope in Him. He is able also to
feed
the feeble faith of such as tempt not, but believe, with the signs of words
uttered
by the flesh and speeding through the air, as though it were fowls: not
however
with such as come from the north, where cold and mist do prevail, that is
to
say, eloquence which is pleasing to this world, but by bringing over the South
Wind
from Heaven; whither, except to the earth? In order that they who are feeble
in
faith, by hearing things earthly may be nourished up to receive things
heavenly....
16.
But as to unbelievers, being a crooked and embittering generation, as it were,
while
the morsel was yet in their mouths, "the anger of God went up upon them,
and
it slew among the most of them" (ver. 31): that is, the most of them, or
as
some
copies have it, "the fat ones of them," which however in the Greek
copies
which
we had, we did not find. But if this be the truer reading, what else must be
understood
by "the fat ones of them," than men mighty in pride, concerning whom
is
said, "their iniquity shall come forth as if out of fat"? "And
the elect of Israel He
fettered."
Even there there were elect, with whose faith the generation crooked and
embittering
was not mixed. But they were fettered, so that they might in no sort
profit
them for whom they desired that they might provide from a fatherly
affection.
For what is conferred by human mercy, on those with whom God is
angry?
Or rather has He willed it to be understood, how that even the elect were
fettered
at the same time with them, in order that they who were diverse both in
mind
and in life, might endure sufferings with them for an example not only of
righteousness,
but also of patience? For we have learned that holy men were even
led
captive with sinners for no other reason; since in the Greek copies we read not
enepodisen, which is
"fettered;" but sunepodisen, which is rather
"fettered
together
with."
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642
17.
But the generation crooked and embittering, "in all these things sinned
yet
more,
and they believed not in His wonderful works" (ver. 32). "And in
their days
failed
in vanity" (ver. 33). Though they might, if they had believed, have had
days
in
truth without failing, with Him to whom has been said, "Your years shall
not
fail."
Therefore, "their days failed in vanity, and their years with haste."
For the
whole
life of mortal men is hastening, and that which seems to be longer is but a
vapour
of somewhat longer duration.
18.
Nevertheless, "when he slew them they sought Him:" not for the sake
of
eternal
life, but fearing to end the vapour too soon. There sought Him then, not
indeed
those whom He had slain, but they that were afraid of being slain according
to
the example of them. But the Scripture has so spoken of them as if they sought
God
who were slain; because they were one people, and it is spoken as if of one
body:
"and they returned, and at dawn they came to God" (ver. 34).
"And they
remembered
that God is their Helper, and the High God is their Redeemer" (ver.
35).
But all this is for the sake of acquiring temporal good things, and for
avoiding
temporal
evil things. For they that did seek God for the sake of temporal blessings,
sought
not God indeed, but things. Thus with those God is worshipped with
slavish
fear, not free love. Thus then God is not worshipped, for that thing is
worshipped
which is loved. Whence because God is found to be greater and better
than
all things, He must be loved more than all things, in order that He may be
worshipped.
19.
Lastly, here let us see the words following: "And they loved Him," he
says, "in
their
mouth, and in their tongue they lied unto Him" (ver. 36). "But their
heart was
not
right with Him, and they were not counted faithful in His Testament" (ver.
37).
One
thing on their tongue, another thing in their heart He found, unto whom the
secret
things of men are naked, and without any impediment He saw what they
loved
rather. Therefore the heart is right with God, when it does seek God for the
sake
of God. For one thing he desired of the Lord, the same he will require, that he
may
dwell always in the House of the Lord, and may meditate on the pleasantness
of
Him. Unto Whom says the heart of the faithful, I will be filled, not with the
flesh-pots
of the Egyptians, nor with melons and gourds, and garlick and onions,
which
a generation crooked and embittering did prefer even to bread celestial,
Exodus
16:3 nor with visible manna, and those same winged fowls; but, "I will be
filled,
when Your glory shall be made manifest." For this is the inheritance of
the
New
Testament, wherein they were not counted faithful; whereof however the
faith
even at that time, when it was veiled, was in the elect, and now, when it has
already
been revealed, it is not in many that are called. "For many have been
called,
but few are elect." Matthew 20:16 Of such sort therefore was the
generation
crooked and embittering, even when they were seeming to seek God,
loving
in mouth, and in tongue lying; but in heart not right with God, while they
loved
rather those things, for the sake of which they required the help of God.
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643
20.
"But He is Himself merciful, and will become propitious to their sins, and
He
will
not destroy them. And He will abound to turn away His anger, and He will not
kindle
all his anger" (ver. 38). By these words many men promise to themselves
impunity
for their iniquity from the Divine Mercy, even if they shall have
persevered
in being such, as that generation is described, "crooked and
embittering;
which has not directed their heart, and the spirit thereof has not been
trusted
with God:" with whom it is not profitable to agree. For if, to speak in
their
words,
God will perchance not destroy no not even bad men, without doubt He
will
not destroy good men. Why then do we not rather choose that wherein there is
no
doubt? For they that lie to Him in their tongue, though their heart does hold
some
other thing, do think indeed, and will, even God to be a liar, when He does
menace
upon such men eternal punishment. But while they do not deceive Him
with
their lying, He does not deceive them with speaking the truth. These words
therefore
of divine sayings, concerning which the crooked generation does cajole
itself,
let it not make crooked like its own heart: for even when it is made crooked,
they
continue right. For at first they may be understood according to that which is
written
in the Gospel, "that you may be like your Father who is in the Heavens,
who
makes His sun to rise upon good men and evil men, and rains upon just men
and
unjust men." Matthew 5:45 For who could not see, how great is the long-
suffering
of mercy with which He is sparing evil men? But before the Judgment,
He
spared then that nation in such sort, that He kindled not all His anger,
utterly to
root
it up and bring it to an end: which thing in His words and in the intercession
for
their sins of His servant Moses does evidently appear, where God says,
"Let
Me
blot them out, and make you into a great nation:" Exodus 3 2:10 he
intercedes,
being
more ready to be blotted out for them than that they should be; knowing that
he
is doing this before One Merciful, who inasmuch as by no means He would blot
out
him, would even spare them for his sake. For let us see how greatly He spared,
and
does still spare....
21.
In the second place, that we may not seem to do violence to divine words, and
lest
in the place where there was said, "He will not destroy them," we
should say,
"But
hereafter He will destroy them:" concerning this very present Psalm let us
turn
to a very common phrase of the Scripture, whereby this question may be more
diligently
and more truly solved. Speaking of these same persons a little lower
down,
when He had made mention of the things which the Egyptians because of
them
had endured, He says,... "And He led them unto the mount of His
sanctification,
the mount which His right hand won. And He cast out from their
face
the nations, and by lot distributed to them the land in the cord of
distribution."
If
any one at these words should press a question upon us, and should say, How
does
he make mention of all these things as having been bestowed upon them,
when
the same persons were not led into the land of promise, as were delivered
from
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Psalm 78 644
spoken
of, because they were the self-same people by means of a succession of
sons?...
22.
"And He remembered that they are flesh, a spirit going and not
returning" (ver.
39).
Therefore calling them and pitying them through His grace, He called them
back
Himself, because of themselves they could not return. For how does flesh
return,
"a spirit walking and not turning back," while a weight of evil
deserts does
weigh
it down unto the lowest and far places of evil, save through the election of
grace?
... For thus also is solved this no unimportant question, how it is written in
the
Proverbs, when the Scripture was speaking of the way of iniquity, "all
they
that
walk in her shall not return." Proverbs 2:19 For it has been so spoken as
if all
ungodly
men were to be despaired of: but the Scripture did only commend grace;
for
of himself man is able to walk in that way, but is not able of himself to
return,
except
when called back by grace.
23.
I say then of these crooked and embittering persons, "How often they
exasperated
Him in the desert, and provoked Him to wrath in the waterless place!"
(ver.
40). "And they turned themselves and tempted God, and exasperated the
Holy
One of
which
He had made mention above. But the reason of the repetition is, in order
that
there may be mentioned also the plagues which He inflicted on the Egyptians
for
their sakes: all which things they certainly ought to have remembered, and not
to
be ungrateful. Lastly, there follows what? "They remembered not His hands,
in
the
day when He redeemed them from the hand of the troubler" (ver. 42). And he
begins
to speak of what things He did to the Egyptians: "He set in
and
His prodigies in the plain of Thanis" (ver. 43): "and He turned their
rivers into
blood,
and their showers lest they should drink" (ver. 44), or rather, "the
flowings
of
waters," as some do better understand by what is written in Greek, ta
ombrhmata, which in Latin we call scaturigines,
waters bubbling from beneath.
"He
sent upon them the dog-fly, and it ate them up; and the frog, and it destroyed
them"
(ver. 45). "And He gave their fruit to the mildew, and their labours to
the
locust"
(ver. 46). "And He slew with hail their vineyards, and their mulberry
trees
with
frost" (ver. 47). "And He gave over to the hail their beasts of
burden, and
their
possessions to the fire" (ver. 48). "He sent upon them the anger of
His
indignation,
indignation and anger and tribulation, a visitation through evil angels"
(ver.
49). He made a way to the course of His anger, and their beasts of burden He
shut
up in death (ver. 50). "And He smote every first-born thing in the land of
24.
All these punishments of the Egyptians may be explained by an allegorical
interpretation,
according as one shall have chosen to understand them, and to
compare
them to the things whereunto they must be referred. Which we too will
endeavour
to do; and shall do it the more properly, the more we shall have been
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Psalm 78 645
divinely
aided. For to do this, those words of this Psalm do constrain us, wherein it
was
said, "I will open in parables my mouth, I will declare propositions from
the
beginning."
For for this cause even some things have been here spoken of, which
that
they befell the Egyptians at all we read not, although all their plagues are
most
carefully
related in Exodus according to their order, so that while that which is not
there
mentioned we are sure has not been mentioned in the Psalm to no purpose,
and
we can interpret the same only figuratively, we may at the same time
understand
that even the rest of the things which it is evident did happen, were
done
or described for the sake of some figurative meaning. For the Scripture does
so
do in many passages of the prophetic sayings .... In the plagues therefore of
the
Egyptians,
which are in the book which is called Exodus, where the Scripture has
been
especially careful, that those things whereby they were afflicted should be all
related
in order, there is not found what this Psalm has, "and He gave to the
mildew
their fruits." This also wherein, when he had said, "and He gave over
to
the
hail their beasts," he has added, "and their possession to the fire:"
of the beasts
slain
with hail is read in Exodus; Exodus 9:25 but how their possession was
burned
with fire, is not read at all. Although voices and fires do come together
with
hail, just as thunderings do commonly accompany lightnings; nevertheless, it
is
not written that anything was given over to the fire that it should be burned.
Lastly,
the soft things which the hail could not hurt, are said not to have been
smitten,
that is, hurt with hard blows; which things the locust devoured afterwards.
Also
that which is here spoken of, "and their mulberry trees with
hoar-frost," is not
in
Exodus. For hoar-frost does differ much from hail; for in the clear winter
nights
the
earth is made white with hoar-frost.
25.
What then those things do signify, let the interpreter say as he can, let
reader
and
hearer judge as is just. The water turned into blood seems to me to signify a
carnal
view of the causes of things. Dog-fly, are the manners of dogs, who see not
even
their parents when first they are born. The frog is very talkative vanity.
Mildew
does hurt secretly, which also some have interpreted by rust, others black
mould:
which evil thing to what vice is it more appropriately compared, than to
what
does show itself least readily, like the trusting much in one's self? For it is
a
blighting
air which does work this secretly among fruits: just like in morals, secret
pride,
when a man thinks himself to be something, though he is nothing.
Galatians
6:3 The locust is malice hurting with the mouth, that is, with unfaithful
testimony.
The hail is iniquity taking away the goods of others; whence theft,
robberies,
and depredations do spring: but more by his wickedness the plunderer
himself
is plundered. The hoar-frost does signify the fault wherein the love of
one's
neighbour by the darkness of foolishness, like as it were by the cold of night,
is
frozen up. But the fire, if here it is not that which is mentioned which was in
the
hail
out of the lightning clouds, forasmuch as he has said here, "He gave over
their
possession
to the fire," where he implies that a thing was burned, which by that
fire
we read not to have been done,—it seems to me, I say, to signify the
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Psalm 78
646
savageness
of wrath, whereby even man-slaying may be committed. But by the
death
of beasts was figured, as far as I judge, the loss of chastity. For
concupiscence,
whereby offspring do arise, we have in common with beasts. To
have
this therefore tamed and ordered, is the virtue of chastity. The death of the
first-born
things, is the putting off of the very justice whereby a man does
associate
with mankind. But whether the figurative significations of these things
be
so, or whether they are better understood in another way, whom would it not
move,
that with ten plagues the Egyptians are smitten, and with ten
commandments
the tables are inscribed, that thereby the people of God should be
ruled?
Concerning the comparing of which one with the other, inasmuch as we
have
spoken elsewhere, there is no need to load the exposition of this Psalm
therewith:
thus much we remind you, that here too, though not in the same order,
yet
ten plagues of the Egyptians are commemorated, forasmuch as in the place of
three
which are in Exodus and are not here, to wit, lice, boils, darkness; other
three
are
commemorated, which are not there, that is to say, mildew, hoarfrost, and fire;
not
of lightning, but that where-unto their possession was given over, which is not
read
of in that place.
26.
But it has been clearly enough intimated, that by the judgment of God these
things
befell them through the instrumentality of evil angels, in this wicked world,
as
though it were in
humble,
until there come that world, wherein we may earn to be exalted out of this
humiliation.
For even
tribulations,
in which tongue, Thanis, as I have observed, is understood to be
humble
commandment. Concerning the evil angels therefore in this Psalm, while
he
was speaking of those very plagues, there has been something inserted, which
must
not be passed over cursorily: "He sent upon them," he says, "an
infliction
through
evil angels." Now that the devil and his angels are so very evil, that for
them
everlasting fire is prepared, no believer is ignorant: but that there should be
sent
by means of them an infliction from the Lord God upon certain whom He
judges
to be deserving of this punishment, seems to be a hard thing to those who
are
little prone to consider, how the perfect justice of God does use well even
evil
things.
For these indeed, as far as regards their substance, what other person but
Himself
has made? But evil He has not made them: yet He does use them,
inasmuch
as He is good, well, that is, conveniently and justly: just as on the other
hand
unrighteous men do use His good creatures in evil manner. God therefore
does
use evil angels not only to punish evil men, as in the case of all those
concerning
whom the Psalm does speak, as in the case of king Achab, whom a
spirit
of lying by the will of God did beguile, in order that he might fall in war:
1
Kings 22:20 but also to prove and make manifest good men, as He did in the
case
of Job. But as far as regards that corporal matter of visible elements, I
suppose
that thereof angels both good and evil are able to make use, according to
the
power given to each: just as also men good and evil do use such things, as far
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Psalm 78
647
as
they are able, according to the measure of human infirmity. For we use both
earth
and water, and air, and fire, not only in things necessary for our support, but
also
in many operations superfluous and playful, and marvellously artificial. For
countless
things, which are called mhxanhmata, are moulded out of
these
elements
scientifically employed. But over these things angels have a far more
extended
power, both the good and the evil, though greater is that which the good
have;
but only so far as is commanded or permitted by the will and providence of
God;
on which terms also we have it. For not even in these cases are we able to do
all
that we will. But in a book the most unerring we read that the devil was able
even
to send fire from Heaven, to burn up with wonderful and awful fierceness so
great
a number of the cattle of a holy man: Job 1:16 which thing no one of the
faithful
would dare perchance to ascribe to the devil, except it were read on the
authority
of Holy Scripture. But that man, being by the gift of God just and firm,
and
of godly knowledge, says not, The Lord has given, the devil has taken away:
but,
"The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away:" Job 1:21 very well
knowing
that
even what the devil was able to do with these elements, he would still not
have
done to a servant of God, except at his Lord's will and permission; he did
confound
the malice of the devil, forasmuch as he knew who it was that was
making
use thereof to prove him. In the sons then of unbelief like as it were in his
own
slaves, he does work, Ephesians 2:2 like men with their beasts, and even
therewith
only so far as is permitted by the just judgment of God. But it is one
thing
when his power is restrained from treating even his own as he pleases, by a
greater
power; another thing when to him power is given even over those who are
alien
from him. Just as a man with his beast, as men understand it, does what he
will,
and yet does not indeed, if he be restrained by a greater power: but with
another
man's beast to do something, he does wait until power be given from him
unto
whom it belongs. In the former case the power which there was is restrained,
in
the latter that which there was not is conceded.
27.
And if such be the case, if through evil angels God did inflict those plagues
upon
the Egyptians, shall we dare to say that the water also was turned into blood
by
means of those same angels, and that frogs were created by means of the same,
the
like whereunto even the magicians of Pharaoh were able to make by their
enchantments;
Exodus 8:7 so as that evil angels stood on both sides, on the one
side
afflicting them, on the other side deceiving them, according to the judgment
and
dispensation of the most just and most omnipotent God, who does justly make
use
of even the naughtiness of unrighteous men? I dare not to say so. For whence
was
it that the magicians of Pharaoh could by no means make lice? Exodus 8:18-
19
Was it not because even these same evil angels were not suffered to do this?
Or,
to speak more truly, is not the cause hidden, and it does exceed our powers of
inquiry?
For if we shall have supposed that God wrought those things by means of
evil
angels, because punishments were being inflicted, and not blessings being
bestowed,
as though God does inflict punishments upon no one by means of good
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Psalm 78
648
angels,
but by means of those executioners as it were of the heavenly wrath; the
consequence
will be that we must believe that even
means
of evil angels, and that Abraham and
under
their roof evil angels; the which, as being contrary to the most evident
Scriptures,
far be it that we should think. It is clear then that these things might
have
been done to men by means of good and evil angels. What should be done or
when
it should be done does escape me: but Him that does it, it escapes not, and
him
unto whom He shall have willed to reveal it. Nevertheless, as far as divine
Scripture
does yield to our application thereto, on evil men that punishments are
inflicted
both by means of good angels, as upon the Sodomites, and by means of
evil
angels, as upon the Egyptians, we read: but that just men with corporal
penances
by means of good angels are tried and proved, does not occur to me.
28.
But as far as regards the present passage of this Psalm, if we dare not ascribe
those
things which were marvellously formed out of creatures, to evil angels; we
have
a thing which without doubt we can ascribe to them; the dyings of the beasts,
the
dyings of the first-born, and this especially whence all these things
proceeded,
namely,
the hardening of heart, so that they would not let go the people of God.
Exodus
4:21 For when God is said to make this most iniquitous and malignant
obstinacy,
He makes it not by suggesting and inspiring, but by forsaking, so that
they
work in the sons of unbelief that which God does duly and justly permit.
Ephesians
2:2 ... Moreover, those evil manners which we said were signified by
these
corporal plagues, on account of that which was said before, "I will open
in
parables
my mouth," are most appropriately believed by means of evil angels to
have
been wrought in those that are made subject to them by Divine justice. For
neither
when that comes to pass of which the apostle speaks, "God gave them over
into
the lusts of their heart, that they should do things which are not
convenient,"
can
it be but that those evil angels dwell and rejoice therein, as in the matter of
their
own work: unto whom most justly is human haughtiness made subject, in all
save
those whom grace does deliver. "And for these things who is
sufficient?"
2
Corinthians 2:16 Whence when he had said, "He sent unto them the anger of
His
indignation,
indignation and anger and tribulation, an infliction through evil
angels;"
for this which he has added, "a way He has made for the path of His
anger"
(ver. 50), whose eye, I pray, is sufficient to penetrate, so that it may
understand
and take in the sense lying hidden in so great a profundity? For the
path
of the anger of God was that whereby He punished the ungodliness of the
Egyptians
with hidden justice: but for that same path He made a way, so that
drawing
them forth as it were from secret places by means of evil angels unto
manifest
offences, He most evidently inflicted punishment upon those that were
most
evidently ungodly. From this power of evil angels nothing does deliver man
but
the grace of God, whereof the Apostle speaks, "Who has delivered us from
the
power
of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His
love:"
Colossians
1:13 of which things that people did bear the figure, when they were
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Psalm
78
649
delivered
from the power of the Egyptians, and translated into the kingdom of the
land
of promise flowing with milk and honey, which does signify the sweetness of
grace.
29.
The Psalm proceeds then after the commemoration of the plagues of the
Egyptians
(ver. 51) and says, "And He took away like sheep His people, and He
led
them through like a flock in the desert" (ver. 52). "And He led them
down in
hope,
and they feared not, and their enemies the sea covered" (ver. 53). This
comes
to pass to so much the greater good, as it is a more inward thing, wherein
being
delivered from the power of darkness, we are in mind translated into the
Kingdom
of God, and with respect to spiritual pastures we are made to become
sheep
of God, walking in this world as it were in a desert, inasmuch as to no one is
our
faith observable: whence says the Apostle, "Your life is hidden with
Christ in
God."
Colossians 3:3 But we are being led home in hope, "For by hope we are
saved."
Romans 8:24 Nor ought we to fear. For, "If God be for us, who can be
against
us?" Romans 8:31 And our enemies the sea has covered, He has effaced
them
in baptism by the remission of sins.
30.
In the next place there follows, "And He led them into the mountain of His
sanctification"
(ver. 54). How much better into
which
His right hand has gotten." How much higher is the Church which Christ
has
gotten, concerning whom has been said, "And to whom has the arm of the
Lord
been revealed?" Isaiah 53:1 (ver. 55). "And He cast forth from the
face of
them
the nations." And from the face of His faithful. For nations in a manner
are
the
evil spirits of Gentile errors. "And by lot He divided unto them the land
in the
cord
of distribution." And in us "all things one and the same Spirit does
work,
dividing
severally to every one as He wills." 1 Corinthians 12:11
31.
"And He made to dwell in their tabernacles the tribes of
tabernacles,
he says, of the Gentiles He made the tribes of
think
can better be explained spiritually, inasmuch as unto celestial glory, whence
sinning
angels have been cast forth and cast down, by Christ's grace we are being
uplifted.
For that generation crooked and embittering, inasmuch as for these
corporal
blessings they put not off the coat of oldness, "Did tempt" yet,
"and
provoked
the high God, and His testimonies they kept not (ver. 56): and they
turned
them away, and they kept not the covenant, like their fathers" (ver. 57).
For
under
a sort of covenant and decree they said, "All things which our Lord God
has
spoken
we will do, and we will hear." Exodus 19:8 It is a remarkable thing indeed
which
he says, "like their fathers:" while throughout the whole text of the
Psalm he
was
seeming to speak of the same men as it were, yet now it appears that the
words
did concern those who were already in the land of promise, and that the
fathers
spoken of were of those who did provoke in the desert. "They were
turned,"
he says, "into a crooked," or, as some copies have it, "into a
perverse
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650
bow"
(ver. 58). But what this is does better appear in that which follows, where he
says,
"And unto wrath they provoked Him with their hills" (ver. 59). It
does
signify
that they leaped into idolatry. The bow then was perverted, not for the
name
of the Lord, but against the name of the Lord: who said to the same people,
"You
shall have none other Gods but Me." Exodus 20:3 But by the bow He does
signify
the mind's intention. This same idea, lastly, more clearly working out,
"And
in their graven idols," he says, "they provoked Him to
indignation."
32.
"God heard, and He despised:" that is, He gave heed and took
vengeance.
"And
unto nothing He brought
despised,
what were they who by God's help were what they were? But doubtless
he
is commemorating the doing of that thing, when they were conquered by the
Philistines
in the time of Heli the priest, and the
with
great slaughter they were laid low. This it is that he speaks of. "And He
rejected
the tabernacle of Selom, His tabernacle, where He dwelled among men"
(ver.
61). He has elegantly explained why He rejected His tabernacle, when he
says,
"where He dwelled among men." When therefore they were not worthy for
Him
to dwell among, why should He not reject the tabernacle, which indeed not
for
Himself He had established, but for their sakes, whom now He judged
unworthy
for Him to dwell among. "And He gave over unto captivity their
strength,
and their beauty unto the hands of the enemy." The very
they
thought themselves invincible, and whereon they plumed themselves, he calls
their
"virtue" and "beauty." Lastly, also afterward, when they
were living ill, and
boasting
of the temple of the Lord, He does terrify them by a Prophet, saying, "See
ye
what I have done to Selom, where was My tabernacle." "And He ended
with the
sword
His people, and His inheritance He despised" (ver. 62). "Their young
men
the
fire devoured:" that is, wrath. "And their virgins mourned not"
(ver. 63). For
not
even for this was there leisure, in fear of the foe. "Their priests fell
by the
sword,
and their widows were not lamented" (ver. 64). For there fell by the sword
the
sons of Heli, of one of whom the wife being widowed, and presently dying in
child-birth,
1 Samuel 4:19 because of the same confusion could not be mourned
with
the distinction of a funeral. "And the Lord was awakened as one sleeping"
(ver.
65). For He seems to sleep, when He gives His people into the hands of those
whom
He hates, when there is said to them, "Where is your God?" "He
was
awakened,
then, like one sleeping, like a mighty man drunken with wine." No one
would
dare to say this of God, save His Spirit. For he has spoken, as it seems to
ungodly
men reviling; as if like a drunken man He sleeps long, when He succours
not
so speedily as men think.
33.
"And He smote His enemies in the hinder parts" (ver. 66): those, to wit,
who
were
rejoicing that they were able to take His Ark: for they were smitten in their
back-parts.
1 Samuel 5:6 Which seems to me to be a sign of that punishment,
wherewith
a man will be tortured, if he shall have looked back upon things behind;
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651
which,
as says the Apostle, he ought to value as dung. Philippians 3:8 For they that
do
so receive the Testament of God, as that they put not off from them the old
vanity,
are like the hostile nations, who did place the captured
Testament
beside their own idols. And yet those old things even though these be
unwilling
do fall: for "all flesh is hay, and the glory of man as the flower of hay.
The
hay has dried up, and the flower has fallen off:" Isaiah 40:6-7 but the
the
Lord "abides for everlasting," to wit, the secret testament of the
kingdom of
Heaven,
where is the eternal Word of God. But they that have loved things behind,
because
of these very things most justly shall be tormented. For "everlasting
reproach
He has given to them." (ver. 67).
34.
"And He rejected," he says, "the tabernacle of Joseph, and the
tribe of Ephraim
He
chose not" (ver. 68). "And He chose the tribe of
said,
He rejected the tabernacle of Reuben, who was the first-born son of Jacob;
Genesis
49:3 nor them that follow, and precede
they
being rejected and not chosen, the tribe of
have
been said that they were deservedly rejected; because even in the blessing of
Jacob
wherewith he blessed his sons, he mentions their sins, Genesis 49:5 and
deeply
abhors them; though among them the tribe of Levi merited to be the
priestly
tribe, whence also Moses was. Exodus 2:1 Nor has he said, He rejected the
tabernacle
of Benjamin, or the tribe of Benjamin He chose not, out of which a king
already
had begun to be; for thence there had been chosen Saul; 1 Samuel 9:1
whence
because of the very proximity of the time, when he had been rejected and
refused,
and David chosen, 1 Samuel 16:1 this might conveniently have been said;
but
yet was not said: but he has named those especially who seemed to excel for
more
surpassing merits. For Joseph fed in
having
been impiously sold, because of his piety, chastity, wisdom, he was most
justly
exalted; Genesis 41:40 and Ephraim by the blessing of his grandfather Jacob
was
preferred before his elder brother: and yet God "rejected the tabernacle
of
Joseph,
and the tribe of Ephraim He chose not." In which place by these names of
renowned
merit, what else do we understand but that whole people with old
cupidity
requiring of the Lord earthly rewards, rejected and refused, but the tribe
of
Judah chosen not for the sake of the merits of that same Judah? For far greater
are
the merits of Joseph, but by the tribe of Judah, inasmuch as thence arose
Christ
according
to the flesh, the Scripture does testify of the new people of Christ
preferred
before that old people, the Lord opening in parables His mouth.
Moreover,
thence also in that which follows, "the Mount Sion which He chose,"
we
do better understand the Church of Christ, not worshipping God for the sake of
the
carnal blessings of the present time, but from afar looking for future and
eternal
rewards with the eyes of faith: for Sion too is interpreted a "looking
out."
35.
Lastly there follows, "and He built like as of unicorns His
sanctification" (ver.
70):
or, as some interpreters have made thereof a new word, "His
sanctifying." The
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652
unicorns
are rightly understood to be those, whose firm hope is uplifted unto that
one
thing, concerning which another Psalm says, "One thing I have sought of
the
Lord,
this I will require." But the sanctifying of God, according to the Apostle
Peter,
is understood to be a holy people and a royal priesthood. 1 Peter 2:9 But that
which
follows, "in the land which He founded for everlasting:" which the
Greek
copies
have eij ton aipna, whether it be called by us "for
everlasting," or "for an
age,"
is at the pleasure of the Latin translators; forasmuch as it does signify
either:
and
therefore the latter is found in some Latin copies, the former in others. Some
also
have it in the plural, that is, "for ages:" which in the Greek copies
which we
have
had we have not found. But which of the faithful would doubt, that the
Church,
even though, some going, others coming, she does pass out of this life in
mortal
manner, is yet founded for everlasting?
36.
"And He chose David His servant" (ver. 71). The tribe, I say, of
Judah, for the
sake
of David: but David for the sake of Christ: the tribe then of Judah for the
sake
of
Christ. At whose passing by blind men cried out, "Have pity on us, Son of
David:"
Matthew 20:30 and forthwith by His pity they received light, because true
was
the thing which they cried out. This then the Apostle does not cursorily speak
of,
but does heedfully notice, writing to Timothy, "Be thou mindful, that
Christ
Jesus
has risen from the dead, of the seed of David," etc. 2 Timothy 2:8
Therefore
the
Saviour Himself, made according to the flesh of the seed of David, is figured
in
this passage under the name of David, the Lord opening in parables His mouth.
And
let it not move us, that when he had said, "and He chose David,"
under which
name
he signified Christ, he has added, "His servant," not His Son. Yea
even
hence
we may perceive, that not the substance of the Only-Begotten coeternal with
the
Father, but the "form of a servant" was taken of the seed of David.
37.
"And He took him from the flocks of sheep, from behind the teeming sheep
He
received
him: to feed Jacob His servant, and Israel His inheritance" (ver. 72).
This
David
indeed, of whose seed the flesh of Christ is, from the pastoral care of cattle
was
translated to the kingdom of men: but our David, Jesus Himself, from men to
men,
from Jews to Gentiles, was yet according to the parable from sheep to sheep
taken
away and translated. For there are not now in that land "Churches of Judća
in
Christ," which belonged to them of the circumcision after the recent
Passion
and
Resurrection of our Lord, of whom says the Apostle, "But I was unknown by
face
to the Churches of Judća, which are in Christ," etc. Galatians 1:22-23
Already
from hence those Churches of the circumcised people have passed away:
and
thus in Judća, which now does exist on the earth, there is not now Christ. He
has
been removed thence, now He does feed flocks of Gentiles. Truly from behind
teeming
sheep He has been taken thence. For those former Churches were of such
sort,
as that of them it is said in the Song of Songs, "Your teeth—are like a
flock
of
shorn ewes going up from the washing, all of which do bear twins, and a barren
one
is not among them." Song of Songs 4:2 For they then laid aside like as it
were
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653
fleeces
the burdens of the world, Acts 2:45 when before the feet of the Apostles
they
laid the prices of their sold goods, Acts 4:34-35 going up from that Laver,
concerning
which the apostle Peter does admonish them, when they were troubled
because
they had shed the blood of Christ, and he says, "Repent ye, and let each
one
of you be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and your sins shall be
forgiven
you." Acts 2:38 But twins they begat, the works, to wit, of the two
commandments
of twin love, love of God, and love of one's neighbour: whence a
barren
one there was not among them. From behind these teeming sheep our
David
having been taken, does now feed other flocks among the Gentiles, and
those
too "Jacob" and "Israel." For thus has been said, "to
feed Jacob His servant,
and
Israel His inheritance."...Unless perchance any one be willing to make
such a
distinction
as this; viz. that in this time Jacob serves; but he will be the eternal
inheritance
of God, at that time when he shall see God face to face, whence he has
received
the name Israel. Genesis 32:28
38.
"And He fed them," he says, "in the innocence of His heart"
(ver. 73). What
can
be more innocent than He, who not only had not any sin whereby to be
conquered,
but even not any to conquer? "And in the understanding of His hands
He
led them home:" or, as some copies have it, "in the understandings of
His
hands."
Any other man might suppose that it would have been better had it been
said
thus, "in innocence of hands and understanding of heart;" but He who
knew
better
than others what He spoke, preferred to join with the heart innocence, and
with
the hands understanding. It is for this reason, as far as I judge; because many
men
think themselves innocent, who do not evil things because they fear lest they
should
suffer if they shall have done them; but they have the will to do them, if
they
could with impunity. Such men may seem to have innocence of hands, but yet
not
that of heart. And what, I pray, or of what sort is that innocence, if of heart
it is
not,
where man was made after the image of God? Genesis 1:27 But in this which
he
says, "in understanding (or intelligence) of His hands He led them
home," he
seems
to me to have spoken of that intelligence which He does Himself make in
believers:
and so "of His hands:" for making does belong to the hands, but in
the
sense
wherein the hands of God may be understood; for even Christ was a Man in
such
sort, that He was also God....
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654
Exposition
on Psalm 79
1.
Over the title of this Psalm, being so short and so simple, I think we need not
tarry.
But the prophecy which here we read sent before, we know to be evidently
fulfilled.
For when these things were being sung in the times of King David,
nothing
of such sort, by the hostility of the Gentiles, as yet had befallen the city
Jerusalem,
nor the Temple of God, which as yet was not even built. For that after
the
death of David his son Salomon made a temple to God, who is ignorant? That
is
spoken of therefore as though past, which in the Spirit was seen to be future.
"O
God, the Gentiles have come into Your inheritance" (ver. 1). Under which
form
of expression other things which were to come to pass, are spoken of as
having
been done. Nor must this be wondered at, that these words are being
spoken
to God. For they are not being represented to Him not knowing, by whose
revelation
they are foreknown; but the soul is speaking with God with that
affection
of godliness, of which God knows. For even the things which Angels
proclaim
to men, they proclaim to them that know them not; but the things which
they
proclaim to God, they proclaim to Him knowing, when they offer our prayers,
and
in ineffable manner consult the eternal Truth respecting their actions, as an
immutable
law. And therefore this man of God is saying to God that which he is to
learn
of God, like a scholar to a master, not ignorant but judging; and so either
approving
what he has taught, or censuring what he has not taught: especially
because
under the appearance of one praying, the Prophet is transforming into
himself
those who should be at the time when these things were to come to pass.
But
in praying it is customary to declare those things to God which He has done in
taking
vengeance, and for a petition to be added, that henceforth He should pity
and
spare. In this way here also by him the judgments are spoken of by whom they
are
foretold, as if they were being spoken of by those whom they befell, and the
very
lamentation and prayer is a prophecy.
2.
"They have defiled Your holy Temple, they have made Jerusalem for a
keeping
of
apples." "They have made the dead bodies of Your servants morsels for
the
fowls
of heaven, the fleshes of Your saints for the beasts of the earth" (ver.
2).
"They
have poured forth their blood like water in the circuit of Jerusalem, and
there
was no one to bury them" (ver. 3). If in this prophecy any one of us shall
have
thought that there must be understood that laying waste of Jerusalem, which
was
made by Titus the Roman Emperor, when already the Lord Jesus Christ, after
His
Resurrection and Ascension, was being preached among the Gentiles, it does
not
occur to me how that people could now have been called the inheritance of
God,
as not holding to Christ, whom having rejected and slain, that people became
reprobate,
which not even after His Resurrection would believe in Him, and even
killed
His Martyrs. For out of that people Israel whosoever have believed in
Christ;
to whom the offer of Christ was made, and in a manner the healthful and
fruitful
fulfilment of the promise; concerning whom even the Lord Himself says,
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655
"I
am not sent but to the sheep which have been lost of the house of Israel,"
Matthew
15:24 the same are they that out of them are the sons of promise; the
same
are counted for a seed; Romans 9:8 the same do belong to the inheritance of
God.
From hence are Joseph that just man, and the Virgin Mary who bore Christ:
Matthew
1:16 hence John Baptist the friend of the Bridegroom, and his parents
Zacharias
and Elisabeth: Luke 1:5 hence Symeon the old, Luke 2:25 and Anna the
widow,
who heard not Christ speaking by the sense of the body; but while yet an
infant
not speaking, by the Spirit perceived Him: hence the blessed Apostles:
hence
Nathanael, in whom guile was not: John 1:47 hence the other Joseph, who
himself
too looked for the kingdom of God: hence that so great multitude who
went
before and followed after His beast, saying, "Blessed is He that comes in
the
name
of the Lord:" Matthew 21:9 among whom was also that company of
children,
in whom He declared to have been fulfilled, "Out of the mouth of infants
and
sucklings You have perfected praise." Hence also were those after His
resurrection,
of whom on one day three and on another five thousand were
baptized,
welded into one soul and one heart by the fire of love; of whom no one
spoke
of anything as his own, but to them all things were common. Acts 4:32
Hence
the holy deacons, of whom Stephen was crowned with martyrdom before
the
Apostles. Acts 7:59 Hence so many Churches of Judća, which were in Christ,
unto
whom Paul was unknown by face, Galatians 1:22 but known for an infamous
ferocity,
and more known for Christ's most merciful grace. Hence even he,
according
to the prophecy sent before concerning him, "a wolf ravening, in the
morning
carrying off, and in the evening dividing morsels;" Genesis 49:27 that is,
first
as persecutor carrying off unto death, afterwards as a preacher feeding unto
life.
These are they that are out of that people the inheritance of God.... So then
even
at this time a remnant through election of Grace have been saved. This
remnant
out of that nation does belong to the inheritance of God: not those
concerning
whom a little below he says, "But the rest have been blinded." For
thus
he
says. "What then? That which Israel sought, this he has not obtained: but
the
election
has obtained it: but the rest have been blinded." Romans 11:7 This
election
then, this remnant, that people of God, which God has not cast off, is
called
His inheritance. But in that Israel, which has not obtained this, in the rest
that
were blinded, there was no longer an inheritance of God, in reference to
whom
it is possible that there should be spoken, after the glorification of Christ
in
the
Heavens, in the time of Titus the Emperor, "O God, there have come the
Gentiles
unto Your inheritance," and the other things which in this Psalm seem to
have
been foretold concerning the destruction of both the temple and city
belonging
to that people.
3.
Furthermore herein we ought either to perceive those things which were done
by
other enemies, before Christ had come in the flesh: at that time when there
were
even the holy prophets, when the carrying away into Babylon took place,
2
Kings 24:14 and that nation was grievously afflicted, and at the time when
under
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656
Antiochus
also the Maccabees, having endured horrible sufferings, were most
gloriously
crowned. 2 Maccabbees vii Or certainly if after the Resurrection and
Ascension
of the Lord the inheritance of God must be understood to be here
spoken
of; such things must be understood herein, as at the hands of worshippers
of
idols, and enemies of the name of Christ, His Church, in such a multitude of
martyrs,
endured.... This Church then, this inheritance of God, out of circumcision
and
uncircumcision has been congregated, that is, out of the people of Israel, and
out
of the rest of the nations, by means of the Stone which the builders rejected,
and
which has become for the Head of the corner, in which corner as it were two
walls
coming from different quarters were united. "For Himself is our peace, who
has
made both one, that He might build two into Himself, making peace, and
might
unite together both in one Body unto God: in which Body we are sons of
God,
"crying, Abba Father." Romans 8:15 Abba, on account of their
language;
Father,
on account of ours. For Abba is the same as Father....
4.
But now in that which follows, "they have made Jerusalem for a keeping of
apples;"
even the Church herself is rightly understood under this name, even the
free
Jerusalem our mother, Galatians 4:26 concerning whom has been written,
"many
more are the sons of the forsaken, than of her that has the husband."
Isaiah
54:1 The expression, "for a keeping of apples," I think must be
understood
of
the desertion which the wasting of persecution has effected: that is, like a
keeping
of apples; for the keeping of apples is abandoned, when the apples have
passed
away. And certes when through the persecuting Gentiles the Church
seemed
to be forsaken, unto the celestial table, like as it were many and exceeding
sweet
apples from the garden of the Lord, the spirits of the martyrs did pass away.
5.
"They have made," he says, "the dead bodies of Your servants
morsels for the
fowls
of heaven, the fleshes of Your saints for the beasts of the earth" (ver.
2). The
expression,
"dead bodies," has been repeated in "fleshes:" and the
expression, "of
Your
servants," has been repeated in, "of Your saints." This only has
been varied,
"to
the fowls of heaven, and to the beasts of the earth." Better have they
interpreted
who have written "dead," than as some have it, "mortal."
For "dead" is
only
said of those that have died; but mortal is a term applied even to living
bodies.
When then, as I have said, to their Husbandman the spirits of martyrs like
apples
had passed away, their dead bodies and their fleshes they set before the
fowls
of heaven and the beasts of the earth: as if any part of them could be lost to
the
resurrection, whereas out of the hidden recesses of the natural world He will
renew
the whole, by whom even our hairs have been numbered. Matthew 10:30
6.
"They have poured forth their blood like water," that is, abundantly
and
wantonly,
"in the circuit of Jerusalem" (ver. 3). If we herein understand the
earthly
city
Jerusalem, we perceive the shedding of their blood in the circuit thereof,
whom
the enemy could find outside the walls. But if we understand it of that
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657
Jerusalem,
concerning whom has been said, "many more are the sons of her that
was
forsaken, than of her that has the husband," Isaiah 54:1 the circuit
thereof is
throughout
the universal earth. For in that lesson of the Prophet, wherein is
written,
"many more are the sons of her that was forsaken, than of her that has the
husband:"
a little after unto the same is said, "and He that has delivered you,
shall
be
called the God of Israel of the universal earth." Isaiah 54:5 The circuit
then of
this
Jerusalem in this Psalm must be understood as follows: so far as at that time
the
Church had been expanded, bearing fruit, and growing in the universal world,
when
in every part thereof persecution was raging, and was making havoc of the
Martyrs,
whose blood was being shed like water, to the great gain of the celestial
treasuries.
But as to that which has been added, "and there was no one to bury:"
it
either
ought not to seem to be an incredible thing that there should have been so
great
a panic in some places, that not any buriers at all of holy bodies came
forward:
or certes that unburied corpses in many places might lie long time, until
being
by the religious in a manner stolen they were buried.
7.
"We have become," he says, "a reproach to our neighbours"
(ver. 4). Therefore
precious
not in the sight of men, from whom this reproach was, but "precious in
the
sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." "A scoffing and
derision:" or, as
some
have interpreted it, "a mockery to them that are in our circuit." It
is a
repetition
of the former sentence. For that which above has been called, "a
reproach,"
the same has been repeated in, "a scoffing and derision:" and that
which
above
has been said in, "to our neighbours," the same has been repeated in,
"to
them
that are in our circuit." Moreover, in reference to the earthly Jerusalem,
the
neighbours,
and those in the circuit of that nation, are certainly understood to be
other
nations. But in reference to the free Jerusalem our mother, Galatians 4:26
there
are neighbours even in the circuit of her, among whom, being her enemies,
the
Church dwells in the circuit of the round world.
8.
In the second place now giving utterance to an evident prayer, whence it may be
perceived
that the calling to remembrance of former affliction is not by way of
information
but prayer; "How long," he says, "O Lord, will You be angry,
unto the
end?
shall Your jealousy burn like fire?" (ver. 5). He is evidently asking God
not
to
be angry unto the end, that is, that this so great oppression and tribulation
and
devastation
may not continue even unto the end; but that He moderate His
chastening,
according to that which is said in another Psalm, "You shall feed us
with
the bread of tears, and You shall give us to drink of tears in measure."
For
the,
"how long, O Lord, will You be angry, unto the end?" has been spoken
in the
same
sense as if it had been said, Be not, O Lord, angry unto the end. And in that
which
follows, "shall Your jealousy burn like fire?" both words must be
understood,
both, "how long," and, "unto the end:" just as if there had
been said,
how
long shall there burn like fire Your jealousy unto the end? For these two
words
must be understood in the same manner as that word which was used a little
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658
higher
up, namely, "they have made." For while the former sentence has,
"they
have
made the dead bodies of Your servants morsels for the fowls of heaven:"
this
word
the latter sentence has not, wherein is said, "the fleshes of Your saints
for the
beasts
of the earth;" but there is surely understood what the former has, namely,
"they
have made."
Moreover,
the anger and jealousy of God are not emotions of God; as some do
charge
upon the Scriptures which they do not understand: but under the name of
anger
is to be understood the avenging of iniquity; under the name of jealousy, the
exaction
of chastity; that the soul may not despise the law of her Lord, and perish
by
departing in fornication from the Lord. These then in their actual operation in
men's
affliction are violent; but in the disposal of God they are calm, unto whom
has
been said, "But You, O Lord of virtues, with calmness dost judge."
Wisdom
12:18 But it is clearly enough shown by these words, that for sins these
tribulations
do befall men, though they be faithful: although hence may bloom the
Martyrs'
glory by occasion of their patience, and the yoke of discipline godly
endured
as the scourge of the Lord. Of this the Maccabees amid sharp tortures, of
this
the three men amid flames innocuous, Daniel 3:21 of this the holy Prophets in
captivity,
do testify. For although paternal correction most bravely and most godly
they
endure, yet they do not hide the fact, that these things have befallen them for
the
deservings of their sins....
9.
But that which he adds, "Pour forth Your anger upon the nations which have
not
known
You, and upon the kingdoms which have not called upon Your name" (ver.
6);
this too is a prophecy, not a wish. Not in the imprecation of malevolence are
these
words spoken, but foreseen by the Spirit they are predicted: just as in the
case
of Judas the traitor, the evil things which were to befall him have been so
prophesied
as if they were wished. For in like manner as the prophet does not
command
Christ, though in the imperative mood he gives utterance to what he
says,
"Gird Thou Your sword about Your thigh, O Most Mighty: in Your beauty
and
in Your goodliness, both go on, and prosperously proceed, and reign:" so
he
does
not wish, but does prophesy, who says, "Pour forth Your anger upon the
nations
which have not known You." Which in his usual way he repeats, saying,
"And
upon the kingdoms which have not called upon Your name." For nations
have
been repeated in kingdoms: and that they have not known Him, has been
repeated
in this, that they have not called upon His name. How then must be
understood,
what the Lord says in the Gospel Luke 12:47-48 concerning stripes,
"the
many and the few"? if greater the anger of God is against the nations,
which
have
not known the Lord? For in this which he says, "Pour forth Your
anger," with
this
word he has clearly enough pointed out, how great anger he has willed that
there
should be understood. Whence afterwards he says, "Render to our
neighbours
seven times as much." Is it not that there is a great difference between
servants,
who, though they know not the will of their Lord, do yet call upon His
name,
and those that are aliens from the family of so great a Master, who are so
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ignorant
of God, as that they do not even call upon God? For in place of Him they
call
upon either idols or demons, or any creature they choose; not the Creator, who
is
blessed for ever. For those persons, concerning whom he is prophesying this, he
does
not even intimate to be so ignorant of the will of their God, as that still
they
fear
the Lord Himself; but so ignorant of the Lord Himself, that they do not even
call
upon Him, and that they stand forth as enemies of His name. There is a great
difference
then between servants not knowing the will of their God, and yet living
in
His family and in His house, and enemies not only setting the will against
knowing
the Lord Himself, but also not calling upon His name, and even in His
servants
fighting against it.
10.
Lastly, there follows, "For they have eaten up Jacob, and his place they
have
made
desolate" (ver. 7) .... How we should view "the place" of Jacob,
must be
understood.
For rather the place of Jacob may be supposed to be that city, wherein
was
also the Temple, whither-unto the whole of that nation for the purpose of
sacrifice
and worship, and to celebrate the Passover, the Lord had commanded to
assemble.
For if the assemblies of Christians, letted and suppressed by persecutors,
has
been what the Prophet would have to be understood, it would seem that he
should
have said, places made desolate, not place. Still we may take the singular
number
as put for the plural number; as dress for clothes, soldiery for soldiers,
cattle
for beasts: for many words are usually spoken in this manner, and not only
in
the mouths of vulgar speakers, but even in the eloquence of the most approved
authorities.
Nor to divine Scripture herself is this form of speech foreign. For even
she
has put frog for frogs, locust for locusts, and countless expressions of the
like
kind.
But that which has been said, "They have eaten up Jacob," the same is
well
understood,
in that many men into their own evil-minded body, that is, into their
own
society, they have constrained to pass.
11.
...He subjoins, "Remember not our iniquities of old" (ver. 8). He
says not
bygone,
which might have even been recent; but "of old," that is, coming from
parents.
For to such iniquities judgment, not correction, is owing. "Speedily let
Your
mercies anticipate us." Anticipate, that is, at Your judgment. For
"mercy
exalts
above in judgment." James 2:13 Now there is "judgment without
mercy,"
but
to him that has not showed mercy. But whereas he adds, "for we have become
exceeding
poor:" unto this end he wills that the mercies of God should be
understood
to anticipate us; that our own poverty, that is, weakness, by Him
having
mercy, should be aided to do His commandments, that we may not come to
His
judgment to be condemned.
12.
Therefore there follows, "Help us, O God, our healing One" (ver. 9).
By this
word
which he says, "our healing One," he does sufficiently explain what
sort of
poverty
he has willed to be understood, in that which he had said, "for we have
become
exceeding poor." For it is that very sickness, to which a healer is
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Psalm 79 660
necessary.
But while he would have us to be aided, he is neither ungrateful to
grace,
nor does he take away free-will. For he that is aided, does also of himself
something.
He has added also, "for the glory of Your Name, O Lord, deliver us:"
in
order that he who glories, not in himself, but in the Lord may glory.
1
Corinthians 1:31 "And merciful be Thou," he says, "to our sins
for Your Name's
sake:"
not for our sake. For what else do our sins deserve, but due and condign
punishments?
But "merciful be Thou to our sins, for Your Name's sake." Thus
then
Thou dost deliver us, that is, dost rescue us from evil things, while Thou dost
both
aid us to do justice, and art merciful to our sins, without which in this life
we
are
not. For "in Your sight shall no man living be justified." But sin is
iniquity.
And
"if You shall have marked iniquities, who shall stand?"
13.
But that which he adds, "lest at any time they should say among the
Gentiles,
Where
is their God?" (ver. 10) must be taken as rather for the Gentiles
themselves.
For
to a bad end they come that have despaired of the true God, thinking that
either
He is not, or does not help His own, and is not merciful to them. But this
which
follows, "and that there may be known among the nations before our eyes
the
vengeance of the blood of Your servants which has been shed:" is either to
be
understood
as of the time, when they believe in the true God that used to persecute
His
inheritance; because even that is vengeance, whereby is slain the fierce
iniquity
of them by the sword of the Word of God, concerning which has been
said,
"Gird Thou Your sword:" or when obstinate enemies at the last are
punished.
For
the corporal ills which they suffer in this world, they may have in common
with
good men. There is also another kind of vengeance; that wherein the Church's
enlargement
and fruitfulness in this world after so great persecutions, wherein they
supposed
she would utterly perish, the sinner and unbeliever and enemy sees, and
is
angry; "with his teeth he shall gnash, and shall pine away." For who
would dare
to
deny that even this is a most heavy punishment? But I know not whether that
which
he says, "before our eyes," is taken with sufficient elegance, if by
this sort
of
punishment we understand that which is done in the inmost recesses of the
heart,
and does torment even those who blandly smile at us, while by us there
cannot
be seen what they suffer in the inner man. But the fact, that whether in
them
believing their iniquity is slain, or whether the last punishment is rendered
to
them
persevering in their naughtiness, without difficulty of doubtfulness is
understood
in the saying, "that there may be known before our eyes vengeance
among
the nations."
14.
And this indeed, as we have said, is a prophecy, not a wish .... And the Lord
in
the
Gospel Luke 18:3 has set before us the widow for an example, who longing to
be
avenged, did intercede with the unjust judge, who at length heard her, not as
being
guided by justice, but overcome with weariness: but this the Lord has set
before
us, to show that much more the just God will speedily make the judgment
of
His elect, who cry unto Him day and night. Thence is also that cry of the
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661
Martyrs
under the altar of God, Revelation 6:9 that they may be avenged in the
judgment
of God. Where then is the, "Love your enemies, do good unto them that
hate
you, and pray for them that persecute you"? Matthew 5:44 Where is also
the,
"Not
rendering evil for evil, nor cursing for cursing:" 1 Peter 3:9 and,
"unto no
man
rendering evil for evil"? Romans 12:17... For when the Lord was exhorting
us
to
love enemies, He set before us the example of our Father, who is in Heaven,
"who
makes His sun to rise upon good men and evil men, and rains upon just men
and
unjust men:" Matthew 5:45 does He yet therefore not chasten even by
temporal
correction, or not condemn at the last the obstinately hardened? Let
therefore
an enemy be so loved as that the Lord's justice whereby he is punished
displease
us not, and let the justice whereby he is punished so please us, as that the
joy
is not at his evil but at the good Judge. But a malevolent soul is sorrowful,
if
his
enemy by being corrected shall have escaped punishment: and when he sees
him
punished, he is so glad that he is avenged, that he is not delighted with the
justice
of God, whom he loves not, but with the misery of that man whom he
hates:
and when he leaves judgment to God, he hopes that God will hurt more than
he
could hurt: and when he gives food to his hungering enemy, and drink to him
thirsty,
he has an evil-minded sense of that which is written, "For thus doing you
shall
heap coals of fire upon his head." Romans 12:20... In such sort then under
the
appearance
of one asking in this Psalm, future vengeance on the ungodly is
prophesied
of, as that we are to understand that holy men of God have loved their
enemies,
and have wished no one anything but good, which is godliness in this
world,
everlasting life in that to come; but in the punishments of evil men, they
have
taken pleasure not in the ills of them, but in God's good judgments; and
wheresoever
in the holy Scriptures we read of their hatreds against men, they were
the
hatreds of vices, which every man must needs hate in himself, if he loves
himself.
15.
But now in that which follows, "Let there come in before Your sight,"
or, as
some
copies have it, "In Your sight, the groans of the fettered:" not
easily does any
one
discover that the Saints were thrown into fetters by persecutors; and if this
does
happen amid so great and manifold a variety of punishments, so rarely it does
happen,
that it must not be believed that the prophet had chosen to allude to this
especially
in this verse. But, in fact, the fetters are the infirmity and the
corruptibleness
of the body, which do weigh down the soul. For by means of the
frailty
thereof, as a kind of material for certain pains and troubles, the persecutor
might
constrain her unto ungodliness. From these fetters the Apostle was longing
to
be unbound, and to be with Christ; Philippians 1:23 but to abide in the flesh
was
necessary
for their sakes unto whom he was ministering the Gospel. Until then this
corruptible
put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality,
1
Corinthians 15:54 like as it were with fetters, the weak flesh does let the
willing
spirit.
Matthew 26:41 These fetters then not any do feel, but they that in
themselves
do groan being burthened, desiring to be clothed upon with the
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Psalm 79
662
tabernacle
which is from Heaven; 2 Corinthians 5:4 because both death is a terror,
and
mortal life is sorrow. In behalf of these men groaning the Prophet does
redouble
his groaning, that their groaning may "come in in the sight of the
Lord."
They
also may be understood to be fettered, who are enchained with the precepts
of
wisdom, the which being patiently supported are turned into ornaments: whence
it
has been written, "Put your feet into her fetters." Sirach 6:24
"According to the
greatness,"
he says, "of Your arm, receive Thou unto adoption the sons of them
that
are put to death:" or, as is read in some copies, "Possess Thou sons
by the
death
of the punished." Wherein the Scripture seems to me to have sufficiently
shown,
what has been the groan of the fettered, who for the name of Christ
endured
most grievous persecutions, which in this Psalm are most clearly
prophesied.
For being beset with various sufferings, they used to pray for the
Church,
that their blood might not be without fruit to posterity; in order that the
Lord's
harvest might more abundantly flourish by the very means whereby
enemies
thought that she would perish. For "sons of them that were put to
death"
he
has called them who were not only not terrified by the sufferings of those that
went
before, but in Him for whose name they knew them to have suffered, being
inflamed
with their glory which did inspire them to the like, in most ample hosts
they
believed. Therefore he has said, "According to the greatness of Thine
arm."
For
so great a wonder followed in the case of Christian peoples, as they, who
thought
they would prevail anything by persecuting her, no wise believed would
follow.
16.
"Render," he says, "to our neighbours seven times so much into
their bosoms"
(ver.
13). Not any evil things he is wishing, but things just he is foretelling and
prophesying
as to come. But in the number seven, that is, in sevenfold retribution,
he
would have the completeness of the punishment to be perceived, for with this
number
fulness is wont to be signified. Whence also there is this saying for the
good,
"He shall receive in this world seven times as much:" which has been
put for
all.
"As if having nothing, and possessing all things." 2 Corinthians 6:10
Of
neighbours
he is speaking, because amongst them dwells the Church even unto the
day
of severing: for not now is made the corporal separation. "Into their
bosoms,"
he
says, as being now in secret, so that the vengeance which is now being
executed
in secret in this life, hereafter may be known among the nations before
our
eyes. For when a man is given over to a reprobate mind, in his inward bosom
he
is receiving what he deserves of future punishments. "Their reproach
wherewith
they
have reproached You, O Lord." This do Thou render to them sevenfold into
their
bosoms, that is, in return for this reproach, most fully do Thou rebuke them
in
their secret places. For in this they have reproached Your Name, thinking to
efface
You from the earth in Your servants.
17.
"But we Your people" (ver. 14), must be taken generally of all the
race of
godly
and true Christians. "We," then, whom they thought they had power to
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Psalm 79
663
destroy,
"Your people, and the sheep of your flock:" in order that he that
glories
may
glory in the Lord, 1 Corinthians 1:31 "will confess to You for an
age." But
some
copies have it, "will confess to You for everlasting." Out of a Greek
ambiguity
this diversity has arisen. For that which the Greek has, eij
ton aiwna,
may
be interpreted both by "for everlasting," and "for an age;"
but according to the
context
we must understand which is the better interpretation. The sense then of
this
passage seems to me to show, that we ought to say "for an age," that
is, even
unto
the end of time. But the following verse after the manner of the Scriptures,
and
especially of the Psalms, is a repetition of the former with the order changed,
putting
that before which in the former case was after, and that after which in the
former
case was before. For whereas in the former case there had been said, "we
will
confess to You," instead of the same herein has been said, "We will
proclaim
Your
praise." And so whereas in the former case there had been said, "for
an age,"
instead
of the same herein has been said, "for generation and generation."
For this
repetition
of generation does signify perpetuity: or, as some understand it, it is
because
there are two generations, an old and a new .... But in many places of holy
Scriptures
we have already made known to you that confession is also put for
praise:
as in this passage it is, "These words you shall say in confession, 'That
the
works
of the Lord are very good.'" Sirach 39:33 And especially that which the
Saviour
Himself says, who had not any sin at all, which by repentance to confess:
"I
confess to You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hid these
things
from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes."
Matthew
11:25 I have said this, in order that it may be more clearly perceived how
in
the expression, "We will proclaim Your praise," the same has been
repeated as
had
been said higher up, "We will confess to You."
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Psalm 80
664
Exposition
on Psalm 80
1.
...If perchance things obscure demand the office of an interpreter, those
things
which
are evident ought to require of me the office of a reader. The song here is of
the
Advent of the Lord and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His vineyard. But
the
singer of the song is that Asaph, as far as does appear, enlightened and
converted,
by whose name ye know the synagogue to be signified. Lastly, the title
of
the Psalm is: "For the end in behalf of them that shall be changed;"
that is, for
the
better. For Christ, the end of the Law, Romans 10:4 has come on purpose that
He
should change men for the better. And he adds, "a testimony to Asaph
himself."
A good testimony of truth. Lastly, this testimony does confess both
Christ
and the vineyard; that is, Head and Body, King and people, Shepherd and
flock,
and the entire mystery of all Scriptures, Christ and the Church. But the title
of
the Psalm does conclude with, "for the Assyrians." The Assyrians are
interpreted,
"men guiding." Therefore it is no longer a generation which has not
guided
the heart thereof, but now a generation guiding. Therefore hear we what he
says
in this testimony.
2.
What is, "Thou that feedest Israel, hearken, Thou that conducts Joseph
like
sheep"?
(ver. 1). He is being invoked to come, He is being expected until He
come,
He is being yearned for until He come. Therefore may He find "men
guiding:"
"Thou that conductest," he says, "Joseph like sheep:"
Joseph himself like
sheep.
Joseph himself are the sheep, and Joseph himself is a sheep. Observe
Joseph;
for although even the interpretation of his name does aid us much, for it
signifies
increase; and He came indeed in order that the grain given to death might
arise
manifold; John 12:24 that is, that the people of God might be
increased....
"Thou that sittest upon the Cherubin." Cherubin is the seat of the
glory
of God, and is interpreted the fulness of knowledge. There God sits in the
fulness
of knowledge. Though we understand the Cherubin to be the exalted
powers
and virtues of the heavens: yet, if you will, you will be Cherubin. For if
Cherubin
is the seat of God, hear what says the Scripture: "The soul of a just man
is
the seat of wisdom." How, you say, shall I be the fulness of knowledge?
Who
shall
fulfil this? You have the means of fulfilling it: "The fulness of the Law
is
love."
Romans 13:10 Do not run after many things, and strain yourself. The
amplitude
of the branches does terrify you: hold by the root, and of the greatness
of
the tree think not. Be there in you love, and the fulness of knowledge must
needs
follow. For what does he not know that knows love? Inasmuch as it has
been
said, "God is love." 1 John 4:8 "Appear." For we went
astray because You
did
not appear. "Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasse" (ver. 2).
Appear, I
say,
before the nation of the Jews, before the people of Israel. For there is
Ephraim,
there Manasses, there Benjamin. But to the interpretation let us look:
Ephraim
is fruit-bearing, Benjamin son of right hand, Manasses one forgetful.
Appear
Thou then before one made fruitful, before a son of the right hand: appear
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Psalm 80 665
Thou
before one forgetful, in order that he may be no longer forgetful, but You
may
come into his mind that hast delivered him .... For weak You were when it
was
being said, "If Son of God He is, let Him come down from the Cross."
Matthew
27:40 You were seeming to have no power: the persecutor had power
over
You: and You showed this aforetime, for Jacob too himself prevailed in
wrestling,
a man with an angel. Would he at any time, except the angel had been
willing?
And man prevailed, and the angel was conquered: and victorious man
holds
the angel, and says, "I will not let you go, except you shall have blessed
me."
Genesis 32:26 A great sacrament! He both stands conquered, and blesses the
conqueror.
Conquered, because he willed it; in flesh weak, in majesty
strong
.... Having been crucified of weakness, rise Thou in power:
2
Corinthians 13:4 "Stir up Your power, and come Thou, to save us."
3.
"O God, convert us." For averse we have been from You, and except
Thou
convert
us, we shall not be converted. "And illumine Your face, and we shall be
saved"
(ver. 3). Hath He anywise a darkened face? He has not a darkened face, but
He
placed before it a cloud of flesh, and as it were a veil of weakness; and when
He
hung on the tree, He was not thought the Same as He was after to be
acknowledged
when He was sitting in Heaven. For thus it has come to pass. Christ
present
on the earth, and doing miracles, Asaph knew not; but when He had died,
after
that He rose again, and ascended into Heaven, he knew Him. He was pricked
to
the heart, and he may have spoken also of Him this testimony which now we
acknowledge
in this Psalm. You covered Your face, and we were sick: illumine
Thou
the same, and we shall be whole.
4.
"O Lord God of virtues, how long will You be angry with the prayer of Your
servant?"
(ver. 4). Now Your servant. You were angry at the prayer of Your
enemy,
will You still be angry with the prayer of Your servant? You have
converted
us, we know You, and will You still be angry with the prayer of Your
servant?
You will evidently be angry, in fact, as a father correcting, not as a judge
condemning.
In such manner evidently You will be angry, because it has been
written,
"My son, drawing near unto the service of God, stand thou in
righteousness
and in fear, and prepare your soul for temptation." Sirach 2:1 Think
not
that now the wrath of God has passed away, because you have been converted.
The
wrath of God has passed away from you, but only so that it condemn not for
everlasting.
But He scourges, He spares not: because He scourges every son whom
He
receives. Hebrews 12:6 If you refuse to be scourged, why do you desire to be
received?
He scourges every son whom He receives. He who did not spare even
His
only Son, scourges every one. But nevertheless, "How long will You be
angry
with
the prayer of Your servant?" No longer thine enemy: but, "You will be
angry
with
the prayer of Your servant," how long? There follows: "You will feed
us with
the
bread of tears, and wilt give us to drink with tears in measure" (ver. 5).
What
is,
"in measure"? Hear the Apostle: "Faithful is God, who does not
suffer you to be
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Psalm 80
666
tempted
above that you are able to bear." 1 Corinthians 10:13 The measure is,
according
to your powers: the measure is, that you be instructed, not that thou be
crushed.
5.
"You have set us for a contradiction to our neighbours" (ver. 6).
Evidently this
did
come to pass: for out of Asaph were chosen they that should go to the Gentiles
and
preach Christ, and should have it said to them, "Who is this proclaimer of
new
demons?"
"You have set us for a contradiction to our neighbours." For they
were
preaching
Him who was the subject of the contradiction. Whom did they preach?
That
after He was dead, Christ rose again. Who would hear this? Who would
know
this? It is a new thing. But signs did follow, and to an incredible thing
miracles
gave credibility. He was contradicted, but the contradictor was
conquered,
and from being a contradictor was made a believer. There, however,
was
a great flame: there the martyrs fed with the bread of tears, and given to
drink
in
tears, but in measure, not more than they are able to bear; in order that after
the
measure
of tears there should follow a crown of joys. "And our enemies have
sneered
at us." And where are they that sneered? For a long while it was said, Who
are
they that worship the Dead One, that adore the Crucified? For a long while so
it
was said. Where is the nose of them that sneered? Now do not they that censure
flee
into caves, that they may not be seen? But ye see what follows: "O Lord
God
of
virtues, convert us, and show Your face, and we shall be whole" (ver. 7).
"A
vineyard
out of Egypt You have brought over, You have cast out the nations, and
hast
planted her" (ver. 8). It was done, we know. How many nations were cast
out?
Amorites,
Cethites, Jebusites, Gergesites, and Evites: after whose expulsion and
overthrow,
there was led in the people delivered out of Egypt, into the land of
promise.
Whence the vineyard was cast out, and where she was planted, we have
heard.
Let us see what next was done, how she believed, how much she grew,
what
ground she covered.
6.
"A way You have made in the sight of her, and hast planted the roots of
her, and
she
has filled the land" (ver. 9). Would she have filled the land, unless a
way had
been
made in the sight of her? What was the way which was made in the sight of
her?
"I am," He says, "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." John
14:6 With reason
she
has filled the land. That has now been said of this vineyard, which has been
accomplished
at the last. But in the mean time what? "She has covered the
mountains
with her shadow, and with her branch the cedars of God" (ver. 10).
"You
have stretched out her boughs even unto the sea, and even unto the river her
shoots"
(ver. 11). This requires the office of an expositor, that of a reader and
praiser
does not suffice: aid me with attention; for the mention of this vineyard in
this
Psalm is wont to overcloud with darkness the inattentive .... But nevertheless
the
first Jewish nation was this vine. But the Jewish nation reigned as far as the
sea
and
as far as the river. As far as the sea; it appears in Scripture Numbers 34:5
that
the
sea was in the vicinity thereof. And as far as the river Jordan. For on the
other
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Psalm 80
667
side
of Jordan some part of the Jews was established, but within Jordan was the
whole
nation. Therefore, "even unto the sea and even unto the river," is
the
kingdom
of the Jews, the kingdom of Israel: but not "from sea even unto sea, and
from
the river even unto the ends of the round world;" this is the future
perfection
of
the vineyard, concerning which in this place he has foretold. When, I say, he
had
foretold to you the perfection, he returns to the beginning, out of which the
perfection
was made. Of the beginning will you hear? "Even unto the river." Of
the
end will you hear? "He shall have dominion from sea even unto sea:"
that is,
"she
has filled the earth." Let us look then to the testimony of Asaph, as to
what
was
done to the first vineyard, and what must be expected for the second vineyard,
nay
to the same vineyard.... What then, the vineyard before the sight whereof a
way
was made, that she should fill the earth, at first was where? "Her shadow
covered
the mountains." Who are the mountains? The Prophets. Why did her
shadow
cover them? Because darkly they spoke the things which were foretold as
to
come. You hear from the Prophets, Keep the Sabbath-day, on the eighth day
circumcise
a child, offer sacrifice of ram, of calf, of he-goat. Be not troubled, her
shadow
does cover the mountains of God; there will come after the shadow a
manifestation.
"And her shrubs the cedars of God," that is, she has covered the
cedars
of God; very lofty, but of God. For the cedars are types of the proud, that
must
needs be overthrown. The "cedars of Lebanon," the heights of the
world, this
vineyard
did cover in growing, and the mountains of God, all the holy Prophets
and
Patriarchs.
7.
Then what? "Wherefore have You thrown down her enclosure?" (ver. 12).
Now
ye
see the overthrow of that nation of the Jews: already out of another Psalm you
have
heard, "with axe and hammer they have thrown her down." When could
this
have
been done, except her enclosure had been thrown down. What is her
enclosure?
Her defence. For she bore herself proudly against her planter. The
servants
that were sent to her and demanded a recompense, the husbandmen they
scourged,
beat, slew: there came also the Only Son, they said, "This is the Heir;
come,
let us kill Him, and our own the inheritance will be:" they killed Him,
and
out
of the vineyard they cast Him forth. When cast forth, He did more perfectly
possess
the place whence He was cast forth. For thus He threatens her through
Isaiah,
"I will throw down her enclosure." Wherefore? "For I looked that
she
should
bring forth grapes, but she brought forth thorns." Isaiah 5:2 I looked for
fruit
from thence, and I found sin. Why then do you ask, O Asaph, "Why have
You
thrown down her enclosure?" For do you not know why? I looked that she
should
do judgment, and she did iniquity. Must not her enclosure needs be thrown
down?
And there came the Gentiles when the enclosure was thrown down, the
vineyard
was assailed, and the kingdom of the Jews effaced. This at first he is
lamenting,
but not without hope. For of directing the heart he is now speaking, that
is,
for the "Assyrians," for "men directing," the Psalm is.
"Wherefore have You
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668
thrown
down her enclosure: and there pluck off her grapes all men passing along
the
way." What is "men passing along the way?" Men having dominion
for a time.
8.
"There has laid her waste the boar from the wood" (ver. 13). In the
boar from
the
wood what do we understand? To the Jews a swine is an abomination, and in a
swine
they imagine as it were the uncleanness of the Gentiles. But by the Gentiles
was
overthrown the nation of the Jews: but that king who overthrew, was not only
an
unclean swine, but was also a boar. For what is a boar but a savage swine, a
furious
swine? "A boar from the wood has laid her waste." "From the
wood," from
the
Gentiles. For she was a vineyard, but the Gentiles were woods. But when the
Gentiles
believed, there was said what? "Then there shall exult all the trees of
the
woods."
"The boar from the wood has laid her waste; and a singular wild beast has
devoured
her." "A singular wild beast" is what? The very boar that laid
her waste
is
the singular wild beast. Singular, because proud. For thus says every proud
one,
It
is I, it is I, and no other.
9.
But with what profit is this? "O God of virtues turn Thou
nevertheless" (ver.
14).
Although these things have been done, "Turn Thou nevertheless."
"Look from
heaven
and see, and visit this vineyard." "And perfect Thou her whom Your
right
hand
has planted" (ver. 15). No other plant Thou, but this make Thou perfect.
For
she
is the very seed of Abraham, she is the very seed in whom all nations shall be
blessed:
Genesis 22:18 there is the root where is borne the graffed wild olive.
"Perfect
Thou this vineyard which Your right hand has planted." But wherein does
He
perfect? "And upon the Son of man, whom You have strengthened to
Yourself."
What can be more evident? Why do ye still expect, that we should still
explain
to you in discourse, and should we not rather cry out with you in
admiration,
"Perfect Thou this vineyard which Your right hand has planted, and
upon
the Son of man" perfect her? What Son of man? Him "whom You have
strengthened
to Yourself." A mighty stronghold: build as much as you are able.
"For
other foundation no one is able to lay, except that which is laid, which is
Christ
Jesus." 1 Corinthians 3:11
10.
"Things burned with fire, and dug up, by the rebuke of Your countenance
shall
perish"
(ver. 16). What are the things burned with fire and dug up which shall
perish
from the rebuke of His countenance? Let us see and perceive what are the
things
burned with fire and dug up. Christ has rebuked what? Sins: by the rebuke
of
His countenance sins have perished. Why then are sins burned with fire and dug
up?
Of all sins, two things are the cause in man, desire and fear. Think, examine,
question
your hearts, sift your consciences, see whether there can be sins, except
they
be either of desire, or of fear. There is set before you a reward to induce you
to
sin, that is, a thing which delights you; you do it, because you desire it. But
perchance
you will not be allured by bribes; you are terrified with menaces, thou
do
it because you fear. A man would bribe you, for example, to bear false witness.
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80
669
Countless
cases there are, but I am setting before you the plainer cases, whereby
ye
may imagine the rest. Have you hearkened unto God, and have you said in your
heart,
"What does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, but of his own
soul
suffer
loss?" Matthew 16:26 I am not allured by a bribe to lose my soul to gain
money.
He turns himself to stir up fear within you, he who was not able to corrupt
you
with a bribe, begins to threaten loss, banishment, massacres, perchance, and
death.
Therein now, if desire prevailed not, perchance fear will prevail to make
you
sin.... What had evil fear done? It had dug up, as it were. For love does
inflame,
fear does humble: therefore, sins of evil love, with fire were lighted: sins
of
evil fear were dug up. On the one hand, evil fear does humble, and good love
does
light; but in different ways respectively. For even the husbandman
interceding
for the tree, that it should not be cut down, says, "I will dig about it,
and
will apply a basket of dung." Luke 13:8 The dug trench does signify the
godly
humility
of one fearing, and the basket of dung the profitable squalid state of one
repenting.
But concerning the fire of good love the Lord says, "Fire I have come to
send
into the world." Luke 12:49 With which fire may the fervent in spirit
burn,
and
they too that are inflamed with the love of God and their neighbour. And thus,
as
all good works are wrought by good fear and good love, so by evil fear and evil
love
all sins are committed. Therefore, "Things set alight with fire and dug
up," to
wit,
all sins, "by the rebuke of Your countenance shall perish."
11.
"Let Your hand be upon the Man of Your right hand, and upon the Son of Man
whom
You have strengthened Yourself" (ver. 17). "And we depart not from
You
.... You will quicken us, and Your Name we will invoke" (ver. 18). You
shall
be
sweet to us, "You will quicken us." For aforetime we did love earth,
not You:
but
You have mortified our members which are upon the earth. Colossians 3:5 For
the
Old Testament, having earthly promises, seems to exhort that God should not
be
loved for nought, but that He should be loved because He gives something on
earth.
What do you love, so as not to love God? Tell me. Love, if you can,
anything
which He has not made. Look round upon the whole creation, see
whether
in any place you are held with the birdlime of desire, and hindered from
loving
the Creator, except it be by that very thing which He has Himself created,
whom
you despise. But why do you love those things, except because they are
beautiful?
Can they be as beautiful as He by whom they were made? Thou
admirest
these things, because you see not Him: but through those things which
you
admire, love Him whom you see not. Examine the creation; if of itself it is,
stay
therein: but if it is of Him, for no other reason is it prejudicial to a lover,
than
because
it is preferred to the Creator. Why have I said this? With reference to this
verse,
brethren. Dead, I say, were they that did worship God that it might be well
with
them after the flesh: "For to be wise after the flesh is death:"
Romans 8:6 and
dead
are they that do not worship God gratis, that is, because of Himself He is
good,
not because He gives such and such good things, which He gives even to
men
not good. Money will you have of God? Even a robber has it. Wife,
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670
abundance
of children, soundness of body, the world's dignity, observe how many
evil
men have. Is this all for the sake of which thou dost worship Him? Your feet
will
totter, you will suppose yourself to worship without cause, when you see
those
things to be with them who do not worship Him. All these things, I say, He
gives
even to evil men, Himself alone He reserves for good men. "You will
quicken
us;" for dead we were, when to earthly things we did cleave; dead we
were,
when of the earthly man we did bear the image. "You will quicken us;"
You
will
renew us, the life of the inward man You will give us. "And Your Name we
will
invoke;" that is, You we will love. Thou to us will be the sweet forgiver
of our
sins,
You will be the entire reward of the justified. "O Lord God of virtues,
convert
us, and show Your face, and we shall be whole" (ver. 20).
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Psalm 81
671
Exposition
on Psalm 81
1.
For a Title this Psalm has, "Unto the end for the presses, on the fifth of
the
Sabbath,
a Psalm to Asaph himself." Into one title many mysteries are heaped
together,
still so that the lintel of the Psalm indicates the things within. As we have
to
speak of the presses, let no one expect that we shall speak of a vat, of a
press, of
olive
baskets; because neither the Psalm has this, and therefore it indicates the
greater
mystery....
No
such thing did ye hear in this when it was reading. Therefore take the presses
for
the mystery of the Church, which is now transacting. In the presses we observe
three
things, pressure, and of the pressure two things, one to be laid up, the other
to
be thrown away. There takes place then in the press a treading, a crushing, a
weight:
and with these the oil strains out secretly into the vat, the lees run openly
down
the streets.
Look
intently on this great spectacle. For God ceases not to exhibit to us that
which
we may look upon with great joy, nor is the madness of the Circus to be
compared
with this spectacle. That belongs to the lees, this to the oil. When
therefore
ye hear the blasphemers babble impudently and say that distresses
abound
in Christian times; for you know that they love to say this: and it is an old
proverb,
yet one that began from Christian times, "God gives no rain; count it to
the
Christians!" Although it was those of old that said thus. But these now
say
also,
"That God sends rain, count it to the Christians! God sends no rain; we sow
not.
God sends rain; we reap not!" And they wilfully make that an occasion of
showing
pride, which ought to make them more earnest in supplication, choosing
rather
to blaspheme than to pray.
When
therefore they talk of such things, when they make such boasts, when they
say
these things, and say them in defiance, not with fear, but with loftiness, let
them
not disturb you. For suppose that pressures abound; be thou oil. Let the lees,
black
with the darkness of ignorance, be insolent; and let it, as though cast away in
the
streets, go gibing publicly: but do thou by yourself in your heart, where He
who
sees in secret will requite you, strain off into the vat.
...To
name some one thing about which even they murmur who make them: How
great
plunderings, they say, are there in our times, how great distresses of the
innocent,
how great robberies of other men's goods! Thus indeed you take notice
of
the lees, that other men's goods are seized; to the oil you give no heed, that
to
the
poor are given even men's own. The old time had no such plunderers of other
men's
goods: but the old time had no such givers of their own goods....
2.
Wherefore also "on the fifth of the sabbath"? What is this? Let us go
back to the
first
works of God, if perchance we may not there find somewhat in which we may
also
understand a mystery. For the sabbath is the seventh day, on which "God
rested
from all His works," Genesis 2:2 intimating the great mystery of our
future
resting
from all our works. First of the sabbath then is called that first day, which
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Psalm 81
672
we
also call the Lord's day; second of the sabbath, the second day; ... and the
sabbath
itself the seventh day. See ye therefore to whom this Psalm speaks. For it
seems
to me that it speaks to the baptized. For on the fifth day God from the
waters
created animals: on the fifth day, that is, on the "fifth of the
sabbath," God
said,
"Let the waters bring forth creeping things of living souls." Genesis
1:20 See
ye,
therefore, you in whom the waters have already brought forth creeping things
of
living souls. For you belong to the presses, and in you, whom the waters have
brought
forth, one thing is strained out, another is thrown away. For there are
many
that live not worthily of the baptism which they have received. For how
many
that are baptized have chosen rather to be filling the Circus than this
Basilica!
How many that are baptized are either making booths in the streets, or
complaining
that they are not made!
But
this Psalm, "For the presses," and "on the fifth of the
sabbath," is sung "unto
Asaph."
Asaph was a certain man called by this name, as Idithun, as Core, as other
names
that we find in the titles of the Psalms: yet the interpretation of this name
intimates
the mystery of a hidden truth. Asaph, in fact, in Latin is interpreted
"congregation."
Therefore, "For the presses, on the fifth of the sabbath," it is sung
"unto
Asaph," that is, for a distinguishing pressure, to the baptized, born
again of
water,
the Psalm is sung to the Lord's congregation. We have read the title on the
lintel,
and have understood what it means by these "presses." Now if you
please let
us
see the very house of the composition, that is, the interior of the press. Let
us
enter,
look in, rejoice, fear, desire, avoid. For all these things you are to find in
this
inward
house, that is, in the text of the Psalm itself, when we shall have begun to
read,
and, with the Lord's help, to speak what He grants us.
3.
Behold yourselves, O Asaph, congregation of the Lord. "Exult ye unto God
our
helper"
(ver. 1). You who are gathered together today, you are this day the
congregation
of the Lord, if indeed unto you the Psalm is sung, "Exult ye unto
God
our helper." Others exult unto the Circus, you unto God: others exult unto
their
deceiver, do ye exult unto your helper: others exult unto their god their
belly,
do
ye exult unto your God your helper. "Jubilate unto the God of Jacob."
Because
ye
also belong to Jacob: yea, you are Jacob, the younger people to which the elder
is
servant. Genesis 25:23 "Jubilate unto the God of Jacob." Whatsoever
ye cannot
explain
in words, you do not therefore forbear exulting: what you shall be able to
explain,
cry out: what ye cannot, jubilate. For from the abundance of joys, he that
cannot
find words sufficient, uses to break out into jubilating; "Jubilate unto
the
God
of Jacob."
4.
"Take the Psalm and give the tabret" (ver. 2). Both "take,"
and "give." What is,
"take"?
what, "give"? "Take the Psalm, and give the tabret." The
Apostle Paul says
in
a certain place, Philippians 4:15 reproving and grieving, that no one had
communicated
with him in the matter of giving and receiving. What is, "in the
matter
of giving and receiving," but that which he has openly set forth in
another
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Psalm 81
673
place.
1 Corinthians 9:11 "If we have sowed unto you spiritual things, is it a
great
thing
if we reap your carnal things." And it is true that a tabret, which is
made of
hide,
belongs to the flesh. The Psalm, therefore, is spiritual, the tabret, carnal.
Therefore,
people of God, congregation of God, "take ye the Psalm, and give the
tabret:"
take ye spiritual things, and give carnal. This also is what at that blessed
Martyr's
table we exhorted you, that receiving spiritual things ye should give
carnal.
For these which are built for the time, are needful for receiving the bodies
either
of the living or of the dead, but in time that is passing by. Shall we after
God's
judgment take up these buildings to Heaven? Yet without these we shall not
be
able to do at this time the things which belong to the possessing of Heaven. If
therefore
you are eager in getting spiritual things, be ye devout in expending
carnal
things. "Take the Psalm, and give the tabret:" take our voice, return
your
hands.
5.
"The pleasant psaltery, with the harp." I remember that we once
intimated to
your
charity the difference of psaltery and harp.... For heavenly is the preaching
of
the
word of God. But if we wait for heavenly things, let us not be sluggish in
working
at earthly things; because, "the psaltery is pleasant," but,
"with the harp."
The
same is expressed in another way as above, "Take the Psalm, and give the
tabret:"
here for "Psalm," is put "psaltery," for
"tabret," "harp." Of this, however,
we
are admonished, that to the preaching of God's word we make answer by
bodily
works.
6.
"Sound the trumpet" (ver. 3). This is, Loudly and boldly preach, be
not
affrighted!
as the Prophet says in a certain place, "Cry out, and lift up as with a
trumpet
your voice." Isaiah 58:1 Sound the trumpet in the beginning of the month
of
the trumpet." It was ordered, that in the beginning of the month there
should be
a
sounding of the trumpet: and this even now the Jews do in bodily sort, after
the
spirit
they understand it not. For the beginning of the month, is the new moon: the
new
moon, is the new life. What is the new moon? "If any, then, is in Christ,
he is
a
new creature." 2 Corinthians 5:17 What is, "sound the trumpet in the
beginning
of
the month of the trumpet"? With all confidence preach ye the new life,
fear not
the
noise of the old life.
7.
"Because it is a commandment for Israel, and a judgment for the God of
Jacob"
(ver.
4). Where a commandment, there judgment. For, "They that have sinned in
the
Law, by the Law shall be judged." Romans 2:12 And the very Giver of the
commandment,
the Lord Christ, the Word made flesh, says, "For judgment I have
come
into the world, that they that see not may see, and they that see may be made
blind."
John 9:39 What is, "That they that see not may see, they that see be made
blind,"
but that the lowly be exalted, the proud thrown down? For not they that see
are
to be made blind, but those who to themselves seem to see are to be convicted
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Psalm 81 674
of
blindness. This is brought about in the mystery of the press, that they who see
may
not see, and they that see be made blind.
8.
"A testimony in Joseph He made that" (ver. 5). Look you, brethren,
what is it?
Joseph
is interpreted augmentation. You remember, you know of Joseph sold into
Egypt:
Joseph sold into Egypt is Christ passing over to the Gentiles. There Joseph
after
tribulations was exalted, and here Christ, after the suffering of the Martyrs,
was
glorified. Thenceforth to Joseph the Gentiles rather belong, and thenceforth
augmentation;
because, "Many are the children of her that was desolate, rather
than
of her that has the husband." Isaiah 54:1 "He made it, till he should
go out of
the
land of Egypt." Observe that also here the "fifth of the
sabbath" is signified:
when
Joseph went out from the land of Egypt, that is, the people multiplied
through
Joseph, he was caused to pass through the Red Sea. Therefore then also
the
waters brought forth creeping things of living souls. Genesis 1:20 No other
thing
was it that there in figure the passage of that people through the sea
foreshowed,
than the passing of the Faithful through Baptism; the apostle is
witness:
for "I would not have you ignorant, brethren," he said, "that
our fathers
were
all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized unto
Moses
in the cloud and in the sea." 1 Corinthians 10:1-2 Nothing else then the
passing
through the sea did signify, but the Sacrament of the baptized; nothing else
the
pursuing Egyptians, but the multitude of past sins. You see most evident
mysteries.
The Egyptians press, they urge; so then sins follow close, but no farther
than
to the water. Why then do you fear, who hast not yet come, to come to the
Baptism
of Christ, to pass through the Red Sea? What is "Red"? Consecrated
with
the
Blood of the Lord. Why do you fear to come? The consciousness, perhaps, of
some
huge offences goads and tortures in you your mind, and says to you that it is
so
great a thing you have committed, that you may despair to have it remitted you.
Fear
lest there remain anything of your sins, if there lived any one of the
Egyptians!
Exodus 14:29-30
But
when you shall have passed the Red Sea, when you shall have been led forth
out
of your offences "with a mighty hand and with a strong arm," you will
perceive
mysteries that you know not: since Joseph himself too, "when he came
out
of the land of Egypt, heard a language which he knew not." You shall hear
a
language
which you know not: which they that know now hear and recognise,
bearing
witness and knowing. You shall hear where you ought to have your heart:
which
just now when I said many understood and answered by acclamation, the
rest
stood mute, because they have not heard the language which they knew not.
Let
them hasten, then, let them pass over, let them learn.
9.
"He turned away from burdens his back" (ver. 6). Who "turned
away from
burdens
his back," but He that cried, "Come unto Me, all you that labour and
are
heavy
laden"? Matthew 11:28 In another manner this same thing is signified. What
the
pursuit of the Egyptians did, the same thing do the burdens of sins. As if you
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Psalm 81
675
should
say, From what burdens? "His hands in the basket did serve." By the
basket
are
signified servile works; to cleanse, to manure, to carry earth, is done with a
basket,
such works are servile: because "every one that does sin, is the slave of
sin;"
and "if the Son shall have made you free, then will you be free
indeed."
John
8:34-36 Justly also are the rejected things of the world counted as baskets,
but
even baskets did God fill with morsels; "Twelve baskets" Matthew
14:20 did
He
fill with morsels; because "He chose the rejected things of this world to
confound
the things that were mighty." 1 Corinthians 1:27 But also when with the
basket
Joseph did serve, he then carried earth, because he did make bricks. "His
hands
in the basket did serve."
10.
"In tribulation you called on Me, and I delivered you" (ver. 8). Let
each
Christian
conscience recognise itself, if it have devoutly passed the Red Sea, if
with
faith in believing and observing it has heard a strange language which it knew
not,
let it recognise itself as having been heard in its tribulation. For that was a
great
tribulation, to be weighed down with loads of sins. How does the conscience,
lifted
from the earth, rejoice. Lo, you are baptized, your conscience which was
yesterday
overladen, today rejoices you. You have been heard in tribulation,
remember
your tribulation. Before you came to the water, what anxiety did you
bear
on you! what fastings did you practise! what tribulations did you carry in
your
heart! what inward, pious, devout prayers! Slain are your enemies; all your
sins
are blotted out. In tribulation you called upon Me, and I delivered you.
11.
"I heard you in the hidden part of the tempest." Not in a tempest of
the sea, but
in
a tempest of the heart. "I proved you in the water of contradiction."
Truly,
brethren,
truly, he that was heard in the hidden part of the tempest ought to be
proved
in the water of contradiction. For when he has believed, when he has been
baptized,
when he has begun to go in the way of God, when he has striven to be
strained
into the vat, and has drawn himself out from the lees that run in the street,
he
will have many disturbers, many insulters, many detractors, many discouragers,
many
that even threaten where they can, that deter, that depress. This is all the
"water
of contradiction." I suppose there are some here today, for instance, I
think
it
likely there are some here whom their friends wished to hurry away to the
circus,
and to I know not what triflings of this day's festivity: perchance they have
brought
those persons with them to church. But whether they have brought those
with
them, or whether they have by them not permitted themselves to be led away
to
the circus, in the "water of contradiction" have they been tried. Do
not then be
ashamed
to proclaim what you know, to defend even among blasphemers what
you
have believed .... However much the bad that are aliens may rage, O that our
own
bad people would not help them!
You
recollect what was said of Christ, that He was thus born for "the fall of
many,
and
the rising again of many, and for a sign to be spoken against." Luke 2:34
We
know,
we see: the sign of the Cross has been set up, and it has been spoken
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Psalm 81 676
against.
There has been speaking against the glory of the Cross: but there was a
title
over the Cross which was not to be corrupted. For there is a title in the
Psalm,
"For
the inscription of the title, corrupt thou not." It was a sign to be
spoken
against:
for the Jews said, "Make it not, King of the Jews, but make it, that He
said
I
am the King of the Jews." John 19:21 Conquered was the contradiction; it
was
answered,
"What I have written, I have written."
12.
All this, from the beginning of the Psalm up to this verse, we have heard of
the
oil
of the press. What remains is rather for grief and warning: for it belongs to
the
lees
of the press, even to the end; perchance also not without a meaning in the
interposition
of the "Diapsalma." But even this too is profitable to hear, that he
who
sees himself already of the oil may rejoice; he that is in danger of running
among
the lees may beware. To both give heed, choose the one, fear the other.
"Hear,
O My people, and I will speak, and will bear witness unto you" (ver. 8).
For
it
is not to a strange people, not to a people that belongs not to the press:
"Judge
ye,"
He says, "between Me and My vineyard." Isaiah 5:3
13.
"Israel, if you shall have heard Me, there shall not be in you any new
god"
(ver.
9). A "new god" is one made for the time: but our God is not new, but
from
eternity
to eternity. And our Christ is new, perchance, as Man, but eternal God.
For
what before the beginning? And truly, "In the beginning was the Word, and
the
Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1 And our Christ
Himself
is the Word made flesh, that He might dwell in us. John 1:14 Far be it,
then,
that there should be in any one a new god. A new god is either a stone or a
phantom.
He is not, says one, a stone; I have a silver and a gold one. Justly did he
choose
to name the very costly things, who said, "The idols of the nations are
silver
and gold." Great are they, because they are of gold and silver; costly
they
are,
shining they are; but yet, "Eyes they have, and see not!" New are
these gods.
What
newer than a god out of a workshop? Yea, though those now old ones
spiders'
webs have covered over, they that are not eternal are new. So much for the
Pagans....
14.
For if there be error in you, You will not worship a strange god. If thou think
not
of a false god, you will not worship a manufactured god: for "there will
not" be
in
you any strange god. "For I am." Why would you adore what is not?
"For I am
the
Lord your God" (ver. 10). Because "I am I that Am," and indeed
"I Am" He
says,
I that Am, over every creature: yet to you what good have I afforded in time?
"Who
brought you out of the land of Egypt." Not to that people alone is it
said. For
we
all were brought out of the land of Egypt, we have all passed through the Red
Sea;
our enemies pursuing us have perished in the water. Let us not be ungrateful
to
our God; let us not forget God that abides, and fabricate in ourselves a new
god.
"I,
who led you out of the land of Egypt," says God. "Open wide your
mouth, and
I
will fill it." Thou sufferest straitness in yourself because of the new
god set up in
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your
heart; break the vain image, cast down from your conscience the feigned idol:
"open
wide your mouth," in confessing, in loving: "and I will fill
it," because with
me
is the fountain of life.
15.
"And My people obeyed not My voice" (ver. 11). For He would not speak
these
things except to His own people. For, "we know that whatsoever things the
Law
says, it says to them that are in the Law." Romans 3:19 "And Israel
did not
listen
to Me." Who? To whom? Israel to Me. O ungrateful soul! Through Me the
soul,
by Me the soul called, by Me brought back to hope, by Me washed from
sins!
"And Israel did not listen to Me!" For they are baptized and pass
through the
Red
Sea: but on the way they murmur, gainsay, complain, are stirred with
seditions,
ungrateful to Him who delivered them from pursuing enemies, who
leads
through the dry land, through the desert, yet with food and drink, with light
by
night and shade by day.
16.
"And I let them go according to the affections of their heart" (ver.
12). Behold
the
press: the orifices are open, the lees run. "And I let them go," not
according to
the
healthfulness of My commands; but, according to the affections of their heart:
I
gave them up to themselves. The Apostle also says, "God gave them up to
the
desires
of their own hearts." Romans 1:24 "I let them go according to the
affection
of
their heart, they shall go in their own affections." There is what ye
shudder at, if
at
least you are straining out into the hidden vats of the Lord, if at least you
have
conceived
a hearty love for His storehouses, there is what ye shudder at. Some
stand
up for the circus, some for the amphitheatre, some for the booths in the
streets
some for the theatres, some for this, some for that, some finally for their
"new
gods;" "they shall go in their own affections."
17.
"If My people would have heard Me, if Israel would have walked in My
ways"
(ver.
13). For perchance that Israel says, Behold I sin, it is manifest, I go after
the
affections
of my own heart: but what can I do? The devil does this. Demons do
this.
What is the devil? Who are the demons? Certainly your enemies. "Unto
nothing
all their enemies I would have brought down; and on them that oppress
them
I would have sent forth My hand" (ver. 14). But now what have they to do
to
complain
of enemies? Themselves are become the worse enemies. For how? What
follows?
Of enemies ye complain, yourselves, what are you?
18.
"The enemies of God have lied unto Him" (ver. 15). Do you renounce? I
renounce.
And he returns to what he renounced. In fact, what things do you
renounce,
except bad deeds, diabolical deeds, deeds to be condemned of God,
thefts,
plunderings, perjuries, manslayings, adulteries, sacrileges, abominable rites,
curious
arts....
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19.
If therefore all those works "shall not possess the kingdom of God"
(yea not
the
works, but "they that do such things;" Galatians 5:21 for such works
there shall
be
none in the fire: for they shall not, while burning in that fire, be committing
theft
or adultery; but "they that do such things shall not possess the kingdom
of
God");
they shall not therefore be on the right hand, with those to whom it shall be
said,
"Come, you blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom:" because,
"they that
do
such things shall not possess the kingdom of God." If therefore on the
right
they
shall not be, there remains not but that they must be on the left. To those on
the
left what shall He say? "Go ye into eternal fire." Because,
"their time shall be
for
ever."
20.
Explain to us, then, says one, how those that build wood, hay, stubble, on the
foundation,
do not perish, but "are saved, yet so as by fire"? An obscure
question
indeed
that, but as I am able I tell you briefly. Brethren, there are men altogether
despisers
of this world, to whom nothing is pleasant that flows in the course of
time,
they cling not by love to any earthly works, holy, chaste, continent, just,
perchance
even selling all their goods and distributing to the poor, or "possessing
as
though they possessed not, and using this world as though not using it."
1
Corinthians 7:30-31 But there are others who cling to things allowed to
infirmity
with
a degree of affection. He robs not another of his estate, but so loves his own,
that
if he loses it he will be disturbed. He does not covet another's wife, but so
clings
to his own, so cohabits with his own, as not therein to keep the measure
prescribed
in the laws, for the sake of begetting children. He does not take away
other
men's things, but reclaims his own, and has a law-suit with his brother. For
to
such it is said, "Now indeed there is altogether a fault among you,
because you
have
law-suits with each other." 1 Corinthians 6:7 But these very suits he
orders to
be
tried in the Church, not to be dragged into court, yet he says they are faults.
For
a
Christian contends for earthly things more than becomes one to whom the
kingdom
of Heaven is promised. Not the whole of his heart does he raise upward,
but
some part of it he drags on the earth.... Therefore if you love your
possession,
yet
dost not for its sake commit violence, dost not for its sake bear false
witness,
dost
not for its sake commit manslaughter, dost not for its sake swear falsely, dost
not
for its sake deny Christ: in that you will not for its sake do these things,
you
have
Christ for a foundation. But yet because you love it, and art saddened if you
lose
it, upon the foundation you have placed, not gold, or silver, or precious
stones,
but wood, hay, stubble. Saved therefore you will be, when that begins to
burn
which you have built, yet so as by fire. For let no one on this foundation
building
adulteries, blasphemies, sacrileges, idolatries, perjuries, think he shall be
"saved
through fire," as though they were the "wood, hay, stubble:" but
he that
builds
the love of earthly things on the foundation of the kingdom of Heaven, that
is
upon Christ, his love of temporal things shall be burned, and himself shall be
saved
through the right foundation.
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679
21.
... "And He fed them of the fat of wheat, and from the rock with honey He
satisfied
them" (ver. 16). In the wilderness from the rock He brought forth water,
Exodus
17:6 not honey. "Honey" is wisdom, holding the first place for
sweetness
among
the viands of the heart. How many enemies of the Lord, then, that lie unto
the
Lord, are fed not only of the fat of wheat, but also from the rock with honey,
from
the wisdom of Christ? How many are delighted with His word, and with the
knowledge
of His sacraments, with the unfolding of His parables, how many are
delighted,
how many applaud with clamour! And this honey is not from any
chance
person, but "from the rock." But "the Rock was Christ." 1
Corinthians 10:4
How
many, then, are satisfied with that honey, cry out, and say, It is sweet; say,
Nothing
better, nothing sweeter could be thought or said! and yet the enemies of
the
Lord have lied unto Him. I like not to dwell any more on matters of grief;
although
the Psalm ends in terror to this purpose, yet from the end of it, I pray you,
let
us return to the heading: "Exult unto God our Helper." Turned unto
God.
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680
Exposition
on Psalm 82
1.
This Psalm, like others similarly named, was so entitled either from the name
of
the
man who wrote it, or from the explanation of that same name, so as to refer in
meaning
to the Synagogue, which Asaph signifies; especially as this is intimated
in
the first verse. For it begins, "God stood in the synagogue of gods"
(ver. 1). Far
however
be it from us to understand by these Gods the gods of the Gentiles, or
idols,
or any creature in heaven or earth except men; for a little after this verse
the
same
Psalm relates and explains what Gods it means in whose synagogue God
stood,
where it says, "I have said, You are gods, and you are all the children of
the
Most
High: but you shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes." In
the
synagogue
of these children of the Most High, of whom the same Most High said
by
the mouth of Isaiah, "I have begotten sons and brought them up, but they
despised
Me," Isaiah 1:2 stood God. By the synagogue we understand the people
of
Israel, because synagogue is the word properly used of them, although they
were
also called the Church. Our congregation, on the contrary, the Apostles never
called
synagogue, but always Ecclesia; whether for the sake of the distinction, or
because
there is some difference between a congregation whence the synagogue
has
its name, and a convocation whence the Church is called Ecclesia: for the
word
congregation (or flocking together) is used of cattle, and particularly of that
kind
properly called "flocks," whereas convocation (or calling together)
is more of
reasonable
creatures, such as men are .... I think then that it is clear in what
synagogue
of gods God stood.
2.
The next question is, whether we should understand the Father, or the Son, or
the
Holy Spirit, or the Trinity, "to have stood among the congregation of
gods, and
in
the midst to distinguish the gods;" because Each One is God, and the
Trinity
itself
is One God. It is not indeed easy to make this clear, because it cannot be
denied
that not a bodily but a spiritual presence of God, agreeable to His nature,
exists
with created things in a wonderful manner, and one which but a few do
understand,
and that imperfectly: as to God it is said, "If I shall ascend into
heaven,
You are there; if I shall go down into hell, You are there also." Hence it
is
rightly
said, that God stands in the congregation of men invisibly, as He fills
heaven
and earth, which He asserts of Himself by the Prophet's mouth; and He is
not
only said, but is, in a way, known to stand in those things which He has
created,
as far as the human mind can conceive, if man also stands and hears Him,
and
rejoices greatly on account of His voice within. But I think that the Psalm
intimates
something that took place at a particular time, by God's standing in the
congregation
of gods. For that standing by which He fills heaven and earth, neither
belongs
peculiarly to the synagogue, nor varies from time to time. "God,"
therefore,
"stood in the congregation of gods;" that is, He who said of Himself,
"I
am
not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Matthew 15:24 The
cause
too
is mentioned; "but in the midst, to judge of the gods."...
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Psalm 82
681
3.
"How long will you judge unrighteously, and accept the persons of the
ungodly"
(ver.
2); as in another place, "How long are you heavy in heart?" Until He
shall
come
who is the light of the heart? I have given a law, you have resisted
stubbornly:
I sent Prophets, you treated them unjustly, or slew them, or connived
at
those who did so. But if they are not worthy to be even spoken to, who slew the
servants
of God that were sent to them, you who were silent when these things
were
doing, that is, you who would imitate as if they were innocent those who
then
were silent, "how long will you judge unrighteously, and accept the
persons
of
the ungodly?" If the Heir comes even now, is He to be slain? Was He not
willing
for your sake to become as it were a child under guardians? Did not He for
your
sake hunger and thirst like one in need? Did He not cry to you, "Learn of
Me,
for
I am meek and lowly of heart"? Matthew 11:29 Did He not "become poor,
when
He was rich, that by His poverty we might be made rich"? 2 Corinthians 8:9
"Give
sentence," therefore, "for the fatherless and the poor man, justify
the humble
and
needy" (ver. 3). Not them who for their own sake are rich and proud, but
Him
who
for your sake was humble and poor, believe ye to be righteous: proclaim Him
righteous.
But they will envy Him, and will not at all spare Him, saying, "This is
the
Heir, come, let us kill Him, and the inheritance shall be ours."
"Deliver," then,
"the
poor man, and save the needy from the hands of the ungodly" (ver. 4). This
is
said
that it might be known, that in that nation where Christ was born and put to
death,
those persons were not guiltless of so great a crime, who being so
numerous,
that, as the Gospel says, the Jews feared them, and therefore dared not
lay
hands on Christ, afterwards consented, and permitted Him to be slain by the
malicious
and envious Jewish rulers: yet if they had so willed, they would still
have
been feared, so that the hands of the wicked would never have prevailed
against
Him. For of these it is said elsewhere, "Dumb dogs, they know not how to
bark."
Of them too is that said, "Lo, how the righteous perishes, and no man lays
it
to
heart." He perished as far as lay in them who would have Him to perish;
for
how
could He perish by dying, who in that way rather was seeking again what had
perished?
If then they are justly blamed and deservedly rebuked, who by their
dissembling
suffered such a wicked deed to be committed; how must they be
blamed,
or rather not only blamed, but how severely must they be condemned,
who
did this of design and malice?
4.
To all of them, verily, what follows is most fitly suited: "They did not
know nor
understand,
they walk on in darkness" (ver. 5). "For if even they had known, they
would
never have crucified the Lord of glory:" 1 Corinthians 2:8 and those
others,
if
they had known, would never have consented to ask that Barabbas should be
freed,
and Christ should be crucified. But as the above-mentioned blindness
happened
in part unto Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles should come in, this
blindness
of that People having caused the crucifixion of Christ, "all the
foundations
of the earth shall be moved." So have they been moved, and shall they
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Psalm 82
682
be
moved, until the predestined fulness of the Gentiles shall come in. For at the
actual
death of the Lord the earth was moved, and the rocks rent. Matthew 27:51
And
if we understand by the foundations of the earth those who are rich in the
abundance
of earthly possessions, it was truly foretold that they should be moved,
either
by wondering that lowliness, poverty, death, should be so loved and
honoured
in Christ, when it is to their mind great misery; or even in that
themselves
should love and follow it, and set at nought the vain happiness of this
world.
So are all the foundations of the earth moved, while they partly admire, and
partly
are even altered. For as without absurdity we call foundations of heaven
those
on whom the kingdom of heaven is built up in the persons of saints and
faithful;
whose first foundation is Christ Himself, born of the Virgin, of whom the
Apostle
says, "Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is
Christ
Jesus;" 1 Corinthians 3:11 next the Apostles and Prophets themselves, by
whose
authority the heavenly place is chosen, that by obeying them we may be
built
together with them; whence he says to the Ephesians, "You are built upon
the
foundation
of Apostles and Prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the chief corner
stone."
Ephesians 2:20 ... But the kingdom of earthly happiness is pride, to oppose
which
came the lowliness of Christ, rebuking those whom He wished by lowliness
to
make the children of the Most High, and blaming them: "I said, You are
gods,
you
are all the children of the Most High" (ver. 6). "But you shall die
like men,
and
fall like one of the princes" (ver. 7). Whether to those He said this,
"I said,
You
are gods," and to those particularly who are unpredestined to eternal
life; and
to
the other, "But you shall die like men," etc., "and shall fall
like one of the
princes,"
in this way also distinguishing the gods; or whether He blames all
together,
in order to distinguish the obedient and those who received correction, "I
said,
You are gods, and you are all the children of the Most High:" that is, to
all of
you
I promised celestial happiness, "but ye," through the infirmity of
your flesh,
"shall
die like men," and through haughtiness of soul, "like one of the
princes,"
that
is, the devil, shall not be exalted, but "shall fall." As if He said:
Though the
days
of your life are so few, that you speedily die like men, this avails not to your
correction:
but like the devil, whose days are many in this world, because he dies
not
in the flesh, you are lifted up so that you fall. For by devilish pride it came
to
pass
that the perverse and blind rulers of the Jews envied the glory of Christ: by
this
will it came to pass, and still does, that the lowliness of Christ crucified
unto
death
is lightly esteemed in the eyes of them who love the excellence of this
world.
5.
And therefore that this vice may be cured, in the person of the Prophet himself
it
is
said, "Arise, O God, and judge the earth" (ver. 8); for the earth
swelled high
when
it crucified You: rise from the dead, and judge the earth. "For You shall
destroy
among all nations." What, but the earth? that is, destroying those who
savour
of earthly things, or destroying the feeling itself of earthly lust and pride
in
believers;
or separating those who do not believe, as earth to be trodden under foot
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Psalm 82
683
and
to perish. Thus by His members, whose conversation is in heaven, He judges
the
earth, and destroys it among all nations. But I must not omit to remark, that
some
copies have, "for You shall inherit among all nations." This too may
be
understood
agreeably to the sense, nor does anything prevent both meanings
existing
at once. His inheritance takes place by love, which in that He cultivates by
His
commands and gracious mercy, He destroys earthly desires.
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Psalm 83 684
Exposition
on Psalm 83
1.
Of this Psalm the title is, "A song of a Psalm of Asaph." We have
already often
said
what is the interpretation of Asaph, that is, congregation. That man,
therefore,
who
was called Asaph, is named in representation of the congregation of God's
people
in the titles of many Psalms. But in Greek, congregation is called
synagogue,
which has come to be held for a kind of proper name for the Jewish
people,
that it should be called The Synagogue; even as the Christian people is
more
usually called The Church, in that it too is congregated.
2.
The people of God, then, in this Psalm says, "O God, who shall be like
unto
You?"
(ver. 1). Which I suppose to be more fitly taken of Christ, because, being
made
in the likeness of men, Philippians 2:7 He was thought by those by whom
He
was despised to be comparable to other men: for He was even "reckoned
among
the unrighteous," Isaiah 53:12 but for this purpose, that He might be
judged.
But when He shall come to judge, then shall be done what is here said, "O
God,
who is like unto You?" For if the Psalms did not use to speak to the Lord
Christ,
that too would not be spoken which not one of the faithful can doubt was
spoken
unto Christ. "Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever, a sceptre of
righteousness
is the sceptre of Your kingdom." To him therefore also now it is
said,
"O God, who shall be like unto You?" For unto many Thou vouchsafed to
be
likened
in Your humiliation, even so far as to the robbers that were crucified with
You:
but when in glory You shall come, "who shall be like unto You?" ...
3.
"For lo Your enemies have sounded, and they that hate You have lifted up
the
head"
(ver. 2). He seems to me to signify the last days, when these things that are
now
repressed by fear are to break forth into free utterance, but quite irrational,
so
that
it should rather be called a "sound," than speech or discourse. They
will not,
therefore,
then begin to hate, but "they that hate You" will then "lift up
the head."
And
not "heads," but "head;" since they are to come even to
that point, that they
shall
have that head, which "is lifted up above all that is called God, and that
is
worshipped;"
so that in him especially is to be fulfilled, "He that exalts himself
shall
be abased;" Luke 14:11 and when He to whom it is said, "Keep not
silence,
nor
grow mild, O God," shall "slay him with the breath of His mouth, and
shall
destroy
with the brightness of His coming." "Upon Your people they have
malignantly
taken counsel" (ver. 3). Or, as other copies have it, "They have
cunningly
devised counsel, and have devised against Your saints." In scorn this is
said.
For how should they be able to hurt the nation or people of God, or His
saints,
who know how to say, "If God be for us, who shall be against us?"
Romans
8:31
4.
"They have said, Come, and let us destroy them from a nation" (ver.
4). He has
put
the singular number for the plural: as it is said, "Whose is this
cattle," even
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Psalm 83
685
though
the question be of a flock, and the meaning "these cattle." Lastly,
other
copies
have "from nations," where the translators have rather followed the
sense
than
the word. "Come, and let us destroy them from a nation." This is that
sound
whereby
they "sounded" rather than spoke, since they did vainly make a noise
with
vain sayings. "And let it not be mentioned of the name of Israel any
more."
This
others have expressed more plainly, "and let there not be remembrance of
the
name
of Israel any more." Since, "let it be mentioned of the name"
(memoretur
nominis),
is an unusual phrase in the Latin language; for it is rather customary to
say,
"let the name be mentioned" (memoretur nomen); but the sense is the
same.
For
he who said, "let it be mentioned of the name," translated the Greek
phrase.
But
Israel must here be understood in fact of the seed of Abraham, to which the
Apostle
says, "Therefore you are the seed of Abraham, according to the promise
heirs."
Galatians 3:29 Not Israel according to the flesh, of which he says,
"Behold
Israel
after the flesh."
5.
"Since they have imagined with one consent; together against You have they
disposed
a testament" (ver. 5): as though they could be the stronger. In fact,
"a
testament"
is a name given in the Scriptures not only to that which is of no avail
till
the death of the testators, but every covenant and decree they used to call a
testament.
For Laban and Jacob made a testament, Genesis 31:44 which was
certainly
to have force between the living; and such cases without number are read
in
the words of God. Then he begins to make mention of the enemies of Christ,
under
certain proper names of nations; the interpretation of which names
sufficiently
indicates what he would have to be understood. For by such names are
most
suitably figured the enemies of the truth. "Idumćans," for instance,
are
interpreted
either "men of blood," or "of earth."
"Ismaelites," are "obedient to
themselves,"
and therefore not to God, but to themselves. "Moab," "from the
father;"
which in a bad sense has no better explanation, than by considering it so
connected
with the actual history, that Lot, a father, by the illicit intercourse
procured
by his daughter, begat him; since it was from that very circumstance he
was
so named. Genesis 19:36-37 Good, however, was his father, but as "the Law
is
good if one use it lawfully," 1 Timothy 1:8 not impurely and unlawfully.
"Hagarens,"
proselytes, that is strangers, by which name also are signified, among
the
enemies of God's people, not those who become citizens, but those who
persevere
in a foreign and alien mind, and when an opportunity of doing harm
occurs,
show themselves. "Gebal," "a vain valley," that is, humble
in pretence.
"Amon,"
"an unquiet people," or "a people of sadness." "Amalech,"
"a people
licking;"
whence elsewhere it is said, "and his enemies shall lick the earth."
The
"alien
race," though by their very name in Latin, they sufficiently show
themselves
to
be aliens, and for this cause of course enemies, yet in the Hebrew are called
"Philistines,"
which is explained, "falling from drink," as of persons made drunken
by
worldly luxury. "Tyre" in Hebrew is called Sor; which whether it be
interpreted
straitness
or tribulation, must be taken in the case of these enemies of God's people
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Psalm 83
686
in
that sense, of which the Apostle speaks, "Tribulation and straitness on
every
soul
of man that does evil." Romans 2:9 All these are thus enumerated in the
Psalms:
"The tabernacles of the Edomites, Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagarenes,
Gebal,
and Amon, and Amalech, and the Philistines with those who inhabit Tyre."
6.
And as if to point out the cause why they are enemies of God's people, he adds,
"For
Assur came with them." Now Assur is often used figuratively for the devil,
"who
works in the children of disobedience," Ephesians 2:2 as in his own
vessels,
that
they may assail the people of God. "They have holpen the children of
Lot," he
says:
for all enemies, by the working in them of the devil, their prince, "have
holpen
the children of Lot," who is explained to mean "one declining." But
the
apostate
angels are well explained as the children of declension, for by declining
from
truth they swerved to become followers of the devil. These are they of whom
the
Apostle speaks: "You wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities
and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual
wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12 Those invisible enemies are
holpen
then by unbelieving men, in whom they work in order to assail the people
of
God.
7.
Now let us see what the prophetic spirit prays may fall upon them, rather
foretelling
than cursing. "Do thou to them," he says, "as unto Madian and
Sisera,
as
unto Jabin at the brook of Kishon" (ver. 9). "They perished at Endor,
they
became
as the dung of the earth" (ver. 10). All these, the history relates, were
subdued
and conquered by Israel, which then was the people of God: as was the
case
also with those whom he next mentions: "Make their princes like Oreb and
Zeb,
and Zebee and Salmana" (ver. 11). The meaning of these names is as
follows:
Madian
is explained a perverted judgment: Sisera, shutting out of joy: Jabin, wise.
Judges
4:7-8 But in these enemies conquered by God's people is to be understood
that
wise man of whom the Apostle speaks, "Where is the wise? where is the
scribe?
where is the disputer of this world?" 1 Corinthians 1:20 Oreb is dryness,
Zeb,
wolf, Zebee, a victim, namely of the wolf; for he too has his victims;
Salmana,
shadow of commotion. All these agree to the evils which the people of
God
conquer by good. Moreover Kishon, the torrent in which they were
conquered,
is explained, their hardness. Endor, where they perished, is explained,
the
Fountain of generation, but of the carnal generation namely, to which they
were
given up, and therefore perished, not heeding the regeneration which leads
unto
life, where they shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, Luke 20:35 for
they
shall die no more. Rightly then it is said of these: "they became as the
dung of
the
earth," in that nothing was produced of them but fruitfulness of the
earth. As
then
all these were in figure conquered by the people of God, as figures, so he
prays
that those other enemies may be conquered in truth.
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8.
"All their princes, who said, Let us take to ourselves the sanctuary of
God in
possession"
(ver. 12). This is that vain noise, with which, as said above, Your
enemies
have made a murmuring. But what must be understood by "the sanctuary
of
God," except the temple of God? as says the Apostle: "For the temple
of God is
holy,
which temple you are." 1 Corinthians 3:17 For what else do the enemies aim
at,
but to take into possession, that is, to make subject to themselves the temple
of
God,
that it may give in to their ungodly wills?
9.
But what follows? "My God, make them like unto a wheel" (ver. 13).
This is
fitly
taken as meaning that they should be constant in nothing that they think; but I
think
it may also be rightly explained, make them like unto a wheel, because a
wheel
is lifted up on the part of what is behind, is thrown down on the part of what
is
in front; and so it happens to all the enemies of the people of God. For this
is not
a
wish, but a prophecy. He adds: "as the stubble in the face of the
wind." By face
he
means presence; for what face has the wind, which has no bodily features,
being
only a motion, in that it is a kind of wave of air? But it is put for
temptation,
by
which light and vain hearts are hurried away.
10.
This levity, by which consent is easily given to what is evil, is followed by
severe
torment; therefore he proceeds:—
"Like
as the fire that burns up the wood, and as the flame that consumes the
mountains"
(ver. 14): "so shall Thou persecute them with Your tempest, and in
Your
anger shall disturb them" (ver. 15). Wood, he says, for its barrenness,
mountains
for their loftiness; for such are the enemies of God's people, barren of
righteousness,
full of pride. When he says, "fire" and "flame," he means
to repeat
under
another term, the idea of God judging and punishing. But in saying, "with
Your
tempest," he means, as he goes on to explain, "Your anger:" and
the former
expression,
"You shall persecute," answers to, "You shall disturb." We
must take
care,
however, to understand, that the anger of God is free from any turbulent
emotion;
for His anger is an expression for His just method of taking vengeance:
as
the law might be said to be angry when its ministers are moved to punish by its
sanction.
11.
"Fill their faces with shame, and they shall seek Your name, O Lord"
(ver. 16).
Good
and desirable is this which he prophesies for them: and he would not
prophesy
thus, unless there were even in that company of the enemies of God's
people,
some men of such kind that this would be granted to them before the last
judgment:
for now they are mixed together, and this is the body of the enemies, in
respect
of the envy whereby they rival the people of God. And now, where they
can,
they make a noise and lift up their head: but severally, not universally as
they
will
do at the end of the world, when the last judgment is about to fall. But it is
the
same
body, even in those who out of this number shall believe and pass into
another
body (for the faces of these are filled with shame, that they may seek the
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name
of the Lord), as well as in those others who persevere unto the end in the
same
wickedness, who are made as stubble before the wind, and are consumed
like
a wood and barren mountains. To these he again returns, saying, "They
shall
blush
and be vexed for ever and ever" (ver. 17). For those are not vexed for
ever
and
ever who seek the name of the Lord, but having respect unto the shame of
their
sins, they are vexed for this purpose, that they may seek the name of the
Lord,
through which they may be no more vexed.
12.
Again, he returns to these last, who in the same company of enemies are to be
made
ashamed for this purpose, that they may not be ashamed for ever: and for
this
purpose to be destroyed in as far as they are wicked, that being made good
they
may be found alive for ever. For having said of them, "Let them be ashamed
and
perish," he instantly adds, "and let them know that Your name is the
Lord,
You
are only the Most Highest in all the earth" (ver. 18). Coming to this
knowledge,
let them be so confounded as to please God: let them so perish, as that
they
may abide. "Let them know," he says, "that Your name is the
Lord:" as if
whoever
else are called lords are named so not truly but by falsehood, for they rule
but
as servants, and compared with the true Lord are not lords; as it is said, I Am
that
I Am: Exodus 3:14 as if those things which are made are not, compared with
Him
by whom they are made. He adds, "Thou only art the Most Highest in all the
earth:"
or, as other copies have it, "over all the earth;" as it might be
said, in all the
heaven,
or over all the heaven: but he used the latter word in preference, to depress
the
pride of earth. For earth ceases to be proud, that is, man ceases, to whom it
was
said,
"You are dust;" Genesis 3:19 and "why is earth and ashes
proud?"
Sirach
10:9 when he says that the Lord is the Most Highest above all the earth,
that
is, that no man's thoughts avail against those "who are called according
to His
purpose,"
and of whom it is said, "If God is for us, who can be against us?"
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689
Exposition
on Psalm 84
1.
This Psalm is entitled, "For the winepresses." And, as you observed
with me,
my
beloved (for I saw that you attended most closely), nothing is said in its text
either
of any press, or wine-basket, or vat, or of any of the instruments or the
building
of a winepress; nothing of this kind did we hear read; so that it is no easy
question
what is the meaning of this title inscribed upon it, "for the
winepresses."
For
certainly, if after the title it mentioned anything about such things as I
enumerated,
carnal persons might have believed that it was a song concerning
those
visible wine-presses; but as it has this title, yet says nothing afterwards of
those
winepresses which we know so well, I cannot doubt that there are other
wine-presses,
which the Spirit of God intended us to look for and to understand
here.
Therefore, let us recall to mind what takes place in these visible winepresses,
and
see how this takes place spiritually in the Church. The grape hangs on the
vines,
and the olive on its trees. For it is for these two fruits that presses are
usually
made ready; and as long as they hang on their boughs, they seem to enjoy
free
air; and neither is the grape wine, nor the olive oil, before they are pressed.
Thus
it is with men whom God predestined before the world to be conformed to
the
image of His only-begotten Son, Romans 8:29 who has been first and
especially
pressed in His Passion, as the great Cluster. Men of this kind, therefore,
before
they draw near to the service of God, enjoy in the world a kind of delicious
liberty,
like hanging grapes or olives: but as it is said, "My son, when you draw
near
to the service of God, stand in judgment and fear, and make your soul ready
for
temptation:" Sirach 2:1 so each, as he draws near to the service of God,
finds
that
he is come to the winepress; he shall undergo tribulation, shall be crushed,
shall
be pressed, not that he may perish in this world, but that he may flow down
into
the storehouses of God. He has the coverings of carnal desires stripped off
from
him, like grape-skins: for this has taken place in him in carnal desires, of
which
the Apostle speaks, "Put ye off the old man, and put on the new man."
All
this
is not done but by pressure: therefore the Churches of God of this time are
called
winepresses.
2.
But who are we who are placed in the wine-presses? "Sons of Core."
For this
follows:
"For the winepresses, to the sons of Core." The sons of Core has been
explained,
sons of the bald: as far as those could explain it to us, who know that
language,
according to their service due to God....
3.
But being placed under pressure, we are crushed for this purpose, that for our
love
by which we were borne towards those worldly, secular, temporal, unstable,
and
perishable things, having suffered in them, in this life, torments, and
tribulations
of pressures, and abundance of temptations, we may begin to seek that
rest
which is not of this life, nor of this earth; and the Lord becomes, as is
written,
"a
refuge for the poor man." What is, "for the poor man"? For him
who is, as it
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were,
destitute, without aid, without help, without anything on which he may rest,
in
earth. For to such poor men, God is present. For though men abound in money
on
earth, ... they are filled more with fear than with enjoyment. For what is so
uncertain
as a rolling thing? It is not unfitly that money itself is stamped round,
because
it remains not still. Such men, therefore, though they have something, are
yet
poor. But those who have none of this wealth, but only desire it, are counted
also
among rich men who will be rejected; for God takes account not of power, but
of
will. The poor then are destitute of all this world's substance, for even
though it
abounds
around them, they know how fleeting it is; and crying unto God, having
nothing
in this world with which they may delight themselves, and be held down,
placed
in abundant pressures and temptations, as if in winepresses, they flow
down,
having become oil or wine. What are these latter but good desires? For God
remains
their only object of desire; now they love not earth. For they love Him
who
made heaven and earth; they love Him, and are not yet with Him. Their desire
is
delayed, in order that it may increase; it increases, in order that it may
receive.
For
it is not any little thing that God will give to him who desires, nor does he
need
to be little exercised to be made fit to receive so great a good: not anything
which
He has made will God give, but Himself who made all things. Exercise
yourself
to receive God: that which you shall have for ever, desire thou for a long
time....
4.
Wherefore, most beloved, as each can, make vows, and perform to the Lord
God
what each can: let no one look back, no one delight himself with his former
interests,
no one turn away from that which is before to that which is behind: let
him
run until he arrive: for we run not with the feet but with the desire. But let
no
one
in this life say that he has arrived. For who can be so perfect as Paul?
Philippians
3:13 Yet he says, "Brethren, I count not myself to have attained."
5.
If therefore you feel the passions of this world, even when you are happy, you
understand
now that you are in the winepress .... If therefore the world smile upon
you
with happiness, imagine yourself in the winepress, and say, "I found
trouble
and
heaviness, and I did call upon the name of the Lord." He said not, I found
trouble,
without meaning, of such a kind as was hidden: for some troubles are
hidden
from some in this world, who think they are happy while they are absent
from
God. "For as long as we are in the body," he says, "we are
absent from the
Lord."
2 Corinthians 5:6 If thou were absent from your father, you would be
unhappy:
are you absent from the Lord, and happy? There are then some who
think
it is well with them. But those who understand, that in whatever abundance
of
wealth and pleasures, though all things obey their beck, though nothing
troublesome
creep in, nothing adverse terrify, yet that they are in a bad case as
long
as they are absent from the Lord; with a most keen eye these have found
trouble,
and grief, and have called on the name of the Lord. Such is he who sings
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Psalm 84 691
in
this Psalm. Who is he? The Body of Christ. Who is that? You, if you will: all
we,
if we will: for Christ's Body is one....
"How
lovely are Your tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts" (ver. 1). He was in some
tabernacles,
that is, in winepresses: but he longed for other tabernacles, where is
no
pressure: in this he sighed for them, from these, he, as it were, flowed down
into
them by the channel of longing desire.
6.
And what follows? "My soul longs and fails for the courts of the
Lord" (ver. 2).
It
is not enough that it "longs and fails:" for what does it fail?
"For the courts of
the
Lord." The grape when pressed has failed: but for what? So as to be
changed
into
wine, and to flow into the vat, and into the rest of the storeroom, to be kept
there
in great quiet. Here it is longed for, there it is received: here are sighs,
there
joy:
here prayers, there praises: here groans, there rejoicing. Those things which I
mentioned,
let no one while here turn from ashamed: let no one be unwilling to
suffer.
There is danger, lest the grape, while it fears the winepress, should be
devoured
by birds or by wild beasts....
7.
You have heard a groan in the winepress, "My soul longs and fails for the
courts
of
the Lord:" hear how it holds out, rejoicing in hope: "My heart and my
flesh
have
rejoiced in the living God." Here they have rejoiced for that cause.
Whence
comes
rejoicing, but of hope? Wherefore have they rejoiced? "In the living
God."
What
has rejoiced in you? "My heart and my flesh." Why have they rejoiced?
"For,"
says he, "the sparrow has found her a house, and the turtle-dove a nest,
where
she may lay her young" (ver. 3). What is this? He had named two things,
and
he adds two figures of birds which answer to them: he had said that his heart
rejoiced
and his flesh, and to these two he made the sparrow and turtle-dove to
correspond:
the heart as the sparrow, the flesh as the dove. The sparrow has found
herself
a home: my heart has found itself a home. She tries her wings in the virtues
of
this life, in faith, and hope, and charity, by which she may fly unto her home:
and
when she shall have come thither, she shall remain; and now the complaining
voice
of the sparrow, which is here, shall no longer be there. For it is the very
complaining
sparrow of whom in another Psalm he says, "Like a sparrow alone on
the
housetop." From the housetop he flies home. Now let him be on the
housetop,
treading
on his carnal house: he shall have a heavenly house, a perpetual home:
that
sparrow shall make an end of his complaints. But to the dove he has given
young,
that is, to the flesh: "the dove has found a nest, where she may lay her
young."
The sparrow a home, the dove a nest, and a nest too where she may lay
her
young. A home is chosen as for ever, a nest is framed for a time: with the
heart
we
think upon God, as if the sparrow flew to her home: with the flesh we do good
works.
For you see how many good works are done by the flesh of the saints; for
by
this we work the things we are commanded to work, by which we are helped in
this
life. "Break your bread to the hungry, and bring the poor and roofless
into
your
house; and if thou see one naked, clothe him:" Isaiah 58:7 and other such
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Psalm 84
692
things
which are commanded us we work only through the flesh .... We speak,
brethren,
what ye know: how many seem to do good works without the Church?
how
many even Pagans feed the hungry, clothe the naked, receive the stranger,
visit
the sick, comfort the prisoner? how many do this? The dove seems, as it
were,
to bring forth young: but finds not herself a nest. How many works may
heretics
do not in the Church; they place not their young in a nest. They shall be
trampled
on and crushed: they shall not be kept, shall not be guarded .... In that
faith
lay your young: in that nest work your works. For what the nests are, what
that
nest is, follows at once. Having said, And the dove has found herself a nest,
where
she may lay her young; as if you had asked, What nest? "Your altars, O
Lord
of Hosts, my King and my God." What is, "My King and my God?"
Thou
who
rulest me, who hast created me.
8.
..."Blessed are those who dwell in Your house" (ver. 4) .... If you
have your own
house,
you are poor; if God's, you are rich. In your own house you will fear
robbers;
of the house of God, He is Himself the wall. Therefore "blessed are those
who
dwell in Your house." They possess the heavenly Jerusalem, without
constraint,
without pressure, without difference and division of boundaries; all
have
it, and each have all. Great are those riches. Brother crowds not brother:
there
is
no want there. Next, what will they do there? For among men it is necessity
which
is the mother of all employments. I have already said, in brief, brethren, run
in
your mind through any occupations, and see if it is not necessity alone which
produces
them. Those very eminent arts which seem so powerful in giving help to
others,
the art of speaking in their defence or of medicine in healing, for these are
the
most excellent employments in this life; take away litigants, who is there for
the
advocate to help? take away wounds and diseases? what is there for the
physician
to cure? And all those employments of ours which are required and done
for
our daily life, arise from necessity. To plough, to sow, to clear fallow
ground,
to
sail; what is it which produces all these works, but necessity and want? Take
away
hunger, thirst, nakedness; who has need of all these things? ... For instance,
the
injunction, "Break your bread to the hungry." For whom could you
break
bread,
if there were nobody hungry? "Take in the roofless poor into your
house."
Isaiah
58:7 What stranger is there to take in, where all live in their own country?
What
sick person to visit, where they enjoy perpetual health? What litigants to
reconcile,
where there is everlasting peace? What dead to bury, where there is
eternal
life? None of those honourable actions which are common to all men will
then
be your employment, nor any of these good works; the young swallows will
then
fly out of their nest. What then? You have said already what we shall have;
"Those
who dwell in Your house are blessed." Say now what they shall do, for I
see
not then any need to induce me to action. Even what I am now saying and
arguing
springs from some need. Will there be any such argument there to teach
the
ignorant, or remind the forgetful? Or will the Gospel be read in that country
where
the Word of God Itself shall be contemplated?... "They shall be always
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praising
You." This shall be our whole duty, an unceasing Hallelujah. Think not,
my
brethren, that there will be any weariness there: if you are not able to endure
long
here in saying this, it is because some want draws you away from that
enjoyment.
If what is not seen gives not so much joy here, if with so much
eagerness
under the pressure and weakness of the flesh we praise that which we
believe,
how shall we praise that which we see? "When death shall be swallowed
up
in victory, when this mortal shall have put on immortality," 1 Corinthians
15:54
no
one will say, "I have been standing a long time;" no one will say,
"I have fasted
a
long time," "I have watched a long time." For there shall be
great endurance, and
our
immortal bodies shall be sustained in contemplation of God. And if the word
which
we now dispense to you keeps your weak flesh standing so long, what will
be
the effect of that joy? how will it change us? "For we shall be like Him,
since
we
shall see Him as He is." 1 John 3:2 Being made like Him, when shall we
ever
faint?
what shall draw us off? Brethren, we shall never be satiated with the praise
of
God, with the love of God. If love could fail, praise could fail. But if love
be
eternal,
as there will there be beauty inexhaustible, fear not lest you be not able to
praise
for ever Him whom you shall be able to love for ever. For this life let us
sigh.
9.
But how shall we come thither? "Happy is the man whose strength is in
You"
(ver.
5). He knew where he was, and that by reason of the frailty of his flesh he
could
not fly to that state of blessedness: he thought upon his own burden, as it is
said
elsewhere; "For the corruptible body weighs down the soul, and the earthly
house
depresses the understanding which has many thoughts." Wisdom 9:15 The
Spirit
calls upward, the weight of the flesh calls back again downward: between
the
double effort to raise and to weigh down, a kind of struggle ensues: this
struggle
goes toward the pressure of the winepress. Hear how the Apostle
describes
this same struggle of the winepress, for he was himself afflicted there,
there
he was pressed.... "Miserable man that I am: who shall deliver me from the
body
of this death? The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Romans
7:24-25... "For I delight in the Law of God according to the inner
man."
But
what shall I do? how shall I fly? how shall I arrive thither? "I see
another law
in
my members," etc .... And as in the words of the Apostle, that difficulty
and that
almost
inextricable struggle is alleviated by the addition, "The grace of God
through
Jesus Christ our Lord;" so here, when he sighed in the ardent longing for
the
house of God, and those praises of God, and when a kind of despair arose at
the
feeling of the burden of the body and the weight of the flesh, again he awoke
to
hope, and said (ver. 5), "Blessed is the man whose taking up is in
You."
10.
What then does God supply by His grace to him whom He takes hold of to
lead
him on? He goes on to say: "He has placed steps in his heart."...
Where does it
place
steps? "In his heart, in the valley of weeping" (ver. 6). So here you
have for
a
winepress the valley of weeping, the very pious tears in tribulation are the
new
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Psalm 84 694
wine
of those that love .... They went forth "weeping," he says,
"casting their seed."
Therefore,
by the grace of God may upward steps be placed in your heart. Rise by
loving.
Hence the Psalm "of degrees" is called.... "He has placed steps
of ascent to
the
place which He has appointed" (ver. 7). Now we lament; whence proceed our
lamentations,
but from that place where the steps of our ascent are placed?
Whence
comes our lamentation, but from that cause wherefore the Apostle
exclaimed
that he was a wretched man, because he saw another law in his
members,
warring against the law in his mind? Romans 7:23 And whence does
this
proceed? From the penalty of sin. And we thought that we could easily be
righteous
as it were by our own strength, before we received the command; "but
when
the command came, sin revived; but I died," Romans 7:9 says the Apostle.
For
a law was given to men, not such as could save them at once, but it was to
show
them in what severe sickness they were lying .... But when sin was made
manifest
by the law given, sin was but increased, for it is both sin, and against the
Law;
"Sin," says he, "taking occasion by the command, wrought in me
all manner
of
concupiscence." Romans 7:8 What does he mean by "taking occasion by
the
law"?
Having received the command, men tried as by their own strength to obey
it;
conquered by lust, they became guilty of transgression of this very command
also.
But what says the Apostle? "Where sin abounded, grace has much more
abounded;"
Romans 5:20 that is, the disease increased, the medicine became of
more
avail. Accordingly, my brethren, did those five porches of Solomon, in the
middle
of which the pool lay, heal the sick at all? The sick, says the Evangelist,
lay
in the five porches. John 5:3 In the Gospel we have and read it. Those five
porches
are the law in the five books of Moses. For this cause the sick were
brought
forth from their houses that they might lie in the porches. So the law
brought
the sick men forth, but did not heal them: but by the blessing of God the
water
was disturbed, as by an Angel descending into it. At the sight of the water
troubled,
the one person who was able, descended and was healed. That water
surrounded
by the five porches, was the people of the Jews shut up in their law.
The
Lord came and disturbed this people, so that He Himself was slain. For if the
Lord
had not troubled the Jews by coming down to them, would He have been
crucified?
So that the troubled water signified the Passion of the Lord, which arose
from
His troubling the Jewish people. The sick man who believes in this Passion,
like
him who descended into the troubled water, is healed thereby. He whom the
Law
could not heal, that is, while he lay in the porches, is healed by grace, by
faith
in
the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ....
11.
"He shall give blessing," says he, "who gave the law."...
Grace shall come after
the
law, grace itself is the blessing. And what has that grace and blessing given
unto
us? "They shall go from virtue to virtue." For here by grace many
virtues are
given.
"For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word
of
knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith, to another the gift
of
healing,
to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of
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Psalm 84 695
tongues,
to another prophecy." 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 Many virtues, but necessary
for
this life; and from these virtues we go on to "a virtue." To what
"virtue"? To
"Christ
the Virtue of God and the Wisdom of God." 1 Corinthians 1:24 He gives
different
virtues in this place, who for all the virtues which are necessary and
useful
in this valley of weeping shall give one virtue, Himself. For in Scripture and
in
many writers four virtues are described useful for life: prudence, by which we
discern
between good and evil; justice, by which we give each person his due,
"owing
no man anything," Romans 13:8 but loving all men: temperance, by which
we
restrain lusts; fortitude, by which we bear all troubles. These virtues are now
by
the grace of God given unto us in the valley of weeping: from these virtues we
mount
unto that other virtue. And what will that be, but the virtue of the
contemplation
of God alone? ... It follows in that place: "They shall go from virtue
to
virtue." What virtue? That of contemplation. What is contemplation?
"The God
of
Gods shall appear in Sion." The God of Gods, Christ of the Christians....
When
all
is finished, that mortality makes necessary, He shall appear to the pure in
heart,
as
He is, "God with God," The Word with the Father, "by which all
things were
made."
12.
And again, from the thought of those joys he returns to his own sighs. He sees
what
has come before in hope, and where he is in reality.... Therefore returning to
the
groans proper to this place, he says, "O Lord God of virtues, hear my
prayer:
hearken,
O God of Jacob" (ver. 8): for Jacob himself also You have made Israel
out
of Jacob. For God appeared unto him, and he was called Israel, Genesis 32:28
seeing
God. Hear me therefore, O God of Jacob, and make me Israel. When shall I
become
Israel? When the God of Gods shall appear in Sion.
13.
"Behold, O God our defender. And look on the face of Your Christ"
(ver. 9).
For
when does God not look upon the face of His Christ? What is this, "Look on
the
face of Your Christ"? By the face we are known. What is it then, Look on
the
face
of Your Christ? Cause Your Christ to become known to all. Look on the face
of
Your Christ: let Christ become known to all, that we may be able to go from
strength
to strength, that grace may abound, since sin has abounded.
14.
"For one day in Your courts is better than a thousand" (ver. 10).
Those courts
they
were for which he sighed, for which he fainted. "My soul longs and fails
for
the
courts of the Lord:" one day there is better than a thousand days. Men
long for
thousands
of days, and wish to live here long: let them despise these thousands of
days,
let them long for one day, which has neither rising nor setting: one day, an
everlasting
day, to which no yesterday yields, which no tomorrow presses. Let this
one
day be longed for by us. What have we to do with a thousand days? We go
from
the thousand days to one day; let us hasten to that one day, as we go from
strength
to strength.
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15.
"I have chosen to be cast away in the house of the Lord, rather than to
dwell in
the
tents of sinners" (ver. 11). For he found the valley of weeping, he found
humility
by which he might rise: he knows that if he would raise himself he shall
fall,
if he humble himself he shall be exalted: he has chosen to be cast away, that
he
may be raised up. How many beside this tabernacle of the Lord's winepress,
that
is beside the Catholic Church, wishing to be lifted up, and loving their
honours,
refuse to see the truth. If this verse had been in their heart, would they
not
cast away honours, and run to the valley of weeping, and hence find in their
heart
the way of ascent, and hence go from virtues to virtue, placing their hope in
Christ,
not in some man or another? A good word is this, a word to rejoice in, a
word
to be chosen. He himself chose to be cast away in the house of the Lord; but
He
who invited him to the feast, when he chose a lower place calls him to a higher
one,
and says unto him, "Go up higher." Luke 14:10 Yet he chose not but to
be in
the
house of the Lord, in any part of it, so that he were not outside the
threshold.
16.
Wherefore did he choose?... "Because God loves mercy and truth" (ver.
12).
The
Lord loves mercy, by which He first came to my help: He loves truth, so as to
give
to him that believes what He has promised. Romans 11:29 Hear in the case of
the
Apostle Paul, His mercy and truth, Paul who was first Saul the persecutor. He
needed
mercy, and he has said that it was shown towards him: "I who was before a
blasphemer,
and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, that in me
Christ
Jesus might show forth all longsuffering towards those who shall believe in
Him
unto life eternal." So that, when Paul received pardon of such great
crimes,
no
one should despair of any sins whatever being forgiven him. Lo! You have
Mercy
.... Lo, we see that Paul holds Him a debtor, having received mercy,
demanding
truth. The Lord, he says, shall give back in that day. What shall He
give
you back, but that which He owes you? How owes He unto you? What have
you
given Him? "Who has first given unto Him, and it shall be restored to him
again."
Romans 11:29 The Lord Himself has made Himself a debtor, not by
receiving,
but by promising: it is not said unto Him, Restore what You have
received:
but, Restore what You have promised. He has shown mercy unto me, he
says,
that He might make me innocent: for before I was a blasphemer and
injurious:
but by His grace I have been made innocent. But He who first showed
mercy,
can He deny His debt? "He loves mercy and truth. He will give grace and
glory."
What grace, but that of which the same one said: "By the grace of God I
am
what I am"? 1 Corinthians 15:10 What glory, but that of which he said,
"There
is
laid up for me a crown of glory"? 2 Timothy 4:8
17.
Therefore "the Lord will not withhold good from those who walk in
innocence"
(ver. 12). Why then, O men, are you unwilling to keep innocence,
except
in order that you may have good things? ... You see wealth in the hands of
robbers,
of the impious, the wicked, the base; in the hands of scandalous and
criminal
men you see wealth: God gives them these things on account of their
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fellowship
in the human race, for the abundant overflowing of His goodness: who
also
"makes His sun to rise upon the good and the evil, and causes it to rain
upon
the
righteous and upon the sinners." Matthew 5:45 Gives He so much to the
wicked,
and keeps nothing for you? He keeps something: be at ease, He who had
mercy
on you when you were impious, does He desert you when you have become
pious?
He who gave to the sinner the free gift of His Son's death, what keeps He
for
the saved through that death? Therefore be at ease. Hold Him a debtor, for you
have
believed in Him promising. What then remains for us here, in the winepress,
in
affliction, in hardship, in our present dangerous life? What remains for us,
that
we
may arrive thither? "O Lord God of virtues, blessed is the man that puts
his
hope
in You."
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Exposition
on Psalm 85
1.
...Its title is, "A Psalm for the end, to the sons of Core." Let us
understand no
other
end than that of which the Apostle speaks: for, "Christ is the end of the
law."
Romans
10:4 Therefore when at the head of the title of the Psalm he placed the
words,
"for the end," he directed our heart to Christ. If we fix our gaze on
Him, we
shall
not stray: for He is Himself the Truth unto which we are eager to arrive, and
He
Himself the Way John 14:6 by which we run....
2.
The Prophet sings to Him of the future, and uses words as it were of past time:
he
speaks of things future as if already done, because with God that which is
future
has already taken place.... "Lord, You have been favourable unto Your
land"
(ver. 1); as if He had already done so. "You have turned away the
captivity
of
Jacob." His ancient people of Jacob, the people of Israel, born of
Abraham's
seed,
in the promise to become one day the heir of God. That was indeed a real
people,
to whom the Old Testament was given; but in the Old Testament the New
was
figured: that was the figure, this the truth expressed. In that figure, by a
kind
of
foretelling of the future, there was given to that people a certain land of
promise,
in a region where the people of the Jews abode; where also is the city of
Jerusalem,
whose name we have all heard of. When this people had received
possession
of this land, they suffered many troubles from their neighbouring
enemies
who surrounded them: and when they sinned against their God, they were
given
into captivity, not for destruction, but for discipline; their Father not
condemning,
but scourging them. And after being seized on, they were set free,
and
many times were both made captives, and set free; and they are now in
captivity,
and that for a great sin, even because they crucified their Lord. What
then
are we to understand them to mean by the words, "You have turned away the
captivity
of Jacob"? ... This Psalm has prophesied in song. "You have turned
away
the
captivity of Jacob." To whom did it speak? To Christ; for it said,
"for the end,
for
the sons of Core:" for He has turned away the captivity of Jacob. Hear
Paul
himself
confessing: "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the
body
of this death?" He asked who it should be, and straightway it occurred to
him,
"The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 7:24-25 Of
this
grace
of God the Prophet speaks to our Lord Jesus Christ, "You have turned away
the
captivity of Jacob." Attend to the captivity of Jacob, attend, and see
that it is
this:
You have turned away our captivity, not by setting us free from the
barbarians,
with whom we had not met, but by setting us free from bad works,
from
our sins, by which Satan held sway over us. For if any one has been set free
from
his sins, the prince of sinners has not whence he may hold sway over him.
3.
For how did He turn away the captivity of Jacob? See, how that that setting
free
is
spiritual, see how that it is done inwardly. "You have forgiven," he
says, "the
iniquity
of Your people: You have covered all their sins" (ver. 2). Behold how He
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699
has
turned away their captivity, in that He has remitted iniquity: iniquity held
them
captive;
your iniquity forgiven, you are freed. Confess therefore that you are in
captivity,
that you may be worthy to be freed: for he that knows not of his enemy,
how
can he invoke the liberator? "You have covered all their sins." What
is, "You
have
covered"? So as not to see them. How did You not see them? So as not to
take
vengeance on them. You were unwilling to see our sins: and therefore sawest
Thou
them not, because You would not see them: "You have covered all their
sins."
"You have appeased all Your anger: You have turned Yourself from Your
wrathful
indignation" (ver. 3).
4.
And as these things are said of the future, though the sound of the words is
past,
it
follows: "Turn us, O God of our salvation" (ver. 4). That which he
had just
related
as if it were done, how prays he that it may be done, except because he
wished
to show that he had spoken as if of the past in prophecy? But that it was
not
yet done which he had said was done he shows by this, that he prays that it
may
be done: "Turn us, O God of our salvation, and turn away Your anger from
us."
Did you not say before: "You have appeased all Your anger, You have turned
Yourself
from Your wrathful indignation"? How then now do you say, "And turn
away
Your anger from us"? The Prophet answers: These things I speak of as done,
because
I see them about to be done: but because they are not yet done, I pray that
they
may come, which I have already seen.
5.
"Be not angry with us for ever" (ver. 5). For by the anger of God we
are subject
to
death, and by the anger of God we eat bread on this earth in want, and in the
sweat
of our face. Genesis 3:19 This was Adam's sentence when he sinned: and
that
Adam was every one of us, for "in Adam all die;" 1 Corinthians 15:22
the
sentence
passed on him has taken effect after him on us. For we were not yet
ourselves,
but we were in Adam: therefore whatever happened to Adam himself
took
effect on us also, so that we should die: for we all were in him.... So far as
this
the sin of your father hurts you not, if you have changed yourself, even as it
would
not hurt your father if he had changed himself. But that which our stock has
received
unto its subjection to death, it has derived from Adam. What has it so
derived?
That frailty of the flesh, this torture of pains, this house of poverty, this
chain
of death, and snares of temptations; all these things we carry about in this
flesh;
and this is the anger of God, because it is the vengeance of God. But
because
it was so to be, that we should be regenerated, and by believing should be
made
new, and all that mortality was to be removed in our resurrection, and the
whole
man was to be restored in newness; "For as in Adam all die, so also in
Christ
shall all be made alive;" 1 Corinthians 15:22 seeing this the Prophet
says,
"Be
not angry with us for ever, nor stretch out Your wrath from one generation to
another."
The first generation was mortal by Your wrath: the second generation
shall
be immortal by Your mercy....
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Psalm 85
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6.
"O God, You shall turn us again, and make us alive" (ver. 6). Not as
if we
ourselves
of our own accord, without Your mercy, turn unto You, and then You
shall
make us alive: but so that not only our being made alive is from You, but our
very
conversion, that we may be made alive. "And Your people shall rejoice in
You."
To their own evil they shall rejoice in themselves: to their own good they
shall
rejoice in You. For when they wished to have joy of themselves, they found
in
themselves woe: but now because God is all our joy, he that will rejoice
securely,
let him rejoice in Him who cannot perish. For why, my brethren, will
you
rejoice in silver? Either your silver perishes, or thou: and no one knows which
first:
yet this is certain, that both shall perish; which first, is uncertain. For
neither
can
man remain here always, nor can silver remain here always: so too gold, so
garments,
so houses, so money, so broad lands, so, lastly, this light itself. Be not
thou
willing then to rejoice in these: but rejoice in that light which has no
setting:
rejoice
in that dawn which no yesterday precedes, which no tomorrow follows.
What
light is that? "I," says He, "am the Light of the world."
John 8:12 He who
says
unto you, "I am the Light of the world," calls you to Himself. When
He calls
you,
He converts you: when He converts you, He heals you: when He has healed
you,
you shall see your Converter, unto whom it is said, "Show us Your mercy, O
Lord,
and grant us Your salvation" (ver. 7): Your salvation, that is, Your
Christ.
Happy
is he unto whom God shows His mercy. He it is who cannot indulge in
pride,
unto whom God shows His mercy. For by showing him His salvation He
persuades
him that whatever good man has, he has not but from Him who is all
our
good. And when a man has seen that whatever good he has he has not from
himself,
but from his God; he sees that everything which is praised in him is of the
mercy
of God, not of his own deserving; and seeing this, he is not proud; not being
proud,
he is not lifted up; not lifting himself up, he falls not; not falling, he
stands;
standing,
he clings fast; clinging fast, he abides; abiding, he enjoys, and rejoices in
the
Lord his God. He who made him shall be unto him a delight: and his delight no
one
spoils, no one interrupts, no one takes away.... Therefore, what says John in
his
Epistle? "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear
what
we shall be." 1 John 3:2 Who would not rejoice, if suddenly while he was
wandering
abroad, ignorant of his descent, suffering want, and in a state of misery
and
toil, it were announced, You are the son of a senator: your father enjoys an
ample
patrimony on your family estate; I bid you return to your father: how would
he
rejoice, if this were said to him by some one whose promise he could trust?
One
whom we can trust, an Apostle of Christ, has come and said to us, You have a
father,
you have a country, you have an inheritance. Who is that father? "Beloved,
we
are the sons of God." 1 John 3:2 ... Therefore He promised us to show
Himself
unto
us. Think, my brethren, what His beauty is. All those beautiful things which
you
see, which you love, He made. If these are beautiful, what is He Himself? If
these
are great, how great is He? Therefore from these things which we love here,
let
us the more long for Him: and despising these things, let us love Him: that by
that
very love we may by faith purify our hearts, and His vision, when it comes,
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Psalm
85
701
may
find our heart purified. The light which shall be shown unto us ought to find
us
whole: this is the work of faith now. This is what we have spoken here:
"And
grant
us Your salvation:" grant us Your Christ, that we may know Your Christ,
see
Your
Christ; not as the Jews saw Him and crucified Him, but as the Angels see
Him,
and rejoice.
7.
"I will hearken" (ver. 8). The Prophet spoke: God spoke within in
him, and the
world
made a noise without. Therefore, retiring for a little from the noise of the
world,
and turning himself back upon himself, and from himself upon Him whose
voice
he heard within; sealing up his ears, as it were, against the tumultuous
disquietude
of this life, and against the soul weighed down by the corruptible
body,
and against the imagination, that through the earthly tabernacle pressing
down,
thinks on many things, Wisdom 9:15 he says, "I will hearken what the Lord
God
speaks in me;" and he heard, what? "For He shall speak peace unto His
people."
The voice of Christ, then, the voice of God, is peace: it calls unto peace.
Ho!
it says, whosoever are not yet in peace, love ye peace: for what can you find
better
from Me than peace? What is peace? Where there is no war. What is this,
where
there is no war? Where there is no contradiction, where there is no
resistance,
nothing to oppose. Consider if we are yet there: consider if there is not
now
a conflict with the devil, if all the saints and faithful ones wrestle not with
the
prince
of demons. And how do they wrestle with him whom they see not? They
wrestle
with their own desires, by which he suggests unto them sins: and by not
consenting
to what he suggests, though they are not conquered, yet they fight.
Therefore
there is not yet peace where there is fighting.... Whatever we provide for
our
refreshment, there again we find weariness. Are you hungry? one asks you:
you
answer I am. He places food before you for your refreshment; continue thou
to
use it, for you had need of it; yet in continuing that which you need for
refreshment,
therein do you find weariness. By long sitting you were tired; you
rise
and refreshest yourself by walking; continue that relief, and by much walking
you
are wearied; again you would sit down. Find me anything by which you are
refreshed,
wherein if thou continue thou dost not again become weary. What peace
then
is that which men have here, opposed by so many troubles, desires, wants,
wearinesses?
This is no true, no perfect peace. What will be perfect peace? "This
corruptible
must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."
1
Corinthians 15:53... Persevere in eating much; this itself will kill you:
persevere
in
fasting much, by this you will die: sit continually, being resolved not to rise
up,
by
this you will die: be always walking so as never to take rest, by this you will
die;
watch continually, taking no sleep, by this you will die; sleep continually,
never
watching, thus too you will die. When therefore death shall be swallowed up
in
victory, these things shall no longer be: there will be full and eternal peace.
We
shall
be in a City, of which, brethren, when I speak I find it hard to leave off,
especially
when offences wax common. Who would not long for that City whence
no
friend goes out, whither no enemy enters, where is no tempter, no seditious
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Psalm 85
702
person,
no one dividing God's people, no one wearying the Church in the service
of
the devil; since the prince himself of all such is cast into eternal fire, and
with
him
those who consent unto him, and who have no will to retire from him? There
shall
be peace made pure in the sons of God, all loving one another, seeing one
another
full of God, since God shall be all in all. 1 Corinthians 15:28 We shall
have
God as our common object of vision, God as our common possession, God as
our
common peace. For whatever there is which He now gives unto us, He
Himself
shall be unto us instead of His gifts; this will be full and perfect peace.
This
He speaks unto His people: this it was which he would hearken unto who
said,
"I will hearken what the Lord God will say unto me: for He shall speak
peace
unto
His people, and to His saints, and unto those who turn their hearts unto
Him."
Lo,
my brethren, do ye wish that unto you should belong that peace which God
utters?
Turn your heart unto Him: not unto me, or unto that one, or unto any man.
For
whatever man would turn unto himself the hearts of men, he falls with them.
Which
is better, that you fall with him unto whom you turn yourself, or that thou
stand
with Him with whom you turn yourself? Our joy, our peace, our rest, the end
of
all troubles, is none but God: blessed are "they that turn their hearts
unto Him."
8.
"Nevertheless, His salvation is nigh them that fear Him" (ver. 9).
There were
some
even then who feared Him in the Jewish people. Everywhere throughout the
earth
idols were worshipped: devils were feared, not God: in that nation God was
feared.
But why was He feared? In the Old Testament He was feared, lest He
should
give them up to captivity, lest He should take away their land from them,
lest
He should destroy their vines with hail, lest He should make their wives
barren,
lest He should take away their children from them. For these carnal
promises
of God captivated their minds, which as yet were of small growth, and
for
these things God was feared: but He was near unto them who even for these
things
feared Him. The Pagan prayed for land to the devil: the Jew prayed for land
to
God: it was the same thing which they prayed for, but not the same to whom
they
prayed. The latter, though seeking what the Pagan sought, yet was
distinguished
from the Pagan; for he sought it of Him who had made all things.
And
God, who was far from the Gentiles, was near unto them: yet He had regard
even
to those who were afar off, and to those who were near, as the Apostle said:
"And
He came and preached peace to you who were afar off, and to them that
were
near." Ephesians 2:17 Whom did He mean by those near? The Jews, because
they
worshipped one God. Whom by those who were afar off? The Gentiles,
because
they had left Him by whom they were made and worshipped things which
themselves
had made. For it is not in space that any one is far from God, but in
affections.
Thou lovest God, you are near unto Him. Thou hatest God, you are far
off.
You are standing in the same place, both while you are near and far off. This
it
was,
my brethren, which the Prophet had regard to: although he saw the mercy of
God
extending over all, yet he saw something especial and peculiar shown toward
the
Jews, and he says, "Nevertheless, I will hearken what the Lord God shall
say
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Psalm
85
703
unto
me: for He shall speak peace unto His people;" and His people shall be,
not
Judća
only, but it shall be gathered together out of all nations: "For He shall
speak
peace
unto His Saints, and to those who turn their hearts unto Him," and to all
who
shall
turn their hearts unto Him from the whole world. "Nevertheless, His
salvation
shall be nigh them that fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land:" that
is,
in that land in which the Prophet was born, greater glory shall dwell, because
Christ
began to be preached from thence. Thence were the Apostles, and thither
first
they were sent; from thence were the Prophets, there first was the Temple,
there
sacrifice was made to God, there were the Patriarchs, there He Himself came
of
the seed of Abraham, there Christ was manifested, there Christ appeared; for
from
thence was the Virgin Mary who bore Christ. There He walked with His feet,
there
He worked miracles. Thirdly, He ascribed so great honour to that nation, that
when
a certain Canaanitish woman interrupted Him, praying for the healing of her
daughter,
He said unto her, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of
Israel."
Matthew 15:24 Seeing this, the Prophet says, "that glory may dwell in our
land."
9.
"Mercy and truth have met together" (ver. 10). "Truth in our
land," in a Jewish
person,
"mercy" in the land of the Gentiles. For where was truth? Where the
utterances
of God were. Where was mercy? On those who had left their God, and
turned
themselves unto devils. Did He look down also upon them? Yea, as if He
said,
Call those who are fugitives afar off, who have departed far from Me: call
them,
let them find Me who seek them, since they themselves would not seek Me.
Therefore,
"Mercy and truth have met together: righteousness and peace have
kissed
each other." Do righteousness, and you shall have peace; that
righteousness
and
peace may kiss each other. For if thou love not righteousness, you shall not
have
peace; for those two, righteousness and peace, love one another, and kiss one
another:
that he who has done righteousness may find peace kissing righteousness.
They
two are friends: thou perhaps willest the one, and not the other: for there is
no
one who wills not peace: but all will not work righteousness. Ask all men,
Willest
thou peace? With one mouth the whole race of man answers you, I wish, I
desire,
I will, I love it. Love also righteousness: for these two, righteousness and
peace,
are friends; they kiss one another: if thou love not the friend of peace, peace
itself
will not love you, nor come unto you. For what great thing is it to desire
peace?
Every bad man longs for peace. For peace is a good thing. But do
righteousness,
for righteousness and peace kiss one another, they quarrel not
together....
10.
"Truth has sprung out of the earth, and righteousness has looked down from
heaven"
(ver. 11). "Truth has sprung out of the earth:" Christ is born of a
woman.
The
Son of God has come forth of the flesh. What is truth? The Son of God. What
is
the earth? Flesh. Ask whence Christ was born, and you see that "Truth is
sprung
out
of the earth." But the Truth which sprang out of the earth was before the
earth,
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Psalm 85
704
and
by It the heaven and the earth were made: but in order that righteousness
might
look down from heaven, that is, in order that men might be justified by
Divine
grace, Truth was born of the Virgin Mary; that He might be able to offer a
sacrifice
to justify them, the sacrifice of suffering, the sacrifice of the Cross. And
how
could He offer a sacrifice for our sins, except He died? How could He die,
except
He received from us that wherein He might die; that is, unless He received
from
us mortal flesh, Christ could not have died: because the Word of God dies
not,
Godhead dies not, the Virtue and Wisdom of God does not die. How should
He
offer a sacrifice, a healing victim, if He died not? How should He die, unless
He
clothed Himself with flesh? How should He put on flesh, except truth sprang
out
of the earth?
11.
On the same passage we may mention another meaning. "Truth is sprung out
of
the earth:" confession from man. For thou, O man, wast a sinner. O earth,
who
when
you had sinned heard the sentence, "Earth you are, and unto earth shall
you
return,"
Genesis 3:19 from you let truth spring, that righteousness may look down
from
heaven. How does truth spring from you, while you are a sinner, while you
are
unrighteous? Confess your sins, and truth shall spring out of you. For if while
you
are unrighteous, you call yourself just, how can truth spring out of you? But
if
being
unrighteous thou dost confess yourself to be so, "truth has sprung out of
the
earth."...
What "righteousness has looked down from heaven"? It is that of God,
as
though
He said: Let us spare this man, for he spares not himself: let us pardon him,
for
he himself confesses. He is changed so as to punish his sin: I too will change,
so
as to set him free.
12.
"For the Lord shall give sweetness, and our land shall give her increase"
(ver.
12)
.... He will give unto you the sweetness of working righteousness, so that
righteousness
shall begin to delight you, whom before unrighteousness delighted:
so
that thou who at first delighted in drunkenness, shall rejoice in sobriety: and
thou
who at first rejoiced in theft, so as to take from another man what you had
not,
shall seek to give to him that has not that which you have: and thou who took
delight
in robbing, shall delight now in giving: thou whom shows delighted, shall
delight
in prayer; thou who delighted in trifling and lascivious songs, shall now
delight
in singing hymns to God; in running to church, thou who at first ran to the
theatre.
Whence is that sweetness born to you, except from this, that "God gives
sweetness"?
For, behold, you see what I mean: behold, I have spoken unto you the
word
of God, I have sown seed in your devout hearts, finding your souls furrowed,
as
it were, with the plough of confession: with devout attention you have received
the
seed; think now upon the word which you have heard, like those who break up
the
clouds, lest the fowls should carry away the seed, that what is sown may be
able
to spring up there: and unless God rain upon it, what profits it that it is
sown?
This
is what is meant by "our land shall give her increase." May He with
His
visitations,
in leisure, in business, in your house, in your bed, at meal-time, in
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conversation,
in walks, visit your hearts, when we are not by. May the rain of God
come
and make to sprout what is sown there: and when we are not by, and are
resting
quietly, or otherwise employed, may God give increase to the seeds which
we
have sown, that remarking afterwards your improved characters, we too may
rejoice
for your fruit.
13.
"For righteousness shall go before him, and he shall direct his steps in
the
way"
(ver. 14): that righteousness, namely, which consists in confession of sins:
for
this is truth itself. For you ought to be righteous towards yourself, and to
punish
yourself: for this is the beginning of man's righteousness, that you should
punish
yourself, who art evil, and God should make you good. Therefore since this
is
the beginning of man's righteousness, this becomes a way for God, that God
may
come unto you: there make for Him a way, in confession of sins. Therefore
John
too, when he was baptizing in the water of repentance, and would have men
come
to him repenting of their former deeds, spoke thus: "Prepare the way of
the
Lord,
make His paths straight." You pleased yourself in your sins, O man: let
that
which
you were displease you, that you may be able to become what you were not.
Prepare
the way of the Lord: let that righteousness go before, of confession of
sins:
He will come and visit you, for now He has where to place His steps, He has
whereby
He may come to you. Before you confessed your sins, you had shut up
the
way of God: there was no way by which He might come unto you. Confess
your
past life, and you open a way; and Christ shall come unto you, and "shall
place
His steps in the way," that He may guide you with His own footsteps.
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Exposition on Psalm 86
1.
No greater gift could God have given to men than in making His Word, by
which
He created all things, their Head, and joining them to Him as His members:
that
the Son of God might become also the Son of man, one God with the Father,
one
Man with men; so that when we speak to God in prayer for mercy, we do not
separate
the Son from Him; and when the Body of the Son prays, it separates not
its
Head from itself: and it is one Saviour of His Body, our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son
of God, who both prays for us, and prays in us, and is prayed to by us. He
prays
for us, as our Priest; He prays in us, as our Head; He is prayed to by us, as
our
God. Let us therefore recognise in Him our words, and His words in us. Nor
when
anything is said of our Lord Jesus Christ, especially in prophecy, implying a
degree
of humility below the dignity of God, let us hesitate to ascribe it to Him
who
did not hesitate to join Himself unto us .... He is prayed to in the form of
God,
in
the form of a servant He prays; there the Creator, here created; assuming
unchanged
the creature, that it might be changed, and making us with Himself one
Man,
Head and Body. Therefore we pray to Him, through Him, in Him; and we
speak
with Him, and He speaks with us; we speak in Him, He speaks in us the
prayer
of this Psalm, which is entitled, "A Prayer of David." For our Lord
was,
according
to the flesh, the son of David; but according to His divine nature, the
Lord
of David, and his Maker.... Let no one then, when he hears these words, say,
Christ
speaks not; nor again say, I speak not; nay rather, if he own himself to be in
the
Body of Christ, let him say both, Christ speaks, and I speak. Be thou unwilling
to
say anything without Him, and He says nothing without you....
2.
"Bow down Thine ear, O Lord, and hear me" (ver. 1). He speaks in the
form of
a
servant: speak thou, O servant, in the form of your Lord: "Bow down Thine
ear,
O
Lord." He bows down His ear, if thou dost not lift up your neck: for unto
the
humble
He draws near: from him that is exalted He removes afar off, except
whom
He Himself has exalted from being humble. God then bows down His ear
unto
us. For He is above, we below: He in a high place, we in a lowly one, yet not
deserted.
"For while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. For scarcely for a
just
man
will one die: yet for a good man peradventure one would even dare to die:"
Romans
5:8, 7 but our Lord died for the wicked. For no merits of ours had gone
before,
for which the Son of God should die: but the more, because there were no
merits,
was His mercy great. How sure then, how firm is the promise, by which for
the
righteous He keeps His life, who for the wicked gave His own death! "For I
am
poor
and in misery." To the rich then He bows not down His ear: unto the poor
and
him that is in misery He bows down His ear, that is, unto the humble, and him
that
confesses, unto him that is in need of mercy: not unto him that is full, who
lifts
up himself and boasts, as if he wanted nothing, and says, "I thank You
that I
am
not as this Publican." For the rich Pharisee boasted of his merits: the
poor
Publican
confessed his sins. Luke 18:11-13
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3.
Yet do not take what I have said, my brethren, in such a way, as if God does
not
hear
those who have gold and silver, and a household, and farms, if they happen to
be
born to this estate, or hold such a rank in the world: only let them remember
the
Apostle's
words: "Charge those who are rich in this world, that they be not
highminded."
1 Timothy 6:17 For those that are not highminded are poor in God,
and
to the poor and needy and those in want He inclines His ear. For they know
that
their hope is not in gold and silver, nor in those things in which for a time
they
seem
to abound. It is enough that riches ruin them not; it is enough that they do
them
no harm: for good they can do them none. What certainly profits is a work of
mercy,
done by a rich or by a poor man: by a rich man, with will and deed; by a
poor
man, with will alone. When therefore he is such an one as despises in himself
everything
which is wont to swell men with pride, he is one of God's poor: He
inclines
unto him His ear, for He knows that his heart is contrite.... Was it really
for
the merit of his poverty that the poor man was carried away by Angels,
Luke
16:19-24 or was it for the sin of his riches that the rich man was sent away to
be
tormented? In that poor man is signified the honour which is paid to humility,
in
that rich man the condemnation which awaits pride. I will prove shortly that it
was
not riches but pride which was tormented in that rich man. It is certain that
the
poor
man was carried into the bosom of Abraham: of Abraham himself Scripture
says
that he had here very much gold and silver, and was rich on the earth.
Genesis
13:2 If every one that is rich is hurried away to be tormented, how could
Abraham
have gone before that poor man, so as to be ready to receive him when
carried
to his bosom? But Abraham in his riches was poor, humble, reverencing all
commands,
and obeying them. So true was it that he counted all those riches for
nothing,
that on God's command he was ready to sacrifice his son, Genesis 22:10
for
whom he was keeping his riches. Learn therefore ye to be poor and needy,
whether
you have anything in this world, or whether you have not....
4.
"Preserve Thou My Soul, for I am holy" (ver. 2). I know not whether
any one
could
say this, "I am holy," but He who was in the world without sin: He by
whom
all
sins were not committed but remitted. We own it to be His voice saying,
"Preserve
Thou My Soul, for I am holy;" of course in that form of a servant which
He
had assumed. For in that was flesh, in that, was also a Soul. For He was not,
as
some
have said, only Flesh and the Word: but Flesh and Soul also, and the Word,
and
all this, One Son of God, One Christ, One Saviour; in the form of God equal
to
the Father, in the form of a servant the Head of the Church. When therefore I
hear,
"for I am holy," I recognise His voice: yet do I exclude my own?
Surely He
speaks
inseparably from His body when He speaks thus. Shall I then dare to say,
"For
I am holy"? If holy as making holy, and as needing none to sanctify, I
should
be
proud and false: but if holy as made holy, as it is written, "Be holy, for
I am
holy,"
Leviticus 19:2 then the body of Christ may venture, and that one Man
"crying
from the end of the earth," may venture with his Head, and under his
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Head,
to say, "For I am holy." For he has received the grace of holiness,
the grace
of
Baptism, and of remission of sins. 1 Corinthians 6:11... Say unto your God, I
am
holy, for You have sanctified me: because I received, not because I had:
because
You gave, not because I deserved. For on another side you are beginning
to
do an injury to our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. For if all Christians who are
faithful
and have been baptized in Him have put Him on, as the Apostle says, "As
many
as are baptized in Christ have put on Christ:" Galatians 3:27 if they have
been
made members of His body, and say that they are not holy, they do injury to
their
Head, of whom they are members, and yet not holy. Look thou where you are
and
from your Head assume dignity. For thou were in darkness, "but now light
in
the
Lord." Ephesians 5:8 "You were sometime darkness," he says: but
did ye
remain
darkness? Was it for this the Enlightener came, that you might still remain
darkness,
or that in Him ye might become light? Therefore, every Christian by
himself,
therefore also the whole body of Christ, may say, it may cry everywhere,
while
it suffers tribulations, various temptations and offences, it may say,
"Preserve
Thou my soul, for I am holy: my God, save Your servant, that puts his
trust
in You." See thou, that holy man is not proud, since he puts his trust in
God.
5.
"Be merciful unto me, O Lord, for I have cried unto You all day"
(ver. 3). Not
"one
day:" understand "all day" to mean continually: from the time
that the body
of
Christ groans being in afflictions, until the end of the world, when
afflictions
pass
away, that man groans and calls upon God: and each one of us after his
measure
has his part in that cry in the whole body. You have cried in your days,
and
your days have passed away: another has come after you, and cried in his
days:
and thou here, he there, another elsewhere: the body of Christ cries all the
day,
its members departing and succeeding one another. One Man it is that reaches
to
the end of the world: the same members of Christ cry, and some members
already
rest in Him, some still cry, some when we shall be at rest will cry, and
after
them others will cry. It is the whole body of Christ whose voice He hears,
saying,
"Unto You have I cried all the day." Our Head on the right hand of
the
Father
intercedes for us: some members He recovers, others He scourges, others
He
cleanses, others He comforts, others He is creating, others calling, others
recalling,
others correcting, others restoring.
6.
"Make glad the soul of Your servant: for unto You, O Lord, have I lifted
up my
soul"
(ver. 4). Make it glad, for unto You have I lifted it up. For it was on earth,
and
from the earth it felt bitterness: lest it should wither away in bitterness,
lest it
should
lose all the sweetness of Your grace, I lifted it up unto You: make Thou it
glad
with Yourself. For Thou alone art gladness: the whole world is full of
bitterness.
Surely with reason He admonishes His members to lift up their hearts.
May
they hear and do it: may they lift up unto Him what on earth is ill. There the
heart
decays not, if it be lifted up to God. If you had corn in your rooms below,
you
would take it up higher, lest it should grow rotten. Wouldest thou remove your
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Psalm 86 709
corn,
and do you suffer your heart to rot on the earth? You would take your corn
up
higher: lift up your heart to heaven. And how can I, do you say? What ropes are
needed?
what machines? what ladders? Your affections are the steps: your will the
way.
By loving you mount, by neglect you descend. Standing on the earth you are
in
heaven, if you love God. For the heart is not so raised as the body is raised:
the
body
to be lifted up changes its place: the heart to be lifted up changes its will.
7.
"For Thou, Lord, art good and gracious" (ver. 5) .... Even prayers
are often
hindered
by vain thoughts, so that the heart scarcely remains fixed on God: and it
would
hold itself so as to be fixed, and somehow flees from itself, and finds no
frames
in which it can enclose itself, no bars by which it may keep in its flights
and
wandering movements, and stand still to be made glad by its God. Scarcely
does
one such prayer occur amongst many. Each one might say that this happened
to
him, but that it happened not to others, if we did not find in the holy
Scripture
David
praying in a certain place, and saying, "Since I have found my heart, O
Lord,
so that I might pray unto You." 2 Samuel 7:27 He said that he had found
his
heart,
as if it were wont to flee from him, and he to follow it like a fugitive, and
not
be able to catch it, and to cry to God, "For my heart has deserted
me."
Therefore,
my brethren, thinking over what he says here, I think I see what he
means
by "gracious." I seem to feel that for this reason he calls God
gracious,
because
He bears with those failings of ours, and yet expects prayer from us, in
order
to make us perfect: and when we have given it to Him, He receives it
gratefully,
and listens to it, and remembers not those many prayers which we pour
out
unthinkingly, and accepts the one which we can scarcely find. For what man is
there,
my brethren, who, on being addressed by his friend, when he wishes to
answer
his address, sees his friend turn away from him and speak to another, who
is
there who would bear this? Or if you appeal to a judge, and set him up to hear
you,
and all at once, while you are speaking to him, pass from him, and begin to
converse
with your friend, who would endure this? Yet God endures the hearts of
so
many persons who pray and think of different things.... What then? Must we
despair
of mankind, and say that every man is already condemned into whose
prayers
any wandering thoughts have crept and interrupted them? If we say this,
my
brethren, I know not what hope remains. Therefore because there is some hope
before
God, because His mercy is great, let us say unto Him, "For unto You, O
Lord,
have I lifted up my soul." And how have I lifted it up? As I could, as You
gave
me strength, as I could catch it when it fled away .... From infirmity I sink:
heal
Thou me, and I shall stand: strengthen Thou me, and I shall be strong. But
until
Thou do this, Thou bearest with me: "For Thou, Lord, art good and
gracious,
and
of great mercy." That is, not only "of mercy," but "of
great mercy:" for as our
iniquity
abounds, so also abounds Your mercy. "Unto all that call upon You."
What
is it then which Scripture says in many places: "They shall call, and I
will
not
hear them"? Proverbs 1:28 Yet surely You are merciful to all that call
upon
You;
but that some call, yet call not upon Him, of whom it is said, "They have
not
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called
upon God." They call, but not on God. You call upon whatever you love:
you
call upon whatever you call unto yourself, whatever you wish to come unto
you.
Therefore if you call upon God for this reason, in order that money may come
unto
you, that an inheritance may come unto you, that worldly rank may come
unto
you, you call upon those things which you desire may come unto you: but
you
make God the helper of your desires, not the listener to your needs. God is
good,
if He gives what you wish? What if you wish ill, will He not then be more
merciful
by not giving? Then, if He gives not, then is God nothing to you; and you
say,
How much I have prayed, how often I have prayed, and have not been heard!
Why,
what did you ask? Perhaps that your enemy might die. What if he at the
same
time were praying for your death? He who created you, created him also:
you
are a man, he too is a man; but God is the Judge: He hears both, and He grants
their
prayer to neither. You are sad, because you were not heard when praying
against
him; be glad, because his prayer was not heard against you. But you say, I
did
not ask for this; I asked not for the death of my enemy, but for the life of my
child;
what ill did I ask? Thou asked no ill, as you thought. What if "he was
taken
away,
lest wickedness should alter his understanding." Wisdom 4:11 But he was a
sinner,
you say, and therefore I wished him to live, that he might be corrected.
You
wished him to live, that he might become better; what if God knew, that if he
lived
he would become worse? ... If, therefore, you call on God as God, be
confident
you shall be heard: you have part in that verse: "And of great mercy unto
all
that call upon You."...
8.
Think, brethren, and reflect what good things God gives unto sinners: and learn
hence
what He keeps for His own servants. To sinners who blaspheme Him every
day
He gives the sky and the earth, He gives springs, fruits, health, children,
wealth,
abundance: all these good things none gives but God. He who gives such
things
to sinners, what do you think He keeps for His faithful ones? Is this to be
believed
of Him, that He who gives such things to the bad, keeps nothing for the
good?
Nay verily He does keep, not earth, but heaven for them. Too common a
thing
perhaps I say when I say heaven; Himself rather, who made the heaven. Fair
is
heaven, but fairer is the Maker of heaven. But I see the heavens, Him I see
not.
Because
you have eyes to see the heavens: a heart you have not yet to see the
Maker
of heaven: therefore came He from heaven to earth, to cleanse the heart,
that
He may be seen who made heaven and earth. But wait thou with full patience
for
salvation. By what treatment to cure you, He knows: by what cutting, what
burning,
He knows. You have brought sickness on yourself by sinning: He comes
not
only to nurse, but also to cut and to burn. Seest thou not how much men suffer
under
the hands of physicians, when a man promises them an uncertain hope? You
will
be cured, says the physician: you will be cured, if I cut. It is a man who
speaks,
and to a man that he speaks: neither is he sure who speaks, nor he who
hears,
for he who is speaking to the man has not made man, and knows not
perfectly
what is passing in man: yet at the words of a man who knows not what is
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passing
in man, man sooner believes, submits his limbs, suffers himself to be
bound,
often without being bound is cut or burned; and receives perhaps health for
a
few days, even when just healed not knowing when he may die: perhaps, while
being
healed, dies; perhaps cannot be healed. But to whom has God promised
anything,
and deceived him?
9.
"Fix my prayer in Your ears, O Lord" (ver. 6). Great earnestness of
him who
prays!
That is, let not my prayer go out of Thine ears, fix it then in Thine ears.
How
did he travail that he might fix his prayer in the ears of God? Let God answer
and
say to us; Wouldest thou that I fix your prayer in My ears? Fix My law in your
heart;
"and attend to the voice of my prayer."
10.
"In the day of my trouble I have cried unto You, for You have heard
me" (ver.
7).
A little before he had said, All the day have I cried, all the day have I been
troubled.
Let no Christian then say that there is any day in which he is not
troubled.
By "all the day" we have understood the whole of time. What then, is
there
trouble even when it is well with us? Even so, trouble. How is there trouble?
Because
"as long as we are in the body we are absent from the Lord."
2
Corinthians 5:6 Let what will abound here, we are not yet in that country
whither
we
are hastening to return. He to whom foreign travel is sweet, loves not his
country:
if his country is sweet, travel is bitter; if travel is bitter, all the day
there is
trouble.
When is there not trouble? When there is joy in one's country. "At Your
right
hand are delights for evermore." "You shall fill me with joy,"
he says, "with
Your
countenance: that I may see the delight of the Lord." There toil and
groaning
shall
pass away: there shall be not prayer but praise; there Alleluia, there Amen,
the
voice in concord with Angels; there vision without failing and love without
weariness.
So long therefore as we are not there, you see that we are not in that
which
is good. But do all things abound? If all things abound, see if you are
assured
that all things perish not. But I have what I had not: more money is come
to
me which I had not before. Perhaps more fear too is come, which you had not
before:
perhaps you were so much the more secure as you were the poorer. In fine,
be
it that you have wealth, that you have redundance of this world's affluence,
that
you
have assurance given you that all this shall not perish; besides this, that God
say
unto you, You shall remain for ever in these things, they shall be for ever
with
you,
but My face you shall not see. Let none ask counsel of the flesh: ask ye
counsel
of the Spirit: let your heart answer you; let hope, faith, charity, which has
begun
to be in you, answer. If then we were to receive assurance that we should
always
be in affluence of worldly goods, and if God were to say to us, My face
you
shall not see, would ye rejoice in these goods? Some one might perhaps
choose
to rejoice, and say, These things abound unto me, it is well with me, I ask
no
more. He has not yet begun to be a lover of God: he has not yet begun to sigh
like
one far from home. Far be it, far be it from us: let them retire, all those
seductions:
let them retire, those false blandishments: let them be gone, those
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words
which they say daily unto us, "Where is your God?" Let us pour out
our
soul
over us, let us confess in tears, let us groan in confession, let us sigh in
misery.
Whatever is present with us besides our God, is not sweet: we would not
have
all things that He has given, if He gives not Himself who gave all things.
11.
"Among the gods there is none like unto You, O Lord" (ver. 8). What
did he
say?
"Among the gods," etc. Let the Pagans make for themselves what gods
they
will;
let them bring workmen in silver and in gold, furbishers, sculptors; let them
make
gods. What kind of gods? Having eyes, and seeing not; and the other things
which
the Psalm mentions in what follows. But we do not worship these, he says;
we
do not worship them, these are symbols. What then do ye worship? Something
else
that is worse: for the gods of the gentiles are devils. What then? Neither, say
they,
do we worship devils. You have certainly nothing else in your temples,
nothing
else inspires your prophets than a devil. But what do ye say? We worship
Angels,
we have Angels as gods. You know not altogether what Angels are.
Angels
worship the one God, and favour not men who wish to worship Angels and
not
God. For we find Angels of high rank forbidding men to adore them, and
commanding
them to adore the true God. Revelation 19:10 But when they say
Angels,
suppose they mean men, since it is said, "I have said, You are Gods, and
all
the children of the Most Highest." Whatever man thinks to the contrary,
that
which
was made is not like Him who made it. Except God, whatever else there is
in
the universe was made by God. What a difference there is between Him who
made,
and that which was made, who can worthily imagine? Therefore this man
said,
"there is none like unto You, O Lord: there is not one that can do as you
do."
But
how much God is unlike them he said not, because it cannot be said. Let your
Charity
attend: God is ineffable: we more easily say what He is not than what He
is.
Thou thinkest of the earth; this is not God: you think of the sea; this is not
God:
of
all things which are in the earth, men and animals; this is not God: of all
things
which
are in the sea, which fly through the air; this is not God: whatever shines in
the
sky, the stars, sun and moon; this is not God: the heaven itself; this is not
God:
think
of the Angels, Virtues, Powers, Archangels, Thrones, Seats, Principalities;
this
is not God. What is He then? I could only tell you, what He is not. Askest thou
what
He is? What "the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, nor has risen up into
the
heart
of man." 1 Corinthians 2:9...
12.
"All nations that You have made shall come and worship before You, O
Lord"
(ver.
9). He has announced the Church: "All nations." If there is any
nation which
God
has not made, it will not worship Him: but there is no nation which God has
not
made; because God made Adam and Eve, the source of all nations, thence all
nations
sprang. All nations therefore has God made. When was this said? When
before
Him there worshipped none but a few holy men in one people of the
Hebrews,
then this was said: and see now what it is which was said: "All nations
that
You have made," etc. When these things were spoken, they were not seen,
and
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they
were believed: now that they are seen, why are they denied? "All nations
that
You
have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify
Your
Name."
13.
"For You are great, and doing wondrous things: Thou alone art the great
God"
(ver.
10). Let no man call himself great. Some were to be who would call
themselves
great: against these it is said, "Thou alone art the great God." For
what
great
thing is ascribed to God, when it is said that He alone is the great God? Who
knows
not that He is the great God? But because there were to be some who would
call
themselves great and make God little, against these it is said, "Thou
alone art
the
great God." For what You say is fulfilled, not what those say who call
themselves
great. What has God said by His Spirit? "All nations." What says he,
whoever
he is, who calls himself great? "Far from it: God is not worshipped in all
nations:
all nations have perished, Africa alone remains." This you say, who
callest
yourself great: another thing He says who alone is the great God. What says
He,
who alone is the great God? "All nations." I see what the only great
God has
said:
let man be silent, who is falsely great; great only in appearance, because he
disdains
to be small. Who disdains to be small? He who says this. Whoever will be
great
among you, said the Lord, shall be your servant. Matthew 20:26 If that man
had
wished to be the servant of his brethren, he would not have separated them
from
their mother: but when he wishes to be great, and wishes not to be small, as
would
be for his welfare, God, who resists the proud, and gives grace to the
humble,
James 4:6 because He alone is great, fulfills all things which He
predicted,
and contradicts those who blaspheme. For such persons blaspheme
against
Christ, who say that the Church has perished from the whole world, and is
left
only in Africa. If thou were to say to him, You will lose your villa, he would
perhaps
scarcely keep from laying his hand upon you: and yet he says, that Christ
has
lost His inheritance, redeemed by His own Blood! See now what a wrong he
does,
my brethren. The Scripture says, "In a wide nation is the king's honour;
but
in
the domination of the people is the affliction of a prince." Proverbs
14:28 This
wrong
then thou dost unto Christ, to say that His people is diminished to that small
number.
Was it for this you were born, for this you call yourself a Christian, that
you
may grudge Christ His glory, whose sign you say that you bear on your
forehead,
and hast lost out of your heart? In a wide nation is the king's honour:
acknowledge
your King: give Him glory, give Him a wide nation. What wide
nation
shall I give Him, do you say? Choose not to give Him from your own heart,
and
you will give aright. Whence am I to give? you will say. Lo, give from hence:
"All
nations that You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord."
Say
this, confess this, and you have given a wide nation: for all nations in One
are
one:
this is very oneness. For as there is a Church and Churches, and those are
Churches
which also are a Church, so that is a nation which was nations: formerly
nations,
many nations, now one nation. Why one nation? Because one faith, one
hope,
one charity, one expectation. Lastly, why not one nation, if one country?
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714
Our
country is heavenly, our country is Jerusalem: whoever is not a citizen of it,
belongs
not to that nation: but whoever is a citizen of it is in that one nation of
God.
And this nation, from the east to the west, from the north and the sea, is
extended
through the four quarters of the whole world. This God says: From the
east
and west, from the north and the sea, give glory to God. This He foretold, this
He
fulfilled, who alone is great. Let him therefore who would not be little cease
from
saying this against Him who alone is great: for there cannot be two great,
God
and Donatus.
14.
"Lead me, O Lord, in Your way, and I will walk in Your truth" (ver.
11). Your
way,
Your truth, Your life, is Christ. Therefore belongs the Body to Him, and the
Body
is of Him. I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. John 14:6 "Lead me,
O
Lord,
in Your way." In what way? "And I will walk in Your truth." It
is one thing
to
lead to the way, another to guide in the way. Behold man everywhere poor,
everywhere
in need of help. Those who are beside the way are not Christians, or
not
yet Catholics: let them be guided to the way: but when they have been brought
to
the way and made Catholics in Christ, they must be guided by Him in the way
itself,
lest they fall. Now assuredly they walk in the way. "Lead me, O Lord, in
Your
way:" surely I am now in Your way, lead me there. "And I will walk in
Your
truth:"
while You lead I shall not err: if Thou let me go, I shall err. Pray then that
He
let you not go, but lead you even to the end. How does He lead you? By always
admonishing,
always giving you His hand. And the arm of the Lord, to whom is it
revealed?
Isaiah 53:1 For in giving His Christ He gives His hand: in giving His
hand,
He gives His Christ. He leads to the way, in leading to His Christ: He leads
in
the way, by leading in His Christ, and Christ is truth. "Lead me,"
therefore, "O
Lord,
in Your way, and I will walk in Your truth:" in Him verily who said,
"I am
the
Way, and the Truth, and the Life." John 14:6 For Thou who leadest in the
way
and
the truth, whither leadest Thou, but unto life? In Him then, unto Him You
lead.
15.
"Let my heart be made glad, so that it may fear Your name." There is
then fear
in
gladness. How can there be gladness, if fear? Is not fear wont to be painful?
There
will hereafter be gladness without fear, now gladness with fear; for not yet
is
there perfect security, nor perfect gladness. If there is no gladness, we
faint: if
full
security, we rejoice wrongly. Therefore may He both sprinkle on us gladness,
and
strike fear into us, that by the sweetness of gladness He may lead us to the
abode
of security; by giving us fear, may cause us not to rejoice wrongly, and to
withdraw
from the way. Therefore says the Psalm: "Serve the Lord in fear, and
rejoice
unto Him with trembling:" so also says the Apostle Paul; "Work out
your
own
salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God that works in you."
Philippians
2:12-13 Whatever prosperity comes then, my brethren, is rather to be
feared:
those things which you think to be prosperous, are rather temptations. An
inheritance
comes, there comes wealth, there is an abundant overflow of some
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715
happiness:
these are temptations: take care that they corrupt you not. Whatever
prosperity
also there is according to Christ, and the true love of Christ: if perhaps
you
have gained your wife, who was of the party of Donatus: if your sons have
been
made believers who were Pagans: if perhaps you have gained your friend
who
wished to draw you away to the theatres, and you have drawn him to the
church:
if some hostile opponent of thine who was furiously mad against you,
laying
aside his fury, has become gentle, and owned God, and now barks at you no
more,
but cries with you against wickedness: these things are pleasant. For what
do
we rejoice for, if we do not rejoice for these things? Or what other are our
joys,
but
these? But because tribulations also abound, and temptations, and dissensions,
and
schisms, and other evils, without which this world cannot be, until iniquity
pass
away: let not that rejoicing make us secure, but let our heart be so made glad,
as
to fear the name of the Lord, lest it be made glad on one side, be stricken on
another.
Expect not security in journeying: if ever we wish for it here, it will be the
birdlime
of the body, not the safety of the man. "Let my heart be made glad, so
that
it may fear Your name."
16.
"I will confess unto You, O Lord my God, in my whole heart, and I will
glorify
Your name for ever" (ver. 12): "for great is Your mercy toward me,
and
You
have delivered my soul from the nethermost hell" (ver. 13). Do not be
angry,
brethren,
if I do not explain what I have said as though I were certain. For I am a
man,
and as much as is granted to me concerning the sacred Scriptures, so much I
venture
to speak: nothing of myself. Hades I have not yet seen, nor have you: and
there
will be perhaps another way for us, and not through Hades. These things are
uncertain.
But because Scripture, which cannot be gainsaid, says, "You have
delivered
my soul from the nether-most hell," we understand that there are as it
were
two hells, an upper one and a lower one: for how can there be a lower hell,
unless
because there is also an upper? The one would not be called lower, except
by
comparison with that upper part. It appears then, my brethren, that there is
some
heavenly abode of Angels: there is there a life of ineffable joys, there
immortality
and incorruption, there all things abiding according to the gift and
grace
of God. That part of the creation is above. If then that is above, but this
earthly
part, where is flesh and blood, where is corruptibleness, where is nativity
and
mortality, departure and succession, changeableness and inconstancy, where
are
fears, desires, horrors, uncertain joys, frail hope, perishable existence; I
suppose
that all this part cannot be compared with that heaven of which I was just
now
speaking; if then this part cannot be compared with that, the one is above, the
other
below. And whither do we go after death, unless there is a depth deeper than
this
depth in which we are in the flesh and in this mortal state? For "the body
is
dead,"
says the Apostle, "because of sin." Romans 8:10 Therefore even here
are
the
dead; that you may not wonder because it is called infernum, if it abounds with
the
dead. For he says not, the body is about to die: but, "the body is
dead." Even
now
surely our body has life: and yet compared with that body which is to be like
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716
the
bodies of Angels, the body of man is found to be dead, although still having
life.
But again, from this infernum, that is from this part of Hades, there is
another
lower,
whither the dead go: from whence God would rescue our souls, even
sending
thither His own Son. For it was on account of these two hells, my
brethren,
that the Son of God was sent, on all sides setting free. To this hell he was
sent
by being born, to that by dying. Therefore it is His voice in that Psalm, not
according
to any man's conjecture, but an Apostle explaining, when he says, "For
You
will not leave my soul in hell." Therefore it is here also either His
voice,
"You
have delivered my soul from the nethermost hell:" or our voice by the Lord
Jesus
Christ Himself: for on this account He came even unto hell, that we might
not
remain in hell.
17.
I will mention another opinion also. For perhaps even in hell itself there is
some
lower part where are thrust the ungodly who have sinned most. For whether
in
hell there were not some places where Abraham was, we cannot define
sufficiently.
For not yet had the Lord come to hell that He might rescue from
thence
the souls of all the saints who had gone before, and yet Abraham was there
in
repose. Luke 16:22 And a certain rich man when he was in torments in hell,
when
he saw Abraham, lifted up his eyes. He could not have seen him by lifting
up
his eyes, unless the one was above, the other below. And what did Abraham
answer
unto him, when he said, "send Lazarus." "My son," he said,
"remember
that
thou in your lifetime received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil
things:
but now he is at rest, but you are tormented. And besides this," he said,
"between
us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that neither can we go to you,
nor
can any one come from thence to us." Luke 16:24-26 Therefore between these
two
hells, perhaps, in one of which the souls of the just have gotten rest, in the
other
the souls of the ungodly are tormented, one waiting and praying here, placed
here
in the body of Christ, and praying in the voice of Christ, said that God had
delivered
his soul from the nethermost hell, because He delivered him from such
sins
as might have been the means of drawing him down to the torments of the
nethermost
hell.... Some one having a troublesome cause was to be sent to prison:
another
comes and defends him; what does he say when he thanks him? You have
delivered
my soul out of prison. A debtor was to be hanged up: his debt is paid; he
is
said to be delivered from being hanged up. They were not in all these evils:
but
because
they were in such due course towards them, that unless aid had been
brought,
they would have been in them, they rightly say that they are delivered
from
thence, whither they were not suffered by their deliverers to be taken.
Therefore,
brethren, whether it be this or that, consider me to be herein an inquirer
into
the word of God, not a rash assertor.
18.
"O God, the transgressors of the law have arisen up against me" (ver.
14).
Whom
calls he transgressors of the law? Not the Pagans, who have not received
the
law: for no one transgresses that which he has not received; the Apostle says
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Psalm 86
717
clearly,
"For where there is no law, there is no prevarication." Romans 4:15
Transgressors
of the law he calls "prevaricators." Whom then do we understand,
brethren?
If we take this word from our Lord Himself, the transgressors of the law
were
the Jews.... They did not keep the law, and accused Christ as if He
transgressed
the law. And we know what the Lord suffered. Do you think His
Body
suffers no such thing now? How can this be? "If they called the Master of
the
house Beelzebub, how much more those of his household? The disciple is not
above
his master, nor the servant above his lord." The body also suffers
transgressors
of the law, and they rise up against the Body of Christ. Who are the
transgressors
of the law? Do the Jews perchance dare to rise up against Christ?
No:
for it is not they that cause us much trouble. For they have not yet believed:
they
have not yet owned their salvation. Against the Body of Christ bad Christians
rise
up, from whom the Body of Christ daily suffers trouble. All schisms, all
heresies,
all within who live wickedly and engraft their own character on those
who
live well, and draw them over to their own side, and with evil
communications
corrupt good manners; these persons "transgressing the law rose
up
against Me." 1 Corinthians 15:33 Let every pious soul speak, let every
Christian
soul speak. That one which suffers not this, let it not speak. But if it is a
Christian
soul, it knows that it suffers evils: if it owns in itself its own sufferings,
let
it own herein its own voice; but if it is without suffering, let it also be
without
the
voice; but that it may not be without suffering, let it walk along the narrow
way,
Matthew 7:14 and begin to live godly in Christ: it must of necessity suffer
this
persecution. For "all," says the Apostle, "who will live godly
in Christ, suffer
persecution."
2 Timothy 3:12
"And
the synagogue of the powerful have sought after My soul." The synagogue
of
the powerful is the congregation of the proud. The synagogue of the powerful
rose
up against the Head, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ, crying and saying with one
mouth,
Crucify Him, crucify Him: John 19:6 of whom it is said, "The sons of men,
their
teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword." They did not
strike,
but cried: by crying they struck, by crying they crucified Him. The will of
those
who cried was fulfilled, when the Lord was crucified: "And they did not
place
You before their eyes." How did they not place Him before them? They did
not
know Him God. They should have spared him as Man: what they saw,
according
to this they should have walked. Suppose that He was not God, He was
man:
was He therefore to be slain? Spare Him a man, and own Him God.
19.
"And You, Lord God, art One who hast compassion and merciful,
longsuffering,
and very pitiful, and true" (ver. 15). Wherefore longsuffering and
very
pitiful, and One who hast compassion? Because hanging on the Cross He
said:
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Luke 23:34
Whom
prays
He to? for whom does He pray? Who prays? Where prays He? The Son
prays
to the Father, crucified for the ungodly, in the midst of very insults, not of
words
but of death inflicted, hanging on the Cross; as if for this He had His hands
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Psalm 86 718
stretched
out, that thus He might pray for them, that His "prayer might be directed
like
incense in the sight of the Father, and the lifting up of His hands like an
evening
sacrifice."
20.
If therefore You are "true," "Look upon me, and have mercy upon
me: give
power
unto Your servant." Because You are "true," "give power
unto Your
servant"
(ver. 16). Let the time of patience pass away, the time of judgment come.
How,
"give power"? The Father judges no man, but has committed all
judgment
unto
the Son. John 5:22 He rising again will come even to earth Himself to judge:
He
will appear terrible who appeared despicable. He will show His power, who
showed
His patience; on the Cross was patience; in the judgment will be power.
For
He will appear as Man judging, but in glory: because "as you saw Him
go,"
said
the Angels, "so He will come." Acts 1:11 His very form shall come to
judgment;
therefore the ungodly also shall see Him: for they shall not see the form
of
God. For blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8 ...
In
the
vision of the Father there is also the vision of the Son: and in the vision of
the
Son
there is also the vision of the Father. Therefore He adds a consequence, and
says:
"Do you not know that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?" John
14:10
that
is, both in Me seen the Father is seen, and in the Father seen the Son too is
seen.
The vision of the Father and the Son cannot be separated: where nature and
substance
is not separated, there vision cannot be separated. For that you may
know
that the heart ought to be made ready for that place, to see the Divinity of
the
Father and Son and Holy Spirit, in which though not seen we believe, and by
believing
cleanse the heart that there may be able to be sight: the Lord Himself
says
in another place, "He that has My commands and keeps them, he it is that
loves
Me: and he that loves Me shall be loved by My Father: and I will love him,
and
will manifest Myself unto him." John 14:21 Did they not see Him, with whom
He
was talking? They both saw Him, and did not see Him? they saw something,
they
believed something: they saw Man, they believed in God. But in the
Judgment
they shall see the same Lord Jesus Christ as Man, together with the
wicked:
after the Judgment, they shall see God, apart from the wicked.
21.
"And save the Son of Thine handmaid." The Lord is the Son of the
handmaid.
Of
what handmaid? Her who when He was announced as about to be born of her,
answered
and said, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it unto me according to
Your
word." Luke 1:38 He saved the Son of His handmaid, and His own Son: His
own
Son, in the Form of God; Philippians 1:6 the Son of His handmaid in the form
of
a servant. Of the handmaid of God, therefore, the Lord was born in the form of
a
servant; and He said, "Save the Son of Thine handmaid." And He was
saved
from
death, as you know, His flesh, which was dead, being raised again .... And
each
several Christian placed in the Body of Christ may say, "Save the Son of
Thine
handmaid." Perhaps he cannot say, "Give power unto Your
servant:"
because
it was He, the Son, who received power. Yet wherefore says He not this
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Psalm 86
719
also?
Was it not said to servants, "You shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging
the
twelve
tribes of Israel"? Matthew 19:28 and the servants say, "Do you not
know
that
we shall judge Angels?" 1 Corinthians 6:3 Each one therefore of the saints
receives
also power, and each several saint is the son of His handmaid. What if he
is
born of a pagan mother, and has become a Christian? How can the son of a
pagan
be the son of His handmaid: He is indeed the son of a pagan mother after
the
flesh, but the son of the Church after the Spirit.
22.
"Show me a sign for good" (ver. 17). What sign, but that of the
Resurrection?
The
Lord says: "This wicked and provoking generation seeks after a sign; and
there
shall no sign be given it, but the sign of the Prophet Jonah." Matthew
12:39
Therefore
in our Head a sign has been shown already for good; each one of us also
may
say, "Show me a sign for good:" because at the last trumpet, at the
coming of
the
Lord, both "the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed."
1
Corinthians 15:52 This will be a sign for good. "That they who hate me may
see
it,
and be ashamed." In the judgment they shall be ashamed unto their
destruction,
who
will not now be ashamed unto their healing. Now therefore let them be
ashamed:
let them accuse their own ways, let them keep the good way: because
none
of us lives without being ashamed, unless he first be ashamed and live anew.
Now
God grants them the approach of a healthy shame, if they despise not the
medicine
of confession: but if they will not now be ashamed, then they shall be
ashamed,
when "their iniquities shall convince them to their face." How shall
they
be
ashamed? When they shall say, "These are they whom we had sometimes in
derision,
and a parable of reproach. We fools counted their life madness: how are
they
numbered among the children of God! What has pride profited us?" Then
shall
they say this: let them say it now, and they say it to their health. For let
each
one
turn humbly to God, and now say, What has my pride profited me? and hear
from
the Apostle, "For what glory had ye in those things of which you are now
ashamed?"
Romans 6:21 You see that there is even now a wholesome shame while
there
is a place of penitence: but then one which will be late, useless,
fruitless....
23.
"For Thou, Lord, hast holpen me, and comforted me." "Hast holpen
me," in
struggle;
"and comforted me," in sorrow. For no one seeks comfort, but he who
is
in
misery. Would ye not be consoled? Say that you are happy, and you hear,
"My
people"
(now ye answer, and I hear a murmur, as of persons who remember the
Scriptures.
May God, who has written this in your hearts, confirm it in your deeds.
You
see, brethren, that those who say unto you, You are happy, seduce you), "O
My
people, they that call you happy cause you to err, and disturb the way of your
feet."
So also from the Epistle of the Apostle James: "Be afflicted, and mourn:
let
your
laughter be turned to mourning." James 4:9 You see what you have heard
read:
when would such things be said unto us in the land of security? This surely is
the
land of offences, and temptations, and of all evils, that we may groan here,
and
deserve
to rejoice there; here to be troubled, and there to be comforted, and to say,
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Psalm 86 720
"For
You have delivered my eyes from tears, my feet from falling: I will please
the
Lord in the land of the living." This is the land of the dead. The land of
the
dead
passes, the land of the living comes. In the land of the dead is labour, grief,
fear,
tribulation, temptation, groaning, sighing: here are false happy ones, true
unhappy,
because happiness is false, misery is true. But he that owns himself to be
in
true misery, will also be in true happiness: and yet now because you are
miserable,
hear the Lord saying, "Blessed are they that mourn." Matthew 5:4 O
blessed
they that mourn! Nothing is so akin to misery as mourning: nothing so
remote
and contrary to misery as blessedness: You speak of those who mourn, and
You
call them blessed! Understand, He says, what I say: I call those who mourn
blessed.
Wherefore blessed? In hope. Wherefore mourning? In act. For they mourn
in
this death, in these tribulations, in their wandering: and because they own
themselves
to be in this misery, and mourn, they are blessed. Wherefore do they
mourn?
The blessed Cyprian was put to sorrow in his passion: now he is
comforted
with his crown; now though comforted, he was sad. For our Lord Jesus
Christ
still intercedes for us: all the Martyrs who are with Him intercede for us.
Their
intercessions pass not away, except when our mourning is passed away: but
when
our mourning shall have passed away, we all with one voice, in one people,
in
one country, shall receive comfort, thousands of thousands joined with Angels
playing
upon harps, with choirs of heavenly powers living in one city. Who
mourns
there? Who there sighs? Who there toils? Who there needs? Who dies
there?
Who there shows mercy? Who breaks bread to the hungry there, where all
are
satisfied with the bread of righteousness? No one says unto you, Receive a
stranger;
there no one will be a stranger to you: all live in their own country. No
one
says unto you, Set at one your friends disputing; in everlasting peace they
enjoy
the Face of God. No one says unto you, Visit the sick; health and
immortality
abide for ever. No one says unto you, Bury the dead; all shall be in
everlasting
life. Works of mercy stop, because misery is found not. And what shall
we
do there? Shall we perhaps sleep? If now we fight against ourselves, although
we
carry about a house of sleep, this flesh of ours, and keep watch with these
lights,
and this solemn feast gives us a mind to watch; what wakefulness shall that
day
give unto us! Therefore we shall be awake, we shall not sleep. What shall we
do?
There will be no works of mercy, because there will be no misery. Perhaps
there
will be these necessary works which there are here now, of sowing,
ploughing,
cooking, grinding, weaving? None of these, for there will be no want.
Thus
there will be no works of mercy, because misery is past away: where there is
no
want nor misery, there will be neither works of necessity nor of mercy. What
will
be there? What business shall we have? What action? Will there be no action,
because
there is rest? Shall we sit there, and be torpid, and do nothing? If our love
grow
cold, our action will grow cold. How then will that love resting in the face of
God,
for whom we now long, for whom we sigh, how will it inflame us, when we
shall
have come to Him? He for whom while as yet we see Him not, we so sigh,
how
will He enlighten us, when we shall have come to Him? How will He change
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Psalm 86
721
us?
What will He make of us? What then shall we do, brethren? Let the Psalm tell
us:
"Blessed are they who dwell in Your house." Why? "They shall
praise You for
ever
and ever." This will be our employment, praise of God. Thou lovest and
praisest.
You will cease to praise, if thou cease to love. But you will not cease to
love,
because He whom you see is such an One as offends you not by any
weariness:
He both satisfies you, and satisfies you not. What I say is wonderful. If
I
say that He satisfies you, I am afraid lest as though satisfied you should wish
to
depart,
as from a dinner or from a supper. What then do I say? does He not satisfy
you?
I am afraid again, that if I say, He does not satisfy you, you should seem to
be
in want: and shouldest be as it were empty, and there should be in you some
void
which ought to be filled. What then shall I say, except what can be said, but
can
hardly be thought? He both satisfies you, and satisfies you not: for I find
both
in
Scripture. For while He said, "Blessed are the hungry, for they shall be
filled;"
Matthew
5:6 it is again said of Wisdom, "Those who eat You shall hunger again,
and
those who drink shall thirst again." Sirach 24:21 Nay, but He did not say
"again,"
but he said, "still:" for "shall thirst again" is as if
once having been filled
he
departed and digested, and returned to drink. So it is, "Those who eat You
shall
still
hunger:" thus when they eat they hunger: and those who drink You, even
thus
when
drinking, thirst. What is it, to thirst in drinking? Never to grow weary. If
then
there shall be that ineffable and eternal sweetness, what does He now seek of
us,
brethren, but faith unfeigned, firm hope, pure charity? and man may walk in
the
way which the Lord has given, may bear troubles, and receive consolations.
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722
Exposition
on Psalm 87
1.
The Psalm which has just been sung is short, if we look to the number of its
words,
but of deep interest in its thoughts.... The subject of song and praise in that
Psalm
is a city, whose citizens are we, as far as we are Christians: whence we are
absent,
as long as we are mortal: whither we are tending: through whose
approaches,
undiscoverable among the brakes and thorns that entangle them, the
Sovereign
of the city made Himself a path for us to reach it. Walking thus in
Christ,
and pilgrims till we arrive, and sighing as we long for a certain ineffable
repose
that dwells within that city, a repose of which it is promised, that "the
eye
of
man has never seen" such, "nor ear heard, nor has it entered into his
heart to
conceive;"
let us chant the song of a longing heart: for he who truly longs, thus
sings
within his soul, though his tongue be silent: he who does not, however he
may
resound in human ears, is voiceless to God. See what ardent lovers of that
city
were they by whom these words were composed, by whom they have been
handed
down to us; with how deep a feeling were they sung by those! A feeling
that
the love of that city created in them: that love the Spirit of God inspired;
"the
love
of God," he says, "shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which
is
given
unto us." Fervent with this Spirit then, let us listen to what is said of
that
city.
2.
"Her foundations are upon the holy hills" (ver. 1). The Psalm had as
yet said
nothing
of the city: it begins thus, and says, "Her foundations are upon the holy
hills."
Whose? There can be no doubt that foundations, especially among the hills,
belong
to some city. Thus filled with the Holy Spirit, and with many thoughts of
love
and longing for that city, as if after long internal meditation, that citizen
bursts
out, "Her foundations are upon the holy hills;" as if he had already
said
something
concerning it. And how could he have said nothing on a subject,
respecting
which in his heart he had never been silent? For how could "her
foundations"
have been written, of which nothing had been said before? But, as I
said,
after long and silent travailing in contemplation of that city in his mind,
crying
to God, he bursts out into the ears of men thus: "Her foundations are upon
the
holy hills." And, supposing persons who heard to enquire of what city he
spoke
he adds, "the Lord loves the gates of Sion." Behold, then, a city
whose
foundations
are upon the holy hills, a city called Sion, whose gates the Lord loves,
as
he adds, "above all the dwellings of Jacob." But what does this mean,
"her
foundations
on the holy hills"? What are the holy hills upon which this city is
built?
Another citizen tells us this more explicitly, the Apostle Paul: of this was
the
Prophet a citizen, of this the Apostle citizen: and they spoke to exhort the
other
citizens.
But how are these, I mean the Prophets and Apostles, citizens? Perhaps in
this
sense; that they are themselves the hills, upon which are the foundations of
this
city, whose gates the Lord loves. Let then another citizen state this clearly,
that
I may not seem to guess. Speaking to the Gentiles, and telling them how they
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723
were
returning, and being, as it were, framed together into the holy structure,
"built,"
he says, "upon the foundations of the Apostles and Prophets:" and
because
neither
the Apostles nor Prophets, upon whom the foundations of that city rest,
could
stand by their own power, he adds, "Jesus Christ Himself being the head
comer
stone." Ephesians 2:20 That the Gentiles, therefore, might not think they
had
no relation to Sion: for Sion was a certain city of this world, which bore a
typical
resemblance as a shadow to that Sion of which he presently speaks, that
Heavenly
Jerusalem, of which the Apostle says, "which is the mother of us
all;"
Galatians
4:26 they might not be said to bear no relation to Sion, on the ground
that
they did not belong to the Jewish people, he addresses them thus: "Now
therefore
you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints,
and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the
Apostles
and Prophets." Ephesians 2:19-20 You see the structure of so great a city:
yet
whereon does all that edifice repose, where does it rest, that it may never
fall?
"Jesus
Christ Himself," he says, "being the head corner stone."
3.
...But that you may know that Christ is at once the earliest and the highest
foundation,
the Apostle says, "Other foundation can no man lay than is laid, which
is
Christ Jesus." 1 Corinthians 3:11 How, then, are the Prophets and Apostles
foundations,
and yet Christ so, than whom nothing can be higher? How, think you,
save
that as He is openly styled, Saint of saints, so figuratively Foundation of
foundations?
Thus if you are thinking of mysteries, Christ is the Saint of saints: if
of
a subject flock, the Shepherd of shepherds: if of a structure, the Pillar of
pillars.
In
material edifices, the same stone cannot be above and below: if at the bottom,
it
cannot
be at the top: and vice versa: for almost all bodies are liable to limitations
in
space: nor can they be everywhere or for ever; but as the Godhead is in every
place,
from every place symbols may be taken for It; and not being any of these
things
in external properties, It can be everything in figure. Is Christ a door, in
the
same
sense as the doors we see made by carpenters? Surely not; and yet He said,
"I
am the door." Or a shepherd, in the same capacity as those who guard
sheep?
though
He said, "I am the Shepherd." Both these names occur in the same
passage:
in
the Gospel, He said, that the shepherd enters by the door: the words are, "I
am
the
good Shepherd;" and in the same passage, "I am the door:" and
who is the
shepherd
who enters by the door? "I am the good Shepherd:" and what is the
door
by
which Thou, Good Shepherd, enterest? How then are You all things? In the
sense
in which everything is through Me. To explain: when Paul enters by the
door,
does not Christ? Wherefore? Not because Paul is Christ: but since Christ is
in
Paul: and Paul acts through Christ. The Apostle says, "Do ye seek a proof
of
Christ
speaking in me?" 2 Corinthians 13:3 When His saints and faithful disciples
enter
by the door, does not Christ enter by the door? How are we to prove this?
Since
Saul, not yet called Paul, was persecuting those very saints, when He called
to
him from Heaven, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?" Acts 9:4
Himself
then
is the foundation, and corner stone: rising from the bottom: if indeed from the
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724
bottom:
for the base of this foundation is the highest exaltation of the building: and
as
the support of bodily fabrics rests upon the ground, that of spiritual
structures
reposes
on high. Were we building up ourselves upon the earth, we should lay our
foundation
on the lowest level: but since our edifice is a heavenly one, to Heaven
our
Foundation has gone before us: so that our Saviour, the corner stone, the
Apostles,
and mighty Prophets, the hills that bear the fabric of the city, constitute a
sort
of living structure. This building now cries from your hearts; that you may be
built
up into its fabric, the hand of God, as of an artificer, works even through my
tongue.
Nor was it without a meaning that Noah's ark was made of "square
beams,"
which were typical of the form of the Church. For what is it to be made
square?
Listen to the resemblance of the squared stone: like qualities should the
Christian
have: for in all his trials he never falls: though pushed, and, as it were,
turned
over, he falls not: and thus too, whichever way a square stone is turned, it
stands
erect .... In earthly cities, one thing is the structure of buildings: another
thing
are the citizens that dwell therein: that city is built of its own inmates, who
are
themselves the blocks that form the city, for the very stones are living:
"You
also,"
says the Apostle, "as living stones, are built up a spiritual house,"
1
Peter 2:5 words that are addressed to ourselves. Let us then pursue the
contemplation
of that city.
4.
"The Lord loves the gates of Sion more than all the dwellings of
Jacob" (ver. 2).
I
have made the foregoing remarks, that you may not imagine the gates are one
thing,
the foundations another. Why are the Apostles and Prophets foundations?
Because
their authority is the support of our weakness. Why are they gates?
because
through them we enter the kingdom of God: for they proclaim it to us: and
while
we enter by their means, we enter also through Christ, Himself being the
Gate.
And twelve gates of Jerusalem are spoken of, Revelation 21:12 and the one
gate
is Christ, and the twelve gates are Christ for Christ dwells in the twelve
gates,
hence
was twelve the number of the Apostles. There is a deep mystery in this
number
of twelve: "You shall sit," says our Saviour, "on twelve
thrones, judging
the
twelve tribes of Israel." Matthew 19:28 If there are twelve thrones there,
there
will
be no room for the judgment-seat of Paul, the thirteenth Apostle, though he
says
that he shall judge not men only, but even Angels; which, but the fallen
Angels?
"Do you not know, that we shall judge Angels," 1 Corinthians 6:3 he
writes.
The world would answer, Why do you boast that you shall be a judge?
Where
will be your throne? Our Lord spoke of twelve thrones for the twelve
Apostles:
one, Judas, fell, and his place being supplied by Matthias, the number of
twelve
thrones was made up: Acts 1:15-26 first, then, discover room for your
judgment-seat;
then threaten that you will judge. Let us, therefore, reflect upon the
meaning
of the twelve thrones. The expression is typical of a sort of universality,
as
the Church was destined to prevail throughout the whole world: whence this
edifice
is styled a building together into Christ: and because judges come from all
quarters,
the twelve thrones are spoken of, just as the twelve gates, from the
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725
entering
in from all sides into that city. Not only therefore have those twelve, and
the
Apostle Paul, a claim to the twelve thrones, but, from the universal
signification,
all who are to sit in judgment: in the same manner as all who enter
the
city, enter by one or the other of the twelve gates. There are four quarters of
the
globe: East, West, North, and South: and they are constantly alluded to in the
Scriptures.
From all those four winds; our Lord declares in the Gospel that He will
call
his sheep "from the four winds;" Mark 13:27 therefore from all those
four
winds
is the Church called. And how called? On every side it is called in the
Trinity:
no otherwise is it called than by Baptism in the name of the Father, the
Son,
and the Holy Ghost: four then being thrice taken, twelve are found. Knock,
therefore,
with all your hearts at these gates: and let Christ cry within you: "Open
me
the gates of righteousness." For He went before us the Head: He follows
Himself
in His Body....
5.
"Very excellent things are said of you, thou city of God" (ver. 3).
He was, as it
were,
contemplating that city of Jerusalem on earth: for consider what city he
alludes
to, of which certain very excellent things are spoken. Now the earthly city
has
been destroyed: after suffering the enemy's rage, it fell to the earth; it is
no
longer
what it was: it exhibited the emblem, and the shadow has passed away.
Whence
then are "very excellent things spoken of you, thou city of God"?
Listen
whence:
"I will think upon Rahab and Babylon, with them that know Me" (ver.
4).
In
that city, the Prophet, in the person of God, says, "I will think upon
Rahab and
Babylon."
Rahab belongs not to the Jewish people; Babylon belongs not to the
Jewish
people; as is clear from the next verse: "For the Philistines also, and
Tyre,
with
the Ethiopians, were there." Deservedly then, "very excellent things
are
spoken
of you, thou city of God:" for not only is the Jewish nation, born of the
flesh
of Abraham, included therein, but all nations also, some of which are named
that
all may be understood. "I will think," he says, "upon
Rahab:" who is that
harlot?
That harlot in Jericho, who received the spies and conducted them out of
the
city by a different road: who trusted beforehand in the promise, who feared
God,
who was told to hang out of the window a line of scarlet thread, that is, to
bear
upon her forehead the sign of the blood of Christ. She was saved there, and
thus
represented the Church of the Gentiles: whence our Lord said to the haughty
Pharisees,
"Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the
kingdom
of God before you." Matthew 21:31 They go before, because they do
violence:
they push their way by faith, and to faith a way is made, nor can any
resist,
since they who are violent take it by force. For it is written, "The
kingdom
of
Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." Matthew 11:12
Such
was
the conduct of the robber, more courageous on the cross than in the place of
ambush.
"I will think upon Rahab and Babylon." By Babylon is meant the city
of
this
world: as there is one holy city, Jerusalem; one unholy, Babylon: all the
unholy
belong to Babylon, even as all the holy to Jerusalem. But he slides from
Babylon
to Jerusalem. How, but by Him who justifies the ungodly: Jerusalem is
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726
the
city of the saints; Babylon of the wicked: but He comes who justifies the
ungodly:
since it is said, "I will think" not only "upon Rahab," but
"upon
Babylon,"
but with whom? "with them that know Me."...
6.
Listen now to a deep mystery. Rahab is there through Him, through whom also
is
Babylon, now no longer Babylon, but beginning to be Jerusalem. The daughter
is
divided against her mother, and will be among the members of that queen to
whom
is said, "Forget your own people, and your father's house, so shall the
king
have
pleasure in your beauty." For how could Babylon aspire to Jerusalem? How
could
Rahab reach those foundations? How could the Philistines, or Tyre, or the
people
of the Ethiopians? Listen to this verse, "Sion, my mother, a man shall
say."
There
is then a man who says this: through whom all those I have mentioned make
their
approach. Who is this man? It tells if we hear, if we understand. It follows,
as
if
a question had been raised, through whose aid Rahab, Babylon, the Philistines,
Tyre,
and the Morians, gained an entrance. Behold, through whom they come;
"Sion,
my mother, a man shall say; and a man was born in her, and Himself the
Most
High has founded her" (ver. 5). What, my brethren, can be clearer? Truly,
because
"very excellent things are spoken of you, thou city of God." Lo,
"Sion, O
mother,
a man shall say." What man? "He who was born in her." It is then
the man
who
was born in her, and He Himself has founded her. Yet how can He be born in
the
city which He Himself founded? It had already been founded, that therein He
might
be born. Understand it thus, if you can. "Mother Sion, he shall say;"
but it is
"a
man" that "shall say, Mother Sion; yea, a man was born in her:"
and yet "he has
founded
her" (not a man, but), "the Most High." As He created a mother
of whom
He
would be born, so He founded a city in which He would be born. What hope is
ours,
brethren! On our behalf the Most High, who founded the city, addresses that
city
as a mother: and "He was born in her, and the Most High has founded
her."
7.
As though it were said, How do ye know this? All of us have sung these Psalms:
and
Christ, Man for our sake, God before us, sings within us all. But is this much
to
say, "before us," of Him who was before heaven and earth and time? He
then,
born
for our sakes a man, in that city, also founded her when He was the Most
High.
Yet how are we assured of this? "The Lord shall rehearse it when He writes
up
the people" (ver. 6), as the following verse has it. "The Lord shall
declare,
when
He writes up the people, and their princes." What princes? "Those who
were
born
in her;" those princes who, born within her walls, became therein princes:
for
before
they could become princes in her, God chose the despised things of the
world
to confound the strong. Was the fisherman, the publican, a prince? They
were
indeed princes: but because they became such in her. Princes of what kind
were
they? Princes come from Babylon, believing monarchs of this world, came to
the
city of Rome, as to the head of Babylon: they went not to the temple of the
Emperor,
but to the tomb of the Fisherman. Whence indeed did they rank as
princes?
"God chose the weak things of the world to confound the strong, and the
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727
foolish
things He has chosen, and things which are not as though they were, that
things
which are may be brought to nought." 1 Corinthians 1:26-27 This He does
who
"from the ground raises the helpless, and from the dunghill exalts the
poor."
For
what purpose? "That He may set him with the princes, even with the princes
of
His people." This is a mighty deed, a deep source of pleasure and
exultation.
Orators
came later into that city, but they could never have done so, had not
fishermen
preceded them. These things are glorious indeed, but where could they
take
place, but in that city of God, of whom very excellent things are spoken?
8.
So thus, after drawing together and mingling every source of joyous exultation,
how
does he conclude? "The dwelling as of all that shall be made joyous is in
You"
(ver. 7). As if all made joyous, all rejoicing, shall dwell in that city. Amid
our
journeyings here we suffer bruises: our last home shall be the home of joy
alone.
Toil and groans shall perish: prayers pass away, hymns of praise succeed.
There
shall be the dwelling of the happy; no longer shall there be the groans of
those
that long, but the gladness of those who enjoy. For He will be present for
whom
we sigh: we shall be like Him, as we shall see Him as He is: 1 John 3:2
there
it will be our whole task to praise and enjoy the presence of God: and what
beyond
shall we ask for, when He alone satisfies us, by whom all things were
made?
We shall dwell and be dwelt in; and shall be subject to Him, that God may
be
all in all. 1 Corinthians 15:28 "Blessed," then, "are they that
dwell in Your
house."
How blessed? Blessed in their gold, and silver, their numerous slaves, and
multiplied
offspring? "Blessed are they that dwell in Your house: for ever and ever
they
will be praising You." Blessed in that sole labour which is rest! Let this
then
be
the one and only object of our desire, my brethren, when we shall have reached
this
pass. Let, us prepare ourselves to rejoice in God: to praise Him. The good
works
which conduct us thither, will not be needed there. I described, as far as I
could,
only yesterday, our condition there: works of charity there will be none,
where
there will be no misery: you shall not find one in want, one naked, no one
will
meet you tormented with thirst, there will be no stranger, no sick to visit, no
dead
to bury, no disputants to set at peace. What then will you find to do? Shall we
plant
new vines, plough, traffic, make voyages, to support the necessities of the
body?
Deep quiet shall be there; all toilsome work, that necessity demands, will
cease:
the necessity being dead, its works will perish too. What then will be our
state?
As far as possible, the tongue of a man thus told us. "As it were, the
dwelling
of all who shall be made perfect is in You." Why does he say, "as it
were"?
Because there shall be such joy there as we know not here. Many pleasures
do
I behold here, and many rejoice in this world, some in one thing, others in
another;
but there is nothing to compare with that delight, but it shall be "as it
were"
being made joyful. For if I say joyfulness, men at once think of such
joyfulness
as men use to have in wine, in feasting, in avarice, and in the world's
distinctions.
For men are elated by these things, and mad with a kind of joy: but
"there
is no joy, says the Lord, unto the wicked." Isaiah 48:22 There is a sort
of
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728
joyfulness
which the ear of man has not heard, nor his eye seen, nor has it entered
into
his heart to conceive. 1 Corinthians 2:9 "As it were, the dwelling of all
who
shall
be made joyful is in You." Let us prepare for other delights: for a kind
of
shadow
is what we find here, not the reality: that we may not expect to enjoy such
things
there as here we delight in: otherwise our self-denial will be avarice. Some
persons,
when invited to a rich banquet, where there are many and costly dishes
yet
to come on, abstain from breaking their fast: if you ask the reason, they tell
you
that they are fasting: which is indeed a great work, a Christian work. Yet be
not
hasty in praising them: examine their motives: it is their belly, not religion,
that
they are consulting. That their appetite may not be palled by ordinary dishes,
they
abstain till more delicate food is set before them. This fast then is for the
gullet's
sake. Fasting is undoubtedly important: it fights against the belly and the
palate;
but sometimes it fights for them. Thus, my brethren, if you imagine that we
shall
find any such pleasures in that country to which the heavenly trumpet urges
us
on, and on that account abstain from present enjoyments, that you may receive
the
like more plentifully there, you imitate those I have described, who fast only
for
greater feasting, and abstain only for greater indulgence. Do not ye like this:
prepare
yourselves for a certain ineffable delight: cleanse your hearts from all
earthly
and secular affections. We shall see something, the sight of which will
make
us blessed: and that alone will suffice for us. What then? Shall we not eat?
Yes:
we shall eat: but that shall be our food, which will ever refresh, and never
fail.
"In You is the dwelling of all who shall be, as it were, made
joyful." He has
already
told us how we shall be made joyful. "Blessed are they that dwell in your
house:
for ever and ever they will be praising You." Let us praise the Lord as
far
as
we are able, but with mingled lamentations: for while we praise we long for
Him,
and as yet have Him not. When we have, all our sorrows will be taken from
us,
and nothing will remain but praise, unmixed and everlasting. Now let us pray.
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729
Exposition
on Psalm 88
1.
The Title of this eighty-seventh Psalm contains a fresh subject for enquiry:
the
words
occurring here, "for Melech to respond," being nowhere else found. We
have
already given our opinion on the meaning of the titles Psalmus Cantici and
Canticum
Psalmi: and the words, "sons of Core," are constantly repeated, and
have
often
been explained: so also "to the end;" but what comes next in this
title is
peculiar.
For "Melech" we may translate into Latin "for the chorus,"
for chorus is
the
sense of the Hebrew word Melech .... The Passion of our Lord is here
prophesied.
Now the Apostle Peter says, "Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an
example,
that we should follow His steps;" 1 Peter 2:21 this is the meaning of
"to
respond."
The Apostle John also says, "As Christ laid down His life for us, so
ought
we also to lay down our lives for the brethren;" 1 John 3:16 this also is
to
respond.
But the choir signifies concord, which consists in charity: whoever
therefore
in imitation of our Lord's Passion gives up his body to be burnt, if he
have
not charity, does not answer in the choir, and therefore it profits him
nothing.
1
Corinthians 13:3 Further, as in Latin the terms Precentor and Succentor are
used
to
denote in music the performer who sings the first part, and him who takes it
up;
just
so in this song of the Passion, Christ going before is followed by the choir of
martyrs
unto the end of gaining crowns in Heaven. This is sung by "the sons of
Core,"
that is, the imitators of Christ's Passion: as Christ was crucified in Calvary,
which
is the interpretation of the Hebrew word Core. Matthew 27:33 This also is
"the
understanding of Ćman the Israelite:" words occurring at the end of this
title.
Ćman
is said to mean, "his brother:" for Christ deigns to make those His
brethren,
who
understand the mystery of His Cross, and not only are not ashamed of it, but
faithfully
glory in it, not praising themselves for their own merits, but grateful for
His
grace: so that it may be said to each of them, "Behold an Israelite
indeed, in
whom
there is no guile," John 1:47 just as holy Scripture says of Israel
himself,
that
he was without guile. Genesis 25:27
2.
"O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before You"
(ver. 1).
Let
us therefore now hear the voice of Christ singing before us in prophecy, to
whom
His own choir should respond either in imitation, or in thanksgiving.
"O
let my prayer enter into Your presence, incline Thine ear unto my calling"
(ver.
2).
For even our Lord prayed, not in the form of God, but in the form of a servant;
for
in this He also suffered. He prayed both in prosperous times, that is, by
"day,"
and
in calamity, which I imagine is meant by "night." The entrance of
prayer into
God's
presence is its acceptance: the inclination of His ear is His compassionate
listening
to it: for God has not such bodily members as we have. The passage is
however,
as usual, a repetition.
3.
"For my soul is filled with evils, and my life draws nigh unto hell"
(ver. 3). Dare
we
speak of the Soul of Christ as "filled with evils," when the passion
had strength
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730
as
far as it had any, only over the body? ... The soul therefore may feel pain
without
the body: but without the soul the body cannot. Why therefore should we
not
say that the Soul of Christ was full of the evils of humanity, though not of
human
sins? Another Prophet says of Him, that He grieved for us: Isaiah 53:4 and
the
Evangelist says, "And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee,
and
began to be sorrowful and very heavy:" and our Lord Himself says unto them
of
Himself, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." Matthew
26:37-38
The
Prophet who composed this Psalm, foreseeing that this would happen,
introduces
Him saying, "My soul is full of evils, and My life draws nigh unto
hell."
For the very same sense is here expressed in other words, as when He said,
"My
soul is sorrowful, even unto death." The words, "My soul is
sorrowful," are
like
these, "My soul is full of evils:" and what follows, "even unto
death," like,
"my
life draws nigh unto hell." These feelings of human infirmity our Lord
took
upon
Him, as He did the flesh of human infirmity, and the death of human flesh,
not
by the necessity of His condition, but by the free will of His mercy, that He
might
transfigure into Himself His own body, which is the Church (the head of
which
He deigned to be), that is, His members in His holy and faithful disciples:
that
if amid human temptations any one among them happened to be in sorrow and
pain,
he might not therefore think that he was separated from His favour: that the
body,
like the chorus following its leader, might learn from its Head, that these
sorrows
were not sin, but proofs of human weakness. We read of the Apostle Paul,
a
chief member in this body, and we hear him confessing that his soul was full of
such
evils, when he says, that he feels "great heaviness and continual sorrow
in
heart
for his brethren according to the flesh, who are Israelites." And if we
say that
our
Lord was sorrowful for them also at the approach of His Passion, in which
they
would incur the most atrocious guilt, I think we shall not speak amiss. Lastly,
the
very thing said by our Saviour on the Cross, "Father, forgive them, for
they
know
not what they do," Luke 23:34 is expressed in this Psalm below, "I am
counted
as one of them that go down into the pit" (ver. 4): by them who knew not
what
they were doing, when they imagined that He died like other men, subjected
to
necessity, and overcome by it. The word "pit" is used for the depth
of woe or of
Hell.
"I have been as a man that has no help."
4.
"Free among the dead" (ver. 5). In these words our Lord's Person is
most clearly
shown:
for who else is free among the dead but He who though in the likeness of
sinful
flesh is alone among sinners without sin? Romans 8:3 ... He therefore,
"free
among
the dead," who had it in His power to lay down His life, and again to take
it;
from whom no one could take it, but He laid it down of His own free will; who
could
revive His own flesh, as a temple destroyed by them, at His will; who, when
all
had forsaken Him on the eve of His Passion, remained not alone, because, as
He
testifies, His Father forsook Him not; John 8:29 was nevertheless by His
enemies,
for whom He prayed, who knew not what they did, ...counted "as one
who
has no help; like unto them that are wounded, and lie in the grave." But
he
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Psalm 88
731
adds,
"Whom thou dost not yet remember:" and in these words there is to be
remarked
a distinction between Christ and the rest of the dead. For though He was
wounded,
and when dead laid in the tomb, Matthew 27:50, 60 yet they who knew
not
what they were doing, or who He was, regarded Him as like others who had
perished
from their wounds, and who slept in the tomb, who are as yet out of
remembrance
of God, that is, whose hour of resurrection has not yet arrived. For
thus
the Scripture speaks of the dead as sleeping, because it wishes them to be
regarded
as destined to awake, that is, to rise again. But He, wounded and asleep
in
the tomb, awoke on the third day, and became "like a sparrow that sits
alone on
the
housetop," that is, on the right hand of His Father in Heaven: and now
"dies no
more,
death shall no more have dominion over Him." Romans 6:9 Hence He
differs
widely from those whom God has not yet remembered to cause their
resurrection
after this manner: for what was to go before in the Head, was kept for
the
Body in the end. God is then said to remember, when He does an act: then to
forget,
when He does it not: for neither can God forget, as He never changes, nor
remember,
as He can never forget. "I am counted" then, by those who know not
what
they do, "as a man that has no help:" while I am "free among the
dead," I am
held
by these men "like unto them that are wounded, and lie in the grave."
Yet
those
very men, who account thus of Me, are further said to be "cut away from
Your
hand," that is, when I was made so by them, "they were cut away from
Your
hand;"
they who believed Me destitute of help, are deprived of the help of Your
hand:
for they, as he says in another Psalm, have dug a pit before me, and are
fallen
into the midst of it themselves. I prefer this interpretation to that which
refers
the words, "they are cut away from Your hand," to those who sleep in
the
tomb,
whom God has not yet remembered: since the righteous are among the
latter,
of whom, even though God has not yet called them to the resurrection, it is
said,
that their "souls are in the hands of God," Wisdom 3:1 that is, that
"they
dwell
under the defence of the Most High; and shall abide under the shadow of the
God
of Heaven." But it is those who are cut away from the hand of God, who
believed
that Christ was cut off from His hand, and thus accounting Him among
the
wicked, dared to slay Him.
5.
"They laid Me in the lowest pit" (ver. 6), that is, the deepest pit.
For so it is in
the
Greek. But what is the lowest pit, but the deepest woe, than which there is
none
more deep? Whence in another Psalm it is said, "You brought me out also of
the
pit of misery." "In a place of darkness, and in the shadow of
death," whiles
they
knew not what they did, they laid Him there, thus deeming of Him; they
knew
not Him "whom none of the princes of this world knew." 1 Corinthians
2:8
By
the "shadow of death," I know not whether the death of the body is to
be
understood,
or that of which it is written, "That they walked in darkness and in the
land
of the shadow of death, a light is risen on them," Isaiah 9:2 because by
belief
they
were brought from out of the darkness and death of sin into light and life.
Such
an one those who knew not what they did thought our Lord, and in their
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732
ignorance
accounted Him among those whom He came to help, that they might not
be
such themselves.
6.
"Your indignation lies hard upon Me" (ver. 7), or, as other copies
have it, "Your
anger;"
or, as others, "Your fury:" the Greek word qumoj having undergone
different
interpretations. For where the Greek copies have orgh, no translator
hesitated
to express it by the Latin ira; but where the word is qumoj, most object
to
rendering it by ira, although many of the authors of the best Latin style, in
their
translations
from Greek philosophy, have thus rendered the word in Latin. But I
shall
not discuss this matter further: only if I also were to suggest another term, I
should
think "indignation" more tolerable than "fury," this word
in Latin not being
applied
to persons in their senses. What then does this mean, "Your indignation
lies
hard upon Me," except the belief of those, who knew not the Lord of Glory?
1
Corinthians 2:8 who imagined that the anger of God was not merely roused, but
lay
hard upon Him, whom they dared to bring to death, and not only death, but
that
kind, which they regarded as the most execrable of all, namely, the death of
the
Cross: whence says the Apostle, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of
the
Law,
being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs
upon
a tree." Galatians 3:13 On this account, wishing to praise His obedience
which
He carried to the extreme of humility, he says, "He humbled Himself, and
became
obedient unto death;" and as this seemed little, he added, "even the
death
of
the Cross;" Philippians 2:8 and with the same view as far as I can see, he
says in
this
Psalm, "And all your suspensions," or, as some translate "waves,"
others
"tossings,"
"You have brought over Me." We also find in another Psalm, "All
your
suspensions
and waves are come in upon Me," or, as some have translated better,
"have
passed over Me:" for it is dihlqon in Greek, not eishlqon: and where
both
expressions are employed, "waves" and "suspensions," one
cannot be used as
equivalent
to the other. In that passage we explained "suspensions" as
threatenings,
"waves" as the actual sufferings: both inflicted by God's judgment:
but
in that place it is said, "All have passed over Me," here, "You
have brought all
upon
Me." In the other case, that is, although some evils took place, yet, he
said,
all
those which are here mentioned passed over; but in this case, "You have
brought
them upon Me." Evils pass over when they do not touch a man, as things
which
hang over him, or when they do touch him, as waves. But when he uses the
word
"suspensions," he does not say they passed over, but, "You have
brought
them
upon Me," meaning that all which impended had come to pass. All things
which
were predicted of His Passion impended, as long as they remained in the
prophecies
for future fulfilment.
7.
"You have put Mine acquaintance far from Me" (ver. 8). If we
understand by
acquaintance
those whom He knew, it will be all men; for whom knew He not?
But
He calls those acquaintance, to whom He was Himself known, as far as they
could
know Him at that season: at least so far forth as they knew Him to be
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 88
733
innocent,
although they considered Him only as a man, not as likewise God.
Although
He might call the righteous whom He approved, acquaintance, as He
calls
the wicked unknown, to whom He was to say at the end, "I know you
not."
Matthew
7:23 In what follows, "and they have set Me for an abhorrence to
themselves;"
those whom He called before "acquaintance," may be meant, as even
they
felt horror at the mode of that death: but it is better referred to those of
whom
He
was speaking above as His persecutors. "I was delivered up, and did not
get
forth."
Is this because His disciples were without, while He was being tried
within?
Matthew 26:56 Or are we to give a deeper meaning to the words, "I cannot
get
forth" as signifying, "I remained hidden in My secret counsels, I
showed not
who
I was, I did not reveal Myself, was not made manifest"? And so it
follows,—
"My
eyes became weak from want" (ver. 9). For what eyes are we to understand?
If
the eyes of the flesh in which He suffered, we do not read that His eyes became
weak
from want, that is, from hunger, in His Passion, as is often the case; as He
was
betrayed after His Supper, and crucified on the same day: if the inner eyes,
how
were they weakened from want, in which there was a light that could never
fail?
But He meant by His eyes those members in the body, of which He was
Himself
the head, which, as brighter and more eminent and chief above the rest,
He
loved. It was of this body that the Apostle was speaking, when he wrote, taking
his
metaphor from our own body, "If the whole body were an eye, where were the
hearing?"
etc. 1 Corinthians 12:17-21 What he wished understood by these words,
he
has expressed more clearly, by adding, "Now you are the body of Christ,
and
members
in particular." 1 Corinthians 12:27 Wherefore as those eyes, that is, the
holy
Apostles, to whom not flesh and blood, but the Father which is in Heaven had
revealed
Him, so that Peter said, "You are Christ, the Son of the Living God,"
Matthew
16:16 when they saw Him betrayed, and suffering such evils, saw Him
not
such as they wished, as He did not come forth, did not manifest Himself in His
virtue
and power, but still hidden in His secrecy, endured everything as a man
overcome
and enfeebled, they became weak for want, as if their food, their Light,
had
been withdrawn from them.
8.
He continues, "And I have called upon You." This indeed He did most
clearly,
when
upon the Cross. But what follows? "All the day I have stretched forth My
hands
unto You," must be examined how it must be taken. For if in this
expression
we
understand the tree of the Cross, how can we reconcile it with the "whole
day"?
Can He be said to have hung upon the Cross during the whole day, as the
night
is considered a part of the day? But if day, as opposed to night, was meant
by
this expression, even of this day, the first and no small portion had passed by
at
the
time of His crucifixion. But if we take "day" in the same sense of
time
(especially
as the word is used in the feminine, a gender which is restricted to that
sense
in Latin, although not so in Greek, as it is always used in the feminine,
which
I suppose to be the reason for its translation in the same gender in our own
version),
the knot of the question will be drawn tighter: for how can it mean for
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Psalm 88
734
the
whole space of time, if He did not even for one day stretch forth His hands on
the
Cross? Further, should we take the whole for a part, as Scripture sometimes
uses
this expression, I do not remember an instance in which the whole is taken for
a
part, when the word "whole" is expressly added. For in the passage of
the Gospel
where
the Lord says, "The Son of Man shall be three days and three nights in the
heart
of the earth," Matthew 12:40 it is no extraordinary licence to take the
whole
for
the part, the expression not being for three "whole" days and three
whole
nights:
since the one intermediate day was a whole one, the other two were parts,
the
last being part of the first day, the first part of the last. But if the Cross
is not
meant
here, but the prayer, which we find in the Gospel that He poured forth in the
form
of a servant to God the Father, where He is said to have prayed long before
His
Passion, and on the eve of His Passion, and also when on the Cross, we do not
read
anywhere that He did so throughout the whole day. Therefore by the
stretched-out
hands throughout the whole day, we may understand the
continuation
of good works in which He never ceased from exertion.
9.
But as His good works profited only the predestined to eternal salvation, and
not
all
men, nor even all those among whom they were done, he adds, "Do you show
wonders
among the dead?" (ver. 10). If we suppose this relates to those whose
flesh
life has left, great wonders have been wrought among the dead, inasmuch as
some
of them have revived: Matthew 27:52 and in our Lord's descent into Hell,
and
His ascent as the conqueror of death, a great wonder was wrought among the
dead.
He refers then in these words, "Dost Thou show wonders among the
dead?"
to
men so dead in heart, that such great works of Christ could not rouse them to
the
life of faith: for he does not say that wonders are not shown to them because
they
see them not, but because they do not profit them. For, as he says in this
passage,
"the whole day have I stretched forth My hands to You:" because He
ever
refers
all His works to the will of His Father, constantly declaring that He came to
fulfil
His Father's will: John 6:3 8 so also, as an unbelieving people saw the same
works,
another Prophet says, "I have spread out my hands all day unto a
rebellious
people,
that believes not, but contradicts." Isaiah 65:2 Those then are dead, to
whom
wonders have not been shown, not because they saw them not, but since
they
lived not again through them. The following verse, "Shall physicians
revive
them,
and shall they praise You?" means, that the dead shall not be revived by
such
means, that they may praise You. In the Hebrew there is said to be a different
expression:
giants being used where physicians are here: but the Septuagint
translators,
whose authority is such that they may deservedly be said to have
interpreted
by the inspiration of the Spirit of God owing to their wonderful
agreement,
conclude, not by mistake, but taking occasion from the resemblance in
sound
between the Hebrew words expressing these two senses, that the use of the
word
is an indication of the sense in which the word giants is meant to be taken.
For
if you suppose the proud meant by giants, of whom the Apostle says, "Where
is
the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world?"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 88
735
1
Corinthians 1:20 there is no incongruity in calling them physicians, as if by
their
own
unaided skill they promised the salvation of souls: against whom it is said,
"Of
the Lord is safety." But if we take the word giant in a good sense, as it
is said
of
our Lord, "He rejoices as a giant to run his course;" that is Giant
of giants, chief
among
the greatest and strongest, who in His Church excel in spiritual strength.
Just
as He is the Mountain of mountains; as it is written, "And it shall come
to
pass
in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be manifested in
the
top of the mountains:" Isaiah 2:2 and the Saint of saints: there is no
absurdity
in
styling these same great and mighty men physicians. Whence says the Apostle,
"if
by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might
save
some of them." Romans 11:14 But even such physicians, even though they
cure
not by their own power (as not even of their own do those of the body), yet so
far
forth as by faithful ministry they assist towards salvation, can cure the
living,
but
not raise the dead: of whom it is said, "Dost Thou show wonders among the
dead?"
For the grace of God, by which men's minds in a certain manner are
brought
to live a fresh life, so as to be able to hear the lessons of salvation from
any
of its ministers whatever, is most hidden and mysterious. This grace is thus
spoken
of in the Gospel. "No man can come to Me, except the Father which has
sent
Me draw him;" John 6:44 ... in order to show, that the very faith by which
the
soul
believes, and springs into fresh life from the death of its former affections,
is
given
us by God. Whatever exertions, then, the best preachers of the word, and
persuaders
of the truth through miracles, may make with men, just like great
physicians:
yet if they are dead, and through Your grace have not a second life,
"Dost
Thou show wonders among the dead, or shall physicians raise them? and
shall
they" whom they raise "praise You"? For this confession declares
that they
live:
not, as it is written elsewhere, "Thanksgiving perishes from the dead, as
from
one
that is not." Sirach 17:26
10.
"Shall one show Your loving-kindness in the grave, or Your faithfulness in
destruction?"
(ver. 11). The word "show" is of course understood as if repeated,
Shall
any show Your faithfulness in destruction? Scripture loves to connect
loving-kindness
and faithfulness, especially in the Psalms. "Destruction" also is a
repetition
of "the grave," and signifies them who are in the grave, styled above
"the
dead," in the verse, "Do you show wonders among the dead?" for
the body is
the
grave of the dead soul; whence our Lord's words in the Gospel, "You are
like
unto
whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but within are full
of
dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye outwardly appear
righteous
unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."
Matthew
23:27-28
11.
"Shall your wondrous works be known in the dark, and your righteousness in
the
land where all things are forgotten?" (ver. 12), the dark answers to the
land of
forgetfulness:
for the unbelieving are meant by the dark, as the Apostle says, "For
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Psalm 88 736
you
were sometimes darkness;" Ephesians 5:8 and the land where all things are
forgotten,
is the man who has forgotten God; for the unbelieving soul can arrive at
darkness
so intense, "that the fool says in his heart, There is no God." Thus
the
meaning
of the whole passage may thus be drawn out in its connection: "Lord, I
have
called upon You," amid My sufferings; "all day I have stretched forth
my
hands
unto You" (ver. 13). I have never ceased to stretch forth My works to
glorify
You. Why then do the wicked rage against Me, unless because "Thou
showest
not wonders among the dead"? because those wonders move them not to
faith,
nor can physicians restore them to life that they may praise You, because
Your
hidden grace works not in them to draw them unto believing: because no
man
comes unto Me, but whom You have drawn. Shall then "Your loving-
kindness
be showed in the grave"? that is, the grave of the dead soul, which lies
dead
beneath the body's weight: "or Your faithfulness in destruction"?
that is, in
such
a death as cannot believe or feel any of these things. "For how then in
the
darkness"
of this death, that is, in the man who in forgetting You has lost the light
of
his life, "shall Your wondrous works and Your righteousness be known."...
12.
But that those prayers, the blessings of which surpass all words, may be more
fervent
and more constant, the gift that shall last unto eternity is deferred, while
transitory
evils are allowed to thicken. And so it follows: "Lord, why have You
cast
off my prayer?" (ver. 14), which may be compared with another Psalm:
"My
God,
My God, look upon me; why have You forsaken me?" The reason is made
matter
of question, not as if the wisdom of God were blamed as doing so without a
cause;
and so here. "Lord, why have You cast off my prayer?" But if this
cause be
attended
to carefully, it will be found indicated above; for it is with the view that
the
prayers of the Saints are, as it were, repelled by the delay of so great a
blessing,
and by the adversity they encounter in the troubles of life, that the flame,
thus
fanned, may burst into a brighter blaze.
13.
For this purpose he briefly sketches in what follows the troubles of Christ's
body.
For it is not in the Head alone that they took place, since it is said to Saul
too,
"Why do you persecute Me?" Acts 9:4 and Paul himself, as if placed as
an
elect
member in the same body, says, "That I may fill up that which is behind of
the
afflictions of Christ in my flesh." Colossians 1:24 "Why then, Lord, have
You
cast
off my soul? why hidest Thou Your face from me?"
"I
am poor, and in toils from my youth up: and when lifted up, I was thrown down,
and
troubled" (ver. 15).
"Your
wraths went over me: Your terrors disturbed me" (ver. 16).
"They
came round about me all day like water: they compassed me about
together"
(ver. 17).
"A
friend You have put far from me: and mine acquaintance from my misery"
(ver.
18). All these evils have taken place, and are happening in the limbs of
Christ's
body, and God turns away His face from their prayers, by not hearing as to
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Psalm 88 737
what
they wish for, since they know not that the fulfilment of their wishes would
not
be good for them. The Church is "poor," as she hungers and thirsts in
her
wanderings
for that food with which she shall be filled in her own country: she is
"in
toils from her youth up," as the very Body of Christ says in another
Psalm,
"Many
a time have they overcome me from my youth." And for this reason some
of
her members are lifted up even in this world, that in them may be the greater
lowliness.
Over that Body, which constitutes the unity of the Saints and the
faithful,
whose Head is Christ, go the wraths of God: yet abide not: since it is of
the
unbelieving only that it is written, that "the wrath of God abides upon
him."
John
3:36 The terrors of God disturb the weakness of the faithful, because all that
can
happen, even though it actually happen not, it is prudent to fear; and
sometimes
these terrors so agitate the reflecting soul with the evils impending
around,
that they seem to flow around us on every side like water, and to encircle
us
in our fears. And as the Church while on pilgrimage is never free from these
evils,
happening as they do at one moment in one of her limbs, at another in
another,
he adds, "all day," signifying the continuation in time, to the end
of this
world.
Often too, friends and acquaintances, their worldly interests at stake, in
their
terror forsake the Saints; of which says the Apostle, "all men forsook me:
may
it not be laid to their charge." 2 Timothy 4:16 But to what purpose is all
this,
but
that early in the morning, that is, after the night of unbelief, the prayers of
this
holy
Body may in the light of faith prevent God, until the coming of that salvation,
which
we are at present saved by hoping for, not by having, while we await it with
patience
and faithfulness. Then the Lord will not repel our prayers, as there will no
longer
be anything to be sought for, but everything that has been rightly asked,
will
be obtained: nor will He turn His face away from us, since we shall see Him
as
He is: 1 John 3:2 nor shall we be poor, because God will be our abundance, all
in
all: 1 Corinthians 15:28 nor shall we suffer, as there will be no more
weakness:
nor
after exaltation shall we meet with humiliation and confusion, as there will be
no
adversity there: nor bear even the transient wrath of God, as we shall abide in
His
abiding love: nor will His terrors agitate us, because His promises realized
will
bless
us: nor will our friend and acquaintance, being terrified, be far from us,
where
there will be no foe to dread.
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Psalm 89 738
Exposition
on Psalm 89
1.
Understand, beloved, this Psalm, which I am about to explain, by the grace of
God,
of our hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, and be of good cheer, because He who
promised,
will fulfil all, as He has fulfilled much: for it is not our own merit, but
His
mercy, that gives us confidence in Him. He Himself is meant, in my belief, by
"the
understanding of Ćthan the Israelite:" which has given this Psalm its
title.
You
see then, who is meant by Ćthan: but the meaning of the word is
"strong." No
man
in this world is strong, except in the hope of God's promises: for as to our
own
deservings, we are weak, in His mercy we are strong. Weak then in himself,
strong
in God's mercy, the Psalmist thus begins: "I will sing of Your mercies, O
Lord,
for ever: with my mouth will I make known Your truth unto all generations"
(ver.
1).
2.
Let my limbs, he says, serve the Lord: I speak, but it is of Thine I speak.
"With
my
mouth will I make known Your truth:" if I obey not You, I am not Your
servant:
if I speak on my own part, I am a liar. To speak then from You, and in my
own
person, are two things: one mine, one Thine: Truth Yours, language mine. Let
us
hear then what faithfulness he makes known, what mercies he sings.
3.
"For You have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever" (ver. 2). It is
this that I
sing:
this is Your truth, for the making known of which my mouth serves. In such
wise
You say, I build, as not to destroy: for some Thou destroyest and buildest
not;
and some whom Thou destroyest Thou dost rebuild. For unless there were
some
who were destroyed to be rebuilt, Jeremiah would not have written, "See, I
have
this day set you to throw down and to build." And indeed all who formerly
worshipped
images and stones could not be built up in Christ, without being
destroyed
as to their old error. While, unless some were destroyed not to be built
up,
it would not be written, "He shall destroy them, and not build them
up."... In
what
follows, he joins these two words, mercy and faithfulness; "For You have
said,
Mercy shall be built up for ever: Your truth shall be established in the
Heavens:"
in which mercy and truth are repeated, "for all the ways of the Lord are
mercy
and truth," for truth in the fulfilment of promises could not be shown,
unless
mercy in the remission of sins preceded. Next, as many things were
promised
in prophecy even to the people of Israel that came according to the flesh
from
the seed of Abraham, and that people was increased that the promises of God
might
be fulfilled in it; while yet God did not close the fountain of His goodness
even
to the Gentiles, whom He had placed under the rule of the Angels, while He
reserved
the people of Israel as His own portion: the Apostle expressly mentions
the
Lord's mercy and truth as referring to these two parties. For he calls Christ
"a
minister
of the Circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made
unto
the fathers." Romans 15:8 See how God deceived not; see how He cast not
off
His people, whom He foreknew. For while the Apostle is treating of the fall of
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Psalm 89
739
the
Jews, to prevent any from believing them so far disowned of God, that no
wheat
from that floor's fanning could reach the granary, he says, "God has not
cast
away
His people, whom He foreknew; for I also am an Israelite." Romans 11:1-2
If
all that nation are thorns, how am I who speak unto you wheat? So that the
truth
of
God was fulfilled in those Israelites who believed, and one wall from the
circumcision
is thus brought to meet the corner stone. But this stone would not
form
a corner, unless it received another wall from the Gentiles: so that the former
wall
relates in a special manner to the truth, the latter to the mercy of God.
"Now I
say,"
says the Apostle, "that Jesus Christ was a minister of the Circumcision
for
the
truth of God, to confirm the promise made unto the fathers: and that the
Gentiles
might glorify God for His mercy." Romans 15:8-9 Justly then is it added,
"Your
truth shall Thou establish in the Heavens:" for all those Israelites who
were
called
to be Apostles became as Heavens which declare the glory of God: as it is
written
by them, "The Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows
His
handywork. "...Since, although they were taken up from hence before the
Church
filled the whole world, yet as "their words reached to the ends of the
world,"
we are right in supposing this which we have just read, "Your truth shall
Thou
establish in the Heavens," fulfilled in them.
4.
"You have said, I have made a covenant with My chosen" (ver. 3). What
covenant,
but the new, by which we are renewed to a fresh inheritance, in our
longing
desire and love of which we sing a new song. "I have made a covenant
with
My chosen," says the Psalmist: "I have sworn unto David My
servant." How
confidently
does he speak, who understands, whose mouth serves truth! I speak
without
fear; since "You have said." If Thou makest me fearless, because You
have
said, how much more so dost Thou make me, when You have sworn! For the
oath
of God is the assurance of a promise. Man is justly forbidden to swear:
Matthew
5:34 lest by the habit of swearing, since a man may be deceived, he fall
into
perjury. God alone swears securely, because He alone is infallible.
5.
Let us see then what God has sworn. "I have sworn," He says, "to
David My
servant;
your seed will I establish for ever" (ver. 4). But what is the seed of
David,
but
that of Abraham. And what is the seed of Abraham? "And to your seed,"
He
says,
"which is Christ." Galatians 3:16 But perhaps that Christ, the Head
of the
Church,
the Saviour of the body, Ephesians 5:23 is the seed of Abraham, and
therefore
of David; but we are not Abraham's seed? We are assuredly; as the
Apostle
says, "And if you be Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs
according
to the promise." Galatians 3:29 In this sense, then, let us take the
words,
brethren,
"Your seed will I establish for ever," not only of that Flesh of
Christ,
born
of the Virgin Mary, but also of all of us who believe in Christ, for we are
limbs
of that Head. This body cannot be deprived of its Head: if the Head is in
glory
for ever, so are the limbs, so that Christ remains entire for ever. "Your
seed
will
I establish for ever: and set up your throne to generation and generation."
We
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Psalm 89
740
suppose
he says, "for ever," because it is "to generation and
generation:" since he
has
said above, with "my mouth will I ever be showing Your truth to generation
and
generation." What is "to generation and generation"? To every
generation: for
the
word needed not as many repetitions, as the coming and passing away of the
several
generations. The multiplication of generations is signified and set forth to
notice
by the repetition. Are possibly two generations to be understood, as you are
aware,
my beloved brethren, and as I have before explained? for there is now a
generation
of flesh and blood: there will be a future generation in the resurrection
of
the dead. Christ is proclaimed here: He will be proclaimed there: here He is
proclaimed,
that He may be believed in: there, He will be welcomed, that He may
be
seen. "I will set up Your throne from one generation to another."
Christ has
now
a throne in us, His throne is set up in us: for unless he sat enthroned within
us,
He
would not rule us: but if we were not ruled by Him, we should be thrown down
by
ourselves. He therefore sits within us, reigning over us: He sits also in
another
generation,
which will come from the resurrection of the dead. Christ will reign
for
ever over His Saints. God has promised this; He has said it: if this is not
enough,
God has sworn it. As then the promise is certain, not on account of our
deservings,
but of His pity, no one ought to be afraid in proclaiming that which he
cannot
doubt of. Let that strength then inspire our hearts, whence Ćthan received
his
name, "strong in heart:" let us preach the truth of God, the
utterance of God,
His
promises, His oath; and let us, strengthened on every side by these means,
glorify
God, and by bearing Him along with us, become Heavens.
6.
"O Lord, the very Heavens shall praise Your wondrous works" (ver. 5).
The
Heavens
will not praise their own merits, but Your wondrous works, O Lord. For
in
every act of mercy on the lost, of justification of the unrighteous, what do we
praise
but the wondrous works of God? Thou praisest Him, because the dead have
risen:
praise Him yet more, because the lost are redeemed. What grace, what
mercy
of God! You see a man yesterday a whirlpool of drunkenness, today an
ornament
of sobriety: a man yesterday the sink of luxury, today the beauty of
temperance:
yesterday a blasphemer of God, today His praiser: yesterday the slave
of
the creature, today the worshipper of the Creator. From all these desperate
states
men are thus converted: let them not look at their own merits: let them
become
Heavens, and praise the wondrous works of Him by whom they were
made
Heavens....
7.
"For who is he among the clouds, who shall be compared unto You,
Lord!" (ver.
6).
Is this to be the praise of the Heavens, is this to be their rain? What? are
the
preachers
confident, because "none among the clouds shall be compared unto the
Lord"?
Does it appear to you, brethren, a high ground of praise, that the clouds
cannot
be compared with their Creator? If it is taken in its literal, not in its
mystical
meaning, it is not so: what? are the stars that are above the clouds to be
compared
with the Lord? what? can the Sun, Moon, Angels, Heavens, be even
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm
89
741
compared
with the Lord? Why is it then that he says, as if he meant some high
praise,
"For who is he among the clouds?" etc. We understand, my brethren,
those
clouds,
as the Heavens, to be the preachers of truth; Prophets, Apostles, the
announcers
of the word of God .... If therefore the clouds are the preachers of the
truth,
let us first enquire why they are clouds. For the same men are Heavens and
clouds:
Heavens from the brightness of the truth, clouds from the hidden things of
the
flesh: for all clouds are obscure, owing to their mortality: and they come and
go.
It is on account of these very obscurities of the flesh, that is, of the clouds,
that
the
Apostle says, "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord
come,
who
will bring to light the hidden things of darkness." 1 Corinthians 4:5 You
see
at
this moment what a man is saying: but what he has in his heart, you cannot see:
what
is forced from the cloud, you see, what is kept within the cloud, you see not.
For
whose eyes pierce the cloud? The clouds therefore are the preachers of the
truth
in the flesh. The Creator of all things Himself came in the flesh .... We are
called
clouds on account of the flesh, and we are preachers of the truth on account
of
the showers of the clouds: but our flesh comes in one way, His by another. We
too
are called sons of God, but He is the Son of God in another sense. His cloud
comes
from a Virgin, He is the Son from eternity, co-eternal with the Father.
"Who
is he then among the clouds, that shall be compared unto the Lord? and
what
is he among the sons of God, that shall be like unto the Lord?" Let the
Lord
Himself
say whether He can find one like unto Himself. "Whom do men say that I
the
Son of Man am?" Because I appear, because I am seen, because I walk among
you,
and perhaps at present I am become common; say, whom do men say that I
the
Son of Man am? Surely when they see a son of man, they see a cloud; but say,
"Whom
do men say that I am?" In answer they gave Him the reports of men;
"Some
say that You are John the Baptist: some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one
of
the prophets." Many clouds and sons of God are here mentioned: for because
they
were righteous and holy, as the sons of God, Jeremias, Elias, and John are
called
also sons of God: in their character of preachers of God, they are styled
clouds.
You have said what clouds men imagine Me to be: do ye too say, "Whom
say
ye that I am?" Peter replying in behalf of all, one for those who were
one,
answered,
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God;" Matthew 16:13-16 not
like
those sons of God who are not made equal to You: You have come in the
flesh:
but not as the clouds, who are not to be compared unto You.
8.
... "God is very greatly to be feared in the counsel of the righteous, and
to be
had
in dread of all them that are round about Him" (ver. 7). God is
everywhere;
who
therefore are round about Him, who is everywhere? For if He has some round
about
Him, He is represented as finite on every side. Moreover, if it is truly said
to
God
and of God, "of His greatness there is no end;" who remain, who are
round
about
Him, except because He who is everywhere, chose to be born of the flesh on
one
spot, to dwell among one nation, in one place to be crucified, from one spot to
rise
again and ascend into Heaven. Where He did this, the Gentiles are round
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 89
742
about
Him. If He remained where He did these things, He would not be "great, and
be
had in dread of all them that are round about Him;" but since He preached
when
there
in such a manner as to send preachers of His own name through all nations
over
the whole world; by working miracles among His servants, He is become
"great,
and to be had in dread of all them that are round about Him."
9.
"O Lord God of Hosts, who is like unto You? Your truth, most mighty Lord,
is
on
every side" (ver. 8). Great is Your power: You have made Heaven and earth,
and
all things that in them are: but greater still is your loving-kindness, which
has
shown
forth Your truth to all around You. For if You had been preached only on
the
spot where You deigned to be born, to suffer, to rise again, to ascend; the
truth
of
that promise of God would have been fulfilled, to confirm the promises made
unto
the fathers: but the promise, "that the Gentiles may glorify God for His
mercy,"
Romans 15:9 would not have been fulfilled, had not that truth been
explained,
and diffused to those around You from the spot where You deigned to
appear.
On that spot You thundered out of Your own cloud: but to scatter rain
upon
the Gentiles round about, You have sent other clouds. Truly in Your power
have
You fulfilled what You have said, "Hereafter shall you see the Son of Man
sitting
on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of Heaven."
Matthew
26:64
10.
...For you have heard, like men accustomed to the watering of the clouds of
God,
"Your truth" then "is in the circuit of You." But when
without persecutions,
when
without opposition, since it is said, that "He was born for a sign which
shall
be
spoken against"? Luke 2:34 Since then that nation, where You deigned to be
born,
and to dwell, was as a land separated from the waves of the heathen, so that
it
appeared dry and ready for watering with rain, while the rest of the nations
were
as
a sea in the bitterness of their sterility; what do Your preachers who scatter
Your
truth in circuit of You, when the waves of that sea rage furiously? "Thou
rulest
the power of the sea" (ver. 9). For what was the result of the sea raging
thus,
but
the day which we are now keeping holy? It slew Martyrs, scattered seeds of
blood,
the harvest of the Church sprang up. Safely then let the clouds go forth: let
them
diffuse Your truth in circuit of You, let them not fear the savage waves.
"Thou
rulest the power of the sea." The sea swells, buffets, and roars: but
"God is
faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted beyond what you are able:"
1
Corinthians 10:13 and so, "Thou stillest the waves thereof when they
rise."
11.
Lastly, what have You done in the sea itself, to pacify its rage, and to weaken
it?
"You have humbled the proud as one that is wounded" (ver. 10). There
is a
certain
proud serpent in the sea, of which another passage of Scripture speaks, "I
will
command the serpent, and he shall bite him;" Amos 9:3 and again,
"There is
that
Leviathan, whom You have made to mock him," whose head He bruises
above
the water. "You," he says, "hast humbled the proud, as one that
is
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 89
743
wounded."
You have humbled Yourself, and the proud was humbled: for the
proud
held the proud ones through pride: but the great One is humbled, and by
believing
in Him become small. While the little one is nourished by the example
of
One who from greatness descended to humility, the devil has lost what he held:
because
the proud held only the proud. When such an example of humility was
displayed
before them, men learned to condemn their own pride, and to imitate the
humility
of God. Thus also the devil, by losing those whom he had in his power,
has
even himself been humbled; not chastened, but thrown prostrate. "You have
humbled
the proud like one that is wounded." You have been humbled, and hast
humbled
others: You have been wounded, and hast wounded others: for Your
blood,
as it was shed to blot the handwriting of sins, Colossians 2:14 could not but
wound
him. For what was the ground of his pride, except the bond which he held
against
us. This bond, this handwriting, You have blotted out with Your blood:
him
therefore have You wounded, from whom You have rescued so many victims.
You
must understand the devil wounded, not by the piercing of the flesh, which he
has
not, but by the bruising of his proud heart. "You have scattered Your
enemies
abroad
with Your mighty arm."
12.
"The heavens are yours, the earth also is Thine" (ver. 11). From You,
over
Your
earth they rain. Thine are the heavens, by whom is preached Your truth in
circuit
of You; "Yours is the earth," which has received Your truth in
circuit of
You;
and what has resulted from that rain? "You have laid the foundation of the
round
world, and all that therein is." "You have created the north and the
seas"
(ver.
12). For nothing has any power against You, against its Creator. The world
indeed
may rage through its own malice, and the perversity of its will; does it
nevertheless
pass over the bound laid down by the Creator, who made all things?
Why
then do I fear the north wind? Why do I fear the seas? In the north indeed is
the
devil, who said, "I will sit in the sides of the north; I will be like the
Most
High;"
Isaiah 14:13-14 but You have humbled, as one wounded, the proud one.
Thus
what You have done in them has more force for Your dominion, than their
own
will has for their wickedness. "You have created the north and the
seas."
13.
"Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Your name." Those mountains are
here
understood,
but they have a meaning. "Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Your
name."
Thabor, when interpreted, signifies an approaching light. But whence
comes
the light of which it is said, "You are the light of the world,"
Matthew 5:14
unless
from Him concerning whom it is written, "That was the true light, which
lights
every man coming into the world"? John 1:9 The light then which is the
light
of the world comes from that light which is not kindled from any other
source,
so that there is no fear lest it be extinguished. The light then comes from
Him,
who is that candle which is not set beneath the bushel, but on a candlestick,
Thabor
the coming light. Hermon means his curse. Justly the light comes and is
made
the curse of him. Of whom but the devil, the wounded one, the proud one?
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Psalm 89 744
Our
illumination then is given from You; that he is held accursed of us, who kept
us
in his own error and pride, is from You. "Thabor and Hermon, therefore,
shall
rejoice,"
not in their own merits, "but in Your name." For they shall say,
"Not unto
us,
Lord, not unto us, but to Your name give the praise," on account of the
raging
sea:
lest "the heathen say, Where is now their God?"
14.
"You have a mighty arm" (ver. 13). Let no man arrogate anything to himself.
"You
have a mighty arm:" by You we were created, by You we have been
defended.
"You have a mighty arm: strong be Your hand, and high be Your right
hand."
15.
"Righteousness and judgment are the preparation of Your seat" (ver.
14). Your
righteousness
and judgment will appear in the end: they are now hidden. Of Your
righteousness
it is treated in another Psalm, "on the hidden things of the Son."
There
will then be a manifestation of Your righteousness and judgment: some will
be
set on the right, others on the left hand: Matthew 25:33 and the unbelieving
will
tremble,
when they see what now they mock at, and believe not: the righteous will
rejoice,
when they shall see what they now see not, yet believe. "Righteousness
and
judgment are the preparation of Your seat:" especially in the Day of
Judgment.
What then now? "mercy and truth go before Your face." I should fear
the
preparation of Your seat, Your justice, and Your coming judgment, did not
mercy
and truth go before You: why should I at the end fear Your righteousness,
when
with Your mercy going before You Thou blottest out my sins, and by
showing
forth Your truth fulfillest Your promises? "Mercy and truth go before
Your
face." For "all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth."
16.
In all these things shall we not rejoice? or shall we contain our joy? or shall
words
suffice for our gladness? or shall the tongue be able to express our
rejoicing?
If therefore no words suffice, "Blessed is the people, O Lord, that
knows
glad shouting" (ver. 15). O blessed people! do you conceive aright, do you
understand,
glad shouting? For except thou understand glad shouting, you can not
be
blessed. What do I mean by understanding glad shouting? Whether you know
the
source of that rejoicing which is beyond words to express. For this joy is not
of
yourself,
since "he that glories, let him glory in the Lord." 1 Corinthians
1:31
Rejoice
not then in your own pride, but in God's grace. See that that grace is such,
that
the tongue fails to express its greatness, and then you understand glad
shouting
.... O Lord, "they shall walk in the light of Your countenance."
"They
shall
rejoice in Your name all the day" (ver. 16). That Thabor and Hermon shall
rejoice
in Your name: all day shall they rejoice, if they will, in Your name; but if
they
will rejoice in their own name, they shall not rejoice all day: for they shall
not
continue
in their joy, when they shall delight in themselves, and fall through pride.
That
they may rejoice all day, therefore, "they shall rejoice in Your name, and
in
Your
righteousness shall they be exalted." Not in their own, but in Thine: lest
they
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Psalm 89
745
have
a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For some are noted by the
Apostle,
that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge, "being
ignorant
of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own," and not
rejoicing
in Your light, and thus "not submitting themselves unto the righteousness
of
God." Romans 10:2-3 And why? because "they have a zeal of God, but
not
according
to knowledge." But the people who knows glad shouting (for the former
err
from want of knowledge, but blessed is the people not that knows not, but that
knows
glad shouting), whence ought it to shout, whence to rejoice, but in Your
name,
walking in the light of Your countenance? And it shall deserve to be
exalted,
but in Your righteousness: let every man take away altogether his own
righteousness,
and be trembled: the righteousness of God shall come, and he shall
be
exalted, "and in Your righteousness shall they be exalted."
17.
"For You are the glory of their strength: and in Your good pleasure You
shall
lift
up our horns" (ver. 17): because it has seemed good to You, not because we
are
worthy.
18.
"For of the Lord is our taking up" (ver. 18). For I was moved like a
heap of
sand,
that I might fall; and I should have fallen, had not the Lord taken me up.
"For
of the Lord is (our) taking up: and of the Holy One of Israel our King."
Himself
is your taking up, Himself your illumination: in His light you are safe, in
His
light you walk, in His righteousness you are exalted. He took you up, He
guards
your weakness: He gives you strength of Himself, not of yourself.
19.
"You spoke sometime in vision unto Your sons, and said" (ver. 19).
You spoke
in
your vision. You revealed this to Your Prophets. For this reason You spoke in
vision,
that is, in revelation: whence Prophets were called seers. They saw
something
within, which they were to speak without: and secretly they heard what
they
preached openly. Then " You spoke in vision unto Your sons, and said, I
have
laid
help upon One that is mighty." You understand Who is meant by mighty?
"I
have
exalted One chosen out of the people." And Who is meant by chosen? One
who,
you rejoice, is already exalted.
20.
"I have found David My servant:" that David from David's seed:
"with My
holy
oil have I anointed Him" (ver. 20): for it is said of Him, "God, even
Your
God,
has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows."
21.
"My hand shall hold Him fast, and My arm shall strengthen Him" (ver.
21):
because
there was a taking up of man; because flesh was assumed in the Virgin's
womb,
Luke 1:31 because by Him who in the form of God is coequal with the
Father,
the form of a servant was taken, and He became obedient unto death, even
the
death of the Cross. Philippians 2:6, 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 89
746
22.
"The enemy shall not be able to do him violence" (ver. 22). The enemy
rages
indeed
but he shall not be able to do Him violence: he is wont to hurt, but he shall
not
hurt. How then shall he afflict Him? he will exercise Him, but he shall not
hurt
Him.
There shall be profit in his raging; for those against whom he rages shall be
crowned
in their conquering. For how is he conquered, if he rages not against us?
or
where is God our helper, if we fight not? The enemy therefore shall do what is
in
his power; but "he shall not be able to do Him violence: the son of
wickedness
shall
not come nigh to hurt Him."
23.
"I will cut in pieces His enemies before His face" (ver. 23). They
are cut in
pieces
from their conspiracy, and in that they believe they are cut in pieces; for
they
believe by degrees; as when the calf's head was ground small, they will come
to
be the drink of God's people. For Moses ground down the calf's head, and
sprinkled
it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink it. Exodus 32:20
All
the unbelieving are ground: they believe by degrees; and they are drunk by the
people
of God, and pass into Christ's body. "I will cut in pieces His foes before
His
face: and put to flight them that hate Him."
24.
"My truth also and My mercy is with Him" (ver. 24). All the paths of
the Lord
are
mercy and truth. Remember, as much as you can, how often these two
attributes
are urged upon us, that we render them back to God. For as He showed
us
mercy that He might blot out our sins, and truth in fulfilling His promises; so
also
we, walking in His path, ought to give back to Him mercy and truth; mercy,
in
pitying the wretched; truth, in not judging unjustly. Let not truth rob you of
mercy,
nor mercy hinder truth: for if through mercy you shall have judged
contrary
to truth, or by rigorous truth shall have forgotten mercy, you will not be
walking
in the path of God, where "mercy and truth meet together." "And
in My
name
shall His horn be exalted." Why should I say more? You are Christians,
recognise
Christ.
25.
"I will set His hand also in the sea" (ver. 25): that is, He shall
rule over the
Gentiles;
"and His right hand in the floods." Rivers run into the sea:
avaricious
men
roll onwards into the bitterness of this world: yet all these kinds of men will
be
subject to Christ.
26.
"He shall call me, You are My Father, and the lifter up of My
salvation" (ver.
26).
"And
I will make Him my first-born; higher than the kings of the earth" (ver.
27).
Our
Martyrs, whose birthdays we are celebrating, shed their blood on account of
these
things, which were believed though not yet seen; how much more brave
ought
we to be, as we see what they believed? For they had not yet seen Christ
raised
on high among the kings of the earth: as yet princes were taking counsel
together
against the Lord and His Anointed: what follows in the same Psalm was
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Psalm 89
747
not
then fulfilled, "Be wise now therefore, O you kings: be learned, you that
are
judges
of the earth." Now indeed Christ has been exalted among the kings of the
earth.
27.
"My mercy will I keep for Him for ever: and my Testament faithful with
Him"
(ver.
28). On His account, the Testament is faithful: in Him the Testament is
mediated:
He is the Sealer, the Mediator of the Testament, the Surety of the
Testament,
the Witness of the Testament, the Heritage of the Testament, the
Coheir
of the Testament.
28.
"His seed will I make to endure world without end" (ver. 29). Not
only for this
world,
but unto the world without end: whither His seed, which is His heritage, the
seed
of Abraham, which is Christ, will pass. But if you are Christ's, you are also
Abraham's
seed: and if you are destined His heirs for ever, "He will establish His
seed
unto world without end: and His throne as the days of Heaven." The thrones
of
earthly kings are as the days of the earth: different are the days of Heaven
from
those
of earth. The days of Heaven are those years of which it is said, "You are
the
same,
and Your years shall not fail." The days of the earth are soon overtaken
by
their
successors: those which precede are shut out from us: nor do those which
succeed
remain: but they come that they may go, and are almost gone before they
are
come. Such are the days of earth. But the days of Heaven, which are also the
"One
day" of Heaven, and the never failing years, have neither beginning nor
end:
nor
is any day there narrowed between yesterday and tomorrow: no one there
expects
the future, nor loses the past: but the days of Heaven are always present,
where
His throne shall be for ever and ever....
29.
This is a strong pledge of the promise of God. The sons of this David are the
children
of the Bridegroom; all Christians therefore are called His sons. But it is
much
indeed that God promises, that if Christians, that is, "If his children
forsake
My
law, and walk not in My judgments" (ver. 30); "if they profane My
statutes,
and
keep not My commandments" (ver. 31); I will not spurn them, nor will I
send
them
away from Me in perdition: but what will I do? "I will visit their
offences
with
the rod, and their sin with scourges" (ver. 32). It is not the mercy of
one that
calls
them only; but also that chastises and scourges them. Let therefore your
Father's
hand be upon you, and if you are a good son, repel not chastening; for
"what
son is there, to whom his father gives not chastening?" Hebrews 12:7 Let
Him
chasten him, so long as He takes not from him His mercy: let Him beat him
when
obstinate, as long as He does not disinherit him. If you have well understood
the
promises of your Father, fear not to be scourged, but to be disinherited:
"for
whom
the Lord loves He chastens: and scourges every son whom He receives."
Hebrews
12:6 Does the sinful son spurn chastening, when he sees the only Son
without
sin scourged? "I will visit their offences with the rod." Thus too
the
Apostle
threatens: "What will you? shall I come unto you with a rod?"
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1
Corinthians 4:21 Let not pious sons say, if You are coming with a rod, come not
at
all. For it is better to be taught with the Father's rod, than to perish in the
caresses
of the robber.
30.
"Nevertheless, My mercy will I not utterly take from Him" (ver. 33).
From
whom?
From that David to whom I gave these promises, whom "I anointed with
my
holy oil of gladness above His fellows." Do you recognise Him from whom
God
will not utterly take away His mercy? That no one may anxiously say, since
He
speaks of Christ as Him from whom He will not take away His mercy, What
then
will become of the sinner? Did He say anything like this, "I will not take
My
loving-kindness
utterly from them"? "I will visit," He says, "their offences
with
the
rod, and their sin with scourges." You expected for your own security,
"I will
not
utterly take my loving-kindness from" them. And indeed this is the reading
of
some
books, but not of the most accurate: though, where they have it, it is a
reading
by no means inconsistent with the real meaning. For how can it be said
that
He will not utterly take His mercy from Christ? Has the Saviour of the body
committed
anything of sin either in Heaven or in earth, "who sits even at the right
hand
of God, who also makes intercession for us"? Romans 8:34 Yet it is from
Christ:
but from His members, His body which is the Church. For in this sense He
speaks
of it as a great thing that He will not take away His mercies from Him,
supposing
us not to recognise the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father;
John
1:18 for there the Man is not counted for His Person, but the One Person is
God
and Man. He therefore does not utterly take His mercies from Him, when He
takes
not His mercy from His body, His members, in which, even while He was
enthroned
in Heaven, He was still suffering persecutions on earth; and when He
cried
from Heaven, "Saul, Saul," not why do you persecute My servants, nor
why
do
you persecute My saints, nor My disciples, but, "why do you persecute
Me?"
Acts
9:4 As then, while no one persecuted Him when sitting in Heaven, He cried
out,
"Why do you persecute Me?" when the Head recognised its limbs, and
His
love
allowed not the Head to separate Himself from the union of the body: so,
when
He takes not away His mercies from Him, it is surely that He takes it not
from
us, who are His limbs and body. Yet ought we not on that account to sin not
without
apprehension, and perversely to assure ourselves that we shall not perish,
be
our actions what they may. For there are certain sins and certain offences, to
define
and discourse of which it is either impossible for me, or if it were possible,
it
would be too tedious for the time we have at present. For no man can say that
he
is
without sin; for if he says so, he will lie; "if we say that we have no
sin, we
deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 1 John 1:8 Each one therefore is
needfully
scourged for his own sins; but the mercy of God is not taken away from
him,
if he be a Christian. Certainly if you commit such offences as to repel the
hand
of Him who chastens, the rod of Him who scourges you, and art angry at the
correction
of God, and fliest from your Father when He chastens you, and will not
suffer
Him to be your Father, because He spares you not when thou dost sin; you
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749
have
estranged yourself from your heritage, He has not thrown you off; for if you
would
abide being scourged, you would not abide disinherited. "Nor will I do
hurt
in
My truth." For His mercy in setting free shall not be taken away, lest His
truth
in
taking vengeance do harm.
31.
"My covenant will I not profane, nor reject the thing that is gone out of
my
lips"
(ver. 34). Because his sons sin, I will not on this account be found false: I
have
promised; I will do. Suppose they choose to sin even as past hope, and so fall
into
sins as to offend their Father's countenance, and deserve to be disinherited;
is
it
not still God Himself, of whom it is said, "From these stones" He
"will raise up
sons
to Abraham"? Matthew 3:9 Therefore I tell you, brethren, many Christians
sin
venially, many are scourged and so corrected for their sin, chastened, and
cured;
many turn away altogether, striving with a stiff neck against the discipline
of
the Father, even wholly refusing God as their Father, though they have the mark
of
Christ, and so fall into such sins, that it can only be announced against them,
"that
they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
Galatians
5:21 Nevertheless, Christ shall not be destitute of an inheritance on their
account:
not for the chaff's sake shall the wheat also perish: Matthew 3:12 nor on
account
of bad fish shall nothing be cast into the vessels from that net.
Matthew
13:47 "The Lord knows them that are His." 2 Timothy 2:19 For He who
predestined
us before we were born, promised undoubtingly: "For whom He did
predestinate,
them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified:
and
whom He justified, them He also glorified." Romans 8:29-30 Let desperate
sinners
sin as far as they choose: let the members of Christ reply, "If God is
with
us,
who shall be against us?" God will not therefore do hurt in His truth, nor
will
He
"profane His Testament." His Testament remains immovable, because in
His
foreknowledge
He predestined His heirs; and "He will not reject the thing that is
gone
out of His lips."
32.
Listen for your confirmation in hope, for your security, if you know yourself
to
be
among the members of Christ. "I have sworn once by My holiness that I will
not
lie unto David" (ver. 35). Do you wait till God swear a second time? How
often
is He to swear, if in one oath He is false? One oath He made for our life,
who
sent His Only One to die for us. "I have sworn once by My holiness, that I
will
not lie unto David." "His seed shall endure for ever" (ver. 36).
His seed
endures
for ever; because the Lord knows them that are His. "And His seat is like
as
the sun before me:" "and as the moon perfect for evermore: and the
faithful
witness
in heaven" (ver. 37). They are His seat, in whom He sits and reigns. But
if
His
seat, His members also; because even our members are the seat of our head.
See
how all our other members sustain our head: but the head supports nothing
above
itself, but is itself supported by the rest of our limbs, as if the whole body
of
a
man were the seat of his head. His seat, therefore, all in whom God reigns,
"shall
be
like as the sun before Me," He says: because the righteous in the kingdom
of
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Psalm 89
750
My
Father "shall shine like the sun." Matthew 13:43 But the sun is meant
in a
spiritual,
not a bodily sense, as that which shines from Heaven, which He makes to
rise
upon the just and unjust. Matthew 5:45 Finally, that sun is not before men's
eyes
only, but even those of cattle and the smallest insects; for which of the
vilest
animals
sees not that sun? What does he say to distinguish the sun meant here?
"Like
as the sun before Me." Not before men, before the flesh, before mortal
animals,
but "before Me, and as the moon." But what moon? one "that is
perfect
for
evermore." For although that moon which we know becomes perfect, the next
day
she begins to wane, after her orb is full. "He shall be as the moon
perfect for
evermore,"
He says. His seat shall be made perfect as the moon, but that moon is
one
which will be perfect for evermore. If as the sun, why also as the moon? the
Scriptures
usually signify by the moon the mortality of this flesh, because of its
increasings
and decreasings, because of its transitory nature. The moon is also
interpreted
as Jericho: one who was descending from Jerusalem to Jericho fell
among
robbers: Luke 10:30 for he was descending from immortality to mortality.
Similar
then is the flesh to that moon, which every month suffers increase and
decrease:
but that flesh of ours will be perfect in the resurrection: "and a
faithful
witness
in heaven." Thus then, if it was our mind only that would be perfected, he
would
compare us only to the sun: if our body only, to the moon; but as God will
perfect
us in both, in respect of the mind it is said, "like as the sun before
Me,"
because
God only sees the mind: and "as the moon," so is the flesh: which
"shall
be
made perfect for evermore," in the resurrection of the dead: "and a
faithful
witness
in Heaven," because all that was asserted of the resurrection of the dead
was
true. I beseech you, hear this again more clearly, and remember it: for I know
that
some understand, while others are yet enquiring perhaps what I meant. There
is
no article of the Christian faith which has encountered such contradiction as
that
of
the resurrection of the flesh. Finally, He who was born for a sign that should
be
spoken
against, resumed His own flesh after death to meet the caviller; and He
who
could have so completely cured His wounds that their scars would have
entirely
vanished, retained those scars in His body, that He might cure the wounds
of
doubt in the heart. Indeed nothing has been attacked with the same
pertinacious,
contentious
contradiction, in the Christian faith, as the resurrection of the flesh. On
the
immortality of the soul many Gentile philosophers have disputed at great
length,
and in many books they have left it written that the soul is immortal: when
they
come to the resurrection of the flesh, they doubt not indeed, but they most
openly
deny it, declaring it to be absolutely impossible that this earthly flesh can
ascend
to Heaven. Thus that moon shall be perfect for evermore, and shall be the
faithful
witness in heaven against all gain-sayers.
33.
These promises, so sure, so firm, so open, so unquestioned, were made
concerning
Christ. For although some are mysteriously veiled, yet some are so
clear,
that all that is obscure is easily revealed by them. Such being the case, see
what
follows: "But You have approved and brought to nothing and forsaken Thine
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Psalm 89
751
Anointed"
(ver. 38). "You have overthrown the testament of Your servant, and
profaned
His holiness on the ground" (ver. 39). "You have broken down all His
hedges,
and made His strongholds a terror" (ver. 40) .... How is this? You have
promised
all those things: and You have brought to pass their reverse. Where are
now
the promises which but a little before filled us with delight? which we so
joyfully
applauded, which we so fearlessly made our boast of? It is as if one
promised,
and another destroyed. And this is the mystery: for the words are not
"another,"
but "You," Thou who promised, who even swore in condescension to
human
doubt, You have promised this, and done thus! Whence shall I get Your
oath,
where shall I find Your promise fulfilled? Would then God promise, or
swear
thus falsely? and yet why then these promises, and these acts? I answer, that
He
acted thus in fulfilment of those promises. But who am I, to say this? Let us
see
therefore whether it is the language of the Truth; what I say will not then be
without
foundation. It was David to whom the fulfilment of these promises in his
seed,
that is, in Christ, was promised: and as they were addressed to David, men
expected
their completion in David. Further, lest when any Christian asserted
these
promises to have referred to Christ, another by applying them to David,
because
he described the fulfilment of all of them in David, might thus err; He
cancelled
them in David, thus obliging us when we see them unfulfilled in David,
to
look to another quarter for their fulfilment. Thus also in the case of Esau and
Jacob,
we find the elder worshipped by the younger, though it is written, "The
elder
shall serve the younger;" Genesis 25:23 so when you see it unfulfilled in
those
two brothers, you look for two peoples in whom to discover the completion
of
what God in His truth deigns to promise. "From the fruit of your
body," says the
Lord
unto David, "shall I set upon your sea." He promised from his seed
something
for evermore: and, Solomon, born to him, became master of such
wisdom,
that the promise of God respecting the fruit of David's body was believed
to
have been fulfilled in him; but Solomon fell, and gave room for hoping for
Christ;
that since God can neither be deceived nor deceive, He might not make His
promise
to rest in one who He knew would fall, but you might after the fall of
Solomon
look back to God, and demand His promise. Have You, O Lord,
deceived?
Have You failed to fulfil Your promise? Dost Thou not exhibit what
You
have sworn? Perhaps God might reply, I swore and promised: but Solomon
would
not persevere. What then? Did not You, Lord God, know beforehand that
he
would not persevere? Indeed You knew. Why then did You promise me what
should
be eternal in one who would not persevere? Have You not answered; "But
if
his children forsake My law, and walk not in My judgments; if they keep not
My
statutes, and profane My testament;" yet My promise shall remain, and My
oath
shall be fulfilled: "I have sworn once in My Holiness," within, in a
certain
mystery,
in the very spring whence the Prophets drank, whence they burst forth to
us
of these things, "I have sworn once" that I will not fail David. Show
forth then
what
You have sworn, give us what You have promised. The fulfilment is taken
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Psalm 89
752
from
that David, that it might not be looked for in that David: wait therefore for
what
I have promised.
34.
Even David himself knew this. Consider his words; "You have rejected and
brought
him down to nothing." Where then is Your promise? "You have put off
Thine
anointed." This expression cheers us, among much that is sorrowful: for
the
promise
of God is still valid; for You have put off Thine Anointed, not taken Him
away.
See then what was the fate of that David, in whom the ignorant hoped for
the
fulfilment of the promises of God, in order that those promises might be more
firmly
relied upon for their fulfilment in another. "You have put off Thine
Anointed:
You have overthrown the testament of Your servant." For where is the
Old
Testament of the Jews? where that land of promise, in which they sinned
while
they dwelt in it, on the overthrow of which they wandered afar? Ask you for
the
kingdom of the Jews; it exists not: you ask for the altar of the Jews; it is
not:
you
ask for the sacrifice of the Jews; it is not: you ask for the priesthood of the
Jews;
it is not. "You have overthrown the testament of Your servant, and
profaned
his
holiness on the earth." You have shown that what they thought holy, was
earthly.
"You have broken down all his hedges," with which You have entrenched
him:
for how could he have been spoiled unless his hedges had been broken
down?
"You have made his strongholds a terror." Why terror? That it should
be
said
to the sinners, "For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed
lest He
also
spare not you." Romans 11:21
"All
they that go by the way have spoiled him:" that is, all the heathen that
go by
the
way, meaning, all who pass through this life, have spoiled Israel, have spoiled
David.
First of all, see his fragments in all nations: for it is of the Jews that it
is
said,
"They shall be a portion for foxes." For the Scripture calls wicked,
crafty,
and
cowardly kings, whom another's virtue terrifies, foxes. Thus when our Lord
Himself
was speaking of the threatening Herod, He said, "Go ye, and tell that
fox."
Luke
13:32 The king who fears no man, is not a fox: like that Lion of Judah, of
whom
it is said, "Stooping down You rose up, and slept as a lion." Genesis
49:9
At
Your will You stooped down, at Your will rose; because You would, You slept.
And
thus in another Psalm he says, "I slept." Was not the sentence
complete, "I
slept,
and took rest, and rose up again, because the Lord shall uphold Me"? Why
is
the
word ego added? and thus with a strong emphasis on the word I, they raged
against
Me, they troubled Me: but had I not willed, I had not slept. Those then
concerning
whom it was declared that they should be a portion for foxes, are now
spoken
of as follows; "All they that go by have spoiled him: and he is become a
reproach
to his neighbours" (ver. 41). "You have set up the right hand of his
enemies,
and made all his adversaries to rejoice" (ver. 42). Look at the Jews, and
see
all things fulfilled that were predicted. "You have turned away the help
of his
sword."
How they were used to fight few in number, and to strike down many.
"You
have turned away the help of his sword, and Thou givest him not victory in
the
battle" (ver. 43). Naturally then is he conquered, naturally taken
prisoner,
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Psalm 89
753
naturally
made an outcast from his kingdom, naturally scattered abroad: for he lost
that
land, for which he slew the Lord. "You have loosed him from
cleansing" (ver.
44).
What is this? Amongst all the evils, this is a matter for great fear; for
howsoever
God may beat, howsoever He may be angry, howsoever He may flog
and
scourge, yet let Him scourge him bound, whom He is to cleanse, not "loose
him
from cleansing." For if He loose him from being purified, he becomes
incapable
of cleansing, and must be an outcast. From what cleansing then is the
Jew
loosed? From faith; for by faith we live: Galatians 3:11 and it is said of
faith,
"purifying
their hearts by faith:" Acts 15:9 and as it is only the faith of Christ
that
cleanses;
by disbelief in Christ, they are loosed from purification. "You have
loosed
him from cleansing, and cast his throne down to the ground." And so You
have
broken it. "The days of his seat have You shortened" (ver. 45). They
imagined
that they should reign for ever. "And covered him with confusion."
All
these
things happened to the Jews, Christ yet not being taken away, but His advent
deferred.
35.
Let us therefore see whether God fulfils His promises. After these stern
penalties
which have been recorded as having been inflicted upon this people and
kingdom,
that God might not be supposed to have fulfilled His promises in it, and
so
not to grant another kingdom in Christ, of which kingdom there shall be no end;
the
Prophet addresses Him in these words, "Lord, how long will You hide
Yourself
unto the end?" (ver. 46). For possibly it was not from them and to the
end;
because "blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the
Gentiles
be come in, and so all Israel shall be saved." Romans 11:25 But in the
mean
while "shall Your wrath burn like fire."
36.
"O remember what my substance is" (ver. 47). That David, who was
placed
among
the Jews in the flesh, in Christ in hope, speaks "Remember what is my
substance."
For not because the Jews fell away, did my substance fail: for from
that
people came the Virgin Mary, and from her the flesh of Christ; that Flesh sins
not,
but purifies sins; there, says David, is my substance. "O remember what my
substance
is." For the root has not entirely perished; the seed shall come to whom
the
promise was made, ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator.
Galatians
3:19 "For You have not made all the sons of men for nought" (ver. 47).
Lo!
all the sons of men have gone into vanity: yet You have not made them for
nought.
If then all went into vanity, whom You have not made for nought; have
You
not reserved some instrument to purify them from vanity? This which You
have
reserved to Yourself to cleanse men from vanity is Your Holy One, in Him is
my
substance: for from Him are all, whom You have not made for nought, purified
from
their own vanity. To them it is said, "O you sons of men, how long are you
heavy
in heart? Wherefore have ye such pleasure in vanity, and seek after
leasing?"
Perhaps they might become anxious, and turn from their vanity, and
when
they found themselves polluted with it, might seek for purification from it:
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Psalm 89
754
then
help them, make them secure. "Know this also, that the Lord has made
wonderful
His Holy One." He has made His Holy One to be admired: thence He
has
purified all from their vanity: there, says David, is my substance: O remember
it!
"For You have not made all the sons of men for nought." You have
therefore
reserved
something to purify them: and who is He whom You have reserved?
"What
man is he that lives, and shall not see death?" This man then who shall
live
and
not see death, shall purify them from nothingness. For He made not all men
for
nought, nor can He who made them so despise His own creatures, as not to
convert
and purify them.
37.
"What man is he that shall live, and shall not see death?" (ver. 48).
For being
raised
from the dead He dies no more, and death has no more dominion over Him.
Romans
6:9 And as in another Psalm it is said, "You shall not leave my soul in
Hell,
neither shall Thou suffer Your Holy One to see corruption," the Apostolic
teaching
takes up this testimony, and in the Acts of the Apostles Acts 2:29 thus
argues
against the unbelieving; Men and brethren, we know that the patriarch
David
is dead and buried, and his flesh has seen corruption. Therefore it cannot be
said
of him, "neither shall Thou suffer Your Holy One to see corruption."
Of
whom
then is it said? "What man is he that shall live, and shall not see death?"
Perhaps
there is no man such. Nay, but "who is it?" is said to make you
inquire,
not
despair. But perhaps there may be some man "that shall live, and shall not
see
death,"
and yet perhaps he did not speak of Christ, who died? There is no man
"that
shall live, and shall not see death," except Him who died for mortals.
That
you
may be assured that it is said of Him, consider the sequel; "What man is
he
that
lives, and shall not see death?" Did He never die then? He did. How then
shall
He
live, and never see death? "He shall deliver His own soul from the hands
of
Hell."
He is spoken of alone indeed, in that He alone of all others "shall live,
and
shall
not see death: He shall deliver His own soul from the hand of Hell,"
because
although
the rest of His faithful shall rise from the dead, and shall themselves live
for
evermore, without seeing death; yet they shall not themselves deliver their own
souls
from the hands of Hell. He who delivers His own soul from the hands of
Hell,
Himself delivers those of His believers: they cannot do so of themselves.
Prove
that He delivers His own soul. "I have power to lay down My life, and I
have
power to take it again. No man takes 'it from Me;' for I Myself slept, but I
lay
it
down of Myself, and take it again," because it is He Himself who delivers
His
own
soul from the hands of Hell.
38.
But in the very faith in Christ great difficulties occurred, and the heathen in
their
rage long said, "When shall he die, and his name perish?" On account
of
these
then who have now long believed in Christ, but were destined to doubt for
some
time, these words follow, "Lord, where are Your old
loving-kindnesses?"
(ver.
49). We have now acknowledged Christ our purifier, we now possess Him in
whom
Your promises were to be fulfilled; show forth in Him what You have
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promised.
It is He Himself that shall live, and not see death: Himself who delivers
His
own soul from the hand of Hell: and yet we are still in suffering. Thus spoke
the
Martyrs, whose birthdays we are celebrating. He shall live, and not see death:
He
delivers His soul from the hands of Hell: yet "for Your sake we are killed
all
the
day long: and are counted as sheep appointed to be slain." "Lord,
where are
Your
old loving-kindnesses which Thou swarest unto David in Your truth?"
39.
"Remember, Lord, the rebuke that Your servants have" (ver. 50). Even
while
Christ
was living, and while He was sitting on His Father's right hand, reproaches
were
cast against the Christians: they long were reproached with the name of
Christ.
That widowed one who brought forth, and whose children were more than
those
of the married wife, heard ill names, heard reproaches: but the Church,
multiplied
as she is, extending right and left, no longer remembers the reproach of
her
widowhood. "Remember, Lord," in the memory of whom there is abundant
sweetness.
"Remember," forget not. Remember what? "the rebuke that Your
servants
have: and how I do bear in my bosom the rebukes of many people." I
went,
says he, to preach of You, and I heard reproaches, and bore them in my
bosom,
because I was fulfilling the prophecy. "Being defamed we entreat: we are
made
as the filth of the earth, and are the offscouring of all things unto this
day."
1
Corinthians 4:13 Long the Christians bore reproaches in their bosom, in their
heart:
nor dared resist their revilers; before, when it was a crime to answer a
heathen:
it is now a crime to remain a heathen. Thanks be to the Lord! He
remembered
our rebukes: He raised the horn of His Anointed on high, He made
Him
the Wonderful among the kings of the earth. Now no one insults Christians,
or
if he does, it is not in public: he speaks as if he were still more fearful of
being
heard,
than anxious to be believed. "I bear in my bosom the rebukes of many
people."
40.
"Wherewith Your enemies have blasphemed You, O Lord" (ver. 51), both
Jews
and Pagans. "Wherewith they have blasphemed." Wherewith have they
blasphemed
You? "With the change of Thine Anointed." They objected that Christ
died,
and was crucified. Madmen, what is your reproach? Although there is now
no
one to use it: yet supposing some still remaining that so speak, what is your
reproach?
that Christ died? He was not destroyed, but changed. He is styled
"dead"
on
account of the three days. Wherewith then have your enemies blasphemed
You?
Not with the loss, not with the perdition of Thine Anointed, but with His
"change."
He was changed from temporal to eternal life: He was changed from the
Jews
to the Gentiles; He was changed from earth to heaven. Let then Your vain
enemies
blaspheme You still for the change of Thine Anointed. Would that they
may
be changed: they will not in that case blaspheme the change of Christ, which
displeases
them since they themselves will not be changed. "For there is no change
with
them, and they fear not God."
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Psalm 89
756
41.
They have blasphemed the change of Christ; but what do you answer? "The
blessing
of the Lord for evermore. Amen and Amen" (ver. 52). Thanks to His
mercy,
thanks to His grace. We express our thanks: we do not give them, nor
return
them, nor repay them: we express our thanks in words, while in fact we
retain
our sense of them. He saved us for no reward, He heeded not our impieties:
He
searched us out when we searched not for Him, He found, redeemed,
emancipated
us from the bondage of the devil and the power of his wicked angels:
He
drew us to Him to purify us by that faith, from which He releases those
enemies
only who believe not, and who for that reason cannot be purified. Let
those
who still remain infidels say every day what they choose; day by day they
shall
be fewer and fewer that remain; let them revile, mock, accuse, not the death,
but
the change of Christ. Do they not see that, when they say these things, they
fail
in
purpose either by believing or by dying? For their curse is temporal: but the
blessing
of the Lord "for evermore." To confirm that blessing is added,
"Amen and
Amen."
This is the signature of the bond of God. Secure then of His promises, let
us
believe the past, recognise the present, hope for the future. Let not the enemy
lead
us astray from the way, that He, who gathers us like chickens under His
wings,
may foster us: lest we stray from His wings, and the hawk of the air carry
us
off while yet unfledged. For the Christian ought not to hope in himself: if he
hopes
to be strong, let him be reared by his mother's warmth. This is the hen who
gathers
her young together; whence is the reproach of our Saviour against the
unbelieving
Jerusalem. "Behold, your house shall be left unto you desolate."
Matthew
23:38 Hence was it said, "You have made his strongholds a terror."
Since
then
they would not be gathered together under the wings of this hen, and have
given
as a warning to teach us to dread the unclean spirits that fly in the air,
seeking
daily what they may devour; let us gather ourselves under the wings of
this
hen, the divine Wisdom, since she is weakened even unto death of her
chickens.
Let us love our Lord God, let us love His Church: Him as a Father, Her
as
a Mother: Him as a Lord, Her as His Handmaid, as we are ourselves the
Handmaid's
sons. But this marriage is held together by a bond of great love: no
man
offends the one, and wins favour of the other. Let no man say, "I go
indeed to
the
idols, I consult possessed ones and fortune-tellers: yet I abandon not God's
Church;
I am a Catholic." While you hold to your Mother, you have offended your
Father.
Another says, Far be it from me; I consult no sorcerer, I seek out no
possessed
one, I never ask advice by sacrilegious divination, I go not to worship
idols,
I bow not before stones; though I am in the party of Donatus. What does it
profit
you not to have offended your Father, if he avenges your offended Mother?
what
does it serve you, if you acknowledge the Lord, honour God, preach His
name,
acknowledge His Son, confess that He sits by His right hand; while you
blaspheme
His Church? Does not the analogy of human marriages convince you?
Suppose
you have some patron, whom you court every day, whose threshold you
wear
with your visits, whom you daily not only salute, but even worship, to whom
you
pay the most loyal courtesy; if you utter one calumny against his wife, could
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Psalm 89 757
you
re-enter his house? Hold then, most beloved, hold all with one mind to God
the
Father, and the Church our Mother. Celebrate with temperance the birthdays of
the
Saints, that we may imitate those who have gone before us, and that they who
pray
for you may rejoice over you; that "the blessing of the Lord may abide on
you
for evermore. Amen and Amen."
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Psalm 90
758
Exposition
on Psalm 90
1.
This Psalm is entitled, "The prayer of Moses the man of God," through
whom,
His
man, God gave the law to His people, through whom He freed them from the
house
of slavery, and led them forty years through the wilderness. Moses was
therefore
the Minister of the Old, and the Prophet of the New Testament. For "all
these
things," says the Apostle, "happened unto them for ensamples: and
they are
written
for our admonition, unto whom the ends of the world come."
1
Corinthians 10:11 In accordance therefore with this dispensation which was
vouchsafed
to Moses, this Psalm is to be examined, as it has received its title from
his
prayer
2.
"Lord," he says, "You have been our refuge from one generation
to another"
(ver.
1): either in every generation, or in two generations, the old and new:
because,
as I said, he was the Minister of the Testament that related to the old
generation,
and the Prophet of the Testament which appertained to the new. Jesus
Himself,
the Surety of that covenant, and the Bridegroom in the marriage which
He
entered into in that generation, says, "Had ye believed Moses, you would
have
believed
Me: for he wrote of Me." John 5:46 Now it is not to be believed that this
Psalm
was entirely the composition of that Moses, as it is not distinguished by any
of
those of his expressions which are used in his songs: but the name of the great
servant
of God is used for the sake of some intimation, which should direct the
attention
of the reader or listener. "Lord," he says, "You have been our
refuge
from
one generation to the other."
3.
He adds, how He became our refuge, since He began to be that, viz. a refuge, to
us
which He had not been before, not that He had not existed before He became
our
refuge: "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and
the
world
were made: and from age even unto age You are" (ver. 2). Thou therefore
who
art for ever, and before we were, and before the world was, hast become our
refuge
ever since we turned to You. But the expression, "before the
mountains,"
etc.,
seems to me to contain a particular meaning; for mountains are the higher
parts
of the earth, and if God was before even the earth were formed (or, as some
books
have it, from the same Greek word, "framed"), since it was by Him
that it
was
formed, what is the need of saying that He was before the mountains, or any
certain
parts of it, since God was not only before the earth, but before heaven and
earth,
and even the whole bodily and spiritual creation? But it may certainly be
that
the whole rational creation is marked by this distinction; that while the
loftiness
of Angels is signified by the mountains, the lowliness of man is meant by
the
earth. And for this reason, although all the works of creation are not
improperly
said to be either made or formed; nevertheless, if there is any propriety
in
these words, the Angels are "made;" for as they are enumerated among
His
heavenly
works, the enumeration itself is thus concluded: "He spoke the word, and
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Psalm
90
759
they
were made; He commanded, and they were created;" but the earth was
"formed,"
that man might thence be created in the body. For the Scripture uses this
word,
where we read, God made, or "God formed man out of the dust of the
ground."
Genesis 2:7 Before then the noblest parts of the creation (for what is
higher
than the rational part of the Heavenly creation) were made: before the earth
was
made, that You might have worshippers upon the earth; and even this is little,
as
all these had a beginning either in or with time; but "from age to age You
are."
It
would have been better, from everlasting to everlasting: for God, who is before
the
ages, exists not from a certain age, nor to a certain age, which has an end,
since
He
is without end. But it often happens in the Scripture, that the equivocal Greek
word
causes the Latin translator to put age for eternity and eternity for age. But
he
very
rightly does not say, You were from ages, and unto ages You shall be: but
puts
the verb in the present, intimating that the substance of God is altogether
immutable.
It is not, He was, and Shall be, but only Is. Whence the expression, I
Am
that I Am; and, I Am "has sent me unto you;" Exodus 3:14 and,
"You shall
change
them, and they shall be changed: but You are the same, and Your years
shall
not fail." Behold then the eternity that is our refuge, that we may fly
thither
from
the mutability of time, there to remain for evermore.
4.
But as our life here is exposed to numerous and great temptations, and it is to
be
feared
lest we may be turned aside by them from that refuge, let us see what in
consequence
of this the prayer of the man of God seeks for. "Turn not Thou man
to
lowness" (ver. 3): that is, let not man, turned aside from Your eternal
and
sublime
things, lust for things of time, savour of earthly things. This prayer is what
God
has Himself enjoined us, in the Prayer, "Lead us not into temptation,"
Matthew
6:13 He adds, "Again You say, Come again, you children of men." As if
he
said, I ask of You what You have commanded me to ask: giving glory to His
grace,
that "he that glories, in the Lord he may glory:" 1 Corinthians 1:31
without
whose
help we cannot by an exertion of our own will overcome the temptations of
this
life. "Turn not Thou man to lowness: again you say, Turn again, you
children
of
men." But grant what You have enjoined, by hearing the prayer of him who
can
at
least pray, and aiding the faith of the willing soul.
5.
"For a thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday, which is past
by" (ver.
4):
hence we ought to turn to Your refuge, where You are without any change,
from
the fleeting scenes around us; since however long a time may be wished for
for
this life, "a thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday:" not
as
tomorrow,
which is to come: for all limited periods of time are reckoned as having
already
passed. Hence the Apostle's choice is rather to aim at what is before,
Philippians
3:13 that is, to desire things eternal, and to forget things behind, by
which
temporal matters should be understood. But that no one may imagine a
thousand
years are reckoned by God as one day, as if with God days were so long,
when
this is only said in contempt of the extent of time: he adds, "and as a
watch
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Psalm 90 760
in
the night:" which only lasts three hours. Nevertheless men have ventured
to
assert
their knowledge of times, to the pretenders to which our Lord said, "It is
not
for
you to know the times or seasons, which the Father has put in His own
power:"
Acts
1:7 and they allege that this period may be defined six thousand years, as of
six
days. Nor have they heeded the words, "are but as one day which is past
by:"
for,
when this was uttered, not a thousand years only had passed, and the
expression,
"as a watch in the night," ought to have warned them that they might
not
be deceived by the uncertainty of the seasons: for even if the six first days
in
which
God finished His works seemed to give some plausibility to their opinion,
six
watches, which amount to eighteen hours, will not consist with that opinion.
6.
Next, the man of God, or rather the Prophetic spirit, seems to be reciting some
law
written in the secret wisdom of God, in which He has fixed a limit to the sinful
life
of mortals, and determined the troubles of mortality, in the following words:
"Their
years are as things which are nothing worth: in the morning let it fade away
like
the grass" (ver. 5). The happiness therefore of the heirs of the old
covenant,
which
they asked of the Lord their God as a great boon, attained to receive this
Law
in His mysterious Providence. Moses seems to be reciting it: "Their years
shall
be things which are esteemed as nothing." Such are those things which are
not
before they are come: and when come, shall soon not be: for they do not come
to
be here, but to be gone. "In the morning," that is, before they come,
"as a heat
let
it pass by;" but "in the evening," it means after they come,
"let it fall, and be
dried
up, and withered" (ver. 6). It is "to fall" in death, be
"dried up" in the corpse,
"withered"
in the dust. What is this but flesh, wherein is the accursed lust of
fleshly
things? "For all flesh is grass, and all the goodliness of man as the
flower
of
the field; the grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of the Lord abides
for
ever."
Isaiah 40:6, 8
7.
Making no secret that this fate is a penalty inflicted for sin, he adds at
once,
"For
we consume away in Your displeasure, and are troubled at Your wrathful
indignation"
(ver. 7): we consume away in our weakness, and are troubled from
the
fear of death; for we are become weak, and yet fearful to end that weakness.
"Another,"
says He, "shall gird you, and carry you whither you would not:"
John
21:18 although not to be punished, but to be crowned, by martyrdom; and the
soul
of our Lord, transforming us into Himself, was sorrowful even unto death: for
"the
Lord's going out" is no other than in "death."
8.
"You have set our misdeeds before You" (ver. 8): that is, You have
not
dissembled
Your anger: "and our age in the light of Your countenance." "The
light
of
Your countenance" answers to "before You," and to "our
misdeeds," as above.
9.
"For all our days are failed, and in Your anger we have failed" (ver.
9). These
words
sufficiently prove that our subjection to death is a punishment. He speaks of
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Psalm 90 761
our
days failing, either because men fail in them from loving things that pass
away,
or because they are reduced to so small a number; which he asserts in the
following
lines: "our years are spent in thought like a spider." "The days
of our age
are
threescore years and ten; and though men be so strong that they come to
fourscore
years, yet is more of them but labour and sorrow" (ver. 10). These words
appear
to express the shortness and misery of this life: since those who have
reached
their seventieth year are styled old men. Up to eighty, however, they
appear
to have some strength; but if they live beyond this, their existence is
laborious
through multiplied sorrows. Yet many even below the age of seventy
experience
an old age the most infirm and wretched: and old men have often been
found
to be wonderfully vigorous even beyond eighty years. It is therefore better
to
search for some spiritual meaning in these numbers. For the anger of God is not
greater
on the sins of Adam (through whom alone "sin entered into the world, and
death
by sin, and so death passed upon all men"), Romans 5:12 because they live
a
much
shorter time than the men of old; since even the length of their days is
ridiculed
in the comparison of a thousand years to yesterday that is past, and to
three
hours: especially since at the very time when they provoked the anger of God
to
send the deluge in which they perished, their life was at its longest span.
10.
Moreover, seventy and eighty years equal a hundred and fifty; a number which
the
Psalms clearly insinuate to be a sacred one. One hundred and fifty have the
same
relative signification as fifteen, the latter number being composed of seven
and
eight together: the first of which points to the Old Testament through the
observation
of the Sabbath; the latter to the New, referring to the resurrection of
our
Lord. Hence the fifteen steps in the Temple. Hence in the Psalms, fifteen
"songs
of degrees." Hence the waters of the deluge overtopped the highest
mountains
by fifteen cubits: Genesis 7:20 and many other instances of the same
nature.
"Our years are passed in thought like a spider." We were labouring in
things
corruptible, corruptible works were we weaving together: which, as the
Prophet
Isaiah says, by no means covered us. Isaiah 59:6 "The days of our years
are
in themselves," etc. A distinction is here made between themselves and
their
strength:
"in themselves," that is, in the years or days themselves, may mean
in
temporal
things, which are promised in the Old Testament, signified by the
number
seventy; "but if" not in themselves, but "in their
strength," refers not to
temporal
things, but to things eternal, "fourscore years," as the New
Testament
contains
the hope of a new life and resurrection for evermore: and what is added,
that
if they pass this latter period, "their strength is labour and
sorrow," intimates
that
such shall be the fate of him who goes beyond this faith, and seeks for more.
It
may also be understood thus: because although we are established in the New
Testament,
which the number eighty signifies, yet still our life is one of labour and
sorrow,
while "we groan within ourselves, awaiting the adoption, to wit, the
redemption
of our body; for we are saved by hope; and if we hope for that we see
not,
then do we with patience wait for it." Romans 8:23-25 This relates to the
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Psalm 90
762
mercy
of God, of which he proceeds to say, "Since your mercy comes over us, and
we
shall be chastened:" for "the Lord chastens whom He loves, and
scourges every
son
whom He receives," Hebrews 12:6 and to some mighty ones He gives a thorn
in
the flesh, to buffet them, that they may not be exalted above measure through
the
abundance of the revelations, so that strength be made perfect in weakness.
2
Corinthians 12:7, 9 Some copies read, we shall be "taught," instead
of
"chastened,"
which is equally expressive of the Divine Mercy; for no man can be
taught
without labour and sorrow; since strength is made perfect in weakness.
11.
"For who knows the power of Your wrath: and for the fear of You to number
Your
anger?" (ver. 11). It belongs to very few men, he says, to know the power
of
Your
wrath; for when Thou dost spare, Your anger is so far heavier against most
men;
that we may know that labour and sorrow belong not to wrath, but rather to
Your
mercy, when Thou chastenest and teachest those whom Thou lovest, to save
them
from the torments of eternal punishment: as it is said in another Psalm,
"The
sinner
has provoked the Lord: He will not require it of him according to the
greatness
of His wrath." With this also is understood, "Who knows?" Such
is the
difficulty
of finding any one who knows how to number Your anger by Your fear,
that
he adds this, meaning that it is to the purpose that Thou appearest to spare
some,
with whom You are more angry, that the sinner may be prospered in his
path,
and receive a heavier doom at the last. For when the power of human wrath
has
killed the body, it has nothing more to do: but God has power both to punish
here,
and after the death of the body to send into Hell, and by the few who are thus
taught,
the vain and seductive prosperity of the wicked is judged to be greater
wrath
of God....
12.
"Make Your right hand so well known" (ver. 12). This is the reading
of most
of
the Greek copies: not of some in Latin, which is thus, "Make Your right
hand
well
known to me." What is, "Your right hand," but Your Christ, of
whom it is
said,
And to whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed? Isaiah 53:1 Make Him so
well
known, that Your faithful may learn in Him to ask and to hope for those
things
rather of You as rewards of their faith, which do not appear in the Old
Testament,
but are revealed in the New: that they may not imagine that the
happiness
derived from earthly and temporal blessings is to be highly esteemed,
desired,
or loved, and thus their feet slip, when they see it in men who honour You
not:
that their steps may not give way, while they know not how to number Your
anger.
Finally, in accordance with this prayer of the Man that is His, He has made
His
Christ so well known as to show by His sufferings that not these rewards
which
seem so highly prized in the Old Testament, where they are shadows of
things
to come, but things eternal, are to be desired. The right hand of God may
also
be understood in this sense, as that by which He will separate His saints from
the
wicked: because that hand becomes well known, when it scourges every son
whom
He receives, and suffers him not, in greater anger, to prosper in his sins, but
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Psalm 90
763
in
His mercy scourges him with the left, that He may place him purified on His
right
hand. Matthew 25:33 The reading of most copies, "make Your right hand
well
known to me," may be referred either to Christ, or to eternal happiness:
for
God
has not a right hand in bodily shape, as He has not that anger which is
aroused
into violent passion.
13.
But what he adds, "and those fettered in heart in wisdom;" other
copies read,
"instructed,"
not "lettered:" the Greek verb, expressing both senses, only
differing
by
a single syllable. But since these also, as it is said, put their "feet in
the fetters"
of
wisdom, are taught wisdom (he means the feet of the heart, not of the body),
and
bound by its golden chains Sirach 6:24 depart not from the path of God, and
become
not runaways from him; whichever reading we adopt, the truth in the
meaning
is safe. Them thus lettered, or instructed in heart in wisdom, God makes
so
well known in the New Testament, that they despised all things for the Faith
which
the impiety of Jews and Gentiles abhorred; and allowed themselves to be
deprived
of those things which in the Old Testament are thought high promises by
those
who judge after the flesh.
14.
And as when they became so well known, as to despise these things, and by
setting
their affections on things eternal, gave a testimony through their sufferings
(whence
they are called witnesses or martyrs in the Greek), they endured for a
long
while many bitter temporal afflictions. This man of God gives heed to this,
and
the prophetic spirit under the name of Moses continues thus, "Return, O
Lord,
how
long? and be softened concerning Your servants" (ver. 13). These are the
words
of those, who, enduring many evils in that persecuting age, become known
because
their hearts are bound in the chain of wisdom so firmly, that not even such
hardships
can induce them to fly from their Lord to the good things of this world.
"How
long will You hide Your face from me, O Lord?" occurs in another Psalm,
in
unison with this sentence, "Return, O Lord, how long?" And that they
who, in a
most
carnal spirit, ascribe to God the form of a human body, may know that the
"turning
away" and "turning again" of His countenance is not like those
motions of
our
own frame, let them recollect these words from above in the same Psalm,
"You
have set our misdeeds before You, and our secret sins in the light of Your
countenance."
How then does he say in this passage, "Return," that God may be
favourable,
as if He had turned away His face in anger; when as in the former he
speaks
of God's anger in such a manner, as to insinuate that He had not turned
away
His countenance from the misdeeds and the course of life of those He was
angry
with, but rather had set them before Him, and in the light of His
countenance?
The word, "How long," belongs to righteousness beseeching, not
indignant
impatience. "Be softened," some have rendered by a verb,
"soften." But
"be
softened" avoids an ambiguity; since to soften is a common verb: for he
may
be
said to soften who pours out prayers, and he to whom they are poured out: for
we
say, I soften you, and I soften toward you.
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Psalm 90
764
15.
Next, in anticipation of future blessings, of which he speaks as already
vouchsafed,
he says, "We are satisfied with Your mercy in the morning" (ver. 14).
Prophecy
has thus been kindled for us, in the midst of these toils and sorrows of
the
night, like a lamp in the darkness, until day dawn, and the Day-star arise in
our
hearts.
2 Peter 1:19 For blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God: then
shall
the righteous be filled with that blessing for which they hunger and thirst
now,
Matthew 5:8, 6 while, walking in faith, they are absent from the Lord.
2
Corinthians 5:6 Hence are the words, "In Your presence is fulness of
joy:" and,
"Early
in the morning they shall stand by, and shall look up:" and as other
translators
have said it, "We shall be satisfied with Your mercy in the morning;"
then
they shall be satisfied. As he says elsewhere, "I shall be satisfied, when
Your
glory
shall be revealed." So it is said, "Lord, show us the Father, and it
suffices
us:"
and our Lord Himself answers, "I will manifest Myself to Zion;"
John
14:8, 21 and until this promise is fulfilled, no blessing satisfies us, or
ought
to
do so, lest our longings should be arrested in their course, when they ought to
be
increased
until they gain their objects. "And we rejoiced and were glad all the days
of
our life." Those days are days without end: they all exist together: it is
thus they
satisfy
us: for they give not way to days succeeding: since there is nothing there
which
exists not yet because it has not reached us, or ceases to exist because it has
passed;
all are together: because there is one day only, which remains and passes
not
away: this is eternity itself. These are the days respecting which it is
written,
"What
man is he that lusts to live, and would fain see good days?" These days in
another
passage are styled years: where unto God it is said, "But You are the
same,
and
Your years shall not fail:" for these are not years that are accounted for
nothing,
or days that perish like a shadow: but they are days which have a real
existence,
the number of which he who thus spoke, "Lord, let me know mine end"
(that
is, after reaching what term I shall remain unchanged, and have no further
blessing
to crave), "and the number of my days, what it is" (what is, not what
is
not):
prayed to know. He distinguishes them from the days of this life, of which he
speaks
as follows, "Behold, You have made my days as it were a span long,"
which
are not, because they stand not, remain not, but change in quick succession:
nor
is there a single hour in them in which our being is not such, but that one
part
of
it has already passed, another is about to come, and none remains as it is. But
those
years and days, in which we too shall never fail, but evermore be refreshed,
will
never fail. Let our souls long earnestly for those days, let them thirst
ardently
for
them, that there we may be filled, be satisfied, and say what we now say in
anticipation,
"We have been satisfied," etc. "We have been comforted again
now,
after
the time that You have brought us low, and for the years wherein we have
seen
evil" (ver. 15).
16.
But now in days that are as yet evil, let us speak as follows. "Look upon
Your
servants,
and upon Your works" (ver. 16). For Your servants themselves are Your
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works,
not only inasmuch as they are men, but as Your servants, that is, obedient
to
Your commands. For we are His workmanship, created not merely in Adam, but
in
Christ Jesus, unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should
walk
in them: Ephesians 2:10 "for it is God which works in us both to will and
to
do
of His good pleasure." Philippians 2:13 "And direct their sons:"
that they may
be
right in heart, for to such God is bountiful; for "God is bountiful to
Israel, to
those
that are right in heart."...
17.
"And let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us" (ver. 17);
whence the
words,
"O Lord, the light of Your countenance is marked upon us." And,
"Make
Thou
straight the works of our hands upon us:" that we may do them not for hope
of
earthly reward: for then they are not straight, but crooked. In many copies the
Psalm
goes thus far, but in some there is found an additional verse at the end, as
follows,
"And make straight the work of our hands." To these words the learned
have
prefixed a star, called an asterisk, to show that they are found in the Hebrew,
or
in some other Greek translations, but not in the Septuagint. The meaning of
this
verse,
if we are to expound it, appears to me this, that all our good works are one
work
of love: for love is the fulfilling of the Law. Romans 13:10 For as in the
former
verse he had said, "And the works of our hands make Thou straight upon
us,"
here he says "work," not works, as if anxious to show, in the last
verse, that all
our
works are one, that is, are directed with a view to one work. For then are
works
righteous, when they are directed to this one end: "for the end of the
commandment
is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith
unfeigned."
1 Timothy 1:5 There is therefore one work, in which are all, "faith
which
works by love:" Galatians 5:6 whence our Lord's words in the Gospel,
"This
is
the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." John 6:29
Since,
therefore,
in this Psalm, both old and new life, life both mortal and everlasting,
years
that are counted for nought, and years that have the fulness of loving-
kindness
and of true joy, that is, the penalty of the first and the reign of the Second
Man,
are marked so very clearly; I imagine, that the name of Moses, the man of
God,
became the title of the Psalm, that pious and right-minded readers of the
Scriptures
might gain an intimation that the Mosaic laws, in which God appears to
promise
only, or nearly only, earthly rewards for good works, without doubt
contains
under a veil some such hopes as this Psalm displays. But when any one
has
passed over to Christ, the veil will be taken away: 2 Corinthians 3:15 and his
eyes
will be unveiled, that he may consider the wonderful things in the law of
God,
by the gift of Him, to whom we pray, "Open Thou my eyes, and I shall see
the
wondrous things of Your law.
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Exposition
on Psalm 91
1.
This Psalm is that from which the Devil dared to tempt our Lord Jesus Christ:
let
us therefore attend to it, that thus armed, we may be enabled to resist the
tempter,
not presuming in ourselves, but in Him who before us was tempted, that
we
might not be overcome when tempted. Temptation to Him was not necessary:
the
temptation of Christ is our learning, but if we listen to His answers to the
devil,
in
order that, when ourselves are tempted, we may answer in like manner, we are
then
entering through the gate, as you have heard it read in the Gospel. For what is
to
enter by the gate? To enter by Christ, who Himself said, "I am the
door:"
John
10:7 and to enter through Christ, is to imitate His ways .... He urges us to
imitate
Him in those works which He could not have done had He not been made
Man;
for how could He endure sufferings, unless He had become a Man? How
could
He otherwise have died, been crucified, been humbled? Thus then do thou,
when
you suffer the troubles of this world, which the devil, openly by men, or
secretly,
as in Job's case, inflicts; be courageous, be of long suffering; "you
shall
dwell
under the defence of the Most High," as this Psalm expresses it: for if
thou
depart
from the help of the Most High, without strength to aid yourself, you will
fall.
2.
For many men are brave, when they are enduring persecution from men, and see
them
openly rage against themselves: imagining they are then imitating the
sufferings
of Christ, in case men openly persecute them; but if assailed by the
hidden
attack of the devil, they believe they are not being crowned by Christ.
Never
fear when thou dost imitate Christ. For when the devil tempted our Lord,
there
was no man in the wilderness; he tempted Him secretly; but he was
conquered,
and conquered too when openly attacking Him. This do thou, if you
wish
to enter by the door, when the enemy secretly assails you, when he asks for a
man
that he may do him some hurt by bodily troubles, by fever, by sickness, or
any
other bodily sufferings, like those of Job. He saw not the devil, yet he
acknowledged
the power of God. He knew that the devil had no power against
him,
unless from the Almighty Ruler of all things he received that power: the
whole
glory he gave to God, power to the devil he gave not....
3.
He then who so imitates Christ as to endure all the troubles of this world,
with
his
hopes set upon God, that he falls into no snare, is broken down by no panic
fears,
he it is "who dwells under the defence of the Most High, who shall abide
under
the protection of God" (ver. 1), in the words with which the Psalm, which
you
have heard and sung, begins. You will recognise the words, so well known, in
which
the devil tempted our Lord, when we come to them. "He shall say unto the
Lord,
You are my taker up, and my refuge: my God" (ver. 2). Who speaks thus to
the
Lord? "He who dwells under the defence of the Most High:" not under
his own
defence.
Who is this? He dwells under the defence of the Most High, who is not
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proud,
like those who ate, that they might become as Gods, and lost the
immortality
in which they were made. For they chose to dwell under a defence of
their
own, not under that of the Most High: thus they listened to the suggestions of
the
serpent, Genesis 3:5 and despised the precept of God: and discovered at last
that
what God threatened, not what the devil promised, had come to pass in them.
4.
Thus then do thou say also, "In Him will I trust. For He Himself shall
deliver
me"
(ver. 3), not I myself. Observe whether he teaches anything but this, that all
our
trust be in God, none in man. Whence shall he deliver you? "From the snare
of
the
hunter, and from a harsh word." Deliverance from the hunter's net is
indeed a
great
blessing: but how is deliverance from a harsh word so? Many have fallen
into
the hunter's net through a harsh word. What is it that I say? The devil and his
angels
spread their snares, as hunters do: and those who walk in Christ tread afar
from
those snares: for he dares not spread his net in Christ: he sets it on the
verge
of
the way, not in the way. Let then your way be Christ, and you shall not fall
into
the
snares of the devil....
But
what is, "from a harsh word"? The devil has entrapped many by a harsh
word:
for
instance, those who profess Christianity among Pagans suffer insult from the
heathen:
they blush when they hear reproach, and shrinking out of their path in
consequence,
fall into the hunter's snares. And yet what will a harsh word do to
you?
Nothing. Can the snares with which the enemy entraps you by means of
reproaches,
do nothing to you? Nets are usually spread for birds at the end of a
hedge,
and stones are thrown into the hedge: those stones will not harm the birds.
When
did any one ever hit a bird by throwing a stone into a hedge? But the bird,
frightened
at the harmless noise, falls into the nets; and thus men who fear the vain
reproaches
of their calumniators, and who blush at unprovoked insults, fall into the
snares
of the hunters, and are taken captive by the devil ... Just as among the
heathen,
the Christian who fears their reproaches falls into the snare of the hunter:
so
among the Christians, those who endeavour to be more diligent and better than
the
rest, are doomed to bear insults from Christians themselves. What then does it
profit,
my brother, if thou occasionally find a city in which there is no heathen?
No
one there insults a man because he is a Christian, for this reason, that there
is
no
Pagan therein: but there are many Christians who lead a bad life, among whom
those
who are resolved to live righteously, and to be sober among the drunken, and
chaste
among the unchaste, and amid the consulters of astrologers sincerely to
worship
God, and to ask after no such things, and among spectators of frivolous
shows
will go only to church, suffer from those very Christians reproaches, and
harsh
words, when they address such a one, "You are the mighty, the righteous,
you
are Elias, you are Peter: you have come from heaven." They insult him:
whichever
way he turns, he hears harsh sayings on each side: and if he fears, and
abandons
the way of Christ, he falls into the snares of the hunters. But what is it,
when
he hears such words, not to swerve from the way? On hearing them, what
comfort
has he, which prevents his heeding them, and enables him to enter by the
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door?
Let him say; What words am I called, who am a servant and a sinner? To
my
Lord Jesus they said, "You have a devil." John 8:48 You have just
heard the
harsh
words spoken against our Lord: it was not necessary for our Lord to suffer
this,
but in doing so He has warned you against harsh words, lest you fall into the
snares
of the hunters.
5.
"He shall defend you between His shoulders, and you shall hope under His
wings"
(ver. 4). He says this, that your protection may not be to you from yourself,
that
you may not imagine that you can defend yourself; He will defend you, to
deliver
you from the hunter's snare, and from an harsh word. The expression,
"between
His shoulders," may be understood both in front and behind: for the
shoulders
are about the head; but in the words, "you shall hope under His
wings,"
it
is clear that the protection of the wings of God expanded places you between
His
shoulders, so that God's wings on this side and that have you in the midst,
where
you shall not fear lest any one hurt you: only be thou careful never to leave
that
spot, where no foe dares approach. If the hen defends her chickens beneath
her
wings; how much more shall you be safe beneath the wings of God, even
against
the devil and his angels, the powers who fly about in mid air like hawks, to
carry
off the weak young one? For the comparison of the hen to the very Wisdom
of
God is not without ground; for Christ Himself, our Lord and Saviour, speaks of
Himself
as likened to a hen; "how often would I have gathered your children,"
etc.
Matthew
23:37 That Jerusalem would not: let us be willing .... If you consider
other
birds, brethren, you will find many that hatch their eggs, and keep their
young
warm: but none that weakens herself in sympathy with her chickens, as the
hen
does. We see swallows, sparrows, and storks outside their nests, without being
able
to decide whether they have young or no: but we know the hen to be a mother
by
the weakness of her voice, and the loosening of her feathers: she changes
altogether
from love for her chickens: she weakens herself because they are weak.
Thus
since we were weak, the Wisdom of God made Itself weak, when the Word
was
made flesh, and dwelt in us, John 1:14 that we might hope under His wings.
6.
"His truth shall surround you with a shield" (ver. 5). What are
"the wings," the
same
is "the shield:" since there are neither wings nor shield. If either
were
literally,
how could the one be the same as the other? can wings be a shield or a
shield
wings? But all these expressions, indeed, are figuratively used through
likenesses.
If Christ were really a Stone, Acts 4:10-11 He could not be a Lion; if a
Lion,
Revelation 5:5 He could not be a Lamb: but He is called both Lion, and
Lamb,
John 1:29 and Stone, and Calf, and anything else of the sort,
metaphorically,
because He is neither Stone, nor Lion, nor Lamb, nor Calf, but
Jesus
Christ, the Saviour of all of us, for these are likenesses, not literal names.
"His
truth shall be your shield," it is said: a shield to assure us that He
will not
confound
those whose trust is in themselves with those who hope in God. One is a
sinner,
and the other a sinner: but suppose one that presumes upon himself is a
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despiser,
confesses not his sins, and he will say, if my sins displeased God, He
would
not suffer me to live. But another dared not even raise his eyes, but beat
upon
his breast, saying, "God be merciful to me a sinner." Luke 18:13 Both
this
was
a sinner, and that: but the one mocked, the other mourned: the one was a
despiser,
the other a confessor, of his sins. But the truth of God, which respects not
persons,
discerns the penitent from him who denies his sin, the humble from the
proud,
him who presumes upon himself from him who presumes on God. "You
shall
not be afraid for any terror by night."
7.
"Nor for the arrow that flies by day, for the matter that walks in
darkness, nor
for
the ruin and the devil that is in the noonday" (ver. 6). These two clauses
above
correspond
to the two below; "You shall not fear" for "the terror by night,
from the
arrow
that flies by day:" both because of "the terror by night," from
"the matter
that
walks in darkness:" and because of "the arrow that flies by
day," from "the
ruin
of the devil of the noon-day." What ought to be feared by night, and what
by
day?
When any man sins in ignorance, he sins, as it were, by night: when he sins
in
full knowledge, by day. The two former sins then are the lighter: the second
are
much
heavier; but this is obscure, and will repay your attention, if, by God's
blessing,
I can explain it so that you may understand it. He calls the light
temptation,
which the ignorant yield to, "terror by night:" the light temptation,
which
assails men who well know, "the arrow that flies by day." What are
light
temptations?
Those which do not press upon us so urgently, as to overcome us, but
may
pass by quickly if declined. Suppose these, again, heavy ones. If the
persecutor
threatens, and frightens the ignorant grievously, I mean those whose
faith
is as yet unstable, and know not that they are Christians that they may hope
for
a life to come; as soon as they are alarmed with temporal ills, they imagine
that
Christ
has forsaken them, and that they are Christians to no purpose; they are not
aware
that they are Christians for this reason, that they may conquer the present,
and
hope for the future: the matter that walks in darkness has found and seized
them.
But some there are who know that they are called to a future hope; that what
God
has promised is not of this life, or this earth; that all these temptations
must
be
endured, that we may receive what God has promised us for evermore; all this
they
know: when however the persecutor urges them more strenuously, and plies
them
with threats, penalties, tortures, at length they yield, and although they are
well
aware of their sin, yet they fall as it were by day.
8.
But why does he say, "at noon-day"? The persecution is very hot; and
thus the
noon
signifies the excessive heat .... The demon that is "in the
noon-day,"
represents
the heat of a furious persecution: for these are our Lord's words, "The
sun
was up; and because they had no root, they withered away:" and when
explaining
it, He applies it to those who are offended when persecution arises,
"Because
they have not root in themselves." We are therefore right in
understanding
by the demon that destroys in the noon-day, a violent persecution.
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Listen,
beloved, while I describe the persecution, from which the Lord has rescued
His
Church. At first, when the emperors and kings of the world imagined that they
could
extirpate from the earth the Christian name by persecution, they proclaimed,
that
any one who confessed himself a Christian, should be smitten. He who did not
choose
to be smitten, denied that he was a Christian, knowing the sin he was
committing:
the arrow that flies by day reached him. But whoever regarded not the
present
life, but had a sure trust in a future one, avoided the arrow, by confessing
himself
a Christian; smitten in the flesh, he was liberated in the spirit: resting with
God,
he began peacefully to await the redemption of his body in the resurrection
of
the dead: he escaped from that temptation, from the arrow that flies by day.
"Whoever
professes himself a Christian, let him be beheaded;" was as the arrow
that
flies by day. The "devil that is in the noon-day" was not yet abroad,
burning
with
a terrible persecution, and afflicting with great heat even the strong. For
hear
what
followed; when the enemy saw that many were hastening to martyrdom, and
that
the number of fresh converts increased in proportion to that of the sufferers,
they
said among themselves, We shall annihilate the human race, so many
thousands
are there who believe in His Name; if we kill all of them, there will
hardly
be a survivor on earth. The sun then began to blaze, and to glow with a
terrible
heat. Their first edict had been, Whoever shall confess himself a Christian,
let
him be smitten. Their second edict was, Whoever shall have confessed himself
a
Christian, let him be tortured, and tortured even until he deny himself a
Christian....
Many therefore who denied not, failed amid the tortures; for they were
tortured
until they denied. But to those who persevered in professing Christ, what
could
the sword do, by killing the body at one stroke, and sending the soul to God?
This
was the result of protracted tortures also: yet who could be found able to
resist
such cruel and continued torments? Many failed: those, I believe, who
presumed
upon themselves, who dwelt not under the defence of the Most High,
and
under the shadow of the God of Heaven; who said not to the Lord, "You are
my
lifter up:" who trusted not beneath the shadow of His wings, but reposed
much
confidence
in their own strength. They are thrown down by God, to show them
that
it is He that protects them, He overrules their temptations, He allows so much
only
to befall them, as each person can sustain.
9.
Many then fell before the demon of the noon-day. Would ye know how many?
He
goes on, and says, "A thousand shall fall beside you, and ten thousand at
your
right
hand; but it shall not come nigh you" (ver. 7). To whom, brethren, but to
Christ
Jesus, is this said? ... For the members, the body, and the head, are not
separate
from one another: the body and the head are the Church and her Saviour.
How
then is it said, "A thousand shall fall beside you, and ten thousand by
your
right
hand"? Because they shall fall before the devil, that destroys at noon. It
is a
terrible
thing, my brethren, to fall from beside Christ, from His right hand but how
shall
they fall from beside Him? Why the one beside Him, the other at His right
hand?
Why a thousand beside Him, ten thousand at His right hand? Why a
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thousand
beside Him? Because a thousand are fewer than the ten thousand who
shall
fall at His right hand. Who these are will soon be clear in Christ's name; for
to
some He promised that they should judge with Him, namely, to the Apostles,
who
left all things, and followed Him .... Those judges then are the heads of the
Church,
the perfect. To such He said, "If you will be perfect, go and sell that
you
have,
and give to the poor." Matthew 19:21 What means the expression, "if
you
will
be perfect"? it means, if you will judge with Me, and not be judged ....
Many
such
at that period, who had distributed their all to the poor, and already promised
themselves
a seat beside Christ in judgment of the nations, failed amid their
torments
under the blazing fire of persecution, as before the demon of the noon-
day,
and denied Christ. These are they who have fallen "beside" Him: when
about
to
sit with Christ for the judgment of the world, they fell.
10.
I will now explain who are they who fall on the right hand of Christ .... And
because
many have fallen from that hope of being judges, but yet many, many
more
from that of being on His right hand, the Psalmist thus addresses Christ,
"A
thousand
shall fall beside You, and ten thousand at Your right hand." And since
there
shall be many, who regarded not all these things, with whom, as it were with
His
own limbs, Christ is one, he adds, "But it shall not come nigh You."
Were
these
words addressed to the Head alone? Surely not; surely neither (does it come
nigh)
to Paul, nor Peter, nor all the Apostles, nor all the Martyrs, who failed not
in
their
torments. What then do the words, "it shall not come nigh," mean? Why
were
they
thus tortured? The torture came nigh the flesh, but it did not reach the region
of
faith. Their faith then was far beyond the reach of the terrors threatened by
their
torturers.
Let them torture, terror will not come nigh; let them torture, but they will
mock
the torture, putting their trust in Him who conquered before them, that the
rest
might conquer. And who conquer, except they who trust not in
themselves?
... Who will not fear? He who trusts not in himself, but in Christ. But
those
who trust in themselves, although they even hope to judge at the side of
Christ,
although they hoped they should be at His right hand, as if He said to them,
"Come,
you blessed of My Father," etc.; yet the devil that is at noon overtook
them,
the raging heat of persecution, terrifying with violence; and many fell from
the
hope of the seat of judgment, of whom it is said, "A thousand shall fall
beside
you;"
many too fell from the hope of reward for their duties, of whom it was said,
"And
ten thousand at your right hand." But this downfall and devil that is at
noon-
day
"shall not come nigh you," that is, the Head and the body; for the
Lord knows
who
are His. 2 Timothy 2:19
11.
"Nevertheless, with your eyes shall you behold, and see the reward of the
ungodly"
(ver. 8). What is this? Why "nevertheless"? Because the wicked were
allowed
to tyrannize over Your servants, and to persecute them. Will they then
have
been allowed to persecute Your servants with impunity? Not with impunity,
for
although You have permitted them, and Your own have thence received a
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brighter
crown, "nevertheless," etc. For the evil which they willed, not the
good
they
unconsciously were the agents of, will be recompensed them. All that is
wanting
is the eye of faith, by which we may see that they are raised for a time
only,
while they shall mourn for evermore; and to those into whose hands is given
temporal
power over the servants of God, it shall be said, "Depart into everlasting
fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels." Matthew 25:41 But if every man
have
but
eyes in the sense in which it is said, "With your eyes shall you
behold," it is no
unimportant
thing to look upon the wicked flourishing in this life, and to have an
eye
to him, to consider what will become of him in the end, if he fail to reform
his
ways:
for those who now would thunder upon others, will afterwards feel the
thunderbolt
themselves.
12.
"For Thou, Lord, art my hope" (ver. 9). He has now come to the power
Which
rescues
him from falling by the "downfall and the devil of the noon-day."
"For
Thou,
Lord, art my hope: You have set Your house of defence very high." What
do
the words "very high" mean? For many make their house of defence in
God a
mere
refuge from temporal persecution; but the defence of God is on high, and
very
secret, whither you may fly from the wrath to come. Within "You have set
your
house of defence very high. There shall no evil happen unto You: neither
shall
any plague come nigh Your dwelling" (ver. 10).
13.
The Holy City is not the Church of this country only, but of the whole world as
well:
not that of this age only, but from Abel himself down to those who shall to
the
end be born and believe in Christ, the whole assembly of the Saints, belonging
to
one city; which city is Christ's body, of which Christ is the Head. There, too,
dwell
the Angels, who are our fellow-citizens: we toil, because we are as yet
pilgrims:
while they within that city are awaiting our arrival. Letters have reached
us
too from that city, apart from which we are wandering: those letters are the
Scriptures,
which exhort us to live well. Why do I speak of letters only? The King
himself
descended, and became a path to us in our wanderings: that walking in
Him,
we may neither stray, nor faint nor fall among robbers, nor be caught in the
snares
that are set near our path. This character, then, we recognise in the whole
Person
of Christ, together with the Church .... He Himself is our Head, He is God,
co-equal
with the Father, the Word of God, by whom all things were made:
John
1:3 but God to create, Man to renew; God to make, Man to restore. Looking
upon
Him, then, let us hear the Psalm. Listen, beloved. This is the teaching and
doctrine
of this school, which may enable you to understand, not this Psalm only,
but
many, if you keep in mind this rule. Sometimes a Psalm, and all prophecy as
well,
in speaking of Christ, praises the Head alone, and sometimes from the Head
goes
to the Body, that is, the Church, and without apparently changing the Person
spoken
of: because the Head is not separate from the Body, and both are spoken of
as
one...
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14.
What then, my brethren, what is said of our Head? "For Thou, Lord, art my
hope,"
etc. Of this we have spoken, "for He has given His angels charge over You,
to
keep You in all Your ways" (ver. 11). You heard these words but now, when
the
Gospel
was being read; attend therefore. Our Lord, after He was baptized, fasted.
Why
was He baptized? That we might not scorn to be baptized. For when John
said
to our Lord, "Comest Thou to me to be baptized? I ought to be baptized by
You;"
and our Lord replied, "Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becomes us to
fulfil
all
righteousness;" Matthew 3:14-15 He wished to fulfil all humility, so that
He
should
be washed, who had no defilement .... Our Lord, then, was baptized, and
after
baptism He was tempted; He fasted forty days, a number which has, as I have
often
mentioned, a deep meaning. All things cannot be explained at once, lest
needful
time be too much taken up. After forty days He was an hungred. He could
have
fasted without ever feeling hunger; but then how could He be tempted? or
had
He not overcome the tempter, how couldest thou learn to struggle with him?
He
was hungry; and then the tempter said, "If Thou be the Son of God, command
that
these stones be made bread." Was it a great thing for our Lord Jesus
Christ to
make
bread out of stones, when He satisfied so many thousands with five loaves?
He
made bread out of nothing. For whence came that quantity of food, which
could
satisfy so many thousands? The sources of that bread are in the Lord's
hands.
This is nothing wonderful; for He Himself made out of five loaves bread
enough
for so many thousands, who also every day out of a few seeds raises up on
earth
immense harvests. These are the miracles of our Lord: but from their
constant
operation they are disregarded. What then, my brethren, was it impossible
for
the Lord to create bread out of stones? He made men even out of stones, in the
words
of John the Baptist himself, "God is able of these stones to raise up
children
unto
Abraham." Matthew 3:9 Why then did He not so? That he might teach you
how
to answer the tempter, so that if you were reduced to any straits and the
tempter
suggested, if you were a Christian and belonged to Christ, would He
desert
you now? ... Listen to our Lord: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but
by
every
word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." Do you think the word of God
bread?
If the Word of God, through which all things were made, was not bread, He
would
not say, "I am the bread which came down from heaven." John 6:41 You
have
therefore learned to answer the tempter, when pressed with hunger.
15.
What if he tempt you in these words: If you were a Christian, you would do
miracles,
as many Christians have done? Thou, deceived by a wicked suggestion,
wouldest
tempt the Lord your God, so as to say to Him, If I am a Christian, and
am
before Your eyes, and Thou dost account me at all in the number of Your own,
let
me also do something like the many works which Your Saints have done. You
have
tempted God, as if thou were not a Christian, unless you did this. Many who
desired
such things have fallen. For that Simon the sorcerer desired such gifts of
the
Apostles, when he wished to buy the Holy Spirit for money. Acts 8:18 He
loved
the power of working miracles, but loved not the imitation of
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humility
.... What then, if he tempt you thus, "work miracles"? that you may
not
tempt
God, what should you answer? What our Lord answered. The devil said to
Him,
"Cast Yourself down; for it is written, He shall give His Angels charge
concerning
You," etc. If You shall cast Yourself down, Angels shall receive You.
And
it might indeed, my brethren, happen, if our Lord had cast Himself down, the
attending
Angels would receive our Lord's flesh; but what does He say to him? "It
is
written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God." Deuteronomy 6:16
Thou
thinkest
Me a man. For the devil came to Him with this view, that he might try
whether
He were the Son of God. He saw His Flesh; but His might appeared in
His
works: the Angels had borne witness. He saw that He was mortal, so that he
might
tempt Him, that by Christ's temptation the Christian might be taught. What
then
is written? "You shall not tempt the Lord your God." Let us not then
tempt
the
Lord, so as to say, If we belong to You, let us work a miracle.
16.
Let us return to the words of the Psalm. "They shall bear You in their
hands,
lest
at any time Thou hurt Your foot against a stone" (ver. 12). Christ was
raised
up
in the hands of Angels, when He was taken up into heaven: not that, if Angels
had
not sustained Him, He would have fallen: but because they were attending on
their
King. Say not, Those who sustained Him are better than He who was
sustained.
Are then cattle better than men, because they sustain the weakness of
men?
And we ought not to speak thus either; for if the cattle withdraw their
support,
their riders fall. But how ought we to speak of it? For it is said even of
God,
"Heaven is My throne." Because then heaven supports Him, and God sits
thereon,
is therefore heaven the better? Thus also in this Psalm we may understand
it
of the service of the Angels: it does not pertain to any infirmity in our Lord,
but
to
the honour they pay, and to their service.... What the finger of God is, the
Gospel
explains to us; for the finger of God is the Holy Ghost. How do we prove
this?
Our Lord, when answering those who accused Him of casting out devils in
the
name of Beelzebub, says, "If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God;"
Matthew
12:28 and another Evangelist, in relating the same saying, says, "If I
with
the
finger of God cast out devils." Luke 11:20 What therefore is in one stated
clearly,
is darkly expressed in another. You did not know what was the finger of
God,
but another Evangelist explains it by terming it the Spirit of God. The Law
then
written by the finger of God was given on the fiftieth day after the slaughter
of
the lamb, and the Holy Ghost descended on the fiftieth day after the Passion of
our
Lord Jesus Christ. The Lamb was slain, the Passover was celebrated, the fifty
days
were completed, and the Law was given. But that Law was to cause fear, not
love:
but that fear might be changed into love, He who was truly righteous was
slain:
of whom that lamb whom the Jews were slaying was the type. He arose from
the
dead: and from the day of our Lord's Passover, as from that of the slaying of
the
Paschal lamb, fifty days are counted; and the Holy Ghost descended, now in
the
fulness of love, not in the punishment of fear. Acts 2:1-4 Why have I said
this?
For
this then our Lord arose, and was glorified, that He might send His Holy
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Spirit.
And I said long ago that this was so, because His head is in heaven, His feet
on
earth. If His head is in heaven, His feet on earth; what means our Lord's feet
on
earth?
Our Lord's saints on earth. Who are our Lord's feet? The Apostles sent
throughout
the whole world. Who are our Lord's feet? All the Evangelists, in
whom
our Lord travels over all nations .... We need not therefore wonder that our
Lord
was raised up to heaven by the hands of Angels, that His foot might not dash
against
a stone: lest those who on earth toiled in His body, while they were
travelling
over the whole world might become guilty of the Law, He took from
them
fear, and filled them with love. Through fear Peter thrice denied Him,
Matthew
26:69-75 for he had not yet received the Holy Ghost: afterwards, when
he
had received the Holy Spirit, he began to preach with confidence .... Our Lord
so
dealt with him, as if He said, thrice you have denied Me through fear: thrice
confess
Me through love. With that love and that charity He filled His disciples.
Why?
Because He has set His house of defence very high: because when glorified
He
sent the Holy Ghost, He released the faithful from the guilt of the Law, that
His
feet
might not dash against a stone.
17.
"Thou shall go upon the asp and the basilisk; the lion and the dragon
shall you
tread
under your feet" (ver. 13). You know who the serpent is, and how the
Church
treads upon him, as she is not conquered, because she is on her guard
against
his cunning. And after what manner he is a lion and a dragon, I believe you
know
also, beloved. The lion openly rages, the dragon lies secretly in covert: the
devil
has each of these forces and powers. When the Martyrs were being slain, it
was
the raging lion: when heretics are plotting, it is the dragon creeping beneath
us.
You have conquered the lion; conquer also the dragon: the lion has not crushed
you,
let not the dragon deceive you .... A few women in the Church have bodily
virginity:
but the virginity of the heart all the faithful have. In the very matter of
faith
he feared that the heart's virginity would be corrupted by the devil: and those
who
have lost it, are uselessly virgins in their bodies. What does a woman who is
corrupt
in heart preserve in her body? Thus a Catholic married woman is before a
virgin
heretic. For the first is not indeed a virgin in her body, but the second has
become
married in her heart; and married not unto God as her husband, but unto
the
dragon. But what shall the Church do? The basilisk is the king of serpents, as
the
devil is the king of wicked spirits.
18.
These are the words of God to the Church. "Because he has set his love in
me,
therefore
will I deliver him" (ver. 14). Not only therefore the Head, which now sits
in
heaven, because He has set His house of defence very high, to which no evil
shall
happen, neither shall any plague come nigh His dwelling; but we also who
are
toiling on earth, and are still living in temptations, whose steps are feared
for,
lest
they fall into snares, may hear the voice of the Lord our God consoling us, and
saying
to us, "Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him:
I
will
set him up, because he has known my name."
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19.
"He shall call upon me, and I will hear him: yea, I am with him in
trouble"
(ver.
15). Fear not when you are in trouble, as if the Lord were not with you. Let
faith
be with you, and God is with you in your trouble. There are waves on the sea,
and
you are tossed in your bark, because Christ sleeps. Christ slept in the ship,
while
the men were perishing. Matthew 8:24-25 If your faith sleep in your heart,
Christ
is as it were sleeping in your ship: because Christ dwells in you through
faith,
when you begin to be tossed, awake Christ sleeping: rouse up your faith, and
you
shall be assured that He deserts you not. But you think you are forsaken,
because
He rescues you not when you yourself dost wish. He delivered the Three
Children
from the fire? Daniel 3:29-30 Did He, who did this, desert the
Maccabees?
2 Maccabbees vii God forbid! He delivered both of these: the first
bodily,
that the faithless might be confounded; the last spiritually, that the faithful
might
imitate them. "I will deliver him, and bring him to honour."
20.
"With length of days will I satisfy him" (ver. 16). What is length of
days?
Eternal
life. Brethren, imagine not that length of days is spoken of in the same
sense
as days are said to be long in summer, short in winter. Hath he such days to
give
us? That length is one that has no end, eternal life, that is promised us in
long
days.
And truly, since this suffices, with reason he says, "will I satisfy
him." What
is
long in time, if it has an end, satisfies us not: for that reason it should not
be
even
called long. And if we are covetous, we ought to be covetous of eternal life:
long
for such a life, as has no end. Lo, a line in which our covetousness may be
extended.
Do you wish money without limit? Long for eternal life without limit.
Do
you wish that your possession may have no end? Seek for eternal life. "I
will
show
him my salvation." Nor is this, my brethren, to be briefly passed over.
"I will
show
him my salvation:" He means, I will show him Christ Himself. Why? Was
He
not seen on earth? What great thing has He to show us? But He did not appear
such
as we shall see Him. He appeared in that shape in which those who saw Him
crucified
Him: behold, those who saw Him, crucified Him: we have not seen Him,
yet
we have believed. They had eyes, have not we? yea, we too have the eyes of
the
heart: but, as yet we see through faith, not by sight. When will it be sight?
When
shall we, as the Apostle says, see Him "face to face"? 1 Corinthians
13:12
which
God promises us as the high reward of all our toils. Whatever you toil in,
you
toil for this purpose, that you may see Him. Some great thing it is we are to
see,
since all our reward is seeing; and our Lord Jesus Christ is that very great
sight.
He who appeared humble, will Himself appear great, and will rejoice us, as
He
is even now seen of His Angels .... Let us love and imitate Him: let us run
after
his
ointments, as is said in the Song of Solomon: "Because of the savour of
your
good
ointments, we will run after you." Song of Songs 1:3 For He came, and gave
forth
a savour that filled the world. Whence was that fragrance? From heaven.
Follow
then towards heaven, if thou do not answer falsely when it is said, "Lift
up
your
hearts," lift up your thoughts, your love, your hope: that it may not rot
upon
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777
the
earth.... "For wherever your treasure is, there will be your heart
also."
Matthew
6:21
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Psalm 92 778
Exposition
on Psalm 92
1.
...We are not Christians, except on account of a future life: let no one hope
for
present
blessings, let no one promise himself the happiness of the world, because
he
is a Christian: but let him use the happiness he has, as he may, in what manner
he
may, when he may, as far as he may. When it is present, let him give thanks for
the
consolation of God: when it is wanting, let him give thanks to the Divine
justice.
Let him always be grateful, never ungrateful: let him be grateful to his
Father,
who soothes and caresses him: and grateful to his Father when He chastens
him
with the scourge, and teaches him: for He ever loves, whether He caress or
threaten:
and let him say what you have heard in the Psalm: "It is a good thing to
give
thanks unto the Lord; and to sing praises unto Your Name, Thou Most
Highest"
(ver. 1).
2.
This Psalm is entitled, a Psalm to be sung on the Sabbath day. Lo, this day is
the
Sabbath,
which the Jews at this period observe by a kind of bodily rest, languid
and
luxurious. They abstain from labours, and give themselves up to trifles; and
though
God ordained the Sabbath, they spend it in actions which God forbids. Our
rest
is from evil works, theirs from good; for it is better to plough than to dance.
They
abstain from good, but not from trifling, works. God proclaims to us a
Sabbath.
What sort of Sabbath? First consider, where it is. It is in the heart, within
us;
for many are idle with their limbs, while they are disturbed in
conscience....
That very joy in the tranquillity of our hope, is our Sabbath. This is
the
subject of praise and of song in this Psalm, how a Christian man is in the
Sabbath
of his own heart, that is, in the quiet, tranquillity, and serenity of his
conscience,
undisturbed; hence he tells us here, whence men are wont to be
disturbed,
and he teaches you to keep Sabbath in your own heart.
3.
...Accuse yourself, and you receive indulgence. Besides, many do not accuse
Satan
but their fate. My fate led me, says one when you ask him, why did you do
it?
why did you sin? he replies, by my evil fate. Lest he should say, I did it; he
points
to God as the source of his sin: with his tongue he blasphemes. He says not
this
indeed openly as yet, but listen, and see that he says this. You ask of him,
what
is fate: and he replies, evil stars. You ask, who made, who appointed the
stars;
he can only answer, God. It follows, then, that whether he does so directly or
indirectly,
still he accuses God, and when God punishes sins, he makes God the
author
of his own sins. It cannot be that God punishes what He has wrought: He
punishes
what you do, that He may set free what He has wrought. But sometimes,
setting
aside everything else, they attack God directly: and when they sin, they
say,
God willed this; if God had not willed it, I should not have sinned. Does He
warn
you for this, that not only He may not be listened to, to keep you from sin,
but
even be accused because thou dost sin? What then does this Psalm teach us?
"It
is a good thing to confess unto the Lord." What is to confess unto the
Lord? In
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Psalm 92
779
both
cases: both in your sins, because you have done them; and in your good
works,
confess unto the Lord, because He has done them. Then shall you "sing
unto
the Name of God, the Most Highest:" seeking the glory of God, not your
own;
His Name, not yours. For if you seek the Name of God, He also seeks your
name;
but if you have neglected the Name of God, He also does blot out yours....
4.
"To tell of Your mercy early in the morning, and of Your truth in the
night
season"
(ver. 2). What is the meaning of this; that the mercy of God is to be told us
in
the morning, and in the night the truth of God? The morning is, when it is well
with
us; the night, the sadness of tribulation. What then did he say in brief? When
you
are prosperous, rejoice in God, for it is His mercy. Now, perhaps you would
say,
If I rejoice in God, when I am prosperous, because it is His mercy; what am I
to
do when I am in sorrow, in tribulation? It is His mercy, when I am prosperous;
is
it then His cruelty, when I am in adversity? If I praise His mercy when it is
well
with
me, am I then to exclaim against His cruelty when it is ill? No. But when it is
well,
praise His mercy: when ill, praise His truth: because He scourges sins, He is
not
unjust.... During the night Daniel confessed the truth of God: he said in his
prayer,
"We have sinned, and committed iniquity, and have done wickedly. O
Lord,
righteousness belongs unto You: but unto us confusion of face."
Daniel
9:5, 7 He told of the truth of God during the night-season. What is it to tell
of
the truth of God in the night-season? Not to accuse God, because you suffer
anything
of evil: but to attribute it to your sins, His correction: to tell of His
loving-kindness
early in the morning, and of His truth in the night-season. When
thou
doest this, thou dost always praise God, always confess to God, and sing unto
His
Name.
5.
"Upon a psaltery of ten strings, with a song, and upon the harp"
(ver. 3). You
have
not heard of the psaltery of ten strings for the first time: it signifies the
ten
commandments
of the Law. But we must sing upon that psaltery, and not carry it
only.
For even the Jews have the Law: but they carry it: they sing not.... "And
upon
the harp." This means, in word and deed; "with a song," in word;
"upon the
harp,"
in work. If you speak words alone, you have, as it were, the song only, and
not
the harp: if you work, and speakest not, you have the harp only. On this
account
both speak well and do well, if you would have the song together with the
harp.
6.
"For Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through Your works; and I will rejoice
in
giving
praise for the operations of Your hands" (ver. 4). You see what he says.
You
have made me living well, You have formed me: if by chance I do anything
of
good, I will rejoice in the work of Your hands: as the Apostle says, "For
we are
His
workmanship, created unto good works." Ephesians 2:10 For unless He
formed
you to good works, you would not know any works but evil.... Because
you
can not have truth from your own self, it remains that thou drink it thence,
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Psalm 92
780
whence
it flows: as if you have gone back from the light, you are in darkness: as a
stone
glows not with its own heat, but either from the sun or fire, and if thou
withdraw
it from the heat, it cools: there it appears, that the heat was not its own;
for
it became heated either by the sun or by fire: thus thou also, if thou withdraw
from
God, wilt become cold; if thou approach God, you will warm: as the Apostle
says
"fervent in spirit." Romans 12:11 Also what says he of the light? If
thou
approach
Him, you will be in light; therefore says the Psalm, "Look upon Him,
and
be lightened; and your faces shall not be ashamed." Because therefore you
can
do
no good, unless lightened by the light of God, and warmed by the spirit of God;
when
you shall see yourself working well, confess unto God, and say what the
Apostle
says; say unto yourself, that you be not puffed up, "For what have you
that
thou
did not receive?" 1 Corinthians 4:7...
7.
That wretched man who does good, and suffers evils, sees him, becomes
disturbed,
and says, O God, the wicked, I imagine, please You, and Thou hatest
the
good, and lovest those who work iniquity.... The Sabbath being now lost in the
inner
man, and the tranquillity of his heart being shut out, and good thoughts
repelled,
he now begins to imitate him whom he sees flourishing amid his evil
deeds;
and turns himself also to evil works. But God is long-suffering, because He
is
eternal, and he knows the day of His own judgment, where He weighs all things.
8.
Teaching us this, what says he? "O Lord, how glorious are Your works: Your
thoughts
are made very deep" (ver. 5). Verily, my brethren, there is no sea so deep
as
these thoughts of God, who makes the wicked flourish, and the good suffer:
nothing
so profound, nothing so deep: therein every unbelieving soul is wrecked,
in
that depth, in that profundity. Do you wish to cross this depth? Remove not
from
the wood of Christ's Cross: you shall not sink: hold yourself fast to Christ.
What
do I mean by this, hold fast to Christ? It was for this reason that He chose to
suffer
on earth Himself. You have heard, while the prophet was being read, how
He
"did not turn away His back from the smiters, and His face from the
spittings
of
men," how "He turned not His cheek from their hands;" Isaiah
50:6 wherefore
chose
He to suffer all these things, but that He might console the suffering? He
could
have raised His flesh at the last day: but then you would not have had your
ground
of hope, since you had not seen Him. He deferred not His resurrection, that
you
might not still be in doubt. Suffer then tribulation in the world with the same
end
as that which you have observed in Christ: and let not those who do evil, and
flourish
in this life, move you. "Your thoughts are very deep." Where is the
thought
of God? Rejoice not as the fish who is exulting in his bait: the fisherman
has
not drawn his hook: the fish has as yet the hook in his jaws. And what seems
to
you long, is short; all these things pass over quickly. What is the long life
of
man
to the eternity of God? Do you wish to be of long-suffering? Consider the
eternity
of God. For you regard your few days, and in your few days thou dost
wish
all things to be fulfilled. What things? The condemnation of all the wicked:
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Psalm 92 781
and
the crowning of all the good: do you wish these things to be fulfilled in your
days?
God fulfills them in His own time. Why do you suffer weariness? He is
eternal:
He waits: He is of long-suffering: but you say, I am not of long-suffering,
because
I am mortal. But you have it in your power to become so: join your heart
to
the eternity of God, and with Him you shall be eternal....
9.
For this reason, after saying, "Your thoughts are very deep," he at
once
subjoins:
"An unwise man does not well consider this, and a fool does not
understand
it" (ver. 6). What are the things which an unwise man does not well
consider,
and which a fool does not understand? "When the ungodly are green as
the
grass." What is, "as the grass"? They flourish when it is
winter, but they will
wither
in the summer. Thou observest the flower of the grass? What more quickly
passes
by? What is brighter? What is greener? Let not its verdure delight you, but
fear
its withering. You have heard of the ungodly being green as the grass: hear
also
of the righteous: "For lo." In the mean while, consider the ungodly;
they
flourish
as the grass; but who are they who understand it not? The foolish and
unwise.
"When the ungodly are green as the grass, and all men look upon the
workers
of iniquity" (ver. 7). All who in their heart think not aright of God,
look
upon
the ungodly when they are as green as grass, that is, when they flourish for a
time.
Why do they look upon them? "That they may be destroyed for ever."
For
they
regard their momentary bloom, they imitate them, and wishing to flourish
with
them for a time, perish for evermore: this is, "That they may be destroyed
for
ever."
10.
"But You, Lord, art the Most Highest for evermore" (ver. 8). Waiting
above in
Your
eternity until the season of the wicked be past, and that of the just come.
"For
lo." Listen, brethren. Already he who speaks (for he speaks in our person,
in
the
person of Christ's body, for Christ speaks in His own body, that is, in His
Church),
has joined himself unto the eternity of God: as I a little before was saying
unto
you, God is long-suffering and patient, and allows all those evil deeds which
He
sees to be done by wicked men. Wherefore? because He is eternal, and sees
what
He keeps for them. Do you also wish to be long-suffering and patient? Join
yourself
to the eternity of God: together with Him wait for those things which are
beneath
you: for when your heart shall have cleaved unto the Most Highest, all
mortal
things will be beneath you: say then what follows, "For lo, your enemies
shall
perish." Those who now flourish, shall afterwards perish. Who are the
enemies
of God? Brethren, perhaps ye think those only enemies of God who
blaspheme?
They indeed are so, and those wicked men who neither in tongue nor
in
thought cease to injure God. And what do they do to the eternal, most high
God?
If thou strike with your fist upon a pillar, you are hurt: and do you think
that
where
you strike God with your blasphemy, you are not yourself broken? for you
do
nothing to God. But the enemies of God are openly blasphemers, and daily they
are
found hidden. Beware of such enmities of God. For the Scripture reveals some
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Psalm 92
782
such
secret enemies of God: that because you know them not in your heart, you
may
know in God's Scriptures, and beware of being found with them. James says
openly
in his Epistle, "Do you not know that the friendship of the world is
enmity
with
God?" James 4:4 You have heard. Do you wish not to be an enemy of God?
Be
not a friend of this world: for if you are a friend of this world, you will be
an
enemy
of God. For as a wife cannot be an adulteress, unless she be an enemy to
her
own husband: so a soul which is an adulteress through its love of worldly
things,
cannot but be an enemy to God. It fears, but loves not: it fears punishment
but
is not delighted with righteousness. All lovers of the world, therefore, are
enemies
of God, all the curious after trifles, all consulters of diviners astrologers,
and
evil spirits. Let them enter, or not enter, Churches: they are enemies of God.
They
may flourish for a season like grass, but they will perish, when He begins to
visit
them, and pronounce His sentence upon all flesh. Join yourself to the
Scripture
of God, and say with this Psalm, "For lo, your enemies shall perish"
(ver.
9).
Be not found there, where they shall perish. "And all the workers of
iniquity
shall
be destroyed."
11.
... "But mine horn shall be exalted like the horn of an unicorn"
(ver. 10). Why
did
He say, "like the horn of an unicorn"? Sometimes an unicorn signifies
pride,
sometimes
it means the lifting up of unity; because unity is lifted up, all heresies
shall
perish with the enemies of God. And "mine horn shall be exalted like an
unicorn."
When will it be so? "And mine old age shall be in the fatness of
mercy."
Why
did he say, "my old age"? He means, my last days; as our old age is
the last
season
in our lives, so the whole of what the body of Christ at present suffers in
labours,
in cares, in watchings, in hunger, in thirst, in stumbling-blocks, in
wickednesses,
in tribulations, is its youth: its old age, that is, its last days, will be
in
joy. And beware, beloved, that you think not death meant also, in that he has
spoken
of old age: for man grows old in the flesh for this reason, that he may die.
The
old age of the Church will be white with good works, but it shall not decay
through
death. What the head of the old man is, that our works will be. You see
how
the head grows old, and whitens, as fast as old age approaches. Thou
sometimes
dost seek in the head of one who grows old duly in his own course a
black
hair, yet you find it not: thus when our life shall have been such, that the
blackness
of sins may be sought, and none found, that old age is youthful, is green,
and
ever will be green. You have heard of the grass of sinners, hear ye of the old
age
of the righteous: "My old age shall be in the fathers of mercy."
12.
"And My eye has beheld on mine enemies" (ver. 11). Whom does he call
his
enemies?
All the workers of iniquity. Do not observe whether your friend be
wicked:
let an occasion come, and then you prove him. Thou beginnest to go
contrary
to his iniquity, and then you shall see that when he was flattering you, he
was
your enemy; but you had not yet knocked, not to raise in his heart what was
not
there, but that what was there might break out. "My eye also has looked
upon
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Psalm 92
783
mine
enemies: and mine ear shall hear his desire of the wicked that rise up against
me."
When? In my old age. What is, in old age? In the last times. And what shall
our
ear hear? Standing on the right hand, we shall hear what shall be said to them
that
are on the left.
13.
The grass withers, the flower of sinners dies away: what of the righteous?
"The
righteous
shall flourish like a palm tree" (ver. 12). The ungodly are green as
grass;
"The
righteous shall flourish like a palm tree." By the palm tree he signifies
height.
Possibly he had also this meaning in the palm, that in its extremities it is
beautiful:
so that you may trace its beginning from the earth, its end in its topmost
branches,
wherein its whole beauty dwells. The rough root appears in the earth, the
beautiful
foliage toward the sky. Your beauty too, then, shall be in the end. Your
root
is fixed fast: but our root is upward. For our root is Christ, who has ascended
into
heaven. Humbled, he shall be exalted; "he shall spread abroad like a cedar
in
Libanus."
See what trees he spoke of: the righteous shall flourish like a palm-tree:
and
shall spread abroad like a cedar in Libanus. When the sun has gone forth, does
the
palm-tree wither? Doth the cedar die? But when the sun has been glowing for
some
hours, the grass dries up. The judgment, therefore, shall come, that sinners
may
wither, and the faithful flourish.
14.
"Such as are planted in the house of the Lord, shall flourish in the
courts of the
house
of our God" (ver. 12). "They shall be yet more increased in fruitful
old age,
and
shall be quiet, that they may show it forth" (ver. 13). Such is the
Sabbath,
which
but a little while ago I commended unto you, whence the Psalm has its title.
"They
shall be quiet, that they may show it forth." Wherefore are they quiet
that
show
it forth? The grass of sinners moves them not: the cedar and palm-tree not
even
in tempests are bent. They are therefore quiet, that they may show it forth:
and
with reason, since at present they must show it forth even unto men who mock
at
it. O wretched men, who are lovers of the world! Those who are planted in the
house
of the Lord, show it to you: those who praise the Lord with song and lute, in
word
and deed, show it forth to you, and tell you. Be not seduced by the prosperity
of
the wicked, admire not the flower of grass: admire not those who are happy
only
for a season, but miserable unto eternity .... If you wish to flourish like a
palm-tree,
and to spread abroad like a cedar in Libanus, and not to wither like
grass
when the sun is hot; as those who appear to flourish when the sun is absent.
If
then ye wish not to be as grass, but as the palm-tree and the cedar, what will
you
show
forth? "How true the Lord my strength is: and that there is no
unrighteousness
in Him." How is it there is no unrighteousness? A man commits
so
great crimes; he is well, he has sons, a plentiful house, he is full of pride,
is
exalted
by his honours, is revenged on his enemies, and does every evil deed;
another
man, innocent, attending to his own affairs, not robbing another's goods,
doing
nothing against any one, suffers in chains, in prison, tosses and sighs in
poverty.
How is it that there is no unrighteousness in Him? Be quiet, and you shall
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Psalm 92
784
know:
for you are disturbed, and in your chamber thou dost darken your light. The
eternal
God does wish to shine upon you: do not then make you cloudy weather
from
your own disturbed mind. Be quiet within yourself, and see what I say unto
you.
Because God is eternal, because for the present He spares the bad, bringing
them
to repentance: He scourges the good, instructing them in the way unto the
kingdom
of heaven: "There is no unrighteousness in Him:" fear not.... What,
if He
leaves
this man unpunished now, because he is doomed to hear, "Depart into
everlasting
fire." But when? when you shall be placed at the right hand, then shall
it
be said to those placed on the left, "Depart into the everlasting fire,
which is
prepared
for the devil and his angels." Let not therefore those things move you: Be
quiet,
keep Sabbath, and show "how true the Lord my strength is: and that there
is
no
unrighteousness in Him."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 93
785
Exposition
on Psalm 93
1.
...It is entitled, "The Song of praise of David himself, on the day before
the
Sabbath,
when the earth was founded." Remembering then what God did through
all
those days, when He made and ordained all things, from the first up to the
sixth
day
(for the seventh He sanctified, because He rested on that day after all the
works,
which He made very good), we find that He created on the sixth day
(which
day is here mentioned, in that he says, "before the Sabbath") all
animals on
the
earth; lastly, He on that very day created man in His own likeness and image.
For
these days were not without reason ordained in such order, but for that ages
also
were to run in a like course, before we rest in God. But then we rest if we do
good
works. As a type of this, it is written of God, "God rested on the seventh
day,"
when He had made all His works very good. For He was not wearied, so as
to
need rest, nor has He now left off to work, for our Lord Christ says openly,
"My
Father
works hitherto." John 5:17 For He says this unto the Jews, who thought
carnally
of God, and understood not that God works in quiet, and always works,
and
is always in quiet. We also, then, whom God willed then to figure in Himself,
shall
have rest after all good works .... And because these good works are doomed
to
pass away, that sixth day also, when those very good works are perfected, has
an
evening; but in the Sabbath we find no evening, because our rest shall have no
end:
for evening is put for end. As therefore God made man in His own image on
the
sixth day: thus we find that our Lord Jesus Christ came into the sixth age,
that
man
might be formed anew after the image of God. For the first period, as the first
day,
was from Adam until Noah: the second, as the second day, from Noah unto
Abraham:
the third, as the third day, from Abraham unto David: the fourth, as the
fourth
day, from David unto the removal to Babylon: the fifth period, as the fifth
day,
from the removal to Babylon unto the preaching of John. The sixth day
begins
from the preaching of John, and lasts unto the end: and after the end of the
sixth
day, we reach our rest. The sixth day, therefore, is even now passing. And it
is
now the sixth day, see what the title has; "On the day before the Sabbath,
when
the
earth was founded." Let us now listen to the Psalm itself: let us enquire
of it,
how
the earth was made, whether perhaps the earth was then made: and we do not
read
so in Genesis. When, therefore, was the earth founded? when, unless when
that
which has been but now read in the Apostle takes place: "If," he
says, "you are
steadfast,
immovable." 1 Corinthians 15:58 When all who believe throughout all
the
earth are steadfast in faith, the earth is founded: then man is made in the
image
of
God. That sixth day in Genesis signifies this....
2.
"The Lord reigns, He is clothed with beauty; the Lord is clothed with
strength,
and
is girded" (ver. 1). We see that He has clothed Himself with two things:
beauty
and strength. But why? That He might found the earth. So it follows, "He
has
made the round world so sure, that it cannot be moved." Whence has He made
it
so sure? Because He has clothed Himself in beauty. He would not make it so
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Psalm 93
786
sure,
if He put on beauty only, and not strength also. Why therefore beauty, why
strength?
For He has said both. You know, brethren, that when our Lord had come
in
the flesh, of those to whom He preached the Gospel, He pleased some, and
displeased
others. For the tongues of the Jews were divided against one another:
"Some
said, He is a good Man; others said, Nay, but He deceives the people."
John
7:12 Some then spoke well, others detracted from Him, tore Him, bit and
insulted
Him. Towards those therefore whom He pleased, "He put on beauty;"
towards
those whom He displeased, "He put on strength." Imitate then your
Lord,
that
you may become His garment: be with beauty towards those whom your good
works
please: show your strength against detractors....
3.
Perhaps we should enquire respecting this word also, why he said, "He is
girded."
Girding signifies work: for every man then girds himself, when he is
about
to work. But wherefore did he use the word prćcinctus, instead of cinctus?
For
he says in another Psalm, "Gird You with Your sword upon Your thigh, O
Thou
most mighty: the people shall fall under You:" using the word accingere,
not
cingere,
nor prćcingere: this word being applied to the act of attaching anything to
the
side by girding it. The sword of the Lord, wherewith He conquered the round
world
by killing iniquity, is the Spirit of God in the truth of the word of God.
Wherefore
is He said to bind His sword around His thigh? In another place, on
another
Psalm we have spoken in another manner of girding: but nevertheless,
since
it has been mentioned, it ought not to be passed over. What is the girding on
of
the sword around the thigh? He means the flesh by the thigh. For the Lord
would
not otherwise conquer the round world, unless the sword of truth came into
the
flesh. Why therefore is He here said to be girded in front (prćcinctus)? He who
girds
himself before, places something before himself, wherewith he is girded;
whence
it is said, He girded Himself before with a towel, and began to wash the
disciples'
feet. Because He was humble when He girded Himself with a towel. He
washed
the feet of His own disciples. But all strength is in humility: because all
pride
is fragile: therefore when He was speaking of strength, he added, "He is
girded:"
that you may remember how your God was girded in humility, when He
washed
His disciples' feet. John 13:4-15 ... After He had washed their feet, again
He
sat down; He said unto them, "You call me Lord and Master: and you say
well;
for
so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; how ought ye
also
to do to one another's feet?" If therefore strength is in humility, fear
not the
proud.
The humble are like a rock: the rock seems to lie downwards: but
nevertheless
it is firm. What are the proud? Like smoke: although they are lofty,
they
vanish. We ought therefore to ascribe our Lord's being girded to His humility,
according
to the mention of the Gospel, that He was girded, that He might wash
His
disciples' feet.
4.
..." For He has made the round world sure, which cannot be
moved."...What
then
is the round world, "which cannot be moved"? This He would not
mention
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Psalm 93
787
specially,
if there were not also a round world that can be moved. There is a round
world
that shall not be moved. There is a round world that shall be moved. For the
good
who are steadfast in the faith are the round world: that no man may say, they
are
only in part of it; while the wicked who abide not in faith, when they have
felt
any
tribulation, are throughout the whole world. There is therefore a round world
movable:
there is a world immovable: of which the Apostle speaks. Behold, the
round
world movable. I ask you, of whom speaks the Apostle in these words, "Of
whom
is Hymenćus and Philetus; who concerning the truth have erred, saying that
the
resurrection is past already: and overthrow the faith of some?" 2 Timothy
2:17-
19
Did these belong to the round world, that shall not be moved? But they were
chaff:
and as he says, "they overthrow the faith of some."...
"Nevertheless, the
foundation
of God stands sure; having his seal,"—what seal has it as its sure
foundation?—"
The Lord knows them that are His." This is the round world that
shall
not be moved; "The Lord knows them that are His." And what seal has
it?
"And
let every one that names the name of Christ depart from unrighteousness."
Let
him depart from unrighteousness: for he cannot depart from the unrighteous,
for
the chaff is mixed with the wheat until it is fanned....
5.
"Your throne is established from thence, O Lord" (ver. 2). What is,
"from
thence"?
From that time. As if he said, What is the throne of God? Where does
God
sit? In His Saints. Do you wish to be the throne of God? Prepare a place in
your
heart where He may sit. What is the throne of God, except where God
dwells?
Where does God dwell, except in His temple? What is His temple? Is it
surrounded
with walls? Far from it. Perhaps this world is His temple, because it is
very
great, and a thing worthy to contain God. It contains not Him by whom it was
made.
And wherein is He contained? In the quiet soul, in the righteous soul: that is
it
that contains Him .... He who said, "Before Abraham was, I am:" John
8:58 not
before
Abraham only, but before Adam: not only before Adam, but before all the
angels,
before heaven and earth; since all things were made through Him: he
added,
lest you, attending to the day of our Lord's nativity, might think He
commenced
from that time, "Your throne is established, O God." But what God?
"You
are from everlasting:" for which he uses ap ] aiwnoj, in the Greek version;
that
word being sometimes used for an age, sometimes for everlasting. Therefore,
O
Thou who seemest to be born "from thence," You are from everlasting!
But let
not
human birth be thought of, but Divine eternity. He began then from the time of
His
birth; He grew: Luke 2:40, 52 you have heard the Gospel. He chose disciples,
He
replenished them, His disciples began to preach. Perhaps this is what he speaks
of
in the following verse.
6.
"The floods lift up their voices" (ver. 3). What are these floods,
which have lift
up
their voices? We heard them not: neither when our Lord was born, did we hear
rivers
speak, nor when He was baptized, nor when He suffered; we heard not that
rivers
did speak. Read the Gospel, you find not that rivers spoke. It is not enough
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Psalm 93
788
that
they spoke: "They have lift up their voice:" they have not only
spoken, but
bravely,
mightily, in a lofty voice. What are those rivers which have
spoken?
... The Spirit itself was a mighty river, whence many rivers were filled. Of
that
river the Psalmist says in another passage, "The rivers of the flood
thereof
shall
make glad the city of God." Rivers then were made to flow from the belly
of
the
disciples, when they received the Holy Spirit: themselves were rivers, when
they
had received that Holy Spirit. Whence did those rivers lift their voices?
wherefore
did they lift them up? Because at first they feared. Peter was not yet a
river,
when at the question of the maid-servant he thrice denied Christ: "I do
not
know
the man." Matthew 26:69-74 Here he lies through fear: he lifts not his
voice
as
yet: he is not yet the river. But when they were filled with the Holy Spirit,
the
Jews
sent for them, and enjoined them not to preach at all, nor to teach in the name
of
Jesus .... For when the Apostles had been dismissed from the council of the
Jews,
they came to their own friends, and told them what the priests and elders
said
unto them: but they on hearing lifted up their voices with one accord unto the
Lord,
and said, "Lord, it is Thou who hast made heaven and earth, and the sea,
and
all
that in them is;" Acts 4:24 and the rest which floods lifting up their
voices
might
say, "Wonderful are the hangings of the sea" (ver. 4). For when the
disciples
had
lifted up their voices unto Him, many believed, and many received the Holy
Spirit,
and many rivers instead of few began to lift up their voice. Hence there
follows,
"from the voices of many waters, wonderful are the hangings of the
sea;"
that
is, the waves of the world. When Christ had begun to be preached by so
powerful
voices, the sea became enraged, persecutions began to thicken. When
therefore
the rivers had lift up their voice, "from the voices of many waters,
wonderful"
were "the hangings of the sea." To be hung aloft is to be lifted up;
when
the sea rages, the waves are hung as from above. Let the waves hang over as
they
choose; let the sea roar as it chooses; the hangings of the sea indeed are
mighty,
mighty are the threatenings, mighty the persecutions; but see what
follows:
"but yet the Lord, who dwells on high, is mightier." Let therefore
the sea
restrain
itself, and sometime become calmed; let peace be granted by Christians.
The
sea was disturbed, the vessel was tossed; the vessel is the Church: the sea,
the
world.
The Lord came, He walked over the sea, and calmed the waves. How did
the
Lord walk over the sea? Above the heads of those mighty foaming waves.
Principalities
and kings believed; they were subdued unto Christ. Let us not
therefore
be frightened; because "the Lord, who dwells on high, is mightier."
7.
"Your testimonies, O Lord, are very surely believed" (ver. 5). The
Lord, who
dwells
on high, is mightier than the mighty overhangings of the sea. "Your
testimonies
are very surely believed." "Your testimonies," because He had
said
beforehand,
"These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have
peace.
In the world you shall have tribulation."... He added, "but be of
good cheer,
I
have overcome the world." John 16:33 If then He says, "I have
overcome the
world,"
cling unto Him who overcame the world, who overcame the sea. Rejoice
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Psalm 93
789
in
Him, because the Lord, who dwells on high, is mightier, and, "Your
testimonies
are
very surely believed." And what is the end of all these? "Holiness
becomes
Your
house, O Lord!" Your house, the whole of Your house, not here and there:
but
the whole of Your house, throughout the whole world. Why throughout the
whole
of the round world? "Because He has set aright the round world, which
cannot
be moved." The Lord's house will be strong: it will prevail throughout the
whole
world: many shall fall: but that house stands; many shall be disturbed, but
that
house shall not be moved. Holiness becomes Your house, O Lord!" For a
short
time only? No. "Unto length of days."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 94
790
Exposition on Psalm 94
1.
As we listened with much attention, while the Psalm was in reading, so let us
listen
attentively, while the Lord reveals the mysteries which He has deigned to
obscure
in this passage. For some mysteries in the Scriptures are shut up for this
reason,
not that they may be denied, but that they may be opened unto those who
knock.
If therefore ye knock with affection of piety, and sincere heartfelt love, He,
who
sees from what motives ye knock, will open unto you. Matthew 7:7 It is
known
unto all of us (and I wish we may not be among their number), that may
murmur
against God's long-suffering, and grieve either that impious and wicked
men
live in this world, or that they have great power; and what is more, that the
bad
generally have great power against the good, and that the bad often oppress
the
good; that the wicked exult, while the good suffer; the evil are proud, while
the
good
are humbled. Observing such things in the human race (for they abound),
impatient
and weak minds are perverted, as if they were good in vain; since God
averts,
or seems to avert, His eyes from the good works of the pious and faithful,
and
to promote the wicked in those pleasures which they love. Weak men,
therefore,
imagining that they live well in vain, are induced either to imitate the
wickedness
of those whom they see flourishing: or if either through bodily or
mental
weakness they are deterred from doing wrong by a fear of the penal laws of
the
world; not because they love justice, but, to speak more openly, fearing the
condemnation
of men among men, they refrain indeed from wicked deeds, but
refrain
not from wicked thoughts. And among their wicked thoughts, the chief is
the
wickedness which leads them impiously to imagine that God is neglectful, and
regardless
of human affairs: and that He either holds in equal estimation the good
and
the wicked: or even, and this is a still more pernicious notion, that He
persecutes
the good, and favours the wicked. He who thinks thus, although he does
no
harm to any man, does the greatest to himself, and is impious against himself,
and
by his wickedness hurts not God, but slays himself....
2.
The Psalm has this title, that is, this inscription: "A Psalm of David
himself, on
the
fourth day of the week." This Psalm is about to teach patience in the
sufferings
of
the righteous: it enjoins patience against the prosperity of the wicked, and
builds
up patience. This is the drift of the whole of it, from beginning to end.
Wherefore
then has it such a title, "on the fourth of the week"? The first of
the
week
is the Lord's day: the second, is the second week-day, which people of the
world
call the Moon's day: the third, is the third weekday, which they term Mars'
day.
The fourth of the Sabbaths therefore is the fourth week-day, which by Pagans
is
styled Mercury's day, and also by many Christians; but I would not call it so:
and
I wish they would change for the better, and cease to do so; for they have a
phrase
of their own, which they may use. For these terms are not of universal use:
many
nations have severally different names for them: so that the mode of speech
used
by the Church better beseems the mouth of a Christian. Yet if custom has
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 94
791
induced
any person to utter that with his tongue which his heart does disapprove,
let
him remember, that all those whose names the stars bear were men, and that the
stars
did not commence their existence in the sky, when those men began theirs,
but
were there long before; but on account of some mortal services rendered unto
mortals,
those men in their own times, because they had great power, and were
eminent
in this life, since they were beloved by men, not on account of eternal life,
but
of temporal services, received divine honours. For then men of the old world,
in
being deceived and wishing to deceive, pointed to the stars in heaven, to
flatter
those
who had done them any good service in their affection for this life, saying,
that
that was the star of such a man, this of another; while the man who had not
beheld
them before, so as to see that those stars were there before the birth of the
man,
were deceived into a belief: and thus this vain opinion was conceived. This
erroneous
opinion the devil strengthened, Christ overthrew. According to our
mode
of speech, then, the fourth of the week is taken for the fourth day from the
Lord's
day. Attend, therefore, beloved, to what this title means. Here is a great
mystery,
and a truly hidden one .... Let us therefore recall from the holy Scripture
in
Genesis, what was created on the first day; we find light: what was created on
the
second day; we find the firmament, which God called heaven: what was
created
on the third day; we find the form of earth and sea, and their separation,
that
all the gathering together of the waters was called sea, and all that was dry,
the
earth.
On the fourth day, the Lord made the lights in heaven: Genesis 1:3-19 "The
sun
to rule the day: the moon and stars to govern the night:" this was the
work of
the
fourth day. What then is the reason that the Psalm has taken its title from the
fourth
day: the Psalm in which patience is enjoined against the prosperity of the
wicked,
and the sufferings of the good. Thou findest the Apostle Paul speaking.
"Do
all things without murmurings and disputings: that you may be blameless and
harmless,
the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse
nation,
among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of
life."
Philippians 2:14-16...
3.
Let us now attend to the Psalm. "The Lord is the God of vengeance; the God
of
vengeance
has dealt confidently" (ver. 1). Do you think that He does not punish?
"The
God of vengeance" punishes. What is, "The God of vengeance"? The
God of
punishments.
Thou murmurest surely because the bad are not punished: yet do not
murmur,
lest you be among those who are punished. That man has committed a
theft,
and lives: you murmur against God, because he who committed a theft on
you
dies not.... Therefore, if you would have another correct his hand, do thou first
correct
your tongue: you would have him correct his heart towards man, correct
your
heart towards God; lest perchance, when you desire the vengeance of God, if
it
come, it find you first. For He will come: He will come, and will judge those
who
continue in their wickedness, ungrateful for the prolongation of His mercy,
for
His long-suffering, treasuring up unto themselves wrath against the day of
wrath,
and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every
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Psalm 94
792
man
according to his deeds: Romans 2:4-6 because, "The Lord is the God of
vengeance,"
therefore has He "dealt confidently."... Our safety is our Saviour:
in
Him
He would place the hope of all the needy and poor. And what says He? "I
will
deal confidently in Him." What means this? He will not fear, will not
spare
the
lusts and vices of men. Truly, as a faithful physician, with the healing knife
of
preaching
in His hand, He has cut away all our wounded parts. Therefore such as
He
was prophesied and preached beforehand, such was He found .... How great
things
then did He, of whom it is said, "He taught them as one having
authority,"
say
unto them? "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" What
great
things
did He say unto them, before their face? He feared no one. Why? Because
He
is the God of vengeance. For this reason He spared them not in words, that
they
might remain for Him after to spare them in judgment; because if they were
unwilling
to accept the healing of His word, they would afterwards incur their
Judge's
doom. Wherefore? Because He has said, "The Lord is the God of
vengeance,
the God of vengeance has dealt confidently;" that is, He has spared no
man
in word. He who spared not in word when about to suffer, will He spare in
judgment
when about to judge? He who in His humility feared no man, will He
fear
any man in His glory? From His dealing thus confidently in time past,
imagine
how He will deal at the end of time. Murmur not then against God, who
seems
to spare the wicked; but be thou good, and perhaps for a season He may not
spare
you the rod, that He may in the end spare you in judgment....
4.
And what followed, because He dealt confidently? "Be exalted, Thou Judge
of
the
world" (ver. 2). Because they imprisoned Him when humble, do you think
they
will
imprison Him when exalted? Because they judged Him when mortal, will
they
not be judged by Him when immortal? What then says He? "Be exalted,"
Thou,
who hast dealt confidently, the confidence of whose word the wicked bore
not,
but thought they did a glorious deed, when they seized and crucified You;
they
who ought to have seized on You with faith, seized You with persecution.
Thou
then who hast among the wicked dealt confidently, and hast feared no man,
because
You have suffered, "be exalted;" that is, arise again, depart into
heaven.
Let
the Church also bear with long-suffering what the Church's Head has borne
with
long-suffering. "Be exalted, Thou Judge of the world: and reward the proud
after
their deserving." He will reward them, brethren. For what is this,
"Be exalted,
Thou
Judge of the world: and reward the proud after their deserving"? This is
the
prophecy
of one who does predict, not the boldness of one who commands. Not
because
the Prophet said, "Be exalted, Thou Judge of the world," did Christ
obey
the
Prophet, in arising from the dead, and ascending into heaven; but because
Christ
was to do this, the Prophet predicted it. He sees Christ abased in the spirit,
abased
he sees Him: fearing no man, in speech sparing no man, and he says, "He
has
dealt confidently." He sees how confidently He has dealt, he sees Him
arrested,
crucified, humbled, he sees Him rising from the dead, and ascending into
heaven,
and from thence to come in judgment of those, among whose hands He
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had
suffered every evil: "Be exalted," he says, "Thou Judge of the
world, and
reward
the proud after their deserving." The proud He will thus reward, not the
humble.
Who are the proud? Those to whom it is little to do evil: but they even
defend
their own sins. For on some of those who crucified Christ, miracles were
afterwards
performed, when out of the number of the Jews themselves there were
found
believers, and the blood of Christ was given unto them. Their hands were
impious,
and red with the blood of Christ. He whose blood they had shed, Himself
washed
them. They who had persecuted His mortal body which they had seen,
became
part of His very body, that is, the Church. They shed their own ransom,
that
they might drink their own ransom. For afterwards more were converted....
5.
"Lord, how long shall the ungodly, how long shall the ungodly triumph?"
(ver.
3).
"They answer, and will speak wickedness, they all will speak that work
unrighteousness"
(ver. 4). What is their saying, but against God, when they say:
What
profits it us that we live thus? What will you reply? Doth God truly regard
our
deeds? For because they live, they imagine that God knows not their actions.
Behold,
what evil happens unto them! If the officers knew where they were, they
would
arrest them; and they therefore avoid the officer's eyes, that they may
escape
instant apprehension; but no one can escape the eye of God, since He not
only
sees within the closet, but within the recesses of the heart. Even they
themselves
believe that nothing can escape God: and because they do evil, and are
conscious
of what they have done, and see that they live while God knows, though
they
would not live if the officer discovered them; they say unto themselves,
These
things please God: and, in truth, if they displeased Him, as they displease
kings,
as they displease judges, as they displease governors, as they displease
recorders,
yet could we escape the eye of God, as we do escape the eyes of those
authorities?
Therefore these things please God.... Some righteous man comes, and
says,
Do not commit iniquity. Wherefore? That you may not die. Behold, iniquity
I
have committed: why do I not die? That man wrought righteousness: and he is
dead:
why is he dead? I have wrought iniquity: why has not God carried me off?
Behold,
that man did righteously: and why has He thus visited him? why suffers
He
thus? They answer; this is the meaning of the word "answer:" for they
have a
reply
to make; because they are spared, from the long-suffering of God, they
discover
an argument for their reply. He spares them for one reason, they answer
for
another, because they still live. For the Apostle tells us wherefore He spares,
he
expounds the grounds of the long-suffering of God: "And do you think this,
O
man,
that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that you shall
escape
the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, and
forbearance,
and long-suffering; not knowing that the long-suffering of God leads
you
to repentance?" "But you," that is, he who answers and says, If
I displeased
God,
He would not spare me, hear what he works for himself; hear the Apostle;
"but
after your hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up into yourself wrath
against
the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who
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will
render to every man according to his deeds." Romans 2:5-6 He therefore
increases
His long-suffering, you increase your iniquity. His treasure will consist
in
eternal mercy towards those who have not despised His mercy; but your
treasure
will be discovered in wrath, and what thou daily layest up by little and
little,
you will find in the accumulated mass; you lay up by the grain, but you will
find
the whole heap. Omit not to watch your slightest daily sins: rivers are filled
from
the smallest drops.
6.
..."They have humbled Your people, O Lord; and have troubled Thine
heritage"
(ver.
5). "They have murdered the widow, and the fatherless: and slain the
proselyte"
(ver. 6); that is, the traveller, the pilgrim: the comer from far, as the
Psalmist
calls himself. Each of these expressions is too clear in meaning to make it
worth
while to dwell upon them.
7.
"And they have said, The Lord shall not see" (ver. 7): He observes
not, regards
not
these things: He cares for other matters, He understands not. These are the two
assertions
of the wicked: one which I have just quoted, "These things have you
done,
and I held my tongue, and you thought unrighteousness, that I will be like
yourself."
What means, "that I will be like yourself"? Thou thinkest that I see
your
deeds,
and that they are pleasing unto Me, because I do not punish them. There is
another
assertion of the wicked: because God neither regards these things, nor
observes
that He may know how I live, God heeds me not. Doth then God make
any
reckoning of me? or does He even take account of me? or of men in general?
Unhappy
man! He cared for you, that you might exist: does He not care that thou
live
well? Such then are the words of these last; "and yet they have said, The
Lord
shall
not see: neither shall the God of Jacob regard it."
8.
"Take heed now, you that are unwise among the people: O you fools, some
time
understand!"
(ver. 8). He teaches His people whose feet might slip: any one among
them
sees the prosperity of the wicked, himself living well among the Saints of
God,
that is, among the number of the sons of the Church: he sees that the wicked
flourish,
and work iniquity, he envies, and is led to follow them in their actions;
because
he sees that apparently it profits him nothing that he lives well in
humility,
hoping for his reward here. For if he hopes for it in future, he loses it not;
because
the time is not yet come for him to receive it. You are working in a
vineyard:
execute your task, and you shall receive your pay. You would not exact
it
from your employer, before your work was finished, and yet do you exact it
from
God before thou dost work? This patience is part of your work, and your pay
depends
upon your work: thou who dost not choose to be patient, choosest to work
less
upon the vineyard: since this act of patience belongs to your labouring itself,
which
is to gain your pay. But if you are treacherous, take care, lest you should not
only
not receive your pay, but also suffer punishment, because you have chosen to
be
a treacherous labourer. When such a labourer begins to do ill, he watches his
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employer's
eyes, who hired him for his vineyard, that he may loiter when his eye is
turned
away; but the moment his eyes are turned towards him, he works diligently.
But
God, who hired you, averts not His eyes: you can not work treacherously: the
eyes
of your Master are ever upon you: seek an opportunity to deceive Him, and
loiter
if you can. If then any of you had any such ideas, when you saw the wicked
flourishing,
and if such thoughts caused your feet to slip in the path of God; to you
this
Psalm speaks: but if perchance none of you be such, through you it does
address
others, in these words, "Take heed now;" since they had said,
"The Lord
shall
not see: neither shall the God of Jacob regard it." "Take heed,"
it says, "now,
you
that are unwise among the people: and you fools, some time understand!"
9.
"He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? or He that made the eye, does
He
not
consider?" (ver. 9) "or He that instructs the nations, shall He not
reprove?"
(ver.
10). This is what God is at present doing: He is instructing the nations: for
this
reason he sent His word to man throughout the world: He sent it by Angels, by
Patriarchs,
by Prophets, by servants, through so many heralds going before the
Judge.
He sent also His own Word Himself, He sent His own Son in Person: He
sent
the servants of His Son, and in these very servants His own Son. Throughout
the
world is everywhere preached the word of God. Where is it not said unto men,
Abandon
your former wickedness, and turn yourselves to right paths? He spares,
that
you may correct yourselves: He punished not yesterday, in order that today ye
may
live well. He teaches the heathen, shall He not therefore reprove? will He not
hear
those whom He teaches? will He not judge those to whom He has beforehand
sent
and sown lessons of warning? If you were in a school, would you receive a
task,
and not repeat it? When therefore you receive it from your master, you are
being
taught: the Master gives your task into your hands, and shall He not exact it
from
you when you come to repeat it? or when you have begun to repeat it, shall
you
not be in fear of stripes? At present then we are receiving our work:
afterwards
we are placed before the Master, that we may give up to Him all our
past
tasks, that is, that we may give an account of all those things which are now
being
bestowed upon us. Hear the Apostle's words: "We must all appear before the
judgment-seat
of Christ," etc. "It is He that teaches man knowledge." Doth He
not
know,
who makes you to know?
10.
"The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are but vain" (ver.
11). For
although
you know not the thoughts of God, that they are righteous; "He knows
the
thoughts of man, that they are but vain." Even men have known the thoughts
of
God:
but those to whom He has become a friend, it is to them He shows His
counsel.
Do not, brethren, despise yourselves: if you approach the Lord with faith,
you
hear the thoughts of God; these you are now learning, this is told you, and for
this
reason you are taught, why God spares the wicked in this life, that you may
not
murmur against God, who teaches man knowledge. "The Lord knows the
thoughts
of man, that they are but vain." Abandon therefore the thoughts of man,
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796
which
are vain: that you may take hold on the thoughts of God, which are wise.
But
who is he who takes hold on the thoughts of God? He who is placed in the
firmament
of heaven. We have already chanted that Psalm, and have expounded
this
expression therein.
11.
"Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O Lord: and teachest him from
Your
law" (ver. 12). Behold, you have the counsel of God, wherefore He spares
the
wicked: the pit is being dug for the sinner. You wish to bury him at once: the
pit
is as yet being dug for him: do not be in haste to bury him. What mean the
words,
"until the pit be dug up for the sinner"? or whom does He mean by
sinner?
One
man? No. Whom then? The whole race of such that are sinners? No; them
that
are proud; for he had said before, "Reward the proud after their
deserving."
For
that publican, who would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven, but
"smote
upon
his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner," Luke 18:13 was a
sinner;
but
since he was not proud, and since God will render a recompense to the proud;
the
pit is being dug not for him, but for them that are such, until He render a
recompense
to the proud. In the words then, "until the pit be dug up for the
ungodly,"
understand the proud. Who is the proud? He who does not by
confession
of his sins do penance, that he may be healed through his humility.
Who
is the proud? He who chooses to arrogate to himself those few good things
which
he seems to possess, and who does detract from the mercy of God. Who is
the
proud? He who although he does ascribe unto God his good works, yet insults
those
who do not those good works, and raises himself above them .... This then is
the
Christian doctrine: no man does anything well except by His grace. A man's
bad
acts are his own: his good he does of God's bounty. When he has begun to do
well,
let not him ascribe it unto himself: when he has not attributed it to himself,
let
him give thanks to Him from whom he has received it. But when he does well,
let
him not insult him who does not as he does nor exalt himself above him: for the
grace
of God is not stayed at him, so that it cannot reach another.
12.
"That You may give him patience in days of malice: until the pit be dug up
for
the
ungodly" (ver. 13). Have patience therefore every one, if you are a
Christian,
in
time of malice. Days of malice are those in which the ungodly appear to
flourish,
and the righteous to suffer; but the suffering of the righteous is the rod of
the
Father, and the prosperity of the ungodly is their own snare. For because God
gives
you patience in time of adversity, until the pit be dug up for the ungodly, do
not
think that the Angels are standing in some place with mattocks, and are
digging
that great pit which shall be able to contain the whole race of the ungodly;
and
because ye see that the wicked are many, and say unto yourselves carnally:
Truly
what pit can contain so great a multitude of the wicked, such a crowd of
sinners?
where is a pit of such dimensions, as to contain all, dug? when finished?
therefore
God spares them. This is not so: their very prosperity is the pit of the
wicked:
for into that shall they fall, as it were into a pitfall. Attend, brethren, for
it
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is
a great thing to know that prosperity is called a pitfall: "until the pit
be dug up
for
the ungodly." For God spares him whom He knows to be ungodly and impious,
in
His own hidden justice: and this very sparing of God, causes him to be puffed
up
through his impunity.... The proud man raises himself up against God: God
sinks
him: and he sinks by the very act of raising himself up against God. For in
another
Psalm he thus says, "You have cast them down, while they were being
exalted."
He said not, You have cast them down, because they were exalted; or,
You
have cast them down, after they were exalted; so that the period of their
exaltation
be one, of their casting down another: but in the very act of their
exaltation
were they cast down. For in proportion as the heart of man is proud, so
does
it recede from God; and if it recede from God, it sinks down into the deep.
On
the other hand, the humble heart brings God unto it from heaven, so that He
becomes
very near unto it. Surely God is lofty, God is above all the heavens, He
surpasses
all the Angels: how high must these be raised, to reach that exalted One?
Do
not burst yourself by enlarging yourself; I give you other advice, lest
perchance
in enlarging yourself thou burst, through pride: surely God is lofty: do
thou
humble yourself, and He will descend unto you.
13.
...Do thou rejoice beneath the scourge: because the heritage is kept for you,
"for
the Lord will not cast off His people" (ver. 14). He chastens for a
season, He
condemns
not for ever: the others He spares for a season, and will condemn them
for
evermore. Make your choice: do you wish temporary suffering, or eternal
punishment?
temporal happiness, or eternal life? What does God threaten? Eternal
punishment.
What does He promise? Eternal rest. His scourging the good, is
temporary:
His sparing the wicked, is also temporary. "Neither will He forsake His
inheritance."
14.
"Until righteousness," he says, "turn again unto judgment, and
all they that
have
it are right in heart" (ver. 15). Listen now, and gain righteousness: for
judgment
you can not yet have. You should gain righteousness first; but that very
righteousness
of yours shall turn unto judgment. The Apostles had righteousness
here
on earth, and bore with the wicked. But what is said unto them? "You shall
sit
on
twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Matthew 19:28 Their
righteousness
therefore shall turn unto judgment. For whoever is righteous in this
life,
is so for this reason, that he may endure evils with patience: let him suffer
patiently
the period of suffering, and the day of judging comes. But why do I
speak
of the servants of God? The Lord Himself, who is the Judge of all living and
dead,
first chose to be judged, and then to judge. Those who have righteousness at
present,
are not yet judges. For the first thing is to have righteousness, and
afterwards
to judge: He first endures the wicked, and afterwards judges them. Let
there
be righteousness now: afterwards it shall turn again unto judgment. And so
long
He endures wicked men, as God does will, as long as God's Church shall
endure
them, that she may be taught through their wickedness. Nevertheless, God
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will
not cast off His people, "all such as have it are right in heart."
Who are those
who
are right in heart? Those whose will is the will of God. He spares sinners:
thou
dost wish Him at once to destroy sinners. Your heart is crooked and your will
perverted,
when your will is one way and the will of God another. God wishes to
spare
sinners: thou dost not wish sinners spared. God is of long-suffering to
sinners:
thou dost not wish to endure sinners.... Wish not to bend the will of God
to
your will, but rather correct your will to His. The will of God is like a rule:
behold,
suppose, you have twisted the rule: whence can you be set straight? But
the
rule itself continues straight: for it is immutable. As long as the rule is
straight,
you
have whither to turn yourself, and straighten your perversity; you have a
means
of correcting what is crooked in you. But what do men will? It is not
enough
that their own will is crooked; they even wish to make the will of God
crooked
according to their own heart, that God may do what they themselves will,
when
they ought to do that which God wills....
15.
"Who will rise up for me against the wicked? or who will take my part
against
the
evil doers?" (ver. 16). Many persuade us to various evils: the serpent
ceases
not
to whisper to you to work iniquity: whichever way you shall turn, if perchance
you
have done well, you seek to live well with some one, and thou hardly findest
any
one; many wicked men surround you, for there are few grains of wheat, and
much
chaff. This floor has its grains of corn, but as yet they suffer. Therefore the
whole
mass of the wheat, when separated from the chaff, will be great: the grains
are
few, but when compared with the chaff, still many in themselves. When
therefore
the wicked cry out on every side, and say, Why do you live thus? Are
you
the only Christian? Why do you not do what others also do? Why do you not
frequent
the theatres, as others do? Why do you not use charms and amulets? Why
do
you not consult astrologers and soothsayers, even as others do? And thou
crossest
yourself, and sayest, I am Christian, that you may repel them, whosoever
they
are; but the enemy presses on, urges his attacks; what is worse, by the
example
of Christians he chokes Christians. They toil on, in the midst of heat: the
Christian
soul suffers tribulation: yet it has power to conquer: has it such power of
itself?
For this reason remark what he says. For he answers, What does it profit me
that
I now find charms for myself, and gain a few days? I depart hence from this
life,
and repair unto my Lord, who shall send me into the flames; because I have
preferred
a few days to life eternal, He shall send me into hell. What hell? That of
the
eternal judgment of God. Is it really so (the enemy answers), unless indeed
thou
really believest that God cares how men live? And perhaps it is not an
acquaintance
who speaks thus to you in the street, but your wife at home, or
possibly
the husband to the faithful and holy wife, her deceiver. If it be the woman
to
her husband, she is as Eve unto him; if as the husband unto the wife, he is as
the
devil
unto her: either she is herself as Eve unto you, or you are a serpent unto her.
Sometimes
the father would incline his thoughts to his son, and finds him wicked,
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799
utterly
depraved: he is in a fever of misery, he wavers, he seeks how to subdue
him,
he is almost drawn in, and consents: but may God be near him....
16.
"If the Lord," he says, "had not helped me: within a little my
soul had dwelt in
hell"
(ver. 17). I had almost plunged into that pit which is preparing for sinners:
that
is, my soul had dwelt in hell. Because he already began to waver, and nearly
to
consent, he looked back unto the Lord. Suppose, for example's sake, he was
insulted
to tempt him to iniquity. For sometimes the wicked flock together, and
insult
the good; especially if they are more in number, and if they have taken him
alone,
as there is often much chaff about one grain of wheat (though there will not
be
when the heap has been fanned); he is then taken among many wicked ones, is
insulted,
and surrounded; they wish to place themselves over him, they torment
him
and insult him for his very righteousness. A great Apostle! say they; You have
flown
into heaven, as Elias did! Men do these things, so that sometime, when he
listens
to the tongue of men, he is ashamed to be good among the wicked. Let him
therefore
resist the evil; but not of his own strength, lest he become proud, and
when
he wishes to escape the proud, himself increase their number....
17.
"If I said, My foot has slipt; Your mercy, O Lord, held me up" (ver.
18). See
how
God loves confession. Your foot has slipt, and you say not, my foot has slipt;
but
you say you are firm, when you are slipping. The moment you begin to slip or
waver,
confess thou that slip, that you may not bewail your total fall; that He may
help,
so that your soul be not in hell. God loves confession, loves humility. You
have
slipped, as a man; God helps you, nevertheless: yet say, "My foot has
slipt."
Why
do you slip, and yet sayest, I am firm? "When I said, My foot has slipt,
Your
mercy,
O Lord, has held me up." Just as Peter presumed, but not in strength of
his
own.
The Lord was seen to walk upon the sea, trampling on the heads of all the
proud
in this life. In walking upon the foaming waves, He figured His own course
when
He tramples on the heads of the proud. The Church too does trample upon
them:
for Peter is the Church Herself. Nevertheless, Peter dared not by himself
walk
upon the waters; but what said he? "Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto
You
on the water." Matthew 14:28 He in His own power, Peter by His order;
"bid
me,"
he says, "come unto You." He answered, "Come." For the
Church also
tramples
on the heads of the proud; but since it is the Church, and has human
weakness,
that these words might be fulfilled, "If I said, My foot has slipt,"
Peter
tottered
on the sea, and cried out, "Lord, save me!" Matthew 14:30 and so what
is
here
put, "If I said, My foot has slipt," is put there, "Lord, I
perish." And what is
here,
"Your mercy, O Lord, has held me up," is there put, "And
immediately Jesus
stretched
forth His hand, saying, O thou of little faith, wherefore did you doubt?"
Matthew
14:31 It is wonderful how God proves men: our very dangers render Him
who
rescues us sweeter unto us. For see what follows: because he said, "If I
said,
My
foot has slipt, Your mercy, O Lord, has held me up." The Lord has become
especially
sweet unto him, in rescuing him from danger; and thus speaking of this
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800
very
sweetness of the Lord, he exclaims and says, "O Lord, in the multitude of
the
sorrows
that I had in my heart, Your comforts have refreshed my soul" (ver. 19).
Many
sorrows, but many consolations: bitter wounds, and sweet remedies.
18.
"Will You have anything to do with the stool of iniquity, who makest
sorrow
in
learning?" (ver. 20). He has said this, No wicked man sits with You, nor
shall
Thou
have anything to do with the stool of iniquity. And he gives an account
whereof
he understands this, "For Thou makest sorrow in learning." For from
this,
because
You have not spared us, do I understand that You have nothing to do with
the
stool of iniquity. You have this in the Epistle of the Apostle Peter, and for
this
reason
he has adduced a testimony from the Scripture: "for the time is
come," he
says,
"that judgment must begin at the house of God;" that is, the time is
come for
the
judgment of those who belong to the house of God. If sons are scourged, what
must
the most wicked slaves expect? For which reason he added: "And if it first
begin
at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God?" To
which
he added this testimony: "For if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall
the
ungodly and sinner appear?" 1 Peter 4:17-18 How then shall the wicked be
with
You, if Thou dost not even spare Your faithful, in order that You may
exercise
and teach them? Proverbs 11:31 But as He spares them not, for this
reason,
that He may teach them: he says, "For Thou makest sorrow in
learning."
"Makest,"
that is, formest: from whence comes the word figulus (from fingo), and
a
potter's vessel is called fictile: not in the meaning of fiction, a falsehood,
but of
forming
so as to give anything being and some sort of form; as before he said, "He
that
fabricated (finxit) the eye, shall He not see?" Is that, "fabricated
the eye" a
falsehood?
Nay, it is understood He fashioned the eye, made the eye. And is He
not
a potter when He makes men frail, weak, earthly? Hear the Apostle: "We
have
this
treasure in earthen vessels." 2 Corinthians 4:7 ... Behold our Lord
Himself,
how
He shows Himself a potter. Romans 4:20-21 Because He had made man of
clay,
He anointed him with clay, for whom He had not made eyes in the womb.
And
so when he says, "Have You anything to do," etc., he says, out of
grief
makest
learning for us, so that grief itself becomes our instruction. How is sorrow
our
learning? When He scourges you who died for you, and who does not promise
bliss
in this life, and who cannot deceive, and when He gives not here what you
seek.
What will He give? when will He give? how much will He give, who gives
not
here, who here teaches, who makes sorrow in learning? Your labour is here,
and
rest is promised you. You take thought that you have toil here: but take
thought
what sort of rest He promises. Can you conceive it? If you could, you
would
see that your toil here is nothing toward an equivalent....
19.
Attend, brethren; it is for sale. What I have is for sale, says God unto you,
buy
it.
What has He for sale? I have rest for sale; buy it by your toil. Attend, that
we
may
be in Christ's name brave Christians: the remainder of the Psalm is but a
little,
let
us not be weary. For how can he be strong in doing, who fails in hearing? The
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Lord
will help us to expound unto you the remainder. Attend then: God has, as it
were,
proclaimed the kingdom of heaven for sale. You say unto Him, What is its
value?
The price is toil: if He were to say, its price is gold, it would not suffice
to
say
this only, but you would seek to know how much gold; for there is a mass of
gold,
and half an ounce, and a pound, and the like. He said "price," that
you might
not
be at pains to inquire, how long you should find it. The price of the commodity
is
toil: how much toil is it? Now seek how much you should toil for it. You are
not
as
yet told how great that toil is doomed to be, or how much toil is required of
you:
God says this unto you, I show you how great that rest will be; do thou judge
with
what measure of toil it should be bought.
20.
...He promised rest: suffer trouble. He threatens eternal fire; despise
temporal
pains:
and while Christ does watch, let your heart be calmed, that you also may
reach
the harbour. For He would not fail to prepare a harbour, who provided a
vessel.
"Have You anything to do with the stool of iniquity, Thou who makest
sorrow
in learning?" He tries us with the wicked, and by their persecution He
teaches
us. By means of the malice of the wicked the good is scourged, through
the
slave the son is chastened: thus is learning taught by sorrow. What God allows
them
power to do, that do wicked men, whom He spares for a season, do.
21.
For what follows? "They will be captious against the soul of the
righteous"
(ver.
21). Why will they be captious? Because they can find no true ground of
accusation.
For how were they captious against our Lord? They made up false
accusations,
Matthew 26:59 because they could not find true ones. "And will
condemn
the innocent blood." Why all this takes place, he will show in the sequel.
22.
"And the Lord is become my refuge" (ver. 22), he says. You would not
seek
such
a refuge, if thou were not in danger: but you have therefore been in danger,
that
you might seek for it: for He teaches us by sorrow. He causes me tribulation
from
the malice of the wicked: pricked with that tribulation, I begin to seek a
refuge
which I had ceased to seek for in that worldly prosperity. For who, that is
always
prosperous, and rejoices in present hopes, finds it easy to remember God?
Let
the hope of this life give way, and the hope of God advance; that you may say,
"And
the Lord is become my refuge:" may I sorrow for this end that the Lord may
become
my refuge! "And my God the help of my hope." For as yet the Lord is
our
hope,
since as long as we are here, we are in hope, and not in possession. But lest
we
fail in hope, there is near us a provision to encourage us, and to mitigate
those
very
evils which we suffer. For it is not said in vain, "God is faithful, who
will not
suffer
you to be tempted above that you are able: but will with the temptation also
make
a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it:" 1 Corinthians 10:13 who
will
so put us into that furnace of tribulation, that the vessel may be hardened,
but
not
broken. "And the Lord is become my refuge: and my God the help of my
hope."
Why then did He seem to you to be as it were unjust, in that He spares the
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802
evil?
See then how the Psalm is now set right, and be thou set right together with
the
Psalm: for, for this reason the Psalm contained your words. What words?
"Lord,
how long shall the ungodly, how long shall the ungodly triumph?" The
Psalm
just now used your words: use therefore yourself the Psalm's words in your
turn.
23.
"And the Lord shall recompense them according to their works, and after
their
own
malice; the Lord our God shall destroy them" (ver. 23). The words,
"after
their
own malice," are not said without meaning. I am benefited through them:
and
yet
it is said to be their malice, and not their benefits. For assuredly He tries
us,
scourges
us, by means of the wicked. To prepare us for what does He scourge us?
Confessedly
for the kingdom of heaven. "For He scourges every son whom He
receives;
for what son is he whom the father chastens not?" Hebrews 12:7 and
when
God does this, He is teaching us in order to an eternal heritage: and this
learning
He often gives us by means of wicked men, through whom He tries and
perfects
our love, which He does will to be extended even to our enemies.... Thus
also
they who persecuted the Martyrs, by persecuting them on earth, sent them
into
heaven: knowingly they caused them the loss of the present life, while
unconsciously
they were bestowing upon them the gain of a future life: but,
nevertheless,
unto all who persevered in their wicked hatred of the righteous, will
God
recompense after their own iniquities, and in their own malice will He destroy
them.
For as the goodness of the righteous is hurtful unto the wicked, so is the
iniquity
of the wicked beneficial unto the righteous....
24.
Let therefore the righteous bear with the ungodly; let the temporal suffering
of
the
righteous bear with the temporal impunity of the wicked; for "the just
shall live
by
faith." Romans 1:17 For there is no righteousness of man in this life
except to
live
by faith, "which works by love." Galatians 5:6 But if he lives by
faith, let him
believe
both that he will himself inherit rest after his present toil, and that they
will
suffer
eternal torments after their present exultation. And if faith works by love,
let
him
love his enemies also, and, as far as in him lies, have the will to profit
them;
for
thus he will prevent their injuring him when they have the will. And whenever
perchance
they have received power to hurt and tyrannize; let him lift his heart
above,
where no man hurts him, well taught and chastened in the law of God, that
he
may "have patience given him in the days of adversity, until the pit be
dug up
for
the ungodly."...
25.
This I say, brethren, that you may profit from what you have heard, and
ruminate
within yourselves: permit not yourselves to forget, not only by thinking
over
again upon these subjects, and discoursing upon them, but also by so living.
For
a good life which is led after God's commands, is like a pen, because it is
heard
writing in our hearts. If it were written on wax, it would easily be blotted
out:
write it in your hearts, in your character, and it shall never be blotted out.
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Psalm 95
803
Exposition
on Psalm 95
1.
I could wish, brethren, that we were rather listening to our father: but even
this
is
a good thing, to obey our father. Since therefore he who deigns to pray for us,
has
ordered us, I will speak unto you, beloved, what from the present Psalm Jesus
Christ
our common Lord shall deign to give us. Now the title of the Psalm is
"David's
Song of praise." The "Song of praise" signifies both
cheerfulness, in that
it
is a song; and devotion, for it is praise. For what ought a man to praise more
than
that which pleases him so, that it is impossible that it can displease him? In
the
praising of God therefore we praise with security. There he who praises is
safe,
where
he fears not lest he be ashamed for the object of his praise. Let us therefore
both
praise and sing; that is, let us praise with cheerfulness and joy. But what we
are
about to praise, this Psalm in the following verses shows us.
2.
"O come, let us sing unto the Lord" (ver. 1). He calls us to a great
banquet of
joy,
not one of this world, but in the Lord. For if there were not in this life a
wicked
joy which is to be distinguished from a righteous joy, it would be enough
to
say, "Come, let us rejoice;" but he has briefly distinguished it.
What is it to
rejoice
aright? To rejoice in the Lord. You should piously joy in the Lord, if thou
dost
wish safely to trample upon the world. But what is the word, "Come"?
Whence
does He call them to come, with whom he wishes to rejoice in the Lord;
except
that, while they are afar, they may by coming draw nearer, by drawing
nearer
they may approach, and by approaching rejoice? But whence are they afar?
Can
a man be locally distant from Him who is everywhere? ... It is not by place,
but
by being unlike Him, that a man is afar from God. What is to be unlike Him? it
means,
a bad life, bad habits; for if by good habits we approach God, by bad habits
we
recede from God.... If therefore by unlikeness we recede from God, by likeness
we
approach unto God. What likeness? That after which we were created, which
by
sinning we had corrupted in ourselves, which we have received again through
the
remission of sins, which is renewed in us in the mind within, that it may be
engraved
a second time as if on coin, that is, the image of our God upon our soul,
and
that we may return to His treasures....
3.
"Let us make a joyful noise unto God, our salvation."... Consider,
beloved, those
who
make a joyful noise in any ordinary songs, as in a sort of competition of
worldly
joy; and you see them while reciting the written lines bursting forth with a
joy,
that the tongue suffices not to express the measure of; how they shout,
indicating
by that utterance the feeling of the mind, which cannot in words express
what
is conceived in the heart. If they then in earthly joy make a joyful noise;
might
we not do so from heavenly joy, which truly we cannot express in words?
4.
"Let us prevent His face by confession" (ver. 2). Confession has a
double
meaning
in Scripture. There is a confession of him who praises, there is that of
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804
him
who groans. The confession of praise pertains to the honour of Him who is
praised:
the confession of groaning to the repentance of him who confesses. For
men
confess when they praise God: they confess when they accuse themselves;
and
the tongue has no more worthy use. Truly, I believe these to be the very vows,
of
which he speaks in another Psalm: "I will pay You my vows, which I
distinguished
with my lips." Nothing is more elevated than that distinguishing,
nothing
is so necessary both to understand and to do. How then do you distinguish
the
vows which you pay unto God? By praising Him, by accusing yourself;
because
it is His mercy, to forgive us our sins. For if He chose to deal with us after
our
deserts, He would find cause only to condemn. "O come," he said
therefore,
that
we may at last go back from our sins, and that He may not cast up with us our
accounts
for the past; but that as it were a new account may be commenced, all the
bonds
of our debts having been burnt .... The more therefore you despaired of
yourself
on account of your iniquities, do thou confess your sins; for so much
greater
is the praise of Him who forgives, as is the fulness of the penitent's
confession
more abundant. Let us not therefore imagine that we have receded from
the
song of praise, in understanding here that confession by which we
acknowledge
our transgressions: this is even a part of the song of praise; for when
we
confess our sins, we praise the glory of God.
5.
"And make a joyful noise unto Him with Psalms." We have already said
what it
is
"to make a joyful noise:" the word is repeated, that it may be
confirmed by the
act:
the very repetition is an exhortation. For we have not forgotten, so as to wish
to
be again admonished what was said above, that we should make a joyful noise:
but
usually in passages of strong feeling a well-known word is repeated, not to
make
it more familiar, but that the very repetition may strengthen the impression
made:
for it is repeated that we may understand the feeling of the speaker .... Hear
now:
"For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods" (ver. 3)
"For
the
Lord will not cast off His people." Praise be unto Him, and shouts of joy
be
unto
Him! What people shall He not cast off? we have no right to make our own
explanation
here: for the Apostle has prescribed this unto us, he has explained
whereof
it is said. For this was the Jewish people, the people where were the
prophets,
the people where were the patriarchs, the people begotten according to
the
flesh from the seed of Abraham; the people in which all the mysteries which
promised
our Saviour preceded us; the people among whom was instituted the
temple,
the anointing, the Priest for a figure, that when all these shadows were
past,
the Light itself might come; this therefore was the people of God; to it were
the
prophets sent, in it those who were sent were born; to it were delivered and
entrusted
the revelations of God. What then? is the whole of that people
condemned?
far be it. It is called the good olive-tree by the Apostle, for it
commenced
with the patriarchs.... This then is the tree itself: though some of its
boughs
have been broken, yet all have not. For if all the boughs were broken,
whence
is Peter? whence John? whence Thomas? whence Matthew? whence
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Psalm 95
805
Andrew?
whence are all those Apostles? whence that very Apostle Paul who was
speaking
to us but now, and by his own fruit bearing witness to the good olive?
Were
not all these of that people? Whence also those five hundred brethren to
whom
our Lord appeared after His resurrection? 1 Corinthians 15:6 Whence were
so
many thousands at the words of Peter (when the Apostles, filled with the Holy
Spirit,
spoke with the tongues of all nations Acts 2:4) converted with such zeal for
the
honour of God and their own accusation, that they who first shed the Lord's
blood
in their rage, learned how to drink it now that they believed? And all these
five
thousand were so converted that they sold their own property, and laid the
price
of it at the Apostles' feet. That which one rich man did not do, when he heard
from
the Lord's mouth, and sorrowfully departed from Him, Matthew 19:21-22
this
so many thousands of those men by whose hands Christ had been crucified,
did
on a sudden. In proportion as the wound was deeper in their own hearts, with
the
greater eagerness did they seek for a physician. Since therefore all these were
from
thence, the Psalm says of them, "For the Lord will not cast off His
people."...
6.
What does the Psalm add? "In His hand are all the corners of the
earth" (ver. 4):
we
recognise the corner stone: the corner stone is Christ. There cannot be a
corner,
unless
it has united in itself two walls: they come from different sides to one
corner,
but they are not opposed to each other in the corner. The circumcision
comes
from one side: the uncircumcision from the other; in Christ both peoples
have
met together: because He has become the stone, of which it is written,
"The
stone
which the builders rejected, has become the head of the corner."...
7.
"For the sea is His and He made it" (ver. 5). For the sea is this
world, but God
made
also the sea: nor can the waves rage save only so far as to the shore, where
He
has marked their bounds. There is therefore no temptation, that has not
received
its measure...."And His hands prepared the dry land." Be thou the dry
land:
thirst for the grace of God: that as a sweet shower it may come upon you,
may
find in you fruit. He allows not the waves to cover what He has sown. "And
His
hands prepared the dry land." Hence also therefore let us shout unto the
Lord.
8.
"O come, let us worship, and fall down to Him; and mourn before the Lord
our
Maker"
(ver. 6) .... Perhaps you are burning with the consciousness of a fault; blot
out
with tears the flame of your sin: mourn before the Lord: fearlessly mourn
before
the Lord, who made you; for He despises not the work of His own hands in
you.
Think not you can be restored by yourself. By yourself you may fall off, you
can
not restore yourself: He who made you restores you. "Let us mourn before
the
Lord
our Maker:" weep before Him, confess unto Him, prevent His face in
confession.
For who are you who mournest before Him, and confessest unto Him,
but
one whom He created? The thing created has no slight confidence in Him who
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Psalm 95
806
created
it, and that in no indifferent fashion, but according to His own image and
likeness.
9.
"For He is the Lord our God" (ver. 7). But that we may without fear
fall down
and
kneel before Him, what are we? "We are the people of His pasture, and the
sheep
of His hand." See how elegantly he has transposed the order of the words,
and
as it were not given its own attribute to each word; that we may understand
these
very same to be the sheep, who are also the people. He said not, the sheep of
His
pasture, and the people of His hand; which might be thought more congruous,
since
the sheep belong to the pasture; but He said, "the people of His
pasture." The
people
are therefore sheep, since he says, "the people of His pasture:" the
people
themselves
are sheep .... He praises these sheep also in the Song of Solomon,
speaking
of some perfect ones as the teeth of His Spouse the Holy Church: "Your
teeth
are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which come up from the
washing;
whereof every one bears twins, and there is none barren." What means,
"Your
teeth"? These by whom you speak, for the teeth of the Church are those
through
whom she speaks. Of what sort are your teeth? "Like a flock of sheep that
are
shorn." Why, "that are shorn"? Because they have laid aside the
burdens of the
world.
Were not those sheep, of which I was a little before speaking, shorn, whom
the
bidding of God had shorn, when He says, "Go and sell that you have, and
give
to
the poor; and you shall find treasure in heaven: and come and follow Me"?
Matthew
19:21 They performed this bidding: shorn they came. And because those
who
believe in Christ are baptized, what is there said? "which come up from
the
washing;"
that is, come up from the cleansing. "Whereof every one bears twins."
What
twins? Those two commandments, wherefrom hang all the Law and the
Prophets.
Matthew 22:40
10.
Therefore, "Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts"
(ver. 8).
O
my people, the people of God! God addresses His people: not only the people of
His
which He shall not cast off, but also all His people. For He speaks in the
corner
stone Ephesians 2:20 to each wall: that is, prophecy speaks in Christ, both
to
the people of the Jews, and the people of the Gentiles. For some time ye heard
His
voice through Moses, and hardened your hearts. He then, when you hardened
your
hearts, spoke through a herald; He now speaks by Himself, let your hearts
soften.
He who used to send heralds before Him, has now deigned to come
Himself;
He here speaks by His own mouth, He who used to speak by the mouths
of
the Prophets.
11.
"As in the provocation, and in the day of temptation in the wilderness,
where
your
fathers proved Me" (ver. 9). Let such be no more your fathers: imitate
them
not.
They were your fathers, but if you do not imitate them, they shall not be your
fathers:
yet as you were born of them, they were your fathers. And if the heathen
who
came from the ends of the earth, in the words of Jeremias, "The Gentiles
shall
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Psalm 95 807
come
unto You from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our forefathers
have
inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit:" if the
heathen
forsook
their idols, to come to the God of Israel; ought Israel whom their own God
led
from Egypt through the Red Sea, Exodus 14:21-22 wherein He overwhelmed
their
pursuing foes; whom He led out into the wilderness, fed with manna,
Exodus
16:13-35 never took His rod from correcting them, never deprived them of
the
blessings of His mercy; ought they to desert their own God, when the heathen
have
come unto Him? "When your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and saw My
works....
12.
"Forty years long was I very near unto this generation, and said, It is a
people
that
do always err in their hearts; for they have not known My ways" (ver. 10).
The
forty years have the same meaning as the word "always." For that
number
forty
indicates the fulness of ages, as if the ages were perfected in this number.
Hence
our Lord fasted forty days, forty days He was tempted in the desert,
Matthew
4:1-11 and forty days He was with His disciples after His resurrection.
Acts
1:3 On the first forty days He showed us temptation, on the latter forty days
consolation:
since beyond doubt when we are tempted we are consoled. For His
body,
that is, the Church, must needs suffer temptations in this world: but that
Comforter,
who said, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,"
Matthew
28:20 is not wanting. For this was I with them forty years, to show such a
race
of men, which alway provokes Me, even unto the end of the world: because
by
those forty years He meant to signify the whole of this world's duration.
13.
...We began with exulting joy: but this Psalm has ended with great fear:
"Unto
whom
I sware in My wrath, that they should not enter into My rest" (ver. 11).
It is
a
great thing for God to speak: how much greater for Him to swear? You should
fear
a man when he swears, lest he do somewhat on account of his oath against his
will:
how much more should you fear God, when He swears, seeing He can swear
nought
rashly? He chose the act of swearing for a confirmation. And by whom
does
God swear? By Himself: for He has no greater by whom to swear.
Hebrews
6:13 By Himself He confirms His promises: by Himself He confirms His
threats.
Let no man say in his heart, His promise is true; His threat is false: as His
promise
is true, so is His threat sure. You ought to be equally assured of rest, of
happiness,
of eternity, of immortality, if you have executed His commandments;
as
of destruction, of the burning of eternal fire, of damnation with the devil, if
you
have
despised His commandments....
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Psalm 96
808
Exposition
on Psalm 96
1.
My lord and brother Severus still defers the pleasure we shall feel in his
discourse,
which he owes us; for he acknowledges, that he is held a debtor. For all
the
Churches through which he has passed, by his tongue the lord has gladdened:
much
more therefore ought that Church to be rejoiced, out of which the Lord has
propagated
his preaching among the rest. But what shall we do, but obey his will?
I
said, however, brethren, that he deferred, not that he defrauded us. Therefore
let
us
keep him as a debtor bound, and release him not until he has paid. Attend
therefore,
beloved: as far as the Lord allows, let us say somewhat of this Psalm,
which
indeed you already know; for the fresh mention of truth is sweet. Possibly
when
its title was pronounced, some heard it with wonder. For the Psalm is
inscribed:
"When the house was being built after the Captivity." This title
having
been
prefixed, you were perhaps expecting in the text of the Psalm to hear what
stones
were hewn from the mountains, what masses were drawn to the spot, what
foundations
were laid, what beams were placed on high, what columns raised. Its
song
is of nothing of this kind .... It is no such house that is in building; for
behold
where
it is built, not in one spot, not in any particular region. For thus he
begins:—
2.
"O sing unto the Lord a new song; sing unto the Lord, all the earth"
(ver. 1). If
all
the earth sings a new song, it is thus building while it sings: the very act of
singing
is building: but only, if it sings not the old song. The lust of the flesh
sings
the
old song: the love of God sings the new .... Hear why it is a new song: the
Lord
says,
"A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another."
John
15:12 The whole earth then sings a new song: there the house of God is built.
All
the earth is the house of God. If all the earth is the house of God, he who
clings
not to all the earth, is a ruin, not a house; that old ruin whose shadow that
ancient
temple represented. For there what was old was destroyed, that what was
new
might be built up .... The Apostle binds us together into this very structure,
and
fastens us when bound together in that unity, saying, "Forbearing one
another
in
love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
Ephesians
4:2-3 Where there is this unity of Spirit, there is one stone; but one
stone
formed out of many. How one formed out of many? By forbearing one
another
in love. Therefore the house of the Lord our God is in building; it is this
that
is being wrought, for this are these words, for this these readings, for this
the
preaching
of the Gospel over the whole world; as yet it is in building. This house
has
increased greatly, and filled many nations: nevertheless, it has not yet
prevailed
through all nations: by its increase it has held many, and will prevail
over
all: and it is gainsaid by those who boast of their being of its household, and
who
say, it has already lost ground. It still increases, still all those nations
which
have
not yet believed are destined to believe; that no man may say, will that
tongue
believe? will the barbarians believe? what is the meaning of the Holy Spirit
having
appeared in the fiery tongues, Acts 2:3 except that there is no tongue so
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Psalm 96
809
hard
that it cannot be softened by that fire? For we know that many barbarous
nations
have already believed in Christ: Christ already possesses regions where the
Roman
empire has never yet reached; what is as yet closed to those who fight with
the
sword, is not closed to Him who fights with wood. For "the Lord has
reigned
from
the wood." Who is it who fights with wood? Christ. With His cross He has
vanquished
kings, and fixed upon their forehead, when vanquished, that very
cross;
and they glory in it, for in it is their salvation. This is the work which is
being
wrought, thus the house increases, thus it is building: and that you may
know,
hear the following verses of the Psalm: see them labouring upon, and
constructing
the house. "O sing unto the Lord all the earth."
3.
"Sing unto the Lord, bless His Name: be telling good tidings of His
salvation
from
day to day" (ver. 2). How does the building increase? "Be
telling," he says,
"good
tidings of His salvation from day to day." Let it be preached from day to
day;
from day to day, he says, let it be built; let My house, says God, increase.
And
as if it were said by the workmen, Where dost Thou command it to be built?
Where
dost You will Your house to increase? Choose for us some level, spacious
spot,
if Thou wish an ample house built You. Where dost Thou bid us be telling
good
tidings from day to day? He shows the place: "Declare His honour unto the
heathen:"
His honour, not yours. O you builders, "Declare His honour unto the
heathen."
Should ye choose to declare your own honour, you shall fall: if His, you
shall
be built up, while you are building. Therefore they who choose to declare
their
own honour, have refused to dwell in that house; and therefore they sing not
a
new song with all the earth. For they do not share it with the whole round
world;
and
hence they are not building in the house, but have erected a whited wall. How
sternly
does God threaten the whited wall? Ezekiel 13:10 There are innumerable
testimonies
of the Prophets, whence He curses the whited wall. What is the whited
wall,
save hypocrisy, that is, pretence? Without it is bright, within it is dirt ....
A
certain
person, speaking of this whited wall, said thus: "as, if in a wall which
stands
alone, and is not connected with any other walls, you make a door, whoever
enters,
is out of doors; so in that part which has refused to sing the new song
together
with the house, but has chosen to build a wall, and that a whited one, and
not
solid, what avails it that it has a door?" If you enter, you are found to
be
without.
For because they themselves did not enter by the door, their door also
does
not admit them within. For the Lord says, "I am the door: by Me they enter
in."
John 10:9... "Declare His honour unto the heathen." What is, unto the
heathen?
Perhaps by nations but a few are meant: and that part which has raised
the
whited wall has still somewhat to say: why are not Getulia, Numidia,
Mauritania,
Byzacium, nations? Provinces are nations. Let the word of God take
the
word from hypocrisy, from the whited wall, building up the house over the
whole
world. It is not enough to say, "Declare His honour unto the
heathen;" that
you
may not think any nations excepted, he adds, "and His wonders unto all
people."
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810
4.
"For the Lord is great, and cannot worthily be praised" (ver. 4).
What Lord,
except
Jesus Christ, "is great, and cannot worthily be praised"? You know
surely
that
He appeared as a Man: ye know surely that He was conceived in a woman's
womb,
you know that He was born from the womb, that He was suckled, that He
was
carried in arms, circumcised, that a victim was offered for Him, that He grew;
lastly,
you know that He was buffeted, spit upon, crowned with thorns, was
crucified,
died, was pierced with a spear; ye know that He suffered all these
things:
"He is great, and cannot worthily be praised." Despise not what is
little,
understand
what is great. He became little, because ye were such: let Him be
acknowledged
great, and in Him you shall be great .... For what can a small tongue
say
towards the praise of the Great One? By saying, Beyond praise, he has spoken,
and
has given to imagination what it may conceive: as if saying, What I cannot
utter,
do thou reflect on; and when you shall have reflected, it will not be enough.
What
no man's thought utters, does any man's tongue utter? "The Lord is great,
and
cannot worthily be praised." Let Him be praised, and preached: His honour
declared,
and His house built.
5.
...For the spot where he wished to build the house, is itself woody, where it
was
said
yesterday, "we found it in the wood." For he was seeking that very
house,
when
he said, "in the wood." And why is that spot woody? Men used to
worship
images:
it is not wonderful that they fed hogs. For that son who left his father, and
spent
his all on harlots, living as a prodigal, used to feed hogs, Luke 15:12-15 that
is,
to worship devils; and by this very superstition of the heathen, all the earth
became
a wood. But he who builds a house, roots up the wood; and for this reason
it
was said, "While the house was being built, after the captivity." For
men were
held
captive under the devil, and served devils; but they were redeemed from
captivity.
They could sell, but they could not redeem themselves. The Redeemer
came,
and gave a price; He poured forth His Blood, and bought the whole world.
You
ask what He bought? You see what He has given; find out then what He
bought.
The Blood of Christ was the price. What is equal to this? What, but the
whole
world? What, but all nations? They are very ungrateful for their price, or
very
proud, who say that the price is so small that it bought the Africans only; or
that
they are so great, as that it was given for them alone. Let them not then
exult,
let
them not be proud: He gave what He gave for the whole world. He knew what
He
bought, because He knew at what price He bought it. Thus because we are
redeemed,
the house is built after the captivity. And who are they who held us in
captivity?
Because they to whom it is said, "Declare His honour," are the
clearers
of
the wood: that they may root out the wood, free the earth from captivity, and
build,
and raise up, by declaring the greatness of the Lord's house. How is the
wood
of devils cleared away, unless He who is above them all be preached? All
nations
then had devils for their gods: those whom they called gods, were devils,
as
the Apostle more openly says, "The things which the Gentiles sacrifice,
they
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Psalm 96
811
sacrifice
unto devils, and not to God." 1 Corinthians 10:20 Since therefore they
were
in captivity, because they sacrificed to devils, and on that account the whole
earth
had remained woody; He is declared to be great, and above all worldly
praise.
6.
...For when he had said, "He is more to be feared than all gods:" he
added, "As
for
all the gods of the heathen, they are devils."... Because "all the
gods of the
heathen
are devils." And is this all the praise of Him who cannot worthily be
praised,
that He is above all the gods of the heathen, which are devils? Wait, and
hear
what follows: "It is the Lord that made the heavens." Not above all
gods only
therefore,
but above all the heavens which He made, is the Lord. If he were to say,
"above
all gods, for the gods of the heathen are devils," and if the praise of
our
Lord
stopped here, he had said less than we are accustomed to think of Christ; but
when
he said, "But it is the Lord that made the heavens;" see what
difference there
is
between the heavens and devils: and what between the heavens and Him who
made
the heavens; behold how exalted is the Lord. He said not, But the Lord sits
above
the heavens; for perhaps some one else might be imagined to have made
them,
upon which He was enthroned: but, "It is the Lord that made the
heavens."
If
He made the heavens, He made the Angels also: Himself made the Angels,
Himself
made the Apostles. The devils yielded to the Apostles: but the Apostles
themselves
were heavens, who bore the Lord .... O heavens, which He made,
declare
His honour unto the heathen! Let His house be built throughout the earth,
let
all the earth sing a new song.
7.
"Confession and beauty are before Him" (ver. 6). Do you love beauty?
Wishest
thou
to be beautiful? Confess! He said not, beauty and confession, but confession
and
beauty. You were foul; confess, that you may be fair: you were a sinner;
confess,
that you may be righteous. You could deform yourself: you can not make
yourself
beautiful. But of what sort is our Betrothed, who has loved one deformed,
that
he might make her fair? How, says some one, loved He one deformed? "I
came
not," said He, "to call the righteous, but sinners." Matthew
9:13 Whom
callest
Thou? sinners, that they may remain sinners? No, says He. And by what
means
will they cease to be sinners? "Confession and beauty are before
Him."
They
honour Him by confession of their sins, they vomit the evils which they had
greedily
devoured; they return not to their vomit, like the unclean dog;
2
Peter 2:22 and there will then be confession and beauty: we love beauty; let us
first
choose confession, that beauty may follow. Again, there is one who loves
power
and greatness: he wishes to be great as the Angels are. There is a certain
greatness
in the Angels; and such power, that if the Angels exert it to the full, it
cannot
be withstood. And every man desires the power of the Angels, but their
righteousness
every man loves not. First love righteousness, and power shall
follow
you. For what follows here? "Holiness and greatness are in His
sanctification."
You were before seeking for greatness: first love righteousness:
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Psalm 96 812
when
you are righteous, you shall also be great. For if thou preposterously dost
wish
first to be great, you fall before you can rise: for thou dost not rise, you
are
raised
up. Thou risest better, if He raise you who falls not. For He who falls not
descends
unto you: you had fallen: He descends, He has stretched forth His hand
unto
you; you can not rise by your own strength, embrace the hand of Him who
descends,
that you may be raised up by the Strong One.
8.
What then? If "confession and beauty are before Him: holiness and
greatness in
His
sanctification" (ver. 7). This we declare, when we are building the house;
behold,
it is already declared unto the heathen; what ought the heathen to do, to
whom
those who have cleared away the wood have declared the Lord's honour?
He
now says to the heathen themselves, "Ascribe unto the Lord, O you kindreds
of
the
people: ascribe unto the Lord worship and honour." Ascribe them not unto
yourselves:
because they also who have declared it unto you, have not declared
their
own, but His honour. Do ye then "ascribe unto the Lord worship and
honour;"
and say, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us: but unto Your Name give the
praise."
Put not your trust in man. If each of you is baptized, let him say: He
baptizes
me, of whom the friend of the Bridegroom said, "He baptizes with the
Holy
Ghost." For when you say this, you ascribe unto the Lord worship and
honour:
"Ascribe unto the Lord worship and honour."
9.
"Ascribe unto the Lord glory unto His Name" (ver. 8). Not unto the
name of
man,
not unto your own name, but unto His ascribe worship.... Confession is a
present
unto God. O heathen, if you will enter into His courts, enter not empty.
"Bring
presents." What presents shall we bring with us? The sacrifice of God is a
troubled
spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, "O God, shall not Thou
despise."
Enter
with an humble heart into the house of God, and you have entered with a
present.
But if you are proud, you enter empty. For whence would you be proud, if
thou
were not empty? For if you were full, you would not be puffed up. How
couldest
thou be full? If thou were to bring a present, which you should carry to
the
courts of the Lord. Let us not retain you much longer: let us run over what
remains.
Behold the house increasing: behold the edifice pervade the whole world.
Rejoice,
because you have entered into the courts; rejoice, because you are being
built
into the temple of God. For those who enter are themselves built up, they
themselves
are the house of God: He is the inhabitor, for whom the house is built
over
the whole world, and this "after the captivity." "Bring
presents, and come into
His
courts."
10.
"O worship the Lord in His holy court" (ver. 9): in the Catholic
Church; this is
His
holy court. Let no man say, "Lo, here is Christ, or there. For there shall
arise
false
prophets." Matthew 24:23-24 Say this unto them, "There shall not be
left
here
one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." You are calling me
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Psalm 96
813
to
the whited wall; I adore my God in His holy court. "Let the whole earth be
moved
before His face."
11.
"Tell it out among the nations, that the Lord reigns from the wood: and
that it
is
He who has made the round world so fast that it cannot be moved" (ver.
10).
What
testimonies of the building of the house of God! The clouds of heaven
thunder
out throughout the world that God's house is being built; and the frogs cry
from
the marsh, We alone are Christians. What testimonies do I bring forward?
That
of the Psalter. I bring forward what you sing as one deaf: open your ears; you
sing
this; you sing with me, and you agree not with me; your tongue sounds what
mine
does, and yet your heart disagrees with mine. Do you not sing this? Behold
the
testimonies of the whole world: "Let the whole earth be moved before His
face:"
and do you say, that you are not moved? "Tell it out among the heathen,
that
the
Lord has reigned from the wood." Shall men perchance prevail here, and say
they
reign by wood, because they reign by means of the clubs of their bandits?
Reign
by the Cross of Christ, if you are to reign by wood. For this wood of yours
makes
you wooden: the wood of Christ passes you across the sea. You hear the
Psalm
saying, "He has set aright the round world, that it cannot be moved;"
and
you
say it has not only been moved since it was made fast, but has also decreased.
Do
you speak the truth, and the Psalmist falsehood? Do the false prophets, when
they
cry out, "Lo, here is Christ, and there," Matthew 24:23 speak truth;
and does
this
Prophet lie? Brethren, against these most open words ye hear in the corners
rumours
like these; "such an one was a traditor," and, "such an one was
a traditor."
What
do you say? Are your words, or the words of God, to be heard? For, "it is
He
who
has set aright the round world, that it cannot be moved." I show unto you
the
round
world built: bring your present, and come into the courts of the Lord. You
have
no presents: and on that account you are not willing to enter. What is this? If
God
were to appoint unto you a bull, goat, or ram, for a present, you would find
one
to bring: He has appointed a humble heart, and you will not enter; for you find
not
this in yourself, because you are swollen with pride. "He has set aright
the
round
world, that it cannot be moved: and He shall judge the people
righteously."
Then
shall they mourn, who now refuse to love righteousness.
12.
"Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad" (ver. 11). Let
the heavens,
which
declare the glory of God, rejoice; let the heavens rejoice, which the Lord
made;
let the earth be glad, which the heavens rain upon. For the heavens are the
preachers,
the earth the listeners. "Let the sea be stirred up, and the fulness
thereof."
What sea? The world. The sea has been stirred up, and the fulness
thereof:
the whole world was roused up against the Church, while it was being
extended
and built over all the earth. Concerning this stirring up, you have heard
in
the Gospel, "They shall deliver you up to councils." Mark 13:9
"The sea was
stirred
up: but how should the sea ever conquer Him who made it?
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Psalm 96 814
13.
"The plains shall be joyful, and all things that are in them" (ver.
12). All the
meek,
all the gentle, all the righteous, are the "plains" of God.
"Then shall all the
trees
of the woods rejoice." The trees of the woods are the heathen. Why do they
rejoice?
Because they were cut off from the wild olive, and engraffed into the
good
olive. Romans 11:17 "Then shall all the trees of the woods rejoice:"
because
huge
cedars and cypresses have been cut down, and undecaying timbers have been
bought
for the building of the house. They were trees of the woods; but before
they
were sent to the building: they were trees of the woods, but before they
produced
the olive.
14.
"Before the face of the Lord. For He comes, for He comes to judge the
world"
(ver.
13). He came at first, and will come again. He first came in His Church in
clouds.
What are the clouds which bore Him? The Apostles who preached,
respecting
whom you have heard, when the Epistle was being read: "We are
ambassadors,"
he says, "for Christ: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled
to
God." 2 Corinthians 5:20 These are the clouds in whom He comes, excepting
His
last Advent, when He will come to judge the quick and the dead. He came first
in
the clouds. This was His first voice which sounded forth in the Gospel:
"From
this
time shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds." Mark 13:26 What
is,
"from this time"? Will not the Lord come in later times, when all the
tribes of
the
earth shall mourn? He first came in His own preachers, and filled the whole
round
world. Let us not resist His first coming, that we may not tremble at His
second.
"But woe to them that are with child, and that give suck in those
days!"
Mark
13:17 You have heard but now in the Gospel: "Take ye heed, for you know
not
at what hour He comes." Mark 13:33 This is said figuratively. Who are
those
with
child, and who give suck? Those who are with child, are the souls whose
hope
is in the world: but those who have gained what they hoped for, are meant by
"they
who give suck." For example: one wishes to buy a country seat; he is with
child,
for his object is not gained as yet, the womb swells in hope: he buys it; he
has
brought forth, he now gives suck to what he has bought. "Woe to them that
are
with
child, and that give suck in those days!" Woe to those who put their hope
in
the
world; woe to them that cling to those things which they brought forth through
hope
in the world. What then should the Christian do? He should use, not serve,
the
world. 1 Corinthians 7:29-32 What is this? Those that have as those that have
not....
He who is without carefulness, waits without fear for his Lord's coming. For
what
sort of love is it of Christ, to fear lest He come? Brethren, are we not
ashamed?
We love Him, and yet we fear lest He come. Are we sure that we love
Him?
or do we love our sins more? Therefore let us hate our sins for their own
sake,
and love Him who will come to punish our sins. He will come, whether we
like
or not: for because He comes not just now, it is no reason that He will not
come
at all. He will come, and when you know not; and if He shall find you ready,
your
ignorance is no hurt to you. "Then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
before
the Lord; for He comes:" at His first coming. And what afterwards?
"For
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Psalm 96 815
He
comes to judge the earth. And all the trees of the woods shall rejoice."
He came
first:
and later to judge the earth: He shall find those rejoicing who believed in His
first
coming, "for He comes."
15.
"For with righteousness shall He judge the world:" not a part of it,
for He
bought
not a part: He will judge the whole, for it was the whole of which He paid
the
price. You have heard the Gospel, where it says, that when He comes, "He
shall
gather together His elect from the four winds." Mark 13:27 He gathers all
His
elect
from the four winds: therefore from the whole world. For Adam himself (this
I
had said before) signifies in Greek the whole world; for there are four
letters, A,
D,
A, and M. But as the Greeks speak, the four quarters of the world have these
initial
letters, ]Anatolh, they call the East; Dusij, the West; @Arktoj, the
North;
Meshmbria, the South: you have the word Adam. Adam therefore has
been
scattered over the whole world. He was in one place, and fell, and as in a
manner
broken small, he filled the whole world: but the mercy of God gathered
together
the fragments from every side, and forged them by the fire of love, and
made
one what was broken. That Artist knew how to do this; let no one despair: it
is
indeed a great thing, but reflect who that Artist was. He who made, restored:
He
who
formed, reformed. What are righteousness and truth? He will gather together
His
elect with Him to the judgment, but the rest He will separate one from another;
for
He will place some on the right, others on the left hand. But what is more
just,
what
more true, than that they shall not expect mercy from their Judge, who have
refused
to act mercifully, before their Judge come? But those who chose to act
with
mercy, with mercy shall be judged....
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Psalm 97
816
Exposition on Psalm 97
1.
...This Psalm is entitled, "A Psalm of David's, when his land was
restored." Let
us
refer the whole to Christ, if we wish to keep the road of a right
understanding:
let
us not depart from the corner stone, Ephesians 2:20 lest our understanding
suffer
a fall: in Him let that become fixed, which wavered with unstable motion;
let
that rest upon Him, which before was waving to and fro in uncertainty.
Whatever
doubt a man has in his mind when he hears the Scriptures of God, let
him
not depart from Christ; when Christ has been revealed to him in the words, let
him
then be assured that he has understood; but before he arrives at the
understanding
of Christ, let him not presume that he has understood. "For Christ is
the
end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes." Romans 10:4
What
does this mean, and how are these words understood in Christ, "When his
land
was restored"?...
2.
The earth restored is the resurrection of the flesh; for after His
resurrection, all
those
things which are sung of in the Psalm were done. Let us then hear a Psalm
full
of joy on the restoration of the Earth. Let the Lord our God excite in us a
hope
and
a pleasure worthy of so great a thing; may He rule our discourse, that it be
fit
for
your hearts, that whatever joy our heart does feel in such sights, He may bring
on
to our tongue, and thence conduct it into your ears, then to your heart, thence
to
your
actions.
3.
... "The Lord is King, let the earth be glad: yea, let the multitude of
the isles be
joyous"
(ver. 1). It is so indeed, because the word of God has been preached not in
the
continent alone, but also in those isles which lie in mid sea: even these are
full
of
Christians, full of the servants of God. For the sea does not retard Him who
made
it. Where ships can approach, cannot the words of God? The isles are filled.
But
figuratively the isles may be taken for all the Churches. Why isles? Because
the
waves of all temptations roar around them. But as an isle may be beaten by the
waves
which on every side dash around it, yet cannot be broken, and rather itself
does
break the advancing waves, than by them is broken: so also the Churches of
God,
springing up throughout the world, have suffered the persecutions of the
ungodly,
who roar around them on every side; and behold the isles stand fixed,
and
at last the sea is calmed.
4.
"Clouds and darkness are round about Him: righteousness and judgment are
the
direction
of His seat" (ver. 2) .... The Lord Himself says: "For judgment I
have
come
into this world; that they which see not might see, and that they which see
might
be made blind." John 9:39 They who seem unto themselves to see, who
think
themselves wise, who think healing not needful for them, that they may be
made
blind, may not understand. And that "they which see not may see;"
that they
who
confess their blindness may obtain to be enlightened. Let there be therefore
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Psalm 97
817
"clouds
and darkness round about Him," for those who have not understood Him:
for
those who confess and humble themselves, "righteousness and judgment are
the
direction of His seat." He called those who believe in Him His seat: for
from
them
has He made Himself a seat, since in them Wisdom sits; for the Son of God
is
the Wisdom of God. But we have heard from another passage of Scripture a
strong
confirmation of this interpretation. "The soul of the righteous is the
seat of
Wisdom."
Because then they who have believed in Him have been made
righteous:
justified by faith, they have become His own seat: He sits in them,
judging
from them, and guiding them....
5.
"There shall go a fire before Him, and burn up His enemies on every
side" (ver.
3).
We remember having read in the Gospel, He shall say, "Depart into
everlasting
fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels." Matthew 25:41 I do not think it is
said
of
that fire. Why do I not? Because he speaks of some fire, which shall go before
Him,
before He comes to judgment. For it is said, that the fire goes before Him,
and
burns up His enemies on every side, that is, throughout the whole world. That
fire
will burn after His advent: this, on the contrary, will go before Him. What
fire
then
is this? ... Behold, we have understood the fire that goes before Him, that is
to
be
understood of a kind of temporal punishment of the unbelieving and ungodly:
let
us understand the fire, if possible, of the salvation of the redeemed also; for
thus
we had proposed. The Lord Himself says: "I have come to send fire on the
earth:"
Luke 12:49 "fire" in the same way as a "sword;" as in another
passage He
says,
that He was not come to send peace, but a sword, upon earth. Matthew 10:34
The
sword to divide, the fire to burn: but each salutary: for the sword of His own
word
has in salutary wise separated us from evil habits. For He brought a sword,
and
separated every believer either from his father who believed not in Christ, or
from
his mother in like manner unbelieving: or at least, if we were born of
Christian
parents, from his ancestors. For no man among us had not either a
grandsire,
or great grandsire, or some ancestry among the heathen, and in that
unbelief
which is accursed before God. We are separated from that which we were
before;
but the sword which separates, but slays not, has cut between us. In the
same
way the fire also: "I have come to send fire upon the earth."
Believers in Him
were
set on fire, they received the flame of love: and for this reason when the Holy
Spirit
itself had been sent to the Apostles, It thus appeared: "cloven tongues,
like
as
of fire." Acts 2:3 Burning with this fire they set out on their march
through the
world,
to burn and set on fire His enemies on every side. What enemies of His?
They
who forsaking the God who made them, adored the idols they had made....
6.
"His lightnings gave shine unto the world" (ver. 4). This is great
joy. Do we not
see?
is it not clear? His lightnings have shined unto the whole world: His enemies
have
been set on fire, and burnt. All that gainsaid has been burnt, and "His
lightnings
have given shine unto the world." How have they shone? That the world
might
at length believe. Whence were the lightnings? From the clouds. What are
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the
clouds of God? The preachers of the truth. But you see a cloud, misty and dark
in
the sky, and it has I know not what hidden within it. If there be lightning
from
the
cloud, a brightness shines forth: from that which you despised, has burst forth
that
which you may dread. Our Lord Jesus Christ therefore sent His Apostles, as
His
preachers, like clouds: they were seen as men, and were despised; as clouds
appear,
and are despised, until what you wonder at gleams from them. For they
were
in the first place men encumbered with flesh, weak; then, men of low station,
unlearned,
ignoble: but there was within what could lighten forth; there was in
them
what could flash abroad. Peter a fisherman approached, prayed, and the dead
arose.
Acts 9:40 His human form was a cloud, the splendour of the miracle was
the
lightning. So in their words, so in their deeds, when they do things to be
wondered
at, and utter words to be wondered at, "His lightnings gave shine unto
the
world; the earth saw it, and was afraid." Is it not true? Doth not the
whole
Christian
world at length exclaim, Amen, afraid at the lightnings which burst forth
from
those clouds?
7.
"The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord" (ver. 5). Who
are the
hills?
The proud. Every high thing raising itself against God, at the deeds of Christ
and
of the Christians, trembled, yielded, and when I say, what has been already
said,
"melted," a better word cannot be found. "The hills melted like
wax at the
presence
of the Lord." Where is the elevation of powers? where the hardness of
the
unbelieving? The Lord was a fire unto them, they melted at His presence like
wax;
so long hard, until that fire was applied. Every height has been levelled; it
dares
not now blaspheme Christ: and though the Pagan believes not in Him, he
blasphemes
Him not; though not as yet become a living stone, yet the hard hill has
been
subdued. "At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth:" not of the
Jews
only,
but of the Gentiles also, as the Apostle says; for He is not the God of the
Jews
alone, but of the Gentiles also. Romans 3:29 He is therefore the Lord of the
whole
earth, the Lord Jesus Christ born in Judća, but not born for Judća alone,
because
before He was born He created all men; and He who created, also new
created,
all men.
8.
"The heavens have declared His righteousness: and all the people have seen
His
glory"
(ver. 6). What heavens have declared? "The heavens declare the glory of
God."
Who are the heavens? Those who have become His seat; for as God sits in
the
heavens, so does He sit in the Apostles, so does He sit in the preachers of the
Gospel.
Even thou, if you will, shall be a heaven. Do you wish to be so? Purge
from
your heart the earth. If you have not earthly lusts, and hast not in vain
uttered
the
response, that you have "lifted up your heart," you shall be a
heaven. "If you
be
risen with Christ," says the Apostle to believers, "set your
affection on things
above,
not on things of the earth." Colossians 3:1-2 You have begun to set thine
affection
upon things above, not on things upon earth; have you not become a
heaven?
Thou carriest flesh, and in your heart you are already a heaven; for your
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conversation
will be in heaven. Philippians 3:20 Being such, thou also declarest
Christ;
for who of the faithful declares not Christ?... Therefore the whole Church
preaches
Christ, and the heavens declare His righteousness; for all the faithful,
whose
care it is to gain unto God those who have not yet believed, and who do this
from
love, are heavens. From them God thunders forth the terror of His judgment;
and
he who was unbelieving trembles, and is alarmed, and believes. He shows
unto
men what power Christ had throughout the world, by pleading with them, and
leading
them to love Christ. For how many this day have led their friends either to
some
pantomimist, or flute-player? Why, except from their liking him? And do ye
love
Christ. For He who conquered the world has exhibited such spectacles, as that
no
man can say that he finds in them cause for blame. For each person's favourite
in
the theatre is often vanquished there. But no man is vanquished in Christ:
there
is
no reason for shame. Seize, lead, draw, whom you may: be without fear, you are
leading
unto Him, who displeases not those who see Him; and ask ye Him to
enlighten
them, that they may behold to good account.
9.
"Confounded be all they that worship carved images" (ver. 7). Hath
not this
come
to pass? Have they not been confounded? Are they not daily confounded?
For
carved images are images wrought by the hand. Why are all who worship
carved
images confounded? Because all people have seen His glory. All nations
now
confess the glory of Christ: let those who worship stones be ashamed.
Because
those stones were dead, we have found a living Stone; indeed those
stones
never lived, so that they cannot be called even dead; but our Stone is living,
and
has ever lived with the Father, and though He died for us, He revived, and
lives
now, and death shall no more have dominion over Him. Romans 6:9 This
glory
of His the nations have acknowledged; they leave the temples, they run to
the
Churches. Do they still seek to worship carved images? Have they not chosen
to
forsake their idols? They have been forsaken by their idols. "Who glory in
their
idols."
But there is a certain disputer who seems unto himself learned, and says, I
do
not worship that stone, nor that image which is without sense; ...I worship not
this
image but I adore what I see, and serve him whom I see not. Who is that?
Some
invisible deity, he replies, who presides over that image. By giving this
account
of their images, they seem to themselves able disputants, because they do
not
worship idols, and yet do worship devils. "The things," brethren,
says the
Apostle,
"which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice unto devils, and not to God;
we
know that an idol is nothing: and that what the Gentiles sacrifice, they
sacrifice
to
devils, and not to God; and I would not that you should have fellowship with
devils."
Let them not therefore excuse themselves on this ground, that they are not
devoted
to insensate idols; they are rather devoted to devils, which is more
dangerous.
For if they were only worshipping idols, as they would not help them,
so
they would not hurt them; but if thou worship and serve devils, they themselves
will
be your masters....
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820
10.
But observe holy men, who are like the Angels. When you have found some
holy
man who serves God, if thou wish to worship him instead of God, he forbids
you:
he will not arrogate to himself the honour due to God, he will not be unto you
as
God, but be with you under God. Thus did the holy Apostles Paul and
Barnabas.
They preached the word of God in Lycaonia. When they had performed
wonderful
works in Lycaonia, the people of that country brought victims, and
wished
to sacrifice to them, calling Barnabas Jupiter, and Paul Mercury: they were
not
pleased. Did they perchance refuse to be sacrificed to, because they abhorred
to
be compared to devils? No, but because they shuddered at divine honour being
paid
to men. Their own words show this: it is no guess of ours; for the text of the
book
goes on to say how they were moved. Acts 14:14-15 ... Just then, as good
men
forbade those who had wished to worship them as gods, and wish rather that
God
alone be worshipped, God alone be adored, to God alone sacrifice be offered,
not
to themselves; so also all the holy Angels seek His glory whom they love;
endeavour
to impel and to excite to the contemplation of Him all whom they love:
Him
they declare to them, not themselves, since they are angels; and because they
are
soldiers, they study only how to seek the glory of their Captain; but if they
have
sought their own glory, they are condemned as usurpers. Such were the devil
and
his angels; he claimed for himself divine honour, and for all his demons; he
filled
the Pagan temples, and persuaded them to offer images and sacrifices to
himself.
Was it not better to worship holy Angels than devils? They answer: we do
not
worship devils; we worship angels, as you call them, the powers and the
ministers
of the great God. I wish ye would worship them: ye would easily learn
from
themselves not to worship them. Hear an Angel teaching. He was teaching a
disciple
of Christ, and showing him many wonders in the Revelation of John: and
when
some wonderful vision had been shown him, he trembled, and fell down at
the
Angel's feet; but that Angel, who sought not but the glory of God, said,
"See
thou
do it not; for I am a fellow-servant of you, and of your brethren the
prophets."
Revelation
19:10 What then, my brethren? Let no man say, I fear lest the Angel
may
be angry with me, if I worship him not as my God. He is then angry with you,
when
you have chosen to worship him: for he is righteous, and loves God. As
devils
are angry if they are not worshipped, so are Angels angry if they are
worshipped
instead of God. But lest the weak and trembling heart perchance say
unto
itself: If then the demons are incensed because they are not worshipped, I fear
to
offend them; what can even their chief the devil do unto you? If he had any
power
over us no one of us would remain. Are not daily so many things said
against
him by the mouth of Christians, and yet the harvest of Christians increases.
When
you are angry with the most depraved of your slaves, you give him the
name,
"Satan," Devil. Perhaps in this thou dost err, since you say it to a
man, and
your
immoderate anger hurries you to revile the image of God: and yet you choose
a
term thou deeply hatest, to apply to him. If he could, would he not revenge
himself?
But it is not allowed: and he does so much only as is allowed him. For
when
he wished to tempt Job, he had to ask power to do so: Job 1:11 and he could
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do
nothing had he not received power. Why then do you not fearlessly worship
God,
without whose will no one hurts you, and by whose permission you are
chastened,
not overcome? For if it shall have pleased the Lord your God to permit
some
man to hurt you, or some spirit: He will chasten you, that you may cry unto
Him:
"Confounded," therefore, "be all they that delight in vain gods:
worship Him,
all
you His angels." Let Pagans learn to worship God: they wish to worship
Angels:
let them imitate Angels, and worship Him who is worshipped by Angels.
"Worship
Him, all you His angels." Let that Angel worship who was sent to
Cornelius
(for worshipping Him he sent Cornelius to Peter), himself Peter's
fellow-servant;
let him worship Christ, Peter's Lord. "Worship Him, all you gods!"
11.
"Sion heard of it, and rejoiced" (ver. 8). What did Sion hear? That
all His
Angels
worship Him .... For the Church was not as yet among the Gentiles; in
Judća
the Jews had some of them believed, and the very Jews who believed
thought
that they only belonged to Christ: the Apostles were sent to the Gentiles,
Cornelius
was preached to; Cornelius believed, was baptized, and they who were
with
Cornelius were also baptized. Acts 10:47 But ye know what happened, that
they
might be baptized: the reader indeed has not reached this point, but,
nevertheless,
some recollect; and let those who do not recollect, hear briefly from
me.
The Angel was sent to Cornelius: the Angel sent Cornelius to Peter; Peter
came
to Cornelius. And because Cornelius and his household were Gentiles, and
uncircumcised:
lest they might hesitate to give the Gospel to the uncircumcised:
before
Cornelius and his household were baptized, the Holy Spirit came, and filled
them,
and they began to speak with tongues. Now the Holy Spirit had not fallen
upon
any one who had not been baptized: but upon these It fell before baptism.
For
Peter might hesitate whether he might baptize the uncircumcised: the Holy
Spirit
came, they began to speak with tongues; the invisible gift was given, and
took
away all doubt about the visible Sacrament; they were all baptized.... What
did
Sion hear, and rejoice at? That the Gentiles also had received the word of God.
One
wall had come, but the corner existed not as yet. The name Sion is here
peculiarly
given to the Church which was in Judća. "Sion heard of it, and
rejoiced:
and the daughters of Judah were glad." Thus it is written, "The
apostles
and
brethren that were in Judća heard." See if the daughters of Judća rejoiced
not.
What
did they hear? "That the Gentiles had also received the word of
God."...Therefore,
"The daughters of Judah rejoiced because of Your judgments,
O
Lord." What is, because of Your judgments? Because in any nation, and in
any
people,
he that serves Him is accepted of Him: for He is not the God of the Jews
only,
but also of the Gentiles. Romans 3:29
12.
See if this be not the reason for the joy of the daughters of Judah. "For
Thou,
Lord,
art most high over all the earth" (ver. 9). Not in Judća alone, but over
Jerusalem;
not over Sion only, but over all the earth. To this whole earth the
judgments
of God prevailed, so that it assembled its nations from every quarter:
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Psalm 97 822
judgments
with which they who have cut themselves off have no communion: they
neither
hear the prophecy, nor see its completion; "For Thou, Lord, art most high
over
all the earth: You are exalted far above all gods." What is
"far"? For it is said
of
Christ. What then means "far," except that You may be acknowledged
coequal
with
the Father? What means, "above all gods"? Who are they? Idols have
not life,
have
not sense: devils have life and sense; but they are evil. What great thing is
it
that
Christ is exalted above devils? He is exalted above devils: but neither is this
very
great; the heathen gods indeed are devils, but "He is far above all
gods." Even
men
are styled gods: "I have said, You are gods: and you are all the children
of the
Most
Highest:" again it is written, "God stands in the congregation of
princes: He
is
a Judge among gods." Jesus Christ our Lord is exalted above all: not only
above
idols,
not only above devils; but above all righteous men. Even this is not enough;
above
all Angels also: for whence otherwise is this, "Worship Him, all you
gods"?
"You
are far exalted above all gods."
13.
What then do we all, who have assembled before Him, before Him who is
exalted
far above all gods? He has given us a brief commandment, "O you that
love
the Lord, see that you hate the thing which is evil!" (ver. 10). Christ
does not
deserve
that with Him you should love avarice. Thou lovest Him: you should hate
what
He hates. There is a man who is thine enemy, he is what you are; you are the
work
of one Creator, with the same nature: and yet if your son were to speak unto
thine
enemy, and come to his house, and constantly converse with him, you would
be
inclined to disinherit him; because he speaks with thine enemy. And how so?
Because
you seem to say justly, You are my enemy's friend, and do you seek
anything
of my property? Attend then. Thou lovest Christ: avarice is Christ's foe;
why
speak with her? I say not, speak with her; why do you serve her? For Christ
commands
you to do many things, and thou dost them not; she commands you,
and
thou dost them. Christ commands you to clothe the poor man: and thou dost it
not;
avarice bids you defraud, and this thou dost in preference. If such be the
case,
if
such you are, do not very confidently promise yourself Christ's heritage. But
you
say,
I love Christ. Hence it appears that you love what is good, if you shall be
found
to hate what is evil....
14.
Because then he had said above, "see that you hate the thing which is
evil," lest
ye
should fear to hate evil, lest he should kill you, he adds instantly, "The
Lord
preserves
the souls of His servants." Hear Him preserving the souls of His
servants,
and saying, "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill
the
soul." Matthew 10:28 He who has most power against you, slays the body.
What
has he done unto you? What he also did to the Lord your God. Why do you
love
to have what Christ has, if you fear to suffer what Christ did? He came to
bear
your life, temporal, weak, subject unto death. Surely fear to die, if you can
avoid
dying. What you can not avoid through your nature, why do you not
undergo
by faith? Let the adversary who threatens take away from you that life,
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God
gives you another life: for He gave you this life also, and without His will
even
this shall not be taken from you; but if it be His will that it be taken from
you,
He has a life to give you in exchange; fear not to be robbed for His sake. Are
you
unwilling to put off a patched garment? He will give you a robe of glory.
What
robe do you tell me of? "This corruptible must put on incorruption, and
this
mortal
must put on immortality." 1 Corinthians 15:53 This very flesh of yours
shall
not perish. Your enemy can rage as far as to your death: he has not power
beyond,
either over your soul, or even over your flesh; for although he scatter your
flesh
about, he hinders not the resurrection. Men were fearful for their life: and
what
said the Lord unto them? "The very hairs of your head are all
numbered."
Matthew
10:30 Do you, who losest not a single hair, fear the loss of your life? All
things
are numbered with God. He who created all things, will restore all things.
They
were not, and they were created: they were, and shall they not be
restored?...
"He shall deliver them from the hand of the ungodly."
15.
But perhaps you will say, I lose this light. "There is sprung up a light
for the
righteous"
(ver. 11). What light do you fear you may lose? do you fear you may be
in
darkness? Fear not you may lose light; nay, fear lest while you are guarding
against
the loss of this light, you may lose that true light. For we see to whom that
light
is given which you fear losing, and with whom it is shared. Do the righteous
only
see this sun, when He makes it rise over the just and unjust, and rains upon
the
just and unjust? Matthew 5:45 Wicked men, robbers, the unchaste, beasts,
flies,
worms, see that light together with you. What sort of light does He keep for
the
righteous, who gives this even to such as these? Deservedly the Martyrs beheld
this
light in faith; for they who despised this light of the sun, had some light in
their
eyes, which they longed for, who rejected this. Do you imagine that they
were
really in misery, when they walked in chains? Spacious was the prison to the
faithful,
light were the chains to the confessors. They who preached Christ amid
their
torments, had joy in the iron-chair. What light has sprung up for the
righteous?
Not that which springs up for the unrighteous; not that which He causes
to
rise over the good and bad. There is a different light which springs up to the
righteous;
of which light, that never rose upon themselves, the unrighteous shall in
the
end say, "Therefore have we erred from the way of truth, and the light of
righteousness
has not shined upon us, and the sun of righteousness rose not upon
us."
Wisdom 5:6 Behold, by loving this sun they have lain in the darkness of the
heart.
What did it profit them to have seen with their eyes this sun, and not in mind
to
have seen that light? Tobit was blind, but he used to teach his son the way of
God.
You know this, that Tobit warned his son, and said to him, "Son, give alms
of
your substance; because that alms suffer not to come into darkness."
Tobit
4:7, 10 Even he who was in darkness spoke thus .... Do you wish to know
that
light? Be true-hearted. What is, be true-hearted? Be not of a crooked heart
before
God, withstanding His will, and wishing to bend Him unto you, and not to
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rule
yourself to please Him; and you will feel the joyful gladness which all the
true-hearted
know.
16.
"Be glad, you righteous" (ver. 12). Perhaps already the faithful
hearing the
word,
"Be glad," are thinking of banquets, preparing cups, waiting for the
season
of
roses; because it is said, "Be glad, you righteous!" See what
follows, "Be glad
in
the Lord." You are waiting for the season of spring, that you may be glad:
you
have
the Lord for joyful gladness, the Lord is always with you, He has no special
season;
you have Him by night, you have Him by day. Be true-hearted; and you
have
ever joy from Him. For that joy which is after the fashion of the world, is not
true
joy. Hear the prophet Isaiah: "There is no joy, says my God, to the
wicked."
Isaiah
57:21 What the wicked call joy is not joy, such as he knew who made no
account
of their joy: let us believe him, brethren. He was a man, but he knew both
kinds
of joy. He certainly knew the joys of the cup, for he was a man, he knew the
joy
of the table, he knew the joys of marriage, he knew those joys worldly and
luxurious.
He who knew them says with confidence, "There is no joy to the
wicked,
says the Lord." But it is not man who speaks, it is the Lord.... But you
say,
I
see not that light which Isaiah saw. Believe, and you shall see it. For perhaps
you
have
not the eye to see it; for it is an eye by which that beauty is discerned. For
as
there
is an eye of the flesh, by means of which this light is seen: so there is an
eye
of
the heart, by which that joy is perceived: perhaps that eye is wounded, dimmed,
disturbed
by passion, by avarice, by indulgence, by senseless lust; your eye is
disturbed:
you can not see that light. Believe, before you see; you shall be healed,
and
shall see.
17.
"And confess to the remembrance of His holiness." Now made glad, now
rejoicing
in the Lord, confess unto Him; for unless it were His will, you would not
rejoice
in Him. For the Lord Himself says: "These things I have spoken to you:
that
in Me ye might have peace. But in the world you shall have tribulation."
John
16:33 If you are Christians, look for tribulations in this world; look not for
more
peaceful and better times. Brethren, you deceive yourselves; what the Gospel
does
not promise you, promise not to yourselves. You know what the Gospel says;
we
are speaking to Christians; we ought not to disobey the faith. The Gospel says
this,
that in the last times many evils, many stumbling-blocks, many tribulations,
much
iniquity, shall abound; but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall
be
saved. Matthew 24:3-13 "The love," it says, "of many shall wax
cold."
Whosoever
then has been steadfastly fervent in spirit, as the Apostle says, "fervent
in
spirit," Romans 12:11 his love shall not wax cold: because "the love
of God is
shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us." Romans
5:5
Let
no man therefore promise himself what the Gospel does not promise. Behold,
happier
times will come, and I am doing this, and purchasing this. It is good for
you
to listen to Him who is not deceived, nor has deceived any man, who
promised
you joy not here, but in Himself; and when all here has passed away, to
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825
hope
that with Him you will for ever reign; lest when thou dost wish to reign here,
you
may neither enjoy gladness here, nor find it there.
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Psalm 98
826
Exposition
on Psalm 98
1.
"O sing unto the Lord a new song" (ver. 1). The new man knows this,
the old
man
knows it not. The old man is the old life, and the new man the new life: the
old
life is derived from Adam, the new life is formed in Christ. But in this Psalm,
the
whole world is enjoined to sing a new song. More openly elsewhere the words
are
these: "O sing unto the Lord a new song; sing unto the Lord, all the whole
earth;"
that they who cut themselves off from the communion of the whole earth,
may
understand that they cannot sing the new song, because it is sung in the
whole,
and not in a part of it. Attend here also, and see that this is said. And when
the
whole earth is enjoined to sing a new song, it is meant, that peace sings a new
song.
"For He has done marvelous things." What marvelous things? Behold,
the
Gospel
was just now being read, and we heard the marvellous things of the Lord.
The
only son of his mother, who was a widow, was being carried out dead: the
Lord,
in compassion, made them stand still; they laid him down, and the Lord said,
"Young
man, I say unto you, Arise." Luke 7:12-14... "The Lord has done
marvellous
things." What marvellous things? Hear: "His own right hand, and His
holy
arm, has healed for Him." What is the Lord's holy Arm? Our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Hear Isaiah: "Who has believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the
Lord
revealed?" Isaiah 53:1 His holy arm then, and His own right hand, is
Himself.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is therefore the arm of God, and the right hand of
God;
for this reason is it said, "has He healed for Him." It is not said
only, "His
right
hand has healed the world," but "has healed for Him." For many
are healed
for
themselves, not for Him. Behold how many long for that bodily health, and
receive
it from Him: they are healed by Him, but not for Him. How are they
healed
by Him, and not for Him? When they have received health, they become
wanton:
they who when sick were chaste, when cured become adulterers: they
who
when in illness injured no man, on the recovery of their strength attack and
crush
the innocent: they are healed, but not unto Him. Who is he who is healed
unto
Him? He who is healed inwardly. Who is he that is healed inwardly? He who
trusts
in Him, that when he shall have been healed inwardly, reformed into a new
man,
afterwards this mortal flesh too, which does languish for a time, may in the
end
itself even recover its most perfect health. Let us therefore be healed for
Him.
But
that we may be healed for Him, let us believe in His right hand.
2.
"The Lord has made known His salvation" (ver. 2). This very right
hand, this
very
arm, this very salvation, is our Lord Jesus Christ of whom it is said,
"And all
flesh
shall see the salvation of God;" Luke 3:6 of whom also that Simeon who
embraced
the Infant in his arms, spoke, "Lord, now let Your servant depart in
peace;
for my eyes have seen Your salvation." Luke 2:28-30 "The Lord has
made
known
His salvation." To whom did He make it known? To a part, or to the
whole?
Not to any part specially. Let no man betray, no man deceive, no man say,
"Lo,
here is Christ, or there:" Matthew 24:23 the man who says, Lo, He is here,
or
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 98 827
there,
points to some particular spots. To whom "has the Lord declared His
salvation"?
Hear what follows: "His righteousness has He openly showed in the
sight
of the heathen." Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the right hand of
God,
the
arm of God, the salvation of God, and the righteousness of God.
3.
"He has remembered His mercy to Jacob, and His truth unto the house of
Israel"
(ver.
3). What means this, "He has remembered His mercy and truth"? He has
pitied,
so that He promised; because He promised and showed His mercy, truth
has
followed: mercy has gone before promise, promise has been fulfilled in
truth.....
"And
His truth unto the house of Israel." Who is this Israel? That ye may not
perchance
think of one nation of the Jews, hear what follows: "All the ends of the
world
have seen the salvation of our God." It is not said, all the earth: but,
"all the
ends
of the world:" as it is said, from one end to the other. Let no man cut
this
down,
let no man scatter it abroad; strong is the unity of Christ. He who gave so
great
a price, has bought the whole: "All the ends of the world."
4.
Because they have seen, then, "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all you
lands"
(ver. 4). You already know what it is to make a joyful noise. Rejoice, and
speak.
If you cannot express your joy, shout ye; let the shout manifest your joy, if
your
speech cannot: yet let not joy be mute; let not your heart be silent respecting
its
God, let it not be mute concerning His gifts. If you speak to yourself, unto
yourself
are you healed; if His right hand has healed you for Him, speak thou unto
Him
for whom you have been healed. "Sing, rejoice, and make melody."
5.
"Make melody unto the Lord upon the harp: on the harp and with the voice
of a
Psalm"
(ver. 5). Praise Him not with the voice only; take up works, that you may
not
only sing, but work also. He who sings and works, makes melody with
psaltery
and upon the harp. Now see what sort of instruments are next spoken of,
in
figure: "With ductile trumpets also, and the sound of the pipe of
horn" (ver. 6).
What
are ductile trumpets, and pipes of horn? Ductile trumpets are of brass: they
are
drawn out by hammering; if by hammering, by being beaten, you shall be
ductile
trumpets, drawn out unto the praise of God, if you improve when in
tribulation:
tribulation is hammering, improvement is the being drawn out. Job
was
a ductile trumpet, when suddenly assailed by the heaviest losses, and the
death
of his sons, become like a ductile trumpet by the beating of so heavy
tribulation,
he sounded thus: "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;
blessed
be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21 How did he sound? How pleasantly
does
his voice sound? This ductile trumpet is still under the hammer.... We have
heard
how he was hammered; let us hear how he sounds: let us, if it please you,
hear
the sweet sound of this ductile trumpet: "What! shall we receive good at
the
hand
of God, and shall we not receive evil?" O courageous, O sweet sound! whom
will
not that sound awake from sleep? whom will not confidence in God awake, to
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Psalm 98 828
march
to battle fearlessly against the devil; not to struggle with his own strength,
but
His who proves him. For He it is who hammers: for the hammer could not do
so
of itself.... See how (I dare so speak, my brethren) even the Apostle was
beaten
with
this very hammer: he says, "there was given to me a thorn in the flesh,
the
messenger
of Satan, to buffet me." 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Behold he is under the
hammer:
let us hear how he speaks of it: "For this thing," he says, "I
besought the
Lord
thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is
sufficient
for you: for My strength is made perfect in weakness." I, says His
Maker,
wish to make this trumpet perfect; I cannot do so unless I hammer it; in
weakness
is strength made perfect. Hear now the ductile trumpet itself sounding as
it
should: "When I am weak, then am I strong."...
6.
The voice of the pipe of horn, what is it? The horn rises above the flesh: in
rising
above the flesh it needs must be solid so as to last, and able to speak. And
whence
this? Because it has surpassed the flesh. He who wishes to be a horn
trumpet,
let him overcome the flesh. What means this, let him overcome the flesh?
Let
him surpass the desires, let him conquer the lusts of the flesh. Hear the horn
trumpets....
What means this, "Set your affection on things above"? It means, Rise
above
the flesh, think not of carnal things. They were not yet horn trumpets, to
whom
he now spoke thus: "I could not speak unto you, brethren, as unto
spiritual,
but
as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not
with
meat; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it: neither yet now are you able.
For
you are yet carnal." They were not therefore horn trumpets, because they
had
not
risen above the flesh. Horn both adheres to the flesh, and rises above the
flesh;
and
although it springs from the flesh, yet it surpasses it. If therefore you are
spiritual,
when before you were carnal; as yet you are treading the earth in the
flesh,
but in spirit you are rising into heaven; for though we walk in the flesh, we
do
not war after the flesh.... Brethren, do not reproach brethren whom the mercy
of
God
has not yet converted; know that as long as you do this, you savour of the
flesh.
That is not a trumpet which pleases the ears of God: the trumpet of
boastfulness
makes the war fruitless. Let the horn trumpet raise your courage
against
the devil; let not the fleshly trumpet raise your pride against your brother.
"Make
a joyful noise in the sight of the Lord the King."
7.
While you are rejoicing, and delighted with the ductile trumpets, and the voice
of
the horn, what follows? "Let the sea be stirred up, and the fulness
thereof" (ver.
7).
Brethren, when the Apostles, like ductile trumpets and horns, were preaching
the
truth, the sea was stirred up, its waves arose, tempests increased,
persecutions
of
the Church took place. Whence has the sea been stirred up? When a joyful noise
was
made, when Psalms of thanksgiving were being sung before God: the ears of
God
were pleased, the waves of the sea were raised. "Let the sea be stirred
up, and
the
fulness thereof: the round world, and all that dwell therein." Let the sea
be
stirred
up in its persecutions. "Let the floods clap their hands together"
(ver. 8).
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Psalm 98 829
Let
the sea be aroused, and the floods clap their hands together; persecutions
arise,
and
the saints rejoice in God. Whence shall the floods clap their hands? What is to
clap
their hands? To rejoice in works. To clap hands, is to rejoice; hands, mean
works.
What floods? Those whom God has made floods, by giving them that
Water,
the Holy Spirit. "If any man thirst," says He, "let him come
unto Me, and
drink.
He that believes in Me, out of his bosom shall flow rivers of living
water."
John
7:37-39 These rivers clapped their hands, these rivers rejoiced in works, and
blessed
God. "The hills shall be joyful together."
8.
"Before the Lord, for He is come; for He is come to judge the earth"
(ver. 9).
"The
hills" signify the great. The Lord comes to judge the earth, and they
rejoice.
But
there are hills, who, when the Lord is coming to judge the earth, shall
tremble.
There
are therefore good and evil hills; the good hills, are spiritual greatness; the
bad
hills, are the swelling of pride. "Let the hills be joyful together before
the
Lord,
for He is come; for He is come to judge the earth." Wherefore shall He
come,
and how shall He come? "With righteousness shall He judge the world, and
the
people with equity" (ver. 10). Let the hills therefore rejoice; for He
shall not
judge
unrighteously. When some man is coming as a judge, to whom the
conscience
cannot lie open, even innocent men may tremble, if from him they
expect
a reward for virtue, or fear the penalty of condemnation; when He shall
come
who cannot be deceived, let the hills rejoice, let them rejoice fearlessly;
they
shall
be enlightened by Him, not condemned; let them rejoice, because the Lord
will
come to judge the world with equity; and if the righteous hills rejoice, let
the
unrighteous
tremble. But behold, He has not yet come: what need is there they
should
tremble? Let them mend their ways, and rejoice. It is in your power in what
way
you will to await the coming of Christ. For this reason He delays to come,
that
when He comes He may not condemn you. Lo, He has not yet come: He is in
heaven,
thou on earth: He delays His coming, do not thou delay wisdom. His
coming
is hard to the hard of heart, soft to the pious. See therefore even now what
you
are: if hard of heart, you can soften; if you are soft, even now rejoice that
He
will
come. For you are a Christian. Yea, you say, I believe that you pray, and
sayest,
"Your kingdom come." Matthew 6:10 You desire Him to come, whose
coming
you fear. Reform yourself, that you may not pray against yourself.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 99
830
Exposition on Psalm 99
1.
Beloved brethren, it ought already to be known to you, as sons of the Church,
and
well instructed in the school of Christ through all the books of our ancient
fathers,
who wrote the words of God and the great things of God, that their wish
was
to consult for our good, who were to live at this period, believers in Christ;
who,
at a seasonable time came unto us, the first time, in humility; at the second,
destined
to come in exaltation.... For thus it is said in the Psalms: "Truth shall
flourish
out of the earth: and righteousness has looked down from heaven." Now,
therefore,
our whole design is, when we hear a Psalm, a Prophet, or the Law, all of
which
was written before our Lord Jesus Christ came in the flesh, to see Christ
there,
to understand Christ there. Attend therefore, beloved, to this Psalm, with
me,
and let us herein seek Christ; certainly He will appear to those who seek Him,
who
at first appeared to those who sought Him not; and He will not desert those
who
long for Him, who redeemed those who neglected Him. Behold, the Psalm
begins
concerning Him: of Him it is said:—
2.
"The Lord is King, be the people angry" (ver. 1). For our Lord Jesus
Christ
began
to reign, began to be preached, after He arose from the dead and ascended
into
heaven, after He had filled His disciples with the confidence of the Holy
Spirit,
that they should not fear death, which He had already killed in Himself. Our
Lord
Christ began then to be preached, that they who wished for salvation might
believe
in Him; and the peoples who worshipped idols were angry. They who
worshipped
what they had made were angry, because He by whom they were
made
was declared. He announced, in fact, through His disciples, Himself, who
wished
them to be converted unto Him by whom they were made, and to be turned
away
from those things which they had made themselves. They were angry with
their
Lord in behalf of their idols, they who even if they were angry with their
slave
on their idol's account, were to be condemned. For their slave was better than
their
idol: for God made their slave, the carpenter made their idol. They were so
angry
in their idol's behalf, that they feared not to be angry with their Lord. But
the
words,
"be they angry," are a prediction, not a command; for in a prophecy
it is
that
this is said, "The Lord is King, be the people angry." Some good
results even
from
the enraged people: let them be angry, and in their anger let the Martyrs be
crowned
.... You heard when Jeremiah was being read before the reading of the
Apostle,
if you listened; ye saw therein the times in which we now live. He said,
"The
gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, let them perish from the
earth,
and from under the heaven." He said not, The gods that have not made the
heavens
and earth, let them perish from the heaven and from the earth; because
they
never were in heaven: but what did he say? "Let them perish from the
earth,
and
from under the heaven." As if, while the word earth was repeated, the
repetition
of the word heaven were wanting (because they never were in heaven):
he
repeats the earth twice, since it is under heaven. "Let them perish from
the
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 99
831
earth,
and from under the heaven," from their temples. Consider if this be not
now
taking
place; if in a great measure it has not already happened: for what, or how
much,
has remained? The idols remained rather in the hearts of the pagans, than in
the
niches of the temples.
3.
"He who sits between the cherubims:" thou dost understand, "He
is King: let the
earth
be stirred up."...The Cherubim is the seat of God, as the Scripture shows
us,
a
certain exalted heavenly throne, which we see not; but the Word of God knows
it,
knows it as His own seat: and the Word of God and the Spirit of God has Itself
revealed
to the servants of God where God sits. Not that God does sit, as does
man;
but thou, if thou dost wish that God sit in you, if you will be good, shall be
the
seat of God; for thus is it written, "The soul of the righteous is the
seat of
wisdom."
Proverbs 12:23 For a throne is in our language called a seat. For some,
conversant
with the Hebrew tongue, have interpreted cherubim in the Latin
language
(for it is a Hebrew term) by the words, fulness of knowledge. Therefore,
because
God surpasses all knowledge, He is said to sit above the fulness of
knowledge.
Let there be therefore in you fulness of knowledge, and even you shall
be
the throne of God .... He knows all things: for our hairs are numbered before
God.
Matthew 10:30 But the fulness of knowledge which He willed man to know
is
different from this; the knowledge which He willed you to have, pertains to the
law
of God. And who can, you may perhaps say unto me, perfectly know the Law,
so
that he may have within himself the fulness of the knowledge of the Law, and
be
able to be the seat of God? Be not disturbed; it is briefly told you what you
have,
if thou dost wish to have the fulness of knowledge, and to become the throne
of
God: for the Apostle says, "Love is the fulfilling of the Law."
Romans 13:10
What
follows then? You have lost the whole of thine excuse. Ask your heart; see
whether
it has love. If there be love there, there is the fulfilment of the Law there
also;
already God dwells in you, you have become the throne of God. "Be the
people
angry;" what can the angry people do against him who has become the
throne
of God? Thou givest heed unto them who rage against you: Who is it that
sits
within you, you give not heed. You are become a heaven, and do you fear the
earth?
For the Scripture says in another passage, that the Lord our God does
declare,
"The heaven is My throne." Isaiah 66:1 If therefore even thou by
having
the
fulness of knowledge, and by having love, hast been made the throne of God,
you
have become a heaven. For this heaven which we look up to with these eyes
of
ours, is not very precious before God. Holy souls are the heaven of God; the
minds
of the Angels, and all the minds of His servants, are the heaven of God.
4.
"The Lord is great in Sion, and high above all people" (ver. 2) ....
He whom I
spoke
to you of as above the Cherubims, is great in Sion. Ask thou now, what is
Sion?
We know Sion to be the city of God. The city of Jerusalem is called Sion;
and
is so called according to a certain interpretation, for that Sion signifies
watching,
that is, sight and contemplation; for to watch is to look forward to, or
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 99 832
gaze
upon, or strain the eyes to see. Now every soul is a Sion, if it tries to see
that
light
which is to be seen. For if it shall have gazed upon a light of its own, it is
darkened;
if upon His, it is enlightened. But, now that it is clear that Sion is the
city
of God; what is the city of God, but the Holy Church? For men who love one
another,
and who love their God who dwells in them, constitute a city unto God.
Because
a city is held together by some law; their very law is Love; and that very
Love
is God: for openly it is written, "God is Love." 1 John 4:8 He
therefore who
is
full of Love, is full of God; and many, full of love, constitute a city full of
God.
That
city of God is called Sion; the Church therefore is Sion. In it God is
great....
5.
Do ye imagine, brethren, that they whose instruments re-echoed yesterday, are
not
angry with our fastings? But let us not be angry with them, but let us fast for
them.
For the Lord our God who sits in us has said, He has Himself commanded
us
to pray for our enemies, to pray for them that persecute us: Matthew 5:44 and
as
the Church does this, the persecutors are almost extinct .... The drunken man
does
not offend himself, but he offends the sober man. Show me a man who is at
last
happy in God, lives gravely, sighs for that everlasting peace which God has
promised
him; and see that when he has seen a man dancing to an instrument, he is
more
grieved for his madness, than for a man who is in a frenzy from a fever. If
then
we know their evils, considering that we also have been freed from those very
evils,
let us grieve for them; and if we grieve for them, let us pray for them; and
that
we may be heard, let us fast for them. For we do not keep our own fasts in
their
holidays. Different are the fasts which we celebrate through the days of the
approaching
Passover, through different seasons which are fixed for us in Christ:
but
through their holidays we fast for this reason, that when they are rejoicing,
we
may
groan for them. For by their joy they excite our grief, and cause us to
remember
how wretched they are as yet. But since we see many freed thence,
where
we also have been, we ought not to despair even of them. And if they are
still
enraged, let us pray; and if still a particle of earth that has remained behind
be
stirred
up against us, let us continue in lamentation for them, that to them also God
may
grant understanding, and that with us they may hear those words, in which we
are
at this moment rejoicing.
6.
All these very people, over whom You are great in Sion, "Let them confess
unto
Your
Name, which is great" (ver. 3). Your Name was little when they were
enraged:
it has become great; let them now confess. In what sense do we say, that
the
Name of Christ was little, before it was spread abroad to so great an extent?
Because
His report is meant by His Name. His Name was small; already it has
become
great. What nation is there that has not heard of the Name of Christ?
Therefore
let now the people confess unto Your Name, which is great, who before
were
enraged with Your little Name. Wherefore shall they confess? Because it is
"wonderful
and holy." Your very Name is wonderful and holy. He is so preached
as
crucified, so preached as humbled, so preached as judged, that He may come
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Psalm 99
833
exalted,
that He may come living, that He may come to judge in power. He spares
at
present the people who blaspheme Him, because "the long-suffering of God
leads
to repentance." Romans 2:4 For He who now spares, will not always spare:
nor
will He, who is now being preached that He may be feared, fail to come to
judge.
He will come, my brethren, He will come: let us fear Him, and let us live so
that
we may be found on His right hand. For He will come, and will judge, so as to
place
some on the left hand, some on the right. Matthew 25:31-33 And He does
not
act in an uncertain manner, so as to err perchance between men, so that he who
should
be set on the right hand, be set on the left; or that he who ought to stand on
the
left, by a mistake of God should stand on the right: He cannot err, so as to
place
the evil where He ought to set the good; nor to place the good, where He
should
have set the evil. If He cannot err, we err, if we fear not; but if we have
feared
in this life, we shall not then have what to fear for. "For the King's
honour
loves
judgment."...
7.
"You have prepared equity; You have wrought judgment and righteousness in
Jacob."
For we too ought to have judgment, we ought to have righteousness; but
He
works in us judgment and righteousness, who created us in whom He might
work
them. How ought we too to have judgment and righteousness? You have
judgment,
when thou dost distinguish evil from good: and righteousness when you
follow
the good, and turnest aside from the evil. By distinguishing them, you have
judgment;
by doing, you have righteousness. "Eschew evil," he says, "and
do
good;
seek peace, and ensue it." You should first have judgment, then
righteousness.
What judgment? That you may first judge what is evil, and what is
good.
And what righteousness? That you may shun evil, and do good. But this you
will
not gain from yourself; see what he has said, "You have wrought judgment
and
righteousness in Jacob."
8.
"O magnify the Lord our God" (ver. 5). Magnify Him truly, magnify Him
well.
Let
us praise Him, let us magnify Him who has wrought the very righteousness
which
we have; who wrought it in us, Himself. For who but He who justified us,
wrought
righteousness in us? For of Christ it is said, "who justifies the
ungodly."
Romans
4:5... "And fall down before His footstool: for He is holy." What are
we
to
fall down before? His footstool. What is under the feet is called a footstool,
in
Greek
upopodion, in Latin Scabellum or Suppedaneum. But consider, brethren,
what
he commands us to fall down before. In another passage of the Scriptures it
is
said, "The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool."
Isaiah 66:1 Doth
he
then bid us worship the earth, since in another passage it is said, that it is
God's
footstool?
How then shall we worship the earth, when the Scripture says openly,
"You
shall worship the Lord your God"? Deuteronomy 6:13 Yet here it says,
"fall
down
before His footstool:" and, explaining to us what His footstool is, it
says,
"The
earth is My footstool." I am in doubt; I fear to worship the earth, lest
He who
made
the heaven and the earth condemn me; again, I fear not to worship the
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 99
834
footstool
of my Lord, because the Psalm bids me, "fall down before His
footstool."
I
ask, what is His footstool? and the Scripture tells me, "the earth is My
footstool."
In
hesitation I turn unto Christ, since I am herein seeking Himself: and I
discover
how
the earth may be worshipped without impiety, how His footstool may be
worshipped
without impiety. For He took upon Him earth from earth; because
flesh
is from earth, and He received flesh from the flesh of Mary. And because He
walked
here in very flesh, and gave that very flesh to us to eat for our salvation;
and
no one eats that flesh, unless he has first worshipped: we have found out in
what
sense such a footstool of our Lord's may be worshipped, and not only that we
sin
not in worshipping it, but that we sin in not worshipping. But does the flesh
give
life? Our Lord Himself, when He was speaking in praise of this same earth,
said,
"It is the Spirit that quickens, the flesh profits nothing."...But
when our Lord
praised
it, He was speaking of His own flesh, and He had said, "Except a man eat
My
flesh, he shall have no life in him." John 6:54 Some disciples of His,
about
seventy,
were offended, and said, "This is an hard saying, who can hear it?"
And
they
went back, and walked no more with Him. It seemed unto them hard that He
said,
"Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, you have no life in you:"
they
received
it foolishly, they thought of it carnally, and imagined that the Lord would
cut
off parts from His body, and give unto them; and they said, "This is a
hard
saying."
It was they who were hard, not the saying; for unless they had been hard,
and
not meek, they would have said unto themselves, He says not this without
reason,
but there must be some latent mystery herein. They would have remained
with
Him, softened, not hard: and would have learned that from Him which they
who
remained, when the others departed, learned. For when twelve disciples had
remained
with Him, on their departure, these remaining followers suggested to
Him,
as if in grief for the death of the former, that they were offended by His
words,
and turned back. But He instructed them, and says unto them, "It is the
Spirit
that quickens, but the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken
unto
you, they are spirit, and they are life." John 6:63 Understand spiritually
what
I
have said; you are not to eat this body which you see; nor to drink that blood
which
they who will crucify Me shall pour forth. I have commended unto you a
certain
mystery; spiritually understood, it will quicken. Although it is needful that
this
be visibly celebrated, yet it must be spiritually understood.
9.
"Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among such as call upon His
Name:
these called upon the Lord, and He heard them" (ver. 6). "He spoke
unto
them
out of the cloudy pillar" (ver. 7).... Of Moses it is not there stated
that he was
a
priest. But if he was not this, what was he? Could he be anything greater than
a
priest?
This Psalm declares that he also was himself a priest: "Moses and Aaron
among
His priests." They therefore were the Lord's priests. Samuel is read of
later
in
the Book of Kings: this Samuel is in David's times; for he anointed the holy
David.
Samuel from his infancy grew up in the temple .... He mentions these: and
by
these desires us to understand all the saints. Yet why has he here named those?
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Psalm 99
835
Because
we said that we ought here to understand Christ. Attend, holy brethren.
He
said above, "O magnify the Lord our God: and fall down before His
footstool,
for
He is holy:" praising some one, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ; whose
footstool
is
to be worshipped, because He assumed flesh, in which He was to appear before
the
human race; and wishing to show unto us that the ancient fathers also had
preached
of Him, because our Lord Jesus Christ is Himself the True Priest, he
mentioned
these, because God spoke unto them out of the cloudy pillar. What
means,
"out of the cloudy pillar"? He was speaking figuratively. For if He
spoke in
some
cloud, those obscure words predicted some one unknown, yet to be manifest.
This
unknown one is no longer unknown; for He is known by us, our Lord Jesus
Christ
.... He who first spoke out of the cloudy pillar, has in Person spoken unto us
in
His footstool; that is, on earth, when He had assumed the flesh, for which
reason
we worship His footstool, for He is holy. He Himself used to speak out of
the
cloud, which was not then understood: He has spoken in His own footstool,
and
the words of His cloud have been understood. "They kept His testimonies,
and
the
law that He gave them."... "Thou heardest them," he says,
"O Lord our God:
You
were forgiving to them, O God" (ver. 8). God is not said to be forgiving
toward
anything but sins: when He pardons sins, then He forgives. And what had
He
in them to punish, so that He was forgiving in pardoning them? He was
forgiving
in pardoning their sins, He was also forgiving in punishing them. For
what
follows? "And punished all their own affections." Even in punishing
them
You
were forgiving toward them: for not in remitting, but also in punishing their
sins,
have You been forgiving. Consider, my brethren, what he has taught us here:
attend.
God is angry with him whom, when he sinneth, He scourges not: for unto
him
to whom He is truly forgiving, He not only remits sins, that they may not
injure
him in a future life; but also chastens him, that he delight not in continual
sin.
10.
Come, my brethren; if we ask how these were punished, the Lord will aid me
to
tell you. Let us consider these three persons, Moses, Aaron, and Samuel: and
how
they were punished, since he said, "You have punished all their own
affections:"
meaning those affections of theirs, which the Lord knew in their
hearts,
which men knew not. For they were living in the midst of the people of
God,
without complaint from man. But what do we say? That perhaps the early
life
of Moses was sinful; for he fled from Egypt, after slaying a man. Exodus 2:12-
15
The early life of Aaron also was such as would displease God; for he allowed a
maddened
and infatuated people to make an idol to worship; Exodus 32:1-4 and an
idol
was made for God's people to worship. What sin did Samuel, who was given
up
when an infant to the temple? He passed all his life amid the holy sacraments
of
God:
from childhood the servant of God. Nothing was ever said of Samuel,
nothing
by men. Perhaps God knew of somewhat there to chasten; since even what
seems
perfect unto men, unto that Perfection is still imperfect. Artists show many
of
their works to the unskilful; and when the unskilful have pronounced them
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 99
836
perfect,
the artists polish them still further, as they know what is still wanting to
them,
so that men wonder at things they had imagined already perfect having
received
so much additional polish. This happens in buildings, and in paintings,
and
in embroidery, and almost in every species of art. At first they judge it to be
already
in a manner perfect, so that their eyes desire nothing further: but the
judgment
of the inexperienced eye is one, and that of the rule of art another. Thus
also
these Saints were living before the eyes of God, as if faultless, as if
perfect, as
if
Angels: but He who punished all their own affections, knew what was wanting
in
them. But He punished them not in anger, but in mercy: He punished them that
He
might perfect what He had begun, not to condemn what He had cast away. God
therefore
punished all their affections. How did He punish Samuel? where is this
punishment?
... What was said unto Moses was a type, not a punishment. What
punishment
is death to an old man? What punishment was it, not to enter into that
land,
into which unworthy men entered? But what is said of Aaron? He also died
an
old man: his sons succeeded him in the priesthood: his son afterwards ruled in
the
priesthood: how did He punish Aaron also? Samuel also died a holy old man,
leaving
his sons as his successors. I seek for the punishment inflicted upon them,
and
according to men I find it not: but according to what I know the servants of
God
suffer every day, they were day by day punished. Read ye, and see the
punishments,
and you also who are advanced bear the punishments. Every day
they
suffered from the obstinate people, every day they suffered from the ungodly
livers;
and were compelled to live among those whose lives they daily censured.
This
was their punishment. He unto whom it is small has not advanced far; for the
ungodliness
of others torments you in proportion as you have departed far from
your
own....
11.
"O magnify the Lord our God!" (ver. 9). Again we magnify Him. He who
is
merciful
even when He strikes, how is He to be praised, how is He to be
magnified?
Can you show this unto your son, and cannot God? For you are not
good
when thou dost caress your son, and evil when you strike him. Both when
thou
dost caress him you are a father, and when you strike him, you are his father:
thou
dost caress him, that he may not faint; you strike him, that he may not perish.
"O
magnify the Lord our God, and worship Him upon His holy hill: for the Lord
our
God is holy." As he said above, "O magnify the Lord our God and fall
down
before
His footstool:" now we have understood what it is to worship His
footstool:
thus
also but now after he had magnified the Lord our God, that no man might
magnify
Him apart from His hill, he has also praised His hill. What is His hill? We
read
elsewhere concerning this hill, that a stone was cut from the hill without
hands,
and shattered all the kingdoms of the earth, and the stone itself increased.
This
is the vision of Daniel which I am relating. This stone which was cut from the
hill
without hands increased, and "became," he says, "a great
mountain, and filled
the
whole face of the earth." Daniel 2:34-35 Let us worship on that great
mountain,
if we desire to be heard. Heretics do not worship on that mountain,
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Psalm 99 837
because
it has filled the whole earth; they have stuck fast on part of it, and have
lost
the whole. If they acknowledge the Catholic Church, they will worship on this
hill
with us. For we already see how that stone that was cut from the mountain
without
hands has increased, and how great tracts of earth it has prevailed over,
and
unto what nations it has extended. What is the mountain whence the stone was
hewn
without hands? The Jewish kingdom, in the first place; since they
worshipped
one God. Thence was hewn the stone, our Lord Jesus Christ .... That
stone
then was born of the mountain without hands: it increased, and by its
increase
broke all the kingdoms of the earth. It has become a great mountain, and
has
filled the whole face of the earth. This is the Catholic Church, in whose
communion
rejoice that you are. But they who are not in her communion, since
they
worship and praise God apart from this same mountain, are not heard unto
eternal
life; although they may be heard unto certain temporal things. Let them not
flatter
themselves, because God hears them in some things: for He hears Pagans
also
in some things. Do not the Pagans cry unto God, and it rains? Wherefore?
Because
He makes His sun to rise over the good and the bad, and sends rain upon
the
just and the unjust. Matthew 5:45 Boast not therefore, Pagan, that when you
cry
unto God, God sends rain, for He sends rain upon the just and the unjust. He
has
heard you in temporal things: He hears you not in things eternal, unless you
have
worshipped in His holy hill. "Worship Him upon His holy hill: for the Lord
our
God is holy."...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 100
838
Exposition
on Psalm 100
1.
You heard the Psalm, brethren, while it was being chanted: it is short, and not
obscure:
as if I had given you an assurance, that you should not fear fatigue....
2.
The title of this Psalm is, "A Psalm of confession." The verses are
few, but big
with
great subjects; may the seed bring forth within your hearts, the barn be
prepared
for the Lord's harvest.
3.
"Jubilate," therefore, "unto the Lord, all you lands" (ver.
1). This Psalm gives
this
exhortation to us, that we jubilate unto the Lord. Nor does it, as it were,
exhort
one
particular corner of the earth, or one habitation or congregation of men; but
since
it is aware that it has sown blessings on every side, on every side it does
exact
jubilance. Doth all the earth at this moment hear my voice? And yet the
whole
earth has heard this voice. All the earth is already jubilant in the Lord; and
what
is not as yet jubilant, will be so. For blessing, extending on every side, when
the
Church was commencing to spread from Jerusalem throughout all nations,
Luke
24:47 everywhere overturns ungodliness, and everywhere builds up piety:
the
good are mingled with the wicked throughout all lands. Every land is full of
the
discontented murmurs of the wicked, and of the jubilance of the good. What
then
is it, "to jubilate"? For the title of the present Psalm especially
makes us give
good
heed to this word, for it is entitled, "A Psalm of confession." What
means, to
jubilate
with confession? It is the sentiment thus expressed in another Psalm:
"Blessed
is the people that understands jubilance." Surely that which being
understood
makes blessed is something great. May therefore the Lord our God,
who
makes men blessed, grant me to understand what to say, and grant you to
understand
what ye hear: "Blessed is the people that understands jubilance." Let
us
therefore
run unto this blessing, let us understand jubilance, let us not pour it forth
without
understanding. Of what use is it to be jubilant and obey this Psalm, when
it
says, "Jubilate unto the Lord, all you lands," and not to understand
what
jubilance
is, so that our voice only may be jubilant, our heart not so? For the
understanding
is the utterance of the heart.
4.
I am about to say what ye know. One who jubilates, utters not words, but it is
a
certain
sound of joy without words: for it is the expression of a mind poured forth
in
joy, expressing, as far as it is able, the affection, but not compassing the
feeling.
A
man rejoicing in his own exultation, after certain words which cannot be
uttered
or
understood, bursts forth into sounds of exultation without words, so that it
seems
that he indeed does rejoice with his voice itself, but as if filled with
excessive
joy cannot express in words the subject of that joy .... Those who are
engaged
at work in the fields are most given to jubilate; reapers, or vintagers, or
those
who gather any of the fruits of the earth, delighted with the abundant
produce,
and rejoicing in the very richness and exuberance of the soil, sing in
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 100
839
exultation;
and among the songs which they utter in words, they put in certain
cries
without words in the exultation of a rejoicing mind; and this is what is meant
by
jubilating....
5.
When then are we jubilant? When we praise that which cannot be uttered. For
we
observe the whole creation, the earth and the sea, and all things that therein
are:
we observe that each have their sources and causes, the power of production,
the
order of birth, the limit of duration, the end in decease, that successive ages
run
on
without any confusion, that the stars roll, as it seems, from the East to the
West,
and
complete the courses of the years: we see how the months are measured, how
the
hours extend; and in all these things a certain invisible element, I know not
what,
but some principle of unity, which is termed spirit or soul, present in all
living
things, urging them to the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain, and
the
preservation of their own safety; that man also has somewhat in common with
the
Angels of God; not with cattle, such as life, hearing, sight, and so forth; but
somewhat
which can understand God, which peculiarly does belong to the mind,
which
can distinguish justice and injustice, as the eye discerns white from black.
In
all this consideration of creation, which I have run over as I could, let the
soul
ask
itself: Who created all these things? Who made them? Who made among them
yourself?
... I have observed the whole creation, as far as I could. I have observed
the
bodily creation in heaven and on earth, and the spiritual in myself who am
speaking,
who animate my limbs, who exert voice, who move the tongue, who
pronounce
words, and distinguish sensations. And when can I comprehend myself
in
myself? How then can I comprehend what is above myself? Yet the sight of
God
is promised to the human heart, and a certain operation of purifying the heart
is
enjoined; this is the counsel of Scripture. Provide the means of seeing what
you
love,
before thou try to see it. For unto whom is it not sweet to hear of God and
His
Name, except to the ungodly, who is far removed, separated from Him?...
6.
Be therefore like Him in piety, and earnest in meditation: for "the
invisible
things
of Him are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made;"
Romans
1:20 look upon the things that are made, admire them, seek their author.
If
you are unlike, you will turn back; if like, you will rejoice. And when, being
like
Him,
you shall have begun to approach Him, and to feel God, the more love
increases
in you, since God is love, you will perceive somewhat which you were
trying
to say, and yet couldest not say. Before you felt God, you thought that you
could
express God; you begin to feel Him, and then feelest that what thou dost feel
you
can not express. But when you have herein found that what thou dost feel
cannot
be expressed, will you be mute, will you not praise God? Will you then be
silent
in the praises of God, and will you not offer up thanksgivings unto Him who
has
willed to make Himself known unto you? Thou praised Him when you were
seeking,
will you be silent when you have found Him? By no means; you will not
be
ungrateful. Honour is due to Him, reverence is due to Him, great praise is due
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 100 840
to
Him. Consider yourself, see what you are: earth and ashes; look who it is has
deserved
to see, and What; consider who you are, What to see, a man to see God! I
recognise
not the man's deserving, but the mercy of God. Praise therefore Him
who
has mercy....
7.
"Serve the Lord with gladness." All servitude is full of bitterness:
all who are
bound
to a lot of servitude both are slaves, and discontented. Fear not the servitude
of
that Lord: there will be no groaning there, no discontent, no indignation; no
one
seeks
to be sold to another master, since it is a sweet service, because we are all
redeemed.
Great happiness, brethren, it is, to be a slave in that great house,
although
in bonds. Fear not, bound slave, confess unto the Lord: ascribe your
bonds
to your own deservings; confess in your chains, if you are desirous they be
changed
into ornaments.... At the same time you are slave, and free; slave, because
you
are created such; free, because you are loved by God, by whom you were
created:
yea, free indeed, because you love Him by whom you were made. Serve
not
with discontent; for your murmurs do not tend to release you from serving, but
to
make you a wicked servant. You are a slave of the Lord, you are a freedman of
the
Lord: seek not so to be emancipated as to depart from the house of Him who
frees
you....
8.
I will, therefore, says he, live separate with a few good men: why should I
live
in
common with crowds? Well: those very few good men, from what crowds have
they
been strained out? If however these few are all good: it is, nevertheless, a
good
and praiseworthy design in man, to be with such as have chosen a quiet life;
distant
from the bustle of the people, from noisy crowds, from the great waves of
life,
they are as if in harbour. Is there therefore here that joy? that jubilant
gladness
which
is promised? Not as yet; but still groans, still the anxiety of temptations.
For
even
the harbour has an entrance somewhere or other; if it had not, no ship could
enter
it; it must therefore be open on some side: but at times on this open side the
wind
rushes in; and where there are no rocks, ships dashed together shatter one
another.
Where then is security, if not even in harbour? And yet it must be
confessed,
it is true, that persons in harbour are in their degree much better off
than
when afloat on the main. Let them love one another, as ships in harbour, let
them
be bound together happily; let them not dash against one another: let
absolute
equality be preserved there, constancy in love; and when perchance the
wind
rushes in from the open side, let there be careful piloting there. Now what
will
one who perchance presides over such places, nay, who serves his brethren, in
what
are called monasteries, tell me? I will be cautious: I will admit no wicked
man.
How will you admit no evil one? ... Those who are about to enter, do not
know
themselves; how much less do you know them? For many have promised
themselves
that they were about to fulfil that holy life, which has all things in
common,
where no man calls anything his own, who have one soul and one heart
in
God: Acts 4:32 they have been put into the furnace, and have cracked. How
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 100
841
then
do you know him who is unknown even to himself?... Where then is security?
Here
nowhere; in this life nowhere, except solely in the hope of the promise of
God.
But there, when we shall reach thereunto, is complete security, when the
gates
are shut, and the bars of the gates of Jerusalem made fast; there is truly full
jubilance,
and great delight. Only do not thou feel secure in praising any sort of
life:
"judge no man blessed before his death."
9.
By this means men are deceived, so that they either do not undertake, or rashly
attempt,
a better life; because, when they choose to praise, they praise without
mention
of the evil that is mixed with the good: and those who choose to blame,
do
so with so envious and perverse a mind, as to shut their eyes to the good, and
exaggerate
only the evils which either actually exist there, or are imagined. Thus it
happens,
that when any profession has been ill, that is, incautiously, praised, if it
has
invited men by its own reputation, they who betake themselves thither
discover
some such as they did not believe to be there; and offended by the wicked
recoil
from the good. Brethren, apply this teaching to your life, and hear in such a
manner
that you may live. The Church of God, to speak generally, is magnified:
Christians,
and Christians alone, are called great, the Catholic (Church) is
magnified;
all love each other; each and all do all they can for one another; they
give
themselves up to prayers, fastings, hymns; throughout the whole world, with
peaceful
unanimity God is praised. Some one perhaps hears this, who is ignorant
that
nothing is said of the wicked who are mingled with them; he comes, invited
by
these praises, finds bad men mixed with them, who were not mentioned to him
before
he came; he is offended by false Christians, he flies from true Christians.
Again,
men who hate and slander them, precipitately blame them: asking, what
sort
of men are Christians? Who are Christians? Covetous men, usurers. Are not
the
very persons who fill the Churches on holidays the same who during the games
and
other spectacles fill the theatres and amphitheatres? They are drunken,
gluttonous,
envious, slanderers of each other. There are such, but not such only.
And
this slanderer in his blindness says nothing of the good: and that praiser in
his
want
of caution is silent about the bad .... Thus also in that common life of
brethren,
which exists in a monastery: great and holy men live therein, with daily
hymns,
prayers, praises of God; their occupation is reading; they labour with their
own
hands, and by this means support themselves; they seek nothing covetously;
whatever
is brought in for them by pious brethren, they use with contentedness
and
charity; no one claims as his own what another has not; all love, all forbear
one
another mutually. You have praised them; you have praised; he who knows
not
what is going on within, who knows not how, when the wind enters, ships
even
in harbour dash against one another, enters as if in hope of security,
expecting
to find no man to forbear; he finds there evil brethren, who could not
have
been found evil, if they had not been admitted (and they must be at first
tolerated,
lest they should perchance reform; nor can they easily be excluded,
unless
they have first been endured): and becomes himself impatient beyond
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Psalm 100
842
endurance.
Who asked me here? I thought that love was here. And irritated by the
perversity
of some few men, since he has not persevered in fulfilling his vow, he
becomes
a deserter of so holy a design, and guilty of a vow he has never
discharged.
And then, when he has gone forth himself too, he also becomes a
reproacher,
and a slanderer; and records those things only (sometimes real), which
he
asserts that he could not have endured. But the real troubles of the wicked
ought
to be endured for the society of the good. The Scripture says unto him:
"Woe
unto those that have lost patience." Ecclesiastes 2:16 And what is more,
he
belches
abroad the evil savour of his indignation, as a means to deter them who are
about
to enter; because, when he had entered himself, he could not persevere. Of
what
sort are they? Envious, quarrelsome, men who forbear no man, covetous;
saying,
He did this there, and he did that there. Wicked one, why are you silent
about
the good! You say enough of those whom you could not endure: you say
nothing
of those who endured your wickedness....
10.
"O serve the Lord with gladness" (ver. 2): he addresses you, whoever
you are
who
endure all things in love, and rejoice in hope. "Serve the Lord," not
in the
bitterness
of murmuring, but in the "gladness of love." "Come before His
presence
with
rejoicing." It is easy to rejoice outwardly: rejoice before the presence
of God.
Let
not the tongue be too joyful: let the conscience be joyful. "Come before
His
presence
with a song."
11.
"Be sure that the Lord He is God" (ver. 3). Who knows not that the
Lord, He is
God?
But He speaks of the Lord, whom men thought not God: "Be sure that the
Lord
He is God." Let not that Lord become vile in your sight: you have
crucified
Him,
scourged Him, spit upon Him, crowned Him with thorns, clothed Him in a
dress
of infamy, hung Him upon the Cross, pierced Him with nails, wounded Him
with
a spear, placed guards at His tomb; He is God. "It is He that has made us,
and
not
we ourselves." It is He that has made us: "and without Him was not
anything
made
that was made." John 1:3 What reason have ye for exultation, what reason
have
ye for pride? Another made you; the Same who made you, suffers from you.
But
ye extol yourselves, and glory in yourselves, as if you were created by
yourselves.
It is good for you that He who made you, make you perfect.... "We are
His
people, and the sheep of His pasture." Sheep and one sheep. These sheep
are
one
sheep: and how loving a Shepherd we have! He left the ninety and nine, and
descended
to seek the one, He brings it back on His own shoulders Luke 15:4-5
ransomed
by His own blood. That Shepherd dies without fear for the sheep, who
on
His resurrection regains His sheep.
12.
"Enter into His gates with confession" (ver. 3). At the gates is the
beginning:
begin
with confession. Thence is the Psalm entitled, "A Psalm of
Confession:"
there
be joyful. Confess that you were not made by yourselves, praise Him by
whom
you were made. Let your good come from Him, in departing from whom
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm
100
843
you
have caused thine evil. "Enter into His gates with confession." Let
the flock
enter
into the gates: let it not remain outside, a prey for wolves. And how is it to
enter?
"With confession." Let the gate, that is, the commencement for you,
be
confession.
Whence it is said in another Psalm, "Begin unto the Lord with
confession."
What he there calls "Begin," here he calls "Gates."
"Enter into His
gates
in confession." What? And when we have entered, shall we not still
confess?
Always
confess Him: you have always what to confess for. It is hard in this life for
a
man to be so far changed, that no cause for censure be discoverable in him: you
must
needs blame yourself, lest He who shall condemn blame you. Therefore even
when
you have entered His courts, then also confess. When will there be no longer
confession
of sins? In that rest, in that likeness to the Angels. But consider what I
have
said: there will there be no confession of sins. I said not, there will be no
confession:
for there will be confession of praise. You will ever confess, that He is
God,
thou a creature; that He is your Protector, yourself protected. In Him you
shall
be as it were hid. "Go into His courts with hymns; and confess unto
Him."
Confess
in the gates; and when you have entered the courts, confess with hymns.
Hymn
are praises. Blame yourself, when you are entering; when you have entered,
praise
Him. "Open me the gates of righteousness," he says in another Psalm,
"that
I
may go into them, and confess unto the Lord." Did he say, when I have
entered, I
will
no longer confess? Even after his entrance, he will confess. For what sins did
our
Lord Jesus Christ confess, when He said, "I confess unto You, O
Father"?
Matthew
11:25 He confessed in praising Him, not in accusing Himself. "Speak
good
of His Name."
13.
"For the Lord is pleasant" (ver. 4). Think not that you faint in
praising Him.
Your
praise of Him is like food: the more ye praise Him, the more ye acquire
strength,
and He whom you praise becomes the more sweet. "His mercy is
everlasting."
For He will not cease to be merciful, after He has freed you: it
belongs
to His mercy to protect you even unto eternal life. "His mercy,"
therefore,
"is
to everlasting: and His truth from generation to generation" (ver. 5).
Understand
by "from generation to generation," either every generation, or in
two
generations,
the one earthly, the other heavenly. Here there is one generation
which
produces mortals; another which makes such as are everlasting. His Truth is
both
here, and there. Imagine not that His truth is not here, if His truth were not
here,
he would not say in another Psalm: "Truth is risen out of the earth;"
nor
would
Truth Itself say, Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
world."
Matthew
28:20
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Psalm 101
844
Exposition
on Psalm 101
1.
In this Psalm, we ought to seek in the whole body of it what we find in the
first
verse:
"Mercy and judgment will I sing unto You, O Lord" (ver. 1). Let no
man
flatter
himself that he will never be punished through God's mercy; for there is
judgment
also; and let no man who has been changed for the better dread the
Lord's
judgment, seeing that mercy goes before it. For when men judge,
sometimes
overcome by mercy, they act against justice; and mercy, but not justice,
seems
to be in them: while sometimes, when they wish to enforce a rigid
judgment,
they lose mercy. But God neither loses the severity of judgment in the
bounty
of mercy, nor in judging with severity loses the bounty of mercy. Suppose
we
distinguish these two, mercy and judgment, by time; for possibly, they are not
placed
in this order without a meaning, so that he said not "judgment and
mercy,"
but
"mercy and judgment:" so that if we distinguish them by succession in
time,
perhaps
we find that the present is the season for mercy, the future for judgment.
How
is it that the season of mercy comes first? Consider first how it is with God,
that
you also may imitate the Father, in so far as He shall permit you.... "He
makes
His
sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the
unjust."
Behold mercy. When you see the just and the unjust behold the same sun,
enjoy
the same light, drink from the same founts, satisfied with the same rain,
blessed
with the same fruits of the earth, inhale this air in the same way, possess
equally
the world's goods; think not that God is unjust, who gives these things
equally
to the just and the unjust. It is the season of mercy, not as yet of judgment.
For
unless God spared at first through mercy, He would not find those whom He
could
crown through judgment. There is therefore a season for mercy, when the
long-suffering
of God calls sinners to repentance.
2.
Hear the Apostle distinguishing each season, and do thou also distinguish
it....
"Do you think," he says, "O man, that judgest them that do such
things, and
doest
the same, that you shall escape the judgment of God?" And as if we were to
reply,
Why do I commit such sins daily, and no evil occurs unto me? he goes on to
show
to him the season of mercy: "Despisest thou the riches of His goodness,
and
forbearance,
and long-suffering?" And he did indeed despise them; but the Apostle
has
made him anxious. "Not knowing," he says, "that the goodness of
God leads
you
to repentance?" Romans 2:4 Behold the season of mercy. But that he might
not
think this would last for ever, how did he in the next verse raise his fears?
Now
hear
the season of judgment; you have heard the season of mercy, on which
account,
"mercy and judgment will I sing unto You, O Lord:" "But
you," says the
Apostle,
"after your hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto yourself
wrath
against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
who
will render to every man according to his deeds." Romans 2:5-6 Lo,
"mercy
and
judgment." But he has threatened concerning judgment: is therefore the
judgment
of God to be feared only, and not to be loved? To be feared by the
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845
wicked
on account of punishment, to be loved by the good on account of the
crown.
Because then the Apostle has alarmed the wicked in the testimony which I
have
quoted, hear where he gives hope concerning judgment to the good. He puts
forth
himself, and shows in himself too the season of mercy. For unless he found a
period
of mercy, in what condition would judgment find him? A blasphemer, a
persecutor,
an injurer of others. For he thus speaks, and praises the season of
mercy,
in which season we are now living: "I who was before," he says,
"a
blasphemer,
and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy." But perhaps he
only
has obtained mercy? Hear how he cheers us: "That in me," he says,
"first,
Christ
Jesus might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which
should
hereafter believe in Him to life everlasting." What means, "that He
might
show
forth all long-suffering"? That every sinner and wicked man might see that
Paul
received pardon, and might not despair of himself? Lo, he has instanced
himself,
and thereby cheered others also .... But did Paul alone deserve this? For I
had
asserted, that as he raised our fears by the former testimony, so did he
encourage
us by the latter. When he said, "The Lord, the righteous Judge, shall
render
to me at that day:" he adds, "and not to me only, but unto all them
also that
love
His appearing" 2 Timothy 4:8 and His kingdom. Since therefore, brethren,
we
have
a season of mercy, let us not on that account flatter, or indulge ourselves,
saying,
God spares ever....
3.
"I will sing to the harp, and will have understanding, in the spotless
way. When
You
shall come unto me" (ver. 2). Except in the spotless way, you can neither
sing
to
the harp, nor understand. If thou dost wish to understand, sing in the spotless
way,
that is, work with cheerfulness before your God. What is the spotless way?
Hear
what follows: "I walked in innocence, in the midst of my house." This
spotless
way begins from innocence, and it ends also in innocence. Why seek
many
words? Be innocent: and you have perfected righteousness .... But who is
innocent?
He who while he hurts not another, injures not himself. For he who
hurts
himself, is not innocent. Some one says: Lo, I have not robbed any one, I
have
not oppressed any one: I will live happily on my own substance, the fruits of
my
virtuous toil; I wish to have fine banquets, I wish to spend as much as pleases
me,
to drink with those whom I like as much as I please; whom have I robbed,
whom
have I oppressed, who has complained of me? He seems innocent. But if he
corrupt
himself, if he overthrow the temple of God within himself, why hope that
he
will act with mercy toward others, and spare the wretched? Can that man be
merciful
to others, who unto himself is cruel? The whole of righteousness,
therefore,
is reduced to the one word, innocence. But the lover of iniquity, hates
his
own soul. When he loved iniquity, he fancied he was injuring others. But
consider
whether he was injuring others: "He who loves iniquity," he says,
"hates
his
own soul." He therefore who wishes to injure another, first injures
himself; nor
does
he walk, since there is no room. For all wickedness suffers from narrowness:
innocence
alone is broad enough to walk in. "I walked in the innocence of my
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846
heart,
in the midst of my house." By the middle of his house, he either signifies
the
Church
herself; for Christ walks in her: or his own heart; for our inner house is our
heart:
as he has explained in the above words, "in the innocence of my
heart."
What
is the innocence of the heart? The middle of his house? Whoever has a bad
house
in this, is driven out of doors. For whoever is oppressed within his heart by
a
bad conscience, just as any man in consequence of the overflow of a waterspout
or
of smoke goes out of his house, suffers not himself to dwell therein; so he who
has
not a quiet heart, cannot happily dwell in his heart. Such men go out of
themselves
in the bent of their mind, and delight themselves with things without,
that
affect the body; they seek repose in trifles, in spectacles, in luxuries, in
all
evils.
Wherefore do they wish themselves well without? Because it is not well
with
them within, so that they may rejoice in a good conscience....
4.
"I set no wicked thing before my eyes" (ver. 3)....I did love no
wicked thing.
And
he explains this same wicked thing: "I hated them that do
unfaithfulness."
Attend,
my brethren. If you walk with Christ in the midst of His house, that is, if
either
in your heart you have a good repose, or in the Church herself proceed on a
good
journey in the way of godliness; ye ought not to hate those unfaithful only
who
are without, but whomsoever also ye may have found within. Who are the
unfaithful?
They who hate the law of God; who hear, and do it not, are called
unfaithful.
Hate the doers of unfaithfulness, repel them from you. But you should
hate
the unfaithful, not men: one man who is unfaithful, has, you see, two names,
man,
and unfaithful: God made him man, he made himself unfaithful; love in him
what
God made, persecute in him what he made himself. For when you shall have
persecuted
his unfaithfulness, you kill the work of man, and freest the work of
God.
"I hated the doers of unfaithfulness."
5.
"The wicked heart has not cleaved unto me."... The heart of a man,
who wishes
not
anything contrary to any that God wishes, is called straight .... If therefore
the
righteous
heart follows God, the crooked heart resists God. Suppose something
untoward
happens to him, he cries out, "God, what have I done unto You? What
sin
have I committed?" He wishes himself to appear just, God unjust. What is
so
crooked
as this? It is not enough that you are crooked yourself: you must think
your
rule crooked also. Reform yourself, and you find Him straight, in departing
from
whom you have made yourself crooked. He does justly, thou unjustly; and
for
this reason you are perverse, since you call man just, and God unjust. What
man
do you call just? Yourself. For when you say, "What have I done unto
You?"
you
think yourself just. But let God answer you: "You speak truth: you have done
nothing
to Me: you have done all things unto yourself; for if you had done
anything
for Me, you would have done good. For whatever is done well, is done
unto
Me; because it is done according to My commandment; but whatever of evil
is
done, is done unto you, not unto Me; for the wicked man does nothing except
for
his own sake, since it is not what I command." When ye see such men,
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847
brethren,
reprove them, convince and correct them: and if you cannot reprove or
correct
them, consent not to them.
6.
"When the wicked man departed from me, I knew him not" (ver. 4). I
approved
him
not, I praised him not, he pleased me not. For we find the word "to
know"
occasionally
used in Scripture, in the sense of "to be pleased." For what is
hidden
from
God, brethren? Doth He know the just, and does He not know the unjust?
What
do you think of, that He does not know? I say not, what do you think; but
what
will you ever think, that He will not have seen beforehand? God knows all
things,
then; and yet in the end, that is in judgment after mercy, He says of some
persons:
"I will profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you
workers
of iniquity." Matthew 7:23 Was there any one He did not know? But what
means,
"I never knew you"? I acknowledge you not in My rule. For I know the
rule
of My righteousness: ye agree not with it, you have turned aside from it, you
are
crooked. Therefore He said here also: "When the wicked man departed from
Me,
I knew him not." ... Therefore, "when the wicked man departed from
me," that
is,
when the wicked man was unlike me, and was unwilling to imitate my paths,
was
unwilling in his wickedness to live as I had proposed myself for his imitation;
"I
knew him not." What means, "I knew him not"? Not that I was
ignorant of him,
but
that I did not approve him.
7.
"Whoso privily slandered his neighbour, him I persecuted" (ver. 5).
Behold the
righteous
persecutor, not of the man, but of the sin. "With the proud eye, and the
insatiable
heart, I did not feed." What means, "I did not feed with"? I did
not eat in
common
with such. Attend, beloved; since you are about to hear something
wonderful.
If he did not feed with this man, he did not eat with him; for to feed is
to
eat; how is it then that we find our Lord Himself eating with the proud? It was
not
only with those publicans and sinners, for they were humble: for they
acknowledged
their weakness, and asked for the physician. We find that He ate
with
the proud Pharisees themselves. A certain proud man had invited Him: it was
the
same who was displeased because a sinning woman, one of ill repute in the
city,
approached the feet of our Lord.... That Pharisee was proud: the Lord ate with
him;
what is it therefore that he says? "With such an one I did not eat."
How does
He
enjoin unto us what He has not done Himself? He exhorts us to imitate
Himself:
we see that He ate with the proud; how does He forbid us to eat with the
proud?
We indeed, brethren, for the sake of reproof, abstain from communion with
our
brethren, and do not eat with them, that they may be reformed? We rather eat
with
strangers, with Pagans, than with those who hold with us, if we have seen that
they
live wickedly, that they may be ashamed, and amend; as the Apostle says,
"And
if any man obey not our word by this Epistle, note that man, and have no
company
with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but
admonish
him as a brother." For the sake of healing others we usually do this; but
nevertheless
we often eat with many strangers and ungodly men.
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848
8.
The pious heart has its banquets, the proud heart has its banquets: for it was
on
account
of the food of the proud heart, that he said, "with an insatiable
heart."
How
is the proud heart fed? If a man is proud, he is envious: otherwise it cannot
be.
Pride is the mother of enviousness: it cannot but generate it, and ever coexist
with
it. Every proud man is, therefore, envious: if envious, he feeds on the
misfortunes
of others. Whence the Apostle says, "But if you bite and devour one
another,
take heed that you be not consumed of one another." Galatians 5:15 You
see
them, then, eating: eat not with these: fly such banquets: for they cannot
satisfy
themselves
with rejoicing in others' evils, because their hearts are insatiable.
Beware
you are not caught in their feasts by the devil's noose .... Just as birds feed
at
the trap, or fishes at the hook, they were taken, when they fed. The ungodly
therefore
have their own feasts, the godly also have theirs. Hear the feasts of the
godly:
"Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they
shall
be
filled." Matthew 5:6 If therefore the godly eats the meat of
righteousness, and
the
ungodly of pride; it is no wonder if he is insatiable in heart. He eats the
meat of
iniquity:
do not eat the meat of iniquity, and the proud in eye, and the insatiable in
heart,
eats not with you.
9.
And whence were you fed? And what pleased you, when he did not eat with
you?
"My eyes," he says, "were upon such as are faithful in the land,
that they
might
sit with me" (ver. 6). That is, that with Me they might be seated. In what
sense
are they "to sit"? "You shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes
of
Israel." Matthew 19:28 The faithful of the earth judge, for to them it is
said, "Do
you
not know, that we shall judge angels?" 1 Corinthians 6:3 "Whoso walks
in a
spotless
way, he ministered unto me." To "Me," he says, not to himself.
For many
minister
the Gospel, but unto themselves; because they seek their own things, not
the
things of Jesus Christ. Philippians 2:21...
10.
"The proud man has not dwelt in the midst of my house" (ver. 7).
Understand
this
of the heart. The proud did not dwell in my heart: no such dwelt in my heart:
for
he hurried away from me. None but the meek and peaceful dwelt in my heart;
the
proud dwelt not there, for the unrighteous one dwells not in the heart of the
righteous.
Let the righteous be distant from you, I know not how many miles and
stations:
ye dwell together, if you have one heart. "The proud doer has not dwelt in
the
midst of my house: he that speaks unjust things has not directed in the sight
of
my
eyes." This is the spotless way, where we understand when the Lord comes
unto
us.
11.
"In the morning I destroyed all the ungodly that were in the land. That I
may
root
out all wicked doers from the city of the Lord" (ver. 8). This is obscure.
There
are
then wicked doers in the city of the Lord, and they at present, seemingly,
spared.
Why so? Because it is the season of mercy: but that of judgment will
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849
come;
for the Psalm thus began, "Of mercy and judgment will I sing unto You, O
Lord."...
12.
He at present spares, He will then judge. But when will He judge? When night
shall
have passed away. For this reason He has said: "In the morning." When
the
day
shall at last have arrived, night having passed by. Why does He spare them
until
the dawn? Because it was night. What means, it was night? Because it was
the
season for mercy: He was merciful, while the hearts of men were hidden. You
see
some one living ill; you endure him: for you know not of what sort he will
prove
to be; since it is night; whether he who today lives ill, tomorrow may live
well;
and whether he who today lives well, tomorrow may be wicked. For it is
night,
and God endures all men, since He is of long-suffering: He endures them,
that
sinners may be converted unto Him. But they who shall not have reformed
themselves
in that season of mercy, shall be slain. And wherefore? That they may
be
scattered abroad from the city of the Lord, from the fellowship of Jerusalem,
from
the fellowship of the Saints, from the fellowship of the Church. But when
shall
they be slain? "At dawn." What means, "at dawn"? When night
shall have
passed
away. Wherefore now does he spare? Because it is the season of mercy.
Why
does He not always spare? Because, "Mercy and judgment will I sing unto
You,
O Lord." Brethren, let no man flatter himself: all the doers of iniquity
shall
be
slain; Christ shall slay them at the dawn, and shall destroy them from His
city.
But
now while it is the time of mercy, let them hear Him. Everywhere He cries out
by
the Law, by the Prophets, by the Psalms, by the Epistles, by the Gospels: see
that
He is not silent; that He spares; that He grants mercy; but beware, for the
judgment
will come.
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Psalm 102
850
Exposition
on Psalm 102
1.
Behold, one poor man prays, and prays not in silence. We may therefore hear
him,
and see who he is: whether it be not perchance He, of whom the Apostle
says,
"Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through
His
poverty might be rich." 2 Corinthians 8:9 If it is He, then, how is He
poor? For
in
what sense He is rich, who sees not? What then is richer than He, by whom
riches
were made, even those which are not true riches? For through Him we have
even
these riches, ability, memory, character, health of body, the senses, and the
conformation
of our limbs: for when these are safe, even the poor are rich.
Through
Him also are those greater riches, faith, piety, justice, charity, chastity,
good
conduct: for no man has these, except through Him who justifies the
ungodly....
Behold, how rich! In one so rich, how are we to recognise these words?
"I
have eaten ashes as it were bread: and mingled my drink with weeping."
Have
these
so great riches come to this? The former state is a very high one, this is a
very
lowly one .... Yet still examine whether this poor man be He; since, "The
Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us." John 1:14 Reflect also upon these
words:
"I am Your servant, and the Son of Thine handmaid." Observe, this
handmaid,
chaste, a virgin, and a mother: for there He received our poverty, when
He
was clothed in the form of a servant, emptying Himself; lest you should dread
His
riches, and in your beggarly state shouldest not dare approach Him. There, I
say,
He put on the form of a servant, there He was clothed with our poverty; there
He
made Himself poor, and us rich. We are now drawing near to understand these
things
of Him: nevertheless we may not as yet rashly pronounce....
2.
Let him add poverty then to poverty: let Him transfigure unto Himself our
humble
body: let Him be our Head, we His limbs, let there be two in one flesh.
Philippians
3:21 ... For He has deigned to hold even us as His limbs. The penitent
also
are among His limbs. For they are not shut out, nor separated from His
Church:
nor would He make the Church His spouse, unless by words like these:
"Repent
ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 3:2 Let us then hear
what
the head and the body prays, the bridegroom and bride, Christ and the
Church,
both one Person; but the Word and the flesh are not both one thing; the
Father
and the Word are both one thing; Christ and the Church are both one
Person,
one perfect man in the form of His own fulness.... Let us hear therefore
Christ,
poor within us and with us, and for our sakes. For the title itself indicates
the
poor one. Lastly, remember that I conjectured who that poor one was: let us
hear
His prayer, and recognise His Person; and mistake not, when you shall have
heard
anything that cannot apply to His Head; it was for this reason that I have
prefaced
as I have, that whatever you shall hear of this description, you may
understand
as sounding from the weakness of the body, and recognise the voice of
the
members in the head. The title is, "A Prayer of the afflicted, when he was
tormented,
and poured out his prayer before the Lord." It is the same poor one who
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Psalm 102 851
elsewhere
says: "From the ends of the earth will I call upon You, when my heart is
in
heaviness." He is afflicted because He is also Christ; who in the
Prophet's words
calls
Himself both Bridegroom and Bride: "He has bound on me the diadem as on
a
bridegroom, and as a bride has adorned me with an ornament." Isaiah 6 1:
10 He
called
Himself Bridegroom, He called Himself Bride; wherefore this, unless
Bridegroom
applies to the Head, Bride to the body? They are one voice then,
because
they are one flesh. Let us hear, and recognise ourselves in these words;
and
if we see that we are without, let us labour to be there.
3.
"Hear my prayer, O Lord: and let my crying come unto You" (ver. 1).
"Hear my
prayer,
O Lord," is the same as, "Let my crying come unto You:" the
feeling of the
suppliant
is shown by the repetition. "Turn not Your face away from me." When
did
God turn away His Face from His Son? when did the Father turn away His
Face
from Christ? But for the sake of the poverty of my members, "Turn not away
Your
face from me: whatsoever day I am troubled, incline Thine ear unto me"
(ver.
2) .... You are in trouble this day, I am in trouble; another is in trouble
tomorrow,
I am in trouble; after this generation other descendants, who succeed
your
descendants, are in trouble, I am in trouble; down to the end of the world,
whoever
are in trouble in My body, I am in trouble .... Peter prayed, Paul prayed,
the
rest of the Apostles prayed; the faithful prayed in those times, the faithful
prayed
in the following times, the faithful prayed in the times of the Martyrs, the
faithful
pray in our times, the faithful will pray in the times of our descendants.
"Right
soon:" for I now ask that which You are willing to grant. I ask not
earthly
things,
as an earthly man; but redeemed at last from my former captivity, I long
for
the kingdom of heaven; "Hear me right soon:" for it is only to such a
longing
that
You have said, "Even while You are speaking, I will say, Here I am."
Isaiah
58:9 Wherefore do you call? in what tribulation? in what want? O poor one,
before
the gate of God all-rich, in what longing do you beg? from what destitution
do
you ask relief? from what want do you knock, that it may be opened unto you?
4.
"For my days are consumed away like smoke" (ver. 3). O days! if days:
for
where
day is heard of, light is understood. "My days," my times; wherefore,
"like
smoke,"
unless from the puffing up of pride? ... See smoke, like pride, ascending,
swelling,
vanishing: deservedly therefore failing, and not steadfast. "And my
bones
are scorched up as it were in an oven." Both my bones, and my strength,
not
without
tribulation, not without burning. The bones of the body of Christ, the
strength
of His body, is it anywhere greater than in the Holy Apostles? And yet see
that
the bones are scorched. "Who is offended, and I burn not?"
2
Corinthians 11:29 They are brave, faithful, able interpreters and preachers of
the
word,
living as they speak, speaking as they hear; they are clearly brave, yet all
who
suffer offences, are an oven to them. For there is love there, and more so in
the
bones. The bones are within all the flesh, and support all the flesh. But if
any
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852
man
suffer any offence, and endanger his soul; the bone is scorched in proportion
as
it loves....
5.
Look back to Adam, whence the human race sprung. For how but from him was
misery
propagated? whence but from him is this hereditary poverty? Let him then,
who
in his own body was at one time in despair, now that he is set in Christ's
body,
say with hope, "My heart is smitten down, and withered like grass"
(ver. 4).
Deservedly,
since all flesh is grass. Isaiah 40:6 But how did this happen unto you?
"Since
I have forgotten to eat my bread." For God had given His commandment
for
bread. For what is the bread of the soul? The serpent suggesting, and the
woman
transgressing, he touched the forbidden fruit, Genesis 3:6 he forgot the
commandment:
his heart was smitten as it deserved, and withered like grass, since
he
forgot to eat his bread. Having forgotten to eat bread, he drinks poison: his
heart
is smitten, and withered like grass .... Now eat that bread which you had
forgotten.
But this very Bread has come, in whose body you may remember the
voice
of your forgetfulness, and cry out in your poverty, so that you may receive
riches.
Now eat: for you are in His body, who says, "I am the living bread which
came
down from heaven." John 6:41 You had forgotten to eat your bread; but
after
His
crucifixion, "all the ends of the earth shall be reminded, and be
converted unto
the
Lord." After forgetfulness, let remembrance come, let bread be eaten from
heaven,
that we may live; not manna, as they did eat, and died; John 6:49 that
bread,
of which it is said, "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after
righteousness."
Matthew 5:6
6.
"For the voice of my groaning, the bones cleave unto my flesh" (ver.
5). For
many
groan, and I also groan; even for this I groan, because they groan for a
wrong
cause. That man has lost a piece of money, he groans: he has lost faith, he
groans
not: I weigh the money and the faith, and I find more cause for groaning
for
him who groans not as he ought, or does not groan at all. He commits fraud,
and
rejoices. With what gain, with what loss? He has gained money, he has lost
righteousness.
For the latter reason, he who knows how to groan, groans; he who
is
near the head, who righteously clings to Christ's body, groans for this reason.
But
the carnal do not groan for this reason, and they cause themselves to be
groaned
for, because they do not groan for this reason; nor can we despise them,
whether
they groan not at all, or groan for the wrong cause. For we wish to correct
them,
we wish to amend them, we wish to reform them, and when we cannot, we
groan;
and when we groan, we are not separated from them....
7.
"I am become like a pelican in the wilderness, and like an owl among
ruined
walls"
(ver. 6). Behold three birds and three places: the pelican, the owl, and the
sparrow;
and the three places are severally, the wilderness, the ruined walls, and
the
house-top. The pelican in the wilderness, the owl in the ruined walls, and the
sparrow
in the house-top. In the first place we must explain, what the pelican
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853
signifies:
since it is born in a region which makes it unknown to us. It is born in
lonely
spots, especially those of the river Nile in Egypt. Whatever kind of bird it
is,
let us consider what the Psalm intended to say of it. "It dwells," it
says, "in the
wilderness."
Why enquire of its form, its limbs, its voice, its habits? As far as the
Psalm
tells you, it is a bird that dwells in solitude. The owl is a bird that loves
night.
Parietinć, or ruins, as we call them, are walls standing without roof, without
inhabitants,
these are the habitation of the owl. And then as to the house-top and
the
sparrows, you are familiar with them. I find, therefore, some one of Christ's
body,
a preacher of the word, sympathizing with the weak, seeking the gains of
Christ,
mindful of his Lord to come. Matthew 25:26 Let us see these three things
from
the office of His steward. Hath such a man come among those who are not
Christians?
He is a pelican in the wilderness. Hath he come among those who
were
Christians, and have relapsed? He is an owl in the ruined walls; for he
forsakes
not even the darkness of those who dwell in night, he wishes to gain even
these.
Hath he come among such as are Christians dwelling in a house, not as if
they
believed not, or as if they had let go what they had believed, but walking
lukewarmly
in what they believe? The sparrow cries unto them, not in the
wilderness,
because they are Christians; nor in the ruined walls, because they have
not
relapsed; but because they are within the roof; under the roof rather, because
they
are under the flesh. The sparrow above the flesh cries out, hushes not up the
commandments
of God, nor becomes carnal, so that he be subject to the roof.
"What
ye hear in the ear, that preach ye on the housetops." Matthew 10:27 There
are
three birds and three places; and one man may represent the three birds, and
three
men may represent severally the three birds; and the three sorts of places, are
three
classes of men: yet the wilderness, the ruined walls, and the house-top, are
but
three classes of men.
8.
...Let us not pass over what is said, or even read, of this bird, that is, the
pelican;
not rashly asserting anything, but yet not passing over what has been left
to
be read and uttered by those who have written it. Do ye so hear, that if it be
true,
it
may agree; if false, it may not hold. These birds are said to slay their young
with
blows
of their beaks, and for three days to mourn them when slain by themselves
in
the nest: after which they say the mother wounds herself deeply, and pours
forth
her
blood over her young, bathed in which they recover life. This may be true, it
may
be false: yet if it be true, see how it agrees with Him, who gave us life by
His
blood.
It agrees with Him in that the mother's flesh recalls to life her young with
her
blood; it agrees well. For He calls Himself a hen brooding over her young.
Matthew
23:37... If, then, it be so truly, this bird does closely resemble the flesh of
Christ,
by whose blood we have been called to life. But how may it agree with
Christ,
that the bird herself slays her own young? Doth not this agree with it? "I
will
slay, and I will make alive: I will wound, and I will heal." Deuteronomy
32:39
Would
the persecutor Saul Acts 9:4 have died, unless he were wounded from
heaven;
or would the preacher be raised up, unless by life given him from His
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blood?
But let those who have written on the subject see to this; we ought not to
allow
our understanding of it to rest upon doubtful ground. Let us rather recognise
this
bird in the wilderness; as the Psalm expresses it, "A pelican in the
solitude." I
suppose
that Christ born of a Virgin is here meant. He was born in loneliness,
because
He alone was thus born. After the nativity, we come to His
Passion....
Born in the wilderness, because alone so born; suffering in the darkness
of
the Jews as it were in night, in their sin, as it were in ruins: what next?
"I have
watched:"
and "am become even as it were a sparrow, that sits alone upon the
house-top"
(ver. 7). You had then slept amid the ruins, and had said, "I laid me
down,
and slept." What means, "I slept"? Because I chose, I slept: I
slept for love
of
night: but, "I rose again," follows. Therefore "I watched,"
is here said. But after
He
watched, what did He? He ascended into heaven, He became as a sparrow by
flying;
that is, by ascending; "alone on the house-top;" that is, in heaven.
He is
therefore
as the pelican by birth, as the owl by dying, as the sparrow by ascending
again:
there in the wilderness, as one alone; here in the ruined walls, as one slain
by
those who could not stand in the building; and here again watching and flying
for
our sakes alone on the house-top, He there intercedes in our behalf.
Romans
8:34 For our Head is as the sparrow, His body as the turtle-dove. "For the
sparrow
has found her an house." What house? In heaven, where He does mediate
for
us. "And the turtle-dove a nest," the Church of God has found a nest
from the
wood
of His Cross, where "she may lay her young," her children.
9.
"Mine enemies revile me all day, and they that praised me are sworn
together
against
me" (ver. 8). With their mouth they praised, in their heart they were
laying
snares
for me. Hear their praise: "Master, we know that You are true, and
teachest
the
way of God in truth, neither carest Thou for any man. Is it lawful to give
tribute
unto Cćsar, or not?" Matthew 22:16-17 And whence this evil repute,
except
because I came to make sinners my members, that by repentance they may
be
in my body? Thence is all the calumny, thence the persecution. "Why eats
your
Master
with publicans and sinners? They that be whole need not a physician, but
they
that be sick." Matthew 9:11-12 Would that you were aware of your sickness,
that
you might seek a physician; ye would not slay Him, and through your
infatuated
pride perish in a false health.
10.
"I have eaten ashes as it were bread: and mingled my drink with
weeping"
(ver.
9). Because He chose to have among His members these kinds of men, that
they
should be healed and set free, thence is the evil repute. Now at this day what
is
the character of Pagan calumny against us? what, brethren, do ye conceive they
tell
us? You corrupt discipline, and pervert the morality of the human race. Why
do
you attack us; say why? what have we done? By giving, he replies, to men
room
for repentance, by promising impunity for all sins: for this reason men do
evil
deeds, careless of consequences, because everything is pardoned them, when
they
are converted .... And what is to become of you, miserable man, if there shall
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be
no harbour of impunity? If there is only licence for sinning, and no pardon for
sins,
where will you be, whither will you go? Surely even for you did it happen,
that
that afflicted one ate ashes as it were bread, and mingled His drink with
weeping.
Doth not such a feast now please you? But nevertheless, he replies, men
add
to their sins under the hope of pardon. Nay, but they would add to them if they
despaired
of pardon. Do you not observe in what licentious cruelty gladiators live?
whence
this, except because, as destined for the sword and sacrifice, they choose
to
sate their lust, before they pour forth their blood? Wouldest not thou also
thus
address
yourself? I am already a sinner, already an unjust man, one already
doomed
to damnation, hope of pardon there is none: why should I not do whatever
pleases
me, although it be not lawful? why not fulfil, as far as I can, any longings I
may
have, if, after these, nothing but torments only be in store? Wouldest thou not
thus
speak unto yourself, and from this very despair become still worse? Rather
than
this, then, He who promises forgiveness, does correct you, saying, "As I
live,
says
the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked
turn
from his way and live." Ezekiel 13:11 ... For in order that men might not
live
the
worse from despair, He promised a harbour of forgiveness; again, that they
might
not live the worse from hope of pardon, He made the day of death uncertain:
fixing
both with the utmost providence, both as a refuge for the returning, and a
terror
to the loitering. Eat ashes as bread, and mingle your drink with weeping; by
means
of this banquet you shall reach the table of God. Despair not; pardon has
been
promised you. Thanks be to God, he says, because it is promised; I hold fast
the
promise of God. Now therefore live well. Tomorrow, he replies, I will live
well.
God has promised the pardon; no one promised you tomorrow....
11.
"And that because of thine indignation and wrath: because you have taken
me
up,
you have cast me down" (ver. 10). This is your wrath, O Lord, in Adam:
that
wrath
in which we were all born, which cleaves unto us by our birth; the wrath
froth
the stock of iniquity, the wrath from the mass of sin: according to what the
Apostle
says, "We also were once the children of wrath, even as others." For
He
says
not, the wrath of God shall come upon him: but, "abides upon him:"
because
that
wrath in which he was born is not taken away.... Man set in honour, is made in
the
image of God: raised up to this honour, lifted up from the dust, from the
earth,
he
has received a reasonable soul; by the vivacity of that very reason, he is
placed
before
all beasts, cattle, birds that fly, and fishes. Genesis 1:26 For which of these
has
reason to understand? Because none of them is created in the image of
God
.... Therefore, "Because You have taken me up, You have cast me
down:"
punishment
follows me, because You have given me a free choice. For if You had
not
given me a free choice, and for this reason did not make me better than cattle,
just
condemnation would not follow me when I sinned. Thus You have taken me
up
in giving me freedom of choice, and by Your judgment You have cast me
down.
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12.
"My days have declined like a shadow" (ver. 11) .... He had said
above, "My
days
are consumed away like smoke;" and he now says, "My days have
declined
like
a shadow." In this shadow, day must be recognised; in this shadow, light
must
be
discerned; lest afterward it be said in late and fruitless repentance,
"What has
pride
profited us? or what good has riches with our vaunting brought us? All those
things
are passed away like a shadow." Wisdom 5:8-9 Say at this season, all
things
will
pass away like a shadow, and you may not pass away like a shadow. "My
days
have declined like a shadow, and I am withered like grass." For he had
said
above,
"my heart is smitten down, and I am withered like grass." But the
grass
bedewed
with the Saviour's blood will flourish afresh. "I have withered like
grass;"
I, that is, man, after that disobedience; this I have suffered from Your just
judgment:
but what are You?
13.
For not because I have fallen, have You grown old: for You are strong to set
me
free, who hast been strong to humble me. "But You, O Lord, endurest for
ever:
and
Your remembrance throughout all generations" (ver. 12). "Your
remembrance,"
because Thou dost not forget: "throughout all generations,"
forasmuch
as we know the promise of life, both present and future. 1 Timothy 4:8
14.
"You shall arise, and have mercy upon Sion: for it is time that Thou have
mercy
upon her" (ver. 13). What time? "But when the fulness of time was
come,
God
sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the Law." And where is
Sion?
"To redeem them that were under the Law." Galatians 4:4-5 First then
were
the
Jews: for thence were the Apostles, thence those more than five hundred
brethren,
1 Corinthians 15:6 thence that later multitude, who had but one heart and
one
soul toward God. Acts 4:32 Therefore, "the time is come." What time?
"Behold,
now is the accepted time: behold, now is the day of salvation."
2
Corinthians 6:2 Who says this? That Servant of God, that Builder, who said,
"You
are God's building." 1 Corinthians 3:9-11
15.
Here therefore what says he? "For your servants take pleasure in her
stones"
(ver.
14). In whose stones? In the stones of Sion? But there are those there that are
not
stones. Not stones of what? What then follows? "and pity the dust thereof."
I
understand
by the stones of Sion all the Prophets: there was the voice of preaching
sent
before, thence the ministry of the Gospel assumed, through their preaching
Christ
became known. Therefore your servants have taken pleasure in the stones
of
Sion. But those faithless apostates from God, who offended their Creator by
their
evil deeds, have returned to the earth, whence they were taken. They have
become
dust, they have become ungodly. But wait, Lord; bear with us, Lord; be
long-suffering,
O Lord: let not the wind rush in, and sweep away this dust from
the
face of the earth. Let your servants come, let them come, let them
acknowledge
in the stones your voice, let them pity the dust of Sion, let them be
formed
in your image: let the dust say, lest it perish, "Remember that we are but
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dust."
This of Sion: was not that which crucified the Lord, dust? What is worse, it
was
dust from the ruined walls; altogether dust it was, but nevertheless it was not
in
vain said of this dust, "Father, forgive them." From this very dust
there came a
wall
of so many thousands who believed, and who laid the price of their
possessions
at the Apostles' feet. From that dust then there arose a human nature
formed
and beautiful. Who among the heathen acted thus? How few are there
whom
we admire for having done thus, compared with the many thousands of
these
converts? At first suddenly three, afterwards five thousand; all living in
unity,
all laying the price of their possessions, when they had sold them, at the
Apostles'
feet, that it might be distributed to each, as each had need, who had one
soul
and one heart toward God. Who made this even of that very dust, but He who
created
Adam himself out of dust? This then is concerning Sion, but not in Sion
only.
16.
"The heathen shall fear Your Name, O Lord; and all the kings of the earth
Your
Majesty" (ver. 15). Now that You have pitied Sion, now that Your servants
have
taken pleasure in her stones, by acknowledging the foundation of the
Apostles
and Prophets; now that they have pitied her dust; so that man is formed,
or
rather re-formed, in life out of dust; hence preaching has increased among the
heathen:
let the heathen fear Your Name, let another wall approach also from the
heathen,
let the Corner Stone Ephesians 2:20 be recognised, let the two who come
from
different regions, but who no longer differ in belief, meet in close union.
17.
"For the Lord shall build up Sion" (ver. 16). This work is going on
now. O you
living
stones, run to the work of building, not to ruin. Sion is in building, beware
of
the ruined walls: the tower is building, the ark is in building; remember the
deluge.
This work is in progress now; but when Sion is built, what will happen?
"And
He will appear in His glory." That He might build up Sion, that He might
be
a
foundation in Sion, He was seen by Sion, but not in His glory: "we have
seen
Him,
and He had no form nor comeliness." Isaiah 53:2 But truly when He shall
have
come with His angels to judge, Matthew 25:31 shall they not look then upon
Him
whom they have pierced? Zechariah 12:10 and they shall be put to confusion
when
too late, who refused confusion in early and healthful repentance.
18.
"He has turned Him unto the prayer of the poor destitute, and despised not
their
desire" (ver. 17). This is going on now in the building of Sion: the
builders of
Sion
pray, they groan: He is the one poor, because the poor are many; because the
thousands
among so many nations are one in Him, because He is the unity of the
peace
of the Church, He is one, He is many: one, through love: many, on account
of
His extension. Therefore we now pray, we now run: now, if any man has used
to
be otherwise, and lived differently, let him eat ashes as it were bread, and
mingle
his drink with weeping. Now is the time, when Sion is in building: now the
stones
are entering into the structure: when the building is finished, and the house
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dedicated,
why do you run, to ask when too late, to beg in vain, to knock to no
purpose,
doomed to abide without with the five foolish virgins? Matthew 25:12
Therefore
now run.
19.
"Let these things be written for those that come after" (ver. 18).
When these
words
were written, they profited not so much those among whom they were
written
for they were written to prophesy the New Testament, among men who
lived
according to the Old Testament. But God had both given that Old Testament,
and
had settled in that land of promise His own people. But since "Your
remembrance
is from generation to generation," belongs not to the ungodly, but to
the
righteous; "in our generation" belongs to the Old Testament; while
"in the
other
generation" belongs to the New Testament; and since the New Testament
announces
this that was prophesied, "Let these things be written for those that
come
after: and the people which shall be created, shall praise the Lord." Not
the
people
which is created, but "the people which shall be created." What is
clearer,
my
brethren? Here is prophesied that creation of which the Apostle says:
"Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed
away;
behold, all things are become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17 "For he has
looked
down
from His lofty sanctuary." He has looked down from on high, that He might
come
unto the humble: from on high He has become humble, that He might exalt
the
humble....
20.
"Out of the heaven did the Lord look down upon the earth" (ver. 19):
"that He
might
hear the mournings of such as are in fetters, and deliver the children of such
as
are put to death" (ver. 20). We have found it said in another Psalm,
"O let the
sorrowful
sighs of the fettered come before You;" and in a passage where the
voice
of the martyrs was meant. Whence are the martyrs in fetters? ... But God had
bound
them with these fetters, hard indeed and painful for a season, but endurable
on
account of His promises, unto whom it is said, "On account of the words of
Your
lips, I have kept hard ways." We must indeed groan in these fetters in
order
to
gain the mercy of God. These fetters must not be shunned, in order to gain a
destructive
freedom and the temporal and brief pleasure of this life, to be followed
by
perpetual bitterness. Accordingly Scripture, Ecclesiastes 6:24-32 that we may
not
refuse the fetters of wisdom, thus addresses us: "...Then shall her
fetters be a
strong
defence for you, and her chains a robe of glory." Let the fettered
therefore
cry
out, as long as they are in the chains of the discipline of God, in which the
martyrs
have been tried: the fetters shall be loosed, and they shall fly away, and
these
very fetters shall afterwards be turned into an ornament. This has happened
with
the martyrs. For what have the persecutors effected by killing them, except
that
their fetters were thereby loosed, and turned into crowns? ... The remission of
sins,
is the loosing. For what would it have profited Lazarus, that he came forth
from
the tomb, unless it were said to him, "loose him, and let him go"?
John 11:44
Himself
indeed with His voice aroused him from the tomb, Himself restored his
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life
by crying unto him, Himself overcame the mass of earth that was heaped upon
the
tomb, and he came forth bound hand and foot: not therefore with his own feet,
but
by the power of Him who drew him forth. This takes place in the heart of the
penitent:
when you hear a man is sorry for his sins, he has already come again to
life;
when you hear him by confessing lay bare his conscience, he is already drawn
forth
from the tomb, but he is not as yet loosed. When is he loosed, and by whom
is
he loosed? "Whatsoever you shall loose on earth," He says,
"shall be loosed in
Heaven."
Matthew 15:19 Forgiveness of sins may justly be granted by the Church:
but
the dead man himself cannot be aroused except by the Lord crying within him;
for
God does this within him. We speak to your ears: how do we know what may
be
going on in your hearts? But what is going on within, is not our doing, but
His.
21.
"That the name of the Lord may be declared in Sion" (ver. 21). For at
first,
when
the fettered were appointed unto death, the Church was oppressed: since
these
tribulations the Name of the Lord has been declared in Sion, with great
freedom,
in the Church herself. For she is Sion: not that one spot, at first proud,
afterwards
taken captive; but the Sion whose shadow was that Sion, which
signifies
a watch-tower; because when placed in the flesh, we see into the things
before
us, extending ourselves not to the present which is now, but to the future.
Thus
it is a watch-tower: for every watcher gazes far. Places where guards are set,
are
termed watch-towers: these are set on rocks, on mountains, in trees, that a
wider
prospect may be commanded from a higher eminence. Sion therefore is a
watch-tower,
the Church is a watch-tower .... If therefore the Church be a watch-
tower,
the Name of the Lord is already declared there. Not the Lord's Name only is
declared
in that Sion, but "His praise," He says, "in Jerusalem."
22.
And how is it declared? "In the nations gathering together in one, and the
kingdoms,
that they may serve the Lord" (ver. 22). How is this accomplished,
unless
by the blood of the slain? How accomplished, but by the groans of the
fettered?
Those therefore who were in tribulation and humility have been heard;
that
in our times the Church might be in the great glory which we see her in, so
that
the very kingdoms which then persecuted her, now serve the Lord.
23.
"She answered Him in the way of His strength" (ver. 23) .... The
preceding
words
show, that either "His praise," or "Jerusalem," answered:
for it was said,
"And
His praise in Jerusalem; in the nations gathering together in one, and the
kingdoms,
that they may serve the Lord. Respondit ei." We cannot say, "the
kingdoms
answered," for he would have said responderunt. Respondit ei. We
cannot
say, "the nations answered," for he would have said, responderunt (in
the
plural).
Since then it is Respondit ei, in the singular, we look for the singular
number
above, and find that the words, "His praise," and
"Jerusalem," are the only
words
in which we find it. But since it is doubtful, whether it be "His
praise," or
"Jerusalem,"
let us expound it each way. How did "His praise" answer Him? When
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they
who are called by Him thank Him. For He calls, we answer; not by our voice,
but
by our faith; not by our tongue, but by our life.... From His elect and holy
men,
Jerusalem
also answers Him. For Jerusalem also was called: and the first
Jerusalem
refused to hear, and it was said unto her, "Behold, your house shall be
left
unto the desolate." Matthew 23:38 ... But that Jerusalem, of whom it was
written,
"Sing, O barren, you that did not bear," "She has answered
Him." What
means,
"She has answered Him"? She despises Him not when He called. He sent
rain,
She gave fruit.
24.
"She answered Him:" but where? "in the path of His
strength."... The Church
therefore
answered Him not in the way of weakness; because after His resurrection
He
called the Church from the whole world, no longer weak upon the cross, but
strong
in heaven. For it is not the praise of the Christian faith that they believe
that
Christ
died, but that they believe that He arose from the dead. Even the Pagan
believes
that He died; and makes this a charge against you, that you have believed
in
one dead. What then is your praise? It is that you believe that Christ arose
from
the
dead, and that thou dost hope that you shall rise from the dead through Christ:
this
is the praise of faith. "For if you shall confess with your mouth that
Jesus is
the
Lord, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead,
you
shall be saved." Romans 10:9-10... This is the faith of Christians. In
this faith
then,
in which the Church is gathered, "She has answered Him," She gave Him
worship
according to His commandments: "in the path of His strength," not in
the
path
of His weakness.
25.
How she answered Him, you have already heard above. "In the gathering of
the
nations into one." Herein she answered Him, in unity: he who is not in
unity,
answers
Him not. For He is One, the Church is unity: none but unity answers to
Him
who is One.... Since some were destined to say against her, She has existed,
and
no longer does exist; "Show me," He says, "the shortness of my
days," what is
it,
that I know not what apostates from me murmur against me? why is it that lost
men
contend that I have perished? For they surely say this, that I have been, and
no
longer am: "Show me the shortness of my days." I do not ask from You
about
those
everlasting days: they are without end, where I shall be; it is not those I ask
of:
I ask of temporal days; show unto me my temporal days; "show me the
shortness,"
not the eternity, "of my days." Declare unto me, how long I shall be
in
this
world: on account of those who say, "She has been," and is no more:
on
account
of those who say, The Scriptures are fulfilled, all nations have believed,
but
the Church has become apostate, and has perished from among all nations....
26.
Do you see not that there are still nations among whom the Gospel has not
been
preached? Since then it is needful that what the Lord spoke shall be fulfilled,
declaring
unto the Church the shortness of my days, that this Gospel be preached
in
all nations, and then that the end may come, why is it that you say that the
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Church
has already perished from among all nations, when the Gospel is being
preached
for this purpose, that it may be in all nations? Therefore the Church
remains
even unto the end of the world, in all nations; and this is the shortness of
Her
days, because all that is limited is short; so that She may pass into eternity
from
this brief existence. May heretics be lost, may that which they are be lost,
and
may they be found, that they may be what they are not. Shortness of days will
be
unto the end of the world: shortness for this reason, because the whole of this
season,
I say not from this day unto the end of the world, but from Adam down to
the
end of the world, is a mere drop compared with eternity.
27.
Let not therefore heretics flatter themselves against me, because I said,
"the
shortness
of my days," as if they would not last down to the end of the world. For
what
has he added? "O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days"
(ver.
24).
Deal Thou not with me according as heretics speak. Lead me on unto the end
of
the world, not only to the middle of my days; and finish my short days, that
You
may afterwards grant unto me eternal days. Wherefore then have you asked
concerning
the shortness of your days? Wherefore? Do you wish to hear? "Your
years
are in the generation of generations." This is why I asked concerning
those
short
days, because although my days should endure unto the end of the world, yet
they
are short in comparison of Your days. For "Your years are in the
generation
of
generations." Wherefore does he not say, Your years are unto worlds of
worlds;
for
thus rather is eternity usually signified in the holy Scriptures; but he says,
"Your
years are in the generation of generations"? But what are your years?
what,
but
those which do not come, and then pass away? what, but they which come not,
so
as to cease again? For every day in this season so comes as to cease again;
every
hour, every month, every year; nothing of these is stationary; before it has
come,
it is to be; after it has come, it will not be. Those everlasting years of
yours,
therefore,
those years that are not changed, "are in the generation of
generations."
There
is a "generation of generations;" in that shall your years be. There
is one
such,
and if we acknowledge it aright, we shall be in it, and the years of God shall
be
in us. How shall they be in us? Just as God Himself shall be in us: whence it
is
said,
"That God may be all in all." 1 Corinthians 15:28 For the years of
God, and
God
Himself, are not different: but the years of God are the eternity of God:
eternity
is the very substance of God, which has nothing changeable; there nothing
is
past, as if it were no longer: nothing is future, as if it existed not as yet.
There is
nothing
there but, Is: there is not there, Was, and Will be; because what was, is
now
no longer: and what will be, is not as yet: but whatever is there, simply
Is....
Behold this great I Am! What is man's being to this? To this great I Am, what
is
man, whatever he be? Who can understand that To Be? who can share it? who
can
pant, aspire, presume that he may be there? Despair not, human frailty! "I
am,"
He
says, "the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob." You
have
heard what I am in Myself: now hear what I am on your account. This
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Psalm 102 862
eternity
then has called us, and the Word burst forth from eternity. It is now
eternity,
it is now the Word, and no longer time.
28.
...From so many generations you will gather together all the holy offspring of
all
generations, and wilt form one generation thence: "In" this
"generation of
generations
are Your years," that is, that eternity will be in that generation, which
is
collected from all generations, and reduced into one; this shall share in Your
eternity.
Other generations are born for fulfilling their times, out of which this one
is
regenerated for ever; though changed it shall be endued with life, it shall be
fitted
to bear You, receiving strength from You.
29.
"You, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth: and
the
Heavens
are the work of Your hands" (ver. 25) .... God laid the foundation of the
earth,
we know: the heavens are the works of His hands. For do not imagine that
God
does one thing with His hand, another by His word. What He does by His
word,
He does by His hand: for He has not distinct bodily members, who said, "I
Am
That I Am." And perhaps His Word is His hand, assuredly His hand is His
power.
For inasmuch as it is said, "Let there be a firmament," Genesis 1:6
and
there
was a firmament; He is understood to have created it by His Word; but when
He
said, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness;" Genesis
1:26 He
seems
to have created him by His hand. Hear therefore: "The heavens are the work
of
Your hands." Lo, what He created by His word, He created also by His
hands;
because
He created them through His excellence, through His power. Observe
rather
what He created, and seek not to know in what manner He created them. It
is
much to you to understand how He created them, since He created yourself so,
that
you may first be a servant obeying, and afterwards perhaps a friend
understanding.
John 15:15
30.
"They shall perish, but You shall endure" (ver. 26). The Apostle
Peter says this
openly:
"By the word of God the heavens were of old," etc. 2 Peter 3:5-6 He
has
said
then that the heavens have already perished by the flood: and we know that
the
heavens perished as far as the extent of this atmosphere of ours. For the water
increased,
and filled the whole of that space in which birds fly; thus perished the
heavens
that are near the earth; those heavens which are meant when we speak of
the
birds of heaven. But there are heavens of heavens higher than these in the
firmament:
but whether these also shall perish by fire, or those only which
perished
also by the flood, is a much harder question among the learned, nor can it
easily,
especially in a limited space of time, be explained. Let us therefore dismiss
or
put it off; nevertheless, let us know that these things perish, and that God
endures....
31.
Perhaps by the heavens we here may understand, without being far-fetched,
the
righteous themselves, the saints of God, abiding in whom God has thundered
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863
in
His commandments, lightened in His miracles, watered the earth with the
wisdom
of truth, for "The heavens have declared the glory of God." But shall
they
perish?
Shall they in any sense perish? In what sense? As a garment. What is, as a
garment?
As to the body. For the body is the garment of the soul; since our Lord
called
it a garment, when He said, "Is not the life more than meat, and the body
than
raiment?" Matthew 6:25 How then does the garment perish? "Though our
outward
man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day."
2
Corinthians 4:16 They then shall perish: but as to the body: "But You
shall
endure."...
Such heavens therefore shall perish; not, however, for ever; they shall
perish,
that they may be changed. Doth not the Psalm say this? Read the
following:
"They shall all wax old as does a garment; and as a vesture shall Thou
change
them, and they shall be changed." You hear of the garment, of the vesture,
and
do you understand anything but the body? We may therefore hope for the
change
of our bodies also, but from Him who was before us, and abides after
us....
"But You are the same, and Your years shall not fail" (ver. 27). But
what are
we
to those years with these beggarly years? and what are they? Yet we ought not
to
despair. He had already said in His great and exceeding Wisdom, "I Am That
I
Am;"
and yet He says to console us, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of
Isaac,
and the God of Jacob:" Exodus 3:6 and we are Abraham's seed:
Galatians
3:29 even we, although abject, although dust and ashes, trust in Him.
We
are servants: but for our sakes our Lord took the garb of a servant:
Philippians
2:7 for us who are mortal the Immortal One deigned to die, for our
sakes
He showed His example of resurrection. Let us therefore hope that we may
reach
these lasting years, in which days are not spent in a revolution of the Sun,
but
what is abides even as it is, because it alone truly Is.
32.
"The children of Your servants shall dwell there: and their seed shall
stand fast
for
ages" (ver. 28): for the age of ages, the age of eternity, the age that
abides. But,
"the
children," he says, "of Your servants:" is it to be feared lest
we be the servants
of
God, and our children, and not ourselves, dwell there? Or if we are the
children
of
the servants, inasmuch as we are the Apostles' children, what are we to say?
Can
those children rising after have so unhappy a presumption, as to boast in their
late
succession, and so to venture to say, We shall be there; the Apostles will not
be
there? May this be far from their piety as children, from their faith as little
ones,
from
their understanding when of age! The Apostles also will be there: rams go
before,
lambs follow. Wherefore then, "the children of Your servants;" and
not in
brief,
"Your servants"? Both they are Your servants, and their children are
Your
servants;
and the children of these, their grandsons, what are they but Your
servants?
You would include them all briefly, if You should say, Your servants
shall
dwell therein.... "The children of Your servants," are the works of
Your
servants;
no one shall dwell there, but through his own works. What therefore
means,
Their children shall dwell? Let no man boast that he shall dwell there, if he
calls
himself God's servant, and has not works; for none but children shall dwell
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864
there.
What means therefore, "The children of Your servants shall dwell
there"?
Your
servants shall dwell there by their own works, Your servants shall dwell
there
through their own children. Be not therefore barren, if thou dost wish to
dwell
there; send before the children whom you may follow, by sending them
before
you, not by burying them. Let your children lead you to the land of
promise,
the land of the living, not of the dying: while you are living here in this
pilgrimage,
let them go before you, let them receive you....
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Psalm 103
865
Exposition
on Psalm 103
1.
..."Bless the Lord, O my soul! and all that is within me, His holy
Name" (ver.
1).
I suppose that he speaks not of what is within the body; I do not suppose him
to
mean
this, that our lungs and liver, and so forth, are to burst forth into the voice
of
blessing
of the Lord. There are lungs in our breast indeed, like a kind of bellows,
which
send forth successive breathings, which breathing forth of the air inhaled is
pressed
out into voice and sound, when the words are articulated; nor can any
utterance
sound forth from our mouth, but what the pressed lungs have given vent
to;
but this is not the meaning here; all this relates to the ears of men. God has
ears:
the heart also has a voice. A man speaks to the things within him, that they
may
bless God, and says unto them, "all that is within me bless His holy
Name!"
Do
you ask the meaning of what is within you? Your soul itself. In saying then,
"all
that is within me, bless His holy Name," it only repeats the above,
"Bless the
Lord,
O my soul:" for the word "Bless," is understood. Cry out with
your voice, if
there
be a man to hear; hush your voice, when there is no man to hear you; there is
never
wanting one to hear all that is within you. Blessing therefore has already
been
uttered from our mouth, when we were chanting these very words. We sung
as
much as sufficed for the time, and were then silent: ought our hearts within us
to
be silent to the blessing of the Lord? Let the sound of our voices bless Him at
intervals,
alternately, let the voice of our hearts be perpetual. When you come to
church
to recite a hymn, your voice sounds forth the praises of God: you have
sung
as far as you could; you have left the church; let your soul sound the praises
of
God. You are engaged in your daily work: let your soul praise God. You are
taking
food; see what the Apostle says: "Whether ye eat or drink, do all to the
glory
of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31 I venture to say; when you sleep, let your
soul
praise
the Lord. Let not thoughts of crime arouse you, let not the contrivances of
thieving
arouse you, let not arranged plans of corrupt dealing arouse you. Your
innocence
even when you are sleeping is the voice of your soul.
2.
"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His rewards" (ver. 2).
But the
rewards
of the Lord cannot be before your eyes unless your sins are before your
eyes.
Let not delight in past sin be before your eyes, but let the condemnation of
sin
be before your eyes: condemnation from you, forgiveness from God. For thus
God
rewards you, so that you may say, "How shall I reward the Lord for all His
rewards
unto me?" This it was that the martyrs considering (whose memory we are
this
day celebrating), and all the saints who have despised this life, and as you
have
heard in the Epistle of St. John, laid down their lives for the brethren, which
is
the perfection of love, 1 John 3:16 even as our Lord says: "Greater love
has no
man
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends:" John 15:13 this
the
holy
martyrs, then, considering, despised their lives here, that they might find
them
there, following our Lord's words when He said, "He that loves his life,
shall
lose
it; and he that loses his life for My sake, shall keep it unto life
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Psalm 103
866
eternal."
... "Forget not," he says, "all His rewards:" not awards,
but "rewards." For
something
else was due, and what was not due has been paid. Whence also these
words:
"What," he asks, "shall I reward the Lord for all His rewards
unto me?"
You
have rewarded good with evil; He rewards evil with good. How have you, O
man,
rewarded your God with evil for good? Thou who hast once been a
blasphemer,
and a persecutor, and injurious, 1 Timothy 1:13 hast rewarded
blasphemies.
For what good things? First, because you are: but a stone also is.
Next,
because you live, but a brute also lives. What reward will you give the Lord,
for
His having created you above all the cattle; and above all the fowls of the
air,
in
His image and likeness? Genesis 1:26-27 Seek not how to reward Him: give
back
unto Him His own image: He requires no more; He demands His own coin.
Matthew
22:21...
3.
Think thou, soul, of all the rewards of God, in thinking over all your wicked
deeds:
for as many as are your sins, so many are His rewards of good. And what
present,
what offering, what sacrifice, can you ever tender unto Him? ... What will
you
reward the Lord with? For you were reflecting, and couldest not find: "I
will
receive
the cup of salvation." What? has not the Lord Himself given the cup of
salvation?
Reward Him from your own, if you can? I would say, No, do it not;
reward
Him not from your own; God does not will to be rewarded from your own.
If
you reward Him from your own, you reward sin. For all that you have you have
from
Him: sins only you have of your own. He does not wish to be rewarded from
yours,
He does will from His own. Just as, if you should bring to a husbandman,
from
the land which he has sown, an ear of wheat, you have rewarded him from
the
husbandman's own produce; if thorns, that hast offered him of your own.
Reward
truth, in truth praise the Lord: if you shall choose to reward Him from
your
own, you will lie. He who speaks a lie, speaks of his own. John 8:44 If he
who
speaks a lie, speaks of his own: so he who speaks truth, speaks of the Lord's.
But
what is to receive the cup of salvation, but to imitate the Passion of our
Lord?
... I will receive the cup of Christ, I will drink of our Lord's Passion.
Beware
that
thou fail not. But, "I will call upon the Name of the Lord." They
then who
failed,
called not upon the Lord; they presumed in their own strength. Do thou so
return,
as remembering that you are returning what you have received. So then let
your
soul bless the Lord, as not to forget all His rewards.
4.
Hear ye all His rewards. "Who forgives all your sin: who heals all thine
infirmities"
(ver. 3). Behold His rewards. What, save punishment, was due unto
the
sinner? What was due to the blasphemer, but the hell of burning fire? He gave
not
these rewards: that you may not shudder with dread: and without love fear
Him
.... But you are a sinner. Turn again, and receive these His rewards: He
"forgives
all your sin."...Yet even after remission of sins the soul herself is
shaken
by
certain passions; still is she amid the dangers of temptation, still is she
pleased
with
certain suggestions; with some she is not pleased, and sometimes she
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Psalm 103
867
consents
unto some of those with which she is pleased: she is taken. This is
infirmity:
but He "heals all thine infirmities." All thine infirmities shall be
healed:
fear
not. They are great, you will say: but the Physician is greater. No infirmity
comes
before the Almighty Physician as incurable: only suffer you yourself to be
healed:
repel not His hands; He knows how to deal with you. Be not only pleased
when
He cherishes you, but also bear with Him when He uses the knife: bear the
pain
of the remedy, reflecting on your future health .... Thou dost not endure in
uncertainty:
He who promised you health, cannot be deceived. The physician is
often
deceived: and promises health in the human body. Why is he deceived?
Because
he is not healing his own creature. God made your body, God made your
soul.
He knows how to restore what He has made, He knows how to fashion again
what
He has already fashioned: do thou only be patient beneath the Physician's
hands:
for He hates one who rejects His hands. This does not happen with the
hands
of a human physician....
5.
"Who redeems your life from corruption" (ver. 4). Behold, "the
body which is
corrupted,
weighs down the soul." Wisdom 9:15 The soul then has life in a
corruptible
body. What sort of life? It suffers burdens, it bears weights. How great
obstacles
are there to thinking of God Himself, as it is right that men should think
of
God, as if interrupting us from the necessity of human corruption? how many
influences
recall us, how many interrupt, how many withdraw the mind when
fixed
on high? what a crowd of illusions, what tribes of suggestions? All this in the
human
heart, as it were, teems with the worms of human corruption. We have set
forth
the greatness of the disease, let us also praise the Physician. Shall not He
then
heal you, who made you such as to be in health, had you chosen to keep the
law
of health which you had received? ... First think of your own health.
Sometimes
a man is stricken in his own house, on his bed, with a more than
usually
manifest disorder; although this disorder too, which men dislike to
contemplate,
be plain; yet each man may be attacked with that sickness for which
human
physicians are sought, and may gasp with fever in his bed; perhaps he may
wish
to consider of his domestic affairs, to make some order or disposition relating
to
his estate or his house; at once he is recalled from such cares by the anxiety
of
his
friends, plainly expressed around him, and he is advised to dismiss these
subjects,
and first to take thought for his health. This then is addressed unto you,
and
to all men: if you are not sick, think of other things: if your very infirmity
prove
you sick, first take heed of your health. Christ is your health: think
therefore
of
Christ. Receive the cup of His saving Health, "who heals all thine
infirmities;"
if
you shall choose, you shall gain this Health .... For your life has been
redeemed
from
corruption: rest secure now: the contract of good faith has been entered upon;
no
man deceives, no man circumvents, no man oppresses, your Redeemer. He has
here
made a barter, He has already paid the price, He has poured forth His blood.
The
only Son of God, I say, has shed His blood for us: O soul, raise yourself, you
are
of so great price.... "He redeems your life from corruption."
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Psalm 103
868
6.
"Who crowns you with mercy and loving-kindness." You had perhaps
begun to
be
in a manner proud, when you heard the words, "He crowns you." I am
then
great,
I have then wrestled. By whose strength? By yours, but supplied by
Him
.... He crowns you, because He is crowning His own gifts, not your
deservings.
"I laboured more abundantly than they all," said the Apostle; but see
what
he adds: "yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."
1
Corinthians 15:10 ... It is then by His mercy that you are crowned; in nothing
be
proud;
ever praise the Lord; forget not all His rewards. It is a reward when thou, a
sinner
and an ungodly man, hast been called, that you may be justified. It is a
reward,
when you are raised up and guided, that you may not fall. It is a reward,
when
strength is given you, that you may persevere unto the end. It is a reward,
that
even that flesh of thine by which you were oppressed rises again and that not
even
a hair of your head perishes. It is a reward, that after your resurrection you
are
crowned. It is a reward, that you may praise God Himself for evermore without
ceasing....
7.
After the battle, then, I shall be crowned; after the crown, what shall I do?
"He
who
satisfies your longing with good things" (ver. 5).... Seek your own good,
O
soul.
For one thing is good to one creature, another to another, and all creatures
have
a certain good of their own, to the completeness and perfection of their
nature.
There is a difference as to what is essential to each imperfect thing, in
order
that it may be made perfect; seek for your own good. "There is none good
but
One, that is, God." Matthew 19:17 The highest good is your good. What then
is
wanting unto him to whom the highest good is good? For there are inferior
goods,
which are good to different creatures respectively. What, brethren, is good
unto
the cattle, save to fill the belly, to prevent want, to sleep, to indulge
themselves,
to exist, to be in health, to propagate? This is good to them: and within
certain
bounds it has an allotted measure of good, granted by God, the Creator of
all
things. Do you seek such a good as this? God gives also this: but do not pursue
it
alone. Can you, a coheir of Christ, rejoice in fellowship with cattle? Raise
your
hope
to the good of all goods. He will be your good, by whom thou in your kind
hast
been made good, and by whom all things in their kind were made good. For
God
made all things very good....
8.
When shall my longing be satisfied with good things? when, do you ask?
"Your
youth
shall be renewed as the eagle's." Do you then ask when your soul is to be
satisfied
with good things? When your youth shall be restored. And he adds, as an
eagle's.
Something here lies hidden; what however is said of the eagle, we will not
pass
over silently, since it is not foreign to our purpose to understand it. Let
this
only
be impressed upon our hearts, that it is not said without cause by the Holy
Spirit.
For it has intimated unto us a sort of resurrection. And indeed the youth of
the
eagle is restored, but not into immortality, for a similitude has been given,
as
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869
far
as it could be drawn from a thing mortal to signify a thing immortal, not to
demonstrate
it. The eagle is said, after it becomes overpowered with bodily age, to
be
incapable of taking food from the immoderate length of its beak, which is
always
increasing. For after the upper part of its beak, which forms a crook above
the
lower part, has increased from old age to an immoderate length, the length of
this
increase will not allow of its opening its mouth, so as to form any interval
between
the lower beak and the crook above. For unless there be such an opening,
it
has no power of biting like a forceps, by which to shear off what it may put
within
its jaws. The upper part therefore increasing, and being too far hooked over,
it
cannot open its mouth, and take any food. This old age does to it, it is
weighed
down
with the infirmity of age, and becomes too weak from want of power to eat;
two
causes of infirmity assaulting it, old age, and want. By a natural device,
therefore,
in order in some measure to restore its youth, the eagle is said to dash
and
strike against a rock the upper lip of its beak, by the too great increase of
which
the opening for eating is closed: and by thus rubbing it against the rock, it
breaks
off the weight of its old beak, which impeded its taking food. It comes to its
food,
and everything is restored: it will be after its old age like a young eagle;
the
vigour
of all its limbs returns, the lustre of its plumage, the guidance of its wings,
it
flies aloft as before, a sort of resurrection takes place in it. For this is
the object
of
the similitude, like that of the Moon, which after waning and being apparently
intercepted,
again is renewed, and becomes full; and signifies to us the
resurrection;
but when it is full it does not remain so; again it wanes, that the
signification
may never cease. Thus also what has here been said of the eagle: the
eagle
is not restored unto immortality, but we are unto eternal life; but the
similitude
is derived from hence, that the rock takes away from us what hinders us.
Presume
not therefore on your strength: the firmness of the rock rubs off your old
age:
for that Rock was Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:4 In Christ our youth shall be
restored
like that of the eagle....
9.
"The Lord executes mercy and judgment for all them that are oppressed with
wrong"
(ver. 6).... An adulterous woman is brought forward to be stoned according
to
the Law, but she is brought before the Lawgiver Himself.... Our Lord, at the
time
she was brought before Him, bending His Head, began writing on the earth.
When
He bent Himself down upon the earth, He then wrote on the earth: before
He
bent upon the earth, He wrote not on the earth, but on stone. The earth was
now
something fertile, ready to bring forth from the Lord's letters. On the stone
He
had
written the Law, intimating the hardness of the Jews: He wrote on the earth,
signifying
the productiveness of Christians. Then they who were leading the
adulteress
came, like raging waves against a rock: but they were dashed to pieces
by
His answer. For He said to them, "He that is without sin among you, let
him
first
cast a stone at her." John 8:7 And again bending His head, He began
writing
on
the ground. And now each man, when he asked his own conscience, came not
forward.
It was not a weak adulterous woman, but their own adulterate conscience,
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Psalm 103 870
that
drove them back. They wished to punish, to judge; they came to the Rock,
their
judges were overthrown by the Rock....
10.
Execute mercy to the wicked, not as being wicked. Do not receive the wicked,
in
so far forth as he is wicked: that is, do not receive him as if from
inclination
towards
and love for his iniquity. For it is forbidden to give unto a sinner, and to
receive
sinners. Yet how is this, "Give unto every man that asks of you"? and
this,
"if
thine enemy hunger, feed him"? Romans 12:20 This is seemingly
contradictory:
but it is opened to those who knock in the name of Christ, and will
be
clear unto those who seek. "Help not a sinner:" and, "give not
to the ungodly;"
Sirach
12:4-6 and yet, "give unto every man that asks of you." But it is a
sinner
who
asks of me. Give, not as unto a sinner. When do you give as unto a sinner?
When
that which makes him a sinner, pleases you so that you give .... Let those
who
give to a man who fights with wild beasts, tell me why they give? Why does
he
give to this man? He loves that in him, in which consists his greatest sin;
this he
feeds,
this he clothes in him, wickedness itself, made public by all witnessing it.
Why
does the man give, who gives to actors, or to charioteers, or to courtesans?
Do
not these very persons give to human beings? But it is not the nature of God's
work
that they attend to, but the iniquity of the human work.... When therefore you
give,
you give to infamy, not to bravery. As then he who gives to the fighter of
beasts,
gives not to the man, but to a most infamous profession; for if he were only
a
man, and not a fighter of beasts, you would not give; you honour him in vice,
not
nature:
so on the other hand, if thou give to the righteous, if thou give to the
prophet,
if thou give to the disciple of Christ anything of which he is in want,
without
thinking that he is Christ's disciple, that he is God's minister, that he is
God's
steward; but art thinking in that case of some temporal advantage, for
instance,
that when perchance he shall be needful to your cause, he may be bought
for
you, because you have given him something; you have no more given to the
righteous,
if you have thus given, than he gave to the man, when he gave to the
beast-fighter.
The matter, then, most beloved, is quite open to us, and I conceive,
that
although it was obscure, it is now clear. It was to this that the Lord bound
you,
when
He said, "He who has received the righteous man." That were enough.
But
as
the righteous may be received with another intention,... He says, "He who
receives
a righteous man in the name of a righteous man:" that is, receiving him in
consideration
of his righteousness: ... that is, because he is Christ's disciple,
because
he is a steward of the Mystery: 1 Corinthians 4:1 "Verily I say unto you,
he
shall in no wise lose his reward." Matthew 10:42 So understand, he who
receives
a sinner in the name of a sinner shall lose his reward.
11.
...On this account therefore be merciful without fear, extend love even unto
your
enemies: punish those who chance to belong to your government, restrain
them
with affection, with charity, in regard to their eternal salvation; lest while
you
spare the flesh, the soul perish. Do this: and though thou have to endure many,
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over
whom you can not exercise discipline, because you have no lawful authority
over
them; bear their injuries; be without apprehension. He will show mercy unto
you
if you shall have been merciful: you shall be merciful, without the injuries
you
suffer
losing their punishment; "To Me belongs vengeance, I will repay,"
Deuteronomy
32:35 says the Lord.
12.
"He made His ways known unto Moses" (ver. 7) .... For the Law was
given
with
this view, that the sick might be convinced of his infirmity, and pray for the
physician.
This is the hidden way of God. You had long ago heard, "Who heals all
thine
infirmities." Their infirmities were as yet hidden in the sick; the five
books
were
given to Moses: the pool was surrounded by five porches; he brought forth
the
sick, that they might lie there, that they might be made known, not that they
might
be healed. The five porches discovered, but healed not, the sick; the pool
healed
when one descended, and this when it was disturbed: John 5:2-4 the
disturbance
of the pool was in our Lord's Passion.... Since therefore this is a
mystery
there, he teaches that the Law was given that sinners might be convinced
of
their sin, and call upon the Physician in order to receive grace.... Therefore,
as I
had
begun to say, because this is a great mystery in the Law, that it was given
with
this
view, that by the increase of sin, the proud might be humbled, the humbled
might
confess, the confessing might be healed; these are the hidden ways, which
He
made known to Moses, through whom He gave the Law, by which sin should
abound,
that grace might more abound.... "He has made known His good pleasure
unto
the children of Israel." To all the children of Israel? To the true
children of
Israel;
yea, to all the children of Israel. For the treacherous, the insidious, the
hypocrites,
are not children of Israel. And who are the children of Israel? "Behold
an
Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." John 1:47
13.
"The Lord is full of compassion and mercy: long-suffering, and of great
mercy"
(ver. 8). Why so long-suffering? Why so great in mercy? Men sin and live;
sins
are added on, life continues: men blaspheme daily, and "He makes His sun
to
rise
over the good and the wicked." Matthew 5:45 On all sides He calls to
amendment,
on all sides He calls to repentance, He calls by the blessings of
creation,
He calls by giving time for life, He calls through the reader, He calls
through
the preacher, He calls through the innermost thought by the rod of
correction,
He calls by the mercy of consolation: "He is long-suffering, and of
great
mercy." But take heed lest by ill using the length of God's mercy, you
store
up
for yourself, as the Apostle says, wrath in the day of wrath .... For some
there
are
who prepare to turn, and yet put it off, and in them cries out the raven's
voice,
"Cras!
Cras!" The raven which was sent from the ark, never returned. Genesis 8:7
God
seeks not procrastination in the raven's voice, but confession in the wailing
of
the
dove. The dove, when sent forth, returned. How long, Tomorrow! Tomorrow!?
Look
to your last morrow: since you know not what is your last morrow, let it
suffice
that you have lived up to this day a sinner. You have heard, often you are
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wont
to hear, you have heard today also; daily you hear, and daily you amend
not....
14.
"He will not alway be chiding: neither keeps He His anger for ever"
(ver. 9).
Since
it is in consequence of His anger that we live in the scourges and corruption
of
mortality: we have this in punishment for the first sin .... Is it not through
His
anger,
my brethren, that "in the sweat of your face and in toil you shall eat
bread,
and
the earth shall bear thorns and thistles unto you"? This was said to our
forefathers.
Or if our life is different from this; if you can, turn unto some
pleasure,
where you may not feel thorns. Choose what you have wished, whether
you
are covetous or luxurious; to name these two alone; add a third passion, that
of
ambition;
how great thorns are there in the desire of honours? in the luxury of lusts
how
great thorns? in the ardour of covetousness how great thorns? What troubles
are
there in base loves? What terrible anxieties here in this life? I omit hell.
Beware
lest you even now become a hell unto yourself. The whole of this, my
brethren,
is the result of His anger: and when you have turned yourself unto works
of
righteousness, you can not but toil upon earth; and toil ends not before life
ends.
We
must toil on the way, that we may rejoice in our country. He therefore
consoles
by His promises your toil, your labours, your troubles, saying to you, "He
will
not alway be chiding."
15.
"He has not dealt with us according to our sins" (ver. 10). Thanks
unto God,
because
He has vouchsafed this. We have not received what we were deserving of:
"He
has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our
wickednesses."
"For as the height of heaven above the earth, so has the Lord
confirmed
His mercy toward them that fear Him" (ver. 11). Observe the heaven:
everywhere
on every side it covers the earth, nor is there any part of the earth not
covered
by the heaven. Men sin beneath heaven: they do all evil deeds beneath the
heaven;
yet they are covered by the heaven. Thence is light for the eyes, thence
air,
thence breath, thence rain upon the earth for the sake of its fruits, thence all
mercy
from heaven. Take away the aid of heaven from the earth: it will fail at
once.
As then the protection of heaven abides upon the earth, so does the Lord's
protection
abide upon them that fear Him. Thou fearest God, His protection is
above
you. But perhaps you are scourged, and conceivest that God has forsaken
you.
God has forsaken you, if the protection of heaven has forsaken the earth.
16.
"Look, how wide the east is from the west; so far has He set our sins from
us"
(ver.
12). They who know the Sacraments know this; nevertheless, I only say what
all
may hear. When sin is remitted, your sins fall, your grace rises; your sins are
as
it
were on the decline, your grace which frees you on the rise. "Truth
springs from
the
earth." What means this? Your grace is born, your sins fall, you are in a
certain
manner
made new. You should look to the rising, and turn away from the setting.
Turn
away from your sins, turn unto the grace of God; when your sins fall, thou
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rises
and profitest .... One region of the heaven falls, another rises: but the region
which
is now rising will set after twelve hours. Not like this is the grace which
rises
unto us: both our sins fall for ever, and grace abides for ever.
17.
"Yea, like as a father pities his own children, even so has the Lord had
mercy
on
them that fear Him" (ver. 13). Let Him be as angry as He shall will, He is
our
Father.
But He has scourged us, and afflicted us, and bruised us: He is our Father.
Son,
if you bewail, wail beneath your Father; do not so with indignation, do not so
with
the puffing up of pride. What you suffer, whence you mourn, it is medicine,
not
punishment; it is your chastening, not your condemnation. Do not refuse the
scourge,
if thou dost not wish to be refused your heritage: do not think of what
punishment
you suffer in the scourge, but what place you have in the Testament.
18.
"For He knows our forming" (ver. 14): that is, our infirmity. He
knows what
He
has created, how it has fallen, how it may be repaired, how it may be adopted,
how
it may be enriched. Behold, we are made of clay: "The first man is of the
earth,
earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven." 1 Corinthians 15:47 He
sent
even His own Son, Him who was made the second man, Him who was God
before
all things. For He was second in His coming, first in His returning: He died
after
many, He arose before all. "He knows our forming." What forming?
Ourselves.
Why do you say that He knows? Because He has pitied. "Remember
that
we are but dust." Addressing God Himself, he says, "Remember,"
as if God
could
forget: He perceives, He knows in such a manner that He cannot forget. But
what
means, "Remember"? Let your mercy continue towards us. You know our
forming;
forget not our forming, lest we forget your grace.
19.
"Man, his days are but as grass" (ver. 15). Let man consider what he
is; let not
man
be proud. "His days are but as grass." Why is the grass proud, that
is now
flourishing,
and in a very short space dried up? Why is the grass proud that
flourishes
only for a brief season, until the sun be hot? It is then good for us that
His
mercy be upon us, and from grass make gold. "For he flourishes as a flower
of
the
field." The whole splendour of the human race; honour, powers, riches,
pride,
threats,
is the flower of the grass. That house flourishes, and that family is great,
that
family flourishes; and how many flourish, and how many years do they live!
Many
years to you, are but a short season unto God. God does not count, as you
do.
Compared with the length and long life of ages, all the flower of any house is
as
the flower of the field. All the beauty of the year hardly lasts for the year.
Whatever
there flourishes, whatever there is warmed with heat, whatever there is
beautiful,
lasts not; nay, it cannot exist for one whole year. In how brief a season
do
flowers pass away, and these are the beauty of the herbs! This which is so very
beautiful,
this quickly falls. Isaiah 40:6-8 Inasmuch then as He knows as a father
our
forming, that we are but grass, and can only flourish for a time; He sent unto
us
His Word, and His Word, which abides for evermore, He has made a brother
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Psalm 103 874
unto
the grass which abides not. Wonder not that you shall be a sharer of His
Eternity;
He became Himself first a sharer of your grass. Will He who assumed
from
you what was lowly, deny unto you what is exalted in respect of you?
20.
"The wind shall go over on it, it shall not be; and the place thereof
shall know
it
no more" (ver. 16). For he is not speaking of grass, but of that for whose
sake
even
the Word became grass. For you are man, and on your account the Word
became
man. "All flesh is grass:" "and the Word was made flesh."
John 1:14 How
great
then is the hope of the grass, since the Word has been made flesh? That
which
abides for evermore, has not disdained to assume grass, that the grass might
not
despair of itself.
21.
In your reflections therefore on yourself, think of your low estate, think of
your
dust: be not lifted up: if you are anything better, you will be so by His
Grace,
you
will be so by His mercy. For hear what follows: "but the mercy of the Lord
endures
for ever and ever upon them that fear Him" (ver. 17). You who fear not
Him,
will be grass, and in grass, and in torment with the grass: for the flesh shall
arise
unto the torment. Let those who fear Him rejoice, because His mercy is upon
them.
22.
"And His righteousness upon children's children" (ver. 18). He speaks
of
reward,
"upon children's children." How many servants of God are there who
have
not
children, how much less children's children? But He calls our works our
children;
the reward of works, our "children's children." "Even upon such
as keep
His
covenant." Let men beware that all may not conceive what is here said to
belong
to themselves: let them choose, while they have the choice. "And keep in
memory
His commandments to do them." You were already disposed to flatter
yourself,
and perhaps to recite to me the Psalter, which I have not by heart, or
from
memory to say over the whole Law. Clearly you are better in point of
memory
than I, better than any righteous man who does not know the Law word
for
word: but see that thou keep the commandments. But how should you keep
them?
Not by memory, but by life. "Such as keep in memory His
commandments:"
not, to recite them; but, "to do them." And now perhaps each
man's
soul is disturbed. Who remembers all the commandments of God? who
remembers
all the writings of God? Lo, I wish not only to hold them in my
memory,
but also to do them in my works: but who remembers them all? Fear not:
He
burdens you not: "on two commandments hang all the Law and the
Prophets."
Matthew
22:40...
23.
"The Lord has prepared His throne in heaven" (ver. 19). Who but
Christ has
prepared
His throne in heaven? He who descended and ascended, He who died,
and
rose from the dead, He who lifted up to heaven the manhood He had assumed,
has
Himself prepared His throne in heaven. The throne is the seat of the Judge:
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observe
therefore ye who hear, that "He has prepared His throne in
heaven."... The
kingdom
is the Lord's, and He shall be the Governor among the people. "And His
kingdom
shall rule over all."
24.
"Bless ye the Lord, you Angels of His, you that are mighty in strength: ye
that
fulfil
His word" (ver. 20). By the word of God, then, you are not righteous, nor
faithful,
unless when thou dost it. "You that are mighty in strength, you that fulfil
His
commandment, and hearken unto the voice of His words."
25.
"Bless ye the Lord, all you His hosts: ye servants of His that do His
pleasure"
(ver.
21). All you angels, all you that are mighty in strength: ye that do His word:
all
you His hosts, you servants of His that do His pleasure, do ye, you bless the
Lord.
For all they who live wickedly, though their tongues be silent, by their lips
do
curse the Lord. What does it profit if your tongue sings a hymn, while your
life
breathes
sacrilege? By living ill you have set many tongues to blasphemy. Your
tongue
is given to the hymn, the tongues of those who behold you, to blasphemy.
If
then thou dost wish to bless the Lord, do His word, do His will....
26.
"Bless ye the Lord, all you works of His, in all places of His
dominion" (ver.
22).
Therefore in every place. Let Him not be blessed where He rules not: "in
all
places
of His dominion." Let no man perchance say: I cannot praise the Lord in
the
East, because He has departed unto the West; or, I cannot praise Him in the
West,
because He is in the East. "For neither from the east, nor from the west,
nor
yet
from the desert hills. And why? God is the Judge." He is everywhere, in
such
wise
that everywhere He may be praised: He is in such wise on every side, that we
may
be joyful in Him on every side: He is in such wise blessed on every side, that
on
every side we may live well.... "In every place of His dominion: bless
thou the
Lord,
O my soul!" The last verse is the same as the first: blessing is at the
head of
the
Psalm, blessing at the end; from blessing we set out, to blessing let us
return,
in
blessing let us reign.
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876
Exposition
on Psalm 104
1.
..."Bless the Lord, O my soul." Let the soul of us all, made one in
Christ, say
this.
"O Lord my God, You are magnified exceedingly!" (ver. 1). Where are
You
magnified?
"Confession and beauty You have put on." Confess ye, that you may
be
beautified, that He may put you on. "Clothed with light as a garment"
(ver. 2).
Clothed
with His Church, because she is made "light" in Him, who before was
darkness
in herself, as the apostle says: "You were sometime darkness, but now
light
in the Lord." Ephesians 5:8 "Stretching out the heaven like a
skin:" either as
easily
as thou dost a skin, if it be "as easily," so that you may take it
after the
letter;
or let us understand the authority of the Scriptures, spread out over the
whole
world, under the name of a skin; because mortality is signified in a skin, but
all
the authority of the Divine Scriptures was dispensed unto us through mortal
men,
whose fame is still spreading abroad now they are dead.
2.
"Who covers with waters the upper parts thereof" (ver. 3). The upper
parts of
what?
Of Heaven. What is Heaven? Figuratively only we said, the Divine
Scripture.
What are the upper parts of the Divine Scripture? The commandment of
love,
than which there is none more exalted. Mark 12:31 But wherefore is love
compared
to waters? Because "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the
Holy
Spirit who is given unto us." Romans 5:5 Whence is the Spirit Himself
water?
because "Jesus stood and cried, He that believes in Me, out of his bosom
shall
flow rivers of living water." John 7:37-38 Whence do we prove that it was
said
of the Spirit? Let the Evangelist himself declare, who follows it up, and says,
"But
this spoke He of the Spirit, which they were to receive, who should believe in
Him."
"Who walks above the wings of the winds;" that is, above the virtues
of
souls.
What is the virtue of a soul? Love itself. But how does He walk above it?
Because
the love of God toward us is greater than ours toward God.
3.
"Who makes spirits His angels, and flaming fire His ministers" (ver.
4): that is,
those
who are already spirits, who are spiritual, not carnal, He makes His Angels,
by
sending them to preach His gospel. "And flaming fire His ministers."
For
unless
the minister that preaches be on fire, he enflames not him to whom he
preaches.
4.
"He has founded the earth upon its firmness" (ver. 5). He has founded
the
Church
upon the firmness of the Church. What is the firmness of the Church, but
the
foundation of the Church. What is the foundation of the Church, but that of
which
the Apostle says, "Other foundation can no man lay but that is laid, which
is
Christ
Jesus." 1 Corinthians 3:11 And therefore, grounded on such a foundation,
what
has she deserved to hear? "It shall not be bowed forever and ever."
"He
founded
the earth on its firmness." That is, He has founded the Church upon Christ
the
foundation. The Church will totter if the foundation totter; but when shall
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Christ
totter, before whose coming unto us, and taking flesh on Him, "all things
were
made by Him, and without Him was not anything made;" John 1:3 who holds
all
things by His Majesty, Hebrews 1:3 and us by His goodness? Since Christ fails
not,
"she shall not be bowed for ever and ever." Where are they who say
that the
Church
has perished from the world, when she cannot even be bowed....
5.
"The deep, like a garment, is its clothing" (ver. 6). Whose? Is it
perchance
God's?
But he had already said of His clothing, "Clothed with light as with a
garment."
I hear of God clothed in light, and that light, if we will, are we. What is,
if
we will? if we are no longer darkness. Therefore if God is clothed with light,
whose
clothing, again, is the deep? For an immense mass of waters is called the
deep.
All water, all the moist nature, and the substance everywhere shed abroad
through
the seas, and rivers, and hidden caves, is all together called by one name,
the
Deep. Therefore we understand the earth, of which he said, "He has founded
the
earth." Of it I believe he said, "The deep, like a garment is its
clothing." For
the
water is as it were the clothing of the earth, surrounding it and covering
it....
6.
"Above the mountains the waters shall stand:" that is, the clothing
of the earth,
which
is the deep, so increased, that the waters stood even above the mountains.
We
read of this taking place in the deluge.... The Prophet minding to foretell
future
things,
not to relate the past, therefore said it, because he would have it understood
that
the Church should be in a deluge of persecutions. For there was a time when
the
floods of persecutors had covered God's earth, God's Church, and had so
covered
it, that not even those great ones appeared, who are the mountains. For
when
they fled everywhere, how did they but cease to appear? And perchance of
those
waters is that saying, "Save me, O God, for the waters are come in even
unto
my
soul." Especially the waters which make the sea, stormy, unfruitful. For
whatsoever
earth the sea-water may have covered, it will not rather make it fruitful
than
bring it to barrenness. For there were also mountains beneath the waters,
because
above the mountains waters stood.... Why were the Apostles hidden by
flight?
Because "above the mountains the waters stood." The power of the
waters
was
great, but how long? Hear what follows.
7.
"From Your rebuke they shall fly" (ver. 7). And this was done,
brethren; from
God's
rebuke the waters did fly; that is, they went back from pressing on the
mountains.
Now the mountains themselves stand forth, Peter and Paul: how do
they
tower! They who before were pressed down by persecutors, now are
venerated
by emperors. For the waters are fled from the rebuke of God; because
"the
heart of kings is in the hand of God, He has bent it whither He would;"
Proverbs
21:1 He commanded peace to be given by them to the Christians; the
authority
of the Apostles sprang up and towered high .... The waters fled from the
rebuke
of God. "From the voice of Your thunder they shall be afraid." Now
who is
there
that would not be afraid, from the voice of God through the Apostles, the
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voice
of God through the Scriptures, through His clouds? The sea is quieted, the
waters
have been made afraid, the mountains have been laid bare, the emperor has
given
the order. But who would have given the order, unless God had thundered?
Because
God willed, they commanded, and it was done. Therefore let no one of
men
arrogate anything to himself.
8.
"The mountains ascend, and the plains go down, into the place which You
have
founded
for them" (ver. 8). He is still speaking of waters. Let us not here
understand
mountains as of earth; nor plains, as of earth: but waves so great that
they
may be compared to mountains. The sea did sometime toss, and its waves
were
as mountains, which could cover those mountains the Apostles. But how
long
do the mountains ascend and the plains go down? They raged, and they are
appeased.
When they raged they were mountains: now they are appeased they are
become
plains: for He has founded a place for them. There is a certain channel, as
it
were a deep place, into which all those lately raging hearts of mortals have
retired....
They were mountains formerly, now they are plains: yet, my brethren,
even
a dead calm is sea. For wherefore are they not now violent? wherefore do
they
not rage? Wherefore do they not try, if they cannot overthrow our earth, at
least
to cover it? Wherefore not?
9.
Hear. "You have set a bound which they shall not pass over, neither shall
they
turn
again to cover the earth" (ver. 9). What then, because now the bitterest
waves
have
received a measure, that we must be allowed to preach such things even with
freedom;
because they have had their due limit assigned, because they cannot pass
over
the bound that is set, nor shall they return to cover the earth; what is doing
in
the
earth itself? What workings take place therein, now that the sea has left it
bare?
Although
at its beach slight waves do make their noise, although Pagans still
murmur
round; the sound of the shores I hear, a deluge I dread not. What then;
what
is doing in the earth? "Who sends out springs in the little valleys"
(ver. 10).
"You
send out," he says, "springs in the little valleys." You know
what little
valleys
are, lower places among the lands. For to hills and mountains, valleys and
little
valleys are opposed in contrary shape. Hills and mountains are swellings of
the
land: but valleys and little valleys, lownesses of the lands. Do not despise
low
places,
thence flow springs. "You send out springs in the little valleys."
Hear a
mountain.
The Apostle says, "I laboured more than they all." A certain
greatness is
brought
before us: yet immediately, that the waters may flow, he has made himself
a
valley: "Yet not I, but the grace of God with me." 1 Corinthians
15:10 It is no
contradiction
that they who are mountains be also valleys: for as they are called
mountains
because of their spiritual greatness, so also valleys because of the
humility
of their spirit. "Not I," he says, "but the grace of God with
me."...
10.
What is, "In the midst between the mountains the waters shall pass
through"?
We
have heard who are the "mountains," the great Preachers of the word,
the
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879
exalted
Angels of God, though still in mortal flesh; lofty not by their own power,
but
by His grace; but as far as relates to themselves, they are valleys, in their
humility
they send forth springs. "In the midst," he says, "between the
mountains,
the
waters shall pass through." Let us suppose this said thus, "In the
midst between
the
Apostles shall pass through the preachings of the Word of Truth." What is,
in
the
midst between the Apostles? What is called in the midst, is common. A
common
property, from which all alike live, is in the midst, and belongs not to me,
but
neither belongs it to you, nor yet to me .... For if they are not in the midst,
they
are
as it were private, they flow not for public use, and I have mine, and he has
his
own,
it is not in the midst for both me and him to have it; but such is not the
preaching
of peace .... Therefore, brethren, let what we have said to your Love
serve
to this purpose, because of the springs: that they may flow from you, be ye
valleys,
and communicate with all that which you have from God. Let the waters
flow
in the midst, envy ye no one, drink, be filled, flow forth when you are filled.
Everywhere
let the common water of God have the glory, not the private
falsehoods
of men....
11.
For it follows, "All the beasts of the wood shall drink" (ver. 11).
We do indeed
see
this also in the visible creation, that the beasts of the wood drink of
springs,
and
of streams that run between the mountains: but now since it has pleased God
to
hide His own wisdom in the figures of such things, not to take it away from
earnest
seekers, but to close it to them that care not, and open it to them that
knock;
it has also pleased our Lord God Himself to exhort you by us to this, that in
all
these things which are said as if of the bodily and visible creation, we may
seek
something
spiritually hidden, in which when found we may rejoice. The beasts of
the
wood, we understand the Gentiles, and Holy Scripture witnesses this in many
places....
12.
These beasts, then, drink those waters, but passing; not staying, but passing;
for
all that teaching which in all this time is dispensed passes .... Unless
perchance
your
love thinks that in that city to which it is said, "Praise the Lord, O
Jerusalem,
praise
your God, O Sion; for He has made strong the bars of your gates;" when the
bars
are now strengthened and the city closed, whence, as we said some time
since,
no friend goes out, no enemy enters; that there we shall have a book to read,
or
speech to be explained as it is now explained to you. Therefore is it now
treated,
that
there it may be held fast: therefore is it now divided by syllables, that there
it
may
be contemplated whole and entire. The Word of God will not be wanting
there:
but yet not by letters, not by sounds, not by books, not by a reader, not by an
expositor.
How then? As, "In the beginning was the Word," etc. John 1:1 For He
did
not so come to us as to depart from thence; because He was in this world, and
the
world was made by Him. Such a Word are we to contemplate. For "the God of
gods
shall appear in Zion." But this when? After our pilgrimage, when the
journey
is
done: if however after our journey is done we be not delivered to the Judge,
that
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the
Judge may send us to prison. But if when our journey is ended, as we hope,
and
wish, and endeavour, we shall have reached our Country, there shall we
contemplate
What we shall ever praise; nor shall That fail which is present to us,
nor
we, who enjoy: nor shall he be cloyed that eats, nor shall that fail which he
eats.
Great and wonderful shall be that contemplation....
13.
"The onagers shall take for their thirst." By onagers he means some
great
beasts.
For who knows not that wild asses are called onagers? He means,
therefore,
some great untrained ones. For the Gentiles had no yoke of the Law:
many
nations lived after their own customs, ranging in proud boastfulness as in a
wilderness.
And so indeed did all the beasts, but the wild asses are put to signify
the
greater sort. They too shall drink for their thirst, for for them too the
waters
flow.
Thence drinks the hare, thence the wild ass: the hare little, the wild ass great;
the
hare timid, the wild ass fierce: either sort drinks thence, but each for his
thirst....
So faithfully and gently does it flow, as at once to satisfy the wild ass, and
not
to alarm the hare. The sound of Tully's voice rings out, Cicero is read, it is
some
book, it is a dialogue of his, whether his own, or Plato's, or by whatever such
writer:
some hear that are unlearned, weak ones of less mind; who dares to aspire
to
such a thing? It is a sound of water, and that perchance turbid, but certainly
flowing
so violently, that a timid animal dare not draw near and drink. To whom
sounds
a Psalm, and he says, It is too much for me? Behold now what the Psalm
sounds;
certainly they are hidden mysteries, yet so it sounds, that even children are
delighted
to hear, and the unlearned come to drink, and when filled burst forth in
singing....
14.
Then the Psalm goes on in its text, "Upon them the fowls of the heaven
shall
inhabit"
(ver. 12) .... Upon the mountains, then, the fowls of the air shall have their
habitation.
We see these birds dwell upon the mountains, but many of them dwell
in
plains, many in valleys, many in groves, many in gardens, not all upon
mountains.
There are some fowls that dwell not save on the mountains. Some
spiritual
souls does this name denote. Fowls are spiritual hearts, which enjoy the
free
air. In the clearness of heaven these birds delight, yet their feeding is on
the
mountains,
there will they dwell. You know the mountains, they have been already
treated
of. Mountains are Prophets, mountains are Apostles, mountains are all
preachers
of the truth....
15.
But think not that those "fowls of heaven" follow their own
authority; see what
the
Psalm says: "From the midst of the rocks they shall give their
voice." Now, if I
shall
say to you, Believe, for this said Cicero, this said Plato, this said
Pythagoras:
which
of you will not laugh at me? For I shall be a bird that shall send forth my
voice
not from the rock. What ought each one of you to say to me? what ought he
who
is thus instructed to say? "If any one shall have preached unto you a
gospel
other
than that you have received, let him be anathema." Galatians 1:9 What do
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you
tell me of Plato, and of Cicero, and of Virgil? You have before you the rocks
of
the mountains, from the midst of the rocks give me your voice. Let them be
heard,
who hear from the rock: let them be heard, because also in those many
rocks
the One Rock is heard: for "the Rock was Christ." 1 Corinthians 10:4
Let
them
therefore be willingly heard, giving their voice from the midst of the rocks.
Nothing
is sweeter than such a voice of birds. They sound, and the rocks resound:
they
sound; spiritual men discuss: the rocks resound, testimonies of Scripture give
answer.
Lo! thence the fowls give their voice from the midst of the rocks, for they
dwell
on the mountains.
16.
"Watering the mountains from the higher places" (ver. 13). Now if a
Gentile
uncircumcised
man comes to us, about to believe in Christ, we give him baptism,
and
do not call him back to those works of the Law. And if a Jew asks us why we
do
that, we sound from the rock, we say, This Peter did, this Paul did: from the
midst
of the rocks we give our voice. But that rock, Peter himself, that great
mountain,
when he prayed and saw that vision, was watered from above....
17.
"From the fruit of Your works shall the earth be satisfied." What is,
"From the
fruit
of Your works"? Let no man glory in his own works: but "he that
glories, let
him
glory in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:31 With Your grace he is satisfied,
when
he
is satisfied: let him not say that grace was given for his own merits. If it is
called
grace, "it is gratuitously given;" if it is returned for works, wages
are paid.
Romans
4:4-5 Freely therefore receive, because ungodly you are justified.
18.
"Bringing forth grass for the cattle, and green herb for the service of
men"
(ver.
14). This is true, I perceive; I recognise the creation: the earth does bring
forth
grass for the cattle, and green herb for the service of men. But I perceive the
words,
"You shall not muzzle the mouth of the ox which treads out the corn: Doth
God
take care for oxen? For our sakes therefore the Scripture says it."
1
Corinthians 9:9 How then does the earth bring forth grass for the cattle?
Because
"the
Lord has ordained that they which preach the Gospel should live of the
Gospel."
He sent preachers, saying unto them, "Eat such things as are set before
you
of them: for the labourer is worthy of his hire." Luke 10:7-8 ... They
give
spiritual,
they receive carnal things; they give gold, they receive grass.... "If we
have
sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great matter if we shall reap your
carnal
things?"
1 Corinthians 9:11 This the Apostle said, a preacher so laborious, so
indefatigable,
so well tried, that he gives this very grass to the earth.
"Nevertheless,"
he says, "we have not used this power." He shows that it is due to
him,
yet he received it not; nor has he condemned those who have received what
was
due. For those were to be condemned who exact what is not due, not they who
accept
their recompense: yet he gave up even his own recompense. Thou dost not
cease
to owe to another, because one has given up his dues, otherwise you will not
be
the watered earth which brings forth grass for the cattle .... Thou receivest
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882
spiritual
things, give carnal things in return: to the soldier they are due, to the
soldier
you return them; you are the paymaster of Christ. "Who goes a warfare any
time
at his own charges? who plants a vineyard, and eats not of the fruit thereof?
or
who feeds a flock, and eats not of the milk of the flock? I speak not thus,
that it
should
be so done unto me." 1 Corinthians 9:7, 15 There has been such a soldier
as
gave
up his rations of food even to the paymaster: yet let the paymaster pay the
rations....
19.
"That it may bring forth bread out of the earth." What bread? Christ.
Out of
what
earth? From Peter, from Paul, from the other stewards of the truth. Hear that
it
is from the earth: "We have," says St. Paul, "this treasure in
earthen vessels, that
the
excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." 2 Corinthians 4:7
He is
the
bread who descended from heaven, John 6:41 that He might be brought forth
out
of the earth, when He is preached through the flesh of His servants. The earth
brings
forth grass, that it may bring forth bread from the earth. What earth brings
forth
grass? Pious, holy nations. That bread may be brought forth out of what
earth?
The word of God out of the Apostles, out of the stewards of God's
Sacraments,
who still walk upon the earth, who still carry an earthly body.
20.
"And wine makes glad the heart of man" (ver. 15). Let no man prepare
himself
for
intoxication; nay, let every man prepare him for intoxication. "How
excellent
is
Your cup which makes inebriate!" We choose not to say, Let no man be
drunk.
Be
inebriated; yet beware, from what source. If the excellent cup of the Lord does
saturate
you, your ebriety shall be seen in your works, it shall be seen in the holy
love
of righteousness, it shall, lastly, be seen in the estrangement of your mind,
but
from
things earthly to heavenly. "To make him a cheerful countenance with
oil."...What
is the making the countenance cheerful with oil? The grace of God; a
sort
of shining for manifestation; as the Apostle says, "The Spirit is given to
every
man
for manifestation." 1 Corinthians 12:7 A certain grace which men can
clearly
see
in men, to conciliate holy love, is termed oil, for its divine splendour; and
since
it appeared most excellent in Christ, the whole world loves Him; who though
while
here He was scorned, is now worshipped by every nation: "For the kingdom
is
the Lord's, and He shall be Governor among the people." For such is His
grace,
that
many, who do not believe in Him, praise Him, and declare that they are
unwilling
to believe in Him, because no man can fulfil what He does command.
They
who with reproaches once raged against Him, are hindered by His very
praises.
Yet by all is He loved, by all is He preached; because He is excellently
anointed,
therefore He is Christ: for He is called Christ from the Chrism or
anointing
which He had. Messiah in the Hebrew, Christ in the Greek, Unctus in
the
Latin: but He anoints over His whole Body. All therefore who come, receive
grace,
that their countenances may be made glad with oil.
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21.
"And bread strengthens man's heart." What is this, brethren? As it
were, he has
forced
us to understand what bread he was speaking of. For while that visible
bread
strengthens the stomach, feeds the body, there is another bread which
strengthens
the heart, in that it is the bread of the heart.... There is therefore a wine
that
truly makes glad the heart, and knows not to do anything else than to gladden
the
heart. But that you may not imagine that this indeed should be taken of the
spiritual
wine, but not of that spiritual bread; He has shown this very point, that it
is
also spiritual: "and bread," he says, "strengthens man's
heart." So understand it
therefore
of the bread as thou dost understand it of the wine; hunger inwardly,
thirst
inwardly: "Blessed are they," says our Lord, "who hunger and
thirst after
righteousness;
for they shall be filled." Matthew 5:6 That bread is righteousness,
that
wine is righteousness: it is truth, Christ is truth. John 14:6 "I
am," He said,
"the
living bread, who came down from heaven;" John 6:51 and, "I am the
Vine,
and
you are the branches." John 15:5
22.
"The trees of the plain shall be satisfied" (ver. 16): but with this
grace, brought
forth
out of the earth. "The trees of the plain," are the lower orders of
the nations.
"And
the cedars of Libanus which He has planted." The cedars of Libanus, the
powerful
in the world, shall themselves be filled. The bread, and wine, and oil of
Christ
has reached senators, nobles, kings; the trees of the plain are filled. First
the
humble
are filled; next also the cedars of Libanus, yet those which He has planted;
pious
cedars, religious faithful; for such has He planted. For the ungodly also are
cedars
of Libanus; for, "The Lord shall break the cedars of Libanus." For
Libanus
is
a mountain: there are those trees, even according to the letter most long-lived
and
most excellent. But Libanus is interpreted, as we read in those who have
written
of these things, a brightness: and this brightness seems to belong to this
world,
which at present shines and is refulgent with its pomps. There are the
cedars
of Libanus, which the Lord has planted; those which the Lord has planted
shall
be filled....
23.
"There shall the sparrows build their nests: their leader is the house of
the
coot"
(ver. 17). Where shall the sparrows build? In the cedars of Libanus.... Who
are
the sparrows? Sparrows are birds indeed, and fowls of the air, but small fowls
are
wont to be called sparrows. There are therefore some spiritual ones that build
in
the cedars of Libanus: that is, there are certain servants of God who hear in
the
Gospel,
"Sell all that you have, and give to the poor; and you shall have treasure
in
heaven;
and come and follow Me." Matthew 19:21... Let him who has resigned
many
things, not be proud. We know that Peter was a fisherman: what then could
he
give up, to follow our Lord? Or his brother Andrew, or John and James the sons
of
Zebedee, themselves also fishermen; and yet what did they say? "Behold, we
have
forsaken all, and followed You." Matthew 19:27 Our Lord said not to him,
You
have forgotten your poverty; what have you resigned, that you should receive
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Psalm 104 884
the
whole world? He, my brethren, who resigned not only what he had, but also
what
he longed to have, resigned much....
24.
But although the sparrows will build in the cedars of Libanus, "the house
of
the
coot is their leader." What is the house of the coot? The coot, as we all
know,
is
a water bird, dwelling either among the marshes, or on the sea. It has rarely
or
never
a home on the shore; but in places in the midst of the waters, and thus
usually
in rocky islets, surrounded by the waves. We therefore understand that the
rock
is the fit home of the coot, it never dwells more securely than on the rock. On
what
sort of rock? One placed in the sea. And if it is beaten by the waves, yet it
breaks
the waves, is not broken by them: this is the excellency of the rock in the
sea.
How great waves beat on our Lord Jesus Christ? The Jews dashed against
Him;
they were broken, He remained whole. And let every one who does imitate
Christ,
so dwell in this world, that is, in this sea, where he cannot but feel storms
and
tempests, that he may yield to no wind, to no wave, but remain whole, while
he
meets them all. The home of the coot, therefore, is both strong and weak. The
coot
has not a home on lofty spots; nothing is more firm and nothing more humble
than
that home. Sparrows build indeed in cedars, on account of actual need: but
they
hold that rock as their leader, which is beaten by the waves, and yet not
broken;
for they imitate the sufferings of Christ....
25.
What then follows? "The loftiest hills are for the stags" (ver. 18).
The stags are
mighty,
spiritual, passing in their course over all the thorny places of the thickets
and
woods. "He makes my feet like harts' feet, and sets me up on high."
Let them
hold
to the lofty hills, the lofty commandments of God; let them think on sublime
subjects,
let them hold those which stand forth most in the Scriptures, let them be
justified
in the highest: for those loftiest hills are for the stags. What of the humble
beasts?
what of the hare? what of the hedgehog? The hare is a small and weak
animal:
the hedgehog is also prickly: the one is a timid animal, the other is covered
with
prickles. What do the prickles signify, except sinners? He who sinneth daily,
although
not great sins, is covered over with the smallest prickles. In his timidity
he
is a hare: in his being covered with the minutest sins, he is a hedgehog: and
he
cannot
hold those lofty and perfect commandments. For "the loftiest hills are for
the
stags." What then? do these perish? No. For so "is the rock the
refuge for the
hedgehogs
and the hares." For the Lord is a refuge for the poor. Place that rock
upon
the land, it is a refuge for hedgehogs, and for hares: place it on the sea, it
is
the
home of the coot. Everywhere the rock is useful. Even in the hills it is
useful:
for
the hills without the rock's foundation would fall into the deep....
26.
"He appointed the Moon for certain seasons" (ver. 19). We understand
spiritually
the Church increasing from the smallest size, and growing old as it were
from
the mortality of this life; yet so, that it draws nearer unto the Sun. I speak
not
of
this moon visible to the eye, but of that which is signified by this name.
While
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the
Church was in the dark, while she as yet appeared not, shone not forth as yet,
men
were led astray, and it was said, This is the Church, here is Christ; so that
"while
the Moon was dark, they shot their arrows at the righteous in heart." How
blind
is he who now, when the Moon is full, wanders astray? "He appointed the
Moon
for certain seasons." For here the Church temporarily is passing away: for
this
subjection to death will not remain for ever: there will some time be an end of
waxing
and waning; it is appointed for certain seasons. "And the sun knows his
going
down." And what sun is this, but that Sun of righteousness, whom the
ungodly
will lament on the day of judgment never having risen for them; they who
will
say on that day, "Therefore we wandered from the way of truth, and the
light
of
righteousness shone not on us, and the sun did not arise upon us." Wisdom
5:6
That
sun rises for him who understands Christ....
27.
Nor think, brethren, that the sun ought to be worshipped by some men, because
the
sun does sometimes in the Scriptures signify Christ. For such is the madness of
men;
as if we said that a creature should be worshipped, when it is said, the sun is
an
emblem of Christ. Then worship the rock also, for it also is a type of Christ.
1
Corinthians 10:4 "He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter:" Isaiah
53:7
worship
the lamb also, since it is a type of Christ. "The Lion of the tribe of
Judah
has
prevailed;" Revelation 5:5 worship the lion also, since it signifies
Christ.
Observe
how numerous are the types of Christ: all these are Christ in similitude,
not
in essence....
28.
What then, when the sun went down, when our Lord suffered? There was a
sort
of darkness with the Apostles, hope failed, in those to whom He at first
seemed
great, and the Redeemer of all men. How so? "Thou made darkness, and it
became
night; wherein all the beasts of the forest shall move" (ver. 20) ....
Here the
beasts
of the forest are used in different ways: for these things are always
understood
in varying senses; as our Lord Himself is at one time termed a lion, at
another
a lamb. What is so different as a lion and a lamb? But what sort of lamb?
One
that could overcome the wolf, overcome the lion. He is the Rock, He the
Shepherd,
He the Gate. The Shepherd enters by the gate: and He says, "I am the
good
Shepherd:" and, "I am the Door of the Sheep."...Learn thus to
understand,
when
these things are spoken figuratively; lest perchance when you have read that
the
Rock signifies Christ, 1 Corinthians 10:4 ye may understand it to mean Him in
every
passage. In one place it means one thing, another in another, just as we can
only
understand the meaning of a letter by seeing its position. "The lion's
whelps
roaring
after their prey, do seek their meat from God" (ver. 21). Justly then our
Lord,
when nigh unto His going down, the very Sun of Righteousness recognising
His
going down, said to His disciples, as if darkness being about to come, the lion
would
roam about to seek whom he might devour, that that lion could devour no
man,
unless with leave: "Simon," said He, "this night Satan has
desired to have
you,
that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith fail
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886
not."
Luke 22:31-32 When Peter thrice denied, Matthew 26:70, 74 was he not
already
between the lion's teeth?...
29.
"The Sun has arisen, and they get them away together, and lay them down in
their
dens" (ver. 22). More and more as the Sun rises, so that Christ is
recognised
by
the round world, and glorified therein, do the lion's whelps get them away
together;
those devils recede from the persecution of the Church, who instigated
men
to persecute the house of God, by working in the sons of unbelief.
Ephesians
2:2 Now that none of them dares persecute the Church, "the Sun has
arisen,
and they get them away together." And where are they? "And they lay
them
down
in their dens." Their dens are the hearts of the unbelieving. How many
carry
lions
crouching in their hearts? They burst not forth thence, they make no assault
upon
the pilgrim Jerusalem. Wherefore do they not so? Because the Sun is already
risen,
and is shining over the whole world.
30.
What are you doing, O man of God? thou, O Church of God? what are you, O
body
of Christ, whose Head is in Heaven? what are you doing, O man, His unity?
"Man,"
he says, "shall go forth to his work" (ver. 23). Let therefore this
man work
good
works in the security of the peace of the Church, let him work unto the end.
For
sometime there will be a sort of general darkening, and a sort of assault will
be
made,
but in the evening, that is, in the end of the world: but now the Church does
work
in peace and tranquillity; for "man shall go forth to his work, and to his
labour,
unto the evening."
31.
"O Lord, how great are made Your works!" (ver. 24). Justly great,
justly
sublime!
where were those works made, that are so great? what was that station
where
God stood, or that seat whereupon He sat, when He did those works? what
was
the place where He worked thus? whence did those so beautiful works
proceed
at the first? To take it word for word, every ordained creation, running by
ordinance,
beautiful by ordinance, rising by ordinance, setting by ordinance, going
through
all seasons by ordinance, whence has it proceeded? whence has the
Church
herself received her rise, her growth, her perfection? In what manner is she
destined
to a consummation in immortality? with what heralding is she preached?
by
what mysteries is she recommended? by what types is she concealed? by what
preaching
is she revealed? where has God done these things? I see great works.
"How
great are made Your works, O Lord!" I ask where He has made them: I find
not
the place: but I see what follows: "In Wisdom have You made them
all." All
therefore
You have made in Christ.... "The earth is full of Your creation." The
earth
is full of the creation of Christ. And how so? We discern how: for what was
not
made by the Father through the Son? Whatever walks and does crawl on earth,
whatever
does swim in the waters, whatever flies in the air, whatever does revolve
in
heaven, how much more then the earth, the whole universe, is the work of God.
But
he seems to me to speak here of some new creation, of which the Apostle
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Psalm 104 887
says,
"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things have passed
away;
behold,
all things are become new. And all things are of God." 2 Corinthians 5:17-
18
All who believe in Christ, who put off the old man, and put on the new,
Ephesians
4:22-24 are a new creature. "The earth is full of Your works." On one
spot
of the earth He was crucified, in one small spot that seed fell into the earth,
and
died; but brought forth great fruit....
32.
"The earth is full of Your creation." Of what creation of Yours is
the earth
full?
Of all trees and shrubs, of all animals and flocks, and of the whole of the
human
race; the earth is full of the creation of God. We see, know, read, recognise,
praise,
and in these we preach of Him; yet we are not able to praise respecting
these
things, as fully as our heart does abound with praise after the beautiful
contemplation
of them. But we ought rather to heed that creation, of which the
Apostle
says, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
passed
away;
behold, all things are become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17 What "old
things
have
passed away"? In the Gentiles, all idolatry; in the Jews themselves, all
that
servitude
unto the Law, all those sacrifices that were harbingers of the present
Sacrifice.
The oldness of man was then abundant; One came to renovate His own
work,
to melt His silver, to form His coin, and we now see the earth full of
Christians
believing in God, turning themselves away from their former
uncleanness
and idolatry, from a past hope to the hope of a new age: and behold it
is
not yet realized, but is already possessed in hope, and through that very hope
we
now
sing, and say, "The earth is full of Your creation." We do not as yet
sing this
in
our country, nor yet in that rest which is promised, the bars of the gates of
Jerusalem
not being as yet made fast; but still in our pilgrimage gazing upon the
whole
of this world, upon men who on every side are running unto the faith,
fearing
hell, despising death, loving eternal life, scorning the present, and filled
with
joy at such a spectacle, we say, "The earth is full of Your
creation."
33.
..."So is the great and wide sea also; wherein are things creeping
innumerable,
both
small and great beasts" (ver. 25). He speaks of the sea as terrible.
Snares
creep
in this world, and surprise the careless suddenly; for who numbers the
temptations
that creep? They creep, but beware, lest they snatch us away. Let us
keep
watch on the Wood; even in the water, even on the waves, we are safe: let
not
Christ sleep, let not faith sleep; if He has slept, let Him be awakened; He
will
command
the winds; He will calm the sea; Matthew 8:24-26 the voyage will be
ended,
and we shall rejoice in our country. For I see in this terrible sea unbelievers
still;
for they dwell in barren and bitter waters: but they are both small and great.
We
know this: many little men of this world are still unbelievers, many great men
of
this world are so: there are living creatures, both small and great, in this
sea.
They
hate the Church: the name of Christ is a burden to them: they rage not,
because
they are not permitted; the cruelty which cannot burst forth in deeds, is
shut
up within the heart. For all, whether small or great, "creeping things,
both
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888
small
and great," who at present grieve at the temples being shut, the altars
overthrown,
the images broken, the laws which make it a capital crime to sacrifice
to
idols; all who mourn on this account, are still in the sea. What then of us?
And
by
what road then are we to journey unto our country? Through this very sea, but
on
the Wood. Fear not the danger; that wood which holds together the world does
bear
you up.
34.
"There shall go the ships" (ver. 26). Lo, ships float upon that which
alarmed
you,
and sink not. By ships we understand churches; they go among the storms,
among
the tempests of temptations, among the waves of the world, among the
beasts,
both small and great. Christ on the wood of His cross is the Pilot. "There
shall
go the ships." Let not the ships fear, let them not much mind where they
float,
but by Whom they are steered. "There shall go the ships." What voyage
do
they
find tedious, when they feel that Christ is their Pilot? They will sail safely,
let
them
sail diligently, they will reach their promised haven, they will be led to the
land
of rest.
35.
There is also in that sea somewhat which transcends all creatures, great and
small.
What is this? Let us hear the Psalm: "There is that Leviathan, whom You
have
formed to make sport of him." There are creeping things innumerable, both
small
and great beasts; there shall the ships go, and shall not fear, not only the
creeping
things innumerable, and beasts both small and great, but not even the
serpent
which is there; "whom Thou," he speaks unto God, "hast made to
make
sport
of him." This is a great mystery; and yet I am about to utter what ye
already
know.
You know that a certain serpent is the enemy of the Church: you have not
seen
him with the eyes of the flesh, but ye see him with the eyes of faith....
36.
This serpent then, our ancient enemy, glowing with rage, cunning in his wiles,
is
in the mighty sea. "Here is that Leviathan, whom You have formed to make
sport
of him." Do thou now make sport of the serpent: for for this end was this
serpent
made. He falling by his own sin from the sublime realms of the heavens,
and
made devil instead of angel, received a certain region of his own in this
mighty
and spacious sea. What you think his kingdom, is his prison. For many
say:
wherefore has the devil received so great power, that he may rule in this
world,
and prevails so much, can do so much? How much prevails he? How much
can
he do? Unless by permission, he can do nothing. Do thou so act, that he may
not
be allowed to attack you; or if he be allowed to tempt you, he may depart
vanquished,
and may not gain you. For he has been allowed to tempt some holy
men,
servants of God: they overcame him, because they departed not from the
way,
they whose heel he watched, fell not....
37.
He then, my brethren, who does wish to watch the serpent's head, and safely to
pass
this sea; for it must be that this serpent dwells here, and, as I had commenced
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889
saying,
the devil when he fell from heaven received this region; let him watch his
head,
on the part of the fear of the world, and of the lusts of the world. For it is
hence
that he suggests some object of fear or of desire; he tries your love, or your
fear.
If you fear hell, and lovest the kingdom of God, you will watch his
head....
"There is no power but of God." Romans 13:1 What then do you fear?
Let
the
dragon be in the waters, let the dragon be in the sea: you are to pass through
it.
He
is made so as to be made sport of, he is ordained to inhabit this place, this
region
is given him. Thou thinkest that this habitation is a great thing for him,
because
you know not the dwellings of the angels whence he fell: what seems to
you
his glory, is his damnation.
38.
...What then do you fear? Perhaps he is about to try your flesh: it is the
scourge
of your Lord, not the power of your tempter. His wish is to injure that
salvation
which is promised: but he is not allowed: but that he may not be allowed,
have
Christ for your Head: repel the serpent's head: consent not unto his
suggestion,
slip not from your path. "There is that Leviathan, whom You have
made
to make sport of him."
39.
Do you wish to see how incapable he is of hurting you, unless permitted?
"These,"
he says, "wait all upon You, that You may give them meat in due
season"
(ver.
27). And this serpent wishes to devour, but he devours not whom he
wishes
.... You have heard what the serpent's meat is. Thou dost not wish that God
give
you to be devoured by the serpent; because not the serpent's food: i.e. forsake
not
the Word of God. For where it is said to the serpent, "Dust you shall
eat," it is
said
to the transgressor, "Dust you are, and unto dust you shall return."
Thou dost
not
wish to be the serpent's food? be not dust. How, you reply, shall I not be
dust?
If
you have not a taste for earthly things. Hear the Apostle, that you may not be
dust.
For the body which you wear is earth: but do thou refuse to be earth. What
means
this? "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the
earth."
Colossians
3:2 If thou dost not set your affections on earthly things, you are not
earth:
if you are not earth, you are not devoured by the serpent, whose appointed
food
is earth. The Lord gives the serpent his food when He will, what He will: but
He
judges rightly, he cannot be deceived, He gives him not gold for earth. "When
You
have given it them, they gather it."...
40.
"When you open Your hand, they shall all be filled with good" (ver.
28). What
is
it, O Lord, that You open Your hand? Christ is Your hand. "To whom is the
arm
of
the Lord revealed?" Isaiah 53:1 To whom it is revealed, unto him it is
opened:
for
revelation is opening. "When You open Your hand, they shall all be filled
with
good."
When Thou revealest Your Christ, "they shall all be filled with
good." But
they
have not good from themselves; this is oftentimes proved unto them. "When
Thou
hidest Your face, they are troubled" (ver. 29). Many filled with good have
attributed
to themselves what they had, and have wished to boast as in their own
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890
righteousnesses,
and have said to themselves, I am righteous; I am great: and have
become
self-complacent. Unto these the Apostle speaks: "What have you, that you
did
not receive?" 1 Corinthians 4:7 But God, wishing to prove unto man that
whatever
he has he has from Him, so that with good he may gain humility also,
sometimes
troubles him; He turns away His face from him, and he falls into
temptation;
and He shows him that his righteousness, and his walking aright, was
only
under His government....
41.
But wherefore dost Thou do this? wherefore dost Thou hide Your face, that
they
may be troubled? "You shall take away their breath, and they shall
fail."
Their
breath was their pride; they boast, they attribute things to themselves, they
justify
themselves. Hide, therefore, Your face, that they may be troubled: take
away
their breath, and let them fail; let them cry unto You, "Hear me, O Lord,
and
that
soon, for my spirit waxes faint: hide not Your face from me." "You
shall take
away
their breath, and they shall fail, and shall be turned to their dust." The
man
who
repents of his sin discovers himself, that he had not strength of himself; and
does
confess unto God, saying, that he is earth and ashes. O proud one, thou art
turned
to your own dust, your breath has been taken away; no longer dost you
boast
yourself, no longer extol yourself, no longer justify yourself; you see that
you
are made of dust, and when the Lord turns away His face, you have fallen
back
into your own dust. Pray, therefore, confess your dust and your weakness.
42.
And see what follows: "You shall send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be
made"
(ver. 30). You shall take away their spirit, and send forth Your own: You
shall
take away their spirit: they shall have no spirit of their own. Are they then
forsaken?
"Blessed are the poor in spirit:" Matthew 5:3 but they are not forsaken.
They
refused to have a spirit of their own: they shall have the Spirit of God. Such
were
our Lord's words to the future martyrs: Matthew 10:20 "It is not ye that
speak,
but the Spirit of your Father which speaks in you." Attribute not your
courage
to yourselves. If it is yours, He says, and not Mine, it is obstinacy, not
courage.
"For we are His workmanship," says the Apostle, "created unto
good
works."
Ephesians 2:10 From His Spirit we have received grace, that we may live
unto
righteousness: for it is He that justifies the ungodly. Romans 4:5 "You
shall
take
away their spirit, and they shall fail; You shall send forth Your Spirit, and
they
shall be made: and You shall renew the face of the earth:" that is, with
new
men,
confessing themselves to have been justified, not righteous of their own
power,
so that the grace of God is in them. What then? When He has taken away
our
spirit, we shall be turned again to our dust, beholding to our edification our
weakness,
that when we receive His Spirit we may be refreshed. See what follows:
"Be
the glory of the Lord for ever" (ver. 31). Not yours, not mine, not his,
or his;
not
for a season, but "for ever." "The Lord shall rejoice in His
works." Not in
yours,
as if they were thine: because if your works are evil, it is through your
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891
iniquity;
if good, it is through the grace of God. "The Lord shall rejoice in His
works."
43.
"Who looks on the earth, and makes it tremble; who touches the hills, and
they
shall
smoke" (ver. 32). O earth, you were exulting in your good, to yourself you
ascribed
your fulness and opulence; behold, the Lord looks on you, and causes you
to
tremble. May He look on you, and make you tremble: for the trembling of
humility
is better than the confidence of pride .... For it is God, he says, which
works
in you. For this reason then with trembling, because God works in you.
Because
He gave, because what you have comes not from you, you shall work
with
fear and trembling, for if you fear not Him, He will take away what He gave.
Work,
therefore, with trembling. Hear another Psalm: "Serve the Lord with fear,
and
rejoice unto Him with trembling." If we must rejoice with trembling, God
beholds
us, there comes an earthquake; when God looks upon us, let our hearts
tremble;
then will God rest there. Hear Him in another passage: "Upon whom shall
My
Spirit rest? Even on him that is lowly and quiet, and who trembles at My
Word."
Isaiah 66:2
"Who
looks on the earth, and makes it tremble; who touches the hills, and they
shall
smoke" (ver. 32). The hills were proud, and boastful of themselves, God
had
not
touched them: He touches them, and they shall smoke. What means the
smoking
of the hills? That they pray unto the Lord. Behold great hills, proud hills,
vast
hills, prayed not to God: they wished themselves to be entreated, and
entreated
not Him who was above them. For what powerful, arrogant, proud man
is
there upon the earth, who deigns humbly to entreat God? I speak of the ungodly,
not
of the "cedars of Libanus, which the Lord has planted." Every ungodly
man,
unhappy
soul, knows not how to entreat God, while he wishes himself to be
entreated
by men. He is a hill; it is needful that God touch him, that he may
smoke:
when he has begun to smoke, he will offer prayers unto God, as it were the
sacrifice
of his heart. He smokes unto God, he then beats his breast: he begins to
weep,
for smoke does elicit tears.
44.
"I will sing unto the Lord in my life" (ver. 33). What will sing?
Everything that
is
willing. Let us sing unto the Lord in our life. Our life at present is only hope;
our
life will be eternity hereafter: the life of mortal life, is the hope of an
everlasting
life. "I will praise my God while I have my being." Since I am in Him
for
ever and ever, while I have my being, I will praise my God. Let us not imagine
that,
when we have commenced praising God in that state, we shall have any other
work:
our whole life will be for the praises of God. If we become weary of Him
whom
we praise, we may also become weary of praising. If He is ever loved, He is
ever
praised by us.
45.
"Let my discourse be pleasing to Him: my joy shall be in the Lord"
(ver. 34).
What
is the discourse of man unto God, save the confession of sins? Confess unto
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892
God
what you are, and you have discoursed with Him. Discourse unto Him, do
good
works, and discourse. "Wash you, make you clean," says Isaiah. Isaiah
1:16
What
is it to discourse unto God? Unfold yourself to him who knows you, that He
may
unfold Himself to you who know not Him. Behold, it is your discourse that
pleases
the Lord; the offering of your humility, the tribulation of your heart, the
holocaust
of your life, this pleases God. But what is pleasing to yourself? "My joy
shall
be in the Lord." This is that discoursing which I meant between God and
yourself:
show yourself to Him who knows you, and He shows Himself unto you
who
know not him. Pleasing unto Him is your confession: sweet unto you is His
grace.
He has spoken Himself unto you. How? By the Word. What Word?
Christ....
46.
"Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth" (ver. 35). He seems
angry! O
holy
soul, which here does sing and groan! Would that our soul were with that
very
soul! Would that it were coupled with it, associated, conjoined with it! It
shall
behold
also His loving-kindness when he is angry. For who but he who is filled
with
charity, understands this? Thou tremblest, because he curses. And who does
curse?
A saint. Without doubt he is listened to. But it is said unto the saints,
"Bless,
and curse not." Romans 12:14 What is then the sense of the words,
"Let
the
sinners be consumed out of the earth"? Let them utterly be consumed; let
their
spirit
be taken away, that He may send forth His own Spirit, and they may be
restored.
"And the ungodly, so that they be no more." In what that they be no
more,
save as wicked men? Let them therefore be justified, that they may no
longer
be ungodly. The Psalmist saw this, and was filled with joy, and repeats the
first
verse of the Psalm: "Bless thou the Lord, O my soul." Let our soul
bless the
Lord,
brethren, since He has deigned to give unto us both understanding and the
power
of language, and unto you attention and earnestness in hearing. Let each, as
he
can recall to mind what he has heard, by mutual conversation stir up the food
you
have received, ruminate on what you have heard, let it not descend in you into
the
bowels of forgetfulness. Let the treasure to be desired Proverbs 21:20 rest
upon
your
lips. These matters have been sought out and discovered with great labour,
with
great labour have they been announced and discoursed of; may our toil be
fruitful
unto you, and may our soul bless the Lord.
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Psalm 105 893
Exposition
on Psalm 105
1.
This Psalm is the first of those to which is prefixed the word Allelujah; the
meaning
of which word, or rather two words, is, Praise the Lord. For this reason
he
begins with praises: "O confess unto the Lord, and call upon His
Name" (ver.
1);
for this confession is to be understood as praise, just as these words of our
Lord,
"I confess to You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth." Matthew 11:25
For
after
commencing with praise, calling upon God is wont to follow, whereunto he
that
prays does next add his longings: whence the Lord's Prayer itself has at the
commencement
a very brief praise, in these words, "Our Father which art in
Heaven."
Matthew 6:9 The things prayed for, then follow .... This also follows,
"Tell
the people what things He has done;" John 21:17 or rather, to translate
literally
from the Greek, as other Latin copies too have it, "Preach the Gospel of
His
works among the Gentiles." Unto whom is this addressed, save unto the
Evangelists
in prophecy?
2.
"O sing unto Him, and play on instruments unto Him" (ver. 2). Praise
Him both
by
word and deed; for we sing with the voice, while we play with an instrument,
that
is, with our hands. "Let your talking be of all His wondrous works. Be
praise
in
His holy Name" (ver. 3). These two verses may without any absurdity seem
paraphrases
of the two words above; so that, "Let your talking be of all His
wondrous
works," may express the words, "O sing unto Him;" and what
follows,
"be
ye praised in His holy Name," may be referred to the words, "and play
on
instruments
unto Him;" the former relating to the "good word" wherewith we
sing
unto
Him, in which His wondrous works are told; the latter to the good work, in
which
sweet music is played unto Him, so that no man may wish to be praised for
a
good work on the score of his own power to do it. For this reason, after
saying,
"be
ye praised," which assuredly they who work well deservedly may, he added,
"in
His holy Name," since "he that glories, let him glory in the
Lord."
1
Corinthians 1:31 ... This is to be praised in His holy Name. Whence we read
also
in
another Psalm: "My soul shall be praised in the Lord: let the meek hear
thereof,
and
be glad;" which here in a sense follows, "Let the heart of them
rejoice that
seek
the Lord:" for thus the meek are glad, who do not rival with a bitter
jealousy
those
whom they imitate as already workers of good.
3.
"Seek the Lord, and be strengthened" (ver. 4). This is very literally
construed
from
the Greek, though it may seem not a Latin word: whence other copies have,
"be
ye confirmed;" others, "be ye corroborated."... While these
words, then,
"Come
unto Him, and be enlightened," apply to seeing; those in the text relate
to
doing:
"Seek the Lord, and be strengthened."...But what means, "Seek
His face
evermore"?
I know indeed that to cling unto God is good for me; but if He is
always
being sought, when is He found? Did he mean by "evermore," the whole
of
the
life we live here, whence we become conscious that we ought thus to seek,
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Psalm 105 894
since
even when found He is still to be sought? To wit, faith has already found
Him,
but hope still seeks Him. But love has both found Him through faith, and
seeks
to have Him by sight, where He will then be found so as to satisfy us, and no
longer
to need our search. For unless faith discovered Him in this life, it would not
be
said, "Seek the Lord." Also, if when discovered by faith, He were not
still to be
diligently
sought, it would not be said, "For if we hope for that we see not, then do
we
with patience wait for it." Romans 8:25 ... And truly this is the sense of
the
words,
"Seek His face evermore;" meaning that discovery should not terminate
that
seeking, by which love is testified, but with the increase of love the seeking of
the
discovered One should increase.
4.
"Remember," he says, "His marvellous works that He has done, His
wonders,
and
the judgments of His mouth" (ver. 5). This passage seems like that,
"You shall
say
unto the children of Israel, I Am has sent me unto you:" an expression
which,
in
ever so small part, scarce a mind takes in. Then mentioning His own Name, He
mercifully
mingled in His grace towards men, saying, "I am the God of Abraham,
the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; this is My Name for ever." Exodus
3:14-
15
By which He would have it to be understood, that they whose God He declared
Himself
lived with Him for ever, and He said this, which might be understood
even
by children, that they who by the great powers of love knew how to seek His
face
for evermore, might according to their capacity comprehend, I Am that I Am.
5.
Unto whom is it said, "O you seed of Abraham His servant, you children of
Jacob,
His chosen"? (ver. 6) .... He next adds, "He is the Lord our God: His
judgments
are in all the world" (ver. 7). Is He the God of the Jews only?
Romans
3:29 God forbid! "He is the Lord our God:" because the Church, where
His
judgments are preached, is in all the world....
6.
"He has been alway mindful of His covenant" (ver. 8). Other copies
read, "for
evermore;"
and this arises from the ambiguity of the Greek. But if we are to
understand
"alway" of this world and not of eternity, why, when he explains what
covenant
He was mindful of, does he add, "The word that He made to a thousand
generations"?
Now this may be understood with a certain limitation; but he
afterwards
says, "Even the covenant that He made with Abraham" (ver. 9):
"and
the
oath that He sware unto Isaac; and appointed the same unto Jacob for a law,
and
to Israel for an everlasting testament" (ver. 10). But if in this passage
the Old
Testament
is to be understood, on account of the land of Canaan; for thus the
language
of the Psalm runs, "saying, Unto you will I give the land of Canaan: the
lot
of your inheritance" (ver. 11): how is it to be understood as everlasting,
since
that
earthly inheritance could not be everlasting? And for this reason it is called
the
Old Testament, because it is abolished by the New. But a thousand generations
do
not seem to signify anything eternal, since they involve an end; and yet are
also
too
numerous for this very temporal state. For by howsoever few years a
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Psalm 105
895
generation
is limited, such as in Greek is called genea, whereof the shortest
period
some have fixed is at fifteen years, after which period man has the power of
generation;
what then are those "thousand generations," not only from the time of
Abraham,
when that promise was made him, unto the New Testament, but from
Adam
himself down to the end of the world? For who would dare to say that this
world
should last for 15000 years? Hence it seems to me that we ought not to
understand
here the Old Testament, which it said through the prophet was to be
cancelled
by the New: "Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will make a
new
covenant." ...After saying, "He has been mindful of His covenant unto
an
age;"
which we ought to understand as lasting for evermore, the covenant, namely,
of
justification and an eternal inheritance, which God has promised to faith; he
adds,
"and the Word that He commanded unto a thousand generations." What
means
"commanded"? ... The command then was faith, that the righteous
should
live
by faith; Romans 1:17 and an eternal inheritance is set before this faith.
"A
thousand
generations," then, are, on account of the perfect number, to be
understood
for all; that is, as long as generation succeeds generation, so long is it
commanded
to us to live by faith. This the people of God does observe, the sons of
promise
who succeed by birth, and depart by death, until every generation be
finished;
and this is signified by the number thousand; because the solid square of
the
number ten, ten times ten, and this taken ten times amounts to a thousand.
"Even
the covenant," he says, "which He made with Abraham: and the oath
that
He
sware unto Isaac; and appointed the same unto Jacob," that is, Jacob
himself,
"for
a law." These are the very three patriarchs, whose God He calls Himself in
a
special
sense, whom the Lord also does name in the New Testament, where He
says,
"Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with
Abraham,
and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 8:11 This is
everlasting
inheritance....
7.
He next follows out the history well known in the truth of the holy Scriptures.
"When
they were in small numbers, very few, and they strangers in the land"
(ver.
12);
that is, in the land of Canaan .... But some copies have the words "very
few,
and
they strangers," in the accusative case, the translator having turned the
Greek
phrase
too literally into Latin. If we were to render the whole clause in this way,
we
must say, "that they were very few, and they strangers;" but the
phrase, "while
they
were," is the meaning of the Greek; and the verb, "to be," takes
not an
accusative,
but a nominative after it.
8.
"What time as they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to
another
people" (ver. 13). This is a repetition of what he had said, "from
one
nation
to another." "He suffered no man to do them harm: but reproved even
kings
for
their sakes" (ver. 14). "Touch not," He said, "Mine
anointed, and do My
prophets
no harm" (ver. 15). He declares the words of God chiding or reproving
kings,
that they might not harm the holy fathers, while they were small in number,
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Psalm 105
896
very
few, and they strangers in the land of Canaan. Although these words be not
read
in the books of that history, yet they are to be understood as either secretly
spoken,
as God speaks in the hearts of men by unseen and true visions, or even as
announced
through an Angel. For both the king of Gerar and the king of the
Egyptians
were warned from Heaven not to harm Abraham, and another king not
to
harm Isaac, Genesis 26:8-11 and others not to harm Jacob; while they were very
few,
and strangers, before he went over into Egypt to sojourn with his sons: which
is
understood to be herein mentioned. But since it occurred to ask, before they
passed
over and multiplied in Egypt, how so few in number, and those strangers in
a
foreign land, could maintain themselves: he next adds, "He suffered no man
to
do
them wrong," etc.
9.
But it may well excite a question, in what sense they were styled (Christs, or)
anointed,
before there was any unction, from which this title was given to the
kings....
Whence then were those patriarchs at that time called "anointed"? For
that
they
were prophets, we read concerning Abraham; and certainly, what is
manifestly
said of him, should be understood of them also. Are they styled
"christs,"
because, even though secretly, yet they were already Christians? For
although
the flesh of Christ came from them, nevertheless Christ came before
them;
for He thus answered the Jews, "Before Abraham was, I am." John 8:58
But
how
could they not know Him, or not believe in Him; since they are called
prophets
for this very reason, because, though somewhat darkly, they announced
the
Lord beforehand? Whence He says Himself openly, "Your father Abraham
desired
to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad." John 8:56 For no man was
ever
reconciled unto God outside of that faith which is in Christ Jesus, either
before
His Incarnation, or after: as it is most truly defined by the Apostle:
"For
there
is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus."
1
Timothy 2:5
10.
He then begins to relate how it happened that they went from one nation to
another,
from one kingdom to another people. "He calls," he says, "for a
famine
upon
the land: and broke all the staff of bread" (ver. 16). Thus it happened
that
they
went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people. But
the
expressions of the holy Scriptures are not to be negligently passed by.
"He
called,"
he says, "for a famine upon the land;" as if famine were some person,
or
some
animated body, or some spirit that would obey Him who called.... Under this
impression
the old Romans consecrated some such deities, as the goddess Fever,
and
the god Paleness. Or means it, as is more credible, He said there should be
famine;
so that calling be the same thing as mentioning by name; mentioning by
name,
as speaking; speaking, as commanding? Nor does the Apostle say,
Romans
4:17 "He calls those things which be not, that they may be;" but,
"as
though
they were." For with God that has already happened which, according to
His
disposition, is fixed for the future: for of Him it is elsewhere said, "He
who
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made
things to come." Isaiah 45:11 And here when famine happened, then it is
said
to have been called, that is, that that which had been determined in His secret
government,
might be realized. Lastly, he at once expounds, how He called for the
famine,
saying, "He broke all the staff of bread."
11.
"But He had sent a man before them" (ver. 17). What man? "Even
Joseph."
How
did He send him? "Joseph was sold to be a bond-servant." When this
happened,
it was the sin of his brethren, and, nevertheless, God sent Joseph into
Egypt.
We should therefore meditate on this important and necessary subject, how
God
uses well the evil works of men, as they on the other hand use ill the good
works
of God.
12.
Next he does relate the story, mentioning what Joseph suffered in his low
estate,
and how he was raised on high. "His feet they hurt in the stocks: the iron
entered
into his soul, until his word came" (ver. 18). That Joseph was put in
irons,
we
do not indeed read; but we ought no ways to doubt that it was so. For some
things
might be passed over in that history, which nevertheless would not escape
the
Holy Spirit, who speaks in these Psalms. We understand by the iron which
entered
into his soul, the tribulation of stern necessity; for he did not say body, but
"soul."
There is a somewhat similar expression in the Gospel, where Simeon says
unto
Mary, "A sword shall pierce through your own soul also." Luke 2:35
That is,
the
Passion of the Lord, which was a fall unto many, and in which the secrets of
many
hearts were revealed, since their sentiments respecting the Lord were
extorted
from them, without doubt made His own Mother exceeding sorrowful,
heavily
struck with human bereavement. Now Joseph was in this tribulation, "until
his
word came," with which he truly interpreted dreams: whence he was
introduced
to the king, that unto him also he might foretell what would happen in
respect
to his dreams. Genesis xli But since he said, "Until his words were
heard,"
that
we might not altogether so understand "his," that any one might think
so great
an
event was to be ascribed unto man; he at once added, "The word of the Lord
inflamed
him" (ver. 19); or, as other copies have it more closely from the Greek,
"The
word of the Lord fired him," that he also might be reputed amongst those
to
whom
it is said, "Receive ye praise in His holy Name."
13.
"The king sent and loosed him, the prince of the peoples, and let him go
free"
(ver.
20). The "king" is the same as "the prince of the peoples:"
he "loosed" him
from
his bonds "and let him go free" from his prison. "He made him
lord also of
his
house: and ruler of all his substance" (ver. 21). "That he might
inform his
princes
like unto himself, and teach his old men wisdom" (ver. 22). The Greek
has,
"and teach his elders wisdom." Which might altogether be rendered to
the
letter
thus; "Might inform his princes like unto himself, and make his elders
wise."
The
word translated old men being presbyters or elders, not gerontas, old men: and
to
teach wisdom being from the Greek to sophize, which cannot be rendered by a
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single
word in Latin, and is from the word sophia, wisdom, different from
prudence,
which is in Greek phronesis. Yet we do not read this in the high
elevation
of Joseph, as we read not of fetters in his low estate. But how could it
happen
that so great a man, the worshipper of the One True God, while in Egypt,
should
have been intent upon the nourishing of bodies, and the government of
carnal
matters only, and have felt no anxiety for souls, and how he could render
them
better? But those things are written in that history, which, according to the
intention
of the writer, in whom was the Holy Spirit, were judged sufficient for
signifying
future events in that narration.
14.
"Joseph also came into Egypt, and Jacob was a stranger in the land of
Ham"
(ver.
23). Israel is the same with Jacob, as is Egypt with the land of Ham. Here it
is
very
plainly shown, that the Egyptian race sprang from the seed of Chain, the son
of
Noah, whose first-born was Canaan. So that in those copies wherein in this
passage
Canaan is read, we must alter the reading. It is better construed, "was a
stranger,"
than "dwelt," as other copies have it: which would be the same as
"was
an
inhabitant," for it means nothing different; the very same word is used in
the
Greek
passage above, where it is said, "Very few, and they strangers in the
land."
Moreover,
the state of an incola or accola does not signify a native, but a stranger.
Behold
how "they went from one nation to another." What had been briefly
proposed,
has been briefly explained in the narration. But from what kingdom they
passed
over to another people may well be asked. For they were not yet reigning in
the
land of Canaan, because the kingdom of the people of Israel had not yet been
established
there. How then can it be understood, except by anticipation, because
the
kingdom of their seed was destined there to exist?
15.
Next is related what happened in Egypt. "And He increased," he says,
"His
people
exceedingly, and made them stronger than their enemies" (ver. 24). Even
the
whole of this is briefly set forth, in order that the manner in which it took
place
may
be afterwards related. For the people of God was not made stronger than their
enemies
the Egyptians, at the time when their male offspring were slain, or when
they
were worn out with making bricks; but when by His powerful hand, by the
signs
and portents of the Lord their God, they became objects of fear and of
honour,
until the opposition of the hardened king was overcome, and the Red Sea
overwhelmed
the persecutor with his army.
16.
"And He turned their heart so, that they hated His people, and dealt
untruly
with
His servants" (ver. 25). Is it to be in any wise understood or believed,
that
God
turns man's heart to do sin? ... For they were not good before they hated His
people;
but being malignant and ungodly, they were such as would readily envy
their
prosperous sojourners. And so, in that He multiplied His own people, this
bountiful
act turned the wicked to envy. For envy is the hatred of another's
prosperity.
In this sense, therefore, He turned their heart, so that through envy they
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Psalm 105 899
hated
His people, and dealt untruly with His servants. It was not then by making
their
hearts evil, but by doing good to His people, that He turned their hearts, that
were
evil of their own accord, to hatred. For He did not pervert a righteous heart,
but
turned one perverted of its own accord to the hatred of His people, while He
was
to make a good use of that evil; not by making them evil, but by lavishing
blessings
upon those, which the wicked might most readily envy.
17.
The following verses, which are sung in praise of Him when Allelujah is
chanted,
show how He used this hatred of theirs, both for the trial of His own
people,
and for the glory of His Name, which is profitable for us. "He sent Moses
His
servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen him" (ver. 26). "Whom He had
chosen,"
would be sufficient; but there is no difficulty in the addition of
"him." It
is
a phrase of Scripture, as, "The land in which they shall dwell in
it:" a phrase
which
the divine pages are full of.
18.
"He set forth in them the words of His tokens, and of His wonders in the
land
of
Ham" (ver. 27). We ought not to understand by "the words of His
tokens,"
words
literally, words with which the tokens and wonders were worked, that is,
which
they uttered, that these tokens and wonders might take place. For many
were
performed without words, either with a rod, or with outstretched hand, or by
ashes
sent towards heaven....
19.
"He sent darkness, and made it dark" (ver. 28). This is also written
among the
plagues
with which the Egyptians were smitten. But what follows, is variously
read
in different copies. For some have, "and they provoked His words;"
while
others
read, "and they provoked not His words;" but the reading first
mentioned
we
have found in most; while, where the negative particle is added, we could
hardly
discover two copies. But perhaps the false reading has abounded owing to
the
easy sense; for what is easier understood than this, "They provoked His
words,"
that is, by their contumacious rebellions? We have endeavoured to explain
the
other reading also according to some true sense: and this for the present
occurs:
"They provoked not His words," that is, in Moses and Aaron; because
they
most
patiently bore with a very stiffnecked people, until all things which God had
determined
to work by them, were fulfilled in order.
20.
"He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish" (ver. 29).
"He made
their
land frogs, yea, even in the king's chambers" (ver. 30): as if he were to
say,
He
turned their land into frogs. For there was so great a multitude of frogs, that
this
might well be said by hyperbole.
21.
"He spoke the word, and there came all manner of flies, and lice in all
their
quarters"
(ver. 31). If it be asked when He spoke, it was in His Word before it took
place;
and there it was, without time, at what time it should take place: although
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even
then He commanded it to be done, when it was to be done, through Angels,
and
through his servants Moses and Aaron.
22.
He made their rains hail" (ver. 32). It is a similar expression to the
former, "He
made
their land frogs;" except that the whole land was not actually turned into
frogs,
though the whole of the rain may have been turned into hail. "A burning
fire
in
their land:" understand, "He sent."
23.
"He smote their vines also and fig-trees; and broke every tree of their
coasts"
(ver.
33). This was done by the violence of the hail, and by lightnings; whence he
spoke
of the fire as "burning."
24.
"He spoke the word, and the locust came, and the caterpillar, of which
there
was
no number" (ver. 34). The locusts and the caterpillars are one plague: of
which
the one is the parent, the other the offspring.
25.
"And did eat up all the grass in their land, and devoured the fruit of the
ground"
(ver. 35). Even grass is fruit, as Scripture is wont to speak, which calls
even
the ripe corn grass; but it wished these two things to harmonize in number
with
the two which it had spoken of before, that is, the locust and the caterpillar.
But
the whole of this does belong to the variety of speech, which is a remedy for
weariness,
not to any difference of senses.
26.
"He smote every first-born in their land: even the first-fruits of all
their
strength"
(ver. 36). This is the last plague, excepting the death in the Red Sea.
"The
first-fruits of all their strength," I imagine to be an expression derived
from
the
first-born of cattle. These plagues are ten in number, but they are not all
mentioned,
nor in the same order in which they are there read to have happened.
For
praise-giving is free from the law which binds one who is relating or
composing
a history. And since the Holy Spirit is the Author and Dictator, through
the
Prophet, of this praise; by the very same authority with which He guided him
who
wrote that history, he does both mention something to have taken place which
is
not there read, and passes over what is there read.
27.
Now he adds this also to the praises of God, that He led the Israelites out of
Egypt
enriched with silver and gold; because even they were then in such a
condition,
that they could not as yet despise the just and due, though temporal,
reward
of their toils...."He brought them forth also in silver and gold"
(ver. 37):
this
too is a Scripture idiom; for "in silver and gold" is said for the
same as if it had
been
said "with silver and gold: there was not one feeble person among their
tribes:"
in body, not in mind. This also was a great blessing of God, that in this
necessity
of removal there was no infirm person.
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Psalm 105
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28.
"
is,
the fear of the Hebrews upon the Egyptians. For "their fear" is not
that with
which
the Hebrews feared, but that with which they were feared. Some one will
say,
how then were the Egyptians unwilling to dismiss them? why did they let
them
go as if they expected them to return? why did they lend them gold and
silver,
as to men who were to return, and to repay them, if "
departing"?
But we must understand, after that final destruction of the Egyptians,
and
the terrible overthrow of the mighty pursuing army in the
rest
of the Egyptians feared lest the Hebrews should return, and with great ease
crush
the relics of them: illustrating what he had stated, that He made His people
stronger
than their enemies.
29.
He now proceeds to the divine blessings which were conferred upon them as
they
wandered in the desert. "He spread out a cloud to be their covering: and
fire
to
give them light in the night season" (ver. 39). This is as clear as it is
well
known.
30.
"They asked, and the quail came" (ver. 40). They did not desire
quails, but
flesh.
But since the quail is flesh, and in this Psalm he speaks not of the
provocation
of those who did not please God, but of the faith of the elect, the true
seed
of Abraham; they are to be understood to have desired that that might come
which
might crush the murmurs of those who provoked. Then in the next line,
"And
He filled them with the bread of heaven," he has not indeed named manna,
but
it is obscure to none who has read those records.
31.
"He opened the rock of stone, and the waters flowed out: so that rivers
ran in
the
dry places" (ver. 41). This fact too is understood as soon as read.
32.
But in all these blessings of His, God does commend in Abraham the merit of
faith.
For the Psalmist goes on to say, "For why? He remembered His holy
promise,
which He made to Abraham His servant" (ver. 42). "And He brought
forth
His people with joy, and His chosen with gladness" (ver. 43). What he
said,
"His
people," he has repeated in, "His chosen." So also what he said,
"with joy,"
he
has repeated in, "with gladness." "And gave them the lands of
the heathen: and
they
took the labours of the people in possession" (ver. 44). "The lands
of the
heathen,"
and "the labours of the people," are the same; and the words,
"He gave,"
are
repeated in these, "they took in possession."
33.
..."That they may keep His statutes, and seek out His law" (ver. 45).
Lastly,
since
by the seed of Abraham he wished those to be understood here, who were
truly
the seed of Abraham, such as were not wanting even in that people; as the
Apostle
Paul clearly shows, when he says, "But not in all of them was God well
pleased;"
1 Corinthians 10:5 for if He was not pleased with all, surely there were
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some
in whom He was well pleased: since then this Psalm praises such men as
this,
he has said nothing here of the iniquities and provocations and bitterness of
those
with whom God was not well pleased. But since not only the justice but also
the
mercy of Almighty God, the merciful, was shown even unto the wicked;
concerning
these attributes the rest of the Psalm pursues the praises of God. And
yet
both sorts were in one people: nor did the latter pollute the good with the
contagion
of their iniquities. For "the Lord knows who are His;" 2 Timothy 2:19
and
if he cannot separate in this world from wicked men, yet, "let every one
that
names
the name of Christ depart from iniquity."...
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Exposition
on Psalm 106
1.
This Psalm also has the title Allelujah prefixed to it: and this twice. But
some
say,
that one Allelujah belongs to the end of the former Psalm, the other to the
beginning
of this. And they assert, that all the Psalms bearing this title have
Allelujah
at the end, but not all at the beginning; so that they will not allow any
Psalm
which has not Allelujah at the end, to have it at the beginning; supposing
that
what seems to belong to the commencement, really belongs to the end of the
former
Psalm. But until they persuade us by some sure proofs that this is true, we
will
follow the general custom, which, whenever it finds Allelujah, attributes it to
the
same Psalm, at the head of which it is found. For there are very few copies
(and
I have found this in none of the Greek copies, which I have been able to
inspect)
which have Allelujah at the end of the CLth Psalm; after which there is no
other
which belongs to the same canon. But not even this could outweigh custom,
although
all the copies had it so. For it might be that, with some reference to the
praise
of God, the whole book of Psalms, which is said to consist of five books
(for
they say that the books severally end where it is written Amen, Amen), might
be
closed with this last Allelujah, after all that has been sung; nor, on account
of
the
end of the CLth Psalm, do I see that it is necessary that all the Psalms
entitled
Allelujah,
should have Allelujah at the end. But when there is a double Allelujah
at
the head of a Psalm, why as our Lord sometimes once, sometimes twice over,
says
Amen, in the same way Allelujah may not sometimes be used once,
sometimes
twice, I know not: especially, since as in this CVth, both the Allelujahs
are
placed after the mark by which the number of the Psalm is described, whereas
the
one, if it belonged to the end of the former Psalm, ought to have been placed
before
the number; and the Allelujah which belonged to the Psalm of this number,
should
have been written after the number. But perhaps even in this an ignorant
habit
has prevailed, and some reason may be assigned of which we are as yet
uninformed,
so that the judgment of truth ought rather to be our guide than the
prejudice
of custom. In the mean time, before we are fully instructed in this
matter,
whenever we find Allelujah written, whether once or twice, after the
number
of the Psalm, according to the most usual custom of the Church, we will
ascribe
it to that Psalm to which the same number is prefixed; confessing that we
both
believe the mysteries of all the titles in the Psalms, and of the order of the
same
Psalms, to be important, and that we have not yet been able, as we wish, to
penetrate
them.
2.
But I find these two Psalms, the CVth and CVIth so connected, that in one of
them,
the first, the people of God is praised in the person of the elect, of whom
there
is no complaint, whom I imagine to have been there in those with whom God
was
well pleased; 1 Corinthians 10:5 but in the following Psalm those are
mentioned
among the same people who have provoked God; though the mercy of
God
was not wanting even to these .... This Psalm therefore begins like the former;
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Psalm 106
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"Confess
ye unto the Lord." But in that Psalm these words follow: "And call
upon
His
Name:" whereas here, it is as follows, "For He is gracious, and His
mercy
endures
for ever" (ver. 1). Wherefore in this passage a confession of sins may be
understood;
for after a few verses we read, "We have sinned with our fathers, we
have
done amiss, and dealt wickedly;" but in the words, "For He is
gracious, and
His
mercy endures for ever," there is chiefly the praise of God, and in His
praise
confession.
Although when any one confesses his sins, he ought to do so with
praise
of God; nor is a confession of sins a pious one, unless it be without despair,
and
with calling upon the mercy of God. It therefore does contain His praise,
whether
in words, when it calls Him gracious and merciful, or in the feeling only,
when
he believes this .... If that mercy be here understood, in respect of which no
man
can be happy without God; we may render it better, "for ever:" but if
it be that
mercy
which is shown to the wretched, that they may either be consoled in misery,
or
even freed from it; it is better construed, "to the end of the
world," in which
there
will never be wanting wretched persons to whom that mercy may be shown.
Unless
indeed any man ventured to say, that some mercy of God will not be
wanting
even to those who shall be condemned with the devil and his angels; not a
mercy
by which they may be freed from that condemnation, but that it may be in
some
degree softened for them: and that thus the mercy of God may be styled
eternal,
as exercised over their eternal misery....
3.
"Who can express the mighty acts of the Lord?" (ver. 2). Full of the
consideration
of the Divine works, while he entreats His mercy, "Who," he says,
"can
express the mighty acts of the Lord, or make all His praises heard?" We
must
supply
what was said above, to make the sense complete here, thus, "Who shall
make
all His praises heard?" that is, who is sufficient to make all His praises
heard?
"Shall make" them "heard," he says; that is, cause that
they be heard;
showing,
that the mighty acts of the Lord and His praises are so to be spoken of,
that
they may be preached to those who hear them. But who can make "all,"
heard?
Is it that as the next words are, "Blessed are they that alway keep
judgment,
and
do righteousness in every time" (ver. 3); he perhaps meant those praises
of
His,
which are understood as His works in His commandments? "For it is
God,"
says
the Apostle, "who works in you," Philippians 2:13 ... since He works
in these
things
in a manner that cannot be spoken. "Who will do all His praises
heard?"
that
is, who, when he has heard them, does all His praises? which are the works of
His
commandments. As far as they are done, although all which are heard are not
performed,
He is to be praised, who "works in us both to will and to do of His
good
pleasure." Philippians 2:13 For this reason, while he might have said, all
His
commandments,
or, all the works of His commandments; he preferred saying, "His
praises."...
4.
But unless there were some difference between judgment and righteousness, we
should
not read in another Psalm, "Until righteousness turn again unto
judgment."
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The
Scripture, indeed, loves to place these two words together; as,
"Righteousness
and
judgment are the habitation of His seat;" and this, "He shall make
your
righteousness
as clear as the light, and your judgment as the noon-day;" where
there
is apparently a repetition of the same sentiment. And perhaps on account of
the
resemblance of signification one may be put for the other, either judgment for
righteousness,
or righteousness for judgment: yet, if they be spoken of in their
proper
sense, I doubt not that there is some difference; viz. that he is said to keep
judgment
who judges rightly, but he to do righteousness who acts righteously. And
I
think that the verse, "Until righteousness turn again unto judgment,"
may not
absurdly
be understood in this sense: that here also those are called blessed, who
keep
judgment in faith, and do righteousness in deed....
5.
Next, since God justifies, that is, makes men righteous, by healing them from
their
iniquities, a prayer follows: "Remember me, O Lord, according to the
favour
that
Thou bearest unto Your people" (ver. 4): that is, that we may be among
those
with
whom You are well pleased; since God is not well pleased with them all. "O
visit
me with Your salvation." This is the Saviour Himself, in whom sins are
forgiven,
and souls healed, that they may be able to keep judgment, and do
righteousness;
and since they who here speak know such men to be blessed, they
pray
for this themselves.... "Visit us," then, "with Your
salvation," that is, with
Your
Christ. "To see the felicity of Your chosen, and to rejoice in the
gladness of
Your
people" (ver. 5): that is, visit us for this reason with Your salvation,
that we
may
see the felicity of Your chosen, and rejoice in the gladness of Your people.
For
"felicity" some copies read "sweetness;" as in the former
passage, "For He is
gracious;"
where others read, "for He is sweet." And it is the same word in the
Greek,
as is elsewhere read, "The Lord shall show sweetness:" which some
have
translated
"felicity," others "bounty." But what means, "Visit us
to see the felicity
of
Your chosen:" that is, that happiness which Thou givest to Thine elect:
except
that
we may not remain blind, as those unto whom it is said, "But now ye say we
see:
therefore your sin remains." John 9:41 For the Lord gives sight to the
blind,
not
by their own merits, but in the felicity He gives to His chosen, which is the
meaning
of "the felicity of Your chosen:" as, the help of my countenance, is
not of
myself,
but is my God. And we speak of our daily bread, as ours, but we add, Give
unto
us. Matthew 6:11... "That You may be praised with Your inheritance."
I
wonder
this verse has been so interpreted in many copies, since the Greek phrase
is
one and the same in these three verses .... But since this seems a doubtful
expression,
if that sense be true according to which interpreters have preferred,
"That
You may be praised," the two preceding verses also must be so understood,
because,
as I have said, there is one Greek expression in these three verses; so that
the
whole should be thus understood, "Visit us with Your salvation, that You
may
see
the felicity of Your chosen;" that is, visit us for this purpose, that You
may
cause
us to be there, and may see us there; that "You may rejoice in the
gladness
of
Your people," that is, that You may be said to rejoice, since they rejoice
in You;
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906
that
"You may be praised with Your inheritance," that is, may be praised
with it,
since
it may not be praised save for Your sake....
6.
But let us hear what they next confess: "we have sinned with our fathers:
we
have
done amiss, and dealt wickedly" (ver. 6). What means "with our
fathers"?...
"Our fathers," he says, "regarded not Your wonders in
and
many other things also, he does relate of their sins. Or is, "we have
sinned
with
our fathers," to be understood as meaning, we have sinned like our
fathers,
that
is, by imitating their sins? If it be so, it should be supported by some
example
of
this mode of expression: which did not occur to me when I sought on this
occasion
an instance of any one saying that he had sinned, or done anything, with
another,
whom he had imitated by a similar act after a long interval of time. What
means
then, "Our fathers understood not Your wonders;" save this, they did
not
know
what You wished to convince them of by these miracles? What indeed, save
life
eternal, and a good, not temporal, but immutable, which is waited for only
through
endurance? For this reason they impatiently murmured, and provoked, and
they
asked to be blessed with present and fugitive blessings, "Neither were
they
mindful
of the greatness of Your mercy." He reproves both their understanding
and
memory. Understanding there was need of, that they might meditate unto what
eternal
blessings God was calling them through these temporal ones; and of
memory,
that at least they might not forget the temporal wonders which had been
wrought,
and might faithfully believe, that by the same power which they had
already
experienced, God would free them from the persecutions of their enemies;
whereas
they forgot the aid which He had given them in
wonders,
to crush their enemies. "And they provoked, as they went up to the sea,
even
to the
censure
the not understanding that which ought to have been understood, and the
not
remembering that which ought to have been remembered; which men are
unwilling
to have ascribed to their own fault, for no other reason than that they
may
pray less, and be less humble unto God, in whose sight they should confess
what
they are, and might by praying for His aid, become what they are not. For it
is
better to accuse even the sins of ignorance and negligence, that they may be
done
away with, than to excuse them, so that they remain; and it is better to clear
them
off by calling upon God, than to clench them by provoking Him.
He
adds, that God acted not according to their unbelief. "Nevertheless,"
he says,
"He
saved them for His Name's sake: that He might make His power to be known"
(ver.
8): not on account of any deservings of their own.
7.
"He rebuked the
any
voice was sent forth from Heaven to rebuke the sea; but he has called the
Divine
Power by which this was effected, a rebuke: unless indeed any one may
choose
to say, that the sea was secretly rebuked, so that the waters might hear, and
yet
men could not. The power by which God acts is very abstruse and mysterious,
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Psalm 106 907
a
power which He causes that even things devoid of sense instantly obey at His
will.
"So He led them through the deeps, as through a wilderness." He calls
a
multitude
of waters the deeps. For some wishing to give the sense of this whole
verse,
have translated, "So He led them forth amid many waters." What then
does
"through
the deeps, as through a wilderness," mean, except that that had become
as
a wilderness from its dryness, where before had been the watery deeps?
8.
"And He saved them from the hating ones" (ver. 10). Some translators,
in order
to
avoid an expression unusual in Latin, have rendered the word, by a
circumlocution,
"And He saved them from the hand of those that hated them, and
redeemed
them from the hand of the enemy." What price was given in this
redemption?
Is it a prophecy, since this deed was a figure of Baptism, wherein we
are
redeemed from the hand of the devil at a great price, which price is the Blood
of
Christ? whence this is more consistently figured forth, not by any sea
indiscriminately,
but by the
9.
"As for those that troubled them, the waters overwhelmed them: there was
not
one
of them left" (ver. 11); not of all the Egyptians, but of those who
pursued the
departing
Israelites, desirous either of taking or of killing them.
10.
"Then believed they in His words" (ver. 12). The expression seems
barely
Latin,
for he says not "believed His word," or "on His words," but
"in His words;"
yet
it is very frequent in Scripture. "And praised praise unto Him;" such
an
expression
as when we say, "This servitude he served," "such a life he
lived." He
is
here alluding to that well-known hymn, commencing, "I will sing unto the
Lord,
for
He has triumphed gloriously: the horse and the rider has He thrown into the
sea."
11.
"They acted hastily: they forgot His works" (ver. 13): other copies
read more
intelligibly,
"They hastened, they forgot His works, and would not abide His
counsel."
For they ought to have thought, that so great works of God towards
themselves
were not without a purpose, but that they invited them to some endless
happiness,
which was to be waited for with patience; but they hastened to make
themselves
happy with temporal things, which give no man true happiness,
because
they do not quench insatiable longing: for "whosoever," says our
Lord,
"shall
drink of this water, shall thirst again." John 4:4, 13
12.
Lastly, "And they lusted a lust in the wilderness, and they tempted God in
the
dry
land" (ver. 14). The "dry land," or land without water, and
"desert," are the
same:
so also are, "they lusted a lust," and, "they tempted God."
The form of
speech
is the same as above, "they praised a praise."
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Psalm 106
908
13.
"And He gave them their desire, and sent fulness withal into their
souls" (ver.
15).
But He did not thus render them happy: for it was not that fulness of which it
is
said, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:
for they
shall
be filled." Matthew 5:6 In this passage he does not speak of the rational
soul,
but
of the soul as giving animal life to the body; to the substance of which belong
meat
and drink, according to what is said in the Gospel, "Is not the soul more
than
meat,
and the body than raiment?" Matthew 6:26 as if it belonged to the soul to
eat,
to the body to be clothed.
14.
"And they angered Moses in the tents, and Aaron the saint of the
Lord" (ver.
16).
What angering, or, as some have more literally rendered it, what provocation,
he
speaks of, the following words sufficiently show.
15.
"The earth opened," he says, "and swallowed up Dathan, and
covered over the
congregation
of Abiram" (ver. 17): "swallowed up" answers to "covered
over."
Both
Dathan and Abiram were equally concerned in a most sacrilegious schism.
16.
"And the fire was kindled in their company; the flame burnt up the
sinners"
(ver.
18). This word is not in Scripture usually applied to those, who, although
they
live righteously, and in a praiseworthy manner, are not without sin. Rather, as
there
is a difference between those who scorn and scorners, between men who
murmur
and murmurers, between men who are writing and writers, and so forth;
so
Scripture is wont to signify by sinners such as are very wicked, and laden with
heavy
loads of sins.
17.
"And they made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the graven image"
(ver. 19).
"Thus
they changed their glory, in the similitude of a calf that eats hay" (ver.
20).
He
says not "into" the likeness, but "in" the likeness. It is
such a form of speech as
where
he said "and they believed in His words." With great effect in truth
he says
not,
they changed the glory of God when they did this; as the Apostle also says,
"They
changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to
corruptible
man:" Romans 1:23 but "their glory." For God was their glory, if
they
would
abide His counsel, and hasten not....
18.
"They forgat God who saved them" (ver. 21). How did He save them?
"Who
did
so great things in
things
in the
there
is no wonder without a certain fear: although these might be called fearful,
because
they beat down their adversaries, and showed them what they ought to
fear.
19.
"So He said, He would have destroyed them" (ver. 23). Since they
forgot Him
who
saved them, the Worker of wondrous works, and made and worshipped a
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 106
909
graven
image, by this atrocious and incredible impiety they deserved death. "Had
not
Moses His chosen stood before Him in the breaking." He does not say, that
he
stood
in the breaking, as if to break the wrath of God, but in the way of the
breaking,
meaning the stroke which was to strike them: that is, had he not put
himself
in the way for them, saying, "Yet now, if You will forgive their sin;—and
if
not, blot me, I pray You, out of Your book." Where it is proved how
greatly the
intercession
of the saints in behalf of others prevails with God. For Moses, fearless
in
the justice of God, which could not blot him out, implored mercy, that He
would
not blot out those whom He justly might. Thus he "stood before Him in the
breaking,
to turn away His wrathful indignation, lest He should destroy them."
20.
"Yea, they thought scorn of that pleasant land" (ver. 24). But had
they seen it?
How
then could they scorn that which they had not seen, except as the following
words
explain, "and believed not in His words." Indeed, unless that land
which
was
styled the land that flowed with milk and honey, Exodus 3:8 signified
something
great, through which, as by a visible token, He was leading those who
understood
His wondrous works to invisible grace and the kingdom of heaven,
they
could not be blamed for scorning that land, whose temporal kingdom we also
ought
to esteem as nothing, that we may love that
mother
of us all, Galatians 4:26 which is in heaven, and truly to be desired. But
rather
unbelief is here reproved, since they gave no credence to the words of God,
who
was leading them to great things through small things, and hastening to bless
themselves
with temporal things, which they carnally savoured of, they "abided
not
His counsel," as is said above.
21.
"But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the
Lord"
(ver.
25); who strongly forbade them to murmur.
22.
"Then lift He up His hand against them, to overthrow them in the
wilderness"
(ver.
26); "to cast out their seed among the nations: and to scatter them in the
lands"
(ver. 27).
23.
"They were initiated also unto Baalpeor;" that is, were consecrated to
the
Gentile
idol; "and ate the offerings of the dead" (ver. 28). "Thus they
provoked
Him
to anger with their own inventions; and destruction was multiplied among
them"
(ver. 29). As if He had deferred the lifting up of His hand which was to cast
them
down in the desert, and to cast out their seed among the nations, and to
scatter
them in the lands; as the Apostle says: "And even as they did not like to
retain
God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do
those
things which are not convenient." Romans 1:28 "'Destruction,'
therefore,
'was
multiplied among them,' when they were heavily punished for their heavy
sins."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 106
910
24.
"Then stood up Phineas, and appeased Him, and the shaking ceased"
(ver. 30).
He
has related the whole briefly, because he is not here teaching the ignorant,
but
reminding
those who know the history. The word "shaking" here is the same as
"breaking"
before. For it is one word in the Greek. Lastly, so great was their
wickedness,
in being consecrated to the idol, and eating the sacrifices of the dead
(that
is, because the Gentiles sacrificed to dead men as to God), that God would
not
be otherwise appeased than as Phineas the Priest appeased Him, when he slew
a
man and a woman together whom he found in adultery. Numbers 25:8 If he had
done
this from hatred towards them, and not from love, while zeal for the house of
God
devoured him, it would not have been counted unto him for
righteousness
.... Christ our Lord indeed, when the New Testament was revealed,
chose
a milder discipline; but the threat of hell is more severe, and this we do not
read
of in those threatenings held out by God in His temporal government.
25.
"And that was counted unto him for righteousness among all posterities for
evermore"
(ver. 31). God counted this unto His Priest for righteousness, not only
as
long as posterity shall exist, but "for evermore;" for He who knows
the heart,
knows
how to weigh with how much love for the people that deed was done.
26.
"And they angered Him at the waters of strife: so that Moses was vexed for
their
sakes" (ver. 32); "because they provoked his spirit, so that he spoke
doubtfully
with his lips" (ver. 33). What is spoke doubtfully? As if God, who had
done
so great wonders before, could not cause water to flow from a rock. For he
touched
the rock with his rod with doubt, and thus distinguished this miracle from
the
rest, in which he had not doubted. He thus offended, thus deserved to hear that
he
should die, without entering into the land of promise. Deuteronomy 32:49-52
For
being disturbed by the murmurs of an unbelieving people, he held not fast that
confidence
which he ought to have held. Nevertheless, God gives unto him, as
unto
His chosen, a good testimony even after his death, so that we may see that
this
wavering of faith was punished with this penalty only, that he was not allowed
to
enter that land, whither he was leading the people....
27.
But they of whose iniquities this Psalm speaks, when they had entered into that
temporal
land of promise, "destroyed not the heathen, which the Lord commanded
them"
(ver. 34); "but were mingled among the heathen, and learned their
works"
(ver.
35). "Insomuch that they worshipped their idols, which became to them an
offence"
(ver. 36). Their not destroying them, but mingling with them, became to
them
an offence.
28.
"Yea, they offered their sons and their daughters unto devils" (ver.
37); "and
shed
innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom
they
offered unto the idols of
they
offered their sons and daughters to devils and idols; but neither can that
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 106
911
Psalm
lie, nor the Prophets, who assert this in many passages of their rebukes. But
the
literature of the Gentiles is not silent respecting this custom of theirs. But
what
is
it that follows? "And the land was slain with bloods." We might
suppose that
this
was a mistake of the writer, and that he had written interfecta for infecta,
were
it
not for the goodness of God, who has willed His Scriptures to be written in
many
languages; were it not that we see it written as in the text in many Greek
copies
which we have inspected; "the land was slain with bloods." What means
then,
"the land was slain," unless this be referred to the men who dwelt in
the land,
by
a metaphorical expression .... For they themselves were slaying their own souls
when
they offered up their sons, and when they shed the blood of infants who
were
far from consent to this crime: whence it is said, "They shed innocent
blood."
"The
land" therefore "was slain with bloods, and defiled by their
works" (ver. 39),
since
they themselves were slain in soul, and defiled by their works; "and they
went
a whoring after their own inventions." By inventions are meant what the
Greeks
call e]pithdeumata for this word does occur in the Greek copies
both in
this
and a former passage, where it is said, "They provoked Him to anger with
their
own inventions;" "inventions" in both instances signifying what
they had
initiated
others in. Let no man therefore suppose inventions to mean what they had
of
themselves instituted, without any example before them to imitate. Whence
other
translators in the Latin tongue have preferred pursuits, affections,
imitations,
pleasures,
to inventions: and the very same who here write inventions, have
elsewhere
written pursuits. I chose to mention this, lest the word inventions,
applied
to what they had not invented, but imitated from others, might raise a
difficulty.
29.
"Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against His own people"
(ver.
40).
Our translators have been unwilling to use the word anger, for the Greek
6uµoS
though some have used it; while others translate by "indignation" or
"mind."
Whichever of these terms be adopted, passion does not affect God; but the
power
of punishing has assumed this name metaphorically from custom.
30.
"Insomuch that He abhorred His own inheritance; and He gave them over into
the
hand of the heathen: and they that hated them were lords over them" (ver.
41):
"and
their enemies oppressed them, and they were brought low under their hands"
(ver.
42). Since he has called them the inheritance of God, it is clear that He
abhorred
them, and gave them over into their enemies' hands, not in order to their
perdition,
but for their discipline. Lastly, he says, "Many a time did He deliver
them."
"But they provoked Him with their own counsels" (ver. 43). This is
what
he
said above, "They did not abide His counsel." Now a man's counsel is
pernicious
to himself, when he seeks those things which are his own only, not
those
which are God's. Philippians 2:21 In whose inheritance, which inheritance
He
Himself is to us, when He deigns His presence for our enjoyment, being with
the
Saints, we shall suffer no straitening from the society, by our love of
anything
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 106
912
as
our own possession. For that most glorious city, when it has gained the
promised
inheritance, in which none shall die, none shall be born, will not contain
citizens
who shall individually rejoice in their own, for "God shall be all in
all."
1
Corinthians 15:28 And whoever in this pilgrimage faithfully and earnestly does
long
for this society, does accustom himself to prefer common to private interests,
by
seeking not his own things, but Jesus Christ's: lest, by being wise and
vigilant
in
his own affairs, he provoke God with his own counsel; but, hoping for what he
sees
not, let him not hasten to be blessed with things visible; and, patiently
waiting
for
that everlasting happiness which he sees not, follow His counsel in His
promises,
whose aid he prays for in his prayers. Thus he will also become humble
in
his confessions; so as not to be like those, of whom it is said, "They
were
brought
down in their wickedness."
31.
Nevertheless, God, full of mercy, forsook them not. "And He saw when they
were
in adversity, when He heard their complaint" (ver. 44). "And He
thought
upon
His covenant, and repented, according to the multitude of His mercies"
(ver.
45).
He says, "He repented," because He changed that wherewith He seemed
about
to
destroy them. With God indeed all things are arranged and fixed; and when He
seems
to act upon sudden motive, He does nothing but what He foreknew that He
should
do from eternity; but in the temporal changes of creation, which He rules
wonderfully,
He, without any temporal change in Himself, is said to do by a
sudden
act of will what in the ordained causes of events He has arranged in the
unchangeableness
of His most secret counsel, according to which He does
everything
according to defined seasons, doing the present, and having already
done
the future. And who is capable of comprehending these things?
2
Corinthians 2:16 Let us therefore hear the Scripture, speaking high things
humbly,
giving food for the nourishment of children, and proposing subjects for
the
research of the older: that everlasting covenant "which He made with
Abraham,"
not the old which is abolished, but the new which is hidden even in the
old.
"And pitied them," etc. He did that which He had covenanted, but He
had
foreknown
that He would yield this to them when they prayed in their adversity;
since
even their very prayer, when it was not uttered, but was still to be uttered,
undoubtedly
was known unto God.
32.
So "He gave them unto compassions, in the sight of all that had taken them
captive"
(ver. 46). That they might not be vessels of wrath, but vessels of mercy.
Romans
9:22-23 The compassions unto which He gave them are named in the
plural
for this reason, I imagine, because each one has a gift of his own from God,
one
in one way, another in another. 1 Corinthians 7:7 Come then, whosoever
readest
this, and dost recognise the grace of God, by which we are redeemed unto
eternal
life through our Lord Jesus Christ, by reading in the apostolical writings,
and
by searching in the Prophets, and seest the Old Testament revealed in the
New,
the New veiled in the Old; remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 106
913
where,
when He drives him out of the hearts of the faithful, He says, "Now is the
prince
of this world cast out:" John 12:31 and again of the Apostle, when he
says,
"Who
has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the
kingdom
of His dear Son." Colossians 1:13 Meditate on these and such like things,
examine
also the Old Testament, and see what is sung in that Psalm, the title of
which
is, When the temple was being built after the captivity: for there it is said,
"Sing
unto the Lord a new song." And, that you may not think it does refer to
the
Jewish
people only, he says, "Sing unto the Lord, all the whole earth: sing unto
the
Lord,
and praise His Name: declare," or rather, "give the good news
of," or, to
transfer
the very word used in the Greek, "evangelize day from day, His
salvation."
Here the Gospel (Evangelium) is mentioned, in which is announced the
Day
that came from Day, our Lord Christ, the Light from Light, the Son from the
Father.
This also is the meaning of His salvation: for Christ is the Salvation of
God,
as we have shown above....
33.
"Deliver us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations (other
copies
read, "from the heathen"); that we may give thanks unto Your holy Name,
and
make our boast of Your praise" (ver. 47). Then he has briefly added this
very
praise,
"Blessed be the Lord God of
end"
(ver. 48): by which we understand from everlasting to everlasting; because
He
shall be praised without end by those of whom it is said, "Blessed are
they that
dwell
in Your house: they will be alway praising You." This is the perfection of
the
Body of Christ on the third day, when the devils had been cast out, and cures
perfected,
even unto the immortality of the body itself, the everlasting reign of
those
who perfectly praise Him, because they perfectly love Him; and perfectly
love
Him, because they behold Him face to face. For then shall be completed the
prayer
at the commencement of this Psalm: "Remember us, O Lord, according to
the
favour that Thou bearest unto Your people," etc. For from the Gentiles He
does
not gather only the lost sheep of the house of
those
which do not belong to that fold; so that there is one flock, as is said, and
one
Shepherd. But when the Jews suppose that that prophecy belongs to their
visible
kingdom, because they know not how to rejoice in the hope of good things
unseen,
they are about to rush into the snares of him, of whom the Lord says, "I
have
come in My Father's Name, and you receive Me not: if another shall come in
his
own name, him ye will receive." John 5:24 Of whom the Apostle Paul says:
"that
Man of Sin shall be revealed, the son of perdition," etc. And a little
after he
says,
"Then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the
Spirit
of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming," etc.
...Through
that Apostate, through him who exalts himself above all that is called
God,
or that is worshipped, it seems to me, that the carnal people of
suppose
that prophecy to be fulfilled, where it is said, "Deliver us, O Lord, and
gather
us from among the heathen;" that under His guidance, before the eyes of
their
visible enemies, who had visibly taken them captive, they are to have visible
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 106 914
glory.
Thus they will believe a lie, because they have not received the love of
truth,
that they might love not carnal, but spiritual blessings.... For Christ had
other
sheep
that were not of this fold: John 10:16 but the devil and his angels had taken
captive
all those sheep, both among the Israelites and the Gentiles. The power,
therefore,
of the devil having been cast out of them, in the sight of the evil spirits
who
had taken them captive, their cry in this prophecy is, that they may be saved
and
perfected for evermore: "Deliver us, O Lord our God, and gather us from
among
the heathen." Not, as the Jews imagine it, fulfilled through Antichrist,
but
through
our Lord Christ coming in the name of His Father, "Day from day, His
salvation;"
of whom it is here said, "O visit us in Your salvation! And let all the
people
say," the predestined people of the circumcision and of the
uncircumcision,
a
holy race, an adopted people, "So be it! So be it!"
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Psalm 107
915
Exposition on Psalm 107
1.
This Psalm commends unto us the mercies of God, proved in ourselves, and is
therefore
the sweeter to the experienced. And it is a wonder if it can be pleasing to
any
one, except to him who has learned in his own case, what he hears in this
Psalm.
Yet was it written not for any one or two, but for the people of God, and set
forth
that it might know itself therein as in a mirror. Its title needs not now to be
treated,
for it is Halleluia, and again Halleluia. Which we have a custom of singing
at
a certain time in our solemnities, after an old tradition of the Church: nor is
it
without
a sacred meaning that we sing it on particular days. Halleluia we sing
indeed
on certain days, but every day we think it. For if in this word is signified
the
praise of God, though not in the mouth of the flesh, yet surely in the mouth of
the
heart. "His praise shall ever be in my mouth." But that the title has
Halleluia
not
once only but twice, is not peculiar to this Psalm, but the former also has it
so.
And
as far as appears from its text, that was sung of the people of
sung
of the universal
it
not unfitly has Halleluia twice, because we cry, Abba, Father. Since Abba is
nothing
else but Father, yet not without meaning the Apostle said, "in whom we
cry,
Abba, Father;" Romans 8:15 but because one wall indeed coming to the
Corner
Stone cries Abba, but the other, from the other side cries Father; viz., in
that
Corner Stone, "who is our Peace, who has made both one."...
2.
"Confess unto the Lord that He is sweet, because for aye in His
mercy" (ver. 1).
This
confess ye that He is sweet: if you have tasted, confess. But he cannot
confess,
who has not chosen to taste, for whence shall he say that that is sweet,
which
he knows not. But ye if you have tasted how sweet the Lord is, 1 Peter 2:3
"Confess
ye to the Lord that He is sweet." If you have tasted with eagerness, break
forth
with confession. "For aye is His mercy," that is, for ever. For here
"for aye,"
is
so put, since also in some other places of Scripture, for aye, that is, what in
Greek
is called eij aiwna, is understood for ever. For His mercy is not for a time,
so
as not to be for ever, since for this purpose His present mercy is over men,
that
they
may live with the Angels for ever.
3.
"Let them say who are redeemed of the Lord, whom He has redeemed from the
hand
of their enemies" (ver. 2). Redeemed indeed it seems was also the people
of
from
miry works; yet let us see whether those who say these things, are they who
were
freed by the Lord from
He
redeemed." Still one might take it also of them, as redeemed from the hand
of
their
enemies, that is, of the Egyptians. Let them be expressed exactly who they
are,
for whom this Psalm would be sung. "He gathered them from the lands;"
these
might
still be the lands of
Let
him speak openly. "From the east and the west, from the north and the
sea"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 107
916
(ver.
3). Now then we understand these redeemed, in the whole circle of the earth.
This
people of God, freed from a great and broad
Sea,
Exodus 14:22 that in Baptism it may make an end of its enemies. For by the
sacrament
as it were of the
of
Christ, the pursuing Egyptians, the sins, are washed away.... "But all
these
things
happened to them in a figure, and were written for our admonition, on
whom
the ends of the ages have come." 1 Corinthians 10:11...
4.
"They wandered in the wilderness, in a dry place, they found not the way
of a
city
to dwell in" (ver. 4). We have heard a wretched wandering; what of want?
"Hungry
and thirsty, their soul fainted in them" (ver. 5). But wherefore did it
faint?
for
what good? For God is not cruel, but He makes Himself known, in that it is
expedient
for us, that He be entreated by us fainting, and that aiding us He be
loved.
And therefore after this wandering, and hunger, and thirst, "And they
cried
unto
the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distress"
(ver. 6).
And
what did He for them, as they were wandering? "And He led them in the
right
way"
(ver. 7). They found not the way of a city to dwell in, with hunger and thirst
they
were vexed and faint, "and He led them into the right way, that they might
go
into
a city to dwell in." How He helped their hunger and thirst, He says not,
but
even
this expect ye: "Let them confess unto the Lord His mercies, and His
wonders
towards the children of men" (ver. 8). Tell them, you that are
experienced,
to the inexperienced; ye that are already in the way, already directed
towards
finding the city, already at last free from hunger and thirst. "Because He
has
satisfied the empty soul, and filled the hungry soul with good things"
(ver. 9).
5.
"Them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, fast bound in
beggary
and
iron" (ver. 10). Whence this, but that you were attributing things to
yourself?
that
you were not owning the grace of God? that you were rejecting the counsel of
God
Luke 7:30 concerning you? For see what He adds: "Because they rebelled
against
the words of the Lord through pride" (ver. 11), not knowing the
righteousness
of God, and wishing to establish their own, Romans 10:3 "and they
were
bitter against the counsel of the Most High." "And their heart was
brought
low
in labour" (ver. 12). And now fight against lust; if God cease to aid you
may
strive,
you can not conquer. And when you shall be pressed by thine evil, your
heart
will be brought low in labour, so that now with humbled heart you may learn
to
cry out, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of
this
death?"
Romans 7:24... Freed, you will confess the mercies of the Lord. "And they
cried
unto the Lord when they were troubled, and He delivered them out of their
distresses"
(ver. 13). They were freed from the second temptation. There remains
that
of weariness and loathing. But first see what He did for them when freed.
"And
He led them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bonds
asunder"
(ver. 14). "Let them confess to the Lord His mercies, and His wonders to
the
children of men" (ver. 15). Wherefore? what difficulties has He overcome?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 107 917
"Because
He broke the gates of brass, and snapped the bars of iron" (ver. 16).
"He
took
them up from the way of their iniquity, for because of their unrighteousnesses
they
were brought low" (ver. 17). Because they gave honour to themselves, not
to
God,
because they were establishing their own righteousness, not knowing the
righteousness
of God, Romans 10:3 they were brought low. They found that they
were
helpless without His aid, who were presuming on their own strength alone.
6.
"Their soul abhorred all manner of meat" (ver. 18). Now they suffer
satiety.
They
are sick of satiety. They are in danger from satiety. Unless perchance you
think
they could be killed with famine, but cannot with satiety. See what follows.
When
he had said, "Their soul abhorred all manner of meat," lest you
should think
them,
as it were, safe of their fulness, and not rather see that they would die of
satiety:
"And they came near," he says, "even unto the gates of death."
What then
remains?
That even when the word of God delights you, thou account it not to
yourself;
nor for this be puffed up with any sort of arrogance, and having an
appetite
for food, proudly spurn at those who are in danger from satiety. "And they
cried
out unto the Lord when they were in trouble, and He delivered them out of
their
distresses" (ver. 19). And because it was a sickness not to be pleased,
"He
sent
His Word, and healed them" (ver. 20). See what evil there is in satiety;
see
whence
He delivers, to whom he cries that loathes his food. "He sent His Word,
and
healed them, and snatched them," from whence? not from wandering, not
from
hunger, not from the difficulty of overcoming sins, but "from their
corruption."
It is a sort of corruption of the mind to loathe what is sweet. Therefore
also
of this benefit, as of the others before, "Let them confess to the Lord
His
mercies,
and His wonders unto the sons of men" (ver. 21). "And sacrifice the
sacrifice
of praise" (ver. 22). For now that He may be praised, the Lord is sweet,
"and
let them tell out His works with gladness." Not with weariness, not with
sadness,
not with anxiety, not with loathing, but "with gladness."
7.
..."They who go down on the sea in ships, doing their business on the
mighty
waters"
(ver. 23); that is, amongst many peoples. For that waters are often put for
peoples,
the Apocalypse of John is witness, when on John's asking what those
waters
were, it was answered him, they are peoples. They then who do their
business
on mighty waters, "they have seen the works of the Lord, and His
wonders
in the deep" (ver. 24). For what is deeper than human hearts? hence often
break
forth winds; storms of sedition, and dissensions, disturb the ship. And what
is
done in them? God, willing that both they who steer, and they who are
conveyed,
should cry unto Him, "He spoke, and the breath of the storm stood"
(ver.
25). What is, stood? Abode, continued, still disturbs, long tosses; rages, and
passes
not away. "For He spoke, and the breath of the storm stood." And what
did
that
breath of the storm? "They go up even to the heavens," in daring;
"They go
down
even into the deeps" (ver. 26), in fearing. "Their soul wasted in
miseries."
"They
were disturbed, and moved like a drunken man" (ver. 27). They who sit at
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 107
918
the
helm, and they who faithfully love the ship, feel what I say. Certainly, when
they
speak, when they read, when they interpret, they appear wise. Woe for the
storm!
"and all their wisdom," he says, "was swallowed up."
Sometimes all human
counsels
fail; whichever way one turns himself, the waves roar, the storm rages,
the
arms are powerless: where the prow may strike, to what wave the side may be
exposed,
whither the stricken ship may be allowed to drift, from what rocks she
must
be kept back lest she be lost, is impossible for her pilots to see. And what is
left
but that which follows? "And they cried out unto the Lord when they were
troubled,
and He delivered them from their distresses" (ver. 28). "And He
commanded
the storm, and it stood unto clear air" (ver. 29), "and the waves of
it
were
still." Hear on this point the voice of a steersman, one that was in
peril, was
brought
low, was freed. "I would not," he says, "have you ignorant,
brethren, of
our
distress, which befell us in
above
measure" (I see all his "wisdom swallowed up"), "so that we
were weary,"
he
says, "even of life." 2 Corinthians 1:8...
"And
they were glad, because they were still, and He brought them into the haven
of
their desire" (ver. 30). "Let His mercies confess unto the Lord, and
His wonders
towards
the sons of men" (ver. 31). Everywhere, without exception, let not our
merits,
not our strength, not our wisdom, "confess unto the Lord," but,
"His
mercies."
Let Him be loved in every deliverance of ours, who has been invoked in
every
distress.
8.
"And let them exalt Him in the assembly of the people, and praise Him in
the
seat
of the elders" (ver. 32). Let them exalt, let them praise, peoples and
elders,
merchants
and pilots. For what has He done in this assembly? What has He
established?
Whence has He rescued it? What has He granted it? Even as He
resisted
the proud, and gave grace to the humble: James 4:6 the proud, that is, the
first
people of the Jews, arrogant, and extolling itself on its descent from Abraham,
and
because to that nation "were entrusted the oracles of God." Romans
3:2 These
things
did not avail them unto soundness, but unto pride of heart, rather to
swelling
than to greatness. What then did God, resisting the proud, but giving
grace
to the humble; cutting off the natural branches for their pride; grafting in
the
wild
olive for its humility?
"He
made the rivers a wilderness" (ver. 33). Waters did run there, prophecies
were
in
course. Seek now a prophet among the Jews; you find none. For "He made the
outgoings
of waters to be thirst." Let them say, "Now there is no prophet more,
and
He will not know us any more." "A fruitful land to be saltpools"
(ver. 34).
Thou
seekest there the faith of Christ, you find not: you seek a prophet, you find
not:
you seek a sacrifice, you find not: you seek a temple, you find none.
Wherefore
this? "From the wickedness of them that dwell therein." Behold how
He
resists the proud: hear how He gives grace to the humble. "He made the
wilderness
to be a standing water, and the dry ground to be outgoings of waters"
(ver.
35). "And He caused the hungry to dwell there" (ver. 36). Because to
Him it
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 107
919
was
said, "You are a Priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedec."
For you seek
a
sacrifice among the Jews; you have none after the order of Aaron. Thou seekest
it
after the order of Melchizedec; you find it not among them, but through the
whole
world it is celebrated in the Church. "From the rising of the sun to the
setting
thereof the name of the Lord is praised."... "And they sowed fields,
and
planted
vineyards, and gat fruit of corn" (ver. 37): at which that workman
rejoices,
who
says, "Not because I desire a gift, but I seek fruit." Philippians
4:17 "And He
blessed
them, and they were multiplied exceedingly, and their cattle were not
diminished"
(ver. 38). This stands. For "the foundation of God stands sure;
because
the Lord knows them that are His." 2 Timothy 2:19 They are called
"beasts
of burden," and "cattle," that walk simply in the Church, yet
are useful; not
much
learned, but full of faith. Therefore, whether spiritual or carnal, "He
blessed
them."
9.
"And they became few, and were vexed" (ver. 39). Whence this? From
athwart?
Nay,
from within. For that they should "become few," "They went out
from us, but
they
were not of us." 1 John 2:19 But therefore he speaks as of these, of whom
he
spoke
before, that they may be discerned with understanding; because he speaks as
if
of the same, because of the sacraments they have in common. For they belong to
the
people of God, though not by the virtue, yet surely by the appearance of piety:
for
concerning them we have heard the Apostle, "In the last times there shall
come
grievous
times, for there shall be men lovers of themselves." 2 Timothy 3:2 The
first
evil is, "lovers of themselves;" that is, as being pleased with
themselves.
Would
that they were not pleasing to themselves, and were pleasing to God: would
that
they would cry out in their difficulties, and be freed from their distresses.
But
while
they presumed greatly on themselves, "they were made few." It is
manifest,
brethren:
all who separate themselves from unity become few. For they are many;
but
in unity, while they are not parted from unity. For when the multitude of unity
has
begun no more to belong to them, in heresy and schism, they are few. "And
they
were vexed, from distress of miseries and grief." "Contempt was
poured on
princes"
(ver. 40). For they were rejected by the
because
they wished to be princes, therefore they were despised, and became salt
that
had lost its savour, cast out abroad, so that it is trodden under foot of men.
Matthew
5:13 "And He led them astray in the pathless place, and not in a
way."
Those
above in the way, those directed to a city, and finally led thither, not led
astray;
but these, where there was no way, led astray. What is, "Led them
astray"?
God
"gave them up to their own hearts' lusts." Romans 1:24 For "led
astray"
means
this, gave them up to themselves. For if thou enquire closely, it is they that
lead
themselves astray.... "And He helped the poor out of beggary" (ver.
41). What
means
this, brethren? Princes are despised, and the poor helped. The proud are cast
aside,
and the humble provided for.... "And made him households like sheep."
Thou
understandest one poor man and one beggar of him concerning whom he
said,
"He has helped the poor out of misery:" this poor man is now many
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 107
920
households,
this poor man is many nations; many Churches are one Church, one
nation,
one household, one sheep. These are great mysteries, great types, how
profound,
how full of hidden meanings; how sweetly discovered, since long
hidden.
Therefore, "the righteous will consider this, and rejoice: and the mouth
of
all
wickedness shall be stopped" (ver. 42). That wickedness that does prate
against
unity,
and compels truth to be made manifest, shall be convicted, and have its
mouth
stopped.
10.
"Who is wise? and he will consider these things; and will understand the
mercies
of the Lord" (ver. 43).... Not his own deservings, not his own strength,
not
his
own power; but "the mercies of the Lord;" who, when he was wandering
and in
want,
led him back to the path, and fed him; who, when he was struggling against
the
difficulties of his sins, and bound down with the fetters of habit, released
and
freed
him; who, when he loathed the Word of God, and was almost dying with a
kind
of weariness, restored him by sending him the medicine of His Word; who,
when
he was endangered among the risks of shipwreck and storm, stilled the sea,
and
brought him into port; who, finally, placed him in that people, where He gives
grace
to the humble; not in that where he resists the proud; and has made him His
own,
that remaining within he may be multiplied, not that going out he may be
minished.
The righteous see this, and rejoice. "The mouth," therefore, "of
all
wickedness
shall be stopped."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 108
921
Exposition
on Psalm 108
1.
I have not thought that the CVIIIth Psalm required an exposition; since I have
already
expounded it in the LVIIth Psalm, and in the LXth, of the last divisions of
which
this Psalm consists. For the last part of the LVIIth is the first of this, as
far
as
the verse, "Your glory is above all the earth." Henceforth to the
end, is the last
part
of the LXth: as the last part of the CXXXVth is the same as that of the
CXVth,
from the verse, "The images of the heathen are but gold and silver:"
as the
XIVth[4899]
and LIIId, with a few alterations in the middle, have everything the
same
from the beginning to the end. Whatever slight differences therefore occur in
this
CVIIIth Psalm, compared with those two, of parts of which it is composed, are
easy
to understand; just as we find in the LVIIth, "I will sing and give
praise;
awake,
O my glory:" here," I will sing and give praise, with my glory."
Awake, is
said
there, that he may sing and give praise therewith. Also, there, "Your
mercy is
great"
(or, as some translate, "is lifted up") "unto the heavens;"
but here, "Your
mercy
is great above the heavens." For it is great unto the heavens, that it may
be
great
in the heavens; and this is what he wished to express by "above the
heavens."
Also
in the LXth, "I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem:" here "I
will be exalted,
and
will divide Shechem." Where is shown what is signified in the division of
Shechem,
which it was prophesied should happen after the Lord's exaltation, and
that
this joy does refer to that exaltation; so that He rejoices, because He is
exalted.
Whence he elsewhere says, "You have turned my heaviness into joy; You
have
put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness." Also there
"Ephraim, the
strength
of my head:" but here, "Ephraim the taking up of my head." But
strength
comes
from taking up, that is, He makes men strong by taking up, causing fruit in
us;
for the interpretation of Ephraim is, bearing fruit. But "taking up"
may be
understood
of us, when we take up Christ; or of Christ, when He, who is Head of
the
Church, takes us up. And the words, "them that trouble us," in the
former
Psalm,
are the same with "our enemies," in this.
2.
We are taught by this Psalm, that those titles which seem to refer to history
are
most
rightly understood prophetically, according to the object of the composition
of
the Psalms .... And yet this Psalm is composed of the latter portions of two,
whose
titles are different. Where it is signified that each concur in a common
object,
not in the surface of the history, but in the depth of prophecy, the objects of
both
being united in this one, the title of which is, "A Song or Psalm of
David:"
resembling
neither of the former titles, otherwise than in the word David. Since,
"in
many places, and in diverse manners," as the Epistle to the Hebrews says,
"God
spoke in former times to the fathers through the Prophets;" Hebrews 1:1
yet
He
spoke of Him whom He sent afterwards, that the words of the Prophets might
be
fulfilled: for "all the promises of God in Him are yea." 2
Corinthians 1:20
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 109
922
Exposition
on Psalm 109
1.
Every one who faithfully reads the Acts of the Apostles, acknowledges that this
Psalm
contains a prophecy of Christ; for it evidently appears that what is here
written,
"let his days be few, and let another take his office," is prophesied
of
Judas,
the betrayer of Christ .... For as some things are said which seem peculiarly
to
apply to the Apostle Peter, and yet are not clear in their meaning, unless when
referred
to the Church, whom he is acknowledged to have figuratively represented,
on
account of the primacy which he bore among the Disciples; as it is written,
"I
will
give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven," Matthew 16:19 and other
passages
of the like purport: so Judas does represent those Jews who were enemies
of
Christ, who both then hated Christ, and now, in their line of succession, this
species
of wickedness continuing, hate Him. Of these men, and of this people, not
only
may what we read more openly discovered in this Psalm be conveniently
understood,
but also those things which are more expressly stated concerning
Judas
himself.
2.
The Psalm, then, begins thus: "O God, be not silent as to my praise; for
the
mouth
of the ungodly, yea, the mouth of the deceitful is opened upon me" (ver.
1).
Whence
it appears, both that the blame, which the ungodly and the deceitful is not
silent
of, is false, and that the praise, which God is not silent of, is true.
"For God
is
true, but every man a liar;" Romans 3:4 for no man is true, except him in
whom
God
speaks. But the highest praise is that of the only-begotten Son of God, in
which
He is proclaimed even that which He is, the only-begotten Son of God. But
this
did not appear, but, when His weakness appeared, lay hid, when the mouth of
the
ungodly and deceitful was opened upon Him; and for this reason his mouth
was
opened, because His virtue was concealed: and he says, "the mouth of the
deceitful
was opened," because the hatred which was covered by deceit burst out
into
language.
3.
"They have spoken against me with false tongues" (ver. 2): then
chiefly when
they
praised him as a "good Master" with insidious adulation. Whence it is
elsewhere
said: "and they that praised me, are sworn together against me."
Next,
because
they burst into cries, "Crucify Him, crucify Him;" John 19:6 he has
added,
"They
compassed me about also with words of hatred." They who with a
treacherous
tongue spoke words seemingly of love, and not of hatred, "against
me,"
since they did this insidiously; afterwards "compassed me about with
words"
not
of false and deceitful love, but of open "hatred, and fought against me
without
a
cause." For as the pious love Christ for nought, so do the wicked hate Him
for
nought;
for as truth is earnestly sought by the best men on its own account,
without
any advantage, external to itself, in view, so is wickedness sought by the
worst
men. Whence among secular authors it is said of a very bad man, "he was
wicked
and cruel for no object."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 109
923
4.
"In place," says he, "of loving me, they detracted from me"
(ver. 3). There are
six
different acts of this class, which may, when mentioned, very easily be borne
in
mind; (1) to return good for evil, (2) not to return evil for evil; (3) to
return
good
for good, (4) to return evil for evil; (5) not to return good for good, (6) to
return
evil for good. The two first of these belong to the good, and the first of
these
two is the better; the two last belong to the wicked, and the latter of the two
is
the worse; the two middle to a sort of middle class of persons, but the first
of
these
borders upon the good, the latter on the bad. We should remark these things
in
the holy Scriptures. Our Lord Himself returns good for evil, who
"justifies the
ungodly;"
Romans 4:5 and who, when hanging upon the Cross, said, "Father,
forgive
them; for they know not what they do." Luke 23:34...
5.
But after he had said, "in place of loving me, they detracted from
me;" what
does
he add? "But I gave myself unto prayer." He said not indeed what he
prayed,
but
what can we better understand than for them themselves? For they were
detracting
greatly from Him whom they crucified, when they ridiculed Him as if
He
were a man, whom in their opinion they had conquered; from which Cross He
said,
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do;" so that while
they in
the
depth of their malignity were rendering evil for good, He in the height of His
goodness
was rendering good for evil .... The divine words then teach us by our
Lord's
example, that when we feel others ungrateful to us, not only in that they do
not
repay us with good, but even return evil for good, we should pray; He indeed
for
others who were raging against Him, or in sorrow, or endangered in faith; but
we
for ourselves in the first place, that we may by the mercy and aid of God
conquer
our own mind, by which we are borne on to the desire of revenge, when
any
detraction is made from us, either in our presence or our absence....
6.
He adds, "Thus have they rewarded me evil for good" (ver. 4). And as
if we
asked,
what evil? for what good? "And hatred," he says, "for my good
will." This
is
the sum total of their great guilt. For how could the persecutors injure Him
who
died
of His own free-will, and not by compulsion? But this very hatred is the
greatest
crime of the persecutor, although it be the willing atonement of the
sufferer.
And he has sufficiently explained the sense of the above words, "In place
of
loving me," since they owed love not as a general duty only, but in return
for
His
love: in that he has here added, "for my good will." This love He
mentions in
the
Gospel, when He says, "How often would I have gathered your children
together,
and you would not!" Matthew 23:37
7.
He then begins to prophesy what they should receive for this very impiety;
detailing
their lot in such a manner, as if he wished its realization from a desire of
revenge.
Some not understanding this mode of predicting the future, under the
appearance
of wishing evil, suppose hatred to be returned for hatred, and an evil
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 109
924
will
for an evil will, since in truth it belongs to few to distinguish, in what way
the
punishment
of the wicked pleases the accuser, who longs to satiate his enmity; and
in
how widely different a way it pleases the judge, who with a righteous mind
punishes
sins. For the former returns evil for evil: but the judge when he punishes
does
not return evil for evil, since he returns justice to the unjust; and what is
just,
is
surely good. He therefore punishes not from delight in another's misery, which
is
evil for evil: but from love of justice, which is good for evil....
8.
"Set thou an ungodly man to be ruler over him; and let Satan stand at his
right
hand"
(ver. 5). Though the complaint had been before concerning many, the Psalm
is
now speaking of one.... Since therefore he is here speaking of the traitor
Judas,
who,
according to the Scripture in the Acts of the Apostles, was to be punished
with
the penalty due to him, Acts 1:20 what means, "set thou an ungodly man
over
him,"
save him whom in the next verse he mentions by name, when he says, "and
let
Satan stand at his right hand"? He therefore who refused to be subject
unto
Christ,
deserved this, that he should have the devil set over him, that is, that he
should
be subject unto the devil .... For this reason also it is said of those who,
preferring
the pleasures of this world to God, styled the people blessed who have
such
and such things, "their right hand is a right hand of iniquity."...
9.
"When sentence is given upon him, let him be condemned, and let his prayer
be
turned
into sin" (ver. 6). For prayer is not righteous except through Christ,
whom
he
sold in his atrocious sin: but the prayer which is not made through Christ, not
only
cannot blot out sin, but is itself turned into sin. But it may be inquired on
what
occasion Judas could have so prayed, that his prayer was turned into sin. I
suppose
that before he betrayed the Lord, while he was thinking of betraying Him;
for
he could no longer pray through Christ. For after he betrayed Him, and
repented
of it, if he prayed through Christ, he would ask for pardon; if he asked for
pardon,
he would have hope; if he had hope, he would hope for mercy; if he hoped
for
mercy, he would not have hanged himself in despair....
10.
"Let his days be few" (ver. 7). By "his days," he meant the
days of his
apostleship,
which were few; since before the Passion of our Lord, they were
ended
by his crime and death. And as if it were asked, What then shall become of
that
most sacred number twelve, within which our Lord willed, not without a
meaning,
to limit His twelve first Apostles? he at once adds, "and let another take
his
office." As much as to say, let both himself be punished according to his
desert,
and let his number be filled up.
11.
"Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow" (ver. 8).
After his death,
both
his children were fatherless, and his wife a widow. "Let his children be
vagabonds,
and be carried away, and beg their bread" (ver. 9). By
"vagabonds" he
means,
uncertain whither to go, destitute of all help. "Let them be driven from
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm
109
925
their
habitations." He here explains what he had said above, "Let them be
carried
away."
How all this happened to his wife and children, the following verses
explain.
12.
"Let the extortioner search out all his substance, and let the strangers
spoil his
labour"
(ver. 10). "Let there be no man to help him" (ver. 11): that is, to
guard his
posterity;
wherefore follows, "nor to have compassion on his fatherless
children"
13.
But as even orphans may, without one to help them, and without a guardian,
nevertheless
increase amid trouble and want, and preserve their race by descent;
he
next says, "Let his posterity be destroyed; and in the next generation let
his
name
be clean put out" (ver. 12): that is, let what has been generated by him
generate
no more, and quickly pass away.
14.
But what is it that he next adds? "Let the wickedness of his fathers be
had in
remembrance
in the sight of the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be done
away"
(ver. 13). Is it to be understood, that even the sins of his fathers shall be
visited
upon him? For upon him they are not visited, who has been changed in
Christ,
and has ceased to be the child of the wicked, by not having imitated their
conduct.
Ezekiel 18:4, 20 ... And to these words, "I will visit the sins of the
fathers
upon
the children," Exodus 20:5 is added, "who hate Me;" that is,
hate Me as their
fathers
hated Me: so that as the effect of imitating the good is that even their own
sins
are blotted out, so the imitation of the wicked causes men to suffer not their
own
deservings only, but those also of those whom they have imitated....
15.
"Let them alway be against the Lord" (ver. 14). "Against the
Lord," means in
the
Lord's sight: for other translators have rendered this line, "let them be
always
in
the sight of the Lord;" while others have rendered it, "let them be
before the
Lord
alway;" as it is elsewhere said, "You have set our misdeeds in Your
sight."
By
"alway," he means that this great crime should be without pardon,
both here,
and
in a future life. "Let the memorial of them perish from off the
earth:" that is, of
his
father and of his mother. By memorial of them, he means, that which is
preserved
by successive generations: this he prophesied should perish from the
earth,
because both Judas himself, and his sons, who were the memorial of his
father
and mother, without any succeeding offspring, as it is said above, were
consumed
in the short space of one generation....
16.
"And that, because he remembered not to act mercifully" (ver. 15);
either
Judas,
or the people itself. But "remembered not" is better understood of
the
people:
for if they slew Christ, they might well remember the deed in penitence,
and
act mercifully towards His members, whom they most perseveringly
persecuted.
For this reason he says, "but persecuted the poor man and the beggar"
(ver.
16). It may indeed be understood of Judas; for the Lord did not disdain to
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 109
926
become
poor, when He was rich, that we might be enriched by His poverty.
2
Corinthians 8:9 But how shall I understand the word "beggar," save
perhaps
because
He said to the Samaritan woman, "Give me to drink," John 4:7 and on
the
Cross
He said, "I thirst." John 19:28 But as to what follows, I do not see
how it can
be
understood of our Head Himself, that is, the Saviour of His own body, whom
Judas
persecuted. For after saying, "He persecuted the poor man and the
beggar:"
he
adds, "and to slay," that is, "that he might slay Him," for
some have so rendered
it,
"Him that was pricked at the heart." This expression is not commonly
used
except
of the stings of past sins in the sorrows of penitence; as it is said of those
who,
when they had heard the Apostles after our Lord's ascension, were "pricked
in
heart," even they who had slain the Lord....
17.
The Psalm then continues: "His delight was in cursing, and it shall happen
to
him"
(ver. 17). Although Judas loved cursing, both in stealing from the money
bag,
and selling and betraying the Lord: nevertheless, that people more openly
loved
cursing, when they said, "His blood be on us, and on our children."
Matthew
32:25 "He loved not blessing, therefore it shall be far from him."
Such
was
Judas indeed, since he loved not Christ, in whom is everlasting blessing; but
the
Jewish people still more decidedly refused blessing, unto whom he who had
been
enlightened by the Lord said, "Will ye also be His disciples?" John
9:27 "He
clothed
himself with cursing, like as with a raiment:" either Judas, or that
people.
"And
it came into his bowels like water." Both without, then, and within;
without,
like
a garment; within, like water: since he has come before the judgment-seat of
Him
"who has power to destroy both body and soul in hell;" Matthew 10:28
the
body
without, the soul within. "And like oil into his bones." He shows
that he
works
evil with delight, and stores up cursing for himself, that is, everlasting
punishment;
for blessing is eternal life. For at present evil deeds are his delight,
flowing
like water into his bowels, like oil into his bones; but it is styled cursing,
because
God has appointed torments for such men.
18.
"Let it be unto him as the cloak which covers him" (ver. 18). Since
he has
before
spoken of the cloak, why does he repeat it? When he said, "He clothed
himself
with cursing as with a raiment;" does the raiment with which he is
"covered"
differ from that with which he is "clothed"? For every man is clothed
with
his tunic, covered with his cloak; and what is this, save boasting in iniquity,
even
in the sight of men? "and as the girdle," he says, "that he is
alway girded
withal."
Men are girded chiefly that they may be better fit for toil, that they may
not
be hindered by the folds of their dress. He therefore girds himself with
curses,
who
designs an evil which he has carefully contrived, not on a sudden impulse,
and
who learns in such a manner to do evil, that he is always ready to commit it.
19.
"This is the work of them that slander me before the Lord" (ver. 19).
He said
not,
"their reward," but, "their work:" for it is clear that by
the clothing, covering,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 109 927
water,
oil, and girdle, he was describing the very works by which eternal curses
are
procured. It is not then one Judas, but many, of whom it is said, "This is
the
work
of them that slander me before the Lord." Although indeed the plural
number
might
have been put for the singular; even as, when Herod died, it was said by the
Angel,
"They are dead which sought the young Child's life." Matthew 2:20 But
who
slander Christ more before the Lord, than they who slander the very words of
the
Lord, by declaring that it is not He whom the Law of the Lord and His
Prophets
announced beforehand? "And of those that speak evil against my soul:"
by
denying that He, when He had willed, could have arisen: though He says, "I
have
power to lay down My life, and I have power to take it again." John 10:18
20.
"But work Thou with me, O Lord God" (ver. 20). Some have thought
"mercifully"
should be understood, some have actually added it; but the best
copies
have the words thus: "But work Thou with me, O Lord God, for Your
Name's
sake." Whence a higher sense should not be passed over, supposing the
Son
to have thus addressed the Father, "Deal Thou with Me," since the
works of
the
Father and of the Son are the same. Where although we understand mercy,—
for
these words follow, "for sweet is Your mercy,"—because he said not,
"In me,"
or,
"over me;" or anything of this sort: but, "work Thou with
Me;" we rightly
understand
that the Father and Son together work mercifully towards the vessels of
mercy.
Romans 9:23 "Work with me," may also be understood to mean, help me.
We
use this expression in our daily language, when we are speaking of anything
which
is in our favour; "It works with us." For the Father aids the Son, as
far as the
Deity
aids Man, on account of His having assumed the "form of a servant,"
to
which
Man, God, and to which "Form of a servant," the Lord too is Father.
For in
the
"form of God," the Son needs not aid, for He is equally all-powerful
with the
Father,
on which account He also is the helper of men .... And because when he
had
said, "Work Thou with me," he added, "for Your Name's
sake," he has
commended
grace. For without previous deserving works, human nature was
raised
to such a height, that the whole in one, the Word and Flesh, that is, God and
Man,
was styled the Only-begotten Son of God. And this was done that that which
had
been lost might be sought by Him who had created it, through that which had
not
been lost; whence the following words, "For Your mercy is sweet."
21.
"O deliver me, for I am needy and poor" (ver. 21). Need and poverty
is that
weakness,
through which He was crucified. 2 Corinthians 13:4 "And my heart is
disturbed
within me." This alludes to those words which He spoke when His
Passion
was drawing near, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death."
Matthew
26:38
22.
"I go hence like a shadow that declines" (ver. 22). By this he
signified death
itself.
For as night comes of the shadow's declining, so death comes of mortal
flesh.
"And am driven away as the locusts." This I think would be more
suitably
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 109 928
understood
of His members, that is, of His faithful disciples. That he might make
it
much plainer, he preferred writing "locusts" in the plural number:
although
many
may be understood where the singular number is used, as in that passage,
"He
spoke, and the locust came;" but it would have been more obscure. His
disciples,
then, were driven away, that is, were put to flight by persecutors, either
the
multitude of whom He wished to be signified by the word locusts, or their
passing
from one place to another.
23.
"My knees are weak through fasting" (ver. 23). We read, that our Lord
Christ
underwent
a fast of forty days: Matthew 4:2 but had fasting so great power over
Him,
that His knees were weakened? Or is this more suitably understood of His
members,
that is, of His saints? "And my flesh is changed because of the oil;"
because
of spiritual grace. Whence Christ was so called from the Greek word,
chrisma,
which signifies unction. But the flesh was changed through the oil, not
for
the worse, but for the better, that is, rising from the dishonour of death to
the
glory
of immortality.... His flesh was not yet changed. But whether the Holy Spirit
be
represented by water through the notion of ablution or irrigation, or by oil
through
that of exultation and the inflaming of charity; It does not differ from
Itself,
because Its types are different. For there is a great difference between the
lion
and the lamb, and yet Christ is represented by both....
24.
"I became also a reproach unto them" (ver. 24): through the death of
the Cross.
"For
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
us."
Galatians
3:13 "They looked upon Me, and shaked their heads." Because they
beheld
His crucifixion, without beholding His resurrection: they saw when His
knees
were weakened, they saw not when His flesh was changed.
25.
"Help me, O Lord my God: O save me according to Your mercy" (ver.
25).
This
may be referred to the whole, both to the Head and to the body: to the Head,
owing
to His having taken the form of a servant; to the body, on account of the
servants
themselves. For He might even in them have said unto God, "Help Me:"
and,
"O save Me:" as in them He said unto Paul, "Why do you persecute
Me"?
Acts
9:4 The following words, "according to Your mercy," describe grace
given
gratuitously,
not according to the merit of works.
26.
"And let them know how that this is Your Hand, and that Thou, Lord, hast
made
it" (ver. 26). He said, "Let them know," of those for whom He
even prayed
while
they were raging; for even those who afterwards believed in Him were
among
the crowd who shook their heads in mockery of Him. But let those who
ascribe
unto God the shape of the human body, learn in what sense God has a
hand.
Let us therefore understand, that the Hand of God means Christ: whence it is
elsewhere
said, "Unto whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" Isaiah 53:1...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 109
929
27.
"Though they curse, yet bless Thou" (ver. 27). Vain therefore and
false is the
cursing
of the sons of men, that have pleasure in vanity, and seek a lie; but when
God
blesses, He does what He says. "Let them be confounded that rise up
against
me."
For their imagining that they have some power against Me, is the reason that
they
rise up against Me; but when I shall have been exalted above the heavens, and
My
glory shall have commenced spreading over the whole earth, they shall be
confounded.
"But Your servant shall rejoice:" either on the right hand of the
Father,
or in His members when they rejoice, both in hope among temptations, and
after
temptations for evermore.
28.
"Let my slanderers be clothed with shame" (ver. 28): that is, let it
shame them
to
have slandered me. But this may also be understood as a blessing, in that they
are
amended. "And let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with
a
double
cloak;" for diplois is a double cloak; that is, let them be confounded
both
within
and without: both before God and before men.
29.
"As for me, I will confess greatly unto the Lord with my mouth" (ver.
29) .... Is
He
said to "praise among the multitude" because He is with His Church
here even
unto
the end of the world; Matthew 28:20 so that we may understand by "among
the
multitude," that He is honoured by this very multitude? For he is said to be
in
the
midst, unto whom the chief honour is paid. But if the heart is, as it were,
that
which
is mid-most of a man, no better construction can be put on this passage than
this,
I will praise Him in the hearts of many. For Christ dwells through faith in our
hearts;
Ephesians 3:17 and therefore he says, "with my mouth," that is, with
the
mouth
of my body, which is the Church.
30.
"For He stood at the right hand of the poor" (ver. 30). It was said
of Judas, "Let
Satan
stand at his right hand;" since he chose to increase his riches by selling
Christ;
but here the Lord stood at the right hand of the poor, that the Lord Himself
might
be the poor man's riches. "He stood at the right hand of the poor,"
not to
multiply
the years of a life that one day must end, nor to increase his stores, nor to
render
him strong in the strength of the body, or secure for a time; "but,"
he says,
"to
save my soul from the persecutors." Now the soul is rendered safe from the
persecutors,
if we do not consent to them unto evil; but there is no such consent to
them
when the Lord stands at the right hand of the poor, that he may not give way
through
his very poverty, that is, weakness. This aid was given to the Body of
Christ
in the case of all the holy Martyrs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 110
930
Exposition
on Psalm 110
1.
...This Psalm is one of those promises, surely and openly prophesying our Lord
and
Saviour Jesus Christ; so that we are utterly unable to doubt that Christ is
announced
in this Psalm, since we are now Christians, and believe the Gospel. For
when
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ asked of the Jews, whose Son they
alleged
Christ to be, and they had replied, "the Son of David;" He at once
replied
to
their answer, "How then does David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, The
Lord
said
unto My Lord?" etc. "If then," He asked, "David in the
spirit call Him Lord,
how
is He his son?" Matthew 22:42-45 With this verse this Psalm begins.
2.
"The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit on My right hand, until I make Your
enemies
Your
footstool" (ver. 1). We ought, therefore, thoroughly to consider this
question
proposed
to the Jews by the Lord, in the very commencement of the Psalm. For if
what
the .Jews answered be asked of us, whether we confess or deny it; God
forbid
that we should deny it. If it be said to us, Is Christ the Son of David, or
not?
if
we reply, No, we contradict the Gospel for the Gospel of St. Matthew thus
begins,
"The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David."
Matthew
1:1 The Evangelist declares, that he is writing the book of the generation
of
Jesus Christ, the Son of David. The Jews, then, when questioned by Christ,
whose
Son they believed Christ to be, rightly answered, the Son of David. The
Gospel
agrees with their answer. Not only the suspicion of the Jews, but the faith
of
Christians, does declare this.... "If then David in the spirit called Him
Lord, how
is
He his son?" The Jews were silent at this question: they found no further
reply:
yet
they did not seek Him as the Lord, for they did not acknowledge Him to be
Himself
that Son of David. But let us, brethren, both believe and declare: for,
"with
the heart we believe unto righteousness: but with the mouth confession is
made
unto salvation;" Romans 10:10 let us believe, I say, and let us declare
both
the
Son of David, and the Lord of David. Let us not be ashamed of the Son of
David,
lest we find the Lord of David angry with us.
3.
...We know that Christ sits at the right hand of the Father, since His
resurrection
from the dead, and ascent into heaven. It is already done: we saw not
it,
but we have believed it: we have read it in the Scripture, have heard it
preached,
and
hold it by faith. So that by the very circumstance that Christ was David's Son,
He
became His Lord also. For That which was born of the seed of David was so
honoured,
that It was also the Lord of David. Thou wonderest at this, as if the
same
did not happen in human affairs. For if it should happen, that the son of any
private
person be made a king, will he not be his father's lord? What is yet more
wonderful
may happen, not only that the son of a private person, by being made a
king,
may become his father's lord; but that the son of a layman, by being made a
Bishop,
may become his father's father. So that in this very circumstance, that
Christ
took upon Him the flesh, that He died in the flesh, that He rose again in the
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 110 931
same
flesh, that in the same He ascended into Heaven, and sits on the right hand of
His
Father, in this same flesh so honoured, so brightened, so changed into a
heavenly
garb, He is both David's Son, and David's Lord....
4.
Christ, therefore, sits at the right hand of God, the Son is on the right hand
of
the
Father, hidden from us. Let us believe. Two things are here said: that God
said,
"Sit
on My right hand;" and added, "until I make Your enemies Your
footstool;"
that
is, beneath Your feet. Thou dost not see Christ sitting at the right hand of
the
Father:
yet you can see this, how His enemies are made His footstool. While the
latter
is fulfilled openly, believe the former to be fulfilled secretly. What enemies
are
made His footstool? Those to whom imagining vain things it is said, "Why
do
the
heathen so furiously rage together: and why do the people imagine a vain
thing?"
etc .... He therefore sits at the right hand of God, till His enemies be placed
beneath
His feet. This is going on, this is taking place: although it is accomplished
by
degrees, it is going on without end. For though the heathen rage, will they,
taking
counsel together against Christ, prevent the fulfilment of these words: "I
will
give you the heathen for your inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth
for
your
possession"?... "Their memorial is perished with a cry;" but,
"The Lord shall
endure
for ever:" as another Psalm, but not another Spirit, says.
5.
And what follows? "The Lord shall send the rod of Your power out of
Sion"
(ver.
2). It appears, brethren, it most clearly appears, that the Prophet is not
speaking
of that
Ruler
of the things which are made through Him: for when does not God the Word
reign,
who is in the beginning with God? John 1:1 For it is said, "Now unto the
King
eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever
and
ever." 1 Timothy 1:17 To what eternal King? To one invisible,
incorruptible.
For
in this, that Christ is with the Father, invisible and incorruptible, because
He is
His
Word, and His Power, and His Wisdom, and God with God, through whom all
things
were made; He is "King eternal;" but, nevertheless, that reign of
temporal
government,
by which, through the mediation of His flesh, He called us into
eternity,
begins with Christians; but of His reign there shall be no end. His
enemies
therefore are made His footstool, while He is sitting on the right hand of
His
Father, as it is written; this is now going on, this will go on unto the
end....
6.
When therefore He has sent the rod of His power out of Sion: what shall
happen?
"Be Thou ruler, even in the midst among Your enemies." First,
"Be Thou
ruler
in the midst of Your enemies:" in the midst of the raging heathen. For
shall
He
rule "in the midst of His enemies" at a later season, when the Saints
have
received
their reward, and the ungodly their condemnation? And what wonder if
He
shall then rule, when the righteous reign with Him for ever, and the ungodly
burn
with eternal punishments? What wonder, if He shall then? Now "in the midst
of
Your enemies," now in this transition of ages, in this propagation and
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 110
932
succession
of human mortality, now while the torrent of time is gliding by, unto
this
is the rod of Your power sent out of Sion, "that You may be Ruler in the
midst
of
Your enemies." Rule Thou, rule among Pagans, Jews, heretics, false
brethren.
Rule
Thou, rule, O Son of David, Lord of David, rule in the midst of Pagans, Jews,
heretics,
false brethren. "Be Thou Ruler in the midst of Your enemies." We
understand
not this verse aright, if we do not see that it is already going on....
7.
"With You the beginning on the day of Your power" (ver. 3). What is
this day
of
His power, when is there beginning with Him, or what beginning, or in what
sense
is there beginning with Him, since He is the Beginning?...
8.
What means, "With You is the beginning"? Suppose anything you please
as the
beginning.
Of Christ Himself, it would rather have been said, You are the
Beginning,
than, With You is the beginning. For He answered to those who asked
Him,
"Who are You?" and said, "Even the same that I said unto you,
the
Beginning;"
John 8:25 since His Father also is the Beginning, of whom is the
only-begotten
Son, in which Beginning was the Word, for the Word was with
God.
What then, if both the Father and the Son are the beginning, are there two
beginnings?
God forbid! For as the Father is God, and the Son is God, but the
Father
and the Son are not two Gods, but one God: so is the Father Beginning and
the
Son Beginning, but the Father and the Son are not two, but one Beginning.
"With
You is the beginning." Then it shall appear in what sense the beginning is
with
You. Not that the beginning is not with You here also. For have You not also
said,
"Behold, you shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave Me
alone;
but I am not alone, because the Father is with Me"? John 16:32 Here
therefore
also, the beginning is with You. For You have said elsewhere also, "But
the
Father that dwells in Me, He does His works." John 14:10 "With You is
the
beginning:"
nor was the Father ever separated from You. But when the Beginning
shall
appear to be with You, then shall it be manifest unto all who are made like
You;
since they shall see You as You are; 1 John 3:2 for Philip saw You here, and
sought
the Father. John 14:8 Then therefore shall be seen what now is believed:
then
shall "the beginning be with You" in the sight of the righteous, in
the sight of
saints;
the ungodly being removed, that they may not see the brightness of the
Lord....
9.
Explain of what power you speak. Because here also, as is said, His power is
mentioned,
when the rod of His power is sent forth out of Sion, that He may be
Ruler
in the midst of His enemies. Of what power do you speak, "In the splendour
of
the saints"? "In the splendour," he says, "of the
saints." He speaks of that power
when
the saints shall be in splendour; not when still carrying about their earthly
flesh,
and groaning in a mortal and corruptible body....
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Psalm 110
933
10.
But this is put off, this will be granted afterwards: what is there now?
"From
the
womb I have begotten You, before the morning star." What is here? If God
has
a
Son, has He also a womb? Like fleshly bodies, He has not; for He has not a
bosom
either; yet it is said, "He who is in the bosom of the Father, has
declared
Him."
John 1:18 But that which is the womb, is the bosom also: both bosom and
womb
are put for a secret place. What means, "from the womb"? From what is
secret,
from what is hidden; from Myself, from My substance; this is the meaning
of
"from the womb;" for, "Who shall declare His generation?"
Isaiah 53:8 Let us
then
understand the Father saying unto the Son, "From My womb before the
morning
star have I brought You forth." What then means, "before the morning
star"?
The morning star is put for the stars, as if the Scripture signified the whole
from
a part, and from one conspicuous star all the stars. But how were those stars
created?
"That they may be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and
years."
Genesis
1:14 ... This expression also, "before the morning star," is used
both
figuratively
and literally, and was thus fulfilled. For the Lord was born at night
from
the womb of the Virgin Mary; the testimony of the shepherds does assert
this,
who were "keeping watch over their flock." Luke 2:7-8 So David: O
Thou,
my
Lord, who sittest at the right hand of my Lord, whence are You my Son,
except
because, "From the womb before the morning star I have begotten You"?
11.
And unto what are You born? "The Lord has sworn, and will not repent: You
are
a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedec" (ver. 4). For unto this
wast
Thou
born from the womb before the morning star, that You might be a Priest for
ever
after the order of Melchizedec. For in that character in which He was born of
the
Father, God with God, coeternal with Him who begot Him, He is not a Priest;
but
He is a Priest on account of the flesh which He assumed, on account of the
victim
which He was to offer for us received from us. "The Lord," then,
"has
sworn."
What then means, the Lord has sworn? Doth the Lord, who forbids men to
swear,
Matthew 5:34 Himself swear? Or does He possibly forbid man to swear
chiefly
on this account, that he may not fall into perjury, and for this reason the
Lord
may swear, since He cannot be forsworn. For man, who, through a habit of
swearing,
may slip into perjury, is rightly forbidden to swear: for he will be farther
from
perjury in proportion as he is far from swearing. For the man who swears,
may
swear truly or falsely: but he who swears not, cannot swear falsely; for he
swears
not at all. Why then should not the Lord swear, since the Lord's oath is the
seal
of the promise? Let Him swear by all means. What then do you, when you
swear?
You call God to witness: this is to swear, to call God to witness; and for
this
reason there must be anxiety, that you may not call God to witness anything
false.
If therefore thou by an oath dost call God to witness, why then should not
God
also call Himself to witness with an oath? "I live, says the Lord,"
this is the
Lord's
oath.... "The Lord sware," then, that is, confirmed: "He will
not repent," He
will
not change. What? "You are a Priest for ever. "For ever," for He
will not
repent.
But Priest, in what sense? Will there be those victims, victims offered by
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Psalm 110
934
the
Patriarchs, altars of blood, and tabernacle, and those sacred emblems of the
Old
Covenant? God forbid! These things are already abolished; the temple being
destroyed,
that priesthood taken away, their victim and their sacrifice having alike
disappeared,
not even the Jews have these things. They see that the priesthood
after
the order of Aaron has already perished, and they do not recognise the
Priesthood
after the order of Melchizedec. I speak unto believers. If catechumens
understand
not something, let them lay aside sloth, and hasten unto knowledge. It
is
not therefore needful for me to disclose mysteries here: let the Scriptures
intimate
to you what is the Priesthood after the order of Melchizedec.
12.
"The Lord on Your right hand" (ver. 5). The Lord had said, "Sit
on My right
hand;"
now the Lord is on His right hand, as if they changed seats .... That very
Christ,
the "Lord on Your right hand," unto whom You have sworn, and it will
not
repent
You: what does He, Priest for evermore? What does He, who is at the right
hand
of God, and intercedes for us, Romans 8:34 like a priest entering into the
inner
places, and into the holy of holies, into the mysteries of heaven, He alone
being
without sin, and therefore easily purifying from sins. He therefore "on
Your
right
hand shall wound even kings in the day of His wrath." What kings, do you
ask?
Have you forgotten? "The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers took
counsel
together against the Lord, and against His Anointed." These kings He
wounded
by His glory, and by the weight of His Name made kings weak, so that
they
had not power to effect what they wished. For they strove amain to blot out
the
Christian name from the earth, and could not; for "Whosoever shall fall on
this
stone
shall be broken." Matthew 21:44 Kings therefore fall on this "stone
of
offence,"
and are therefore wounded, when they say, Who is Christ? I know not
what
Jew or what Galilean He may have been, who died, who was slain in such a
manner!
The stone is before your feet, lying, so to speak, mean and humble:
therefore
by scorning thou dost stumble, by stumbling you fall, by falling you are
wounded....
"But on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder."
Luke
20:18 When therefore any one falls upon it, it lies as it were low; it then
wounds:
but when it shall grind him to powder, then it will come from above. See
how
in these two words, it shall wound him and grind him to powder: he strikes
upon
it, and it shall come down upon him: are distinguished the two seasons, of
the
humiliation and the majesty of Christ, of hidden punishment and future
judgment.
He will not crush, when He comes, that man whom He does not wound
when
He lies in a contemptible appearance....
13.
"He shall judge among the heathen: He shall fill up what has fallen"
(ver. 6).
Whoever
you are who art obstinate against Christ, you have raised on high a tower
that
must fall. It is good that you should cast yourself down, become humble,
throw
yourself at the feet of Him who sits on the right hand of the Father, that in
you
a ruin may be made to be built up. For if you abide in your evil height, you
shall
be cast down when you can not be built up. For of such the Scripture says in
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Psalm 110
935
another
passage: "Therefore shall He break down, and not build them up."
Beyond
doubt
he would not say this of some, unless there were some whom He broke
down
so as to build them up again. And this is going on at this time, while Christ
is
judging among the heathen in such a manner as to fill up what has fallen.
"He
shall
smite many heads over the earth." Here upon the earth in this life He
shall
smite
many heads. He makes them humble instead of proud; and I dare to say, my
brethren,
that it is more profitable to walk here humbly with the head wounded,
than
with the head erect to fall into the judgment of eternal death. He will smite
many
heads when he causes them to fall, but He will fill them up and build them
up
again.
14.
"He shall drink of the brook in the way, therefore shall he lift up his
head"
(ver.
7). Let us consider Him drinking of the brook in the way: first of all, what is
the
brook? the onward flow of human mortality: for as a brook is gathered together
by
the rain, overflows, roars, runs, and by running runs down, that is, finishes
its
course;
so is all this course of mortality. Men are born, they live, they die, and
when
some die others are born, and when they die others are born, they succeed,
they
flock together, they depart and will not remain. What is held fast here? what
does
not run? what is not on its way to the abyss as if it was gathered together
from
rain? For as a river suddenly drawn together from rain from the drops of
showers
runs into the sea, and is seen no more, nor was it seen before it was
collected
from the rain; so this hidden rain is collected together from hidden
sources,
and flows on; at death again it travels where it is hidden: this intermediate
state
sounds and passes away. Of this brook He drinks, He has not disdained to
drink
of this brook; for to drink of this brook was to Him to be born and to die.
What
this brook has, is birth and death; Christ assumed this, He was born, He
died.
"Therefore has He lifted up His head;" that is, because He was
humble, and
"became
obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross: therefore God also has
highly
exalted Him, and given Him a Name which is above every name; that at the
Name
of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in Heaven, and things in earth, and
things
under the earth; and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ the
Lord
is in the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:8-11
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 111
936
Exposition
on Psalm 111
1.
The days have come for us to sing Allelujah .... Now these days come only to
pass
away, and pass away to come, again, and typify the day which does not come
and
pass away, because it is neither preceded by yesterday to cause it to come, nor
pressed
upon by the morrow to cause it to pass .... For as these days succeed in
regular
season, with a joyful cheerfulness, the past days of Lent, whereby the
misery
of this life before the Resurrection of the Lord's body is signified; so that
day
which after the Resurrection shall be given to the full body of the Lord, that
is,
to
the holy Church, when all the troubles and sorrows of this life have been shut
out,
shall succeed with perpetual bliss. But this life demands from us
self-restraint,
that
although groaning and weighed down with our toil and struggles, and desiring
to
be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, 2 Corinthians 5:2 we
may
refrain from secular pleasures: and this is signified by the number of forty,
which
was the period of the fasts of Moses, and Elias, and our Lord Himself.... But
by
the number fifty after our Lord's resurrection, during which season we sing
Allelujah,
not the term and passing away of a certain season is signified, but that
blessed
eternity; because the denary Matthew 20:10 added to forty signifies the
reward
paid to the faithful who toil in this life, which our Father has prepared an
equal
share of for the first and for the last. Let us therefore hear the heart of the
people
of God full of divine praises. He represents in this Psalm some one exulting
in
happy joyfulness, he prefigures the people whose hearts are overflowing with
the
love of God, that is, the body of Christ, freed from all evil.
2.
"I will make confession unto You, O Lord," he says, "with my
whole heart"
(ver.
1). Confession is not always confession of sins, but the praise of God is
poured
forth in the devotion of confession. The former mourns, the latter rejoices:
the
former shows the wound to the physician, the latter gives thanks for health.
The
latter confession signifies some one, not merely freed from every evil, but
even
separate from all the ill-disposed. And for this reason let us consider the
place
where he confesses unto the Lord with all his heart. "In the
counsel," he
says,
"of the upright, and in the congregation:" I suppose, of those who
shall "sit
upon
the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
there
will be no longer an unjust man among them, the thefts of no Judas are
allowed,
no Simon Magus is baptized, wishing to buy the Spirit, while he designs
to
sell it; no coppersmith like Alexander does many evil deeds, 2 Timothy 4:14 no
man
covered with sheep's clothing creeps in with feigned fraternity; such as those
among
whom the Church must now groan, and such as she must then shut out,
when
all the righteous shall be gathered together.
"These
are the great works of the Lord, sought out unto all His wills" (ver. 2):
through
which mercy forsakes none who confesses, no man's wickedness is
unpunished.
Hebrews 12:6 ... Let man choose for himself what he lists: the works
of
the Lord are not so constituted, that the creature, having free discretion
allowed
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Psalm 111 937
him,
should transcend the will of the Creator, even though he act contrary to His
will.
God wills not that you should sin; for He forbids it: yet if you have sinned,
imagine
not that the man has done what he willed, and that has happened to God
which
He willed not. For as He would that man would not sin, so would He spare
the
sinner, that he may return and live; He so wills finally to punish him who
persists
in his sin, that the rebellious cannot escape the power of justice. Thus
whatever
choice you have made, the Almighty will not be at a loss to fulfil His
will
concerning you.
3.
"Confession and glorious deeds are His work" (ver. 3). What is a more
glorious
deed
than to justify the ungodly? But perhaps the work of man prevents that
glorious
work of God, so that when he has confessed his sins, he deserves to be
justified....
This is the glorious work of the Lord: for he loves most, to whom most
is
forgiven. Luke 7:42-48 This is the glorious work of the Lord: for "where
sin
abounded,
there did grace much more abound." Romans 5:20 But perhaps a man
would
deserve justification from works. "Not," says he, "of works,
lest any man
boast.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works."
Ephesians
2:9-10 For a man works not righteousness save he be justified: but by
"believing
on Him that justifies the ungodly," Romans 4:5 he begins with faith;
that
good may not by preceding show what he has deserved, but by following what
he
has received....
4.
"He has made His wonderful works to be remembered" (ver. 4): by
abasing this
man,
exalting that. Reserving unusual miracles for a fit season, that thus human
weakness,
intent upon novelty, may remember them, although His daily miracles
be
greater. He created so many trees throughout the whole earth, and no one
wonders:
He dried up one with a word, and the hearts of mortals were
thunderstruck.
Matthew 21:19-20 For that miracle, which has not through its
frequency
become common, will cling most firmly to the heart. But of what use
were
the miracles, save that He might be feared? What too would fear profit,
unless
"the gracious and merciful Lord" gave "meat unto them that fear
Him"?
(ver.
5); meat that does not spoil, "bread that comes down from heaven,"
which He
gave
to no deservings of ours. For "Christ died for the ungodly." Romans
5:6 No
one
then would give such food, save a gracious and merciful Lord. But if He gave
so
much to this life, if the sinner who was to be justified received the Word made
flesh;
what shall he receive when glorified in a future world? For, "He shall
ever
be
mindful of His covenant." Nor has He who has given a pledge, given the
whole.
5.
"He shall show His people the power of His works" (ver. 6). Let not
the holy
Israelites,
who have left all their possessions and have followed Him, be saddened;
let
them not be sorrowful and say, "Who then can be saved?" For "it
is easier for a
camel
to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the
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Psalm 111 938
things
are possible." Matthew 19:24-26 "That He may give them the heritage
of
the
heathen." For they went to the heathen, and enjoined the rich of this
world "not
to
be high-minded, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God,"
1
Timothy 6:17 to whom that is easy which is difficult for men. For thus many
were
called, thus the heritage of the heathen has been occupied, thus it has
happened,
that even many who have not abandoned all their possessions in this life
in
order to follow Him, have despised even life itself for the sake of confessing
His
Name; and like camels humbling themselves to bear the burden of troubles,
have
entered as it were through a needle's eye, through the piercing straits of
suffering.
He has wrought these effects, unto whom all things are possible.
6.
"The works of His hands are verity and judgment" (ver. 7). Let verity
be held by
those
who are judged here. Martyrs are here sentenced, and brought to the
judgment-seat,
that they may judge not only those by whom they have been
judged,
but even give judgment on angels, 1 Corinthians 6:3 against whom was
their
struggle here, even when they seemed to be judged by men. Let not
tribulation,
distress, famine, nakedness, the sword, separate from Christ. For "all
His
commandments are true;" Romans 8:35 He deceives not, He gives us what He
promised.
Yet we should not expect here what He promised; we should not hope
for
it: but "they stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and
equity" (ver.
8).
It is equitable and just that we should labour here and repose there; since
"He
sent
redemption unto His people" (ver. 9). But from what are they redeemed,
save
from
the captivity of this pilgrimage? Let not therefore rest be sought, save in the
heavenly
country. God indeed gave the carnal Israelites an earthly
"which
is in bondage with her children:" but this is the Old Covenant, pertaining
unto
the old man. But they who there understood the figure, even then were heirs
of
the New Covenant; for "
everlasting
mother in heaven." Galatians 4:25-26 But that transitory promises were
given
in that Old Testament is proved by the fact itself: however, "He has
commended
His covenant for ever." But what, but the New? Whosoever dost wish
to
be heir of this, deceive not yourself, and think not of a land flowing with
milk
and
honey, nor of pleasant farms, nor of gardens abounding in fruits and shade:
desire
not how to gain anything of this sort, such as the eye of covetousness is
wont
to lust for. For since "covetousness is the root of all evils," 1
Timothy 6:10 it
must
be cut off, that it may be consumed here; not be put off, that it may be
satisfied
there. First escape punishments, avoid hell; before you long for a God
who
promises, beware of one who threatens. For "holy and reverend is His
Name."
7.
... "The fear of the Lord," therefore, "is the beginning of
wisdom."
"Understanding
is good" (ver. 10). Who gainsays? But to understand, and not to
do,
is dangerous. It is "good," therefore, "to those that do
thereafter." Nor let it lift
up
the mind unto pride; for, "the praise of Him," the fear of whom is
the beginning
of
wisdom, "endures for ever:" and this will be the reward, this the
end, this the
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 111
939
everlasting
station and abode. There are found the true commandments, made fast
for
ever and ever; here is the very heritage of the New Covenant commanded for
ever.
"One thing," he says, "I have desired of the Lord, which I will
require: even
that
I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." For,
"blessed are
they
that dwell in the house" of the Lord: "they will be alway
praising" Him; for
"His
praise endures for ever."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 112
940
Exposition
on Psalm 112
1.
I believe, brethren, that you remarked and committed to memory the title of
this
Psalm.
"The conversion," he says, "of Haggai and Zechariah." These
prophets
were
not as yet in existence, when these verses were sung .... But both, the one
within
a year after the other, began to prophesy that which seems to pertain to the
restoration
of the temple, as was foretold so long before.... "For the
is
holy, which temple you are." 1 Corinthians 3:17 Whoever therefore converts
himself
to the work of this building together, and to the hope of a firm and holy
edifice,
like a living stone from the miserable ruin of this world, understands the
title
of the Psalm, understands "the conversion of Haggai and Zechariah."
Let him
therefore
chant the following verses, not so much with the voice of his tongue as
of
his life. For the completion of the building will be that ineffable peace of
wisdom,
the "beginning" of which is the "fear of the Lord:" let him
therefore,
whom
this conversion builds together, begin thence.
2.
"Blessed is the man that fears the Lord: he will have great delight in His
commandments"
(ver. 1). God, who alone judges both truthfully and mercifully,
will
see how far he obeys His commandments: since "the life of man on earth is
a
temptation,"
Job 7:1 as holy Job says. But "He who judges us is the Lord."
1
Corinthians 4:4 ... He therefore will see how far each man profits in His
commandments;
yet he who loves the peace of this building together, shall have
great
delight in them; nor ought he to despair, since there is "peace on earth
for
men
of good will." Luke 2:14
3.
Next follows, "His seed shall be mighty upon earth" (ver. 2). The
Apostle
witnesses,
that the works of mercy are the seed of the future harvest, when he says,
"Let
us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap;" Galatians
6:9
and
again, "But this I say, He which sowes sparingly, shall reap also
sparingly."
2
Corinthians 9:6 But what, brethren, is more mighty than that not only Zacchćus
should
buy the
the
widow for two mites, Mark 12:42 and that each should possess an equal share
there?
What is more mighty, than that the same kingdom should be worth treasures
to
the rich man, and a cup of cold water to the poor?... "Glory and riches
shall be
in
his house" (ver. 3). For his house is his heart; where, with the praise of
God, he
lives
in greater riches with the hope of eternal life, than with men flattering, in
palaces
of marble, with splendidly adorned ceilings, with the fear of everlasting
death.
"For his righteousness endures for ever:" this is his glory, there
are his
riches.
While the other's purple, and fine linen, and grand banquets, even when
present,
are passing away; and when they have come to an end, the burning tongue
shall
cry out, longing for a drop of water from the finger's end. Luke 16:24
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Psalm 112
941
4.
"Unto the right-hearted there arises up light in the darkness" (ver.
4). Justly do
the
godly direct their heart unto their God, justly do they walk with their God,
preferring
His will to themselves; and having no proud presumption in their own.
For
they remember that they were some time in darkness, but are now light in the
Lord.
Ephesians 5:8 "Merciful, pitying, and just is the Lord God." It
delights us
that
He is "merciful and pitying," but it perhaps terrifies us that the
Lord God is
"just."
Fear not, despair not at all, happy man, who fearest the Lord, and hast great
delight
in His commandments; be thou sweet, be merciful and lend. For the Lord
is
just in this manner, that He judges without mercy him who has not shown
mercy;
James 2:13 but, "Sweet is the man who is merciful and lends" (ver.
5): God
will
not spew him out of His mouth as if he were not sweet. "Forgive," He
says,
"and
you shall be forgiven; give, and it shall be given unto you." Luke 6:37-38
Whilst
you forgive that you may be forgiven, you are merciful; while you give that
it
may be given unto you, you lend. For though all be called generally mercy
where
another is assisted in his distress, yet there is a difference where you spend
neither
money, nor the toil of bodily labour, but by forgiving what each man has
sinned
against you, you gain free pardon for your own sins also .... He who is
unwilling
to give to the poor, seeks riches; listen to what is written, "You shall
have
treasure in heaven." Matthew 19:21 You will not then lose honour by
forgiving:
for it is a very laudable triumph to conquer anger. You will not grow
poor
by giving; for a heavenly treasure is a more safe possession. The former
verse,
"Riches and plenteousness shall be in his house," was pregnant with
this
verse.
5.
He therefore who does these things, "shall guide his words with
discretion." His
deeds
themselves are the words whereby he shall be defended at the Judgment;
which
shall not be without mercy unto him, since he has himself shown mercy.
"For
he shall never be moved" (ver. 6): he who, called to the right hand, shall
hear
these
words, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for
you
from the foundation of the world." For no works of theirs, save works of
mercy,
are there mentioned. He therefore shall hear, "Come, you blessed of My
Father;"
for, "the generation of the right ones shall be blessed." Thus,
"the
righteous
shall be had in everlasting remembrance." "He will not be afraid of
any
evil
hearing; for his heart stands fast and believes in the Lord" (ver. 7).
Such as the
words
which he will hear addressed to those on the left hand, "Depart into
everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Matthew 25:34, 41 He
therefore
who seeks here not his own things, but those of Jesus Christ,
Philippians
2:21 most patiently endures sufferings, waits for the promises with
faith.
Nor is he broken down by any temptations: "His heart is established, and
will
not shrink, until he see beyond his enemies" (ver. 8). His enemies wished
to
see
good things here, and when invisible blessings were promised them, used to
say,
"Who will show us any good?" Let our heart therefore be established,
and
shrink
not, until we see beyond our enemies. For they wish to see good things of
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Psalm 112
942
men
in the land of the dying; we trust to see the good things of the Lord in the
land
of
the living.
6.
But it is a great thing to have the heart established, and not to be moved,
while
they
rejoice who love what they see, and mock at him who hopes for what he sees
not;
"what the Lord has prepared for them that love Him." 1 Corinthians
2:9 How
great
is the value of this which is not seen, and it is bought for so much as each
man
is able to give for it. On this account he also "dispersed abroad, and
gave to
the
poor" (ver. 9): he saw not, yet he kept buying; but He was storing up the
treasure
in heaven, who deigned to hunger and thirst in the poor on earth. It is no
wonder
then if "his righteousness remains for ever:" He who created the ages
being
his guardian. "His horn," whose humility was scorned by the proud,
"shall
be
exalted with honour."
7.
"The ungodly shall see it, and he shall be angered" (ver. 10): this
is that late and
fruitless
repentance. For with whom rather than himself is he "angered," when
he
shall
say, "Our pride, what has it profited us? the boastfulness of our riches,
what
has
it given us? Wisdom 5:8" seeing the horn of him exalted with honour, who
"dispersed
abroad, and gave to the poor." "He shall gnash with his teeth, and
consume
away:" for "there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." For
he will no
more
bring forth leaves and bloom, as would happen if he had repented in season:
but
he will then repent, when "the desire of the ungodly shall perish,"
no
consolation
succeeding. "The desire of the ungodly shall perish," when "all
things
shall
pass away like a shadow," Wisdom 5:8-9 when the flower shall fall down on
the
withering of the grass. "But the word of the Lord that endures for
ever,"
Isaiah
40:8 as it is mocked by the vanity of the falsely happy, so will laugh at the
perdition
of the same when truly miserable.
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Psalm 113
943
Exposition
on Psalm 113
1.
...When ye hear sung in the Psalms, "Praise the Lord, you children"
(ver. 1);
imagine
not that that exhortation pertains not unto you, because having already
passed
the youth of the body, you are either blooming in the prime of manhood, or
growing
gray with the honours of old age: for unto all of you the Apostle says,
"Brethren,
be not children in understanding; howbeit, in malice be ye children, but
in
understanding be men." What malice in particular, save pride? For it is
pride
that,
presuming in false greatness, suffers not man to walk along the narrow path,
and
to enter by the narrow gate; but the child easily enters through the narrow
entrance;
and thus no man, save as a child, enters into the kingdom of heaven.
"Praise
the Name of the Lord."... Let Him therefore be alway proclaimed:
"Blessed
be
the Name of the Lord, from this time forth for evermore" (ver. 2). Let Him
be
proclaimed
everywhere: "From the rising up of the sun unto the going down of the
same,
praise ye the Name of the Lord" (ver. 3).
2.
If any of the holy children who praise the Name of the Lord were to ask of me
and
say to me, "for evermore" I understand to mean unto all eternity: but
why
"from
this," and why is not the Name of the Lord blessed before this, and before
all
ages? I will answer the infant, who asks not in contumacy. Unto you it is said,
masters
and children, unto you it is said, "Praise the Name of the Lord; blessed
be
the
Name of the Lord:" let the Name of the Lord be blessed, "from
this," that is,
from
the moment ye speak these words. For you begin to praise, but praise ye
without
end .... Or, since in this passage he seems to signify rather humility than
childhood,
the contrary of which is the vain and false greatness of pride; and for
this
reason none but children praise the Lord, since the proud know not how to
praise
Him; let old age be childlike, and your childhood like old age; that is, that
neither
may your wisdom be with pride, nor your humility without wisdom, that
you
may "praise the Lord from this for evermore." Wherever the
is
diffused in her childlike saints, "Praise ye the Name of the Lord;"
that is, "from
the
rising up of the sun unto the going down of the same."
3.
"The Lord is high above all heathen" (ver. 4). The heathen are men:
what
wonder
if the Lord be above all men? They see with their eyes those whom they
worship
high above themselves to shine in heaven, the sun and moon and stars,
creatures
which they serve while they neglect the Creator. But not only "is the
Lord
high above all heathen;" but "His glory" also "is above the
heavens." The
heavens
look up unto Him above themselves; and the humble have Him together
with
them, who do not worship the heavens instead of Him, though placed in the
flesh
beneath the heavens.
4.
"Who is like unto the Lord our God, that has His dwelling so high; and yet
beholds
the humble?" (ver. 5). Any one would think that He dwells in the lofty
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Psalm 113 944
heavens,
whence He may behold the humble things on earth; but "He beholds the
humble
things that are in heaven and earth" (ver. 6): what then is His high
dwelling,
whence He beholds the humble things that are in heaven and earth? Are
the
humble things He beholds His own high dwelling itself? For He thus exalts the
humble,
so as not to make them proud. He therefore both dwells in those whom
He
raises high, and makes them heaven for Himself, that is, His own abode; and
by
seeing them not proud, but constantly subject to Himself, He beholds even in
heaven
itself these very humble things, in whom raised on high He dwells. For the
Spirit
thus speaks through Isaiah: "Thus says the Highest that dwells on high,
that
inhabites
eternity; the Lord Most High, dwelling in the holy." He has expounded
what
He meant by dwelling on high, by the more full expression, "dwelling in
the
holy."...
5.
And he has moved us also to enquire whether the Lord our God beholds the
same
humble things in heaven and in earth: or different humble things in heaven to
what
He beholds on earth .... But if the Lord our God beholds other humble things
in
heaven to what He does on earth; I suppose that He already beholds in heaven
those
whom He has called, and in whom He dwells; while on earth He beholds
those
whom He is now calling, that He may dwell in them. For He has the one
with
Him musing on heavenly things, the others He is waking, while they yet
dream
things earthly. But since it is difficult to call even those humble, who have
not
as yet submitted their necks in piety to the gracious yoke of Christ, since the
divine
writings throughout the whole Psalm warn us to understand holy by the
word
humble; there is also another interpretation, which, Beloved, you may
consider
with me. I believe that those are now meant by heavens who shall sit
upon
twelve thrones, and shall judge with the Lord; Matthew 19:28 and under the
name
of the earth, the rest of the multitude of the blessed, who shall be set on the
right
hand, that through works of mercy they may be praised and received into
everlasting
habitations by those whom they have made friends to themselves from
the
mammon of unrighteousness in this mortal life. Luke 16:9...
6.
"He takes up the destitute out of the dust, and lifts the poor out of the
mire" (ver.
7);
"that He may set Him with the princes, even with the princes of His
people"
(ver.
8). Let not then the heads of the exalted disdain to be humble, beneath the
Lord's
right hand. For though the faithful steward of the Lord's money be placed
together
with the princes of the people of God, although he be destined to sit on
the
twelve seats, and even to judge angels; Matthew 19:28 yet he is taken up
destitute
from the dust, and lifted from out of the mire. Was not he possibly lifted
up
from the mire, who "served various lusts and pleasures"?...
7.
What then, brethren, if we have already heard of those humble things which are
in
heaven, lifted up from the mire, that they might be set with the princes of the
people;
have we by consequence heard nothing of the humble things which the
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Psalm 113 945
Lord
beholds on the earth? For those friends who will judge with their Lord are
fewer,
while those whom they receive into everlasting habitations are more in
number.
For although the whole of a heap of corn compared with the separate
chaff
may seem to contain few in number; yet considered by itself, it is
abundant....
The Church then speaks thus in that sense, wherein she seems to bear
no
offspring among those crowds who have not given up all things, that they
might
follow the Lord, and might sit upon the twelve thrones. Matthew 19:28 But
how
many in the same crowd, who make unto themselves friends of the mammon
of
unrighteousness, Luke 16:9 shall stand on the right hand through works of
mercy?
He not only then lifts up from the mire him whom He is to place with the
princes
of His people; but also, "Makes the barren woman to keep house, and to be
a
joyful mother of children" (ver. 9): He who dwells on high, and beholds
the
humble
things that are in heaven and earth, the seed of Abraham like the stars of
heaven,
holiness set on high in heavenly habitations; and like the sand on the sea
shore,
a merciful and countless multitude gathered together from the harmful
waves,
and the bitterness of impiety.
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Psalm 114
946
Exposition on Psalm 114
1.
The river
when
touched by the feet of the priests who bore the
with
bridled stream, while it flowed down from below, where it ran on into the
sea,
until the whole people passed over, the priests standing on the dry ground.
Joshua
3:15-17 We know these things, but yet we should not imagine in this
Psalm,
to which we have now answered by chanting Allelujah, that it is the
purpose
of the Holy Spirit, that while we call to mind those deeds of the past, we
should
not consider things like unto them yet to take place. For "these
things," as
the
Apostle says, "happened unto them for ensamples." 1 Corinthians 10:11
2.
"When
strange
people" (ver. 1), "
2);
"the sea saw that and fled,
deeds
are related unto us, but rather that the future is predicted; since, while
those
miracles
also were going on in that people, things present indeed were happening,
but
not without an intimation of things future.... Some things he has related
differently
to what we have learned and read there: that he might not truly be
thought
to be repeating past acts rather than to be prophesying future things. For in
the
first place, we read not that the
on
the side nearest the source of its streams, while the people were passing
through;
next, we read not of the mountains and hills skipping: all which he has
added,
and repeated. For after saying, "The sea saw that, and fled;
driven
back:" he added, "The mountains skipped like rams, and the little
hills like
young
sheep" (ver. 4): and then asks, "What ails you, O thou sea, that you
fled,
and
thou, Jordan, that you were driven back?" (ver. 5). "You mountains,
that you
skipped
like rams; and you little hills, like young sheep?" (ver. 6).
3.
Let us therefore consider what we are taught here; since both those deeds were
typical
of us, and these words exhort us to recognise ourselves. For if we hold with
a
firm heart the grace of God which has been given us, we are
Abraham:
unto us the Apostle says, "Therefore are you the seed of
Abraham."...
Let therefore no Christian consider himself alien to the name of
believed,
among whom we find the Apostles chief. Hence our Lord in another
passage
says, "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I
must
bring,
that there may be one fold and one Shepherd." John 10:16 The Christian
people
then is rather
reprobated
for its perfidy, for the pleasures of the flesh sold their birthright, so that
they
belonged not to Jacob, but rather to Esau. For you know that it was said with
this
hidden meaning, "That the elder shall serve the younger."
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947
4.
But Egypt, since it is said to mean affliction, or one who afflicts, or one who
oppresses,
is often used for an emblem of this world; from which we must
spiritually
withdraw, that we may not be bearing the yoke with unbelievers.
2
Corinthians 6:14 For thus each one becomes a fit citizen of the heavenly
led
into the land of promise, save first they had departed from
did
not depart thence, until freed by Divine help; so no man is turned away in
heart
from this world, unless aided by the gift of the Divine mercy. For what was
there
once prefigured, the same is fulfilled in every faithful one in the daily
travailings
of the Church, in this end of the world, in this, as the blessed John
writes,
last time. 1 John 2:18 Hear the Apostle the teacher of the Gentiles, thus
instructing
us: "I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant, how that all our
fathers
were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized
unto
Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and
did
all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual rock that
followed
them, and that rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well
pleased,
for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our
examples."
1 Corinthians 10:1-6 What more do ye wish, most beloved brethren?
For
it is surely clear, not from human conjecture, but from the declaration of an
Apostle,
that is, of God and our Lord: for God spoke in them, and though from
clouds
of flesh, yet it was God who thundered: surely then it is clear by so great
testimony
that all these things which were done in figure, are now fulfilled in our
salvation;
because then the future was predicted, now the past is read, and the
present
observed.
5.
Hear what is even more wonderful, that the hidden and veiled mysteries of the
ancient
books are in some degree revealed by the ancient books. For Micah the
prophet
speaks thus. "According to the days of your coming out of
show
unto him marvellous things, etc .... In this Psalm, therefore, although the
wonderful
spirit of prophecy does look into the future, yet it seems, as it were, to
be
merely detailing to the past. "
that
and fled:" "was," "saw," and "fled," are
words of the past tense; and "
was
driven back, and the mountains skipped, and the earth trembled," in like
manner
have a past expression, without, however, any difficulty in understanding
by
them the future .... For though it was so long after the departure of that
people
from
have
quoted; nevertheless, he witnesses that he is foretelling the future without
any
question. "According to the days," he says, "of your coming out
of the land of
confounded."
This is what is here said, "The sea saw that, and fled:" for if in
this
passage,
through words of the past tense the future is secretly revealed, as is the
case;
who would venture to explain the words, "shall see and be
confounded," of
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Psalm 114
948
past
events? And a little lower down he alludes more clearly than light itself to
those
very enemies of ours, who followed us flying, that they might slay us, that
is,
our sins, which are overwhelmed and extinguished in Baptism, just as the
Egyptians
were drowned in the sea, saying, since "He retains not His anger for
ever,
because He is of good will and merciful, He will turn again, He will have
compassion
upon us, He will drown our iniquities: and You will cast all their sins
into
the depths of the sea."
6.
What is it, most beloved? ye who know yourselves to be Israelites according to
Abraham's
seed, you who are of the house of Jacob, heirs according to promise,
know
that even you have gone forth from
world;
that you have gone forth from a foreign people, since by the confession of
piety,
you have separated yourselves from the blasphemies of the Gentiles. For it
is
not your tongue, but a foreign one, which knows not how to praise God, to
whom
you sing Allelujah. For "
is
not a Jew which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is
outward
in
the flesh; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and by circumcision of the
heart."
Romans 2:28-29 Examine then your hearts, if faith has circumcised them,
if
confession has cleansed them; in you "
you
"
become
the sons of God." John 1:12...
7.
But I would not that you should seek without yourselves, how the
turned
back, I would not ye should augur anything evil. For the Lord chides those
who
have "turned" their "back" unto Him, "and not their
face." And whoever
forsakes
the source of his being, and turns away from his Creator; as a river into
the
sea, he glides into the bitter wickedness of this world. It is therefore good
for
him
that he turn back, and that God whom he had set behind his back, may be
before
his face as he returns; and that the sea of this world, which he had set
before
his face, when he was gliding on towards it, may become behind him; and
that
he may so forget what is behind him, that he may "reach forward to what is
before
him;" Philippians 3:13 which is profitable for him when once converted....
8.
"Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the
God of
Jacob"
(ver. 7). What means, "at the presence of the Lord," save at the
presence of
Him
who said, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
Matthew
28:30 For the earth trembled; but because it had remained slothful, it was
made
to tremble, so that it might be more firmly fixed at the presence of the Lord.
9.
"Who turned the hard rock into standing waters, and the flint stone into
springing
wells" (ver. 8). For He melted Himself, and what may be called His
hardness
to water those who believe in Him, that He might in them become "a
fountain
of water gushing forth unto everlasting life;" John 4:14 because formerly,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 114
949
when
He was not known, He seemed hard. Hence they who said, "This is an hard
saying,
who can bear it?" John 6:60 were confounded, and waited not until He
should
flow and stream upon them when the Scriptures were revealed. The rock,
that
hardness, was turned into pools of water, that stone into fountains of waters,
when
on His resurrection, "He expounded unto them, commencing with Moses
and
all the prophets, how Christ ought to suffer thus;" Luke 24:26-27 and sent
the
Holy
Ghost, of whom He said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and
drink."
John 7:37
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Psalm 115
950
Exposition on
Psalm 115
1.
"Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Your Name give the
praise" (ver. 1).
For
that grace of the water that gushed from the rock ("now that rock was
Christ"
1
Corinthians 10:4), was not given on the score of works that had gone before,
but
of
His mercy "that justifies the ungodly." Romans 4:5 For "Christ
died for
sinners,"
that men might not seek any glory of their own, but in the Lord's Name.
2.
"For Your loving mercy, and for Your truth's sake" (ver. 2). Observe
how often
these
two qualities, loving mercy and truth, are joined together in the holy
Scriptures.
For in His loving mercy He called sinners, and in His truth He judges
those
who when called refused to come. "That the heathen may not say, Where is
now
their God?" For at the last, His loving mercy and truth will shine forth,
when
"the
sign of the Son of man shall appear in heaven, and then shall all tribes of the
earth
cry woe;" Matthew 24:30 nor shall they then say, "Where is their
God?"
when
He is no longer preached unto them to be believed in, but displayed before
them
to be trembled at.
3.
"As for our God, He is in heaven above" (ver. 3). Not in heaven,
where they see
the
sun and moon, works of God which they adore, but "in heaven above,"
which
overpasses
all heavenly and earthly bodies. Nor is our God in heaven in such a
sense,
as to dread a fall that should deprive Him of His throne, if heaven were
withdrawn
from under Him. "In heaven and earth He has made whatsoever
pleased
Him." Nor does He stand in need of His own works, as if He had place in
them
where He might abide; but endures in His own eternity, wherein He abides
and
has done whatsoever pleased Him, both in heaven and earth; for they did not
support
Him, as a condition of their being created by Him: since, unless they had
been
created, they could not have supported Him. Therefore, in whatsoever He
Himself
dwells, He, so to speak, contains this as in need of Himself, He is not
contained
by this as if He needed it. Or it may be thus understood: "In heaven and
in
earth He has done whatsoever pleased Him," whether among the higher or the
lower
orders of His people, He has made His grace His free gift, that no man may
boast
in the merits of his own works....
4.
"Their idols," he says, "are silver and gold, even the work of
men's hands" (ver.
4).
That is, although we cannot display our God to your carnal eyes, whom you
ought
to recognise through his works; yet be not seduced by your vain pretences,
because
ye can point with the finger to, the objects of your worship. For it were
much
worthier for you not to have what to point to, than that your hearts' blindness
should
be displayed in what is exhibited to these eyes by you: for what do ye
exhibit,
save gold and silver? They have indeed both bronze, and wood, and
earthenware
idols, and of different materials of this description; but the Holy Spirit
preferred
mentioning the more precious material, because when every man has
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Psalm 115
951
blushed
for that which he sets more by, he is much more easily turned away from
the
worship of meaner objects. For it is said in another passage of Scripture
concerning
the worshippers of images, "Saying to a stock, You are my father; and
to
a stone, You have brought me forth." But lest that man who speaks thus not
to a
stone
or stock, but to gold and silver, seem wiser to himself; let him look this way,
let
him turn hitherwards the ear of his heart: "The idols of the Gentiles are
gold
and
silver." Nothing mean and contemptible is here mentioned: and indeed to
that
mind
which is not earth, both gold and silver is earth, but more beautiful and
brilliant,
more solid and firm. Employ not then the hands of men, to create a false
Deity
out of that metal which a true God has created; nay, a false man, whom you
may
worship for a true God....
5.
"For they have mouths, and speak not: eyes have they, and see not"
(ver. 5).
"They
have ears, and hear not: noses have they, and smell not" (ver. 6).
"They
have
hands, and handle not; feet have they, and walk not; neither cry they through
their
throat" (ver. 7). Even their artist therefore surpasses them, since he had
the
faculty
of moulding them by the motion and functions of his limbs: though you
would
be ashamed to worship that artist. Even you surpass them, though you have
not
made these things, since you do what they cannot do. Even a beast does excel
them;
for unto this it is added, "neither cry they through their throat."
For after he
had
said above, "they have mouths, and speak not;" what need was there,
after he
had
enumerated the limbs from head to feet, to repeat what he had said of their
crying
through their throat; unless, I suppose, because we perceive that what he
mentioned
of the other members, was common to men and beasts? For they see,
and
hear, and smell, and walk, and some, apes for instance, handle with hands. But
what
he had said of the mouth, is peculiar to men: since beasts do not speak. But
that
no one might refer what has been said to the works of human members alone,
and
prefer men only to the gods of the heathen; after all this he added these
words,
"neither
cry they through their throat:" which again is common to men and
cattle
.... How much better then do mice and serpents, and other animals of like
sort,
judge of the idols of the heathen, so to speak, for they regard not the human
figure
in them when they see not the human life. For this reason they usually build
nests
in them, and unless they are deterred by human movements, they seek for
themselves
no safer habitations. A man then moves himself, that he may frighten
away
a living beast from his own god; and yet worships that god who cannot move
himself,
as if he were powerful, from whom he drove away one better than the
object
of his worship.... Even the dead surpasses a deity who neither lives nor has
lived....
6.
But they seem to themselves to have a purer religion, who say, I neither
worship
an
idol, nor a devil; but in the bodily image I behold an emblem of that which I
am
bound
to worship.... They presume to reply, that they worship not the bodies
themselves,
but the deities which preside over the government of them. One
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Psalm 115 952
sentence
of the Apostle, therefore, testifies to their punishment and condemnation;
"Who,"
he says, "have changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and
served
the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever." Romans 1:25
For
in the former part of this sentence he condemned idols; in the latter, the
account
they give of their idols: for by designating images wrought by an artificer
by
the names of the works of God's creation, they change the truth of God into a
lie;
while, by considering these works themselves as deities, and worshipping
them
as such, they serve the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for
ever....
7.
But, it will be said, we also have very many instruments and vessels made of
materials
or metal of this description for the purpose of celebrating the
Sacraments,
which being consecrated by these ministrations are called holy, in
honour
of Him who is thus worshipped for our salvation: and what indeed are
these
very instruments or vessels, but the work of men's hands? But have they
mouth,
and yet speak not? have they eyes, and see not? do we pray unto them,
because
through them we pray to God? This is the chief cause of this insane
profanity,
that the figure resembling the living person, which induces men to
worship
it, has more influence in the minds of these miserable persons, than the
evident
fact that it is not living, so that it ought to be despised by the living.
8.
The result that ensues is that described in the next verse: "They that
make them
are
like unto them, and so are all such as put their trust in them" (ver. 8).
Let them
therefore
see with open eyes, and worship with shut and dead understandings,
idols
that neither see nor live. "But the house of
9).
"For hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man sees, why does he yet
hope
for?
But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it."
Romans
8:24-25 But that this patience may endure to the end, "He is their helper
and
defender." Do perhaps spiritual persons (by whom carnal minds are built up
in
"the
spirit of meekness," Galatians 6:1 because they pray as higher for lower
minds)
already see, and is that already to them reality which to the lower is hope?
It
is not so. For even "the house of Aaron has hope in the Lord" (ver.
10).
Therefore,
that they also may stretch forward perseveringly towards those things
which
are before them, and may run perseveringly, until they may apprehend that
for
which they are apprehended, Philippians 3:12-14 and may know even as they
are
known, 1 Corinthians 13:12 "He is their helper and defender." For
both "fear
the
Lord, and have hoped in the Lord: He is their helper and defender" (ver.
11).
9.
For we do not by our deservings prevent the mercy of God; but, "The Lord
has
been
mindful of us, and has blessed us. He has blessed the house of
blessed
the house of Aaron" (ver. 12). But in blessing both of these, "He has
blessed
all that fear the Lord" (ver. 13). Do you ask, who are meant by both of
these?
He answers, "both small and great." That is, the house of
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953
house
of Aaron, those who among that nation believed in Jesus the Saviour .... For
in
the character of those who out of that nation believed, it is said,
"Except the
Lord
of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like
unto
Gomorrha." Romans 9:29 Seed, because when it has been scattered over the
earth,
it multiplied.
10.
For the great ones, of the house of Aaron, have said, "May the Lord
increase
you
more and more, you and your children" (ver. 14). And thus it has happened.
For
children that have been raised even from the stones have flocked unto
Abraham:
Matthew 3:9 sheep which were not of this fold, have flocked unto him,
that
there might be one flock, and one shepherd; the faith of all nations was added,
and
the number grew, not only of wise priests, but of obedient peoples; the Lord
increasing
not only their fathers more and more, who in Christ might show the
way
to the rest who should imitate them, but also their children, who should
follow
their fathers' pious footsteps.
11.
Therefore the Prophet says unto these great and small, the mountains and the
little
hills, the rams and the young sheep, what follows: "You are the blessed of
the
Lord,
who made heaven and earth" (ver. 15). As if he should say, You are the
blessed
of the Lord, who made the heaven in the great, earth in the small: not this
visible
heaven, studded with luminaries which are objects to these eyes. For "The
heaven
of heavens is the Lord's" (ver. 16); who has elevated the minds of some
saints
to such a height, that they became teachable by no man, but by God
Himself;
in comparison of which heaven, whatever is discerned with carnal eyes is
to
be called earth; which "He has given to the children of men;" that
when it is
contemplated,
whether in that region which illumines above, as that which is
called
heaven, or in that which is illumined beneath, which is properly called earth
(since
in comparison with that which is called heaven of heaven, the whole, as we
have
said, is earth;) the whole therefore of this earth He has given to the children
of
men, that by the consideration of it, as far as they can, they may conceive of
the
Creator,
whom with their yet weak hearts they cannot see without that aid to their
conception.
12.
...But nevertheless since they derive the truth and richness of wisdom, not
from
man nor through man, but through God Himself, they have received little
ones
who shall be heaven, that they may know that they are heaven of heaven; as
yet
however earth, unto which they say, "I have planted, Apollos watered, but
God
gave
the increase." 1 Corinthians 3:6 For to those very sons of men whom He
made
heaven, He who knows how to provide for the earth through heaven, has
given
earth upon which they work. May they therefore abide, heaven and earth, in
their
God, who made them, and let them live from Him, confessing unto Him, and
praising
Him; for if they choose to live from themselves, they shall die, as it is
written,
"From the dead, as though he were not, confession ceases." Sirach
17:26
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954
But,
"The dead praise not You, O Lord, neither all they that go down into
silence"
(ver.
17). For the Scripture in another passage proclaims, "The sinner, when he
comes
into the abyss of wickednesses, scorns." "But we, who live, will
praise the
Lord,
from this time forth for evermore" (ver. 18).
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955
Exposition
on Psalm 116
1.
"I have loved, since the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer" (ver.
1). Let the
soul
that is sojourning in absence from the Lord sing thus, let that sheep which had
strayed
sing thus, let that son who had "died and returned to life," who had
"been
lost
and was found;" Luke 15:6, 24 let our soul sing thus, brethren, and most
beloved
sons. Let us be taught, and let us abide, and let us sing thus with the
Saints:
"I have loved: since the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer." Is
this a
reason
for having loved, that the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer? and do we
not
rather love, because He has heard, or that He may hear? What then means,
"I
have
loved, since the Lord will hear"? Doth he, because hope is wont to inflame
love,
say that he has loved, since he has hoped that God will listen to the voice of
his
prayer?
2.
But whence has he hoped for this? Since, he says, "He has inclined His ear
unto
me:
and in my days I have called upon Him" (ver. 2). I loved, therefore,
because
He
will hear; He will hear, "because He has inclined His ear unto me."
But whence
do
you know, O human soul, that God has inclined His ear unto you, except you
say,
"I have believed"? These three things, therefore, "abide, faith,
hope, charity:"
1
Corinthians 13:13 because you have believed, you have hoped; because you
have
hoped, you have loved....
3.
And what are your days, since you have said, "In my days I have called
upon
Him"?
Are they those perchance, in which "the fulness of time came," and
"God
sent
His Son," Galatians 4:4 who had already said, "In an acceptable time
have I
heard
you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you"? Isaiah 49:8...I may
rather
call
my days the days of my misery, the days of my mortality, the days according
to
Adam, full of toil and sweat, the days according to the ancient corruption.
"For I
lying,
stuck fast in the deep mire," in another Psalm also have cried out,
"Behold,
You
have made my days old;" in these days of mine have I called upon You. For
my
days are different from the days of my Lord. I call those my days, which by
my
own daring I have made for myself, whereby I have forsaken Him: and, since
He
reigns everywhere, and is all-powerful, and holds all things, I have deserved
prison;
that is, I have received the darkness of ignorance, and the bonds of
mortality
.... For in these days of mine, "The snares of death compassed me round
about,
and the pains of hell gat hold upon me" (ver. 3): pains that would not
have
overtaken
me, had I not wandered from You. But now they have overtaken me;
but
I found them not, while I was rejoicing in the prosperity of the world, in
which
the
snares of hell deceive the more.
4.
But after "I too found trouble and heaviness, I called upon the Name of
the
Lord"
(ver. 4). For trouble and profitable sorrow I did not feel; trouble, wherein
He
gives aid, unto whom it is said, "O be Thou our help in trouble: and vain
is the
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Psalm 116 956
help
of man." For I thought I might rejoice and exult in the vain help of man;
but
when
I had heard from my Lord, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be
comforted:"
Matthew 5:4 I did not wait until I should lose those temporal
blessings
in which I rejoiced, and should then mourn: but I gave heed to that very
misery
of mine which caused me to rejoice in such things, which I both feared to
lose,
and yet could not retain; I gave heed to it firmly and courageously, and I saw
that
I was not only agonized by the adversities of this world, but even bound by its
good
fortune; and thus "I found the trouble and heaviness" which had
escaped me,
"and
called upon the Name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech You, deliver my soul."
Let
then the holy people of God say, "I called upon the Name of the
Lord:" and let
the
remainder of the heathen hear, who do not as yet call upon the Name of the
Lord;
let them hear and seek, that they may discover trouble and heaviness, and
may
call upon the Name of the Lord, and be saved....
5.
"Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful" (ver.
5). He is
gracious,
righteous, and merciful. Gracious in the first place, because He has
inclined
His ear unto me; and I knew not that the ear of God had approached my
lips,
till I was aroused by those beautiful feet, that I might call upon the Lord's
Name:
for who has called upon Him, save he whom He first called? Hence
therefore
He is in the first place "gracious;" but "righteous," because
He scourges;
and
again, "merciful," because He receives; for "He scourges every
son whom He
receives;"
nor ought it to be so bitter to me that He scourges, as sweet that He
receives.
For how should not "The Lord, who keeps little ones" (ver. 6),
scourge
those
whom, when of mature age, He seeks to be heirs; "for what son is he whom
the
father chastens not?" Hebrews 12:6-7 "I was in misery, and He helped
me." He
helped
me, because I was in misery; for the pain which the physician causes by his
knife
is not penal, but salutary.
6.
"Turn again then unto your rest, O my soul; for the Lord has done good to
you"
(ver.
7): not for your deservings, or through your strength; but because the Lord
has
done good to you. "Since," he says, "He has delivered my soul
from death"
(ver.
8). It is wonderful, most beloved brethren, that, after he had said that his
soul
should
turn unto rest, since the Lord had rewarded him; he added, since "He has
delivered
my soul from death." Did it turn unto rest, because it was delivered from
death?
Is not rest more usually said of death? What is the action of him whose life
is
rest, and death disquietude? Such then ought to be the action of the soul, as
may
tend
to a quiet security, not one that may increase restless toil; since He has
delivered
it from death, who, pitying it, said, "Come unto Me, all you that labour
and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," etc. Matthew 11:28-30 Meek
therefore
and humble, following, so to speak, Christ as its path, should the action
of
the soul be that tends towards repose; nevertheless, not slothful and supine;
that
it
may finish its course, as it is written, "In quietness make perfect your
works."
Sirach
3:19 "You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my
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957
feet
from falling." Whoever feels the chain of this flesh, chants these things
as
fulfilled
in hope towards himself. For it is truly said, "I was in misery, and He
delivered
me;" but the Apostle says this also truly, that we are saved by hope.
Romans
8:24 And that we are delivered from death, is well said to be already
fulfilled,
so that we may understand the death of unbelievers, of whom he says,
"Leave
the dead to bury their dead." Matthew 8:22... He will then clear our eyes
of
tears,
when He shall save our feet from falling. For there will then be no slipping
of
our feet as they walk, when there will be no sliding of the weak flesh. But
now,
however
firm our path, which is Christ, be; yet since we place flesh, which we are
enjoined
to subdue, beneath us; in the very work of chastening and subduing it, it
is
a great thing not to fall: but not to slip in the flesh, who can attain?
"I shall
please
in the sight of the Lord, in the land of the living" (ver. 9) .... We
"labour"
indeed
now, because we are awaiting "the redemption of our body:" Romans
8:23
but,
"when death shall have been swallowed up in victory, and this corruptible
shall
have put on incorruption, and this mortal immortality;" 1 Corinthians
15:53-
54
then there will be no weeping, because there will be no falling; and no falling,
because
no corruption. And therefore we shall then no longer labour to please, but
we
shall be entirely pleasing in the sight of the Lord, in the land of the living.
7.
... "I believed," says he, "and therefore did I speak. But I was
sorely brought
down"
(ver. 10). For he suffered many tribulations, for the sake of the word which
he
faithfully held, faithfully preached; and he was sorely brought down; as they
feared
who loved the praise of men better than that of God. But what means, "But
I"?
He should rather say, I believed, and therefore I have spoken, and I was sorely
brought
down: why did he add, "But I," save because a man may be sorely
brought
down
by those who oppose the truth, the truth itself cannot, which he believes and
speaks?
Whence also the Apostle, when he was speaking of his chain, says, "the
word
of God is not bound." 2 Timothy 2:9 So this man also, since there is one
person
of the holy witnesses, that is, of the Martyrs of God, says, "I believed,
and
therefore
will I speak." "But I;" not that which I believed, not the word
which I
have
delivered; "but I was sorely brought down."
8.
"I said in my trance, All men are liars" (ver. 11). By trance he
means fear,
which
when persecutors threaten, and when the sufferings of torture or death
impend,
human weakness suffers. For this we understand, because in this Psalm
the
voice of Martyrs is heard. For trance is used in another sense also, when the
mind
is not beside itself by fear, but is possessed by some inspiration of revelation.
"But
I said in my haste, All men are liars." In consternation he has had regard
to
his
infirmity, and has seen that he ought not to presume on himself; for as far as
pertains
to the man himself, he is a liar, but by the grace of God he is made true;
lest
yielding to the pressure of his enemies he might not speak what he had
believed,
but might deny it; even as it happened to Peter, since he had trusted in
himself,
and was to be taught that we ought not to trust in man. And if every one
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Psalm 116
958
ought
not to trust in man, surely not in himself; because he is a man. Rightly
therefore
in his fear did he perceive that every man was a liar; since they also
whom
no fear robs of their presence of mind, so that they never lie by yielding to
the
persecutors, are such by the gifts of God, not by their own strength....
9.
"What," he asks, "what reward shall I give unto the Lord, for
all the benefits that
He
has returned unto me?" (ver. 12). He says not, for all the benefits that
He has
done
unto me but "for all the benefits that He has returned unto me." What
deeds
then
on the man's part had preceded, that all the benefits of God were not said to
be
given, but returned? What had preceded, on the man's part, save sins? God
therefore
repays good for evil, while unto Him men repay evil for good; for such
was
the return of those who said, "This is the heir: come, let us kill
him."
Matthew
21:38
10.
But this man seeks what he may return unto the Lord, and finds not, save out
of
those things which the Lord Himself returns. "I will receive," he
says, "the cup
of
salvation, and call upon the Name of the Lord" (ver. 13). "My vows
will I
render
to the Lord, before all His people" (ver. 14). Who has given you the cup
of
salvation,
which when you take, and callest upon the Name of the Lord, you shall
return
unto Him a reward for all that He has returned unto you? Who, save He
who
says, "Are ye able to drink the cup that I shall drink of?" Who has
given unto
you
to imitate His sufferings, save He who has suffered before for you? And
therefore,
"Right dear in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints"
(ver. 15).
He
purchased it by His Blood, which He first shed for the salvation of slaves,
that
they
might not hesitate to shed their blood for the Lord's Name; which,
nevertheless,
would be profitable for their own interests, not for those of the Lord.
11.
Let therefore the slave purchased at so great a price confess his condition,
and
say,
"Behold, O Lord, how that I am Your servant: "I am Your servant, and
the
son
of Thine handmaid" (ver. 16) .... This, therefore, is the son of the
heavenly
indeed
from sin she is, but the handmaid of righteousness; to whose sons still
pilgrims
it is said, "You have been called unto liberty;" Galatians 5:13 and
again
he
makes them servants, when he says, "but by love serve one
another."... Let
therefore
that servant say unto God, Many call themselves martyrs, many Your
servants,
because they hold Your Name in various heresies and errors; but since
they
are beside Your Church, they are not the children of Your handmaid. But "I
am
Your servant, and the son of Thine handmaid." "You have broken my
bonds
asunder."
12.
"I will offer to You the sacrifice of praise" (ver. 17). For I have
not found any
deserts
of mine, since You have broken my bonds asunder; I therefore owe You
the
sacrifice of praise; because, although I will boast that I am Your servant, and
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959
the
son of Your handmaid, I will glory not in myself, but in You, my Lord, who
hast
broken asunder my bonds, that when I return from my desertion, I may again
be
bound unto You.
13.
"I will pay my vows unto the Lord" (ver. 18). What vows will you pay?
What
victims
have you vowed? what burnt-offerings, what holocausts? Do you refer to
what
you have said a little before, "I will receive the cup of salvation, and
will call
upon
the Name of the Lord;" and, "I will offer to You the sacrifice of
thanksgiving"?
and indeed whosoever well considers what he is vowing to the
Lord,
and what vows he is paying, let him vow himself, let him pay himself as a
vow:
this is exacted, this is due. On looking at the coin, the Lord says,
"Render
unto
Cćsar the things which are Cćsar's, and unto God the things which are
God's:"
Matthew 22:21 his own image is rendered unto Cćsar: let His image be
rendered
unto God.
14.
"In the courts," he says, "of the Lord's house" (ver. 19).
What is the Lord's
house,
the same is the Lord's handmaid: and what is God's house, save all His
people?
It therefore follows, "In the sight of all His people." And now he
more
openly
names his mother herself. For what else is His people, but what follows,
"In
the midst of you, O Jerusalem"? For than that which is returned grateful,
if it
be
returned from peace, and in peace. But they who are not sons of this handmaid,
have
loved war rather than peace....
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Psalm 117 960
Exposition
on Psalm 117
1.
"O praise the Lord, all you heathen: praise Him, all you nations"
(ver. 1). These
are
the courts of the Lord's house, this all His people, this the true
those
rather listen who have refused to be the children of this city, since they have
cut
themselves off from the communion of all nations. "For His merciful
kindness
is
ever more and more towards us: and the truth of the Lord endures for ever"
(ver.
2).
These are those two things, loving-kindness and truth, which in the CXVth
Psalm
I admonished you should be committed to memory. But "the merciful
kindness
of the Lord is ever more and more towards us," since the furious tongues
of
hostile nations have yielded to His Name, through which we have been freed:
"and
the truth of the Lord endures for ever," whether in those things which He
promised
to the righteous, or in those which He has threatened to the ungodly.
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Psalm 118
961
Exposition
on Psalm 118
1.
...We are taught in this Psalm, when we chaunt Allelujah, which means, Praise
the
Lord, that we should, when we hear the words, "Confess unto the Lord"
(ver.
1),
praise the Lord. The praise of God could not be expressed in fewer words than
these,
"For He is good." I see not what can be more solemn than this
brevity, since
goodness
is so peculiarly the quality of God, that the Son of God Himself when
addressed
by some one as "Good Master," by one, namely, who beholding His
flesh,
and comprehending not the fulness of His divine nature, considered Him as
man
only, replied, "Why do you call Me good? There is none good but one, that
is,
God."
Mark 10:17-18 And what is this but to say, If you wish to call Me good,
recognise
Me as God? But since it is addressed, in revelation of things to come, to
a
people freed from all toil and wandering in pilgrimage, and from all admixture
with
the wicked, which freedom was given it through the grace of God, who not
only
does not evil for evil, but even returns good for evil; it is most
appropriately
added,
"Because His mercy endures for ever."
2.
"Let
(ver.
2). "Let the house of Aaron now confess that His mercy endures for
ever"
(ver.
3). "Yea, let all now that fear the Lord confess that His mercy endures
for
ever"
(ver. 4). You remember, I suppose, most beloved, what is the house of
they
are "the little and the great," who have already in another Psalm
been happily
introduced
into your hearts: in the number of whom all of us should rejoice that
we
are joined together, in His grace who is good, and whose mercy endures for
ever;
since they were listened to who said, "May the Lord increase you more and
more,
you and your children;" that the host of the Gentiles might be added to
the
Israelites
who believed in Christ, of the number of whom are the Apostles our
fathers,
for the exaltation of the perfect and the obedience of the little children;
that
all of us when made one in Christ, made one flock under one Shepherd, and
the
body of that Head, like one man, may say, "I called upon the Lord in
trouble,
and
the Lord heard me at large" (ver. 5). The narrow straits of our
tribulation are
limited:
but the large way whereby we pass along has no end. "Who shall lay
anything
to the charge of God's elect?" Romans 8:33
3.
"The Lord is my helper; I will not fear what man does unto me" (ver.
6). But are
men,
then, the only enemies that the Church has? What is a man devoted to flesh
and
blood, save flesh and blood? But the Apostle says, "We wrestle not against
flesh
and blood, but against,"...he says, "spiritual wickedness in high
places;"
Ephesians
6:12 that is, the devil and his angels; that devil whom elsewhere he calls
"the
prince of the power of the air." Ephesians 2:2 Hear therefore what
follows:
"The
Lord is my helper: therefore shall I despise mine enemies" (ver. 7). From
what
class soever my enemies may arise, whether from the number of evil men, or
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Psalm 118
962
from
the number of evil angels; in the Lord's help, unto whom we chant the
confession
of praise, unto whom we sing Allelujah, they shall be despised.
4.
But, when my enemies have been brought to contempt, let not my friend present
himself
unto me as a good man, so as to bid me repose my hope in himself: for "It
is
better to trust in the Lord, than to put any confidence in man" (ver. 8).
Nor let
any
one, who may in a certain sense be styled a good angel, be regarded by myself
as
one in whom I ought to put my trust: for "no one is good, save God
alone;"
Mark
10:18 and when a man or an angel appear to aid us, when they do this of
sincere
affection, He does it through them, who made them good after their
measure.
"It is" therefore "better to trust in the Lord, than to put any
confidence in
princes"
(ver. 9). For angels also are called princes, even as we read in Daniel,
"Michael,
your prince." Daniel 12:1
5.
"All nations compassed me round about, but in the Name of the Lord have I
taken
vengeance on them" (ver. 10). "They kept me in on every side, they
kept me
in,
I say, on every side; but in the Name of the Lord have I taken vengeance on
them"
(ver. 11). He signifies the toils and the victory of the Church; but, as if the
question
were asked how she could have overcome so great evils, he looks back to
the
example, and declares what she had first suffered in her Head, by adding what
follows,
"They kept me in on every side:" and the words, "All
nations," are with
reason
not repeated here, because this was the act of the Jews alone. There that
very
religious nation (which is the body of Christ, and in behalf of which was done
all
that was done in mortal form with immortal power, by that inward divinity,
through
the outward flesh), suffered from persecutors, of whose race that flesh was
assumed
and hung upon the cross.
6.
"They came about me as bees do a hive, and burned up even as the fire
among
the
thorns: and in the Name of the Lord have I taken vengeance on them" (ver.
12).
Here then the order of the words corresponds with the order of events. For we
rightly
understand that our Lord Himself, the Head of the Church, was surrounded
by
persecutors, even as bees surround a hive. For the Holy Spirit is speaking with
mystic
subtlety of what was done by those who knew not what they did. For bees
make
honey in the hives: while our Lord's persecutors, unconscious as they were,
rendered
Him sweeter unto us even by His very Passion; so that we may taste and
see
how sweet is the Lord, "Who died for our sins, and arose for our
justification."
Romans
4:25 But what follows, "and burned up even as the fire among the
thorns,"
is better understood of His Body, that is, of a people spread abroad, whom
all
nations compassed about, since it was gathered together from all nations. They
consumed
this sinful flesh, and the grievous piercings of this mortal life, in the
flame
of persecution. "Taken vengeance on them:" either because they
themselves,
that
wickedness, which in them persecuted the righteous, having been
extinguished,
were joined with the people of Christ; or because the rest of them,
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963
who
have at this time scorned the mercy of Him who calls them, will at the end
feel
the truth of Him who judges them.
7.
"I have been driven on like a heap of sand, so that I was falling, but the
Lord
upheld
me" (ver. 13). For though there were a great multitude of believers, that
might
be compared to the countless sand, and brought into one communion as into
one
heap; yet "what is man, save Thou be mindful of Him?" He said not,
the
multitude
of the Gentiles could not surpass the abundance of my host, but, "the
Lord,"
he says, "has upheld me." The persecution of the Gentiles succeeded
not in
pushing
forward, to its overthrow, the host of the faithful dwelling together in the
unity
of the faith.
8.
"The Lord is my strength and my praise, and is become my salvation"
(ver. 14).
Who
then fall, when they are pushed, save they who choose to be their own
strength
and their own praise? For no man falls in the contest, except he whose
strength
and praise fails. He therefore whose strength and praise is the Lord, falls
no
more than the Lord falls. And for this reason He has become their salvation;
not
that
He has become anything which He was not before, but because they, when
they
believed on Him, became what they were not before, and then He began to be
salvation
unto them when turned towards Him, which He was not to them when
turned
away from Himself.
9.
"The voice of joy and health is in the dwellings of the righteous"
(ver. 15);
where
they who raged against their bodies thought there was the voice of sorrow
and
destruction. For they did not know the inward joy of the saints in their future
hope.
Whence the Apostle also says, "As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing;"
2
Corinthians 6:10 and again, "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations
also."
Romans
5:3
10.
"The right hand of the Lord has brought mighty things to pass" (ver.
16). What
mighty
things? says he. "The right hand of the Lord," he says, "has
exalted me." It
is
a mighty thing to exalt the humble, to deify the mortal, to bring perfection
out of
infirmity,
glory from subjection, victory from suffering, to give help, to raise from
trouble;
that the true salvation of God might be laid open to the afflicted, and the
salvation
of men might remain of no avail to the persecutors. These are great
things:
but what are you surprised at? hear what he repeats: "The right hand of
the
Lord
has brought mighty things to pass."
11.
"I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord" (ver.
17). But they,
while
they were dealing havoc and death on every side, thought that the Church of
Christ
was dying. Behold, he now declares the works of the Lord. Everywhere
Christ
is the glory of the blessed Martyrs. By being beaten He conquered those
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964
who
struck Him; by being patient of torments, the tormentors; by loving, those
who
raged against Him.
12.
Nevertheless, let him point out to us, why the body of Christ, the holy Church,
the
people of adoption, suffered such indignities. "The Lord," he says,
"hast
chastened
and corrected me, but He has not given me over unto death" (ver. 18).
Let
not then the boastful wicked imagine that anything has been permitted to their
power:
they would not have that power, were it not given them from above. Oft
does
the father of a family command his sons to be corrected by the most
worthless
slaves; though he designs the heritage for the former, fetters for the
latter.
What is that heritage? Is it of gold, or silver, or jewels, or farms, or
pleasant
estates?
Consider how we enter into it: and learn what it is.
13.
"Open me," he says, "the gates of righteousness" (ver 19).
Behold, we have
heard
of the gates. What is within? "That I may," he says, "go into
them, and give
thanks
unto the Lord." This is the confession of praise full of wonder,
"even unto
the
house of God, in the voice of joy and confession of praise, among such as keep
holiday:"
this is the everlasting bliss of the righteous, whereby they are blessed
who
dwell in the Lord's house, praising Him for evermore.
14.
But consider how the gates of righteousness are entered into. "These are
the
gates
of the Lord" he says, "the righteous shall enter into them"
(ver. 20). At least
let
no wicked man enter there, that Jerusalem which receives not one
uncircumcised,
where it is said, "Without are dogs." Revelation 22:15 Be it
enough,
that in my long pilgrimage "I have had my habitation among the tents of
Kedar:"
I endured even unto the end the intercourse of the wicked, but "these are
the
gates of the Lord: the righteous shall enter into them."
15.
"I will confess unto You, O Lord, for You have heard me, and art become my
salvation"
(ver. 21). How often is that confession proved to be one of praise, that
does
not point out wounds to the physician, but gives thanks for the health it has
received.
But the Physician Himself is the Salvation.
16.
But who is this whom we speak of? "The Stone which the builders
rejected"
(ver.
22); for "It has become the head Stone of the corner" to "make
in Himself of
twain
one new man, so making peace; and that He might reconcile both unto God
in
one body;" Ephesians 2:15-16 circumcision, to wit, and uncircumcision.
17.
"By the Lord was it made unto it" (ver. 23): that is, it is made into
the head
stone
of the corner by the Lord. For although He would not have become this, had
He
not suffered: yet He became not this through those from whom He suffered.
For
they who were building, refused Him: but in the edifice which the Lord was
secretly
raising, that was made the head stone of the corner which they rejected.
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Psalm 118
965
"And
it is marvellous in our eyes:" in the eyes of the inner man, in the eyes
of
those
that believe, those that hope, those that love; not in the carnal eyes of those
who,
through scorning Him as if He were a man, rejected Him.
18.
"This is the day which the Lord has made" (ver. 24). This man
remembers that
he
had said in former Psalms, "Since He has inclined His ear unto me,
therefore
will
I call upon Him as long as I live;" making mention of his old days; whence
he
now
says, "This is the day which the Lord has made;" that is, wherein He
has
given
me Salvation. This is the day whereof He said, "In an acceptable time have
I
heard
you, and in a day of Salvation have I helped you;" Isaiah 49:8 that is, a
day
wherein
He, the Mediator, has become the head Stone of the corner. "Let us
rejoice,"
therefore, "and be glad in Him."
19.
"Save me now, O Lord: prosper Thou well my way, O Lord" (ver. 25).
Because
it is the day of Salvation, "save me:" because we, returning from a
long
pilgrimage,
are separated from those who hated peace, with whom we were
peaceful,
and who, when we spoke to them, made war upon us without a cause;
"prosper
well our way" as we return, since You have become our Way.
20.
"Blessed be He that comes in the Name of the Lord" (ver. 26). Cursed,
therefore,
is he that comes in his own name; as He says in the Gospel: "if another
shall
come in his own name, him ye will receive." John 5:43 "We have
blessed
you
out of the house of God." I believe that these are the words of the great
to the
little,
of those great ones, to wit, who in spirit commune with God the Word, who
is
with God, as they may in this life; and yet temper their discourse for the sake
of
the
little ones, so that they may sincerely say what the Apostle says: "For
whether
we
be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your
cause.
For
the love of Christ constrains us." 2 Corinthians 5:13-14 They bless the
little
children
from the inner house of the Lord, where that praise fails not age after age:
consider
therefore what they proclaim from thence.
21.
"God is the Lord, who has showed us light" (ver. 27). That Lord, who
came in
the
Lord's Name, whom the builders refused, and who became the head Stone of
the
corner, Matthew 21:9, 42 that "Mediator between God and man, Jesus
Christ,"
1
Timothy 2:5 is God, He is equal with the Father, He has showed us light, that
we
might
understand what we believed, and declare it to you who understand it not as
yet,
but already believe it. But that you also may understand, "Declare a holy
day
in
full assemblies, even unto the horns of the altar;" that is, even unto the
inner
house
of God, from which we have blessed you, where are the high places of the
altar.
"Declare a holy day," not in a slothful manner, but "in full
assemblies" (ver.
28).
For this is the voice of joyfulness among those that keep holy day, who walk
"in
the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even unto the house of God." For if
there
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966
be
there the spiritual sacrifice, the everlasting sacrifice of praise, both the
Priest is
everlasting,
and the peaceful mind of the righteous an everlasting altar....
22.
And what shall we sing there, save His praises? What else shall we say there,
save,
"You are my God, and I will confess unto You; You are my God, and I will
praise
You. I wilt confess unto You, for You have heard me, and art become my
Salvation."
We will not say these things in loud words; but the love that abides in
Him
of itself cries out in these words, and these words are love itself. Thus as he
began
with praise, so he ends: "Confess unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and
His
mercy
endures for ever" (ver. 29). With this the Psalm commences, with this it
ends;
since, as from the commencement which we have left behind, so in the end,
whither
we are returning, there is not anything that can more profitably please us,
than
the praise of God, and Allelujah evermore.
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Psalm 119 967
Exposition
on Psalm 119
Aleph
1.
From its commencement, dearly beloved, does this great Psalm exhort us unto
bliss,
which there is no one who desires not .... And therefore this is the lesson
which
he teaches, who says, "Blessed are those that are undefiled in the way,
who
walk
in the law of the Lord" (ver. 1). As much as to say, I know what you wish,
you
are seeking bliss: if then you would be blessed, be undefiled. For the former
all
desire, the latter fear: yet without it what all wish cannot be attained. But
where
will
any one be undefiled, save in the way? In what way, save in the law of the
Lord?...
2.
Listen now to what he adds: "Blessed are they that keep His testimonies,
and
seek
Him with their whole heart" (ver. 2). No other class of the blessed seems
to
me
to be mentioned in these words, than that which has been already spoken of.
For
to examine into the testimonies of the Lord, and to seek Him with all the
heart,
this
is to be undefiled in the way, this is to walk in the law of the Lord. He then
goes
on to say, "For they who do wickedness, shall not walk in His ways"
(ver. 3).
And
yet we know that the workers of wickedness do search the testimonies of the
Lord
for this reason, that they prefer being learned to being righteous: we know
that
others also search the testimonies of the Lord, not because they are already
living
well, but that they may know how they ought to live. Such then do not as
yet
walk undefiled in the law of the Lord, and for this reason are not as yet
blessed....
3.
It is written, and is read, and is true, in this Psalm, that "They who do
wickedness,
walk not in His ways" (ver. 3). But we must endeavour, with the help
of
God, "in" whose "hand are both we and our words," Wisdom
7:16 that what is
rightly
said, by not being rightly understood, may not confuse the reader or hearer.
For
we must beware, lest all the Saints, whose words these are, "If we say
that we
have
no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us;" 1 John 1:8-9
may
either
not be thought to walk in the ways of the Lord, since sin is wickedness, and
"they
who do wickedness, walk not in His ways;" or, because it is not doubtful
that
they
walk in the ways of the Lord, may be thought to have no sin, which is beyond
doubt
false. For it is not said merely for the sake of avoiding arrogance and pride.
Otherwise
it would not be added, "And the truth is not in us;" but it would be
said,
Humility
is not in us: especially because the following words throw a clearer light
on
the meaning, and remove all the causes of doubt. For when the blessed John
had
said this, he added, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us
our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 119
968
4.
What means, "You have charged that we shall keep Your commandments too
much"?
(ver. 4). Is it, "You have charged too much"? or, "to keep too
much"?
Whichever
of these we understand, the sense seems contrary to that memorable
and
noble sentiment which the Greeks praise in their wise men, and which the
Latins
agree in praising. "Do nothing too much."...But the Latin language
sometimes
uses the word nimis in such a sense, that we find it in the holy
Scripture,
and employ it in our discourses, as signifying, very much. In this
passage,
"You have charged that we keep Your commandments too much," we
simply
understand very much, if we understand rightly; and if we say to any very
dear
friend, I love you too much, we do not wish to be understood to mean more
than
is fitting, but very much.
5.
"O that," he says, "my ways were made so direct, that I might
keep Your
statutes"
(ver. 5). Thou indeed hast charged: O that I could realize what you have
charged.
When you hear, "O that," recognise the words of one wishing; and
having
recognised
the expression of a wish, lay aside the pride of presumption. For who
says
that he desires what he has in such a manner in his power, that without need
of
any help he can do it? Therefore if man desires what God charges, God must be
prayed
to grant Himself what He enjoins....
6.
"So shall I not be confounded, while I have respect unto all Your
commandments"
(ver. 6). We ought to look upon the commandments of God,
whether
when they are read, or when they are recalled to memory, as a looking-
glass,
as the Apostle James says. James 1:23-25 This man wishes himself to be
such,
that he may regard as in a mirror the commandments of God, and may not be
confounded;
because he chooses not merely to be a hearer of them, but a doer. On
this
account he desires that his ways may be made direct to keep the statutes of
God.
How to be made direct, save by the grace of God? Otherwise he will find in
the
law of God not a source of rejoicing, but of confusion, if he has chosen to
look
into
commandments, which he does not.
7.
"I will confess unto You," he says, "O Lord, in the directing of
my heart; in that
I
shall have learned the judgments of Your righteousness" (ver. 7). This is
not the
confession
of sins, but of praise; as He also says in whom there was no sin, "I will
confess
unto You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth;" Matthew 11:25 and as it is
written
in the Book of Ecclesiasticus, "Thus shall you say in confession, of all
the
works
of God, that they are very good." Sirach 39:15-16 "I will confess
unto
You,"
he says, "in the directing of my heart." Indeed, if my ways are made
straight,
I will confess unto You, since You have done it, and this is Your praise,
and
not mine....
8.
Next he adds: "I will keep Your ordinances" (ver. 8) .... But what is
it that
follows?
"O forsake me not even exceedingly!" or, as some copies have it,
"even
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Psalm 119
969
too
much," instead of, "even exceedingly." But since God had left
the world to the
desert
of sins, He would have forsaken it "even exceedingly," if so powerful
a cure
had
not supported it, that is, the grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ; but
now,
according to this prayer of the body of Christ, He forsook it not "even
exceedingly;"
for, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself."
2
Corinthians 5:19...
Beth
9.
"Wherewithal shall a young man correct his way? even by keeping Your
words"
(ver.
9). He questions himself, and answers himself. "Wherewithal?" So far
it is a
question:
next comes the answer, "even by keeping Your words." But in this
place
the
keeping of the words of God, must be understood as the obeying His
commandments
in deed: for they are kept in memory in vain, if they are not kept
in
life also. But what is meant by "young man" here? For he might have
said,
wherewithal
shall any one (homo) correct his way? or, wherewithal shall a man
(vir)
correct his way? which is usually put by the Scriptures in such a way, that the
whole
human race is understood.... But in this passage he says neither any one, nor
a
man, but, "a young man." Is then an old man to be despaired of? or
does an old
man
correct his way by any other means than by ruling himself after God's word?
Or
is it perhaps an admonition at what age we ought chiefly to correct our way;
according
to what is elsewhere written, "My son, gather instruction from your
youth
up: so shall you find wisdom till your gray hairs." Sirach 6:18 There is
another
mode of interpreting it, by recognising in the expression the younger son
in
the Gospel, Luke 15:12, etc. who returned to himself, and said, "I will
arise and
go
to my father." Luke 15:18 Wherewithal did he correct his way, save by
ruling
himself
after the words of God, which he desired as one longing for his father's
bread....
10.
"With my whole heart," he says, "have I sought you; O repel me
not from
Your
commandments" (ver. 10). Behold, he prays that he may be aided to keep the
words
of God, wherewith he had said that the young man corrected his way. For
this
is the meaning of the words, "O repel me not from Your commandments:"
for
what
is it to be repelled of God, save not to be aided? For human infirmity is not
equal
to obeying His righteous and exalted commandments, unless His love does
prevent
and aid. But those whom He aids not, these He is justly said to repel....
11.
"Your words have I hid within my heart, that I may not sin against
You" (ver.
11).
He at once sought the Divine aid, lest the words of God might be hidden
without
fruit in his heart, unless works of righteousness followed. For after saying
this,
he added, "Blessed are You, O Lord, teach me Your righteousnesses"
(ver.
12).
"Teach me," he says, as they learn who do them; not as they who
merely
remember
them, that they may have somewhat to speak of. Why then does he say,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 119
970
"Teach
me Your righteousnesses," save because he wishes to learn them by deeds,
not
by speaking or retaining them in his memory? Since then, as it is read in
another
Psalm, "He shall give blessing, who gave the law;" therefore,
"Blessed are
You,
O Lord," he says, "O teach me Your righteousness." For because I
have
hidden
Your words in my heart, that I may not sin against You, You have given a
law;
give also the blessing of Your grace, that by doing right I may learn what
Thou
by teaching hast commanded....
12.
"With my lips have I been telling of all the judgments of Your mouth"
(ver.
13);
that is, I have kept silent nothing of Your judgments, which Thou willed
should
become known to me through Your words, but I have been telling of all of
them
without exception with my lips. This he seems to me to signify, since he says
not,
all Your judgments, but, "all the judgments of Your mouth;" that is,
which
You
have revealed unto me: that by His mouth we may understand His word,
which
He has discovered unto us in many revelations of the Saints, and in the two
Testaments;
all which judgments the Church ceases not to declare at all times with
her
lips.
13.
"I have had as great delight in the way Your testimonies, as in all manner
of
riches"
(ver. 14). We understand that there is no more speedy, no more sure, no
shorter,
no higher way of the testimonies of God than Christ, "in whom are hid all
the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Colossians 2:3 Thence he says that he
has
had as great delight in this way, as in all riches. Those are the testimonies,
by
which
He deigns to prove unto us how much He loves us....
14.
"I will talk of Your commandments, and have respect unto Your ways"
(ver.
15).
And thus the Church does exercise herself in the commandments of God, by
speaking
in the copious disputations of the learned against all the enemies of the
Christian
and Catholic faith; which are fruitful to those who compose them, if
nothing
but the ways of the Lord is regarded in them; but "All the ways of the
Lord
are," as it is written, "mercy and truth;" the fulness of which
both is found in
Christ.
Through this sweet exercise is gained also what he subjoins: "My
meditation
shall be in Your statutes, and I will not forget Your word" (ver. 16).
"My
meditation" shall be therein, that I may not forget them. Thus the blessed
man
in
the first Psalm "shall meditate in the law" of the Lord "day and
night."...
Gimel
15.
He had said, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? Even by
keeping
Your words." Behold he now more openly asks aid that he may do this:
"Reward,"
he says, "Your servant: let me live, and keep Your word" (ver. 17)
... It
this
reward that he asks, who says, "Reward Your servant." For there are
four
modes
of reward: either evil for evil, as God will reward everlasting fire to the
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 119
971
unrighteous;
or good for good, as He will reward an everlasting kingdom to the
righteous;
or good for evil, as Christ by grace justifies the ungodly; or evil for
good,
as Judas and the Jews through their wickedness persecuted Christ. Of these
four
modes of reward, the first two belong to justice, whereby evil is rewarded for
evil,
good for good; the third to mercy, whereby good is rewarded for evil; the
fourth
God knows not, for to none does He reward evil for good. But that which I
have
placed third in order, is in the first instance necessary: for unless God
rewarded
good for evil, there would be none to whom He could reward good for
good....
16.
Nowhere then let human pride raise itself up: God gives good rewards unto
His
own gifts....
17.
"Open Thou my eyes, and I will consider wondrous things of Your law"
(ver.
18).
What he adds, "I am a lodger upon earth" (ver. 19): or, as some
copies read, "I
am
a sojourner upon earth, O hide not Your commandments from me," has the
same
meaning....
18.
Here an important question arises respecting the soul. For the words, I am a
sojourner,
or lodger, or stranger upon earth, cannot seem to have been said in
reference
to the body, since the body derives its origin from the earth. But in this
most
profound question I dare not define anything. For if it might justly have been
said
in respect of the soul (which God forbid we should suppose derived from the
earth),
"I am a lodger," or "stranger upon earth;" or in reference
to the whole man,
since
he was at one time an inhabitant of Paradise, where he who spoke these
words
was not; or, what is more free from all controversy, if it be not every man
who
could say this, but one to whom an everlasting country has been promised in
heaven:
this I know, "that the life of man on earth is a temptation;" Job 7:1
and
that
"there is a heavy yoke upon the sons of Adam." Sirach 40:1 But it
pleases me
more
to discuss the question in accordance with this construction, that we say we
are
tenants or strangers upon earth, because we have found our country above,
whence
we have received a pledge, and where when we have arrived we shall
never
depart....
19.
Those whose conversation is in heaven, as far as they abide here conversant,
are
in truth strangers. Let them pray therefore that the commandments of God may
not
be hidden from them, whereby they may be freed from this temporary sojourn,
by
loving God, with whom they will be for evermore; and by loving their
neighbour,
that he may be there where they also themselves will be.
20.
But what is loved by loving, if love itself be not loved? Whence by
consequence
that stranger upon earth, after praying that the commandments of
God
might not be hidden from him, wherein love is enjoined either solely or
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 119
972
principally;
declares that he desires to have a love for love itself, saying, "My soul
has
coveted to have a desire alway after Your judgments" (ver. 20). This
coveting
is
worthy of praise, not of condemnation....
21.
But he says not, "coveteth," only; but, "My soul has coveted to
desire Your
judgments."
For there is no obstacle to possessing the judgments of God, save that
they
are not desired, while love has no warmth toward winning them, though their
light
is so clear and shining....
22.
"You have rebuked the proud: and cursed are they that do err from Your
commandments"
(ver. 21). For the proud err from the commandments of God. For
it
is one thing not to fulfil the commandments of God through infirmity or
ignorance;
another to err from them through pride; as they have done, who have
begotten
us in our mortal state unto these evils .... But consider now, after saying,
"You
have rebuked the proud," he says not, Cursed are they that have erred from
Your
commandments; so that only that sin of the first men should come into the
mind;
but he says, "Cursed are they that do err." For it was needful that
all might
be
terrified by that example, that they might not err from the divine
commandments,
and by loving righteousness in all time, recover in the toil of this
world,
what we lost in the pleasure of Paradise.
23.
"O turn from me shame and rebuke; for I have sought out Your testimonies"
(ver.
22). Testimonies are called in Greek marturia, which word we now use
for
the
Latin word: whence those who on account of their testimony to Christ have
been
brought low by various sufferings, and have contended unto death for the
truth,
are not called testes, but by the Greek term Martyrs. Since then ye hear in
this
term one more familiar and grateful, let us take these words as if it were
said,
"O
turn from me shame and rebuke; because I have sought out Your martyrdoms."
When
the body of Christ speaks thus, does it consider it any punishment to hear
rebuke
and shame from the ungodly and the proud, since it rather reaches the
crown
by this means? Why then does it pray that it should be removed from it as
something
heavy and insupportable, save because, as I said, it prays for its very
enemies,
to whom it sees it is destructive, to cast the holy name of Christ as a
reproach
to Christians .... For my enemies, whom Thou enjoinest to be loved by
me,
who more and more die and are lost, when they despise Your martyrdoms and
accuse
them in me, will indeed be recalled to life and be found, if they reverence
Your
martyrdoms in me. Thus it has happened: this we see. Behold, martyrdom in
the
name of Christ, both with men and in this world, is not only not a disgrace,
but
a
great ornament: behold, not only in the sight of the Lord, but in the sight of
men,
"precious
is the death of His Saints;" behold, His martyrs are not only not
despised,
but honoured with great distinctions....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 119
973
24.
"Princes also did sit and speak against me: but Your servant is exercised
in
Your
statutes" (ver. 23). Thou who desirest to know what sort of exercise this
was,
understand
what he has added, "For Your testimonies are my meditation, and Your
statutes
are my counsellors" (ver. 24). Remember what I have above instructed
you,
that testimonies are acts of martyrdom. Remember that among the statutes of
the
Lord there is none more difficult and more worthy of admiration, than that
every
man should love his enemies. Matthew 5:44 Thus then the body of Christ
was
exercised, so that it meditated on the acts of martyrdom that testified of Him,
and
loved those from whom, while they rebuked and despised the Church for these
very
martyrdoms, she suffered persecutions....
Daleth
25.
"My soul cleaves to the pavement: O quicken Thou me according to Your
word"
(ver. 25). What means, "My soul cleaves to the pavement, O quicken Thou
me
according to Your word"? ... If we look upon the whole world as one great
house,
we see that the heavens represent its vaulting, the earth therefore will be its
pavement.
He wishes therefore to be rescued from earthly things, and to say with
the
Apostle, "Our conversation is in heaven." To cling therefore to
earthly things is
the
soul's death; the contrary of which evil, life is prayed for, when he says,
"O
quicken
Thou me."
26.
...The body itself also, because it is of the earth, is reasonably understood
by
the
word pavement; since, because it is still corruptible and weighs down the soul,
Wisdom
9:15 we justly groan while in it, and say unto God, "O quicken Thou
me."
For
we shall not be without our bodies when we shall be for evermore with the
Lord;
but then because they will not be corruptible, nor will they weigh down our
souls,
if we view it strictly, we shall not cleave unto them, but they rather unto us,
and
we unto God....
27.
For what he was by himself, he confesses in the following words: "I have
acknowledged
my ways, and Thou heardest me" (ver. 26). Some copies indeed
read,
"Your ways:" but more, and the best Greek, read "my ways,"
that is, evil
ways.
For he seems to me to say this; I have confessed my sins, and You have
heard
me; that is, so that You would remit them. "O teach me Your
statutes." I
have
acknowledged my ways: You have blotted them out: teach me Yours. So
teach
me, that I may act; not merely that I may know how I ought to act. For as it
is
said of the Lord, that He knew not sin, 2 Corinthians 5:21 and it is
understood,
that
He did no sin; so also he ought truly to be said to know righteousness, who
does
it. This is the prayer of one who is improving....
28.
Finally he adds, "Intimate to me the way of Your righteousness" (ver.
27); or,
as
some copies have it, "instruct me;" which is expressed more closely
from the
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 119
974
Greek,
"Make me to understand the way of Your righteousnesses; so shall I be
exercised
in Your wondrous things." These higher commandments, which he
desires
to understand by edification, he calls the wondrous things of God. There
are
then some righteousnesses of God so wondrous, that human weakness may be
believed
incapable of fulfilling them by those who have not tried. Whence the
Psalmist,
struggling and wearied with the difficulty of obeying them, says, "My
soul
has slumbered for very heaviness: O establish Thou me with Your word!"
(ver.
28). What means, has slumbered? save that he has cooled in the hope which
he
had entertained of being able to reach them. But, he adds, "Stablish Thou
me
with
Your word:" that I may not by slumbering fall away from those duties which
I
feel that I have already attained: establish Thou me therefore in those words
of
Thine
that I already hold, that I may be able to reach unto others through
edification.
29.
"Take Thou from me the way of iniquity" (ver. 29). And since the law
of
works
has entered in, that sin might abound; Romans 5:20 he adds, "And pity me
according
to Your law." By what law, save by the law of faith? Hear the Apostle:
"Where
is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works. Nay: but by the
law
of faith." Romans 3:27 This is the law of faith, whereby we believe and
pray
that
it may be granted us through grace; that we may effect that which we cannot
fulfil
through ourselves; that we may not, ignorant of God's righteousness, and
going
about to establish our own, fail to submit ourselves unto the righteousness of
God.
Romans 10:3
30.
But after he had said, "And pity me according to Your law;" he
mentions some
of
those blessings which he has already obtained, that he may ask others that he
has
not yet gained. For he says, "I have chosen the way of truth: and Your
judgments
I have not forgotten" (ver. 30). "I have stuck unto Your testimonies:
O
Lord,
confound me not" (ver. 31): may I persevere in striving toward the point
whereunto
I am running: may I arrive whither I am running! So then "it is not of
him
that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy." Romans
9:16
He
next says, "I will run the way of Your commandments, when You have
widened
my heart" (ver. 32). I could not run had Thou not widened my heart. The
sense
of the words, "I have chosen the way of truth, and Your judgments I have
not
forgotten: I have stuck unto Your testimonies," is clearly explained in
this
verse.
For this running is along the way of the commandments of God. And
because
he does allege unto the Lord rather His blessings than his own deservings;
as
if it were said unto him, How have you run that way, by choosing, and by not
forgetting
the judgments of God, and by sticking to His testimonies? Couldest
thou
do these things by yourself? I could not, he replies. It is not therefore
through
my
own will, as though it needed no aid of Thine; but because "You have
widened
my
heart." The widening of the heart is the delight we take in righteousness.
This
is
the gift of God, the effect of which is, that we are not straitened in His
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Psalm 119
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commandments
through the fear of punishment, but widened through love, and the
delight
we have in righteousness....
He
31.
In this great Psalm there comes next in order that which, with the Lord's help,
we
must consider and treat of. "Set a law for me, O Lord, the way of Your
statutes,
and
I shall seek it alway" (ver. 33)....
32.
Why does this man still pray for a law to be laid down for him; which, if it
had
not
been laid down for him, he could not have run the way of God's
commandments
in the breadth of his heart? But since one speaks who is growing
in
grace, and who knows that it is God's gift that he profits in grace; what else
does
he
pray, when he prays that a law may be laid down for him, save that he may
profit
more and more? As, if you hold a full cup, and givest it to a thirsty man; he
both
exhausts it by drinking it, and prays for it by still longing for it....
33.
But what means, "Evermore"? ... Doth "evermore" mean as
long as we live
here,
because we progress in grace so long; but after this life, he who was in a
good
course of improvement here, is made perfect there? Here the law of God is
examined
into, as long as we progress in it, both by knowing it and by loving it:
but
there its fulness abides for our enjoyment, not for our examination. Thus also
is
this spoken, "Seek His face evermore." Where, evermore, save here?
For we
shall
not there also seek the face of God, when "we shall see face to
face."
1
Corinthians 13:12 Or if that which is loved without a change of affection is
rightly
said to be sought after, and our only object is, that it be not lost, we shall
indeed
evermore seek the law of God, that is, the truth of God: for in this very
Psalm
it is said, "And Your law is the truth." It is now sought, that it
may be held
fast;
it will then be held fast that it may not be lost....
34.
"Give me understanding, and I shall search Your law, yea, I shall keep it
with
my
whole heart" (ver. 34). For when each man has searched the law, and
searched
its
deep things, in which its whole meaning does consist; he ought indeed to love
God
with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind; and his neighbour as
himself.
"For on these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
Matthew
22:37-40 This he seems to have promised, when he said, "Yea, I shall
keep
it with my whole heart."
35.
But since he has no power to do even this, save he be aided by Him who
commands
him to do what He commands, "Make me," he adds, "to go in the
path
of
Your commandments, for therein is my desire" (ver. 35). My desire is
powerless,
unless You Yourself makest me to go where I desire. And this is surely
the
very path, that is, the path of God's commandments, which he had already said
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 119
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that
he had run, when his heart was enlarged by the Lord. And this he calls a
"path,"
because "the way is narrow which leads unto life;" Matthew 7:14 and
since
it
is narrow, we cannot run therein save with a heart enlarged....
36.
He next says, "Incline mine heart unto Your testimonies, and not to
covetousness"
(ver. 36). This then he prays, that he may profit in the will
itself....
But the Apostle says, "Avarice is a root of all evils." 1 Timothy
6:10 But
in
the Greek, whence these words have been rendered into our tongue, the word
used
by the Apostle is not pleoecia, which occurs in this passage of the
Psalms;
but
filarguria, by which is signified "love of money." But the
Apostle must be
understood
to have meant genus by species when he used this word, that is, to
have
meant avarice universally and generally by love of money, which is truly the
root
of all evils. Genesis 3:5 ...If therefore our heart be not inclined to
covetousness,
we fear God only for God's sake, so that He is the only reward of
our
serving Him. Let us love Him in Himself, let us love Him in ourselves, Him in
our
neighbours whom we love as ourselves, whether they have Him, or in order
that
they may have Him....
37.
The next words in the Psalm which we have undertaken to expound are, "O
turn
away my eyes, lest they behold vanity: and quicken Thou me in Your way"
(ver.
37). Vanity and truth are directly contrary to one another. The desires of this
world
are vanity: but Christ, who frees us from the world, is truth. He is the way,
too,
wherein this man wishes to be quickened, for He is also the life: "I am
the
way,
the truth, and the life," John 14:6 are His own words.
38.
...He prays that those eyes wherewith we consider on what account we do
what
we do, may be turned away that they behold not vanity; that is, that he may
not
look to vanity, as his motive, when he does anything good. In this vanity the
first
place is held by the love of men's praise, on account of which many great
deeds
have been wrought by those who are styled great in this world, and who
have
been much praised in heathen states, seeking glory not with God, but among
men,
and on account of this living in appearance prudently, courageously,
temperately,
and righteously; and when they have reached this they have reached
their
reward: vain men, and vain reward. Matthew 6:1 ... Moreover, if it be a vain
thing
to do good works for the sake of men's praises, how much more vain for the
sake
of getting money, or increasing it, or retaining it, and any other temporal
advantage,
which comes unto us from without? Since "all things are vanity: what
is
man's abundance, with all his toil, wherein he labours under the sun?"
Ecclesiastes
1:2-3 For our temporal welfare itself finally we ought not to do our
good
works, but rather for the sake of that everlasting welfare which we hope for,
where
we may enjoy an unchangeable good, which we shall have from God, nay,
what
God Himself is unto us. For if God's Saints were to do good works for the
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 119
977
sake
of this temporal welfare, never would the martyrs of Christ achieve a good
work
of confession in the loss of this same welfare....
39.
"O establish Your word in Your servant, that I may fear You" (ver.
38). And
what
else is this than, Grant unto me that I may do according to what You say? For
the
word of God is not established in those who remove it in themselves by acting
contrary
to it; but it is established in those in whom it is immoveable. God
therefore
establishes His word, that they may fear Him, in those unto whom He
gives
the spirit of the fear of Him; not that fear of which the Apostle says,
"You
have
not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;" Romans 8:15 for
"perfect
love
casts out" this "fear," 1 John 4:18 but that fear which the
Prophet calls "the
spirit
of the fear of the Lord;" Isaiah 11:2 that fear which "is pure, and
endures for
ever;"
that fear which fears to offend Him whom it loves.
40.
"Take away my reproach which I have suspected, for Your judgments are
sweet"
(ver. 39). Who is he who suspected his own reproach, and who does not
know
his own reproach better than that of his neighbour? For a man may rather
suspect
another's than his own; since he knows not that which he suspects; but in
each
one's own reproach there is not suspicion for him, but knowledge, wherein
conscience
speaks. What then mean the words, "the rebuke which I have
suspected"?
The meaning of them must be derived from the former verse; since as
long
as a man does not turn away his eyes lest they behold vanity, he suspects in
others
what is going on in himself; so that he believes another to worship God, or
do
good works, from the same motive as himself. For men can see what we do, but
with
a view to what end we act, is hidden....
41.
"Behold, I have coveted Your commandments: O quicken Thou me in Your
righteousness"
(ver. 40). Behold, I have coveted to love You with all my heart,
and
with all my soul, and with all my mind, and my neighbour as myself, but,
"O
quicken
Thou me" not in my own, but "in Your righteousness," that is,
fill me with
that
love which I have longed for. Aid me that I may do that which Thou chargest
me:
Yourself give what Thou dost command. "O quicken Thou me in Your
righteousness:"
for in myself I had that which would cause my death: but I find not
save
in You whence I may live. Christ is Your righteousness, "Who of God is
made
unto us wisdom," etc. 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 And in Him I find Your
commandments,
which I have coveted, that in Your righteousness, that is, in Him,
You
may quicken me. For the Word Himself is God; and "the Word was made
flesh,"
John 1:14 that He Himself also might be my neighbour.
Vav
42.
"And let Your loving mercy come also unto us, O Lord" (ver. 41). This
sentence
seems annexed to the foregoing: for he does not say, Let it come unto
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Psalm 119
978
me,
but, "And let it come unto me."... What then does he here pray for,
save that
through
His loving mercy who commanded, he may perform the commandments
which
he has coveted? For he explains in some degree what he meant by adding,
"even
Your salvation, according to Your word:" that is, according to Your
promise.
Whence the Apostle desires us to be understood as the children of
promise:
Romans 9:8 that we may not imagine that what we are is our own work,
but
refer the whole to the grace of God .... Christ Himself is the Salvation of
God,
so
that the whole body of Christ may say, "By the grace of God I am what I
am."
1
Corinthians 15:10
43.
"And so shall I make answer," he says, "to them that reproach me
with the
word"
(ver. 42). It is doubtful whether it be "reproach me with a word;"
or, "I will
answer
with a word;" but either signifies Christ. They to whom Christ crucified
is
a
stumbling-block or foolishness, 1 Corinthians 1:23 reproach us with Him;
ignorant
that "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt in us;" John 1:14 the Word
which
"was in the beginning," and "was with God, and was God."
John 1:1 But
although
they may not reproach us with the Word which is unknown unto them,
because
His Divinity is not known unto those by whom His weakness on the Cross
is
despised; let us nevertheless make answer of the Word, and let us not be
terrified
or confounded by their reproaches. For "if they had known" the Word,
"they
would never have crucified the Lord of glory."
1
Corinthians 2:8 ... Therefore, when the Psalmist had said, "I will make
answer
unto
them that reproach me with the word:" he at once adds, "For my trust
is in
Your
words," which means exactly, in Your promises.
44.
"O take not the word of Your truth away out of my mouth even
exceedingly"
(ver.
43). He says, out of my mouth, because the unity of the body is speaking,
among
whose members those also are counted who failed at the hour by denying,
but
by penitence afterwards came again to life, or even, by renewing their
confession,
received the palm of martyrdom, which they had lost. The word of
truth,
therefore, was not "even exceedingly," or, as some copies have it,
even
every
way, that is not altogether taken from the mouth of Peter, in whom was the
type
of the Church; because although he denied for the hour, being disturbed with
fear,
yet by weeping he was restored, Matthew 26:70-75 and by confessing was
afterwards
crowned. The whole body of Christ therefore speaks .... Next follows,
"for
I have hoped in Your judgments." Or, as some have more strictly rendered
it
from
the Greek, "I have hoped more;" a word which, although compounded in
a
somewhat
unusual way, yet answers the necessary purpose of conveying the truth
in
a translation .... Behold the saints and the humble in heart when they have
trusted
in You, have not failed in persecutions: behold also those who from
trusting
in themselves have failed, and nevertheless have belonged to the Very
Body,
have wept when they became known unto themselves, and have found Your
grace
a more solid support, because they have lost their own pride.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 119
979
45.
"So shall I alway keep Your law" (ver. 44): that is, if You will not
take the
word
of Your truth out of my mouth. "Yea, unto age, and age of age:" he
shows
what
he meant by "alway." For sometimes by "alway" is meant, as
long as we live
here;
but this is not, "unto age, and age of age." For it is better thus
translated than
as
some copies have, "to eternity, and to age of age," since they could
not say, and
to
eternity of eternity. That law therefore should be understood, of which the
Apostle
says, "Love is the fulfilling of the law." Romans 13:10 For this will
be
kept
by the saints, from whose mouth the word of truth is not taken, that is, by the
Church
of Christ Herself, not only during this world, that is, until this world is
ended;
but for another also which is styled, "world without end."...
46.
"And I walked at liberty: for I sought Your precepts" (ver. 45)....
"And I
walked
at liberty." Here the copulative conjunction, "and," is not used
as a
connecting
particle; for he does not say, and I will walk, as he had said, "and I
will
keep
Your commandments for ever and ever:" or if this latter verse be in the
optative
mood, and may I keep Your law; he does not add, And may I walk at
liberty,
as if he had desired and prayed for both of these things; but he says,
"And I
walked
at liberty." If this conjunction were not used here, and if the sentence
were
introduced
free from any such connection with what preceded, "I walked at
liberty,"
the reader would never be induced by anything unusual in the mode of
speech
to think he should seek for some hidden sense. Doubtless, then, he wished
what
he has not said to be understood, that is, that his prayers had been heard; and
he
then added what he had become: as if he were to say, When I prayed for these
things,
Thou heardest me, "And I walked at liberty;" and so with the
remaining
expressions
which he has added to the same purpose.
47.
...Whence after he had said, "And I walked at liberty," he subjoined
the
reason,
"For I sought out Your commandments." Some copies have not
"commandments"
but "testimonies:" but we find "commandments" in most, and
especially
in the Greek; and who would hesitate rather to believe this tongue, as
prior
to our own, and that from which these Psalms have been rendered into Latin?
If
then we wish to know how he sought out these commandments, or how they
ought
to be sought out, let us consider what our good Master, who both taught and
gave
them, says: "Ask, and it shall be given you." Matthew 7:7 And a
little lower,
"If
you then," He says, "being evil, know how to give good gifts unto
your
children,
how much more shall your Father which is in Heaven give good things to
them
that ask Him." Matthew 7:11 Where He evidently shows, that the words He
had
spoken, seek, ask, knock, belong only to earnestness in asking, that is, in
praying.
Moreover, another Evangelist says not, He will give good things to them
that
ask Him; which may be understood in many ways, either as earthly or
spiritual
blessings; but has excluded other interpretations, and very carefully
expressed
what our Lord wished us to pray earnestly and instantly for, in these
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 119
980
words:
"How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them
that
ask Him."...
48.
"I spoke of Your testimonies also," he says, "before kings, and
I was not
ashamed"
(ver. 46): as one who had sought and had received grace to answer those
who
reproached him with the word, and the promise that the word of truth should
not
be taken from his mouth. Struggling for this truth even unto death, not even
before
kings was he ashamed to speak of it. For testimonies, whereof he does
avow
that he was speaking, are in Greek styled marturia, a word which we now
employ
instead of the Latin. The name of "Martyrs," unto whom Jesus
foretold,
that
they should confess Him even before kings, Matthew 10:18 is derived hence.
49.
"And I meditated," he says, "on Your commandments, which I have
loved"
(ver.
47). "My hands also have I lifted up unto Your commandments, which I have
loved"
(ver. 48); or, as some copies read, "which I have loved exceedingly,"
or
"too
much," or "vehemently," as they have chosen to render the Greek
word
sfodra. He then loved the commandments of God because
he walked at liberty;
that
is, through the Holy Spirit, through whom love itself is shed abroad,
Romans
5:5 and enlarges the hearts of the faithful. But he loved, both in thought
and
in acts. With a view to thought, he says, "And I meditated:" as to
action, "My
hands
also have I lifted up." But to both sentences, he has annexed the words,
"which
I have loved:" for "the end of the commandment is love out of a pure
heart."
1 Timothy 1:5 ... The following words, "And my study was in Your
statutes,"
relate to both. This expression most of the translators have preferred to
this,
"I rejoiced in," or "I talked of," a version which some
have given from the
Greek
hdolesxoun. For he who keeps the commandments of God, which he
loves,
both in thought and in works taking delight in them, is exercised with joy,
and
with a certain abundance of speech, in the judgments of God.
Zayin
50.
"O remember Your word unto Your servant, wherein You have given me
hope"
(ver. 49). Is forgetfulness incident to God, as it is to man? Why then is it
said
unto Him, "O remember"? Although in other passages of holy Scripture
this
very
word is used, as, "Why have You forgotten me?" and, "Wherefore
forgettest
Thou
our misery?"... These expressions are borrowed from moral discourses on
human
affections; although God does these things according to a fixed
dispensation,
with no failing memory, nor with an understanding obscured, nor
with
a will changed. When therefore it is said unto Him, "O remember," the
desire
of
him who prays is displayed, because he asks for what was promised; God is not
admonished,
as if the promise had escaped from His mind. "O remember," he says,
"Your
word unto Your servant:" that is, fulfil Your promise to Your servant.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 119
981
"Wherein
You have given me hope:" that is, in Your Word, since You have
promised,
You have caused me to hope.
51.
"The same is my comfort in my humiliation" (ver. 50). Namely, that
hope
which
is given to the humble, as the Scripture says: "God resists the proud, but
gives
grace unto the humble." Whence also our Lord Himself says with His own
lips,
"For whosoever exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself
shall
be exalted." We well understand here that humiliation also, not whereby
each
man
humbles himself by confessing his sins, and by not arrogating righteousness
to
himself; but when each man is humbled by some tribulation or mortification
which
his pride deserved; or when he is exercised and proved by endurance;
Sirach
2:4-5 whence a little after this Psalm says, "Before I was troubled, I
went
wrong."...And
the Lord Jesus, when He foretold that this humiliation would be
brought
upon His disciples by their persecutors, did not leave them without a
hope;
but gave them one, whereby they might find comfort, in these words: "In
your
patience shall you possess your souls;" and declared even of their very
bodies,
which might be put to death by their enemies, and seemingly be utterly
annihilated,
that not a hair of their heads should perish. Luke 21:17-18 This hope
was
given to Christ's Body, that is, to the Church, that it might be a comfort to
Her
in
her humiliation .... This hope He gave in the prayer which He taught us, where
He
enjoined us to say, "Lead us not into temptation:" Matthew 6:13 for
He in a
manner
implicitly promised that He would give to His disciples in their danger
that
which He taught them to ask for in their prayers. And indeed this Psalm is
rather
to be understood to speak of this hope: "For Your word has quickened
me."
Which
they have rendered more closely who have put not "word," but
"utterance."
For
the Greek has logion, which is "utterance;" not logoj, which is
"word."
52.
The next verse is, "The proud dealt exceeding wickedly: yet have I not
shrinked
from Your law" (ver. 51). By the proud he wished to be understood the
persecutors
of the pious; and he therefore added, "yet have I not shrinked from
Your
laws," because the persecution of the proud attempted to force him to do
this.
He says that they dealt "exceeding wickedly," because they were not
only
wicked
themselves, but even tried to make the godly wicked. In this humiliation,
that
is, in this tribulation, that hope comforted him which was given in the word of
God,
who promised aid, that the faith of the Martyrs might not faint; and who by
the
presence of His Spirit gave strength to them in their toils, that they might
escape
from the snare of the fowlers....
53.
"For I was mindful of Your judgments from the beginning of the world, O
Lord,
and received comfort" (ver. 52); or, as other copies have it, "and I
was
exhorted,"
that is, received exhortation. For either might be rendered for the Greek
logoj. "From the beginning of the
world," that is, from the birth of the
human
race, "I was mindful of Your judgments" upon the vessels of wrath,
which
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Psalm 119
982
are
fitted unto perdition: "and I received comfort," since through these
also have
You
shown the riches of Your glory on the vessels of Your mercy. Romans 9:22-
23
54.
"Weariness has held me; for the ungodly that forsake Your law" (ver.
53).
"Your
statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage" (ver. 54). This
is
the low estate, in the house of mortality, of the man who sojourns away from
Paradise
and the Jerusalem above, whence one going down to Jericho fell among
robbers;
but, in consequence of the deed of mercy which was done him by that
Samaritan,
Luke 10:30, 37 the statutes of God became his song in the house of his
pilgrimage;
although he was weary for the ungodly that forsook the law of God,
since
he was compelled to converse with them for a season in this life, until the
floor
be threshed. But these two verses may be adapted to the two clauses of the
preceding
verse, respectively.
55.
"I have thought upon Your Name, O Lord, in the night-season, and have kept
Your
law" (ver. 55). Night is that low estate wherein is the trouble of
mortality;
night
is in the proud who deal exceeding wickedly; night is the fear for the
ungodly
who forsake the law of the Lord; night is, lastly, the house of this
pilgrimage,
"until the Lord come, and bring to light the hidden things of darkness,
and
will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall every man have
praise
of God." 1 Corinthians 4:5 In this night, therefore, man ought to remember
the
Name of the Lord; "So that he who glories, may glory in the Lord."
1
Corinthians 1:31
56.
Considering this, he adds, "This was made unto me, because I sought out
Your
righteousnesses"
(ver. 56). "Your" righteousnesses, whereby Thou dost justify the
ungodly;
not mine, which never make me godly, but proud. For this man was not
one
of those who, "ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to
establish
their
own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of
God."
Romans 10:3 Others have better interpreted these righteousnesses, as those
whereby
men are justified for nought through God's grace, though by themselves
they
cannot be righteous, "justifications." But what means, "This was
made unto
me"?
What is "This"? It is perhaps the law? as he had said, "and I
have kept Your
law;"
to which he subjoins, "This was made unto me," meaning, "This
was made
my
law." We must therefore enquire first what was thus made unto him, next in
what
manner, whatever it may have been, was made unto him. "This," he
says,
"was
made unto me:" not "This law," for the Greek, as I have said,
refuses this
sense.
Perhaps then, "This night:" since the preceding sentence stands thus:
"I have
thought
upon Your Name, O Lord, in the night-season:" and the next words are,
"This
was made unto me:" since then it is not the law, it must truly be the
night
which
is thus spoken of. What then means, "I had the night-season: for I have
sought
out Your righteousnesses"? Rather light had come unto him than night,
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Psalm 119
983
since
he sought out the righteousnesses of God. And it is thus rightly understood,
"It
was made unto me," as if it were said, It became night for my sake, that
is, that
it
might profit me. For that low estate of mortality is not absurdly understood as
night,
where the hearts of mortals are hid to one another, so that from such
darkness
innumerable and heavy temptations arise....
Cheth
57.
Let us hear what follows: "I have promised to keep Your law." What
means,
"My
portion, O Lord: I have promised to keep Your law" (ver. 57); save because
the
Lord will be each man's portion then, when he has kept His law? Consider
therefore
what he subjoins: "I entreated Your face, with my whole heart:" and
saying
in what manner he prayed: "O be merciful," he says, "unto me,
according to
Your
word" (ver. 58). And as if he had been heard and aided by Him whom he
prayed
unto, "I thought," he says, "on my own ways, and turned away my
feet
unto
Your testimonies" (ver. 59). That is, I turned them away from my own ways,
which
displeased me, that they might follow Your testimonies, and there might
find
a path. For most of the copies have not, "Because I thought," as is
read in
some;
but only, "I thought." But what is here written, "and I turned
away my feet:"
some
read, "Because I thought, Thou also hast turned away my feet:" that
this may
rather
be ascribed to the grace of God, according to the Apostle's words, "For it
is
God
who works in us." Philippians 2:13...
58.
Lastly, when he had received this blessing of grace, he says, "I was
ready, and
was
not disturbed, that I may keep Your commandments" (ver. 60). Which some
have
rendered, "to keeping Your commandments," some "that I should
keep,"
others
"to keep," the Greek being tou fulacasqai.
59.
But in what manner he was ready to keep the divine commandments, he has
added,
in these words: "The bands of the ungodly have surrounded me: but I have
not
forgotten Your law" (ver. 61). "The bands of the ungodly" are
the hindrances
of
our enemies, whether spiritual, as the devil and his angels, or carnal, the
children
of disobedience, in whom the devil works. Ephesians 2:2 For this word
peccatorum
is not from peccata, "sins;" but from peccatores,
"sinners." Therefore
when
they threaten evils, with which to alarm the righteous, that they may not
suffer
for the law of God, they, so to speak, entangle them with bands, with a
strong
and tough cord of their own. For "they draw iniquity like a long
rope,"
Isaiah
5:18 and thus endeavour to entangle the holy, and sometimes are allowed so
to
do.
60.
"At midnight," he says, "I rise to give thanks unto You: because
of Your
righteous
judgments" (ver. 62). This very fact, that the bands of the ungodly
surround
the righteous, is one of the righteous judgments of God. On which
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Psalm 119
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account
the Apostle Peter says, "The time is come when judgment must begin at
the
house of the Lord." 1 Peter 4:17 For he says this of the persecutions
which the
Church
suffered, when the bands of the ungodly surrounded them. I suppose,
therefore,
that by "midnight" we should understand the heavier seasons of
tribulation.
In which he said, "I arose:" since He did not so afflict him, as to
cast
him
down; but tried him, so that he arose, that is, that through this very
tribulation
he
might advance unto a bolder confession.
61.
For I imagine that what follows, "I am a companion of all them that fear
You,
and
keep Your commandments" (ver. 63), does relate to the Head Himself, as it
is
in
the Epistle which is inscribed to the Hebrews: "Both He that sanctifies
and they
who
are sanctified are all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them
brethren."...
Therefore Jesus Himself speaks in this prophecy: some things in His
Members
and in the Unity of His Body, as if in one man diffused over the whole
world,
and growing up in succession throughout the roll of ages: and some things
in
Himself our Head. And on this account, that since He became the companion of
His
brethren, God of men, the Immortal of the mortal, for this reason the seed fell
upon
the earth, that by its death it might produce much fruit; he next adds
concerning
this very fruit, "The earth, O Lord, is full of Your mercy" (ver.
64).
And
whence this, save when the ungodly is justified? That we may make progress
in
the knowledge of this grace, he adds, "O teach me Your
righteousnesses!"
Teth
62.
"You have dealt in sweetness with Your servant: according unto Your
word;"
or
rather, "according unto Thine utterance" (ver. 65). The Greek word
xrhstothj has been variously rendered by our
translators by the words
"sweetness"
and "goodness." But since sweetness may exist also in evil, since all
unlawful
and unclean things afford pleasure, and it may also exist in that carnal
pleasure
which is permitted; we ought to understand the word "sweetness,"
which
the
Greeks termed krhstothj, of spiritual blessings: for on this
account our
translators
have preferred to term it "goodness." I think therefore that nothing
else
is
meant by the words, "You have dealt in sweetness with Your servant,"
than this,
You
have made me feel delight in that which is good. For when that which is good
delights,
it is a great gift of God. But when the good work which the law
commands
is done from a fear of punishment, not from a delight in righteousness,
when
God is dreaded, not loved; it is the act of a slave, not of a freeman.
63.
"O learn me sweetness, and understanding, and knowledge," he says,
"for I
have
believed Your commandments" (ver. 66). He prays these things may be
increased
and perfected. For they who said, "Lord, increase our faith," Luke
17:5
had
faith. And as long as we live in this world, these are the words of those who
are
making progress. But he adds, "understanding," or, as most copies
read,
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Psalm 119
985
"discipline."
Now the word discipline, for which the Greeks use paideia, is
employed
in Scripture, where instruction through tribulation is to be understood:
according
to the words, "Whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and scourges every
son
whom He receives." Hebrews 12:6 In the literature of the Church this is
usually
called discipline. For this word, nat&ta, is used in the Greek in the
Epistle
to the Hebrews, where the Latin translator says, "No discipline for the
present
seems to be joyous, but grievous," etc. Hebrews 12:11 He therefore toward
whom
the Lord deals in sweetness, that is, he in whom He mercifully inspires
delight
in that which is good, ought to pray instantly, that this gift may be so
increased
unto him, that he may not only despise all other delights in comparison
with
it, but also that he may endure any amount of sufferings for its sake. Thus is
discipline
healthfully added to sweetness. This discipline ought not to be desired,
and
prayed for, for a small measure of grace and goodness, that is, holy love; but
for
so great, as may not be extinguished by the weight of the chastening:... so
much
in fact as to enable him to endure with the utmost patience the discipline. In
the
third place is mentioned knowledge; since, if knowledge in its greatness
outstrips
the increase of love, it does not edify, but "puffs up." 1
Corinthians 8:1...
64.
But in that he says, not, Give unto me; but, "O learn me;" how is the
sweetness
taught,
if it be not given? Since many know what does not delight them, and find
no
sweetness in things of which they have knowledge. For sweetness cannot be
learned,
unless it please. Also discipline, which signifies the tribulation which
chastens,
is learned by receiving; that is, not by hearing, or reading, or thinking,
but
by feeling....
65.
He adds, "for I have believed Your commandments," and herein we may
justly
enquire,
why he said not, I obeyed, rather than, I believed. For commandments are
one
thing, promises another. We undertake to obey commandments, that we may
deserve
to receive promises. We therefore believe promises, obey
commandments....
Teach me therefore sweetness by inspiring charity, teach me
discipline
by giving patience, teach me knowledge by enlightening my
understanding:
"for I have believed Your commandments." I have believed that
Thou
who art God, and who givest unto man whence You may cause him to do
what
Thou commandest, hast commanded these things.
66.
"Before I was humbled, I went wrong; wherefore I have kept Your word"
(ver.
67);
or, as some have it more closely, "Your utterance," that is, lest I
should be
humbled
again. This is better referred to that humiliation which took place in
Adam,
in whom the whole human creature, as it were, being corrupted at the root,
as
it refused to be subject to truth, "was made subject to vanity."
Which it was
profitable
to the vessels of mercy to feel, that by throwing down pride, obedience
might
be loved, and misery perish, never again to return.
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Psalm 119
986
67.
"Sweet are You, O Lord;" or, as many have it, "Sweet are You,
even Thou, O
Lord"
(ver. 68). Some also, "Sweet are You," or, "Good are You:"
as we have
before
treated of this word: "and in Your sweetness teach me Your statutes."
He
truly
desires to do the righteousnesses of God, since he desires to learn them in His
sweetness
from Him unto whom he has said, "Sweet are You, O Lord."
68.
Next he says, "The iniquity of the proud has been multiplied upon me"
(ver.
69):
of those, that is, whom it profited not that human nature was humbled after it
went
wrong. "But I will search Your commandments with my whole heart."
Howsoever,
he says, iniquity shall abound, love shall not grow cold in me.
Matthew
24:12 He, as it were, says this, who in His sweetness learns the
righteousnesses
of God. For in proportion as the commandments of Him who aids
us
are the more sweet, so much the more does he who loves Him search after
them,
that he may perform them when known, and may learn them by doing them;
because
they are more perfectly understood when they are performed.
69.
"Their heart is curdled as milk" (ver. 70). Whose, save the proud,
whose
iniquity
he has said has been multiplied upon him? But he wishes it to be
understood
by this word, and in this passage, that their heart has become hard. It is
used
also in a good sense, and is understood to mean, full of grace: for this word,
some
have also interpreted "curdled."...
70.
"It is good for me that You have humbled me: that I might learn Your
righteousnesses"
(ver. 71). He has said something kindred to this above. For by the
fruit
itself he shows that it was a good thing for him to be humbled; but in the
former
passage he has stated the cause also, in that he had felt beforehand that
humiliation
which resulted from his punishment, when he went wrong. But in
these
words, "Wherefore have I kept Your word:" and again in these,
"That I
might
learn Your righteousnesses:" he seems to me to have signified, that to
know
these
is the same thing as to keep them, to keep them the same thing as to know
them.
For Christ knew what He reproved; and yet He reproved sin, though it is
said
of Him that "He knew not sin." 2 Corinthians 5:21 He knew therefore
by a
kind
of knowledge, and again He knew not by a kind of ignorance. Thus also
many
learn the righteousnesses of God, and learn them not. For they know them in
a
certain way; and, again do not know them from a kind of ignorance, since they
do
them not. In this sense the Psalmist therefore is to be understood to have
said,
"That
I might learn Your righteousnesses," meaning that kind of knowledge
whereby
they are performed.
71.
But that this is not gained, save through love, wherein he who does them has
delight,
on which account it is said, "In Your sweetness teach me Your
righteousnesses:"
the following verse shows, wherein he says, "The law of Your
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Psalm 119
987
mouth
is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver" (ver. 72): so that
love
loves
the law of God more than avarice loves thousands of gold and silver.
Jod
72.
..."Your hands have made me, and fashioned me" (ver. 73). The hands
of God
are
the power of God. Or if the plural number moves them, since it is not said,
Your
hand, but, "Your hands;" let them understand by the hands of God the
power
and
wisdom of God, both of which titles are given to one Christ,
1
Corinthians 1:24 who is also understood under the figure, Arm of the Lord. Or
let
them understand by the hands of God, the Son and the Holy Spirit; since the
Holy
Spirit works conjointly with the Father and the Son: whence says the
Apostle,
"But all these works that one and the self-same Spirit:"
1
Corinthians 12:11 he said, "one and the self-same;" lest as many
spirits as works
might
be imagined, not that the Spirit works without the Father and the Son. It is
easy
therefore to see how the hands of God are to be understood: provided, at the
same
time, that He be not denied to do those things through His Word which He
does
by His hands: nor be considered not to do those things with His hands, which
He
does through His word .... But is this said in respect of Adam? from whom
since
all men were propagated, what man, since Adam was made, may not say that
he
himself also was made by reason of procreation and generation from Adam? Or
may
it rightly be said, in this sense, "Your hands have made me, and fashioned
me,"
namely, that every man is born even of his parents not without the work of
God,
God creating, they generating? Since, if the creative power of God be
withdrawn
from things, they perish: nor is anything at all, either of the world's
elements,
or of parents, or of seeds, produced, if God does not create it....
73.
The Greek version has a more concise expression for our, "Give me
understanding,"
sunetison, expressing "give understanding" by the single
word
sunetison, which the Latin cannot do; as if one
could not say, Heal me; and it
were
necessary to say, Give me health, as it is here said, "Give me
understanding;"
or,
make me whole, as here it may be said, make me intelligent. This indeed an
Angel
could do: for he said to Daniel, "I have come to give you
understanding;"
Daniel
10:14 and this word is in the Greek, as it is here also, sunetisai
se; as if
the
Latin translator were to render qerapeusai se by sanitatem dare tibi.
For the
Latin
interpreter would not make a circumlocution by saying, to give you
understanding,
if, as we say from health, "to heal you," so one could say from
intellect,
"to intellectuate you." But if an Angel could do this, what reason is
there
that
this man should pray that this be done for him by God? Is it because God had
commanded
the Angel to do it? Just so: for Christ is understood to have given this
command
to the Angel. Daniel 8:15-16...
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Psalm 119 988
74.
"That I may learn Your commandments." Since Thou, says he, hast
formed
me,
do Thou new form me; that that may be done in Christ's Body, which the
Apostle
speaks of, "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2
75.
"They that fear You," he says, "will see me, and be glad"
(ver. 74): or, as other
copies
have it, "will be joyful: because I have hoped in Your word:" that
is, in the
things
which You have promised, that they may be the sons of promise, the seed
of
Abraham, in whom all nations are blessed. Who are they who fear God, and
whom
will they see and be glad, because he has put his trust in the word of God?
Whether
it be the body of Christ, that is, the Church, whose words these are
through
Christ, or within it, and concerning it, these are as it were the words of
Christ
concerning Himself; are not they themselves among those who fear
God?
... The same persons, who see the Church and are glad, are the Church. But
why
said he not, They who fear You see me, and are glad: whereas he has written,
"fear
You," in the present tense; while the verbs "shall see," and
shall "be glad,"
are
futures? Is it because in the present state there is fear, as long as
"man's life is a
temptation
upon earth;" but the gladness which he desired to be understood, will
be
then, when "the righteous shall shine in the kingdom of their Father like
the
sun."
Matthew 13:43...
76.
"I know," she says, "O Lord, that Your judgments are righteous,
and that in
Your
truth You have humbled me" (ver. 75). "O let Your merciful kindness
be my
comfort,
according to Your word unto Your servant" (ver. 76). Mercy and truth
are
so spoken of in the Divine Word, that, while they are found in many passages,
especially
in the Psalms, it is also so read in one place, "All the paths of the Lord
are
mercy and truth." And here indeed he has placed truth first, whereby we
are
humbled
unto death, by the judgment of Him whose judgments are righteousness:
next
mercy, whereby we are renewed unto life, by the promise of Him whose
blessing
is His grace. For this reason he says, "according to Your Word unto Your
servant:"
that is, according to that which You have promised unto Your servant.
Whether
therefore it be regeneration whereby we are here adopted among the sons
of
God, or faith and hope and charity, which three are built up in us, although
they
come
from the mercy of God; nevertheless, in this stormy and troublesome life
they
are the consolations of the miserable, not the joys of the blessed.
77.
But since those things are destined to happen after and through these, he next
says,
"O let Your loving mercies come upon me, and I shall live" (ver. 77).
For
then
indeed I shall truly live, when I shall not be able to fear lest I die. This is
styled
life absolutely and without any addition; nor is any life save that which is
everlasting
and blessed understood, as though it alone were to be called life,
compared
with which that which we now lead ought rather to be called death than
life:
according to those words in the Gospel, "If you will enter into life, keep
the
commandments."
Matthew 19:17...
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Psalm 119
989
78.
He then goes on as follows: "Let the proud be confounded, for they have
unrighteously
practised iniquity against me: but I will be occupied in Your
commandments"
(ver. 78). Behold, what he says, the meditation of the law of
God,
or rather, his meditation the law of God.
79.
"Let such as fear You," he says, "and have known Your
testimonies, be turned
unto
me" (ver. 79). But who is he who says this? For no mortal will venture to
say
this,
or if he say it, should be listened to. Indeed, it is He who above also has
interposed
His own words, saying, "I am a partaker with all them that fear You."
Because
He was made sharer in our mortal state, that we might also become
partakers
in His Divine Nature, we became sharers in One unto life, He a sharer in
many
unto death. He it is unto whom they that fear God turn, and who know the
testimonies
of God, so long before predicted of Him through the Prophets, a little
before
displayed in His presence through miracles.
80.
"O let my heart," he says, "be unspotted in Your
righteousnesses, that I be not
ashamed"
(ver. 80). He returns to the words of His body, that is, His holy people,
and
now prays that his heart may be made unspotted, that is, the heart of His
members;
"in the righteousnesses of God," not in their own strength: for He
has
prayed
for this, not presumed upon it. In the words he has added, "that I be not
ashamed,"
there is a resemblance to some of the earlier verses of this Psalm.
Whereas
there, in the words, "O that," he signifies a wish, he has here
expressed
himself
in the more open words of one praying: "O let my heart be sound:" so
that
in
neither of these two sentences, each of which is one and the same, there is found
the
boldness of one who trusts in his own free will against grace. While he says
there,
"so shall I not be confounded:" he says here, "that I be not
ashamed." The
heart
then of the members and the body of Christ is made unspotted, through the
grace
of God, by means of the very Head of that Body, that is, through Jesus
Christ
our Lord, by the "laver of regeneration," Titus 3:5 wherein all our
past sins
have
been blotted out; through the aid of the Spirit, whereby we lust against the
flesh,
that we be not overcome in our fight; Galatians 5:17 through the efficacy of
the
Lord's Prayer, wherein we say, "Forgive us our trespasses." Matthew
6:12
Thus
regeneration having been given to us, our conflict having been aided, prayer
having
been poured forth, our heart is made unspotted, so that we be not ashamed.
Luke
6:37-38
Caph
81.
"My soul has failed for Your salvation: and I have hoped because of Your
word"
(ver. 81). It is not every failing that should be supposed to be blameable or
deserving
punishment: there is also a failing that is laudable or desirable .... For it
is
said of a good failing: "My soul has a desire and failing to enter into
the courts
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Psalm 119
990
of
the Lord." So also here he says not, fails away from Your salvation, but
"fails
for
Your salvation," that is, towards Your salvation. This losing ground is
therefore
good: for it does indicate a longing after good, not as yet indeed gained,
but
most eagerly and earnestly desired. But who says this, save the chosen
generation,
the royal priesthood, the holy nation, the peculiar people, 1 Peter 2:9
longing
for Christ from the origin of the human race even unto the end of this
world,
in the persons of those who, each in his own time, have lived, are living, or
are
to live here?... The first seasons of the Church, therefore, had Saints, before
the
Virgin's
delivery, who desired the advent of His Incarnation: but these times, since
He
has ascended into heaven, have Saints who desire His manifestation to judge
the
quick and the dead.... "And I have hoped because of Your word:" that
is, of
Your
promise; a hope which causes us to await with patience that which is not
seen
by those who believe. Here also the Greek has the word ephlpisa, which
some
of our translators have preferred rendering by, "hoped-more;" since
beyond
doubt
it will be greater than can be described.
82.
"My eyes," he says, "have failed for Your word, saying, O when
will You
comfort
me?" (ver. 82). Behold that praiseworthy and blessed failing, in the eyes
again,
but his inner eyes, not arising from infirmity of mind, but from the strength
of
his longing for the promise of God: for this he says, "for Your
word." But in
what
sense can such eyes say, "When will You comfort me?" save when we
pray
and
groan with such earnestness and ardent expectation? For the tongue, not the
eyes,
is wont to speak: but in some sense the voice of the eyes is the longing of
prayer.
But in the words, "When will You comfort me?" he shows that he
endures
as
it were delay. Whence is this also, "How long, Lord, will You punish
me?" And
this
is done either that the happiness may be the sweeter when deferred, or this is
the
sentiment of those who long, since the space of time, which may be short to
Him
who comes to their aid, is tedious to the loving. But God knows what He does
and
when, for He "has ordered all things in measure and number and
weight."
Wisdom
11:18
83.
But when spiritual desires burn, carnal desires without doubt cool: on this
account
follows, "Since I am become like a bottle in the frost, I do not forget
Your
righteousnesses"
(ver. 83). Truly he desires this mortal flesh to be understood by
the
bottle, the heavenly blessing by the frost, whereby the lusts of the flesh as
it
were
by the binding of the frost become sluggish; and hence it arises that the
righteousnesses
of God do not slip from the memory, as long as we do not
meditate
apart from them; since what the Apostle says is brought to pass: "Make
not
provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." Romans 13:14
"And I do not
forget
Your righteousness:" that is, I forget them not, because I have become
such.
For
the fervour of lust has cooled, that the memory of love might glow.
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991
84.
"How many are the days of Your servant? when will You be avenged of them
that
persecute me?" (ver. 84). In the Apocalypse, Revelation 6:10-11 these are
the
words
of the Martyrs, and long-suffering is enjoined them until the number of their
brethren
be fulfilled. The body of Christ then is asking concerning its days, what
they
are to be in this world, and that no man might suppose that the Church would
cease
to exist here before the end of the world came, and that some time would
elapse
in this world, while the Church was now no more on earth; therefore, when
he
had enquired concerning the days, he added also respecting the judgment,
showing
indeed that the Church would exist on earth until the judgment, when
vengeance
shall fall upon Her persecutors. But if any one wonder why he should
ask
that question, to which when asked by the disciples, their Master replied,
"It is
not
for you to know the times and the seasons;" Acts 1:7 why should we not
believe
that in this passage of the Psalm it was prophesied that they should ask this
very
question, and that the words of the Church, which were so long before uttered
here,
were fulfilled in their question?
85.
In what follows: "The wicked have told me pleasant tales: but not like
Your
law,
O Lord" (ver. 85): the Latin translators have endeavoured to render the
Greek
adoleskiaj, which cannot be
expressed in one Latin word, so that some have
rendered
it "delights," and others "fablings," so that we must
understand to be
meant
some kind of compositions, but in discourse of a nature to give pleasure.
Both
secular literature, and the Jewish book entitled Deuterosis, containing besides
the
canon of divine Scripture thousands of tales, comprise these in their different
sects
and professions; the vain and wandering loquacity of heretics holds them
also.
All these he wished to be considered as wicked, by whom he says that
adolesxiai were related to him,
that is, compositions which gave pleasure solely
in
their style: "But not," he adds, "as Your law, O Lord;"
because truth, not words,
pleases
me therein.
86.
Lastly, he adds, "All Your commandments are truth: they have persecuted me
unjustly;
O be Thou my help" (ver. 86). And the whole sense depends upon the
foregoing:
"How many are the days of Your servant: when will You be avenged of
them
that persecute me?" For that they may persecute me, they have related to
me
these
pleasant tales; but I have preferred Your law to them, which on that account
has
pleased me more, because all Your commandments are true; not as in their
discourses,
where vanity abounds. And for this reason "they have persecuted me
falsely,"
because in me they have persecuted nothing save the truth. Therefore help
Thou
me, that I may struggle for the truth even unto death; because this is at once
Your
commandment, and therefore it is also the truth.
87.
When the Church acted thus, She suffered what he has added, "They had
almost
made an end of me upon earth" (ver. 87): a great slaughter of martyrs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 119 992
having
been made, while they confess and preach the truth. But since it is not in
vain
said, "O help Thou me;" he adds, "But I forsook not Your
commandments."
88.
And that She might persevere unto the end, "O quicken me," he says,
"after
Your
loving mercy: and so shall I keep the testimonies of Your mouth" (ver.
88);
where
the Greek has marturia. This was not to be passed over in
silence, on
account
of that sweetest name of Martyrs, who beyond doubt when so great
cruelty
of the persecutors was raging, that the Church was almost made an end of
upon
earth, would never have kept the testimonies of God, unless that had been
vouchsafed
them which is here spoken of, "O quicken me after Your loving-
kindness."
For they were quickened, lest by loving life, they should deny the life,
and
by denying it, should lose it: and thus they who for life refused to forsake
the
truth,
lived by dying for the truth.
Lamed
89.
The man who speaks in this Psalm, as if he were tired of human mutability,
whence
this life is full of temptations, among his tribulations, on account of which
he
had above said, "The wicked have persecuted me;" and, "They have
almost
made
an end of me upon earth" (ver. 89); burning with longings for the heavenly
Jerusalem;
looked up to the realms above, and said, "O Lord, Your word endures
for
ever in heaven;" that is, among Your Angels who serve everlastingly in
Thine
armies,
without desertion.
90.
But the next verse, after heaven, pertains consequently to earth. For this is
one
verse
of the eight which relate to this letter. For eight verses are appended to each
of
these Hebrew letters, until this long Psalm be ended. "Your truth also
remains
from
one generation to the other: You have laid the foundation of the earth, and it
abides"
(ver. 90). Beholding therefore the earth next after heaven with the gaze of
a
faithful mind, he finds in it generations which are not in heaven, and says,
"Your
truth
remains from one generation to the other:" signifying all generations by
this
expression,
from which the Truth of God was never absent in His saints, at one
time
fewer, at one time more in number, according as the times happened or shall
happen
to vary; or wishing two particular generations to be understood, one
pertaining
to the Law and the Prophets, another to the Gospel....
91.
"Day continues according to Your ordinance" (ver. 91). For all these
things are
day:
"and this is the day which the Lord has made: let us rejoice and be glad
in it:"
and
"let us walk honestly as in the day." Romans 13:13 "For all
things serve You."
He
said all things of some: "all" which belong to this day "serve
You." For the
ungodly
of whom it is said, "I have compared your mother unto the night," do
not
serve
You.
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993
92.
He then looks back towards the source of this earth's deliverance, which
caused
it to abide when founded; and adds, "If my delight had not been in Your
law,
I should perchance have perished in my humiliation" (ver. 92). This is the
law
of
faith, not a vain faith, but that which works through love. Galatians 5:6
Through
this
grace is gained, which makes men courageous in temporal tribulation, that
they
may not perish in the humiliation of mortality.
93.
"I will never forget," he says, "Your righteousnesses, for with
them You have
quickened
me" (ver. 93). Behold how it was that he did not perish in his
humiliation.
For, save God quickens, what is man, Who can indeed kill, but cannot
quicken
himself?
94.
He next adds: "I am Thine: O save me, for I have sought Your
righteousnesses"
(ver. 94). We must not understand lightly the words, "I am
Yours."
For what is not His? Why then is it that the Psalmist has commended
himself
unto God somewhat in a more familiar sense, in these words, "I am Thine:
O
save me;" save because he wished it to be understood that he had desired
to be
his
own only to his harm, which is the first and the greatest evil of disobedience?
and
as if he should say, I wished to be my own, and I lost myself: "I am
Yours," he
says,
"O save me, for I have sought Your righteousnesses;" not my own
inclinations,
whereby I was my own, but "Your righteousnesses," that I might now
be
Yours.
95.
"The ungodly," he says, "have awaited me that they might destroy
me; but I
have
understood Your testimonies" (ver. 95). What means, "that they might
destroy
me"? Did he then fear that he should perish altogether at the death of his
body?
God forbid! and what means, "have awaited me," save that he should
consent
with them unto iniquity? For then they would destroy him. And he has
said
why he has not perished: "I understood Your testimonies." The Greek
word,
marturia, sounds more familiarly to the ears of
the Church. For though they
should
slay me not consenting unto them, yet while I confessed Your testimonies
(martyria)
I should not perish; but they who, that they might destroy me, were
waiting
till I should consent unto them, tortured me even when I did confess them.
Yet
he did not leave that which he had understood, looking on it and seeing an end
without
end, if only he should persevere unto the end.
96.
Lastly, he next says, "I have seen an end of all consummation: but Your
commandment
is exceeding broad" (ver. 96). For he had entered into the sanctuary
of
God, and had understood the end. Now "all consummation" appears to me
in
this
place to signify, the striving even unto death for the truth, Sirach 4:28 and
the
endurance
of every evil for the true and chief good: the end of which
consummation
is to excel in the kingdom of Christ, which has no end; and there to
have
without death, without pain, and with great honour, life, acquired by the
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Psalm 119
994
death
of this life, and by sorrows and reproaches. But in what he has added,
"Your
commandment
is exceeding broad;" I understand only love. For what would it
have
profited him, whatever death impended over him, in the midst of whatsoever
torment,
to confess those testimonies, if love were not in the confessor? ... Broad
therefore
is the commandment of charity, that twofold commandment, whereby we
are
enjoined to love God and our neighbour. But what is broader than that,
"on"
which
"hang all the Law and the Prophets"? Matthew 22:37-40
Mem
97.
We have frequently admonished you, that love was to be understood by that
praiseworthy
breadth, by means of which, while we do the commandments of
God,
we feel no straitness. On this account also after saying above in this great
Psalm,
"Your commandment is exceeding broad:" in the following verse he
shows
wherefore
it is broad: "what love have I unto Your law, O Lord!" (ver. 97).
Love is
therefore
the breadth of the commandment. For how can it be that what God
commands
to be loved, be loved, and yet the commandment itself be not loved?
For
this itself is the law; "in all the day," he says, "is my study
in it." Behold how I
have
loved it, that in the whole day my study is in it; or rather, as the Greek has
it,
"all
the day long," which more fully expresses the continuance of meditation.
Now
that
is to be understood through all time; which is, for ever. By such love lust is
driven
out: lust, which repeatedly opposes our performing the commandments of
the
law, when "the flesh lusts against the spirit:" Galatians 5:17
against which the
spirit
lusting, ought so to love the law of God, that it be its study during the whole
day....
98.
And he then adds: "You have made me to understand Your commandment
above
mine enemies; for it is ever with me" (ver. 98). For "they have
indeed a zeal
of
God, but not according to knowledge," etc. Romans 10:2-3 But the Psalmist,
who
understands the commandment of God above these his enemies, wishes to be
found
with the Apostle, "not having" his "own righteousness, which is
of the law,
but
that which is of the faith of Christ, which is of God;" Philippians 3:9
not that
the
Law which his enemies read is not of God, but because they do not understand
it,
like him who understands it above his enemies, by clinging to the Stone upon
which
they stumbled. For "Christ is the end of the law," etc., Romans 10:4
"that
they
may be justified freely through His grace;" Romans 3:24 not like those who
imagine
that they obey the law of their own strength, and are therefore, though by
God's
law, yet still endeavouring to set up their own righteousness; but as the son
of
promise, who hungering and thirsty after it, Matthew 5:6 by seeking, by asking,
by
knocking, Matthew 7:7 as it were begs it of the Father, that being adopted he
may
receive it through His only-begotten Son .... His enemies sought from the
same
commandment temporal rewards; and therefore it was not unto them for
ever,
as it was unto this man. For they who have translated "for ever" have
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995
rendered
better than they who have written "for an age," since at the end of
time
there
can be no longer a commandment of the law....
99.
But what means the following verse, "I have more understanding than my
teachers"?
(ver. 99). Who is he who had more understanding than all his teachers?
Who,
I ask, is he, who dares to prefer himself in understanding above all the
Prophets,
who not only by speaking taught with so excellent authority those who
lived
with them, but also their posterity by writing? ... What is here said, could
not
have
been spoken in Solomon's person .... I recognise plainly Him who had more
understanding
than His teachers, since when He was a boy of twelve years of age,
Jesus
remained behind in Jerusalem, and was found by His parents after three
days'
space, "sitting in the temple among the doctors, hearing them and asking
them
questions." Luke 2:42-46 The Son Himself has said, "As My Father has
taught
Me, I speak these things." John 8:28 It is very difficult to understand
this of
the
Person of the Word; unless we can comprehend that it is the same thing for the
Son
to be taught as to be begotten of the Father.... "He took upon Himself the
form
of
a servant;" Philippians 2:7 for when He had assumed this form, men of more
advanced
age might think Him fit to be taught as a boy; but He whom the Father
taught,
had more understanding than all His teachers. "For Your testimonies,"
He
says,
"are my study." For this reason He had more understanding than all
His
teachers,
because He studied the testimonies of God, which, as concerning
Himself,
He knew better than they, when He spoke these words: "You sent unto
John,
and he bare witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from man,"
etc.
John 5:33-36
100.
But these teachers may be understood very reasonably to be those aged men,
of
whom he presently says, "I am wiser than mine elders" (ver. 100). And
this
seems
to me to be repeated here thus, that that age of His which is well known to
us
in the Gospel might be called to our remembrance; the age of boyhood, during
which
He was sitting among the aged, understanding more than all His teachers.
For
the smaller and the greater in age are wont to be termed younger and elder,
although
neither of them has arrived at or approached old age; although if we are
concerned
to seek in the Gospel the express term, elders, more than whom He
understood,
we find it when the Scribes and Pharisees said unto Him, "Why do
Your
disciples transgression the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their
hands
when they eat bread." Matthew 15:2 Behold the transgression of the
tradition
of the elders is objected to Him. But He who was wiser than His elders,
let
us hear what answer He made them. "Why do ye also, He asked,
"transgress the
commandment
of God by your tradition?" Matthew 15:3...
101.
But what comes next, does not seem to apply to the Head, but to the Body:
"I
have
refrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your words" (ver.
101).
For that Head of ours, the Saviour of the Body Himself, could not be borne
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Psalm 119
996
by
carnal lust into any evil way, so that it should be needful for Him to refrain
His
feet,
as though they would go thither of their own accord; which we do, when we
refrain
our evil desires, which He had not, that they may not follow evil ways. For
thus
we are able to keep the word of God, if we "go not after our evil
lusts,"
Sirach
18:30 so that they attain unto the evils desired; but rather curb them with
the
spirit which lusts against the flesh, Galatians 5:17 that they may not drag us
away,
seduced and overthrown, through evil ways.
102.
"I have not shrunk," he says, "from Your judgments: for You have
laid down
a
law for me" (ver. 102). He has stated what made him fear, so that he
refrained
his
feet from every evil way .... Thou, more inward than my inmost self, You have
laid
down a law within my heart by Your Spirit, as it were by Your fingers, that I
might
not fear it as a slave without love, but might love it with a chaste fear as a
son,
and fear it with a chaste love.
103.
Consider then what follows: "O how sweet are Your words unto my
throat!"
(ver.
103). Or, as it is more literally rendered from the Greek, "Your
utterances,
above
honey and the honeycomb unto my mouth." This is that sweetness which
the
Lord gives, "So that the earth yield her increase:" that we do good
truly in a
good
spirit, that is, not from the dread of carnal evil, but from the gladness of
spiritual
good. Some copies indeed do not read "honeycomb:" but the majority
do.
Now
the open teaching of wisdom is like unto honey; but that is like the comb
which
is squeezed from the more recondite mysteries, as if from cells of wax, by
the
mouth of the teacher, as if he were chewing it: but it is sweet to the mouth of
the
heart, not to the mouth of the flesh.
104.
But what mean the words, "Through Your commandments I get
understanding"?
(ver. 104). For the expressions, I have understood Your
commandments:
and, "I get understanding through Your commandments;" are
different.
Something else then he signifies that he has understood from the
commandments
of God: that is, as far as I can see, he says, that by obeying God's
commandments
he has arrived at the comprehension of those things which he had
longed
to know .... These then are the words of the spiritual members of Christ,
"Through
Your commandments I get understanding." For the body of Christ
rightly
says these words in those, to whom, while they keep the commandments, a
richer
knowledge of wisdom is given on account of this very keeping of the
commandments.
"Therefore," he adds, "I hate all evil ways." For it is
needful that
the
love of righteousness should hate all iniquity: that love, which is so much the
stronger,
in proportion as the sweetness of a higher wisdom does inspire it, a
wisdom
given unto him who obeys God, and gets understanding from His
commandments.
Nun
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Psalm 119
997
105.
"Your word is a lantern unto my feet, and a light unto my paths"
(ver. 105).
The
word "lantern" appears in the word "light;" "my
feet" are also repeated in "my
paths."
What then means "Your Word"? John 1:1 Is it He who was in the
beginning
God with God, that is, the Word by whom all things were made? It is
not
thus. For that Word is a light, but is not a lantern. For a lantern is a
creature,
not
a creator; and it is lighted by participation of an unchangeable light .... For
no
creature,
howsoever rational and intellectual, is lighted by itself, but is lighted by
participation
of eternal Truth: although sometimes day is spoken of, not meaning
the
Lord, but that "day which the Lord has made," and on account of which
it is
said,
"Come unto Him, and be lightened." On account of which participation,
inasmuch
as the Mediator Himself became Man, He is styled lantern in the
Apocalypse.
Revelation 21:23 But this sense is a solitary one; for it cannot be
divinely
spoken of any of the saints, nor in any wise lawfully said of any, "The
Word
was made flesh," John 1:14 save of the "one Mediator between God and
men."
1 Timothy 2:5 Since therefore the only-begotten Word, coequal with the
Father,
is styled a light; and man when enlightened by the Word is also called a
light,
who is styled also a lantern, as John, as the Apostles; and since no man of
these
is the Word, and that Word by whom they were enlightened is not a lantern;
what
is this word, which is thus called a light and a lantern at the same time, save
we
understand the word which was sent unto the Prophets, or which was preached
through
the Apostles; not Christ the Word, but the word of Christ, of which it is
written,
"Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God"?
Romans
10:17 For the Apostle Peter also, comparing the prophetical word to a
lantern,
says, "whereunto ye do well that you take heed, as unto a lantern, that
shines
in a dark place." 2 Peter 1:19 What, therefore, he here says, "Your
word" is
the
word which is contained in all the holy Scriptures.
106.
"I have sworn, and am steadfastly purposed to keep Your righteous
judgments"
(ver. 106): as one who walked aright in the light of that lantern, and
kept
to straight paths. For he calls what he has determined by a sacrament, an oath;
because
the mind ought to be so fixed in keeping the righteous judgments of God,
that
its determination should be in the place of an oath. Now the righteous
judgments
of God are kept by faith; when, under the righteous judgment of God,
neither
any good work is believed to be fruitless, nor any sin unpunished; but,
because
the body of Christ has suffered many most grievous evils for this faith, he
says,
"I was humbled above measure" (ver. 107). He does not say, I have
humbled
myself,
so that we must needs understand that humiliation which is commanded;
but
he says, "I was humbled above-measure;" that is, suffered a very
heavy
persecution,
because he swore and was steadfastly purposed to keep the righteous
judgments
of God. And, lest in such trouble faith herself might faint he adds,
"Quicken
me, O Lord, according to Your word:" that is, according to Your
promise.
For the word of the promises of God is a lantern to the feet, and a light to
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Psalm 119
998
the
paths. Thus also above, in the humiliation of persecution, he prayed that God
would
quicken him....
107.
"Make the freewill offerings of my mouth well pleasing, O Lord" (ver.
108):
that
is, let them please You; do not reject, but approve them. By the freewill
offerings
of the mouth are well understood the sacrifices of praise, offered up in
the
confession of love, not from the fear of necessity; whence it is said, "a
freewill
offering
will I offer You." But what does he add? "and teach me Your
judgments"?
Had he not himself said above, "From Your judgments I have not
swerved"?
How could he have done thus, if he knew them not? Moreover, if he
knew
them, in what sense does he here say, "and teach me Your judgments"?
Is it
as
in a former passage, "You have dealt in sweetness with Your servant:"
presently
after
which we find, "teach me sweetness"? This passage we explained as the
words
of one who was gaining in grace, and praying that he might receive in
addition
to what he had received.
108.
"My soul is alway in Your hand" (ver. 109). Some copies read,
"in my hand:"
but
most, "in Your hand;" and this latter is indeed easy. For "the
souls of the
righteous
are in God's hand: Wisdom 3:1 in whose hand are both we and our
words."
Wisdom 7:16 "And I do not forget Your law:" as if his memory were
aided
to remember God's law by the hands of Him in whose hands is his soul. But
how
the words, "My soul is in my hands," can be understood, I know not.
For
these
are the words of the righteous, not of the ungodly; of one who is returning to
the
Father, not departing from the Father .... Is it perhaps said, "My soul is
in my
hands,"
in this sense, as if he offered it to God to be quickened? Whence in
another
passage it is said, "Unto You, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul."
Since
here
too he had said above, "Quicken Thou me."
109.
"The ungodly," he says, "have laid a snare for me: but yet I
swerved not from
Your
commandments" (ver. 110). Whence this, unless because his soul is in the
hands
of God, or in his own hands is offered to God to be quickened?
110.
"Your testimonies have I gained in heritage for ever" (ver. 111).
Some
wishing
to express in one word what is put in one word in the Greek, have
translated
it hereditavi. Which although it might be Latin, yet would rather signify
one
who gave an inheritance than one who received it, hereditavi being like ditavi.
Better,
therefore, the whole sense is conveyed in two words, whether we say, "I
have
possessed in heritage," or, "I have gotten in heritage:" not
gotten heritage, but
"gotten
in heritage." If it be asked, what he gained in heritage, he replies,
"Your
testimonies."
What does he wish to be understood, save that he might become a
witness
of God, and confess His testimonies, that is, that he might become a
Martyr
of God, and might declare His testimonies, as the Martyrs do, was a gift
bestowed
upon him by the Father, of whom he is heir? ... But even their wish was
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Psalm 119 999
prepared
by the Lord. For this reason he says he has gained them in heritage, and
this
"for ever;" because they have not in them the temporal glory of men
who seek
vain
things, but the eternal glory of those who suffer for a short season, and who
reign
without end. Whence the next words, "Because they are the very joy of my
heart:"
although the affliction of the body, yet the very joy of the heart.
111.
He then adds: "I have applied my heart to fulfil Your righteousness for
ever,
for
my reward" (ver. 112). He who says, "I have applied my heart,"
had before
said,
"Incline my heart unto Your testimonies:" so that we may understand
that it
is
at once a divine gift, and an act of free will. But are we to fulfil the
righteousnesses
of God for ever? Those works which we perform in regard to the
need
of our neighbours, cannot be everlasting, any more than their need; but if we
do
not do them from love, there is no righteousness; if we do them from love, that
love
is everlasting, and an everlasting reward is in store for it.
Samech
112.
"I have hated the unrighteous; and Your law have I loved" (ver. 113).
He says
not,
I hate the wicked, and love the righteous; or, I hate iniquity, and love Your
law;
but, after saying, "I have hated the unrighteous," he explains why,
by adding,
"and
Your law have I loved;" to show, that he did not hate human nature in
unrighteous
men, but their unrighteousness whereby they are foes to the law,
which
he loves.
113.
He next adds: "You are my helper and my taker up" (ver. 114):
"my helper,"
to
do good works: "my taker up," to escape evil ones. In the next words,
"I have
hoped
more on Your word," he speaks as a son of promise.
114.
But what is the meaning of the following verse: "Away from me, you wicked,
and
I will search the commandments of my God"? (ver. 115). For he says not, I
will
perform; but, "I will search." In order, therefore, that he may
diligently and
perfectly
learn that law, he bids the wicked depart from him, and even forcibly
drives
them away from his company. For the wicked exercise us in the fulfilment
of
the commandments, but lead us away from searching into them; not only when
they
persecute, or wish to litigate with us; but even when they court us, and
honour
us, and yet expect us to occupy ourselves in aiding their own vicious and
busy
desire, and to bestow our time upon them; or at least harass the weak, and
compel
them to bring their causes before us: to whom we dare not say, "Man, who
made
me a judge or a divider over you?" Luke 12:14 For the Apostle instituted
ecclesiastical
judges of such causes, forbidding Christians to contend in the forum.
1
Corinthians 6:1-6 ... Certainly, on account of those who carry on law suits
pertinaciously
with one another, and, when they harass the good, scorn our
judgments,
and cause us to lose the time that should be employed upon things
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divine;
surely, I say, on account of these men we also may exclaim in these words
of
the Body of Christ, "Away from me, you wicked! and I will search the
commandments
of my God."
115.
"O establish me according to Your word and I shall live: and let me not be
disappointed
of my hope" (ver. 116). He who had before said, "You are my taker
up,"
prays that he may be more and more borne up, and be led unto that, for the
sake
of which he endures so many troubles; trusting that he may there live in a
truer
sense, than in these dreams of human affairs. For it is said of the future,
"and
I
shall live," as if we did not live in this dead body. While "we await
the
redemption
of our body, we are saved by hope, and hoping for that we see not, we
await
with patience." Romans 8:23-25 But hope disappoints not, if the love of
God
be
spread abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which is given unto us.
Romans
5:5 And, as though it were answered him in silence, Thou dost not wish
to
be disappointed of your hope? Cease not to meditate upon My righteousnesses:
and,
feeling that this meditation is usually hindered by the weaknesses of the soul,
"Help
me," he says, "and I shall be safe; yea, I will meditate in Your
righteousnesses
always" (ver. 117).
116.
"You have scorned all," or, as it seems more closely translated from
the
Greek,
"You have brought to nought all them that depart from Your
righteousnesses:
for their thought is unrighteous" (ver. 118). For this reason he
exclaimed,
"Help Thou me, and I shall be safe; yea, I will meditate in Your
righteousnesses
always:" because God brings to nought all those who depart from
His
righteousnesses. But why do they depart? Because "their thought is,"
he says,
"unrighteous."
They advance in that direction, while they depart from God. All
deeds,
good or bad, proceed from the thoughts: in his thoughts every man is
innocent,
in his thoughts every man is guilty....
117.
The next words in the Psalm are, "I have counted," or
"thought," or
"esteemed,
all the ungodly of the earth as transgressors" (ver. 119). In the Latin
version
many different renderings are given of the Greek elogisamhn; but this
passage
has a deep meaning. For the following words, "Therefore have I ever
loved
Your testimonies:" make it far more profound. For the Apostle says,
"The
law
works wrath;" and, explaining these words, he adds, "For where no law
is,
there
is no transgression:" Romans 4:15 thereby showing that not all are
transgressors.
For all have not the law. That all have not the law, he declares more
explicitly
in another passage, "as many as have sinned without law, shall also
perish
without law." Romans 2:12 What then means, "I have held all the ungodly
of
the earth as transgressors"? "As transgressors;" or rather
"transgressing," for the
Greek
says, parabainontaj, not parabataj ...."The law
entered that sin
might
abound." But since all sins are remitted through grace, not only those
which
are
committed without the law, but those also which are committed in the law; he
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Psalm 119 1001
adds,
"But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound."
Romans
5:20 ... But, indeed, when the Apostle said, "As many as have sinned
without
law, shall perish without law," he was speaking of that law which God
gave
to His people Israel through Moses His servant .... For some even Catholic
expositors,
from a want of sufficient heedfulness, have pronounced contrary to the
truth,
that those who have sinned without the law perish; and that those who have
sinned
in the law, are only judged, and do not perish, as if they should be
considered
destined to be cleansed by means of transitory punishments, as he of
whom
it is said, "he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire."... The
Psalmist also
has
subjoined: "Therefore I loved Your testimonies." As if he should say:
Since
the
law, whether given in paradise, or implanted by nature, or promulgated in
writing,
has made all the sinners of the earth transgressors; "Therefore I loved
Your
testimonies," which are in Your laws of Your grace; so that not my but
Your
righteousness
is in me. For the law profits unto this end, that it send us forward
unto
grace. For not only because it testifies towards the manifestation of the
righteousness
of God, which is without the law; but also in this very point that it
renders
men transgressors, so that the letter even slays, it drives us to fly unto the
quickening
Spirit, through whom the whole of our sins may be blotted out, and the
love
of righteous deeds be inspired. 2 Corinthians 3:6...
118.
The grace of God, then, being known, which alone frees from transgression,
which
is committed through knowledge of the law, he says, in prayer, "Fix with
nails
my flesh in Your fear" (ver. 120). For this some Latin interpreters have
literally
rendered the Greek kaqhlwson, which that language has expressed in
one
word. Some have preferred to render by the word confige, without adding
clavis;
and while they thus desire to construe one Latin by one Greek word, have
failed
to express the full meaning of the Greek kaqhlwson, because in confige
nails
are not mentioned, but kaqhlwson cannot be taken but of nails, nor can
"fix
with
nails" be expressed without using two words in Latin.... Hath he added,
"For I
have
feared Your judgments"? What means, "Fix me in Your fear: for I have
feared"?
If he had already feared, or if he was now fearing, why did he still pray
God
to crucify his flesh in His fear? Did he wish so much additional fear imparted
to
him as would suffice for crucifying his flesh, that is, his carnal lusts and
affections;
as though he should say, Perfect in me the fear of You; for I have
feared
Your judgments? But there is here even a higher sense, which must, as far
as
God allows, be derived from searching the recesses of this Scripture: that is,
in
the
chaste fear of You, which abides from age to age, let my carnal desires be
quenched;
"For I have feared Your judgments," when the law, which could not
give
me righteousness, threatened me punishment.... For the inclination to sin
lives,
and it then appears in deed, when impunity may be hoped for. But when
punishment
is considered sure to follow, it lives latently: nevertheless it lives. For
it
would rather it were lawful to sin, and it grieves that what the law forbids, is
not
lawful;
because it is not spiritually delighted with the blessing of the law, but
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Psalm 119 1002
carnally
fears the evil which it threatens. But that love, which casts out this fear,
fears
with a chaste fear to sin, although no punishment follow; because it does not
even
judge that impunity will follow, since from love of righteousness it considers
the
very sin itself a punishment. With such a fear the flesh is crucified; since
carnal
delights, which are forbidden rather than avoided by the letter of the law,
are
overcome by the delight in spiritual blessings, and also when the victory is
perfected
are destroyed.
Ayin
119.
"I have dealt judgment and righteousness; O give me not over unto mine
oppressors"
(ver. 121). It is not wonderful that he should have dealt judgment and
righteousness,
since he had above prayed for a chaste fear from God, whereby to
fix
with nails his flesh, that is, his carnal lusts, which are wont to hinder our
judgment
from being right. But although in our customary speech judgment is
either
right or wrong, whence it is said unto men in the Gospel, "Judge not
according
to the persons, but judge righteous judgment:" John 7:24 nevertheless in
this
passage judgment is used as though, if it were not righteous, it ought not to
be
called
judgment; otherwise it would not be enough to say, "I have dealt
judgment,"
but
it would be said, I have dealt righteous judgment....
120.
Whoso therefore in the chaste fear of God has his flesh crucified, and
corrupted
by no carnal allurement, deals judgment and the work of righteousness,
ought
to pray that he may not be given up to his adversaries; that is, that he may
not,
through his dread of suffering evils, yield unto his adversaries to do evil.
For
he
receives power of endurance, which guards him from being overcome with
pain,
from Him from whom he receives the victory over lust, which prevents his
being
seduced by pleasure.
121.
He next says, "Take off Your servant to that which is good, that the proud
calumniate
me not" (ver. 122). They drive me on, that I may fall into evil; do Thou
take
me off to that which is good. They who rendered these words by the Latin,
calumnientur,
have followed a Greek expression, not commonly used in Latin.
Have
the words, Let not the proud calumniate me, the same force, as, Let them
"not
succeed in calumniating me"?
122.
...To prefigure His Cross, Moses by the merciful command of God raised
aloft
on a pole the image of a serpent in the desert, that the likeness of sinful
flesh
which
must be crucified in Christ might be prefigured. John 3:14 By gazing upon
this
healing Cross, we cast out all the poison of the scandals of the proud: the
Cross,
which the Psalmist intently looking upon, says, "My eyes have failed for
Your
salvation, and for the words of Your righteousness" (ver. 123). For God
made
Christ Himself "to be sin for us, on account of the likeness of sinful
flesh,
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Psalm 119 1003
that
we may be made the righteousness of God in Him." For His utterance of the
righteousness
of God he therefore says that his eyes have failed, from gazing
ardently
and eagerly, while, remembering human infirmity, he longs for divine
grace
in Christ.
123.
In connection with this he goes on to say, "O deal with Your servant
according
to Your loving mercy" (ver. 124); not according to my righteousness.
"And
teach me," he says, "Your righteousnesses;" those beyond doubt,
whereby
God
renders men righteous, not they themselves.
124.
"I am Your servant. O grant me understanding, that I may know Your
testimonies"
(ver. 125). This petition must never be intermitted. For it suffices not
to
have received understanding, and to have learned the testimonies of God, unless
it
be evermore received, and evermore in a manner quaffed from the fountain of
eternal
light. For the testimonies of God are the better and the better known, the
more
understanding a man attains to.
125.
"It is time," he says, "for the Lord to lay to His hand"
(ver. 126). For this is
the
reading of most copies: not as some have, "O Lord." Now what is this,
save the
grace
which was revealed in Christ at its own time? Of which season the Apostle
says,
"But when the fullness of time was come, God sent His Son."
Galatians
4:4... But wherefore is it that, seemingly anxious to show the Lord that it
was
time to lay to His hand, he has subjoined, "They have scattered Your
law;" as
if
it were the season for the Lord to act, because the proud scattered His law.
For
what
means this? In the wickedness of transgression, they have not guarded its
integrity.
It was needful therefore that the Law should be given to the proud and
those
presuming in the freedom of their own will, after a transgression of which
whosoever
were contrite and humbled, might run no longer by the Law, but by
faith,
to aiding grace. When the Law therefore was scattered, it was time that
mercy
should be sent through the only-begotten Son of God.
126.
"Therefore," he says, "I love Your commandments above gold and
topaz"
(ver.
127). Grace has this object, that the commandments, which could not be
fulfilled
by fear, may be fulfilled by love ... Therefore, they are above gold and
topaz
stones. For this is read in another Psalm also, "Above gold and exceeding
precious
stones." For topaz is a stone considered very precious. But they not
understanding
the hidden grace which was in the Old Testament, screened as it
were
by the veil (this was signified when they were unable to gaze upon the face
of
Moses), endeavoured to obey the commandments of God for the sake of an
earthly
and carnal reward, but could not obey them; because they did not love
them,
but something else. Whence these were not the works of the willing, but
rather
the burdens of the unwilling. But when the commandments are loved for
their
own sake "above gold and exceeding precious stones," all earthly
reward
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 119
1004
compared
with the commandments themselves is vile; nor are any other goods of
man
comparable in any respect with those goods whereby man himself is made
good.
127.
"Therefore," he says, "was I made straight unto all Your
commandments"
(ver.
128). I was made straight, doubtless, because I loved them; and I clung by
love
to them, which were straight, that I might also myself become straight. Then
what
he adds, naturally follows: "and every unrighteous way I utterly
abhor." For
how
could it be that he who loved the straight could do anything save abhor an
unrighteous
way? For as, if he loved gold and precious stones, he would abhor all
that
might bring loss of such property: thus, since he loved the commandments of
God,
he abhorred the path of iniquity, as one of the most savage rocks in the
sailor's
track, whereon he must needs suffer shipwreck of things so precious. That
this
may not be his lot, he who sails on the wood of the Cross with the divine
commandments
as his freight, steers far from thence.
Pe
128.
"Your testimonies are wonderful: therefore has my soul searched them"
(ver.
129).
Who counts, even by their kinds, the testimonies of God? Heaven and earth,
His
visible and invisible works, declare in some manner the testimony of His
goodness
and greatness; and the very ordinary and accustomed course of nature,
whereby
the seasons are rapidly revolved, in all things after their kinds, however
temporal
and perishable, however held cheap through our constant experience of
them,
give, if a pious thinker give heed to them, a testimony to the Creator. But
which
of these is not wonderful, if we measure each not by its habitual presence,
but
by reason? But if we venture to bring all nature within the comprehensive view
of
one act of contemplation, does not that take place in us which the prophet
describes,
"I considered Your works, and trembled"? Habakkuk 3:2 Yet the
Psalmist
was not terrified in his wonder at creation, but rather said that this was
the
reason that he ought to search it, because it was wonderful. For after saying,
"Your
testimonies are wonderful," he adds, "therefore has my soul searched
them;"
as if he had become more curious from the difficulty of thoroughly
searching
them. For the more abstruse are the causes of anything, the more
wonderful
it is...
129.
"When your word goes forth," he says, "it gives light, and makes
His little
ones
to understand" (ver. 130). What is the little one save the humble and
weak?
Be
not proud therefore, presume not in your own strength, which is nought; and
you
will understand why a good law was given by a good God, though it cannot
give
life. For it was given for this end, that it might make you a little one
instead
of
great, that it might show that you had not strength to do the law of your own
power:
and that thus, wanting aid and destitute, you might fly unto grace, saying,
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Psalm 119
1005
"Have
mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak."... Let all be little ones, and let
all
the
world be guilty before You: because "by the deeds of the Law there shall
no
flesh
be justified" in Your sight; "for by the Law is the knowledge of
sin," etc.
Romans
3:19-21 These are Your wonderful testimonies, which the soul of this
little
one has searched; and has therefore found, because he became humbled and a
little
one. For who does Your commandments as they ought to be done, that is, by
"faith
which works through love," Galatians 5:6 save love itself be shed abroad
in
his
heart through the Holy Spirit? Romans 5:5
130.
This is confessed by this little one; "I opened my mouth," he says,
"and drew
in
the spirit: for I longed for Your commandments" (ver. 131). What did he
long
for,
save to obey the divine commandments? But there was no possibility of the
weak
doing hard things, the little one great things: he opened his mouth,
confessing
that he could not do them of himself: and drew in power to do them: he
opened
his mouth, by seeking, asking, knocking: Matthew 7:7 and thirsty drank in
the
good Spirit, which enabled him to do what he could not do by himself, "the
commandment
holy and just and good." Romans 7:12 Not that they themselves
who
"are led by the Spirit of God," Romans 8:14 do nothing; but that they
may not
do
nothing good, they are moved to act by the good Spirit. For so much the more
is
every man made a good son, in proportion as the good Spirit is given unto Him
by
the Father in a greater measure.
131.
He still prays. He has opened his mouth, and drawn in the Spirit; but he still
knocks
in prayer unto the Father, and seeks: he drinks, but the more sweet he finds
it,
the more eagerly does he thirst. Hear the words of him in his thirst. "O
look
Thou
upon me," he says, "and be merciful unto me: according to the
judgment of
those
that love Your Name" (ver. 132): that is, according to the judgment You
have
dealt unto all who love Your Name; since You have first loved them, to
cause
them to love You. For thus says the Apostle John, "We love God, because
He
first loved us." 1 John 4:19
132.
See what the Psalmist next most openly says: "Order my steps after Your
word:
and so shall no wickedness have dominion over me" (ver. 133). Where what
else
does he say than this, Make me upright and free according to Your promise.
But
so much the more as the love of God reigns in every man, so much the less
has
wickedness dominion over him. What else then does he seek than that by the
gift
of God he may love God? For by loving God he loves himself, so that he may
healthily
love his neighbour also as himself: on which commandments hang all the
Law
and the Prophets. Matthew 22:37-40 What then does he pray, save that God
may
cause the fulfillment by His help of those commandments which He imposes
by
His bidding?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 119
1006
133.
But what means this that he says, "O deliver me from the calumnies of men:
so
shall I keep Your commandments"? (ver. 134)... Did not the holy people of
God
much
the more gloriously keep the commandments among these very calumnies,
when
they were at their hottest in the midst of tribulations, when they yielded not
to
their persecutors to commit impieties? But, in truth, the meaning of these
words
is
this: Do Thou, by pouring upon me Your Spirit, guard me from being overcome
by
the terrors of human calumny, and from being drawn over to their evil deeds
away
from Your commandments. For if You have thus dealt with me, that is, if
You
have in this manner delivered me by the gift of patience from their calumnies,
so
that I fear not the false charges they prefer against me; among those very
calumnies
I will keep Your commandments.
134.
"Show the light of Your countenance on Your servant, and teach me your
statutes"
(ver. 135): that is, manifest Your presence, by succouring and aiding me.
"And
teach me Your righteousnesses." Teach me to work them: as it is more
plainly
expressed elsewhere, "Teach me to do Your will." For they who hear,
although
they retain in their memories what they hear, are by no means to be
considered
to have learned, unless they do. For it is the word of Truth: "Every man
that
has heard and has learned of the Father, comes unto Me." John 6:45 He
therefore
who obeys not in deed, that is, who comes not, has not learned.
135.
"My eyes have descended streams of waters, because they have not kept Your
law"
(ver. 136): that is, my eyes. For in some copies there is this reading,
"Because
I
have not kept Your law, streams of waters" therefore
"descended," that is, floods
of
tears....
Tsade
136.
Thus, then, as if giving a reason why he had cause to weep much, and to
mourn
deeply for his sin, he says, "Righteous are You, O Lord, and true is Your
judgment"
(ver. 137). "You have commanded Your testimonies, righteousness,
and
Your truth exceedingly" (ver. 138). This righteousness of God and
righteous
judgment
and truth, is to be feared by every sinner: for thereby all who are
condemned
are condemned of God; nor is there one who can righteously complain
against
the righteous God of his own damnation. Therefore the tears of the
penitent
are needful; since if his impenitent heart were condemned, he would be
most
justly condemned. He indeed calls the testimonies of God righteousness: for
He
proves himself righteous by giving righteous commandments. And this is truth
also,
that God may become known by such testimonies.
137.
But what is it that follows: "My zeal has caused me to pine" (ver.
139); or, as
other
copies read, Your zeal? Others have also, "The zeal of Your house:"
and,
"has
eaten me up," instead of, "has caused me to pine." This, as it
seems to me, has
been
considered as an emendation to be introduced from another Psalm, where it is
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Psalm 119 1007
written,
"The zeal of Your house has eaten me up:" a text quoted also, as we
know,
in
the Gospel. The two words, however, "has caused me to pine," and
"has eaten
me
up," are somewhat like. But the words, "my zeal," which most of
the copies
read,
occasion no dispute: for what wonder is it if every man pines away from his
own
zeal? The words read in other copies, "Your zeal," signify a man
zealous for
God,
not for himself: but there is no difficulty in using "my" in the same
sense
... The Psalmist's jealousy is therefore also to be understood in a good sense:
for
he adds the cause, and says, "Because mine enemies have forgotten Your
words."...
138.
Then considering with himself with what a flame of love he burned for the
commandments
of God: "Fiery," says he, "is Your word exceedingly, and Your
servant
has loved it" (ver. 140). Justly jealous was he of the impenitent heart in
His
enemies, who had forgotten God's word; for he endeavoured to bring them
unto
that which he himself most ardently loved.
139.
"I am young, and of no reputation; yet do I not forget Your
righteousnesses:"
not
as my enemies, who "have forgotten Your words" (ver. 141). The
younger
seems
to grieve for those older than himself who had forgotten the righteousnesses
of
God, while he himself had not forgotten. For what means, "I am young, yet
do I
not
forget"? save this, Those older than me have forgotten. For the Greek word
is
newtero, the same as that used in the words
above, "Wherewithal shall a young
man
cleanse his way?" This is a comparative, and is therefore well understood
in
its
relation to some one older. Let us therefore here recognize the two nations,
who
were
striving even in Rebecca's womb; when it was said to her, not from works,
but
of Him that calls, "The elder shall serve the younger." But the
younger says
here
that he is of no reputation: for this reason he has become greater: since
"behold,
they that were first are last, and they that were last first." Matthew 20:16
140.
It is no wonder that they have forgotten the words of God, who have chosen
to
set up their own righteousness, ignorant of the righteousness of God;
Romans
10:3 but he, the younger, has not forgotten, for he has not wished to have
a
righteousness of his own, but that of God, of which he now also says,
"Your
righteousness
is an everlasting righteousness, and Your law is the truth" (ver. 142).
For
how is not the law truth, through which came the knowledge of sin, and that
which
gives testimony of the righteousness of God? For thus the Apostle says:
"The
righteousness of God is manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the
Prophets."
Romans 3:20-21
141.
On account of this law the younger suffered persecution from the elder, so
that
the younger says what follows: "Trouble and hardship have taken hold upon
me:
yet is my meditation in Your commandments" (ver. 143). Let them rage, let
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Psalm 119
1008
them
persecute; as long as the commandments of God be not abandoned, and, after
those
commandments, let even those who rage be loved.
142.
"Your testimonies are righteousness unto everlasting: O grant me
understanding,
and I shall live" (ver. 144). This younger one prays for
understanding;
which if he had not, he would not be "wiser than the aged;" but he
prays
for it in trouble and hardships, that he may thereby understand how
contemptible
is all that his persecuting enemies can take from him, by whom he
says
he has been despised. Therefore he has said, "and I shall live:"
because if
trouble
and heaviness reached such a pitch, that his life should be terminated by
the
hands of his persecuting enemies, he will live for ever, who preferrs to
temporal
things, righteousness which remains for evermore. This righteousness in
trouble
and hardship are the Martyria Dei, that is, the testimonies of God, for
which
Martyrs have been crowned.
Koph
143.
...He who sings this Psalm, mentions such a prayer of his own: "I have
called
with
my whole heart; hear me, O Lord!" (ver. 145). For to what end his cry
profits,
he
adds: "I will search out Your righteousnesses." For this purpose then
he has
called
with his whole heart, and has longed that this might be given him by the
Lord
listening unto him, that he may search out His righteousnesses...
144.
"I have called, save me" (ver. 146) or as some copies, both Greek and
Latin,
have
it, "I have called to You." But what is, "I have called to
You," save that by
calling
I have invoked You? But when he had said, "save me;" what did he add?
"And
I will keep Your testimonies:" that is, that I may not, through infirmity,
deny
You.
For the health of the soul causes that to be done which it is known to be our
duty
to do, and thus in striving even to the death of the body, if the extremity of
temptation
demand this in defence of the truth of the divine testimonies: but where
there
is not health of the soul, weakness yields, and truth is deserted...
145.
"I have prevented in midnight," he says, "and have cried: In
Your words have
I
trusted" (ver. 147). If we refer this to each of the faithful, and to the
literal
character
of the act; it oft happens that the love of God is awake in that hour of the
night,
and, the love of prayer strongly urging us, the time of prayer, which is wont
to
be after the crowing of the cock, is not awaited, but prevented. But if we
understand
night of the whole of this world's duration; we indeed cry unto God at
midnight,
and prevent the fulness of time in which He will restore us what He has
promised,
as is elsewhere read, "Let us prevent His presence with confession."
Although
if we choose to understand the unripe season of this night, before the
fulness
of time had come, Galatians 4:4 that is, the ripe season when Christ should
be
manifested in the flesh; neither was the Church then silent, but preventing
this
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Psalm 119
1009
fulness
of time, in prophecy cried out, and trusted in the words of God, who was
able
to do what He promised, that in the seed of Abraham all nations should be
blessed.
146.
The Church says also what follows, "My eyes have prevented the morning
watch,
that I might meditate on Your words" (ver. 148). Let us suppose the
morning
to mean the season when "a light arose for them that sat in the shadow of
death;"
Isaiah 9:2 did not the eyes of the Church prevent this morning watch, in
those
Saints who before were on earth, because they foresaw beforehand that this
would
come to pass, so that they meditated on the words of God, which then were,
and
announced these things to be destined in the Law and the Prophets?
147.
"Hear my voice, O Lord, according to Your loving-mercy; and quicken Thou
me
according to Your judgment" (ver. 149). For first God according to His
loving-
mercy
takes away punishment from sinners, and will give them life afterwards,
when
righteous, according to His judgment; for it is not without a meaning that it
is
said unto Him, "My song shall be of mercy and judgment: unto You, O
Lord;"
in
this order of the terms: although the season of mercy itself be not without
judgment,
whereof the Apostle says, "If we would judge ourselves, we should not
be
judged of the Lord." 1 Corinthians 11:31 ... And the final season of
judgment
shall
not be without mercy, since as the Psalm says, "He crowns you with mercy
and
loving-kindness." But "judgment shall be without mercy," but
"unto those" on
the
left, "who have not dealt mercy." James 2:13
148.
"They draw nigh, that of malice persecute me:" or, as some copies
read,
"maliciously"
(ver. 150). Then they that persecute draw nigh, when they go the
length
of torturing and destroying the flesh: whence the twenty-first Psalm,
wherein
the Lord's Passion is prophesied, says, "O go not from me, for trouble is
hard
at hand;" where those things are spoken of which He suffered when His
Passion
was not imminent upon Him, but actually realized. "And are far from
Your
law." The nearer they drew to the persecuting the righteous, so much the
farther
were they from righteousness. But what harm did they do unto those, to
whom
they drew near by persecution; since the approach of their Lord is nearer
unto
their souls, by whom they no wise are forsaken?
149.
Lastly, it follows, "You are nigh at hand, O Lord, and all Your ways are
truth"
(ver. 151). Even in their troubles, it has been a wonted confession of the
saints,
to ascribe truth unto God, because they suffer them not undeservedly. So
did
Queen Esther, Esther 14:6-7 so did holy Daniel, Daniel 9:4, 16 so did the three
men
in the furnace, so do other associates in their sanctity confess. But it may be
asked,
in what sense it is here said, "All Your ways are truth;" since in
another
Psalm
it is read, "All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth." But
towards the
saints,
All the ways of the Lord are at once mercy and truth: since He aids them
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Psalm 119
1010
even
in judgment, and thus mercy is not wanting; and in having mercy upon them,
He
performs that which He has promised, so that truth is not wanting. But towards
all,
both those whom He frees, and those whom He condemns, all the ways of the
Lord
are mercy and truth; because where He does not show mercy, the truth of His
vengeance
is displayed. For He frees many who have not deserved, but He
condemns
none who has not deserved it.
150.
"From the beginning I have known," he says, "as concerning Your
testimonies,
that You have grounded them for ever" (ver. 152) ... What are these
testimonies,
save those wherein God has declared that He will give an everlasting
kingdom
unto His sons? And since He has declared that He will give this in His
only-begotten
Son, he said that the testimonies themselves were grounded for
ever.
For that which God has promised through them, was everlasting. And for this
reason
the words, "You have grounded them," are rightly thus understood,
because
they
are shown to be true in Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11 Whence then did the
Psalmist
know this in the beginning, save because the Church speaks, which was
not
wanting to the earth from the commencement of the human race, the first-fruits
whereof
was the holy Abel, himself sacrificed in testimony of the future blood of
the
Mediator that should be shed by a wicked brother? Genesis 4:8 For this also
was
at the beginning, "They two shall be one flesh:" Genesis 2:24 which
great
mystery
the Apostle Paul expounding, says, "I speak concerning Christ and the
Church."
Ephesians 5:32
Resh
151.
Let no man, set in Christ's body, imagine these words to be alien from
himself,
since in truth it is the whole body of Christ placed in this humble state
that
speaks: "O consider my humiliation, and deliver me: for I forget not Your
law"
(ver. 153). In this place we cannot understand any law of God so suitably, as
that
whereby it is immutably determined that "every one that exalts himself,
shall
be
abased; and every one that humbles himself; shall be exalted."
152.
"Avenge Thou," he says, "my cause, and deliver me" (ver.
154). The former
sentence
is here almost repeated. And what is there said, "For I do not forget Your
law,"
agrees with what we read here, "Quicken me, according to Your word."
For
these
words are the law of God, which he has not forgot, so that he has abased
himself,
and will therefore be exalted. But the words, "Quicken me," pertain
to this
very
exaltation; for the exaltation of the saints is everlasting life.
153.
"Health," he says, "is far from the ungodly: for they regard not
Your
righteousnesses"
(ver. 155). This separates you, that what they have not done, you
have
done, that is, you have regarded the righteousnesses of God. But "what
have
you
that you have not received?" 1 Corinthians 4:7 Are you not he who a little
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Psalm 119
1011
before
said, "I will keep Your righteousnesses"? Thou therefore hast
received from
Him,
unto whom you called, the power to keep them. He therefore does Himself
separate
you from those from whom health is far, because they have not regarded
the
righteousnesses of God.
154.
This he saw himself also. For I should not see it, save I saw it in Him, save I
were
in Him. For these are the words of the Body of Christ, whose members we
are.
He saw this, I say, and at once added, "Great are Your mercies, O
Lord" (ver.
156).
Even our seeking out Your righteousnesses, then, comes of Your mercies.
"Quicken
me according to Your judgment." For I know that Your judgments will
not
be upon me without Your mercy.
155.
"Many there are that trouble me, and persecute me; yet do I not swerve
from
Your
testimonies" (ver. 157). This has been realized: we know it, we recollect
it,
we
acknowledge it. The whole earth has been crimsoned by the blood of Martyrs;
heaven
is flowery with the crowns of Martyrs, the Churches are adorned with the
memorials
of Martyrs, seasons distinguished by the birthdays of Martyrs, cures
more
frequent by the merits of Martyrs. Whence this, save because that has been
fulfilled
which was prophesied of that Man who has been spread abroad around
the
whole world. We recognize this, and render thanks to the Lord our God. For
thou,
man, you have yourself said in another Psalm, "If the Lord Himself had not
been
on our side, they would have swallowed us up quick." Behold the reason why
you
have not swerved from His testimonies, and hast won the palm of your
heavenly
calling amid the hands of the many who persecuted and troubled you.
156.
"I have seen," he says, "the foolish, and I pined" (ver.
158): or, as other
copies
read, "I have seen them that keep not covenant:" this is the reading
of most.
But
who are they who have not kept covenant, save they who have swerved from
the
testimonies of God, not bearing the tribulation of their many persecutors? Now
this
is the covenant, that he who shall have conquered shall be crowned. They
who,
not bearing persecution, have by denial swerved from the testimonies of
God,
have not kept the covenant. These then the Psalmist saw, and pined, for he
loved
them. For that jealousy is good, springing from love, not from envy. He adds
in
what respect they had failed to keep the covenant, "Because they kept not
Your
word."
For this they denied in their tribulations.
157.
And he commends himself as differing from them, and says, "Behold, how I
have
loved Your commandments" (ver. 159). He says not, I have not denied Your
words
or testimonies, as the Martyrs were urged to do, and, when they refused,
suffered
intolerable torments: but he said this wherein is the fruit of all sufferings;
for,
"if I give up my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profits me
nothing."
1 Corinthians 13:3 The Psalmist, praising this virtue, says, "Behold, how
I
have loved Your commandments." Then he asks his reward, "O Lord,
quicken
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Psalm 119 1012
me,
according to Your mercy." These put me to death, do Thou quicken me. But
if
a
reward be asked of mercy, which justice is bound to give; how much greater is
that
mercy, which enabled him to gain the victory, on account of which the reward
was
sought for?
158.
"The beginning," he says, "of Your words is truth; all the
judgments of Your
righteousness
endure for evermore" (ver. 160). From truth, he says, Your words do
proceed,
and they are therefore truthful, and deceive no man, for in them life is
announced
to the righteous, punishment to the ungodly. These are the everlasting
judgments
of God's righteousness.
Shin
159.
We know what persecutions the body of Christ, that is, the holy Church,
suffered
from the kings of the earth. Let us therefore here also recognise the words
of
the Church: "Princes have persecuted me without a cause: and my heart has
stood
in awe of You" (ver. 161). For how had the Christians injured the kingdoms
of
the earth, although their King promised them the kingdom of heaven? How, I
ask,
had they injured the kingdoms of earth? Did their King forbid His soldiers to
pay
and to render due service to the kings of the earth? Says He not to the Jews
who
were striving to calumniate Him, "Render unto Cćsar the things that are
Cćsar's,
and unto God the things that are God's"? Matthew 22:21 Did He not even
in
His own Person pay tribute from the mouth of a fish? Matthew 17:24-26 Did
not
His forerunner, when the soldiers of this kingdom were seeking what they
ought
to do for their everlasting salvation, instead of replying, Loose your belts,
throw
away your arms, desert your king, that you may wage war for the Lord,
answer,
"Do violence to no man: neither accuse any falsely: and be content with
your
wages"? Luke 3:14 Did not one of His soldiers, His most beloved
companion,
say to his fellow soldiers, the provincials, so to speak, of Christ, "Let
every
soul be subject unto the higher powers"? Does he not enjoin the Church to
pray
for even kings themselves? 1 Timothy 2:1-2 How then have the Christians
offended
against them? What due have they not rendered? in what have not
Christians
obeyed the monarchs of earth? The kings of the earth therefore have
persecuted
the Christians without a cause. They too had their threatening words: I
banish,
I proscribe, I slay, I torture with claws, I burn with fires, I expose to
beasts,
I
tear the limbs piecemeal. But heed what he has subjoined: "And my heart
has
stood
in awe of Your word." My heart has stood in awe of these words,
Matthew
10:28 "Fear not them that kill the body," etc. I have scorned man who
persecutes
me, and have overcome the devil that would seduce me.
160.
Then follows, "I am as glad of Your word as one that finds great
spoils" (ver.
162).
By the same words he conquered, of which he stood in awe. For spoils are
stripped
from the conquered; as he was overcome and despoiled of whom it is said
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Psalm 119
1013
in
the Gospel, "except he first bind the strong man." Matthew 12:29 But
many
spoils
were found, when, admiring the endurance of the Martyrs, even the
persecutors
believed; and they who had plotted to injure our King by the injury of
His
soldiers, were gained over by Him in addition. Whoever therefore stands in
awe
of the words of God, fearing lest he be overcome in the contest, rejoices as
conqueror
in the same words.
161.
"As for iniquity, I hate and abhor it; but Your law have I loved"
(ver. 163).
That
awe, therefore, of His word did not create hatred of those words, but
maintained
his love unimpaired. For the words of God are no other than the law of
God.
Far be it therefore that love perish through fear, where fear is chaste. Thus
fathers
are at once feared and loved by affectionate sons; thus does the chaste wife
at
once fear her husband, lest she be forsaken by him, and loves him, that she may
enjoy
his love. If then the human father and the human husband desire at once to
be
feared and loved; much more does our Father who is in heaven, Matthew 6:9
and
that Bridegroom, "beautiful beyond the sons of men," not in the
flesh, but in
goodness.
For by whom is the law of God loved, save by those by whom God is
loved?
And what that is severe has the father's law to good sons? Hebrews 12:6
Let
the Father's judgments therefore be praised even in the scourge, if His
promises
be loved in the reward.
162.
Such was, assuredly, the conduct of the Psalmist, who says, "Seven times a
day
do I praise You, because of Your righteous judgments" (ver. 164). The
words
"seven
times a day," signify "evermore." For this number is wont to be
a symbol
of
universality; because after six days of the divine work of creation, a seventh
of
rest
was added; Genesis 2:2 and all times roll on through a revolving cycle of
seven
days. For no other reason it was said, "a just man falls seven times, and
rises
up
again:" Proverbs 24:16 that is, the just man perishes not, though brought
low in
every
way, yet not induced to transgress, otherwise he will not be just. For the
words,
"falls seven times," are employed to express every kind of
tribulation,
whereby
man is cast down in the sight of men: and the words, "rises up
again,"
signify
that he profits from all these tribulations. The following sentence in this
passage
sufficiently illustrates the foregoing words: for it follows, "but the
wicked
shall
fall into mischief." Not to be deprived of strength in any evils, is
therefore
the
falling seven times, and the rising again of the just man. Justly has the
Church
then
praised God seven times in a day for His righteous judgments; because, when
it
was time that judgment should begin at the house of God, 1 Peter 4:17 she did
not
faint in all her tribulations, but was glorified with the crowns of Martyrs.
163.
"Great is the peace," he says, "that they have who love Your
law: and there is
no
offence to them" (ver. 165). Doth this mean that the law itself is not an
offence
to
them that love it, or that there is no offence from any source unto them that
love
the
law? But both senses are rightly understood. For he who loves the law of God,
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Psalm 119
1014
honours
in it even what he does not understand; and what seems to him to sound
absurd,
he judges rather that he does not understand, and that there is some great
meaning
hidden: thus the law of God is not an offence to him...
164.
"I have waited," he says, "for Your saving health, O Lord, and
have loved
Your
commandments" (ver. 166). For what would it have profited the righteous of
old
to have loved the commandments of God, save Christ, who is the saving health
of
God, had freed them; by the gift of whose Spirit also they were able to love
the
commandments
of God? If therefore they who loved God's commandments,
waited
for His saving health; how much more necessary was Jesus, that is, the
saving
Health of God, for the salvation of those that did not love His
commandments?
This prophecy may suit also the Saints of the period since the
revelation
of grace, and the preaching of the Gospel, for they that love God's
commandments
look for Christ, that "when Christ, our life, shall appear, we" may
then
"appear with Him in glory." Colossians 3:4
165.
"My soul has kept Your testimonies, and I have loved them
exceedingly:" or,
as
some copies read, "has loved them," understanding, "my
soul" (ver. 167). The
testimonies
of God are kept, while they are not denied. This is the office of
Martyrs,
for testimonies are called Martyria in Greek. But since it profits nothing,
even
to be burnt with flames without charity, 1 Corinthians 13:3 he adds, "and
I
have
loved them exceedingly."...For he who loves, keeps them in the Spirit of
truth
and faithfulness. But generally, while the commandments of God are kept,
they
against whose will they are kept become our foes: then, indeed, His
testimonies
also must be kept courageously, lest they be denied when the enemy
persecutes.
After the Psalmist, then, had declared that he had done both these
things,
he ascribes unto God his having been enabled to do so, by adding, "because
all
my ways are in Your sight." He says therefore, "I have kept Your
commandments
and Your testimonies; because all my ways are in Your sight"
(ver.
168). As much as to say, Had You turned away Your face from me, I should
have
been confounded, nor could I keep Your commandments and testimonies. "I
have
kept them," then, because "all my ways are in Your sight." With
a look
favouring
and aiding man, he meant it to be understood that God sees his ways:
according
to the prayer, "O hide not Thou Your face from me."...
Tav
166.
Let us now hear the words of one praying: since we know who is praying,
and
we recognise ourselves, if we be not reprobate, among the members of this
one
praying. "Let my prayer come near in Your sight, O Lord" (ver. 169):
for,
"The
Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart." "Give me
understanding,
according
to Your word." He claims a promise. For he says, "according to Your
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Psalm 119
1015
word,"
which is to say, according to Your promise. For the Lord promised this
when
He said, "I will inform you."
167.
"Let my request come before Your presence, O Lord: deliver me, according
to
Your word" (ver. 170). He repeats what he has asked. For his former words,
"Let
my prayer come near in Your presence, O Lord:" are like unto what he says,
"Let
my request come before Your presence, O Lord:" and the words, "Give
me
understanding
according to Your word," agree with these, "Deliver me according
to
Your word." For by receiving understanding he is delivered, who of himself
through
want of understanding is deceived.
168.
"My lips shall burst forth praise: when You have taught me Your
righteousnesses"
(ver. 171). We know how God teaches those who are docile unto
God.
For every one who has heard from the Father and has learned, comes unto
Him
"who justifies the ungodly:" so that he may keep the righteousnesses
of God
not
only by retaining them in his memory, but also by doing them. Thus does he
who
glories, glory not in himself, but in the Lord, 1 Corinthians 1:31 and burst
forth
praise.
169.
But as he has now learned, and praised God his Teacher, he next wishes to
teach.
"Yea, my tongue shall declare Your word: for all Your commandments are
righteousness"
(ver. 172). When he says that he will declare these things, he
becomes
a minister of the word. For though God teach within, nevertheless "faith
comes
from hearing: and how do they hear without a preacher?" For, because
"God
gives the increase," 1 Corinthians 3:7 is no reason why we need not plant
and
water.
170.
"Let Your hand be stretched forth (fiat, be made) to save me, for I have
chosen
Your commandments" (ver. 173). That I might not fear, and that not only
might
my heart hold fast, but my tongue also utter Your words: "I have chosen
Your
commandments," and have stifled fear with love. Let Your hand therefore be
stretched
forth, to save me from another's hand. Thus God saved the Martyrs,
when
He permitted them not to be slain in their souls: for "vain is the safety
of
man"
in the flesh. The words, "Let Your hand be made," may also be taken
to
mean
Christ the Hand of God ... Certainly where we read the following words, "I
have
longed for Your salvation, O Lord" (ver. 174): even if all our foes be
reluctant,
let Christ the Salvation of God occur to us: the righteous men of old
confess
that they longed for Him, the Church longed for His destined coming from
His
mother's womb, the Church longs for His coming at His Father's right hand.
Subjoined
to this sentence are the words, "And Your law is my meditation:" for
the
Law gives testimony unto Christ.
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Psalm 119 1016
171.
But in this faith, though the heathen rage furiously, and the people imagine a
vain
thing: though the flesh be slain while it preaches You: "My soul shall
live,
and
shall praise You: and Your judgments shall help me" (ver. 175). These are
those
judgments, which it was time should begin at the house of the Lord.
1
Peter 4:17 But "they will help me," he says. And who cannot see how
much the
blood
of the Church has aided the Church? how great a harvest has risen in the
whole
world from that sowing?
172.
At last he opens himself completely, and shows what person was speaking
throughout
the whole Psalm. "I have gone astray," he says, "like a sheep
that is
lost:
O seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments" (ver. 176).
Let
the
lost sheep be sought, let the lost sheep be quickened, for whose sake its
Shepherd
left the ninety and nine in the wilderness, Matthew 18:12-13 and while
seeking
it, was torn by Jewish thorns. But it is still being sought, let it still be
sought,
partly found let it still be sought. For as to that company, among whom the
Psalmist
says, "I do not forget Your commandments," it has been found; but
through
those who choose the commandments of God, gather them together, love
them,
it is still sought, and by means of the blood of its Shepherd shed and
sprinkled
abroad, it is found in all nations.
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Psalm 120
1017
Exposition
on Psalm 120
1.
The Psalm which we have just heard chanted, and have responded to with our
voices,
is short, and very profitable. You will not long toil in hearing, nor will you
toil
fruitlessly in working. For it is, according to the title prefixed to it,
"A song of
degrees."
Degrees are either of ascent or of descent. But degrees, as they are used
in
this Psalm, are of ascending... There are therefore both those who ascend and
those
who descend on that ladder. Genesis 28:12 Who are they that ascend? They
who
progress towards the understanding of things spiritual. Who are they that
descend?
They who, although, as far as men may, they enjoy the comprehension
of
things spiritual: nevertheless, descend unto the infants, to say to them such
things
as they can receive, so that, after being nourished with milk, they may
become
fitted and strong enough to take spiritual meat...
2.
When therefore a man has commenced thus to order his ascent; to speak more
plainly,
when a Christian has begun to think of spiritual amendment, he begins to
suffer
the tongues of adversaries. Whoever has not yet suffered from them, has not
yet
made progress; whoever suffers them not, does not even endeavour to
improve.
Doth he wish to know what we mean? Let him at the same time
experience
what is reported of us. Let him begin to improve, let him begin to wish
to
ascend, to wish to despise earthly, fragile, temporal objects, to hold worldly
happiness
for nothing, to think of God alone, not to rejoice in gain, not to pine at
losses,
to wish even to sell all his substance, and distribute it among the poor, and
to
follow Christ; let us see how he suffers the tongues of detractors and of
constant
opponents,
and—a still greater peril—of pretended counsellors, who lead him
astray
from salvation ... He then, who will ascend, first of all prays God against
these
very tongues: for he says, "When I was in trouble, I called on the Lord;
and
He
heard me" (ver. 1). Why did He hear him? That He might now place him at
the
steps
of ascent.
3.
"Deliver my soul, O Lord, from unrighteous lips, and from a deceitful
tongue"
(ver.
2). What is a deceitful tongue? A treacherous tongue, one that has the
semblance
of counsel, and the bane of real mischief. Such are those who say, And
will
you do this, that nobody does? Will you be the only Christian? ... Some deter
by
dissuasion, others discourage yet more by their praise. For since such is the
life
that
has for some time been diffused over the world, so great is the authority of
Christ,
that not even a pagan ventures to blame Christ. He who cannot be censured
is
read. They cannot contradict Christ, they cannot contradict the Gospel, Christ
cannot
be censured; the deceitful tongue turns itself to praise as an hindrance. If
you
praise, exhort. Why do you discourage with your praise? ... Thou turnest
yourself
to another mode of dissuasion, that by false praise you may turn me away
from
true praise; nay, that by praising Christ you may keep me away from Christ,
saying,
What is this? Behold these men have done this: thou, perhaps, will not be
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Psalm 120
1018
able:
you begin to ascend, you fall. It seems to warn you: it is the serpent, it is
the
deceitful
tongue, it has poison. Pray against it, if you wish to ascend.
4.
And your Lord says unto you, "What shall be given you, or what shall be
set
before
you, against the deceitful tongue?" (ver. 3). What shall be given you,
that
is,
as a weapon to oppose to the deceitful tongue, to guard yourself against the
deceitful
tongue? "Or what shall be set before you?" He asks to try you: for He
will
answer His own question. For He answers following up his own inquiry,
"even
sharp arrows of the Mighty One, with coals that desolate, or that lay
waste"
(ver.
4). They that desolate, or that lay waste (for it is variously written in
different
copies),
are the same, because by laying waste, as you may observe, they easily
lead
unto desolation. What are these coals? First, beloved brethren, understand
what
are arrows. The "sharp arrows of the Mighty One," are the words of
God...
What then are the "coals that lay waste?" It is not enough to plead
with
words
against a deceitful tongue and unrighteous lips: it is not enough to plead
with
words; we must plead with examples also ... The word coals, then, is used to
express
the examples of many sinners converted to the Lord. Thou hearest men
wonder,
and say, I knew that man, how addicted he was to drinking, what a villain,
what
a lover of the circus, or of the amphitheatre, what a cheat: now how he serves
God,
how innocent he has become! Wonder not; he is a live coal. Thou rejoicest
that
he is alive, whom you were mourning as dead. But when you praise the living,
if
you know how to praise, apply him to the dead, that he may be inflamed;
whosoever
is still slow to follow God, apply to him the coal which was
extinguished,
and have the arrow of God's word, and the coal that lays waste, that
you
may meet the deceitful tongue and the lying lips.
5.
"Alas, that my sojourning is become far off!" (ver. 5). It has
departed far from
You:
my pilgrimage has become a far one. I have not yet reached that country,
where
I shall live with no wicked person; I have not yet reached that company of
Angels,
where I shall not fear offences. But why am I not as yet there? Because
sojourning
is pilgrimage. He is called a sojourner who dwells in a foreign land, not
in
his own country. And when is it far off? Sometimes, my brethren, when a man
goes
abroad, he lives among better persons, than he would perhaps live with in his
own
country: but it is not thus, when we go afar from that heavenly Jerusalem. For
a
man changes his country, and this foreign sojourn is sometimes good for him; in
travelling
he finds faithful friends, whom he could not find in his own country. He
had
enemies, so that he was driven from his country; and when he travelled, he
found
what he had not in his country. Such is not that country Jerusalem, where all
are
good: whoever travels away from thence, is among the evil; nor can he depart
from
the wicked, save when he shall return to the company of Angels, so as to be
where
he was before he travelled. There all are righteous and holy, who enjoy the
word
of God without reading, without letters: for what is written to us through
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Psalm 120 1019
pages,
they perceive there through the Face of God. What a country! A great
country
indeed, and wretched are the wanderers from that country.
6.
But what he says, "My pilgrimage has been made distant," are the
words of
those,
that is, of the Church herself, who toils on this earth. It is her voice, which
cries
out from the ends of the earth in another Psalm, saying, "From the ends of
the
earth have I cried unto You.... Where then does he groan, and among whom
does
he dwell? "I have had my habitation among the tents of Kedar." Since
this is
a
Hebrew word, beyond doubt you have not understood it. What means, "I have
had
my habitation among the tents of Kedar"? "Kedar," as far as we
remember of
the
interpretation of Hebrew words, signifies darkness. "Kedar" rendered
into
Latin
is called tenebrć. Now ye know that Abraham had two sons, whom indeed
the
Apostle mentions, and declares them to have been types of the two
covenants
... Ishmael therefore was in darkness, Isaac in light. Whoever here also
seek
earthly felicity in the Church, from God, shall belong to Ishmael. These are
the
very persons who gainsay the spiritual ones who are progressing, and detract
from
them, and have deceitful tongues and unrighteous lips. Against these the
Psalmist,
when ascending, prayed, and hot coals that lay waste, and swift and
sharp
arrows of the Mighty One, were given him for his defence. For among these
he
still lives, until the whole floor be winnowed: he therefore said, "I have
dwelt
among
the tents of Kedar." The tents of Ishmael are called those of Kedar. Thus
the
book of Genesis has it: thus it has, that Kedar belongs unto Ishmael.
Genesis
25:13 Isaac therefore is with Ishmael: that is, they who belong unto Isaac,
live
among those who belong unto Ishmael. Galatians 4:29 These wish to rise
above,
those wish to press them downwards: these wish to fly unto God, those
endeavour
to pluck their wings...
7.
"My soul has wandered much" (ver. 6). Lest you should understand
bodily
wandering,
he has said that the soul wandered. The body wanders in places, the
soul
wanders in its affections. If thou love the earth, you wander from God: if you
love
God, you rise unto God. Let us be exercised in the love of God, and of our
neighbour,
that we may return unto charity. If we fall towards the earth, we wither
and
decay. But one descended unto this one who had fallen, in order that he might
arise.
Speaking of the time of his wandering, he said that he wandered in the tents
of
Kedar. Wherefore? Because "my soul has wandered much." He wanders
there
where
he ascends. He wanders not in the body, he rises not in the body. But
wherein
does he ascend? "The ascent," he says, "is in the heart."
8.
"With them that hated peace, I was peaceful" (ver. 7). But howsoever
ye may
hear,
most beloved brethren, you will not be able to prove how truly ye sing,
unless
you have begun to do that which you sing. How much soever I say this, in
whatsoever
ways I may expound it, in whatsoever words I may turn it, it enters not
into
the heart of him in whom its operation is not. Begin to act, and see what we
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Psalm 120 1020
speak.
Then tears flow forth at each word, then the Psalm is sung, and the heart
does
what is sung in the Psalm ... Who are they who hate peace? They who tear
asunder
unity. For had they not hated peace, they would have abode in unity. But
they
separated themselves, forsooth on this account, that they might be righteous,
that
they might not have the ungodly mixed with them. These words are either
ours
or theirs: decide whose. The Catholic Church says, Unity must not be lost, the
Church
of God must not be cut off. God will judge afterwards of the wicked and
the
good... This we also say: Love ye peace, love ye Christ. For if they love
peace,
they
love Christ. When therefore we say, Love ye peace, we say this, Love ye
Christ.
Wherefore? For the Apostle says of Christ, "He is our peace, who has made
both
one." Ephesians 2:14 If Christ is therefore peace, because He has made
both
one:
why have ye made two of one? How then are you peace-makers, if, when
Christ
makes one of two, you make two of one? But since we say these things, we
are
peace-makers with them that hate peace; and yet they who hate peace, when
we
spoke to them, made war on us for nought.
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Psalm 121
1021
Exposition
on Psalm 121
1.
...Let them "lift up their eyes to the hills whence comes their help"
(ver. 1).
What
means, The hills have been lightened? The San of righteousness has already
risen,
the Gospel has been already preached by the Apostles, the Scriptures have
been
preached, all the mysteries have been laid open, the veil has been rent, the
secret
place of the temple has been revealed: let them now at length lift their eyes
up
to the hills, whence their help cometh..."Of His fulness have all we
received,"
John
1:16 he says. Your help therefore is from Him, of whose fulness the hills
received,
not from the hills; towards which, nevertheless, save thou lift your eyes
through
the Scriptures, you will not approach, so as to be lighted by Him.
2.
Sing therefore what follows; if thou wish to hear how you may most securely
set
your feet on the steps, so that you may not be fatigued in that ascent, nor
stumble
and fall: pray in these words: "Suffer not my foot to be moved!"
(ver. 3).
Whereby
are feet moved; whereby was the foot of him who was in Paradise
moved?
But first consider whereby the feet of him who was among the Angels
were
moved: who when his feet were moved fell, and from an Angel became a
devil:
for when his feet were moved he fell. Seek whereby he fell: he fell through
pride.
Nothing then moves the feet, save pride: nothing moves the feet to a fall,
save
pride. Charity moves them to walk and to improve and to ascend; pride
moves
them to fall ... Rightly therefore the Psalmist, hearing how he may ascend
and
may not fall, prays unto God that he may profit from the vale of misery, and
may
not fail in the swelling of pride, in these words, "Suffer not my feet to
be
moved!"
And He replies unto him, "Let him that keeps you not sleep." Attend,
my
beloved.
It is as if one thought were expressed in two sentences; the man while
ascending
and singing "the song of degrees," says, "Suffer not my foot to
be
moved:"
and it is as if God answered, You say unto Me, Let not my feet be
moved:
say also, "Let Him that keeps you not sleep," and your foot shall not
be
moved.
3.
Choose for yourself Him, who will neither sleep nor slumber, and your foot
shall
not be moved. God is never asleep: if thou dost wish to have a keeper who
never
sleeps, choose God for your keeper. "Suffer not my feet to be moved,"
you
say,
well, very well: but He also says unto you, "Let not him that keeps you
slumber."
Thou perhaps wast about to turn yourself unto men as your keepers, and
to
say, whom shall I find who will not sleep? what man will not slumber? whom
do
I find? whither shall I go? whither shall I return? The Psalmist tells you:
"He
that
keeps Israel, shall neither slumber nor sleep" (ver. 4). Do you wish to
have a
keeper
who neither slumbers nor sleeps? Behold, "He that keeps Israel shall
neither
slumber nor sleep:" for Christ keeps Israel. Be thou then Israel. What
means
Israel? It is interpreted, Seeing God. And how is God seen? First by faith:
afterwards
by sight. If you can not as yet see Him by sight, see Him by
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Psalm 121
1022
faith...
Who is there, who will neither slumber nor sleep? when you seek among
men,
you are deceived; you will never find one. Trust not then in any man: every
man
slumbers, and will sleep. When does he slumber? When he bears the flesh of
weakness.
When will he sleep? When he is dead. Trust not then in man. A mortal
may
slumber, he sleeps in death. Seek not a keeper among men.
4.
And who, you ask, shall help me, save He who slumbers not, nor sleeps? Hear
what
follows: "The Lord Himself is your keeper" (ver. 5). It is not
therefore man,
that
slumbers and sleeps, but the Lord, that keeps you. How does He keep you?
"The
Lord is your defence upon the hand of your right hand."... It seems to me
to
have
a hidden sense: otherwise he would have simply said, without qualification,
"The
Lord will keep you," without adding, "on your right hand." For
how? Doth
God
keep our right hand, and not our left? Did He not create the whole of us? Did
not
He who made our right hand, make our left hand also? Finally, if it pleased
Him
to speak of the right hand alone, why said He, "on the hand of your right
hand,"
and not at once "upon your right hand"? Why should He say this,
unless He
were
keeping somewhat here hidden for us to arrive at by knocking? For He would
either
say, "The Lord shall keep you," and add no more; or if He would add
the
right
hand, "The Lord shall keep you upon your right hand;" or at least, as
He
added
"hand," He would say, "The Lord shall keep you upon your hand,
even your
right
hand," not "upon the hand of your right hand."...
5.
I ask you, how ye interpret what is said in the Gospel, "Let not your left
hand
know
what your right hand does"? Matthew 6:3 For if you understand this, you
will
discover what is your right hand, and what is your left: at the same time ye
will
also understand that God made both hands, the left and the right; yet the left
ought
not to know what the right does. By our left hand is meant all that we have
in
a temporal way; by our right hand is meant, whatever our Lord promises us that
is
immutable and eternal. But if He who will give everlasting life, Himself also
consoles
our present life by these temporal blessings, He has Himself made our
right
hand and our left...
6.
Let us now come to this verse of the Psalm: "The Lord is your defence upon
the
hand
of your right hand" (ver. 5). By hand he means power. How do we prove
this?
Because the power of God also is styled the hand of God ... Whereof John
says,
"He gave unto them power to become the sons of God." John 1:12 Whence
have
you received this power? "To them," he says, "that believe in
His Name." If
then
you believe, this very power is given you, to be among the sons of God. But
to
be among the sons of God, is to belong to the right hand. Your faith therefore
is
the
hand of your right hand: that is, the power that is given you, to be among the
sons
of God, is the hand of your right hand...
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Psalm 121 1023
7.
"May the Lord shield you upon the hand of your right hand" (ver. 6).
I have
said,
and I believe you have recognised it. For had ye not recognised it, and that
from
the Scriptures, you would not signify your understanding of it by your
voices.
Since then you have understood, brethren, consider what follows;
wherefore
the Lord shields you "upon the hand of your right hand," that is, in
your
faith,
wherein we have received "power to become the sons of God," and to be
on
His
right hand: wherefore should God shield us? On account of offences. Whence
come
offences? Offences are to be feared from two quarters, for there are two
precepts
upon which the whole Law hangs and the Prophets, the love of God and
of
our neighbour. Matthew 22:37-40 The Church is loved for the sake of our
neighbour,
but God for the sake of God. Of God, is understood the sun
figuratively:
of the Church, is understood the moon figuratively. Whoever can err,
so
as to think otherwise of God than he ought, believing not the Father and the
Son
and
the Holy Ghost to be of one Substance, has been deceived by the cunning of
heretics,
chiefly of the Arians. If he has believed anything less in the Son or in the
Holy
Spirit than in the Father, he has suffered an offence in God; he is scorched by
the
sun. Whoever again believes that the Church exists in one province only, and
not
that she is diffused over the whole world, and whoso believes them that say,
"Lo
here," and "Lo there, is Christ," Matthew 24:23 as you but now
heard when
the
Gospel was being read; since He who gave so great a price, purchased the
whole
world: he is offended, so to speak, in his neighbour, and is burnt by the
moon.
Whoever therefore errs in the very Substance of Truth, is burnt by the sun,
and
is burnt through the day; because he errs in Wisdom itself ...God therefore has
made
one sun, which rises upon the good and the evil, that sun which the good and
the
evil see; but that Sun is another one, not created, not born, through whom all
things
were made; where is the intelligence of the Immutable Truth: of this the
ungodly
say, "the Sun rose not upon us." Whosoever errs not in Wisdom itself,
is
not
burnt by the sun. Whosoever errs not in the Church, and in the Lord's Flesh,
and
in those things which were done for us in time, is not burnt by the moon. But
every
man although he believes in Christ, errs either in this or that respect, unless
what
is here prayed for, "The Lord is your defence upon the hand of your right
hand,"
is realized in him. He goes on to say, "So that the sun shall not burn you
by
day,
nor the moon by night" (ver. 6). Your defence, therefore, is upon the hand
of
your
right hand for this reason, that the sun may not burn you by day, nor the
moon
by night. Understand hence, brethren, that it is spoken figuratively. For, in
truth,
if we think of the visible sun, it burns by day: does the moon burn by night?
But
what is burning? Offence. Hear the Apostle's words: "Who is weak, and I am
not
weak? who is offended, and I burn not?" 2 Corinthians 11:29
8.
"For the Lord shall preserve you from all evil" (ver. 7). From
offences in the
sun,
from offences in the moon, from all evil shall He preserve you, who is your
defence
upon the hand of your right hand, who will not sleep nor slumber. And for
what
reason? Because we are amid temptations: "The Lord shall preserve you
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Psalm 121
1024
from
all evil. The Lord preserve your soul:" even your very soul. "The
Lord
preserve
your going out and your coming in, from this time forth for evermore"
(ver.
8). Not your body; for the Martyrs were consumed in the body: but "the
Lord
preserve
your soul;" for the Martyrs yielded not up their souls. The persecutors
raged
against Crispina, whose birthday we are today celebrating; they were raging
against
a rich and delicate woman: but she was strong, for the Lord was her
defence
upon the hand of her right hand. He was her Keeper. Is there any one in
Africa,
my brethren, who knows her not? For she was most illustrious, noble in
birth,
abounding in wealth: but all these things were in her left hand, beneath her
head.
An enemy advanced to strike her head, and the left hand was presented to
him,
which was under her head. Her head was above, the right hand embraced her
from
above....
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Psalm 122
1025
Exposition
on Psalm 122
1.
As impure love inflames the mind, and summons the soul destined to perish to
lust
for earthly things, and to follow what is perishable, and precipitates it into
lowest
places, and sinks it into the abyss; so holy love raises us to heavenly things,
and
inflames us to what is eternal, and excites the soul to those things which do
not
pass away nor die, and from the abyss of hell raises it to heaven. Yet all love
has
a power of its own, nor can love in the soul of the lover be idle; it must needs
draw
it on. But do you wish to know of what sort love is? See whither it leadeth...
2.
This Psalm is a "Song of degrees;" as we have often said to you, for
these
degrees
are not of descent, but of ascent. He therefore longs to ascend. And
whither
does he wish to ascend, save into heaven? What means, into heaven? Doth
he
wish to ascend that he may be with the sun, moon, and stars? Far be it! But
there
is in heaven the eternal Jerusalem, where are our fellow-citizens, the Angels:
we
are wanderers on earth from these our fellow-citizens. We sigh in our
pilgrimage;
we shall rejoice in the city. But we find companions in this
pilgrimage,
who have already seen this city herself; who summon us to run
towards
her. At these he also rejoices, who says, "I rejoiced in them who said
unto
me,
We will go into the house of the Lord" (ver. 1)...
3.
"Our feet were standing in the courts of Jerusalem" (ver. 2)...
Consider what you
will
be there; and although you are as yet on the road, place this before your eyes,
as
if thou were already standing, as if thou were already rejoicing without
ceasing
among
the Angels; as if that which is written were realized in you: "Blessed are
they
that dwell in Your house; they will be alway praising You." "Our feet
stood
in
the courts of Jerusalem." What Jerusalem? This earthly Jerusalem also is
wont
to
be called by the name: though this Jerusalem is but the shadow of that. And
what
great thing is it to stand in this Jerusalem, since this Jerusalem has not been
able
to stand, but has been turned into a ruin? Doth then the Holy Spirit pronounce
this,
out of the kindled heart of the loving Psalmist, as a great thing? Is not it
that
Jerusalem,
unto whom the Lord said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that killest the
Prophets,"
etc. Matthew 23:37 What great thing then did he desire; to stand among
those
who slew the Prophets, and stoned them that were sent unto them? God
forbid
that he should think of that Jerusalem, who so loves, who so burns, who so
longs
to reach that Jerusalem, "our Mother," Galatians 4:26 of which the
Apostle
says,
that She is "eternal in the Heavens." 2 Corinthians 5:1
4.
"Jerusalem that is being built as a city" (ver. 3). Brethren, when
David was
uttering
these words, that city had been finished, it was not being built. It is some
city
he speaks of, therefore, which is now being built, unto which living stones run
in
faith, of whom Peter says, "You also, as lively stones, are built up a
spiritual
house;"
1 Peter 2:5 that is, the holy temple of God. What means, you are built up
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Psalm 122
1026
as
lively stones? Thou livest, if you believe, but if you believe, you are made a
temple
of God; for the Apostle Paul says, "The temple of God is holy, which
temple
are you." 1 Corinthians 3:17 This city is therefore now in building;
stones
are
cut down from the hills by the hands of those who preach truth, they are
squared
that they may enter into an everlasting structure. There are still many
stones
in the hands of the Builder: let them not fall from His hands, that they may
be
built perfect into the structure of the temple. This, then, is the
"Jerusalem that is
being
built as a city:" Christ is its foundation. The Apostle Paul says,
"Other
foundation
can no man lay than that is laid, which is Christ Jesus."
1
Corinthians 3:11 When a foundation is laid on earth, the walls are built above,
and
the weight of the walls tends towards the lowest parts, because the foundation
is
laid at the bottom. But if our foundation be in heaven, let us be built towards
heaven.
Bodies have built the edifice of this basilica, the ample size of which you
see;
and since bodies have built it, they placed the foundation lowest: but since we
are
spiritually built, our foundation is placed at the highest point. Let us
therefore
run
thither, where we may be built ... But what Jerusalem do I speak of? Is it
that,
he
asks, which you see standing, raised on the structure of its walls? No; but the
"Jerusalem
which is being built as a city." Why not, a city, instead of, "as a
city;"
save
because those walls, so built in Jerusalem, were a visible city, as it is by
all
called
a city, literally; but this is being built "as a city," for they who
enter it are
like
living stones; for they are not literally stones? Just as they are called
stones,
and
yet are not so: so the city styled "as a city," is not a city; for he
said, "is being
built."
For by the word building, he meant to be understood the structure, and
cohesion
of bodies and walls. For a city is properly understood of the men that
inhabit
there. But in saying "is building," he showed us that he meant a
town. And
since
a spiritual building has some resemblance to a bodily building, therefore it
"is
building as a city."
5.
But let the following words remove all doubt that we ought not to understand
carnally
the words, "Whose partaking is in the same." ... What means,
"the same"?
What
is ever in the same state; not what is now in one state, now in another. What
then
is, "the same," save that which is? What is that which is? That which
is
everlasting...
Behold "The Same: I Am that I Am, I AM." You can not understand;
it
is much to understand, it is much to apprehend. Remember what He, whom you
can
not comprehend, became for you. Remember the flesh of Christ, towards
which
you were raised when sick, and when left half dead from the wounds of
robbers,
that you might be brought to the Inn, and there might be cured. Let us
therefore
run unto the Lord's house, and reach the city where our feet may stand;
the
city "that is building as a city: whose partaking is in The Same."...
6.
That city "which partakes in the same," partakes in its stability:
justly therefore,
since
he is made a sharer in its stability, says he who runs thither. For all things
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Psalm 122
1027
there
stand where nought passes by. Do you too wish to stand there and not to pass
by?
Run thither. Nobody has "the same" from himself...
7.
"For thither the tribes went up" (ver. 4). We were asking whither he
ascends
who
has fallen; for we said, it is the voice of a man who is ascending, of the
Church
rising. Can we tell whither it ascends? whither it goes? whither it is raised?
"Thither,"
he says, "the tribes went up." Whither? To "partaking in the
Same." But
what
are the tribes? Many know, many know not. For if we use the word
"curies"
in
its proper sense, we understand nothing, save the "curies" which
exist in each
particular
city, whence the terms "curiales" and "decuriones," that
is, the citizens
of
a curia or a decuria; and you know that each city has such curies. But there
are,
or
were at one time, curies of the people in those cities, and one city has many
curies,
as Rome has thirty-five curies of the people. These are called tribes. The
people
of Israel had twelve of these, according to the sons of Jacob.
8.
There were twelve tribes of the people of Israel: but there were good, and
there
were
bad among them. For how evil were those tribes which crucified our Lord!
How
good those who recognised the Lord! Those tribes then who crucified the
Lord,
were tribes of the devil. When therefore he here said, "For thither the
tribes
go
up;" that you might not understand all the tribes, he added, "even
the tribes of
the
Lord." ... What are the tribes of the Lord? "A testimony unto
Israel." Hear,
brethren,
what this means. "A testimony to Israel:" that is, whereby it may be
known
that it is truly Israel ... He is such in whom there is no guile. And what did
the
Lord say, when He saw Nathanael? "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is
no
guile."
John 1:47 If therefore he is a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile, those
tribes
go up to Jerusalem, in whom there is no guile.... Wherefore do they go up?
"To
confess unto Your Name, O Lord." It could not be more nobly expressed. As
pride
presumes, so does humility confess. As he is a presumer, who wishes to
appear
what he is not, so is he a confessor, who does not wish that to be seen
which
himself is, and loves That which He is. To this therefore do Israelites go up,
in
whom is no guile, because they are truly Israelites, because in them is the
testimony
of Israel.
9.
"For there were seated seats for judgment" (ver. 5). This is a
wonderful riddle, a
wonderful
question, if it be not understood. He calls those seats, which the Greeks
call
thrones. The Greeks call chairs thrones, as a term of honour. Therefore, my
brethren,
it is not wonderful if even we should sit on seats, or chairs; but that these
seats
themselves should sit, when shall we be able to understand this? As if some
one
should say: let stools or chairs sit here. We sit on chairs, we sit on seats,
we sit
on
stools; the seats themselves sit not. What then means this, "For there
were
seated
seats for judgment"?...If therefore heaven be the seat of God, and the
Apostles
are heaven; they themselves are become the seat of God, the throne of
God.
It is said in another passage: "The soul of the righteous is the throne of
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Psalm 122
1028
wisdom."
A great truth, a great truth, is declared; the throne of wisdom is the soul
of
the righteous; that is, wisdom sits in the soul of the righteous as it were in
her
chair,
in her throne, and thence judges whatsoever she judges. There were
therefore
thrones of wisdom, and therefore the Lord said unto them, "You shall sit
upon
twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Matthew 19:28 So
they
also
shall sit upon twelve seats, and they are themselves the seats of God; for of
them
it is said, "For there were seated seats." Who sat?
"Seats." And who are the
seats?
They of whom it is said, "The soul of the righteous is the seat of
wisdom."
Who
are the seats? The heavens. Who are the heavens? Heaven. What is heaven?
That
of which the Lord says, "Heaven is My seat." Isaiah 66:1 The
righteous then
themselves
are the seats; and have seats; and seats shall be seated in that
Jerusalem.
For what purpose? "For judgment." You shall sit, He says, on twelve
thrones,
O you thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Judging whom? Those
who
are below on earth. Who will judge? They who have become heaven. But
they
who shall be judged, will be divided into two bodies: one will be on the right
hand,
the other on the left...
10.
He at once adds, as unto the seats themselves, "Enquire ye the things that
are
for
the peace of Jerusalem" (ver. 6). O you seats, who now sit unto judgment,
and
are
made the seats of the Lord who judges (since they who judge, enquire; they
who
are judged, are enquired of), "Enquire ye," he says, "the things
that are for the
peace
of Jerusalem." What will they find by asking? That some have done deeds
of
charity, that others have not. Those whom they shall find to have done deeds of
charity,
they will summon them unto Jerusalem; for these deeds are "for the peace
of
Jerusalem." Love is a powerful thing, my brethren, love is a powerful
thing. Do
ye
wish to see how powerful a thing love is? ... If charity be destitute of means,
so
that
it cannot find what to bestow upon the poor, let it love: let it give "one
cup of
cold
water;" Matthew 10:42 as much shall be laid to its account, as to Zaccheus
who
gave half his patrimony to the poor. Luke 19:8 Wherefore this? The one gave
so
little, the other so much, and shall so much be imputed to the former? Just so
much.
For though his resources are unequal, his charity is not unequal.
11.
... "And plenteousness," he adds, "for them that love you."
He addresses
Jerusalem
herself, They have plenteousness who love her. Plenteousness after
want:
here they are destitute, there they are affluent; here they are weak, there
they
are
strong; here they want, there they are rich. How have they become rich?
Because
they gave here what they received from God for a season, and received
there
what God will afterwards pay back for evermore. Here, my brethren, even
rich
men are poor. It is a good thing for a rich man to acknowledge himself poor:
for
if he think himself full, that is mere puffing, not plenteousness. Let him own
himself
empty, that he may be filled. What has he? Gold. What has he not yet?
Everlasting
life. Let him consider what he has, and see what he has not. Brethren,
of
that which he has, let him give, that he may receive what he has not; let him
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Psalm 122
1029
purchase
out of that which he has, that which he has not, "and plenteousness for
them
that love you."
12.
"Peace be in your strength" (ver. 7). O Jerusalem, O city, who art
being built as
a
city, whose partaking is in "The Same:" "Peace be in your
strength:" peace be in
your
love; for your strength is your love. Hear the Song of songs: "Love is
strong
as
death." Song of Songs 8:6 A great saying that, brethren, "Love is
strong as
death."
The strength of charity could not be expressed in grander terms than these,
"Love
is strong as death." For who resists death, my brethren? Consider, my
brethren.
Fire, waves, the sword, are resisted: we resist principalities, we resist
kings;
death comes alone, who resists it? There is nought more powerful than it.
Charity
therefore is compared with its strength, in the words, "Love is strong as
death."
And since this love slays what we have been, that we may be what we
were
not; love creates a sort of death in us. This death he had died who said,
"The
world
is crucified unto me, and I unto the world:" Galatians 6:14 this death
they
had
died unto whom he said, "You are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in
God."
Colossians 3:3 Love is strong as death...
13.
Thus as he was here speaking of charity, he adds, "For my brethren and
companions'
sake, I spoke peace of you" (ver. 8). O Jerusalem, thou city whose
partaking
is in The Same, I in this life and on this earth, I poor, he says, I a
stranger
and groaning, not as yet enjoying to the full your peace, and preaching
your
peace; preach it not for my own sake, as the heretics, who seeking their own
glory,
say, Peace be with you: and have not the peace which they preach to the
people.
For if they had peace, they would not tear asunder unity. "I," he
says,
"spoke
peace of you." But wherefore? "For my brethren and companions'
sake:"
not
for my own honour, not for my own money, not for my life; for, "To me to
live
is
Christ, and to die is gain." But, "I spoke peace of you, for my
brethren and
companions'
sakes." For he wished to depart, and to be with Christ: but, since he
must
preach these things to his companions and his brethren, to abide in the flesh,
he
adds, is more needful for you.
14.
"Because of the house of the Lord my God, I have sought good things for
you"
(ver.
9). Not on my own account have sought good things, for then I should not
seek
for you, but for myself; and so should I not have them, because I should not
seek
them for you; but, "Because of the house of the Lord my God," because
of
the
Church, because of the Saints, because of the pilgrims; because of the poor,
that
they may go up; because we say to them, we will go into the house of the
Lord:
because of the house of the Lord my God itself, I have sought good things
for
You. These long and needful words gather ye, brethren, eat them, drink them,
and
grow strong, run, and seize.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 123
1030
Exposition on Psalm 123
1.
...Let this singer ascend; and let this man sing from the heart of each of you,
and
let each of you be this man, for when each of you says this, since you are all
one
in Christ, one man says this; and says not, "Unto You, O Lord, have"
we "lift
up"
our "eyes;" but, "Unto You, O Lord, have I lift up my eyes"
(ver. 1). You
ought
indeed to imagine that every one of you is speaking; but that One in an
especial
sense speaks, who is also spread abroad over the whole world...
What
makes the heart of a Christian heavy? Because he is a pilgrim, and longs for
his
country. If your heart be heavy on this score, although you have been
prosperous
in the world, still thou dost groan: and if all things combine to render
you
prosperous, and this world smile upon you on every side, thou nevertheless
groanest,
because you see that you are set in a pilgrimage; and feelest that you
have
indeed happiness in the eyes of fools, but not as yet after the promise of
Christ:
this you seek with groans, this you seek with longings, and by longing
ascendest,
and while you ascend dost sing the Song of Degrees.
2.
...Where then are the ladders? For we behold so great an interval between
heaven
and earth, there is so wide a separation, and so great a space of regions
between:
we wish to climb thither, we see no ladder; do we deceive ourselves,
because
we sing the Song of Degrees, that is, the Song of ascent? We ascend unto
heaven,
if we think of God, who has made ascending steps in the heart. What is to
ascend
in heart? To advance towards God. As every man who fails, does not
descend,
but falls: so every one who profits does ascend: but if he so profit, as to
avoid
pride: if he so ascend as not to fall: but if while he profits he become proud,
in
ascending he again falls. But that he may not be proud, what ought he to do?
Let
him lift up his eyes unto Him who dwells in heaven, let him not heed
himself...
3.
If, my brethren, we understand by heaven the firmament which we see with our
bodily
eyes, we shall indeed so err, as to imagine that we cannot ascend thither
without
ladders, or some scaling machines: but if we ascend spiritually, we ought
to
understand heaven spiritually: if the ascent be in affection, heaven is in
righteousness.
What is then the heaven of God? All holy souls, all righteous souls.
For
the Apostles also, although they were on earth in the flesh, were heaven; for
the
Lord, enthroned in them, traversed the whole world. He then dwells in heaven.
How?...
How long are they the temple according to faith? As long as Christ dwells
in
them through faith; as the Apostle says, "That Christ may dwell in your
hearts
through
faith." But they are already heaven in whom God already dwells visibly,
who
see Him face to face; all the holy Apostles, all the holy Virtues, Powers,
Thrones,
Lordships, that heavenly Jerusalem, wanderers from whence we groan,
and
for which we pray with longing; and there God dwells. Thither has the
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 123
1031
Psalmist
lifted up his faith, thither he rises in affection, with longing hopes: and
this
very longing causes the soul to purge off the filth of sins, and to be cleansed
from
every stain, that itself also may become heaven; because it has lifted up its
eyes
unto Him who dwells in heaven. For if we have determined that that heaven
which
we see with our bodily eyes is the dwelling of God, the dwelling of God
will
pass away; for "heaven and earth will pass away." Matthew 24:35 Then,
before
God created heaven and earth, where did He dwell? But some one says: and
before
God made the Saints, where did He dwell? God dwelt in Himself, he dwelt
with
Himself, and God is with Himself. And when He deigns to dwell in the
Saints,
the Saints are not the house of God in such wise, as that God should fall
when
it is withdrawn. For we dwell in a house in one way, in another way God
dwells
in the Saints. Thou dwellest in a house: if it be withdrawn, you fall, but
God
so dwells in the Saints, that if He should Himself depart, they fall...
4.
What then follows, since he has said, "Unto You do I lift up my eyes"?
(ver. 2).
How
have you lifted up your eyes? "Behold, even as the eyes of servants look
unto
the
hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her
mistress:
even so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until He have mercy upon
us."
We are both servants, and a handmaiden: He is both our Master and our
Mistress.
What do these words mean? What do these similitudes mean? It is not
wonderful
if we are servants, and He our Master; but it is wonderful if we are a
maiden,
and He our Mistress. But not even our being a maiden is wonderful; for
we
are the Church: nor is it wonderful that He is our Mistress; for He is the
Power
and
the Wisdom of God... When therefore you hear Christ, lift up your eyes to the
hands
of your Master; when you hear the Power of God and the Wisdom of God,
lift
up your eyes to the hands of your Mistress; for you are both servant and
handmaiden;
servant, for you are a people; handmaiden, for you are the Church.
But
this maiden has found great dignity with God; she has been made a wife. But
until
she come unto those spiritual embraces, where she may without apprehension
enjoy
Him whom she has loved, and for whom she has sighed in this tedious
pilgrimage,
she is 02537c.htm">betrothed: and has received a mighty pledge, the
blood
of the Spouse for whom she sighs without fear. Nor is it said unto her, Do
not
love; as it is sometimes said to any 02537c.htm">betrothed virgin, not
as yet
married:
and is justly said, Do not love; when you have become a wife, then love:
it
is rightly said, because it is a precipitate and preposterous thing, and not a
chaste
desire,
to love one whom she knows not whether she shall marry. For it may
happen
that one man may be 02537c.htm">betrothed to her, and another man
marry
her. But as there is no one else who can be preferred to Christ, let her love
without
apprehension: and before she is joined unto Him, let her love, and sigh
from
a distance and from her far pilgrimage...
5.
"For we have been much filled with contempt" (ver. 3). All that will
live piously
according
to Christ, must needs suffer reproof, 2 Timothy 3:12 must needs be
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 123
1032
despised
by those who do not choose to live piously, all whose happiness is
earthly.
They are derided who call that happiness which they cannot see with their
eyes,
and it is said to them, What do you believe, madman? Do you see what you
believe?
Hath any one returned from the world below, and reported to you what is
going
on there? Behold I see and enjoy what I love. You are scorned, because thou
dost
hope for what you see not; and he who seems to hold what he sees, scorns
you.
Consider well if he does really hold it ... I have my house, he has boasted
himself.
Thou askest, what house of his own? That which my father left me. And
whence
did he derive this house? My grandfather left it him. Go back even to his
great
grandfather, then to his great grandfather's father, and he can no longer tell
their
names. Are you not rather terrified by this thought, that you see many have
passed
through this house, and that none of them has carried it away with him to
his
everlasting home? Your father left it: he passed through it: thus thou also
wilt
pass
by. If therefore you have a mere passing stay in your house, it is an inn for
passing
guests, not an habitation for permanent abode. Yet since we hope for those
things
which are to come, and sigh for future happiness, and since it has not yet
appeared
what we shall be, although we are already "sons of God;" 1 John 3:2
for
"our
life is hidden with Christ in God:" Colossians 3:3 "we are utterly
despised,"
by
those who seek or enjoy happiness in this world.
6.
"Our soul is filled exceedingly; a reproach to the wealthy, and a contempt
to the
proud"
(ver. 4). We were asking who were "the wealthy:" he has expounded to
you,
in that he has said, "the proud." "Reproach" and
"contempt" are the same: and
"wealthy"
is the same with "proud." It is a repetition of the sentence, "a
reproach
to
the wealthy, and a contempt to the proud." Why are the proud wealthy?
Because
they
wish to be happy here. Why? since they themselves too are miserable, are
they
wealthy? But perhaps when they are miserable, they do not mock us. Listen,
my
beloved. Then perchance they mock when they are happy, when they boast
themselves
in the pomp of their riches! when they boast themselves in the inflated
state
of false honours: then they mock us, and seem to say, Behold, it is well with
me:
I enjoy the good things before me: let those who promise what they cannot
show
depart from me: what I see, I hold; what I see, I enjoy; may I fare well in
this
life.
Be thou more secure; for Christ has risen again, and has taught you what He
will
give in another life: be assured that He gives it. But that man mocks you,
because
he holds what he has. Bear with his mockeries, and you will laugh at his
groans:
for afterwards there will come a season when these very persons will say,
"This
was he whom we had sometimes in derision." Wisdom 5:3...
7.
To this we must add, that sometimes those also who are beneath the scourge of
temporal
unhappiness, mock us ... Did not the robber Luke 23:39 mock, who was
crucified
with our crucified Lord? If therefore they who are not wealthy mock us,
why
does the Psalm say, "A reproach to the wealthy"? If we carefully sift
the
matter,
even these (the unfortunate) are wealthy. How are they wealthy? Yea; for
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 123 1033
if
they were not wealthy, they would not be proud. For one man is wealthy in
money,
and proud on that score: another is wealthy in honours, and is proud on
that
account: another imagines himself wealthy in righteousness, and hence his
pride,
which is worse. They who seem not to be wealthy in money, seem to
themselves
to be wealthy in righteousness towards God; and when calamity
overtakes
them, they justify themselves, accuse God, and say, What wrong have I
been
guilty of, or, what have I done? Thou repliest: Look back, call to mind your
sins,
see if you have done nothing. He is somewhat touched in conscience, and
returns
to himself, and thinks of his evil deeds; and when he has thought of his evil
deeds,
not even then does he choose to confess that he deserves his sufferings; but
says,
Behold, I have clearly done many things; but I see that many have done
worse,
and suffer no evil. He is righteous against God. He also therefore is
wealthy:
he has his breast puffed out with righteousness; since God seems to him
to
do ill, and he seems to himself to suffer unjustly. And if you gave him a
vessel
to
pilot, he would be shipwrecked with it: yet he wishes to deprive God of the
government
of this world, and himself to hold the helm of Creation, and to
distribute
among all men pains and pleasures, punishments and rewards. Miserable
soul!
yet why do ye wonder? He is wealthy, but wealthy in iniquity, wealthy in
malignity;
but is more wealthy in iniquity, in proportion as he seems to himself to
be
wealthy in righteousness.
8.
But a Christian ought not to be wealthy, but ought to acknowledge himself poor;
and
if he has riches, he ought to know that they are not true riches, so that he
may
desire
others ... And what is the wealth of our righteousness? How much soever
righteousness
there may be in us, it is a sort of dew compared to that fountain:
compared
to that plenteousness it is as a few drops, which may soften our life, and
relax
our hard iniquity. Let us only desire to be filled with the full fountain of
righteousness,
let us long to be filled with that abundant richness, of which it is
said
in the Psalm, "They shall be satisfied with the plenteousness of Your
house:
and
You shall give them drink out of the torrent of Your pleasure." But while
we
are
here, let us understand ourselves to be destitute and in want; not only in
respect
of
those riches which are not the true riches, but of salvation itself. And when
we
are
whole, let us understand that we are weak. For as long as this body hungers
and
thirsts, as long as this body is weary with watching, weary with standing,
weary
with walking, weary with sitting, weary with eating; whithersoever it turns
itself
for a relief from weariness, there it discovers another source of fatigue:
there
is
therefore no perfect soundness, not even in the body itself. Those riches are
then
not
riches, but beggary; for the more they abound, the more does destitution and
avarice
increase ... Let then our whole hunger, our whole thirst, be for true riches,
and
true health, and true righteousness. What are true riches? That heavenly abode
in
Jerusalem. For who is called rich on this earth? When a rich man is praised,
what
is meant? He is very rich: nothing is wanting to him. That surely is the praise
of
him that praises the other: for it is not this, when it is said, He wants
nothing.
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Psalm 123
1034
Consider
if he really want nothing. If he desires nothing, he wants nothing: but if
he
still desires more than what he has, his riches have increased in such wise,
that
his
wants have increased also. But in that City there will be true riches, because
there
will be nothing wanting to us there; for we shall not be in need of anything,
and
there will be true health...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 124
1035
Exposition
on Psalm 124
1.
You already well know, dearest brethren, that a "Song of Degrees," is
a song of
our
ascent: and that this ascent is not effected by the feet of the body, but by
the
affections
of the heart. This we have repeatedly reminded you of: and we need not
repeat
it too often, that there may be room for saying what has not yet been said.
This
Psalm, therefore, which you have now heard sung for you, is inscribed, "A
Song
of Degrees." This is its title. They sing therefore while ascending: and
sometimes
as it were one man sings, sometimes as it were many; because many
are
one, since Christ is One, and in Christ the members of Christ constitute one
with
Christ, and the Head of all these members is in heaven. But although the
body
toils on earth, it is not cut off from its Head; for the Head looks down from
above,
and regards the body. Acts 9:4... Whether therefore one or many sing;
many
men are one man, because it is unity; and Christ, as we have said, is One,
and
all Christians are members of Christ.
2.
...Certain members indeed of that body of which we also are, which can sing in
truth,
have gone before us. And this the holy Martyrs have sung: for they have
already
escaped, and are with Christ in joy about to receive at last incorruptible
bodies,
the very same which were at first corruptible, wherein they have suffered
pains;
of the same there will be made for them ornaments of righteousness.
Therefore
whether they in reality, or we in hope, joining our affections with their
crowns,
and longing for such a life as we have not here, and shall never gain
unless
we have longed for it here, let us all sing together, and say, "If the
Lord
Himself
had not been in us."...
3.
"If the Lord Himself had not been in us, now may Israel say" (ver. 1)
... When?
"When
men rose up against us" (ver. 2). Marvel not: they have been subdued: for
they
were men; but the Lord was in us, man was not in us: for men rose up against
us.
Nevertheless men would crush other men, unless in those men who could not
be
crushed, there were not man, but the Lord. For what could men do to you, while
you
rejoiced, and sang, and securely held everlasting bliss? what could men do to
you
when they rose against you, if the Lord had not been on your side? what could
they
do? "Perchance they had swallowed us up quick" (ver. 3).
"Swallowed us
up:"
they would not first have slain us, and so have swallowed us up. O inhuman,
O
cruel men! The Church swallows not thus. To Peter it was said, "Kill and
eat:"
Acts
10:13 not, Swallow quick. Because no man enters into the body of the
Church,
save he be slain first. What he was dies, that he may be what he was not.
Otherwise,
he who is not slain, and is not eaten by the Church, may be in the
visible
number of the people: but he cannot be in the number of the people which
is
known to God, whereof the Apostle says, "The Lord knows who are His,"
2
Timothy 2:19 save he be eaten; and eaten he cannot be, save he first be slain.
The
Pagan comes, still in him idolatry lives; he must be grafted among the
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 124
1036
members
of Christ: that he may be engrafted, he must needs be eaten; but he
cannot
be eaten by the Church, save first he be slain. Let him renounce the world,
then
is he slain; let him believe in God, then is he eaten ... But they in whom the
Lord
is, are slain and die not. But they who consent and live, are swallowed quick,
when
swallowed up they die. But they who have suffered, and have not yielded to
tribulations,
rejoice and say, "If the Lord had not been in us," etc.
4.
..."When their fury was enraged upon us." They are now in anger, they
now
openly
rage: "perchance the water had drowned us" (ver. 4). By water he
means
ungodly
nations: and we shall see what sort of water in the following verses.
Whoever
had consented unto them, water would have overwhelmed him. For he
would
die by the death of the Egyptians, he would not pass through after the
example
of the Israelites. For you know, brethren, that the people of Israel passed
through
the water, by which the Egyptians were overwhelmed. Exodus 14:22-29
But
what sort of water is this? It is a torrent, it flows with violence, but it
will pass
by
... Hence He, our Head, first drinks, of whom it is said in the Psalms,
"He shall
drink
of the torrent in the way: therefore shall He lift up His head." For our
Head
is
already exalted, because He drank of the torrent by the way; for our Lord has
suffered.
If therefore our Head has been already raised up, why does the body fear
the
torrent? Without doubt, because the Head has been raised, the body also will
say
hereafter, "Our soul has passed over the torrent. Perhaps our soul has
passed
over
the water without substance" (ver. 5). Behold, what sort of water he was
speaking
of, "The water perchance had overwhelmed us." But what means,
"without
substance"?
5.
In the first place, what means, "Perchance our soul has passed over"?
(ver. 5).
Understand
however the meaning to be this: "Do you think our soul has passed
over?"
and why do they say, "Do you think"? Because the greatness of the
danger
makes
it hardly credible that he has escaped. They have endured a great death:
they
have been in great dangers; they have been so much oppressed, that they
almost
gave consent while alive, and were all but swallowed up alive: now
therefore
that they have escaped, now that they are secure, but still remember the
danger,
the great danger, say, "Do you think our soul has passed over the water
without
substance?"
6.
What is the water without substance, save the water of sins without substance?
For
sins have not substance: they have destitution, not substance; they have want,
not
substance. In that water without substance, the younger son lost the whole of
his
substance ... Do you wish to see how the water is without substance? Take
away
with you to the world below what you have acquired: what will you do? You
have
acquired gold: you have lost your faith: after a few days you leave this life;
you
can not take away with you the gold you have acquired by the loss of your
good
faith; your heart, destitute of faith, goes forth into punishment—your heart,
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Psalm 124
1037
which
if full of faith, would go forth unto a crown. Behold, what you have done is
nothing:
and you have offended God for nothing.
7.
Men hear that common proverb; and the proverbs of God slumber in them.
What
proverb? "Better in hand than in hope." Unhappy man, what have you in
hand?
You say, "Better in hand." Hold it so as not to lose it, and then
say, "Better
in
hand." But if you hold it not, why do you not hold fast that which you can
not
lose?
What then have you in hand? Gold. Keep it in hand, therefore: if you have it
in
hand, let it not be taken away without your consent. But if through gold also
you
are carried where you wish not, and if a more powerful robber seeks you,
because
he finds you a less powerful robber; if a stronger eagle pursue you,
because
you have carried off a hare before him: the lesser was your prey, you will
be
a prey unto the greater. Men see not these things in human affairs: by so much
avarice
are they blinded...
8.
Let them escape the water without substance, and say, "Blessed be the
Lord,
who
has not given us over for a prey unto their teeth" (ver. 6). For the
hunters
were
following, and had placed a bait in their trap. What bait? The sweetness of
this
life, so that each man for the sake of the sweetness of this life may thrust
his
head
into iniquity, and be caught in the trap. Not they, in whom the Lord was, they
who
say, "If the Lord Himself had not been in us;" they have not been
taken in the
trap.
Let the Lord be in you, and you will not be taken in the trap.
9.
"Our soul is escaped, even as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers"
(ver. 7).
Because
the Lord was in the soul itself, therefore has that soul escaped, even as a
bird
out of the snare of the fowler. Why like a bird? Because it had fallen
heedlessly,
like a bird; and it could say afterwards, God will forgive me. Unstable
bird,
rather set your feet firm upon the rock: go not into the trap. You will be
taken,
consumed, crushed. Let the Lord be in you, and He will deliver you from
greater
threats, from the snare of the fowlers. As if thou were to see a bird about to
fall
into a snare, you make a greater noise that it may fly away from the net; so
also,
when perhaps some even of the Martyrs were stretching out their neck after
the
enjoyment of this life, the Lord, who was in them, made the noise of hell, and
the
bird was delivered from the snare of the fowlers. The snare was the sweetness
of
this life: they were not entangled in the snare, and were slain; by their
slaughter
the
net was broken; no longer did the sweetness of this life remain, that they might
again
be entangled by it, but it was crushed. Was the bird also crushed? Far be it!
for
it was not in the snare: "The snare is broken, and we are delivered."
10.
... "Our help stands in the Name of the Lord, who has made heaven and
earth"
(ver.
8). For if this were not our help, the snare would not indeed remain for ever;
but
when the bird was once taken, it would be crushed. For this life will pass
away;
and they who shall have been taken in by its pleasures, and through these
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Psalm 124
1038
pleasures
have offended God, will pass away with this life. For the snare will be
broken;
be ye assured of this: all the sweetness of this present life will no longer
exist,
when the lot assigned to it has been fulfilled; but we must not be enthralled
by
it, so that when the net is broken, you may then rejoice and say, "The
snare is
broken,
and we are delivered." But lest you think that you can do this of your own
strength,
consider whose work your deliverance is (for if you are proud, you fall
into
the snare), and say, "Our help stands in the Name of the Lord, who has
made
heaven
and earth."...
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Psalm 125 1039
Exposition
on Psalm 125
1.
This Psalm, belonging to the number of the Songs of Degrees, teaches us, while
we
ascend and raise our minds unto the Lord our God in loving charity and piety,
not
to fix our gaze upon men who are prosperous in this world, with a happiness
that
is false and unstable, and altogether seductive; where they cherish nothing
save
pride, and their heart freezes up against God, and is made hard against the
shower
of His grace, so that it bears not fruit....
2.
"They that put their trust in the Lord shall be even as the mount Sion:
they shall
not
be removed for ever" (ver. 1).
3.
Who are these? "They shall stand fast for ever, who dwell in
Jerusalem" (ver.
2).
If we understand this earthly Jerusalem, all who dwelt therein have been
excluded
by wars and by the destruction of the city: thou now seekest a Jew in the
city
of Jerusalem, and findest him not. Why then will "they that dwell in
Jerusalem
not
be moved for ever," save because there is another Jerusalem, of which you
are
wont
to hear much? She is our mother, for whom we sigh and groan in this
pilgrimage,
that we may return unto her .... They then who dwell therein "shall
never
be moved." But they who dwelt in that earthly Jerusalem, have been moved;
first
in heart, afterwards by exile. When they were moved in heart and fell, then
they
crucified the King of the heavenly Jerusalem herself; they were already
spiritually
without, and shut out of doors their very King. For they cast Him out
without
their city, and crucified Him without. John 19:17-18 He too cast them out
of
His city, that is, of the everlasting Jerusalem, the Mother of us all, who is
in
Heaven.
4.
What is this Jerusalem? He briefly describes it. "The mountains stand
around
Jerusalem"
(ver. 2). Is it anything great, that we are in a city surrounded by
mountains?
Is this the whole of our happiness, that we shall have a city which
mountains
surround? Do we not know what mountains are? or what are mountains
save
swellings of the earth? Different then from these are those mountains that we
love,
lofty mountains, preachers of truth, whether Angels, or Apostles, or
Prophets.
They stand around Jerusalem; they surround her, and, as it were, form a
wall
for her. Of these lovely and delightful mountains Scripture constantly
speaks
.... They are the mountains of whom we sing: "I lifted up my eyes unto the
mountains,
from whence my help shall come:" because in this life we have help
from
the holy Scriptures. And through the mountains that receive peace, the little
hills
received righteousness: for what says he of the mountains themselves? He
said
not, they have peace from themselves, or they make peace, or generate peace;
but,
they receive peace. The Lord is the source, whence they receive peace. So
therefore
lift up your eyes to the mountains for the sake of peace, that your help
may
come from the Lord, who has made heaven and earth. Again, the Holy Spirit
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Psalm 125
1040
mentioning
these mountains says this: "Thou dost light them wonderfully from
Your
everlasting mountains." He said not, the mountains light them: but, Thou
lightest
them from Your everlasting mountains: through those mountains whom
You
have willed to be everlasting, preaching the Gospel, Thou lighting them, not
the
mountains. Such then are the "mountains that stand around Jerusalem."
5.
And that you may know what sort of mountains these be that stand around
Jerusalem;
where Scripture has mentioned good mountains, very rarely, and
hardly,
and perhaps never, does it fail instantly to mention the Lord also, or allude
to
Him at the same moment, that our hopes rest not in the mountains.... Lest thou
again
shouldest tarry in the mountains, he at once adds, "Even so the Lord
stands
round
about His people:" that your hope might not lie in the mountains, but in
Him
who
lights the mountains. For when He dwells in the mountains, that is, in the
Saints,
He Himself is round about His people; and He has Himself walled His
people
with a spiritual fortification, that it may not be moved for evermore. But
when
Scripture speaks of evil mountains, it adds not the Lord unto them. Such
mountains,
we have already told you often, signify certain mighty, but evil, souls.
For
you are not to suppose, brethren, that heresies could be produced through any
little
souls. None save great men have been the authors of heresies; but in
proportion
as they were mighty, so were they evil, mountains. For they were not
such
mountains as would receive peace, that the hills might receive righteousness;
but
they received dissension from their father the devil. There were therefore
mountains:
beware thou fly not to such mountains. For men will come, and say
unto
you, There is a great hero, there is a great man! How great was that Donatus!
How
great is Maximian! and a certain Photinus, what a great man he was! And
Arius
too, how illustrious he was! All these I have mentioned are mountains, but
mountains
that cause shipwreck....
6.
But love such mountains, in whom the Lord is. Then do those very mountains
love
you, if you have not placed hope in them. See, brethren, what the mountains
of
God are. Thence they are so called in another passage: "Your righteousness
is
like
the mountains of God." Not their righteousness, but "Your
righteousness."
Hear
that great mountain the Apostle. "That I may be found in Him, not having
my
own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ."
Philippians 3:9 But they who have chosen to be mountains through their
own
righteousness, as certain Jews or Pharisees their rulers, are thus blamed:
"Being
ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own
righteousness,
they have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God."
Romans
10:3 But they who have submitted themselves are exalted in such a
manner
as to be humble. In that they are great, they are mountains; in that they
submit
themselves unto God, they are valleys: and in that they have the capacity of
piety,
they receive the plenteousness of peace, and transmit the copious irrigation
to
the hills, only beware, at present, what mountains you love. If thou wish to be
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Psalm 125
1041
loved
by good mountains, place not your trust even in good mountains. For how
great
a mountain was Paul? where is one like him found? We speak of the
greatness
of men. Can any one readily be found of so great grace? Nevertheless,
he
feared lest that bird should place trust in him: and what does he say:
"Was Paul
crucified
for you?" 1 Corinthians 1:13 But lift up your eyes unto the mountains,
whence
help may come unto you: for, "I have planted, Apollos has watered:"
but,
your
help comes from the Lord, who has made Heaven and earth; for, "God gave
the
increase." 1 Corinthians 3:6 "The mountains," therefore,
"stand around
Jerusalem."
But as "the mountains stand around Jerusalem, even so stands the
Lord
round about His people, from this time forth for evermore." If therefore
the
mountains
stand around Jerusalem, and the Lord stands round about His people,
the
Lord binds His people into one bond of love and peace, so that they who trust
in
the Lord, like the mount Sion, may not be moved for evermore: and this is,
"from
this time forth for evermore."
7.
"For the Lord will not leave the rod of the ungodly upon the lot of the
righteous,
lest
the righteous put forth their hands unto wickedness" (ver. 3). At present
indeed
the righteous suffer in some measure, and at present the unrighteous
sometimes
tyrannize over the righteous. In what ways? Sometimes the unrighteous
arrive
at worldly honours: when they have arrived at them, and have been made
either
judges or kings; for God does this for the discipline of His folk, for the
discipline
of His people; the honour due to their power must needs be shown them.
For
thus has God ordained His Church, that every power ordained in the world
may
have honour, and sometimes from those who are better than those in power.
For
the sake of illustration I take one instance; hence calculate the grades of all
powers.
The primary and every day relation of authority between man and man is
that
between master and slave. Almost all houses have a power of this sort. There
are
masters, there are also slaves; these are different names, but men and men are
equal
names. And what says the Apostle, teaching that slaves are subject to their
masters?
"Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the
flesh:"
for there is a Master according to the Spirit. He is the true and everlasting
Master;
but those temporal masters are for a time only. When you walk in the way,
when
you live in this life, Christ does not wish to make you proud. It has been
your
lot to become a Christian, and to have a man for your master: you were not
made
a Christian, that you might disdain to be a servant. For when by Christ's
command
you serve a man, you serve not the man, but Him who commanded you.
He
says this also: "Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters
according
to
the flesh." Ephesians 6:5 Behold, he has not made men free from being
servants,
but good servants from bad servants. How much do the rich owe to
Christ,
who orders their house for them! so that if you have had an unbelieving
servant,
suppose Christ convert him, and say not to him, Leave your master, you
have
now known Him who is your true Master: he perhaps is ungodly and unjust,
you
are now faithful and righteous: it is unworthy that a righteous and faithful
man
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Psalm 125 1042
should
serve an unjust and unbelieving master. He spoke not thus unto him, but
rather,
Serve him: and to confirm the servant, added, Serve as I served; I before
you
served the unjust .... If the Lord of heaven and earth, through whom all things
were
created, served the unworthy, asked mercy for His furious persecutors, and,
as
it were, showed Himself as their Physician at His Advent (for physicians also,
better
both in art and health, serve the sick): how much more ought not a man to
disdain,
with his whole mind, and his whole good will, with his whole love to
serve
even a bad master! Behold, a better serves an inferior, but for a season.
Understand
what I have said of the master and slave, to be true also of powers and
kings,
of all the exalted stations of this world. For sometimes they are good
powers,
and fear God; sometimes they fear not God. Julian was an infidel
Emperor,
an apostate, a wicked man, an idolater; Christian soldiers served an
infidel
Emperor; when they came to the cause of Christ, they acknowledged Him
only
who was in heaven. If he called upon them at any time to worship idols, to
offer
incense; they preferred God to him: but whenever he commanded them to
deploy
into line, to march against this or that nation, they at once obeyed. They
distinguished
their everlasting from their temporal master; and yet they were, for
the
sake of their everlasting Master, submissive to their temporal master.
8.
But will it be thus always, that the ungodly have power over the righteous? It
will
not be so. The rod of the ungodly is felt for a season upon the lot of the
righteous;
but it is not left there, it will not be there for ever. A time will come,
when
Christ, appearing in his glory, shall gather all nations before Him.
Matthew
25:32-33 And you will see there many slaves among the sheep, and
many
masters among the goats; and again many masters among the sheep, many
slaves
among the goats. For all slaves are not good—do not infer this from the
consolation
we have given to servants—nor are all masters evil, because we have
thus
repressed the pride of masters. There are good masters who believe, and there
are
evil: there are good servants who believe, and there are evil. But as long as
good
servants serve evil masters, let them endure for a season. "For God will
not
leave
the rod of the ungodly upon the lot of the righteous." Why will He not?
"Lest
the
righteous put forth their hand unto wickedness:" that the righteous may
endure
for
a season the domination of the ungodly, and may understand that this is not for
ever,
but may prepare themselves to possess their everlasting heritage....
9.
And he therefore adds, "Do well, O Lord, unto those that are good and true
of
heart"
(ver. 4). They who are right in heart, of whom I was speaking a little
before,—they
who follow the will of God, not their own will,—reflect upon this.
But
they who wish to follow God, allow Him to go before, and themselves to
follow;
not themselves to go before, and Him to follow; and in all things they find
Him
good, whether chastening, or consoling, or exercising, or crowning, or
cleansing,
or enlightening; as the Apostle says, "We know that all things work
together
for good to them that love God." Romans 8:28
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Psalm 125
1043
10.
Whence the Psalmist at once adds: "As for such as turn aside, the Lord
shall
lead
them forth unto strangling with the workers of unrighteousness" (ver. 5):
that
is,
those whose deeds they have imitated; because they took delight in their
present
pleasures,
and did not believe in their punishments to come. What then shall they
have,
who are righteous in heart, and who turn not back? Let us now come to the
heritage
itself, brethren, for we are sons. What shall we possess? What is our
heritage?
what is our country: what is it called? Peace. In this we salute you, this
we
announce to you, this the mountains receive, and the little hills receive as
righteousness.
Peace is Christ: "for He is our peace, who has made both one, and
has
broken down the middle wall of partition between us." Ephesians 2:14 Since
we
are sons, we shall have an inheritance. And what shall this inheritance be
called,
but peace? And consider that they who love not peace are disinherited.
Now
they who divide unity, love not peace. Peace is the possession of the pious,
the
possession of heirs. And who are heirs? Sons.... Since then Christ the Son of
God
is peace, He therefore came to gather together His own, and to separate them
from
the wicked. From what wicked men? From those who hate Jerusalem, who
hate
peace, who wish to tear unity asunder, who believe not peace, who preach a
false
peace to the people, and have it not. To whom answer is made, when they
say,
"Peace be with you," "And with your spirit:" but they speak
falsely, and they
hear
falsely. Unto whom do they say, Peace be with you? To those whom they
separate
from the peace of the whole earth. And unto whom is it said, "And with
your
spirit"? To those who embrace dissensions, and who hate peace. For if
peace
were
in their spirit, would they not love unity, and leave dissensions? Speaking
then
false words, they hear false words. Let us speak true words, and hear true
words.
Let us be Israel, and let us embrace peace; for Jerusalem is a vision of
peace,
and we are Israel, "and peace is upon Israel."
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Psalm 126
1044
Exposition on Psalm 126
1.
...How man had come into captivity, let us ask the Apostle Paul .... For he
says:
"For
we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin."
Romans
7:14 Behold whence we became captives; because we were sold under
sin.
Who sold us? We ourselves, who consented to the seducer. We could sell
ourselves;
we could not redeem ourselves. We sold ourselves by consent of sin,
we
are redeemed in the faith of righteousness. For innocent blood was given for
us,
that we might be redeemed. Whatsoever blood he shed in persecuting the
righteous,
what kind of blood did he shed? Righteous men's blood, indeed, he
shed;
they were Prophets, righteous men, our fathers, and Martyrs. Whose blood
he
shed, yet all coming of the offspring of sin. One blood he shed of Him who was
not
justified, but born righteous: by shedding that blood, he lost those whom he
held.
For they for whom innocent blood was given were redeemed, and, turned
back
from their captivity, they sing this Psalm.
2.
"When the Lord turned back the captivity of Sion, we became as those that
are
comforted"
(ver. 1). He meant by this to say, we became joyful. When? "When the
Lord
turned back the captivity of Sion." What is Sion? Jerusalem, the same is
also
the
eternal Sion. How is Sion eternal, how is Sion captive? In angels eternal, in
men
captive. For not all the citizens of that city are captives, but those who are
away
from thence, they are captives. Man was a citizen of Jerusalem, but sold
under
sin he became a pilgrim. Of his progeny was born the human race, and the
captivity
of Sion filled all lands. And how is this captivity of Sion a shadow of that
Jerusalem?
The shadow of that Sion, which was granted to the Jews, in an image,
in
a figure, was in captivity in Babylonia, and after seventy years that people
turned
back to its own city .... But when all time is past, then we return to our
country,
as after seventy years that people returned from the Babylonish captivity,
for
Babylon is this world; since Babylon is interpreted "confusion."...
So then this
whole
life of human affairs is confusion, which belongs not unto God. In this
confusion,
in this Babylonish land, Sion is held captive. But "the Lord has turned
back
the captivity of Sion." "And we became," he says, "as those
that are
comforted."
That is, we rejoiced as receiving consolation. Consolation is not save
for
the unhappy, consolation is not save for them that groan, that mourn.
Wherefore,
"as those that are comforted," except because we are still mourning?
We
mourn for our present lot, we are comforted in hope: when the present is
passed
by, of our mourning will come everlasting joy, when there will be no need
of
consolation, because we shall be wounded with no distress. But wherefore says
he
"as" those that are comforted, and says not comforted? This word
"as," is not
always
put for likeness: when we say "As," it sometimes refers to the actual
case,
sometimes
to likeness: here it is with reference to the actual case.... Walk therefore
in
Christ, and sing rejoicing, sing as one that is comforted; because He went
before
you
who has commanded you to follow Him.
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Psalm 126
1045
3.
"Then was our mouth filled with joy, and our tongue with exultation"
(ver. 2).
That
mouth, brethren, which we have in our body, how is it "filled with
joy"? It
uses
not to be "filled," save with meat, or drink, or some such thing put
into the
mouth.
Sometimes our mouth is filled; and it is more that we say to your holiness,
when
we have our mouth full, we cannot speak. But we have a mouth within, that
is,
in the heart, whence whatsoever proceeds, if it is evil, defiles us, if it is
good,
cleanses
us. For concerning this very mouth ye heard when the Gospel was read.
For
the Jews reproached the Lord, because His disciples ate with unwashen hands.
They
reproached who had cleanness without; and within were full of stains. They
reproached,
whose righteousness was only in the eyes of men. But the Lord sought
our
inward cleanness, which if we have, the outside must needs be clean also.
"Cleanse,"
He says, "the inside," and "the outside shall be clean
also."
Matthew
23:26...
4.
But let us return to what was just now read from the Gospel, relating to the
verse
before us, "Our mouth was filled with joy, and our tongue with
delight:" for
we
are inquiring what mouth and what tongue. Listen, beloved brethren. The Lord
was
scoffed at, because His disciples ate with unwashed hands. The Lord
answered
them as was fitting, and said unto the crowds whom He had called unto
Him,
"Hear ye all, and understand: not that which goes into the mouth defiles a
man;
but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." Matthew 15:10-
11
What is this? when He said, what goes into the mouth, He meant only the
mouth
of the body. For meat goes in, and meats defile not a man; because, "All
things
are clean to the clean;" and, "every creature of God is good, and
none to be
refused,
if it be received with thanksgiving." 1 Timothy 4:4...
5.
Guard the mouth of your heart from evil, and you will be innocent: the tongue
of
your body will be innocent, your hands will be innocent; even your feet will be
innocent,
your eyes, your ears, will be innocent; all your members will serve under
righteousness,
because a righteous commander has your heart. "Then shall they
say
among the heathen, the Lord has done great things for them."
6.
"Yea, the Lord has done great things for us already, whereof we
rejoice" (ver.
3).
Consider, my brethren, if Sion does not at present say this among the heathen,
throughout
the whole world; consider if men are not running unto the Church. In
the
whole world our redemption is received; Amen is answered. The dwellers in
Jerusalem,
therefore, captive, destined to return, pilgrims, sighing for their
country,
speak thus among the heathen. What do they say? "The Lord has done
great
things for us, whereof we rejoice." Have they done anything for
themselves?
They
have done ill with themselves, for they have sold themselves under sin. The
Redeemer
came, and did the good things for them.
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Psalm 126
1046
7.
"Turn our captivity, O Lord, as the torrents in the south" (ver. 4).
Consider, my
brethren,
what this means .... As torrents are turned in the south, so turn our
captivity.
In a certain passage Scripture says, in admonishing us concerning good
works,
"Your sins also shall melt away, even as the ice in fair warm
weather."
Sirach
3:17 Our sins therefore bound us. How? As the cold binds the water that it
run
not. Bound with the frost of our sins, we have frozen. But the south wind is a
warm
wind: when the south wind blows, the ice melts, and the torrents are filled.
Now
winter streams are called torrents; for filled with sudden rains they run with
great
force. We had therefore become frozen in captivity; our sins bound us: the
south
wind the Holy Spirit has blown: our sins are forgiven us, we are released
from
the frost of iniquity; as the ice in fair weather, our sins are melted. Let us
run
unto
our country, as the torrents in the south....
8.
For the next words are, "They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy"
(ver. 5). In
this
life, which is full of tears, let us sow. What shall we sow? Good works. Works
of
mercy are our seeds: of which seeds the Apostle says, "Let us not be weary
in
well
doing; for in due season we shall reap if we faint not." Galatians 6:9
Speaking
therefore
of almsgiving itself, what says he? "This I say; he that sowes sparingly,
shall
reap also sparingly." 2 Corinthians 9:6 He therefore who sowes
plentifully,
shall
reap plentifully: he who sowes sparingly, shall reap also sparingly: and he
that
sowes nothing, shall reap nothing. Why do ye long for ample estates, where
ye
may sow plentifully? There is not a wider field on which you can sow than
Christ,
who has willed that we should sow in Himself. Your soil is the Church;
sow
as much as you can. But you have not enough to do this. Have you the will?
As
what you had would be nothing, if you had not a good will; so do not despond,
because
you have not, if you have a good will. For what do you sow? Mercy. And
what
will you reap? Peace. Said the Angels, Peace on earth unto rich men? No,
but,
"Peace on earth unto men of a good will." Luke 2:14 Zacchćus had a
strong
will,
Zacchćus had great charity. Luke 19:8 ... Did then that widow who cast her
two
farthings into the treasury, sow little? Nay, as much as Zacchćus. For she had
narrower
means, but an equal will. She gave her two mites Luke 21:1-4 with as
good
a will as Zacchćus gave the half of his patrimony. If thou consider what they
gave,
you will find their gifts different; if thou look to the source, you will find
them
equal; she gave whatever she had, and he gave what he had .... But if they are
beggars
whose profession is asking alms, in trouble they also have what to bestow
upon
one another. God has not so forsaken them, but that they have wherein they
may
be tried by their bestowing of alms. This man cannot walk; he who can walk,
lends
his feet to the lame; he who sees, lends his eyes to the blind; and he who is
young
and sound, lends his strength to the old or the infirm, carries him: the one is
poor,
the other is rich.
9.
Sometimes also the rich man is found to be poor, and something is bestowed
upon
him by the poor. Somebody comes to a river, so much the more delicate as
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Psalm 126
1047
he
is more rich; he cannot pass over: if he were to pass over with bare limbs, he
would
catch cold, would be ill, would die: a poor man more active in body comes
up:
he carries the rich man over; he gives alms unto the rich. Think not therefore
those
only poor, who have not money .... Thus love ye, thus be ye affectioned unto
one
another. Attend not solely to yourselves: but to those who are in want around
you.
But because these things take place in this life with troubles and cares, faint
not.
You sow in tears, you shall reap in joy.
10.
How, my brethren? When the farmer goes forth with the plough, carrying seed,
is
not the wind sometimes keen, and does not the shower sometimes deter him? He
looks
to the sky, sees it lowering, shivers with cold, nevertheless goes forth, and
sowes.
For he fears lest while he is observing the foul weather, and awaiting
sunshine,
the time may pass away, and he may not find anything to reap. Put not
off,
my brethren; sow in wintry weather, sow good works, even while you weep;
for,
"They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy." They sow their seed,
good will, and
good
works. "They went on their way and wept, casting their seed" (ver.
6). Why
did
they weep? Because they were among the miserable, and were themselves
miserable.
It is better, my brethren, that no man should be miserable, than that you
should
do alms.... Nevertheless, as long as there are objects for its exercise, let us
not
fail amid those troubles to sow our seed. Although we sow in tears, yet shall
we
reap in joy. For in that resurrection of the dead, each man shall receive his
own
sheaves,
that is, the produce of his seed, the crown of joys and of delight. Then
will
there be a joyous triumph, when we shall laugh at death, wherein we groaned
before:
then shall they say to death, "O death, where is your strife? O death,
where
is
your sting?" 1 Corinthians 15:55 But why do they now rejoice? Because
"they
bring
their sheaves with them."
11.
In this Psalm we have chiefly exhorted you to do deeds of alms, because it is
thence
that we ascend; and you see that he who ascends, sings the song of steps.
Remember:
do not love to descend, instead of to ascend, but reflect upon your
ascent:
because he who descended from Jerusalem to Jericho fell among thieves.
Luke
10:30 ... The Samaritan as He passed by slighted us not: He healed us, He
raised
us upon His beast, upon His flesh; He led us to the inn, that is, the Church;
He
entrusted us to the host, that is, to the Apostle; He gave two pence, whereby
we
might
be healed, Luke 10:35, 37 the love of God, and the love of our neighbour.
The
Apostle spent more; for, though it was allowed unto all the Apostles to
receive,
as Christ's soldiers, pay from Christ's subjects, that Apostle, nevertheless,
toiled
with his own hands, and excused the subjects the maintenance owing to
him.
All this has already happened: if we have descended, and have been
wounded;
let us ascend, let us sing, and make progress, in order that we may
arrive.
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Psalm 127 1048
Exposition
on Psalm 127
1.
Among all the Songs entitled the Song of degrees, this Psalm has a further
addition
in the title, that it is "Solomon's." For thus it is entitled,
"A Song of
degrees
of Solomon." It has therefore aroused our attention, and caused us to
enquire
the reason of this addition, "of Solomon." For it is needless to
repeat
explanations
of the other words, Song of degrees.... Solomon was in his time
David's
son, a great man, through whom many holy precepts and healthful
admonitions
and divine mysteries have been wrought by the Holy Spirit in the
Scriptures.
Solomon himself was a lover of women, and was rejected by God: and
this
lust was so great a snare unto him, that he was induced by women even to
sacrifice
to idols, 1 Kings 11:7-8 as Scripture witnesses concerning him. But if, by
his
fall what was delivered through him were blotted out, it would be judged that
he
had himself delivered these precepts, and not that they were delivered through
him.
The mercy of God, therefore, and His Spirit, excellently wrought that
whatever
of good was declared through Solomon, might be attributed unto God;
and
the man's sin, unto the man. What marvel that Solomon fell among God's
people?
Did not Adam fall in Paradise? Did not an angel fall from heaven, and
become
the devil? We are thereby taught, that no hope must be placed in any
among
men .... The name of Solomon is interpreted to mean peacemaker: now
Christ
is the True Peacemaker, of whom the Apostle says, "He is our Peace, who
has
made both one." Ephesians 2:14... Since, therefore, He is the true
Solomon; for
that
Solomon was the figure of this Peace maker, when he built the temple; that
you
may not think he who built the house unto God was the true Solomon,
Scripture
showing unto you another Solomon, thus commences this Psalm:
"Except
the Lord build the house, their labour is but lost that build it" (ver.
1). The
Lord,
therefore, builds the house, the Lord Jesus Christ builds His own house.
Many
toil in building: but, except He build, "their labour is but lost that
build it."
Who
are they who toil in building it? All who preach the word of God in the
Church,
the ministers of God's mysteries. We are all running, we are all toiling, we
are
all building now; and before us others have run, toiled, and built: but
"except
the
Lord build, their labour is but lost." Thus the Apostles seeing some fall
bewailed
these men, in that they had laboured in vain for them. Galatians 4:10-11
We,
therefore, speak without, He builds within. We can observe with what
attention
ye hear us; He alone who knows your thoughts, knows what ye think. He
Himself
builds, He Himself admonishes, He Himself opens the understanding, He
Himself
kindles your understanding unto faith; nevertheless, we also toil like
workmen;
but, "except the Lord build," etc.
2.
But that which is the house of God is also a city. For the house of God is the
people
of God; for the house of God is the temple of God.... This is Jerusalem: she
has
guards: as she has builders, labouring at her building up, so also has she
guards.
To this guardianship these words of the Apostle relate: "I fear, lest by
any
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1049
means
your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity which is in Christ."
2
Corinthians 11:3 He was guarding the Church. He kept watch, to the utmost of
his
power, over those over whom he was set. The Bishops also do this. For a
higher
place was for this reason given the Bishops, that they might be themselves
the
superintendents and as it were the guardians of the people. For the Greek word
Episcopus,
and the vernacular Superintendent, are the same; for the Bishop
superintends,
in that he looks over. As a higher place is assigned to the vinedresser
in
the charge of the vineyard, so also to the Bishops a more exalted station is
alloted.
And a perilous account is rendered of this high station, except we stand
here
with a heart that causes us to stand beneath your feet in humility, and pray
for
you,
that He who knows your minds may be Himself your keeper. Since we can
see
you both coming in and going out; but we are so unable to see what are the
thoughts
of your hearts, that we cannot even see what ye do in your houses. How
then
can we guard you? As men: as far as we are able, as far as we have received
power.
And because we guard you like men, and cannot guard you perfectly, shall
you
therefore remain without a keeper? Far be it! For where is He of whom it is
said,
"Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman wakes but in vain?"
(ver. 1).
We
are watchful on our guard, but vain in our watchfulness, except He who sees
your
thoughts guard you. He keeps guard while you are awake, He keeps guard
also
while you are asleep. For He has once slept on the Cross, and has risen again;
He
no longer sleeps. Be Israel: for "the Keeper of Israel neither sleeps nor
slumbers."
Yea, brethren, if we wish to be kept beneath the shadow of God's
wings,
let us be Israel. For we guard you in our office of stewards; but we wish to
be
guarded together with you. We are as it were shepherds unto you; but beneath
that
Shepherd we are fellow-sheep with you. We are as it were your teachers from
this
station; but beneath Him, the One Master, we are schoolfellows with you in
this
school.
3.
If we wish to be guarded by Him who was humbled for our sakes, and who was
exalted
to keep us, let us be humble. Let no one assume anything unto himself. No
man
has any good, except he has received it from Him who alone is good. But he
who
chooses to arrogate wisdom unto himself, is a fool. Let him be humble, that
wisdom
may come, and may enlighten him. But if, before wisdom comes unto
him,
he imagine that he is wise; he rises before light, and walks in darkness. What
does
he hear in this Psalm? "It is but lost labour that you haste to rise up
before
dawn"
(ver. 2). What means this? If you arise before light arises, you must needs
lose
your labour, because ye will be in the dark. Our light, Christ, has arisen; it
is
good
for you to rise after Christ, not to rise before Christ. Who rise before
Christ?
They
who choose to prefer themselves to Christ. And who are they who wish to
prefer
themselves to Christ? They who wish to be exalted here, where He was
humble.
Let them, therefore, be humble here, if they wish to be exalted there,
where
Christ is exalted .... The Lord recalled the sons of Zebedee to humility, and
said
unto them, "Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of?"
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Psalm 127
1050
Matthew
20:21-22 I came to be humble: and are you wishing to be exalted before
Me?
The way I go, do ye follow, He says. For if you choose to go this way where I
do
not go, your labour is lost, in rising before dawn. Peter too had risen before
the
light,
when he wished to give the Lord advice, deterring Him from suffering for
us....
But what did our Lord do? He caused him to rise after the Light: "Get
behind
Me,
Satan." Matthew 16:23 He was Satan, because he wished to rise before
Light.
"Get
behind Me:" that I may precede, you may follow: where I go, there you may
go;
and may not wish to lead Me, where you would go....
4.
And as if you should say, When shall we rise? we are ordered now to sit: when
will
be our rising? When the Lord's was. Look unto Him, who went before you:
for
if you heed not Him, "it is lost labour for you to rise before dawn."
When was
He
raised? When He had died. Hope therefore for thine uplifting after your death:
have
hope in the resurrection of the dead, because He rose again and ascended.
But
where did He sleep? On the Cross. When He slept on the Cross, He bore a
sign,
yea, He fulfilled what had been signified in Adam: for when Adam was
asleep,
a rib was drawn from him and Eve was created; Genesis 2:21-22 so also
while
the Lord slept on the Cross, His side was transfixed with a spear, and the
Sacraments
flowed forth, John 19:34 whence the Church was born. For the Church
the
Lord's Bride was created from His side, as Eve was created from the side of
Adam.
But as she was made from his side no otherwise than while sleeping, so the
Church
was created from His side no otherwise than while dying. If therefore He
rose
not from the dead save when He had died, do you hope for exaltation save
after
this life? But that this Psalm might teach you, in case you should ask, When
shall
I rise? perhaps before I have sat down? he adds, "When He has given His
beloved
sleep" (ver. 3). God gives this when His beloved have fallen asleep; then
His
beloved, that is, Christ's, shall rise. For all indeed shall rise, but not as
His
beloved.
There is a resurrection of all the dead; but what says the Apostle? "We
shall
all rise, but we shall not all be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:51 They rise
unto
punishment:
we rise as our Lord rose, that we may follow our Head, if we are
members
of Him .... Hope for such a resurrection; and for the sake of this be a
Christian,
not for the sake of this world's happiness. For if thou wish to be a
Christian
for the sake of this world's happiness, since He your Light sought not
worldly
happiness; you are wishing to rise before the light; you must needs
continue
in darkness. Be changed, follow your Light; rise where He rose again:
first
sit down, and thus rise, "when He gives His beloved sleep."
5.
As if you should ask again, who are the beloved? "Lo, children, the reward
of
the
fruit of the womb, are an heritage of the Lord" (ver. 3). Since he says,
"fruit of
the
womb," these children have been born in travail. There is a certain woman,
in
whom
what was said unto Eve, "in sorrow shall you bring forth children,"
is
shown
after a spiritual manner. The Church bears children, the Bride of Christ;
and
if she bears them, she travails of them. In figure of her, Eve was called also
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Psalm 127
1051
"the
Mother of all living." He who said, "My little children, of whom I
travail in
birth
again, until Christ be formed in you," Galatians 4:19 was amongst the
members
of her who travails. But she travailed not in vain, nor brought forth in
vain:
there will be a holy seed at the resurrection of the dead: the righteous who
are
at present scattered over the whole world shall abound. The Church groans for
them,
the Church travails of them; but in that resurrection of the dead, the
offspring
of the Church shall appear, pain and groaning shall pass away....
6.
"Like as the arrows in the hand of the mighty one, even so are the
children of
those
that are shot out" (ver. 4). Whence has sprung this heritage, brethren?
Whence
has sprung so numerous a heritage? Some have been shot out from the
Lord's
hand, as arrows, and have gone far, and have filled the whole earth, whence
the
Saints spring. For this is the heritage whereof it is said, "Desire of Me,
and I
shall
give you the heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth
for
your possession." And how does this possession extend and increase unto
the
world's
uttermost parts? Because, "like as the arrows in the hand of the mighty
one,"
etc. Arrows are shot forth from the bow, and the stronger the arm which has
sent
it forth, the farther flies the arrow. But what is stronger than the darting of
the
Lord?
From His bow He sends forth His Apostles: there could not be a spot left
where
an arrow shot by so strong an arm would not reach; it has reached unto the
uttermost
parts of the earth. The reason it went no farther was, that there were no
more
of the human race beyond. For He has such strength, that even if there were
a
spot beyond, whither the arrow could fly, He would dart the arrow thither. Such
are
the children of those who are shot forth as they that are shot forth....
7.
Perhaps the Apostles themselves are styled the sons of those who have been
shaken
out, the sons of the Prophets. For the Prophets comprised closed and
covered
mysteries: they were shaken, that they might come forth thence
manifestly....
Except the prophecy involved were sifted with diligence, would the
concealed
meanings come forth unto us? All these meanings were therefore closed
before
the Lord's advent. The Lord came, and shook out these hidden meanings,
and
they were made manifest; the Prophets were shaken out, and the Apostles
were
born. Since then they were born of the Prophets who had been shaken out,
the
Apostles are sons of those that were shaken out. They, placed as the arrows in
the
hand of the giant, have reached the uttermost parts of the earth.... The
Apostles
the
sons of the Prophets have been like as the arrows in the hand of a mighty one.
If
He is mighty, He has shaken them out with a mighty hand; if He has shaken
them
out with a mighty hand, they whom He has shaken forth have arrived even at
the
uttermost parts of the earth.
8.
"Blessed is the man who has filled his desire from them" (ver. 5).
Well, my
brethren,
who fills his desire from them? Who loves not the world. He who is
filled
with the desire of the world, has no room for that to enter which they have
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 127
1052
preached.
Pour forth what you carry, and become fit for that which you have not.
That
is, you desire riches: you can not fill your desire from them: you desire
honours
upon earth, you desire those things which God has given even unto beasts
of
burden, that is, temporal pleasure, bodily health, and the like; you will not
fulfil
your
desire from them.... "He shall not be ashamed, when he speaks with his
enemies
in the gate." Brethren, let us speak in the gate, that is, let all know
what
we
speak. For he who chooses not to speak in the gate, wishes what he speaks to
be
hidden, and perhaps wishes it to be hidden for this reason, that it is evil. If
he be
confident,
let him speak in the gate; as it is said of Wisdom, "She cries at the
gates,
at the entry of the city." Proverbs 8:3 As long as they hold unto
righteousness
in innocency, they shall not be ashamed: this is to preach at the gate.
And
who is he who preaches at the gate? He who preaches in Christ; because
Christ
is the gate whereby we enter into that city. John 10:9... They, therefore, who
speak
against Christ, are without the gate; because they seek their own honours,
not
those of Christ. But he who preaches in the gate, seeks Christ's honour, not
his
own:
and, therefore, he who preaches in the gate, says, Trust not in me; for you
will
not enter through me, but through the gate. While they who wish men to trust
in
themselves, wish them not to enter through the gate: it is no marvel if the
gate
be
closed against them, and if they vainly knock for it to be opened.
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Psalm 128
1053
Exposition
on Psalm 128
1.
Felix the Martyr, truly Felix, i.e. "Happy" both in his name and his
crown,
whose
birthday this is, despised the world. Was he, because he feared the Lord,
thence
happy, thence blessed, because his wife was as a fruitful vine upon the
earth,
and his children stood around his table? All these blessings he has perfectly,
but
in the Body of Him who is here described; and, because he understood them in
this
sense, he scorned things present, that he might receive things future. You are
aware,
brethren, that he suffered not the death that other martyrs suffered. For he
confessed,
and was set aside for torments; on another day his body was discovered
lifeless.
They had closed the prison to his body, not to his spirit. The executioners
found
him gone; when they were preparing to torture, they spent their rage for
nought.
He was lying dead, without sense to them, that he might not be tortured;
with
sense with God, that he might be crowned. Whence was he also happy,
brethren,
not only in name, but in the reward of everlasting life, if he loved these
things.
2.
"Blessed are all they that fear the Lord, and walk in His ways" (ver.
1). He
speaks
to many; but since these many are one in Christ, in the next words he
speaks
in the singular: "For you shall eat the labours of your fruits."...
When I
speak
of Christians in the plural, I understand one in the One Christ. You are
therefore
many, and you are one; we are many, and we are one. How are we many,
and
yet one? Because we cling unto Him whose members we are; and since our
Head
is in heaven, that His members may follow .... Let us therefore so hear this
Psalm,
as considering it to be spoken of Christ: and all of us who cling unto the
Body
of Christ, and have been made members of Christ, walk in the ways of the
Lord;
and let us fear the Lord with a chaste fear, with a fear that abides for
ever....
3.
"You shall eat the labours of your fruits" (ver. 2). And ye, O thou,
you many
who
are One, "You shall eat of the labours of your fruits." He seems to
speak
perversely
to those who understand not: for he should have said, you shall eat the
fruit
of your labours. For many eat the fruit of their labours. They labour in the
vineyard;
they eat not the toil itself; but what arises from their labour they eat.
They
labour about trees that bear fruit: who would eat labours? But the fruit of
these
labours, the produce of these trees; it is this that delights the husbandman.
What
means, "You shall eat the labours of your fruits"? At present we have
toils:
the
fruits will come afterwards. But since their labours themselves are not without
joy,
on account of the hope whereof we have a little before spoken, "Rejoicing
in
hope,
patient in tribulation;" Romans 12:12 at present those very labours
delight
us,
and make us joyful in hope. If therefore our toil has been what could be eaten,
and
could also delight us; what will be the fruit of our labour when eaten?
"They
who
went weeping on their way, scattering their seed," did eat their labours;
with
how
much greater pleasure will they eat the fruits of their labours, who
"shall
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 128
1054
come
again with joy, bearing their sheaves with them"?... "Blessed are
you, and
well
shall it be with you." "Blessed are you," is of the present:
"well shall it be
with
you," is of the future. When you eat the labours of your fruits,
"blessed are
you;"
when you have reached the fruit of your labours, "well shall it be with
you."
What
has he said? For if it be well with you, you will be happy: and if you will be
happy,
you will also have all well with you. But there is a difference between hope
and
attainment. If hope be so sweet, how much sweeter will reality be?
4.
Let us now come to the words, "Your wife" (ver. 3): it is said unto
Christ. His
wife,
therefore, is the Church: His Church, His wife, we ourselves are. "As a
fruitful
vineyard." But in whom is the vineyard fruitful? For we see many barren
ones
entering those walls; we see that many intemperate, usurious persons, slave
dealers,
enter these walls, and such as resort to fortune-tellers, go to enchanters
and
enchantresses when they have a headache. Is this the fruitfulness of the vine?
Is
this the fecundity of the wife? It is not. These are thorns, but the vineyard
is not
everywhere
thorny. It has a certain fruitfulness, and is a fruitful vine; but in
whom?
"Upon the sides of your house." Not all are called the sides of the
house.
For
I ask what are the sides. What shall I say? Are they walls, strong stones, as
it
were?
If he were speaking of this bodily tenement, we should perhaps understand
this
by sides. We mean by the sides of the house, those who cling unto Christ....
5.
"Your children." The wife and the children are the same. In these
carnal
marriages
and wedlocks, the wife is one, the children other: in the Church, she
who
is the wife, is the children also. For the Apostles belonged to the Church, and
were
among the members of the Church. They were therefore in His wife, and
were
His wife according to their own portion which they held in His members.
Why
then is it said concerning them, "When the Bridegroom shall be taken from
them,
then shall the children of the Bridegroom fast"? Matthew 9:15 She who is
the
wife, then, is the children also. I speak a wonderful thing, my brethren. In
the
words
of the Lord, we find the Church to be both His brethren, and His sisters, and
His
mother .... For Mary was among the sides of His House, and His relatives
coming
of the kindred of the Virgin Mary, who believed on Him, were among the
sides
of His House; not in respect of their carnal consanguinity, but inasmuch as
they
heard the Word of God, and obeyed it .... He added; "For whosoever shall
do
the
will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and
mother."
Matthew 12:48-50 "Brother," perhaps, on account of the male sex whom
the
Church has: "sister," on account of the women whom Christ has here in
His
members.
How "mother," save that Christ Himself is in those Christians, whom
the
Church daily brings forth Christians through baptism? In those therefore in
whom
you understand the wife, in them you understand the mother, in them the
children.
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Psalm 128
1055
6.
...Such children ought therefore to be "around" the Lord's
"table, like olive-
branches."
A complete Vine it is, a great bliss: who would now refuse to be there?
When
you see any blasphemer have a wife, children, grandchildren, and yourself
perchance
without them, envy them not; discern that the promise has been fulfilled
in
you also, but spiritually. If therefore we have, why have we? Because we fear
the
Lord. "Lo, thus shall the man be blessed that fears the Lord" (ver.
4). He is the
man,
who is also the men; and the men are one man; because many are one,
because
Christ is One.
7.
"The Lord from out of Sion bless you: and may thou see you good things
that
are
of Jerusalem" (ver. 5). Even to the birds was it said, "Be fruitful
and multiply."
Genesis
1:22 Do you wish to hold as a great blessing what was given unto birds?
Who
can be ignorant, that it was given indeed by the voice of God? But use these
goods,
if thou receive them; and rather think how you may nourish those who have
been
born, than that others may be born. For it is not happiness to have children,
but
to have good ones. Labour in the task of nourishing them, if they be born; but
if
they be not born, give thanks unto God .... Your children are infants: thou
dost
caress
the infants: the infants caress you: do they abide thus? But you wish they
may
grow, you wish that their age may increase. But consider that when one age
comes,
another dies. When boyhood comes, infancy dies; when youth comes,
boyhood
dies: when manhood comes, youth dies; when old age comes, manhood
dies:
when death comes, all age dies. As many successions of ages as you wish
for,
so many deaths of ages do you wish for. These things therefore "are"
not.
Finally,
are children born unto you to share life with you on earth, or rather to shut
you
out and to succeed you? Rejoicest thou in those born to exclude you? Boys
when
born speak somewhat like this to their parents: "Now then, begin to think
of
removing
hence, let us too play our parts on the stage." For the whole life of
temptation
in the human race is a stage play; for it is said, "Every man living is
altogether
vanity." Nevertheless, if we rejoice in children who will succeed us;
how
much must we rejoice in children with whom we shall remain, and in that
Father
for whom we are born, who will not die, but that we may evermore live
with
Him? These are the good things of Jerusalem: for they "are." And how
long
shall
I see the good things of Jerusalem? "All your life long." If your
life be for
ever,
you will see the good things of Jerusalem for evermore....
8.
For, "if in this life only," says the Apostle, "we have hope in
Christ, we are of
all
men most miserable." 1 Corinthians 15:19 For what reason were the Martyrs
condemned
to beasts? What is that good? Can it be declared? by what means, or
what
tongue can tell it? or what ears can hear it? That indeed, "Neither ear
has
heard,
nor has it entered into man's heart:" 1 Corinthians 2:9 only let us love,
only
let
us grow in grace: ye see, then, that battles are not wanting, and that we fight
with
our lusts. We fight outwardly with unbelieving and disobedient men; we fight
inwardly
with carnal suggestions and perturbations: we everywhere as yet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 128
1056
fight....
What sort of peace then is this? One from Jerusalem, for Jerusalem is
interpreted,
A vision of Peace. Thus then "may thou see the good things that are of
Jerusalem,"
and that, "all your life long—and may thou see," not only your
children,
but, "your children's children." What means, Your children? Your
works
which
thou here dost. Who are your children's children? The fruits of your works.
Thou
givest alms: these are your children: for the sake of your alms you receive
everlasting
life, these are your children's children. "May you see your children's
children;"
and there shall be "peace upon Israel" (ver. 6), the last words of
the
Psalm....
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Psalm 129 1057
Exposition
on Psalm 129
1.
The Psalm which we have sung is short: but as it is written in the Gospel of
Zacchćus
that he was "little of stature," Luke 19:2-9 but mighty in works; as
it is
written
of that widow who cast two mites into the treasury, little was the money,
but
great was her charity; Mark 12:42, 44 thus also this Psalm, if thou count the
words,
is short; if thou weigh the sentiments, is great .... Let the Spirit of God
speak,
let It speak to us, let It sing to us; whether we wish or wish not to dance,
let
It
sing. For as he who dances, moves his limbs to the time; so they who dance
according
to the commandment of God, in their works obey the sound. What
therefore
says the Lord in the Gospel to those who refuse to do this? "We have
piped
unto you, and you have not danced: we have mourned unto you, and you
have
not lamented." Matthew 11:17 Let Him therefore sing; we trust in God's
mercy,
for there will be those by whom He consoles us. For they who are
obstinate,
continuing in wickedness, although they hear the Word of God, by their
offences
daily disturb the Church. Of such this Psalm speaks; for thus it begins.
2.
"Many a time have they fought against me from my youth up" (ver. 1).
The
Church
speaks of those whom She endures: and as if it were asked, "Is it
now?"
The
Church is of ancient birth: since saints have been so called, the Church has
been
on earth. At one time the Church was in Abel only, and he was fought against
by
his wicked and lost brother Cain. Genesis 4:8 At one time the Church was in
Enoch
alone: and he was translated from the unrighteous. Genesis 5:24 At one
time
the Church was in the house of Noah alone, and endured all who perished by
the
flood, and the ark alone swam upon the waves, and escaped to shore.
Genesis
vi.-viii At one time the Church was in Abraham alone, and we know what
he
endured from the wicked. The Church was in his brother's son, Lot, alone, and
in
his house, in Sodom, and he endured the iniquities and perversities of Sodom,
until
God freed him from amidst them. Genesis xiii.-xx The Church also began to
exist
in the people of Israel: She endured Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The number
of
the saints began to be also in the Church, that is, in the people of Israel;
Moses
and
the rest of the saints endured the wicked Jews, the people of Israel. We come
unto
our Lord Jesus Christ: the Gospel was preached in the Psalms .... For this
reason,
lest the Church wonder now, or lest any one wonder in the Church, who
wishes
to be a good member of the Church, let him hear the Church herself his
Mother
saying to him, Marvel not at these things, my son: "Many a time have they
fought
against me from my youth up."
3.
"Now may Israel say." She now seems to be speaking of herself: for
she seemed
not
to have commenced herself, but to have answered. But to whom has she
replied?
To them that think and say, How great evils do we endure, how great are
the
scandals that every day thicken, as the wicked enter into the Church, and we
have
to endure them? But let the Church reply through some, that is, through the
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Psalm 129
1058
voice
of the stronger, let her reply to the complaints of the weak, and let the
stable
confirm
the unstable, and the full-grown the infant, and let the Church say, "Many
a
time have they vexed me from my youth up" (ver. 2). Let the Church say
this: let
her
not fear it. For what is the meaning of this addition, "From my youth
up," after
the
words, "Many a time have they fought against me"? At present the old
age of
the
Church is assailed: but let her not fear. Hath she then failed to arrive at old
age,
because
they have not ceased to fight against her from her youth up? have they
been
able to blot her out? Let Israel comfort herself, let the Church console
herself
with
past examples. Why have they fought against me? "For they could not
prevail
against
me."
4.
"Upon my back have sinners built; they have done their iniquity afar
off" (ver.
3).
Why have they fought against me? Because "they could not prevail upon
me."
What
is this? They could not build upon me. I consented not with them unto sin.
For
every wicked man persecutes the good on this account, because the good man
consents
not with him to evil. Suppose he do some evil, and the Bishop censure
him
not, the Bishop is a good man: suppose the Bishop censure him, the Bishop is
a
bad man. Suppose he carry off anything, let the man robbed be silent, he is a
good
man: let him only speak and rebuke, even though he does not reclaim his
goods,
he is everything bad. He is bad then who blames the robber, and he is good
who
robs! ...Heed not that such an one speaks to you: it is a wicked man through
whom
It speaks to you; but the word of God, that speaks to you, is not wicked.
Accuse
God: accuse Him, if you can.
5.
Thou accusest a man of avarice, and he accuses God on the ground that He
made
gold. Be not covetous. And God, you reply, should not make gold. This now
remains,
because you can not restrain thine evil deeds, you accuse the good works
of
God: the Creator and Architect of the world displeases you. He ought not to
make
the sun either; for many contend concerning the lights of their windows, and
drag
each other before courts of law. O if we could restrain our vices! for all
things
are good, because a good God made all things: and His works praise Him,
when
their goodness is considered by him who has the spirit of considering them,
the
spirit of piety and wisdom....
6.
Lend not money at interest. Thou accusest Scripture which says, "He that
has
not
given his money upon usury." I wrote not this: it went not forth first
from my
mouth:
hear God. He replies: let not the clergy lend upon usury. Perchance he who
speaks
to you, lends not at interest: but if he do so lend, suppose that he does so
lend;
does He who speaks through him lend at interest? If he does what he enjoins
you,
and thou dost it not; you will go into the flame, he into the kingdom. If he
does
not what he enjoins you, and equally with you does evil deeds, and preaches
duties
which he does not; ye will both equally go into the flames. The hay will
burn;
but "the word of the Lord abides for evermore."...
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Psalm 129
1059
7.
"The righteous Lord shall hew the necks of the sinners" (ver. 4)....
Which of us
does
not fix his eyes upon the earth, like the Publican, and say, "Lord, be
merciful
unto
me a sinner"? Luke 18:13 If therefore all are sinners, and none is found
without
sin; all must fear the sword that hangs above their neck, because "the
righteous
Lord shall hew the necks of the sinners." I do not imagine, my brethren,
of
all sinners; but in the member which He strikes, He marks what sinners He
strikes.
For it is not said, The righteous Lord will hew the hands of the sinners; or
their
feet; but because proud sinners were meant to be understood, and all proud
men
carry lofty necks, and not only do evil deeds, but even refuse to acknowledge
them
to be such, and when they are rebuked, justify themselves:... as it is written
in
Job (he was speaking of an ungodly sinner), "he runs against God, even
upon
his
neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers;" Job 15:26 so he here names
the
neck,
because it is thus you exalt yourself, and dost not fix your eyes upon the
ground,
and beat your breast. You should cry unto Him, as it is cried in another
Psalm,
"I said, Lord, be merciful unto me, for I have sinned against You."
Since
thou
dost not choose to say this, but justifiest your deeds against the Word of God;
what
follows in Scripture comes upon you: the righteous Lord shall hew the necks
of
sinners.
8.
"Let them be confounded and turned backward, as many as have evil will at
Sion"
(ver. 5). They who hate Sion, hate the Church: Sion is the Church. And they
who
hypocritically enter into the Church, hate the Church. They who refuse to
keep
the Word of God, hate the Church: "Upon my back have they built:"
what
will
the Church do, save endure the burden even unto the end?
9.
But what says he of them? The next words are, "Let them be even as the
grass
of
the house tops: that withers before it be plucked up" (ver. 6). The grass
of the
house
tops is that which grows on house tops, on a tiled roof: it is seen on high,
and
has not a root. How much better would it be if it grew lower, and how much
more
joyfully would it bloom? As it is, it rises higher to a quicker withering. It
has
not
yet been plucked up, yet has it withered: not yet have they received sentence
from
the judgment of God, and already they have not the sap of bloom. Observe
their
works, and see that they have withered.... The reapers will come, but they fill
not
their sheaves from these. For the reapers will come, and will gather the wheat
into
the barn, and will bind the tares together, and cast them into the fire. Thus
also
is the grass of the house tops cleared off, and whatever is plucked from it, is
thrown
into the fire; because it had withered even before it was plucked up. The
reaper
fills not his hands thence. His next words are, "Whereof the reaper fills
not
his
hand; neither he that binds up the sheaves his bosom" (ver. 7). And,
"the
reapers
are the angels," Matthew 13:39 the Lord says.
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Psalm 129
1060
10.
"So that they who go by say not so much as, The blessing of the Lord be
upon
you:
we have blessed you in the name of the Lord" (ver. 8). For you know,
brethren,
when men pass by others at work, it is customary to address them, "The
blessing
of the Lord be upon you." And this was especially the custom in the
Jewish
nation. No one passed by and saw any one doing any work in the field, or
in
the vineyard, or in harvest, or anything of the sort; it was not lawful to pass
by
without
a blessing.... Who are the passers by? They who have already passed
hence
to their country through this road, that is, through this life: the Apostles
were
passers by in this life, the Prophets were passers by. Whom did the Prophets
and
Apostles bless? Those in whom they saw the root of charity? But those whom
they
found lifted on high on their house tops, and proud in the bosses of their
bucklers,
they declared against these what they were doomed to become, but they
gave
them no blessing. You therefore who read in the Scriptures, find all those
wicked
men whom the Church bears, who are declared cursed, pertain unto
Antichrist,
pertain unto the devil, pertain to the chaff, pertain to the tares .... But
they
who say, None save God sanctifies, nor is any man good save by the gift of
God;
they bless in the name of the Lord, not in their own name: because they are
the
friends of the bridegroom, John 3:29 they refuse to be adulterers of the bride.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 130
1061
Exposition
on Psalm 130
1.
"Out of the deep have I called unto You, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice"
(ver. 1).
Jonas
cried from the deep; from the whale's belly. Jonah 2:2 He was not only
beneath
the waves, but also in the entrails of the beast; nevertheless, those waves
and
that body prevented not his prayer from reaching God, and the beast's belly
could
not contain the voice of his prayer It penetrated all things, it burst through
all
things, it reached the ears of God: if indeed we ought to say that, bursting
through
all things, it reached the ears of God, since the ears of God were in the
heart
of him who prayed. For where has not he God present, whose voice is
faithful?
Nevertheless, we also ought to understand from what deep we cry unto
the
Lord. For this mortal life is our deep. Whoever has understood himself to be in
the
deep, cries out, groans, sighs, until he be delivered from the deep, and come
unto
Him who sits above all the deeps .... For they are very deep in the deep, who
do
not even cry from the deep. The Scripture says, "When the wicked has
reached
the
depth of evils, he despises." Proverbs 18:3 Now consider, brethren, what
sort
of
deep that is, where God is despised. When each man sees himself overwhelmed
with
daily sins, pressed down by heaps and weights, so to speak, of iniquities: if
it
be
said unto him, Pray unto God, he laughs. In what manner? He first says, If
crimes
were displeasing unto God, should I live? If God regarded human affairs,
considering
the great crimes which I have committed, should I not only live, but
be
prosperous? For this is wont to happen to those who are far in the deep, and
are
prosperous
in their iniquities: and they are the more plunged in the deep, in
proportion
as they seem to be more happy; for a deceitful happiness is itself a
greater
unhappiness....
2.
"Lord, hear my voice. O let Thine ears consider well the voice of my
complaint"
(ver.
2). Whence does he cry? From the deep. Who is it then who cries? A sinner.
And
with what hope does he cry? Because He who came to absolve from sins,
gave
hope even to the sinner down in the deep. What therefore follows after these
words:
"If Thou, Lord, will be extreme to mark what is amiss, O Lord, who may
abide
it?" (ver. 3). So, he has disclosed from what deep he cried out. For he
cries
beneath
the weights and billows of his iniquities .... He said not, I may not abide it:
but,
"who may abide it?" For he saw that nigh the whole of human life on
every
side
was ever bayed at by its sins, that all consciences were accused by their
thoughts,
that a clean heart trusting in its own righteousness could not be found.
3.
But wherefore is there hope? "For there is propitiation with You"
(ver. 4). And
what
is this propitiation, except sacrifice? And what is sacrifice, save that which
has
been offered for us? The pouring forth of innocent blood blotted out all the
sins
of the guilty: so great a price paid down redeemed all captives from the hand
of
the enemy who captured them. "With You," then, "there is
propitiation." For if
there
were not mercy with You, if Thou chosest to be Judge only, and refused to
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 130
1062
be
merciful, You would mark all our iniquities, and search after them. Who could
abide
this? Who could stand before You, and say, I am innocent? Who could stand
in
Your judgment? There is therefore one hope: "for the sake of Your law have
I
borne
You, O Lord." What law? That which made men guilty. For a "law, holy,
just,
and good," Romans 7:12 was given to the Jews; but its effect was to make
them
guilty. A law was not given that could give life, Galatians 3:21 but which
might
show his sins to the sinner. For the sinner had forgotten himself, and saw
not
himself; the law was given him, that he might see himself. The law made him
guilty,
the Lawgiver freed him: for the Lawgiver is the Supreme Power.... There is
therefore
a law of the mercy of God, a law of the propitiation of God. The one was
a
law of fear, the other is a law of love. The law of love gives forgiveness to
sins,
blots
out the past, warns concerning the future; forsakes not its companion by the
way,
becomes a companion to him whom it leads on the way. But it is needful to
agree
with the adversary, while you are with him in the way. Matthew 5:25 For the
Word
of God is thine adversary, as long as thou dost not agree with it. But you
agree,
when it has begun to be your delight to do what God's Word commands.
Then
he who was thine adversary becomes your friend: so, when the way is
finished,
there will be none to deliver you to the Judge. Therefore, "For the sake
of
Your
law I have waited for You, O Lord," because you have condescended to
bring
in a law of mercy, to forgive me all my sins, to give me for the future
warnings
that I may not offend.... "For the sake," therefore, "of"
this "law I have
waited
for You, O Lord." I have waited until You may come and free me from all
need,
for in my very need You have not forsaken the law of mercy.... "My soul
has
waited
for Your word."...
4.
We therefore trust without fear on the word of Him who cannot deceive. "My
soul
has trusted in the Lord, from the morning watch even unto night" (ver. 5).
This
morning watch is the end of night. We must therefore understand it so that we
may
not suppose we are to trust in the Lord for one day only. What do you
conceive
to be the sense, then, brethren? The words mean this: that the Lord,
through
whom our sins have been remitted, arose from the dead at the morning
watch,
so that we may hope that what went before in the Lord will take place in
us.
For our sins have been already forgiven: but we have not yet risen again: if we
have
not risen again, not as yet has that taken place in us which went before in our
Head.
What went before in our Head? Because the flesh of that Head rose again;
did
the Spirit of that Head die? What had died in Him, rose again. Now He arose
on
the third day; and the Lord as it were thus speaks to us: What you have seen in
Me,
hope for in yourselves; that is, because I have risen from the dead, you also
shall
rise again.
5.
But there are who say, Behold, the Lord has risen again; but must I hope on
that
account
that I also may rise again? Certainly, on that account: for the Lord rose
again
in that which He assumed from you. For He would not rise again, save He
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Psalm 130
1063
had
died; and He could not have died, except He bore the flesh. What did the Lord
assume
from you? The flesh. What was He that came Himself? The Word of God,
who
was before all things, through whom all things were made. But that He might
receive
something from you, "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us." He
received
from you, what He might offer for you; as the priest receives from you,
what
he may offer for you, when you wish to appease God for your sins. It has
already
been done, it has been done thus. Our Priest received from us what He
might
offer for us: for He received flesh from us, in the flesh itself He was made a
victim,
He was made a holocaust, He was made a sacrifice. In the Passion He was
made
a sacrifice; in the Resurrection He renewed that which was slain, and offered
it
as His first-fruits unto God, and says unto you, All that is thine is now
consecrated:
since such first-fruits have been offered unto God from you; hope
therefore
that that will take place in yourself which went before in your first-fruits.
6.
Since He then rose with the morning watch, our soul began to hope from hence:
and
how far? "Even unto night;" until we die; for all our carnal death is
as it were
sleep....
7.
And he returns to this, "From the morning watch let Israel hope in the
Lord."
Not
only "let Israel hope," but "from the morning watch let Israel
hope." Do I then
blame
the hope of the world, when it is placed in the Lord? No; but there is
another
hope belonging to Israel. Let not Israel hope for riches as his highest good,
not
for health of body, not for abundance of earthly things: he will indeed have to
suffer
tribulation here, if it should be his lot to suffer any troubles for the sake
of
the
truth....
8.
"For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous
redemption" (ver.
7).
Admirable! This could not have been better said in its own place, on account of
the
words, "From the morning watch." Wherefore? Because the Lord rose
again
from
the morning watch; and the body ought to hope for that which went before in
the
Head. But, lest this thought should be suggested: The Head might rise again,
because
It was not weighed down with sins, there was no sin in Him; what shall
we
do? Shall we hope for such a resurrection, as went before in the Lord, while we
are
weighed down by our sins? But see what follows: "And He shall redeem
Israel
from
all his sins" (ver. 8). Though therefore he was weighed down with his
sins,
the
mercy of God is present to him. For this reason, He went before without sin,
that
He may blot out the sins of those that follow Him. Trust not in yourselves, but
trust
from the morning watch....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 131
1064
Exposition
on Psalm 131
1.
In this Psalm, the humility of one that is a servant of God and faithful is
commended
unto us, by whose voice it is sung; which is the whole body of Christ.
For
we have often warned you, beloved, that it ought not to be received as the
voice
of one man singing, but of all who are in Christ's Body. And since all are in
His
Body, as it were one man speaks: and he is one who also is many .... Now he
prays
in the temple of God, who prays in the peace of the Church, in the unity of
Christ's
Body; which Body of Christ consists of many who believe in the whole
world:
and therefore he who prays in the temple, is heard. For he prays in the spirit
and
in truth, John 4:21-24 who prays in the peace of the Church; not in that
temple,
wherein was the figure....
2.
"Lord, my heart is not lifted up" (ver. 1). He has offered a
sacrifice. Whence do
we
prove that he has offered a sacrifice? Because humility of heart is a
sacrifice
.... If there is no sacrifice, there is no Priest. But if we have a High Priest
in
Heaven, who intercedes with the Father for us (for He has entered into the Holy
of
Holies, within the veil), ... we are safe, for we have a Priest; let us offer
our
sacrifice
there. Let us consider what sacrifice we ought to offer; for God is not
pleased
with burnt-offerings, as you have heard in the Psalm. But in that place he
next
shows what he offers: "The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit: a broken
and
a
contrite heart, O God, shall Thou not despise.
3.
"Lord, my heart was not lifted up, neither were my eyes raised on
high" (ver. 1);
"I
have not exercised myself in great matters, nor in wonderful things which are
too
high for me" (ver. 2). Let this be more plainly spoken and heard. I have
not
been
proud: I have not wished to be known among men as for wondrous powers;
nor
have I sought anything beyond my strength, whereby I might boast myself
among
the ignorant. As that Simon the sorcerer wished to advance into wonders
above
himself, on that account the power of the Apostles more pleased him, than
the
righteousness of Christians.... What is above my strength, he says, I have not
sought;
I have not stretched myself out there, I have not chosen to be magnified
there.
How deeply this self-exaltation in the abundance of graces is to be feared,
that
no man may pride himself in the gift of God, but may rather preserve
humility,
and may do what is written: "The greater you are, the more humble
yourself,
and you shall find favour before the Lord:" Sirach 3:18 how deeply pride
in
God's gift should be feared, we must again and again impress upon you....
4.
"If I had not lowly thoughts, but have lifted up my soul, as one taken
from his
mother's
breast, such the reward for my soul" (ver. 2). He seems as it were to have
bound
himself by a curse: ... as though he had been going to say, Let it so happen
to
me. "As one taken away from his mother's breast, may be my soul's
reward."
You
know that the Apostle says to some weak brethren, "I have fed you with
milk,
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Psalm 131
1065
and
not with meat; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are
you
able."
1 Corinthians 3:2 There are weak persons who are not fit for strong meat;
they
wish to grasp at that which they cannot receive: and if they ever do receive,
or
seem to themselves to receive what they have not received, they are puffed up
thereby,
and become proud thereupon; they seem to themselves wise men. Now
this
happens to all heretics; who since they were animal and carnal, by defending
their
depraved opinions, which they could not see to be false, were shut out of the
Catholic
Church....
5.
Another opinion indeed has been entertained, and another sense in these
words
.... It has been evidently explained, my brethren, where God would have us
to
be humble, where lofty. Humble, in order to provide against pride; lofty, to
take
in
wisdom. Feed upon milk, that you may be nourished; be nourished, so that you
may
grow; grow, so that you may eat bread. But when you have begun to eat
bread,
you will be weaned, that is, you will no longer have need of milk, but of
solid
food. This he seems to have meant: "If I had not lowly thoughts, but have
lifted
up my soul:" that is, if I was not an infant in mind, I was in wickedness.
In
this
sense, he said before, "Lord, my heart was not lifted up, nor my eyes
raised on
high:
I do not exercise myself in great matters, nor in wonderful things above
me."
Behold,
in wickedness I am an infant. But since I am not an infant in
understanding,
"If I had not lowly thoughts, but have lifted up my soul," may that
reward
be mine which is given unto the infant that is weaned from his mother, that
I
may at length be able to eat bread.
6.
This interpretation, also, brethren, displeases me not, since it does not
militate
against
the faith. Yet I cannot but remark that it is not only said, "As one taken
away
from milk, such may be my soul's reward;" but with this addition, "As
one
taken
away from milk when upon his mother's breast, such may be my soul's
reward."
Here there is somewhat that induces me to consider it a curse. For it is
not
an infant, but a grown child that is taken away from milk; he who is weak in
his
earliest infancy, which is his true infancy, is upon his mother's breast: if
perchance
he has been taken away from the milk, he perishes. It is not without a
reason
then that it is added, "Upon his mother's breast." For all may be
weaned by
growing.
He who grows, and is thus taken away from milk, it is good for him; but
hurtful
for him who is still upon his mother's breast. We must therefore beware,
my
brethren, and be fearful, lest any one be taken away from milk before his
time
.... Let him not therefore wish to lift up his soul, when perchance he is not
fit
to
take meat, but let him fulfil the commandments of humility. He has wherein he
may
exercise himself: let him believe in Christ, that he may understand Christ. He
cannot
see the Word, he cannot understand the equality of the Word with the
Father,
he cannot as yet see the equality of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the
Word;
let him believe this, and suck it. He is safe, because, when he has grown, he
will
eat, which he could not do before he grew by sucking: and he has a point to
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Psalm 131 1066
stretch
towards. Seek not out the things that are too hard for you, and search not
the
things that are above your strength; that is, things which you are not as yet
fit
to
understand. And what am I to do? you reply. Shall I remain thus? "But what
things
the Lord has commanded you, think thereupon always." Sirach 3:22 What
has
the Lord commanded you? Do works of mercy, part not with the peace of the
Church,
place not your trust in man, tempt not God by longing for miracles....
7.
For if you be not exalted, if you raise not your heart on high, if you tread
not in
great
matters that are too high for you, but preserve humility, God will reveal unto
you
what you are otherwise minded in. Philippians 3:15 But if you choose to
defend
this very thing, which you are otherwise minded about, and with
pertinacity
assert it, and against the peace of the Church; this curse which he has
described
is entailed upon you; when you are upon your mother's breast, and are
removed
away from the milk, you shall die of hunger apart from your mother's
breast.
But if you continue in Catholic peace, if perchance you are in anything
otherwise
minded than ye ought to be, God will reveal it to you, if you be humble.
Wherefore?
Because "God resists the proud, and gives grace unto the humble."
8.
This Psalm therefore concludes to this purpose: "O Israel, trust in the
Lord,
from
this time forth and even unto eternity" (ver. 3). But the word seculum
does
not
always mean this world, but sometimes eternity; since eternity is understood in
two
ways; until eternity, that is, either evermore without end, or until we arrive
at
eternity.
How then is it to be understood here? Until we arrive at eternity, let us
trust
in the Lord God; because when we have reached eternity, there will be no
longer
hope, but the thing itself will be ours.
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Psalm 132
1067
Exposition
on Psalm 132
1.
It was right indeed, most beloved, that we should rather hear our Brother, my
colleague,
when present before all of us. And just now he refused not, but put us
off;
for he extorted from me that he might now listen to me, on the condition that I
also
may listen to him, for in charity itself we are all listening unto Him, who is
our
One Master in heaven. Attend therefore to the Psalm, entitled A Song of
Degrees;
considerably longer than the rest under the same title. Let us not
therefore
linger, save where necessity shall compel us: that we may, if the Lord
permit,
explain the whole. For you also ought not to hear everything as men
untaught;
ye ought in some degree to aid us from your past listenings, so that it
may
not be needful that everything should be declared to you as though new.
2.
"Lord, remember David, and all his meekness" (ver. 1). David according
to the
truth
of history was one man, king of Israel, son of Jesse. He was indeed meek, as
the
Divine Scriptures themselves mark and command him, and so meek that he did
not
even render evil for evil to his persecutor Saul. He preserved towards him so
great
humility, that he acknowledged him a king, and himself a dog: and answered
the
king not proudly nor rudely, though he was more powerful in God; but he
rather
endeavoured to appease him by humility, than to provoke him by pride.
Saul
was even given into his power, and this by the Lord God, that he might do to
him
what he listed: but since he was not commanded to slay him, but had it only
placed
in his power (now a man is permitted to use his power), he rather turned
towards
mercy what God gave him .... The humility of David is therefore
commended,
the meekness of David is commended; and it is said to God, "Lord,
remember
David, and all his meekness." For what purpose? "How he sware unto
the
Lord, and vowed a vow unto the Almighty God of Jacob" (ver. 2). Therefore
remember
for this, that he may fulfil what he has promised. David himself vowed
as
though he had it in his power, and he prays God to fulfil his vow: there is
devotion
in the vow, but there is humility in the prayer. Let no one presume to
think
he fulfilled by his own strength what he has vowed. He who exhorts you to
vow,
Himself aids you to fulfil. Let us therefore see what he vowed, and hence we
comprehend
how David should be understood in a figure. "David" is interpreted,
"Strong
of hand," for he was a great warrior. Trusting indeed in the Lord his God,
he
despatched all wars, he laid low all his enemies, God helping him, according to
the
dispensation of that kingdom; prefiguring nevertheless some One strong of
hand
to destroy His enemies, the devil and his angels. These enemies the Church
wars
against, and conquers.... What then does he mean, "How he sware,"
etc.? Let
us
see what vow is this. We can offer God nothing more pleasing than to swear.
Now
to swear is to promise firmly. Consider this vow, that is, with what ardour he
vowed
what he vowed, with what love, with what longing; nevertheless, he prays
the
Lord to fulfil it in these words, "O Lord, remember David, and all his
meekness."
In this temper he vowed his vow, and there should be a house of God:
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Psalm 132
1068
"I
will not come within the tabernacle of mine house, nor climb up into my
bed"
(ver.
3). "I will not suffer my eyes to sleep, nor my eyelids to slumber"
(ver. 4).
This
seems not enough; he adds, "Neither the temples of my head to take any
rest,
until
I find out a place for the Lord; an habitation for the God of Jacob" (ver.
5).
Where
did he seek a place for the Lord? If he was meek, he sought it in himself.
For
how is one a place for the Lord? Hear the Prophet: "Upon whom shall My
Spirit
rest? Even upon him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at My
words."
Isaiah 66:2 Do you wish to be a place for the Lord? Be thou poor in spirit,
and
contrite, and trembling at the word of God, and you will yourself be made
what
you seek. For if what you seek be not realized in yourself, what does it profit
you
in another....
3.
How many thousands believed, my brethren, when they laid down the price of
their
possessions at the Apostles' feet! But what says Scripture of them? Surely
they
are become a temple of God; not only each respectively a temple of God, but
also
all a temple of God together. They have therefore become a place for the
Lord.
And that you may know that one place is made for the Lord in all, Scripture
says,
They were of one heart and one soul toward God. But many, so as not to
make
a place for the Lord, seek their own things, love their own things, delight in
their
own power, are greedy for their private interests. Whereas he who wishes to
make
a place for the Lord, should rejoice not in his private, but the common
good....
4.
Let us therefore, brethren, abstain from the possession of private property; or
from
the love of it, if we may not from its possession; and we make a place for the
Lord.
It is too much for me, says some one. But consider who you are, who art
about
to make a place for the Lord. If any senator wished to be entertained at your
house,
I say not senator, the deputy of some great man of this world, and should
say,
something offends me in your house; though you should love it, you would
remove
it, nevertheless, lest you should offend him, whose friendship you were
courting.
And what does man's friendship profit you? ... Desire the friendship of
Christ
without fear: He wishes to be entertained at your house; make room for
Him.
What is, make room for Him? Love not yourself, love Him. If thou love
yourself,
you shut the door against Him; if thou love Him, you open unto Him:
and
if thou open and He enter, you shall not be lost by loving yourself, but shall
find
yourself with Him who loves you....
5.
"Lo, we heard of the same at Ephrata" (ver. 6). What? A place for the
Lord.
"We
heard of it at Ephrata: and found it in the plains of the forests." Did he
hear it
where
he found it? or did he hear it in one place, find it in another? Let us
therefore
enquire what Ephrata is, where he heard it; let us also enquire what mean
the
plains of the forests, where he found it. Ephrata, a Hebrew word, is rendered
in
Latin
by Speculum, as the translators of Hebrew words in the Scriptures have
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handed
down to us, that we might understand them. They have translated from
Hebrew
into Greek, and from Greek we have versions into Latin. For there have
been
who watched in the Scriptures. If therefore Ephrata means a mirror, that
house
which was found in the woodland plains, was heard of in a mirror. A mirror
has
an image: all prophecy is an image of things future. The future house of God,
therefore,
was declared in the image of prophecy. "We have found it in the plains
of
the forests." What are the "plains of the forests"? Saltus is
not here used in its
common
sense, as a plot of ground of so many hundred acres; saltus properly
signifies
a spot as yet untilled and woody. For some copies read, in the plains of
the
wood. What then were the woodland plains, save nations yet untilled? what
were
they, save regions yet covered with the thorns of idolatry? Thus, though there
were
thorns of idolatry there, still we find a place for the Lord there, a
tabernacle
for
the God of Jacob. What was declared in the image to the Jews, was manifested
in
the faith of the Gentiles.
6.
"We will go into His tabernacles" (ver. 7). Whose? Those of the Lord
God of
Jacob.
They who enter to dwell therein, are the very same who enter that they may
be
dwelt in. Thou enterest into your house, that you may dwell therein; into the
house
of God, that you may be dwelt in. For the Lord is better, and when He has
begun
to dwell in you, He will make you happy. For if thou be not dwelt in by
Him,
you will be miserable. That son who said, "Father, give me the portion of
the
goods,"
etc., Luke 15:12-20 wished to be his own master. It was well kept in his
father's
hands, that it might not be wasted with harlots. He received it, it was given
into
his own power; going to a far country, he squandered it all with harlots. At
length
he suffered hunger, he remembered his father; he returned, that he might be
satisfied
with bread. Enter therefore, that you may be dwelt in; and may be not
your
own, so to speak, but His: "We will go into His tabernacles. We will
worship
on
the spot where His feet stood." Whose feet? The Lord's, or those of the
house
of
the Lord itself? For that is the Lord's house, wherein he says He ought to be
worshipped.
Beside His house, the Lord hears not unto eternal life; for he belongs
to
God's house, who has in charity been built in with living stones. But he who
has
not
charity, falls; and while he falls, the house stands....
7.
But if you incline to understand it of the house itself, where the feet of that
house
have stood; let your feet stand in Christ. They will then stand, if you shall
persevere
in Christ. For what is said of the devil? "He was a murderer from the
beginning,
and stood not in the truth." John 8:44 The feet of the devil therefore
stood
not. Also what says he of the proud? "O let not the foot of pride come
against
me; and let not the hand of the ungodly cast me down. There are they
fallen,
all that work wickedness: they are cast down, and were not able to stand."
That
then is the house of God, whose feet stand. Whence John rejoicing, says:
what?
"He that has the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom
stands
and hears him." If he stand not, he hears him not. Justly he stands,
because
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"he
rejoices on account of the bridegroom's voice." Now therefore ye see why
they
fell,
who rejoice because of their own voice. That friend of the Bridegroom said,
"The
same is He which baptizes." John 1:33 Some say, We baptize: rejoicing in
their
own voice, they could not stand; and belong not to that house of which it is
said,
"where His feet stood."
8.
"Arise, O Lord, into Your resting place" (ver. 8). He says unto the
Lord
sleeping,
"Arise." You know already who slept, and who rose again....
"You, and
the
ark of Your sanctification:" that is, Arise, that the ark of Your
sanctification,
which
You have sanctified, may arise also. He is our Head; His ark is His Church:
He
arose first, the Church will arise also. The body would not dare to promise
itself
resurrection, save the Head arose first. The Body of Christ, that was born of
Mary,
has been understood by some to be the ark of sanctification; so that the
words
mean, Arise with Your Body, that they who believe not may handle.
9.
"Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let Your saints sing
with
joyfulness"
(ver. 9). When Thou risest from the dead, and goest unto Your Father,
let
that royal Priesthood be clothed with faith, since "the righteous lives by
faith;"
Romans
1:17 and, receiving the pledge of the Holy Spirit, let the members rejoice
in
the hope of resurrection, which went before in the Head: for to them the
Apostle
says,
"Rejoicing in hope." Romans 12:12
10.
"For Your servant David's sake, turn not away the face of Thine
Anointed"
(ver.
10). These words are addressed unto God the Father. "For Your servant
David's
sake, turn not away the face of Thine Anointed." The Lord was crucified
in
Judća; He was crucified by the Jews; harassed by them, He slept. He arose to
judge
those among whose savage hands He slept: and He says elsewhere, "Raise
Thou
Me up again, and I shall reward them." He both has rewarded them, and will
reward
them. The Jews well know themselves how great were their sufferings
after
the Lord's death. They were all expelled from the very city, where they slew
Him.
What then? have all perished even from the root of David and from the tribe
of
Judah? No: for some of that stock believed, and in fact many thousands of men
of
that stock believed, and this after the Lord's resurrection. They raged and
crucified
Him: and afterwards began to see miracles wrought in the Name of Him
Crucified;
and they trembled still more that His Name should have so much
power,
since when in their hands He seemed unable to work any; and pricked at
heart,
at length believing that there was some hidden divinity in Him whom they
had
believed like other men, and asking counsel of the Apostles, they were
answered,
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the Name of our Lord
Jesus
Christ." Acts 2:38 Since then Christ arose to judge those by whom He had
been
crucified, and turned away His Presence from the Jews, turning His Presence
towards
the Gentiles; God is, as it seems, besought in behalf of the remnant of
Israel;
and it is said unto Him, "For Your servant David's sake, turn not away the
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presence
of Thine Anointed." If the chaff be condemned, let the wheat be gathered
together.
May the remnant be saved, as Isaiah says, "And the remnant has"
clearly
"been
saved:" Isaiah 10:21-22 for out of them were the twelve Apostles, out of
them
more than five hundred brethren, to whom the Lord showed Himself after
His
Resurrection: 1 Corinthians 15:6 out of their number were so many thousands
baptized,
Acts 2:41 who laid the price of their possessions at the Apostles' feet.
Thus
then was fulfilled the prayer here made to God: "For Your servant David's
sake,
turn not away the presence of Thine Anointed."
11.
"The Lord has made a faithful oath unto David, and He shall not
repent" (ver.
11).
What means, "has made an oath"? Hath confirmed a promise through
Himself.
What means, "He shall not repent"? He will not change. For God
suffers
not
the pain of repentance, nor is He deceived in any matter, so that He would
wish
to correct that wherein He has erred. But as when a man repents of anything,
he
wishes to change what he has done; thus where you hear that God repents, look
for
an actual change. God does it differently from you, although He calls it by the
name
of repentance; for thou dost it, because you had erred; while He does it,
because
He avenges, or frees. He changed Saul's kingdom, when He repented, as it
is
said: and in the very passage where the Scripture says, "It repented
Him;" it is
said
a little after, "for He is not a man that He should repent." When
therefore He
changes
His works through His immutable counsel, He is said to repent on account
of
this very change, not of His counsel, but of His work. But He promised this so
as
not to change it. Just as this passage also says: "The Lord sware, and
will not
repent,
You are a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedec;" so also since
this
was
promised so that it should not be changed, because it must needs happen and
be
permanent; he says, "The Lord has made a faithful oath unto David, and He
shall
not repent; Of the fruit of your body shall I set upon your seat." He
might
have
said, "of the fruit of your loins," wherefore did He choose to say,
"Of the
fruit
of your body"? Had He said that also, it would have been true; but He
chose
to
say with a further meaning, Ex fructu ventris, because Christ was born of a
woman
without the man.
12.
What then? "The Lord has made a faithful oath unto David, and He shall not
shrink
from it; Of the fruit of your body shall I set upon your seat. If your children
will
keep My covenant and My testimonies that I shall learn them, their children
also
shall sit upon your seat for evermore" (ver. 12). If your children keep My
covenant,
their children also shall sit for evermore. The parents establish a desert
on
behalf of their children. What if his children should keep the covenant, and
their
children should not keep it? Why is the happiness of the children promised in
relation
to their parents' deservings? For what says He, "If your children will
keep
My
covenant, their children also shall sit for evermore"—He says not, if your
children
keep My covenant, they shall sit upon your seat; and if their children keep
My
covenant, they also shall sit upon your seat: but he says, "If your
children keep
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Psalm
132
1072
My
covenant, their children also shall sit upon your seat for
evermore"—except
because
He here wished their fruit to be understood by their children? "If your
children,"
He says, "will keep My covenant, and if your children shall keep My
testimonies
that I shall learn them; their children also shall sit upon your seat:"
that
is,
this will be their fruit, that they sit upon your seat. For in this life,
brethren, do
all
of us who labour in Christ, all of us who tremble at His words, who in any way
endeavour
to execute His will, and groan while we pray His help that we may
fulfil
what He commands; do we already sit in those seats of bliss which are
promised
us? No: but holding His commandments, we hope this will come to pass.
This
hope is spoken of under the figure of sons; because sons are the hope of man
living
in this life, sons are his fruit. For this reason also men, when excusing their
avarice,
allege that they are reserving for their children what they hoard up; and,
unwilling
to give to the destitute, excuse themselves under the name of piety,
because
their children are their hope. For all men who live according to this world,
declare
it to be their hope, to be fathers of children they may leave behind them.
Thus
then He describes hope generally under the name of children, and says, "If
your
children will keep My covenant and My testimonies that I shall learn them,
their
children also shall sit upon your seat for evermore:" that is, they shall
have
such
fruits, that their hope shall not deceive them, that they may come there where
they
hope to come. At present therefore they are as fathers, men of hope for the
future;
but when they have attained what they hope, they are children; because
they
have brought forth and produced in their works that which they gain. And this
is
preserved unto them for the future, because futurity itself commonly signifies
children.
13.
Or if thou understand actual men to be meant by children, the words, "If
your
children
will keep My covenant and My testimonies that I shall teach them," may
mean,
"If your children will keep My covenant and testimonies that I shall teach
them,
and their children also;" that is, if they too keep My covenant; so that
here
you
must make a slight pause, and then infer that "they shall sit upon your
seat for
evermore;"
that is, both your children and their children, but all if they keep My
covenant.
What then, if they keep it not? Hath the promise of God failed? No: but
it
is said and promised for this reason, that God foresaw: what, save that they
would
believe? But that no man should as it were threaten God's promises, and
prefer
to place in his own power the fulfilment of what God promised: for this
reason
he says, "He made an oath:" whereby he shows that it will without
doubt
take
place. How then has He said here, "If they will keep My covenant"?
Glory not
in
the promises, and leave out your failing to keep the covenant. Then will you be
the
son of David, if you shall keep the covenant; but if thou dost not keep it, you
will
not be David's son. God promised to the sons of David. Say not, I am David's
son
if thou degenerate. If the Jews, who were born of this very stock, say not this
(nay,
they say it, but they are under a delusion. For the Lord says openly, "If
you
were
Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham." John 8:39 He
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Psalm 132
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thereby
denied them to be children, because they did not the works), how do we
call
ourselves David's children, who are not of his race according to the flesh? It
follows
then that we are not children, save by imitating his faith, save by
worshipping
God, as he worshipped. If therefore what you hope not through
descent,
you will not endeavour to obtain by works; how shall the sitting upon
David's
seat be fulfilled in you? And if it shall not be fulfilled in you, do you think
that
it shall not be fulfilled at all? And how has He found it in the woodland
tracts?
and
how did His feet stand? Whatsoever then you may be, that house will stand.
14.
"For the Lord has chosen Sion to be an habitation for Himself" (ver.
13). Sion
is
the Church Herself; She is also that Jerusalem unto whose peace we are running,
who
is in pilgrimage not in the Angels, but in us, who in her better part waits for
the
part that will return; whence letters have come unto us, which are every day
read.
This city is that very Sion, whom the Lord has chosen.
15.
"This shall be My rest for ever" (ver. 14). These are the words of
God. "My
rest:"
I rest there. How greatly does God love us, brethren, since, because we rest,
He
says that He also rests! For He is not sometimes Himself disturbed, nor does
He
rest as we do; but He says that He rests there, because we shall have rest in
Him.
"Here will I dwell: for I have a delight therein."
16.
"I will bless her widow with blessings, and will satisfy her poor with
bread"
(ver.
15). Every soul that is aware that it is bereft of all help, save of God alone,
is
widowed.
For how does the Apostle describe a widow? "She that is a widow
indeed
and desolate, trusts in God." 1 Timothy 5:5-6 He was speaking of those
whom
we all call Widows in the Church. He says, "She that lives in pleasure, is
dead
while she lives;" and he numbers her not among the widows. But in
describing
true widows, what says he? "She that is a widow indeed and desolate,
trusts
in God, and continues in supplications and prayers night and day." Here he
adds,
"but she that lives in pleasure, is dead while she lives." What then
makes a
widow?
That she has no aid from any other source, save from God alone. They
that
have husbands, take pride in the protection of their husbands: widows seem
desolate,
and their aid is a stronger one. The whole Church therefore is one
widow,
whether in men or in women, in married men or married women, in young
men
or in old, or in virgins: the whole Church is one widow, desolate in this
world,
if she feel this, if she is aware of her widowhood: for then is help at hand
for
her. Do ye not recognise this widow in the Gospel, my brethren, when the Lord
declared
"that men ought always to pray and not to faint"? "There was in
a city a
judge,"
He said, "which feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a
widow
in that city; and she came unto him day by day, saying, Avenge me of mine
adversary."
The widow, by daily importunity, prevailed with him: for the judge
said
within himself, "Though I fear not God; neither regard man, yet because
this
woman
troubles me, I will avenge her." Luke 18:1-8 If the wicked judge heard the
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Psalm 132
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widow,
that he might not be molested; hears not God His Church, whom He
exhorts
to pray?
17.
Also, "I will satisfy her poor with bread;" what means this,
brethren? Let us be
poor,
and we shall then be satisfied. Many who trust in the world, and are proud,
are
Christians; they worship Christ, but are not satisfied; for they have been
satisfied,
and abound in their pride. Of such it is said, "Our soul is filled with
the
scornful
reproof of the wealthy, and with the despitefulness of the proud:" these
have
abundance, and therefore eat, but are not satisfied. And what is said of them
in
the Psalm? "All such as be fat upon the earth have eaten and
worshipped." They
worship
Christ, they venerate Christ, they pray unto Christ; but they are not
satisfied
with His wisdom and righteousness. Wherefore? Because they are not
poor.
For the poor, that is the humble in heart, the more they hunger, the more they
eat;
and the more empty they are of the world, the more hungry they are. He who
is
full refuses whatsoever you will give him, because he is full. Give me one who
hungers;
give me one of whom it is said, "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst
after
righteousness, for they shall be filled:" Matthew 5:6 and these will be
the
poor
of whom he has just said, "And will satisfy her poor with bread." For
in the
very
Psalm where it is said, "All such as be fat upon the earth have eaten and
worshipped;"
this is said of the poor also, and exactly in the same manner as in
this
Psalm, "The poor shall eat, and be satisfied: they that seek after the
Lord shall
praise
Him." Where it is said, "All such as be fat upon earth have eaten and
worshipped:"
it is said, "the poor shall eat, and be satisfied." Why, when the
rich
are
said to have worshipped, are they not said to be satisfied; yet when the poor
are
mentioned, they are said to be satisfied? And whence are they satisfied? What
is
the nature, brethren, of this satisfying? God Himself is their bread. The bread
came
down upon the earth, that He might become milk unto us; and said to His
own,
"I am the Living Bread which came down from heaven." John 6:51 Hence
these
words in the Psalm, "The poor shall eat, and be satisfied." From what
source
shall
they be satisfied? Hear what follows: "And they that seek after the Lord
shall
praise
Him."
18.
Be therefore poor, be ye among the members of that widow, let your help be
solely
in God alone. Money is nought; not thence will you have aid. Many have
been
cast headlong down for money's sake, many have perished on account of
money;
many for the sake of their riches have been marked out by plunderers; they
would
have been safe, had they not had what made men hunt for them. Many have
presumed
in their more powerful friends: they in whom they presumed have
fallen,
and have involved in their ruin those who trusted in them. Look back upon
the
instances to be seen in the human race. Is it anything singular that I am
telling
you?
We speak these things not only from these Scriptures; read them in the whole
world.
Take heed that you presume not in money, in a friend, in the honour and
the
boasting of the world. Take away all these things: but if you have them, thank
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Psalm 132
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God
if you despise them. But if you are puffed up by them; think not when you
will
be the prey of men; already are you the Devil's prey. But if you have not
trusted
in these things, you will be among the members of that widow, who is the
Church,
of whom it is said, "I will bless her widow with blessings;" you will
also
be
poor, and one of those of whom it is said, "And will satisfy her poor with
bread."
19.
Sometimes, however, and we must not pass over this without mention, you
find
a poor man proud, and a rich man humble: we daily endure such persons. You
hear
a poor man groaning beneath a rich man, and when the more powerful rich
man
presses upon him, then you see him humble: sometimes not even then, but
even
then proud; whence you see what he would have been, had he any property.
God's
poor one is therefore poor in spirit, not in his purse. Sometimes a man goes
forth
having a full house, rich lands, many estates, much gold and silver; he knows
that
he must not trust in these, he humbles himself before God, he does good with
them;
thus his heart is raised unto God, so that he is aware that not only do riches
themselves
profit him nothing, but that they even impede his feet, save He rule
them,
and aid them: and he is counted among the poor who are satisfied with
bread.
Thou findest another a proud beggar, or not proud only because he has
nothing,
nevertheless seeking whereby he may be puffed up. God does not heed
the
means a man has, but the wish he has, and judges him according to his wish
for
temporal blessings, not according to the means which it is not his lot to have.
Whence
the Apostle says of the rich, "Charge them that are rich in this world,
that
they
be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who
gives
us richly all things to enjoy." What therefore should they do with their
riches?
He goes on to say: "That they be rich in good works, ready to distribute,
willing
to communicate." And see that they are poor in this world: "Laying up
in
store
for themselves," he adds, "a good foundation against the time to
come, that
they
may lay hold on eternal life." 1 Timothy 6:17-19 When they have laid hold
of
eternal
life, then will they be rich; but since they have it not as yet, they should
know
that they are poor. Thus it is that God counts among His poor all the humble
in
heart, who are established in that twofold charity, Matthew 22:37-39 whatever
they
may have in this world—among His poor, whom He satisfies with bread.
20.
"I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints shall rejoice
and sing"
(ver.
16). We are now at the end of the Psalm; attend for a short space, Beloved.
"I
will
clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints shall rejoice and sing."
Who is
our
salvation, save our Christ? What means, therefore, "I will clothe her
priests
with
salvation"? "As many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have
put on
Christ."
Galatians 3:27 "And her saints shall rejoice and sing." Whence shall
they
rejoice
and sing? Because they have been clothed with salvation: not in
themselves.
For they have become light, but in the Lord; for they were darkness
before.
Ephesians 5:8 Therefore he has added, "There will I raise up the horn of
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Psalm 132
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David"
(ver. 17): this will be David's height, that trust be put in Christ. For horn
signifies
height: and what sort of height? Not carnal. Therefore, while all the
bones
are wrapped up in flesh, the horn goes beyond the flesh. Spiritual altitude is
a
horn. But what is spiritual loftiness, save to trust in Christ? not to say, It
is my
work,
I baptize; but, "He it is who baptizes." John 1:33 There is the horn
of David:
and
that you may know that there is the horn of David, heed what follows: "I
have
ordained
a lantern for mine Anointed." What is a lantern? You already know the
Lord's
words concerning John: "He was a burning and a shining light." John
5:35
And
what says John? "He it is who baptizes." Herein therefore shall the
saints
rejoice,
herein the priests shall rejoice: because all that is good in themselves, is
not
of themselves, but of Him who has the power of baptizing. Fearlessly therefore
does
every one who has received baptism come unto His temple; because it is not
man's,
but His who made the horn of David to flourish.
21.
"Upon Him shall My sanctification flourish" (ver. 18). Upon whom?
Upon
Mine
Anointed. For when He says, "Mine anointed," it is the voice of the
Father,
who
says, "I will bless her widow with blessings, and will satisfy her poor
with
bread.
I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints shall rejoice and
sing."
He
who says, "There will I raise up the horn of David," is God. He
Himself says,
"I
have ordained a lantern for Mine Anointed," because Christ is both ours
and the
Father's:
He is our Christ, when He saves us and rules us, as He is also our Lord:
He
is the Son of the Father, but both our Christ and the Father's. For if He were
not
the
Father's Christ, it would not be said above, "For Your servant David's
sake,
turn
not Thou away the presence of Thine Anointed." "Upon Him shall My
sanctification
flourish." It flourishes upon Christ. Let none of men assume this to
himself,
that he himself sanctifies: otherwise it will not be true, "Upon Him shall
My
sanctification flourish." The glory of sanctification shall flourish. The
sanctification
of Christ therefore in Christ Himself, is the power of the
sanctification
of God in Christ. In that he says, "shall flourish," he refers to His
glory:
for when trees flourish, then are they beautiful. Sanctification therefore is
in
Baptism:
thence it flourishes, and is brightened. Why has the world yielded to this
beauty?
Because it flourishes in Christ; for, put it in man's power, and how does it
then
flourish? since "all flesh in grass, and all the goodliness thereof as the
flower
of
the grass."
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Exposition
on Psalm 133
1.
This is a short Psalm, but one well known and quoted. "Behold, how good
and
how
pleasant is it, that brethren should dwell together in unity" (ver. 1). So
sweet
is
that sound, that even they who know not the Psalter, sing that verse. ...
2.
For these same words of the Psalter, this sweet sound, that honeyed melody, as
well
of the mind as of the hymn, did even beget the Monasteries. By this sound
were
stirred up the brethren who longed to dwell together. This verse was their
trumpet.
It sounded through the whole earth, and they who had been divided, were
gathered
together. The summons of God, the summons of the Holy Spirit, the
summons
of the Prophets, were not heard in Judah, yet were heard through the
whole
world. They were deaf to that sound, amid whom it was sung; they were
found
with their ears open, of whom it was said, "They shall see him, who were
not
told of him; they shall understand who heard not." Isaiah 65:1 Yet, most
beloved,
if we reflect, the very blessing has sprung from that wall of circumcision.
For
have all the Jews perished? and whence were the Apostles, the sons of the
Prophets,
the sons of the exiles? He speaks as to them who know. Whence those
five
hundred, who saw the Lord after His resurrection, whom the Apostle Paul
commemorates?
1 Corinthians 15:6 Whence those hundred and twenty, Acts 1:15
who
were together in one place after the resurrection of the Lord, and His
ascension
into heaven, on whom when gathered into one place the Holy Spirit
descended
on the day of Pentecost, sent down from heaven, sent, even as He was
promised?
Acts 2:1-4 All were from thence, and they first dwelt together in unity;
who
sold all they had, and laid the price of their goods at the Apostles' feet, as
is
read
in the Acts of the Apostles. Acts 4:34-35 And distribution was made to each
one
as he had need, Acts 2:45 and none called anything his own, but they had all
things
common. And what is "together in unity"? They had, he says, one mind
and
one
heart God-wards. Acts 4:32 So they were the first who heard, Behold how
good
and how pleasant is it, that brethren dwell together. They were the first to
hear,
but heard it not alone....
3.
From the words of this Psalm was taken the name of Monks, that no one may
reproach
you who are Catholics by reason of the name. When you with justice
reproach
heretics by reason of the Circelliones, that they may be saved by shame,
they
reproach you on the score of the Monks....
4.
Moreover, beloved, there are they who are false Monks, and we know men of
this
kind; but the pious brotherhood is not annulled, because of them who profess
to
be what they are not. There are false Monks, as there are false men among the
Clergy,
and among the faithful....
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Psalm 133
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5.
Since the Psalm says, "Behold, how good and how pleasant is it, that
brethren
should
dwell together in one," why then should we not call Monks so? for Monos
is
one. Not one in any manner, for a man in a crowd is one, but though he can be
called
one along with others, he cannot be Monos, that is, alone, for Monos means
"one
alone." They then who thus live together as to make one man, so that they
really
possess what is written, "one mind and one heart," Acts 4:32 many bodies,
but
not many minds; many bodies, but not many hearts; can rightly be called
Monos,
that is, one alone....
6.
Let the Psalm tell us what they are like. "As the ointment on the head,
which
descended
to the beard, to Aaron's beard, which descended to the fringe of his
garment"
(ver. 2). What was Aaron? A priest. Who is a priest, except that one
Priest,
who entered into the Holy of Holies? Who is that priest, save Him, who
was
at once Victim and Priest? save Him who when he found nothing clean in the
world
to offer, offered Himself? The ointment is on his head, because Christ is one
whole
with the Church, but the ointment comes from the head. Our Head is Christ
crucified
and buried; He rose again, and ascended into heaven; and the Holy Spirit
came
from the head. Whither? To the beard. The beard signifies the courageous;
the
beard distinguishes the grown men, the earnest, the active, the vigorous. So
that
when we describe such, we say, he is a bearded man. Thus that ointment
descended
first upon the Apostles, descended upon those who bore the first
assaults
of the world, and therefore the Holy Spirit descended on them. For they
who
first began to dwell together in unity, suffered persecution, but because the
ointment
descended to the beard, they suffered, but were not conquered....
7.
"As the dew of Hermon, which fell upon the hills of Sion" (ver. 3).
He would
have
it understood, my brethren, that it is of God's grace that brethren dwell
together
in unity....
8.
But ye should know what Hermon is. It is a mountain far distant from
Jerusalem,
that is, from Sion. And so it is strange that he says thus: As the dew of
Hermon,
which fell upon the mountains of Sion, since mount Hermon is far distant
from
Jerusalem, for it is said to be over Jordan. Let us then seek out some
interpretation
of Hermon. The word is Hebrew, and we learn its meaning from
them
who know that language. Hermon is said to mean, a light set on a high place.
For
from Christ comes the dew. No light is set on a high place, save Christ. How is
He
set on high? First on the cross, afterwards in heaven. Set on high on the cross
when
He was humbled; humbled, but His humiliation could not but be high. The
ministry
of man grew less and less, as was signified in John; the ministry of God
in
our Lord Jesus Christ increased, as was shown at their birth. The former was
born,
as the tradition of the Church shows, on the 24th of June, when the days
begin
to shorten. The Lord was born on the 25th of December, when the days
begin
to lengthen. Here John himself confessing, "He must increase, but I must
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Psalm 133
1079
decrease."
John 3:30 And the passion of each shows this. The Lord was exalted on
the
cross; John was diminished by beheading. Thus the light set on high is Christ,
whence
is the dew of Hermon .... But if he have the dew of Hermon, which fell on
the
hill of Sion, he is quiet, peaceable, humble, submissive, pouring forth prayer
in
place
of murmuring. For murmurers are admirably described in a certain passage
of
the Scriptures, "The heart of a fool is as the wheel of a cart."
Sirach 33:5 What
is
the meaning of "the heart of a fool is as the wheel of a cart"? It
carries hay, and
creaks.
The wheel of a cart cannot cease from creaking. Thus there are many
brethren,
who do not dwell together, save in the body. But who are they who dwell
together?
They of whom it is said, "And they had one mind and one heart towards
God."
Acts 4:32
9.
"Because there the Lord commanded blessing." Where did He command it?
Among
the brethren who dwell together. There He enjoined blessing, there they
who
dwell with one heart bless God. For you bless not God in division of
heart
.... Are you straitened on earth? Depart, have your habitation in heaven. How
shall
I, a man clothed in flesh, enslaved to the flesh, you will say, have my
habitation
in heaven. First go in heart, whither you would follow in the body. Do
not
hear, "Lift up your hearts," with a deaf ear. Keep your heart lifted
up, and no
one
will straiten you in heaven.
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1080
Exposition
on Psalm 134
1.
"Behold, now, bless ye the Lord, all you servants of the Lord" (ver.
1), "who
stand
in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God" (ver. 2).
Why
has
he added, "in the courts"? Courts mean the wider spaces of a house.
He who
stands
in the courts is not straitened, is not confined, in some fashion is enlarged.
Remain
in this enlargement, and you can love your enemy, because you love not
things
in which an enemy could straiten you. How can you be understood to stand
in
the courts? Stand in charity, and you stand in the courts. Breadth lies in
charity,
straitness
in hatred.
2.
"Lift up your hands by night in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord"
(ver. 2). It is
easy
to bless by day. What is "by day"? In prosperity. For night is a sad
thing, day
a
cheerful. When it is well with you, thou dost bless the Lord. Your son was
sick,
and
he is made whole, thou dost bless the Lord. Your son was sick, perchance you
have
sought an astrologer, a soothsayer, perchance a curse against the Lord has
come,
not from your tongue, but from your deeds, from your deeds and your life.
Boast
not, because you bless with your tongue, if you curse with your life.
Wherefore
bless ye the Lord. When? By night. When did Job bless? When it was a
sad
night. All was taken away which he possessed; the children for whom his
goods
were stored were taken away. How sad was his night! Let us however see
whether
he blesses not in the night. "The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; it
is
as
the Lord willed; blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21 And black was
the
night....
3.
"The Lord out of Zion bless you, who made heaven and earth" (ver. 3).
He
exhorts
many to bless, and Himself blesses one, because He makes one out of
many,
since "it is good and pleasant for brethren to dwell together in one."
It is a
plural
number, brethren, and yet singular, to dwell together in one. Let none of you
say,
It comes not to me. Do you know of whom he speaks, "the Lord bless you out
of
Zion." He blessed one. Be one, and the blessing comes to you.
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Exposition
on Psalm 135
1.
Very pleasant ought it be to us, and we should rejoice because it is pleasant,
to
which
this Psalm exhorts us. For it says, "Praise the name of the Lord"
(ver. 1).
And
it forthwith appends the reason, why it is just to praise the name of the Lord.
"Praise
the Lord, you servants." What more just? what more worthy? what more
thankful?
... For if He teaches His own servants who have deserved well of Him,
the
preachers of His Word, the rulers of His Church, the worshippers of His name,
the
obeyers of His command, that in their own conscience they should possess the
sweetness
of their life, lest they be corrupted by the praise or disheartened by the
reproach
of men; how much the more is He above all, the unchangeable One, who
teaches
these things, neither the greater if you praise, or the less if you reproach.
For
you will do nothing out of place, by praising your Lord, as servants. And if
you
were to be for ever only servants, you ought to praise the Lord; how much
more
ought ye servants to praise the Lord, that you may hereafter gain the
privilege
of sons?
2.
...Therefore, "You who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of
the
house
of our God, praise the Lord" (ver. 2). Be thankful; ye were without, and
you
stand
within. Since then ye stand, is it a small thing for you to think where He
should
be praised, who raised you when you were cast down, and caused you to
stand
in His house, to know Him, and to praise Him? Is it a small boon, that we
stand
in the house of the Lord? ... If one thinks of this, and is not unthankful, he
will
utterly despise himself in comparison with the love of his Lord, who has done
so
great things for him. And since he has nothing wherewith to repay God for so
great
benefits, what remains for him but to give Him thanks, not to repay Him? It
belongs
to the very act of thanksgiving, to "receive the cup of the Lord, and to
call
upon
His name." For what can the servant repay the Lord for all that He has
given
him?
3.
What reason shall I give why you should praise Him? "Because the Lord is
good"
(ver. 3). Briefly in one word is here explained the praise of the Lord our
God.
"The Lord is good;" good, not in the same manner as the things which
He
here
made are good. For God made all things very good; Genesis 1:31 not only
good,
but also very good. He made the sky and earth, and all things which are in
them
good, and He made them very good. If He made all these things good, of
what
sort is He who made them?...
4.
How far can we speak of His goodness? Who can conceive in his heart, or
apprehend
how good the Lord is? Let us however return to ourselves, and in us
recognise
Him, and praise the Maker in His works, because we are not fit to
contemplate
Him Himself. And in hope that we may be able to contemplate Him,
when
our heart has been purified by faith, that hereafter it may rejoice in the
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Psalm 135
1082
Truth;
now as He cannot be seen by us, let us look at His works, that we may not
live
without praising Him. So I have said, "Praise the Lord, for He is good;
sing
praises
unto His Name, for He is sweet".... He is Mediator, and thereupon is
sweet.
What
is sweeter than angels' food? How can God not be sweet, since man ate
angels'
food? For men and angels live not on different meat. That is truth, that is
wisdom,
that is the goodness of God, but you can not enjoy it in like wise with the
angels
.... That man might eat angels' food, the Creator of the angels was made
man.
If you taste, sing praises; if you have tasted how sweet the Lord is, sing
praises;
if that which you have tasted has a good savour, praise it; who is so
unthankful
to cook or purveyor, as not to return thanks by praising what he tastes,
if
he be pleased by any food. If we are not silent on such occasions, shall we be
silent
concerning Him, who has given us all things?...
5.
"For the Lord has chosen Jacob to Himself, Israel for His own
possession" (ver.
4)
.... Let not Jacob therefore extol himself, let him not boast himself, or
ascribe it
to
his own merits. He was known before, predestinated before, elected before, not
elected
for his own merits, but found out, and gifted with life by the grace of God.
So
with all the Gentiles; for how did the wild-olive deserve, that it should be
grafted
in, from the bitterness of its berries, the barrenness of its wildness? It was
the
wood of the wilderness, not of the Lord's field, and yet He of His mercy
grafted
the wild-olive into the (true) olive. But up to this time the wild-olive was
not
grafted in.
6.
..."Because," says he, "I know that the Lord is great, and our
God is above all
gods"
(ver. 5). If we should say to him, we ask you, explain to us His greatness;
would
he not perchance answer us, He whom I see is not so very great, if He be
able
to be expounded by me. Let him then return to His works, and tell us. Let him
hold
in his conscience the greatness of God, which he has seen, which he has
committed
to our faith, whither he could not lead our eyes, and enumerate some of
the
things which the Lord has done here; that unto us, who cannot see His
greatness
as he can, He may become sweet through the works of His which we can
comprehend....
7.
"All whatsoever the Lord willed, He made in the heaven, and in the earth,
in the
sea,
and in all its deep places" (ver. 6). Who can comprehend these things? Who
can
enumerate the works of the Lord in the heaven and earth, in the sea, and in all
deep
places? Yet if we cannot comprehend them all, we should believe and hold
them
without question, because whatever creature is in heaven, whatever is in
earth,
whatever is in the sea and in all deep places, has been made by the Lord....
8.
"Raising the clouds from the ends of the earth" (ver. 7). We see
these works of
God
in His creation. For the clouds come from the ends of the earth to the midst
thereof,
and rain; you scan not whence they arise. Hence the prophet signifies this,
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Psalm 135
1083
from
"the ends of the earth," whether it be from the bottom, or from the
circumference
of the ends of the earth, whencesoever He wills He raises the
clouds,
only from the earth. "He has made lightnings into rain." For
lightnings
without
rain would frighten you, and bestow nothing on you. "He makes
lightnings
unto rain." It lightens, and you tremble; it rains, you rejoice. "He
has
made
lightnings unto rain." He who terrified you, Himself causest that you
should
rejoice.
"Who brings the winds out of His treasures," their causes are hidden,
you
know
not whence they come. When the wind blows, you feel it; why it blows, or
from
what treasure of His wisdom it is brought forth, you know not; John 3:8 yet
you
owe to God the worship of faith, for it would not blow unless He had bidden
who
made it, unless He had brought it forth who created it.
9.
We see therefore these things in that work of His; we praise, we marvel at, we
bless
God; let us see what He has done among men for His people. "Who smote
the
first-born of Egypt" (ver. 8). But withal those divine doings are told
which you
might
love, those are not told which you might fear. Attend, and see that also
when
He is angry, He does what He wills. "From man even unto beast. He sent
signs
and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt!" (ver. 9). You know, you have
read
what the hand of the Lord did by Moses in Egypt, to crush and cast down the
proud
Egyptians, "on Pharaoh and on all his servants." Little did He in
Egypt:
what
did He after His people was led out thence? "Who smote many nations"
(ver.
10),
who possessed that land, which God willed to give His people. "And slew
mighty
kings, Sehon king of the Amorites, and Og the king of Bashan, and all the
kingdoms
of Canaan" (ver. 11). All these things which the Psalm records simply,
do
we read likewise in others of the Lord's books, and there the hand of the Lord
is
great.
When you see what has been done to the wicked, take heed lest it be done to
you
.... But when the good man sees what the wicked has suffered, let him cleanse
himself
from all iniquity, lest he fall into a like punishment, a like chastisement.
Then
you have thoroughly understood these things. What did God then? He drove
out
the wicked, "And he gave their land for an inheritance, even an
inheritance to
Israel
His servant" (ver. 12).
10.
Then follows the loud cry of His praise. "Your Name, O Lord, is for ever
and
ever"
(ver. 13), after all these things which You have done. For what do I see that
You
have done? I behold Your creation which You have made in heaven, I behold
this
lower part, where we dwell, and here I see Your gifts of clouds, and winds,
and
rain. I regard Your people; Thou leddest them from the house of bondage, and
did
signs and wonders upon their enemies. You punished those who caused them
trouble,
You drove the wicked from their land, You killed their kings, You gave
their
land to Your people: I have seen all these things, and filled with joy have
said,
"Lord, Your Name is for ever and ever."...
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Psalm 135
1084
11.
All these things then did God overthrow, in the body at that time, when our
fathers
were led out of the land of Egypt, in the spirit now. Nor does His Hand
cease
until the end. Therefore deem not that these mighty deeds of God were then
finished
and have ceased. "Your Name, O Lord," he says, "is for
ever." That is,
Your
loving-kindness ceases not, Your hand ceases not for ever from doing these
things,
which then You did afore declare in a figure. "But they are written for
our
admonition,
on whom the end of the ages is come." 1 Corinthians 10:11 One
generation
and another generation; the generation by which we are made the
faithful,
and are born again by baptism; the generation by which we shall rise
again
from the dead, and shall live with the Angels for ever. Your Memorial, O
Lord,
is above this generation, and above that; for neither does He now forget to
call
us, nor then will He forget to crown us.
12.
"The Lord has judged His people, and will be called upon among His
servants"
(ver.
14). Already has He judged the people. Save the final judgment, the people
of
the Jews is judged. What is "judged"? The just are taken away, the
unjust are
left.
But if I lie, or am thought to lie, because I have said, it is already judged,
hear
the
Lord saying, "I have come for judgment into this world, that they who see
not
may
see, and they who see may be made blind." John 9:39 The proud are made
blind,
the lowly are enlightened. Therefore, "He has judged His people."
Isaiah
spoke
the judgment. "And now, thou house of Jacob, come ye, let us walk in the
light
of the Lord." Isaiah 2:5 This is a small matter; but what follows?
"For He has
put
away His people, the house of Israel." The house of Jacob is the house of
Israel;
for he who is Jacob, the same is Israel.... Therefore God had judged His
people,
by separating the evil and the good; that is to say, "He shall be called
upon
among
His servants." By whom? By the Gentiles. For how vast are the nations
who
have come in by faith. How many farms and desert places now come in to us?
They
come thence no one can tell how numerously; they would believe. We say to
them,
What will you? They answer, To know the glory of God. Believe, my
brethren,
that we wonder and rejoice at such a claim of these rustic people. They
come
I know not whither, roused up by I know not whom. How shall I say, I know
not
by whom? I know indeed by whom, because He says, "No one comes to Me,
save
whom the Father draws." John 6:44 They come suddenly from the woods, the
desert,
the most distant and lofty mountains, to the Church; and many of them,
nay,
near all hold this language, so that we see of a truth that God teaches them
within.
The prophecy of Scripture is fulfilled, when it says, "And they shall all
be
taught
of God." Isaiah 54:13 We say to them, What do ye long for? And they
answer,
To see the glory of God. John 6:45 "For all have sinned, and come short
of
the glory of God." Romans 3:23 They believe, they are sanctified, they
will to
have
clergy ordained for them. Is it not fulfilled, "and He will be called upon
among
His servants"?
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Psalm 135
1085
13.
Lastly, after all that arrangement and dispensation, the Spirit of God turns
itself
to reproaching and ridiculing those idols, which are now ridiculed by their
very
worshippers. "The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold" (ver.
15). As God
made
all these things, who made whatever He would in heaven and earth, what
can
anything that man makes be, but an object of ridicule, not adoration? Was He
perchance
about to speak of "the idols of the Gentiles," that we might despise
them
all?
was He about to speak of the idols of the heathen, stones and wood, plaster
and
pottery? I say not these, they are mean materials. I speak of that which they
specially
love, that which they specially honour. "The idols of the Gentiles are
silver
and gold, the work of men's hands." Surely it is gold, surely it is
silver:
because
silver glitters, and gold glitters, have they therefore eyes, or do they
see?
... But as these things are senseless, why make ye men of silver and gold to be
gods?
See ye not that the gods which you make see not? "They have a mouth, and
will
not speak; they have eyes, and will not see" (ver. 16); "they have
ears, and
will
not hear; neither is there any breath in their mouth" (ver. 17);
"they have
nostrils,
and will not smell; they have hands, and will not work; they have feet,
and
will not walk." All these things could the carpenter, the silversmith, the
goldsmith
make, both eyes, and ears, and nostrils, and mouth, and hands, and feet,
but
he could give neither sight to the eyes, nor hearing to the ears, nor speech to
the
mouth, nor smell to the nostrils, nor motion to the hands, or going to the
feet.
14.
And man, you laugh doubtless at what you have made, if you know by whom
you
are made. But of them who know not, what is said? "All they who make them,
and
all they who trust in them, are like them" (ver. 18). And ye believe,
brethren,
that
there is a likeness to these idols expressed not in their flesh, but in their
inner
man.
For "they have ears, and hear not." God calls to them indeed,
"He who has
ears
to hear, let him hear." Matthew 11:15 They have eyes, and see not, for
they
have
the eyes of the body, and not the eyes of faith. Lastly, this prophecy is
fulfilled
among all the nations .... Is it not fulfilled? Is it not seen, as it is
written?
And
they who remain have eyes, and see not; have nostrils, and smell not. They
perceive
not that savour. "We are a good savour of Christ," 2 Corinthians 2:15
as
the
apostle says everywhere. What profits it, that they have nostrils, and smell
not
that
so sweet savour of Christ? Truly it is done in them, and truly it is said of
them,
"All
they who make them," etc.
15.
But daily do men believe through the miracles of Christ our Lord; daily the
eyes
of the blind, the ears of the deaf are opened, the nostrils of the senseless
are
breathed
into, the tongues of the dumb are loosed, the hands of the palsied are
strengthened,
the feet of the lame are guided; sons of Abraham are raised up of
these
stones, Matthew 3:9 to all of whom be it said, "Bless the Lord, you house
of
Israel"
(ver. 19). All are sons of Abraham; and if sons of Abraham are raised up
from
these stones, it is plain that they are rather the house of Israel who belong
to
the
house of Israel, the seed of Abraham, not by the flesh, but by faith. But even
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1086
granting
that it is said of that house, and the people of Israel is meant, from thence
did
the Apostles and thousands of the circumcised believe? "Bless the Lord,
you
house
of Aaron. Bless the Lord, you house of Levi" (ver. 20). Bless the Lord,
you
nations,
this is, the "house of Israel" generally; bless Him, you leaders,
this is, the
"house
of Aaron;" bless Him, you servants, this is, the "house of
Levi." What of
the
other nations? "You that fear the Lord, bless the Lord."
16.
Let us also with one voice say what follows: "Blessed be the Lord out of
Zion,
who
dwells in Jerusalem" (ver. 21). Out of Zion is Jerusalem too. Zion is
"watching,"
Jerusalem the "vision of peace." In what Jerusalem will He dwell
now?
In that which has fallen? Nay, but in that which is our mother, which is in
the
heavens, of which it is said, "The desolate has more children than she
which
has
a husband." For now the Lord is from Zion, because we watch when He will
come;
now as long as we live in hope, we are in Zion. When our way is ended, we
shall
dwell in that city which will never fall, because the Lord dwells in her, and
keeps
her, which is the vision of peace, the eternal Jerusalem; for the praise of
which,
my brethren, language suffices not; where we shall find no enemy, either
within
the Church or without the Church, neither in our flesh, nor in our thoughts.
For
"death shall be swallowed up in victory," 1 Corinthians 15:54 and we
shall be
free
to see God in eternal peace, being made citizens of Jerusalem, the city of God.
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Exposition
on Psalm 136
1.
"Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures for
ever"
(ver.
1). This Psalm contains the praise of God, and all its verses finish in the
same
way.
Wherefore although many things are related here in praise of God, yet His
mercy
is most commended; for without this plain commendation, he, whom the
Holy
Spirit used to utter this Psalm, would have no verse be ended. Although after
the
judgment, by which at the end of the world the quick and the dead must be
judged,
the just being sent into life eternal, the unjust into everlasting fire,
Matthew
25:46 there will not afterwards be those, whom God will have mercy on,
yet
rightly may His future mercy be understood to be for ever, which He bestows
on
His saints and faithful ones, not because they will be miserable for ever, and
therefore
will need His mercy for ever, but because that very blessedness, which
He
mercifully bestows on the miserable, that they cease to be miserable, and begin
to
be happy, will have no end, and therefore "His mercy is for ever."
For that we
shall
be just from being unjust, whole from being unsound, alive from being dead,
immortal
from being mortal, happy from being wretched, is of His mercy. But this
that
we shall be, will be for ever, and therefore "His mercy is for ever."
Wherefore,
"give
thanks to the Lord;" that is, praise the Lord by giving thanks, "for
He is
good:"
nor is it any temporal good you will gain from this confession, for, "His
mercy
endures for ever;" that is, the benefit which He bestows mercifully upon
you,
is for ever.
2.
Then follows, "Give thanks to the God of gods, for His mercy endures for
ever"
(ver.
2). "Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His mercy endures for
ever" (ver.
3).
We may well enquire, Who are these gods and lords, of whom He who is the
true
God is God and Lord? And we find written in another Psalm, that even men
are
called gods. The Lord even takes note of this testimony in the Gospel, saying,
"Is
it not written in your Law, I have said, You are gods?" John 10:34 ... It
is not
therefore
because they are all good, but because "the word of God came to
them,"
that
they were called gods. For were it because they are all good, He would not
thus
distinguish between them. He says, "He judges between the gods." Then
follows,
"How long do ye judge iniquity!" and the rest, which He says
certainly
not
to all, but to some, because He says it in distinguishing, and yet He
distinguishes
between the gods.
3.
But it is asked, If men are called gods to whom the word of the Lord came, are
the
Angels to be called gods, when the greatest reward which is promised to just
and
holy men is the being equal to Angels? In the Scriptures I know not whether it
can,
at least easily, be found, that the Angels are openly called gods; but when it
had
been said of the Lord God, "He is terrible, above all gods," he adds,
as by way
of
exposition why he says this, "for the gods of the heathen are
devils," that we
might
understand what had been expressed in the Hebrew, "the gods of the
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Psalm 136
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Gentiles
are idols," meaning rather the devils which dwell in the idols. For as
regards
images, which in Greek are called idols, a name we now use in Latin, they
have
eyes and see not, and all the other things which are said of them, because
they
are utterly without sense; wherefore they cannot be frightened, for nothing
which
has no sense can be frightened. How then can it be said of the Lord, "He
is
terrible
above all gods, because the gods of the Gentiles are idols," if the devils
which
may be terrified are not understood to be in these images. Whence also the
Apostle
says, "We know that an idol is nothing." 1 Corinthians 8:4 This
refers to
its
earthy senseless material. But that no one may think, that there is no living
and
sentient
nature, which delights in the Gentile sacrifices, he adds, "But what the
Gentiles
sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: I would not have you
partaken
with devils." 1 Corinthians 10:20 If therefore we never find in the divine
words
that the holy Angels are called gods, I think the best reason is, that men may
not
be induced by the name to pay that ministry and service of religion (which in
Greek
is called leitourgia or latria) to the holy Angels, which neither would
they
have paid by man at all, save to that God, who is the God of themselves and
men.
Hence they are much more correctly called Angels, which in Latin is Nuntii,
that
by the name of their function, not their substance, we may plainly understand
that
they would have us worship the God, whom they announce. The whole then
of
that question the Apostle has briefly expounded, when he says, "For though
there
be who are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there are gods
many
and lords many; yet we have one God the Father, from whom are all, and we
in
Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him."
1
Corinthians 8:5-6
4.
Let us therefore "give thanks to the God of gods, and the Lord of lords,
for His
mercy,"
etc. "Who alone did wonderful things" (ver. 4). As at the last part
of every
verse,
it is written, "For His mercy endures for ever," so we must
understand at the
beginning
of each, though it be not written, "Give thanks." Which indeed in the
Greek
is very plain. It would be so in Latin, if our translators had been able to
make
use of that expression. Which indeed they could have done in this verse, if
they
had said, "To Him who does wonderful things." For where we have,
"who did
wonderful
things," the Greek has poihqanti, where we must
necessarily
understand,
"give thanks." And I would they had added the pronoun, and said to
Him,
"who did," or to Him "who does," or to Him "who made
sure;" because then
one
might easily understand, "let us give thanks." For now it is so
obscurely
rendered,
that he who either knows not or cares not to examine a Greek
manuscript
may think, "who made the heavens, who made sure the earth, who
made
the luminaries, for His mercy endures for ever," has been so said, because
He
did these things for this reason, "because His mercy endures for
ever:" whereas
they,
whom He has freed from misery, belong to His Mercy: but not that we
should
believe that He makes sky, earth, and luminaries, of His Mercy; since they
are
marks of His Goodness, who created all things very good. Genesis 1:31 For He
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Psalm 136
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created
all things, that they might have their being; Wisdom 1:14 but it is the work
of
His Mercy, to cleanse us from our sins, and deliver us from everlasting misery.
And
so the Psalm thus addresses us, "Give thanks unto the God of gods, give
thanks
unto the Lord of lords." Give thanks to Him, "who alone does great
wonders;"
give thanks to Him, "who by His wisdom made the heavens;" give
thanks
to Him, "who stretched out the earth above the waters;" give thanks
to Him,
"who
alone made great lights." But why we are to praise, he sets down at the
end
of
all the verses, "for His mercy endures for ever."
5.
But what means, "who alone does great wonders"? Is it because many
wonderful
things He has done by means of angels and men? Some wonderful
things
there are which God does alone, and these he enumerates, saying, "who by
His
wisdom made the heavens" (ver. 5), "who stretched out the earth above
the
waters"
(ver. 6), "who alone made great lights" (ver. 7). For this reason did
he add
"alone"
in this verse also, because the other wonders which he is about to tell of,
God
did by means of man. For having said, "who alone made great lights,"
he goes
on
to explain what these are, "the sun to rule the day" (ver. 8),
"the moon and stars
to
govern the night" (ver. 9); then he begins to tell the wonders which He
did by
means
of angels and men: "who smote Egypt with their first-born" (ver. 10),
and
the
rest. The whole creation then God manifestly made, not by means of any
creature,
but "alone;" and of this creation he has mentioned certain more
eminent
parts,
that they might make us think on the whole; the heavens we can understand,
and
the earth we see. And as there are visible heavens too, by mentioning the
lights
in them, he has bid us look on the whole body of the heavens as made by
Him.
6.
However, whether by what he says, "who made the heavens in
understanding,"
or,
as others have rendered it, "in intelligence," he meant to signify,
the heavens
we
can understand, or that He in His understanding or intelligence, that is, in
His
wisdom
made the heavens (as it is elsewhere written, "in wisdom have You made
them
all"), implying thereby the only-begotten Word, may be a question. But if
it
be
so, that we are to understand that "God by His wisdom made the
heavens," why
says
He this only of the heavens, whereas God made all things by the same
wisdom?
It is that it needed only to be expressed there, so that in the rest it might
be
understood without being written. How then could it be "alone," if
"in
understanding"
or "in intelligence" means "by His wisdom," that is, by the
only-
begotten
Word? Is it that, inasmuch as the Trinity is not three Gods, but one God,
he
states that God made these things alone, because He made not creation by
means
of any creature?
7.
But what is, "who laid out the earth above the waters"? For it is a
difficult
question,
because the earth seems to be the heavier, so that it should be believed
not
so much to be borne on the waters, as to bear the waters. And that we may not
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seem
contentiously to maintain our Scriptures against those who think that they
have
discovered these matters on sure principles, we have a second interpretation
to
give, that the earth which is inhabited by men, and contains the living
creatures
of
the earth, is "laid out above the waters" because it stands out above
the waters
which
surround it. For when we speak of a city on the sea being built "above the
waters,"
it is not meant that the sea is under it in the same way as the waters are
under
the chambers of caverns, or under ships sailing over them; but it is said to be
"above"
the sea, because it stands up above the sea below it.
8.
But if these words further signify something else which more closely concerns
us,
God "by His wisdom made the heavens," that is, His saints, spiritual
men, to
whom
He has given not only to believe, but also to understand things divine; those
who
cannot yet attain to this, and only hold their faith firmly, as being beneath
the
heavens,
are figured by the name of earth. And because they abide with unshaken
belief
upon the baptism they have received, therefore it is said, "He laid out
the
earth
above the waters." Further, since it is written of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that
"in
Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," Colossians 2:3 and
that
these two, wisdom and knowledge, differ somewhat from one another is
testified
by other utterances of Scripture, especially in the words of holy Job,
where
both are in a manner defined; not unsuitably then do we understand wisdom
to
consist in the knowledge and love of That which ever is and abides
unchangeable,
which is God. For where he says, "piety is wisdom," in Greek is
qeosebeia, and to express the whole of this in
Latin, we may call it worship of
God.
But to depart from evil, which he calls knowledge, what else is it but to walk
cautiously
and heedfully "in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,"
Philippians
2:15 in the night, as it were, of this world, that each one by keeping
himself
from iniquity may avoid being confounded with the darkness,
distinguished
by the light of his proper gift....
9.
"Who brought out Israel from the midst of them" (ver. 11). He brought
out also
His
saints and faithful ones from the midst of the wicked. "With a mighty Hand
and
stretched-out Arm" (ver. 12). What more powerful, what more out-stretched,
than
that of which is said "To whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed?"
Isaiah 53:1
"Who
divided the Red Sea in two parts" (ver. 13). He divided also in such wise,
that
the same baptism should be to some unto life, to others unto death. "And
brought
out Israel through the midst of it" (ver. 14). So too He brings out His
renewed
people through the laver of regeneration. "And overthrew Pharaoh and
his
power in the Red Sea" (ver. 15). He quickly destroys both the sin of His
people
and
the guilt thereof by baptism. "Who led His people through the
wilderness"
(ver.
16). Us too He leads through the drought and barrenness of this world, that
we
perish not therein. "Who smote great kings" (ver. 17), "and slew
famous kings"
(ver.
18). From us too He smites and slays the deadly powers of the devil.
"Sehon
king
of the Amorites" (ver. 19), an "useless shoot," or "fiery
temptation," for so is
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136
1091
Sehon
interpreted: the king of "them who cause bitterness," for such is the
meaning
of Amorites. "And Og, the king of Basan" (ver. 20). The "heaper-
together,"
such is the meaning of Og, and, king of "confusion," which Basan
signifies.
For what else does the devil heap together but confusion? "And gave
away
their land for an heritage" (ver. 21), "even an heritage unto Israel
His
servant"
(ver. 22). For He gives them, whom once the devil owned, for an heritage
to
the seed of Abraham, that is, Christ. "Who remembered us in our low
estate"
(ver.
23), "and redeemed us from our enemies" (ver. 24) by the Blood of His
only-
begotten
Son. "Who gives food to all flesh" (ver. 25), that is, to the whole
race of
mankind,
not Israelites only, but Gentiles too; and of this Food is said, "My Flesh
is
meat indeed." "Give thanks unto the God of Heaven" (ver. 26).
"Give thanks
unto
the Lord of lords" (ver. 27). For what he here says, "the God of
Heaven," I
suppose
that he meant to express in other words what He had before said, "the
God
of gods." For what there he subjoined, he has here also repeated.
"Give thanks
unto
the Lord of lords." "But to us there is but one God," etc.,
"and one Lord Jesus
Christ,
by whom are all things, and we by Him;" 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 to whom we
confess
that "His mercy endures for ever."
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Exposition
on Psalm 137
1.
...But today we have sung, "By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept,
when
we remembered Sion" (ver. 1)....
2.
Observe "the waters of Babylon." "The waters of Babylon"
are all things which
here
are loved, and pass away. One man, for example, loves to practise husbandry,
to
grow rich thereby, to employ his mind therein, thence to gain pleasure: let him
observe
the issue, and see that what he has loved is not a foundation of Jerusalem,
but
a stream of Babylon. Another says, It is a grand thing to be a soldier: all
husbandmen
fear those who are soldiers....
3.
But then other citizens of the holy Jerusalem, understanding their captivity,
mark
how the natural wishes and the various lusts of men hurry and drag them
hither
and thither, and drive them into the sea; they see this, and they throw not
themselves
into the waters of Babylon, but "sit down and weep," either for those
who
are being carried away by them, or themselves whose deserts have placed
them
in Babylon, but sitting, that is, humbling themselves. O holy Sion, where all
stands
firm and nothing flows! Who has thrown us headlong into this? Why have
we
left your Founder and your society? Behold, placed where all things are
flowing
and gliding away, scarce one, if he can grasp the tree, shall be snatched
from
the stream and escape. Humbling ourselves then in our captivity, let us
"sit
by
the waters of Babylon," let us not dare to plunge ourselves in those
streams, nor
to
be proud and lifted up in the evil and sadness of our captivity, but let us
sit, and
so
weep. Let us sit "by" the waters, not beneath the waters, of Babylon;
such be
our
humility, that it overwhelm us not. Sit "by" the waters, not
"in" the waters, not
"under"
the waters; but yet sit, in humble fashion, talk not as you would in
Jerusalem....
4.
For many weep with the weeping of Babylon, because they rejoice also with the
joy
of Babylon. When men rejoice at gains and weep at losses, both are of
Babylon.
You ought to weep, but in the remembrance of Sion. If you weep in the
remembrance
of Sion, you ought to weep even when it is well with you in
Babylon....
5.
"On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments of
music" (ver.
2).
The citizens of Jerusalem have their "instruments of music," God's
Scriptures,
God's
commands, God's promises, meditation on the life to come; but while they
are
dwelling "in Babylon," they "hang up their instruments."
Willows are
unfruitful
trees, and here so placed, that no good whatever can be understood of
them:
elsewhere perhaps there may. Here understand barren trees, growing by the
waters
of Babylon. These trees are watered by the waters of Babylon, and bring
forth
no fruit; just as there are men greedy, covetous, barren in good works,
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Psalm 137
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citizens
of Babylon in such wise, that they are even trees of that region; they are
fed
there by these pleasures of transitory things, as though watered by "the
waters
of
Babylon." Thou seekest fruit of them, and nowhere findest it.... Therefore
by
deferring
to apply the Scriptures to them, "we hang up our instruments of music
upon
the willows." For we hold them not worthy to carry our instruments. We do
not
therefore insert our instruments into them and bind them to them, but defer to
use
them, and so hang them up. For the willows are the unfruitful trees of
Babylon,
fed by temporal pleasures, as by the "waters of Babylon."
6.
"For there they that led us captive demanded of us words of songs, and
they that
led
us away, an hymn" (ver. 3). They demanded of us words of songs and an
hymn,
who led us captive .... We are tempted by the delights of earthly things, and
we
struggle daily with the suggestions of unlawful pleasures; scarce do we breathe
freely
even in prayer: we understand that we are captives. But who led us captive?
what
men? what race? what king? If we are redeemed, we once were captives.
Who
has redeemed us? Christ. From whom has He redeemed us? From the devil.
The
devil then and his angels led us captive: and they would not lead us, unless we
consented....
7.
"Those" then "who have led us captive," the devil and his
angels, when have
they
spoken unto us: "Sing us one of the songs of Sion"? What answer we?
Babylon
bears you, Babylon contains you, Babylon nourishes you, Babylon
speaks
by your mouth, you know not to take in save what glitters for the present,
you
know not how to meditate on things of eternity, you take not in what you ask.
"How
shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" (ver. 4). Truly,
brethren, so
it
is. Begin to wish to preach the truth in such measure as you know it, and see
how
needful it is for you to endure such mockers, persecutors of the truth, full of
falsehood.
Reply to them, when they ask of you what they cannot take in, and say
in
full confidence of your holy song, "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a
strange
land!"
8.
But take heed how you dwell among them, O people of God, O body of Christ,
O
high-born band of wanderers (for your home is not here, but elsewhere), lest
when
you love them, strivest for their friendship, and fearest to displease such
men,
Babylon begin to delight you and thou forget Jerusalem. In fear then of this,
see
what the Psalmist subjoins, see what follows. "If I forget you, O
Jerusalem"
(ver.
5), amid the speeches of those who hold me captive, amid the speeches of
treacherous
men, amid the speeches of men who ask with ill intent, asking, yet
unwilling
to learn.... What then? "If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand
forget
me."
9.
"Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I remember not you" (ver. 6).
That is, let
me
be dumb, he says, if I remember not you. For what word, what sound does he
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Psalm 137
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utter,
who utters not songs of Sion? That is our tongue, the song of Jerusalem. The
song
of the love of this world is a strange tongue, a barbarous tongue, which we
have
learned in our captivity. Dumb then will he be to God, who forgets
Jerusalem.
And it is not enough to remember: for her enemies too remember her,
desiring
to overthrow her. "What is that city?" say they; "who are the
Christians?
what
sort of men are the Christians? would they were not Christians." Now the
captive
band has conquered its capturers; still they murmur, and rage, and desire to
slay
the holy city that dwells as a stranger among them. Not enough then is it to
remember:
take heed how you remember. For some things we remember in hate,
some
in love. And so, when he had said, "If I forget you, O Jerusalem,"
etc., he
added
at once, "if I prefer not Jerusalem in the height of my joy." For
there is the
height
of joy where we enjoy God, where we are safe of united brotherhood, and
the
union of citizenship. There no tempter shall assail us, no one be able so much
as
to urge us on to any allurement: there nought will delight us but good: there
all
want
will die, there perfect bliss will dawn on us.
10.
Then he turns to God in prayer against the enemies of that city.
"Remember, O
Lord,
the children of Edom" (ver. 7). Edom is the same who is also called Esau:
for
you heard just now the words of the Apostle read, "Jacob have I loved, but
Esau
have I hated." Romans 9:13 ... Esau then signifies all the carnal, Jacob
all the
spiritual....
All carnal persons are enemies to spiritual persons, for all such,
desiring
present things, persecute those whom they see to long for things eternal.
Against
these the Psalmist, looking back to Jerusalem, and beseeching God that he
may
be delivered from captivity, says—what? "Remember, O Lord, the children
of
Edom." Deliver us from carnal men, from those who imitate Esau, who are
elder
brethren, yet enemies. They were first-born, but the last-born have won the
pre-eminence,
for the lust of the flesh has cast down the former, the contempt of
lust
has lifted up the latter. The other live, and envy, and persecute. "In the
day of
Jerusalem."
The day of Jerusalem, wherein it was tried, wherein it was held
captive,
or the day of Jerusalem's happiness, wherein it is freed, wherein it reaches
its
goal, wherein it is made partaker of eternity? "Remember," says he,
"O Lord,"
forget
not those "who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation
thereof."
Remember
then, it means, that day wherein they willed to overthrow Jerusalem.
For
how great persecutions has the Church suffered! How did the children of
Edom,
that is, carnal men, servants of the devil and his angels, who worshipped
stocks
and stones, and followed the lusts of the flesh, how did they say,
"Extirpate
the
Christians, destroy the Christians, let not one remain, overthrow them even to
the
foundation!" Have not these things been said? And when they were said, the
persecutors
were rejected, the martyrs crowned....
11.
Then he turns himself to her, "O daughter of Babylon, unhappy;"
unhappy in
your
very exulting, your presumption, thine enmity; "unhappy daughter of
Babylon!"
(ver. 8). The city is called both Babylon, and daughter of Babylon: just
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as
they speak of "Jerusalem" and "the daughter of Jerusalem,"
"Sion" and "the
daughter
of Sion," "the Church" and "the daughter of the
Church." As it succeeds
the
other, it is called "daughter;" as it is preferred before the other,
it is called
"mother."
There was a former Babylon; did the people remain in it? Because it
succeeds
to Babylon, it is called daughter of Babylon. O daughter of Babylon,
"unhappy"
thou!...
12.
"Happy shall he be that repays you, as you have served us." What
repayment
means
he? Herewith the Psalm closes, "Happy, that takes and dashes your little
ones
against the rock" (ver. 9). Her he calls unhappy, but him happy who pays
her
as
she has served us. Do we ask, what reward? This is the repayment. For what has
that
Babylon done to us? We have already sung in another Psalm, "The words of
the
wicked have prevailed against us." For when we were born, the confusion of
this
world found us, and choked us while yet infants with the empty notions of
various
errors. The infant that is born destined to be a citizen of Jerusalem, and in
God's
predestination already a citizen, but meanwhile a prisoner for a time, when
learns
he to love ought, save what his parents have whispered into his ears? They
teach
him and train him in avarice, robbery, daily lying, the worship of various
idols
and devils, the unlawful remedies of enchantments and amulets. What shall
one
yet an infant do, a tender soul, observing what its elders do, save follow that
which
it sees them doing. Babylon then has persecuted us when little, but God has
given
us when grown up knowledge of ourselves, that we should not follow the
errors
of our parents .... How shall they repay her? As she has served us. Let her
little
ones be choked in turn: yea let her little ones in turn be dashed, and die.
What
are
the little ones of Babylon? Evil desires at their birth. For there are, who
have to
fight
with inveterate lusts. When lust is born, before evil habit gives it strength
against
you, when lust is little, by no means let it gain the strength of evil habit;
when
it is little, dash it. But you fear, lest though dashed it die not; "Dash
it
against
the Rock; and that Rock is Christ." 1 Corinthians 10:4
13.
Brethren, let not your instruments of music rest in your work: sing one to
another
songs of Sion. Readily have ye heard; the more readily do what you have
heard,
if you wish not to be willows of Babylon fed by its streams, and bringing no
fruit.
But sigh for the everlasting Jerusalem: whither your hope goes before, let
your
life follow; there we shall be with Christ. Christ now is our Head; now He
rules
us from above; in that city He will fold us to Himself; we shall be equal to
the
Angels of God. We should not dare to imagine this of ourselves, did not the
Truth
promise it. This then desire, brethren, this day and night think on.
Howsoever
the world shine happily on you, presume not, parley not willingly with
your
lusts. Is it a grown-up enemy? let it be slain upon the Rock. Is it a little
enemy?
let it be dashed against the Rock. Slay the grown-up ones on the Rock,
and
dash the little ones against the Rock. Let the Rock conquer. Be built upon the
Rock,
if you desire not to be swept away either by the stream, or the winds, or the
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rain.
If you wish to be armed against temptations in this world, let longing for the
everlasting
Jerusalem grow and be strengthened in your hearts. Your captivity will
pass
away, your happiness will come; the last enemy shall be destroyed, and we
shall
triumph with our King, without death.
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Psalm
138
1097
Exposition
on Psalm 138
1.
The title of this Psalm is brief and simple, and need not detain us; since we
know
whose resemblance David wore, and since in him we recognise ourselves
also,
for we too are members of that Body. The whole title is, "To David
himself."
Let
us see then, what is to David himself. The title of the Psalm is wont to tell
us
what
is treated of within it: but in this, since the title informs us not of this,
but
tells
us only to Whom it is chanted, the first verse tells us what is treated of in
the
whole
Psalm, "I will confess to You." This confession then let us hear. But
first I
remind
you, that the term confession in Scripture, when we speak of confession to
God,
is used in two senses, of sin, and of praise. But confession of sin all know,
confession
of praise few attend to. So well known is confession of sin, that,
wherever
in Scripture we hear the words, "I will confess to You, O Lord," or,
"we
will
confess to You," forthwith, through habitually understanding in this way,
our
hands
hurry to beating our breast: so entirely are men wont not to understand
confession
to be of anything, save of sin. But was then our Lord Jesus Christ
Himself
too a sinner, who says in the Gospel, "I confess to You, Father, Lord of
heaven
and earth"? He goes on to say what He confesses, that we might
understand
His confession to be of praise, not of sin, "I confess to You, Father,
Lord
of heaven and earth, because You have hid these things from the wise and
prudent,
and hast revealed them unto babes." He praised the Father, he praised
God,
because He despises not the humble, but the proud. And such confession are
we
now going to hear, of praise of God, of thanksgiving. "With my whole
heart."
My
whole heart I lay upon the altar of Your praise, an whole burnt-offering of
praise
I offer to You.... "I will confess to You, O Lord, with my whole heart:
for
You
have heard the words of my mouth" (ver. 1). What mouth, save my heart? For
there
have we the voice which God hears, which ear of man knows not at all. We
have
then a mouth within, there do we ask, thence do we ask, and if we have
prepared
a lodging or an house for God, there do we speak, there are we heard.
"For
He is not far from every one of us, for in Him we live, and move, and have
our
being." Acts 17:27-28 Nought makes you far off from God, save sin only.
Cast
down
the middle wall of sin, and you are with Him whom you ask.
2.
"And before the Angels will I sing unto You." Not before men will I
sing, but
before
the Angels. My song is my joy; but my joy in things below is before men,
my
joy in things above before the Angels. For the wicked knows not the joy of the
just:
"There is no joy, says my God, to the wicked." The wicked rejoices in
his
tavern,
the martyr in his chain. In what did that holy Crispina rejoice, whose
festival
is kept today? She rejoiced when she was being seized, when she was
being
carried before the judge, when she was being put into prison, when she was
being
brought forth bound, when she was being lifted up on the scaffold, when she
was
being heard, when she was being condemned: in all these things she rejoiced;
and
the wretches thought her wretched, when she was rejoicing before the Angels.
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Psalm 138 1098
3.
"I will worship toward Your holy Temple" (ver. 2). What holy Temple?
That
where
we shall dwell, where we shall worship. For we hasten that we may adore.
Our
heart is pregnant and comes to the birth, and seeks where it may bring forth.
What
is the place where God is to be worshipped?... "The Temple of God is
holy,"
says
the Apostle, "which Temple you are." 1 Corinthians 3:17 But
assuredly, as is
manifest,
God dwells in the Angels. Therefore when our joy, being in spiritual
things,
not in earthly, takes up a song to God, to sing before the Angels, that very
assembly
of Angels is the Temple of God, we worship toward God's Temple.
There
is a Church below, there is a Church above also; the Church below, in all
the
faithful; the Church above, in all the Angels. But the God of Angels came
down
to the Church below, and Angels ministered to Him on earth, Matthew 4:11
while
He ministered to us; for, "I came not," says He, "to be
ministered unto, but
to
minister." Matthew 20:28... The Lord of Angels died for man. Therefore,
"I will
worship
toward Your holy Temple;" I mean, not the temple made with hands, but
that
which You have made for Yourself.
4.
"And I will confess to Your Name in Your mercy and Your truth."...
These also
which
You have given to me, do I according to my power give to You in return:
mercy,
in aiding others; truth, in judging. By these God aids us, by these we win
God's
favour. Rightly, therefore, "All the ways of the Lord are mercy and
truth."
No
other ways are there whereby He can come to us, no other whereby we can
come
to Him. "For You have magnified Your holy Name over everything." What
sort
of thanksgiving is this, brethren? He has magnified His holy Name over
Abraham.
Of Abraham was born Isaac; over that house God was magnified; then
Jacob;
God was magnified, who said, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of
Isaac,
and the God of Jacob." Then came his twelve sons. The name of the Lord
was
magnified over Israel. Then came the Virgin Mary. Then Christ our Lord,
"dying
for our sins, rising again for our justification," Romans 4:25 filling the
faithful
with His Holy Spirit, sending forth men to proclaim throughout the
Gentiles,
"Repent ye," etc. Matthew 3:2 Behold, "He has magnified His holy
Name
above all things."
5.
"In what day soever I call upon You, do Thou quickly hear me" (ver.
3).
Wherefore,
"quickly"? Because You have said, "While yet you are speaking I
will
say,
Lo, here I am." Isaiah 58:9 Wherefore, "quickly"? Because now I
seek not
earthly
happiness, I have learned holy longings from the New Testament. I seek
not
earth, nor earthly abundance, nor temporal health, nor the overthrow of my
enemies,
nor riches, nor rank: nought of these do I seek: therefore "quickly hear
me."
Since You have taught me what to seek, grant what I seek....
6.
Let us see then what he seeks, with what right he has said, "quickly hear
me."
For
what do you seek, that you should quickly be heard? "You shall multiply
me."
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Psalm 138
1099
In
many ways may multiplication be understood .... For men are multiplied in their
soul
with cares: a man seems to be multiplied in soul, in whom vices even are
multiplied.
That is the multiplication of want, not of fulness. What then do you
desire,
thou who hast said, "quickly hear me," and hast withdrawn yourself
entirely
from the body, from every earthly thing, from every earthly desire, so as
to
say to God, "You shall multiply me in my soul"? Explain yet further
what you
desire.
You shall multiply me, says he, in my soul "with virtue."...
7.
"Let all the kings of the earth confess to You, O Lord" (ver. 4). So
shall it be,
and
so it is, and that daily; and it is shown that it was not said in vain, save
that it
was
future. But neither let them, when they confess to You, when they praise You,
desire
earthly things of You. For what shall the kings of the earth desire? Have
they
not already sovereignty? Whatever more a man desire on earth, sovereignty is
the
highest point of his desire. What more can he desire? It must needs be some
loftier
eminence. But perhaps the loftier it is, the more dangerous. And therefore
the
more exalted kings are in earthly eminence, the more ought they to humble
themselves
before God. What do they do? "Because they have heard all the words
of
Your mouth." In a certain nation were hidden the Law and the Prophets,
"all the
words
of Your mouth:" in the Jewish nation alone were "all the words of
Your
mouth,"
the nation which the Apostle praises, saying, "What advantage has the
Jew?
Much every way; chiefly because that unto them were committed the oracles
of
God." These were the words of God. Romans 3:1-2... What meant Gideon's
fleece?
It is like the nation of the Jews in the midst of the world, which had the
grace
of sacraments, not indeed openly manifested, but hidden in a cloud, or in a
veil,
like the dew in the fleece. Judges 6:37, 39 The time came when the dew was
to
be manifested in the floor; it was manifested, no longer hidden. Christ alone
is
the
sweetness of dew: Him alone you recognise not in Scripture, for whom
Scripture
was written. But yet, "they have heard all the words of your mouth."
8.
"And let them sing in the paths of the Lord, that great is the glory of
the Lord"
(ver.
5). Let all the kings of the earth sing in the paths of the Lord. In what paths?
Those
that are spoken of above, "in Your mercy and Your truth." Let not
then the
kings
of the earth be proud, let them be humble. Then let them sing in the ways of
the
Lord, if they be humble: let them love, and they shall sing. We know travellers
that
sing; they sing, and hasten to reach the end of their journey. There are evil
songs,
such as belong to the old man; to the new man belongs a new song. Let
then
the kings of the earth too walk in Your paths, let them walk and sing in Your
paths.
Sing what? that "great is the glory of the Lord," not of kings.
9.
See how he willed that kings should sing on their way, humbly bearing the
Lord,
not lifting themselves up against the Lord. For if they lift themselves up,
what
follows? "For the Lord is high, and has respect unto the lowly" (ver.
6). Do
kings
then desire that He have respect unto them? Let them be humble. What
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Psalm 138
1100
then?
if they lift themselves up to pride, can they escape His eyes? Lest perchance,
because
you have heard, "He has respect unto the lowly," thou choose to be
proud,
and
say in your soul, God has respect unto the lowly, He has not respect unto me, I
will
do what I will. O foolish one! would you say this, if you knew what you ought
to
love? Behold, even if God wills not to see you, do you not fear this very
thing,
that
He wills not to see you? ... The lofty then, it seems, He has not respect unto,
for
it is the lowly He respects. "The lofty"—what? "He considers
from afar." What
then
gains the proud? To be seen from afar, not to escape being seen. And think
not
that you must needs be safe on that account, for that He sees less clearly, who
sees
you from afar. For thou indeed seest not clearly, what you see from afar; God,
although
He see you from afar, sees you perfectly, yet is He not with you. This
you
gain, not that you are less perfectly seen, but that you are not with Him by
whom
you are seen. But what does the lowly gain? "The Lord is nigh unto them
that
are of a contrite heart." Let the proud then lift himself up as much as he
will,
certainly
God dwells on high, God is in heaven: do you wish that He come nigh to
you?
Humble yourself. For the higher will He be above you, the more you lift
yourself
up.
10.
"If I walk in the midst of tribulation, You shall revive me" (ver.
7). True it is:
whatsoever
tribulation you are in, confess, call on Him; He frees you, He revives
you
.... Love the other life, and you shall see that this life is tribulation,
whatever
prosperity
it shine with, whatever delights it abound and overflow with; since not
yet
have we that joy most safe and free from all temptation, which God reserves
for
us in the end, without doubt it is tribulation. Let us understand then what
tribulation
he means here too, brethren. Not as though he said, "If perchance there
shall
any tribulation have befallen me, You shall free me therefrom." But how
says
he?
"If I walk," etc.; that is, otherwise You will not revive me, unless
I walk in the
midst
of tribulation.
11.
"You have stretched forth Your hand over the wrath of mine enemies, and
Your
right hand has made me safe." Let mine enemies rage: what can they do?
They
can take my money, strip, proscribe, banish me; afflict me with grief and
tortures;
at last, if they be allowed, even kill me: can they do anything more? But
over
that which mine enemies can do, You have stretched forth Your hand. For
mine
enemies cannot separate me from You: but Thou avengest me the more, the
more
Thou as yet delayest.... Yet not to make me despair; for it follows, "and
Your
right
hand has made me safe."
12.
"You, Lord, shall recompense for me" (ver. 8). I recompense not: You
shall
recompense.
Let mine enemies rage their full: You shall recompense what I
cannot....
"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves," says the Apostle, "but
rather
give
place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the
Lord."
Romans 12:19 There is here another sense not to be neglected, perhaps
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1101
even
to be preferred. "Lord" Christ, "You shall repay for me."
For I, if I repay,
have
seized; You have paid what You have not seized. Lord, You shall "repay for
me."
Behold Him repaying for us. They came to Him, who exacted tribute:
Matthew
17:24-26 they used to demand as tribute a didrachma, that is, two
drachmas
for one man; they came to the Lord to pay tribute; or rather, not to Him,
but
to His disciples, and they said to them, "Doth not your Master pay
tribute?"
They
came and told Him. He says unto Peter, "lest we should offend them, go
thou
to
the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first comes up: and when
you
have
opened his mouth, you shall find a stater: that take, and give for Me and
you."
The first that rises from the sea, is the First-begotten from the dead. In His
mouth
we find two didrachmas, that is, four drachmas: in His mouth we find the
four
Gospels. By those four drachmas we are free from the claims of this world,
by
the four Evangelists we remain no longer debtors; for there the debt of all our
sins
is paid. He then has repaid for us, thanks to His mercy. He owed nothing: He
repaid
not for Himself: He repaid for us....
13.
"Lord, Your mercy is for everlasting."...Not for a time only do I
desire to be
freed.
"Your mercy is for everlasting," wherewith You have freed the
martyrs, and
so
hast quickly taken them from this life. "Despise not Thou the works of
Your
own
hands." I say not, Lord, "despise not the works of my hands:" of
my own
works
I boast not. "I sought," indeed, "the Lord with my hands in the
night season
before
Him, and have not been deceived;" but yet I praise not the works of my
own
hands; I fear lest, when You shall look into them, Thou find more sins in
them
than deserts. Behold in me Your Work, not mine: for mine if You see, Thou
condemnest;
Yours, if You see, Thou crownest. For whatever good works there be
of
mine, from You are they to me; and so they are more Thine than mine.
Ephesians
2:8-10 Therefore whether in regard that we are men, or in regard that
we
have been changed and justified from our iniquity, Lord, "despise not Thou
the
works
of Your own hands."
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Psalm 139
1102
Exposition
on Psalm 139
1.
...Our Lord Jesus Christ speaks in the Prophets, sometimes in His own Name,
sometimes
in ours, because He makes Himself one with us; as it is said, "they
twain
shall be one flesh." Wherefore also the Lord says in the Gospel, speaking
of
marriage,
"therefore they are no more twain, but one flesh." One flesh, because
of
our
mortality He took flesh; not one divinity, for He is the Creator, we the
creature.
Whatsoever then our Lord speaks in the person of the Flesh He took
upon
Him, belongs both to that Head which has already ascended into heaven, and
to
those members which still toil in their earthly wandering. Let us hear then our
Lord
Jesus Christ speaking in prophecy. For the Psalms were sung long before the
Lord
was born of Mary, yet not before He was Lord: for from everlasting He was
the
Creator of all things, but in time He was born of His creature. Let us believe
that
Godhead, and, so far as we can, understand Him to be equal to the Father. But
that
Godhead equal to the Father was made partaker of our mortal nature, not of
His
own store, but of ours; that we too might be made partakers of His Divine
Nature,
not of our store, but of His.
2.
"Lord, You have tried me, and known me" (ver. 1). Let the Lord Jesus
Christ
Himself
say this; let Him too say, "Lord," to the Father. For His Father is
not His
Lord,
save because He has deigned to be born according to the flesh. He is Father
of
the God, Lord of the Man. Wouldest thou know to whom He is Father? To the
coequal
Son. The Apostle says, "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery
to be equal with God." Philippians 2:6-7 To this "Form" God is
Father, the
"Form"
equal to Himself, the only-begotten Son, begotten of His Substance. But
forasmuch
as for our sakes, that we might be re-made, and made partakers of His
Divine
Nature, being renewed unto life eternal, He was made partaker of our
mortal
nature, what says the Apostle of Him? He says, "yet He emptied Himself,
and
took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men,
and
was found in fashion as a man." He was in the Form of God, equal to the
Father;
He took upon Him the form of a servant, so as therein to be less than the
Father....
3.
"You have known My down-sitting and Mine up-rising" (ver. 2). What here
is
"down-sitting,"
what "up-rising"? He who sits, humbles himself. The Lord then
"sat"
in His Passion, "up-rose" in His Resurrection. "You," he
says, hast known
this;
that is, You have willed, You have approved; according to Your will was it
done.
But if you choose to take the words of the Head in the person of the Body:
man
sits when he humbles himself in penitence, he rises up when his sins are
forgiven,
and he is lifted up to the hope of everlasting life. Lift not up yourselves,
unless
you have first been humbled. For many wish to rise before they have sat
down,
they wish to appear righteous, before they have confessed that they are
sinners....
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Psalm
139
1103
4.
"You have understood my thoughts from afar; You have tracked out my path
and
my limit" (ver. 3); "and all my ways You have seen beforehand"
(ver. 4).
What
is, "from afar"? While I am yet in my pilgrimage, before I reach
that, my
true
country, You have known my thoughts.... The younger son went into a far
country.
After his toil and suffering and tribulation and want, he thought on his
father,
and desired to return, and said, "I will arise, and go to my father."
"I will
arise,"
said he, for before he had sat. Here then you may recognise him saying,
"You
have known my down-sitting and up-rising." I sat, in want; I arose, in
longing
for Your Bread. "You have understood my thoughts from afar." For far
indeed
had I gone; but where is not He whom I had left? Wherefore the Lord says
in
the Gospel, that his father met him as he was coming. Truly; for "he had
understood
his thoughts from afar." "My path," he says; what, but a bad
path, the
path
he had walked to leave his father?... What is, "my path"? that by
which I have
gone.
What is, "my limit"? that whereunto I have reached. "You have
tracked out
my
path and my limit." That limit of mine, far distant as it was, was not far
from
Your
eyes. Far had I gone, and yet You were there. "And all my ways You have
seen
beforehand." He said not, "hast seen," but, "hast seen
beforehand." Before I
went
by them, before I walked in them, You saw them beforehand; and You
permitted
me in toil to go my own ways, that, if I desired not to toil, I might return
into
Your ways. "For there is no deceit in my tongue." What meant he by
this? Lo,
I
confess to You, I have walked in my own way, I am become far from You, I
have
departed from You, with whom it was well with me, and to my good it was
ill
with me without You....
5.
"Behold Thou, Lord, hast known all my last doings, and the ancient
ones" (ver.
5).
You have known my latest doings, when I fed swine; You have known my
ancient
doings, when I asked of You my portion of goods. Ancient doings were
the
beginnings to me of latest ills: ancient sin, when we fell; latest punishment,
when
we came into this toilsome and dangerous mortality. And would that this
may
be "latest" to us; it will be, if now we will to return. For there is
another
"latest"
for certain wicked ones, to whom it shall be said, "Go ye into everlasting
fire."
Matthew 25:41... "You have fashioned me, and hast laid Your hand upon
me."
"Fashioned me," where? In this mortality; now, to the toils whereunto
we all
are
born. For none is born, but God has fashioned him in his mother's womb; nor
is
there any creature, whereof God is not the Fashioner. But "You have
fashioned
me"
in this toil, "and laid Your hand upon me," Thine avenging hand,
putting
down
the proud. For thus healthfully has He cast down the proud, that He may lift
him
up humble.
6.
"Your skill has displayed itself wonderfully in me: it has waxed mighty: I
shall
not
be able to attain unto it" (ver. 6). Listen now and hear somewhat, which
is
obscure
indeed, yet brings no small pleasure in the understanding thereon. Moses,
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Psalm
139
1104
the
holy servant of God, with whom God spoke by a cloud, for, speaking after
human
fashion, He must needs speak to His servant through some work of His
hands
which He assumed, ...longed and desired to see the true appearance of God,
and
said to God, who was conversing with him, "If now I have found grace in
Your
sight, show me Yourself." Exodus 33:13 When this he desired vehemently,
and
would extort from God in that sort of friendly familiarity, if we may so speak,
wherewith
God deigned to treat him, that he might see His Glory and His Face, in
such
wise as we can speak of God's Face, He said unto him, "You can not see My
Face;
for no one has seen My Face, and lived;" Exodus 33:20 but I will place you
in
a cleft of the rock, and will pass by, and will set My hand upon you; and when
I
have
passed by, you shall see My back parts. And from these words there arises
another
enigma, that is, an obscure figure of the truth. "When I have passed
by,"
says
God, "you shall see My back parts;" as though He has on one side His
face,
on
another His back. Far be it from us to have any such thoughts of that Majesty!
For
whoso has such thoughts of God, what advantages it him that the temples are
closed?
He is building an idol in his own heart. In these words then are mighty
mysteries....
They who raged against the Lord, whom they saw, now seek counsel
how
they may be saved; and it is said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every
one
of
you in the Name of Jesus Christ, and your sins shall be forgiven you."
Acts 2:38
Behold,
they saw the back parts of Him, whose face they could not see. For His
Hand
was upon their eyes, not for ever, but while He passed by. After He had
passed
He took away His Hand from their eyes. When the hand was taken from
their
eyes, they say to the disciples, "What shall we do?" At first they
are fierce,
afterwards
loving; at first angry, afterwards fearful; at first hard, then pleasant; at
first
blind, then enlightened....
7.
Behold you find that the runaway in a far country cannot escape His eyes, from
whom
he flees. And whither can he go now, whose "limit is tracked out"?
Behold,
what
says he? "Whither shall I go from Your Spirit?" (ver. 7). Who can in
the
world
flee from that Spirit, with whom the world is filled? Wisdom 1:7 "And
whither
shall I flee from Your Face?" He seeks a place whither to flee from the
wrath
of God. What place will shelter God's runaway? Men who shelter runaways,
ask
them from whom they have fled; and when they find any one a slave of some
master
less powerful than themselves, him they shelter as it were without any fear,
saying
in their hearts, "he has not a master by whom he can be tracked out."
But
when
they are told of a powerful master, they either shelter not, or they shelter
with
great fear, because even a powerful man can be deceived. Where is God not?
Who
can deceive God? Whom does not God see? From whom does not God
demand
His runaway? Whither then shall that runaway go from the Face of God?
He
turns him hither and thither, as though seeking a spot to flee to.
8.
"If I go up," says he, "to heaven, You are there: if I go down
to Hades, You are
present"
(ver. 8). At length, miserable runaway, you have learned, that by no
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1105
means
can you make yourself far from Him, from whom you have wished to
remove
far away. Behold, He is everywhere; thou, whither will you go? He has
found
counsel, and that inspired by Him, who now deigns to recall him .... If by
sinning
I go down to the depths of wickednesses, and spurn to confess, saying,
"Who
sees me" (for "in Hades who shall confess to You?") there also
You are
present,
to punish. Whither then shall I go that I may flee from Your presence, that
is,
not find You angry? This plan he found: So will I flee, says he, from Your
Face,
so will I flee from Your Spirit; from Your avenging Spirit, Your avenging
Face
thus will I flee. How? "If I take again my wings right forward, and abide
in
the
utmost parts of the sea" (ver. 9). So can I flee from Your Face. If he
will flee to
the
utmost part of the sea from the Face of God, will not He from whom he flees
be
there? ... For what are "the utmost parts of the sea," but the end of
the world?
Thither
let us now flee in hope and longing, with the wings of twofold love; let us
have
no rest, save in "the utmost parts of the sea." For if elsewhere we
wish for
rest,
we shall be hurled headlong into the sea. Let us fly even to the ends of the
sea,
let us bear ourselves aloft on the wings of twofold love; meanwhile let us flee
to
God in hope, and in faithful hope let us meditate on that "end of the
sea."
9.
Now listen who may bring us thither. The very same One whose face in wrath
we
wish to flee from. For what follows? "Even thither shall Your hand conduct
me,
and Your right hand lead me" (ver. 10). This let us meditate on, beloved
brethren,
let this be our hope, this our consolation. Let us take again through love
the
wings we lost through lust. For lust was the lime of our wings, it clashed us
down
from the freedom of our sky, that is, the free breezes of the Spirit of God.
Thence
dashed down we lost our wings, and were, so to speak, imprisoned in the
power
of the fowler; thence "He" redeemed us with His Blood, whom we fled
from
to be caught. He makes us wings of His commandments; we raise them aloft
now
free from lime .... Needs then must we have wings, and needs must He
conduct
us, for He is our Helper. We have free-will; but even with that free-will
what
can we do, unless He help us who commands us?
10.
And considering the length of the way, what said he to himself? "And I
said,
Peradventure
the darkness shall overwhelm me" 11)-->. Lo, now I have believed
in
Christ, now am I wafted aloft on the wings of twofold love .... Regarding the
length
of the way, I said to myself, "And the night was light in my
delight." The
night
was made to me light, because in the night I despaired of being able to cross
so
great a sea, to surmount so long a journey, to reach the utmost parts by
persevering
to the end. Thanks to Him who sought me when a runaway, who
smote
my back with strokes of the scourge, who by calling me recalled me from
destruction,
who made my night light. For it is night so long as we are passing
through
this life. How was the night made light? Because Christ came down into
the
night....
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Psalm 139 1106
11.
"For darkness shall not be darkened by You" (ver. 12). Do not thou
then
darken
your darkness; God darkens it not, but enlightens it yet more; for to Him is
said
in another Psalm, "You, Lord, shall light my candle: my God shall
enlighten
my
darkness." But who are they who "darken their darkness," which
God darkens
not?
Evil men, perverse men; when they sin, verily they are darkness; when they
confess
not their sins which they have committed but go on to defend them, they
"darken
their darkness." Wherefore now if you have sinned you are in darkness,
but
by confessing your darkness you shall obtain to have your darkness lightened;
by
defending your darkness, you shall "darken your darkness." And where
will
you
escape from double darkness, who wast in difficulty in single darkness? ... Let
us
not "darken our darkness" by defending our sins, and "the night
shall be light in
our
delight."
12.
"And night shall be lightened as the day." "Night, as the
day." "Day" to us is
worldly
prosperity, night adversity in this world: but, if we learn that it is by the
desert
of our sins that we suffer adversities, and our Father's scourges are sweet to
us,
that the Judge's sentence may not be bitter to us, so shall we find the
darkness
of
this night to be, as it were, the light of this night .... But when Christ our
Lord
has
come, and has dwelt in the soul by faith, and promised other light, and
inspired
and
given patience, and warned a man not to delight in prosperity or to be crushed
by
adversity, the man, being faithful, begins to treat this world with
indifference;
not
to be lifted up when prosperity befalls him, nor crushed when adversity, but in
all
things to praise God, not only when he abounds, but also when he loses; not
only
when he is in health, but also when he is sick.... "As is His darkness, so
is
also
His light." His darkness overwhelms me not, because His light lifts me not
up.
13.
"For Thou, O Lord, hast possessed my reins" (ver. 13). The Possessor
is
within;
He occupies not only the heart, but also the reins; not only the thoughts,
but
also the delights: He then possesses that whence I should feel delight at any
light
in this world: He occupies my reins: I know not delight, save from the inward
light
of His Wisdom. What then? Do you not delight that your affairs are very
prosperous,
times fortunate to you? do you not delight in honour, in riches, in your
family?
"I do not," says he. Wherefore? Because "You have possessed my
reins, O
Lord;
You have taken me up from my mother's womb." While I was in my
mother's
womb, I did not regard with indifference the darkness of that night and
the
light of that night .... Now, having been taken up from the womb of that our
mother,
we look on them with indifference, and say, "As is His darkness, so is
also
His
light." Neither does earthly prosperity make us happy, nor earthly
adversity
wretched.
We must maintain righteousness, love faith, hope in God, love God,
love
our neighbours also. After these toils we shall have unfailing light, day
without
setting. Fleeting is all the light and darkness of this night.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 139 1107
14.
"I will confess to You, O Lord, for terribly have You been made wonderful:
wondrous
are Your works, and my soul knows it right well" (ver. 14). Aforetime
"Your
knowledge was made wonderful from me, it had waxed great, nor could I
attain
unto it." From me then "it had waxed great." Whence does
"my soul" now
"know
right well," save because the "night is light in my delight?"
save because
Your
grace has come unto me, and enlightened my darkness? save because You
have
possessed my reins? save because You have taken me up from my mother's
womb?
15.
"My bone is not hid from You, which You have made in secret" (ver.
15). "His
bone,"
he says. What the people call ossum, is in Latin called os. This is the word
in
the Greek. For we might think the word os is here the one which makes in the
plural
ora, not os (short), which makes ossa. He says then, I have a certain bone
(ossum)
in secret. For this word let us prefer to use; better is it that scholars find
fault
with us, than that the people understand us not. "There is then,"
says he, "a
certain
bone of mine, within, hidden; You have made within a bone for me in
secret,
yet is it not hidden from You. In secret have You made it, but have You
therefore
hidden it from Yourself? This my bone made by You in secret men see
not,
men know not: You know, who hast made. What "bone" then means he,
brethren?
Let us seek it, it is "in secret." But because as Christians we are
speaking
in
the Name of the Lord to Christians, now we find what bone is of this kind. It
is
a
sort of inward strength; for strength and fortitude are understood to be in the
bones.
There is then a sort of inward strength of the soul, wherein it is not broken.
Whatever
tortures, whatever tribulations, whatever adversities rage around, that
which
God has made strong in secret in us, cannot be broken, yields not. For by
God
is made a certain strength of patience, of which is said in another Psalm,
"But
my
soul shall be subjected to God, for of Him is my patience."...Wherein do
you
glory?
"In tribulations, knowing that tribulation works patience." Romans
4:5 See
how
that strength is fashioned within in his heart: "because the love of God
is shed
abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." So is fashioned
and
made strong that hidden bone, that it makes us even to glory in tribulations.
But
to men we seem wretched, because that which we have within is hidden from
them.
"And my substance is in the lower parts of the earth." Behold, in
flesh is my
substance,
yet have I a bone within, which You have fashioned, such as to cause
me
never to yield to any persecutions of this lower region, where still my
substance
is. For what great matter is it, if an Angel be brave? This is a great
matter,
if flesh is brave. And whence is flesh brave, whence is an earthen vessel
brave,
save because in it is made a bone in secret?
16.
..."Your eyes did see Mine imperfect one, and in Your book shall all be
written"
(ver. 16), not only the perfect, but also the imperfect. Let not the
imperfect
fear, only let them advance. Nor yet, because I have said, "let them not
fear,"
let them love their imperfection, and remain there, where they are found. Let
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 139
1108
them
advance, as far as in them lies. Daily let them add, daily let them approach;
yet
let them not fall back from the Body of the Lord: that, compacted in one Body
and
among these members, they may be counted worthy to have that said of them.
"By
day shall they wander, and none among them." "The Day" was yet
on earth,
even
our Lord Jesus Christ. Whence He said, "Walk while you have the day."
John
12:35 But "by day shall" His imperfect ones "wander." They
too thought that
our
Lord Jesus Christ was only man, that He had not within Him the hidden
Godhead,
that He was not secretly God, but that He was that only which was seen:
this
they too thought .... But what is, "In the day they shall wander"?
Shall they
perish?
Where then is, "In Your book shall all be written"? When then did
they
"wander
in the day"? When they understood not the Lord set upon earth. And what
follows?
"But to me Your friends are made very honourable, O God" (ver. 17);
those
very ones, who "wandered in the day, and none was in them," became
Your
friends,
and were made very honourable to me. That bone was made in them in
secret
after the resurrection of the Lord, and they suffered for His Name, at whose
death
they had been amazed. "Mightily strengthened were their
chieftainships."
They
became Apostles, they became leaders of the Church, they became rams
leading
their flocks, "mightily strengthened."
17.
"I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand"
(ver. 18). By
means
of them, who "wandered in the day," lo! there has been born all this
great
multitude,
which now is like the sand innumerable, save by God. For He said,
"they
shall be multiplied above the sand," and yet He had said, "I will
number
them."
The very same who are numbered, "shall be multiplied above the sand."
For
by Him is the sand numbered, by whom "the very hairs of our head are
numbered."
Matthew 10:30 "I have risen, and yet am I with You." Already have I
suffered,
says He, already have I been buried; lo! I have risen, and not yet do they
understand
that I am with them. "Yet am I with You," that is, not yet with them,
for
not yet do they recognise Me. For thus do we read in the Gospel, that after the
resurrection
of oar Lord Jesus Christ, when He appeared to them, they did not at
once
know Him. There is another meaning also: "I have risen, and yet am I with
You,"
as though He would signify this present time, wherein He is as yet hidden at
the
right hand of the Father, before He is revealed in the brightness, wherein He
shall
come to judge the quick and the dead.
18.
And then He tells what meanwhile, during this whole time when He already
has
risen, and remains still with the Father, He suffers by the intermixture of
sinners
in His Body, the Church, and by the separation of heretics. "If Thou, O
God,
shall slay the sinners (since You shall say in Your thought, Depart from Me,
you
men of blood), they shall receive in vanity their cities" . The words seem
to be
connected
in this order; "If Thou, O God, shall slay the sinners, they shall receive
in
vanity their cities." Thus are sinners slain, because, "having their
understandings
darkened, they are alienated from the life of God." Ephesians 4:18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 139 1109
For
on account of elation they lose confession, and so they are slain, and in them
is
fulfilled
what Scripture says, "Confession perishes from the dead, as from one that
is
not." Sirach 17:28 And so "they receive in vanity their cities,"
that is, their vain
peoples,
who follow their vanity; when, puffed up by the name of righteousness,
they
persuade men to burst the bond of unity, and blindly and ignorantly follow
them,
as being more righteous .... But now the Body of Christ, the Church, says,
Why
do the proud speak falsely against me, as though I were stained by other
men's
sins, and so, by separating themselves, "receive in vanity their
cities"?
"Have
not I hated those who hated You, Lord?" (ver. 21). Why do those who are
worse
themselves require of me to separate myself in body as well as spirit from
the
wicked, so as to root up the wheat, together with the tares, before the time of
harvest,
that before the time of winnowing I lose my power of enduring the chaff;
that
before all the different sorts of fishes are brought to the end of the world,
as to
the
shore, to be separated, I tear the nets of peace and unity? Are the sacraments
which
I receive, those of evil men? Do I; by consent, communicate in their life and
deeds?
... But where is, "Love your enemies"? Is it because He said
"yours," not
"God's"?
"Do good to them that hate you." Matthew 5:44 He says not, "who
hate
God."
So he follows the pattern, and says, "Have not I hated those who hated
You;
Lord?"
He says not, "Who have hated me." "And at Your enemies did I
waste
away."
"Yours," he said, not "mine." But those who hate us and are
enemies unto
us,
only because we serve Him, what else do they but hate Him, and are His
enemies.
Ought we then to love such enemies as these? Or do not they suffer
persecution
for God's sake, to whom it is said, "Pray for them that persecute
you"?
Observe
then what follows. "With a perfect hatred did I hate them" (ver. 22).
What
is,
"with a perfect hatred"? I hated in them their iniquities, I loved
Your creation.
This
it is to hate with a perfect hatred, that neither on account of the vices thou
hate
the men, nor on account of the men love the vices. For see what he adds,
"They
became mine enemies." Not only as God's enemies, but as his own too does
he
now describe them. How then will he fulfil in them both his own saying,
"Have
not
I hated those that hated You, Lord," and the Lord's command, "Love
your
enemies"?
How will he fulfil this, save with that "perfect hatred," that he
hate in
them
that they are wicked, and love that they are men? For in the time even of the
Old
Testament, when the carnal people was restrained by visible punishments,
how
did Moses, the servant of God, who by understanding belonged to the New
Testament,
how did he hate sinners when he prayed for them, or how did he not
hate
them when he slew them, save that he "hated them with a perfect
hatred"? For
with
such perfection did he hate the iniquity which he punished, as to love the
manhood
for which he prayed.
19.
Since then the Body of Christ is in the end to be severed in body also from the
unholy
and wicked, but now meanwhile groans among them, what does the "love
of
Christ among the daughters, as the lily among thorns"? Song of Songs 2:2
What
are
her words? what her conscience? what is the "appearance of the king's
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 139 1110
daughter
within"? Lo, hear what she says. "Prove me, O God, and know my
heart"
(ver.
23). Do Thou, O God, Thou prove me, Thou know; not man, not an heretic,
who
neither knows how to prove, nor can know my heart, whereas Thou provest,
and
know that I consent not to the deeds of the wicked, while they think that I can
be
defiled by the sins of others; so that, while I in my long wandering do what I
mourn
in another Psalm, that is, while I "labour for peace among them that hate
peace,"
until I come to that Vision of peace, which is called Jerusalem, "which is
the
mother of us all," the city "eternal in the heavens;" they,
contending, and
falsely
accusing and separating themselves, may "receive," not, evidently, in
eternity,
but "in vanity, their cities." Why this? Observe what follows.
20.
"And see," says he, "if there be any way of wickedness in me,
and lead me in
the
way everlasting" (ver. 24). "Search," he says, "my
paths," that is, my counsels
and
thoughts. What else says he, but "lead me in Christ"? For who is
"the way
everlasting,"
save He that is the life everlasting? For everlasting is He who said, "I
am
the Way, and the Truth, and the Life." John 14:6 If then you find anything
in
my
way which displeases Your eyes, since my way is mortal, do Thou "lead me
in
the
way everlasting," wherein is no iniquity; for even "if any man sin,
we have an
Advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He is the propitiation for
our
sins;" 1 John 2:1-2 He is "the Way everlasting" without sin; He
is the Life
everlasting
without punishment.
21.
These are great mysteries, brethren. How does the Spirit of God speak with us?
how
does it make us delights in this night? What is this, we ask you, brethren,
whence
are they sweeter, the darker they are? He mixes us our potion after His
love,
in certain wondrous ways. He makes His own sayings wondrous, so that
while
we were speaking what ye already knew, yet forasmuch as it was dug out of
passages
which seemed obscure, the knowledge itself seemed to be made new. Did
ye
not know, brethren, that the wicked are to be tolerated in the Church, and
schisms
not to be made? Did ye not already know, that within those nets which
hold
both good and bad fishes, we must abide even to the shore, nor must the nets
be
burst, because on the shore the good shall be separated into vessels, and the
bad
thrown
away? You know this already; but these verses of this Psalm ye did not
understand;
that which you did not understand is explained; that which you knew
has
been renewed.
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Psalm 140
1111
Exposition
on Psalm 140
1.
Our Lords have bidden me, brethren, and in them the Lord of all, to bring this
Psalm
to your understanding, so far as God gives me to. May He help your
prayers,
that I may say those things which I ought to say, you to hear, that to all of
us
the Word of God may be profitable. For all it does not profit, for "all
have not
faith."
...
2.
What this Psalm contains, I believe that you perceived when it was being
chanted;
for therein the Church of Christ, set in the midst of the wicked, complains
and
groans, and pours out prayer to God. For her voice is in every such prophecy
the
voice of one in need and want, not yet satisfied, "hungering and thirsting
after
righteousness,"
Matthew 5:6 for whom a certain fulness in the end has been
promised,
and is reserved....
3.
"To the end, a Psalm to David himself." No other end may thou look
to, than is
laid
down for you by the Apostle himself. For "Christ is the end."
Romans
10:4 ... He was of the seed of David, not after His Godhead, whereby He
is
the Creator of David, but after the flesh; therefore He deigned to be called
David
in
prophecy: look to this "end," for the Psalm is chanted "to David
Himself;" hear
the
voice of His Body; be in His Body. Let the voice which you have heard be
yours,
and pray, and say what follows.
4.
"Deliver me, O Lord, from the wicked man" (ver. 1). Not from one
only, but
from
the class; not from the vessels only, but from their prince himself, that is,
the
devil.
Why "from man," if he means from the devil? Because he too is called
a
man
in a figure. Matthew 13:24-28 ... Now then being made light, not in ourselves,
but
in the Lord, Ephesians 5:8 let us pray not only against darkness, that is,
against
sinners,
whom still the devil possesses, but also against their prince, the devil
himself,
who works in the children of disobedience. "Deliver me from the
unrighteous
man." The same as "from the wicked man." For he called him
wicked
because
unrighteous, lest perchance you should think that any unrighteous man
could
be a good man. For many unrighteous men seem to be harmless; they are not
fierce,
are not savage, do not persecute nor oppress; yet are they unrighteous,
because,
following some other habit, they are luxurious, drunkards, given to
pleasure....
Wicked then is every unrighteous man, who must needs be harmful,
whether
he be gentle or fierce. Whoever falls in his way, whoever is taken by his
snares,
will find how harmful is that which he thought harmless. For, brethren,
even
thorns prick not with their roots. Pull up thorns from the ground, handle their
roots,
and see whether you feel pain. Yet that in the upgrowth which causes you
pain,
proceeded from that root. Let not then men please you who seem gentle and
kind,
yet are lovers of carnal pleasure, followers of polluted lusts, let them not
please
you. Though as yet they seem gentle, they are roots of thorns.... And so, my
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 140
1112
brethren,
body of Christ, members of Christ groaning among such wicked men,
whomsoever
ye find hurrying headlong into evil lusts and deadly pleasures, at
once
chide, at once punish, at once burn. Let the root be burnt, and there remains
not
whence the thorn may grow up. If you cannot, be sure that you will have them
as
enemies. They may be silent, they may hide their enmity, but they cannot love
you.
But since they cannot love you, and since they who hate you must needs seek
your
harm, let not your tongue and heart be slow to say to God, "Deliver me, O
Lord,
from the unrighteous man."
5.
"Who have imagined unrighteousnesses in their heart" (ver. 2) ....
From them
free
me, from them let Your hand be most powerful to deliver me. For easy is it to
avoid
open enmities, easy is it to turn aside from an enemy declared and manifest,
while
iniquity is in his lips as well as his heart; he is a troublesome enemy, he is
secret,
he is with difficulty avoided, who bears good things in his lips, while in his
heart
he conceals evil things. "All the day long did they make war." What
is,
"war"?
They made for me what I was to fight against all the day. For from thence,
from
such hearts as these, arises all that the Christian fights against. Be it
sedition,
be
it schism, be it heresy, be it turbulent opposition, it springs not save from
these
imaginings
which were concealed, and while they spoke good words with their
lips,
"all the day long did they make war." You hear words of peace, yet
making
war
departs not from their thoughts. For the words, "all the day long,"
signify
without
intermission, throughout the whole time. "They have sharpened their
tongues
like serpents" (ver. 3). If still you seek to make out the man, behold a
comparison.
In the serpent above all beasts is there cunning and craft to hurt; for
therefore
does it creep. It has not even feet, so that its footsteps when it comes may
be
heard. In its progress it draws itself, as it were, gently along, yet not
straightly.
Thus
then do they creep and crawl to hurt, having poison hidden even under a
gentle
touch. And so it follows, "the poison of asps is under their lips."
Behold, it
is
"under" their lips, that we may perceive one thing under their lips,
another in
their
lips....
6.
"Preserve me, O Lord, from the hand of the sinner, from unrighteous men
deliver
me" (ver. 4). Here they wear their real colours, they are known; here we
have
no need to understand, but to act: we have need to pray, not to ask who they
are.
But how you should pray against such men, he explains in what follows. For
many
pray unskilfully against wicked men. "Who have imagined," says he,
"to trip
up
my steps." Thus far it may be understood carnally. Every one has enemies,
who
seek
to cheat him in trade, to rob him of money, where they are engaged together
in
business; every one has some neighbour his enemy, who devises how to bring
mischief
upon his family, to injure in some way his property and surely he devises
this
by deceit, by fraud, by devilish devices he endeavours to accomplish this: no
one
can doubt it. Yet not for these reasons are they to be guarded against, but
lest
they
lay in wait for you and draw you to themselves, that is, separate you from the
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 140
1113
Body
of Christ, and make you of their body. For as Christ is the Head of the good,
so
is the devil their head. What is, "to trip up my steps"? Not as
though you should
be
deceived in the business you have with him, or he cheat you in a case which
you
have with him in the law courts. He has "tripped up your steps," if
he have
hindered
you in the way of God; so that what you directed aright may stumble, or
fall
from the way, or fall in the way, or draw back from the way, or stop on the
way,
or go back to the place from whence it had come. Whatsoever has done this
to
you, has tripped you up, has deceived you. Against such snares as these pray
thou,
lest you lose your heavenly inheritance, lest you lose Christ your Joint-heir,
for
you are destined to live for ever with Him, who has made you an heir. For you
are
made an heir, not by one whom you are to succeed after his death, but One
together
with whom you are to live for ever.
7.
"The proud have hidden a trap for me" (ver. 5). He has briefly
described the
whole
body of the devil, when he says, "the proud." Hence is it that for
the most
part
they call themselves righteous when they are unrighteous. Hence is it that
nothing
is so grievous to them as to confess their sins. They are men who, being
falsely
righteous, must needs envy the truly righteous. For none envies another in
that
which he wishes not either to be or to seem .... Hence come all allurings and
trippings
up of others. This the devil first wished, when falling himself he envied
man
who stood....
8.
But those "proud ones have hidden a trap for me;" they have sought to
trip up
my
steps. And what have they done? "And have stretched out cords as
traps."
What
cords? The word is well known in holy Scripture, and elsewhere we find
what
"cords" signify. For "each one is holden with the cords of his
sins,"
Proverbs
5:22 says Scripture. And Esaias says openly, "Woe to them that draw sin
like
a long rope." Isaiah 5:18 And why is it called a "cord"? Because
every sinner
who
perseveres in his sins, adds sin to sin; and when he ought by accusing his sins
to
amend, by defending he doubles what by confession he might have removed,
and
often seeks to fortify himself by other sins, on account of the sins he has
already
committed .... But these their sins they "spread" for the righteous,
when
they
persuade them to do the evils which they themselves do. Therefore he said,
"they
spread cords and traps;" that is, by their sins they desired to overthrow
me.
And
where did they this? "Beside the paths have they laid a stumbling-block
for
me:"
not in the paths, but, "beside the paths." Your "paths" are
the commandments
of
God. They have "laid stumbling-blocks beside the paths;" do not thou
withdraw
out
of the paths, and you will not rush upon stumbling-blocks. Yet will I not that
you
should say, "God should prevent them from laying stumbling-blocks beside
my
paths, and then they would not lay them." Nay, rather, God permitted them
to
"lay
stumbling-blocks beside your paths," that you should not leave the paths.
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Psalm 140
1114
9.
And what remains? what remedy amid such ills, in such temptations, such
dangers?
"I said unto the Lord, You are my God" (ver. 6). Loud is the voice of
prayer,
it excites confidence. Is He not the God of the others? Of whom is not He
God,
who is the true God? Yet is He specially theirs, who enjoy Him, who serve
Him,
who willingly submit to Him. For the wicked too, though unwillingly, are
subject
to Him.... "Hear with Thine ears the voice of my prayer." He did not
say,
"Hear
with Thine ears my prayer;" but, as though expressing more plainly the
affection
of his heart, "the voice of my prayer," the life of my prayer, the
soul of
my
prayer, not that which sounds in my words, but that which gives life to my
words.
For all other noises without life may be called sounds, but not words.
Words
belong to those that have souls, to the living. But how many pray to God,
yet
have neither perception of God, nor right thoughts concerning God! These may
have
the sound of prayer, the voice they cannot, for there is no life in them. This
was
the voice of the prayer of one who was alive, forasmuch as he understood that
God
was his God, saw by Whom he was freed, perceived from whom he was
freed.
10.
Commending this to the ears of God, let him say, "Lord, Lord." Thou
Lord-
Lord,
that is, most truly Lord, not like unto the lords-men, not like the lords who
buy
with money-bags, but the Lord who buys with His Blood. "Lord, Lord, Thou
strength
of my health" (ver. 7), that is, who givest strength to my health. What is
the
meaning of "strength of my health"? He complained of the
stumbling-blocks
and
snares of sinners, of wicked men, vessels of the devil, that barked around him
and
laid snares around him, of the proud that envy the righteous. But He forthwith
added
a comfort, "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be
saved." This
he
observed and feared, and, distressed at the abundance of iniquities, turned
himself
to hope. Verily I shall be saved, if I endure unto the end: but endurance, so
as
to win salvation, pertains unto strength; You are "the strength of my
salvation;"
Thou
makest me to endure, that I may attain salvation.... Toiling then in this
warfare,
he looked back to the grace of God; and because already he had begun to
be
heated and parched, he found, as it were, a shade, whereunder to live.
"You
have
overshadowed my head in the day of battle:" that is, in the heat, lest I
be
heated,
lest I be parched.
11.
"Deliver me not over, O Lord, by my own longing to the sinner" (ver.
8).
Behold
to what end Your overshadowing shall avail for me, that I suffer not heat
from
myself. And what could that "sinner" do to me, rage as he would? For
wicked
men raged against the martyrs, dragged them away, bound them with
chains,
shut them up in prisons, slew them with the sword, exposed them to wild
beasts,
consumed them with fire: all this they did; yet did not God deliver them
over
to the sinners, because they were not delivered over by their own longing.
This
then pray with all your might, that God "delivered you not over by your
own
longing
to the sinner." For thou by your own longing givest place to the devil.
For
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 140
1115
lo,
the devil has set before you gain, invited you to dishonesty; you can not have
the
gain, unless thou commit the dishonesty: the gain is the bait, dishonesty the
snare:
do thou so look on the bait, that you see the snare also; for you can not
obtain
the gain, unless thou commit the dishonesty; and if thou commit the
dishonesty,
you will be caught .... Hence is thine head overshadowed in the day of
battle.
For longing causes heat, but the overshadowing of the Lord tempers
longing,
that we may be able to bridle that whereby we were being hurried away,
that
we be not so heated as to be drawn to the snare. "They have thought
against
me;
leave me not, lest perchance they be exalted." You have in another place,
"They
that oppress me will exult if I be moved." Such are they, because such is
the
devil
also himself....
12.
"The head of their going about, the toil of their own lips shall cover
them"
(ver.
9). Me, he says, the shadow of Your wings shall cover: for, "You have
covered
me in the day of battle." Them what shall cover? "The head of their
going
about;"
that is, pride. What is, "their going about"? How they go about and
stand
not,
how they go in the circle of error, where is journeying without end. He who
goes
in a straight line, begins from some point, ends at some point: he who goes in
a
circle, never ends. That is the toil of the wicked, which is set forth yet more
plainly
in another Psalm, "The wicked walk in a circle." But "the head
of their
going
about" is pride, for pride is the beginning of every sin. But whence is
pride
"the
toil of their own lips"? Every proud man is false, and every false man is
a liar.
Men
toil in speaking falsehood; for truth they could speak with entire facility.
For
he
toils, who makes what he says: he who wishes to speak the truth, toils not, for
truth
herself speaks without toil....
13.
"Coals of fire shall fall upon them upon earth, and You shall cast them
down"
(ver.
10). What is, "upon earth"? Here, even in this life, here "coals
of fire shall
fall
upon them." What are, "coals of fire"? We know these coals. Are
they
different
from those of which we are about to speak? For these I see avail for
punishment,
those that I am about to speak of, for salvation. For we have spoken
of
certain coals, when man was seeking aid against a treacherous tongue .... The
examples
of the "coals" are added to the wound of the arrows (for I need not
fear
to
say "the wound," when the Spouse herself says, "I am wounded
with love"), and
then
the hay is consumed, and so they are called "devouring coals." The
hay is
devoured,
but the gold is purified, and the man exchanges death for life, and
begins
to be himself too a burning coal; such a coal as was the Apostle, "who
before
was a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious," a coal black and
extinguished;
but when he had obtained mercy, he was set on fire from heaven, the
voice
of Christ set him on fire, all the blackness in him perished, he began to be
fervent
in spirit, to set others on fire with that wherewith he was set on fire
himself....
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Psalm 140
1116
14.
"A man full of words shall not be guided upon earth" (ver. 11).
"A man full of
words"
loves lies. For what pleasure has he, save in speaking? He cares not what
he
speaks, so long as he speaks. It cannot be that he will be guided. What then
ought
the servant of God to do, who is kindled with these "coals," and
himself
made
a coal of salvation, what should he do? He should wish rather to hear than to
speak;
as it is written, "Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak."
James 1:19
And
if it may be so, let him desire this, not to be obliged to speak and talk and
teach
.... I can quickly tell you wherein each one may prove himself, not by never
speaking,
but by requiring a case where it is his duty to speak; let him be glad to
be
silent, in will, let him speak to teach, when he must. For when must thou needs
speak
and teach? When you meet with one ignorant, when you meet with one
unlearned.
If it delight you always to teach, you wish always to have some
ignorant
one to teach.... "Evil shall hunt the unrighteous man to
destruction." Evils
come,
and he stands not; therefore said he, "they shall hunt him to
destruction."
For
many good men, many righteous men evils have befallen, evils have, as it
were,
found them. Therefore when the evil pursued the good, that is, our martyrs,
when
they seized them, they "hunted" them, but not "to
destruction." For the flesh
was
pressed down, the spirit was crowned; the spirit was cast out from the body,
yet
was nought done to the flesh which might hinder it for the future. Let the
flesh
be
burned, scourged, mangled; is it therefore withdrawn from its Creator, because
it
is given into the hands of its persecutor? Will not He who created it from
nothing,
remake it better than it was?
15.
"I know that the Lord will maintain the right of the needy" (ver.
12). This
"needy"
one is not "full of words;" for he that is full of words, wishes to
abound,
knows
not to hunger. He is "needy" of whom it is said, "Blessed are
they which do
hunger
and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." Matthew 5:6
They
groan
among the stumbling-blocks of the wicked, they pray to their Head, "to be
delivered
from the wicked man. "And the cause of the poor." These then are they
whose
cause the Lord will not neglect; although now they suffer hardships, their
glory
shall appear, when their Head appears. For to such while placed here it is
said,
"You are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." Colossians
3:3 So
then
we are poor, our life is hid; let us cry to Him that is our Bread. John 6:51...
16.
"But the just shall confess to Your Name" (ver. 13). Both when You
shall
plead
their cause, and when You shall maintain their right, they "shall confess
to
Your
Name;" nought shall they attribute to their own merits, all they shall
attribute
to
nought save to Your mercy.... Therefore see what follows, see wherewith he
concludes.
"The upright shall dwell with Your Countenance." For ill was it with
them
in their own countenance; well will it be with them with Your Countenance.
For
when they loved their own countenance, "In the sweat of their countenance
did
they
eat bread." Genesis 3:19 Your Countenance shall come to them with
abundance
to satisfy them. Nought more shall they seek, for nought better have
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Psalm 140 1117
they;
no more shall they abandon You, nor be abandoned by You. For after His
Resurrection,
what was said of the Lord? "You shall fill me with joy with Your
Countenance."
Without His Countenance He would not give us joy. For this do we
cleanse
our countenance, that we may rejoice in His Countenance.
1
John 3:2 ... Because too, "blessed are the poor in heart, for they shall
see God;"
Matthew
5:8 He gave the Form of Man both to good and evil, the Form of God He
preserved
for the pure and good, that we may rejoice in Him, and it may be well
with
us for ever with His Countenance.
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Psalm 141
1118
Exposition
on Psalm 141
1.
...The Psalm which we have just sung is in many parts somewhat obscure.
When
by the help of the Lord what has been said shall begin to be expounded and
explained,
you will see that you are hearing things which you knew already. But
for
this cause are they said in manifold ways, that variety of expression may
remove
all weariness of the truth....
2.
"Lord, I have cried unto You, hear Thou me" (ver. 1). This we all can
say. This
not
I alone say: whole Christ says it. But it is said rather in the name of the
Body:
for
He too, when He was here and bore our flesh, prayed; and when He prayed,
drops
of blood streamed down from His whole Body. So is it written in the
Gospel:
"Jesus prayed earnestly, and His sweat was as it were great drops of
blood."
Luke 22:44 What is this flowing of sweat from His whole Body, but the
suffering
of martyrs from the whole Church? "Listen unto the voice of my prayer,
while
I cry unto You." You thought the business of crying already finished, when
you
said, "I have cried unto You." You have cried; yet think not yourself
safe. If
tribulation
be finished, crying is finished: but if tribulation remain for the Church,
for
the Body of Christ, even to the end of the world, let it not only say, "I
have
cried
unto You," but also, "Listen unto the voice of my prayer."
3.
"Let my prayer be set forth in Your sight as incense, and the lifting up
of my
hands
an evening sacrifice" (ver. 2). That this is wont to be understood of the
Head
Himself,
every Christian acknowledges. For when the day was now sinking
towards
evening, the Lord upon the Cross "laid down His life to take it
again,"
John
10:17 did not lose it against His will. Still we too are figured there. For
what
of
Him hung upon the tree, save what He took of us? And how can it be that the
Father
should leave and abandon His only begotten Son, especially when He is
one
God with Him? Yet, fixing our weakness upon the Cross, where, as the
Apostle
says, "our old man is crucified with Him," Romans 6:6 He cried out in
the
voice
of that our "old man," "Why have You forsaken Me?" That
then is the
"evening
sacrifice," the Passion of the Lord, the Cross of the Lord, the offering
of
a
salutary Victim, the whole burnt offering acceptable to God. That "evening
sacrifice"
produced, in His Resurrection, a morning offering. Prayer then, purely
directed
from a faithful heart, rises like incense from a hallowed altar. Nought is
more
delightful than the odour of the Lord: such odour let all have who believe.
4.
... "Set, O Lord, a watch before my mouth, and a door of restraint around
my
lips"
(ver. 3). He said not a barrier of restraint, but "a door of
restraint." A door is
opened
as well as shut. If then it be a "door," let it be both opened and
shut;
opened,
to confession of sin; closed, to excusing sin. So will it be a "door of
restraint,"
not of ruin. For what does this "door of restraint" profit us? What
does
Christ
pray in the name of His Body? "That Thou turn not aside My heart to
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 141
1119
wicked
words" (ver. 4). What is, "My heart"? The heart of My Church;
the heart,
that
is, of My Body....
5.
But when your heart has not been turned aside, O member of Christ, when your
heart
has not been turned aside "to wicked words, to making excuses in sins,
with
men
that work in iniquity," you shall also not unite with their elect. For
this
follows,
"And I will not unite with their elect." Who are "their
elect"? Those who
justify
themselves. Who are their elect? Those "who trust in themselves that they
are
righteous, and despise others," as the Pharisee said in the temple,
"Lord, I
thank
You that I am not as other men are." Luke 18:11 Who are their elect?
"This
Man,
if He were a prophet, would know what manner of woman this is that
touched
His feet." Luke 7:39 Here you recognise the words of that other Pharisee,
who
invited our Lord to his house; when the woman of that city, who was a sinner,
came
and approached His Feet....
For
even this woman herself, "if her heart had turned aside to wicked
words,"
would
not have lacked wherewith to defend her sins. Do not women daily, her
equals
in defilement, but not her equals in confession, harlots, adulteresses, doers
of
shameful deeds, defend their sins? If they have not been seen, they deny them:
if
they have been caught and convicted, or have done their deeds openly, they
defend
them. And how easy is their defence, how ready, yet how headlong; how
common,
yet how blasphemous! "Had God not willed it, I had not done it: God
willed
it: fortune willed it: fate willed it."... These are the defences of
"the elect" of
this
world. But let the members of Christ, the Body of Christ, say, let Christ say
in
the
name of His Body, "Turn not Thou aside, My Heart, to wicked words,"
etc.,
"and
I will not unite with their elect."...
6.
"With men that work wickedness." What wickedness? Let me mention some
sinful
wickedness of theirs. Let me tell you one open sinful wickedness, which
they
acknowledge. They say, it is better for a man to be an usurer than a
husbandman.
Thou askest the reason, and they assign one .... He vexes the
members
of Christ, who cleanses the earth with a furrow: he vexes the members of
Christ,
who pulls grass from the earth: he vexes the members of Christ, who
plucks
an apple from a tree. To avoid committing their imaginary murders in the
farm,
he commits real murders in usury. He deals no bread to the needy. See
whether
there can be greater unrighteousness than this righteousness. He deals not
bread
to the hungry. Thou askest, wherefore? Lest the beggar receive the life
which
is in the bread, which they call a member of God, the substance of God, and
bind
it in flesh. What then do ye? why do ye eat? Have ye not flesh? Yes; but we,
they
say, forasmuch as we are enlightened by faith in Manes, by our prayers and
our
Psalms, forasmuch as we are elect, we cleanse thereby that bread, and transmit
it
into the treasure-house of the heavens. Such are the elect, that they are not
to be
saved
by God, but saviours of God. And this is Christ, they say, crucified in the
whole
universe. I received in the Gospel Christ a Saviour, but you are in your
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 141
1120
books
the saviours of Christ. Plainly you are blasphemers of Christ, and therefore
not
to be saved by Christ. Therefore lest a crumb be given to the hungry, and in
the
crumb a member of Christ suffer, is the hungry to die of hunger? False mercy
to
a crumb causes true murder of a man. But who are their elect? "Turn not
thou
aside,
my heart, to wicked words, and I will not unite with their elect."
7.
"The righteous One shall amend me in mercy, and convict me" (ver. 5).
Behold
the
sinner confessing. He desires to be amended in mercy, rather than praised
deceitfully....
" Shall convict me," but "in mercy:" shall convict, yet hates
not: yea,
shall
all the more convict, because He hates not. And why does he therefore give
thanks?
Because, "rebuke a wise man, and he will love you." Proverbs 9:8
"The
righteous
One shall amend me." Because He persecutes you? God forbid. He
requires
rather amending himself, who amends in hate. Wherefore then does He
amend?
"In mercy. And shall convict me." Wherein? "In mercy. For the
oil of a
sinner
shall not enrich my head." My head shall not grow by flattery. Undue
praise
is
flattery: undue praise of a flatterer is "the oil of a sinner."
Therefore men too,
when
they have mocked any one with false praise, say, "I have anointed his
head."
Love
then to be "convicted by the righteous One in mercy;" love not to be
praised
by
a sinner in mockery. Have oil in yourselves, and you shall not seek the
"oil of a
sinner."...
8.
You say to me, What am I doing? I am beset with flatterers; they cease not to
besiege
me; they praise in me what I would not, that praise in me what I hold in
little
esteem; what I hold dear they blame in me; flatterers, treacherous, deceivers.
For
instance, "Gaiuseius is a great man, great, learned, wise; but why is he a
Christian?
For great is his learning, great his reading, great his wisdom." If great
is
his
wisdom, approve of his being a Christian; if great his learning, learnedly has
he
chosen.
In fine, what you revile, that pleases him whom you praise. But what?
That
praise sweetens not: it is "the oil of a sinner." Yet ceases he not
to speak so.
Let
him not therewith "fatten your head;" that is, rejoice not in such
things; agree
not
to such things; consent not to such things; rejoice not in such things; and
then,
if
he have applied to you the oil of flattery, yet has your head remained as it
was, it
has
not been puffed up, it has not swollen.... "For still shall My word be
well-
pleasing
to them." Wait awhile: now they revile Me, says Christ. In the early times
of
the Christians, the Christians were blamed on all sides. Wait as yet; and
"My
word
shall be well-pleasing to them." The time shall come when they shall
conquer
thousands of men, who shall beat their breasts, and say, "Forgive us our
debts,
as we forgive our debtors." Even now, how many remain who blush to beat
their
breasts? Let them then blame us: let us bear it. Let them blame; let them hate,
accuse,
detract; "still shall My word be well-pleasing to them;" the time
shall
come
when My word shall please them .... O wordy defence of iniquity! Verily
now
whole nations say this, and the thunder of nations beating their breasts ceases
not.
Rightly do the clouds thunder, wherein now God dwells. Where is now that
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Psalm 141
1121
wordiness,
where that boasting, "I am righteous; nought of ill have I done"?
Verily,
when you have contemplated in Holy Scripture the law of righteousness,
how
far soever you have advanced, you shall find yourself a sinner.... What sort of
man
am I now speaking of, brethren? I speak of him who worships God alone,
who
confesses Christ, who knows the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost to be
one
God; who commits not fornication against Him; who worships not devils; who
seeks
him not aid from the devil; who holds the Catholic Church; whom no one
complains
of as cheating; under whose oppression no weak neighbour groans; who
assails
not another's wife; who is content with his own, or even without his own, in
such
wise as is lawful, and as Apostolical discipline permits, with consent of both,
1
Corinthians 7:5 or when she is not yet married. Even he who is such as this, is
yet
overtaken in such things as I have mentioned. For all these daily sins then
what
is
our hope, save to say with humble heart in the Lord's Prayer, while we defend
not
our sins, but confess them, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors;"
Matthew
6:12 and to "have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous,"
that He may be "the propitiation for our sins"? 1 John 2:1-2 See what
follows:
"their judges have been swallowed up beside the Rock" (ver. 6). What
is,
"swallowed
up beside the Rock? That Rock was Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:4 They
have
been swallowed up beside the Rock." "Beside," that is, compared,
as judges,
as
mighty, powerful, learned: they are called "their judges," as judging
about
morals,
and laying down their opinions. This Aristotle said. Set him beside the
Rock,
and he is swallowed up. Who is Aristotle? let him hear, "Christ has
said,"
and
he trembles among the dead. This Pythagoras said, that Plato said. Set them
beside
the Rock, compare their authority to the authority of the Gospel, compare
the
proud to the Crucified. Say we to them "You have written your words in the
hearts
of the proud; He has planted His Cross in the hearts of kings: finally, He
died,
and rose again; you are dead, and I will not ask how ye rise again." So
"their
judges
have been swallowed up beside" that "Rock." So long do their
words seem
somewhat,
till they are compared with the Rock. Therefore if any of them be
found
to have said what Christ too has said, we congratulate him, but we follow
him
not. But he came before Christ. If any man speak what is true, is he therefore
before
the Truth itself? Regard Christ, O man, not when He came to you, but when
He
made you. The sick man too might say, "But I took to my bed before the
physician
came to me." Why, for that very reason has He come last, because thou
first
has sickened.
9.
"They shall hear My Words, for they have prevailed." My Words have
prevailed
over
their words. They have spoken clever things, I true things. To praise one who
talks
well is one thing, to praise One who speaks truth is another. "They shall
hear
My
Words, for they have prevailed." How have they prevailed? Who of them has
been
taken offering sacrifice, when such things were forbidden by the law, and has
not
denied it? Who of them has been taken worshipping an idol, and has not
exclaimed,
"I did it not," and feared lest he should be convicted? Such servants
has
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Psalm 141 1122
the
devil. But how have the Words of the Lord prevailed? "Behold, I send you
forth
as sheep in the midst of wolves. Fear not those who kill the body," etc.
He
gave
them fear, He suggested hope, He kindled love. "Fear not death," He
says.
Do
ye fear death? I die first. Fear ye, lest a hair of your head perish? I first
rise
again
in the flesh uninjured. Rightly have ye heard His Words, for they have
prevailed.
They spoke, and were slain; they fell, and yet stood. And what was the
result
of so many deaths of martyrs, save that those words prevailed, and the earth
being,
so to speak, watered by the blood of Christ's witnesses, the cross of the
Church
shot up everywhere? How have they "prevailed"? We have said already,
when
they were preached by men who feared not. Feared not what? Neither
banishment,
nor losses, nor death, nor crucifixion: for it was not death alone that
they
did not fear; but even crucifixion, a death than which none was thought more
accursed.
It the Lord endured, that His disciples might not only not fear death, but
not
even that kind of death. When then these things are said by men that fear not,
they
have prevailed.
10.
What then have all those deaths of the martyrs accomplished? Listen: "As
the
fatness
of the earth is spread over the earth, our bones have been scattered beside
the
pit" (ver. 7). "The bones" of the martyrs, that is, the bodies
of the witnesses of
Christ.
The martyrs were slain, and they who slew them seemed to prevail. They
prevailed
by persecution, that the words of Christ might prevail by preaching. And
what
was the result of the deaths of the saints? What means, "the fatness of
the
earth
is spread over the earth"? We know that everything that is refuse is the
fatness
of the earth. The things which are, as it were, contemptible to men, enrich
the
earth.... "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His
saints." As it is
contemptible
to the world, so is it precious to the husbandman. For he knows the
use
thereof, and its rich juice; he knows what he desires, what he seeks, whence
the
fertile crop arises; but this world despises it. Do you not know that "God
has
chosen
the contemptible things of the world, and those which are not, like as those
which
are, that the things which are may be brought to nought"?
1
Corinthians 1:27-28 From the dunghill was Peter lifted up, and Paul; when they
were
put to death, they were despised: now, the earth having been enriched by
them,
and the cross of the Church springing up, behold, all that is noble and chief
in
the world, even the emperor himself, comes to Rome, and whither does he
hasten?
to the temple of the emperor, or the memorial of the fisherman?
11.
"For unto You, Lord, are my eyes; in You have I hoped, take not Thou away
my
life" (ver. 8). For they were tortured in persecutions, and many failed.
It occurs
to
him that many have failed, many have been in hazard, and as it were in the
midst
of the tribulation of persecution is sent forth the voice of one praying;
"For
unto
You, Lord, are my eyes:" I care not what they threaten who stand around,
"unto
You, Lord, are my eyes." More do I fix my eye on Your promises than on
their
threats. I know what You have suffered for me, what You have promised me.
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12.
"Keep me from the trap which they have laid for me" (ver. 9). What
was the
trap?
"If you consent, I spare you." In the trap was set the bait of the
present life; if
the
bird love this bait, it falls into the trap: but if the bird be able to say,
"The day
of
man have I not desired: You know:" "He shall pluck his feet out of
the net," etc.
Two
things he has mentioned to be distinguished the one from the other: the trap
he
said was set by persecutors; the stumbling-blocks came from those who have
consented
and apostatised: and from both he desires to be guarded. On the one
side
they threaten and rage, on the other consent and fall: I fear lest the one be
such,
that I fear him; the other such, that I imitate him. "This I do to you, if
thou
consent
not." "Keep me from the trap," etc. "Behold, your brother
has already
consented."
"And from the stumbling-blocks," etc.
13.
"Sinners shall fall into his nets" (ver. 10). Not all sinners,
certain sinners, who
are
so great sinners, as to love this life to such a degree as to prefer it to
everlasting
life, "shall fall into his trap." But what do you say? Shall they
that are
such,
do you think, fall into his nets? what of Your disciples, O Christ? Behold,
when
persecution was raging, when they all "left You alone, and went every one
to
his own:" John 16:32 lo! they who were closest to You, in Your trial and
persecution,
when Your enemies demanded You to be crucified, abandoned You.
And
that bold one, who had promised You that he would go with You even unto
death,
heard from the Physician what was being done in him, the sick man. For
being
in a fever, he had said he was whole; but the Lord touched the vein of his
heart.
Then came the trial; then came the test; then came the accusation; and now,
questioned
not by some great power, but by a humble slave, and that a woman,
questioned
by a handmaid, he yielded; he denied thrice.... "He wept bitterly,"
it
says.
Not yet was he fitted to suffer. To him was said, "You shall follow Me
afterwards."
John 13:36 Hereafter he was to be firm, having been strengthened by
the
Lord's Resurrection. Not yet then was it time that those "bones"
should be
"scattered
beside the pit." For see how many failed, even to those who first hung
on
His mouth; even they failed. Wherefore? "I am alone, until I pass over:"
for this
follows
in the Psalm....
14.
Pascha, as they say who know, and who have explained to us what to read,
means
"Passover." When then the Lord's Passion was about to come, the
Evangelist,
as though he would use this very word, says, "When the hour was
come
that Jesus should pass over to the Father." John 13:1 We hear then of
Pascha
in
this verse, "I am alone, until I pass over." After Pascha I shall no
longer be
alone,
after passing-over I shall no longer be alone. Many shall imitate Me, many
shall
follow Me. And if afterward they shall follow, what shall be the case now?
"I
am
alone, until I pass over." What is it that the Lord says in this Psalm,
"I am
alone,
until I pass over"? What is it that we have expounded? If we have
understood
it, listen to His own words in the Gospel. "Except a corn of wheat fall
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1124
into
the ground and die, it abides alone; but if it die, it bears much
fruit."...
Therefore He was alone before He was put to death .... So far was any
from
dying for the Name, that is, for confessing the Name of Christ, before that
Corn
of wheat fell into the ground, that even John, who was slain just before Him,
being
given by a wicked king to a dancing woman, was not put to death because
he
confessed Christ. Of course he might have been put to death for this, and that
by
many. If for another reason he was put to death by one man, how much more
might
he have been put to death by those very men, who put Christ to death? For
John
gave testimony to Christ. They who heard Christ, wished to slay Him; the
man
who gave testimony to Him they slew not .... He is not slain by the Jews who
gave
free testimony to Christ, whom the Jews slew; he is slain by Herod, because
he
said to him, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."
Matthew 14:4
For
his brother had not died without issue. For the law of truth, for equity, for
righteousness'
sake, he did die: therefore is he a saint, therefore a martyr; but yet
he
died not for that Name whereby we are Christians, wherefore, save that the
saying
might be fulfilled, "I am alone, until I pass over."
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Psalm 142
1125
Exposition
on Psalm 142
1.
..."With my voice have I cried unto the Lord" (ver. 1). It were
enough to say,
"with
voice:" not for nothing perhaps has "my" been added. For many
cry unto the
Lord,
not with their own voice, but with the voice of their body. Let the "inner
man"
then, in whom "Christ" has begun to "dwell by faith,"
Ephesians 3:17 cry
unto
the Lord, not with the din of his lips, but with the affection of his heart.
God
hears
not, where man hears: unless you cry with the voice of lungs and side and
tongue,
man hears you not: your thought is your cry to the Lord. "With my voice
have
I prayed unto the Lord." What he meant by, "I have cried," he
explained
when
he said, "I have prayed." For they too who blaspheme, cry unto the
Lord. In
the
former part he set down his crying, in the latter he explained what it was. As
though
it were demanded, With what cry have you cried unto the Lord? Unto the
Lord,
says he, I have prayed. My cry is my prayer, not reviling, not murmuring,
not
blaspheming.
2.
"I will pour out before Him my prayer" (ver. 2). What is,
"before Him"? In His
sight.
What is, in His sight? Where He sees. But where does He not see? For so do
we
say, 'where He sees,' as though somewhere He sees not. But in this assemblage
of
bodily substances men too see, animals too see: He sees where man sees not.
For
your thoughts no man sees, but God sees. There then pour out your prayer,
where
He alone sees, who rewards. For the Lord Jesus Christ bade you pray in
secret:
but if you know what "your closet" is, and cleansest it, there you
pray to
God.
"But you," says He, "when you pray, enter into your closet, and
shut the
door,
and pray to your Father in secret, and He who sees in secret shall reward
you."
Matthew 6:6 If men are to reward you, pour out your prayer before men: if
God
is to reward you, pour out your prayer before Him; and close the door, lest the
tempter
enter. Therefore the Apostle, because it is in our power to shut the door,
the
door of our hearts, not of our walls, for in it is our
"closet,"—because it is in
our
power to shut this door, says, "neither give place to the devil."
Ephesians 4:27
But
what is to "shut the door"? This door has as it were two leaves,
desire and fear.
Either
thou desires something earthly, and he enters by this; or you fear something
earthly,
and he enters by that. Close then the door of fear and desire against the
devil,
open it to Christ. How do you open these folding doors to Christ? By
desiring
the kingdom of heaven, by fearing the fire of hell. By desire of this world
the
devil enters, by desire of eternal life Christ enters; by fear of temporal
punishment
the devil enters, by fear of everlasting fire Christ enters....
3.
"My tribulation I will proclaim in His sight." There is a repetition,
both in the
two
preceding sentences, and in these which follow: the sentiments are two, but
both
twice expressed.... For, "in His sight," is the same as "before
Him;" "I will
proclaim
my tribulation," is the same as, "I will pour out my prayer."
When doest
thou
this? Being set in the midst of persecution, he says, "while my spirit
failed
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Psalm 142
1126
from
me" (ver. 3). Wherefore has your spirit failed, O martyr, set in
tribulation?
That
I may not claim my strength as my own, that I may know that Another works
in
me the goodness I have. And men perhaps have heard that my spirit has failed
within
me, and have despaired of me, and have said, "we have taken him captive,
we
have overpowered him;" "and You have known my paths." They
thought me
cast
down, You saw me standing upright. They who persecuted me and had seized
me,
thought my feet entangled, "but their feet were entangled, and they fell,
but we
are
risen, and stand upright." For my eyes are ever unto the Lord, for He
shall
pluck
my feet out of the net." I have persevered in walking, for "he that
shall
persevere
unto the end, the same shall be saved." Matthew 10:22 They thought me
overpowered,
but I continued walking. Where did I walk? In paths which they saw
not,
who thought me prisoner, in the paths of Your righteousness, in the paths of
Your
commandments .... For every path is a way, but not every way is a path. Why
then
are those ways called paths, save because they are narrow? Broad is the way
of
the wicked, narrow the way of the righteous. That which is "the way"
is also
"the
ways," just as "the Church" is also "the Churches,"
the "heaven" also the
"heavens:"
they are spoken of in the plural, they are spoken of also in the singular.
On
account of the unity of the Church it is one Church; "My dove is one, she
is the
only
one of her mother." Song of Songs 6:8 On account of the congregation of
brethren
in various places there are many Churches. "The Churches of Judća
which
are in Christ rejoiced," says Paul, Galatians 1:22-23 "and they glorified
God
in
me." Thus he spoke of Churches; and of one Church he thus speaks,
"Give none
offence,
neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God."...
4.
"In this way, wherein I was walking, they hid a trap for me." This
"way wherein
I
was walking," is Christ; there have they laid a trap for me, who persecute
me in
Christ,
for Christ's Name's sake. There then "have they hid for me a trap."
What in
me
do they hate, what in me do they persecute? That I am a Christian.... For the
heretics
too wish to hide a stumbling-block for us in the Name of Christ, and are
themselves
deceived. What they think that they put in the way, they put outside the
way,
for they themselves are outside the way. They cannot set a trap where
themselves
are not .... The Pagan thinks to put a stumbling-block in the way, when
he
says to me, "Thou worshippest a crucified God." He finds fault with
the Cross
of
Christ, which he understands not. He thinks that he sets in Christ, what he
sets
near
the way. I will not depart from Christ, so shall I not fall from the way into
the
trap.
Let him mock at Christ crucified, let me see the Cross of Christ on the
foreheads
of kings. What he laughs at, therein am I saved. Nought is prouder than
a
sick man, who laughs at his own medicine. If he laughed not at it, he would
take
it,
and be healed. The Cross is the sign of humility, but he through excess of
pride
acknowledges
not that whereby may be healed the swelling of his soul. But if I
acknowledge,
I am walking in the way. So far am I from blushing at the Cross,
that
in no secret place do I keep the Cross of Christ, but bear it on my forehead.
Many
sacraments we receive, one in one way another in another: some as you
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Psalm 142
1127
know
we receive with the mouth, some we receive over the whole body. But
because
the forehead is the seat of the blush of shame, He who said, "Whosoever
shall
be ashamed of Me before men, of him will I be ashamed before My Father
which
is in heaven," Luke 9:26 set, so to speak, that very ignominy which the
Pagans
mock at, in the seat of our shame. You hear a man assail a shameless man
and
say, "He has no forehead." What is, "He has no forehead"?
He has no shame.
Let
me not have a bare forehead, let the Cross of my Lord cover it....
5.
"I considered upon the right hand, and saw" (ver. 4). He considered
upon the
right
hand, and saw: whoso considers upon the left hand, is blinded. What is to
consider
on the right hand? Where they will be to whom shall be said, "Come, you
blessed
of My Father," etc., Matthew 25:34, 41 ... He goes on to say, "and
there
was
none that knew me." For when you fear all things, who knows what you
regard,
whether you direct your eyes to the right hand or to the left? If, in bearing,
you
seek the praise of men, you have regarded the left: if, in bearing, you seek the
promises
of God, you have regarded the right hand. Have you regarded the right
hand,
you shall see: have you regarded the left hand, you shall be blinded. But
even
when you see on the right hand, there will be none to know you. For who
comforts
you save the Lord? "Flight has perished from me." He speaks as though
he
were hemmed in. Let the persecutors rejoice over him; he is overpowered, he is
taken,
he is hemmed in, he is conquered. "Flight has perished" from him who
flees
not.
But he who flees not, suffers whatever he can for Christ: that is, he flees not
in
soul.
For in body it is lawful to flee; it is allowed, it is permitted; for the Lord
says,
"When
they persecute you in one city, flee to another." Matthew 10:23 He then
who
flees not in soul, from him "flight has perished." But it makes a
difference
why
he flees not; whether because he is hemmed in, because he is caught, or
because
he is brave. For both from him that is caught flight has perished, and from
him
that is brave flight has perished. What flight then is to be avoided? what
flight
shall
we allow to perish from us? That whereof the Lord speaks in the Gospel,
"The
Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling,
and
not the shepherd, when he sees the wolf coming, flees." When he sees the
ravager,
why flees he? "Because he cares not for the sheep."...In two ways a
man's
life
is sought, either by his persecutors or by his lovers. So then "there is
none to
seek
my life," he said of them; verily they persecute my life, and they seek
not my
life.
But if they seek my life, they will find it clinging to You: and if they know
to
seek
it, they know also to imitate it.
6.
"Unto you have I cried, O Lord: I have said, You are my hope" (ver.
5). When I
endured,
when I was in tribulation, "I said, You are my hope." My hope here,
therefore
I endure. But "my portion," not here, but "in the land of the
living." God
gives
a portion in the land of the living; but not something from Himself without
Himself.
What will He give to one that loves Him, save Himself?
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Psalm 142
1128
7.
"Give heed unto my prayer, for much have I been humbled" (ver. 6).
Humbled
by
persecutors, humbled in confession. He humbles himself out of the sight of
man:
he is humbled by enemies in their sight. Therefore is he lifted up by Him
both
visibly and invisibly. Invisibly are the martyrs already lifted up; visibly
shall
they
be lifted up, "when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption"
in the
resurrection
of the dead; when this very part of him, against which alone her
persecutors
could rage, shall be renewed. "Fear not them that kill the body, but
cannot
kill the soul." Matthew 10:28 And what perishes? what kill they? ... Why
then
are you anxious about the rest of your members, when you shall not lose even
a
hair? "Deliver me from them that persecute me." From whom do you
think that
he
prays to be delivered? From men who persecuted him? Is it so? are merely men
our
enemies? We have other enemies, invisible, who persecute us in another way.
Man
persecutes, that he may slay the body; another persecutes, that he ensnare the
soul.
Ephesians 2:2 ... There are then other enemies of ours too, from whom we
ought
to pray God to deliver us, lest they lead us astray, either by crushing us with
troubles
of this world, or alluring us by its enticements. Who are these enemies?
Let
us see whether they are plainly described by any servant of the Lord, by any
soldier,
now perfected, who has engaged with them. Hear the Apostle saying, "We
wrestle
not against flesh and blood:" Ephesians 6:12 as though he would say, Turn
not
your hatred against men; think not them your enemies; think not that it is by
their
hostility you are being bruised; these men whom you fear are flesh and
blood....
"For they are strengthened over me." Who said, "they are strengthened
over
me"? The Body of Christ cries out; it is the voice of the Church; the
members
of
Christ cry out, "Much has the number of sinners increased."
"Because iniquity
has
abounded, the love of many waxes cold." Matthew 24:12
8.
"Bring forth my soul out of prison, that it may confess to Your Name"
(ver. 7).
This
"prison" has been variously understood by former writers. And perhaps
it is
the
prison which is called in the title, "the cave." For the title of
this Psalm runs
thus:
"Of understanding to David himself, a prayer when he was in the
cave." That
which
is the cave, the same is also the prison. Two things have we set before us to
understand,
but when we have understood one, both will be understood. A man's
deserts
make a prison. For in one dwelling place one man finds a house, another a
prison
.... To some then it has seemed that the "cave" and
"prison" are this world;
and
this the Church prays, that it may be brought out of prison, that is, from this
world,
from under the sun, where all is vanity. Beyond this world then God
promises
that we shall be in some sort of rest; therefore perhaps do we cry
concerning
this place, "Bring my soul out of prison." Our soul by faith and hope
is
in
Christ; "Your life is hid with Christ in God." But our body is in
this prison, in
this
world.... But some have said, that this prison and cave is this body, so that
this
is
the meaning of, "Bring my soul out of prison." But this
interpretation too is
somewhat
at fault. For what great thing is it to say, "Bring my soul out of
prison,"
bring
my soul out of the body? Do not the souls of robbers and wicked men go
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Psalm 142
1129
forth
from the body, and go into worse punishment than here they have endured?
What
great request then is this, "Bring my soul out of prison," when,
sooner or
later,
it must needs come forth? Perhaps the righteous says, "Let me die now;
bring
forth my soul from this prison of the body." If he be too hasty, he has
not
love.
He ought indeed to long for and desire, as the Apostle says, "having a
desire
to
be dissolved and to be with Christ, which is far better." But where is
love?
Therefore
it follows, "but to abide in the flesh is needful for you." Let God
then
lead
us forth from the body, when He will. Our body too might be said to be a
prison,
not because that is a prison which God has made, but because it is under
punishment
and liable to death. For there are two things to be considered in our
body,
God's workmanship, and the punishment it has deserved.... Perhaps then he
meant
by, "Bring my soul out of prison," bring my soul out of corruption.
If thus
we
understand it, it is no blasphemy, the meaning is consistent. Lastly, brethren,
as
I
think, he meant this; "Bring my soul out of prison," bring it out of
straitness. For
to
one who rejoices, even a prison is wide; to one in sorrow, a field is strait.
Therefore
prays he to be brought out of straitness. For though in hope he have
enlargement,
yet in reality at present he is straitened .... It is not the body that
weighs
down the soul, but the corruptible body. It is not the body then that makes
the
prison, but the corruption. "Bring my soul out of prison, that it may give
thanks
to Your Name." Now the words which follow seem to come from the Head,
our
Lord Jesus Christ. And they are the same as yesterday's last words. Yesterday's
last
words, if you remember, were, "I am alone, until I pass over." And
here what
are
the last words? "The righteous shall sustain me, until thou recompense
me."
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Psalm 143
1130
Exposition
on Psalm 143
1.
...The title of the Psalm is, "To David himself, when his son was pursuing
him."
We
know from the Books of Kings 2 Samuel xv that this happened ... but we must
recognise
here another David, truly "strong in hand," which is the explanation
of
David,
even our Lord Jesus Christ. For all those events of past time were figures
of
things to come. Let us seek then in this Psalm our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ,
announcing Himself beforehand in His prophecy, and foretelling what
should
happen at this time by things which were done long ago. For He Himself
foretold
Himself in the Prophets: for He is the Word of God. Nor did they say
ought
of this kind, save when filled with the Word of God. They announced then
Christ,
being filled with Christ, they went before Him about to come, and He
deserted
not them going before....
2.
Let then our Lord speak; let Christ with us, whole Christ, speak. "Lord,
hear my
prayer,
receive with Thine ears my entreaty" (ver. 1). "Hear" and
"receive with
ears"
are the same thing. It is repetition, it is confirmation. "In Your truth
hear me,
in
Your righteousness." Take it not without emphasis when it is said,
"in Your
righteousness."
For it is a commendation of grace, that none of us think his
righteousness
his own. For this is the righteousness of God, which God has given
you
to possess. For what says the Apostle of them, who would boast of their own
righteousness?
Speaking of the Jews, he says, "they have a zeal of God, but not
according
to knowledge." Romans 10:2 ... You are perverse, because you impute
what
you have done ill to God, what well to yourself: you will be right, when you
impute
what you have done ill to yourself, what well to God .... Behold, "in Your
righteousness
hear me." For when I look upon myself, nought else do I find my
own,
save sin.
3.
"And enter not into judgment with Your servant" (ver. 2). Who are
willing to
enter
into judgment with Him, save they who, "being ignorant of the
righteousness
of
God, go about to establish their own?" "Wherefore have we fasted, and
You
have
not seen; wherefore have we afflicted our souls, and You take no
knowledge?"
Isaiah 58:3 As though they would say, "We have done what You
have
commanded, wherefore dost Thou not render to us what You have
promised?"
God answers you: I will give to you to receive what I have promised: I
have
given you that you should do that whereby you may receive. Finally, to such
proud
ones the Prophet speaks; "Wherefore will you plead with Me? you have all
transgressed
against Me, says the Lord." Why will you enter into judgment with
Me,
and recount your own righteousnesses?..."For before You every one living
shall
not be justified." "Every one living;" living, that is, here,
living in the flesh,
living
in expectation of death; born a man; deriving his life of man; sprung from
Adam,
a living Adam; every one thus living may perhaps be justified before
himself,
but not before You. How before himself? By pleasing himself,
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Psalm 143
1131
displeasing
You. Enter not then into judgment with me, O Lord my God. How
straight
soever I seem to myself, Thou bringest forth a standard from Your store-
house,
Thou fittest me to it, and I am found crooked. Well is it said, "with Your
servant."
It is unworthy of You to enter into judgment with Your servant, or even
with
Your friend. Matthew 5:40 ... What of the Apostles themselves? ... That ye
may
perceive it at once, they learned to pray what we pray: to them was given the
pattern
of prayer by the heavenly Counsellor. "After this manner," says He,
"pray
ye."
Matthew 6:9 And having set down certain things first, He laid down this too
to
be said by the leaders of the sheep, the chief members of the Shepherd and
Gatherer
of the one flock; even they learned to say, "Forgive us our debts."
Matthew
6:12 They said not, "Thanks be to You, who hast forgiven us our debts,
as
we too forgive our debtors," but, "Forgive, as we forgive." But
surely the
faithful
prayed then, surely the Apostles prayed then, for this Lord's Prayer was
given
rather to the faithful. If those debts only were meant which are forgiven by
Baptism,
it would befit catechumens rather to say, "Forgive us our debts." Let
the
Apostles
then say, yea let them say, "Forgive us our debts." And when it is
said to
them,
"Wherefore say ye this? what are your debts?" let them answer,
"for in Your
sight
every one living shall not be justified."
4.
"For the enemy has persecuted my soul: he has humbled my life on the
earth"
(ver.
3). Here we speak, here our Head speaks for us. Manifestly both the devil
persecuted
the Soul of Christ and Judas the Soul of his Master: and now too the
same
devil remains to persecute the Body of Christ, and one Judas succeeds
another.
There lacks not then of whom the Body too may say, "For the enemy has
persecuted
my soul." For what does each one who persecutes us endeavour save to
make
us abandon our heavenly hope, and savour of the earth, yield to our
persecutor,
and love earthly things? "They have laid me in dark places, as the dead
of
the world." This ye hear more readily from the Head; this ye perceive more
readily
in the Head. For He died indeed for us, yet was He not one of the "dead of
the
world." For who are the "dead of the world"? And how was not He
one of the
"dead
of the world"? "The dead of the world" are those who have died
of their
own
desert, receiving the reward of iniquity, deriving death from the sin
transmissed
to them; according as it is said, "For I was conceived in
iniquity."... In
dying,
says He, I do the will of My Father, but I am not deserving of death.
Nought
have I done wherefore I should die, yet is it My own doing that I die, that
by
the death of an innocent One, they may be freed who had wherefore they
should
die. "They set me in places," as though in Hades, as though in the
tomb, as
though
in His very Passion, "as the dead of the world."
5.
"And My Spirit within me," says He, "suffered weariness"
(ver. 4). Remember,
"My
soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." Matthew 26:38 Here we see
one
voice. Do we not see plainly the transition from the Head to the members,
from
the members to the Head?...
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Psalm 143
1132
6.
But we too were there. He goes to the members. "I have called to mind the
days
of
old" (ver. 5). Did He "call to mind the days of old," by whom
every day was
made?
No, but the body speaks, each one who has been justified by His grace,
who
dwells in Him in love and devout humility, speaks and says, "I have
meditated
upon all Your works:" plainly because You have made all things good,
and
nothing would have stood fast, which was not established by You. Your
creation
is made a spectacle unto me: I have sought in the work the Artificer, in all
that
is made the Maker. Wherefore this, to what purpose this, save that he might
understand,
that whatever there was of good in himself was made by Him .... Look
back
then upon the Framer of your life, the Author of your substance, of your
righteousness,
and of your salvation: "meditate upon the works of His hands," for
the
righteousness too which is in you, you will find to pertain to His hand. Hear
the
Apostle teaching you this, "not of works," he says, "lest any
should boast."
Have
we no good works? Plainly we have: but see what follows; "for we are His
workmanship,"
Ephesians 2:9-10 says he. "We are His workmanship:" perhaps in
thus
speaking of workmanship, he meant to mention the nature whereby we are
men?
Evidently not: he was speaking of works. But let us not make conjectures;
let
the text go on, "for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
good
works."
Think not then that you yourself doest anything, save in so far as you are
evil....
"Work out your own salvation," says the Apostle, "with fear and
trembling."
Philippians 2:12-13 If we do work out our own salvation, wherefore
with
fear, wherefore with trembling, when what we work is in our own power?
Hear
wherefore with fear and trembling: "for it is God that works in you both
to
will
and to do, of His good pleasure." Therefore "with fear and
trembling," that it
may
delight our Maker to work in the lowly valley....
7.
"I stretched forth," says he, "my hands to You: my soul is as a
land without
water
to You" (ver. 6). Rain upon me, says he, to bring forth from me good
fruit.
"For
the Lord shall give sweetness, that our land may give her fruit." "I
have
stretched
forth my hands to You; my soul is as a land without water," not to me,
but
"to You." I can thirst for You, I cannot water myself.
8.
"Speedily hear me, Lord" (ver. 7). For what need of delay to inflame
my thirst,
when
already I thirst so eagerly? You delayed the rain, that I might drink and
imbibe,
not reject, Your inflowing. If then Thou for this cause delayed, now give;
for
"my spirit has failed." Let Your Spirit fill me. This is the reason
why You
should
speedily hear me. I am now become "poor in spirit," make Thou me
"blessed
in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3 For he in whom his own spirit
lives,
is proud, is puffed up with his own spirit against God....
9.
"Turn not Thou away Your Face from me." You turned it away from me
when
proud.
For once I was full, and in my fulness I was puffed up. Once "in my
fulness
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Psalm 143
1133
I
said, I shall never be moved." "I said in my fulness, I shall not be
moved,"
knowing
not Your Righteousness, and establishing my own; but "You, Lord, in
Your
Will hast afforded strength to my beauty." "I said in my fulness, I
shall not
be
moved," but from You came whatever fulness I had. And to prove to me that
it
was
from You, "You turned away Your Face from me, and I was troubled."
After
this
trouble, where into I was cast, because You turned away Your Face, after the
weariness
of my spirit, after my heart was troubled within me, because You turned
away
Your Face, then became I "like a land without water to You: turn not Thou
away
Your Face." You turned it away from me when proud; give it back to me
now
I am humble. Because, if Thou turn it away, "I shall be like to them that
go
down
into the pit." What is, "that go down into the pit"? When the
sinner has come
into
the depth of sins, he will show contempt. They "go down into the
pit," who
lose
even confession; against which is said, "Let not the pit close her mouth
over
me."
This depth Scripture calls mostly "a pit," into which depth when a
sinner has
come,
"he shows contempt." What is, "he shows contempt"? He no
longer believes
in
Providence, or if he do believe, he thinks that he has no longer anything to do
with
it....
10.
"Make me to hear in the morning Your mercy, for in You have I hoped"
(ver.
8).
Behold, I am in the night, yet "in You have I hoped," until the
iniquity of the
night
pass away. "For we have," as Peter says, "a more sure word of
prophecy,
whereunto
ye do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place,
until
the day dawn, and the daystar arise in your hearts." "Morning"
then he calls
the
time after the end of the world, when we shall see what in this world we
believe.
But what here, until the morning come? For it is not enough to hope for
the
morning; we must do somewhat. Why do somewhat? God is to be sought with
the
hands in the night. What is, "with the hands"? By good works. Since
then we
must
thus hope for the morning, and bear this night, and persevere in this patience
until
the day dawn, what meanwhile must we do here? lest perchance thou think
that
you will do anything of yourself, whereby you may earn to be brought to the
morning.
"Make known to me, O Lord, the way wherein I must walk." Therefore
did
He kindle the lamp of prophecy, therefore did He send the Lord in the vessel,
as
it were, of the flesh, who should even say, "My strength is dried up like
a
potsherd."
Walk by prophecy, walk by the lamp of future things predicted, walk
by
the word of God....
11.
"Deliver me from mine enemies, O Lord, for unto You have I fled for
refuge"
(ver.
9). I who once fled from You, now flee to You. For Adam fled from the Face
of
God, and hid himself among the trees of Paradise, so that of him was said in
the
Book
of Job, "As a servant that flees from his Lord, and finds a shadow."
He fled
from
the Face of his Lord, and found a shadow. Woe to him, if he continue in the
shade,
lest it be said afterward, "All things are passed away like a
shadow."
Wisdom
5:9 The rulers of this world, of this darkness, the rulers of the wicked;
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Psalm 143
1134
against
these ye wrestle. Great is your conflict, not to see your enemies, and yet to
conquer.
Against the rulers of this world, of this darkness, the devil, that is, and his
angels;
not the rulers of that world, whereof is said, "the world was made by Him,"
but
that world whereof is said, "the world knew Him not." John 1:10
"For unto
You
have I fled for refuge."...Whither should I flee? "Whither shall I go
from
Your
Spirit?"
12.
"Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God" (ver. 10). Glorious
confession!
glorious rule! "For Thou," says he, "art my God." To
another will I
hasten
to be re-made, if by another I was made. You are my all, "for You are my
God."
Shall I seek a father to get an inheritance? "You are my God," not
only the
Giver
of mine inheritance, but mine Inheritance itself. "The Lord is the portion
of
mine
inheritance." Shall I seek a patron, to obtain redemption? "You are
my God."
Lastly,
having been created, do I desire to be re-created? "You are my God,"
my
Creator,
who hast created me by Your Word, and re-created me by Your Word.
"Teach
Thou me:" for it cannot be that You are my God, and yet I am to be my
own
master. See how grace is commended to us. This hold fast, this drink in, this
let
none drive out of your hearts, lest you have "a zeal, of God, but not
according
to
knowledge." Romans 10:2 Say then this: "Your good Spirit," not
my bad one,
"Your
good Spirit shall lead me into the right land." For my bad spirit has led
me
into
a crooked land. And what have I deserved? What can be reckoned as my good
works
without Your aid, through which I might obtain and be worthy to be led by
Your
Spirit into the right land?
13.
Listen, then, with all your power, to the commendation of Grace, whereby you
are
saved without price. "For Your Name's sake, O Lord, You shall quicken me
in
Your
righteousness" (ver. 11); not in my own: not because I have deserved, but
because
You have mercy. For were I to show my own desert, nought should I
deserve
of You, save punishment. You have pruned off from me my own merits;
You
have grafted in Your own gifts. "You shall bring forth my soul out of
tribulation."
"And in your mercy shall bring mine enemies to destruction: and you
shall
destroy all them that afflict my soul; for I am Your servant" (ver. 12).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 144
1135
Exposition on Psalm 144
1.
The title of this Psalm is brief in number of words, but heavy in the weight of
its
mysteries.
"To David himself against Goliath." This battle was fought in the
time
of
our fathers, and you, beloved, remember it with me from Holy
Scripture
.... David put five stones in his scrip, he hurled but one. The five Books
were
chosen, but unity conquered. Then, having smitten and overthrown him, he
took
the enemy's sword, and with it cut off his head. This our David also did, He
overthrew
the devil with his own weapons: and when his great ones, whom he had
in
his power, by means of whom he slew other souls, believe, they turn their
tongues
against the devil, and so Goliath's head is cut off with his own sword.
2.
"Blessed be the Lord my God, who teaches my hands for battle, my fingers
for
war"
(ver. 1). These are our words, if we be the Body of Christ. It seems a
repetition
of sentiment; "our hands for battle," and "our fingers for
war," are the
same.
Or is there some difference between "hands" and "fingers"?
Certainly both
hands
and fingers work. Not then without reason do we take "fingers" as put
for
"hands."
But still in the "fingers" we recognise the division of operation,
yet still a
sort
of unity. Behold that grace! the Apostle says, To one, this; to another, that;
"there
are diversities of operations; all these works one and the self-same
Spirit;"
there
is the root of unity. With these "fingers" then the Body of Christ
fights, going
forth
to "war," going forth to "battle."...By works of Mercy our
enemy is
conquered,
and we could not have works of mercy unless we had charity, and
charity
we could have none unless we received it by the Holy Ghost; He then
"teaches
our hands for battle, and our fingers for war:" to Him rightfully do we
say,
"My Mercy," from whom we have also that we are merciful: "for he
shall
have
judgment without mercy, that has showed no mercy." James 2:13
3.
My Mercy and my Refuge, my Upholder and my Deliverer" (ver. 2). Much toils
this
combatant, having his flesh lusting against his spirit. Keep what you have.
Then
shall you have in full what you wish, when "death shall have been
swallowed
up in victory;" 1 Corinthians 15:54 when this mortal body has been
raised,
and is changed into the condition of the angels, and rises aloft to a heavenly
quality....
There is life, there are good days, where nought lusts against the spirit,
where
it is not said, "Fight," but "Rejoice." But who is he that
lusts for these days?
Every
man certainly says, "I do." Hear what follows. I see that you are
toiling, I
see
that you are engaged in battle, and in danger; hear what follows:...
"Depart
from
evil, and do good:" let not the poor first weep under you, that the poor
may
rejoice
through you. For what reward, since now you are fighting? "Seek peace,
and
ensue it." Learn and say, "My Mercy and my Refuge, mine Upholder and
my
Deliverer,
my Protector:" "mine Upholder," lest I fall; "my
Deliverer," lest I stick;
"my
Protector," lest I be stricken. In all these things, in all my toil, in
all my
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Psalm 144
1136
battles,
in all my difficulties, in Him have I hoped, "who subdues my people under
me."
Behold, our Head speaks together with us.
4.
"Lord, what is man, that You have become known unto him?" (ver. 3).
All is
included
in "that You have become known unto him." "Or the son of man,
that
Thou
valuest him?" Thou valuest him, that is, Thou makest him of such
importance,
Thou countest him of such price, You know under what Thou placest
him,
over what Thou placest him. For valuing is considering the price of a thing.
How
greatly did He value man, who for him shed the blood of His only-begotten
Son!
For God values not man in the same way as one man values another: he,
when
he finds a slave for sale, gives a higher price for a horse than for a man.
Consider
how greatly He valued you, that you may be able to say, "If God be for
us,
who can be against us?" And how greatly did He value you, "who spared
not
His
own Son"? "How shall He not also with Him freely give us all
things?"
Romans
8:31-32 He who gives this food to the combatant, what keeps He in store
for
the conqueror?...
5.
"Man is made like unto vanity: his days pass away like a shadow"
(ver. 4). What
vanity?
Time, which passes on, and flows by. For this "vanity" is said in
comparison
of the Truth, which ever abides, and never fails: for it too is a work of
His
Hand, in its degree. "For," as it is written, "God filled the
earth with His good
things."
Sirach 16:29 What is "His"? That accord with Him. But all these
things,
being
earthly, fleeting, transitory, if they be compared to that Truth, where it is
said,
"I Am That I Am," Exodus 3:14 all this which passes away is called
"vanity."
For
through time it vanishes, like stroke into the air. And why should I say more
than
that which the Apostle James said, willing to bring down proud men to
humility,
"What is," says he, "your life? It is even a vapour, which
appears for a
little
time, and then vanishes away." James 4:14... Work then, though it be in
the
night,
with your hands, that is, by good works seek God, before the day come
which
shall gladden you, lest the day come which shall sadden you. For see how
safely
you work, who art not left by Him whom you seek, "that your Father which
sees
in secret may reward you openly." Matthew 6:4...
6.
"Lord, bow Your heavens, and come down: touch the mountains, and they
shall
smoke"
(ver. 5). "Flash Your lightning, and You shall scatter them; send forth
Thine
arrows, and You shall confound them" (ver. 6). "Send forth Your Hand
from
above, and deliver me, and draw me out of many waters" (ver. 7). The Body
of
Christ, the humble David, full of grace, relying on God, fighting in this
world,
calls
for the help of God. What are "heavens bowed down"? Apostles humbled.
For
those "heavens declare the glory of God;" and of these heavens
declaring the
glory
of God it is presently said, "There is neither speech nor language, but
their
voices
are heard among them," etc. When then these heavens sent forth their
voices
through all lands, and did wonderful things, while the Lord flashed and
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Psalm 144
1137
thundered
from them by miracles and commandments, the gods were thought to
have
come down from heaven to men. For certain of the Gentiles, thinking this,
desired
even to sacrifice to them .... But they commended to these the Lord Jesus
Christ,
humbling themselves, that God might be praised; because "the heavens"
were
"bowed," that "God" might "come down."...
"Touch the mountains, and they
shall
smoke." So long as they are not touched, they seem to themselves great:
they
are
now about to say, "Great are You, O Lord:" the mountains also are
about to
say,
"Thou only art the Most Highest over all the earth."
7.
But there are some that conspire, that "gather themselves together against
the
Lord,
and against His Christ." They have come together, they have conspired.
"Flash
forth Your lightnings, and You shall scatter them." Abound with Your
miracles,
and their conspiracy shall be broken...." Send forth Thine arrows, and
You
shall confound them." Let the unsound be wounded, that, being well
wounded,
they may be made sound; and let them say, being set now in the Church,
in
the Body of Christ, let them say with the Church, "I am wounded with
Love."
"Send
forth Thine Hand from on high." What afterward? What in the end? How
conquers
the Body of Christ? By heavenly aid. "For the Lord Himself shall come
with
the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God shall He descend from
heaven,"
Himself the Saviour of the body, the Hand of God. What is, "Out of
many
waters"? From many peoples. What peoples? Aliens, unbelievers, whether
assailing
us from without, or laying snares within. Take me out of many waters, in
which
You disciplined me, in which You rolled me, to free me from my filth. This
is
the "water of contradiction." Numbers 20:13... "From the hand of
strange
children."
Hear, brethren, among whom we are, among whom we live, from whom
we
long to be delivered. "Whose mouth has spoken vanity" (ver. 8). All
of you
today,
if you had not gathered yourselves together to these divine shows of the
word
of God, and were not at this hour engaged in them, how great vanities would
ye
be hearing! "whose mouth has spoken vanity:" when, in short, would
they,
speaking
vanity, hear you speaking vanity? "And their right hand is a right hand of
iniquity."
What doest thou among them with your pastoral scrip with five stones in
it?
Say it to me in another form: that same law which you have signified by five
stones,
signify in some other way also. "I will sing a new song unto You, O
God"
(ver.
9). "A new song" is of grace; "a new song" is of the new
man; "a new song"
is
of the New Testament. But lest you should think that grace departs from the
law,
whereas rather by grace the law is fulfilled, "upon a psaltery of ten
strings
will
I sing unto You." Upon the law of ten commandments: therein may I sing to
You;
therein may I rejoice to You; therein may "I sing to You a new song;"
for,
"Love
is the fulfilling of the law." Romans 13:10 But they who have not love may
carry
the psaltery, sing they cannot. Contradiction cannot make my psaltery to be
silent.
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Psalm 144
1138
8.
"Who gives salvation to kings, who redeems David His servant" (ver.
10). You
know
who David is; be yourselves David. Whence "redeems He David His
servant"?
Whence redeems He Christ? Whence redeems He the Body of Christ?
"From
the sword of ill intent deliver me." "From the sword" is not
sufficient; he
adds,
"of ill intent." Without doubt there is a sword of good intent. What
is the
sword
of good intent? That whereof the Lord says, "I came not to send peace on
earth,
but a sword." Matthew 10:34 For He was about to separate believers from
unbelievers,
sons from parents, and to sever all other ties, while the sword cut off
what
was diseased, but healed the members of Christ. Of good intent then is the
sword
twice sharpened, powerful with both edges, the Old and New Testaments,
with
the narration of the past and the promise of the future. That then is the sword
of
good intent: but the other is of ill intent, wherewith they talk vanity, for
that is
of
good intent, wherewith God speaks verity. For truly "the sons of men have
teeth
which
are spears and arrows, and their tongue is a sharp sword."
"From" this
"sword
deliver me" (ver. 11). "And take me out of the hand of strange
children,
whose
mouth has spoken vanity:" just as before. And that which follows,
"their
right
hand is a right hand of iniquity," the same he had set down before also,
when
he
called them "many waters." For lest you should think that the
"many waters"
were
good waters, he explained them by the "sword of ill intent."
9.
"Whose sons are like young vines firmly planted in their youth" (ver.
12). He
wishes
to recount their happiness. Observe, you sons of light, sons of peace:
observe,
you sons of the Church, members of Christ; observe whom he calls
"strangers,"
whom he calls "strange children," whom he calls "waters of
contradiction,"
whom he calls a "sword of ill intent." Observe, I beseech you, for
among
them you are in peril, among their tongues ye fight against the desires of
your
flesh, among their tongues, set in the hand of the devil wherewith he fights.
Ephesians
6:12... What vanity has their mouth spoken, and how is their right hand
a
right hand of iniquity? "Their daughters are fitted and adorned after the
similitude
of a temple." "Their garners are full, bursting out from one store to
another:
their sheep are fruitful, multiplying in their streets" (ver. 13):
"their oxen
are
fat: their hedge is not broken down, nor their road, nor is their crying in
their
streets"
(ver. 14). Is not this then happiness? I ask the sons of the kingdom of
heaven,
I ask the offspring of everlasting resurrection, I ask the body of Christ, the
members
of Christ, the temple of God. Is not this then happiness, to have sons
safe,
daughters beautiful, garners full, cattle abundant, no downfall, I say not of a
wall,
but not even of a hedge, no tumult and clamour in the streets, but quiet,
peace,
abundance, plenty of all things in their houses and in their cities? Is not
this
then
happiness? or ought the righteous to shun it? or do you not find the house of
the
righteous too abounding with all these things, full of this happiness? Did not
Abraham's
house abound with gold, silver, children, servants, cattle? What say
we?
is not this happiness? Be it so, still it is on the left hand. What is, on the
left
hand?
Temporal, mortal, bodily. I desire not that thou shun it, but that thou think
it
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Psalm 144
1139
not
to be on the right hand .... For what ought they to have set on the right hand?
God,
eternity, the years of God which fail not, whereof is said, "and Your
years
shall
not fail." There should be the right hand, there should be our longing.
Let us
use
the left for the time, let us long for the fight for eternity. "If riches
increase, set
not
your heart upon them."...
10.
"They have called the people blessed who have these things" (ver. 15).
O men
that
speak vanity! They have lost the true right hand, wicked and perverse, they
have
put on the benefits of God inversely. O wicked ones, O speakers of vanity, O
strange
children! What was on the left hand, they have set on the right. What do
you,
David? What do you, Body of Christ? What do ye, members of Christ? What
do
ye, not strange children, but children of God? ... What say ye? Say ye with us,
"Blessed
is the people whose Lord is their God."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 145
1140
Exposition
on Psalm 145
1.
...The title is, "Praise, to David himself." Praise to Christ
Himself. And since
He
is called David, who came to us of the seed of David, yet He was our King,
ruling
us, and bringing us into His kingdom, therefore "Praise to David
himself" is
understood
to mean, Praise to Christ Himself. Christ according to the flesh is
David,
because He is the Son of David: but according to His Divine Nature He is
the
Creator of David, and Lord of David. "I will exalt You, my God, my King;
and
I
will bless Your Name for the age, and age upon age" (ver. 1). You see that
the
praise
of God is here begun, and this praise is carried on even to the end of the
Psalm
.... Now then begin to praise, if you intend to praise for ever. He who will
not
praise in this transitory "age," will be silent when "age upon
age" has come.
But
lest any one should in any otherwise also understand what he says, "I will
praise
Your Name for the age," and should seek another age, wherein to praise, he
says,
"Every day will I bless You" (ver. 2). Praise then and bless the Lord
your
God
every day, that when single days have passed, and there has come one day
without
end, you may go from praise to praise, as "from strength to
strength." No
day
shall pass by, wherein I bless You not. And it is no wonder, if in your day of
joy
thou bless the Lord. What if perchance some day of sorrow has dawned on
you,
as is natural in the circumstances of our mortal nature, as there is abundance
of
offences, as temptations are multiplied; what, if something sad befall you, a
man;
will you cease to praise God? will you cease to bless your Creator? If thou
cease,
you have lied in saying, "every day," etc. But if thou cease not,
although it
seem
to you to be ill with you in the day of your sorrow, yet in your God it shall
be
well with you....
2.
"Great is the Lord, and very much to be praised" (ver. 3). How much
was he
about
to say? what terms was he about to seek? How vast a conception has he
included
in the one word, "very much"? Imagine what you will, for how can that
be
imagined, which cannot be contained? "He is very much to be praised. And
of
His
Greatness there is no end;" therefore said he "very much:" lest
perchance thou
begin
to wish to praise, and think that you can reach the end of His praises, whose
Greatness
can have no end. Think not then that He, whose Greatness has no end,
can
ever be enough praised by you. Is it not then better that as He has no end, so
neither
should your praise have end? His Greatness is without end; let your praise
also
be without end....
3.
For how great things besides has His boundless Goodness and illimitable
Greatness
made, which we do not know! When we lift the gaze of our eyes even to
the
heaven, and then recall it from sun, moon, and stars to the earth, and there is
all
this space where our sight can wander; beyond the heavens who can extend the
eyesight
of his mind, not to say of his flesh? So far then as His works are known to
us,
let us praise Him through His works. Romans 1:20 "Generation and
generation
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Psalm 145
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shall
praise Your works" (ver. 4). Every generation shall praise Your works. For
perhaps
every generation is meant by "generation and generation."...Did he
perchance
mean to imply two generations by that repetition? For we are in this
generation
sons of God, we shall be in another generation sons of the
Resurrection.
Scripture has called us "sons of the Resurrection;" the Resurrection
itself
it has called Regeneration. "In the regeneration," it says,
"when the Son of
Man
shall be seated in His Majesty." Matthew 19:28 So also in another place;
"For
they
shall not marry, nor be given in marriage, for they are the sons of the
Resurrection."
Luke 20:35-36 Therefore "generation and generation shall praise
Your
works .... And they shall tell out Thine excellence." For neither shall
they
praise
Your works, save in order to "tell out Thine excellence." Boys at
school are
set
to praise, and all such things are set before them to be praised, as God has
wrought:
a mortal is set to praise the sun, the sky, the earth; to come to even lesser
things,
to praise a rose, or a laurel; all these are works of God: they are set, they
are
undertaken, they are praised: the works are lauded, of the Worker they are
silent.
I desire in the works to praise the Creator: I love not a thankless praiser. Do
you
praise what He has made, and art silent of Him who made? In that which you
see,
what is it that you praise? The form, the usefulness, some virtue, some power
in
the things. If beauty delight you, what is more beautiful than the Maker? If
usefulness
be praised, what more useful than He who made all things? If
excellence
be praised, what more excellent than He by whom all things were
made?...
4.
"They shall speak of the magnificence of the glory of Your Holiness, and
shall
record
Your wondrous deeds" (ver. 5). "And the excellence of Your fearful
works
shall
they speak of: and Your greatness, they shall relate it" (ver. 6).
"The
remembrance
of the abundance of Your sweetness they shall pour forth" (ver. 7):
none
but Yours. See whether this man, meditating on Your works, has turned aside
from
the Worker to the work: see whether he has sunk from Him who made, to the
things
which He made. Of the things which He has made, he has made a step up to
Him,
not a descent from Him to them. For if thou love these more than Him, you
will
not have Him. And what profit is it to you to overflow with the works, if the
Worker
leave you? Truly you should love them; but love Him more, and love
them
for His sake. For He does not hold out promises, without holding out threats
also:
if He held out no promises, there would be no encouragement; if He held out
no
threats, there would be no correction. They that praise You therefore shall
"speak"
also "of the excellence of Your terrible deeds;" the excellence of
that work
of
Your hands which punishes and administers discipline, they shall speak of, they
shall
not be silent: for they shall not proclaim Thine everlasting kingdom, and be
silent
about Thine everlasting fire. For the praise of God, setting you in the way,
ought
to show you both what you should love, and what you should fear; what you
should
seek, and what you should shun; what you should choose, and what you
should
avoid. The time of choice is now, the time of receiving will be hereafter.
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Psalm 145
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Let
then the excellence of Your terrible things be told. Unlimited as it is, though
"of
Your greatness there is no end," they shall not be silent about it. How
shall
they
recount it, if there is no end of it? They shall recount it when they praise
it;
and
because there is no end of it, so of His praise also there shall be no end.
5.
"The remembrance of the abundance of Your sweetness they shall pour
forth."
O
happy feasts! What shall they eat, who thus shall "pour forth"!... So
eat, that you
may
pour forth again; so receive, that you may give. Thou eatest, when you learn,
you
pour forth again, when you teach, you eat, when you hear, you pour forth
again,
when you preach, but that you pour forth, which you have first eaten.
Finally,
that most eager feaster John, to whom the very table of the Lord sufficed
not,
unless he leaned on the Lord's breast, and of his inmost heart drank in divine
secrets;
what did he pour forth? "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was
with God." John 1:1 How is it that it suffices not to say, "Your
remembrance;"
or,
"the remembrance of Thine abundance"? Because, what avails it if it
be
abundant,
yet not sweet? So also it is annoying if it be sweet but too little.
6.
...By "pouring forth" this, His preachers "shall exult in His
righteousness" not
in
their own. What then have You done unto us, O Lord, whom we praise, that we
should
be, that we should praise, that we should "exult in Your
righteousness,"
that
we should "utter forth the remembrance of the abundance of Your
sweetness"?
Let us tell it, and, as we tell, let us praise.
7.
"Merciful and pitiful is the Lord; long-suffering, and very merciful"
(ver. 8).
"Sweet
is the Lord to all, and His compassions reach into all His works" (ver.
9).
Were
He not such as this, there would be no seeking to recover us. Consider
yourself:
what did you deserve, O sinner? Despiser of God, what did you deserve?
See
if anything occur to you but penalty, if anything occur to you but punishment.
You
see then what was due to you, and what He has given, who gave gratis. There
was
given pardon to the sinner; there was given the spirit of justification; there
was
given charity and love, wherein you may do all good works; and beyond this,
He
will give you also life everlasting, and fellowship with the angels: all of His
mercy
.... Hear the Scripture: "I will not the death of a sinner, but rather
that he
should
turn, and live." Ezekiel 33:11 By these words of God, he is brought back
to
hope;
but there is another snare to be feared, lest through this very hope he sin the
more.
What then did you also say, thou who through hope sinnest yet more?
"Whensoever
I turn, God will forgive me all; I will do whatsoever I will." Say not
then,
"Tomorrow I will turn, tomorrow I will please God; and all today's and
yesterday's
deeds shall be forgiven me." You say true: God has promised pardon
to
your conversion; He has not promised a tomorrow to your delay. Sirach 5:7
8.
"Sweet is the Lord to all, and His compassions are over all His
works." Why
then
does He condemn? why does He scourge? Are not they whom He condemns,
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1143
whom
He scourges, His works? Plainly they are. And will you know how "His
compassions
are over all His works"? Thence is that long-suffering, whereby "He
makes
His sun to rise on the evil and on the good." Matthew 5:45 Are not
"His
compassions
over all His works, who sends rain upon the just and upon the
unjust"?
In His long-suffering He waits for the sinner, saying, "Turn ye to Me, and
I
will turn to you." Zechariah 1:3 Are not "His compassions over all
His works"?
And
when He says, "Go ye into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels,"
Matthew 25:41 this is not His compassion, but His severity. His
compassion
is given to His works: His severity is not over His works, but over
your
works. Lastly, if thou remove your own evil works, and there remain in you
nought
but His work, His compassion will not leave you: but if you leave not your
works,
there will be severity over your works, not over His works.
9.
"Let all Your works, O Lord, confess to You, and let Your saints bless
You"
(ver.
10). How so? Is not the earth His work? Are not the trees His work? Cattle,
beasts,
fish, fowl, are not they His works? Plainly they too are. And how shall
these
too confess to Him? I see indeed in the angels that His works confess to
Him,
for the angels are His works: and men are His works; and when men confess
to
Him, His works confess to Him; but have trees and stones the voice of
confession?
Yes, verily; "let all" His "works confess to" Him. What do
you say?
even
the earth and the trees? ... But there arises the same question in regard of
praise,
as in regard of confession. For if earth and all things devoid of sensation
therefore
cannot confess, because they have no voice to confess with; neither will
they
be able to praise, because they have no voice to proclaim with. But do not
those
Three Children enumerate all things, as they walked amid the harmless
flames,
who had leisure not only not to fear, but even to praise God? They say to
all
things, heavenly and earthly, "Bless ye the Lord, praise Him and magnify
Him
for
ever." Behold how they praise. Let none think that the dumb stone or dumb
animal
has reason wherewith to comprehend God. They who have thought this,
have
erred far from the truth. God has ordered everything, and made everything: to
some
He has given sense and understanding and immortality, as to the angels; to
some
He has given sense and understanding with mortality, as to man; to some He
has
given bodily sense, yet gave them not understanding, or immortality, as to
cattle:
to some He has given neither sense, nor understanding, nor immortality, as
to
herbs, trees, stones: yet even these cannot be wanting in their kind, and by
certain
degrees He has ordered His creation, from earth up to heaven, from visible
to
invisible, from mortal to immortal. This framework of creation, this most
perfectly
ordered beauty, ascending from lowest to highest, descending from
highest
to lowest, never broken, but tempered together of things unlike, all praises
God.
Wherefore then does all praise God? Because when you consider it, and seest
its
beauty, thou in it praisest God. The beauty of the earth is a kind of voice of
the
dumb
earth .... And this which you have found in it, is the very voice of its
confession,
that you praise the Creator. When you have thought on the universal
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1144
beauty
of this world, does not its very beauty as it were with one voice answer
you,
"I made not myself, God made me"?
10.
For when Your saints bless You, what say they? "They shall tell the glory
of
Your
kingdom, and talk of Your Power" (ver. 11). How powerful is God, who has
made
the earth! how powerful is God, who has filled the earth with good things!
how
powerful is God, who has given to the animals each its own life! how
powerful
is God, who has given different seeds to the womb of the earth, that they
might
make to spring up such various shoots, such beautiful trees! how powerful,
how
great is God! Do thou ask, creation answers, and by its answer, as by the
confession
of the creature, thou, O saint of God, blessest God, and "talkest of
His"
power.
11.
"That they may make known to the sons of men Your power, and the glory of
the
greatness of the beauty of Your kingdom" (ver. 12). Your saints then
commend
"the
glory of the greatness of the beauty of Your kingdom," the glory of the
greatness
of its beauty. There is a certain "greatness of the beauty of Your
kingdom:"
that is, Your kingdom has beauty, and great beauty. Since whatever has
beauty,
has beauty from You, how great beauty has Your whole kingdom! Let not
the
kingdom frighten us: it has beauty also, wherewith to delight us. For what is
that
beauty, which the saints shall hereafter enjoy, to whom it shall be said,
"Come,
you blessed of My Father, enjoy the kingdom"? Matthew 25:34 Whence
shall
they come? whither shall they come? Behold, brethren, and, if you can, as far
as
you can, think of the beauty of that kingdom which is to come; whence our
prayer
says, "Your kingdom come." For that kingdom we desire may come, that
kingdom
the saints proclaim to be coming. Observe this world: it is beautiful. How
beautiful
are earth, sea, air, heavens, stars. Do not all these frighten him who
considers
them? Is not the beauty of them so conspicuous, that it seems as though
nothing
more beautiful could be found? And here, in this beauty, in this fairness
almost
unspeakable, here worm and mice and all creeping things of the earth live
with
you, they live with you in all this beauty. How great is the beauty of that
kingdom
where none but angels live with You! There is a greatness of a certain
beauty;
let it be loved before it is seen, that when it is seen, it may be retained.
12.
"Your kingdom." What kingdom mean I? "a kingdom of all
ages." For the
kingdom
of this age too has its own beauty, but there is not in it that greatness of
beauty,
such as in the "kingdom of all ages." "And Your dominion is in
every
generation
and generation" (ver. 13). This is the repetition we noticed, signifying
either
every generation, or the generation which will be after this generation.
"Faithful
is the Lord in His words, and holy in all His works." "Faithful is
the Lord
in
His words:" for what has He promised that He has not given? "Faithful
is the
Lord
in His words." Hereto there are certain things which He has promised, and
has
not given; but let Him be believed from the things which He has given. We
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might
well believe Him, if He only spoke: He willed not that we should believe
Him
speaking, but that we should have His Scriptures in our hands:... as though a
kind
of bond of God's, which all who pass by might read, and might keep to the
path
of its promise. And how great things has He already paid in accordance with
that
bond! Do men hesitate to believe Him concerning the Resurrection of the
dead
and the Life to come, which alone now remains to be paid, when, if He come
to
reckon with the unbelievers, the unbelievers must blush? If God say to you,
"You
have My bond: I have promised judgment, the separation of good and bad,
everlasting
life for the faithful, and will you not believe? There in My bond read
all
that I have promised, reckon with me: verily even by counting up what I have
paid,
you can believe that I shall pay what still I owe. In that bond you have My
only-begotten
Son promised, "Whom I spared not, but gave Him up for you all:"
Romans
8:32 reckon this then among what is paid. Read the bond: I promised
therein
that I would give by My Son the earnest of the Holy Spirit: reckon that as
paid.
I promised therein the blood and the crowns of the glorious Martyrs; let the
White
Mass remind you that My debt has been paid .... He sets before the eyes of
all
His payment of His debts: some He has paid in the time of our ancestors, which
we
saw not: some He has paid in our times, which they saw not; throughout all
generations
He has paid what was written. And what remains? Do men not believe
Him,
when He has paid all this? What remains? Behold you have reckoned: all
this
He has paid: is He become unfaithful for the few things which remain? God
forbid!
Wherefore? Because "the Lord is faithful in His words, and holy in all His
works."
13.
"The Lord strengthens all that are falling" (ver. 14). But who are
"all that are
falling"?
All indeed fall in a general sense, but he means those who fall in a
particular
way. For many fall from Him, many also fall from their own
imaginations.
If they had evil imaginations, they fall from them, and "God
strengthened
all that are falling." They who lose anything in this world, yet are
holy,
are as it were dishonoured in this world, from rich become poor, from
honoured
of low estate, yet are they God's saints; they are, as it were, falling. But
"God
strengthens." For "the just falls seven times, and rises again; but
the wicked
shall
be weakened in evils." Proverbs 24:16 When evils befall the wicked, they
are
weakened
thereby; when evils befall the righteous, "the Lord strengthens all that
are
falling."... "And lifts up all those that have been cast down:"
all, that is, who
belong
to him; for "God resists the proud." James 4:6
14.
"The eyes of all hope upon You, and Thou givest them food in due
season"
(ver.
15). Just as when you refresh a sick man in due season, when he ought to
receive,
then Thou givest, and what he ought to receive, that Thou givest.
Sometimes
then men long, and he gives not: he who tends, knows the time to give.
Wherefore
say I this, brethren? Lest any one be faint, if perchance he has not been
heard,
when making some righteous request of God. For when he makes any
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Psalm 145
1146
unrighteous
request, he is heard to his punishment: but when making some
righteous
request of God, if perchance he have not been heard, let him not be
down-hearted,
let him not faint, let his eyes wait for the food, which He gives in
due
season. When He gives not, He therefore gives not, lest that which He gives
do
harm. 2 Corinthians 12:7... "Thou givest them meat in due season."
15.
"You open Thine Hand, and fillest every living thing with blessing"
(ver. 16).
Though
sometimes Thou givest not, yet "in due season" Thou givest: Thou
delayest,
not deniest, and that in due season." "Righteous is the Lord in all
His
ways,
and holy in all His works" (ver. 17). Both when He smites and when He
heals,
He is righteous, and in Him unrighteousness is not. Finally, all His saints,
when
set in the midst of tribulation, have first praised His righteousness, and so
sought
His blessings. They first have said, "What Thou doest is righteous."
So did
Daniel
ask, and other holy men: "Righteous are Your judgments: rightly have we
suffered:
deservedly have we suffered." They laid not unrighteousness to God,
they
laid not to Him injustice and folly. First they praised Him scourging, and so
they
felt Him feeding.
16.
"The Lord is nigh unto all that call upon Him" (ver. 18). Where then
is that,
"Then
shall they call upon Me, and I will not hear them"? Proverbs 1:28 See then
what
follows: "all who call upon Him in truth." For many call upon Him,
but not
in
truth. They seek something else from Him, but seek not Himself. Why do you
love
God? "Because He has made me whole." That is clear: it was He that
made
you
so. For from none else comes health, save Him. "Because He gave me,"
says
another,
"a rich wife, whereas I before had nothing, and one that obeys me."
This
too
He gave: you say true. "He gave me," says another, "sons many
and good, He
gave
me a household, He gave me all good things." Do you love Him for
this?
... Therefore if God is good, who has given you what you have, how much
more
blessed will you be when He has given you Himself! You have desired all
these
things of Him: I beseech you desire of Him Himself also. For these things
are
not truly sweeter than He is, nor in any way are they to be compared to Him.
He
then who preferrs God Himself to all the things which he has received, whereat
he
rejoices, to the things he has received, he "calls upon God in
truth."...
17.
"He will perform the will of them that fear Him" (ver. 19). He will
perform it,
He
will perform it: though He perform it not at once, yet He will perform it.
Certainly
if therefore you fear God, that you may do His will, behold even He in a
manner
ministers to you; He does your will. "And He shall hear their prayer, and
save
them." You see that for this purpose the Physician hears, that He may
save.
When?
Hear the Apostle telling you. "For we are saved in hope: but hope which is
seen
is not hope: but if what we see not we hope for, then do we with patience
wait
for it: Romans 8:24 "the salvation," that is, which Peter calls
"ready to be
revealed
in the last time." 1 Peter 1:5
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Psalm 145
1147
18.
"The Lord guards all that love Him, and all sinners He will destroy"
(ver. 20).
You
see that there is severity with Him, with whom is so great sweetness. He will
save
all that hope in Him, all the faithful, all that fear Him, all that call upon
Him
in
truth: "and all sinners He will destroy." What "all
sinners," save those who
persevere
in sin; who dare to blame God, not themselves; who daily argue against
God;
who despair of pardon for their sins, and from this very despair heap up their
sins;
or who perversely promise themselves pardon, and through this very promise
depart
not from their sins and impiety? The time will come for all these to be
separated,
and for the two divisions to be made of them, one on the right hand, the
other
on the left; and for the righteous to receive the everlasting Kingdom, the
wicked
to go into everlasting fire. Since this is so, and we have heard the blessing
of
the Lord, the works of the Lord, the wondrous things of the Lord, the mercies
of
the
Lord, the severity of the Lord, His Providence over all His works, the
confession
of all His works; observe how He concludes in His praise, "My mouth
shall
speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless His holy Name for ever
and
ever" (ver. 21).
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Psalm 146
1148
Exposition
on Psalm 146
1.
...Behold the Psalm sounds; it is the voice of some one (and that some one are
you,
if you will), of some one encouraging his soul to praise God, and saying to
himself,
"Praise the Lord, O my soul" (ver. 1). For sometimes in the
tribulations
and
temptations of this present life, whether we will or no, our soul is troubled;
of
which
troubling he speaks in another Psalm. But to remove this troubling, he
suggests
joy; not as yet in reality, but in hope; and says to it when troubled and
anxious,
sad and sorrowing, "Hope in God, for I will yet confess to Him."...
2.
But who says it, and to whom says he it? What shall we say, brethren? Is it the
flesh
that says, "Praise thou the Lord, O my soul"? And can the flesh
suggest good
counsel
to the soul? However much the flesh be conquered, and subjected as a
servant
to us through strength which the Lord imparts, that it serve us entirely as a
bond
slave, enough for us that it hinder us not .... For the body, inasmuch as it is
the
body, is even beneath the soul; and every soul, however vile, is found more
excellent
than the most excellent body. And let not this seem to you to be
wonderful,
that even any vile and sinful soul is better than any great and most
surpassing
body. It is better, not in deserts, but in nature. The soul indeed is sinful,
is
stained with certain defilements of lusts; yet gold, though rusted, is better
than
the
most polished lead. Let your mind then run over every part of creation, and
you
will see that what we are saying is not incredible, that a soul, however
blameable,
is yet more praiseworthy than a praiseworthy body. There are two
things,
a soul and a body. The soul I chide, the body I praise: the soul I chide,
because
it is sinful; the body I praise, because it is sound. Yet it is in its own kind
that
I praise the soul, and in its own kind that I blame the soul: and so in its own
kind
I praise the body, or blame it. If you ask me which is better, what I have
blamed
or what I have praised, wondrous is the answer you will receive.... So you
speak
of the best horse and the worst man: yet you prefer the man you find fault
with
to the horse you praise. The nature of the soul is more excellent than the
nature
of the body: it surpasses it by far, it is a thing spiritual, incorporeal, akin
to
the
substance of God. It is somewhat invisible, it rules the body, moves the limbs,
guides
the senses, prepares thoughts, puts forth actions, takes in images of
countless
things; who is there, in short, beloved brethren, who may suffice for the
praises
of the soul? And yet such is the grace given to it, that this man says,
"Praise
the Lord, O my soul."... It is not the flesh that says it. Let the body be
angel-like,
still it is inferior to the soul, it cannot give advice to its superior. The
flesh
when duly obedient is the handmaid of the soul: the soul rules, the body
obeys;
the soul commands, the body performs; how then can the flesh give this
advice
to the soul? Is it then perchance the soul herself, who says to herself, and in
a
manner commands herself, and exhorts and asks herself? For through certain
passions
in one part of her nature she wavered; but in another part, which they call
the
reasonable mind, the wisdom whereby she thinks, clinging to God, and now
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Psalm 146
1149
sighing
towards Him, she perceives that certain inferior parts of her are troubled
by
worldly emotions, and by a certain excitement of earthly desires, betake them
to
outward things, leaving God who is within; so she recalls herself from things
outward
to inward, from lower to higher, and says, "Praise the Lord, O my
soul."...
The soul itself gives itself counsel from the light of God by the reasonable
mind,
whereby it conceives the wisdom fixed in the everlasting nature of its
Author.
It reads there of somewhat to be feared, to be praised, to be loved, to be
longed
for, and sought after: as yet it grasps it not, it comprehends it not; it is,
as it
were,
dazzled with brightness; it has not strength to abide there. Therefore it
gathers
itself, as it were, into a sound state, and says, "Praise the Lord, O my
soul."...
And then the soul, weighed down, as it were, and unable to stand up as is
fitting,
answers the mind, "I will praise the Lord in my life" (ver. 2). What
is, "in
my
life"? Because now I am in my death. Therefore first encourage yourself,
and
say,
"Praise the Lord, O my soul." Your soul answers you, I do praise so
far as I
can,
slightly, poorly, weakly. Wherefore? Because, "while we are in the body,
we
are
absent from the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:6...
3.
"In my life." Now what has it? It might answer you, "My
death." Whence, "My
death"?
because I am absent from the Lord. For if to cling to Him is life, to depart
from
Him is death. But what comforts you? Hope. Now you live in hope: in hope
praise,
in hope sing. Your death is from the sadness of this life, you live in hope of
a
future life. And how will you praise your Lord? "I will sing unto my God,
as
long
as I have my being." What sort of praise is this, "I will sing unto
my God as
long
as I have being"? Behold, my brethren, what sort of being this will be;
where
there
will be everlasting praise, there will be also everlasting being. Behold, now
you
have being: do you sing unto God as long as you have being? Behold, you
were
singing, and hast turned yourself away to some business, you sing no longer,
yet
you have being: you have being, yet you sing not. It may be also your desire
turns
you to somewhat; not only do you not sing, but thou even offendest His ears,
yet
you have being. What praise will that be, when you praise as long as you have
being?
But what means, "as long as I have being"? Will there be any time
when he
will
not be? Nay, rather, that "long" will be everlasting, and therefore
it will be
truly
"long." For whatever has end in time, however prolonged it is, is yet
not
"lon"
.. . .
4.
"Put not your trust in princes" (ver. 3). Brethren, here we receive a
mighty task;
it
is a voice from heaven, from above it sounds to us. For now through some kind
of
weakness the soul of man, whensoever it is in tribulation here, despairs of
God,
and
chooses to rely on man. Let it be said to one when set in some affliction,
"There
is a great man, by whom you may be set free;" he smiles, he rejoices, he
is
lifted
up. But if it is said to him, "God frees you," he is chilled, so to
speak, by
despair.
The aid of a mortal is promised, and you rejoice, the aid of the Immortal
is
promised, and are you sad? It is promised you that you shall be freed by one
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who
needs to be freed with you, and you exult, as at some great aid: you are
promised
that Liberator, who needs none to free Him, and you despair, as though
it
were but a fable. Woe to such thoughts: they wander far; truly there is sad and
great
death in them. Approach, begin to long, begin to seek and to know Him by
whom
you were made. For He will not leave His work, if He be not left by His
work.
5.
... "His breath shall go forth, and he shall return to his earth: in that
day shall all
his
thoughts perish" (ver. 4). Where is swelling? where is pride? where is
boasting?
But perhaps he will have passed to a good place, if indeed he have
passed.
For I know not whither he who spoke thus has passed. For he spoke in
pride;
and I know not whither such men pass, save that I look into another Psalm,
and
see that their passage is an evil one. "I beheld the wicked lifted up
above the
cedars
of Libanus, and I passed by, and, lo, he was not; and I sought him, and his
place
was not found." The good man, who passed by, and found not the wicked,
reached
a place where the wicked is not. Wherefore, brethren, let us all listen:
brethren,
beloved of God, let us all listen; in whatsoever tribulation, in whatsoever
longing
for the heavenly gift, "let us not trust in princes, nor in sons of men,
in
whom
is no salvation." All this is mortal, fleeting, perishable.
What
then must we do, if we are not to hope in sons of men, nor in princes? What
must
we do? "Blessed is he whose Helper is the God of Jacob" (ver. 5): not
this
man
or that man; not this angel or that angel; but, "blessed is he whose
Helper is
the
God of Jacob:" for to Jacob also so great an Helper was He, that of Jacob
He
made
him Israel. O mighty help! now he is Israel, "seeing God." While then
you
are
placed here, and a wanderer not yet seeing God, if you have the God of Jacob
for
your Helper, from Jacob you will become Israel, and will be "seeing
God," and
all
toil and all groans shall come to an end, gnawing cares shall cease, happy
praises
shall succeed. "Blessed is he whose Helper is the God of Jacob;" of
this
Jacob.
Wherefore is he happy? Meanwhile, while yet groaning in this life, "his
hope
is in the Lord his God." ... Who is this, "Lord his God"?...
"To us there is one
God,
the Father, of whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom
are
all things." 1 Corinthians 8:6 Therefore let Him be your hope, even the
Lord
your
God; in Him let your hope be. His hope too is in the lord his god, who
worships
Saturn; his hope is in the lord his god, who worships Neptune or
Mercury;
yea more, I add, who worships his belly, of whom is said, "whose god is
their
belly." Philippians 3:19 The one is the god of the one, the other of the
other.
Who
is this "blessed" one? for "his hope is in the Lord his
God." But who is He?
"Who
made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them" (ver. 6). My
brethren,
we have a great God; let us bless His holy Name, that He has deigned to
make
us His possession. As yet you see not God; you can not fully love what as
yet
you see not. All that you see, He has made. Thou admirest the world; why not
the
Maker of the world? Thou lookest up to the heavens, and art amazed: you
consider
the whole earth, and tremblest; when can you contain in your thought the
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vastness
of the sea? Look at the countless number of the stars, look at all the many
kind
of seeds, all the different sorts of animals, all that swims in the water,
creeps
on
the earth, flies in the sky, hovers in the air; how great are all these, how
beautiful,
how fair, how amazing! Behold, He who made all these, is your God.
Put
your hope in Him, that you may be happy. "His hope is in the Lord his
God."
Observe,
my brethren, the mighty God, the good God, who makes all these
things
.... If he mentioned these things only, perhaps you would answer me, "God,
who
made heaven and earth and sea, is a great God: but does He think of me?"
It
would
be said to you, "He made you." How so? am I heaven, or am I earth, or
am I
sea?
Surely it is plain; I am neither heaven, nor earth, nor sea: yet I am on earth.
At
least you grant me this, that you are on earth. Hear then, that God made not
only
heaven and earth and sea: for He "made heaven and earth and sea, and all
that
is
in them." If then He made all that is in them, He made you also. It is too
little to
say,
you; the sparrow, the locust, the worm, none of these did He not make, and
He
cares for all. His care refers not to His commandment, for this commandment
He
gave to man alone .... As regards then the tenor of the commandment, "God
does
not take care for oxen:" 1 Corinthians 9:9 as regards His providential
care of
the
universe, whereby He created all things, and rules the world, "You, Lord,
shall
save
both man and beast." Here perhaps some one may say to me, "God cares
not
for
oxen," comes from the New Testament: "You, Lord, shall save both man
and
beast,"
is from the Old Testament. There are some who find fault and say, that
these
two Testaments agree not with one another .... Let us hear the Lord Himself,
the
Chief and Master of the Apostles: "Consider," says He, "the
fowls of the air;
they
sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father
feeds
them." Matthew 6:26 Therefore even beside men, these animals are objects
of
care to God, to be fed, not to receive a law. As far then as regards giving a
law,
"God
cares not for oxen:" as regards creating, feeding, governing, ruling, all
things
have
to do with God. "Are not two sparrows sold for one farthing?" says
our Lord
Jesus
Christ, "and one of them shall not fall to the ground without the will of
your
Father:
how much better are you than they." Matthew 10:29 Perhaps you say, God
counts
me not in this great multitude. There follows here a wondrous passage in
the
Gospel: "the hairs of your head are all numbered." Matthew 10:30
6.
"Who keeps truth for ever." What "truth for ever"? what
"truth" does He "keep,"
and
wherein does "He keep it for ever"? "Who executes judgment for
them that
suffer
wrong" (ver. 7). He avenges them that suffer wrong. There comes at once to
you
the voice of the Apostle: "now therefore there is altogether a fault among
you,
that
you go to law one with another: why do ye not rather suffer wrong?"
1
Corinthians 6:7 He urged you not to suffer annoyance, but to suffer wrong: for
not
every annoyance is wrong. For whatever you suffer lawfully is not a wrong;
lest
perchance you should say, I also am among those who have suffered wrong,
for
I have suffered such a thing in such a place, and such a thing for such a
reason.
Consider
whether you have suffered a wrong. Robbers suffer many things, but
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they
suffer no wrong. Wicked men, evil doers, house-breakers, adulterers,
seducers,
all these suffer many evils, yet is there no wrong. It is one thing to suffer
wrong;
it is another to suffer tribulation, or penalty, or annoyance, or punishment.
Consider
where you are; see what you have done; see why you are suffering; and
then
you see what you are suffering. Right and wrong are contraries. Right is what
is
just. For not all that is called right, is right. What if a man lay down for
you
unjust
right? nor indeed is it to be called right, if it is unjust. That is true
right,
which
is also just. Consider what you have done, not what you are suffering. If
you
have done right, you are suffering wrong; if you have done wrong, you are
suffering
right....
7.
"Who gives food to the hungry." Behold, from you I look for nothing:
"God
gives
food to the hungry." Who are "the hungry"? All. What is, all? To
all things
that
have life, to all men He gives food: does He not reserve some food for His
beloved?
If they have another kind of hunger, they have also another kind of food.
Let
us first enquire what their hunger is, and then we shall find their food.
"Blessed
are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be
filled."
Matthew 5:6 We ought to be God's hungry ones.... "The Lord looses them
that
are fettered; the Lord lifts up them that are dashed down; the Lord makes wise
them
that are blind" (ver. 8). Perfectly has he by this last sentence explained
to us
all
the preceding ones: lest perchance, when he had said, "the Lord looses
them
that
are fettered," we should refer it to those fettered ones, who for some
crime are
bound
in irons by their masters: and in that he said, "He lifts up them that are
dashed
down," there should occur to our minds some one stumbling or falling, or
thrown
from a horse. There is another kind of fall, there are other kinds of fetters,
just
as there is other darkness and other light. Whereas he said, "He makes the
blind
wise;" he would not say, He enlightened the blind, lest you should
understand
this also in reference to the flesh, as the man was enlightened by the
Lord,
when He anointed his eyes with clay made with spittle, and so healed him:
that
you might not look for anything of this sort, when He is speaking of spiritual
things,
he points to a sort of light of wisdom, wherewith the blind are enlightened.
Therefore
in the same way as the blind are enlightened with the light of wisdom,
so
are the fettered set free, and those who are dashed down are lifted up. Whereby
then
have we been fettered? whereby dashed down? Our body was once an
ornament
to us: now, we have sinned, and thereby have had fetters put on us. What
are
our fetters? Our mortality.... "The Lord loves the righteous." And
who are the
"righteous"?
How far are they righteous now? Just as you have; "the Lord, guards
proselytes"
(ver. 9). "Proselytes" are strangers. Every Church of the Gentiles is
a
stranger.
For it comes in to the Fathers, not sprung of their flesh, but their daughter
by
imitating them. Yet the Lord, not any man, guards them. "The orphan and
widow
He will take up." Let none think that He takes up the orphan for his
inheritance,
or the widow for any business of hers. True, God does help them; and
in
all the duties of the human race, he does a good work, who takes care of an
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orphan,
who abandons not a widow: but in a certain way we are all orphans, not
because
our Father is dead, but because He is absent....
8.
"And the way of sinners He shall root out." What is, "the way of
sinners"? To
mock
at these things which we say. "Who is an orphan, who a widow? What
kingdom
of heaven, what punishment of hell is there? These are fables of the
Christians.
To what I see, to that will I live: "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we
die."
1 Corinthians 15:32 Beware lest such men persuade you of anything: let
them
not enter through your ears into your heart; let them find thorns in your ears:
let
him, who seeks to enter thus, go away pierced: for "evil communications
corrupt
good manners." 1 Corinthians 15:33 But here perhaps you will say,
"Wherefore
then are they prosperous? Behold, they worship not God, and commit
every
kind of evil daily: yet they abound in those things, through want of which I
toil."
Be not envious against sinners. What they receive, you see, what is in store
for
them, do you not see? ... Will you not believe even the Lord your God, who
says,
"Broad and spacious is the way that leads to destruction, and many there
be
that
walk by it"? Matthew 7:13 This "way the Lord will root out."
And, when "the
way
of sinners" has been "rooted out," what remains for us?
"Come, you blessed
of
My father, enjoy the Kingdom;" Matthew 25:34 "The Lord shall reign
for ever"
(ver.
10). "O Sion, your God" shall reign for ever; surely your God will
not reign
without
you. "For generation and generation." He has said it twice, because
he
could
not say it for ever. And think not that eternity is bounded by finite words.
The
word eternity consists of four syllables; in itself it is without end. It could
not
be
commended to you, save thus, "for generation and generation." Too
little has he
said:
if he spoke it all day long, it were too narrow: if he spoke it all his life,
must
he
not at length hold his peace? Love eternity: without end shall you reign, if
Christ
be thine End, with whom you shall reign for ever and ever. Amen.
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Exposition
on Psalm 147
1.
It is said to us, "Praise the Lord" (ver. 1). This is said to all
nations, not to us
alone.
And these words, sounded forth through separate places by the Readers,
each
Church hears separately; but the one same Voice of God proclaims unto all,
that
we praise Him. And as though we asked wherefore we ought to praise the
Lord,
behold what reason he has brought forward: "Praise the Lord," he
says, "for
a
Psalm is good." Is this all the reward of them that praise?... The
"Psalm" is praise
of
God. This then he says, "Praise the Lord, for it is good to praise the
Lord." Let
us
not thus pass over the praise of the Lord. It is spoken, and has passed: it is
done,
and
we are silent: we have praised, and then rested; we have sung, and then rested.
We
go forth to some business which awaits us, and when other employments have
found
us, shall the praise of God cease in us? Not so: your tongue praises but for a
while,
let your life ever praise. Thus then "a Psalm is good."
2.
For a "Psalm" is a song, not any kind of song, but a song to a
psaltery. A
psaltery
is a kind of instrument of music, like the lyre and the harp, and such kinds
of
instruments, which were invented for music. He therefore who sings Psalms,
not
only sings with his voice, but with a certain instrument besides, which is
called
a
psaltery, he accompanies his voice with his hands. Will you then sing a Psalm?
Let
not your voice alone sound the praises of God; but let your works also be in
harmony
with your voice .... To please then the ear, sing with your voice; but with
your
heart be not silent, with your life be not still. Thou devisest no fraud in
your
heart:
you sing a Psalm to God. When you eat and drinkest, sing a Psalm: not by
intermingling
sweet sounds suited to the ear, but by eating and drinking
moderately,
frugally, temperately: for thus says the Apostle, "whether ye eat or
drink,
or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31 ... If
by
immoderate
voracity you exceed the due bounds of nature, and gluttest yourself in
excess
of wine, however great praises of God your tongue sound, yet your life
blasphemes
Him. After food and drink you lie down to sleep: in your bed neither
commit
any pollution, nor go beyond the license given by the law of God: let your
marriage
bed be kept chaste with your wife: and if thou desire to beget children,
yet
let there not be unbridled sensuality of lust: in your bed give honour to your
wife,
1 Peter 3:7 for you are both members of Christ, both made by Him, both
renewed
by His Blood: so doing you praise God, nor will your praise be altogether
silent.
What, when sleep has come over you? Let not an evil conscience rouse you
from
rest: so does the innocence of your sleep praise God....
3.
"Let praises be pleasant to our God." How? If He be praised by our
good lives.
Hear
that then praise will be pleasant to Him. In another place it is said,
"Praise is
not
seemly in the mouth of a sinner." Sirach 15:9 If then in the mouth of a
sinner
praise
is not seemly, neither is it pleasant, for that only is pleasant which is
seemly
.... For praise may be pleasant to a man, when he hears one praising with
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neat
and clever sentiments, and with a sweet voice; but "let praise be pleasant
to
our
God," whose ears are open not to the mouth, but to the heart; not to the
tongue,
but
to the life of him that praises.
4.
Who is "our God," that praise should be pleasant to Him? He makes
Himself
sweet
to us, He commends Himself to us; thanks to His condescension.... "But
God
commends His love to us"... "in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died
for
us." Romans 5:8 ... Let us see whether it be the commendation which the
Apostle
speaks of, that Christ died for the sinners and ungodly: "the Lord who
builds
up Jerusalem, and gathers the dispersions of Israel" (ver. 2). For the
people
of
Jerusalem are the people of Israel. It is Jerusalem "eternal in the
heavens,"
whereof
the Angels are citizens also .... All the citizens then of that city, through
"seeing
God," rejoice in that great and wide and heavenly city; they gaze upon
God
Himself. But we are wanderers from that city, driven out by sin, that we
should
not remain there; weighed down by mortality, that we should not return
thither.
God looked back on our wandering, and He who "builds up Jerusalem,"
restored
the part that had fallen. How restored He the part that had fallen? ... He
sent
then to our captive estate His Son as a Redeemer. Take with You, said He, a
bag,
bear therein the price of the captives. For He put on Him our mortal flesh, and
therein
was the Blood, by the shedding of which we were to be redeemed. With
that
Blood He "gathered the dispersions of Israel." And if He gathered
them that
before
were dispersed, how must we strive that they be gathered who now are
dispersed?
If the dispersed have been gathered, that in the Hand of the Builder
they
might be fashioned into the building, how should they be gathered who
through
disquiet have fallen from the Hand of the Builder? Behold whom we
praise;
behold to whom we owe praise all our life long.
5.
How does He gather? What does He in order to gather? "Who heals the
bruised
in
heart" (ver. 3). Behold the way in which the dispersions of Israel are
gathered,
by
the healing of the bruised in heart. They who are not of a bruised heart, are
not
healed.
What is to bruise the heart? Let it be known, brethren, let it be done, that
you
may be able to be healed. For it is told in many other places of
Scripture;...
"the sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit, a bruised and contrite heart
God
will not despise." He heals then the bruised in heart, for He draws nigh
unto
them
to heal them; as is said in another place, "the Lord is nigh unto them who
have
bruised their heart." Who are they that have "bruised their
heart"? The
humble.
Who are they that have not "bruised their heart"? The proud. The
bruised
heart
shall be healed, the puffed up heart shall be dashed down. For for this
purpose
perhaps is it dashed down, that being bruised it may be healed. Let not our
heart
then, brethren, desire to be set upright, before it be upright. It is ill for
that to
be
uplifted which is not first corrected....
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6.
What are the means whereby He "binds up their bruises"? Just as
physicians
bind
up fractures. For sometimes (observe this, beloved; it is well known to those
who
have observed it, or have heard it from physicians), sometimes when limbs
are
sound, but are crooked and distorted, physicians break them in order to set
them
straight, and make a new wound, because the soundness which was distorted
was
amiss....
7.
What are these means whereby He binds? The sacraments of this present life,
whereby
in the mean time we obtain our comfort: and all the words we speak to
you,
words which sound and pass away, all that is done in the Church in this
present
time, are the means whereby "He binds up our bruises." For just as,
when
the
limb has become perfectly sound, the physician takes off the bandage; so in
our
own city Jerusalem, when we shall have been made equal to the Angels, think
ye
that we shall receive there, what we have received here? Will it be needful
then
that
the Gospel be read to us, that our faith may abide? or that hands be laid upon
us
by any Bishop? All these are means of binding up fractures; when we have
attained
perfect soundness, they will be taken off; but we should never attain it, if
they
were not bound up.
8.
"Who tells the number of the stars, and calls them all by their
names" (ver. 4).
What
great matter is it for God to "tell the number of the stars"! Men
even have
endeavoured
to do this; whether they have been able to achieve it, is their concern;
they
would not however attempt it, did they not think that they should achieve it.
Let
us leave alone what they can do, and how far they have attained; for God I
think
it no great matter to count all the stars. Or does He perhaps go over the
number,
lest He should forget it? Is it any great thing for God to number the stars,
by
whom "the very hairs of your head are numbered"? Matthew 10:30 The
stars
are
certain lights in the Church comforting our night; all of whom the Apostle
says,
"In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine
as
lights in the world, holding the Word of life." Philippians 2:15 These
stars God
counts;
all who shall reign with Him, all who are to be gathered into the Body of
His
only-begotten Son, He has counted, and still counts them. Whoso is unworthy,
is
not even counted. Many too have believed, or rather may, with a kind of
shadowy
appearance of faith, have attached themselves to His people: yet He
knows
what He counts, what He winnowes away. For so great is the height of the
Gospel,
that it has come to pass as was said, "I have declared, and have spoken:
they
are multiplied above number:" there are then among the people certain
supernumeraries,
so to speak. What do I mean by supernumeraries? More than will
be
there. Within these walls are more than will be in the kingdom of God, in the
heavenly
Jerusalem; these are above the number. Let each one of you consider
whether
he shines in darkness, whether he refuses to be led astray by the dark
iniquity
of the world; if he be not led astray, nor conquered, he will be, as it were,
a
star, which God already numbers. "And calling them all by their
names," he
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1157
says.
Herein is our whole reward. We may have certain names with God, that God
may
know our names, this we ought to wish, for this to act, for this to busy
ourselves,
as far as we are able; not to rejoice in other things, not even in certain
spiritual
gifts.... When the disciples returned from their mission exulting, and
saying,
"Lord, even the devils are subject unto us in Your Name" Luke 10:17—
then
He (knowing that many would say, "have we not in Your Name cast out
devils?"
to whom He should say, "I know you not") said, "In this rejoice
not, that
the
devils are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written
in
heaven." Luke 10:20
9.
"Great is our Lord" (ver. 5). The Psalmist is filled with joy, he has
poured out
his
words wonderfully: yet somewhat he was unable to speak, and how availed he
to
think on it? "And great is His power, and of His understanding is no
numbering."
He who "numbers the stars," Himself cannot be numbered. Who can
expound
this? who can worthily even imagine what is meant by, "and of His
understanding
is no number"? ... Whatsoever then that is infinite this world
contains,
though it be infinite to man, yet is not to God: too little is it to say, to
God:
even by the angels it is numbered. His understanding surpasses all
calculators;
it cannot be counted by us. Numbers themselves who numbers? What
than
is there with God? wherewith made He all things, and where made He all
things,
to whom it is said, "You have arrayed all things in measure, number, and
weight"?
Wisdom 11:20 Or who can number, or measure, or weigh, measure and
number
and weight themselves, wherein God has ordered all things? Therefore,
"of
His understanding is no number." Let human voices be hushed, human
thoughts
still: let them not stretch themselves out to incomprehensible things, as
though
they could comprehend them, but as though they were to partake of them,
for
partakers we shall be .... Partakers then we shall be: let none doubt it:
Scripture
says
it. And of what shall we be partakers, as though these were parts in God, as
though
God were divided into parts? Who then can explain how many become
partakers
of one single substance? Require not then that which I think ye see
cannot
fitly be said: but return to the healing of the Saviour, bruise your heart. He
will
guide it, He will bind it up where it is broken, He will make it perfectly
sound;
and then those things will not be impossible with us, which now are
impossible.
For it is good that he confess weakness, who desires to attain to the
divine
nature.
10.
"The Lord takes up the gentle" (ver. 6). For example; you understand
not, you
fail
to understand, canst not attain: honour God's Scripture, honour God's Word,
though
it be not plain: in reverence wait for understanding. Be not wanton to
accuse
either the obscurity or seeming contradiction of Scripture. There is nothing
in
it contradictory: somewhat there is which is obscure, not in order that it may
be
denied
you, but that it may exercise him that shall afterward receive it. When then
it
is obscure, that is the Physician's doing, that you may knock. He willed that
you
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should
be exercised in knocking; He willed it, that He might open to you when
you
knock. By knocking you shall be exercised; exercised, you shall be enlarged;
enlarged,
you shall contain what is given. Be not then indignant for that it is shut;
be
mild, be gentle. Kick not against what is dark, nor say, It were better said,
if it
were
said thus. For how can you thus say, or judge how it is expedient it be said?
It
is said as it is expedient it be said. Let not the sick man seek to amend his
remedies:
the Physician knows how to temper them: believe Him who cares for
you.
Therefore what comes next?... "The Lord takes up the gentle, but humbles
the
sinners
even to the ground," he intended a certain sort of sinners to be
understood,
from
the gentleness mentioned first. By sinners then in this place, we understand
the
fierce, and those who are not gentle. Wherefore does He "humble them even
to
the
earth"? They carp at objects of understanding, they shall perceive only
things
earthly.
11.
"Begin to the Lord in confession" (ver. 7). Begin with this, if you
would arrive
at
a clear understanding of the truth. If you will be brought from the road of
faith
to
the profession of the reality, "begin in confession." First accuse
yourself: accuse
yourself,
praise God. What after confession? Let good works follow. "Sing unto
our
God upon the harp." What is, "Upon the harp"? As I have already
explained,
just
like the Psalm upon the psaltery, so also is the "harp:" not with
voice only, but
with
works.
12.
... "Who covers the heaven with clouds, who prepares rain for the
earth" (ver.
8).
Now you are alarmed, because you can not see the heaven: when it has rained
you
shall gather fruit, and shall see clear sky. Perhaps our God has done this. For
had
we not the obscurity of Scripture as an occasion, we should not say to you
those
things wherein ye rejoice. This then perhaps is the rain whereat ye rejoice. It
would
not be possible for it to be expressed to you by our tongue, were it not that
God
covers with clouds of figures the heaven of the Scriptures. For this purpose
willed
He that the words of the Prophets should be obscure, that the servants of
God
might afterwards have that by interpreting which they might flow over the
ears
and hearts of men, that they might receive from the clouds of God the fatness
of
spiritual joy. "Who makes grass to grow upon the mountains, and herb for
the
service
of men." Behold the fruit of the rain. "Who makes," says he,
"grass to
grow
upon the mountains." Doth it not also grow upon the low ground? Yes, but
it
is
a great thing that it grows "on the mountains."...For nothing could
be more
barren
than the hard mountains. "And herb for the service of men." What
"service"?
Listen to Paul himself. "And ourselves," says he, "your servants
for
Jesus
Christ's sake." 2 Corinthians 4:5 He who said, "If we have sown unto
you
spiritual
things, is it a great thing if we reap your carnal things?" yet said, that
he
was
a "servant." For we are your servants, brethren. Let none of us speak
of
himself,
as though he were greater than you. We shall be greater if we are more
humble.
"But whosoever will be great among you" (it is the Lord's saying),
"shall
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be
your servant." Matthew 20:26 Paul the Apostle, indeed, living by his own
labour,
refused even to receive "the grass of the mountains;" he chose to
want;
nevertheless,
the mountains gave "grass." Because he chose not to receive, ought
the
mountains therefore not to give, and so to remain barren? Fruit is due to the
rain,
food is due to the servant, as the Lord says, "Eat such things as they
give
you:"
and that they should not think that they gave anything of their own, He
added,
"for the labourer is worthy of his hire." Luke 10:7-8
13.
...Just now has been read, "Give to every one that asks of you;" Luke
6:30 and
in
another place Scripture says, "Let alms sweat in your hand, till you find
a
righteous
man to whom to give it." One there is who seeks you, another you ought
to
seek. Leave not indeed him who seeks you empty, for, "give to every one
that
asks
of you;" yet still there is another whom you ought to seek; "find a
righteous
man
to whom to give it." You will never do this, unless you have somewhat set
aside
from your substance, each what pleases him according to the needs of his
family,
as a sort of debt to be paid to the treasury. If Christ have not a state of His
own,
neither has He a treasury.... Cut off then and prune off some fixed sum either
from
your yearly profits or your daily gains, else you seem as it were to give of
your
capital, and your hand must needs hesitate, when you put it forth to that
which
you have not vowed. Cut off some part of your income; a tenth if you
choose,
though that is but little. For it is said that the Pharisees gave a tenth;
"I fast
twice
in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess." Luke 18:12 And what
says
the
Lord? "Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes
and
Pharisees,
you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:20 He
whose
righteousness you ought to exceed, gives a tenth: you give not even a
thousandth.
How will you surpass him whom you match not? "Who prepares rain
for
the earth."
14.
"And gives unto the cattle their food" (ver. 9). These are the cattle
he means,
even
God's flocks. God defrauds not His flock of their food through men, for
whose
"service He makes the grass to grow." "And to the young of the
ravens that
call
upon Him." Shall we perchance think this, that the ravens call upon God to
give
them their food? Think not that the unreasoning creature calls upon God: no
creature
knows how to call upon God, save the reasonable alone. Consider it as
spoken
in a figure, lest you think, as some evil men say, that the souls of men
migrate
into cattle, dogs, swine, ravens. Give this no place in your hearts or in
your
faith. The soul of man is made after the image of God: He will not give His
image
to dog or swine. Who are "the young of the ravens"? The Israelites
used to
say
that they alone were righteous, because to them the Law had been given: all
other
men of every nation they used to call sinners. And in truth all nations were
given
up to sin, to idolatry, to the worship of stones and stocks: but did they
continue
so? Although the ravens themselves, our fathers, did not, yet we, "the
young
of the ravens," do call upon God. 1 Peter 1:18 ... For "the young of
the
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ravens,"
who seemed to worship the images of their forefathers, have advanced,
and
turned to God. And now you hear "the young of the ravens" calling
upon the
one
God. What then? Do you say to "the young of the ravens," "have
you left your
father?"
Plainly I have, says he; for he is a raven who calls not upon God. I, "the
young
of the raven," do call upon God.
15.
"In the power of an horse He will not take pleasure" (ver. 10). The
power "of
an
horse" is pride. For the horse seems adapted as it were to bear a man
aloft, that
he
may be more uplifted as he goes. And in truth he has a neck which typifies a
sort
of pride. Let not men exalt themselves upon their worth, let them not think
themselves
uplifted by their distinctions; let them beware lest they be thrown by
an
untamed horse.... "Nor in the tabernacle of a man will He delight."
For the
tabernacle
of the Lord is the Holy Church spread throughout the whole world.
Heretics,
separating themselves from the Church's tabernacles, have set up
tabernacles
for themselves. For if perchance it be the lot of any, who is good and
pious,
who confesses his own weakness, who is "the young of a raven that calls on
God,"
not to enjoy worldly distinction, he goes not out of the Church, he sets not
up
for himself a tent outside the Church, wherein God will not delight. But what
says
he? "I have chosen to be cast away in the house of God, rather than to
dwell
in
the tents of sinners."
16.
But what adds he? "The Lord will delight in them that fear Him, and in
them
that
hope in His mercy" (ver. 11). A robber is feared, and a wild beast is
feared,
and
an unjust and powerful man is much feared. "The Lord will delight in them
that
hope in His mercy." Behold, Judas, who betrayed our Lord, feared, but he
did
not
hope in His mercy .... It is well indeed that you have feared, but only if you
trusted
in His mercy, whom you have feared. He in despair "went and hanged
himself."
In such wise then fear the Lord, that thou trust in His mercy....
17.
"Praise in unison, O Jerusalem, your God" (ver. 12). Abiding yet in
captivity,
they
behold those flocks, or rather, the one flock of all its citizens, gathered
from
all
sides into that city; they see the joy of the mass, now after threshings and
winnowings
placed in the garner, fearing nothing, suffering no toil nor trouble;
and,
as yet abiding here, in the midst of the threshing they send forward their joy
of
hope, and pant for it, joining as it were their hearts to the Angels of God,
and to
that
people which shall abide with them in joy for ever. For what will you then do,
O
Jerusalem? Surely toil and groaning will pass away. What will you do? will you
plough,
or sow, or plant vines, or make voyages, or trade? What will you do? Will
it
still be your duty to be engaged in the works thou now doest, good though they
are,
and spring from mercy? Consider your numbers, consider on all sides your
company:
see whether any hungers, for you to give bread to; see whether any
thirsts,
for you to give a cup of cold water to; see whether any is a stranger, for
you
to take in; see whether any is sick, for you to visit; see whether any is at
strife,
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for
you to reconcile him; see whether any is dying, for you to bury him. What then
will
you do? "Praise in unison, O Jerusalem, your God." Behold, this is
your
business.
As is wont to be said in inscriptions, "Use it and be happy."
18.
Be Jerusalem; remember of whom it is said, "Lord, in Your city their image
You
shall bring to nought." These are they who now rejoice in such pomps;
among
them
are they who have not come hither today because there is a show. To whom
is
it a gift? to whom is it a loss? or why is it a gift? why is it a loss? For not
they
only
who exhibit such shows are smitten with loss, but with much greater loss are
they
smitten who delight in gazing on them. The former have their chest drained
of
its gold, the latter have their breast robbed of the riches of righteousness.
Most
of
the exhibiters of shows have to mourn for selling their estates; how ought the
sinners
to mourn, for losing their souls: Was it then for this that the Lord cried out
on
the Lord's Day, "Watch ye," that today men should watch in this way.
I beseech
you,
you citizens of Jerusalem, I beseech you by the peace of Jerusalem, by the
Redeemer,
the Builder, the Ruler of Jerusalem, that you address your prayers to
God
for them. May they see, may they feel, that they are trifling; and, intent as
they
are on the sights which please them, may at length look on themselves, and
be
displeased. For in many we rejoice that this has already been done: and once we
too
sat there and were mad: and how many think we now sit there, who shall yet
be,
not only Christians, but also Bishops! From what is past, we conjecture what is
to
be: from what has already been done, we announce beforehand what God will
do.
Let your prayers be wakeful, you groan not for nothing. Certainly they who
have
already escaped, praying for those who are still in danger, because they too
having
been among those in danger, are heard; and God shall drag His people out
of
the captivity of Babylon; by all means He shall redeem and deliver them, and
the
number of the saints who bear the image of God shall be perfected....
"Praise in
unison,"
because thou consist of many: "praise," because you have been made
one.
"We
being many," says the Apostle, "are one in Christ." 1
Corinthians 10:17 As
then
we are many, "we praise in unison;" as we are one, we
"praise." The same are
many
and one, because He in whom they are one is ever One.
19.
Wherefore, says this Jerusalem, do I praise in unison the Lord, and, as Sion,
praise
my God? Jerusalem is the same as Sion. For different reasons has it the two
names.
Jerusalem means "visions of peace;" Sion means "watching."
See whether
these
words do not sound like sights; that the Gentiles may not think that they
have
sights and we have none. Sometimes after the theatre or amphitheatre breaks
up,
when the crowd of lost ones begins to be vomited forth from that den,
sometimes,
retaining in their minds images of their vain amusements, and feeding
their
memory with things not only useless but even hurtful, rejoicing in them as if
they
were sweet, while they are really deadly; they see often, it may be, the
servants
of God pass by, they recognise them by their garb or headdress, or they
know
them by sight, and they say to one another, or inwardly, "Wretched people,
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how
much they lose!" Brethren, let us return their good will (for they do mean
it
well)
with prayers to the Lord. They wish us well; but "he that loves iniquity,
hates
his
own soul." If he hates his own soul, how shall he love my soul? Yet with a
perverse,
and empty, and vain good will, if indeed it may be called good will, they
grieve
that we lose what they love: let us pray that they lose not what we love.
Behold
of what character that Jerusalem is to be which he exhorts to praise, or
rather
foresees will praise. For the praises of that city, when we shall see and love
and
praise, will not need to be urged on and stirred up by the voice of prophecy;
but
the Prophets now say this, to drink in as far as while they remain in this
flesh
they
can, the future joys of the blessed, and then giving them forth into our ears,
to
arouse
in us love of that city. Let us burn with longing, let us not be slothful in
spirit.
"Praise your God, O Sion."
20.
He says, "He has made strong the bars of your gates" (ver. 13). The
making
bars
strong is not for open gates, but shut ones, wherefore most manuscripts read,
"He
has made strong the bolts of your gates." Observe, beloved. He bids
Jerusalem
when
closed in to praise the Lord. We praise in unison now, we praise now; but it
is
amid offences. Many where we wish not, enter in: many though we wish it not,
go
out: therefore offences are frequent. "And because iniquity has
abounded," says
the
Truth, "the love of many waxes cold:" Matthew 24:12 because men come
in
whom
we cannot discern, because men go out whom we cannot retain. Wherefore
is
this? Because not yet is there perfection, not yet is there the bliss that
shall be.
Wherefore
is this? Because as yet it is the threshing-floor, not yet the garner. What
therefore
will be then, save no fear that anything of this kind will happen? He said
not
only, He has set, but, "He has made strong the bars of your gates."
Let none go
out,
let none come in. Let none go out, we rejoice: let none come in, we fear. Nay,
fear
not this: when you have entered it will be said: only be thou in the number of
virgins,
who carried their oil with them....
21.
"He has blessed your children within you." Who? He "who has set
peace as
your
borders." How ye all exult! Love peace, my brethren. Greatly are we
delighted,
when the love of peace cries from your hearts. How greatly does it
delight
you! I had said nothing: I had explained nothing: I but read the verse, and
you
shouted. What was it that shouted in you? The love of peace .... children of
the
kingdom,
O citizens of Jerusalem, in Jerusalem is the vision of peace: and all who
love
peace are blest in her, and they enter in, when the doors are being shut, and
the
bars made strong. This, which when but named ye so love and esteem, this
follow
after, this long for: this love in your home, in your business, in your wives,
in
your sons, in your slaves, in your friends, in your enemies....
22.
What ye cried out a while ago at the very mention of peace, you cried from
longing:
your cry was from thirst, not from fulness; for there will be perfect
righteousness
where will be perfect peace. Now we hunger and thirst after
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righteousness.
"They shall be filled." Matthew 5:6 How shall they be filled? When
we
have arrived at peace. Therefore when he had said, "Who has set peace for
your
borders," because there is fulness and no want, he added at once,
"and fills
you
with the fat of wheat" (ver. 14)....
23.
"Who sends forth His Word to the earth" (ver. 15). Behold, on earth
we toil,
weary,
fainting, sluggish, cold: when should we be raised up to the fat of wheat
that
satisfies, did not He send His Word to the earth, whereby we were weighed
down,
to the earth, whereby we were hindered from returning? He sent His Word,
He
deserted us not even in the wilderness, He rained manna from heaven. "Who
sends
forth His Word to the earth;" and to earth His Word came. How? or what is
His
Word? "Even unto swiftness His Word runs." He said not, "His
Word is
swift,"
but, "His Word runs even unto swiftness." Let us understand, my
brethren:
He
could not have chosen a better word. He who is hot grows hot by heat, he who
is
cold grows cold by cold, he who is swift becomes swift by swiftness .... To
what
degree
then does it run? "Even to swiftness." Increase as much as you will
the
swiftness
of the Word, and say, It is as swift as this or that, as birds, as the winds,
as
the Angels; is any of these as great as swiftness itself, "even unto
swiftness"?
What
is swiftness itself, brethren? It is everywhere; it is not in part. This
belongs
to
the Word of God, not to be in part, to be everywhere by Himself the Word,
whereby
He is "the Power of God and the Wisdom of God," 1 Corinthians 1:24
before
He had taken flesh upon Him. If we think of God in the Form of God, the
Word
equal to the Father, this is the Wisdom of God, of which is said, "It
reaches
from
one end to the other mightily." Wisdom 8:1 What mighty speed! "It
reaches
from
one end to the other mightily."...
24.
We then are burdened by the sluggishness of this cold body, and the bonds of
this
earthly and corruptible life; have we no hope of receiving "the
Word," which
"runs
even unto swiftness"? or has abandoned us, though by the body we are
depressed
to the lowest depths? Did not He predestinate us, before we were born
in
this mortal and sluggish body? He then, who predestinated us, gave snow to the
earth,
even ourselves. For now let us come to those somewhat obscure verses of
the
Psalm, let those entanglements begin to be unrolled. Behold, we are sluggish
on
this earth, and are as it were frozen here. And just as happens to the flakes
of
snow,
for they freeze above, then fall down; so as love grows cold, human nature
falls
down to this earth, and involved in a sluggish body becomes like snow. But
in
that snow are predestined sons of God. For, "He gives snow like wool"
(ver.
16).
What is "like wool"? It means, of the snow which He has given, of
these, who
are
as yet slow in spirit and cold, whom He has predestinated, He is about to make
somewhat.
For wool is the material of a garment: when we see wool, we look on it
as
a sort of preparation for a garment. Therefore since He has predestinated
these,
who
at present are cold and creep on earth, and as yet glow not with the spirit of
love
(for as yet He speaks of predestination), God has given these as a sort of
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147
1164
wool:
He is about to make of them a garment. Rightly did the "raiment" of
Christ
"shine"
on the mountain, "like snow." Matthew 17:2 The raiment of Christ did
shine
like snow, as though of that snow a garment had already been made: of
which
wool, that is, of the snow which He gave like wool, they being as yet
predestined,
were sluggish: but wait, see what follows. Since He gave them as
wool,
a garment is made of them. For as the Church is called the Body of Christ,
so
is the Church also called the garment of Christ: hence comes that which is said
by
the Apostle, "that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not
having
spot
or wrinkle." Ephesians 5:27 Let Him then present unto Himself a glorious
Church,
not having spot or wrinkle; let Him make Himself a garment of that wool,
which
He had predestinated in the snow. While men are yet unbelieving, and cold,
and
sluggish, let Him make a garment of this wool. That it may be washed from
spots,
let it be cleansed by faith: that it may have no wrinkle, let it be stretched
out
upon
the cross....
25.
"He scatters mist like ashes." "He scatters," says the
Psalmist, "mist like
ashes."
Who? He "who gives snow like wool." For whom He predestined, He calls
to
repentance; for "whom He predestined, them He also called." But
"ashes" are
connected
with repentance. Hear Him calling to repentance, when He upbraided
certain
cities, saying, "Woe unto you, Chorazin! woe unto you, Bethsaida! for if
the
mighty works which have been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they
had long ago repented in dust and ashes." Matthew 11:21 Therefore,
"He
scatters
mist like ashes." What is, "He scatters mist like ashes"? When a
man is
called
to learn about God, and it is said to him, "Receive the truth;" he
begins to
wish
to receive the Truth, but is not able; he sees that He is under a sort of
darkness,
which before he saw not.... Wander not in the mist, follow in faith. But
forasmuch
as you endeavour to see and art not able, repent of your sins, for mist is
scattered
like ashes. Repent you now of having been obstinate against God, repent
of
having followed your own evil ways. You have come into this state where it is
difficult
for you to see the vision of bliss, and the mist will be healthful to you,
which
God scatters like ashes. Thou yourself art as yet a mist, but like ashes. For
they
that are penitent, as yet roll themselves in ashes, my brethren, testifying, as
it
were,
that they are like it, saying unto God, "I am ashes." For a certain
Scripture
says,
"I have despised myself, and wasted away, I have reckoned myself earth and
ashes."
This is the humility of the penitent. When Abraham speaks to his God, and
wishes
the burning of Sodom to be disclosed to him, he says, "I am but earth and
ashes."
Genesis 18:27 How has this humility ever been found in great and holy
men!
26.
"Who sends His crystal like morsels of bread" (ver. 17). We need not
spend
our
toil again in saying what crystal is. We have already said it, and I do not
think
that
you, beloved, have forgotten it. What is then, "He sends His crystal like
morsels
of bread"? What is "crystal"? It is very hard, it is very
tightly congealed; it
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can
not, like snow, be easily melted. Snow, hardened by many years' duration, and
by
the succession of ages, is called "crystal," and this "He sends
like morsels of
bread."
What means this? They were too hard, no longer fit to be compared to
snow,
but to crystal; but they too are predestinated and called, and some of them
even
so as to feed others, to be useful to others also. And what need is there to
enumerate
many, whom we happen to know, this one and that one? Every one
when
he thinks can recall to mind how hardened and obstinate some of those
whom
he knows have been, how they have struggled against the truth; yet now
they
preach the truth, they have been made morsels of bread. Who is that one
Bread?
"We being many," says the Apostle, "are one Body in
Christ;"
Romans
12:5 he says also, "we being many are one Bread and one Body."
1
Corinthians 10:17 If then the whole Body of Christ is one Bread, the members of
Christ
are morsels of Bread. Of some that are hard He makes members of Himself,
and
useful for feeding others.... Behold, the Apostle Paul was a crystal, hard,
resisting
the truth, crying out against the Gospel, hardening himself, as it were,
against
the sun.... Since then he was crystal, he appeared clear and white, but he
was
hard and very cold. How was he bright and white? "An Hebrew of the
Hebrews;
as touching the law, a Pharisee." Behold the brightness of crystal. Now
hear
the hardness of crystal. "As touching zeal, persecuting the Church"
Philippians
3:5-6 of Christ. Among the stoners of the holy martyr Stephen, was he,
hard,
perhaps harder than all. "For he kept the raiment of all who were
stoning,"
Acts
22:20 so that he stoned by the hands of all.
27.
Thus then we see "the snow, the mist, the crystal:" it is good that
He blow and
thaw
them. For if He blow not, if He Himself thaw not the hardness of this ice,
"in
the
face of His cold who shall stand?" He abandons a sinner, behold, He calls
him
not;
behold, He opens not his perception; behold, He pours not in grace; let the
man
thaw himself, if he can, from the ice of folly. He cannot. Wherefore can he
not?
"In the face of His cold who shall stand?" Behold him then growing
harder,
and
saying, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of
this
death?" Behold, I am growing cold, behold, I am growing hard, what heat
shall
thaw me that I may run? "Who shall deliver me from the body of this
death?
...In the face of His cold who shall stand?" And who shall free himself,
if
God
abandon him? Who is it that frees? "The grace of God, through Jesus Christ
our
Lord." Romans 7:24-25 Are we then to despair? God forbid. For it goes on,
"He
shall send out His Word, and melt them" (ver. 18). Let not then the snow
despair,
nor the mist, nor the crystal. For of the snow, as of wool, a garment is
being
made. That mist finds safety in repentance: for, "whom He predestinated,
them
He also called." But even though they be the very hardest among the
predestinated,
though they have been for a long time hardening, and are become
crystal,
they will not be hard to the mercy of God. "He shall send out His Word,
and
melt them." What is "melt"? Understand not "melt" in
an ill sense: it means,
He
shall liquefy, He shall thaw them. For they are hard through pride. Rightly is
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pride
called also dulness: for whatever is dull, is also cold .... Despair not even
of
the
crystal. Hear a saying of the crystal. "Who before was a blasphemer, and a
persecutor,
and injurious." 1 Timothy 1:13 But wherefore does God melt the
crystal?
That the snow despair not of itself. For he says, "For this cause I
obtained
mercy,
that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a
pattern
to them that hereafter should believe in Him unto eternal life."
1
Timothy 1:16 God then calls unto the Gentiles, "Be melted, O crystal;
come, you
snows."
"His Spirit shall blow, and the waters shall flow." Lo, the
"crystal" and the
"snows"
are melted, they turn into water, "let them that thirst, come and
drink."
John
7:37 Saul, hard as crystal, persecuted Stephen unto death; Paul, now in the
living
water, John 4:14 calls the Gentiles to the Fount....
28.
"Announcing His Word unto Jacob, His Righteousnesses and Judgments unto
Israel"
(ver. 19). What "Righteousnesses," what "Judgments"?
Because whatever
mankind
had suffered here before, when it was "snow" and "mist" and
"crystal," it
suffered
for the deserts of its pride and uplifting against God. Let us go back to the
origin
of our fall, and see that most truly is it sung in the Psalm, "Before I
was
troubled
I went wrong." But he who says, "Before I was troubled I went
wrong,"
says
also, "It is good for me that You have humbled me, that I may learn Your
Righteousnesses."
These righteousnesses Jacob learned from God, who made him
to
wrestle with an Angel; under the guise of which Angel, God Himself wrestled
with
him. He held Him, he exerted violence to hold Him, he prevailed to hold
Him:
He caused Himself to be held, in mercy, not in weakness. Jacob therefore
wrestled,
and prevailed: he held Him and when he seemed to have conquered Him
asked
to be blessed of Him. How did he understand with Whom he had wrestled,
Whom
he had held? Wherefore did he wrestle violently, and hold Him? Because
"the
kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force."
Matthew
11:12 Wherefore then did he wrestle? Because it is with toil. Wherefore
do
we with difficulty hold, what we so easily lose? Lest, easily getting back what
we
have lost, we learn to lose that which we hold. Let man have toil to hold: he
will
hold firmly, what he has only held after toil. These His judgments therefore
God
manifested to Jacob and Israel....
29.
"He has not done so to the whole race" (ver. 20). Let none deceive
you: it is
not
announced to any nation, this judgment of God; namely, how the righteous and
the
unrighteous suffer, how all suffer for their deserts, how the righteous
themselves
are freed by the grace of God, not in their own merits. This is not
announced
to the whole race, but only to Jacob, only to Israel. What then do we, if
He
has not announced it to the whole race, but only to Jacob, only to Israel?
Where
will we be? In Jacob. "He has not manifested His judgments to them."
To
whom?
To all nations. How then are the "snows" called, when the crystal is
melted?
How are the nations called, now Paul is justified? How, save to be in
Jacob?
The wild olive is cut off from its stock, to be grafted into the olive: now
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they
belong to the olive, no longer ought they to be called nations, but one nation
in
Christ, the nation of Jacob, the nation of Israel ... What is Israel?
"Seeing God."
Where
shall he see God? In peace. What peace? The peace of Jerusalem; for, says
he,
"He has set peace for your borders." There shall we praise: there
shall we all be
one,
in One, unto One: for then, though many, we shall not be scattered.
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Exposition
on Psalm 148
1.
The subject of our meditation in this present life should be the praises of
God;
for
the everlasting exaltation of our life hereafter will be the praise of God, and
none
can become fit for the life hereafter, who has not practised himself for it
now.
So then now we praise God, but we pray to Him too. Our praise is marked by
joy,
our prayer by groans .... On account of these two seasons, one, that which now
is
in the temptations and tribulations of this life, the other, that which is to be
hereafter
in everlasting rest and exultation; we have established also the
celebration
of two seasons, that before Easter and that after Easter. That which is
before
Easter signifies tribulation, in which we now are; that which we are now
keeping
after Easter, signifies the bliss in which we shall hereafter be. The
celebration
then which we keep before Easter is what we do now: by that which
we
keep after Easter we signify what as yet we have not. Therefore we employ
that
time in fastings and prayer, this present time we spend in praises, and relax
our
fast. This is the Halleluia which we sing, which, as you know, means (in
Latin),
Praise ye the Lord. Therefore that period is before the Lord's Resurrection,
this,
after His Resurrection: by which time is signified the future hope which as
yet
we have not: for what we represent after the Lord's Resurrection, we shall have
after
our own. For in our Head both are figured, both are set forth. The Baptism of
the
Lord sets forth to us this present life of trial, for in it we must toil, be
harassed,
and,
at last, die; but the Resurrection and Glorification of the Lord sets forth to
us
the
life which we are to have hereafter, when He shall come to recompense due
rewards,
evil to the evil, good to the good. And now indeed all the evil men sing
with
us, Halleluia; but, if they persevere in their wickedness, they may utter with
their
lips the song of our life hereafter; but the life itself, which will then be in
the
reality
which now is typified, they cannot obtain, because they would not practise
it
before it came, and lay hold on what was to come.
2.
"Halleluia." "Praise the Lord," you say to your neighbour,
he to you: when all
are
exhorting each other, all are doing what they exhort others to do. But praise
with
your whole selves: that is, let not your tongue and voice alone praise God, but
your
conscience also, your life, your deeds. For now, when we are gathered
together
in the Church, we praise: when we go forth each to his own business, we
seem
to cease to praise God. Let a man not cease to live well, and then he ever
praises
God .... It is impossible for a man's acts to be evil, whose thoughts are
good.
For acts issue from thought: nor can a man do anything or move his limbs to
do
anything, unless the bidding of his thought precede: just as in all things
which
you
see done throughout the provinces, whatsoever the Emperor bids goes forth
from
the inner part of his palace throughout the whole Roman Empire. How great
commotion
is caused at one bidding by the Emperor as he sits in his palace! He
but
moves his lips, when he speaks: the whole province is moved, when what he
speaks
is being executed. So in each single man too, the Emperor is within, his
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seat
is in the heart. If he be good and bids good things, good things are done: if
he
be
bad and bids evil things, evil things are done. When Christ sits there, what
can
He
bid, but what is good? When the devil is the occupant, what can he bid, but
evil?
But God has willed that it should be in your choice for whom you will
prepare
room, for God, or for the devil: when you have prepared it, he who is
occupant
will also rule. Therefore, brethren, attend not only to the sound; when
you
praise God, praise with your whole selves: let your voice, your life, your
deeds,
all sing.
3.
"Praise ye the Lord from heaven" (ver. 1). As though he had found
things in
heaven
holding their peace in the praise of the Lord, he exhorts them to arise and
praise.
Never have things in heaven held their peace in the praises of their Creator,
never
have things on earth ceased to praise God. But it is manifest that there are
certain
things which have breath to praise God in that disposition wherein God
pleases
them. For no one praises anything, save what pleases him. And there are
other
things which have not breath of life and understanding to praise God, but
yet,
because they also are good, and duly arranged in their proper order, and form
part
of the beauty of the universe, which God created, though they themselves
with
voice and heart praise not God, yet when they are considered by those who
have
understanding, God is praised in them; and, as God is praised in them, they
themselves
too in a manner praise God....
4.
"Praise ye the Lord from heaven: praise Him in the high places."
First he says,
"from
heaven," then from earth; for it is God that is praised, who made heaven
and
earth.
All in heaven is calm and peaceful; there is ever joy, no death, no sickness,
no
vexation; there the blessed ever praise God; but we are still below: yet, when
we
think how God is praised there, let us have our heart there, and let us not
hear
to
no purpose, "Lift up your hearts." Let us lift up our heart above,
that it become
not
corrupted on earth: for we take pleasure in what the Angels do there. We do it
now
in hope: hereafter we shall in reality, when we have come thither. "Praise
Him"
then "in the high places."
5.
"Praise Him, all you angels of His, praise Him, all His powers" (ver.
2). "Praise
Him,
sun and moon; praise Him, all you stars and light" (ver. 3). "Praise
Him, you
heaven
of heavens, and waters that are above the heavens" (ver. 4). "Let
them
praise
the Name of the Lord" (ver. 5). When can he unfold all in his enumeration?
Yet
he has in a manner touched upon them all summarily, and included all things
in
heaven praising their Creator. And as though it were said to him, "Why do
they
praise
Him? what has He conferred on them, that they should praise Him?" he
goes
on, "for He spoke, and they were made; He commanded, and they were
created."
No wonder if the works praise the Worker, no wonder if the things that
are
made praise the Maker, no wonder if creation praise its Creator. In this Christ
also
is mentioned, though we seem not to have heard His Name .... By what were
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they
made? By the Word? John 1:1-2 How does he show in this Psalm, that all
things
were made by the Word? "He spoke, and they were made; He commanded,
and
they were created." No one speaks, no one commands, save by word.
6.
"He has established them for the age, and for age upon age" (ver. 6).
All things
in
heaven, all things above, all powers and angels, a certain city on high, good,
holy,
blessed; from whence because we are wanderers, we are wretched; whither
because
we are to return, we are blessed in hope; whither when we shall have
returned,
we shall be blessed indeed; "He has given them a law which shall not
pass
away." What sort of command, think ye, have things in heaven and the holy
angels
received? What sort of command has God given them? What, but that they
praise
Him? Blessed are they whose business is to praise God! They plough not,
they
sow not, they grind not, they cook not; for these are works of necessity, and
there
is no necessity there. They steal not, they plunder not, they commit no
adultery;
for these are works of iniquity, and there is no iniquity there. They break
not
bread for the hungry, they clothe not the naked, they take not in the stranger,
they
visit not the sick, they set not at one the contentious, they bury not the
dead;
for
these are works of mercy, and there there is no misery, for mercy to be shown
to.
O blessed they! Think we that we too shall be like this? Ah! let us sigh, let
us
groan
in sighing. And what are we, that we should be there? mortal, outcast,
abject,
earth and ashes! But He, who has promised, is almighty....
7.
Let him then turn himself to things on earth too, since he has already spoken
the
praises
of things in heaven. "Praise ye the Lord from the earth" (ver. 7).
For
wherewith
began he before? "Praise ye the Lord from heaven:" and he went
through
things in heaven: now hear of things on earth. "Dragons and all
abysses."
"Abysses"
are depths of water: all the seas, and this atmosphere of clouds, pertain
to
the "abyss." Where there are clouds, where there are storms, where
there is rain,
lightning,
thunder, hail, snow, and all that God wills should be done above the
earth,
by this moist and misty atmosphere, all this he has mentioned under the
name
of earth, because it is very changeable and mortal; unless ye think that it
rains
from above the stars. All these things happen here, close to the earth.
Sometimes
even men are on the tops of mountains, and see the clouds beneath
them,
and often it rains: and all commotions which arise from the disturbance of
the
atmosphere, those who watch carefully see that they happen here, in this lower
part
of the universe .... You see then what kind all these things are, changeable,
troublous,
fearful, corruptible: yet they have their place, they have their rank, they
too
in their degree fill up the beauty of the universe, and so they praise the
Lord.
He
turns then to them, as though He would exhort them too, or us, that by
considering
them we may praise the Lord. "Dragons" live about the water, come
out
from caverns, fly through the air; the air is set in motion by them:
"dragons"
are
a huge kind of living creatures, greater there are not upon the earth.
Therefore
with
them he begins, "Dragons and all abysses." There are caves of hidden
waters,
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whence
springs and streams come forth: some come forth to flow over the earth,
some
flow secretly beneath; and all this kind, all this damp nature of waters,
together
with the sea and this lower air, are called abyss, or "abysses,"
where
dragons
live and praise God. What? Think we that the dragons form choirs, and
praise
God? Far from it. But do ye, when you consider the dragons, regard the
Maker
of the dragon, the Creator of the dragon: then, when you admire the
dragons,
and say, "Great is the Lord who made these," then the dragons praise
God
by
your voices.
8.
"Fire, hail, snow, ice, wind of storms, which do His word" (ver. 8).
Wherefore
added
he here, "which do His word"? Many foolish men, unable to contemplate
and
discern creation, in its several places and rank, performing its movements at
the
nod and commandment of God think that God does indeed rule all things
above,
but things below He despises, casts aside, abandons, so that He neither
cares
for them, nor guides, nor rules them; but that they are ruled by chance, how
they
can, as they can: and they are influenced by what they say sometimes to one
another:
e.g. "If it were God that gave rain, would He rain into the sea? What sort
of
providence," they say, "is this? Getulia is thirsty, and it rains
into the sea." They
think
that they handle the matter cleverly. One should say to them, "Getulia
does
at
all events thirst, thou dost not even thirst." For good were it for you to
say to
God,
"My soul has thirsted for You." For he that thus argues is already
satisfied;
he
thinks himself learned, he is not willing to learn, therefore he thirsts not.
For if
he
thirsted, he would be willing to learn, and he would find that everything
happens
upon earth by God's Providence, and he would wonder at the arrangement
of
even the limbs of a flea. Attend, beloved. Who has arranged the limbs of a flea
and
a gnat, that they should have their proper order, life, motion? Consider one
little
creature, even the very smallest, whatever you will. If you consider the order
of
its limbs, and the animation of life whereby it moves; how does it shun death,
love
life, seek pleasures, avoid pain, exert various senses, vigorously use
movements
suitable to itself! Who gave its sting to the gnat, for it to suck blood
with?
How narrow is the pipe whereby it sucks! Who arranged all this? who made
all
this? You are amazed at the smallest things; praise Him that is great. Hold
then
this,
my brethren, let none shake you from your faith or from sound doctrine. He
who
made the Angel in heaven, the Same also made the worm upon earth: the
Angel
in heaven to dwell in heaven, the worm upon earth to abide on earth. He
made
not the Angel to creep in the mud, nor the worm to move in heaven. He has
assigned
dwellers to their different abodes; incorruption He assigned to
incorruptible
abodes, corruptible things to corruptible abodes. Observe the whole,
praise
the whole. He then who ordered the limbs of the worm, does He not govern
the
clouds? And wherefore rains He into the sea? As though there are not in the
sea
things which are nourished by rain; as though He made not fishes therein, as
though
He made not living creatures therein. Observe how the fishes run to sweet
water.
And wherefore, says he, does He give rain to the fishes, and sometimes
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1172
gives
not rain to me? That you may consider that you are in a desert region, and in
a
pilgrimage of life; that so this present life may grow bitter to you, that you
may
long
for the life to come: or else that you may be scourged, punished, amended.
And
how well does He assign their properties to regions. Behold, since we have
spoken
of Getulia, He rains here nearly every year, and gives corn every year; here
the
corn cannot be kept, it soon rots, because it is given every year; there,
because
it
is given seldom, both much is given, and it can be kept for long. But do you
perchance
think that God there deserts man, or that they do not there after their
own
manner of rejoicing both praise and glorify God? Take a Getulian from his
country,
and set him amid our pleasant trees; he will wish to flee away, and return
to
his bare Getulia. To all places then, regions, seasons, God has assigned and
arranged
what fits them. Who could unfold it? Yet they who have eyes see many
things
therein: when seen, they please; pleasing, they are praised; not they really,
but
He who made them; thus shall all things praise God.
9.
It was in thought of this that the spirit of the Prophet added the words,
"which
do
His word." Think not then that these things are moved by chance, which in
every
motion of theirs obey God. Whither God wills, thither the fire spreads,
thither
the cloud hurries, whether it carry in it rain, or snow, or hail. And
wherefore
does the lightning sometimes strike the mountain, yet strikes not the
robber?
... Perhaps He yet seeks the robber's conversion, and therefore is the
mountain
which fears not smitten, that the man who fears may be changed. Thou
also
sometimes, when maintaining discipline, smitest the ground to terrify a child.
Sometimes
too He smites a man, whom He will. But you say to me, Behold, He
smites
the more innocent, and passes over the more guilty. Wonder not; death,
whencesoever
it come, is good to the good man. And whence do you know what
punishment
is reserved in secret for that more guilty man, if he be unwilling to be
converted?
Would not they rather be scorched by lightning, to whom it shall be
said
in the end, "Depart into everlasting fire"? Matthew 25:41 The needful
thing is,
that
you be guileless. Why so? Is it an evil thing to die by shipwreck, and a good
thing
to die by fever? Whether he die in this way or in that, ask what sort of man
he
is who dies; ask whither he will go after death, not how he is to depart from
life....
Whatever then happens here contrary to our wish, you will know that it
happens
not, save by the will of God, by His providence, by His ordering, by His
nod,
by His laws: and if we understand not why anything is done, let us grant to
His
providence that it is not done without reason: so shall we not be blasphemers.
For
when we begin to argue concerning the works of God, "why is this?"
"why is
that?"
and, "He ought not to have done this," "He did this ill;"
where is the praise
of
God? You have lost your Halleluia. Regard all things in such wise as to please
God
and praise the Creator. For if thou were to happen to enter the workshop of a
smith,
you would not dare to find fault with his bellows, his anvils, his hammers.
But
take an ignorant man, who knows not for what purpose each thing is, and he
finds
fault with all. But if he have not the skill of the workman, and have but the
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reasoning
power of a man, what says he to himself? Not without reason are the
bellows
placed here: the workman knows wherefore, though I know not. In the
shop
he dares not to find fault with the smith, yet in the universe he dares to find
fault
with God. Therefore just as "fire, hail, snow, ice, wind of storms, which
do
His
word," so all things in nature, which seem to foolish persons to be made
at
random,
simply "do His word," because they are not made save by His command.
10.
Then he mentions, that they may praise the Lord, "mountains and hills,
fruitful
trees
and all cedars" (ver. 9): "beasts and all cattle, creeping things,
and winged
fowls"
(ver. 10). Then he goes to men; "kings of the earth and all people,
princes
and
all judges of the earth" (ver. 11): "young men and maidens, old men
and
young,
let them praise the Name of the Lord" (ver. 12). Ended is the praise from
heaven,
ended is the praise from earth. "For His Name only is exalted" (ver.
13).
Let
no man seek to exalt his own name. Will you be exalted? Subject yourself to
Him
who cannot be humbled. "His confession is in earth and heaven" (ver.
14).
What
is "His confession"? Is it the confession wherewith He confesses? No,
but
that
whereby all things confess Him, all things cry aloud: the beauty of all things
is
in
a manner their voice, whereby they praise God. The heaven cries out to God,
"You
made me, not I myself." Earth cries out, "You created me, not I
myself."
How
do they cry out? When you regard them, and findest this out, they cry out by
your
voice, they cry out by your regard. Regard the heavens, it is beautiful:
observe
the earth, it is beautiful: both together are very beautiful. He made them,
He
rules them, by His nod they are swayed, He orders their seasons, He renews
their
movements, by Himself He renews them. All these things then praise Him,
whether
in stillness or in motion, whether from earth below or from heaven above,
whether
in their old state or in their renewal. When you see all these things, and
rejoicest,
and art lifted up to the Maker, and gazest on "His invisible things
understood
by the things which are made," Romans 1:20 "His confession is in
earth
and heaven:" that is, thou confesses to Him from things on earth, thou
confesses
to Him from things in heaven. And since He made all things, and nought
is
better than He, whatsoever He made is less than He, and whatsoever in these
things
pleases you, is less than He. Let not then what He has made so please you,
as
to withdraw you from Him who made: if you love what He made, love much
more
Him who made. If the things which He has made are beautiful, how much
more
beautiful is He who made them. "And He shall exalt the horn of His
people."
Behold
what Haggai and Zachariah prophesied. Now the "horn of His people" is
humble
in afflictions, in tribulations, in temptations, in beating of the breast; when
will
He "exalt the horn of His people"? When the Lord has come, and our
Sun is
risen,
not the sun which is seen with the eye, and "rises upon the good and the
evil,"
Matthew 5:45 but That whereof is said, To you that hear God, "the Sun of
Righteousness
shall rise, and healing in His wings;" Malachi 4:2 and of whom the
proud
and wicked shall hereafter say, "The light of righteousness has not shined
unto
us, and the sun of righteousness rose not upon us." Wisdom 5:6 This shall
be
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our
summer. Now during the winter weather the fruits appear not on the stock; you
observe,
so to say, dead trees during the winter. He who cannot see truly, thinks
the
vine dead; perhaps there is one near it which is really dead; both are alike
during
winter; the one is alive, the other is dead, but both the life and death are
hidden:
summer advances; then the life of the one shines brightly, the death of the
other
is manifested: the splendour of leaves, the abundance of fruit, comes forth,
the
vine is clothed in outward appearance from what it has in its stock. Therefore,
brethren,
now we are the same as other men: just as they are born, eat, drink, are
clothed,
pass their life, so also do the saints. Sometimes the very truth deceives
men,
and they say, "Lo, he has begun to be a Christian: has he lost his
headache?"
or,
"because he is a Christian, what gains he from me?" O dead vine, you
observe
near
you a vine that is bare indeed in winter, yet not dead. Summer will come, the
Lord
will come, our Splendour, that was hidden in the stock, and then "He shall
exalt
the horn of His people," after the captivity wherein we live in this
mortal
life....
11.
"An hymn to all His Saints." Know ye what an hymn is? It is a song
with
praise
of God. If you praise God and singest not, you utter no hymn: if you sing
and
praisest not God, you utter no hymn: if you praise anything else, which
pertains
not to the praise of God, although you sing and praisest, you utter no
hymn.
An hymn then contains these three things, song, and praise, and that of
God.
Praise then of God in song is called an hymn. What then means, "An hymn
to
all His Saints"? Let His Saints receive an hymn: let His Saints utter an
hymn:
for
this is what they are to receive in the end, an everlasting hymn....
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1175
Exposition
on Psalm 149
1.
Let us praise the Lord both in voice, and in understanding, and in good works;
and,
as this Psalm exhorts, let us sing unto Him a new song. It begins: "Sing
ye to
the
Lord a new song. His praise is in the Church of the Saints" (ver. 1). The
old
man
has an old song, the new man a new song. The Old Testament is an old song,
the
New Testament a new song. In the Old Testament are temporal and earthly
promises.
Whoso loves earthly things sings an old song: let him that desires to
sing
a new song, love the things of eternity. Love itself is new and eternal;
therefore
is it ever new, because it never grows old .... And this song is of peace,
this
song is of charity. Whoso severs himself from the union of the saints, sings
not
a new song; for he has followed old strife, not new charity. In new charity
what
is there? Peace, the bond of an holy society, a spiritual union, a building of
living
stones. Where is this? Not in one place, but throughout the whole world.
This
is said in another Psalm, "Sing unto the Lord, all the earth." From
this is
understood,
that he who sings not with the whole earth, sings an old song,
whatever
words proceed out of his mouth .... We have already said, brethren, that
all
the earth sings a new song. He who sings not with the whole earth a new song,
let
him sing what he will, let his tongue sound forth Halleluia, let him utter it
all
day
and all night, my ears are not so much bent to hear the voice of the singer,
but
I
seek the deeds of the doer. For I ask, and say, "What is it that you
sing?" He
answers,
"Halleluia." What is "Halleluia"? "Praise ye the
Lord." Come, let us
praise
the Lord together. If you praise the Lord, and I praise the Lord, why are we
at
variance? Charity praises the Lord, discord blasphemes the Lord."...
2.
The field of the Lord is the world, not Africa. It is not with the Lord's
field, as it
is
without these fields of ours, where Getulia bears sixty or an hundred fold,
Numidia
only ten fold: everywhere fruit is borne to Him, both an hundred fold,
and
sixty fold, and thirty fold: only do thou choose what you will be, if you think
to
belong to the Lord's Cross. "The Church" then "of the
saints" is the Catholic
Church.
The Church of the saints is not the Church of heretics. The Church of the
saints
is that which God first prefigured before it was seen, and then set forth that
it
might be seen. The Church of the saints was heretofore in writings, now it is
in
nations:
the Church of the saints was heretofore only read of, now it is both read of
and
seen. When it was only read of, it was believed; now it is seen, and is spoken
against.
His praise is in the "children of the kingdom," that is, "the
Church of the
saints."
3.
"Let Israel rejoice in Him who made Him" (ver. 2). What is,
"Israel"? "Seeing
God."
He who sees God, rejoices in Him by whom he was made. What is it then,
brethren?
we have said that we belong to the Church of the saints: do we already
see
God? and how are we Israel, if we see not? There is one kind of sight
belonging
to this present time; there will be another belonging to the time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 149 1176
hereafter:
the sight which now is, is by faith; the sight which is to be will be in
reality.
If we believe, we see; if we love, we see: see what? God. Ask John: "God
is
love;" 1 John 4:16 let us bless His holy Name, and rejoice in God by
rejoicing in
love.
Whoso has love, why send we him afar to see God? Let him regard his own
conscience,
and there he sees God.... "And let the sons of Sion exult in their
King."
The
sons of the Church are Israel. For Sion indeed was one city, which fell: amid
its
ruins certain saints dwelt after the flesh: but the true Sion, the true
Jerusalem
(for
Sion and Jerusalem are one), is "eternal in the heavens," 2
Corinthians 5:1 and
is
"our mother." Galatians 4:26 She it is that has given us birth, she
is the Church
of
the saints, she has nourished us, she, who is in part a pilgrim, in part
abiding in
the
heavens. In the part which abides in heaven is the bliss of angels, in the part
which
wanders in this world is the hope of the righteous. Of the former is said,
"Glory
to God in the highest;" of the latter, "and on earth peace to men of
good
will."
Luke 2:14 Let those then who, being in this life, groan, and long for their
country,
run by love, not by bodily feet; let them seek not ships but wings, let
them
lay hold on the two wings of love. What are the two wings of love? The love
of
God, and of our neighbour. For now we are pilgrims, we sigh, we groan. There
has
come to us a letter from our country: we read it to you. "And the sons of
Sion
shall
exult in their King." The Son of God, who made us, was made one of us: and
He
rules us as our King, because He is our Creator, who made us. But He by
whom
we were made is the same as He by whom we are ruled, and we are
Christians
because He is Christ. He is called Christ from Chrism, that is,
Anointing....
Give to the Priest somewhat to offer. What could man find which he
could
give as a clean victim? What victim? what clean thing can a sinner offer? O
unrighteous,
O sinful man, whatever you offer is unclean, and somewhat that is
clean
must be offered for you.... Let then the Priest that is clean offer Himself,
and
cleanse
you. This is what Christ did. He found in man nothing clean for Him to
offer
for man: He offered Himself as a clean Victim. Happy Victim, true Victim,
spotless
Offering. He offered not then what we gave Him; yea rather, He offered
what
He took of us, and offered it clean. For of us He took flesh, and this He
offered.
But where took He it? In the womb of the Virgin Mary, that He might
offer
it clean for us unclean. He is our King, He is our Priest, in Him let us
rejoice.
4.
"Let them praise His Name in chorus" (ver. 3). What means
"chorus"? Many
know
what a "chorus" is: nay, as we are speaking in a town, almost all
know. A
"chorus"
is the union of singers. If we sing "in chorus," let us sing in
concord. If
any
one's voice is out of harmony in a chorus of singers, it offends the ear, and
throwes
the chorus into confusion. If the voice of one echoing discordantly
troubles
the harmony of them who sing, how does the discord of heresy throw into
confusion
the harmony of them who praise. The whole world is now the chorus of
Christ.
The chorus of Christ sounds harmoniously from east to west. "Let them
sing
a psalm unto Him with timbrel and psaltery." Wherefore takes he to him the
"timbrel
and psaltery"? That not the voice alone may praise, but the works too.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm
149
1177
When
timbrel and psaltery are taken, the hands harmonize with the voice. So too
do
thou, whensoever you sing, "Halleluia," deal forth your bread to the
hungry,
clothe
the naked, take in the stranger: then does not only your voice sound, but
your
hand sounds in harmony with it, for your deeds agree with your words. You
have
taken to you an instrument, and your fingers agree with your tongue. Nor
must
we keep back the mystical meaning of the "timbrel and psaltery." On
the
timbrel
leather is stretched, on the psaltery gut is stretched; on either instrument
the
flesh is crucified. How well did he "sing a psalm on timbrel and
psaltery," who
said,
"the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world"? Galatians
6:14 This
psaltery
or timbrel He wishes you to take up, who loves a new song, who teaches
you,
saying to you, "Whosoever wills to be My disciple, let him deny himself,
and
take
up his cross, and follow Me." Matthew 16:24 Let him not set down his
psaltery,
let him not set down his timbrel, let him stretch himself out on the wood,
and
be dried from the lust of the flesh. The more the strings are stretched, the
more
sharply
do they sound. The Apostle Paul then, in order that his psaltery might
sound
sharply, what said he? "Stretching forth unto those things which are
before,"
etc.
Philippians 3:13 He stretched himself: Christ touched him; and the sweetness
of
truth sounded.
5.
"For the Lord has dealt kindly among His people" (ver. 4). What
dealing so
kindly,
as to die for the ungodly? What dealing so kindly, as with righteous Blood
to
blot out the handwriting against the sinner? What dealing so kindly, as to say,
"I
regard
not what ye were, be ye now what ye were not"? He deals kindly in
converting
him that was turned away, in aiding him that is fighting, in crowning
the
conqueror. "And the meek He shall lift up in salvation." For the
proud too are
lifted
up, but not in salvation: the meek are lifted in salvation, the proud in death:
that
is, the proud lift up themselves, and God humbles them: the meek humble
themselves,
and God lifts them up.
6.
"The saints shall exult in glory" (ver. 5). I would say somewhat
important about
the
glory of the saints. For there is no one who loves not glory. But the glory of
fools,
popular glory as it is called, has snares to deceive, so that a man, influenced
by
the praises of vain men, shall be willing to live in such fashion as to be
spoken
of
by men, whosoever they be, in whatsoever way. Hence it is that men, rendered
mad,
and puffed up with pride, empty within, without swollen, are willing ever to
ruin
their fortunes by bestowing them on stage-players, actors, men who fight with
wild
beasts, charioteers. What sums they give, what sums they spend! They lavish
the
powers not only of their patrimony, but of their minds too. They scorn the
poor,
because the people shouts not that the poor should be given to, but the
people
do shout that the fighter with wild beasts be given to. When then no shout
is
raised to them, they refuse to spend; when madmen shout to them, they are mad
too:
nay, all are mad, both performer, and spectator, and the giver. This mad glory
is
blamed by the Lord, is offensive in the eyes of the Almighty.... Thou choosest
to
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 149 1178
clothe
the fighter with wild beasts, who may be beaten, and make you blush:
Christ
is never conquered; He has conquered the devil, He has conquered for you,
and
to you, and in you; such a conqueror as this you choose not to clothe.
Wherefore?
Because there is less shouting, less madness about it. They then who
delight
in such glory, have an empty conscience. Just as they drain their chests, to
send
garments as presents, so do they empty their conscience, so as to have
nothing
precious therein.
7.
But the saints who "exult in glory," no need is there for us to say
how they
exult:
just hear the verse of the Psalm which follows: "The saints shall exult in
glory,
they shall rejoice in their beds:" not in theatres, or amphitheatres, or
circuses,
or follies, or market places, but "in their chambers." What is,
"in their
chambers"?
In their hearts. Hear the Apostle Paul exulting in his closet: "For this
is
our glory, the testimony of our conscience." 2 Corinthians 1:12 On the
other
hand,
there is reason to fear lest any be pleasing to himself, and so seem to be
proud,
and boast of his conscience. For every one ought to exult with fear, for that
wherein
he exults is God's gift, not his own desert. For there be many that please
themselves,
and think themselves righteous; and there is another passage which
goes
against them, which says, "Who shall boast that he has a clean heart, and
that
he
is pure from sin?" Proverbs 20:9 There is then, so to speak, a limit to
glorying
in
our conscience, namely, to know that your faith is sincere, your hope sure,
your
love
without dissimulation. "The exultations of God are in their mouths"
(ver. 6).
In
such wise shall they "rejoice in their closets," as not to attribute
to themselves
that
they are good, but praise Him from whom they have what they are, by whom
they
are called to attain to what they are not, and from whom they hope for
perfection,
to whom they give thanks, because He has begun.
8.
"And swords sharpened on both sides in their hands." This sort of
weapon
contains
a great mystical meaning, in that it is sharp on both sides. By "swords
sharpened
on both sides," we understand the Word of the Lord: Hebrews 4:12 it is
one
sword, but therefore are they called many, because there are many mouths and
many
tongues of the saints. How is it two edged? It speaks of things temporal, it
speaks
also of things eternal. In both cases it proves what it says, and him whom it
strikes,
it severs from the world. Is not this the sword whereof the Lord said, "I
am
not
come to send peace upon earth, but a sword"? Matthew 10:34 Observe how He
came
to divide, how He came to sever. He divides the saints, He divides the
ungodly,
He severs from you that which hinders you. The son wills to serve God,
the
father wills not: the sword comes, the Word of God comes, and severs the son
from
the father.... Wherefore then is it in their hands, not in their tongues?
"And
swords,"
it says, "sharpened on both sides in their hands." By "in their
hands," he
means
in power. They received then the word of God in power, to speak where
they
would, to whom they would, neither to fear power, nor to despise poverty.
For
they had in their hands a sword; where they would they brandished it, handled
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 149
1179
it,
smote with it: and all this was in the power of the preachers. For if the Word
be
not
in their hands, why is it written, "The Word of the Lord was put in the
hand of
the
Prophet Haggai"? Surely, brethren, God set not His Word in His fingers.
What
is
meant by, "was put in his hand"? It was put into his power to preach the
Word
of
the Lord. Lastly, we can understand these "hands" in another way
also. For they
who
spoke had the word of God in their tongues, they who wrote, in their hands.
9.
Now, brethren, you see the saints armed: observe the slaughter, observe their
glorious
battles. For if there be a commander, there must be soldiers; if soldiers, an
enemy;
if a warfare, a victory. What have these done who had in their hands
swords
sharpened on both sides? "To do vengeance on the nations." See
whether
vengeance
have not been done on the nations. Daily is it done: we do it ourselves
by
speaking. Observe how the nations of Babylon are slain. She is repaid twofold:
for
so is it written of her, "repay her double for what she has done."
Revelation
18:6 How is she repaid double? The saints wage war, they draw their
"swords
twice sharpened;" thence come defeats, slaughters, severances: how is she
repaid
double? When she had power to persecute the Christians, she slew the flesh
indeed,
but she crushed not God: now she is repaid double, for the Pagans are
extinguished
and the idols are broken .... And lest you should think that men are
really
smitten with the sword, blood really shed, wounds made in the flesh, he
goes
on and explains, "upbraidings among the peoples." What is
"upbraidings"?
Reproof.
Let the "sword twice sharpened" go forth from you, delay not. Say to
your
friend, if yet you have one left to whom to say it, "What kind of man are
you,
who
hast abandoned Him by whom you were made, and worshippest what He
made?
Better is the Workman, than that which He works." When he begins to
blush,
when he begins to feel compunction, you have made a wound with your
sword,
it has reached the heart, he is about to die, that he may live.
10.
"That they may bind their kings in fetters, and their nobles in bonds of
iron"
(ver.
8). "To execute upon them the judgment written" (ver. 9). The kings
of the
Gentiles
are to be bound in fetters, "and their nobles in fetters," and that
"of
iron."...
For these verses which we are beginning to explain are obscure. For for
this
purpose God willed to set down some of His verses obscurely, not that
anything
new should be dug out of them, but that what was already well known,
might
be made new by being obscurely set forth. We know that kings have been
made
Christians; we know that the nobles of the Gentiles have been made
Christians.
They are being made so at this day; they have been, they shall be; the
"swords
twice sharpened" are not idle in the hands of the saints. How then do we
understand
their being bound in fetters and chains of iron? You know, beloved and
learned
brethren (learned I call you, for you have been nourished in the Church,
and
are accustomed to hear God's Word read), that "God has chosen the weak
things
of the world to confound the strong, and the foolish things of the world has
God
chosen to confound the wise, and things which are not, just as things which
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm
149
1180
are,
that the things which are may be brought to nought."... It is said by the
Lord,
"If
you will be perfect, go sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and come,
follow
Me, and you shall have treasure in heaven." Matthew 19:21 Many of the
nobles
did this, but they ceased to be nobles of the Gentiles, they chose rather to
be
poor in this world, noble in Christ. But many retain their former nobility,
retain
their
royal powers, and yet are Christians. These are, as it were, "in fetters
and in
bonds
of iron." How so? they received fetters, to keep them from going to things
unlawful,
the "fetters of wisdom," Sirach 6:25 the fetters of the Word of God.
Wherefore
then are they bonds of iron and not bonds of gold? They are iron so
long
as they fear: let them love, and they shall be golden. Observe, beloved, what I
say.
You have heard just now the Apostle John, "There is no fear in love, but
perfect
love casts out fear, because fear has torment." 1 John 4:18 This is the
bond
of
iron. And yet unless a man begin through fear to worship God, he will not
attain
to
love. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." The
beginning then is
bonds
of iron, the end a collar of gold. For it is said of wisdom, "a collar of
gold
around
your neck." Sirach 6:24 ... There comes to us a man powerful in this
world,
his
wife offends him, and perhaps he has desired another man's wife who is more
beautiful,
or another woman who is richer, he wishes to put away the one he has,
yet
he does it not. He hears the words of the servant of God, he hears the Prophet,
he
hears the Apostle, and he does it not; he is told by one in whose hands is a
"sword
twice sharpened," "You shall not do it: it is not lawful for you: God
allows
you
not to put away your wife, "save for the cause of fornication."
Matthew 5:32
He
hears this, he fears, and does it not.... Listen, young men; the bonds are of
iron,
seek
not to set your feet within them; if you do, you shall be bound more tightly
with
fetters. Such fetters the hands of the Bishop make strong for you. Do not men
who
are thus fettered fly to the Church, and are here loosed? Men do fly hither,
desiring
to be rid of their wives: here they are more tightly bound: no man looses
these
fetters. "What God joined together, let not man put asunder." Matthew
19:6
But
these bonds are hard. Who but knows it? This hardness the Apostles grieved
at,
and said, "If this be the case with a wife, it is not good to marry."
Matthew
19:10 If the bonds be of iron, it is not good to set our feet within them.
And
the Lord said, "All men cannot receive this saying, but let him that can
receive
it, receive it." Matthew 19:11-12 "Are you bound unto a wife? seek
not to
be
freed," for you are bound with bonds of iron. "Are you free from a
wife, seek
not
a wife;" bind not yourself with bonds of iron.
11.
"To do in them the judgment that is written." This is the judgment
which the
saints
do throughout all nations. Wherefore "written"? Because these things
were
before
written, and now are fulfilled. Behold now they are being done: erst they
were
read, and were not done. And he has concluded thus, "this glory have all
His
saints."
Throughout the whole world, throughout entire nations, this the saints do,
thus
are they glorified, thus do they "exalt God with their mouths," thus
do they
"rejoice
in their beds," thus do they "exult in their glory," thus are
they "lifted up
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 149
1181
in
salvation," thus do they "sing a new song," thus in heart and
voice and life they
say
Halleluia. Amen.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 150 1182
Exposition
on Psalm 150
1.
Although the arrangement of the Psalms, which seems to me to contain the
secret
of a mighty mystery, has not yet been revealed unto me, yet, by the fact that
they
in all amount to one hundred and fifty, they suggest somewhat even to us,
who
have not as yet pierced with the eye of our mind the depth of their entire
arrangement,
whereon we may without being over-bold, so far as God gives, be
able
to speak. Firstly, the number fifteen, whereof it is a multiple this number
fifteen,
I say, signifies the agreement of the two Testaments. For in the former is
observed
the Sabbath, which signifies rest; in the latter the Lord's Day, which
signifies
resurrection. The Sabbath is the seventh day, but the Lord's Day, coming
after
the seventh, must needs be the eighth, and is also to be reckoned the first.
For
it
is called the first day of the week, and so from it are reckoned the second,
third,
fourth,
and so on to the seventh day of the week, which is the Sabbath. But from
Lord's
Day to Lord's Day is eight days, wherein is declared the revelation of the
New
Testament, which in the Old was as it were veiled under earthly promises.
Further,
seven and eight make fifteen. Of the same number too are the Psalms
which
are called "of the steps," because that was the number of the steps
of the
Temple.
Further too, the number fifty in itself also contains a great mystery. For it
consists
of a week of weeks, with the addition of one as an eighth to complete the
number
of fifty. For seven times seven make forty-nine, whereto one is added to
make
fifty. And this number fifty is of so great meaning, that it was after the
completion
of that number of days from the Lord's Resurrection, that, on the
fiftieth
day exactly, the Holy Spirit came upon those who were gathered together
in
Christ. And this Holy Spirit is in Scripture especially spoken of by the number
seven,
whether in Isaiah or in the Apocalypse, where the seven Spirits of God are
most
directly mentioned, on account of the sevenfold operation of one and the
self-same
Spirit. Revelation 1:20 And this sevenfold operation is mentioned in
Isaiah.
Isaiah 11:2 ... Hence also the Holy Spirit is spoken of under the number
seven.
But this period of fifty the Lord divided into forty and ten: for on the
fortieth
day after His Resurrection He ascended into heaven, and then after ten
days
were completed He sent the Holy Spirit: under the number forty setting forth
to
us the period of temporal sojourn in this world. For the number four prevails
in
forty;
and the world and the year have each four parts; and by the addition of the
number
ten, as a sort of reward added for the fulfilment of the law in good works,
eternity
itself is figured. This fifty the number one hundred and fifty contains three
times,
as though it were multiplied by the Trinity. Wherefore for this reason too
we
make out that this number of the Psalm is not unsuitable.
2.
Now in that some have believed that the Psalms are divided into five books,
they
have been led by the fact, that so often at the end of Psalms are the words,
"so
be
it, so be it." But when I endeavoured to make out the principle of this
division, I
was
not able; for neither are the five parts equal one to another, neither in
quantity
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 150
1183
of
contents, nor yet even in number of Psalms, so as for each to contain thirty.
And
if
each book end with, "so be it, so be it," we may reasonably ask, why
the fifth
and
last book has not the same conclusion. We however, following the authority of
canonical
Scripture, where it is said, "For it is written in the book of
Psalms,"
Acts
1:20 know that there is but one book of Psalms. And I see indeed how this
can
be true, and yet the other be true also, without contravening it. For it may be
that
there was some custom in Hebrew literature, whereby that is called one book
which
yet consists of more than one, just as of many churches one church consists,
and
of many heavens one heaven, ... and one land of many lands. For it is our
everyday
habit to say, "the globe of the earth," and "the globe of the
lands." And
when
it is said, "It is written in the book of Psalms," though the
customary way of
speaking
is such that he seem to have wished to suggest that there is but one book,
yet
to this it may be answered, that the words mean "in a book of the
Psalms," that
is,
"in any one of those five books." And this is in common language so
unprecedented,
or at least so rare, that we are only convinced that the twelve
Prophets
made one book, because we read in like manner, "As it is written in the
book
of the Prophets." Acts 7:42 There are some too who call all the canonical
Scriptures
together one book, because they agree in a very wondrous and divine
unity....
3.
Whichever then of these is understood, this book, in its parts of fifty Psalms
each,
gives an answer important and very worthy of consideration. For it seems to
me
not without significance, that the fiftieth is of penitence, the hundredth of
mercy
and judgment, the hundred and fiftieth of the praise of God in His saints.
For
thus do we advance to an everlasting life of happiness, first by condemning
our
own sins, then by living aright, that, having condemned our ill life, and lived
a
good
life, we may attain to everlasting life. Our predestination is not wrought in
ourselves,
but in secret with Him, in His foreknowledge. But we are called by the
preaching
of repentance. We are justified in the calling of mercy and fear of
judgment.
He fears not judgment, who has previously attained salvation. Being
called,
we renounce the devil by repentance, that we may not continue under his
yoke:
being justified, we are healed by mercy, that we may not fear judgment:
being
glorified, we pass into everlasting life, where we praise God without
end
.... The verse wherewith this Psalm concludes is the voice of life everlasting.
4.
"Praise the Lord in His saints," that is, in those whom He has
glorified: "praise
Him
in the firmament of His power" (ver. 1). "Praise Him in His deeds of
strength;"
or, as others have explained it, "in His deeds of power: praise Him
according
to the multitude of His greatness" (ver. 2). All these His saints are; as
the
Apostle says, "But we may be the righteousness of God in Him."
2
Corinthians 5:21 If then they be the righteousness of God, which He has
wrought
in them, why are they not also the strength of Christ which He has
wrought
in them, that they should rise again from the dead? For in Christ's
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 150
1184
resurrection,
"strength" is especially set forth to us, for in His Passion was
weakness,
as the Apostle says. And well does it say, "the firmament of His
power."
For it is the "firmament of His power" that He "dies no more,
death has no
more
dominion over Him." Romans 6:9 Why should not they also be called
"the
works
of" God's "strength," which He has done in them: yea rather,
they
themselves
are the works of His strength; just as it is said, "We are the
righteousness
of God in Him." For what more powerful than that He should reign
for
ever, with all His enemies put under His feet? Why should not they also be
"the
multitude of His greatness"? not that whereby He is great, but whereby He
has
made them great, many as they are, that is, thousands of thousands. Just as
righteousness
too is understood in two ways, that whereby He is righteous, and
that
which He works in us, so as to make us His righteousness. These same saints
are
signified by all the musical instruments in succession, to praise God in. For
what
the Psalmist began with, saying, "Praise the Lord in His saints,"
that he
carries
out, signifying in various ways these same saints of His.
5.
"Praise Him in the sound of the trumpet" (ver. 3): on account of the
surpassing
clearness
of note of their praise. "Praise Him in the psaltery and harp." The
psaltery
praises God from things above, the harp praises God from things below; I
mean,
from things in heaven, and things in earth, as He who made heaven and
earth.
We have already in another Psalm, explained that the psaltery has that
board,
whereon the series of strings rests that it may give a better sound, above,
whereas
the harp has it below. "Praise Him in the timbrel and choir" (ver.
4). The
"timbrel"
praises God when the flesh is now changed, so that there is in it no
weakness
of earthly corruption. For the timbrel is made of leather dried and
strengthened.
The "choir" praises God when society made peaceful praises Him.
"Praise
Him on the strings and organ." Both psaltery and harp, which have been
mentioned
above, have strings. But "organ" is a general name for all instruments
of
music, although usage has now obtained that those are specially called organ
which
are inflated with bellows: but I do not think that this kind is meant here. For
since
organ is a Greek word, applied generally, as I have said, to all musical
instruments,
this instrument, to which bellows are applied, is called by the Greeks
by
another name: but it being called organ is rather a Latin and conversational
usage.
When then he says, "on the strings and organ," he seems to me to have
intended
to signify some instrument which has strings. For it is not psalteries and
harps
only that have strings: but, because in the psaltery, and harp, on account of
the
sound from things below and things above, somewhat has been found which
can
be understood after this distinction, he has suggested to us to seek some other
meaning
in the strings themselves: for they too are flesh, but flesh now set free
from
corruption. And to those, it may be, he added the organ, to signify that they
sound
not each separately, but sound together in most harmonious diversity, just as
they
are arranged in a musical instrument. For even then the saints of God will
have
their differences, accordant, not discordant, that is, agreeing, not
disagreeing,
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Psalm 150
1185
just
as sweetest harmony arises from sounds differing indeed, but not opposed to
one
another.
6.
"Praise Him on the well-sounding cymbals, praise Him on cymbals of
jubilation"
(ver. 5). Cymbals touch one another in order to sound, and therefore
are
by some compared to our lips. But I think it better to understand that God is
in
a
manner praised on the cymbal, when each is honoured by his neighbour, not by
himself,
and then honouring one another, they give praise to God. But lest any
should
understand such cymbals as sound without life, therefore I think he added,
"on
cymbals of jubilation." For "jubilation" that is, unspeakable
praise, proceeds
not,
save from life. Nor do I think that I should pass over what musicians say, that
there
are three kinds of sounds, by voice, by breath, by striking: by voice, uttered
by
throat and windpipe, when man sings without any instrument; by breath, as by
pipe,
or anything of that sort: by striking, as by harp, or anything of that kind.
None
then of these kinds is omitted here: for there is voice in the choir, breath in
the
trumpet, striking in the harp, representing mind, spirit, body, but by
similitudes,
not in the proper sense of the words. When then he proposed, "Praise
God
in His saints," to whom said he this, save to themselves? And in whom are
they
to praise God, save in themselves? For you, says he, are "His
saints;" you are
"His
strength," but that which He wrought in you; you are "His mighty
works, and
the
multitude of His greatness," which He has wrought and set forth in you.
You
are
"trumpet, psaltery, harp, timbrel, choir, strings, and organ, cymbals of
jubilation
sounding well," because sounding in harmony. All these are you: let
nought
that is vile, nought that is transitory, nought that is ludicrous, be here
thought
of. And since to savour of the flesh is death, "let every spirit praise
the
Lord"
(ver. 6).
Please
report any errors to Ted Hildebrandt at:
ted.hildebrandt@gordon.edu