Homily on Psalm 110

and requires only that. This same thing may be seen in the brutes. For what does it profit an ass laden with burdens, even if he enjoys them a thousand times over? And what harm is there to another, free from all these things, if necessary sustenance is provided? Therefore, Christ invested his own disciples with high spirits, as those who were about to speak to the whole world, and freed them from all cares, making them winged and rendering them more constant than any adamant. For nothing adds such strength to the soul as being free from these: nothing enervates it so much as being bound and held by them. For just as it is not possible to find sorrow here quickly, so neither can you find pleasure there. The former has many savage and inhuman masters and mistresses; but the latter serves no one, yet commands everyone, enjoying the rays of the sun in security, enjoying the breeze of the air with pleasure, and having no one to cause him annoyance. Neither anger, nor envy, nor jealousy vexes and agitates him; cares do not consume him, nor contentions, nor vain glory, nor pride, nor anything else of this kind; but as a quiet harbor, free from waves, so settled is his soul, and he travels the road to heaven easily, as one whom no present thing hinders. So that we too may enjoy this security, and obtain tranquility in the present life, and ease in our pilgrimage, let us pursue this path, so that we may also reach the eternal goods, which surpass all reason, mind, and thought, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and empire unto ages of ages. Amen.

ON PSALM CX

1. What is, *In whole*? With all alacrity of mind and diligently, free from all cares of worldly things, sublime and erect, the soul freed from the chains of the body. *In heart*. Not in words only, nor in tongue and mouth alone, but with mind and thought. Thus also Moses, giving the law, said: *You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your mind* (Deut. 6:5). By confession here, it seems to me, he means thanksgiving. I will praise, he says, I will give thanks. For he consumed his whole life in this; from this he begins, and in this he ends; this was his work perpetually: to give thanks for the benefits which both he and others had received. For God asks for nothing as much as this; this is sacrifice, this is offering, this is the sign of a pious and grateful mind, this is the wound that strikes the devil; hence the blessed Job was crowned and proclaimed, because although countless temptations were brought upon him, and his wife also wished to trip him up, he was not turned away, but gave thanks to the Lord for all things perpetually, not only when he was rich but also when he was poor (Job 1:21): not only when he was healthy, but also when he was struck in his flesh; not only when all things succeeded according to his mind, but also when that grave storm settled upon his entire house, and upon the very nature of his body. For this is the mark of a grateful soul above all, to have great thanks perpetually to God in adverse and harsh affairs. ^B Indeed, he himself also hinting at this, declared it by the things that follow. For because many men, while affairs are indeed merry, give thanks; if it happens otherwise, they bear it ill: there are even those who censure the things that happen: showing that this does not come from the nature of the things that occur, but from a depraved mind, he subjoined, saying: *In the counsel of the just and the congregation, great are the works of the Lord.* This he said, showing that the work needs an upright judge and an uncorrupted assembly, and it will be clear that the works of God are great and full of great miracle. For they are great in themselves, and yet they do not seem great, unless they have a right judge. For *the sun* also is by itself bright and luminous, and illuminates the whole world: but to those whose eyes are suffering, it is not such. And yet the sun is not in fault, but it is the vice of their own weakness. Therefore, when you see someone accusing the works of God, do not, because of his wickedness, slander the works of God; but take his dementia as the greatest proof of God's providence. For just as he who calls the sun dark has not disparaged the star, but has brought forth a certain argument of his own blindness: and he who calls honey bitter does not obscure its sweetness, but passes judgment on the disease from which he suffers: so also he who censures the works of God. ^C And just as this man brings no detriment either to those things, or to the reputation held of them, but rather argues his own madness to the maximum: so those who do not have a right judgment of the works of God do not know even the miracles that have been done; just as, on the contrary, if anyone is of an equal and not depraved mind, he will be stupified at each one of those things which seem to be difficult. For what, I ask, of the things that happen is not admirable? If you wish, however, leaving others aside, let us come to those which seem to many to be troublesome and grave, death, disease, poverty, and whatever things are of this kind. For if anyone will be of a right heart, he will not receive them with difficulty, but will marvel. For even if death entered through sin (Rom. 5:12), nevertheless, such is the abundance of God, and his philanthropy, and his care in excess, that he has converted it to the utility of our race. For what grave thing, tell me, I ask, does death have? Does it not set free from labors? Does it not snatch away from cares? Do you not hear Job praising it, and saying: *Death is rest to a man, whose way is hidden* (Job 3:23)? Does it not rescind vice? For even if someone were evil, with his death, vice has been cut off: *For he who is dead, is justified from sin* (Rom. 6:7). But if he be good, when he has passed on, all his virtue will be placed in safety, and stored in the safest treasury. Does it not, tell me, I ask, render the living more modest and temperate? ^D Do you not often see rich men who swell with pride, and lift their eyebrows, when at a funeral they see the body lying lifeless and motionless, and the children in orphanage, the wife in widowhood, and the friends in mourning, and the servants clad in black garments, and finally the sad and lugubrious appearance of the whole house; how they are...

constrained, how they are humbled, how they are crushed? For, having enjoyed myriads of instructions and having gained nothing from them, suddenly, from that sight, they become philosophers, learning the cheap and transitory nature of human existence, the fragile and unstable state of their own authority, and in the calamities of others, foreseeing their own changes.

^B 2. If, when death exists, there are so many robberies and so many forms of greed; and just as fish devour those who are smaller, so the more powerful devour those who are weaker; if death did not exist, when would they have ceased their greed? For if, knowing that they will not enjoy what they plunder but will, whether they wish it or not, leave it to others, they are so frantic and rabid; if they had this in security, when would the fires of their wicked desire ever have been extinguished? But what? Are the crowns of martyrdom not woven through death? And what of Paul? Did he not erect myriads of trophies, saying: "I die daily, by your boasting" (1 Cor. 15. 31)?

For it is not death that is evil, but a wicked death. Therefore he says: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints" (Ps. 115. 15). And elsewhere he says: "The death of sinners is evil" (Ps. 53. 22). He calls it evil because it involves departing with a wicked conscience, burdened and pressed by many anxieties regarding transgressions. Whereas the one who has a pure conscience runs to the rewards and departs toward the crown. And that you may learn that it is not the nature of things, but the opinion of men, that causes this turmoil, listen to how Paul seeks this, at one time saying: "For we who are in this tent groan, longing to be further clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life" (2 Cor. 5. 2-4 and Rom. 8. 23); and at another time, expressing the same thing elsewhere: "But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. And you too rejoice and share your joy with me" (Philipp. 2. 17-18). If death is not burdensome, but even desirable to those who live rightly, how much more so are poverty and all other things.

"Sought out for all his will." Another says: "Accurately prepared." Here, it seems to me that he is discoursing about created things, proclaiming the wisdom of God; previously he called them "works" (if we, for the sake of the short-sighted and those of different minds, have touched upon these things), those portents and wonders which He often performed, managing the race of men. And what is meant by "Sought out for all his will"? They are precisely made, he says—just as another interpreter has said—prepared, complete, brought into being, fulfilled, sufficient to perform His will, capable of testifying to His power; not limping, nor lacking in anything to execute His commands, which he also says elsewhere: "Fire, hail, snow, frost, stormy wind performing his word" (Ps. 148. 8)—that is, his commands. Thus also the Prophet said: "He made the moon for times; the sun knew his setting; you made darkness, and it became night" (Ps. 103. 19-20). And they do not only accomplish that for which they were prepared; but even if He commands the contrary, even there, there is great obedience. For he commanded the sea, and it not only did not sink them—which was its nature—but having calmed its waves, it allowed the host of the Jews to pass over more safely than on dry stone. The furnace not only did not burn, but it provided, as it were, a cooling breeze (Dan. 3. 21). The wild beasts not only did not devour, but they stood in the place of bodyguards for Daniel (Id. 5. 22). The whale not only did not swallow him, but it kept the deposit safe (Jon. 2). The earth not only did not bear their weight, but it sank them more cruelly than the sea, when it opened and swallowed Dathan, and covered the congregation of Abiron (Num. 16. 32): and one might see many such miraculous occurrences in created things; so that the most foolish, who deify nature, may learn that things are not governed by the tyranny of nature, but that all things yield and defer to the will of God. For He is the Maker of nature, and He changes all things according to what seems good to Him, now maintaining their boundaries immovable, and now, when He wills, easily removing them, and changing them to the contrary. "Sought out for all his will." For His commands, he says, for His injunctions; and not only for His injunctions, but also so that He might be known by men, which is His primary will, and for which He especially made these things. What, then, the Prophet says is this: that they are so perfected as to instill in the minds of those who reflect and possess intellect the most accurate, clear, and manifest knowledge of Him. For even regarding this, His primary will from the beginning, He constructed them, by their magnitude, their beauty, their position, their operation, their service, and all other things, stirring the soul of the spectator and awakening the mind to seek the Creator and most excellent Artisan, God, and to worship Him who made them, and for the whole body of creation to become instead of books and letters.

^C 3. But creations bring us great instruction not only for the knowledge of God, but also for our conduct. For the greedy man, when he sees the day yielding to the night, and the sun to the moon, will be moved to respect the orderliness of the elements, and however powerful he may be, he will not desire the possessions of those who are lesser; and the adulterer and the unchaste, when he sees the sea raging, then being bridled by the shore, again respecting the order of the chaotic waters, will be able to quickly restrain his own mounting desire, and with the fear of Christ to bridle the rush toward the face, and to dissolve all the foam of this unchaste impulse, and to lead it back to temperance. And regarding the resurrection, looking to the dry land, he will easily be able to philosophize and receive the doctrine concerning it. For when he sees the earth receiving the solid grain of wheat, then first dissolving and rotting, and bringing forth much better fruit; when he sees the vine in winter naked of leaves and tendrils and clusters, and that same dry wood, like dry bones, then upon the arrival of spring receiving all its beauty, in the bodies of plants and seeds which rise again after having been destroyed, he will be able to philosophize concerning his own flesh also. And the industriousness he will learn again from the ant, and the love of beauty from the bee, and the social nature—as the Proverb says—and the communion between themselves.

^C And just as someone might say of those who have already passed, he turns each thing toward a beneficial purpose. He threatens hell, and just as fathers are fathers not only when they indulge their children but also when they strike them, and they are no less fathers when striking than when indulging; so too is God. Therefore Paul also said: "For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?" And Solomon: "For whom the Lord loves he disciplines, and he scourges every son whom he receives. His righteousness remains unto the age of the age." (Prov. III, 12).

^D This seems to me to be said here for the sake of those who are scandalized by the afflictions that befall some people contrary to expectation, almost persuading them and saying: "Do not be troubled when you see men suffering hardships and suffering evils undeservedly through slander; for the incorrupt tribunal remains, the pure vote remains, which grants to each what is merited." But if you demand it now, see that you do not first cast the vote against yourself. For if God were to inflict punishment for each of the sins and bring the just vote upon every one who commits an offense, the human race would have been cut off long ago. And why do I speak of this one or that one? For by bringing into the midst the leader of all men, I will attempt to show this: that Paul himself, the herald of the inhabited world, who was snatched up to the third heaven, who was carried off into paradise, who partook of the fearful mysteries, the vessel of election, the groomsman of Christ, who showed an angelic way of life, and who reached such a peak of virtue—if He had not willed to be long-suffering towards him and had not borne with him, but when he sinned and blasphemed and persecuted, had immediately brought the just sentence upon his feet, He would have long ago snatched him away from repentance. Therefore he himself, also knowing these things, said: "I thank Him who empowered me, Christ, that He considered me faithful, having placed me in service, who was previously a blasphemer and a persecutor and a reviler; but I gained mercy, that in me first He might show all long-suffering, for the example of those who are to believe in Him unto eternal life." (1 Tim. I, 12-16). What then? The harlot, when would she have been converted? What then? The publican Matthew, if in the time of his publican duty before his change He had exacted punishments from him, would He not have snatched him away from repentance? So also with the Magi, so also with every sinner. Therefore He holds back His anger and the retribution according to each merit, calling men to repentance. But if they remain uncorrected, they will altogether undergo the just vote. Therefore the Prophet, comforting those who are treated with injustice and admonishing those who inflict injustice, added that: "His righteousness remains unto the age." Now what he wishes to say through this is of such a kind: "Neither you, who are being treated with injustice, should despair if you finish your life, as if you would not obtain your rights; for after you have departed from here, you will surely receive the rewards for your labors; nor you again, who seize everything and invade the goods of all and confuse everything, living in peace [271] be confident, for all...

shall you render an account after your departure hence, and shall pay the debt of your wickedness. For God is He who always remains, and always possesses remaining justice, not at all interrupted by death, nor indifferent to the reward of the labors undergone for the sake of virtue, nor to the paying of punishments which are owed to wickedness. ^B *He hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works.* What is, *He hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works*? He ceased not, he says, from working wonders continually. For this is what *He hath made a remembrance* means: he did not stop, he did not depart through every generation from working wonders, and rousing the slower-witted through the marvels. For the high-minded and philosophical man will need none of the signs—*for blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed.* But since He cares not just for these, but even for the slower-witted, He does not cease from working wonders in almost every generation. For the whole creation of visible things is a sufficient wonder; yet, rousing the sloth of the many, in the midst of this theater He displayed many marvels, both privately and publicly: such as that in the flood, that in the confusion of the tongues, those at Sodom, those of Abraham, those of Isaac, those of Jacob, those in Egypt, those in the exodus of the Jews, those in the wilderness, those in the land of Palestine, those in Babylon, those after the return, those in the time of the Maccabees, those after the coming of Christ, those in the coming itself, those happening down to the present day—the fall of Jerusalem, the building of the Church, the word that runs everywhere, which was raised by the waves, which grew through wars, the crowds of the martyrs, and everything else. ^C And one might see many wonders happening specifically and in the home, and in cities. But for the time being, let us look at the general ones, which are clear and known to all, and which happen in every generation. How many things happened under Julian, who surpassed all the impious, when the Church was being attacked? How many under Maximin? How many before those emperors? And if you wish, also things that happened in our own generation, such as the crosses that were suddenly inscribed upon our garments, the temple of Apollo that was brought down by lightning, the translation of the holy martyr Babylas at Daphne, and the manifest victory against the demon, the unexpected death of the keeper of the imperial treasures, the very taking off of the emperor, of Julian himself who had surpassed all the impious, and the destruction of that uncle of his, the swarms of worms, and ten thousand other things—the famine, the drought, and the scarcity of water which fell upon the cities along with him, and ten thousand other things everywhere.

5. And you learned of the things that happened back then in Palestine. For when the Jews wished to rebuild that temple which had been destroyed by the decree of God, fire leaped from the foundations and drove them all away, and the work remaining unfinished bears witness to this. ^D *The Lord is compassionate and merciful: he hath given food to them that fear him.* Having declared his benefits, those through the wonders, those through the works, the care that has occurred for our sake, he again by this increases the discourse, showing that He who did so many and such great things for the salvation of humanity, and who instructed them in every way, and continues to instruct them unto the knowledge of God and ultimate philosophy, and who sustains their life, does not do this as a duty (which is the greatest grace), but for mercy and love for humanity, not as needing them himself, but for his goodness alone. *He hath given food to them that fear him.* Why has he placed those who fear him here? For he does not truly feed them alone. For it says in the Gospel, *That he maketh his sun to rise upon the evil and the good, and raineth upon the just and the unjust* (Matt. 5. 45). How then did he say, *To them that fear him*? It seems to me he speaks here of food not bodily, but that of the soul. For this reason he discourses only about those who fear him; for this is what is set apart for them. For just as the body is nourished, so too is the soul nourished. And that it is nourished, listen: *Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God* (Id. 4. 4). This food, then, he mentions, which he gave exceptionally to them that fear him: the instruction through the word, the education, the whole philosophy. *He shall be mindful for ever of his covenant.* Again, suppressing the pride of the Jews, and cutting off their conceit, or rather showing that the good things they enjoyed they did not enjoy because of their own merit, but because of his friendship towards the fathers, and the covenants made with them, he says, *He shall be mindful for ever of his covenant*; which also Moses commanded them that were entering into the land of promise to say and to contemplate. For if you build, he says, splendid cities, and pile up wealth of money, do not say, That because of my justice these things have come about, but because of the covenants with your fathers (Deut. 9. 4. 5). For nothing is worse than arrogance; for this reason God constantly cuts it off in every way and at all times. *He hath declared the power of his works to his people, to give them the inheritance of the nations.* He moves the discourse from the general to the specific; from the things that happened throughout the inhabited world, to those that befell the Jews. And yet, if one were to examine accurately, these too were teachings for others, and the wars and victories serve in the place of a proclamation for those who pay attention. For these things happened not by human sequence, but beyond reason. For what sequence is that, for the walls to be cast down as they played the trumpets, and a woman commanding the army to win and prevail, and a small child to end barbarian wars by the throwing of one stone (Jos. 6. 20. Jud. 4. 1. 1 Reg. 17. 49)? And other such strange things happened. Thus they overcame the enemies, thus they cast them out of Palestine. When therefore he says, *He hath declared the power of his works to his people*, he says nothing else, but that he displayed his [power].

not only in casting out the nations, but in casting them out in such a way that they were most able to recognize [it]—even though the prior events were sufficient, when the plague was sent upon them divinely, and with Him leading the army, the matters of the enemies were decided. For He did not teach them through words only, but through deeds: through sandals, through garments, through nourishment, through the light by night and by day, through the cloud, through wars, through peace, through trophies, through agriculture, through rains. All things, in short, emitted a voice proclaiming the Lord and stirring up their blinded minds; nor was any time ever skipped in which He did not demonstrate His signs frequently. *The works of his hands are truth and judgment.* After He discourses concerning His power, He discourses also concerning His just judgment, that He not only showed power in the things He did, but also great justice. For He did not cast out the nations without cause when He willed to introduce the Jews, but He cast them out with justice as well. And therefore Moses also said elsewhere: *For not yet are the sins of the Amorites fulfilled* (Gen. XV, 16). But these things can be said not only of the Jews and of what happened to them, but again, the discourse is universal. For whatever things are done by Him are truth and judgment; judgment, that is, justice. But Scripture is accustomed to call clemency *truth* many times. What He says, therefore, is of this kind: He mingled and tempered all things with justice and clemency. For if He had used justice alone, all things would have perished. *Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified* (Ps. CXLII, 2). And again: *If thou shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, O Lord, who shall stand?* (Ps. CXXIX, 3). Whatever things, therefore, are done by Him are full of both these. For whether He exacted service by strict justice alone, all would perish; or if He used clemency alone, many would be rendered more negligent. Wherefore, varying the salvation of men, He used both for their correction.

All his commandments are faithful

sent the Lord to His people. As far as the history is concerned, he speaks of the freedom of the Jews; but ^A regarding the anagogical sense, he speaks of the freedom of the whole world, which the following also indicates: "He has sent redemption unto His people."

7. Yet not only is there redemption, but after the redemption there is the Law, so that we may show a manner of life worthy of grace. "Holy and terrible is His name." For since He has considered all things that proclaim His care, His providence, that which is in the Old and in the New [Covenants], that which is in deeds and works, that which is through commandments, that which is through miracles and wonders, becoming inspired and struck with awe at His majesty, he concludes his discourse to glorification, offering a hymn to Him who has done these things. "Holy and terrible is His name"—that is, full of awe, full of great wonder. And if His name is such, how much more is His substance? And how is His name holy and terrible? Demons tremble at it, diseases fear it; using this name, the apostles put the whole world in order. ^B By using this as a weapon, David struck down that barbarian; by it, countless things were accomplished; by it, we are initiated into the sacred mystery. Considering, therefore, how many miracles His name works, how many benefits it bestows, how it disperses adversaries and secures its own, and reflecting on things that transcend the order of nature and surpass human reason, he says: "Holy and terrible is His name." And if it is holy, it requires holy lips for hymnody, holy and pure.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding to all who practice it." What is "beginning"? A fountain, a root, a foundation. Since he said so many and such great things about the Master of the world, and was filled with such awe, he adds this consequentially, showing henceforth that he who fears Him is filled with all wisdom and becomes sensible. Then, lest anyone think that the matters of wisdom are limited to knowledge, he added: "A good understanding to all who practice it." For faith is not sufficient unless a manner of life corresponding to the faith is also present. How is "the fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom"? It frees one from all wickedness and completes every virtue. And he refers not to the wisdom that is in words, but to that which is in deeds. Since even those outside [the Church] defined wisdom as this: the knowledge of divine and human affairs. This art, however, the fear of God teaches, by removing wickedness, cultivating virtue, preparing one to despise present things, and translating one to heaven. And what is wiser than such a soul? ^C He does not seek only the hearer here, but also the doer. "A good understanding to all who practice it"—that is, to those who perform the wisdom, and through their works show it to be a good understanding. A "good" understanding, he said, because there is also an evil understanding, as when [Scripture] says: "They are wise to do evil; but to do good they have not known." But He seeks the understanding that is in virtue.

"His praise remains forever and ever." What praise? Tell me. The thanksgiving, the glorification, that which is brought about through works—immortal, and before these, that [praise] which is bound up with His very substance. For God is indeed immortal, and in Himself greatly to be praised; but He is also to be praised when you consider His majesty and all other things; He is to be praised also through His works, when you see His wisdom through the things that are seen. ^D He says these things while exhorting to thanksgiving, and showing that those who are sullen regarding what has come to pass are worthy of no pardon, not even the slightest. For when His praise, and thanksgiving, and glorification are thus manifest, clear, evident, immovable, firmly established, and permanent, so as even to be immortal, endless, and without termination, and those who ignore this speak the opposite—they are doing nothing other than contradicting things that are far clearer than the sun, and they are willingly blinding themselves. It is not, therefore, temporary, so that they might be ignorant of it, nor is it dim and obscure, but it is clear, perpetual, and immortal, always remaining, and never having an end.

CONCERNING PSALM CXI

"Blessed is the man who fears the Lord." 1. It seems to me that the beginning of this psalm follows most appropriately upon the end of the previous one, and that it is, as it were, one continuous and connected body. For there he says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom"; and here, "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord," teaching the fear of God with other words indeed, but with the same thoughts. There, he said he was wise; here, blessed. And this is the truly blessed [state], as all else is vanity, shadow, and bare things; even if you speak of wealth, or power, or the beauty of the body, or the abundance of possessions. For they are like falling leaves, passing shadows, and fleeting dreams. But this is the truly blessed [state]. Then, because even demons fear Him and shudder, lest you think this alone is sufficient for salvation—which he has done above—he does the same here. For just as there, having said, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," he added, "A good understanding to all who practice it," attaching the corresponding conduct to the doctrines; so also here, having spoken of fear, he does not mean only that which comes from knowledge, which even demons possess; but he also adds this, saying: "In His commandments he will greatly delight." This he said, demanding a life and a refined manner of life, and a philosophical soul. And he did not say, "He will perform His commandments," but "he will delight," seeking something more. What, then, is this? To do them with eagerness; to be their ardent lovers; to pursue their precepts; to love them...