experience alone that reveals its blessedness. May it be granted to us all to attain to this, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ON PSALM CXIV
1. *I have loved, because the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer.*
A 1. What things are truly advantageous to us.—And who is there, you might ask, who does not love when he is heard? Many worldly people do not. They do not want to hear what is truly advantageous to them, but they ask for things to happen that are not to their advantage; then, when they do happen, they are pained and afflicted with sorrow. For those things are advantageous which God knows to be advantageous for us, whether you speak of poverty, or hunger, or disease, or any other thing of this kind. But those things which God has approved as advantageous and has given, these are indeed useful. Hear, then, what He said to Paul: *My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness* (2 Cor. XII, 9). For these were the things that were advantageous to him: persecutions, afflictions, and straits. And having heard that these were advantageous, he said: *Therefore I am content in weaknesses, in insults, in persecutions* (Ibid. v. 10). It is not, therefore, for everyone to rejoice when God has heard them by providing what is advantageous. Many certainly desire things that are useless, and take pleasure in them; but not so the prophet. What then? He loved, because God heard him, by giving what is useful.
B 2. *Because he has inclined his ear to me.* Again, he shows the nod of God by using human terms. And through this word he also implies something else, saying: I am not worthy to be heard, yet He Himself descended to me. *And in my days I will call.* What is meant by "in my days"? He means: not because I have been heard will I draw back and become more negligent, but I will fulfill this duty during all the days of my life.
C 3. *The sorrows of death surrounded me, and the dangers of hell found me. I found tribulation and pain; and I called upon the name of the Lord.* Have you seen the mighty weapon? Have you seen the consolation that dissolves all that is grievous? Have you seen the soul inflamed with a desire for the Lord? What he says is of this kind: It is enough for me, in order to be delivered from the evils that surround me, to call upon God. What, then, is the reason that, although we call upon God often, we are nonetheless not delivered from our evils? It is because we do not call upon Him as we ought. For, that you may know that He is always prepared to provide, hear what He says in the Gospels: *Which of you, if his son asks him for bread, will hand him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will hand him a serpent? If you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him?* (Matt. VII, 9-11). Do you see how great His goodness is, when our wickedness is seen in comparison with it? Since, therefore, such is our Lord, let us always flee to Him, let us invoke Him alone as our helper, and we shall find Him ready to save us. For if those who have suffered shipwreck and are carried along on a plank, by calling out to those who are far off, persuade them to show kindness—even if there is nothing in common between them, but they are known only by their calamity—how much more will He who is benign and merciful, and who possesses natural goodness, snatch away those who are oppressed by grave calamities, if only they are willing to flee to Him and call upon Him truly and sincerely, having abandoned human hope? D When, therefore, you fall into some unexpected evil, do not abandon your courage, but immediately raise up your spirit, and flee to the tranquil harbor which is agitated by no waves, and to the fortress that is never taken, namely, the help of God. For He allowed you to fall, so that you might call upon Him. But most people are then especially cast down, and discard the piety they possessed, when they should do the opposite. For because He loves us deeply, He allows us to be afflicted, so that we may be more perfectly joined to Him. For mothers are also accustomed to frighten insolent children with various masks, forcing them to flee to their own bosoms, not indeed wishing to cause them distress, but contriving this so that they themselves may sit beside them; so too God, wishing to join us to Himself always, like a fervent lover—or rather, more fervent than any lover—permits you to be brought into such necessity, so that you may be continuously free for prayer, and call upon Him assiduously, and, having abandoned other things, be anxious for Him. *O Lord, deliver my soul.* Another interpreter: *I beseech, O Lord, rescue my soul.* Another: *O Lord, save my soul.*
4. You have seen the wise soul, how, having abandoned all things pertaining to this life, it seeks but one thing: that the soul may remain unharmed and suffer nothing of those things that can harm it. For if it is well, all other things follow; if it is not well, other prosperity helps us not at all. And therefore it is necessary to say and do everything so that we may preserve it. For this is what He hints at when He says: *Be wise as serpents* (Matt. X, 16). For just as that one casts away the rest of the body, so that it may preserve the head, so you also must give up all other things for the safety of the soul. For neither poverty, nor disease, nor what seems to be the head of all evils—death—will be able to harm the one who has fallen, if that is preserved; just as you will gain no profit from life if it is lost or corrupted. Therefore, having left other things behind, he makes this his concern, and asks that he not be held to too harsh an account for it, and that he be freed from intolerable punishments. 5. *The Lord is merciful and just, and our God is merciful.* Do you see how He teaches the listener that he should neither despair nor be slothful and more negligent? For he says, as it were, "Do not despair; for God is merciful; and do not be slothful; for He is just." Thus, He cuts off the sloth of the one, and the despair of the other.
A taking away despair and procuring salvation for us from every side.
2. Then, showing God to be inclined toward benevolence, he adds again, saying: "And our God has mercy." He rightly said, "Our God," in contrast to those gods of whom he made mention a little before. For the work of those was to slaughter and destroy and to wage implacable war; but to this One it belongs to be benevolent, to show mercy, and to snatch us from perils continually. And this especially, along with other things, proves those others to be demons and destroyers, while this One is the guardian, the protector, and the true God. "The Lord is the guardian of the little ones; I was humbled, and He saved me." Here he stirs up the greatest form of His providence. Since he said, "He is merciful and just, and He has mercy," he demonstrates the work of His greatest benevolence. And what is this? That of the little ones. For we have reason that instructs us to guard against some things and to choose others, to beat back evils that are coming upon us, and to dissolve those that are present; and we possess strength, and we know crafts. But infants are devoid of all these things, as being without a protector; yet through everything they have the providence of God, without which, if they did not constantly enjoy it, they would all perish. For even a serpent would have destroyed the infant still in swaddling clothes, as would a domestic bird, and many other things that creep in houses. For neither a nurse, nor a mother, nor anyone else suffices to show complete providence over them if they do not enjoy the impulse from above. Some also say that this word is spoken concerning embryos and those not yet come out of the womb. "I was humbled, and He saved me." He did not say, "He did not allow me to fall into perils"; but, "After I had fallen, He saved me." Since he spoke of His general providence, he also brings forward the discourse regarding his own person, which is his custom, to establish these things from both general and particular instances. Do not, therefore, seek a life filled with security; for it is not advantageous for you. For if it was not advantageous for the prophets, much less so for you. For as to why it was not advantageous, hear what he says: "It is good for me that You humbled me, so that I might learn Your righteousness" (Ps. 118: 71). There is a twofold thanksgiving here, because He allowed him to fall into perils, and because, having fallen, He did not abandon him. But both are in some way a kind of benefit, and the former is not less than the latter; rather, if one must say something wonderful, it is even greater. For the one dissolved the perils, but the other made the soul more philosophical. B "Turn, my soul, into your rest, for the Lord has benefited you. For He delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from slipping. I will be well-pleasing before the Lord in the land of the living." The discourse of the history speaks of a terrible deliverance and a certain relief and freedom. But if one were to interpret it anagogically, he will be able to call the departure from here a ransom, and C call this rest. For it is a release from all the unbearable evils, and he is no longer subject to uncertainty, having become secure, he who has ended his life with good hope. For even if death was brought in from sin, yet God used it for our benefit. For this reason, He was not satisfied with that alone, but also made life laborious, so that you might learn that He would not have allowed the former either, if it were not very useful according to His wisdom that this came to pass. For this reason, having said, "In the day you eat, you shall die by death," He was not satisfied with the penalty—for this was the penalty: "Earth you are, and to earth you shall return"—but now He also shows another, saying: "In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread. It will bring forth thorns and thistles for you; in labors you shall eat of it." And to the woman He said: "Multiplying I will multiply your sorrows, and your groaning. In sorrows you shall bring forth children." For that was not enough to make them sober-minded. At any rate, we see many becoming better by this very means. For death hands one over to insensibility when it comes; but these things make those still living better. But if the matter seems dreadful, it is because of the weakness of those who are so disposed. For that the fear was of weakness, hear Paul, even praying for this, and rejoicing, as when he says: "To depart and be with Christ is by much more better" (Phil. 1: 23); and again, "I rejoice and congratulate you all; the same also do you rejoice and congratulate me" (Phil. 2: 17, 18); and [concerning the contrary] he is pained: "Not only that," he says, "but we ourselves also groan within ourselves, awaiting the adoption, the redemption of our body" (Rom. 8: 23); and again, "We who are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened" (2 Cor. 5: 4).
3. You have seen how great a good philosophy is? What to others seems worthy of tears, this is to him a matter of prayer; and what to others seems worthy of gladness and pleasure, this is to him a matter of groaning. Or is it not worthy of groaning to be under another and to be moved far away from our own homeland? And is it not worthy of gladness to hasten quickly to the calm harbor and to receive the city above, where pain, grief, and groaning have fled away? And what is that to me, he says, the sinner? You see that it is not death that causes the grief, but the evil conscience? Cease, therefore, from being a sinner, and death will be desirable for you. "My eyes from tears." He rightly said this; for there is no grief there, nor despondency, nor wailing. "And my feet from slipping." This is greater than the former. How? Because we are not only delivered from grief, but also from being tripped up and plotted against. For the one who has departed with accomplishments stands on the rock; he has grasped the harbor; all hindrances are removed; henceforth there is nowhere noise or turmoil; but the one who has thus departed remains in perpetual D approval.