and he himself knows the time exactly. Let us remain, therefore, supplicating, beseeching, trusting in his mercy and philanthropy, and never let us despair of our own salvation; but let us bring what we have to offer, and what is from him will surely follow, since his mercy is beyond utterance and his philanthropy is infinite. May we all attain to this, by the grace and philanthropy of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father is glory together with the Holy Spirit, unto ages of ages. Amen.
ON PSALM CXXX
A 1. Lord, my heart is not exalted, nor are my eyes haughty (a). Other [version]: Nor are they exalted. Nor have I walked in great, nor in wondrous things above me. Other: In greatnesses. Other: In magnificence, nor in those that are beyond me. What is this? Paul, even when there is necessity, says that it is foolishness for one to praise oneself; wherefore he also added, saying: I have become a fool in boasting; you have compelled me (2 Cor. 12:11). How then did the Prophet B ignore this and now boasts, not before two, or three, or ten, but before the whole world, and boasts saying, I am humble and moderate, and humble to the highest degree, and simple? For this is what it means: As one weaned upon its mother. Why then does he do this? Because the thing is not entirely forbidden everywhere, but there are times when it is even necessary; nay, rather, there are times when, by not boasting, we become fools. Wherefore also Paul says: He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord (1 Cor. 1:31). For indeed he who does not boast in the cross is of all men most foolish and 372 lawless; he who does not boast in the faith is most miserable of all; he who does not boast and speak boldly in these things will utterly perish. For this reason the Apostle said confidently: But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 6:14). And again: Let not the rich man boast in his riches, nor the wise man in his wisdom; but let him who boasts, boast in this, in understanding and knowing the Lord (Jer. 9:23-24). How then is it an evil to boast? If we do it like the Pharisee (Luc. 18). And why, one might say, did Paul say, I have become a fool in boasting; you have compelled me? Because he was recounting the achievements of his life and conduct, which he ought not to have put forward if there were no necessity. But elsewhere he says: If I should wish to boast, I shall not be a fool; for I will speak the truth (2 Cor. 12:6). Consequently, he who speaks the truth, when time calls for it, is not a fool. Therefore, the Prophet is not a fool for boasting either; for he spoke the truth. But what is the reason for which he brought his speech to this? It is in order to instruct his hearers not to return to arrogance after being delivered from evils, nor, having been freed from the bond, to leap away again, and fall into the necessity of another captivity. Therefore, in recounting his own affairs, he corrects the hearer; and he does not say, "I was exalted, but I restrained the passion," but what? My heart is not exalted; that is to say, C nor did wickedness touch my soul. For the intellect was like a harbor without waves, not receiving the surges of the disease, which is the cause of all evils, and the root of extreme lawlessness. What is it that he says, Lord, my heart is not exalted, nor are my eyes haughty? I have not, he says, arched my brows, nor have I lifted up my neck. For the disease, surging up from the inner fountain of passion, also shapes the body to match the inner inflammation. Neither have I walked in great, nor in wondrous things above me. What is, In great things? In inflated men, in those who are wealthy, in the arrogant, in the proud. Do you see the precision of humility? Not only was he himself outside the disease, but he also fled from those who were thus inflamed, and he would leap away from such gatherings because of his great hatred toward arrogance. For since he was D hostile to this vice, he not only would leap away from it, and not only made the territory of his intellect inaccessible to it, but he also fled from those who practiced it from a great distance, so as not to receive any damage even from there. And it is no small achievement to avoid the inflated, to hate the arrogant, to turn away and abhor them; it is supreme safety for virtue, supreme protection for humility. Nor in wondrous things above me. Other: Nor in things that are beyond me. If I were not humble, but exalted my heart, as the one weaned upon its mother, as thou wouldst repay upon my soul. Other: Thus may it be repaid to my soul. The statement is by hyperbaton, as if to say, If I were not humble, as the one weaned upon its mother, but exalted my heart, thus may it be repaid to my soul. What he says is of such a kind: I was not only pure of the vice, I mean arrogance, and not only a stranger to those who possess it, but I also adopted the virtue contrary to it with much excess, humility, moderation, contrition. This is that which Christ ordered to his disciples, saying: Unless you turn and become as little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 18:3). Such, he says, did I acquire humility, as one who is yet at the breast. 373 For just as that one clings to its mother, is humbled, is pure of all arrogance, and lives in candor and simplicity, so too was I toward God, clinging to him continuously. And he did not mention the one weaned simply, but wishing to represent the affliction, the straits, the pain, the magnitude of the evils. Just as then the child, having just been torn from the breast, does not even so depart from its mother, but, though pained, mourning, distressed, yearning, and wailing, nevertheless clings to the one who bore it, and would not depart; so I too, he says, even when I am in affliction, and in straits, and in many...
and in many calamities, I have always clung to God. But if I have not been so, "may it be returned," he says, "upon my soul," that is, let me undergo the ultimate punishment.
A 4. "Let Israel hope in the Lord, from this time forth and forevermore." You see, as I said at the beginning, that in matters pertaining to faith and doctrines, even if there is no cause, one ought to boast constantly, and he who does not boast perishes; but in upright deeds, when the time demands it, we must not refuse to boast. And what is the time? Many and various, one of which is to teach the listener. Knowing this too, and showing that he mentions his own upright deeds in order to draw the listener to his own imitation, he subjoined, saying: "Let Israel hope in the Lord, from this time forth and forevermore." Whether, he says, calamities, or sicknesses, or wars, and captivities, or whatever other grave and unexpected evil encompasses you, hold firmly to the hope in God and that expectation, and your end and outcome will be altogether good, since God surely compensates for this good hope of yours by granting you liberation from evils, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion unto ages of ages. Amen.
CONCERNING PSALM CXXXI
A "Remember, O Lord, David, and all his meekness."
Elsewhere [men] are content to be saved by the memory of their ancestors alone; but here [the Scriptures] recount good works, and that which is the cause of all good things: moderation, humility, meekness. For this reason Moses was also held in the highest admiration. "He was," it is said, "the meekest of all men who were upon the earth" (Num. XII, 3). But certain heretics, finding fault with his way of life and with what has been said, say: "What are you saying? Was he the meekest man, he who attacked the Egyptian and killed him? Who filled the Jews with blood and internal wars? Who ordered kin to kill their relatives? Who, by prayer, made the earth gape open, and cast down lightning from above, and drowned some and burned others? If this is the 'meek' man, who then is cruel and irascible?" Cease, and do not speak superfluous things. For that he was meek, and the meekest of all men, I myself say, and I will never cease to say it, and if you wish, I shall attempt to demonstrate his meekness from nothing else than from these very things that have been said. And I could have spoken about the things he said to God regarding his sister, the supplication he used for the people, all those words apostolic and worthy of heaven, the moderation with which he addressed the crowd. These could have been spoken, and many other things far more numerous than these could be recounted; but if you wish, passing these by, let us demonstrate from these very things B previously cited by his enemies that he was the meekest of all men—from the very acts for which some think him to be savage, wild, and irascible. How then shall we demonstrate this? If we first distinguish and define what meekness is, and what ferocity is. For neither is striking, by itself, a mark of ferocity, nor is sparing, of meekness; but he is meek who can bear the sins committed against himself, who repels the injury done to others and brings them aid, and is a vehement avenger of those who suffer insult; but he who is not of this sort, but is sluggish, indolent, drowsy, and no better than a dead man, is not meek nor gentle. To despise those to whom injury is done, not to grieve on behalf of those who are wronged, nor to be angry at those who inflict reproaches and insults, is not a virtue but a vice; it is not meekness, but cowardice. Therefore, this very thing demonstrates his meekness, and that he was so ardent that he would leap forward when he saw others being wronged, being unable to restrain his anger on behalf of justice; yet when he himself was afflicted with some evil, he did not retaliate, nor take vengeance, nor did he ever retreat from the practice of philosophy. If, however, he had been so savage and irascible, he who was so inflamed and provoked on behalf of others would never have been able to keep quiet regarding the things that concerned himself; but he would have been all the more irritated at that time. For you know that we bear our own sufferings more painfully than those of others. But he, C indeed, when others were suffering evil, would avenge them no less than those very ones who were being wronged; yet the sins that had been committed against himself, he would pass over with the greatest tolerance, standing in both extremes—showing himself to be harsh toward evils, yet on the other hand showing himself to be gentle and patient.
But tell me, I pray, what was he obliged to do? To despise the injury that was being inflicted, and the evil that concerned the people? But that was not the way of one who governed a people, nor of some patient and meek man, but of a sluggish and cowardly one. But you do not reproach a physician who restrains the rot permeating the whole body with a surgical cut; do you claim that he is most atrocious who willed to coerce, with a slightly heavier blow, a disease far graver than rot spreading throughout the entire people? But these are the [thoughts] of a judge not sufficiently considered. For it was necessary for one who was the leader of so great a people, and who was guiding a nation so harsh, hard, and intractable, to restrain them immediately from the beginning, and to cut [the evil] off at the very entrance, so that the evil would not creep further. "But he destroyed," someone says, "Dathan and Abiron." What are you saying? Was it necessary to despise the priesthood, to let it be trodden underfoot, and the laws of God to be overturned, and that which holds all things together to be dissolved—I mean the dignity of the priesthood; and to throw open the holy places to all, and because of their contempt to permit those who wished to trample upon the sanctified enclosures, and to turn everything upside down? But that would not have been a mark of meekness, but of inhumanity and cruelty, to despise so great an evil that was growing; and while sparing two hundred men, to destroy so many thousands. For tell me, I pray, when he ordered them to kill their relatives, what was he obliged to do, when God was angry, when impiety was growing, and there was nothing that could deliver them from [His] wrath? Was he supposed to permit the heavenly plague to descend upon all the tribes and bring destruction upon the entire race, and while inflicting punishment, neglect a sin that was incurable? Or by punishing D
A a few bodies, to take away the sin, to turn aside the wrath, and to render God propitious to those who had committed such things? If you examine the acts of the righteous man in this way, you will see from this especially that he was most meek.
2. But leaving these things for the studious to gather from what has been said—so that we may not make the digression from the matter at hand greater—let us proceed to the task before us. And what was the task? "Remember, O Lord, David and all his meekness: as he swore to the Lord, he vowed to the God of Jacob." Having set out to speak about meekness, and having omitted to recount the matters concerning Saul, the matters concerning his brothers, the matters concerning Jonathan, the patience he displayed toward the soldier who overwhelmed him with ten thousand insults, and other things more numerous than these, he draws the discourse to another chapter, which was especially one of great zeal. And why does he do this? For two reasons: first, because God is especially delighted by this. "For upon whom," He says, "shall I look, but upon the meek and quiet man, and him who trembles at my words?" And second, because this was the most pressing matter—the lifting up of the temple, the building of the city, and the restoration of the ancient state of the republic; to this he especially hastens the discourse. And the one thing he passes over as manifest and acknowledged—that which is manifest to all, the matter of meekness—this, which he B especially needed for the matter at hand, he brings into the midst. For what did he desire to see? The temple raised up, and the ancient sanctuary restored. Since, therefore, David shone especially in this, he demands from God the building of the temple as if it were a recompense for that man’s zeal, and he says: "Remember, O Lord, David and all his meekness: as he swore to the Lord, he vowed to the God of Jacob: If I shall enter into the tabernacle of my house, if I shall go up upon the bed of my couch, if I shall give sleep to my eyes, and slumber to my eyelids, and rest to my temples, until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob."
And what is this to you? Because, he says, I am his descendant; and since, having accepted his zeal, you said that you would establish his lineage and his kingdom, for this reason we now demand these covenants. And he did not say, "until I build" (for this was not permitted to him), but, "until I find a place for the Lord and a tabernacle." Then he passes over him who built it, and places in the midst him who promised, so that you may learn how great a good a right intention is, and how God is accustomed always to define the reward according to the resolve. For this reason he remembers him the more, since he himself is the builder even more than the son. For the one promised, and the other was commanded. And behold his eagerness. He says that he will not only not enter into a house, nor go up into a bed, but that he would not even enjoy those things which were of natural necessity, until he should find a place and a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. C But when they themselves were reproached by God, who said: "You indeed dwell in paneled houses, but my house is desolate," [they were silent]. "Until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob." See again from this, too, his zeal and his preoccupied soul. The king says, "Until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob," he who rules over all. For he did not simply wish to build, but in a most suitable place, and one highly fitting for the temple, and it demanded searching; so wakeful was he in his soul. "Lo, we heard of it in Ephratha; we found it in the plains of the wood." He narrates ancient things now, showing that even before this the ark went about for a long time, changing from place to place; for this reason he says, "Lo, we heard of it in Ephratha"; that is, our fathers narrated these things to us, these things we possess by hearing, that even then, wandering everywhere, it was established afterward in fields and plains; let this indeed happen now. By Ephratha here he means the tribe of Judah, into which, after the long journey, it was brought. "We will enter into his tabernacles, we will worship in the place where his feet stood."
You saw how much speed of expression he uses, because of the great insensibility of the hearers, calling them tabernacles of God, and feet, and the place where his feet stood. By all these he means the place of the ark, since from there terrible voices were borne concerning the affairs among the Jews, resolving the obscure things and predicting the future. "Arise, O Lord, into your rest, you and the ark of your sanctification." Another: "Of your power." Another: "Of your might"; and both are true. For indeed sanctification was given from there, and the writings placed upon it were productive of sanctification and of power.
3. Well, therefore, did he speak in this way; for God D exhibited great power through it, both once, and twice, and often, such as when it was taken by the Azotians, when it brought down the idols, when it struck those who had taken it, when it made the plague cease upon being returned, and through other things as well, through which it was working there, it showed forth His own power. And what is, "Arise into your rest"? Halt us, he says, who are wandering, and the ark which is carried about, and at least now at last bring it to rest. "Your priests shall be clothed with justice." Another: "Let them be clothed." Another: "Let them be dressed," which is indeed more clear; for it is the prayer of one who is praying, not prophesying, and asking for the possession of virtue. By justice here he means the sanctuary, the priesthood, the service, the sacrifices, the offerings, and with these a precise manner of life, since this is especially to be required of priests. "And your holy ones shall rejoice," when these things have come to pass. See him not seeking the building of a city, not abundance of goods, not other prosperity, but the comeliness of the temple, the rest of the ark, the fulfillment of the priests, the sanctuary, the service, the priesthood. Then, since they asked for these, but they themselves were liable for many sins, he takes refuge in the ancestor again, saying: "For the sake of David your servant, do not turn away the face of your Christ." What is, "For the sake of David your servant"? Not for the sake of his virtue alone, he says, nor because he displayed such great zeal toward building the temple...
to stir up, and not only because He promised him this. A *“For the sake of David your servant, do not turn away the face of your Christ.”* Whose, he says? His who was then anointed, and who rules the people and presides over them.
11. *“The Lord swore to David the truth and will not frustrate it. Of the fruit of your womb I will set upon your throne.”* For after he remembers David, and the virtue of the man, and the zeal he had shown for the temple, and has recounted the old things, and prayed that he might appear in his former way of life, he brings forward the greatest head of all, the promises of God. And what are these? *“Of the fruit of your womb I will set upon your throne.”* But the promises were not made purely and absolutely, but with a certain condition attached to them. What was that condition? Listen; for he adds: B 12. *“If your sons keep my testament and these testimonies of mine which I will teach them, their sons also shall sit upon your throne forever.”* When God had made the promises conceived with these words, He entrusted to them the hand-written contract; and they in turn said, *“All things whatsoever the Lord says we will do and will hear”* (Exod. 24:7). Then, since He saw that one part had broken the covenants, He leads the discourse to the place, exciting consolation from all sides, and saying: 13. *“For the Lord has chosen Sion; he has chosen it for a habitation for himself.”* 14. *“This is my rest forever and ever. Here I will dwell, for I have chosen it.”* That is to say: Man did not choose the place, but God established it by His own judgment, lowering Himself to their weakness. This, therefore, is what he says: Whom you chose, whom you established by your own judgment, whom you deemed suitable, do not allow it to collapse and perish. For you said this, *“Here I will dwell.”* But He said this with those covenants. With what? *“If your sons keep my testament.”* 15. *“Blessing, I will bless his provision.”* Another, *“food.”* He says *“provision”*—the abundance C of things for sale, fertility—and he prays that all these things flow to them as if from fountains. For such was the state of the commonwealth of the Jews of old, that all things flowed to them as if from fountains, and they felt no natural necessities, whenever they had God propitious: for there was no shortage among them, no famine, no pestilence, no untimely death, nor anything of those things which usually befall men, but all things flowed to them as if from fountains, with the hand of God, of course, correcting the weakness of human affairs. This is therefore what he says here: You promised that you would bless his provision, that is, that you would provide an abundance of necessary things with great security. *“I will satisfy his poor with bread.”* 16. *“I will clothe his priests with salvation, and his saints shall exult with exultation.”* 17. *“There will I bring forth a horn for David; I have prepared a lamp for my Christ.”* 18. *“I will clothe his enemies with confusion; but upon him my sanctification shall flourish.”* See the prosperity established on all sides, in that they do not lack necessary things, that the priests are in safety, D that the people are in joy, that the king is strong and powerful. For here he says *“lamp,”* or *“king,”* or *“defense,”* or *“salvation,”* or *“light”*: and with these he says the greatest kind of prosperity. What is that? That his enemies are hidden, and there is no one who can bring any harm to these goods. But he did not say absolutely *“destruction,”* but *“confusion,”* wishing them to hide themselves while alive and to seek hiding-places, and by the things they suffer to testify how great is the power and happiness of this nation. *“But upon him my sanctification shall flourish.”* What is *“upon him”*? Upon my people. And for the phrase *“sanctification,”* another said *“horn.”* Another, *“his segregation.”* Another, *“his segregated one.”* What, then, is what has been said? It seems to me that he is speaking here of prosperity, security, strength, the kingdom. The promises of God wait for our operation.—Those things which I segregated for him from the beginning, he says, will remain flourishing, budding, not flaccid, nor decaying; but all these things will be, if the condition mentioned before remains. And what is that? *“If your sons keep my testament.”* For God's promises alone do not provide us with good things, unless we also do what is situated in our own power, and it is not fitting to be lazy or remiss while awaiting them. For God does not do many of the good things He promised if those who have received the promises are found unworthy: just as He does not bring evils into effect which He threatened, if those who provoked Him are later changed and cast off their anger. Since we know this, let us not be idle because of the promises, lest we fall, nor let us despair because of the threats, but let us be changed. For thus we shall be able to attain the future goods, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
ON PSALM CXXXII
*“Behold, what is good and what is pleasant”* (another: *“Behold, what is good and what is beautiful”*), *“but for brothers to dwell in unity!”* Indeed many things are beautiful and honorable, but they lack pleasure; others again are pleasant, but they lack what is honorable: and it does not easily happen that both meet. But in this which is said, both these things concur, both pleasure and the greatest honor. For charity/love has this in the first place, that it is at once the easiest and the most pleasant thing with utility. He praises it, therefore, here as well. For he did not say simply *“dwelling,”* nor to be contained in one little home, but *“to dwell in unity,”* that is, with concord and love: for this makes one soul. Then after he said *“honorable and pleasant,”* rendering it more clearly, he expresses the matter through examples, and sets forth bodily images, which can better subject it to the auditor's eyes. See, moreover, what the images are. 2. *“Like ointment on the head, which runs down into the beard, the beard of Aaron, which runs down to the fringe of his garment.”*