Homily on Psalm 100

well, and will experience a milder divine judgment. And do not wonder if He frees in the future life him who was disciplined here in a godly manner. For you may find in divine Scripture a most secure pledge: nothing is worse than the Sodomites, and nothing is more impious than those inhabiting Gomorrah; yet because they suffered punishment here, the Savior promises to make their examination milder: "But I say to you, Capernaum, who were exalted to heaven, you will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, they would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and the land of Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for you" (Matt. 11:23-24). If, therefore, the punishment experienced here makes the judgment more tolerable for the Sodomites, consider how those who are punished here escape the coming judgment—which may we all escape, so that we may stand with confidence before the judgment seat of Christ, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

ADMONITION TO THE FOLLOWING HOMILY ON PSALM C

^AThose who have been imbued with the doctrine of the faith, who indeed together with the twelve apostles will judge the tribes of Israel, and who neither obeyed the apostolic preaching nor had faith in the Lord's will: these things certainly seem to have been spoken rashly.

We publish the Latin interpretation as emended by Jacobus Billius.

^B

ON PSALM C

1. Sacred songs render us spiritual: base songs corrupt us. Again, beloved, the blessed prophet exhorts us to sing in a spiritual manner; again he prepares us to chant a noble psalm with one mind; again, by putting forth a spiritual and heavenly melody, he makes us spiritual through the song. For, composing the melody through the Holy Spirit, and moved like a rational and living harp by the Holy Spirit, he teaches us to sing spiritually in all things. He sings, not purposing to delight and sweeten the ears, but wishing to gladden and benefit the understanding. For he does not stop what is sung at the hearing alone, but transmits what is said even to the soul. For he delivers it to hearing for the sake of instruction and knowledge of the truth, but he implants it in the soul for the security and confirmation of salvation. For the song sings, not by uttering its words with mere sounds, but by correcting the life of those who sing with beneficial things. For this song is neither worldly nor secular, but divine and spiritual, and filled with all seemliness. For worldly songs and the melodies of the world, echoing in the hearing and deceiving the understanding, lead far away from what is beneficial, dragging one down into the desires of destruction. For being full of shameful steps and established as full of lawless longings, they—toward the pleasure of what is sung and the dissolution of the melody—make the courage of the soul effeminate and dissolve the nobility of the body. But heavenly [songs], and those having their supply from the Holy Spirit, leading the understanding into order toward the seemliness of the words and the beauty of the thoughts, render the soul also seemly. For the soul, being moved together with what is spoken and nodding assent to what is understood, carries its state there, where also the word draws the mobile instrument ^C of the Spirit's melody. Since the power in the song is so great, and the energy in the melody is such, come, let us behold what the hymn of prophecy read out to us today also contains. What then does he say? "I will sing of mercy and judgment to You, O Lord." This song is very beneficial, beloved, and salvific, taking its beginning from mercy and judgment. The one shows the abundance of God's love for humanity, the other His great benefit that has come to us. For mercy signifies the good pleasure that has come to pass from grace toward men: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men"; but judgment [signifies] the salvation predestined from above: "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified." For the good God judged by mercy and love for humanity to save those perishing under sin. The prophet, therefore, having contemplated this, proclaims it, teaching us through the song to offer unceasing thanksgiving, saying: "I will sing of mercy and judgment to You, O Lord." And he signifies something else, prophesying also according to understanding, and as one declaring future things as if present by the Holy Spirit. For beholding the just judgment of God, which has come upon the unbelieving people of the Jews, who did not receive Him who was proclaimed by the Law and the prophets, being justly punished for unbelief, and justly deprived of the promise of the Law—and seeing also the people from the Gentiles saved in mercy, through the obedience and faith that is ready to be persuaded regarding the Master—he proclaims in advance, offering the Master's goodness to all with a sweet and pleasant voice; so that each one, carrying the song upon his tongue and uttering the melody in the song with a sweet voice, may keep the grace of the Master's benefit ever-remembered. "I will sing of mercy," he says, "and judgment to You, O Lord." It is good, therefore, for us also to sing this song unceasingly, so that together in the same place we may become thankful toward our beneficent God, and may correct our own life, carrying out all things by mercy and judgment. For "Execute," he says, "mercy and judgment in the midst of the earth." "For I desire mercy," says the Lord, "and not sacrifice." But also: "Execute mercy," he says, "each one toward his neighbor, and direct just judgment, because in these is my will, says the Lord." For if we walk thus, and conduct ourselves in these things, we also shall say with confidence, singing: "I will sing of mercy and judgment to You, O Lord." And so that you may learn, beloved, that these things have this manner, contemplate the sequence of what is written, and you will find the truth of the things said. For he adds, saying: "I will sing, and I will understand in a blameless way; when will You come to me?" You see how he has corrected his own life, and...

^A thus understood the right way, he sings this song and recounts his deeds with a cheerful face. And since, as it is written, he had prepared the ways of the Lord and made His paths straight, he was awaiting the Lord’s presence, and he was summoning it with these words: "When will You come to me?" (Is. 40:3). This is equivalent to saying, in this manner: "I have prepared the vessel of my mind, I have smoothed out the roughness of my heart, I have cast aside every stumbling block, leaving no impediment to your arrival. I have made the path of my soul straight, I have cleansed the senses of my heart, I have purged my thoughts of every stain. Now I am prepared to receive Your presence. When will You come to me?" Approach without hindrance, my Lord, for You shall find no path of vice in me: "For I walked in the innocence of my heart, in the midst of my house." And that you may know he was prepared, as one who had fulfilled the duties of justice, hear him recounting his works in a pleasant voice: "I walked in the innocence of my heart, in the midst of my house. 3. I set no unjust thing before my eyes; I hated those who commit transgressions. 4. A crooked heart did not cleave to me; when the wicked man departed from me, I did not know him. 5. Whosoever privily slandered his neighbor, him I pursued. With an arrogant eye and an insatiable heart, I did not eat with this man. 6. My eyes are upon the faithful of the earth, that they may sit with me." Do you see, beloved, how many and how great were the virtues cultivated by this blessed man, and with what great confidence of speech he explained his own excellent deeds? Shall I, therefore, explain what has been said? Or shall I rather leave it to you to understand from the words themselves the force and intent of what is written? For what is clearer than these words? What is there by which he sets himself forth, just as in the things now said? But in order that we may weigh these things carefully, bringing forth the words themselves, come, let us repeat them again, and recall them to memory, and see how much benefit they bring if they are constantly revolved in the mind. Innocence is a great virtue and the root of all virtues. "I walked," he says, "in the innocence of my heart, in the midst of my house." First, innocence is a great and excellent virtue, as it remains not only in him who is endowed with it, but even flows out to others, just as Wisdom says: "My son, if you are good, you will be so to yourself and your neighbors; but if you have turned out evil, you alone will reap evils" (Prov. 9:12). Innocence, therefore, is an excellent thing, an imitation of the Lord, an expression of divine likeness. For God is innocent and holy. This innocence is the safeguard of the soul, the purification of the mind, the calming of morals, the rest of thoughts, the sweetness of the countenance, the lightness of the eyes, the guide of friendship, the mother of charity, the companion of faith, the perfection of justice; and, in a word, innocence is the root of all virtue and the foundation of all goodness. It knows not the principle of enmity, it is ignorant of the bitterness of anger, it knows not the operation of wickedness; rather, it is like a queen, surrounded by all the virtues. Excellent, therefore, is innocence, since it is the cause of so many good things. David begins with this, saying: "I walked in the innocence of my heart." He did not say simply, "In innocence," but, "In the innocence of my heart," as if he had said: "I did not carry one thing in my mouth and another in my heart, nor did I speak peaceful words with my mouth while I was cogitating evil in my heart; but just as I was in my mouth, such I was also in my heart, when I considered anything." "I walked, therefore, in the innocence of my heart, in the midst of my house." By "house" in this place, beloved, he does not mean one made by hand, consisting of stones and wood or of unformed matter, but the spiritual temple of the soul, which conforms the external to the internal and invisible image, which is informed by a nature that is intelligent and uses reason, which receives life from the divine insufflation, which bears the soul and is in turn borne by the soul, which is capable of the benefits of that immutable virtue. "In the midst of this house," he says, "I walked." Now by the middle, he understands the ^B sovereignty of the heart, since it is situated in the middle of the whole human body. But evil paths are thoughts and the agitations of the mind, just as the Savior also says: "Out of the heart come evil thoughts" (Matt. 15:19). For in it is also the whole movement of human nature. What he says, however, has this meaning: If a tumult arises, the heart is incited; if a disturbance occurs, the heart is tumultuous; if enemies make an assault, the heart is struck; if fear arises, the heart, affected by trembling within and shaken, at the same time agitates the neighboring part of the body, and abandoning it, and again drawing it back, does not permit it to rest; but being more frequently incited, it brings greater trepidation and disturbs the entire body, changes the color, alters the appearance and the gesture, inverts the habit, renders the face livid, stops the function of the eyes, makes the lips tremulous, breaks the strength of the knees; tying the tongue, which moves all things, it renders it stammering; and finally, so to speak, it makes the man wild and like a corpse; and upon the outbreak of war, he hastens to the battle, yet meanwhile he is anxious, nor does he rest until he has finished the war. But with this finished, and victory obtained, returning to his former inclination, he turns himself to pleasure, and embraces quiet, and causes him to rejoice who was a little before disturbed; and it immediately recalls him to his former state, restoring to each member its own functions; it brings back splendor to the eyes, it calms the lips, it renders the instrument of the tongue healthy, it mitigates the appearance, and as a good charioteer, it restores the man to his pristine order. Or it receives fear into the heart. For even if it happens that enemies make an assault, with an intrepid spirit he says: "If camps should rise up against me, my heart shall not fear; if battle should rise up against me, in this I will hope" (Ps. 26:3). For this reason, he says, "I walked in the innocence of my heart, in the midst of my house," that is, I considered and searched into this very thing, lest any root of bitterness germinating should display trouble to me, and defile the senses of my heart; but that innocence preserved in me might reconcile all virtues to me: for which reason "I set no unjust thing before my eyes." For the mind was not to sin, nor was it my purpose to live flagitiously and wickedly, by perpetrating, clearly, those things that were alien to salvation; but the fear of God was before my eyes, the observance of the commandments, the works of justice, and, in short, the whole rule of life consistent with the divine law. "I set no unjust thing before my eyes." For whoever set this before themselves, that they might sin, to them it is also proposed to violate the law; they have sin as if it were something paramount, first, clearly, settling that in the chest; and then, looking with the eye of the mind to that from every part, thus finally they run to the transgression of the divine law. But I was alien to these things. For an unjust thing did not dwell before my eyes; but I tended to this one thing, that I might live according to the prescription of the divine law. "But I also hated those who commit transgressions." Not only, says he, did I not induce my soul to do anything against the law of God, but I even had hatred for those who would violate any of the divine commandments; "For I hated those who commit transgressions." A double kind of transgression. Furthermore, that saying, "I hated those who commit transgressions," must be understood in a twofold way. For there are some who transgress the commandments of God, and the justifications, and the judgments; and these are transgressors of the law. There are others, again, who violate the very salutary confession of the Lord; and these are transgressors of God. But there is a great difference between the transgression of both. For the former still have hope of salvation, as they hold the root of divine knowledge. Others, however, have fallen away entirely from salvation, as they have abjured the very author of salvation himself. I, therefore, he says, "hated all those who commit transgressions" (Eccli.). ^C is indeed to apostatize from God. But we not only do not hate those who commit transgressions, but we even embrace them as friends, though we do not even say "Greetings" to them ^D

^A nor do we consider them men who have surrendered themselves to demons, and have dedicated their own life to inanimate stones and wood. And does the same prophet not teach us elsewhere, saying: "Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies" (Ps. 138:21-22)? Let us therefore also imitate the prophet, and let us hate those who commit transgressions, so that we may not, through our indifferent association with them, be found accomplices in their transgression. For in every way association with them is to be hated, because they have turned away from the light and walk in darkness (For what fellowship hath light with darkness? [2 Cor. 6:14]), and because, having denied the name of Christ, they have attached to themselves the name of Belial (For what concord hath Christ with Belial? [Ibid. v. 15]), and because, having fled from the entrance here, they have been frantic for the temples of idols, having defiled their own life with defilements: For what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? [Ibid. v. 16]. "I have hated the doers of transgressions. There hath not cleaved to me a froward heart: at the turning away of the wicked man, I did not know him." ^B Again here, beloved, pay attention to the power of what has been said. "There hath not cleaved to me a froward heart." There was nothing crooked or tortuous in me; but even if the things that afflict me are myriad, and the things that occur are wicked, and the things that happen are contrary, "There hath not cleaved to me a froward heart," no evil calculation, no alien thought. It is not because I am afflicted, not because I am in distress, not because I see sinners prospering and the ungodly growing rich and all those who act lawlessly being directed, that I am perverted in my heart, calculating evil and saying: "Why do the ungodly live, and are they strengthened in wealth" (Job 21:7)? "Their seed is according to their soul, their houses are abundant; their oxen are fat." I did not once calculate about these things; but even if those people are prospering, and I am afflicted, I know that "Tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed" (Rom. 5:3-5). "There hath not cleaved to me a froward heart." Thus calculating rightly, and walking on the straight path, as the Wicked man was ascending upon my heart, and I was giving him no place, in his having no room against me, I did not know when he had come, as I was not admitting him; so also I did not know when he turned away. For wickedness, like a shadow passing by, retreated, working no harm in me.

^C 4. Let us also, therefore, be instructed, if ever some grievous or distressing thing happens to any one of us, and a thought of the Wicked one returns, that he may not lord it over our governing faculty, but may pass by having kept our heart unharmed, so that we too may say: "At the turning away of the wicked man, I did not know him. Whoso privily slandered his neighbour, him I persecuted." Let us learn a good lesson, beloved: not only not to slander, but not even to listen to slander. For slander is a terrible evil, an unstable demon, never making a man peaceful. For what evil is not from slander? Enmities grow up from it, strifes are brought about through it, dissensions receive their beginning from it; wicked suspicions born from it provide the causes of myriad evils. Hatred, as if from a fountain, gushes from it; and however many evils one may find upon calculating, all these one will find flowing forth from slander, drawing everyone into wickedness. Slander knows how, having filled a man with wrath, and having taken murder from this, to make him a murderer against his neighbor. It knows also how to drive a soul that has been turned savage away from brotherly fellowship, and to show a friend of long standing to be an enemy without cause. This also, having touched Miriam the sister of Moses, immediately showed her leprous, and brought wrath and anger against her from the Master. ^D This also overturns whole houses and rouses up cities that are at peace into war. This also dissolves the bonds of good peace, and rends asunder the bond of great love. This also, by leading away from the commandments of God, teaches one to act lawlessly, and, tearing one away from the friendship of God, leads one far from the truth. This has been the cause of the very first perdition of the first-formed Adam, and deprived him of the life in paradise and of the heavenly delight. For having entered into the mouth of the serpent and having worked untruth against the truthful goodness of God, and having said, "Why did God say, You shall not eat of every tree in paradise?" it brought about a transgression of the commandment, having turned the speaker away from the truth; and having drawn to itself one who was a companion to the Master, it immediately made him an enemy through the deception, and showed him to be a stranger once for all to good things. Let us therefore spare ourselves from slander, becoming far from it, so that we may not acquire enmity against our own Master in vain. Let us cease from slander, so that we may not become unjust judges of the truth, and be found as false witnesses against the law. "For he that speaketh evil of his brother, or judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy" (Jas. 4:11-12). Dost thou see, beloved, what weight slander has? Let us cease from it, so that we may not bring judgment upon ourselves. Let us drive away from us also those who wish to slander, so that, by not consenting to the evils of others, we may not procure destruction for ourselves; and let us not listen gladly to those who slander, so that we may not be filled with diabolical thoughts. For this slander is called diabolical, having received the name from the father of it, whenever one, being at leisure for slander, serves the devil, performing the works of the devil. And he who does not admit such a one frees himself from this empty sin, and turns the one sinning from bringing an unjust accusation against his neighbor; and he makes the one being slandered free from the accusation; and he becomes a dispenser of peace and a teacher of friendship, abominating the intention of the slanderer. Let us also learn to abominate the work and say: "Whoso privily slandered his neighbour, him I persecuted." But in order that you may learn, beloved, how slander is a worker of no truth, pay attention also to this very name of the word, and to the phrase that follows, making the distinction. For slander is a teacher of accusation; but "privily" shows the falsehood of the matter and that it is done without boldness. For if it were true, it would be good to reprove person-to-person, and to make peace with boldness; but if it is done privily, you carry the accusation as something false, working a wicked suspicion against your neighbor, and not even being able to reprove the things you are bringing forward. It is good, therefore, to drive away the slanderer as a liar and a thief, so that we may not, by disturbing the peaceful soul, make it warlike against the neighbor through slander. "Whoso privily slandered his neighbour, him I persecuted. With a proud eye and an insatiable heart, with such an one I did not eat." Since pride is hateful even to God Himself, hear the Scripture saying: "God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble" (Jas. 4:6). And again elsewhere: "Pride is hateful before the Lord and men" (Eccli. 10:7). And, "Why is earth and ashes proud?" (Ibid. v. 9). And you will find in many places pride to be abominable and greatly hated. Thus, therefore, he says also here: "With a proud eye"

and joins him who has an insatiable heart with the proud; so that one and the same will exists for both—that is, both for him who carries himself insolently against his neighbor, and for him who is insatiable against his neighbor.

Let us flee, therefore, and assume humility, that we may not hear: *He who exalts himself shall be humbled* (Luke 18:14); but rather that we may hear: *He who humbles himself shall be exalted*. And again, that we may be content with a modest and temperate diet and way of life, and not deflect from justice on account of the insatiable greed of the heart: that we may not hear: *Because of the multitude of thine iniquity, thy posterior parts were revealed, so that thy feet might be exposed to the eyes of all for the sake of shame* (Jer 15:22). Let us therefore flee the habit and custom of the proud, and of those whose breast cannot be filled nor satisfied, lest by long familiarity with them we imitate their vices. Let us strive, therefore, both to do and to say: *With a proud eye, and an insatiable heart, with such an one I did not eat* (Ps 101:5). And these things were said, as it were, from the person of a just man; but again, as if from the person of God, the Holy Spirit responding says: *My eyes are upon the faithful of the earth, that they may dwell with me* (Ps 101:6). For in truth the eyes of God are upon the faithful, intent upon them, that they may not fall from the truth. But if you desire to know how truly this was said, turn your mind to the blessed apostles; for they were the faithful of the earth, since through their faith the entire world was filled with the preaching of salvation. *Into all the earth their sound hath gone forth, and their words unto the ends of the world* (Ps 18:5). For the whole world, having become a participant in their faith, was filled, possessing, that is, those riches of piety which can in no way be exhausted.

The dignity of man

Let us see now what follows. What does He say? *He that walked in the innocent way, he served me* (Ps 101:6). ^B *He that worked pride dwelt not in the midst of my house; he that spoke unjust things did not direct them in my sight* (Ps 101:7). To that in which the just man boasted, God also similarly responds, and proposes that such ought to be those who have approached the faith. *He that walked in the innocent way, he served me.* Such, he says, are the ministers I choose—who walk in an innocent way, and do not turn aside to the right or to the left, nor stray from the way of justice and of truth. *Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord* (Ps 118:1). Wherefore, in reference to this earlier voice of the prophet, "I will sing and understand in the innocent way," he says in this place: *He that walked in the innocent way, he served me.* And again, just as he was saying, "I walked in the innocence of my heart in the midst of my house," and "With a proud eye, and an insatiable heart, with such an one I did not eat," so in turn he responds in this manner: *He that worked pride dwelt not in the midst of my house;* and also that which follows, *He that spoke unjust things did not direct them in my sight.* For just as he said there, "Him who slandered his neighbor in secret, I pursued him," in the same way here also: *He that spoke unjust things did not direct them in my sight.*

But afterwards, see what He says: ^C 10. *In the morning I put to death all the sinners of the land, that I might destroy out of the city of the Lord all those who work iniquity* (Ps 101:8). Here he now signifies the state of the future life. For since the present age is night, but the future is day, just as the all-wise Paul also says, *The night is passed, but the day hath approached* (Rom 13:12); he called the rising of the eternal light, which just men shall enjoy, "the morning." In this morning, therefore, God will put sinners to death, sending them into the eternal fire, that is. For this is the death of sinners, just as the Savior Himself also says: *Rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell* (Matt 10:28). *In the morning* therefore *I put to death all the sinners of the land, that I might destroy out of the city of the Lord*—that is, out of the heavenly Jerusalem—*all those who work iniquity.* For in that city alone do the just find rest, enjoying an eternal kingdom. May it come to pass that we and all of you may enjoy this through a holy way of life, well-pleasing to Him, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and empire, forever and ever. Amen.

MONITUM

ON PSALM CI