how it was that there was dissimilarity. *And God made man.* Not, *They made*. He avoided in this place a multitude of persons. But after He had by those means instructed the Jew, and by these latter means excluded the error of the pagans, He returned safely to the unity, so that you might understand the Son with the Father, and escape the danger of a multitude of gods. B *In the image of God He made him.* Again, He brought in the person of Him who was working with Him; for He did not say, *In the image of Himself*, but, *In the image of God*. Now, in what respect man may possess the *according to the image of God*, and in what way he participates in the *according to likeness*, will be stated in what follows, God granting it. But for the present, let this much be said: if there is one image, whence did it come into your mind to profess an impiety so intolerable as to call the Son unlike to the Father? O ungrateful soul! Since you have been made a participant in that likeness, do you not render it back to the author of the benefit? Do you consider those things which were granted to you as a gift to remain your own property, yet you do not permit the Son to possess the likeness to His Begetter received from nature? But the approaching time, C inasmuch as it has long since sent the sun to the west, imposes silence upon us. Here, therefore, let us also be content with what has been said, and put our discourse to rest. For the present, we have touched upon the subject only so far as was sufficient to stir up your zeal; but we shall provide a more perfect examination of the matters proposed in the following sessions, with the help of the Holy Spirit. Depart rejoicing, O Christ-loving assembly, and instead of every sumptuous feast and various condiments, adorn your honorable tables with the memory of what we have said. Let the man who introduces dissimilarity be confounded: let the Jew be put to shame: let the pious man rejoice in the dogmas of truth: let the Lord be glorified, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
MONITUM
We have judged that the orations of Basil on the Psalms should be published after the *Opus sex dierum* (the Hexaemeron). For it seemed right not to separate Scripture from Scripture. But if we wish to compare both series of orations—those on the Hexaemeron and those on the Psalms—with each other, I will not indeed deny that the former were far more celebrated among the ancients than the latter; but I would not easily concede that they are more useful. And to say once what I think, if eloquence and variety of argument are considered, I would allow the Hexaemeron to be preferred; if fruit and utility, not so. Basil interpreted only a few Psalms, or at least only the interpretation of a few has reached us.
it is certain. For my part, I have no doubt that this grave Father interpreted other psalms, since scarcely any reason can be brought forward why he would have expounded only those we possess. Yet I cannot agree with those who think a most certain and evident argument can be drawn from the interpretation of the thirty-seventh psalm. For what they say—that the explanation of the sixth psalm is cited in this interpretation, and yet it nowhere appears—is altogether futile and empty. For that interpretation of the thirty-seventh psalm, as we shall show, is the offspring of Eusebius, not of Basil. We are not unaware that other psalms besides those we possess are cited by the Metaphrast; but the authority of the Metaphrast in such writings is not such that we are compelled to follow him with blind impulse. There are seventeen Homilies on the Psalms in circulation under Basil’s name. But it is generally agreed among the learned that the other homily on the twenty-eighth psalm does not belong to him at all, but is the work of a plagiarist, or rather of some diligent person who wished to exercise himself and imitate Basil. The discourse on the thirty-seventh psalm also seemed suspicious to Combefis, but he would not determine or declare anything. He could have done so, however, since that discourse, as we noted, has an author not in Basil, but in Eusebius; of these matters, we speak more fully in the Preface. The remaining fifteen discourses are considered by everyone to be the genuine work of Basil. I am indeed greatly moved by the authority of so many learned men, but many and most grave factors prevent my yielding to their opinion. Since the matter requires a longer and more diligent investigation, we shall perform this much more conveniently in the general preface. I will say in passing that the discourses which are truly Basil’s were delivered to the people and pronounced in public assembly, and whatever does not bear this mark should, on that account alone, be considered suspicious.
As I was reading this work, which the very learned Balthasar Corderius took care to have published, a not insignificant difficulty arose. For I discovered that the greatest part of what I was reading in the Commentary of Theodorus Heracleota was nothing other than the very explanation of Basil on the Psalms, and that word for word. On one hand, I feared to strip that Commentary from Theodorus, because of the authority of ancient books, to whose trust this work has been attributed; on the other hand, I could not heap the disgrace and infamy of theft upon Basil, the best of orators. But I did not remain suspended and uncertain for long. For I immediately recognized that the Commentary which circulates under the name of Theodorus is not the work of Theodorus alone, but of many: Origen, Eusebius, Basil himself, Didymus, John Chrysostom, Theodoret, etc. In a word, it will be clear from the preface that the Commentary hitherto attributed to Theodorus Heracleota can deservedly be relegated to the number of Catenae. From which it follows that our Basil must be entirely removed from all suspicion of plunder and theft.
Now if anyone should ask at what time, or at what place, those discourses of Basil on the Psalms were delivered, it will not be easy to answer. For we believe that scarcely anything certain can be established regarding that matter. We prefer, however, to be silent on such things than to declare something false or uncertain. Anyone a little more cultured knows that Ambrose, when he wrote his books on the *Hexaemeron*, took very many things word for word from Basil; but it is not so well known that he did the same thing when interpreting certain psalms. Nor should it seem strange to anyone, since Ambrose did not borrow very much from Basil in explaining the Psalms. Yet, since there are those for whom it is pleasant and agreeable to know what one writer has taken from another, it will not be a bother to note those places of Ambrose, however few they are, in their proper place.
In the Latin editions, one can see certain Scholia on the Psalms which are attributed to Basil; but it does not seem necessary to discourse on them at length. For it is known that they are an epitome poorly patched together from the books of Chrysostom and Theodoret. Since, therefore, everyone admits that those Scholia ought to be placed among the spurious and adulterated works, it will suffice to have noted this once, and we shall not mention them anywhere again. For we do not think we should waste time and arguments on matters that are transparent.
SANCTI PATRIS NOSTRI BASILII, Cæsareae Cappadociae archiepiscopi, HOMILY ON PSALM ONE
1. All Scripture is divinely inspired and profitable, and therefore written by the Holy Spirit, in order that, as in a common infirmary of souls, each of us, as we are all men, may select the remedy for our own particular illness.
A For healing, Scripture says, will sedate great sins. The prophets teach one thing, the historians another, the law something else, and the species of exhortation found in the Proverbs is yet another. But the book of Psalms contains the useful from all of them. It prophesies future things; it reminds us of histories; it legislates for life; it proposes what ought to be done; and in a word, it is a common treasure-house of good teachings, discovering what is useful to each person according to their diligence. For it heals the old wounds of souls and brings about rapid recovery B for the newly wounded; it tends to what is sick and preserves what is whole. In short, it removes the passions, as far as is possible, which variously hold sway over souls in the life of men; and it does this with a certain melodious charm and pleasure that produces sober thought. For since the Holy Spirit saw that the human race was difficult to lead toward virtue, and that because of our propensity for pleasure we neglected the straight path of a righteous life, what does He do? He mixed the sweetness of melody into the doctrines, so that we might imperceptibly receive the useful from the words through the pleasant and smooth quality of the hearing; just like the wise physicians who, when they are about to give C the bitterest of potions to the squeamish, often coat the cup with honey. For this reason, these harmonious melodies of the psalms have been devised for us, so that those who are children by age, or even those who are young in behavior, while singing in appearance, may in reality instruct their own souls. For scarcely ever does any one of the many and slothful depart having retained in his memory an apostolic or prophetic command; but they sing the sayings of the psalms at home and carry them about in the marketplace. And if someone is fiercely seething like a wild beast due to anger, once he begins to be charmed by the psalm, he leaves immediately, having lulled the wildness of his soul to sleep by D the melody.
2. A psalm is a tranquility of souls, an arbiter of peace, calming the tumultuous and surging tide of thoughts. For it softens the angry part of the soul and brings the licentious under control. A psalm is a creator of friendship, a union of those who are estranged, a reconciler of those at enmity. For who still can consider as an enemy him with whom he has joined in uttering one voice to God? So, the singing of psalms provides the greatest of goods, charity, having devised the harmony as a sort of bond for entering into concord, and bringing the people together into the symphony of a single choir. A psalm is a fugitive of demons, an invoker of the assistance of angels; a weapon amidst nocturnal fears, a rest from daily labors; a safety for infants, a decoration for the youth, a comfort for the elderly, a most fitting ornament for women.
it frequents the solitudes, it amends the forum. A A psalm is a beginning for those who are starting, an increase for those who are progressing, a firmament for those who are perfect; it is the voice of the Church. It makes the feast days glad; it creates that sorrow which is according to God. Indeed, a psalm calls forth a tear even from a heart of stone. A psalm is the work of angels, a heavenly conversation, a spiritual incense. O the wise invention of the Teacher, who devised a method so that we might sing and at the same time learn what is profitable! Whence it is that precepts are in a certain way more deeply imprinted upon our souls. For a lesson learned with violence is not prone to remain, but those things which enter in with pleasure and grace sit more firmly in our souls. For what could you not learn from it? B The magnificence of fortitude? The accuracy of justice? The gravity of temperance? The perfection of prudence? Are there not modes of repentance? Are there not measures of patience? Are there not, in short, all the goods that can possibly be mentioned? Here is perfect theology; here is the prophecy of Christ’s coming in the flesh, the threat of judgment, the hope of resurrection, the fear of punishment, the promises of glory, the revelation of mysteries; all things, as if in some great and common storehouse, are treasured up in the Book of Psalms. This book, although there are various musical instruments, the Prophet joined to the one they call the "psaltery," showing, as I believe, the grace from on high resonating within it by the Holy Spirit, because this alone of musical instruments has the cause of its produced sounds from a higher place. C For in the cithara and the lyre, the bronze gives forth sound from the lower part toward the plectrum; but the psaltery takes the source of its harmonious modulation from the upper part, so that we too might strive to seek the things which are above, and not be dragged down to the passions of the flesh by the sweetness of the melody. Moreover, I believe that the prophetic word, through the structure of this instrument, shows us in a deep and wise manner that those whose soul is equable and well-composed, for them an easy path to the things above is opened. But let us see the beginning of the Psalms.
3. *Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly.* D For builders, when they raise a mass of buildings to a great height, lay foundations that are proportionate to the height; and shipbuilders, when they construct a massive freighter, lay the keel which is sufficient for the weight of its cargo. And in the generation of animals, the heart, which is the first thing fashioned by nature, receives from nature a foundation proportionate to the animal that is to be formed; therefore, when the body is adjusted according to its proper principles, the diverse sizes of animals are produced. Just as, therefore, a foundation is to a house...
a keel to a ship, and a heart to the body of a living creature, so also does this brief prologue hold the same position relative to the general argument of the Psalms. B For since he is about to exhort them through the course of his discourse to many and difficult things, filled with countless toils and labors, he has indicated beforehand the blessed end to the champions of piety, so that through the hope of the goods laid up for us, we may endure the hardships of life with a steady mind. Thus, for those traveling a rough and difficult road, the expectation of a suitable inn provides relief for enduring their toils; and the desire for acquiring merchandise gives courage to merchants to traverse the sea; and for farmers, the hope of the harvest in some way takes away the sense of their labors. Wherefore also the common corrector of life, that great teacher, the Spirit of Truth, wisely and skillfully set forth the rewards at the very beginning, so that, being lifted above the labors at hand, we might hasten in our mind toward the enjoyment of eternal goods. *Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly.* For that which is truly and primarily blessed is that which is truly good. And this is God. Whence also Paul, being about to make mention of Christ, says: *According to the manifestation of the blessed God, and our Savior Jesus Christ.* For that is truly blessed which is good in itself, toward which all things look, which all things desire, the immutable nature, the sovereign dignity, the life subject to no disturbance, the joyful way of existing, which cannot be altered or changed, the gushing fountain, the abundant grace, the inexhaustible treasure. But ignorant men, lovers of the world, C not knowing the nature of the Good itself, often call blessed things of no value—wealth, health, the splendor of life—of which not one is good by its own nature; not only because it has an easy conversion toward their opposites, but because they cannot even make their possessors good. For who is just because of wealth? Who is temperate because of health? On the contrary, indeed, each of these often serves as a handmaiden to sin for those who use them ill. Blessed, therefore, is he who possesses those things which are of the greatest value, and who is a participant of those goods which cannot be taken away. How then shall we recognize him? *Who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly.* But before I explain what it is not to have walked in the counsel of the ungodly, I wish to resolve for you the question of this passage. Why, you ask, does the Prophet choose only the man and proclaim him blessed? D Has he excluded women from blessedness? Far be it! For the virtue of man and woman is one, since their creation is equal in honor, and consequently the reward for both is the same. Hear Genesis: *God created man*, it says;
in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them*. A Since their nature is one, their actions also are the same; and since their work is equal, their reward is likewise equal. Why then, having mentioned the man, did he pass over the woman in silence? Because he judged it sufficient, since the nature of both is one, to signify the whole by way of the more dominant part.
*Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly.* Consider the accuracy of the words, how each diction is filled with doctrines. He did not say, "Who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly," but, "Who has not walked." For one who is still in this life is not yet to be pronounced blessed, because of the uncertainty of the outcome; but one who has completed the required duties and has brought his life to a close with a definite ending, he is already securely called blessed. Why then are those who *walk* in the law of the Lord blessed? For the discourse does not declare those who *have* walked there blessed, but those who are still walking; because B those who do good receive approval in the very act, but those who avoid evil are not to be praised if they have avoided sin once or twice, but if they are able to escape the experience of evil altogether.
From the sequence of the discourse, another difficulty also appeared to us. Why does he not call the one who achieves virtue blessed, but rather the one who has not committed sin? For in this way, a horse, an ox, and a stone would be called blessed. For what inanimate object stood in the *way of sinners*? Or what irrational creature sat on the *seat of the pestilent*? If you wait but a little, you will find the remedy. For he adds (ver. 2): *But his will is in the law of the Lord.* The meditation of the divine law applies only to one who is a participant of reason. We would also say this: that the beginning for the acquisition of good things is the withdrawal from evil things. *Decline from evil*, he says, *and do good*.
4. Therefore he wisely and skillfully made the flight from vices the beginning of good things. For if he had immediately proposed to you things that are perfect, you would have been more hesitant to attempt them; but now he accustoms you C to those things that are easier to grasp, so that you may undertake what follows. I, for my part, would say that the exercise of piety is like a ladder—that ladder which blessed Jacob once saw, part of which touched the earth and was pressed to the ground, while the other part stretched out above him to heaven itself. Therefore, it is necessary for those who are being instructed in the life of virtue to place their footsteps on the first rungs, and from there to always step onto the next, until, by advancing little by little, they ascend to the height attainable by human nature. D
A Just as, therefore, the first step of a ladder is the withdrawal from the ground, so in the way of life according to God, the beginning of progress is the withdrawal from evil. Moreover, it is entirely easier to have complete inactivity than to perform any given work; for example: *You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal*. Any one of these requires a mere deprivation of action and movement. But that other command, *You shall love your neighbor as yourself*, and, *Sell what you have and give to the poor*, and, *If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two*, are works worthy of athletes, which require a soul already strong and vigorous to achieve. Therefore, admire the wisdom of Him who leads us to perfection through things that are easier and more readily grasped.
He has set before us three things worthy of our caution, namely, that we should not walk in the counsel of the impious, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the pestilent. Following the nature of things, He arranged these words in this order: for first we deliberate, then we strengthen the deliberation, and finally we persist in the things deliberated. Above all, therefore, the purity of our mind was rightly declared blessed, since the intent of the heart is the root of bodily actions. For adultery, having first been kindled in the soul of the lecherous person, thus produces the corruption that occurs through the body. Whence also the Lord says that it is from within that those things proceed which defile a man. Since, however, sin committed against God is properly called impiety, may it never be that we should ever entertain any doubt about God because of unbelief! B For this is what it means to have walked in the counsel of the impious, if you say in your heart: "Is there a God who governs and steers the universe? Is there a God in heaven who manages each individual thing? Is there judgment? Is there a reward to be returned to each according to his works? Why, then, do the just become needy, while sinners abound in wealth? Do the former suffer illness, while the latter are in sound health? Are the former without honor, while the latter are in the greatest honor? Is this world perhaps carried by chance, and do some irrational accidents recklessly distribute lives to each?" If you have thought these things, you have walked in the counsel of the impious. Blessed, therefore, is he who has had no doubt about God, who has not been faint-hearted regarding present things but awaits those that are expected; who has not harbored an unbelieving opinion about Him who created us. C Blessed also is he who has not stood in the way of sinners. For life is called a "way" because everyone who has entered into life is hastening toward the end. For just as those who sleep in ships are carried automatically by the wind into ports, even if they themselves do not perceive it, yet the course urges them toward the destination; so also we, as the time of our life flows away, are being hastened—each one by a continuous and restless motion, as it were, and by the imperceptible course of our life—toward our own proper end. For instance, you are sleeping, and time is running past you; you are awake, and you are busy
A with something in your mind; life, nevertheless, is being consumed, even if we do not perceive it. We all, therefore, run a certain course, each one of us hastening toward his own proper goal; for this reason, we are all on a way. And you may grasp the notion of the way in this manner, too. You are a traveler standing in this life; all things pass by, all things come to be behind you. You have seen a plant on the way, or grass, or water, or anything else worthy of sight; you were delighted for a little while, and then you passed on. Again, you have met with stones, and ravines, and precipices, and crags, and thorns, and other vexatious things; you were troubled for a little while, and then you left them behind. Such is life, possessing neither pleasures that are permanent nor sorrows that are lasting. The way is not yours, nor are the things present yours. Among travelers, as soon as the first has moved his foot, the one next to him plants his step, and after him another who follows.
5. Consider also whether the affairs of life are not similar. Today you have tilled the land, and tomorrow another man, and after him another. Do you see these fields B and these expensive houses? How many times have they changed their names since each of them came into existence! They were said to belong to such a one, then they were renamed after another; they passed to one person, and now they are said to belong to someone else. Is our life not, then, a way, at one time receiving one person and at another another, and having all who follow one another? Blessed, therefore, is he who has not stood in the way of sinners. But what is "has not stood"? While we are still in the first age, we are neither wicked nor endowed with virtue (for that age is not capable of either habit); but when our reason is perfected and comes to maturity, then that which is written comes to pass: *But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.* C For evil thoughts arise, generated in our souls from the passions of the flesh. In truth, when the commandment—that is, the discernment of good—has come, if it does not overcome the worse thought, but allows the mind to be enslaved by the passions, sin indeed has revived, but the mind has died, having become dead through transgressions. Blessed, therefore, is he who has not lingered in the way of those who sin, but has leaped toward a pious life with a better judgment. For there are two ways D that are contrary to one another: the one is broad and spacious, and the other is narrow and afflicted. And there are two guides, each one of whom tries to turn the traveler toward himself. The smooth and downward-sloping way has a deceitful guide, the evil demon, who drags those who follow him toward destruction through pleasure; but the rough and steep way has the good angel, who, through the labors of virtue, leads his followers toward the blessed
end. As long, therefore, as each of us is a child, pursuing the pleasure of the present, he takes no thought for the future; but when he has become a man, having reached the maturity of his faculties, it is as if he sees his life divided between virtue and vice. Casting the eyes of his soul repeatedly upon both, he judges the properties of each as being equally different from the other. The life of sinners shows us all the delights of the present age, while the life of the righteous reveals only the goods of the age to come. The way of those being saved, in proportion as it promises beautiful things for the future, makes the present life more laborious; but the life of pleasure and licentiousness offers not a deferred enjoyment, but one present and already at hand. Every soul is therefore dizzy and wavers in its reasoning, whenever it contemplates eternal things, choosing virtue, but when it looks toward present things, preferring pleasure. Here it sees the indulgence of the flesh, there the enslavement of the flesh; here drunkenness, there fasting; here unbridled laughter, there abundant tears; here dancing, there prayer; here pipes, there groans; here fornication, there virginity. Since, therefore, that which is truly good can be grasped only by reason through faith (for it is far removed, and eye has not seen, nor ear heard [cf. 1 Cor. 2:9]), while the sweetness of sin has its enjoyment ready at hand and flowing through every sense, blessed is he who, through the enticements of pleasure, has not been led toward destruction, but waiting with patience for the hope of salvation, in distinguishing between the two ways, does not embark upon the path that leads to the worse things.
6. A *Ver. 1. And he hath not sat in the chair of pestilence.* Does he mean those chairs upon which we rest our bodies? And what fellowship is there between wood and sin, that I must flee a chair occupied by a sinner as if it were deadly? Or must we not consider that a "chair" is spoken of as a firm and stable lingering in the judgment of wickedness? This is what we must beware of; because a strenuous lingering in sins engenders in the soul a certain habit which can scarcely be cast off. For an inveterate disease of the soul is with difficulty healed, and the practice of evil, confirmed by time, is hard to cure, or indeed altogether incurable, if custom passes into nature, as is usually the case. It would have been desirable, therefore, not to touch evil at all. But a second navigation remains: immediately after the experience, to flee from it as from the stroke of a poisonous beast, according to what Solomon wrote B concerning the wicked woman: "Do not cast your eye upon her, but recoil; do not linger" [Prov. 23:26, var.]. Now, I know some who in their youth, toward the things of the flesh... C D
have slipped, and by reason of the habit of evil, have persevered in their sins even unto old age. For just as swine, rolling in the mire, are always increasingly splattered with mud, so do these men, day by day, smear upon themselves the shame of pleasure. Blessed, then, is he who has not pondered evil; but if, by the entrapment of the enemy, you have received thoughts of impiety into your soul, do not stand your ground in sin. And if you have even fallen into this, do not dwell in that evil. Do not, therefore, sit in the "seat of the pestilent." If you have understood what chair the Scripture speaks of—namely, a lasting persistence in evil—I would further have you examine whom it calls "pestilent."
The experts in such matters say that a pestilence, once it has touched a single man or beast, spreads by contagion to all who draw near. For they contend that the nature of the disease is such that it causes everyone to infect one another with the malady. Such are the workers of iniquity. For they transmit the disease one to another, they sicken in concert, and they perish together. Do you not see those sodomites sitting in the market, mocking the chaste, reciting their own works of shame—they who count the pursuits of darkness and the passions of dishonor as heroic exploits or other great virtues? B These are the pestilent ones, who strive to bring their own evil upon everyone else, and who are ambitious to make many like themselves, so that through this communion in evil they may escape the disgrace. For just as it is impossible for fire, once it has touched matter suitable for burning, not to spread over the whole of it—especially if a favoring wind happens to carry the flame—so too is it impossible for sin, once it has touched one man, not to pass on to all who draw near, as the spirits of wickedness fan it into a flame. For the spirit of fornication does not allow the dishonor to reside in one person, but immediately, those of like age are gathered in: revels, drunken bouts, and obscene narratives; a harlot drinking with them, smiling at one, provoking another, and inflaming all toward the same sin. Is this pestilence a small thing, or is the contagion of evil slight?
What then of the one who emulates the greedy man, or him who, through some other wickedness, has acquired some conspicuous political power, or holds authority over nations, or is a commander of armies, and then, being contaminated by the foulest passions, has he not received the pestilence into his very soul, making the evil of the one he emulates his own? For the splendors of life also bring to notice the lives of those held in high regard; and soldiers, for the most part, become like their commanders; and the people in the cities imitate the magistrates. C
A And in sum, when the wickedness of one is deemed worthy of imitation by the many, it will be properly and rightly said that a certain pestilence of souls prevails in life. For prominence joined to wickedness draws many of those who are prone to slip into a similar zeal. Since, therefore, corruption flows from one to another, let the souls of such be called affected by the pestilence. Do not, then, sit in the seat of the pestilent, B or become a partaker of the counsel of the corrupt and destructive, or remain in the beginnings. C But I see the length of the account exceeding its measure, so that it is neither easy for you to retain much, nor for me, as my voice fails me due to my customary infirmity, to pursue the discourse. Although the things we have said may have been stated imperfectly, as the flight from evil has been demonstrated but the perfection acquired through good works has been omitted, nevertheless, commending these present words to your kindly ears, we promise, God granting, to complete what remains, provided we are not henceforth consigned to total silence. May the Lord grant us a reward for what we have said, and to you the fruit of what you have heard, by the grace of His Christ, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
BY THE SAME: ON PSALM VII
D A Psalm of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Chusi, the son of Jemeni.1. The inscription of the seventh Psalm seems in some way to face in the direction of the history of the Kingdoms, where things concerning David are written. A Since it might appear to refer to the history of the Kingdom, where the things concerning David are recorded, one is led to compare it with those events. These, then, are the words: *A Psalm of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Chusi the son of Gemini.* Nor does Jerome translate it otherwise, who from the Hebrew thus translates: *An ignorance of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of an Ethiopian, the son of Gemini.* I have brought these things forward to make it clear that certain interpreters wrote—not illogically—*Ethiopian* for *Chusi*, and that by the name of Ethiopian, Saul, endowed with Ethiopian habits, could be understood by learned men, and for that reason Basil could appear to have been able to reconcile the inscription of this Psalm far more easily with what is said in II Kings xv, 5. For it would have been to his advantage if he had said that the discourse concerned two men, not one—here concerning Saul, there concerning Chusi the son of Arachi. I would like you to read the Chaldean paraphrase, and the notes of Ducaeus. It seemed strange to the most learned Ducaeus that Basil should say a little later that neither Chusi nor anyone else is found in the history of the Kings as the son of Gemini, when Semei is named in II Kings xix, 16 as the son of Gera, the son of Gemini. It B must indeed seem strange that Basil, a man most skilled in the Scriptures, should have fallen into such an error; but it is worth noting that the whole of that passage does not appear in the Colbertine manuscripts, the fourth and the seventh. Whence perhaps a suspicion might arise for some that these words, first placed in the margin of the book, crept into the text itself in the course of time. But yet, to tell the truth, I think that Basil wrote it, and that it was omitted in the Colbertine copies for no other reason than that it was written continuously at the end of two periods. For they know, who are even slightly experienced in such matters, that it happens not rarely that scribes then omit the second period.
A the inscription of the seventh psalm. For there, Chusi is recorded as the chief friend [(44)] of David, and the son of Arachi, but here he is Chusi, the son of Jemeni. And neither is this man, nor anyone else among those appearing there, the son of Jemeni. May it be, then, because he displayed great prowess and noble achievement from the guise surrounding his friendship, when he seemingly went over to Absalom, but was undoing the counsels of Achitophel—a man most shrewd and most skilled in military strategy [(45)], who was tendering his opinions—that he was for this reason called the son of Jemeni? Now, the son of Jemeni is interpreted as the "son of the right hand." For when that man was advising that no time be granted to affairs, but that the father be attacked immediately and unprepared, saying, "That the Lord might bring B upon Absalom all these evils [(46)]"—he prevented the counsel of Achitophel from being admitted, as he saw that it was more plausible to suggest delays and wasted time to them, to give David an opportunity to gather his forces. Whence he was also acceptable to Absalom, who said, "The counsel of Chusi the son of Arachi is better than the counsel of Achitophel." To David, however, he made known through the priests Sadoc and Abiathar the things that had been arranged, and he commanded him not to lodge in the Araboth of the desert, but urged him toward the crossing. Since, therefore, he became a "right hand" to David by means of his good counsel, he obtained the designation from his noble achievement. For this reason is he called the son of Jemeni, that is, the son of the right hand. C This is the custom of Scripture: both to name the worse sort from their sin rather than from their fathers, and to name the better sort as sons from the virtue which characterizes them individually. Thus, the Apostle calls the devil the son of perdition: "For unless the lawless one, the son of perdition, be revealed [(50)]." And the Lord in the Gospel called Judas the son of perdition: "For none," he says, "perished except the son of perdition." But those who are instructed and fashioned in the knowledge of God, he calls sons of wisdom: "And wisdom is justified by her children [(48)] [(49)]"; and, "If there be," he says, "there a son of peace [(46)]." D
It is therefore no wonder if now also his physical father is passed over in silence, and the friend of David, called the son of the right hand, is named, for he had acquired a name befitting himself from his own deeds.A
2. VERSE 2. *O Lord my God, in thee have I hoped, save me.* It is thought to be a simple thing, and one that can be rightly uttered by anyone, namely: *O Lord my God, in thee have I hoped, save me.* Perhaps the matter is not so. For he who hopes in a man, or is puffed up by some other thing in this life—for instance, by power or riches, or by any other of those things which are regarded by many as glorious—cannot say: *O Lord my God, in thee have I hoped.* For it is a command not to hope in princes; and, *Cursed is the man who puts his hope in man.* Just as it is not fitting to worship anything other than God, so neither is it fitting to place hope in anyone other than the Lord of all, God. *For the Lord is my hope,* he says, *and my praise.* But why does he first pray to be saved from those who pursue him, and then to be delivered? A punctuation mark will clarify the meaning: *Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me, (VERSE 3) lest he seize my soul like a lion.* What, therefore, is the difference between being saved and being delivered? Clearly, the weak stand in need of salvation, but those held in captivity need to be delivered. Therefore, he who is weak in himself, but still retains faith within himself, is prepared for salvation through his own faith. *For thy faith,* he says, *hath saved thee*; and, *Be it done unto thee as thou hast believed.* But he who is to be delivered expects a price to be paid for his sake from elsewhere. Therefore, he to whom death is imminent and threatening, since he is conscious that there is one Savior, and one Deliverer, says: "In thee have I hoped; save me from my weakness, and deliver me from my captivity."B
I think, moreover, that the valiant athletes of God, who have struggled mightily throughout their entire lives against invisible enemies, once they have escaped all their persecutions and have come to the end of their lives, are examined by the prince of this age, so that if they are found to have wounds from the struggles, or certain stains and marks of sin, they might be detained; but if they are found unhurt and unstained, as being unconquerable, as being free, they might be given rest by Christ. He prays, therefore, for the present life and for that which is to come. For, he says, "Save me here"CD
A from those who pursue me; but deliver me there in the time of examination, lest at any time he seize my soul like a lion. And you might learn this from the Lord Himself, saying regarding the time of His passion: "Now the prince of this world comes, and in me he will have nothing." But He who had not committed sin said He had nothing; yet it would be sufficient for a man, if he should dare to say, "The prince of this world comes, and in me he will have but few and small things." But there is a danger of suffering these things if we do not have Him who ransoms us, nor Him who saves us. To the two things set before us, two things are added: "Save me from the multitude of those who pursue me, and deliver me," lest at any time I be snatched away, as if there were no one to ransom me.
3. O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hands, if I have rendered to those who render evils to me, I would surely fall away from my enemies empty. Let the enemy, therefore, pursue my soul, and let him overtake it. It is customary for the Scripture not only to use the name of retribution in the case of things that are supposed, as though some good or evil had already existed, but also in the case of those things that are initiated; as in the passage: "Render to thy servant." For instead of saying, "Give," it is said, "Render." Giving, then, is the initiation of a benefit, while rendering is the act of one who has received a benefit, returning like for like; but retribution is a certain secondary beginning and exchange of goods or evils brought unto certain persons. I believe, therefore, that when the discourse uses the name instead of a petition, as if making a certain demand, and asks for retribution, it conveys such a meaning as this: that the debt of care which is necessarily owed by nature from parents to their offspring—this do Thou provide for me. For the provision for life is owed by a father to his children according to natural affection. For parents, he says, ought to lay up treasure for their children, so that, beyond life, they also provide them with the means of livelihood. B Such is how "rendering," or "retribution," is often used in the Scripture for initial actions. But now the prophet appears to be confident in the fact that he has neither rendered evils to those who render them, nor rendered the like. If, therefore, I have done this, and if I have rendered to those who render evils to me, I would surely fall away from my enemies empty. He who falls away from the grace that is from the fullness of Christ falls empty from his enemies. Let the enemy, therefore, pursue my soul, and let him overtake it, and let him trample my life into the ground. For the soul of the righteous man, being separated from the sympathy for the body C, has its life hidden with Christ in God, so that it may be able to say with the Apostle: "But now I no longer live, but Christ lives in me"; D
"; and, "The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith." But the soul of the sinner, who lives according to the flesh and is defiled by the pleasures of the body, is as it were wallowed in the mire of the passions of the flesh. The enemy, trampling it underfoot, strives to defile it all the more and, as it were, to bury it under the earth, rushing upon the one who has fallen and trampling him with his own feet into the earth—that is, into the body—crushing the life of the one who has slipped. "And let him bring down my glory to the dust" (Ps. VII, 6). For the glory of the saints, who have their citizenship in heaven and store up for themselves good things in the eternal treasures, is in heaven; but the glory of those who are earthly and live according to the flesh is said to dwell in the dust. For whoever boasts in earthly riches, pursues the honor of men which lasts for a short time, and trusts in an abundance of material things, procures for himself glory that does not look up to heaven, but remains in the dust A.
VERS. 7. *Arise, O Lord, in thy wrath: be thou exalted in the borders of my enemies.* The Prophet longs for the mystery of the resurrection already to be fulfilled for the abolition of their sin; or else he refers to that exaltation upon the cross, which was destined to occur after the malice of the enemies had been raised to its final limit. Or also by the words, *Be thou exalted in the borders of my enemies*, a certain idea is suggested: namely, that however much malice may have risen, even if it has arrived at an immense scale and poured itself out to infinity, by the abundance of power that you possess, you are able, just as a good physician occupying the boundaries of a spreading disease, to stop the sickness from feeding and creeping, and to cut off its continuity with your corrective stripes B.
*And arise, O Lord my God, in the decree which thou hast commanded.* This expression can also be referred to the mystery of the resurrection, in that the Prophet exhorts the Judge to arise for the vengeance of every sin, and for the fulfillment of the commandments which he previously prescribed to us. It can also be understood in relation to the state of the Prophet's affairs as it then was, as if he were asking God to arise for the vengeance of the commandment which he had given. Now the commandment given by God was: *Honor thy father and thy mother* (Exod. XX, 12), which his own son had already transgressed. Therefore he urges God not to hesitate to correct both that individual and to restrain many others: but to arise in wrath, and upon arising, to vindicate his own commandment. "For it is not me," he says, "that you will avenge, but your neglected commandment, which you yourself commanded." VERS. 8. *And a congregation of peoples shall surround thee.* For it is certain that, when one wicked man is punished, many will be converted C. And so his malice D
therefore, restrain, so that a large congregation of peoples may surround thee. And for the sake of this, return to the height. For the sake of the congregation that surrounds thee—which thou didst acquire through the condescension and dispensation of grace—return to the height of that glory which thou hadst before the world was created.
VERS. 9. *The Lord shall judge the peoples.* B In many places of Scripture, the discourse concerning judgment is interspersed, as it is most necessary and most effective for the instruction in piety of those who have believed in God through Jesus Christ. But since the discourse concerning judgment is written in many ways, it will seem to cause some confusion to those who do not accurately distinguish the meanings. For *he who believes in me is not judged, but he who does not believe has already been judged* (John III, 18). But if he who does not believe is like the ungodly, how has it been said that *the ungodly shall not rise in judgment* (Psal. I, 5)? And if those who believe have become sons of God through faith, and are therefore worthy to be called gods themselves, how shall God stand in the *synagogue of the gods, and in the midst judge the gods* (Psal. LXXXI, 1)? But it seems that the term "to judge" is sometimes taken by Scripture to mean "to prove," and sometimes to mean "to condemn." It is taken to mean "to prove," for example: *Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my innocence* (Psal. XXV, 1); for he subjoins there: *Prove me, O Lord, and test me*. It is taken to mean "to condemn," as in the passage: *For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged* (1 Cor. XI, 31); for he says, if we examined ourselves, we would not be subjected to condemnation. Again, it is said that the Lord will judge unto all flesh; that is, in the examination of the deeds of each one, he submits himself to the judgment and contrasts his own commandments with the deeds of those who have sinned, excusing himself with proofs that he has done everything concerning him for the salvation of those being judged, so that those who have sinned, having been convinced that they are guilty of their sins, and accepting the divine justice, willingly undergo the penalty imposed upon them.
5. But the word to judge also has another C meaning, as the Lord says: *The Queen of the South shall rise in the judgment, and shall condemn this generation* (Matt. XII, 42). For those who turn away from divine teaching, and are unrefined, and altogether have turned away from the doctrines of wisdom that train the soul, he says receive a heavier [penalty] for the things they have overlooked, by the comparison and setting against them of those of their own generation who have excelled in the zeal for good things. D
A I believe, however, that not all those who have received this earthly body will be judged in the same way by the just Judge, because the external circumstances that befall each of us are vastly different, and thus the judgment for each person is made variable. 66 For the concurrence of things that are not in our power, but which surround us even against our will, either weighs down our sins or makes them lighter. Let it be supposed, for the sake of argument, that the matter being judged is fornication. Now, one man might have committed this sin, having been nurtured in evil ways from the very beginning; for he was brought into life by profligate parents and was raised in a habit of shameful acts, in drunkenness, in revelries, and in obscene talk. Another man, however, who had many things urging him toward the most excellent things—education, teachers, the hearing of more divine words, 67 salutary readings, the admonitions of parents, conversations modeling gravity and chastity, a temperate lifestyle—if he should then fall into the same sin as the other, and have to give an account of his life, will he not most justly be deemed worthy of heavier punishments than the other? For the one will be called to account solely because he did not rightly use the incentives for salvation sown within his mind; whereas the other, in addition to this, [will be called to account] because, having encountered many aids for his salvation, he betrayed himself through intemperance and negligence in a very short time. B Similarly, he who was instructed from the beginning in piety, and who avoided all perversity in the dogmas concerning God, and was nourished in the law of God—which accuses every sin and calls [the soul] to the contrary—will not have the same excuse for idolatry as he who was reared by lawless parents and taught from the beginning by nations to worship idols. "The Lord shall judge the peoples." He judges the Jew in one way, and the Scythian in another. For the former rests in the Law, and boasts in God, and tests the things that differ. Being instructed out of the Law, and constantly enchanted by common notions, and educated in the prophetic and legal scriptures, if he is found to have transgressed against the Law, his sins will be reckoned as much heavier. But the Scythian nomads, brought up in savage and inhuman customs, accustomed to rapine and mutual abuse, 69 highly intemperate in their anger, easily stirred up toward mutual provocations, accustomed to settle every dispute with iron, and taught to end battles with blood—if they show any humanity or kindness to one another, they prepare for us a bitterer vengeance through their own noble deeds. D "Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to my innocence upon me." These words might seem to have something arrogant about them, and to be similar to the prayer of the Pharisee who exalted himself; yet to one who looks at them candidly, the Prophet will be judged to be far removed from such a disposition. "Judge me, O Lord," he says, "according to my righteousness..." [alt-version omitted]
me, O Lord, according to my righteousness. A Much, he says, is the discourse concerning righteousness, and the boundaries of perfect righteousness are difficult to attain. For there is also a righteousness of angels which far surpasses that of men, and if there is any power superior to the angels, it possesses a superiority of righteousness corresponding to its magnitude; and the righteousness of God Himself, which surpasses all intellect, being ineffable and incomprehensible to every created nature (70).
6. Judge me, therefore, O Lord, according to my righteousness: that is, the righteousness which is attainable by men, and possible for those who live in the flesh. And according to my innocence within me. For thus the disposition of the speaker is most clearly shown to be far removed from the pride of the Pharisees. For he names as his "innocence" a kind of simpleness and ignorance of those things which are useful to know, according to that which is said in the Proverbs, that "The innocent man believes every word." Since, therefore, we men stumble in many things incautiously out of ignorance, he beseeches God, and asks to obtain forgiveness on account of this innocence. From this it is manifest that the speaker’s humility is shown by these words rather than his pride. For "Judge me," he says, "according to my righteousness, and judge me according to the innocence that is in me." Comparing, as it were, my righteous acts with human frailty, judge me thus; but having well considered the simplicity of my conduct, do not condemn me as a sinner as if I were crafty, or circumspect in the affairs of this world. C Let the wickedness of sinners be brought to an end. He who prays thus is clearly a disciple of the evangelical precepts. For he prays for those who are persecuting him, asking that the wickedness of those who sin might be limited by a certain end and boundary. Just as if someone, praying for those who are sick in body, were to say: "May the disease of those who are sick now be brought to an end." For in order that the sin, creeping forward, may not take root like gangrene (72), he prays to God that the further outpouring of sin may be stayed and bounded; for he loved his enemies, and wished to do good to those by whom he was hated, and therefore he prayed for those who were persecuting him. And Thou shalt direct the righteous. The righteous man is called "upright": likewise the heart that is straightened. D What, then, does the prayer of the Prophet mean here? For he prays that he who is already righteous may be directed. For no one would say that there is anything crooked or twisted or tangled in the righteous man. But perhaps this petition is necessary for the righteous man, that his upright purpose and the immutability of his mind may be directed by the guidance of God, so that he may never, through infirmity, deviate from the, as it were, canon of the truth (74), nor be harmed by the enemy of the truth with perverse dogmas. Scrutinizing hearts and
reins, O God, justly.* Since Scripture often takes the "heart" for the governing part of the soul, and the "reins" for its appetitive part, it signifies the same thing here: namely, "Judge me, O God, both by the dogmas I hold concerning piety and by the movements of my passions; for You are the one who scrutinizes hearts and reins." A scrutiny in the proper sense is an examination accompanied by every form of torture, which judges apply to those under interrogation, so that those who conceal the matters sought may, by the necessity of suffering, bring what was hidden into the open. For in the unerring examinations of the Judge, our thoughts are scrutinized, and our actions are scrutinized as well. Let no one, therefore, anticipate C the true Judge, nor let anyone judge before the time, *until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and manifest the counsels of the hearts.* 66 Thus, while God scrutinizes hearts and reins, He reveals His own justice. And indeed, the heart of Abraham was scrutinized, as to whether he loved God from his whole soul and from his whole heart, when he was commanded to offer Isaac as a whole burnt offering, so that it might be manifest that he did not love his son more than God. Jacob was also scrutinized when he was assailed by the treachery of his brother, so that his brotherly love might appear in no way lessened by the many sins of Esau. Thus, the hearts of these men were subjected to scrutiny. Nay, even the reins of Joseph were weighed, when, while his wanton mistress raged with love for him, he preferred the integrity of chastity to most shameful pleasure. He was proven on this account, so that D observers of the judgment of God might acknowledge by common consent that the honor was rightfully bestowed upon him, because his chastity shone forth in an amazing way amidst great perils.
7. *My help comes from the Lord.* Those who are besieged, whether in wars against the onsets of enemies or otherwise, seek help. And so, here too, anyone who senses his invisible enemies and gazes upon the danger hanging over him from the enemy encamped around him, will say: "My help is not from riches, nor from any bodily support, nor from any power or strength of my own, nor from any human kinship, but *My help is from the Lord*." What kind of aid the Lord sends to those who fear Him, we learn elsewhere from the Psalm, which says: *The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about those who fear Him, and shall deliver them.* 67 And elsewhere: *The angel who delivers me.* 68 *Who saves the upright in heart.* The "upright in heart" is he whose mind does not incline toward excess nor toward deficiency, but is directed toward the mean of virtue. For he who declines from courage toward lesser things is corrupted by timidity; but he who proceeds toward greater things falls into audacity. Wherefore Scripture calls such men who deviate from the mean, either by excess or by defect, crooked and perverse. 69 For just as a line that is oblique
A from which it comes about, that its straightness is bent now into a convex form, now into a concave—so also is the crooked heart, now puffed up through arrogance, now brought low through sorrows and dejection. Wherefore the Ecclesiastes says, *that which is perverse cannot be straightened.*
*God is a just judge and strong and long-suffering, and not bringing indignation upon every day.* In this, the Prophet seems to be addressing those who might at some time be disturbed by events, to calm the distress of men, lest they should ever lose faith in the providence that governs all things, seeing a father left unavenged when his son rises up against him, and the wickedness of Absalom succeeding in the things he had purposed. B Correcting, therefore, the foolishness of their thoughts, he testified to them: *God is a just judge and strong and long-suffering, and not bringing indignation upon every day.* Nothing of what happens comes to pass without judgment; rather, God measures out according to the measure of each person, just as He had previously measured out their actions throughout life. Since, therefore, I have committed some sin, I receive the recompense according to my own desert. Do not, therefore, speak iniquity against God; for God is a just judge. Nor think so basely of God as to suppose Him powerless to take vengeance; for He is also strong. What, then, is the reason that He does not immediately inflict punishment upon those who sin? Because He is long-suffering, *not bringing indignation upon every day.*
*If you be not converted, He will sharpen His sword.* The language is threatening, leading the slow to repentance. C He does not immediately threaten wounds and blows and deaths, but the sharpening of weapons, and as it were, a certain preparation for defense. For just as those who polish their weapons signify by this their impulse for war, so also the Word, wishing to show God’s movement toward punishing, said that His sword was being sharpened. *He has bent His bow and made it ready and in it he prepared instruments of death.* It is not any sinew that draws the bow of God, but the power of punishment, which is sometimes stretched tight, and sometimes slackened. The Scripture, therefore, threatens the sinner that future punishments are prepared for him. D
A For *instruments of death* have been *prepared* for him *in the bow*. Now the instruments of death are powers that exterminate the enemies of God. He made his arrows *for the burning ones*. For just as fire was fashioned by the Creator for burning material—for it was not created for the diamond, which is not melted by fire, but for the wood that is consumed—so too were the arrows of God fashioned by Him for those souls that are easily set on fire, among whom much material suited for destruction has been gathered. Therefore, those who have previously received and hold within themselves the flaming arrows of the devil B are the ones who receive the arrows of God. For this reason he says: *He fashioned his arrows for the burning ones.* Now, carnal desires burn the soul, and burning and melting the soul are fears, the lusts for money, and heated anger, and griefs which are foreign to God. But he who is uninjured by the arrows of the enemy, and clothed in the armor of God, remains untouched by the death-bearing arrows.
8. VERS. 15. *Behold, he has travailed with injustice, he has conceived pain, and has brought forth lawlessness.* And indeed, as far as the order is concerned, these words seem to be in confusion. For first those who are pregnant conceive, then they labor, and lastly they bring forth. Here, however, first come the pains of childbirth, then the conception, and lastly the birth. But these things explain the conception of the heart most emphatically. C For the irrational impulses of intemperate men, and the mad and frenzied desires, are called the pains of childbirth, because they arise in the soul with intensity and pain. According to such an impulse, he who does not master wicked thoughts has *conceived pain*; and he who has inflamed the malice in his heart by wicked actions has *brought forth lawlessness*. It seems, moreover, that he says these things because he is ashamed to be the father of a lawless son. "He is not my son," he says, "but has become the son of that father to whom he made himself a slave by sin." For according to John: *He who commits sin is born of the devil.* Behold, therefore, the devil has travailed with him through injustice, and he has conceived him—that is, he has held him fast in the inmost recesses of himself, and has drawn him under the bowels of his own disposition; and being pregnant with him, he then brought him forth when he made his lawlessness manifest, for his rebellion against the father was proclaimed to all by a herald. D VERS. 16. *He opened a pit and dug it.* We do not find the name of "pit" used in a good sense in the divine Scriptures; just as neither is a "well of water" used in a worse sense. For a pit is...
in A truth, that into which Joseph was cast by his brothers. And when the slaughter was made from the first-born of Pharaoh even to the first-born of the captive who was in the pit. And in the Psalms: "I was counted with them that go down into the pit." And in Jeremiah he says: "They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have digged them broken pits, that will not be able to hold water." But also in Daniel a "den of lions" is recorded, into which Daniel himself is thrown. But Abraham and the servants of Isaac dig a well; and Moses, having gone forth to a well, rested. And we receive a command from Solomon to drink water from our own vessels and from the fountain of our own wells. And the Savior himself discourses about divine mysteries by the well with the Samaritan woman. B We think the reason why pits are used in a worse sense, but wells in a better, is this: that water in pits is adventitious, as it falls from heaven; but in wells, the veins of water are hidden beneath the earth before the places are dug, and they reveal themselves if only the mounds covering them or any other substance lying upon them—which is the whole earth itself—is removed. And indeed, just as it is a ditch in souls into which the best things fall, only to be changed and adulterated when someone drives away the thoughts of the honest and right that have come upon him, distorting them towards worse things and towards those that are contrary to truth—for he has resolved to have no good that is familial and proper. On the contrary, C there are wells in the soul when, after the vices that covered it have been removed, light shines forth, and a fountain of water is able to be given through speech and dogmas. Therefore, it is necessary for everyone to prepare for himself a well, that he may keep the aforementioned commandment which says: "Drink waters from thy vessels, and from the fountain of thy wells." For thus shall we be called children of those who dug the wells, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. A pit, however, is not to be made, lest we fall into the ditch as is said here, nor hear those things written in Jeremiah for the reproach and disgrace of sinners, when God says concerning them what we brought forward a little D before: "They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have digged them broken pits, that will not be able to hold water for them."
ON PSALM XIV
Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle, or who shall rest in thy holy mountain? 1. The Scripture, wishing to describe to us the perfect man...A having employed a certain order and method regarding the things contemplated around him, has made its beginning from the more immediate and primary things. Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle? "Dwelling" (paroikia) denotes a temporary sojourn, not a settled life, but one that is transitory, signifying the hope of moving on to better things. It is for the holy man to pass through this life, but to hasten toward another. Therefore David also says concerning himself: "I am a sojourner with thee, and a stranger, as all my fathers were." For Abraham was a sojourner, not having possessed so much as a foot's breadth of his own land; but when he had need of a burial place, he is shown to have purchased it with silver. The Scripture signifies that it behooves him who lives in the flesh to be a sojourner, but upon departing from this life, to find rest in his own proper places. For this reason, in this life B he sojourns among strangers, but in his burial he procured the land that would receive his body as his own property. It is truly blessed, in reality, not to be so attached to things on earth as if they were one's own, nor to cling to the things present as if to some natural fatherland, but to know the fall from better things, and, being burdened by the life conducted here due to judgment, to sojourn in such a way as those who have been driven into exile from their homeland by certain judges on account of some offenses. Rare is such a man, who does not attend to present things as if they were his own; who understands that the use of wealth is granted only for a time; who considers the good health of the body to be of short duration; who recognizes the flower of human glory C to be unstable. Who, then, shall dwell in thy tabernacle? The tent (tabernaculum) of God is called the flesh, which He Himself gave to the human soul as a place of habitation. Who will attend to this flesh as if it were another's? Just as sojourners, having rented land that belongs to another, cultivate the country according to the will of the lessor, so to us also the care of the flesh has been committed by covenant, so that by cultivating it decently, we may return it fruitful to the Giver. And if the flesh is worthy of God, it truly becomes the tent of God according to His indwelling in the saints. Such is the state of the sojourner. Therefore, Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle? Then follows a certain advance and progression toward something more perfect. And who shall rest in thy holy mountain? The Jew, who is earthly, when he hears of a mountain, D runs to Sion. Who shall rest in thy holy mountain? He who has lived in the flesh as a sojourner shall rest in thy holy mountain.
A That mountain signifies the heavenly place, splendid and conspicuous, of which the Apostle says: *You have come to Mount Sion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, in which is the celebration of angels, and the Church of the firstborn who are written in the heavens*. B 2. Since, therefore, someone has passed through this life in the flesh as if in transit, without attachment, using it as something foreign and not clinging to it as his own, he, because he has mortified his members which are upon the earth, and has accomplished holiness, is worthy of dwelling in the holy mountain; desiring which, the Psalmist said: *I will pass into the place of the wonderful tabernacle*; and: *How beloved are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts*. There, both the love toward our neighbor—which is afforded as the cause for enjoying that rest in the mountain—and the friendship that arises from the mammon of iniquity, provide a dwelling. *For make to yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity, that when you fail, they may receive you into eternal tabernacles*. Concerning this conduct, the Lord said in the manner of prayer: *Father holy, grant that where I am, they also may be*. Rare, however, is he who dwells in the body as a sojourner, just as he who rests on the mountain. For this reason, C the Scripture speaks as if in doubt: *Who shall sojourn? And, Who shall rest?* Just as: *Who has known the mind of the Lord?* and: *Who shall announce to you that fire burns?* and: *Who shall announce to you the eternal place?* and: *Who, thinkest thou, is the faithful and prudent steward?* Perhaps the word *Who* is also used interrogatively, as if seeking an answer from the holy Lord to whom He speaks. To which the divine voice, resolving the question, what does it say? D *Who walks without blemish and works justice*. If he who lacks none of the good things, and passes his life without stumbling from any wickedness, is without blemish, what difference is there between him and one who does justice? Does it, therefore, express the same meaning in double terms: *Who walks without blemish, and works justice?* Or does either word convey a specific meaning of its own? So that he is "without blemish" who is absolute in every perfection of virtue according to the hidden man, but he who "works justice" is he who perfects his active power through bodily actions. For it is necessary not only to do the just deed, but also to work from a just disposition; according to what has been said, that thou shalt pursue justice justly.
A For instance, an unskilled person may indeed prepare some medical remedy that leads to the benefit of the sick, but such a person has not acted medically, because he does not possess any of the art that accompanies the work. Therefore, he who walks blamelessly is perfect in mind; but he who works justice is, according to the voice of the Apostle, a worker for the Lord who has no cause to be ashamed. [He does not say,] "having walked blamelessly," but, "walking blamelessly"; nor, "having worked justice," but, "working." For a single action does not make a man upright, but it is necessary that works of virtue be stretched out across one's entire life. *Speaking the truth in his heart, who has not practiced deceit with his tongue.* Again, here too, speaking truth in the heart and not practicing deceit with the tongue have the same kinship with each other that existed between being blameless and working justice. For just as there Scripture presents both the one who is perfect in secret and the one who rightly uses the faculty of action, so also here B—since what is spoken comes from the abundance of the heart, as if from a fountain flowing with the word of internal disposition—it first spoke of truth in the heart, then of the lack of deceit in the word which is performed through the tongue. We shall find two meanings of truth: one, the comprehension of matters that lead to a blessed life; the other, the sound knowledge of anything pertaining to life. That truth, therefore, which is the helper of salvation, dwelling in the heart of the perfect man, ought to be delivered without deceit to one’s neighbor in all things. But in worldly affairs, if a man of virtue should by chance fall away from the truth, nothing will hinder him from attaining what is proposed. For how many stadia of earth or sea there are, and how many stars move, and how much one excels another in speed—if we are ignorant of the truth in these matters, nothing will prevent us from attaining the blessedness promised in the Gospels. Perhaps the Scripture is also declaring something of this sort to us: that it is not fitting to speak the things that pertain to truth—that is, the mysteries—to everyone, but rather to a neighbor; that is, not to reveal them to the common people, but to those who have participated in the mysteries. But if C truth is our Lord, let each of us keep this truth impressed and, as it were, sealed within his own heart; for, speaking of this within our hearts to ourselves, let us not defile the word of the Gospel in announcing the proclamation to our neighbors. *Who has not practiced deceit with his tongue.* Deceit is condemned in many places of Scripture as an enemy of God. *May the Lord destroy*, it says, *all deceitful lips.* Again, D
A *Deceit in the heart of them that devise* 8 *evils.* Everything that is better is said to be adulterated by the admixture of something worse, just as wine is adulterated when something worse is mixed into it 9, or water is poured into it; gold also is adulterated when it is joined to silver and copper. So too, truth is adulterated when blasphemies are woven into it along with holy words.
4. *Nor has done evil to his neighbor.* B No one who has heard the Gospel doubts whom the Word calls "neighbor," for to the one who asked, *And who is my neighbor?*, the Lord told the parable of the man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and then asked, *Which of these seems to you to have been a neighbor?* And he answered, *He who showed mercy upon him.* For by these words He taught that every man is to be considered a neighbor. But even this is difficult to achieve, and needs much diligence, not to harm one's neighbor in either small or great matters: not to harm by word 10, not to deprive him of any of his dues, not to wish him harm, not to use envy against the successes of one's peers. *And has not accepted a reproach against those nearest to him.* The expression is ambiguous: whether he himself did not do anything worthy of being reproached by those nearest to him, and for this reason did not receive reproach from them; or whether he did not reproach any of those nearest to him—those who have happened into human faults, or who are found with bodily mutilations, or other such defects of the flesh. C For neither is the one who sins to be reproached, according to what is written: *Do not reproach a man who is turning from sin.* For we have never known reproach to have been employed for the benefit of those who commit faults, since the Apostle, in his instructions to his own disciple Timothy, permits correction and exhortation and rebuke, but nowhere has he accepted reproach, as being contrary and opposite. And it seems that rebuke has as its goal the correction of the sinner, whereas reproach is brought about for the confusion of the one who has slipped. To reproach poverty, or baseness of birth, or lack of learning, or bodily infirmity is altogether irrational, and alien to the character of a good man. For what befalls us not by our own choice, these things are involuntary; and for involuntary shortcomings, one should rather show pity than heap abuse on those who are unfortunate. D For those who fear...
B the Lord, He glorifies. It is the mark of a truly great mind—one unmoved by the necessities of human affairs and highly cultivated in the habit of justice—to render to each man his due; and to bring those who do evil to naught, even if they hold great principalities, even if they abound in wealth, even if they are conspicuous for the splendor of their birth, and even if they claim eminence for themselves. Yet, if iniquity alone is found in them, to bring such men to naught—that is, to esteem them as nothing—is the mark of, I say, a great mind. On the contrary, to glorify those who fear the Lord, even if they are poor, even if they are of obscure birth, even if they are unskilled in speech or infirm in body, and to extol them with the highest praises and deem them blessed (since instructing to call such men blessed is taught by the Spirit—for "Blessed," He says, "are all who fear the Lord"), is also the mark of the same mind. For it is the same disposition of mind both to bring to naught the evildoer, even if he be exalted by eminence, and to glorify one who fears the Lord, even if he be lowly, poor in life, contemptible, and possessing nothing external that might invite esteem.
*He who swears to his neighbor, and does not deceive.* Why on earth is swearing permitted here among the virtues that befit a perfect man, while in the Gospel it is entirely forbidden? *Who shall dwell, and who shall rest* C *upon Thy holy mountain? He who swears to his neighbor, and does not deceive.* But there, *I say to you, do not swear at all.* What then shall we say? That the Lord keeps to the same purpose everywhere, forestalling the consequences of sins and cutting off iniquity from its very inception. For just as the old law said, *You shall not commit adultery,* but the Lord, *You shall not even lust*; and the former said, *You shall not kill,* but the One who legislates more perfect things said, *You shall not even be angry*; so indeed in this place, the one is content with an honest oath, while the other cuts off the very occasion for perjury. For he who swears rightly and truly might perhaps even be deceived against his will, but he who does not swear has avoided the danger of perjury. In many places, He calls an oath a firm and immutable resolve regarding any matter, as it is written, *I swore, and I have set myself to keep the judgments of Thy righteousness*; and, *The Lord has sworn, and* D
He will not repent*. Not that He brought God in to bear witness to what was spoken as if to resolve His own doubt, but that God confirmed the grace of the promise to David with immutable and unshakable decrees. Thus, therefore, it is possible for it to be said here also: *He that sweareth to his neighbor*—that is, he who gives an assurance to his neighbor and does not break it—so that it may be in agreement with what was said by the Lord: *Let your word be, Yea, yea; and Nay, nay* (Matth. v, 37). Regarding such matters, give your assent with an assurance; and regarding things that are not, even if all men should persuade you, never be persuaded to give an assurance contrary to the truth of nature. If the thing has not happened, let a denial follow; if the thing has happened, let an affirmation confirm it. Without any entanglement with another matter, try to present the truth in itself, having used simple affirmations. Let the unbeliever bear the harm of his unbelief. For it is altogether disgraceful and foolish to accuse oneself of being unworthy of belief and to bring forward the security of oaths. B There are, however, some words which have the appearance of oaths but are not oaths, but rather an act of consideration toward the hearers. Just as Joseph, to win favor with the Egyptian, swore by the health of Pharaoh (Gen. xlii, 15). And the Apostle, demonstrating his love for the Corinthians, said: *By your boasting which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord* (1 Cor. xv, 31). For he who had been entrusted with the Gospel did not disobey the evangelical teaching, but put forth a simple word in the form of an oath, showing by such a manner that the boasting which he had in them was most precious to him of all things.
6. *Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not away* (Matth. v, 42). The word calls us to that which is communal, and towards mutual affection, and to that which is proper by nature. For man is a political and social animal. C In the common life and in our intercourse with one another, it is necessary to be ready to give, for the correction of one who is in need. *Give to him that asketh thee.* He wills that you be free in simplicity toward those who ask, out of love, but that you again discern by reason the need of each of those D
A requesting. And this we have learned in the Acts, in what way it is possible to achieve this by those who are skillfully fulfilling the aim of piety. "For as many," he says, "as were owners of lands or houses, selling them, they brought the prices of the things that were sold and laid them at the feet of the apostles. And it was distributed to each according as anyone had need." For since many, surpassing the use of necessary things, make the request an opportunity for business and a pretext for shameful luxury, it was necessary that the collection of money be made by those entrusted with the care of the poor, so that from this [common] storehouse the distribution of necessary things might be made wisely and economically to the needs of each. For just as wine is often necessary for those who are sick, but it is not for everyone to judge the time, the measure, and the quality; but a doctor is needed for the giving of wine; so too can the stewardship concerning the care of the needy not be usefully administered by all. For indeed, for those who compose mournful songs to deceive women, and who show off mutilations of the body and sores as an opportunity for gain B, a large and liberal subsidy will be in no way profitable. For generosity will become an opportunity and material for vice for them. But with a small gift one must ward off the barking of such as these, showing sympathy and brotherly love toward those who have learned to bear affliction with patience; for whom it shall also be said: "I was hungry, and you gave me to eat," and the rest. "And from him who wishes to borrow from thee, do not turn away." And this commandment holds together with the former ones. For indeed, even he who begs here, being poor, asks for a loan from you, showing you the Rich One in heaven, who will pay the debt to you on his behalf. For "he who has pity on the poor," he says, "lends to God." And the kingdom of heaven is the pledge and guarantee of the loan. May we all attain this, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory and power, for ever and ever. Amen.
THE SAME HOMILY ON A PART OF THE FOURTEENTH PSALM, AND AGAINST USURERS
1. Yesterday, when we had the sermon on the fourteenth psalm C among you, it was not permitted us to reach the end of the discourse D.
Now, however, we have come as grateful debtors, paying back the debts of what was left out for you. A What remains is brief to hear, so it seems, and perhaps it escaped many of you, so that you might think nothing at all was left out of the psalm. Nevertheless, having perceived that this brief expression possesses great power for the affairs of life, we did not think we should overlook the profit that comes from examining it. The Prophet, sketching the perfect man who is to ascend to the life that cannot be shaken, counted among his noble deeds that "he has not given his silver to usury." This sin is denounced in many places in Scripture. For both Ezekiel B ranks taking usury and increase among the greatest evils, and the Law expressly forbids it: "You shall not charge interest to your brother or neighbor." And again it says: "Deceit upon deceit, and usury upon usury." And what does the psalm say regarding a city that prospers in a multitude of evils? "Usury and deceit have not departed from its streets." And now the Prophet has adopted this very thing as a character and sign of human perfection, saying: "(VERS. 5) He has not given his silver to usury." For is it not in truth the height of inhumanity that the one who is in need of necessities should seek a loan to provide for his life, while the other is not content with the principal, but devises from the calamities of the poor revenues for himself and gathers wealth? The Lord himself clearly commanded us, saying: C "And the one who wishes to borrow from you, do not turn away." The miser, however, when he sees a man bowed down by necessity, supplicating before his knees, what abject and humble thing does he not do? What does he not say? He has no pity for one suffering adversity beyond his deserts; he does not consider their human nature; he does not yield to their entreaties, but stands inflexible and implacable. He does not yield to supplications, he is not softened by tears, he persists in his refusal. He swears, and invoking curses upon himself, he asserts that he is completely lacking in money, and that he himself is looking around to see if he can find someone who might lend to him, D and confirming his lie through oaths, he acquires as an additional evil to his inhumanity the charge of perjury. But when the one seeking the loan mentions usury and names collateral, then, lowering his brow, he smiles, and perhaps even recalls a paternal friendship, and speaks of him as an acquaintance and a friend; and, "We shall see," he says, "if there is any silver laid aside for us." But there is a deposit.
A which a man, a friend, has entrusted to us for the sake of gain. But that man, for his part, fixes heavy interest upon it; and we, for our part, shall certainly remit something, and we shall give it at a lower rate of interest. By pretending such things, and by coaxing and baiting the miserable man with words of this sort, he binds him further with written contracts, and, in addition to the poverty that is already afflicting him, he even robs the man of his liberty, and goes his way. For he who has made himself liable to interest, the repayment of which he cannot sustain, has accepted voluntary slavery for the rest of his life.
Tell me, do you seek money and profit from one who is destitute? And if he had been able to make you wealthier, why would he have come to your doors? He came to find help, but he found an enemy. While seeking a remedy, he encountered poison. Your duty was to relieve the man's poverty, but you increase his indigence, seeking to exhaust the resources of a man who is already stripped bare. It is as if some physician, visiting the sick, instead of restoring health to them, were to take away even the little remaining strength they had: just so, you make the misfortunes of the miserable an opportunity for gain. B And just as farmers pray for showers for the multiplication of their seeds, so you, too, pray for the indigence and need of men, so that your money may become productive for you. Do you not know that you are making a greater addition to your sins than the increase which you expect to gain from interest?
The man who seeks a loan, caught in the midst of perplexity, when he looks at his poverty, despairs of being able to pay; but when he looks at his present necessity, he dares to take the loan. Then, the one is overcome and yields to his need, and the other departs, having secured him with documents and guarantees.
2. But he who receives the money, at first, indeed, is splendid and cheerful, gladdened by an alien bloom, and he becomes notable by the change in his life. C For the table is sumptuous, the clothing is more precious; his servants are adorned in a more splendid manner, and he has flatterers and drinking companions—myriad drones of his house. But as the money gradually flows away, and time, as it progresses, brings interest along with it, the nights bring him no rest, the day is not cheerful, the sun is not pleasant, but he finds life burdensome; he hates the days as they hasten toward the deadline; he fears the months as the parents of interest. If he sleeps, he sees the lender in his dreams—a bad dream—standing over his head; and if he is awake, his thought and constant concern is the interest. D
A The lender, he says, and the debtor meet together, and the Lord brings visitation upon them both. The one, like a dog, rushes upon his prey, while the other shrinks from the meeting as if at some ready-made quarry. For poverty strips a man of his freedom of speech. The reckoning for both is on their fingers: the one rejoicing at the increase of interest, the other groaning at the accumulation of his misfortunes. "Drink waters from your own vessels"—that is, look to your own resources, do not walk toward the springs of others, but from your own wells gather for yourself the comforts of life. Do you have copper vessels, clothing, a beast of burden, articles of every kind? Sell these; be content to let everything go, except your freedom. "But I am ashamed to expose them to public sale," he says. What then? After a little while, will another not produce them, and proclaim your own goods, and before your eyes, disparaging them, put them up for auction? B Do not walk to the doors of others. For the well of another is indeed narrow. It is better to alleviate your need little by little with your own resources than to be suddenly lifted up by the things of others, only to be stripped later of everything you possess all at once. If, therefore, you have the means to pay, why do you not resolve your present inadequacy through these very resources? But if you are at a loss for how to pay, you are curing one evil with another. Do not admit a lender to besiege you. Do not endure being sought out and tracked like some other quarry. The beginning of falsehood is the borrowing of money; it is a source of ingratitude, thoughtlessness, and perjury. Different are the words of the borrower, and different are those of the one demanding payment. "If only I had not met you then!" "I would have already found the means to escape this necessity." "Did you not thrust the money into my hands against my will?" C Your gold was of poor quality and the coin was counterfeit. Whether, then, your creditor is a friend, do not lose his friendship; or if he is an enemy, do not become subject to a hater. Having adorned yourself briefly with the belongings of others, you will afterward be estranged even from your patrimony. You are poor now, but you are free. If you borrow money, you will not become rich, and you will be robbed of your freedom. The borrower is a slave to the one who lent, and a slave who pays a wage, bearing an inescapable service. Dogs are tamed by receiving food, but the lender is provoked by receiving payment. For he does not cease to bark, but demands more. If you swear an oath, he does not believe you; he searches your inner rooms, he examines your dealings D and your transactions.
A If you go outside, it drags you toward itself and pulls you down; if you hide yourself inside, it stands at your house and knocks at the door. It brings shame upon you in the presence of your wife; it heaps insults upon you before your friends; it throttles you in the marketplace. It is an evil encounter for a feast; it makes your life unlivable. But you say, "The necessity is great, and there is no other source of money." What, then, is the benefit of postponing today? For poverty will come to you again like a good runner, and the same necessity will be present with interest. For a loan provides not a total release, but a small delay of your helplessness. Let us suffer the hardships of poverty today, and not put them off until tomorrow. For if you do not take out a loan, you will be poor today and hereafter in the same way; but if you take out a loan, with the interest increasing your poverty, you will be tormented more bitterly. Now, indeed, no one reproaches you for being poor, since the evil is involuntary; but if you are liable for interest, there is no one who will not blame you for your lack of judgment.
3. Therefore, let us not invite a voluntary evil upon ourselves in addition to the involuntary evils, B through our own folly. It is the mark of a foolish mind not to regulate itself according to its current resources, but to entrust itself to uncertain hopes and to gamble on manifest and evident harm. Now consider from where you will repay. From the money you are receiving? But it is not sufficient for your needs and for the repayment. And if you also calculate the interest, from where will the money multiply to such a degree that, on one hand, it heals your need, and on the other, satisfies the principal, and furthermore brings forth interest from outside? But you will C not repay the loan from that which you receive. From another source? Let us wait for those hopes, then, and not rush toward the bait like fish. For just as they swallow the hook along with the food, so also do we allow ourselves to be pierced by interest for the sake of money. Poverty brings no shame. Why, then, do we heap upon ourselves the reproaches that come from being in debt? No one heals a wound with a wound, nor does one cure evil with evil, nor does one correct poverty with interest. Are you rich? Do not lend. D
Are you poor? Do not borrow. If you have resources, you do not need a loan; if you have nothing, you will not be able to repay the loan. Do not surrender your life to later regret, lest you deem the days before the interest happy. In this one thing, A we poor are better off than the wealthy: in our freedom from care. While they are sleepless and always anxious and distracted, we laugh at them, being ourselves asleep and carefree and relaxed. Though the borrower is poor, he is also full of cares: he is sleepless at night, restless during the day, distracted in thought throughout the whole time. Now he appraises his own property, now the luxurious houses, the fields of the rich, the garments of those he encounters, the vessels of those who host diners. "If those were mine," he says, "I would sell them for so-and-so much and be freed from the interest." These things sit B upon his heart even at night and possess his thoughts during the day! If you knock on the door, the debtor creeps under the bed. Someone runs up quickly; his heart pounds. A dog barks? He breaks out in a sweat, is seized with anxiety, and looks about to see where to flee. When the appointed day for payment approaches, he worries about what lie he will tell, what feigned excuse he will concoct to put off the creditor. Do not think only of yourself receiving, but also of being dunned. Why do you yoke yourself to a beast of such multiple offspring? C They say that hares simultaneously give birth, nurse, and conceive again. So it is with the money of usurers: at the same time it is lent and brings forth and proliferates. For you have not even received it into your hands, and you have already been asked for the profit or earnings of the current month. And this money, again being lent at interest, has nurtured another evil, and that another, and so the evil continues to infinity. For this reason, this form of greed has been granted this name (usury). For interest (*tokos*), I suppose, is so called because of the multiple offspring of the evil. For whence else? Or perhaps it is called *tokos* because of the travails and pains it is D born to produce in the souls of those who have borrowed. For just as the travail comes upon the woman in labor, so does the due date come upon the debtor. Interest upon interest, the evil offspring of evil parents. Let these be called the brood of vipers, the progeny of interest. They say that vipers, while being born, eat through the mother's belly. Interests likewise consume the houses of those who owe, and are then born. Seeds grow in time, and living creatures come to maturity in time; but interest—
A is generated today, and today it begins to bring forth. Those animals which produce quickly, quickly cease from producing; but moneys, having received a swift beginning of increase, admit of an endless addition toward more. Every one of the things that grow, when it has arrived at its own proper magnitude, ceases to grow; but the money of the usurer grows throughout all time along with it. Animals, having delivered the power of begetting to their offspring, themselves cease from pregnancy; but the moneys of the lenders bring forth both what is added and what is newly begotten, and make the old young again. Do not you come to experience this monstrous beast. It is born today, and today it begins to beget.
4. B Do you see the sun freely? Do you grudge yourself the freedom of life? No boxer flees the blows of his opponent as he who has borrowed money flees the meeting with the lender, shading his head behind columns and walls. How, then, shall I be sustained? you say. You have hands, you have a trade; apply your labor for the sake of gain, serve; there are many plans for providing a livelihood, many opportunities. Can you not do this? Beg from those who have. But is it shameful to ask? It would be more shameful, in any case, to defraud the creditor of the money given at interest. I do not say these things, to be sure, in order to lay down a law, but to show that everything is more bearable for you than to take money at interest. The ant, although it neither begs nor receives money at interest, is yet able to be fed; and the bee likewise bestows the remnants of its food upon kings, to whom nature has given neither hands nor trades. But you, the resourceful animal, man, will you not find one craft out of all to pass your life? And yet we see that it is not those who are in need of the necessities of life who come to the loan (for no one trusts them), but men borrow, giving themselves over to unrestrained expenditures and useless luxuries, they who are C enslaved to feminine pleasures. For to me, she says, is needed costly clothing and golden vessels; the children are in need of a decent and suitable ornament of garments; and furthermore, the servants are to be clothed in blooming and variegated coverings; a sumptuous table is to be prepared. He who provides such things for a woman comes to the money-changer, and before he uses the money obtained, he changes one master after another, and by constantly adding other lenders to the others, he covers his poverty with that continuous succession of evil. And just as those suffering from dropsy are under the impression of having great bulk, so also this man exists in a fantasy of wealth, always receiving, and always giving, and from the second D [paying] what has gone before, [hiding] the credibility for receiving from the continuity of the evil.
A And then, just as those who suffer from cholera vomit up what has always just been consumed, and before they are entirely purged, introduce a second portion of food, only to vomit it up again with pain and convulsions; so too these people, taking interest upon interest, and before washing away the first, introduce a second loan. For a short time they strut about in what belongs to others, but later they lament even their own possessions. Oh, how many have been ruined by the goods of others! How many, having grown rich in a dream, have suffered to the utmost from the loss! "But many," you say, "have become rich even through money-lending." But more, I think, have laid hands upon nooses. You see those who have become rich, but you do not count those who have hanged themselves, who, not bearing the shame B of the demands, preferred the death of the noose to living in disgrace. I myself have seen a miserable spectacle: free-born boys being dragged into the marketplace to be sold on account of their father's debts. Have you no money to leave to your children? Do not deprive them of their noble birth as well. Preserve for them this one possession of freedom, the deposit which you received from your parents. No one was ever blamed for a father's poverty; but a paternal debt leads to prison. Do not leave behind a bond like a paternal curse to descend upon your children and grandchildren.
5. C Do you hear, you rich, what we counsel the poor on account of your inhumanity? [We advise them] to endure even severe hardships rather than incur the calamities that come from interest. If you yourselves would obey the Lord, what need would there be for these words? And what is the counsel of the Master? "Lend to those from whom you do not expect to receive." And what kind of loan is this, he asks, to which the hope of repayment is not joined? Understand the power of the saying, and you will marvel at the philanthropy of the Lawgiver. When you are about to give to a poor man for the sake of the Lord, the same thing is both a gift and a loan: a gift, because of the hopelessness of receiving it back; D a loan, because of the great munificence of the Master who pays it back on his behalf, he who, having received small things through the poor man, will give back great things in their place. "For he who has mercy on the poor lends to the Lord" (Prov. XIX, 17). Do you not wish to have the Master of all indebted to you for repayment? Or if one of the rich in the city were to promise you the repayment on behalf of others, do you accept his guarantee? Yet you do not admit God as the guarantor who is to pay on behalf of the poor. Give the money that is lying idle, without burdening it with increases;
A it will be well for both. For you, the safety of the capital will be preserved; for the recipient, the profit from its use will accrue. If you seek an addition, be content with what comes from the Lord. He Himself will pay the interest on behalf of the poor. From the One who is truly philanthropic, expect philanthropic returns. For the things you take—these leave no excess of misanthropy behind. You profit from calamities, you gather silver from tears; you throttle the naked, you strike the hungry; there is mercy nowhere; no thought of the kinship which one has with the oppressed ever enters your mind; and you even call the profits resulting from this "philanthropic." Woe to those who call bitter sweet, and sweet bitter, and who name misanthropy philanthropy. Nor were the riddles posed by Samson to his drinking companions of this sort: "Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness"—and out of a misanthrope came forth philanthropy. They do not gather grapes from thorns, nor figs from thistles, nor philanthropy from usury. For every rotten tree bears bad fruit. There are some who are "hundred-collectors" and "tenth-collectors"—names that are horrible even to hear; they are monthly exactors, just like those demons who cause epilepsy, who attack the poor at the phases of the moon. This giving is evil for both, for the giver and for the recipient; for the former, it brings damage to his money, and for the latter, to his very soul. B The farmer, having taken the ear of corn, does not dig underneath the root for the seed again; but you have both the fruits, and you do not relinquish the principal. You plant without earth; you reap without sowing. For whom you are amassing it is uncertain. He who is weeping on account of the usury is known for certain; but he who is going to enjoy the wealth from these is uncertain. For it is uncertain whether you will not leave the use of your riches to others, and yet you have brought upon yourself evil through iniquity. Therefore, do not turn away someone who wishes to borrow, and do not invest your money at interest, so that, having been taught what is beneficial from the Old and New Testaments, you may depart toward the Lord with good hope, there to receive the interest of good deeds, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen. C
ON PSALM XXVIII
Psalm of David at the departure from the tabernacle. 1. The twenty-eighth Psalm has indeed a part of the inscription in common; for it says, A Psalm of David; but it also has something unique; for there is added, At the departure DA of the tabernacle. But what is this? Let us consider what is the departure and what is the tabernacle, so that we may be able to reach the meaning of the Psalm. Therefore, as far as the history is concerned, this command will seem to have been given to the priests and the Levites who had finished their work, so that they might remember the things which ought to be prepared by them for the service. For when they are going away from the tabernacle and departing, the Word warns them what it is fitting for them to have made ready, and what things they ought to B bring, in order to meet the next day: namely, the sons of rams, glory and honor, and glory to His name; and that it is fitting to worship nowhere else than in the court of the Lord and in the place of the sanctuary. But towards our own mind, which contemplates high things and, through the magnificent and becoming intelligence of holy Scripture, makes the law familiar to us, those things occur to us: that neither is a ram to be understood as the male among the sheep, nor the tabernacle as an edifice built of this inanimate matter, nor the departure of the tabernacle as a withdrawal from a temple; but the tabernacle is this body of ours, as the Apostle taught us, saying, For we who are in this tabernacle groan (II Cor. v, 4); and again the Psalm: And a scourge shall not come near thy tabernacle (Ps. xc, 10). The departure C of the tabernacle is the withdrawal from this life, to which the Word warns us to make ourselves ready, bringing such and such things to the Lord; since the work here is a viaticum for the future. And he who here brings glory and honor to the Lord through good works, he treasures up glory and honor for himself according to the just repayment of the Judge. In many manuscripts, however, we found added the words, Bring to the Lord, O you sons of God. And since not every gift is acceptable to God, but only that which one offers from a pure heart—For, says he, the prayers of a harlot’s hire are not pure (Prov. xix, 13); and again Jeremiah: Shall vows, says he, and holy meat take away thy wickednesses, or shalt thou be pure because of these? (Jerem. xi, 15)—therefore the Psalm wishes us first to be sons of God, and then to come to offer gifts to God, and those not just any, but such as He himself has ordered. Say first, Father, and then ask for what follows. Examine yourself, from what kind of life you come; whether you are worthy to call the holy God your father. It is through sanctification that we have intimacy and familiarity with the Holy One. If you wish to be always D a son of the Holy One, let sanctification adopt you as a son. Bring, therefore, to the Lord, not just anyone, nor those who are from just anyone, but sons of God. He is about to seek great gifts; therefore He chooses great men to offer them. For, so that He might not cast your thoughts to the ground, nor make you seek that irrational, four-footed, and bleating animal, the ram, as though by the sacrifice of this
A you were to hope that God would be appeased: "Bring," He says, "to the Lord, O sons of God." For there is no need for a son, that you should offer the son himself. But if the son is something great, it is worthwhile that that which is offered should also be something great, and worthy of the disposition of the son and the paternal dignity. "Bring, therefore," He says, "the sons of rams, so that even those who are offered by you may be transformed from being sons of rams into becoming sons of God."
B 2. The ram is an animal that holds a leadership position, which goes before the sheep to nourishing pastures and to the refreshment of waters, and again to sheepfolds and enclosures. Such also are those who are set over the flock of Christ; conducting them indeed to the blooming and fragrant pastures of spiritual doctrine, and by the living water, through the bounty of the Spirit, they irrigate and raise them up, and nourish them for the production of fruit; and they lead them to rest, and make them secure from those who lie in wait. He desires, therefore, that the sons of these be brought to the Lord by the sons of God. But if the rams are leaders of the rest, then their sons would be those who, through the pursuit of good works, have been formed from the doctrine of those set over them into a life adorned with virtue. "Bring, therefore, to the Lord, O sons of God, bring to the Lord the sons of rams." Have you learned to whom He is speaking? Have you learned concerning whom? "Bring to the Lord," He says, "glory and honor." How, then, can we, who are earth and ashes, bring glory to the great Lord? And how also honor? Glory, indeed, through good works, when our works shall have shone before men, so that men, having seen our works, might glorify our Father who is in the heavens. Likewise, through temperance and through the holiness appropriate to those who profess piety, one is able to give glory to God, according to the admonition of Paul, who says: "Glorify God in your members." C This glory the Lord also requires from those who believe in Him and have been deemed worthy of the gift of adoption. For "a son," He says, "glorifies his father"; and, "If I am a father, where is my glory?" He brings honor to God, however, who according to the Proverb honors God from his own just labors, and offers Him first-fruits from the fruits of his righteousness. And whoever discourses on divine things in an orderly and knowledgeable way, so that he always thinks correctly concerning the Father, concerning the divinity of the Only-begotten, and concerning the glory of the Holy Spirit, D brings glory and honor to the Lord. Moreover, he increases glory who renders an account
of the principles by which all things were created, and by which they are held together, with His providence reaching even to the smallest things, and by which, after the administration here, they shall be brought into judgment. He who, with clear and undistorted reasoning, is able both to behold these things individually himself, and, after having beheld them, is able also to explain to others the matters concerning the goodness and the just judgment A of God—this is the man who brings glory and honor to the Lord, and who leads a life in keeping with such contemplation. For the light of such a man shines before men, and the Father who is in heaven is glorified both by word and deed and through all manner of virtuous actions. But he who is caught up in the desire for human glory does not bring glory and honor to the Lord; nor does he who values silver; nor does he who prizes the pleasures of the body; nor does he who admires dogmas alien to piety. For just as we bring glory to the Lord through good works, so through evil works the opposite happens. For what does He say to those who sin? "My name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." And again the Apostle: "By breaking the law you dishonor God." For the neglect and contempt of the laws is an insult to the Lawgiver. And if a house is poorly managed, in which there is anger, clamor, insult, laughter, luxury, licentiousness, impurity, and wantonness, the dishonor and the shame of what is done redound upon the one who rules the house. B It is logical for us to understand that, just as God is glorified through good works, so the enemy is glorified through evil ones. For when I have taken the members of Christ and made them members of a harlot, I have transferred the glory from Him who saves me to the one who destroys me. And the unbeliever "changes the glory of the incorruptible God into the image of corruptible man, and of birds, and of four-footed beasts, and creeping things that are on the earth." And whoever worships and serves the creature rather than the Creator, does not bring glory to God, but to the created things. So let him who calls any created thing something and then worships it, recognize his own portion with which he will be ranked. Let us fear, therefore, lest by offering glory and boasting to the devil through our sin, we be condemned to eternal shame together with him. For that our sin becomes glory for the one who works it in us, understand by an analogy. When two C generals oppose each other, whenever this line wins, its commander receives the glory; but when the opposing line prevails, the honor again shifts to that commander. Likewise, in your good works the Lord is the one who is glorified, as in contrary works the enemy is. And do not, I beseech you, think that the enemies are far removed from you, lest
nor look for the commanders from afar; rather, examine yourself, and you will find the whole truth of the image. For when the mind struggles against a passion, if it prevails through fortitude and attention, it brings back the victory trophies over the passion, and as it were crowns God through itself. But when, having become softened, it yields to pleasure, and by becoming a servant and captive to sins, it adds glory and boastfulness and pride to the enemy.
3. Adore the Lord in his holy court. After the offering of the fruits of those things which were sought, adoration is necessary. But the adoration is not that which is performed outside the Church, but in the very court of God itself. Do not, he says, devise for me private courts or assemblies B. There is one holy court of God. The synagogue of the Jews was formerly a court, but after the sin committed against Christ, their habitation became desolate. Therefore also the Lord says: And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold. By speaking of those from the nations who were preordained to salvation, he shows a court of his own, apart from the court of the Jews. It is not, therefore, fitting to adore God outside this holy court, but by being inside it, lest anyone who is outside it, or drawn by those who are outside it, cease to be in the court of the Lord. For many stand in the guise of prayer, but they are not in the court, because of the wandering of the mind and the drawing away of their intellect by the anxiety that arises from vanities and useless things. But it is possible to understand C the court in an even more sublime sense, namely the heavenly life. For this reason, those who are planted in the house of the Lord, which is the Church of the living God, will flourish there in the courts of our God. But anyone who makes his belly, or glory, or money, or anything else, more valued than everything else, his God, neither adores the Lord nor is in the holy court, even if he seems worthy to be admitted to sensible assemblies. Verse 3. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters. You may find the word "voice" used in many places. Therefore, so that we may understand what the voice of the Lord is, it is worthwhile to collect for ourselves, according to our ability, what is written about "voice" from the holy Scripture; as in the oracle given to Abraham: And immediately a voice came saying— [alt-version omitted]
A *Non hæreditabit te iste.* Item in Moses: *Et omnis populus videbat vocem et lampades.* And again in Isaiah: *The voice of one saying, Cry.*
The voice among us is either air struck, or a certain species impressed upon the air, which the one speaking desires to express. What then is the voice of the Lord? Ought it to be understood as a percussion in the air, or as an air struck, reaching even to the ears of the one to whom the voice is directed? Or is it neither of these, but rather a voice of a different kind, in which God forms a mental impression in those whom He wishes to hear His own voice? And thus this impression bears a resemblance to that which often happens in dreams. For just as we receive some memory of certain words and sounds in the impressions B of our thoughts during sleep, without the air being struck, not receiving the voice through the sense of hearing, but rather having our own heart impressed, one must believe that such a voice was produced by God in the prophets.
*The voice of the Lord is upon the waters.* As regarding sensory things, since the clouds, when they are full of water, produce sound and noise through colliding with one another, He says, *The voice of the Lord is upon the waters.* But if anywhere there is a noise of waters broken by some barrier, and if the sea, agitated by winds, heaves and gives forth a violent roar, these inanimate things have their voice from the Lord; for Scripture shows that all created things, announcing their Creator, are all but crying out. And if thunder breaks forth from the clouds, one must think nothing else but that the God of glory has thundered, and that it is the Lord who holds the moist nature together by Himself. *The Lord is upon many waters.* For we have learned in the creation of the world that there is water above the heavens, again water of the abyss, and another water, namely, the gatherings of the seas. Who then is it that holds these, and does not allow them to be carried downward by their natural weight, C except the Lord who is over all, and who also has dominion over the waters?
But perhaps also more mystically, the *Voice of the Lord was upon the waters* when, upon Jesus being baptized, a voice came from above: *This is my beloved Son.* For then the Lord was upon many waters, sanctifying the waters through baptism; but the God of glory thundered from above with the majesty of His testimony. And the voice left behind by the Lord is also enjoined upon those being baptized: *Go therefore,* He says, *baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.* The voice of the Lord, therefore, is upon the waters. D *For,* He says, *go, baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.* The voice of the Lord, therefore, is upon the waters. It turns into thunder when a dry and violent spirit, enclosed in the hollow of a cloud, and vehe-
- A mently revolving in the cavities of the clouds, seeks a way out. The clouds, resisting because of the extreme compression, produce that harsh sound from the friction of the spirit; but when they are stretched like bubbles by the spirit, and are no longer able to resist and hold it in, they are violently broken, and, releasing the spirit for an outward exhalation, they produce the noise of thunders. This naturally produces lightning as well. The Lord, therefore, is He who is both over the waters and who causes the great noises of thunder, producing such a tremendous sound in the soft nature of the air. You may also, according to ecclesiastical exposition, call "thunder" the tradition which, after baptism, occurs in the souls of those who are already being perfected through the great voice of the Gospel. For that the Gospel is thunder is shown by the disciples themselves, who, having their names changed, were called by the Lord "sons of thunder." B Therefore, the voice of such thunder is not in just anyone, but only if one is worthy to be called a "wheel." For He says, "The voice of thy thunder was in the wheel" (Ps. lxxvi. 19). If anyone is one who stretches himself toward things before him—like a wheel, touching the earth with only a small part of itself, and is altogether such as that which Ezechiel spoke of: "And I looked, and behold one wheel upon the earth, joined to the four living creatures, and their appearance and their work was as the appearance of Tharsis" (Ezech. i. 15). C 4. *The Lord is upon many waters.* The waters are the saints themselves; for this reason "out of their belly shall flow rivers" (Joann. vii. 38)—that is, the spiritual doctrine that irrigates the souls of those who hear. And again, they receive "water springing up into life eternal," which in those who have received it rightly, becomes "a fountain of water springing up into life eternal" (Joann. iv. 14). Therefore, the Lord is upon such waters. Remember also the history of Elias, when the heaven was shut for three years and six months; when, while it was clear on the summit of Carmel, he heard the "voice of many waters," and then there followed the coming of thunder from the clouds and the flowing of water (III Reg. xviii, 42). The Lord, therefore, is upon many waters. VERSE 4. *The voice of the Lord is in power.* As the voice is in the wheel, so the voice of the Lord consists in power. For he who can do all things "in Christ who strengtheneth him" (Phil. iv. 13), he hears the commandments of the Lord and performs them. Therefore, the voice of the Lord is not in a weak and dissolute soul, but in one that strenuously and manfully performs what is good. *The voice of the Lord is in magnificence.* Magnificence is a virtue that is elegantly great. Therefore, he who performs great things decorously, he is a magnificent listener. Consequently, when the soul is from the flesh
A free, and has received a magnitude and dignity which is suitable for itself in accordance with the knowledge of the faculties received from God, then the voice of the Lord comes to be in it. Therefore, those who are great-minded, having thoughts about God, and who have contemplated the mysteries regarding creation in a lofty manner, and who have been able to attain at least to some degree the goodness of God’s providence, and furthermore, who are unsparing in their expenditures and generous in alleviating the needs of their brethren—these, I say, are the magnificent ones, in whom the voice of the Lord dwells. For indeed, the magnificent man disdains all bodily things, judging them to be worthy of no account by comparison with the things which are unseen. No circumstance shall sadden the magnificent person; nor shall any passion at all disturb him, nor shall the sins of base and contemptible little men move him; nor shall the impurity of the flesh humble him. For he is inaccessible to passions that humble, and they are not even able to look upon him because of the height of his judgment B. There is said to be also a certain magnificence of God; as in the verse, "Your magnificence is exalted above the heavens." Those, therefore, who think great things concerning God, these are the ones who praise His magnificence.
5. *Verse 5. The voice of the Lord breaking the cedars.* The cedar is praised by the Scripture sometimes as a stable thing, free from rot, fragrant, and capable of providing shelter; and at other times, it is vilified as fruitless and difficult to bend, so much so that it constitutes an image of the ungodly. "For I have seen the ungodly man exalted and lifted up like C the cedars of Lebanon." In this sense, it is also understood now. For the voice of the Lord breaks the cedars. Just as it happens in a magnificent soul, so it is said to break those who are puffed up in vain, those who exalt themselves in the perceived heights of this world—wealth, or glory, or power, or bodily beauty, or strength. "And the Lord shall break the cedars of Lebanon." Those who rely on things that are not their own, and from those things gather arrogance for themselves, these are the cedars of Lebanon. For just as the cedars, though being tall by nature, become more conspicuous through the addition of the mountain because of their having grown upon a high mountain; so also those who are propped up D by the fleeting things of the world are indeed cedars because of their arrogance and the elation of their mind, but they are called cedars of Lebanon because they boast in an alien height and, as if from the summit of Lebanon, are exalted towards arrogance by the earth and earthly things. But the Lord does not break all cedars, but the cedars of Lebanon. For since Lebanon is a place of idolatry, all those souls that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God are called cedars of Lebanon and are esteemed.
A worthy of being broken. For there are certain cedars of God which the trailing vines of the vine transplanted from Egypt cover, as we have learned in the Psalms: "Its shade covered the mountains, and its trailing vines [covered] the cedars of God." Since, therefore, among the other concepts concerning Christ, our Lord is also called a vine—"For I am," He says, "the vine, you are the branches"—the cedars of God are those who were previously barren and fit for burning, but when they have come under the shelter of Christ and have as it were put Him on, they cover the unfruitfulness of their own life through the grace which is from Him. Thus, fruitful trailing vines, entwining them, protect the cedars of God; but the cedars of Lebanon the Lord breaks. "And He will beat them small like the calf of Lebanon." Remember the calf B in Exodus, which they fashioned during the idolatry, which Moses beat small and gave to the people to drink. Therefore, similarly to that calf, He will cause the whole of Lebanon and the habit of idolatry prevailing therein to vanish. "And the beloved is like a son of unicorns." The only-begotten Son, who gives life to the world, when He offers Himself as a sacrifice and oblation to God for our sins, is also called the Lamb of God and a sheep. "For behold," He says, "the Lamb of God"; and again, "As a sheep He was led to the slaughter." But when it is necessary to avenge and to overthrow the power springing up against the human race, a certain ferocious and wild power, then He is called the son of unicorns. For the unicorn, as we have learned in Job, is an animal endowed with C insuperable strength, in no way subject to men. "For you will not bind it," he says, "with a thong, nor will it sleep at the manger." And many things are said in that part of the prophecy concerning the animal being fond of freedom and not giving way to men. And it has been observed that Scripture uses the likeness of the unicorn in both directions; sometimes with praise, and at other times in a disparaging sense. "Deliver," He says, "my soul from the sword, and my lowliness from the horns of unicorns." By this He refers to the warmongering people rising up against Him at the time of His passion. But again: "My horn," He says, "will be exalted as a unicorn's." It seems, therefore, that because of the animal's innate desire for D revenge, it is often taken in a bad sense; on the other hand, because of the height and freedom of its horn, it is taken in a good sense. And in sum, because the horn is often found used by Scripture for glory. For example, "It shall be exalted," he says, "as a unicorn's, my horn."
And again, "His horn shall be exalted in glory." Or also because the horn is often taken for power, as in the text, "My defender and the horn of my salvation." But Christ is the power of God; therefore, as one having A a horn, that is, having one power—that of the Father—he is called the Unicorn.
6. The Voice of the Lord that cuts through the flame of fire. The flame of fire was also cut through according to the history of the three children in Babylon, when the furnace had overflowed by forty-nine cubits and burned all those around it; but broken by the command of God, it received within itself a spirit, a most pleasant breath and cooling, just as if one were resting in the shade of trees, providing them a state of peace. "For it happened," he says, "like a sibilant spirit of dew." And it is, indeed, far more wonderful for the B nature of fire to be cut through than for the Red Sea to be divided into parts. Yet, the voice of the Lord cuts through even what is continuous and united in the nature of fire. Although to human understanding fire appears to be uncuttable and indivisible, nevertheless, by the command of the Lord, it is cut and divided. I believe that the fire prepared for the devil and his angels is cut through by the voice of the Lord, so that, since there are two faculties in fire—the burning one and the illuminating one—the harsh and punishing quality of the fire may be reserved for those who are worthy of burning, while its illuminating and bright quality is appointed for the cheerfulness of those who are to lead a happy and blessed life. Therefore, the voice of the Lord cuts and divides the flame of fire, so that the fire of punishment remains dark, while the light of rest remains without the power to burn.
The Voice of the Lord who shakes the desert. This shaking is dispensed by the Lord upon the desert for its benefit, so that, having changed from being a desert, it may become an inhabited land, and laying aside the reproach of barrenness, it may receive the praise of C great fruitfulness ("For many are the children of the desolate, more than of her who has a husband"), and being filled with the waters of the Spirit, what was before a desert may become pools of water. And the Lord shall shake the desert of Cades. The Lord, therefore, will not shake every desert, but the desert of Cades, that is, sanctification; for Cades is interpreted as sanctification. The voice of the Lord D perfecting the hinds. It is necessary for those who
A lead these things to be given back, and those things concerning the perfecting of the hinds, which the voice of the Lord effects. Since, then, the hind has happened upon such a constitution as to be superior B to the harm from reptiles, and indeed, as those who have observed such things say, the eating of the viper serves as a purgative for it; and since all venomous animals are taken as an image of the wicked and opposing powers (the Lord saying: "I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy"; and the psalm again promising to the prophet that: "You will step upon the asp and the basilisk"), it is necessary, when we hear the name of the "hind" in Scripture, to draw our discourse toward the better image. For "The high mountains are for the hinds," and, "The hind longs for the springs of water." Since, then, every righteous person also has his dwelling in high places, pressing on toward the prize C of the upward calling, he also runs back to the potable springs, seeking the first principles of theology. The hind draws out with the breath of its mouth those venomous creatures lurking in holes, and by the force of its spirit leads them out from their hiding places. Just as, therefore, a holy man is called an eagle because of his soaring, and his being raised up from the earth to a great degree; and as a sheep because of its gentleness and the sharing of what it possesses; and a ram because of its leadership; and a dove because of its innocence: so also is he called a hind because of his opposition to wicked things. Therefore Solomon also says: "Let the hind of friendship and the foal of your grace converse with you," teaching us that the aforementioned hinds are suitable for the teaching of theology.
7. 122 The voice of the Lord perfecting the hinds. When, therefore, we see some man of God who is perfect and perfected, let us pursue the benefit from his conversation. For where a hind is present, all the malice of reptiles is put to flight. For venomous animals cannot bear the scent of this creature, to the point that they withdraw even from the smoke of deer horns. And He will reveal the dense places. First the voice of the Lord perfects the hinds; then it reveals the dense places, that is, the forests, the places that are overgrown and thickened with wild and fruitless matter, to which the venomous ones are naturally most prone to flee. Since, then, the hind has already been perfected by the perfection D brought about by the Lord, the righteous man who is likened to it reveals the dense places, so that the spoilers of our life may be exposed, naked and ready. And because every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down by the axe, and...
thrown into the fire, necessarily the forests are cleared—those wooded souls in which, like certain wild beasts, the manifold passions of sin lie hidden—by that word which is sharper than any two-edged sword. Since many men, weighed down by the cares of life, have their souls like a thorn-bearing land and do not allow them B to be nurtured for the fruitfulness of the word, the Lord reveals the "dense places," that is, the unsightly, unseemly, and harmful nature of the anxieties of this life, so that, once the place regarding good and evil has been made clear, men might not, through ignorance, have their judgments about things perverted. For many consider good things to be evil when they are laborious, and pursue evil things as if they were good because of the pleasure inherent in them; and the error among men regarding such things is beyond telling. C There are, to be sure, in the nature of good things, fruit-bearing trees and all cedars, which are also taken up for praise; but as for evil things, there are the "forests," which the voice of God reveals and makes manifest, so that those who think they will find any useful fruit in them may not be deceived. And in his temple everyone says, glory. Let them hear the words of the psalm and be ashamed, those who give themselves over to long speeches. What does the psalm say? He who is in the temple of God does not report accusations, nor vanity, nor words teeming with shameful matters, but in his temple everyone says, glory. D There stand the holy angels who record the words; the Lord is present, watching the intentions of those who enter. The prayer of each one is manifest to God; who acts out of intention, who diligently seeks out heavenly things; who devoutly utters the words with the tips of his lips, while his heart stands far from God. Even if he prays, he seeks the health of the flesh, and bodily wealth, and human glory. But none of these things is necessary, as the word teaches, but in his temple everyone says, glory. The heavens declare the glory of God. It is the task for angels to glorify God. For all the host of heaven, this is the one task: to send up glory to the Creator. All creation, whether silent or speaking, whether supercelestial or earthly, glorifies the Creator. But miserable 123 men, having left their homes and run to the temple, as if they were going to gain some benefit for themselves, do not incline their ears to the words of God, do not receive an awareness of their own nature, do not grieve having been taken captive by sin; they do not grieve at
having reached a remembrance of their sins, but rather they smile, and by shaking hands with one another, they make the house of prayer a place of idle talk, disregarding the psalm which gives witness and says: "In his temple every one says A glory" (Ps. XXVIII, 9). But you, not only do you not say it, but you also become a hindrance to another by turning toward yourself, and with your own noise you drown out the teaching of the Spirit. Take heed, lest you depart condemned, having been found complicit with those who vomit impious and blasphemous words against the name of God, when you ought to have received a reward for the celebration of divine things. You have the psalm, you have prophecy, you have evangelical precepts, the preachings of the apostles. Let the tongue chant, and let the mind search for the understanding of what has been said, that you may sing with the spirit, and sing also B with the mind. For God does not need glory, but He wants you to be worthy of being glorified. Because "what a man sows, that he will also reap" (Gal. VI, 7). Sow glory, so that you may reap crowns and honors and praises in the kingdom of heaven. These things have not been said here as a digression without reason regarding the passage, "In his temple every one says glory," because there are those who never cease their clamor in the temple of God, and enter to no purpose. Would that it were to no purpose, and not to their detriment.
8. VERS. 10. *Dominus diluvium inhabitare faciet.* A flood is an inundation of water, which causes C every underlying thing to disappear, and cleanses everything that was previously defiled. Therefore, he calls the grace of baptism a flood, so that the soul having been washed of its sins, and having been purged of the old man, might henceforth be fit as a dwelling place for God in the Spirit. And that which is said in the thirty-first psalm is also in harmony with this. For after saying, "I have made my iniquity known, and my sin I have not covered; and that, "For this every one who is godly will pray to you," he added: "Nevertheless, in a flood of many waters they will not come near to him" (Ps. XXXI, 5–6). For sins will not come near to one who has received the baptism of the remission of transgressions through water and the Spirit. And something akin to this is also found in the prophecy of Micah: "Because He is a lover of mercy, He will return and have mercy on us; He will submerge our sins, and they shall be cast into the depths of the sea" (Mic. VII, 19). And the Lord shall sit as King forever D. God, having taken His seat in the soul that is radiant from the flood, makes it, as it were, a throne for Himself. VERS. 11. *Dominus virtutem populo suo dabit; Dominus benedicet populo suo in pace.* The Lord shall indeed take away strength from the sinful people and power from the robust; but He confers strength upon him who works justice. For "to everyone who has, more will be given" (Matt. XXV, 29). Furthermore, he who has been strengthened to perform good works, he becomes worthy of God's blessing. And peace...
and prevailing, gives strength to the one who practices righteousness. A For to everyone who has, it shall be given. But having been empowered for the working of good deeds, he becomes worthy of the blessing from God. And it seems that the most perfect of blessings is peace, being a certain stability of the governing faculty; so that the man of peace is characterized by the having of his habits settled, while the one who is warred upon by the passions has not yet partaken of the peace from God, which the Lord gave to His own disciples, which surpasses all understanding, and will guard the souls of the worthy. This the Apostle also prays for the Churches, saying: Grace to you and peace be multiplied [1 Pet. 1, 2]. May it therefore happen to us, having contended well, and having suppressed the mindset of the flesh, which is enmity against God, in the tranquility and undisturbed state of the soul that has come to pass, to be named sons of peace, and to partake of the blessing of God in peace, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
ON THE TWENTY-NINTH PSALM
A Psalm of a song of the dedication of the house of David.1. The psaltery is, by metaphor, an instrument which has been adapted according to musical rules for singing hymns to our God; but the psalm is the actions of the body, which are offered up to the glory of God, when, by the reason that has been tuned, we accomplish nothing jarring in our movements. And the song is that which possesses C lofty contemplation and theology. So the psalm is musical speech, when it is played rhythmically upon the instrument according to musical laws; but a song is a melodic voice given forth harmoniously, without the accompaniment of the instrument. Here, therefore, since it is inscribed, A Psalm of a song, we assume that the discourse hints at the act following the contemplation. This, then, is the psalm of the song, according to the inscription, which contains certain arguments concerning the dedication of the house. And as it pertains to the bodily sense, the discourse seems to have been recited in the times of Solomon, when that renowned temple had been built, and to have been sung to the accompaniment of the psaltery; but according to the spiritual understanding, it signifies the incarnation of the Word of God, and the dedication of the house that was built for Him in a new and paradoxical manner.
For we have found A many things in this psalm proclaimed in the person of the Lord. Or perhaps it is fitting to understand the house as the Church built by Christ; just as Paul also writes in his Epistle to Timothy: *That you may know how you ought to behave in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God*. By the dedication of the Church, we must understand the renewal of the mind, which is brought about through the Holy Spirit in each one of those who make up the body of the Church of Christ. And it is a divine and musical harmony, not one that contains certain words pleasant to the ear, but one that controls and calms the evil spirits that trouble souls susceptible to harm. *Vers. 2. I will exalt thee, O Lord, for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my enemies to rejoice over me.* How is He who dwells on high exalted by those who have been allotted a lowly place? For if God is above in heaven, and you are below on the earth, in what way could you exalt God? What, then, does the promise of the prophet mean? Or perhaps He is said to be exalted by those who are able to conceive of great and God-befitting things concerning Him, and to live for the glory of God? He who hastens toward blessedness with knowledge, therefore, exalts God; but he who takes the opposite path, it is not even lawful to say it, as far as it depends on him, debases God.
C We attribute every status of ours, as it were, to God. For this reason, when we are drowsy and acting sluggishly, God is said to sleep, judging us unworthy of His vigilant care over us. But when at some time, perceiving the damage from our sleep, we say: *Arise, why do you sleep, O Lord?* then He who guards Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. And some others, as it were, avert the eyes of God from themselves because of the shamefulness of their deeds, which are unworthy of the eyes of God; those who have repented say: *Why do you turn away your face?* And besides these, there are others who have been cast out from the memory of God, and, as it were, generate forgetfulness of themselves in Him; these are the ones who say: *Will you forget our poverty and our affliction?* And simply put, things that are said about God in an anthropopathic manner are made by men, who fashion for themselves such a God as each person has previously established himself to be. I will exalt you, therefore, O Lord, for...
you have taken me up, and have not made my enemies rejoice over me, nor brought anything lowly or groveling upon my life. And whence comes to me the power to exalt? Because you, going before me, took me up. He has spoken A emphatically: "You took me up," instead of, "You lifted me on high, and made me superior to those who rise up against me." Just as if someone, taking up by the hand a child unskilled in swimming, were to hold him higher than the water. Whoever, therefore, with the help of God, raises himself up from a fall, he, out of gratitude, promises exaltation to God through good works. Or as if someone, supporting a weak wrestler who was in danger of falling, and making him superior to his sparring partner, provides to the one the occasion for victory, but takes away from the other the joy he had conceived over the fall of his opponent. B Now, tribulations brought upon the saints for the sake of testing do not cause joy to our invisible enemies; but when we, being afflicted, lose heart, and our thoughts are straitened, as we fail under the density of our evils, then they rejoice, and clap, and exult. As happened in the case of Job. He had lost his property; he had been deprived of his children; his flesh was teeming with ichor and worms; yet this did not fill the adversary with joy. But if, broken by his labors, he had uttered some contumelious word upon the advice of his wife, then his enemies would have rejoiced over him. And even in the case of Paul, as he was hungering, and thirsting, and going naked, and being buffeted, and laboring, and wandering from place to place, the enemy did not rejoice; C indeed, he was even crushed, seeing him bearing his contests in such a way as to say contemptuously: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"
5. "O Lord my God, I cried to you, and you healed me." Blessed is he who knows his own inward wound, so as to be able to approach the physician and say: "Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled"; and, "I said, O Lord, have mercy on me, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you." Here, however, there is thanksgiving for the healing that has been brought to him; for he says, "O Lord my God." For God is not the God of all, but of those who have made themselves His own through love. D For He is the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For if He were the God of all, this would not have been testified to them as something singular and exceptional. And again Jacob: "The God who is mine helped you." And Thomas, after his assurance, embracing the Master, says, "My Lord and my God." The voice, "O Lord my God," is therefore an affectionate one,
A and one befitting the prophetic state. "I cried unto You, and You healed me." Nothing intervened between my voice and Your grace, but simultaneously I cried out, and healing arrived. For, He says, "While you are yet speaking, I will say, Behold, I am here." One must therefore speak with a great voice when praying to God, so that healing may quickly dawn upon us. "O Lord, You have brought up my soul from Hades." It is concerning this healing that he gives thanks to God—he who indeed descended from infirmity into Hades, but was brought back from Hades through the power of Him who, for our sake, wrestled down the one who held the power of death. "You have saved me from those who go down into the pit." Often, the "pits" denote the underground dungeons intended for the custody of prisoners. For so it is said in Exodus: "From the firstborn of Pharaoh even unto the firstborn of the captive woman who was in the pit." But they also cast Jeremiah into a pit; and Joseph, due to envy, was shut up by his brothers in a pit that had no water. Each action, therefore, either drags us down to the lower regions, weighing us down B through sin, or lifts us up to the heights, giving us wings toward God. You have saved me, then, who was formerly living an evil life, having separated me from those who descend into that darkened and frozen place. This, therefore, is what is meant by "You supported me": that is, You brought me back from the downward rush, so as not to give the enemies an occasion to rejoice over me. What he says elsewhere, therefore—"Who makes my feet like the deer's, and sets me upon high places"—he here calls a return to the heights, a deliverance, and a being taken up from the pit. "Sing to the Lord, O His saints." It does not automatically follow that if someone utters the words of a psalm with their mouth, this person is singing to the Lord; but whoever brings forth psalmody from a pure heart, and as many as are holy, who keep justice toward God, these are able to sing to God, following along in the spiritual rhythms in a becoming manner. How many fornicators, how many thieves stand here? How many are there who hide deceit and falsehood in their hearts? They are thought to sing, yet in reality, they do not sing. For the Word calls the saint to the singing of psalms. "A bad tree cannot bring forth good fruits," C nor can an evil heart bring forth words of life. Make the tree good, therefore, and its fruits good. Purify your hearts so that you may bring forth fruit in the Spirit, and may be able, having become saints, to sing prudently to the Lord. D 4. And give thanks to the memory of His holiness. [alt-version omitted]
A It does not say, "Give thanks to His holiness," but, "to the memory of His holiness": that is, give thanks. For "confession" here is taken in place of thanksgiving. Give thanks, therefore, because you who were formerly—through sinking deep into malice and being defiled by the impurities of the flesh—in a state of forgetfulness of the holiness of Him who created you, have come into the memory of His holiness. Therefore, for the atonement of your sins, make confession concerning those things you have done amiss.
VERS. 6. "For there is wrath in His indignation, and life in His will." He first stated the more grim thing, "wrath in the indignation of God," then the more joyful thing, "life in His will." It seems like a tautology to those who are unable to grasp the precision of what is signified, since the prophet says there is wrath B in the indignation of God, as if wrath and indignation were the same thing, whereas they differ greatly. For indignation is the judgment that certain painful things must be inflicted upon the deserving; but wrath is the suffering and punishment itself, which is rightfully administered by the just Judge according to the measure of the injustice.
What I am saying will become clearer from an example. If a physician notices a part that is inflamed and filled with hidden festering matter, he judges that an incision is necessary for the patient. This, Scripture calls "indignation." But after the physician has delivered his judgment regarding the provision of a remedy, the action finally follows by which the decision is carried out; the blade is applied, which cuts and causes pain to the patient as it opens him. This is named "the wrath of God." Come, therefore, to the matter at hand, and you will find the sequence of the thought. "For there is wrath in His indignation"—punishment, according to the just judgment of God; "but life in His will." What, then, is He saying? That what God wills is this: that all may be partakers of His life. C But evils do not happen by His will, but are inflicted according to the merit of those who have sinned. God, therefore, grants life to each person by His own will, but each one stores up wrath for himself "in the day of wrath and revelation and just judgment of God."
It is customary for Scripture to place grim things before more pleasant ones, because enjoyment is more delightful when those things that cause sorrow have preceded it. "For I," it says, "will kill, and I will make to live." The good deed is subsequent to the punishment. "I will strike, and I will heal." For He is the one who causes pain and who again restores: He struck, and His hands healed. Evils precede, so that the benefits may become more stable and firm for us, inasmuch as we guard what is given with greater care. "At evening weeping shall abide, and in the morning gladness." Remember the time of the passion of the Lord, and you will find the understanding of the words. For at evening the weeping lingered among the disciples of the Lord, D when they saw Him...
A hanging upon the cross; but in the morning there was rejoicing, when after the resurrection they ran together with joy, bringing to one another the good tidings of the vision of the Lord. Or perhaps, more generally, this age is called "evening," in which those who have wept blessed tears, when the morning comes, shall be comforted. For "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted," and "Blessed are they that weep, for they shall laugh." Those, therefore, who have spent the days of this age—which is now approaching its end and inclining toward its sunset—in weeping for their own sins, these shall rejoice when that true morning arrives. For "they that sow in tears shall reap in joy"—that is, in the future age.
5. "But I said in my abundance, I shall not be moved for ever." Just as the abundance of provisions in the marketplace makes for the prosperity of a city, and we say that a region is prosperous when it has borne many fruits, so too there is a certain prosperity of the soul which is filled with every kind of work; which must first be cultivated with much labor, and then nourished with the abundant irrigation of celestial waters, so that it may bring forth fruit thirtyfold, or sixtyfold, or a hundredfold, and obtain the blessing that says: "Blessed be thy storerooms and thy remnants." He, therefore, who is conscious of his own firmness will say with confidence, and will affirm that he will not be overturned by the adversary, like a full field which the Lord has blessed. B VERSE 8. "Lord, in thy will thou hast bestowed power upon my beauty." Those who have busied themselves with the examination of the discourse concerning virtues have said that some virtues consist in contemplations, while others do not reside in contemplation; for example, they say that prudence consists in contemplations, in the realm of things good and evil; from this, temperance arises, because we contemplate what things are to be chosen or avoided; from this, justice, because we contemplate what things should or should not be distributed; from this, fortitude, because we contemplate what things are terrible and what are not; but beauty and strength [are said to be] C without contemplation D.
A. But they say that beauty and strength are not contemplative virtues, since they are subsequent to the contemplative ones. For from the symmetry and harmony of the contemplations of the soul, wise men have indeed understood beauty; but from the efficient power of those things which are proposed by the contemplative virtues, they have conceived of strength. Nevertheless, for beauty also to accrue to the soul, and for the power that performs what is necessary to be present, we have need for this of divine grace. Therefore, as he said above, "For life [is] in his will," so now he exalts God through thanksgiving, saying: *In thy will thou hast granted power to my beauty.* For I was beautiful by nature, but weak because of having been deadened by transgression through the ambush of the serpent. Therefore, to my beauty, which I received from Thee in the first creation, Thou hast added power, the practicer of those things which are necessary. Every soul, therefore, which is beheld in the symmetry of its own powers is beautiful; B but true and most lovely beauty, which only he who has a purified mind can contemplate, consists in the divine and blessed nature. He who has gazed intently upon its rays and graces partakes of something from it, as if from some dye, mingling with his own vision a certain blooming splendor. Whence also the face of Moses, by having partaken of that beauty while conversing with God, was glorified. He, therefore, who is sensible of his own virtue, utters this thankful voice: Lord, in thy will thou hast granted power to my beauty. And just as beauty and strength follow contemplative virtues though they themselves are not contemplative, so there are certain vices that are not contemplative, namely, ugliness and weakness. For what is more unseasonable and hideous than a soul subject to passions? C Look at the one who is angry, and the wildness within him. Behold the one who is sad, and the lowliness and prostration of soul within him. And of the one who has fallen into lusts or gluttony, or who is terrified by fears, who could even endure to look? For the disposition of the soul extends to the very extremities of the body; just as, therefore, the traces of the beauty of the soul are manifest in the state of the holy man. We must, therefore, provide for this beauty, so that the Bridegroom Word, accepting us, may say: *You are all fair, my neighbor, and there is no blemish in you.* D 6. *And I was troubled.* For as long as, he says, the rays of thy visitation shone upon me, I was in a firm and tranquil state.
but since thou didst turn away thy face, that which is passionate and tumultuous within the soul was laid bare. God is said to turn away his face when, in A times of trial, he leaves those exposed to temptations, so that the strength of the one struggling may be known. If, therefore, that peace which surpasses all understanding guards our hearts, we are able to escape the disturbance and confusion of the passions. Since, then, the turning away [of God’s face] is contrary to the will of God, and disturbance is contrary to beauty, comeliness, and strength, disturbance must be a deformity and infirmity of the soul, arising from alienation from God. Let us therefore pray that the face of God may always shine upon us, so that we may be in a holy and religious state, and gentle, and in all ways tranquil through our preparedness of mind for good things. *I was prepared,* he says, *and was not troubled.*
VERS. 9. *To thee, O Lord, will I cry, and to my God will I make supplication.* It has often been said regarding crying to the Lord, that it is the act of one alone who desires great and heavenly things. If, however, anyone asks God for small and earthly things, he uses a small and low voice, which does not reach to the heights or come to the ears of the Lord.
VERS. 10. *What profit is there in my blood, when I descend into corruption?* Why, he says, did I cry out? And for what did I beseech thee, my Lord and my God? What need, he says, have I of the well-being of the flesh and an abundance of blood, B when the body is about to be handed over, shortly, to the common dissolution? *But I chastise my body and bring it into subjection,* lest my blood, while thriving and boiling over, should provide an occasion for sin through the corpulence of the flesh. Do not indulge your flesh with sleep, baths, and soft pillows, always repeating this sentence: *What profit is there in my blood, when I descend into corruption?* Why do you cherish that which will be buried a little later? Why do you fatten and flesh yourself out? Do you not know that the fatter you make the body for yourself, the heavier the prison you build for your soul? *Shall the dust acknowledge thee, or shall it declare thy truth?* For how shall a terrestrial and carnal man acknowledge thee, O God? And how shall he declare thy truth, who has not given any time to disciplines, and whose mind is buried and overwhelmed in such a great mass of flesh? For this reason, therefore, I macerate my flesh, and I do not spare my blood, which is accustomed to coalesce into flesh, so that it may be no impediment to me C for confession, nor for the understanding of truth.
A *The Lord has become my helper.* After having narrated what were the things he had cried out to God, immediately perceiving the help of God, he urges us toward the petition of similar things: *The Lord*, he says, *heard, and had mercy on me; the Lord has become my helper.* Let us therefore also pray, and let us cry out the spiritual cry, asking for great things, not being solicitous for the flesh (for *they that are in the flesh cannot please God*), so that the Lord may also hearken to us, having had mercy on our weakness; and having enjoyed the divine help, let us also say: *You have turned my lamentation into joy for me.* Joy from God does not come to just any soul, but if someone has wept much for his own sin, with vehement lamentations and continuous groans, as if he had made a lamentation for himself as for one dead, the lamentation of such a one is turned into joy. B And that it is praiseworthy to lament, the children sitting in the marketplaces show, who say: *We have lamented to you, and you have not mourned; we have piped to you, and you have not danced.* But the flute is a musical instrument that uses the breath as a partner for melody. Therefore, I think that every holy prophet is named a flute figuratively, because of the movement from the Holy Spirit. Therefore, he says, *We have piped to you, and you have not danced.* For the prophetic words urge us toward the harmonious operation of the holy prophecy, which is called dancing. But the prophets also lament for us, calling us to lamentation, so that, coming to a realization through the prophetic words regarding our own sins, we may lament our destruction, having crushed our flesh with labors and toils. C For such a man, the mourning garment, which he had put on while he was lamenting his sin, is torn away. And there is placed around him the tunic of gladness and the robe of salvation, these bright and bridal garments, with which, if anyone is adorned, he shall not be cast out of the bridal chamber. *You have torn my sackcloth, and encircled me with gladness.* Sackcloth is a helper toward repentance, existing as a symbol of humility. For formerly, he says, they repented, *sitting in sackcloth and ashes.* But since the Apostle, *with open face*, is transformed into the same image *from glory to glory*, he calls the grace given to him by the Lord his own glory. D *So that my glory may sing to you.* The glory of the righteous man is the spirit that is within him. Whoever, therefore, sings in the spirit, let him say: *So that my glory may sing to you, and I may not be pricked.* No longer, he says, will I admit anything for which, by right and merit, my heart...
ought to be pricked and pierced upon the remembrance of my sin. *O Lord my God, I will confess to you forever;* that is, I will give thanks. For since you have given me forgiveness through repentance, and have brought me back to glory, having taken away the shame of my sins, for this reason will I confess to you for ever. For what interval of time could there be so great that it could induce in my soul a forgetfulness of such great benefits? B
ON PSALM XXXII
*Exult in the Lord, O you righteous; praise becomes the upright.*
1. Scripture shows the most bright and joyful state of the soul in those who are worthy of gladness. *Exult therefore, O you righteous, in the Lord*; not when things at home are succeeding for you, not when you are in good bodily health, not when your fields are filled with fruits of every kind; but because you possess the Lord, endowed with such beauty, such goodness, and such wisdom. Let that gladness which is in Him suffice for you. And whoever, in any other matter which he values highly, exults with gladness and joy, in the same way he appears to exult in Him. Wherefore the discourse exhorts the righteous to perceive their own dignity; and likewise to exult, because they have been deemed worthy to be servants of such a Lord, and to exult in His service with ineffable joy and with leaping, the heart as it were jumping with the enthusiasm of the love of the Good. C If ever upon your heart there has fallen, as it were, a light, and produced a sudden knowledge of God, and illumined your soul, so that you loved God and despised the world and all corporal things, from that dim and brief image understand the whole state of the righteous, who steadily and unceasingly rejoice in God. For to you, indeed, that exultation happens sometimes, but rarely, by the dispensation of God, so that by this small taste, He may remind you of those things of which you are deprived. But to the righteous, the divine and heavenly gladness is perpetual, because the Spirit once for all dwells in him; and the first *fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace*. *Exult therefore, O you righteous, in the Lord.* As the Lord is a place capable of containing the righteous, in whom he who is, is altogether compelled to be glad and to rejoice. D The righteous man also becomes a place for the Lord, when he receives Him into himself. But he who sins gives place to the devil, not obeying Him who says: *Do not give place to the devil*; nor Ecclesiastes: *If the spirit of the one having power rise up against you, do not leave your place.* Being therefore in the Lord Himself, and as far as it is permitted us, having contemplated His wonders, let us thus contrive gladness for our hearts from this contemplation. *Praise becomes the upright.*
Just as a crooked foot is not accommodated to a straight shoe, so neither is the praise of God appropriate for distorted hearts A. For this reason, I think, since the discourse concerning the Savior does not befit the mouth of demons, their authority is taken away from them, lest they make Him manifest. And Paul rebukes the Pythoness, that the Holy One might not be commended by an unclean spirit. Similar to this is that saying, *But to the sinner God said: Why do you declare my statutes?* Let us therefore be zealous to flee every crooked and winding work, and let us set straight as a rule our mind and the criterion of the soul, so that the praise of the Lord may befit us, having become upright. For just as the snake who introduced sin is called crooked, and the sword of God is brought against the dragon, the crooked serpent, because he makes many turnings and deviations in his path—for the trail of the snake is dragged unevenly upon the earth, with the front parts moving one way, and those following coming on sideways, and again the tail parts inclining in the opposite direction—so he who followeth the snake shall show his own life to be crooked and uneven and full of contradictions; but he who walketh behind the Lord God makes his paths straight and the tracks of his feet upright. *For the Lord our God is righteous, and His face has seen uprightness.* If two rulers are placed alongside each other, their straightness harmonizes with one another; but if a crooked piece of wood is placed against a ruler, the bent part is found not to agree with the straight. Since, therefore, the praise of God is upright, there is need of an upright heart, so that the praise may befit it and harmonize with it. But if no one can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit, how can you offer praise, not having the upright spirit renewed in your B inward parts?
2. *Give confession to the Lord with the harp; play to Him on a ten-stringed psaltery.* First, one must make confession to the Lord with the harp; that is, to render the actions of the body in harmony. For since we have sinned in the body, when we offered our members as slaves to sin for iniquity, let us make confession also with the body, using the same instrument for the dissolution of sin. Have you reviled? Give a blessing. Have you been grasping? Give back. Have you been drunk? Fast. Have you been arrogant? Be humbled. Have you envied? Entreat. Have you murdered? Bear witness; or do that which is equivalent to C martyrdom, by confessing your body to the Lord. D
A And then, after the confession, you are worthy to sing to God upon the ten-stringed psaltery. For it is necessary first to correct the actions of the body, that they may be harmoniously perfected according to the divine Word, and thus be able to ascend to the contemplation of intelligible things. Perhaps the mind, which seeks heavenly things, is called the "psaltery," because the structure of this instrument receives its resounding power from above. Thus, the works of the body are confessed to God as if from below; but the mysteries announced through the mind have their origin from above, as if sounded by the Spirit. He, therefore, who looks to all the commandments, and makes of them, as it were, a harmony and symphony, he it is who sings to God upon the ten-stringed psaltery, because the ten general commandments were written according to the first tradition of the Law.
VERS. 3. *Sing to the Lord a new song.* That is, do not worship God in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the Spirit. He who does not accept the Law corporally, but understands its spiritual sense, he sings the new song. For the old and aging Testament has passed away, but the new and restored song has received the teaching of the Lord, which renews our youth like the eagle's, when we have corrupted the outer man and are renewed from day to day. But also, he who reaches forward to the things that are before becomes {always} more recent than himself. Therefore, he who becomes always more recent than himself sings a more recent song to God. Moreover, "more recent" is spoken of according to custom, either as that which is admirable, or as that which has just recently come into being. Therefore, whether you speak of the B admirable manner of the Lord’s incarnation, which is superior to all nature, you compose a more recent and unusual song; or whether you recount the regeneration and renewal of the whole world, which had grown old through sin, and announce the mysteries of the resurrection, in this way, too, you sing a new and recent song.
3. *Sing well to Him with a cry.* Listen to the commandment. Sing well: with an attentive mind, with a sincere disposition. Sing in a cry. Just as certain good soldiers, after the victory won over their enemies, bring back hymns to the author of the victory. *Have confidence,* He says, *I have overcome the world.* C Who among men is able to wage war against the wicked one, unless, taking refuge at the protection of the power of the Commander-in-chief, we strike our enemy from there through the faith which is in Him, and with the arrows
we shoot? Well, therefore, sing with a shout.
Now, a shout is a certain inarticulate sound, such as those who in battle attack one another in close formation make together as a responsive echo. So sing in harmony and in unison, and in the unity which is through love. What, then, must he who sings say? A "For the word of the Lord is right." For this reason He calls the upright first to praise, since the Word, who is about to be glorified, the Word of the Lord, who was in the beginning with God, and who is God, is also right. Right, therefore, is the Father; right is the Son; right is the Holy Spirit. And "all His works are in faith." What is it that he says? The work is the heaven, the work is the earth, the work is the sea, the air, all things inanimate, animate, rational, irrational. How, then, are all things in faith? What faith is in inanimate things? What is the faith of brutes? What faith is there in a stone? What faith is there in a dog? Neither the inanimate nor the brute is in faith. Nevertheless, the statement excluded B nothing, but embraced all things, saying: "All His works are in faith." What, then, is it that he says? If you look upon the heaven, he says, and the order within it, it is a guide for faith; for it reveals its Maker through itself; and if you contemplate the things upon the earth, again, through these also, your faith in God is increased. For we have not become believers in God by having learned of Him through the eyes of the flesh, but by the power of the mind, through things visible, we perceive the Invisible. All His works, therefore, are in faith. Even if you examine a stone, it too has a certain demonstration of the power of Him who made it; even if an ant, or a gnat, or a bee. C Often, even in the smallest things, the wisdom of the Creator is made manifest. For He who spread out the heaven and poured out the boundless depths of the seas is the same who hollowed out even the finest sting of a bee, like a pipe, so that through it the poison might be poured out. All His works, therefore, are in faith. Let there be no occasion for disbelief for you. Do not say: "This happened by chance, and that came about automatically." Nothing is disordered, nothing is undefined, nothing is done to no purpose, nor does anything among existing things happen by accident. Or, "Bad luck," or "An evil hour." These are the utterances of the uninstructed. Are not two sparrows sold for an as? And not one of them will fall without the divine will. How many are the hairs of the head! Not one D of them is forgotten. Do you see the divine eye, how not even the smallest things escape His oversight?
"The Lord loves mercy and judgment; the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord." If the judgment of God existed by itself, sharply rendering to us according to our desert for what we have done, what hope would there be? Who of all would have been saved? But now, He "loves mercy and judgment." After mercy...
A He presents mercy as if it were an assessor to Himself, having placed it before the royal throne of judgment, and thus He leads each one to judgment. "If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who shall stand?" Neither is mercy without judgment, nor is judgment without mercy. Therefore, He loves mercy before judgment, and after mercy, He comes to judgment. These things are joined together with one another: mercy with judgment, so that neither mercy alone should produce laxity, nor judgment alone work despair. The Judge desires to show you mercy and to make you a partaker in His own compassions; but if He finds you after sin to be humble, contrite, having wept much over your wicked works, and having unashamedly made public the things done in secret, and having begged your brethren B to labor with you toward your healing, if He sees you having become altogether worthy of mercy, He generously bestows His own mercy upon you. But if He sees a heart unrepentant, a proud mind, disbelief in the world to come, and fearlessness of the judgment, then He loves judgment regarding you. For just as a careful and humane physician tries first with warm applications and gentle plasters to subdue the swelling; but when he sees that the mass does not yield at all, but rather remains stubborn and resists, he then at last, discarding the oil and the milder treatment, chooses the use of the iron. He loves mercy, therefore, in the case of those who repent, but He loves judgment in the case of the obstinate. Such a thing also Isaiah says to God: "Thy mercy is for a weight." C For He also sets forth the mercy that is with judgment, measuring out according to a balance, number, and weight, in accordance with the desert of each person.
4. "The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord." Here, mercy is disjoined from judgment. For the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord alone, with judgment reserved for the appointed time. Here, therefore, there is mercy without judgment; for He did not come to judge the world, but that He might save the world. But there, judgment is not without mercy, because a man cannot be found pure of filth, not even if he has lived for one day. Therefore, if someone sees wickedness spreading every day, and the fragile race of men deserving ten thousand deaths, as far as they are concerned in their sins, he will marvel at the riches of the goodness of God, and of His restraint and leniency. D Indeed, while we are on earth, we have need of mercy. For those who dwell in heaven are such as are called blessed, but they are not those who are in need of receiving mercy. Or perhaps, due to the condemnation brought upon us because of sin...
we are called earth—we who have heard from God: "You are earth, and to earth you shall return" (Gen. iii, 19). We, however, are full of the mercies of God; for when we were dead in our trespasses and A sins, God, having mercy, made us alive together with Christ (Ephes. ii, 5). "By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the spirit of his mouth all their host" (Ps. xxxii, 6). Where are those who set the Spirit at naught? Where are those who separate Him from the creative power? Where are those who sever Him from the union with the Father and the Son? Let them hear the Psalm saying: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the spirit of his mouth all their host." For neither shall the Word be thought of as this common speech, which consists of nouns and verbs, nor the Spirit as a vapor diffused into the air; but it is the Word who was in the beginning with God (Joan. i, 1), and the Holy Spirit, who has properly obtained this designation. As, therefore, the creative Word established the heaven, so also the Spirit who is from God, who proceeds from the Father—that is, who is from His mouth, that you might not judge Him to be some external thing or a creature, but might glorify Him as having His subsistence from God—brought all the powers within Him into existence. By the Spirit, therefore, all the heavenly host B was established; that is to say, they possess their tension, stability, and constancy in holiness, and all the virtue becoming to the holy powers, from the assistance of the Spirit. Hence it is written that He is the Spirit of His mouth. We shall find elsewhere also "the Word of His mouth" mentioned, so that the Savior Himself may be understood, and His Holy Spirit from the Father. Since, therefore, the Savior is the Word of the Lord, and the Spirit of His mouth is the Holy Spirit, and both have worked together in the creation of the heavens and the powers in them, for this reason it has been said: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the spirit of his mouth all their host." For nothing is sanctified except by the presence of the Spirit. The creative Word of the Lord, the Maker of all things, provided for the angels their passage into being, but the Holy Spirit brought upon them their sanctification. For C the angels were not created as infants, then perfected by slow practice, and thus became worthy of receiving the Spirit; but they had their holiness implanted in their very first constitution, and in the, as it were, mixture of their substance. Wherefore they are also difficult to move toward malice, since they were at once, like a dye, strengthened by holiness, and received stability in virtue and constancy by the gift of the Holy Spirit. D
A 5. VERSE 7. Gathering like a wineskin the waters of the sea, placing the abysses in storehouses. He did not say, Gathering the waters of the sea as in a wineskin, but, As a wineskin, thus gathering the waters of the sea. Now, reflect for me on the nature of a wineskin: at one time it is inflated, when the hide is stretched by the breath confined within it; at another time it contracts, when that which stretched it has withdrawn. Thus, then, the sea sometimes rages and boils, becoming wild and swollen by the winds; at other times, conversely, it is calmed into a low state by the serenity. As a wineskin, therefore, the Lord contracts and humbles the water of the sea.
We have found, however, in some copies, Gathering as in a wineskin the waters of the sea, referring us back to the old history of the account, when the Red Sea, with no one dividing or containing it, stood together by itself, bound as if in a certain wineskin, as the divine command did not allow it to be poured out. Placing, he says, in storehouses the abysses. It would have been more consistent with the common conception to say, Placing in the abysses the storehouses; that is, keeping his own wealth hidden in a mystery. But now he calls the abysses themselves, as if they were certain valuables, worthy of the divine storehouses. May it be, therefore, that the accounts concerning the divine judgment, being ineffable and incomprehensible to human thoughts, are called abysses, as the accounts according to which he manages each thing are deposited in the knowledge of God alone? For that the judgments concerning each person have been called an abyss, we have been taught in another psalm, which says: B Thy judgments are a great abyss (Ps. XXXV, 7).
If, therefore, you inquire why the life of the sinner is prolonged, while the days of the sojourn of the righteous are cut short, why the unjust prospers while the just is afflicted, why the little child is snatched away before reaching perfection, whence wars, why shipwrecks, earthquakes, droughts, excessive rains, why things harmful to men have been created, why one is a slave and another free, why one is rich and another poor (and there is also much difference in the sins or the upright deeds: for the one, having been sold to a procuress, is necessarily in sin; the other, having immediately chanced upon a good mistress, was raised in virginity), why the latter was benefited and the former was condemned, and what is the requital from the Judge for each of these things; having taken all these things into consideration, reflect that the judgments of God C are an abyss, and because they are locked away in the divine storehouses, they are not attainable by the first comer. And to the one who believes...
always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus A even those abysses which are in the treasuries of God shall we behold. If, therefore, you gather what has been said in Scripture concerning the skins, you will the better arrive at the understanding of the prophetic thought. Those, then, who are renewed day by day, and receive the new wine from the true vine, are called in the Gospel new skins. But those who have not yet put off the old man are old skins, not being able to be trusted with the reception of the new wine. For no man puts new wine into old skins, lest the wine also be poured out 18, and those skins utterly perish, being no longer worthy of any pardon if they pour out the good and new wine. For new wine must be put into new skins. The new and spiritual wine, which also is fervent with the Holy Spirit, namely, the understanding of truth which never grows old, must be put into the new man; who, because he always carries about the dying of Jesus in his body 74, may justly be called a new skin.
B 6. Let all those who inhabit the world be moved by Him. Since the fear of the Lord is the beginning of perception 19, let them who mind earthly things be disciplined through fear. For as fear is necessarily received as an introduction to piety, so charity, thereafter taking up those who have been regulated by this intellectual fear, makes them perfect. Therefore, the Word commands fear to the whole earth. Let them be moved, it says, by Him, all those who inhabit the world. As if every movement, whether accomplished according to the mind or according to bodily energy, should be performed according to the will of God for them. For thus C do I understand the phrase, “Let them be moved by Him.” As if neither the eye should be moved 20 without God, nor the hand stirred without God, nor the heart think those things which are not pleasing to God. And, in a word, let them be moved by no one else, nor let anything move them, unless it be the fear of God. 9 For He spoke, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created. To the two preceding points he subjoined two others: “Let all the earth fear,” and, “Let all those who inhabit the world be moved,” [he added] “He spoke, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created.” Since man is composite, consisting of the earthen frame and of the soul dwelling in the body, that which is formed from the earth is called “earth,” D while the soul, having obtained its habitation in the body, is called “inhabiting the world.” Appropriately, therefore, to the earth is attributed the phrase, “He spoke, and they were made 21”; for in the case of the frame...
of our body, which is from the earth, it is “He made,” but in the case of that which was created according to the image of God, it is “He was created.” A Since “creation” is often used in the sense of a transformation and improvement for the better, as in the passage, “If any one is in Christ, he is a new creation,” and again, “That he might create the two into one new man,” perhaps “He made” is said concerning the first generation of man, but “He was created” concerning the second, which is the regeneration through the grace of Christ. Now, by as much as a command of God surpasses a mere word, by so much does creation surpass generation.
VERS. 10. *The Lord brings to nothing the counsels of the nations; he rejects also the thoughts of the peoples.* This is an explanation of the preceding, [concerning] how God has created those who believed in Him, by bringing to nothing the senseless counsels of the peoples which they held concerning idolatry and all vanity, and by rejecting the counsels of the rulers. These things can also be referred to the time of the Passion, when they indeed thought they were crucifying the King of Glory, but He, through the dispensation of the Cross, was renewing humanity. B For in the Resurrection, the counsel of the nations—of Pilate, of the soldiers, and of all who were acting in the matter of the Cross—was brought to nothing; and the counsels of the rulers, the chief priests, the scribes, and the kings of the people were rejected. For the Resurrection dissolved all their artifice.
If you examine each of the histories [to see] what God has done toward the unbelieving nations, you will find that the statement possesses great power even according to the literal, corporeal sense. For when Joram, son of Ahab, reigned in Israel, then the King of Syria, the son of Ader, having campaigned with great force and a heavy hand, besieged Samaria with an instructed army, so that they lacked the necessities, and an ass’s head was sold for fifty shekels of silver, and a fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver. C Then, therefore, in order that the promise of Elisha might be fulfilled, the counsels of Syria were brought to nothing, and leaving their tents and all their wealth, they fled, leaving behind such an abundance of goods in Samaria that a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel. Thus, therefore, the Lord knows how to bring to nothing the counsels of the nations.
How, however, He rejects the counsels of rulers, we have learned in the case of Achitophel, when David prayed, saying: “Bring to nothing, now, the counsel of Achitophel.” Therefore, when you hear someone threatening great things, and boasting that he will bring upon you every kind of affliction, loss, D or wounds, or death, look to the Lord, who brings to nothing the counsels of the nations and rejects the thoughts of the peoples.
A *Vers. 11. "The counsel of the Lord abides forever: the thoughts of his heart from generation to generation."* Do you not see the doctrines of the nations, this vain philosophy, how subtle and extravagant they are regarding the inventions of doctrines, both in rational speculations and in moral precepts, and in certain physical theories and other doctrines which they call [note: epoptics]? How all these things have been dissipated and rendered useless, while the truth of the Gospel alone now prevails in the world? For there are many counsels in the heart of man; but the counsel of the Lord stands firm. And it is necessary, indeed, if the counsel of God is to remain permanent and stable in our souls, that our human thoughts should first be dissipated. For just as one who intends to write on wax must first smooth it out before he presses in the forms he wishes; so, too, the heart that is to receive the divine oracles clearly must be rendered pure from contrary thoughts. "The thoughts of his heart from generation to generation." Since, therefore, there are two chosen peoples, and two Testaments have been given to them, it is possible, according to the words, "The thoughts of his heart from generation to generation," because the word "generation" is named twice, to understand two thoughts also: one according to which we received the first Testament, and the other which has bestowed upon us the new and saving doctrine of Christ.
B *Vers. 12. "Blessed is the nation whose Lord is its God; the people whom he chose for his own inheritance."* No one pronounces the people of the Jews blessed, but that people which has been chosen from all peoples as the best. For we are that nation whose God is the Lord; we are also the people whom he chose for his own inheritance: a "nation," because we have been gathered together from many nations; and a "people," because we have been called to fill the place of the people who were rejected. And since "many are called, but few are chosen," he calls blessed not the one who is called, but the one who is chosen. For blessed is he whom he has chosen. But what is the cause of this blessedness? The expected inheritance of eternal goods. Or perhaps, according to the Apostle, because C when the fullness of the nations has entered in, then all Israel shall be saved, he first calls the fullness of the nations blessed, and then Israel, who shall be saved afterwards? But only those are saved who are not just any random people, but the remnant that remains according to the election of grace. For this reason he says: "The people whom he chose for his own inheritance."
*Vers. 13, 14. "From heaven the Lord looked down: he saw all the sons of men from his prepared dwelling place."* Those who remain in their own dignity, and who... D
fulfill the duties of nature, the Lord beholds from above; but those who have slipped down to the depth of malice, He visits in another way, A by descending Himself. For "the cry," He says, "of Sodom and Gomorrah has multiplied, and their sins are very great. I will go down therefore and see whether they have made an end according to their cry which comes to me." And again: "He came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built." But here: "The Lord looked down from heaven; He saw all the sons of men." Consider the high spectator; consider the One who looks upon human affairs from above. Wheresoever you may go, whatsoever you may do—if in darkness or in daylight—you have the eye of God looking upon you. "From His prepared dwelling place." No doors are opened, no veils are drawn; the dwelling place of God is ready for seeing. He looks upon all the sons of men, and not even one escapes His view. Neither darkness nor walls hidden away provide any hindrance to the eyes of God. B *Vers. 15.* He is so far from not observing everyone, that He even looks into the hearts, which He Himself fashioned without any admixture of vice. God, the Creator of men, fashioned the heart simple, so that it might preserve an image according to Himself; but afterwards, by the intermingling of the passions of the flesh, we made it various and very manifold, corrupting His divine likeness and the simplicity and purity thereof. Wherefore, since He is the Maker of hearts, for that reason He also understands all our works. We call "works" also our words, our thoughts, and generally every movement of man. For with what intent, with what purpose we act—whether to please men or to obey the commandments given by God—He alone knows, who understands all our works. C For this reason, we also render an account for every idle word. And we do not lose the reward even for a cup of cold water, because the Lord understands all our works.
9. *Vers. 16. "A king is not saved by much power."* A supply of military force, the walls of cities, a foot phalanx, cavalry power, or an apparatus of naval strength does not bring salvation to a king. For the Lord establishes kings and deposes them, and there is no power except that ordained by God. A king is saved...
A not by great power, but by divine grace. Thus, these words truly apply to them as well: "By grace you have been saved." Just as a farmer does not achieve so much of his harvest through the diligence of his farming as he does through God, who increases the crops—for "neither is he who plants anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase"—so too, if the heart of a king is in the hand of God, he is not saved by the power of his armed forces, but by divine guidance. And it is not just anyone who is in God’s hand, but he who is worthy of the title of king. Some have defined kingship as a legitimate governance, or a rule over all that is not subject to sin. "And a giant shall not be saved by the multitude of his strength." He calls him a giant who relies on natural force and bodily vigor. Therefore, neither does a king have sufficient help for his salvation from his armed forces, nor is a strong man capable of being sufficient unto himself for all things. For all human things are weakness and inability when compared to the true power. For this reason, "God chose the foolish things of the world that He might put to shame the strong," and "out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants He has perfected B praise," that He might destroy the enemy and the avenger. For the divine grace shone most brightly when acting in babes and the simple-minded. "A horse is a vain hope for salvation; and in the multitude of its power it shall not be saved." The horse has been excluded from the use of the saints. And it is never found that Israel, even when prospering in wars, used equestrian power, nor did any of the saints privately accept the use of horses as appropriate. But Pharaoh uses a horse, and the proud Sennacherib boasts in the abundance of his horses. Wherefore, God cast Pharaoh's horse and rider into the sea, and all those who had mounted the horses of Sennacherib fell asleep. Hence, the law given through Moses concerning the duties of kings ordains, saying: "He shall not multiply horses for himself." And C in the multitude of his power he shall not be saved. "For when I am weak," he says, "then I am strong." For the multitude of bodily forces is an obstacle to the salvation of the spirit.
18. "Behold, the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him." Elsewhere it is said, "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous," but here, "upon those who fear Him." D
A When we look toward the Lord and our eyes are intent upon Him, in such a way that we are able to say: "Behold, as the eyes of servants to the hands of their masters, so our eyes to the Lord our God," then we, as it were, draw toward our own inspection the eye of the Lord. "Those who hope in His mercy." He shows the humility of those who serve the Lord, and how they hope in His mercy. For he who does not trust in his own noble deeds, nor expects to be justified by works, places his only hope of salvation in the mercies of God. For when he has pondered that saying, "Behold the Lord and His reward," to render to each according to his work, and has considered his own wicked deeds, he fears punishment and trembles at the threats. But that he might not be swallowed up by sorrow, he is endowed with good hope while he looks upon the compassions and kindness of God. B VERSE 19. For he hopes that his soul will be delivered from death, and that he will be fed by Him in famine. VERSE 20. "Our soul shall patiently wait for the Lord, for He is our helper and protector." This discourse exhorts us to patience; so that if we are ever oppressed by any of those who harass us, we may nevertheless in no way withdraw from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, but, expecting help from God, endure all adverse things with our whole soul. VERS. 21. "For our heart shall rejoice in Him, and we have hoped in His holy name." This is in agreement with what was said at the beginning of the psalm: "Rejoice, ye righteous, in the Lord." And, "Our heart shall rejoice in Him." And it seems to me that the Apostle consistently said in this regard: "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us," and that which follows: "And not only so, but we also glory in tribulations." C For when the Psalmist had said, "Our soul shall wait patiently for the Lord," in order to show that he does not show patience as if forced or pressed by straits, but receives tribulations for the name of the Lord with all joy, he says: "Not only do we wait patiently, but in Him our heart shall rejoice, and we have hoped in His holy name." It is sufficient for us, in order to avoid all the insults of our adversaries, to be called Christians. But the name of God is said to be holy, not indeed because it has in its syllables any power of conferring holiness, but because every property of God and...
the concept of those things which are uniquely contemplated regarding Him are holy and pure. May thy mercy, O Lord, come upon us, just as we have hoped in thee. Do you see how expertly he prayed? He made his own disposition the measure of the largesse of the mercies of God. So much, he says, may thy mercy be upon us, as we have preceded in placing our hope in thee. And our whole hope is to return to the rest, so that, our body of humiliation having been transformed, we may perceive this very thing having become conformed to the body of his glory. B
OF THE SAME ON PSALM XXXIII (49)
*For David, when he changed his face before Abimelech, and he dismissed him, and he went away.* 1. The meaning of this psalm invites us to two considerations. For the things that happened then in Nob, the city of the priests, by David, seem to pertain to the inscription, as well as the things in Gath by Achish, the king of the foreigners. For he changed his face when he was speaking to Abimelech the priest, hiding his flight, and pretending to be hastening to carry out a royal command, at which time he also took the loaves of proposition and the sword of Goliath. And he changed his face also when, C taken in the midst of the enemies, because he perceived them talking among themselves and preparing for vengeance (51). For the servants of Achish said, he says, among themselves: Is not this David the king of the earth? Did not they sing to him in the choir, saying (52), David hath struck in his ten thousands, and Saul in his thousands? And David feared, he says, from the face of Achish, and he changed his face before their eyes. How then does the inscription call him Abimelech, while the history hands him down as Achish, the king of the Gittites (53)? We have a certain account handed down to us from tradition, that the kings of the foreigners had a common name, Abimelech, D but each was called by his own proper name (54). As even in the Roman empire one can see kings being called Caesars and Augusts in common, but possessing other names proper to themselves. Such is also the name Pharaoh among the Egyptians. For it is certain that he too, who reigned in the time of Joseph, was called Pharaoh;Pharaoh also was the one who rose up after four generations in the time of Moses, the King of Egypt; Pharaoh also was he who lived in the times of Solomon—for it says, "He took the daughter of Pharaoh"—and he who lived in the time of the prophecy [(55)] of Jeremiah was called Pharaoh. So too, there was an Abimelech in the times of Abraham, and in the times of Isaac, and now the one mentioned in the days of David. For concerning the one in the time of Abraham it is said, "And Abimelech, and Ochozath his groomsman, and Philoch, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying." And again concerning the one who lived in the time of Isaac: "And he was there for a long time. And Abimelech [(56)], king of the Philistines, looking out through the window, saw Isaac sporting with Rebecca." Thus, therefore, even now in the time of David, he is called Abimelech in the inscription, by the common name of the kingdom; but Achish is the name handed down by history, which was specifically imposed upon him from his birth. Before him, therefore, he changed his expression, being carried in the hands of his servants, and making a clatter at the city gates, and letting his spittle, he says, flow down upon his beard; so that Achish said to his attendants, "Why have you brought him to me? Do I have need of those seized by epilepsy, B that you have brought him to have a seizure before me?" And having been dismissed from there in this way, he escaped, he says, into the cave of Adullam. Having therefore escaped as if from a great danger, he sends up this act of thanksgiving to God who rescued him. VERSE 2. "I will bless the Lord," he says, "at all times." Having escaped from death, as if prescribing limits for his life, he forms and fashions his soul toward the more exact way of living, so that he does not intermit his blessing at any time, but refers the beginning of all things, both great and small, to God. "I shall not think," he says, "that anything happens through my own diligence, nor that it occurs by chance encounter; but 'I will bless the Lord at all times,' not only in the prosperity of life, but also in adverse and calamitous seasons." Instructed by this, Paul says, "Always rejoice, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks." Do you see how great was the charity of the man? He did not bear the persistence of evils with an impatient spirit, C when he was not only driven from his country, and separated from his kin and household, and despoiled of his possessions, but was also surrendered to his enemies by necessity, so that he was nearly torn limb from limb by them. He did not say, "How long shall the persistence of evils last?" He did not lose heart due to the prolongation of his affliction, not being ignorant that "tribulation produces patience, and patience probation, and probation hope."
A For to those who are well prepared, tribulations are as it were athletic foods and gymnastic exercises, leading the athlete toward his ancestral glory; when, being reviled, we bless; being blasphemed, we entreat; being worn down, we give thanks; being afflicted, we boast in our affliction. For it is shameful for us to bless in favorable things but to be silent in sad and painful matters. Rather, one must give even more thanks then, knowing that whom the Lord loves, He chastens; and He scourges every son whom He receives. "His praise shall always be in my mouth." It seems the prophet is promising something impossible. For how can the praise of God always be in the mouth of a man? When he speaks the customary and worldly conversations, he does not have the praise of God in his mouth. B When he sleeps, he will surely be silent. And when he is eating and drinking, how will his mouth perform praise? To this we reply that there is also a certain intellectual mouth of the inner man, by which it is nourished when receiving the word of life, which is the bread that came down from heaven. Concerning that mouth the Prophet also says, "I opened my mouth, and drew in spirit." Even the Lord urges us to have a mouth wide open for a more abundant reception of the foods of truth. "Open wide," he says, "your mouth, and I will fill it." Therefore, the intention concerning God, once impressed and as it were sealed upon the governing part of the soul, may be called the praise of God, existing always in the soul. Furthermore, according to the apostolic exhortation, it is possible for the good man to do everything for the glory of God, so that every action, and every word, and every intellectual operation may have the power C of praise. For whether the just man eats or drinks, he does all for the glory of God. The heart of such a one, meanwhile, is awake while he sleeps, according to the one who said in the Song of Songs, "I sleep, and my heart wakes." For, for the most part, the phantasms in sleep are echoes of the thoughts of the day.
2. "In the Lord my soul shall be praised." Let no one, he says, praise my own ingenuity, by which I was saved from dangers. For salvation is not in the strength of man, nor in wisdom, but in the grace of God. Do not let the rich man boast in his riches, he says, nor the wise man in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength; but let him who boasts boast in this, in understanding and knowing the Lord his God. You see how the Apostle praises those who are coworkers of the Gospel? "Who is a fellow-servant and minister D of yours in the Lord." However, if anyone is praised for the elegance of their body, or the reputation of their parents, their soul is not praised in the Lord.
but rather each of such persons is in their vanity. A For not even the intermediate arts truly deserve praise—neither ship-captains, physicians, orators, nor architects who build cities, or pyramids, or labyrinths, or other costly and massive structures. Those who are praised for these things do not have their soul in the Lord. It suffices for us for every dignity to be called servants of such a Master. For would someone who serves a king boast because they are placed in this or that order of service? And would one who is deemed worthy to serve God contrive praises for themselves from elsewhere, as if the appellation of the Lord did not suffice for every accumulation of glory and splendor? "In the Lord, therefore, my soul shall be praised. Let the meek hear, and let them rejoice." B Since, he says, without a battle, by the change of my face alone, the enemies were deceived by the help of God, and salvation was achieved for me: "Let the meek hear"—that it is possible for those who are resting to raise a trophy, and for those not fighting to be declared victors—"and let them rejoice," being confirmed in meekness by my example. For I received this gift from God, because I achieved meekness. "Remember, O Lord, David, and all his meekness." For meekness is the greatest of virtues; therefore it is also numbered among the beatitudes. "For blessed," he says, "are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." C For that earth, the heavenly Jerusalem, is not the spoil of those fighting, but is proposed as an inheritance for men of mild character and meek disposition. "Let the meek hear" amounts to the same thing as "Let the disciples of Christ hear." Perhaps, moreover, he wishes the miracle of the benefit conferred upon him by God to reach prophetically even unto us. For let them hear, who are to be the disciples of Christ many generations later. For he named these "meek," to whom the Lord says: "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart." For those who are sedate in their ways, and free from every passion, so that no disturbance resides in their souls, these are called meek. Wherefore D Moses also is testified to have been the meekest of all men on the face of the earth.
5. VERSE 4. "Magnify the Lord with me." He takes to himself a choir that is coming to glorify the Lord.
A Let no one who is turbulent, or perturbed, or stung in soul by the passions of the flesh, join me; but do you, O meek ones, who have achieved stability and steadfastness of soul and have shaken off your sluggishness and sleepiness regarding the performance of your duties, you magnify the Lord with me. He magnifies the Lord who, with a great mind and with a proud and elevated spirit, endures trials for the sake of piety. And then, he also who, with a great mind and through the deepest contemplations, observes the greatness of creation, so that from the greatness and beauty of the things created he may contemplate their Creator. For the more profoundly one delves into the reasons by which the things that exist have been created and are governed, the more he contemplates the majesty of the Lord, and, so far as in him lies, magnifies the Lord. Since, therefore, the mind and meditation of one man is not even for a brief moment sufficient for the comprehension of the great works of God, he takes all the meek together into the fellowship of this activity. For it is B necessary to keep all leisure from external tumults, and having established every quiet in the secret council-chamber of the heart, thus to apply oneself to the contemplation of the truth. Do you hear the one confessing his sin, what he says? "My eye was troubled by wrath." But not only wrath, but also lust, and timidity, and envy trouble the eye of the soul; and, in a word, all the passions are confounding and disturbing to the insightful part of the soul. And just as it is impossible for a clouded eye to obtain an accurate comprehension of visible objects, so too with a clouded heart we cannot apply ourselves to the understanding of the truth. Therefore, one must withdraw from the things of the world, and neither through eyes, nor through ears, nor through any other sense, introduce alien thoughts into the soul. For the wars that arise from the elation of the flesh fill the inner man with unceasing tumults and implacable seditions. (VERS. 5.) "I sought the Lord, and he heard me." These things, he says, let the meek hear, that I, in that C difficult time when every wrath of those harboring malice was stirred up against me, and every hand was armed against me, and I was lying exposed to the enemies naked, unarmed, and ready for every torture, at that time I was not confounded in my thoughts by fear, I was not driven from the thought of God, I did not despair of my own salvation, but I sought the Lord. I did not seek only a simple and temporary hope in the Lord, but I *diligently* sought Him. For the emphasis of the word "diligently seek" signifies something more than the word "seek," just as "thorough investigation" implies something more than "scrutiny." "They have failed in searching out their searches." Therefore, this discourse presents a great deal of leisure and tranquility through this "diligent seeking." D
A 4. And he delivered me from all my tribulations. The entire life of the just man is set in afflictions, and "narrow and compressed is the way," and, "Many are the tribulations of the just." Because of this, the Apostle also says, "In everything being afflicted," and, "That through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God." Yet God delivers His saints from tribulation, not by leaving them untested, but by bestowing patience upon them. For if "tribulation works patience, and patience probation," he who shrinks from tribulation deprives himself of probation. Just as, therefore, no one is crowned without an adversary, so no one can be declared approved unless through tribulations. From all my tribulations, then, He delivered me—not by allowing me not to be afflicted, but by granting together with the temptation the outcome, that I might be able to bear it.
(VERS. 6.) Draw near to him, and be enlightened; and your faces shall not be ashamed. He exhorts those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death to approach the Lord and draw near to the rays of His divinity, so that, being illumined by the truth through this approach, they may receive His light into themselves by grace. For just as this sensible light does not rise upon all in the same way, but upon those who have eyes, and who are awake, B and who are able to enjoy the presence of the sun without any impediment; so also the Sun of Justice, the "true light, which enlightens every man coming into the world," does not bestow its splendor upon all, but upon those who live in a manner worthy of it. For "Light," he says, "has dawned, not for the sinner, but for the just." For just as the sun has indeed risen, but not for bats, nor for other animals that go out for food by night: so too, the light is indeed glorious and invigorating by its own nature; yet not all partake of its brightness. Thus also "Everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, that his works may not be manifested." Draw near, therefore, to Him and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be ashamed. Blessed is he who, on the day of God’s just judgment, when the Lord comes "to illuminate the hidden things of darkness and to manifest the counsels of the hearts," has dared to submit to that light of examination, and has returned unashamed, from the fact that he does not have a conscience C contaminated by evil works. For those who have committed evils will rise to reproach and confusion, looking upon the vileness and the forms of their sins imprinted within themselves. And perhaps that confusion, in which sinners will live eternally, is more horrible than dark- D ness and the eternal fire—the shame, which they are destined to endure...
A while they always have before their eyes the traces of the sin they committed in the flesh, like some indelible stain, remaining forever in the memory of their soul. For it is given to few to approach the true light and to reveal, and after the revelation of things hidden, to depart without having their faces put to shame.
5. *This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him.* Poverty is not always praiseworthy, but only that which is accomplished according to the evangelical purpose by free will. For many are poor in their possessions, but utterly avaricious in their intention; such are not saved by their poverty, but condemned by their intention. Therefore, he who is in need is not necessarily to be called blessed, but he who holds Christ’s commandment more precious than the treasures of the world. These are the ones the Lord also calls blessed, saying: *Blessed are the poor in spirit*; B not those who are poor in their material wealth, but those who have chosen poverty from their soul. For nothing that lacks the element of choice is blessed. For every virtue, and especially this one above all, is characterized by the voluntary. This poor man, he says, cried out. By a demonstrative word, he draws your mind to him who is poor according to God, who is hungry, who is thirsty, who is naked: *This poor man*, almost pointing with his finger, *This is the disciple of Christ.* It is possible also to refer this statement to Christ, who, though He was rich by nature, because all the Father's goods are His, became poor for our sake, that we might become rich through His poverty. C For the Lord Himself began almost every action that leads to blessedness, presenting Himself as an example to those who are learning. Go back to the Beatitudes; if you examine each one, you will find that He preceded the teaching of the word with deeds. *Blessed are the meek.* How, then, shall we learn meekness? *Learn from me,* He says, *for I am meek and humble of heart.* *Blessed are the peacemakers.* Who will teach us the good of peace? The Peacemaker Himself, who makes peace and reconciles the two into one new man; who has made peace through the blood of His cross, both the things in heaven and the things on earth. *Blessed are the poor.* He is the one who became poor, and emptied Himself in the form of a servant, D so that we all might receive from His fullness, and grace for grace. Whoever, therefore, is led by the holy and benevolent Spirit, not being puffed up in himself, but humbling himself so that he may exalt others, cries out in the Spirit, asking for great things, and utters nothing base or lowly, because he seeks the earthly and worldly, such a man's cry will be heard by the Lord. Who then...
is the end of this listening? To be delivered from all tribulations, so that you are not wounded, not broken, and not enslaved to the affection of the flesh. What then is the manner by which the poor man is delivered? (Vers. 8.) A *The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him, and shall deliver them.* He has interpreted whom he calls poor: namely, him who fears the Lord. For he who fears is still in the rank of a servant; but he who has been perfected by love has already ascended to the dignity of a son. Hence the servant is also called poor, because he has nothing of his own; but the son is already rich, because he is an heir of the Father’s goods. Therefore, B *the angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him.* To every one who believes in the Lord, an angel is assigned, unless we drive him away by evil deeds. For just as smoke drives away bees, and a foul odor drives away doves, so too does tearful and foul sin drive away the angel who is the guardian of our life. If you have in your soul works worthy of angelic custody, and a mind rich in the contemplations of truth dwells within you, on account of the riches of excellent works of virtue, God necessarily appoints guardians and keepers for you, and hems you in with a protection of angels. Consider, moreover, how great the nature of angels is, since one angel is compared to a whole army and to a camp filled with soldiers. C Because of the greatness of him who guards you, the Lord grants you a camp; but because of the strength of the angel, his protection fortifies you on every side as if with a wall. For the expression *round about* signifies this very thing. For just as the walls of cities, carried round about on every side, ward off the assaults of enemies from every direction, so also the angel both fortifies from the front and keeps guard from the rear, and leaves nothing on either side unguarded. For this reason, *A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but the plague of any of thine enemies shall not come nigh unto thee* (Ps. XC, 7), because he shall give his angels charge concerning thee.
6. VERS. 9. *Taste, and see that the Lord is sweet.* In many places we have observed that the faculties of the soul are called by the same names as external limbs. But since our Lord is the true bread, and his flesh is true food, it is necessary D that the pleasure of the joy of this bread should be produced in us through a spiritual taste. Just as the nature of honey cannot be presented to the inexperienced by speech as effectively as by the sense of taste itself; so neither can the goodness of the heavenly Word be clearly explained by teachings, unless, having examined the dogmas of truth for a long time, we can by our own
experience apprehend them. *Taste*, he says, *and do not be filled*. For now, indeed, we know in part, and we see the truth through a glass and in a riddle; but there shall come a time when this present earnest, and this taste of grace, will turn for us into the perfect fruition. For as those who suffer from stomach ailments and have no appetite, turning away from food, are cured by physicians of their unpleasant state by exciting their appetites through some preparation of the dishes, so that the sense being stimulated by that seasoning, the appetite may always be increased more and more: so also regarding the word of truth—it itself, he says, will always invite you through experience to an insatiable desire. For this reason, he says, *Taste*, that you may be blessed, always hungering and thirsting for righteousness. *Blessed is the man who trusts in Him.* He who is always held by the desire for the Word will place his hope in nothing else than in the Lord. B *Fear the Lord, all His saints, for there is no lack for those who fear Him.* Unless fear directs our life, it is impossible to attain holiness in the body. *Fasten*, he says, *my flesh with your fear*. For just as those who are pierced with nails have the members of their bodies rendered motionless for action, so those whose soul has been seized by divine fear avoid every disturbance arising from the passions of sin. Therefore, to him who fears, there is no lack; that is, he who is kept by fear from every indecorous and absurd action lacks no virtue, but is perfect, being destitute of no good thing appropriate to human nature. For as he is not perfect in his body to whom any necessary part is missing, but is imperfect according to the part that is missing; so also he who acts disdainfully toward one of the commandments, because he lacks it, is imperfect according to what is deficient. But he who has received the perfect fear, and fears all things with a circumspect awe, will commit no sin, since he disdains nothing; nor will he experience lack, since fear is always C present to him in all things.
7. *The rich have grown poor and hungry: but those who seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good.* Let the word build us up also toward the disdain of bodily wealth by teaching the instability of the abundance of money. For wealth is easily changed, and like a wave D that is driven by the force of the winds, it is accustomed to disperse hither and thither.
A Or perhaps he calls the Israelite people rich—those to whom belong the adoption and the worship, the promises, and the fathers. These people, then, became destitute because of their sin against the Lord. But those who in their place have sought the Lord will not be in want of any good thing. And yet, in a certain way, they also became destitute and hungry. For since they destroyed the bread of life, the famine of bread came upon them; and since they laid snares for the fountain of living water, thirst came upon them, and the punishment of thirst was imposed upon them—but it was a famine not of sensible bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord. Thus they were destitute and hungry. But those from the Gentiles who have learned to seek the Lord will not be in want of any good thing. God himself is the perfectly complete good, and of him all who seek him shall not be in want. For let no unlearned person, having a perverse sense of what is good and evil, call that B a "good" which has only a temporary enjoyment and passes away with the corruption of the body. For whoever ranks bodily wealth and bodily advantages in the category of "good" brings that venerable name, which is proper to God alone, down to base things of no account, and at the same time falls into a most grievous contradiction. For he will either say that the apostles, because they did not seek the Lord, failed to obtain bodily goods; or, if they were seeking him and did not acquire such goods, he will accuse Scripture itself, which says that those who seek the Lord will not be destitute of any good. But the saints did indeed seek the Lord, and they did not lack the apprehension of him whom they sought, nor were they deprived of the goods stored up in the eternal rest. For it is of those goods that it may most properly be said, "any good thing." C For bodily pleasures have more that is painful than that which is delightful: marriages bring childlessness, widowhood, and adultery; agriculture brings fruitlessness; commerce brings shipwrecks; riches bring snares; and luxuries and surfeits and continuous pleasures bring various diseases and diverse kinds of passions. Paul, however, both sought the Lord and lacked none of the good things. Indeed, who could count the bodily hardships in which he lived throughout his whole life? He was beaten with rods three times, he was stoned once, he was shipwrecked three times, he spent a night and a day in the depths, in journeyings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in labor and hardship, in necessities D often. Up to his final hour he was a man hungry and thirsty, naked, and beaten with blows, whereof
frequently, in hunger and thirst, in fastings frequently, in labor and travail, in needs frequently. A Up to the very last hour, both while a man is hungry and thirsty, and naked, and buffeted, how was he not diminished by bodily goods? Raise up, therefore, your mind to that which is truly good, so that you may perceive the harmony of Scripture, and not cast yourself into any ambiguity of interpretation.
8. VERSE 12. "Come, children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord." B It is the voice of a benevolent teacher, inviting one to learning through fatherly compassion. For indeed, the disciple is the spiritual child of the teacher. For he who receives from someone the formation of piety, he is, as it were, fashioned by him and brought to existence, just as the infants within a pregnant woman are formed by her. Whence also Paul, calling the whole Church of the Galatians—which had fallen away from previous teachings and was, as it were, aborted—back again, and forming Christ anew in them, called them children; and because he was performing the correction of those who had erred with pain and anguish, he said he was in labor in his soul on account of the grief over those who had fallen. "My little children, of whom I am in labor again until Christ be formed in you." Come, therefore, children, hearken unto me. What, then, is our spiritual father about to teach? "The fear of the Lord," he says, "I will teach you." Since he previously commanded us to fear the Lord, and demonstrated the gain that is derived from fear, saying, "That there is no want to those who fear him," now he also delivers to us a certain teaching of divine fear. For that one ought to be healthy is something anyone, even a simple person, can say; but how one ought to acquire health, this is now C the province of him who understands the medical art. For not every fear is good and salutary, but there is also a certain hostile fear, which the Prophet prays might not come into his soul, saying, "Deliver my soul from the fear of the enemy." For a hostile fear is that which breeds in us a fear of death, and persuades us to tremble at the standing of persons. For how will he who fears these things be able, in time of martyrdom, to resist sin unto death, and to render to the Lord the debt, who died and rose again for us? And he who is easily terrified by demons has the hostile fear within himself. And in a word, such fear seems to be a passion born of unbelief. For no one who believes that a strong helper is present with him is afraid of any of those who attempt to disturb him. But the fear that is salutary, and a fear that is effective of sanctification—a fear which arises in the soul by practice, and not by passion—do you wish that I recount what kind it is? When you see yourself being impelled toward some sin, that horrid and D
A intolerable tribunal of Christ, I pray you, consider: in which the Judge presides upon a certain high and exalted throne, while every creature stands trembling at the sight of His glorious manifestation; and it is certain that we are all to be brought one by one to face an examination of the things we have done in life. Then, for him who has committed many evils throughout his life, certain horrible and morose angels stand by, emitting fire from their eyes, breathing out fire, because of the bitterness of their purpose, night-like in their countenances, because of the grimness of their faces and their hatred of men. Afterward, imagine in your mind a deep abyss, impenetrable darkness, a fire devoid of splendor, having indeed the power of burning in the darkness, but stripped of light: furthermore, a kind of venomous and flesh-eating worm, eating insatiably, and never satisfied, inducing intolerable pains with its bites: finally, the most grievous punishment of all, that reproach and everlasting disgrace. Fear these things, and, instructed by this fear, restrain your soul from wicked desires as if by a bridle. That father promised that he would teach us this fear of the Lord; not, indeed, teaching it indiscriminately to everyone, but to those who wish to listen to him, not to those who have fallen and long remained so, but to those who run forward because of a desire for salvation; not to those who are strangers to the Testaments, but to those who, through the baptism of adoption, have been conjoined to him by the Word. For this reason, he says, "come"; that is, by good works draw near to me, children, having been deemed worthy to become sons of light through regeneration. Listen, you who have the ears of B your heart opened: *I will teach you the fear of the Lord;* this, namely, which the discourse described to you a little while ago.
9. VERSE 13. *Who is the man who desires life, loving to see good days?* If anyone, he says, desires life, not this common life which even the brute beasts live, but that which is truly life, and is not cut off by death. For now, he says, *you have died, and our life is hidden with Christ in God; when Christ, our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.* Therefore, Christ is truly life, and our conversation in Him is true life. Similarly, the other days are also good, which the Prophet proposes in his promise. *Who is the man who desires life, loving to see good days?* For the days of this age are evil, since this age itself, being the measure of the world, of which it is said, *The whole world lies in the evil one*, is assimilated to the nature of the world which it measures. And these days are parts C of this time. For this reason the Apostle says: D *Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.* And likewise Jacob: *The days of the years of my life,* he says, *are few and evil.*
We are not therefore in life now, but in death. For this reason the Apostle also prayed, saying: *Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?* But there is another life, to which the Word calls us; and while our days now are evil, there are others which are good, which night does not interrupt. For God A shall be their light eternal, enlightening them with the light of His own glory. Do not, therefore, when you hear of "good days," think that this present life is set before you in the promises. For those days which the sensible sun traverses are perishable; but nothing perishable can suitably be a gift to one who is imperishable. For if the soul is imperishable, its gifts are also imperishable. And *the fashion of this world passes away*. But if the law has a shadow of the good things to come, understand for me some tender and holy Sabbaths, fashioned out of the eternal days, new moons, B and feasts; and understand them as befits the spiritual law. *Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile.* If you wish to be in the good days, if you love life, perform the commandment of life. *For he who loves me,* he says, *will keep my commandments.* Now the first commandment is to restrain the tongue from evil, and the lips from speaking guile. For the sin committed through the tongue is almost the most readily available and manifold. Are you angry? The tongue runs ahead. Are you in the midst of desires? You have the tongue C before all things as a kind of procuress and pander, cooperating with sin, and playing the hypocrite to your neighbor. And the tongue is a weapon for you toward iniquity, not voicing what is from the heart, but offering up things for the sake of deception. And what need is there to go through every one of the sins committed by the tongue? Our life is filled with the trespasses of the tongue. Obscenity, ribaldry, foolish talk, things that are not fitting, backbiting, idle talk, perjuries, false testimonies—all these evils, and even more than these, are the handiwork of the tongue. But those who open their mouth against D the glory of God and speak iniquity to the heavens, do they work impiety by anything other than the instrument of the tongue? Since, therefore, *by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned,* restrain your tongue from evil, and do not make vain treasures with a lying tongue. Restrain also your lips from speaking guile; that is to say, ensure that the whole organ given to you for the ministry of the word is kept free from wicked activity. Now guile is a secret maleficence offered to a neighbor under the guise of better things.
A 10. “Turn away from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it” [Ps. XXXIII, 15]. These are elementary exhortations, and they introduce us to piety; by them we are taught to keep the tongue diligently, to abstain from deceitful plots, and to turn away from evil. For abstaining from evil is not suitable for the perfect; but it is worthwhile for one who is recently being instructed in the elements to incline away from the impulse toward evil, and, as if departing from an evil road—which is the habit of a wicked life—therein to undertake the exercise of good works. For indeed, unless one has first completely ceased and turned away from evil, one cannot attain the good: just as it is impossible for one to recover health unless the disease has been cast out, or for one to get warm unless the cold has been completely quieted; for these things cannot coexist. Similarly, it is necessary that he who desires to lead a good life withdraw from all evil association. “Seek peace, and pursue it.” Concerning this, the Lord said: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you” [John XIV, 27]. Seek, therefore, the peace of the Lord, and pursue it. But you shall pursue it in no other way than by running according to the goal for the prize of the upward calling [Phil. III, 14]. For true peace exists in the things above. For as long as we are bound to the flesh, we are joined to many things that cause us perturbation. B Seek, therefore, peace—that is to say, a release from the tumults of this world; acquire a serene mind, a certain tranquil and unperturbed state of the soul, which is neither agitated by passions nor dragged hither and thither by false doctrines that invite assent through plausibility, so that you may obtain the peace of God, which surpasses all intellect [Phil. IV, 7], and guards your heart. He who seeks peace seeks Christ, because He is our peace; He who made both one, creating a new man, making peace [Eph. II, 14], and reconciling through the blood of His cross both the things in heaven and the things on earth [Col. I, 20].
11. C “The eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and his ears unto their prayers” [Ps. XXXIII, 16]. Just as the holy ones are the body of Christ, and members in part, and God set in the Church some as eyes, others as tongues, others taking the role of hands, and others of feet, so too the holy spiritual powers, dwelling in the heavenly place, are said to be
A eyes, because keeping watch over us is entrusted to them, and ears, because they receive our prayers. Now, therefore, He has called the power that watches over us and the power that receives our prayers "eyes" and "ears." "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are unto their cry." Since every action of the righteous person is worthy of being watched over by God, and every word—since nothing is said idly by the righteous—is active and efficacious, for this reason the Word says that the righteous man is always watched over and always heard. B "But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth." By "face" I think is meant the manifest and open coming of the Lord at the judgment. Therefore, the "eyes of the Lord," as of one still looking upon us from afar, are said to look upon the righteous; but the "face" itself is what is to appear, for the purpose of cutting off from the earth every memory of wickedness. Do not, I pray you, think that the face of God is fashioned in a bodily way; for if you do, that which the Scripture says will appear absurd—that there should be eyes separately shining upon the righteous, and separately a face turned toward the wicked. And yet, neither are there eyes without a face, nor is a face devoid of eyes. "For a man shall not see the face of the Lord and live," but the angels of the little ones in the Church do always behold the face of our Father who is in heaven. For it is impossible for us now to grasp the sight of the glorious appearance, because of the weakness of the flesh that clothes us; but the angels, having no such covering comparable to our flesh, are hindered by nothing from gazing continuously upon the face of the glory of God. C So also we, when we have become the children of the resurrection, shall then be deemed worthy of the face-to-face knowledge. Then the righteous shall be deemed worthy of the vision of the face in exultation, but the sinners in judgment; for then it shall come to pass, that all sin will be consumed by the just judgment of God.
"The righteous cried, and the Lord heard them, and delivered them out of all their troubles." The cry of the righteous is spiritual, having its loud voice in the secret recesses of the heart, being able to reach D even the very ears of God. For he who asks for great things, and prays for heavenly things, he is the one who cries out, and sends up a cry capable of being heard.
A The just cried out, therefore, and sought nothing petty, nothing earthly, nothing base. For this reason the Lord accepted their voice, and delivered them out of all their tribulations, not so much by freeing them from adverse things as by making them victors over the events that befell them. (Vers. 19.) *The Lord is near to those who are brokenhearted; and He will save the humble in spirit.* Through His own goodness, the Lord draws near to all; but we remove ourselves through sin. *For behold*, he says, *those who distance themselves from You shall perish.* For this reason, Moses is said to draw near to God; and if any other person is similar to him, through noble deeds and good actions he becomes near to God. B This statement directly contains a prophecy of the Lord’s coming, and it is in agreement with what preceded it. For there it was said: *The face of the Lord is against those who do evil*; that is, His manifestation in judgment will take place for the destruction of all wickedness. Here, however, *The Lord is near to those who are brokenhearted* portends the Lord’s coming in the flesh, which is already drawing near and not far off. And let the prophecy of Isaiah be your assurance of this matter: *The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me; He has sent Me to preach good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind.* For since a physician was being sent to the brokenhearted, He says, "The Lord is near." I say to you who are humble, and who have crushed your own pride, He will simultaneously gladden you and lead you to endurance through the joy of the things awaited. C Contrition of heart is the uprooting of human reasonings. One who has despised the things of this world and surrendered himself to the Word of God, and who applies his ruling faculty to thoughts that transcend man and are more divine—this is the one who has a contrite heart, and who has made his heart a sacrifice that is not despised by the Lord. *For a broken and humbled heart God will not despise.* The Lord is near, therefore, to the brokenhearted, and He will save the humble in spirit. He who has no haughtiness, and is not proud on account of any human thing, he is both contrite in heart and humble in spirit. D Indeed, he who walks in sin is also "humble," because sin, above all things, renders one humble—insomuch that we say that she who has been corrupted and has lost the holiness of her virginity has been "humbled." Thus, it says, when Amnon offered violence to Tamar, *He humbled her.* Whoever, therefore, has lost the stature and exaltation of the soul, having been cast down to the earth by sin, and as it were struck to the ground, so that they walk no differently than serpents, they lie fallen; and although they are in this way "humbled," they are not humble in spirit. For their humility is not praiseworthy. But those who possess the grace of the Holy Spirit, not unwillingly do they themselves...
A humble themselves beneath those who are inferior, in accordance with the Apostle, calling themselves "servants of any in Christ" (31), and "the offscouring of all things until now"; and again, "We have become as the filth of the world." Those who use humility spiritually make themselves last of all, so that they may become first of all in the kingdom of heaven. The Lord also calls these blessed, saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, and out of them all the Lord will deliver them." "In everything," he says, "afflicted, but not distressed." For this reason, the Lord also says to His disciples, "In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." So if you should ever see the righteous being in diseases, in bodily maiming, in the loss of their kin, in stripes, in ignominies, in every poverty and lack of necessities, remember that "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, and out of all of them the Lord will deliver them." But he who says that it is not fitting for the righteous to have affliction says nothing else but that it is not fitting for an athlete to have an opponent. And if the athlete does not struggle, what occasions for crowns will he have? B Now it is said four times in this psalm by what manner the Lord delivers from affliction whomsoever He wills to deliver. For first, "I sought the Lord and He heard me, and delivered me from all my afflictions"; and second again, "This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him from all his afflictions"; and third, "The righteous cried out, and the Lord heard them, and He delivered them from all their afflictions"; and finally, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, and the Lord will deliver them from them all."
13. "The Lord keeps all their bones; not one of them shall be broken." Must we remain at the letter and be content with the thought that immediately falls upon our ears—that these bones, the supports of the flesh, shall not be broken for the righteous because of the protection given to them by the Lord—and whether the righteous man’s bones will be kept from fracture and C unharmed only as long as he lives and dwells in life; or whether, even when he is released from the bodily bond, there will be no cause for fracture to befall the righteous man? And yet we have learned by experience that many bones of the righteous, who surrendered themselves to all kinds of sufferings for the sake of the testimony for Christ, have been crushed and broken. For already persecutors have broken the legs of some, and often have pierced hands and heads with nails. And D although...
yet who would contradict that those perfected in martyrdom are the most righteous of all? But perhaps, just as man is said to be—that is, the soul and the human intellect—so also his members are called by the same name as those of the flesh. For Scripture often names the members of the inner man, as when it says, *The eyes of the wise man are in his head*; this means that the hidden part of the wise man is provident and circumspect. And again, it similarly calls the eyes both of the soul and the flesh eyes, not only in the passage we have cited, but also where it says that *the commandment of the Lord is bright, enlightening the eyes*. And what must we say concerning this: *He that has ears to hear, let him hear*? For it is clear and evident that some possess B ears superior and more excellent, which are able to hear the words of God. And to those who do not possess these ears, what does He say? *You deaf, hear, and you blind, look up*. Likewise: *I opened my mouth and drew in the spirit*; and, *You have broken the teeth of sinners*. For all these things have been said with regard to the faculties that serve for spiritual nourishment and spiritual doctrine. Such also is that expression: *I am pained in my belly*; and that, *The foot of the just shall not stumble*. For all such things are referred to the inner man. And truly, according to the same reasoning, there are also certain bones of the inner man, by which the connection and harmony of the faculties of the soul is held together. And just as bones by their own firmness protect the tenderness of the flesh: so also in the Church there are some who, on account of their own constancy, are able to bear the C infirmities of the weak. And as bones are connected to one another at the joints by nerves and ligaments that grow upon them, so too would be the bond of charity and peace, producing a certain solidification and conjunction of the spiritual bones in the Church of God. Regarding these bones, when they are loosened from harmony and are as it were dislocated, the Prophet says: *Our bones have been scattered near to hell*. And if ever trouble and shaking should seize these bones, he says in prayer: *Heal me, O Lord, for my bones have been troubled*. But when they have preserved their proper harmony, guarded by the Lord, not one of them shall be broken, but they are worthy to offer glory to God. For all my bones, he says, shall say: *Lord, Lord, who is like to thee?* Have you seen the nature of rational bones? Perhaps the Church may be able to say—
All my bones shall say*, in accordance with the mystery of the resurrection. For the Lord says thus to these bones: *Behold, I bring a spirit of life into you, and I will place nerves upon you, and I will bring up flesh upon you, A and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.* These bones, therefore, having received life and giving thanks to him who raised them up, shall say: *Lord, Lord, who is like to thee?*
B The death of sinners is evil; for there is a death among the righteous which is not evil in its nature, but good. For those who have died with Christ are in a good death; and those who have died to sin have died a good and saving death. But the death of sinners is surely evil. For punishment succeeds it, just as it did the rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and who feasted sumptuously every day. *And they that hate the just shall do amiss.* They who live in transgressions hate the just, because they are rebuked by the life of the just man as by a rule of rectitude—rebuked, that is to say, by the comparison with what is better. And because they live in sins, they live in a hateful manner toward the just man for fear of his rebukes; and because they hate, they again wrap themselves in sins.
For there are many pretexts for which the just man might be hated, such as the boldness that is found in his rebukes. For they hate him who reproves in the gates, and they abominate a holy word. C Ambition and the love of power have also moved many to hate those who are superior; sometimes there is even an ignorance regarding the word about the just man, and as to who the just man is. *The death of sinners is evil.* Or perhaps he calls the whole of life death, because the Apostle called this flesh death, saying: *Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?* Those who make ill use of this body, providing it for the service of every sin, are preparing an evil death for themselves.
*The Lord will redeem the souls of his servants, and none of those who hope in him shall do amiss.* Because those who were created to serve the Lord were being held under the captivity of the enemy, he will redeem their souls with his precious blood. Therefore, none of those who hope in him will be examined in transgressions.
ON PSALM XLIV
*To the end, for those who shall be changed, to the sons of Core for understanding, a canticle for the beloved.*A 1. This psalm also seems to be suitable for the perfecting of human nature, and useful for those who have determined to live according to virtue in order to attain the proposed end. For those who are progressing have need of the doctrine for perfection, which this psalm provides, having the inscription: *To the end, for those who shall be changed.* But he said covertly, "for men." For we are, most of all rational beings, subject to alterations and changes nearly every day and hour. We are not the same to ourselves either in body or mind; but our body, always flowing and dissipating, is in motion and change, either growing from small to great, or contracting from perfect to a lesser mass. B For the boy who already seeks school and is found suitable for receiving the arts and disciplines is not the same as the infant who was just born. And again, the youth who can now attempt juvenile exercises is clearly someone else compared to that one. And beside the youth, the man is someone else, in both firmness and magnitude of body, and in the perfection of reason. But when he has reached his peak and attained the stability of his age, he begins again to diminish little by little toward the lesser, as his physical condition perishes unnoticed and his bodily strengths decrease, until, bowed by old age, he suffers the final detraction of his strength. We, therefore, are those who are changed; and the psalm wisely signified us humans by this word. For angels do not admit of change. C For there is no boy among them, no adolescent, no old man; but in whatever state they were created from the beginning, in that they remain, since their substance is preserved simple and immutable. But we are changed, according to the body, as has been shown; but according to the soul and the inner man, we are always changing our opinions together with shifting circumstances. For we are one sort of people when we are joyous and everything in life succeeds for us, and quite another in calamitous times, when we fall into some adversities. We are changed even in anger, having assumed a certain beastly state. We are changed also in our concupiscences, having become like brutes through the lusts of life. Those who are insane with love for their neighbor’s wives have become like horses raging for females. D And the deceitful one is compared to a fox, as is Herod; but the impudent one is called a dog, as was Nabal the Carmelite. Do you see the variety and diversity of our change? Admire, then, him who conveniently and suitably applied this appellation to us.
A Indeed, it seems to me that a certain interpreter has well and aptly expressed the same thought with other words, when, in place of "For those who shall be changed," he says, "For the lilies." He thought the flower, which quickly withers, worthy to be compared to the frailty of human nature. But since this expression is turned toward a future time (for it was said, "For those who shall be changed," as though this change were to appear to us at some later time), let us consider whether he suggests to us the doctrine of the resurrection, in which this change will be given to us; and the change is for the better and the spiritual. For it is sown, he says, in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. B Do you see the change? It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body, at which time all physical creation is also changed together with us. For indeed, "The heavens will grow old like a garment, and as a vestment God shall change them, and they shall be changed." Then also the sun will be seven times greater than itself, according to Isaiah, and the moon according to the size that the sun now possesses. Since, however, the oracles of God are not written for all, but for those who possess ears according to the inner man, he inscribed it, "For those who shall be changed"; as I think, for those who take care of themselves, and who constantly, through the exercises of piety, progress toward something greater. C For this is the most beautiful change, which the right hand of the Most High bestows; of which even the blessed David was sensible, when, having tasted the good things of virtue, he reached out to the things which were before him. For what does he say? "And I said, Now I have begun: this is the change of the right hand of the Most High." So that he who makes progress in virtue, there is never a time when he is not being changed. For when I was a child, he says, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away the things of a child. And again, D having become a man, he did not cease from activity, but "forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are before, he pressed toward the mark for the prize of the high calling." Change, therefore, is the inward man being renewed day by day. Since, then, he is about to announce to us the things concerning the beloved, who undertook the dispensation of the incarnation for us, for those who are worthy of this grace…
A the prophet says that he has delivered this ode to the sons of Core. For it is an ode, and not a psalm; because it was delivered with a naked voice, without the accompaniment of an instrument, with a comely modulation of the voice. But the ode is for the Beloved. Shall I reveal to you the Beloved, whom the word says this is? Or do you know it even before our words, mindful of the voice in the Gospel? "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him." For he is beloved to the Father as the Only-begotten, and to all creation as a kind and good father and guardian. And he is the same by nature, both beloved and good. Wherefore some have already well defined that the good is that which all things desire. But it is not for just anyone to arrive at the perfection of love, and to recognize him who is truly the Beloved; but for him who has already put off the old man, who is being corrupted according to the desires of deceit, and has put on the new man, who is being renewed unto knowledge according to the image of his Creator. For whoever loves money, and is frantic after the perishable beauty of bodies, and prizes this fleeting glory, having spent the power of loving on things where it was not appropriate, has been blinded to the contemplation of the truly Beloved. Therefore he says: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." But the word, "with all," admits of no partition into other things. For however much of your love you expend on lower things, just that much will necessarily be lacking to you from the whole. For this reason, B few of all people have been called friends of God; as it is written that Moses was a friend; and likewise John: "For the friend of the bridegroom," he says, "standing by, rejoices with joy"; that is, he who has a stable and immovable love toward Christ, he is worthy of His friendship. Therefore also the Lord says to his disciples, already becoming perfect: "No longer do I call you servants, but friends; because the servant does not know what his master is doing." It is, therefore, the mark of a perfect person to recognize the truly Beloved. And in truth, only the saints are friends of God and of one another; but no one who is wicked or ignorant is a friend. For the good of friendship never falls into a wicked disposition, because nothing shameful or discordant can enter into the concord of friendship. For evil is not only contrary to the good, but also to itself. C But now let us proceed to the examination of the words.
3. VERSE 2. *My heart has brought forth a good word.* Already, indeed, some have thought these things to be uttered from the person of the Father. D
regarding the Word who was with Him in the beginning, A whom, they say, He brought forth as if from His heart and from His very bowels; and from a good heart, a good word came forth. But to me it seems that these things should be referred to the person of the Prophet. For the things that follow this passage no longer set forth to us an exposition concerning the Father with equal clarity. For the Father would not have said concerning His own tongue, "My tongue is the pen of a ready writer." *Fair in beauty beyond the sons of men.* For it does not possess the excellence of its beauty from comparison with men. And going further, he says: "Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness." For He did not say: "I, God, have anointed you," but "God has anointed you," so that from this it is clear that the person speaking is someone else. B Who, then, is this, if not the Prophet himself, who received the energy of the Holy Spirit diffused within him? *My heart,* he says, *has brought forth a good word.* For since a "belch" (eructatio) is a hidden breath, which, when bubbles burst through the heat of the food consumed, is exhaled upwards, so he who has been nourished by that living bread which came down from heaven and gives life to the world, and who has been saturated by every word proceeding from the mouth of God, according to the customary tropology of Scripture—that soul, I say, nourished by sacred teachings, emits a belch suitable to its food. Therefore, since the food was rational and good, the Prophet brings forth a good word. For the good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good. Let us also, therefore, seek food from the Word for the satisfaction of our souls (for "the righteous man," he says, "eating, fills his soul"), so that, according to the proportion of those things by which we are fed, we may emit not a common, but a good word. For the evil man, nourished by depraved dogmas, brings forth a wicked word from his heart. Do you not see what kind of things the mouths of heretics bring forth? How grievous and foul, indicating some great disease in the depths of those wretched men? For the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. Do not therefore, having itching ears, heap up for yourself teachers C who are able to bring disease into your bowels and to create in you a belch of depraved words, for which you are to undergo condemnation on the day of judgment. For "by your words," He says, "you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." *I declare my works to the king.* This word also brings us strongly to understand the person of the Prophet: *I declare my works to the king*; that is, I will confess to the Judge, and I will anticipate the accuser through the declaration of my own works. For we have received the command that says: "You, speak your iniquities first, that you may be justified." *My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.* Just as a pen is a writing instrument, D which the hand of a skilled person moves to form...
A the characters of what is to be written, so too the tongue of the righteous, with the Holy Spirit moving it, inscribes the words of eternal life upon the hearts of the faithful; it is dipped not in ink, but in the Spirit of the living God. The Holy Spirit is, therefore, a scribe, since He is wise and teaches all things; and He is a "ready writer" because the movement of the mind is swift. And the Spirit will inscribe thoughts for us, *not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.* According to the measure of the heart's capacity, the Spirit inscribes more or fewer things upon the hearts, whether made manifest to all or more obscure, according to the preparation of one's purity. And because of the speed of what is written, the whole world is now filled with the Gospel. B It has seemed right to us to take the next words of the passage from their own beginning and not to join them to the preceding ones, but to add them to what follows. For we consider that the phrase, *You are fairer in beauty*, refers to the Lord, with a change of person.
4. *You are fairer in beauty than the sons of men. Grace has been poured out upon your lips.* Aquila and Symmachus induce us to this understanding, the one having said: "You have been adorned with beauty more than the sons of men"; and Symmachus, "You are beautiful in beauty more than the sons of men." Therefore, he who has gazed C upon His divinity calls the Lord "fair in beauty." For he is not praising the beauty of flesh. *For we saw him, and he had no form or comeliness, but his form was dishonored, failing before the sons of men.* It is clear, therefore, that the Prophet, when he had looked upon His brightness and had been filled with the radiance from thence, being struck in his soul by this beauty, was moved toward a divine love for that intelligible comeliness; once this has appeared to the human soul, all those things that were formerly loved appear base and abominable. For this reason also Paul, as soon as he saw the One who is *fair in beauty*, considered all things to be refuse, that he might gain Christ. Those who are outside the word of truth call the preaching of the Gospel foolishness, holding in contempt the simplicity of the diction of the Scriptures; but we who boast in D [the cross of Christ, to whom there was made manifest through the Spirit what was graciously given by God...]
us by God, not in persuasive words of human wisdom, we know that there is a rich grace poured out by God regarding the sayings about Christ. For this reason, in a short time, the proclamation traversed almost the entire world, since the grace that was poured out upon the heralds of the Gospel—whom Scripture has also named the lips of Christ—was rich and abundant. For this reason, the proclamation of the Gospel has much power to persuade and to draw toward salvation, despite the contemptible nature of the little words used. And every soul has been held fast by immovable dogmas, being confirmed through grace toward the unshakable faith in Christ. Hence the Apostle says: "Through whom we have received grace and apostleship for the obedience of faith." And again: "I labored more abundantly than them all, yet not I, but the grace of God which is with me."
5. "Grace is poured out upon thy lips; therefore God has blessed thee forever." It is written in the Gospel that they "marveled at the words of grace that proceeded out of his mouth." Therefore, the Psalm, wishing to B signify emphatically the abundance of grace in the words of our Lord, said, "Grace is poured out upon thy lips," because of the abundance of grace in the word. "God has blessed thee," he says, "forever." It is clear, however, that these things must be referred to his humanity, inasmuch as he advanced in "wisdom and age and grace." According to this, we understand that grace has also been given to him as a reward for his noble deeds. Similar to this is that which says: "Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Allied to this is also that which was written by Paul to the Philippians, that "he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; wherefore God also has highly exalted him." So it is clear C that these things are spoken concerning the man according to the Savior; or, because the Church is the body of the Lord, and he himself is the head of the Church, just as we have declared the ministers of the heavenly word to be the lips of Christ (just as Paul, having Christ speaking in himself, and whoever is like him in virtue) — so also we, as many as have believed, are the remaining members of the body of Christ. Therefore, whoever refers the blessing given to the Church back to the Lord will not be wrong. The "God has blessed thee," then, means: He has filled thy members and thy body with blessings from himself forever, that is, for eternity.
VER. 4, 5. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.
A We believe, therefore, that this is to be referred tropologically to the living Word of God, so that he might be joined to the flesh; who is "living and more cutting than any two-edged sword, and reaching unto the division of soul and spirit, and of the joints and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb. iv, 12). For the thigh is a symbol of activity pertaining to generation. For "these," he says, "are the souls that came out of the thigh of Jacob" (Exod. i, 5). As, therefore, the Lord our Jesus Christ is named life, and the way, and bread, and the vine, and the true light (John xiv, 6), and in infinite other ways, so too is he named a sword, cutting asunder the impassioned part of the soul and mortifying the movements towards concupiscence. Then, since the Word of God was about to be joined to the infirmity of the flesh, it is well added, "O most mighty"; for this is the greatest argument of power: that God could exist in human nature. For the constitution of heaven and earth, and the generation of the sea, and the air, and the greatest elements, and if anything supra-mundane is conceived, and if anything lower than the earth, does not so much commend the power of the Word of God as does the dispensation of the Incarnation, and that condescension of his to the humility and infirmity of human nature.
"With thy glory and thy majesty." B There is a difference between "glory" (specie) and "majesty" (pulchritudine); for that is called "glorious" which has been completed at a suitable time, up to its own proper maturity. For example, that grain is called glorious which is already ripe for the harvest; and that fruit of the vine is "glorious" which has secured its own ripening by the season of the year unto its own perfection, and finds itself apt for enjoyment. "Majesty," however, is that which has the grace blossoming forth from it, which is well-adjusted in the composition of its limbs. "Gird therefore thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty." With thy glory—that is, in the fullness of times; and with thy majesty—to wit, the divinity which can be perceived by contemplation and reason. For that is truly C majestic which exceeds all human understanding and power, and which can be contemplated by the mind alone. His majesty was known by the disciples, to whom he privately explained the parables. Petrus and the sons of thunder also saw his majesty on the mount, shining brighter than the brilliance of the sun, and they were accounted worthy to perceive with their eyes the exordia of his glorious advent. "And Incline," he says, "and prosperously proceed, and reign." This is, having attacked the care of men through the flesh, expend the highest and constant diligence, and one that never fails. For this will provide a way and course for the preaching, and will subject all things to his empire. Nor indeed D was that to us—that is, into the infinite [ages].
"And incline," he says, "and prosperously proceed, and reign." That is, having begun the care of men through the flesh, [exercise a] persistent, and lasting, and never-failing diligence.
the care of it. For this will provide a way and a path for the preaching, and will subject all to your kingdom. But let it not seem strange to us that it is spoken imperatively, "Prosper, proceed," since it is the custom of Scripture always to phrase prayers in this way. For "Thy will be done" is instead of "may it be done," and "Thy kingdom come" is instead of "may it come." [6.] "For the sake of truth and meekness and righteousness; and your right hand shall lead you miraculously." Again, the discourse is fashioned in a similar way, just as if the Lord were receiving these things as a reward: to prosper, to proceed, and to reign—namely, for the sake of truth, and meekness, and righteousness. But one must understand it in this way: since human affairs have been perverted by falsehood, in order that you may sow the truth, reign among men who are being reigned over by sin; for you yourself are the truth. And, "For the sake of meekness," that by the example of you all might be led to gentleness and kindness. Wherefore also the Lord said, "Learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart." And He provided proof of this meekness in His very deeds: being reviled, He was silent; being scourged, He endured. "And your right hand shall lead you miraculously." Not a pillar of cloud, nor the splendor of fire, but your very right hand. "Your arrows are sharp, O mighty one." The arrows of the Mighty One are those sharp words—words that hit the mark, which reach the hearts of those who hear them, striking and wounding souls that are sensitive and ready. For, He says, the words of the wise are like goads. Therefore also the Psalmist, desiring at times to be delivered from the treacherous men of his generation, as a remedy for a deceitful tongue seeks the arrows of the mighty, which are sharp. And he further asks for "coals of the desert" to be present, so that for those whom the spiritual arrows do not touch on account of the callousness of their heart, there might be ready for them the punishment which he called "coals of the desert." For as many as have made themselves deserts of God, for them the preparation of the coals of the desert is necessary. "Now therefore, your arrows are sharp." From these arrows, those souls that have accepted the faith are wounded, and being set ablaze with the highest love for God, they say, in a manner similar to the bride, "I am wounded by love." Indescribable and ineffable is the beauty of the Word, and the splendor of wisdom, and the form of God in His own image. Blessed, therefore, are those who are eager spectators of that true beauty. For as if bound to it by love, and loving that heavenly and blessed love, they forget their own kin and friends; they also forget their home and all their wealth; and, oblivious even of the bodily necessity of eating and drinking, they are attached solely to divine and pure love. Moreover, you may understand "sharp arrows" also to be those who, for the scattering...
throughout the whole world of the Gospel, were sent forth—men who, because they had been whetted, shone with the works of righteousness and subtly crept into the souls of their learners. For these arrows, sent forth everywhere, prepared the nations to fall beneath Christ. It seems to me more consistent that the phrasing be rearranged via hyperbaton, so that the meaning is this: "Bend [the bow], and prosper, and reign, and your right hand shall guide you marvelously, and peoples shall fall beneath you," because your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies. No one who is a fighter against God, or arrogant, or proud, submits himself to God, but only those who have obeyed the faith. But the arrows, having slipped into the hearts of those who were once enemies of the king, draw them to a desire for the truth; they draw them to the Lord, so that those who were enemies of God might be reconciled to Him through doctrine.
The arrows, having fallen into the hearts of those who were once enemies of the king, draw them to a desire for the truth through his teachings.
7. VERSES 7, 8. *Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.* B Since he has discoursed at length regarding the human nature, he now brings his discourse back up to the heights of the glory of the Only-Begotten. *Thy throne, O God*, he says, *is for ever and ever*; this means: your kingdom extends beyond the ages and is older than any understanding. And beautifully, after the obedience of the peoples, he celebrates the magnificence of the kingdom of God. *A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom.* On account of this, he also returned to Him His proper title, clearly addressing Him as God: *Thy throne, O God.* The scepter of God is a disciplinary one; and in disciplining, it brings forth right, not twisted, judgments. For this reason, the scepter of His kingdom has been titled the scepter of righteousness. *For if his sons forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments, I will visit their iniquities with a rod.* See the just judgment of God? He does not use it on just anyone, but on those who sin. Now this is also called a scepter of consolation: *Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me.* And this is also a scepter of crushing. *Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.* The earthly and clay-like things are crushed C for the benefit of those being shepherded, just as it is also delivered *to the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved.*
8. *Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.* Since it was fitting that the typical
A chrism should foreshadow both the typical high priests and kings, the flesh of the Lord was anointed with the true chrism, through the advent into it of the Holy Spirit, which is called the oil of gladness. B He was anointed, moreover, *above his fellows*; that is, above all men who are partakers of Christ. For to those indeed a certain partial participation of the Spirit was given, but upon the Son of God the Holy Spirit descended, as John says, *He remained upon him*. And the Spirit is rightly called the oil of gladness, since one of the fruits which the Holy Spirit produces is joy. And because the discourse concerning the Savior is mingled, due to both the nature of the Divinity and the dispensation of the incarnation, looking back again to the human aspect of God, he says: *Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity*. This is equivalent to saying: The rest of men often attain through labor, and exercise, and attention, to a disposition toward the good, and an aversion to base things; but to Thee there is a certain natural conjunction and kinship with the good, and alienation from iniquity. And to us, too, it is not difficult, if we so will, to take up the love of righteousness and the hatred of iniquity. For God has C usefully given every faculty to the rational soul, as that of loving, so also that of hating; so that, guided by reason, we may love virtue, but hate vice. For it is possible sometimes even laudably to use hatred. *Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?* I was consumed with indignation at thine enemies? *I hated them with perfect hatred*.
9. *Myrrh and stacte and cassia from thy garments, from the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.* The prophetic word, descending in order, and having first traversed all things that pertain to the dispensation of the incarnation, by the intense gaze D of the Spirit which revealed hidden things to him, came to the passion: *For myrrh*, he says, *and stacte and cassia are from thy garments*. That myrrh is a symbol of burial, the evangelist John also taught us, saying that he was buried by Joseph of Arimathea with myrrh and aloes. And stacte is itself also the most delicate species of myrrh. For when the spice has been crushed, whatever is liquid in it is separated into stacte; that which remains, being thicker, is called myrrh. Therefore
A the fragrance of Christ also breathes forth: myrrh, on account of the passion; and stacte, because he did not remain motionless nor inactive during those three days and three nights, but descended into Hades for the sake of the dispensation concerning the resurrection, so that he might fulfill all things of himself. He breathes forth cassia, because cassia is a very thin and fragrant bark that encloses a woody reed. Perhaps, then, the Scripture has deeply and wisely hinted to us, by the name of cassia, the passion of the cross, which was undertaken for the benefit of the whole creation. You have, therefore, myrrh for the burial, stacte for the descent into Hades (since every drop is carried downward), and cassia for the dispensation of the flesh upon the wood. And for this reason, B "The daughters of kings," it says, "have gladdened thee in thy honor." And who would the daughters of kings be, if not noble, great, and royal souls? Having recognized Christ on account of this condescension to human affairs, they have gladdened him in his honor, in true faith and perfect love, giving glory to his divinity. Now, he says that these aromatics are not barely present on the vestments of Christ (this being the parable of the words and the apparatus of the dogmas), but that they are brought from all the buildings. For he calls the greatest of the houses "palaces," and these to be constructed of ivory, the prophet teaching us, I think, of the rich love of Christ toward the world. "The queen stood at thy right hand, in vesture of gold, surrounded with variety." He is now speaking concerning the Church, about whom we learned in the Canticle C that she is the one perfect dove of Christ, who admits to the right hand of Christ those who are conspicuous for good works, separating them from the wicked, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Therefore the queen stands by—the soul united to the bridal Word, not being ruled by sin, but participating in the kingdom of Christ—at the right hand of the Savior in vesture of gold; that is, in intellectual dogmas, interwoven and variegated, inasmuch as she adorns herself gracefully and in a manner worthy of God. And since the dogmas are not of one kind, but are diverse and various, comprising moral, natural, and what are called contemplative discourses, for this reason the Scripture says that the vestiture of the bride is variegated.
10. VERSE 11, 12. "Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline D thy ear, and forget thy people, and thy father's house; and the king shall desire thy beauty; for he is thy Lord, and they shall worship him."
A He invites the Church to the hearing and keeping of what is commanded, and he brings her into a close relationship through this form of address, calling her "daughter"—as if he had adopted her as his own daughter through love. *Hear, O daughter, and see.* He teaches by the word "see" that the Church has a mind trained for contemplation. Consider, he says, the created things, and, being helped by the gaze upon the order of them, thus finally ascend to the contemplation of the Creator Himself. Then, bending her high neck of pride, *Incline*, he says, *thine ear*. Do not run off to external myths, but receive the humble voice of the evangelical word: Incline thine ear to this teaching, so that you may forget those wicked customs and ancestral doctrines. Therefore, *Forget thy people, and thy father's house.* For everyone who commits sin is born of the devil. Cast away from me, he says, the doctrines of demons; forget the sacrifices, the nocturnal dance, the myths that inflame one toward fornication and every lewdness. For this reason, I have called you my daughter, so that you might hate the parent who previously brought you forth unto destruction. For if, through oblivion, you wipe away the stains of the wicked teachings, having recovered your own beauty, you shall appear desirable to the Bridegroom and King. *For he is thy Lord, and they shall worship him.* He declares the necessity of obedience with these words: *He is thy Lord; and they shall worship him*, that is, all created things. For, *In the name of Jesus Christ every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth* (Phil. II, 10).
B *Vers. 13. And the daughter of Tyre with gifts; the rich of the people shall entreat thy face.* It seems that idolatry had been cultivated with excessive zeal in the Canaanite region. Now the metropolis of Canaan is Tyre. The Word, therefore, exhorting the Church to obedience, says, "Even the daughter of Tyre shall come some day with gifts; and the rich of the people shall worship thy face with gifts." He did not say, "They shall worship *thee* with gifts," but, "Thy face." For the Church is not worshipped, but the head of the Church, Christ (Eph. V, 23), whom the Scripture has termed the "face."
11. *All the glory of the king's daughter is from within, in golden fringes, wrapped about, embroidered.* (Vers. 14, 15) *Virgins shall be brought to the king after her.* C Since she has been purified from the ancient doctrines of wickedness, as if from a document...
having obeyed the teaching and having forgotten her own people and her father's house, the Holy Spirit A tells of what concerns her. And since He saw the purity in secret, *All*, He says, *the glory of the king's daughter*, that is to say, of the bride of Christ, who has finally become the daughter of the king through adoption, *is from within.* The word exhorts us to advance to the innermost mysteries of ecclesiastical glory, inasmuch as the beauty of the bride exists within. For he who prepares himself for the Father who sees in secret, and prays, and does all things not in order to be seen by men, but in order to be revealed to God alone; this man has all his glory from within, just as the daughter of the king. Consequently, the golden fringes B with which she is clothed and adorned all over, are likewise within. Seek nothing in external gold or bodily variegation; but understand a certain garment worthy to adorn him who is according to the image of the Creator, as the Apostle says: *Stripping off the old man, and putting on the new, who is being renewed unto knowledge according to the image of the Creator.* And he who has put on *bowels of mercy, kindness, humility, patience, meekness*, is clothed from within, and has the inner man adorned. And Paul also exhorts us to put on the Lord Jesus, not according to the outer man, but so that the remembrance of God may encircle our mind. I think, moreover, that this spiritual garment is woven when action is joined to the word of teaching. For just as a bodily garment C is woven when the woof is interlaced with the warp, so when the word has preceded, if actions are added in accordance with it, a most beautiful garment of the soul can be fashioned, one which possesses a life of virtue completed by word and deed. Fringes, too, hang from the garment, and these are likewise intellectual; for this reason they are said to be golden. Since the word is greater than the deed, it is, as it were, a fringe overflowing from the fabric to the action. Certain souls follow the bride of the Lord, souls which have not received the seeds D of alien doctrines, which shall be brought to the king, following the bride. Let those, too, who have vowed their virginity to the Lord hear that *virgins shall be brought to the king*; virgins, I say, who are near to the Church, who follow behind her, and do not stray from ecclesiastical order. For the virgins shall be brought in gladness and exultation, they shall be brought into the temple of the king. Not those who have undergone virginity by compulsion, nor those who have embraced a chaste life out of sadness or necessity.
but those who in joy and exultation rejoice at such an achievement, these shall be brought to the king, and they shall be led not into an ordinary place, but into the temple of the king. For the sacred vessels, which no human usage has defiled, shall be brought into the holy of holies, and will have the authority of access into the inner sanctuaries, where profane feet shall not tread. How great a matter it is to be brought into the temple of the king, the Prophet shows, praying for himself and saying: "One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to see the delight of the Lord, and to visit His temple."
12. "Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee: thou shalt make them princes over all the earth." Since above it was commanded to forget the people and the house of one's father, in remuneration for this obedience, she now receives sons instead of fathers, distinguished by such dignities that they are B appointed as princes over all the earth. Who, then, are the sons of the Church? They are indeed the sons of the Gospel, who have ruled over the whole world. "For into all the earth," he says, "their sound went forth," and, "They shall sit upon twelve thrones, and shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel." If, however, anyone takes the fathers of the bride to be the patriarchs, the meaning of the apostles does not fail in this way either. For in their stead sons were born to her through Christ, who do the works of Abraham; and for this reason they are deemed equal in honor to them, because they have done the same things as them, on account of which the fathers were deemed worthy of great honors. The saints are indeed princes of all the earth because of their closeness to the Good, C since the very nature of Good bestows upon them sovereignty, just as it granted to Jacob power over Esau himself. "For you shall be," he says, "lord of your brother." Whoever, therefore, have become equal in honor to the fathers and have obtained superiority over all through the exercise of virtue, are both sons of Christ's bride and are appointed by their own mother as princes over all the earth. Observe also for me the power of the queen, how great it is in her: to appoint princes over all the earth. "I will be mindful of thy name in every generation and generation. Therefore shall the people confess to thee for ever and for ever and ever." D Regarding all this, it is said as if from the person of the Church, that "I will be mindful of Thy name in every generation and generation." What, then, is this memory of the Church? It is the confession of the peoples.
170 ON PSALM XLV.
*In the end, for the sons of Core: a psalm for the hidden things.*1. This psalm appears to me to contain a prophecy concerning the things that are to come "in the end." Paul, having observed this end, says: "Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father" (1 Cor. xv, 24). Or, since our actions lead us to the end, each to its own appropriate end—the good to blessedness, the wicked to eternal condemnation—and since the counsels delivered by the Spirit in this psalm lead to a good end those who obey, for this reason it is inscribed: *In the end*; implying that the reference of these teachings is toward the blessed end of human life. *For the sons of Core.* The psalm is also addressed to the sons of Core, whom the Holy Spirit does not divide, because, as though with one soul and one voice, they uttered the prophetic words in complete concord with one another, with none of them prophesying anything different from the others, but with the gift of prophecy equally bestowed upon them by reason of their equal disposition toward one another in good things. *For the hidden things* the psalm is said to be; that is, for things secret and concealed in mystery. But after you have touched upon the individual sentiments of this psalm, you will be taught the secrets of the words, and you will learn that it is not for just anyone to contemplate divine mysteries, but only for him who can become a harmonious instrument of the promise, so that, in place of a psaltery, his soul may be moved by the Holy Spirit working within it.
*Verse 2. God is our refuge and strength, a helper in troubles, which have found us exceedingly.* Every man is in need of much help because of the weakness inherent in his nature, since many troubles and hardships happen to him. Therefore, while seeking a refuge from all calamities, like one fleeing to a safe place, or retreating to some sharp peak surrounded by a strong wall because of the incursion of enemies, so finally he takes refuge in God, thinking this to be his only rest, if he remains in Him. That refuge in God is open to all is confessed by everyone; but regarding the choice of the Savior, the enemy has introduced no small amount of error and confusion. For while he lays traps as an enemy, he again deceives those he has trapped, leading them to flee to him as to a guardian, so that a double evil befalls them: either they are seized by force, or they perish through deceit. For this reason, the unbelievers flee to demons and to idols, despoiled of the knowledge of the true God by the confusion brought upon them by the devil. But even those who acknowledge God err in forming their judgment regarding these things, while in...
A their ignorance they make requests for what is beneficial, and demand certain things as if they were good, which are often not to their advantage, while fleeing from other things as if they were evil, which sometimes bring them great benefit. For instance, is someone ill? Fleeing the pain of the disease, he prays for health. Has he lost money? He is in great distress over the loss. Yet often illness is beneficial when it is about to chasten one who is sinning, just as health is harmful when it becomes an occasion for sin to the one who has it. Thus, wealth has already for some become a service to licentiousness, while poverty has greatly sobered many who were rushing to evil. Therefore, you should neither flee what you ought not, nor take refuge where you ought not. There is, however, one thing that must be avoided: sin, whereas God is the single refuge from evils. B Do not trust in princes, nor be puffed up in mind by the uncertainty of riches; do not be proud by reason of the strength of your body; do not pursue the splendor of human glory. None of these things leads to salvation; all are temporary, all are deceptive. The only refuge is God. Cursed is the man who puts his hope in man, or in any human thing.
For him who is able to say, "I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me," God is power. It is indeed common for many to say, "God is our refuge," and, "Lord, C You have become a refuge to us"; but to say it with the same frame of mind as the Prophet is for very few. For few are those who do not marvel at human things, but cleave entirely to God, and breathe Him alone, and place all their hope and confidence in Him. And in truth, the facts themselves convict us when, in our afflictions, we run to everything else rather than to God. Is your child ill? You immediately cast your eyes in every direction, looking for a magician or someone who places vain characters around the necks of innocent infants; or, at the very least, neglecting Him who is able to save, you turn to the doctor D and to medicines. If a dream disturbs you, you run to an interpreter of dreams. If you fear an enemy, you look about for some human protector. And in short, in every necessity you are convicted, naming God as your refuge with your word, but in deed drawing to yourself help from useless and vain things. But for the righteous, God is the true help. Just as a commander, equipped with a brave force of soldiers, is always ready to bring aid to an oppressed party, so God is our helper and aid to anyone against the devil.
sending forth the ministering spirits for the salvation of those in need. But affliction finds every righteous person because of their chosen way of life. For he who turns away from the wide and spacious road, and instead walks the narrow and constrained one, is found by afflictions. The Prophet represented the matter vividly, saying: "In the afflictions that have found us exceedingly." A For just as living, sentient beings overtake us, they work produce endurance, and through endurance, provenness; and through provenness, hope. Hence also the Apostle says: "Through many afflictions we must enter into the kingdom of God," and, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous." But he who has sustained the trial of affliction nobly and undisturbed will say: "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." And he is so far from despairing and fainting in afflictions that he even takes the opportunity of the magnitude of evils for boasting, saying: "And not only so, but we also glory in our afflictions."
3. VERSE 3. "Therefore we will not fear when the earth is troubled, and the mountains are transferred into the heart of the sea." B The Prophet makes manifest the great firmness of trust in Christ: namely, that even if all things are turned upside down, even if the earth is troubled and inverted, and even if the mountains, having abandoned their proper seat, are transferred into the midst of the sea, we will not fear, because we have God as our refuge, our strength, and our helper in the afflictions that have found us exceedingly. Whose heart is so fearless, whose thoughts so undisturbed, that in such great confusion his mind is fixed upon God, and because of his hope in Him, is not stunned by any of the events taking place? But we, if we do not sustain the anger of a man, or if a dog or any other wild beast rushes at us, we do not look to God, our helper in afflictions, but are stunned and turn inward upon ourselves. C "Their waters roared and were troubled." He has spoken of the upheaval of the earth and the displacement of the mountains; he speaks also of the surging and overturning of the sea, as the mountains fall into the midst of the deeps. "Their waters roared and were troubled"—of the seas, clearly. But these mountains themselves cause a greater disturbance in the waters, not being established in the sea, but by their own agitation bringing much commotion to the waters. When, therefore, the earth is troubled, and the waters of the seas raise a sound and surge up from the depths, and when the mountains are transferred and sustain much perturbation through the exceeding power of the Lord, then, he says, our heart remains undisturbed, because D
A it has its hopes firm and unshaken in God. "The mountains were troubled in his strength." You may also interpret the meaning of this statement metaphorically, calling "mountains" those who, on account of their own magnitude, become arrogant, while ignoring the power of God and exalting themselves against the knowledge of God; who, however, are afterward overcome and conquered by those who preach the word of wisdom with power and wisdom, and, having become conscious of their own poverty, fear the Lord and humble themselves before his power. Or, perhaps, the princes of this age and the fathers of the perishing wisdom are also called mountains, they who were troubled by the power of Christ, which he displayed in the struggle of the cross against him who had the dominion of death. For, divesting himself like some noble athlete, he overcame B principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in the wood.
4. "The streams of the river gladden the city of God." Salt waters, when violently agitated by the winds, roar and are troubled; but the streams of the river, proceeding without noise and flowing gently upon those worthy of receiving them, gladden the city of God. And now the righteous man drinks the living water, and later he shall drink it more abundantly when he shall be enrolled as a citizen in the city of God. But now he drinks through a glass and in a riddle, C because of his limited comprehension of divine contemplations; then, however, he shall receive the overflowing river, which is able to flood the entire city of God with joy. And who could this river of God be, if not the Holy Spirit, who descends upon the worthy according to the faith of those who have believed in Christ? "For he who believes in me," he says, "rivers of living water shall flow from his belly." And again: "If anyone shall drink of the water that I give, there shall become in him a fountain of water leaping up into life eternal." This river, therefore, gladdens the entire city of God at once, that is, the assembly of those who have their conversation in heaven; or, the city ought to be understood as the whole creation endowed with intellect, D from the heavenly powers down to human souls, gladdened by the inundation of the Holy Spirit. For some define a city as a settled system, governed by law. And the definition of a city that has been given also fits the Jerusalem above, the heavenly city. For there too is the gathering of the firstborn who are written in heaven; and it is settled because of the immutability of the conduct of the saints, and governed according to the heavenly law. Therefore, to learn the order and all the adornment of that polity is not for human nature. Those things are what "eye has not seen, nor ear" [heard, nor has it entered into the heart].
of man, which God has prepared for those who love him]; except that there is an innumerable multitude of angels there, and a gathering of the saints, and the Church of the firstborn who are enrolled in the heavens. A Regarding that city, David says: "Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God." To that city, God promises through Isaiah: "I will make you an eternal exultation, a joy for generation to generation; and there shall be no destruction, nor misery in your borders; but your walls shall be called Salvation." Raise up, therefore, the eyes of your soul, as befits those who seek the things above, to the matters of the city of God. For what can be imagined by anyone worthy of the blessedness there, which the river of God gladdens, while God himself is the artificer and builder? "The Most High has sanctified his tabernacle." Perhaps he refers to the God-bearing flesh, sanctified through its conjunction with God. From this you will understand the tabernacle of the Most High to be the very advent of God, which is through the flesh.
5. VER. 6. "God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved. God shall help her at the break of dawn." And B since God is in the midst of the city, he will grant her stability, bringing her help at the first rising of light. Whether, therefore, the name of "city" be applied to the Jerusalem above, or to the Church below, "The Most High has sanctified his tabernacle in her." And through this tabernacle, in which God has dwelt, he has been in her midst, granting her that she not be moved. For God is in the midst of the city, sending forth the rays of his own providence equally from everywhere to the ends of the circle. For thus the justice of God is preserved, since he distributes the same measure of goodness to all. "God shall help her at the break of dawn." The sensible sun, C indeed, effects the morning time among us after it has risen above our horizon; but the Sun of justice perfects the morning in the soul, producing day by the rising of mental light in him who has received it. For we humans are in night during this time of ignorance. When, therefore, having opened wide our ruling faculty, we receive the radiance of glory and are illuminated by that eternal light, then "God shall help her at the break of dawn." When we have become children of light, and the night has advanced for us, and the day has drawn near, then we become worthy of the help of D God. God, therefore, helps the city, by his own rising and advent, causing for her a morning. "For behold a man," he says, "the East is his name." To those, therefore, upon whom the mental light has risen, the darkness of ignorance and wickedness having been dispelled, the morning time approaches. Since...
therefore the light has come into the world, that he who walks in it may not stumble, its help is such as to bring the morning time. A Or perhaps, since the resurrection was at deep dawn, "God shall help the city in the morning, in the morning," for He it was who wrought the victory over death in the morning of the third day of the resurrection.
6. "The nations were troubled, the kingdoms tottered; the Most High gave His voice, the earth was shaken." Picture for me a city plotted against by enemies warring upon it; for a time it is besieged B by many nations and kings who have divided the scepters of the individual nations among themselves. Then imagine some commander, invincible in strength, suddenly appearing to bring help to this city, breaking the siege, scattering the gathering of the nations, and driving the kings themselves to flight merely by shouting at them with power, and striking terror into their hearts with the firmness of his voice. How great a turmoil, therefore, is it reasonable to suppose arose, while the nations were being chased and the kings were turning to flight? What a confused clamor, and what ceaseless noise must have been sent forth from their tumultuous flight! C Must we not believe that every place was filled with those who had been put to flight by fear, so that panic was stirred up everywhere in the cities or villages that received them? Such, then, is the assistance which the Savior points out to the city of God when He says: "The nations were troubled, the kingdoms tottered; the Most High gave His voice, the earth was shaken. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our helper." He saw the God who became man; he saw Emmanuel born of the holy Virgin, which, if one interprets it, signifies "God with us." And for this reason he exclaims prophetically: "The Lord of hosts is with us," showing that this is He who appeared to the holy prophets and patriarchs. "Our helper," he says, no other God than the One delivered by the prophets; but the God of Jacob, D who in the oracle given to His servant spoke: "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
7. "Come and see the works of the Lord, what wonders He has placed upon the earth, taking away wars to the ends of the earth." The Scripture invites those who are far from the word of truth to draw near to it through knowledge.
A Since the Word invites us, saying: "Come and see." For just as with physical eyes, great distances render the apprehension of things appearing under one's gaze dim, whereas the drawing near of those who are looking renders the recognition of the things seen clear, so too in the contemplation of the mind, he who does not unite himself to God through works, nor draw near to Him, cannot see His works with the pure eyes of the intellect. Therefore, "Come," draw near first, then "see the works of the Lord," being prodigious and paradoxical; by which, having been astonished, He transferred the formerly hostile and seditious nations to peace. "Come, my children, listen to me"; and again, "Come all you who labor and are heavy laden." It is a paternal voice, inviting to itself with outstretched arms those who until now have been rebellious. He, therefore, who has heard the call, and has drawn near, and has cleaved to the One who commands, will see Him who has "reconciled all things through the cross, whether things on earth or things in heaven." He will break the bow, and shatter the weapon, and burn the shields with fire. B Do you see the peaceful spirit of the Lord of Hosts, in that He has with Him the invisible powers of angelic ranks? Do you see the courage, at once combined with the humanity, of the supreme commander of the heavenly hosts? Who, indeed, as Lord of Hosts, and having all the systems of angelic ranks with Him, nowhere wounds any of his adversaries, casts down no one, touches no one; but smashes bows, and shatters weapons, and burns shields with fire. He breaks the bow, indeed, so that flaming arrows may no longer be sent forth through them; and He will shatter the weapons, the close-combat ones, so that those who are nearby, being plotted against, may in no way be able to receive wounds. And He will burn the shields with fire, stripping the adversaries of their defenses, and doing all things for the benefit of the enemies.
§ 11. "Be still and know that I am God." C For as long as we are occupied with things foreign to God, we cannot receive the knowledge of God. For who, being anxious about the things of the world, and immersing himself in the occupations of the flesh, can attend to the words of God, and be sufficient for the accurate and diligent observation of such great and lofty subjects? Do you not see that the word which fell among the thorns is choked by the thorns? Now the thorns are the pleasures of the flesh, and riches, and glory, and the cares that pertain to life. But it will be necessary for him who desires the knowledge of God to be divorced from all these, and when he has been freed from the passions, only then to receive the knowledge of God. For how shall the knowledge of D God enter into a soul held in constraints by the anxieties that have preoccupied it?
A And Pharao also knew that it is the characteristic of one who is at leisure to inquire after God, and for this reason he reproaches Israel: "You are idle, you are idle, and you say: 'We will sacrifice to the Lord our God.'" And indeed this leisure is good and profitable for the one at leisure, bringing about quiet for the reception of saving doctrines. But the leisure of the Athenians was evil, who were at leisure for nothing else but to tell or hear something newer; which some even now imitate, using the leisure of life for the discovery of some ever newer dogma. Such leisure is dear to unclean and wicked spirits. "When the unclean spirit has gone out," he says, "from a man, he says: 'I will return to the house from whence I came out.' And coming, he finds that house at leisure and swept." May it not be permitted for us, then, to make a leisure for the adversary to enter, but let us keep our inner house occupied, having B beforehand settled Christ within ourselves through the Spirit. After, therefore, he has granted peace to those who were hitherto troubled by enemies, then he says: "Be at leisure from the enemies distracting you, that in quiet you may contemplate the words concerning the truth." For this reason the Lord also says: "Everyone who does not renounce all that he possesses, cannot be my disciple." It is necessary, therefore, to be at leisure from marital works, so that we may be at leisure for prayer; to be at leisure from the pursuits concerning wealth, from the desire for this momentary glory, from the enjoyment of pleasures, from envy and all the wickedness against our neighbor, so that, our soul becoming tranquil and troubled by no passion, the illumination of God may become, as it were, in a certain mirror C pure and unshadowed. "I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Clearly the Lord says these things concerning His own passion, just as it is written in the Gospel: "And I, when I am lifted up, will draw all men to myself." And that as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so it is necessary for the Son of man to be lifted up on the earth. Since, therefore, He was about to be lifted up toward the cross for the sake of the nations, and was about to accept that exaltation for the sake of the whole earth, for this reason He says: "I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." "The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our helper." Exulting in the help of God, he uttered the same voice twice: "The Lord of hosts is with us," D as if trampling upon and leaping over the enemy, because of the perfect confidence he had in the Savior of our souls, that with Him helping, he would suffer nothing from him. "For if God is for us, who is against us?" He who gave victory to Jacob, and after the struggle designated him Israel, He is our helper; He Himself fights for us. But we ourselves must be at rest, because He Himself is our peace, who
has made both one, that He might create in Himself the two into one new man.
ON PSALM XLVIII
A In the end, a psalm for the sons of Core. 1. Some men have even considered an extraneous end and have turned away into various opinions about the "end." For some have declared the end to be knowledge, others practical action; others a different use of life or of the body; while those who were beastly have asserted that pleasure is the end. For us, the end, for whose sake we do all things and toward which we hasten, is that blessed way of life in the future age. This, however, is fulfilled when we are ruled by God. For nothing better than this end can even be conceived by a rational nature. And the Apostle urges us toward this way of life, saying: "Then comes the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father." B This same thing Sophonias also sets forth in his prophecy, saying from the person of God: "Because My judgment is for the congregations of the nations, to gather the kings, to pour out upon them My indignation. For in the fire of My zeal shall all the earth be consumed: for then I will turn to the peoples a clear language, in its generation, that all may call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him under one yoke." To this end, therefore, I believe the utility of the psalms is referred, for those which have this inscription. And those who inscribed them, "For victory" or "To the Victor," or "To the One who provides victory," likewise give their assent to this opinion. For since "Death is swallowed up in victory," and has been consumed by Him who said, "I have overcome the world"; and since all things have been conquered by Christ, and "In His name every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth," C justifiably and deservedly does the Holy Spirit proclaim beforehand that which is laid up for us in triumphal songs.VERS. 2. Hear these things, all ye nations, give ear, all ye that inhabit the world (VERS. 3), both earth-born and sons of men, together, rich and poor. Truly it is a vast audience that He summons, who convenes all the nations, and all who fill the world with their dwellings, to hear the psalm. And He draws, I think, both the earth-born, and the sons of men, both the rich and the poor, and summons them to hear by this lofty proclamation. What watchtower stands so high above all the earth, that it sees from on high all the nations and surveys the whole world with its eyes? Who
so vocal a herald, that he may proclaim what is heard by so many ears at once? What place can receive those who come to the sermon? And how great a doctor, and endowed with what wisdom, must he be to find teachings worthy of such a great assembly A? Wait a little, and you shall learn that what follows is not unworthy of the promises. For the proclaimer and the one summoning all by his preaching is the Paraclete, that Spirit of truth, gathering through the prophets and apostles those who were to attain salvation; of whom, because "Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world" (Ps. XVIII, 5), he therefore says: "Hear, all you nations, and all you who inhabit the world." Wherefore the Church, too, has been gathered from all conditions, that no one may be left devoid of benefit. For there are three pairings of those called, in which the whole race of men is contained: nations and those who inhabit the world; earthlings and sons of men; rich and poor. Whom, then, has he left outside the hearing? Those foreign to the faith were called through the nations. Those who remain in the Church are those who inhabit the world. Earthlings are those who mind earthly things and follow the desires of the flesh. Sons of men are those who take some care and exercise of the reason; for reason is the property of man. The nature of the rich and poor is known by itself: the former abound in the possession of necessary things, but the latter live in the want of them. But since the physician of souls did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Matt. IX, 13), he placed first in the call, in each pairing, that which was deemed reprobate. For the nations are worse than those who inhabit the world; yet they are preferred in the call, that those who are in a bad state might be the first to receive benefit from the physician. Again, the earthlings are listed before the sons of men; and the rich before the poor. The desperate order, and those who with difficulty attain salvation, are called before the poor. For such is the kindness of the physician: B he brings help to the weaker first. At the same time, the communion of the call is also a reconciler of peace, so that those who until now have differed from one another in their manner of life may, through this assembly, be accustomed to mutual charity. For let the rich man know that he is called by an equal proclamation with the poor man. "For together," he says, "both the rich and the poor." After you have left outside that superiority by which you surpass the inferiors, and that pride which arises from riches, then finally enter into the Church of God. Therefore, let not the rich man despise the poor, nor let the poor man fear the power of the wealthy: and let not the sons of men make little of the earthlings, nor again let the earthlings alienate themselves from them. Rather, let the nations, along with those who inhabit the world,
A be accustomed to those who dwell on the earth, and let those who inhabit the world receive with love those who are strangers to the covenants.
2. VERS. 4. *My mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart understanding.* Since, according to the Apostle, *with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation* (Rom. x, 10), and the operation of both in these things yields perfection, for this reason the Word has linked both together in the same place: the operation of the mouth and the meditation of the heart. For if the good were not first stored up in the heart, how could he who does not possess the treasure in secret bring it forth through the mouth? But if one has the good things of the heart and does not publish them by word, it will be said to him: *Wisdom that is hid, and treasure that is unseen, what profit is in them both?* (Eccli. xx, 32). Therefore, just as my mouth should speak wisdom for the benefit of others, so let my heart meditate understanding for our own progress. VERS. 5. *I will incline mine ear to a parable, I will open my dark saying upon the psaltery.* The Prophet still commends his own person, so that his words might not be despised as if they were brought forth from human invention. B "What I am taught by the Spirit," he says, "that I announce to you, saying nothing that is my own or human. But because I have become a hearer of the mysteries of the Spirit, who delivers to us in a mystery the very wisdom of God, I open and make manifest the dark saying to you, and I open it in no other way than through the psaltery." Now, the psaltery is a musical instrument, producing sounds harmoniously for the modulation of the voice. Therefore, the rational psaltery is opened most of all when actions are rendered consonant and concordant with words. And that man is a spiritual psaltery who has performed and taught. He, in the psalms, opens the dark saying, setting forth the possibility of the teachings from his own example. As one, therefore, conscious of no incongruous or unreasonable thing in his own life, he thus C confidently brings forth the following words: *Why should I fear in the day of evil? The iniquity of my heel shall not compass me.* By "evil day" he means the day of judgment, concerning which it has been said: *The day of the Lord is incurable against all nations* (Isa. xiii, 9), in which, the prophet says, no one... D
A can surround each person with his own devices. At that time, therefore, because I have done nothing wicked in the way of my life, I fear not the evil day. For the footprints of my sins shall not surround me, nor will they encompass me, bringing upon me their conviction with a silent accusation. For no other accuser will stand against you than the deeds themselves, each one standing forth with its own form: adultery, theft, fornication, with the night, with the manner, with the properties that characterize it, and in a word, every sin will be presented, clearly bringing with it the remembrance of its own character. Therefore, the footprints of my sins shall not encompass me, for I have inclined my ear to a parable; I have opened my riddle upon the psaltery.
3. B *Vers. 7. They who trust in their power, and glory in the multitude of their riches.* The Prophet’s discourse is directed toward two persons: to the earth-born and to the rich. For he addresses the former, overturning the conceit they have conceived concerning themselves on account of their power, and the latter, destroying their elation on account of their abundance of possessions. “You,” he says, “who trust in your power.” For these are the earth-born, who place their hope in the strength of their body and think that human nature is sufficient to accomplish whatever it desires. “And you,” he says, “who have placed your trust in the uncertainty of riches, hear. You have need of a ransom in order to be set into the liberty of which you were deprived, having been defeated by the force of the devil, who, having taken you captive, does not release you from his tyranny before he is persuaded to trade you for some worthy ransom.” Therefore, the ransom must not be of the same kind as those who are held, but it must far exceed them in measure, if he is to willingly release the captives from servitude. Wherefore, C a brother cannot redeem you. For no man is able to persuade the devil to take out from his power one who has once fallen under him; he who is not even able to offer an expiatory sacrifice to God for his own sins. How then will he have the strength to do this for another? And what could he acquire in this age of such great value that it could be a sufficient substitute for the soul, which is precious by nature because it was made according to the image of Him who created it? And what labor of the present age is a sufficient provision for the human soul for the age to come? Thus far, indeed, we have understood these things more simply. And even if a man seems to be among those who are powerful in this life, and even if he is surrounded by a multitude of possessions, the discourse teaches him to lay aside this conceit, and to be humbled under the mighty hand of God, and neither to trust in the power he imagines he possesses, nor to glory in the multitude of riches. It is possible, however, to ascend a little further in thought, and to understand those D who trust in their own power.
A regarding the faculties of the soul, seeing that not even it itself is sufficient for salvation. For even if anyone were perfect among the sons of men, if the wisdom of God is absent, he shall be reckoned as nothing. And if he have acquired for himself a multitude of contemplations from the wisdom of the world, and has obtained some wealth of knowledge B, let him hear the whole truth of the matter: namely, that every human soul has succumbed to the evil yoke of slavery of the common enemy of all; and, deprived of the freedom which it had received from its Creator, it has been led away captive through sin. Now, for every captive, a ransom is needed for freedom. Neither, therefore, can a brother redeem his brother, nor can each man himself; because he who redeems must necessarily be far superior to one who is already held captive and in servitude. But neither does man at all have such power before God, so as to offer propitiation C for a sinner, since he himself is also liable for sin. For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
4. VERS. 8. *He shall not give to God his propitiation, and the price of the redemption of his soul.* Do not, therefore, seek a brother for redemption, but One who exceeds your nature: not a mere man, but the God-man Jesus Christ, who alone is able to offer propitiation to God for us all, because God set Him forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood D. Moses was a brother to Israel; and yet he was unable to redeem him. How, then, will any common man redeem him? Wherefore, on the one hand, he declares: *A brother does not redeem*, but on the other, he adds this with gravity in the form of a question: *Shall a man redeem?* For Moses did not deliver the people from sin, but averted the agitation of God on account of sin. Moreover, this man was not even able to give propitiation for himself, having fallen into transgression; for after so many and such great wonders and signs which he had seen, he uttered that voice bearing hesitation: *Hear me, O disobedient ones; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?* On account of which the Lord also said at this word to Moses and Aaron: *Because ye did not believe me, to sanctify me before the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not lead this congregation into the land which I gave them.* He shall not, therefore, give to God propitiation for himself. For what can man find of such value, that he might give it for the redemption of his soul? But one thing has been found, most sufficient for all men together, which was given as the price of the redemption of the soul.
the holy and most precious blood A of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he shed for us all; wherefore we were bought with a price. If, then, a brother does not redeem, will a man redeem? But if a man cannot redeem us, then he who redeemed us is not a man. Do not, therefore, because he has lived among us in the likeness of the flesh of sin, suppose our Lord to be mere man, ignoring the power of his divinity; for he had no need to give God a propitiation for himself, nor to redeem his own soul, because "he committed no sin, nor was guile found in his mouth." No one, therefore, is competent to redeem himself, unless there comes he who turns back the captivity of the people, not with ransoms, nor with gifts, as is written in Isaiah, but in his own blood. B This one, however, when we were not brothers, but had become enemies through transgressions, being neither mere man but God, after the freedom which he bestows upon us, even calls us his brothers. For, "I will declare," he says, "thy name unto my brothers." The one, therefore, who redeemed us, if you examine his nature, is neither brother nor man; but if you consider the condescension of his grace toward us, he both names us brothers and descends to our humanity—he "who will not give to God a propitiation for himself," but [a propitiation for] the whole world. For he does not need propitiation, but he himself is the propitiation. For such a high priest was fitting for us, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who does not have a daily necessity, C as the high priests have, to offer sacrifices first for his own sins, then for the ignorances of the people. Afterward he says: "And he labored into eternity, and shall live to the end." He who is life itself, power itself, the tireless nature, labored in this age when, being fatigued from his journey, he sat upon the well. D 5. Vers. 11. "Who shall not see corruption, when he sees the wise dying" (for the Father will not give his holy one to see corruption), when those who boast of the wisdom that is passing away are dying? But if you wish to apply these words to righteous men also, remember Job saying, "Man is born to labor"; and again the Apostle, that "I labored more abundantly than they all"; and the saying, "in labors more abundantly." He, therefore, who has labored in this age, this one shall live to the end; but he who lives in luxury and every dissipation, wearing purple and fine linen because of his soft living, and feasting sumptuously every day, and shunning the toils undergone for the sake of virtue, has neither labored in this age nor will he live in the age to come, but will see life from afar, being tormented in the flame of the furnace. But he who, through countless...
A struggles, has sweated for the sake of virtue, and has been tested more thoroughly in labors for the sake of attaining it, this is the one who will live unto the end, like Lazarus, who labored much in his afflictions; like Job, who became utterly weary in the struggles against the adversary. For, he says, there the weary have found rest. Wherefore the Lord also invites those who labor and are burdened to rest. How, then, are those who labor in good works said to be burdened? Because they went on weeping as they went, scattering their seeds; but coming again, they shall come with rejoicing, bearing their sheaves full of fruits, which have been returned to them in proportion to what was sown. They are called burdened, therefore, for sowing upon blessings, and also reaping upon blessings, and with eternal joy storing up for themselves the sheaves of spiritual fruits. He, then, who has been redeemed through God, who gave B a propitiation for him, has labored in this age, but after this, he will live unto the end. This man also shall not see corruption when he sees the wise dying. He who has chosen the narrow and laborious way over the smooth and easy one, at the time of the visitation of God, when those who have not believed the words of God, but have walked behind the desires of their own vain heart, are led away to eternal punishment, this man shall not see eternal corruption—that is, that affliction which endures forever. By "the wise," he means either those skilled in craftiness, concerning whom Jeremiah says: They are wise to do evil, but they know not how to do good; or he means by "the wise" the disciples of the princes of this age who are being brought to nothing, who, professing themselves to be wise, C became fools. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. And because this wisdom makes men fools, God says He will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will set aside the understanding of the prudent. The persuasions of this falsely named knowledge, therefore, inflict the cause of death upon those who have received them; which death he shall not see who has been redeemed by Him who was pleased, through the foolishness of the preaching, to save those who believe.
6. *And they shall leave their wealth to others. And their graves are their houses forever. Their tents are from generation to generation. They have called their names upon the lands.* Above, he addressed them by one general name, "wise" men, whom he now differentiates, calling them foolish and senseless. It is evident that he called them wise, D employing this name based on their own opinion. Just as he also names those "gods" who are not gods by nature, following the custom of those who have been deceived.
A so too he called the foolish and senseless "wise." It is possible, therefore, in our thought to distinguish the foolish from the senseless. For the foolish person is one who is deprived of prudence and who does not have clear vision regarding common and human affairs. In this way, also, custom calls those "prudent" who, in the matters of life, discern what is profitable and what is harmful; as it has also been said in the Gospel: "For the children of this world are more prudent than the children of light in their own generation." For they are not more prudent in an absolute sense, but [only] regarding the conduct of this life in the flesh. Moreover, these ones are also called "stewards of iniquity," because of the prudence of their stewardship concerning their own lives. According to this meaning, even serpents are prudent, B preparing hiding places for themselves and, in times of danger, avoiding blows to the head in every way. But a person is called "senseless" who does not possess those things which are the primary attributes of a human being. These are the knowledge of God the Father, and the reception of the Word who was in the beginning with God, and the illumination generated by the Holy Spirit; which mind those possess who are able to say with Paul: "But we have the mind of Christ." Scripture, however, uses these terms interchangeably and promiscuously, inasmuch as it calls the impious person "foolish," namely in that passage: "The fool said in his heart, There is no God"; and again, it names that which is harmful to life "senseless," just as the Apostle [speaks] of those who "fall into senseless and harmful lusts." In this way, C indeed, the foolish and the senseless are both carried toward one common end, namely, destruction. One might also say that he is named "foolish" who lives according to the manner of the Gentiles, but "senseless" is he who lives according to the Jewish manner, in the mere observance of the law. For to this foolish one, God said, because of the impiety existing in him: "Fool, this night they are taking your soul from you." And Israel according to the flesh has been called "senseless" according to the prophet, who says: "And Ephraim was like a senseless dove; it called upon Egypt, and it went to the Assyrians." Therefore, since these are collectively crushed by their own ignorance, we, who are strangers to them, become the heirs of their wealth. D For ours are the commandments, ours the prophets, ours the patriarchs; ours are those who have been righteous from the beginning of time. They left their riches to us, who in their own [time]
B folly have perished. But the houses of these, of the foolish and the senseless, are sepulchres forever. For if a life is filled with the works of the dead, originating from every sin, the houses of these are sepulchres forever. For he who has become dead through transgressions does not inhabit a house, but a sepulchre, because his own soul is deadified. For the man who is guileless and simple in his character, Jacob—of whom it is written that he was a man sincere and blameless—inhabits a house; but he who is altogether wicked, and does not even lay the foundation of repentance from dead works, but resembles a whitewashed sepulchre, which is outwardly visible [(99)] but inwardly is full of dead men’s bones and all impurity, inhabits a sepulchre. Therefore, such a person, when he speaks, does not open his mouth to the word of God, but has his throat as an open sepulchre. If, therefore, anyone who believes in Christ does not render deeds consistent with his faith, he, because he has clung to wicked dogmas and perverted the meaning of Scripture, cuts a sepulchre for himself in the rock.
7. *Their tabernacles for generation and generation*; that is, their graves are their houses forever. Then, explaining what he intends by "sepulchres," so as to show that he speaks of the bodies in which souls deadened by wickedness inhabit, he added to them: *Their tabernacles for generation and generation*, C according to the custom, since human bodies are always called tabernacles. But these also call their names upon the lands. For the name of the ungodly is not written in the book of the living, nor is he numbered with the Church of the firstborn who are numbered in the heavens; but their names remain upon the earth, because they preferred this transitory and short-lived life to the eternal tabernacles. Do you not see those who build markets and gymnasia in cities, who raise up walls, who repair aqueducts, how their names are called upon these earthly structures? And some, indeed, have even imposed their own names upon herds of horses, and have induced their minds to...
believe that A a long time of life extends their own memory; and even by displaying magnificence in their sepulchers, they have inscribed their own names upon their monuments. These are they who mind earthly things, and who account the glory here, and the being remembered among men, to be sufficient for their own blessedness. And if you should see anyone even of those who carry themselves haughtily because of knowledge falsely so called, and who yield their assent to certain depraved dogmas, and who, instead of the name of Christians, designate themselves by the name of some one of those who have started heresies—Marcion, or Valentinus, or one of those who are currently prevalent—know that even these have called their own names upon the earth, having devoted themselves to corrupt men and beings who are entirely earthly.
8. And, *man being in honor, did not understand; he was compared to senseless beasts, and became like them.* This is their way, a scandal to them; and afterwards they shall be well-pleased in their mouth. Man is a great thing, and a merciful man is precious, having excellence and dignity in his natural construction. For what else of those things which are on earth has been made according to the image of the Creator? To whom has the sovereignty and power over all things—whether terrestrial, aquatic, or aerial animals—been granted? He has, indeed, receded a little from the dignity of the angels on account of his conjunction with an earthly body; for He created man from the earth, while He makes His ministers a flame of fire; B yet, nevertheless, the power to understand and to know their own Creator and Maker exists even in men. For He breathed into his face—that is to say, He deposited a certain portion of His own grace into man, so that by like he might recognize the like. But nevertheless, while he was in such great honor, from the fact of having been created according to the image of the Creator, honored above the heavens, above the sun, above the choirs of the stars (for who of the heavens is called an image of the Most High God? Or what image of its Creator does the sun preserve? What the moon? What the remaining stars? Being inanimate and material, possessing only bodies that are pellucid, in which there is nowhere mind, nor voluntary motions, nor the freedom of self-determination; but they are servants of an overriding necessity, by which they are always turned about the same things in an immutable manner); C Man, I say, having been advanced in honors above these, did not understand; but having abandoned the following of God and the being made like unto the Creator, having become a slave to the passions of the flesh, *he was compared to senseless beasts and became like them.*
A Now, he neighs like a horse maddened with desire for his neighbor’s wife; now, he lies in wait for the property of others like a ravening wolf; at other times, he is likened to the cunning of a fox through the deceit he practices against his brother. B Indeed, it is the height of folly and brutish irrationality not to perceive one's own original constitution—being created in the image of the Creator—nor to be willing to acknowledge the great providential works accomplished on one's own behalf, and from those very things to recognize one's own nobility; but rather to be unmindful that, having cast away the image of the heavenly, one has taken upon oneself the image of the earthly. And so that he might not remain in sin, for his sake the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and to such a degree did He humble Himself that He became obedient even unto death, even the death of the cross. If you are not mindful of your first creation, take from the price paid for you an understanding of your dignity; look to that ransom by which you were purchased, and recognize your own worth. You were bought with the most precious blood of Christ; do not become a slave to sin. Understand your own excellence, so that you may not be likened to the senseless beasts.
VER. 14. *This is their way, a stumbling block to them.* God, who governs our affairs, opposes us when we walk in the path of wickedness, placing obstacles and impediments in our way, so that, recoiling from a life devoid of reason, we may afterwards find favor in our own mouth, where with the heart we have believed unto righteousness, and with the mouth have confessed unto salvation. Saul persecuted and devastated the Church of Christ, and C accelerated his course toward wickedness; thereafter, he found favor in his own mouth, when he proclaimed in the synagogues, *“That this is the Christ.”*
9. VER. 15. *As sheep he appointed them in hell, death shall feed upon them.* Whatever persons are indeed brutish and have been compared to senseless cattle, like sheep having neither intelligence nor the power to defend themselves, the enemy who seizes them for captivity has already cast them into his own stronghold and delivered them to death to be fed. For death fed upon them from Adam until the administration of Moses, until the true Shepherd came, who laid down His own soul for the sheep, and thus having raised them up with Himself, and having led them forth from D the prison of hell to the morning of the resurrection.
[alt-version omitted]
A He delivered them to the upright, that is, to His holy angels, to shepherd them. And the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. For to each of the faithful is adjoined an angel who is worthy to behold the Father who is in heaven. These upright, therefore, shall have dominion over them, after they have been set free from the most bitter slavery, and they shall have dominion over those who have come into being in the morning, that is, those who have passed beyond the rising light. Observe the whole sequence of the scriptural sayings. Man, being in honor, did not understand; he was compared to the senseless beasts. The one who has dignity by his nature, but because of the sin dwelling within him does not know himself, he is compared to the beasts. Then, because he alienated himself from the Word of God, having become irrational, the enemy snatched him away like a shepherdless sheep and placed him in hell, and delivered him up to death to be shepherded. Therefore, the one who has been rescued from there, and delivered from the evil shepherd, says, "The Lord is my shepherd." And there is no longer death, but life; no longer a fall, but a resurrection; no longer the lie, but the truth. And their help shall grow old in hell. B Or perhaps he speaks of death, which with all its support could not restrain those whom it was shepherding, because of Him who destroyed him who had the empire of death, whose every help is old and weak. And then the help of those men will be exposed, who are deceived in their mind, and who think highly of themselves on account of riches, glory, and power. In hell it shall grow old, when their weakness is proven. Or perhaps the help of the just whom the Lord has redeemed shall be extended in hell. For they had not yet received the promises, God having provided something better for us, that they might not be perfected without us. But God shall ransom my soul from the hand of hell, when He takes me. He clearly prophesies the descent of the Lord C into hell, who, along with the others, shall also ransom the soul of the Prophet himself, so that it may not remain there.
10. Do not be afraid, when a man becomes rich, or when the glory of his house is multiplied. Do not be afraid, He says, when a man becomes rich. This proclamation is necessary also for those who inhabit the world, both for those born of the earth and for the sons of men, for the rich together and the poor: Do not be afraid, when a man becomes rich. When you see, He says, an unjust man becoming rich and a just man becoming poor, do not fear within yourself; do not be terrified in your mind, as though there were no D providence of God watching over those who do not have, but strengthen him.
A For perhaps there is divine oversight, but it does not reach as far as the terrestrial realm, so as to look upon our affairs. For if there were providence, it would distribute to each his own, so that the just, who know how to use wealth, would be rich, while the wicked, who hold wealth as an instrument of their own wickedness, would be poor. Since, therefore, there are many among the nations and the earth-born who think such things, and, because of the apparent inequality in the distribution of things pertaining to life, suppose that the world is governed without providence, the discourse addresses them, checking their uninstructed impulse, whom it had also invited at the beginning to the hearing of its doctrines.
B Or perhaps it is directed specifically to the person of the poor man, saying: "Do not fear when a man becomes rich." For these are the ones who most need consolation, so that they do not fear those who are superior. For there is no profit, he says, to the dying rich man, who is unable to take his wealth with him—he who had gained from the possession of it only as much as that his soul should be called blessed by flatterers in this life. But when he dies, he says, he will not take all this clothing with him; he will barely take a garment to cover his shame, and that, if it seems good to the servants who are wrapping him. C It is well for him if he obtains a little earth, and this given to him out of pity by those performing the funeral, who provide these things to him out of reverence for our common human nature, not bestowing them upon him, but honoring humanity.
Do not, therefore, be faint-hearted concerning present things, but await that blessed and eternal life. For you will see then that poverty, and ignominy, and the deprivation of luxuries turn out for the good of the just man. And do not be troubled now by things thought to be good, as if they were distributed unjustly. For you will hear how it will be said to the rich man, "You have received your good things in your life," and to the poor man, that he received the evils in his life. Wherefore, as the latter justly and deservedly finds consolation, so the former is tormented with pain.
VERS. 19. "I will give thanks to you, when you have done well to him." D He speaks of the earthly man, who thinks that the only goods are the prerogatives of this life: wealth, health, and power. Of this man he says that he will give thanks to God when he has been affected by benefits, but in adverse circumstances he utters every blasphemy. For having abandoned the poor man, he already addresses his speech to God; and in condemning wealth, he also adds this: that the rich man gives thanks to God only in [the midst of] abundance.
A but once some more grievous circumstances arise, he no longer remains the same. For such also is that which the devil brought forward as an accusation against Job (25), namely that Job does not worship the Lord for nothing, but holds wealth as the reward of his piety, and so forth. Therefore, also for the demonstration of the man’s virtue, God stripped him of what he possessed, so that in all things the man’s grateful disposition toward God might become manifest. B
11. VERS. 20. *Thou shalt enter even unto the generations of his fathers.* I believe he is speaking of the sinner, that he knows God only as much as the custom of his fathers has handed down; but by his own faculty of thinking he acquires nothing more, nor does he add anything to himself for the knowledge of the truth. So much, then, he says, do you approach, O God, and such is the understanding of you in him, as existed in the generation of his fathers. And here he portrays the great sluggishness of the mind, and how entirely earthy and flesh-loving is he who wallows in riches and luxury, and has his mind suffocated by the cares of this life. For this reason, *he shall not see light unto eternity.* For those who have entrusted their guidance to blind teachers have deprived themselves of the enjoyment of light. And this expression, *Thou shalt enter even unto the generations of his fathers*, has also such a meaning as this. C That is to say, you do not merely punish those who are caught in a wicked life and in dogmas that are indeed paternal but alien to piety, but you also seek out the authors of the evil doctrines. And this is what is meant: *Thou shalt enter even unto the generations of his fathers.* For not only is the one who holds wicked notions about God blameworthy, but also the one who led them forward to this ruin. And such are they who have inherited the wickedness of their ancestors, and have it difficult to wash away, because it has been confirmed by long-standing custom. *He shall not see light unto eternity.* For they are sent into the outer darkness; there shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth (4); and they undergo this by the just judgment of God, because in this life, by doing evil deeds, they hated the light. *Man, being in honor, did not understand; he was compared to the senseless beasts, and became like to them.* A lamentable voice. Man, inferior by a little to the angels (5), of whom Solomon also says: *A great thing is a man, and a precious thing is a merciful man* (6): this man himself, because D
he did not perceive his own dignity, but succumbed to the desires of the flesh, was compared to the senseless beasts and became like them.
ON PSALM LIX.
1. When I look upon the eagerness of your hearing and the weakness of my own strength, a likeness of some child enters my mind: one who is already somewhat robust, yet has not yet been weaned from milk, but distresses the maternal breast now dried up by infirmity. To him the mother, even though she feels that she has dry fountains of milk, yet because she is pulled and tugged by him, offers her breast; not so that she might nourish the infant, but so that she might quiet him as he wails. And so, although our strength has withered B through this long and varied bodily sickness, nevertheless it is present to you—not to minister exquisite delights, but to provide what can in some way satisfy you; for it is enough for the magnitude of your love if your longing for us is assuaged by my voice alone. Let the Church of God, therefore, be greeted, and let it learn to say what we were just reading: *Verse 13. Give us help from tribulation, and vain is the salvation of man*. Wherefore, perhaps, the judgment of the Psalm does not even allow us to plead our infirmity, since affliction is a source of help, not a pretext for weakness. To those, therefore, who have been cast off on account of their sins, and then through the philanthropy of God C again accepted, it is opportune to say: *Verse 3. O God, thou hast cast us off and destroyed us; thou hast been angry, and hast had pity on us*. But rather, since the discourse has fallen upon the meaning of the Psalm, come, let us touch somewhat upon its exposition.
2. The history of the present Psalm, to speak literally, is nowhere found at this time in the divinely transmitted histories. Nevertheless, some things not unlike this will be found by those who diligently inquire in the second book of Kingdoms, in which it is written: *And David defeated Adrazar the son of Raab D, king of Soba, when he went to extend his hand over the river Euphrates. And David took from his possessions a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. And David destroyed all the chariots, and left from them a hundred chariots*. And a little later it says: *And David reigned over Israel*.
and David was doing judgment and justice, and Joab the son of Sarvia was over the army. And after a little: And the sons of Ammon sent, and hired Syria Rhoob, and Syria Soba, twenty thousand men; and Joab saw that there was a face of battle against him, and he chose from all the sons of Israel, and they drew up in battle array against Syria. And the servants of Adrazar saw that they had fallen before Israel, and they fled to Israel and served them.
We find the inscription of the psalm to be in accordance with this portion of the history, except that the inscription of this title refers to the time when David, on account of his brave deeds in war, was most famous and illustrious. Wherefore it is worth asking by what reason he begins with wailing and lamentations, when he ought to be very joyful and cheerful on account of his successes. For the voices of those B celebrating a festival are one thing, and those of the sorrowful are another. And epinicia [victory songs] are a subject of public celebration, not only for soldiers, but also for farmers, and merchants, and craftsmen, and all who partake of the blessings of peace. How, therefore, does he say, "O God, you have pushed us away and destroyed us?" And yet He had made them victors. And how did He destroy those whom He had so greatly enriched, handing over to them arms, and chariots, and horses, and subjects, and a tributary region, all of Arabia, Phoenicia, and Mesopotamia? It is worth considering whether these words express any ingratitude. For he who had formerly destroyed Adrazar the king of Soba, and had taken from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen, and who had again reduced to servitude the king of Syria C who was bringing aid to the fallen one, and had made him tributary, and in one moment of time had slaughtered twenty-two thousand of his men, and in a third victory had defeated the sons of Ammon who had drawn up in battle array by the gate of the city through Joab the commander-in-chief, who, having divided the force into two, met some face to face and, having gone around the others to the rear, subdued them—how, after such brave deeds, does he utter such gloomy and sorrowful words, saying: "O God, you have pushed us away and destroyed us; you were angry and had pity on us?"
But while the time of the inscription of the title was indeed that in which he performed those D excellent deeds, the force of the things written refers to the end; and he calls that the end which is to happen at the consummation of the ages. Wherefore he says that the psalm is written for those who are to be changed. And this can be understood of absolutely the whole race of men, which
A all draw from the psalm. For we are those who are changed and are to be changed, who neither keep the same habit of body, nor have we stood fast in the same opinion, but we are changed in the body according to the changes of our ages, and we are moved in our mind according to the varieties of circumstances. For we are children, and others at the age of youth, and others when we reach manhood, and when we grow old we are again completely changed. And some are in more joyous states of affairs, but others of us become those who have experienced harsher turns of time; some of us are sick, and others are in health; some are in marriage, and others in mourning. Or, because it is not said, "For those who are changed," but, "For those who are to be changed," and the expression B bears the appearance of prophecy, in that the time is directed toward the future, it would be more appropriate to understand by "those who are to be changed" those who are future, who have left behind the vain customs of their fathers, and who are to regulate their conduct according to the precision of the Gospel. Therefore, the psalm was not written for those Jews of that time, but for us who are to be changed, who are exchanging polytheism for piety, and the deception concerning idols C for the knowledge of Him who created us; who in place of illicit pleasure are choosing lawful temperance; and in place of flutes, and choruses, and drunkenness, are partaking of the psalm, and fasting, and prayer. Whoever, therefore, says that this psalm was written for us will not miss the mark of truth. For this reason, the divine oracles are also our own, and are read in the Church of God, as gifts sent from God, in each assembly, like a certain food for souls, which is administered by the Spirit. But the psalm is also written to be inscribed on a pillar; that is, let its hearing not be negligent and perfunctory; nor, D just as those things which are written on corruptible material quickly meet with destruction, should you thus engrave them for a short time on the memory in your own mind, and then allow them to be confused and blotted out; but let them be as if carved on a pillar in your soul; that is, let them remain immutably and firmly for all time, established in the memory. And if the Jew pushes us away as strangers to the written things, let us put him to shame by these things which are written; showing the mixed quality of the calling, how it gathers together those who are apart, and calls together those who are far off, making the many one through faith in Christ. VERS. 7. Mine is, he says, Galaad, and mine is Manasses; and Ephraim, he said, and took Juda, and counted Moab. Moreover, he threatens that he will ascend into Idumæa, and announces the subjection of all together: VERS. 10. To Me the aliens are made subject.
spoken, and He took Judah; and He numbered Moab. And He threatens A to tread upon Idumea; and He proclaims the subjection of all together: "The foreigners have been subjected to me."
3. O God, therefore, You have cast us off. You removed those who were far from You in proportion to their sins. You destroyed the accumulation of our wickedness, while doing us good through our infirmity. You were angry when we were by nature children of wrath, having no hope, and being atheists in the world. You had mercy on us when You set forth Your Only-Begotten as a propitiation for our sins, that we might find redemption in His blood. Which we would not have recognized as having occurred for our benefit, had You not given us the Wine of compunction to drink. By "wine," He means the word, which leads the hardened heart toward perception. "You gave to those who fear You a sign, that they might flee from the face of the bow." Moses, indeed, marked the doorposts of the Israelites B with the blood of the sheep; but You have given us a sign, the very blood of the spotless Lamb who was sacrificed for the sin of the world. And Ezekiel says that the sign is given upon the foreheads of the faces. "Go," he says, "after him, and strike; do not spare nor have mercy. Slay the elder, and the young man, and the infant, and the virgin, and the women, even to utter destruction; but to all upon whom is the sign, do not draw near." "God has spoken in His holy place; I will exult, and I will divide Shechem." Shechem is the choice parcel of land, given by Jacob to Joseph, a type C of the covenant that seemed to have been given to Israel alone. Therefore, I will bring this choice covenant and inheritance of the people into a division, and I will make it common to the others. When the covenant has been distributed to all, therefore, and its utility has become common to all who are benefited by God, then the valley of the tabernacles will also be measured; that is, the whole inhabited world, being divided as it were by lots, will be partitioned into the settlements of each place. Then He will also join the things that are separated, "He who makes peace," whether the things on earth or the things in heaven; "And by breaking down the middle wall of the fence, D He will make both one."
4. "Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine." Gilead is the grandson of Manasseh, so that He might show the sequence of the patriarchs descending from God, from whom Christ is according to the flesh. "And Ephraim is the protection of my head; Judah is my king." He joins the severed parts through concord. Verse 10. "Moab is the pot of my hope."
A Or, "Pot of the wash-basin," as another of the interpreters says, or "Pot of security"; that is, the cast-out man, he who carries the threat of not being allowed to enter into the Church of the Lord. For the Moabite and the Ammonite shall not enter even until the third and until the tenth generation, and until eternity. Yet, since baptism possesses the remission of sins, and becomes the cause of security for the deeply indebted, showing the redemption through baptism and the reconciliation with God, he says, "Moab is the pot of the wash-basin," or, "Pot of security." All the foreigners, therefore, have been made subject, having bowed down to the yoke of Christ; for this reason, he shall cast his shoe upon Idumea. Now, the shoe of the Divinity is the flesh [(58)] that bears God, through which He stepped upon men. B In this hope, the Prophet, calling blessed the time of the coming of the Lord, says (VERS. 11): "Who will lead me into the city of fortification?" Perhaps he is speaking of the Church; a city, because it is a system lawfully inhabited [(59)]; a city of fortification, because of the protection of the faith. Whence one of the interpreters most significantly rendered it: "Into a circummured city." Who, then, will give to me to see this great spectacle, God sojourning among men [(60)]? This is what was said by the Lord: that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see.
5. "Give us help from tribulation." Let us not seek help from strength, let us not seek it from the good condition of the flesh; let us not ask to obtain the assistance from any [(61)] of those who are considered illustrious among men. Not in the abundance of money, not in the pride of power, not in the height of glory does victory consist; but from the deepest tribulation the Lord grants help to those who seek Him. Such, too, was Paul, who made his tribulations his boasts. Therefore he was able to say: "When I am weak, then I am strong." C VERS. 13. "Give us, therefore, O Lord, help from tribulation; since tribulation produces patience, and patience probation, and probation hope, and hope does not put to shame." Do you see where tribulation leads you? To the hope that does not put to shame. Are you sick? Rejoice, because "Whom the Lord loves, He chastens." Are you poor? Be glad, because the good things of Lazarus will succeed you.
Are you treated with ignominy for the name of Christ? You are blessed, because your disgrace will be turned into the glory of an angel. Let us persuade ourselves, brethren, in the time of temptation, not to flee to human hopes, nor to seek for ourselves help from them: but rather to offer our prayers with tears and sighs, and diligent supplication, and intense vigils. For he receives help from tribulation who disdains human aid as vain, and relies on the hope of Him who can save us, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
ON PSALM LXI.
B"In the end, for Idithum, a psalm of David."
1. We know of two psalms which have the inscription "For Idithum," the thirty-eighth, and this one which we have in hand. And we consider the composition of the work to be by David, but that it was given to Idithum for his benefit, for the correction of the affections of his soul, and for the arranging of the melody before the people, through which God was glorified, and the morals of those who heard the harmony were improved. For Idithum himself was also a singer of sacred psalms, as the history of Chronicles testifies to us, saying: "And with them Heman and Idithum, with trumpets and cymbals to sound aloud, and instruments of the songs of God." And a little later it says: "And David the king and the princes of the host set apart for the works the sons of Asaph, and Heman, and Idithum, who sounded with citharas, and with nabla, and with tympans." Therefore, both psalms treat at length of patience, through which, as the indignation of the soul is sedated, so, all pride being exterminated, humility is acquired. For it is impossible that he who does not deign to be held by all in the lowest and last place C can ever, either when he is assailed by insults, be able to master his anger, or when he is afflicted, overcome temptations through patience. For he who has attained to the highest humility, when he hears revilings, since he of his own accord has first recognized his own worthlessness, will not have his soul moved by the words of shame. But if he is called a pauper, he knows himself to be poor and in need of all things, and that he has need of the daily provision of the Lord; and if he is called ignoble and obscure, he is first conscious in his own heart that he was created from clay. For which reason, in that place he says, "I said: I will guard my ways." D
A And he recounts the conspiracy of the sinner and his own patience. For when, he says, the sinner stood against me, I was dumb and was humbled, and I kept silent from good things. Afterwards, progressing, he says: "Notwithstanding, all things are vanity, every man living"; then, "He stores up, and knows not for whom he shall gather them." But in the present psalm he begins with doubt, as if speaking to his own soul, as if these things followed from what was said before. For, lest the soul, being subjected to the disposition of the flesh, be aroused to angers and sorrows, "Why," he says, "do I make the soul a slave B to evil passions, when the rule of the body and of the affections within it has been entrusted to it by God who created it?" Therefore, it is necessary to rule over the passions and to serve God. For it is impossible for it to be ruled both by sin and by God; but as it ought to master wickedness, so it ought to be subject to the Lord of all. For this reason the Prophet, rising up against him who brings on the temptations and stirs up against him the great multitude of evils C and directs all his zeal to bring the loftiness of spirit into servitude, and to subject it to the flesh, as if refuting his vain cunning against him, says these things: "Why do you compel me to serve those to whom it is not right? I have a Lord, I recognize the true King."
2. "Shall not my soul be subject to God? For from Him is my salvation." He stated the cause for why he is eager to be subject: because salvation is from God. For it is proper for the Creator to care for the safety of His own D creatures. Or, "From Him is my salvation"; since, prophetically foreseeing the grace of the incarnation of the Lord that was to be, he says these things: that it is necessary to serve God, and to love Him who beforehand bestowed so great a benefit upon the human race that He did not spare even His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. For it is the custom of Scripture to call the Christ of God "salvation"; as also Simeon says somewhere: "Now You dismiss Your servant, Lord, for my eyes have seen Your salvation." Let us therefore be subject to God, because from Him is the salvation. But he explains what the salvation is. It is not some bare operation, bringing us some benefit, by which we might be delivered from infirmity and enjoy good bodily health. But what is the "salvation"? "For He Himself is my God and my Savior, my protector; I shall not be moved more." The Son, who is from God, is our God. The same is also the Savior of the human race, supporting our weakness and—
correcting the commotion that comes upon our souls from temptations. "I shall not be moved more"—he confesses a commotion in a human way. "More"—for it is impossible for there not to be some commotion in the soul of a man from temptations. A While therefore we commit small and few sins, we are moved in a way lightly, just as plants are shaken by a gentle breeze; but when the evils are more numerous and greater, the commotion also naturally increases in proportion to the increase of the sins. And some are moved more; others to such an extent that they are even uprooted and cast down, whenever the spiritual hosts of wickedness tear away the very roots of the soul—as it were—upon which it had been sustained B by faith in God, more violently than any whirlwind. "I myself, therefore," he says, "was moved as a man; but I shall not be moved more, because I am upheld by the right hand of the Savior."
3. VERSE 4. "How long do you set upon a man? You all slay, as if by a leaning wall and a pushed-down fence?" Again, the discourse fights against the wicked servants of the devil, accusing the immoderation of the treachery brought upon him by them. For while men are a weak animal, you set upon them, not content with the first assault, but you bring also a second and a third, until you thus overthrow the soul of the one who has fallen among you, so that he becomes similar to a leaning wall and a broken-down fence. A wall, indeed, for as long as it preserves its upright position, remains firm; but when it has been leaned, it is entirely necessary for it, once loosened, to fall. For, in fact, weights joined as one are set upright after an inclination, but those composed of many parts, once they have suffered an inclination to one side, no longer admit of restoration. The discourse, therefore, demonstrates that the nature of man, being composite, was indeed inclined by sin, but it must needs be completely loosed, C so that, having been rebuilt by the craftsman who built it from the beginning, it might receive a state that is safe, indissoluble, and inaccessible to the treachery of another fall. "You are God’s tillage, God’s building," he says. This building the enemy shook; the fractures made in it the Creator restored. Thus, the fall is indeed necessary on account of sin, but the resurrection is great on account of immortality.
VERSE 4. Verumtamen pretium meum cogitare
—they decided to cast it away; they ran D that they might see my destruction, thirsting for it. Instead of "in thirst," Aquila has "in a lying," Symmachus "in a falsity," the fifth edition "in a lie," and another edition "in guile" interpreted it. It is likely, therefore, that in our text there used to be "in a lie," so that what is said means: "They ran in a lie"—that is, my enemies, and those who plot against me, were not performing their course and their zeal against me with truth; rather, they delivered themselves entirely to the lie; and a scribal error occurred in the following...A in thirst, with their mouth they were blessing, and in their heart they were cursing. The price of man is the blood of Christ: "For you were bought with a price," he says; "do not become slaves of men." These soldiers of the wicked one, therefore, plotted to make this price useless to us, leading those who had been freed once back into slavery. "They ran in thirst." He declares the intensity and vehemence of the ambushes of the demons, for they run against us, thirsting for our destruction. "With their mouth they were blessing, and in their heart they were cursing." There are many who approve of wicked actions, and they call the glib man charming, and the one who utters obscene words a "man of the world"; they call the bitter and irritable man "one not to be despised"; they praise the stingy and unsociable man as "thrifty," the profligate as "generous," and the fornicator and lascivious man as a person who is "indulgent" and "relaxed"; and, in short, they use flattering terms to rename every vice after the virtue that lies near it. Such people bless with their mouth, but curse in their heart. For by the flattery of their words they bring every curse upon their life, making those whom they approve liable to eternal judgment. Again, he speaks to his soul, intensifying its obedience toward God. "Nevertheless," he says, "be subject to God, O my soul, for my patience is from him." He indicates the magnitude of the temptations, and says that which the Apostle states: that he will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to bear. For from him is my patience. B My God is my help, and my hope is in God. Blessed is he who does not exult in any of the lofty things in life, but has God as his glory; he who has Christ as his own boast; he who is able to say according to the Apostle: "But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of Christ." But now, many are glorified for their body—those who have dedicated themselves to gymnastic contests, or those who are in general flourishing in the prime of life; many, likewise, are carried away by their martial valor, who even consider the slaughter of their fellow men to be virtue. For the distinction in wars and the trophies erected by a general and by cities come to be in proportion to the magnitude of the slaughter. Others are glorified for building walls around cities; others for the construction of aqueducts, and for great C buildings and gymnasia. D
A One man spends his wealth on hunters of wild beasts, and, exultant in the vain cheers of the mobs, swells with praises and thinks highly of himself, having his glory in his shame; he who even displays his own sin written on tablets in the conspicuous places of the city. Another is glorified for wealth; another because he is a clever and invincible rhetorician, or experienced in worldly wisdom. It would be fitting to pity the glory of all these, and to call blessed those who make God their own glory. For if a certain man thinks highly of himself because he is a servant of a king, being greatly honored by him, how much does it behoove you to magnify yourself because you are a servant of the great King, called by Him to the highest intimacy, having received the Spirit of the promise, so that, sealed in Him, you might be proven to be a son B of God? But the Prophet, having recognized within himself the benefit of a sincere hope in God, invites the people to a like emulation with him, saying: *Verse 9. Hope in Him, all you congregation of the peoples; pour out your hearts before Him.* It is impossible for us to become capable of divine grace unless we have driven out the passions born of malice that have previously occupied our souls. I have known physicians who did not administer life-saving medicines before they had emptied out, through vomiting, the morbid matter which the intemperate had stored up for themselves through a wicked diet. But indeed, into a vessel permeated with some foul-smelling liquid, unless it be washed out, ointment is not poured. Therefore, the things that were previously present must be poured out, so that the things being brought in may be able to be received. *Verse 10. Verily, they are vanity, the sons of men.* For he saw that not all followed His commandment, C nor did they accept to hope in God, but had their hope in the vanities of life. For this reason he says: *Verily, the sons of men are vanity; the sons of men are liars.* Why are they vanity? Because they are liars. Where is their lie most especially exposed? "In the balances," he says, "for the sake of doing injustice." What balances, he asks, does he mean? For do all men use balances? Are all people wool-merchants, or butchers, or do they trade in gold or silver, or in general occupy their labor and effort in these materials which merchants are accustomed to sell with balances and weights? But there are many classes of workers who have no need of balances for their work. For many practice the maritime art; many also are occupied about the forum and offices, among whom indeed there is lying, yet trickery is not practiced by means of balances. What, then, is that which he says? That within each one of us there is a certain balance D constructed by our Creator, in which
A it is possible to discern the nature of things. "I have set before your face life and death, good and evil," — two natures opposed to one another. Weigh them upon your own proper judgment seat; ponder carefully which is more profitable to you: to choose the temporary pleasure and thereby receive eternal death, or to choose the suffering in the exercise of virtue and through it obtain the delights of eternal life. B Therefore, men are liars, having corrupted the criteria of the soul, whose plight the Prophet also laments, saying: "Woe to those who call darkness light, and light darkness; who call bitter sweet, and sweet bitter." "To me," he says, "things present are what matter; but who knows things future?" You weigh badly, choosing evil things over good, taking empty things for more valuable than true ones, preferring temporal things to eternal, and choosing fleeting pleasure instead of uninterrupted and lasting joy. Therefore, "the sons of men are liars in the balances to deceive." They harm primarily themselves, and then their neighbors, since they are evil counselors to themselves in their own actions and are an evil example to others. C It will not be permitted for you to say on the day of judgment: "I did not know the good." Your own balances are brought before you, providing a sufficient distinction between good and evil. For we judge the weights of the body by the inclinations of the scales, but the things to be chosen in life we distinguish by the free will of the soul—which he also called a "balance," because it is able to receive an equal inclination toward either side.
5. VERSE 11. "Do not hope in iniquity, and do not covet plunder." He said above: "Hope in him, all you congregation of the peoples." He saw that the custom was being carried out slowly and sluggishly, and he declared: "Nevertheless, the sons of men are vain." Again, he forbids hoping in iniquity. D Whoever judges that wealth gathered from iniquity is a sufficient aid to himself for strength and power is like a sick man who considers the gravity of his disease to be good health. "Do not hope in iniquity." This is a hindrance to you for every action. "And do not covet plunder." He admonishes us not to be covetous of what belongs to others. "If wealth flows, do not set your heart upon it." If you see any man exceedingly rich, do not call his life blessed. If from everywhere and from abundant fountains wealth flows to you, do not acquiesce in their abundance. "If wealth flows." Admire the voice. The nature of wealth is flowing; more swiftly than a torrent it passes by its possessors, and is accustomed to change from one to another. Just as a river gliding from on high
approaches those standing on the bank, but as soon as it has touched them, it immediately departs, so also the instability of wealth has a most swift and slippery presence, accustomed to shift from one person to another. Today it is this man's field, tomorrow another's, and shortly after, another's. Look at the houses in the city; how many names have they received since they were built, being called at different times by the names of different masters? Gold, too, always slipping from the hands of the one who possesses it, passes to another, and from him to someone else. You could more easily hold water with your hand and keep it, than firmly preserve wealth for yourself. Therefore it has been well said: «If riches increase, do not set your heart on them.» B Do not be devoted to them in your soul; but accept what is useful from them, not loving and admiring them as if they were some kind of good, but choosing their service to you as a mere tool. Then he adds to all these statements a judgment, not adorned from his own words, but which he heard from God himself: «Once, he says, God has spoken, these two things I have heard.» And let no one be troubled as though the statement were paradoxical, how God spoke once, but the Prophet heard two things. For it is possible for someone to speak once, and yet for there to be many things said within the one occasion of speaking. For some man, having met someone once, may discourse on many things; and one who has heard his words can say: «He spoke to me once, but he had a conversation about many things.» This is what has just been said: The epiphany of God has occurred to me once, but there are two things which he spoke. He did not say: «God spoke one thing, and I heard these two,» for thus the discourse might seem to contradict itself. What, then, were the two things which C he heard? «That power belongs to God, and to you, O Lord, belongs mercy.» God, he says, is powerful in judgment, and the same is merciful. Therefore, do not hope in iniquity, nor be addicted to riches, nor embrace vanity, nor carry about a corrupted judgment of soul. Knowing that our Master is mighty, fear his strength, and yet do not despair of his benevolence. And indeed fear is good, that we may not commit any iniquity; but the hope of mercy is good, so that he who has once slipped into sin may not lose himself through despair. For power belongs to God, and from him comes mercy. «For you will render to each according to his works.» For with what measure you measure, it shall be measured back to you. Have you oppressed your brother? Expect the same. Have you snatched the property of those of lower station, struck the D poor with your fists, put them to shame with insults, slandered them, lied, plotted against the marriages of others, committed perjury, moved the boundaries of the fathers, invaded the possessions of orphans, oppressed widows, or preferred the present pleasure to the goods that are in the promises? Expect a return worthy of these things. For such as each one sows, such will he also reap. And indeed...
if any good has been performed by you, expect for those actions also their many-fold rewards. For You shall render to each one according to his works. If you keep this judgment in mind throughout all your A life, you will be able to avoid many sins, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
ON PSALM CXIV
B 1. Long ago, having occupied this holy temple of the Martyrs, from midnight until this very midday you waited for the God of the martyrs to be appeased through your hymns, awaiting our arrival. For you, who preferred the honor of the martyrs and the worship of God to both sleep and rest, the reward is ready. But if it is necessary that we also offer a defense for ourselves, because of the delay and our prolonged absence from you, we shall state the cause: that we were administering another church of God equal to this one, separated from you by no small interval, and we spent this duration of the day on that. Since, therefore, the Lord has granted that I should fulfill the ministry among them also, and not be deprived of your charity, join with me in giving thanks to the generous Benefactor, who has upheld this weakness of our body, which you see, by His invisible power. But so that we might not be troublesome to you by detaining you for too long, once we have discussed a few things from the psalm which we caught you singing, and have nourished your souls with the word of consolation according to our ability, we will send each one away to take care of the body. What then was that which C was being sung by you? VERS. 1. I have loved, he says, because the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer. It is not for everyone to say, "I have loved," but for one who has already been perfected, and is passing beyond the fear of slavery, and has obtained the spirit of adoption. And indeed when he said, "I have loved," he did not add "whom"; but we understand it as the God of the universe. For that which is properly lovable is God; since they define as lovable that which all things desire. But God is good, both the first and the most perfect of goods. Him, therefore, I have loved, God, the supreme of those things which can be desired; and for His sake I have embraced these afflictions with joy. And what these are, he recounts a little later. He is evidently commemorating the pains of death, in- D
the dangers of hell, the tribulation, the sorrow—all of which were lovable to him because of his love for God and the hope laid up for those who embrace sufferings for the sake of piety. For he says that he did not endure the struggles against his will, nor by force and compulsion, but that he embraced the hardships with a certain affection and disposition, so that I might be able to say: "For Thy sake we are killed all the day long." And these things seem to be equivalent to the words of the Apostle, and to be spoken from the same disposition as his: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" I loved all these things, therefore, knowing that I endure dangers for the sake of piety under the gaze of the Lord of all, the Spectator and Dispenser of the prizes. "Because the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer." For in this way each of us also is able to complete the labor involved in the commandments, B when he, as it were, displays his own manner of life to God, the Spectator of all.
2. "He inclined," he says, not so that you might receive some bodily concept about God having ears, and that He inclines them toward the low sound of a voice—which we do when we draw near to those who speak softly, bringing our hearing close so that we may perceive what is said by that proximity—but, he says, "He inclined" in order to reveal my own weakness. Since He descended to me lying on the ground because of His philanthropy; just as when a philanthropic physician, if some sick person cannot speak clearly due to extreme weakness, brings his own hearing near, so that he may learn from close by the things necessary for the sufferer. "He inclined His ear, therefore, to me." For the divine hearing does not need a voice for perception; for He knows how to recognize what is asked even in the movement of the heart. Or do you not hear that Moses, while saying C nothing, but interceding with the Lord by his own unspoken sighs, was heard by the Lord, who said: "Why do you cry out to Me?" God knows how to hear even the blood of a just man, to whom no tongue belongs, nor a voice passing through the air. But the presence of just works is a great cry before God. "And in my days I will call." We, indeed, having prayed for one day, or having been saddened for a short time in one hour for our sins, live without care, as though we had already done something equivalent to our wickedness. But this saint says that he will offer a confession that can measure the whole time of his own life: "For in my days," D he says, "I will call."
A Then, lest you should imagine that God was invoked by him for the reason that he enjoyed favorable things in this life, and that all things were turning out prosperously for him, he narrates the magnitude of the calamities in which he was placed, yet in these he did not forget the name of God. VERSE 3. "For the pains of death," he says, "surrounded me, the dangers of hell found me." Indeed, these pains are properly used to signify the pangs of childbirth, when the belly, stretched even to the point of swelling, thrusts the fetus outward; then, the genital parts being pressed, and dilated around the fetus by the distensions and contractions of the nerves, create the sharpest pains and bitter tortures for those giving birth. He translated these birth pains even to the pains of death themselves, which beset the living creature in the separation of soul and body. He says, therefore, that he did not suffer anything mediocre, but that he had been tested even by the very pains of death, and had arrived at the danger of a descent into hell. Did he then suffer only these things, about which he boasts, or were these things frequent and involuntary? But nothing coerced is praiseworthy. Yet behold the magnanimity of this athlete. For after saying, "The pains of death surrounded me, and the dangers of hell found me," he was so far from succumbing to these temptations that he even proposed to himself temptations much greater than these by his own free will. B Affliction and pain I devised for myself as if willingly, so I was not taken by them against my will. For indeed in the former case, "The dangers of hell found me," but here, "I found affliction and pain." For since I was found to be unyielding there against the things brought upon me by the tempter, in order to show the abundance of my love for God, I added affliction to affliction, and pain to pain: not that I resisted these troubles by my own strength, but because I called upon the name of the Lord. Such also is that which the Apostle says: "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Rom. viii, 37). He indeed conquers who is not broken by things that happen of necessity; but he is more than a conqueror who even of his own accord and will invites pains upon himself to demonstrate patience. Anyone who has committed some lethal sin should say: "The pains of death surrounded me." For "everyone," he says, "who commits sin is born of the devil" (I Jo. iii, 8). C When, therefore, I was, he says, a worker of sin, and was being carried in the womb of death, then also was I found by the dangers of hell. How then did I heal myself? Because I found the affliction and pain which comes through repentance. For by corresponding to the magnitude of the sin... D
A with the affliction of repentance, I understood, and thus I dared to call upon the name of the Lord. And what were the words I said? "O Lord, deliver my soul." I am held in this captivity; do You provide the price of redemption for me, and deliver my soul.
3. "Merciful is the Lord and righteous." Scripture everywhere joins justice to the mercies of God, teaching us that neither is the mercy of God without judgment, nor is judgment devoid of mercy. But even while showing mercy, He measures out His mercies with judgment to those who are worthy; and while judging, He administers judgment with a consideration of our weakness, punishing us with kindness rather than by repaying like with like. And our God shows mercy. B Mercy is an affection toward those who have been humbled beyond their merit, originating from those who are moved by compassion. We feel pity for one who has fallen from great wealth into extreme destitution, or one who has been reduced from the best bodily health to the utmost weakness, or one who boasted in the beauty and grace of his body, but has become corrupted by the most shameful and foul diseases. Since, therefore, we too, while dwelling in paradise, were once glorious and admirable, but became inglorious and lowly because of our expulsion, our God shows mercy, seeing what we have become from what we once were. For this reason, He also called Adam with this voice of mercy, saying: "Adam, where art thou?" C For He who knows all things did not seek to be taught, but wanted him to perceive what he had become from what he was. "Where art thou?" is as if to say: "Into what a ruin have you fallen from such a height?"
4. "The Lord protects the little ones; I was humbled, and He saved me." Whether you take this according to the natural reason, human nature would not endure if those who are completely little and still infants were not protected by the Lord. For how, or [within the womb] could those being carried be nourished or move in such narrow spaces, having no room to turn, but living in dark and wet places, and being able neither to breathe nor to live the life of humans, but moving about in fluids like fish, if they were not held together by the protection of God? And how, again, when they had slipped out into this unaccustomed place, and were chilled by the air after the heat of the womb, would they persist even for a short time if they were not preserved by God? D "The Lord protects the little ones; I was humbled, and He saved me." Or you may understand the words in this way: that since I have turned, and have become as a little child, and have received the kingdom of heaven as a child, and through innocence have humbled myself to the humility of children...
A The Lord, who keeps the little ones, for I was humbled, He saved me.
5. VERSE 7. Turn again, O my soul, into thy rest, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. The good athlete proposes to himself words of consolation, in like manner to Paul, saying: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness (II Tim. iv, 7, 8). These things the Prophet also says to himself: Since thou hast sufficiently fulfilled the long course of this life, Turn again henceforth into thy rest, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For there is proposed an eternal rest to those who have B lawfully struggled through the life here, not rendered as a debt of works, but bestowed by the grace of the most bountiful God to those who have set their hope in Him. Then, before recounting the good things laid up there, he relates his escape from the troubles of the world, and for these things he gives thanks to the Deliverer of souls, who rescued him from the varied and unavoidable slavery of his passions. But what are these things? VERSE 8. For He hath delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. By a comparison of things present, he describes the future rest. For here, he says, the sorrows of death compassed me: but there He delivered my soul from death. Here C the eyes shed tears from affliction: but there, no longer do tears pour darkness into the pupils of those who are delighted by the contemplation of the beauty of the majesty of God. For God hath wiped away every tear from every face (Isa. xxv, 8). Here the danger of falling is great: wherefore also Paul said: Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall (I Cor. x, 12). But there, the steps are firm; life is immutable; there is no longer danger of slipping into sin. For there is neither rebellion of the flesh, nor does woman lend mutual aid to sin. For in the resurrection there is no male and female, but there is one D life and simple: since those who dwell in the land of the living are pleasing to their own Master. This world itself is also perishing, and it is a place of those who are dying. For since the substance of visible things is composite, and whatever is composite is accustomed to be dissolved, we who exist in the world, being parts of the world, necessarily become partakers of the nature of the whole. Wherefore, even before the soul is separated from the body by death, we men often die. And let not this saying seem paradoxical to you, but consider the truth of the thing itself. For by nature it is so arranged, that man in the three weeks of years...