For even thou art able to draw near to Him, that doth speak to thee through man : for it is not so, that He hath made him to draw near unto Himself, and
rejecteth thee.
rejecteth thee.
Augustine - Exposition on the Psalms - v4
They said -- (they were
raging against Christ, that is, the race of Judah was raging against the Iseed of David. And Pilate sailh to them, Your John 19,
--
crucify? ) they said, I say, We have no king15,
King shall
but Ccesar. O ye who are called Jews and are not, if ye
B2
Psalm
4 The true royalty of David is in Christ.
have no king but Caesar, there hath failed a Prince of Judah: there hath come then He to Whom the promise hath been made. They then are more truly Jews, who have been made Christians out of Jews : the rest of the Jews, who in Christ have not believed, have deserved to lose even the very name. The true Judaea, then, is the Church of Christ, believing in that King, Who hath come out of the tribe of Judah through the Virgin Mary; believing in Him of Whom the Apostle was
2 Tim. just now speaking, in writing to Timothy, Be thou mindful
2' 8'
ihat Jesus Christ hath risen from the dead, of the seed of David, after my Gospel. For of Judah is David, and out of David is the Lord Jesus Christ. We believing in Christ do belong to Judah : and we acknowledge Christ. We, that with eyes have not seen, in faith do keep Him. Let not therefore the Jews revile, who are no longer Jews. They
John19, said themselves, We have no king but Ccesar. For better
16-
were it for them that their king should be Christ, of the seed of David, of the tribe of Judah. Nevertheless because Christ Himself is of the seed of David after the flesh, but
Bom. 9, God above all things blessed for ever, He is Himself our
5'
King and our God ; our King, inasmuch as born of the tribe of Judah, after the flesh, was Christ the Lord, the Saviour; but our God, Who is before Judah, and before
John l, Heaven and earth, by Whom were made all things, both
3'
spiritual and corporal. For if all things by Himself were made ; even Mary herself, out of whom He was born, by Himself was made. How then could He have been born like the rest of mankind, who made unto Himself a mother out of whom He might be born ? Therefore He is Himself the Lord : the Apostle saying, when he was speaking of the
Bom. 9, Jews, of whom are the fathers, and out of whom is Christ 5' after the flesh; Who is over all things, God blessed for ever. Because then the Jews saw Christ and crucified Him, they saw not God : but the Gentiles because they saw not and
believed, have perceived God. Therefore if there appeared
i Cor. 6, to them God in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, and
19'
they crucified Him because they perceived not God hidden in flesh : begone that which is called Judaea and is not; and let there draw near the true Judaea, to whom is said, Draw ye near to Him and be ye enlightened, and your faces shall not
lie is known as God to the true Judah and Israel. 5 blush. The faces of the true Judaea shall not be put to con- Ver'
--
fusion. For they have heard and have believed, and the Church hath become the true Judaea, where Christ is known, Who being Man of the seed of David, is God above David.
2. Known in Judcea is God, in Israel great is the Name of Him. Concerning Israel also we ought so to take it as wo have concerning Judaea: as they were not the true Jews, so neither was that the true Israel. For what is Israel said to be ? One seeing God. And how have they seen God, among whom He walked in the flesh ; and while they supposed Him to be man, they slew Him ? Rising again He appeared as God to all to whom He willed to manifest Himself. They
then are worthy to be called Israel, who merited to perceive Christ, as God clothed in flesh, so that they despised not that which they saw, but adored that which they saw not. For though not seen to the eyes, the Gentiles with humble mind have perceived Him Whom they saw not, and in faith have retained Him. Again, they that in hands held Him, slew Him ; they that in faith held Him, adored. In Israel
great is His Name. Wilt thou be Israel ? Observe that man concerning whom the Lord saith, Behold an Israelite indeed, John 1, in whom guile is not. If a true Israelite is he in whom guile
is not, the guileful and lying are not true Israelites. Let
them not say then, that with them is God, and great is His
name in Israel. Let them prove themselves Israelites, and
I grant that in Israel great is His Name.
3. Ver. 2. And there hath been made in peace a place for Him, and His habitation is in Sion. Again, Sion is as it were the country of the Jews; the true Sion is the Church of Christians. But the interpretation of the Hebrew names is
thus handed down to us : Judaea is interpreted confession, Israel, one seeing God. After Judaea is Israel : so it hath been placed here, Known in Judcea is God, in Israel great is His Name. Wilt thou see God ? First do thou confess, and then in thyself there is made a place for God; because there
hath been made in peace a placefor Him. So long as then thou confessest not thy sins, in a manner thou art quarrelling with God. For how art thou not disputing with Him, who art praising that which displeaseth Him ? He punisheth a thief, thou dost praise theft : He doth punish a drunken man,
6 Inward peace God's dwelling. Beginning of confession.
Psalm thou dost praise drunkenness. Thou art disputing with God, lxxVI'thou hast not made for Him a place in thy heart: because in peace is His place. And how dost thou begin to have
peace with God ? Thou beginnest with Him in confession. Ps. U7, There, is a voice of a Psalm, saying, Begin ye to the Lord in confession. What is, Begin ye to the Lord in confession f Begin ye to be joined to the Lord. In what manner? So that the same thing may displease you as displeaseth Him. There displeaseth Him thy evil life ; if it please thyself, thou art disunited from Him ; if it displease thee, through confession to Him thou art united. See in how great
measure thou art unlike Him, since indeed on account of that very unlikeness thou art displeasing to Him. Thou hast been made, O man, after the image of God : but through thy life being perverse and evil thou hast disturbed in thee and hast banished in thee the image of thy Creator. Having become unlike, thou lookest unto thyself and thou
now from this time thou beginnest to become like, because the same thing is displeasing to thee
as is displeasing to God also.
4. But how am I like, sayest thou, when I am still dis
pleasing to myself? Therefore there hath been said, begin. Ps. 147, Begin thou to the Lord in confession: thou wilt be made
7-
perfect in peace. For as yet thou hast war against thee.
displeasest thyself:
There is enjoined then a war, not only against the sug- Ephet. gestions of the devil, against the prince of the power of this
6' 1 '
air, who worketh in the sons of unbelief, against the devil and his angels, the spiritual things of naughtiness ; not only therefore against them war is enjoined thee, but against thyself. How against thyself ? Against thy evil habit, against the oldness of thy evil life, which draweth thee to thy wonted life, and withholdeth thee from the new. For there is en joined upon thee a kind of new life, and thou art old. By the joy of that newness thou art held aloft, by the burden of the oldness thou art weighed down : there beginneth to be war for thee against thyself. But by the part wherein thou art displeased with thyself thou art being united to God; and by that part whereby thou art now being joined to God, thou wilt be meet to conquer thyself ; because He is with thee Who overcometh all things. Observe what the Apostle
In what sense the flesh still serves sin. 7
saith : With the mind I serve the law of God, but with the Ver. flesh the law of sin. How with mind ? Because thy evil Ro^' - '
life is displeasing to thee. How with flesh ? Because there 26. are not wanting evil suggestions and affections of pleasure ; but in that with mind thou art united with God, thou art conquering in thyself that which in thyself is not willing to follow. For thou hast gone before in part, and in part thou art held back.
upward. With
weighed down :
who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? Who 24, shall deliver me from that wherewith I am being weighed
down? For the body which is corrupted doth weigh downVTM. 9,
Draw thyself to Him, Who is raising thee a sort of weight of o kin ess thou art Ibeing
cry out and say, Unhappy man tftat
am, Rom.
7,
suffer thee long time to contend with thyself, until there be swallowed up all evil desires ? In order that thou mayest
in thyself thy penance. In thee from thyself is thy rod: let thy strife be with thyself. Thus vengeance is taken upon a rebel against God, in such sort that he is himself a war unto himself, who would not have peace with God. But keep thy members against thy evil desires. There hath sprung up wrath, refrain thy hand, taking part with God. It might have arisen, but it hath found no weapons. In thy wrath is the onset, in thyself are the weapons : be the onset without weapons, and it leameth no longer to rise, which hath risen in vain.
5. But this I say, dearly beloved, lest perchance because
we have said, But with flesh to the law of sin, ye may R0m. 7, think that ye ought to consent to your carnal desires. 25- Though there cannot now but be carnal desires, we must
not consent to them. Therefore the Apostle hath not said,
Be there not sin in your mortal body. For he knoweth
that so long as it is mortal, there is there sin. But he saith
what? Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. Rom. 6, What is, Let it not reign ? He hath himself explained : 12'
to obey, he saith, the desires thereof. There are desires,
there arise desires, thou dost not obey thy desires, dost not
follow the same desires, dost not consent to them : there is
in thee sin, but it hath lost its reign, now that in thee there
the souL Who, I say, shall deliver me? The grace
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. But why doth He26.
perceive
of^m 7
8 After Resurrection the flesh will tempt no more.
Psai. m reigneth not sin, hereafter the last enemy shall be destroyed, iT5o7~ death. But what is promised to us? For it hath been said, 16, 26. With mind 1 serve the law of God, but with flesh the law of ^? m- 7' sin. Hear the promise, that there will not always be in the
flesh unlawful desires. For it will rise again, and it will be changed: and when this mortal flesh shall have been changed into a spiritual body, then no more with any earthly delights shall it allure the soul, nor shall divert it from the contem plation of God. There is then done in her that whereof the
Rom. 8, Apostle speaketh, The body indeed is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if He that hath raised up Jesus from the dead doth dwell in you; He that hath raised %ip Jesus Christ from the dead shall
bring to life also your mortal bodies, because of His Spirit Which dweUeth in you. When our bodies then have been brought to life, there will be true peace, where there is a place for God: but let confession go before. Known in
Judcea is God: confess thou therefore first. In Israel great is His Name: not yet thou seest in form, see thou by faith ; and there shall be made in thee that which followeth : and there hath been made in peace a place for Him, and His dwelling is in Sion. Sion is interpreted contemplation". What is
l Cor. contemplation ? For we shall contemplate God face to face. 13' 12' He is promised to us, in Whom now not seeing we believe.
How shall we rejoice when we shall have seen Him ! Brethren, if now so great joy the promise doth work in us, how great joy will the performance work ? For there will be rendered to us that which He hath promised P And what hath He promised? Himself, so that in His face and in the con templation of Him we may rejoice : and not any other object will delight us, because nothing is better than He that hath made all things which delight. There hath been made in peace a place for Him, and His dwelling is in Sion: that is, in a kind of contemplation and speculation, there hath
been made a dwelling for Him, in Sion.
6. Ver. 3. There He hath broken the strength of bows, and
the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Where hath He
broken ? In that eternal peace, in that perfect peace. And
? Oxf. Mss. and some others, ' we brethren whom we see present also to- naid it already yesterday, and some day heard, what is contemplation. '
The spiritual mountains made eternal by grace. 9
now, my brethren, they that have rightly believed see that Ver. they ought not to rely on themselves : and all the might of ----- their own menaces, and whatsoever is in them whetted for mischief, this they break in pieces ; and whatsoever they
deem of great virtue wherewith to protect themselves tempo rally, and the war which they were waging against God by defending their sins, all these things He hath broken there.
7. Ver. 4. Thou enlightening marvellously from the eternal mountains. What are the eternal mountains? Those which He hath Himself made eternal ; which are the great moun tains, the preachers of truth. Thou dost enlighten, but from the eternal mountains : the great mountains are first to re ceive Thy light, and from Thy light which the mountains receive, the earth also is clothed. But those great mountains the Apostles have received, the Apostles have received as it were the first streaks of the risinglight. Did they by any means
keep to themselves that which they received ? No. Lest
there should be said to them, Servant naughty and slothful, Mat. 26, thou shouldest have given my money to the usurers. Since 26' then that which they received they kept not to themselves,
but they preached it to all the round world ; Thou enlight
ening marvellously from the eternal mountains. By those
which Thou hast made eternal, by the same Thou hast pro
mised life eternal to the rest also. Thou enlightening mar vellously from the eternal mountains. Admirably with force
hath been said Thou : that no one may suppose that the mountains enlighten him. For many thinking that they were enlightened by the mere mountains, made to themselves
parties from the mountains; and the very mountains have
fallen downb, and they have been themselves broken in pieces.
Some have made for themselves a Donatus, some have Against made for themselves a Maximianus, some have made for*et? t? - themselves this or that teacher. Why do they count their salvation to be in men, not in God? O man, there hath come
to thee light through the mountains : but God doth enlighten
thee, not the mountains.
Thou, not the mountains.
b So Mss. according to Ben. without
Tariation, Ben. reads, ' ipsos montes which is not so good sense, ccncidetunt,' the very mountains they
Thou enlightening, he saith : Thou enlightening : from the
have cut away, or ' cut in pieces,'
10 None, however great, to be followed by himself.
Psalm eternal mountains indeed; but, Thou enlightening. Where- P^x'121forea*so'*Danot^erplace,aPsalmsaithwhat? /havelifted
1.
2.
'up mine eyes unto the mountains, whence there shall come help to me. What then, in the mountains is thy hope, and from thence to thee shall there come help? Hast thou stayed at the mountains ? Take heed what thou doest.
There is something above the mountains : above the moun tains is He at Whom the mountains tremble. / hare lifted up, he saith, mine eyes unto the mountains, whence there shall come help to me. But what followeth ? My help, he saith, is from the Lord, who hath made Heaven and earth. Unto the mountains indeed I have lifted up eyes, because through the mountains to me the Scriptures were displayed : but 1 have my heart in Him that doth enlighten all moun tains.
8. Therefore, brethren, for this purpose it hath been said, that no one of you should will to set his hope on man. Man is something, so long as he adhereth to Him by Whom man was made. For departing from Him, man is nothing, even when he adhereth to those (mountains). Do thou so take counsel through man, as that thou mayest consider Him that doth enlighten man.
For even thou art able to draw near to Him, that doth speak to thee through man : for it is not so, that He hath made him to draw near unto Himself, and
rejecteth thee. And he that hath truly so drawn near unto God, that God dwelleth in him, is displeased with all those that do not set their hope on Him. Therefore there hath been given a sort of example. When men divided among themselves theIvery Apostles, and they fell Iunto schisms who
Apollos,
12- is, of Peter--over these the Apostle doth mourn, and he saith
Ibid. 13. to them,/* Christ divided? and he singled out himself to make light of among them ; Hath Paul been crucified for you, or in the name of Paul have ye been baptized? Behold a good mountain, seeking glory, not for himself, but for Him by Whom the mountains are enlightened. He was not willing to rely on himself; but upon Him on Whom he had over himself relied. Whosoever therefore shall have willed so to recommend himself to the people, as that if there shall have chanced for him any tumult, he brcaketh
am of Paul, I
l Cor. l, were saying, of
of
Cephas, that
up the people to
The true mountains refuse to stand by themselves. 1 1
follow after him, and divideth the Church Catholic for his Ver. own sake, is not of those mountains which the Most ----
But what is such an one ? One darkened by himself, not enlightened by the Lord. But
have been divided. But they have been divided? ; when
the people withdrew from the whole world and followed
after their name, they rejoiced, were elated, and were thrown down. They should have been humbled, and they would have been exalted: in like manner as the Apostle was
High doth enlighten.
how are these mountains proved? If there shall perchance have fallen out any tumult against the mountains in the Church, either by means of the popular seditions of carnal men, or by means of any false suspicions of men, a good mountain doth drive away from itself all them that for its own sake will to withdraw from unity. For thus it will remain in unity, if for its own sake unity herself shall not
Iath Paid been crucified for you? And humbled, saying, H
in another place, watered, but God hath 1 Cor. 3, planted, Apollos
given the increase. Tiierefore, neither he that planteth is any 6- thing, nor he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase.
were humble, in God were exalted. But they that in themselves are exalted, by God
are humbled. For he that exalteth himself shall be humbled; LukeU, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Therefore11,
such men as regard their own pride are bitterly hostile to 1J"*1? *- peaceful men in the Church. These are willing to cement
peace, those stir up dissension among themselves. And what
saith another Psalm regarding them ? They that are bitter Ps. 66,7.
9. Ver. 5. There have been troubled all the unwise in
heart. There hath been preached the truth, there hath been declared life eternal ; it hath been declared that there is another life, which is not of this earth : men have despised the present life, and have loved the future life when enlight ened by the enlightened mountains. But the unwise in
c 4 Mw. ap. Ben. (and Oxf. ) have rejoiced.
Such mountains in themselves
shall not be exalted in themselves.
serve this,) Thou marvellously from the eternal mountains.
Thou enlightening, (ob
How have they been troubled ?
heart have been troubled.
When the Gospel is preached. And what is life eternal ?
And who is He that hath risen from the dead? The Athe- *ct"17'
12 The rich of this world at last find their hands empty.
Psalm njan8 wondered, when the Apostle Paul spake of the resur- -rectum of the dead, and thought that he spake but fables.
) Cor. 2, jlu(. because he said that there was another life which neither eye hath seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it gone up into the heart of man, therefore the unwise in heart were troubled. But what hath befallen them ? They have slept their sleep, and all men of riches have found nothing in their hands. They have loved things present, and have gone to sleep in the midst of things present: and so these very present things have become to them delightful : just as he that seeth in a dream himself to have found treasure, is so long rich as he waketh not. The dream hath made him rich, waking hath made him poor. Sleep perchance hath held him slumbering on the earth, and lying on the hard ground, poor and perchance a beggar; in sleep he hath seen himself to lie on an ivory or golden bed, and on feathers
1many
not understood how much of good might be done therewith. For if they had known of another life, there they would have laid up unto themselves the treasure which here was doomed to perish : like as Zacchaeus, the chief of the Publicans, saw that good1 when he received the LIord Jesus in his house, an(i ne saith, Tlie my goods
heaped up ; so long as he is sleeping, he is sleeping well, waking he hath found himself on the hard ground, whereon sleep had taken him. Such men also are these too : they have come into this life, and through temporal desires, they have as it were slumbered here ; and them riches, and vain pomps that fly away, have taken, and they have passed away : they have
Ior, if restore. This man was not in the emptiness of men dreaming, but in
'good. '
Luke19, t0 amj man
give to the and
I halfof po
have done any wrong,
fourfold
the faith of men awake. Therefore because the Lord had
come in as a Physician to a sick man, He hath proclaimed ibid. >>. 9. his salvation, and saith, To-day salvation to this house hath come, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham. In order
that ye might know how we by imitating his faith are the sons of Abraham : but the Jews who glory because of the flesh from the faith have degenerated. Therefore the men of riches have slept their sleep, and they have found nothing in their hands. They have slept in their desires, there delighteth them and passeth away that sleep, there passeth
They that 'mount horses' in pride, ' sleep' through judgment. 13
away this life, and they find nothing in their hands, because Vkr.
--
they have put nothing in the hand of Christ. Wilt thou
find any thing in thy hands hereafter? Despise not now the
hand of the poor man ; and have regard to empty hands, if
thou wilt have full hands. For the Lord hath said, IwasM*t. 25,
hungry, and ye gave Me to eat; I
Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me in, and the like. And they, When saw we Thee hungry, thirsty, or a stranger' ? And He saith to them, Inasmuch as to one of My least ones ye have done to Me ye have done it. To hunger in the
poor He hath willed, That rich in Heaven and thou man to man dost hesitate to give, although thou knowest that thou art giving to Christ that which thou givest, from Whom thou hast received whatever thou givest But they have slept their sleep, and all men of riches have found nothing in their hands.
10. Ver. 6. By Thy chiding, God of Jacob, there ha ve slept all men that have mounted horses. Who are they that have mounted horses They that would not be humble. To sit on horseback no sin but sin to lift up the neck of power against God, and to deem one's self to be in
was thirsty, and ye gave
some distinction. Because thou art rich, thou hast mounted;
God doth chide, and thou sleepest. Great the anger of
Him chiding, great the anger. Let your Love observe tho terrible thing. Chiding hath noise, the noise wont to make men wake. So great the force of God chiding, that
he said, By Thy chiding, God of Jacob, there have slept
all men that have mounted horses. Behold what sleep
that Pharaoh slept who mounted horses. For he was not awake in heart, because against chiding he had his heart Exod. hardened. For hardness of heart slumber. ask you, 14>> 8- my brethren, how they sleep, who, while the Gospel sounding, and the Amen, and the Hallelujah, throughout the whole world, yet will not condemn their old life, and wake
up unto new life. There was the Scripture of God in Judaea only, now throughout the whole world sung. In that one nation one God Who made all things was spoken of, as to be adored and worshipped; now where He unsaid? Christ hath risen again, though derided on the Cross that
Oxf. Mss. and minittered unto Thee. '
d
it,
?
is ? 0 is
is ;
it is
is I is
; ?
a
is
it
a is
a
;
O
is a
is
14 Men still sleep in spite of general warnings.
Psalm very Cross whereon He was derided, He hath now imprinted lxxyr. on the Drows of kingS: and men yet sleep. Better have we heard Him that saith, Arise thou that art sleeping, and rise up from the dead, and there shall enlighten thee Christ.
But who do hear Him? They that do not mount horses. Who are they that do not mount horses? They that do not boast and exalt themselves, as if on their honours and powers. By Thy chiding, O God ofJacob, there have slumbered they that have mounted horses.
11. Ver. 7. Thou art terrible, and who shall withstand Thee at that time by Thine anger ? Now they sleep, and perceive not Thee angry ; but for cause that they should sleep, He was angry. Now that which sleeping they perceived not, at the end they shall perceive. For there shall appear the Judge of quick and dead. And who shall withstand Thee at that time by Thine anger? For now they speak that which they will, and they dispute against God and say, who are the Christians ? or who is Christ ? or what fools are they that believe that which they see not, and relinquish the pleasures which they see, and follow the faith of things which
1 baiati? are not displayed to their eyes ! Ye sleep and snore ye Ps. 94, Speak against God, as much as ye are able. How long shall sinners, 0 Lord, how long shall sinners glory, they answer
and will speak iniquity? But when doth no one answer * Oxf. and no one speak, except when he turneth himself* against ? they,' himself? When shall they turn their teeth against themselves,
' them- wherewith now they bite us, wherewith now they tear us by deriding Christians, and by censuring the life of holy men ? They shall turn themselves against themselves at that time, when there shall happen to them that which is spoken of in
Wisd 6, the Book of Wisdom ; they shall say within themselves, doing
3'
penance, and through anguish of spirit groaning : when they shall have seen the glory of holy men, then they shall say, These are they whom sometime we had in derision. O ye that slumbered much, now indeed ye are awake, and in your own hands ye find nothing. Ye see how they have hands full of the glory of God, whom as if poor ye derided. Speak then to yourselves, inasmuch as ye do not withstand
the anger of God, neither with hand, nor with tongue, nor with word, nor with thought. For He shall appear manifest
In Judgment they will acknowledge they have erred. 15
to you, Whom ye thought worthy to be derided, when He was Ver. being proclaimed to you as to come. And what shall they -~ -- say ? Therefore we have strayedfrom the way of truth, and Ibld-T-6' the light ofrighteousness hath not shined upon us, and the
sun hath not risen upon us. How should the Sun of righte ousness hare riseu to them sleeping ? But by His anger and chiding they sleep. This perchance one will say, and ' I would not have mounted horse :' and then they shall them selves blame their horses. Hear them blaming their horses, whereon they have slept : therefore we have erred, saith the Scripture,/rom the way of truth, and the light of righte
ousness hath not shined upon us, and the sun hath not risen
upon us. What hath pride profited us, and the boasting q/Tbid. v. riches hath bestowed upon us what ? All things have passed
away like a shadow. Therefore thou hast awoke at length.
But better were it that thou hadst not mounted horse, when thou oughtest to have been awake ; and thou wouldest have heard the voice of Christ, and Christ would have enlightened thee. Thou art terrible, and who shall withstand Thee at
that lime, by Thine anger ? For what shall there be at that time ?
12. Ver. 8. From Heaven Thou hast hurled judgment : the earth hath trembled, and hath rested* She which now doth trouble herself, she which now speaketh, hath to fear at the end and to rest. Better had she now rested, that at the end she might have rejoiced.
13. The earth hath trembled and hath rested. When ?
When God arose unto judgment, that He might save all the meek in heart. Who are the meek in heart ? They that on snorting horses have not mounted, but in their humility have confessed their own sins. That He might save all the meek in heart.
14. Ver. 10. For the thought of a man shall confess to Tliee, and the remnants of the thought shall celebrate solemnities to Thee. The first is the thought, the latter are the remnants of the thought. What is the first thought ? That from whence we begin, that good thought whence thou wilt begin to confess. Confession uniteth us to Christ. But now the confession itself, that is, the first thought, doth produce in us the rem nants of the thought: and those very remnants of thought
(Ver. 9. )
16 Confession should leave remnants of thankful thought.
Psalm . shall celebrate solemnities to Thee. The thought of a man l**v1- shall confess to Thee, and the remnants of the thought shall celebrate solemnities to Thee. What is the thought which shall confess ? That which condemneth the former life, that whereunto that which it was is displeasing, in order that it
may be that which it was not, is itself the first thought. But because thus thou oughtest to withdraw from sins, with the first thought after having confessed to God, that it may not escape thy memory that thou hast been a sinner; in that thou hast been a sinner, thou dost celebrate solemnities to God. Furthermore it is to be understood as followeth. The first thought hath confession, and departure from the old life. But if thou shalt have forgotten from what sins thou hast been delivered, thou dost not render thanks to the Deliverer, and dost not celebrate solemnities to thy God. Behold the first confessing thought of Saul the Apostle, now Paul, who at first was Saul, when he heard a voice from Heaven ! While he was persecuting Christ, and was frantic against the
Christians, and was willing to bring them to be slaughtered
wheresoever he might find them, he heard a voice from Act>> 9, heaven, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? And being shined upon round about with the light, blindness having
smitten his eyes, that he might inwardly see, he put forth
lb. 6, 6. the first thought of obedience : when he heard, " /
2 Tim. 3' 8'
" what dost Thou bid me to do? " This is a thought con fessing: now he is calling upon the Lord Whom he persecuted. In what manner the remnants of the thought shall celebrate solemnities, in the case of Paul ye have heard, when the Apostle himself was being read ; Be thou mindful that Christ Jesus hath risen from the dead, of the seed of David, after my Gospel. What is, be thou mindful? ? Though effaced from thy memory be the thought, whereby at first thou hast confessed: be the remnant of the thought in the memory.
And see after what sort the same Paul doth / Apostle repeat
am Jesus Of Nazareth, Whom thou persecutest," " 0 Lord," he saith,
l Tim. in another place that which was bestowed upon him.
'
that ' before, he saith, have been a blasphemer,I and a persecutor,
and injurious. He that saith, before
phemer, is he yet a blasphemer? In order that he might not
be a blasphemer was the first thought confessing: but in
have a
been blas
God glorified in the recollection of sin pardoned.
raging against Christ, that is, the race of Judah was raging against the Iseed of David. And Pilate sailh to them, Your John 19,
--
crucify? ) they said, I say, We have no king15,
King shall
but Ccesar. O ye who are called Jews and are not, if ye
B2
Psalm
4 The true royalty of David is in Christ.
have no king but Caesar, there hath failed a Prince of Judah: there hath come then He to Whom the promise hath been made. They then are more truly Jews, who have been made Christians out of Jews : the rest of the Jews, who in Christ have not believed, have deserved to lose even the very name. The true Judaea, then, is the Church of Christ, believing in that King, Who hath come out of the tribe of Judah through the Virgin Mary; believing in Him of Whom the Apostle was
2 Tim. just now speaking, in writing to Timothy, Be thou mindful
2' 8'
ihat Jesus Christ hath risen from the dead, of the seed of David, after my Gospel. For of Judah is David, and out of David is the Lord Jesus Christ. We believing in Christ do belong to Judah : and we acknowledge Christ. We, that with eyes have not seen, in faith do keep Him. Let not therefore the Jews revile, who are no longer Jews. They
John19, said themselves, We have no king but Ccesar. For better
16-
were it for them that their king should be Christ, of the seed of David, of the tribe of Judah. Nevertheless because Christ Himself is of the seed of David after the flesh, but
Bom. 9, God above all things blessed for ever, He is Himself our
5'
King and our God ; our King, inasmuch as born of the tribe of Judah, after the flesh, was Christ the Lord, the Saviour; but our God, Who is before Judah, and before
John l, Heaven and earth, by Whom were made all things, both
3'
spiritual and corporal. For if all things by Himself were made ; even Mary herself, out of whom He was born, by Himself was made. How then could He have been born like the rest of mankind, who made unto Himself a mother out of whom He might be born ? Therefore He is Himself the Lord : the Apostle saying, when he was speaking of the
Bom. 9, Jews, of whom are the fathers, and out of whom is Christ 5' after the flesh; Who is over all things, God blessed for ever. Because then the Jews saw Christ and crucified Him, they saw not God : but the Gentiles because they saw not and
believed, have perceived God. Therefore if there appeared
i Cor. 6, to them God in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, and
19'
they crucified Him because they perceived not God hidden in flesh : begone that which is called Judaea and is not; and let there draw near the true Judaea, to whom is said, Draw ye near to Him and be ye enlightened, and your faces shall not
lie is known as God to the true Judah and Israel. 5 blush. The faces of the true Judaea shall not be put to con- Ver'
--
fusion. For they have heard and have believed, and the Church hath become the true Judaea, where Christ is known, Who being Man of the seed of David, is God above David.
2. Known in Judcea is God, in Israel great is the Name of Him. Concerning Israel also we ought so to take it as wo have concerning Judaea: as they were not the true Jews, so neither was that the true Israel. For what is Israel said to be ? One seeing God. And how have they seen God, among whom He walked in the flesh ; and while they supposed Him to be man, they slew Him ? Rising again He appeared as God to all to whom He willed to manifest Himself. They
then are worthy to be called Israel, who merited to perceive Christ, as God clothed in flesh, so that they despised not that which they saw, but adored that which they saw not. For though not seen to the eyes, the Gentiles with humble mind have perceived Him Whom they saw not, and in faith have retained Him. Again, they that in hands held Him, slew Him ; they that in faith held Him, adored. In Israel
great is His Name. Wilt thou be Israel ? Observe that man concerning whom the Lord saith, Behold an Israelite indeed, John 1, in whom guile is not. If a true Israelite is he in whom guile
is not, the guileful and lying are not true Israelites. Let
them not say then, that with them is God, and great is His
name in Israel. Let them prove themselves Israelites, and
I grant that in Israel great is His Name.
3. Ver. 2. And there hath been made in peace a place for Him, and His habitation is in Sion. Again, Sion is as it were the country of the Jews; the true Sion is the Church of Christians. But the interpretation of the Hebrew names is
thus handed down to us : Judaea is interpreted confession, Israel, one seeing God. After Judaea is Israel : so it hath been placed here, Known in Judcea is God, in Israel great is His Name. Wilt thou see God ? First do thou confess, and then in thyself there is made a place for God; because there
hath been made in peace a placefor Him. So long as then thou confessest not thy sins, in a manner thou art quarrelling with God. For how art thou not disputing with Him, who art praising that which displeaseth Him ? He punisheth a thief, thou dost praise theft : He doth punish a drunken man,
6 Inward peace God's dwelling. Beginning of confession.
Psalm thou dost praise drunkenness. Thou art disputing with God, lxxVI'thou hast not made for Him a place in thy heart: because in peace is His place. And how dost thou begin to have
peace with God ? Thou beginnest with Him in confession. Ps. U7, There, is a voice of a Psalm, saying, Begin ye to the Lord in confession. What is, Begin ye to the Lord in confession f Begin ye to be joined to the Lord. In what manner? So that the same thing may displease you as displeaseth Him. There displeaseth Him thy evil life ; if it please thyself, thou art disunited from Him ; if it displease thee, through confession to Him thou art united. See in how great
measure thou art unlike Him, since indeed on account of that very unlikeness thou art displeasing to Him. Thou hast been made, O man, after the image of God : but through thy life being perverse and evil thou hast disturbed in thee and hast banished in thee the image of thy Creator. Having become unlike, thou lookest unto thyself and thou
now from this time thou beginnest to become like, because the same thing is displeasing to thee
as is displeasing to God also.
4. But how am I like, sayest thou, when I am still dis
pleasing to myself? Therefore there hath been said, begin. Ps. 147, Begin thou to the Lord in confession: thou wilt be made
7-
perfect in peace. For as yet thou hast war against thee.
displeasest thyself:
There is enjoined then a war, not only against the sug- Ephet. gestions of the devil, against the prince of the power of this
6' 1 '
air, who worketh in the sons of unbelief, against the devil and his angels, the spiritual things of naughtiness ; not only therefore against them war is enjoined thee, but against thyself. How against thyself ? Against thy evil habit, against the oldness of thy evil life, which draweth thee to thy wonted life, and withholdeth thee from the new. For there is en joined upon thee a kind of new life, and thou art old. By the joy of that newness thou art held aloft, by the burden of the oldness thou art weighed down : there beginneth to be war for thee against thyself. But by the part wherein thou art displeased with thyself thou art being united to God; and by that part whereby thou art now being joined to God, thou wilt be meet to conquer thyself ; because He is with thee Who overcometh all things. Observe what the Apostle
In what sense the flesh still serves sin. 7
saith : With the mind I serve the law of God, but with the Ver. flesh the law of sin. How with mind ? Because thy evil Ro^' - '
life is displeasing to thee. How with flesh ? Because there 26. are not wanting evil suggestions and affections of pleasure ; but in that with mind thou art united with God, thou art conquering in thyself that which in thyself is not willing to follow. For thou hast gone before in part, and in part thou art held back.
upward. With
weighed down :
who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? Who 24, shall deliver me from that wherewith I am being weighed
down? For the body which is corrupted doth weigh downVTM. 9,
Draw thyself to Him, Who is raising thee a sort of weight of o kin ess thou art Ibeing
cry out and say, Unhappy man tftat
am, Rom.
7,
suffer thee long time to contend with thyself, until there be swallowed up all evil desires ? In order that thou mayest
in thyself thy penance. In thee from thyself is thy rod: let thy strife be with thyself. Thus vengeance is taken upon a rebel against God, in such sort that he is himself a war unto himself, who would not have peace with God. But keep thy members against thy evil desires. There hath sprung up wrath, refrain thy hand, taking part with God. It might have arisen, but it hath found no weapons. In thy wrath is the onset, in thyself are the weapons : be the onset without weapons, and it leameth no longer to rise, which hath risen in vain.
5. But this I say, dearly beloved, lest perchance because
we have said, But with flesh to the law of sin, ye may R0m. 7, think that ye ought to consent to your carnal desires. 25- Though there cannot now but be carnal desires, we must
not consent to them. Therefore the Apostle hath not said,
Be there not sin in your mortal body. For he knoweth
that so long as it is mortal, there is there sin. But he saith
what? Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. Rom. 6, What is, Let it not reign ? He hath himself explained : 12'
to obey, he saith, the desires thereof. There are desires,
there arise desires, thou dost not obey thy desires, dost not
follow the same desires, dost not consent to them : there is
in thee sin, but it hath lost its reign, now that in thee there
the souL Who, I say, shall deliver me? The grace
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. But why doth He26.
perceive
of^m 7
8 After Resurrection the flesh will tempt no more.
Psai. m reigneth not sin, hereafter the last enemy shall be destroyed, iT5o7~ death. But what is promised to us? For it hath been said, 16, 26. With mind 1 serve the law of God, but with flesh the law of ^? m- 7' sin. Hear the promise, that there will not always be in the
flesh unlawful desires. For it will rise again, and it will be changed: and when this mortal flesh shall have been changed into a spiritual body, then no more with any earthly delights shall it allure the soul, nor shall divert it from the contem plation of God. There is then done in her that whereof the
Rom. 8, Apostle speaketh, The body indeed is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if He that hath raised up Jesus from the dead doth dwell in you; He that hath raised %ip Jesus Christ from the dead shall
bring to life also your mortal bodies, because of His Spirit Which dweUeth in you. When our bodies then have been brought to life, there will be true peace, where there is a place for God: but let confession go before. Known in
Judcea is God: confess thou therefore first. In Israel great is His Name: not yet thou seest in form, see thou by faith ; and there shall be made in thee that which followeth : and there hath been made in peace a place for Him, and His dwelling is in Sion. Sion is interpreted contemplation". What is
l Cor. contemplation ? For we shall contemplate God face to face. 13' 12' He is promised to us, in Whom now not seeing we believe.
How shall we rejoice when we shall have seen Him ! Brethren, if now so great joy the promise doth work in us, how great joy will the performance work ? For there will be rendered to us that which He hath promised P And what hath He promised? Himself, so that in His face and in the con templation of Him we may rejoice : and not any other object will delight us, because nothing is better than He that hath made all things which delight. There hath been made in peace a place for Him, and His dwelling is in Sion: that is, in a kind of contemplation and speculation, there hath
been made a dwelling for Him, in Sion.
6. Ver. 3. There He hath broken the strength of bows, and
the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Where hath He
broken ? In that eternal peace, in that perfect peace. And
? Oxf. Mss. and some others, ' we brethren whom we see present also to- naid it already yesterday, and some day heard, what is contemplation. '
The spiritual mountains made eternal by grace. 9
now, my brethren, they that have rightly believed see that Ver. they ought not to rely on themselves : and all the might of ----- their own menaces, and whatsoever is in them whetted for mischief, this they break in pieces ; and whatsoever they
deem of great virtue wherewith to protect themselves tempo rally, and the war which they were waging against God by defending their sins, all these things He hath broken there.
7. Ver. 4. Thou enlightening marvellously from the eternal mountains. What are the eternal mountains? Those which He hath Himself made eternal ; which are the great moun tains, the preachers of truth. Thou dost enlighten, but from the eternal mountains : the great mountains are first to re ceive Thy light, and from Thy light which the mountains receive, the earth also is clothed. But those great mountains the Apostles have received, the Apostles have received as it were the first streaks of the risinglight. Did they by any means
keep to themselves that which they received ? No. Lest
there should be said to them, Servant naughty and slothful, Mat. 26, thou shouldest have given my money to the usurers. Since 26' then that which they received they kept not to themselves,
but they preached it to all the round world ; Thou enlight
ening marvellously from the eternal mountains. By those
which Thou hast made eternal, by the same Thou hast pro
mised life eternal to the rest also. Thou enlightening mar vellously from the eternal mountains. Admirably with force
hath been said Thou : that no one may suppose that the mountains enlighten him. For many thinking that they were enlightened by the mere mountains, made to themselves
parties from the mountains; and the very mountains have
fallen downb, and they have been themselves broken in pieces.
Some have made for themselves a Donatus, some have Against made for themselves a Maximianus, some have made for*et? t? - themselves this or that teacher. Why do they count their salvation to be in men, not in God? O man, there hath come
to thee light through the mountains : but God doth enlighten
thee, not the mountains.
Thou, not the mountains.
b So Mss. according to Ben. without
Tariation, Ben. reads, ' ipsos montes which is not so good sense, ccncidetunt,' the very mountains they
Thou enlightening, he saith : Thou enlightening : from the
have cut away, or ' cut in pieces,'
10 None, however great, to be followed by himself.
Psalm eternal mountains indeed; but, Thou enlightening. Where- P^x'121forea*so'*Danot^erplace,aPsalmsaithwhat? /havelifted
1.
2.
'up mine eyes unto the mountains, whence there shall come help to me. What then, in the mountains is thy hope, and from thence to thee shall there come help? Hast thou stayed at the mountains ? Take heed what thou doest.
There is something above the mountains : above the moun tains is He at Whom the mountains tremble. / hare lifted up, he saith, mine eyes unto the mountains, whence there shall come help to me. But what followeth ? My help, he saith, is from the Lord, who hath made Heaven and earth. Unto the mountains indeed I have lifted up eyes, because through the mountains to me the Scriptures were displayed : but 1 have my heart in Him that doth enlighten all moun tains.
8. Therefore, brethren, for this purpose it hath been said, that no one of you should will to set his hope on man. Man is something, so long as he adhereth to Him by Whom man was made. For departing from Him, man is nothing, even when he adhereth to those (mountains). Do thou so take counsel through man, as that thou mayest consider Him that doth enlighten man.
For even thou art able to draw near to Him, that doth speak to thee through man : for it is not so, that He hath made him to draw near unto Himself, and
rejecteth thee. And he that hath truly so drawn near unto God, that God dwelleth in him, is displeased with all those that do not set their hope on Him. Therefore there hath been given a sort of example. When men divided among themselves theIvery Apostles, and they fell Iunto schisms who
Apollos,
12- is, of Peter--over these the Apostle doth mourn, and he saith
Ibid. 13. to them,/* Christ divided? and he singled out himself to make light of among them ; Hath Paul been crucified for you, or in the name of Paul have ye been baptized? Behold a good mountain, seeking glory, not for himself, but for Him by Whom the mountains are enlightened. He was not willing to rely on himself; but upon Him on Whom he had over himself relied. Whosoever therefore shall have willed so to recommend himself to the people, as that if there shall have chanced for him any tumult, he brcaketh
am of Paul, I
l Cor. l, were saying, of
of
Cephas, that
up the people to
The true mountains refuse to stand by themselves. 1 1
follow after him, and divideth the Church Catholic for his Ver. own sake, is not of those mountains which the Most ----
But what is such an one ? One darkened by himself, not enlightened by the Lord. But
have been divided. But they have been divided? ; when
the people withdrew from the whole world and followed
after their name, they rejoiced, were elated, and were thrown down. They should have been humbled, and they would have been exalted: in like manner as the Apostle was
High doth enlighten.
how are these mountains proved? If there shall perchance have fallen out any tumult against the mountains in the Church, either by means of the popular seditions of carnal men, or by means of any false suspicions of men, a good mountain doth drive away from itself all them that for its own sake will to withdraw from unity. For thus it will remain in unity, if for its own sake unity herself shall not
Iath Paid been crucified for you? And humbled, saying, H
in another place, watered, but God hath 1 Cor. 3, planted, Apollos
given the increase. Tiierefore, neither he that planteth is any 6- thing, nor he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase.
were humble, in God were exalted. But they that in themselves are exalted, by God
are humbled. For he that exalteth himself shall be humbled; LukeU, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Therefore11,
such men as regard their own pride are bitterly hostile to 1J"*1? *- peaceful men in the Church. These are willing to cement
peace, those stir up dissension among themselves. And what
saith another Psalm regarding them ? They that are bitter Ps. 66,7.
9. Ver. 5. There have been troubled all the unwise in
heart. There hath been preached the truth, there hath been declared life eternal ; it hath been declared that there is another life, which is not of this earth : men have despised the present life, and have loved the future life when enlight ened by the enlightened mountains. But the unwise in
c 4 Mw. ap. Ben. (and Oxf. ) have rejoiced.
Such mountains in themselves
shall not be exalted in themselves.
serve this,) Thou marvellously from the eternal mountains.
Thou enlightening, (ob
How have they been troubled ?
heart have been troubled.
When the Gospel is preached. And what is life eternal ?
And who is He that hath risen from the dead? The Athe- *ct"17'
12 The rich of this world at last find their hands empty.
Psalm njan8 wondered, when the Apostle Paul spake of the resur- -rectum of the dead, and thought that he spake but fables.
) Cor. 2, jlu(. because he said that there was another life which neither eye hath seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it gone up into the heart of man, therefore the unwise in heart were troubled. But what hath befallen them ? They have slept their sleep, and all men of riches have found nothing in their hands. They have loved things present, and have gone to sleep in the midst of things present: and so these very present things have become to them delightful : just as he that seeth in a dream himself to have found treasure, is so long rich as he waketh not. The dream hath made him rich, waking hath made him poor. Sleep perchance hath held him slumbering on the earth, and lying on the hard ground, poor and perchance a beggar; in sleep he hath seen himself to lie on an ivory or golden bed, and on feathers
1many
not understood how much of good might be done therewith. For if they had known of another life, there they would have laid up unto themselves the treasure which here was doomed to perish : like as Zacchaeus, the chief of the Publicans, saw that good1 when he received the LIord Jesus in his house, an(i ne saith, Tlie my goods
heaped up ; so long as he is sleeping, he is sleeping well, waking he hath found himself on the hard ground, whereon sleep had taken him. Such men also are these too : they have come into this life, and through temporal desires, they have as it were slumbered here ; and them riches, and vain pomps that fly away, have taken, and they have passed away : they have
Ior, if restore. This man was not in the emptiness of men dreaming, but in
'good. '
Luke19, t0 amj man
give to the and
I halfof po
have done any wrong,
fourfold
the faith of men awake. Therefore because the Lord had
come in as a Physician to a sick man, He hath proclaimed ibid. >>. 9. his salvation, and saith, To-day salvation to this house hath come, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham. In order
that ye might know how we by imitating his faith are the sons of Abraham : but the Jews who glory because of the flesh from the faith have degenerated. Therefore the men of riches have slept their sleep, and they have found nothing in their hands. They have slept in their desires, there delighteth them and passeth away that sleep, there passeth
They that 'mount horses' in pride, ' sleep' through judgment. 13
away this life, and they find nothing in their hands, because Vkr.
--
they have put nothing in the hand of Christ. Wilt thou
find any thing in thy hands hereafter? Despise not now the
hand of the poor man ; and have regard to empty hands, if
thou wilt have full hands. For the Lord hath said, IwasM*t. 25,
hungry, and ye gave Me to eat; I
Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me in, and the like. And they, When saw we Thee hungry, thirsty, or a stranger' ? And He saith to them, Inasmuch as to one of My least ones ye have done to Me ye have done it. To hunger in the
poor He hath willed, That rich in Heaven and thou man to man dost hesitate to give, although thou knowest that thou art giving to Christ that which thou givest, from Whom thou hast received whatever thou givest But they have slept their sleep, and all men of riches have found nothing in their hands.
10. Ver. 6. By Thy chiding, God of Jacob, there ha ve slept all men that have mounted horses. Who are they that have mounted horses They that would not be humble. To sit on horseback no sin but sin to lift up the neck of power against God, and to deem one's self to be in
was thirsty, and ye gave
some distinction. Because thou art rich, thou hast mounted;
God doth chide, and thou sleepest. Great the anger of
Him chiding, great the anger. Let your Love observe tho terrible thing. Chiding hath noise, the noise wont to make men wake. So great the force of God chiding, that
he said, By Thy chiding, God of Jacob, there have slept
all men that have mounted horses. Behold what sleep
that Pharaoh slept who mounted horses. For he was not awake in heart, because against chiding he had his heart Exod. hardened. For hardness of heart slumber. ask you, 14>> 8- my brethren, how they sleep, who, while the Gospel sounding, and the Amen, and the Hallelujah, throughout the whole world, yet will not condemn their old life, and wake
up unto new life. There was the Scripture of God in Judaea only, now throughout the whole world sung. In that one nation one God Who made all things was spoken of, as to be adored and worshipped; now where He unsaid? Christ hath risen again, though derided on the Cross that
Oxf. Mss. and minittered unto Thee. '
d
it,
?
is ? 0 is
is ;
it is
is I is
; ?
a
is
it
a is
a
;
O
is a
is
14 Men still sleep in spite of general warnings.
Psalm very Cross whereon He was derided, He hath now imprinted lxxyr. on the Drows of kingS: and men yet sleep. Better have we heard Him that saith, Arise thou that art sleeping, and rise up from the dead, and there shall enlighten thee Christ.
But who do hear Him? They that do not mount horses. Who are they that do not mount horses? They that do not boast and exalt themselves, as if on their honours and powers. By Thy chiding, O God ofJacob, there have slumbered they that have mounted horses.
11. Ver. 7. Thou art terrible, and who shall withstand Thee at that time by Thine anger ? Now they sleep, and perceive not Thee angry ; but for cause that they should sleep, He was angry. Now that which sleeping they perceived not, at the end they shall perceive. For there shall appear the Judge of quick and dead. And who shall withstand Thee at that time by Thine anger? For now they speak that which they will, and they dispute against God and say, who are the Christians ? or who is Christ ? or what fools are they that believe that which they see not, and relinquish the pleasures which they see, and follow the faith of things which
1 baiati? are not displayed to their eyes ! Ye sleep and snore ye Ps. 94, Speak against God, as much as ye are able. How long shall sinners, 0 Lord, how long shall sinners glory, they answer
and will speak iniquity? But when doth no one answer * Oxf. and no one speak, except when he turneth himself* against ? they,' himself? When shall they turn their teeth against themselves,
' them- wherewith now they bite us, wherewith now they tear us by deriding Christians, and by censuring the life of holy men ? They shall turn themselves against themselves at that time, when there shall happen to them that which is spoken of in
Wisd 6, the Book of Wisdom ; they shall say within themselves, doing
3'
penance, and through anguish of spirit groaning : when they shall have seen the glory of holy men, then they shall say, These are they whom sometime we had in derision. O ye that slumbered much, now indeed ye are awake, and in your own hands ye find nothing. Ye see how they have hands full of the glory of God, whom as if poor ye derided. Speak then to yourselves, inasmuch as ye do not withstand
the anger of God, neither with hand, nor with tongue, nor with word, nor with thought. For He shall appear manifest
In Judgment they will acknowledge they have erred. 15
to you, Whom ye thought worthy to be derided, when He was Ver. being proclaimed to you as to come. And what shall they -~ -- say ? Therefore we have strayedfrom the way of truth, and Ibld-T-6' the light ofrighteousness hath not shined upon us, and the
sun hath not risen upon us. How should the Sun of righte ousness hare riseu to them sleeping ? But by His anger and chiding they sleep. This perchance one will say, and ' I would not have mounted horse :' and then they shall them selves blame their horses. Hear them blaming their horses, whereon they have slept : therefore we have erred, saith the Scripture,/rom the way of truth, and the light of righte
ousness hath not shined upon us, and the sun hath not risen
upon us. What hath pride profited us, and the boasting q/Tbid. v. riches hath bestowed upon us what ? All things have passed
away like a shadow. Therefore thou hast awoke at length.
But better were it that thou hadst not mounted horse, when thou oughtest to have been awake ; and thou wouldest have heard the voice of Christ, and Christ would have enlightened thee. Thou art terrible, and who shall withstand Thee at
that lime, by Thine anger ? For what shall there be at that time ?
12. Ver. 8. From Heaven Thou hast hurled judgment : the earth hath trembled, and hath rested* She which now doth trouble herself, she which now speaketh, hath to fear at the end and to rest. Better had she now rested, that at the end she might have rejoiced.
13. The earth hath trembled and hath rested. When ?
When God arose unto judgment, that He might save all the meek in heart. Who are the meek in heart ? They that on snorting horses have not mounted, but in their humility have confessed their own sins. That He might save all the meek in heart.
14. Ver. 10. For the thought of a man shall confess to Tliee, and the remnants of the thought shall celebrate solemnities to Thee. The first is the thought, the latter are the remnants of the thought. What is the first thought ? That from whence we begin, that good thought whence thou wilt begin to confess. Confession uniteth us to Christ. But now the confession itself, that is, the first thought, doth produce in us the rem nants of the thought: and those very remnants of thought
(Ver. 9. )
16 Confession should leave remnants of thankful thought.
Psalm . shall celebrate solemnities to Thee. The thought of a man l**v1- shall confess to Thee, and the remnants of the thought shall celebrate solemnities to Thee. What is the thought which shall confess ? That which condemneth the former life, that whereunto that which it was is displeasing, in order that it
may be that which it was not, is itself the first thought. But because thus thou oughtest to withdraw from sins, with the first thought after having confessed to God, that it may not escape thy memory that thou hast been a sinner; in that thou hast been a sinner, thou dost celebrate solemnities to God. Furthermore it is to be understood as followeth. The first thought hath confession, and departure from the old life. But if thou shalt have forgotten from what sins thou hast been delivered, thou dost not render thanks to the Deliverer, and dost not celebrate solemnities to thy God. Behold the first confessing thought of Saul the Apostle, now Paul, who at first was Saul, when he heard a voice from Heaven ! While he was persecuting Christ, and was frantic against the
Christians, and was willing to bring them to be slaughtered
wheresoever he might find them, he heard a voice from Act>> 9, heaven, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? And being shined upon round about with the light, blindness having
smitten his eyes, that he might inwardly see, he put forth
lb. 6, 6. the first thought of obedience : when he heard, " /
2 Tim. 3' 8'
" what dost Thou bid me to do? " This is a thought con fessing: now he is calling upon the Lord Whom he persecuted. In what manner the remnants of the thought shall celebrate solemnities, in the case of Paul ye have heard, when the Apostle himself was being read ; Be thou mindful that Christ Jesus hath risen from the dead, of the seed of David, after my Gospel. What is, be thou mindful? ? Though effaced from thy memory be the thought, whereby at first thou hast confessed: be the remnant of the thought in the memory.
And see after what sort the same Paul doth / Apostle repeat
am Jesus Of Nazareth, Whom thou persecutest," " 0 Lord," he saith,
l Tim. in another place that which was bestowed upon him.
'
that ' before, he saith, have been a blasphemer,I and a persecutor,
and injurious. He that saith, before
phemer, is he yet a blasphemer? In order that he might not
be a blasphemer was the first thought confessing: but in
have a
been blas
God glorified in the recollection of sin pardoned.
