what there for the
physician
to cure?
Augustine - Exposition on the Psalms - v4
For why was she made a pillar ofLukei7, salt, if she seasons not men to make them wise1?
Therefore ?
?
-ut her bad example, if thou take care, becomes good to thee, sapiant.
?
Remember , he saith, Lot's wife: for she looked back, whence Gen.
19, she had been set free, to Sodom, and there remained where26'
she looked back ; herself to remain on that spot, to season
others who should pass. Therefore being freed from the Sodom of our past life, let us not look back: for this is to be
in haste, not to wait for what God hath promised because it
is far ofl-, and to look back to that which is near, whence thou
hast been once set free. Of such what saith the Apostle
Peter? It has happened to them according to the true proverb: 2 pet. 2, The dog is returned to his vomit. For the consciousness of22,
thy sins was weighing on thy breast : receiving pardon thou didst vomit, as it were, and thy breast was relieved : there was made a good conscience instead of a bad conscience :
150 Danger of turning back from any advancement.
Psalm but why turnest thou again to thy vomit? If a dog doing - ~ thus disgusts thy sight, what art thou in the sight of God ?
4. But each oue, beloved brethren, from that point of his journey at which he hath arrived, and which he hath vowed
to God, from thence looketh back, when he letteth Him go. For example, he has resolved to keep conjugal chastity ; for righteousness begins here ; he hath retired from fornication and illicit uncleanness : when he returns to fornication, he hath looked back. Another by the gift of God hath vowed something great, hath resolved not to allow even marriage : he who would not be condemned if he had married a wife, ifhe hatli married after making a vow to God, is condemned;
since he does the same as one who had not promised ; but one is not condemned, the other is. Why, except because the latter hath looked back ? For he had been in front, and
1 Cor. 7, the other had not come up to the same point. If a virgin,
2'? ?
who would not have sinned in marrying, marry after being devoted, she shall be accounted an adulteress of Christ. For she hath looked back from the place which she had reached. If those who choose to leave all worldly hopes and all earthly
Acts 2, occupations, and betake them to the society of saints, to that g| ' *' common life where no one calls any thing his own, but all Chrys. things are common unto them, and they have one soul, and one heart towards God ; whoever chooseth to depart from
ibem is not esteemed such as he who had not entered : for
Horn.
LXXI, the latter hath not yet attained: the former hath looked back.
LXXII Wherefore, most beloved, as each can, make vows,and perform
Ps. 70, to the Lord God what each can : let no one look back, no
'
Phil. 3, FIor who can be so perfect as Paul ? Yet he saith, BIrethren.
13 14.
orTs. Matt,
one delight himself with his former interests, no one turn away from that which is before to that which is behind : let him run until he arrive : for we run not with the feet but with the desire. But let no one in this life say that he hath arrived.
count not myself to have attained: but one thing
for
do, getting behind, reaching forward
those things which are I and
to those things which are before,
of the high calling in Christ Jesus. Thou seest Paul still running, and thinkest (hou that thou hast already attained?
5. If therefore thou feelest the passions of this world, even when thou art happy, thou understandest now that thou art
press to the forward
prize
Saints complain as absent from the Lord. 151
in the winepress. For do ye think, my brethren, that un- Ver.
'---
not^Kingj '
of such a kind as was hidden : for some troubles are hidden
from some in this world, who think they are happy while
they are absent from God. For as long as we are in the2CoT- body, he saith, we are absent from the Lord. Ifthou wert ' absent from thy father, thou wouldest be unhappy : art thou absent from the Lord, and happy? There are then some
who think it is well with them. But those who understand,
that in whatever abundance of wealth and pleasures, though
all things obey their beck, though nothing troublesome creep
in, nothing adverse terrify, yet that they are in a bad case as
long as they are absent from the Lord ; with a most keen
eye these have found trouble, and grief, and have called on
the name of the Lord. Such is he who sings in this Psalm.
Who is he ? The Body of Christ. Who is that ? You, if
you will : all we, if we will : all sons of Core, and all one
Man, for Christ's Body is one. How is that not one Man which hath one Head ? The Head of all of us is Christ ; the
body of that Head are we all. And we all are in this life in winepresses : if we are wise, we have already come to the
happiness in this life is to be feared, and that happiness is
not to be feared ? Nay, rather, no unhappiness breaketh bim whom no happiness can corrupt. How therefore should
that corrupter be shunned and feared, lest she seduce thee
by her caresses ? Lean not on a staff of reed : for it is written that some lean upon a staff of reed. Trust
thyself to it: it is a weak thing to lean upon, it breaketh Ez'ek. and slayeth thee. If therefore the world smile upon thee29'6' wIith happiness, imagine thyself in Ithe winepress, and say,
did call the name P>>- H6, of the Lord. He said not, I found trouble, without meaning,
trouble and heaviness, and
found upon
Therefore, being placed in the pressure of temptations, let us utter this word, and send on our longing desire.
Ver. 1. How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts. He was in some tabernacles, that in winepresses but he longed for other tabernacles, where no pressure: in this
he sighed for them, from these, he, as were, flowed down into them by the channel of longing desire.
6. And what follows? (Ver. 2. ) My soul longeth and
winepress.
it
is, is
:
152 What at present staycth the longing soul.
Psalm faileth for the courts of the Lord. It is not enough that it i-xxxiv. longed an(ifaiieth: for what doth it fail? For the courts of
the Lord. The grape when pressed hath failed: l ut for what ? So as to be changed into wine, and to flow into the vat, and into the rest of the store-room, to be kept there in great quiet. Here it is longed for, there it is received : here are sighs, there joy : here prayers, there praises : here groans, there rejoicing. Those things which I mentioned, let no one while here turn from ashamed : let no one be unwilling to suffer. There is danger, lest the grape, while it fears the winepress, should be devoured by birds or by wild beasts.
He seems to be in great sadness, when he says, My soul longeth and faileth for the courts of the Lord; for he has not what he longeth for; but is he without joy. What joy? That which the Apostle speaks of: Rejoicing in hope. Then he will one day rejoice in reality: now he doth already in hope. And therefore, those who rejoice in hope, being certain that they shall receive, bear in the winepress all
Rom. pressures. Therefore, the Apostle himself having said, Be- 12, 12. joicing in hope; as if speaking to those who are still in the winepress, added instantly, patient in tribulation. Patient in tribulation ; what follows ? Enduring in prayer. Why ' enduring ? ' Because ye suffer delay : ye pray and suffer delay : ye endure the delay : well may it be borne, that that
is delayed, which when it hath come is not taken away.
7. Thou hast heard a groan in the winepress, My soul longeth and faileth for the courts of the Lord: hear how it holdeth out, rejoicing in hope : My heart and my flesh have
rejoiced in the living God. Here they have rejoiced for that cause. Whence cometh rejoicing, but of hope ? Where fore have they rejoiced 1 In the living God. What has rejoiced in thee? My heart and my flesh. Why have they
( rejoiced ?
Ver. 3. For, saith he, the sparrow hathfound her a house,
and the turtledove a nest, uhere she may lay her young. What is this? He had named two things, and he adds two figures of birds which answer to them : he had said that his heart rejoiced and his flesh, and to these two he made the sparrow and turtle-dove to correspond : the heart as the sparrow, the flesh as the dove. The sparrow hath found
The ' sparrow and dove' answer to the ' heart and flesh. ' 153
herself a home: my heart hath found itself a home. She Tkr. tries her wings in the virtues of this life, in faith, and hope, ----- and charity, by which she may fly unto her home : and when
she shall have come thither, she shall remain ; and now the complaining voice of the sparrow, which is here, shall no
longer be there. For it is the very complaining sparrow of
whom in another Psalm he saith, Like a sparrow alone on the Ps. 102, housetop. From the housetop he flies home. Now let him7'
be on the housetop, treading on his carnal house : he shall have a heavenly house, a perpetual home: that sparrow shall make an end of his complaints. But to the dove be hath given young, that is, to the flesh : the dove hath found a nest, where she may lay her young. The sparrow a home, the dove a nest, and a nest too where she may lay her young. A home is chosen as for ever, a nest is framed for a time : with the heart we think upon God, as if the sparrow flew to her home : with the flesh we do good works. For ye see how many good works are done by the flesh of the saints ; for by this we work the things we are commanded to work, by
which we are helped in this life. Break thy bread to the Is. 68, 7. hungry, and bring the poor and roofless into thy house ; and
if thou see one naked, clothe him: and other such things
which are commanded us we work only through the flesh. Therefore that sparrow, who thinketh upon his home, parteth
not from the dove who seeketh for herself a nest, where she may lay her young: for she throweth them not away in any corner, but hath found herself a nest where she may lay them. We speak, brethren, what ye know : how many seem to do good works without the Church? ? how many even Pagans feed the hungry, clothe the naked, receive the stranger, visit the sick,
comfort the prisoner ? how many do this ? The dove seems,
as it were, to bring forth young: but finds not herself a nest.
How many works may heretics do not in the Church ; they
place not their young in a nest. They shall be trampled on
and crushed : they shall not be kept, shall not be guarded.
In the person of this flesh working a woman is spoken of by
the Apostle Paul, saying, Adam was not deceived, but the 1 Tim.
>> Ed. Ben. refers to P. Lombard II. works of those who are without faith Sent. Dist. 41. where this passage is eril ? "
quoted on the question, " Are all the
154 A nest for the dove's young, good works, in the Church.
in the fust instance the desire of thy flesh, to which if thy mind afterwards consents, the sparrow too hath fallen; but if the desires of the flesh are conquered, thy limbs are kept to good works, the arms of concupiscence are taken away, and the dove begins to have young. Therefore, what saith the
l Tim. Apostle in that place ? But she shall be saved by child-
Psalm woman was deceived. For afterwards Adam consented with J^55? L-the woman: for the woman was deceived by the serpent.
Gen. 3,
I--6. And now no evil persuasion can do more than move in thee
l'Cor. 7, 40-
bearing. A widow without children, if she continue so, shall she not be happier? Shall she not be saved, because she beareth not sons ? Shall not a virgin of God be better ? Shall she not be saved, because she hath no sons ? or doth she not belong to God? Therefore the woman shall be saved, who is a type of the flesh, by childbearing, that is, if she do good works. But it is not every where that the dove can find a nest for herself where she may lay her young ; in the true faith, in the Catholic faith, in the fellowship of the unity of the Church let her bring forth her works. Therefore,
. . -
-l
l Tim. when the Apostle was speaking of her, he added, But she
shall be saved by child-bearing, if she abide in faith, and love, and sanctification, with soberness. By abiding in faith, faith itself is a nest for thy young. For on account of the weakness of the young of thy turtle dove, the Lord deigned to give unto thee whence thou mightest make thyself a nest: for He clothed Himself with flesh, as hay for thy nest, that He might come unto thee. In that faith lay thy young : in that nest work thy works. For what the nests are, what that
nest is, follows at once: Thy altars, O Lord of Hosts. Having said, And the dove hath found herself a nest, where she may lay her young; as if thou hadst asked, What nest?
Thy altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God. What is, My King and my God? Thou Who rulest me, Who hast created me.
8. Here then is the nest, here absence from home, here sighing, here crushing, and here pressing, since here is the winepress : but what is it which he longs for ? what that he desires ? whither goeth he ? whither tends our longing ? whither doth it hurry us? Placed here, it meditateth on those things : placed among temptations, placed among pressures,
2' 16-
The House of God the truly blessed place. 1 55 placed in the winepress, sighing after heavenly promises: Vrr.
as if intending to do something there, it dwells beforehand on future joys. (Ver. 4. ) Blessed are those who dwell in Thy house. Wherefore blessed ? What shall they have ? What shall they do? All who are called blessed on earth have something and do something. One man is blessed with so many farms, such a large family, so much gold and silver: he is called blessed by what he has. Blessed is another, he has attained such a rank, the proconsulship, or prefec
ture : he is called blessed in what he does. Either then in having or in doing men are blessed. But how will they be blessed there ? what will they have ? what will they do ? What they will have I have said above : Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house. If thou hast thy own house, thou art poor ; if God's, thou art rich. In thy own house thou wilt fear robbers; of the house of God, He is Himself the wall. Therefore blessed are those who dwell in Thy home.
They possess the heavenly Jerusalem, without constraint, without pressure, without difference and division of bound aries; all have and each have all. Great are those riches. Brother crowdeth not brother: there no want there. Next, what will they do there For among men necessity which
the mother of all employments. have already said, in brief, brethren, run in your mind through any occupations, and see not necessity alone which produces them. Those very eminent arts which seem so powerful in giving help to others, the art of speaking in their defence or of medicine in healing, for these are the most excellent employments in this life; take away litigants, who there for the advocate to help take away wounds and diseases?
what there for the physician to cure? And all those employments of ours which are required and done for our daily life, arise from necessity.
To plough, to sow, to clear fallow ground, to sail what which produces all these works, but necessity and want? Take away hunger, thirst, nakedness who has need of all these things These good works also which are enjoined to us; for those which have mentioned are respectable, but belong to all men mean to except w icked deeds, detestable actions, scandalous crimes, homicides, house-breaking, adul teries, for do not count these among human actions;) but
4,
1
if it
;
(I I
is
?
it,
?
;
is ;
is it
?
is
I is
is
it is
156 Our good things here are but reliefs of need.
Psalm I mean those which are positively virtuous, even they are l*O"'only produced by necessity, and that a necessity arising
from the frailty of the flesh ; for instance, the injunction, Is. 68,7. ' Break thy bread to the hungry? For whom could you break bread, if there were nobody hungry ? ' Take in the roofless
16C64
poor into thy house. ' What stranger is there to lake in, where all live in their own country ? What sick person to visit, where they enjoy perpetual health ? What litigants to reconcile, where there is everlasting peace ? What dead to bury, where there is eternal life ? None of those honourable actions which are common to all men will then be your employment, nor any of these good works; the young
swallows will then fly out of their nest. What then ? . You have said already what we shall have ; ' Those who dwell in Thy house are blessed. ' Say now what they shall do, for I see not then any need to induce me to action. Even what I am now saying and arguing springs from some need. Will there be any such argument there to teach the ignorant, or
remind the forgetful? Or will the Gospel be read in that country where the Word of God Itself shall be contemplated ? Wherefore let him who in longing aspirations spoke will) our voice, saying what we should have in that country which be sighed for, ' Blessed are they who dwell in Thy house," let him say too what we shall do there. ' They shall be always
praising Thee. ' This shall be our whole duty, an unceasing Hallelujah.
Think not, my brethren, that there will be any weariness there: if ye are not able to endure long here in saying this, it is because? some want draws you away from that enjoyment. If what is not seen gives not so much joy here, if with so much eagerness under the pressure and weakness of the flesh we praise that which we believe, how shall we praise that wl"cn we see^ When death shall be swallowed up in victary, when this mortal shall have put on immortality, and this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, no one will say, ' I have been standing a long time no one will say, ' I have fasted a long time,' ' I have watched a long time. ' For there shall be great endurance, and our immortal bodies
shall be sustained in contemplation of God. And if the * Oxf. M>>s. ' want keeps you not away. '
No weariness in Heaven. Hindrance of the flesh here. 1 57
word which we now dispense to you keeps your weak flesh Ver.
'---
standing so long, what will be the effect of that joy f how
will it change us? For we shall be like Him, since we shall l John see Him as He is. Being made like Him, when shall we ever ' faint? what shall draw us off? Brethren, we shall never be satiated with the praise of God, with the love of God. If
love could fail, praise could fail. But if love be eternal, as
there will there be beauty inexhaustible, fear not lest thou
be not able to praise for ever Him Whom thou shalt be able
to love for ever. Blessed are they who shall dwell in Thy house; for ever and ever they will be praising Thee. For
this life let us sigh.
9. But how shall we come thither? (Ver 5. ) Happy is the
man whose strength is in Thee. He knew where he was,
and that by reason of the frailty of his flesh he could not fly
to that state of blessedness: he thought upon his own burden,
as it is said elsewhere; ' For the corruptible body weighs down Wisd. the soul, and the earthly house depresses the understanding9' 16' which has many thoughts? The Spirit calls upward, the weight of the flesh calls back again downward : between the double effort to raise and to weigh down, a kind of struggle ensues : this struggle goes toward the pressure of the wine
press. Hear how the Apostle describes this same struggle of the winepress, for he was himself afflicted there, there he
shall I arrive thither? /
''
/delighIt? he says, in the law God Rom. jf
of after see another law in my members,22-
was pressed.
the inner man: but
warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. ' Great
23'
is this struggle and hopeless to escape from, ifI
for the help that follows ; ' Miserable man that
shall deliver me from the body of this death ? The grace of
God through Jesus Christ our Lord? And so here in this Psalm he saw those joys, and thought in his mind, ' Blessed are they who dwell in Thy house, O Lord; for ever and ever they will be praising Thee. ' But who shall ascend thither? What shall 1 do with the burden of the flesh ? Blessed are they who dwell in Thy house, they will praise Thee for ever and ever. ' For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man? But what shall I do? how shall I fly? how
see another law in my members
it were not
am : who ib. 24.
158 Aids ofgrace. Upward ' steps in the heart?
Psalm warring against the law ofmy mind. He said that he was i-xmv. chappy, and he said, Who shall deliver me from the body of this death, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord, and praise Him for ever and ever? Who shall set me free? The grace of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. And as in the
1 nut- ceptio
words of the Apostle, that difficulty and that almost inex tricable struggle is alleviated by the addition, The grace of
God through Jesus ChHst our Lord; so here, when he sighed in the ardent longing for the house of God, and those praises of God, and when a kind of despair arose at the feeling of the burden of the body and the weight of the flesh, again he awoke to hope, and said, (vcr. 5. ) Blessed is the man whose
taking up ' is in Thee.
What then does God supply by His grace to him
whom He taketh hold of to lead him on? He goes on to say: * a>>cen-He hath placed steps* in his heart. He makes steps for him by which he may ascend. Where are these steps ? In his heart. Therefore the more thou lovest, the more shalt thou
rise. He hath placed steps in his heart. Who hath done this? He who hath taken hold of him: for, Blessed, says he, is he whose taking up is in Thee, O Lord. Because of him self he cannot rise, it is necessary that Thy grace should raise him. And what does Thy grace i It places steps in his heart. Where does it place steps ? In his heart, (ver. 6. ) in the valley of weeping. So here thou hast for a winepress the valley of weeping, the very pious tears in tribulation are the new wine of those that love. He hath placed steps in his heart. Where then hath He placed them ? In the valley ofweeping. For here He hath placed steps, in the valley of weeping. For here is weeping, where is sowing. They went
Ps. 126, forth weeping, he says, casting their seed. Therefore, by
6-6'
the grace of God may upward steps be placed in thy heart Rise by loving. Hence the Psalm " of degrees" is called. And where hath He placed these steps ? In thy heart, in the valley of weeping. He hath said where He hath placed them, whither hath He set them?
What hath He placed? Steps. Where? Within, In the heart. In what region, in
what place, as it were, of abode ? In the valley of weeping. To ascend whither ? To the place which He hath appointed. What is this, brethren, To the place which He hath ap
Our sinful state is ' the valley of weeping. ' 1 59
pointed. What place would he name, which He hath ap- Ver.
pointed, if it could be named ?
He hath placed steps in his heart, in the valley of weeping.
Dost thou ask, whither ? What will He say to thee ? What \ Cor. eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered"1'9' into the heart of man. It is a hill, it is a mountain, it is a land, it is a meadow : by nearly all these names that place
has been called.
who can explain ?
what that place is :
therefore whither he hath appointed us to go, or what place
it is. He knoweth whither, He Who hath appointed the place whither He is leading thee, the ascent to which He
hath placed in thy heart. What ? dost thou fear to ascend,
lest He who leads thee should go wrong? Lo, in the valley
of weeping, He hath placed steps of ascent to the place which He hath appointed. Now we lament; whence pro
ceed our lamentations, but from that place where the steps
of Our ascent are placed ? Whence comes our lamentation,
but from that cause wherefore the Apostle exclaimed that he
was a wretched man, because he saw another law in his Rom. 7, . 23
members, warring against the law in his mind? And whence
does this proceed ? From the penalty of sin. And we thought that we could easily be righteous as it were by our own strength, before we received thIe command ; but when ib. 9.
the command came, sin revived; but
died, saith the Apostle. For a law was given to men, not such as could save them at once, but it was to shew them in what severe sickness they
were lying. Hear the words of the Apostle; For if a law Gal. 3, had been given which coidd give life, verily righteousness*1' 22- should have been by the law; but the Scripture hath shut up
all under sin, that the promise which is offaith in Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe; so that grace
came after the law, and found man not only laid prostrate, but already confessing and saying, Miserable man that lam, who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? And the physician came in due time to the valley of weeping, saying, Surely thou knowest that thou hast fallen ; listen unto Me that thou mayest arise, thou who didst despise Me, so that thou didst fall. Therefore the Law was given, that it might
It hath been said to thee, ------
But what is it in itself, without images
For, Now we see through a glass darkly 1 Cor. then we shall see face to face. Ask not 13' 12'
160 Typical Meaning of the Miracle of Btthesda.
Psii. M convince the sick man of his disease, whereas he seemed to Ix xIV' himself to be whole; that sins might be made manifest, not that they might be taken away. But when sin was made
manifest by the law given, sin was but increased, for it is Rom. 7, both sin, and against the Law; Sin, saith he, taking occasion
s'
by the command, wrought in me all manner ofconcupiscence. What does he mean by taking occasion by the law? Having received the command, men tried as by their own strength to obey it ; conquered by lust, they became guilty of trans gression of this very command also. But what saith the
Rom. 6, Apostle ? Where sin abounded, grace hath much more
20'
abounded ; that is, the disease increased, the medicine be came of more avail. Accordingly, my brethren, did those five porches of Solomon, in the middle of which the pool
John 6, lay, heal the sick at all ? The sick, says the Evangelist, lay in the five porches. In the Gospel we have and read it. Those five porches are the law in the five books of Moses. For this cause the sick were brought forth from their houses that they might lie in the porches. So the law brought the sick men forth, but did not heal them : but by the blessing
of God the water was disturbed, as by an Angel descending into it. At the sight of the water troubled, the one person who was able, descended and was healed. That water surrounded by the five porches, was the people of the Jews shut up in their law. The Lord came and disturbed this people, so that He Himself was slain. For if the Lord had not troubled the Jews by coming down to them, would He have been crucified? So that the troubled water signified the Passion of the Lord, which arose from His troubling the Jewish people. The sick man who believeth in this Passion, like him who descended into the troubled water, is healed thereby. He whom the Law could not heal, that is, while he
lay in the porches, is healed by grace, by faith in the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. One is healed, for those healed are one. What then does He say here ? He hath placed steps of ascent in his heart, in the valley of weeping, to the place which He hath appointed. Now we will rejoice in that place.
11. Ver. 8. But why in the valley of weeping? What is this valley of weeping, from whence we shall come into that
The Church proceeds 'from virtue to virtue. ' 161
place ofjoy? He shall give blessing, saith he, Who gave the Ver. law. He afflicted us by the law, pressed us under the law, ------ shewed unto us the winepress, we saw the pressure, we were conscious of the tribulation of the flesh, we groaned with the rebellion of sin against our mind, we cried out, ' Miserable
man that I am:' we groaned under the law; what remains but that He who gave the law should give His blessing ? Grace shall come after the law, grace itself is the blessing. And what has that grace and blessing given unto us?
They shall go from virtue to virtue. For here by grace many
virtues are given. For to one is given by the Spirit the word l Cor. of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge according I2' 8- to the same Spirit, to another faith, to another the gift of healing, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues, to another prophecy. Many virtues,
but necessary for this life; and from these virtues we go on
to a virtue. To what virtue ? To Christ the Virtue of l Cor.
God and the Wisdom of God. He giveth different virtues in ' 24, this place, Who for all the virtues which are necessary and useful in this valley of weeping shall give one virtue, Himself.
For in Scripture and in many writers four virtues are described useful for life : prudence, by which we discern between good
and evil ; justice, by which we give each person his due, owing no man any thing, but loving all men: temperance, by which we restrain lusts ; fortitude, by which we bear all troubles. These virtues are now by the grace of God given unto us in the valley of weeping : from these virtues we mount unto that other virtue. And what will that be, but the virtue of the contemplation of God alone ? There this our prudence will be unnecessary where no evils will meet us which we shall have to avoid. But what think we, my brethren? There will be no justice, such as here: for there will be no need with any man to which we shall owe relief. There will be no such temperance, where will be no lust to be restrained. No such fortitude as here, where there will be no evils to be borne.
she looked back ; herself to remain on that spot, to season
others who should pass. Therefore being freed from the Sodom of our past life, let us not look back: for this is to be
in haste, not to wait for what God hath promised because it
is far ofl-, and to look back to that which is near, whence thou
hast been once set free. Of such what saith the Apostle
Peter? It has happened to them according to the true proverb: 2 pet. 2, The dog is returned to his vomit. For the consciousness of22,
thy sins was weighing on thy breast : receiving pardon thou didst vomit, as it were, and thy breast was relieved : there was made a good conscience instead of a bad conscience :
150 Danger of turning back from any advancement.
Psalm but why turnest thou again to thy vomit? If a dog doing - ~ thus disgusts thy sight, what art thou in the sight of God ?
4. But each oue, beloved brethren, from that point of his journey at which he hath arrived, and which he hath vowed
to God, from thence looketh back, when he letteth Him go. For example, he has resolved to keep conjugal chastity ; for righteousness begins here ; he hath retired from fornication and illicit uncleanness : when he returns to fornication, he hath looked back. Another by the gift of God hath vowed something great, hath resolved not to allow even marriage : he who would not be condemned if he had married a wife, ifhe hatli married after making a vow to God, is condemned;
since he does the same as one who had not promised ; but one is not condemned, the other is. Why, except because the latter hath looked back ? For he had been in front, and
1 Cor. 7, the other had not come up to the same point. If a virgin,
2'? ?
who would not have sinned in marrying, marry after being devoted, she shall be accounted an adulteress of Christ. For she hath looked back from the place which she had reached. If those who choose to leave all worldly hopes and all earthly
Acts 2, occupations, and betake them to the society of saints, to that g| ' *' common life where no one calls any thing his own, but all Chrys. things are common unto them, and they have one soul, and one heart towards God ; whoever chooseth to depart from
ibem is not esteemed such as he who had not entered : for
Horn.
LXXI, the latter hath not yet attained: the former hath looked back.
LXXII Wherefore, most beloved, as each can, make vows,and perform
Ps. 70, to the Lord God what each can : let no one look back, no
'
Phil. 3, FIor who can be so perfect as Paul ? Yet he saith, BIrethren.
13 14.
orTs. Matt,
one delight himself with his former interests, no one turn away from that which is before to that which is behind : let him run until he arrive : for we run not with the feet but with the desire. But let no one in this life say that he hath arrived.
count not myself to have attained: but one thing
for
do, getting behind, reaching forward
those things which are I and
to those things which are before,
of the high calling in Christ Jesus. Thou seest Paul still running, and thinkest (hou that thou hast already attained?
5. If therefore thou feelest the passions of this world, even when thou art happy, thou understandest now that thou art
press to the forward
prize
Saints complain as absent from the Lord. 151
in the winepress. For do ye think, my brethren, that un- Ver.
'---
not^Kingj '
of such a kind as was hidden : for some troubles are hidden
from some in this world, who think they are happy while
they are absent from God. For as long as we are in the2CoT- body, he saith, we are absent from the Lord. Ifthou wert ' absent from thy father, thou wouldest be unhappy : art thou absent from the Lord, and happy? There are then some
who think it is well with them. But those who understand,
that in whatever abundance of wealth and pleasures, though
all things obey their beck, though nothing troublesome creep
in, nothing adverse terrify, yet that they are in a bad case as
long as they are absent from the Lord ; with a most keen
eye these have found trouble, and grief, and have called on
the name of the Lord. Such is he who sings in this Psalm.
Who is he ? The Body of Christ. Who is that ? You, if
you will : all we, if we will : all sons of Core, and all one
Man, for Christ's Body is one. How is that not one Man which hath one Head ? The Head of all of us is Christ ; the
body of that Head are we all. And we all are in this life in winepresses : if we are wise, we have already come to the
happiness in this life is to be feared, and that happiness is
not to be feared ? Nay, rather, no unhappiness breaketh bim whom no happiness can corrupt. How therefore should
that corrupter be shunned and feared, lest she seduce thee
by her caresses ? Lean not on a staff of reed : for it is written that some lean upon a staff of reed. Trust
thyself to it: it is a weak thing to lean upon, it breaketh Ez'ek. and slayeth thee. If therefore the world smile upon thee29'6' wIith happiness, imagine thyself in Ithe winepress, and say,
did call the name P>>- H6, of the Lord. He said not, I found trouble, without meaning,
trouble and heaviness, and
found upon
Therefore, being placed in the pressure of temptations, let us utter this word, and send on our longing desire.
Ver. 1. How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts. He was in some tabernacles, that in winepresses but he longed for other tabernacles, where no pressure: in this
he sighed for them, from these, he, as were, flowed down into them by the channel of longing desire.
6. And what follows? (Ver. 2. ) My soul longeth and
winepress.
it
is, is
:
152 What at present staycth the longing soul.
Psalm faileth for the courts of the Lord. It is not enough that it i-xxxiv. longed an(ifaiieth: for what doth it fail? For the courts of
the Lord. The grape when pressed hath failed: l ut for what ? So as to be changed into wine, and to flow into the vat, and into the rest of the store-room, to be kept there in great quiet. Here it is longed for, there it is received : here are sighs, there joy : here prayers, there praises : here groans, there rejoicing. Those things which I mentioned, let no one while here turn from ashamed : let no one be unwilling to suffer. There is danger, lest the grape, while it fears the winepress, should be devoured by birds or by wild beasts.
He seems to be in great sadness, when he says, My soul longeth and faileth for the courts of the Lord; for he has not what he longeth for; but is he without joy. What joy? That which the Apostle speaks of: Rejoicing in hope. Then he will one day rejoice in reality: now he doth already in hope. And therefore, those who rejoice in hope, being certain that they shall receive, bear in the winepress all
Rom. pressures. Therefore, the Apostle himself having said, Be- 12, 12. joicing in hope; as if speaking to those who are still in the winepress, added instantly, patient in tribulation. Patient in tribulation ; what follows ? Enduring in prayer. Why ' enduring ? ' Because ye suffer delay : ye pray and suffer delay : ye endure the delay : well may it be borne, that that
is delayed, which when it hath come is not taken away.
7. Thou hast heard a groan in the winepress, My soul longeth and faileth for the courts of the Lord: hear how it holdeth out, rejoicing in hope : My heart and my flesh have
rejoiced in the living God. Here they have rejoiced for that cause. Whence cometh rejoicing, but of hope ? Where fore have they rejoiced 1 In the living God. What has rejoiced in thee? My heart and my flesh. Why have they
( rejoiced ?
Ver. 3. For, saith he, the sparrow hathfound her a house,
and the turtledove a nest, uhere she may lay her young. What is this? He had named two things, and he adds two figures of birds which answer to them : he had said that his heart rejoiced and his flesh, and to these two he made the sparrow and turtle-dove to correspond : the heart as the sparrow, the flesh as the dove. The sparrow hath found
The ' sparrow and dove' answer to the ' heart and flesh. ' 153
herself a home: my heart hath found itself a home. She Tkr. tries her wings in the virtues of this life, in faith, and hope, ----- and charity, by which she may fly unto her home : and when
she shall have come thither, she shall remain ; and now the complaining voice of the sparrow, which is here, shall no
longer be there. For it is the very complaining sparrow of
whom in another Psalm he saith, Like a sparrow alone on the Ps. 102, housetop. From the housetop he flies home. Now let him7'
be on the housetop, treading on his carnal house : he shall have a heavenly house, a perpetual home: that sparrow shall make an end of his complaints. But to the dove be hath given young, that is, to the flesh : the dove hath found a nest, where she may lay her young. The sparrow a home, the dove a nest, and a nest too where she may lay her young. A home is chosen as for ever, a nest is framed for a time : with the heart we think upon God, as if the sparrow flew to her home : with the flesh we do good works. For ye see how many good works are done by the flesh of the saints ; for by this we work the things we are commanded to work, by
which we are helped in this life. Break thy bread to the Is. 68, 7. hungry, and bring the poor and roofless into thy house ; and
if thou see one naked, clothe him: and other such things
which are commanded us we work only through the flesh. Therefore that sparrow, who thinketh upon his home, parteth
not from the dove who seeketh for herself a nest, where she may lay her young: for she throweth them not away in any corner, but hath found herself a nest where she may lay them. We speak, brethren, what ye know : how many seem to do good works without the Church? ? how many even Pagans feed the hungry, clothe the naked, receive the stranger, visit the sick,
comfort the prisoner ? how many do this ? The dove seems,
as it were, to bring forth young: but finds not herself a nest.
How many works may heretics do not in the Church ; they
place not their young in a nest. They shall be trampled on
and crushed : they shall not be kept, shall not be guarded.
In the person of this flesh working a woman is spoken of by
the Apostle Paul, saying, Adam was not deceived, but the 1 Tim.
>> Ed. Ben. refers to P. Lombard II. works of those who are without faith Sent. Dist. 41. where this passage is eril ? "
quoted on the question, " Are all the
154 A nest for the dove's young, good works, in the Church.
in the fust instance the desire of thy flesh, to which if thy mind afterwards consents, the sparrow too hath fallen; but if the desires of the flesh are conquered, thy limbs are kept to good works, the arms of concupiscence are taken away, and the dove begins to have young. Therefore, what saith the
l Tim. Apostle in that place ? But she shall be saved by child-
Psalm woman was deceived. For afterwards Adam consented with J^55? L-the woman: for the woman was deceived by the serpent.
Gen. 3,
I--6. And now no evil persuasion can do more than move in thee
l'Cor. 7, 40-
bearing. A widow without children, if she continue so, shall she not be happier? Shall she not be saved, because she beareth not sons ? Shall not a virgin of God be better ? Shall she not be saved, because she hath no sons ? or doth she not belong to God? Therefore the woman shall be saved, who is a type of the flesh, by childbearing, that is, if she do good works. But it is not every where that the dove can find a nest for herself where she may lay her young ; in the true faith, in the Catholic faith, in the fellowship of the unity of the Church let her bring forth her works. Therefore,
. . -
-l
l Tim. when the Apostle was speaking of her, he added, But she
shall be saved by child-bearing, if she abide in faith, and love, and sanctification, with soberness. By abiding in faith, faith itself is a nest for thy young. For on account of the weakness of the young of thy turtle dove, the Lord deigned to give unto thee whence thou mightest make thyself a nest: for He clothed Himself with flesh, as hay for thy nest, that He might come unto thee. In that faith lay thy young : in that nest work thy works. For what the nests are, what that
nest is, follows at once: Thy altars, O Lord of Hosts. Having said, And the dove hath found herself a nest, where she may lay her young; as if thou hadst asked, What nest?
Thy altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God. What is, My King and my God? Thou Who rulest me, Who hast created me.
8. Here then is the nest, here absence from home, here sighing, here crushing, and here pressing, since here is the winepress : but what is it which he longs for ? what that he desires ? whither goeth he ? whither tends our longing ? whither doth it hurry us? Placed here, it meditateth on those things : placed among temptations, placed among pressures,
2' 16-
The House of God the truly blessed place. 1 55 placed in the winepress, sighing after heavenly promises: Vrr.
as if intending to do something there, it dwells beforehand on future joys. (Ver. 4. ) Blessed are those who dwell in Thy house. Wherefore blessed ? What shall they have ? What shall they do? All who are called blessed on earth have something and do something. One man is blessed with so many farms, such a large family, so much gold and silver: he is called blessed by what he has. Blessed is another, he has attained such a rank, the proconsulship, or prefec
ture : he is called blessed in what he does. Either then in having or in doing men are blessed. But how will they be blessed there ? what will they have ? what will they do ? What they will have I have said above : Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house. If thou hast thy own house, thou art poor ; if God's, thou art rich. In thy own house thou wilt fear robbers; of the house of God, He is Himself the wall. Therefore blessed are those who dwell in Thy home.
They possess the heavenly Jerusalem, without constraint, without pressure, without difference and division of bound aries; all have and each have all. Great are those riches. Brother crowdeth not brother: there no want there. Next, what will they do there For among men necessity which
the mother of all employments. have already said, in brief, brethren, run in your mind through any occupations, and see not necessity alone which produces them. Those very eminent arts which seem so powerful in giving help to others, the art of speaking in their defence or of medicine in healing, for these are the most excellent employments in this life; take away litigants, who there for the advocate to help take away wounds and diseases?
what there for the physician to cure? And all those employments of ours which are required and done for our daily life, arise from necessity.
To plough, to sow, to clear fallow ground, to sail what which produces all these works, but necessity and want? Take away hunger, thirst, nakedness who has need of all these things These good works also which are enjoined to us; for those which have mentioned are respectable, but belong to all men mean to except w icked deeds, detestable actions, scandalous crimes, homicides, house-breaking, adul teries, for do not count these among human actions;) but
4,
1
if it
;
(I I
is
?
it,
?
;
is ;
is it
?
is
I is
is
it is
156 Our good things here are but reliefs of need.
Psalm I mean those which are positively virtuous, even they are l*O"'only produced by necessity, and that a necessity arising
from the frailty of the flesh ; for instance, the injunction, Is. 68,7. ' Break thy bread to the hungry? For whom could you break bread, if there were nobody hungry ? ' Take in the roofless
16C64
poor into thy house. ' What stranger is there to lake in, where all live in their own country ? What sick person to visit, where they enjoy perpetual health ? What litigants to reconcile, where there is everlasting peace ? What dead to bury, where there is eternal life ? None of those honourable actions which are common to all men will then be your employment, nor any of these good works; the young
swallows will then fly out of their nest. What then ? . You have said already what we shall have ; ' Those who dwell in Thy house are blessed. ' Say now what they shall do, for I see not then any need to induce me to action. Even what I am now saying and arguing springs from some need. Will there be any such argument there to teach the ignorant, or
remind the forgetful? Or will the Gospel be read in that country where the Word of God Itself shall be contemplated ? Wherefore let him who in longing aspirations spoke will) our voice, saying what we should have in that country which be sighed for, ' Blessed are they who dwell in Thy house," let him say too what we shall do there. ' They shall be always
praising Thee. ' This shall be our whole duty, an unceasing Hallelujah.
Think not, my brethren, that there will be any weariness there: if ye are not able to endure long here in saying this, it is because? some want draws you away from that enjoyment. If what is not seen gives not so much joy here, if with so much eagerness under the pressure and weakness of the flesh we praise that which we believe, how shall we praise that wl"cn we see^ When death shall be swallowed up in victary, when this mortal shall have put on immortality, and this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, no one will say, ' I have been standing a long time no one will say, ' I have fasted a long time,' ' I have watched a long time. ' For there shall be great endurance, and our immortal bodies
shall be sustained in contemplation of God. And if the * Oxf. M>>s. ' want keeps you not away. '
No weariness in Heaven. Hindrance of the flesh here. 1 57
word which we now dispense to you keeps your weak flesh Ver.
'---
standing so long, what will be the effect of that joy f how
will it change us? For we shall be like Him, since we shall l John see Him as He is. Being made like Him, when shall we ever ' faint? what shall draw us off? Brethren, we shall never be satiated with the praise of God, with the love of God. If
love could fail, praise could fail. But if love be eternal, as
there will there be beauty inexhaustible, fear not lest thou
be not able to praise for ever Him Whom thou shalt be able
to love for ever. Blessed are they who shall dwell in Thy house; for ever and ever they will be praising Thee. For
this life let us sigh.
9. But how shall we come thither? (Ver 5. ) Happy is the
man whose strength is in Thee. He knew where he was,
and that by reason of the frailty of his flesh he could not fly
to that state of blessedness: he thought upon his own burden,
as it is said elsewhere; ' For the corruptible body weighs down Wisd. the soul, and the earthly house depresses the understanding9' 16' which has many thoughts? The Spirit calls upward, the weight of the flesh calls back again downward : between the double effort to raise and to weigh down, a kind of struggle ensues : this struggle goes toward the pressure of the wine
press. Hear how the Apostle describes this same struggle of the winepress, for he was himself afflicted there, there he
shall I arrive thither? /
''
/delighIt? he says, in the law God Rom. jf
of after see another law in my members,22-
was pressed.
the inner man: but
warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. ' Great
23'
is this struggle and hopeless to escape from, ifI
for the help that follows ; ' Miserable man that
shall deliver me from the body of this death ? The grace of
God through Jesus Christ our Lord? And so here in this Psalm he saw those joys, and thought in his mind, ' Blessed are they who dwell in Thy house, O Lord; for ever and ever they will be praising Thee. ' But who shall ascend thither? What shall 1 do with the burden of the flesh ? Blessed are they who dwell in Thy house, they will praise Thee for ever and ever. ' For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man? But what shall I do? how shall I fly? how
see another law in my members
it were not
am : who ib. 24.
158 Aids ofgrace. Upward ' steps in the heart?
Psalm warring against the law ofmy mind. He said that he was i-xmv. chappy, and he said, Who shall deliver me from the body of this death, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord, and praise Him for ever and ever? Who shall set me free? The grace of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. And as in the
1 nut- ceptio
words of the Apostle, that difficulty and that almost inex tricable struggle is alleviated by the addition, The grace of
God through Jesus ChHst our Lord; so here, when he sighed in the ardent longing for the house of God, and those praises of God, and when a kind of despair arose at the feeling of the burden of the body and the weight of the flesh, again he awoke to hope, and said, (vcr. 5. ) Blessed is the man whose
taking up ' is in Thee.
What then does God supply by His grace to him
whom He taketh hold of to lead him on? He goes on to say: * a>>cen-He hath placed steps* in his heart. He makes steps for him by which he may ascend. Where are these steps ? In his heart. Therefore the more thou lovest, the more shalt thou
rise. He hath placed steps in his heart. Who hath done this? He who hath taken hold of him: for, Blessed, says he, is he whose taking up is in Thee, O Lord. Because of him self he cannot rise, it is necessary that Thy grace should raise him. And what does Thy grace i It places steps in his heart. Where does it place steps ? In his heart, (ver. 6. ) in the valley of weeping. So here thou hast for a winepress the valley of weeping, the very pious tears in tribulation are the new wine of those that love. He hath placed steps in his heart. Where then hath He placed them ? In the valley ofweeping. For here He hath placed steps, in the valley of weeping. For here is weeping, where is sowing. They went
Ps. 126, forth weeping, he says, casting their seed. Therefore, by
6-6'
the grace of God may upward steps be placed in thy heart Rise by loving. Hence the Psalm " of degrees" is called. And where hath He placed these steps ? In thy heart, in the valley of weeping. He hath said where He hath placed them, whither hath He set them?
What hath He placed? Steps. Where? Within, In the heart. In what region, in
what place, as it were, of abode ? In the valley of weeping. To ascend whither ? To the place which He hath appointed. What is this, brethren, To the place which He hath ap
Our sinful state is ' the valley of weeping. ' 1 59
pointed. What place would he name, which He hath ap- Ver.
pointed, if it could be named ?
He hath placed steps in his heart, in the valley of weeping.
Dost thou ask, whither ? What will He say to thee ? What \ Cor. eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered"1'9' into the heart of man. It is a hill, it is a mountain, it is a land, it is a meadow : by nearly all these names that place
has been called.
who can explain ?
what that place is :
therefore whither he hath appointed us to go, or what place
it is. He knoweth whither, He Who hath appointed the place whither He is leading thee, the ascent to which He
hath placed in thy heart. What ? dost thou fear to ascend,
lest He who leads thee should go wrong? Lo, in the valley
of weeping, He hath placed steps of ascent to the place which He hath appointed. Now we lament; whence pro
ceed our lamentations, but from that place where the steps
of Our ascent are placed ? Whence comes our lamentation,
but from that cause wherefore the Apostle exclaimed that he
was a wretched man, because he saw another law in his Rom. 7, . 23
members, warring against the law in his mind? And whence
does this proceed ? From the penalty of sin. And we thought that we could easily be righteous as it were by our own strength, before we received thIe command ; but when ib. 9.
the command came, sin revived; but
died, saith the Apostle. For a law was given to men, not such as could save them at once, but it was to shew them in what severe sickness they
were lying. Hear the words of the Apostle; For if a law Gal. 3, had been given which coidd give life, verily righteousness*1' 22- should have been by the law; but the Scripture hath shut up
all under sin, that the promise which is offaith in Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe; so that grace
came after the law, and found man not only laid prostrate, but already confessing and saying, Miserable man that lam, who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? And the physician came in due time to the valley of weeping, saying, Surely thou knowest that thou hast fallen ; listen unto Me that thou mayest arise, thou who didst despise Me, so that thou didst fall. Therefore the Law was given, that it might
It hath been said to thee, ------
But what is it in itself, without images
For, Now we see through a glass darkly 1 Cor. then we shall see face to face. Ask not 13' 12'
160 Typical Meaning of the Miracle of Btthesda.
Psii. M convince the sick man of his disease, whereas he seemed to Ix xIV' himself to be whole; that sins might be made manifest, not that they might be taken away. But when sin was made
manifest by the law given, sin was but increased, for it is Rom. 7, both sin, and against the Law; Sin, saith he, taking occasion
s'
by the command, wrought in me all manner ofconcupiscence. What does he mean by taking occasion by the law? Having received the command, men tried as by their own strength to obey it ; conquered by lust, they became guilty of trans gression of this very command also. But what saith the
Rom. 6, Apostle ? Where sin abounded, grace hath much more
20'
abounded ; that is, the disease increased, the medicine be came of more avail. Accordingly, my brethren, did those five porches of Solomon, in the middle of which the pool
John 6, lay, heal the sick at all ? The sick, says the Evangelist, lay in the five porches. In the Gospel we have and read it. Those five porches are the law in the five books of Moses. For this cause the sick were brought forth from their houses that they might lie in the porches. So the law brought the sick men forth, but did not heal them : but by the blessing
of God the water was disturbed, as by an Angel descending into it. At the sight of the water troubled, the one person who was able, descended and was healed. That water surrounded by the five porches, was the people of the Jews shut up in their law. The Lord came and disturbed this people, so that He Himself was slain. For if the Lord had not troubled the Jews by coming down to them, would He have been crucified? So that the troubled water signified the Passion of the Lord, which arose from His troubling the Jewish people. The sick man who believeth in this Passion, like him who descended into the troubled water, is healed thereby. He whom the Law could not heal, that is, while he
lay in the porches, is healed by grace, by faith in the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. One is healed, for those healed are one. What then does He say here ? He hath placed steps of ascent in his heart, in the valley of weeping, to the place which He hath appointed. Now we will rejoice in that place.
11. Ver. 8. But why in the valley of weeping? What is this valley of weeping, from whence we shall come into that
The Church proceeds 'from virtue to virtue. ' 161
place ofjoy? He shall give blessing, saith he, Who gave the Ver. law. He afflicted us by the law, pressed us under the law, ------ shewed unto us the winepress, we saw the pressure, we were conscious of the tribulation of the flesh, we groaned with the rebellion of sin against our mind, we cried out, ' Miserable
man that I am:' we groaned under the law; what remains but that He who gave the law should give His blessing ? Grace shall come after the law, grace itself is the blessing. And what has that grace and blessing given unto us?
They shall go from virtue to virtue. For here by grace many
virtues are given. For to one is given by the Spirit the word l Cor. of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge according I2' 8- to the same Spirit, to another faith, to another the gift of healing, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues, to another prophecy. Many virtues,
but necessary for this life; and from these virtues we go on
to a virtue. To what virtue ? To Christ the Virtue of l Cor.
God and the Wisdom of God. He giveth different virtues in ' 24, this place, Who for all the virtues which are necessary and useful in this valley of weeping shall give one virtue, Himself.
For in Scripture and in many writers four virtues are described useful for life : prudence, by which we discern between good
and evil ; justice, by which we give each person his due, owing no man any thing, but loving all men: temperance, by which we restrain lusts ; fortitude, by which we bear all troubles. These virtues are now by the grace of God given unto us in the valley of weeping : from these virtues we mount unto that other virtue. And what will that be, but the virtue of the contemplation of God alone ? There this our prudence will be unnecessary where no evils will meet us which we shall have to avoid. But what think we, my brethren? There will be no justice, such as here: for there will be no need with any man to which we shall owe relief. There will be no such temperance, where will be no lust to be restrained. No such fortitude as here, where there will be no evils to be borne.
