How will praise be
pleasant
to our God?
Augustine - Exposition on the Psalms - v6
To all things that have life,
to all men He giveth food doth He not reserve some food
for His beloved If they have another kind of hunger, they have also another kind of food. Let us first enquire what their hunger is, and then we shall find their food. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, Matt
for they shall be filled. We ought to be God's hungry6- ones. Let us beg in prayers before the gate of His pre sence: He giveth food to the hungry. Why dost thou,
heretic, boast thyself, that thou settest free, thou liftest up, thou enlightenest? Is forsooth, because thou art
already enlightened, vol. vi.
and standest upright, and art a light?
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354 He are spiritually 'fettered,' 'fallen,' 'blind. '
Psalm Far be it from thee. Listen to what was said above : put not -x vIj your trust in princes, or in the children of men, in whom is no salvation. They do not give salvation. Let the heretics then ver. 8. depart from before us. The Lord looseth them that are fettered ; the Lord lifteth up them that are dashed down ; the Lord maketh wise them that are blind. Perfectly hath he by this last sentence explained to us all the preceding ones :
Phil, l,
ib. 24.
lest perchance, when he had said, the Lord looseth them that are fettered, we should refer it to those fettered ones, who for some crime are bound in irons by their masters: and in that he said, He lifteth up them that are dashed down, there should occur to our minds some one stumbling or falling, or thrown from a horse. There is another kind of fall, there are other kinds of fetters, just as there is other darkness and other light. Whereas he said, He maketh the blind wise; he would not say, He enlighteneth the blind, lest thou shouldest understand this also in reference to the flesh, as the man was enlightened by the Lord, wheu He anointed his eyes with clay made with spittle, and so healed him: that thou mightest not look for any thing of this sort, when He is speaking of spiritual things, he pointeth to a sort of light of wisdom, wherewith the blind are enlightened. Therefore in the same way as the blind are enlightened with
the light of wisdom, so are the fettered set free, and those who are dashed down are lifted up. Whereby then have we been fettered ? whereby dashed down ? Our body was once an ornament to us : now, we have sinned, and thereby have had fetters put on us. What are our fetters ? Our mortality.
Hear the Apostle Paul, for he too was as yet fettered in his pilgrimage here. How vast regions did he traverse in his fetters : his fetters were not heavy to him : with these fetters he preached the Gospel to the whole world: the spirit of love carried away his fetters, and he went about to the utmost of his power. Yet what saith he himself? Having a desire to be set free, and to be with Christ. What is, to
be set free ? From the fetters of mortality : and yet through compassion he still was willing to remain in fetters, for the sake of others who were fettered, that he might minister to them : to abide in the Jlesh is needful for you. The Lord, therefore, looseth them that are fettered, that is, from mortal
Christians ' orphans and widows' as ' absent from the Lord. ' 3 55
He maketh them immortal; the Lord li/teth up them that Ver. are dashed down. Wherefore were they dashed doirn ? --'-- Because they were up-lifted. Wherefore are they lifted up? Because they first were humbled. Adam fell, was dashed
down. He fell, Christ came down. Wherefore came He down Who fell not, save that he might be lifted up, who did fall. The Lord maketh wise the blind; the Lord loveth the righteous. Therefore, He executeth judgment for them that
suffer wrong.
18. And who are the righteous? How far are
they righteous now ? Just as thou hast ; the Lord guardeth ver- 9-
proselytes. Proselytes are strangers. Every Church of the Gentiles is a stranger. For it cometh in to the Fathers, not sprung of their flesh, but their daughter by imitating them. Yet the Lord, not any man, guardeth them. The orphan and widow He will take up. Let none think that He taketh up the orphan for his inheritance, or the widow for any business of hers. True, God doth help them ; and in all the duties of the human race, he doeth a good work, who taketh care of an orphan, who abandoneth not a widow : but in a certain way we are all orphans, not
because our Father is dead, but because He is absent. For among men one is an orphan whose father is dead. Yet if ye look at the truth, my brethren, since the soul dieth
not, our parents are alive ; and so, those who are orphans, are orphans rather because their parents are absent: if they have been evil, they are living in punishment; if good, they are living in rest : to their Creator all things remain. Yet so long as we are in this body, and inhabit the place of our wandering, our Father is absent, and we cry to Him, Our Father, Which art in Heaven. Therefore is the Church
a widow, her Spouse, her Husband, being absent. Here after He will come, Who now protecteth her, not seen, but longed for. For we are seized with great longing, and through love of Him Whom we see not, we long. We shall cling to His embrace when we see Him, while as yet we see Him not, we are filled with faith in Him. By orphan
and widow then, what meant He to be understood, brethren Those who are bereft of all hope and aid. Let the soul which bereft in the world hope for the aid of God.
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35(5 The prosperity of the wicked soon ended ;
Psalm Whatever thou hast here -- hast thou gold, and dost thou - rely on it? now thou art not a stranger, thou art not an orphan, thou art not reckoned as a widow. Hast thou
a friend ? if thou reliest on him and givest up God, thereby thou art no longer bereft. Hast thou all these things, and yet reliest not on them, pridest not thyself on them? Thou art God's orphan, God's widow. He taketh up the orphan, He taketh up the widow too.
19. And the way of sinners He shall root out. What is, the way of sinners? To mock at these things which we say. ' Who is an orphan, who a widow ? What kingdom of heaven, what punishment of hell is there ? These are fables of the Christians. To what 1 see, to that will I live :
lCor. 1s, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die? Beware lest such men persuade you of ought: let them not enter through your ears into your heart ; let them find thorns in your ears : let him, who seeketh to enter thus, go away pierced :
ib. 33. for, evil communications corrupt good manners. But here perhaps thou wilt say, ' Wherefore then are they prosperous? Behold, they worship not God, and commit every kind of evil daily : yet they abound in those things, through want of which I toil. ' Be not envious against sinners. What they receive, thou seest ; what is in store for them, seest thou not ? And how, saith he, do I see what is not seen ? Verily faith hath eyes ; eyes too, greater, and more powerful, and
one: let these eyes be ever unto the Lord, that He may pluck thy feet out of the net. The way of sinners pleaseth thee because it is broad, and many walk therein : thou seest its breadth, thou
Ps. 25, strong. These eyes have never deceived lj
any
seest not its end. Behold, where it endeth is a precipice ; where it endeth is a deep pit: in that end they who walk joyously along this road are whelmed. But thou canst not strain thine eyes so as to see the end: believe Him Who seeth it. And what man is there that seeth it? perhaps no
man : but thy Lord hath come to thee, that thou mightest
believe God. Wilt thou not believe even the Lord thy Matt. 7, God, Who saith, Broad and spacious is the way that leadeih to destruction, and many there be that walk by it? This
way the Lord will root out, for this is the way of sinners.
20. And, when the way of sinners has been rooted out,
the good shall reign with Christ for ever. 357
what remaineth for us? Come, ye blessed of My Father, Veil enjoy the Kingdom which hath been prepared for you from Mat? 25 the beginning of the world. Herewith the Psalm con-34. chideth : and the way of sinners He shall root out. And
how shalt thou fare? The Lord shall reign for ever. TM. 10. Rejoice, for for thee He shall reign : rejoice, for thou shalt
be His kingdom. For see also what followeth. Certainly
thou art a citizen of Sion, not of Babylon, that not of
the perishable city of this world, but of Sion, which for while in toil and wandering, but for eternity shall reign. Thou hast heard then the end to thou belongest. The Lord shall reign for ever, thy God, Sion. Sion, thy God shall reign for ever; surely thy God will not reign without thee. For generation and generation. He hath said twice, because he could not say for ever. And think not that eternity bounded by finite words. The word eternity consists of four syllables in itself without end.
could not be commended to thee, save thus, Thy God shall reign for generation and generation. Too little hath he said he spoke all day long, were too narrow
he spoke all his life, must he not at length hold his peace? Love eternity without end shalt thou reign, Christ be thine End, with Whom thou shalt reign for ever and ever. Amen.
PSALM CXLVII. Lat. . CxlVI
Sermon to the People of Carthage.
We listened attentively, while this present Psalm was being chanted yet not all who heard, also understood. How much more attentively then should now be listened
to, as hope and desire, with the help of the prayers
of all who hear me, whatever in perhaps obscure, may,
by God's grace, be revealed that your hearing may be profitable; and that the hearer may not return empty, who when present listened with attention. Wherewith doth begin? It said to us, Praise the Lord. This said to^er. all nations, not to us alone. And these words, sounded forth through separate places by the Readers, each Church heareth separately but the one same Voice of God proclaim-
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358 We should praise God for His own sake,
Psalm eth unto all, that we praise Him. And as though we -----'- asked wherefore we ought to praise the Lord, behold what reason he hath brought forward : Praise the Lord, he saith, for a Psalm is good. Is this all the reward of them that praise? Let us praise the Lord. Wherefore? Because a Psalm is good. I would wish, saith one, to praise the Lord, if only He give me somewhat for my praise. For who praiseth
for nothing even a man ? Those who praise a man then look for some reward : ought he who praises God, to look for or seek or hope for no reward ? The weak is praised, and somewhat is hoped for from him : the Almighty is praised, and is there no reward ? Or do I perhaps desire that which He cannot give? What doth man desire, which is not in the hand of God ? When thou hast praised a man, thou mayest perhaps desire that which he cannot supply ; God thou mayest praise in safety; for none can say that He
cannot supply ought that thou canst long for. Having then set before us the hope of some reward, we ought to praise God, not however as though He would give what soever we desire. For He is our Father; and whatever evil His sons desire, He giveth not. Let us praise and hope and long, not for this or that, but for what He, Whom we praise, judgeth meet to be given. For He knoweth what it is expedient should be given us; let us observe what it is
Rom. 8, good for us to receive. The Apostle saith, We know not what to pray for as we ought. And this very same Apostle Paul hoped that it would be good for him that the thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet him, should be taken from Ihim, as he himself confesseth, and
This then he saith, Praise the Lord, for it is good to praise the Lord. Let us not thus pass over the praise of the Lord. It is spoken, and hath passed : it is done, and we are silent :
the thrice that it besought Lord
2Cor. 12, saith, for this cause
might be taken from me: and He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee ; for My strength is made perfect in weakness. He desired a certain thing; it was not granted him as was his wish, but it might be granted as was for his health. Here then what is set before us? Praise, saith he, the Lord. Wherefore should we praise the Lord ? Because a Psalm is good. The Psalm is praise of God.
and always ; by our lives as well as our tongues. 359
we have praised, and then rested ; we have sung, and then vr*. rested. We go forth to some business which awaits us, --' -- and when other employments have found us, shall the praise
of God cease in us ? Not so : thy tongue praiseth but for a
while, let thy life ever praise. Thus then a Psalm is good. 2. For a Psalm is a song, not any kind of song, but a song to a psaltery. A psaltery is a kind of instrument of
music, like the lyre and the harp, and suchJtinds of instru ments, which were invented for music. He therefore who singeth Psalms, not only singeth with his voice, but with a certain instrument besides, which is called a psaltery, he accompanieth his voice with his hands. Wilt thou then sing a Psalm ? Let not thy voice alone sound the praises of God ; but let thy works also be in harmony with thy voice. When then thou singest with thy voice, sometimes thou wilt be silent ; sing with thy life in such wise, that thou be never silent. Thou art engaged in business, and meditatest some fraud : thou hast become silent from the praises of God ; and, what is worse, not only hast become silent from His praise, but hast also gone on to blasphemy. For when by thy good work God is praised, thou art praising God
by thy work : when by thy evil work God is blasphemed, thou art blaspheming God by thy work. To please then the ear, sing with thy voice ; but with thy heart be not silent, with thy life be not still. Thou devisest no fraud in thy heart: thou singest a Psalm to God. When thou ealest and drinkest, sing a Psalm: not by intermingling sweet sounds suited to the ear, but by eating and drinking moderately, frugally, temperately : for thus saith the Apostle,
whether ye eat or drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the iCor. 1o, glory of God. If then thou doest right in eating and31, drinking, if thou takest food to refresh thy body and reinvigorate thy limbs, giving thanks to Him Who gave to
thee, mortal and frail as thou art, these comforting supplies, then both thy meat and thy drink praise God : but if by immoderate voracity thou exceedest the due bounds of nature, and gluttest thyself in excess of wine, however great praises
of God thy tongue sound, yet tby life blasphemeth Him. After food and drink thou liest down to sleep : in thy bed neither commit any pollution, nor go beyond the licence
3<,0 A good life the truest praise of God.
Psalm given by the law of God: let thy marriage bed be kept chaste with thy wife: and if thou desire to beget children, yet let there not be unbridled sensuality of lust: in thy bed
l Pet. 3, give honour to thy wife, for ye are both members of Christ,
''
both made by Him, both renewed by His Blood : so doing thou praisest God, nor will thy praise be altogether silent. What, when sleep has come over thee ? Let not an evil con science rouse thee from rest : so doth the innocence of thy
sleep praise God. If then thou praisest, sing not only with
thy voice, but take to thee also the psaltery of good works, for a Psalm is good. Thou praisest in thy employment,
thou praisest in thy eating and drinking, thou praisest while resting in thy bed, thou praisest in thy sleep : when dost thou not praise ? We shall be perfect in praising God, when we come to that city, when we are made equal to the Angels of God, when no bodily craving in any part assails us, when no hunger or thirst interrupts us, no heat wearies, no cold freezes, no fever pulls down, no death endeth. For that most perfect praise let us practise ourselves, by praising here in good works.
3. Wherefore, when he had said, Praise the Lord, for a Psalm is good, he says, letpraises be pleasant to our God.
How will praise be pleasant to our God? If He be praised by our good lives. Hear that then praise will be pleasant to
Ecclus. Him. In another place it is said, Praise is not seemly in
the mouth of a sinner. If then in the mouth of a sinner praise is not seemly, neither is it pleasant, for that only is pleasant which is seemly. Wilt thou then that thy praise be pleasant to thy God? Be not out of tune with thy good song by ill behaviour. Let praise be pleasant to our God.
What did he mean? Ye who praise, live aright: He regardeth more how ye live, than how ye speak. Surely thou desirest to have peace with Him Whom thou praisest: how dost thou seek peace with Him, when thou art at discord with thyself? How, thou wilt say, am I at discord with myself? One thing thy tongue soundeth,
another thy life discloseth. Let praise be pleasant to our God. For praise may be pleasant to a man, when he heareth one praising with neat and clever sentiments, and with a sweet voice ; but let praise be pleasant to our God,
l5' 9'
God's love shewn in Christ's Death. 361
Whose ears are open not to the mouth, but to the heart; not Ver. to the tongue, but to the life of him that praiseth. ------
4. Who is our God, that praise should be pleasant to Him ? He maketh Himself sweet to us, He commendeth Himself to us ; thanks to His condescension. For He deigneth to com mend Himself to us, not as though we could supply ought to Him, but rather may receive much from Him. How then doth
God commend Himself to us? But God commendeth His Rom
love to us. How doth He commend it? Hearken:
Apostle himself speak, that we may compare him with the Psalm: God commendeth, saith he, His love to us. How doth He commend it ? In that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. What then hath He in store for them that praise, Who thus commendeth Himself to them that are sinners? Since then the Apostle hath said, that God so commended His love to us, as that Christ died for the ungodly, not that they should remain ungodly, but that by the death of the Righteous they should be healed of their unrighteousness ; what hearest thou here after he had said, let praise be pleasant to our God? Let us see whether
it be the commendation which the Apostle speaketh of, that Christ died for the sinners and ungodly : the Lord Who ver. s buildeth up Jerusalem, and gathereth the dispersions of Israel. Behold the Lord Who buildeth up Jerusalem, and gathereth the dispersions of her people. For the people
of Jerusalem are the people of Israel. It is Jerusalem eternal
in the heavens, whereof the Angels are citizens also. What then is Israel there ? If thou considerest the man, the grandson of Abraham, who was called also Jacob, how
If we examine the meaning of the name, since Jacob too had his name changed,
understand we the Angels to be Israel ?
and was called Israel, greater then is the name Israel : and would that we too may follow, and be Israel. For what is the meaning of Israel ? ' Seeing God. ' All the citizens then of that city, through seeing God, rejoice in that great and wide and heavenly city; they gaze upon God Himself. But we are wanderers from that city, driven out by sin, that we should not remain there; weighed down by mortality, that we should not return thither. God looked back on our wandering, and He Who buildeth up Jerusalem, re-
let the8.
362 Through that Death God will restore us,
Psalm stored the part that had fallen. How restored He the part f? i^5: tl1at bad fallen ? Gathering the dispersions of Israel. A certain part fell, and became wanderers ; this wandering part God in His mercy saw, and sought them that sought Him not How sought He them ? Whom sent He to our captive estate ? He sent a Redeemer, according to what the Apostle saith, God commendeth His love to us, in that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He sent then to our captive estate His Son as a Redeemer. Take with Thee, said He, a bag, bear therein the price of the captives. For He put on Him our mortal flesh, and therein was the Blood, by the shedding of Which we were to be redeemed. With that Blood He gathered the dispersions of Israel. And if He gathered them that before were dispersed, how must we strive that they be gathered who now are dispersed? If the dispersed have been gathered, that in the Hand of the Builder they might be fashioned into the building, how should they be gathered who through disquiet have fallen from the Hand of the Builder? The Lord Who buildeth up Jerusalem. Behold Whom we praise; behold to Whom we owe praise all our life long. The Lord Who buildeth
up Jerusalem, and gathereth the dispersions of Israel.
5. How doth He gather? What doeth He in order to rer. 3. gather? Who healeth the bruised in heart. Behold the
way in which the dispersions of Israel are gathered, by the healing of the bruised in heart. They who are not of a bruised heart, are not healed. What is to bruise the heart? Let it be known, brethren, let it be done, that ye may be able to be healed. For it is told in many other places of Scripture ; especially in the famous place, the Psalmist,
I forifI would have given it. He said
Ps. 6\, singing as it were with our voice, said, Thou hadst
16' 1 ' desired a sacrifice, verily
to God, if Thou hadst desired a sacrifice, verily
have given it, but Thou wilt not be delighted with burnt- offerings. What then ? shall we remain without offering any sacrifice ? Hear what He desireth that thou shouldest offer. He goeth on and saith, the sacrifice of God is a
troubled spirit, a bruised and contrite heart God will not despise. He healeth then the bruised in heart, for He draweth nigh unto them to heal them ; as is said in another
would
if we ' bruise our heart' by confession. 3G3
place, the Lord is nigh unto them who have bruised their vBh.
heart. Who are thev that have bruised their heart? The ------ Ps. 34 '
humble. Who are they that have not bruised their heart? i8. The proud. The bruised heart shall be healed, the puffed
up heart shall be dashed down. For for this purpose perhaps is it dashed down, that being bruised it may be healed. Let not our heart then, brethren, desire to be set upright, before it be upright. It is ill for that to be uplifted
which is not first corrected.
6. Who healeth the bruised in heart, and bindeth up their
bruises. He healeth, saith he, the bruised in heart: He healeth then the humbled in heart, He healeth them who confess, He healeth them that punish themselves, who exercise a strict judgment upon themselves, that they may
be able to feel His mercy. Such He healeth ; but their perfect healing will take place when this mortal life is passed, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, i Cor.
and this mortal shall have put on immortality : when there 15' 5S" shall be nothing to tempt us through the sinfulness of the
flesh : not only nothing for us to consent to, but not even
any thing to be suggested by the flesh. For now, my brethren, how many unlawful delights assail the mind ?
And although we consent to them not, so that our members are servants to righteousness, not to iniquity, yet even to
be pleased by such things, even though thou consent not, is as yet short of perfect soundness. Thou shalt then be healed, thou, man of a bruised heart, shalt be healed. Blush not, bruise thy heart; such are they whom God healeth. But
thou wilt say, What must I do now? For / dI
law of God according to the inner man ; but
law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and leading me captive under the law of sin. What must thou do now? Bruise thy heartI, confess; go on, say what
followeth, 0 wretched man that
am, who shall deliver me from the bIody of this death ? For to say this, O wretched man that am, is at once to bruise the heart. Let him hope for happiness, who Iconfesseth unhappiness. Say am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? that it may be said to thee in
then, O wretched man that
answer, The grace of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
elight in the Rom. 7,
see another
22-- 25,
364 Christ our Physician.
Psalm But how shall the grace of God, whereof we have now ? xlTn" received the earnest, set us free ? Hear the Apostle again ; the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because Rom. 8, of righteousness. If then the Spirit of Him Who raised up 10. n. jesm Christ from the dead dwell in you, He Who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit, Which duelleth in you. This then is the earnest which our spirit hath received, that we begin through faith to serve God, and through faith to be
Rom. l, called righteous. For the just liveth by faith. But whatever
in you still fighteth and resisteth, is of the mortality of the flesh, and this shall be healed. For He shall quicken, saith the Apostle, your mortal bodies by His Spirit, Which dwelleth in you. For this He gave the earnest, that He will fulfil what He hath promised. What then now in this life, when as yet we are confessors, not yet possessors, what in this life is to be done ? How shall it be healed ? He healeth the bruised in heart: but perfect soundness will not be till the time we mentioned. What then now ? He bindeth up their bruises. He, Who healeth the bruised in heart, whose perfect soundness will be in the resurrection of the
just, now bindeth up their bruises.
7. What are the means whereby He bindeth up their
bruises? Just as physicians bind up fractures. For some times, (observe this, beloved; it is well known to those who have observed or have heard from physicians,) sometimes when limbs are sound, but are crooked and distoited, physicians break them in order to set them
and make new wound, because the soundness which was distorted was amiss. Just so then Scripture Hon. H. saith, The ways of the Lord are straight, but the crooked- hearted shall stumble in them. Who the crooked- hearled? The twisted-hearted: he that hath a twisted heart. He thinketh that all things which God hath said are twisted;
he thinketh that all which God hath done crooked and all the judgments of God displease him, especially those whereby he himself chastised and he sitteth, and argueth how evilly God doeth, because He doeth not according to his will. It not enough for the distorted heart not to set itself straight after God's pattern wisheth also to
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Sacraments means of healing our ' bruises. ' 365
distort God after its own pattern. What then saith God Ver. from above ? Thou art twisted, I am straight. If thou ---- wast straight, thou wouldest see that I am straight. Just
as if thou wast to lay on an even floor a crooked piece of timber, it would not rest in its place, it would totter in every direction, it would be swayed in every direction, which yet
is not caused by the unevenness of the ground, but by the crookedness of the timber; so Scripture saith, How goodV>>-Ti,\. is God to Israel, to the right of heart. Well then, how
is the crooked heart straightened ? It is both crooked and
hard; being then both crooked and hard, let it be broken,
let it be bruised, that it may be set straight. Thou canst
not set thine own heart straight : do thou break let Him
set straight. How dost thou break it? how dost thou bruise By confessing and punishing thy sins. What
else doth beating the breast mean Unless perhaps we
think that our bones have sinned, when we beat our breasts.
Nay, we mean that we bruise our heart, that may be set
straight by God.
8. He healeth then them that are bruised in heart, that
have a bruised heart: and soundness of heart will then be perfected, when the restoration of the body also which promised shall be fulfilled. Now in the mean while, what doeth the physician He bindeth up thy bruises, that thou mayest arrive at most complete soundness, until that which has been broken and bound up may be firmly knit. What are these means whereby He bindeth? The sacraments of this present life. The means whereby He bindeth up our
bruises to heal them, are the sacraments of this present life, whereby in the mean time we obtain our comfort and all the words we speak to you, words which sound and pass away, all that done in the Church in this present time, are the means whereby He bindeth up our bruises. For just as, when the limb has become perfectly sound, the physician taketh off the bandage so in our own city Jerusalem, when we shall have been made equal to the Angels, think ye that
we shall receive there, what we have received here Will be needful then that the Gospel be read to us, that our faith may abide or that hands be laid upon us by any
Bishop All these are means of binding up fractures
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30ti Holy men are ' stars. '
Psalm when we have attained perfect soundness, they will be taken CxI"vn- 0ff ? but we should never attain they were not bound
He healeth then the bruised in heart, and bindeth up their bruises.
g. Who telleth the number of the stars, and calleth them all by their names. What great matter for God to tell the number of the stars! Men even have endeavoured to do this whether they have been able to achieve it, their concern they would not however attempt did they not think that they should achieve it. Let us leave alone what they can do, and how far they have attained; for God think no great matter to count all the stars. Or doth He perhaps go over the number, lest He should forget Is any great thing for God to number the stars, by Whom
ver. 4.
up.
Mat. 10, the very hairs of your head are numbered It plain, my brethren, that God willeth that we should understand some what by what He saith, Who telleth the number of the stars, and calleth them all their names. The stars are certain lights in the Church comforting our night, all of whom the
Phil. Apostle saith, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.
?
In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, saith he, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding the Word of life. These stars God counteth all who shall
reign with Him, all who are to be gathered into the Body of His only-begotten Son, He hath counted, and still counteth them. Whoso unworthy, not even counted. Many too have believed, or rather may, with kind of shadowy appearance of faith, have attached themselves to His people yet He knoweth what He counteth, what He winnoweth away. For so great the height of the Gospel, that hath
Ps. 40,6. come to pass as was said, have declared, and have spoken they are multiplied above number: there are then among the people certain supernumeraries, so to speak. What do
mean by supernumeraries More than will be there. Within these walls are more than will be in the kingdom of God, in the heavenly Jerusalem; these are above the number. Let each one of you consider whether he shineth in darkness, whether he refuseth to be led astray by the dark iniquity of the world he be not led astray, nor conquered, he will be, as were, star, which God already nunibereth.
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Not gifts, but charity, wins God's favour. 307
10. And calling them all by their names, he saith. Herein Ver. is our whole reward. We have certain names with God; that ,----- God may know our names, this we ought to wish, for this
to act, for this to busy ourselves, as far as we are able ; not
to rejoice in other things, not even in certain
gifts.
to all men He giveth food doth He not reserve some food
for His beloved If they have another kind of hunger, they have also another kind of food. Let us first enquire what their hunger is, and then we shall find their food. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, Matt
for they shall be filled. We ought to be God's hungry6- ones. Let us beg in prayers before the gate of His pre sence: He giveth food to the hungry. Why dost thou,
heretic, boast thyself, that thou settest free, thou liftest up, thou enlightenest? Is forsooth, because thou art
already enlightened, vol. vi.
and standest upright, and art a light?
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354 He are spiritually 'fettered,' 'fallen,' 'blind. '
Psalm Far be it from thee. Listen to what was said above : put not -x vIj your trust in princes, or in the children of men, in whom is no salvation. They do not give salvation. Let the heretics then ver. 8. depart from before us. The Lord looseth them that are fettered ; the Lord lifteth up them that are dashed down ; the Lord maketh wise them that are blind. Perfectly hath he by this last sentence explained to us all the preceding ones :
Phil, l,
ib. 24.
lest perchance, when he had said, the Lord looseth them that are fettered, we should refer it to those fettered ones, who for some crime are bound in irons by their masters: and in that he said, He lifteth up them that are dashed down, there should occur to our minds some one stumbling or falling, or thrown from a horse. There is another kind of fall, there are other kinds of fetters, just as there is other darkness and other light. Whereas he said, He maketh the blind wise; he would not say, He enlighteneth the blind, lest thou shouldest understand this also in reference to the flesh, as the man was enlightened by the Lord, wheu He anointed his eyes with clay made with spittle, and so healed him: that thou mightest not look for any thing of this sort, when He is speaking of spiritual things, he pointeth to a sort of light of wisdom, wherewith the blind are enlightened. Therefore in the same way as the blind are enlightened with
the light of wisdom, so are the fettered set free, and those who are dashed down are lifted up. Whereby then have we been fettered ? whereby dashed down ? Our body was once an ornament to us : now, we have sinned, and thereby have had fetters put on us. What are our fetters ? Our mortality.
Hear the Apostle Paul, for he too was as yet fettered in his pilgrimage here. How vast regions did he traverse in his fetters : his fetters were not heavy to him : with these fetters he preached the Gospel to the whole world: the spirit of love carried away his fetters, and he went about to the utmost of his power. Yet what saith he himself? Having a desire to be set free, and to be with Christ. What is, to
be set free ? From the fetters of mortality : and yet through compassion he still was willing to remain in fetters, for the sake of others who were fettered, that he might minister to them : to abide in the Jlesh is needful for you. The Lord, therefore, looseth them that are fettered, that is, from mortal
Christians ' orphans and widows' as ' absent from the Lord. ' 3 55
He maketh them immortal; the Lord li/teth up them that Ver. are dashed down. Wherefore were they dashed doirn ? --'-- Because they were up-lifted. Wherefore are they lifted up? Because they first were humbled. Adam fell, was dashed
down. He fell, Christ came down. Wherefore came He down Who fell not, save that he might be lifted up, who did fall. The Lord maketh wise the blind; the Lord loveth the righteous. Therefore, He executeth judgment for them that
suffer wrong.
18. And who are the righteous? How far are
they righteous now ? Just as thou hast ; the Lord guardeth ver- 9-
proselytes. Proselytes are strangers. Every Church of the Gentiles is a stranger. For it cometh in to the Fathers, not sprung of their flesh, but their daughter by imitating them. Yet the Lord, not any man, guardeth them. The orphan and widow He will take up. Let none think that He taketh up the orphan for his inheritance, or the widow for any business of hers. True, God doth help them ; and in all the duties of the human race, he doeth a good work, who taketh care of an orphan, who abandoneth not a widow : but in a certain way we are all orphans, not
because our Father is dead, but because He is absent. For among men one is an orphan whose father is dead. Yet if ye look at the truth, my brethren, since the soul dieth
not, our parents are alive ; and so, those who are orphans, are orphans rather because their parents are absent: if they have been evil, they are living in punishment; if good, they are living in rest : to their Creator all things remain. Yet so long as we are in this body, and inhabit the place of our wandering, our Father is absent, and we cry to Him, Our Father, Which art in Heaven. Therefore is the Church
a widow, her Spouse, her Husband, being absent. Here after He will come, Who now protecteth her, not seen, but longed for. For we are seized with great longing, and through love of Him Whom we see not, we long. We shall cling to His embrace when we see Him, while as yet we see Him not, we are filled with faith in Him. By orphan
and widow then, what meant He to be understood, brethren Those who are bereft of all hope and aid. Let the soul which bereft in the world hope for the aid of God.
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35(5 The prosperity of the wicked soon ended ;
Psalm Whatever thou hast here -- hast thou gold, and dost thou - rely on it? now thou art not a stranger, thou art not an orphan, thou art not reckoned as a widow. Hast thou
a friend ? if thou reliest on him and givest up God, thereby thou art no longer bereft. Hast thou all these things, and yet reliest not on them, pridest not thyself on them? Thou art God's orphan, God's widow. He taketh up the orphan, He taketh up the widow too.
19. And the way of sinners He shall root out. What is, the way of sinners? To mock at these things which we say. ' Who is an orphan, who a widow ? What kingdom of heaven, what punishment of hell is there ? These are fables of the Christians. To what 1 see, to that will I live :
lCor. 1s, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die? Beware lest such men persuade you of ought: let them not enter through your ears into your heart ; let them find thorns in your ears : let him, who seeketh to enter thus, go away pierced :
ib. 33. for, evil communications corrupt good manners. But here perhaps thou wilt say, ' Wherefore then are they prosperous? Behold, they worship not God, and commit every kind of evil daily : yet they abound in those things, through want of which I toil. ' Be not envious against sinners. What they receive, thou seest ; what is in store for them, seest thou not ? And how, saith he, do I see what is not seen ? Verily faith hath eyes ; eyes too, greater, and more powerful, and
one: let these eyes be ever unto the Lord, that He may pluck thy feet out of the net. The way of sinners pleaseth thee because it is broad, and many walk therein : thou seest its breadth, thou
Ps. 25, strong. These eyes have never deceived lj
any
seest not its end. Behold, where it endeth is a precipice ; where it endeth is a deep pit: in that end they who walk joyously along this road are whelmed. But thou canst not strain thine eyes so as to see the end: believe Him Who seeth it. And what man is there that seeth it? perhaps no
man : but thy Lord hath come to thee, that thou mightest
believe God. Wilt thou not believe even the Lord thy Matt. 7, God, Who saith, Broad and spacious is the way that leadeih to destruction, and many there be that walk by it? This
way the Lord will root out, for this is the way of sinners.
20. And, when the way of sinners has been rooted out,
the good shall reign with Christ for ever. 357
what remaineth for us? Come, ye blessed of My Father, Veil enjoy the Kingdom which hath been prepared for you from Mat? 25 the beginning of the world. Herewith the Psalm con-34. chideth : and the way of sinners He shall root out. And
how shalt thou fare? The Lord shall reign for ever. TM. 10. Rejoice, for for thee He shall reign : rejoice, for thou shalt
be His kingdom. For see also what followeth. Certainly
thou art a citizen of Sion, not of Babylon, that not of
the perishable city of this world, but of Sion, which for while in toil and wandering, but for eternity shall reign. Thou hast heard then the end to thou belongest. The Lord shall reign for ever, thy God, Sion. Sion, thy God shall reign for ever; surely thy God will not reign without thee. For generation and generation. He hath said twice, because he could not say for ever. And think not that eternity bounded by finite words. The word eternity consists of four syllables in itself without end.
could not be commended to thee, save thus, Thy God shall reign for generation and generation. Too little hath he said he spoke all day long, were too narrow
he spoke all his life, must he not at length hold his peace? Love eternity without end shalt thou reign, Christ be thine End, with Whom thou shalt reign for ever and ever. Amen.
PSALM CXLVII. Lat. . CxlVI
Sermon to the People of Carthage.
We listened attentively, while this present Psalm was being chanted yet not all who heard, also understood. How much more attentively then should now be listened
to, as hope and desire, with the help of the prayers
of all who hear me, whatever in perhaps obscure, may,
by God's grace, be revealed that your hearing may be profitable; and that the hearer may not return empty, who when present listened with attention. Wherewith doth begin? It said to us, Praise the Lord. This said to^er. all nations, not to us alone. And these words, sounded forth through separate places by the Readers, each Church heareth separately but the one same Voice of God proclaim-
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358 We should praise God for His own sake,
Psalm eth unto all, that we praise Him. And as though we -----'- asked wherefore we ought to praise the Lord, behold what reason he hath brought forward : Praise the Lord, he saith, for a Psalm is good. Is this all the reward of them that praise? Let us praise the Lord. Wherefore? Because a Psalm is good. I would wish, saith one, to praise the Lord, if only He give me somewhat for my praise. For who praiseth
for nothing even a man ? Those who praise a man then look for some reward : ought he who praises God, to look for or seek or hope for no reward ? The weak is praised, and somewhat is hoped for from him : the Almighty is praised, and is there no reward ? Or do I perhaps desire that which He cannot give? What doth man desire, which is not in the hand of God ? When thou hast praised a man, thou mayest perhaps desire that which he cannot supply ; God thou mayest praise in safety; for none can say that He
cannot supply ought that thou canst long for. Having then set before us the hope of some reward, we ought to praise God, not however as though He would give what soever we desire. For He is our Father; and whatever evil His sons desire, He giveth not. Let us praise and hope and long, not for this or that, but for what He, Whom we praise, judgeth meet to be given. For He knoweth what it is expedient should be given us; let us observe what it is
Rom. 8, good for us to receive. The Apostle saith, We know not what to pray for as we ought. And this very same Apostle Paul hoped that it would be good for him that the thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet him, should be taken from Ihim, as he himself confesseth, and
This then he saith, Praise the Lord, for it is good to praise the Lord. Let us not thus pass over the praise of the Lord. It is spoken, and hath passed : it is done, and we are silent :
the thrice that it besought Lord
2Cor. 12, saith, for this cause
might be taken from me: and He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee ; for My strength is made perfect in weakness. He desired a certain thing; it was not granted him as was his wish, but it might be granted as was for his health. Here then what is set before us? Praise, saith he, the Lord. Wherefore should we praise the Lord ? Because a Psalm is good. The Psalm is praise of God.
and always ; by our lives as well as our tongues. 359
we have praised, and then rested ; we have sung, and then vr*. rested. We go forth to some business which awaits us, --' -- and when other employments have found us, shall the praise
of God cease in us ? Not so : thy tongue praiseth but for a
while, let thy life ever praise. Thus then a Psalm is good. 2. For a Psalm is a song, not any kind of song, but a song to a psaltery. A psaltery is a kind of instrument of
music, like the lyre and the harp, and suchJtinds of instru ments, which were invented for music. He therefore who singeth Psalms, not only singeth with his voice, but with a certain instrument besides, which is called a psaltery, he accompanieth his voice with his hands. Wilt thou then sing a Psalm ? Let not thy voice alone sound the praises of God ; but let thy works also be in harmony with thy voice. When then thou singest with thy voice, sometimes thou wilt be silent ; sing with thy life in such wise, that thou be never silent. Thou art engaged in business, and meditatest some fraud : thou hast become silent from the praises of God ; and, what is worse, not only hast become silent from His praise, but hast also gone on to blasphemy. For when by thy good work God is praised, thou art praising God
by thy work : when by thy evil work God is blasphemed, thou art blaspheming God by thy work. To please then the ear, sing with thy voice ; but with thy heart be not silent, with thy life be not still. Thou devisest no fraud in thy heart: thou singest a Psalm to God. When thou ealest and drinkest, sing a Psalm: not by intermingling sweet sounds suited to the ear, but by eating and drinking moderately, frugally, temperately : for thus saith the Apostle,
whether ye eat or drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the iCor. 1o, glory of God. If then thou doest right in eating and31, drinking, if thou takest food to refresh thy body and reinvigorate thy limbs, giving thanks to Him Who gave to
thee, mortal and frail as thou art, these comforting supplies, then both thy meat and thy drink praise God : but if by immoderate voracity thou exceedest the due bounds of nature, and gluttest thyself in excess of wine, however great praises
of God thy tongue sound, yet tby life blasphemeth Him. After food and drink thou liest down to sleep : in thy bed neither commit any pollution, nor go beyond the licence
3<,0 A good life the truest praise of God.
Psalm given by the law of God: let thy marriage bed be kept chaste with thy wife: and if thou desire to beget children, yet let there not be unbridled sensuality of lust: in thy bed
l Pet. 3, give honour to thy wife, for ye are both members of Christ,
''
both made by Him, both renewed by His Blood : so doing thou praisest God, nor will thy praise be altogether silent. What, when sleep has come over thee ? Let not an evil con science rouse thee from rest : so doth the innocence of thy
sleep praise God. If then thou praisest, sing not only with
thy voice, but take to thee also the psaltery of good works, for a Psalm is good. Thou praisest in thy employment,
thou praisest in thy eating and drinking, thou praisest while resting in thy bed, thou praisest in thy sleep : when dost thou not praise ? We shall be perfect in praising God, when we come to that city, when we are made equal to the Angels of God, when no bodily craving in any part assails us, when no hunger or thirst interrupts us, no heat wearies, no cold freezes, no fever pulls down, no death endeth. For that most perfect praise let us practise ourselves, by praising here in good works.
3. Wherefore, when he had said, Praise the Lord, for a Psalm is good, he says, letpraises be pleasant to our God.
How will praise be pleasant to our God? If He be praised by our good lives. Hear that then praise will be pleasant to
Ecclus. Him. In another place it is said, Praise is not seemly in
the mouth of a sinner. If then in the mouth of a sinner praise is not seemly, neither is it pleasant, for that only is pleasant which is seemly. Wilt thou then that thy praise be pleasant to thy God? Be not out of tune with thy good song by ill behaviour. Let praise be pleasant to our God.
What did he mean? Ye who praise, live aright: He regardeth more how ye live, than how ye speak. Surely thou desirest to have peace with Him Whom thou praisest: how dost thou seek peace with Him, when thou art at discord with thyself? How, thou wilt say, am I at discord with myself? One thing thy tongue soundeth,
another thy life discloseth. Let praise be pleasant to our God. For praise may be pleasant to a man, when he heareth one praising with neat and clever sentiments, and with a sweet voice ; but let praise be pleasant to our God,
l5' 9'
God's love shewn in Christ's Death. 361
Whose ears are open not to the mouth, but to the heart; not Ver. to the tongue, but to the life of him that praiseth. ------
4. Who is our God, that praise should be pleasant to Him ? He maketh Himself sweet to us, He commendeth Himself to us ; thanks to His condescension. For He deigneth to com mend Himself to us, not as though we could supply ought to Him, but rather may receive much from Him. How then doth
God commend Himself to us? But God commendeth His Rom
love to us. How doth He commend it? Hearken:
Apostle himself speak, that we may compare him with the Psalm: God commendeth, saith he, His love to us. How doth He commend it ? In that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. What then hath He in store for them that praise, Who thus commendeth Himself to them that are sinners? Since then the Apostle hath said, that God so commended His love to us, as that Christ died for the ungodly, not that they should remain ungodly, but that by the death of the Righteous they should be healed of their unrighteousness ; what hearest thou here after he had said, let praise be pleasant to our God? Let us see whether
it be the commendation which the Apostle speaketh of, that Christ died for the sinners and ungodly : the Lord Who ver. s buildeth up Jerusalem, and gathereth the dispersions of Israel. Behold the Lord Who buildeth up Jerusalem, and gathereth the dispersions of her people. For the people
of Jerusalem are the people of Israel. It is Jerusalem eternal
in the heavens, whereof the Angels are citizens also. What then is Israel there ? If thou considerest the man, the grandson of Abraham, who was called also Jacob, how
If we examine the meaning of the name, since Jacob too had his name changed,
understand we the Angels to be Israel ?
and was called Israel, greater then is the name Israel : and would that we too may follow, and be Israel. For what is the meaning of Israel ? ' Seeing God. ' All the citizens then of that city, through seeing God, rejoice in that great and wide and heavenly city; they gaze upon God Himself. But we are wanderers from that city, driven out by sin, that we should not remain there; weighed down by mortality, that we should not return thither. God looked back on our wandering, and He Who buildeth up Jerusalem, re-
let the8.
362 Through that Death God will restore us,
Psalm stored the part that had fallen. How restored He the part f? i^5: tl1at bad fallen ? Gathering the dispersions of Israel. A certain part fell, and became wanderers ; this wandering part God in His mercy saw, and sought them that sought Him not How sought He them ? Whom sent He to our captive estate ? He sent a Redeemer, according to what the Apostle saith, God commendeth His love to us, in that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He sent then to our captive estate His Son as a Redeemer. Take with Thee, said He, a bag, bear therein the price of the captives. For He put on Him our mortal flesh, and therein was the Blood, by the shedding of Which we were to be redeemed. With that Blood He gathered the dispersions of Israel. And if He gathered them that before were dispersed, how must we strive that they be gathered who now are dispersed? If the dispersed have been gathered, that in the Hand of the Builder they might be fashioned into the building, how should they be gathered who through disquiet have fallen from the Hand of the Builder? The Lord Who buildeth up Jerusalem. Behold Whom we praise; behold to Whom we owe praise all our life long. The Lord Who buildeth
up Jerusalem, and gathereth the dispersions of Israel.
5. How doth He gather? What doeth He in order to rer. 3. gather? Who healeth the bruised in heart. Behold the
way in which the dispersions of Israel are gathered, by the healing of the bruised in heart. They who are not of a bruised heart, are not healed. What is to bruise the heart? Let it be known, brethren, let it be done, that ye may be able to be healed. For it is told in many other places of Scripture ; especially in the famous place, the Psalmist,
I forifI would have given it. He said
Ps. 6\, singing as it were with our voice, said, Thou hadst
16' 1 ' desired a sacrifice, verily
to God, if Thou hadst desired a sacrifice, verily
have given it, but Thou wilt not be delighted with burnt- offerings. What then ? shall we remain without offering any sacrifice ? Hear what He desireth that thou shouldest offer. He goeth on and saith, the sacrifice of God is a
troubled spirit, a bruised and contrite heart God will not despise. He healeth then the bruised in heart, for He draweth nigh unto them to heal them ; as is said in another
would
if we ' bruise our heart' by confession. 3G3
place, the Lord is nigh unto them who have bruised their vBh.
heart. Who are thev that have bruised their heart? The ------ Ps. 34 '
humble. Who are they that have not bruised their heart? i8. The proud. The bruised heart shall be healed, the puffed
up heart shall be dashed down. For for this purpose perhaps is it dashed down, that being bruised it may be healed. Let not our heart then, brethren, desire to be set upright, before it be upright. It is ill for that to be uplifted
which is not first corrected.
6. Who healeth the bruised in heart, and bindeth up their
bruises. He healeth, saith he, the bruised in heart: He healeth then the humbled in heart, He healeth them who confess, He healeth them that punish themselves, who exercise a strict judgment upon themselves, that they may
be able to feel His mercy. Such He healeth ; but their perfect healing will take place when this mortal life is passed, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, i Cor.
and this mortal shall have put on immortality : when there 15' 5S" shall be nothing to tempt us through the sinfulness of the
flesh : not only nothing for us to consent to, but not even
any thing to be suggested by the flesh. For now, my brethren, how many unlawful delights assail the mind ?
And although we consent to them not, so that our members are servants to righteousness, not to iniquity, yet even to
be pleased by such things, even though thou consent not, is as yet short of perfect soundness. Thou shalt then be healed, thou, man of a bruised heart, shalt be healed. Blush not, bruise thy heart; such are they whom God healeth. But
thou wilt say, What must I do now? For / dI
law of God according to the inner man ; but
law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and leading me captive under the law of sin. What must thou do now? Bruise thy heartI, confess; go on, say what
followeth, 0 wretched man that
am, who shall deliver me from the bIody of this death ? For to say this, O wretched man that am, is at once to bruise the heart. Let him hope for happiness, who Iconfesseth unhappiness. Say am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? that it may be said to thee in
then, O wretched man that
answer, The grace of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
elight in the Rom. 7,
see another
22-- 25,
364 Christ our Physician.
Psalm But how shall the grace of God, whereof we have now ? xlTn" received the earnest, set us free ? Hear the Apostle again ; the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because Rom. 8, of righteousness. If then the Spirit of Him Who raised up 10. n. jesm Christ from the dead dwell in you, He Who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit, Which duelleth in you. This then is the earnest which our spirit hath received, that we begin through faith to serve God, and through faith to be
Rom. l, called righteous. For the just liveth by faith. But whatever
in you still fighteth and resisteth, is of the mortality of the flesh, and this shall be healed. For He shall quicken, saith the Apostle, your mortal bodies by His Spirit, Which dwelleth in you. For this He gave the earnest, that He will fulfil what He hath promised. What then now in this life, when as yet we are confessors, not yet possessors, what in this life is to be done ? How shall it be healed ? He healeth the bruised in heart: but perfect soundness will not be till the time we mentioned. What then now ? He bindeth up their bruises. He, Who healeth the bruised in heart, whose perfect soundness will be in the resurrection of the
just, now bindeth up their bruises.
7. What are the means whereby He bindeth up their
bruises? Just as physicians bind up fractures. For some times, (observe this, beloved; it is well known to those who have observed or have heard from physicians,) sometimes when limbs are sound, but are crooked and distoited, physicians break them in order to set them
and make new wound, because the soundness which was distorted was amiss. Just so then Scripture Hon. H. saith, The ways of the Lord are straight, but the crooked- hearted shall stumble in them. Who the crooked- hearled? The twisted-hearted: he that hath a twisted heart. He thinketh that all things which God hath said are twisted;
he thinketh that all which God hath done crooked and all the judgments of God displease him, especially those whereby he himself chastised and he sitteth, and argueth how evilly God doeth, because He doeth not according to his will. It not enough for the distorted heart not to set itself straight after God's pattern wisheth also to
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Sacraments means of healing our ' bruises. ' 365
distort God after its own pattern. What then saith God Ver. from above ? Thou art twisted, I am straight. If thou ---- wast straight, thou wouldest see that I am straight. Just
as if thou wast to lay on an even floor a crooked piece of timber, it would not rest in its place, it would totter in every direction, it would be swayed in every direction, which yet
is not caused by the unevenness of the ground, but by the crookedness of the timber; so Scripture saith, How goodV>>-Ti,\. is God to Israel, to the right of heart. Well then, how
is the crooked heart straightened ? It is both crooked and
hard; being then both crooked and hard, let it be broken,
let it be bruised, that it may be set straight. Thou canst
not set thine own heart straight : do thou break let Him
set straight. How dost thou break it? how dost thou bruise By confessing and punishing thy sins. What
else doth beating the breast mean Unless perhaps we
think that our bones have sinned, when we beat our breasts.
Nay, we mean that we bruise our heart, that may be set
straight by God.
8. He healeth then them that are bruised in heart, that
have a bruised heart: and soundness of heart will then be perfected, when the restoration of the body also which promised shall be fulfilled. Now in the mean while, what doeth the physician He bindeth up thy bruises, that thou mayest arrive at most complete soundness, until that which has been broken and bound up may be firmly knit. What are these means whereby He bindeth? The sacraments of this present life. The means whereby He bindeth up our
bruises to heal them, are the sacraments of this present life, whereby in the mean time we obtain our comfort and all the words we speak to you, words which sound and pass away, all that done in the Church in this present time, are the means whereby He bindeth up our bruises. For just as, when the limb has become perfectly sound, the physician taketh off the bandage so in our own city Jerusalem, when we shall have been made equal to the Angels, think ye that
we shall receive there, what we have received here Will be needful then that the Gospel be read to us, that our faith may abide or that hands be laid upon us by any
Bishop All these are means of binding up fractures
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Psalm when we have attained perfect soundness, they will be taken CxI"vn- 0ff ? but we should never attain they were not bound
He healeth then the bruised in heart, and bindeth up their bruises.
g. Who telleth the number of the stars, and calleth them all by their names. What great matter for God to tell the number of the stars! Men even have endeavoured to do this whether they have been able to achieve it, their concern they would not however attempt did they not think that they should achieve it. Let us leave alone what they can do, and how far they have attained; for God think no great matter to count all the stars. Or doth He perhaps go over the number, lest He should forget Is any great thing for God to number the stars, by Whom
ver. 4.
up.
Mat. 10, the very hairs of your head are numbered It plain, my brethren, that God willeth that we should understand some what by what He saith, Who telleth the number of the stars, and calleth them all their names. The stars are certain lights in the Church comforting our night, all of whom the
Phil. Apostle saith, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.
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In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, saith he, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding the Word of life. These stars God counteth all who shall
reign with Him, all who are to be gathered into the Body of His only-begotten Son, He hath counted, and still counteth them. Whoso unworthy, not even counted. Many too have believed, or rather may, with kind of shadowy appearance of faith, have attached themselves to His people yet He knoweth what He counteth, what He winnoweth away. For so great the height of the Gospel, that hath
Ps. 40,6. come to pass as was said, have declared, and have spoken they are multiplied above number: there are then among the people certain supernumeraries, so to speak. What do
mean by supernumeraries More than will be there. Within these walls are more than will be in the kingdom of God, in the heavenly Jerusalem; these are above the number. Let each one of you consider whether he shineth in darkness, whether he refuseth to be led astray by the dark iniquity of the world he be not led astray, nor conquered, he will be, as were, star, which God already nunibereth.
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Not gifts, but charity, wins God's favour. 307
10. And calling them all by their names, he saith. Herein Ver. is our whole reward. We have certain names with God; that ,----- God may know our names, this we ought to wish, for this
to act, for this to busy ourselves, as far as we are able ; not
to rejoice in other things, not even in certain
gifts.
