Concerning whom it is fitly said; And were rolled down for my miseries; that is to say, because in the first
instance
to their own miseries.
St Gregory - Moralia - Job
e.
we are styled ‘the offspring of God,’ not as being brought forth in His Nature, but as being by His Spirit both created by His Will and made anew by His adoption.
So much the more then is each one lifted up to this nobility, in proportion as he is renewed in the image he has received to the likeness of That Being in a copy.
42. But contrariwise they are ‘fools and base men,’ who while, in following themselves, they flee from the wisdom Above, are lulled to sleep in their ignorance as in the vileness of an abject descent. For in proportion as they do not understand that for which they were made, in the same measure they lose the relationship of high birth vouchsafed then in the Likeness. So they are ‘fools and base men,’ whom the slavery of the soul withholds from the fellowship of the Eternal Inheritance. As it is written, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. [John 8, 34] And it is spoken by the voice of the great preacher, For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. [1 Cor. 3, 19] They then, who whilst they were wise in earthly things were held back from the interior nobility, were ‘fools and base men’ at once. Whose actions while very many imitate they are rendered ‘the children of fools and base men,’ and whilst they follow these in notions and practices, they are at once ‘fools,’ because they do not understand true wisdom, and ‘base men,’ because they are not renewed by any freedom of the Spirit. But these persons though they may practise the arts of the wicked, yet very often in this life occupy the places of the just, and they account themselves the children of those, whose offices from lust of honour they outwardly discharge. Which persons holy correction recals to the knowledge of themselves, i. e. that being settled in bad desires, they should mind whose children they are. For they are not the children of those whose places they occupy, but whose deeds they execute: Therefore let it be rightly said, The children of fools and base men. Where it is fitly subjoined;
And on earth utterly not appearing.
[xvii]
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43. For as there are very many persons upon earth, and they are hidden from the knowledge of their fellow creatures by the lowness of their vile condition, as by a kind of overlaying of a cloak, so there are some in the Church, who whilst they submit themselves to the degradation of wicked deeds, are not known to the Divine sight. To which persons it is one day to be said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. So, ‘to be on earth and appear’ is in a right faith through the excellency of practice to display the nobility of the soul. ‘To be on earth and utterly not appear,’ is to be set fast in the Church indeed by faith, but to show forth nothing worthy of faith in practice. These then being within the pale of Holy Church, to the eyes of the Divine Being both ‘appear’ in respect of judgment, and yet do ‘not appear’ in respect of the deserts of a good life, because those things, which by confessing they hold, by living they do not shew forth. Concerning whom Paul saith, They profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him. [Tit. 1, 16] These persons in Holy Church bear down rather than venerate the faith which they protest that they hold, whereas by her name they covet rather to secure their own profits than her’s. But the Elect, whilst they take care to preserve the deservingness of faith by right deeds, are brought near to the knowledge of their
Maker even amidst the throngs of lost sinners. Which is well denoted in the Gospel by the woman suffering from the bloody flux. Concerning whom the Lord says, Who touched Me? Peter answered reasoning, Master, the multitude throng Thee and press Thee, and sayest Thou, Who touched Me? [Luke 8, 45. 46. ] But he obtained to hear the causes in true reason, when the Lord said to him, Somebody hath touched Me, for I likewise perceive that virtue is gone out of Me. See how the throng ‘pressed’ the Lord, but she only ‘touched’ Him, who came to Him in humility, because surely even many lost sinners in Holy Church by learning ‘press’ the truth, which same they neglect to ‘touch’ by living well. They ‘press’ and are far off, because by professions they follow Divine knowledge, by habits flee it. They ‘press,’ I say, and are far off, because by acting they contradict that faith, which by speaking they assert. As then we are instructed by this testimony, that by touching some do not ‘touch’ the Lord, so some are not ‘seen’ by the Lord, even when they are seen; because to His secret regards, and for the punishment of condemnation, they do appear, but for the claim of Election they do not appear. Therefore let it be rightly said, And on earth utterly not appearing, because though the Church held them to the extent of seeming, yet those being within her the Creator did not see, in that He did not know them. Who in the season of peace for this reason maintain the faith to the extent of words, because they see that that faith flourishes generally. But when a sudden storm of adversity rises up against that Church, they are directly parted from her by a public denial; and whatever they before held as if venerating her, they afterwards fight against the same as deriding her. Whence it is fitly added;
Ver. 9. And now am I their song, yea, I am become their byword.
[xviii]
44. By which same words that time of Holy Church is set forth, when she is openly derided by the lost; when the wicked gaining ground, faith shall be for a reproach, and truth shall be for a ground of accusation. For so much the more contemptible shall each individual be in proportion as he may be more righteous; and the worse object of abhorrence, the more worthy object of praise. Therefore the Holy Church of the Elect in the time of calamity ‘becomes a proverb’ to the wicked, because when they see the good die by torments, they take their likeness of cursing from those. For in proportion as they see a passing death, but do not see a lasting life, so much the more in scoffing do they flee present ills, in proportion as by the understanding interiorly they do not reach to lasting
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goods. But the particulars that are subjoined because they are not involved in obscurer sorts of sentences, we must run through in brief, that we may be able to come the sooner to those parts, wherein we have to labour. It goes on;
Ver. 10. They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.
[xix]
45. All the wicked ‘fly far’ from Holy Church, not by the paces of footsteps, but by the characters of practices; they fly far not in place, but desert, whereas, pride gaining ground, they contemn her with open upbraiding. For ‘to spit in his face’ is not only to detract from the good in absence, but to give the lie to each one of the just even in presence. And these then whilst the wicked by openly deriding set at nought, they as it were let out in insults upon them loose words, like streams of spittle running down. But Holy Church knows how to gain ground in sufferings, and in the midst of reproaches to maintain an honourable life; she is taught neither to be cast down by adversities, nor to glory in prosperity. She is instructed, in meeting prosperity, to lay low the mind in downcasting; she is taught, in meeting adversity, to lift up the soul to the hope of the height above. She knows how to ascribe her good things to the mercifulness of the Redeemer, she knows how to ascribe her evil things to the justice of the Judge, that both what is good she has by His bestowing, and what is bad she suffers by His permitting. And hence He immediately adds touching the Lord, saying,
Ver. 11. Because He hath opened His quiver and afflicted me. [xx]
46. What is denoted by ‘the quiver’ of God, but secret counsel? Now the Lord casts the arrow from the quiver, when from His secret counsel He sends forth an open sentence. For that any man is scourged, we know, but for what cause the scourge comes, we know not. But when after the scourge amendment of life follows, the actual power of counsel is itself disclosed as well. So the quiver shut is hidden counsel. But we are chastened by an open quiver, when by that which follows after the scourge, we see with what counsel we are stricken. When the Lord beholds sins, and yet does not move the hand to vengeance, He as it were holds the quiver shut, but by striking He shews, how greatly that displeased Him in us, which He bore long beholding it. Therefore let the Holy Church of the Elect being pressed by tribulations say, For He hath opened His quiver, and afflicted me. Which same on meeting with the insolent voices of her adversaries, when she sees that her preaching is not received, giving over the hardness of some, restrains the words of her preaching. For reflecting that her persecutors are rendered worse at the voice of her exhortation, she rather prefers to hold her peace. And when she sees them persons unworthy to hear, she binds up her preaching with silence drawn over. Whence he fitly adds;
And put a bridle into my mouth.
[xxi]
47. They were acquainted with ‘a bridle put upon themselves’ before certain persons, who said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. [Acts 13, 46] Holy men see ‘the bridle’ of silence put upon themselves with the hard hearts of lost sinners, when they say by the Prophet, How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? [Ps. 137, 4] Paul
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also charged ‘a bridle to be put,’ who enjoined the disciple, saying, A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject, knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth condemned of himself. [Tit. 3, 10] For holy teachers very often by lofty ken survey the hearts of those that oppose them, and when they see those hearts forsaken by God, afflicted and groaning they hold their peace. Doth not Solomon sometimes ‘put a bridle’ upon the teachers, who saith, Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee, [Prov. 9, 8] but if we hold our peace from rebuking for this reason, because we are afraid for the scorner’s hates to rise up against us, we no longer seek God’s profits, but our own. Wherein it requires to be known that sometimes when bad men are reproved they become worse. Them therefore we spare, and not ourselves, if from the love of those we cease from the rebuking of them. Whence it is needful that we sometimes endure keeping to ourselves what they are, in order that they may learn in us by good living [al. ‘by seeing’] what they are not. Therefore because Holy Church, who ever gives forth her words in a spirit of charity, sometimes also withholds them on the principle of charity, let her say, He hath put a bridle in my mouth. As though he confessed openly, saying, ‘Because in some I did not see the advancement of preaching, from those I refrained assault, that my life at all events by patience they might be taught, whereas my words they would not by the preaching proffered consent to receive. ’ But very often this
grieves us most in tribulations, that we meet with them from those, in whom we trusted with the love of kin. And hence it is added;
Ver. 12. At the right hand of the East my calamities on the spot arose.
[xxii]
48. For ‘calamities’ would ‘rise to the left,’ if at the hand of any persons set without the pale of Religion, and openly denying Christ, she met with the adverse dealings of persecution. But when she undergoes from persons seemingly believers the trial of tormentings, it is as if calamities arose to her at the right hand, because they who are enlisted under Christ’s name, assail Christ’s name in her. For by the very usage of speech we speak of having as ‘on the right’ what we account as great, and as on the left that which we look down upon, which Zechariah openly teaches, saying, And he shewed me Jesus the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. [Zech. 3, 1. 2. ] Who that he might the more plainly shew this that he set before, added going on; And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Jesus was clothed with filthy garments. ‘Jesus was [al. ‘is spoken of as’] clothed with filthy garments,’ because though He was a stranger to all sin, yet He came into the likeness of the flesh of sin. And to Him on His coming Satan stood on His right hand. For the Lord appeared to hold the Jewish People as great, and the Gentiles as nought. But after that He appeared Incarnate, the Gentile world, which had been held as ‘on the left’ believed, whilst the Jewish People swerved aside to unbelief. Thus ‘Satan stood on the right hand to Him’; because he carried off from Him that People, which had been for a long while beloved. But because that same Jewish people, being now lost, shall in the end one day believe, as the Prophet testifies, who says, The remnant shall be saved; [Is. 10, 21] the Lord removes Satan from His right hand, saying, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan. And betokening the deliverance of that same people, he adds, because He hath chosen Jerusalem. Which same people because under the guidance of unbelief it let itself run down to the burnings of hell, but whilst it is brought back to faith, is set free from that same burning of everlasting fire, has it directly added there concerning it, Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
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49. So then as there for ‘the right hand’ the Jewish people is denoted, so in this place by the term of ‘the right hand,’ the faithful people of Holy Church is denoted. And hence the Judge that is to come ‘shall set the goats on His left Hand, and the sheep on His right Hand. ’ But when these very persons too fret Holy Church in the time of adversity, who seemed to be of the faithful, surely ‘calamities arise to her on the right hand. ’ Now rightly is this same called ‘the right hand of the East’; since it is written of the Head itself of the same, The East is His Name. [Zech. 6, 12 Vul. ] For seeing that the light springs from the East, He is rightly called ‘the East,’ by the light of whose righteousness the night of our unrighteousness is enlightened. So ‘calamities arise to the right hand of the East’; because these likewise leap forth to persecution, who were supposed to be Elect Members of our Redeemer. Which same calamities he rightly declares ‘arise on the spot,’ because whereas they who persecute were not persons without her pale, evils are brought about by them suddenly and on the spot. But if ‘the right hand’ is a designation of those who are truly believers, ‘calamities arise to the right of the East,’ because on the crisis of persecution breaking forth, the righteous undergo the cruel assaults of the wicked. It follows;
Ver. 12. They overturned my feet, and oppressed with their footpaths as with waves. [xxiii]
50. What are denoted by the Church’s ‘feet,’ but her outermost members? which while they lend themselves to earthly deeds, are able to be the sooner deceived by adversaries in proportion as they do not understand things on high. Therefore these ‘feet adversaries overturn,’ that is to say, when they draw her outermost members to the error of their doctrine. The ‘feet overturned’ cannot keep the way, in that all the weak being either persuaded by the promises of their persecutors, or affrighted by their threats, or broken by their tortures, swerve from the right path. Now ‘the paths’ of adversaries are rightly likened to waves, when it is said, and they oppressed with their footpaths as with waves; in this way, because the life of the evil-minded, mischievous with wayward restlessness, comes down as a tempest for the overwhelming the ship of the heart, so to say. Concerning which same tempest it is said by Solomon, As a tempest passing, the wicked shall not be. [Prov. 10, 25] And when the weak man sees the froward flourishing, that man the wave of wretched imitation plunges into the sea of frowardness. It follows;
Ver. 13. They did away with my paths, they plotted against me, and prevailed, and there was not any to bring help.
[xxiv]
51. Let blessed Job tell these things of evil spirits, i. e. of secret enemies. Let the Church Universal speak them of bad men persecuting, i. e. of open adversaries. For these ‘do away with her paths,’ when in the souls of certain weak ones they interrupt the ways of truth by crafty persuading. These in ‘plotting prevail, when those, whom they cannot openly force to evil, they turn aside by pretending what is good, but that is very wonderful, which he subjoins, And there was not any one to bring help, when the Psalmist exclaims touching the help of God; A helper in seasons, in tribulation. And, Let them hope in Thee, who know Thy Name, for Thou, Lord, wilt not forsake those that seek Thee. [Ps. 9, 9. 10. ] And when it is written again, Did ever any trust in the Lord and was confounded? or did any abide in His commandments, and was forsaken? Or whom did He ever despise, that called upon Him? [Ecclus. 2, 10] On what principle, then, is it now said; And there was not any to bring help, excepting that those, whom Almighty God loves for all eternity, He
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sometimes leaves for a time? Whence it is written; For a small moment have I forsaken thee, and with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment, and with everlasting kindness will I have mercy upon thee. [Is. 54, 7. 8. ] Hence too the Psalmist besought, saying, O forsake me not utterly. [Ps. 119, 8] He then knew that he might be left for a little while with advantage, who prayed that he might not be ‘utterly forsaken. ’ For the Lord by coming helps His Saints, by ‘leaving’ puts them to the proof, by gifts he establishes, by tribulations he tries. Whence too it is rightly said by one of Wisdom, For at the first she will walk with him by crooked ways, and bring fear and dread upon him, and torment him with her discipline until she try him in his thoughts. [Ecclus. 4, 17] Since the soul of the righteous grace calls, trial puts to the question. And Almighty God allows the adversaries of His Elect to grow to a height in time, that the life of the good may be purified by the pitilessness of the bad.
52. Since the Lord would never suffer them to be hostile to the good except he also saw what great good they did. For whilst the unrighteous deal cruelly, the righteous are purified, and the life of the wicked is enlisted to the advantage of the innocent, in that this same both by bearing down it abases, and by abasing ever fashions to better. Hence too it is rightly said by Solomon; the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart. [Prov. 11, 29] And yet we often see the wise subordinate, and fools occupying the stronghold of dominion, wise men paying obedience in servitude, and fools lording it with tyrannical exultation. How then by the marking out of God’s sentence is ‘the fool servant to the wise,’ when generally speaking he keeps him down by the right of temporal dominion? But it is to be borne in mind, that whilst against the life of the wise man the fool being uppermost enforces the terribleness of power, whilst he wearies him out with labours, rends him with insults, such a person surely by burning he purges from all the rust of bad habits. Thus the fool even in ruling is ‘servant to the wise,’ in that by bearing him down he advances him to a better state. In this way it is sometimes the case that over masters under age servants are set for the tutorage of discipline, they frighten, they bear hard upon them, strike them, yet do not at all cease to be servants, because they are appointed to this very end, that to their masters whilst progressing they should render service even by striking them. Therefore because the ills of the children of perdition purify whilst they torment the good, even the power of the wicked is enlisted to the welfare of the just. But very often the just when seized by tribulation account the hand of Him Who helps them slow, when the barbarity of those persecuting them wrings them somewhat too long. And the remedies of the deliverer indeed are quickened, but that which is done quickly by the deliverer, appears slow to him that is in grief. And when there is sought help to present itself to the supplicating voice, if it does not follow the voice directly, it is reckoned that it is wanting. Whence it is said now; And there was not any one to bring help. In which same utterance we have set forth the actual force of the suffering, because help from Above, though it is there as to the appointed providence of the protector, yet is thought to be wanting as to the quickened wishes of the sufferer. It follows;
Ver. 14. As by a wall being broken, and a door being opened, they rushed in upon me, and were rolled down to my miseries.
[xxv]
53. What is in this place designated by the title of ‘a wall,’ but the Redeemer of the human race, concerning whom it is said by the Prophet for the edifying of Holy Church, There shall be set in her a wall and a bulwark? [Is. 26, 1] For that same Redeemer is ‘a wall’ to us, Who forbids the
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rushing of evil spirits to reach to our hearts. Who also set ‘a bulwark’ as well to our faith, because before that He shewed Himself in flesh, He sent prophets as preachers of His mystery. Since they are rightly entitled by the name of ‘a bulwark,’ [‘antemurale’] because, whereas they preached the Lord coming after, they stood as it were ‘before the wall. ’ But it is as if ‘the wall were broken,’ when by the promptings of the wicked, faith, which is in our Redeemer, is done away in the hearts of some. And when power is awarded to the perverse in this life, what else but ‘a door’ of error is opened? And so it is as if the wall being burst asunder and the door opened the wicked rush in upon the good, when power being received temporally, the corrupt set themselves to pull down the very defences of faith too in the hearts of some.
Concerning whom it is fitly said; And were rolled down for my miseries; that is to say, because in the first instance to their own miseries. For except that by living corruptly they fell before to their own ‘miseries,’ they would never afterwards persuade others also to those miseries. But after their own the children of perdition are ‘rolled down to our miseries’ also, when to those evil things wherein they are themselves already involved, they draw persons as well who are linked to ourselves.
54. It is possible too that by the title of a wall may be understood the defence of discipline, as Solomon bears witness, who says, I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding. And lo, it was all grown over with nettles, and thorns had covered the face thereof; and the stone wall thereof was broken down. [Prov. 24, 30. 31. ] For to ‘pass by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding,’ is to look into the life of any careless liver, and to take a view of his deeds. Which same ‘nettles or thorns fill up,’ because in the hearts of the careless, itching earthly desires and the prickles of bad habits sprout forth, since it is written, In desires is every one that is idle. ‘The stone wall was pulled down,’ i. e. the discipline of the Fathers was loosened from his heart. For because ‘the stone wall being pulled down’ he saw that discipline was loosened, he directly added in that place going on; Then I saw and laid it up in my heart; and by example I learned instruction. And therefore as it were the wall being burst the enemy enters in, when by the crafty persuading either of evil spirits, or of bad men, the defences of discipline in the heart are scattered away. But when the vigour of that same discipline is relaxed in the heart of the lost, in their eyes all the deeds of the good are had in contempt, and they account it nothing, whatever they see relating to virtues in the Elect. And hence it is added;
Ver. 15. I was reduced to nought.
[xxvi]
55. For in the reckoning of the wicked we are ‘brought to nought,’ when those temporal goods, which they themselves love as chief, we do not retain in our bands. Because the promises from Above being disregarded they desire the things of earth, and if ever aught rises up in the mind of those persons in the way of longing after the Eternal world, it is quickly done away by transitory gratification springing up. And hence it is directly subjoined;
As the wind thou didst take away my desire.
Since the faithful People declares that itself suffers that, wherein those whom it loves it grieves should suffer. Thus ‘the wind takes away desire,’ when any transitory object does away the longing after Eternity. And hence it is yet further fitly subjoined; And as a cloud my health hath passed away. Since the cloud towers on high, but the breath of wind drives it into career. Thus, surely, then is it with the temporal good things of the wicked. They appear as it were by loftiness of honour to
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pass their time as on high, but they are daily driven on to the career of life as by a kind of blasts of their mortality. So ‘health passes as a cloud,’ because the glory of the wicked, in the degree that it is lofty, is not fixed. But after the desires and the courses of persons going weakly have been finished, the discourse is made to turn to the voice of the Elect, when it is forthwith introduced, Ver. 16. But now my soul in mine own self is withered, and the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
[xxvii]
56. Since ‘the soul’ of the Elect ‘withers now,’ because it is afterwards made green in that eternal triumphing. ‘Now, the days of affliction take hold upon them,’ because the days of joy follow afterwards. As it is written, To him that feareth God it shall go well at the last. [Ecclus. 1, 13. 19. ] And again it is delivered touching the Church, And she shall laugh in the last day. [Prov. 31, 25] For now is the time of affliction to the good, that one day exulting may follow them apart from tears. Hence it is elsewhere said by those, Thou hast humbled us in the place of affliction. [Ps. 44, 19] Since ‘the place of affliction’ is the present life, so the righteous here below, i. e. ‘in the place of affliction,’ are ‘humbled,’ because in the eternal life, i. e. in the place of delight, they are elevated. But when he said that ‘the soul was withered,’ he rightly put before too, in mine own self; because in our own selves, indeed, our soul is afflicted, but in God refreshed, and it is become far removed from the greenness of joy, in proportion as still being withheld from the light of the Creator, it draws back to itself. But then it attains to the greenness of true joy, when being lifted up by the grace of eternal contemplation it even transcends its very self. Now these particulars which we have run through by allegorical investigating, it is requisite that we hold in all points after the history as well. Which particulars however I now for this reason pass over, because I am not unaware that they are plain to those that read them. Now in the days of final persecution, because there are many that are lost and a small number that are saved, for this reason the holy man, in the time of his suffering, both utters few particulars touching the good, and a great many touching the wicked. And hence he directly turns his words to the person of those who are brought to the ground, and so conveys his own circumstances, that the things he relates may accord with those that fall. Thus it follows;
Ver. 17. In the night season my bone is pierced with pangs, and they that eat me sleep not. [xxviii]
57. If we mark the history by itself, the case appears plain, because the body of the holy man, through the hollows of ulcers, a swarming multitude of worms was wounding. But if we dive into the mystery of the allegory, what are denoted by ‘the bones,’ but the strong ones severally in the body of Holy Church? Who, as it were, by their solidity hold together the members, while they bear with stedfastness the practices of those going weakly. But when the heat of the last tribulation is grown to a head against her, in the night season her bone is pierced with pangs; because sometimes being overcome with torments, even the very persons let themselves run off to faithlessness, who seemed to be keeping fast others to the faith. Therefore she says, In the night season my bone is pierced with pangs. As though she said in plain words, ‘Pressed with the darkness of tribulation, they are so penetrated with affliction, that even the very persons, who had within me the firmness of strength, have now, as it were, a kind of piercing of fear. ’ And it is well said, And they that eat me take no sleep; because the evil spirits, that ‘eat up’ all the carnal out of the Church, know not
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how to rest from tempting in proportion as they are not burthened with any weight of flesh. But the persecutors of Holy Church, because they are very corrupt, would that they were few in number! It goes on;
Ver. 18. In, the multitude of them is my garment consumed, and they have bound me about as with the collar of my coat.
[xxix]
58. If we give heed to the history, what else do we take ‘the garment’ of blessed Job for, but his body? whose ‘garment indeed is consumed’ when the flesh is put to torment. But according to the mystery of allegory, ‘the garment’ of Holy Church is the life of the faithful. For as the whole Church together is ‘the garment’ of Christ so the faithful severally are accounted ‘garments’ of that same Church. For if Holy Church were not Christ’s ‘garment,’ Paul surely would not say, That He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle; [Eph. 5, 27] i. e. neither in respect of sin ‘having spot,’ nor in respect of a double mind ‘having wrinkle,’ because both by righteousness she is clean, And by a single bent stretched. She then that is washed that she should not ‘have spot,’ and stretched that she should not ‘have wrinkle,’ assuredly is a ‘garment. ’ Therefore as the clothing of Christ is the name given to the whole Church in general, so the clothing of the Church are the souls of the several persons which being converted from error, by believing that same Church, encircle her by attaching themselves with faithfulness to her. Concerning which same the Lord saith to that Church by the Prophet, As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely be clothed with them all, as with an ornament. [Is. 49, 18] But when the storm of cruel persecution arises, very many of the faithful are separated from the love thereof, who seemed to have themselves attached to her heartily. So then let her say, In the multitude of them is my garment consumed; because whilst there are many that torment, the greatest number are brought to an end, who were attached to her by the binding tie of love.
59. Now it is well added, And have bound me about as with the collar of my coat. Since ‘the collar of a coat’ encircles the neck of the wearer, but if the neck is tied up, the use of the voice and the puff of life is done for. Holy Church, then, do the children of perdition ‘tie up as with a collar of a coat,’ because they endeavour by their persecutions to put out in her the life of faith, and the voice of preaching. Since this thing her persecutors are in a special manner wont to essay, that before all things they may take away from her the word of preaching. And hence these persons who withstood the first beginnings of the holy faith told the Apostles beaten with rods, saying, Did we not straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine. [Acts 5, 28] So the body of Holy Church they had as it were girded with ‘the collar of a coat,’ who, the preachers being tied up, as it were pressing her neck, wished to shut up the way of the voice in her. But the several Elect are more ready to die in the time of their persecution than to hold their peace. Who whilst they are brought down in death in the body, are accounted despicable and mean by all the foolish and the carnal, because when the lost are unable to see what good things the Elect hold in the spirit, these whom they see brought to an end in the flesh, they account unhappy. And hence it is added;
Ver. 19. I was likened to mire, and became like dust and ashes. [xxx]
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60. Since in the judgment of lost sinners the Holy Church of the Elect is ‘likened to mire,’ because it is trodden under and despised in time; it is ‘compared to dust and ashes,’ because while they do not see her interior good things, they calculate that she has been brought to those bad things alone, which they see brought to view in her in the body. But the faithful people of the Elect, while it sees many fall from itself, wishes, if it might obtain this, to have the times of its adversities reversed. Because the prayer of this people is delayed, its groaning is increased. Hence it is further added; Ver. 20. I will cry unto Thee, but Thou wilt not hear me; I stand, and Thou regardest me not.
[xxxi]
61. Since Holy Church in the time of her persecution ‘stands’ by faith, and ‘cries’ by longings. But she is grieved that she is ‘not regarded’ as it were, when she sees her wishes under tribulations delayed. For by a high counsel, Almighty God, when His Saints are wrung tightly by the persecutions of adversaries, and when they cry with never ceasing entreaties that they may be set free, is wont to put off their voices in entreating Him, that their merits in suffering may be increased, in order that they may be the more heard in answer to merit, the more they are not heard quickly in answer to wishing. Whence it is elsewhere written, O my God, I cry in the day time, but Thou hearest not, and in the night season. [Ps. 22, 2] And the very usefulness itself resulting from the delay of hearing is immediately added, when it is there brought in directly, And not for foolishness to me. Since for redoubling the wisdom of the Saints it is beneficial, that what is prayed for they receive slowly, that by delay desire may increase, and by desire the understanding may be augmented. But when the understanding is stretched to the full, there is opened a more ardent affection thereof towards God. And the affection is made large for obtaining the things of heaven, in proportion as it was long suffering in expecting. Yet in the midst of these things grief prompts the patience of the Saints to utterance, and whilst being delayed they gain ground, they dread lest their powers failing they should being despised be rejected. It goes on;
Ver. 21. Thou art changed to cruel unto me; and in the hardness of Thy hand Thou opposest Thyself against me.
[xxxii]
[LITERAL INTERPRETATION]
62. The old translation is widely at variance with this sense, because what is spoken in this concerning God, is related in that of adversaries and persecutors. Yet because this new translation is said to have transferred every thing from the Hebrew and Arabic more truly, we should believe whatever is delivered in it, and the right way is that into the word of it our interpretation should search with exactness. Accordingly he says, Thou art changed to cruel unto me, and in the hardness of Thy hand Thou opposest Thyself to me. In Holy Scripture when any thing is said of God unworthy, the mind of the reader is affected, as if it were ever the case that any thing that is worthy were spoken of God. Since well nigh every thing that is spoken touching God, is by this alone henceforth unworthy, that it admitted of being spoken. But for Him to Whose praise the conscious faculty, being astounded, is not equal, when may the tongue by speaking suffice? But the Holy Spirit teaching to men that understand this same truth, how unutterable are the things above and the things of God, sometimes uses even those words concerning God, which amongst men are held as a fault, that from these things which seem unworthy of men, and yet are spoken concerning
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God, men should be admonished to know that neither are those things even worthy of God, which whilst they are accounted worthy among men, are thought worthy of God.
63. For God is called ‘jealous,’ as it is written, The Lord, his Name is ‘jealous. ’ [Ex. 34, 14] He is called ‘wroth,’ whence it is written, The Lord was wroth against Israel. [Numb. 32, 13. ] The Lord is called ‘repentant,’ as where it is written, It repenteth Me that I have made man upon the earth. [Gen. 6, 7] And again; It repenteth Me that I have set up Saul to be king over Israel. [1 Sam. 15, 11] He is entitled compassionate, as where it is written, Merciful and pitiful is the Lord, patient and full of compassion. [Ps. 86, 15. ] He is called ‘foreknowing,’ as the Apostle saith concerning Him, For whom He did foreknow, He did also predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. [Rom. 8, 29] Whereas neither ‘jealousy,’ nor ‘wrath,’ nor ‘repentance,’ nor strictly speaking ‘compassionateness,’ nor ‘foreknowledge,’ can be in God. For all these particulars are derived into Him from human qualities, while there is a descending to words expressive of infirmity, that as it were a kind of steps being made for us, and set beside us, by the things which we see close to us, we may one time be enabled to mount up to the high things of Him. For He is said to ‘feel jealous,’ who guards the chastity of his wife with torment of mind. ‘He is said to be ‘wroth,’ who is inflamed with heat of spirit against evil that deserves to be punished. He is said to ‘repent,’ to whom that which he has done is displeasing, and contrarily by changing does some other thing. He is called ‘compassionate,’ who is moved with pity towards his neighbour. Now ‘misericordia’ (‘commiseration’) is so called from ‘miserum cor,’ (‘a miserable heart,’) for this reason, because each individual sees a person wretched, and sympathizing with him, while he is affected with grief of mind, he himself makes his heart miserable, that he may free from misery the man that he is set on. He is said to ‘foreknow,’ who sees each particular event before it comes, and that which is future foresees before it becomes present. How then is God described as being ‘jealous,’ Who in watching over our chastity, is not affected by any torment of mind? How is He ‘wroth,’ Who in taking vengeance on our evil ways is not stirred by any agitation of mind? How is He ‘repentant,’ Who what He has once done is never at all sorry that He has done? How is He ‘commiserating,’ Who has not ever a heart of misery? How is He foreknowing, whereas nothing but what is future can be foreknown? And we know that to God there is nothing future, before the Eyes of Whom things past there are none, things present pass not by, things future come not; seeing that all that to us was and will be is in His sight at hand, and all that is present He is able to know rather than foreknow. And yet He is called ‘jealous,’ He is called ‘wroth,’ He is called ‘repentant,’ He is called ‘commiserating,’ He is called ‘foreknowing,’ that because He watches over the chastity of each individual soul, He should after man’s method be called ‘jealous,’ though He be not touched by torment of mind. And because He smites sins, He is said to be ‘wroth,’ though He be not affected by any agitation of the spirit. And because Himself unchangeable He changes that that He is minded, He is said to ‘repent,’ though it is the thing He changes, not His counsel. And when He succours our misery, He is called ‘commiserating,’ though He succours the miserable, and has not ever a heart of misery. And because the things which to us are future He sees, which same however to the Same Being are always at hand, He is styled ‘foreknowing,’ though He does not in any way foresee the future, which He sees as present. For even whatsoever things are, in His Eternity are not therefore seen because they are, but therefore they are because they are seen. Whilst therefore there is a coming down to the words of our changeableness, by those, as being made a kind of steps, let him, who is able, mount up to the unchangeableness of God, that he may see One shewing jealousy, without jealousy, One wroth without wrath, One repentant without sorrow or repentance, full of commiseration without a miserable heart, foreknowing without foresight. For in Him can neither
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the past nor the future be found, but all things changeable last unchangeably, and things, which in themselves cannot exist together, are all of them at once and together present to Him, and nothing that goes by passes away in Him, because in His Eternal Being, in an incomprehensible manner, all the rolls of ages whilst passing remain, whilst running a race stand still.
64. As then we understand Him ‘jealous’ without jealousy, ‘wroth’ without wrath, so He might by the holy man be also called ‘cruel’ without cruelty. Since he is called ‘cruel,’ who while smiting with severity spares not; that is to say that in this passage ‘cruel’ should be taken for one striking with severity, and not sparing the avenging of sin. Hence also Isaiah, when he saw the day of final Judgment was destined to come not henceforth with pardon but with rigour, says, Behold the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath, and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it. [Is. 13, 9] Therefore the holy man, that he might declare that this same cruelty is more suited to himself than to God, says, Thou art changed to cruel unto me. As though he said in plain terms, ‘Thou, Who hast in Thine own Self nought of cruelty, to me, whom Thou sufferest not to draw breath from persecution, Thou seemest cruel. ’ For so God is not capable of being cruel, just as He is not in the least degree capable of being changed. But because in God there comes not either cruelty or changeableness at any time, whilst He says ‘unto me,’ he shews that he is sensible that God is in Himself neither ‘cruel’ nor ‘changeable. ’ But because as concerns ourselves things prosperous and things adverse shift to and fro, in this that we ourselves are changed, we as it were imagine as concerns ourselves His mind changed. But He the same Being remaining unchangeable in Himself, in the thought of men’s hearts comes to be felt now one way and now another, according to the character of their minds. For the light of the sun too, whereas it is not at all unlike to itself, seems to weak eyes harsh, but to sound eyes gentle; that is to say, by their changing, not by its own. Therefore as we before said, in saying, Thou art changed, he added unto me, that this very ‘cruelty’ and ‘changing’ might be not in the attributes of the Judge, but in the mind of the sufferer. Which he laid open by other words also, saying, And in the hardness of Thine hand Thou opposest Thyself to me. For ‘the Hand’ of the Lord is thought ‘hard,’ when being opposed to our will, that thing which displeases Him in us, it follows hard upon by striking; and He redoubles the strokes, when the soul of the sorrower looks for clemency.
[ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION]
Which words, howsoever, according to the mystery of the allegory, suit well the words of Holy Church speaking in the accents of the weak, who very often reckon themselves to be smitten more than they fancy they deserve, and esteem as cruelty of the Judge the severity of the lancing howsoever most just, seeing too that when the wound of the sick man is cut away by the chirurgeon’s steel, the operator is called cruel, who however by the hardness of the hand that cuts is opposed to the wound, but in concert with the health. It proceeds;
Ver. 22. Thou liftedst me up, and as it were setting me upon the wind, thou dashedst me down strongly.
[xxxiii]
65. Because the glory of the present life is seen as on high, but is not set firm by any stedfastness, one is as if he were ‘lifted up and set upon the wind,’ who rejoices in earthly prosperity, because the breath of fleeting happiness lifts him up only for this end, that it may in a moment prostrate him
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the worse below. For whereas Holy Church is high in honour with all persons, the weak ones in
her, who rejoice in transitory successes, [Some read ‘successibus,’ others ‘successionibus,’ which last may mean ‘advancements occurring in the change of things. ’] whereunto do they seem lifted up but as set upon the wind? Because in the succeeding season of persecution, when the breath of prosperity is gone by, their ‘lifting up’ is brought to the earth in a moment, if instantly they learn by falling, that, whilst lifted up before they were seated upon the wind. Which very words in a peculiar manner accord with the person of the holy man also, not as to the thing that was, but as to the thing that seemed to be. For never had fleeting prosperity ‘lifted up’ his mind, which mind in the midst of such overflowing stores of good things he ever kept down by a wonderful weight of virtue. But according to that which might have externally appeared, he who was little in his own eyes, was exalted in the eyes of others, and as it were ‘placed upon the wind,’ he was ‘dashed down strongly,’ because being buoyed up by outward goods, by the same means, whereby he was accounted to rise, he appeared to have fallen. Which same fall in the interior the holy man did not undergo, because no bad fortune throws down the man, whom no good fortune corrupts. For he who is attached to the truth, is in no degree brought under to vanity, because, whereas he has planted with a firm foot the bent of the thought within, all that is brought to pass in change without, reaches not in the least degree to the citadel of the interior. It goes on;
Ver. 23. I know that Thou wilt deliver me to death, where is the house appointed for all living.
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66. In the preceding part of this work [Book xiii. §.
42. But contrariwise they are ‘fools and base men,’ who while, in following themselves, they flee from the wisdom Above, are lulled to sleep in their ignorance as in the vileness of an abject descent. For in proportion as they do not understand that for which they were made, in the same measure they lose the relationship of high birth vouchsafed then in the Likeness. So they are ‘fools and base men,’ whom the slavery of the soul withholds from the fellowship of the Eternal Inheritance. As it is written, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. [John 8, 34] And it is spoken by the voice of the great preacher, For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. [1 Cor. 3, 19] They then, who whilst they were wise in earthly things were held back from the interior nobility, were ‘fools and base men’ at once. Whose actions while very many imitate they are rendered ‘the children of fools and base men,’ and whilst they follow these in notions and practices, they are at once ‘fools,’ because they do not understand true wisdom, and ‘base men,’ because they are not renewed by any freedom of the Spirit. But these persons though they may practise the arts of the wicked, yet very often in this life occupy the places of the just, and they account themselves the children of those, whose offices from lust of honour they outwardly discharge. Which persons holy correction recals to the knowledge of themselves, i. e. that being settled in bad desires, they should mind whose children they are. For they are not the children of those whose places they occupy, but whose deeds they execute: Therefore let it be rightly said, The children of fools and base men. Where it is fitly subjoined;
And on earth utterly not appearing.
[xvii]
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43. For as there are very many persons upon earth, and they are hidden from the knowledge of their fellow creatures by the lowness of their vile condition, as by a kind of overlaying of a cloak, so there are some in the Church, who whilst they submit themselves to the degradation of wicked deeds, are not known to the Divine sight. To which persons it is one day to be said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. So, ‘to be on earth and appear’ is in a right faith through the excellency of practice to display the nobility of the soul. ‘To be on earth and utterly not appear,’ is to be set fast in the Church indeed by faith, but to show forth nothing worthy of faith in practice. These then being within the pale of Holy Church, to the eyes of the Divine Being both ‘appear’ in respect of judgment, and yet do ‘not appear’ in respect of the deserts of a good life, because those things, which by confessing they hold, by living they do not shew forth. Concerning whom Paul saith, They profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him. [Tit. 1, 16] These persons in Holy Church bear down rather than venerate the faith which they protest that they hold, whereas by her name they covet rather to secure their own profits than her’s. But the Elect, whilst they take care to preserve the deservingness of faith by right deeds, are brought near to the knowledge of their
Maker even amidst the throngs of lost sinners. Which is well denoted in the Gospel by the woman suffering from the bloody flux. Concerning whom the Lord says, Who touched Me? Peter answered reasoning, Master, the multitude throng Thee and press Thee, and sayest Thou, Who touched Me? [Luke 8, 45. 46. ] But he obtained to hear the causes in true reason, when the Lord said to him, Somebody hath touched Me, for I likewise perceive that virtue is gone out of Me. See how the throng ‘pressed’ the Lord, but she only ‘touched’ Him, who came to Him in humility, because surely even many lost sinners in Holy Church by learning ‘press’ the truth, which same they neglect to ‘touch’ by living well. They ‘press’ and are far off, because by professions they follow Divine knowledge, by habits flee it. They ‘press,’ I say, and are far off, because by acting they contradict that faith, which by speaking they assert. As then we are instructed by this testimony, that by touching some do not ‘touch’ the Lord, so some are not ‘seen’ by the Lord, even when they are seen; because to His secret regards, and for the punishment of condemnation, they do appear, but for the claim of Election they do not appear. Therefore let it be rightly said, And on earth utterly not appearing, because though the Church held them to the extent of seeming, yet those being within her the Creator did not see, in that He did not know them. Who in the season of peace for this reason maintain the faith to the extent of words, because they see that that faith flourishes generally. But when a sudden storm of adversity rises up against that Church, they are directly parted from her by a public denial; and whatever they before held as if venerating her, they afterwards fight against the same as deriding her. Whence it is fitly added;
Ver. 9. And now am I their song, yea, I am become their byword.
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44. By which same words that time of Holy Church is set forth, when she is openly derided by the lost; when the wicked gaining ground, faith shall be for a reproach, and truth shall be for a ground of accusation. For so much the more contemptible shall each individual be in proportion as he may be more righteous; and the worse object of abhorrence, the more worthy object of praise. Therefore the Holy Church of the Elect in the time of calamity ‘becomes a proverb’ to the wicked, because when they see the good die by torments, they take their likeness of cursing from those. For in proportion as they see a passing death, but do not see a lasting life, so much the more in scoffing do they flee present ills, in proportion as by the understanding interiorly they do not reach to lasting
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goods. But the particulars that are subjoined because they are not involved in obscurer sorts of sentences, we must run through in brief, that we may be able to come the sooner to those parts, wherein we have to labour. It goes on;
Ver. 10. They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.
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45. All the wicked ‘fly far’ from Holy Church, not by the paces of footsteps, but by the characters of practices; they fly far not in place, but desert, whereas, pride gaining ground, they contemn her with open upbraiding. For ‘to spit in his face’ is not only to detract from the good in absence, but to give the lie to each one of the just even in presence. And these then whilst the wicked by openly deriding set at nought, they as it were let out in insults upon them loose words, like streams of spittle running down. But Holy Church knows how to gain ground in sufferings, and in the midst of reproaches to maintain an honourable life; she is taught neither to be cast down by adversities, nor to glory in prosperity. She is instructed, in meeting prosperity, to lay low the mind in downcasting; she is taught, in meeting adversity, to lift up the soul to the hope of the height above. She knows how to ascribe her good things to the mercifulness of the Redeemer, she knows how to ascribe her evil things to the justice of the Judge, that both what is good she has by His bestowing, and what is bad she suffers by His permitting. And hence He immediately adds touching the Lord, saying,
Ver. 11. Because He hath opened His quiver and afflicted me. [xx]
46. What is denoted by ‘the quiver’ of God, but secret counsel? Now the Lord casts the arrow from the quiver, when from His secret counsel He sends forth an open sentence. For that any man is scourged, we know, but for what cause the scourge comes, we know not. But when after the scourge amendment of life follows, the actual power of counsel is itself disclosed as well. So the quiver shut is hidden counsel. But we are chastened by an open quiver, when by that which follows after the scourge, we see with what counsel we are stricken. When the Lord beholds sins, and yet does not move the hand to vengeance, He as it were holds the quiver shut, but by striking He shews, how greatly that displeased Him in us, which He bore long beholding it. Therefore let the Holy Church of the Elect being pressed by tribulations say, For He hath opened His quiver, and afflicted me. Which same on meeting with the insolent voices of her adversaries, when she sees that her preaching is not received, giving over the hardness of some, restrains the words of her preaching. For reflecting that her persecutors are rendered worse at the voice of her exhortation, she rather prefers to hold her peace. And when she sees them persons unworthy to hear, she binds up her preaching with silence drawn over. Whence he fitly adds;
And put a bridle into my mouth.
[xxi]
47. They were acquainted with ‘a bridle put upon themselves’ before certain persons, who said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. [Acts 13, 46] Holy men see ‘the bridle’ of silence put upon themselves with the hard hearts of lost sinners, when they say by the Prophet, How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? [Ps. 137, 4] Paul
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also charged ‘a bridle to be put,’ who enjoined the disciple, saying, A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject, knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth condemned of himself. [Tit. 3, 10] For holy teachers very often by lofty ken survey the hearts of those that oppose them, and when they see those hearts forsaken by God, afflicted and groaning they hold their peace. Doth not Solomon sometimes ‘put a bridle’ upon the teachers, who saith, Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee, [Prov. 9, 8] but if we hold our peace from rebuking for this reason, because we are afraid for the scorner’s hates to rise up against us, we no longer seek God’s profits, but our own. Wherein it requires to be known that sometimes when bad men are reproved they become worse. Them therefore we spare, and not ourselves, if from the love of those we cease from the rebuking of them. Whence it is needful that we sometimes endure keeping to ourselves what they are, in order that they may learn in us by good living [al. ‘by seeing’] what they are not. Therefore because Holy Church, who ever gives forth her words in a spirit of charity, sometimes also withholds them on the principle of charity, let her say, He hath put a bridle in my mouth. As though he confessed openly, saying, ‘Because in some I did not see the advancement of preaching, from those I refrained assault, that my life at all events by patience they might be taught, whereas my words they would not by the preaching proffered consent to receive. ’ But very often this
grieves us most in tribulations, that we meet with them from those, in whom we trusted with the love of kin. And hence it is added;
Ver. 12. At the right hand of the East my calamities on the spot arose.
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48. For ‘calamities’ would ‘rise to the left,’ if at the hand of any persons set without the pale of Religion, and openly denying Christ, she met with the adverse dealings of persecution. But when she undergoes from persons seemingly believers the trial of tormentings, it is as if calamities arose to her at the right hand, because they who are enlisted under Christ’s name, assail Christ’s name in her. For by the very usage of speech we speak of having as ‘on the right’ what we account as great, and as on the left that which we look down upon, which Zechariah openly teaches, saying, And he shewed me Jesus the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. [Zech. 3, 1. 2. ] Who that he might the more plainly shew this that he set before, added going on; And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Jesus was clothed with filthy garments. ‘Jesus was [al. ‘is spoken of as’] clothed with filthy garments,’ because though He was a stranger to all sin, yet He came into the likeness of the flesh of sin. And to Him on His coming Satan stood on His right hand. For the Lord appeared to hold the Jewish People as great, and the Gentiles as nought. But after that He appeared Incarnate, the Gentile world, which had been held as ‘on the left’ believed, whilst the Jewish People swerved aside to unbelief. Thus ‘Satan stood on the right hand to Him’; because he carried off from Him that People, which had been for a long while beloved. But because that same Jewish people, being now lost, shall in the end one day believe, as the Prophet testifies, who says, The remnant shall be saved; [Is. 10, 21] the Lord removes Satan from His right hand, saying, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan. And betokening the deliverance of that same people, he adds, because He hath chosen Jerusalem. Which same people because under the guidance of unbelief it let itself run down to the burnings of hell, but whilst it is brought back to faith, is set free from that same burning of everlasting fire, has it directly added there concerning it, Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
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49. So then as there for ‘the right hand’ the Jewish people is denoted, so in this place by the term of ‘the right hand,’ the faithful people of Holy Church is denoted. And hence the Judge that is to come ‘shall set the goats on His left Hand, and the sheep on His right Hand. ’ But when these very persons too fret Holy Church in the time of adversity, who seemed to be of the faithful, surely ‘calamities arise to her on the right hand. ’ Now rightly is this same called ‘the right hand of the East’; since it is written of the Head itself of the same, The East is His Name. [Zech. 6, 12 Vul. ] For seeing that the light springs from the East, He is rightly called ‘the East,’ by the light of whose righteousness the night of our unrighteousness is enlightened. So ‘calamities arise to the right hand of the East’; because these likewise leap forth to persecution, who were supposed to be Elect Members of our Redeemer. Which same calamities he rightly declares ‘arise on the spot,’ because whereas they who persecute were not persons without her pale, evils are brought about by them suddenly and on the spot. But if ‘the right hand’ is a designation of those who are truly believers, ‘calamities arise to the right of the East,’ because on the crisis of persecution breaking forth, the righteous undergo the cruel assaults of the wicked. It follows;
Ver. 12. They overturned my feet, and oppressed with their footpaths as with waves. [xxiii]
50. What are denoted by the Church’s ‘feet,’ but her outermost members? which while they lend themselves to earthly deeds, are able to be the sooner deceived by adversaries in proportion as they do not understand things on high. Therefore these ‘feet adversaries overturn,’ that is to say, when they draw her outermost members to the error of their doctrine. The ‘feet overturned’ cannot keep the way, in that all the weak being either persuaded by the promises of their persecutors, or affrighted by their threats, or broken by their tortures, swerve from the right path. Now ‘the paths’ of adversaries are rightly likened to waves, when it is said, and they oppressed with their footpaths as with waves; in this way, because the life of the evil-minded, mischievous with wayward restlessness, comes down as a tempest for the overwhelming the ship of the heart, so to say. Concerning which same tempest it is said by Solomon, As a tempest passing, the wicked shall not be. [Prov. 10, 25] And when the weak man sees the froward flourishing, that man the wave of wretched imitation plunges into the sea of frowardness. It follows;
Ver. 13. They did away with my paths, they plotted against me, and prevailed, and there was not any to bring help.
[xxiv]
51. Let blessed Job tell these things of evil spirits, i. e. of secret enemies. Let the Church Universal speak them of bad men persecuting, i. e. of open adversaries. For these ‘do away with her paths,’ when in the souls of certain weak ones they interrupt the ways of truth by crafty persuading. These in ‘plotting prevail, when those, whom they cannot openly force to evil, they turn aside by pretending what is good, but that is very wonderful, which he subjoins, And there was not any one to bring help, when the Psalmist exclaims touching the help of God; A helper in seasons, in tribulation. And, Let them hope in Thee, who know Thy Name, for Thou, Lord, wilt not forsake those that seek Thee. [Ps. 9, 9. 10. ] And when it is written again, Did ever any trust in the Lord and was confounded? or did any abide in His commandments, and was forsaken? Or whom did He ever despise, that called upon Him? [Ecclus. 2, 10] On what principle, then, is it now said; And there was not any to bring help, excepting that those, whom Almighty God loves for all eternity, He
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sometimes leaves for a time? Whence it is written; For a small moment have I forsaken thee, and with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment, and with everlasting kindness will I have mercy upon thee. [Is. 54, 7. 8. ] Hence too the Psalmist besought, saying, O forsake me not utterly. [Ps. 119, 8] He then knew that he might be left for a little while with advantage, who prayed that he might not be ‘utterly forsaken. ’ For the Lord by coming helps His Saints, by ‘leaving’ puts them to the proof, by gifts he establishes, by tribulations he tries. Whence too it is rightly said by one of Wisdom, For at the first she will walk with him by crooked ways, and bring fear and dread upon him, and torment him with her discipline until she try him in his thoughts. [Ecclus. 4, 17] Since the soul of the righteous grace calls, trial puts to the question. And Almighty God allows the adversaries of His Elect to grow to a height in time, that the life of the good may be purified by the pitilessness of the bad.
52. Since the Lord would never suffer them to be hostile to the good except he also saw what great good they did. For whilst the unrighteous deal cruelly, the righteous are purified, and the life of the wicked is enlisted to the advantage of the innocent, in that this same both by bearing down it abases, and by abasing ever fashions to better. Hence too it is rightly said by Solomon; the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart. [Prov. 11, 29] And yet we often see the wise subordinate, and fools occupying the stronghold of dominion, wise men paying obedience in servitude, and fools lording it with tyrannical exultation. How then by the marking out of God’s sentence is ‘the fool servant to the wise,’ when generally speaking he keeps him down by the right of temporal dominion? But it is to be borne in mind, that whilst against the life of the wise man the fool being uppermost enforces the terribleness of power, whilst he wearies him out with labours, rends him with insults, such a person surely by burning he purges from all the rust of bad habits. Thus the fool even in ruling is ‘servant to the wise,’ in that by bearing him down he advances him to a better state. In this way it is sometimes the case that over masters under age servants are set for the tutorage of discipline, they frighten, they bear hard upon them, strike them, yet do not at all cease to be servants, because they are appointed to this very end, that to their masters whilst progressing they should render service even by striking them. Therefore because the ills of the children of perdition purify whilst they torment the good, even the power of the wicked is enlisted to the welfare of the just. But very often the just when seized by tribulation account the hand of Him Who helps them slow, when the barbarity of those persecuting them wrings them somewhat too long. And the remedies of the deliverer indeed are quickened, but that which is done quickly by the deliverer, appears slow to him that is in grief. And when there is sought help to present itself to the supplicating voice, if it does not follow the voice directly, it is reckoned that it is wanting. Whence it is said now; And there was not any one to bring help. In which same utterance we have set forth the actual force of the suffering, because help from Above, though it is there as to the appointed providence of the protector, yet is thought to be wanting as to the quickened wishes of the sufferer. It follows;
Ver. 14. As by a wall being broken, and a door being opened, they rushed in upon me, and were rolled down to my miseries.
[xxv]
53. What is in this place designated by the title of ‘a wall,’ but the Redeemer of the human race, concerning whom it is said by the Prophet for the edifying of Holy Church, There shall be set in her a wall and a bulwark? [Is. 26, 1] For that same Redeemer is ‘a wall’ to us, Who forbids the
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rushing of evil spirits to reach to our hearts. Who also set ‘a bulwark’ as well to our faith, because before that He shewed Himself in flesh, He sent prophets as preachers of His mystery. Since they are rightly entitled by the name of ‘a bulwark,’ [‘antemurale’] because, whereas they preached the Lord coming after, they stood as it were ‘before the wall. ’ But it is as if ‘the wall were broken,’ when by the promptings of the wicked, faith, which is in our Redeemer, is done away in the hearts of some. And when power is awarded to the perverse in this life, what else but ‘a door’ of error is opened? And so it is as if the wall being burst asunder and the door opened the wicked rush in upon the good, when power being received temporally, the corrupt set themselves to pull down the very defences of faith too in the hearts of some.
Concerning whom it is fitly said; And were rolled down for my miseries; that is to say, because in the first instance to their own miseries. For except that by living corruptly they fell before to their own ‘miseries,’ they would never afterwards persuade others also to those miseries. But after their own the children of perdition are ‘rolled down to our miseries’ also, when to those evil things wherein they are themselves already involved, they draw persons as well who are linked to ourselves.
54. It is possible too that by the title of a wall may be understood the defence of discipline, as Solomon bears witness, who says, I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding. And lo, it was all grown over with nettles, and thorns had covered the face thereof; and the stone wall thereof was broken down. [Prov. 24, 30. 31. ] For to ‘pass by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding,’ is to look into the life of any careless liver, and to take a view of his deeds. Which same ‘nettles or thorns fill up,’ because in the hearts of the careless, itching earthly desires and the prickles of bad habits sprout forth, since it is written, In desires is every one that is idle. ‘The stone wall was pulled down,’ i. e. the discipline of the Fathers was loosened from his heart. For because ‘the stone wall being pulled down’ he saw that discipline was loosened, he directly added in that place going on; Then I saw and laid it up in my heart; and by example I learned instruction. And therefore as it were the wall being burst the enemy enters in, when by the crafty persuading either of evil spirits, or of bad men, the defences of discipline in the heart are scattered away. But when the vigour of that same discipline is relaxed in the heart of the lost, in their eyes all the deeds of the good are had in contempt, and they account it nothing, whatever they see relating to virtues in the Elect. And hence it is added;
Ver. 15. I was reduced to nought.
[xxvi]
55. For in the reckoning of the wicked we are ‘brought to nought,’ when those temporal goods, which they themselves love as chief, we do not retain in our bands. Because the promises from Above being disregarded they desire the things of earth, and if ever aught rises up in the mind of those persons in the way of longing after the Eternal world, it is quickly done away by transitory gratification springing up. And hence it is directly subjoined;
As the wind thou didst take away my desire.
Since the faithful People declares that itself suffers that, wherein those whom it loves it grieves should suffer. Thus ‘the wind takes away desire,’ when any transitory object does away the longing after Eternity. And hence it is yet further fitly subjoined; And as a cloud my health hath passed away. Since the cloud towers on high, but the breath of wind drives it into career. Thus, surely, then is it with the temporal good things of the wicked. They appear as it were by loftiness of honour to
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pass their time as on high, but they are daily driven on to the career of life as by a kind of blasts of their mortality. So ‘health passes as a cloud,’ because the glory of the wicked, in the degree that it is lofty, is not fixed. But after the desires and the courses of persons going weakly have been finished, the discourse is made to turn to the voice of the Elect, when it is forthwith introduced, Ver. 16. But now my soul in mine own self is withered, and the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
[xxvii]
56. Since ‘the soul’ of the Elect ‘withers now,’ because it is afterwards made green in that eternal triumphing. ‘Now, the days of affliction take hold upon them,’ because the days of joy follow afterwards. As it is written, To him that feareth God it shall go well at the last. [Ecclus. 1, 13. 19. ] And again it is delivered touching the Church, And she shall laugh in the last day. [Prov. 31, 25] For now is the time of affliction to the good, that one day exulting may follow them apart from tears. Hence it is elsewhere said by those, Thou hast humbled us in the place of affliction. [Ps. 44, 19] Since ‘the place of affliction’ is the present life, so the righteous here below, i. e. ‘in the place of affliction,’ are ‘humbled,’ because in the eternal life, i. e. in the place of delight, they are elevated. But when he said that ‘the soul was withered,’ he rightly put before too, in mine own self; because in our own selves, indeed, our soul is afflicted, but in God refreshed, and it is become far removed from the greenness of joy, in proportion as still being withheld from the light of the Creator, it draws back to itself. But then it attains to the greenness of true joy, when being lifted up by the grace of eternal contemplation it even transcends its very self. Now these particulars which we have run through by allegorical investigating, it is requisite that we hold in all points after the history as well. Which particulars however I now for this reason pass over, because I am not unaware that they are plain to those that read them. Now in the days of final persecution, because there are many that are lost and a small number that are saved, for this reason the holy man, in the time of his suffering, both utters few particulars touching the good, and a great many touching the wicked. And hence he directly turns his words to the person of those who are brought to the ground, and so conveys his own circumstances, that the things he relates may accord with those that fall. Thus it follows;
Ver. 17. In the night season my bone is pierced with pangs, and they that eat me sleep not. [xxviii]
57. If we mark the history by itself, the case appears plain, because the body of the holy man, through the hollows of ulcers, a swarming multitude of worms was wounding. But if we dive into the mystery of the allegory, what are denoted by ‘the bones,’ but the strong ones severally in the body of Holy Church? Who, as it were, by their solidity hold together the members, while they bear with stedfastness the practices of those going weakly. But when the heat of the last tribulation is grown to a head against her, in the night season her bone is pierced with pangs; because sometimes being overcome with torments, even the very persons let themselves run off to faithlessness, who seemed to be keeping fast others to the faith. Therefore she says, In the night season my bone is pierced with pangs. As though she said in plain words, ‘Pressed with the darkness of tribulation, they are so penetrated with affliction, that even the very persons, who had within me the firmness of strength, have now, as it were, a kind of piercing of fear. ’ And it is well said, And they that eat me take no sleep; because the evil spirits, that ‘eat up’ all the carnal out of the Church, know not
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how to rest from tempting in proportion as they are not burthened with any weight of flesh. But the persecutors of Holy Church, because they are very corrupt, would that they were few in number! It goes on;
Ver. 18. In, the multitude of them is my garment consumed, and they have bound me about as with the collar of my coat.
[xxix]
58. If we give heed to the history, what else do we take ‘the garment’ of blessed Job for, but his body? whose ‘garment indeed is consumed’ when the flesh is put to torment. But according to the mystery of allegory, ‘the garment’ of Holy Church is the life of the faithful. For as the whole Church together is ‘the garment’ of Christ so the faithful severally are accounted ‘garments’ of that same Church. For if Holy Church were not Christ’s ‘garment,’ Paul surely would not say, That He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle; [Eph. 5, 27] i. e. neither in respect of sin ‘having spot,’ nor in respect of a double mind ‘having wrinkle,’ because both by righteousness she is clean, And by a single bent stretched. She then that is washed that she should not ‘have spot,’ and stretched that she should not ‘have wrinkle,’ assuredly is a ‘garment. ’ Therefore as the clothing of Christ is the name given to the whole Church in general, so the clothing of the Church are the souls of the several persons which being converted from error, by believing that same Church, encircle her by attaching themselves with faithfulness to her. Concerning which same the Lord saith to that Church by the Prophet, As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely be clothed with them all, as with an ornament. [Is. 49, 18] But when the storm of cruel persecution arises, very many of the faithful are separated from the love thereof, who seemed to have themselves attached to her heartily. So then let her say, In the multitude of them is my garment consumed; because whilst there are many that torment, the greatest number are brought to an end, who were attached to her by the binding tie of love.
59. Now it is well added, And have bound me about as with the collar of my coat. Since ‘the collar of a coat’ encircles the neck of the wearer, but if the neck is tied up, the use of the voice and the puff of life is done for. Holy Church, then, do the children of perdition ‘tie up as with a collar of a coat,’ because they endeavour by their persecutions to put out in her the life of faith, and the voice of preaching. Since this thing her persecutors are in a special manner wont to essay, that before all things they may take away from her the word of preaching. And hence these persons who withstood the first beginnings of the holy faith told the Apostles beaten with rods, saying, Did we not straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine. [Acts 5, 28] So the body of Holy Church they had as it were girded with ‘the collar of a coat,’ who, the preachers being tied up, as it were pressing her neck, wished to shut up the way of the voice in her. But the several Elect are more ready to die in the time of their persecution than to hold their peace. Who whilst they are brought down in death in the body, are accounted despicable and mean by all the foolish and the carnal, because when the lost are unable to see what good things the Elect hold in the spirit, these whom they see brought to an end in the flesh, they account unhappy. And hence it is added;
Ver. 19. I was likened to mire, and became like dust and ashes. [xxx]
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60. Since in the judgment of lost sinners the Holy Church of the Elect is ‘likened to mire,’ because it is trodden under and despised in time; it is ‘compared to dust and ashes,’ because while they do not see her interior good things, they calculate that she has been brought to those bad things alone, which they see brought to view in her in the body. But the faithful people of the Elect, while it sees many fall from itself, wishes, if it might obtain this, to have the times of its adversities reversed. Because the prayer of this people is delayed, its groaning is increased. Hence it is further added; Ver. 20. I will cry unto Thee, but Thou wilt not hear me; I stand, and Thou regardest me not.
[xxxi]
61. Since Holy Church in the time of her persecution ‘stands’ by faith, and ‘cries’ by longings. But she is grieved that she is ‘not regarded’ as it were, when she sees her wishes under tribulations delayed. For by a high counsel, Almighty God, when His Saints are wrung tightly by the persecutions of adversaries, and when they cry with never ceasing entreaties that they may be set free, is wont to put off their voices in entreating Him, that their merits in suffering may be increased, in order that they may be the more heard in answer to merit, the more they are not heard quickly in answer to wishing. Whence it is elsewhere written, O my God, I cry in the day time, but Thou hearest not, and in the night season. [Ps. 22, 2] And the very usefulness itself resulting from the delay of hearing is immediately added, when it is there brought in directly, And not for foolishness to me. Since for redoubling the wisdom of the Saints it is beneficial, that what is prayed for they receive slowly, that by delay desire may increase, and by desire the understanding may be augmented. But when the understanding is stretched to the full, there is opened a more ardent affection thereof towards God. And the affection is made large for obtaining the things of heaven, in proportion as it was long suffering in expecting. Yet in the midst of these things grief prompts the patience of the Saints to utterance, and whilst being delayed they gain ground, they dread lest their powers failing they should being despised be rejected. It goes on;
Ver. 21. Thou art changed to cruel unto me; and in the hardness of Thy hand Thou opposest Thyself against me.
[xxxii]
[LITERAL INTERPRETATION]
62. The old translation is widely at variance with this sense, because what is spoken in this concerning God, is related in that of adversaries and persecutors. Yet because this new translation is said to have transferred every thing from the Hebrew and Arabic more truly, we should believe whatever is delivered in it, and the right way is that into the word of it our interpretation should search with exactness. Accordingly he says, Thou art changed to cruel unto me, and in the hardness of Thy hand Thou opposest Thyself to me. In Holy Scripture when any thing is said of God unworthy, the mind of the reader is affected, as if it were ever the case that any thing that is worthy were spoken of God. Since well nigh every thing that is spoken touching God, is by this alone henceforth unworthy, that it admitted of being spoken. But for Him to Whose praise the conscious faculty, being astounded, is not equal, when may the tongue by speaking suffice? But the Holy Spirit teaching to men that understand this same truth, how unutterable are the things above and the things of God, sometimes uses even those words concerning God, which amongst men are held as a fault, that from these things which seem unworthy of men, and yet are spoken concerning
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God, men should be admonished to know that neither are those things even worthy of God, which whilst they are accounted worthy among men, are thought worthy of God.
63. For God is called ‘jealous,’ as it is written, The Lord, his Name is ‘jealous. ’ [Ex. 34, 14] He is called ‘wroth,’ whence it is written, The Lord was wroth against Israel. [Numb. 32, 13. ] The Lord is called ‘repentant,’ as where it is written, It repenteth Me that I have made man upon the earth. [Gen. 6, 7] And again; It repenteth Me that I have set up Saul to be king over Israel. [1 Sam. 15, 11] He is entitled compassionate, as where it is written, Merciful and pitiful is the Lord, patient and full of compassion. [Ps. 86, 15. ] He is called ‘foreknowing,’ as the Apostle saith concerning Him, For whom He did foreknow, He did also predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. [Rom. 8, 29] Whereas neither ‘jealousy,’ nor ‘wrath,’ nor ‘repentance,’ nor strictly speaking ‘compassionateness,’ nor ‘foreknowledge,’ can be in God. For all these particulars are derived into Him from human qualities, while there is a descending to words expressive of infirmity, that as it were a kind of steps being made for us, and set beside us, by the things which we see close to us, we may one time be enabled to mount up to the high things of Him. For He is said to ‘feel jealous,’ who guards the chastity of his wife with torment of mind. ‘He is said to be ‘wroth,’ who is inflamed with heat of spirit against evil that deserves to be punished. He is said to ‘repent,’ to whom that which he has done is displeasing, and contrarily by changing does some other thing. He is called ‘compassionate,’ who is moved with pity towards his neighbour. Now ‘misericordia’ (‘commiseration’) is so called from ‘miserum cor,’ (‘a miserable heart,’) for this reason, because each individual sees a person wretched, and sympathizing with him, while he is affected with grief of mind, he himself makes his heart miserable, that he may free from misery the man that he is set on. He is said to ‘foreknow,’ who sees each particular event before it comes, and that which is future foresees before it becomes present. How then is God described as being ‘jealous,’ Who in watching over our chastity, is not affected by any torment of mind? How is He ‘wroth,’ Who in taking vengeance on our evil ways is not stirred by any agitation of mind? How is He ‘repentant,’ Who what He has once done is never at all sorry that He has done? How is He ‘commiserating,’ Who has not ever a heart of misery? How is He foreknowing, whereas nothing but what is future can be foreknown? And we know that to God there is nothing future, before the Eyes of Whom things past there are none, things present pass not by, things future come not; seeing that all that to us was and will be is in His sight at hand, and all that is present He is able to know rather than foreknow. And yet He is called ‘jealous,’ He is called ‘wroth,’ He is called ‘repentant,’ He is called ‘commiserating,’ He is called ‘foreknowing,’ that because He watches over the chastity of each individual soul, He should after man’s method be called ‘jealous,’ though He be not touched by torment of mind. And because He smites sins, He is said to be ‘wroth,’ though He be not affected by any agitation of the spirit. And because Himself unchangeable He changes that that He is minded, He is said to ‘repent,’ though it is the thing He changes, not His counsel. And when He succours our misery, He is called ‘commiserating,’ though He succours the miserable, and has not ever a heart of misery. And because the things which to us are future He sees, which same however to the Same Being are always at hand, He is styled ‘foreknowing,’ though He does not in any way foresee the future, which He sees as present. For even whatsoever things are, in His Eternity are not therefore seen because they are, but therefore they are because they are seen. Whilst therefore there is a coming down to the words of our changeableness, by those, as being made a kind of steps, let him, who is able, mount up to the unchangeableness of God, that he may see One shewing jealousy, without jealousy, One wroth without wrath, One repentant without sorrow or repentance, full of commiseration without a miserable heart, foreknowing without foresight. For in Him can neither
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the past nor the future be found, but all things changeable last unchangeably, and things, which in themselves cannot exist together, are all of them at once and together present to Him, and nothing that goes by passes away in Him, because in His Eternal Being, in an incomprehensible manner, all the rolls of ages whilst passing remain, whilst running a race stand still.
64. As then we understand Him ‘jealous’ without jealousy, ‘wroth’ without wrath, so He might by the holy man be also called ‘cruel’ without cruelty. Since he is called ‘cruel,’ who while smiting with severity spares not; that is to say that in this passage ‘cruel’ should be taken for one striking with severity, and not sparing the avenging of sin. Hence also Isaiah, when he saw the day of final Judgment was destined to come not henceforth with pardon but with rigour, says, Behold the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath, and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it. [Is. 13, 9] Therefore the holy man, that he might declare that this same cruelty is more suited to himself than to God, says, Thou art changed to cruel unto me. As though he said in plain terms, ‘Thou, Who hast in Thine own Self nought of cruelty, to me, whom Thou sufferest not to draw breath from persecution, Thou seemest cruel. ’ For so God is not capable of being cruel, just as He is not in the least degree capable of being changed. But because in God there comes not either cruelty or changeableness at any time, whilst He says ‘unto me,’ he shews that he is sensible that God is in Himself neither ‘cruel’ nor ‘changeable. ’ But because as concerns ourselves things prosperous and things adverse shift to and fro, in this that we ourselves are changed, we as it were imagine as concerns ourselves His mind changed. But He the same Being remaining unchangeable in Himself, in the thought of men’s hearts comes to be felt now one way and now another, according to the character of their minds. For the light of the sun too, whereas it is not at all unlike to itself, seems to weak eyes harsh, but to sound eyes gentle; that is to say, by their changing, not by its own. Therefore as we before said, in saying, Thou art changed, he added unto me, that this very ‘cruelty’ and ‘changing’ might be not in the attributes of the Judge, but in the mind of the sufferer. Which he laid open by other words also, saying, And in the hardness of Thine hand Thou opposest Thyself to me. For ‘the Hand’ of the Lord is thought ‘hard,’ when being opposed to our will, that thing which displeases Him in us, it follows hard upon by striking; and He redoubles the strokes, when the soul of the sorrower looks for clemency.
[ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION]
Which words, howsoever, according to the mystery of the allegory, suit well the words of Holy Church speaking in the accents of the weak, who very often reckon themselves to be smitten more than they fancy they deserve, and esteem as cruelty of the Judge the severity of the lancing howsoever most just, seeing too that when the wound of the sick man is cut away by the chirurgeon’s steel, the operator is called cruel, who however by the hardness of the hand that cuts is opposed to the wound, but in concert with the health. It proceeds;
Ver. 22. Thou liftedst me up, and as it were setting me upon the wind, thou dashedst me down strongly.
[xxxiii]
65. Because the glory of the present life is seen as on high, but is not set firm by any stedfastness, one is as if he were ‘lifted up and set upon the wind,’ who rejoices in earthly prosperity, because the breath of fleeting happiness lifts him up only for this end, that it may in a moment prostrate him
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the worse below. For whereas Holy Church is high in honour with all persons, the weak ones in
her, who rejoice in transitory successes, [Some read ‘successibus,’ others ‘successionibus,’ which last may mean ‘advancements occurring in the change of things. ’] whereunto do they seem lifted up but as set upon the wind? Because in the succeeding season of persecution, when the breath of prosperity is gone by, their ‘lifting up’ is brought to the earth in a moment, if instantly they learn by falling, that, whilst lifted up before they were seated upon the wind. Which very words in a peculiar manner accord with the person of the holy man also, not as to the thing that was, but as to the thing that seemed to be. For never had fleeting prosperity ‘lifted up’ his mind, which mind in the midst of such overflowing stores of good things he ever kept down by a wonderful weight of virtue. But according to that which might have externally appeared, he who was little in his own eyes, was exalted in the eyes of others, and as it were ‘placed upon the wind,’ he was ‘dashed down strongly,’ because being buoyed up by outward goods, by the same means, whereby he was accounted to rise, he appeared to have fallen. Which same fall in the interior the holy man did not undergo, because no bad fortune throws down the man, whom no good fortune corrupts. For he who is attached to the truth, is in no degree brought under to vanity, because, whereas he has planted with a firm foot the bent of the thought within, all that is brought to pass in change without, reaches not in the least degree to the citadel of the interior. It goes on;
Ver. 23. I know that Thou wilt deliver me to death, where is the house appointed for all living.
[xxxiv]
66. In the preceding part of this work [Book xiii. §.
