No More Learning

To the end, in the hymns of the eighth >>, a Psalm to David.
1. Of the eighth, seems here obscure. For the rest of this title is more clear. Now it has seemed to some to intimate the day of judgment, that is, the time of the coming of our Lord, when He will come to judge the quick and dead. Which coming, it is believed, is to be, after reckoning the
years from Adam, seven thousand years : so as that seven thousand years should pass as seven days, and afterwards
a LXX. <<ri{ ris iyiim. D
84 Time of Judgment secret. Eight follows four and three.
Psalm that time arrive as it were the eighth day. But since it has ' been said by the Lord, It is not yours to know the times,
7. which the Father hath put in His own power : and, But of
^e day and that hour knoweth no man, no, neither angel,
nor Power, neither the Son, but the Father alone: and again,
18*83
l Thess. that which is written, that the day of the Lord cometh as a
' '
Dent, 13' 3'
thief, shews clearly enough that no man should arrogate to himself the knowledge of that time, by any computation of
For if that day is to come after seven thousand years, every man could learn its advent by reckoning the years. What comes then of the Son's even not knowing this? Which of course is said with this meaning, that men do not learn this by the Son, not that He by Himself doth not know it: according to that form of speech, the Lord your Godtrieth you that He may know; that is, that He may make you know:
years.
Pa. 3, 7. and, arise, O Lord; that is, make us arise. When therefore the Son is thus said not to know this day ; not because He knoweth it not, but because He causeth those to know it not, for whom it is not expedient to know that He doth not shew to them what does that strange presumption mean, which, by reckoning up of years, expects the day of the Lord as most certain after seven thousand years
2. Be we then willingly ignorant of that which the Lord would not have us know and let us inquire what this title, of the eighth, means. The day of judgment may indeed, even without any rash computation of years, be understood by the eighth, for that immediately after the end of this world, life eternal being attained, the souls of the righteous will not then be subject unto times: and, since all times have their revolution in repetition of those seven days, that peradventure called the eighth day, which will not have this variety. There another reason, which may be here not unreasonably accepted, why the judgment should be called the eighth, because will take place after two generations, one relating to the body, the other to the soul. For from Adam unto Moses the human race lived of the
body, that is, according to the flesh which called the
outward and the old man, and to which the Old Testament 2^ph. was given, that might prefigure the spiritual things to come by operations, albeit religious, yet carnal. Through this
Rom.
*?
6,
it
a
;
it :
is
is
is
a
:
is, ?
it
it,
Four denotes the body, three the soul. 35
entire season, when men lived according to the body, death Title. reigned, as the Apostle saith, even over those that had not ff"". 5, sinned. Now it reigned after the similitude of Adam's trans
gression, as the same Apostle saith ; for it must be taken of
the period up to Moses, up to which time the works of the
law, that is, those sacraments of carnal observance, held even
those bound, for the sake of a certain mystery, who were sub
ject to the One God. But from the coming of the Lord, from Whom there was a transition from the circumcision of the
flesh to the circumcision of the heart, the call was made,
that man should live according to the soul, that is, according
to the inner man, who is also called the new man by reason Col. 3, oi the new birth and the renewing of spiritual conversation.
Now it is plain that the number four has relation to
the body, from the four well-known elements of which it consists, and the four qualities, of dry, humid, warm, cold. Hence too it is administered by four seasons, spring, sum
mer, autumn, winter. All this is very well known. For of
the number four relating to the body we have treated else
where somewhat subtilly, but obscurely : which must be avoided in this discourse, which we would have accom modated to the unlearned. But that the number three has relation to the mind may be understood from this, that we
are commanded to love God after a threefold manner, with Pe"1, the whole heart, with the whole soul, with the whole mind : Mat. 22, of each of which severally we must treat, not in the Psalms,37. but in the Gospels : for the present, for proof of the relation
of the number three to the mind, I think what has been said
Those numbers then of the body which have relation to the old man and the Old Testament, being past and gone, the numbers too of the soul, which have relation to the new man and the New Testament, being past and gone, a septenary so to say being passed ; because every thing is done in time, four having been distributed to the
body, three to the mind ; the eighth will come, the day of judgment : which assigning to deserts their due, will transfer at once the saint, not to temporal works, but to eternal life ;
but will condemn the ungodly to eternal punishment.
3. In fear of which condemnation the Church prays in this Psalm, and says, (ver. Reprove me not, Lord, in Thine
d2
enough.
1. )
O
36 Anger how ascribed to God. Chastening how deprecated.
Psalm anger. The Apostle too mentions the anger of the judg- . 5 --^ ment; Thou ireasurest up unto thyself, he says, anger
,5.
' against the day of the anger of the just judgment of God. In which he would not be reproved, whosoever longs to be healed in this life. Nor in Thy rage chasten me. Chasten, seems rather too mild a word ; for it availeth toward amend ment. For for him who is reproved, that is, accused, it is to be feared lest his end be condemnation. But since rage
seems to be more than anger, it may be a difficulty, why that which is milder, namely, chastening, is joined to that which is more severe, namely, rage. But I suppose that one and the same thing is signified by the two words. For in the Greek 8vinbe, which is in the first verse, means the same as ogyr), which is in the second verse. But when the Latins themselves too wished to use two distinct words, they looked out for what was akin to anger, and rage was used. Hence copies vary. For in some anger is found first, and then rage: in others, for rage, indignation or choler is used. But whatever the reading, it is an emotion of the soul urging to the infliction of punishment. Yet this emotion must not be attributed to God, as if to a soul, of Whom it is said,
furor
Wis. 12, but Thou, O Lord of power, judgest with tranquillity. Now that which is tranquil, is not disturbed. Disturbance then does not attach to God as judge : but what is done by His ministers, in that it is done by His laws, is called His anger. In which anger, the soul, which now prays, would not only not be reproved, but not even chastened, that is, amended or instructed. For in the Greek it is, wafSsuo-jjf, that is, instruct. Now in the day of judgment all are reproved that hold not the foundation, which is Christ. But
they are amended, that is, purged, who upon this foundation
l Cor. 3, build wood, hay, stubble. For they shall suffer
vs.
loss, but shall be saved, as fire. What then does he pray, who would not be either reproved or amended in the anger of the
Lord? what else but that he may be healed? For where sound health is, neither death to be dreaded, nor the physician's hand with caustics or the knife.
4. He proceeds accordingly to say, (ver. 2. ) Pity me, Lord, for lam weak: heal me, Lord, for my bones are troubled,
that is, the support of my soul, or strength
for this the
:
O
is
O is
le!
by
Slow recovery a caution against fresh transgression. 37
meaning of bones. The soul therefore says, that her strength Ver. 4. is troubled, when she speaks of bones. For it is not to be supposed, that the soul has bones, such as we see in the body. Wherefore, what follows tends to explain it, (ver. 3. ) and my
soul is troubled exceedingly, lest because he mentioned bones, they should be understood as of the body. And Thou, O Lord, how long ? Who does not see represented here a soul struggling with her diseases ; but long kept back by the physician, that she may be convinced what evils she has plunged herself into through sin ? For what is easily healed, is not much avoided : but from the difficulty
of the healing, there will be the more careful keeping of recovered health. God then, to Whom it is said, And Thou,
O Lord, how long? must not be deemed as if cruel: but as
a kind convincer of the soul, what evil she hath procured
for herself. For this soul does not yet pray so perfectly, as
that it can be said to hIer, Whilst thou art yet speaking /Is. 65, will say, Behold, here
am. That she may at the same time also come to know, if they who do turn meet with so great difficulty, how great punishment is prepared for the
ungodly, who will not turn to God: as it is written in another place, If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall l Pet.
' 18"
herself she prays that God too would turn to her: as it is said,
Turn ye unto Me, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord. Zech. 1, Or is it to be understood according to that way of speaking,3' Turn, O Ixird, that is, make me turn, since the soul in this
her turning feels difficulty and toil ? For our perfected turn
ing findeth God ready, as says the Prophet, We shall findHosen
' ' x.
made us lose Him; He was in this world, it is said, and the John 1, world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. 10-
If, then, He was in this world, and the world knew Him not,
our impurity doth not endure the sight of Him. But whilst
we are turning ourselves, that is, by changing our old life are fashioning our spirit; we feel it hard and toilsome to be wrested back from the darkness of earthly lusts, to the serene and quiet and tranquillity of the divine light.
the sinner and ungodly appear?
5. Ver. 4. Turn, O Lord, and deliver my soul. Turning
Him ready as the dawn. Since it was not His absence Who is every where present, but our turning away that
And.
38 Turning needs God's help, to escape the hopeless state. Psai. m in such difficulty we say, Turn, O Lord, that is, help us,
TI.
that that turning may be perfected in us, which findeth Thee ready, and offering Thyself for the fruition of them that love Thee. And hence after he said, Turn, O Lord,he added, and deliver my soul: cleaving as it were to the entanglements of this world, and suffering, in the very act of turning, from the thorns, as it were, of rending and tearing desires. Make me whole, he says,/or Thy piti/s sake. He knows that it is not of his own merits that he is healed : for to him sinning, and transgressing a given command, was just condemnation due. Heal me therefore, he says, not for my merit's sake, but for Thy pity's sake.
6. Ver. 5. For in death there is no one that is mindful of Thee. He knows too that now is the time for turning unto God : for when this life shall have passed away, there remaineth
Lukeie. but a retribution of our deserts. But in hell who shall con fess to Thee ? That rich man, of whom the Lord speaks, who saw Lazarus in rest, but bewailed himself in torments, confessed in hell, yea so as to wish even to have his brethren warned, that they might keep themselves from sin, because of
the punishment which is not believed to be in hell. Although therefore to no purpose, yet he confessed that those torments had deservedly lighted upon him ; since he even wished his brethren to be instructed, lest they should fall into the same. What then is, But in hell who will confess to Thee ? Is hell to be understood as that place, whither the ungodly will be cast down after the judgment, when by reason of that deeper darkness they will no more see any light of God, to Whom they may confess aught? For as yet that rich man by raising his eyes, although a vast gulf lay between, could still see Lazarus established in rest : by comparing himself with whom, he was driven to a confession of his own deserts.
It may be understood also, as if the Psalmist calls sin, that is committed in contempt of God's law, death : so as that we should give the name of death to the sting of death, because it procures death. For the sting ofdeath is sin. In which
l Cor.
15, 56. death this is to be unmindful of God, to despise His law
and commandments: so that by hell the Psalmist would
mean, that blindness of soul, which overtakes and enwraps
Bom. l, the sinner, that is, the dying. As they did not think good, 28.
The 'couch' of sinful weakness to be washed with tears. 39
the Apostle says, to retain God in their knowledge, Ood gave Vku. 6. them over to a reprobate mind. From this death, and this
hell, the soul earnestly prays that she may be kept safe,
whilst she strives to turn to God, and feels heIr difficulties.
have
7. Wherefore he goes on to say, (ver. C. ) laboured
in my groaning. And as if this availed but little, he adds, /will wash each night my couch. That is here called a couch, where the sick and weak soul rests, that is, in bodily gratification and in every worldly pleasure. Which pleasure, whoso endeavours to withdraw himself from washes with tears. For he sees that he already condemns carnal lusts
and yet his weakness held by the pleasure, and willingly
lies down therein, from whence none but the soul that
made whole can rise. As for what he says, each night, he would perhaps have taken thus: that he who, ready in spirit, perceives some light of truth, and yet, through weakness
of the flesh, rests sometime in the pleasure of this world, compelled to suffer as were days and nights in an alterna
tion of feeling: as when he says, With the mind serve the Rom. law of God, he feels as were day again when he says,
but with the flesh the law of sin, he declines into night: until all night passeth away, and that one day comes, of
said, In the morning will stand Thee, andPt. 5,3. For then he will stand, but now he lies down,
on his couch; which he will wash each night,
which
will see.
when he
that with so great abundance of tears he may obtain the most assured remedy from the mercy of God. will drench my bed with tears. It repetition. For when he says, with tears, he shews with what meaning he said above, will wash. For we take bed here to be the same as couch above.
will drench, something more than, will wash: since any thing may be washed superficially, but drenching penetrates to the more inward parts which here signifies weeping to the very bottom of the heart. Now the variety of tenses which he uses the past, when he said,
have laboured in my groaning; and the future, when he said, will wash each night my couch; the future again, will drench my bed with tears this shews what every man
ought to say to himself, when he labours in groaning to no
Although,
I /
/
/
is
it is
;
;
I
;
;
/ /
I
is is;
it,
is
is a
it it is it
by I
"
7,
40 Darkness of sin. The soul beset with enemies.
Psalm purpose. As if he should say, It hath not profited when -- I have done this, therefore I will do the other.
8. Ver. 7. Mine eye is disordered by anger: is it by his own, or God's anger, in which he uiaketh petition that he might not be reproved, or chastened ? But if anger in that place intimate the day of judgment, how can it be understood now? Is it a beginning of it, that men here suffer pains and torments, and above all the loss of the understanding of the
Rom. l, truth; as I have already quoted that which is said, God gave
28'
them over to a reprobate mind? For such is the blindness of the mind. Whosoever is given over thereunto, is shut out from the interior light of God: but not wholly as yet, whilst
Mat. 25,he is in this life. For there is outer darkness, which is un-
30
derstood to belong rather to the day of judgment; that he should rather be wholly without God, whosoever whilst there is time refuses correction. Now to be wholly without God, what else is but to be in extreme blindness? If
Tim. 6, indeed God dwell in inaccessible light, whereinto they enter, Mat. 25 to whom said, Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. It
then the beginning of this anger, which in this life every sinner suffers. In fear therefore of the day of judgment, he in trial and grief; lest he be brought to that, the disastrous
commencement of which he experiences now. And there fore he did not say, mine eye extinguished, but, mine eye is disordered by anger. But he mean that his eye dis ordered by his own anger, there no wonder either in this.
Eph. 4, For hence perhaps said, Let not the sun go down upon your wrath; because the mind, which, from her own disorder, not permitted to see God, supposes that the inner sun, that
is, the wisdom of God, suffers as were a setting in her.
9. have grown old in all mine enemies. He had only spoken of anger, (if were yet of his own anger that he spoke but thinking on his other vices, he found that he was entrenched by them all. Which vices, as they belong to the
old life and the old man, which we must put off, that we may put on the new man, well said, have grown old. But in all mine enemies, he means, either amidst these vices, or amidst men who will not be converted to God. For these, even they know them not, even
21. 23.
Col.
they bear with them,
if
:)
/
if
it /
it is
if is is
3,
it
it is
it,
is
is is
is
it is
1
Rejoicing of the Church at separation from the wicked. 41
even if they use the same tables and houses and cities, with Ver. 8. no strife arising between them, and in frequent converse ~ together with seeming concord : notwithstanding, by the contrariety of their aims, they are enemies to those who turn
unto God. For seeing that the one love and desire this world, the others wish to be freed from this world, who sees not that the first are enemies to the last ? For if they can, they draw the others into punishment with them.
And it is a great grace, to be conversant daily with their words, and not to depart from the way of God's commandments. For often the mind which is striving to go on to God-ward, being rudely handled in the very road, is alarmed; and generally fulfils not its good intent, lest it should offend those with whom it lives, who love and follow after other perishable and transient goods. From such every one that is whole is separated, not in space, but in soul. For the body is con tained in space, but the soul's space is her affection.
10. Wherefore after the labour, and groaning, and very frequent showers of tears, since that cannot be ineffectual, which is asked so earnestly of Him, Who is the Fountain of
all mercies, and it is most truly said, the Lord is nigh unto Pa, 34 them that are of a broken heart: after difficulties so great,18.
the pious soul, by which we may also understand the Church, intimating that she has been heard, see what she adds : (ver. 8. ) Depart from me, all ye that work iniquity ; for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. It is either spoken prophetically, since they will depart, that is, the ungodly will be separated from the righteous, when the day ofjudg ment arrives, or, for this time present. For although both are equally found in the same assemblies, yet on the open floor the wheat is already separated from the chaff, though it be hid among the chaff. They can therefore be associated together, but cannot be carried away by the wind together.
1 1 . For the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping ; (ver. 9. ) The Lord hath heard my supplication ; the Lord hath received my prayer. The frequent repetition of the same sentiments shews not, so to say, the necessities of the narrator, but the warm feeling of his joy. For they that rejoice are wont so to speak, as that it is not enough for
them to declare once for all the object of their joy. This is the fruit of that groaning in which there is labour, and those
42 They that mock now shall be vexed hereafter.
Psalm tears with which the couch is washed, and bed drenched : ---- ' for, he that sows in tears, shall reap in joy : and, blessed are
''
5.
they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
12. Ver. 10. Let all mine enemies be ashamed and vexed.
He said above, depart from me all ye: which can take place, as it has been explained, even in this life : but as to what he says, let them be ashamed and vexed, I do not see how it can happen, save on that day when the rewards of the righteous and the punishments of the sinners shall be made manifest. For at present so far are the ungodly from being ashamed, that they do not cease to insult us. And for the most part their mockings are of such avail, that they
make the weak to be ashamed of the name of Christ. Hence Mat. i0, it is said, Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me before men, Luke 9,? / him will I be ashamed before My Father. But now
lis wnosoever would fulfil those sublime commands, to disperse, 9. to give to the poor, that his righteousness may endure for ever; and selling all his earthly goods, and spending them on
iTim. 6, the needy, would follow Christ, saying, We brought nothing
'
into this world, and truly we can carry nothing out having food and raiment, let us be therewith content; incurs the profane raillery of those men, and by those who will not be made whole, called mad and often to avoid being so called by desperate men, he fears to do, and puts off that, which the most faithful and powerful of all physicians hath ordered. It not then at present that these can be ashamed, by whom we have to wish that we be not made ashamed, and so be either called back from our proposed journey, or hindered, or delayed. But the time will come, when they Wisd. 5, shall be ashamed, saying as written, These are they whom
we had sometimes in derision, and a parable of reproach we fools counted their life madness, and their end to be without honour how are they numbered among the children of God, and their lot among the saints Therefore have we erred from the way of truth, and the light of righteous ness hath not shined unto us, nor the sun risen upon us: we have been filled with the way of wickedness and destruction, and have walked through rugged deserts, but the way of the Lord we have not known. What hath pride profited us, or what hath the vaunting of riches brought us? All those things are passed away like a shadow.
:
is
is
;
?
:
"
is
is
;
t,6'
Swift confusion of the wicked; sometimes conversion. 43
13. But as to what he says, Let them be turned and con- Ver. founded. Who would not judge it to be a most righteous .
punishment, that they should have a turning unto confusion,
who would not have one unto salvation ? After this he
added, exceeding quickly. For when the day of judgment
shall have begun to be no longer looked for, when they shall
have said, Peace, then shall sudden destruction come upon l Thws. them. Now whensoever it come, that comes very quickly, ' '
of whose coming we give up all expectation ; and nothing
makes the length of this life be fell but the hope of living.
For nothing seems more quick, than all that has already
passed in it. When then the day of judgment shall come,
then will sinners feel how that all the life which passeth away
is not long. Nor will that any way possibly seem to them
to have come tardily, which shall have come without their desiring, or rather without their believing. Although it
can too be taken in this place thus, that inasmuch as God
has heard, so to say, her groans, and her long and frequent
tears, she may be understood to be freed from her sins, and
to have tamed every disordered impulse of carnal affection :
as she saith, Depart from me, all ye that work iniquity, for
the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping: and when
she has had this happy issue, it is no marvel if she be already
so perfect, as to pray for her enemies. The words then, Let
all mine enemies be ashamed, and vexed, may have this meaning ; that they should repent of their sins, which cannot
be effected without confusion and vexation. There is then nothing to hinder us from taking what follows too in this
sense, let them be turned and ashamed, that is, let them be turned to God, and be ashamed that they sometime gloried
in the former darkness of their sins; as the Apostle says,
For what glory had ye sometime in those things, of which ye Bom. 6, are now ashamed? But as to what he added, exceeding**.
quickly, it must be referred either to the warm affection of her wish, or to the power of Christ ; Who converteth to the faith of the Gospel in such quick time the nations, which in their idols' cause did persecute the Church.
2 Sam. 37'-
PSALM VII. EXPOSITION.
A Psalm to David himself, which he sung to the Lord, for the words of Chusi, son ofJemini.
1 . Now the story, which gave occasion to this prophecy, may be easily recognised in the second book of Kings. For there Chusi, the friend of king David, went over to the side of Abessalon, his son, who was carrying on war against his father, for the purpose of discovering and reporting the designs which he was taking against his father, at the instigation of Achitophel, who had revolted from David's friendship, and was instructing by his counsel, to the best of his power, the son against the father. But since it is not the story itself which is to be the subject of consideration in this Psalm, from which the prophet hath taken a veil of
2 Cor. mysteries, if we have passed over to Christ, let the veil be
'
'
taken away. And first let us inquire into the signification of the very names, what it means. For there have not been wanting interpreters, who investigating these same words, not carually according to the letter, but spiritually, declare to us, that Chusi should be interpreted silence; and Gemini, righthanded ; Achitophel, brother's ruin. Among which
Horn,
Judas, that traitor, again meets us, that Abessalon should bear his image, according to that interpre
tation of it as a father's peace; in that his father was full of thoughts of peace toward him: although he in his guile had war in his heart, as was treated of in the third Psalm. Now as we find in the Gospels that the disciples of our Lord
interpretations,
Matt. 9, Jesus Christ are called sons, so in the same Gospels we find they are called brethren also. For the Lord on the John resurrection saith, Go and say to My brethren. And the
20 ' 17 ' Apostle calls Him, the first begotten among many brethren. The ruin then of that disciple, who betrayed Him, is rightly understood to be a brother's ruin, which we said is the inter pretation of Achitophel. Now as to Chusi, from the inter pretation of silence, it is rightly understood that our Lord contended against that guile in silence, that is, in that most deep secret, whereby blindness happened in part to Israel,
Ahitophel type of Judas, Hushai of Christ's silence. 45
when they were persecuting the Lord, that the fulness of the Title. Gentiles might enter in, and so all Israel might be saved. When
the Apostle came to this profound secret and deep silence,
he exclaimed, as if struck with a kind of awe of its very depth,
0 the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of'Rom. God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways34]
past finding out ! For who hath known the mind of the Lord, cr who hath been His counsellor? Thus that great silence he does not so much discover by explanation, as he sets forth its greatness in admiration. In this silence the Lord hiding the sacrament of His adorable passion, turns the brother's voluntary ruin, that is, His betrayer's impious
wickedness, into the order of His mercy and providence : that what he with perverse mind wrought for one Man's destruction, He might by providential overruling dispose for all men's salvation. The perfect soul then, which is already worthy to know the secret of God, sings a Psalm unto the Lord, she sings for the words of Chusi, because she has
attained to know the words of that silence : for among unbelievers and persecutors there is that silence and secret.
But among His own, to whom it is said, Now I call you John
15'
no more servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lordI
15' have called you friends, all things that
I
have heard of My Father I
doeth; but for
have made known unto you: among His friends, I say, there is not the silence, but the words of the silence, that is, the meaning of that silence set forth and manifested. Which silence, that is, Chusi, is called the son of Gemini, that is, righthanded. For what was done
for the Saints was not to be hidden from them. And yet
He saith, Let not the left hand know what the right handj,iatt. 6, doeth. The perfect soul then, to which that secret has been3- made known, sings in prophecy for the words of Chusi, that
is, for the knowledge of that same secret. Which secret
God at her right hand, that is, favourable0 and propitious
unto her, has wrought. Wherefore this silence is called the
son of the right hand, which is, Chusi, the sIon of Gemini.
2. Ver. 1 . O Lord my God, in Thee have
from all them that persecute me, and deliver me. As one to
c It is difficult to preserve in translation the double meaning of dexter as righthanded and favourable.
hoped : save me
46 Satan the sole remaining enemy of the perfect.
Psalm whom, already perfected, all the war and enmity of vice -- being overcome, there remaineth no enemy but the envious devil, he says, Save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me : (ver. 2. ) lest at any time he tear my soul as a lion. The Apostle says, Your adversary the devil, as a roaring
i ? et
lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. There fore when the Psalmist said in the plural number, Save me
from all them that persecute me: he afterwards introduced the singular, saying, lest at any time he tear my soul as a lion. For he does not say, lest at any time they tear : he knew what enemy and violent adversary of the perfect soul remained. Whilst there be none to redeem, nor to save: that lest he tear me, whilst Thou redeemest not, nor savest. For, God redeem not, nor save, he tears.
3. And that might be clear that the already perfect soul, which to be on her guard against the most insidious snares of the devil only, says this, see what follows, (ver. 3. ) O Lord my God, have done this. What that he calls this Since he does not mention the sin by name, are we to under stand sin generally? If this sense displease us, we may take that to be meant which follows as we had asked, what this that you say, this? He answers, Ifthere be iniquity in my hands. Now then is clear that said of all sin,
If
Matt. Lord says, Be ye perfect, as your Father Which is in heaven
43. 45.
jyfro maIceth His sun to rise upon the good and the evil, and raineth on the just and the unjust. He then who repayeth not them that recompense evil, perfect. When therefore the perfect soul prays for the words Chusi, the son ofJemini, that for the knowledge of that secret and silence, which the Lord, favourable to us and merciful, wrought for our salvation, so as to endure, and with all patience bear, the guiles of this betrayer: as He should say to this perfect soul, explaining the design of this secret, For thee ungodly and sinner, that thine iniquities might be washed away by My blood-shedding, in great silence and great
have repaid them that me evil. recompense
(ver. 4. )
Which none can say with truth, but the perfect. For so the
bore with My betrayer wilt not thou imitate me, that thou too mayest not repay evil for evil? Consider
patience
ing" then, and understanding what the Lord has done for
I
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it if
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Prophetic imprecation on such as return evil. 47
him, and by His example going on to perfection, theVBB. 5. Psalmist says, If I have repaid them that recompense me
evil : that is, if I have not done what Thou hast taught me
by Thy example : may I therefore fall by mine enemies
empty. And he says well, not, If I have repaid them that do me evil ; but, who recompense. For whoso recompenseth, had received somewhat already. Now it is an instance of greater patience, not even to repay him evil, who after receiving benefits returns evil for good, than if without receiving any previous benefit he had had a mind to injure.
/
evil: that is, If I have not imitated Thee in that silence,
If therefore he says,
have repaid them that recompense me
that is, in Thy patience, which Thou hast wrought for me,
I
boaster, who, being himself a man, desires to avenge himself on a man ; and whilst he openly seeks to overcome a man, is secretly himself overcome by the devil, rendered empty by vain and proud joy, because he could not, as it were, be
fall
conquered.
by mine enemies empty. For he is an empty
may
evil, may
therefore fall
ty.
The Psalmist knows then where a greater
victory may be obtained, and where the Father which Matt. 6,
seeth in secret will reward. Lest then he repay them that '
recompense evil, he overcomes his anger rather than another
man, being instructed too by those writings, wherein it is
written, better is heIthat overcometh his anger, than he that Pro'. l6,
If
taketh a ciI
have repaid them that recompense me
by my enemies empty. He seems to swear by way of execration, which is the heaviest kind of oath, as when one says, If I have done so and so, may I
suffer so and so. But swearing in a swearer's mouth is one thing, in a prophet's meaning another. For here he men tions what will really befal men, who repay them that recompense evil; not what, as by an oath, he would imprecate on himself or any other.
4. Ver. 5. Let the enemy therefore persecute my soul and take it. By again naming the enemy in the singular number, he more and more clearly points out him, whom he spoke of above as a lion. For he persecutes the soul, and if he has deceived will take it. For the limit of men's rage the destruction of the body but the soul, after this visible death, they cannot keep in their power: whereas whatever souls
;
it,
is
48 Emptiness and sad end ofglorying in man's praise.
Psalm the devil shall have taken by his persecutions, he will keep. '--And let him tread my life upon the earth: that is, by
treading let him make my life earth, that is to say, his food.
For he is not only called a lion, but a serpent too, to whom Gen. 3, it was said, Earth shall thou eat. And to the sinner
"
Apostle, let him glory in the Lord. This solidity is brought down to the dust, ifone through pride despising the secresy of conscience, where God only proves a man, desires to glory before men. Hence comes what the Psalmist elsewhere
was it said, Earth thou art, and into earth shall thou go.
lb. 19.
And let him bring down my glory to the dust. This is
Ps. l,4. that dust, which the wind casteth forth from the face of the earth, to wit, vain and silly boasting of the proud, puffed up, not of solid weight, as a cloud of dust carried away by the wind. Justly then has he here spoken of the glory, which he would not have brought down to dust. For he would have it solidly established in conscience before God,
1 Cor. 1, where there is no boasting. He that glorieth, saith the
Ps. 53,5. says, God shall bruise the bones of them that please men. Now he that has well learnt or experienced the steps in overcoming vices, knows that this vice of empty glory is either alone, or more than all, to be shunned by the perfect. For that by which the soul first fell, she overcomes the last.
^ccl"s. For the beginning of all sin is pride: and again, the begin-
12. '
Acts 7,
ning of man's pride is to depart from God.
5. Ver. 6. Arise, O Lord, in Tliine anger. Why yet does
he, who we say is perfect, incite God to anger? Must we not see, whether he rather be not perfect, who, when he was being stoned, said, O Lord, lay not this sin to their charge? Or does the Psalmist pray thus not against men, but against the devil and his angels, whose possession sinners and the ungodly are ? He then does not pray against him in wrath, but in mercy, whosoever prays that that possession may be
Rom. 4, taken from him by that Lord Who justifieth the ungodly. For when the ungodly is justified, from ungodly he is made
just, and from being the possession of the devil he passes into the temple of God. And since it is a punishment, that a possession, in which one longs to have rule, should be taken away from him : this punishment, that he should cease to possess those whom he now possesses, the Psalmist calls the
Christ exalted ; the People gathered round Him. 49
anger of God against the devil. Arise, O Lord, in Thine Vrr. anger. Arise, (he has used it as "appear,") in words, tW 10.
human and obscure; as though God sleeps, when He unrecognised and hidden in His secret workings. Be exalted in the borders of mine enemies. He means by borders the possession itself, in which he wishes that God should be exalted, that be honoured and glorified, rather than the devil, while the ungodly are justified and praise
God. And arise, Lord my God, in the commandment
that Thou hast given: that is, since Thou hast enjoined humility, appear in humility and first fulfil what Thou hast enjoined; that men by Thy example overcoming pride may
not be possessed of the devil, who against Thy command
ments advised to pride, saying, Eat, and your eyes shall be Gen. 3,5. opened, and ye shall be as Gods.
6. And the congregation of the people shall surround Tliee. This may be understood two ways. For the congre gation of the people can be taken, either of them that believe,
or of them that persecute, both of which took place in the same humiliation of our Lord in contempt of which the multitude of them that persecute surrounded Him con cerning which said, Why have the heathen raged,Ps. and the people meditated vain things But of them
that believe through His humiliation the multitude so sur rounded Him, that could be said with the greatest truth, blindness in part happened unto Israel, that the fulness Rom.