2, The dog is
returned
to his vomit.
Augustine - Exposition on the Psalms - v4
Ver.
5.
Since they have imagined with one consent;
together against Thee have they disposed a testament: as though they could be the stronger. In fact, a testament is a name given in the Scriptures not only to that which is of no avail till the death of the testators, but every covenant and decree they used to call a testament. For Laban and
Gen. 3l, Jacob made a testament, which was certainly to have force
4i'
between the living; and such cases without number are read in the words of God.
7. Then he begins to make mention of the enemies of Christ, under certain proper names of nations ; the interpre tation of which names sufficiently indicates what he would have to be understood. For by such names are most suitably figured the enemies of the truth. Idumceans, for instance, are interpreted either ' men of blood,' or ' of earth. ' Ismaelites, are ' obedient to themselves,' and therefore not to God, but to themselves. Moab, ' from the father ;' which in a bad sense has no better explanation, than by considering it so
Gen. 19, connected with the actual history, that Lot, a father, by the 36. 37. illicit intercourse procured by his daughter, begat him;
since it was from that very circumstance he was so named, t Tim. 1, Good, however, was his father, but as the Law is good if one
H'
use it lawfully, not impurely and unlawfully. Hagarens, proselytes, that is strangers, by which name also are signified, among the enemies of God's people, not those who become citizens, but those who persevere in a foreign and alien mind, and when an opportunity of doing harm occurs, shew them selves. Gebal, " a vain valley," that humble in pretence. Amon, " an unquiet people," or " people of sadness. '' Amalech, " people licking;" whence elsewhere said,
Ps. 72,9. "and his enemies shall lick the earth. " The alien race, though by their very name in Latin, they sufficiently shew themselves to be aliens, and for this cause of course enemies, yet in the Hebrew are called Philistines, which explained,
falling from drink, as of persons made drunken by worldly luxury. Tyre in Hebrew called Sor; which whether be
is
it
is
it
a
is
a is,
The devil and his crew. Their names significant. 143
interpreted straitness or tribulation, must be taken in the case Ver. of these enemies of God's people in that sense, of which the -8~11, Apostle speaks, Tribulation and straitness on every soul o/Eom. 2, man that doeth evil. All these are thus enumerated in the Psalms: The tabernacles of the Edomites, Ishmaelites, Moab
and the Hagarenes, Gebal,and Amon, and Amalech, and the Philistines with those who inhabit Tyre.
8. And as if to point out the cause why they are enemies of God's people, he adds, For Assur came with them. Now Assur
is often used figuratively for the devil, who works in the chil- Eph. 2, dren of disobedience, as in his own vessels, that they may 2- assail the people of God. They have holpen the children of
Lot, be saith : for all enemies, by the working in them of the
devil, their prince, have holpen the children of Lot, who is explained to mean one declining. But the apostate angels
are well explained as the children of declension, for by declining from truth they swerved to become followers of the
devil. These are they of whom the Apostle speaks; ' Ye Eph. 6,
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities 12, and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places? Those in visible1 enemies are holpen then by unbelieving men, in 1 Oxf. whom they work in order to assail the people of God.
9. Now let us see what the prophetic spirit prays may fall sP'ri- upon them, rather foretelling than cursing.
Ver. 9. Do thou to them, he saith, as unto Madian and Sisera, as unto Jab in at the brook of Kishon.
Ver. 10. They perished at Endor, they became as the dung of Uie earth. All these, the history relates, were subdued and conquered by Israel, which then was the people of God: as was the case also with those whom he next mentions ;
Ver. 1 1. Make their princes like Oreb and Zeb, and Zebee
and Salmana. The meaning of these names is as follows : Madian is explained a perverted judgment: Sisera, shutting judges
8'
out of joy : Jabin, wise. But in these enemies conquered by4' God's people is to be understood that wise man of whom the Apostle speaketh, Where is the wise? where is the scribe ? 1 Cor. 1, where is the dispuler of this world? Oreb is dryness, Zeeb, 20- wolf, Zebee, a victim, namely of the wolf; for he too has his
victims; Salmana, shadow of commotion. All these agree
144 God s Temple attacked. Figures of His judgment.
Psalm to the evils which the people of God conquers by good. lxxxn- Moreover Kishon, the torrent in which they were conquered, is explained, their hardness. Endor, where they perished, is explained, the Fountain of generation, but of the carnal generation namely, to which they were given up, and there-
Luke20,fore perished, not heeding the regeneration which leadeth
36-
unto life, where they shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, for they shall die no more. Rightly then it is said of these ; they became as the dung of the earth, in that nothing was produced of them but fruitfulness of the earth. As then
all these were in figure conquered by the people of God, as figures, so he prays that those other enemies may be conquered in truth.
10. All their princes, (ver. 12. ) who said, Let us take to our selves the sanctuary of God in possession. This is that vain noise, with which, as said above, Thy enemies have made a murmuring. But what must be understood by the sanctuary of God, except the temple of God 1 as saith the Apostle :
For the temple of God is holy1, which temple ye are. For
1 Cor.
"'row- what else do the enemies aim at, but to take into possession,
tum'
that is, to make subject to themselves the temple of God, that it may give in to their ungodly wills ?
11. But what follows? (Ver. 13. ) My God, make them like unto a wheel. This is fitly taken as meaning that they should be constant in nothing that they think ; but I think it may also be rightly explained, make them like unto a wheel, because a wheel is lifted up on the part of what is behind? , is thrown down on the part of what is in front; and so it happens to all the enemies of the people of God. For this is not a wish, but a prophecy. He adds: as the stubble in the face of the wind. By face he means presence; for what face hath the wind, which has no bodily features, being only a motion, in that it is a kind ofwave ofair? But it is put for temptation, by which light and vain hearts are hurried away.
12. This levity, by which consent is easily given to what is evil, is followed by severe torment; therefore he proceeds:
Ver. 14. Like as the fire that burneth up the wood, and as the flame that consumeth the mountains: (ver. 15. ) so shall
Thou persecute them with Thy tempest, and in Thy anger ? Ex his que retro suut extollitur, ex his que ante sunt dejicitur.
Some of God's enemies made ashamed to their profit. 145
shall disturb them. Wood, he saith, for its barrenness, Ver.
mountains for their loftiness ; for such are the enemies of God's people, barren of righteousness, full of pride. When he says, fire and flame, he means to repeat under auother term, the idea of God judging and punishing. But in saying, with Thy tempest, he means, as he goes on to explain, Thy anger: and the former expression, Thou shall persecute, answers to, Thou sha/t disturb. We must take care, however, to understand, that the anger of God is free from any turbulent emotion: for His anger is an expression for His just method of taking vengeance : as the law might be said to be angry when its ministers are moved to punish by its sanction.
13. Ver. 16. Fill their faces with shame, and they shall seek
Thy name, O Lord. Good and desirable is this which he
prophesieth for them : and he would not prophesy thus, unless there were even in that company of the enemies of God's people, some men of such kind that this would be granted to them before the last judgment: for now they are mixed together, and this is the body of the enemies, in respect of the envy whereby they rival the people of God. And now, where they can, they make a noise and lift up their head : but severally, not universally as they will do at the end of the world, when the last judgment is about to fall. But it is the same body, even in those who out of this number shall believe and pass into another body, (for the faces of these are filled with shame, that they may seek the name of the Lord,) as well as in those others who persevere unto the end in the same wickedness, who are made as stubble before
the wind, and are consumed like a wood and barren moun tains. To these he again returns, saying, (ver. 17. ) They shall blush and be vexed for ever and ever. For those are not vexed for ever and ever who seek the name of the Lord, but having respect unto the shame of their sins, they are vexed for this purpose, that they may seek the name of the Lord, through which they may be no more vexed.
14. Again, he returns to these last, who in the same company of enemies are to be made ashamed for this purpose, that they may not be ashamed for ever : and for this purpose to be destroyed in as far as they are wicked, that being made good they may be found alive for ever. For having said of
VOL. IV. L
16' 17'
146 God alone is Lord. Spiritual ' winepresses. '
Psalm them, Let them be ashamed and perish, he instantly adds,
ijixxni.
Exod. Lord are not lords; as it is said, I Am thAt I Am: as if
' 14'
Gen. that is, man ceaseth, to whom was said, Thou art dust;
19. and, Why is earth and ashes proud? when he saith that the Ec'clus.
10, 9.
jg^ afKj ^ know that Thy name is the Lord, Thou art only the Most Highest in all the earth. Coming to this knowledge, let them be so confounded as to please God : let them so perish, as that they may abide. Let them
know, he says, that Thy name is the Lord: as if whoever else are called lords are named so not truly but by falsehood, for they rule but as servants, and compared with the true
those things which are made are not, compared with Him by Whom they are made. He adds, Thou only art the Most Highest in all the earth : or, as other copies have over all the earth; as might be said, in all the heaven, or over all the heaven but he used the latter word in preference, to depress the pride of earth. For earth ceaseth to be proud,
Lord the Most Highest above all the earth, that is, that no Hom. man's thoughts avail against those who are called according 28. 31. j0 jjfe pUrp0se^ an 0f whom said, If God is for us,
who can be against us?
PSALM LXXXIV.
This Psalm entitled, For the winepresses. And, as you observed with me, my beloved, (for saw that you attended most closely,) nothing said in its text either of any press, or wine-basket; or vat, or of any of the instruments or the build ing of winepress nothing of this kind did we hear read; so that no easy question what the meaning of this title inscribed upon for the winepresses. For certainly, after the title mentioned any thing about such things as
enumerated, carnal persons might have believed that was song concerning those visible winepresses but as has
this title, yet says nothing afterwards of those winepresses which we know so well, cannot doubt that there are other winepresses, which the Spirit of God intended us to look for and to understand here. Therefore, let us recall to mind what takes place in these visible winepresses, and see how
I
aI
8,
3,
;
it it
if
it
is is
it
is
is :
it a
; it,
^
I is
it is
it
it,
Pressure brings out the wine. Sons of Core. 147
this takes place spiritually in the Church. The grape hangs Titlr. on the vines, and the olive on its trees, (for it is for these two
fruits that presses are usually made ready ;) aud as long as
they hang on their boughs, they seem to enjoy free air; and neither is the grape wine, nor the olive oil, before they
are pressed. Thus it is with men whom God predestined
before the world to be conformed to the image of His only- Rom. 8, begotten Son, Who has been first and especially pressed in29. His Passion, as the great Cluster. Men of this kind, there
fore, before they draw near to the service of God, enjoy in
the world a kind of delicious liberty, like hanging grapes or
olives : but as it is said, My son, when thou draicest near icEcclu*. the service of God, stand in judgment and fear, and make2' 1- thy soul ready for temptation : so each, as he draweth near
to the service of God, funic th that he is come to the wine
press ; he shall undergo tribulation, shall be crushed, shall
be pressed, not that he may perish in this world, but that he
may flow down into the storehouses of God. He hath the coverings of carnal desires stripped off from him, like grape-
skins : for this hath taken place in him in carnal desires, of
which the Apostle speaks, Put ye off the old man, and put Colos*. on the new man. All this is not done but by pressure: ? ph-. therefore the Churches of God of this time are called wine-22' presses.
2. But who are we who are placed in the winepresses
Sons of Core. For this follows For the winepresses, to the
sons of Core. The sons of Core has been explained, sons of
the bald as far as those could explain to us, who know
that language, according to their service due to God: and in
this do not deny that behold a great mystery, and by the
help of the Lord, would find out with you. For all bald
ness ought not to be mocked, as by the sons of wicked
ness but one mock at consecrated baldness, he torn
by demons. For Elisha too was walking, and senseless Kings
23'
children called after him, Baldhead, baldhead and to accomplish the figure, he turned and prayed the Lord that ib. 24. bears might come out of the wood and devour them. Their infancy was punished by death in this world they perished
as children, who would one day have perished in old age
but fear of the mystery was impressed on men. For Elisha
L -2
it
:
:
:
is
:I
:
if
it is
:? 2, 2
I
it
4"'
148 Pressure of this life teaches right thoughts of its good. Psalm bore the then character of One, whose sons we are, the sons
--:
Mat. 9, His sons, when He saith, The children of the Bridegroom lo' cannot fast, while the Bridegroom is with them. These
winepresses, then, are presses of Christians.
3. But being placed under pressure, we are crushed for
this purpose, that for our love by which we were borne towards those worldly, secular, temporal, unstable, and perishable things, having suffered in them, in this life, torments, and tribulations of pressures, and abundance of temptations, we
' may begin to seek that rest which is not of this life, nor of Ps. 9, 9. this earth; and the Lord becomes, as is written, a refuge
' of Core, namely, of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now it occurs to 1calvus. you, my beloved, out of the Gospel, why being bald1 he
bore the figure of Christ : ye remember that He was crucified, on Calvary. Whether then this be the meaning of Sons of
Core, as I have explained from what others tell me ; or whether there is any other sacred meaning unknown to us; meantime do ye behold what a fulness of sacred truths we meet with. Sons of Core, sons of Christ, for the Bridegroom speaketh of
l Tim. 6'
for the poor man. What is, for the poor man? For him who is, as it were, destitute, without aid, without help, without any thing on which he may rest, in earth. For to such poor men, God is present. For though men abound in money on earth, they think of what the Apostle saith, Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches; and considering how uncertain that is in which they rejoiced before they drew near to the service of God, that is, before they entered into the wine presses, they see that from their very wealth, they either have the pressure of care, how it is to be managed, how guarded ;
or if they have a little given way to desire, so as to love they are filled more with fear than with enjoyment. For what so uncertain as rolling thing It not unfitly that money itself stamped round, because remains not still. Such men, therefore, though they have something, are yet poor. But those who have none of this wealth, but only desire are counted also among rich men who will be
rejected; for God takes account not of power, but of will. The poor then are destitute of all this world's substance, for even though abounds around them, they know how fleeting
it
is it,
is
a
?
it is
it,
Impatience condemned in Holy Scripture. 149
it is; and crying unto God, having nothing in this world Title. with which they may delight themselves, and be held down, placed in abundant pressures and temptations, as if in wine presses, they flow down, having become oil or wine. What
are these latter but good desires ? For God remains their only object of desire ; now they love not earth. For they love Him Who made heaven and earth; they love Him, and are not yet with Him. Their desire is delayed, in order that it may increase ; it increases, in order that it may receive. For it is not any little thing that God will give to him who desires, nor does he need to be little exercised to be made fit to receive so great a good : not any thing which He hath made will God give, but Himself Who made all things. Exercise thyself to receive God : that which thou shalt have for ever, desire thou for a long time. In the people of Israel, those were rejected who were hasty : continually in Scripture this temper of haste is blamed. For who are they
who make haste ! Those who, having turned to God, when they did not find here that rest which they were seeking, and those joys which were promised them, as if fainting by the way and thinking some long time remained before they should have done with this world or with this life, and seeking here some rest, which, if it is enjoyed, is false, they look back, and fall from their purpose : and forget that terrible saying,
Remember Lots wife. For why was she made a pillar ofLukei7, salt, if she seasons not men to make them wise1? Therefore ? ? -ut her bad example, if thou take care, becomes good to thee, sapiant. ? Remember , he saith, Lot's wife: for she looked back, whence Gen. 19, she had been set free, to Sodom, and there remained where26'
she looked back ; herself to remain on that spot, to season
others who should pass. Therefore being freed from the Sodom of our past life, let us not look back: for this is to be
in haste, not to wait for what God hath promised because it
is far ofl-, and to look back to that which is near, whence thou
hast been once set free. Of such what saith the Apostle
Peter? It has happened to them according to the true proverb: 2 pet.
2, The dog is returned to his vomit. For the consciousness of22,
thy sins was weighing on thy breast : receiving pardon thou didst vomit, as it were, and thy breast was relieved : there was made a good conscience instead of a bad conscience :
150 Danger of turning back from any advancement.
Psalm but why turnest thou again to thy vomit? If a dog doing - ~ thus disgusts thy sight, what art thou in the sight of God ?
4. But each oue, beloved brethren, from that point of his journey at which he hath arrived, and which he hath vowed
to God, from thence looketh back, when he letteth Him go. For example, he has resolved to keep conjugal chastity ; for righteousness begins here ; he hath retired from fornication and illicit uncleanness : when he returns to fornication, he hath looked back. Another by the gift of God hath vowed something great, hath resolved not to allow even marriage : he who would not be condemned if he had married a wife, ifhe hatli married after making a vow to God, is condemned;
since he does the same as one who had not promised ; but one is not condemned, the other is. Why, except because the latter hath looked back ? For he had been in front, and
1 Cor. 7, the other had not come up to the same point. If a virgin,
2'? ?
who would not have sinned in marrying, marry after being devoted, she shall be accounted an adulteress of Christ. For she hath looked back from the place which she had reached. If those who choose to leave all worldly hopes and all earthly
Acts 2, occupations, and betake them to the society of saints, to that g| ' *' common life where no one calls any thing his own, but all Chrys. things are common unto them, and they have one soul, and one heart towards God ; whoever chooseth to depart from
ibem is not esteemed such as he who had not entered : for
Horn.
LXXI, the latter hath not yet attained: the former hath looked back.
LXXII Wherefore, most beloved, as each can, make vows,and perform
Ps. 70, to the Lord God what each can : let no one look back, no
'
Phil. 3, FIor who can be so perfect as Paul ? Yet he saith, BIrethren.
13 14.
orTs. Matt,
one delight himself with his former interests, no one turn away from that which is before to that which is behind : let him run until he arrive : for we run not with the feet but with the desire. But let no one in this life say that he hath arrived.
count not myself to have attained: but one thing
for
do, getting behind, reaching forward
those things which are I and
to those things which are before,
of the high calling in Christ Jesus. Thou seest Paul still running, and thinkest (hou that thou hast already attained?
5. If therefore thou feelest the passions of this world, even when thou art happy, thou understandest now that thou art
press to the forward
prize
Saints complain as absent from the Lord. 151
in the winepress. For do ye think, my brethren, that un- Ver.
'---
not^Kingj '
of such a kind as was hidden : for some troubles are hidden
from some in this world, who think they are happy while
they are absent from God. For as long as we are in the2CoT- body, he saith, we are absent from the Lord. Ifthou wert ' absent from thy father, thou wouldest be unhappy : art thou absent from the Lord, and happy? There are then some
who think it is well with them. But those who understand,
that in whatever abundance of wealth and pleasures, though
all things obey their beck, though nothing troublesome creep
in, nothing adverse terrify, yet that they are in a bad case as
long as they are absent from the Lord ; with a most keen
eye these have found trouble, and grief, and have called on
the name of the Lord. Such is he who sings in this Psalm.
Who is he ? The Body of Christ. Who is that ? You, if
you will : all we, if we will : all sons of Core, and all one
Man, for Christ's Body is one. How is that not one Man which hath one Head ? The Head of all of us is Christ ; the
body of that Head are we all. And we all are in this life in winepresses : if we are wise, we have already come to the
happiness in this life is to be feared, and that happiness is
not to be feared ? Nay, rather, no unhappiness breaketh bim whom no happiness can corrupt. How therefore should
that corrupter be shunned and feared, lest she seduce thee
by her caresses ? Lean not on a staff of reed : for it is written that some lean upon a staff of reed. Trust
thyself to it: it is a weak thing to lean upon, it breaketh Ez'ek. and slayeth thee. If therefore the world smile upon thee29'6' wIith happiness, imagine thyself in Ithe winepress, and say,
did call the name P>>- H6, of the Lord. He said not, I found trouble, without meaning,
trouble and heaviness, and
found upon
Therefore, being placed in the pressure of temptations, let us utter this word, and send on our longing desire.
Ver. 1. How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts. He was in some tabernacles, that in winepresses but he longed for other tabernacles, where no pressure: in this
he sighed for them, from these, he, as were, flowed down into them by the channel of longing desire.
6. And what follows? (Ver. 2. ) My soul longeth and
winepress.
it
is, is
:
152 What at present staycth the longing soul.
Psalm faileth for the courts of the Lord. It is not enough that it i-xxxiv. longed an(ifaiieth: for what doth it fail? For the courts of
the Lord. The grape when pressed hath failed: l ut for what ? So as to be changed into wine, and to flow into the vat, and into the rest of the store-room, to be kept there in great quiet. Here it is longed for, there it is received : here are sighs, there joy : here prayers, there praises : here groans, there rejoicing. Those things which I mentioned, let no one while here turn from ashamed : let no one be unwilling to suffer. There is danger, lest the grape, while it fears the winepress, should be devoured by birds or by wild beasts.
He seems to be in great sadness, when he says, My soul longeth and faileth for the courts of the Lord; for he has not what he longeth for; but is he without joy. What joy? That which the Apostle speaks of: Rejoicing in hope. Then he will one day rejoice in reality: now he doth already in hope. And therefore, those who rejoice in hope, being certain that they shall receive, bear in the winepress all
Rom. pressures. Therefore, the Apostle himself having said, Be- 12, 12. joicing in hope; as if speaking to those who are still in the winepress, added instantly, patient in tribulation. Patient in tribulation ; what follows ? Enduring in prayer. Why ' enduring ? ' Because ye suffer delay : ye pray and suffer delay : ye endure the delay : well may it be borne, that that
is delayed, which when it hath come is not taken away.
7. Thou hast heard a groan in the winepress, My soul longeth and faileth for the courts of the Lord: hear how it holdeth out, rejoicing in hope : My heart and my flesh have
rejoiced in the living God. Here they have rejoiced for that cause. Whence cometh rejoicing, but of hope ? Where fore have they rejoiced 1 In the living God. What has rejoiced in thee? My heart and my flesh. Why have they
( rejoiced ?
Ver. 3. For, saith he, the sparrow hathfound her a house,
and the turtledove a nest, uhere she may lay her young. What is this? He had named two things, and he adds two figures of birds which answer to them : he had said that his heart rejoiced and his flesh, and to these two he made the sparrow and turtle-dove to correspond : the heart as the sparrow, the flesh as the dove. The sparrow hath found
The ' sparrow and dove' answer to the ' heart and flesh. ' 153
herself a home: my heart hath found itself a home. She Tkr. tries her wings in the virtues of this life, in faith, and hope, ----- and charity, by which she may fly unto her home : and when
she shall have come thither, she shall remain ; and now the complaining voice of the sparrow, which is here, shall no
longer be there. For it is the very complaining sparrow of
whom in another Psalm he saith, Like a sparrow alone on the Ps. 102, housetop. From the housetop he flies home. Now let him7'
be on the housetop, treading on his carnal house : he shall have a heavenly house, a perpetual home: that sparrow shall make an end of his complaints. But to the dove be hath given young, that is, to the flesh : the dove hath found a nest, where she may lay her young. The sparrow a home, the dove a nest, and a nest too where she may lay her young. A home is chosen as for ever, a nest is framed for a time : with the heart we think upon God, as if the sparrow flew to her home : with the flesh we do good works. For ye see how many good works are done by the flesh of the saints ; for by this we work the things we are commanded to work, by
which we are helped in this life. Break thy bread to the Is. 68, 7. hungry, and bring the poor and roofless into thy house ; and
if thou see one naked, clothe him: and other such things
which are commanded us we work only through the flesh. Therefore that sparrow, who thinketh upon his home, parteth
not from the dove who seeketh for herself a nest, where she may lay her young: for she throweth them not away in any corner, but hath found herself a nest where she may lay them. We speak, brethren, what ye know : how many seem to do good works without the Church? ? how many even Pagans feed the hungry, clothe the naked, receive the stranger, visit the sick,
comfort the prisoner ? how many do this ? The dove seems,
as it were, to bring forth young: but finds not herself a nest.
How many works may heretics do not in the Church ; they
place not their young in a nest. They shall be trampled on
and crushed : they shall not be kept, shall not be guarded.
In the person of this flesh working a woman is spoken of by
the Apostle Paul, saying, Adam was not deceived, but the 1 Tim.
>> Ed. Ben. refers to P. Lombard II. works of those who are without faith Sent. Dist. 41. where this passage is eril ? "
quoted on the question, " Are all the
154 A nest for the dove's young, good works, in the Church.
in the fust instance the desire of thy flesh, to which if thy mind afterwards consents, the sparrow too hath fallen; but if the desires of the flesh are conquered, thy limbs are kept to good works, the arms of concupiscence are taken away, and the dove begins to have young. Therefore, what saith the
l Tim. Apostle in that place ? But she shall be saved by child-
Psalm woman was deceived. For afterwards Adam consented with J^55? L-the woman: for the woman was deceived by the serpent.
Gen. 3,
I--6. And now no evil persuasion can do more than move in thee
l'Cor. 7, 40-
bearing. A widow without children, if she continue so, shall she not be happier? Shall she not be saved, because she beareth not sons ? Shall not a virgin of God be better ? Shall she not be saved, because she hath no sons ? or doth she not belong to God? Therefore the woman shall be saved, who is a type of the flesh, by childbearing, that is, if she do good works. But it is not every where that the dove can find a nest for herself where she may lay her young ; in the true faith, in the Catholic faith, in the fellowship of the unity of the Church let her bring forth her works. Therefore,
. . -
-l
l Tim. when the Apostle was speaking of her, he added, But she
shall be saved by child-bearing, if she abide in faith, and love, and sanctification, with soberness. By abiding in faith, faith itself is a nest for thy young. For on account of the weakness of the young of thy turtle dove, the Lord deigned to give unto thee whence thou mightest make thyself a nest: for He clothed Himself with flesh, as hay for thy nest, that He might come unto thee. In that faith lay thy young : in that nest work thy works. For what the nests are, what that
nest is, follows at once: Thy altars, O Lord of Hosts. Having said, And the dove hath found herself a nest, where she may lay her young; as if thou hadst asked, What nest?
Thy altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God. What is, My King and my God? Thou Who rulest me, Who hast created me.
8. Here then is the nest, here absence from home, here sighing, here crushing, and here pressing, since here is the winepress : but what is it which he longs for ? what that he desires ? whither goeth he ? whither tends our longing ? whither doth it hurry us? Placed here, it meditateth on those things : placed among temptations, placed among pressures,
2' 16-
The House of God the truly blessed place. 1 55 placed in the winepress, sighing after heavenly promises: Vrr.
as if intending to do something there, it dwells beforehand on future joys. (Ver. 4. ) Blessed are those who dwell in Thy house. Wherefore blessed ? What shall they have ? What shall they do? All who are called blessed on earth have something and do something. One man is blessed with so many farms, such a large family, so much gold and silver: he is called blessed by what he has. Blessed is another, he has attained such a rank, the proconsulship, or prefec
ture : he is called blessed in what he does. Either then in having or in doing men are blessed. But how will they be blessed there ? what will they have ? what will they do ? What they will have I have said above : Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house. If thou hast thy own house, thou art poor ; if God's, thou art rich. In thy own house thou wilt fear robbers; of the house of God, He is Himself the wall. Therefore blessed are those who dwell in Thy home.
They possess the heavenly Jerusalem, without constraint, without pressure, without difference and division of bound aries; all have and each have all. Great are those riches. Brother crowdeth not brother: there no want there. Next, what will they do there For among men necessity which
the mother of all employments. have already said, in brief, brethren, run in your mind through any occupations, and see not necessity alone which produces them. Those very eminent arts which seem so powerful in giving help to others, the art of speaking in their defence or of medicine in healing, for these are the most excellent employments in this life; take away litigants, who there for the advocate to help take away wounds and diseases? what there for the physician to cure? And all those employments of ours which are required and done for our daily life, arise from necessity.
To plough, to sow, to clear fallow ground, to sail what which produces all these works, but necessity and want? Take away hunger, thirst, nakedness who has need of all these things These good works also which are enjoined to us; for those which have mentioned are respectable, but belong to all men mean to except w icked deeds, detestable actions, scandalous crimes, homicides, house-breaking, adul teries, for do not count these among human actions;) but
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156 Our good things here are but reliefs of need.
Psalm I mean those which are positively virtuous, even they are l*O"'only produced by necessity, and that a necessity arising
from the frailty of the flesh ; for instance, the injunction, Is. 68,7. ' Break thy bread to the hungry? For whom could you break bread, if there were nobody hungry ?
together against Thee have they disposed a testament: as though they could be the stronger. In fact, a testament is a name given in the Scriptures not only to that which is of no avail till the death of the testators, but every covenant and decree they used to call a testament. For Laban and
Gen. 3l, Jacob made a testament, which was certainly to have force
4i'
between the living; and such cases without number are read in the words of God.
7. Then he begins to make mention of the enemies of Christ, under certain proper names of nations ; the interpre tation of which names sufficiently indicates what he would have to be understood. For by such names are most suitably figured the enemies of the truth. Idumceans, for instance, are interpreted either ' men of blood,' or ' of earth. ' Ismaelites, are ' obedient to themselves,' and therefore not to God, but to themselves. Moab, ' from the father ;' which in a bad sense has no better explanation, than by considering it so
Gen. 19, connected with the actual history, that Lot, a father, by the 36. 37. illicit intercourse procured by his daughter, begat him;
since it was from that very circumstance he was so named, t Tim. 1, Good, however, was his father, but as the Law is good if one
H'
use it lawfully, not impurely and unlawfully. Hagarens, proselytes, that is strangers, by which name also are signified, among the enemies of God's people, not those who become citizens, but those who persevere in a foreign and alien mind, and when an opportunity of doing harm occurs, shew them selves. Gebal, " a vain valley," that humble in pretence. Amon, " an unquiet people," or " people of sadness. '' Amalech, " people licking;" whence elsewhere said,
Ps. 72,9. "and his enemies shall lick the earth. " The alien race, though by their very name in Latin, they sufficiently shew themselves to be aliens, and for this cause of course enemies, yet in the Hebrew are called Philistines, which explained,
falling from drink, as of persons made drunken by worldly luxury. Tyre in Hebrew called Sor; which whether be
is
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The devil and his crew. Their names significant. 143
interpreted straitness or tribulation, must be taken in the case Ver. of these enemies of God's people in that sense, of which the -8~11, Apostle speaks, Tribulation and straitness on every soul o/Eom. 2, man that doeth evil. All these are thus enumerated in the Psalms: The tabernacles of the Edomites, Ishmaelites, Moab
and the Hagarenes, Gebal,and Amon, and Amalech, and the Philistines with those who inhabit Tyre.
8. And as if to point out the cause why they are enemies of God's people, he adds, For Assur came with them. Now Assur
is often used figuratively for the devil, who works in the chil- Eph. 2, dren of disobedience, as in his own vessels, that they may 2- assail the people of God. They have holpen the children of
Lot, be saith : for all enemies, by the working in them of the
devil, their prince, have holpen the children of Lot, who is explained to mean one declining. But the apostate angels
are well explained as the children of declension, for by declining from truth they swerved to become followers of the
devil. These are they of whom the Apostle speaks; ' Ye Eph. 6,
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities 12, and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places? Those in visible1 enemies are holpen then by unbelieving men, in 1 Oxf. whom they work in order to assail the people of God.
9. Now let us see what the prophetic spirit prays may fall sP'ri- upon them, rather foretelling than cursing.
Ver. 9. Do thou to them, he saith, as unto Madian and Sisera, as unto Jab in at the brook of Kishon.
Ver. 10. They perished at Endor, they became as the dung of Uie earth. All these, the history relates, were subdued and conquered by Israel, which then was the people of God: as was the case also with those whom he next mentions ;
Ver. 1 1. Make their princes like Oreb and Zeb, and Zebee
and Salmana. The meaning of these names is as follows : Madian is explained a perverted judgment: Sisera, shutting judges
8'
out of joy : Jabin, wise. But in these enemies conquered by4' God's people is to be understood that wise man of whom the Apostle speaketh, Where is the wise? where is the scribe ? 1 Cor. 1, where is the dispuler of this world? Oreb is dryness, Zeeb, 20- wolf, Zebee, a victim, namely of the wolf; for he too has his
victims; Salmana, shadow of commotion. All these agree
144 God s Temple attacked. Figures of His judgment.
Psalm to the evils which the people of God conquers by good. lxxxn- Moreover Kishon, the torrent in which they were conquered, is explained, their hardness. Endor, where they perished, is explained, the Fountain of generation, but of the carnal generation namely, to which they were given up, and there-
Luke20,fore perished, not heeding the regeneration which leadeth
36-
unto life, where they shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, for they shall die no more. Rightly then it is said of these ; they became as the dung of the earth, in that nothing was produced of them but fruitfulness of the earth. As then
all these were in figure conquered by the people of God, as figures, so he prays that those other enemies may be conquered in truth.
10. All their princes, (ver. 12. ) who said, Let us take to our selves the sanctuary of God in possession. This is that vain noise, with which, as said above, Thy enemies have made a murmuring. But what must be understood by the sanctuary of God, except the temple of God 1 as saith the Apostle :
For the temple of God is holy1, which temple ye are. For
1 Cor.
"'row- what else do the enemies aim at, but to take into possession,
tum'
that is, to make subject to themselves the temple of God, that it may give in to their ungodly wills ?
11. But what follows? (Ver. 13. ) My God, make them like unto a wheel. This is fitly taken as meaning that they should be constant in nothing that they think ; but I think it may also be rightly explained, make them like unto a wheel, because a wheel is lifted up on the part of what is behind? , is thrown down on the part of what is in front; and so it happens to all the enemies of the people of God. For this is not a wish, but a prophecy. He adds: as the stubble in the face of the wind. By face he means presence; for what face hath the wind, which has no bodily features, being only a motion, in that it is a kind ofwave ofair? But it is put for temptation, by which light and vain hearts are hurried away.
12. This levity, by which consent is easily given to what is evil, is followed by severe torment; therefore he proceeds:
Ver. 14. Like as the fire that burneth up the wood, and as the flame that consumeth the mountains: (ver. 15. ) so shall
Thou persecute them with Thy tempest, and in Thy anger ? Ex his que retro suut extollitur, ex his que ante sunt dejicitur.
Some of God's enemies made ashamed to their profit. 145
shall disturb them. Wood, he saith, for its barrenness, Ver.
mountains for their loftiness ; for such are the enemies of God's people, barren of righteousness, full of pride. When he says, fire and flame, he means to repeat under auother term, the idea of God judging and punishing. But in saying, with Thy tempest, he means, as he goes on to explain, Thy anger: and the former expression, Thou shall persecute, answers to, Thou sha/t disturb. We must take care, however, to understand, that the anger of God is free from any turbulent emotion: for His anger is an expression for His just method of taking vengeance : as the law might be said to be angry when its ministers are moved to punish by its sanction.
13. Ver. 16. Fill their faces with shame, and they shall seek
Thy name, O Lord. Good and desirable is this which he
prophesieth for them : and he would not prophesy thus, unless there were even in that company of the enemies of God's people, some men of such kind that this would be granted to them before the last judgment: for now they are mixed together, and this is the body of the enemies, in respect of the envy whereby they rival the people of God. And now, where they can, they make a noise and lift up their head : but severally, not universally as they will do at the end of the world, when the last judgment is about to fall. But it is the same body, even in those who out of this number shall believe and pass into another body, (for the faces of these are filled with shame, that they may seek the name of the Lord,) as well as in those others who persevere unto the end in the same wickedness, who are made as stubble before
the wind, and are consumed like a wood and barren moun tains. To these he again returns, saying, (ver. 17. ) They shall blush and be vexed for ever and ever. For those are not vexed for ever and ever who seek the name of the Lord, but having respect unto the shame of their sins, they are vexed for this purpose, that they may seek the name of the Lord, through which they may be no more vexed.
14. Again, he returns to these last, who in the same company of enemies are to be made ashamed for this purpose, that they may not be ashamed for ever : and for this purpose to be destroyed in as far as they are wicked, that being made good they may be found alive for ever. For having said of
VOL. IV. L
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146 God alone is Lord. Spiritual ' winepresses. '
Psalm them, Let them be ashamed and perish, he instantly adds,
ijixxni.
Exod. Lord are not lords; as it is said, I Am thAt I Am: as if
' 14'
Gen. that is, man ceaseth, to whom was said, Thou art dust;
19. and, Why is earth and ashes proud? when he saith that the Ec'clus.
10, 9.
jg^ afKj ^ know that Thy name is the Lord, Thou art only the Most Highest in all the earth. Coming to this knowledge, let them be so confounded as to please God : let them so perish, as that they may abide. Let them
know, he says, that Thy name is the Lord: as if whoever else are called lords are named so not truly but by falsehood, for they rule but as servants, and compared with the true
those things which are made are not, compared with Him by Whom they are made. He adds, Thou only art the Most Highest in all the earth : or, as other copies have over all the earth; as might be said, in all the heaven, or over all the heaven but he used the latter word in preference, to depress the pride of earth. For earth ceaseth to be proud,
Lord the Most Highest above all the earth, that is, that no Hom. man's thoughts avail against those who are called according 28. 31. j0 jjfe pUrp0se^ an 0f whom said, If God is for us,
who can be against us?
PSALM LXXXIV.
This Psalm entitled, For the winepresses. And, as you observed with me, my beloved, (for saw that you attended most closely,) nothing said in its text either of any press, or wine-basket; or vat, or of any of the instruments or the build ing of winepress nothing of this kind did we hear read; so that no easy question what the meaning of this title inscribed upon for the winepresses. For certainly, after the title mentioned any thing about such things as
enumerated, carnal persons might have believed that was song concerning those visible winepresses but as has
this title, yet says nothing afterwards of those winepresses which we know so well, cannot doubt that there are other winepresses, which the Spirit of God intended us to look for and to understand here. Therefore, let us recall to mind what takes place in these visible winepresses, and see how
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Pressure brings out the wine. Sons of Core. 147
this takes place spiritually in the Church. The grape hangs Titlr. on the vines, and the olive on its trees, (for it is for these two
fruits that presses are usually made ready ;) aud as long as
they hang on their boughs, they seem to enjoy free air; and neither is the grape wine, nor the olive oil, before they
are pressed. Thus it is with men whom God predestined
before the world to be conformed to the image of His only- Rom. 8, begotten Son, Who has been first and especially pressed in29. His Passion, as the great Cluster. Men of this kind, there
fore, before they draw near to the service of God, enjoy in
the world a kind of delicious liberty, like hanging grapes or
olives : but as it is said, My son, when thou draicest near icEcclu*. the service of God, stand in judgment and fear, and make2' 1- thy soul ready for temptation : so each, as he draweth near
to the service of God, funic th that he is come to the wine
press ; he shall undergo tribulation, shall be crushed, shall
be pressed, not that he may perish in this world, but that he
may flow down into the storehouses of God. He hath the coverings of carnal desires stripped off from him, like grape-
skins : for this hath taken place in him in carnal desires, of
which the Apostle speaks, Put ye off the old man, and put Colos*. on the new man. All this is not done but by pressure: ? ph-. therefore the Churches of God of this time are called wine-22' presses.
2. But who are we who are placed in the winepresses
Sons of Core. For this follows For the winepresses, to the
sons of Core. The sons of Core has been explained, sons of
the bald as far as those could explain to us, who know
that language, according to their service due to God: and in
this do not deny that behold a great mystery, and by the
help of the Lord, would find out with you. For all bald
ness ought not to be mocked, as by the sons of wicked
ness but one mock at consecrated baldness, he torn
by demons. For Elisha too was walking, and senseless Kings
23'
children called after him, Baldhead, baldhead and to accomplish the figure, he turned and prayed the Lord that ib. 24. bears might come out of the wood and devour them. Their infancy was punished by death in this world they perished
as children, who would one day have perished in old age
but fear of the mystery was impressed on men. For Elisha
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148 Pressure of this life teaches right thoughts of its good. Psalm bore the then character of One, whose sons we are, the sons
--:
Mat. 9, His sons, when He saith, The children of the Bridegroom lo' cannot fast, while the Bridegroom is with them. These
winepresses, then, are presses of Christians.
3. But being placed under pressure, we are crushed for
this purpose, that for our love by which we were borne towards those worldly, secular, temporal, unstable, and perishable things, having suffered in them, in this life, torments, and tribulations of pressures, and abundance of temptations, we
' may begin to seek that rest which is not of this life, nor of Ps. 9, 9. this earth; and the Lord becomes, as is written, a refuge
' of Core, namely, of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now it occurs to 1calvus. you, my beloved, out of the Gospel, why being bald1 he
bore the figure of Christ : ye remember that He was crucified, on Calvary. Whether then this be the meaning of Sons of
Core, as I have explained from what others tell me ; or whether there is any other sacred meaning unknown to us; meantime do ye behold what a fulness of sacred truths we meet with. Sons of Core, sons of Christ, for the Bridegroom speaketh of
l Tim. 6'
for the poor man. What is, for the poor man? For him who is, as it were, destitute, without aid, without help, without any thing on which he may rest, in earth. For to such poor men, God is present. For though men abound in money on earth, they think of what the Apostle saith, Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches; and considering how uncertain that is in which they rejoiced before they drew near to the service of God, that is, before they entered into the wine presses, they see that from their very wealth, they either have the pressure of care, how it is to be managed, how guarded ;
or if they have a little given way to desire, so as to love they are filled more with fear than with enjoyment. For what so uncertain as rolling thing It not unfitly that money itself stamped round, because remains not still. Such men, therefore, though they have something, are yet poor. But those who have none of this wealth, but only desire are counted also among rich men who will be
rejected; for God takes account not of power, but of will. The poor then are destitute of all this world's substance, for even though abounds around them, they know how fleeting
it
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it is
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Impatience condemned in Holy Scripture. 149
it is; and crying unto God, having nothing in this world Title. with which they may delight themselves, and be held down, placed in abundant pressures and temptations, as if in wine presses, they flow down, having become oil or wine. What
are these latter but good desires ? For God remains their only object of desire ; now they love not earth. For they love Him Who made heaven and earth; they love Him, and are not yet with Him. Their desire is delayed, in order that it may increase ; it increases, in order that it may receive. For it is not any little thing that God will give to him who desires, nor does he need to be little exercised to be made fit to receive so great a good : not any thing which He hath made will God give, but Himself Who made all things. Exercise thyself to receive God : that which thou shalt have for ever, desire thou for a long time. In the people of Israel, those were rejected who were hasty : continually in Scripture this temper of haste is blamed. For who are they
who make haste ! Those who, having turned to God, when they did not find here that rest which they were seeking, and those joys which were promised them, as if fainting by the way and thinking some long time remained before they should have done with this world or with this life, and seeking here some rest, which, if it is enjoyed, is false, they look back, and fall from their purpose : and forget that terrible saying,
Remember Lots wife. For why was she made a pillar ofLukei7, salt, if she seasons not men to make them wise1? Therefore ? ? -ut her bad example, if thou take care, becomes good to thee, sapiant. ? Remember , he saith, Lot's wife: for she looked back, whence Gen. 19, she had been set free, to Sodom, and there remained where26'
she looked back ; herself to remain on that spot, to season
others who should pass. Therefore being freed from the Sodom of our past life, let us not look back: for this is to be
in haste, not to wait for what God hath promised because it
is far ofl-, and to look back to that which is near, whence thou
hast been once set free. Of such what saith the Apostle
Peter? It has happened to them according to the true proverb: 2 pet.
2, The dog is returned to his vomit. For the consciousness of22,
thy sins was weighing on thy breast : receiving pardon thou didst vomit, as it were, and thy breast was relieved : there was made a good conscience instead of a bad conscience :
150 Danger of turning back from any advancement.
Psalm but why turnest thou again to thy vomit? If a dog doing - ~ thus disgusts thy sight, what art thou in the sight of God ?
4. But each oue, beloved brethren, from that point of his journey at which he hath arrived, and which he hath vowed
to God, from thence looketh back, when he letteth Him go. For example, he has resolved to keep conjugal chastity ; for righteousness begins here ; he hath retired from fornication and illicit uncleanness : when he returns to fornication, he hath looked back. Another by the gift of God hath vowed something great, hath resolved not to allow even marriage : he who would not be condemned if he had married a wife, ifhe hatli married after making a vow to God, is condemned;
since he does the same as one who had not promised ; but one is not condemned, the other is. Why, except because the latter hath looked back ? For he had been in front, and
1 Cor. 7, the other had not come up to the same point. If a virgin,
2'? ?
who would not have sinned in marrying, marry after being devoted, she shall be accounted an adulteress of Christ. For she hath looked back from the place which she had reached. If those who choose to leave all worldly hopes and all earthly
Acts 2, occupations, and betake them to the society of saints, to that g| ' *' common life where no one calls any thing his own, but all Chrys. things are common unto them, and they have one soul, and one heart towards God ; whoever chooseth to depart from
ibem is not esteemed such as he who had not entered : for
Horn.
LXXI, the latter hath not yet attained: the former hath looked back.
LXXII Wherefore, most beloved, as each can, make vows,and perform
Ps. 70, to the Lord God what each can : let no one look back, no
'
Phil. 3, FIor who can be so perfect as Paul ? Yet he saith, BIrethren.
13 14.
orTs. Matt,
one delight himself with his former interests, no one turn away from that which is before to that which is behind : let him run until he arrive : for we run not with the feet but with the desire. But let no one in this life say that he hath arrived.
count not myself to have attained: but one thing
for
do, getting behind, reaching forward
those things which are I and
to those things which are before,
of the high calling in Christ Jesus. Thou seest Paul still running, and thinkest (hou that thou hast already attained?
5. If therefore thou feelest the passions of this world, even when thou art happy, thou understandest now that thou art
press to the forward
prize
Saints complain as absent from the Lord. 151
in the winepress. For do ye think, my brethren, that un- Ver.
'---
not^Kingj '
of such a kind as was hidden : for some troubles are hidden
from some in this world, who think they are happy while
they are absent from God. For as long as we are in the2CoT- body, he saith, we are absent from the Lord. Ifthou wert ' absent from thy father, thou wouldest be unhappy : art thou absent from the Lord, and happy? There are then some
who think it is well with them. But those who understand,
that in whatever abundance of wealth and pleasures, though
all things obey their beck, though nothing troublesome creep
in, nothing adverse terrify, yet that they are in a bad case as
long as they are absent from the Lord ; with a most keen
eye these have found trouble, and grief, and have called on
the name of the Lord. Such is he who sings in this Psalm.
Who is he ? The Body of Christ. Who is that ? You, if
you will : all we, if we will : all sons of Core, and all one
Man, for Christ's Body is one. How is that not one Man which hath one Head ? The Head of all of us is Christ ; the
body of that Head are we all. And we all are in this life in winepresses : if we are wise, we have already come to the
happiness in this life is to be feared, and that happiness is
not to be feared ? Nay, rather, no unhappiness breaketh bim whom no happiness can corrupt. How therefore should
that corrupter be shunned and feared, lest she seduce thee
by her caresses ? Lean not on a staff of reed : for it is written that some lean upon a staff of reed. Trust
thyself to it: it is a weak thing to lean upon, it breaketh Ez'ek. and slayeth thee. If therefore the world smile upon thee29'6' wIith happiness, imagine thyself in Ithe winepress, and say,
did call the name P>>- H6, of the Lord. He said not, I found trouble, without meaning,
trouble and heaviness, and
found upon
Therefore, being placed in the pressure of temptations, let us utter this word, and send on our longing desire.
Ver. 1. How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts. He was in some tabernacles, that in winepresses but he longed for other tabernacles, where no pressure: in this
he sighed for them, from these, he, as were, flowed down into them by the channel of longing desire.
6. And what follows? (Ver. 2. ) My soul longeth and
winepress.
it
is, is
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152 What at present staycth the longing soul.
Psalm faileth for the courts of the Lord. It is not enough that it i-xxxiv. longed an(ifaiieth: for what doth it fail? For the courts of
the Lord. The grape when pressed hath failed: l ut for what ? So as to be changed into wine, and to flow into the vat, and into the rest of the store-room, to be kept there in great quiet. Here it is longed for, there it is received : here are sighs, there joy : here prayers, there praises : here groans, there rejoicing. Those things which I mentioned, let no one while here turn from ashamed : let no one be unwilling to suffer. There is danger, lest the grape, while it fears the winepress, should be devoured by birds or by wild beasts.
He seems to be in great sadness, when he says, My soul longeth and faileth for the courts of the Lord; for he has not what he longeth for; but is he without joy. What joy? That which the Apostle speaks of: Rejoicing in hope. Then he will one day rejoice in reality: now he doth already in hope. And therefore, those who rejoice in hope, being certain that they shall receive, bear in the winepress all
Rom. pressures. Therefore, the Apostle himself having said, Be- 12, 12. joicing in hope; as if speaking to those who are still in the winepress, added instantly, patient in tribulation. Patient in tribulation ; what follows ? Enduring in prayer. Why ' enduring ? ' Because ye suffer delay : ye pray and suffer delay : ye endure the delay : well may it be borne, that that
is delayed, which when it hath come is not taken away.
7. Thou hast heard a groan in the winepress, My soul longeth and faileth for the courts of the Lord: hear how it holdeth out, rejoicing in hope : My heart and my flesh have
rejoiced in the living God. Here they have rejoiced for that cause. Whence cometh rejoicing, but of hope ? Where fore have they rejoiced 1 In the living God. What has rejoiced in thee? My heart and my flesh. Why have they
( rejoiced ?
Ver. 3. For, saith he, the sparrow hathfound her a house,
and the turtledove a nest, uhere she may lay her young. What is this? He had named two things, and he adds two figures of birds which answer to them : he had said that his heart rejoiced and his flesh, and to these two he made the sparrow and turtle-dove to correspond : the heart as the sparrow, the flesh as the dove. The sparrow hath found
The ' sparrow and dove' answer to the ' heart and flesh. ' 153
herself a home: my heart hath found itself a home. She Tkr. tries her wings in the virtues of this life, in faith, and hope, ----- and charity, by which she may fly unto her home : and when
she shall have come thither, she shall remain ; and now the complaining voice of the sparrow, which is here, shall no
longer be there. For it is the very complaining sparrow of
whom in another Psalm he saith, Like a sparrow alone on the Ps. 102, housetop. From the housetop he flies home. Now let him7'
be on the housetop, treading on his carnal house : he shall have a heavenly house, a perpetual home: that sparrow shall make an end of his complaints. But to the dove be hath given young, that is, to the flesh : the dove hath found a nest, where she may lay her young. The sparrow a home, the dove a nest, and a nest too where she may lay her young. A home is chosen as for ever, a nest is framed for a time : with the heart we think upon God, as if the sparrow flew to her home : with the flesh we do good works. For ye see how many good works are done by the flesh of the saints ; for by this we work the things we are commanded to work, by
which we are helped in this life. Break thy bread to the Is. 68, 7. hungry, and bring the poor and roofless into thy house ; and
if thou see one naked, clothe him: and other such things
which are commanded us we work only through the flesh. Therefore that sparrow, who thinketh upon his home, parteth
not from the dove who seeketh for herself a nest, where she may lay her young: for she throweth them not away in any corner, but hath found herself a nest where she may lay them. We speak, brethren, what ye know : how many seem to do good works without the Church? ? how many even Pagans feed the hungry, clothe the naked, receive the stranger, visit the sick,
comfort the prisoner ? how many do this ? The dove seems,
as it were, to bring forth young: but finds not herself a nest.
How many works may heretics do not in the Church ; they
place not their young in a nest. They shall be trampled on
and crushed : they shall not be kept, shall not be guarded.
In the person of this flesh working a woman is spoken of by
the Apostle Paul, saying, Adam was not deceived, but the 1 Tim.
>> Ed. Ben. refers to P. Lombard II. works of those who are without faith Sent. Dist. 41. where this passage is eril ? "
quoted on the question, " Are all the
154 A nest for the dove's young, good works, in the Church.
in the fust instance the desire of thy flesh, to which if thy mind afterwards consents, the sparrow too hath fallen; but if the desires of the flesh are conquered, thy limbs are kept to good works, the arms of concupiscence are taken away, and the dove begins to have young. Therefore, what saith the
l Tim. Apostle in that place ? But she shall be saved by child-
Psalm woman was deceived. For afterwards Adam consented with J^55? L-the woman: for the woman was deceived by the serpent.
Gen. 3,
I--6. And now no evil persuasion can do more than move in thee
l'Cor. 7, 40-
bearing. A widow without children, if she continue so, shall she not be happier? Shall she not be saved, because she beareth not sons ? Shall not a virgin of God be better ? Shall she not be saved, because she hath no sons ? or doth she not belong to God? Therefore the woman shall be saved, who is a type of the flesh, by childbearing, that is, if she do good works. But it is not every where that the dove can find a nest for herself where she may lay her young ; in the true faith, in the Catholic faith, in the fellowship of the unity of the Church let her bring forth her works. Therefore,
. . -
-l
l Tim. when the Apostle was speaking of her, he added, But she
shall be saved by child-bearing, if she abide in faith, and love, and sanctification, with soberness. By abiding in faith, faith itself is a nest for thy young. For on account of the weakness of the young of thy turtle dove, the Lord deigned to give unto thee whence thou mightest make thyself a nest: for He clothed Himself with flesh, as hay for thy nest, that He might come unto thee. In that faith lay thy young : in that nest work thy works. For what the nests are, what that
nest is, follows at once: Thy altars, O Lord of Hosts. Having said, And the dove hath found herself a nest, where she may lay her young; as if thou hadst asked, What nest?
Thy altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God. What is, My King and my God? Thou Who rulest me, Who hast created me.
8. Here then is the nest, here absence from home, here sighing, here crushing, and here pressing, since here is the winepress : but what is it which he longs for ? what that he desires ? whither goeth he ? whither tends our longing ? whither doth it hurry us? Placed here, it meditateth on those things : placed among temptations, placed among pressures,
2' 16-
The House of God the truly blessed place. 1 55 placed in the winepress, sighing after heavenly promises: Vrr.
as if intending to do something there, it dwells beforehand on future joys. (Ver. 4. ) Blessed are those who dwell in Thy house. Wherefore blessed ? What shall they have ? What shall they do? All who are called blessed on earth have something and do something. One man is blessed with so many farms, such a large family, so much gold and silver: he is called blessed by what he has. Blessed is another, he has attained such a rank, the proconsulship, or prefec
ture : he is called blessed in what he does. Either then in having or in doing men are blessed. But how will they be blessed there ? what will they have ? what will they do ? What they will have I have said above : Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house. If thou hast thy own house, thou art poor ; if God's, thou art rich. In thy own house thou wilt fear robbers; of the house of God, He is Himself the wall. Therefore blessed are those who dwell in Thy home.
They possess the heavenly Jerusalem, without constraint, without pressure, without difference and division of bound aries; all have and each have all. Great are those riches. Brother crowdeth not brother: there no want there. Next, what will they do there For among men necessity which
the mother of all employments. have already said, in brief, brethren, run in your mind through any occupations, and see not necessity alone which produces them. Those very eminent arts which seem so powerful in giving help to others, the art of speaking in their defence or of medicine in healing, for these are the most excellent employments in this life; take away litigants, who there for the advocate to help take away wounds and diseases? what there for the physician to cure? And all those employments of ours which are required and done for our daily life, arise from necessity.
To plough, to sow, to clear fallow ground, to sail what which produces all these works, but necessity and want? Take away hunger, thirst, nakedness who has need of all these things These good works also which are enjoined to us; for those which have mentioned are respectable, but belong to all men mean to except w icked deeds, detestable actions, scandalous crimes, homicides, house-breaking, adul teries, for do not count these among human actions;) but
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156 Our good things here are but reliefs of need.
Psalm I mean those which are positively virtuous, even they are l*O"'only produced by necessity, and that a necessity arising
from the frailty of the flesh ; for instance, the injunction, Is. 68,7. ' Break thy bread to the hungry? For whom could you break bread, if there were nobody hungry ?
