Psalm raise his eves, but beat upon bis breast, saying, God be L^C^ '
merciful
to me a sinner.
Augustine - Exposition on the Psalms - v4
279
the Lord. Hence are the words, In Thy presence is fulness n] ofjoy : and, Early in the morniny they shall stand by, andP>>-5i3- shall look up : and as other translators have said We
shall be satisfied with Thy mercy in the morniny; then they
shall be satisfied. As he says elsewhere, shall be satisfied, Ps- 17, when Thy ylory shall be revealed. So said, Lord, shea? j0j,ni4, us the Father, and sufficeth us: and our Lord Himself 21. answereth, will manifest Myself to Zion and until this promise fulfilled, no blessing satisfies us, or ought to do
so, lest our longings should be arrested in their course, when they ought to be increased until they gain their objects. We have been satisfied with Thy mercy in the morniny and we rejoiced and were ylad all the days ofour
Those days are days without end: they all exist together thus they satisfy us for they give not way to days succeeding since there nothing there which exists not yet because has not reached us, or ceases to exist
because has passed; all are together: because there one
day only, which remains and passes not away this
eternity itself. These are the days respecting which
written, What man he that lusteth to lice, and would fain Ps. 3i, see good days? These days in another passage are styled12'
thus been kindled for us. in the midst of these toils and . 14.
sorrows of the night, like a lamp in the darkness, until day 2 pet l dawn, and the Day-star arise in our hearts. For blessed are 19.
the pure in heart, for they shall see God: then shall the Matt. 6, righteous be filled with that blessing for which they hunger J'^' 6 and thirst now, while, walking in faith, they are absent from 6.
'
life.
where unto God said, But Thou art the same, Ps. 102, and Thy years shall not fail: for these are not years that are
accounted for nothing, or days that perish like shadow but they are days which have real existence, the number of which he who thus spoke, Ixnd, let me know mine end,
(that is, after reaching what term shall remain unchanged,
and have no further blessing to crave,) and the number of
my days, what is: (what not what not:) prayed to know. He distinguishes them from the days of this life, of which he speaks as follows, Behold, Thou hast made myps. 39, days as were a span lony, which are not, because they6-6' stand not, remain not, but change in quick succession nor
years
:
it is is is
it,
it
it
it
: it is
;
is /
is,
a
it is
is
;
it / is
:
is I:
a
:
:
8,
is
it
: it
280 The Saints, as God's workmanship, pray for direction.
Psalm is there a single hour in them in which our being is not such, XC' but that one part of it has already passed, another is about to come, and none remains as it is. But those years and days, in which we too shall never fail, but evermore be
refreshed, will never fail. Let our souls long earnestly for those days, let them thirst ardently for them, that there we may be filled, be satisfied, and say what we now say in anticipation, We have been satisfied with Thy mercy in the morning; we hare rejoiced and were glad all the days of
our life. (Ver. 15. ) We have been comforted again now, after the time that Thou hast brought us low, and for the
years wherein we have seen evil.
16. But now in days that are as yet evil, let us speak
as follows. (Ver. 16. ) Look upon Thy servants, and upon Thy works. For Thy servants themselves are Thy works, not only inasmuch as they are men, but as Thy servants,
that is, obedient to Thy commands. For we are His work
manship, created not merely in Adam, but in Christ Jesus, Eph. 2, unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them: for it is God which worketh in us 2>> 13. both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
And direct their sons: that they may be right in heart, for
to such God is bountiful ; for God is bountiful to Israel, to
Ps. 73, those that are right in heart. Unlike him whose feet had
2, **?
17. Ver. 17. And let the brightness of the Lord our God be Pi. 4 6. uPon us < whence the words, " O Lord, the light of Thy
countenance is marked upon us. " And, Slake Thou straight the works of our hands upon us : that we may do them not for hope of earthly reward : for then they are not straight, but crooked. In many copies the Psalm goes thus far, but in some there is found an additional verse at the end, as follows, And make straight the work of our hands. To these words the learned have prefixed a star, called an
asterisk, to shew that they are found in the Hebrew, or in some other Greek translations, but not in the Septuagint.
Philip,
well-nigh slipped, because he began to be displeased at God while he looked upon the prosperity of the wicked, as if God Himself knew not, or cared not for, their sins, and would not undertake to govern the human race.
The meaning of this verse, if we are to expound
appears
it,
All good works, one work. Gospel veiled in the Law. 281
to me this, that all our good works are one work of love : for Van love is the fulfilling of the Law. For as in the former verse
he had said, And the works of our hands make Thou 13, io. straight upon us, here he says work, not works, as if
anxious to shew, in the last verse, that all our works are one, that are directed with view to one work. For then are works righteous, when they are directed to this one end:
for the end of the commandment charity out of a pure xim. heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned. 1'5' There therefore one work, in which are all, faith which Gal. worketh love: whence our Lord's words in the Gospel,6- This the work of God, that ye believe in Hint Whom He John hath sent. Since, therefore, in this Psalm, both old and new 29- life, life both mortal and everlasting, years that are counted
for nought, and years that have the fulness of lovingkindness and of true joy, that is, the penalty of the first and the reign of the Second Man, are marked so very clearly
imagine, that the name of Moses, the man of God, became
the title of the Psalm, that pious and rightminded readers
of the Scriptures might gain an intimation that the Mosaic
laws, in which God appears to promise only, or nearly
only, earthly rewards for good works, without doubt con
tains under veil some such hopes as this Psalm displays.
But when any one has passed over to Christ, the veil will2 Cor. s, be taken away and his eyes will be unveiled, that he may 16' cousider the wonderful things in the law of God, by the
gift of Him, to Whom we pray, Open Thou mine eyes, and pg, hq
shall see the wondrous things of Thy law.
PSALM XCI. FIRST SERMON.
,8-
Ht. xc.
This Psalm that from which the devil dared to tempt our Lord Jesus Christ . let us therefore attend to that thus armed, we may be enabled to resist the tempter, not presuming in ourselves, but in Him Who before us was
is :
it,
/I
a :
by
;
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is
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is,
6,
8,
is
a
282 Our Lord the Worker of Old Testament miracles.
Psalm tempted, that we might not be overcome when tempted. XCI. Temptation to Him was not necessary: the temptation of Christ is our learning, but if we listen to His answers to the
devil, in order that, when ourselves are tempted, we may answer in like manner, we are then entering through the gale, as ye have heard it read in the Gospel. For what is to enter
John 10, by the gate ? To enter by Christ, Who Himself said, / am the door : and to enter through Christ, is to imitate His ways. And how are we to imitate the ways of Christ? Are we to imitate Him in the glorious power which He had as God in the flesh ? is it to this that He exhorts us, this that He
of us, that we should work such miracles as He wrought ? Or does not our Lord Jesus Christ both now and evermore govern the universe with the Father ? Is it to govern heaven and earth, and all that are in them, with Him, that He calls man, or that man too may become a creator, through whom all things may be created, as all things were through Christ ? Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ invites you neither to those works, which He did from the begin-
John l, ning, of which it is written, By Him all things were made : nor to those which He performed on earth. He tells you Mat. 14, not this: Thou shalt not be My disciple, unless thou hast
Jonn U, walked upon the waves, or raised him who was four days John^ . dead, or opened the eyes of the born blind. Not this either. 1--7. ' What is it then to enter by the door ? Learn of Me, for Iam Mat. 11, meek anc[ iowiy in heart. What He became on thy account,
that thou shouldest attend to in Him, that thou mayest imitate Him. Even before He was born of Mary He wrought miracles, for who ever worked them except He of Whom it is said,
Ps. 72, He only doeth wondrous things. For it was by His power that those, who in former days worked miracles, were l Kings enabled to do so : by the power of Christ, Elias raised
' ' the dead. Unless indeed we are to suppose Peter greater
John 6, than Christ, because Christ with His voice raised the sick ; 69. .
Acts 6, while, when Peter was passing by, the sick were brought
requires
>6-
out to be touched by his shadow. And yet can it be said that Peter is more mighty than Christ? Why then had Peter such power? Because Christ was in Peter. Hence our
John 10, Saviour's words, All that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers; meaning, that those who came on a mission of
Christ imitated in temptation as well as persecution. 283
their own, were not sent by Me, they came without Me, Titls. I was not in them, nor did I introduce them; all the miracles therefore wrought either by His predecessors or successors, were the work of the same Lord Christ, Who performed miracles when He was Himself present. Neither
then does He exhort us to imitate those miracles which He worked before He became Man : but He urges us to imitate Him in those works which He could not have done had He not been made Man ; for how could He endure sufferings, unless He had become a Man ? How could He otherwise have died, been crucified, been humbled ? Thus then do thou, when thou sufferest the troubles of this world, which the devil, openly by men, or secretly, as in Job's case, inflicts ; be courageous, be of long suffering ? thou shalt dwell under the defence of the Most High, as this Psalm expresses it : for if thou depart from the help of the Most
High, without strength to aid thyself, thou wilt fall.
2. For many men are brave, when they are enduring persecution from men, and see them openly rage against
themselves : imagining they are then imitating the sufferings
of Christ, in case men openly persecute them ; but if assailed
by the hidden attack of the devil, they believe they are not being crowned by Christ. Never fear when thou dost imitate Christ. For when the devil tempted our Lord, there was no
man in the wilderness; he tempted Him secretly; but he
was conquered, and conquered too when openly attacking
Him. This do thou, if thou wishest to enter by the door,
when the enemy secretly assails thee, when he asks for a
man that he may do him some hurt by bodily troubles, by fever, by sickness, or any other bodily sufferings, like those
of Job. He saw not the devil, yet he acknowledged the power of God. He knew that the devil had no power against him, unless from the Almighty Ruler of all things
he received that power : the whole glory he gave to God, power to the devil he gave not. For when the devil robbed
him of all things, these were his words, The Lord gave, and Joh 1,
the Lord hath taken away; he said not, The Lord gave, and the devil hath taken away: since the devil could have taken nothing from him, had not the Lord permitted him. And for this cause God allowed him, that the man might be tried,
284 Satan conquered by abiding in God's protection.
Psalm and the devil conquered. When he struck him with a blow, it was by God's leave. Even when from head to foot he was wasted by worms, not even then did he attribute any power to the devil: but when his wife, whom alone the devil had left, not as the consoler of her husband, but his own helper,
Joh 2, 9- ,0'
advised him thus, Say some word against God, and die: he replied, Thou speakestas one of the foolish women speaketh. If we have received good at the hands of God, shall we not endure evil?
3. He then who so imitates Christ as to endure all the troubles of this world, with his hopes set upon God, that he falls into no snare, is broken down by no panic fears, he it is (ver. 1, 2. ) who dwelleth under the defence of the Most
High, who shall abide under the protection of God, in the words with which the Psalm, which you have heard and sung, begins. You will recognise the words, so well known, in which the devil tempted our Lord, when we come to them. He shall say unto the Lord, Thou art my laker up, and my refuge: my God. Who speaks thus to the Lord? He who dwelleth under the defence of the Most High : not under his own defence. Who is this? He dwelleth under the
defence of the Most High, who is not proud, like those who ate, that they might become as Gods, and lost the immor tality in which they were made. For they chose to dwell under a defence of their own, not under that of the Most
Gen. 3,
High: thus they listened to the suggestions of the serpent, and despised the precept of God: and discovered at last that what God threatened, not what the devil promised, bad come to pass in them.
4. (Ver. 3. ) Thus then do thou say also, In Him trill I trust. For He Himself shall deliver me, not I myself. Observe whether he teaches any thing but this, that all our trust be in God, none in man. Whence shall he deliver thee ? From the snare of the hunter, and from a harsh word. Deliverance from the hunter's net is indeed a great blessing: but how is deliverance from a harsh word so ? Many have fallen into the hunter's net through a harsh word. What is it that I say ? The devil and his angels spread their snares, as hunters do : and those who walk in Christ tread afar from those snares : for he dares not spread his net in Christ : he
What is our danger from a 4 harsh word. ' 285
sets it on the verge of the way, not in the way. Let Ver. then thy way be Christ, and thou shalt not fall into the ---
snares of the devil : when thou wanderest
there is the snare : on this side and that he sets his nooses,
on this side and that his snares :
thy path. But dost thou wish to tread in safety? Turn not
ever so slightly right or left : and let Him be thy way Who
was made thy Way, that through Himself He may lead thee John 14, to Himself, and thou shalt not dread the nooses of the6' hunters.
But what from a harsh word The devil has entrapped many by a harsh word for instance, those who profess Christianity among Pagans suffer insult from the heathen they blush when they hear reproach, and shrinking out of their path in consequence, fall into the hunter's snares. And yet what will a harsh word do to you Nothing. Can the snares with which the enemy entraps you by means of reproaches, do nothing to you Nets are usually spread for birds at the end of hedge, and stoues are thrown into the hedge those stones will not harm the birds. When did any one ever hit bird by throwing stone into hedge But the bird, frightened at the harmless noise, falls into the nets and thus men who fear the vain reproaches of their calumniators, and who blush at unprovoked insults, fall into the snares of the hunters, and are taken captive by the devil. Yet why, my brethren, do refrain from saying, what God
from the way,
among those nooses lies
urges me to say, and what must not pass unsaid ever you may receive it, God compels me to say
How unless fear of
say fall into the snares of the hunters for
man's detraction hinder me from stating am myself for fear of harsh word falling into the snares, while am admonishing you not to fear the words of men. What
then that have to tell you Just as among the heathen, the Christian who fears their reproaches falls into the snare of the hunter so among the Christians, those who endeavour to be more diligent and better than the rest, are doomed to bear insults from Christians themselves. What then doth profit, my brother, thou oc(asionally find city in which
there no heathen No one there insults a man because he Christian, for this reason, that there no Pagan
1
is ;
a is
it, aI
:
is
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a
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:
it, aI;
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a
:? if it
a
it it ? :
I is
?
:
is,
?
886 The fear of man a snare. God's shadowing ' wings. '
therein : but there are many Christians who lead a bad life,
Psalm
- among whom those who are resolved to lire righteously, and
to be sober among the drunken, and chaste among the unchaste, and amid the consulters of astrologers sincerely to worship God, and to ask after no such things, and among
of frivolous shows will go only to church, suffer from those very Christians reproaches, and harsh words, when they address such a one, ' Thou art the mighty, the righteous, thou art Elias, thou art Peter: thou hast come
from heaven. ' They insult him: whichever way he turns, he hears harsh sayings on each side : and if he fears, and abandons the way of Christ, he falls into the snares of the hunters. But what is when he hears such words, not to swerve from the way On hearing them, what comfort has he, which prevents his heeding them, and enables him to enter by the door Let him say What words am called, who am servant and sinner? To my Lord Jesus they
John said, Thou hast a devil. You have just beard the harsh
48
words spoken against our Lord: was not necessary for our Lord to suffer this, but in doing so He has warned thee against harsh words, lest thou fall into the snares of the hunters.
5. (Ver. 4. ) He shall defend thee between His shoulders, and thou shalt hope under His wings. He says this, that thy protection may not be to thee from thyself, that thou mayest not imagine that thou canst defend thyself He will defend thee, to deliver thee from the hunter's snare, and from an harsh word. The expression, between His shoulders, may be understood both in front and behind for the shoulders are about the head but in the words, thou shalt hope under His wings,' clear that the protection of the wings of God expanded places thee between His shoulders, so that God's wings on this side and that have thee in the midst, where thou shalt not fear lest any one hurt thee only be thou careful never to leave that spot, where no foe dares approach. If the hen defends her chickens beneath her wings how much more shalt thou be safe beneath the wings of God, even against the devil and his angels, the powers who fly about in mid air like hawks, to carry off the weak young one For the comparison of the hen to the very Wisdom of God not
spectators
is
?
;'
:
;
I
:
it ait, is
;
8,
; it
a
?
?
Christ likened to a Hen. Comparisons imperfect. 287 without ground ; for Christ Himself, our Lord and Saviour, Ver.
4 6'
speaks of Himself as likened to a hen ; O Jerusalem, Jeru-
I
ther, even as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would
not. That Jerusalem would not : let us be willing. She, when she abandoned her hen's wings, was carried off by the powers of the air, presuming on her own strength, when she was weak : let us, confessing our want of strength, fly to the shelter of God's wings : for He will be to us as a hen
defending her young. There is nothing offensive in the name of the hen : for if you consider other birds, brethren, you will find many that hatch their eggs, and keep their young warm: but none that weakens herself in sympathy with her chickens, as the hen does. We see swallows, sparrows, and storks outside their nests, without being able to decide whether they have young or no : but we know the hen to be a mother by the weakness of her voice, and the loosening of her feathers : she changes altogether from love
for her chickens : she weakens herself because they are
weak. Thus since we were weak, the Wisdom of God
made Itself weak, when the Word was made flesh, and John 1, dwelt in us, that we might hope under His wings.
6. (Ver. 4 -- 6. ) His truth shall surround thee with a shield.
What are the wings, the same is the shield : since there are neither wings nor shield. If either were literally, how could
the one be the same as the other ? can wings be a shield or
a shield wings? But all these expressions, indeed, are figuratively used through likenesses. If Christ were really
a Stone, He could not be a Lion ; if a Lion, He could not Acts 4, be a Lamb: but He is called both Lion, and Lamb, andj^'11. '
Stone, and Calf, and any thing else of the sort, meta-6. phorically, because He is neither Stone, nor Lion, nor Lamb,29. ' n ' nor Calf, but Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all of us, for these
are likenesses, not literal names. His truth shall he thy shield,
it is said: a shield to assure us that He will not confound
those whose trust is in themselves with those who hope in
God. One is a sinner, and the other a sinner: but suppose
one that presumes upon himself, is a despiser, confesses not
his sins, and he will say, if my sins displeased God, He
would not suffer me to live. But another dared not even
salem, how often would
Mat. '23 ' hare gathered thy children toge-37.
288 The different temptations of the night and the day.
Psalm raise his eves, but beat upon bis breast, saying, God be L^C^ ' merciful to me a sinner. Both this was a sinner, and that: 13 but the one mocked, the other mourned : the one was a
despiser, the other a confessor, of his sins. But the truth of God, which respects not persons, discerns the penitent from him who denies his sin, the humble from the proud, him who presumes upon himself from him who presumes on God. His truth, then, shall surround thee with a shield.
7. Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night, nor 1 nego- for the arrow that flieth by day; for the matter1 that
tium
toalketh in darkness, nor for the ruin and the devil that is in the noon-day. These two clauses above correspond to the two below ; Thou shalt not fear for the terror by night,
from the arrow that flieth by day : both because of the terror by night, from the matter that tralketh in darkness: and because of the arrow that flieth by duy, from the ruin of the devil of the noon-day. What ought to be feared by night, and what by day ? When any man sins in ignorance, be sins, as it were, by night : when he sins in full knowledge,
by day. The two former sins then are the lighter : the second are much heavier; but this is obscure, and will repay your attention, by God's blessing, can explain
so that you may understand it. He calls the light temptation, which the ignorant yield to, terror by night the light temptation, which assails men who well know, the arrow thai flieth by day. What are light temptations Those which do not press upon us so urgently, as to overcome us, but may pass by quickly declined. Suppose these, again, heavy ones. If the persecutor threatens, and frightens the ignorant grievously, mean those whose faith as yet
unstable, and know not that they are Christians that they may hope for life to come as soon as they are alarmed with temporal ills, they imagine that Christ has forsaken them, and that they are Christians to no purpose; they are not aware that they are Christians for this reason, that they may conquer the present, and hope for th<< future: the matter that walketh in darkness has found and seized them.
But some there are who know that they are called to future hope that what God has promised not of this life, or this earth that all these temptations must be endured,
; ;
is
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a
it
a
I
if,
if ;
: is ?
The noonday heat signifies Persecution. -289
that we may receive what God hath promised us for evermore ; Ver.
'---
all this they know : when however the persecutor urges them more strenuously, and plies them with threats, penalties, tortures, at length they yield, and although they are well aware of their sin, yet they fall as it were by day.
8. But why does he say, at noon-day? The persecution is very hot; and thus the noon signifies the excessive heat. My beloved brethren, hear me prove this from the Scriptures. When our Lord was speaking of the sower who went forth to sow, and some of the seeds fell by the way-side, some upon stony places, and some among thorns, He con descended to explain the parable Himself; and when He came to the seed which fell on the stony places, He said
thus, He that received the seed into stony places, the same Mat. 13, are they that hear the word, and for a while rejoice at the3- 23' word; and when tribulation ariseth because ofthe word, by
and by they are offended. For what had He said of the
seed which fell in these places ? When the sun was up, He
saith, they were scorched; and because they had no deep
root, they withered away. These then are they who for
a while rejoice at the word, and when persecution hath
arisen because of the word, they wither. Why do they wither? Because they had no firm root. What is that
root? Love: in the Apostle's words, that ye, being rooted Ephei. and grounded in love; for, as the love of money is the >>'00<iTim'. 6, of all evil, so is love the root of all good. This ye know, l0- and I have often repeated it ; but why have I wished to call
it to mind ? That ye may understand this Psalm, in which the demon that is in the noon-day, represents the heat of a furious persecution : for these are our Lord's words, The sun was up; and because they had no root, they withered away : and when explaining He applies to those who are offended when persecution ariselh, because they have not root in themselves. We are therefore right in understanding by the demon that desttoyeth in the noon-day, violent persecution. Listen, beloved, while describe the per secution, from which the Lord hath rescued His Church. At first, when the emperors and kings of the world imagined that they could extirpate from the earth the Christian name by persecution, they proclaimed, that any one who confessed
VOL. IV.
D
it,
I
it
a
X C I'-
i . choose to be smitten, denied that he was a Christian,
knowing the sin he was committing : the arrow that flieth by day reached him. But whoever regarded not the present life, but had a sure trust in a future one, avoided the arrow, by confessing himself a Christian ; smitten in the flesh, he was liberated in the spirit: resting with God, he began peacefully to await the redemption of his body in the resurrection of the dead: he escaped from that temptation, from the arrow that flieth by day. " Whoever professes himself a Christian, let him be beheaded;" was as the aiTow that flieth by day. The devil that is in the noon day was not yet abroad, burning with a terrible persecution, and afflicting with great heat even the strong. For hear what followed ; when the enemy saw that many were hasten ing to martyrdom, and that the number of fresh converts increased in proportion to that of the sufferers, they said among themselves, We shall annihilate the human race, so many thousands are there who believe in His Name ; if we kill all of them, there will hardly be a survivor on earth. The sun then began to blaze, and to glow with a terrible heat. Their first edict had been, Whoever shall confess himself a Christian, let him be smitten. Their second was, Whoever shall have confessed himself a Christian, let him be tortured, and tortured even until he deny himself a Christian. Com pare the arrow that flieth by day, and the devil that destroy- eth at the noon. What was the arrow flying by day ? that any confessing Christian should be smitten. What faithful believer would not avoid the arrow by a speedy death ? But the second, viz. If he confess himself a Christian, let him not be slain, but tortured until he deny : if he deny, let him be dismissed : was the demon of the noon. Many there fore who denied not, failed amid the tortures ; for they were tortured until they denied. But to those who per severed in professing Christ, w hat could the sword do, by killing the body at one stroke, and sending the soul to God ? This was the result of protracted tortures also : yet who could be found able to resist such cruel and continued torments ? Many failed : those, I believe, who presumed upon themselves, who dwelt not under the defence
290 Torture a harder trial than death.
Psalm himself a Christian, should be smitten. He who did not
Many fallfrom the ' right hand,' some from ' beside' Christ, 291
of the Most High, and under the shadow of the God of Ver. Heaven ; who said not to the Lord, Thou art my lifter up ; ----- who trusted not beneath the shadow of His wings, but reposed much confidence in their own strength. They
are thrown down by God, to shew them that it is He that protects them, He overrules their temptations, He allows so much only to befal them, as each person can sustain.
9. (Ver. 7. ) Many then fell before the demon of the noon
day. Would ye know how many ? He goes on, and says,
A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy
right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. To whom, brethren, but to Christ Jesus, is this said? For our Lord
Jesus is not only in Himself, but in us also. Remember
those words, Saul, Saul, why persecutes! thou Me ? when Acts 9, no one touched Him, and yet He said, why persecutes! thou
Me ? did He not account Himself in us ? when He said, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of /fose Mat. 25, My brethren, ye have done it unto Me, did He not account Himself as in us? For the members, the body, and the
head, are not separate from one another: the body and
the head are the Church and her Saviour. How then is
it said, A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand
by thy right hand ? Because they shall fall before the devil,
that destroyeth at noon. It is a terrible thing, my brethren,
to fall from beside Christ, from His right hand ; but how
shall they fall from beside Him ? Why the one beside Him,
the other at His right hand ? Why a thousand beside Him,
ten thousand at His right hand? Why a thousand beside
Him? Because a thousand are fewer than the ten thousand
who shall fall at His right hand. Who these are will soon
be clear in Christ's name ; for to some He promised that
they should judge with Him, namely, to the Apostles, who
left all things, and followed Him. Peter said to Him, Behold, M*t^i9, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee : and He gave them
this promise, Ye shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel. Do not imagine that it was to them
alone that this promise was made; for where, in that case,
will the Apostle Paul sit, who laboured more abundantly 16, 10. than they all, if only twelve shall sit there ? For St. Paul is
the thirteenth : since out of the twelve, Judas fell, and in his
u2
992 Others beside the Apostles shall judge with Christ.
Psalm place Matthias was ordained, as we find in the Acts of the XCI_ Apostles. Thus the twelve thrones were filled up ; but 16^26. shall not he, who laboured more than all, have a seat? Or is the number twelve the perfection of the tribunal? For
thousands
shall sit in twelve seats. But some one may
possibly ask, How do you prove to me that Paul will be 1 Cor. 6, among the judges ? Hear his own words ; Know ye not that 3' we shall judge Angels ? Thus he did not hesitate to account
himself in the fulness of his faith among those who shall judge with Christ. Those judges then are the heads of the
Mat. 19, Church, the perfect. To such He said, If thou wilt be *2' perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor.
What means the expression, if thou wilt be perfect? it means, if thou wilt judge with Me, and not be judged. That young man went away very sorrowful : but many have done, and are doing this command : and these are they who shall judge with Him. But many promise themselves they shall judge with Christ, because they forsake all, and follow
Christ: but they have a self-presumption, a certain swelling and pride, which God alone can discern, and they cannot escape the sickness of the noon-day, that is, the fall caused by the glowing heat of a too severe persecution. Many
such at that period, who had distributed their all to the poor, and already promised themselves a seat beside Christ in judgment of the nations, failed amid their torments under the blazing fire of persecution, as before the demon of the noon-day, and denied Christ. These are they who have
fallen beside Him : when about to sit with Christ for the judgment of the world, they fell.
10. I will now explain who are they who fall on the right
hand of Christ. Ye know that when the judgment-seat described, where those who have willed to be and actually become perfect, rooted and grounded in love, so that they cannot wither from the sun and the demon of the noon-day>>
Mat. 26, shall judge with Christ, our Lord saith, Before Him shall be 32' gathered all nations : and He shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd diiideth his sheep from his goats :
and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on the left ; and they shall be judged. There will be many who shall judge, but they will be fewer than those who will
is
Others that seemed such shall fall, but more of the rest. 293
stand before the tribunal ; the latter will be as ten thousand, Ver the former as a thousand. What will He say to those placed ----
on His right hand? /
was an hungred, and ye gave Me and ye took Me in ; it is clear that
I
meat ;
these words will be addressed to those who have enough of
this world's riches to discharge those humane offices. Yet both will reign together: for the one are as soldiers, the other as the provincial pay-masters1 who give the soldiers their ' See supplies: both the soldier and the provincial, nevertheless, act jj'om under the same Emperor. The soldier is brave, the provincial cxxii devoted to his duties ; the brave soldier fights with his
prayers against the devil, the devoted provincial provides the soldier with his pay. Those placed on the right hand shall hear at last these words, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. There were then many, at that time when the sun of persecution and the demon of the noon-day glowed with terrible heat, there were many, who promised themselves that they should judge with Christ; yet they could not sustain the heat of persecution, and fell from beside Him; there were others there, who did not promise themselves the
judicial seat ; but through their works of charity promised themselves a place on the right hand of Christ, among those to whom He would say, ' Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from thefoundation ofthe world. ' And because many have fallen from that hope of being judges, but yet many, many more from that of being on His right hand, the Psalmist thus addresses Christ, A thousand shall fall beside Thee, and ten thousand at Thy right hand. And since there shall be many, who regarded not all these things, with whom, as it were with His own limbs, Christ is one, he adds, But it shall not come nigh Tliee. Were these words addressed to the Head alone? Surely not; surely neither
(doth it come nigh) to Paul, nor Peter, nor all the Apostles, nor all the Martyrs, who failed not in their torments. What then do the words, it shall not come nigh, mean ? Why were tbey thus tortured ? Tue torture came nigh the flesh, but it did not reach the region of faith. Their faith then was far beyond the reach of the terrors threatened by their torturers. Let them torture, terror will not come nigh ; let them torture,
was a
stranger,
294 How persecution ' comes not nigh? those who conquer.
Piui. m but they will mock the torture, putting their trust in Him --^-who conquered before ihem, that the rest might conquer. And who conquer, except they who trust not in themselves ?
Attend, my beloved ; for all he has said above refers to this.
He shall say unto the Lord, Thou art my upholder and my
trust. For He shall deliver me refuge:andinHimwillI "
from the snare of the hunter. lie shall deliver me," not I myself. He shall defend thee between His shoulders : but when? when thou shalt trust beneath His wings: His truth shall encompass thee with a shield. Because, then, thou hast trusted in Him, and reposed all thy hopes in Him, what follows? Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day ; for the matter that walketh in darkness, nor for the downfal and the devil thai is in the noon-day. Who will not fear ? He who trusts not in himself, but in Christ. But those who trust in themselves,
although they even hope to judge at the side of Christ, although they hoped they should be at His right hand, as if He said to them, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; yet the devil that is at noon overtook them, the raging heat of persecution, terrifying with violence ; and many fell from the hope of the seat of judgment, of whom it is said, A thousand shall fall beside thee ; many too fell from the hope
1 ohse- of reward for their duties1, of whom it was said, And ten
q
2,19.
thousand at thy right hand. But this downfal and devil that
is at noon-day shall not come nigh thee, that the Head and Tim. the body for the Lord knows who are His.
y\, Ver. Nevertheless, with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the ungodly. What this Why nevertheless? Because the wicked were allowed to tyrannize over Thy servants, and to persecute them. Will they then have been allowed to persecute Thy servants with impunity Not with impunity, for although Thou hast per mitted them, and Thine own have thence received brighter
crown, nevertheless, with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the ungodly. For the evil which they willed, not the good they unconsciously were the agents of,
will be recompensed them. All that wanting the eye of faith, by which we may see that they are raised for time
is
is a a
is ?
?
; 8.
2
is,
Faith needed to see the true state ofmen. 295
only, while they shall mourn for evermore; and to those into Ver. whose hands is given temporal power over the servants of ---' - Gad, it shall be said, Depart into everlasting fire, prepared Mat. 26p
for the devil and his angels. But if every man have but41' eyes in the sense in which it is said, With thine eyes shalt thou behold, it is no unimportant thing to look upon the wicked flourishing in this life, and to have an eye to him, to consider what will become of him in the end, if he fail to reform his ways: for those who now would thunder upon others, will afterwards feel the thunderbolt themselves. Nevertheless, with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the ungodly.
12. Ver. 9. For Thou, Lord, art my hope. He has now come to the power which rescues him from falling by the downfall and the devil of the noon-day. For Thou, Lord, art my hope: Thou hast set Thy house of defence very high. What do the words very high mean ? For many make their house of defence in God a mere refuge from temporal per secution; but the defence of God is on high, and very secret, whither thou mayest fly from the wrath to come. Within Thou hast set thine house of defence very high. There shall no evil happen unto Thee : neither shall any plague come nigh Thy dwelling. For He shall give His Angels charge
over Thee, to keep Thee in all Thy ways. They shall bear Thee in their hands: that Thou hurt not Thy foot against a stone. These are the very words which Ihe devil said to our
Lord when he tempted Him ; but as they demand very careful consideration, let us defer them and the latter part of this Psalm until to-morrow, (as we owe you a discourse for to morrow also,) to begin again at the same place, in order to avoid fatiguing you; lest, when we are anxious to clear up
an obscure passage, any haste on our part may hinder your understanding it.
PSALM XCl. Lat. XC.
SECOND DISCOUBSE.
1. I doubt uot that you remember, beloved, such of you as were present yesterday at my sermon, that the shortness
296 Divers capacities ofhearers.
Psalm of time prevented my concluding the exposition of the ^Il1- Psalm, a part of which was thus deferred until this day. You who were here yesterday, remember this; you who were
not, may now know it. On this account I have caused to be read to you the chapter in the Gospel, wherein our Lord was
from the words of this Psalm. On this account Christ was tempted, that the Christian may not be overcome by the tempter : He, as the Master, willed to be tempted in all things, because we are tempted: just as He willed to die, because we die : as He willed to rise again, since we too shall rise again. For all those works which He shewed forth in humanity, Who was made Man for us, He shewed forth on our account, since He was God, through Whom we were made. And we have often impressed upon you, beloved, what we do not fear to reiterate frequently: in order that, since many of you possibly cannot read, either because they have no leisure, or know not letters, at least by constantly listening they may not forget their healthful faith. Certainly, by repeating them we may appear troublesome to some, while however we may be building up others. For we are well assured that there are many of retentive memory, and careful reading in Holy Writ, who know what we are about to say ; and perhaps they wish us to say what they do not know. But if they are quicker, let them see that they are travelling with others not so quick ; for when two persons of different speed are travelling in company, it is in the power of the quicker, and not of him who is more slow, to give or to deny his company; because if the swifter is pleased to do his utmost, the slower will not keep up with him, and so he must needs rein in his own speed, in order not to leave his fellow-traveller behind. What I have so often said, and now
Phil. 3, repeat, --as the Apostle says, To write the same things to you 1 is not grievous, hut for you it is safe, -- is this. Our Lord Jesus Christ is as one whole perfect Man, both Head and Body : we acknowledge the Head in that Man Who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontins Pilate, was
buried, arose from the dead, ascended into heaven, sitteth on the right hand of the Father, whence we await HU coming as Judge of the quick and the dead. This is the Head of the Church. The Body of this Head is the Church;
tempted
Ephes.
The Head and the Body, one Christ. The Holy City. 297
not the Church of this country only, but of the whole world Ver. as well : not that of this age only, but from Abel himself ----- down to those who shall to the end be born and believe in Christ, the whole assembly of the Saints, belonging to one
city ; which city is Christ's body, of which Christ is the Head. There, too, dwell the Angels, who are our fellow- citizens: we toil, because we are as yet pilgrims: while they within that city are awaiting our arrival.
the Lord. Hence are the words, In Thy presence is fulness n] ofjoy : and, Early in the morniny they shall stand by, andP>>-5i3- shall look up : and as other translators have said We
shall be satisfied with Thy mercy in the morniny; then they
shall be satisfied. As he says elsewhere, shall be satisfied, Ps- 17, when Thy ylory shall be revealed. So said, Lord, shea? j0j,ni4, us the Father, and sufficeth us: and our Lord Himself 21. answereth, will manifest Myself to Zion and until this promise fulfilled, no blessing satisfies us, or ought to do
so, lest our longings should be arrested in their course, when they ought to be increased until they gain their objects. We have been satisfied with Thy mercy in the morniny and we rejoiced and were ylad all the days ofour
Those days are days without end: they all exist together thus they satisfy us for they give not way to days succeeding since there nothing there which exists not yet because has not reached us, or ceases to exist
because has passed; all are together: because there one
day only, which remains and passes not away this
eternity itself. These are the days respecting which
written, What man he that lusteth to lice, and would fain Ps. 3i, see good days? These days in another passage are styled12'
thus been kindled for us. in the midst of these toils and . 14.
sorrows of the night, like a lamp in the darkness, until day 2 pet l dawn, and the Day-star arise in our hearts. For blessed are 19.
the pure in heart, for they shall see God: then shall the Matt. 6, righteous be filled with that blessing for which they hunger J'^' 6 and thirst now, while, walking in faith, they are absent from 6.
'
life.
where unto God said, But Thou art the same, Ps. 102, and Thy years shall not fail: for these are not years that are
accounted for nothing, or days that perish like shadow but they are days which have real existence, the number of which he who thus spoke, Ixnd, let me know mine end,
(that is, after reaching what term shall remain unchanged,
and have no further blessing to crave,) and the number of
my days, what is: (what not what not:) prayed to know. He distinguishes them from the days of this life, of which he speaks as follows, Behold, Thou hast made myps. 39, days as were a span lony, which are not, because they6-6' stand not, remain not, but change in quick succession nor
years
:
it is is is
it,
it
it
it
: it is
;
is /
is,
a
it is
is
;
it / is
:
is I:
a
:
:
8,
is
it
: it
280 The Saints, as God's workmanship, pray for direction.
Psalm is there a single hour in them in which our being is not such, XC' but that one part of it has already passed, another is about to come, and none remains as it is. But those years and days, in which we too shall never fail, but evermore be
refreshed, will never fail. Let our souls long earnestly for those days, let them thirst ardently for them, that there we may be filled, be satisfied, and say what we now say in anticipation, We have been satisfied with Thy mercy in the morning; we hare rejoiced and were glad all the days of
our life. (Ver. 15. ) We have been comforted again now, after the time that Thou hast brought us low, and for the
years wherein we have seen evil.
16. But now in days that are as yet evil, let us speak
as follows. (Ver. 16. ) Look upon Thy servants, and upon Thy works. For Thy servants themselves are Thy works, not only inasmuch as they are men, but as Thy servants,
that is, obedient to Thy commands. For we are His work
manship, created not merely in Adam, but in Christ Jesus, Eph. 2, unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them: for it is God which worketh in us 2>> 13. both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
And direct their sons: that they may be right in heart, for
to such God is bountiful ; for God is bountiful to Israel, to
Ps. 73, those that are right in heart. Unlike him whose feet had
2, **?
17. Ver. 17. And let the brightness of the Lord our God be Pi. 4 6. uPon us < whence the words, " O Lord, the light of Thy
countenance is marked upon us. " And, Slake Thou straight the works of our hands upon us : that we may do them not for hope of earthly reward : for then they are not straight, but crooked. In many copies the Psalm goes thus far, but in some there is found an additional verse at the end, as follows, And make straight the work of our hands. To these words the learned have prefixed a star, called an
asterisk, to shew that they are found in the Hebrew, or in some other Greek translations, but not in the Septuagint.
Philip,
well-nigh slipped, because he began to be displeased at God while he looked upon the prosperity of the wicked, as if God Himself knew not, or cared not for, their sins, and would not undertake to govern the human race.
The meaning of this verse, if we are to expound
appears
it,
All good works, one work. Gospel veiled in the Law. 281
to me this, that all our good works are one work of love : for Van love is the fulfilling of the Law. For as in the former verse
he had said, And the works of our hands make Thou 13, io. straight upon us, here he says work, not works, as if
anxious to shew, in the last verse, that all our works are one, that are directed with view to one work. For then are works righteous, when they are directed to this one end:
for the end of the commandment charity out of a pure xim. heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned. 1'5' There therefore one work, in which are all, faith which Gal. worketh love: whence our Lord's words in the Gospel,6- This the work of God, that ye believe in Hint Whom He John hath sent. Since, therefore, in this Psalm, both old and new 29- life, life both mortal and everlasting, years that are counted
for nought, and years that have the fulness of lovingkindness and of true joy, that is, the penalty of the first and the reign of the Second Man, are marked so very clearly
imagine, that the name of Moses, the man of God, became
the title of the Psalm, that pious and rightminded readers
of the Scriptures might gain an intimation that the Mosaic
laws, in which God appears to promise only, or nearly
only, earthly rewards for good works, without doubt con
tains under veil some such hopes as this Psalm displays.
But when any one has passed over to Christ, the veil will2 Cor. s, be taken away and his eyes will be unveiled, that he may 16' cousider the wonderful things in the law of God, by the
gift of Him, to Whom we pray, Open Thou mine eyes, and pg, hq
shall see the wondrous things of Thy law.
PSALM XCI. FIRST SERMON.
,8-
Ht. xc.
This Psalm that from which the devil dared to tempt our Lord Jesus Christ . let us therefore attend to that thus armed, we may be enabled to resist the tempter, not presuming in ourselves, but in Him Who before us was
is :
it,
/I
a :
by
;
i
is
is
is,
6,
8,
is
a
282 Our Lord the Worker of Old Testament miracles.
Psalm tempted, that we might not be overcome when tempted. XCI. Temptation to Him was not necessary: the temptation of Christ is our learning, but if we listen to His answers to the
devil, in order that, when ourselves are tempted, we may answer in like manner, we are then entering through the gale, as ye have heard it read in the Gospel. For what is to enter
John 10, by the gate ? To enter by Christ, Who Himself said, / am the door : and to enter through Christ, is to imitate His ways. And how are we to imitate the ways of Christ? Are we to imitate Him in the glorious power which He had as God in the flesh ? is it to this that He exhorts us, this that He
of us, that we should work such miracles as He wrought ? Or does not our Lord Jesus Christ both now and evermore govern the universe with the Father ? Is it to govern heaven and earth, and all that are in them, with Him, that He calls man, or that man too may become a creator, through whom all things may be created, as all things were through Christ ? Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ invites you neither to those works, which He did from the begin-
John l, ning, of which it is written, By Him all things were made : nor to those which He performed on earth. He tells you Mat. 14, not this: Thou shalt not be My disciple, unless thou hast
Jonn U, walked upon the waves, or raised him who was four days John^ . dead, or opened the eyes of the born blind. Not this either. 1--7. ' What is it then to enter by the door ? Learn of Me, for Iam Mat. 11, meek anc[ iowiy in heart. What He became on thy account,
that thou shouldest attend to in Him, that thou mayest imitate Him. Even before He was born of Mary He wrought miracles, for who ever worked them except He of Whom it is said,
Ps. 72, He only doeth wondrous things. For it was by His power that those, who in former days worked miracles, were l Kings enabled to do so : by the power of Christ, Elias raised
' ' the dead. Unless indeed we are to suppose Peter greater
John 6, than Christ, because Christ with His voice raised the sick ; 69. .
Acts 6, while, when Peter was passing by, the sick were brought
requires
>6-
out to be touched by his shadow. And yet can it be said that Peter is more mighty than Christ? Why then had Peter such power? Because Christ was in Peter. Hence our
John 10, Saviour's words, All that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers; meaning, that those who came on a mission of
Christ imitated in temptation as well as persecution. 283
their own, were not sent by Me, they came without Me, Titls. I was not in them, nor did I introduce them; all the miracles therefore wrought either by His predecessors or successors, were the work of the same Lord Christ, Who performed miracles when He was Himself present. Neither
then does He exhort us to imitate those miracles which He worked before He became Man : but He urges us to imitate Him in those works which He could not have done had He not been made Man ; for how could He endure sufferings, unless He had become a Man ? How could He otherwise have died, been crucified, been humbled ? Thus then do thou, when thou sufferest the troubles of this world, which the devil, openly by men, or secretly, as in Job's case, inflicts ; be courageous, be of long suffering ? thou shalt dwell under the defence of the Most High, as this Psalm expresses it : for if thou depart from the help of the Most
High, without strength to aid thyself, thou wilt fall.
2. For many men are brave, when they are enduring persecution from men, and see them openly rage against
themselves : imagining they are then imitating the sufferings
of Christ, in case men openly persecute them ; but if assailed
by the hidden attack of the devil, they believe they are not being crowned by Christ. Never fear when thou dost imitate Christ. For when the devil tempted our Lord, there was no
man in the wilderness; he tempted Him secretly; but he
was conquered, and conquered too when openly attacking
Him. This do thou, if thou wishest to enter by the door,
when the enemy secretly assails thee, when he asks for a
man that he may do him some hurt by bodily troubles, by fever, by sickness, or any other bodily sufferings, like those
of Job. He saw not the devil, yet he acknowledged the power of God. He knew that the devil had no power against him, unless from the Almighty Ruler of all things
he received that power : the whole glory he gave to God, power to the devil he gave not. For when the devil robbed
him of all things, these were his words, The Lord gave, and Joh 1,
the Lord hath taken away; he said not, The Lord gave, and the devil hath taken away: since the devil could have taken nothing from him, had not the Lord permitted him. And for this cause God allowed him, that the man might be tried,
284 Satan conquered by abiding in God's protection.
Psalm and the devil conquered. When he struck him with a blow, it was by God's leave. Even when from head to foot he was wasted by worms, not even then did he attribute any power to the devil: but when his wife, whom alone the devil had left, not as the consoler of her husband, but his own helper,
Joh 2, 9- ,0'
advised him thus, Say some word against God, and die: he replied, Thou speakestas one of the foolish women speaketh. If we have received good at the hands of God, shall we not endure evil?
3. He then who so imitates Christ as to endure all the troubles of this world, with his hopes set upon God, that he falls into no snare, is broken down by no panic fears, he it is (ver. 1, 2. ) who dwelleth under the defence of the Most
High, who shall abide under the protection of God, in the words with which the Psalm, which you have heard and sung, begins. You will recognise the words, so well known, in which the devil tempted our Lord, when we come to them. He shall say unto the Lord, Thou art my laker up, and my refuge: my God. Who speaks thus to the Lord? He who dwelleth under the defence of the Most High : not under his own defence. Who is this? He dwelleth under the
defence of the Most High, who is not proud, like those who ate, that they might become as Gods, and lost the immor tality in which they were made. For they chose to dwell under a defence of their own, not under that of the Most
Gen. 3,
High: thus they listened to the suggestions of the serpent, and despised the precept of God: and discovered at last that what God threatened, not what the devil promised, bad come to pass in them.
4. (Ver. 3. ) Thus then do thou say also, In Him trill I trust. For He Himself shall deliver me, not I myself. Observe whether he teaches any thing but this, that all our trust be in God, none in man. Whence shall he deliver thee ? From the snare of the hunter, and from a harsh word. Deliverance from the hunter's net is indeed a great blessing: but how is deliverance from a harsh word so ? Many have fallen into the hunter's net through a harsh word. What is it that I say ? The devil and his angels spread their snares, as hunters do : and those who walk in Christ tread afar from those snares : for he dares not spread his net in Christ : he
What is our danger from a 4 harsh word. ' 285
sets it on the verge of the way, not in the way. Let Ver. then thy way be Christ, and thou shalt not fall into the ---
snares of the devil : when thou wanderest
there is the snare : on this side and that he sets his nooses,
on this side and that his snares :
thy path. But dost thou wish to tread in safety? Turn not
ever so slightly right or left : and let Him be thy way Who
was made thy Way, that through Himself He may lead thee John 14, to Himself, and thou shalt not dread the nooses of the6' hunters.
But what from a harsh word The devil has entrapped many by a harsh word for instance, those who profess Christianity among Pagans suffer insult from the heathen they blush when they hear reproach, and shrinking out of their path in consequence, fall into the hunter's snares. And yet what will a harsh word do to you Nothing. Can the snares with which the enemy entraps you by means of reproaches, do nothing to you Nets are usually spread for birds at the end of hedge, and stoues are thrown into the hedge those stones will not harm the birds. When did any one ever hit bird by throwing stone into hedge But the bird, frightened at the harmless noise, falls into the nets and thus men who fear the vain reproaches of their calumniators, and who blush at unprovoked insults, fall into the snares of the hunters, and are taken captive by the devil. Yet why, my brethren, do refrain from saying, what God
from the way,
among those nooses lies
urges me to say, and what must not pass unsaid ever you may receive it, God compels me to say
How unless fear of
say fall into the snares of the hunters for
man's detraction hinder me from stating am myself for fear of harsh word falling into the snares, while am admonishing you not to fear the words of men. What
then that have to tell you Just as among the heathen, the Christian who fears their reproaches falls into the snare of the hunter so among the Christians, those who endeavour to be more diligent and better than the rest, are doomed to bear insults from Christians themselves. What then doth profit, my brother, thou oc(asionally find city in which
there no heathen No one there insults a man because he Christian, for this reason, that there no Pagan
1
is ;
a is
it, aI
:
is
?
a
a
I if
:
it, aI;
?
?
I
I
a
:? if it
a
it it ? :
I is
?
:
is,
?
886 The fear of man a snare. God's shadowing ' wings. '
therein : but there are many Christians who lead a bad life,
Psalm
- among whom those who are resolved to lire righteously, and
to be sober among the drunken, and chaste among the unchaste, and amid the consulters of astrologers sincerely to worship God, and to ask after no such things, and among
of frivolous shows will go only to church, suffer from those very Christians reproaches, and harsh words, when they address such a one, ' Thou art the mighty, the righteous, thou art Elias, thou art Peter: thou hast come
from heaven. ' They insult him: whichever way he turns, he hears harsh sayings on each side : and if he fears, and abandons the way of Christ, he falls into the snares of the hunters. But what is when he hears such words, not to swerve from the way On hearing them, what comfort has he, which prevents his heeding them, and enables him to enter by the door Let him say What words am called, who am servant and sinner? To my Lord Jesus they
John said, Thou hast a devil. You have just beard the harsh
48
words spoken against our Lord: was not necessary for our Lord to suffer this, but in doing so He has warned thee against harsh words, lest thou fall into the snares of the hunters.
5. (Ver. 4. ) He shall defend thee between His shoulders, and thou shalt hope under His wings. He says this, that thy protection may not be to thee from thyself, that thou mayest not imagine that thou canst defend thyself He will defend thee, to deliver thee from the hunter's snare, and from an harsh word. The expression, between His shoulders, may be understood both in front and behind for the shoulders are about the head but in the words, thou shalt hope under His wings,' clear that the protection of the wings of God expanded places thee between His shoulders, so that God's wings on this side and that have thee in the midst, where thou shalt not fear lest any one hurt thee only be thou careful never to leave that spot, where no foe dares approach. If the hen defends her chickens beneath her wings how much more shalt thou be safe beneath the wings of God, even against the devil and his angels, the powers who fly about in mid air like hawks, to carry off the weak young one For the comparison of the hen to the very Wisdom of God not
spectators
is
?
;'
:
;
I
:
it ait, is
;
8,
; it
a
?
?
Christ likened to a Hen. Comparisons imperfect. 287 without ground ; for Christ Himself, our Lord and Saviour, Ver.
4 6'
speaks of Himself as likened to a hen ; O Jerusalem, Jeru-
I
ther, even as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would
not. That Jerusalem would not : let us be willing. She, when she abandoned her hen's wings, was carried off by the powers of the air, presuming on her own strength, when she was weak : let us, confessing our want of strength, fly to the shelter of God's wings : for He will be to us as a hen
defending her young. There is nothing offensive in the name of the hen : for if you consider other birds, brethren, you will find many that hatch their eggs, and keep their young warm: but none that weakens herself in sympathy with her chickens, as the hen does. We see swallows, sparrows, and storks outside their nests, without being able to decide whether they have young or no : but we know the hen to be a mother by the weakness of her voice, and the loosening of her feathers : she changes altogether from love
for her chickens : she weakens herself because they are
weak. Thus since we were weak, the Wisdom of God
made Itself weak, when the Word was made flesh, and John 1, dwelt in us, that we might hope under His wings.
6. (Ver. 4 -- 6. ) His truth shall surround thee with a shield.
What are the wings, the same is the shield : since there are neither wings nor shield. If either were literally, how could
the one be the same as the other ? can wings be a shield or
a shield wings? But all these expressions, indeed, are figuratively used through likenesses. If Christ were really
a Stone, He could not be a Lion ; if a Lion, He could not Acts 4, be a Lamb: but He is called both Lion, and Lamb, andj^'11. '
Stone, and Calf, and any thing else of the sort, meta-6. phorically, because He is neither Stone, nor Lion, nor Lamb,29. ' n ' nor Calf, but Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all of us, for these
are likenesses, not literal names. His truth shall he thy shield,
it is said: a shield to assure us that He will not confound
those whose trust is in themselves with those who hope in
God. One is a sinner, and the other a sinner: but suppose
one that presumes upon himself, is a despiser, confesses not
his sins, and he will say, if my sins displeased God, He
would not suffer me to live. But another dared not even
salem, how often would
Mat. '23 ' hare gathered thy children toge-37.
288 The different temptations of the night and the day.
Psalm raise his eves, but beat upon bis breast, saying, God be L^C^ ' merciful to me a sinner. Both this was a sinner, and that: 13 but the one mocked, the other mourned : the one was a
despiser, the other a confessor, of his sins. But the truth of God, which respects not persons, discerns the penitent from him who denies his sin, the humble from the proud, him who presumes upon himself from him who presumes on God. His truth, then, shall surround thee with a shield.
7. Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night, nor 1 nego- for the arrow that flieth by day; for the matter1 that
tium
toalketh in darkness, nor for the ruin and the devil that is in the noon-day. These two clauses above correspond to the two below ; Thou shalt not fear for the terror by night,
from the arrow that flieth by day : both because of the terror by night, from the matter that tralketh in darkness: and because of the arrow that flieth by duy, from the ruin of the devil of the noon-day. What ought to be feared by night, and what by day ? When any man sins in ignorance, be sins, as it were, by night : when he sins in full knowledge,
by day. The two former sins then are the lighter : the second are much heavier; but this is obscure, and will repay your attention, by God's blessing, can explain
so that you may understand it. He calls the light temptation, which the ignorant yield to, terror by night the light temptation, which assails men who well know, the arrow thai flieth by day. What are light temptations Those which do not press upon us so urgently, as to overcome us, but may pass by quickly declined. Suppose these, again, heavy ones. If the persecutor threatens, and frightens the ignorant grievously, mean those whose faith as yet
unstable, and know not that they are Christians that they may hope for life to come as soon as they are alarmed with temporal ills, they imagine that Christ has forsaken them, and that they are Christians to no purpose; they are not aware that they are Christians for this reason, that they may conquer the present, and hope for th<< future: the matter that walketh in darkness has found and seized them.
But some there are who know that they are called to future hope that what God has promised not of this life, or this earth that all these temptations must be endured,
; ;
is
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it
a
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if ;
: is ?
The noonday heat signifies Persecution. -289
that we may receive what God hath promised us for evermore ; Ver.
'---
all this they know : when however the persecutor urges them more strenuously, and plies them with threats, penalties, tortures, at length they yield, and although they are well aware of their sin, yet they fall as it were by day.
8. But why does he say, at noon-day? The persecution is very hot; and thus the noon signifies the excessive heat. My beloved brethren, hear me prove this from the Scriptures. When our Lord was speaking of the sower who went forth to sow, and some of the seeds fell by the way-side, some upon stony places, and some among thorns, He con descended to explain the parable Himself; and when He came to the seed which fell on the stony places, He said
thus, He that received the seed into stony places, the same Mat. 13, are they that hear the word, and for a while rejoice at the3- 23' word; and when tribulation ariseth because ofthe word, by
and by they are offended. For what had He said of the
seed which fell in these places ? When the sun was up, He
saith, they were scorched; and because they had no deep
root, they withered away. These then are they who for
a while rejoice at the word, and when persecution hath
arisen because of the word, they wither. Why do they wither? Because they had no firm root. What is that
root? Love: in the Apostle's words, that ye, being rooted Ephei. and grounded in love; for, as the love of money is the >>'00<iTim'. 6, of all evil, so is love the root of all good. This ye know, l0- and I have often repeated it ; but why have I wished to call
it to mind ? That ye may understand this Psalm, in which the demon that is in the noon-day, represents the heat of a furious persecution : for these are our Lord's words, The sun was up; and because they had no root, they withered away : and when explaining He applies to those who are offended when persecution ariselh, because they have not root in themselves. We are therefore right in understanding by the demon that desttoyeth in the noon-day, violent persecution. Listen, beloved, while describe the per secution, from which the Lord hath rescued His Church. At first, when the emperors and kings of the world imagined that they could extirpate from the earth the Christian name by persecution, they proclaimed, that any one who confessed
VOL. IV.
D
it,
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i . choose to be smitten, denied that he was a Christian,
knowing the sin he was committing : the arrow that flieth by day reached him. But whoever regarded not the present life, but had a sure trust in a future one, avoided the arrow, by confessing himself a Christian ; smitten in the flesh, he was liberated in the spirit: resting with God, he began peacefully to await the redemption of his body in the resurrection of the dead: he escaped from that temptation, from the arrow that flieth by day. " Whoever professes himself a Christian, let him be beheaded;" was as the aiTow that flieth by day. The devil that is in the noon day was not yet abroad, burning with a terrible persecution, and afflicting with great heat even the strong. For hear what followed ; when the enemy saw that many were hasten ing to martyrdom, and that the number of fresh converts increased in proportion to that of the sufferers, they said among themselves, We shall annihilate the human race, so many thousands are there who believe in His Name ; if we kill all of them, there will hardly be a survivor on earth. The sun then began to blaze, and to glow with a terrible heat. Their first edict had been, Whoever shall confess himself a Christian, let him be smitten. Their second was, Whoever shall have confessed himself a Christian, let him be tortured, and tortured even until he deny himself a Christian. Com pare the arrow that flieth by day, and the devil that destroy- eth at the noon. What was the arrow flying by day ? that any confessing Christian should be smitten. What faithful believer would not avoid the arrow by a speedy death ? But the second, viz. If he confess himself a Christian, let him not be slain, but tortured until he deny : if he deny, let him be dismissed : was the demon of the noon. Many there fore who denied not, failed amid the tortures ; for they were tortured until they denied. But to those who per severed in professing Christ, w hat could the sword do, by killing the body at one stroke, and sending the soul to God ? This was the result of protracted tortures also : yet who could be found able to resist such cruel and continued torments ? Many failed : those, I believe, who presumed upon themselves, who dwelt not under the defence
290 Torture a harder trial than death.
Psalm himself a Christian, should be smitten. He who did not
Many fallfrom the ' right hand,' some from ' beside' Christ, 291
of the Most High, and under the shadow of the God of Ver. Heaven ; who said not to the Lord, Thou art my lifter up ; ----- who trusted not beneath the shadow of His wings, but reposed much confidence in their own strength. They
are thrown down by God, to shew them that it is He that protects them, He overrules their temptations, He allows so much only to befal them, as each person can sustain.
9. (Ver. 7. ) Many then fell before the demon of the noon
day. Would ye know how many ? He goes on, and says,
A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy
right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. To whom, brethren, but to Christ Jesus, is this said? For our Lord
Jesus is not only in Himself, but in us also. Remember
those words, Saul, Saul, why persecutes! thou Me ? when Acts 9, no one touched Him, and yet He said, why persecutes! thou
Me ? did He not account Himself in us ? when He said, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of /fose Mat. 25, My brethren, ye have done it unto Me, did He not account Himself as in us? For the members, the body, and the
head, are not separate from one another: the body and
the head are the Church and her Saviour. How then is
it said, A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand
by thy right hand ? Because they shall fall before the devil,
that destroyeth at noon. It is a terrible thing, my brethren,
to fall from beside Christ, from His right hand ; but how
shall they fall from beside Him ? Why the one beside Him,
the other at His right hand ? Why a thousand beside Him,
ten thousand at His right hand? Why a thousand beside
Him? Because a thousand are fewer than the ten thousand
who shall fall at His right hand. Who these are will soon
be clear in Christ's name ; for to some He promised that
they should judge with Him, namely, to the Apostles, who
left all things, and followed Him. Peter said to Him, Behold, M*t^i9, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee : and He gave them
this promise, Ye shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel. Do not imagine that it was to them
alone that this promise was made; for where, in that case,
will the Apostle Paul sit, who laboured more abundantly 16, 10. than they all, if only twelve shall sit there ? For St. Paul is
the thirteenth : since out of the twelve, Judas fell, and in his
u2
992 Others beside the Apostles shall judge with Christ.
Psalm place Matthias was ordained, as we find in the Acts of the XCI_ Apostles. Thus the twelve thrones were filled up ; but 16^26. shall not he, who laboured more than all, have a seat? Or is the number twelve the perfection of the tribunal? For
thousands
shall sit in twelve seats. But some one may
possibly ask, How do you prove to me that Paul will be 1 Cor. 6, among the judges ? Hear his own words ; Know ye not that 3' we shall judge Angels ? Thus he did not hesitate to account
himself in the fulness of his faith among those who shall judge with Christ. Those judges then are the heads of the
Mat. 19, Church, the perfect. To such He said, If thou wilt be *2' perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor.
What means the expression, if thou wilt be perfect? it means, if thou wilt judge with Me, and not be judged. That young man went away very sorrowful : but many have done, and are doing this command : and these are they who shall judge with Him. But many promise themselves they shall judge with Christ, because they forsake all, and follow
Christ: but they have a self-presumption, a certain swelling and pride, which God alone can discern, and they cannot escape the sickness of the noon-day, that is, the fall caused by the glowing heat of a too severe persecution. Many
such at that period, who had distributed their all to the poor, and already promised themselves a seat beside Christ in judgment of the nations, failed amid their torments under the blazing fire of persecution, as before the demon of the noon-day, and denied Christ. These are they who have
fallen beside Him : when about to sit with Christ for the judgment of the world, they fell.
10. I will now explain who are they who fall on the right
hand of Christ. Ye know that when the judgment-seat described, where those who have willed to be and actually become perfect, rooted and grounded in love, so that they cannot wither from the sun and the demon of the noon-day>>
Mat. 26, shall judge with Christ, our Lord saith, Before Him shall be 32' gathered all nations : and He shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd diiideth his sheep from his goats :
and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on the left ; and they shall be judged. There will be many who shall judge, but they will be fewer than those who will
is
Others that seemed such shall fall, but more of the rest. 293
stand before the tribunal ; the latter will be as ten thousand, Ver the former as a thousand. What will He say to those placed ----
on His right hand? /
was an hungred, and ye gave Me and ye took Me in ; it is clear that
I
meat ;
these words will be addressed to those who have enough of
this world's riches to discharge those humane offices. Yet both will reign together: for the one are as soldiers, the other as the provincial pay-masters1 who give the soldiers their ' See supplies: both the soldier and the provincial, nevertheless, act jj'om under the same Emperor. The soldier is brave, the provincial cxxii devoted to his duties ; the brave soldier fights with his
prayers against the devil, the devoted provincial provides the soldier with his pay. Those placed on the right hand shall hear at last these words, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. There were then many, at that time when the sun of persecution and the demon of the noon-day glowed with terrible heat, there were many, who promised themselves that they should judge with Christ; yet they could not sustain the heat of persecution, and fell from beside Him; there were others there, who did not promise themselves the
judicial seat ; but through their works of charity promised themselves a place on the right hand of Christ, among those to whom He would say, ' Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from thefoundation ofthe world. ' And because many have fallen from that hope of being judges, but yet many, many more from that of being on His right hand, the Psalmist thus addresses Christ, A thousand shall fall beside Thee, and ten thousand at Thy right hand. And since there shall be many, who regarded not all these things, with whom, as it were with His own limbs, Christ is one, he adds, But it shall not come nigh Tliee. Were these words addressed to the Head alone? Surely not; surely neither
(doth it come nigh) to Paul, nor Peter, nor all the Apostles, nor all the Martyrs, who failed not in their torments. What then do the words, it shall not come nigh, mean ? Why were tbey thus tortured ? Tue torture came nigh the flesh, but it did not reach the region of faith. Their faith then was far beyond the reach of the terrors threatened by their torturers. Let them torture, terror will not come nigh ; let them torture,
was a
stranger,
294 How persecution ' comes not nigh? those who conquer.
Piui. m but they will mock the torture, putting their trust in Him --^-who conquered before ihem, that the rest might conquer. And who conquer, except they who trust not in themselves ?
Attend, my beloved ; for all he has said above refers to this.
He shall say unto the Lord, Thou art my upholder and my
trust. For He shall deliver me refuge:andinHimwillI "
from the snare of the hunter. lie shall deliver me," not I myself. He shall defend thee between His shoulders : but when? when thou shalt trust beneath His wings: His truth shall encompass thee with a shield. Because, then, thou hast trusted in Him, and reposed all thy hopes in Him, what follows? Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day ; for the matter that walketh in darkness, nor for the downfal and the devil thai is in the noon-day. Who will not fear ? He who trusts not in himself, but in Christ. But those who trust in themselves,
although they even hope to judge at the side of Christ, although they hoped they should be at His right hand, as if He said to them, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; yet the devil that is at noon overtook them, the raging heat of persecution, terrifying with violence ; and many fell from the hope of the seat of judgment, of whom it is said, A thousand shall fall beside thee ; many too fell from the hope
1 ohse- of reward for their duties1, of whom it was said, And ten
q
2,19.
thousand at thy right hand. But this downfal and devil that
is at noon-day shall not come nigh thee, that the Head and Tim. the body for the Lord knows who are His.
y\, Ver. Nevertheless, with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the ungodly. What this Why nevertheless? Because the wicked were allowed to tyrannize over Thy servants, and to persecute them. Will they then have been allowed to persecute Thy servants with impunity Not with impunity, for although Thou hast per mitted them, and Thine own have thence received brighter
crown, nevertheless, with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the ungodly. For the evil which they willed, not the good they unconsciously were the agents of,
will be recompensed them. All that wanting the eye of faith, by which we may see that they are raised for time
is
is a a
is ?
?
; 8.
2
is,
Faith needed to see the true state ofmen. 295
only, while they shall mourn for evermore; and to those into Ver. whose hands is given temporal power over the servants of ---' - Gad, it shall be said, Depart into everlasting fire, prepared Mat. 26p
for the devil and his angels. But if every man have but41' eyes in the sense in which it is said, With thine eyes shalt thou behold, it is no unimportant thing to look upon the wicked flourishing in this life, and to have an eye to him, to consider what will become of him in the end, if he fail to reform his ways: for those who now would thunder upon others, will afterwards feel the thunderbolt themselves. Nevertheless, with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the ungodly.
12. Ver. 9. For Thou, Lord, art my hope. He has now come to the power which rescues him from falling by the downfall and the devil of the noon-day. For Thou, Lord, art my hope: Thou hast set Thy house of defence very high. What do the words very high mean ? For many make their house of defence in God a mere refuge from temporal per secution; but the defence of God is on high, and very secret, whither thou mayest fly from the wrath to come. Within Thou hast set thine house of defence very high. There shall no evil happen unto Thee : neither shall any plague come nigh Thy dwelling. For He shall give His Angels charge
over Thee, to keep Thee in all Thy ways. They shall bear Thee in their hands: that Thou hurt not Thy foot against a stone. These are the very words which Ihe devil said to our
Lord when he tempted Him ; but as they demand very careful consideration, let us defer them and the latter part of this Psalm until to-morrow, (as we owe you a discourse for to morrow also,) to begin again at the same place, in order to avoid fatiguing you; lest, when we are anxious to clear up
an obscure passage, any haste on our part may hinder your understanding it.
PSALM XCl. Lat. XC.
SECOND DISCOUBSE.
1. I doubt uot that you remember, beloved, such of you as were present yesterday at my sermon, that the shortness
296 Divers capacities ofhearers.
Psalm of time prevented my concluding the exposition of the ^Il1- Psalm, a part of which was thus deferred until this day. You who were here yesterday, remember this; you who were
not, may now know it. On this account I have caused to be read to you the chapter in the Gospel, wherein our Lord was
from the words of this Psalm. On this account Christ was tempted, that the Christian may not be overcome by the tempter : He, as the Master, willed to be tempted in all things, because we are tempted: just as He willed to die, because we die : as He willed to rise again, since we too shall rise again. For all those works which He shewed forth in humanity, Who was made Man for us, He shewed forth on our account, since He was God, through Whom we were made. And we have often impressed upon you, beloved, what we do not fear to reiterate frequently: in order that, since many of you possibly cannot read, either because they have no leisure, or know not letters, at least by constantly listening they may not forget their healthful faith. Certainly, by repeating them we may appear troublesome to some, while however we may be building up others. For we are well assured that there are many of retentive memory, and careful reading in Holy Writ, who know what we are about to say ; and perhaps they wish us to say what they do not know. But if they are quicker, let them see that they are travelling with others not so quick ; for when two persons of different speed are travelling in company, it is in the power of the quicker, and not of him who is more slow, to give or to deny his company; because if the swifter is pleased to do his utmost, the slower will not keep up with him, and so he must needs rein in his own speed, in order not to leave his fellow-traveller behind. What I have so often said, and now
Phil. 3, repeat, --as the Apostle says, To write the same things to you 1 is not grievous, hut for you it is safe, -- is this. Our Lord Jesus Christ is as one whole perfect Man, both Head and Body : we acknowledge the Head in that Man Who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontins Pilate, was
buried, arose from the dead, ascended into heaven, sitteth on the right hand of the Father, whence we await HU coming as Judge of the quick and the dead. This is the Head of the Church. The Body of this Head is the Church;
tempted
Ephes.
The Head and the Body, one Christ. The Holy City. 297
not the Church of this country only, but of the whole world Ver. as well : not that of this age only, but from Abel himself ----- down to those who shall to the end be born and believe in Christ, the whole assembly of the Saints, belonging to one
city ; which city is Christ's body, of which Christ is the Head. There, too, dwell the Angels, who are our fellow- citizens: we toil, because we are as yet pilgrims: while they within that city are awaiting our arrival.
