The Title of this eighty-seventh Psalm
contains
a fresh subject for enquiry: the words occurring here, for Melech to respond, being no where else found.
Augustine - Exposition on the Psalms - v4
the voice, Saul, Saul, why persecvtest thou Me?
So, when the A foot is trodden upon, the tongue says, Thou treadest upon 4.
me, though no man touched the tongue : it cries out from sympathy, not that it is trodden upon.
Still Christ is here in want, Christ here still journeys, Christ here is sick, Christ
'
here is in bonds. In saying this we should wrong Him, had
He not told ns this truthIin His own words,
I was thirsty, and ye
was an hungred, Mat. 28,
3 ' 40-
Me :
we Thee an hungred, and fed Thee ? and He shall answer, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one ofthe least ofthese My brethren, ye have done it unto Me. Let us therefore build our
selves up in Christ on the foundation of the Apostles and Pro- Eph. J, phets, Himself being the chief corner stone: For the Lord20' loveth Sion above all the dwellings of Jacob. But this does not
mean that Sion is not among the dwellings of Jacob : where
was indeed, but in the people of Jacob? for Jacob was the grandson of Abraham, of whom conies the Jewish nation, thence called the people of Israel, since Jacob himself re
ceived the appellation of Israel, as ye well know, holyGen. 32, brethren. But as these were merely temporal dwellings,28' which were emblems of the other, and the Prophet speak
ing of city which he conceives in spiritual sense, of which
that on this earth was the shadow and figure he says, The
Lord loveth the gates of Sion above all the dwellings of Jacob. He loveth that spiritual city above all figurative emblems of which represent as city everlasting, eter
nally in heaven at rest.
6. Ver. 4. Very excellent things are said of thee, thou city of God. He was, as were, contemplating that city of Jerusalem on earth for consider what city he alludes to, of which certain very excellent things are spoken. Now the earthly city has been destroyed after suffering the enemy's rage, fell to the earth no longer what was ex hibited the emblem, and the shadow hath passed away. Whence then are very excellent things spoken of thee, thou city of God? Listen whence will think upon Rahab and Babylon, with them that know Me. In that city, the Prophet,
a/nd ye gave Me meat:
gave
Me drink:
was Ia stranger, and ye took Me in : naked, and clothed ye
was sick, and ye visited Me: and they ask, When saw
;/
:
it
a
it
a it,
it,
; it is
it
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;
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220 ' Rahab and Babylon,' the future converts.
Fsalm in the person of God, says, / will think upon Bahab and lxxxYTI- Babylon. Rahab belongs not to the Jewish people ; Babylon &TMh 46. belongs not to the Jewish people ; as is clear from the next 1Ali'eni- verse : For the Philistines1 also, and Tyre, with the Ethio- Iax^u- pians, were there. Deservedly then, very excellent things are
understood.
spoken of thee, thou city of God : for not only is the Jewish nation, born of the flesh of Abraham, included therein, but all nations also, some of which are named that all may be
/ will think, he says, upon Rahab: who is that harlot? That harlot in Jericho, who received the spies and conducted them out of the city by a different road : who trusted beforehand in the promise, who feared God, who was told to hang out of the window a line of scarlet thread, that
to bear upon her forehead the sign of the blood of Christ. She
was saved there, and thus represented the Church of the
Gentiles whence our Lord said to the haughty Pharisees, Mat. 21, Verily say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go
n'
Id. 11, take by force. For written, The kingdom of Heaven
,2'
"l fauce
into the kingdom of God before you. They go before, because they do violence: they push their way by faith, and to faith way made, nor can any resist, since they who are violent
violence, and the violent take Such force.
suffereth
was the conduct of the robber, more courageous on the cross
than in the place of ambush*. will think upon Bahab and Babylon, By Babylon meant the city of this world as there one holy city, Jerusalem one unholy, Babylon: all the unholy belong to Babylon, even as all the holy to Jerusalem. But he slidethb from Babylon to Jerusalem. How, but by Him who justifieth the ungodly: Jerusalem
the city of the saints Babylon of the wicked but He cometh Who justifieth the ungodly: since said,
trill think not only upon Bahab, but upon Babylon, but with whom with them that know Me. For this reason
Ps. 79, Scripture says somewhere, Pour out thine indignation upon
'
the heathen that have not known Thee, and elsewhere, Con- Ps. 36, tinue forth Thy loving-kindness unto them that know Thee. 10' And that ye may be assured that by Rahab and Babylon the
Gentiles are meant, the purport of this verse, will think
Dilabitur, which would seem to drawing off,' e. of citizens, mean the writer, al. derivatur,' there
?
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a it is
if '
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Mystery of the Man, her' Founder, born in Sion. 221
upon Rahab and Babylon with them that know Me, be asked, Ver. the next explains as follows, behold the Philistines also? -----
e. they too belong to Rahab, belong to Babylon, and they of Tyre. But to what extent are the Gentiles included in this allusion To the ends of the earth. For He called people from the ends of the earth and the people of the Ethiopians, they were there. Ifthen Rahab, and Babylon, and the Philistines, and Tyre, and the people of the Ethi opians, are in that city, deservedly said, Very excellent things are spoken of thee, thou city God.
7. Ver. Listen now to a deep mystery. Rahab there through Him, through Whom also Babylon, now no longer Babylon, but beginning to be Jerusalem. The daughter
divided against her mother, and will be among the members
of that queen to whom said, Forget thine own people, and p,, thy father's house, so shall the king have pleasure in thy10,11, beauty. For how could Babylon aspire to Jerusalem How could Rahab reach those foundations? How could the Philis
tines, or Tyre, or the people of the Ethiopians? Listen to this verse, "Sion, my mother" a man shall sayh. There then a man who saith this: through whom all those have mentioned make their approach. Who this man
It tells we hear, we understand. follows, as ques tion had been raised, through whose aid Rahab, Babylon, the Philistines, Tyre, and the Morians, gained an entrance. Behold, through whom they come Sion, my mother, a man shall say; and a man was born in her, and Himself the Most High hath founded her. What, my brethren, can be clearer Truly, because very excellent things are spoken of
thee, thou city God. Lo, Sion, mother, a man shall say. . What man He who was born in her. then the man who was born in her, and He Himself hath founded her. Yet how can Hebe born in the city which He himself founded? had
already been founded, that therein He might be born. Under stand thus, thou canst: Mother Sion, he shall say but
a man that shall say. Mother Sion yea, a man teas born in her and yet he hath founded her, (not man, but,) the Most
St. Aug. Tertullian, and others, Or, He who was made man in read, e-'firvp 2W, for the reading of her Qui homo factus est in es. '
the LXX, tiirri.
b
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22? 2 Sim a Mother to Christ. ' Her people and Princes.
Psalm high. As He created a mother of whom He would be born, so lxxxvn. He fouuded a city in which He would be born. What hope is ours, brethren ! On our behalf the Most High, Who founded the city, addresses that city as a mother : and He was bom
in her, and the Most High hath founded her.
8. Ver. 6. As though it were said, How do ye know
this ? All of us have sung these Psalms : and Christ, Man for our sake, God before us, sings within us all. But is this much to say, before us, of Him, Who was before heaven and earth and time ? He then, born for our sakes a man, in that city, also founded her when He was the Most High. Yet how are we assured of this? The Lord shall rehearse it when He writeth up the people, as the following verse has it. Mother Sion, a man shall say, and a man was born in her, and Himself the Most High hath
founded her. The Lord shall declare, when He writeth up the people, and their princes. What princes*? Those who were born in her; those princes who, born within her walls, became therein princes : for before they could become princes in her, God chose the despised things of the world to confound the strong. Was the fisherman, the publican, a prince? They were indeed princes: but because they became such in her. Princes of what kind were they ? Princes come from Babylon, believing monarchs of this world, came to the city of Rome, as to the head of Babylon : they went not to the temple of the Emperor, but to the tomb of the Fisherman.
l Cor. l, Whence indeed did they rank as princes ? God chose the
26. 27. f
trea/. fhings of the world to confound the strong, and the
oolish things He hath chosen, and things which are not as though they were, that things which are may be brought to
Ps. 113, nought. This He doth Who from the ground raises thehelpless, and from the dunghill exalts the poor. For what purpose!
ib. 8.
That He may set him with the princes, even with the princes of His people. This is a mighty deed, a deep source of pleasure and exultation. Orators came later into that city, but they could never have done so, had not fishermen preceded them. These things are glorious indeed, but where could they take place, but in that city of God, of whom very excellent things are spoken?
9. Ver. 7. So thus, after drawing together and mingling A Et Principet, in added in the text: but it has no equivalent in our versioo.
The employment) and rest, of the Saints in glory.
every source of joyous exultation, how doth he conclude? Ver.
The dwelling as ofall that shall be made joyous is in Thee. As if all made joyous, all rejoicing, shall dwell in that ciiy. Amid our journeyings here we suffer bruises : our last home shall be the home ofjoy alone. Toil and groans shall perish: prayers pass away, hymns of praise succeed. There shall be the dwelling of the happy ; no longer shall there be the groans of those that long, but the gladness of those who enjoy. For He will be present for Whom we sigh : we shall be like Him, as we shall see Him as He is: there it will be our whole task to praise and enjoy the presence of God : and what beyond shall we ask for, when He alone satisfies us, by Whom all things were made ? We shall dwell and be dwelt in : and shall be subject to Him, that God be all in all. Blessed, then, are J
----
1 John 3' 2'
1p0Ti 16, 28.
Ps. 84,
1 ot'0>>0 e80t ? -
former* Psalm, n'
may they that dwell in Thy house. How blessed ? Blessed in their
gold, and silver, their numerous slaves, and multiplied off spring? Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house : for ever and ever they will be praismg Thee. Blessed in that sole labour1 which is rest! Let this then be the one and only object of our desire, my brethren, when we shall have reached this pass. Let us prepare ourselves to rejoice in God: to praise Him. The good works which conduct us thither, will not be needed there. I described, as far as I could, only yesterday*, our condition there: works of charity there
be none, where there will be no misery : thou shalt not find one in want, one naked, no one will meet you tormented with thirst, there will be no stranger, no sick to visit, no dead to bury, no disputants to set at peace. What then wilt thou find to do ? Shall we plant new vines, plough, traffic, make voyages, to support the necessities of the body ? Deep quiet shall be there; all toilsome work, that necessity demands, will cease : the necessity being dead, its works will perish too. What then will be our state? As far as possible, the tongue of a man thus told us. As it were, the dwelling of all who shall be made perfect is in Thee? . Why does he say, as il were ? Because there shall be such joy there as we know not here. Many pleasures do 1 behold here, and many rejoice in this world, some in one thing, others in another; but there is nothing to compare with that delight, but it shall be as it were being made joyful. For if I say joyfulness, men at once
? Tanquam jucundntorum omnium habitatio in te.
224 Worldly joys not to be hoped for in Heaven.
Psalm think of such joyfulness as men use to have in wine, in feast- lxxxyii ing^ in avar;ce, and ;n |he world's distinctions. For men are
Is. 48, 22,
1 Cor. ''
.
elated by these things, and mad with a kind of joy : bul there is no joy, saith the Lord, unto the wicked. There is a sort of joyfulness which the ear of man hath not heard, nor his eye seen, nor hath it entered into his heart to conceive. As it were, the dwelling of all who shall be made joyful is in Thee. Let us prepare for other delights : for a kind of shadow is what we find here, not the reality: that we may not expect to enjoy such things there as here we delight in: otherwise our self-denial will be avarice. Some persons, when invited to a rich banquet, where there are many and costly dishes yet to come on, abs{ain from breaking their fast: if you ask
the reason, they tell you that they are fasting : which is in deed a great work, a Christian work. Yet be not hasty in
them : examine their motives : it is their belly, not religion, that they are consulting. That their appetite may not be palled by ordinary dishes, they abstain till more delicate food is set before them. This fast then is for the gullet's sake. Fasting is undoubtedly important: it fights against the belly and the palate ; but sometimes it fights for them. Thus, my brethren, if ye imagine that we shall find
any such pleasures in that country to which the heavenly trumpet urges us on, and on that account abstain from present enjoyments, that ye may receive the like more plen tifully there, ye imitate those I have described, who fast only for greater feasting, and abstain only for greater indulgence. Do not ye like this: prepare yourselves for a certain ineffable delight: cleanse your hearts fron all earthly and secular affec tions. We shall see something, the sight of which will make us blessed : and that alone will suffice for us. What then ? Shall we not eat ? Yes: we shall eat: but that shall be our
food, which will ever refresh, and never fail. In Thee is the dwelling of all who shall be, as it were, made joyful. He has already told us how we shall be made joyful. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: for ever and ever they will be praising Thee. Let us praise the Lord as far as we are able, but with mingled lamentations : for while wc praise we long
Ps. 84, *'
praising
1 ' Con- for Him, and as yet have Him not. When we have, all our Domi- sorrows will be taken from us, and nothing will remain but
Pr? dse, unmixed and everlasting. Now let us pray '.
s^1-' ' 133.
PSALM LXXXVIH.
Dictated after the exposition of Psalm 41 1, and perhaps after that of Psalm tie.
225
Lat. I. xxxvII.
1See j. 7.
The Title of this eighty-seventh Psalm contains a fresh subject for enquiry: the words occurring here, for Melech to respond, being no where else found. We have already given
our opinion on the meaning of the titles Psalm us Cautici and ? n V*
Canticum Psalmi : and the words, sons of Core, are constantly repeated, and have often been explained: so also to the end; but what comes next in this title is peculiar. For Melech we may translate into Latin for the chorus, for chorus is the sense of the Hebrew word Melech. What other meaning then can we attach to the words, for the chorus to respond, but this, that the choir is to make responses w ith the singer ? And thus we must suppose that not this only, but other Psalms were chanted, though they have received different titles, probably for the sake of variety to relieve weariness : for this Psalm was not the only one held worthy of choral
since it is not the only one which relates to our Lord's Passion. If indeed there is any other reason for so great a variety in the titles, by which it can be shewn that all the Psalms which are distinguished in their titles are so marked, as that the title of uo one of them can be fitted to another; I must confess that I could not discover though tried long; and whatever have read on the subject in the works of my predecessors has not satisfied my hopes, or, perhaps, my slowness of apprehension. will therefore explain in allusion to what mystery the words,
for the choir to respond, that is, that the singer should be answered by choir, seem to me to be used. The Passion of our Lord here prophesied. Now the Apostle Peter
saith, Christ also suffered for its, leaving us an exam pie,
that we should follow His steps; this the meaning of 'to respond. ' The Apostle John also saith, As Christ laid down lJ>>hn3, His life for us, so ought we also to lay down our lives fur the brethren this also to respond. But the choir signifies coucord, which consists in charity whoever therefore in imitation of our Lord's Passion gives up his body to be
burnt, he have not charity, does not answer in the choir, VOL. IV.
responses,
Pet.
if
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Q
:
is
is I
I 2,
I
it,
226- Sony of the Martyrs' choir. Christ prayed, but as Man.
Psalm and therefore it profiteth him nothing. Further, as in Latin orTM ^6 terms Precenlor an(* Succentor are used to denote in
13,
music the performer who sings the first part, and him who takes up just so in this song of the Passion, Christ going before followed by the choir of martyrs unto the end of gaining crowns in Heaven. This sung by the sons
Core, that is, the imitators of Christ's Passion: as Christ was Mat. 27, crucified in Calvary, which the interpretation of the Hebrew word Core. This also the understandiny of JEman the Israelite? : words occurring at the end of this title. JEman said to mean, his brother: for Christ deigns to make those His brethren, who understand the mystery of His Cross, and not only are not ashamed of but faithfully glory in not praising themselves for their own merits, but grateful for His John1, grace: so that may be said to each of them, Behold an
Israelite indeed, in whom there no yuile, just as holy Gen. 26, Scripture says of Israel himself, that he was without guile. Let us therefore now hear the voice of Christ singing before
us in prophecy, to whom His own choir should respond either in imitation, or in thanksgiving.
2. Ver. Lord God of my salvation, have cried day and niyht before Thee.
Ver. 2. let my prayer enter into Thy presence, incline Thine ear unto my calling. For even our Lord prayed, not in the form of God, but in the form of servant for in this
He also suffered. He prayed both in prosperous times, that by day, and in calamity, which imagine meant by night. The entrance of prayer into God's presence
its acceptance the inclination of His ear His compas sionate listening to it: for God has not such bodily members as we have. The passage however, as usual,
repetition the words, let my prayer enter into Thy presence, being
equivalent to, Incline Thine ear unto my calling.
3. Ver. 3. For my soul filled with evils, and my life draweth nigh unto hell. Dare we speak of the Soul of
Christ as filled with evils, when the passion had strength as
Israelite, vulg. EzrahiUe, see also
the title of the next Psalm. Ben.
conjectures may be for Zaraite,' as
Ethan and Heman are called sons of LXX has Zarite.
Zara, Chron. 6. and in
. whero Solomon said to be wiser
Kings than Ethan the Ezrahite ami Heman;
it
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is 13
is
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a II
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1 is
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Hi* soul, at His Passion,fllled with the ' evils' ofgrief. 227
far as it had any, only over the body ? whence Himself ex- Ver. honing His brethren to the endurance of suffering, and, as it ----- were, urging his choir to respond, saith, Fear not them which Mat. io, kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Can then the 28' soul be filled with evils by the persecutors, though it cannot
be killed ? if so, we must enquire what sort of evils. It cannot be with vices, through which iniquity prevails over
man, that we can say that Soul was filled : but perhaps with
griefs, in which the soul suffers with its own flesh in its suffering : for even what we call bodily pain cannot exist without the soul, but sorrowfulness, which is the pain of the
soul only, precedes it when inevitably impending. The soul therefore may feel pain without the body: but without the
soul the body cannot. Why therefore should we not say
that the Soul of Christ was full of the evils of humanity, though not of human sins? Another Prophet says of Him, I*. 63, 4. that He grieved for us: and the Evangelist says, And He Mat. 26, took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began37' 38' to be sorrowful and very heavy : and our Lord Himself saith
unto them of Himself, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. The Prophet who composed this Psalm, fore seeing that this would happen, introduces Him saying, My soul is full of evils, and My life drau eth nigh unto hell. For the very same sense is here expressed in other words, as when He said, My soul is sorrowful, even unto death. The words, ' My soul is sorrowful,' are like these, My soul is full ofevils : and what follows, " even unto death," like, my life draweth nigh unto hell. These feelings of human infirmity our Lord took upon Him, as He did the flesh of human infirmity, and the death of human flesh, not by the necessity of his con dition, but by the free will of His mercy, that He might trans figure into Himself His own body, which is the Church, (the head of which He deigned to be,) that is, His members in His holy and faithful disciples: that if amid human tempt ations any one among them happened to be in sorrow and pain, he might not therefore think that he was separated from His favour: that the body, like the chorus following its leader, might learn from its Head, that these sorrows were not sin, but proofs of human weakness. We read of the Apostle Paul, a chief member in this body, and we hear him confessing
Q2
'2-28 How our Lord was 4 Free among the dead. '
Pcaim that his soul was full of such evils, when he says, that he
tf3"^" Rom. 9,
2. 4.
feels oreat heaviness and continual sorrow in heart fJor his ? '
brethren according to the flesh, who are Israelites. And if we say that our Lord was sorrowful for them also at the approach of His Passion, in which they would incur the most atrocious guilt, I think we shall not speak amiss.
4. Lastly, the very thing said by our Saviour on the Luke23, Cross, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,
M'
Person is most clearly shewn : for who else is free among Rom. 8, the dead but He, Who though in the likeness of sinful flesh is alone among sinners without sin ? Hence He saith to those who in their folly deemed themselves free, Every man who
is expressed in this Psalm below,
/ am counted us one
pit: by them who knew not what they were doing, when they
Ver. 4.
of
them that go down into the
imagined that He died like other men, subjecied to necessity, and overcome by it. The word pit is used for the depth of woe or of Hell.
John 29.
free. power
/
Ver. 5. Free among the dead. In these words our Lord's
5.
have been as a man that hath no help.
. lohn 8,
ib. 36.
destroyed by them, at His will; Who, when all had forsaken Him on the eve of His Passion, remained not alone, because, as He testifies, His Father forsook Him not was never-
.
thelcss by His enemies, for whom He prayed, who knew not
committeth sin is the servant of sin: and because through Him Who had no sin it behoved them to be freed from sin, He saith, If the Son hath freed you, then indeed ye shall be
He therefore,/ree among the dead, Who had it in His to lay down His life, and again to take it; from Whom no one could take but He laid down of His own free will Who could revive His own flesh, as a temple
4o"&e7' wnat luuy did, and said, He saved others, Himself He cannot save He be the Son of God, let Him come down 3i"& from the Cross, a,ul we believe Him. He trusted in
God; let Him deliver Him now, He will have Him; He was by them counted as one who hath no help like unto them that are wounded, and lie in the grave. But he adds,
Whom thou dost not yet remember: and in these words there to be remarked distinction between Christ and the rest of the dead. For though He was wounded, and
is
a
it,
;
6'
8,
; if
if
;
it
;
How He seemed to be forgotten of God. 229
when dead laid in the tomb, yet they who knew not what vrr.
they were doing, or who He was, regarded Him as like
others who had perished from their wounds, and who slept in
the tomb, who are as yet out of remembrance of God, that is,
whose hour of resurrection has not yet arrived. For thus
the Scripture speaks of the dead as sleeping, because it wishes them to be regarded as destined to awake, (hat is, to rise
again. But He, wounded and asleep in the tomb, awoke on
the third day, and became like a sparrow that sitteth alone Ps- 102i
on the housetop, that is, on the right hand of His Father in7- Heaven: and now dieth no more, death shall no more have^m. e. dominion over Him. Hence He differs widely from those9. whom God hath not yet remembered to cause their resurrec
tion after this manner : for what was to go before in the Head, was kept for the Body in the end. God is then said to remem ber, when He does an act : then to forget, when He does it not: for neither can God forget, as He never changes, nor remember, as He can never forget. I am counted then, by those who know not what they do, as a man that hath no
help : while I am free among the dead, I am held by these men like unto them that are wounded, and lie in the grave. Yet those very men, who account thus of Me, are further said to be cut away from Thy hand, that is, when I was made so by them,' they were cut away from Thy hand they who believed Me destitute of help, are deprived of the help of
Thy hand : for they, as he saith in another Psalm, have Ps &7 ' digged a pit before me, and are fallen into the midst of it 7. themselves. I prefer this interpretation to that whi(h refers
the words, they are cut away from Thy hand, to those who
sleep in the tomb, whom God hath not yet remembered: since the righteous are among the latter, of whom, even though God hath not yet called them to the resurrection, it
is said, that their souls are in the hands of God, that is, thatWisd
'
B- 6o*60. 7'
they dwell under the defence of the Most High ; and shall i. abide under the shadow of the God of Hearcn. But it is},s. 9I, those who are cut away from the hand of God, who believed
that Christ was cut off from His hand, and thus accounting
Him among the wicked, dared to slay Him.
6. Ver. 6. They laid Me in the lowest pit, that is, the deepest pit. For so it is in the Greek. But what is the
230 Our Lord in humiliation, seemed under wrath.
Psalm lowest pit, but the deepest woe, than which there is none
Whence in another Psalm it is said, TItou brought est me out also of the pit of misery.
In a place of darkness, and in the shadow of death, whiles they knew not what they did, they laid Him there, thus deem- ing of Him ; they knew not Him Whom none of the princes of this world knew. By the shadow of death, 1 know not whether the death of the body is to be understood-, or that of
p^"^nmore deep? '
3.
l Cor. 2' 8'
Is. 9, 2. which it is written, They that walked in darkness and in the land of the shadow of death, a light is risen on them, because by belief they were brought from out of the darkness and death of sin into light and life. Such an one those who knew not what they did thought our Lord, and in their ignorance accounted Him among those, whom He came to help, that they might not be such themselves.
7. Ver. 7. Thy indignation lieth hard upon Me, or, as other copies have Thy anger; or, as others, Thy fury the Greek word 5uj*o? having undergone different interpretations. For where the Greek copies have ogyti, no translator hesitated to express by the Latin ira but where the word 9u/aoj, most object to rendering by ira, although many of the authors of the best Latin style, in their translations from Greek philosophy, have thus rendered the word in Latin.
But shall not discuss this matter further: only if also were to suggest another term, should think indignation more tolerable than fury, this word in Latin not being applied to persons in their senses. What then does this mean, Thy in dignation lieth Imrd upon Me, except the belief of those, who
Cor. knew not the Lord of Glory who imagined that the anger
of God was not merely roused, but lay hard upon Him, Whom they dared to bring to death, and not only death, but that kind, which they regarded as the most execrable of all, namely, the death of the Cross: whence saith the Apostle, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us for written, Cursed every one that hangeth upon a tree. On this account, wishing to praise His obedience which He carried to the extreme of humility,
Phil. he says. He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto
K
8-
Gal.
death and as this seemed little, he added, even the death the Cross; and with the same view, as fur as can see, he says
;
I
it
2,
2' i 3,
I
is
of
:
it,
it is
?
I
it
I
is
:
:
Troubles aetual, and threatened.
Acquaintance far off. 23 1
in this Psalm, And all thy suspensions, or, as some translate Ver. waves, others tossings, Thou hast brought over Me. We also -- find in another Psalm, All thy suspensions and waves are come Ps. 42, in upon Me, or, as some have translated better, have passed 7- over Me: for it is 8<<jXflov in Greek, not ei<r>jA0ov : and where both expressions are employed, waves and suspensions, one cannot
be used as equivalent to the other. In that passage we explained- suspensions as threatenings, waves as the actual sufferings: both inflicted by God's judgment: but in that place it is said, All have passed over Me, here, Thou hast brought all upon Me. In the other case, that although some evils took place, yet, he said, all those which are here mentioned passed over; but in this case, Thou hast brought them upon Me. Kvils pass over when they do not touch man, as things which hang over him, or when they do touch him, as waves. But when he uses the word suspensions, he does not say they passed over, but, Thou hast brought them upon Me, meaning that all which impended had come to pass. All things which were predicted of His Passion impended, as long as they
remained in the prophecies for future fulfilment.
H. Ver. 8. Thou hast put Mine acquaintance far from Me.
Ifwe understand by acquaintance those whom He knew, will be all men for whom knew He not? But He calls those
to whom He was Himself known, as far as they could know Him al that season at least so far forth as
they knew Him to be innocent, although they considered Him only as a man, uot as likew ise God. Although He might call the righteous whom He approved, acquaintance, as He calls the wicked unknown, to whom He was to say at the end,
know you not. In what follows, and they have set Me for Mat, an abhorrence to themselves those whom He called before23- acquaintance, may be meant, as even they felt horror at the mode of that death but better referred to those of whom
He was speaking above as His persecutors. was delivered Mat. 2c, up, and did not get forth. Is this because His disciples56' were without, while He was being tried within Or are we
to give deeper meaning to the words, cannot get forth
acquaintance,
as signifying, shewed not Who made manifest
remained hidden in My secret counsels, was, did not reveal Myself, was nc;
And so follows,
it I
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232 'Eyes' weakened, that illustrious Members.
Psalm Ver. 9. My eyes became weak from want. For what eyes ixxxvinare we to umlerstan(l |f the eyes of the flesh in which He suffered, we do not read that His eyes became weak from
want, that is, from hunger, in His Passion, as often the case; as He was betrayed after His supper, and crucified on the same day the inner eyes, how were they weakened from want, in which there was a light that could never fail But He meant by His eyes those members in the body, of which He was Himself the head, which, as brighter and more eminent and chief above the rest, He loved. It was of this body that the Apostle was speaking, when he wrote, taking
lCor. 12,his metaphor from our own body, Ifthe whole body were an
l/--
ib. 27.
eye, where were the hearing? the whole were hearing, where were the smelling And they were all one member, where were the body? But now are there many members, yet but one body. Tlie eye cannot say unto the hands, have no need of you and the hand shall say, Because am not the eye, am not of the body therefore not the body? What he wished understood by these words, he has expressed more clearly, by adding, Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. Wherefore as those eyes, that is, the holy Apostles, to whom not flesh and blood, but the Father Which in Heaven had revealed Him, so that
Mat. 16, Peter said, Jhou art Christ, the Son of the Living God, when they saw Him betrayed, and suffering such evils, saw Him not such as they wished, as He did not come forth, did not manifest Himself in His virtue and power, but still hidden
Jin fuis in His secresy, endured everv thing as man overcome and
oribns
.
enfeebled, they became weak for want, as their food, their Light, had been withdrawn from them.
9. He continues, And have called upon Thee. This in deed He did most clearly, when upon the Cross. But what follows All the day have stretched forth My hands unto Thee, must be examined how must be taken. For in this expression we understand the tree of the Cross, how can we reconcile with the wlwle day Can He be said to have hung upon the Cross during the whole day, as the night considered part of the day But day, as opposed to night, was meant by this expression, even of this day, ibe first and no small portion had passed by at the time
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Our Lord's hands how stretched out " all day. " 233
of His crucifixion. But if we take ' day' in the same sense Ver-
10.
for a part, as Scripture sometimes uses this expression, I
do not remember an instance, in which the whole is taken
for a part, when the word whole is expressly added. For
in the passage of the Gospel where the Lord saith, 7%eMat. 12, Son of Alan . shall be three days and three nights in the
heart of /he earth, it is no extraordinary licence to take the whole for the part, the expression not being for three trhofe days and three whole nights : since the one intermediate day was a whole one, the other two were parts, the last being part of the first day, the first part of the last. But if the Cross is not meant here, but the prayer, which we find in the Gospel that He poured forth in the form of a servant to God the Father, where He is said to have prayed long before His Passion, and on the eve of His passion, and also when on the Cross, we do not read any where that He did so throughout
the whole day. Therefore by the stretched out hands through out the whole day, we may understand the continuation of good works in which He never ceased from exertion.
of time (especially as the word is used in the feminine, a gender which is restricted to that sense in Latin, although not so in Greek, as it is always used in the feminine, which I suppose to be the reason for its translation in the same gender in our own version,) the knot of the question will be drawn tighter : for how can it mean for the whole space of time, if He did not even for one day stretch forth His
hands on the Cross? Further, should we take the whole
10. But as His good works profited only the predestined to eternal salvation, and not all men, nor even all those among whom they were done, he adds,
Ver.
'
here is in bonds. In saying this we should wrong Him, had
He not told ns this truthIin His own words,
I was thirsty, and ye
was an hungred, Mat. 28,
3 ' 40-
Me :
we Thee an hungred, and fed Thee ? and He shall answer, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one ofthe least ofthese My brethren, ye have done it unto Me. Let us therefore build our
selves up in Christ on the foundation of the Apostles and Pro- Eph. J, phets, Himself being the chief corner stone: For the Lord20' loveth Sion above all the dwellings of Jacob. But this does not
mean that Sion is not among the dwellings of Jacob : where
was indeed, but in the people of Jacob? for Jacob was the grandson of Abraham, of whom conies the Jewish nation, thence called the people of Israel, since Jacob himself re
ceived the appellation of Israel, as ye well know, holyGen. 32, brethren. But as these were merely temporal dwellings,28' which were emblems of the other, and the Prophet speak
ing of city which he conceives in spiritual sense, of which
that on this earth was the shadow and figure he says, The
Lord loveth the gates of Sion above all the dwellings of Jacob. He loveth that spiritual city above all figurative emblems of which represent as city everlasting, eter
nally in heaven at rest.
6. Ver. 4. Very excellent things are said of thee, thou city of God. He was, as were, contemplating that city of Jerusalem on earth for consider what city he alludes to, of which certain very excellent things are spoken. Now the earthly city has been destroyed after suffering the enemy's rage, fell to the earth no longer what was ex hibited the emblem, and the shadow hath passed away. Whence then are very excellent things spoken of thee, thou city of God? Listen whence will think upon Rahab and Babylon, with them that know Me. In that city, the Prophet,
a/nd ye gave Me meat:
gave
Me drink:
was Ia stranger, and ye took Me in : naked, and clothed ye
was sick, and ye visited Me: and they ask, When saw
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220 ' Rahab and Babylon,' the future converts.
Fsalm in the person of God, says, / will think upon Bahab and lxxxYTI- Babylon. Rahab belongs not to the Jewish people ; Babylon &TMh 46. belongs not to the Jewish people ; as is clear from the next 1Ali'eni- verse : For the Philistines1 also, and Tyre, with the Ethio- Iax^u- pians, were there. Deservedly then, very excellent things are
understood.
spoken of thee, thou city of God : for not only is the Jewish nation, born of the flesh of Abraham, included therein, but all nations also, some of which are named that all may be
/ will think, he says, upon Rahab: who is that harlot? That harlot in Jericho, who received the spies and conducted them out of the city by a different road : who trusted beforehand in the promise, who feared God, who was told to hang out of the window a line of scarlet thread, that
to bear upon her forehead the sign of the blood of Christ. She
was saved there, and thus represented the Church of the
Gentiles whence our Lord said to the haughty Pharisees, Mat. 21, Verily say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go
n'
Id. 11, take by force. For written, The kingdom of Heaven
,2'
"l fauce
into the kingdom of God before you. They go before, because they do violence: they push their way by faith, and to faith way made, nor can any resist, since they who are violent
violence, and the violent take Such force.
suffereth
was the conduct of the robber, more courageous on the cross
than in the place of ambush*. will think upon Bahab and Babylon, By Babylon meant the city of this world as there one holy city, Jerusalem one unholy, Babylon: all the unholy belong to Babylon, even as all the holy to Jerusalem. But he slidethb from Babylon to Jerusalem. How, but by Him who justifieth the ungodly: Jerusalem
the city of the saints Babylon of the wicked but He cometh Who justifieth the ungodly: since said,
trill think not only upon Bahab, but upon Babylon, but with whom with them that know Me. For this reason
Ps. 79, Scripture says somewhere, Pour out thine indignation upon
'
the heathen that have not known Thee, and elsewhere, Con- Ps. 36, tinue forth Thy loving-kindness unto them that know Thee. 10' And that ye may be assured that by Rahab and Babylon the
Gentiles are meant, the purport of this verse, will think
Dilabitur, which would seem to drawing off,' e. of citizens, mean the writer, al. derivatur,' there
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Mystery of the Man, her' Founder, born in Sion. 221
upon Rahab and Babylon with them that know Me, be asked, Ver. the next explains as follows, behold the Philistines also? -----
e. they too belong to Rahab, belong to Babylon, and they of Tyre. But to what extent are the Gentiles included in this allusion To the ends of the earth. For He called people from the ends of the earth and the people of the Ethiopians, they were there. Ifthen Rahab, and Babylon, and the Philistines, and Tyre, and the people of the Ethi opians, are in that city, deservedly said, Very excellent things are spoken of thee, thou city God.
7. Ver. Listen now to a deep mystery. Rahab there through Him, through Whom also Babylon, now no longer Babylon, but beginning to be Jerusalem. The daughter
divided against her mother, and will be among the members
of that queen to whom said, Forget thine own people, and p,, thy father's house, so shall the king have pleasure in thy10,11, beauty. For how could Babylon aspire to Jerusalem How could Rahab reach those foundations? How could the Philis
tines, or Tyre, or the people of the Ethiopians? Listen to this verse, "Sion, my mother" a man shall sayh. There then a man who saith this: through whom all those have mentioned make their approach. Who this man
It tells we hear, we understand. follows, as ques tion had been raised, through whose aid Rahab, Babylon, the Philistines, Tyre, and the Morians, gained an entrance. Behold, through whom they come Sion, my mother, a man shall say; and a man was born in her, and Himself the Most High hath founded her. What, my brethren, can be clearer Truly, because very excellent things are spoken of
thee, thou city God. Lo, Sion, mother, a man shall say. . What man He who was born in her. then the man who was born in her, and He Himself hath founded her. Yet how can Hebe born in the city which He himself founded? had
already been founded, that therein He might be born. Under stand thus, thou canst: Mother Sion, he shall say but
a man that shall say. Mother Sion yea, a man teas born in her and yet he hath founded her, (not man, but,) the Most
St. Aug. Tertullian, and others, Or, He who was made man in read, e-'firvp 2W, for the reading of her Qui homo factus est in es. '
the LXX, tiirri.
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22? 2 Sim a Mother to Christ. ' Her people and Princes.
Psalm high. As He created a mother of whom He would be born, so lxxxvn. He fouuded a city in which He would be born. What hope is ours, brethren ! On our behalf the Most High, Who founded the city, addresses that city as a mother : and He was bom
in her, and the Most High hath founded her.
8. Ver. 6. As though it were said, How do ye know
this ? All of us have sung these Psalms : and Christ, Man for our sake, God before us, sings within us all. But is this much to say, before us, of Him, Who was before heaven and earth and time ? He then, born for our sakes a man, in that city, also founded her when He was the Most High. Yet how are we assured of this? The Lord shall rehearse it when He writeth up the people, as the following verse has it. Mother Sion, a man shall say, and a man was born in her, and Himself the Most High hath
founded her. The Lord shall declare, when He writeth up the people, and their princes. What princes*? Those who were born in her; those princes who, born within her walls, became therein princes : for before they could become princes in her, God chose the despised things of the world to confound the strong. Was the fisherman, the publican, a prince? They were indeed princes: but because they became such in her. Princes of what kind were they ? Princes come from Babylon, believing monarchs of this world, came to the city of Rome, as to the head of Babylon : they went not to the temple of the Emperor, but to the tomb of the Fisherman.
l Cor. l, Whence indeed did they rank as princes ? God chose the
26. 27. f
trea/. fhings of the world to confound the strong, and the
oolish things He hath chosen, and things which are not as though they were, that things which are may be brought to
Ps. 113, nought. This He doth Who from the ground raises thehelpless, and from the dunghill exalts the poor. For what purpose!
ib. 8.
That He may set him with the princes, even with the princes of His people. This is a mighty deed, a deep source of pleasure and exultation. Orators came later into that city, but they could never have done so, had not fishermen preceded them. These things are glorious indeed, but where could they take place, but in that city of God, of whom very excellent things are spoken?
9. Ver. 7. So thus, after drawing together and mingling A Et Principet, in added in the text: but it has no equivalent in our versioo.
The employment) and rest, of the Saints in glory.
every source of joyous exultation, how doth he conclude? Ver.
The dwelling as ofall that shall be made joyous is in Thee. As if all made joyous, all rejoicing, shall dwell in that ciiy. Amid our journeyings here we suffer bruises : our last home shall be the home ofjoy alone. Toil and groans shall perish: prayers pass away, hymns of praise succeed. There shall be the dwelling of the happy ; no longer shall there be the groans of those that long, but the gladness of those who enjoy. For He will be present for Whom we sigh : we shall be like Him, as we shall see Him as He is: there it will be our whole task to praise and enjoy the presence of God : and what beyond shall we ask for, when He alone satisfies us, by Whom all things were made ? We shall dwell and be dwelt in : and shall be subject to Him, that God be all in all. Blessed, then, are J
----
1 John 3' 2'
1p0Ti 16, 28.
Ps. 84,
1 ot'0>>0 e80t ? -
former* Psalm, n'
may they that dwell in Thy house. How blessed ? Blessed in their
gold, and silver, their numerous slaves, and multiplied off spring? Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house : for ever and ever they will be praismg Thee. Blessed in that sole labour1 which is rest! Let this then be the one and only object of our desire, my brethren, when we shall have reached this pass. Let us prepare ourselves to rejoice in God: to praise Him. The good works which conduct us thither, will not be needed there. I described, as far as I could, only yesterday*, our condition there: works of charity there
be none, where there will be no misery : thou shalt not find one in want, one naked, no one will meet you tormented with thirst, there will be no stranger, no sick to visit, no dead to bury, no disputants to set at peace. What then wilt thou find to do ? Shall we plant new vines, plough, traffic, make voyages, to support the necessities of the body ? Deep quiet shall be there; all toilsome work, that necessity demands, will cease : the necessity being dead, its works will perish too. What then will be our state? As far as possible, the tongue of a man thus told us. As it were, the dwelling of all who shall be made perfect is in Thee? . Why does he say, as il were ? Because there shall be such joy there as we know not here. Many pleasures do 1 behold here, and many rejoice in this world, some in one thing, others in another; but there is nothing to compare with that delight, but it shall be as it were being made joyful. For if I say joyfulness, men at once
? Tanquam jucundntorum omnium habitatio in te.
224 Worldly joys not to be hoped for in Heaven.
Psalm think of such joyfulness as men use to have in wine, in feast- lxxxyii ing^ in avar;ce, and ;n |he world's distinctions. For men are
Is. 48, 22,
1 Cor. ''
.
elated by these things, and mad with a kind of joy : bul there is no joy, saith the Lord, unto the wicked. There is a sort of joyfulness which the ear of man hath not heard, nor his eye seen, nor hath it entered into his heart to conceive. As it were, the dwelling of all who shall be made joyful is in Thee. Let us prepare for other delights : for a kind of shadow is what we find here, not the reality: that we may not expect to enjoy such things there as here we delight in: otherwise our self-denial will be avarice. Some persons, when invited to a rich banquet, where there are many and costly dishes yet to come on, abs{ain from breaking their fast: if you ask
the reason, they tell you that they are fasting : which is in deed a great work, a Christian work. Yet be not hasty in
them : examine their motives : it is their belly, not religion, that they are consulting. That their appetite may not be palled by ordinary dishes, they abstain till more delicate food is set before them. This fast then is for the gullet's sake. Fasting is undoubtedly important: it fights against the belly and the palate ; but sometimes it fights for them. Thus, my brethren, if ye imagine that we shall find
any such pleasures in that country to which the heavenly trumpet urges us on, and on that account abstain from present enjoyments, that ye may receive the like more plen tifully there, ye imitate those I have described, who fast only for greater feasting, and abstain only for greater indulgence. Do not ye like this: prepare yourselves for a certain ineffable delight: cleanse your hearts fron all earthly and secular affec tions. We shall see something, the sight of which will make us blessed : and that alone will suffice for us. What then ? Shall we not eat ? Yes: we shall eat: but that shall be our
food, which will ever refresh, and never fail. In Thee is the dwelling of all who shall be, as it were, made joyful. He has already told us how we shall be made joyful. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: for ever and ever they will be praising Thee. Let us praise the Lord as far as we are able, but with mingled lamentations : for while wc praise we long
Ps. 84, *'
praising
1 ' Con- for Him, and as yet have Him not. When we have, all our Domi- sorrows will be taken from us, and nothing will remain but
Pr? dse, unmixed and everlasting. Now let us pray '.
s^1-' ' 133.
PSALM LXXXVIH.
Dictated after the exposition of Psalm 41 1, and perhaps after that of Psalm tie.
225
Lat. I. xxxvII.
1See j. 7.
The Title of this eighty-seventh Psalm contains a fresh subject for enquiry: the words occurring here, for Melech to respond, being no where else found. We have already given
our opinion on the meaning of the titles Psalm us Cautici and ? n V*
Canticum Psalmi : and the words, sons of Core, are constantly repeated, and have often been explained: so also to the end; but what comes next in this title is peculiar. For Melech we may translate into Latin for the chorus, for chorus is the sense of the Hebrew word Melech. What other meaning then can we attach to the words, for the chorus to respond, but this, that the choir is to make responses w ith the singer ? And thus we must suppose that not this only, but other Psalms were chanted, though they have received different titles, probably for the sake of variety to relieve weariness : for this Psalm was not the only one held worthy of choral
since it is not the only one which relates to our Lord's Passion. If indeed there is any other reason for so great a variety in the titles, by which it can be shewn that all the Psalms which are distinguished in their titles are so marked, as that the title of uo one of them can be fitted to another; I must confess that I could not discover though tried long; and whatever have read on the subject in the works of my predecessors has not satisfied my hopes, or, perhaps, my slowness of apprehension. will therefore explain in allusion to what mystery the words,
for the choir to respond, that is, that the singer should be answered by choir, seem to me to be used. The Passion of our Lord here prophesied. Now the Apostle Peter
saith, Christ also suffered for its, leaving us an exam pie,
that we should follow His steps; this the meaning of 'to respond. ' The Apostle John also saith, As Christ laid down lJ>>hn3, His life for us, so ought we also to lay down our lives fur the brethren this also to respond. But the choir signifies coucord, which consists in charity whoever therefore in imitation of our Lord's Passion gives up his body to be
burnt, he have not charity, does not answer in the choir, VOL. IV.
responses,
Pet.
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226- Sony of the Martyrs' choir. Christ prayed, but as Man.
Psalm and therefore it profiteth him nothing. Further, as in Latin orTM ^6 terms Precenlor an(* Succentor are used to denote in
13,
music the performer who sings the first part, and him who takes up just so in this song of the Passion, Christ going before followed by the choir of martyrs unto the end of gaining crowns in Heaven. This sung by the sons
Core, that is, the imitators of Christ's Passion: as Christ was Mat. 27, crucified in Calvary, which the interpretation of the Hebrew word Core. This also the understandiny of JEman the Israelite? : words occurring at the end of this title. JEman said to mean, his brother: for Christ deigns to make those His brethren, who understand the mystery of His Cross, and not only are not ashamed of but faithfully glory in not praising themselves for their own merits, but grateful for His John1, grace: so that may be said to each of them, Behold an
Israelite indeed, in whom there no yuile, just as holy Gen. 26, Scripture says of Israel himself, that he was without guile. Let us therefore now hear the voice of Christ singing before
us in prophecy, to whom His own choir should respond either in imitation, or in thanksgiving.
2. Ver. Lord God of my salvation, have cried day and niyht before Thee.
Ver. 2. let my prayer enter into Thy presence, incline Thine ear unto my calling. For even our Lord prayed, not in the form of God, but in the form of servant for in this
He also suffered. He prayed both in prosperous times, that by day, and in calamity, which imagine meant by night. The entrance of prayer into God's presence
its acceptance the inclination of His ear His compas sionate listening to it: for God has not such bodily members as we have. The passage however, as usual,
repetition the words, let my prayer enter into Thy presence, being
equivalent to, Incline Thine ear unto my calling.
3. Ver. 3. For my soul filled with evils, and my life draweth nigh unto hell. Dare we speak of the Soul of
Christ as filled with evils, when the passion had strength as
Israelite, vulg. EzrahiUe, see also
the title of the next Psalm. Ben.
conjectures may be for Zaraite,' as
Ethan and Heman are called sons of LXX has Zarite.
Zara, Chron. 6. and in
. whero Solomon said to be wiser
Kings than Ethan the Ezrahite ami Heman;
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Hi* soul, at His Passion,fllled with the ' evils' ofgrief. 227
far as it had any, only over the body ? whence Himself ex- Ver. honing His brethren to the endurance of suffering, and, as it ----- were, urging his choir to respond, saith, Fear not them which Mat. io, kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Can then the 28' soul be filled with evils by the persecutors, though it cannot
be killed ? if so, we must enquire what sort of evils. It cannot be with vices, through which iniquity prevails over
man, that we can say that Soul was filled : but perhaps with
griefs, in which the soul suffers with its own flesh in its suffering : for even what we call bodily pain cannot exist without the soul, but sorrowfulness, which is the pain of the
soul only, precedes it when inevitably impending. The soul therefore may feel pain without the body: but without the
soul the body cannot. Why therefore should we not say
that the Soul of Christ was full of the evils of humanity, though not of human sins? Another Prophet says of Him, I*. 63, 4. that He grieved for us: and the Evangelist says, And He Mat. 26, took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began37' 38' to be sorrowful and very heavy : and our Lord Himself saith
unto them of Himself, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. The Prophet who composed this Psalm, fore seeing that this would happen, introduces Him saying, My soul is full of evils, and My life drau eth nigh unto hell. For the very same sense is here expressed in other words, as when He said, My soul is sorrowful, even unto death. The words, ' My soul is sorrowful,' are like these, My soul is full ofevils : and what follows, " even unto death," like, my life draweth nigh unto hell. These feelings of human infirmity our Lord took upon Him, as He did the flesh of human infirmity, and the death of human flesh, not by the necessity of his con dition, but by the free will of His mercy, that He might trans figure into Himself His own body, which is the Church, (the head of which He deigned to be,) that is, His members in His holy and faithful disciples: that if amid human tempt ations any one among them happened to be in sorrow and pain, he might not therefore think that he was separated from His favour: that the body, like the chorus following its leader, might learn from its Head, that these sorrows were not sin, but proofs of human weakness. We read of the Apostle Paul, a chief member in this body, and we hear him confessing
Q2
'2-28 How our Lord was 4 Free among the dead. '
Pcaim that his soul was full of such evils, when he says, that he
tf3"^" Rom. 9,
2. 4.
feels oreat heaviness and continual sorrow in heart fJor his ? '
brethren according to the flesh, who are Israelites. And if we say that our Lord was sorrowful for them also at the approach of His Passion, in which they would incur the most atrocious guilt, I think we shall not speak amiss.
4. Lastly, the very thing said by our Saviour on the Luke23, Cross, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,
M'
Person is most clearly shewn : for who else is free among Rom. 8, the dead but He, Who though in the likeness of sinful flesh is alone among sinners without sin ? Hence He saith to those who in their folly deemed themselves free, Every man who
is expressed in this Psalm below,
/ am counted us one
pit: by them who knew not what they were doing, when they
Ver. 4.
of
them that go down into the
imagined that He died like other men, subjecied to necessity, and overcome by it. The word pit is used for the depth of woe or of Hell.
John 29.
free. power
/
Ver. 5. Free among the dead. In these words our Lord's
5.
have been as a man that hath no help.
. lohn 8,
ib. 36.
destroyed by them, at His will; Who, when all had forsaken Him on the eve of His Passion, remained not alone, because, as He testifies, His Father forsook Him not was never-
.
thelcss by His enemies, for whom He prayed, who knew not
committeth sin is the servant of sin: and because through Him Who had no sin it behoved them to be freed from sin, He saith, If the Son hath freed you, then indeed ye shall be
He therefore,/ree among the dead, Who had it in His to lay down His life, and again to take it; from Whom no one could take but He laid down of His own free will Who could revive His own flesh, as a temple
4o"&e7' wnat luuy did, and said, He saved others, Himself He cannot save He be the Son of God, let Him come down 3i"& from the Cross, a,ul we believe Him. He trusted in
God; let Him deliver Him now, He will have Him; He was by them counted as one who hath no help like unto them that are wounded, and lie in the grave. But he adds,
Whom thou dost not yet remember: and in these words there to be remarked distinction between Christ and the rest of the dead. For though He was wounded, and
is
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How He seemed to be forgotten of God. 229
when dead laid in the tomb, yet they who knew not what vrr.
they were doing, or who He was, regarded Him as like
others who had perished from their wounds, and who slept in
the tomb, who are as yet out of remembrance of God, that is,
whose hour of resurrection has not yet arrived. For thus
the Scripture speaks of the dead as sleeping, because it wishes them to be regarded as destined to awake, (hat is, to rise
again. But He, wounded and asleep in the tomb, awoke on
the third day, and became like a sparrow that sitteth alone Ps- 102i
on the housetop, that is, on the right hand of His Father in7- Heaven: and now dieth no more, death shall no more have^m. e. dominion over Him. Hence He differs widely from those9. whom God hath not yet remembered to cause their resurrec
tion after this manner : for what was to go before in the Head, was kept for the Body in the end. God is then said to remem ber, when He does an act : then to forget, when He does it not: for neither can God forget, as He never changes, nor remember, as He can never forget. I am counted then, by those who know not what they do, as a man that hath no
help : while I am free among the dead, I am held by these men like unto them that are wounded, and lie in the grave. Yet those very men, who account thus of Me, are further said to be cut away from Thy hand, that is, when I was made so by them,' they were cut away from Thy hand they who believed Me destitute of help, are deprived of the help of
Thy hand : for they, as he saith in another Psalm, have Ps &7 ' digged a pit before me, and are fallen into the midst of it 7. themselves. I prefer this interpretation to that whi(h refers
the words, they are cut away from Thy hand, to those who
sleep in the tomb, whom God hath not yet remembered: since the righteous are among the latter, of whom, even though God hath not yet called them to the resurrection, it
is said, that their souls are in the hands of God, that is, thatWisd
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they dwell under the defence of the Most High ; and shall i. abide under the shadow of the God of Hearcn. But it is},s. 9I, those who are cut away from the hand of God, who believed
that Christ was cut off from His hand, and thus accounting
Him among the wicked, dared to slay Him.
6. Ver. 6. They laid Me in the lowest pit, that is, the deepest pit. For so it is in the Greek. But what is the
230 Our Lord in humiliation, seemed under wrath.
Psalm lowest pit, but the deepest woe, than which there is none
Whence in another Psalm it is said, TItou brought est me out also of the pit of misery.
In a place of darkness, and in the shadow of death, whiles they knew not what they did, they laid Him there, thus deem- ing of Him ; they knew not Him Whom none of the princes of this world knew. By the shadow of death, 1 know not whether the death of the body is to be understood-, or that of
p^"^nmore deep? '
3.
l Cor. 2' 8'
Is. 9, 2. which it is written, They that walked in darkness and in the land of the shadow of death, a light is risen on them, because by belief they were brought from out of the darkness and death of sin into light and life. Such an one those who knew not what they did thought our Lord, and in their ignorance accounted Him among those, whom He came to help, that they might not be such themselves.
7. Ver. 7. Thy indignation lieth hard upon Me, or, as other copies have Thy anger; or, as others, Thy fury the Greek word 5uj*o? having undergone different interpretations. For where the Greek copies have ogyti, no translator hesitated to express by the Latin ira but where the word 9u/aoj, most object to rendering by ira, although many of the authors of the best Latin style, in their translations from Greek philosophy, have thus rendered the word in Latin.
But shall not discuss this matter further: only if also were to suggest another term, should think indignation more tolerable than fury, this word in Latin not being applied to persons in their senses. What then does this mean, Thy in dignation lieth Imrd upon Me, except the belief of those, who
Cor. knew not the Lord of Glory who imagined that the anger
of God was not merely roused, but lay hard upon Him, Whom they dared to bring to death, and not only death, but that kind, which they regarded as the most execrable of all, namely, the death of the Cross: whence saith the Apostle, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us for written, Cursed every one that hangeth upon a tree. On this account, wishing to praise His obedience which He carried to the extreme of humility,
Phil. he says. He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto
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Gal.
death and as this seemed little, he added, even the death the Cross; and with the same view, as fur as can see, he says
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Troubles aetual, and threatened.
Acquaintance far off. 23 1
in this Psalm, And all thy suspensions, or, as some translate Ver. waves, others tossings, Thou hast brought over Me. We also -- find in another Psalm, All thy suspensions and waves are come Ps. 42, in upon Me, or, as some have translated better, have passed 7- over Me: for it is 8<<jXflov in Greek, not ei<r>jA0ov : and where both expressions are employed, waves and suspensions, one cannot
be used as equivalent to the other. In that passage we explained- suspensions as threatenings, waves as the actual sufferings: both inflicted by God's judgment: but in that place it is said, All have passed over Me, here, Thou hast brought all upon Me. In the other case, that although some evils took place, yet, he said, all those which are here mentioned passed over; but in this case, Thou hast brought them upon Me. Kvils pass over when they do not touch man, as things which hang over him, or when they do touch him, as waves. But when he uses the word suspensions, he does not say they passed over, but, Thou hast brought them upon Me, meaning that all which impended had come to pass. All things which were predicted of His Passion impended, as long as they
remained in the prophecies for future fulfilment.
H. Ver. 8. Thou hast put Mine acquaintance far from Me.
Ifwe understand by acquaintance those whom He knew, will be all men for whom knew He not? But He calls those
to whom He was Himself known, as far as they could know Him al that season at least so far forth as
they knew Him to be innocent, although they considered Him only as a man, uot as likew ise God. Although He might call the righteous whom He approved, acquaintance, as He calls the wicked unknown, to whom He was to say at the end,
know you not. In what follows, and they have set Me for Mat, an abhorrence to themselves those whom He called before23- acquaintance, may be meant, as even they felt horror at the mode of that death but better referred to those of whom
He was speaking above as His persecutors. was delivered Mat. 2c, up, and did not get forth. Is this because His disciples56' were without, while He was being tried within Or are we
to give deeper meaning to the words, cannot get forth
acquaintance,
as signifying, shewed not Who made manifest
remained hidden in My secret counsels, was, did not reveal Myself, was nc;
And so follows,
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232 'Eyes' weakened, that illustrious Members.
Psalm Ver. 9. My eyes became weak from want. For what eyes ixxxvinare we to umlerstan(l |f the eyes of the flesh in which He suffered, we do not read that His eyes became weak from
want, that is, from hunger, in His Passion, as often the case; as He was betrayed after His supper, and crucified on the same day the inner eyes, how were they weakened from want, in which there was a light that could never fail But He meant by His eyes those members in the body, of which He was Himself the head, which, as brighter and more eminent and chief above the rest, He loved. It was of this body that the Apostle was speaking, when he wrote, taking
lCor. 12,his metaphor from our own body, Ifthe whole body were an
l/--
ib. 27.
eye, where were the hearing? the whole were hearing, where were the smelling And they were all one member, where were the body? But now are there many members, yet but one body. Tlie eye cannot say unto the hands, have no need of you and the hand shall say, Because am not the eye, am not of the body therefore not the body? What he wished understood by these words, he has expressed more clearly, by adding, Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. Wherefore as those eyes, that is, the holy Apostles, to whom not flesh and blood, but the Father Which in Heaven had revealed Him, so that
Mat. 16, Peter said, Jhou art Christ, the Son of the Living God, when they saw Him betrayed, and suffering such evils, saw Him not such as they wished, as He did not come forth, did not manifest Himself in His virtue and power, but still hidden
Jin fuis in His secresy, endured everv thing as man overcome and
oribns
.
enfeebled, they became weak for want, as their food, their Light, had been withdrawn from them.
9. He continues, And have called upon Thee. This in deed He did most clearly, when upon the Cross. But what follows All the day have stretched forth My hands unto Thee, must be examined how must be taken. For in this expression we understand the tree of the Cross, how can we reconcile with the wlwle day Can He be said to have hung upon the Cross during the whole day, as the night considered part of the day But day, as opposed to night, was meant by this expression, even of this day, ibe first and no small portion had passed by at the time
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Our Lord's hands how stretched out " all day. " 233
of His crucifixion. But if we take ' day' in the same sense Ver-
10.
for a part, as Scripture sometimes uses this expression, I
do not remember an instance, in which the whole is taken
for a part, when the word whole is expressly added. For
in the passage of the Gospel where the Lord saith, 7%eMat. 12, Son of Alan . shall be three days and three nights in the
heart of /he earth, it is no extraordinary licence to take the whole for the part, the expression not being for three trhofe days and three whole nights : since the one intermediate day was a whole one, the other two were parts, the last being part of the first day, the first part of the last. But if the Cross is not meant here, but the prayer, which we find in the Gospel that He poured forth in the form of a servant to God the Father, where He is said to have prayed long before His Passion, and on the eve of His passion, and also when on the Cross, we do not read any where that He did so throughout
the whole day. Therefore by the stretched out hands through out the whole day, we may understand the continuation of good works in which He never ceased from exertion.
of time (especially as the word is used in the feminine, a gender which is restricted to that sense in Latin, although not so in Greek, as it is always used in the feminine, which I suppose to be the reason for its translation in the same gender in our own version,) the knot of the question will be drawn tighter : for how can it mean for the whole space of time, if He did not even for one day stretch forth His
hands on the Cross? Further, should we take the whole
10. But as His good works profited only the predestined to eternal salvation, and not all men, nor even all those among whom they were done, he adds,
Ver.
