There are
therefore
gods above whom is our great God, to Whom we make a joyful noise, in Whom we
cc2
exposition
383 God above all gods; not only devil-gods,
Psai-m heartily rejoice, to Whom we utter a song of praise.
cc2
exposition
383 God above all gods; not only devil-gods,
Psai-m heartily rejoice, to Whom we utter a song of praise.
Augustine - Exposition on the Psalms - v4
For our Lord
recompense
John 9, saith, / am come into this world, that they which see not
might see ; and that they which see might be made blind ; and the Apostle, To the one we are the savour of death unto death ; and to the other, the savour of life unto life. But the malice of the wicked is the left hand aras of the righteous ; as the same Apostle saith, By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, that is, by honour and dishonour ; and he then severally recounteth the other points, shewing what were their right hand arms, viz. the glory of God, good report, truth by which it was known of them that they lived, that they were not brought to death, that they rejoiced, that they enriched many, that they possessed all things ; and that their left hand arms were, that they were held in dis
honour, of evil report, that they were thought deceivers, that
were unknown, slain, imprisoned, made sorrowful, seemed to be in want, and to have nothing. And what wonder is it^if the soldiers of Christ overpower the devil at
Luke 2, once by left and right hand weapons ? But as peace cometh
3S>-
2 Cor. 2, 16-
lb. 6, 7' 8-
i4'
unto men of good will, even when they are unto others a savour of death unto death ; so doth destruction come unto men of ill-will, even wheu they are the left hand weapons of the righteous towards their salvation. He will therefore
they
recompense
them not according to the profit we derive from
Bear with the ungodly in faith and charity. 381
them ; but after their own iniquity, by loving which they Ver. hate their own souls ; and not according to the blessings ------ which through them He doth dispense unto us, doth He honour them, He Who maketh a good use even of the wicked ; but after their own malice shall the Lord our God destroy them.
29. Let therefore the righteous bear with the ungodly ;
let the temporal suffering of the righteous bear with the temporal impunity of the wicked; for the just shall live Bom. 1, by faith. For there is no righteousness of man in this
life except to live by faith, which worketh by love. ButGa1-6i if he liveth by faith, let him believe both that he will himself inherit rest after his present toil, and that they
will suffer eternal torments after their present exultation.
And if faith worketh by love, let him love his enemies
also, and, as far as in him lies, have the will to profit
them ; for thus he will prevent their injuring him when
they have the will. And whenever perchance they have received power to hurt and tyrannise ; let him lift his heart
above, where no man hurteth him, well taught and chastened
in the law of God, that he may have patience given him in
the days of adversity, until the pit be digged up for the ungodly. For if his delight is in the law of God, and in i7Ps,1,2- he will exercise himself day and night, whose conversation Phil. 3, is in heaven; he shineth over the earth from the firmament
above ; whence this Psalm hath received its title from the
fourth day of the week, when the heavenly bodies were made; so that we may do all things without murmuring, Ptil. 2,
~~
holding the word of life in a nation crooked and perverse.
For as the night doth not extinguish the stars in heaven ;
so iniquity overcometh not the minds of the faithful, when
fixed in the firmament of God's Scriptures. And this very
fact, that our earthly possessions are sometimes given into
the power of the wicked, not only pertaineth unto our learning, so that God may become our refuge, and the help
of our hope ; bnt also profiteth towards the very pit of the ungodly, of whom it is said in another Psalm, He will be Pfc I0' bent down and fall, when he shall have mastery of the poor.
30. Possibly the length of this discourse hath been tedious to you : although this doth not appear amid the eagerness
382 Eagerness of hearers. A song of praise.
Psalm of your attention. But though it be so, forgive me : first,
-'because I did so by command; the Lord our God having J7?
see on
Ps. 89. ordered me through those Brethren, in whom He dwelleth.
lafj. 8. Por God doth not command, save from His own throne. Secondly, as you have been so eager toward us, so, we confess, have we been toward you. May our God therefore console us for this toil, so that it may result in your advancement unto salvation, not in a testimony to accuse
you. This I say, brethren, that ye may profit from what ye have heard, and ruminate within yourselves: permit not yourselves to forget, not only by thinking over again upon these subjects, and discoursing upon them, but also by so living. For a good life which is led after God's commands, is like a pen, because it is heard writing in our hearts. If it were written on wax, it would easily be blotted out : write it in your hearts, in your character, and it shall never be blotted out.
PSALM XCV. ?
1. Ver. 1. I could wish, brethren, thai we were rather listening to our father: but even this is a good thing, to obey our father. Since therefore he who deigneth to pray for us, hath ordered us, I will speak unto you, beloved, what from the present Psalm Jesus Christ our common Lord shall deign to give us. Now the title of the Psalm is David's Song of praise. The Song of praise signlfieth both cheer fulness, in that it is a song; and devotion, for it is praise. For what ought a man to praise more than that which pleaseth him so, that it is impossible that it can displease him ? In the praising of God therefore we praise with security. There he who praiseth is safe, where he feareth not lest he be ashamed for the object of his praise. Let us therefore both praise and sing ; that is, let us praise with cheerfulness and joy. But what we are about to praise, this Psalm in the following verses sheweth us.
? A Discourse delivered at the bid- and consequently either before or shortly ding of Aurelius Bp. of Carthage, or after St. Augustine was consecrated perhaps of Valerius Bp. of Hippo, Bishop.
How men are near to God, or far from Him. 383
2. O come, let us sing unto the Lord. He calleth us to Ver. a great banquet of joy, not one of this world, but in the ------ Lord. For if there were not in this life a wicked joy which
is to be distinguished from a righteous joy, it would be enough to say, Come, let us rejoice; but he has briefly dis tinguished it. What is it to rejoice aright ? To rejoice in
the Lord. Thou shouldest piously joy in the Lord, if thou
dost wish safely to trample upon the world. But what is
the word, Come ? Whence doth He call them to come, with
whom he wisheth to rejoice in the Lord ; except that, while
they are afar, they may by coming draw nearer, by drawing
nearer they may approach, and by approaching rejoice ?
But whence are they afar? Can a man be locally distant
from Him who is every where? Dost thou wish to be far
from Him ? Where wilt thou go, that thou mayest be far
from Him ? For a certain sinner indeed, but yet penitent with the hope of salvation and sorrowing for his sins, and fearing the anger of God, and wishing to appeIase Him,
go then Ps. 139,
'
Ier shall this in another Psalm, Whith
speaketh
from Thy SpirI from
it? or whither shall
climb up into heaven, Thou art there.
presence? If
What remaineth then ? For if he climb up into heaven, and there find God : whither shall he go, that he may fly far from God ? See what he saith, If I go down to hell, Thou art there also? If therefore by climbing into heaven, he there findeth God ; if by going down into hell, he escapeth Him not; whither shall he go, whither shall he fly, from that angry God, unless unto Himself appeased? And yet, though no man could possibly fly from Him who is every
where ; unless some were far from God, it would not be written, This people do honour Me with their lips, but their ls. 29, heart isfarfrom Me. It is not therefore by place, but by 13' being unlike Him, that a man is afar from God. What is to
be unlike Him ? it meaneth, a bad life, bad habits; for if by
good habits we approach God, by bad habits we recede from
God. One then and the same man standing bodily in the same
spot, by loving God doth approach Him, and by loving iniquity doth recede from Him : he no where moveth his feet, 1 see on and yet he can both approach and recede. For our affections 1 ^injg6. are our feet in this journey, according as each man hath? -12 &0
go then Thy
384 Likeness to God is nearness to Hint.
Psalm affection, according as each hath love, so doth he either approach or recede from God. Do we not usually say, when we find any things unlike, This is far from that ? When we are comparing any two men, two horses, two garments, and some one saith, This garment is like, it is such as that; or, This man is such as that man ; what doth he say who con tradicts it? It is no such thing: it is far from it. What meaneth, It is far from it? It is unlike it. They stand close together: and yet this man is far from that. But two un godly men, alike in life and habits, if one be in the east, the other in the west, are near each other. In the same way two righteous men, one in the east, the other in the west, are with one another, since they are in God. On the other hand, one righteous, and one ungodly man, even though they be bound with one chain, yet are widely separated from one another. If therefore by unlikeness we recede from God, by likeness we approach unto God. What likeness ? That after which we were created, which by sinning we had corrupted in ourselves, which we have received again through the remission of sins, which is renewed in us in the mind within, that it may be engraved a second time as if on coin, that is, the image of our God upon our soul, and that we may return to His treasures. For what was the reason, brethren, that our Saviour chose to discover to His tempters, from a piece of money, what God demandeth ? For when they resolved, by way of seeking a pretext of false accusation, to question the Master of Truth respecting the tribute paid to Caesar, and by consulting Him to tempt Him as to whether it were lawful to pay tribute unto Caesar; what answered He? Why tempt ye Me, ye hypocrites? He asked them to shew Him the tribute money, and they brought unto Him a penny; and He saith unto them, Whose image and superscription hath it? They say unto Him, Caesar's. Then saith He unto them,
Mat. 22, Render therefore unto Ccesar the things that are Casar's, ' and unto God the things that are God's. As if He should say: IfCaesar seeketh on a coin his own image, doth not God seek in man His Image ? Our Lord Jesus Christ,
inviting us to the resemblance of this image, commandeth
us also to love our enemies ; and giveth us an example from Matt. 6, God Himself : As your Father, He saith, which is in heaven ;
A 'joyful noise' due to our joy in God. 385
Who maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, Ver. and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Be ye ---2-
perfect, even as your Father. When He saith,'
Be ye therefore perfect, as He is, He calleth us to resemble
Him. If therefore He invite us to resemble Him, it is clear
that by being unlike we had receded from God, and had become far from Him through unlikeness, and are made
near unto Him by means of our resemblance to Him, that
what is written may be realized in us; Come near unto Him, Ps. 34,6. and be lightened. To some therefore, dwelling afar, and
living evilly, this Psalm saith, 0 come, let us rejoice unto
the Lord! Whither do ye go? whither retire? whither depart ? whither do ye fly, by rejoicing in the world ? O
come, let us rejoice unto the Lord ! Whither do ye go to rejoice, when ye turn away ? O come, let us rejoice unto
Him by Whom we were created ! 0 come, let us rejoice unto
the Lord!
3. Ijit us male a joyful noise unto God, our salvation. Jubile- What is to make a joyful noise? Not to be able to expressTM113' one's joy in words, and yet to testify by the voice what hath
been conceived within, and refuseth to be compassed within words : this is to make a joyful noise. Consider, beloved,
those who make a joyful noise in any ordinary songs, as in a sort of competition of worldly joy ; and ye see them while reciting the written lines bursting forth with a joy, that the tongue sufficeth not to express the measure of; how they shout, indicating by that utterance the feeling of the mind, which cannot in words express what is conceived in the heart. If they then in earthly joy make a joyful noise; might we not do so from heavenly joy, which truly we cannot express in words ?
4. Ver. 2. Let us prevent His face by confession. Con fession hath a double meaning in Scripture. There is a confession of him who praiseth, there is that of him who
therefore
The confession of praise pertaineth to the honour of Him Who is praised : the confession of groaning to the repentance of him who confesseth. For men confess when they praise God : they confess, when they accuse them selves; and the tongue hath no more worthy use. Truly, I believe these to be the very vows, of which he speaketh in
vol. iv. c c
groaneth.
386 Confession prepares us to meet our Judge. I distin-
Psaim another Psalm: / will pay Thee my vows, which
Fs 66 f/nished with my lips. Nothing is more elevated than that 13. 14. ' distinguishing, nothing is so necessary both to understand
and to do. How then dost thou distinguish the vows which thou payest unto God? By praising Him, by accusing thyself; because it is His mercy, to forgive us our sins. For if He chose to deal with us after our deserts, He would find cause only to condemn. O come, he said therefore, that we may at last go back from our sins, and that He may not cast up with us our accounts for the past; but that as it were a new account may be commenced, all the bonds of our debts having been burnt. How great then is His praise; how great His mercy. This let us confess, that is, by praising Him. For if confession were always the act of a penitent, it would not be spoken of in the Gospel of our
I. uleio, Lord IHimself: In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and
to Thee, 0 Father, Lord heaven and confess of
said,
earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Because
Christ confessed, was He in any way a penitent? He could repent of nothing, Who had not done one action wrongly : but He confessed, by His praises of His Father. There fore, since this also is a passage of exultation, we ought perhaps to understand that confession which consists in the praise of God : whence also it is slyled, The song ofpraise, that we may not here understand the confession of penitents, but of those who praise God. And why is it that he at once
admonisheth us of some confession, when he saith, Let us prevent His face by confession ? What meaneth this ? He
will come : Let us prevent His'face by confession, before hand : before He arrive, let us by confession condemn what we have done, that He may find that which He may crown, not what He must condemn. But doth not this very act of confessing thy sins pertain to the praise of God ? Yea truly it most fully doth pertain to God's praise. And why?
Because the more desperate was the state of the sufferer, so much greater is the honour of the physician. The more therefore thou despairedst of thyself on account of thy iniquities, do thou confess thy sins ; for so much greater is the praise of Him Who forgiveth, as is the fulness of the
Use of repetitions. Reasons for Praise. 387 penitent's confession more abundant. Let us not therefore Ver.
imagine that we have receded from the song of praise, in understanding here that confession by which we acknow ledge our transgressions : this is even a part of the song of praise ; for when we confess our sins, we praise the glory of
--
God. Let us prevent His/ace in confession.
5. And make a joyful noise unto Him with Psalms. We Jubile-
have already said what it is io make a joyful noise : the word is repeated, that it may be confirmed by the act: the very repetition is an exhortation. For we have not forgotten, so as to wish to be again admonished, what was said above, that we should make a joyful noise : but usually in passages of strong feeling a well-known word is repeated, not to make it more familiar, but that the very repetition may strengthen the impression made : for it is repeated that we may under stand the feeling of the speaker. Hence our Lord's words,
Verily, verily, I say unto you : one verily sulficed : why, John l,
Verily, verily, unless because the repetition strengthens? Let us, he saith then, make a joyful noise unto Him with Psalms. And what shall we say in Psalms ? what shall we say, or rather feel, in that burst of joy ? what are the topics which belong to this song of praise? Hear now: (ver. 3. ) For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. Let us therefore make a joyful noise unto Him. For the Lord will not cast off His people ; let us make a joyful noise unto Him. (Ver. 4. ) For in His hands are all the corners of the earth : and the heights of the hills are His
also: for all these reasons let us make a joyful noise unto Him. (Ver. 5. ) For the sea is His, and He made it : and His hand prepared the dry land: let us make a joyful noise unto Him. Now time sufficeth not for a proportionate
of what all this meaneth : yet if it be utterly neglected, we shall remain debtors. Hear then some brief remarks, as the time alloweth, gleaning as much as I shall be able : since even a few seeds, where the soil is fruitful, bear the richest crop.
6-. Ver. 3. First, he mentions this, as a reason for our song to praise. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
There are therefore gods above whom is our great God, to Whom we make a joyful noise, in Whom we
cc2
exposition
383 God above all gods; not only devil-gods,
Psai-m heartily rejoice, to Whom we utter a song of praise. There iE^--: art: : but not unto us. For the Apostle saith : For though
''
6. 6.
there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, {as there be gods many and lords many,) but to us there is but one God the Father, of Whom are all things, and we-by Him ; and one Lord Jesns Christ, by Whom are all tilings, and we in Him. If therefore not unto us, unto whom ?
Pi. 96 6. Hear from another Psalm, As for all the gods of the heathen, they are but devils; but it is the Lord who made the heavens. The Holy Spirit could not in terms more magnificent and lofty commend unto thee through the Prophet thy God and Lord. It was not enough to say that God is terrible above all devils: why is it high praise enough to say, that He is above all devils? For all the gods of the heathen are but devils. But where is thy Lord ? But it is 4he Lord Who made the
1 Cor. 3'
heavens. Thy God created that, where devils cannot dwell : for the devils were cast down from heaven. The heavens are preferred to the devils, thy Lord even to the heavens : because thy Lord made also the heavens. How much higher therefore than the heathen gods, that are devils, is He, Who is higher than the heavens, whence fell the angels, to become devils ? And yet all nations were under these devils : temples were built to devils, altars reared to devils, priests established to devils, sacrifices offered to devils, men brought in for prophets that were possessed with devils ! All these honours the heathen offered to devils : all, in their true use, are only due to the one great God. The heathen erected a temple to devils ; God hath a temple: the heathen established priests for devils; God hath a priest; the heathen offered sacrifice to devils ; God hath a sacrifice. For those devils who wished to appear gods, would not exact such honours in order to deceive, unless because they know that they are due unto the true God; for what a false deity arrogates to himself, is usually due to the True God. We therefore acknowledge a true temple of God. For the temple of God is holy, saith St. Paul, which are ye. If therefore we are the temple of God, our soul is the altar of God. What is the sacrifice of God ? Perhaps we are at the present moment offering sacrifice on the altar of God, when we praise God; for the
Ps. 6o, Psalm teacheth us, in these words : 77/e sacrifice ofpraise
but those whom His grace has made gods. 389
shall glorify Me : and there is the way, where I will shew Ver. the salvation of God. But if thou seekest for a Priest, there :-- is One above the heavens ; He intercedeth for thee, Who on R0m. a, earth died for thee. Therefore, The Lord our God is a3*-
great God: and a great King above all gods. Understand here men by the word gods : for the Lord is not King over
deVils. And hence we have
standeth in the congregation of princes : He is a Judge
among gods. He calleth them gods, because they partake of2 Pet. the Divine Nature, not because they are in their own nature 1' 4- gods; by grace, through which He willed to make them
gods. How great is that God Who maketh gods ! or what
sort of gods are those whom a man maketh ? As He is great
in making gods, so are they nothing who are made by man.
The true God maketh gods of those who believe in Him, to
whom He hath given power to become the sons of God. And John 1, for that reason He is the True God, because He is not a12' created God : but we who are created, are not true gods,
. though better than those which man maketh. Since thePs. n6, images of the heathen are of gold and silver, the work q/*' men's hands : they have mouths, and speak not : eyes have
they, and see not. For us our God hath created eyes that
see ; and yet He hath not created us gods, in that He hath made for us eyes that see ; for this He hath done also for cattle : but He hath made us gods, because He hath en lightened our inner eyes. Unto Him therefore be praise, unto Him be confession, unto Him shouts of joy : For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
7. (Ver. 3. in LXX. ) For the Lord will not cast off HisPs. 94,
Praise be unto Him, and shouts of joy be unto 14' Him ! What people shall He not cast off? we have no right
to make our own explanation here : for the Apostle hath prescribed this unto us, he hath explained whereof it is said. For this was the Jewish people, the people where were the prophets, the people where were the patriarchs, the people begotten according to the flesh from the seed of Abraham ; the people in which all the mysteries which promised our Saviour preceded us ; the people among whom was instituted
the temple, the anointing, the Priest for a figure, that when
all these shadows were past, the Light itself might come ;
Scripture testimony: GWPs. 82,1.
people.
390 The Jewish nation, till it fell, God's people.
Psalm this therefore was the people of God ; to it were the prophets XCX ' sent, in it those who were sent were born ; to it were delivered and entrusted the revelations of God. What then ? is the
whole of that people condemned ? far be it. It is called the good olive-tree by the Apostle, for it commenced with the patriarchs : but there were boughs there that were dry, be-
Rom. ll, cause they were raised too high in pride ; they were therefore
'''
lb. 24, etc'
lopped off owing to their barrenness, and the wild olive engraffed owing to its humility. Nevertheless, most beloved, lest the wild olive when engraffed should become proud, what saith the Apostle ? If thou wert cut out of the olive-tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive-tree ; how much more shall these which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive-tree ? As thou, by not remaining in thy infidelity, hast deserved to be engraffed upon the good olive, when thou wast a wild olive ; so will they when repentant naturally be graffed
more easily upon their own olive : such are the Apostle's words respecting them. This then is the tree itself: though some of its boughs have been broken, yet all have not. For - if all the boughs were broken, whence is Peter? whence
John? whence Thomas ? whence Matthew ? whence Andrew? whence are all those Apostles? whence that very Apostle Paul who was speaking to us but now, and by his own fruit bearing witness to the good olive ? Were not all these of
l^Cor. that people ? Whence also those five hundred brethren to Acts 2, whom our Lord appeared after His resurrection? Whence
*'
were so many thousands at the words of Peter, (when the Apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke with the tongues of all nations,) converted with such zeal for the honour of God and their own accusation, that they who first shed the Lord's blood in their rage, learnt how to drink it now that
Acts 4, they believed? And all these five thousand were so con- 4'2 44
' ' 'verted that they sold their own property, and laid the price of it at the Apostles' feet. That which one rich man did not do, when he heard from the Lord's mouth, and sorrowfully
Mat. 19, departed from Him, this so many thousands of those men by
*?
whose hands Christ had been crucified, did on a sudden. In proportion as the wound was deeper in their own hearts, with the greater eagerness did they seek for a physician.
Jew and Gentile meet in the Corner-Stone. 891
Since therefore all these were from thence, the Psalm saith Ver. of them, For the Lord will not cast off His people. For the ---- Apostle, speaking on this point, hath quoted this as a testi
mony :
bid. For I
also am an Israelite, the seed of
I say then, Hath God cast away His people? God for- Rom.
Abraham, the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away His people whom He foreknew. If in fact the Lord were to cast away
His people, there would have been no root for Paul himself to
spring from : and whence he was, there were others also. In
these is the Lord's people, not in all ; but, as it is written, a Rom. 9, remnant shall be sai-ed. Not in all: but the floor hath beenfj-10 fanned: the wheat been garnered within : the chaff lieth left. ! 2.
In all that thou seest of the reprobate Jews, thou seest the 12. chaff. The wheat hath already been gathered from the floor whereon thou seest this chaff, and hath been stored up in
the barn. Let us see both, and distinguish both.
8. Ver. 4. What doth the Psalm add? In His hand are all the comers of the earth: we recognise the corner stone: , the corner stone is Christ. There cannot be a corner, unless
4 it hath united in itself two walls : they come from different sides to one comer, but they are not opposed to each other in the corner. The circumcision cometh from one side: the uncircumcision from the other ; in Christ both peoples have met together : because He hath become the stone, of which it is written, The stone which the builders rejected, become the head of the corner. If then Christ be the head of the corner, let us not regard the difference of those who come from afar, but the nearness of those who are united in Christ. Therein let us see verified the words : The Lord shall not cast offHis people. Behold one wall, in which now as we have said, the Lord hath not cast off His people. Thence are the Apostles: thence all the Israelites who believed, and who threw the price of their possessions which they had sold at the Apostles' feet; poor by their own resolution, in God
rich. We have recognised one wall, and what we have said, that the Lord will not cast off His people, hath therein been fulfilled : let us see another also. For in His hand are all the corners of the earth. Behold another wall in all the heathen, all the heathen came unto the Corner Stone, where they acknowledged the kiss of peace : to Him, One, who
of
of11'
hath? ? - 1I8,
'
392 Temptations given in measure for our good.
'
Psalm made the two one: not as the heretics, who made two of one. XCV .
14.
'
For the Apostle saith this same of our Lord Christ: For He is our peace, Who hath made both one. Let us therefore shout for joy in Him. Why? Because the I^rd will not cast off His people. Again : Why ? For in His hand are all the corners of the earth : and the heights of the kills are His also. The heights of the hills meaneth the high places of the earth. Sometimes these high places, that is, earthly
powers, are adverse to the Church ; they have promulgated laws against the Church, and endeavoured to blot out the name of Christian from off the earth: but after the fulfir-
Ps. 72, ment of the prophecy, All the kings of the earth shall fall
u-
Cor. 10' l3-
down before Him, what is here said happened, the heights of the hills are His also.
Ver. 5. But perhaps thou art busied with temptations, and hence that, though placed in so great grace of God's promises, thou art disturbed by the world's stumbling-blocks? But those very stumbling-blocks do not really auy thing to thee since they have received their measure from God For the sea His. For the sea this world, but God made also the sea: nor 'can the waves rage save only so far as to the shore, where Ho hath marked their bounds. There therefore no temptation, that hath not received its measure from the Lord. Let there be therefore temptations, let there be tribulations thou art perfected, not consumed by them.
Consider whether those very temptations be not useful. Hear the Apostle God faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted abor. e that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. He saith not, He will not suffer you to be tempted at all for thou wert to refuse temptation, thou wouldest also refuse reformation. Thou art therefore re formed and thou art reformed, thou art in His hands Who formed thee. He taketh something from thee He chasteneth thee in some way, He levelleth somewhat, He cleanseth somewhat in thee: He worketh with certain tools of His own: these are the stumbling-blocks of this world: do thou only be careful not to fall out of thy Maker's hands. No temptation beyond thy strength will approach thee. This God alloweth for thy benefit, whence thou mayest
?
:
:
if ;
; ;
if
is
1
is :
is
it is
is
;
I),
Fear not to come to God, even for sin. 893 profit. Lastly, bear the Apostle himself adding this : But Ver.
will with lite temptation also make a way to escape, that ye
may be able to bear it. Perhaps then the sea was a subject
of fear to thee ? Fear not. For the sea is His, and He
made it. Fearest thou stumbling-blocks from the heathen ?
He made the heathen also Himself; He will not permit
them to rage beyond the measure which He knoweth, -whence thou mayest profit. Saith not another Psalm, All Ps. 86,9. nations whom Thou hast made shall come and worship
before Thee, 0 Lord! if all the nations which Thou hast made, it is clear that He also created the nations: therefore, The sea is His, and He made it: and His hands prepared
the dry land. Be thou the dry land : thirst for the grace of God : that as a sweet shower it may come upon thee, may find in thee fruit. He alloweth not the waves to cover what He hath sown. And His hands prepared the dry land. Hence also therefore let us shout unto the Lord.
10. Since then these things are thus: since we have ex pounded so great things pertaining unto the praise of God, . return ye to where he commenced : (ver. 6. ) 0 come, let us
worship, and fall down to Him ; and mourn before the Lord our Maker. Let us rejoice, because He made this and that. He hath enumerated many things, and he now repeateth his exhortation, O come, let us worship, and fall down to Him : let us mourn before the Lord our Maker. Now that I have mentioned the praises of God, be not slothful, and stand not afar in life and habits. O come, let us worship, and fall down to Him. But possibly ye are anxious on account of your sins, which have made you afar
from God; let us do as followeth : And mourn before the Lord our Maker. Perhaps thou art burning with the con sciousness of a fault ; blot out with tears the flame of thy sin : mourn before the Lord : fearlessly mourn before the Lord, Who made thee ; for He despiseth not the work of His own hands in thee. Think not thou canst be restored by thyself. By thyself thou mayest fall off, thou canst not restore thyself: He Who made thee restoreth thee. Let us mourn before the Lord our Maker : weep before Him, con
fess unto Him, prevent His face in confession. For who art thou who mournest before Him, and confessest unto
6'
394 God's people the ' sheep of His hand;' and why 'shorn. "
Psalm Him, but one whom He created r The thing created hath X C V '- no slight confidence in Him Who created and that in no indifferent fashion, but according to His own image and
likeness. O come, let us worship, and fall down to Him and mourn before the Lord our Maker.
11. Ver. 7. For He is the Lord our God. But that we may without fear fall down and kneel before Him, what are we We are the people qf His pasture, and the sheep His hand. See how elegantly he hath trans posed the order of the words, and as were not given its own attribute to each word that we may understand these very same to be the sheep, who are also the people. He said not, the sheep of His pasture, and the people of His hand; which might be thought more congruous, since
the sheep belong to the pasture but He said, the people His pasture. The people are therefore sheep, since he saith, the people of His pasture: the people themselves are
sheep. But again, since we have sheep which we buy, not which we create and he had said above, Let us fall down before our Maker rightly said, the sheep of His hand. No man maketh for himself sheep, he may buy them, they may be given, he may find them, he may collect them, lastly, he may steal them make them he cannot. But our Lord made us therefore the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand, are the very sheep which He hath
deigned by His grace to create unto Himself. He praiseth these sheep also in the Song of Solomon, speaking of some perfect ones as the teeth of His Spouse the Holy Church
Sonf? of Thy teeth are like a flock sheep that are even shorn, g? g4'2; which come up from the washing; whereof every one
beareth twins, and there none barren. What meaneth, Thy teeth? These by whom thou speakest: for the teeth of the Church are those through whom she speaketh. Of what sort are thy teeth? Like a flock of sheep that are shorn.
recompense
John 9, saith, / am come into this world, that they which see not
might see ; and that they which see might be made blind ; and the Apostle, To the one we are the savour of death unto death ; and to the other, the savour of life unto life. But the malice of the wicked is the left hand aras of the righteous ; as the same Apostle saith, By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, that is, by honour and dishonour ; and he then severally recounteth the other points, shewing what were their right hand arms, viz. the glory of God, good report, truth by which it was known of them that they lived, that they were not brought to death, that they rejoiced, that they enriched many, that they possessed all things ; and that their left hand arms were, that they were held in dis
honour, of evil report, that they were thought deceivers, that
were unknown, slain, imprisoned, made sorrowful, seemed to be in want, and to have nothing. And what wonder is it^if the soldiers of Christ overpower the devil at
Luke 2, once by left and right hand weapons ? But as peace cometh
3S>-
2 Cor. 2, 16-
lb. 6, 7' 8-
i4'
unto men of good will, even when they are unto others a savour of death unto death ; so doth destruction come unto men of ill-will, even wheu they are the left hand weapons of the righteous towards their salvation. He will therefore
they
recompense
them not according to the profit we derive from
Bear with the ungodly in faith and charity. 381
them ; but after their own iniquity, by loving which they Ver. hate their own souls ; and not according to the blessings ------ which through them He doth dispense unto us, doth He honour them, He Who maketh a good use even of the wicked ; but after their own malice shall the Lord our God destroy them.
29. Let therefore the righteous bear with the ungodly ;
let the temporal suffering of the righteous bear with the temporal impunity of the wicked; for the just shall live Bom. 1, by faith. For there is no righteousness of man in this
life except to live by faith, which worketh by love. ButGa1-6i if he liveth by faith, let him believe both that he will himself inherit rest after his present toil, and that they
will suffer eternal torments after their present exultation.
And if faith worketh by love, let him love his enemies
also, and, as far as in him lies, have the will to profit
them ; for thus he will prevent their injuring him when
they have the will. And whenever perchance they have received power to hurt and tyrannise ; let him lift his heart
above, where no man hurteth him, well taught and chastened
in the law of God, that he may have patience given him in
the days of adversity, until the pit be digged up for the ungodly. For if his delight is in the law of God, and in i7Ps,1,2- he will exercise himself day and night, whose conversation Phil. 3, is in heaven; he shineth over the earth from the firmament
above ; whence this Psalm hath received its title from the
fourth day of the week, when the heavenly bodies were made; so that we may do all things without murmuring, Ptil. 2,
~~
holding the word of life in a nation crooked and perverse.
For as the night doth not extinguish the stars in heaven ;
so iniquity overcometh not the minds of the faithful, when
fixed in the firmament of God's Scriptures. And this very
fact, that our earthly possessions are sometimes given into
the power of the wicked, not only pertaineth unto our learning, so that God may become our refuge, and the help
of our hope ; bnt also profiteth towards the very pit of the ungodly, of whom it is said in another Psalm, He will be Pfc I0' bent down and fall, when he shall have mastery of the poor.
30. Possibly the length of this discourse hath been tedious to you : although this doth not appear amid the eagerness
382 Eagerness of hearers. A song of praise.
Psalm of your attention. But though it be so, forgive me : first,
-'because I did so by command; the Lord our God having J7?
see on
Ps. 89. ordered me through those Brethren, in whom He dwelleth.
lafj. 8. Por God doth not command, save from His own throne. Secondly, as you have been so eager toward us, so, we confess, have we been toward you. May our God therefore console us for this toil, so that it may result in your advancement unto salvation, not in a testimony to accuse
you. This I say, brethren, that ye may profit from what ye have heard, and ruminate within yourselves: permit not yourselves to forget, not only by thinking over again upon these subjects, and discoursing upon them, but also by so living. For a good life which is led after God's commands, is like a pen, because it is heard writing in our hearts. If it were written on wax, it would easily be blotted out : write it in your hearts, in your character, and it shall never be blotted out.
PSALM XCV. ?
1. Ver. 1. I could wish, brethren, thai we were rather listening to our father: but even this is a good thing, to obey our father. Since therefore he who deigneth to pray for us, hath ordered us, I will speak unto you, beloved, what from the present Psalm Jesus Christ our common Lord shall deign to give us. Now the title of the Psalm is David's Song of praise. The Song of praise signlfieth both cheer fulness, in that it is a song; and devotion, for it is praise. For what ought a man to praise more than that which pleaseth him so, that it is impossible that it can displease him ? In the praising of God therefore we praise with security. There he who praiseth is safe, where he feareth not lest he be ashamed for the object of his praise. Let us therefore both praise and sing ; that is, let us praise with cheerfulness and joy. But what we are about to praise, this Psalm in the following verses sheweth us.
? A Discourse delivered at the bid- and consequently either before or shortly ding of Aurelius Bp. of Carthage, or after St. Augustine was consecrated perhaps of Valerius Bp. of Hippo, Bishop.
How men are near to God, or far from Him. 383
2. O come, let us sing unto the Lord. He calleth us to Ver. a great banquet of joy, not one of this world, but in the ------ Lord. For if there were not in this life a wicked joy which
is to be distinguished from a righteous joy, it would be enough to say, Come, let us rejoice; but he has briefly dis tinguished it. What is it to rejoice aright ? To rejoice in
the Lord. Thou shouldest piously joy in the Lord, if thou
dost wish safely to trample upon the world. But what is
the word, Come ? Whence doth He call them to come, with
whom he wisheth to rejoice in the Lord ; except that, while
they are afar, they may by coming draw nearer, by drawing
nearer they may approach, and by approaching rejoice ?
But whence are they afar? Can a man be locally distant
from Him who is every where? Dost thou wish to be far
from Him ? Where wilt thou go, that thou mayest be far
from Him ? For a certain sinner indeed, but yet penitent with the hope of salvation and sorrowing for his sins, and fearing the anger of God, and wishing to appeIase Him,
go then Ps. 139,
'
Ier shall this in another Psalm, Whith
speaketh
from Thy SpirI from
it? or whither shall
climb up into heaven, Thou art there.
presence? If
What remaineth then ? For if he climb up into heaven, and there find God : whither shall he go, that he may fly far from God ? See what he saith, If I go down to hell, Thou art there also? If therefore by climbing into heaven, he there findeth God ; if by going down into hell, he escapeth Him not; whither shall he go, whither shall he fly, from that angry God, unless unto Himself appeased? And yet, though no man could possibly fly from Him who is every
where ; unless some were far from God, it would not be written, This people do honour Me with their lips, but their ls. 29, heart isfarfrom Me. It is not therefore by place, but by 13' being unlike Him, that a man is afar from God. What is to
be unlike Him ? it meaneth, a bad life, bad habits; for if by
good habits we approach God, by bad habits we recede from
God. One then and the same man standing bodily in the same
spot, by loving God doth approach Him, and by loving iniquity doth recede from Him : he no where moveth his feet, 1 see on and yet he can both approach and recede. For our affections 1 ^injg6. are our feet in this journey, according as each man hath? -12 &0
go then Thy
384 Likeness to God is nearness to Hint.
Psalm affection, according as each hath love, so doth he either approach or recede from God. Do we not usually say, when we find any things unlike, This is far from that ? When we are comparing any two men, two horses, two garments, and some one saith, This garment is like, it is such as that; or, This man is such as that man ; what doth he say who con tradicts it? It is no such thing: it is far from it. What meaneth, It is far from it? It is unlike it. They stand close together: and yet this man is far from that. But two un godly men, alike in life and habits, if one be in the east, the other in the west, are near each other. In the same way two righteous men, one in the east, the other in the west, are with one another, since they are in God. On the other hand, one righteous, and one ungodly man, even though they be bound with one chain, yet are widely separated from one another. If therefore by unlikeness we recede from God, by likeness we approach unto God. What likeness ? That after which we were created, which by sinning we had corrupted in ourselves, which we have received again through the remission of sins, which is renewed in us in the mind within, that it may be engraved a second time as if on coin, that is, the image of our God upon our soul, and that we may return to His treasures. For what was the reason, brethren, that our Saviour chose to discover to His tempters, from a piece of money, what God demandeth ? For when they resolved, by way of seeking a pretext of false accusation, to question the Master of Truth respecting the tribute paid to Caesar, and by consulting Him to tempt Him as to whether it were lawful to pay tribute unto Caesar; what answered He? Why tempt ye Me, ye hypocrites? He asked them to shew Him the tribute money, and they brought unto Him a penny; and He saith unto them, Whose image and superscription hath it? They say unto Him, Caesar's. Then saith He unto them,
Mat. 22, Render therefore unto Ccesar the things that are Casar's, ' and unto God the things that are God's. As if He should say: IfCaesar seeketh on a coin his own image, doth not God seek in man His Image ? Our Lord Jesus Christ,
inviting us to the resemblance of this image, commandeth
us also to love our enemies ; and giveth us an example from Matt. 6, God Himself : As your Father, He saith, which is in heaven ;
A 'joyful noise' due to our joy in God. 385
Who maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, Ver. and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Be ye ---2-
perfect, even as your Father. When He saith,'
Be ye therefore perfect, as He is, He calleth us to resemble
Him. If therefore He invite us to resemble Him, it is clear
that by being unlike we had receded from God, and had become far from Him through unlikeness, and are made
near unto Him by means of our resemblance to Him, that
what is written may be realized in us; Come near unto Him, Ps. 34,6. and be lightened. To some therefore, dwelling afar, and
living evilly, this Psalm saith, 0 come, let us rejoice unto
the Lord! Whither do ye go? whither retire? whither depart ? whither do ye fly, by rejoicing in the world ? O
come, let us rejoice unto the Lord ! Whither do ye go to rejoice, when ye turn away ? O come, let us rejoice unto
Him by Whom we were created ! 0 come, let us rejoice unto
the Lord!
3. Ijit us male a joyful noise unto God, our salvation. Jubile- What is to make a joyful noise? Not to be able to expressTM113' one's joy in words, and yet to testify by the voice what hath
been conceived within, and refuseth to be compassed within words : this is to make a joyful noise. Consider, beloved,
those who make a joyful noise in any ordinary songs, as in a sort of competition of worldly joy ; and ye see them while reciting the written lines bursting forth with a joy, that the tongue sufficeth not to express the measure of; how they shout, indicating by that utterance the feeling of the mind, which cannot in words express what is conceived in the heart. If they then in earthly joy make a joyful noise; might we not do so from heavenly joy, which truly we cannot express in words ?
4. Ver. 2. Let us prevent His face by confession. Con fession hath a double meaning in Scripture. There is a confession of him who praiseth, there is that of him who
therefore
The confession of praise pertaineth to the honour of Him Who is praised : the confession of groaning to the repentance of him who confesseth. For men confess when they praise God : they confess, when they accuse them selves; and the tongue hath no more worthy use. Truly, I believe these to be the very vows, of which he speaketh in
vol. iv. c c
groaneth.
386 Confession prepares us to meet our Judge. I distin-
Psaim another Psalm: / will pay Thee my vows, which
Fs 66 f/nished with my lips. Nothing is more elevated than that 13. 14. ' distinguishing, nothing is so necessary both to understand
and to do. How then dost thou distinguish the vows which thou payest unto God? By praising Him, by accusing thyself; because it is His mercy, to forgive us our sins. For if He chose to deal with us after our deserts, He would find cause only to condemn. O come, he said therefore, that we may at last go back from our sins, and that He may not cast up with us our accounts for the past; but that as it were a new account may be commenced, all the bonds of our debts having been burnt. How great then is His praise; how great His mercy. This let us confess, that is, by praising Him. For if confession were always the act of a penitent, it would not be spoken of in the Gospel of our
I. uleio, Lord IHimself: In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and
to Thee, 0 Father, Lord heaven and confess of
said,
earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Because
Christ confessed, was He in any way a penitent? He could repent of nothing, Who had not done one action wrongly : but He confessed, by His praises of His Father. There fore, since this also is a passage of exultation, we ought perhaps to understand that confession which consists in the praise of God : whence also it is slyled, The song ofpraise, that we may not here understand the confession of penitents, but of those who praise God. And why is it that he at once
admonisheth us of some confession, when he saith, Let us prevent His face by confession ? What meaneth this ? He
will come : Let us prevent His'face by confession, before hand : before He arrive, let us by confession condemn what we have done, that He may find that which He may crown, not what He must condemn. But doth not this very act of confessing thy sins pertain to the praise of God ? Yea truly it most fully doth pertain to God's praise. And why?
Because the more desperate was the state of the sufferer, so much greater is the honour of the physician. The more therefore thou despairedst of thyself on account of thy iniquities, do thou confess thy sins ; for so much greater is the praise of Him Who forgiveth, as is the fulness of the
Use of repetitions. Reasons for Praise. 387 penitent's confession more abundant. Let us not therefore Ver.
imagine that we have receded from the song of praise, in understanding here that confession by which we acknow ledge our transgressions : this is even a part of the song of praise ; for when we confess our sins, we praise the glory of
--
God. Let us prevent His/ace in confession.
5. And make a joyful noise unto Him with Psalms. We Jubile-
have already said what it is io make a joyful noise : the word is repeated, that it may be confirmed by the act: the very repetition is an exhortation. For we have not forgotten, so as to wish to be again admonished, what was said above, that we should make a joyful noise : but usually in passages of strong feeling a well-known word is repeated, not to make it more familiar, but that the very repetition may strengthen the impression made : for it is repeated that we may under stand the feeling of the speaker. Hence our Lord's words,
Verily, verily, I say unto you : one verily sulficed : why, John l,
Verily, verily, unless because the repetition strengthens? Let us, he saith then, make a joyful noise unto Him with Psalms. And what shall we say in Psalms ? what shall we say, or rather feel, in that burst of joy ? what are the topics which belong to this song of praise? Hear now: (ver. 3. ) For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. Let us therefore make a joyful noise unto Him. For the Lord will not cast off His people ; let us make a joyful noise unto Him. (Ver. 4. ) For in His hands are all the corners of the earth : and the heights of the hills are His
also: for all these reasons let us make a joyful noise unto Him. (Ver. 5. ) For the sea is His, and He made it : and His hand prepared the dry land: let us make a joyful noise unto Him. Now time sufficeth not for a proportionate
of what all this meaneth : yet if it be utterly neglected, we shall remain debtors. Hear then some brief remarks, as the time alloweth, gleaning as much as I shall be able : since even a few seeds, where the soil is fruitful, bear the richest crop.
6-. Ver. 3. First, he mentions this, as a reason for our song to praise. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
There are therefore gods above whom is our great God, to Whom we make a joyful noise, in Whom we
cc2
exposition
383 God above all gods; not only devil-gods,
Psai-m heartily rejoice, to Whom we utter a song of praise. There iE^--: art: : but not unto us. For the Apostle saith : For though
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6. 6.
there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, {as there be gods many and lords many,) but to us there is but one God the Father, of Whom are all things, and we-by Him ; and one Lord Jesns Christ, by Whom are all tilings, and we in Him. If therefore not unto us, unto whom ?
Pi. 96 6. Hear from another Psalm, As for all the gods of the heathen, they are but devils; but it is the Lord who made the heavens. The Holy Spirit could not in terms more magnificent and lofty commend unto thee through the Prophet thy God and Lord. It was not enough to say that God is terrible above all devils: why is it high praise enough to say, that He is above all devils? For all the gods of the heathen are but devils. But where is thy Lord ? But it is 4he Lord Who made the
1 Cor. 3'
heavens. Thy God created that, where devils cannot dwell : for the devils were cast down from heaven. The heavens are preferred to the devils, thy Lord even to the heavens : because thy Lord made also the heavens. How much higher therefore than the heathen gods, that are devils, is He, Who is higher than the heavens, whence fell the angels, to become devils ? And yet all nations were under these devils : temples were built to devils, altars reared to devils, priests established to devils, sacrifices offered to devils, men brought in for prophets that were possessed with devils ! All these honours the heathen offered to devils : all, in their true use, are only due to the one great God. The heathen erected a temple to devils ; God hath a temple: the heathen established priests for devils; God hath a priest; the heathen offered sacrifice to devils ; God hath a sacrifice. For those devils who wished to appear gods, would not exact such honours in order to deceive, unless because they know that they are due unto the true God; for what a false deity arrogates to himself, is usually due to the True God. We therefore acknowledge a true temple of God. For the temple of God is holy, saith St. Paul, which are ye. If therefore we are the temple of God, our soul is the altar of God. What is the sacrifice of God ? Perhaps we are at the present moment offering sacrifice on the altar of God, when we praise God; for the
Ps. 6o, Psalm teacheth us, in these words : 77/e sacrifice ofpraise
but those whom His grace has made gods. 389
shall glorify Me : and there is the way, where I will shew Ver. the salvation of God. But if thou seekest for a Priest, there :-- is One above the heavens ; He intercedeth for thee, Who on R0m. a, earth died for thee. Therefore, The Lord our God is a3*-
great God: and a great King above all gods. Understand here men by the word gods : for the Lord is not King over
deVils. And hence we have
standeth in the congregation of princes : He is a Judge
among gods. He calleth them gods, because they partake of2 Pet. the Divine Nature, not because they are in their own nature 1' 4- gods; by grace, through which He willed to make them
gods. How great is that God Who maketh gods ! or what
sort of gods are those whom a man maketh ? As He is great
in making gods, so are they nothing who are made by man.
The true God maketh gods of those who believe in Him, to
whom He hath given power to become the sons of God. And John 1, for that reason He is the True God, because He is not a12' created God : but we who are created, are not true gods,
. though better than those which man maketh. Since thePs. n6, images of the heathen are of gold and silver, the work q/*' men's hands : they have mouths, and speak not : eyes have
they, and see not. For us our God hath created eyes that
see ; and yet He hath not created us gods, in that He hath made for us eyes that see ; for this He hath done also for cattle : but He hath made us gods, because He hath en lightened our inner eyes. Unto Him therefore be praise, unto Him be confession, unto Him shouts of joy : For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
7. (Ver. 3. in LXX. ) For the Lord will not cast off HisPs. 94,
Praise be unto Him, and shouts of joy be unto 14' Him ! What people shall He not cast off? we have no right
to make our own explanation here : for the Apostle hath prescribed this unto us, he hath explained whereof it is said. For this was the Jewish people, the people where were the prophets, the people where were the patriarchs, the people begotten according to the flesh from the seed of Abraham ; the people in which all the mysteries which promised our Saviour preceded us ; the people among whom was instituted
the temple, the anointing, the Priest for a figure, that when
all these shadows were past, the Light itself might come ;
Scripture testimony: GWPs. 82,1.
people.
390 The Jewish nation, till it fell, God's people.
Psalm this therefore was the people of God ; to it were the prophets XCX ' sent, in it those who were sent were born ; to it were delivered and entrusted the revelations of God. What then ? is the
whole of that people condemned ? far be it. It is called the good olive-tree by the Apostle, for it commenced with the patriarchs : but there were boughs there that were dry, be-
Rom. ll, cause they were raised too high in pride ; they were therefore
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lb. 24, etc'
lopped off owing to their barrenness, and the wild olive engraffed owing to its humility. Nevertheless, most beloved, lest the wild olive when engraffed should become proud, what saith the Apostle ? If thou wert cut out of the olive-tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive-tree ; how much more shall these which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive-tree ? As thou, by not remaining in thy infidelity, hast deserved to be engraffed upon the good olive, when thou wast a wild olive ; so will they when repentant naturally be graffed
more easily upon their own olive : such are the Apostle's words respecting them. This then is the tree itself: though some of its boughs have been broken, yet all have not. For - if all the boughs were broken, whence is Peter? whence
John? whence Thomas ? whence Matthew ? whence Andrew? whence are all those Apostles? whence that very Apostle Paul who was speaking to us but now, and by his own fruit bearing witness to the good olive ? Were not all these of
l^Cor. that people ? Whence also those five hundred brethren to Acts 2, whom our Lord appeared after His resurrection? Whence
*'
were so many thousands at the words of Peter, (when the Apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke with the tongues of all nations,) converted with such zeal for the honour of God and their own accusation, that they who first shed the Lord's blood in their rage, learnt how to drink it now that
Acts 4, they believed? And all these five thousand were so con- 4'2 44
' ' 'verted that they sold their own property, and laid the price of it at the Apostles' feet. That which one rich man did not do, when he heard from the Lord's mouth, and sorrowfully
Mat. 19, departed from Him, this so many thousands of those men by
*?
whose hands Christ had been crucified, did on a sudden. In proportion as the wound was deeper in their own hearts, with the greater eagerness did they seek for a physician.
Jew and Gentile meet in the Corner-Stone. 891
Since therefore all these were from thence, the Psalm saith Ver. of them, For the Lord will not cast off His people. For the ---- Apostle, speaking on this point, hath quoted this as a testi
mony :
bid. For I
also am an Israelite, the seed of
I say then, Hath God cast away His people? God for- Rom.
Abraham, the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away His people whom He foreknew. If in fact the Lord were to cast away
His people, there would have been no root for Paul himself to
spring from : and whence he was, there were others also. In
these is the Lord's people, not in all ; but, as it is written, a Rom. 9, remnant shall be sai-ed. Not in all: but the floor hath beenfj-10 fanned: the wheat been garnered within : the chaff lieth left. ! 2.
In all that thou seest of the reprobate Jews, thou seest the 12. chaff. The wheat hath already been gathered from the floor whereon thou seest this chaff, and hath been stored up in
the barn. Let us see both, and distinguish both.
8. Ver. 4. What doth the Psalm add? In His hand are all the comers of the earth: we recognise the corner stone: , the corner stone is Christ. There cannot be a corner, unless
4 it hath united in itself two walls : they come from different sides to one comer, but they are not opposed to each other in the corner. The circumcision cometh from one side: the uncircumcision from the other ; in Christ both peoples have met together : because He hath become the stone, of which it is written, The stone which the builders rejected, become the head of the corner. If then Christ be the head of the corner, let us not regard the difference of those who come from afar, but the nearness of those who are united in Christ. Therein let us see verified the words : The Lord shall not cast offHis people. Behold one wall, in which now as we have said, the Lord hath not cast off His people. Thence are the Apostles: thence all the Israelites who believed, and who threw the price of their possessions which they had sold at the Apostles' feet; poor by their own resolution, in God
rich. We have recognised one wall, and what we have said, that the Lord will not cast off His people, hath therein been fulfilled : let us see another also. For in His hand are all the corners of the earth. Behold another wall in all the heathen, all the heathen came unto the Corner Stone, where they acknowledged the kiss of peace : to Him, One, who
of
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hath? ? - 1I8,
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392 Temptations given in measure for our good.
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Psalm made the two one: not as the heretics, who made two of one. XCV .
14.
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For the Apostle saith this same of our Lord Christ: For He is our peace, Who hath made both one. Let us therefore shout for joy in Him. Why? Because the I^rd will not cast off His people. Again : Why ? For in His hand are all the corners of the earth : and the heights of the kills are His also. The heights of the hills meaneth the high places of the earth. Sometimes these high places, that is, earthly
powers, are adverse to the Church ; they have promulgated laws against the Church, and endeavoured to blot out the name of Christian from off the earth: but after the fulfir-
Ps. 72, ment of the prophecy, All the kings of the earth shall fall
u-
Cor. 10' l3-
down before Him, what is here said happened, the heights of the hills are His also.
Ver. 5. But perhaps thou art busied with temptations, and hence that, though placed in so great grace of God's promises, thou art disturbed by the world's stumbling-blocks? But those very stumbling-blocks do not really auy thing to thee since they have received their measure from God For the sea His. For the sea this world, but God made also the sea: nor 'can the waves rage save only so far as to the shore, where Ho hath marked their bounds. There therefore no temptation, that hath not received its measure from the Lord. Let there be therefore temptations, let there be tribulations thou art perfected, not consumed by them.
Consider whether those very temptations be not useful. Hear the Apostle God faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted abor. e that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. He saith not, He will not suffer you to be tempted at all for thou wert to refuse temptation, thou wouldest also refuse reformation. Thou art therefore re formed and thou art reformed, thou art in His hands Who formed thee. He taketh something from thee He chasteneth thee in some way, He levelleth somewhat, He cleanseth somewhat in thee: He worketh with certain tools of His own: these are the stumbling-blocks of this world: do thou only be careful not to fall out of thy Maker's hands. No temptation beyond thy strength will approach thee. This God alloweth for thy benefit, whence thou mayest
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:
:
if ;
; ;
if
is
1
is :
is
it is
is
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Fear not to come to God, even for sin. 893 profit. Lastly, bear the Apostle himself adding this : But Ver.
will with lite temptation also make a way to escape, that ye
may be able to bear it. Perhaps then the sea was a subject
of fear to thee ? Fear not. For the sea is His, and He
made it. Fearest thou stumbling-blocks from the heathen ?
He made the heathen also Himself; He will not permit
them to rage beyond the measure which He knoweth, -whence thou mayest profit. Saith not another Psalm, All Ps. 86,9. nations whom Thou hast made shall come and worship
before Thee, 0 Lord! if all the nations which Thou hast made, it is clear that He also created the nations: therefore, The sea is His, and He made it: and His hands prepared
the dry land. Be thou the dry land : thirst for the grace of God : that as a sweet shower it may come upon thee, may find in thee fruit. He alloweth not the waves to cover what He hath sown. And His hands prepared the dry land. Hence also therefore let us shout unto the Lord.
10. Since then these things are thus: since we have ex pounded so great things pertaining unto the praise of God, . return ye to where he commenced : (ver. 6. ) 0 come, let us
worship, and fall down to Him ; and mourn before the Lord our Maker. Let us rejoice, because He made this and that. He hath enumerated many things, and he now repeateth his exhortation, O come, let us worship, and fall down to Him : let us mourn before the Lord our Maker. Now that I have mentioned the praises of God, be not slothful, and stand not afar in life and habits. O come, let us worship, and fall down to Him. But possibly ye are anxious on account of your sins, which have made you afar
from God; let us do as followeth : And mourn before the Lord our Maker. Perhaps thou art burning with the con sciousness of a fault ; blot out with tears the flame of thy sin : mourn before the Lord : fearlessly mourn before the Lord, Who made thee ; for He despiseth not the work of His own hands in thee. Think not thou canst be restored by thyself. By thyself thou mayest fall off, thou canst not restore thyself: He Who made thee restoreth thee. Let us mourn before the Lord our Maker : weep before Him, con
fess unto Him, prevent His face in confession. For who art thou who mournest before Him, and confessest unto
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394 God's people the ' sheep of His hand;' and why 'shorn. "
Psalm Him, but one whom He created r The thing created hath X C V '- no slight confidence in Him Who created and that in no indifferent fashion, but according to His own image and
likeness. O come, let us worship, and fall down to Him and mourn before the Lord our Maker.
11. Ver. 7. For He is the Lord our God. But that we may without fear fall down and kneel before Him, what are we We are the people qf His pasture, and the sheep His hand. See how elegantly he hath trans posed the order of the words, and as were not given its own attribute to each word that we may understand these very same to be the sheep, who are also the people. He said not, the sheep of His pasture, and the people of His hand; which might be thought more congruous, since
the sheep belong to the pasture but He said, the people His pasture. The people are therefore sheep, since he saith, the people of His pasture: the people themselves are
sheep. But again, since we have sheep which we buy, not which we create and he had said above, Let us fall down before our Maker rightly said, the sheep of His hand. No man maketh for himself sheep, he may buy them, they may be given, he may find them, he may collect them, lastly, he may steal them make them he cannot. But our Lord made us therefore the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand, are the very sheep which He hath
deigned by His grace to create unto Himself. He praiseth these sheep also in the Song of Solomon, speaking of some perfect ones as the teeth of His Spouse the Holy Church
Sonf? of Thy teeth are like a flock sheep that are even shorn, g? g4'2; which come up from the washing; whereof every one
beareth twins, and there none barren. What meaneth, Thy teeth? These by whom thou speakest: for the teeth of the Church are those through whom she speaketh. Of what sort are thy teeth? Like a flock of sheep that are shorn.
