And even his sons, though they perished in this world, shall
be recognised and received back in the world to come.
be recognised and received back in the world to come.
Augustine - Exposition on the Psalms - v6
From the sword is not sufficient, he addeth, of ill intent.
Without doubt there is a sword of good intent.
What is the sword of good
Mat. 10, intent ? That whereof the Lord saith, / came not to send
34
peace on earth, but a sword. For He was about to separate believers from unbelievers, sons from parents, and to sever all other ties, while the sword cut off what was diseased, but healed the members of Christ. Of good intent then is the sword twice sharpened, powerful with both edges, the Old and New Testaments, with the narration of the past and the promise of the future. That then is the sword of good intent: but the other is 'of ill intent, wherewith they
talk vanity, for that is of good intent, wherewith God
speaketh verity. Therefore from the sword of ill intent
Ps. 57, deliver me. For truly the sons of men have teeth which are
4'
spears and arrows, and their tongue is a sharp sword. From this sword of ill intent deliver me. What he hath now called a sword, the same he called above many waters. Take me out of many waters. The same which I called many waters, 1 uow call a sword of ill intent. Finally, when he had said, out ofmany waters, he went on to say, from the hand of strange children, whose mouth hath spoken
vanity. And that thou mightest know that the same are spoken of, when here too he had said, Deliver me from the sword of ill intent, he went on to say, And take me out of the hand of strange children, whose mouth hath spoken vanity: just as before. And that which followeth, their right hand is a right hand of iniquity, the same he had set down before also, when he called them many waters. For lest thou shouldest think that the many waters were good waters, he explained them by the sword of ill intent. Now then let him explain what he meant by, whose mouth hath spoken vanity, and their right hand is a right hand
The prosperity of the wicked, empty. 311
of iniquity. What vanity hath their mouth spoken? and Vex. how is their right hand a right hand of iniquity ?
18. Whose sons are like young vines firmly planted in ver. 12. their youth. He wisheth to recount their happiness. Ob
serve, ye sons of light, sons of peace : observe, ye sons of
the Church, members of Christ; observe whom he calleth strangers, whom he calleth
strange children, whom he calleth waters ofcontradiction, whom he calleth a sword of
ill intent. Observe, I beseech you, for among them ye are
in peril, among their tongues ye fight against the desires
of your flesh, among their tongues, set in the hand of the
devil wherewith he fighteth, ye have to wrestle, not against Eph. 6,
flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, 12* against the rulers of this world, of this darkness, that is,
of the wicked. Observe, that ye may discern yourselves, that
ye may not think that to be true felicity, which men either weak, or of ill intent, desire for themselves. Behold, bre thren, surely he hath called them strange children, surely
he halh called them many waters, surely he hath called
them a sword of ill intent. Behold the vanity which they speak, and beware lest ye speak the same; beware lest in speaking the same, ye imitate them. Whose mouth hath spoken vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of iniquity. What vanity hath their mouth spoken, and how
is their right hand a right hand of iniquity? Whose sons ver. 12. are as young vines firmly planted in their youth, their13, 14' daughters are fitted and adorned after the similitude of
a temple: their garners are full, bursting out from one store to another: their sheep are fruitful, multiplying in their streets: their oxen are fat : their hedge is not broken down, nor their road, nor is there crying in their streets. Is not this then happiness ? I ask the sons of the kingdom of heaven, I ask the offspring of everlasting resurrection,
I ask the body of Christ, the members of Christ, the temple of God. Is not this then happiness, to have sons safe, daughters beautiful, garners full, cattle abundant, no downfall, I say not of a wall, but not even of a hedge, no tumult and clamour in the streets, but quiet, peace, abundance, plenty of all things in their houses and in their cities? Is not this then happiness ? or ought the righteous to shun
31 2 Everlasting happiness the only true happiness.
Psalm it? or findest thou not the house of the righteous too "l1T" abounding with all these things, full of this happiness? Did not Abraham's house abound with gold, silver, children,
Gen. 31, servants, cattle? Did not the holy patriarch Jacob, when he fled from the face of his brother Esau into Macedonia, after enriching himself as a servant, return, and give thanks to the Lord his God, because with his rod he had crossed the river, returned with such abundance of flocks and children ? What say we ? is not this happiness ? Be it so, still it is on the left hand. What is, on the left hand? Temporal, mortal, bodily. I desire not that thou shun
but that thou think not to be on the right hand. For they were not therefore wicked, therefore vain, because they had this abundance, but because what ought to have been on the left hand they set on the right. Therefore too their right hand is a right hand iniquity; therefore their mouth hath spoken vanity, because they set that on their right hand which ought to have been on the left. For what ought they to have set on the right hand God, eternity,
Ps. 102, the years of God which fail not, whereof said, and Thy years shall not fail. There should be the right hand, there should be our longing. Let us use the left for the time, let
Ps. 62, us long for the right for eternity. If riches increase, set not
J0"
your heart upon them. For when riches increase, ye set your heart upon them, ye will make what left, to be right. Amend yourselves, acknowledge Wisdom embracing you, to
Cant. Whom said, His left hand shall be under my head, and His right hand shall embrace me. Behold the holy song of love, behold the song of songs, of the heavenly marriage of
Christ and His Church. What saith the bride of the Bridegroom His left hand shall be under my head, and His right hand shall embrace me. The left under the head, and the right above the head. For when one embraceth from above, his arm above the head, but his left hand under the head. His left hand, saith he, under my head. For He will not desert me in times of need: but yet His left hand will be under my head, will not be put above my head, but will be beneath my head, that His right hand may embrace me, promising eternal life. For so His left hand under my head, His right hand be above my head, and
if
it of
is
it
is
?
(,
2,
it is
is
is ?
if,
it,
To seek earthly happiness is folly. 313
that is fulfilled which was written to Timothy, having the Ver. promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to - 15- come. Having the promise, he saith, of the present and of
the future life. What in the present ? His left hand under
my head. What in the future? His right hand shall embrace me. Do ye seek what is needful for the present
time? Seek ye first the kingdom of God, that is, the right Matt. 6, hand, and all these things shall be added unto you. Ye33- shall have here, saith He, both riches and glory, and in the
world to come everlasting life: both with the left hand I will support you while weak, and with the right I will crown you when perfected. Or did perhaps the Apostles, when they left their all, or distributed what they had to the poor, remain without riches in this world? Where then is that
promise of the left hand, he shall receive sevenfold in this Mat. 19, world? He promised to multiply them. And, in truth, what29'
can be wanting to the man of God r If any one perchance
be an unbeliever, he hath but one house, or at all events
a few ; the w hole world of riches are the faithful man's. j,rov,ijt Behold His left hand full under his head: he shall receive6- sevenfold in this world. Behold His right hand embracing
him : and in the world to come life everlasting. Rightly is
it said in another place too of Wisdom herself, in her right Prov. 3, hand is length of days, and in her left hand riches and^6' honour.
19. Whence then speak they vainly ? wherefore hath
their mouth spoken vanity? Because their right hand is a
right hand of iniquity. I blame them not because their sons
were as young vines firmly planted in their youth, nor because their daughters were adorned after the similitude of
the temple, nor because they had every thing else in abundance, and because earthly peace was theirs. But why
do I blame them ? They have called the people blessed who ver. 15, have these things. O men that speak vanity ! They have called the people blessed who have these things. They have
lost the true right hand, wicked and perverse, they have
put on the benefits of God inversely. O wicked ones, O speakers of vanity, O strange children ! They have called
the people blessed who have these things. What was on the left hand, they have set on the right. They have called the
3N God teacheth man how to praise.
Psalm people blessed who have these things. What dost thou, c",ir' David ? What dost thou, Body of Christ f What do ye, members of Christ ? What do ye, not strange children, but children of God ? Since the speakers of vanity, the strange
children, have called the people blessed who have these things, what say ye ? Blessed is the people whose Lord is their God. Have then the left hand, but on the left ; long for the right, that ye may be set on the right. They had the left on the
Mat. 25, left, before whom He hungered, and they gave Him to eat; He was thirsty, and they gave Him drink; He was a stranger, and they took Him in ; He was naked, and they clothed Him. All this they took from the left, and transferred to the works of the right, that they might be set
on the right. So then the speakers of vanity, the strange children, called the people blessed who have these things : say ye with us, Blessed is the people, whose Lord is their
God.
Lat. PSALM CXLV. CxlIV.
Sermon to the People.
1. We have longed to praise the Lord with you; and since He has deigned to grant us this, in order that the praise which we give Him may be in due order, that it may not by any excess offend Him Whom it praiseth, it is better for us to seek the path of praise in the Scripture of God, that we turn not aside from the way, either to the right hand or to the left. For I venture to say to you, beloved, God hath praised Himself, that He might be properly praised by man : and because He hath deigned to praise Himself, therefore hath man found how to praise Him.
Prov. 27, For it cannot be said to God, as it is to man, let not thine
2'
own mouth praise thee. For for man to praise himself is arrogance; for God to praise Himself is mercy. It is good for us to love whom we praise : by praising one that is good, we are ourselves made better. So, since He knoweth that this is for our good, in order that we might love Him, by praising Himself, He maketh Himself lovely ; and herein He endeavoureth to benefit us, in that He maketh Himself lovely. He exhorteth then our heart to praise Him, and He hath filled His servants with His Spirit, that they might
Christ the Son of David and Lord of David. 315
ver. Him, what doeth He but praise Himself ? So then this
praise Him. And since His Spirit in His servants praiseth
Psalm beginneth thus :
2. / will exalt Thee, my God. my King ; and 1 trill bless ver. I.
77iy Name for the age, and age upon age. Ye see that the praise of God is here begun, and this praise is carried on even to the end of the Psalm. Finally, the title is, Praise, to David himself. Praise to Christ Himself. And since He is called David, Who came to us of the seed of David, yet He was our King, ruling us, and bringing us into His kingdom, therefore Praise to David himself is understood to mean, Praise to Christ Himself. Christ according to the flesh is David, because He is the Son of David: but according to His Divine Nature He is the Creator of David, and Lord of David. Finally, the Apostle too, when he would pay honour to the former people of God, out of whom both the Apostles themselves, beloved, and many of the first
Churches came, doing in many thousands of men, what just now in the Gospel one rich man heard, and went away sorrowful, that is, selling all that they had, and distributing to the poor, and seeking perfection in the Lord ; -- when he would praise, I say, that former people, he thus saith,
Whose are the fathers, and of whom as pertaining to the Rom. 9, flesh Christ came, Who is over all, God blessed for ever. 5'
So because Christ is of them, as pertaining to the flesh, therefore is He David : but because He is over all, God blessed for ever, therefore, / will exalt Thee, saith he, my
I will bless Thy Name
for age upon age. Perhaps for the age meaneth here, for
God, my King ; and
for
the age, and
age upon age, for ever. Now then begin to praise, if thou intendest to praise for ever. He who will not praise in this transitory age, will be silent when age upon age has come.
Accordingly in the following verses he hath said nearly this. 3. But lest any one should in any otherwise also under
stand what he saith, / will praise Thy Name for the age, and should seek another age, wherein to praise, he saith,
bless Thee. Praise then and bless the Lord thy God every day, that when single days have passed, and there has come one day without end, thou mayest go
Every day will I
from praise to praise, as from strength to strength. Every Ps. 84,7.
2-
316 We must praise God in evil as well as good.
Psalm day, he saith, / will bless Thee : no day shall pass by, lT' wherein 1 bless Thee not. And it is no wonder, if in thy
day of joy thou bless the Lord. What if perchance some day of sorrow hath dawned on thee, as is natural in the circumstances of our mortal nature, as there is abundance of offences, as temptations are multiplied ; what, if something sad befall thee, a man ; wilt thou cease to praise God ? wilt thou cease to bless thy Creator? If thou cease, thou hast
lied in saying, every day will I
bless Thee, O Lord. But if thou cease not, although it seem to thee to be ill with thee in the day of thy sorrow, yet in thy God it shall be well
with thee. For there are cases where it is well with thee, even when it is ill with thee. For if in any evil it is ill with thee, without doubt in any good it is well with thee. And
Lokel8, what so good as thy God, of Whom it is said, None is good
19"
save One, that is, God. For how safe it is to praise thus, and how safe for it to be well with thee thus, thou mayest learn from the very nature of good. For if thou rejoicest at a good which accrueth to thee one day, perchance another day this good whereat thou rejoicest passeth away. ' It has been well with me, I have spent a good day;' because perhaps gain has come to thee, or thou hast received an invitation, or sat long at a feast. Thou rejoicest, because thou hast sat long at a feast: another day grieveth thee, because thou hast not had to blush. However, at whatever good of this sort thou rejoicest, at all events it is fleeting.
But if thou rejoicest in the Lord thy God, thou shalt hear Ps. 37,4. Scripture saying, Delight thee in the Lord. The more firmly shalt thou rejoice, the more sure He is in Whom thou shalt rejoice. For if thou rejoicest in money, thou fearest
the thief; but if thou rejoicest in God, what fearest thou ? Lest any take God from thee ? None will take God from thee, if thou send Him not from thee. For God is not like the light which shineth in the heavens. We cannot approach to it whensoever we please, for it shineth not in every place. And through our weakness perhaps it cometh to pass, that in winter we delight to be in this light ; but now in summer time ye see that we rather seek a spot where we shall not stand in the light. But when thou abidest in thy God, and delightest in the light of His truth, thou seekest not a spot
Job, a pattern of true praise. 317
where thou mayest approach Him: but thy conscience Vir. approacheth, thy conscience retreateth from Him. That ----- which is said, Approach to Him, and be enlightened, is said Pa. 34,fi. to the soul, not to any carriage; it is said to the affections,
not to the feet. And when thou abidest in Him, thou shalt suffer no heat. For His Spirit shall breathe on thee, and under His wings thou shall hope.
4. Thou seest then that thou hast whereof to delight every day. For thy God will not leave thee, even though any thing befall thee. For how sad was that which befell the holy man Job : how sudden, how manifold ills ! how was all in which he was thought to rejoice, not all in which he did rejoice, withdrawn when the devil assailed him ! how did even his sons die ! All that he was careful in preserving, perished ; all they for whom he was preserving it, perished ;
yet He perished not, Who gave both the one and the other.
And even his sons, though they perished in this world, shall
be recognised and received back in the world to come. Yet
had that man somewhat else wherein to rejoice ; and in him
was that true which we have just recited, Every day will I
bless Thee : because then the day wherein all perished shone
upon him sadly, did therefore the inward light in his heart
fail ? Nay, he stood in that light, and said, The Lord gave, Jobi,2i. and the Lord hath taken away ; as the Lord hath pleased,
so hath it been done; blessed be the Name of the Lord. He then praised every day, who even in the day of sorrow
It is a short lesson, that thou ever praise God,
and with true, not false heart say, / will bless the Lord at P>>M,\. all times, His praise shall be ever in my mouth. It is a
short lesson : it is in fact to know that He giveth in mercy,
when He giveth; that He taketh away in mercy, when He
taketh away : not to believe that thou art abandoned
His mercy, Who either comforteth thee by giving lest thou
fail, or punisheth thee when thou art uplifted, lest thou
perish. Whether then in His gifts, or in His scourges, do
thou praise. The praise of the scourger is the healing of
the wound. Every day, saith he, / will bless Thee. My brethren, bless God : what ever happen, bless God. For
it is He Who causeth that nothing happen which ye cannot
bear. Therefore thou oughtest to be in fear when it is well
praised.
by
318 Death even should not end our praises.
Psalm with thee, and not so to prepare thyself as though thou shouldest never be tried. For if thou art never tried, thou art never proved. Is it not better to be tried and proved, than to be not tried and rejected ? And I will praise Thy Name for the age, and for age upon age.
ver. 3.
5. Great is the Lord, and very much to be praised. How much was he about to say ? what terms was he about to seek? How vast a conception hath he included in the one word, very much? Imagine what thou wilt, for how can that be imagined, which cannot be contained ? He is very much to be praised, and of His Greatness there is no end; therefore said he very much, because, of His Greatness there is no end: lest perchance thou begin to wish to praise, and think that thou canst reach the end of His praises, Whose Greatness can have no end. Think not then that He, Whose Greatness has no end, can ever be enough praised by thee. Is it not then better that as He has no end, so neither should thy praise have end? His Greatness is without end ; let thy praise also be without end. Of His Greatness what is said ? of His Greatness there is no end. Of thy praise what? / will praise Thy Name for the age, and age upon age. Therefore, as of His Greatness there is no end, so of thy praise there shall be no end. For, not even when thou art dead in this flesh, shalt thou cease
Ps. 1 15, to praise the Lord. It is said indeed, the dead shall not praise
Thee, O Lord; but it is they, of whom it is said,/roiw the 17, 28. dead, as from one that is not, confession perisheth ; not they John n, of whom He saith, he that believeth in Me, though he were
? 5'
Mat. 22,
32.
Ece'us
dead, yet shall he live. For the God Abraham,
and of Isaac, and ofJacob, is not the God of the dead, but of the living. For if thou shalt never be ought but His, thou shalt never be silent from His praise. Will it be possible for thee to fear, lest while thou livest here, thou may est be His, and when thou art dead, not be His? Hear the Apostle
* of
.
Rom. 14, promising thee safely: Whether we live, we live unto the
8-
Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord's. And whence is that thou art His, even when dead Because He redeemed
thee with the price of His blood, even by His death. How can He lose His servant, even when dead, Whose death
it,
?
The ' visible things' of God prove the goodness of all. 319
is thy price ? Therefore when he hath said, Whether we VtR, live or die, we are the Lord's, that He might set forth the price Ro^' u too, he added, forfor this cause Christ died and rose again',9.
that He migh t be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
6. However, since of His Greatness there is no end, and
whom we cannot contain, we ought to praise : (for if we can
contain Him, there is an end of His Greatness; but if there be
no end of His Greatness, some part of Him indeed we can contain, but God entirely we caunot contain ;) let us, as failing
in His Greatness, that we may be refreshed by His Goodness,
look to His works, and by His works praise the Worker; by
what He hath made, the Maker ; by His creation, the Creator.
Let us look at what He hath done here, what is well known
to us, what is open to our eyes. For how great things
besides has His boundless Goodness and illimitable Great
ness made, which we do not know ! When we lift the gaze
of our eyes even to the heaven, and then recall it from
sun, moon, and stars to the earth, and there is all this space
where our sight can wander; beyond the heavens who can extend the eyesight of his mind, not to say of his flesh ?
So far then as His works are known to us, let us praise Him through His works. For the invisible things of Him from Rom. J, the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood 20'
by the things which are made. Generation and generation ver. 4. shall praise Thy works. Every generation shall praise Thy works. For perhaps every generation is meant by gene ration and generation. He did not mean to continue saying, generation and generation, till he had defined the number of all generations, but the repetition of the speaker
led the mind of the thinker to infinity. Behold that generation which now is in the flesh, destined to pass from hence as it came, praiseth the works of God ; and that for which it maketh way to succeed, will assuredly praise the works of God; and after that will be another, and unto the end of the world how many generations ! This he meant when he said, generation and generation shall praise Thy works. Did he perchance mean to imply two generations by that repetition ? For we are in this generation sons of God, we shall be in another generation sons of the Resurrection. Scripture hath called us sons of the Resurrection ; the
3-20 In the works we should praise the Maker.
Pealm Resurrection itself it hath called Regeneration. In the c*-v\ regeneration, it saith, when the Son of Man shall be seated
in His Majesty. So also in another place: For they shall 35*36? ' uo^ marnJi nor 06 ffive>> ,n marriage, for they are the sons of
the Resurrection. Therefore generation and generation shall praise Thy works. We praise the works of the Lord now, while we are in this mortal nature : and if we praised while we are fettered, how shall we praise when we are crowned ? Therefore let us now in this generation observe these works of the Lord, in Whose praise it is said, i)eneration and
generation shall praise Thy trorks, since of Thy Greatness there is no end. It is lawful to gaze on Thy works, that Thou mayest be praised Who doest such works.
7. And they shall tell out Tliine excellence. For neither shall they praise Thy works, save in order to tell out Thine excellence. Boys at school are set to praise, and all such things are set before them to be praised, as God hath wrought : a mortal is set to praise the sun, the sky, the earth ; to come to even lesser things, to praise a rose, or a laurel ; all these are works of God : they are set, they are undertaken, they are praised : the works are lauded, of the Worker they are silent. I desire in the works to praise the Creator: I love not a thankless praiser. Dost thou praise
28.
what He hath made, and art silent of Him Who made? In that which thou seest, what is it that thou praisest ? The form, the usefulness, some virtue, some power in the things. If beauty delight thee, what is more beautiful than the Maker? If usefulness be praised, what more useful than He Who made all things ?
If excellence be praised, what more excellent than He by Whom all things were made ; by Whom too all things when made are not left alone, but are ruled and guided ? Not then as some, who though
eloquent are mute, since they praise the creature, but forget the Creator; not thus doth generation and gene ration among Thy servants praise Thee, when it praiseth Thy works. But how doth it praise ? And they shall tell out Thine excellence. In praising Thy works, they shall tell out Thine excellence. Those praisers, faithful men, holy and good, true praisers; not ungrateful for grace, whence they praise this and that of God's works, above or
God to be praised for manifold attributes. 321
below, in heaven or in earth, among those works of God Ver. which they praise find themselves also, for they too are among the works of God. For He Who made all things,
made us too among all things. Accordingly, if thou praisest the works of God, thou wilt have to praise thyself
too, for thou too art a work of God. Where then Let Prov. 27,
not thine own mouth praise thee? Behold, way found
whereby thou mayest praise thyself too, yet not be arrogant. Praise God in thee, not thyself: not because thou art what thou art, but because He made thee so not because thou canst do any thing, but because He can do in thee and through thee. And by this means they shall praise Thee, and tell out Thine excellence not theirs, but Thine. Learn then to praise gazing on the works, admire the Maker; by giving thanks, not byclaim- ingoughlas thine. Praise Him, because He hath made,because He hath thus ordered, because He hath given such things.
8. Finally, see what followeth They shall tell out Thine v. 5. 6. 7. excellence, saith he, and they shall speak of the magnificence
of the glory Thy Holiness, and shall record Thy wondrous
deeds. And the excellence Thy fearful works shall they
speak of; and Thy greatness, they shall relate it. The remembrance of the abundance of Thy sweetness they shall
pour forth none but Thine. See whether this man, medi tating on Thy works, hath turned aside from the Worker to the work see whether he hath sunk from Him Who made, to the things which He made. Of the things which He hath made, he hath made step up to Him, not descent from Him to them. For thou love these more than Him, thou wilt not have Him. And what profit to thee to over flow with the works, the Worker leave thee Truly thou shouldest love them but love Him more, and love them for His sake. Tell out His excellence; speak of the mag nificence of the glory His Holiness recount His wondrous works; tell of the excellence of His terrible deeds. For He doth not hold out promises, without holding out threats also
He held out no promises, there would be no encourage ment; if He held out no threats, there would be no cor rection. They that praise Thee therefore shall speak also of the excellence of Thy terrible deeds; the excellence of that work of Thy hands which punisheth and administereth
VOL. VI. Y
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322 What we learn of God, we must proclaim to others.
Psalm discipline, they shall speak of, they shall not be silent : for cxI'T" they shall not proclaim Thine everlasting kingdom, and be silent about Thine everlasting fire. For the praise of God,
setting thee in the w ay, ought to shew thee both what thou shouldest love, and what thou shouldest fear; what thou shouldest seek, and what thou shouldest shun ; what thou shouldest choose, and what thou shouldest avoid. The time of choice is now, the time of receiving will be hereafter. Let then the excellence of Thy terrible things be told. And Thy greatness, they shall recount it. Unlimited as it is, though of Thy greatness there is no end, they shall not be silent about it. That Thy greatness, of which I had said above, and of Thy greatness there is no end, that they shall recount. How shall they recount there no end of They shall recount when they praise and because there is no end of so of His praise also there shall be no end. Let us prove that of His praise there shall be no end.
Pa. 84,4. Blessed, saith the Psalmist, who dwell in Thy house; they will be aliray praising Thee. And Thy greatness, that, that boundless greatness, they shall recount it.
9. The remembrance of the abundance of Thy sweetness they shall pour forth. happy feasts What shall they eat, who thus shall pour forth! The remembrance of the abun dance of Thy sweetness. What is, the remembrance of the abundance Thy sweetness Because Thou didst not forget us, when we had forgotten Thee. For all flesh had forgotten God, but He forgat not His own works. This remembrance of His concerning us, in that He forgat us not, to be proclaimed, to be told out and because very sweet,
to be eaten, and poured forth again. So eat, that thou mayest pour forth again so receive, that thou mayest give. Thou eatest, when thou learnest thou pourest forth again, when thou teachest: thou eatest, when thou hearest; thou pourest forth again, when thou preachest; but that thou pourest forth, which thou hast first eaten. Finally, that most eager feaster John, to whom the very table of the Lord sufficed not, unless he leaned on the Lord's breast, and of his inmost lieart drank in divine secrets; what did he pour forth? In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. The remembrance, therefore, of the abundance of Tliy sweet
John
I,
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is
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it,
it
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it if ;
it,
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All good comes from God's Grace. 323
nets they shall pour forth. How is it that it sufficeth not to Ver. say, Thy remembrance; or, the remembrance of Thine 5~-- abundance; or, the remembrance of Thy sweetness; but,
the remembrance of the abundance of Thy sweetness? Because, what availeth it if it be abundant, yet not sweet?
So also it is annoying if it be sweet but too little.
10. Therefore, the remembrance of the abundance of Thy sweetness they shall pour forth : because Thou didst not forget us, and not forgetting, didst warn us, that Thou
mightest bring us also to recollection. For all the ends of Ps. 22, the earth shall remember themselves, and be turned unto27'
the Lord. Because then they shall pour forth the remem brance of the abundance of Thy sweetness, understanding
that there is nought of good in themselves, which cometh
not from Thee, and that they could not turn to Thee, unless
they were warned by Thee, and that they could not be brought back to Thy recollection, if Thou forgattest them ; considering these things by Thy grace, they shall also exult
in Thy righteousness. Considering, I say, these things by
Thy grace, they shall also exult in Thy righteousness, not in
their own. Brethren, if ye wish to give forth grace, drink
in grace. What is, drink in grace ? Learn grace, under
stand grace. We, before we were, were not at all ; and we
were made men, when before we were nothing. And then when
we were made men, from the stock of the first sinner we were
also wicked, and were by nature the children of wrath, Eph. 2, even as others. Observe we then the grace of God, not only3" whereby He made, but also whereby He re-made us. To Whom therefore we owe that we are, to Him we also owe
that we are justified. Let none seem to attribute to God
that he is, and to himself that he is just. For better is that
which thou wouldest attribute to thyself, than what thou wouldest attribute to Him. For it is a better thing that
thou art righteous, than that thou art a man. Thou givest
that which is lower to God, that which is higher to thyself.
Give all to Him, in all praise Him : so wouldest thou not
fall from the hand of thy Maker. Who made thee to be ?
Is it not written, that God took dust from the ground, and Gen. 2, with it made man ? Before thou wast man, thou wast dust ; J' before thou wast dust, thou wast nothing. But give not
v2
3-24 Our good works God's work in us.
Psalm thanks to thy Maker for this making alone ; hear also another c-- making, wherein He made thee. Not of works, saith Paul, lest any one should boast. But what said he ? Not of works, lest Eph. 2, any 0lie should boast : what said he before this ? By grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not ofyourselves. These are the words of the Apostle, not mine, by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that, namely, that ye should be saved through faith, not of yourselves. Although the very word
which he had used, by grace, is clearly not of yourselves, yet he chose to set forth this still more plainly. Give me one that understandeth, and he hath said all. By grace are ye saved : when thou hearest by grace, understand 'gratis. ' If then it be gratis, thou hast wrought nothing of thine own, hast merited nothing. For if ought is to be repaid to merits, it is reward, not grace. By grace, saith he, ye are saved, through faith. Explain this yet more clearly, on account of the arrogant ; on account of the self-complacent ; on account
Rom. lo, of those who are ignorant of the righteousness of God, and desire to establish their own. Hear this same thing yet more openly : and this, that ye are saved by grace, is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. But we too perhaps have done somewhat, to earn the gifts of God.
Mat. 10, intent ? That whereof the Lord saith, / came not to send
34
peace on earth, but a sword. For He was about to separate believers from unbelievers, sons from parents, and to sever all other ties, while the sword cut off what was diseased, but healed the members of Christ. Of good intent then is the sword twice sharpened, powerful with both edges, the Old and New Testaments, with the narration of the past and the promise of the future. That then is the sword of good intent: but the other is 'of ill intent, wherewith they
talk vanity, for that is of good intent, wherewith God
speaketh verity. Therefore from the sword of ill intent
Ps. 57, deliver me. For truly the sons of men have teeth which are
4'
spears and arrows, and their tongue is a sharp sword. From this sword of ill intent deliver me. What he hath now called a sword, the same he called above many waters. Take me out of many waters. The same which I called many waters, 1 uow call a sword of ill intent. Finally, when he had said, out ofmany waters, he went on to say, from the hand of strange children, whose mouth hath spoken
vanity. And that thou mightest know that the same are spoken of, when here too he had said, Deliver me from the sword of ill intent, he went on to say, And take me out of the hand of strange children, whose mouth hath spoken vanity: just as before. And that which followeth, their right hand is a right hand of iniquity, the same he had set down before also, when he called them many waters. For lest thou shouldest think that the many waters were good waters, he explained them by the sword of ill intent. Now then let him explain what he meant by, whose mouth hath spoken vanity, and their right hand is a right hand
The prosperity of the wicked, empty. 311
of iniquity. What vanity hath their mouth spoken? and Vex. how is their right hand a right hand of iniquity ?
18. Whose sons are like young vines firmly planted in ver. 12. their youth. He wisheth to recount their happiness. Ob
serve, ye sons of light, sons of peace : observe, ye sons of
the Church, members of Christ; observe whom he calleth strangers, whom he calleth
strange children, whom he calleth waters ofcontradiction, whom he calleth a sword of
ill intent. Observe, I beseech you, for among them ye are
in peril, among their tongues ye fight against the desires
of your flesh, among their tongues, set in the hand of the
devil wherewith he fighteth, ye have to wrestle, not against Eph. 6,
flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, 12* against the rulers of this world, of this darkness, that is,
of the wicked. Observe, that ye may discern yourselves, that
ye may not think that to be true felicity, which men either weak, or of ill intent, desire for themselves. Behold, bre thren, surely he hath called them strange children, surely
he halh called them many waters, surely he hath called
them a sword of ill intent. Behold the vanity which they speak, and beware lest ye speak the same; beware lest in speaking the same, ye imitate them. Whose mouth hath spoken vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of iniquity. What vanity hath their mouth spoken, and how
is their right hand a right hand of iniquity? Whose sons ver. 12. are as young vines firmly planted in their youth, their13, 14' daughters are fitted and adorned after the similitude of
a temple: their garners are full, bursting out from one store to another: their sheep are fruitful, multiplying in their streets: their oxen are fat : their hedge is not broken down, nor their road, nor is there crying in their streets. Is not this then happiness ? I ask the sons of the kingdom of heaven, I ask the offspring of everlasting resurrection,
I ask the body of Christ, the members of Christ, the temple of God. Is not this then happiness, to have sons safe, daughters beautiful, garners full, cattle abundant, no downfall, I say not of a wall, but not even of a hedge, no tumult and clamour in the streets, but quiet, peace, abundance, plenty of all things in their houses and in their cities? Is not this then happiness ? or ought the righteous to shun
31 2 Everlasting happiness the only true happiness.
Psalm it? or findest thou not the house of the righteous too "l1T" abounding with all these things, full of this happiness? Did not Abraham's house abound with gold, silver, children,
Gen. 31, servants, cattle? Did not the holy patriarch Jacob, when he fled from the face of his brother Esau into Macedonia, after enriching himself as a servant, return, and give thanks to the Lord his God, because with his rod he had crossed the river, returned with such abundance of flocks and children ? What say we ? is not this happiness ? Be it so, still it is on the left hand. What is, on the left hand? Temporal, mortal, bodily. I desire not that thou shun
but that thou think not to be on the right hand. For they were not therefore wicked, therefore vain, because they had this abundance, but because what ought to have been on the left hand they set on the right. Therefore too their right hand is a right hand iniquity; therefore their mouth hath spoken vanity, because they set that on their right hand which ought to have been on the left. For what ought they to have set on the right hand God, eternity,
Ps. 102, the years of God which fail not, whereof said, and Thy years shall not fail. There should be the right hand, there should be our longing. Let us use the left for the time, let
Ps. 62, us long for the right for eternity. If riches increase, set not
J0"
your heart upon them. For when riches increase, ye set your heart upon them, ye will make what left, to be right. Amend yourselves, acknowledge Wisdom embracing you, to
Cant. Whom said, His left hand shall be under my head, and His right hand shall embrace me. Behold the holy song of love, behold the song of songs, of the heavenly marriage of
Christ and His Church. What saith the bride of the Bridegroom His left hand shall be under my head, and His right hand shall embrace me. The left under the head, and the right above the head. For when one embraceth from above, his arm above the head, but his left hand under the head. His left hand, saith he, under my head. For He will not desert me in times of need: but yet His left hand will be under my head, will not be put above my head, but will be beneath my head, that His right hand may embrace me, promising eternal life. For so His left hand under my head, His right hand be above my head, and
if
it of
is
it
is
?
(,
2,
it is
is
is ?
if,
it,
To seek earthly happiness is folly. 313
that is fulfilled which was written to Timothy, having the Ver. promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to - 15- come. Having the promise, he saith, of the present and of
the future life. What in the present ? His left hand under
my head. What in the future? His right hand shall embrace me. Do ye seek what is needful for the present
time? Seek ye first the kingdom of God, that is, the right Matt. 6, hand, and all these things shall be added unto you. Ye33- shall have here, saith He, both riches and glory, and in the
world to come everlasting life: both with the left hand I will support you while weak, and with the right I will crown you when perfected. Or did perhaps the Apostles, when they left their all, or distributed what they had to the poor, remain without riches in this world? Where then is that
promise of the left hand, he shall receive sevenfold in this Mat. 19, world? He promised to multiply them. And, in truth, what29'
can be wanting to the man of God r If any one perchance
be an unbeliever, he hath but one house, or at all events
a few ; the w hole world of riches are the faithful man's. j,rov,ijt Behold His left hand full under his head: he shall receive6- sevenfold in this world. Behold His right hand embracing
him : and in the world to come life everlasting. Rightly is
it said in another place too of Wisdom herself, in her right Prov. 3, hand is length of days, and in her left hand riches and^6' honour.
19. Whence then speak they vainly ? wherefore hath
their mouth spoken vanity? Because their right hand is a
right hand of iniquity. I blame them not because their sons
were as young vines firmly planted in their youth, nor because their daughters were adorned after the similitude of
the temple, nor because they had every thing else in abundance, and because earthly peace was theirs. But why
do I blame them ? They have called the people blessed who ver. 15, have these things. O men that speak vanity ! They have called the people blessed who have these things. They have
lost the true right hand, wicked and perverse, they have
put on the benefits of God inversely. O wicked ones, O speakers of vanity, O strange children ! They have called
the people blessed who have these things. What was on the left hand, they have set on the right. They have called the
3N God teacheth man how to praise.
Psalm people blessed who have these things. What dost thou, c",ir' David ? What dost thou, Body of Christ f What do ye, members of Christ ? What do ye, not strange children, but children of God ? Since the speakers of vanity, the strange
children, have called the people blessed who have these things, what say ye ? Blessed is the people whose Lord is their God. Have then the left hand, but on the left ; long for the right, that ye may be set on the right. They had the left on the
Mat. 25, left, before whom He hungered, and they gave Him to eat; He was thirsty, and they gave Him drink; He was a stranger, and they took Him in ; He was naked, and they clothed Him. All this they took from the left, and transferred to the works of the right, that they might be set
on the right. So then the speakers of vanity, the strange children, called the people blessed who have these things : say ye with us, Blessed is the people, whose Lord is their
God.
Lat. PSALM CXLV. CxlIV.
Sermon to the People.
1. We have longed to praise the Lord with you; and since He has deigned to grant us this, in order that the praise which we give Him may be in due order, that it may not by any excess offend Him Whom it praiseth, it is better for us to seek the path of praise in the Scripture of God, that we turn not aside from the way, either to the right hand or to the left. For I venture to say to you, beloved, God hath praised Himself, that He might be properly praised by man : and because He hath deigned to praise Himself, therefore hath man found how to praise Him.
Prov. 27, For it cannot be said to God, as it is to man, let not thine
2'
own mouth praise thee. For for man to praise himself is arrogance; for God to praise Himself is mercy. It is good for us to love whom we praise : by praising one that is good, we are ourselves made better. So, since He knoweth that this is for our good, in order that we might love Him, by praising Himself, He maketh Himself lovely ; and herein He endeavoureth to benefit us, in that He maketh Himself lovely. He exhorteth then our heart to praise Him, and He hath filled His servants with His Spirit, that they might
Christ the Son of David and Lord of David. 315
ver. Him, what doeth He but praise Himself ? So then this
praise Him. And since His Spirit in His servants praiseth
Psalm beginneth thus :
2. / will exalt Thee, my God. my King ; and 1 trill bless ver. I.
77iy Name for the age, and age upon age. Ye see that the praise of God is here begun, and this praise is carried on even to the end of the Psalm. Finally, the title is, Praise, to David himself. Praise to Christ Himself. And since He is called David, Who came to us of the seed of David, yet He was our King, ruling us, and bringing us into His kingdom, therefore Praise to David himself is understood to mean, Praise to Christ Himself. Christ according to the flesh is David, because He is the Son of David: but according to His Divine Nature He is the Creator of David, and Lord of David. Finally, the Apostle too, when he would pay honour to the former people of God, out of whom both the Apostles themselves, beloved, and many of the first
Churches came, doing in many thousands of men, what just now in the Gospel one rich man heard, and went away sorrowful, that is, selling all that they had, and distributing to the poor, and seeking perfection in the Lord ; -- when he would praise, I say, that former people, he thus saith,
Whose are the fathers, and of whom as pertaining to the Rom. 9, flesh Christ came, Who is over all, God blessed for ever. 5'
So because Christ is of them, as pertaining to the flesh, therefore is He David : but because He is over all, God blessed for ever, therefore, / will exalt Thee, saith he, my
I will bless Thy Name
for age upon age. Perhaps for the age meaneth here, for
God, my King ; and
for
the age, and
age upon age, for ever. Now then begin to praise, if thou intendest to praise for ever. He who will not praise in this transitory age, will be silent when age upon age has come.
Accordingly in the following verses he hath said nearly this. 3. But lest any one should in any otherwise also under
stand what he saith, / will praise Thy Name for the age, and should seek another age, wherein to praise, he saith,
bless Thee. Praise then and bless the Lord thy God every day, that when single days have passed, and there has come one day without end, thou mayest go
Every day will I
from praise to praise, as from strength to strength. Every Ps. 84,7.
2-
316 We must praise God in evil as well as good.
Psalm day, he saith, / will bless Thee : no day shall pass by, lT' wherein 1 bless Thee not. And it is no wonder, if in thy
day of joy thou bless the Lord. What if perchance some day of sorrow hath dawned on thee, as is natural in the circumstances of our mortal nature, as there is abundance of offences, as temptations are multiplied ; what, if something sad befall thee, a man ; wilt thou cease to praise God ? wilt thou cease to bless thy Creator? If thou cease, thou hast
lied in saying, every day will I
bless Thee, O Lord. But if thou cease not, although it seem to thee to be ill with thee in the day of thy sorrow, yet in thy God it shall be well
with thee. For there are cases where it is well with thee, even when it is ill with thee. For if in any evil it is ill with thee, without doubt in any good it is well with thee. And
Lokel8, what so good as thy God, of Whom it is said, None is good
19"
save One, that is, God. For how safe it is to praise thus, and how safe for it to be well with thee thus, thou mayest learn from the very nature of good. For if thou rejoicest at a good which accrueth to thee one day, perchance another day this good whereat thou rejoicest passeth away. ' It has been well with me, I have spent a good day;' because perhaps gain has come to thee, or thou hast received an invitation, or sat long at a feast. Thou rejoicest, because thou hast sat long at a feast: another day grieveth thee, because thou hast not had to blush. However, at whatever good of this sort thou rejoicest, at all events it is fleeting.
But if thou rejoicest in the Lord thy God, thou shalt hear Ps. 37,4. Scripture saying, Delight thee in the Lord. The more firmly shalt thou rejoice, the more sure He is in Whom thou shalt rejoice. For if thou rejoicest in money, thou fearest
the thief; but if thou rejoicest in God, what fearest thou ? Lest any take God from thee ? None will take God from thee, if thou send Him not from thee. For God is not like the light which shineth in the heavens. We cannot approach to it whensoever we please, for it shineth not in every place. And through our weakness perhaps it cometh to pass, that in winter we delight to be in this light ; but now in summer time ye see that we rather seek a spot where we shall not stand in the light. But when thou abidest in thy God, and delightest in the light of His truth, thou seekest not a spot
Job, a pattern of true praise. 317
where thou mayest approach Him: but thy conscience Vir. approacheth, thy conscience retreateth from Him. That ----- which is said, Approach to Him, and be enlightened, is said Pa. 34,fi. to the soul, not to any carriage; it is said to the affections,
not to the feet. And when thou abidest in Him, thou shalt suffer no heat. For His Spirit shall breathe on thee, and under His wings thou shall hope.
4. Thou seest then that thou hast whereof to delight every day. For thy God will not leave thee, even though any thing befall thee. For how sad was that which befell the holy man Job : how sudden, how manifold ills ! how was all in which he was thought to rejoice, not all in which he did rejoice, withdrawn when the devil assailed him ! how did even his sons die ! All that he was careful in preserving, perished ; all they for whom he was preserving it, perished ;
yet He perished not, Who gave both the one and the other.
And even his sons, though they perished in this world, shall
be recognised and received back in the world to come. Yet
had that man somewhat else wherein to rejoice ; and in him
was that true which we have just recited, Every day will I
bless Thee : because then the day wherein all perished shone
upon him sadly, did therefore the inward light in his heart
fail ? Nay, he stood in that light, and said, The Lord gave, Jobi,2i. and the Lord hath taken away ; as the Lord hath pleased,
so hath it been done; blessed be the Name of the Lord. He then praised every day, who even in the day of sorrow
It is a short lesson, that thou ever praise God,
and with true, not false heart say, / will bless the Lord at P>>M,\. all times, His praise shall be ever in my mouth. It is a
short lesson : it is in fact to know that He giveth in mercy,
when He giveth; that He taketh away in mercy, when He
taketh away : not to believe that thou art abandoned
His mercy, Who either comforteth thee by giving lest thou
fail, or punisheth thee when thou art uplifted, lest thou
perish. Whether then in His gifts, or in His scourges, do
thou praise. The praise of the scourger is the healing of
the wound. Every day, saith he, / will bless Thee. My brethren, bless God : what ever happen, bless God. For
it is He Who causeth that nothing happen which ye cannot
bear. Therefore thou oughtest to be in fear when it is well
praised.
by
318 Death even should not end our praises.
Psalm with thee, and not so to prepare thyself as though thou shouldest never be tried. For if thou art never tried, thou art never proved. Is it not better to be tried and proved, than to be not tried and rejected ? And I will praise Thy Name for the age, and for age upon age.
ver. 3.
5. Great is the Lord, and very much to be praised. How much was he about to say ? what terms was he about to seek? How vast a conception hath he included in the one word, very much? Imagine what thou wilt, for how can that be imagined, which cannot be contained ? He is very much to be praised, and of His Greatness there is no end; therefore said he very much, because, of His Greatness there is no end: lest perchance thou begin to wish to praise, and think that thou canst reach the end of His praises, Whose Greatness can have no end. Think not then that He, Whose Greatness has no end, can ever be enough praised by thee. Is it not then better that as He has no end, so neither should thy praise have end? His Greatness is without end ; let thy praise also be without end. Of His Greatness what is said ? of His Greatness there is no end. Of thy praise what? / will praise Thy Name for the age, and age upon age. Therefore, as of His Greatness there is no end, so of thy praise there shall be no end. For, not even when thou art dead in this flesh, shalt thou cease
Ps. 1 15, to praise the Lord. It is said indeed, the dead shall not praise
Thee, O Lord; but it is they, of whom it is said,/roiw the 17, 28. dead, as from one that is not, confession perisheth ; not they John n, of whom He saith, he that believeth in Me, though he were
? 5'
Mat. 22,
32.
Ece'us
dead, yet shall he live. For the God Abraham,
and of Isaac, and ofJacob, is not the God of the dead, but of the living. For if thou shalt never be ought but His, thou shalt never be silent from His praise. Will it be possible for thee to fear, lest while thou livest here, thou may est be His, and when thou art dead, not be His? Hear the Apostle
* of
.
Rom. 14, promising thee safely: Whether we live, we live unto the
8-
Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord's. And whence is that thou art His, even when dead Because He redeemed
thee with the price of His blood, even by His death. How can He lose His servant, even when dead, Whose death
it,
?
The ' visible things' of God prove the goodness of all. 319
is thy price ? Therefore when he hath said, Whether we VtR, live or die, we are the Lord's, that He might set forth the price Ro^' u too, he added, forfor this cause Christ died and rose again',9.
that He migh t be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
6. However, since of His Greatness there is no end, and
whom we cannot contain, we ought to praise : (for if we can
contain Him, there is an end of His Greatness; but if there be
no end of His Greatness, some part of Him indeed we can contain, but God entirely we caunot contain ;) let us, as failing
in His Greatness, that we may be refreshed by His Goodness,
look to His works, and by His works praise the Worker; by
what He hath made, the Maker ; by His creation, the Creator.
Let us look at what He hath done here, what is well known
to us, what is open to our eyes. For how great things
besides has His boundless Goodness and illimitable Great
ness made, which we do not know ! When we lift the gaze
of our eyes even to the heaven, and then recall it from
sun, moon, and stars to the earth, and there is all this space
where our sight can wander; beyond the heavens who can extend the eyesight of his mind, not to say of his flesh ?
So far then as His works are known to us, let us praise Him through His works. For the invisible things of Him from Rom. J, the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood 20'
by the things which are made. Generation and generation ver. 4. shall praise Thy works. Every generation shall praise Thy works. For perhaps every generation is meant by gene ration and generation. He did not mean to continue saying, generation and generation, till he had defined the number of all generations, but the repetition of the speaker
led the mind of the thinker to infinity. Behold that generation which now is in the flesh, destined to pass from hence as it came, praiseth the works of God ; and that for which it maketh way to succeed, will assuredly praise the works of God; and after that will be another, and unto the end of the world how many generations ! This he meant when he said, generation and generation shall praise Thy works. Did he perchance mean to imply two generations by that repetition ? For we are in this generation sons of God, we shall be in another generation sons of the Resurrection. Scripture hath called us sons of the Resurrection ; the
3-20 In the works we should praise the Maker.
Pealm Resurrection itself it hath called Regeneration. In the c*-v\ regeneration, it saith, when the Son of Man shall be seated
in His Majesty. So also in another place: For they shall 35*36? ' uo^ marnJi nor 06 ffive>> ,n marriage, for they are the sons of
the Resurrection. Therefore generation and generation shall praise Thy works. We praise the works of the Lord now, while we are in this mortal nature : and if we praised while we are fettered, how shall we praise when we are crowned ? Therefore let us now in this generation observe these works of the Lord, in Whose praise it is said, i)eneration and
generation shall praise Thy trorks, since of Thy Greatness there is no end. It is lawful to gaze on Thy works, that Thou mayest be praised Who doest such works.
7. And they shall tell out Tliine excellence. For neither shall they praise Thy works, save in order to tell out Thine excellence. Boys at school are set to praise, and all such things are set before them to be praised, as God hath wrought : a mortal is set to praise the sun, the sky, the earth ; to come to even lesser things, to praise a rose, or a laurel ; all these are works of God : they are set, they are undertaken, they are praised : the works are lauded, of the Worker they are silent. I desire in the works to praise the Creator: I love not a thankless praiser. Dost thou praise
28.
what He hath made, and art silent of Him Who made? In that which thou seest, what is it that thou praisest ? The form, the usefulness, some virtue, some power in the things. If beauty delight thee, what is more beautiful than the Maker? If usefulness be praised, what more useful than He Who made all things ?
If excellence be praised, what more excellent than He by Whom all things were made ; by Whom too all things when made are not left alone, but are ruled and guided ? Not then as some, who though
eloquent are mute, since they praise the creature, but forget the Creator; not thus doth generation and gene ration among Thy servants praise Thee, when it praiseth Thy works. But how doth it praise ? And they shall tell out Thine excellence. In praising Thy works, they shall tell out Thine excellence. Those praisers, faithful men, holy and good, true praisers; not ungrateful for grace, whence they praise this and that of God's works, above or
God to be praised for manifold attributes. 321
below, in heaven or in earth, among those works of God Ver. which they praise find themselves also, for they too are among the works of God. For He Who made all things,
made us too among all things. Accordingly, if thou praisest the works of God, thou wilt have to praise thyself
too, for thou too art a work of God. Where then Let Prov. 27,
not thine own mouth praise thee? Behold, way found
whereby thou mayest praise thyself too, yet not be arrogant. Praise God in thee, not thyself: not because thou art what thou art, but because He made thee so not because thou canst do any thing, but because He can do in thee and through thee. And by this means they shall praise Thee, and tell out Thine excellence not theirs, but Thine. Learn then to praise gazing on the works, admire the Maker; by giving thanks, not byclaim- ingoughlas thine. Praise Him, because He hath made,because He hath thus ordered, because He hath given such things.
8. Finally, see what followeth They shall tell out Thine v. 5. 6. 7. excellence, saith he, and they shall speak of the magnificence
of the glory Thy Holiness, and shall record Thy wondrous
deeds. And the excellence Thy fearful works shall they
speak of; and Thy greatness, they shall relate it. The remembrance of the abundance of Thy sweetness they shall
pour forth none but Thine. See whether this man, medi tating on Thy works, hath turned aside from the Worker to the work see whether he hath sunk from Him Who made, to the things which He made. Of the things which He hath made, he hath made step up to Him, not descent from Him to them. For thou love these more than Him, thou wilt not have Him. And what profit to thee to over flow with the works, the Worker leave thee Truly thou shouldest love them but love Him more, and love them for His sake. Tell out His excellence; speak of the mag nificence of the glory His Holiness recount His wondrous works; tell of the excellence of His terrible deeds. For He doth not hold out promises, without holding out threats also
He held out no promises, there would be no encourage ment; if He held out no threats, there would be no cor rection. They that praise Thee therefore shall speak also of the excellence of Thy terrible deeds; the excellence of that work of Thy hands which punisheth and administereth
VOL. VI. Y
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322 What we learn of God, we must proclaim to others.
Psalm discipline, they shall speak of, they shall not be silent : for cxI'T" they shall not proclaim Thine everlasting kingdom, and be silent about Thine everlasting fire. For the praise of God,
setting thee in the w ay, ought to shew thee both what thou shouldest love, and what thou shouldest fear; what thou shouldest seek, and what thou shouldest shun ; what thou shouldest choose, and what thou shouldest avoid. The time of choice is now, the time of receiving will be hereafter. Let then the excellence of Thy terrible things be told. And Thy greatness, they shall recount it. Unlimited as it is, though of Thy greatness there is no end, they shall not be silent about it. That Thy greatness, of which I had said above, and of Thy greatness there is no end, that they shall recount. How shall they recount there no end of They shall recount when they praise and because there is no end of so of His praise also there shall be no end. Let us prove that of His praise there shall be no end.
Pa. 84,4. Blessed, saith the Psalmist, who dwell in Thy house; they will be aliray praising Thee. And Thy greatness, that, that boundless greatness, they shall recount it.
9. The remembrance of the abundance of Thy sweetness they shall pour forth. happy feasts What shall they eat, who thus shall pour forth! The remembrance of the abun dance of Thy sweetness. What is, the remembrance of the abundance Thy sweetness Because Thou didst not forget us, when we had forgotten Thee. For all flesh had forgotten God, but He forgat not His own works. This remembrance of His concerning us, in that He forgat us not, to be proclaimed, to be told out and because very sweet,
to be eaten, and poured forth again. So eat, that thou mayest pour forth again so receive, that thou mayest give. Thou eatest, when thou learnest thou pourest forth again, when thou teachest: thou eatest, when thou hearest; thou pourest forth again, when thou preachest; but that thou pourest forth, which thou hast first eaten. Finally, that most eager feaster John, to whom the very table of the Lord sufficed not, unless he leaned on the Lord's breast, and of his inmost lieart drank in divine secrets; what did he pour forth? In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. The remembrance, therefore, of the abundance of Tliy sweet
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All good comes from God's Grace. 323
nets they shall pour forth. How is it that it sufficeth not to Ver. say, Thy remembrance; or, the remembrance of Thine 5~-- abundance; or, the remembrance of Thy sweetness; but,
the remembrance of the abundance of Thy sweetness? Because, what availeth it if it be abundant, yet not sweet?
So also it is annoying if it be sweet but too little.
10. Therefore, the remembrance of the abundance of Thy sweetness they shall pour forth : because Thou didst not forget us, and not forgetting, didst warn us, that Thou
mightest bring us also to recollection. For all the ends of Ps. 22, the earth shall remember themselves, and be turned unto27'
the Lord. Because then they shall pour forth the remem brance of the abundance of Thy sweetness, understanding
that there is nought of good in themselves, which cometh
not from Thee, and that they could not turn to Thee, unless
they were warned by Thee, and that they could not be brought back to Thy recollection, if Thou forgattest them ; considering these things by Thy grace, they shall also exult
in Thy righteousness. Considering, I say, these things by
Thy grace, they shall also exult in Thy righteousness, not in
their own. Brethren, if ye wish to give forth grace, drink
in grace. What is, drink in grace ? Learn grace, under
stand grace. We, before we were, were not at all ; and we
were made men, when before we were nothing. And then when
we were made men, from the stock of the first sinner we were
also wicked, and were by nature the children of wrath, Eph. 2, even as others. Observe we then the grace of God, not only3" whereby He made, but also whereby He re-made us. To Whom therefore we owe that we are, to Him we also owe
that we are justified. Let none seem to attribute to God
that he is, and to himself that he is just. For better is that
which thou wouldest attribute to thyself, than what thou wouldest attribute to Him. For it is a better thing that
thou art righteous, than that thou art a man. Thou givest
that which is lower to God, that which is higher to thyself.
Give all to Him, in all praise Him : so wouldest thou not
fall from the hand of thy Maker. Who made thee to be ?
Is it not written, that God took dust from the ground, and Gen. 2, with it made man ? Before thou wast man, thou wast dust ; J' before thou wast dust, thou wast nothing. But give not
v2
3-24 Our good works God's work in us.
Psalm thanks to thy Maker for this making alone ; hear also another c-- making, wherein He made thee. Not of works, saith Paul, lest any one should boast. But what said he ? Not of works, lest Eph. 2, any 0lie should boast : what said he before this ? By grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not ofyourselves. These are the words of the Apostle, not mine, by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that, namely, that ye should be saved through faith, not of yourselves. Although the very word
which he had used, by grace, is clearly not of yourselves, yet he chose to set forth this still more plainly. Give me one that understandeth, and he hath said all. By grace are ye saved : when thou hearest by grace, understand 'gratis. ' If then it be gratis, thou hast wrought nothing of thine own, hast merited nothing. For if ought is to be repaid to merits, it is reward, not grace. By grace, saith he, ye are saved, through faith. Explain this yet more clearly, on account of the arrogant ; on account of the self-complacent ; on account
Rom. lo, of those who are ignorant of the righteousness of God, and desire to establish their own. Hear this same thing yet more openly : and this, that ye are saved by grace, is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. But we too perhaps have done somewhat, to earn the gifts of God.
