Let our souls long earnestly for those days, let them thirst ardently for them, that there we may be filled, be satisfied, and say what we now say in anticipation, We have been satisfied with Thy mercy in the morning; we hare
rejoiced
and were glad all the days of
our life.
our life.
Augustine - Exposition on the Psalms - v4
And for this reason, although all the works of creation are not improperly said to
be either made or formed nevertheless, there any pro
priety in these words, the Angels are made; for as they are enumerated among His heavenly works, the enumeration
itself thus concluded He spake the word, and they were Ps. 14s, made; He commanded, and they were created; but the6- earth wasformed, that man might thence be created in the
refuge from one generation to the other.
3. He adds, how He became our refuge, since He began
to be that, viz. a refuge, to us which He had not been before, not that He had not existed before He became our
For the Scripture uses this word, where we read, God made, or God formed man out the dust of the Gen.
ground. Before then the noblest parts of the creation (for what higher than the rational part of the Heavenly crea tion) were made before the earth was made, that Thou mightest have worshippers upon the earth and even this little, as all these had beginning either in or with time but from age to age Thou art. It would have been better, from everlasting to everlasting for God, Who before the ages, exists not from a certain age, nor to certain age, which has an end, since He without end. But often
body.
is
a
is
; is
is
a :
:
it, it
it
; is
;
of
if
:
is is? ; isit
is
is
it it,
7-
2,
272 God unchangeable. Prayer against temptation.
Psalm happens in the Scripture, that the equivocal Greek word XC- causes the Latin translator to put age for eternity and eternity for age. But he very rightly does not say, Thou
13,
into temptation, He adds, Again Thou sayest, Come again, ye children of men. As if he said, I ask of Thee what Thou hast commanded me to ask : giving glory to His grace, that
wast from ages, and unto ages Thou shall be : but puts the verb in the present, intimating that the substance of God is altogether immutable. It is not, He was, and Shall be, but
Exod. only Is. Whence the expression, I Am thAt I Am : and, I
3 14 ? w.
Ps. 102, AM hath sent me unto you; and, Thou shall change them,
26. 27. and they shall be changed : but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail. Behold then the eternity that is our refuge, that we may fly thither from the mutability of time, there to remain for evermore.
4. But as our life here is exposed to numerous and great temptations, and it is to be feared lest we may be turned aside by them from that refuge, let us see what in
of this the prayer of the man of God seeks for. (Ver. 3. ) Turn not Thou man to loumess : that is, Let not man, turned aside from Thy eternal and sublime things, lust for things of time, savour of earthly things. This prayer is
Mat. 6, what God has Himself enjoined us, in the Prayer, Lead us not
consequence
l Cor. l, he that glorieth, in the Lord he may glory : without Whose
3'
help we cannot by an exertion of our own will overcome the temptations of this life. Turn not Thou man to loumess : again thou sayest, Turn again, ye children of men. But
1precem grant what Thou hast enjoined, by hearing the prayer1 of
Jxaiidi- h'm can at 'east Prav, an(* aiding the faith of the willing endo. soul,
5. Ver. 4. For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday, which is past by : hence we ought to turn to Thy refuge, where Thou art without any change, from the fleeting scenes around us ; since however long a time may be wished for for this life, a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yester day : not as to-morrow, which is to come : for all limited periods of time are reckoned as having already passed. Hence
Phil. 3, the Apostle's choice is rather to aim at what is before, that
13,
to desire things eternal, and to forget things behind, by which temporal matters should be understood. But that no one may imagine thousand years are reckoned by God as one
a
is,
'A thousand years as one day,' a simile, not a measure. 273
day, as if with God days were so loDg, w hen this is only said Vrr.
~--
in contempt of the extent of time : he adds, and as a watch
in the night: which only lasts three hours. Nevertheless men
have ventured to assert their knowledge of times, to the pre
tenders to which our Lord said, It is not for you to know the Acta l, times or seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power:
and they allege that this period may be defined six thousand years, as of six days. Nor have they heeded the words, are but as one day which is past by : for, when this was uttered, not a thousand years only had passed, and the expression, as a watch in the night, ought to have warned them that they might not be deceived by the uncertainty of the seasons: for even if the six first days in which God finished His works seemed to give some plausibility to their opinion, six watches, which amount to eighteen hours, will not consist with that opinion.
6. Next, the man of God, or rather the Prophetic spirit, seems to be reciting some law written in the secret wisdom of God, in which He has fixed a limit to the sinful life of mortals, and determined the troubles of mortality, in the
following words ; (ver. 5. ) Their years are as things which are nothing worth: in the morning let it fade away like the
grass; in the morning as a herb let it pass by; in the evening let it fall, and be dried up, and withered. The happiness therefore of the heirs of the old covenant, which they asked of the Lord their God as a great boon, attained to receive
this Law in His mysterious Providence. Moses seems to be reciting it ; Their years shall be things which are esteemed as nothing. Such are those things which are not before they are come : and when come, shall soon not be: for they do not come to be here, but to be gone. (Ver. 6. ) In the morning, that is, before they come, as a heat let it pass by; but in the
evening, it means after they come, let itfall, and be dried
up, and withered. It is to fall in death, be dried up in the corpse, withered in the dust. What is this but flesh, wherein
is the accursed lust of fleshly things ? For all flesh is grass, Iss. 40,
and all the goodliness of man as the flower of the field;6'9' the grass withereth, the flower fadeth : but the word of the Lord abide th for ever.
7. Making no secret that this fate is a penalty inflicted for sin, he adds at once, (ver. 7. ) For we consume away in Thy
VOL. IV. T
274 Years assigned to marts life to be spiritualized.
Psalm displeasure, and are troubled at Thy wrathful indignation: we consume away in our weakness, and are troubled from the fear of death ; for we are become weak, and yet fearful to end that
John2l, weakness. Another, saith He, shall gird thee, and carry thee
18'
whither thou wouldest not : although not to be punished, but to be crowned, by martyrdom ; and the soul of our Lord, transforming us into Himself, was sorrowful even unto death: for the Lord's going out is no other than in death.
8. Ver. 8. Thou hast set our misdeeds before Thee: that is, Thou hast not dissembled Thine anger : and our age in the light of Thy countenance. The light of Thy countenance answers to before Thee, and to our misdeeds, as above.
9. Ver. 9. For all our days are faifed, and in Thine anger we have failed. These words sufficiently prove, that our subjection to death is a punishment. He speaks of our days failing, either because men fail in them from loving things that pass away, or because they are reduced to so small a number; which he asserts in the following lines; our years are spent in thought like a spider1 ; (ver. 10. ) The days of our aye are threescore years and ten ; and though men be
1 sicct aranea
bantur so strong that they come to fourscore years, yet is more of ' them but labour and sorrow. These words appear to
express the shortness and misery of this life : since those who have reached their seventieth year are styled old men. Up to eighty, however, they appear to have some strength ; but if they live beyond this, their existence is laborious through multiplied sorrows. Yet many even below the age of seventy experience an old age the most infirm and
v wretched : and old men have often been found to be won derfully vigorous even beyond eighty years. It is therefore better to search for some spiritual meaning in these numbers. For the anger of God" is not greater on the sins of Adam,
Rom. 6, (through whom alone sin entered into the world, and death
12'
by sin, and so death passed upon all men,") because they live a much shorter time than the men of old ; since even the length of their days is ridiculed in the comparison of a thousand years to yesterday that is past, and to three hours : especially since at the very time when they provoked the anger of God to send the deluge in which they perished, their life was at its longest span.
' Seventy' and ' eighty,' the present and the future life. 275
10. Moreover, seventy and eighty years equal a hundred Ver. and fifty ; a number which the Psalms clearly insinuate to ------ be a sacred one. One hundred and fifty have the same relative signification as fifteen, the latter number being composed
of seven and eight together : the first of which points to the
Old Testament through the observation of the Sabbath; the
latter to the New, referring to the resurrection of our Lord.
Hence the fifteen steps in the Temple. Hence in the Psalms,
fifteen " songs of degrees. " Hence the waters of the deluge Gen. 7, overtopped the highest mountains by fifteen cubits: and many 19' other instances of the same nature. Our years are passed in thought like a spider. We were labouring in things cor ruptible, corruptible works we were weaving together: which,
as the prophet Isaiah saith, by no means covered us: the days us. 69, of our years are in themselves threescore and ten : but if in 6-
their strength they come to fourscore years. A distinction is
here made between themselves and their strength": in them
selves, that is, in the years or days themselves, may mean in temporal things, which are promised in the Old Testament, sig
nified by the number seventy; but if not in themselves, but in
their strength, refers not to temporal things, but to things eternal, fourscore years, as the New Testament contains the hope of a new life and resurrection for evermore : and what is added, that if they pass this latter period b, their strength is labour and sorrow, intimates that such shall be the fate of him who goes beyond this faith, and seeks for more. It may also be un- -Herstood thus: because although we are established in the New JTesJament^ which the number eighty signifies, yet still our
life is one of labour and sorrow, while we groan within our- Rom. 8, selves, awaiting the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our23-26' body ; for we are saved by hope; and if we hope for that we
see not, then do we with patience wait for it. This relates to
the mercy of God, of which he proceeds to say, Since thy
mercy cometh over us, and we shall be chastened: for "MeHeb. 12, Lord? chasieneth whom He lovefh, and scour geth every son6'
* Aliud est in ipsis, aliud in poten- that age.
tatibut. c Quoniam supervenit tupernos man -
b St. Augustine seems to refer the suetudo, et corripiemur: the equivalent word amplius to a period beyond the in the Prayer Book so soon passeth eighty years. In the English version away, and we are gone.
clearly applies to the attainment of
T 2
it
it
is,
276 God's wrath mysterious, heaviest when delayed.
Psalm whom He receiveth," and to some mighty ones He giveth a thorn in the flesh, to buffet them, that they may not be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, so
2 Cor. tnat strength be made perfect in weakness. Some copies 12, 7. 9. read, we shall be taught, instead ofchastened, which is equally expressive of the Divine Mercy ; for no man can be taught
without labour and sorrow ; since strength is made perfect in weakness.
1 1. Ver. 11. For who knoweth thepowerofTfty wrath ; andfor the fear of Thee to number Thine anger? It belongs to very few men, he saith, to know the power of Thy wrath; for when Thou dost spare, Thy anger is so far heavier against most men ;
that we may know that labour and sorrow belong not to wrath, but rather to Thy mercy, when Thou chastenest and teach- est those whom Thou lovest, to save them from the torments
p, 10, of eternal punishment : as it is said in another Psalm, " The 3. Lat. sinner hath provoked the Lord : He will not require it of him according to the greatness of His wrath. " Who then knoweth
the power of Thy wrath, or for the fear of Thee how to number Thine anger ? With this also is understood, ' Who knoweth Such the difficulty of finding any one who knoweth how to number Thine anger by Thy fear, that he adds this, meaning that to the purpose that Thou appearest to spare some, with whom Thou art more angry,
that the sinner may be prospered in his path, and receive a heavier doom at the last. For when the power of human wrath hath killed the body, hath nothing more to do but God hath power both to punish here, and after the death of the body to send into Hell, and by the few who are thus taught, the vain and seductive prosperity of the wicked
Mat. io ju^ge^ to De greater wrath of God. This he knew not, whose
feet were almost gone, because he was grieved at the wicked, 2. 3. 17. seeing the ungodly in such prosperity, but he learnt when he went into the sanctuary of God, and understood concern
ing the last things that sanctuary which few enter, there to learn how to number the anger of God by His fear: and to reckon the prosperity of the wicked in the number of their punishments.
2. ,Ver. 2. Make Thy right hand so well known. This the reading of most of the Greek copies not of some in Latin,
28.
:
1
1
is
is
: is
it
:
it
it is
. ? '
Christ made known as the Right Hand of Qod. 277 which is thus, Make Thy right hand well known to me. Ver.
:--
Lord revealed ? Make Him so well known, that Thy faithful
may learn in Him to ask and to hope for those things rather
of Thee as rewards of their faith, which do not appear in the
Old Testament, but are revealed in the New : that they may
not imagine that the happiness derived from earthly and temporal blessings is to be highly esteemed, desired, or loved,
and thus their feet slip, when they see it in men who honour Ps73,2. Thee not : that their steps may not give way, while they know
not how to number Thine anger. Finally, in accordance with
this prayer of the Man that is His1, He has made His Christ 'hominii so well known, as to shew by His sufferings that not those "m rewards which seem so highly prized in the Old Testament,
where they are shadows of things to come, but things eternal,
are to be desired. The right hand of God may also be understood in this sense, as that by which He will separate
His saints from the wicked : because that hand becomes well known, when it scourgeth every son whom He receiveth, and suffers him not, in greater anger, to prosper in his sins, but
in His mercy, scourgeth him with the left*, that He may place* ah on him purified on His right hand. The reading of most copies, Mat. 26,
make Thy right hand well known to me, may be referred33' either to Christ, or to eternal happiness : for God has not a right hand in bodily shape, as He has not that anger which
is aroused into violent passion.
13. But what he addeth, 3 and those fettered in heart in'Et wisdom; other copies read, instructed, not fettered: the Greek
verb, expressing both senses, only differing by a single coTM'>> syllable4. But since these also, as it is said, put their " feet in "ntlT. ' the fetters" of wisdom, are taught wisdom, (he means the feetlTOrTM' of the heart, not of the body,) and bound by its golden vovs. chains depart not from the path of God, and become notT"8''- runaways from him ; whichever reading we adopt, the truth Ecolus. in the meaning is safe. Them thus fettered, or instructed in6'26' heart in wisdom, God makes so well known in the New Testament, that they despised all things for the Faith
which the impiety of Jews and Gentiles abhorred ; and allowed themselves to be deprived of those things which in
What is, make Thy right hand so well known, but Thy Christ, of Whom it is said, And to whom is the arm of the J>>-63,
278 Waiting of Martyrs. God only seems turned away.
Phai. m the Old Testament are thought high promises by those who --judge after the flesh.
14. Ver. 13. And as when they became so well known, as to despise these things, and by setting their affections on things eternal, gave a testimony through their sufferings, (whence they are called witnesses or martyrs in the Greek,) they endured for a long while many bitter temporal afflic tions. This man of God giveth heed to this, and the prophetic spirit under the name of Moses continues thus, Return, O Iard, how long ? and be softened concerning Thy servants. These are the words of those, who, enduring many evils in that persecuting age, become known because their hearts are bound in the chain of wisdom, so firmly, that not even such hardships can induce them to fly from their Lord
Ps. l3,i. to the good things of this world. How long will Thou hide Thy face from me, 0 Lord ? occurs in another Psalm, in unison with this sentence, Return, O Lord, how long ? And that they who, in a most carnal spirit, ascribe to God the
form of the human body, may know that the turning away and turning again of His countenance is not like those motions of our own frame, let them recollect these words from above in the same Psalm, Thou hast set our misdeeds before Thee, and our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance. How then does he say in this passage, Return, that God may be favourable, as if He had turned away His face in anger ; when as in the former he speaks of God's anger in such a manner, as to insinuate that He had not turned away His countenance from the misdeeds and the course of life of those He was angry with, but rather had set them before Him, and in the light of His countenance? The word, How long, belongs to righteousness beseeching, not indignant impatience. Be softened, some have rendered by a verb, soften. But be softened avoids an ambiguity; since to soften is a common verb: for he may be said to soften who pours out prayers, and he to whom they are poured out: for we say, I soften thee, and I soften toward thee ; (' deprecor te, et deprecor a te. ')
15. Ver. 14, 15. Next, in anticipation of future blessings, of which he speaks as already vouchsafed, he says, We are
with Thy mercy in the morning. Prophecy has
satisfied
We hope to be ' satisfied' in the morniny of the true day. 279
the Lord. Hence are the words, In Thy presence is fulness n] ofjoy : and, Early in the morniny they shall stand by, andP>>-5i3- shall look up : and as other translators have said We
shall be satisfied with Thy mercy in the morniny; then they
shall be satisfied. As he says elsewhere, shall be satisfied, Ps- 17, when Thy ylory shall be revealed. So said, Lord, shea? j0j,ni4, us the Father, and sufficeth us: and our Lord Himself 21. answereth, will manifest Myself to Zion and until this promise fulfilled, no blessing satisfies us, or ought to do
so, lest our longings should be arrested in their course, when they ought to be increased until they gain their objects. We have been satisfied with Thy mercy in the morniny and we rejoiced and were ylad all the days ofour
Those days are days without end: they all exist together thus they satisfy us for they give not way to days succeeding since there nothing there which exists not yet because has not reached us, or ceases to exist
because has passed; all are together: because there one
day only, which remains and passes not away this
eternity itself. These are the days respecting which
written, What man he that lusteth to lice, and would fain Ps. 3i, see good days? These days in another passage are styled12'
thus been kindled for us. in the midst of these toils and . 14.
sorrows of the night, like a lamp in the darkness, until day 2 pet l dawn, and the Day-star arise in our hearts. For blessed are 19.
the pure in heart, for they shall see God: then shall the Matt. 6, righteous be filled with that blessing for which they hunger J'^' 6 and thirst now, while, walking in faith, they are absent from 6.
'
life.
where unto God said, But Thou art the same, Ps. 102, and Thy years shall not fail: for these are not years that are
accounted for nothing, or days that perish like shadow but they are days which have real existence, the number of which he who thus spoke, Ixnd, let me know mine end,
(that is, after reaching what term shall remain unchanged,
and have no further blessing to crave,) and the number of
my days, what is: (what not what not:) prayed to know. He distinguishes them from the days of this life, of which he speaks as follows, Behold, Thou hast made myps. 39, days as were a span lony, which are not, because they6-6' stand not, remain not, but change in quick succession nor
years
:
it is is is
it,
it
it
it
: it is
;
is /
is,
a
it is
is
;
it / is
:
is I:
a
:
:
8,
is
it
: it
280 The Saints, as God's workmanship, pray for direction.
Psalm is there a single hour in them in which our being is not such, XC' but that one part of it has already passed, another is about to come, and none remains as it is. But those years and days, in which we too shall never fail, but evermore be
refreshed, will never fail.
Let our souls long earnestly for those days, let them thirst ardently for them, that there we may be filled, be satisfied, and say what we now say in anticipation, We have been satisfied with Thy mercy in the morning; we hare rejoiced and were glad all the days of
our life. (Ver. 15. ) We have been comforted again now, after the time that Thou hast brought us low, and for the
years wherein we have seen evil.
16. But now in days that are as yet evil, let us speak
as follows. (Ver. 16. ) Look upon Thy servants, and upon Thy works. For Thy servants themselves are Thy works, not only inasmuch as they are men, but as Thy servants,
that is, obedient to Thy commands. For we are His work
manship, created not merely in Adam, but in Christ Jesus, Eph. 2, unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them: for it is God which worketh in us 2>> 13. both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
And direct their sons: that they may be right in heart, for
to such God is bountiful ; for God is bountiful to Israel, to
Ps. 73, those that are right in heart. Unlike him whose feet had
2, **?
17. Ver. 17. And let the brightness of the Lord our God be Pi. 4 6. uPon us < whence the words, " O Lord, the light of Thy
countenance is marked upon us. " And, Slake Thou straight the works of our hands upon us : that we may do them not for hope of earthly reward : for then they are not straight, but crooked. In many copies the Psalm goes thus far, but in some there is found an additional verse at the end, as follows, And make straight the work of our hands. To these words the learned have prefixed a star, called an
asterisk, to shew that they are found in the Hebrew, or in some other Greek translations, but not in the Septuagint.
Philip,
well-nigh slipped, because he began to be displeased at God while he looked upon the prosperity of the wicked, as if God Himself knew not, or cared not for, their sins, and would not undertake to govern the human race.
The meaning of this verse, if we are to expound
appears
it,
All good works, one work. Gospel veiled in the Law. 281
to me this, that all our good works are one work of love : for Van love is the fulfilling of the Law. For as in the former verse
he had said, And the works of our hands make Thou 13, io. straight upon us, here he says work, not works, as if
anxious to shew, in the last verse, that all our works are one, that are directed with view to one work. For then are works righteous, when they are directed to this one end:
for the end of the commandment charity out of a pure xim. heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned. 1'5' There therefore one work, in which are all, faith which Gal. worketh love: whence our Lord's words in the Gospel,6- This the work of God, that ye believe in Hint Whom He John hath sent. Since, therefore, in this Psalm, both old and new 29- life, life both mortal and everlasting, years that are counted
for nought, and years that have the fulness of lovingkindness and of true joy, that is, the penalty of the first and the reign of the Second Man, are marked so very clearly
imagine, that the name of Moses, the man of God, became
the title of the Psalm, that pious and rightminded readers
of the Scriptures might gain an intimation that the Mosaic
laws, in which God appears to promise only, or nearly
only, earthly rewards for good works, without doubt con
tains under veil some such hopes as this Psalm displays.
But when any one has passed over to Christ, the veil will2 Cor. s, be taken away and his eyes will be unveiled, that he may 16' cousider the wonderful things in the law of God, by the
gift of Him, to Whom we pray, Open Thou mine eyes, and pg, hq
shall see the wondrous things of Thy law.
PSALM XCI. FIRST SERMON.
,8-
Ht. xc.
This Psalm that from which the devil dared to tempt our Lord Jesus Christ . let us therefore attend to that thus armed, we may be enabled to resist the tempter, not presuming in ourselves, but in Him Who before us was
is :
it,
/I
a :
by
;
i
is
is
is,
6,
8,
is
a
282 Our Lord the Worker of Old Testament miracles.
Psalm tempted, that we might not be overcome when tempted. XCI. Temptation to Him was not necessary: the temptation of Christ is our learning, but if we listen to His answers to the
devil, in order that, when ourselves are tempted, we may answer in like manner, we are then entering through the gale, as ye have heard it read in the Gospel. For what is to enter
John 10, by the gate ? To enter by Christ, Who Himself said, / am the door : and to enter through Christ, is to imitate His ways. And how are we to imitate the ways of Christ? Are we to imitate Him in the glorious power which He had as God in the flesh ? is it to this that He exhorts us, this that He
of us, that we should work such miracles as He wrought ? Or does not our Lord Jesus Christ both now and evermore govern the universe with the Father ? Is it to govern heaven and earth, and all that are in them, with Him, that He calls man, or that man too may become a creator, through whom all things may be created, as all things were through Christ ? Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ invites you neither to those works, which He did from the begin-
John l, ning, of which it is written, By Him all things were made : nor to those which He performed on earth. He tells you Mat. 14, not this: Thou shalt not be My disciple, unless thou hast
Jonn U, walked upon the waves, or raised him who was four days John^ . dead, or opened the eyes of the born blind. Not this either. 1--7. ' What is it then to enter by the door ? Learn of Me, for Iam Mat. 11, meek anc[ iowiy in heart. What He became on thy account,
that thou shouldest attend to in Him, that thou mayest imitate Him. Even before He was born of Mary He wrought miracles, for who ever worked them except He of Whom it is said,
Ps. 72, He only doeth wondrous things. For it was by His power that those, who in former days worked miracles, were l Kings enabled to do so : by the power of Christ, Elias raised
' ' the dead. Unless indeed we are to suppose Peter greater
John 6, than Christ, because Christ with His voice raised the sick ; 69. .
Acts 6, while, when Peter was passing by, the sick were brought
requires
>6-
out to be touched by his shadow. And yet can it be said that Peter is more mighty than Christ? Why then had Peter such power? Because Christ was in Peter. Hence our
John 10, Saviour's words, All that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers; meaning, that those who came on a mission of
Christ imitated in temptation as well as persecution. 283
their own, were not sent by Me, they came without Me, Titls. I was not in them, nor did I introduce them; all the miracles therefore wrought either by His predecessors or successors, were the work of the same Lord Christ, Who performed miracles when He was Himself present. Neither
then does He exhort us to imitate those miracles which He worked before He became Man : but He urges us to imitate Him in those works which He could not have done had He not been made Man ; for how could He endure sufferings, unless He had become a Man ? How could He otherwise have died, been crucified, been humbled ? Thus then do thou, when thou sufferest the troubles of this world, which the devil, openly by men, or secretly, as in Job's case, inflicts ; be courageous, be of long suffering ? thou shalt dwell under the defence of the Most High, as this Psalm expresses it : for if thou depart from the help of the Most
High, without strength to aid thyself, thou wilt fall.
2. For many men are brave, when they are enduring persecution from men, and see them openly rage against
themselves : imagining they are then imitating the sufferings
of Christ, in case men openly persecute them ; but if assailed
by the hidden attack of the devil, they believe they are not being crowned by Christ. Never fear when thou dost imitate Christ. For when the devil tempted our Lord, there was no
man in the wilderness; he tempted Him secretly; but he
was conquered, and conquered too when openly attacking
Him. This do thou, if thou wishest to enter by the door,
when the enemy secretly assails thee, when he asks for a
man that he may do him some hurt by bodily troubles, by fever, by sickness, or any other bodily sufferings, like those
of Job. He saw not the devil, yet he acknowledged the power of God. He knew that the devil had no power against him, unless from the Almighty Ruler of all things
he received that power : the whole glory he gave to God, power to the devil he gave not. For when the devil robbed
him of all things, these were his words, The Lord gave, and Joh 1,
the Lord hath taken away; he said not, The Lord gave, and the devil hath taken away: since the devil could have taken nothing from him, had not the Lord permitted him. And for this cause God allowed him, that the man might be tried,
284 Satan conquered by abiding in God's protection.
Psalm and the devil conquered. When he struck him with a blow, it was by God's leave. Even when from head to foot he was wasted by worms, not even then did he attribute any power to the devil: but when his wife, whom alone the devil had left, not as the consoler of her husband, but his own helper,
Joh 2, 9- ,0'
advised him thus, Say some word against God, and die: he replied, Thou speakestas one of the foolish women speaketh. If we have received good at the hands of God, shall we not endure evil?
3. He then who so imitates Christ as to endure all the troubles of this world, with his hopes set upon God, that he falls into no snare, is broken down by no panic fears, he it is (ver. 1, 2. ) who dwelleth under the defence of the Most
High, who shall abide under the protection of God, in the words with which the Psalm, which you have heard and sung, begins. You will recognise the words, so well known, in which the devil tempted our Lord, when we come to them. He shall say unto the Lord, Thou art my laker up, and my refuge: my God. Who speaks thus to the Lord? He who dwelleth under the defence of the Most High : not under his own defence. Who is this? He dwelleth under the
defence of the Most High, who is not proud, like those who ate, that they might become as Gods, and lost the immor tality in which they were made. For they chose to dwell under a defence of their own, not under that of the Most
Gen. 3,
High: thus they listened to the suggestions of the serpent, and despised the precept of God: and discovered at last that what God threatened, not what the devil promised, bad come to pass in them.
4. (Ver. 3. ) Thus then do thou say also, In Him trill I trust. For He Himself shall deliver me, not I myself. Observe whether he teaches any thing but this, that all our trust be in God, none in man. Whence shall he deliver thee ? From the snare of the hunter, and from a harsh word. Deliverance from the hunter's net is indeed a great blessing: but how is deliverance from a harsh word so ? Many have fallen into the hunter's net through a harsh word. What is it that I say ? The devil and his angels spread their snares, as hunters do : and those who walk in Christ tread afar from those snares : for he dares not spread his net in Christ : he
What is our danger from a 4 harsh word. ' 285
sets it on the verge of the way, not in the way. Let Ver. then thy way be Christ, and thou shalt not fall into the ---
snares of the devil : when thou wanderest
there is the snare : on this side and that he sets his nooses,
on this side and that his snares :
thy path. But dost thou wish to tread in safety? Turn not
ever so slightly right or left : and let Him be thy way Who
was made thy Way, that through Himself He may lead thee John 14, to Himself, and thou shalt not dread the nooses of the6' hunters.
But what from a harsh word The devil has entrapped many by a harsh word for instance, those who profess Christianity among Pagans suffer insult from the heathen they blush when they hear reproach, and shrinking out of their path in consequence, fall into the hunter's snares. And yet what will a harsh word do to you Nothing. Can the snares with which the enemy entraps you by means of reproaches, do nothing to you Nets are usually spread for birds at the end of hedge, and stoues are thrown into the hedge those stones will not harm the birds. When did any one ever hit bird by throwing stone into hedge But the bird, frightened at the harmless noise, falls into the nets and thus men who fear the vain reproaches of their calumniators, and who blush at unprovoked insults, fall into the snares of the hunters, and are taken captive by the devil. Yet why, my brethren, do refrain from saying, what God
from the way,
among those nooses lies
urges me to say, and what must not pass unsaid ever you may receive it, God compels me to say
How unless fear of
say fall into the snares of the hunters for
man's detraction hinder me from stating am myself for fear of harsh word falling into the snares, while am admonishing you not to fear the words of men. What
then that have to tell you Just as among the heathen, the Christian who fears their reproaches falls into the snare of the hunter so among the Christians, those who endeavour to be more diligent and better than the rest, are doomed to bear insults from Christians themselves. What then doth profit, my brother, thou oc(asionally find city in which
there no heathen No one there insults a man because he Christian, for this reason, that there no Pagan
1
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886 The fear of man a snare. God's shadowing ' wings. '
therein : but there are many Christians who lead a bad life,
Psalm
- among whom those who are resolved to lire righteously, and
to be sober among the drunken, and chaste among the unchaste, and amid the consulters of astrologers sincerely to worship God, and to ask after no such things, and among
of frivolous shows will go only to church, suffer from those very Christians reproaches, and harsh words, when they address such a one, ' Thou art the mighty, the righteous, thou art Elias, thou art Peter: thou hast come
from heaven. ' They insult him: whichever way he turns, he hears harsh sayings on each side : and if he fears, and abandons the way of Christ, he falls into the snares of the hunters. But what is when he hears such words, not to swerve from the way On hearing them, what comfort has he, which prevents his heeding them, and enables him to enter by the door Let him say What words am called, who am servant and sinner? To my Lord Jesus they
John said, Thou hast a devil. You have just beard the harsh
48
words spoken against our Lord: was not necessary for our Lord to suffer this, but in doing so He has warned thee against harsh words, lest thou fall into the snares of the hunters.
5. (Ver. 4. ) He shall defend thee between His shoulders, and thou shalt hope under His wings. He says this, that thy protection may not be to thee from thyself, that thou mayest not imagine that thou canst defend thyself He will defend thee, to deliver thee from the hunter's snare, and from an harsh word. The expression, between His shoulders, may be understood both in front and behind for the shoulders are about the head but in the words, thou shalt hope under His wings,' clear that the protection of the wings of God expanded places thee between His shoulders, so that God's wings on this side and that have thee in the midst, where thou shalt not fear lest any one hurt thee only be thou careful never to leave that spot, where no foe dares approach. If the hen defends her chickens beneath her wings how much more shalt thou be safe beneath the wings of God, even against the devil and his angels, the powers who fly about in mid air like hawks, to carry off the weak young one For the comparison of the hen to the very Wisdom of God not
spectators
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Christ likened to a Hen. Comparisons imperfect. 287 without ground ; for Christ Himself, our Lord and Saviour, Ver.
4 6'
speaks of Himself as likened to a hen ; O Jerusalem, Jeru-
I
ther, even as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would
not. That Jerusalem would not : let us be willing. She, when she abandoned her hen's wings, was carried off by the powers of the air, presuming on her own strength, when she was weak : let us, confessing our want of strength, fly to the shelter of God's wings : for He will be to us as a hen
defending her young. There is nothing offensive in the name of the hen : for if you consider other birds, brethren, you will find many that hatch their eggs, and keep their young warm: but none that weakens herself in sympathy with her chickens, as the hen does. We see swallows, sparrows, and storks outside their nests, without being able to decide whether they have young or no : but we know the hen to be a mother by the weakness of her voice, and the loosening of her feathers : she changes altogether from love
for her chickens : she weakens herself because they are
weak. Thus since we were weak, the Wisdom of God
made Itself weak, when the Word was made flesh, and John 1, dwelt in us, that we might hope under His wings.
6. (Ver. 4 -- 6. ) His truth shall surround thee with a shield.
What are the wings, the same is the shield : since there are neither wings nor shield. If either were literally, how could
the one be the same as the other ? can wings be a shield or
a shield wings? But all these expressions, indeed, are figuratively used through likenesses. If Christ were really
a Stone, He could not be a Lion ; if a Lion, He could not Acts 4, be a Lamb: but He is called both Lion, and Lamb, andj^'11. '
Stone, and Calf, and any thing else of the sort, meta-6. phorically, because He is neither Stone, nor Lion, nor Lamb,29. ' n ' nor Calf, but Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all of us, for these
are likenesses, not literal names. His truth shall he thy shield,
it is said: a shield to assure us that He will not confound
those whose trust is in themselves with those who hope in
God. One is a sinner, and the other a sinner: but suppose
one that presumes upon himself, is a despiser, confesses not
his sins, and he will say, if my sins displeased God, He
would not suffer me to live. But another dared not even
salem, how often would
Mat. '23 ' hare gathered thy children toge-37.
288 The different temptations of the night and the day.
Psalm raise his eves, but beat upon bis breast, saying, God be L^C^ ' merciful to me a sinner. Both this was a sinner, and that: 13 but the one mocked, the other mourned : the one was a
despiser, the other a confessor, of his sins. But the truth of God, which respects not persons, discerns the penitent from him who denies his sin, the humble from the proud, him who presumes upon himself from him who presumes on God. His truth, then, shall surround thee with a shield.
7. Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night, nor 1 nego- for the arrow that flieth by day; for the matter1 that
tium
toalketh in darkness, nor for the ruin and the devil that is in the noon-day. These two clauses above correspond to the two below ; Thou shalt not fear for the terror by night,
from the arrow that flieth by day : both because of the terror by night, from the matter that tralketh in darkness: and because of the arrow that flieth by duy, from the ruin of the devil of the noon-day. What ought to be feared by night, and what by day ? When any man sins in ignorance, be sins, as it were, by night : when he sins in full knowledge,
by day. The two former sins then are the lighter : the second are much heavier; but this is obscure, and will repay your attention, by God's blessing, can explain
so that you may understand it. He calls the light temptation, which the ignorant yield to, terror by night the light temptation, which assails men who well know, the arrow thai flieth by day. What are light temptations Those which do not press upon us so urgently, as to overcome us, but may pass by quickly declined. Suppose these, again, heavy ones. If the persecutor threatens, and frightens the ignorant grievously, mean those whose faith as yet
unstable, and know not that they are Christians that they may hope for life to come as soon as they are alarmed with temporal ills, they imagine that Christ has forsaken them, and that they are Christians to no purpose; they are not aware that they are Christians for this reason, that they may conquer the present, and hope for th<< future: the matter that walketh in darkness has found and seized them.
But some there are who know that they are called to future hope that what God has promised not of this life, or this earth that all these temptations must be endured,
; ;
is
I
a
it
a
I
if,
if ;
: is ?
The noonday heat signifies Persecution. -289
that we may receive what God hath promised us for evermore ; Ver.
'---
all this they know : when however the persecutor urges them more strenuously, and plies them with threats, penalties, tortures, at length they yield, and although they are well aware of their sin, yet they fall as it were by day.
8. But why does he say, at noon-day? The persecution is very hot; and thus the noon signifies the excessive heat. My beloved brethren, hear me prove this from the Scriptures. When our Lord was speaking of the sower who went forth to sow, and some of the seeds fell by the way-side, some upon stony places, and some among thorns, He con descended to explain the parable Himself; and when He came to the seed which fell on the stony places, He said
thus, He that received the seed into stony places, the same Mat. 13, are they that hear the word, and for a while rejoice at the3- 23' word; and when tribulation ariseth because ofthe word, by
and by they are offended.
be either made or formed nevertheless, there any pro
priety in these words, the Angels are made; for as they are enumerated among His heavenly works, the enumeration
itself thus concluded He spake the word, and they were Ps. 14s, made; He commanded, and they were created; but the6- earth wasformed, that man might thence be created in the
refuge from one generation to the other.
3. He adds, how He became our refuge, since He began
to be that, viz. a refuge, to us which He had not been before, not that He had not existed before He became our
For the Scripture uses this word, where we read, God made, or God formed man out the dust of the Gen.
ground. Before then the noblest parts of the creation (for what higher than the rational part of the Heavenly crea tion) were made before the earth was made, that Thou mightest have worshippers upon the earth and even this little, as all these had beginning either in or with time but from age to age Thou art. It would have been better, from everlasting to everlasting for God, Who before the ages, exists not from a certain age, nor to certain age, which has an end, since He without end. But often
body.
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7-
2,
272 God unchangeable. Prayer against temptation.
Psalm happens in the Scripture, that the equivocal Greek word XC- causes the Latin translator to put age for eternity and eternity for age. But he very rightly does not say, Thou
13,
into temptation, He adds, Again Thou sayest, Come again, ye children of men. As if he said, I ask of Thee what Thou hast commanded me to ask : giving glory to His grace, that
wast from ages, and unto ages Thou shall be : but puts the verb in the present, intimating that the substance of God is altogether immutable. It is not, He was, and Shall be, but
Exod. only Is. Whence the expression, I Am thAt I Am : and, I
3 14 ? w.
Ps. 102, AM hath sent me unto you; and, Thou shall change them,
26. 27. and they shall be changed : but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail. Behold then the eternity that is our refuge, that we may fly thither from the mutability of time, there to remain for evermore.
4. But as our life here is exposed to numerous and great temptations, and it is to be feared lest we may be turned aside by them from that refuge, let us see what in
of this the prayer of the man of God seeks for. (Ver. 3. ) Turn not Thou man to loumess : that is, Let not man, turned aside from Thy eternal and sublime things, lust for things of time, savour of earthly things. This prayer is
Mat. 6, what God has Himself enjoined us, in the Prayer, Lead us not
consequence
l Cor. l, he that glorieth, in the Lord he may glory : without Whose
3'
help we cannot by an exertion of our own will overcome the temptations of this life. Turn not Thou man to loumess : again thou sayest, Turn again, ye children of men. But
1precem grant what Thou hast enjoined, by hearing the prayer1 of
Jxaiidi- h'm can at 'east Prav, an(* aiding the faith of the willing endo. soul,
5. Ver. 4. For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday, which is past by : hence we ought to turn to Thy refuge, where Thou art without any change, from the fleeting scenes around us ; since however long a time may be wished for for this life, a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yester day : not as to-morrow, which is to come : for all limited periods of time are reckoned as having already passed. Hence
Phil. 3, the Apostle's choice is rather to aim at what is before, that
13,
to desire things eternal, and to forget things behind, by which temporal matters should be understood. But that no one may imagine thousand years are reckoned by God as one
a
is,
'A thousand years as one day,' a simile, not a measure. 273
day, as if with God days were so loDg, w hen this is only said Vrr.
~--
in contempt of the extent of time : he adds, and as a watch
in the night: which only lasts three hours. Nevertheless men
have ventured to assert their knowledge of times, to the pre
tenders to which our Lord said, It is not for you to know the Acta l, times or seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power:
and they allege that this period may be defined six thousand years, as of six days. Nor have they heeded the words, are but as one day which is past by : for, when this was uttered, not a thousand years only had passed, and the expression, as a watch in the night, ought to have warned them that they might not be deceived by the uncertainty of the seasons: for even if the six first days in which God finished His works seemed to give some plausibility to their opinion, six watches, which amount to eighteen hours, will not consist with that opinion.
6. Next, the man of God, or rather the Prophetic spirit, seems to be reciting some law written in the secret wisdom of God, in which He has fixed a limit to the sinful life of mortals, and determined the troubles of mortality, in the
following words ; (ver. 5. ) Their years are as things which are nothing worth: in the morning let it fade away like the
grass; in the morning as a herb let it pass by; in the evening let it fall, and be dried up, and withered. The happiness therefore of the heirs of the old covenant, which they asked of the Lord their God as a great boon, attained to receive
this Law in His mysterious Providence. Moses seems to be reciting it ; Their years shall be things which are esteemed as nothing. Such are those things which are not before they are come : and when come, shall soon not be: for they do not come to be here, but to be gone. (Ver. 6. ) In the morning, that is, before they come, as a heat let it pass by; but in the
evening, it means after they come, let itfall, and be dried
up, and withered. It is to fall in death, be dried up in the corpse, withered in the dust. What is this but flesh, wherein
is the accursed lust of fleshly things ? For all flesh is grass, Iss. 40,
and all the goodliness of man as the flower of the field;6'9' the grass withereth, the flower fadeth : but the word of the Lord abide th for ever.
7. Making no secret that this fate is a penalty inflicted for sin, he adds at once, (ver. 7. ) For we consume away in Thy
VOL. IV. T
274 Years assigned to marts life to be spiritualized.
Psalm displeasure, and are troubled at Thy wrathful indignation: we consume away in our weakness, and are troubled from the fear of death ; for we are become weak, and yet fearful to end that
John2l, weakness. Another, saith He, shall gird thee, and carry thee
18'
whither thou wouldest not : although not to be punished, but to be crowned, by martyrdom ; and the soul of our Lord, transforming us into Himself, was sorrowful even unto death: for the Lord's going out is no other than in death.
8. Ver. 8. Thou hast set our misdeeds before Thee: that is, Thou hast not dissembled Thine anger : and our age in the light of Thy countenance. The light of Thy countenance answers to before Thee, and to our misdeeds, as above.
9. Ver. 9. For all our days are faifed, and in Thine anger we have failed. These words sufficiently prove, that our subjection to death is a punishment. He speaks of our days failing, either because men fail in them from loving things that pass away, or because they are reduced to so small a number; which he asserts in the following lines; our years are spent in thought like a spider1 ; (ver. 10. ) The days of our aye are threescore years and ten ; and though men be
1 sicct aranea
bantur so strong that they come to fourscore years, yet is more of ' them but labour and sorrow. These words appear to
express the shortness and misery of this life : since those who have reached their seventieth year are styled old men. Up to eighty, however, they appear to have some strength ; but if they live beyond this, their existence is laborious through multiplied sorrows. Yet many even below the age of seventy experience an old age the most infirm and
v wretched : and old men have often been found to be won derfully vigorous even beyond eighty years. It is therefore better to search for some spiritual meaning in these numbers. For the anger of God" is not greater on the sins of Adam,
Rom. 6, (through whom alone sin entered into the world, and death
12'
by sin, and so death passed upon all men,") because they live a much shorter time than the men of old ; since even the length of their days is ridiculed in the comparison of a thousand years to yesterday that is past, and to three hours : especially since at the very time when they provoked the anger of God to send the deluge in which they perished, their life was at its longest span.
' Seventy' and ' eighty,' the present and the future life. 275
10. Moreover, seventy and eighty years equal a hundred Ver. and fifty ; a number which the Psalms clearly insinuate to ------ be a sacred one. One hundred and fifty have the same relative signification as fifteen, the latter number being composed
of seven and eight together : the first of which points to the
Old Testament through the observation of the Sabbath; the
latter to the New, referring to the resurrection of our Lord.
Hence the fifteen steps in the Temple. Hence in the Psalms,
fifteen " songs of degrees. " Hence the waters of the deluge Gen. 7, overtopped the highest mountains by fifteen cubits: and many 19' other instances of the same nature. Our years are passed in thought like a spider. We were labouring in things cor ruptible, corruptible works we were weaving together: which,
as the prophet Isaiah saith, by no means covered us: the days us. 69, of our years are in themselves threescore and ten : but if in 6-
their strength they come to fourscore years. A distinction is
here made between themselves and their strength": in them
selves, that is, in the years or days themselves, may mean in temporal things, which are promised in the Old Testament, sig
nified by the number seventy; but if not in themselves, but in
their strength, refers not to temporal things, but to things eternal, fourscore years, as the New Testament contains the hope of a new life and resurrection for evermore : and what is added, that if they pass this latter period b, their strength is labour and sorrow, intimates that such shall be the fate of him who goes beyond this faith, and seeks for more. It may also be un- -Herstood thus: because although we are established in the New JTesJament^ which the number eighty signifies, yet still our
life is one of labour and sorrow, while we groan within our- Rom. 8, selves, awaiting the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our23-26' body ; for we are saved by hope; and if we hope for that we
see not, then do we with patience wait for it. This relates to
the mercy of God, of which he proceeds to say, Since thy
mercy cometh over us, and we shall be chastened: for "MeHeb. 12, Lord? chasieneth whom He lovefh, and scour geth every son6'
* Aliud est in ipsis, aliud in poten- that age.
tatibut. c Quoniam supervenit tupernos man -
b St. Augustine seems to refer the suetudo, et corripiemur: the equivalent word amplius to a period beyond the in the Prayer Book so soon passeth eighty years. In the English version away, and we are gone.
clearly applies to the attainment of
T 2
it
it
is,
276 God's wrath mysterious, heaviest when delayed.
Psalm whom He receiveth," and to some mighty ones He giveth a thorn in the flesh, to buffet them, that they may not be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, so
2 Cor. tnat strength be made perfect in weakness. Some copies 12, 7. 9. read, we shall be taught, instead ofchastened, which is equally expressive of the Divine Mercy ; for no man can be taught
without labour and sorrow ; since strength is made perfect in weakness.
1 1. Ver. 11. For who knoweth thepowerofTfty wrath ; andfor the fear of Thee to number Thine anger? It belongs to very few men, he saith, to know the power of Thy wrath; for when Thou dost spare, Thy anger is so far heavier against most men ;
that we may know that labour and sorrow belong not to wrath, but rather to Thy mercy, when Thou chastenest and teach- est those whom Thou lovest, to save them from the torments
p, 10, of eternal punishment : as it is said in another Psalm, " The 3. Lat. sinner hath provoked the Lord : He will not require it of him according to the greatness of His wrath. " Who then knoweth
the power of Thy wrath, or for the fear of Thee how to number Thine anger ? With this also is understood, ' Who knoweth Such the difficulty of finding any one who knoweth how to number Thine anger by Thy fear, that he adds this, meaning that to the purpose that Thou appearest to spare some, with whom Thou art more angry,
that the sinner may be prospered in his path, and receive a heavier doom at the last. For when the power of human wrath hath killed the body, hath nothing more to do but God hath power both to punish here, and after the death of the body to send into Hell, and by the few who are thus taught, the vain and seductive prosperity of the wicked
Mat. io ju^ge^ to De greater wrath of God. This he knew not, whose
feet were almost gone, because he was grieved at the wicked, 2. 3. 17. seeing the ungodly in such prosperity, but he learnt when he went into the sanctuary of God, and understood concern
ing the last things that sanctuary which few enter, there to learn how to number the anger of God by His fear: and to reckon the prosperity of the wicked in the number of their punishments.
2. ,Ver. 2. Make Thy right hand so well known. This the reading of most of the Greek copies not of some in Latin,
28.
:
1
1
is
is
: is
it
:
it
it is
. ? '
Christ made known as the Right Hand of Qod. 277 which is thus, Make Thy right hand well known to me. Ver.
:--
Lord revealed ? Make Him so well known, that Thy faithful
may learn in Him to ask and to hope for those things rather
of Thee as rewards of their faith, which do not appear in the
Old Testament, but are revealed in the New : that they may
not imagine that the happiness derived from earthly and temporal blessings is to be highly esteemed, desired, or loved,
and thus their feet slip, when they see it in men who honour Ps73,2. Thee not : that their steps may not give way, while they know
not how to number Thine anger. Finally, in accordance with
this prayer of the Man that is His1, He has made His Christ 'hominii so well known, as to shew by His sufferings that not those "m rewards which seem so highly prized in the Old Testament,
where they are shadows of things to come, but things eternal,
are to be desired. The right hand of God may also be understood in this sense, as that by which He will separate
His saints from the wicked : because that hand becomes well known, when it scourgeth every son whom He receiveth, and suffers him not, in greater anger, to prosper in his sins, but
in His mercy, scourgeth him with the left*, that He may place* ah on him purified on His right hand. The reading of most copies, Mat. 26,
make Thy right hand well known to me, may be referred33' either to Christ, or to eternal happiness : for God has not a right hand in bodily shape, as He has not that anger which
is aroused into violent passion.
13. But what he addeth, 3 and those fettered in heart in'Et wisdom; other copies read, instructed, not fettered: the Greek
verb, expressing both senses, only differing by a single coTM'>> syllable4. But since these also, as it is said, put their " feet in "ntlT. ' the fetters" of wisdom, are taught wisdom, (he means the feetlTOrTM' of the heart, not of the body,) and bound by its golden vovs. chains depart not from the path of God, and become notT"8''- runaways from him ; whichever reading we adopt, the truth Ecolus. in the meaning is safe. Them thus fettered, or instructed in6'26' heart in wisdom, God makes so well known in the New Testament, that they despised all things for the Faith
which the impiety of Jews and Gentiles abhorred ; and allowed themselves to be deprived of those things which in
What is, make Thy right hand so well known, but Thy Christ, of Whom it is said, And to whom is the arm of the J>>-63,
278 Waiting of Martyrs. God only seems turned away.
Phai. m the Old Testament are thought high promises by those who --judge after the flesh.
14. Ver. 13. And as when they became so well known, as to despise these things, and by setting their affections on things eternal, gave a testimony through their sufferings, (whence they are called witnesses or martyrs in the Greek,) they endured for a long while many bitter temporal afflic tions. This man of God giveth heed to this, and the prophetic spirit under the name of Moses continues thus, Return, O Iard, how long ? and be softened concerning Thy servants. These are the words of those, who, enduring many evils in that persecuting age, become known because their hearts are bound in the chain of wisdom, so firmly, that not even such hardships can induce them to fly from their Lord
Ps. l3,i. to the good things of this world. How long will Thou hide Thy face from me, 0 Lord ? occurs in another Psalm, in unison with this sentence, Return, O Lord, how long ? And that they who, in a most carnal spirit, ascribe to God the
form of the human body, may know that the turning away and turning again of His countenance is not like those motions of our own frame, let them recollect these words from above in the same Psalm, Thou hast set our misdeeds before Thee, and our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance. How then does he say in this passage, Return, that God may be favourable, as if He had turned away His face in anger ; when as in the former he speaks of God's anger in such a manner, as to insinuate that He had not turned away His countenance from the misdeeds and the course of life of those He was angry with, but rather had set them before Him, and in the light of His countenance? The word, How long, belongs to righteousness beseeching, not indignant impatience. Be softened, some have rendered by a verb, soften. But be softened avoids an ambiguity; since to soften is a common verb: for he may be said to soften who pours out prayers, and he to whom they are poured out: for we say, I soften thee, and I soften toward thee ; (' deprecor te, et deprecor a te. ')
15. Ver. 14, 15. Next, in anticipation of future blessings, of which he speaks as already vouchsafed, he says, We are
with Thy mercy in the morning. Prophecy has
satisfied
We hope to be ' satisfied' in the morniny of the true day. 279
the Lord. Hence are the words, In Thy presence is fulness n] ofjoy : and, Early in the morniny they shall stand by, andP>>-5i3- shall look up : and as other translators have said We
shall be satisfied with Thy mercy in the morniny; then they
shall be satisfied. As he says elsewhere, shall be satisfied, Ps- 17, when Thy ylory shall be revealed. So said, Lord, shea? j0j,ni4, us the Father, and sufficeth us: and our Lord Himself 21. answereth, will manifest Myself to Zion and until this promise fulfilled, no blessing satisfies us, or ought to do
so, lest our longings should be arrested in their course, when they ought to be increased until they gain their objects. We have been satisfied with Thy mercy in the morniny and we rejoiced and were ylad all the days ofour
Those days are days without end: they all exist together thus they satisfy us for they give not way to days succeeding since there nothing there which exists not yet because has not reached us, or ceases to exist
because has passed; all are together: because there one
day only, which remains and passes not away this
eternity itself. These are the days respecting which
written, What man he that lusteth to lice, and would fain Ps. 3i, see good days? These days in another passage are styled12'
thus been kindled for us. in the midst of these toils and . 14.
sorrows of the night, like a lamp in the darkness, until day 2 pet l dawn, and the Day-star arise in our hearts. For blessed are 19.
the pure in heart, for they shall see God: then shall the Matt. 6, righteous be filled with that blessing for which they hunger J'^' 6 and thirst now, while, walking in faith, they are absent from 6.
'
life.
where unto God said, But Thou art the same, Ps. 102, and Thy years shall not fail: for these are not years that are
accounted for nothing, or days that perish like shadow but they are days which have real existence, the number of which he who thus spoke, Ixnd, let me know mine end,
(that is, after reaching what term shall remain unchanged,
and have no further blessing to crave,) and the number of
my days, what is: (what not what not:) prayed to know. He distinguishes them from the days of this life, of which he speaks as follows, Behold, Thou hast made myps. 39, days as were a span lony, which are not, because they6-6' stand not, remain not, but change in quick succession nor
years
:
it is is is
it,
it
it
it
: it is
;
is /
is,
a
it is
is
;
it / is
:
is I:
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:
:
8,
is
it
: it
280 The Saints, as God's workmanship, pray for direction.
Psalm is there a single hour in them in which our being is not such, XC' but that one part of it has already passed, another is about to come, and none remains as it is. But those years and days, in which we too shall never fail, but evermore be
refreshed, will never fail.
Let our souls long earnestly for those days, let them thirst ardently for them, that there we may be filled, be satisfied, and say what we now say in anticipation, We have been satisfied with Thy mercy in the morning; we hare rejoiced and were glad all the days of
our life. (Ver. 15. ) We have been comforted again now, after the time that Thou hast brought us low, and for the
years wherein we have seen evil.
16. But now in days that are as yet evil, let us speak
as follows. (Ver. 16. ) Look upon Thy servants, and upon Thy works. For Thy servants themselves are Thy works, not only inasmuch as they are men, but as Thy servants,
that is, obedient to Thy commands. For we are His work
manship, created not merely in Adam, but in Christ Jesus, Eph. 2, unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them: for it is God which worketh in us 2>> 13. both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
And direct their sons: that they may be right in heart, for
to such God is bountiful ; for God is bountiful to Israel, to
Ps. 73, those that are right in heart. Unlike him whose feet had
2, **?
17. Ver. 17. And let the brightness of the Lord our God be Pi. 4 6. uPon us < whence the words, " O Lord, the light of Thy
countenance is marked upon us. " And, Slake Thou straight the works of our hands upon us : that we may do them not for hope of earthly reward : for then they are not straight, but crooked. In many copies the Psalm goes thus far, but in some there is found an additional verse at the end, as follows, And make straight the work of our hands. To these words the learned have prefixed a star, called an
asterisk, to shew that they are found in the Hebrew, or in some other Greek translations, but not in the Septuagint.
Philip,
well-nigh slipped, because he began to be displeased at God while he looked upon the prosperity of the wicked, as if God Himself knew not, or cared not for, their sins, and would not undertake to govern the human race.
The meaning of this verse, if we are to expound
appears
it,
All good works, one work. Gospel veiled in the Law. 281
to me this, that all our good works are one work of love : for Van love is the fulfilling of the Law. For as in the former verse
he had said, And the works of our hands make Thou 13, io. straight upon us, here he says work, not works, as if
anxious to shew, in the last verse, that all our works are one, that are directed with view to one work. For then are works righteous, when they are directed to this one end:
for the end of the commandment charity out of a pure xim. heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned. 1'5' There therefore one work, in which are all, faith which Gal. worketh love: whence our Lord's words in the Gospel,6- This the work of God, that ye believe in Hint Whom He John hath sent. Since, therefore, in this Psalm, both old and new 29- life, life both mortal and everlasting, years that are counted
for nought, and years that have the fulness of lovingkindness and of true joy, that is, the penalty of the first and the reign of the Second Man, are marked so very clearly
imagine, that the name of Moses, the man of God, became
the title of the Psalm, that pious and rightminded readers
of the Scriptures might gain an intimation that the Mosaic
laws, in which God appears to promise only, or nearly
only, earthly rewards for good works, without doubt con
tains under veil some such hopes as this Psalm displays.
But when any one has passed over to Christ, the veil will2 Cor. s, be taken away and his eyes will be unveiled, that he may 16' cousider the wonderful things in the law of God, by the
gift of Him, to Whom we pray, Open Thou mine eyes, and pg, hq
shall see the wondrous things of Thy law.
PSALM XCI. FIRST SERMON.
,8-
Ht. xc.
This Psalm that from which the devil dared to tempt our Lord Jesus Christ . let us therefore attend to that thus armed, we may be enabled to resist the tempter, not presuming in ourselves, but in Him Who before us was
is :
it,
/I
a :
by
;
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is,
6,
8,
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282 Our Lord the Worker of Old Testament miracles.
Psalm tempted, that we might not be overcome when tempted. XCI. Temptation to Him was not necessary: the temptation of Christ is our learning, but if we listen to His answers to the
devil, in order that, when ourselves are tempted, we may answer in like manner, we are then entering through the gale, as ye have heard it read in the Gospel. For what is to enter
John 10, by the gate ? To enter by Christ, Who Himself said, / am the door : and to enter through Christ, is to imitate His ways. And how are we to imitate the ways of Christ? Are we to imitate Him in the glorious power which He had as God in the flesh ? is it to this that He exhorts us, this that He
of us, that we should work such miracles as He wrought ? Or does not our Lord Jesus Christ both now and evermore govern the universe with the Father ? Is it to govern heaven and earth, and all that are in them, with Him, that He calls man, or that man too may become a creator, through whom all things may be created, as all things were through Christ ? Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ invites you neither to those works, which He did from the begin-
John l, ning, of which it is written, By Him all things were made : nor to those which He performed on earth. He tells you Mat. 14, not this: Thou shalt not be My disciple, unless thou hast
Jonn U, walked upon the waves, or raised him who was four days John^ . dead, or opened the eyes of the born blind. Not this either. 1--7. ' What is it then to enter by the door ? Learn of Me, for Iam Mat. 11, meek anc[ iowiy in heart. What He became on thy account,
that thou shouldest attend to in Him, that thou mayest imitate Him. Even before He was born of Mary He wrought miracles, for who ever worked them except He of Whom it is said,
Ps. 72, He only doeth wondrous things. For it was by His power that those, who in former days worked miracles, were l Kings enabled to do so : by the power of Christ, Elias raised
' ' the dead. Unless indeed we are to suppose Peter greater
John 6, than Christ, because Christ with His voice raised the sick ; 69. .
Acts 6, while, when Peter was passing by, the sick were brought
requires
>6-
out to be touched by his shadow. And yet can it be said that Peter is more mighty than Christ? Why then had Peter such power? Because Christ was in Peter. Hence our
John 10, Saviour's words, All that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers; meaning, that those who came on a mission of
Christ imitated in temptation as well as persecution. 283
their own, were not sent by Me, they came without Me, Titls. I was not in them, nor did I introduce them; all the miracles therefore wrought either by His predecessors or successors, were the work of the same Lord Christ, Who performed miracles when He was Himself present. Neither
then does He exhort us to imitate those miracles which He worked before He became Man : but He urges us to imitate Him in those works which He could not have done had He not been made Man ; for how could He endure sufferings, unless He had become a Man ? How could He otherwise have died, been crucified, been humbled ? Thus then do thou, when thou sufferest the troubles of this world, which the devil, openly by men, or secretly, as in Job's case, inflicts ; be courageous, be of long suffering ? thou shalt dwell under the defence of the Most High, as this Psalm expresses it : for if thou depart from the help of the Most
High, without strength to aid thyself, thou wilt fall.
2. For many men are brave, when they are enduring persecution from men, and see them openly rage against
themselves : imagining they are then imitating the sufferings
of Christ, in case men openly persecute them ; but if assailed
by the hidden attack of the devil, they believe they are not being crowned by Christ. Never fear when thou dost imitate Christ. For when the devil tempted our Lord, there was no
man in the wilderness; he tempted Him secretly; but he
was conquered, and conquered too when openly attacking
Him. This do thou, if thou wishest to enter by the door,
when the enemy secretly assails thee, when he asks for a
man that he may do him some hurt by bodily troubles, by fever, by sickness, or any other bodily sufferings, like those
of Job. He saw not the devil, yet he acknowledged the power of God. He knew that the devil had no power against him, unless from the Almighty Ruler of all things
he received that power : the whole glory he gave to God, power to the devil he gave not. For when the devil robbed
him of all things, these were his words, The Lord gave, and Joh 1,
the Lord hath taken away; he said not, The Lord gave, and the devil hath taken away: since the devil could have taken nothing from him, had not the Lord permitted him. And for this cause God allowed him, that the man might be tried,
284 Satan conquered by abiding in God's protection.
Psalm and the devil conquered. When he struck him with a blow, it was by God's leave. Even when from head to foot he was wasted by worms, not even then did he attribute any power to the devil: but when his wife, whom alone the devil had left, not as the consoler of her husband, but his own helper,
Joh 2, 9- ,0'
advised him thus, Say some word against God, and die: he replied, Thou speakestas one of the foolish women speaketh. If we have received good at the hands of God, shall we not endure evil?
3. He then who so imitates Christ as to endure all the troubles of this world, with his hopes set upon God, that he falls into no snare, is broken down by no panic fears, he it is (ver. 1, 2. ) who dwelleth under the defence of the Most
High, who shall abide under the protection of God, in the words with which the Psalm, which you have heard and sung, begins. You will recognise the words, so well known, in which the devil tempted our Lord, when we come to them. He shall say unto the Lord, Thou art my laker up, and my refuge: my God. Who speaks thus to the Lord? He who dwelleth under the defence of the Most High : not under his own defence. Who is this? He dwelleth under the
defence of the Most High, who is not proud, like those who ate, that they might become as Gods, and lost the immor tality in which they were made. For they chose to dwell under a defence of their own, not under that of the Most
Gen. 3,
High: thus they listened to the suggestions of the serpent, and despised the precept of God: and discovered at last that what God threatened, not what the devil promised, bad come to pass in them.
4. (Ver. 3. ) Thus then do thou say also, In Him trill I trust. For He Himself shall deliver me, not I myself. Observe whether he teaches any thing but this, that all our trust be in God, none in man. Whence shall he deliver thee ? From the snare of the hunter, and from a harsh word. Deliverance from the hunter's net is indeed a great blessing: but how is deliverance from a harsh word so ? Many have fallen into the hunter's net through a harsh word. What is it that I say ? The devil and his angels spread their snares, as hunters do : and those who walk in Christ tread afar from those snares : for he dares not spread his net in Christ : he
What is our danger from a 4 harsh word. ' 285
sets it on the verge of the way, not in the way. Let Ver. then thy way be Christ, and thou shalt not fall into the ---
snares of the devil : when thou wanderest
there is the snare : on this side and that he sets his nooses,
on this side and that his snares :
thy path. But dost thou wish to tread in safety? Turn not
ever so slightly right or left : and let Him be thy way Who
was made thy Way, that through Himself He may lead thee John 14, to Himself, and thou shalt not dread the nooses of the6' hunters.
But what from a harsh word The devil has entrapped many by a harsh word for instance, those who profess Christianity among Pagans suffer insult from the heathen they blush when they hear reproach, and shrinking out of their path in consequence, fall into the hunter's snares. And yet what will a harsh word do to you Nothing. Can the snares with which the enemy entraps you by means of reproaches, do nothing to you Nets are usually spread for birds at the end of hedge, and stoues are thrown into the hedge those stones will not harm the birds. When did any one ever hit bird by throwing stone into hedge But the bird, frightened at the harmless noise, falls into the nets and thus men who fear the vain reproaches of their calumniators, and who blush at unprovoked insults, fall into the snares of the hunters, and are taken captive by the devil. Yet why, my brethren, do refrain from saying, what God
from the way,
among those nooses lies
urges me to say, and what must not pass unsaid ever you may receive it, God compels me to say
How unless fear of
say fall into the snares of the hunters for
man's detraction hinder me from stating am myself for fear of harsh word falling into the snares, while am admonishing you not to fear the words of men. What
then that have to tell you Just as among the heathen, the Christian who fears their reproaches falls into the snare of the hunter so among the Christians, those who endeavour to be more diligent and better than the rest, are doomed to bear insults from Christians themselves. What then doth profit, my brother, thou oc(asionally find city in which
there no heathen No one there insults a man because he Christian, for this reason, that there no Pagan
1
is ;
a is
it, aI
:
is
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:
it, aI;
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a
it it ? :
I is
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:
is,
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886 The fear of man a snare. God's shadowing ' wings. '
therein : but there are many Christians who lead a bad life,
Psalm
- among whom those who are resolved to lire righteously, and
to be sober among the drunken, and chaste among the unchaste, and amid the consulters of astrologers sincerely to worship God, and to ask after no such things, and among
of frivolous shows will go only to church, suffer from those very Christians reproaches, and harsh words, when they address such a one, ' Thou art the mighty, the righteous, thou art Elias, thou art Peter: thou hast come
from heaven. ' They insult him: whichever way he turns, he hears harsh sayings on each side : and if he fears, and abandons the way of Christ, he falls into the snares of the hunters. But what is when he hears such words, not to swerve from the way On hearing them, what comfort has he, which prevents his heeding them, and enables him to enter by the door Let him say What words am called, who am servant and sinner? To my Lord Jesus they
John said, Thou hast a devil. You have just beard the harsh
48
words spoken against our Lord: was not necessary for our Lord to suffer this, but in doing so He has warned thee against harsh words, lest thou fall into the snares of the hunters.
5. (Ver. 4. ) He shall defend thee between His shoulders, and thou shalt hope under His wings. He says this, that thy protection may not be to thee from thyself, that thou mayest not imagine that thou canst defend thyself He will defend thee, to deliver thee from the hunter's snare, and from an harsh word. The expression, between His shoulders, may be understood both in front and behind for the shoulders are about the head but in the words, thou shalt hope under His wings,' clear that the protection of the wings of God expanded places thee between His shoulders, so that God's wings on this side and that have thee in the midst, where thou shalt not fear lest any one hurt thee only be thou careful never to leave that spot, where no foe dares approach. If the hen defends her chickens beneath her wings how much more shalt thou be safe beneath the wings of God, even against the devil and his angels, the powers who fly about in mid air like hawks, to carry off the weak young one For the comparison of the hen to the very Wisdom of God not
spectators
is
?
;'
:
;
I
:
it ait, is
;
8,
; it
a
?
?
Christ likened to a Hen. Comparisons imperfect. 287 without ground ; for Christ Himself, our Lord and Saviour, Ver.
4 6'
speaks of Himself as likened to a hen ; O Jerusalem, Jeru-
I
ther, even as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would
not. That Jerusalem would not : let us be willing. She, when she abandoned her hen's wings, was carried off by the powers of the air, presuming on her own strength, when she was weak : let us, confessing our want of strength, fly to the shelter of God's wings : for He will be to us as a hen
defending her young. There is nothing offensive in the name of the hen : for if you consider other birds, brethren, you will find many that hatch their eggs, and keep their young warm: but none that weakens herself in sympathy with her chickens, as the hen does. We see swallows, sparrows, and storks outside their nests, without being able to decide whether they have young or no : but we know the hen to be a mother by the weakness of her voice, and the loosening of her feathers : she changes altogether from love
for her chickens : she weakens herself because they are
weak. Thus since we were weak, the Wisdom of God
made Itself weak, when the Word was made flesh, and John 1, dwelt in us, that we might hope under His wings.
6. (Ver. 4 -- 6. ) His truth shall surround thee with a shield.
What are the wings, the same is the shield : since there are neither wings nor shield. If either were literally, how could
the one be the same as the other ? can wings be a shield or
a shield wings? But all these expressions, indeed, are figuratively used through likenesses. If Christ were really
a Stone, He could not be a Lion ; if a Lion, He could not Acts 4, be a Lamb: but He is called both Lion, and Lamb, andj^'11. '
Stone, and Calf, and any thing else of the sort, meta-6. phorically, because He is neither Stone, nor Lion, nor Lamb,29. ' n ' nor Calf, but Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all of us, for these
are likenesses, not literal names. His truth shall he thy shield,
it is said: a shield to assure us that He will not confound
those whose trust is in themselves with those who hope in
God. One is a sinner, and the other a sinner: but suppose
one that presumes upon himself, is a despiser, confesses not
his sins, and he will say, if my sins displeased God, He
would not suffer me to live. But another dared not even
salem, how often would
Mat. '23 ' hare gathered thy children toge-37.
288 The different temptations of the night and the day.
Psalm raise his eves, but beat upon bis breast, saying, God be L^C^ ' merciful to me a sinner. Both this was a sinner, and that: 13 but the one mocked, the other mourned : the one was a
despiser, the other a confessor, of his sins. But the truth of God, which respects not persons, discerns the penitent from him who denies his sin, the humble from the proud, him who presumes upon himself from him who presumes on God. His truth, then, shall surround thee with a shield.
7. Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night, nor 1 nego- for the arrow that flieth by day; for the matter1 that
tium
toalketh in darkness, nor for the ruin and the devil that is in the noon-day. These two clauses above correspond to the two below ; Thou shalt not fear for the terror by night,
from the arrow that flieth by day : both because of the terror by night, from the matter that tralketh in darkness: and because of the arrow that flieth by duy, from the ruin of the devil of the noon-day. What ought to be feared by night, and what by day ? When any man sins in ignorance, be sins, as it were, by night : when he sins in full knowledge,
by day. The two former sins then are the lighter : the second are much heavier; but this is obscure, and will repay your attention, by God's blessing, can explain
so that you may understand it. He calls the light temptation, which the ignorant yield to, terror by night the light temptation, which assails men who well know, the arrow thai flieth by day. What are light temptations Those which do not press upon us so urgently, as to overcome us, but may pass by quickly declined. Suppose these, again, heavy ones. If the persecutor threatens, and frightens the ignorant grievously, mean those whose faith as yet
unstable, and know not that they are Christians that they may hope for life to come as soon as they are alarmed with temporal ills, they imagine that Christ has forsaken them, and that they are Christians to no purpose; they are not aware that they are Christians for this reason, that they may conquer the present, and hope for th<< future: the matter that walketh in darkness has found and seized them.
But some there are who know that they are called to future hope that what God has promised not of this life, or this earth that all these temptations must be endured,
; ;
is
I
a
it
a
I
if,
if ;
: is ?
The noonday heat signifies Persecution. -289
that we may receive what God hath promised us for evermore ; Ver.
'---
all this they know : when however the persecutor urges them more strenuously, and plies them with threats, penalties, tortures, at length they yield, and although they are well aware of their sin, yet they fall as it were by day.
8. But why does he say, at noon-day? The persecution is very hot; and thus the noon signifies the excessive heat. My beloved brethren, hear me prove this from the Scriptures. When our Lord was speaking of the sower who went forth to sow, and some of the seeds fell by the way-side, some upon stony places, and some among thorns, He con descended to explain the parable Himself; and when He came to the seed which fell on the stony places, He said
thus, He that received the seed into stony places, the same Mat. 13, are they that hear the word, and for a while rejoice at the3- 23' word; and when tribulation ariseth because ofthe word, by
and by they are offended.
