of the Circumcelliones,4 with the bishops and presbyters for their leaders, flying about in every direction, and calling their terrible clubs " Is- raels; " which men now living daily see and feel. But for the times of Macarius,5 respecting which they raise an invidious cry,6 most men have not seen them, and no one sees them now: and any Catholic who saw them could say, if he wished to be a. servant of God, " In the Lord I trust."...6. Let the Catholic soul then say, " In the Lord I trust; how say ye to my soul, Remove into the mountains as a sparrow? For, lo, the sinners have bent the bow, they have prepared their arrows in the quiver, that they may in the obscure moon shoot at the upright in heart: " and from them let her turn her speech to the Lord, and say, " For they have destroyed what Thou hast perfected"' (ver. 3). And this let her say not against these only, but against all heretics. For they have all, as far as in them lies, destroyed the praise which God hath per- fected out of the mouth of babes and sucklings,8 when they disturb the little ones with vain and scrupulous questions, and suffer them not to be nourished with the milk of faith. As if then it were said to this soul, why do they say to you, " Remove into the mountains as a sparrow; " why do they frighten you with sinners, who " have bent the bow, to shoot in the obscure moon at the upright in heart "? She answers, Therefore it is they frighten me, " because they have destroyed what Thou hast perfected." Where but in their conventicles, where they nourish not with milk, but kill with poison the babes and ignorant of the interior light. " But what hath the Just done?"9 If Macarius, if Caecilianus, offend you, what hath Christ clone to you, who said, " My peace I give unto you, My peace I leave with you; " IO which ye with your abominable dissensions have violated? What hath Christ done to you? who with such ex- ceeding patience endured His betrayer, as to give to him, as to the other Apostles, the first Eucharist consecrated " with His own hands, and blessed with His own mouth.'2 What hath Christ done to you? who sent this same betrayer, whom He called a devil,'3 who before betraying the Lord could not show good faith even to the Lord's purse,'4 with the other disciples to preach the kingdom of heaven; "s that He might show that the gifts of God come to those that with ^ < [i.e., " Circum cellas rusticorum rentes." Concerning these miscreants, see enough in Smith's popular Student's Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. p. 250. — C] 3 Of the mission of Macarius and Paulus into Africa by Constans, about a.d. 348, and the complaint of persecution, sec S. Optatus, lib. 3, and St. Augustin. Ep. 44, etc. — Ben.
6 De quibits intv'diam Jaciunt.
1 [Here Jerome reads: Quia leges dissipata sunt: Justus quid operatus est f—C] 8 Ps. viii. 3.
9 [" Delivered just Lot." 2 Pet. it. 7; Acts xxii. t4- — C] Psalm XI.]
ON THE PSALMS.
43 faith receive them, though he, through whom they receive them, be such as Judas was.
7. " The Lord is in His holy temple " (ver. 4), yea in such wise as the Apostle saith, " For the temple of God is holy, which " temple " ye are." ■ " Now if any man shall violate the temple of God, him shall God destroy." He violateth the temple of God, who violateth unity: for he " holdeth not the head, from which the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth 2 according to the working after the measure of every part maketh increase of the body to the edifying of itself in love." 3 The Lord is in this His holy temple; which consisteth of His many members, fulfilling each his own separate duties, by love built up into one building. Which temple he violateth, who for the sake of his own pre-emi- nence separateth himself from the Catholic so- ciety. " The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord, His seat is in heaven." If you take heaven to be the just man, as you take the earth to be the sinner, to whom it was said, " Earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou go; " 4 the words, " The Lord is in His hory temple " you will un- derstand to be repeated, whilst it is said, " The Lord, His seat is in heaven."
8. " His eyes look upon the poor." s His to Whom the poor man hath been left, and Who hath been made a refuge to the poor.6 And therefore all the seditions and tumults within these nets,7 until they be drawn to shore, concerning which heretics upbraid us to their own ruin and our correction, are caused by those men, who will not be Christ's poor. But do they turn away God's eyes from such as would be so? " For His eyes look upon the poor." Is it to be feared lest, in the crowd of the rich, He may not be able to see the few poor, whom He brings up in safe keeping in the bosom of the Catholic Church? " His eyelids question the sons of men." Here by that rule I would wish to take " the sons of men " 8 of those that from old men have been regenerated by faith. For these, by certain ob- scure passages of Scripture, as it were the closed eyes of God, are exercised that they may seek: and again, by certain clear passages, as it were the op^n eyes of God, are enlightened that they may rejoice. And this frequent closing and open- ing in the holy Books are as it were the eyelids of God; which question, that is, which try the " sons of men 5 " who are neither wearied with x 1 Cor Hi. 17.
x 1 Cor Hi. 17.
3 Col. ii. 19; Eph. iv. 16. * Gen. Hi. to.
5 [Here, too, is a striking correspondence with Gen. xviii. 21: " I will go down and see." — C.]
8 Cf. S. Aug. Ps. viii. 4, § 10, on the words, " What is man, that Thou art mindful of him; or the son of man, that Thou visitest him? " and Ps ix. 20, § 19, on the words, " Let the heathen know that they the obscurity of the matter, but exercised; nor puffed up by knowledge, but confirmed.
9. "The Lord questioneth the righteous and ungodly " (ver. 5 ). Why then do we fear lest the ungodly should be any hurt to us, if so be they do with insincere heart share the sacraments with us, seeing that He " questioneth the righteous and the ungodly." " But whoso loveth iniquity, hateth his own soul:" that is, not him who be- lieveth God, and putteth not his hope in man, but only his own soul doth the lover of iniquity hurt.
10. " He shall rain snares upon the sinners " (ver. 6). If by clouds are understood prophets generally, whether good or bad, who are also called false prophets: false prophets are so or- dered by the Lord God, that by them He may rain snares upon sinners.9 For no one, but the sinner, falls into a following of them, whether by way of preparation for the last punishment, if he shall choose to persevere in sin; or to dissuade from pride, if in time he shall come to seek God with a more sincere intent. But if by clouds are understood good and true prophets only; by these too it is clear that God raineth snares upon sin- ners, although by them He watereth also the godly unto fruitfulness. "To some," saith the Apostle, " we are the savour of life unto life; to some the savour of death unto death." '° For not prophets only, but all who with the word of God water souls, may be called clouds. Who when they are understood amiss, God raineth snares up- on sinners; but when they are understood aright, He maketh the hearts of the godly and believing fruitful. As, for instance, the passage, " and they two shall be in one flesh," " if one interpret it with an eye to lust, He raineth a snare upon the sinner. But if you understand it, as he who says, "But I speak concerning Christ and the Church," " He raineth a shower on the fertile soil. Now both are effected by the same cloud, that is, holy Scripture. Again the Lord says, " Not that which goeth into your mouth defileth you, but that which cometh out." "3 The sinner hears this, and makes ready his palate for glut- tony: the righteous hears it, and is guarded against the superstitious distinction in meats. Here then also out of the same cloud of Scrip- ture, according to the several desert of each, upon the sinner the rain of snares, upon the righteous the rain of fruitfulness, is poured.
11. " Fire and brimstone and the blast of the tempes't is the portion of their cup." This is their punishment and end, by whom the name of God is blasphemed; that first they should be wasted by the fire of their own lusts, then by the ill savour of their evil deeds cast off from the company of the blessed, at last carried away 10 2 Cor. H. 16. IJ Matt. XV. IX.
11 Eph. v. 31.
44 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Psalm XII.
and overwhelmed suffer penalties unspeakable. For this is the portion of their cnp: as of the righteous, "Thy cup inebriating how excellent is it! for they shall be inebriated with the rich- ness of Thine house." ' Now I suppose a cup is mentioned for this reason, that we should not suppose that anything is done by God's providence, even in the very punishments of sinners, beyond moderation and measure. And therefore as if he were giving a reason why this should be, he added, " For the Lord is right- eous, and hath loved righteousnesses" (ver. 7). The plural not without meaning, but only be- cause he speaks of men, is as that righteousnesses be understood to be used for righteous men. For in many righteous men there seem, so to say, to be righteousnesses, whereas there is one only righteousness of God whereof they all partici- pate. Like as when one face looks upon many mirrors, what in it is one only, is by those many mirrors reflected manifoldly. Wherefore he re- curs to the singular, saying, " His face hath seen equity." Perhaps, " His face hath seen equity," is as if it were said, Equity hath been seen in His face, that is, in knowledge of Him. For God's face is the power by which He is made known to them that are worthy. Or at least, " His face hath seen equity," because He doth not allow Himself to be known by the evil, but by the good; and this is equity.
12. But if any one wpuld understand the moon of the synagogue, let him refer the Psalm to the Lord's passion, and of the Jews say, " For they have destroyed what Thou hast perfected; " * and of the Lord Himself, " But what hath the Just done?" whom they accused as the de- stroyer of the Law: whose precepts, by their corrupt living, and by despising them, and by setting up their own, they had destroyed, so that the Lord Himself may speak as Man, as He is wont, saying, " In the Lord I trust; how say ye to my soul, Remove into the mountains as a sparrow? " » by reason, that is, of the fear of those who desire to apprehend and crucify Him Since the interpretation is not unreasonable of sinners wishing to "shoot at the upright in heart," « that is, those who believed in Christ, " in the obscure moon," that is, the Synagogue filled with sinners. To this too the words, " The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord, His seat is in heaven," 5 are suitable; that is, the Word in Man, or the very Son of Man who is in heaven.6 " His eyes look upon the poor; " either on Him whom He assumed as God, or for whom He suffered as Man. " His eyelids question the sons of men." The closing and opening of the eyes, which is probably meant by the word eye- lids, we may take to be His death and resurrec- 1 Pi. xxxvi. 8. ' Pi. xi. i.
* Pi. xi. 3.
» Pi. xi. 4.
3 Ps. xi. 1. 6 John iii. 13.
tion, whereby He tried the sons of men His disciples, terrified at His passion, and gladdened by the resurrection. " The Lord questioneth the righteous and ungodly," 7 even now from out of Heaven governing the Church. " But whoso loveth iniquity, hateth his own soul." Why it is so, what follows teaches us. For " He shall rain snares upon the sinners: " 8 which is to be taken according to the exposition above given, and so on with all the rest to the end of the Psalm.
PSALM XII.9 TO THE END, FOR THE EIGHTH, A PSALM OF DAVID.
i. It has been said on the sixth Psalm, '° that " the eighth " may be taken as the day of judg- ment. " For the eighth " may also be taken " for the eternal age; " for that after the time present, which is a cycle of seven days, it shall be given to the Saints.
2. "Save me, O Lord, for the holy hath failed; " that is, is not found: as we speak when we say, Corn fails, or, Money fails. " For the truths have been minished from among the sons of men" (ver. i). The truth is one, whereby holy souls are enlightened: but forasmuch as there are many souls, there may be said in them to be many truths: as in mirrors there are seen many reflections from one face.
3. " He hath talked vanity each man to his neighbour" (ver. 2). By neighbour we must understand every man: for that there is no one with whom we should work evil; " and the love of our neighbour worketh no evil." " " Deceit- ful lips, with a heart and a heart they have spoken evil things." I2 The repetition, " with a heart and a heart," signifies a double heart.
4. " May the Lord destroy all deceitful lips " (ver. 3). He says "all," that no one may sup- pose himself excepted: as the Apostle says, " Upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and of the Greek." '3 " The tongue speaking great things: " the proud tongue.
5. " Who have said, We will magnify our tongue, our lips are our own, who is Lord over us? " (ver. 4). Proud hypocrites are meant, put- ting confidence in their speech to deceive men, and not submitting themselves to God.
6. " Because of the wretchedness of the needy and the sighing of the poor, now I will arise, saith the Lord"'4 (ver. 5). For so the Lord Himself in the Gospel pitied His people, because they had no ruler, when they could well obey. Whence too it is said in the Gospel, " The har- 1 Ps. xi. 5. « Ps. xi. 6. * Lat. XI.
*° [A. N. F., vol. i. p. 63, note 2. The world created in seven days; and the Fathers take the eighth to mean the new creation, or " regeneration." Matt. xix. 28, with which compare Acts iii. 21. — C] " Rom. xiii. 10. " LXX. Al. «a«a. " Rom. ii. o.
14 [Here the Anglican Psalter is inimitable for rhythm anrf pathos and for its archaic charm: "Now for the comfortless troubles' sake of the needy, and because of the deep sighing of the poor, I will up, saith the Lord." — C. J Psalm XIII.]
ON THE PSALMS.
45 vest is plenteous, but the labourers are few." ■ But this must be taken as spoken in the person of God the Father, who, because of the needy and the poor, that is, who in need and poverty were lacking spiritual good things, vouchsafed to send His own Son. From thence begins His sermon on the mount to Matthew, where He says, " Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 3 " I will place in salvation." He does not say what He would place: but, " in salvation," must be understood as, in Christ; according to that, " For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation." 3 And hence He is understood to have placed in Him what appertains to the taking away the wretchedness of the needy, and the comforting the sighing of the poor. " I will deal confidently in Him: " according to that in the Gospel, " For He taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes." 4 7. "The words of the Lord" are "pure words" (ver. 6). This is in the person of the Prophet himself, " The words of the Lord " are " pure words." He says " pure," without the alloy of pretence. For many preach the truth impurely; 5 for they sell it for the bribe of the advantages of this life. Of such the Apostle says, that they declared Christ not purely. " Silver tried by the fire for the earth." 6 These words of the Lord by means of tribulations approved to sinners. " Purified seven times: " by the fear of God, by godliness, by knowledge, by might, by counsel, by understanding, by wisdom.7 For seven steps also of beatitude there are, which the Lord goes over, according to Matthew, in the same sermon which He spake on the Mount, " Blessed " are " the poor in spirit, blessed the meek, blessed they that mourn, blessed they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, blessed the merci- ful, blessed the pure in heart, blessed the peace- makers." 8 Of which seven sentences, it may be observed how all that long sermon was spoken. For the eighth where it is said, " Blessed " are " they which suffer persecution for righteousness' sake," 9 denotes the fire itself, whereby the silver is proved seven times. And at the termination of this sermon it is said, " For He taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes." 4 Which refers to that which is said in this Psalm, " I deal confidently in Him."
8. " Thou, O Lord, shalt preserve us, and keep us from this generation to eternity " (ver. 7): here as needy and poor, there as wealthy and rich.
9. " The ungodly walk in a circle round about " (ver. 8): that is, in the desire of things 6 [Or, "from the earth." So St. Jerome. The earthen crucible may be the figure. — C] temporal, which revolves as a wheel in a repeated circle of seven days; and therefore they do not arrive at the eighth, that is, at eternity, for which this Psalm is entitled.10 So too it is said by Sol- omon, " For the wise king is the winnower of the ungodly, and he bringeth on them the wheel of the wicked. — After Thine height Thou hast multiplied the sons of men." " For there is in temporal things too a multiplication, which turns away from the unity of God. Hence " the cor- ruptible body weigheth down the soul, and the earthy tabernacle presseth down the mind that museth upon many things.",2 But the righteous are multiplied " after the height of God," when " they shall go from strength to strength." »i PSALM XIII.-4 UNTO THE END, A PSALM OF DAVID.
i. " For Christ is the end of the law to every one that believeth." 'I " How long, O Lord, wilt Thou forget me unto the end?" (ver. i) that is, put me off as to spiritually understanding Christ, who is the Wisdom of God, and the true end of all the aim of the soul. " How long dost Thou turn away Thy face from me?" As God doth not forget, so neither doth He turn His face away: but Scripture speaks after our man- ner. Now God is said to turn away His face, when He doth not give to the soul, which as yet hath not the pure eye of the mind, the knowl- edge of Himself.
2. " How long shall I place counsel in my soul?" (ver. 2). There is no need of counsel but in adversity. Therefore " How long shall I place counsel in my soul? " is as if it were said, How long shall I be in adversity? Or at least it is an answer, so that the meaning is this, So long, O Lord, wilt Thou forget me to the end, and so long turn away Thy face from me, until I shall place counsel in mine own soul: so that except a man place counsel in his own soul to work mercy perfectly, God will not direct him to the end, nor give him that full knowledge of Himself, which is " face to face." " Sorrow in my heart through the day?" How long shall I have, is understood. And " through the day " signifies continuance, so that day is taken for time: from which as each one longs to be free, he has sorrow in his heart, making entreaty to rise to things eternal, and not endure man's day.
3. " How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? " either the devil, or carnal habit.
IO [So the Septuagint and Vulgate, " in a cycle " Contrasted by the Fathers with the straightforward march of the (Prov. iv. 18) just. This Psalm was used by the Hebrews on the iightk day, for circum- cision. — C.]
" Prov. xx. 26. See LXX. ■ Wisd. ix. 15.
13 Ps. Ixxxiv. 7.
N Lat. XII. [Regarded by the critics as a link between Ps. xii. and xiv. — C] 13 Rom. x. 4.
46 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Psalm XIV.
4. " Look on me, and hear me, O Lord my God " (ver. 3). " Look on me," refers to what was said, " How long " dost " Thou turn away Thy face from me." "Hear," refers to what was said, " How long wilt Thou forget me to the end? Lighten mine eyes, that I sleep not in death." The eyes of the heart must be under- stood, that they be not closed by the pleasurable eclipse of sin.
5. " Lest at any time mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him " (ver. 4). The devil's mockery is to be feared. "They that trouble me will exult, if I be moved; " the devil and his angels; who exulted not over that righteous man, Job, when they troubled him; because he was not moved, that is, did not draw back from the stedfastness of his faith.'
6. "But I have hoped in Thy mercy" (ver. 5). Because this very thing, that a man be not moved, and that he abide fixed in the Lord, he should not attribute to self: lest when he glories that he hath not been moved, he be moved by this very pride. " My heart shall exult in Thy salvation; " in Christ, in the Wisdom of God. " I will sing * to the Lord who hath given me good things; " spiritual good things, not belong- ing to man's day. " And I will chant ' to the name of the Lord most high " (ver. 6); that is, I give thanks with joy, and in most due order em- ploy my body, which is the song of the spiritual soul. But if any distinction is to be marked here, " I will sing " with the heart, "I will chant" with my works; " to the Lord," that which He alone seeth, but " to the name of the Lord," that which is known among men, which is serviceable not for Him, but for us.
PSALM XlV.t TO THE END, A PSALM OF DAVID HIMSELF.
i. What "to the end" means, must not be too often repeated. " For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth; " s as the Apostle saith. We believe on Him, when we begin to enter on the good road: we shall see Him, when we shall get to the end. And therefore is He the end.
2. " The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God " (ver. 1 ). For not even have certain sacri- legious and abominable philosophers, who enter- tain perverse and false notions of God, dared to say, " There is no God." Therefore it is, hath said " in his heart; " for that no one dares to say it, even if he has dared to think it. " They are corrupt, and become abominable in their affec- tions: " that is, whilst they love this world and love not God; these are the affections which corrupt the soul, and so blind it, that the fool 1 Job ii 3. * Ltt. XIII.
3 Psallam.
can even say, " in his heart, There is no God. For as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind." 6 " There is none that doeth goodness, no not up to one." " Up to one," can be under- stood either with that one, so that no man be understood: or besides one, that the Lord Christ may be excepted. As we say, This field is up to the sea; we do not of course reckon the sea together with the field. And this is the better interpretation, so that none be understood to have done goodness up to Christ; for that no man can do goodness, except He shall have shown it. And that is true; for until a man know the one God, he cannot do goodness.
3. " The Lord from heaven looked out upon the sons of men, to see if there be one under- standing, or seeking after God" (ver. 2). It may be interpreted, upon the Jews; as he may have given them the more honourable name of the sous of men, by reason of their worship of the One God, in comparison with the Gentiles; of whom I suppose it was said above, " The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God," etc. Now the Lord looks out, that He may see, by His holy souls: which is the meaning of, " from heaven." For by Himself nothing is hid from Him.
4. " All have gone out of the way, they have together become useless: " that is, the Jews have become as the Gentiles, who were spoken of above. " There is none that doeth good, no not up to one " (ver. 3), must be interpreted as above. " Their throat is an open sepulchre." » Either the voracity of the ever open palate is signified: or allegorically those who slay, and as it were devour those they have slain, into whom they instil the disorder of their own conversation. Like to which with the contrary meaning is that which was said to Peter, " Kill and eat; " 8 that he should convert the Gentiles to his own faith and good conversation. " With their tongues they have dealt craftily." Flattery is the companion of the greedy and of all bad men. " The poison of asps is under their lips." By " poison," he means deceit; and " of asps," because they will not hear the precepts of the law, as asps " will not hear the voice of the charmer; " » which is said more clearly in another Psalm. " Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: " this is, " the poison of asps." " Their feet are swift to shed blood." He here shows forth the habit of ill doing. " Destruction and unhappiness " are 6 Rom. i. 28.
6 Rom. i. 28.
1 [Here the author quotes the African' Psalter, no doubt, from which the three verses have passed into, the Vulgate. They are in the Septuagint, from which St. Paul quotes them (Rom. iii. 13-18); but St. Jerome omits them, as not in the Hebrew of his day. They are, nevertheless, to be found in other parts of the original, and the Fissage may be compiled from Ps. v. 10, cxl. 3, x. 7, xxxvi. 1; from rov. i. 16 and Isa. lix. 7 come the clauses, " their feet/' etc. — C] » Acts x. 13. » Ps. lviii. j.
Psalm XV.]
ON THE PSALMS.
47 " in their ways." For all the ways of evil men are full of toil and misery. Hence the Lord, cries out, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. For My yoke is easy and My burden light." ' " And the way of peace have they not known: " that way, namely, which the Lord, as I said, mentions, in the easy yoke and light burden. "There is no fear of God before their eyes." These do not say, " There is no God; " but yet they do not fear God.