2 1 Cor. viii. 6.
3 Philip, iii. 19.
of the sea? Look at the countless number of the stars, look at all the many kind of seeds, all the different sorts of animals, all that swimmeth in the water, creepeth on the earth, flieth in the sky, hovereth in the air; how great are all these, how beautiful, how fair, how amazing! Behold, He who made all these, is thy God. Put thy hope in Him, that thou mayest be happy. " His hope is in the Lord his God." Observe, my brethren, the mighty God, the good God, who maketh all these things...If he mentioned these things only, perhaps thou wouldest answer me, " God, who made heaven and earth and sea, is a great God: but doth He think of me?" It would be said to thee, " He made thee." How so? am I heaven, or am 1 earth, or am I sea? Surely it is plain; I am neither heaven, nor earth, nor sea: yet I am on earth. At least thou grantest me this, that thou art on earth. Hear then, that God made not only heaven and earth and sea: for He " made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them." If then He made all that is in them, He made thee also. It is too little to say, thee; the sparrow, the locust, the worm, none of these did He not make, and He careth for all. His care refers not to His commandment, for this commandment He gave to man alone...As regards then the tenor of the commandment, " God doth not take care for oxen: " 4 as regards His providential care of the universe, whereby He created all things, and ruleth the world, " Thou, Lord, shalt save both man and beast." Here perhaps some one may say to me, " God careth not for oxen," comes from the New Testament: " Thou, Lord, shalt save both man and beast," is from the Old Testament. There are some who find fault and say, that these two Testaments agree not with one another...Let us hear the Lord Himself, the Chief and Master of the Apostles: " Consider," saith He, " the fowls of the air; they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feedeth them." s Therefore even beside men, these animals are objects of care to God, to be fed, not to receive a law. As far then as regards giving a law, " God careth not for oxen: " as regards creating, feeding, governing, ruling, all things have to do with God. " Are not two sparrows sold for one farthing? " saith our Lord Jesus Christ, " and one of them shall not fall to the ground without the will of your Father: how much better are ye than they." 6 Perhaps thou sayest, God co'iinteth me not in this great multitude. There follows here a wondrous passage in the Gospel: " the hairs of your head are all numbered." 7 6. Who keepeth truth for ever." What " truth for ever "? what " truth " doth He " keep," [Psalm CXLVI.
and wherein doth "He keep it for ever"? " Who executeth judgment for them that suffer wrong " (ver. 7). He avengeth them that suffer wrong. There cometh at once to thee the voice of the Apostle: " now therefore there is altogether a fault among you, that ye go to law one with another: why do ye not, rather suffer wrong? " ' He urged thee not to suffer annoyance, but to suffer wrong: for not every annoyance is wrong. For whatever thou sufferest lawfully is not a wrong; lest perchance thou shouldest say, I also am among those who have suffered wrong, for I have suffered such a thing in such a place, and such a thing for such a reason. Consider whether thou hast suffered a wrong. RobBers suffer many things, but they suffer no wrong. Wicked men, evil doers, housebreakers, adulterers, seducers, all these suffer many evils, yet is there no wrong. It is one thing to suffer wrong; it is another to suffer tribulation, or penalty, or annoyance, or punishment. Consider where thou art; see what thou hast done; see why thou art suffering; and then thou seest what thou art suffering. Right and wrong are contraries. Right is what is just. For not all that is called right, is right. What if a man lay down for you unjust right? nor indeed is it to be called right, if it is unjust. That is true right, which is also just. Consider what thou hast done, not what thou art suffering. If thou hast done right, thou art suffering wrong; if thou hast done wrong, thou art suffering right...
7. " Who giveth food to the hungry." Behold, from thee I look for nothing: " God giveth food to the hungry." Who are " the hungry "? All. What is, all? To all things that have life, to all men He giveth food: doth He not reserve some food for His beloved? If they have another kind of hunger, they have also another kind of food. Let us first enquire what their hunger is, and then we shall find their food. " Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." 2 We ought to be God's hungry ones..."The Lord looseth them that are fettered; the Lord lifteth up them that are dashed down; the Lord maketh wise them that are blind" (ver. 8). Perfectly hath he by this last sentence explained to us all the preceding ones: lest perchance, when he had said, " the Lord looseth them that are fettered," we should refer it to those fettered ones, who for some crime are bound in irons by their maste'rs: and in that he said, " He lifteth up them that are dashed down," there should occur to our minds some one stumbling or falling, or thrown from a horse. There is another kind of fall, there are other kinds of fetters, just as there is other darkness and other light. Whereas he said, " He maketh the blind wise; " he would not say, He enlightened the blind, lest thou shouldest understand this also in reference to the flesh, as the man was enlightened by the Lord, when He anointed his eyes with clay made with spittle, and so healed him: that thou mightest not look for anything of this sort, when He is speaking of spiritual things, he pointeth to a sort of light of wisdom, wherewith the blind are enlightened. Therefore in the same way as the blind are enlightened with the light of wisdom, so are the fettered set free, and those who are dashed down are lifted up. Whereby then have we been fettered? whereby dashed down? Our body was once an ornament to us: now, we have sinned, and thereby have had fetters put on us. What are our fetters? Our mortality.,.. " The Lord loveth the righteous." And who are the " righteous "? How far are they righteous now? Just as thou hast; " the Lord guardeth proselytes " (ver. 9). "Proselytes" are strangers. Every Church of the Gentiles is a stranger. For it cometh in to the Fathers, not sprung of their flesh, but their daughter by imitating them. Yet the Lord, not any man, guardeth them. " The orphan and widow He will take up." Let none think that He taketh up the orphan for his inheritance, or the widow for any business of hers.
True, God doth help them; and in all the duties of the human race, he doeth a good work, who taketh care of an orphan, who abandoneth not a widow: but in a certain way we are all orphans, not because our Father is dead, but because He is absent.3...
8. "And the way of' sinners He shall root out." What is, "the way of sinners"? To mock at these things which we say. " Who is an orphan, who a widow? What kingdom of heaven, what punishment of hell is there? These are fables of the Christians. To what I see, to that will I live: " let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." * Beware lest such men persuade you of aught: let them not enter through your ears into your heart; let them find thorns in your ears: let him, who seeketh to enter thus, go away pierced: for " evil communications corrupt good manners." 5 But here perhaps thou wilt say, " Wherefore then are they prosperous? Behold, they worship not God, and commit every kind of evil daily: yet they abound in those things, through want of which I toil." Be not envious against sinners. What they receive, thou seest; what is in store for them, seest thou not?...Wilt thou not believe even the Lord thy God, who saith, " Broad and spacious is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that walk by it"?6 This "way the Lord will root out."
■ 1 Cor. ri. 7.
• Matt. v. 6.
* [But compare (Greek) John xiv. 18 I.-C] 6 Matt. vii. 13.
Psalm CXLVII.]
And, when " the way of sinners " has been " rooted out," what remaineth for us? " Come, ye blessed of My father, enjoy the Kingdom; "•' " The Lord shall reign for ever" (ver. 10). "O Sion, thy God " shall reign for ever; surely thy God will not reign without thee. " For generation and generation." He hath said it twice, because he could not say it for ever. And think not that eternity is bounded by finite words. The word eternity consists of four syllables; in itself it is without end. It could not be commended to thee, save thus, " for generation and generation." Too little hath he said: if he spoke it all day long, it were too narrow: if he spoke it all his life, must he not at length hold his peace? Love eternity: without end shalt thou reign, if Christ be thine End, with whom thou shalt reign for ever and ever. Amen.
PSALM CXLVII.'
PSALM CXLVII.'
1. It is said to us, " Praise the Lord" (ver. 1). This is said to all nations, not to us alone. And these words, sounded forth through separate places by the Readers, each Church heareth separately; but the one same Voice of God proclaimeth unto all, that we praise Him. And as though we asked wherefore we ought to praise the Lord, behold what reason he hath brought forward: " Praise the Lord," he saith, " for a Psalm is good." Is this all the reward of them that praise?...The " Psalm " is praise of God. This then he saith, " Praise the Lord, for it is good to praise the Lord." Let us not thus pass over the praise of the Lord. It is spoken, and hath passed: it is done, and we are silent: we have praised, and then rested; we have sung, and then rested. We go forth to some business which awaits us, and when other employments have found us, shall the praise of God cease in us? Not so: thy tongue praiseth but for a while, let thy life ever praise. Thus then " a Psalm is good."
2. For a " Psalm " is a song, not any kind of song, but a song to a psaltery. A psaltery is a kind of instrument of music, like the lyre and the harp, and such kinds of instruments, which were invented for music. He therefore who singeth Psalms, not only singeth with his voice, but with a certain instrument besides, which is called a psaltery, he accompanieth hfs voice with his hands. Wilt thou then sing a Psalm? Let not thy voice alone sound the praises of God; but let thy works also be in harmony with thy voice...To please then the ear, sing with thy voice; but with thy heart be not silent, with thy life be not still. Thou devisest no fraud in thy heart: thou singest a Psalm to 1 Matt. xxv. 34.
2 Lat. CXLVI. Sermon to the people of Carthage.
God. When thou eatest and drinkest, sing a Psalm: not by intermingling sweet sounds suited to the ear, but by eating and drinking moderately, frugally, temperately: for thus saith the Apostle, " whether ye eat or drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God."3...If by immoderate voracity thou exceedest the due bounds of nature, and gluttest thyself in excess of wine, however great praises of God thy tongue sound, yet thy life blasphemeth Him. After food and drink thou liest down to sleep: in thy bed neither commit any pollution, nor go beyond the license given by the law of God: let thy marriage bed be kept chaste with thy wife: and if thou desire to beget children, yet let there not be unbridled sensuality of lust: in thy bed give honour to thy wife,4 for ye are both members of Christ, both made by Him, both renewed by His Blood: so doing thou praisest God, nor will thy praise be altogether silent. What, when sleep has come over thee? Let not an evil conscience rouse thee from rest: so doth the innocence of thy sleep praise God...
3. " Let praises be pleasant to our God." How? If He be praised by our good lives. Hear that then praise will be pleasant to Him. In another place it is said, " Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner." s If then in the mouth of a sinner praise is not seemly, neither is it pleasant, for that only is pleasant which is seemly...For praise may be pleasant to a man, when he heareth one praising with neat and clever sentiments, and with a sweet voice; but " let praise be pleasant to our God," whose ears are open not to the mouth, but to the heart; not to the tongue, but to the life of him that praiseth.
4. Who is " our God," that praise should be pleasant to Him? He maketh Himself sweet to us, He commendeth Himself to us; thanks to His condescension..." But God commendeth His love to us "..." in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."6...Let us see whether it be the commendation which the Apostle speaketh of, that Christ died for the sinners and ungodly: " the Lord who buildeth up Jerusalem, and gathereth the dispersions of Israel" (ver. 2). For the people of Jerusalem are the people of Israel. It is Jerusalem " eternal in the heavens," whereof the Angels are citizens also...All the citizens then of that city, through " seeing God," rejoice in that great and wide and heavenly city; they gaze upon God Himself. But we are wanderers from that city, driven out by sin, that we should not remain there; weighed down by mortality, that we should not return thither. God looked back on our wandering, and He [Psalm CXLVII.
had fallen?.. estate His Son Thee, said He, of the captives who " buildeth up Jerusalem," restored the part that had fallen. How restored He the part that . He sent then to our captive as a Redeemer. Take with a bag, bear therein the price For He put on Him our mortal flesh, and therein was the Blood, by the shedding of which we were to be redeemed. With that Blood He " gathered the dispersions of Israel." And if He gathered them that before were dispersed, how must we strive that they be gathered who now are dispersed? If the dispersed have been gathered, that in the Hand of the Builder they might be fashioned into the building, how should they be gathered who through disquiet have fallen from the Hand of the Builder? Behold whom we praise; behold to whom we owe praise all our life long.
5. How doth He gather? What doeth He in order to gather? "Who healeth the bruised in heart" (ver. 3). Behold the way in which the dispersions of Israel are gathered, by the healing of the bruised in heart. They who are not of a bruised heart, are not healed. What is to bruise the heart? Let it be known, brethren, let it be done, that ye may be able to be healed. For it is told in many other places of Scripture;..." the sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit, a bruised and contrite heart God will not despise." He healeth then the bruised in heart, for He draweth nigh unto them to heal them; as is said in another place, " the Lord is nigh unto them who have bruised their heart." ' Who are they that have " bruised their heart "? The humble. Who are they that have not " bruised their heart "? The proud. The bruised heart shall be healed, the puffed up heart shall be dashed down. For for this purpose perhaps is it dashed down, that being bruised it may be healed. Let not our heart then, brethren, desire to be set upright, before it be upright. It is ill for that to be uplifted which is not first corrected...
6. What are the means whereby He " bindeth up their bruises "? Just as physicians bind up fractures. For sometimes (observe this, beloved; it is well known to those who have observed it, or have heard it from physicians), sometimes when limbs are sound, but are crooked and distorted, physicians break them in order to set them straight, and make a new wound, because the soundness which was distorted was amiss...7. What are these means whereby He bindeth? The sacraments of this present life, whereby in the mean time we obtain our comfort: and all the words we speak to you, words which sound and pass away, all that is done in 1 P». xxxiv. 18.
the Church in this present time, are the means whereby " He bindeth up our bruises." For just as, when the limb has become perfectly sound, the physician taketh off the bandage; so in our own city Jerusalem, when we shall have been made equal to the Angels, think ye that we shall receive there, what we have received here? Will it be needful then that the Gospel be read to us, that our faith may abide? or that hands be laid upon us by any Bishop? All these are means of binding up fractures; when we have attained perfect soundness, they will be taken off; but we should never attain it, if they were not bound up.
8. " Who telleth the number of the stars, and calleth them all by their names " (ver. 4). What great matter is it for God to " tell the number of the stars "! Men even have endeavoured to do this; whether they ha^e been able to achieve it, is their concern; they would not however attempt it, did they not think that they should achieve it. Let us leave alone what they can do, and how far they have attained; for God I think it no great matter to count all the stars. Or doth He perhaps go over the number, lest He should forget it? Is it any great thing for God to number the stars, by whom "the very hairs of your head are numbered "? 2 The stars are certain lights in the Church comforting our night; all — of whom the Apostle saith, " In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding the Word of life." 3 These stars God counteth; all who shall reign with Him, all who are to be gathered into the Body of His onlybegotten Son, He hath counted, and still counteth them. Whoso is unworthy, is not even counted. Many too have believed, or rather may, with a kind of shadowy appearance of faith, have attached themselves to His people: yet He knoweth what He counteth, what He winnoweth away. For so great is the height of the Gospel, that it hath come to pass as was said, " I have declared, and have spoken: they are multiplied above number: " 4 there are then among the people certain supernumeraries, so to speak. What do I mean by supernumeraries? More than will be there'. Within these walls are more than will be in the kingdom of God, in the heavenly Jerusalem; these are above the number. Let each one of you consider whether he shineth in darkness, whether he refuseth to be led astray by the dark iniquity of the world; if he be not led astray, nor conquered, he will be, as it were, a star, which God already numbereth. " And calling them all by their names," he saith. Herein is our whole reward. We have certain names with God; that God may 1 Matt. x. 30.
3 Philip, ii. 15.
« Ps. xl. s.
Psalm CXLVII.]
know our names, this we ought to wish, for this to act, for this to busy ourselves, as far as we are able; not to rejoice in other things, not even in certain spiritual gifts...When the disciples returned from their mission exulting, and saying, " Lord, even the devils are subject unto us in Thy Name " ■ — then He (knowing that many would say, " have we not in Thy Name cast out devils?" to whom He should say, " I know you not ") said, " In this rejoice not, that the devils are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven." 2 9. "Great is our Lord" (ver. 5). The Psalmist is filled with joy, he hath poured out his words wonderfully: yet somewhat he was unable to speak, and how availed he to think on it? "And great is His power, and of His understanding is no numbering " He who " numbereth the stars," Himself cannot be numbered. Who can expound this? who can worthily even imagine what is meant by, " and of His understanding is no number "?...Whatsoever then that is infinite this world containeth, though it be infinite to man, yet is not to God: too little is it to say, to God: even by the angels it is numbered. His understanding surpasses all calculators; it cannot be counted by us. Numbers themselves who numbereth? What than is there with God? wherewith made He all things, and where made He all things, to whom it is said, " Thou hast arrayed all things in measure, number, and weight "? 3 Or who can number, or measure, or weigh, measure and number and weight themselves, wherein God hath ordered all things? Therefore, "of His understanding is no number." Let human voices be hushed, human thoughts still: let them not stretch themselves out to incomprehensible things, as though they could comprehend them, but as though they were to partake of them, for partakers we shall be...Partakers then we shall be: let none doubt it: Scripture saith it. And of what shall we be partakers, as though these were parts in God, as though God were divided into parts?
Who then can explain how many become partakeis of one single substance? Require not then that which I think ye see cannot fitly be said: but return to the healing of the Saviour, bruise your heart. He will guide it, He will bind it up where it is broken, He will make it perfectly sound; and then those things will not be impossible with us, which now are impossible. For it is good that he confess weakness, who desireth to attain to the divine nature.
10. "The Lord taketh up the gentle" (ver. 6). For example; thou understandest not, thou failest to understand, canst not attain: honour God's Scripture, honour God's Word, though it be not plain: in reverence wait for understanding. Be not wanton to accuse either the obscurity or seeming contradiction of Scripture. There is nothing in it contradictory: somewhat there is which is obscure, not in order that it may be denied thee, but that it may exercise him that shall afterward receive it. When then it is obscure, that is the Physician's doing, that thou mayest knock. He willed that thou shouldest be exercised in knocking; He willed it, that He might open to thee when thou knockest. By knocking thou shalt be exercised; exercised, thou shalt be enlarged; enlarged, thou shalt contain what is given. Be not then indignant for that it is shut; be mild, be gentle. Kick not against what is dark, nor say, It were better said, if it were said thus. For how canst thou thus say, or judge how it is expedient it be said? It is said as it is expedient it be said. Let not the sick man seek to amend his remedies: the Physician knoweth how to temper them: believe Him who careth for thee. Therefore what conieth next?..."The Lord taketh up the gentle, but humbleth the sinners even to the ground," he intended a certain sort of sinners to be understood, from the gentleness mentioned first. By sinners then in this place, we understand the fierce, and those who are not gentle. Wherefore doth He " humble them even to the earth"? They carp at objects of understanding, they shall perceive only things earthly.4 11. " Begin to the Lord in confession " (ver. 7). Begin with this, if thou wouldest arrive at a clear understanding of the truth. If thou wilt I be brought from the road of faith to the profesj sion of the reality, " begin in confession." First 'accuse thyself: accuse thyself, praise God...What after confession? Let good works follow. " Sing unto our God upon the harp." What is, " Upon the harp "? As I have already explained, just like the Psalm upon the psaltery, so also is the " harp: " not with voice only, but with works.
12..."Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth " (ver. 8). Now thou art alarmed, because thou canst not see the heaven: when it hath rained thou shalt gather fruit, and shalt see clear sky. Perhaps our God hath done this. For had we not the obscurity of Scripture as an occasion, we should not say to you those things wherein ye rejoice. This then perhaps is the rain whereat ye rejoice. It would not be possible for it to be expressed to you by our tongue, were it not that God covereth with clouds of figures the heaven of the Scriptures. For this purpose willed He that the words of the Prophets should 2 Luke x. 20.
3 Wisd. xi. 20.
* [See this series, vol. iv. p. 364. Here is a digression upon men ' not gentle, " — the Manichees. — C] [Psalm CXLVII.
be obscure, that the servants of God might afterwards have that by interpreting which they might flow over the ears and hearts of men, that they might receive from the clouds of God the fatness of spiritual joy. " Who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains, and herb for the service of men." Behold the fruit of the rain. " Who maketh," saith he, " grass to grow upon the mountains." Doth it not also grow upon the low ground? Yes, but it is a great thing that it groweth "on the mountains."...For nothing could be more barren than the hard mountains. " And herb for the service of men." What " service "? Listen to Paul himself. " And ourselves," saith he, " your servants for Jesus Christ's sake." ' He who said, " If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we reap your carnal things? " yet said, that he was a " servant." For we are your servants, brethren. Let none of us speak of himself, as though he were greater than you. We shall be greater if we are more humble. " But whosoever will be great among you" (it is the Lord's saying), " shall be your servant." 2 Paul the Apostle, indeed, living by his own labour, refused even to receive " the grass of the mountains; " he chose to want; nevertheless, the mountains gave " grass." Because he chose not to receive, ought the mountains therefore not to give, and so to remain barren? Fruit is due to the rain, food is due to the servant, as the Lord saith, " Eat such things as they give you: " and that they should not think that they gave aught of their own, He added, " for the labourer is worthy of his hire." 3 13...Just now has been read, " Give to every one that asketh of thee; " * and in another place Scripture 5 saith, " Let alms sweat in thy hand, till thou findest a righteous man to whom to give it." One there is who seeketh thee, another thou oughtest to seek. Leave not indeed him who seeketh thee empty, for, " give to every one that asketh of thee; " yet still there is another whom thou oughtest to seek; " find a righteous man to whom to give it." Ye will never do this, unless ye have somewhat set aside from your substance, each what pleaseth him according to the needs of his family, as a sort of debt to be paid to the treasury. If Christ have not a state5 of His own, neither hath He a treasury.?...Cut off then and prune off some fixed 8 sum either from thy yearly profits or ' The Benedictine editors were unable to identify this text.
* RempHblicntn.
1 Fiicui. [The author says: " For know ye what fiscut means? Fiicut is a bag;, and from the same source come also the words fiicttln and /itcina. Think not that fiscm is a kind of dragon, because men arc alarmed when they hear of the collector of the fiKHt: i\kAicui is the public purse. The Lord had one here on earth when he had the bag: and the bag was entrusted to Judas." — 1 AUfmU fixutn; other mss. fim, which suits the context better: " prune off somewhat for the treasury," i t. Christ's treasury.
thy daily gains, else thou seemest as it were to give of thy capital, and thy hand must needs hesitate, when thou puttest it forth to that which thou hast not vowed. Cut off some part of thy income; a tenth if thou choosest, though that is but little. For it is said that the Pharisees gave a tenth; " I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess." 9 And what saith the Lord? " Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." lo He whose righteousness thou oughtest to exceed, giveth a tenth: thou givest not even a thousandth. How wilt thou surpass him whom thou matchest not? " Who prepareth rain for the earth."