9. " For the wicked shall perish. But the enemies of the Lord, when they shall begin to glory, and to be lifted up, immediately shall con- sume away utterly, even as the smoke" (ver. 20). Recognise from the comparison itself the thing which he intimates. Smoke, breaking forth from the place where fire has been, rises up on high, and by the very act of rising up, it swells into a large volume: but the larger that volume is, the more unsubstantial does it become; for from that very largeness of volume, which has no founda- tion or consistency, but is merely loose, shifting and evanescent, it passes into air, and dissolves; so that you perceive its very largeness to have been fatal to it. For the higher it ascends, the farther it is extended, the wider the circumfer- ence which it spreads itself over, the thinner, and the more rare and wasting and evanescent does it become. " But the enemies of the Lord, when they shall begin to glory, and to be lifted up, immediately shall consume away utterly even as the smoke." Of such as these was it said, " As Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the Truth; men of corrupt minds, rep- robate concerning the faith."8 But how is it that they resist the Truth, except by the vain inflation of their swelling pride, while they raise themselves up on high, as if great and righteous persons, though on the point of passing away into empty air? But what saith he of them? As if speaking of smoke, he says, "They shall proceed no farther, for their folly shall be mani- fest unto all men, even as theirs also was."...
10. "The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again" (ver. 20). He receiveth, and will not repay. What is it he will not repay? Thanks- giving. For what is it that God would have of thee, what doth He require of thee, except that He may do thee good? And how great are the benefits which the sinner hath received, and which he will not repay! He hath received the gift of being;. he hath received the gift of being a man; and of a being highly distinguished above the brutes; he hath received the form of a body, and the distinction of the senses in the body, eyes for seeing, ears for hearing, the nostrils for smell- ing, the palate for tasting, the hands for touching, and the feet for walking; and even the very health and soundness of the body. But up to this point we have these things in common even with the brute; he hath received yet more than this; a mind capable of understanding, capable of Truth, capable of distinguishing right from wrong; capable of seeking after, of longing for, * 3 Tim. iii. 8.
Psalm XXXVII.]
ON THE PSALMS.
97 its Creator, of praising Him, and fixing itself upon Him. All this the wicked man hath received as well as others; but by not living well, he fails to repay that which he owes. Thus it is, " the wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: " he will not requite Him from whom he hath received; he will not return thanks; nay, he will even render evil for good, blasphemies, murmuring against God, indignation. Thus it is that he " borrow- eth, and payeth not again; but the righteous show- eth mercy, and lendeth " (ver. 21). The one therefore hath nothing; the other hath. See, on the one side, destitution: see, on the other, wealth. The one receiveth and "payeth not again: " the " other showeth mercy, and lendeth: " and he hath more than enough. What if he is poor? Even so he is rich; do you but look at his riches with the eyes of Religion. For thou lookest at the empty chest; but dost not look at the con- science, that is full of God...
n. " For such as shall bless Him" shall inherit the land" (ver. 23), that is,2 they shall possess that righteous One: the only One who both is truly righteous, and maketh righteous: who both was poor in this world, and brought great riches to it, wherewith to make those rich whom He found poor. For it is He who hath enriched the hearts of the poor with the Holy Spirit; and having emptied out their souls by confession of sins, hath filled them with the richness of right- eousness: He who was able to enrich the fisher- man, who, by forsaking his nets, spurned what he possessed already, but sought to draw up what he possessed not. For "God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty." 3 And it was not by an orator that He gained to Himself the fisherman; but by the fisherman that He gained to Himself the orator; by the fisherman that He gained the Senator; by the fisherman that He gained the Emperor. For " such as shall bless Him shall inherit the land; " they shall be fellow- heirs with Him, in that "land of the living," of which it is said in another Psalm, " Thou art my hope, my portion in the land of the living."4...
12. Observe what follows: "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord; and he de- lighteth in His way" (ver. 23). That man may himself "delight in the Lord's way," his steps are ordered by the Lord Himself. For if the Lord did not order the steps of man, so crooked are they naturally, that they would always be going through crooked paths, and by pursuing crooked ways, would be unable to return again. He how- ever came, and called us, and redeemed us, and shed His blood; He hath given this ransom; He hath done this good, and suffered these evils.
1 E. V. " such as be blessed."
2 Scilicet, Ben. Conj. for stent. * Ps. cxlu. 5.
3 x Cor. I. 37.
Consider Him in what He hath done, He is God! Consider Him in what He hath suffered, He is Man! Who is that God-Man? Hadst not thou, O man, forsaken God, God would not have been made Man for thee! For that was too little for thee to requite, or for Him to bestow, that He had made thee man; unless He Himself should become Man for thee also. For it is He Him- self that hath "ordered our steps;" that we should " delight in His way."...
13. Now if man were to be through the whole of his life in toil, and in sufferings, in pain, in tortures, in prison, in scourgings, in hunger, and in thirst, every day and every hour through the whole length of life, to the period of old age, yet the whole life of man is but a few days. That labour being over, there is to come the Eternal Kingdom; there is to come happiness without end; there is to come equality with the Angels; there is to come Christ's in- heritance, and Christ, our "joint Heir,"s is to come. How great is the labour, for which thou receivest so great a recompense? The Veterans who serve in the wars, and move in the midst of wounds for so many years, enter upon the military service from their youth, and quit it in old age: and to obtain a few days of repose in their old age, when age itself begins to weigh down those whom the wars do not break down, how great hardships do they endure; what marches, what frosts, what burning suns; what privations, what wounds, and what dangers! And while suf- fering all these things, they fix their thoughts on nothing but those few days of repose in old age, at which they know not whether they will ever arrive. Thus it is, the " steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in His way." This is the point with which I com- menced. If thou dost " delight in the way " of Christ, and art truly a Christian (for he is a Christian indeed who does not despise the way of Christ, but " delighteth in " following Christ's "way" through His sufferings), do not thou go by any other way than that by which He Himself hath also gone. It appears painful, but it is the very way of safety; another perhaps is delightful, but it is full of robbers. " And he delighteth in His way."
14. "Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholdeth his hand " (ver. 24). See what it is " to delight in " Christ's " way." Should it happen that he suffers some tribulation; some forfeiture of honour, some affliction, some loss, some contumely, or all those other accidents incident to mankind frequently in this life, he sets the Lord before him, what kind of trials He endured! and, " though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down, for the s Rom. viii. 17.
98 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Psalm XXXVir.
Lord upholdeth his hand," because He has suffered before him. For what shouldest thou fear, O man, whose steps are ordered so, that thou shouldest " delight in the way of the Lord "? What shouldest thou fear? Pain? Christ was scourged. Shouldest thou fear contumelies? He was reproached with, " Thou hast a devil," ' who was Himself casting out the devils. Haply thou fearest faction, and the conspiracy of the wicked. Conspiracy was made against Him. Thou canst not make clear the purity of thy conscience in some accusation, and sufferest wrong and violence, because false witnesses are listened to against thee. False witness was borne against Him first, not only before His death, but also after His resurrection On the Third Part of the Psalm* i. " I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread" (ver. 25).
If it is spoken but in the person of one single individual, how long is the whole life of one man? And what is there wonderful in the cir- cumstance, that a single man, fixed in some one part of the earth, should not, throughout the whole space of his life, being so short as man's life is, have ever seen " the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread," although he may have advanced from youth to age. It is not anything worthy of marvel; for it might have happened, that before his lifetime there should have been some " righteous man seeking bread; " it might have happened, that there had been some one in some other part of the earth not where he himself was. Hear too another thing, which makes an impression upon us. Any single one among you (look you) who has now grown old, may perhaps, when, looking back upon the past course of his life, he turns over in his thoughts the persons whom he has known, not find any instance of a righteous man begging bread, or of his seed begging bread, suggest itself to him; but nevertheless he turns to the inspired Scriptures, and finds that righteous Abraham was straitened, and suffered hunger in his own country, and left that land for another; he finds too that the son of the very same man, Isaac, removed to other countries in search of bread, for the same cause of hunger. And how will it be true to say, " I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread "? And if he finds this true in the duration of his own life, he finds it is otherwise in the inspired writings, which are more trustworthy than human life is.
2. What are we to do then? Let us be seconded by your pious attention, so that we 1 John vii. ao, viii. 48.
* On another day.
may discern the purpose of God in these verses of the Psalm, what it is He would have us under- stand by them. For there is a fear, lest any unstable person, not capable of understanding the Scriptures spiritually, should appeal to human instances, and should observe the virtuous serv- ants of God to be sometimes in some necessity, and in want, so as to be compelled to beg bread: should particularly call to mind the Apostle Paul, who says, " In hunger and thirst; in cold and nakedness; " 3 and should stumble thereat, saying to himself, " Is that certainly true4 which I have been singing? Is that certainly true, which I have been sounding forth in so devout a voice, standing in church? 'I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.' " Lest he should say in his heart, " Scrip- ture deceives us; " and all his limbs should be paralyzed to good works: and when those limbs within him, those limbs of the inner man, shall have been paralyzed (which is the more fearful paralysis), he should henceforth leave off from good works, and say to himself, " Wherefore do I do good works? Wherefore do I break my bread to the hungry, and clothe the naked, and take home to mine house him who hath no shelter,5 putting faith in that which is written? ' I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread; ' whereas I see so many persons who live virtuously, yet for the most part suffering from hunger. But if perhaps I am in error in thinking the man who is living well, and the man who is living ill, to be both of them living well, and if God knows him to be otherwise; that is, knows him, whom I think just, to be unjust, what am I to make of Abra- ham's case, who is commended by Scripture itself as a righteous person? What am I to make of the Apostle Paul, who says, ' Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.'6 What? that I should myself be in evils such as he endured, ' In hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness '? " ' 3. Whilst therefore he thus thinks, and whilst his limbs are paralyzed to the power of good works, can we, my brethren, as it were, lift up the sick of the palsy; and, as it were, " lay open the roof" of this Scripture, and let. him down before the Lord.7 For you observe that it is obscure. If obscure therefore, it is covered. And I behold a certain patient paralytic in mind, and I see this roof, and am convinced that Christ is concealed beneath the roof. Let me, as far as I am able, do that which was praised in those who opened the roof, and let down the sick of the palsy before Christ; that He might say unto him, " Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven * At. vattum, 6 1 Cor. xi. 1.
' Is it not false.'
Psalm XXXVII.]
ON THE PSALMS.
99 thee." ' For it was so that He made the inner man whole of his palsy, by loosing his sins, by binding fast his faith...
4. But who is " the righteous " man, who " hath never been seen forsaken, nor his seed begging bread "? If you understand what is meant by " bread," you understand who is meant by him. For the " bread " is the Word of God, which never departs from the righteous man's mouth...See now if " holy meditation doth ' keep thee ' " in the rumination of this bread, then " hast thou never seen the righteous for- saken, nor his seed begging bread."
5. "He is always merciful, and lendeth " (ver. 26). " Foeneratur " is used in Latin in- deed, both for him who lendeth, and for him who borroweth. But in this passage the mean- ing is more plain, if we express it by " fcenerat." What matters it to us, what the grammarians please to rule? It were better for us to be guilty of a barbarism, so that ye understand, than that in our propriety of speech ye be left unprovided. Therefore, that " righteous man is all day merci- ful, and (fcenerat) lendeth." Let not the lenders of money on usury, however, rejoice. For we find it is a particular kind of lender that is spoken of, as it was a particular kind of bread; that we may, in all passages, " remove the roof," and find our way to Christ. I would not have you be lenders of money on usury; and I would not have you be such for this reason, because God would not have you...Whence does it ap- pear that God would not have it so? It is said in another place, " He that putteth not out his money to usury." 2 And how detestable, odious, and execrable a thing it is, I believe that even usurers themselves know. Again, on the other hand, I myself, nay rather our God Himself, bids thee be an usurer, and says to thee, " Lend unto God." If thou lendest to man, hast thou hope? and shalt thou not have hope, if thou lendest to God? If thou hast lent thy money on usury to man, that is, if thou hast given the loan of thy money to one, from whom thou dost expect to receive something more than thou hast given, not in money only, but anything, whether it be wheat, or wine, or oil, or whatever else you please, if you expect to receive more than you have given, you are an usurer, and in this particular are not deserving of praise, but of censure. " What then," you say, " am I to do, that I may ' lend ' profitably? " Consider what the usurer does. He undoubtedly desires to give a less sum, and to receive a larger; do thou this also; give thou a little, receive much. See how thy principal grows, and increases! Give 1 Luke v. 20.
2 Ps. xv. 5. [This intricate subject is nowhere more ably handled than by M. Huet in his Rigne Social du Christiauisme, cap. ix. p. 317, Palis, 1853. — C.J " things temporal," receive " things eternal: " give earth, receive heaven! And perhaps thou wouldest say, " To whom shall I give them? " The self-same Lord, who bade thee not lend on usury, comes forward as the Person to whom thou shouldest lend on usury! Hear from Scripture in what way thou mayest " lend unto the Lord." " He that hath pity on the poor, lendeth unto the Lord." 3 For the Lord wanteth not aught of thee. But thou hast one who needs somewhat of thee: thou extendest it to him; he receives it. For the poor hath nothing to return to thee, and yet he would himself fain requite thee, and finds nothing wherewith to do it: all that remains in his power is the good-will that desires to pray for thee. Now when the poor man prays for thee, he, as it were, says unto God, " Lord, I have borrowed this; be Thou surety for me." Then, though you have no bond on the poor man to compel his repay- ment, yet you have on a sponsible security. See, God from His own Scriptures saith unto thee; " Give it, and fear not; I repay it. It is to Me thou givest it." In what way do those who make themselves sureties for others, express them- selves^ What is it that they say? " I repay it: I take it upon myself. It is to me you are giving it." Do we then suppose that God also says this, " I take it on Myself. It is unto me thou givest it"? Assuredly, if Christ be God, of which there is no doubt, He hath Himself said, " I was an hungred, and ye gave Me meat." 4 And when they said unto Him, " When saw we Thee hungry?"5 that He might show Himself to be the Surety for the poor, that He answers for all His members, that He is the Head, they the members, and that when the members re- ceive, the Head receiveth also; He says, " Inas- much as ye have done it to one of the least of these that belong to Me, ye have done it unto Me."6 Come, thou covetous usurer, consider what thou hast given; consider what thou art to receive. Hadst thou given a small sum of money, and he to whom thou hadst given it were to give thee for that small sum a great villa, worth incomparably more money than thou hadst given, how great thanks wouldest thou render, with how great joy wouldest thou be transported! Hear what possession He to whom thou hast been lending bestows. " Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive"7 — What? The same that they have given? God forbid! What you gave were earthly things, which, if you had not given them, would have become corrupted on earth. For what could you have made of them, if you had not given them? That which on earth would have been lost, has been preserved in heaven. Therefore what we * Mau. xxv. 35. 7 Matt. xxv. 34.
3 Matt. xxv. 37.
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[Psalm XXXVII.
are to receive is that which hath been preserved. It is thy desert that hath been preserved, thy desert hath been made thy treasure. For con- sider what it is that thou art to receive. Re- ceive — " the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." On the other hand, what shall be their sentence, who would not " lend "? " Go ye into everlasting fire, pre- pared for the devil and his angels." ' And what is the kingdom which we receive called? Con- sider what follows: " And these shall go into everlasting burning; but the righteous into life eternal." a Make interest for this; purchase this. Give your money on usury to earn this. You have Christ throned in heaven, begging on earth. We have discovered in what way the righteous lendeth. " He is alway merciful, and lendeth."
6. " And his seed is blessed." Here too let not any carnal notion suggest itself. We see many of the sons of the righteous dying of hunger; in what sense then will his seed be blessed? His seed is that which remains of him afterwards; that wherewith he soweth here, and will here- after reap. For the Apostle says, " Let us not be weary in well-doing; for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. As we have there- fore time," he says, " let us do good unto all men." ' This is that " seed " of thine which shall " be blessed." You commit it to the earth, and gather ever so much more; and dost thou lose it in committing it to Christ? See it ex- pressly termed " seed " by the Apostle, when he was speaking of alms. For this he saith; " He which soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth in blessings,4 shall also reap in blessings." 5...
7. Observe therefore what follows, and be not slothful. " Depart from evil, and do good " (ver. 27). Do not think it to be enough for thee to do, if thou dost not strip the man who is already clothed. For in not stripping the man who is already clothed, thou hast indeed " de- parted from evil: " but do not be barren, and wither. So choose not to strip the man who is clothed already, as to clothe the naked. For this is to " depart from evil, and to do good." And you will say, "What advantage am I to derive from it? " He to whom thou lendest has already assured thee of what He will give thee. He will give thee everlasting life. Give to Him, and fear not! Hear too what follows: " Depart from evil, and do good, and dwell for evermore." And think not when thou givest that no one sees thee, or that God forsakes thee, when haply after thou hast given to the poor, and some loss, tifully.
» a Cor. ix. 6 or some sorrow for the property thou hast lost, should follow, and thou shouldest say to thyself, " What hath it profited me to have done good works? I believe God doth not love the men who do good." Whence comes that buzz, that subdued murmur among you, except that those expressions are very common? Each one of you at this present moment recognises these ex- pressions, either in his own lips, or on those of his friend. May God destroy them; may He root out the thorns from His field; may He plant " the good seed," and " the tree bearing fruit "! For wherefore art thou afflicted, O man, that thou hast given some things away to the poor, and hast lost certain other things? Seest thou not that it is what thou hast not given, that thou hast lost? Wherefore dost thou not attend to the voice of thy God? Where is thy faith? wherefore is it so fast asleep? Wake it up in thy heart. Consider what the Lord Himself said unto thee, while exhorting thee to good works of this kind: " Provide your- selves bags which wax not old; a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth." 6 Call this to mind therefore when you are lamenting over a loss. Wherefore dost thou lament, thou fool of little mind, or rather, of unsound mind? Wherefore didst thou lose it, except that thou didst not lend it to Me? Wherefore didst thou lose it? Who has carried it off? Thou wilt answer, " A thief." Was it not this, that I forewarned thee of? that thou shouldest not lay it up where the thief could approach? If then he who has lost any- thing, grieves, let him grieve for this, that he did not lay it up there, whence it could not be lost.
8. " For the Lord loveth judgment, and for- saketh not His Saints" (ver. 28). When the Saints suffer affliction, think not that God doth not judge, or doth not judge righteously. Will He, who warns thee to judge righteously, Him- self judge unrighteously? He "loveth judg- ment, and forsaketh not His Saints." But (think) how » the " life " of the Saints is " hid with Him," in such a manner, that who now suffer trouble on earth, like trees in the winter- time, having no fruit and leaves, when He, like a newly-risen sun, shall have appeared, that which before was living in their root, will show itself forth in fruits. He does then " love judg- ment, and doth not forsake His Saints."...9. " But the unrighteous shall be punished; the seed of the wicked shall be cut off." Just as the " seed of the " other " shall be blessed," so shall the " seed of the wicked be cut off." For the " seed " of the wicked is the works of the wicked. For again, on the other hand, we 6 Luke xii. 33.
1 Quomodd. — Ben. Qud modd. Qudd modd, " that now,' gives a better sense, or, quo tnodo, " in such sort that."
Psalm XXXVII.]
ON THE PSALMS.
IOI find the son of the wicked man flourish in the world, and sometimes become righteous, and flourish in Christ. Be careful therefore how thou takest it; that thou mayest remove the covering, and make thy way* to Christ.1 Do not take the text in a carnal sense; for thou wilt be deceived. But " the seed of the wicked " — all the works of the wicked — " will be cut off: " they shall have no fruit. For they are effective indeed for a short time; afterwards they shall seek for them, and shall not find the reward of that which they have wrought. For it is the expression of those who lose what they have wrought, that text which says, " What hath pride profited us, or what good hath riches with our vaunting brought us? All those things are passed away like a shadow." 2 " The seed of the wicked," then, " shall be cut off."