10. "The righteous shall inherit the land" (ver. 29). Here again let not covetousness steal on thee, nor promise thee some great es- tate; hope not to find there, what you are com- manded to despise in this world. That " land " in the text, is a certain " land of the living," the kingdom of the Saints. Whence it is said: " Thou art my hope, my portion in the land of the living." J For if thy life too is the same life as that there spoken of, think what sort of " land " thou art about to inherit. That is " the land of the living; " this the land of those who are about to die: to receive again, when dead, those whom it nourished when living. Such then as is that land, such shall the life itself be also: if the life be for ever, " the land " also is to be thine "for ever." And how is "the land" to be thine " for ever "?
"And they shall dwell therein" (it says) "for ever." It must therefore be another land, where " they are to dwell therein for ever." For of this land (of this earth) it is said, " Heaven and earth shall pass away." 4 11. "The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom" (ver. 30). See here is that "bread." Observe with what satisfaction this righteous man feedeth upon it; how he turns wisdom over and over in his mouth. " And his tongue talketh of judgment."
"The law of his God is in his heart" (ver. 31). Lest haply thou shouldest think him to have that on his lips, which he hath not in his heart, lest thou shouldest reckon him among those of whom it is said, " This people honour Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me." s And of what use is this to him?
"And none of his steps shall slide." The " word of God in the heart " frees from the snare; the " word of God in the heart " delivers from the evil way; " the word of God in the » Pi. cxlii. 5.
heart" delivers from "the slippery place."6 He is with thee, Whose word departeth not from thee. Now what evil doth he suffer, whom God keepeth? Thou settest a watchman in thy vine- yard, and feelest secure from thieves; and that watchman may sleep, and may himself fall, and may admit a thief. But " He who keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." " " The law of his God is in his heart, and none of his steps shall slide." Let him therefore live free from fear; let him live free from fear even in the midst of the wicked; free from fear even in the midst of the ungodly. For what evil can the ungodly or unrighteous man do to the righteous? Lo! see what follows.
" The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him" (ver. 32). For he says, what it was foretold in the book of Wisdom that he should say, " He is grievous unto us, even to behold; for his life is not like other men's." 8 Therefore he "seeks to slay him." What? Doth the Lord, who keepeth him, who dwelleth with him, who departeth not from his lips, from his heart, doth He forsake him? What then becomes of what was said before: " And He forsaketh not His Saints"?9 12. "The wicked therefore watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him. But the Lord will not leave him in his hands" (ver. 33). Wherefore then did He leave the Martyrs in the hands of the ungodly? Wherefore did they do unto them " whatsoever they would "? IO Some they slew with the sword; some they crucified; some they delivered to the beasts; some they burnt by fire; others they led about in chains, till wasted out by a long protracted decay. As- suredly "the Lord forsaketh not His Saints." He will not " leave him in his hands." Lastly, wherefore did He leave His own Son in " the hands of the ungodly"? Here also, if thou wouldest have all the limbs of thy innej" man made strong, remove the covering of the roof, and find thy way to the Lord. Hear what another Scripture, foreseeing our Lord's future suffering at the hands of the ungodly, saith. What saith it? "The earth is given into the hands of the wicked." " What is meant by " earth" being "given into the hands of the un- godly"? The delivering of the flesh into the hands of the persecutors. But God did not leave " His righteous One " " there: from the flesh, which was taken captive, He leads forth the soul unconquered...' "The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when there shall be judgment for him" (ver. 33). Some copies have it, "and when He shall judge him, there shall be judg- 6 Labittd. Lubricus locus. Isidor. 7 Ps. cxxi 4.
• Wisd. ii. 15. 1 Ps. xxxvii. 38. I0 Matt. xvii. i>.
102 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[rsALM xxxvii.
ment for him." " For him," however, means when sentence is passed upon him. For we can express ourselves so as to say to a person, " Judge for me," i.e. " hear my cause." When therefore God shall begin to hear the cause of His righteous servant, since " we must all " be presented " before the tribunal of Christ," and stand before it to receive every one " the things he hath done in this body," ' whether good or evil, when therefore he shall have come to that Judgment, He will not condemn him; though he may seem to be condemned in this present life by man. Even though the Proconsul may have passed sentence on Cyprian,' yet the earthly seat of judgment is one thing, the heavenly tribunal is another. From the inferior tribunal he receives sentence of death; from the superior one a crown, " Nor will He con- demn him when there shall be judgment for him."...
13. "Wait on the Lord" (ver. 34). And while I am waiting upon Him, what am I to do? — "and keep His ways." And if I keep them, what am I to receive? " And He shall exalt thee to inherit the land." " What land "? Once more let not any estate suggest itself to your mind: — the land of which it is said, " Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the king- dom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." 3 What of those who have troubled us, in the midst of whom we have groaned, whose scandals we have patiently endured, for whom, while they were raging against us, we have prayed in vain? What will become of them? What follows? " When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it."..." I have seen the ungodly lifted up on high, and rising above the cedars of Libanus " (ver. 35). And suppose him to be "lifted up on high; " suppose him to be towering above the " rest; " what follows?
" I passed by, and, lo, he was not! I sought him, and his place could nowhere be found! " (ver. 36). Why was he "no more, and his place nowhere to be found "? Because thou hast " passed by." But if thou art yet carnally- minded, and that earthly prosperity appears to thee to be true happiness, thou hast not yet " passed by " him; thou art either his fellow, or thou art below him; go on, and pass him; and when thou hast made progress, and hast passed by him, thou observest him by the eye of faith; thou seest his end, thou sayest to thyself, " Lo! he who so swelled before, is not! " just as if it were some smoke that thou wert passing near to. For this too was said above in this very Psalm, " They shall consume and fade away as the smoke." 4...1 a Cor. v. 10. » Matt, xxr. 34.
14. "Keep innocency" (ver. 37); keep it even as thou usedst to keep thy purse, when thou wert covetous; even as thou usedst to hold fast that purse, that it might not be snatched from thy grasp by the thief, even so " keep innocency," lest that be snatched from thy grasp by the devil. Be that thy sure inheritance, of which the rich and the poor may both be sure. " Keep inno- cency." What doth it profit thee to gain gold, and to lose innocence?
" Keep innocency, and take heed unto the thing which is right." Keep thou thine eyes " right," that thou mayest see " the thing which is right; " not perverted, wherewith thou lookest upon the wicked; not distorted, so that God should appear to thee distorted and wrong, in that He favours the wicked, and afflicts the faithful with persecutions. Dost thou not ob- serve how distorted thy vision is? Set right thine eyes, and " behold the thing that is right." What "thing that is right"?. Take no heed of things present. And what wilt thou see?
" For there is a remainder for the man that maketh peace." 5 What is meant by " there is a remainder "? When thou art dead, thou shalt not be dead. This is the meaning of " there is a remainder." He will still have something re- maining to him, even after this life, that is to say, that "seed," which "shall be blessed." Whence our Lord saith, " He that believeth on Me, though he die, yet shall he live; " 6 — " seeing there is a remainder for the man that maketh peace."
15. " But the transgressors shall be destroyed in the self-same thing "J (ver. 38). What is meant by, "in the self-same thing"? It means for ever: or all together in one and the same destruction.
"The remainder of the wicked shall be cut off." Now there is " (a remainder) for the man that maketh peace: " they therefore who are not peace-makers 8 are ungodly. For, " Blessed are the peace-makers: for they shall be called the children of God." » 16. " But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord, and He is their strength in the time of trouble" (ver. 39). "And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the sinners " IO (ver. 40). At present therefore let the righteous bear with the sinner; let the wheat bear with the tares; let the grain bear with the chaff: for the time of separation will come, and the good seed shall be set apart from that which is to be consumed with fire. " The one will be consigned to the garner, the other to " everlasting burning; " for it was for 3 E. V. " For the end of that man is peace." 6 John xi. 35.
1 In id ifisum. 8 The Donatists. 9 Matt. v. p.
10 St. Augustin omits, " because they trust in Him." Vulgate has, quia speraverunt in to.
11 Matt. xiii. 30.
Psalm XXXVIII.]
ON THE PSALMS.
103 this reason that the just and the unjust were at the first together; that the one should lay a stumbling-block, ' that the other should be proved; that afterwards the one should be con- demned, the other receive a crown...PSALM XXXVIII.2 A PSALM TO DAVID HIMSELF, ON THE REMEM- BRANCE OF THE SABBATH.
i. What doth this recollection of the Sabbath mean? What is this Sabbath? For it is with groaning that he " calls it to recollection." You have both heard already when the Psalm was read, and you will now hear it when we shall go over it, how great is his groaning, his mourning, his tears, his misery. But happy he who is wretched after this manner! Whence the Lord also in the Gospel 3 called some who mourn blessed. " How should he be blessed if he is a mourner? How blessed, if he is miserable?" Nay rather, he would be miserable, if he were not a mourner. Such an one then let us understand here too, calling the Sabbath to remembrance (viz.), some mourner or other: and would that we were ourselves that " some one or other "! For there is here some person sorrowing, groaning, mourn- ing, calling the Sabbath to remembrance. The Sabbath is rest. Doubtless he was in some dis- quietude, who with groaning was calling the Sabbath to remembrance...
2. " O Lord, rebuke me not in Thine indigna- tion; neither chasten me in Thy hot displeas- ure " (ver. 1). For it will be that some shall be chastened in God's " hot displeasure," and rebuked in His " indignation." And haply not all who are " rebuked " will be " chastened; " yet are there some that are to be saved in the chastening.4 So it is to be indeed, because it is called " chastening," 5 but yet it shall be " so as by fire." But there are to be some who will be "rebuked," and will not be "corrected." For he will at all events " rebuke " 6 those to whom He will say, " I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat." '...'* Neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure; " so that Thou mayest cleanse me in this life, and make me such, that I may after that stand in no need of the cleans- ing fire, for those " who are to be saved, yet so as by fire."8 Why? Why, but because they " build upon the foundation, wood, stubble, and hay." Now they should build on it, "gold, silver, and precious stones; " ' and should have nothing to fear from either fire: not only that which is to consume the ungodly for ever, but ■ Most mss. " should stumble." ' Lat. XXXVII.
3 Matt. v. 4.
* Futttri sunt in emendations guidam salvi.
* Emendatio (alluding to emendes in the Latin of v. i). 6 Utiane arguet. 7 Matt. xxv. 42.
also that which is to purge those who are to escape through lo the fire. For it is said, " he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire." And because it is said, " he shall be saved," that fire is thought lightly of. For all that, though we should be " saved by fire," yet will that fire be more grievous than anything that man can suf- fer in this life whatsoever."...3. Now on what ground does this person pray that he may not be " rebuked in indigna- tion, nor chastened in hot displeasure "? (He speaks) as if he would say unto God, " Since the things which I already suffer are many in number, I pray Thee let them suffice; " and he begins to enumerate them, by way of satisfying God; offering what he suffers now, that he may not have to suffer worse evils hereafter.
4. " For Thine arrows stick fast in me, and Thy hand presseth me sore " (ver. 2). "There is no soundness in my flesh, from the face of Thine anger" (ver. 3). He has now begun telling these evils, which he is suffering here: and yet even this already was from the wrath of the Lord, because it was of the vengeance of the Lord. " Of what vengeance? " That which He took upon Adam. For think not that pun- ishment was not inflicted upon him, or that God had said to no purpose, "Thou shalt surely die; " I2 or that we suffer anything in this life, except from that death which we earned by the original sin...Whence then do His " arrows stick fast in " him? The very punishment, the very vengeance, and haply the pains both of mind and of body, which it is necessary for us to suffer here, these he describes by these self-same " arrows." For of these arrows holy Job also made mention,'3 and said that the arrows of the Lord stuck fast in him, whilst he was labouring under those pains. We are used, however, to call God's words also arrows; but could he grieve that he should be struck by these? The words of God are arrows, as it were, that inflame love, not pain...Vie may then understand the " arrows sticking fast," thus: Thy words are fixed fast in my heart; and by those words themselves is it come to pass, that I " called the Sabbath to re- membrance: " and that very remembrance of the Sabbath, and the non-possession of it at present, prevents me from rejoicing at present; and causes me to acknowledge that there " is neither health in my very flesh," neither ought it to be so called when I compare this sort of soundness to that soundness which I am to possess in the "> Per.
11 [See Augustin's ideas as to a possible meaning of the text I Cor. iii. 11-15 m v°l- "- ln's seriesr p. 474. He there propounds, as a conjecture merely t a purification of some souls in the inter- mediate slate, which he does not care to reject. It is hot his own theory; he says, " I do not contradict; possibly it is true." He thus proves there was no dogma of any sort of purgatory in his day, and even this theory is entirely inconsistent with the dogma as expounded in the Trent Catechism. — C] 12 Gen. ii. 17. u Job vi. 4.
ic4 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Psalm XXXVIII.
everlasting rest; where " this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality," ' and see that in comparison with that seundness this present kind is but sickness. 5. " Neither is there any rest in my bones, from the face of my sin." It is commonly enquired, of what person this is the speech; and some un- derstand it to be Christ's, on account of some things which are here said of the Passion of Christ; to which we shall shortly come; and which we ourselves shall acknowledge to be spoken of His Passion. But how could He who had no sin, say, " There is no rest in my bones, from the face of my sin."...For if we were to say that they are not the words of Christ, those words, " My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? " ' will also not be the words of Christ. For there too you have, " My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? " " The words of mine offences are far from my health." Just as here you have, "from the face of my sins," so there also you have, " the words of my offences." And if Christ is, for all that, without "sin," and without "offences," we begin to think those words in the Psalm also not to be His. And it is ex- ceedingly harsh and inconsistent that that Psalm should not relate to Christ, where we have His Passion as clearly laid open as if it were being read to us out of the Gospel. For there we have, "They parted My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture." 3 Why should I men- tion that the first verse of that Psalm was pro- nounced by the Lord Himself while hanging on the Cross, with His own mouth, saying, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" What did He mean to be inferred from it, but that the whole of that Psalm relates to Him, see- ing He Himself, the Head of His Body, pro- nounced it in His own Person? Now when it goes on to say, " the words of mine offences," it is beyond a doubt that they are the words of Christ. Whence then come " the sins," but from the Body, which is the Church? Because both the Head and the Body of Christ are speaking. Why do they speak as if one person only? Be- cause " they twain," as He hath said, " shall be one flesh." * " This " (says the Apostle) " is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and the Church."...For why should He not say, " my sins," who said, " I was an hungred, and ye gave Me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in. I was sick and in prison, and ye visited Me not." ' Assuredly the Lord was not in prison. Why should He not say this, to whom when it was said, " When saw we Thee a hungred, and athirst, or in prison; and did not minister unto Thee? " He replied, that He spake thus 1 1 Cor. xv. 53.
4 Gen. ii. 34.
' Ps. xxii. 1. J Pi. xxii. 18.
in the person of His Body. " Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of the least of Mine, ye did it not unto Me." 6 Why should He not say, " from the face of my sins," who said to Saul, " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me," 7 who, however, being in Heaven, now suffered from no persecutors? But just as, in that passage, the Head spake for the Body, so here too the Head speaks the words of the Body; whilst you hear at the same time the accents of the Head Itself also. Yet do not either, when you hear the voice of the Body, separate the Head from it; nor the Body, when you hear the voice of the Head: because " they are no more twain, but one flesh." 8 6. "There is no soundness in my flesh from the face of thine anger." But perhaps God is unjustly angry with thee, O Adam; unjustly angry with thee, O son of man; because now brought to acknowledge that thy punishment, now that thou art a man that hath been placed in Christ's Body, thou hast said, " There is no soundness in my flesh from the face of Thine anger." Declare the justice of God's anger: lest thou shouldest seem to be excusing thyself, and accusing Him. Go on to tell whence the " anger " of the Lord proceeds. "There is no soundness in my flesh from the face of Thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones." He repeats what he said before, " There is no soundness in my flesh; " for, "There is no rest in my bones," is equiva- lent to this. He does not however repeat " from the face of Thine anger; " but states the cause of the anger of God. "There is no rest in my bones from the face of my sins."
7. "For mine iniquities have lifted up my head; and are like a heavy burden too heavy for me to bear" (ver. 4). Here too he has placed the cause first, and the effect afterwards. What consequence followed, and from what cause, he has told us. "Mine iniquities have lift up mine head." For no one is proud but the unrighteous man, whose head is lifted up. He is "lifted up," whose " head is lifted up on high " against God. You heard when the lesson of the Book of Eccle- siasticus was read: "The beginning of pride is when a man departeth from God."' He who was the first to refuse to listen to the Commandment, "his head iniquity lifted up" against God. And because his iniquities have lifted up his head, what hath God done unto him? They are "like a heavy burden, too heavy for me to bear "! It is the part of levity to lift up the head, just as if he who lifts up his head had nothing to carry. Since therefore that which admits of being lifted up is light, it receives a weight by which it may be weighed down. For "his mischief returns upon his own head, and his violent dealing comes 9 Ecclus. x. is. [Note "as a Lesson:" part of Divine Ser- vice. — C.J Psalm XXXVIII.]
ON THE PSALMS.
ic5 down upon his own pate." ' " They are like a heavy burden, too heavy for me to bear."
8. " My wounds stink and are corrupt " (ver. 5). Now he who has wounds is not perfectly sound. Add to this, that the wounds " stink and are corrupt." Wherefore do they " stink "? Because they are " corrupt: " now in what way this is explained in reference to human life, who doth not understand? Let a man but have his soul's sense of smelling sound, he perceives how foully sins stink. The contrary to which stink of sin, is that savour of which the Apostle says, " We are the sweet savour of Christ unto God, in every place, unto them which be saved." 2 But whence is this, except from hope? Whence is this, but from our " calling the Sabbath to remembrance "? For it is a different thing that we mourn over in this life, from that which we anticipate in the other. That which we mourn over is stench, that which we reckon upon is fragrance. Were there not therefore such a perfume as that to invite us, we should never call the Sabbath to remembrance.' But since, by the Spirit, we have such a perfume, as to say to our Betrothed, " Because of the savour of Thy good ointments we will run after Thee;"4 we turn our senses away from our own unsavouri- nesses, and turning ourselves to Him, we gain some little breathing-time. But indeed, unless our evil deeds also did smell rank in our nostrils, we should never confess with those groans, " My wounds stink and are corrupt." And wherefore? " from the face of my foolishness." 5 From the same cause that he said before, " from the face of my sins; " from that same cause he now says, " from the face of my foolishness."
9. " I am troubled, I am bowed down even unto the end" (ver. 6). Wherefore was he " bowed down "? Because he had been " lifted up." If thou art " humble, thou shalt be ex- alted; " if thou exaltest thyself, thou shalt be " bowed down; " for God will be at no loss to find a weight wherewith to bow thee down...Let him groan on these things; that he may receive the other; let him " call the Sabbath to remembrance," that he may deserve to arrive at it. For that which the Jews used to celebrate was but a sign. Of what thing was it the sign? Of that which he calls to remembrance, who saith, " I am troubled, and am bowed down even unto the end." What is meant by even " unto the end "? Even to death.
" I go mourning all the day long." " All day long," that is, " without intermission." By " all the day long," he means, "all my life long." But from what time hath he known it? From the time that he began to " call the Sabbath to remembrance." For so long as he " calls to remembrance " what he no longer possesses, wouldest thou not have him "go mourning"? " All the day long have I gone mourning."
10. " For my soul is filled with illusions, and there is no soundness in my flesh" (ver. 7). Where there is the whole man, there there is soul and flesh both. The " soul is filled with illusions; " the flesh hath "no soundness." What does there remain that can give joy? Is it not meet that one should " go mourning "? " All the day long have I gone mourning." Let mourning be our portion, until our soul be divested of its illusions; and our body be clothed with soundness. For true soundness is no other than immortality. How great however are the soul's illusions, were I even to attempt to express, when would the time suffice me? For whose soul is not subject to them? There is a brief particular that I will remind you of, to show how our soul is filled with illusions. The presence of those illusions sometimes scarcely permits us to pray. We know not how to think of material objects without images, and such as we do not wish, rush in upon the mind; and we wish to go from this one to that, and to quit that for another. And sometimes you wish to return to that which you were thinking of before, and to quit that which you are now thinking of; and a fresh one presents itself to you; you wish to call up again what you had forgotten; and it does not occur to you; and another comes in- stead which you would not have wished for. Where meanwhile was the one that you had forgotten? For why did it afterwards occur to you, when it had ceased to be sought after; whereas, while it was being sought for, innumer- able others, which were not desired, presented themselves instead of it? I have stated a fact briefly; I have thrown out a kind of hint or suggestion to you, brethren, taking up which, you may yourselves suggest the rest to your- selves,.and discover what it is to mourn over the " illusions " of our " soul." He hath received therefore the punishment of illusion; he hath forfeited Truth. For just as illusion is the soul's punishment, so is Truth its reward. But when we were set in the midst of these illusions, the Truth Itself came to us, and found us over- whelmed by illusions, took upon Itself our flesh, or rather took flesh from us; that is, from the human race. He manifested himself to the eyes of the Flesh, that He might " by faith " heal those to whom He was going to reveal the Truth hereafter, that Truth might be manifested to the now healed eye. For He is Himself " the Truth," 6 which He promised unto us at that time, when His Flesh was to be seen by the eye, that the foundation might be laid of that Faith,