man," the " new day," the " new song," the " New Testament; " and that " newness," let us so love, as to have no fears of its " waxing old."...This man, therefore, who is hasting forward to those things which are new, and " reaching forward to those things which are be- fore," says, " Lord, make me to know mine end, and the number of my days, which really is, that I may know what is wanting unto me." See he still drags with him Adam; and even so he is hasting unto Christ. " Behold," saith he, " thou hast made my days old." It is those days that are derived from Adam, those days, I say, that thou hast made old. They are waxing old day by day: and so waxing old, as to be at some day or other consumed also. " And my substance is as nothing before Thee." " " Before Thee, O Lord, my substance is as nothing." " Before Thee; " who seest this; and I too, when I see it, see it only when " before Thee." When " before men " I see it not. For what shall I say? What words shall I use to show, that that which I now am is nothing in comparison of That which truly "IS"? But it is within that it is said;'2 it is within that it is felt, so far as it is felt. " Before Thee, O Lord," where Thine eyes are; and not where the eyes of men are. And where Thine eyes are, what is the state of things? "That which I am is as nothing."
9 Alluding to iraAatovfKi'Oi', Heb. viii. 13. 10 Ps. exxxix. 16. »' At. " learned."
Psalm XXXIX.]
ON THE PSALMS.
115 10. "But, verily, every man living is alto- gether vanity." " But, verily." For what was he saying above? Behold, I have alfeady " leaped beyond " all mortal things, and despised things below, have trampled under foot the things of earth, have soared upwards to the delights of the law of the Lord, I have been afloat in the dispensation of the Lord,' have yearned for that " End " which Itself is to know no end, have yearned for the number of my days that truly " is," because the number of days like these hath no real being. Behold, I am already such a one as this; I have already overleaped so much; I am longing for those things which abide. " But verily," in the state in which I am here, so long as I am here, so long as I am in this world, so long as I bear mortal flesh, so long as the life of man on earth is a trial, so long as I sigh among causes of offence, as long as while I "stand" I am in "fear lest I fall,"2 as long as both my good and my ill hangs in uncertainty, " every man living is altogether vanity."...
11. "Albeit man walketh in the Image "3 (ver. 6). In what " Image," save that of Him who said, " Let Us make man in Our Image, after Our Likeness." 4 " Albeit man walks in the Image." For the reason he says "albeit," is, that this is some great thing. And this " albeit " is followed by "nevertheless," that the "albeit" which you have already heard, should relate to what is beyond the sun; but this " neverthe- less," which is to follow, to what is " under the sun," and that the one should relate to the Truth, the other to " vanity." " Albeit," then, " that man walketh in the Image, nevertheless he is disquieted in vain." Hear the cause of his " disquieting," and see if it be not a vain one; that thou mayest trample it under foot, that thou mayest " leap beyond it," and mayest dwell on high, where that " vanity " is not. What "vanity" is that? "He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not for whom he may be gathering them together." O infatuated vanity! " Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust, and hath not respected vanities, nor lying deceits." 5 To you indeed, O covetous man, to you I seem to be out of my senses, these words appear to you to be " old wives' tales." For you, a man of great judgment, and of great prudence, to be sure, are daily devising methods of acquiring money, by traffic, by agriculture, by eloquence perhaps, by making yourself learned in the law, by warfare, perhaps you even add that of usury. Like a shrewd man as you are, you leave nothing untried, whereby you may 1 i.e., in the high doctrine, p. it4; but some mss. ap. Ben. and ours, Fluctuavi in dispensation* munerum for nummorum) Dominicoritm: " 1 have wavered in the dispensing of the Lord's gifts (or moneys)." A better sense, see p. 115.
pile coin on coin; and may store it up6 more carefully in a place of secrecy. You plunder others; you guard against the plunderer; you are afraid lest you should yourself suffer the wrong, that you yourself do; and even what you do suffer, does not correct you...Examine your own heart, and that prudence of yours, which leads you to deride me, to think me out of my senses for saying these things: and tell me now, " You are heaping up treasures; for whom are you gathering them together? " I see what you would tell me; as if what you would say had not occurred to the person described here; you will say, I am keeping them for my children? This is the voice of parental affection; the ex- cuse of injustice. " I am keeping them " (you say) " for my children." So then you are keep- ing them for your children, are you? Did not Idithun then know this? Assuredly he did; but he reckoned it one of the things of the " old days," that have waxed old, and therefore he despised it: because he was hastening on to the new " days."...
12. For He, "by whom all things were made," ' hath built " mansions " for all of us: thither He would have that which we have go before us; that we may not lose it 8 on earlh. When, however, you have kept them on earth, tell me for whom you are to " gather them together"? You have children: add one more to their number; and give something to Christ also. " He is disquieted in vain."
13. "And now" (ver. 7). "And now," saith this Idithun, — looking back on a cer- tain "vain" show, and looking up to a certain Truth, standing midway where he has something beyond him, and something also behind him, having below him the place from which he took his spring, having above him that toward which he has stretched forth; — " And now," when I have " over-leaped " some things, when I have trampled many things under foot, when I am no longer captivated by things temporal; even now, I am not perfect, " I have not yet appre- hended." 9 " For it is by hope that we are saved; but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." '° Therefore he says: "And now what wait I for? Is it not for the Lord?" " He is my expectation, who hath given 6 Text, castigetur. Fourvtss have congregetur.onecollocetHr; three cartigetnr, on which word there is a gloss. Cartigare est in chart A propter memoriam aliquid scribere; usitatius de usu- rariis dicitur. Nine MSS. cnstigetHr, as Martial, Et cuius laxas area flagellat opes, and the Jurisconsults fiagellare anno/tarn, for "to shut up." — Ben. Fiagellare annonam. however, seems rather to mean to '' drive up the prices," and perhaps area Jlagcllat may be the lid striking the heaped contents, thus affording no par. allel. However, it may be to " keep it from peeping out." Oxf. MSS. cartigetnr.
11 E. V. " And now, Lord, what wait I for," etc.
n6 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Psalm XXXIX.
me all those things, that I might despise them. He will give unto me Himself also, even He who is above all, and " by whom all things were made," ■ and by whom I was made amongst all; even He, the Lord, is my Expectation! You see Idithun, brethren, you see in what way he wait- eth for Him! Let no man therefore call himself perfect here; he deceives and imposes upon himself; he is beguiling himself, he can- not have perfection here, and what avails it that he should lose humility?..." And my substance is ever before Thee." Already advancing, already tending towards Him, and to some extent already beginning to " be," still (he says 2) " my substance is ever be- fore Thee." Now that other substance is also before men. You have gold, silver, slaves, estates, trees, cattle, servants. These things are visible even to men. There is a certain " sub- stance that is ever before Thee."
14. " Deliver me from all my transgressions " (ver. 8). ' I have " over-leaped " a great deal of ground, a very great deat of ground already; but, " If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the Truth is not in us." J I have " over-leaped " a great deal: but still do I " beat my breast," and say, " Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."4 Thou therefore art " my expectation! " my " End." For " Christ is the end of the Law unto righteousness, unto every man that believeth." 5 From all mine offences: " not only from those, that I may not relapse into those which I have already " over- leaped; " but from all, without exception, of those on account of which I now beat my breast, and say, " Forgive us our debts." " De- liver me from all mine offences: " me being thus minded, and holding fast what the Apostle said, " As many of us as be perfect, let us be thus minded."6 For at the time that he said that he was not " already perfect," he then im- mediately goes on and says, " As many of us as be perfect, let us be thus minded."...Art thou then, O Apostle, not perfect, and are we perfect? But hath it escaped you, that he did just now call himself " perfect "? For he does not say, " As many of you as are perfect, be ye thus minded; " but " As many of us as be perfect, let us be thus minded; " after having said a little before, " Not that I have already attained; either am already perfect." In no other way then can you be perfect in this life, than by knowing that you cannot be perfect in this life. This then will be your perfection, so to have " over-leaped " some things, as to have still some point to which you are hastening on: so as to have something remaining, to which you will have to leap on, when everything else has been passed by. It is such faith as this that is secure: for whoever thinks that he has already attained, is " exalting himself," so as to be "abased" hereafter.7...
15. "Thou hast made me the reproach of the foolish." Thou hast so willed it, that J should live among those, and preach the Truth among those, who love vanity; and I cannot but be a laughing-stock to them. " For we have been made a spectacle unto this world, and unto angels, and unto men: " 8 to angels who praise, to men who censure, us; or rather to angels, some of whom praise, some of whom are cen- suring us: and to men also, some of whom are praising, and some censuring us...Both the one and the other are arms to us: the one " on the right hand," the other " on the left: " arms however they are both of them; both of these kinds of arms, both those " on the right hand," and those " on the left; " both those who praise, and those who censure; both those who pay us honour, and those who heap dishonour upon us; with both these kinds I contend against the devil; with both of these I smite him; I defeat him with prosperity, if I be not corrupted by it; by adversity, if I am not broken in spirit by it.
16. "I became dumb;9 and I opened not my mouth" (ver. 9). But it was to guard against " the foolish man," that " I became dumb, and opened not my mouth." For to whom should I tell what is going on within me? " For I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me; '° for He will speak peace unto His people." " But " There is no peace," saith the Lord, " to the wicked." ■* " I was dumb, and opened not my mouth; because it is Thou that madest me." Was this the reason that thou openedst not thy mouth, "because God made thee"? That is strange; for did not God make thy mouth, that thou shouldest speak? "He that planted the ear, doth He not hear? He that formed the eye, doth He not see?"13 God hath given thee a mouth to speak with; and dost thou say, " I was dumb, and opened not my mouth, because Thou madest me "? Or does the clause, " Be- cause Thou madest me," belong to the verse that follows? " Remove Thy stroke away from me" (ver. 10). Because it is "Thou that hast made me," let it not be Thy pleasure to de- stroy me utterly; scourge, so that I may be made better, not so that I faint; beat me, so that I may be'4 beaten out to a greater length and breadth, not so that I may be ground to powder.
" By the heaviness of Thy hand I fainted in in corrections." That is, I " fainted " while Thou wast correcting me. And what is meant by "correcting" me? except what follows.
10 Auguslin and Vulgate, qnid loquatur in me.
11 Ps. Ixxxv. 8. I2 Isa. xlviii. 2a. M Ps. xciv. 9. x* Ut /roducar, non ui commiHttar.
Psalm XXXIX.]
ON THE PSALMS.
117 17. " Thou with rebukes hast chastened man for iniquity; Thou hast made my life to consume away like a spider" (ver. 11). There is much that is discerned by this Idithun; by every one who discerns as he does; who overleaps as he does. For he says, that he has fainted in God's corrections; and would fain have the stroke removed away from him, " because it is He who made him." Let Him renew me, who also made me; let Him who created me, create me anew. But yet, Brethren, do we suppose that there was no cause for his fainting, so that he wishes to be " renewed," to be " created anew "? It is " for iniquity," saith he, " that Thou hast chastened man." All this, my having fainted, my being weak, my " crying out of the deep," all of this is because of " iniquity; " and in this Thou hast not condemned, but hast " chastened " me. " Thou hast chastened man for sin." Hear this more plainly from another Psalm: " It is good for me that Thou hast afflicted me, that I might learn Thy righteousness." ' I have been "afflicted," and at the same time "it is good for me; " it is at once a punishment, and an act of favour. What hath He in store for us after punishment is over, who inflicts punishment itself by way of favour? For He it is of whom it was said, " I was brought low, and He made me whole: " and, " It is good for me that Thou hast afflicted me, that I might learn Thy right- eousness."2 "Thou chastenest man for iniquity." And that which is written, " Thou formest my grief in teaching me," • could only be said unto God by one who was " leaping beyond " his fellows; " Thou formest my grief in teaching me;" Thou makest, that is to say, a lesson for me out of my sorrow. It is Thou that formest that very grief itself; Thou dost not leave it unformed, but formest it; and that grief, that has been inflicted by Thee, when formed, will be a lesson unto me, that I may be set free by Thee. For the word finges is used in the sense of " forming," as it were moulding, my grief; not in the sense of" feigning " it j in the same way that fingit is applied to the artist, in the same sense \haxfiguius is derived homfingere. Thou there- fore " hast chastened man for iniquity." I see myself in afflictions; I see myself under punish- ment; and I see no unrighteousness in Thee. If I therefore am under punishment, and if there is no unrighteousness with Thee, it remains that Thou must have been " chastening man for iniquity."
18. And by what means hast Thou "chas- tened" him? Tell us, O Idithun, the manner of thy chastening; tell us in what way thou hast been " chastened." " And Thou hast made my 1 Ps. cxix. 71. Justificntiones. 2 Ps. cxvi. 6, cxix. 71. s Ps. xliv. 20. Qui fingis dolorem in praecepto (Vulgate, labo- rtm); E. V. " v/Wich/rameiA mischief by a law" life consume like a spider." This is the chasten- ing! What consumes away sooner than the spider? I speak of the creature itself; though what can be more liable to " consume away " than the spider's webs? Observe too how liable to decay is the creature itself. Do but set your finger lightly upon it, and it is a ruin: there is nothing at all more easily destroyed. To such a state hast Thou brought my life, by chastening me " because of iniquity." When chastening makes us weak, there is a kind of strength that would be a fault...It was by a kind of strength that man offended, so as to require to be corrected by weakness: for it was by a cer- tain " pride " that he offended; so as to require to be chastened by humility. All proud persons call themselves strong men. Therefore have many " come from the East and the West," and have attained "to sit down with Abra- ham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of Heaven." 4 Wherefore was it that they so attained? Because they would not be strong. What is meant by " would not be strong "? They were afraid to presume of their own merits. They did not "go about to establish their own righteousness," that they might " sub- mit themselves to the righteousness of God." 5 ...Behold! you are mortal; and you bear about you a body of flesh that is corrupting away: " And ye shall fall like one of the princes. Ye shall die like men," 6 and shall fall like the devil » What good does the remedial discipline of mortality do you? The devil is proud, as not having a mortal body, as being an angel. But as for you, who have received a mortal body, and to whom even this does no good, so as to humble you by so great weakness, you shall " fall like one of the princes." This then is the first grace of God's gift, to bring us to the confession of our infirmity, that what- ever good we can do, whatever ability we have, we may be that in Him; that " He that glo- rieth, may glory in the Lord." 8 " When I am weak," saith he, " then am I strong." 9 19. " But surely every man living disquieteth himself in vain." He returns to what he men- tioned a little before. Although he be improv- ing here, yet for all that, " every man living disquieteth himself in vain; " forasmuch as he lives in a state of uncertainty. For who has any assurance even of his own goodness? " He is disquieted in vain." Let him " cast upon the Lord the burden" '° of his care; let him cast upon Him whatever causes him anxiety. " Let Him sustain thee; " let Him keep thee. For on this earth what is there that is certain, except death?
7 [Dan. x. 13. "Princes" understood of angels. Then, Isa. xiv. la. So Shaks.: " He falls like Lucifer," etc. — C] n8 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Psalm XXXIX.
Consider the whole sum of all the good or the ill of this life, either those belonging to right- eousness, or those belonging to unrighteousness; what is there that is certain here, except death? Have you been advancing in goodness? You know what you are to-day; what you will be to-morrow, you know not! Are you a sinner? you know what you are to-day; what you will be to-morrow, you know not! You hope for wealth; it is uncertain whether it will fall to your lot. You hope to have a wife; it is un- certain whether you will obtain one, or what sort of one you will obtain. You hope for sons: it is uncertain whether they will be born to you. Are they born? it is uncertain whether they will live: if they live, it is uncertain whether they will grow up in virtue, or whether they will fall away. Whichever way you turn, all is uncer- tain, death alone is certain. Art thou poor? It is uncertain whether thou wilt grow rich. Art thou unlearned? It is uncertain whether thou wilt become learned. Art thou in feeble health, it is uncertain whether thou wilt regain thy strength. Art thou born? It is certain that thou wilt die: and in this certainty of death itself, the day of thy death is uncertain. Amidst these uncertainties, where death alone is cer- tain, while even of that the hour is uncertain, and while it alone is studiously guarded against, though at the same time it is in no way to be escaped, " every man living disquieteth himself in vain."...
20. "Hear my prayer, O Lord" (ver. 12). Whereof shall I rejoice? Whereof should I groan? I rejoice on account of what is past, I groan longing for these which are not yet come. " Hear my prayer, and give ear unto my cry. Hold not Thy peace at my tears." For do I now no longer weep, because I have already " passed by," have " left behind " so great things as these? "Do I not weep much the more?" For, " He that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow." ' The more I long for what is not here, do I not so much the more groan for it until it comes? do I not so much the more weep until it comes?...21. " For I am a sojourner with Thee." But with whom am I a "sojourner"? When I was with the devil, I was a " sojourner; " but then I had a bad host and entertainer; now, however, I am with Thee; but lama" sojourner " still. What is meant by a sojourner? I am a "so- journer " in the place from which I am to remove; not in the place where I am to dwell for ever. The place where I am to abide for ever, should be rather called my home. In the place from which I am to remove I am a " so- journer; " but yet it is with my God that I am > Ecclei. i. 18.
a sojourner, with whom I am hereafter to abide, when I have reached my home. But what home is that to which you are to remove from this estate of a sojourner? Recognise that home, of which the Apostle speaks, " We have an hab- itation of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens." 2 If this house is eternal in the Heavens, when we have come to it, we shall not be sojourners any more. For how should you be a sojourner in an eternal home? But here, where the Master of the house is some day to say to you, " Remove," while you yourself know not when He will say it, be thou in readiness. And by longing for your eternal home, you will be keeping yourself in readiness for it. And be not angry with Him, because He gives thee notice to remove, when He Himself pleases. For He made no cove- nant with thee, nor did He bind Himself by any engagement; nor didst thou enter upon the tenancy of this house on a certain stipulation for a definite term: thou art to quit, when it is its Master's pleasure. For therefore is it that you now dwell there free of charge. " For I am a sojourner with Thee, and a stranger." Therefore it is there is my country: it is there is my home. " I am a sojourner with Thee, and