Gemini, that is, righthanded. For what was done for the Saints was not to be hidden from them. And yet He saith, " Let not the left hand know what the right hand doeth." IO The per- fect soul then, to which that secret has been made known, sings in prophecy " for the words of Chusi," that is, for the knowledge of that same secret. Which secret God at her right hand, that is, favourable " and propitious unto her, has 5 Matt. ix. 15. 6 John xx. 17. 7 Rom. xi. 25.
11 It is difficult to preserve in translation the double meaning of dexter as " righthanded " and " favourable." [We find a correspond- ing ambiguity, however, in " sinister," as an English word. — C] Psalm VII.]
ON THE PSALMS.
21 wrought. Wherefore this silence is called the Son of the right hand, which is, " Chusi, the son of Gemini."
2. " O Lord my God, in Thee have I hoped: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me " (ver. i). As one to whom, already perfected, all the war and enmity of vice being overcome, there remaineth no enemy but the envious devil, he says, " Save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me (ver. 2): lest at any time he tear my soul as a lion." The Apostle says, "Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." ■ Therefore when the Psalmist said in the plural number, " Save me from all them that persecute me: " he afterwards intro- duced the singular, saying, " lest at any time he tear my soul as a lion." For he does not say, lest at any time they tear: he knew what enemy and violent adversary of the perfect soul re- mained. " Whilst there be none to redeem, nor to save: " that is, lest he tear me, whilst Thou redeemest not, nor savest. For, if God redeem not, nor save, he tears.2 3. And that it might be clear that the already perfect soul, which is to be on her guard against the most insidious snares of the devil only, says this, see what follows. " O Lord my God, if I have done this " (ver. 3). What is it that he calls "this"? Since he does not mention the sin by name, are we to understand sin generally? If this sense displease us, we may take that to be meant which follows: as if we had asked, what is this that you say, " this "? He answers, " If there be iniquity in my hands." Now then it is clear that it is said of all sin, " If I have re- paid them that recompense me evil" (ver. 4). Which none can say with truth, but the perfect. For so the Lord says, " Be ye perfect, as your Father which is in heaven; who maketh His sun to rise upon the good and the evil, and raineth on the just and the unjust." 3 He then who repayeth not them that recompense evil, is perfect. When therefore the perfect soul prays " for the words of Chusi, the son of Jemini," that is, for the knowledge of that secret and silence, which the Lord, favourable to us and merciful, wrought for our salvation, so as to endure, and with all patience bear, the guiles of this betray- er: as if He should say to this perfect soul, explaining the design of this secret, For thee ungodly and a sinner, that thine iniquities might be washed away by My blood-shedding, in great silence and great patience I bore with My be- trayer; wilt not thou imitate me, that thou too mayest not repay evil for evil? Considering 1 1 Pet. v. 8.
2 [This Psalm is the first of those which our author calls fugitivi. They are seven, as follows: Psalms xxxiv., lii., Hv., lvi., lvii., lix., cxlii. — C] 3 Matt. v. 43, 45.
then, and understanding what the Lord has done for him, and by His example going on to per- fection, the Psalmist says, " If I have repaid them that recompense me evil: " that is, if I have not done what Thou hast taught me by Thy example: " may I therefore fall by mine enemies empty." And he says well, not, If I have repaid them that do me evil; but, who " recompense." For who so recompenseth, had received somewhat already. Now it is an in- stance of greater patience, not even to repay him evil, who after receiving benefits returns evil for good, than if without receiving any pre- vious benefit he had had a mind to injure. If therefore he says, " I have repaid them that recompense me evil: " that is, If I have not imitated Thee in that silence, that is, in Thy patience, which Thou hast wrought for me, " may I fall by mine enemies empty." For he is an empty boaster, who, being himself a man, desires to avenge himself on a man; and whilst he openly seeks to overcome a man, is secretly himself overcome by the devil, rendered empty by vain and proud joy, because he could not, as it were, be conquered. The Psalmist knows then where a greater victory may be obtained, and where " the Father which seeth in secret will reward." * Lest then he repay them that recompense evil, he overcomes his anger rather than another man, being instructed too by those writings, wherein it is written, " Better is he that overcometh his anger, than he that taketh a city." 5 " If I have repaid them that recom- pense me evil, may I therefore fall by my enemies empty." He seems to swear by way of execration, which is the heaviest kind of oath, as when one says, If I have done so and so, may I suffer so and so. But swearing in a swearer's mouth is one thing, in a prophet's meaning another. For here he mentions what will really befall men who repay them that rec- ompense evil; not what, as by an oath, he would imprecate on himself or any other.
4. " Let the enemy " therefore " persecute my soul and take it" (ver. 5). By again naming the enemy in the singular number, he more and more clearly points out him whom he spoke of above as a lion. For he persecutes the soul, and if he has deceived it, will take it. For the limit of men's rage is the destruction of the body; but the soul, after this visible death, they cannot keep in their power: whereas whatever souls the devil shall have taken by his persecutions, he will keep. " And let him tread my life upon the earth: " that is, by treading let him make my life earth, that is to say, his food. For he is not only called a lion, but a serpent too, to whom it was said, " Earth shalt thou eat." 6 And to the sinner was * Malt. vi. 6.
5 Prov. xvi. 32.
6 Gen. lii. 14.
22 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Psalm VII.
it said, " Earth thou art, and into earth shalt thou go." ' " And let him bring down my glory to the dust." This is that dust which " the wind cast- eth forth from the face of the earth," * to wit, vain and silly boasting of the proud, puffed up, not of solid weight, as a cloud of dust carried away by the wind. Justly then has he here spoken of the glory, which he would not have brought down to dust. For he would have it solidly established in conscience before God, where there is no boast- ing. " He that glorieth," saith the Apostle, " let him glory in the Lord." 3 This solidity is brought down to the dust, if one through pride despising the secrecy of conscience, where God only proves a man, desires to glory before men. Hence comes what the Psalmist elsewhere says, " God shall bruise the bones of them that please men."4 Now he that has well learnt or experienced the steps in overcoming vices, knows that this vice of empty glory is either alone, or more than all, to be shunned by the perfect. For that by which the soul first fell, she overcomes the last. " For the beginning of all sin is pride: " and again, " The beginning of man's pride is to depart from God." s 5. "Arise, O Lord, in Thine anger" (ver. 6). Why yet does he, who we say is perfect, incite God to anger? Must we not see, whether he rather be not perfect, who, when he was being stoned, said, " O Lord, lay not this sin to their charge "?6 Or does the Psalmist pray thus not against men, but against the devil and his angels, whose possession sinners and the ungodly are? He then does not pray against him in wrath, but in mercy, whosoever prays that that possession may be taken from him by that Lord "who justifieth the ungodly." 1 For when the ungodly is justified, from ungodly he is made just, and from being the possession of the devil he passes into the temple of God. And since it is a pun- ishment that a possession, in which one longs to have rule, should be taken away from him: this punishment, that he should cease to possess those whom he now possesses, the Psalmist calls the anger of God against the devil. "Arise, O Lord, in Thine anger." " Arise " (he has used it as "appear"), in words, that is, human and obscure; as though God sleeps, when He is un- recognised and hidden in His secret workings. " Be exalted in the borders of mine enemies." He means by borders the possession itself, in which he wishes that God should be exalted, that is, be honoured and glorified, rather than the devil, while the ungodly are justified and praise God. " And arise, O Lord my God, in the com- mandment that Thou hast given: " that is, since Thou hast enjoined humility, appear in humility; 1 Gen. iii. 10. * Pi. liii. J. » Rom. ir. 5.
« Pi. i. 4.
and first fulfil what Thou hast enjoined; that men by Thy example overcoming pride may not be possessed of the devil, who against Thy com- mandments advised to pride, saying, " Eat, and your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods." 8 6. " And the congregation of the people shall surround Thee." This may be understood two ways. For the congregation of the people can be taken, either of them that believe, or of them that persecute, both of which took place in the same humiliation of our Lord: in contempt of which the multitude of them that persecute surrounded Him; concerning which it is said, " Why have the heathen raged, and the people meditated vain things?"' But of them that believe through His humiliation the multitude so surrounded Him, that it could be said with the greatest truth, "blindness in- part is happened unto Israel, that the fulness of the Gentiles might come in: " 10 and again, " Ask of me, and I will give Thee the Gentiles for Thine inheritance, and the boundaries of the earth for Thy posses- sion." " "And for their sakes return Thou on high: " that is, for the sake of this congregation return Thou on high: which He is understood to have done by His resurrection and ascension into heaven. For being thus glorified He gave the Holy Ghost, which before His exaltation could not be given, as it is written in the Gospel, " for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified." " Having then returned on high for the sake of the congregation of the people, He sent the Holy Ghost: by whom the preachers of the Gospel being filled, filled the whole world with Churches.
7. It can be taken also in this sense: " Arise, O Lord, in Thine anger, and be exalted in the borders of mine enemies: " that is, arise in Thine anger, and let not mine enemies understand Thee; so that to " be exalted," should be this, become high, '3 that Thou tnayest not be under- stood; which has reference to the silence spoken of above. For it is of this exaltation thus said in another Psalm, " And He ascended upon Cheru- bim, and flew: " and, " He made darkness His secret place." '* In which exaltation, or conceal- ment, when for their sins' desert they shall not understand Thee, who shall crucify Thee, " the congregation " of believers " shall surround Thee." For in His very humiliation He was exalted, that is, was not understood. So that, " And arise, O Lord my God, in the command- ment that Thou hast given: " may have refer- ence to this, that is, when Thou showest Thyself, be high or deep that mine enemies may not un- * Gen. iii. 5. 9 Ps. ii. I, 13 Alius. Ita twofold meaning of " capable of being preserved in translation.
10 Rom. xi. 25. high" and "deep" is not Psalm VII] ON THE PSALMS.
23 derstand Thee. Now sinners are the enemies of the just man, and the ungodly of the godly man. " And the congregation of the people shall surround Thee: " that is, by this very cir- cumstance, that those who crucify Thee under- stand Thee not, the Gentiles shall believe on Thee, and so " shall the congregation of the peo- ple surround Thee." But what follows, if this be the true meaning, has in it more pain, that it begins already to be perceived, than joy that it is understood. For it follows, " and for their sakes return Thou on high," that is, and for the sake of this congregation of the human race, wherewith the Churches are crowded, return Thou on high, that is, again cease to be under- stood. What then is, " and for their sakes," but that this congregation too will offend Thee, so that Thou mayest most truly foretell and say, " Thinkest Thou when the Son of man shall come, He will find faith on the earth? " ■ Again, of the false prophets, who are understood to be heretics, He says, " Because of their in- iquity the love of many shall wax cold." 2 Since then even in the Churches, that is, in that con- gregation of peoples and nations, where the Christian name has most widely spread, there shall be so great abundance of sinners, which is already, in great measure, perceived; is not that famine of the word 3 here predicted, which has been threatened by another prophet also? Is it not too for this congregation's sake, who, by their sins, are estranging from themselves the light of truth, that God returns on high, that is, so that faith, pure and cleansed from the cor- ruption of all perverse opinions, is held and re- ceived, either not at all, or by the very few of whom it was said, " Blessed is he that shall en- dure to the end, the same shall be saved"?4 Not without cause then is it said, " and for the sake of this " congregation " return Thou on high: " that is, again withdraw into the depth of Thy secrecy, even for the sake of this con- gregation of the peoples, that hath Thy name, and doeth not Thy deeds.
8. But whether the former exposition of this place, or this last be the more suitable, without prejudice to anyone better, or equal, or as good, it follows very consistently, " the Lord judgeth the people." For whether He returned on high, when, after the resurrection, He ascended into heaven, well does it follow, "The Lord judgeth the people: " for that He will come from thence to judge the quick and the dead. Or whether He return on high, when the understanding of the truth leaves sinful Christians, for that of His coming it has been said, " Thinkest thou the Son of Man on His coming will find faith on the earth? " « " The Lord " then "judgeth the 1 Lulte xviii. 8. * Mark xiii. 13.
3 Matt. xxiv. 13.
5 Amos viii. iz.
people." What Lord, but Jesus Christ? " For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son."* Wherefore this soul which prayeth perfectly, see how she fears not the day of judgment, and with a truly secure longing says in her prayer, "Thy kingdom come: judge me," she says, " O Lord, according to my righteousness." In the former Psalm a weak one was entreating, imploring rather the mercy of God, than mentioning any desert of his own: since the Son of God came " to call sinners to repentance." 6 Therefore he had there said, " Save me, O Lord, for Thy mercy's sake; "? that is, not for my desert's sake. But now, since being called he hath held and kept the commandments which he received, he is bold to say, " Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to my harm- lessness, that is upon me." This is true harm- lessness, which harms not even an enemy. Accordingly, well does he require to be judged according to his harmlessness, who could say with truth, " If I have repaid them that recom- pense me evil." As for what he added, " that is upon me," it can refer not only to harmless- ness, but can be understood also with reference to righteousness; that the sense should be this, Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteous- ness, and according to my harmlessness, which righteousness and harmlessness is upon me. By which addition he shows that this very thing, that the soul is righteous and harmless, she has not by herself, but by God who giveth bright- ness and light. For of this he says in another Psalm, " Thou, O Lord, wilt light my candle." 8 And of John it is said, that " he was not the light, but bore witness of the light." 9 " He was a burning and shining candle." '° That light then, whence souls, as candles, are kindled, shines forth not with borrowed, but with original, brightness, which light is truth itself. It is then so said, "According to my righteousness, and according to my harmlessness, that is upon me," as if a burning and shining candle should say, Judge me according to the flame which is upon me, that is, not that wherewith " I am myself, but that whereby I shine enkindled of thee.
9. " But let the wickedness of sinners be con- summated" (ver. 9). He says, "be consum- mated," be completed, according to that in the Apocalypse, " Let the righteous become more righteous, and let the filthy be filthy still." '2 For the wickedness of those men appears con- summate, who crucified the Son of God; but greater is theirs who will not live uprightly, and hate the precepts of truth, for whom the Son of God was crucified. " Let the wickedness of s John v. 22. 8 Ps. xviii. 28. " Al. that which.
1 Ps. vi. 4.
10 John v. 35.
24 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Psalm VII.
sinners," then he says, " be consummated," that is, arrive at the height of wickedness, that just judgment may be able to come at once. But since it is not only said, " Let the filthy be filthy still; " but it is said also, " Let the righteous be- come more righteous; " he joins on the words, " And Thou shalt direct the righteous, O God, who searcheth the hearts and reins." How then can the righteous be directed but in secret? when even by means of those things which, in the commencement of the Christian ages, when as yet the saints were oppressed by the persecu- tion of the men of this world, appeared marvel- lous to men, now that the Christian name has begun to be in such high dignity, hypocrisy, that is pretence, has increased; of those, I mean, who by the Christian profession had rather please men than God. How then is the righteous man directed in so great confusion of pretence, save whilst God searcheth the hearts and reins; see- ing all men's thoughts, which are meant by the word heart; and their delights, which are under- stood by the word reins? For the delight ir things temporal and earthly is rightly ascribed to the reins; for that it is both the lower part of man, and that region where the pleasure of carnal generation dwells, through which man's nature is transferred into this life of care, and deceiving joy, by the succession of the race. God then, searching our heart, and perceiving that it is there where our treasure is, that is, in heaven; searching also the reins, and perceiv- ing that we do not assent to flesh and blood, but delight ourselves in the Lord, directs the right- eous man in his inward conscience before Him, where no man seeth, but He alone who per- ceiveth what each man thinketh, and what de- lighteth each. For delight is the end of care; because to this end does each man strive by care and thought, that he may attain to his delight. He therefore seeth our cares, who searcheth the heart. He seeth too the ends of cares, that is delights, who narrowly searcheth the reins; that when He shall find that our cares incline neither to the lust of the flesh, nor to the lust of the eyes, nor to the pride of life,' all which pass away as a shadow, but that they are raised upward to the joys of things eternal, which are spoilt by no change, He may direct the righteous, even He, the God who searcheth the hearts and reins. For our works, which we do in deeds and words, may be known unto men; but with what mind they are done, and to what end we would attain by means of them, He alone knoweth, the God who searcheth the hearts and reins.
10. " My righteous help is from the Lord, whomaketh whole the upright in heart "(ver. 10). The offices of medicine are twofold, one the curing 1 l John ii. io.
infirmity, the other the preserving health. Ac- cording to the first it was said in the preceding Psalm, " Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak; " 2 according to the second it is said in this Psalm, " If there be iniquity in my hands, if I have repaid them that recompense me evil, may I therefore 3 fall by my enemies empty." For there the weak prays that he may be delivered, here one already whole that he may not change for the worse. According to the one it is there said, " Make me whole for Thy mercy's sake; " according to this other it is here said, " Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness." For there he asks for a remedy to escape from dis- ease; but here for protection from falling into disease. According to the former it is said, '• Make me whole, O Lord, according to Thy mercy: " according to the latter it is said, " My righteous help is from the Lord, who maketh whole the upright in heart." Both the one and the other maketh men whole; but the former re- •noves them from sickness into health, the latter preserves them in this health. Therefore there the help is merciful, because the sinner hath no desert, who as yet longeth to be justified, " believing on Him who justifieth the ungodly; " * but here the help is righteous, because it is given to one already righteous. Let the sinner then who said, " I am weak," say in the first place, " Make me whole, O Lord, for Thy mercy's sake; " and here let the righteous man, who said, " If I have repaid them that recompense me evil," say, " My righteous help is from the Lord, who maketh whole the upright in heart." For if he sets forth the medicine, by which we may be healed when weak, how much more that by which we may be kept in health. For if " while we were yet sin- ners, Christ died for us, how much more being now justified shall we be kept whole from wrath through Him." s ii. "My righteous help is from the Lord, who maketh whole the upright in heart.'" God, who searcheth the hearts and reins, directeth the righteous; but with righteous help maketh He whole the upright in heart. He doth not as He searcheth the hearts and reins, so make whole the upright in heart and reins; for the thoughts are both bad in a depraved heart, and good in an up- right heart; but delights which are not good be- long to the reins, for they are more low and earthly; but those that are good not to the reins, but to the heart itself. Wherefore men cannot be so called upright in reins, as they are called upright in heart, since where the thought is, there at once the delight is too; which cannot be, un- less when things divine and eternal are thought of. " Thou hast given," he says, " joy in my heart," when he had said, " The light of Thy countenance 8,9- 3 At. deservedly.
* Rom. iv. 5.
TSALM VII.]
ON THE PSALMS.
25 has been stamped on us, O Lord." ■ For although the phantoms of things temporal, which the mind falsely pictures to itself, when tossed by vain and mortal hope, to vain imaginations oftentimes bring a delirious and maddened joy; yet this de- light must be attributed not to the heart, but to the reins; for all these imaginations have been drawn from lower, that is, earthly and carnal things. Hence it comes, that God, who searcheth the hearts and reins, and perceiveth in the heart upright thoughts, in the reins no delights, afford- eth righteous help to the upright in heart, where 3heavenly delights are coupled with clean thoughts. And therefore when in another Psalm he had said, " Moreover even to-night my reins have chided me; " he went on to say as touching help, " I foresaw the Lord alway in my sight, for He is on my right hand, that I should not be moved." 3 Where he shows that he suffered suggestions only from the reins, not delights as well; for he had suffered these, then he would of course be moved. But he said, " The Lord is on my right hand, that I should not be moved; " and then he adds, " Wherefore was my heart delighted; " that the reins should have been able to chide, not delight