4. " For they have whet like a sword their tongues" (ver. 3). Which saith another Psalm also, " Sons of men; their teeth are arms and arrows, and their tongue is a sharp sword." 6 Let not the Jews say, we have not killed Christ. For to this end they gave Him to Pilate the 1 Homine. See on Ps.
9 John x. 32.
> Wild. ii. 20, 18.
* Oxf. mss. "infirmities." » Pi. lvii. 4.
judge, in order that they themselves might seem as it were guiltless of His death...But if he is guilty because he did it though unwillingly, are they innocent who compelled him to do it? By no means. But he gave sentence against Him, and commanded Him to be crucified: and in a manner himself killed Him; ye also, O ye Jews, killed Him. Whence did ye kill Him? With the sword of the tongue: for ye did whet your tongues. And when did ye smite, except when ye cried out, " Crucify, Crucify "? ' 5. But on this account we must not pass over that which hath come into mind, lest perchance the reading of the Divine Scriptures should dis- quiet any one. One Evangelist saith that the Lord was crucified at the sixth hour,8 and another at the third hour: > unless we understand it, we are disquieted. And when the sixth hour was already beginning, Pilate is said to have sat on the judgment-seat: and in reality when the Lord was lifted up upon the tree, it was the sixth hour. But another Evangelist, looking unto the mind of the Jews, how they wished themselves to seem guiltless of the death of the Lord, by his account proveth them guilty, saying, that the Lord was crucified at the third hour. But considering all the circumstance of the history, how many things might have been done, when before Pilate the Lord was being accused, in order that He might be crucified; we find that it might have been the third hour, when they cried out, " Crucify, Crucify." Therefore with more truth they killed at the time when they cried out. The ministers of the magistrate at the sixth hour crucified, the transgressors of the law at the third hour cried out: that which those did with hands at the sixth hour, these did with tongue at the third hour. More guilty are they that with crying out were raging, than they that in obedience were ministering. This is the whole of the Jews' sagacity, this is that which they sought as some great matter. Let us kill and let us not kill: so let us kill, as that we may not ourselves be judged to have killed.
6. " They have bended the bow, a bitter thing, in order that they may shoot in secret One un- spotted " (ver. 4). The bow he calleth lyings in wait. For he that with sword fighteth hand to hand, openly fighteth: he that shooteth an arrow deceiveth, in order to strike. For the arrow smiteth, before it is foreseen to come to wound. But whom could the lyings in wait of the human heart escape? Would they escape our Lord Jesus Christ, who had no need that any one should bear witness to Him of man? " For Himself knew what was in man," IO as the Evangelist testifieth. Nevertheless, let us hear them, and look upon them in their doings as if 1 Luke xxiii. 21. >° John ii. 25.
8 John xix. 14.
9 Mark xv. 35.
Psalm LXIV.]
ON THE PSALMS.
26 = the Lord knew not what they devise. The ex- pression he used, "They have bended the bow," is the same as, " in secret: " as if they were de- ceiving by lyings in wait. For ye know by what artifices they did this, how with money they bribed a disciple that clave to Him, in order that He might be betrayed to them,' how they pro- cured false witnesses; with what lyings in wait and artifices they wrought, " in order that they might shoot in secret One unspotted." Great iniquity! Behold from a secret place there cometh an arrow, which striketh One unspotted, who had not even so much of spot as could be pierced with an arrow. A Lamb indeed He is unspotted, wholly unspotted, alway unspotted; not one from whom spots have been removed, but that hath contracted not any spots. For He hath made many unspotted by forgiving sins, being Himself unspotted by not having sins. " Suddenly they shall shoot Him, and shall not fear." O heart hardened, to wish to kill a Man that did raise the dead! " Suddenly: " that is, insidiously, as if unexpectedly, as if not foreseen. For the Lord was like to one knowing not, being among men knowing not what He knew not and what He knew: yea, knowing not that there was nothing that He knew not, and that He knew all things, and to this end had come in order that they might do that which they thought they did by their own power.
7. " They have confirmed to themselves ma- lignant discourse " (ver. 5). There were done so great miracles, they were not moved, they per- sisted in the design of the evil discourse. He was given up to the judge: the judge trembleth, and they tremble not that have given Him up to the judge: trembleth power, and ferocity trem- bleth not: he would wash his hands, and they stain their tongues. But wherefore this? "They have confirmed to themselves malignant dis- course." How many things did Pilate, how many things that they might be restrained! What said he? what did he? But " they have confirmed to themselves malignant discourse: Crucify, crucify." 2 The repetition is the confir- mation of the " malignant discourse." Let us see in what manner " they have confirmed to them- selves malignant discourse." " Your King shall I crucify?" They said, "We have no king but Caesar alone." 3 He was offering for King the Son of God: to a man they betook themselves: worthy were they to have the one, and not have the Other. " I find not anything in this Man," saith the judge, "wherefore He is worthy of death." 4 And they that " confirmed malignant discourse," said, " His blood be upon us and upon our sons." 5 " They confirmed malignant discourse," not to the Lord, but to " themselves."
2 Luke xxiii. 21. 5 Matt, xxvii. 25.
1 John xij For how not to themselves when they say, " Upon us and upon our sons "? That which therefore they confirmed, to themselves they confirmed: because the same voice is elsewhere, " They dug before my face a ditch, and fell into it." Death killed not the Lord, but He death: but them iniquity killed, because they would not kill iniq- uity...8. " They told, in order that they might hide traps: they said, Who shall see them?" (ver. 5 ). They thought they would escape Him, whom they were killing, that they would escape God. Behold, suppose Christ was a man, like the rest of men, and knew not what was being contrived for Him: doth God also know not? O heart of man! wherefore hast thou said to thyself, Who seeth me? when He seeth that hath made thee? " They said, Who shall see them?"6 God did see, Christ also was seeing: because Christ is also God. But wherefore did they think that He saw not? Hear the words following.
9. " They have searched out iniquity, they have failed, searching searchings " (ver. 6): that is, deadly and acute designs. Let Him not be betrayed by us, but by His disciple: let Him not be killed by us, but by the judge: let us do all, and let us seem to have done nothing...10. But what befell them? "They failed searching searchings." Whence? Because he saith, " Who shall see them?" that is, that no one saw7 them. This they were saying, this among themselves they thought, that no one saw them. See what befalleth an evil soul: it departeth from the light of truth, and because itself seeth not God, it thinketh that itself is not seen by God...
n. For what followeth? "There shall draw near a man and a deep heart." They said, Who shall see us? They failed in searching search- ings, evil counsels. There drew near a man to those same counsels, He suffered Himself to be held as a man. For He would not have been held except He were man, or have been seen except He were man, or have been smitten ex- cept He were man, or have been crucified or have died except He were man. There drew near a man therefore to all those sufferings, which in Him would have been of no avail except He were Man. But if He were not Man, there would not have been deliverance for " man. There hath drawn near a Man " and a deep heart," that is, a secret "heart:" presenting before human faces Man, keeping within God: concealing the " form of God," wherein He is equal with the Father,8 and presenting the form of a servant, wherein He is less than the Father. For Himself hath spoken of both: but one thing there is which He saith in the form of God, 6 Eas (the traps). Oxf. MSS. ' 7 Oxf. mss. " will see."
8 Philip, it 6.
266 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Psalm LXIV.
another thing in the form of a servant. He hath said in the form of God, " I and the Father are one: " ' He hath said in the form of a servant, "For the Father is greater than I." 2 Whence in the form of God saith He, " I and the Father are one "?...12. "Arrows of infants have been made the strokes of them" (ver. 7). Where is that sav- ageness? where is that roar of the lion, of the people roaring and saying, " Crucify, Crucify "ft Where are the lyings in wait of men bending the bow? Have not " the strokes of them been made the arrows of infants "? Ye know in what manner infants make to themselves arrows of little canes. What do they strike, or whence do they strike? What is the hand, or what the weapon? what are the arms, or what the limbs?
13. "And the tongues of them have been made weak upon them" (ver. 8). Let them whet now their tongues like a sword, let them con- firm to themselves malignant discourse. De- servedly to themselves they have confirmed 4 it, because " the tongues of them have been made weak upon them." Could this be strong against God? " Iniquity," he saith, " hath lied to itself; " 5 " their tongues have been made weak upon them." Behold, the Lord hath risen, that was killed...What thinkest thou of Him who from the cross came not down, and from the tomb rose again? What therefore did they ef- fect? But even if the Lord had not risen again, what would they have effected, except what the persecutors of the martyrs have also effected? For the Martyrs have not yet risen again, and nevertheless they have effected nothing; of them not yet rising again we are now celebrating the nativities. Where is the madness of their ra- ging? To what did they bring those their searchings, in which searchings they failed, so that even, when the Lord was dead and buried, they set guards at the tomb? For they said to Pilate, " That deceiver; " by this name the Lord Jesus Christ was called, for the comfort of His servants when they are called deceivers; they say therefore to Pilate, " That deceiver said when yet living, After three days I will rise again: " 6...They set for guards soldiers at the sepulchre. At the earth quaking, the Lord rose again: such miracles were done about the sepulchre, that even the very soldiers that had come for guards were made witnesses, if they chose to tell the truth: but the same covetous- ness which had led captive a disciple, the com- panion of Christ, led captive also the soldier that was guard of the sepulchre. We give you, they say, money; 7 and say ye, while yourselves were sleeping there came His disciples, and took Him 1 John x. 30. 9 John xiv. 28. s Luke xxiii. 21; John xix. 6. * Or, strengthened. J Ps. xxvii. 12, Vulgate.
away...Sleeping witnesses ye adduce: truly thou thyself hast fallen asleep, that in searching such devices hast failed. If they were sleeping, what could they see? if nothing they saw, how are they witnesses? But " they failed in search- ing searchings: " failed of the light of God, failed in the very completion of their designs: when that which they willed, nowise they were able to complete, surely they failed. Wherefore this? Because " there drew near a Man and a deep heart, and God was exalted."...
14. "And every man feared" (ver. 9). They that feared not, were not even men. " Every man feared; " that is, every one using reason to perceive the things which were done. Whence they that feared not, must rather be called cattle, rather beasts savage and cruel. A lion ramping and roaring is that people as yet. But in truth every man feared: that is, they that would be- lieve, that trembled at the judgment to come. " And every man feared: and they declared the works of God."..."And every man hath feared: and they have declared the works of God, and His doings they have perceived." What is, "His doings they have perceived"? Was it, O Lord Jesu Christ, that Thou wast silent, and like a sheep for a victim wast being led, and didst not open before the shearer Thy mouth,8 and we thought Thee to be set in smiting and in grief,9 and knowing how to bear weakness? '" Was it that Thou wast hiding Thy beauty, O Thou beautiful in form before the sons of men? " Was it that Thou didst not seem to have beauty nor grace?,2 Thou didst bear on the Cross men re- viling and saying, " If Son of God He is, let Him come down from the Cross.",}...This thing they, that would have had Him come down from the Cross, perceived not: but when He rose again, and being glorified ascended into Heaven, they perceived the works of God.
15. "The just man shall rejoice in the Lord" (ver. 10). Now the just man is not sad. For sad were the disciples at the Lord's being cruci- fied; overcome with sadness, sorrowing they departed, they thought they had lost hope. He rose again, even when appearing to them He found them sad. He held the eyes of two men that walked in the way, so that by them he was not known, and He found them groaning and sighing, and He held them until He had expound- ed the Scriptures, and by the same Scriptures had shown that so it ought to have been done as it was done.14 For He showed in the Scriptures, how after the third day it behoved the Lord to rise again.'5 And how on the third day would He have risen again, if from the Cross He had come down?...Therefore let us all rejoice in the Lord, 10 Isa. liii. 3.
13 Matt, xxvii. 40.
n Luke xxiv. 46.
Psalm LXV.]
ON THE PSALMS.
267 let us all after the faith be One Just Man, and let us all in one Body hold One Head, and let us rejoice in the I,ord, not in ourselves: because our Good is not ourselves to ourselves, but He that hath made us. Himself is our good to make us glad. And let no one rejoice in himself, no one rely on himself, no one despair of himself: let no one rely on any man, whom he ought to bring in to be the partner of his own hope, not the giver of the hope.
16. Now because the Lord hath risen again, now because He hath ascended into Heaven, now because He hath showed that there is another life, now because it is evident that His counsels, wherein He lay concealed in deep heart, were not empty, because to this end That Blood was shed to be the price of the redeemed; now because all things are evident, because all things have been preached, because all things have been believed, under the whole of heaven, "the just man shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall hope in Him; and all men shall be praised that are right in heart."...God is displeasing to thee, and thou art pleasing to thyself, of perverted and crooked heart thou art: and this is the worse, that the heart of God thou wouldest correct by thy heart, to make Him do what thou wilt have, whereas thou oughtest to do what He willeth. What then? Thou wouldest make crooked the heart of God which alway is right, according to the depravity of thy own heart? How much better to correct thy heart by the rectitude of God? Hath not thy Lord taught thee this, of Whose Passion but now were we speaking? Was He not bearing thy weakness, when He said, " Sad is My soul even unto death"?' Was He not figuring thyself in Himself, when He was saying, " Father, if it be possible, let there pass from Me this cup "? 2 For the hearts of the Father and of the Son were not two and different: but in the form of a servant He carried thy heart, that He might teach it by His example. Now behold trouble found out as it were another heart of thine, which willed that there should pass away that which was impending: but God would not. God consenteth not to thy heart, do thou consent to the heart of God.
1 7. What followeth? If " there shall be praised all men right in heart," there shall be condemned the crooked in heart. Two things are set before thee now, choose while there is time...If of crooked heart thou hast become, there will come that Judgment, there will appear all the reasons on account of which God doeth all these things: and thou that wouldest not in this life correct thy heart by the rectitude of God, and pre- pare thyself for the right hand, where " there shall be praised all men right in heart," wilt 1 Matt. xxvi. 38.
2 Matt. xxvi. 39.
be on the left, where at that time thou shalt hear, " Go ye into fire everlasting, that hath been prepared for the devil and his angels." ' And will there be then time to correct the heart? Now therefore correct, brethren, now correct. Who doth hinder? Psalm is chanted, Gospel is read, Reader crieth, Preacher crieth; long-suf- fering is the Lord; thou sinnest, and He spar- eth; still thou sinnest, still He spareth, and still thou addest sin to sin. How long is God long- suffering? Thou wilt find God just also. We terrify because we fear; teach us not to fear, and we terrify no more. But better it is that God teach us to fear, than that any man teach us not to fear...Thou bringest forth grain, barn expect thou; bringest forth thorns, fire expect thou. But not yet hath come either the time of the barn or the time of the fire: now let there be preparation, and there will not be fear. In the name of Christ both we who speak are living, and ye to whom we speak are living: for amend- ing our plan, and changing evil life into a good life, is there no place, is there no time? Can it not, if thou wilt, be done to-day? Can it not, if thou wilt, be now done? What must thou buy in order to do it, what specifics 4 must thou seek? To what Indies must thou sail? What ship pre- pare? Lo, while I am speaking, change the heart; and there is done what so often and so long while is cried out for, that it be done, and which bringeth forth everlasting punishment if it be not done.
PSALM LXV.s 1. The voice of holy prophecy must be con- fessed in the very title of this Psalm. It is inscribed, " Unto the end, a Psalm of David, a song of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, on account of the people of transmigration when they were beginning to go forth." How it fared with our fathers 6 in the time of the transmigration to Babylon, is not known to all, but only to those that diligently study the Holy Scriptures, either by hearing or by reading. For the captive people Israel from the city of Jerusalem was led into slavery unto Babylon.7 But holy Jeremiah proph- esied, that after seventy years the people would return out of captivity, and would rebuild the very city Jerusalem, which they had mourned as having been overthrown by enemies, liut at that time there were prophets in that captivity of the people dwelling in Babylon, among whom was also the prophet Ezekiel. But that people was waiting until there should be fulfilled the 3 Matt. xxv. 41.
* Symplasia, probably meaning "compounds;" older edition, tmplastra; Oxf. and some other MSS., Tcntpla Asia, " Temples of Asia."
5 Lat. LXIV. Sermon to the Commonalty.
6 [The student of the Ante-Nicene Fathers will remember similar references to the Hebrew faithful as our fathers. — C] 7 2 Kings xxiv. 14.
268 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Psalm LXV.
space of seventy years, according to the proph- ecy of Jeremiah.' It came to pass, when the seventy years had been completed, the temple was restored which had been thrown down: and there returned from captivity a great part of that people. But whereas the Apostle saith, " these things in figure happened unto them, but they have been written for our sakes, upon whom the end of the world hath come: " 2 we also ought to know first our captivity, then our deliverance: we ought to know the Babylon wherein we are captives, and the Jerusalem for a return to which we are sighing. For these two cities, according to the letter, in reality are two cities. And the former Jerusalem indeed by the Jews is not now inhabited. For after the crucifixion of the Lord vengeance was taken upon them with a great scourge, and being rooted up from that place where, with impious licentiousness being infu- riated, they had madly raged against their Phy- sician, they have been dispersed throughout all nations, and that land hath been given to Christians: and there is fulfilled what the Lord had said to them, " Therefore the kingdom shall be taken away from you, and it shall be given to a nation doing justice." 3 But when they saw great multitudes then following the Lord, preach- ing the kingdom of Heaven, and doing wonder- ful things, the rulers of that city said, " If we shall have let Him go, all men will go after Him, and there shall come the Romans, and shall take from us both place and nation." 4 That they might not lose their place, they killed the Lord; and they lost it, even because they killed. There- fore that city, being one earthly, did bear the figure of a certain city everlasting in the Heav- ens: but when that which was signified began more evidently to be preached, the shadow, whereby it was being signified, was thrown down: for this reason in that place now the temple is no more, which had been constructed for the image of the future Body of the Lord. We have the light, the shadow hath passed away: neverthe- less, still in a kind of captivity we are: " So long as we are," he saith, " in the body, we are so- journing afar from the Lord." s 2. And see ye the names of those two cities, Babylon and Jerusalem. Babylon is interpreted confusion, Jerusalem vision of peace. Observe now the city of confusion, in order that ye may perceive the vision of peace; that ye may en- dure that, sigh for this. Whereby can those two cities be distinguished? Can we anywise now separate them from each other? They are mingled, and from the very beginning of man- kind mingled they run on unto the end of the world. Jerusalem received beginning through AbeJ, Babylon through Cain: for the buildings 1 Jer. xxv. ii, xxix. io. 4 John xi. 48.
3 Matt. xxi. 43.
of the cities were afterwards erected. That Jerusalem in the land of the Jebusites was builded: for at first it used to be called Jebus,6 from thence the nation of the Jebusites was expelled, when the people of God was delivered from Egypt, and led into the land of promise. But Babylon was builded in the most interior regions of Persia, which for a long time raised its head above the rest of nations. These two cities then at particular times were builded, so that there might be shown a figure of two cities begun of old, and to remain even unto the end in this world, but at the end to be severed. Whereby then can we now show them, that are mingled? At that time the Lord shall show, when some He shall set on the right hand, others on the left. Jerusalem on the right hand shall be, Babylon on the left...Two loves make up these two cities: love of God maketh Jerusa- lem, love of the world maketh Babylon. There- fore let each one question himself as to what he loveth: and he shall find of which he is a citi- zen: and if he shall have found himself to be a citizen of Babylon, let him root out cupidity, implant charity: but if he shall have found him- self a citizen of Jerusalem, let him endure cap-