Expositions on the Book of Psalms 136
136.1 Psalm CXXXVI PL 36, 1761
1. “Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth for ever” (ver. 1). This Psalm contains the praise of God, and all its verses finish in the same way. Wherefore although many things are related here in praise of God, yet His mercy is most commended; for without this plain commendation, he, whom the Holy Spirit used to utter this Psalm, would have no verse be ended. Although after the judgment, by which at the end of the world the quick and the dead must be judged, the just being sent into life eternal, the unjust into everlasting fire, there will not afterwards be those, whom God will have mercy on, yet rightly may His future mercy be understood to be for ever, which He bestows on His saints and faithful ones, not because they will be miserable for ever, and therefore will need His mercy for ever, but because that very blessedness, which He mercifully bestows on the miserable, that they cease to be miserable, and begin to be happy, will have no end, and therefore “His mercy is for ever.” For that we shall be just from being unjust, whole from being unsound, alive from being dead, immortal from being mortal, happy from being wretched, is of His mercy. But this that we shall be, will be for ever, and therefore “His mercy is for ever.” Wherefore, “give thanks to the Lord;” that is, praise the Lord by giving thanks, “for He is good:” nor is it any temporal good you will gain from this confession, for, “His mercy endureth for ever;” that is, the benefit which He bestows mercifully upon you, is for ever.
[«vers.» 1.] Oblitos vos esse non arbitror, commendasse nos vobis, imo commemorasse vos, quod omnis eruditus in sancta Ecclesia nosse debet unde cives simus, et ubi peregrinemur, et peregrinationis nostrae causam esse peccatum, reversionis autem munus remissionem peccatorum et justificationem gratiae Dei. Duas civitates permixtas sibi interim corpore, et corde separatas, currere per ista volumina saeculorum usque in finem, audistis et nostis; unam cui finis est pax aeterna, et vocatur Jerusalem; alteram cui gaudium est pax temporalis, et vocatur Babylonia. Interpretationes etiam nominum, si non fallor, tenetis: Jerusalem interpretari, Visionem pacis; Babyloniam, Confusionem. Jerusalem in Babylonia captiva tenebatur non tota; cives enim ejus et Angeli sunt. Sed quod attinet ad homines praedestinatos in gloriam Dei, futuros per adoptionem cohaeredes Christi, quos de ipsa captivitate redemit sanguine suo: particulam ergo istam civitatis Jerusalem captivam teneri in Babylonia pro peccato, incipere autem inde exire prius corde per confessionem iniquitatis et charitatem justitiae, deinde postea in fine saeculi etiam corpore separandam, commendavimus in eo psalmo, quem primo hic cum vestra Dilectione tractavimus, qui ita incipit, «Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion; et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem» . Hodierna autem die decantavimus. «Super flumina Babylonis, ibi sedimus et flevimus, cum recordaremur Sion.» Videte quia in illo dictum est, «Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion;» hic autem, «Super flumina Babylonis, ibi sedimus et flevimus, cum recordaremur Sion:» illam Sion, ubi decet hymnus Deum.
136.2 PL 36, 1761
2. Then follows, “Give thanks to the God of gods, for His mercy endureth for ever” (ver. 2). “Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His mercy endureth for ever” (ver. 3). We may well enquire, Who are these gods and lords, of whom He who is the true God is God and Lord? And we find written in another Psalm, that even men are called gods. The Lord even takes note of this testimony in the Gospel, saying, “Is it not written in your Law, I have said, Ye are gods?”…It is not therefore because they are all good, but because “the word of God came to them,” that they were called gods. For were it because they are all good, He would not thus distinguish between them. He saith, “He judgeth between the gods.” Then follows, “How long do ye judge iniquity!” and the rest, which He says certainly not to all, but to some, because He saith it in distinguishing, and yet He distinguisheth between the gods.
Quae sunt ergo flumina Babylonis, et quid est nostrum sedere et flere in recordatione Sion? Si enim cives inde sumus, non tantum hoc cantamus, sed et agimus. Si cives sumus de Jerusalem, id est de Sion, et in ista vita, in ista confusione saeculi hujus, in ista Babylonia non cives habitamus, sed captivi detinemur; oportet ut non tantum ista decantemus, sed et faciamus affectu cordis pio, religioso desiderio aeternae civitatis. Habet et haec civitas quae Babylonia dicitur, amatores suos consulentes paci temporali, et nihil ultra sperantes, totumque gaudium suum ibi figentes, ibi finientes, et videmus eos pro republica terrena plurimum laborare: sed et in ea quicumque fideliter versantur, si non ibi appetant superbiam et perituram elationem odiosamque jactantiam; sed veram fidem exhibeant, quam possunt, quamdiu possunt, quibus possunt, ad quantum vident terrena, et ad quantum intelligunt speciem civitatis; non eos sinit Deus perire in Babylonia: praedestinavit enim eos cives Jerusalem. Intelligit captivitatem eorum Deus, et ostendit illis aliam civitatem, cui vere debeant suspirare, pro qua debeant cuncta conari, ad quam capessendam debeant cives suos secum peregrinos, quantum valuerint, adhortari. Propterea dicit Dominus Jesus Christus, «Qui in modico fidelis est, et in magno fidelis est:» et rursum dicit, «Si in alieno fideles non fuistis, vestrum quis dabit vobis» ?
136.3 PL 36, 1762
3. But it is asked, If men are called gods to whom the word of the Lord came, are the Angels to be called gods, when the greatest reward which is promised to just and holy men is the being equal to Angels? In the Scriptures I know not whether it can, at least easily, be found, that the Angels are openly called gods; but when it had been said of the Lord God, “He is terrible, above all gods,” he adds, as by way of exposition why he says this, “for the gods of the heathen are devils,” that we might understand what had been expressed in the Hebrew, “the gods of the Gentiles are idols,” meaning rather the devils which dwell in the idols. For as regards images, which in Greek are called idols, a name we now use in Latin, they have eyes and see not, and all the other things which are said of them, because they are utterly without sense; wherefore they cannot be frightened, for nothing which has no sense can be frightened. How then can it be said of the Lord, “He is terrible above all gods, because the gods of the Gentiles are idols,” if the devils which may be terrified are not understood to be in these images. Whence also the Apostle says, “We know that an idol is nothing.” This refers to its earthy senseless material. But that no one may think, that there is no living and sentient nature, which delights in the Gentile sacrifices, he adds, “But what the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: I would not have you partaken with devils.” If therefore we never find in the divine words that the holy Angels are called gods, I think the best reason is, that men may not be induced by the name to pay that ministry and service of religion (which in Greek is called λειτουργία or λατρία) to the holy Angels, which neither would they have paid by man at all, save to that God, who is the God of themselves and men. Hence they are much more correctly called Angels, which in Latin is Nuntii, that by the name of their function, not their substance, we may plainly understand that they would have us worship the God, whom they announce. The whole then of that question the Apostle has briefly expounded, when he says, “For though there be who are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there are gods many and lords many; yet we have one God the Father, from whom are all, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him.”
Tamen, charissimi, attendite flumina Babylonis. Flumina Babylonis, sunt omnia quae hic amantur et transeunt. Nescio quis amavit, verbi gratia, agriculturam ipsam exercere, inde ditescere, ibi occupare animum, inde percipere voluptatem; attendat exitum, et videat illud quod amavit non esse fundamentum Jerusalem, sed fluvium Babylonis. Alius dixit: Magna res est militare; omnes agricolae formidant eos qui militant, obsequuntur eis, tremunt eos: si fuero agricola, timebo militarem; si fuero militaris, timebor ab agricola. O insane, in alium te Babylonis fluvium praecipitasti, et eum turbulentiorem et rapaciorem. Timeri vis a minore, time majorem: potest te ipso major fieri subito, qui te timet; nunquam autem erit minor, quem debes timere. Advocatum esse, inquit, magna res est, potentissima eloquentia; in omnibus habere susceptos pendentes ex lingua diserti patroni sui, et ex ejus ore sperantes vel damna, vel lucra, vel mortem, vel vitam, vel perniciem, vel salutem. Nescis quo te miseris: alius et iste fluvius Babylonis est; et quod multum sonat, strepitus aquae saxa percutit. Attende quia fluit, attende quia labitur; et si attendis quia fluit et labitur, cave quia trahit. Navigare, inquit alius, et negotiari magnum est; scire multas provincias, lucra undique capere, non esse obnoxium in civitate alicui potenti, semper peregrinari, et diversitate negotiorum et nationum animum pascere, et augmentis lucrorum divitem remeare. Fluvius est et iste Babylonis. Lucra tua quando stabunt? quando praesumpturus, quando securus eris ex his quae acquiris? Quanto eris ditior, tanto timidior. Uno naufragio nudus exibis, et recte te planges in flumine Babylonis, quia noluisti sedere et flere super flumina Babylonis.
136.4 PL 36, 1763
4. Let us therefore “give thanks to the God of gods, and the Lord of lords, for His mercy,” etc. “Who alone did wonderful things” (ver. 4). As at the last part of every verse, it is written, “For His mercy endureth for ever,” so we must understand at the beginning of each, though it be not written, “Give thanks.” Which indeed in the Greek is very plain. It would be so in Latin, if our translators had been able to make use of that expression. Which indeed they could have done in this verse, if they had said, “To Him who doeth wonderful things.” For where we have, “who did wonderful things,” the Greek has τῷ ποιήσαντι, where we must necessarily understand, “give thanks.” And I would they had added the pronoun, and said to Him, “who did,” or to Him “who doeth,” or to Him “who made sure;” because then one might easily understand, “let us give thanks.” For now it is so obscurely rendered, that he who either knows not or cares not to examine a Greek manuscript may think, “who made the heavens, who made sure the earth, who made the luminaries, for His mercy endureth for ever,” has been so said, because He did these things for this reason, “because His mercy endureth for ever:” whereas they, whom He has freed from misery, belong to His Mercy: but not that we should believe that He makes sky, earth, and luminaries, of His Mercy; since they are marks of His Goodness, who created all things very good. For He created all things, that they might have their being; but it is the work of His Mercy, to cleanse us from our sins, and deliver us from everlasting misery. And so the Psalm thus addresses us, “Give thanks unto the God of gods, give thanks unto the Lord of lords.” Give thanks to Him, “who alone doeth great wonders;” give thanks to Him, “who by His wisdom made the heavens;” give thanks to Him, “who stretched out the earth above the waters;” give thanks to Him, “who alone made great lights.” But why we are to praise, he setteth down at the end of all the verses, “for His mercy endureth for ever.”
Alii ergo cives sanctae Jerusalem intelligentes captivitatem suam, attendunt humana vota et diversas hominum cupiditates hac atque illac rapientes, trahentes, impellentes in mare: vident haec, et non se mittunt in flumina Babylonis; sed sedent super flumina Babylonis, et flent super flumina Babylonis, vel illos qui rapiuntur, vel seipsos qui in Babylonia esse meruerunt: sedentes tamen, hoc est humiliati. «Super flumina» ergo «Babylonis, ibi sedimus et flevimus, cum recordaremur Sion.» O sancta Sion, ubi totum stat, et nihil fluit! quis nos in ista praecipitavit? quare dimisimus Conditorem tuum et societatem tuam? Ecce inter fluentia et labentia constituti, vix quisquam raptus a flumine, si tenere lignum potuerit, evadet. Humiliati ergo in captivitate nostra sedeamus super flumina Babylonis, non nos audeamus in illis fluminibus praecipitare; nec nos audeamus in nostrae captivitatis malo atque tristitia superbe erigere, sed sedeamus, et sic fleamus. Sedeamus super flumina Babylonis, non infra flumina Babylonis: talis sit humilitas nostra, ut nos non mergat. Sede super flumen, noli in flumine, noli sub flumine: sed tamen sede humilis, loquere non quomodo in Jerusalem. Ibi enim stabis; quia de ipsa spe loquitur alius psalmus, et cantat dicens: «Stantes erant pedes nostri in atriis Jerusalem» . Ibi erigeris, si te hic poenitendo et confitendo humiliaveris. «In atriis» ergo «Jerusalem stantes erant pedes nostri; Super flumina» vero «Babylonis sedimus et flevimus, cum recordaremur Sion.» Inde oportet ut fleas, recordando Sion.
136.5 PL 36, 1763
5. But what meaneth, “who alone doeth great wonders”? Is it because many wonderful things He hath done by means of angels and men? Some wonderful things there are which God doeth alone, and these he enumerates, saying, “who by His wisdom made the heavens” (ver. 5), “who stretched out the earth above the waters” (ver. 6), “who alone made great lights” (ver. 7). For this reason did he add “alone” in this verse also, because the other wonders which he is about to tell of, God did by means of man. For having said, “who alone made great lights,” he goes on to explain what these are, “the sun to rule the day” (ver. 8), “the moon and stars to govern the night” (ver. 9); then he begins to tell the wonders which He did by means of angels and men: “who smote Egypt with their first-born” (ver. 10), and the rest. The whole creation then God manifestly made, not by means of any creature, but “alone;” and of this creation he hath mentioned certain more eminent parts, that they might make us think on the whole; the heavens we can understand, and the earth we see. And as there are visible heavens too, by mentioning the lights in them, he has bid us look on the whole body of the heavens as made by Him.
Multi enim flent fletu Babylonio, quia et gaudent gaudio Babylonio. Qui gaudent lucris et flent damnis, utrumque de Babylonia est. Flere debes, sed recordando Sion. Si recordando Sion fles, et quando tibi secundum Babyloniam bene est oportet ut fleas. Propterea dicitur in quodam psalmo: «Tribulationem et dolorem inveni, et nomen Domini invocavi» . Quid est quod dicit, «Inveni?» Nescio quam tribulationem quasi quaerendam, invenit tanquam quaesitam. Et cum invenisset, quo lucro invenit? Nomen Domini invocavit. Multum interest utrum invenias tribulationem, an inveniaris a tribulatione. Dicit enim alio loco: «Dolores inferni invenerunt me» . Quid est, «Invenerunt me dolores inferni?» Quid est, «Tribulationem et dolorem inveni?» Quando te repente occupat tristitia, perturbatis tibi rebus saecularibus quibus oblectabaris: quando te repentina ipsa invenit tristitia, unde te non putabas posse fieri tristem, accidit, et tristis efficeris; invenit te dolor inferni. Te enim sursum putabas; verumtamen deorsum eras: et cum te dolor inferni inveniret, ibi te invenisti deorsum, qui te sursum putabas. Invenisti enim te dolore affectum graviter, tristitia alicujus mali, unde forte praesumpseras te non fore tristem; invenit te dolor inferni. Cum autem bene est tibi, arrident omnia saecularia, nullus tuorum obiit, nihil in vinea tua forte vel aruit, vel grandinatum est, vel sterile apparuit, non acuit cupa tua, non abortum passum est pecus tuum, non exhonoratus es in aliqua dignitate secundum saeculum constitutus, undique amici tui et vivunt et servant tibi amicitiam, clientes non desunt, filii obsequuntur, servi contremiscunt, conjux concors, felix dicitur domus; ibi inveni tribulationem , si aliquid potes, ut inventa tribulatione invoces nomen Domini. Perversum aliquid videtur docere sermo divinus, flere in laetitia, et in moerore laetari. Audi in moerore laetantem: «Gloriamur,» inquit, «in tribulationibus» . Flentem autem in laetitia, vide si invenit tribulationem. Attendat quisque ipsam felicitatem suam, qua exsultavit anima ejus, et tumuit quodammodo gaudio, et extulit se, et dixit, Felix sum: attendat si non fluit illa felicitas, si potest certus esse de illa quia manet in aeternum. Si autem non est certus, et videt fluere unde gaudet; fluvius Babylonis est: sedeat supra, et fleat. Sedebit autem et plorabit, si recordatus fuerit Sion. O pax illa quam videbimus apud Deum! o illa sancta aequalitas Angelorum! o illa visio et spectaculum pulchrum! Ecce in Babylonia pulchra sunt quae tenent: non teneant, non decipiant. Aliud est solatium captivorum, aliud gaudium liberorum. «Super flumina Babylonis, ibi sedimus et flevimus, cum recordaremur Sion.»
136.6 PL 36, 1764
6. However, whether by what he saith, “who made the heavens in understanding,” or, as others have rendered it, “in intelligence,” he meant to signify, the heavens we can understand, or that He in His understanding or intelligence, that is, in His wisdom made the heavens (as it is elsewhere written, “in wisdom hast Thou made them all”), implying thereby the only-begotten Word, may be a question. But if it be so, that we are to understand that “God by His wisdom made the heavens,” why saith He this only of the heavens, whereas God made all things by the same wisdom? It is that it needed only to be expressed there, so that in the rest it might be understood without being written. How then could it be “alone,” if “in understanding” or “in intelligence” means “by His wisdom,” that is, by the only-begotten Word? Is it that, inasmuch as the Trinity is not three Gods, but one God, he states that God made these things alone, because He made not creation by means of any creature?
[«vers. 2.] In salicibus in medio ejus suspendimus organa nostra.» Habent organa sua cives Jerusalem, Scripturas Dei, praecepta Dei, promissa Dei, meditationem quamdam futuri saeculi; sed cum agunt in medio Babyloniae, organa sua in salicibus ejus suspendunt. Salices ligna sunt infructuosa; et hoc loco ita posita, ut non aliquid boni possit intelligi de salicibus; alibi autem forsitan potest. Modo ligna intelligite sterilia, nascentia super flumina Babylonis. Rigantur haec ligna de fluminibus Babylonis, et nullum fructum ferunt. Sicut sunt homines cupidi, avari, steriles in opere bono; ita cives Babyloniae, ut etiam ligna sint illius regionis, ex istis voluptatibus rerum transeuntium pascuntur, tanquam rigata a fluminibus Babyloniae: quaeris fructum, et nusquam invenis. Quando tales patimur, versamur cum eis qui sunt in medio Babylonis. Multum enim interest inter medium Babylonis, et exteriora Babyloniae. Sunt qui non sunt in medio ejus, id est, non tanta concupiscentia saeculi et delectationibus obruuntur. Qui vero, ut aperte dixerim et breviter, multum mali sunt, in medio Babylonis sunt, et ligna sterilia, tanquam salices Babylonis. Quando illos videmus, et tam steriles eos invenimus, ut difficile nobis appareat in eis aliquid unde possint duci ad fidem rectam, vel ad bona opera, vel ad spem futuri saeculi, vel ad concupiscentiam liberationis a captivitate mortalitatis; Scripturas novimus, quas eis dicamus: sed quia nullum fructum in eis invenimus unde incipiamus, avertimus ab ipsis faciem, et dicimus, Adhuc isti non sapiunt, non capiunt; quidquid illis dixerimus, sinistrum et adversum habebunt. Ergo differendo circa eos Scripturas, suspendimus organa nostra in salicibus: non enim dignos habemus, qui organa nostra portent. Non ergo eis organa nostra inserendo alligamus, sed differendo suspendimus. Salices enim sunt Babyloniae ligna infructuosa, pasta temporalibus voluptatibus, tanquam fluminibus Babyloniae.
136.7 PL 36, 1765
7. But what is, “who laid out the earth above the waters”? For it is a difficult question, because the earth seemeth to be the heavier, so that it should be believed not so much to be borne on the waters, as to bear the waters. And that we may not seem contentiously to maintain our Scriptures against those who think that they have discovered these matters on sure principles, we have a second interpretation to give, that the earth which is inhabited by men, and contains the living creatures of the earth, is “laid out above the waters” because it stands out above the waters which surround it. For when we speak of a city on the sea being built “above the waters,” it is not meant that the sea is under it in the same way as the waters are under the chambers of caverns, or under ships sailing over them; but it is said to be “above” the sea, because it stands up above the sea below it.
[«vers.» 3.] Et videte si non hoc sequitur Psalmus: «In salicibus,» inquit, «in medio ejus suspendimus organa nostra. Quoniam ibi interrogaverunt nos qui captivos duxerunt nos, verba canticorum; et qui abduxerunt nos, hymnum:» subaudis, «interrogaverunt nos.» Verba canticorum et hymnum interrogaverunt nos, qui captivos duxerunt nos. Qui nos duxerunt captivos, fratres? quos sensimus aliquando captivatores nostros? Sensit quidem illa Jerusalem Babylonios, Persas, Chaldaeos, et illarum gentium et regionum homines captivatores suos; et hoc postea, non quando isti psalmi cantabantur. Sed jam diximus Charitati vestrae omnia quae secundum litteram in illa civitate contingebant, figuras nostras fuisse: et facile potest demonstrari captivos nos esse. Non enim respiramus jam in auras illius libertatis; non enim fruimur puritate veritatis, et illa sapientia quae in seipsa manens innovat omnia . Delectationibus temporalium rerum tentamur, et colluctamur quotidie cum suggestionibus illicitarum voluptatum: vix respiramus vel in oratione; captivos nos esse intelligimus. Sed qui nos captivos duxerunt? qui homines? quae gens? qui rex? Si redimimur, captivi eramus. Quis nos redemit? Christus. A quo nos redemit? A diabolo. Diabolus ergo et angeli ejus captivos nos duxerunt; nec ducerent nisi consentientes. Nos ducti sumus captivi. Captivatores nostri dixi qui sint. Ipsi sunt etiam latrones vulnerantes illum viatorem qui descendit ab Jerusalem in Jericho; quem sauciatum semivivum reliquerunt. Hunc ille custos noster, id est Samaritanus (Samaritanus enim Custos interpretatur), cui objectum est a Judaeis et dictum, «Nonne verum dicimus quia Samaritanus es, et daemonium habes?» et ille objectorum duorum unum respuit, et unum tenuit: «Ego,» inquit, «daemonium non habeo» ; non autem dixit, Ego non sum Samaritanus: si enim ille Samaritanus non custodierit, utique perimus: Samaritanus ergo transiens vidit saucium et vulneratum derelictum a latronibus, et sicut nostis, collegit . Sicut aliquando latronum nomine ponuntur, qui nobis plagas peccatorum inflixerunt, jam per consensionem nostrae captivitatis; sic et captivatores nostri ipsi dicuntur.
136.8 PL 36, 1765
8. But if these words further signify something else which more closely concerns us, God “by His wisdom made the heavens,” that is, His saints, spiritual men, to whom He has given not only to believe, but also to understand things divine; those who cannot yet attain to this, and only hold their faith firmly, as being beneath the heavens, are figured by the name of earth. And because they abide with unshaken belief upon the baptism they have received, therefore it is said, “He laid out the earth above the waters.” Further, since it is written of our Lord Jesus Christ, that “in Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,” and that these two, wisdom and knowledge, differ somewhat from one another is testified by other utterances of Scripture, especially in the words of holy Job, where both are in a manner defined; not unsuitably then do we understand wisdom to consist in the knowledge and love of That which ever is and abideth unchangeable, which is God. For where he saith, “piety is wisdom,” in Greek is θεοσ™βεια, and to express the whole of this in Latin, we may call it worship of God. But to depart from evil, which he calls knowledge, what else is it but to walk cautiously and heedfully “in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,” in the night, as it were, of this world, that each one by keeping himself from iniquity may avoid being confounded with the darkness, distinguished by the light of his proper gift.…
Isti ergo «qui captivos duxerunt nos,» diabolus et angeli ejus, quando nobis dixerunt, et quando «nos interrogaverunt verba canticorum?» Quid ergo intelligimus? Quia cum tales nos interrogant, in quibus diabolus operatur, intelligendus est ipse nos interrogare, qui in eis operatur. Apostolus dicit: «Et vos cum essetis» «mortui in delictis et peccatis vestris, cum viveretis in illis secundum saeculum mundi hujus, secundum principem potestatis aeris hujus, spiritus qui nunc operatur in filiis diffidentiae, in quibus et nos,» inquit, «aliquando conversati sumus» . Ostendit se redemptum de Babylonia coepisse jam exire. Sed tamen adhuc quid dicit? Quia cum hostibus nostris confligimus. Et ne irascamur hominibus qui nobis ingerunt persecutiones, tulit intentionem nostram Apostolus ab odio hominum, et direxit in luctam quorumdam spirituum, quos non videmus, et cum ipsis confligimus. Ait enim: «Non est vobis colluctatio adversus carnem et sanguinem;» id est, adversus homines quos videtis, a quibus mala videmini pati, qui vobis important persecutiones: nam pro ipsis orare praecepti sumus. «Non est vobis,» inquit, «colluctatio adversus carnem et sanguinem,» id est, adversus homines; «sed adversus principes, et potestates, et rectores mundi tenebrarum harum» . Quid dixit, «mundi?» Dilectorum mundi. Hos appellavit et tenebras, id est iniquos, sceleratos, infideles, peccatores; quibus jam credentibus gratulatur hoc modo, ut dicat: «Fuistis enim aliquando tenebrae, nunc autem lux in Domino» . Ergo constituit nos luctam habere cum illis principibus; ipsi nos duxerunt captivos.
136.9 PL 36, 1766
9. “Who brought out Israel from the midst of them” (ver. 11). He brought out also His saints and faithful ones from the midst of the wicked. “With a mighty Hand and stretched-out Arm” (ver. 12). What more powerful, what more out-stretched, than that of which is said “To whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed?” “Who divided the Red Sea in two parts” (ver. 13). He divided also in such wise, that the same baptism should be to some unto life, to others unto death. “And brought out Israel through the midst of it” (ver. 14). So too He brings out His renewed people through the laver of regeneration. “And overthrew Pharaoh and his power in the Red Sea” (ver. 15). He quickly destroyeth both the sin of His people and the guilt thereof by baptism. “Who led His people through the wilderness” (ver. 16). Us too He leadeth through the drought and barrenness of this world, that we perish not therein. “Who smote great kings” (ver. 17), “and slew famous kings” (ver. 18). From us too He smites and slays the deadly powers of the devil. “Sehon king of the Amorites” (ver. 19), an “useless shoot,” or “fiery temptation,” for so is Sehon interpreted: the king of “them who cause bitterness,” for such is the meaning of Amorites. “And Og, the king of Basan” (ver. 20). The “heaper-together,” such is the meaning of Og, and, king of “confusion,” which Basan signifies. For what else doth the devil heap together but confusion? “And gave away their land for an heritage” (ver. 21), “even an heritage unto Israel His servant” (ver. 22). For He giveth them, whom once the devil owned, for an heritage to the seed of Abraham, that is, Christ. “Who remembered us in our low estate” (ver. 23), “and redeemed us from our enemies” (ver. 24) by the Blood of His only-begotten Son. “Who giveth food to all flesh” (ver. 25), that is, to the whole race of mankind, not Israelites only, but Gentiles too; and of this Food is said, “My Flesh is meat indeed.” “Give thanks unto the God of Heaven” (ver. 26). “Give thanks unto the Lord of lords” (ver. 27). For what he here says, “the God of Heaven,” I suppose that he meant to express in other words what He had before said, “the God of gods.” For what there he subjoined, he has here also repeated. “Give thanks unto the Lord of lords.” “But to us there is but one God,” etc., “and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him;” to whom we confess that “His mercy endureth for ever.”
Quomodo autem diabolus intravit in cor Judae , ut traderet Dominum, non autem intraret, nisi ille locum daret; sic multi mali homines de media Babylonia per desideria carnalia et illicita locum dando diabolo et angelis ejus in cordibus suis, ut in illis et de illis operetur, aliquando interrogant nos, et dicunt nobis: Exponite nobis rationem. Pagani plerique dicunt ista nobis: Exponite rationem, quare venit Christus, et quid profuit Christus generi humano? Nonne ex quo venit Christus pejora sunt in rebus humanis, quam fuerunt antea, et feliciores tunc erant res humanae quam modo? Dicant nobis Christiani quid boni attulit Christus? unde feliciores putent res humanas, quia venit Christus? Vides enim, si theatra et amphitheatra et circi starent incolumes, si nihil caderet de Babylonia, si ubertas esset circumfluentium voluptatum hominibus cantaturis et saltaturis ad turpia cantica, si libido scortantium et meretricantium haberet quietem et securitatem, si non timeret famem in domo sua qui clamat ut pantomimi vestiantur; si haec omnia sine labe, sine perturbatione aliqua fluerent, et esset securitas magna nugarum, felicia essent tempora, et magnam felicitatem rebus humanis Christus attulisset. Quia vero caeduntur iniquitates, ut exstirpata cupiditate plantetur charitas Jerusalem; quia miscentur amaritudines vitae temporali, ut aeterna desideretur; quia erudiuntur in flagellis homines, paternam accipientes disciplinam, ne judiciariam inveniant sententiam; nihil boni attulit Christus, et labores attulit Christus. Et incipis dicere homini quanta bona fecerit Christus, et non capit. Proponis enim illi eosqui faciunt quod modo audistis in Evangelio, vendunt omnia sua et dant pauperibus, ut habeant thesaurum in coelis et sequantur Dominum : dicis illi, Ecce quod attulit Christus. Quam multi faciunt ista, ut distribuant res suas egenis, et fiant pauperes, non necessitate, sed voluntate, sequentes Deum, sperantes regnum coelorum! Irrident isti quasi stultos: Et talia, inquiunt, bona attulit Christus, ut perdat homo res suas, et cum dat egenis, remaneat egenus? Quid ergo facies? Bona Christi non capis: alius enim te implevit, qui adversarius est Christo, cui dedisti locum in corde tuo. Priora tempora respicis, et quasi laetiora tibi videntur fuisse tempora pristina, quae sic erant tanquam olivae pendentes in arbore, ducentibus ventis, quasi quadam libertate aurae perfruentes vago quodam desiderio suo. Ventum est ut oliva mitteretur in torcular: non enim semper pendere habebat in arbore: jam finis est anni. Non sine causa inscribuntur psalmi quidam, «Pro torcularibus» : in arbore libertas, in torculari pressura. Cum enim res humanae conteruntur et premuntur, attendis quia crescit avaritia; attende quia crescit et continentia. Quare tam caecus es, ut amurcam fluentem per plateas videas, oleum in gemellaria non videas? Et hoc non sine causa. Qui enim male versantur, publice noti sunt; qui autem se convertunt ad Deum, et a sordibus malarum cupiditatum purgantur, occulti sunt: quia et in ipso vel ex ipso torculari amurca aperte fluit, oleum occulte eliquatur.