Expositions on the Book of Psalms 53
53.1 Psalm LIII PL 36, 619
1. Of this Psalm we undertake to treat with you, as far as the Lord supplieth us. A brother biddeth us that we may have the will, and prayeth that we may have the power. If anything in haste perchance I shall have passed over, He that even to us deigneth to give what we shall be enabled to say, will supply it in you. The title of it is: “At the end, for Maeleth, understanding to David himself.” “For Maeleth,” as we find in interpretations of Hebrew names, seemeth to say, For one travailing, or in pain. But who there is in this world that travaileth and is in pain, the faithful acknowledge, because thereof they are. Christ here travaileth, Christ here is in pain: the Head is above, the members below. For one not travailing nor in pain would not say, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” Him, with whom when persecuting He was travailing, being converted, He made to travail. For he also was himself afterwards enlightened, and grafted on those members which he used to persecute; being pregnant with the same love, he said, “My little children, of whom again I travail, until Christ be formed in you.” For the members therefore of Christ, for His Body which is the Church, for that same One Man, that is, for that very unity, whereof the Head is above, this Psalm is sung.…Who are they, then, amid whom we travail and groan, if in the Body of Christ we are, if under Him, the Head, we live, if amongst His members we are counted? Who they are, hear ye.
[vers. 1, 2.] Psalmi hujus titulus habet fructum prolixitatis suae, si intelligatur: et quia Psalmus brevis est, compensemus in mora tituli quod in Psalmo non immorabimur. Inde enim pendet omnis versus qui cantatur. Si quis itaque agnoscat quod in domus fronte praefixum est, securus intrabit; nec cum intraverit, errabit. Hoc enim in ipso poste praenotatum est, quomodo interius non erretur. Titulus ejus sic se habet: In finem, in hymnis, intellectus ipsi David, cum venerunt Ziphaei, et dixerunt ad Saül: Nonne ecce David absconditus est apud nos? Quod Saül persecutor erat sancti viri David, optime novimus: quod figuram gerebat Saül temporalis regni, non ad vitam, sed ad mortem pertinentis, et hoc Vestrae Charitati nos commendasse meminimus. Itemque quod ipse David figuram gerebat Christi, vel corporis Christi, et nosse debetis, et recolere qui jam nostis. Quid ergo Ziphaei? Vicus quidam erat Ziph, cujus habitatores Ziphaei, in quorum regione se absconderat David, cum eum vellet Saül invenire et occidere. Isti ergo Ziphaei cum hoc cognovissent, prodiderunt eum regi persecutori, dicentes, Nonne ecce David absconditus est apud nos ? Nihil quidem profuit illis proditio eorum, et ipsi David nihil obfuit. Namque animus eorum malignus demonstratus est: Saül vero nec post eorum proditionem potuit comprehendere David; sed potius in ipsius regionis quadam spelunca, cum ejus manibus datus esset occidendus Saül, pepercit ibi David, et quod habebat in potestate non fecit . Ille autem quaerebat facere quod in potestate non habuit. Ziphaei ergo viderint illi qui fuerint: quos nobis Psalmus ex illorum occasione intelligendos offerat, videamus.
53.2 PL 36, 619
2. “The unwise man hath said in his heart, There is no God” (ver. 1). Such sort is it of men amid whom is pained and groaneth the Body of Christ. If such is this sort of men, of not many do we travail; as far as seemeth to occur to our thoughts, very few there are; and a difficult thing it is to meet with a man that saith in his heart, “There is no God;” nevertheless, so few there are, that, fearing amid the many to say this, in their heart they say it, for that with mouth to say it they dare not. Not much then is that which we are bid to endure, hardly is it found: uncommon is that sort of men that say in their heart, “There is no God.” But, if it be examined in another sense, is not that found to be in more men, which we supposed to be in men few and uncommon, and almost in none? Let them come forth into the midst that live evil lives, let us look into the doings of profligate, daring, and wicked men, of whom there is a great multitude; who foster day by day their sins, who, their acts having been changed into habit, have even lost sense of shame: this is so great a multitude of men, that the Body of Christ, set amid them, scarce dareth to censure that which it is not constrained to commit, and deemeth it a great matter for itself that the integrity of innocence be preserved in not doing that which now, by habit, either it doth not dare to blame, or if it shall have dared, there breaketh out the censure and recrimination of them that live evil lives, more readily than the free voice of them that live good lives. And those men are such as say in their heart, “There is no God.” Such men I am confuting. Whence confuting? That their doings please God, they judge. He doth not therefore affirm, “some say,” but “The unwise man hath said in his heart, There is no God.” Which men do so far believe there is a God, that the same God they judge with what they do to be pleased. But if thou being wise dost perceive, how “the unwise man hath said in his heart, There is no God,” if thou give heed, if thou understand, if thou examine; he that thinketh that evil doings please God, Him he doth not think to be God. For if God is, He is just; if He is just, injustice displeaseth Him, iniquity displeaseth. But thou, when thou thinkest that iniquity pleaseth Him, dost deny God. For if God is one Whom iniquity displeaseth, but God seemeth not to thee to be one whom iniquity displeaseth, and there is no God but one whom iniquity displeaseth, then when thou sayest in thy heart, God doth countenance my iniquities, thou sayest nothing else than, “There is no God.”
Si quaeramus ergo quid interpretentur Ziphaei, invenimus Florentes. Florentes ergo nescio qui inimici erant sancto David, florentes latenti. Inveniamus eos in genere humano, si Psalmum intelligere volumus. Inveniamus hic primo David latentem, et inveniemus ei adversarios florentes. Attende David latentem: Mortui enim estis, dicit Apostolus membris Christi, et vita vestra abscondita est cum Christo in Deo. Isti ergo latentes quando erunt florentes? Cum Christus, inquit, apparuerit vita vestra, tunc et vos cum illo apparebitis in gloria . Quando erunt isti florentes, tunc erunt illi Ziphaei arescentes. Cui namque flori illorum comparetur gloria, attendite: Omnis caro fenum, et omnis honor carnis ut flos feni. Quis finis? Fenum aruit, et flos decidit. Ubi tunc erit David? Vide quid sequitur: Verbum autem Domini manet in aeternum . Illa ergo duo genera hominum sunt, quae et distinguere debetis, et eorum alterum eligere. Quid enim tibi prodest nosse, si eligere piger es? Et quidem nunc eligendi potestas adjacet: veniet tempus quando tibi potestas decrit eligendi, cum jam Deus sententiam non differet judicandi. Qui sunt enim isti florentes Ziphaei, nisi corpus illud Doech Idumaei, de quo jam locuti sumus Charitati Vestrae ante paucos dies: de quo dictum est, Ecce homo qui non posuit Deum adjutorem suum, sed speravit in multitudine divitiarum suarum, et praevaluit in vanitate sua? Isti sunt florentes filii saeculi, quos modo ex Evangelio audistis quia in sua generatione astutiores sunt filiis lucis. Etenim ipsi videntur prospicere in posterum, quo nesciunt utrum veniant. Audistis quid fecerit domino suo villicus ille faciens sibi bonum de re domini sui, et largiens debitoribus illius, ut cum amotus esset a villicatione, susciperetur ab eis. Et quamvis fraudem fecerit domino suo, tamen cor ejus laudavit dominus ejus, non attendens ad damnum suum, sed ad ejus ingenium. Quanto magis nos debemus, ipso Domino nostro Jesu Christo admonente, facere nobis amicos de mammona iniquitatis ? Mammona enim divitiae interpretantur. Nostrae autem divitiae ibi sunt, ubi est domus nostra aeterna in coelis. Proinde pecuniam temporalem illi appellant divitias, qui nisi temporaliter florere non possunt, nec in aeternum sibi ex his amicos facere volunt, quia veras divitias non noverunt. Has ergo divitias sola iniquitas putat, florens ad tempus ut fenum. Hi sunt Ziphaei inimici David, florentes in saeculo.
53.3 PL 36, 620
3. Let us advert also to that sense, which concerning Christ our Lord Himself, our Head Himself, doth present itself. For when Himself in form of a servant appeared on earth, they that crucified Him said, “He is not God.” Because Son of God He was, truly God He was. But they that are corrupted and have become abominable said what? “He is not God:” let us slay Him, “He is not God.” Thou hast the voice of these very men in the book of Wisdom. For after there had gone before the verse, “The unwise man hath said in his heart, There is no God;” as if reasons were required why the unwise man could say this, he hath subjoined, “Corrupted they are, and abominable have become in their iniquities” (ver. 2). Hear ye those corrupted men. “For they have said with themselves, not rightly thinking:” corruption beginneth with evil belief, thence it proceedeth to depraved morals, thence to the most flagrant iniquities, these are the grades. But what with themselves said they, thinking not rightly? “A small thing and with tediousness is our life.” From this evil belief followeth that which also the Apostle hath spoken of, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die.” But in the former passage more diffusely luxury itself is described: “Let us crown us with roses, before they be withered; in every place let us leave the tokens of our gladness.” After the more diffuse description of that luxury, what followeth? “Let us slay the poor just man:” this is therefore saying, “He is not God.” Soft words they seemed but now to say: “Let us crown us with roses, before they be withered.” What more delicate, what more soft? Wouldest thou expect, out of this softness, Crosses, swords? Wonder not, soft are even the roots of brambles; if any one handle them, he is not pricked: but that wherewith thou shalt be pricked from thence hath birth. “Corrupted,” therefore, are those men, “and abominable have become in their iniquities.” They say, “If Son of God He is, let Him come down from the Cross.” Behold them openly saying, “He is not God.”…
Hos aliquando attendunt etiam filii lucis infirmi, et nutant eis pedes, cum viderint malos felicitate florere; et dicunt apud seipsos: Quid mihi prodest innocentia? Quid mihi confert quod Deo servio, quod mandata ejus custodio, quod neminem premo, nemini aliquid rapio, nulli noceo, quod possum praesto? ecce haec omnia facio, et florent illi, ego laboro. Quid enim? Et tu Ziphaeus velles esse? Florent in saeculo, arescent in judicio, et post ariditatem in ignem aeternum mittentur: hoc velles et tu? Ignoras quid tibi promiserit qui ad te venit, quid in seipso hic ostenderit? Si flos Ziphaeorum appetendus esset, ipse Dominus tuus nonne et in hoc saeculo floruisset? Aut vero deerat illi hic posse florere? Sed hic maluit inter Ziphaeos latere, et dicere Pontio Pilato interroganti, tanquam et ipsi flori Ziphaeorum, et suspecto de regno ejus: Regnum meum non est de hoc mundo . Ergo hic latebat: et omnes boni latent hic, quia bonum eorum intus est, absconditum est, in corde est, ubi fides, ubi charitas, ubi spes, ubi thesaurus illorum. Numquid haec bona apparent in saeculo? Et haec bona latent, et horum bonorum merces latet. At vero dignitas saeculi quomodo alba est? Nitet ad tempus: numquid semper nitebit? Herba est hiemalis, usque ad aestatem viret. Non ergo fiat in animo quod in alio psalmo invenimus. Confitetur enim quidam prope se cecidisse nutantem, et labasse gressus suos ambulantes in via Dei, dum aspiceret florem quemdam felicitatemque iniquorum: et posteaquam cognovit quid iniquis in finem servaret Deus, et quid justis laborantibus promitteret qui fallere non potest, agens gratias de hac cognitione, ait: Quam bonus Deus Israel rectis corde! Quare hoc dicis? Mei autem, inquit, pene commoti sunt pedes. Unde? Quia zelavi in peccatoribus, pacem peccatorum intuens. Confirmati sunt autem gressus ejus, postea quam intellexit in novissima. Quod enim in eodem psalmo paulo post dicit, Hoc labor est ante me: id est, magna mihi quaestio surrexit in corde, quare homines male faciunt, et in saeculo florent; multi autem bene agunt, et in hac terra laborant. Quaestio ergo ista cum magna esset ante oculos meos, et laboriosa ad investigandum; Labor est, inquit, ante me, donec introeam in sanctuarium Dei, et intelligam in novissima . Quae sunt ista novissima? Quae, nisi quae scimus jam in Evangelio praenuntiata? Cum enim venerit Filius hominis, congregabuntur ante eum omnes gentes; et separabit eos, sicut pastor segregat oves ab haedis: oves ponet ad dexteram, haedos ad sinistram . Ecce jam illi Ziphaei separabuntur: flamma sequitur separationem. Ubi est flos eorum qui jam ad sinistram stabunt? Nonne tunc ingemiscent? nonne tunc sera poenitentia torquebuntur, et dicent: Quid nobis profuit superbia, et divitiarum jactantia quid contulit nobis? Transierunt omnia illa tanquam umbra . O Ziphaei ad sinistram stantes, sero poenitet vos in umbra floruisse! Quare David, quem prodebatis inter vos latere, non agnoscebatis? Tunc enim si corrigeremini, dolor iste infructuosus non esset. Est enim dolor fructuosus, est infructuosus; fructuosus dolor nunc est cum te accusas, cum in te reprehendis malos mores tuos, cum reprehensos persequeris, persecutos excludis, illisque exclusis mutaris, exuens te veterem hominem et induens novum, eligens potius Christi opprobrium quam florem Ziphaeorum. Porro si tibi contigerit habenti in occulto bonum tuum et latenti inter Ziphaeos, habenti etiam in occulto promissionem mercedis tuae, aliqua sublimitas saeculi, noli extolli: nam si elatus ex illa fueris, cades in florem Ziphaeorum. Sic enim mulier quaedam sancta Esther in illo tunc populo Judaeorum, cum esset uxor regis alienigenae, ventum est ad periculum civium, ut deprecaretur regem pro civibus suis; coepit orare, et in ipsa oratione confessa est illa omnia insignia regalia sic sibi esse velut pannum menstruatae . Si haec mulieres possunt, viri non possunt? Et si haec potuit mulier Judaea, non poterit Ecclesia christiana? Hoc ergo dixerim Charitati Vestrae: Divitiae si affluant, ne apponatis cor . Abundent licet, et sequatur te prosperitas saeculi, tu mari noli credere, nec ridenti. Divitiae si affluant, si abundent, calca eas, et suspendere ex Deo tuo. Cum enim eas subter te habueris, et ex illo pependeris, cum fuerint subtractae, non cades. Ne forte per malam cogitationem minimeque christianam fiat in te quod dicitur in alio psalmo, commemorato flore Ziphaeorum istorum: Nimis, inquit, profundae factae sunt cogitationes tuae. Dico dicitur, Nimis profundae factae sunt cogitationes tuae: vir imprudens non cognoscet, et stultus non intelliget haec. Quid non intelliget? Cum exorientur peccatores sicut fenum, et prospexerint omnes qui operantur iniquitatem, ut intereant in saeculum saeculi . Delectavit eos flos malorum: dixerunt apud se, Ecce mali florent, puto malos amat Deus: et delectati temporali flore iniquorum, conversi sunt ad iniquitatem, ut interirent. Non ad tempus sicut illi florent, sed in saeculum saeculi. Unde hoc? Quia vir imprudens non cognoscet, et stultus non intelliget haec, non intrans sanctuarium Dei, ut intelligat in novissima. Et quia difficilis est aliquantulum intellectus hic inde coepit psalmus iste, ut David lateret inter Ziphaeos, nec delectaretur flore Ziphaeorum; sed eligeret potius inter illos humilitatem, ut haberet apud Deum absconditam claritatem. Quid ergo ei tribuitur in hoc titulo? In finem, in hymnis: hoc est in laudibus. Quibus laudibus? Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit; sicut Domino placuit, ita factum est: sit nomen Domini benedictum . Quasi aruisse videbatur, perdita omni substantia? Absit. Folia ceciderant, radix vivebat. Ergo, In finem, in hymnis. Quid, Intellectus ipsi David? Intellectus contra illud: Vir imprudens non cognoscet, et stultus non intelliget haec. Intellectus ipsi David, cum venerunt Ziphaei, et dixerunt ad Saül: Nonne ecce David absconditus est apud nos? Et sit absconditus apud vos, dummodo non floreat sicut vos. Audi ergo vocem ejus.
53.4 PL 36, 622
4. “The Lord from Heaven hath looked forth upon the sons of men, that He might see if there is one understanding and seeking after God” (ver. 3). What is this? “Corrupted they are,” all these that say, “There is no God”? And what? Did it escape God, that they were become such? Or indeed to us would their inward thought be opened, except by Him it were told? If then He understood, if then He knew, what is this which hath been said, “that He might see”? For the words are of one inquiring, of one not knowing. “God from Heaven hath looked forth,” etc. And as though He had found what He sought by looking upon, and by looking down from Heaven, He giveth sentence: “All men have gone aside, together useless they have become: there is not one that doeth good, not so much as one” (ver. 4). Two questions arise somewhat difficult: for if God looketh out from Heaven, in order that He may see if there is one understanding or seeking after God; there stealeth upon an unwise man the thought, that God knoweth not all things. This is one question: what is the other? If there is not one that doeth good, is not so much as one; who is he that travaileth amid bad men? The former question then is solved as followeth: ofttimes the Scripture speaketh in such manner, that what by the gift of God a creature doth, God is said to do.…For hence has been said the following also, “For the Spirit searcheth all things, even the depth of God;” not because He that knoweth all things searcheth, but because to thee hath been given the Spirit, which maketh thee also to search: and that which by His own gift thou doest, He is said to do; because without Him thou wouldest not do it: therefore God is said to do, when thou doest.…And because this by the gift of God thou doest, God from heaven is “looking forth upon the sons of men.” The former question then, according to our measure, thus hath been solved.
[vers. 3.] Deus in nomine tuo salvum me fac, et in virtute tua judica me. Hoc dicat Ecclesia latens inter Ziphaeos. Hoc dicat corpus christianum habens in occulto bonum morum suorum, sperans de occulto mercedem meritorum suorum; hoc dicat: Deus in nomine tuo salvum me fac, et in virtute tua judica me. Venisti, o Christe, humilis apparuisti, contemptus es, flagellatus es, crucifixus es, occisus es: sed tertio die resurrexisti, quadragesimo die in coelum ascendisti, sedes ad dexteram Patris, et nemo videt. Spiritum tuum inde misisti, quem acceperunt digni; impleti amore tuo, laudem ipsius humilitatis tuae per mundum gentesque praedicaverunt: nomen tuum video excellere in genere humano, sed tamen infirmus nobis praedicatus es. Neque enim et ille doctor Gentium dixit aliquid inter nos se scire, nisi Christum Jesum, et hunc crucifixum , ut ejus eligeremus opprobrium, magis quam gloriam florentium Ziphaeorum. Verumtamen de illo quid ait? Etsi mortuus est ex infirmitate, sed vivit ex virtute Dei . Venit ergo ut moreretur ex infirmitate, venturus est ut judicet in virtute Dei: sed per infirmitatem crucis clarificatum est nomen ejus. Quisquis non crediderit in nomen clarificatum per infirmitatem, expavescet ad judicem cum venerit in virtute. Ne autem quondam ille infirmus, cum venerit fortis, ventilabro illo ad sinistram nos mittat; salvet nos in nomine suo, et judicet nos in virtute sua. Quis enim hoc tam temerarius optaverit, ut dicat Deo, Judica me? Nonne pro maledicto dici solet hominibus: Judicet te Deus? Ita plane est maledictum, si judicat te in virtute sua; sed si non te salvaverit in nomine suo: cum vero in nomine praecedente salvaverit te, salubriter in virtute consequente judicabit. Securus esto: judicium illud non tibi erit punitio, sed discretio. Nam et in quodam psalmo ita dicitur: Judica me, Deus, et discerne causam meam de gente non sancta . Quid est, Judica me? Discerne me a Ziphaeis inter quos lateo: pertuli eorum florem, jam veniat et flos meus. Et illorum quidem flos fuit temporalis, et arescente feno decidit: flos autem meus quis erit? Plantati in domo Domini, in atriis domus Dei nostri florebunt . Remanet ergo et nobis flos, sed qui non cadat, sicut folium plantati illius ligni juxta aquas, de quo dictum est: Et folium ejus non decidet . Deus ergo in nomine tuo salvum me fac, et in virtute tua judica me.
53.5 PL 36, 623
5. What is that which looking forth we acknowledge? What is that which looking forth God acknowledgeth? What (because here He giveth it) doth He acknowledge? Hear what it is; that “All have gone aside, together useless they have become: there is not one that doeth good, there is not so much as one.” What then is that other question, but the same whereof a little before I have made mention? If, “There is not one that doeth good, is not so much as one,” no one remaineth to groan amid evil men. Stay, saith the Lord, do not hastily give judgment. I have given to men to do well; but of Me, He saith, not of themselves: for of themselves evil they are: sons of men they are, when they do evil; when well, My sons. For this thing God doth, out of sons of men He maketh sons of God: because out of Son of God He hath made Son of Man. See what this participation is: there hath been promised to us a participation of Divinity: He lieth that hath promised, if He is not first made partaker of mortality. For the Son of God hath been made partaker of mortality, in order that mortal man may be made partaker of divinity. He that hath promised that His good is to be shared with thee, first with thee hath shared thy evil: He that to thee hath promised divinity, showeth in thee love. Therefore take away that men are sons of God, there remaineth that they are sons of men: “There is none that doeth good, is not so much as one.”
[vers. 4.] Deus, exaudi orationem meam; auribus percipe verba oris mei. Perveniant ad aures tuas verba oris mei, quia non florem Ziphaeorum a te desidero. Auribus percipe verba oris mei: tu percipe; nam Ziphaeis etsi sonet oratio mea, non audiunt, quia non intelligunt. Temporalibus quippe gaudent, bona aeterna desiderare non norunt. Ad te perveniat oratio mea, ex desiderio aeternorum tuorum beneficiorum excussa et jaculata: ad aures tuas emitto eam; adjuva eam ut perveniat, ne deficiat in itinere medio, et quasi collapsa corruat. Sed etsi non mihi eveniunt modo bona quae postulo, securus sum tamen quia postea venient. Nam et in delictis dicitur quidam rogasse Deum, et non exauditus bono suo. Desideria enim saecularia incitaverant illum ad orandum; et in tribulationibus temporalibus positus, optaverat ut transirent tribulationes temporales et rediret flos feni, et ait: Deus meus, Deus meus, utquid me dereliquisti? Vox ipsa Christi est, sed pro membris suis. Verba, inquit, delictorum meorum: clamavi ad te per diem, nec exaudisti; et nocte, et non ad insipientiam mihi : id est, et nocte clamavi, et non exaudisti; et tamen hoc ipsum quod non exaudisti, non ad insipientiam mihi non exaudisti, sed magis ad sapientiam non exaudisti, ut intelligerem quid a te petere deberem. Ea enim petebam quae malo meo fortassis acciperem. Petis divitias, o homo! quanti sunt eversi per divitias suas! Unde scis utrum tibi sint profuturae divitiae? Nonne multi pauperes tutius latebant; divites facti, mox ut lucere coeperunt, praeda fortioribus fuerunt? Quanto melius laterent, quanto melius nescirentur, qui coeperunt quaeri, non propter quod erant, sed propter quod habebant! In his ergo temporalibus, fratres, admonemus vos et exhortamur in Domino, ut non petatis aliquid quasi fixum, sed quod vobis Deus expedire scit. Quid enim vobis expediat, omnino nescitis. Aliquando quod putatis prodesse, obest; et quod putatis obesse, hoc prodest. Aegri enim estis, nolite medico dictare quae vobis medicamenta velit apponere. Si doctor gentium Paulus apostolus dicit, Quid enim oremus sicut oportet, nescimus ; quanto magis nos? Qui tamen cum sibi videretur ipse prudenter orare, ut ab eo auferretur stimulus carnis, angelus satanae qui eum colaphizabat, ne in magnitudine revelationum extolleretur, quid audivit a Domino? Numquid factum est quod volebat? Non; ut fieret quod expediebat. Quid ergo audivit a Domino? Ter, inquit, rogavi Dominum, ut auferret eum a me; et dixit mihi, Sufficit tibi gratia mea: nam virtus in infirmitate perficitur . Ego medicamentum ad vulnus posui: quando posuerim novi, quando auferendum sit novi. Non recedat aegrotus a manibus medici, non det consilium medico. Ita sunt ista omnia temporalia. Tribulationes sunt; si bene colis Deum, noveris quia novit quid cuique expediat: prosperitates sunt; magis cave ne ipsae corrumpant animum tuum, ut ab eo qui haec dedit recedat. Ergo iste intelligens quid ait? Deus, exaudi orationem meam; auribus percipe verba oris mei.
53.6 PL 36, 624
6. “Shall not all know that work iniquity, that devour My people for the food of bread”? (ver. 5).…There is therefore here a people of God that is being devoured. Nay, “There is not one that doeth good, there is not so much as one.” We reply by the rule above. But this people that is devoured, this people that suffereth evil men, this that groaneth and travaileth amid evil men, now out of sons of men have been made sons of God: therefore are they devoured. For, “The counsel of the needy man thou hast confounded, because the Lord is his hope.” For ofttimes, in order that the people of God may be devoured, this very thing in it is despised, that it is the people of God. I will pillage, he saith, and despoil; if he is a Christian, what will he do to me?…But what followeth? “I will convince thee, and will set thee before thy face.” Thou wilt not now know so as thou shouldest be displeasing to thyself, thou shalt know so as thou mayest mourn. For God cannot but show to the unrighteous their iniquity. If He is not to show, who will they be that are to say, “What hath profited us pride, and what hath boasting of riches bestowed upon us?” For then shall they know, that now will not know. “Shall not all know?” etc. Why hath He added, “for the food of bread”? As it were as bread, they eat My people. For all other things which we eat, we can eat now these, now those; not always this vegetable, not always this flesh, not always these apples: but always bread. What is then, “Devour My people for the food of bread”? Without intermission, without cessation they devour.
[vers. 5.] Quoniam alieni insurrexerunt adversum me. Qui alieni? Nonne ipse David Judaeus erat de tribu Juda? Ipse autem locus Ziph ad tribum Juda pertinebat, Judaeorum erat. Quomodo ergo alieni? Non civitate, non tribu, non cognatione, sed flore. Nam vis nosse alienos istos? In alio psalmo filii alieni dicti sunt, quorum os locutum est vanitatem, et dextera eorum dextera iniquitatis. Et enumerat florem Ziphaeorum: Quorum filii eorum velut novellae constabilitae in juventute sua: filiae eorum compositae et ornatae, sicut similitudo templi; cellaria eorum plena, eructantia ex hoc in hoc: oves eorum fecundae, multiplicantes in exitibus suis; boves eorum crassi: non est ruina sepis, nec exitus, neque clamor in plateis eorum. Sed vide Ziphaeos, vide ad tempus florentes. Beatum dixerunt populum cui haec sunt. Merito filii alieni. Tu quid, latens inter Ziphaeos? Beatus populus cujus Dominus Deus ipsius . Ex hoc affectu haec oratio mittitur ad aures Domini, cum dicitur: Auribus percipe verba oris mei; quoniam alieni insurrexerunt adversum me.
53.7 PL 36, 625
7. “On God they have not called.” He is comforting the man that groaneth, and chiefly by an admonition, lest by imitating evil men, who ofttimes prosper, they delight in evil doing. There is kept for thee that which to thee hath been promised: their hope is present, thine is future, but theirs is transient, thine sure; theirs false, thine true. For they “upon God have not called.” Do not daily such men ask of God? They do “not” ask of God. Give heed, if I am able to say this by the aid of God Himself. God gratuitously will have Himself to be worshipped, gratuitously will have Himself to be loved, that is chastely to be loved; not Himself to be loved for the reason that He giveth anything besides Himself, but because He giveth Himself. He then that calleth upon God in order that He may be made rich, on God doth not call: for upon that He calleth which to himself he willeth to come.…But now thou wouldest have coffer full, and conscience void: God filleth not coffer, but breast. What do outward riches profit thee, if inward need presseth thee? Therefore those men that for the sake of worldly comforts, that for the sake of earthly good things, that for the sake of present life and earthly felicity, call upon God, do not call upon God.
Et potentes quaesierunt animam meam. Novo enim modo, fratres mei, volunt perdere genus sanctorum et ab hujus saeculi spe abstinentium omnes qui spem habent in isto saeculo. Certe concreti sunt, certe simul vivunt. Vehementer sibi adversa sunt ista duo genera: unum eorum qui non ponunt spem nisi in rebus saecularibus et temporali felicitate, et alterum eorum qui spem suam in Domino Deo suo firmiter ponunt. Et cum concordes sunt isti Ziphaei, noli multum credere concordiae eorum; tentationes desunt: ubi venerit aliqua tentatio, ut arguatur aliquis pro flore saeculi, non tibi dico offendet episcopo, sed nec ad ipsam Ecclesiam accedere vult, ne cadat aliquid feni. Quare ista dixi, fratres? Quia modo libenter auditis omnes in nomine Christi, et quemadmodum intelligitis, ita exclamatis ad verbum; non utique acclamaretis, nisi intelligeretis. Intellectus iste vester fructuosus esse debet. Utrum autem fructuosus sit, tentatio interrogat; ne subito cum dicimini nostri, per tentationem inveniamini alieni, et dicatur, Alieni insurrexerunt adversum me, et potentes quaesierunt animam meam; ne dicatur quod sequitur, Non proposuerunt Deum ante conspectum suum. Quando enim ponet ante conspectum suum Deum, ante cujus conspectum non est nisi saeculum? quomodo sit nummus super nummum, quomodo augeantur greges, quomodo impleantur apothocae, quomodo dicatur animae: Habes multa bona; jucundare, epulare, satiare. Numquid ponit ante conspectum suum illum qui sic glorianti et ita flore Ziphaeorum nitenti dicit: Stulte, hoc est non intelligens, vir imprudens, hac nocte auferetur anima tua; haec omnia quae praeparasti cujus erunt ? Non proposuerunt Deum ante conspectum suum.
53.8 PL 36, 625
8. For this reason what followeth concerning them? “There have they feared with fear, where there was no fear” (ver. 6). For is there fear, if a man lose riches? There is no fear there, and yet in that case men are afraid. But if a man lose wisdom, truly there is fear, and in that case he is not afraid.…Thou hast feared to give back money, and hast willed to lose fidelity. The Martyrs took not away property of other persons, but even their own they despised that they might not lose fidelity: and it was too little to lose money, when they were proscribed; they took also their life when they suffered: they lost life, in order that unto everlasting life they might find it. Therefore there they feared, where they ought to have been afraid. But they that of Christ have said, “He is not God,” have there feared where was no fear. For they said, “If we shall have let Him go, there will come the Romans, and will take away from us both place and kingdom.” O folly and imprudence saying in its heart, “He is not God”! Thou hast feared to lose earth, thou hast lost Heaven: thou hast feared lest there should come the Romans, and take away from thee place and kingdom! Could they take away from thee God? What then remaineth? what but that thou confess, that thou hast willed to keep, and by keeping ill hast lost? For thou hast lost both place and nation by slaying Christ. For ye did will rather to slay Christ, than to lose place; and ye have lost place, and nation, and Christ. In fearing, they have slain Christ: but wherefore this? “For God hath scattered the bones of them that please men.” Willing to please men, they feared to lose their place. But Christ Himself, of whom they said, “He is not God,” willed rather to displease such men, as they were: sons of men, not sons of God, He willed rather to displease. Thence were scattered their bones, His bones no one hath broken. “They were confounded, for God hath despised them.” In very deed, brethren, as far as regardeth them, great confusion hath come to them. In the place where they crucified the Lord, whom for this cause they crucified, that they might not lose both place and nation, the Jews are not. “God,” therefore, “hath despised them:” and yet in despising He warned them to be converted. Let them now confess Christ, and say, He is God, of whom they said, “He is not God.” Let them return to the inheritance of their fathers, to the inheritance of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, let them possess with these very persons life eternal: though they have lost life temporal. Wherefore this? Because out of sons of men have been made sons of God. For so long as they remain, and will not, there is not one that doeth good, there is not so much as one. “They were confounded, for God hath despised them.” And as though to these very persons He were turned, He saith, “Who shall give out of Sion salvation to Israel?” (ver. 7). O ye fools, ye revile, insult, buffet, besmear with spittings, with thorns ye crown, upon the Cross ye lift up; whom? “Who shall give out of Sion salvation to Israel?” Shall not That Same of whom ye have said, “He is not God”? “In God’s turning away the captivity of His people.” For there turneth away the captivity of His people, no one but He that hath willed to be a captive in your own hands. But what men shall understand this thing? “Jacob shall exult, and Israel shall rejoice.” “Israel;” the true Jacob, and the true Israel, that younger, to whom the elder was servant, shall himself exult, for he shall himself understand.
[vers. 6.] Ecce enim Deus adjuvat me. Et ipsi nesciunt inter quos lateo. Si autem et ipsi ponerent Deum ante conspectum suum, invenirent quemadmodum me adjuvat Deus. Omnes enim sancti adjuvantur a Deo, sed intus ubi nemo videt. Quomodo enim magna est poena impiorum conscientia, sic magnum gaudium piorum ipsa conscientia. Nam gloria nostra haec est, ait Apostolus, testimonium conscientiae nostrae . In hac gloriatur iste intus, non in flore Ziphaeorum foris, qui modo ait: Ecce enim Deus adjuvat me. Prorsus quamvis longe futura sint quae promittit, hodie mihi dulce et praesens est adjutorium, hodie in cordis mei gaudio invenio quia sine causa dicunt quidam: Quis ostendit nobis bona? Signatum est enim super nos lumen vultus tui, Domine; dedisti jucunditatem in cor meum : non in vineam meam, non in gregem meum, non in cuppam meam, non in mensam meam, sed in cor meum. Ecce enim Deus adjuvat me. Quomodo te adjuvat? Et Dominus susceptor est animae meae.