Expositions on the Book of Psalms 75
75.1 Psalm LXXV PL 36, 956
1. …The Title of this Psalm thus speaketh: “At the end, corrupt not.” What is, “corrupt not?” That which Thou hast promised, perform. But when? “At the end.” To this then let the mind’s eye be directed, “unto the end.” Let all the things which have occurred in the way be passed over, in order that we may attain to the end. Let proud men exult because of present felicity, let them swell with honours, glitter in gold, overflow with domestics, be encircled with the services of clients: these things pass away, they pass away like a shadow. When that end shall have come, when all who now hope in the Lord are to rejoice, then to them shall come sorrow without end. When the meek shall have received that which the proud deride, then the vapouring of the proud shall be turned into mourning. Then shall there be that voice which we know in the Book of Wisdom: for they shall say at that time when they see the glory of the Saints, who, when they were in humiliation, endured them; who, when they were exalted, consented not—at that time then they shall say, “These are they whom sometime we have had in derision.” Where they also say, “What hath pride profited us, and the boasting of riches hath bestowed upon us what?” All things have passed away like a shadow. Because on things corruptible they relied, their hope shall be corrupted: but our own hope at that time shall be substance. For in order that the promise of God may remain whole and sure and certain towards us, we have said out of a heart of faith, “at the end corrupt not.” Fear not, therefore, lest any mighty man should corrupt the promises of God. He doth not corrupt, because He is truthful; He hath no one more mighty by whom His promise may be corrupted: let us be then sure concerning the promises of God; and let us sing now from the place where the Psalm beginneth.
[vers. 2.] Solent inimici Domini Jesu Christi omnibus noti Judaei gloriari in isto psalmo quem cantavimus, dicentes, Notus in Judaea Deus; in Israel magnum nomen ejus, et insultare Gentibus quibus non est notus Deus, et dicere quia sibi solis notus est Deus; quando Propheta dicit, Notus in Judaea Deus: alibi ergo ignotus. Notus est autem revera in Judaea Deus, si intelligant quid sit Judaea. Nam vere non est notus Deus nisi in Judaea. Ecce et nos hoc dicimus, quia nisi quisque fuerit in Judaea, notus ei Deus esse non potest. Sed quid dicit Apostolus? Qui in occulto Judaeus est; qui circumcisione cordis, non littera, sed spiritu : sunt ergo Judaei in circumcisione carnis, et sunt Judaei in circumcisione cordis. Patres nostri multi sancti, et circumcisionem carnis habebant propter signaculum fidei, et circumcisionem cordis propter ipsam fidem. Ab his patribus degenerantes isti qui modo in nomine gloriantur et facta perdiderunt; ab his ergo patribus degenerantes, remanserunt in carne Judaei, in corde Pagani. Ipsi enim Judaei, qui sunt ex Abraham, a quo Isaac natus est, et ex illo Jacob, et ex Jacob duodecim Patriarchae, et ex duodecim Patriarchis populus universus Judaeorum. Sed Judaei propterea maxime appellati sunt, quia Judas unus erat de filiis duodecim Jacob, patriarcha inter duodecim, et de stirpe ejus regnum veniebat Judaeis. Nam omnis ille populus secundum numerum duodecim filiorum Jacob duodecim tribus habebat. Tribus dicuntur tanquam curiae et congregationes distinctae populorum. Habebat ergo ille populus duodecim tribus; e quibus duodecim tribubus una tribus erat Juda ex qua erant reges, et erat altera tribus Levi ex qua erant sacerdotes. Sed quia sacerdotibus templo servientibus terra divisa non est , oportebat autem ut duodecim tribubus dispertiretur omnis regio promissionis: excepta ergo una tribu majoris dignitatis, tribu Levi, quae erat in sacerdotibus, remanerent undecim, nisi per adoptionem duorum filiorum Joseph duodecim complerentur. Hoc quid sit, advertite. Unus de duodecim filiis Jacob erat Joseph. Iste est Joseph quem fratres sui in Aegyptum vendiderunt, et illic merito castitatis ad sublimem dignitatem perductus est, et adfuit illi Deus in omni opere suo; et suscepit fratres suos a quibus venditus erat, et patrem, fame laborantes, et propter panem ad Aegyptum descendentes. Iste Joseph duos filios habuit, Ephraim et Manasse. Moriens Jacob, tanquam testamento, assumpsit illos nepotes suos in numerum filiorum, et dixit filio suo Joseph: Caeteri qui nascuntur, tibi erunt; isti autem mihi, et divident terram cum fratribus suis . Adhuc non erat data, nec divisa terra promissionis; sed dicebat ille in Spiritu prophetans. Accedentibus ergo duobus filiis Joseph, factae sunt nihilominus duodecim tribus, quia jam tredecim sunt: pro una enim tribu Joseph, duae accesserunt, et factae sunt tredecim. Excepta ergo tribu Levi, illa tribu sacerdotum quae serviebat templo, et de decimis vivebat caeterarum omnium quibus terra divisa est, remanent duodecim. In his duodecim erat tribus Juda, unde reges erant. Nam primo de alia tribu datus est rex Saül , et reprobatus est tanquam malus rex; postea datus est de tribu Juda rex David, et ex illo de tribu Juda fuerunt reges . Jacob autem ille hoc dixerat, quando benedixerat filios suos: Non deficiet princeps de Juda, nec dux de femoribus ejus, donec veniat cui repromissum est . De tribu autem Juda venit Dominus noster Jesus Christus. Est enim, sicut Scriptura dicit et modo audistis, ex semine David, natus de Maria. Caeterum quod attinet ad divinitatem Domini nostri Jesu Christi, in qua aequalis est Patri; non solum ante Judaeos, sed etiam ante ipsum Abraham ; nec solum ante Abraham, sed et ante Adam; nec solum ante Adam, sed et ante coelum et terram, et ante saecula: quia omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil . Quia ergo in prophetia dictum est, Non deficiet princeps ex Juda, neque dux de femoribus ejus, donec veniat cui repromissum est: considerantur priora tempora, et invenitur quia Judaei de tribu Juda semper reges habuerunt, unde dicti sunt Judaei; et non habuerunt regem prius alienigenam, nisi Herodem illum qui fuit quando Dominus natus est . Inde coeperunt reges alienigenae, ab Herode. Ante Herodem omnes de tribu Juda, sed donec veniret cui repromissum est. Itaque ipso jam veniente Domino, eversum est regnum Judaeorum, et sublatum est ex Judaeis. Modo non habent regnum, quia nolunt cognoscere verum regem. Videte jam si Judaei sint appellandi. Jam videtis quia Judaei non sunt appellandi. Ipsi voce sua abdicaverunt se ab isto nomine, ut Judaei non sint digni appellari, nisi tantum carne. Ubi ergo se separaverunt ab isto nomine? Dicebant, saeviebant in Christum, id est genus Juda, saeviebant in semen David. Et ait illis Pilatus: Regem vestrum crucifigam? Et illi: Nos non habemus regem, nisi Caesarem . O Judaei qui vocamini, et non estis; si non habetis regem, nisi Caesarem, defecit jam princeps de Juda: venit ergo ille cui repromissum est. Illi ergo verius Judaei, qui christiani facti sunt ex Judaeis: caeteri Judaei qui in Christum non crediderunt, etiam nomen ipsum perdere digni fuerunt. Judaea ergo vera, Christi Ecclesia est, credens in illum regem qui venit ex tribu Juda per virginem Mariam; credens in illum de quo modo Apostolus dicebat, ad Timotheum scribens: Memor esto Jesum Christum resurrexisse a mortuis ex semine David, secundum Evangelium meum . De Juda enim David, et ex David Dominus Jesus Christus. Nos credentes in Christum pertinemus ad Judam; et nos cognovimus Christum qui oculis non vidimus, fide retinemus. Non ergo insultent Judaei, qui jam non sunt Judaei: ipsi dixerunt, Nos non habemus regem, nisi Caesarem. Nam melius illis erat, ut rex illorum esset Christus, ex semine David de tribu Juda. Tamen quia ipse Christus ex semine David secundum carnem, Deus autem super omnia benedictus in saecula, ipse rex noster est et Deus noster: rex noster, secundum quod natus est ex tribu Juda secundum carnem, Christus Dominus Salvator; Deus autem noster, qui est ante Judam, et ante coelum et terram, per quem facta sunt omnia, et spiritualia et corporalia. Si enim omnia per ipsum facta sunt; et ipsa Maria de qua natus est, per ipsum facta est. Quomodo ergo ille quasi caeteri homines nasceretur, qui sibi fecit matrem de qua nasceretur? Ergo ipse Dominus: Apostolo dicente, cum loqueretur de Judaeis, Quorum patres; et ex quibus est Christus secundum carnem, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula . Quia ergo Judaei viderunt Christum, et crucifixerunt, non viderunt Deum: Gentes autem quia non viderunt, et crediderunt, intellexerunt Deum. Ergo si innotuit eis Deus in Christo mundum reconcilians sibi , et ideo illi crucifixerunt, quia in carne latentem Deum non intellexerunt, recedat illa quae vocatur Judaea, et non est; accedat vera Judaea, cui dicitur: Accedite ad eum, et illuminamini, et vultus vestri non erubescent . Vultus verae Judaeae non confundentur. Etenim audierunt, et crediderunt; et facta est Ecclesia vera Judaea, ubi notus Christus, qui homo est ex semine David, Deus super David.
75.2 PL 36, 958
2. “We will confess to Thee, O Lord, we will confess to Thee, and will invoke Thy name” (ver. 1). Do not invoke, before thou confess: confess, and invoke. For Him whom thou art invoking, unto thyself thou callest. For what is it to invoke, but unto thyself to call? If He is invoked by thee, that is, if He is called to thee, unto whom doth He draw near? To a proud man He draweth not near. High indeed He is, one lifted up attaineth not unto Him. In order that we may reach all exalted objects, we raise ourselves, and if we are not able to reach them, we look for some appliances or ladders, in order that being exalted we may reach exalted objects: contrariwise God is both high, and by the lowly He is reached. It is written, “Nigh is the Lord to them that have bruised the heart.” The bruising of the heart is Godliness, humility. He that bruiseth himself is angry with himself. Let him make himself angry in order that he may make Him merciful; let him make himself judge, in order that he may make Him Advocate. Therefore God doth come when invoked. Unto whom doth He come? To the proud man He cometh not.…Take heed therefore what ye do: for if He knoweth, He is not unobservant. It is better therefore that He be unobservant than known. For what is that same being unobservant, but not knowing? What is, not to know? Not to animadvert. For even as the act of one avenging animadversion is wont to be spoken of. Here one praying that He be unobservant: “Turn away Thy face from my sins.” What then wilt thou do if He shall have turned away His face from thee? A grievous thing it is, and to be feared, lest He forsake thee. Again, if He turn not away His face, He animadverteth. God knoweth this thing, God can do this thing, namely, both turn away face from one sinning, and not turn away from one confessing.…Confess therefore and invoke. For by confessing thou purgest the Temple, into which He may come, when invoked. Confess and invoke. May He turn away face from thy sins, not turn away from thee: turn away face from that which thou hast wrought, not turn away from that which He hath Himself wrought. For thee, as man, He hath Himself wrought, thy sins thou hast thyself wrought.…
Notus in Judaea Deus; in Israel magnum nomen ejus. Et de Israel sic debemus accipere, quomodo de Judaea: quomodo illi non sunt veri Judaei, sic nec verus Israel. Quis enim dicitur Israel? Videns Deum. Et quomodo illi viderunt Deum, inter quos ambulavit in carne, et cum putarent hominem, occiderunt? Resurgens ille apparuit Deus omnibus quibus se voluit demonstrare. Illi ergo digni sunt Israel dici, qui meruerunt Christum intelligere Deum in carne positum, ut non quod videbant contemnerent, sed quod non videbant adorarent. Non visum enim oculis Gentes humili mente perceperunt illum quem non videbant, et fide tenuerunt. Proinde illi qui manibus tenuerunt, occiderunt; qui fide tenuerunt, adoraverunt. In Israel magnum nomen ejus. Vis esse Israel? Illum attende de quo Dominus ait: Ecce vere Israelita, in quo dolus non est . Si verus Israelita, in quo dolus non est, dolosi et mendaces non sunt veri Israelitae. Non ergo dicant isti quoniam apud illos est Deus, et magnum nomen ejus in Israel: probent se Israelitas, et concedo ego quia in Israel magnum nomen ejus.
75.3 PL 36, 959
3. But that there is a strengthening of the sense in repetition, by many passages of the Scriptures we are taught. Thence is that which the Lord saith, “Verily, Verily.” Thence in certain Psalms is, “So be it, So be it.” To signify the thing, one “So be it” would have been sufficient: to signify confirmation, there hath been added another “So be it.”…Countless passages of such sort there are throughout all the Scriptures. With these it is sufficient that we have commended to your notice a way of speaking which ye may observe in all like cases: now to the substance attend: “We will confess to Thee,” he saith, “and we will invoke.” I have said why before invocation confession doth precede: because whom thou dost invoke, him thou dost invite. But he willeth not to come when invoked, if thou shalt have been lifted up: lifted up if thou shalt have been, thou wilt not be able to confess. And thou deniest not any things to God that He knoweth not. Therefore thy confession doth not teach Him, but it purgeth thee.
[vers. 3.] Et factus est in pace locus ejus, et habitatio ejus in Sion. Rursus Sion quasi patria est Judaeorum: vera Sion Ecclesia est Christianorum. Interpretatio autem nominum hebraeorum sic nobis traditur: Judaea Confessio interpretatur; Israel Videns Deum. Post Judaeam Israel: sic hic positum est, Notus in Judaea Deus; in Israel magnum nomen ejus. Deum vis videre? Prius confitere tu, et sic in teipso fit locus Dei; quia factus est in pace locus ejus. Quamdiu ergo non confiteris peccata tua, quodammodo rixaris cum Deo: quomodo enim non cum illo litigas, qui quod illi displicet laudas? Punit ille furem; tu furtum laudas: punit ille ebriosum; tu laudas ebriositatem. Litigas cum Deo; non fecisti illi locum in corde tuo: quia in pace locus ejus. Et quomodo incipis pacem habere cum Deo? Incipis illi in confessione. Psalmi vox est dicentis, Incipite Domino in confessione . Quid est, Incipite Domino in confessione? Incipite adjungi Deo. Quomodo? Ut hoc vobis displiceat quod et illi displicet. Displicet illi vita tua mala: si placeat tibi, disjungeris ab illo; si displiceat tibi, per confessionem illi conjungeris. Vide ex quanta parte dissimilis es, quando utique propter ipsam dissimilitudinem displices. Factus enim es, o homo, ad imaginem Dei; per vitam vero perversam et malam perturbasti in te, et exterminasti in te imaginem Conditoris tui. Factus dissimilis, attendis in te, et displices tibi: jam ex eo coepisti similis fieri, quia hoc tibi displicet quod displicet et Deo.
75.4 PL 36, 959
4. …Hear ye now the words of Christ. For these seemed not as it were to be His words, “We will confess to Thee, O God, we will confess to Thee, and will invoke Thy name.” Now beginneth the discourse in the person of the Head. But whether Head speaketh or whether members speak, Christ speaketh: He speaketh in the person of the Head, He speaketh in the person of the Body. But what hath been said? There shall be two in one flesh. “This is a great Sacrament:” “I,” he saith, “speak in Christ and in the Church.” And He Himself in the Gospel, “Therefore no longer two, but one flesh.” For in order that ye may know these in a manner to be two persons, and again one by the bond of marriage, as one He speaketh in Isaiah, and saith, “As upon a Bridegroom he hath bound upon me a mitre, and as a Bride he hath clothed me with an ornament.” A Bridegroom He hath called Himself in the Head, a Bride in the Body. He is speaking therefore as One, let us hear Him, and in Him let us also speak. Let us be the members of Him, in order that this voice may possibly be ours also. “I will tell forth,” he saith, “all Thy marvellous things.” Christ is preaching Himself, He is preaching Himself even in His members now existing, in order that He may guide unto Him others, and they may draw near that were not, and may be united with those members of Him, through which members of Him the Gospel hath been preached; and there may be made one Body under one Head, in one Spirit, in one Life.
Sed quomodo sum similis, inquis, quando adhuc mihi displiceo? Ideo dictum est, Incipite. Incipe Domino in confessione; perficieris in pace. Adhuc enim habes adversum te bellum. Indicitur tibi bellum, non solum adversus suggestiones diaboli, adversus principem potestatis aeris hujus, qui operatur in filiis diffidentiae, adversus diabolum et angelos ejus, spiritualia nequitiae ; non solum ergo adversus ipsos tibi bellum indicitur, sed adversus teipsum. Quomodo adversus teipsum? Adversus tuam consuetudinem malam, adversus vetustatem vitae tuae malae, quae trahit te ad solitam, et refrenat a nova. Indicitur enim tibi quaedam nova vita, et tu vetus es: novitatis gaudio suspenderis, vetustatis onere praegravaris; incipit tibi esse bellum adversus te. Sed ex qua parte tibi displices, jungeris Deo; et ex qua parte jam jungeris Deo, idoneus eris ad vincendum te, quia ille tecum est qui omnia superat. Attende quid dicit Apostolus: Mente servio legi Dei; carne autem legi peccati. Unde mente? Quia displicet tibi vita tua mala. Unde carne? Quia non desunt suggestiones et delectationes malae; sed ex eo quod mente jungeris Deo, vincis quod in te non vult sequi. Praecessisti enim ex parte, et ex parte tardaris: trahe teipsum ad illum qui te sursum tollit. Pondere quodam vetustatis deprimeris; clama et dic: Infelix ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus? quis me liberabit ab eo quo gravor? corpus enim quod corrumpitur, aggravat animam . Quis ergo liberabit? Gratia Dei per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum . Quare autem permittit ut diu contra te litiges, donec absorbeantur omnes cupiditates malae? Ut intelligas in te poenam tuam: in te ex teipso est flagellum tuum; sit rixa tua tecum. Sic vindicatur in rebellem adversus Deum, ut ipse sibi sit bellum, qui pacem noluit habere cum Deo. Sed tene membra tua adversus concupiscentias tuas malas. Surrexit ira; tene tu manum conjunctus Deo. Potuit surgere, sed non invenit arma. Apud iram tuam impetus est; apud te arma sunt: sit impetus inermis, et discit jam non surgere qui frustra surrexit.
75.5 PL 36, 960
5. And he saith what? “When I shall have received,” he saith, “the time, I will judge justices” (ver. 2). When shall He judge justices? When He shall have received the time. Not yet is the precise time. Thanks to His mercy: He first preacheth justices, and then He judgeth justices. For if He willed to judge before He willed to preach, who would be found that should be delivered: who would meet Him that should be absolved? Now therefore is the time of preaching: “I will tell,” he saith, “all Thy marvellous works.” Hear Him telling, hear Him preaching: for if thou shalt have despised Him, “when I shall have received the time,” He saith, “I will judge justices.” I forgive, He saith, now sins to one confessing, I will not spare hereafter one despising.…He hath received a time as Son of Man; He doth govern times as Son of God. Hear how as Son of Man He hath received the time of judging. He saith in the Gospel, “He hath given to Him power to execute judgment, because Son of Man He is.” According to His nature as Son of God, He hath never received power of judging, because He never lacked the power of judging: according to His nature as Son of Man He hath received a time, as of being born, and of suffering, as of dying, and of rising again, and of ascending, so of coming and of judging. In Him His Body also saith these words, for not without them He will judge. For He saith in the Gospel, “Ye shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Therefore whole Christ saith, that is, Head and Body in the Saints, “when I shall have received the time, I will judge justices.”
Hoc autem dico, charissimi, ne forte quia diximus, Carne autem legi peccati, putetis consentiendum esse desideriis vestris carnalibus. Etsi non possunt modo nisi esse desideria carnalia, non est illis consentiendum. Propterea non dixit Apostolus. Non sit peccatum in vestro mortali corpore; novit enim quia quamdiu mortale est, est ibi peccatum: sed quid ait? Non ergo regnet peccatum in vestro mortali corpore. Quid est, non regnet? Ipse exposuit: Ad obediendum, inquit, desideriis ejus . Sunt desideria, existunt; desideria non tu obaudis desideriis tuis, non sequeris ipsa desideria, non illis consentis: est tibi peccatum, sed amisit regnum, quando jam in te non regnat peccatum; postea inimica novissima destruetur mors . Quid enim nobis promittitur, quoniam dictum est: Mente servio legi Dei; carne autem legi peccati ? Audi promissionem: quia non semper erunt in carne desideria illicita. Etenim resurget, et mutabitur; et cum mutata fuerit caro ista mortalis in spirituale corpus, jam nullis concupiscentiis saecularibus, jam nullis terrenis delectationibus titillabit animam, nec avertet a contemplatione Dei. Fit ergo in ea quod dicit Apostolus, « Corpus quidem mortuum est propter peccatum; spiritus autem vita est propter justitiam. Si autem qui suscitavit Jesum a mortuis habitat in vobis; qui suscitavit Jesum Christum a mortuis vivificabit et mortalia corpora vestra, propter Spiritum suum qui habitat in vobis » . Vivificatis ergo corporibus nostris, erit pax vera ubi locus est Dei: sed praecedat confessio. Notus in Judaea Deus: confitere ergo prius. In Israel magnum nomen ejus: nondum vides in specie; vide ex fide, et fiet in te quod sequitur Et factus est in pace locus ejus, et habitatio ejus in Sion. Sion interpretatur Contemplatio. Quid est contemplatio? Contemplabimur enim Deum facie ad faciem . Hic nobis promittitur, in quem modo non videntes credimus. Quomodo gaudebimus cum viderimus eum? Fratres, si modo tantum gaudium in nobis facit promissio, quantum est factura redditio? Reddetur enim nobis quod promisit. Et quid promisit? Seipsum, ut in facie ipsius, et illius contemplatione gaudeamus; et non aliquid aliud delectabit nos, quia nihil est melius illo qui fecit omnia quae delectant. Factus est in pace locus ejus, et habitatio ejus in Sion: id est, in contemplatione quadam et speculatione facta est habitatio ejus in Sion.
75.6 PL 36, 961
6. But now what? “The earth hath flowed down” (ver. 3). If the earth hath flowed down, whence hath it flowed down except by sins? Therefore also they are called delinquencies. To delinquish is as it were by a kind of liquidity to slip down from the stability of firmness in virtue and righteousness. For it is through desire of lower things that every man sinneth: as he is strengthened by the love of higher things, so he falleth down and as it were melteth away by desire of lower things. This flux of things by the sins of man the merciful forgiver observing, being a merciful forgiver of sins, not yet an exactor of punishments, He observeth and saith: The earth herself indeed hath flowed down by them that dwell in her. That which followeth is an exposition, not an addition. As though thou wert saying, in what manner hath the earth flowed down? Have the foundations been withdrawn, and hath anything therein been swallowed up in a sort of gulf? What I mean by earth is all they that dwell therein. I have found, he saith, the earth sinful. And I have done what? “I have strengthened the pillars thereof.” What are the pillars which He hath strengthened? Pillars He hath called the Apostles. So the Apostle Paul concerning his fellow-Apostles saith, “who seemed to be pillars.” And what would those pillars have been, except by Him they had been strengthened? For on occasion of a sort of earthquake even these very pillars rocked: at the Passion of the Lord all the Apostles despaired. Therefore those pillars which rocked at the Passion of the Lord, by the Resurrection were strengthened. The Beginning of the building hath cried out through the pillars thereof, and in all those pillars the Architect Himself hath cried out. For the Apostle Paul was one pillar of them when he said, “Would ye receive a proof of Him that speaketh in me—Christ?” Therefore, “I,” he saith, “have strengthened the pillars thereof:” I have risen again, I have shown that death is not to be feared, I have shown to them that fear, that not even the body itself doth perish in the dying. There terrified them wounds, there strengthened them scars. The Lord Jesus could have risen again without any scar: for what great matter were it for that power, to restore the frame of the body to such perfect soundness, as that no trace at all of past wound should appear? He had power whence He might make it whole even without scar: but He willed to have that whereby He might strengthen the rocking pillars.
[vers. 4.] Ibi confregit fortitudines arcuum et scutum, et gladium, et bellum. Ubi confregit? In illa pace aeterna, in illa pace perfecta. Et modo, fratres mei, qui bene crediderunt, vident quia non de se debent praesumere; et omnem potentiam minarum suarum, et quidquid in eis acutum est ad nocendum, confringunt illud: et quidquid quasi pro magno habent unde se protegerent temporaliter, et bellum quod adversus Deum defendendo peccata sua gerebant, omnia haec ibi confregit.
75.7 PL 36, 961
7. We have heard now, brethren, that which day by day is not kept secret: let us hear now what He hath cried through these pillars.…He crieth what? “I have said to unjust men, Do not unjustly” (ver. 4).…But already they have done, and they are guilty: already there hath flowed down the earth, and all they that dwell therein. Pricked to the heart were they that crucified Christ, they acknowledged their sin, they learned something of the Apostle, that they might not despair of the pardon of the Preacher. For as Physician He had come, and therefore had not come to the whole. “For there is no need,” He saith, “to the whole of a physician, but to them that are sick. I have not come to call righteous men, but sinners to repentance.” Therefore, “I have said to unjust men, Do not unjustly.” They heard not. For of old to us it was spoken: we heard not, we fell, were made mortal, were begotten mortal: the earth flowed down. Let them hear the Physician even now in order that they may rise, Him that came to the sick man, Him whom they would not hear when whole in order that they might not fall, let them hear when lying down in order that they may rise.…“I have said to unjust men, Do not unjustly; and to the delinquent, Do not exalt your horn.” There shall be exalted in you the horn of Christ, if your horn be not exalted. Your horn is of iniquity, the horn of Christ is of majesty.
[vers. 5.] Illuminans tu admirabiliter a montibus aeternis. Qui sunt montes aeterni? Quos ipse fecit aeternos; qui sunt montes magni, praedicatores veritatis. Tu illuminas; sed a montibus aeternis: primi magni montes excipiunt lucem tuam, et a luce tua quam suscipiunt montes, vestitur et terra. Sed illi magni montes exceperunt Apostoli; tanquam orientis luminis primordia exceperunt Apostoli. Numquid quod exceperunt, apud se retinuerunt? Non; ne diceretur illis: Serve nequam et piger, dares pecuniam meam nummulariis . Si ergo quod susceperunt non apud se retinuerunt, sed omni orbi terrarum praedicaverunt, Illuminans tu admirabiliter a montibus aeternis. Quos aeternos fecisti, per illos vitam aeternam et caeteris promisisti: Illuminans tu admirabiliter a montibus aeternis. Magnifice cum pondere dictum est, Tu; ne putet aliquis quod cum montes illuminent. Multi enim putantes quod ab ipsis montibus illuminarentur, fecerunt sibi partes de montibus; et ipsos montes conciderunt, et ipsi confracti sunt. Nescio qui sibi fecerunt Donatum, nescio qui sibi fecerunt Maximianum, nescio qui sibi fecerunt illum et illum. Quare computant salutem suam in hominibus esse, non in Deo? O homo, venit ad te lux per montes; sed Deus te illuminat, non montes. Illuminans tu, inquit: tu, non montes. Tu illuminans: a montibus quidem aeternis; sed, tu illuminans. Unde et in alio loco quid ait psalmus? Levavi oculos meos in montes, unde veniet auxilium mihi. Quid ergo, in montibus est spes tua, et inde tibi veniet auxilium? remansisti in montibus? Vide quid agas. Est aliquid super montes: super montes est quem tremunt montes. Levavi, inquit, oculos meos in montes, unde veniet auxilium mihi. Sed quid sequitur? Auxilium meum, inquit, a Domino, qui fecit coelum et terram . In montes quidem levavi oculos, quia per montes mihi sunt Scripturae monstratae; sed ego cor habeo in illo qui illuminat omnes montes.
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8. “Be not therefore lifted up: speak not iniquity against God” (ver. 5).…What saith He in another Psalm? “These things thou hast done,” having enumerated certain sins. “These things thou hast done,” He saith, “and was silent.” What is, “I was silent”? He is never silent with commandment, but meanwhile He is silent with punishment: He is keeping still from vengeance, He doth not pronounce sentence against the condemned. But this man saith thus, I have done such and such things, and God hath not taken vengeance; behold I am whole, nought of ill hath befallen me. “These things thou hast done, and I was silent: thou hast suspected iniquity, that I shall be like unto thee.” What is, “that I shall be like unto thee”? Because thou art unjust, even Me thou hast deemed unjust; as though an approver of thy misdeeds, and no adversary, no avenger thereof. And what afterwards saith He to thee? “I will convict thee, and will set thee before thine own face”? What is this? Because now by sinning behind thy back thou settest thyself, seest not thyself, examinest not thyself; I will set thee before thyself, and will bring upon thee punishment from thyself. So also here, “Speak not iniquity against God.” Attend. Many men speak this iniquity; but dare not openly, lest as blasphemers they be abhorred by godly men: in their heart they gnaw upon these things, within they feed upon such impious food; it delighteth them to speak against God, and if they break not out with tongue, in heart they are not silent. Whence in another Psalm is said, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” The fool hath said, but he hath feared men: he would not say it where men might hear; and he said it in that place where He might Himself hear concerning whom he said it. Therefore here also in this Psalm (dearly beloved attend), whereas that which He said, “Do not speak iniquity against God,” this He saw many men do in heart, He hath also added, “for neither from East, nor from West, nor from the deserts of the mountains (ver. 6), for God is Judge” (ver. 7). Of thine iniquities God is Judge. If God He is, everywhere He is present. Whither wilt thou take thyself away from the eyes of God, so that in some quarter thou mayest speak that which He may not hear? If from the East God judgeth, withdraw into the West, and say what thou wilt against God: if from the West, go into the East, and there speak: if from the deserts of the mountains He judgeth, go into the midst of the peoples, where thou mayest murmur to thyself. From no place judgeth He that everywhere is secret, everywhere open; whom it is allowed no one to know as He is, and whom no one is permitted not to know. Take heed what thou doest. Thou art speaking iniquity against God. “The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the round world” (another Scripture saith this), “and that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice: wherefore he that speaketh unjust things cannot be hid.” Do not therefore think God to be in places: He is with thee such an one as thou shalt have been. What is such an one as thou shalt have been? Good, if thou shalt have been good; and evil to thee He will seem, if evil thou shalt have been; but a Helper, if good thou shalt have been; an Avenger, if evil thou shalt have been. There thou hast a Judge in thy secret place. Willing to do something of evil, from the public thou retirest into thy house, where no enemy may see; from those places of thine house which are open and before the eyes of men, thou removest thyself into a chamber; thou fearest even in thy chamber some witness from some other quarter, thou retirest into thy heart, there thou meditatest: He is more inward than thy heart. Whithersoever therefore thou shalt have fled, there He is. From thyself whither wilt thou flee? Wilt thou not follow thyself whithersoever thou shalt flee? But since there is One more inward even than thyself, there is no place whither thou mayest flee from God angry, but to God reconciled. There is no place at all whither thou mayest flee. Wilt thou flee from Him? Flee to Him.…What then shall we do now? “Let us come before His face,” ἐν ἐξομολογήσει, come before in confession: He shall come gentle whom thou hadst made angry. “Neither from the deserts of the mountains, for God is Judge:” not from the East, not from the West, not from the deserts of the mountains. Wherefore? “For God is Judge.” If in any place He were, He would not be God: but because God is Judge, not man, do not expect Him out of places. His place thou wilt be, if thou art good, if after having confessed thou shalt have invoked Him.
Ergo, fratres, ad hoc dictum est, ne quisquam vestrum velit spem suam ponere in homine. Tamdiu est aliquid homo, quamdiu illi haeret a quo factus est homo. Nam recedens ab illo, nihil est homo, et cum haeret illis. Tu sic accipe consilium per hominem, ut illum consideres qui illuminat hominem. Etenim et tu potes accedere ad illum qui tibi per hominem loquitur; non enim fecit illum accedere ad se, et te repellit. Et qui vere sic accessit ad Deum, ut in illo habitet Deus, displicent illi omnes qui non in illo ponunt spem suam. Propterea datum est quoddam exemplum, cum ipsos Apostolos sibi diviserunt, et in schismata ierunt qui dicebant: Ego sum Pauli, ego Apollo, ego Cephae, id est Petri. Hos plangit Apostolus, et dicit eis: Divisus est Christus? et se elegit quem apud ipsos contemneret: Numquid Paulus pro vobis crucifixus est? aut in nomine Pauli baptizati estis ? Vide bonum montem quaerentem gloriam, non sibi, sed a quo montes illuminantur: nolebat de se praesumi, sed de illo de quo et ipse praesumpserat. Quisquis ergo ita se commendare voluerit populis, ut si forte contigerit ei aliquis tumultus, frangat post se populos, et dividat Ecclesiam catholicam propter se, non est de illis montibus quos illuminat Altissimus. Sed quis est iste? Contenebratus a se, non illuminatus a Domino. Unde autem probantur isti montes? Si forte contigerit aliquis tumultus adversus montes in Ecclesia; aut per populares seditiones carnalium, aut per aliquas falsas suspiciones hominum; bonus mons repellit a se omnes qui propter ipsum volunt ab unitate recedere. Sic enim ipse manebit in unitate, si propter ipsum non divisa fuerit ipsa unitas. Illi autem divisi sunt: quando recessit populus ab orbe terrarum, et secutus est nomen ipsorum, gavisi sunt; elati sunt, et dejecti sunt. Humiliarentur, et exaltarentur, quomodo humiliatus est Apostolus, dicens: Numquid Paulus pro vobis crucifixus est? et alio loco: Ego plantavi, Apollo rigavit; sed Deus incrementum dedit. Ergo neque qui plantat est aliquid, neque qui rigat; sed qui incrementum dat Deus . Tales montes in se humiles sunt, in Deo excelsi sunt; qui autem in seipsis excelsi sunt, a Deo humiliantur: Quoniam qui se exaltat, humiliabitur; et qui se humiliat, exaltabitur . Ideo tales qui superbias suas attendunt, inamaricant hominibus pacificis in Ecclesia. Illi volunt coagulare pacem; isti inter se miscent dissensionem. Et quid de illis dicit alius psalmus? Qui amaricant, non exaltentur in semetipsis . Illuminans tu, attende hic, tu admirabiliter a montibus aeternis.
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9. “One He humbleth, and another He exalteth” (ver. 7). Whom humbleth, whom exalteth this Judge? Observe these two men in the temple, and ye see whom He humbleth and whom He exalteth. “They went up into the Temple to pray,” He saith, “the one a Pharisee, and the other a Publican.…“Verily I say unto you, that Publican went down justified more than that Pharisee: for every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Thus hath been explained a verse of this Psalm. God the Judge doth what? “One He humbleth, and another He exalteth:” He humbleth the proud, He exalteth the humble.
[vers. 6.] Conturbati sunt omnes insipientes corde. Praedicata est veritas, dicta est aeterna vita; dicta est esse alia vita quae non est de ista terra: contempserunt homines vitam praesentem, et amaverunt vitam futuram, illuminati per montes illuminatos. Insipientes autem corde conturbati sunt. Quomodo conturbati sunt? Cum Evangelium praedicatur. Et quid est vita aeterna? et quis est qui resurrexit a mortuis? Admirati sunt Athenienses, loquente Paulo apostolo de resurrectione mortuorum, et putaverunt eum nescio quas fabulas dicere . Sed quia dicebat esse aliam vitam, quam nec oculus vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor hominis ascendit , ergo insipientes corde turbati sunt. Sed quid eis contigit? Dormierunt somnum suum, et nihil invenerunt omnes viri divitiarum in manibus suis. Amaverunt praesentia, et dormierunt in ipsis praesentibus; et sic illis facta sunt ipsa praesentia deliciosa: quomodo qui videt per somnium invenisse se thesauros, tamdiu dives est, quamdiu non evigilet. Somnium illum divitem fecit; evigilatio pauperem facit. Tenuit illum somnus fortasse in terra dormientem, et in duro jacentem, pauperem et forte mendicum; in somnis vidit se jacere in lecto eburneo vel aureo, et in plumis altius exstructis: quamdiu dormit, bene dormit; evigilans invenit se in duro, in quo illum somnus tenuerat. Tales sunt et isti: venerunt in hanc vitam, et per cupiditates temporales quasi obdormierunt hic; et exceperunt illos divitiae et vanae pompae volaticae, et transierunt: non intellexerunt quantum inde boni posset fieri. Nam si nossent aliam vitam, illic sibi thesaurizarent quod hic erat periturum: sicut Zacchaeus vidit illud bonum major publicanorum, quando suscepit Dominum Jesum hospitio, et ait, Dimidium rerum mearum do pauperibus, et si cui aliquid fraudavi, quadruplum reddo. Non erat iste in vanitate somniantium, sed in fide vigilantium. Ideo Dominus, quia medicus intraverat ad aegrotum, pronuntiavit ipsius salutem, et ait, Hodie salus domui huic facta est, quoniam et hic est filius Abrahae : ut noveritis quia nos imitando fidem, filii Abrahae sumus; Judaei autem qui de carne superbiunt, a fide degeneraverunt. Ergo dormierunt somnum suum viri divitiarum, et nihil invenerunt in manibus suis. Dormierunt in cupiditatibus suis; delectat illos, transit somnus iste, transit vita ista, et nihil inveniunt in manibus suis, quia nihil posuerunt in manu Christi. Vis aliquid invenire in manibus tuis postea? Noli contemnere modo manum pauperis; et respice manus inanes, si vis habere manus plenas. Dixit enim Dominus: Esurivi, et dedistis mihi manducare; sitivi, et dedistis mihi potum; hospes fui, et adduxistis me, et caetera. Et illi: Quando te vidimus esurientem, sitientem, aut hospitem? Et ille dicit illis: Quando uni ex minimis meis fecistis, mihi fecistis . Esurire in pauperibus voluit, qui dives in coelo est; et tu dubitas homo dare homini, cum scias te Christo dare quod das, a quo accepisti quidquid das! Sed illi dormierunt somnum suum, et nihil invenerunt omnes viri divitiarum in manibus suis.
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10. “For the cup in the hand of the Lord of pure wine is full of mixed” (ver. 8). Justly so. “And He hath poured out of this upon this man; nevertheless, the dreg thereof hath not been emptied; there shall drink all the sinners of earth.” Let us be somewhat recruited; there is here some obscurity.…The first question that meeteth us is this, “of pure wine it is full of mixed.” How “of pure,” if “of mixed”? But when he saith, “the cup in the hand of the Lord” (to men instructed in the Church of Christ I am speaking), ye ought not indeed to paint in your heart God as it were circumscribed with a human form, lest, though the temples are shut up, ye forge images in your hearts. This cup therefore doth signify something. We will find out this. But “in the hand of the Lord,” is, in the power of the Lord. For the hand of God is spoken of for the power of God. For even in reference to men ofttimes is said, in hand he hath it: that is, in his power he hath it, when he chooseth he doth it. “Of pure wine it is full of mixed.” In continuation he hath himself explained: “He hath inclined,” he saith, “from this unto this man; nevertheless the dreg thereof hath not been emptied.” Behold how it was full of mixed wine. Let it not therefore terrify you that it is both pure and mixed: pure because of the genuineness thereof, mixed because of the dreg. What then in that place is the wine, and what the dreg? And what is, “He hath inclined from this unto this man,” in such sort that the dreg thereof was not emptied?
[vers. 7.] Ab increpatione tua, Deus Jacob, dormitaverunt omnes qui ascenderunt equos. Qui sunt, qui ascenderunt equos? Qui humiles esse noluerunt. Non in equis sedere peccatum est; sed cervicem potestatis contra Deum erigere, et putare se in aliquo honore esse. Quia dives es, ascendisti; increpat Deus, et dormis. Magna ira increpantis, magna ira! attendat Charitas Vestra rem tremendam. Increpatio strepitum habet; strepitus expergisci solet facere homines. Tantum pondus est increpantis Dei, ut diceret: Ab increpatione tua Deus Jacob, dormitaverunt omnes qui ascenderunt equos. Ecce quo somno dormitavit ille Pharao qui ascendebat equos : non enim vigilavit in corde, quia de increpatione durum cor habebat. Duritia enim cordis, obdormitio est. Rogo vos, fratres mei, videte quomodo dormiunt, qui sonante Evangelio, et Amen, et Alleluia per totum orbem terrarum, adhuc vitam veterem nolunt damnare, et in novam evigilare. Erat Scriptura Dei in Judaea; modo per totum orbem cantatur: in illa una gente dicebatur Deus unus qui fecit omnia, esse adorandus et colendus; modo ubi tacetur: Christus resurrexit? irrisus in cruce, ipsam crucem suam in qua irrisus est jam fixit in frontibus regum; et adhuc dormitur! Magna ira Dei, fratres! Melius nos audivimus eum qui dicit: Surge qui dormis, et exsurge a mortuis; et illuminabit te Christus . Sed qui illum audiunt? Qui non ascendunt equos. Qui sunt qui non ascendunt equos? Qui non se jactant et extollunt, quasi in honoribus et potestatibus suis. Ab increpatione tua, Deus Jacob, dormitaverunt qui ascenderunt equos.
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11. Call ye to mind from whence he came to this: “one He humbleth, and another He exalteth.” That which was figured to us in the Gospel through two men, a Pharisee and a Publican, this let us, taking in a wider sense, understand of two peoples, of Jews and of Gentiles: the people of the Jews that Pharisee was, the people of the Gentiles that Publican.…As those by being proud have withdrawn, so these by confessing have drawn near. The cup therefore full of pure wine in the hand of the Lord, as far as the Lord giveth me to understand,…the cup of pure wine full of the mixed, seemeth to me to be the Law, which was given to the Jews, and all that Scripture of the Old Testament, as it is called; there are the weights of all manner of sentences. For therein the New Testament lieth concealed, as though in the dreg of corporal Sacraments. The circumcision of the flesh is a thing of great mystery, and there is understood from thence the circumcision of the heart. The Temple of Jerusalem is a thing of great mystery, and there is understood from it the Body of the Lord. The land of promise is understood to be the Kingdom of Heaven. The sacrifice of victims and of beasts hath a great mystery: but in all those kinds of sacrifices is understood that one Sacrifice and only victim of the Cross, the Lord, instead of all which sacrifices we have one; because even those figured these, that is, with those these were figured. That people received the Law, they received commandments just and good. What is so just as, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not speak false testimony, honour thy father and mother, thou shalt not covet the property of thy neighbour, one God thou shalt adore, and Him alone thou shalt serve, all these things belong to the wine. But those things carnal have as it were sunk down in order that they might remain with them, and there might be poured forth from thence all the spiritual understanding. But “the cup in the hand of the Lord,” that is, in the power of the Lord: “of pure wine,” that is, of the mere Law: “is full of mixed,” that is, is together with the dreg of corporal Sacraments. And because the one He humbleth, the proud Jew, and the other He exalteth, the confessing Gentile; “He hath inclined from this unto this,” that is, from the Jewish people unto the Gentile people. Hath inclined what? The Law. There hath distilled from thence a spiritual sense. “Nevertheless, the dreg thereof hath not been emptied,” for all the carnal Sacraments have remained with the Jews. “There shall drink all the sinners of the earth.” Who shall drink? “All the sinners of the earth.” Who are the sinners of the earth? The Jews were indeed sinners, but proud: again, the Gentiles were sinners, but humble. All sinners shall drink, but see, who the dreg, who the wine. For those by drinking the dreg have come to nought: these by drinking the wine have been justified. I would dare to speak of them even as inebriated, and I shall not fear: and O that all ye were thus inebriated. Call to mind, “Thy cup inebriating, how passing beautiful!” But why? Do ye think, my brethren, that all those who by confessing Christ even willed to die, were sober? So drunk they were, that they knew not their friends. All their kindred, who strove to divert them from the hope of Heavenly rewards by earthly allurements, were not acknowledged, were not heard by them drunken. Were they not drunken, whose heart had been changed? Were they not drunken, whose mind had been alienated from this world? “There shall drink,” he saith, “all the sinners of the earth.” But who shall drink the wine? Sinners shall drink, but in order that they may not remain sinners; in order that they may be justified, in order that they may not be punished.
[vers. 8.] Tu terribilis es; et quis resistet tibi tunc ab ira tua? Modo dormiunt, et iratum non sentiunt; sed ut dormirent iratus est. Modo quod dormientes non sentiunt, in fine sentient: apparebit enim judex vivorum et mortuorum; et quis resistet tibi tunc ab ira tua? Modo enim loquuntur quod volunt, et disputant contra Deum, et dicunt: Qui sunt Christiani? aut quis est Christus? aut quales inepti qui credunt quod non vident, et dimittunt delicias quas vident, et sequuntur fidem rerum quae oculis ipsorum non exhibentur? Dormitis, et balatis; loquimini adversus Deum quantum potestis. Usquequo peccatores, Domine, usquequo peccatores gloriabuntur? respondent, et loquentur iniquitatem ? Quando autem nemo respondet, et nemo loquitur, nisi quando se in se convertat? quando in se convertent dentes quibus modo nos rodunt, quibus nos discerpunt irridendo Christianos, et reprehendendo vitam sanctorum? Tunc se in se convertent, cum illis eveniet quod dicitur in libro Sapientiae, Dicent inter se, poenitentiam agentes, et per angustiam spiritus gementes: cum viderint gloriam sanctorum, tunc dicent, Hi sunt quos aliquando habuimus in risum. O qui multum dormistis! certe jam evigilatis, et in vestris manibus nihil invenitis. Videtis quomodo plenas habeant manus gloria Dei, quos tanquam pauperes irrisistis. Dicite ergo tunc vobis, quando non resistitis irae Dei; non manu, nec lingua, nec verbo, nec cogitatione: apparebit enim vobis manifestus, quem irridendum putastis, cum vobis venturus nuntiaretur. Et quid dicent? Ergo erravimus a via veritatis, et justitiae lumen non luxit nobis, et sol non ortus est nobis. Quomodo justitiae sol oriretur dormientibus? Sed ab ira et increpatione ejus dormiunt. Hoc forte dicturus est, Et non ascenderem equum: et tunc ipsi equos suos accusabunt. Audi illos accusantes equos suos in quibus dormierunt: Ergo erravimus, inquit Scriptura, a via veritatis, et justitiae lumen non luxit nobis, et sol non ortus est nobis. Quid nobis profuit superbia? et divitiarum jactantia quid contulit nobis? Transierunt omnia tanquam umbra . Ergo vigilasti aliquando. Sed melius equum non ascenderes, ut tunc non dormitares, quando vigilare debuisti; et audires vocem Christi, et illuminaret te Christus. Tu terribilis es; et quis resistet ibi tunc ab ira tua? Quid enim erit tunc?
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12. “But I,” for all drink, but separately I, that is, Christ with His Body, “for ever will rejoice, I will Psalm to the God of Jacob” (ver. 9): in that promise to be at the end, whereof is said, “corrupt not.” “And all the horns of sinners I will break, and there shall be exalted the horns of the Just” (ver. 10). This is, the one He humbleth, the other He exalteth. Sinners would not have their horns to be broken, which without doubt will be broken at the end. Thou wilt not have Him then break them, do thou to-day break them. For thou hast heard above, do not despise it: “I have said to unjust men, Do not unjustly, and to the delinquents, Do not exalt the horn.” When thou hast heard, do not exalt the horn, thou hast despised and hast exalted the horn: thou shalt come to the end, where there shall come to pass, “All the horns of sinners I will break, and there shall be exalted the horns of the Just.” The horns of sinners are the dignities of proud men: the horns of the Just are the gifts of Christ. For by horns exultations are understood. Thou hatest on earth earthly exultation, in order that thou mayest have the heavenly. Thou lovest the earthly, He doth not admit thee to the Heavenly: and unto confusion will belong thy horn which is broken, just as unto glory it will belong, if thy horn is exalted. Now therefore there is time for making choice, then there will not be. Thou wilt not say, I will be let go and will make choice. For there have preceded the words, “I have said to the unjust.” If I have not said, make ready an excuse, make ready a defence: but if I have said, seize first upon confession, lest thou come unto damnation; for then confession will be too late, and there will be no defence.
[vers. 9.] De coelo jaculatus es judicium: terra tremuit, et quievit. Quae modo se turbat, quae modo loquitur, timere habet in fine et quiescere. Melius modo quiesceret, ut in fine gauderet.