Expositions on the Book of Psalms
THE. WORKS, OF «ST: AUGUSTIN. [PsaLm LXVII. the crevices into the hold, pumping it out by wilt be condemned if thou hast held thy peace, that mightest have been delivered, by having confessed. 'O God, confess to Thee all peoples." 7. And because this confession leadeth not to punishment, he continueth and saith, " Let the nations rejoice and exult" (ver. 4). If robbers after confession made do wail before man, let the faithful after confessing before God rejoice. If aman be judge, the torturer and his fear exact from a robber a confession: yea sometimes fear wringeth out confession, pain extorteth it: and he that waileth in tortures, but feareth to be killed if he confess, supporteth tortures as far as he is able: and if he shall have been overcome by pain, he giveth his voice for death. Nowise therefore is he joyful; nowise exulting: before he confesseth the claw teareth' him; when he hath confessed, the executioner leadeth him along a condemned felon: wretched in every case. But "let the nations rejoice and exult." Whence? Through that same confession. Why? Because good He is to whom they confess: He exacteth confession, to the end that He may deliver the humble ; He condemneth one not confessing, to the end that He may punish the proud. Therefore be thou sorrowful before thou confessest ; after having confessed exult, now thou wilt be made whole. Thy conscience had gathered up evil humours, with boil it had swollen, it was torturing thee, it suffered thee not to rest: the Physician applieth the fomentations of words," and sometimes He lanceth it, He applieth the surgeon's knife by the chastisement of tribulation : do thou acknowledge the Physician's hand, confess thou, let every evil humour go forth and flow away in confession : now exult, now rejoice, that which remaineth will be easy to be made whole. ... " Let the nations rejoice and exult, for Thou judgest the peoples in equity." And that unrighteous men may not fear, he hath added, "and the nations on the earth Thou directest." Depraved were the nations and crooked were the nations, perverse. were the nations; for the ill desert of their depravity, and crookedness and perverseness, the Judge's coming they feared: there cometh the hand of the same, it is stretched out mercifully to the peoples, they are guided in order that they may walk the straight way ; why should they fear the Judge to come, that have first acknowledged Him for a Corrector? To His hand let them give up themselves, Himself guideth the nations on the earth. But guided nations are walking in the Truth, are exulting in | good works, lest by more and more coming it accumulate, and sink the ship, pumping it out daily, fasting, praying, doing almsdeeds, saying with pure heart, " Forgive us our debts, as also we forgive our debtors''3— saying such words walk thou secure, and exult in the way, sing in the way. Do not fear the Judge: before thou wast a believer, thou didst find aSaviour. Thee ungodly He sought out that He might redeem, thee redeemed will He forsake so as to destroy? "And the nations on earth Thou directest."
8. He exulteth, rejoiceth, exhorteth, he repeateth those same verses in exhortation.4 "The earth hath given her fruit" (ver. 6). What fruit? "Let all peoples confess to Thee." Earth it was, of thorns it was full; there came the hand of One rooting them up, there came a calling by His majesty and mercy, the earth began to confess; now the earth giveth her fruit. Would she give her fruit unless first she were rained on? Would she give her fruit, unless first the. mercy of God had come from above? Let them read to me, thou sayest, how the earth being rained upon gave her fruit. Hear of the Lord raining upon her: " Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."5 He raineth, and that same rain is thunder ; it terrifieth: fear thou Him thundering, and receive Him raining. Behold, after that voice of a thundering and raining God, after that voice let us see something out of the Gospel itself. Behold that harlot of ill fame in the city burst into a strange house into whi she had not been invited by the host, but by One invited she had been called ;° called? not with tongue, but by Grace. The sick woman knew that she had there a place, where she was aware that her Physician was sitting at meat. She has gone in, that was a sinner; she dareth not draw near save to the feet: she weepeth at His feet, she washeth with tears, she wipeth with hair, she anointeth with ointment. Why wonderest thou? The earth hath given her fruit. This thing, I say, came to pass by the Lord raining there through His own mouth; there came to pass the things whereof we read in the .Gospel ; and by His raining through His clouds, by the sending of the Apostles and by their preaching the truth, the earth more abundantly hath given her fruit, and that crop now hath filled the round world. g. The fruit of the earth was first in Jerusalem. For from thence began the Church: there-came there the Holy Spirit, and filled full the holy men gathered together in one place; miracles were done, with the tongues of all men they spake.' They were filled full of the Spirit of God, the Him, are doing good works; and if perchance there cometh in any water (for on sea they are sailing) through the very small holes, through 1 Exarat ungula, perhaps the torture referred to in mAevpas Katataivortes, hrys. on Stat. Hom. xx. § 3, tr. p. 329. 2So Ben.; Oxf. mss. ferramenta verborum, ments of words."
3 Matt. vi. 12. 4 "'Let the people confess," etc., ver. 5. 5 Matt. ili. 2. © Luke vii. 37. 7 Oxf. Mss, repeat vocata, 8 Acts ii. 1, 4.
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