Expositions on the Book of Psalms
PsaLm LXXXVIIL.] ON THE PSALMS. 427 they became weak for want, as if their food, their Light, had been withdrawn from them.
was wrought among the dead. He refers then in these words, " Dost Thou show wonders among the dead?" to men so dead in heart, that such great works of Christ could not rouse them to the life of faith: for he does not say that wonders are not shown to them because they see them not, but because they do not profit them. For, as he says in this passage, "the whole day have I stretched forth My hands to Thee:" because He ever refers all His works to the will of His Father, constantly declaring that He came to fulfil His Father's will: 3 so also, as an unbelieving people saw the same works, another Prophet saith, "I have spread out my hands all day unto a rebellious people, that believes not, but contradicts." ¢ Those then are dead, to whom wonders have not been shown, not because they saw them not, but since they lived not again through them. The following verse, "Shall physicians revive them, and shall they praise Thee?" means, that the dead shall not be revived by such means, that they may praise Thee. In the Hebrew there is said to be a different expression: giants being used where physicians are here: but the Septuagint translators, whose authority is such that they may deservedly be said to have interpreted by the inspiration of the Spirit of God owing to their wonderful agreement, conclude, not by mistake, but taking occasion from the resemblance in sound between the Hebrew words expressing these two senses, that the use of the word is an indication of the sense in which the word giants is meant to be taken. For if you suppose the proud meant by giants, of whom the Apostle saith, '"' Where is the wise ? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world?" 5 there is no incongruity in calling them physicians, as if by their own unaided skill they promised the salvation of souls: against whom it is said, " Of the Lord is safety."® But if we take the word giant in a good sense, as it is said of our Lord, " He rejoiceth as a giant to run his course ;"'7 that is Giant of giants, chief among the greatest and strongest, who in His Church excel in spiritual strength. Just as He is the Mountain of mountains; as it is written, "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be manifested in the top of the mountains:"'*® and the Saint of saints: there is no absurdity in styling these same great and mighty men physicians. Whence saith the Apostle, "if by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them."9 But even such physicians, even though they cure not by their. own power (as not even of their
8. He continues, " And I have called upon Thee." This indeed He did most clearly, when upon the Cross. But what follows? "All the day I have stretched forth My hands unto Thee,"' must be examined how it must be taken. For if in this expression we understand the tree of the Cross, how can we reconcile it with the " whole day" ? Can He be said to have hung upon the Cross during the whole day, as the night is considered a part of the day? But if day, as opposed to night, was meant by this expression, even of this day, the first and no small portion had passed by at the time of His crucifixion. But if we take "day" in the same sense of time
(especially as the word is used in the feminine, a gender which is restricted to that sense in Latin, although not so in Greek, as it is always used in the feminine, which I suppose to be the reason for its translation in the same gender in our own version), the knot of the question will be drawn tighter: for how can it mean for the whole space of time, if He did not even for one day stretch forth His hands on the Cross? Further, should we take the whole for a part, as Scripture sometimes uses this expression, I do not remember an instance in which the whole is taken for a part, when the word "whole" is expressly added. For in the passage of the Gospel where the Lord saith, "The Son of Man shall be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth," ! it is no extraordinary licence to take the whole for the part, the expression not being for three "whole" days and three whole nights: since the one intermediate day was a whole one, the other two were parts, the last being part of the first day, | the first part of the last. But if the Cross is not meant here, but the prayer, which we find in the Gospel that He poured forth in the form of a servant to God the Father, where He is said to have prayed long before His Passion, and on the eve of His Passion, and also when on the Cross, we do not read anywhere that He did so throughout the whole day. Therefore by the stretchedout hands throughout the whole day, we may understand the continuation of good works in which He never ceased from exertion.
g. But as His good works profited only the predestined to eternal salvation, and not all men, nor even all those among whom they were done, he adds, ' Dost thou show wonders among the dead?" (ver. 10). If we suppose this relates to those whose flesh life has left, great wonders have been wrought among the dead, inasmuch as some of them have revived : ? and in our Lord's descent into Hell, and His ascent as the conqueror of death, a great wonder
4 Isa. Ixv. 2. 5 x Cor. i. 20, 7 Ps, xix. 5. 8 Isa, il. 2.
3 John vi. 38. © Ps. iv. 8. 9 Rom, xi. 14.
1 Matt. xii. 40. 2 Matt, xxvii. 52.
THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN. [Psatm LXXXVIII.
own do those of the body), yet so far forth as by faithful ministry they assist towards salvation, can cure the living, but not raise the dead: of whom it is said, "Dost Thou show wonders among the dead?" For the grace of God, by which men's minds in a certain manner are brought to live a fresh life, so as to be able to hear the lessons of salvation from any of its ministers whatever, is most hidden and mysterious. 'This grace is thus spoken of in the Gospel. 'No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him;"? .. in order to show, that the very faith by which the soul believes, and springs into fresh life from the death of its former affections, is given us by God. Whatever exertions, then, the best preachers of the word,? and persuaders of the truth through miracles, may make with men, just like great physicians: yet if they are dead, and through Thy grace have not a second life, '' Dost Thou show wonders among the dead, or shall physicians raise them? and shall they" whom they raise "' praise Thee''? For this confession declares that they live: not, as it is written elsewhere, "Thanksgiving perisheth from the dead, as from one that is not.''3 amid My sufferings ; "all day I have stretched forth my hands unto Thee" (ver. 13). I have never ceased to stretch forth My works to glorify, Thee. Why then do the wicked rage against Me, unless because "Thou showest not wonders among the dead''? because those wonders move them not to faith, nor can physicians restore them to life that they may praise Thee, because Thy hidden grace works not in them to draw them unto believing: because no man cometh unto Me, but whom Thou hast drawn. Shall then " Thy loving-kindness be showed in the grave''? that is, the grave of the dead soul, which lies dead beneath the body's weight: "or Thy faithfulness in destruction"? that is, in such a death as cannot believe or feel any of these things. ' For how then in the darkness " of this death, that is, in the man who in forgetting Thee has lost the light of his life, 'shall Thy wondrous works and Thy righteousness be known."
12. But that those prayers, the blessings of, which surpass all words, may be more fervent and more constant, the itt that shall last unto eternity is deferred, while transitory evils are allowed to thicken. And so it follows: "Lord, why hast Thou cast off my prayer?" (ver. 14), which may be compared with another Psalm :7 'My God, My God, look upon me; why hast Thou forsaken me?" The reason is made matter of question, not as if the wisdom of God were blamed as doing so without a cause ; and so here. " Lord, why hast Thou cast off my prayer?'' But if this cause be attended to carefully, it will be found indicated above; for it is with the view that the prayers of the Saints are, as it were, repelled by the delay of so great a blessing, and by the adversity they encounter in the troubles of life, that the flame, thus fanned, may burst into a brighter blaze.
10. "Shall one show Thy loving-kindness in the grave, or Thy faithfulness in destruction?"
(ver. 11). The word "show" is of course understood as if repeated, Shall any show Thy faithfulness in destruction? Scripture loves to connect loving-kindness and faithfulness, especially in the Psalms. '" Destruction" also is a repetition of "the grave," and signifies them who are in the grave, styled above "the dead," in the verse, " Dost thou show wonders among the dead?" for the body is the grave of the dead soul; whence our Lord's words in the Gospel, "Ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but within are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.'' 4
13. For this purpose he briefly sketches in what follows the troubles of Christ's body. For it is not in the Head alone that they took place, since it is said to Saul too, " Why persecutest thou Me?"'® and Paul himself, as if placed as an elect member in the same body, saith, '' That I may fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh." 9 '* Why then, Lord, hast Thou cast off my soul? why hidest Thou Thy face from me?"
11. 'Shall thy wondrous works be known in the dark, and thy righteousness in the land where all things are forgotten?" (ver. 12), the dark answers to the land of forgetfulness: for the unbelieving are meant by the dark, as the Apostle saith, " For ye were sometimes darkness ;"'5 and the land where all things are forgotten, is the man who has forgotten God; for the unbelieving soul can arrive at darkness so intense, "that the fool saith in his heart, There is no God." ® Thus the meaning of the whole passage may thus be drawn out in its connection: " Lord, I have called upon Thee,"
"T am poor, and in toils from my youth up: and when lifted up, I was thrown down, and troubled " (ver. 15).
Thy terrors dis-
"Thy wraths went over me: turbed me" (ver. 16).
"They came round about me all day like water: they compassed. me about together " (veri)
1 John vi. 44. 2 Ben. refers to P. Lombard, 4 Sent. Dist. 18, Hic herd eG 3 Ecclus. xvii. 26. Matt. xxiii. 27, 2 5 Eph v. 8 err
7Ps, xxiil ¥. 8 Acts ix. 4. 9 Col. i. 24.
PsALM LXXXIX.] ON THE PSALMS
"A friend Thou hast put far from me: and mine acquaintance from my misery " (ver. 18). All these evils have taken place, and are happening in the limbs of Christ's body, and God turns away His face from their prayers, by not hearing as to what they wish for, since they know not that the fulfilment of 'their wishes would not be good for them. The Church is "poor," as she hungers and thirsts in her wanderings for that food with which she shall be filled in her own country: she is " in toils from her youth up," as the very Body of Christ saith in another Psalm, " Many a time have they overcome me from my youth."! And for this reason some of her members are lifted up even in this world, that in them may be the greater lowliness. Over that Body, which constitutes the unity of the Saints and the faithful, whose Head is Christ, go the wraths of God: yet abide not: since it is of the unbelieving only that it is written, that "the wrath of God abideth upon him." ? The terrors of God disturb the weakness of the faithful, because all that can happen, even though it actually happen not, it is prudent to fear ; and sometimes these terrors so agitate the reflecting soul with the evils impending around, that they seem to flow around us on every side like water, and to encircle us in our fears. And as the Church while on pilgrimage is never free from these evils, happening as they do at one moment in one of her limbs, at another in another, he adds, "all day," signifying the continuation in time, to the end of this world. Often too, friends and acquaintances, their worldly interests at stake, in their terror forsake the Saints; of which saith the Apostle, "all men forsook me: may it not be laid to their charge." 3 But to what purpose is all this, but that early in the morning, that is, after the night of unbelief, the prayers of this holy Body may in the light of faith prevent God, until the coming of that salvation, which we are at present saved by hoping for, not by having, while we await it with patience and faithfulness. Then the Lord will not repel our prayers, as there will no longer be anything to be sought for, but everything that has been rightly asked, will be obtained : nor will He turn His face away from us, since we shall see Him as He is: nor shall we be poor, because God will be our abundance, all in all: 5 nor shall we suffer, as there will be no more weakness: nor: after exaltation shall we meet with humiliation and confusion, as there will be no adversity there: nor bear even the transient wrath of God, as we shall abide in His abiding love: nor will His terrors agitate us, because His promises realized will bless us: nor will our friend and acquaintance, being terrified, be far from us, where there will be no foe to dread.
PSALM LXXXIX.®
1. Understand, beloved, this Psalm, which I am about to explain, by the grace of God, of our hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, and be of good cheer, because He who promised, will fulfil all, as He has fulfilled much: for it is not our own merit, but His mercy, that gives us confidence in Him. He Himself is meant, in my belief, by "the understanding of A'than the Israelite :""7 which has given this Psalm its title. You see then, who is meant by Athan: but the meaning of the word is "strong." No man in this world is strong, except in the hope of God's promises: for as to our own deservings, we are weak, in His mercy we are strong. Weak then in himself, strong in God's mercy, the Psalmist thus begins: "I will sing of Thy mercies, O Lord, for ever: with my mouth will I make known Thy truth unto all generations" (ver. 1).
2. Let my limbs, he saith, serve the Lord: I speak, but it is of Thine I speak. "With my mouth will I make known Thy truth:" if I obey not Thee, I am not Thy servant: if I speak on my own part, I am a liar. To speak then from Thee,' and in my own person, are two things: one mine, one Thine: Truth Thine, language mine. Let us hear then what faithfulness he maketh known, what mercies he singeth.
3. "For Thou hast said, Mercy shall be built up for ever" (ver. 2). It is this that I sing: this is Thy truth, for the making known of which my mouth serveth. In such wise Thou sayest, I build, as not to destroy: for some Thou destroyest and buildest not ; and some whom Thou destroyest Thou dost rebuild. For unless there were some who were destroyed to be rebuilt, Jeremiah would not have written, "See, I have this day set thee to throw down and to build." 9 And indeed all who formerly worshipped images and stones could not be built up in Christ, without being destroyed as to their old error. While, unless some were destroyed not to be built up, it would not be written, " He shall destroy them, and not build them up." '° . . . In what follows, he joins these two words, mercy and faithfulness ; " For Thou hast said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: Thy truth shall be established in the Heavens:" in which mercy and truth are repeated, "for all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth," ™ for truth in the fulfilment of promises could not be shown, unless mercy in the remission of sins preceded. Next, as many
Delivered in the morning, on the festival of
6 Lat. LXXXVIII. some Martyrs.
7 See note on title of Ps. Ixxxviii. 8 Abs Te. To Ps, xxviii. 5.
9 Jer. i. ro. Il Ps, xxv, 10,
2 John iii. 36. 5 x Cor. xv. 28, I Ps. cxxix. 1. 3 2 Tim. iv. 16. 4 1 John iii. 2,
430 THE WORKSOP ST.IAUGUSTIN, [Psatm LXXXIX.
sworn! For the oath of God is the assurance of a promise. Man is justly forbidden to swear :° lest by the habit of swearing, since a man may be deceived, he fall into perjury. God alone swears securely, because He alone is infallible.
things were promised in prophecy even to the people of Israel that came according to the flesh from the seed of Abraham, and that people was increased that the promises of God might be fulfilled in it; while yet God did not close the fountain of His goodness even to the Gentiles, whom He had placed under the rule of the Angels, while He reserved the people of Israel as His own portion: the Apostle expressly mentions the Lord's mercy and truth as referring to these two parties. For he calls Christ "a minister of the Circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers." ! See how God deceived not; see how He cast not off His people, whom He foreknew. For while the Apostle is treating of the fall of the Jews, to prevent any from believing them so far
5. Let us see then what God hath sworn. "I have sworn," He saith, "to David My servant ; thy seed will I establish for ever" (ver. 4). But what is the seed of David, but that of Abraham. And what is the seed of Abraham? "And to thy seed," He saith, "which is Christ."7 But perhaps that Christ, the Head of the Church, the Saviour of the body,® is the seed of Abraham, and therefore of David; but we are not Abraham's seed? We are assuredly; as the Apostle saith, " And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.''9 In this sense, then, let us take the words, brethren, " Thy seed will I stablish for ever," not only of that Flesh of Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, but also of all of us who believe in Christ, for we are limbs of that Head. This body cannot be deprived of its Head: if the Head is in glory for ever, so are the limbs, so that Christ remains entire for ever. "Thy seed will I stablish for ever: and set up thy throne to generation and generation." We suppose he saith, "for ever," because it is "to generation and generation :"' since he has said above, with "my mouth will I ever be showing Thy truth to generation and generation." What is "to generation and generation"? To every generation: for the word needed not as many repetitions, as the coming and passing away of the several generations. The multiplication of generations is signified and set forth to notice by the repetition. Are possibly two generations to be understood, as ye are aware, my beloved brethren, and as I have before explained? for there is nowa generation of flesh and blood: there will be a future generation in the resurrection of the dead. Christ is proclaimed here: He will be proclaimed '?° there: here He is proclaimed, that He may be believed in: there, He will be welcomed, that He may be seen. "I will set up Thy throne from one generation to another." Christ hath now a throne in us, His throne is set up in us: for unless he sate enthroned within us, He would not rule us: but if we were not ruled by Him, we should be thrown down by ourselves. He therefore sits within us, reigning over us: He sits also in another generation, which will come from the resurrection of the dead. Christ will reign for ever over His Saints. God has promised this ; He hath said it: if this is not enough, God hath sworn it. As then the promise is certain, not on account of our deservdisowned? of God, that no wheat from that floor's fanning could reach the granary, he saith, " God hath not cast away His people, whom He foreknew ; for I also am an Israelite."3 If all that nation are thorns, how am I who speak unto you wheat? So that the truth of God was fulfilled in those Israelites who believed, and one wall from the circumcision is thus brought to meet the cornerstone. But this stone would not form a corner, unless it received another wall from the Gentiles: so that the former wall relates in a special manner to the truth, the latter to the mercy of God. " Now I say," says the Apostle, "that Jesus Christ was a minister of the Circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promise made unto the fathers: and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy." 4 Justly then is it added, " Thy truth shalt Thou stablish in the Heavens: " for all those Israelites who were called to be Apostles became as Heavens which declare the glory of God: as it is written by them, 'The Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handywork." 5 . . . Since, although they were taken up from hence before the Church filled the whole world, yet as "their words reached to the ends of the world," we are right in supposing this which we have just read, "Thy truth shalt Thou stablish in the Heavens," fulfilled in them.
4. 'Thou hast said, I have made a covenant with My chosen" (ver. 3). What covenant, but the new, by which we are renewed to a fresh inheritance, in our longing desire and love of which we sing a new song. 'I have made a covenant with My chosen," saith the Psalmist: "I have sworn unto David My servant." How confidently does he speak, who understands, whose mouth serves truth! I speak without fear; since "Thou hast said." If Thou makest me fearless, because Thou hast said, how much more so dost Thou make me, when Thou hast
6 Matt. v. 34. 7 Gal. iii. 16. 8 Eph. v. 23. 9 Gal. iii. 29. 10 Oxf, mss. "' He is proclaimed; " and so again below.
I Rom. xv. 8. 4 Rom. xv. 8, 9. 2 Improbatos, c 3 Rom. xi. 1, 2. 9 Ps. Xtxs es ings, but of His pity, no one ought to be afraid in proclaiming that which he cannot doubt of. Let that strength then inspire our hearts, whence Ethan received his name, "strong in heart :" let us preach the truth of God, the utterance of God, His promises, His oath; and let us, strengthened on every side by these means, glorify God, and by bearing Him along with us, become Heavens.
moment what a man is saying: but what he has in his heart, you cannot see: what is forced from the cloud, you see, what is kept within the cloud, you see not. For whose eyes pierce the cloud? The clouds therefore are the preachers of the truth in the flesh. The Creator of all things Himself came in the flesh. . . . We are called clouds on account of the flesh, and we are preachers of the truth on account of the showers of the clouds: but our flesh comes in one way, His by another. We too are called sons of God, but He is the Son of God in another sense. His cloud comes from a Virgin, He is the Son from eternity, co-eternal ? with the Father. 'Who is he then among the clouds, that shall be compared unto the Lord? and what is he among the sons of God, that shall be like unto the Lord?" Let the Lord Himself say whether He can find one like unto Himself. "Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am?" Because I appear, because I am seen, because I walk among you, and perhaps at present I am become common; say, whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? Surely when they see a son of man, they see a cloud; but say, ''Whom do men say that I am?" In answer they gave Him the reports of men; "Some say that Thou art John the Baptist: some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets." Many clouds and sons of God are here mentioned : for because they were righteous and holy, as the sons of God, Jeremias, Elias, and John are called also sons of God: in their character of preachers of God, they are styled clouds. Ye have said what clouds men imagine Me to be: do ye too say, "Whom say ye that I am?" Peter replying in behalf of all, one for those who were one,3 answered, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God ;'4 not like those sons of God who are not made equal to Thee: Thou hast come in the flesh: but not as the clouds, who are not to be compared unto Thee.
6. "O Lord, the very Heavens shall praise Thy wondrous works" (ver. 5). The Heavens will not praise their own merits, but Thy wondrous works, O Lord. For in every act of mercy on the lost, of justification of the unrighteous, what do we praise but the wondrous works of God? Thou praisest Him, because the dead have risen : praise Him yet more, because the lost are redeemed. What grace, what mercy of God ! Thou seest a man yesterday a whirlpool of drunkenness, to-day an ornament of sobriety: a man yesterday the sink of luxury, to-day the beauty of temperance: yesterday a blasphemer of God, to-day His praiser: yesterday the slave of the creature, to-day the worshipper of the Creator. From all these desperate states men are thus converted: let them not look at their own merits: let them become Heavens, and praise the wondrous works of Him by whom they were made Heavens... . 7. "For who is he among the clouds, who shall be compared unto Thee, Lord!" (ver. 6). Is this to be the praise of the Heavens, is this to be their rain? What? are the preachers confident, because "none among the clouds shall be compared unto the Lord'? Does it appear to you, brethren, a high ground of praise, that the clouds cannot be compared with their Creator? If it is taken in its literal, not in its mystical meaning, it is not so: what? are the stars that are above the clouds to be compared with the Lord? what? can the Sun, Moon, Angels, Heavens, be even compared with the Lord? Why is it then that he says, as if he meant some high praise, " For who is he among the clouds?" etc. We understand, my brethren, those clouds, as the Heavens, to be the preachers of truth; Prophets, Apostles, the announcers of the word of God. . . . If therefore the clouds are the preachers of the truth, let us first enquire why they are clouds. For the same men are Heavens and clo.ds: Heavens from the brightness of the truth, clouds from the hidden things of the flesh: for all clouds are obscure, owing to their mortality: and they come and go. It is on account of these very obscurities of the flesh, that is, of the clouds, that the Apostle saith, '' Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness."?! You see at this
8. . . . "God is very greatly to be feared in the counsel of the righteous, and to be had in dread of all them that are round about Him"
(ver. 7). God is everywhere ; who therefore are round about Him, who is everywhere? For if He has some round about Him, He is represented as finite on every side. Moreover, if it is truly said to Gods and of God, "of His greatness there is no end ;"® who remain, who are round about Him, except because He who is everywhere, chose to be born of the flesh on one spot, to dwell among one nation, in one place to be crucified, from one spot to rise again and ascend into Heaven. Where He did this, the Gentiles are round about Him. If He remained
4 Matt. xvi. 13-16. 2 Aqualts. 3 Pro unitate unus. © Ps, cxlv. 3. 5 Oxf. mss, '' by God."
1; Cor. iv. 5.
432 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN. [PsALmM LXXXIX.
where He did these things, He would not be what ye are able:"'4 and so, "Thou stillest the waves thereof when they rise."
"great, and be had in dread of all them that are round about Him ;" but since He preached when there in such a manner as to send preachers of His own name through all nations over the whole world; by working miracles among His servants, He is become " great, and to be had in dread of all them that are round about Him."
11. Lastly, what hast Thou done in the sea itself, to pacify its rage, and to weaken it? "Thou hast humbled the proud 5 as one that is wounded" (ver. 10). There is a certain proud serpent in the sea, of which another passage of Scripture speaks, "I will command the serpent, and he shall bite him; "° and again, " There is that Leviathan, whom Thou hast made to mock him," 7 whose head He bruises above the water. " Thou," he says, " hast humbled the proud, as one that is wounded." Thou hast humbled Thyself, and the proud was humbled: for the proud held the proud ones through pride : but the great One is humbled, and by believing in Him become small. While the little one is nourished by the example of One who from greatness descended to humility, the devil has lost what he held: because the proud held only the proud. When such an example of humility was displayed before them, men learned to condemn their own pride, and to imitate the humility of God. Thus also the devil, by losing those whom he had in his power, has even himself been humbled; not chastened, but thrown prostrate. 'Thou hast humbled the proud like one that is wounded." Thou hast been humbled, and hast humbled others: Thou hast been wounded, and _ hast wounded others: for Thy blood, as it was shed to blot the handwriting of sins,' could not but wound him. For what was the ground of his pride, except the bond which he held against us. This bond, this handwriting, Thou hast blotted out with Thy blood: him therefore hast Thou wounded, from whom Thou hast rescued so many victims. You must understand the devil wounded, not by the piercing of the flesh, which he has not, but by the bruising of his proud heart. "Thou hast scattered Thine enemies abroad with Thy mighty arm."
g. "O Lord God of Hosts, who is like unto Thee? Thy truth, most mighty Lord, is on every side" (ver. 8). Great is Thy power: Thou hast made Heaven and earth, and all things that in them are: but greater still is thy loving-kindness, which has shown forth Thy truth to all around Thee. For if Thou hadst been preached only on the spot where Thou didst deign to be born, to suffer, to rise again, to ascend; the truth of that promise of God would have been fulfilled, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: but the promise,
"that the Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy," ' would not have been fulfilled, had not that truth been explained, and diffused to those around Thee from the spot where Thou didst deign to appear. On that spot Thou didst thunder out of Thy own cloud: but to scatter rain upon the Gentiles round about, Thou hast sent other clouds. Truly in Thy power hast Thou fulfilled what Thou hast said, " Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of Heaven." ?
10. . . . For ye have heard, like men accustomed to the watering of the clouds of God, "Thy. truth'"' then "fis in the circuit of Thee." But when without persecutions, when without opposition, since it is said, that "' He was born for a sign which shall be spoken against" ?3 Since then that nation, where Thou didst deign to be born, and to dwell, was as a land separated from the waves of the heathen, so that it appeared dry and ready for watering with rain, while the rest of the nations were as a sea in the bitterness of their sterility; what do Thy preachers who scatter Thy truth in circuit of Thee, when the waves of that sea rage furiously? 'Thou rulest the power of the sea" (ver. 9). For what was the result of the sea raging thus, but the day which we are now keeping holy? It slew Martyrs, scattered seeds of blood, the harvest of the Church sprang up. Safely then let the clouds go forth: let them diffuse Thy truth in circuit of Thee, let them not fear the savage waves. "Thou rulest the power of the sea." The sea swells, buffets, and roars: but "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted beyond
12. 'The heavens are thine, the earth also is Thine" (ver. 11). From Thee, over Thy earth they rain. Thine are the heavens, by whom is preached Thy truth in circuit of Thee ; " Thine is the earth,' which has received Thy truth in circuit of Thee ; and what has resulted from that rain? 'Thou hast laid the foundation of thé round world, and all that therein is." '" Thou hast created the north and the seas" (ver. 12). For nothing has any power against Thee, against its Creator. The world indeed may rage through its own malice, and the perversity of its will; does it nevertheless pass over the bound laid down by the Creator, who made all things? Why then do I fear the north wind? Why do I fear the seas? In the north indeed is the devil, who said, "I will sit in the sides of the north; I
T Rom. xv. 9. 2 Matt. xxvi. 64, 3 Luke ii. 34.
5 E. V. Rahad. ' © Amos ix. 3. 8 Col. ii. 14. 4 1 Cor. x. 13. 7 Ps, civ. 26.
Psatm LXXXIX.] ON THE
PSALMS. 433 will be like the Most High;"* but Thou hast humbled, as one wounded, the proud one. Thus what Thou hast done in them has more force for Thy dominion, than their own will has for their wickedness. "Thou hast created the north and the seas."
mercy going before Thee Thou blottest out my sins, and by showing forth Thy truth fulfillest Thy promises? '" Mercy and truth go before Thy face.' For "all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth." 7
16. In all these things shall we not rejoice? or shall we contain our joy? or shall words suffice for our gladness? or shall the tongue be able to express our rejoicing? If therefore no words suffice, " Blessed is the people, O Lord, that knoweth glad shouting" (ver. 15). O blessed people ! dost thou conceive aright, dost thou understand, glad shouting? For except thou understand glad shouting, thou canst not be blessed. What do I mean by understanding glad shouting? Whether thou knowest the source of that rejoicing which is beyond words to express. For this joy is not of thyself, since "he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."® Rejoice not then in thy own pride, but in God's grace. See that that grace is such, that the tongue fails to express its greatness, and then thou understandest glad shouting. . . . O Lord, "they shall walk in the light of Thy countenance." '"' They shall rejoice in Thy name all the day (ver. 16). That Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Thy name: all day shall they rejoice, if they will, in Thy name ; but if they will rejoice in their own name, they shall not rejoice all day: for they shall not con-. tinue in their joy, when they shall delight in themselves, and fall through pride. That they may rejoice all day, therefore, ' they shall rejoice in Thy name, and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted." Not in their own, but in Thine: lest they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For some are noted by the Apostle, that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge, "being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own," and not rejoicing in Thy light, and thus "not submitting themselves unto the righteousness of God."9 And why? because " they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge." But the people who knoweth glad shouting (for the former err from want of knowledge, but blessed is the people not that knoweth not, but that knoweth glad shouting), whence ought it to shout, whence to rejoice, but in Thy name, walking in the light of Thy countenance? And it shall deserve to be exalted, but in Thy righteousness : let every man take away altogether his own righteousness, and be humbled : the righteousness of God shall come, and he shall be exalted, " and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted."
13. " Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Thy name." 'Those mountains are here understood, but they have a meaning. 'Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Thy name." 'Thabor, when interpreted, signifies an approaching light. But whence comes the light of which it is said, " Ye are the light of the world,'? unless from Him concerning whom it is written, "That was the true light, which lighteth every man coming into the world" ?3 The light then which is the light of the world comes from that light which is not kindled from any other source, so that there is no fear Jest it be extinguished. The light then comes from Him, who is that candle which is not set beneath the bushel, but on a candlestick, Thabor the coming light. Hermon means his curse. Justly the light comes and is made the curse of him. Of whom but the devil, the wounded one, the proud one? Our illumination then is given from Thee ; that he is held accursed of us, who kept us in his own error and pride, is from Thee. ' Thabor and Hermon, therefore, shall rejoice," not in their own merits, " but in Thy name." For they shall say, " Not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but to Thy name give the praise," on account of the raging sea: lest " the heathen say, Where is now their God?"'4
14. "Thou hast a mighty arm" (ver. 13). Let no man arrogate anything to himself. "Thou hast a mighty arm: "" by Thee we were created, by Thee we have been defended. "Thou hast a mighty arm: strong be Thy hand, and high be Thy right hand."
15. "Righteousness and judgment are the preparation of Thy seat" (ver. 14). Thy righteousness and judgment will appear in the end: they are now hidden. Of Thy righteousness it is treated in another Psalm,5 " on the hidden things of the Son.' There will then be a manifestation of Thy righteousness and judgment: some will be set on the right, others on the left hand : © and the unbelieving will tremble, when they see what now they mock at, and believe not: the righteous will rejoice, when they shall see what they now see not, yet believe. ' Righteousness and judgment are the preparation of Thy seat: " especially in the Day of Judgment. What then now? "mercy and truth go before Thy face." I should fear the preparation of Thy seat, Thy justice, and Thy coming judgment, did not mercy and truth go before Thee: why should I at the end fear Thy righteousness, when with Thy
17. " For Thou art the glory of their strength : and in Thy good pleasure Thou shalt lift up our horns " (ver. 17) : because it has seemed good to Thee, not because we are worthy.
2 Matt. v. 14. 3 John i. 9. I Isa. xiv. 13, 14.
5 Ps. ix. Tit. 6 Matt. xxv. 33. 4 Ps, Cxv: 1,2,
7 Ps. xxv. 10. 8 x Cor. i. 31. 9 Rom. x, 2, 3.
434 THE WORKS OF 'ST. AUGUSTIN. [PsAaLM LXXXIX,
18. "For of the Lord is our taking up" (ver. 18). For I was moved like a heap of sand, that I might fall; and I should have fallen, had not the Lord taken me up. " For of the Lord is (our') taking up: and of the Holy One of Israel ouf King." Himself is thy taking up, Himself thy illumination: in His light thou art safe, in His light thou walkest, in His righteousness thou art exalted. He took thee up, He guards thy weakness: He gives thee strength of Himself, not of thyself.
For Moses ground down the calf's head, and sprinkled it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink it. All the unbelieving are ground: they believe by degrees; and they are drunk by the people of God, and pass into Christ's body. "I will cut in pieces His foes before His face: and put to flight them that hate Fine?) 2:3).
24. "My truth also and My mercy is with Him" (ver. 24). All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. Remember, as much as ye can, how often these two attributes are urged upon us, that we render them back to God. Foras He showed us mercy that He might blot out our sins, and truth in fulfilling His promises ; so also we, walking in His path, ought to give back to Him mercy and truth; mercy, in pitying the wretched ; truth, in not judging unjustly. Let not truth rob you of mercy, nor mercy hinder truth: for if through mercy you shall have judged contrary to truth, or by rigorous truth
1g. "Thou spakest sometime in vision unto Thy sons, and saidst"' (ver. 19). Thou spakest in thy vision. Thou didst reveal this to Thy Prophets. For this reason Thou spakest in vision, that is, in revelation: whence Prophets were called seers. They saw something within, which they were to speak without: and secretly they heard what they preached openly.2. Then "Thou spakest in vision unto Thy sons, and saidst, I have laid help upon One that is mighty." Ye understand Who is meant by mighty? "TI have exalted One chosen out of the people." And Who is meant by chosen? One who, ye rejoice, is already exalted.
shall have forgotten mercy, you will not be walking in the path of God, where "mercy and truth meet together." 7 'And in My name shall His horn be exalted." Why shouid I say more? Ye are Christians, recognise Christ. 25. "I will set His hand also in the sea"' (ver. 25): that is, He shall rule over the Gentiles ; * and His right hand in the floods." Rivers run into the sea: avaricious men roll onwards into the bitterness of this world: yet all these kinds of men will be subject to Christ.
20. 'I have found David My servant:" that David from David's seed: "with My holy oil have I anointed Him" (ver. 20) : for it is said of Him, "God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows."'3
21. 'My hand shall hold Him fast, and My arm shall strengthen Him" (ver. 21): because there was a taking up of man; because flesh was assumed in the Virgin's womb,+ because by Him who in the form of God is coequal with the
26. " He shall call me, Thou art My Father, and the lifter up of My salvation" (ver. 26).
" And I will make Him my first-born ; higher than the kings of the earth" (ver. 27). Our Martyrs, whose birthdays we are celebrating, shed their blood on account of these things, which were believed though not yet seen; how much more brave ought we to be, as we see what they believed? For they had not yet seen Christ raised on high among the kings of the earth: as yet princes were taking counsel together against the Lord and His Anointed: what follows in the same Psalm was not then fulfilled, '' Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be learned, ye that are judges of the earth."® Now indeed Christ has been exalted among the kings of the earth.
Father, the form of a servant was taken, and He became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross.5
22. " The enemy shall not be able to do him violence" (ver. 22). The enemy rages indeed: but he shall not be able to do Him violence: he is wont to hurt, but he shall not hurt. How then shall he afflict Him? he will exercise Him, but heshallnot hurt Him. There shall be profit in his raging ; for those against whom he rages shall be crowned in their conquering. For how is he conquered, if he rages not against us? or where is God our helper, if we fight not? The enemy therefore shall do what is in his power ; but "he shall not be able to do Him violence: the son of wickedness shall not come nigh to hurt Him."
27. " My mercy will I keep for Him for ever: and my Testament faithful with Him" (ver. 28). On His account, the Testament is faithful: in Him the Testament is mediated: He is the Sealer, the Mediator of the Testament, the Surety of the Testament, the Witness of the Testament, the Heritage of the Testament, the Coheir of the Testament.
23. "I will cut in pieces His enemies before His face'' (ver. 23). They are cut in pieces from their conspiracy, and in that they believe they are cut in pieces; for they believe by degrees ; as when the calf's head was ground small, they will come to be the drink of God's people.
28. "His seed will I make to endure world without end" (ver. 29). Not only for this
2 x Sam. iii. 9-18. 5 Phil. ii, 6, 8. 1 Oxf. mss. " our." 3 Ps. xlv. 7. 4 Luke i. 31.
6 Exod. xxxii. 20, 7 Ps. Ixxxv. 10. 8 Ps, ii, 2: to.