Expositions on the Book of Psalms
THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN. [Psatm XC.
was, and Shall be, but only Is. Whence the expression, I am THaT I am; and, I am "hath sent me unto you ;"" and, "Thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail."? Behold then the eternity that is our refuge, that we may fly thither from the mutability of time, there to remain for evermore.
years only had passed, and the expression, "as a watch in the night," ought to have warned them that they might not be deceived by the uncertainty of the seasons: for even if the six first days in which God finished His works seemed to give some plausibility to their opinion, six watches, which amount to eighteen hours, will not consist with that opinion.
4. But as our life here is exposed to numerous and great temptations, and it is to be feared lest we may be turned aside by them from that refuge, let us see what in consequence of this the prayer of the man of God seeks for. "Turn not Thou man to lowness" (ver. 3): that is, let not man, turned aside from Thy eternal and sublime things, lust for things of time, savour of earthly things. This prayer is what God has Himself enjoined us, in the Prayer, "Lead us not into temptation,'3 He adds, " Again Thou sayest, Come again, ye children of men." As if he said, I ask of Thee what Thou hast commanded me to ask: giving glory to His grace, that "he that glorieth, in the Lord he may glory :"'4 without whose help we cannot by an exertion of our own will overcome the temptations of this life. "Turn not Thou man to lowness: again thou sayest, Turn again, ye children of men." But grant what Thou has enjoined, by hearing the prayer5 of him who can at least pray, and aiding the faith of the willing soul.
6. Next, the man of God, or rather the Prophetic spirit, seems to be reciting some law written in the secret wisdom of God, in which He has fixed a limit to the sinful life of mortals, and determined the troubles of mortality, in the following words: 'Their years are as things which are nothing worth: in the morning let it fade away like the grass" (ver. 5). The happiness therefore of the heirs of the old covenant, which they asked of the Lord their God as a great boon, attained to receive this Law in His mysterious Providence. Moses seems to be reciting it: "Their years shall be things which are. esteemed as nothing." Such are those things which are not before they are come: and when come, shall soon not be: for they do not come to be here, but to be gone. "In the morning," that is, before they come, "as a heat® let it pass by ;" but "in the evening," it means after they come, "let it fall, and be dried up, and withered" (ver. 6). It is "to fall" in death, be "dried up"' in the corpse, " withered " in the dust. What is this but flesh, wherein is the accursed lust of fleshly things? " For all flesh is grass, and all the goodliness of man as the flower of the field; the grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of the Lord abideth for ever." 9
5. "Fora thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday, which is past by" (ver. 4): hence we ought to turn to Thy refuge, where Thou art without any change, from the fleeting scenes around us; since however long a time may be wished for for this life, "a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday:" not as to-morrow, which is to come: for all limited periods of time are reckoned as having already passed. Hence the Apostle's choice is rather to aim at what is before,° that is, to desire things eternal, and to forget things behind, by which temporal matters should be understood. But that no one may imagine a thousand years are reckoned by God as one day, as if with God days were so long, when this is only said in contempt of the extent of time: he adds, "and as a watch in the night: " which only lasts three hours. Nevertheless men have ventured to assert their knowledge of times, to the pretenders to which our Lord said, "It is not for you to know the times or seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power: " 7 and they allege that this period may be defined six thousand years, as of six days. Nor have they heeded the words, "are but as one day which is past by:" for, when this was uttered, not a thousand
7. Making no secret that this fate is a penalty inflicted for sin, he adds at once, " For we consume away in Thy displeasure, and are troubled at Thy wrathful indignation" (ver. 7): we consume away in our weakness, and are troubled from the fear of death; for we are become weak, and yet fearful to end that weakness.
" Another," saith He, "shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not :" '° although not to be punished, but to be crowned, by martyrdom; and the soul of our Lord, transforming us into Himself, was sorrowful even unto death : for "the Lord's going out" is no other than in " death."
8. "Thou hast set our misdeeds before Thee " (ver. 8): that is, Thou hast not dissembled Thine anger: "and our age in the light of Thy countenance." "The light of Thy countenance '' answers to " before Thee," and to " our misdeeds," as above.
g. " For all our days are failed, and in Thine anger we have failed" (ver. 9g). These words
1 Exod. iii. 14. 2 Ps, cii. 26, 27. 3 Matt. vi. 13. 4+ Cor. 1. 31. 5S Precem petentis exaudiendo, 6 Phil. iii, 13. 7 Acts i. 7.
Al. "as an herb." —C.] 8
9 i xl. 6, 8. 10 John xxi, 18.