Expositions on the Book of Psalms
THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Psatm XCITI.
Ye see what he saith. Thou hast made me living well, Thou hast formed me: if by chance
Ye have heard, while the prophet was being read, how He " did not turn away His back from the smiters, and His face from the spittings of men," how "He turned not His cheek from their hands ; "'° wherefore chose He to suffer all these things, but that He might console the suffering? He could have raised His flesh at the last day: but then thou wouldest not have had thy ground of hope, since thou hadst not seen Him. He deferred not His resurrection, that thou mightest not still be in doubt. Suffer then tribulation in the world with the same end as that which thou hast observed in Christ: and let not those who do evil, and flourish in this life, move thee. " Thy thoughts are very deep." Where is the thought of God? Rejoice not as the fish who is exulting in his bait: the fisherman hath not drawn his hook: the fish hath as yet the hook in his jaws. And what seemeth to thee long, is short; all these things pass over quickly. What is the long life of man to the eternity of God? Dost thou wish to be of long-suffering? Consider the eternity of God. For thou regardest thy few days, and in thy few days thou dost wish all things to be fulfilled. What things? The condemnation of all the wicked: and the crowning of all the good: dost thou wish these things to be fulfilled in thy days? God fulfilleth them in His own time. Why dost thou suffer weariness? He is eternal: He waiteth: He is of long-suffering: but thou sayest, I am not of long-suffering, because I am mortal. But thou hast it in thy power to become so: join thy heart to the eternity of God, and with Him thou shalt be etemal: <u. to suffer on earth Himself.
I do aught of good, I will rejoice in the work of Thy hands: as the Apostle saith, " For we are His workmanship, created unto good works." * For unless He formed thee to good works, thou wouldest not know any works but evil. . . . Because thou canst not have truth from thy own self, it remains that thou drink it thence, whence it floweth: as if thou hast gone back from the light, thou art in darkness: as a stone glows not with its own heat, but either from the sun or fire, and if thou withdraw it from the heat, it cools: there it appears, that the heat was not its own; for it became heated either by the sun or by fire: thus thou also, if thou withdraw from God, wilt become cold ; if thou approach God, thou wilt warm: as the Apostle saith "fervent in spirit."? Also what saith he of the light? If thou approach Him, thou wilt be in light; therefore saith the Psalm, "Look upon Him, and be lightened; and your faces shall not be ashamed."3 Because therefore thou canst do no good, unless lightened by the light of God, and warmed by the spirit of God ; when thou shalt see thyself working well, confess unto God, and say what the Apostle saith ; say unto thyself, that thou be not puffed up, "For what hast thou that thou didst not reCEIVE PA 4 asus 7. That wretched man who doeth good, and suffereth evils, seeth him, becometh disturbed, and saith, O God, the wicked, I imagine, please Thee, and Thou hatest the good, and _ lovest those who work iniquity... . The Sabbath being now lost in the inner man, and the tranquillity of his heart being shut out, andé good thoughts repelled, he now beginneth to imitate him whom he seeth flourishing amid his evil deeds ; and turneth himself also to evil works. But God is long-suffering, because He is eternal,5 and he knoweth the day of His own g. For this reason, after saying, " Thy thoughts are very deep," he at once subjoins: "An unwise man doth not well consider this, and a fool doth not understand it" (ver. 6). What are the things which an unwise man doth not well consider, and which a fool doth not understand ? "When the ungodly are green as the grass." What is, "as the grass'"'? They flourish when it is winter, but they will wither in the summer, Thou observest the flower of the grass? What more quickly passeth by? What is brighter? What is greener? Let not its verdure delight thee, but fear its withering. Thou hast heard of the ungodly being green as the grass: hear also of the righteous: " For lo." In the mean while, consider the ungodly ; they flourish as the grass ; but who are they who understand it not? The foolish and unwise. " When the ungodly are green as the grass, and all men look upon the workers of iniquity" (ver. 7). All who in their heart think not aright of God, look upon the ungodly when they are as green as grass, that judgment, where He weigheth all things.
8. Teaching us this, what saith he? "O Lord, how glorious are Thy works: Thy thoughts are made very deep" (ver. 5). Verily, my brethren, there is no sea so deep as these thoughts of God, who maketh the wicked flourish, and the good suffer: nothing so profound, nothing so deep: therein every unbelieving soul is wrecked, in that depth, in that profundity. Dost thou wish to cross this depth? Remove not from the wood of Christ's Cross: thou shalt not sink: hold thyself fast to Christ. What do I mean by this, hold fast to Christ? It was for this reason that He chose
I Eph. ii. ro. 2 Rom. xii. 11. 3 Ps. xxxiv. 5, Bible Version. 4 1 Cor. iv. 7. 5 [Dens autem patiens est guia aternus est. One of those felicitous maxims in which our author abounds. — C.
6 Isa, 1. 6.