Expositions on the Book of Psalms
THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN. [PsALm CII.
him who groaneth not as he ought, or doth not bones are scorched up as it were in an oven." Both my bones, and my strength, not without tribulation, not without burning. The bones of the body of Christ, the strength of His body, is it anywhere greater than in the Holy Apostles? And yet see that the bones are scorched. "Who is offended, and I burn not?"* They are brave, faithful, able interpreters and preachers of the word, living as they speak, speaking as they hear ; they are clearly brave, yet all who suffer offences, are an oven to them. For there is love there, and more so in the bones. The bones are within all the flesh, and support all the flesh. But if any man suffer any offence, and endanger his soul; the bone is scorched in proportion as itiloveth groan at all. He committeth fraud, and rejoiceth. With what gain, with what loss? He hath gained money, he hath lost righteousness. For the latter reason, he who knoweth how to groan, groaneth ; he who is near the head, who righteously clingeth to Christ's body, groaneth for this reason. But the carnal do not groan for this reason, and they cause themselves to be groaned for, because they do not groan for this reason ; nor can we despise them, whether they groan not at all, or groan for the wrong cause. For we wish to correct them, we wish to amend them. we wish to reform them: and when we cannot, we groan; and when we groan, we are not separated from them... . 7. "Tam become like a pelican in the wilderness, and like an owl among ruined walls"
5. Look back to Adam, whence the human race sprung. For how but from him was misery propagated? whence but from him is this hereditary poverty? Let him then, who in his own body was at one time in despair, now that he is set in Christ's body, say with hope, " My heart is smitten down, and withered like grass" (ver. 4). Deservedly, since all flesh is grass.2 But how did this happen unto thee? "Since I have forgotten to eat my bread." For God had given His commandment for bread. For what is the bread of the soul? The serpent suggesting, and the woman transgressing, he touched the forbidden fruit,3 he forgot the commandment: his heart was smitten as it deserved, and withered like grass, since he forgot to eat his bread. Having forgotten to eat bread, he drinketh poison: his heart is smitten, and withered like grass. . . . Now eat that bread which thou hadst forgotten. But this very Bread hath come, in whose body thou mayest remember the voice of thy forgetfulness, and cry out in thy poverty, so that thou mayest receive riches. Now eat: for thou art in His body, who saith, "T am the living bread which came down from heaven." 4 Thou hadst forgotten to eat thy bread ; but after His crucifixion, "all the ends of the earth shall be reminded, and be converted unto the Lord.''5 After forgetfulness, let remembrance come, let bread be eaten from heaven, that we may live; not manna, as they did eat, and died ;® that bread, of which it is said, '' Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness." 7
(ver. 6). Behold three birds and three places: the pelican, the owl, and the sparrow ;® and the three places are severally, the wilderness, the ruined walls, and the house-top. The pelican in the wilderness, the owl in the ruined walls, and the sparrow in the house-top. In the first place we must explain, what the pelican signifieth: since it is born in a region which maketh it unknown to us. It is born in lonely spots, especially those of the river Nile in Egypt. Whatever kind of bird it is, let us consider what the Psalm intended to say of it. 'It dwelleth," it saith, "in the wilderness." Why enquire of its form, its limbs, its voice, its habits? As far as the Psalm telleth thee, it is a bird that dwelleth in solitude. The owl is a bird that loveth night. FParieting, or ruins, as we call them, are walls standing without roof, without inhabitants, these are the habitation of the owl. And then as to the house-top and the sparrows, ye are familiar with them. I find, therefore, some one of Christ's body, a preacher of the word, sympathizing with the weak, seeking the gains of Christ, mindful of his Lord to come.? Let us see these three things from the office of His steward. Hath such a man come among those who are not Christians? He is a pelican in the wilderness. Hath he come among those who were Christians, and have relapsed? He is an owl in the ruined walls; for he forsaketh not even the darkness of those who dwell in night, he wisheth to gain even these. Hath he come among such as are Christians dwelling in a house, not as if they believed not, or as if they had let go what they had believed, but walking lukewarmly in what they believe? The sparrow crieth unto them, not in the wilderness, because they are Christians; nor in the ruined walls, because they have not relapsed; but because they are within the roof; under the roof rather,
6. ' For the voice of my groaning, the bones cleave unto my flesh" (ver.5). For many groan, and Ialso groan; even for this I groan, because they groan for a wrong cause. That man hath lost a piece of money, he groaneth: he hath lost faith, he groaneth not: I weigh the money and the faith, and I find more cause for groaning for
2 Tsa. xl. 6, " 3 Gen. iii. 6. 5 Ps. xxil, 27. 12Cor. xi. 29.
6 John vi. 49. 4 John vi 41. 7 Matt. v. 6,
8 [In the next verse. — C.] 9 Matt. xxv, 26,
Psatm CII] ON THE PSALMS. 497 because they are under the flesh. The sparrow above the flesh crieth out, husheth not up the commandments of God, nor becometh carnal, so that he be subject to the roof. 'What ye hear in the ear, that preach ye on the housetops." * There are three birds and three places ; and one man may represent the three birds, and three men may represent severally the three birds ; and the three sorts of places, are three classes of men: yet the wilderness, the ruined walls, and the house-top, are but three classes of men.
down, and slept." 7 What meaneth, "I slept'? Because I chose, I slept: I slept for love of night: but, "I rose again," followeth. Therefore "I watched," is here said. But after He watched, what did. He? He ascended into heaven, He became as a sparrow by flying ; that is, by ascending; "alone on the house-top ;" that is, in heaven. He is therefore as the pelican by birth, as the owl by dying, as the sparrow by ascending again: there in the wilderness, as one alone; here in the ruined walls, as one slain by those who could not stand in the building; and here again watching and flying for our sakes alone on the house-top, He there intercedeth in our behalf. For our Head is as the sparrow, His body as the turtle-dove. "For the sparrow hath found her an house." What house? In heaven, where He doth mediate for us. 'And the turtle-dove a nest," the Church of God hath found a nest from the wood of
8... . Let us not pass over what is said, or even read, of this bird, that is, the pelican ; not rashly asserting anything, but yet not passing over what has been left to be read and uttered by those who have written it. Do ye so hear, that if it be true, it may agree; if false, it may not hold. These birds are said to slay their young with blows of their beaks, and for three days to mourn them when slain by themselves in the nest: after which they say the mother wounds herself deeply, and pours forth her blood over her young,- bathed in which they recover life. This may be true, it may be false: yet if it be true, see how it agreeth with Him, who gave us life by His blood.? It agreeth with Him in that the mother's flesh recalleth to life her young with her blood; it agreeth well. For He calleth Himself a hen brooding over her young.3 . . . If, then, it be so truly, this bird doth closely resemble the flesh of Christ, by whose blood we have been called to life. But how may it agree with Christ, that the bird herself slays her own young? Doth not this agree with it? "I will slay, and I will make alive: I will wound, and I will heal.''+ Would the persecutor Saul 5 have died, unless he were wounded from heaven; or would the preacher be raised | up, unless by life given him from His blood? But let those who have written on the subject see to this; we ought not to allow our understanding of it to rest upon doubtful ground.® Let us rather recognise this bird in the wilderness ; as the Psalm expresseth it, "A pelican in the solitude." I suppose that Christ born of a Virgin is here meant. He was born in loneliness, because He alone was thus born. After the nativity, we come to His Passion. . . . Born in the wilderness, because alone so born ; suffering in the darkness of the Jews as it were in night, in their sin, as it were in ruins: what next? "I have watched:" and "am become even as it were a sparrow, that sitteth alone upon the house-top"' (ver. 7). Thou hadst then slept amid the ruins, and hadst said, "I laid me
His Cross, where "she may lay her young," her children.
g. "' Mine enemies revile me all day, and they that praised me are sworn together against me"
(ver. 8). With their mouth they praised, in their heart they were laying snares forme. Hear their praise: "' Master, we know that Thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest Thou for any man. Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cesar, or not?" 9 And whence this evil repute, except because I came to make sinners my members, that by repentance they may be in my body? Thence is all the calumny, thence the persecution. " Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? They that be whole need not a physician, but they that be sick." '° Would that ye were aware of your sickness, that ye might seek a physician ; ye would not slay Him, and through your infatuated pride perish in a false health.
10. "I have eaten ashes as it were bread: and mingled my drink with weeping" (ver. 9).
Because He chose to have among His members these kinds of men, that they should be healed and set free, thence is the evil repute. Now at this day what is the character of Pagan calumny against us? what, brethren, do ye conceive they tell us? Ye corrupt discipline, and pervert the morality of the human race. Why dost thou attack us; say why? what have we done? \By giving, he 'replieth, to men room for sepentance, by promising impunity for all sins: for this reason men do evil deeds, careless of consequences, because everything is pardoned them, when they are converted. . . . And what is to become of thee, miserable man, if there shall be no harbour of impunity? If there is only licence for sinning, and no pardon for sins,
T Matt. x. 27. ee p. 285, a supra. —C.) 3 Matt. xxiil. 37. eut. XxXxIl. 5 Acts ix. 4. 6 [Compare the SatbnuBle credulity of *Clesisent, A. N, F. vol. i. Pp. 12, note 2; also p. 285, note 8, svpra.—C.]
7 Ps: ill. 5. 8 Rom. viii. 34. 9 Matt. xxii. 16, 17. 10 Matt. ix. 11, 12,
THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[PsaLm CII.
birds that fly, and fishes.3 For which of these hath where wilt thou be, whither wilt thou go? Surely even for thee did it happen, that that afflicted one ate ashes as it were bread, and mingled His drink with weeping. Doth not such a feast now please thee? But nevertheless, he replieth, men add to their sins under the hope of pardon. Nay, but they would add to them if they despaired of pardon. Dost thou not observe in what licentious cruelty gladiators live? whence this, except because, as destined for the sword and sacrifice, they choose to sate reason to understand? Because none of them is created in the image of God. . . . Therefore, "Because Thou hast taken me up, Thou hast cast me down:"' punishment followeth me,*because Thou hast given me a free choice. For if Thou hadst not given me a free choice, and for this reason didst not make me better than cattle, just condemnation would not follow me when I sinned. Thus Thou hast taken me up in giving me freedom of choice, and by Thy judgment Thou hast cast me down.
their lust, before they pour forth their blood?! Wouldest not thou also thus address thyself? I am already a sinner, already an unjust man, one already doomed to damnation, hope of pardon there is none: why should I not do whatever pleaseth me, although it be not lawful? why not fulfil, as far as I can, any longings I may have, if, after these, nothing but torments only be in store? Wouldest thou not thus speak unto thyself, and from this very despair become still worse ? Rather than this, then, He who promiseth forgiveness, doth correct thee, saying, '"' As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked ; but that the wicked turn from his way and live." ? . . . For in order that men might not live the worse from despair, He promised a harbour of forgiveness ; again, that they might not live the worse from hope of pardon, He made the day of death uncertain: fixing both with the utmost providence, both as a refuge for the returning, and a terror to the loitering. Eat ashes as bread, and mingle thy drink with weeping ; by means of this banquet
12. "My days have declined like a shadow" (ver. 11). . . . He had said above, "' My days are consumed away like smoke ;"' and he now saith, '' My days have declined like a shadow." In this shadow, day must be recognised; in this shadow, light must be discerned ; lest afterward it be said in late and fruitless repentance, "What hath pride profited us? or what good hath riches with our vaunting brought us? All those things are passed away like a shadow." 4 Say at this season, all things will pass away like a shadow, and thou mayest not pass away like a shadow. " My days have declined like a shadow, and I am withered like grass." For he had said above, "my heart is smitten down, and I am withered like grass." But the grass bedewed with the Saviour's blood will flourish afresh. "I have withered like grass ; " I, that is, man, after that disobedience ; this I have suffered from Thy just judgment: but what art Thou?
13. For not because I have fallen, hast Thou grown old: for Thou art strong to set me free, who hast been strong to humble me. "But Thou, O Lord, endurest for ever: and Thy remembrance throughout all generations" (ver.
thou shalt reach the table of God. Despair not ; pardon hath been promised thee. be to God, he saith, because it is promised ; I hold fast the promise of God. Now therefore live well. To-morrow, he replieth, I will live well. God hath promised the pardon; no one promised thee to-morrow. ...
Thanks :
12). "Thy remembrance," because Thou dost not forget: "throughout all generations,"' forasmuch as we know the promise of life, both present and future.5
11. "And that because of thine indignation and wrath: because thou hast taken me up, thou hast cast me down" (ver. 10). This is thy wrath, O Lord, in Adam: that wrath in which we were all born, which cleaveth unto us by our birth ; the wrath from the stock of iniquity, the wrath from the mass of sin: according to what the Apostle saith, "' We also were once the children of wrath, even as others." For He saith not, the wrath of God shall come upon him: but, " abideth upon him:" because that wrath in which he was born is not taken away.
14. "Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Sion: for it is time that Thou have mercy upon her" (ver. 13). What time? " But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the Law." And where is Sion? "To redeem them that were under the Law."'® First then were the Jews : for thence were the Apostles, thence those more than five hundred brethren," thence that later multitude, who had but one heart and one soul toward God.? Therefore, "the time is come." What time? "Behold, now is the accepted time: behold, now is the day of salvation.'' 9 Who saith this? That Servant of God, that Builder, who said, " Ye are God's building." °. . . Manset in honour, is made in the image of God: raised up to this honour, lifted up from the dust, from the earth, he hath received a reasonable soul; by the vivacity of that very reason, he is placed before all beasts, cattle,
4 Wisd. v. 8, 9. 7 x Cor. xv. 6. to 1 Cor, iii. 9-11.
3 Gen. i. 26. 6 Gal. iv: 4, 5. 9 2 Cor, vi. 2,
5 x Tim. lv. 8. 8 Acts iv. 32.
I [See p. 315, note 10, supra, —C.] 2 Ezek, xiii. 12.