Thy hand, that is, Thy eternal Power, hath taken
THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN. [PsaLmM XVIII.
filled with uncleanness, treading under foot the pearls of God's words. "And they have left the rest to their babes: " crying out, "This sin be upon us and upon our children." 5 sinners. "In the covering of Thy wings protect Me." In the defence of Thy love and mercy protect Me. "From the face of the ungodly who have troubled Me" (ver. 9). g. " Mine enemies have compassed about My soul;" "they have shut up their own fat" (ver.
14. " But I shall appear in Thy righteousness in Thy sight" (ver. 15). But I, Who have not appeared to them that, with their filthy and 'darkened heart, cannot see the light of wisdom,
10). They have been covered with their own gross joy, after that their desire hath been satiated with wickedness. 'Their mouth hath spoken pride." And therefore their mouth spoke pride, in saying, " Hail, King of the Jews," * and other like words.
" shall appear in Thy righteousness in Thy sight." "TI shall be satiated, when Thy glory shall be 'manifested." And when they have been satiated with their uncleanness, that they could not know Me, I shall be satiated, when Thy glory shall be manifested, in them that know Me. In that verse indeed where it is said, " filled with swine's | flesh," some copies have, " filled with children :" to. "Casting Me forth they have now compassed Me about" (ver. 11). Casting Me forth outside the city, they have now compassed Me about on the Cross. '" 'Their eyes they have determined to turn down on the earth." The bent of their heart they have determined to turn down on these earthly things: deeming Him, who was slain, to endure a mighty evil, and themselves, that slew Him, none.
for from the ambiguity of the Greek® a double interpretation has resulted. Now by "children " we understand works ; and as by good children, good works, so by evil, evil.
11. " As a lion ready for prey, have they taken Me" (ver. 12). They have taken Me, like that adversary who " walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."? "And as a lion's whelp dwelling in secret places." And as his whelp, the people to whom it was said, "' Ye are of your father the devil:''3 meditating on the snares, whereby they might circumvent and destroy the just One.
PSALM XVIILI7
TO THE END, FOR THE SERVANT OF THE LORD, DAVID HIMSELF.
1. That is, for the strong of hand, Christ in His Manhood.' "The words of this song which he spoke to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him out of the hands of his enemies, and of the hand of Saul; and he said, On the day when the Lord delivered him out of the hands of his enemies and of the hand of Saul:" namely, the king of the Jews, whom they had demanded for themselves.? For as " David" is said to be by interpretation, strong of hand; so "Saul" is said to be demanding. Now it is well known, how that People demanded for themselves a king, and received him for their king, not according to the will of God, but according to their own will.
12. "Arise, O Lord, prevent them, and cast them down" (ver. 13). Arise, O Lord, Thou whom they suppose to be asleep, and regardless of men's iniquities ; be they blinded before by their own malice, that vengeance may prevent their deed ; and so cast them down.
13. "Deliver My soul from the ungodly." Deliver My soul, by restoring Me after the death, which the ungodly have inflicted on Me. "Thy weapon: from the enemies of Thine hand" (ver. 14). For My soul is Thy weapon, which Thy hand, that is, Thy eternal Power, hath taken to subdue thereby the kingdoms of iniquity, and divide the righteous from the ungodly. This weapon then " deliver from the enemies of Thine hand," that is, of Thy Power, that is, from Mine enemies. ''Destroy them, O Lord, from off the earth, scatter them in their life.' O Lord, destroy them from off the earth, which they inhabit, scatter them throughout the world in this life, which only they think their life, who+ despair of life eternal. "And by Thy hidden things their belly hath been filled." Now not only this visible punishment shall overtake them, but also their memory hath been filled with sins, which as darkness are hidden from the light of Thy truth, that they should forget God. " They have been filled with swine's flesh." They have been
2. Christ, then, and the Church, that is, whole Christ, the Head and the Body, saith here, "I will love Thee, O Lord, My strength" (ver. 1). I will love Thee, O Lord, by whom I am strong.'°
3. "O Lord, My stay, and My refuge, and My deliverer" (ver. 2). O Lord, who hast stayed Me, because I sought refuge with Thee: and I sought refuge, because Thou hast delivered Me. "My God is My helper; and I will hope in Him." My God, who hast first afforded me the help of Thy call, that I might be able to hope in Thee. "My defender, and the horn of My salvation, and My redeemer.'"' My defender, because I have not leant upon Myself, lifting up as it were the horn of pride against Thee; but have found Thee a horn indeed, that is, the sure
5 Matt. xxvii. 25. 6 vidy, Vov, velwy, various readings. — Ben. 7 Lat. XVII. Secundum Hominen. 9 1 Sam. viii, 5. to [2 Sam. xxii, —C.]
1 Matt. xxvii. 29. 2% Pet. y. 8, 3 John viii. 44. 4 Aj. "because they,"
Psatm XVIIL] ON THE
PSALMS. 51 height of salvation: and that I might find it, Thou redeemedst Me.
godly, who savour of things earthly, in the darkness of their own malice, knew not Him: for the earth under His feet is as it were His footstool.
4. "With praise will I call upon the Lord, and I shall be safe from Mine enemies" (ver. 3). Seeking not My own but the Lord's glory, I will call upon Him, and there shall be no means whereby the errors of ungodliness can hurt Me.
11. "And He mounted above the cherubim, and did fly" (ver. 10). And He was exalted above the fulness of knowledge, that no man should come to Him but by love: for "love is the fulfilling of the law." ? And full soon He showed to His lovers that He is incomprehensible, lest they should suppose that He is comprehended by corporeal imaginations. "He flew above the wings of the winds." But that swiftness, whereby He showed Himself to be incomprehensible, is above the powers of souls, whereon as upon wings they raise themselves from earthly fears into the air of liberty.
5. "The pains of death," that is, of the flesh, have " compassed Me about. And the overflowings of ungodliness have troubled Me" (ver. 4). Ungodly troubles' stirred up for a time, like torrents of rain which will soon sub-. side, have come on to trouble Me.
6. "The pains of hell compassed Me about " (ver. 5). Among those that compassed Me about to destroy Me, were pains of envy, which work death, and lead on to the hell of sin. "The snares of death prevented Me." They prevented Me, so that they wished to hurt Me first, which shall afterwards be recompensed unto them. Now they seize unto destruction such men as they have evilly persuaded by the boast of righteousness: in the name but not in the reality of which they glory against the Gentiles.
12. "And hath made darkness His hiding place" (ver. 11). And hath settled the obscurity of the Sacraments, and the hidden hope in the heart of believers, where He may lie hid, and not abandon them. In this darkness too, wherein "we yet walk by faith, and not by sight," 3 as long as ''we hope for what we see not, and with patience wait for it.'4 Round about Him is His tabernacle." Yet they that believe Him turn to Him and encircle Him; for that He is in the midst of them, since He is equally the friend of all, in whom as in a tabernacle He at this time dwells. " Dark water in clouds of air.'' Nor let any one on this account, if he understand the Scripture, imagine that he is already in that light, which will be when we shall have come out of faith into sight: for in the prophets and in all the preachers of the word of God there is obscure teaching.
7. "And in Mine oppression I called upon the Lord, and cried unto My God. And He heard My voice from His holy temple "' (ver. 6). He heard from My heart, wherein He dwelleth, My voice. "And My cry in His sight entered into His ears ;"' and My cry, which I utter, not in the ears of men, but inwardly before Him Himself, "' entered into His ears."
8. "And the earth was moved and trembled " (ver. 7). When the Son of Man was thus glorified, sinners were moved and trembled. '" And the foundations of the mountains were troubled." And the hopes of the proud, which were in this life, were troubled. 'And were moved, for God was wroth with them." 'That is, that the hope of temporal goods might have now no more establishment in the hearts of men.
13. "In respect of the brightness in His sight" (ver. 12) : in comparison with the brightness, which is in the sight of His manifestation. " His clouds have passed over." 'The preachers of His word are not now bounded by the confines of Judzea, but have passed over to the Gentiles. ' Hail and coals of fire." Reproofs are figured,' whereby, as by hail, the hard hearts are bruised: but if a cultivated and genial soil, that is, a godly mind, receive them, the hail's hardness dissolves into water, that is, the terror of the lightning-charged,° and as it were frozen, reproof dissolves into satisfying doctrine ; and hearts kindled by the fire of love revive. All these things in His clouds have passed over to the Gentiles.
g. "There went up smoke in His wrath" (ver. 8). The tearful supplication of penitents went up, when they came to know God's threatenings against the ungodly. "And fire burneth from His face." And the ardour of love after repentance burns by the knowledge of Him. "Coals were kindled from Him." They, who were already dead, abandoned by the fire of good desire and the light of righteousness, and who remained in coldness and darkness, reenkindled and enlightened, have come to life again.
14. "And the Lord hath thundered from heaven" (ver. 13). And in confidence of the Gospel the Lord hath sounded forth from the heart of the just One. "And the Highest gave His voice ;" that we might entertain it, and in
1o. "And He bowed the heaven, and came down" (ver. 9). And He humbled the just One, that He might descend to men's infirmity. " And darkness under His feet.'"? And the un-
2 Rom. xiii. ro. 3 2 Cor. v. 7. 4 Rom. viii. 25. 5 Read " full lightning-charged reproofs." 6 Fulgurate.
I Or, '' crowds."
THE WORKSS OF ST AUGUSTIN. [PsaLm XVIII.
the depth of human things, might hear things heavenly.
Lord shall reward Me according to the righteousness of My good will, who first showed mercy, before that I had the good will. 'And according to the cleanness of My hands He will recompense Me." And according to the cleanness of My deeds He will recompense Me, who hath given Me to do well by bringing Me forth into the broad place of faith.
15. "And He sent out His arrows, and scattered them" (ver. 14). And He sent out Evangelists traversing straight paths on the wings of strength, not in their own power, but His by whom they were sent. And "He scattered them," to whom they were sent, that to some of them they should be " the savour of life unto life, to others the savour of death unto death."'!
22. "Because I have kept the ways of the Lord" (ver. 21). That the breadth of good works, that are by faith, and the long-suffering of perseverance should follow after.
"And He multiplied lightnings, and troubled them." troubled them.
And He multiplied miracles, and}
23. '' Nor have I walked impiously apart from My God." "For all His judgments are ® in My sight" (ver. 22). "For" with persevering contemplation I weigh "all His judgments," that is, the rewards of the righteous, and the punishments of the ungodly, and the scourges of such as are to be chastened, and the trials of such as are to be proved. 'And I have not cast out His righteousness from Me:" as they do that faint under their burden of them, and return to their own vomit.
16. "And the fountains of water were seen. And the fountains of water springing up into everlasting life,'? which were made in the preachers, were seen. "And the foundations | of the round world were revealed" (ver. 15). And the Prophets, who were not understood, and upon whom was to be built the world of believers in the Lord, were revealed. "At Thy, chiding, O Lord:" crying out, "The kingdom | of God is come nigh unto you."3 "At the blasting of the breath of Thy displeasure ;"' saying,
24. "And I shall be undefiled with Him, and I shall keep Myself from Mine iniquity" (ver. 23).
"Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.' 4
17. "He hath sent down from on high, and hath fetched Me" (ver. 16): by calling out of the Gentiles for an inheritance "a glorious: Church, not having spot, or wrinkle."5 "He: hath taken Me out of the multitude of waters." He hath taken Me out of the multitude of peoples.
25. "And the Lord shall reward Me according to My righteousness" (ver. 24). Accordingly not only for the breadth of faith, which worketh by love; but also for the length of perseverance, will the Lord reward Me according to My righteousness. "And according to the cleanness of My hands in the sight of His eyes." Not as men see, but "in the sight of His eyes." For "the things that are seen are temporal; but the things that are not seen are eternal:"7 whereto the height of hope appertains.
18. '" He hath delivered Me from My strongest enemies" (ver. 17). He hath delivered Me from Mine enemies, who prevailed to the afflicting and overturning of this temporal life of Mine. 'And from them which hate Me; for they are too strong for Me:" as long as I am under them knowing not God.
26. "With the holy Thou shalt be holy" (ver. 25). There is a hidden depth also, wherein Thou art known to be holy with the holy, for that Thou makest holy. "And with the harmless Thou shalt be harmless." For Thou harmest no man, but each one is bound by the bands of his own sins.®
1g. "They have prevented Me in the day of My affliction" (ver. 18). They have first injured Me, in the time when I am bearing a mortal and toilsome body. "And the Lord hath become My stay." And since the stay of earthly pleasure was disturbed and torn up by the bitterness of misery, the Lord hath become My stay.
27. "And with the chosen Thou shalt be chosen" (ver. 26). And by him whom Thou choosest, Thou art chosen. ' And with the froward Thou shalt be froward." And with the froward Thou seemest froward: for they say, "The way of the Lord is not right: 9 and their way is not right.
20. 'And hath brought Me forth into a broad place" (ver. 19). And since I was enduring the straits of the flesh, He brought Me forth into the spiritual breadth of faith. 'He hath delivered Me, because He desired Me." Before that I desired Him, He delivered Me from My most powerful enemies (who were envious of Me when I once desired Him), and from them that hated Me, because I do desire Him.
28. "For Thou wilt make whole the humble people" (ver. 27). Now this seems froward to the froward, that Thou wilt make them whole that confess their sins. ' And Thou wilt humble the eyes of the proud.'"' But them that are "ignorant of God's righteousness, and seek to establish their own," ?° Thou wilt humble.
21. " And the Lord shall reward Me according to My righteousness" (ver. 20). And the
2 John iv. 14. 3 Luke x. 9. 5 Eph, v. 27. I 2 Cor. ii. 16. 4 Luke xiii. 5. 7 2 Cor. iv. 18. to Rom. x. 3. 6 Oxford mss. "'are always." 8 Prov. v. 22. 9 Ezek. xviii. 25.
PSALMS: 2 55
Psatm XVIII] ON THE
29. " For thou wilt light My candle, O Lord"' (ver. 28). For our light is not from ourselves ; but "Thou wilt light my candle, O Lord. O my God, Thou wilt enlighten my darkness." For we through our sins are darkness; but " Thou, O my God, wilt enlighten my darkness."
Thy discipline, it shall teach me." And _ that same correction of Thine shall teach me to attain to that, whereunto it hath directed me.
37. 'Thou hast enlarged my steps under me" (ver. 36). Nor shall the straits of the flesh hinder me; for Thou hast enlarged my love, working in gladness even with these mortal things and members which are under me. "And my footsteps have not been weakened." And either my goings, or the marks which I have imprinted for the imitation of those that follow, have not been weakened.
30. " For by Thee shall I be delivered from temptation" (ver. 29). For not by myself, but by Thee, shall I be delivered from temptation. "And in my God shall I leap over the wall." And not in myself, but in my God shall I leap over the wall, which sin has raised between men and the heavenly Jerusalem.
38. "I will follow up mine enemies, and seize them" (ver. 37). I will follow up my carnal affections, and will not be seized by them, but will seize them, so that they may be consumed. " And I will not turn, till they fail." And from this purpose I will not turn myself to rest, till they fail who make a tumult about me.
31. " My God, His way is undefiled ''(ver. 30). My God cometh not unto men, except they shall have purified the way of faith, whereby He may come to them ; for that "' His way is undefiled." "The words of the Lord have been proved by fire.' The words of the Lord are tried by the fire of tribulation. "He is the Protector of them that hope in Him." And all that hope not in themselves, but in Him, are not consumed by that same tribulation. For hope followeth faith. 32. " For who is God, but the Lord?" (ver. 31) whom we serve. "And who God, but our God?" And who is God, but the Lord? whom after good service we sons shall possess as the hopedfor inheritance. ; 33. 'God, who hath girded me with strength "' (ver. 32). God, who hath girded me that I might be strong, lest the loosely flowing folds of desire hinder my deeds and steps. "And hath made my way undefiled." And hath made the way of love, whereby I may come to Him, undefiled, as the way of faith is undefiled, whereby He comes to me.
39. "I will break them, and they shall not be able to stand" (ver. 38): and they shall not hold out against me. ' They shall fall under my feet." When they are cast down, I will place before me the loves? whereby I walk for evermore.
40. "And Thou hast girded me with strength to the war" (ver. 39). And the loose desires of my flesh hast Thou bound up with strength, that in such a fight I may not be encumbered. "Thou hast supplanted under me them that rose up against me."" Thou hast caused them to: be deceived, who followed upon me, that they should be brought under me, who desired to be over me.
41. "And thou hast given mine enemies the back to me" (ver. 40). And thou hast turned mine enemies, and hast made them to be a back to me, that is, to follow me. "And Thou hast destroyed them that hate me.'' But such other of them as have persisted in hatred, Thou hast destroyed.
34. "Who hath made my feet perfect like harts' feet" (ver. 33). Who hath made my love perfect to surmount the thorny and dark entanglements of this world. " And will set me up on high." And will fix my aim on the heavenly habitation, that "I may be filled with all the fulness of God.''!
42. ' They have cried out, and there was none to save them" (ver. 41). For who can save them, whorn Thou wouldest not save? "To the Lord, and He did not hear them." Nor did they cry out to any chance one, but to the Lord: and He did not judge them worthy of being heard, who depart not from their wickedness.
35. "Who teacheth my hands for battle" (ver. 34). Who teacheth me to work for the overthrow of mine enemies, who strive to shut the kingdom of heaven against us. '" And Thou hast made mine arms as a bow of steel." And Thou hast made my earnest striving after good works unwearied.
43. "And I will beat them as small as dust before the face of the wind" (ver. 42). And I will beat them small ; for dry they are, receiving not the shower of God's mercy ; that borne aloft and puffed up with pride they may be hurried along from firm and unshaken hope, and as it were from the earth's solidity and stability. 'As the clay of the streets I will destroy them." In their wanton and loose course along the broad ways of perdition, which many walk, will I destroy them.
36. "And Thou hast given me the defence of my salvation, and Thy right hand hath held me up' (ver. 35). And the favour of Thy grace hath held me up. "And Thy discipline hath directed me to the end."" And Thy correction, not suffering me to wander from the way, hath directed me that whatsoever I do, I refer to that end, whereby I may cleave to Thee. 'And this
2 See p. 37. "' The foot of sinners; that is, their love."
1 Ephes. iii. 19.
54 THE WORKS: OF ST. AUGUSTIN. [PsaLM XIX.
44. "Thou wilt deliver Me from the contradictions of the people" (ver. 43). Thou wilt deliver Me from the contradictions of them who said, "If we send Him away, all the world will go after Him." !
" 51. " Magnifying the salvation of His King (ver. 50). God, who magnifieth, so as to make wonderful, the salvation, which His Son giveth to believers. "And showing mercy to His Christ : "" God, who showeth mercy to His Christ : "To David and to His seed for evermore :" to the Deliverer Himself strong of hand, who hath overcome this world; and to them whom, as believers in the Gospel, He hath begotten for evermore. What things soever are spoken in this Psalm which cannot apply to the Lord Himself personally, that is to the Head of the Church, must be referred to the Church. For whole Christ speaks here, in whom are all His members.
45. "Thou shalt make Me the head of the Gentiles. A people whom I have not known have served Me." 'The people of the Gentiles, 'whom in bodily presence I have not visited, have served Me. "At the hearing of the ear they have obeyed Me" (ver. 44). They have not seen Me with the eye : but, receiving my preachers, at the hearing of the ear they have obeyed Me.
46. "The strange children have lied unto Me." Children, not to be called Mine, but rather strange children, to whom it is rightly said, "Ye are of your father the devil,"? have lied unto Me. "The strange children have waxen old" (ver. 45). The strange children, to whom for their renovation I brought the new Testament, have remained in the old man. "And they have halted from their own paths." And like those that are weak in one foot, for holding the old they have rejected the new Testament, they have become halt, even in their old Law, rather following their own traditions, than God's. For they brought frivolous charges of unwashen hands,3 because such were the paths, which themselves had made and worn by long use, in wandering from the ways of God's commands.
PSALM XIX."
TO THE END, A PSALM OF DAVID HIMSELF.
1. It is a well-known title ; nor does the Lord Jesus Christ say what follows, but it is said of
Him.
2. "The heavens tell out the glory of God" (ver. 1). The righteous Evangelists, in whom, as in the heavens, God dwelleth, set forth the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, or the glory wherewith the Son glorified the Father upon earth. "And the firmament showeth forth the works of His hands." And the firmament showeth forth the deeds of the Lord's power, that now made heaven by the assurance of the Holy Ghost, which before was earth by fear.
47. "The Lord liveth, and blessed be my God." 'But to be carnally minded is death: " 4 for "the Lord liveth, and blessed be my God. And let the God of my salvation be exalted"
3. "Day unto day uttereth word" (ver. 2). To the spiritual the Spirit giveth out the fulness of the unchangeable Wisdom of God, the Word which in the beginning is God with God.? " And night unto night announceth knowledge." And to the fleshly, as to those afar off, the mortality of the flesh, by conveying faith, announceth future knowledge.
(ver. 46). And let me not think after an earthly fashion of the God of my salvation; nor look from Him for this earthly salvation, but that on high.
48. "O God, who givest Me vengeance, and subduest the people under Me" (ver. 47). O God, who avengest Me by subduing the people under Me. 'My Deliverer from My angry enemies:" the Jews crying out, "Crucify Him, Crucify Him." 5
4. 'There is no speech nor language, in which their voices are not heard" (ver. 3). In which the voices of the Evangelists have not been heard, seeing that the Gospel was preached in every tongue.
5. " Their sound is gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world" 9
49. ' From them that rise up against Me Thou wilt exalt Me" (ver. 48). From the Jews that rise up against Me in My passion, Thou wilt exalt Me in My resurrection. " From the unjust man Thou wilt deliver Me." From their unjust rule Thou wilt deliver Me.
6. "In the sun hath He set His tabernacle." Now that He might war against the powers of temporal error, the Lord, being about to send not peace but a sword on earth,' in time, or in manifestation, set so to say His military dwelling, that is, the dispensation of His incarnation. " And He as a bridegroom coming forth out of His chamber" (ver. 5). And He, coming forth
50. "For this cause will I confess to Thee among the Gentiles, OQ Lord" (ver. 49). For this cause shall the Gentiles confess to Thee through Me, O Lord. "And I will sing unto Thy Name.'"' And Thou shalt be more widely known by My good deeds.
6 [The epigraph of this Psalm in 2 Sam, xxiii. 1-5 seems to connect with Isa. lv. 3, and so with Acts xiii, 34. — C.]
7 Lat. XVIII. ohn i. x, 9 [Rom. x. 18. "And therefore are we even speaking here," says our author in his second homily (omitted) on this Psalm, — oy
I hare xi. 48, xii. 19. 2 jets viii. 44. 3 Matt. xv. 2, 4 Rom. viii. 6. 5 John xix. 6,
10 Matt. x. 34.
PsaLM XIX.] ON THE PSALMS. 55 out of the Virgin's womb, where God was united to man's nature as a bridegroom to a bride. " Rejoiced as a giant to run His way." Rejoiced as One exceeding strong, and surpassing all other men in power incomparable, not to inhabit, but to run His way. For, "He stood not in the way of sinners. "''
11. "The judgments of the Lord are true, justified together." The judgments of Him, who "judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son," ™ are justified in truth unchangeably. For neither in His threatenings nor His promises doth God deceive any man, nor can any withdraw either from the ungedly His punishment, or from the godly His reward. "To be desired more than gold, and much precious stone" (ver. 10). Whether it be "gold and stone itself much," or " much precious," or "much to be desired ;'' still, the judgments of God are to be desired more than the pomp of this world ; by desire of which it is brought to pass that the judgments of God are not desired, but feared, or despised, or not believed. But if any be himself gold and precious stone,
7. " His going forth is from the highest heaven"' (ver. 6). From the Father is His going forth, not that in time, but from everlasting, whereby
He was born of the Father. "And His meeting is even to the height of heaven." And in the fulness of the Godhead He meets even to an equality with the Father.2. "And there is none that may hide himself from His heat." But whereas, "the Word was even made flesh, and dwelt in us,''3 assuming our mortality, He permitted no man to excuse himself from the shadow of death; for the heat of the Word penetrated even it.
that he may not be consumed by fire, but received into the treasury of God, more than himself does he desire the judgments of God, whose will he preferreth to his own. '" And sweeter than honey and the honey comb." And whether one be even now honey, who, disenthralled already from the chains of this life, is awaiting the day when he may come up to God's feast ; or whether he be yet as the honey comb, wrapped about with this life as it were with wax, not mixed and become one with it, but filling it, needing some pressure of God's hand, not oppressing but expressing it, whereby from life temporal it may be strained out into life eternal: to such an one the judgments of God are sweeter than he himself
8. "The law of the Lord is undefiled, converting souls" (ver. 7). The law of the Lord, therefore, is Himself who came to fulfil the law, not to destroy it;4 an undefiled law, "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth," 5 not oppressing souls with the yoke of bondage, but converting them to imitate Him in liberty. "The testimony of the Lord is sure, giving wisdom to babes." "The testimony of the Lord is sure ;'' for, "no man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him," ° which things have been hidden from the wise and revealed to babes;7 for, "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble." 8 is to himself, for that they are "sweeter than honey and the honey comb."
12. "For Thy servant keepeth them" (ver. 11). For to him who keepeth them not the day of the Lord is bitter. 'In keeping them there is great reward." Not in any external benefit, but in the thing itself, that God's judgments are kept, is there great reward ; great because one rejoiceth therein.
g. "The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart" (ver. 8). All the statutes of the Lord are right in Him who taught not what He did not; that they who should imitate Him might rejoice in heart, in those things which they should do freely with love, not slavishly with fear. "The commandment of the Lord is lucid, enlightening the eyes." "The commandment of the Lord is lucid," with no veil of carnal observances, enlightening the sight of the inner man.
13. "Who understandeth sins?" (ver. 12). But what sort of sweetness can there be in sins, where there is no understanding? For who can understand sins, which close the very eye, to which truth is pleasant, to which the judgments of God are desirable and sweet? yea, as darkness closes the eye, so do sins the mind, and suffer it not to see either the light, or itself.
10. "The fear of the Lord is chaste, enduring for ever" (ver. 9). 'The fear of the Lord;" not that distressing? fear under the law, dreading exceedingly the withdrawal of temporal goods, by the love of which the soul commits fornication ; but that chaste fear wherewith the Church, the more ardently she loves her Spouse, the more carefully does she take heed of offending Him, and therefore, " perfect love casteth" not " out " this " fear," *° but it endureth for ever.
14. '"'Cleanse me, O Lord, from my secret faults." From the lusts which lie hid in me, cleanse me, O Lord. "And from the" faults "of others preserve Thy servant" (ver. 13). Let me not be led astray by others. For he is not a prey to the faults of others, who is cleansed from his own. Preserve therefore from the lusts of others, not the proud man, and him who would be his own master, but, Thy servant. "If
1 Ps. i. : Vid. in "Psalm lviii (ix. E. V.). Enarrat.i. § 10. | ohn i. 14. 4 Matt. v. 17. 1 Pet. ii. 22 é att. xi. 27. 7 Luke x. a1, 8 Jas, iv. 6 9 Penalis. 10 y John iv. 18,
It John vy, 22.