Expositions on the Book of Psalms (continued)
518 THE, WORKS" OF St, AUGUSTIN, [Psatm CIV.
wish to be the serpent's food? be not dust. How, thou repliest, shall I not be dust? If thou hast not a taste for earthly things. Hear the Apostle, that thou mayest not be dust. For the body which thou wearest is earth: but do thou refuse to be earth. What meaneth this? "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."'4 If thou dost not set thy affections on earthly things, thou.art not earth: if thou art not earth, thou art not devoured by the serpent, whose appointed food is earth. The Lord giveth the serpent his food when He will, what He will: but He judgeth rightly, he cannot be deceived, He giveth him not gold for earth. "When Thou hast given it them, they gather 16.0 og mighty and spacious sea. What thou thinkest his kingdom, is his prison. For many say: wherefore hath the devil received so great power, that he may rule in this world, and prevaileth so much, can do so much? How much prevaileth he? How much can he do? Unless by permission, he can do nothing. Do thou so act, that he may not be allowed to attack thee ; or if he be allowed to tempt thee, he may depart vanquished, and may not gain thee. For he hath been allowed to tempt some holy men, servants of God: they overcame him, because they departed not from the way, they whose heel he watched, fell not. ...
37. He then, my brethren, who doth wish to watch the serpent's head, and safely to pass this
40. " When thou openest Thy hand, they shall all be filled with good" (ver. 28). What is it, O Lord, that Thou openest Thy hand? Christ is Thy hand. "To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?"'?5 To whom it is revealed, unto him it is opened: for revelation is opening. "When Thou openest Thy hand, they shall all be filled with good." When Thou revealest Thy Christ, " they shall all be filled with good." But they have not good from themselves; this is oftentimes proved unto them. "When Thou hidest Thy face, they are troubled" (ver. 29). Many filled with good have attributed to themselves what they had, and have wished to boast as in their own righteousnesses, and have said to themselves, I am righteous; I am great: and have become self-complacent. Unto these the Apostle speaketh: " What hast thou, that thou didst not receive? "® But God, wishing to prove unto man that whatever he hath he hath from Him, so that with good he may gain humility also, sometimes troubleth him ; He turneth away His face from him, and he falleth into temptation; and He showeth him that his righteousness, and his walking aright, was only under His government. ...
sea; for it must be that this serpent dwelleth here, and, as I had commenced saying, the devil when he fell from heaven received this region ; let him watch his head, on the part of the fear of the world, and of the lusts of the world. For it is hence that he suggesteth some object of fear or of desire; he trieth thy love, or thy fear. If thou fearest hell, and lovest the kingdom of God, thou wilt watch his head... . "There is no power but of God.''?! What then fearest thou? Let the dragon be in the waters, let the dragon be in the sea: thou art to pass through it. He is made so as to be made sport of, he is ordained to inhabit this place, this region is given him. 'Thou thinkest that this habitation is a great thing for him, because thou knowest not the dwellings of the angels whence he fell: what seemeth to thee his glory, is his damnation.
38. . . . What then fearest thou? Perhaps he is about to try thy flesh: it is the scourge of thy Lord, not the power of thy tempter. His wish is to injure that salvation which is promised : but he is not allowed: but that he may not be allowed, have Christ for thy Head: repel the serpent's head: consent not unto his suggestion, slip not from thy path. ' There is that Leviathan, whom Thou hast made to make sport of him."
41. But wherefore dost Thou do this? wherefore dost Thou hide Thy face, that they may be troubled? 'Thou shalt take away their breath, and they shall fail.' Their breath was their pride ; they boast, they attribute things to themselves, they justify themselves. Hide, therefore, Thy face, that they may be troubled: take away their breath, and let them fail; let them cry unto Thee, " Hear me, O Lord, and that soon, for my spirit waxeth faint: hide not Thy face from me.'"'7 " Thou shalt take away their breath, and they shall fail, and shall be turned to their dust."", The man who repenteth of his sin discovereth himself, that he had not strength of himself; and doth confess unto God, saying, that he is earth and ashes. O proud one, thou
39. Dost thou wish to see how incapable he is of hurting thee, unless permitted? "These," he saith, ' wait all upon Thee, that Thou mayest give them meat in due season" (ver.27). And this serpent wisheth to devour, but he devoureth not whom he wisheth. . .. Thou hast heard what the serpent's meat is. Thou dost not wish that God give thee to be devoured by the serpent; because not the serpent's food: i.e. forsake not the Word of God. For where it is said to the serpent, " Dust thou shalt eat,'' it is said to the transgressor, "' Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return."3 Thou dost not
1 Rom, xiii. 1. 2 Oxf. mss. add, '' Thou admirest the dwellings of the dead where he is cast down."
5 Isa. liii. x. 7 Ps. cxliii. 7. 4 Col. iii, 2. 6 x Cor. iv. 7.
3 Gen, iii. 14, 19.