Expositions on the Book of Psalms
520 THE WORKSYOF ST: AUGUSTIN, [Psatm CV. with praise, calling upon God is wont to follow, whereunto he that prayeth doth next add $5 his longings: whence the Lord's Prayer itself hath at the commencement a very brief praise, in these words, " Our Father which art in Heaven." ® The things prayed for, then follow. . . . This also followeth, " Tell the people what things He hath done ;"'7 or rather, to translate literally from the Greek, as other Latin copies too have it, " Preach the Gospel of His works among the Gentiles." Unto whom is this addressed, save unto the Evangelists in prophecy ? thy heart, the holocaust of thy life, this pleaseth God. But what is pleasing to thyself? "My joy shall be in the Lord." 'his is that discoursing which I meant between God and thyself: show thyself to Him who knoweth thee, and He showeth Himself unto thee who knowest not him. Pleasing unto Him is thy confession: sweet unto thee is His grace. He hath spoken Himself unto thee. How? By the Word. What Word? Christ." 3 46. '' Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth" (ver. 35). Heseemeth angry! O holy soul, which here doth sing and groan! Would that our soul were with that verysoul! Would that it were coupled with it, associated, conjoined with it! It shall behold also His loving-kindness when he is angry. For who but he who is filled with charity, understandeth this? Thou tremblest, because he curseth. And who doth curse? A saint. Without doubt he is listened to. But it is said unto the saints, '' Bless, and curse not.' ! What is then the sense of the words, '"' Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth"? Let them utterly be consumed; let their spirit be taken away, that He may send forth His own Spirit, and they may be restored. "And the ungodly, so that they be no more." In what that they be no more, save as wicked men? Let them therefore be justified, that they may no longer be ungodly. The Psalmist saw this, and was filled with joy, and repeateth the first verse of the Psalm: " Bless thou the Lord, O my soul." Let our soul bless the Lord, brethren, since He hath deigned to give unto us both understanding and the power of language, and unto you attention and earnestness in hearing. Let each, as he can recall to mind what he hath heard, by mutual conversation stir up the food ye have received, ruminate on what ye have heard, let it not descend in you into the bowels of forgetfulness. Let the treasure to be desired ? rest upon your lips. These matters have been sought out and discovered with great labour, with great labour have they been announced and discoursed of ; may our toil be fruitful unto you, and may our soul bless the Lord.
2. "O sing unto Him, and play on instruments unto Him" (ver. 2). Praise Him both by word and deed; for we sing with the voice, while we play with an instrument, that is, with our hands. "Let your talking be of all His wondrous works. Be ye praised in His holy Name" (ver. 3). These two verses may without any absurdity seem paraphrases of the two words above ; so that, " Let your talking be of all His wondrous works,'' may express the words, "QO sing unto Him;" and what followeth, " be ye praised in His holy Name," may be referred to the words, "and play on instruments unto Him ;" the former relating to the " good word" wherewith we sing unto Him, in which His wondrous works are told; the latter to the good work, in which sweet music is played unto Him, so that no man may wish to be praised for a good work on the score of his own power to do it. For this reason, after saying, ''be ye praised," which assuredly they who work well deservedly may, he added, "in His holy Name," since "he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." § . . . This is to be praised in His holy Name. Whence we read also in another Psalm : 'My soul shall be praised in the Lord: let the meek hear thereof, and be glad ;"' 9 which here in a sense followeth, "Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord: "' for thus the meek are glad, who do not rival with a bitter jealousy those whom they imitate as already workers of good,
3. "Seek the Lord, and be strengthened " '° (ver. 4). This is very literally construed from the Greek, though it may seem not a Latin word: whence other copies have, "be ye confirmed ;"' others, "be ye corroborated." ... While these words, then, '' Come unto Him, and be enlightened," '' apply to seeing ; those in the text relate to doing: "Seek the Lord, and be strengthened." .. . But what meaneth, 'Seek His face evermore"? I know indeed that to cling unto God is good for me; but if He is always being sought, when is He found? Did he mean by " evermore," the whole of the life we live
PSALM CV.3
1. This Psalm is the first of those to which is prefixed the word Allelujah; the meaning of which word, or rather two words, is, Praise the Lord. For this reason he beginneth with praises : "'O confess unto the Lord, and call upon His Name" (ver. 1) ; for this confession is to be understood as praise, just as these words of our Lord, "I confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth." 4 For after commencing
5 Oxf. mss. " the sinner doth allege." 7 John xxi. 17. 1 Cor. i. 31. 10 Confortamini. Il Ps, xxxiv. 4.
6 Matt. vi. 9. 9 Ps. xxxiy. 2, 12 Ps, Ixxiii. 27.
2 Prov. xxi. 20. 1 Rom, xii. 14. yee: alt. xi. 25. 3 Lat. CIV.