Expositions on the Book of Psalms
526 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN. [Psatm CVI.
with our fathers, we have done amiss, and dealt wickedly ;"' but in the words, "For He is gracious, and His mercy endureth for ever," there is chiefly the praise of God, and in His praise confession. Although when any one confesses his sins, he ought to do so with praise of God; nor is a confession of sins a pious one, unless it be without despair, and with calling upon the mercy of God. It therefore doth contain His praise, whether in words, when it calleth Him gracious and merciful, or in the feeling only, when he believeth this. . . . If that mercy be here understood, in respect of which no man can be happy without God; we may render it better; "for ever:"' but if it) be that 'mercy, which is shown to the wretched, that they may either be consoled in misery, or even freed from it; it is better construed, "to the end of the world," in which there will never be wanting wretched persons to whom that mercy may be shown. Unless indeed any man ventured to say, that some mercy of God will not be wanting even to those who shall be condemned with the devil and his angels ; not a mercy by which they may be freed from that condemnation, but that it may be in some degree softened for them: and that thus the mercy of God may be styled eternal, as exercised over their eternal misery. ...
no other which belongeth to the same canon. But not even this could outweigh custom, although all the copies had it so. For it might be that, with some reference to the praise of God, the whole book of Psalms, which is said to consist of five books (for they say that the books severally end where it is written Amen, Amen), might be closed with this last Allelujah, after all that hath been sung ; nor, on account of the end of the CLth Psalm, do I see that it is necessary that all the Psalms entitled Allelujah, should have Allelujah at the end. But when there is a double Allelujah at the head of a Psalm, why as our Lord sometimes once, sometimes twice over, saith Amen, in the same way Allelujah may not sometimes be used once, sometimes twice, I know not: especially, since as in this CVth, both the Allelujahs are placed after the mark by -which the number of the Psalm is described, whereas the one, if it belonged to the end of the former Psalm, ought to have been placed before the number; and the Allelujah which belonged to the Psalm of this number, should have been written after the number. But perhaps even in this an ignorant habit hath prevailed, and some reason may be assigned of which we are as yet uninformed, so that the judgment of truth ought rather to be our guide than the prejudice of custom. In the mean time, before we are fully instructed in this matter, whenever we find Allelujah written, whether once or twice, after the number of the Psalm, according to the most usual custom of the Church, we will ascribe it to that Psalm to which the same number is prefixed ; confessing that we both believe the mysteries of all the titles in the Psalms, and of the order of the same Psalms, to be important, and that we have not yet been able, as we wish, to penetrate them.
3. " Who can express the mighty acts of the Lord?" (ver. 2). Full of the consideration of the Divine works, while he entreateth His mercy, " Who," he saith; "can express the mighty acts of the Lord, or make all His praises heard?' We must supply what was said above, to make the sense complete here, thus, '"' Who shall make all His praises heard?" that is, who is sufficient to make all His praises heard? " Shall make " them " heard," he saith ; that is, cause that they be heard; showing, that the mighty acts of the Lord and His praises are so to be spoken of, that they may be preached to those who hear them. But who can make "all" heard? Is it that as the next words are, " Blessed are they that alway keep judgment, and do © righteousness in every time" (ver. 3) ; he perhaps meant those praises of His, which are understood as His works in His commandments? "For it is God," saith the Apostle, "who worketh in you,'4 ... since He worketh in these things in a manner that cannot be spoken. "Who will do all His praises heard?" that is, who, when he hath heard them, doth all His praises? which are the works of His commandments. As far as they are done, although all which are heard are not performed, He is to be praised, who " worketh in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure." ¢* For this reason,
2. But I find these two Psalms, the CVth and CVIth so connected, that in one of them, the first, the people of God is praised in the person of the elect, of whom there is no complaint, whom I imagine to have been there in those with whom God was well pleased ;' but in the following Psalm those are mentioned among the same people who have provoked God; though the mercy of God was not wanting even to these. . . . This Psalm therefore beginneth like the former ; "' Confess ye unto the LordY' But in that Psalm these words follow: "And call upon His Name :" whereas here, it is as follows,
" For He is gracious,? and His mercy endureth for ever" (ver. 1). Wherefore in this passage a confession of sins may be understood ; for after a few verses we read, " We have sinned
1 x Cor. x. 5. 2 ** Some copies read, ' for He is gracious,' others, 'for He is sweet: ' one Greek word, xpnords, having been differently translated. Also in the words, ' for His mercy endureth to the end of the world;' the Greek hath evs toy aiwva, which may be interpreted ' for ever.'"
3 [Luke xii. 47, 48. —C.] 4 Philip. ii. 13.