Expositions on the Book of Psalms
PSALM XXXIV.]
ON? THE "PSALMS: i)
heart, by running with charity. Thy feet are thy charity. Have two feet, be not lame. What are thy two feet? The two commandments of love, of thy God, and of thy Neighbour. With these feet run thou unto God, approach unto Him, for He hath both exhorted thee to run, and hath Himself shed His Own Light, as he hath magnificently and divinely continued., " And your faces shall not be ashamed." " Approach" (saith he) "unto Him, and be ye lightened ; and your faces shall not be ashamed." No face shall be ashamed but of the proud. Wherefore? Because he would be lifted up, and when he hath suffered insult, or ignominy, or mischance in this world, or any affliction, he is ashamed. But fear not thou, approach unto Him, and thou shalt not be ashamed. .. . 10. As the Prophet testifieth, "The poor man cried, and the Lord heard him" (ver. 6). He teacheth thee how thou mayest be heard. Therefore art thou not heard, because thou art rich. Lest haply thou say, thou criedst and wast not heard, hear wherefore; "The poor man cried, and the Lord heard him." As poor cry thou, and the Lord heareth. And how shall Icry as poor? By not, if thou hast aught, presuming therefrom upon thy own strength: by understanding that thou art needy; by understanding that so long art thou poor, as thou hast not Him who maketh thee rich. But how did the Lord hear him? all his troubles." And how saveth He men out of all their troubles? 'The Angel of the Lord shall send? round about them that fear Him, and shall deliver them" (ver. 7). So it is written, brethren, not as some bad copies have it, "The Lord shall send His Angel round about them that fear Him, and He shall deliver them :" but thus, " The Angel of the Lord shall send round about them that fear Him, and shall deliver them."' Whom called He here the Angel of the Lord, who shall send round about them that fear Him, and shall deliver them? Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself is called in Prophecy, the Angel of the great Counsel, the Messenger of the great Counsel ;3 so the Prophets called Him.* Even He then, the Angel of the great Counsel, that is, the Messenger, shall send unto them that fear the Lord, and shall deliver them. Fear not then lest thou be hid: wheresoever thou hast feared the Lord, there doth that Angel know thee, who shall send to succour thee, and shall deliver thee.
11. Now will He speak openly of the same Sacrament, whereby He was carried in His Own Hands. "O taste and see that the Lord is good"' (ver. 8). Doth not the Psalm now open itself, and show thee that seeming insanity and constant madness, the same insanity and sober inebriety of that David, who in a figure showed I know not what, when in the person of king Achis they said to him, How is it?5 When the Lord said, " Except a man eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, he shall have no life in him" ?¢ And they in whom reigned Achis, that is, error and ignorance, said; what said they? "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"7 If thou art ignorant, "Taste and see that the Lord is good:" but if thou understandest not, thou art king Achis: David shall change His Countenance and shall depart from thee, and shall quit thee, and shall depart.®
12. "Blessed is the man that trusteth in Him." Why needeth this to be explained at length? Whoever trusteth not in the Lord, is miserable. Who is there that trusteth not in the Lord? He that trusteth in himself. . . . 13. "O fear the Lord, all ye His saints, for there is no want to them that fear Him" (ver. 9). For many therefore will not fear God the Lord, lest they suffer hunger. It is said to them, Defraud not ; and they say, Whence can I feed myself? No art can be without imposture ; no business can be without fraud. But fraud God punisheth: fear God. But if I should fear God, I shall not have whence to live. '"O fear the Lord, all ye His saints, for there is no want to them that fear Him." He promiseth plenty to him that trembleth, and doubteth, lest haply if he should fear God, he should lose things superfluous. The Lord fed thee despising Him, and will He desert thee fearing Him? Attend, and say not, Such an one is rich, and I am poor. I fear the Lord, he by not fearing how much has he gained, and I by fearing am bare! See what follows; ''The rich9 do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing" (ver. 10). If thou recéive it according to the letter, He seemeth to deceive thee, for thou seest that many rich men that are wicked die in their riches, and are not made poor while they live ; thou seest them grow old, and come even to the end of life amid great abundance and riches. Thou seest their funeral pomp celebrated with great profusion, the man himself brought rich even to the sepul-
" And saved him out of}
5 AZ. "when those wretched ones before king Achis said, How is it?"
1 So our mss. and others, as Ed. Ben. says, magno consensu. Sicut magnifice et divine secutus est. Ben, however reads, "so that ye may be able magnificently and divinely to follow Him." Svc, ut Pia to ide et divine se sequi possitis. See on Ps. xxii. Exp. ii, § 16. ''Gloriously expressed," The word is magnijice. °2 Immittet. LXX. rapeu Badci, ' shall encamp." 3 Jsa. ix. 6, LXX.; Mal. iii. x. 4 [See Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. i. p. 223, note 7; also vol, vy. p 628, note 2, and assim. — Cy
John vi. 53. 7 John vi. 52. Z 8 [Luther's doctrine, and even Calvin's, admits of this language. Rhetarically, even Zwinglians might use thesame. For the primitive doctrine see Justin Martyr and Irenzus, A. N. F. vol. i. p. 185, note 6, and 528, note 4. Observe also the fragment (xili.,) on p. 570. —C.] ' 9 E, V. '' The young lions do lack," etc,