Expositions on the Book of Psalms (continued)
600 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN. [PsaLm CXXV.
chance our soul hath passed over'? (ver. 5). Understand however the meaning to be this: " Thinkest thou our soul hath passed over?" and why do they say, "Thinkest thou''? Beane the greatness of the danger maketh it hardly credible that he hath escaped. They have endured a great death: they have been in great dangers; they have been so much oppressed, that they almost gave consent while alive, and were all but swallowed up alive: now therefore that they have escaped, now that they are secure, but still remember the danger, the great danger, say, " Thinkest thou our soul hath passed over the water without substance?"
sweetness of this life may thrust his head into iniquity, and be caught in the trap. Not they, in whom the Lord was, they who say, "If the Lord Himself had not been in us;" they have not been taken in the trap. Let the Lord be in thee, and thou wilt not be taken in the trap.
g. "Our soul is escaped, even as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers" (ver. 7). Because the Lord was in the soul itself, therefore hath that soul escaped, even as a bird out of the snare of the fowler. Why like a bird? Because it had fallen heedlessly, like a bird ; and it could say afterwards, God will forgive me. Unstable bird, rather set thy feet firm upon the rock: go not into the trap. Thou wilt be taken, consumed, crushed. Let the Lord be in thee, and He will deliver thee from greater threats, from the snare of the fowlers. As if thou wert to see a bird about to fall into a snare, thou makest a greater noise that it may fly away from the net; so also, when perhaps some even of the Martyrs were stretching out their neck after the enjoyment of this life, the Lord, who was in them, made the noise of hell, and the bird was delivered from the snare of the fowlers. The snare was the sweetness of this life: they were not entangled in the snare, and were slain; by their slaughter the net was broken ; no longer did the sweetness of this life remain, that they might again be entangled by it, but it was crushed. Was the bird also crushed? Far be it! for it was not in the snare: '' The snare is broken, and we are delivered."
6. What is the water without substance, save the water of sins without substance? For sins have not substance: they have destitution, not substance ; they have want, not substance. In that water without substance, the younger son lost the whole of his substance. . . . Dost thou wish to see how the water is without substance ? Take away with thee to the world below what thou hast acquired: what wilt thou do? Thou hast acquired gold: thou hast lost thy faith: after a few days thou leavest this life; thou canst not take away with thee the gold thou hast acquired bythe loss of thy good faith; thy heart, destitute of faith, goeth forth into punishment —thy heart, which if full of faith, would go forth unto acrown. Behold, what thou hast done is nothing: and thou hast offended God for nothing.
7. Men hear that common proverb; and the proverbs of God slumber in them. What proverb? '" Better in hand than in hope."! Unhappy man, what hast thou in hand? Thou sayest, " Better in hand." Hold it so as not to lose it, and then say, " Better in hand." But if thou holdest it not, why dost thou not hold fast that which thou canst not lose? What then hast thou in hand? Gold. Keep it in hand, therefore: if thou hast it in hand, let it not be taken away without thy consent. But if through gold also thou art carried where thou wishest not, and if a more powerful robber seeketh thee, because he findeth thee a less powerful robber ; if a stronger eagle pursue thee, because thou hast carried off a hare before him: the lesser was thy prey, thou wilt be a prey unto the greater.
10... . "Our help standeth in the Name of the Lord, who hath made heaven and earth"
(ver. 8). For if this were not our help, the snare would not indeed remain for ever; but when the bird was once taken, it would be crushed. For this life will pass away ; and they who shall have been taken in by its pleasures, and through these pleasures have offended God, will pass away with this life. For the snare will be broken ; be ye assured of this: all the sweetness of this present life will no longer exist, when the lot assigned to it hath been fulfilled ; but we must not be enthralled by it, so that when the net is broken, thou mayest then rejoice and say, " The snare is broken, and we are delivered." But lest thou think that thou canst do this of thy own strength, consider whose work thy deliverance is (for if thou art proud, thou fallest into the snare), and say, 'Our help standeth in the Name of the Lord, who hath made heaven and earth." ...
Men see not these things in human affairs: by so much avarice are they blinded... . 8. Let them escape the water without substance, and say, "Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us over for a prey unto their teeth"' (ver. 6). For the hunters were following, and had placed a baitin theirtrap. What bait? The sweetness of this life, so that each man for the sake of the
PSALM CXXV.?
1. This Psalm, belonging to the number of the Songs of Degrees, teacheth us, while we asthat ye may understand. But in Scripture this could not be used, because it was not Latin; and as Latin failed, that was used for it which had not this meaning." —
' Malo quod teneo, guam quod Spero. [Eng. 'A bird in the hand," etc. — C.]
2 Lat. CKXIV. A discourse to the people.