Expositions on the Book of Psalms
Psatm CXXXVI.] ON THE PSALMS. 629
He makes sky, earth, and luminaries, of His Mercy ; since they are marks of His Goodness, who created all things very good.' For He created all things, that they might have their being ;? but it is the work of His Mercy, to cleanse us from our sins, and deliver us from everlasting misery. And so the Psalm thus addresses us, "Give thanks unto the God of gods, give thanks unto the Lord of lords." Give thanks to Him, 'who alone doeth great wonders ;"' give thanks to Him, "who by His wisdom made the heavens ;"' give thanks to Him, "who stretched out the earth above the waters ;"' give thanks to Him, " who alone made great lights.'' But why we are to praise, he setteth down at the end of all the verses, '' for His mercy endureth for ever."
could it be "alone," if "in understanding" or "in intelligence' means " by His wisdom," that is, by the only-begotten Word? Is it that, inasmuch as the Trinity is not three Gods, but one God, he states that God made these things alone, because He made not creation by means of any creature ?
7. But what is, "who laid out the earth above the waters''? For it is a difficult question, because the earth seemeth to be the heavier, so that it should be believed not .so much to be borne on the waters, as to bear the waters. And that we may not seem contentiously to maintain our Scriptures against those who think that they have discovered these matters on sure principles, we have a second interpretation to give, that the earth which is inhabited by men, and contains the living creatures of the earth, is "laid out above the waters"' because it stands out above the waters which surround it. For when we speak of a city on the sea being built 'above the waters," it is not meant that the sea is under it in the same way as the waters are under the chambers of caverns, or under ships sailing over them ; but it is said to be "above"' the sea, because it stands up above the sea below it.
5. But what meaneth, "who alone doeth great wonders"? Is it because many wonderful things He hath done by means of angels and men? Some wonderful things there are which God doeth alone, and these he enumerates, saying, " who by His wisdom made the heavens" (ver. 5), "who stretched out the earth above the waters "
(ver. 6), "who alone made great lights" (ver. 7). For this reason did he add "alone" in this verse also, because the other wonders which he is about to tell of, God did by means of man. For having said, " who alone made great lights,"' he goes on to explain what these are, 'the sun to rule the day" (ver. 8), "the moon and stars to govern the night" (ver. 9) ; then he begins to tell the wonders which He did by means of angels and men: "who smote Egypt with their first-born" (ver. 10), and the rest. The whole creation then God manifestly made, not by means of any creature, but ''alone ;"' and of this creation he hath mentioned certain more eminent parts, that they might make us think on the whole ; the heavens we can understand,3 and the earth we see. And as there are visible heavens too, by mentioning the lights in them, he has bid us look on the whole body of the heavens as made by Him.
8. But if these words further signify something else which more closely concerns us, God "by His wisdom made the heavens," that is, His saints, spiritual men, to whom He has given not only to believe, but also to understand things divine ; those who cannot yet attain to this, and only hold their faith firmly, as being beneath the heavens, are figured by the name of earth. And because they abide with unshaken belief upon the baptism they have received, therefore it is said, " He laid out the earth above the waters."
Further, since it is written of our Lord Jesus Christ, that "in Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," 5 and that these two, wisdom and knowledge, differ somewhat from one another is testified by other utterances of Scripture, especially in the words of holy Job,® where both are in a manner defined ; not unsuitably then do we understand wisdom to consist in the knowledge and love of That which ever Is and abideth unchangeable, which is God. For where he saith, " piety" is wisdom," in Greek is GeooéBea, and to express the whole of this in Latin, we may call it worship of God.' But to depart from evil, which he calls knowledge, what else is it but to walk cautiously and heedfully "in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation," 9 in the night, as it were, of this world, that each one by keeping himself from iniquity may avoid being confounded with the darkness, distinguished by the light of his proper gift... . g. "Who brought out Israel from the midst
6. However, whether by what he saith, " who made the heavens in understanding," or, as others have rendered it, "in intelligence," he meant to signify, the heavens we can understand, or that
He in His understanding or intelligence, that is, in His wisdom made the heavens (as it is elsewhere written, "in wisdom hast Thou made them all' +), implying thereby the only-begotten Word, may be a question. But if it be so, that we are to understand that " God by His wisdom made the heavens," why saith He this only of the heavens, whereas God made all things by the same wisdom? It is that it needed only to be expressed there, so that in the rest it might be understood without being written. How then
5 Col. ii. 3. 8 Det cultus. 6 [Job xxviii. 28. —C.] 7 Pietas, Vulg. 9 Philip. ii. 15.
1 Gen. iv 31. 2 Wisd. i. 14. 3 Intelligzbiles clos. 4 Ps. civ. 24.