Expositions on the Book of Psalms (continued)
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.
630 THE WORKS*OF ST, AUGUSTIN:
[PsaLmM CXXXVII.
' of them" (ver. 11). He brought out also His saints and faithful ones from the midst of the wicked. ' With a mighty Hand and stretchedout Arm" (ver. 12). What more powerful, what more out-stretched, than that of which is said, "To whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed? "'* "Who divided the Red Sea in two parts "' (ver.
2. Observe "the waters of Babylon." " The waters of Babylon" are all things which here are loved, and pass away. One man, for example, loveth to practise husbandry, to grow rich thereby, to employ his mind therein, thence to gain pleasure: let him observe the issue, and see that what he hath loved is not a foundation of Jerusalem, but a stream of Babylon. Another saith, It is a grand thing to be a soldier: all husbandmen fear those who are soldiers. . . . 3. But then other citizens of the holy Jerusalem, understanding their captivity, mark how the natural wishes and the various lusts of men hurry and drag them hither and thither, and drive them into the sea; they see this, and they throw not themselves into the waters of Babylon, but "sit down and weep," either for those who are being carried away by them, or themselves whose deserts have placed them in Babylon, but sitting, that is, humbling themselves. O holy Sion, where all stands firm and nothing flows! Who hath thrown us headlong into this? Why have we left thy Founder and thy society? Behold, placed where all things are flowing and gliding away, scarce one, if he can grasp the tree, shall be snatched from the stream and escape. Humbling ourselves then in our captivity, let us "sit by the waters of Babylon," let us not dare to plunge ourselves in those streams, nor to be proud and lifted up in the evil and sadness of our captivity, but let us sit, and so weep. Let us sit "by" the waters, not beneath the waters, of Babylon; such be our humility, that it overwhelm us not. Sit "by" the waters, not "in" the waters, not " under' the waters ; but yet sit, in humble fashion, talk not as thou wouldest in Jerusalem. ...
13). He divided also in such wise, that the same baptism should be to some unto life, to others unto death. "And brought out Israel through the midst of it" (ver. 14). So too He brings out His renewed people through the laver of regeneration. '" And overthrew Pharaoh and his power in the Red Sea" (ver. 15). He quickly destroyeth both the sin of His people and the guilt thereof by baptism. 'Who led His people through the wilderness" (ver. 16). Us too He leadeth through the drought and barrenness of this world, that we perish not therein. "Who smote great kings" (ver. 17), "and slew famous kings" (ver. 18). From us too He smites and slays the deadly powers of the devil. "Sehon king of the Amorites" (ver. 19), an "useless shoot,"' or " fiery temptation," for so is Sehon interpreted: the king of " them who cause bitterness," for such is the meaning of Amorites. "And Og, the king of Basan" (ver. 20). The " heaper-together," such is the meaning of Og, and, king of "confusion," which Basan signifies. For what else doth the devil heap together but confusion? "And gave away their land for an heritage'' (ver. 21), "even an heritage unto Israel His servant" (ver. 22). For He giveth them, whom once the devil owned, for an heritage to the seed of Abraham, that is, Christ. ' Who remembered us in our low estate" (ver. 23), "and redeemed us from our enemies" (ver. 24) by the Blood of His only-begotten Son. "Who giveth food to all flesh"' (ver. 25), that is, to the whole race of mankind, not Israelites only, but Gentiles too; and of this Food is said, "My Flesh is meat indeed." 'Give thanks unto the God of Heaven" (ver 26). "Give thanks unto the Lord of lords" (ver. 27). For what he here says, 'the God of Heaven," I suppose that he meant to express in other words what He had before said, "the God of gods." For what there he subjoined, he has here also repeated. "Give thanks unto the Lord of lords." "But to us there is but one God," etc., "and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by
4. For many weep with the weeping of Babylon, because they rejoice also with the joy of Babylon. When men rejoice at gains and weep at losses, both are of Babylon. 'Thou oughtest to weep, but in the remembrance of Sion. If thou weepest in the remembrance of Sion, thou oughtest to weep even when it is well with thee in Babylon... . 5. "On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments of music" (ver. 2). The citizens of Jerusalem have their "instruments of music," God's Scriptures, God's commands, God's promises, meditation on the life to come ; but while they are dwelling "in Babylon," they "hang up their instruments." Willows are unfruitful trees, and here so placed, that mo good whatever can be understood of them: elsewhere perhaps there may. Here understand barren trees, growing by the waters of Babylon. These trees are watered by the waters of Babylon, and bring forth no fruit ; just as there are men greedy, covetous, barren in good works, citizens of Babylon in such wise, | that they are even trees of that region; they are
Him ;"'? to whom we confess that " His mercy endureth for ever."
PSALM CXXXVIL.3
I... . But to-day we have sung, " By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, when we remembered Sion" (ver. 1). ...
2 1 Cor. viii. 5, 6, A sermon to the people. 1 Isa, liii, r. 3 Lat. CXXXVI.