HOMILY 13
HOMILY 13
ON PSALM 80 (81)
(I NTO THE END, for the wine presses, a psalm of Asaph:l It is written in the law that there are three solemn festivals: the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles.
The tenth day [of the month)2 before the feast of Tabernacles, was a fast day, and the fast lasted until evening. On this occasion they blew the trumpet, that is to say, they fasted and during the fast blew the trumpet, and ten days later came the feast of the Booths. Mark this attentively: three solemn festivals are described in the law: first the Passover, second
Pentecost, third Tabernacles. Before Tabernacles a fast; during this fast, moreover, trumpets sounded. Consider the full impact of Holy Writ. Remove the veil that was placed over the eyes of Moses,3 and see that we cannot become Tabernacles· unless we have fasted beforehand. Unless that same fast, moreover, is the banner of victory to keep off our adversaries,
Amalec is not conquered.4 Because there are three solemn celebrations, Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, there are, likewise, three psalms bearing the title 'for the wine presses': the eighth, the eightieth, and the eighty-third. You see, then, why in the psalter three psalms have 'for the wine presses' in their title. Notice that they are the eighth, eightieth, the eightythird.
Before we discuss the symbolism of number, let us examine the significance of the phrase 'for the wine presses: 'For the 1 Cf. Ps. 80 (81).1.
2 Day of Atonement? Cf. Num. 9; 10; 28; 29; Lev. 23; 25.9.
3 Cf. Exod. 34.34.
4 Cf. Exod. 17.11-13.
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wine presses.' There are no wine presses except where there is a vineyard and a plentiful harvest of grapes. 'For the wine presses.' The Lord and Savior says: 'The wine press I have trodden alone, and of my people there was no one with me.'5
That is why He brought the vine out from Egypt and transplanted it.6 Further, by Jeremia, He says: 'I had planted you a choice vine of fully tested stock; how could you turn out obnoxious to me, a spurious vine?'7 Noe drank wine and became inebriated. Then, too, Solomon says, and it is said with mystery: 'Drink my friends and be inebriated.'8 Again in another place, we read about Joseph, that holy man who was a type of our Lord the Savior9 who was sold by his brothers
-by his own brothers-and who ruled in Egypt, just as our Lord and Savior was sold by the Jews and reigned in the Egypt of this world. Joseph, as I was saying, was a holy man, an especially holy man who conquered cruelty with true piety; who was sold into Egypt, not by chance, but that he might supply Egypt with food and his own brothers, too, who had sold him. That Joseph invited his brothers to dine. But just listen to what happened: 'And he drank, and became merr) at noon.'10 Is that true, and is it literally possible that a hoI) man became drunk? N oe also was inebriated, but had been really inebriated. Joseph had been intoxicated; Noe also wa! intoxicated, and he was intoxicated in his own house. See there is a mystery. First, let us review the mystery itself, anc when we have done that, let us fathom its meaning. Aftel the deluge, Noe drank and became drunk in his own house and his thighs were uncovered and he was exposed in hi! nakedness. The elder brother came along and laughed; th( younger, however, covered him Up.11 All this is said in type 0
5 Isa. 63.3.
6 Cf. Ps. 79 (80).9.
7 Jer. 2.21.
8 Cf. Cant. 5.1; d. Against Jovinian 1.30, PL 23.265 (286).
9 Cf. Letter 109.2, PL 22.908 (727).
10 Cf. Gen. 43.25, 34.
11 Cf. Gen. 9.20-24.
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the Savior, for on the cross He had drunk of the passion:
'Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me.'12
He drank and was inebriated, and His thighs were laid bare -the dishonor of the cross. The older brothers, the Jews, came along and laughed; the younger, the Gentiles, covered up His ignominy.13 Hence, the imprecation: 'Cursed be Chanaan; meanest of slaves shall he be to his brethren.'14
Behold, that condemnation continues down to this day. We, the younger people, give orders to the older people, the Jews.
As the Lord is inebriated in His passion, His saints are inebriated every day in the ardor of their faith, inebriated in the Holy Spirit. You, who yesterday were heaping together gold, today, you are throwing it away. Are you not a madman to those who do not know what it is all about? Finally, when the Holy
Spirit descended upon the apostles and filled them and they spoke many different languages, they were accused of being full of new wine.15
There is a great deal more that could be said on the mystery of wine and inebriation. 'Unto the end, for the wine presses, a psalm of Asaph': the eighth psalm, the eightieth, and the eighty-third. No other number could have wine presses except the eighth, eightieth, eighty-third. The eighth day, symbol of the day of Resurrection, is in the singular number. On the other hand, the eightieth in eight decades is a different and greater number. You note that these wine presses are superscribed only on the day of Resurrection, the eighth day and the eightieth. Someone may ask: Why does it say wine presses later on in the eighty-third psalm? These wine presses belong to the mystery of the Trinity. That is why there are also three choirmasters. In the eighth it says, a psalm of David; in the eightieth, a psalm of Asaph; in the eighty-third, a psalm of the sons of Core. The eighth is of David, and David means brave
12 Matt. 26.39.
13 Cf. Against the Luciferians 22, PL 23.185 (195).
14 Gen. 9.25.
15 Acts 2.13.
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in battle. Because our first victory is full of wrestling and warfare, it is symbolized by David, brave in battle. Our second victory, in the eightieth psalm, is truly typified by Asaph. The meaning of Asaph is assembly.16 In the eighth psalm, we are victorious, and in the eightieth, we gather together with the Lord. The eighty-third, however, is of the sons of Core, and Core signifies Calvary. 'Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head';17 that is what the boys shouted at Eliseus, for he had suffered in the place called the Skull [Calvary]. Much could be said on how Eliseus was laughed at in Bethel by forty-two boys. These are the wine presses about which the Savior says: 'Make friends for yourselves with the mammon of wickedness, so that when you fail they may receive you into the everlasting dwellings.'18
'For it is a statute in Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.' What ordinance is this of the Lord? In victory to acclaim God; not presume it our own, but to acknowledge it as the Lord's.
'When he came forth from the land of Egypt. An unfamiliar speech he heard.'19 When we came out of the land of Egypt, we, too, heard a language unknown to us. Who of us knew the Gospel? Who the apostles? Who the prophets? We came forth from Egypt, and we heard an unfamiliar speech and we learned a language that we had never known of before.
The next verse continues right along with: 'He relieved his shoulders of the burden.'20 When we were in Egypt, in slave labor we built the cities of Pharao; we 'carried clay and brick and wore ourselves out in search of straw. We had no grain; we had no divine bread that came down from heaven. Not yet were we given heavenly manna; not yet had the bronze serpent been mounted on the pole for us; not yet had the rock yielded its water; not yet were we extending our arms and 16 ct. Commentarioli in ps. 80.1.
17 4 Kings 2.23; ct. Luke 23.33; Matt. 27.33; Letter 46.3, PL 22.485 (201).
18 Luke 16.9.
19 ct. Ps. 80 (81).6.
20 Cf. Ps. 80 (81).7.
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Amalec was losing in battle. We were sitting in mud and we were slaving for Egypt; we were building the cities of Pharao.
'He relieved his shoulders of the burden: What heavy burdens we endured in those days! That is why our Moses says: 'Come to me, all you who are burdened with sins, and I will give you rest.'21 'His hands were enslaved in a basket:22
Whose hands? Israel's. Some are Egypt's baskets; others are Jesus'. Jesus has His own baskets. He filled twelve of them with fragments, our Savior did. 0 wondrous deed communicating sublime secrets! Five thousand people were in the desert not counting women and children. Only five loaves were found in that place for it was barren. I am going to ask you a question, you who admit only a literal meaning. There are only five loaves of bread to be found in the desert and yet how do you account for twelve baskets? Certainly, if the place was barren, there could not be twelve baskets of fragments! Now listen to the whole explanation. The Lord led
His people forth from Egypt into the desert of this world.
He fed them with His bread and whatever was left over He stored away in twelve baskets, that is, in the twelve apostles; so that what had been lost in the twelve tribes23 might be saved in the twelve apostles.
'In distress you called, and I rescued you: The prophets and the psalms are perplexing because suddenly without any warning there is a change in person. Up to this verse the prophet has been speaking; now, all of a sudden, it is God who speaks to the people.24 'In distress you called, and I rescued you:
Whenever you are in trouble, do not be disturbed; call upon Me and in My mercy I shall give you a gracious hearing.
'Unseen, I answered you in thunder': I was in the midst of that storm, the storm that was crushing you and tossing you about like waves hither and thither. 'I tested you at the Waters
21 Cf. Matt. 11.28.
22 Cf. Ps. 80 (81).7.
23 Cf. Letter 108.13, PL 22.889 (704).
24 Cf. Commentarioli in ps. 80.8.
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of Rebellion:25 Strictly, this verse speaks of Moses and Aaron, for they offended God at the waters of contention;26 that is precisely the reason why they did not enter the promised land. It is to us, moreover, that God says: I tested you in the midst of waters of rebellion. Simon was tested at the waters of rebellion because he received baptism hypocritically.
Anyone, therefore, who is not sincere in the reception of baptism proves it at the waters of strife and discord.
'Hear, my people, and I will admonish you: God is speaking to us. Whatever He said to His people, He speaks also to us.
'0 Israel, will you not hear me?' What is it you ask me to heed?
Let us see what He commands. 'There shall be no strange god among you: The man whose god is his stomach has a strange god. We have as many alien gods as we have vices and sins.
I give way to anger; anger is my god. I look upon a woman covetously; lust is my god. The thing that each one covets and worships, that is his god. The miser has a god of gold.
'Nor shall you worship any alien god: Our God is virtue; the god of others is vice and sin.
'I, the Lord, am your God who led you forth from the land of Egypt: We are the ones who have been rescued from the land of Egypt, if, indeed, we have left Egypt; if we are in the desert; if we long to see the promised land. If we have abandoned Sodom, let us not look back at Sodom. We have been rescued on the mountain. Let us not sigh for the flesh pots of Egypt, let us not complain: How well off we were in Egypt when we were eating meat with vegetables and so on, and cucumbers.27 Do you want to receive food from the Lord? Do you want to feed upon the Lord Himself, your Lord and Savior? Hear what He has to say: 'Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it: Open wide your mouths; He is both Lord and Bread. He exhorts us to eat and He is Himself our food.
However wide you open your mouth, that much you will 25 Cf. Ps. 80 (81).8.
26 Cf. Num. 20.7-13; Exod. 17.7.
27 Cf. Num. 11.5.
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receive, for that is in your power, not in Mine. If it is your desire, you shall receive all of Me; if you do not want all, you shall receive at least a part.
'But my people heard not my voice.' I am standing at the door and am knocking.28 I want you to open, and I shall enter; but you do not want to open. 'And Israel obeyed me not; so I gave them up to the hardness of their hearts; they walked according to their own counsels.' Unhappy the man whom the Lord does not chastise. Anyone whom the Lord does not punish while he is sinning is most unfortunate. For that reason the Lord says: I gave them up to the hardness of their hearts. I gave them up because I have punished them many times and they have refused to submit to My authority; I have called and they have not listened; I have struck them and they have not even felt the blow. I am giving them up to their own desires that either they may be surfeited with their own vices or else be driven to repentance.
'1£ only my people would hear me.' 0 most clement Father,29 o .merciful Godl He pleaded with His people and they did not listen. Like an angry father, He sends His wanton son away. Once more He sees him on the road to perdition, and grieves because he is destroying himself. And what does He say? 'If only my people would hear me; and Israel walk in my ways, quickly would I humble their enemies.' Was it a mighty thing for Me to deliver you from tribulation? Was I not able to exercise My sovereign power and snatch you away from danger?3Q But because I have given you up to your own free will, and have set before you a race course, and I am giving the crown only to the winner, I am leaving the victory to your own efforts.
'The enemies of the Lord have lied to him.'31 The Hebrew text is better: 'the enemies of the Lord will deny him,' which means, His enemies, the Jews, will deny Him. But these
28 Cf. Apoc. 3.20.
29 Cf. Commentary on Isaia 1.24, PL 24.40 (27).
30 Cf. Commentarioli in ps. 80.14, 15.
31 Cf. Ps. 80 (81).16.
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enemies who are going to deny Him, will they, therefore, perish? Will there not be remnants? How, then, did You swear to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob that their seed would be as the stars in the sky and as the sands of the sea? Why did
You make a promise to the fathers and then not render it to their sons? 'The enemies of the Lord will deny him: What does that mean? 'But their fate would endure forever: 'When the full number of the Gentiles shall enter, then all Israel shall be saved:s2 In the future, they will believe; up to the present, they have not believed. I shall now address the Jews, for they are always bragging and boasting: their time will be forever.
Let this be our answer: It is true, for of the Jews there are going to be some who believe. In fact, we read in the ApocalypseSS of John that twelve thousand from each tribe, that is,
144,000 are going to believe; and this is the number of virgins.84
When, moreover, will there be as great a number of virgins as of non-virgins? So let us say to the Jews: Your time will be !Into eternity, that is, in the future world. But what is the 'message for you who today do not believe? 'But their fate would endure forever: Your fate will be the same as that of the enemies of God.
'And he fed them with the fat of wheat:slI He led them into the land of promise. He fed them, not with manna as in the desert, but with the wheat that had fallen, that had risen again. 'And he fed them with the fat of wheat.' Be sure you penetrate the mystery in the scriptural words: 'With the fat of wheat: Does wheat have fat? Does it also have intestines?
The prophet wanted to show the abundance and richness of spiritual grace, hence, called it fat. 'And with honey from the rock he would fill them:s6 He is the wheat; He also is the rockST who slaked the thirst of the Israelites in the desert. He
1I2 Cf. Rom. 11.25, 26; cf. Commentarioli in ps. SO.16.
1I11 Af.0C' 7.4-S.
M C • Apoc. 14.14: cf. A.gainst Jovinian 1.40, PL 28.281 (1I05).
1I5 Cf. Ps. SO (SI).17.
1I6 Ibid.
1I7 Cf. 1 Cor. 10.4.
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satisfied their thirst spiritually with honey, and not with water, so that they who believe and receive the food taste honey in their mouth. 'How sweet to my palate are your promises, sweeter than honey to my mouthl'38 Lastly, that is why our
Lord ate honeycomb after the Resurrection, and was satisfied with honey from the rock. I am going to tell you something new. The Rock Himself ate honey in order to give us honey and sweetness, so that they who in the law had drunk myrrh, or bitterness, might afterwards eat the honey of the Gospel.
38 Ps. U8.103.