HOMILY 50
HOMILY 50
ON PSALM 139 (140)
ME, 0 Lord, from the evil men.' In no way does the devil succeed so well in deceiving us as he does through the agency of men; it is from treachery this kind that the prophet prays for deliverance.
'Who devise evil in their hearts.' He is warning us against heretics.
'The venom of asps is under their lips,' for their words, friendly enough on the surface, are full of deadly poison.
'By the wayside they have laid snares for me'; they have tried to set a trap for me in Holy Scripture by adducing proof more apparent than real.
'I say to the Lord, you are my God.' These are words that only a saint may claim, a man who is not dominated by sin, a man who bears witness that 'my portion is the Lord.'!
'Give me not up, 0 Lord, to the wicked from my desire.'2
Scripture affirms: 'that anyone who even looks with lust at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart';3 hence, the prophet prays: Deliver me not, 0 Lord, to the devil through lust of mine, but judge me well by my deeds, not by my desires.
'Those who surround me lift up their heads; may the mischief which they threaten overwhelm them.'4 Just as a serpent that sees someone coming to strike it instinctively makes a coil
1 Lam. 3.24.
2 Cf. Ps. 139 (140).9.
3 Matt. 5.28.
4 Cf. Commentarioli in ps. 139.10.
SAINT JEROME
of its entire body to conceal and protect its head,s even so these heretics hide themselves in the winding utterances of Aristotle and the other philosophers and so shield and defend themselves. The man of the Church, however, with the cross as a staff unwinds the coil, discloses the head hidden within its recesses, and there strikes at it. In other words, he draws proof from the Sacred Scriptures and disseminates it.
'The upright shall dwell in your presence.' What is the presence of God if not Christ, 'who did not consider being equal to God a thing to be clung to'?6
5 Cf. Commentary on Matthew 10.17, PL 26.66 (60).
6 Cf. Phil. 2.6.