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Expositions of the Psalms
 2

Augustinian Heritage Institute, Inc.

Board of Directors

Michael T. Dolan, secretary Daniel E. Doyle, O.S.A..

Joseph T. Kelley Patricia H. Lo, treasurer
Thomas Martin, O.S.A. Boniface Ramsey, O.P.
John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., president

Translation Advisory Board

Gerald Bonner Maria Boulding, O.S.B.

Allan D. Fitzgerald, O.S.A. Edmund Hill, O.P.
Joseph McGowan Boniface Ramsey, O.P.
Roland J. Teske, S.J.

THE WORKS OF SAINT AUGUSTINE

A Translation for the 21st Century

Part III — Books

Volume 16:

Expositions of the Psalms

33-50
 THE WORKS OF SAINT AUGUSTINE
A Translation for the 21st Century

Expositions of the Psalms

33-50

ee CONCORDIA COLLEGE LIBRARY

BRONXVILLE, NEW YORK 10708

translation and notes by

Maria Boulding, O.S.B.

editor
John E. Rotelle, O.S.A.

New City Press

Hyde Park, New York
Published in the United States by New City Press
202 Cardinal Rd., Hyde Park, New York 12538
©2000 Augustinian Heritage Institute

Cover picture (paperback): A Person in Prayer Calls Upon the Lord; Exaudi, Domine,
vocem meam, etc., by Pellegrino di Mariano (1460), from the Gradual of the Choir Books
of the Augustinian Monastery of Lecceto (Siena), Italy.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo.
The works of Saint Augustine.
“Augustinian Heritage Institute”
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Contents: — pt. 3, v.15. Expositions of the Psalms, 1-32
—pt. 3, v. 1. Sermons on the Old Testament, 1-19.
— pt. 3, v. 2. Sermons on the Old Testament, 20-50 — [et al.] — pt. 3,
v. 10 Sermons on various subjects, 341-400.
1. Theology — Early church, ca. 30-600. I. Hill,
Edmund. _ II. Rotelle, John E. Il. Augustinian
Heritage Institute. IV. Title.
BR65.A5E53 1990 270.2 89-28878
ISBN 1-56548-055-4 (series)
ISBN 1-56548-147-X (pt. 3, v. 16)
ISBN 1-56548-146-1 (pt. 3, v. 16: pbk.)

We are indebted to Brepols Publishers, Turnholt, Belgium,for their use of the Latin critical text
of Enarrationes in Psalmos I-CL, ed. D. Eligius Dekkers, O.S.B. et Johannes Fraipont,
Corpus Christianorum Latinorum XXXVIIU-XL (Turnholt, 1946) 1-2196.

Nihil Obstat: John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., S.T.L., Censor Deputatus

Imprimatur: + Patrick Sheridan, D.D., Vicar General
Archdiocese of New York, July 22, 1999

The Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free of doctrinal or
moral error. No implication is contained therein that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat and
Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions or statements expressed.
Printed in the United States of America
 Contents

RARSARSCNIIN TO CRIN Sea gf ah iB ob Ras asaya cd adnan 3

Introduction: knock, and it shall be opened to you — 13; He begins to expound the title:
David before Abimelech/Achis — 13; Why has the name been changed? — 15; Christ cut
down the devil by humility — 16; Melchizedek’s sacrifice — 16; The Word makes himself
assimilable to mortals — 17; He turned from the Jews to the Gentiles — 18; The scandal of
the Eucharist — 19; The tender affection of Christ — 20; The drum — 21; Eucharist and
humility — 21; Childlike words concealing strength — 22; Conclusion — 22

RERIVOEIEAER OIE BOUT 0k eur ha aa Bee Nee you beBid ce 23

Introduction: yesterday's promise is to be kept today — 23; Verse 1. Recapitulation of
yesterdays findings — 23; Verse 2. It takes humility to bless the Lord all the time — 25;
Verse 3. The Lord’s donkey — 26; Verse 4. No jealousy among God’s lovers — 27; Christ
crucified and the Donatist schism — 28; Verse 5. Spring-clean your heart — 29; Verse 6.
Drawing near to the Light — 31; Verses 7-8. Rescue for the poor — 32; Verse 9. Parallels:
David and Christ, Achis and the incredulous Jews — 33; Verses 10-11. Being rich in the
Lord — 34; Verse 12. Christ the teacher — 36; Verse 13. Longing for “good days” — 36;
Verse 14. You cannot have it both ways — 37; Verse 15. The search for peace — 38; Verse
16. Cruel to be kind — 39; Verse 17. God watches the wicked equally — 39; Verse 18.
Being heard in the furnace of persecution — 40; Verses 19-20. The troubles of the just —
40; Verse 21. Bones are safeguarded — 41; Verse 22. The last end of the wicked — 42;
Verses 22-23. But not all kinds of sinners — 43

A MN RA Sy cia rs otPa ae eM Es fis dyasRlee te herein 45

Introduction: Christ, strong of hand and object of our desire, is speaking — 45; Verses 1-2.
The armor of God — 46; Verse 3. God our ally in the fight against dark forces — 47; Verse
4. “I am your salvation” — 48; Verses 5-6. Dark and slippery paths for the wicked — 52,
Verses 7-8. The trap springs back on the setter — 52; Verse 9. God offers you himself—
54; Verse 10. Christ’s bones cry out in praise — 55

Bxpcigtans 2 ait eealean 94 i Pep srs wey Bods adlan hb few aeeb 9)Sega ss 59
Introduction: Christ and the Church, one body, one voice — 59; Verses 11-12. In what
sense was Christ ignorant? — 60; Verse 13. Sackcloth, fasting and prayer, as interpreted of
Christ — 61; Verse 14. Being near to God, or far from him — 64; Verse 15. Blessed are the
 mourners — 66; Verse 16. Persecution, past and present — 66; Verse 17. Why help is
delayed — 66; Verse 18. Praise from the “weighty people” — 67; Verses 19-21. Christ and
those who tried to trap him — 67; Verse 22. God’s silence — 68; Verses 23-24. The cause,
not the pain, makes the martyr — 69; Verses 24-26. Swallowing the wicked — 70; Verses
27-28. How to praise God all day long — 70

Exposition Of/Psalin 3555.45) grt eg enc kc eee ee ee

Verse 1. Willful lack of understanding — 72; God is present within — 73; Verses 3-4.
Dishonest searching — 73; Verse 5. Inner peace — 74; Who wins the battle? — 76; Verse
6. God’s good gifts, temporal and eternal — 77; Verse 7. God’§ true and humble mountains
— 79; The depths of sin and judgment — 81; Verses 7-8. God’s kindness to humans and
animals — 82; Becoming “sons of men” — 83; Verse 9. Thirsting for a reality beyond
description — 85; Verse 10. Fountain and light — 86; Verse 11. Conformity with God’s
will — 86; Verse 12. Beware of the foot of pride — 87; Verse 13. Watching the tempter’s
head — 88

Exposition bof Psalivs6 9.3) icv a ee eee ce ee

Ignorance about the last day — 90; One is taken, another left — 92; Verses 1-2. Why do the
wicked flourish? — 93; Verses 3-4. The wealth of the Lord’s land — 94; The pleas of the
flesh and of the heart — 95; Verses 5-6. Darkness will give way to light — 95; Verses 7-9.
Curb your resentment if you want to see straight — 97; Verse 10. Time passes swiftly,
though to the sick it seems long — 98; Sinners have their uses — 100; Verse 11. Peace and
innocence — 101

Exposition 2 of Psalm 36a eee ae Se Sage a ee

Introduction: two different types of people — 103; Verses 12-13. The sinner’s day is
coming — 104; Verses 14-16. The persecutor shoots himselfin the foot — 105; Verse 17.
By word and example the Lord strengthens the righteous — 106; Paul: persecutor,
converted, sufferer, strengthened by the Lord — 107; Verse 18. The vision of God is prom-
ised to us — 108; Verse 19. A hope that does not deceive — 110; Verse 20. No place for the
sinner to call home — 110; Two roving Donatists — 111; Evanescent grandeur — 112;
Verse 21. Ingratitude contrasted with generosity — 113; Verse 22. Cursers become
blessers — 114; Verse 23. Following Christ — 115; Verse 24. Whatever you may suffer,
Christ suffered before you — 116; The Donatists are in the same tradition of lying — 117;
The Donatists repaid in their own coin: a historical parallel — 118; The historical parallel
pursued, Primian and Caecilian — 126; Priority in time versus preponderance of numbers
— 126; Another argument: a condemned person cannot sit as judge — 127; Divergences
between Primian’s case and Caecilian’s — 127; The numbers game again — 128

Exposition 3: Ol Psalm 36. ease 2 aie cadet cad ee eee ee

Verse 25. Does it match experience? — 129; Spiritual paralysis — 130; Letting the para-
lytic down through the roof— 130; The Church’s long memory — 131; Chewing on God’s
bread — 132; Verse 26. Lending to God — 132; Blessed sowing — 134; Verse 27. Avoid
evil but also do good — 135; Verse 28. Hidden and visible judgment — 136; Verse 29. The
 land of the living — 137; Verses 30-32. The security of the just — 138; Verse 33. The
persecutor’s dominance is illusory — 138; Verses 34-36. The rapid disappearance of the
ungodly — 140; Verses 37-38. Innocence, a straight eye, and a promised future — 141;
Verses 39-40, The final discrimination — 142; Conclusion: Donatist onslaughts — 142;
Augustine’s past lite, target of Donatist attacks — 143; Keep to the point: what matters is
the truth — 144

RARE MENUR CRALRE CSfie oid ve tan nx en A AS de A wi OW I we Bt OS

Introduction: this psalm could belong to the Canaanite woman — 146; Verse |. Wistfully
remembering the Sabbath rest — 146; Verses 2-3. Chastened by fire — 147; Verse 4. True
health is reserved for the future — 148; The voice of the Head, the voice of his body: two in
one flesh — 150; Verse 5. A weight on one’s head — 152; Verse 6. The smell of sin — 152;
Verse 7. Curvature of the heart — 153; Verse 8. Fantasies will be superseded by the vision
of truth — 154; Verse 9. Homesickness — 155; The groaning heart — 156; Verse 10.
Continuing desire is unceasing prayer — 156; Verse 11. Turmoil of the heart and spiritual
blindness — 157; Verse 12. The Head speaks of his sufferings, which are also ours — 158;
Who is near, who far? — 159; Verse 13. Seeking Christ’s life — 160; Verses 14-15. The
Lord’s silence under attack — 161; Verse 16. Trust God when you have no human advo-
cate — 162; Verse 17. Gloating enemies — 162; Verse 18. Scourging — 163; Verses
18-19. The proper motive for grief— 163; Verse 20. My enemies are alive and well — 164;
Verse 21. The accursed upon the tree — 165; Verse 22. The person of the sinner is transfig-
ured into Christ — 166; Verse 23. The denarius of eternal life — 166

Paar ECan cere ee Pee es OE ee Oe tee eS

Verse |. Learning to leap — 168; Verse 2. No one avoids all faults in speaking; the hearers
must take it in good part — 170; Verse 3. Woe betide a preacher who falls silent — 172;
Verses 4-5. Longing for the goal — 173; Time, the dimension of contingent being — 176;
What I have and what I lack — 178; Verse 6. The passage from the old to the new — 178;
Emptiness all round — 180; Verse 7. For whom are you amassing your wealth? — 181;
There is a safer place to store it — 182; Verse 8. Still waiting — 184; Verse 9. Perfection
through knowing one’s imperfection — 185; On show before mortals and angels — 186;
Verses 10-11. Struck dumb — 187; Verse 12. Salutary correction — 187; Experienced
weakness leads to humility — 188; Only death is certain — 190; Verse 13. Weeping for the
distant prospect — 190; No security of tenure — 191; Verse 14. The goal of true being —
192

Remon Ore ee eee ceo a es ee eee ee ee

Persecution, overt and insidious — 194; Verses 2-3. Waiting for the Lord — 196; Verse 4.
Out of the mud — 197; A hymn of praise, but for our benefit, not God’s — 199; Christ’s
voice in the song of his members — 200; Leaders and followers — 201; Verse 5. Steer clear
of the broad road — 202; Fanatical addiction — 203; Verse 6. There are better shows in
God’s Church — 204; Verse 7. The course of love — 207; Sacrifice, old and new — 207;
Verse 8. The mark of Cain — 208; Verse 9. Christ’s obedience — 210; Verse 10. The
mouth speaks the heart’s thoughts. The repentant thief — 210; Neither fear nor falsehood
— 211; Verse 11. Speaking the truth under threat — 212; Christ is truth and salvation —
 213; Mercy now, justice later — 213; Verses 12-13. The near mercy — 214; The cure for
spiritual blindness — 215; Small sins are very numerous — 216; Verses 13-14. Hearty
incomprehension — 216; Verse 15. Seeking Christ’s soul/life — 217; The place for
followers is behind the Lord — 217; Verses 16-17. Open malevolence and false flattery —
218; Verse 18. God’s care for his poor — 220; The prayer of one single poor man, Christ
and his members — 221

Exposition of Psalm40s 2160655 & ale % unde) bee eet eee 224
Christ, leader of martyrs — 224; Verse 2. Christ the poor man — 226; Christ, divine and
human, rich and poor— 226; Verse 3. Eternal life and temporal help are both God’s gift —
227; The devil revises his tactics — 228; Verse 4. The uncomfortable bed — 230; Verse 5.
Confession of sin—Christ’s words? — 231; Verse 6. Already expounded — 232; Verse 7.
Spies within who spread slander abroad — 232; What counts is the intention behind the
words — 233; Verse 9. Eve is created from Adam’s sleep — 234; Verse 10. How could
Jesus have trusted Judas? — 235; Verse 11. The green wood did not burn — 236; Verse 12.
The killers’ glee was premature — 237; Verses 13-14. The Christian case against the
pagans is proved from the Jewish scriptures — 237

Exposition of Psalm4 1 2000 cet face ta eas: Gee heer ee ee pe he

Introduction: longing on both sides — 239; Verse 1. Understanding offered to the “chil-
dren of Korah” — 240; Verse 2. Deer kill snakes, and then feel thirstier — 241; Kindly
arrangements among deer — 242; Verse 3. The longing is intensified by waiting — 242;
Verse 4. A diet of tears — 243; Where is your God? The search through creatures and in
oneself — 244; Verse 5. The soul is poured out above itself — 245; In the admirable taber-
nacle he catches the sound of another festival — 246; Verse 6. Subsequent sadness — 248;
Verse 7. Hope and salvation — 249; Turn away from yourself — 249; Verse 8. The human
heart is a great deep — 251; The depth of God’s judgments — 252; Waves and breakers —
253; Verse 9. Gather the word while you can — 253; Verses 9-10. The inner prayer: “Why
have you forgotten me?” — 254; Verses 10-11. Even my bones are broken — 254; Verses
11-12. Where is your God? — 255

Exposition of Psalimca 2.5 nie) 0s een gece Cee re en 256

The song of Christ’s body — 256; A common lot for all, but different desires — 256; Verse
2. The cause of your sorrow — 257; Verse 3. Light and truth; the mountain and the tent —
258; Verse 4. God is praised with both lyre and psaltery — 259; Verse 5. The higher part of
the mind converses with its soul — 261; You cannot be wholly free from sin — 262;
Fasting, almsgiving and prayer — 263

Exposition On Psalined ai. 2. tutian, wokauevns soataniss Sale aR Ae eee 265

Verse 1. Why God’s favor seems to be withdrawn — 265; Verses 2-3. Contrast: then and
now — 266; Verse 4. Strength comes from God’s presence — 267; Verse 5. God
yesterday, tomorrow and today — 268; Verses 6-7. Hope for the future too — 268; Verse 8.
Future salvation is as sure as though already past — 269; Verse 9. Definitely a future pros-
pect — 270; Verses 10-11. Present failure — 270; Verses 12-13. Disaster — 271; Verses
 14-15. The example of the cross — 271; Verses 16-17. Disinterested love: further under-
standing — 272; Verses 18-20. The hard way — 274; Verses 21-22. God knows our hearts,
though we may not — 275; Verse 23. Arise, Lord! — 277; Verses 24-25. Ultimate humilia-
tion — 277; Another interpretation: those who fail — 278; Verse 26. Unmerited help —
279

Risreine aie Pesta ee, cee re yee ed me i sete oe ed

Verse 1. Childish mockery of a bald man — 280; The world has changed, and so have we
— 281; The Word weds the Church; the Bridegroom’s beauty — 282; Verse 2. The Father
speaks — 284; Verse 3. The Bridegroom brings grace — 286; An alternative interpreta-
tion: the psalmist has spoken throughout — 288; Verse 4. The sword of division — 289;
The sacredness of the thigh — 291; Verse 5. Gentleness and power — 292; Verse 6.
Christ's piercing shafts — 293; Verse 7. The straight ruler — 294; Verse 8. Attend to your
sins before God does — 295; God’s anointing of God — 296; Jacob’s anointed stone and
Jacob's ladder — 297; Verse 9. The scent of Christ — 299; Verse 10. The apostles’ daugh-
ters — 300; The queen’s apparel — 302; Verse 11. The admonition to the bride — 302;
Verse 12. Her beauty is the king’s gift — 304; Verse 13. The homage of the Gentiles and of
the rich — 304; Verses 14-15. Inner beauty — 306; Verse 16. The joyful entry of the
virgins — 307; Verse 17. Sons to take the place of fathers for the Church — 307; Verse 18.
The city of God — 308

SERIMAR EEE CMNNN CEN Ae er nn ears Se AA ait See adwe a

Verse |. Christ’s cross unlocks mysteries — 310; Verse 2. Insecure refuges, and the worst
tribulations — 311; The remedy — 313; Verse 3. Christ stills the storm — 314; The moun-
tains move — 314; Verse 4. The apostles raise a storm — 315; Verse 5. The river of the
Holy Spirit — 316; Verse 6. Divine indwelling — 317; Verse 7. The rain of salvation —
317; Verse 8. God undertakes to support us — 319; Verse 9. The stone that grew into a
mountain — 319; Verse 10. Banishment of war, and of weapons — 321; Verse 11. Be still
and see — 322; Christ’s triumph among both Gentiles and Jews — 323

PRO FAL ees Ge ay See ee ee de

One truth, varied expressions — 324; Verse 1. The children of Korah — 324; Verse 2. The
joy of the Gentiles — 326; Verse 3. King of the Jews, and of all the earth — 326; Verse 4.
Worldwide sovereignty? — 327; Verse 5. Jacob and Esau — 328; Verse 6. Joy at Christ’s
ascension — 329; Verse 7. Christ is God from eternity — 330; Verse 8. The universal God
— 330; Verse 9. The Lord’s enthronement in the souls of the just — 331; Verse 10. Abra-
ham’s progeny — 332; The centurion — 333; The high and mighty — 334

ER POMUE CE ESI Sd OI eo oe hs GS kb mee a Hae

Verse 1. The second day of creation: the Church — 335; Verse 2. The city and the mountain
— 336; Verse 3. The “companions of the north” join with Zion — 337; Verse 4. Sheer
grace — 339; Verses 5-7. The King and the kings — 340; Verse 8. The destruction of the
proud ships — 341; Verse 9. The Church contemplates prophecies fulfilled — 342; Verse
10. A mixed crowd in the Church — 343; How many will be saved? — 344; Verse 11. God
 is praised not ina sect, but worldwide — 345; Verse 12. The discerning winnoweér — 346;
Verses 13-14. The strength of charity — 347; Verse 15. This is our God — 348

Exposition Tot Psalm’ 485. ss vs, ohie.os iol ecm ee ame ee

Introduction: Trying to bend God to our perverse desires — 350; Verse 2. Two ways of
listening, two ways of dwelling — 351; Verse 3. Rich and poor listeners — 352; Verses
4-5. Practicing what we preach — 354; Verse 6. The serpent at our heels — 356; Verses
7-8. Reliance on Christ, our brother — 357; Verses 8-9. Making a good investment — 358;
Verses 9-10. Reversal of fortunes after this life — 359; Verse Il. Death and eternal life —
360; Prudent use of riches — 361; Who are the strangers? — 362; Verse 12. The dead are
not helped by feasts at their tombs — 364; Verses 13-14. Loss of insight, and hypocrisy —
365

Exposition 2 of Psalm AS oo siciaen cntetlonroe spat. Aiaa elSukceloni egal SSN aide
Verse 14, continued. Yesterday’s conclusion recalled — 367; Verse 15. Shepherded by
death — 368; Night and daybreak, winter and summer, trees and grass — 369; Verse 16.
“As if...” — 372; Verse 17. Do not lose your nerve — 373; Verses 17-18. Dying in style
— 374; Verse 19. Teeth on edge — 375; Mercenary praise — 376; Verses 20-21. Wicked
and righteous lines of descent — 378 :

Exposition of Psaltw49. 1. vee oes Guan aa eae tea eae eee

Verse |. Christ calls — 380; The truly deified and the false gods — 380; Christ’s universal
lordship — 382; Verse 2. “Beginning from Jerusalem” — 383; Verse 3. Hidden and silent
now, Christ will be manifest later as judge — 385; The fire of judgment — 386; Will there
be enough thrones? — 388; Verse 4. “Heaven” is Christ’s partner as he sorts out the earth
— 391; Verse 5. Mercy is better than sacrifices — 393; Verse 6. Infallible discernment —
393; Verse 7. He is God, and your God — 394; Verse 8. Genuine sacrifice — 395; Verse 9.
The old sacrifices are superseded — 396; Verse 10. All animals, wild and tame, are God’s
— 396; Verse 11. God’s knowledge of creatures — 397; Verses 12-13. God is not hungry
— 398; Verse 14. The sacrifice of praise — 399; Verse 15. Longing for heaven is painful
— 400; Verse 16. Preachers, beware! — 401; Verses 17-18. Contempt for God’s words;
complicity in sin — 403; Verse 19. More collusion with evildoing — 403; Verse 20.
Further charges: slandering a brother and scandalizing the weak — 404; Verse 21. You
should be like God; do not try to make him like you — 405; Verse 22. The lion — 406;
Verse 23. Who offers the sacrifice of praise? — 407; Discovering Christ as God’s salvation
— 408

Exposition Of Pealimps0) 29 vgiek ee subse nity en “ene en a

Introduction: pray for the absentees — 410; Verses 1-2. David’s adultery — 411; The pros-
pect of pardon — 413; Verse 3. Mercy for witting and unwitting transgressions — 414;
Verse 4. Mercy does not nullify justice — 414; Verse 5. Nathan’s parable; the adulteress
and Christ — 415; Verse 6. The sinless Christ, himself judged, alone judges justly — 416;
Verse 7. Original sin — 418; Verse 8. Repentance entails a risk — 419; Verse 9. Hyssop —
420; Verse 10. The humility of one who listens — 421; Verse 11. “Look away from my
sins” — 422; Verse 12. David's patience in adversity — 423; Verses 13-14. The Holy
Spirit — 424; Verse 15. An ex-sinner teaches sinners — 425; Verse 16. The prospect of
ultimate incorruptibility — 426; Verses 17-19. Praise and true sacrifice — 427; Verse 20.
Zion the lookout post, Jerusalem the vision of peace — 428; Verse 21. God’s fire — 428;
Concluding exhortations on family discipline — 429
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 Exposition 1 of Psalm 33

First Sermon

Introduction: knock, and it shall be opened to you

1. There seems to be nothing in the text of this psalm that is obscure or needs
explanation, but its title calls for careful attention and invites us to knock on its
door. And since in this psalm we find it written that anyone who hopes in the
Lord is blessed, let us all hope that when we knock he will open to us.! He would
not have exhorted us to knock unless he were willing to open the door to us when
we do. It sometimes happens that someone who had decided to keep his door
shut is nevertheless so wearied by repeated knocking that he changes his mind,
gets up, and opens, so that he may not have to put up with the persistent caller any
longer;? have we then not much better reason to hope that God will quickly open
to us, when he himself has commanded, Knock, and the door will be opened to
you (Mt 7:7)? With all the earnestness of my heart that is what I am doing now,
knocking at the door of the Lord God, asking him graciously to reveal this
mystery to us; and I beg you too, beloved, to join me in knocking, with the inten-
tion of listening and in a spirit of humble readiness to pray for me; for we must
admit that it is a deep and vast mystery we have here.

He begins to expound the title: David before Abimelech/Achis

2. This is how the title reads: A psalm of David, when he altered his behavior
in the presence of Abimelech, and forsook him, and went away. We need to look
through what scripture relates about David’s exploits to find out when this
happened, as we did when examining the title of another psalm, when David was
in flight from the face of Abessalon, his son (Ps 3:1). In that connection we read
in the Books of Kings* how David was on the run from his son Abessalon. This is
something that really happened, and what happened has been written down; so
that although the title of that psalm was assigned very mysteriously, it was, all
the same, derived from an event that really occurred.°

1. See Mt 7:7-8.
Qesce Ke L8:
3. Caritas vestra.
4. Second Book of Samuel in our usage. “Abessalon” is the reading of the best manuscripts.
5. See 2 Sm 15:14.

13
14 Exposition I of Psalm 33

I think the position is the same with our present psalm, and that we shall find
this episode, that David altered his behavior in the presence of Abimelech, and
forsook him, and went away, also recorded in the Books of Kings,° where every-
thing about David’s exploits is told. We do not find this story precisely, but we
do find an event from which the story seems to be derived. Scripture records that
when David was fleeing from his persecutor, Saul, he took refuge with Achis,
King of Gath;’ this man was king of a territory bordering on that of the Judeans.
There David lay low to escape Saul’s hostility. But the memory of David’s
triumph was still fresh, the triumph that had earned him hatred for the good he
had done in killing Goliath, and winning both honor and safety for kingdom and
king in a single fight.’ While Goliath was uttering his taunts Saul had seethed
with rage, but as soon as Goliath had been overthrown Saul’s attitude changed
into enmity for the man whose hand had slain his foe, and he became jealous of
David’s reputation. This was more especially the case because the people were
ecstatic with joy, and the women danced and sang of David’s prowess, crying
that Saul had slain thousands, but David tens of thousands.’ As aresult Saul was
very upset, because this boy was beginning to acquire higher renown than
himself through one fight, and was being exalted above the king in the praises
sung by all. As Saul fell prey to sickly malice and worldly pride, he began to be
jealous of David and to hound him. This was when David took refuge with the
King of Gath, as I have said. This king’s name was Achis.
But the attendants of Achis pointed out to him that the fugitive he was shel-
tering could be none other than the man who had won great glory among the
Judeans. They said to him, /sn’t this David, the man to whom the chorus of Isra-
elite women sang, “Saul has slain thousands, and David tens of thousands” ? (1
Sm 21:11). Now if that reputation had begun to arouse Saul to jealous hatred, did
not David have reason to fear that this other king, with whom he had sought
refuge, might be minded to treat him badly? David could be an enemy on his
very doorstep if he let him live, or so the king might think. So scripture tells us,
David was afraid of him as well, and altered his behavior infront of them all,
affecting madness. He drummed on the doors into the city and was carried in his
own hands, and fell down outside on the threshold, as saliva dribbled down his
beard. The king in whose country he was hiding saw him and demanded of his
attendants, What have you brought this madman to me for? Do you think I want
him in my house? (1 Sm 21:12-15). The king threw him out and banished him,
and so David departed unharmed, thanks to this feigned insanity.

6. Samuel.
Jasee Loma 0llS:
8. See Sm 17:41-54.
9. See 1 Sm 1827.
 Exposition | of Psalm 33 15

It is because of the pretended insanity that the title of our psalm seems to
relate to this story: A psalm of David, when he altered his behavior in the pres-
ence of Abimelech, and forsook him, and went away. In the story it was Achis,
not Abimelech, but the only disagreement is in the name, for the event has been
described in the psalm’s title in almost the same words as in the Book of Kings.
This fact should prompt us to seek more carefully the mysterious reason" for the
change of name. Clearly it has been changed; but not without reason. It signifies
something. The episode was recalled, yet the name was altered, and there must
be some reason for this.

Why has the name been changed?

3. The profundity of these mysteries must be obvious to you, brothers and

sisters. If it was no mystery that Goliath was killed by a mere boy, then neither
was it a mystery that David altered his bearing, and feigned madness, and
drummed on the door, and fell down at the city gates and on the threshold, and
that saliva trickled down his beard. How is it possible that all this had no signifi-
cance? The apostle tells us plainly, All these things happened to them, but with
symbolic import, for they are written down as a rebuke to us, upon whom the
climax of the ages has come (1 Cor 10:11). Did the manna signify nothing, the
manna of which the apostle said, They ate spiritual food (1 Cor 10:3)? What of
the parting of the sea, and the leading of the people safely through it so that they
might escape from Pharaoh’s persecution—did that mean nothing, when the
apostle declares, Jwould not have you ignorant, brothers and sisters, that all our
ancestors walked under the cloud, and all crossed the sea, and all were through
Moses baptized in cloud and sea (1 Cor 10:1-2)? What about the rock that was
struck, so that water gushed out—is that void of significance, in view of the
apostle’s statement that the rock was Christ (1 Cor 10:4)? Do all these things,
historical events as they were, have no further meaning? Finally, think of Abra-
ham’s two sons, born in the natural way, yet called by the apostle figures of the
two covenants, old and new. These are two covenants, allegorically prefigured,
he says (Gal 4:24). If all these signify nothing, in spite of the statement backed by
apostolic authority that they happened as mysterious types of what was to come,
then we are right to think that what I read to you just now about David from the
Book of Kings had no further meaning either. Nor, consequently, is there any
significance in the change of name when the psalm says, Jn the presence of
Abimelech.

10. Sacramentum.
16 Exposition 1 of Psalm 33

Christ cut down the devil by humility

Y

4. Let me have your attention now, please. Everything that I have been saying
has been said as from a knocking hand; the door has not been opened yet. I was
knocking while I said it, you were knocking as you listened; now let us all perse-
vere in knocking and praying that the Lord may open to us. We have an interpre-
tation of the Hebrew names, for there has been no lack of learned men!! to
translate these names from Hebrew into Greek, and thence into Latin. If we look
up these names we find that Abimelech means “My father’s kingdom” and
Achis “How can this be?” Let us consider the names carefully, for perhaps the
door is beginning to open for us. If you ask, “What does Achis mean?” you are
told it means, “How can this be?” But “How can this be” is what a person says
who is bewildered, and cannot understand. Abimelech means “my father’s
kingdom,” and David means “strong of hand.” David represented Christ, as
Goliath represented the devil, and when David laid Goliath low he prefigured
Christ, who crushed the devil. But what is Christ, who cut down the devil? He is
humility, the humility that slew pride. So when I say, “Christ,” my brothers and
sisters, Iam drawing attention most especially to his humility. It was by humility
that he opened a way for us. We had wandered far from God by pride, and could
not find our way back except through humility; yet we had no model of humility
to hold before us and imitate. The whole mortal race of humans had swollen with
pride. Even if someone of humble spirit did emerge, such as the prophets and
patriarchs, humankind disdained to imitate humble humans. To overcome their
unwillingness to do so, God himself became humble, so that at any rate human
pride would not disdain to follow in the footsteps of God.

Melchizedek’s sacrifice

5. As you know, the Jews of old offered sacrifices proper to the order of
Aaron, using animals as victims. This was a mysterious prophetic sign. The
sacrifice of the Lord’s body and blood had not yet been offered; the faithful
know about this, as do all who have read the gospel, and this sacrifice is now
widespread throughout the world. Keep both kinds of sacrifice before your
mind’s eye, the one after the order of Aaron, the other after the order of
Melchizedek; for scripture says, The Lord has sworn, and will not revoke it: you
are a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek (Ps 109(110):4). Now of
whom is this said, You are a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek? Of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Who was Melchizedek? He was King of Salem. Salem
was the ancient city, but the city in the same place in later days was called Jeru-
salem, according to the experts. So before ever the Jews established their

11. Such as Jerome.

 Exposition 1 of Psalm 33 17

kingdom the priest Melchizedek was there, and Genesis describes him as a priest
of God Most High.'* On the occasion when Abraham delivered Lot from the
power of his enemies, Melchizedek met him. Abraham had struck down Lot’s
captors and set his kinsman free, and it was after this rescue that Melchizedek
came out to meet him. So great was Melchizedek that he could confer a blessing
on Abraham. He set forth bread and wine, and blessed Abraham; and Abraham
gave him tithes. Consider what he set forth, and who the man was to whom he
gave his blessing. Then, later on, scripture says to someone, You are a priest for
ever, after the order of Melchizedek. David said this in spirit'* long after Abra-
ham’s day, yet Melchizedek was Abraham’s contemporary. To whom, then,
does the prophecy refer, you are a priest for ever, after the order of
Melchizedek? To whom else, but the one whose sacrifice is known to you?

The Word makes himself assimilable to mortals

6. The sacrifice of Aaron was therefore superseded, and the sacrifice

according to the order of Melchizedek came into being. To this end, someone
altered his behavior. Who is this someone? Let him not be just “someone,” for
our Lord Jesus Christ is known to us.'* He willed us to find salvation in his body
and blood. But how could he make his body and blood available to us? Through
his humility; for if he had not been humble, he could not have been eaten and
drunk. Contemplate his lofty divinity: in the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God; he was God (Jn 1:1). That is eternal food. The angels eat it,
the celestial powers eat it, the blessed spirits eat it, and in eating they are totally
satisfied, yet this food that fills them and gives them joy remains undiminished.
What human being could aspire to that food? Where could a human heart be
found fit to eat food like that?
It was necessary for that banquet to be converted into milk if it was to become
available to little ones. But how does food become milk? How can food be
turned into milk, except by being passed through flesh? This is what a mother
does. What the mother eats the baby eats too, but since the baby is unable to
digest bread, the mother turns the bread into her own flesh, and through the
humility of the breast and its supply of milk she feeds her baby with the same
bread. How then does the Wisdom of God feed us with that supernal bread? The
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (Jn 1:14). Think of the humility of it:
humans have eaten the bread of angels, as scripture says: He gave them bread
from heaven; mortals ate the bread of angels (Ps 77(78):24-25). The eternal

12. See Gn 14:18.

13. Or “in the Spirit.”
14. A variant in punctuation, supported by some witnesses, translates as “Who is this someone? A
Someone well known, for our Lord Jesus Christ is known to us.”
18 Exposition 1 of Psalm 33

Word on whom the angels feed, the Word who is equal to the Father, this Word
human beings have eaten. He who, being in the form of God, deemed it no
robbery to be God’s equal, he on whom the angels feed to their total satisfaction,
emptied himself and took on the form of a slave. Bearing the human likeness,
sharing the human lot, he humbled himself and was made obedient to the point of
death, even death on across (Phil 2:6-8), so that from the cross the Lord’s flesh
and blood might be delivered to us today as the new sacrifice. This was because
he altered his behavior in the presence of Abimelech, that is, in the presence of
“his father’s kingdom,” for “my father’s kingdom” wag the kingdom of the Jews.
In what sense could that be called his father’s kingdom? In that it was David’s
kingdom, Abraham’s kingdom. The kingdom of God the Father is the Church,
rather than the Jewish people; but with regard to Christ’s human descent the
people of Israel was “his father’s kingdom.” It was said of him, The Lord God
will give him the throne of his father, David (Lk 1:32). This proves that
according to carnal descent David was the father of our Lord, though in his
divinity Christ was not David’s son but David’s Lord. The Jews were familiar
with Christ in the flesh, but had no knowledge of his divinity. Accordingly he put
to them the question, What do you think of Christ? Whose son is he? They
replied, “David’s.” Jesus said to them, Then how is it that David in spirit calls
him “Lord,” saying, The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I
make your enemies into your footstool” ? IfDavid in the spirit calls him “Lord,”
how can he be David’s son? And they had no answer to give him (Mt 22:42-46),
because all they knew of Christ was what they could see in him with their eyes,
not what was to be understood with the heart. If only they had had eyes within as
they had eyes without, they would have recognized David’s son from what they
saw outwardly, but from what they understood inwardly they would have recog-
nized him as David’s Lord.

He turned from the Jews to the Gentiles

7. So he altered his behavior in the presence of Abimelech. What does in the

presence of Abimelech mean? In the presence of his father’s kingdom. And what
does that mean? In the presence of the Jews. And heforsook him and went away.
Whom did he forsake? He forsook the Jewish people, and went away. Look for
Christ today among the Jews, and you do not find him. Why did he forsake them
and go away? Because although he altered his behavior they clung to the old
sacrifice after the order of Aaron, and did not grasp the sacrifice according to the
order of Melchizedek; so they lost Christ, and the Gentiles came to possess him,
even though he had not previously sent any preachers to them. He had sent
plenty of preachers to the Israelites: David himself, and Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, Isaiah, Jeremiah and the other prophets. All these he had sent, but in spite
 Exposition 1 of Psalm 33 19

of it few had come to know him, or at any rate few in comparison with those who
were lost, for they were many. We read of thousands. Scripture says, A remnant
shall be saved (Rom 9:27);'> but if you look for Christians today among the
circumcised, you find none. Earlier in the Christian era, not so long ago, there
were many thousands of Christians from the circumcised, but if you look for
them now you will not find them; and it is with good reason that you find none,
for Christ altered his behavior in the presence of Abimelech, and forsook them
and went away.
But it was in the presence of Achis that David altered his behavior, and
forsook him and went away. The names were changed deliberately, to alert us to
the mystery this change signified. Otherwise we might have thought that what
the psalm recalled and related was nothing more than the event recounted in the
Books of Kings; then we would not have sought out any prefiguration of future
happenings, but read it simply as the story of past events. But the names are
changed, and what does this tell you? That there is something still closed here.
Knock then. Do not remain stuck in the letter, for the letter is death-dealing,'° but
desire the spiritual meaning, for the Spirit gives life, and spiritual understanding
saves the believer.

The scandal of the eucharist

8. Listen now, brothers and sisters, to how he forsook King Achis. I have told
you that the name Achis means “How can this be?” Now recall the occasion in
the gospel when our Lord Jesus Christ was speaking about his body, and said,
Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will not have life in you, for my
flesh really is food, and my blood really is drink (Jn 6:54.56). The disciples who
were following him were appalled, and shuddered at what he said. They did not
understand it, and thought the Lord was making some dreadful proposal: that
they were to eat that flesh of his that they could see, and drink the blood. They
could not bear it, and it was as though they were asking, “How can this be?”
Their mistake, their ignorance, their stupidity, were prefigured in King Achis,
for when someone asks, “How can this be?” it indicates a lack of understanding,
and where there is no understanding, there is the darkness of ignorance. So igno-
rance, like King Achis, held sway over them; over them the kingdom of error
held sway. But Christ went on, saying, Unless you eat my flesh and drink my
blood... .. He had “altered his behavior,” and so the notion of giving his flesh to
people to eat, and his blood to drink, seemed to them dementia, insanity. David
likewise seemed insane to Achis, who protested, “You have brought a madman
into my house.” Indeed, does it not sound like insanity to say, “Eat my flesh,

15. See Is 10:22.

16. See 2 Cor 3:6.
20 Exposition I of Psalm 33

drink my blood’’? Yet here is Christ saying, Unless you eat my flesh and drink my
blood, you will not have life in you. He seems to be mad. But it is t6’King Achis
that he seems to be mad, that is, to the stupid and ignorant. Accordingly he
forsakes them and goes away; understanding has fled from their hearts, so that
they cannot comprehend him. What had they to say? “How can this be?” which
is what the name Achis means. They objected, “How can this man give us his
flesh to eat?” (Jn 6:53). They thought the Lord was a madman, that he did not
know what he was saying, that he was raving. But he knew very well what he was
saying by this alteration in his behavior; by making use of apparent madness and
insanity he was proclaiming his sacraments, so he affected madness, and
drummed on the doors into the city.

The tender affection of Christ

9. We must inquire next the meaning of the phrases, “he affected,” and “he
drummed on the doors into the city.” Moreover it was not without some good
reason that scripture said, He fell down outside on the threshold, and saliva
trickled down his beard. No, it was by no means without good reason. A some-
what long-winded explanation will not seem burdensome to us if it rewards us
with insight. Now you are aware, brothers and sisters, that the Jews, in whose
presence he altered his behavior, whom he forsook when he went away, are
having a holiday today.'’ They have lost Christ; he has left them and gone away,
so their holiday is an empty one. But we enjoy a fruitful holiday, with the oppor-
tunity to understand Christ who left them and came to us. Nothing in all this is
without purpose, even in David’s crazy behavior, where he is said to have
affected madness, and drummed on the doors into the city; he was carried in his
own hands, and fell down outside on the threshold, and saliva dribbled down his
beard. We are told that he affected madness; what does affected suggest? He had
affection. But what is it to have affection, or be affectionate? He had compassion
on our infirmities; that was why he willed to assume that very flesh in which he
could slay death. He had compassion on us; it is saying that he had tender affec-
tion for us. The apostle rebukes people who are hard-hearted and without affec-
tion. Censuring some people of this type, he says they are without affection,
devoid of mercy (Rom 1:31). Where there is affection, there will mercy be.
Where did we find mercy? In him who was merciful to us from above. If he had
been unwilling to empty himself, and had chosen rather to remain where he
is—eternal, and equal to the Father—we would have remained in eternal death:
but in order to free us from that eternal death into which the sin of pride had
plunged us, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the

17. The sermon was preached on a Saturday, as is clear from its closing words.
 _ Exposition 1 ofPsalm 33 21

death of the cross. This is where his affection for us took him, as far as dying on
the cross.

The drum

Now when someone is crucified, he is stretched out on a wooden instrument.

But when you want to make a drum, you stretch out flesh—skin, that is—over a
wooden frame. This is why scripture has it that he drummed; it means that he was
crucified, he was stretched out on a wooden frame. He affected: that is, he felt
affectionate tenderness for us, even to the point of laying down his life for his
sheep.'* And he drummed. How? At the doors into the city. This door is the one
that is opened to us so that we may believe in God. We had closed our doors
against Christ, and opened them to the devil; our hearts were closed against
eternal life. But because we humans had our hearts shut against eternal life and
could not see that Word on whom the angels gaze, our Lord God himself opened
the hearts of mortals; he drummed on the doors of the city.

Eucharist and humility

10. And he was carried in his own hands. How on earth are we to understand
this, my brothers and sisters, how is it humanly possible? How can someone be
carried in his own hands? A person can be carried in the hands of others, but not
in his own. Well, we have no way of knowing what it literally means in David’s
case; but we can make sense of it with regard to Christ. Christ was being carried
in his own hands when he- handed over his body, saying, This is my body (Mt
26:26); for he was holding that very body in his hands as he spoke. Such is the
humility of our Lord Jesus Christ, and this humility is what he recommends to us
most strongly. He exhorts us to practice it too, brothers and sisters, so that by
imitating his humility we may have life. By holding fast to Christ’s humility we
can strike down Goliath and conquer our pride. He fell down outside on the
threshold. What does that signify, he fell down? He threw himself down into
humility. But why on the threshold? At the place where we make our entrance
into faith, that entrance that admits us to salvation. There is no way in except
through this preliminary faith, as the Song of Songs declares, You will come and
pass through, beginning from faith (Sg 4:8, LXX). We too shall come, and see
him face to face, as scripture promises: Dearly beloved, we are children of God
already, but what we shall be has not yet appeared. We know that when he
appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is (1 Jn 3:2). When
shall we see him? When all these other things have passed away. Listen to a
similar testimony from the apostle Paul: Now we see a tantalizing reflection in a

18. See Jn 10:15.

22 Exposition 1 of Psalm 33

mirror, but then face to face (1 Cor 13:12). Until we come to see the Word face to
face, as the angels see him, we still need the threshold where the Lord fell down,
humbling himself even to death.

Childlike words concealing strength

11. What significance is there in the saliva dribbled down his beard? This is
part of the way in which he altered his behavior in the presence of Abimelech (or
Achis); and then he forsook him and went away. He forsook those who did not
understand. And to whom did he go? To the Gentiles. Let us then try to under-
stand what they found incomprehensible. Saliva dribbled down David’s beard;
what is saliva? It represents the babbling of infants, for babies do plenty of drib-
bling. And were these words not like baby-talk: “Eat my flesh, drink my blood”?
Yet these infantile words masked virile strength, for virile strength’? is symbol-
ized by the beard. So then, what else does saliva dribbling down his beard repre-
sent, but the weak words that concealed his strength?

Conclusion

I think you have understood the title of this psalm now, holy brethren.”° If we
were to attempt to explain the psalm itself now, there would be a risk that what
you have heard might slip your memories. But tomorrow is Sunday, when we
Owe you a sermon, so let us put the rest off till then, so that you may be ready to
listen to the text of the psalm with fresh enjoyment. We shall have dealt with the
title, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

19. Virtus.
20. Sanctitas vestra.
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 33

Second Sermon

Introduction: yesterday's promise is to be kept today

1. Those of you who were here yesterday will no doubt remember that we
made you a promise; it is time now to keep it in the name of the Lord. He inspired
us to promise, and he will enable us to pay our debt, though we remain always in
debt to charity. Charity is the kind of thing that is always being paid out, yet
always still owing, as the apostle suggests: Be in no one’s debt, apart from owing
love to each other (Rom 13:8). Yesterday we explained the title of this psalm,
and the discussion detained us for rather a long time; so we therefore deferred the
explanation of the text. So now let us listen to what the Holy Spirit has said
through the mouth of the holy prophet in the rest of the psalm, and see if it fits in
with the title we dealt with yesterday. There are some of you who were not here
yesterday but may feel they have a right to know what we discussed then; but if
we took all that time over again to recall it, we would sell short the others among
you, to whom we are still in debt. We will summarize it briefly, therefore, in the
hope that those who are present today but were absent yesterday may make the
best sense of it they can. If anything in this summary suggests to them that they
ought to explore some point more thoroughly, they will find me ready to listen in
Christ’s name at other times, so that we may not be further delayed now.

Verse 1. Recapitulation of yesterday’s findings

2. We explained that the Book of Kings! records how David, while on the run
from Saul, wanted to lie low in the territory of a king of Gath, named Achis. But
his fame had reached even here, and David was afraid that the king of the place
might out of spite contrive to do him harm, so he feigned insanity and, as we
read, acted as though he was crazy: he altered his behavior, and affected
madness. He drummed on the doors into the city and was carried in his own
hands, and fell down outside on the threshold. And King Achis demanded,
“What have you brought this madman to me for? Do you think I want him in my
house?” (1 Sm 21:12-15). So David left him, so that the prophecy written here in
our psalm might be fulfilled: he altered his behavior, and forsook him and went

1. 1 Samuel in our usage.

eS
24 Exposition 2 of Psalm 33

away. But the person he forsook was Achis, whereas what we find in the title of
the psalm is, he altered his behavior in the presence of Abimelech, and forsook
him and went away. I told you that the name was changed to indicate that there is
some mystery? here. If the title of the psalm had taken over the original name
unchanged, it might have seemed that we had only a piece of narrative, not a
mysterious prophecy. In fact both names have profoundly mysterious signifi-
cance. Achis is interpreted to mean, “How can this be?” Abimelech means, “My
father’s kingdom.” The phrase, “How can this be?” signifies ignorance; it looks
like the question of someone who is bewildered and does'not understand. In the
interpretation of the name Abimelech we find the kingdom of the Jews, for from
Christ’s standpoint this kingdom could be called, “My father’s kingdom,” since
according to carnal descent David was the ancestor of Christ, and David’s sover-
eignty was over the Jewish people. It was, therefore, in the presence of his
father’s kingdom that Christ altered his behavior, and forsook him and went
away, because there among the Jews the sacrifice according to the order of
Aaron’s priesthood persisted, while Christ later instituted that sacrifice
according to the order of Melchizedek in which his own body and blood are
offered. He thus altered his appearance and behavior in respect of the priesthood,
and abandoned the Jewish people, and came to the Gentiles.
In the light of this, what is the meaning of he affected? It means he was full of
affection. What could ever be as full of affection as is the mercy of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who in consideration of our infirmity accepted temporal death
amid such violence and degradation, to free us from everlasting death? He
drummed because a drum can be made only by stretching a skin across a wooden
frame, so David’s drumming was a prediction that Christ was to be crucified. He
drummed on the doors into the city; and what else are the doors into the city but
our hearts, which we had shut against Christ? But from the drum of his cross he
opened the hearts of us mortals. He was carried in his own hands; how was this
possible? Because when he entrusted to us his very body and blood, he took into
his hands what the faithful know about,’ and so in a sense he was carrying
himself when he said, This is my body. Scripture then relates that David fell down
outside on the threshold, which signifies that Christ humbled himself by
descending even to that doorway which is our entrance into faith. The beginning
of faith is like a doorway which the Church must pass through on the way to
vision, for while we go on believing what we do not see we are being made ready
to enjoy what we believe, once we come to see God face to face.

2. Sacramentum.
3. A reference to the “Discipline of the Secret,” whereby some of the most sacred aspects of the
Christian faith were concealed from pagans and catechumens. Its existence is attested from the
second century, and it had special point during times of persecution. By Augustine’s day it was
obsolescent, though he sometimes makes a formal gesture toward it, as here; by the sixth
century it had virtually disappeared.
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 33 25

So much for the title of the psalm. We have summarized its contents briefly;
now let us hear what this affectionate drummer at the door of the city has to say.

Verse 2. It takes humility to bless the Lord all the time

3. I will bless the Lord, at all times; his praise shall be in my mouth always.
Christ says this, so let every Christian say it too, because each Christian is part of
Christ’s body, and Christ is human to the end that every Christian who says, /
will bless the Lord, may be an angel.* When are you to bless the Lord? When he
showers blessings on you? When earthly goods are plentiful? When you have a
plethora of grain, oil, wine, gold, silver, slaves, livestock; while your mortal
body remains healthy, uninjured and free from disease; while everything that is
born on your estate is growing well, and nothing is snatched away by untimely
death; while every kind of happiness floods your home, and you have all you
want in profusion? Is it only then that you are to bless the Lord? No, but at all
times. So you are to bless him equally when from time to time, or because the
Lord God wishes to discipline you, these good things let you down or are taken
from you, when there are fewer births or the already-born slip away. These
things happen, and their consequence is poverty, need, hardship, disappoint-
ment and temptation. But you sang, / will bless the Lord at all times; his praise
shall be in my mouth always, so when the Lord gives you these good things, bless
him, and when he takes them away, bless him. He it is who gives, and he itis who
takes away, but he does not take himself away from anyone who blesses him.
4. Who is the person who blesses the Lord at all times? Who but the one who
is humble of heart? Our Lord taught us this humility through his body and blood,
because in handing over his body and blood to us he also handed over his
humility. This is apparent in an episode we have left out, recorded in the story of
David's feigned madness: saliva dribbled down his beard. While the lesson
from the apostle was being read, you heard about this saliva—saliva, yes, but
dribbling down a beard. “Saliva?” I heard someone say. “When did we hear
anything about that?” Just now, when the apostle was saying, The Jews demand
signs, and the Greeks seek wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified (that was
when he was drumming), to Jews a stumbling-block and to Gentiles folly; but to
those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, a Christ who is the power of God
and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than mortals, and the
weakness of God is stronger than mortals (1 Cor 1:22-25). Saliva is a symbol of
foolishness and a token of weakness. But if God’s foolishness is wiser than that

4. An unusual statement, but prompted here perhaps by the context (praising God), and
comparable to his reflections on happiness and the perfectibility of human nature in his
Exposition 3 of Psalm 32, 16. Compare also his allusion to Mt 22:30 and Mt 18:10 in section 9
below.
26 Exposition 2 of Psalm 33

of human beings, and God’s weakness stronger than that of humans, then God’s
foolishness and weakness must not offend you like saliva. They dribble down
the beard, and if you will give me your attention I will tell you why. Just as saliva
is a sign of weakness, so a beard indicates manly strength.° So Christ screened
his strength behind the weakness of his body. What showed was a weakness like
saliva, but divine strength was concealed behind it, inner strength symbolized by
the beard.
This is how humility is enjoined on us. Be humble if you wish to bless the
Lord at all times, with his praise in your mouth always. Job blessed the Lord, but
not only when everything lay before him in abundance, making him rich and
happy, as we read—trich in cattle and servants, owner of a fine house, happy in
his children and all his possessions. All at once his whole fortune was swept
away, but he reacted as this psalm instructs us to do. The Lord gave, and the Lord
has taken away, he said. This has happened as the Lord willed: may the Lord’s
name be blessed (Jb 1:21). There you have an instance of someone blessing the
Lord at all times.

Verse 3. The Lord’s donkey ,

5. What prompts a person to bless the Lord at all times? Being humble. What
does being humble consist in? Being unwilling to be praised in yourself. Any of
us who want to be praised in ourselves are proud; but whoever is not proud is
humble. So you don’t want to be proud? All right: in order to be humble, make
the words of this psalm your own: Jn the Lord shall my soul be praised; let the
gentle® hear it and rejoice. Those who do not want to be praised in the Lord are
not gentle; they are savage, rough, arrogant and proud. The Lord wants gentle,
compliant animals for his use; so you be the Lord’s beast; be gentle, |mean. He
sits on you, he himself controls you. Do not fear that you may stumble or fall
headlong. Weakness is characteristic of you, certainly, but think who your rider
is. Donkey’s colt you may be, but you are carrying Christ. Remember how even
he approached the city mounted on the foal of a donkey, and that beast was
gentle and meek. Was it the animal that was being praised? Was the shout,
Hosanna, Son of David! Blessed is he who is coming in the name of the Lord! (Mt
21:9) addressed to the donkey? The colt was carrying him, but the rider was
being praised by those who went ahead and those who followed. Perhaps the
animal was saying, /n the Lord shall my soul be praised; let the gentle hear it and
rejoice? No, brothers and sisters, the donkey never said it, but let the race that
imitates that animal say it, if it wishes to carry its Lord.

5. Virtus.
6. Mansueti, literally “tamed.” The word is represented by “meek” in older biblical translations.
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 33 PH

Perhaps this race is angry with me for comparing it to the donkey’s colt on
which the Lord sat? Proud and arrogant folk will say, “Listen to that! He thinks
we're donkeys!” But anyone who feels like objecting should try to be the Lord’ s
donkey, and try not to be like a horse or a mule that cannot understand; for you
are familiar with another psalm that says, Do not be like a horse or a mule,
devoid of understanding (Ps 31(32):9). Horses and mules sometimes rear up
fiercely and throw their riders. They are broken in with bridle, bit and beatings,
until they learn to be submissive and carry their masters. But as for you, take care
to be meek and submissive before your mouth is bruised with a bit. Carry your
Lord. Do not hope to be praised in yourself, but let him who rides you be praised,
and say, Jn the Lord shall my soul be praised; let the gentle hear it and rejoice.
When those who are not gentle hear it, it provokes them not to joy but to anger;
and it is these same people who complain about our calling them donkeys. Let
those who are truly meek humble themselves to hear, and to become this meek
animal about whom they are hearing.

Verse 4. No jealousy among God’s lovers

6. The psalm continues, Magnify the Lord along with me. Who is the speaker,
who is encouraging us to join him in magnifying the Lord? My brothers and
sisters, every one of us who is in the body of Christ should bend his or her efforts
to encourage others to magnify the Lord with us. For whoever this member of
Christ is, he or she loves the Lord. Loves him—but how? In such a way that we
are not jealous of our fellow-lovers. With carnal love it is different. The love of a
carnally-minded person is inevitably accompanied by baneful jealousy; if he
manages to see naked a woman whom he has desired lustfully, does he want
someone else to see her too? Chastity is preserved only if the sole person who
sees her is he who has a right to, if no one does.
With the Wisdom of God it is not so. We shall see her face to face; we shall all
see her, and none of us will be jealous. She shows herself to all, and for all she is
inviolate and chaste. Her lovers are changed into her likeness; she 1s not changed
into theirs. She is Truth, she is God. You have never heard of our God being
changed, have you, brothers and sisters? Truth is nobler than all else, Truth is the
Word of God, the Wisdom of God, through whom all things were made; and God
has his lovers. One such lover invites us, Magnify the Lord along with me. Idon’t
want to be the only one magnifying the Lord, I don’t want to be his only lover, I
don’t want to embrace him all by myself. It is not as though there will be no room
for any others to put their hands, if I am embracing him. God’s Wisdom is so
wide that all souls can embrace and enjoy her. How can I make it clearer,
brothers and sisters? Should they not blush, the people who so love God as to be
jealous of others? Dissolute folk love a charioteer, and anyone who is enamored
of acharioteer or a hunter of wild animals in the arena wants the whole populace
28 Exposition 2 of Psalm 33

to share his fervor. He begs them to join him in his infatuation: Come on, love
that actor with me, or that chorus girl, or some disgraceful amusement. He
shouts to the crowd, urging them to join him in his debased love. And is a Chris-
tian too shy to shout to others in church to love the truth of God along with him?
Stir up this love in yourselves, my brothers and sisters, and shout to every one
of your friends and relatives, Magnify the Lord along with me! Let this love burn
in you. Why else are these verses of the psalm recited to you, and expounded? If
you love God, seize all your kinsfolk and drag them along to the love of God, and
all your household. If the body of Christ is dear to you,ifyou love the unity of the
Church, seize them all and bring them along to enjoy it; say to them, Magnify the
Lord with me!

Christ crucified and the Donatist schism

7. And let us exalt his name together.’ Why does it say, Let us exalt his name
together? Because it means “in unity”; many codices indeed have Magnify the
Lord along with me, and let us exalt his name in unity.’ So whether we read
together or in unity it means the same. Seize all, those you can, then; seize
them—by exhortation, by bringing them along bodily,’ by questioning and
disputing and putting sound arguments before them (though gently and with
kindness); seize them and drag them to love, so that if they magnify the Lord
they may do so to promote unity. If the Donatist sect thinks it is magnifying the
Lord, has it any reason to be offended if the whole world does so? Brothers and
sisters, it is our job to say to the Donatists, Magnify the Lord with me; and let us
exalt his name in unity. Why do you want to magnify him by amputation? He is
one, so why do you try to create two peoples for God? Why seek to dismember
the body of Christ? We hold it as certain that the drumming means that he hung
on the cross, and that while he was hanging on the cross he breathed forth his
spirit. When the men who had crucified him came and found he had already
expired, they did not break his legs, though they did break the legs of the thieves
who were still alive on their crosses, so that through the pain of it they might be
delivered from their agony by a speedy death. This was customarily done to
crucified persons. The executioner arrived, and found that the Lord had quietly
surrendered his spirit, for he had said himself, J have the power to lay down my
life (Jn 10:18). For whom did he lay it down? For his entire people, for the whole
of his body. The executioner arrived, then, and did not break Christ’s legs;
Donatus arrived, and tore Christ’s Church apart. Christ’s body is whole and

7. In idipsum.
8. In unum.
9. Portando, literally “by carrying.” Some witnesses have operando, “by working at it.”
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 33 29

complete on the cross in the hands of his persecutors, but in the hands of Chris-
tians his body, the Church, is not whole.
With this in mind, brothers and sisters, let us shout and wail with all our
might, Magnify the Lord along with me, and let us exalt his name in unity. Itis the
Church that is shouting to them; the voice is the Church’s voice, crying out to
those who have cut themselves off. How did this severance come about?
Through their pride. But Christ teaches humility when he entrusts his body and
blood to us. This is what we have been telling you, holy brethren;'” it is acted out
and celebrated in the present psalm, where the body and blood of Christ are
brought before us, and with them Christ’s humility, the humble state he
graciously accepted for our sake.

Verse 5. Spring-clean your heart

8. 1 sought the Lord, and he hearkened to me. Where did the Lord hearken?
Within. And where does he give you what you ask? Within. There you pray,
there you are heard, there you are made happy. You prayed, your prayer was
heard, you are happy; yet a person standing beside you knows nothing about it,
because the whole transaction took place in a hidden way, as the Lord
commanded in the gospel: Go into your private room, shut your door, and pray
in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will give you your reward (Mt 6:6).
Entering your private room means entering your heart. Blessed are those who
enjoy entering their hearts, and find nothing unpleasant there.
Pay careful attention to this point, holy brethren.'' Men who have cross-
grained wives are reluctant to go home; think how they go off to the forum and
enjoy themselves there. As the time approaches when they must go home they
come over all depressed, because they know they will go home to find weari-
ness, grumbling, bitter exchanges and everything upset, for a home cannot be
tranquilly ordered if there is no peace between husband and wife. The husband
prefers to wander about out of doors. Those men are miserable who are afraid
that if they return to their own four walls they will be upset by domestic dishar-
mony; how much more miserable then are they who are unwilling to return to
their own consciences, lest they be upset there by their accusing sins!
Do all you can to make your home-coming to your own heart pleasant. Clean
it, because the clean of heart are blessed, and they will see God.!* Take the filth of
disordered desires outside; get rid of the dirt of avarice and poisonous supersti-
tions, banish profanities and evil thoughts. As for hatred—and I do not mean
only hatred of your friend, but even of your enemy—rid your heart of every trace

10. Sanctitati vestrae.

11. Sanctitas vestra.
12. See Mt 5:8.
30 Exposition 2 of Psalm 33

of it. Then enter your heart, and you will enjoy being there. When you begin to
enjoy it, the very cleanliness of your heart will be a delight to you arid make you
want to pray. You know how itis if you go into some place where there is silence
and an atmosphere of peace, a clean place. You say, “Let’s pray here.” The
harmony of the place delights you, and you are ready to believe that God will
hear you there. If the cleanliness of a visible place is so delightful to you, why
does the uncleanness of your heart not offend you? In you go! Clean up every-
thing, then lift your eyes to God and he will immediately hearken to you. Cry out
to him, J sought the Lord and he hearkened to me, and rescued me from all my
troubles. Troubles? Yes, because when you have been enlightened’? and have
begun to live with a good conscience in this world, troubles remain. Some weak-
ness remains in you until death is swallowed up in victory and this mortality of
ours is clothed with immortality.'* Inevitably you will feel the lash in this world;
you are bound to suffer some temptations and sinful urges. God will cleanse it all
and rescue you from every trouble. Seek him.
9. Isought the Lord and he hearkened to me. Those whose prayer is not heard
are the people who are not seeking the Lord. Notice this point, holy brethren:!>
the psalmist does not say, “I sought gold from the Lord, and he hearkened to
me,” or “I sought long life from the Lord, and he hearkened to me,” or “I sought
this advantage or that from the Lord, and he hearkened to me.” It is one thing to
seek some favor from the Lord, quite another to seek the Lord himself. The
psalm says, J sought the Lord, and he hearkened to me. Now, what about you?
When you pray, “Please God, kill that enemy of mine,” you are not seeking the
Lord, but setting yourself up as judge over your enemy and trying to make your
God into an inquisitor.'° How do you know that the person whose death you are
seeking is not better than you? Perhaps the very fact that he or she is not seeking
your death proves it! Do not seek any extraneous thing from the Lord, but seek
the Lord himself. He will hearken to you, and even while you are still speaking
he will say, Here Iam.’ What does this Here J am suggest? “Look, I am present;
what do you want? What are you asking of me? Whatever I give you, it will be of
far less worth than myself. Have me, have me myself, enjoy me, embrace me.
You can’t yet do so with your whole self, but lay hold on me by faith and you will
remain united to me, dwelling in me.” This is what God tells you. “And I will lift
from your shoulders those other burdens, so that you may cleave to me with your
whole being when I change your mortal state into immortality, and then you will

13. Perhaps a reference to baptism, often called “Illumination.”

14. See 1 Cor 15:54.
15. Sanctitas vestra.
16. Quaestionarium. The quaestionarius was an officer who interrogated witnesses, often
(especially in the case of slaves) under torture. Hence the connotation of “executioner” in the
Acts of the martyrs, and in the present passage.
17. Probably a conflation of Is 65:24 and 52:6.
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 33 3]

be equal to my angels and see my face everlastingly,'* and be full of joy, a joy of
which no one will ever rob you.”!? Such will be God’s promises if you have
sought the Lord, and he has hearkened to you, and rescued you from all your
troubles.

Verse 6. Drawing near to the Light

10. We pointed out to you not long ago who it is who is encouraging us, this
lover who does not want to be the only one embracing what he loves. Now he
invites us, Draw near to him and receive his light. He is talking about something
he knows from experience. What has he to tell us, this spiritual person, this
member of Christ's body? Or perhaps it is our Lord Jesus Christ himself
according to the flesh, as the Head exhorting his own members. What does he
say? Draw near to him and receive his light. Or perhaps it would be better to take
it as some spiritual Christian inviting us to draw near to our Lord Jesus Christ
himself. But we are to draw near to him in order to be illumined, not like the
Jews, who approached him only to be plunged into darkness. They drew near to
crucify him; we must draw near to receive his body and blood. They were
plunged into darkness in the presence of the Crucified; we are illumined by
eating and drinking the Crucified. Draw near to him and receive his light: the
invitation is addressed to the Gentiles. Amid Jews who gazed savagely at him
the crucified Christ was raised up; the Gentiles were not there to see. But now
they who were in darkness have drawn near, and those who did not see have been
illumined. How do the Gentiles draw near? By following him with their faith,
longing for him with their hearts, and running to him with their charity. Your feet
are your charity. Make sure you have two feet; don’t be lame. Two feet? Yes, the
paired commandments of love, love of God and love of your neighbor. Run
toward God on these feet, draw near to him, for he himself has incited you to run,
and has himself scattered his light to enable you to follow him magnificently,
with godlike speed.”
And then you shall not be put out of countenance. This is the next promise.
Draw near to him and receive his light, and then you shall not be put out of coun-
tenance. The only red faces are those of the proud. Why is that? Because proud
persons aspire to be high and mighty, and when they encounter insults, or igno-
miny, or make some faux pas, or suffer some affliction, they are put out of coun-
tenance. But you need not be afraid; simply draw near to God, and there will be
no shamefacedness for you. Your enemy may score off you, and in the eyes of
the world he will seem to have demonstrated his superiority; but in God’s eyes

18. Compare Mt 22:30 with Mt 18:10.

19. See Jn 16:22.
20. Variant: “... his light. Then in a magnificent and godlike way he continues ...” (with
reference to the following clause).
SP Exposition 2 of Psalm 33

you are superior to him. “I have caught that fellow, I haye tied him up, I have
killed him.” They think they have come out on top, people who talk like this.
How superior the Jews thought themselves when they were slapping the Lord,
spitting in his face, hitting him over the head with a cane, crowning him with
thorns and garbing him with ignominy! How obviously they seemed to have the
upper hand! And he seemed so much lower, he who was falling down outside on
the threshold. But he was not put to shame. He was the true Light, who illumines
everyone coming into the world.?! As that Light cannot be extinguished, so he
does not allow anyone whom he has illumined to be extinguished either. So
draw near to him and receive his light, and you shall not be put out of counte-
nance.

Verses 7-8. Rescue for the poor

11. Perhaps someone may object, “How can I draw near to him? I am laden
with grave offenses, burdened with serious sins. The foulest crimes raise their
clamor from my conscience. How can I dare to approach God?” How? Quite
easily, if you have first humbled yourself in repentance. “But I am ashamed to
repent,” you answer. Well then, draw near to him and you will be illumined, and
then your face will not be forced to blush with shame. Think it through. If the fear
of being put to shame deters you from repentance, but repentance causes you to
draw near to God, do you not see that you are wearing your punishment on your
face? Your face has gone red because it has not drawn near to God, and the
reason it has not drawn near to him is that it is unwilling to repent! The prophet
bears witness that this poor man cried out, and the Lord hearkened. He is
teaching you how to win a hearing. You see why you are not listened to: you are
too rich. Perhaps you have often cried out and you were not heard; now you
know why. This poor man cried out, and the Lord hearkened. Cry out in poverty,
cry as a poor person, and the Lord will listen. “But how am I to cry out as a poor
person?” Cry to him in such a way that even if you have possessions, you do not
trust in your own resources, cry to him in a frame of mind that understands your
need, cry to him in the knowledge that you will always be a pauper as long as you
do not possess him who makes you rich. How did the Lord hearken to this poor
person? He saved him from all his troubles.*? And how does he save him from all
these troubles? The Lord’s angel will send in his forces around those who fear
him, and will deliver them. This is the true reading, brothers and sisters. Certain
manuscripts have to those who fear him the Lord will send his angel, and will
deliver them, but the correct one is as I have said, the Lord's angel will send in his
forces. Whom did it mean by this angel of the Lord, who will send in his forces

21. See Jn 1:9.

22. Variant: “will save him.”
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 33 ce,

around those who fear him, and deliver them? Our Lord Jesus Christ himself is
called in prophecy the Angel of Great Counsel, the messenger who brings news
of the great plan.** This is the name the prophets gave him. This Angel of Great
Counsel, this Messenger, will send in his forces around those who fear him, and
will deliver them. Don’t be concerned that he may miss you; as long as you fear
the Lord, the Angel who is to send in his forces will know where to find you,
wherever you are, and he will deliver you.

Verse 9. Parallels: David and Christ, Achis and the incredulous Jews

12. The psalmist wants to speak openly now about the sacrament that the
Lord held in his hands. Taste and see how sweet the Lord is.* The psalm is
opening its meaning to you now, surely? It shows you that the feigned insanity
and persistent madness of David was a sane insanity, a sober intoxication, for he
was prefiguring something.” Like King Achis”® the Jews replied, “How can this
be?” when the Lord kept telling them, Unless you eat my flesh and drink my
blood, you will not have life in you (Jn 6:54). King Achis, who stands for error
and ignorance, was sovereign in them as they objected, How can this man give us
his flesh to eat? (Jn 6:53). If you do not know, taste and see how sweet the Lord
is; but if you do not understand this, you are King Achis. David will alter his
behavior and withdraw from you; he will forsake you and go away.
13. Blessed is the man who trusts in him.We do not need to spend much time
explaining that, I think. Whoever does not trust in the Lord is in a wretched state.
But who are they who do not trust in the Lord? Those who trust in themselves.
Sometimes, brothers and sisters, there is an even worse condition: think now.
There are some who do not even trust in themselves, but put their trust in other
people. “I’m all right, I’m under the protection of Gaius Seius;*’ you can’t touch
me,” and the person mentioned may be already dead. Or they will say in this city,
“T’m all right, I’m under the protection of So-and-So,” who may well have died
somewhere else. How ready people are to talk like this, but not to say, “I trust in
God, and he will not let you hurt me.” Nor do they say, “I trust in my God,
because even if he does give you some license to harm my property, he will give
you no power over my soul.” But when foolish people declare, “I’m safe’* under
So-and-So’s protection,” what they want is not really salvation, and they put an
unfair burden on those to whom they look for safety.

23. See Is 9:6, LXX.

24. Variant: “that the Lord is sweet.”
25. Variant preferred by the CCL editors of the Latin text: “. . . prefiguring the sacrament of the
Lord.”
26. Variant: “Like those miserable people around King Achis.”
27. Mentioned also in Tertullian’s Apol. 3,1,3; 48,1,8; and by Augustine in his Exposition of Psalm
140, 17.
28. Salva salute illius: safety or salvation.
34 Exposition 2 of Psalm 33

Verses 10-11. Being rich in the Lord

?

14. Fear the Lord, you his saints, for they who fear him lack for nothing.
There are plenty of people who hesitate to fear the Lord, because they think they
may go hungry if they do. They are told, “Do not cheat.” And they protest, “How
am I to eat, then? Handicrafts need a little dishonesty to succeed, and business
cannot flourish without fraud.” But God punishes fraud. Fear God. “But if I fear
God, I will not have enough to live on.” Fear the Lord, you his saints, for they
who fear him lack for nothing. To the anxious, to any who suspect that by fearing
the Lord they will lose their superfluity, he promisesample resources. The Lord
took care of you when you despised him; is he likely to abandon you when you
fear him? Put your mind to it, and do not object, “That other fellow is rich, and I
am poor; I fear the Lord, but look how much wealth he has amassed by not
fearing him, while I through fearing him have been stripped of everything.”
Look at the next line: the rich have been in need and have gone hungry, but those
who seek the Lord will not be deprived of any good thing. If you take this liter-
ally, it will look like a fallacy, for you see around you plenty of rich, unjust
people who die amid their riches. They were not reduced to poverty in their life-
time. You watch them growing old and reaching the last days of their lives amid
vast wealth; you see a funeral conducted for them with great pomp and no
expense spared; you watch a rich man being carried to the grave as a rich man
still, one who breathed his last in an ivory bed with his relatives and domestics
weeping round him. And if by any chance you know something of his sins and
shameful deeds, you say to yourself, “I know what great sins that man
committed, yet here he is surviving into old age, dying in his own bed, carried to
the grave by his kinsfolk, honored by so ostentatious a funeral. I know what he
did; so scripture has misled me, it has hoodwinked me in that verse where I hear
(and have even sung myself), the rich have been in need and have gone hungry.
When did he ever feel the pinch? When did he go hungry? Those who seek the
Lord will not be deprived of any good thing, says the psalm. Yet every day I get
up and go to church, every day I bend the knee, every day I seek the Lord, and I
have nothing good to show for it. As for him, he did not seek the Lord, yet he dies
surrounded by good things.”
If we entertain thoughts like these we are in danger of being throttled by the
noose of scandal. We are seeking on earth food that will perish, and not seeking
the true recompense in heaven. We are putting our head into the devil’s noose; it
tightens round our throat and the devil holds us enslaved to wrongdoing; and
then we imitate that rich man whose death amid such wealth we have been
observing.
15. Clearly the psalm cannot be interpreted in that way. “How am I to under-
stand it, then?” It refers to the good things of the spirit. “But what are they?”
They are seen not with the eyes but with the heart. “I don’t see them.” Anyone
 35
See Exposition 2 of Psalm 33

who is in love sees them. “I can’t see righteousness;” it’s not gold, it’s not
silver.” Ifitwere gold, you would see it, but because it is faith,*° you don’t see it.
But let me ask you this: if you can’t see faith, why is a faithful servant precious to
you? Put the question to yourself: what kind of servant do you regard as worthy
of your love? Perhaps you have a good-looking slave, very tall and well-built,
but he is a thief, a bad character, deceitful. And you have another slave, perhaps,
who is short, disfigured in the face, repulsive in color, but he is faithful, thrifty
and sober. Think about it: which of the two do you rate more highly? If you
consult your bodily eyes, the handsome, dishonest fellow will come out on top;
if you go by what the eyes of your heart tell you, the ugly but faithful slave wins.
So, you see, what you want others to show toward you—faithfulness—you must
show to them. Why do you rejoice over the person who deals with you faithfully,
and praise him for good qualities which cannot be seen except with the vision of
the heart? Apply it to yourself now: when you have been filled to the brim with
spiritual wealth, will you be poor?*! Was that other man we were speaking about
rich because he had a bed made of ivory, and you poor when the bedroom of your
heart is full of such precious jewels of virtue—jewels of justice, truth, charity,
faith, patience and endurance? If you have riches, unwrap them, and compare
them with the worldly riches of the affluent. That other man found valuable
mules, say, on the market, and bought them. If you found faith on sale, what a
sum you would be willing to hand over! Yet God wants you to have it free, and
can you still be ungrateful? Those rich folk are truly in need, they really are badly
off; and what is worse, they are in need of bread. I don’t mean that they are in
need of gold and silver (though in fact they think they are. What a lot someone
like that had, yet did it satisfy him? He did die needy then, in that he wanted to get
more than was in his grasp already). Yes, as Iwas saying, they are in need even of
bread. Why are they in need of bread? If you do not understand what “bread”
means, listen to the Lord’s words: J am the living bread which has come down
from heaven (Jn 6:41), and again, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied (Mt 5:6). The psalm is right: those who
seek the Lord will not be deprived of any good thing; but we have explained what -
kind of good thing is meant.

Dery
29. Variant: “Anyone in love sees righteousness. ‘I can’t.
30. In this paragraph Augustine uses the Latin word fides to cover both “faithfulness” (as in the
case of the two slaves he contrasts, and of honest dealings with one’s neighbor) and “faith”
(more appropriate where he says that God gives it “free”).
31. Variant: “... deals with you faithfully, and praise him? Apply it to yourself now: when you
have been filled brimful with good qualities which cannot be seen except with the vision of the
heart, will you be poor?”
36 Exposition 2 of Psalm 33

Verse 12. Christ the teacher ;

16. Come, children, and hear me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. You
think I am saying this, brothers and sisters; but no, think rather that David is
saying it, think it is the apostle saying it; best of all that itis our Lord Jesus Christ
himself who is saying, Come, children, and hear me. Let us all listen to him
together; and you listen to him speaking through me, for he wants to teach us. He
who is humble, who drums, who has affection for us,** wants to teach us. And
what does he say? Come, children, and hear me; I will teach you the fear of the
Lord. Let him teach us, then, and let us yield our ears to him, let us yield our
hearts. We must not open our bodily ears while keeping our hearts closed; rather
we must do as he commanded in the gospel: Let anyone who has ears for
hearing, listen (Mt 11:15). Surely all of us would want to hear Christ teaching us
through the prophet???

Verse 13. Longing for “good days”

17. Is there anyone who wants life, and loves to see good days? \t is a ques-
tion. And will not every one of you reply, “Yes, I do!” Can there be anyone
among you who does not love life, who does not want life, and does not love to
see good days? Do you not grumble every day, “How long do we have to put up
with this? Things get worse and worse by the day. Our parents had happier days,
things were better in their time.” Oh, come on! If you questioned those parents of
yours, they would moan to you about their days in just the same way: “Our
ancestors were happy, but we are in a wretched state. There was that fellow who
bossed us, and we used to think that when he died we would get some relief, but
things went from bad to worse. O God, show us good days!” Js there anyone who
wants life, and loves to see good days ? Let such a person not look for good days
here. He or she is looking for a good thing, but not in the place where it belongs.
Suppose you were in search of some good man ina country where he did not live.
Someone might say to you, “He is a fine man, the one you are looking for, a great
man. Go on looking for him, but not here. You are wasting your time looking for
him here; you will never find him.”
So you are looking for good days. Let us all look for them together, but not
here. “But our ancestors had them,” you say. Did they? You are wrong! All of
them had a hard time here. Read the scriptures, for the Lord’s purpose in causing
them to be written was that we might find comfort there. In Elijah’s time there
was a famine, and our forebears had to endure it.** The heads of dead animals

32. See Augustine’s earlier play on affecto, to “affect” (madness), or to “have affection for,”
paragraph 2 above.
33. Variant: “Which of us is able to hear... ?”
34. See | Kgs 17-18.
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 33 qn

were being sold for gold; people killed their own relatives and ate them. Two
women made a pact that they would kill their children and eat them; one killed
her son, and both of them ate him; then the other refused to kill hers, and the one
who had been the first to kill her son demanded that she should, and the rumor of
their dreadful quarrel reached the ears of the king. They betook themselves to the
King, still arguing over the slaughter of their sons.*5 God forbid that we should
ever resort to such tood. There are always evil days in this world, but always
good days in God. Abraham enjoyed good days, but only within his own heart;
he had bad days when a famine forced him to migrate in search of food.** But
everyone else had to search too. What about Paul: did he have good days, he who
had often gone without food, and endured cold and exposure (2 Cor 11:27)? But
the servants have no right to be discontented; even the Lord did not have good
days in this world. He endured insults, injuries, the cross and many a hardship.

Verse 14. You cannot have it both ways

18. Let no Christian complain, but let us remember in whose footsteps we are
walking. Let any Christian who loves good days listen to our Teacher, who bids
us, Come, children, and hear me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What do
you want? “Life and good days.” Very well, listen, and then get on with it:
Restrain your tongue from evil. Do just that. “But I don’t want to,” some miser-
able objector replies. “I don’t want to restrain my tongue from evil, but I do want
life, and good days to enjoy.” If your gardener were to say to you, “I am going to
lay this vineyard waste, and I expect you to pay me. You hired me for the vine-
yard, to trim and prune it.-J’m cutting away all the useful wood, and chopping
down the very trunks of the vines to make sure you get no crop here; and when
I’ve finished, you can pay me for my labor.” Would you not say he was crazy?
Wouldn’t you throw him out of your employment before he could take hold of
the sickle? But that is what people are like who want to do wrong, and perjure
themselves, and blaspheme against God, and grumble, and defraud others, and
get drunk, and drag other people off to court, and commit adultery, and tie lucky
charms onto themselves, and consult diviners, and still see good days. To
anyone like this it must be said, You cannot look for a good reward while you are
doing bad things. You may be unjust, but will God be unjust too? “What am I to
do, then?” Well, what do you want? “I want life, I want good days.” Then
restrain your tongue from evil, and your lips from guileful speech. Speak deceit-
fully to no one, lie to no one.

35. See 2 Kgs 6:25-30.

36. See Gn 12:10; 26:1.
38 Exposition 2 of Psalm 33

Verse 15. The search for peace Ty ling

Viby

19. What does the next line imply: turn away from evil? It is not much to ask
that you refrain from hurting anyone, that you kill no one, and do not steal, or
commit adultery, or defraud anyone, or give false testimony. Turn away from
evil; and when you have turned away from it, you say, “Now I’m safe, I’ ve done
it all perfectly, so I will have life, I will see good days.” But you need to do more
than turning away from evil, you must also do good. It is not enough to refrain
from stripping someone, you must clothe the naked. If you have not despoiled
anyone, you have turned away from evil, but you will’only have done good when
you have welcomed the traveler into your home. Turn away from evil, yes, but in
order to do good.
Seek peace and pursue it. Scripture does not promise you that you will have
peace here; seek it, pursue it. “Where shall I pursue it to?” To the place where it
has gone ahead. The Lord is our peace;*’ he has risen and ascended into heaven.
Seek peace and pursue it, because when you too have risen from the dead, the
mortal part of you will be transformed, and you will embrace peace, there where
no one will trouble you. Perfect peace is found where you will never be hungry.
Here on earth bread pacifies you; take bread away, and feel what a war rages in
your belly! The righteous themselves groan here below, brothers and sisters, to
make it clear to you that we seek peace here, but will obtain it only at the end. Yet
we do have peace in some degree here, in order that we may deserve to have it
totally there. Why do I say, “in some degree’’? Let us be of one heart here, let us
love our neighbor as ourselves. Love your brother and sister as you love your-
self, and have peace with them.
It is impossible, though, for disputes never to arise. They have broken out
between brethren, even between saints, between Barnabas and Paul,** but not so
as to destroy the unity of hearts, not so as to kill charity. You are sometimes at
odds even with yourself, yet you do not hate yourself. Anyone who is sorry for
having done something is picking a quarrel with himself or herself. Such a
person has sinned, he comes back, he is angry with himself for what he did, for
the sin he committed. So he is quarrelling with himself, but this kind of quarrel
leads to harmony. If you want an example of a just person having an argument
with himself, think of another psalm: Why are you sorrowful, O my soul; why do
you disquiet me? Hope in the Lord, for I will still confess to him (Ps 42(43):5). If
the speaker says to his soul, Why do you disquiet me ? it is obvious that his soul is
troubling him. Perhaps he wanted to suffer for Christ, but his soul was very upset
about it. Clearly a person who knew this and kept on saying, Why are you
sorrowful, O my soul; why do you disquiet me? was not yet at peace with

37. See Eph 2:14.

38. See Acts 15:39.
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 33 39

himself; but he was clinging to Christ in his mind, willing his soul to follow him
and disquiet him no longer.*? Seek peace, then, brothers and sisters. The Lord
said, These things I tell you, that in me you may have peace. I do not promise you
peace in this world.” In this life there is no true peace, no tranquillity. We are
promised the joy of immortality and fellowship with the angels. But anyone who
has not sought it here will not find it on arriving there.

Verse 16. Cruel to be kind

20. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous. Don’t worry, go on trying;
the Lord’s eyes are on you. And his ears are open to their prayers. What more
could you wish? If in some great house the master did not hear the complaints of
a servant, the servant would protest, “What a lot we have to put up with here, and
nobody listens to us!” You cannot say that of God—‘‘What a lot I have to put up
with, and nobody listens to me”—now can you? Perhaps you may say, “But if he
heard me he would take my trouble away; I appeal to him, but I still have the
trouble.” Just hold steady and keep to his ways, and when you are in trouble he
hears you. But he is a physician, and there is still some diseased tissue in you.
You cry out, but he goes on cutting, and he does not stay his hand until he has
done all the cutting he knows to be necessary. In fact it is a cruel doctor who
listens to the patient’s cries, and leaves the festering wound untouched. And
think how mothers rub their children down vigorously in the bath, for their own
good. The little ones cry out in their mothers’ hands, don’t they? Does that mean
the mothers are cruel in not sparing them, in ignoring their tears? Are they not
really full of tender love? All the same, the children cry, and they are not let off.
So too our God is full of charity, but he seems to be deaf to our entreaty because
he means to heal us and spare us for all eternity.

Verse 17. God watches the wicked equally

21. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their
prayers. Possibly the wrongdoers may say, “That’s all right, then. I can do
wicked deeds, because the Lord’s eyes are not on me. God focuses on the
righteous, and does not watch me. So! can do anything I like without worrying.”
But the Holy Spirit, aware of these human delusions, immediately added a
warning, the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to

39. This evocation of a divided self resembles passages in Augustine’s Confessions, where in a
similar context of grief he is dragging his soul along: “I questioned my soul, demanding why it
was sorrowful and why it so disquieted me, but it had no answer. If Ibade it, “Trust in God,’ it
rightly disobeyed me. . . . Within me I was carrying a tattered, bleeding soul that did not want
me to carry it, yet I could find no place to lay it down. . . .” (Conf. 1V,4,9; IV,7,12).
40. See Jn 16:33; 14:27.
40 Exposition 2 of Psalm 33

their prayers; but the Lord frowns on evildoers, to blot out their memory from
the earth.

Verse 18. Being heard in the furnace of persecution

22. The righteous cried out, and the Lord hearkened to them, and rescued
them from all their distress. The three young men were righteous. They cried to
the Lord in the furnace, and as they praised him the fire cooled down. The flame
could not touch these innocent, just youths, or do them any harm as they praised
God, and he rescued them from burning.*! Someone will object, “Sure enough,
they were truly righteous and they were heard, just as the psalm says: the righ-
teous cried out, and the Lord hearkened to them, and rescued them from all their
distress. But what about me? I cried to him and he did not rescue me; so either I
am not righteous, or I am not following his instructions, or perhaps he can’t see
me.” Do not be afraid, just do what he orders; and if he does not rescue you in
bodily fashion he will rescue you spiritually. He pulled the three youths clear of
the flames, but did he pull the Maccabees out of their fire?** Did not the one
group sing hymns in the fire, and the other group die in it? Is not the God of the
three youths the God of the Maccabees as well? The first he rescued, the second
he did not rescue, or, more truly, he rescued both; but he delivered the three
youths in a way that dumbfounded those who could think no further than the
body, while he delivered the Maccabees in such a way that their persecutors
would be consigned to still greater torments, even as they thought they had
crushed God’s martyrs. God also rescued Peter when the angel came to him as he
lay in fetters, and said to him, Get up and leave (Acts 12:7); the fetters were
suddenly loosened, Peter followed the angel, and so God delivered him. But he
did not rescue Peter from the cross: does that mean that Peter had meanwhile lost
his righteousness? But did God really not deliver him from the cross? Deliver
him he certainly did; would Peter have been allowed to live so long, only to dete-
riorate into unrighteousness? Perhaps God heard him at that later time even more
surely, because this time he truly did deliver him from all his pains. When Peter
was rescued the first time, what a lot of suffering still lay ahead of him! But at
this later time God sent him to a place where he would never suffer again.

Verses 19-20. The troubles of the just

23. The Lord is close to those who have bruised their hearts, and he will save
those of humble spirit. God is on high, but a Christian’sbusiness is to be lowly. If
Christians want the Most High God to be near them, they must be humbly

41. See Dn 3:49-50.

42. See 2 Mac 7.
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 33 41

abased. These are great mysteries, brothers and sisters. God is above all things; if
you lift yourself up, you do not touch him, but if you humble yourself, he comes
down to you, Many are the troubles ofthe righteous. Does he tell us, “Christians
ought to be righteous, and listen to my word, because that way they will have no
troubles to put up with”? Not at all. Many are the troubles of the righteous. It is
the other way round; the more unrighteous people are, the fewer troubles they
have, while those who are righteous have plenty. Yet after only a few tribula-
tions, or even none at all, the wicked will be consigned to trouble everlasting,
while the righteous, after many troubles, will arrive at everlasting peace, where
they will suffer no kind of evil ever again. Many are the troubles of the righteous,
but from them all the Lord will rescue them.

Verse 21. Bones are safeguarded

24. The Lord guards all their bones: not one will be broken. We certainly
must not take this in a material sense, my brothers and sisters. The “bones” are
the firm supports of the faithful. In our bodies the bones provide strong support,
and in the same way faith provides firm support in the heart of a Christian; and
endurance born of faith is like a spiritual skeleton. These are the bones which
cannot be broken. The Lord guards all their bones: not one will be broken.
It may be that when the psalm made this prophecy it had our Lord Jesus Christ
in view. The Lord guards all the bones of his Son, and not a single one of them
shall be broken. Another passage also speaks prophetically about him, where the
Israelites are directed to slay a lamb, but you shall not break any of its bones (Ex
12:46). The prophecy was fulfilled in our Lord, because as he hung on the cross
he expired before the soldiers arrived; they found his body already lifeless, so
they had no wish to break his legs; thus the scripture was fulfilled.
But the promise was made to all Christians: the Lord guards all their bones;
not one will be broken. Now consider, brothers and sisters: does this mean that if
we see holy people suffering—perhaps undergoing surgery, or mangled by a
persecutor—in such a way that their bones are fractured, we should say, “These
cannot have been righteous people, because the Lord made this promise to his
righteous servants, the Lord guards their bones; not one shall be broken?”
Certainly not. Would you like me to prove to you that the prophecy relates to a
different kind of bones, to the qualities we have called the strong supports of
faith, namely patient endurance and long-suffering in all troubles? These are the
bones that remain unbroken. Listen, and I will show you how the proof is
contained within the same story of the Lord’s passion. The Lord was crucified in
the central position, flanked by two robbers. One of them railed at him, the other
believed; one was damned, the other justified; one had his punishment both here

43. See Jn 19:33.

42 Exposition 2 of Psalm 33

and hereafter, but to the other the Lord said, Truly I tell you, today you will be
with me in paradise (Lk 23:43). Yet when the soldiers came they did not break
our Lord’s bones, but they did break those of the robbers; and so both of them
had their bones broken, the one who believed just as much as the one who blas-
phemed. What had become of the promise in scripture, the Lord guards all their
bones; not one shall be broken? Had he no power to guard intact the bones of the
man to whom he said, Today you will be with me in paradise? The Lord answers
your question: “Indeed I did guard them, for the strong support of his faith could
not be broken by the blows that smashed his legs.” .

Verse 22. The last end of the wicked

25. Very wretched is the death of sinners. Let me have your attention,
brothers and sisters. Think about what we have been saying. It is true that the
Lord is great, and that his mercy is great; indeed it is true, for he gave us as our
food that body in which he suffered so intensely, and his blood as our drink.
What is his view of people who think, wrongly, along these lines: “That man
died hard, he was devoured by beasts. He cannot have lived righteously; that
must be why he had such a painful death, because he would not have perished
like that if he had been a good man’’? So you think, do your that someone else
must have been righteous, because he dies at home, in his own bed? “Well,” you
reply, “it does puzzle me, I admit, because I know about his sins and crimes, yet
he had a good death in his own home, in familiar surroundings, with no injuries
picked up in his travels, and none even in old age.” But listen: very wretched is
the death of sinners. What looks like a good death to you would seem very
dreadful if you could see the inner side of it. Outwardly you see him lying in bed,
but do you see the inner reality, as he is dragged off to hell? Listen, brothers and
sisters, to what this very wretched death of sinners is, and look to the gospel for
an example of it. There were in our Lord’s day two men,* one of whom was rich
and clad in purple and fine linen, and feasted splendidly every day. The other
was a pauper who lay at the rich man’s gate covered with sores. The dogs came
and licked his sores, and the poor man longed to satisfy his hunger with crumbs
that fell from the rich man’s table. Now it happened that the poor man died; he
was a righteous man, and he was transported by angels to Abraham’s embrace.“°
If anyone had seen his body lying there at the rich man’s gate, with no one to bury
it, what a lot the passer-by might have read into that! “I hope my enemy meets his
end like that,” the onlooker might have said, ‘‘and that other fellow too, who
makes my life a misery. I'd like to see him reduced to this!” The body is insulted

44. See Jn 19:32.

45. Or, “There were two men in this world, one of. . .”
46. See Lk 16:19-31.
 _ Exposition 2 of Psalm 33 43

with spittle,’ and its wounds stink, yet the man himself lies peacefully in the
arms of Abraham. If we are Christians, let us believe it; if we do not believe it,
brothers and sisters, let none of us pretend to be Christians. Faith leads us all the
way. As the Lord described things, so they are. If you take what an astrologer“*
tells you as the truth, can you think that when Christ tells you something, it is
false? What kind of death did the rich man die? What an impressive death it
could have been, amid purple and fine linen, what a sumptuous death, what a
showy one! And what kind of funeral would he have been given, what a weight
of spices would have been used to bury the corpse! And yet, tormented in hell, he
longed for a drop of water to trickle onto his burning tongue from the finger of
the despised poor man, but he did not get it. Learn from this example what the
psalm means by saying, Very wretched is the death of sinners. Do not put your
questions to beds draped with costly coverings, or flesh muffled up in rich
clothes, or mourners with their extravagant laments, or a weeping family, or a
crowd of flunkeys before and behind when the corpse is taken out for burial, or
monuments marble and gilded. If you put your questions to these, they tell you
lies, for many people there are who have not merely sinned in small matters but
have been thoroughly wicked, who yet have had a plush death like this, who
have been judged worthy of being mourned, embalmed, clothed, carried in
procession to the grave and buried in no other fashion than this. Put your ques-
tions rather to the gospel, and it will reveal to your faith the soul of the rich man
burning in torments, helped not a whit by the honors and obsequies that the
vanity of the living has lavished on his dead body.

Verses 22-23. But not all kinds of sinners

26. But there are many different kinds of sinners, and it is difficult, perhaps
impossible in this life, not to be a sinner; and therefore the psalm immediately
makes clear what kind of sinners come to this very wretched death. And those
who hate the just one will offend. Who is this “just one,” if not he who justifies
the godless?*? Who else is this just one, but our Lord Jesus Christ, who is also the
propitiatory offering for our sins?°° Those who hate him therefore do meet that
most wretched death, because all who are not reconciled to our God through him
die in their sins. But the Lord will redeem the souls of his servants. Whether we
think of a wretched death or a fine death, it is in terms of the soul that we must

47. Literally “cursed with spittle,” exsecratur. . . sputo; but the CCL editors suggest excreatur. . .
sputo, “coughed at with spittle” or simply “spat on.”
48. Mathematicus. The term was originally applied to anyone who made mathematical
calculations about astronomy; but it became debased and was used for one who superstitiously
traced the causes of human actions in the stars, an astrologer.
49. See Rom 4:5.
S0nSee tn 22;
44 Exposition 2 ofPsalm 33

appraise it, not of the body and the insults or honors heaped on it, where human
onlookers see. And none who trust in him will offend. This is the méasure of righ-
teousness for human beings, that though in our mortal life, however much prog-
ress we may have made, we cannot be without sin, at least in this regard we do
not offend, that we go on trusting in him; for in him is the forgiveness of our
offenses. Amen.
 Exposition 1 of Psalm 34

First Sermon, at Thagaste!

Introduction: Christ, strong of hand and object of our desire, is speaking

1. You know, beloved brethren,’ that my brother-bishops have laid on me the

task of expounding this psalm. Their wish is that we should all hear something
about it; for we are indeed all listening to Christ. We all learn from him, and in
his schoo] all of us together are students. The title need not delay us, because it is
short and not difficult to understand, especially for those nurtured in God’s
Church. The title is, For David himself. This psalm, therefore, is for David, and
the name “David” means “strong of hand,” or “desirable.” The psalm is for him
who is both strong-handed and desirable, who conquered our death and prom-
ised us life. His strength of hand is proved in his defeat of our death, his desir-
ability in his promise of eternal life. What could be stronger than the hand that
touched the bier, and caused the dead man to arise?? And what stronger than a
hand that conquered the world, not mail-clad but nailed to wood? But who is
more desirable than he for whom the martyrs longed to die that they might reach
him, even though they could not see him? This psalm is his. Let our hearts sing it
to him, let our tongues sing it tunefully to him, and let us depend on him to
provide us with what we may fittingly sing. No one sings anything to him that is
worthy, unless he has first given it. What we sing today has come to us through
the prophet at the prompting of Christ’s Spirit, and in its words we recognize
both ourselves and him. I say, “both ourselves and him,” and this is in no way
derogatory to him, for even from heaven he cried, Why are you persecuting me?
(Acts 9:4), though no one was touching him; we only were toiling away on earth.
In view of this we are right to listen to his voice, knowing that it is sometimes
the voice of his body, sometimes that of the Head.* This psalm in particular
invokes God's help against enemies amid the tribulations of this world; and it is
undoubtedly Christ who is praying, for once the Head was beset by tribulation,
and now it is his body. Nonetheless through these tribulations he gives eternal
life to all his members, and in promising it he has made himself desirable to us.

1. Augustine’s birthplace. The sermon is possibly to be assigned to the year 414.

2. Caritas vestra.
3. See Lk 7:14.
4. Augustine’s most fundamental conviction about the psalms.

45
46 Exposition I of Psalm 34

Verses 1-2. The armor of God ,

2. Judge those who do me harm, Lord, and assail those who assail me, says
the psalm. If God is fighting for us, who can stand against us?° And what does
God use to give us this aid? Grasp your shield and buckler, and arise to help me.
A wonderful sight this is, to see God armed in your cause! And what is his
shield? What kind of weaponry does he favor? The same psalmist says else-
where, Lord, you have encompassed us as with the shield of your good will (Ps
5:13(12)). His weapons, the weapons he employs not only to defend us but also
to attack our enemy, will be nothing else but ourselves, if we are making good
progress; for just as we arm ourselves with what we receive from him, so he arms
himself with us. The difference is, though, that he arms himself with those he has
made, while we are armed with what we have been given by him who made us.
The apostle somewhere enumerates our pieces of armor, speaking of the shield
of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God.° With these weapons God has equipped us. They are glorious weapons that
have never known defeat, invincible and splendid; but spiritual and invisible
arms, of course, since it is invisible enemies that we have to fight. When you can
see your enemy, it is visible arms you need. We are armed with faith in realities
we cannot see, and we overthrow enemies we cannot see either.
All the same, dear friends, you must not think these weapons are such that
what is a shield will always be a shield, or that a helmet will always be a helmet,
or cuirass always a cuirass. This is true even in the case of material arms, iron
though they are. What has been made can be recast into something else; a sword,
for instance, might be converted into an axe. We find the same apostle speaking
in one place of the cuirass of faith,’ in another place of the shield of faith. The
same faith, then, can be both cuirass and shield. It is a shield because it catches
the spears of the enemy and turns them aside, but a cuirass because it prevents
any weapon from penetrating your body.
Such are our arms; now what about God’s? We read in scripture, Deliver my
soul from the wicked, your sword from the enemies of your hand (Ps
16(17):13-14). In the first half of this verse he says, from the wicked, in the
second, from the enemies; and correspondingly where the first half has my soul,
the second has your sword; so he is calling his own soul God’s sword. Delivermy
soul from the wicked, he says, your sword from the enemies of your hand.You
grasp my soul, and topple my enemies with it. And what is our soul? A splendid
weapon it may be, long, sharp, oiled, and coruscating with the light of wisdom as
it is brandished. But what is this soul of ours worth, what is it capable of, unless
God holds it and fights with it? Any sword, however beautifully made, lies idle if

5. See Rom 8:31.

6. See Eph 6:16-17.
7. See | Th 5:8,
 Exposition | of Psalm 34 47

there is no warrior to take it up. We said just now that in the case of our own
weaponry we should not take things to be so fixed that one thing cannot be turned
into something else; and we find the same to be true of God’s arms. The psalm
called a righteous person’s soul God’s sword, but the righteous soul is said else-
where to be God’s throne, the throne of Wisdom. So God does whatever he
wishes with our soul. Since it is in his hand, it is his to use as he will.
3. May God arise, then, as we have begged him to, and seize his weapons, and
bestir himself to help us. In another text we are told by the same voice why he
needs to arise: Arise! Why do you sleep, O Lord? (Ps 43(44):23). When he is said
to be sleeping it is really we who are asleep, and when he is said to arise it is we
who are awakened. Our Lord was asleep in a boat, and the boat was tossed about
because Jesus was sleeping; if Jesus had been on watch there, the boat would
have been steady. Your boat is your heart; Jesus in the boat represents faith in
your heart. If you remember your faith, your heart is not tossed to and fro; but if
you forget your faith, Christ goes to sleep, and then look what a shipwreck there
is. Do all you can to rouse him if he is asleep; say to him, “Wake up, Lord, we are
sinking!”;$ arouse him so that he can rebuke the winds and bring tranquillity to
your heart, for if Christ—your faith, Imean—is on the watch in your heart, all
temptations will die away, or at any rate lose their force. What does arise mean?
Make yourself known, show yourself, make your presence felt. Arise to help me.

Verse 3. God our ally in the fight against dark forces

4. Loose your sword and make an end of those who persecute me. Who are
your persecutors? Your neighbor, perhaps, or someone you have hurt or treated
unjustly, or someone who plans to rob you of your property, or against whom
you have stood up for the truth, or whose sin you rebuke, or some person of
disreputable life who is offended by the honorable way you live. These are our
enemies, to be sure, and they do persecute us; but we are taught to recognize
other enemies too, against whom we are waging invisible warfare. The apostle
warns us about them: /t is not against flesh and blood that you have to
struggle—not against human adversaries, that is, whom you can see—but
against principalities and powers and the rulers of this world of darkness (Eph
6:12). In saying, the rulers of this world, he obviously meant the devil and his
angels; but he had to make sure that no one would misunderstand, and think he
meant that this world is ruled by the devil and his subject-demons. This visible
fabric is called “the world,” and the same term, “world,” can mean sinners, or
those in love with the world, the people of whom it was said, The world did not
know him (Jn 1:10), and again, The whole world is in the power ofthe evil one (1
Jn 5:19). So the apostle made clear whom he meant by world-rulers by speci-

8. See Mt 8:25.
48 Exposition 1 of Psalm 34

fying this world of darkness: “I mean the world-rulers of darkness,” he implies.

And he goes further, to make us understand the meaning of this’ reference to
darkness. Who are the dark subjects ruled by the devil and his angels? All unbe-
lievers, all the wicked, of whom it was said, The Light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has never been able to master it (Jn 1:5). But what has this
same apostle to say to the many believers who have been drawn from their
number? You were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord (Eph 5:8).
Do you want to be ruled by the devil? No? Move into the light, then. And how
will you be able to move into the light, unless the Lord looses his sword to
deliver you from your enemies and persecutors? How does he loose his sword?
Well, we have already heard what his sword is: it is the soul of a righteous
person. Only let the just increase in numbers and his sword is loosed, and your
enemies are dispatched. But the apostle has a warning to add: we must live righ-
teous lives if this sword is to be unsheathed, so he tells us to live in such a way
that our adversary may respect us, finding nothing derogatory to say of us (Ti
2:8). An end is made of him, because he can find nothing to allege against the
saints.
5. But how will they become righteous? What do our persecuting enemies
say? And our invisible enemies, what do they say? Have they no answer? Oh,
yes, they have. These unseen enemies have a favorite suggestion to make to the
human heart: God is not our ally.? They mean us to look for other sources of help,
and to find them useless, and so be taken prisoner by themselves, our enemies.
These are the hints they drop; but we must be assiduously vigilant against their
suggestions, which are shown up in another psalm: many rise up against me;
many say to my soul, “He can find no salvation in his God” (Ps 3:2-3(1-2)). How
does our present psalm rebut these insinuations? Say to my soul, “I am your
salvation.” If you have said to my soul, J am your salvation, it will live righ-
teously, so that I may seek no ally but you.

Verse 4. “I am your salvation”

6. Now, what comes next? Let them be confounded and awed, who seek my
soul, for they seek it to destroy it. If only they would seek it to good purpose! In
another psalm people are reproached because they did not seek his soul: No chance
offlight is open to me, yet there is no one to seek my soul (Ps 141:5(142:6))—to
care for it, he means. Is not the speaker here the same man of whom it was said so
long ago in prophecy, They dug holes in my hands and my feet, and numbered all
my bones. They looked on and watched me, they shared out my garments among

9. A different punctuation in some manuscripts yields the meaning: “. . . no answer? And those
unseen ones? What do our enemies say? Nothing so insistently as that God is not our ally.”
 Exposition 1 of Psalm 34 49

them, and cast lots for my tunic (Ps 21:17-19(22:16-18))?'° These very things were
happening before their eyes, yet there was no one to care for his soul.
Let us all call upon him, brothers and sisters, to say to our soul, J am your
salvation, and to open our spiritual ears so that we may hear him saying, / am
your salvation. He says it, but some of us are getting deaf, so that when we find
ourselves in trouble we prefer to listen to the enemies that harry us. If something
needful is missing, if the soul is hard pressed, or feeling the pinch in temporal
matters, it is likely to seek help from the demons, tempted to consult persons
demoniacally inspired and have recourse to soothsayers. Those invisible
enemies, the persecutors, have approached this soul, invaded it, attacked,
captured and conquered it, telling their captive that he can find no salvation in
his God. This soul has been too deaf to hear the voice that assured it, Jam your
salvation.
Say to my soul, “I am your salvation,” so that they may be confounded and
awed, who seek my soul, this soul to which you say, J am your salvation. | will
listen, then, to him who says to me, / am your salvation. | will seek no salvation!!
other than the Lord my God. If salvation is offered to me by any creature, it
comes from God; if I lift my eyes to the mountains, whence aid may come to me,
it is not from the mountains that it comes but from the Lord who made heaven
and earth (see Ps 120(121):1-2). Even in your temporal problems it is God who
helps you through human agency, for he is your salvation. Or perhaps God
comes to your help through an angel; all the same, he himself is your salvation.
All things are subject to him, and he undoubtedly supports our temporal life,
differently in the case of each person; but eternal life he gives only from himself.
When you are in a tight place your hand may not find what you seek, but he is at
hand whom you seek.'? Seek him who can never leave you in the lurch. His gifts
may be withdrawn from you, but is the Giver withdrawn? What he once gave
you he may give back again; are you going to reckon them riches when you get
them back, and not look on him as your riches, who took them away to test you,
and returns them to you for your comforting? He does indeed comfort us when
we have these things that we need. He gives them to us as comforts along our
way, but we must understand the way aright. Your entire life, and all the things
you use in this life, should seem to you like a hostelry to a traveler, not a house
for someone who means to settle down there. Remember that though you have
covered part of your journey, some still remains, and that you have turned aside
for quiet, not to quit.'?

10. Variant: “.. . no one to seek, that is, to ask, Who is he who is crucified? Surely he who says,
They dug... .”
11. Salutem; here and in the following sentence the word has a broader meaning than “salvation,”
connoting also “safety,” “health,” etc.
12. Non subest quod quaeris, sed adest quem quaeris.
13. Ad refectionem, non ad defectionem.
50 Exposition I of Psalm 34

7. There are people who say, “God is good, great, supreme, invisible, eternal,
incorruptible. He is to give us eternal life, and the incorruptibility that belongs to
the life of resurrection; he has promised this. But secular and temporal interests
are the province of demons, of the powers that rule this dark world.” In saying
this they become affectionately attached to these things, and dismiss God as
though he had no concern with them; and they attempt by illicit sacrifices, or
various charms, or some sort of inducement forbidden to human beings, to
provide for their temporal needs—money, a wife, children, and all the other
things they want, either as comforts for this life as itslips away, or to slow its
onward march.
Divine providence was on the watch, though, to counter this view. God
wished to show that all these things belong to him and are within his domain, not
only the eternal happiness he has promised us for the future, but also the
temporal goods he gives on earth to whomsoever he wills, and whenever he
judges it to be expedient, well knowing to whom he gives and from whom he
withholds them, like a physician dispensing medication, who knows the
patient’s illness better than the patient does. Since God wished to show us this he
made a distinction between the eras of Old and New Testament. In the Old Testa-
ment his promises bear on temporal goods; in the New he promises the kingdom
of heaven. There are plenty of precepts concerned with worshiping God and
leading a good life which are the same in both the one and the other, but his
promise differs between the two dispensations. Therefore while the order of the
one who commands and the obedience of the one who serves are the same in both
instances, the reward seems not to be. On God’s people the commandments were
laid “so that you may receive the land of promise, and set up your kingdom there,
and overcome your enemies, and not be subjugated by them, and possess all you
need in abundance, and procreate children.” These are earthly promises, yet
figurative also. Imagine that some people received these things just as they were
promised; and indeed many did so receive them. The land was given to the Isra-
elites, they were given riches, sons were granted to sterile women—even to old
crones who besought God and relied on him alone, refusing to look elsewhere
for help even for this. They heard the Lord’s voice in their hearts, J am your
salvation. If he avails for eternal rewards, why not for temporal as well?
God proves this in the case of the holy man, Job. Even the devil has no power
to take his property away from him, except when he has received it from that
almighty power. He could envy the holy man, but could he do him any harm?
No. He could accuse him, but could he get him condemned? Was he able to take
anything away from him, to hurt a fingernail or a hair, without first saying to
God, Stretch out your hand (Jb 1:11)? What does that mean, Stretch out your
hand? “Give me the power.” He received it. He did the tempting, and tempted
Job was indeed, but the tempted man emerged victorious and the tempter was
vanquished. God had allowed the devil to take Job’s goods away, but he had not
 Exposition | of Psalm 34 51

inwardly abandoned his servant, and out of his servant’s soul he fashioned for
himself a sword to defeat the devil. What does this signify? I am talking about
the human race as a whole. Humankind was conquered in paradise, but
conqueror on this dungheap. There a man was worsted by the devil through a
woman, here he gets the better of both the devil and a woman. You have spoken
like the silly woman you are, he says. If we have received good things from the
Lord’s hands, should we not endure the bad too? (Jb 2:10) How well he had
heard, / am your salvation!
8. Let them be confounded and awed, who seek my soul. These are human
persons, remember, and the Lord tells us, Pray for your enemies.'4 But this peti-
tion in the psalm is really a prophecy. Requests phrased as desires are explained
when we understand that prophecy is involved. If a psalm says, “May this and
that happen,” it is the same as saying, “This and that are to happen.” Similarly
you must understand this verse as a prophetic statement: Let them be confounded
and awed, who seek my soul. What does let them be confounded and awed mean?
Simply that they will be confounded and awed. And that is what happened.
Many people were confounded for their own good, many were so awed by the
persecution of Christ that they crossed over into the fellowship of his members
with heartfelt devotion; and this would not have come about had they not first
been confounded and awed. In this sense the psalmist hoped for what would
benefit them.
But there are two kinds of people who are overcome, because there are two
ways of being overcome. Either they are overcome in order to be converted to
Christ, or they are overcome to be condemned by Christ. The present passage in
our psalm points out the difference between the two kinds; its explanation is
obscure, admittedly, but calls for a perceptive listener. You can take the petition,
Let them be confounded and awed, who seek my soul, to apply to people who are
converted. But it goes on, Let them be thrust back; in other words, let them not go
ahead, but follow behind, let them not give advice, but take it. Peter wanted to go
ahead of the Lord when the Lord was foretelling his passion; he wanted to give
the Lord what he thought was salutary advice, the sick man giving salutary
advice to the Savior! And what did he tell the Lord, who was asserting the truth
about his future suffering? Far be it from you, Lord; show yourself some kind-
ness; this will not happen. And what was the Lord’s answer? Get behind me,
Satan (Mt 16:22,23). If you rush ahead, you are a Satan; if you follow, you will
be my disciple. To such people the next line applies: Let them be thrust back and
confounded, those who have evil designs on me, for when they begin to follow
behind, they will have no evil designs, but will desire only my good.

14. See Mt 5:44.

oO” Exposition 1 of Psalm 34

Verses 5-6. Dark and slippery paths for the wicked wy

YW

9. What about others? It is not everyone who is overcome in such a fashion as

to be converted and brought to faith; there are many who remain fixed in their
obduracy, and many who harbor in their hearts those spirits who want the front
position. They may not thrust themselves forward, but they are fertile, and when
they have found a suitable place they beget progeny. What has the next verse of
our psalm to say about such people? May they become like dust before the wind.
As another psalm has it, The ungodly are like dust which the wind sweeps away
from the face of the earth (Ps 1:4). The wind is temptation, and the dust is wicked
people. When temptation blows hard the dust is whirled away; it cannot hold its
ground or resist. May they become like dust before the wind, with an angel of the
Lord to harass them. May their path be dark and slippery. What a daunting path!
Darkness alone is enough to frighten anyone. And everyone is anxious on a slip-
pery surface. But with both together, in darkness and on slippery ground, how
can you walk at all? Where will you find firm footing? These two evils are the
great scourges of humankind: the darkness of ignorance and the slipperiness of
sensuality. May their path be dark and slippery, with an angel of the Lord to
harass them, so that they cannot stand upright. If anyone finds himself or herself
in a dark and slippery spot, with the likelihood of falling if even a foot is shifted,
and with no light to see where any foot could be safely placed, the best thing that
person can do may perhaps be to wait for dawn. But there is the angel of the Lord
to harass the wicked.
The psalmist has not been praying for these calamities to occur, but fore-
telling that they will. And even though, speaking by God’s Spirit, he has cast
them in the form of a petition, he does so in the same way that God fulfills the
prophecy; for God acts with unerring judgment, a judgment good, just, holy and
calm; he is not discomposed by anger, or by bitter jealousy, or by any urge to
vent his animosity. His intention is solely justice, in the due punishment of vices.
However, this is still a prophecy.

Verses 7-8. The trap springs back on the setter

10. Why such severe punishment? What has merited it? The next verse tells
us why they have deserved it: Because without provocation they hid their foul
trap'> for me. Look to our Head for the interpretation of this, for this is what the
Jews did to him. They laid their foul trap. For whom did they conceal it? For the
one who was all the while seeing the hearts of those who hid it. Nonetheless he
lived among them in the guise of an ignorant man liable to be duped, even though
they were themselves hoodwinked by their belief that he was duped. His reason

15. Literally “mousetrap” here and in the following lines.

 Exposition | of Psalm 34 53

for pretending to be deceived while he lived among them was that we would be
obliged to live among similar folk in such a way that we undoubtedly would be
duped. Christ saw his betrayer all along, and chose him as all the more necessary
to the work in hand. It is true that through the traitor’s evil deed Christ effected
great good, yet the traitor was chosen as one of the Twelve, so that not even that
small group of twelve should be free from a bad element. This was to give us an
example of patience, since it would be necessary for us to live among bad
people, necessary for us to endure those who do evil, wittingly or unwittingly.
Christ provided you with this example of patience so that you may not lose heart
when you find yourself living among scoundrels. And if Christ’s college of
twelve did not lose heart, how much more steadfast ought we to be, now that all
that was foretold about the mingling of good and evil is being played out in the
great Church? That little college never saw the fulfillment of the promise made
to Abraham, nor the threshing-floor from which would come the great heap to
fill the barn. Have we not better reason, then, to put up with the chaff now, while
the threshing is under way, until the final winnowing gets rid of it? The fate you
have heard about awaits the wicked.
11. What is to be done to them? Without provocation they hid their foul trap
for me. Why does he say, Without provocation? Because the people who did it
were those to whom I have done no evil, whom I have in no way harmed. With
empty accusations they reproached my soul. Why empty? Because they were
accusing me falsely, offering no proof at all. May the trap they do not suspect
spring shut on them. That is a splendid punishment, and supremely just. They
hid their trap so that I would not suspect it; now let the trap they do not suspect
spring shut on them. I am-aware of their trap; but what kind of trap will catch
them? A trap of which they are unaware. Let us listen carefully; perhaps he is
going to tell us about this trap. May the trap they do not suspect spring shut on
them. Should we take it to mean that they hid one trap, and a different one will
ensnare them? No. What then? Everyone is entangled by the fine hairs of his or
her own sins.'° Sinners are deluded by the very schemes with which they try to
delude others. They will be hurt by the same device with which they tried to hurt
their victims. This is why the psalm continues, And may the snare they have
concealed grip them. It is like the case of someone who prepared a poisoned
drink for someone else, and then absent-mindedly drains it himself; or as though
someone dug a pit, hoping that his enemy would fall into it in the dark, but then
forgot that he had dug it and went that way himself first, and fell into it.
I want to stress this, my brothers and sisters. Take it to heart, be very sure of it
and believe it—or if you are endowed with better insight and prudence, see the
truth ofit for yourselves—there is no one who does evil without first of all doing
mischiefto himself. Think ofthe evil person’s malice as a fire. Now suppose you

16. See Prv 5:22.

54 Exposition I of Psalm 34

want to burn something. You have to apply some smoldering object to it, and
unless this is alight, what you want to burn will not catch. So you take a glowing
twig to use like a little torch, and apply it to what you want to burn. This twig you
are using must be on fire first, mustn’t it, if you are going to set the other thing on
fire? So with malice: it comes from yourself, and whom does it destroy first?
Yourself. And if it injures the twig that carries it, does it not also injure the place
where the twig was rooted? What I am saying is that it is possible for your malice
not to hurt someone else, but it cannot do otherwise than hurt you. What injury
was done to the holy man Job, of whom we spoke earlier? Another psalm makes
the same point: like a sharp razor you worked your guile (Ps 51:4(52:2)). What is
a sharp razor used for? For cutting away hairs, unwanted things. So what are you
doing to the person you want to harm? If the one you mean to harm is likewise
malicious and wants to harm you, it is not your malice that will hurt that person,
but his or her own. If, however, that other person’s heart is free from malice, and
surrendered to the voice which says, J am your salvation, then you may slash at
him outwardly, but you will not touch his inner self. All the same, since your
malice springs from your inner self, it renders you worthless first of all. You are
rotten inside. From that corruption the maggot has crawled out, and it has left
nothing sound within you. May the snare they have concealed grip them, and
may they fall into the same trap. Perhaps when you heard a little while ago, May
the trap they do not suspect spring shut on them, you thought it meant some other
trap, something hidden that they could not avoid? Not so. What trap, then? The
same iniquity, the very same, that they hid to catch me. This was what happened
to the Jews, wasn’t it? The Lord defeated their iniquity, but by their iniquity they
were themselves defeated. He rose from the dead for us, but they were left to
themselves to die.

Verse 9. God offers you himself

12. The foregoing verses have been concerned with those who want to injure
me; now what about me? But my soul will rejoice!’ in the Lord, in him from
whom it heard the promise, / am your salvation. My soul seeks no other wealth,
nor does it seek to wallow in pleasures or earthly goods; it loves its true Bride-
groom without looking to any reward, nor desiring to receive from him any
delight save that of keeping before its eyes him alone in whom it may find all
delight. What better thing than God shall be given to me? God loves me; God
loves you.'* Look, he has made you an offer: ask whatever you will. If the
emperor were to say to you, “Ask whatever you will,” you would be blurting out

17. Variant: “has rejoiced.”

18. Variant: “What is better than God? Someone says to me, God loves me, God loves you.”
 Exposition 1 of Psalm 34 55

a mouthful of requests for the office of tribune or lordly rank.'? What splendid
possibilities you would pass in review, things you could ask for yourself and
distribute to others! But when God invites you, “Ask what you will,” what
request will you make? Cudgel your brains, out with your greed, stretch it as far
as you possibly can, widen your desire. It is not just any ordinary person but
almighty God who has said to you, “Ask what you will.” If possessions mean a
lot to you, you will be desiring the whole world, so that all those who are born
will be your tenants or your servants. Then what next, once you own the whole
earth? You will be asking for the sea, even though you will be unable to live in it.
In this display of greed the fishes will outdo you. But perhaps you will own the
islands. Go higher though; this is not enough. Ask for the air as well, even though
you cannot fly; lift your longing even to the sky, say that the sun is yours, and the
moon and the stars, because he who made all things has said to you, “Ask what-
ever you will.” Nothing more precious will you find, though, nothing better, than
him who made them all. Ask for him who made them; in him and from him you
will have everything he has made. They are all precious because they are all
beautiful, but what is more beautiful than he? They are strong, but what is
stronger than he? And what he wants most of all to give you is himself. If you
have discovered anything better, ask for it. But if you do ask for anything else,
you will be insulting him and inflicting loss on yourself, because you will be
esteeming something he has made more highly than its Maker, even though the
Maker wants to give you himself. A soul in love with him like this said, You are
the portion allotted to me, O Lord (Ps 118(119):57; compare Ps 72(73):26). Let
others choose for themselves what they want as their possessions, let them share
things out and allot themselves what they will; but you are my allotted portion,
you I have chosen for myself. Another psalm says, The Lord is my portion and
my inheritance (Ps 15(16):5). Let him possess you so that you may possess him;
you will be his estate, you will be his home. He possesses you to enrich you; he is
possessed by you to enrich you. Do you confer any benefit on him? No, says that
other psalm: J said to the Lord, You are my God, because you have no need of any
good things from me (Ps 15(16):2). But my soul will rejoice in the Lord, and find
delight in his salvation. God’s salvation is Christ himself, for scripture says, My
eyes have seen your salvation (Lk 2:30).

Verse 10. Christ’s bones cry out in praise

13. All my bones will say, “Lord, who is like you?” Who could comment
worthily on these words? I think they should simply be read out, not explained.
Why seek this thing, that thing? What can be compared to your God? Him you

19. Tribunatus comitivasque, the dignity or rank of chief officers. But the CCL editors of the Latin
text amend to comitatusve, “or retinues/escorts.”
56 Exposition I of Psalm 34

have before you. All my bones will say, “Lord, who is like you?” The wicked
have told me titillating tales, but they have nothing to do with your law, O Lord.
There have been persecutors who insisted, “Worship Saturn, worship Mercury,”
“No,” says the psalmist, “I do not pay homage to idols. Lord, who is like you?
They have eyes, but do not see, and ears, but do not hear.”! Lord, who is like you,
who made the eye for seeing and the ear for hearing? I do not worship idols that
were made by a craftsman.” “Worship a tree, and a mountain, then; did a
craftsman make them?” The psalmist answers, “Lord, who is like you? Earthly
realities are being pointed out to me, but you are the earth’s Creator.” Perhaps
now they turn to a higher creature, and say to me, “Worship the moon, worship
that sun which uses its radiance like a mighty lamp in heaven to give us the day.”
And here I say without hesitation, “Lord, who is like you? You made the moon
and the stars, you enkindled the sun to provide daylight, you deployed the
heavens. And many invisible beings there are, better still than these.” So perhaps
I shall be told, “Worship the angels, then, adore the angels.” And I shall answer,
“Lord, who is like you? Even the angels are your creation. The angels are
nothing, except by virtue of seeing you. It is better for me in their company to
possess you, than by adoring them to fall away from you.”
14. All my bones will say, “Lord, who is like you?” O body of Christ, O holy
Church, let all your bones cry, Lord, who is like you? Even if your flesh has
succumbed to persecution, let the bones say, Lord, who is like you? For it was
said of the righteous, The Lord loves all their bones: not one will be broken.”
How many righteous people did have their bones broken under persecution!
Nonetheless we must remember that a person who is righteous through faith has
life, and it is Christ who makes righteous one who has been godless.7? And how
does he make someone righteous? Through that person’s believing and
confessing. Itis written, The faith that issues in righteousness is in the heart, and
the confession that leads to salvation is made with the lips (Rom 10:10). This is
why the robber who had been dragged from his crime to the judge, and from the
judge to the cross, was in spite of everything made righteous on the cross; he
believed in his heart and confessed with his lips. The Lord could not have prom-
ised to one who was still unrighteous and not yet justified, Today you will be with
me in paradise (Lk 23:43). Yet, for all that, the robber’s bones were broken.
When the time came for the bodies to be taken down because of the nearness of
the Sabbath, the Lord was found to be already dead, so his bones were not shat-

20. Compare Ps 118(119):85, and Augustine’s use of this line in the vision of Continence at the
crisis of his conversion, Conf. VIII,11,27.
21. See Ps 113B(115):5,6.
22. Ps 33:21(34:20). The preferred reading here is diligit, “loves,” though a few lines further on
Augustine reads custodit, “guards,” as he also does when commenting on Ps 33 (Exp. 2, 24).
His treatment of the theme of bones here recalls that in the preceding Exposition.
23. See Rom 1:17; 4:5.
 Exposition | of Psalm 34 57

tered. But the others were still alive, and since it was necessary for them to be
taken down soon, their legs were broken, so that the pain might finish them off
and they could then be buried. Do we read that the bones of only one robber were
broken, that one who persisted in his impiety even on the cross, and not those of
the one who had in his heart the faith that issued in righteousness, and made with
his lips the confession that led to salvation? No, that was not the way of it. So
what had become of the pledge, the Lord guards all their bones, not one will be
broken? It must mean that the bones are all the righteous people in the body of
the Lord, the steadfast of heart, the valiant, the people who do not give way and
consent to do wrong, however fierce the persecutions and temptations. And
when did they get the chance to show they would yield to no temptations? When
the persecutors said, “Look, this is god, look how wonderful he is! Let him come
and bind up your wounds.” Up there on the mountain there is a powerful priest.
This may be why you are poor: the god is not helping you. Put your petitions to
him and he will. Or perhaps you are ill because you are not his suppliant; be his
suppliant, then, and you will get better. Or again your childless state is due to
your not paying cult to him: present your request to him and you will have chil-
dren.” But the believer who is numbered among the bones in the Lord’s body
rejects these suggestions and says, “Lord, who is like you? If it is your will, give
me what I seek in this life; and if itis not your will, be yourself my life, you whom
I ever seek. Shall I be able to hold up my head as I depart this life, if I have
worshiped another god and offended you? I may die tomorrow, and then how
will I face you?” God’s mercy is very great; he has taught us how to live rightly
and has hidden from us when our last day will be, the day when we shall die, to
ensure that we make no promises to ourselves about our future. I do something
today, while I am alive; tomorrow I may not be able to do it. What if tomorrow
dawns and you are not here? Say then, you who are among Christ’s bones, Lord,
who is like you? All my bones will say, “Lord, who is like you?”
15. Lord, who is like you, who pluck the helpless out of the hand of the
stronger, the poor man from those who would snatch him away? We have read
the psalm to this point today, and this as much as we can deal with. I don’t want
you to get bored with what has been said already, because there are other things I
want to tell you as well. So let just these words bring us to a close today: you
pluck the helpless out of the hand of the stronger. Who is it who plucks him out?
The strong-handed one, surely; our David will pluck the helpless person out of
the hand of the stronger foe. When the devil captured you he proved the stronger;
he overcame you because you consented. But what did the strong-handed cham-
pion do? No one forces an entrance into a strong man’s house and snatches his

24. Reading liget tibi. Apart from liget te, which means much the same, there are other variants:
nocet tibi, “he can hurt you (if he comes);” neget tibi, “he may be withholding [favors?] from
you.”
58 Exposition 1 of Psalm 34

goods away, unless he has tied up the strong man first.*° By his most sacred, most
glorious power, Christ bound the devil, loosing his sword to make an end of him
and deliver the needy and poor, who had no other helper.*° Who else can your
helper be but the Lord, to whom you cry, Lord, my helper and my redeemer (Ps
18:15(19:14))? If you rely on your own strength it will let you down and you will
tumble; if you rely on someone else’s strength that other will want to dominate
you, not support you. Him alone must we seek, who has both redeemed his
servants and given them freedom, who has given his blood to ransom them, and
has made his servants into his brothers and sisters.

25. See Mt 12:29.

26. See Ps 71(72):12.
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 34

Second Sermon

Introduction: Christ and the Church, one body, one voice

1. Let us turn our attention to the rest of the psalm now, and beg our Lord and
God to grant us a sound understanding of it, and cause it to bear good fruit in the
way we live. I think you will remember the point we reached in discussing it
yesterday, beloved brethren,' so let us pick it up from there today. We hear
Christ's voice in it: the voice, that is, of Christ, Head and body. When you hear
Christ mentioned, never divorce Bridegroom from bride, but recognize that
great sacrament, they will be two in one flesh (Eph 5:31; Gn 2:24). If there are
two in one flesh, why not two in one voice? It is not as though the Head endured
trials here, and the body is exempt from them; nor was there any reason for the
Head to suffer other than to set an example for the body. The Lord suffered of his
free will, but we of necessity; he out of pity, we because it is our condition.
Accordingly, his voluntary suffering is our necessary consolation, so that when
we have to undergo something similar we may fix our gaze on our Head, be
instructed by his example, and say to ourselves, “If he suffered so, what of us?
And as he bore it, let us bear it too.” However fiercely the enemy may rage, he
can go only as far as killing the body; and in the Lord’s case he could not even
finally destroy that, for the Lord rose on the third day. And what took place in his
body on the third day will take place in ours at the end of time. Our hope of resur-
rection is adjourned, but it is not annulled, is it?’ So, dearest friends, let us recog-
nize Christ’s words here, and sort them out from the cries of the wicked. The
words are those of the body undergoing persecution, harassment and trials in this
world; but because many people suffer likewise here below, and often on
account of their sins and crimes, we need to be very alert in distinguishing the
reason for the suffering, rather than looking simply at the pain. A criminal may
undergo torments very much like those of a martyr, but the reason is different.
There were three men on crosses; one was the Savior, another was destined for
salvation, the third for damnation; their torments were alike, the reasons unlike.

1. Caritatem vestram.
2. Differtur, numquid aufertur?

59
60 Exposition 2 of Psalm 34

Verses 11-12. In what sense was Christ ignorant? ae

2. If, speaking in his own person, the Head says, Unjust witnesses arose,
interrogating me on matters of which I knew nothing, we in our turn must ask
him, “Lord, what was there that you did not know? Were you ignorant of
anything? Did you not know even the hearts of your interrogators? Had you not
foreseen their tricks? Had you not delivered yourself knowingly into their
hands? Had you not come for this, to suffer at their will? Of what, then, were you
ignorant?”
He knew nothing of sin, and of this sin in particular, not in the sense that he
could not judge it, but in that he did not commit it. We use the same kind of
expression in everyday speech. You say of someone, “He doesn’t know how to
keep still,” because he does not keep still; or “She doesn’t know how to do the
right thing,” because she is not given to acting rightly; or “He doesn’t know how
to act dishonorably,” because he never does. What is uncharacteristic of a
person’s conduct is foreign to his or her conscience, and what is foreign to the
conscience seems to be something that person knows nothing about. God can be
said not to know in the same way that art does not know lapses of taste, yet it is
precisely art that enables us to recognize such lapses and condemn them. When
we put the question to our Head, “Lord, what was there that you did not know?
How could you be interrogated on matters of which you were ignorant?” he
replies to us by pointing to the truth of his own gospel. “I knew nothing of sins,
and it was about sins that I was being interrogated. If you do not believe that Iam
ignorant of sins, look at the passage in the gospel where I say that I do not even
know the sinners, to whom I am to say at the end, / never knew you; depart from
me, you who work iniquity” (Mt 7:23). Do you think he did not know those
whom he was condemning? Is not a good judge, one who knows them well, the
only one who can justly condemn? The Lord is the good judge, and he does
know them well, yet he did not lie in saying, / never knew you. It implies, “You
do not fit into my body; you do not keep to my rules. You are like lapses of taste
in a work of art, but I am art itself, free from all fault, and it is from me that
anyone learns to avoid faults.”
Unjust witnesses arose, interrogating me on matters of which I knew nothing.
Of what was Christ so radically ignorant as blasphemy? He was interrogated on
this score by his persecutors, and because he spoke the truth he was judged to
have blasphemed. Judged by whom? By those of whom the psalm goes on to say,
For good deeds they requited me with evil, and gave back to my soul only
sterility. “I brought them fecundity, but they gave me sterility in return; I brought
them life, they requited me with death; I bestowed honors, they insults, I medi-

3. Variant offered by the CCL editors: “Can anyone bejustly condemned, if he is not known to be
bad?”
 ___ Exposition 2 of Psalm 34 61

cine, they wounds. And in all these returns they made to me, there was nothing
but sterility.” Christ cursed a tree for its sterility when he looked for fruit on it
and found none.* There were leaves, but no fruit, as his persecutors produced
words, but not deeds. Look how prolific they were in words, though barren of
deeds: “You preach against theft, but steal yourself; you say adultery is wrong,
but you commit adultery.”> Such were the people who were interrogating Christ
on matters of which he knew nothing.

Verse 13. Sackcloth, fasting and prayer, as interpreted of Christ

3. When they were troublesome to me, I clothed myself in sackcloth;® I

humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer will be directed’ back into my own
breast. Yes, brothers and sisters, this is exactly what we are taught, because we
belong to Christ’s body, because we are members of Christ. We are advised that
in any trouble we may have, we should not cast about for a retort to make to our
enemies, but look to how we may propitiate God by prayer, and especially pray
that we be not overcome by temptation. And, finally, we are taught to pray that
even our persecutors may be brought back to spiritual health and righteousness.
There is no greater thing we can do, no better way of dealing with temptation,
than to withdraw from the hubbub outside and enter the secret recesses of our
own minds, and there call upon God, where no one else sees either the groaning
suppliant or the One who comes to our help.® There is nothing more profitable
that we can do than to shut the door of our private room against all the annoyance
that tries to invade from outside, humble ourselves by confessing our sin, and
magnify and praise God who both corrects and consoles us.’ This is most
certainly the right course for us.
However, we have been talking about this as experienced by the body, that is,
by ourselves. Can we discern anything of the kind in our Lord Jesus Christ? We
may search the gospels thoroughly, with the utmost care, yet we do not find any
mention of the Lord’s having donned sackcloth when he was facing pain or
trouble. We read that he fasted after his baptism, certainly, but we have never
heard or read anything about sackcloth in that connection. In any case he was
fasting then because the devil was tempting him, not the Jews, who were not
persecuting him yet. I am not saying that the Lord fasted when they were interro-
gating him on matters of which he was ignorant, or when for good deeds they
requited him with evil by pursuing, hounding, arresting, scourging, wounding

wee ME21L9:
. See Rom 2:21-22.
. Cilicio, literally “goat’s hair,” because originally derived from Cilician goats.
Variant: “was directed.”
. See Mt 6:6.
. Variant: “God who corrects us to our profit.”
OOIAUKA
62 Exposition 2 of Psalm 34

and killing him. Yet throughout all this, brothers and sisters, if we, lift the veil
slightly in reverent curiosity,'° and probe the inner meaning of this’ partof scrip-
ture with the keen eye of our heart, we discover that our Lord did do what the
psalm describes. Perhaps he uses the word “sackcloth” to represent his mortal
flesh. But why sackcloth? Because it resembles sinful flesh. The apostle testi-
fies, God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, that he might deal with sin by
condemning it within that very flesh (Rom 8:3). In other words, God clothed his
Son in sackcloth, so that, sackcloth-clad, he might condemn the goats. There was
no sin in him; and I do not mean simply that there was none in the Word of God; I
mean there was no sin in his holy human soul and mind, in that humanity which
the Word and Wisdom of God had taken and shaped to himself. There was no sin
whatever even in his body, but in the Lord there was the likeness of sinful flesh,
because death comes only from sin,!! and his body was obviously liable to death.
If he had not been mortal he could not have died; if he had not died he would not
have risen from the dead; and if he had not risen he would not have been for us an
example and proof of eternal life.
For these reasons death is called “sin,” because it comes about through sin. It
is like the way we speak of “the Greek tongue,” or “the Latin tongue”; we do not
mean the physical organ, but what is done by that organ. The tongue is one
member among others in our bodies, like the eyes, nose, ears, and so on. “The
Greek tongue” means Greek words; the words are not the tongue, but the words
are uttered by the tongue. So too you say of someone, “I recognized his face,”
referring to a part of his body; and you say, “I recognized his hand,” when refer-
ring to an absent person, although it is not the hand that forms part of his body
that you recognized, but the writing done by that physical hand. In a similar way
we can speak of our Lord’s “sin,” meaning what sin brought about, because he
assumed his flesh from that very stock that by sin had deserved death. To put it
briefly: Mary, descended from Adam, died because of sin. Adam died because
of sin, and the Lord’s flesh, derived from Mary, died to abolish sins.'? This is the
sackcloth the Lord put on, and because he was concealed by sackcloth he was not
recognized. When they were troublesome to me, I clothed myself in sackcloth, he
says. In other words, while they were venting their savagery, I remained hidden.
If he had not been willing to remain hidden he could not have been put to death;
this is clear from that episode where, in a single moment, he released one little
drop of his power, as it were, as they tried to arrest him. He asked one question

10. So there can be a devout and profitable curiosity, though in his Confessions Augustine
associated curiositas with a root vice, the “lust of the eyes” (1 Jn 2:16); see Conf. X,35,54-55.
11. See Rom 5:12.
12. The first sentence of this brief summary gave rise to multiple variants, presumably because
copyists familiar with more developed Marian doctrine found difficulty with it. Emendations
include: “Mary, descended from Adam, died because of Adam’s sin”; “Mary was Adam’s
descendant, and Adam died because of sin”; “Mary was the descendant of the first Adam, and
the second Adam, born of Mary died to abolish sins.”
 Exposition 2 ofPsalm 34 63

only: “Whom do you seek?” and that was enough to hurl them backward and fell
them to the ground.'* Power like that he could not have humbled in his passion,
except by keeping it hidden under sackcloth.
4. So then, / clothed myself in sackcloth and humbled my soul with fasting.
We have understood about the sackcloth; now what are we to make of the
fasting? Was it food Christ wanted, when he looked for fruit on the tree;!* and if
he had found any, would he have eaten it? And was it water Christ wanted, when
he said to the Samaritan woman, Give me a drink, and on the cross, J am thirsty
(Jn 4:7; 19:28)? What does Christ hunger for, what does he thirst for? Our good
actions. He found none in those who crucified and hounded him, so he had to
stay fasting then, for they supplied nothing but sterility to his soul. What a fast it
was for him! He found barely one robber to taste on the cross. The apostles had
fled and disappeared into the crowd. Even Peter, who had promised to be faithful
to the point of dying with his Lord, had already denied him three times, and wept,
and was now lurking among the mob, still afraid of being recognized. In the end,
when they saw him dead, all of them despaired even of salvation; but after his
resurrection he came and sought them out in their despair, and talked with them
as they mourned and grieved, bereft of hope. This was the state of some of them
who conversed with him along the road. He asked them, What are you
discussing between you? They were talking about him. They replied, Are you the
only stranger in Jerusalem not to know what the priests and our leaders did to
Jesus of Nazareth, who was so powerful in deed and word? How they crucified
and killed him? And we had been hoping that he was the one to redeem Israel (Lk
24:18-21). The Lord would have been forced to endure a grueling fast had he not
been able to refresh those he meant to swallow up. But refresh them he did; he
comforted them, strengthened them, and transformed them into his own body.
So in this sense we can speak of our Lord fasting.
5. My prayer will be directed back into my own breast, the psalm continues. A
mighty breast this is; may the Lord grant us to make our way into it. The breast
symbolizes what is secret. It is with excellent reason, brothers and sisters, that
we are instructed to pray within our own breast, where God alone sees, where
God alone hears, where no human eye spies on us, where no one sees except the
One who comes to our aid. This is where Susanna prayed, and though her prayer
was inaudible to human beings, it was heard by God.'° This is certainly good
advice for us; but if it is to be applied to our Lord (for he too prayed), we must
look for something more. We find nothing about sackcloth in the gospel, if we
take it literally, nor is there any literal statement about the Lord fasting at the
time of his passion. That is why we explained sackcloth and fasting in an allegor-

13. See Jn 18:4,6.

14. See Mk 11:13.
15. See Dn 13:35, 42-44.
64 Exposition 2 of Psalm 34

ical way, understanding them figuratively as best we could. With his prayer it is
quite otherwise, for we heard him cry even from the cross, My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me? (Mt 27:46; Ps 21:2(22:1)). But even there, yes, even
there, we were present.'° For when did the Father, from whom he was never
separated, ever forsake Christ? Again, we read that Jesus prayed alone on the
mountain-side, that he spent the whole night in prayer,'’ and that he prayed as the
passion drew near. So what are we to make of this line in the psalm, my prayer
will be directed back into my own breast? | am not sure I know how to under-
stand this of the Lord. I will tell you what now occurs to me, but perhaps some-
thing more suitable may suggest itself later, either to me or to someone better. I
understand my prayer will be directed back into my own breast to mean that
within his breast he had his Father, for God was in Christ, reconciling the world
to himself.'® Christ had within himself the Father whom he was entreating; he
was never far from his Father, for he had said himself, / am in the Father, and the
Father is in me (Jn 14:10). But prayer is proper to his humanity. As the Word,
Christ does not pray, he hears prayer; and he does not beg help for himself, but
together with the Father comes to the help of us all. Accordingly we can best
understand my prayer will be directed back into-my own breast as signifying,
“The human nature in me is calling upon the divinity in me.”

Verse 14. Being near to God, or far from him

6. lwas humbled like one mourning and grieving, yet Iwas as pleasing to him
as to a close friend or brother. Christ is looking to his body now; we must see
ourselves in this verse. When we find joy in prayer, when our mind is at peace,
contented not with the world’s prosperity but in the light of truth (anyone who
has experienced this light will know what I am talking about, and recognize it
here), then the soul knows what this phrase means: / was as pleasing to him as to
a close friend or brother. This is how close the soul is to God at such times, and
how pleasing it is to him. Jn him we move and have our being, says scripture
(Acts 17:28), as we might in a brother or sister, a near relative or a friend. But
when the soul is in no state to rejoice like this, to be radiant like this, to come
close to God and cling to him like this, but sees itselftobe far away, then it must
conduct itself in the way the psalm recommends: J was humbled like one
mourning and grieving. When I came close to God, it says, then J was as
pleasing as to a brother; but when I am far off, and banished to a distance, I
lament, humbled like one mourning and grieving. What is it mourning for?

16. Etibinos eramus. The CCL editors (questionably) amend the last word to oramus: “even there
we are praying.”
17. See Mt 14:23; Lk 6:12.
18. See 2 Cor 5:19.
 _ Exposition 2 of Psalm 34 65

Because it longs for what it does not possess. Sometimes both states are experi-
enced by the same person. We are sometimes close, sometimes far away; we
approach God by the light of truth, but seem to be distant from him owing to the
cloud of the flesh.
This does not mean, brothers and sisters, that we come near to God by any
change of place, or distance ourselves from him by any spatial movement, for
God is everywhere and is confined to no place whatever. To approach him is to
become like him; to move away from him is to become unlike him. If you see
two objects that are very similar, you say, “This one is very close to that,” don’t
you? And when two dissimilar objects are shown you, even though they are in
one place and can be held together in one hand, you say, “These differ widely.”
You are holding both, holding them together, yet you say they are different by
far. They are distant not by position in different places but by their dissimilarity.
So then, if you want to come close to God, be like him. If you do not want to be
like him, you will withdraw into the distance. If you are like him, be glad of it; if
you are unlike him, groan over it, so that your groaning may arouse your desire,
and your desire move you to groan the more. Then you will begin to draw near to
him by your groaning, even though you had been heading in the opposite direc-
tion. Did not Peter draw near when he said, You are the Christ, the Son of the
living God? But then he put himself far off by saying, Far be itfrom you, Lord,
this will not happen. And what did Christ, like a close friend, say to him as he
approached? Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah. But then as Peter moved
away, and grew unlike the Lord, Jesus said to him, Get behind me, Satan. As he
drew near, Jesus said, “/t is not flesh and blood that revealed this to you, but my
Father, who is in heaven; his light has flooded you, and you are shining with his
radiance.” But when Peter drew further away, arguing against the suffering
which the Lord was to undergo for our salvation, Jesus rebuked him: You have
no taste for the things of God, but only for human things (Mt 16:16-23). In
another psalm someone vividly recorded both states: Beside myself with fear, I
said, “I have been flung far out of your sight” (Ps 30:23(31:22)). He would not
be “beside himself” as he spoke unless he were drawing near to God, because
this ecstatic state is a going forth of the mind. He poured out his soul above
himself !? and approached God, but then he found himself flung back to earth, as
though through a cloud and the weight of the flesh. Remembering where he had
been, and taking stock of where he was now, he said, / have been flung far out of
your sight.
May God grant it to be true for each of us that / was as pleasing to himas toa
close friend or a brother. But when it is not so, let this be verified in us instead: /
was humbled like one mourning and grieving.

19. See Ps 41:5(42:4).

66 Exposition 2 of Psalm 34

Verse 15. Blessed are the mourners

Y

7. They made merry over me and made common cause. They were merry, I
was sad. But we heard just now in the gospel, Blessed are those who mourn (Mt
5:5). If mourners are blessed, then those who laugh are to be pitied. It was against
me that they made merry and made common cause; their scourges fell thick
upon me and they knew it not,” for they were interrogating me about matters of
which I knew nothing, and they did not know whom they were interrogating.

Verse 16. Persecution, past and present

8. They mocked me with derisive gestures; that is to say, they made fun of me
and insulted me. It happened to the Head, and it happens to the body. Consider
the glory of the Church today, brothers and sisters, and then cast your minds
back to the contempt in which it once was held. Remember how Christians were
hounded out of every refuge, and how wherever they were discovered they were
mocked, beaten, killed, thrown to the beasts and burnt; and remember how
people made merry at their expense. What had happened to the Head happened
to the body too. What had been done to the crucified Lord was done to his body
as well throughout the persecution of former days. But persecution has not
ceased even now. Wherever they find a Christian they make a point of insulting
him or her; they taunt Christians, call them doltish, dull, lily-livered, good for
nothing. But let them do what they will: Christ is in heaven. Let them do what
they will: he has made his punishment glorious, and planted his cross on the
brows of all. The godless are allowed to insult us, but not to use violence. And
what the tongue brings forth is indicative of what the godless have in their hearts.
They hissed at me through their teeth.*'

Verse 17. Why help is delayed

9. When will you have a care for me, Lord? Save my soul from their strata-
gems, my precious one from the lions.** His help seems to us slow in coming, so
itis in our name that the psalm here asks, When will you have a care? When shall
we see your punishment fall on those who insult us? When will the judge be
worn down by weariness and give that widow a hearing?” But in truth our Judge
postpones his saving help in our case not out of weariness but out of love; of set
purpose and not because he lacks the means; not because he is unable to come to

20. Variant in one manuscript: “I knew it not.”

21. In the present sermon Augustine passes over the first part of this verse, but he discusses it
briefly in his Exposition of Psalm 57, 20.
22. Or “my precious life”; literally “my only one,” as in Ps 21:21(22:20).
23. See Lk 18:3-6.
 ___ Exposition 2 of Psalm 34 67

our aid immediately, but because our numbers are to be continually augmented
until the end comes. All the same, our longing impels us to ask, When will you
have a care, Lord? Save my soul from their stratagems, my precious one from
the lions: this means the Church, save it from ruthless powers.

Verse 18. Praise from the “weighty people”

10. Perhaps you would like to know what this “only one” is? Read on. J will
confess to you, Lord, in the great congregation, in a weighty people I will praise
you. Assuredly it is in the great congregation that I will confess to you, and in a
weighty people that J will praise you, for while confession is made in every gath-
ering, it is not in everyone present that God is praised. The whole assembly hears
our confession, but not in the whole assembly does God’s praise resound. In this
whole assembly, that is, in the Church spread throughout the world, there is both
chaff and wheat. The chaff blows away, but the wheat remains; that is why the
psalm says, /n a weighty people I will praise you. In these heavy, weighty folk,
who are not blown away by the wind of temptation, God is praised; but on
account of the chaff he is continually blasphemed. When outsiders take note of
our chaff, what do they say? “Look how those Christians live! Look what Chris-
tians get up to!” And that saying of scripture comes true: Through your fault my
name is profaned among the nations (Rom 2:24; compare Is 52:5; Ezk 36:20).
Turn your jaundiced gaze on us, you scoundrel, look into the threshing-floor,
you who unmistakably belong among the chaff yourself, and you will not easily
see any good grain. But look harder and you will find that heavy people in whom
you may praise the Lord. Do you really want to find it? Be like that yourself. If
you are not, it will be difficult for you to avoid tarring everyone else with your
own brush. Measuring themselves by themselves (2 Cor 10:12), as the apostle
says, they do not understand; but in a weighty people I will praise you.

Verses 19-21. Christ and those who tried to trap him

11. Do not let them insult me, those who pit themselves against me unjustly,
for they insult me over the chaff that is to be found in me, those who hate me for
no reason, because I have done them no harm, and wink at me, the false hypo-
crites. They spoke peaceful words to me, indeed. Why does he say, They wink at
me? Because they give facial signals that do not express what they have in their
hearts. And who are these people who wink? They spoke peaceful words to me,
indeed, but deceitfully hatched hostile plots, and opened wide mouths against
me. At first they only winked, those lions that sought to seize and devour their
prey; at first they soothed him with peaceful words, but they were full of guile
and hostile intentions. What were the peaceful words they spoke? Teacher, we
68 Exposition 2 of Psalm 34

know that you do not truckle to anyone, and truthfully teach the way of God. So is
it lawful to pay tribute to Caesar, or not? (Mt 22:16-17). Yes, conciliatory words
they spoke to me. But what happened? Did you not see through them; did they
deceive you with their shifty, winking eyes? On the contrary, he did see through
them; that was why he answered, Why are you putting me to the test, you hypo-
crites ?(Mt 22:18). But later they opened wide mouths at me, shouting, Crucify!
Crucify! (Lk 23:21). They said, Hurrah! Hurrah! Our eyes have seen it! This too
was part of their insults: Hurrah! Hurrah! Play the prophet for us, Christ! (Mt
26:68). Just as their friendly behavior was insincere when they put him to the test
about the tribute coin, so now was their praise intended as insult. They said,
Hurrah! Hurrah! Our eyes have seen it!, seen your deeds, your wonderful
works. This is the Christ, is it? Jf he is the Christ, let him come down from the
cross, and we shall believe him. He saved others, but he can’t save himself (Mt
27:42). Our eyes have seen it. This is the sum total of his boasting: he called
himself the Son of God.”
But the Lord hung patiently on the cross; he had not lost his power, but he was
demonstrating his wisdom. What great matter would it have been to come down
from the cross, for him who was later to rise fronrthe tomb? But then he would
have seemed to yield the victory to those who mocked him; and the divine plan
required that when he rose from the dead he would show himself to his own
followers, not to them. This was a great mystery,” for his resurrection was the
sign of new life, but the new life was manifested to his friends, not to his
enemies.

Verse 22. God’s silence

12. You have seen, O Lord, do not keep silence. What does that mean: do not
keep silence? Judge them! In another text judgment is spoken of in a similar way:
I have long been silent, but shall I be silent for ever? (Is 42:14, LXX). And with
regard to judgment delayed, God says to the sinner in another psalm, All this you
did, and I was silent; you were wrong to think that I will be like you (Ps
49(50):21). How can he be said to keep silence, when he speaks through the
prophets, speaks with his own lips in the gospel, speaks through the evangelists,
and speaks through us too when we speak the truth? How can this be said?
Because he is silent from judgment, but not from commandments, not from
teaching. But the prophet does in a way call upon him to judge, and foretells the
judgment to come: You have seen, O Lord; do not keep silence: you will not be
silent then, because you must judge. O Lord, do not leave me. Pending the judg-

24. See Jn 19:7.

25. In magno sacramento.
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 34 69

ment, do not leave me, for you have promised, Lo, |am with you even to the end
of the ages (Mt 28:20).

Verses 23-24. The cause, not the pain, makes the martyr

13. Arise, O Lord, attend speedily to my vindication. Vindication for what?

Because you have had a bad time, beset with toil and sorrows? But plenty of bad
people suffer from the same things, don’t they? Vindication for what, then? You
expect to be declared just, because you put up with it all? No? What do you
expect, then? My vindication. How does the psalm go on? Attend speedily to my
vindication; O my God, my Lord, champion my cause. I am asking you to take
note not of my pain, but of the reason why I am undergoing it, not of what any
robber has in common with me, but of the cause in which I suffer, for blessed are
those who suffer persecution in the cause of right (Mt 5:10).
Now this cause is something quite distinct. The suffering may be the same for
both good people and bad; so it is not the pain that makes martyrs, but the cause
in which they suffer. If it were the punishment that made martyrs, all the jails
would be full of martyrs, all the chains there would be dragging martyrs along,
and every executed felon would be in line for a martyr’s crown. No, we must
discern the cause. Nobody has any right to say, “Because I am suffering, I am
righteous.” He who was the first to suffer suffered for justice’ sake, and so he
added the vital qualification: Blessed are those who suffer persecution in the
cause of right. There are plenty of people who justifiably persecute others, and
many suffer it whose causeis unjust. If there could never be persecution for laud-
able reasons, the declaration would not have been made in another psalm,
Anyone who was secretly disparaging his neighbor, I would always pursue (Ps
100(101):5). And anyway, brothers and sisters, does a good, just father not
persecute a dissolute son? He persecutes the boy’s vices, not the boy himself; he
persecutes not what he has begotten but what the boy has added to that. Then
consider a doctor who is called in to cure someone. He often comes armed with
steel instruments, doesn’t he? But they are to be used against the wound, not the
patient. He cuts to heal; yet when the steel goes in the patient feels pain, and
screams and struggles; if he is out of his senses with fever he may even hit out at
the doctor. But the doctor does not slacken his efforts for the patient’s recovery.
He does what he knows to be necessary, and takes no notice if the patient curses
and rails at him. And are not all those afflicted with morbid lethargy shaken, for
fear they may sink down from heavy sleep into death? Some endure this treat-
ment even from their own beloved children; no one could be called a devoted son
who was unwilling to shake his sleeping father in such circumstances. Lethargic
patients are aroused, the delirious are tied down; yet all of them are loved.
No one, then, has the right to say, “I am suffering persecution.” Such claim-
ants should not flaunt their sufferings but demonstrate the justice of their cause,
70 Exposition 2 of Psalm 34

if they cannot demonstrate it, they may be in danger of being ¢lassed with
wrongdoers. How shrewdly, how aptly the psalmist has drawn our attention to
this point by praying, Attend speedily to my vindication (not to my pain as such);
O my God, my Lord, champion my cause.
14. Vindicate me, Lord, in accordance with my righteousness. Take my cause
into consideration. Not in accordance with how much it hurts me, but in accor-
dance with my righteousness, O Lord, my God; on that basis vindicate me.

Verses 24-26. Swallowing the wicked

15. Do not let my enemies jeer at me. Let them not say in their hearts,
“Hurrah! Hurrah!” to our soul. This would be as good as saying, “We have
done it because he was in our power; we have killed him, made away with him.”
Let them not say it means: Show them that they have achieved nothing. Let them
not say, “We have swallowed him up.” The martyrs in similar vein say, /f the
Lord had not been among us, perhaps they would have swallowed us alive (Ps
123(124):1,3). Why do they say, Swallowed us? It means, They might have
drawn us into their own body. What you swallow‘is what you absorb into your
own body. The world wants to swallow you, but you must swallow the world;
draw it into your own body, slaughter it and eat it. Peter was told, Slaughter and
eat (Acts 10:13); kill in them what they are of themselves, and turn them into
what you are. But if, on the contrary, they win you over to their impiety, you are
swallowed by them. It is not when you are suffering persecution at their hands
that you are swallowed by them, but when they persuade you to become what
they are. Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.” Your job is to swallow
the whole body of pagans. Why? Because it wants to swallow you, so you must
do to it what it seeks to do to you. Perhaps this was why the golden calf was
pulverized and sprinkled into water, and given to the people to drink;7° the whole
body of idolaters was to be swallowed up by Israel. Let all of them together be
shamed and struck with awe, who take pleasure in my misfortunes; let them be
clothed with confusion and disgrace, so that in their confusion we may swallow
them. May those who speak spitefully against me be shamed and confounded.

Verses 27-28. How to praise God all day long

16. Now what have you, the Head in union with your members, to tell us? Let
them dance for joy and be glad, those who want my righteousness to prevail, the
people who have held fast to my body. And let them say always, “May the Lord
be glorified,” those who want peace for his servant. Then my tongue will tell of

26. See Ex 32:20.

 ____ Exposition 2 of Psalm 34 71

your righteousness, and praise you all day long. Whose tongue can keep God’s
praise going all day? Even now, when our sermon has gone on a little longer than
usual, you are weary; so who has the stamina to praise God all day long? I can
give you a tip that will enable you to praise God throughout the day, if you want
to. Whatever you have to do, do it well, and you have praised God. When you are
singing a hymn, you are praising God; but what is your tongue’s activity worth,
unless your conscience is praising him too? Have you had enough of singing
hymns? Are you off for some refreshment? All right, take care not to drink too
much, and you have praised God. Or you are off to bed? Be careful that when you
get up it is not to do wrong, and you have praised God. Or you are conducting
business? Don’t defraud anyone, and you have praised God. You are tilling your
field? Don’t stir up a quarrel, and you have praised God. By the probity of your
actions prepare yourself to praise God all day long.
 Exposition of Psalm35 __,

A Sermon to the People

Verse 2. Willful lack of understanding

1. A little concentration should see us through this psalm and the mysteries it
holds, beloved brethren.' Let us run through it briskly, because in many places it
is perfectly clear; and if in others the obscurity of some passages means that we
have to spend more time, I hope you will bear with me for the sake of learning
something useful. The unjust person has voiced within himself the resolve to do
wrong; there is no fear of God before his eyes. It is not one person that is envis-
aged here, but the whole race of wrongdoers who are their own worst enemies
because they fail to understand how to live good lives; and they fail to under-
stand not because they are unable but because they-refuse. It is one thing when a
person tries to understand something, and cannot by reason of the weakness of
the flesh, for, as scripture says somewhere, The corruptible body weighs down
the soul, and this earthly dwelling oppresses a mind that considers many things
(Wis 9:15). But it is quite a different matter when the human heart acts so
destructively against itself that it does not understand what it might have under-
stood, given a little good will. The subject-matter is not difficult, but the rebel-
lious will poses an obstacle. This is what happens when sinners are attached to
their sins and hate God’s commandments. If you are a friend to your iniquity,
God’s word is your enemy; but if you are an enemy to your iniquity, God’s word
is a friend to you and an enemy to your iniquity. It follows that if you hate your
iniquity, you ally yourself with God’s word, and then there will be two who are
bent on destroying your iniquity—you and the word of God. You can achieve
nothing by your own strength, but he who has sent his word to you comes
himself to your aid, and so iniquity is routed. If you hate it, God has forgiven it,
and you will be free; but if you are affectionately attached to it, you will raise
answering objections to every objection made against it.
Take the case of someone who is wondering how the Son can be equal to the
Father. He or she has believed it and seeks now to understand it, but cannot yet
do so; for this is a profound matter and demands greater capacity if it is to be
comprehended. Meanwhile faith is a beginning, and keeps the soul safe until it
grows stronger. The soul is nourished with milk until, sturdy and accustomed to

1. Caritas vestra.

He
 Exposition of Psalm 35 713

more solid food, it comes to understand that in the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God; he was God (Jn 1:1). Before it is capable of this it is
nourished in the faith, and it does its best to understand, so that it may indeed
reach such understanding as God allows it. But does anyone really have to make
an effort to understand the injunction, Do not do to another what you would not
want anyone to do to you (Tb 4:16)? It simply means that since you do not want
to suffer injustice you must not deal unjustly, and since you do not want anyone
to take crafty advantage of you, you must not take unfair advantage of anyone
else. If you don’t understand that, the fault lies in your own will. This is why the
psalm says, The unjust person has voiced within himself his resolve to do wrong.

God is present within

2. When someone has formed this resolve to do wrong, does he announce it

publicly? No, he forms it within himself. Why? Because there no human eye can
see it. Yes, that is true; but doesn’t God see him there, even though no human eye
sees his determination to do wrong? Of course God sees him! But what has the
next clause to say? There is no fear of God before his eyes. All the sinner has in
his sights is fear of other people; he does not dare to make public declaration of
his iniquity, lest he be rebuked or condemned by others. He withdraws from
human observation, but where to? Into himself! He ushers himself within, where
no one can see him. There within himself no one watches him as he plans his
trickery, his ruses and his crimes. He would not be able to plot, even there within
himself, if he considered that God is scrutinizing him; but because there is no
fear of God before his eyes, he thinks he has no one to fear once he has with-
drawn from human view into his own heart. But God is present there, isn’t he?
Assuredly, but in the sinner’s outlook there is no room for the fear of God.

Verses 3-4. Dishonest searching

3. So he goes on planning his trickery, and the psalm continues—but wait a

minute, perhaps he is simply unaware that God is watching him? Yes, precisely,
he is unaware, and that is the point I was making earlier: he is unaware of it
because he has chosen to be, and in refusing to understand he has acted against
his own interests. Because he has dealt dishonestly in his sight. In whose sight?
In the sight of God, of course, because the fear of God was not kept before the
eyes of this sinner who dealt dishonestly. Jn pretending to find his own iniquity,
and hate it: this suggests that he acted in such a way as to make sure he would not
find it. Some people make a show of trying to find their iniquity, but they are
afraid of finding it, because if they do find it, they will be challenged: “Give it up.
You did this before you knew what you were doing. You committed this sin
while you were still ignorant. God grants pardon; so now that you have recog-
74 Exposition of Psalm 35

nized it, get rid of it, so that your ignorance may easily win you pardon, and you
may look straight at God and say, Do not remember the transgressions of my
youth, when I was ignorant” (Ps 24(25):7). But no, he pretends to seek it here,
seek it there, but always he is afraid of finding it. His search is a sham. When is it
that a person truthfully says, “I didn’t know it was a sin”? Only when he or she
has perceived that it is a sin, and has given up committing it, because it was only
through ignorance that he or she committed it earlier. People like that genuinely
want to know iniquity for what it is, and find it, and hate it when found. But
nowadays many are dishonest in the way they look.for their iniquity; they go
about it without sincerely wanting to find it and hate it. Consequently, because
there is dishonesty in their search, there will be an attempt to defend the iniquity
when it comes to light. Once it is found, its true character will be out in the open,
and the sinner will not be able to deny that it is iniquity indeed. “Don’t do it,” you
say. And what do they reply, these people who faked the search, and now that
they have found the sin, do not hate it? “Oh, but everybody does it,” they say.
“You won’t find anyone who doesn’t do that. Do you imagine that God is going
to send the whole lot of us to hell?” Or at any rate they protest, “If God really did
not want these things to be done, would the people who do them have been left
alive?” Don’t you see that you were being dishonest when you pretended to look
for your iniquity? If you had not been dishonest, but had acted with sincerity,
you would have found it by now, and found it hateful; but as things are, you have
found it and you defend it. This proves that you were acting deceitfully when you
were searching.
4. The words he utters are iniquity and guile; he has refused to understand,
and so act well. You can see from this how the psalmist attributes ignorance to a
bad will. There are people who want to understand, but are unable; there are
others who do not understand because they do not want to. He has refused to
understand, and so act well.

Verse 5. Inner peace

5. He plotted iniquity in his bedroom. Why does it say that, in his bedroom?
The psalm said earlier, you remember, The unjust person has voiced within
himself his resolve to do wrong, and where that earlier verse had within himself,
this one has in his bedroom. Our bedroom is our heart, for there we toss and turn
if we have a bad conscience, but there, if our conscience is easy, we find rest.
Any of us who love this bedroom of the heart must be sure that what we do there
is good, and so it is in this bedroom of the heart that our Lord Jesus Christ
commands us to pray: Go into your private room, and shut your door. What does
he mean by shut your door? Do not look to God to give you the kind of good
things you find outside, but those that are within. Then your Father who sees in
secret will give you your reward (Mt 6:6). What sort of people do not close their
 ___ Exposition of Psalm 35 te)

doors? The ones who set great store by asking external things from God, and
focus all their prayers on getting this world’s goods. If your door stands open, the
crowd outside sees you when you pray. What does it mean to shut the door? It
means to ask of God what God alone knows how to give you. What is this good
thing, then, for the sake of which you shut your door, and ask him? Something
that no eye has seen, no ear heard, no human heart conceived.’ And perhaps no
notion of it has found its way into your bedroom either, into your heart, I mean.
Never mind; God knows what he is going to give you. When will that happen?
When the Lord is revealed, when he appears as judge; for what could be plainer
than the words he is to speak to those stationed at his right hand? Come, you who
are blessed by my Father, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you since
the creation of the world (Mt 25:34). Those placed at his left will hear it said, and
groan in a remorse that is fruitless, because during their wicked lifetime they
refused to repent fruitfully. Why will they be groaning? Because no chance of
amendment is left to them. What they will hear is, Depart into the eternal fire
that was prepared for the devil and his angels (Mt 25:41). A woeful thing to
hear, that is! The just will rejoice at the good news they hear: as scripture says,
The just will be held in eternal remembrance; what they are to hear holds no
terrors for them (Ps 111(112):7). What is the bad news they need not be afraid to
hear? What the others are to hear: Depart into eternal fire.
God can do more than we are able to ask or understand,? and he listens for our
hidden groaning so that we may be pleasing in his sight, and not flaunt any righ-
teousness we may imagine we have in the presence of other people. Anyone who
seeks human approval for his or her good life, not with the intention of
provoking those who see it to praise God, but in order to attract praise to himself,
is not closing his door against the din; rather his door stands wide open to the
racket outside, and God cannot hear as he wants to.
Let us make every effort, then, to clean the bedroom of our heart, and make it
a place where we find peace. You know, beloved,* how in public places many
people have a lot to put up with: in the forum, in disputes, in controversies, in the
problems raised by their business; and you know too how when someone is
weary of these negotiations outside he hurries back home to rest. He does his
best to dispatch his public business quickly and betake himself to the peace of his
own house. It is for this very reason that each of us has a home: we need it
because we can rest there. So what of someone who has to put up with vexation
even there, where he expects to rest? What then? It is a relief to find rest in one’s
own house, if nowhere else; but if a man has to endure enemies outside, and
perhaps a difficult wife at home, he goes out again. When he wants a rest from

2. See Is 64:4; 1 Cor 2:9.

3. See Eph 3:20.
4. Caritas vestra.
76 Exposition of Psalm 35

the people outside he goes home, but if he cannot rest either there or outside,
where is he to find any peace at all? al
At least in the bedroom of your heart you will find it, so that you can take
refuge there, in the depths of your own conscience. And if you have found there a
spouse in whose company there is no bitterness, the very Wisdom of God,° unite
yourself with her, be at peace there within your bedroom, and do not allow the
fumes of a bad conscience to drive you out.
But the person of whom our psalm is speaking retired there to hatch his evil
plots, where no one would see him. And because such wickedness was the
subject of his meditation he could find no rest, even it his heart. He plotted iniq-
uity in his bedroom.

Who wins the battle?

6. He has taken his stand in every path that is not good. What is the signifi-
cance of he has taken his stand? It means he persevered in sinning. It has been
said of agood, devout disciple that he has not stood in the way of sinners (Ps 1:1).
The one did not stand there, but there the other has taken his stand. But he did not
hate wickedness. This is a hint of the end, this is the harvest we must hope for: if
we cannot be free from wickedness, at least let us hate it. When you have begun
to hate it you are unlikely to be tricked into committing a wicked act by any
stealthy temptation. It is true that sin does lurk in our mortal bodies, but what
does the apostle tell us? Do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so as to
persuade you to yield to its cravings (Rom 6:12). When shall we be free of it
entirely? When this corruptible body has put on incorruption, and this mortal
body is clothed in immortality (1 Cor 15:53-54). Before this comes to pass there
remains in our bodies a tendency to sinful pleasure; but there is greater pleasure
for us in the word of wisdom, in the word of God’s commandment. Conquer sin
and the will to sin. Hate sin and iniquity, so that you may unite yourself to God,
who will hate it with you. Already you are at one with God’s law in your mind,
for in your mind you are the servant of God’s law. If in your carnal nature you are
still enslaved to the law of sin® because the pleasures of the flesh are still
powerful in you, remember that they will be there no longer when your fight is
over. To be free from the need to fight, to enjoy true and everlasting peace—this
is something quite different from fighting and winning, different from fighting
and being vanquished, different yet again from declining even to fight and being
carried off as a prisoner. For there certainly are some people who do not put up a
fight, like this one of whom the psalm says, He did not hate wickedness; for how

5. See Wis 8:16.

6. See Rom 7:25.
 Exposition of Psalm 35 77

could he have been fighting against something for which he felt no hatred? Such
a person is dragged away by wickedness without even resisting.
There are others who do begin to fight, but because they rashly rely on their own
strength, and God wants to prove to them that it is he who wins the victory if we
enlist under his leadership, they are worsted in the battle. They have apparently
begun to hold fast to righteousness, but they become proud, and consequently they
are knocked out. People like this fight, but are overcome. Who is it who fights and
is not overcome? The one who says, / am aware of a different law in my members
that opposes the law of my mind. Look at this fighter.’ He does not presume on his
own strength, and that is why he will be the victor. What does the next line say?
Who will deliver me from this death-ridden body, wretch that lam? Only the grace
of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 7:23-25). He relies on the One who
has commanded him to fight, and he defeats the enemy because he is helped by his
Commander. But the other person we heard about did not hate wickedness.

Verse 6. God’s good gifts, temporal and eternal

7. Your mercy is in heaven, O Lord, and your truth reaches even to the clouds.
I don’t know what this mercy of the Lord in heaven may be; but the Lord’s mercy
is on earth as well. You will find it written, The earth is full of the Lord’s mercy
(Ps 32(33):5). What mercy does the psalmist have in mind, then, when he says,
Your mercy is in heaven, O Lord?
God’s gifts are in part temporal and earthly, in part eternal and heavenly.
Anyone who worships God in order to get these temporal and earthly goods,
which are available to all, is still no better than a beast. Such a person is making
use of God’s mercy, to be sure, but not that specially reserved mercy® which is
given only to the righteous, the holy, the good. What gifts are abundantly avail-
able to all? God causes his sun to rise over the good and the bad, and pours his
rain on just and unjust alike.? Is there anyone who does not benefit from this
mercy of God? First it brings us into existence, distinguishing us from the beasts
by making us rational animals, capable of knowing God; then it grants us the
power to enjoy this light, this air, the rain, the crops, the changing seasons,
earthly comforts, bodily health, the affection of friends and the safety of our own
homes. All these things are good, and they are gifts from God. Make no mistake,
brothers and sisters: no one other than the one God can give them to us. There is a
vast difference between people who look only to the Lord for these gifts, and
those who seek them from demons, or soothsayers, or astrologers.!° These latter

7. Variant: “Look at this law opposed to the law of his mind, look at his resistance. . . .”
8. Variant: “that mercy he can look forward to.”
9. See Mt 5:45.
10. A mathematicis; see note on Exposition 2 of Psalm 33, 25.
78 Exposition of Psalm 35

are miserable on two counts: because they aspire only to earthly goods, and
because they do not seek them from him who grants everything ‘that is good.
Others seek these same good things, and want to find in them their happiness, but
ask God for these and nothing else. These people are better than the others, since
they do seek them from God, but still they are imperiled. Did one of you ask,
“Why imperiled?” Because sometimes they reflect on the way things go in
human life, and they see that all these good things they long for are possessed in
abundance by the godless and the unjust too. So they think they have lost the
reward they should have had for worshiping God, either because what they have
is what the wicked also have (although they worship God and the wicked do not),
or else because it sometimes happens that the worshipers of God do not have
these things, while the blasphemers do. That is why they are imperiled.
8. The psalmist understood what kind of mercy he should pray for to God. Your
mercy is in heaven, O Lord, and your truth reaches even to the clouds. This means
that the mercy you lavish on your holy ones is a heavenly, not an earthly, mercy; it
is eternal, not bounded by time. But how did you proclaim it to the human race? By
causing your truth to reach even to the clouds. Who could have had any idea of the
heavenly mercy of God, unless God had announced it to human beings? How did
he announce it? By sending his truth to the clouds. And what are these clouds? The
preachers of God’s word. This is why we hear in a scriptural passage how God was
angry with a vineyard. I think you understood it, beloved brethren,'' when you
heard the reading from the prophet Isaiah. Of a certain vineyard God said, J looked
for it to produce grapes, and all it bore was thorns. Then, in case anyone might
suppose that he was speaking of some ordinary vineyard, he explained at the end of
the passage, The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, and his cher-
ished young shoot is everyone in Judah (Is 5:4.7). He was reproaching that vine-
yard which he had expected to yield grapes, but which had yielded nothing but
thorns, so he continued, / will forbid my clouds to send rain upon it (Is 5:6).
Because God was angry he issued this threat: J will forbid my clouds to send rain
upon it, and that indeed was what happened. The apostles were sent out to preach;
and in the Acts of the Apostles we read that Paul wanted to preach to the Jews, but
found there no grapes, only thorns, for they began to return evil for good by perse-
cuting him. And so, as though to fulfill the prophecy, / will forbid my clouds to send
rain upon it, Paul told the Jews, We were sent to you, but because you have rejected
the word of God, we are turning now to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46). In this way the
prophecy came true: J will forbid my clouds to send rain upon it. But the truth
reached the clouds, and that made it possible for the mercy of God which is in
heaven, not on earth, to be proclaimed to us.
Truly, brothers and sisters, these clouds are the preachers of the word of truth.
When God utters threats through his preachers, he is thundering through his

11. Caritas vestra.

 Exposition of Psalm 35 2

clouds. When he works miracles through his preachers, he is sending brilliant

flashes of lightning through his clouds. He terrifies us through his clouds, and
through them waters the earth with rain. These preachers, through whom!? the
gospel of God is proclaimed, are God’s clouds. Let us hope for mercy, then, but
let it be the mercy that is in heaven.

Verse 7. God's true and humble mountains

9. Your justice is like God’s mountains, your judgments an unfathomable

abyss. Who are these mountains of God? The same people who were called
clouds are God’s mountains. When the sun rises it first of all clothes the moun-
tains with light, and then its brightness penetrates the deepest valleys. So it was
when our Lord Jesus Christ came: he shed his rays first on those peaks who were
his apostles. He illuminated the mountains first, and from there his light spread
downward to the shadowy valleys of the earth. Somewhere in a psalm it is said, /
have lifted my eyes to the mountains, from where comes help for me (Ps
120(121):1). But you must not suppose that it is the mountains themselves that
will give you help; they receive in order to give, they do not give of themselves.
Even if you remain in the mountains your hope will not be firmly founded, for all
your hope, all your reliance, must rest in him who illumines the mountains. All
the same it is from the mountains that his help will reach you, for through these
mountains, through these great preachers of the truth, the scriptures were made
available to you. Nonetheless, do not attach your hope to them. Listen to the
words with which the psalmist continues. He has said, I have lifted my eyes to the
mountains, from where comes help for me; does that mean that the mountains
themselves come to your aid? By no means; listen further: my help is from the
Lord, who made heaven and earth (Ps 120(121):2). So help does come from the
direction of the mountains, but it does not originate with them. With whom,
then? With the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
There have been other mountains, so unreliable that anyone who attempted to
take his bearings from them foundered at sea. Leaders of heresy arose, towering
like mountains. Arius was a mountain;!* Donatus was a mountain;'* and now

12. Thus the CCL editors. The majority of codices have “These creatures of flesh through whom”
(literally “these fleshes through which... “).
13. This heresiarch (c. 250-336) is thought to have been a Libyan who studied at Antioch under
Lucian, from whom he may have imbibed the subordinationist doctrine of the person of Christ
which characterized his theology. Ordained priest at Alexandria c. 312, he was revered for his
asceticism but propagated his subordinationist views. In the ensuing controversy Arius was for
a time supported by the Church historian, Eusebius of Nicomedia, who had also been a pupil of
Lucian of Antioch. Arius was excommunicated and Eusebius withdrew his support. In 325 the
Council of Nicea condemned Arius, largely under the influence of St Athanasius, who battled
against the spreading Arian heresy for the rest of his life.
14. See note at Exposition of Psalm 10, 1.
80 Exposition of Psalm 35

Maximian seems to have become a mountain too.'° Plenty of. people have set
their sights on those mountains, longing to make landfall and be delivered from
the rough sea, but they have been driven onto the rocks, and all they found on
land was shipwreck.
Not by mountains like this was the psalmist misled who affirmed, “J trust in
the Lord. How can you say to my soul, Migrate to the mountains like a sparrow?
(Ps 10:2(11:1)). Ido not want my hope to rest in Arius, or in Donatus; my help is
from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Learn from this how much you
must rely on God, and how little on human agents; far anyone who rests his trust
in a fellow-human is under a curse.'© The apostle Paul was jealous for the
Church, not on his own behalf, but on that of the Church’s Bridegroom. So he
was horrified when some tried to proclaim, / belong to Paul; I belong to Apollos
(1 Cor 1:12). In his extreme modesty and humility he took himself as an example
of someone to be put down and belittled, in order that Christ might be glorified:
Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in Paul’s name? (1 Cor 1:13).
He pushes them away from himself, but only to send them to Christ. He will not
let the bride love him instead of the Bridegroom, for all that he is the Bride-
groom’s friend; for this is what the apostles were—friends of the Bridegroom.
Another humble friend who was jealous on the Bridegroom’s behalf was John,
who was himself taken to be the Christ. He told them, J am not the Messiah, but
there is coming after me someone greater, and I am not worthy to undo the strap
of his sandals (Jn 1:20; Mk 1:7). By so deeply humbling himself he proved that
he was not the Bridegroom, but the Bridegroom’s friend; and so he declared, The
bride is for the Bridegroom; but the Bridegroom’ friend, who stands and hears
him, rejoices intensely at the Bridegroom’s voice (Jn 3:29). And even if the
Bridegroom’ friend is a mountain, he is still not the source of the light, but only
the recipient of it. He hears the Bridegroom’s voice and is transported with joy.
From his fullness we have received, he says. From whose fullness? His, who was
the true light, which illumines every human person who comes into this world
(Jn 1:16,9). Similarly the apostle was jealous for the Church, and laid down the
rule, Everyone should regard us as servants of Christ, and dispensers of the
mysteries of God (1 Cor 4:1). This is the same advice as the psalmist gives: J have
lifted my eyes to the mountains, from where comes help for me. Everyone should
regard us as servants of Christ, and dispensers of the mysteries of God. Just in

15. By the 390s Primian, a narrow extremist, was leader of the Donatists, and Maximian, originally
a deacon to Primian, led the opposition against him. Maximian was ordained bishop, but
deposed by Primian in 394. Maximian and his followers then became alienated from the
Donatist sect, thus creating a schism within a schism. Augustine tended to give special
preference to dialogue with the Maximianists (see Letter 245,2; Answer to Cresconius 1,4;
Revisions 2,26,29.35). He noted also that the main Donatist faction was inconsistent in
recognizing the validity of baptisms conferred by separated Maximianists.
IGRoce Vet io:
 Exposition of Psalm 35 81

case your hope might once more be deflected to the mountains, rather than
anchoring itself in God, Paul insists, / planted, Apollos watered, but God gave
the growth. So the planter is nothing, and the one who waters is nothing; only
God matters, who grants the increase (1 Cor 3:6-7).
Already you have made your declaration, / have lifted my eyes to the moun-
tains, from where comes help for me; but since the planter is nothing, and the one
who waters is nothing, say now, My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and
earth, and further, Your justice is like God’s mountains, which means, “the
mountains will be flooded by your justice.””!”

The depths of sin and judgment

10. Your judgments are an unfathomable abyss. This abyss is the depths of
sin into which a person falls by despising God. Scripture says of this elsewhere,
God has delivered them to the lusts of their own hearts, so that they behave as
they should not (Rom 1:24). Let me have your attention, beloved;'* this is a very
serious matter, very serious indeed. What does it mean by saying, God has deliv-
ered them to the lusts of their own hearts, so that they behave as they should not?
Does it imply that the reason why they commit such heinous sins is that God has
handed them over like that, so that they have no option but to behave so? If that
were true, one might ask, “If God does that, and causes them to behave as they
should not, what responsibility have they?” This phrase, God has delivered them
to the lusts of their own hearts, is puzzling, admittedly. It was the lust that was
responsible, the lust they were unwilling to resist, and to which they were deliv-
ered by God’s judgment. But to understand why they deserved to be handed over
like that,!? look at what has been said a little earlier: Though they had known
God, they did not glorify him as God, or give him thanks. Their thoughts
wandered into futility and their stupid hearts were darkened (Rom 1:21). How?
By pride. Believing themselves to be wise, they sank into folly (Rom 1:22); that is
why it goes on to say, God delivered them to the lusts of their own hearts. Proud
and ungrateful, they were held worthy to be handed over to the lusts of their
hearts, and they became an unfathomable abyss, so that not only did they sin, but
they were also dishonest in refusing to know their iniquity for what it was, and
detest it. This was the depth of their malice, the refusal to find out their sin and
hate it. Yet look how someone sank to those depths: God’s judgments are an
unfathomable abyss. As by God’s justice those who by his grace grow great are

17. Variant: “the mountains fulfill your justice.”

18. Caritas vestra.
19. Variant: “It was the lust that was responsible, the lust they were unwilling to resist, but they
were also unwilling to be delivered to it by God’s judgment. But by reason of it they deserved to
be handed over to other lusts.”
82 Exposition of Psalm 35

mountains of God, so by his judgments those who sink to the basest of sins are
plunged into the depths. Let the mountains be a delightful sight to you on the one
hand; but on the other steer clear of that gulf, and turn instead to the truth that my
help is from the Lord. Why will you get that help? Because you have lifted your
eyes to the mountains. What does that mean? Well, I will put it in plain English.”°
In Christ’s Church you find the abyss, and you also find the mountains. You find
there rather few good people, because there are only a few mountains,”! but the
abyss is wide. You find there many people leading evil lives as a consequence of
God’s anger, because they have so behaved as to be deservedly consigned to the
lusts of their hearts, and therefore they defend their sins, rather than confessing
them. They say, “Why? What have I done? So-and-so did that, and someone else
did that other thing.” They have reached such a point that they want to put up a
case for actions that the divine word condemns. This is the abyss. In another
place scripture says, A person devoid of reverence goes deep into sin and is
defiant (Prv 18:3). There is the abyss for you. Yes, Lord, your judgments are an
unfathomable abyss.
What about you? You are not a mountain yet, but neither are you yet an abyss.
Run away from the abyss, and head for the mountains. But don’t stay in the
mountains, for your help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Verses 7-8. God’s kindness to humans and animals

11. Men and beasts you will save, Lord, as your mercy has been multiplied, O
God. He has already said, “Your mercy is in heaven,” and now, to indicate that it
is on earth as well, he says, Men and beasts you will save, Lord, as your mercy
has been multiplied, O God. Great is your mercy, and manifold is your mercy, O
God, and you give it to both humans and animals. From whom does the salvation
of humans proceed? From God. Does not the good estate of the beasts come from
God too? He who made us made the animals as well, and he who made both
saves both; but the salvation of the beasts is the safety and health that belong
within time. Yet there are people who make a great point of begging from God
what he has given even to animals. Your mercy has been multiplied, O God, in
that you not only grant salvation to human beings, but give also to the beasts
what you give to humans, a carnal and temporal salvation.”

20. Plain Latin actually. But a possible variant for Latine is latius, “I will explain more fully.”
21. Augustine has now slightly shifted the meaning: mountains are no longer apostles/preachers,
but more generally holy Christians.
22. Here as often, salus can mean “health/safety/well-being,” as well as “salvation.”
 Exposition of Psalm 35 83

Becoming “sons of men”

12. Are we to gather from this that human beings do not have any special priv-
ilege with God that animals do not merit or attain? Obviously we have. Where is
it, then, this special privilege? But the sons of men will hope under the shelter of
your wings. Notice this very beautiful statement, beloved brethren.”? Men and
beasts you will save. The psalm has already spoken of men and beasts, but then it
goes on to speak of the sons of men, as though these are a different group from
“men.”** Sometimes when scripture speaks of “sons of men” it means human
beings in general, but in other cases the phrase, “sons of men,” carries a partic-
ular meaning, implying that we are meant to understand some part of humanity,
not the whole, especially when there is a disjunction preceding it, as there is here.
The psalm deliberately says, Men and beasts you will save, Lord, but the sons of
men... , as though he were setting the former aside and taking care of the “sons
of men” separately. But from whom are they separated? Not from the animals
only, but also from those humans who seek from God the kind of salvation which
the beasts also enjoy, and ardently desire it. In that case, who are the “sons of
men”? Those who hope under the shelter of God’s wings. The generality of
humans rejoice along with the beasts in the realization of their desires, but the
“sons of men” rejoice in hope; the first group pursues the good things of the
present life in company with the animals, the second hopes for future good
things in company with the angels. Why is it that the former are here called
“men,” and the latter distinguished by the name, “sons of men”? The same
distinction is found in another scriptural text: What is a mere man that you
remember him, a son of man that you visit him? (Ps 8:5(4)). What is a mere man
that you remember him? Remember him, as one who is absent is remembered.
But you visit a “son of man”; to him you are present. What does “remembering”
amount to? Men and beasts you will save, Lord, because you give that kind of
salvation to the wicked too, and to people who do not long for the kingdom of
heaven. God protects them; in a sense he does not desert them any more than he
does his animals. He does not desert them, but he is mindful of them as though
they were absent from him. But the person he visits is a “son of man,” and to such
is the psalm referring. But the sons of men will hope under the shelter of your
WINS.
If you want to see clearly the difference between these two types of human
beings, look first at two men: Adam and Christ. Hear what the apostle has to say
of them: As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made to live (1 Cor 15:22).

23. Caritas vestra.

24. Insistence on inclusive language in this section would obscure the point Augustine is making.
“Men” and “sons of men” must here be allowed to pass with inclusive meaning. The same play
on “man” and “son of man,” aided by Christ’s use of the latter title for himself, is found in
Augustine’s Exposition of Psalm 8, 10-11.
84 Exposition of Psalm 35

From Adam we are born to die, in Christ we rise again to live for ever. As long as
we bear the image of the earthly man, we are “men”; when we bear'the image of
the heavenly man (see 1 Cor 15:49), we are “sons of men,” because Christ was
called the Son of Man. Adam was a man, but not a son of man, and therefore
those who set their hearts on material good things and a salvation restricted to
this temporal life range themselves with Adam. We beg such people to be “sons
of men” who may hope under the shelter of God’s wings, and desire that mercy
of his which is in heaven, and has been proclaimed through the clouds. But if
they are not yet capable of this, let them in the meantime at least petition no one
else but the one God for their temporal goods, and so do their service” as though
under the Old Covenant, that they may progress toward the New.
13. The people of the Old Testament desired earthly blessings: the kingdom
centered in Jerusalem, the subjugation of their enemies, abundant harvests, their
own safety and that of their children. These things they desired, and these things
they customarily received; they were guarded under the law. The good things
they were accustomed to ask from God were the same good things he gives to
animals, for the Son of Man had not yet come to them, to enable them to become
“sons of men.” Yet they already had clouds to proclaim to them the Son of Man.
The prophets came and proclaimed the Messiah; some people understood and
began to entertain hope of the future, and so they received the mercy that is in
heaven. But there were others who longed for nothing but material things and
earthly, temporal happiness. Their feet slid away under them, toward the making
and worship of idols; for when God admonished them, and punished them in the
very things they enjoyed, and took those things away, they suffered famine,
wars, pestilence and illness, and then they would turn to idols. The good things
that they ought to have so earnestly begged from God, they sought from their
idols, and they abandoned their God. They observed that the good things they
wanted were enjoyed in profusion by the godless and the guilty, so they thought
it was no use paying homage to God, since he did not seem to give them any
earthly reward. O foolish men and women! You are God’s workers, and the time
for receiving your wages will come later. Why do you demand your pay before
you have done your work? If a worker comes to your house, do you give him his
wages before he has finished his jobs? You will think him very odd if he says to
you, “I'll have the money first, then P’ll do the job.” You are angry. Why?
Because he has not trusted you, he thinks you dishonest. How, then, can God not
be angry, if you do not trust in Truth itself? What he has promised you, he will
give you; he does not deceive you, because he who has promised is Truth. Are
you afraid he may not have it to give? He is almighty. Do not fear, either, that he
may no longer be there to give it, for he is immortal. Nor need you be anxious
that someone else may have moved in to take his place; he is everlasting, so do

25. Variant: “be accommodated/gratified.”

 _ Exposition of Psalm 35 85

not worry. If you expect your hired worker to go on relying all day on your good
faith, you must believe in God all your life, because your life is only a moment of
time before God. And what will you be then?”° Bur the sons of men will hope
under the shelter of your wings.

Verse 9. Thirsting
for a reality beyond description

14. They will be inebriated by the rich abundance of your house. He is prom-
ising us something very great. He wants to name it, and he does not; is it because
he is unable to, or because we cannot grasp it??’ I make bold to assert, my
brothers and sisters, that even the holy tongues and hearts through which the
truth was proclaimed to us could not clearly state this thing they were
announcing, nor could those holy preachers even think it. It is a great and unut-
terable reality; they glimpsed it partially and in enigmatic form, as the apostle
says: We see now a tantalizing reflection in a mirror, but then face to face (1 Cor
13:12). And gazing at puzzling reflections they blurted out what they saw. What
shall we be like, when we come to see face to face what they labored in their
hearts to conceive, but could not bring to birth with their tongues in any way that
people could comprehend? Under what pressure of necessity did the psalmist
say, They will be inebriated by the rich abundance of your house? He searched
for some expression derived from human experience which he could use to say
what he meant; he saw people immersing themselves in drunkenness, taking too
much wine and losing their senses; then he knew how he must express it, for we
have been given a joy beyond all telling. The human mind almost vanishes,
becoming in some sense divinized, and is inebriated by the rich abundance of
God’s house. This is why another psalm says, How excellent is your intoxicating
chalice! (Ps 22(23):5). On this chalice were the martyrs drunk when they went
forth to their passion with scarcely a glance for their own relatives. What could
be more like drunken behavior than failing to recognize a weeping wife, or chil-
dren, or parents? Yet the martyrs did not recognize them, or even notice that
these people were there, before their eyes. How did they come to be so drunk? It
is easy to see how: they drank from a cup that would intoxicate them, and the
psalmist thanks God, saying, What return shall I make io the Lord for all his
bounty to me? I will take in my hands the cup of salvation, and call on the name of
the Lord (Ps 115(116):12-13).
Let us be “sons of men,” my brothers and sisters, and let us hope under the
shelter of his wings, and be inebriated by the rich abundance of his house. I have
spoken of it as best I could, and I contemplate it as best I can, but how I see it I
cannot put into words. They will be inebriated by the rich abundance of your

26. Variant: “. . . moment oftime. Let your hope be directed to God, and you will be a ‘son of man.’ ”
27. Variant: “.. . does not; he cannot, the mind cannot reach it.”
86 Exposition of Psalm 35

house, and you will give them the torrent of your delights to drink. Water rushing
with mighty force is called a torrent. God’s mercy will flow with mighty force to
water and inebriate those who in this present life fix their hope beneath the
shadow of his wings. What is that delight? It is like a torrent that inebriates the
thirsty. Let any who are thirsty now fix their hopes there; let the thirsty have
hope, because one day, inebriated, they will have the reality. Until they have the
reality, let them thirstily hope.”8 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied (Mt 5:6).

Verse 10. Fountain and light

15. By what fountain will you be watered, then, and whence will that great
torrent of his delight flow? With you is the fount of life, says the psalm. Who is
the fount of life, if not Christ? He came to you in the flesh to bedew your thirsty
throat, but he who besprinkled the one who thirsts will flood the one who hopes.
For with you is the fount oflife, and in your light we will see light. In our world a
fountain is one thing, and light another; not so there. The reality that is a fountain
is light also; you may call it what you will, because,it is not what you call it. You
cannot find a suitable name, because it is not captured by any one name. If you
were to say that it is light, and only light, someone might object, “What then was
the point of telling me that I am to hunger and thirst? Can anyone eat light? That
other hint that was given me was obviously more apt: Blessed are the pure of
heart, for they shall see God (Mt 5:8). I had better prepare my eyes, then.” Yes,
but prepare your throat too, because the reality that is light is also a fountain: a
fountain because it drenches the thirsty, light because it illumines the blind. Here
below we sometimes find light in one place, and a fountain somewhere else; for
fountains may gush even in darkness, while you may suffer from the sun in the
desert and find no fountain. Here below the two may be separated; but there you
will never flag, because there will be the fountain for you, and you will never
walk in darkness, for there is light.

Verse 11. Conformity with God’s will

16. Extend your mercy to those who know you, and your justice to those who
are right of heart. This deals with a subject on which I have often talked to you:
those people are right of heart who in this life obey the will of God. Suppose
God’s will is that you should sometimes be healthy, sometimes ill. If God’s will
is sweet to you when you are in good health, but sour when you are sick, you are
not right of heart. Why not? Because you are not prepared to align your will with
the will of God, but are trying to pervert his to fit yours. His will is straight, yours

28. Word-play on spes, “hope,” and res, “reality.”

 Exposition of Psalm 35 87

crooked. Your will must be straightened by alignment with his, not his bent to
correspond with yours, and then you will have an upright heart. If things in this
world are going well, bless God who gives you consolation; if things are going
badly, bless God who corrects and tests you. Then you will be right of heart, and
you will be able to say, / will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall be in my
mouth always (Ps 33:2(34:1)).

Verse 12. Beware of the foot of pride

17. Let not the foot of pride come near me. He has already told us that the
“sons of men” will hope under the shelter of your wings, and will be inebriated
by the rich abundance of your house. But anyone who has begun to experience
more freely the quenching waters of that fountain must beware of growing
proud. The first man, Adam, did not lack them, but the foot of pride approached
him, and the hand of the sinner dislodged him, the proud hand of the devil. Scrip-
ture tells us how the seducer had said, J will establish my throne in the north,?°
and now, in the same vein, he persuasively suggested to humans, Taste it, both of
you, and you will be like gods (Gn 3:5). So it was that we fell by pride, and were
reduced to this mortal condition. And so too, as it was pride that wounded us,
humility makes us whole. Our humble God came to heal humankind of its
grievous wound of pride; he came, for the Word was made flesh, and lived
among us (see Jn 1:14). He was arrested by the Jews, and insulted. When the
gospel was read you heard of an occasion when they said to him, You have a
demon (Jn 8:48); you heard what they said, and you know to whom they said it;
yet the Lord did not retort, “It is you who have the demon, because you are in
your sins and the devil rules in your hearts.” He did not say it; if he had, he would
have spoken truly, but it was not opportune to say it then, lest he appear to be
exchanging curses with them, rather than preaching the truth. He let it go, as
though he had not heard it. He was a physician who had come to cure a lunatic.
Now aphysician does not care what a deranged patient says to him, but bends his
efforts to finding out how the patient may get better and be sane once more. If the
madman punches him the doctor does not mind; the patient may inflict new inju-
ries on the doctor, but the doctor concentrates on curing the patient’s old fever.
So too the Lord came to a sick man, a madman; and he was determined to ignore
whatever he might hear or suffer. By this very attitude he was preaching
humility, and it was only by being taught humility that they would be healed of
their pride. The psalmist prayed to be delivered from it: Let not the foot of pride
come near me, nor the hand of sinners dislodge me, for if the foot of pride has
come near you, inevitably the hand of the sinner does dislodge you. What is the

29. Is 14:13. According to Phoenician mythology the mountain of the gods was situated in the
north.
88 Exposition of Psalm 35

sinner’s hand? The maneuvers of anyone who persuades you to.evil. Have you
grown proud? Then any evil persuader will quickly corrupt you. Remain stead-
fastly humble in God, and you will not greatly care what is said to you. That is
why the prayer is made elsewhere, Cleanse me from my secret sins, and spare
your servant from the faults of others (Ps 18:13-14(19:12-13)). What does this
mean—from my secret sins? The same as let not the foot of pride come near me.
And what of spare your servant from the faults of others? That is the same thing
as asking, Let not the hand of sinners dislodge me. Preserve what is within you,
and you will not be afraid of what happens outside. * |

Verse 13. Watching the tempter’s head

18. But why are you afraid? Because, I think, when the psalm continues,
There they have fallen, all those who work iniquity, it seems to be saying that
they have come to the brink of that abyss mentioned earlier, your judgments are
like a profound abyss, and that they will be plunged into that depth where the
scormful sinners have fallen. They have fallen—but where did the fall first
occur? At the approach of the foot of pride. Listen to what the foot of pride
effected: Though they had known God, they did not glorify him as God (Rom
1:21). Thus the foot of pride came to them, and from there they plunged into the
depths: God delivered them to the lusts of their own hearts, so that they behaved
as they should not (Rom 1:24). But the psalmist who wrote, Let not the foot of
pride come near me, was fearful of both the root and the head of sin. Why did he
call it the foot? Because by growing proud humankind abandoned God and
walked away; so the psalm calls its attitude a “foot.” Let not the foot of pride
come near me, nor the hand of sinners dislodge me: he means, let no sinners’
activities so shift me away from you as to make me want to imitate them. But
why does he direct this statement, they have fallen, all those who work iniquity,
against pride in particular? Because those who are now iniquitous have first
fallen by pride. To make the Church wary, the Lord said, She will watch your
head, and you her heel.*° The serpent watches for the foot of pride to approach
you, and watches for you to slip, so that he may throw you down; but you must
watch his head, for the beginning of all sin is pride (see Sir 10:15). There they
have fallen, all those who work iniquity; they have been driven out, unable to

30. Gn 3:15, the “proto-evangelium.” The antecedent noun (“seed”) is almost certainly collective
in the original Hebrew, meaning “posterity.” By the time of the Greek Septuagint translation
(third century B.C.) the text had been sharpened to carry a more clearly individual and
Messianic sense; the antecedent noun (a7épua) is neuter in Greek, but the pronoun used is
masculine (avtds). In the Vulgate, however, and in Augustine’s Latin version, the pronoun is
feminine. There is fluidity in patristic thought between the individual woman, Eve, to whose
posterity the passage directly refers, the individual woman, Mary, seen from the second
century A.D. as the new Eve, and the collective woman, Mother Church.
 ____ Exposition of Psalm 35 89

stand. He fell first who would not stand in the truth; then they fell through him,
whom God thrust out of paradise. But the humble man who declared that he was
not worthy to untie Christ’s sandal*! was not driven out; he stands and hears him
and rejoices exceedingly at the Bridegroom’s voice.” Not in his own voice does
he find joy, lest the foot of pride come near him, and he be thrust out, unable to
stand.
Perhaps I have worn out some of you with all this hard work, but at last we
have finished the psalm, so now the labor is over and we can be pleased that the
entire psalm has been explained. Somewhere in the middle I was afraid that I
would overburden you, and I was minded to send you home; but I reflected that
our train of thought would be cut off, and we would not be able to get back to it
and deal with only half the psalm in the same way as if we ran through the whole.
I therefore thought it better to put a heavy load on you than to leave the job half
done and save the remainder for another day. For we owe you a sermon again
tomorrow; pray for us, that we may have the strength to deliver it, and bring your
thirsty throats and devoted hearts along.

31. See Jn 1:27.

32. See Jn 3:29.
 Exposition 1 of Psalm 36.»

First Sermon!

Ignorance about the last day

1. To hear about the coming of the last day is terrifying for those who neglect
to gain security about it by reforming their lives, and want only to go on in their
sinful ways as long as possible. God has with good reason willed that the precise
timing of it should be kept secret, so that our hearts may be always ready for the
day we know will come, though we do not know when. This is why our Lord
Jesus Christ, who was sent to be our teacher, declared that even the Son of Man
did not know the day,’ for it was not part of his teaching brief that we should be
informed about the coming of that day through him. There is certainly nothing
that the Father knows that is not known also to the Son, since he who is the
Father’s Wisdom is the Father’s Knowledge; and his Son, his Word, is his
Wisdom. Undoubtedly, therefore, he who had come to teach us did know the
day, but he had not come to teach us anything that it was unprofitable for us to
know. Like a good teacher he taught some things, and withheld others. In his role
as our teacher he knew both how to teach what would be to our advantage, and
how to withhold what would be a hindrance. In stating that the Son? is ignorant of
something that he does not choose to teach us he is making use of a particular
idiom: he says he does not know what he causes us not to know. We use a similar
figure of speech ourselves every day. We say that today is a happy day, because
it makes us happy; we call another a sad day, because it saddens us; we callacold
day a lazy day, because it makes us feel lazy. The opposite use of it is when the
Lord is represented as saying, “Now I know” whatever it is. To Abraham it was
said, Now I know that you fear God (Gn 22:12). God already knew that before
putting Abraham to the test, but the test was designed to make us know what God
knew already, and the story was written down to teach us what God knew before
teaching it. Perhaps Abraham himself did not know beforehand the strength
latent in his faith, for each of us is put to the question by our temptation, and
through it we come to know ourselves. Peter, for instance, certainly did not
know how much strength his faith would give him when he said to the Lord, “I

|. Preached, like the two following sermons, at Carthage.

2. See Mk 13:32.
3. Variant: “Son of Man.”

90
 Exposition 1 of Psalm 36 9]

will stay with you, even to death”;* but the Lord, who knew him, gave him
advance notice of his failure, and foretold his weakness to him, as though taking
the pulse of his heart.
Accordingly Peter, who before being tempted relied on his own strength,
came to know himself in the temptation. We may reasonably suppose that our
father Abraham also learned the strength of his faith when, on being commanded
to immolate his only son, he offered him without hesitation or fear to God who
had given the boy. Just as before the child’s birth Abraham did not know how
God could give him a son, so he now believed that God had power to give him
back sound and well after being sacrificed.* This is why God said, Now I know; it
means, “Now I have caused you to know,” as in the other examples we
mentioned, where a day is called lazy because it makes us lazy, or happy because
it makes us happy. So too God is said to learn something when he makes us learn
it. A similar case is when scripture says, The Lord your God tests you, in order to
Know ifyou love him (Dt 13:3). If you think this statement means that by testing
us he gains knowledge of something of which he was previously not informed,
you will be imputing crass ignorance to the Lord our God, the true, infinite God;
and this, as you will readily understand, is a sacrilegious opinion. What does the
text mean, then, He tests you, in order to know? He tests you to make you know
it.
Now apply the same rule of interpretation the other way round. Just as you
have seen that “Now I know” means “I have caused you to know,” so too when
you hear it said of Christ, the Son of Man, that he does not know that day, under-
stand that what is being said is that he causes us not to know it. But what does
causing us not to know it mean? It means that he conceals it, so that something it
would not profit us to be told is kept from us. This is what I was saying earlier: a
good teacher knows what to pass on, and what to hold in reserve; and so we read
that he did defer certain lessons. We can see why it is not a good idea to set forth
everything, when those who are being taught cannot take it all in. He says else-
where, J have many things to tell you, but at present you are not able to bear them
(Jn 16:12); and the apostle likewise says, Not as spiritual persons couldI speak
to you, but only as carnal. As ifto little children in Christ I gave you milk to drink,
rather than solid food. You were not capable of it then, nor are you even now (1
Cor 3:1-2).
Where is all this leading us? This is my point: we know the last day will come,
but to our own profit we know both the certainty of its coming and the uncer-
tainty of its timing; we must therefore keep our hearts prepared by living good
lives. In this way we need not fear that approaching day; we may even look
forward to it. That day is to intensify the distress of unbelievers, but put an end to

4. See Lk 22:33.
5. See Heb 11:17-19.
92 Exposition | of Psalm 36

the troubles of the faithful. Before the time arrives it is up to you to,choose which
of these you want to be; but once it has come, it will be too late to choose. Make
your choice now, while you still have time, because what God in his mercy
conceals, in his mercy he is postponing.

One is taken, another left

2. In the gospel that we have just listened to we heard about two types of
people, symbolically referred to in the words with which it concludes: One will
be taken, the other left (Mt 24:40). From this we gather that in any way of life
which includes some particular profession not all are found to be persons of
integrity, but neither are all reprobate. The good person will be taken, the bad
left. You may see two men working in the field; their occupation is the same, but
their hearts are different. Human eyes see the public face, but God knows the
heart. Let the field in this example stand for anything you like; it remains that one
will be taken, the other left. This does not mean that half will be taken and the
other half left, but that there are two kinds of people. Even if one group
comprises only a few, and the other the majority, still one will be taken, the other
left, one kind taken, the other kind not. And so it will be with those in bed, and
those at the mill.
You are wondering, perhaps, what these are. Their identity seems to be
hidden, wrapped up in figurative expressions. The explanation that occurs to me
may possibly differ from what commends itself to someone else; but when I put
forward my view I am not holding him or her back from any better interpretation,
nor can they forbid me to accept one rather than the other, provided each is in
accord with the faith. Well then, the workers in the field seem to me to be those
who preside over the churches, for the apostle says, You are God’s cultivated
field, and God’s building. He even claims to be the master-builder himself: J laid
the foundation like a skilled master-builder, and then again he says he is the
farmer when he reminds them, J planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the
growth (1 Cor 3:9,10,6).
But when the Lord spoke of the mill, he mentioned two women, not two men,
and I think this suggests that the ordinary faithful are symbolized here, because
prelates rule and the people are ruled. The millstone represents this world, I
think, because it rolls along through cyclic time, and it crushes those who are in
love with it. So then, among the people who do not withdraw from worldly activ-
ities some conduct themselves well and others badly. Some make friends for
themselves from iniquitous mammon, friends who will welcome them into
eternal dwellings,° for such people will be reminded that J was hungry, and you
fed me (Mt 25:35). Others neglect to do so, and they are told in the same passage,

6. See Lk 16:9.
 Exposition 1 of Psalm 36 93

I was hungry, and you did not feed me (Mt 25:42). Since among those who are
engaged in business and the affairs of this world some love to help the needy
while others do not bother, the prophecy is spoken about them as about two
women at the millstone: one will be taken, the other left.
When the Lord mentioned a bed I think he intended to signify rest. There are
some people who do not want to get involved in the activities of the world, as do
others who are married and have homes and households and children to look
after. Nor do they have any office in the Church, as do the prelates who labor like
farm workers. They keep clear of such activity as though they were not strong
enough for it; they withdraw into leisure’ and love tranquillity. They do not
commit themselves to any major work, as though mindful of their own infirmity,
but pray to God as if from their sickbed. And this profession too has its good
practitioners and its impostors, so that of these too it can be said, One will be
taken, the other left.
Whatever profession you turn to, be prepared to encounter impostors,
because if you have not prepared yourself you will find what you hoped not to,
and then you will be dismayed and lose heart. The Lord is warning you to be
prepared for anything; and he is telling you this now, while it is time for him to
speak, but not yet time to judge, and while it is time for you to listen, and not yet
time for fruitless remorse. Repentance is not fruitless now, but it will be then. At
the judgment people who have led bad lives will be all too willing to repent; but
God’s justice will in no way call back for them the chance they have thrown
away by their own injustice; for it is just on God’s part to grant mercy now, but to
pass judgment then. That is why it is not being hushed up now. It is not hushed
up, is it? Anyone would have a right to complain and find fault if this passage of
scripture were not proclaimed and sung all over the world, if indeed it ceased to
be hawked about publicly even for gain.

Verses 1-2. Why do the wicked flourish?

3. But what really troubles you, a Christian, is to see persons of evil life
happy, wallowing in plentiful possessions, glowing with health, strutting
proudly in their exalted rank, boasting of their secure homes, their pleasures,
their obsequious hangers-on, and their powerful influence. No sadness breaks in
on the lives of such persons. You observe their profligate lives, and you plainly
see their affluent fortunes; and your heart tells you that there is no such thing as

7. Otium, a rich idea for the ancients, without pejorative connotations of idleness. Otium cum
dignitate (dignified Jeisure) was an ideal for the cultured gentleman, time and freedom for
philosophy, study or the arts. In Jewish and Christian contexts it is close to the idea of holiday or
holy day, a time of freedom from the most pressing material demands, when God's people
could remember and celebrate their dignity. In the present passage Augustine seems to be
thinking of a contemplative way of life.
94 Exposition 1 of Psalm 36

divine judgment, and that all things are randomly tossed about by the winds of
chance. If God were really taking account of human affairs, you say, would that
fellow’s iniquity be allowed to flourish, while my innocence has such a hard
time?
Now every illness of the soul finds its medicine in the scriptures, so any of us
who are suffering from the malady that prompts us to think like this in our hearts
will do well to drink a draught from this psalm. What is it? Well, let us look more
carefully: what were you saying? “What was I saying?” you reply. “Why, only
what you can see for yourself. Bad people flourish while the good have to
struggle. How can God be looking on?” Take your medicine. Drink it. The Lord
himself, about whom you are complaining, has mixed the dose for you. Just
consent to take this potion; it will do you a lot of good. Let the mouth of your
heart be receptive through your ear, and drink what you hear: Do not secretly
envy people of wicked intent, nor be jealous of those who commit iniquity; for
they will wither swiftly like grass, and quickly fall like plants in the meadow.
What seems slow to you is swift to God; submit yourself to God and it will seem
swift to you as well. The word grass we take to mean the same as plants in the
meadow. They are inconsiderable things that cling-to the surface of the soil and
have no deep roots. They thrive through the winter, but in summer when the sun
begins to grow hot they wilt. This present time is your winter. Your glory does
not show yet. But like the winter trees you have the deep root of charity, and so
when the cold weather passes and summer comes (judgment day, I mean) the
green grass will dry up and your glory burst forth, like the foliage of the trees.
You are dead, says the apostle: you look as dead as the trees do in winter, parched
and apparently lifeless. What hope have we, then, if we are dead? We have the
root within us, and where our root is fixed, there is our life, for there is our
charity. Your life is hidden with Christ in God, the apostle continues. How can
anyone with such a root ever wilt? But when will spring arrive for us? Or our
summer? When shall we be arrayed in fair foliage, or laden with luscious fruit?
When will that be? Listen to Paul’s next line: when Christ appears, Christ who is
your life, then you too will appear with him in glory (Col 3:3-4).
What are we to do in the meantime? Do not secretly envy people of wicked
intent, nor be jealous of those who commit iniquity; for they will wither swiftly
like grass, and quickly fall like plants in the meadow.

Verses 3-4. The wealth of the Lord’s land

4. But what about you? Hope in the Lord. Those others hope too, but not in the
Lord. Their hope is doomed to die, their hope is perishable, fragile, fleeting,
transitory and vain. But you, hope in the Lord. “All right, I'm hoping,” you say.
“What else am I to do?” Do good, not the mischief you see them doing, those
others who flourish in their malice. Do good, and live in the land. This last clause
 Exposition 1 of Psalm 36 95

is added in case you might think you could do your good deeds without living in
the land; for the Lord’s land is the Church, irrigated and tilled by the Father, for
he is the farmer.* There are many people who apparently employ themselves in
good works, but because they do not live in the land they do not work for the
farmer. Do good, then, but not somewhere abroad; live in the land. “What wages
will I get?” You will be fed on its riches. “What are the riches of his land?” Its
riches are its Lord, its wealth is its God, the God to whom another psalm says,
You are the portion allotted to me, O Lord (Ps 118(119):57), and of whom it is
said, The Lord is my allotted inheritance and my cup (Ps 15(16):5). Not long ago,
beloved,’ I suggested to you in a sermon that God is our possession and we are
God’s possession. Now listen to our present psalm declaring that he is the wealth
of this land; and see what comes next: Delight in the Lord. It is as though you had
inquired, saying, “Show me the riches of that land where you command me to
dwell,” and he replies, Delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s
desire.

The pleas of the flesh and of the heart

5. Notice that it expressly says, Your heart’s desire. Distinguish this cry of
your heart from the cravings of your flesh; draw the distinction as clearly as you
possibly can. Another psalm says with good reason that he is the God of my
heart, and backs this up by continuing, God is my portion for ever (Ps
72(73):26). Let me make this clear by some examples: suppose someone is
physically blind, and asks to receive his sight. By all means let him ask, for God
does this too; such benefits are also God’s gifts. But even the wicked ask for
these. This is a carnal request. Or suppose someone is ill, and begs for recovery,
and is heard, even at the brink of death. This too is a carnal petition, and so are all
similar requests. What is the petition of the heart? Just as the carnal petition
envisages the healing of one’s eyes, that one may see the kind of light bodily
eyes are designed to see, so the petition of the heart is concerned with a different
light: blessed are the pure ofheart, for they shall see God (Mt 5:8). Delight in the
Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desire.

Verses 5-6. Darkness will give way to light

6. “Here am I desiring, asking, wanting. Will I be the one to fulfill my own

desires?” No. “Who will, then?” Reveal your way to the Lord, and hope in him,

SasceIn 1571.
9. Caritatis vestrae. The passage to which he is about to refer is probably his Exposition 3 of
Psalm 32, 18. It appears that the sermons on the present Psalm 36 were also preached in the
Basilica of Saint Cyprian at Carthage.
96 Exposition I of Psalm 36

and he will do it. Tell him what you are suffering, and tell him what you want.
What are you suffering? The flesh lusts against the spirit, and thé spirit against
the flesh (Gal 5:17). And what do you want? Who will deliver me from this
death-ridden body, wretch that Iam? He will, if you will only reveal your way to
him; that is why scripture continues, The grace of God, through Jesus Christ our
Lord (Rom 7:24-25).
But what is this thing that the Lord will do? The psalm has urged us, Reveal
your way to the Lord, and hope in him, and he will do it. Do what? He will bring
forth your righteousness like light. Your righteousness is hidden at present; itis a
reality, but in faith, not something that can be seen. You believe in something
that prompts you to action, but you do not yet see what you believe in. When you
begin to see the object of your faith, your righteousness will be led out into the
light. Your faith itself was all along your righteousness, for the one who lives by
faith is just.'°
7. He will bring forth your righteousness like light, and your judgment like
high noon. That means light at its brightest. It would have been too little merely
to say, like light, for we already call it light when the sky pales toward dawn, and
we call it light when the sun is rising; but never is the light brighter than at
midday. He will not simply bring forth your righteousness like light; more than
that: your judgment will be like high noon. You judge now that you should
follow Christ. This is what you have decided to do, this is the choice you have
made, this is your judgment. No one has shown you the things he has promised;
you are still holding fast to the one who made the promise, and waiting for him to
deliver. By the judgment of your faith you have chosen to follow after something
you do not see. This judgment of yours is still hidden in darkness, and it is still
scorned and derided by unbelievers: “What have you put your faith in? What has
Christ promised you? That you will be immortal, that he will give you eternal
life? But where is it? When will he give it to you? When will it ever happen?” All
the same, you judge it better to follow Christ, who promises things you cannot
see, than the godless critic who takes you to task for having believed in what you
do not see yet. This is your judgment, and how good a judgment it is has not yet
become clear, because as long as we are in this world it is still night for us. When
will he bring forth your judgment like high noon? When Christ appears, Christ
who is your life, then you too will appear with him in glory (Col 3:4). When judg-
ment day arrives, and Christ comes to gather all nations together to be judged,
what will happen then? Where will the godless hide their faithlessness, when I
see my faith?
What of the present, then? Nothing but ill-treatment, troubles, temptations.
And blessed is everyone with staying-power, for whoever perseveres to the end
will be saved (Mt 24:13). Let such a person give no ground before the mockers,

10. See Hab 2:4; Rom 1:17.

 Exposition 1 of Psalm 36 97

nor choose to flourish here, which would mean ceasing to be a tree and becoming
grass.

Verses 7-9. Curb your resentment ifyou want to see straight

8. “What ought I to do, then?” Listen to what you ought to do: be subject to the
Lord and entreat him. Let this be your life, to obey his commandments (for this
is what being subject to him implies) and to entreat him until he gives what he
has promised. Let your good work endure, and let your prayer endure too. We
must pray always, and never give up.'' How do you show yourself subject to
him? By doing what he commanded. You do not receive your reward yet, but
that may be because you are not yet capable of it. He is already able to give it, but
you are not able to receive it. Exert yourself in your tasks, labor in the vineyard,
and when evening comes ask for your wages,'? for he who brought you into the
vineyard is trustworthy. Be subject to the Lord, and entreat him.
9. “But that is what I am doing. I am subject to the Lord, and I do entreat him.
But how do you see things? That scoundrel of a neighbor—he behaves badly and
yet he flourishes. I know about his thefts, his adulteries, his violence. He is
haughty and proud in whatever he does, he is arrogant in his unjust dealings and
he does not deign even to acknowledge me. How can I put up with all this?”
You are sick, so drink this remedial potion: Do not be secretly envious of the
person who prospers in his way. He prospers, to be sure, but in his own way; you
struggle along, but in God’s way. For him there is prosperity along the way, but
unhappiness when he reaches the end; for you hardship along the way, but
happiness when you reach journey’s end; for the way of the ungodly will perish.
This is what another psalm affirms, The Lord knows the way of the just, but the
way of the ungodly will perish (Ps 1:6). You are walking in the paths the Lord
knows, and even if you find it hard going, they do not lead you astray.'* The path
of the ungodly is but a transitory happiness, and when the journey ends, the
happiness is over and done with. Why? Because that road is a wide one, but it
leads eventually to the depths of hell. Your path is narrow, and few walk that
way, but you should think about the broad open spaces to which those few are
tending.’*
Do not be secretly envious of the person who prospers in his way. Curb your
anger, and calm your indignation over the one who commits iniquity. Why are
you peeved about it? How can you allow this fretful indignation to lead you into
blasphemy, or near-blasphemy? Curb your anger and calm your indignation

11. See Lk 18:1.

12. See Mt 20:8.
13. The CCL editors of the Latin text amend to: “Walk in the paths the Lord knows; if you walk in
them, they do not... .”
14. See Mt 7:13-14.
98 Exposition I of Psalm 36

over the one who commits iniquity. Do you not realize where, this anger is
carrying you? It is on the tip of your tongue to tell God that he is unjust—that iis
where it is tending. “Look at him—why is he happy? And that other one,
unhappy—why?” Look what those thoughts are giving birth to! Stifle their evil
offspring! Curb your anger, and calm your indignation, come to your senses,
and say rather, My eye was troubled by anger (Ps 6:8(7)). What eye is that, if not
the eye of faith? I put my questions to the eye of your faith: Did you believe in
Christ? Yes? Then why did you believe? What did he promise you? If Christ
promised you happiness in this world, then go ahead and complain against him;
complain when you see the unbeliever happy. But what sort of happiness did he,
in fact, promise you? Nothing else but happiness when the dead rise again. And
what did he promise you in this life? Only what he went through himself; yes, I
tell you, he promised you a share in his own experience. Do you disdain it, you, a
servant and a disciple? Do you disdain what your master and teacher went
through? Do you not recall his own words: “A servant is not greater than his
master, nor a disciple above his teacher”?! For your sake he bore painful
scourging, insults, the cross and death itself. And how much of this did he
deserve, he, a just man? And what did you, a sinner, not deserve? Keep a steady
eye, and do not let it be deflected by wrath. Curb your anger, and calm your
indignation. Do not secretly vie with the wicked by acting viciously yourself, as
though you wanted to imitate someone who by vicious behavior contrives to
flourish for a time. Do not secretly vie with the wicked by acting viciously your-
aefor those who act viciously will be destroyed. “But |can see how happy they
e!” No doubt, but you must believe him who declares that they will be
pees because his sight is better than yours, since his eye cannot be clouded
by anger. Those who act viciously will be destroyed, but all who wait for the
Lord—not for someone who might deceive them, but for Truth himself; not for
someone with limited power, but for the Almighty—all who wait for the Lord
shall inherit the land. What other land, but Jerusalem? Anyone who burns with
love for her will attain to peace.'®

Verse 10. Time passes swiftly, though to the sick it seems long

10. “But how long is the sinner to flourish? How long shall I have to wait?”
What a hurry you are in! What seems to you slow in coming will soon be here. It
is your illness that makes the time seem to pass slowly, when in reality it is swift.
Think what the demands of the sick are like. They think nothing so
long-drawn-out as the mixing of a drink for them when they are thirsty. The
attendants are working fast to minimize the distress of the sick person, yet he or

15. See Jn 13:16; Mt 10:24.

16. An allusion to the popular etymology: Jerusalem = “vision of peace.”
 Exposition 1 of Psalm 36 99

she is demanding, “When is it coming? Isn’t it cooked yet? When will they give
it to me?” You are just the same: the people serving you are hurrying as much as
they can, but your illness makes you think their rapid work slow. Hark how
soothingly our physician speaks to the patient who moans, “How long must I
hold out? How long will this take?” A little while yet, he says, and the sinner will
not be there. You are groaning amid sinners, to be sure, groaning over a partic-
ular sinner; but wait just a little, and no sinner will be there. Do not let my assur-
ance that all who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land make you think that the
waiting will be very long; no, wait just a little while, and you will receive without
end what you await now. A little while yet, only a short time. Recall the years
that have passed from Adam to the present day; run through the scriptures. It was
scarcely more than yesterday that he fell from paradise! So many centuries have
passed by and rolled on their way; where are those past ages now? The few that
are still left will surely slip by in the same way. If you had been alive all through
this period, from the day Adam was expelled from paradise until the present, you
would certainly not think your life had been long, since it had flown past like
that. So what about the life of an individual: how long is it? Add on however
many years you like, eke out the time of old age, and still, what is it? Just like a
morning breeze.
In any case, even if the day of judgment is far distant, the day which will bring
both the unjust and the just their due deserts, assuredly your own last day cannot
be far off. Prepare yourself for that. In the same state that you depart from this
life you will be delivered to the life beyond. After this brief life you will not
immediately be in that place to which the saints will be invited when they hear
the words, Come, you whom my Father has blessed; take possession of the
kingdom prepared for you since the world was made (Mt 25:34). You will not
yet be there; everyone knows that. But it is possible for you to be in the place
where someone formerly poor and covered with sores was seen at rest from afar
by the proud, unproductive rich man amid his torments.'’ Established in that rest
you can confidently await the day of judgment, when you will receive your body
too, and be so changed as to equal an angel. How long is it, then, this waiting that
makes us so impatient that we ask, “When will the day come?” Our children will
be asking the same questions, and so will our grandchildren; and as succeeding
generations keep on asking the same thing, the future time that still remains will
speed by just as the whole of the past has done. Listen, you sick soul: A little
while yet, and the sinner will not be there.

17. See Lk 16:23.

100 Exposition 1 of Psalm 36

Sinners have their uses CaS

alate |

11. You will look for his place, but not find it. He is clarifying what he has just
said: the sinner will not be there, not because he or she will no longer exist, but
because sinners will not be able to serve any further purpose. If a sinner were to
cease to exist altogether, he or she could not be tormented, and then security
would have been given to sinners, who could say, “I’m going to do what I like
while I’m alive, because afterwards I won’t exist.” Can this be true; will there be
no one to suffer pain, no one to undergo torments? What would have become of
the text, Off with you into the eternal fire that was prepared for the devil and his
angels (Mt 25:41)? But if they are consigned to that fire, will it not burn them up
entirely, so that they no longer exist? No, that cannot be the case, because then
they would not be told, Off with you into eternal fire; if they were ever to cease to
be, the fire would not be eternal for them. Moreover the Lord did not remain
silent about whether their future fate would be complete destruction, rather than
pain and agony; for he said, Jn that place there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth (Mt 8:12). How will they weep and gnash their teeth if they have ceased to
exist? ~
How, then, are we to understand the prediction that a little while yet, and the
sinner will not be there, except in the light of the following phrase: you will look
for his place, but not find it? What does his place mean? His function. Does the
sinner have a function? Yes, he does. God uses sinners in the present world to
test the just, as he used the devil to test Job, and used Judas to betray Christ. So
the sinner does have a certain role in this life. This role is his “place,” just as ina
furnace there is a place for the straw. The straw is burnt so that the gold may be
refined, and likewise the sinner does his worst so that the just person may be
tested. But when the time of our probation is over, when there are no people left
who still need probation, there will not be any left either through whom the
probation need be done. Now when I said, “There will be none left who need
probation,” you did not think I meant that those people will have ceased to exist,
did you? But because there will no longer be any need for sinners through whom
the just may be tested, the psalm says, You will look for his place, but not find it.
Look for the sinner’s place now, and find it you will. God has made the sinner
into a scourge, and given him high rank and a powerful position. Yes, this is what
God sometimes does: he gives power to a sinner so that human activities lie
under the whip, and the devout are chastised by it. To this sinner due punishment
will be meted out, yet he has been used to further the progress of the devout and
the downfall of the ungodly. Then you will look for his place, but not find it.
 Exposition 1 of Psalm 36 101

Verse 11. Peace and innocence

12. But the gentle will possess the land as their inheritance. This land is the
one of which we have spoken many times: Jerusalem, the holy city, which will
be freed at last from this pilgrimage and will live for all eternity with God and on
God. This is why the psalm says that they will possess the land as their inheri-
tance. In what will their pleasures consist? They will be delighted by the abun-
dance of peace. Let an ungodly person be delighted here by abundant gold,
abundant silver, a multitude of slaves, even an abundance of baths, roses,'*
wine-drinking and the most sumptuous and luxurious of banquets. Is this the sort
of power you envy, this the blossom that charms you? Would not the unbeliever
be the object of our mournful pity, even if he could stay in that situation always?
They will be delighted by the abundance of peace. Peace will be your gold, peace
will be your silver, peace will be your broad estates, peace your very life. Your
God will be your peace. Peace will be for you whatever you long for. In this
world gold cannot also be silver for you, wine cannot be bread for you, what
gives you light cannot provide you with drink; but your God will be everything
to you. You will feed on him and hunger will never come near you; you will
drink him, never to thirst again; you will be illumined by him that you may suffer
no blindness; you will be supported by him and saved from weakness. He will
possess you whole and undivided, as he, your possessor, is whole and undivided
himself. You will lack nothing with him, for with him you possess all that is; you
will have it all, and he will have all there is of you, because you and he will be
one, and he who possesses you will have this one thing, and have it wholly.
These things are the future in store for a peaceful person (Ps 36(37):37). We
have sung that verse, though it comes a long way further on in the psalm than the
verses we have been discussing. But since we have sung it, we had better
conclude with it now. Do not worry: guard your innocence, for that is a precious
thing. You are tempted to steal something and make it your own, or so I think;
but look what you are stretching your hand to, and where you are stealing from.
With that hand you want to gain something, and with that hand you lose some-
thing else: you gain money but you lose your innocence. Let your heart wake up,
rather; you wanted to acquire money but you lose your innocence; you will do
better to lose the money. Guard your innocence and look in the right direction,
for God will so direct you that whatever he wills, you may will also. This is what
being rightly directed means. If you do not want what God wants, you will be
bent out of shape, and your crookedness will prevent you from being aligned
with what is right. So guard your innocence, and look in the right direction, and

18. Abundant variants also: they include “olives,” “sweet-scented plants,” and (unadventurously
suggested by the CCL editors of the Latin text) “various riches.”
102 Exposition I of Psalm 36

do not imagine that once this life is over, all is over for human beings too. No, for
there is a future in store for the peaceful person.
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36

Second Sermon

Introduction: two different types of people

1. We have been ordered to speak to you about this psalm, dearest friends, !
and we have no option but to obey, for the Lord has seen fit to delay our departure
by the heavy rains. Itis our bounden duty not to let our tongue remain idle in your
regard, since you are always the chief preoccupation of our heart, as we also are
of yours.*
We have already pointed out to you what God has willed to teach us in this
psalm, the admonition he intended to give, what he wanted to caution us against,
what we should be ready to endure and what we must hope for. This is because
there are two types of people, the just and the unjust; and on this earth, in this life,
the two are thoroughly mixed together. Each group has its own purposes at heart.
The race of good people strives toward the heights by humility; the race of bad
people is weighed down toward the depths by self-exaltation. One kind abases
itself with the prospect of rising; the other hoists itself up with the prospect of
falling. Consequently one race exercises forbearance while the other is the
object of forbearance. The aim of the just is to win even the wicked for eternal
life; the aim of the wicked is to repay good with evil and to rob those who want to
bring them to eternal life—to rob them of temporal life itself, if they can. The just
and the unjust find each other a strain; they are burdensome to each other. That is
obvious: the irritation is mutual, but the reasons for it are different on the two
sides. The good person makes a nuisance of himself to the bad one because he
wants him to stop being bad, and hopes he may become good, and takes practical .
steps to effect this. But the bad person so hates the good that he wants him not to
exist at all, rather than wanting him to be good; for the more truly good that other
person is, the more of a reproach he is to the bad person’s sinfulness. So the
wicked one does all he can to make the good one bad; and if he cannot achieve
this he tries to get rid of the good person altogether, so that his troublesome pres-
ence may no longer be there.

1. Caritati vestrae. Ordered, presumably, by his friend Aurelian, Bishop of Carthage. The autumn
of 403 is a probable date. Stormy debates raged at Carthage at this time, and Augustine had
been under attack from Primian, the Donatist Bishop of Carthage. At the end ofthis sermon he
refutes some of the charges.
2. Variant suggested by the editors of the Latin text: “ ... since you always know the chief
preoccupation of our heart, as we also know that of yours.”

103
104 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36

Yet even if the bad person succeeds in corrupting the good one, he will still
find him just as irksome. It is not only a good person that a bad one finds it diffi-
cult to put up with: two bad people can scarcely endure each other. They may
appear to have some fondness for one another, but this is only complicity in evil,
not friendship. They make common cause when they conspire to injure a just
person, and their concord is based not on reciprocal love but on a shared hatred
of someone whom they ought to have loved.
The Lord our God enjoins on us patient endurance of people like this, and that
heartfelt charity we meet in the gospel when our Lord commands us, Love your
enemies, and do good to people who hate you (Mt 5:44). The apostle has the
same thing to say: Do not be conquered by evil; rather conquer evil with good
(Rom 12:21). Fight evil, yes, but with the weapons of goodness, for this is the
real fight, the contest that issues in salvation, that the good person is pitted
against evil, not that there should be two who are bad.

Verses 12-13. The sinner’s day is coming

2. With this in mind, let us look at the psalm. The earlier verses we have
already dealt with. Now it continues, The sinner will spy on the just person, and
grind his teeth against him, but the Lord will deride him. Who is the object of the
Lord’s derision? The sinner, obviously, the one who grinds his teeth against the
just. Why will the Lord deride him? Because the Lord knows when the sinner’s
day will come. This sinful person seems pitiless when, unaware whether there
will be any tomorrow for himself, he utters threats against the just; but God is
looking on, and foresees the day of the sinner. What day is that? The day when
God will render to each of us according to our deeds;? for the sinner is storing up
against himself anger that will be manifest on the day of God’s just judgment.°
The Lord can see that day, and you cannot; but he who can has shown it to you.®
You did not know when the sinner’s day would come, the day when punishment
is to be meted out; but God who knows has not concealed’ it from you. It is no
mean participation in knowledge, to be united with the one who knows. He has
eyes that see; make sure you have the eyes of belief. What God sees, you must
grasp with faith. The day of the unjust, the day God has in view, will come. What
day? The day of retribution for each of us. The ungodly must be requited,
whether they are first converted or not. If they are converted, the revenge is
nothing else but this, that their iniquity has been destroyed. Did the Lord not
laugh as he foresaw the “day” of two bad men, the traitor Judas and the perse-

3. Or “against the bad one.”

4. See Mt 16:27.
5. See Rom 2:5.
6. Variant suggested by the CCL editors: “ ... bat he will show you what he can see.”
7. Variant suggested by the editors of the Latin text, “. . . will not conceal.”
 _ Exposition 2 of Psalm 36 105

cutor Saul? He had the day of one of them in view as the occasion for punish-
ment, but the day of the other as the time for justification. Retribution came to
them both, sending one to the flames of hell, and knocking the other down witha
voice from heaven. So you too, when you have to put up with a scoundrel, watch
his day coming, watch it with God through the eyes of your faith; and when you
find him or her savagely attacking you, say to yourself, “The offender will either
be corrected and my companion, or incorrigible and with me no more.”

Verses 14-16. The persecutor shoots himself in the foot

3. What do you think: does the scoundrel’s wickedness harm you without
harming himself? Of course not. How is it possible that the malice which springs
from his ill-will and hatred, and lashes out to do you harm, should not devastate
him within before making its attempt outwardly on you? Hostility rides rough-
shod over your body, iniquity rots his soul. Whatever he launches against you
recoils on him. His persecution purifies you, but leaves him guilty. Who comes
off worse, then? Suppose he has violently robbed you: who has sustained the
more serious damage—the one who loses money, or the one who loses faith?
Only people with inner sight know how to mourn a loss like that. Many are
dazzled by the glitter of gold, but cannot perceive the radiance of faith; they have
eyes to see gold, but no eyes to see faith. If they had, if they could see it, they
would certainly value it more highly; and yet when someone breaks faith with
them, they are loud in their protests and full of spite. “Can’t you keep faith?” they
demand. “Can’t I ever rely on good faith?” You love it enough to demand it of
others; love it enough to show it yourself.
Clearly, then, all who persecute the just are more severely damaged and more
gravely wounded themselves, because in their case it is the soul itself that is laid
waste. Accordingly the psalm goes on to make this point: Sinners have drawn
their swords and taken aim with the bow, to bring down the helpless and the
poor, to slaughter the upright of heart. May their sword pierce their own heart. It
is easy enough for the enemy’s sword? to reach your body, as the persecutor’s
sword found its way into the bodies of the martyrs, but though your body is
struck, your heart remains unhurt. But as for the one who drew his sword against
the body of the just person, his heart by no means remains uninjured. This psalm
affirms the fact. It does not say, “May their sword pierce their bodies,” but may
their sword pierce their own heart. They wanted to inflict bodily death; may
they die spiritually. The Lord reassured those whose bodies the persecutors
wanted to destroy, telling them, Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but

8. Framea; see note at Exposition of Psalm 9, Part 1, 8. In the present passage Augustine uses both
framea and the traditional Roman word gladius, but seems to think the equivalence still needs
explanation: “his framea, that is, his gladius, to reach. . . .”
106 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36

cannot kill the soul (Mt 10:28). What sort of armed ferocity is that—to have
power to kill one’s opponent’s body and no more, but to be fully able to kill one’s
own soul? They have lost their senses, they are fighting against themselves, they
are crazy and cannot see what they are doing. They are like a person who tries to
tear someone else’s tunic by driving a sword right through his own body. You
are looking only at your final target and taking no heed of where you have
dragged your weapon to reach it; to rend someone else’s clothes you have torn
your way through your own flesh. It is quite obvious that the wrongdoers wound
themselves more gravely and do themselves more harm than they think they are
doing to the people they hate. So may their sword pierce their own heart. This is
the Lord’s decree, and it cannot be otherwise.
And may their bow be broken to pieces. What does that mean—their bow be
broken to pieces? May their stratagems come to nothing. Just before this the
psalm had said, Sinners have drawn their sword and taken aim with the bow. By
the drawing of the sword it meant open attack, and by the aiming of the bow,
hidden ambushes. But look what happens. The sword slays the one who drew it,
and the carefully-laid ambush is futile. Why futile? Because it does no harm to
the righteous person. But what if the wicked has robbed someone, for instance,
and the victim has lost so much that he or she is reduced to penury? How can it be
said in that case that the wrongdoer has done no harm to the righteous? Because
the victim then has a song to sing, Better are modest means to the righteous than
the copious wealth of sinners.

Verse 17. By word and example the Lord strengthens the righteous

4. But the wicked are powerful, they are very energetic and have ample
resources; they can act swiftly and their commands are instantly obeyed. But
will this always be the case? The arms of sinners will be crushed. Their “arms”
are their power. What will the sinner be doing in hell? Perhaps what a certain rich
man was doing, the one who up above used to feast sumptuously, but down
below was tormented.’ Yes, their arms will be crushed, but the Lord
strengthens" the righteous. How does he strengthen them, what does he say to
them? He speaks to them in the words of another psalm: Hold out for the Lord,
act manfully; let your heart be strengthened, and hold out for the Lord (Ps
26(27):14). What does he mean by hold out for the Lord? You are toiling away
for atime, but you will not toil for eternity; your troubles are short, but your beat-
itude will be eternal; you are sorrowful for a little while, but you will rejoice
without end. But are you beginning to slip, amid your troubles? The example of
Christ's sufferings is put before you too. Consider what he endured for you, he

9. See Lk 16:19,24. The contrast “above” and “below” may also have social connotations.
10. Variant: “will strengthen.”
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36 107

who had done nothing to deserve it. However much you may suffer, it will never
come near those insults and scourges he bore, that ignominious cloak, or that
thorny crown, and least of all will it compare with the cross, which has now been
abolished as a human punishment. In days of old criminals were crucified, but no
one is today. The cross has been honored, and is obsolete. Obsolete as a punish-
ment, it is an abiding sign of glory.'! It has passed from sites of torture to the fore-
heads of emperors. If Christ conferred such honor on his own sufferings, what is
he keeping in reserve for his faithful followers?
With these facts, these words, this encouragement and this mighty example,
the Lord strengthens the righteous. Let the righteous attribute whatever befalls
them to the will of God, not to the power of the enemy, who can rage, but is impo-
tent to strike if God does not permit. And if God does allow the enemy to strike,
he knows how to take his own under his protection and acknowledge them as his,
for those whom the Lord loves, he corrects, and he whips every child whom he
accepts (Heb 12:6). What grounds has the wicked for congratulating himself,
when my Father has made him into a whip for his own use? God picks him up as
a tool, but chastises me for an inheritance. We should concentrate not on how
much scope God gives to the unjust, but on how much he is keeping for the just.

Paul: persecutor, converted, sufferer, strengthened by the Lord

5. All the same, we should hope that those through whom we are being
whipped may be converted, and whipped along with us. This was how God
trained his faithful by first making Saul into a whip he could use, and afterwards
converting Saul too. When the Lord told holy Ananias (by whom Saul was to be
baptized) that he was to welcome this man Saul because he was God’s chosen
instrument, Ananias was fearful and horrified, because he had heard of Saul’s
notoriety as a persecutor. But Lord, he protested, J have heard about this man,
and what fierce persecution he has waged against your saints in Jerusalem. And
now he has obtained authorization to search out any who call upon your name,
wherever they are to be found, and drag them off and bind them and hale them
before the priests. But the Lord overruled him: Do as I say, for I will show him
how much he will have to suffer for the sake of my name (Acts 9: 13-16). “I will
pay him back,” the Lord promises. “I will take my revenge on him; and he who
campaigned so savagely against my name will suffer for my name. Through him
I am disciplining and have disciplined others, and I will use others to discipline
him in his turn.” That is what happened, and we know how much Saul endured,
far more suffering than he had inflicted on other people, as though the Lord like a
greedy creditor was demanding from him all the loan plus interest.

11. Variant: “of grace.”

108 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36

6. But consider how those words of the psalm came true in his gase: the Lord
strengthens the righteous. This same Paul, suffering intensely, declared, We
even glory in our sufferings, knowing that suffering fosters endurance, and
endurance constancy, and constancy hope; but hope does not disappoint us,
because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy
Spirit who has been given us (Rom 5:3-5). That is clear enough. He says it as one
now righteous and now strengthened. And as those who were pursuing him did
him no harm now that he was thus strengthened, so too he had done no harm to
those whom he had formerly persecuted. The Lord strengthens the righteous,
our psalm affirms. Listen to another declaration by this righteous man, strength-
ened by the Lord: Who shall part us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or hunger, or nakedness, or persecution? (Rom 8:35) How tightly must
he have been glued to Christ, if he could not be disledged by such experiences as
these! The Lord strengthens the righteous. Again, certain prophets had come
down from Jerusalem and, filled with the Holy Spirit, they prophesied to Paul
that he would meet with much suffering in Jerusalem. One of them, named
Agabus, went so far as to take off Paul’s belt and tie himself up in it. He was
giving a prophetic sign, as is customary with them, and by these significant
actions demonstrating what was to come. So he said, Just as you see me bound,
so this man is to be bound in Jerusalem (Acts 21:11). As soon as Saul (who by
this time was Paul) had been warned by this utterance, the brethren began to
dissuade him from running into such danger; they attempted by arguments and
pleas to hold him back from going to Jerusalem. But Paul was already one of
those who had been promised that the Lord strengthens the righteous, so he
asked them, “Are you trying to shake my resolve? | do not reckon my life so
precious.” He had already declared to the children he had begotten in the gospel,
ITwill spend myself unstintingly for your souls (2 Cor 12:15). So now he asserted,
I am prepared not only to be bound, but even to die for the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ (Acts 21:13).

Verse 18. The vision of God is promised to us

7. So the Lord strengthens the righteous. How does he do so? The Lord knows
the paths of the undefiled. When they are suffering hardships it looks as though
they are walking in bad pathways; so it seems to those who know no better, who
have no idea how to assess the paths of the undefiled. But he who knows those
paths knows too that he is leading his gentle followers by a very straight way.
This is why another psalm says, He will guide the meek in judgment, he will
teach his ways to the gentle (Ps 24(25):9). How do you picture those loathsome
people who passed by the poor man who lay covered with sores outside the rich
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36 109

man’s gate?'? Probably they held their noses and spat at him, don’t you think?
But the Lord knew that he was holding paradise in reserve for him. And how the
passers-by must have longed to have a lifestyle like that of the rich man, who was
clad in purple and fine linen, and feasted magnificently every day! Yet the Lord
had his day in view, and knew what his future torments would be, torments
without end. So the Lord knows the paths of the undefiled.
8. And their inheritance will last for ever. The truth of this we hold in faith;
but does the Lord need faith to see it? The Lord knows those realities in a clarity
of manifestation that we are not able to express, nor ever will be, even when we
are equal to the angels. Even those things that we shall plainly see will never be
as manifest to us as they are manifest to him who is incapable of change. Yet
what does scripture say of us, even of us? Dearly beloved, we are children of
God already, but what we shall be has not yet appeared. We know that when he
appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is (1 Jn 3:2). There
is reserved for us some kind of wholly delightful vision, the beauty of which can
be thought of in some degree, though only through riddling reflections in a dark
mirror. In no way can it be described, the ravishing beauty of that joy God keeps
for those who fear him, and consummates for those who trust him.!3 For this our
hearts are being made ready in all the troubles and temptations of this life. Small
wonder that you are being prepared by such trials: it is for a great destiny that you
are being prepared. The voice of a righteous man, strengthened by the Lord,
assures you that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the future glory that is to be revealed to us (Rom 8:18). What will our future
glory be? Nothing less than being equal to the angels and seeing God. How great
a gift it would be to a blind person if someone healed his eyes and enabled him to
see this light of day! When the blind person has been healed, he can find no
adequate recompense to make to his healer; however much he may give, it will
always fall far short of what the healer has given him. To give the most he
possibly can, he will give gold, and plenty of it—but the other has given him his
sight! To realize that what he gives is nothing in comparison, let him just look at
his gift in darkness.
What shall we give, then, to the physician who heals our interior eyes,
enabling them to see that eternal light which is himself? What gift shall we offer
him? Let us look for something, and find it if we can, and in the anguish of our
search cry out, What return shall I make to the Lord for all his bounty to me? And
what did that seeker find? / will take in my hands the cup of salvation, and call on
the name of the Lord (Ps 115(116):12-13). The Lord asks, Are you able to drink
the cup 1am to drink? (Mt 20:22). And to Peter likewise he said, Do you love me?
Then feed my sheep (Jn 21:17), for it was on their behalf that he was to drink the

12. See Lk 16:20.

13. See Ps 30:20(31:19).
110 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36

Lord’s cup. The Lord strengthens the righteous. The Lord knows the paths of the
undefiled, and their inheritance will last for ever. é3

Verse 19. A hope that does not deceive

9. They will not be disconcerted in the bad times. What does the psalmist
mean by not being disconcerted in the bad times? He means that on the day of
trouble, on the day they are hard pressed, the just will not be disconcerted, as any
others are whose hope has let them down. Who is disconcerted? The person who
says, “I have not found what I was hoping for.” No wonder! You were hoping in
yourself, or you pinned your hopes to some friend who is as human as you are.
But a curse is on anyone who trusts in mere mortals.'* You are disconcerted
because your hope has proved illusory; hope founded on a lie is always an illu-
sion, and every mortal is a liar.!> If you rest your hope on your God you will not
be disconcerted, because you have rested it on one who cannot be deceived.'®
Not long since I reminded you about a righteous man who had been strength-
ened. When he fell upon bad times and was suffering, he was so far from being
disconcerted that he said, We even glory in our sufferings, knowing that suffering
fosters endurance, and endurance constancy, and constancy hope; but hope
does not disappoint us. And why not? Because it is lodged in God. That is why
Paul goes on, Because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been given us (Rom 5:3-5). Already the Holy
Spirit has been given us; how can he deceive us after a pledge like that? They will
not be disconcerted in the bad times, and in days offamine they will eat their fill,
for even then there is a certain satisfying provision for them. The days of this
present life are days of famine, in which some are hungry, but others eat their fill.
What would that man have had to be pleased about, the man who said, We glory
in our sufferings, if he had been racked with hunger within? All he saw outside
him were constricting circumstances, but within there was ample freedom.

Verse 20. No place for the sinner to call home

10. But what does a bad person do when trouble looms? He or she has nothing
outside, because external things have been stripped away, but no consolation in
his own conscience either. He has nowhere to go outside, because things there
are hard, and nowhere to go inside, because things there are bad. Inevitably the
next words of the psalm come true for such a person: sinners will perish. How
could they not perish, people who have no place to call their own? Neither things

14. See Jer 17:5.

15.See Ps 11S(116) 11.
16. Variant: “cannot deceive.”
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36 ial!

without nor things within hold any comfort for them. Anything which furnishes
us with no comfort is alien to us, outside ourselves. All those who do not possess
God give their allegiance to money, friendship, fame, or worldly power, yet no
material advantage whatever can comfort them inwardly!’ as that wise man was
comforted by rich inner sustenance when he belched forth from his full-fed inte-
rior, The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. This has happened as the Lord
willed: may the Lord’s name be blessed (Jb 1:21).
For sinners there is no place to rest in anything outside themselves, because
there they endure afflictions; nor does their conscience offer them any consola-
tion, because they are not comfortable with themselves. It is not comfortable to
live with someone bad. But those who are bad live unpleasantly with them-
selves; inevitably such persons are tormented, and are their own tormentor.
Those with a torturing conscience are their own punishment. They can flee
wherever they like from an enemy, but where will they flee from themselves?

Two roving Donatists

11. It was something like this with a man who had come over to us from the
Donatist sect. He had been accused and excommunicated by his own people, and
he came seeking here what he had lost there. But in no way could we receive him
except in the place that was due to him; for he had not abandoned that sect as
someone who was in good standing with them, which would have proved that he
was acting by his own choice, and not because he was forced to.'* Because he
could not have what he wanted there—empty honors, trumpery rank he came to
look among us for what he had lost there, and he did not find it. So he perished.
He was wounded and groaning, and refused consolation; for horrible thorns,
unacknowledged, were fixed in his conscience. We tried to comfort him with the
word of God, but he was not one of the prudent ants that have laid in supplies in
summertime to live on during the winter. It is when things are peaceful that
people should harvest the word of God for themselves, and store it in the inner
recesses of their hearts, as the ant stores the results of summer’s labor in the cavi-
ties of its nest.! There is time to do this in the summer months, but winter will
overtake us—the time of trouble, I mean—and unless we can find resources
within ourselves we shall inevitably starve to death. This man of whom I was
speaking had not gathered the word of God for his own sustenance, and winter
came upon him. He did not find among us the adulation he craved, and nothing
else could console him: he derived no comfort whatever from the word of God.

17. Variant: “ ... money, friendship, fame, worldly power, slaves, and all good things cannot
comfort them inwardly.”
18. Variants: “proved that he was acting not because he was pleased about it, but because forced
to”; or “proved that he was acting not out of love, but because forced to.”
19. See Prv 6:6-8; 30:25.
12 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36

He had nothing within himself, and what he sought outside himself he did not
find. Firebrands of resentment and misery were smoldering inside him, and his
mind was ina state of violent upheaval. All this remained hidden until one day he
burst into groans clearly audible to our brothers and sisters, though he did not
know he was overheard. We witnessed, and intensely deplored, such spiritual
pain, such bitter anguish, such hellish torments. Need I say more? He would not
tolerate the lowly station which, if only he had had the sense to see it, could have
been for him the place of salvation, and his conduct was such that he even had to
be expelled.
But this case should not make us despair of others, my brothers and sisters,
others who may freely opt for the truth without being driven by any compulsion.
I would go further: it is not only in the case of others that we must not despair;
even of this man I would not give up hope as long as he is alive. We must never
despair of anyone at all during his or her lifetime. It is important, beloved
brethren,” that you should take this to heart from the episode I have described, in
case anyone informs you differently. For a subdeacon of theirs, against whom no
charge stood, chose the peace and unity of our Catholic Church, and leaving the
Donatists came over to us. He truly came as one making his choice of the good,
not as repudiated by evil persons. He was accepted among us and his conversion
brought us joy. This reminds me to recommend him to your prayers, for God is
powerful enough to make him better and better.
More generally we must beware of passing judgment on anyone, whether
favorable or unfavorable; for as long as a person lives, tomorrow is always an
unknown quantity. The righteous will not be disconcerted in the bad times, and
in days of famine they will eat their fill, for sinners will perish.

Evanescent grandeur

12. But as for the Lord’s enemies, no sooner do they boast and exalt them-
selves than they will disappear, fading away like smoke. From this simile take
the point the psalmist was trying to make. Smoke bursts from the place where the
fire is and wafts upward; and as it rises it billows into a great round cloud. But the
bigger this cloud grows, the more tenuous it becomes; its very size means that it
cannot be something durable and solid. It hangs loose and inflated, and it is
carried away into the air and disperses; you can see that its very size was its
undoing. The higher it rises, and the wider it spreads, and the more it extends
itself over an increasing area, the weaker it is and the wispier, until it vanishes.
Asfor the Lord’s enemies, no sooner do they boast and exalt themselves than

20. Caritas vestra. In the present sentence he uses both fratres (vocative, second person) and
Caritas vestra (nominative, subject of the third-person verb). It is difficult to convey this in
translation, literally: “From this episode Your Charity needed to know, brethren... .”
 _ Exposition 2 of Psalm 36 1s

they will disappear, fading away like smoke. It was of such people that scripture
said, The enemies of the truth are like Jannes and Jambres who defied Moses;
they are corrupt in their minds and proved spurious by the standard of faith (2
Tm 3:8). But what makes them enemies of the truth? Their overblown pride, as
they watt off into the breeze, uplifting themselves as though they were righteous
or important. What is scripture’s verdict on them? Like smoke they will not last,
for their lunacy will be obvious to everyone, as was that of the opponents of
Moses (2 Tm 3:9). As for the Lord’s enemies, no sooner do they boast and exalt
themselves than they will disappear, fading away like smoke.

Verse 21. Ingratitude contrasted with generosity

13. A sinner borrows on interest, but will not repay. He or she receives, but
will not give back. Give back what? Gratitude. What does God want of you, what
does God demand of you, except what it profits you to give? What great benefits
has a sinner received! Yet he makes no return. He has received his existence, and
he has received his humanity, which puts him above a beast. He has received a
beautiful body,?! and within it the differentiation of corporeal senses: eyes for
seeing, ears for hearing, a nose for smelling, a palate for tasting, hands for
feeling things, feet for walking, and with all these the health of the whole body.
But still, we have all these in common with the beast. A human being has
received more: an intelligent mind with the capacity for truth, with the power to
distinguish the just from the unjust, and the power to explore, to desire its
Creator, to praise him and to cleave to him. All these things the sinner too has
received, but he does not pay his debt by living as he should. This is why scrip-
ture says that a sinner borrows on interest but will not repay; he will not give
anything back to him from whom he received it, he will not give thanks. Worse
still, he repays good with evil—blasphemy, complaints against God, resent-
ment. He borrows on interest but will not repay, whereas the just person is
merciful and lends. The sinner has nothing, but the just has a great deal. Contem-
plate poverty on the one hand, plenty on the other. The first receives, but will not
pay his debt; the second is merciful and lends, and yet is wealthy. What if the
merciful person is poor? He or she is rich nonetheless. Direct those God-fearing
eyes of yours at his riches. You see empty coffers, but do not see a conscience
full of God. This person has no outward resources, but has charity within. And
look how he keeps on giving out generously from that store of charity, yet it
never runs short! Even if it happens that he has material resources, it is charity
that gives from what he has; if he has nothing material to draw on, he gives kind-
ness, or good advice, if he can; he gives some sort of help, if possible. If in the

21. Corporis formam. In Augustine’s Platonic perspective forma is the principle of differentiation
in created things which gives to each its identity; it also connotes the beauty of each.
114 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36

end he cannot aid the other person even with advice or practical help, he at least
gives the will to do so, or prays for the one in trouble, and perhaps his prayer
finds a readier hearing than that of someone who hands out bread. A person
whose breast is full of charity always has something to give. What we call good
will is charity. God does not ask more of you than he has given you within your-
self. A good will cannot be empty. If you have a coin to spare, but lack good will,
you do not hand it over to a pauper. The poor themselves are generous with good
will toward one another; they are not unfruitful among themselves. You will find
a blind person led along by one who can see; one who had no coins to give to the
needy person” has lent him eyes instead. How could that come about, that
someone lent his own faculties to another who lacked them, unless he had within
him good will, the treasure of the poor? With this treasure comes the sweetest
repose, and true security. No break-in by thieves, no threat of shipwreck, can
cause you to lose it. What a person has within himself, he keeps; he may escape
naked, yet still he is full. The just person is merciful and lends.

Verse 22. Cursers become blessers

14. For those who bless him will have the earth for their inheritance. This
refers to blessing that Just One, indeed the one and only just and justifier, who
was poor among us and yet brought great wealth with which to make wealthy
those whom he found poor. He it was who enriched the hearts of the poor with
the Holy Spirit, and filled with the affluence of goodness souls that had emptied
themselves by confessing their sins. He was able to turn a fisherman into a rich
man, when by abandoning his nets the fisherman made light of what he had and
began to draw up what he had not. God chose the weak things of this world to put
the strong to shame;”? and so he did not use an orator to win a fisherman, but used
the fisherman to win the orator,™ and the fisherman to win the senator, and the
fisherman to win the emperor. Those who bless him will have the earth for their
inheritance, for they will be coheirs with Christ” in that land of the living of
which another psalm says, You are my hope, my portion in the land of the living
(Ps 141:6(142:5)). “You yourself are my portion,” the psalmist says to God,
never doubting that God would secure that portion to him. They will have the
earth for their inheritance, but those who revile him will be lost. To those who
bless him the ability to bless him was his gift.2° When he came to those who
reviled him, they were turned into people who blessed instead; that was how

22. Variant: “no coins to give because needy himself.”

23. see 1 Cor 1:27.
24. Perhaps the mention of “orator” before the senator and the emperor is a backward glance at
Augustine’s earlier profession as a teacher of rhetoric.
25. See Rom 8:17.
26. Variant: “... who bless him, blessing was granted.”
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36 Up Me)

those who reviled him were lost: they became blessers through his gift. Of their
own bad will they used to curse him, but now from his good gift they bless him.

Verse 23. Following Christ

15. Consider the next verse: a person's steps are directed by the Lord, and he
will choose his way. Our steps are guided by the Lord so that we may ourselves
choose the Lord’s way. If God did not direct the steps of each human being, they
would go so far off course as to lead us unendingly through crooked ways, so that
we would never find our way back through those twisted paths. But Christ came,
and called us, and redeemed us, and poured out his blood. This is the price he
paid, this the good he did; but he suffered badly. Think what he did: he is God.
Think what he suffered: he is human. Who is this God-Man? If you, a human
being, had not forsaken God, God would not have become human for you. Was it
too small a thing to demand repayment on your part, or too small a gift on his,
that he created you human, even if he had not also become human for your sake?
He it is who has directed our steps, so that we choose his way. A person’s steps
are directed by the Lord, and he will choose his way.
16. Once you have set out to follow Christ’s way, do not promise yourself
worldly prosperity. He walked through hard things, but promised great things.
Follow him. Do not think too much about the way, but more about the goal ahead
of you. You will have to put up with tough conditions on your journey through
time, but you will attain joys that last for ever. If you want strength to survive the
hard grind, look to the recompense; a worker in a vineyard would faint if he did
not keep his mind on the wages due to him. When you concentrate on your future
reward, all you suffer seems trivial, and you will think it a small price to pay.
You will be amazed that so much is given for such slight labor. It is undeniable,
brothers and sisters, that the proper price to pay for eternal rest would be eternal
labor; if you are going to get eternal happiness, you ought to face eternal
suffering to merit it. But if you were condemned to eternal labor, when would
you reach the eternal happiness? Never. And that is why your distress neces-
sarily lasts only for a time, so that when it is finished you may reach infinite beat-
itude.
All the same, brothers and sisters, eternal happiness could demand lengthy
distress as its price; I mean that if our happiness is to be without end, our wretch-
edness and toil and distress might be long-lasting, for even if they continued fora
thousand years, is that anything when weighed against eternity? Can you weigh
any finite stretch of time, however long, against infinity? Ten thousand years,
ten times a hundred thousand if one can speak of it so, or a thousand thousand
rather—these come to an end, and cannot be compared with eternity.
But God has willed not only that our toil shall be temporary, but also that it be
brief. An entire human life lasts but a few days, even if no joyful ones are inter-
116 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36

spersed among the hard ones; and in fact joyful periods certainly occur more
often and last longer than the difficult times. The hard ones are designedly
briefer and fewer, so that we may hold out. So even if a person spent his or her
whole life amid hard work and bitter experiences, in pain and agony, in prison,
amid pestilence; if he or she were hungry and thirsty every day, every hour,
throughout life, even to old age, it would still be true that human life is an affair
of a few days only. Once all this toil is over the eternal kingdom will come,
happiness without end will come, equality with the angels will come, Christ’s
inheritance will come, and Christ, our fellow-heir, will come. What did the toil
amount to, if we receive so great a reward? Veteran soldiers have a hard time in
the army. They get used to being wounded over the years, they enter military life
in their youth and leave it as old men. What rough conditions they endure, what
long marches, what biting cold, what searing heat, what short rations, what
wounds, what dangers! And all for the prospect of a few quiet days in their old
age, when their years are beginning to weigh heavily upon them, even if the
hardships of campaigning burden them no longer. All they think about as they
put up with the hardship is the few peaceful days they will enjoy in retirement,
and they do not even know whether they will ever reach them.
A person’s steps are directed by the Lord, and he will choose his way. So, as I
began to say, if you choose Christ’s way, and are a true Christian (for a Christian
is one who does not reject Christ’s path, but wills to walk that way through
Christ’s own sufferings), do not seek to travel by any route other than that by
which he went. It seems a hard road, but it is a safe one. Any other may offer
attractions, but is beset by brigands. He will choose his way.

Verse 24. Whatever you may suffer, Christ suffered before you

17. When hefalls?’ he will suffer no harm, for the Lord strengthens his hand.
Consider now what it means to choose Christ’s way. It may happen that a Chris-
tian has to suffer some distress, some disgrace, insult, affliction, loss, or any of
the other troubles that befall humankind in this life. The Christian keeps his Lord
before his eyes, and the kind of trials the Lord underwent. Then when he falls, he
will suffer no harm, for the Lord strengthens his hand, strengthens it because he
suffered these things first. What are you afraid of, you poor mortal, if your steps
are so surely directed by the Lord that you choose his way? What have you to
fear? Pain? Christ was scourged. Insults? He had to hear them allege, You have a
demon (Jn 8:48) when he cast demons out. A clique of bad people conspiring
against you? Plots were hatched against him. Perhaps when you are accused of
something you cannot prove that your conscience is clear, and you are punished

27. Variant: “When the just falls.”

 _ Exposition 2 of Psalm 36 117

because the lying witnesses who testify against you are believed? But they bore
false witness against Christ first, not only before his death, but even after his
resurrection. Lying witnesses were put up against him?’ to secure his condemna-
tion by the court; and the guards at the sepulcher came forward as lying
witnesses too. Christ arose, accompanied by a stupendous sign; the earth trem-
bled as it delivered up the rising Lord. Earth”? was there, guarding the earth, but
there was a harder earth that could not be moved.* The earth reported truthfully,
but was led astray by the false earth, for the guards told the Jews what they had
seen and what had happened, they accepted money, and were instructed as
follows: Say that while you were asleep his disciples came and removed him (Mt
28:13). So there were false witnesses against the Lord even in his rising. What
blindness there is in false witnesses, brothers and sisters! Their blindness is total.
It often happens that lying witnesses contradict themselves, and are too blind to
see how obvious it is to others that they are lying. How did these guards contra-
dict themselves? “While we were asleep, his disciples came and removed him.”
What? Who is giving evidence? Someone who was asleep! I would not believe
people who told me a story like that, even if they were to tell me their dreams!
What a crazy tale: if you were awake, why did you allow it? If you were asleep,
how do you know what happened?

The Donatists are in the same tradition of lying

18. Those descendants of theirs"! are still the same. You will remember it, and
we must not pass over this opportunity to remind you. The more earnestly we
desire their salvation, so much the more vigilant must we be in pointing out the
emptiness of their pretensions. Notice how the body of Christ is attacked by
lying witnesses, for the body endures what happened in the first place to the
Head. That is hardly surprising. So now, though Christ’s body is extended
throughout the world, it is never free from those who will taunt it, “Traitors’
brood!’*? Your charge is untrue. I can show you up as a lying witness by exam-
ining a few of your words. You fling against me the accusation, “You are a
traitor.” I reply, “You are a liar.” But you will never and nowhere make any
charge of treachery stick against me, whereas I will here and now prove you are
lying from your own words. Undeniably you said that we have sharpened our
swords; I read out from your Acts what your Circumcellions have done.*? In your

28. See Mt 26:60.

29. The guards.
30. The priests.
31. The Donatists, object of the attacks in the next paragraphs.
32. Progenies traditorum, an allusion to the origins of the controversy, when some Christians
allegedly “handed over’ the scriptures, thus “betraying” the Church. The verb trado can cover
both senses. See note at Exposition of Psalm 10, 1.
33. Terrorists; see note at Exposition of Psalm 10, 5.
118 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36

own manifesto you claim that you let go of any property taken from you;* well, I
can read you the passage in your own Acts where you cause an agency to be set
up to demand it. Again, undeniably you claimed there that you offer nothing but
the gospels; but Ican quote many examples of judicial decisions which you have
used to persecute people separated from you, and I can also quote your appeals to
an apostate emperor, to whom you said that nothing except justice found a home
with him.*> Perhaps you regard Julian’s apostasy as part of the gospel? Look how
I am pinning you down as a liar. What deserves any credence, then, among the
things you allege about me? Even if I could find no evjdence that what you allege
is untrue, it would be enough that I am showing you up as a liar in other matters.
What have you to say? And all the rest of your cronies are like you. You had your
reasons for promulgating your charges widely, for you wanted to have plenty of
lying by association, so that you would not have to bear the shame of lying all by
yourself.

The Donatists repaid in their own coin: a historical parallel

19. But our Donatist friend replies, “Let the judgment of our forefathers
against Caecilian remain valid.” Why should it still be valid? “Because it was the
bishops who passed the judgment.” Then the judgment passed on you by the
Maximianists must be equally valid. In earlier days, as I think you are aware,
when Maximian*® was still a deacon under Primian, some bishops who
supported Maximian came to Carthage, as we find in the Tractate which they
included in the Acts; these Maximianists were in legal dispute over a house with
the steward of this same Primian who professed to “let go of any property taken
from him.” First of all they sent the Tractate about him, complaining that he had
refused to come out and meet them; this was their principal grievance. Notice
how God paid them back for what they had complained of in Caecilian. It is a
remarkable parallel; after the lapse of so many years God has willed to re-run
before their very eyes what happened then, so that they may be left with no possi-
bility of denying it and no route of escape. They might have said they had
forgotten what happened so long ago, but God is not allowing them to
forget—and if only it could bring them to salvation! God has done this in his
mercy; mercy for them it will be if they consider what happened.

34. In the decree of the Donatist bishop Primian this claim was made. Augustine quotes it in his
Summary of the Conference with the Donatists, Day Three, VIII, 11 (written toward the end of
the year 411), and more fully in his Answer to Cresconius IV, 47. He refers to it again in 19 and
20 below.
35. The emperor was Julian the Apostate (361-363), whom the Donatists had approached in an
effort to get their basilicas back. Augustine enlarges on this point in his Answer to the Writings
of Petilian Il, 92, 203, written in about the year 400.
36. See note at Exposition of Psalm 35, 9.
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36 119

Keep before your eyes the unity of the whole world*’ at that time, brothers
and sisters, from which unity they split off in their opposition to Caecilian. Keep
also in view the Donatist sect today, from which the Maximianists have split off
in their opposition to Primian. What the Donatists did to Caecilian at that earlier
date, the Maximianists have now done to Primian. This is why the Maximianists
claim to be more authentic than the Donatists, because they have given a better
imitation of the actions of their forebears! They have raised up Maximian
against Primian, just as the Donatists then raised up Majorinus** against
Caecilian; and they have complained about Primian in the same terms as those
others did about Caecilian. They said, you remember, that Caecilian (who was
conscious of the rightness of his position) refused to come out to meet them; he
knew their faction. So too the Maximianists are complaining because Primian
refused to come out to meet them. Why do the Donatists admit that Primian had
the measure of the Maximianist faction, but refuse to allow that Caecilian had
correctly sized up the faction of the Donatists? Maximian was not yet ordained,
and criminal charges were being brought against Primian; so the bishops gath-
ered and desired him to come out to meet them. He did not come out, as the Trac-
tate inserted in their Acts indicates. He did not emerge; I am not reproaching him
for that; indeed, I commend him. If you see a gang like that, you should not go
out to talk to them, but save your arguments for submission to the better judg-
ment of your own party. There was still a large group of the Donatists left, with
whom Primian hoped to clear his name; accordingly he refused to go out and
meet those who had already conspired to form a breakaway group.
Well now, Primian, you see how we commend your course of action against
the Maximianists. Apply the-same criteria to Caecilian’s case. You are unwilling
to judge him as a brother? Very well, judge as an outsider. You were unwilling to
go out, and what were you saying to yourself? “These people have conspired
against my safety. They have been suborned against me. If I entrust myself to
them, I shall be allowing my case to be prejudged. So I will not go out to them; let
my case be reserved for better judges, men endowed with weightier authority.”
A very sensible decision. But what if Caecilian thought the same? You may be at
pains to prove that another Lucilla® bribed those men against you, but you are
unlikely to find any proof. This is something he even then knew so well that it
was subsequently related in the Acts. But since you suspected some trick, and
had received a report that you were in some danger, I admit that in view of your

37. That is, of the undivided Catholic Church throughout the world.
38. Soon succeeded by Donatus.
39. A rich and noble lady whom Caecilian while still a deacon had antagonized by rebuking her on
some point of Church discipline. She was influential at the outbreak of the Donatist schism, and
helped to secure the ordination of a rival bishop to Caecilian. She later bribed the bishops to
condemn Caecilian, as Augustine explains in his Letter 43, VI, 17, so that in Carthage, “the
head of Africa, altar was raised against altar.” See also Answer to Cresconius III, 28,32-29,33.
120 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36

fear your caution was justified. You acted rightly in refusing to go gut and meet
such people, for there were others better qualified to judge concerning you.
Think now about Caecilian: you have kept Numidia for yourself, but he has kept
the whole world.*° But if you wish to maintain that the verdict of the Donatists
against Caecilian was valid then, you must allow that the verdict of the
Maximianists against you is valid now. Bishops condemned him; bishops
condemned you. So you went on to plead your case, and the issue of it was that
you landed yourself with the Maximianist schism, just as Caecilian pleaded his,
and achieved the Donatist schism as the outcome.
We have, then, an amazing and incontrovertible example of history repeating
itself: the Maximianists are bringing the same complaints against Primian as
those others brought against Caecilian. I can hardly express to you, brothers and
sisters, how moved I am, and how thankful to God, that his mercy toward them
has provided an example that should illuminate their darkness, if they have the
wit to see it. Now, if you will bear with me a little while, brothers and sisters,
listen while I read to you the proceedings of the Maximianist council, for God
has put the document into our hands.*!
[He then read out the proceedings of the council of the Maximianists,
commenting as he went along:]
20. To our most holy brethren and colleagues throughout the whole of
Africa. . .
[Here Augustine interrupted:] This means their entire united party in Africa.
But while the Catholic Church is alongside them here, in other parts of the world
they are not alongside the Catholic Church.
[He continued to read:] To our most holy brethren and colleagues throughout
the whole of Africa, that is, those dwelling in Africa Proconsularis, Numidia,
Mauretania, Byzacena and Tripoli; and to the priests and deacons; and to all the
peoples who together with us engage in holy warfare for the truth of the gospel,
the following who have attended the Council at Cebarsussa® wish eternal salva-
tion in the Lord: Victorinus, Fortunatus, Victorianus, Miggin, Saturninus,
Constantius, Candorius, Innocent, Cresconius, Florentius, Salvius, another
Salvius, Donatus, Geminius, Praetextatus . . .

40. This universality was one of the aspects distinguishing the true Church on which Augustine
loved to dwell, especially in controversy with the Donatists.
4 . The following is the Synodical Letter of the Maximianist Council of Cebarsussa, in Byzacena,
which had met on 24 June 393. The more moderate Donatists from the Romanized cities ofthe
coast and the Tunisian coastal plain had been appalled by the violent and unscrupulous
methods of Primian, Donatist Bishop of Carthage, and their efforts to approach him peaceably
had been rebuffed. This council then condemned Primian; its tone is, in the circumstances,
remarkably moderate.
42. A range of variants for this place-name indicates that it has given copyists trouble.
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36 121

|Augustine:] This last one is the bishop of Assuras, whom they received into
their fellowship later. So Primian later accepted this man who had pronounced
judgment against himself.
[He continued to read:] Maximian, Theodore, Anastasius, Donatian,
Donatus, another Donatus, Pomponius, Pancratius, Januarius, Secundinus,
Pascasius, Cresconius, Rogatian, another Maximian, Benenatus, Gaianus,
Victorinus, Guntasius, Quintasius, Felician. . .
{Augustine:] This last is Felician of Musti, who is still alive—unless it is
another man of the same name from somewhere else. Later in the document the
signatories say where each is from.
[He continued to read:] Salvius, Miggin, Proculus, Latinus, and the others
present. It is well known to all concerning God's priests, beloved brethren, that
impelled not by their own will but by divine law they both pronounce sentence
against the guilty and lift any that has been passed on the innocent; this is done
by them legally and rightly. For anyone who either pardons a guilty person or
attempts to ruin an innocent one is exposed to no slight danger, especially as it is
written, “You shall not put an innocent and just person to death, nor acquit the
guilty” (Ex 23:7, LXX). Admonished, therefore, by this decree of the law, we
were obliged under its authority to hear and discuss the case of Primian, who
had been appointed to the holy people of the church at Carthage as the bishop
and overseer of God’s sheepfold. We did so at the instance of letters requesting
the same from the elders of that same church, to the end that when everything
had been investigated we might either acquit him, which would have been the
most desirable outcome, or, having found him guilty, prove beyond doubt that he
had been deservedly condemned. Our dearest wish was that the holy people of
the church at Carthage might joyfully recognize the honor that had been
conferred on it in being given a bishop holy in all respects and blameworthy in
none. A priest of the Lord ought most certainly to be of such character that when
the people’s prayers are of no avail, the priest may deserve to obtain from God
what he asks on behalf of the people; as it is written, “If the people sin, the priest
will pray for them; but if the priest sins, who will pray for him?”*®
[Augustine:] Even the apostles wrote to ask their people to pray for them, and
when the apostles themselves prayed they were accustomed to say, Forgive us
our trespasses. The apostle John, moreover, said, We have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one, and he himself is the effectual entreaty
for our sins (1 Jn 2:1-2). But this was written about the Priest whom they do not
know; the people were being prophetically taught to recognize a Priest who is of
such a character that no one could pray for him. Who is this, for whom no one

43. Loosely based on | Sm 2:25.

122 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36

prays? He who intercedes for us all.“ In former times, in the days ofthe Levitical
priesthood, the priest used to enter the holy place and offer victims on behalf of
the people. He was not the reality, but a type of the Priest who was to come; for at
that time the priests themselves were sinners like the rest of men and women, and
God wanted through this prophetic type to indicate to the people that they must
long for another Priest, one who would intercede for all and need no one to pray
for him. This is what is meant by the text quoted, Jf the people sin, the priest will
pray for them; but if the priest sins, who will pray for him? Well then, you
people, choose the kind of priest for whom you are not obliged to intercede, but
on whose prayer you can safely rely. He is our Lord Jesus Christ, the sole priest,
the sole mediator between God and humankind, the man Christ Jesus.*
[He continued to read:] The scandalous behavior of Primian and his unparal-
leled wickedness have therefore called down upon him the judgment of heaven,
making inevitable that the author of such crimes be cut off entirely. Shortly after
his ordination . . .
[Augustine:] Now we get a list of the charges.
[He continued to read:] Shortly after his ordination he put pressure on the
priests of the aforesaid people to commit themsetves by oath to join him in an
ungodly conspiracy: with questionable right he demanded of them that they
should immediately promise him their consent. . .
[Augustine:] He demanded it; they refused to make the promise, but
remained silent. He was quite prepared to carry through on his own the wicked
deed he had planned.
[He continued to read:] . . . should immediately promise him their consent to
the condemnation of four deacons, outstanding men, of good repute for their
excellent qualities, namely Maximian, Rogatian, Donatus and Salgamius.
[Augustine:] One of these was the author of the schism. He was breaking off a
fragment of what was itself only a fragment, not caring that he was cut off from
the whole.
[He continued to read:] They were dumbfounded by his unprincipled
audacity, and since they might have rebutted the charges by their silence, he was
fully prepared to implement single-handed the crime he had planned, so much so
that he believed himself competent to pass sentence on the deacon Maximian, an
innocent man, as everyone knows. He did this without due process, without
counsel for the prosecution, without witnesses, in the absence of Maximian, who
was ill in bed.
[Augustine:] Look at that! What an indictment!
[He continued to read:] For some time prior to this he had been punishing
clerics with similar savagery. In contravention of the law and conciliar decrees

44. See Rom 8:34.

45, see 1 Tm 2:5.
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36 123

he was in the habit ofadmitting to the holy fellowship ofall the priests men who
had committed incest, and since the majority of the people were opposed to this
practice, it was agreed in letters emanating from even the most distinguished
elders that he must himself correct what he had done. But in his arrogant defi-
ance he disdained to put matters right. The elders of the aforesaid church were
deeply distressed by these events, and they dispatched letters and legates to all
the clergy, begging us with tears to come to themas soon as we possibly could, in
order that the matter might be duly weighed and his intentions investigated, and
so the reputation of their church restored. When in accordance with the request
of the aforementioned persons we came, he was seething with rage and abso-
lutely refused to confront us.
{Augustine:] You know what is alleged against him, because by now the
Donatist party has become unchaste. This was predictable: everyone, the whole
mass of the people, always comes to resemble those with whom it enters into
communion. It follows that if what they say is true, the whole Donatist party is
unchaste by now. Of course, some of them who live in Numidia will come
forward and say, “Those incestuous persons, whoever they may be, whom you
have admitted into communion with you, have nothing to do with us. How could
any such do us harm,*° living far away, as we do?” So then, you would have it
that what happens in Carthage does no harm to you in Numidia? How then could
what happens in Africa harm the whole world? It’s always the same: the argu-
ments they use to defend themselves only incriminate them and vindicate us.
{He continued to read:] He absolutely refused to confront us...
[Augustine:] That is what they complained about in Caecilian’s case.
{He continued to read:] Jn every possible way he maintained a stubborn,
defiant attitude and kept to his evil course, even to mustering a troop of desper-
ados...
[Augustine:] This is something else. They never accused Caecilian of doing
that. Listen to what these fellows did.
[He continued to read:]. . . who, after obtaining permission from the authori- .
ties, blocked the doors to the basilicas . . .
[Augustine:] This was to keep the bishops out.
[He continued to read:]. . . in order to deny us the possibility of entering and
celebrating the liturgy.*” Let anyone who is a lover and champion of the truth
consider this, and judge whether such an action befits a bishop, or is even allow-

46. Variant suggested by the CCL editors: “That scurrilous piece of writing has nothing to do with
us. Whomsoever you have admitted to your fellowship, it could do us no harm.”
47. These violent attacks were made ona preliminary meeting ofthe anti-Primian Donatist bishops
in Carthage toward the end of 392. The meeting broke up and retired to Cebarsussa, whence the
letter Augustine is quoting emerged.
124 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36

able for Christians, or ifthe gospels endorse it. Yet it was one who had been our
own brother who treated us like this, as a stranger would never have done.
[Augustine:] Do we need any more details? They give plenty, and they
condemn the man. But let us read the condemnation itself.
[He continued to read:] All of us, God’s priests, in the presence of the Holy
Spirit, have decreed that because the aforesaid Primian has substituted other
bishops for bishops still living; has introduced unchaste persons into the
communion of the saints;*® has attempted to force certain priests to involve
themselves ina conspiracy; has caused Fortunatus ta be thrown into a sewer for
bringing comfort to sick persons by baptizing them; has persistently refused
communion with the priest Demetrius in order to persuade him to disinherit his
son; has rebuked this same priest for giving hospitality to bishops; has sent outa
gang to damage Christian homes; has caused bishops and clerics to be besieged
and later stoned by his minions; has caused elders of the community to be beaten
in the basilica because they objected to Claudianists* being admitted to
communion; has deemed innocent clerics worthy of condemnation; has refused
to present himself to us so that we can hear his case, after blocking the doors of
the basilicas with his attendants and retinue to prevent us from entering; has
insulted and rejected emissaries sent by us; and has seized many places, initially
by force, and then by judicial authorization . . .
[Augustine:] And this is the man who “lets go what has been taken from
him”! The apostle Paul says, Does anyone among you who has a dispute with
another dare to have the case heard by the unjust, rather than by the saints? (1
Cor 6:1). Look what a charge they have laid against Primian: that he would not
negotiate about these places with the bishops, but only before a judge.
[He continued to read:] Because he has done all these and many other unlawful
things” which we have passed over in silence in order not to dishonor our pen, we
have decreed that he is condemned in perpetuity by the present assembly, lest
through contact with him the Church of God be defiled by any contagion or accusa-
tion. The apostle Paul urges this duty upon us when he warns, “In the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ we command you, brethren, to keep clear of any brother whose
conduct is irregular” (2 Th 3:6). And therefore, not unmindful of the Church’s
purity, we have judged it expedient by this Tractate to warn all our holy
fellow-priests, and all clerics, and all peoples who count themselves Christians, to
shun his company with the utmost care, since he has been condemned. Anyone who
attempts to violate this our decree by disregarding it will be responsible for his own
ruin. However, it has seemed good to us and to the Holy Spirit that a time for

48. Or perhaps “into the communion of holy things,” meaning sacramental offices.
49. A splinter-group from the main Donatist party. Claudian was one of the Donatist bishops who
attended the synod in Rome in 374.
50. Variant: “seductive things.”
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36 125

change should be allowed to the tardy, so that ifany of our fellow-priests, or any
clerics, unmindful of their own salvation, shall fail to withdraw from communion
with the condemned Primian within the period from the day of the condemnation,
that is, from the 24 June, to the 25 December, such persons shall fall under the
same sentence. Lay persons likewise shall dissociate themselves from all dealings
with him by the Easter Day that follows the aforesaid day of his condemnation; if
they do not, they must know that no one of them can be restored to the Church
except through penance, assuming that they are aware of our decree.
Issued by the authority of us, the undersigned bishops:
Victorinus of Munatiana.*' Fortunatus of Dionysianum. Victorian of
Carcabia. Florentius of Hadrumetum.* Miggin of Elephantaria. Innocent of
Thibilis. Miggin, on behalf of my colleague Salvius of Membressa. Salvius of
Ausafa. Donatus of Sabratha. Gemelius of Tanaboea.
[Augustine:] We find among the signatories Praetextatus of Assuras and
Felician of Musti.
{He continued to read:] Praetextatus of Assuras. Maximian of Stabata. Datian
of Camiceta. Donatus of Fisciana. Theodore of Uzalis. Victorian, at the behest of
my colleague Agnosius. Donatus of Cebresuta. Natalicus of Thala. Pomponius of
Macri.* Pancratius of Badias.* Januarius of Aquenum. Secundus of Jacondiana.
Pascasius of Vicus Augusti. Creso of Conjustiacum. Rogatian. Maximian of
Erumminum. Benenatus of Tugutianum. Ritanus. Gaianus of Tiguala. Victorinus
of Leptis Magna.* Gustasius of Beneffa. Quintasius of Capsa.* Felician of
Musti.*’ Victorian, from the delegation of Bishop Miggin. Miggius. Latinus of
Mugiae. Proculus of Gibba. Donatus of Sabratha, on behalf of my brother and
colleague Marratius.* Proculus of Gibba on behalf of my colleague Gallio.
Secundian of Prisianum. Helpidius of Thysdrus. Donatus of Samurdata. Getulicus
of Victoriana. Annibonius of Robauta. Annibonius at the request of my colleague
Augendus of Arensi. Tertullus of Avensa. Primulian. Secundinus of Arusia.
Maximus of Pittana. Crescentian of Murra. Donatus of Belma. Perseverantius of
Theveste. Faustinus of Bina. Victor of Althiburus.
In all, fifty-three bishops.

51. The Primate of Byzacena.

52. A coastal town SE of Carthage.
53. In Mauretania Sitifensis.
54. In Numidia. These two, Pomponius and Pancratius, were among the few signatories who did
not come from Byzacena or the Proconsular Province.
55. Leptis Magna was an important coastal town toward the east of Roman Africa, in modern
Libya.
56. Capsa was far to the south of Carthage.
57. Musti was to the south of Carthage. Felician of Musti was later reconciled with the main part of
the Donatist sect, see sections 20 and 22.
58. The signatory was the bishop of Sabratha who appears earlier in the list.
59. The only Numidian bishop of any standing who supported Maximian.
126 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36

The historical parallel pursued, Primian and Caecilian aR

21. [Augustine:] Bear with me a little longer, brothers and sisters. To Primian
we say, “This decree that condemned you: does it have any force, or not?” Iam
inclined to your point of view, Primian; indeed, I would go further and say that
all those bishops made false allegations against you. Listen to my reason for
saying so. You won your case before other judges, while the Maximianists were
condemned. Well now, if I hold you to be innocent because, after refusing to go
out and meet that faction, you were so successful in proving your innocence
elsewhere that those who condemned you incurred ‘condemnation themselves,
you for your part must agree to hold Caecilian innocent, for he refused to go out
and meet your predecessors, and reserved his case for the judgment of the whole
world, as you reserved yours for the council of the Numidians. If the see of
Bagai® declared you innocent, how much more right had the apostolic see to
acquit him?
On the other hand, do you prefer to maintain that those who originally
condemned Caecilian were in the right? In that case, they condemn you as well.
No, the ruling of those who opposed Caecilian had no validity then, nor will it
have in the future. But be careful not to give a verdict against yourself.
22. The Donatists make bold to say, “But we who condemned the
Maximianists later were the more numerous.” All right then, on that showing
your judgment against Felician must stand, and so will that against Caecilian.
When they®! convoked their council at Bagai, they also condemned Felician; but
now this Felician is within your fellowship, so either a guilty man has been
received back, or an innocent man was condemned. If you are willing to readmit
a guilty person for the sake of Donatian peace, can you not be as accommodating
to all nations for the sake of the peace of Christ? If, however, it was through an
error on your part that Felician was condemned, three hundred and ten conciliar
members were in error. Is it not then all the more likely that seventy were in error
when they condemned Caecilian? What have you to say?

Priority in time versus preponderance of numbers

When you hear the argument pressed against you, “The Maximianists were
the first to issue their condemnation,” you retort, “But we, who condemned the
Maximianists, were the more numerous.” The immediate answer is this: your
predecessors had the priority when they condemned Caecilian. So if it is getting
in first that counts, the Primianists must yield to the Maximianists; but if it is
weight of numbers that counts, the Donatists must yield to the entire world; and I

60. See notes on Exposition 2 of Psalm 21, sections 26 and 31.

61. The bishops of the main Donatist sect.
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36 127

think nothing could be more just. The Maximianists are few in number, but they
had priority.

Another argument: a condemned person cannot sit as judge

Now a guilty person does not convict another person of guilt. If you agree
with this principle, by what right did you” sign a condemnation, when you were
under a condemnation yourself? (He too® was listed among the signatories, and
they had provided no opportunity for him to plead his case. It was different with
Caecilian: the right of a person to plead his case was reserved for him, as the
judgment makes evident, for he was received back into communion only when
he had been cleared. This man,” on the contrary, is found in one place as a man
condemned by judges, and in another as a judge passing sentence with the rest.)

Divergences between Primian’s case and Caecilian’s

But let us concede that the Bagai council was competent in the matter; indeed,
we concede your whole argument. The Maximianists were out of order in
condemning you, but so were your predecessors in condemning Caecilian. You
cleared yourself at Bagai; he cleared himself in the tribunal overseas. What are
you going to say next? “We outnumber the Maximianists.” Fine, boast of your
numbers! We can play at that game too, and more effectively. The Maximianists
condemned you in your absence, after you had refused to go out and meet them.
Thus far the situations are parallel, because they condemned Caecilian in his
absence too, after he had avoided their faction. But then you went on to cause
decrees to be issued in the council of Bagai against your opponents in their
absence, whereas Caecilian established his innocence face to face with his
adversary. Then there is another significant difference: you yourself approached
the Numidian judges before whom you were to clear your name, and you
appointed them; the Maximianists had no say in the appointment. Caecilian won
his case against Donatus before judges whom the Donatist party had sought to
hear the case. Let the Maximianists reply to you, and with justice, “At first we
came to you, we, the bishops from your own province, from your own diocese;
we wished to be the ones to try your case. But you scorned us, and would not
come out to meet us. If you were afraid of what we might decide, then even if we
had chosen judges together, you still would not have appeared before them, even
though you had approved them.” Look at the difference between the two proce-
dures: at that earlier time the Donatists themselves petitioned the emperor by

62. Primian, who at the time he participated in the condemnation of Felician by the council of
Bagai, still lay under the condemnation issued by the Maximianist council.
63. This is an aside to the congregation.
64. Primian.
128 Exposition 2 of Psalm 36

letter to appoint judges. When they lost their case they repudiated these judges,
whom they had asked for before their defeat. At their request others were
appointed, and again they lost their case. They then appealed to the emperor, and
were defeated at his tribunal. A Maximianist whose case has gone against him in
his absence keeps silence, but can a Donatist who has three times been present
and three times defeated keep quiet?

The numbers game again

23. But a point of your argument against the Maximianists was preponder-
ance of numbers. And as I said, I take your point. Three hundred and ten
outnumber the hundred or so of Maximian’s party who condemned Primian; but
does it not weigh with you that thousands of bishops on Caecilian’s side
throughout the world condemned Donatus? Perhaps you will object, “But thou-
sands of bishops throughout the world did not condemn the Donatists, did they?”
Certainly they did not; but why not? Because they were not there in court, and if
they were not present, they knew nothing about the case.
Why have you separated yourself from the innocent? Some baptized person
comes to you from elsewhere in the world and you want to rebaptize him or her.
This newcomer approaches you as you are exercising your death-dealing
ministry and planning to repeat what is given once and for all, and with loud
protests and distress the stranger asks you, “What do you want to do?” This
Mesopotamian, or Syrian, or traveler from Pontus or somewhere even further
off, asks you, “Why do you want to baptize me again?” You reply, “Because you
are not baptized.” This stranger, remember, has come from Galatia, or Pontus, or
he is someone from Philadelphia, from the churches to which John wrote; or he
comes from Colossae, or Philippi, or Thessalonica. And he says to you, “Do I
have no true baptism, I who received letters from the apostle through whom you
derived it? Do you presume to read a letter addressed to me, while setting your
face against peace with me?”
 Exposition 3 of Psalm 36

Third Sermon

Verse 25. Does it match experience?

1. The last portion of this psalm was left aside; we have not treated it or
discussed it with you. Accordingly, as I see it, the Lord has called us back again
to pay the debt we owe you. This was not our arrangement, but perhaps it accords
with his. Let me have your attention then, brothers and sisters, so that with God’s
help we may at last pay off this debt which was weighing on our mind.
Who is making the declaration we have just sung? J was young once, and now
I have grown old, and never have I seen a just person destitute, or a child of
righteous parents begging for bread. Suppose we take this as an individual
speaking. How long does a human life last? Is there anything remarkable in this,
that a single person, living in a particular part of the world throughout his or her
life (which after all is a very short period), even if such a one has journeyed from
youth to old age, has never seen a just person left in the lurch, or the descendants
of the just begging for bread? No, there is nothing remarkable about that.
Possibly before he was born there had been some just person begging bread in
that very place, or it could have been happening in some other place, where the
speaker was not present. Another thing that occurs to me is this: suppose
someone among you, growing old now, looks back on the course of his life and
mentally revisits people he has known; it may well be that he can think of no just
person begging bread, or any child of a just person begging either; yet if he looks
at the sacred scriptures he finds the just man Abraham in straitened circum-
stances and forced by the hunger he faced in his own country to travel abroad.’
He also finds that Isaac, Abraham’s son, was obliged by similar famine to
migrate elsewhere seeking food.* How can it be true, then, that never have I seen
a just person destitute, or a child of righteous parents begging for bread? If the
observer has found it to be true in his own life, at any rate he will find things
otherwise in his reading of the scriptures, and that is a more reliable guide than
one’s own experience.

1. See Gn 12:10.
2. See Gn 26:1.

129
130 Exposition 3 of Psalm 36

Spiritual paralysis es

2. So what are we to do? We need the help of your devotion and insight to
discern the will of God in these verses, and make out what he is trying to teach us.
The danger is that some weak person with little capacity for a spiritual under-
standing of the scriptures may appeal to human instances and see God’s good
servants sometimes reduced by indigence to the necessity of begging for food.
Moreover such a one is all the more likely to reflect on the apostle Paul, who
says, I have experienced hunger and thirst, endured cold and exposure (2 Cor
11:27), and so this observer of ours may be scandalized and wonder, “‘Is it really
true, then, what I have sung? Is that verse really true, that line I sang so devoutly
as I stood in church, never have I seen a just person destitute, or a child of right-
eous parents begging for bread? The scriptures are misleading us,” he may say
to himself; and then all the energies he employed in good deeds may wane. I am
not talking simply about the outer person. When the interior faculties are
disabled the danger is all the graver, for the inner self may slacken and weary of
well-doing as he says to himself, “Why should I exert myself in good works?
Why break my bread to the hungry, or clothe the naked, or bring the homeless
into my house, putting my faith in scripture’s declaration, Never have I seen a
just person destitute, or a child of righteous parents begging for bread, when all
the while I see so many people who live good lives going hungry? Of course, I
could be mistaken; I could be wrongly assuming that both those who are living
good lives and those who are really leading bad lives are equally good, whereas
God knows otherwise; I could be counting as righteous someone who in fact is
unjust. That is possible. Yes, but then what am I to make of Abraham’s case?
Scripture itself affirms that he was just. And what am I to make of the apostle
Paul, who actually says, Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ (1 Cor 4:16)? Do I
want to find myself subject to the same rigors that he endured, in hunger and
thirst, in cold and exposure?”

Letting the paralytic down through the roof

3. Do you think, brothers and sisters, that we can pick up the person who
thinks like this, whose inward limbs are lying slack and powerless to do good
deeds; do you think we can lift him up like a paralyzed man and open the roof of
this passage of scripture, and lower him to the Lord? You see that it is an obscure
passage, and if obscure it is covered over as though roofed. I see on the one hand
a person spiritually paralyzed, and on the other this roofed-over text; and I know
that Christ is hidden under the roof. As far as my strength permits I am going to
do what those people in the gospel were commended for doing, when they

Srecelsosue
 Exposition 3 of Psalm 36 131

opened the roof and lowered the paralytic to Christ, so that Christ could say to
him, Cheer up, son, your sins are forgiven you. He healed the inner person of
paralysis by forgiving his sins and bandaging up his weak faith. But there were
bystanders who lacked the eyes to see that someone interiorly paralysed had
been healed, and they thought the doctor who had effected the cure was blas-
pheming. Who is this who forgives sins? they demanded. He is blaspheming.
Who has power to forgive sins, except God alone ? (Lk 5:21). And because Christ
was indeed God, he heard their thoughts. They were right in what they were
thinking, that God alone could forgive, but wrong in not seeing that God was
present. The physician therefore performed a further cure in the body of the para-
lytic, in order to heal the spiritual paralysis of the people who talked like that. He
did something they could see, and gave something in which they had to believe.
Whoever you are, then, who are so weak and sickly that you are dissuaded
from good deeds by contemplating human misfortunes, whoever you are who
are enfeebled by inward paralysis, allow us to open the roof, if we can, and let
you down to the Lord.

The Church’s long memory

4. The Lord himself, in the Church which is his body, was young in the early
days and has now advanced in age. You know this, you recognize the truth of it
and understand the point, because you have your place within the body. You
have believed that Christ is our Head, and we his body. But is this true of us
alone, and not also of those who went before us? All the righteous since the
world began have Christ as their Head. They believed that he would come, and
we believe that now he has come. They too were healed by faith in him, just as
we were, so that he might be the Head of the whole city of Jerusalem, in which all
believers from the beginning even to the end shall be enrolled, together with the
legions and armies of angels, so that there may be one city under one king, or one
province under one emperor, happy in its perpetual peace and salvation, praising
God without end and unendingly blissful. But the body of Christ, the Church, is
like a single human being, young at first, but now at the end of time flourishing in
sleek old age, for of the Church it is written, widespreading in vigorous old age
(Ps 91:15(92:14)). Widespread the Church is, throughout all nations, and its
voice is like that of a man or woman looking back to the days of youth, and
reviewing all the time that has passed until this last age, for through the scrip-
tures the Church is familiar with all those eras. It speaks exultantly and testifies, /
was young once in the world’s youth, and now I have grown old for Lam still here
in the world’s last days, and never have I seen a just person destitute, or a child
of righteous parents begging for bread.

4. See Lk 5:20.
es Exposition 3 of Psalm 36

Chewing on God’s bread <

5. We have recognized who this speaker is, once young and now mature; and
we have reached Christ through the opened roof. But who is the just person never
seen destitute, the one whose child never has to beg for bread? If you understand
what this bread is, you will understand who is meant. The bread is the word of
God, which is never absent from a righteous person’s mouth. This righteous
person was tempted in our Head, and that was his answer; for when the devil
tempted the hungry, famished Christ, suggesting, Say to these stones, “Become
loaves of bread,” Christ replied, Not on bread alone do humans live, but on
every word of God (Mt 4:3,4). Consider then, brothers and sisters, whether there
is ever a time when a just person is not doing God’s will. He or she is doing it all
the time by living according to his will. And God’s will never leaves such a
person’s heart, because God’s will is the same thing as God’s law. What does
scripture say about that? On the law of the Lord he will reflect day and night (Ps
1:2). You eat ordinary bread for an hour or so, and then put it aside; but you eat
this bread day and night. Whenever you hear it, whenever you read it, you are
eating it; and when you mull over it afterwards you are ruminating, like a clean
animal, not one of the unclean.> A wise maxim indicates this same truth in the
words of Solomon:A desirable treasure lingers in the wise person’s mouth, but
the foolish gulps it down (Prv 21:20). Someone who gulps it down, so that what
he has eaten is no longer visible, has forgotten what he heard. But one who has
not forgotten thinks it over, and in thinking ruminates, and in ruminating finds it
delicious. That is why scripture says, Holy meditation will keep you safe (Prv
2:11). Ifholy meditation keeps you safe as you ruminate on this bread, the saying
will be true: Never have I seen a just person destitute, or a child of righteous
parents begging for bread.

Verse 26. Lending to God

6. All day long he shows mercy and lends.° (This verb means both lending on
interest and receiving a loan on interest, so it will be clearer if we say fenerat.’
What do we care what the grammarians say about it? It is better that you under-
stand our colloquialisms than that our flights of eloquence leave you flum-

5. See Lv 11:1-8, where the distinction is drawn between clean animals (those that may be offered
to God) and unclean (not acceptable). Since sheep and cattle were regarded as typical of the
“clean” animals, a rough-and-ready criterion was provided: animals which have a divided hoof
and chew the cud were to be regarded as clean.
oO.Feneratur.
7. The verb exists in both a deponent form, feneror, and an active form, fenero, with no difference
of meaning; but Augustine here says he intends to use fenero to mean “lend,” as the deponent
might look like a passive. He is more interested in clarity than in linguistic purity, as he goes on
to say.
 __ Exposition 3 of Psalm 36 13 Ww

moxed.*) So the righteous person all day long shows mercy and lends on
interest. But this is no license for usurers to make merry. We can find a special
kind of lender, just as we found a special kind of bread. Wherever we open the
roof we reach Christ. I do not want you to be money-lenders, and the reason why
I do not want you to is that God does not want it. For if I do not want you to do
something, but God does want you to, go ahead and do it; but if God does not
want you to do something, then even ifIdid want you to, any who did it would do
it to their own destruction. How do we know God does not want it in this case?
Because it is written elsewhere, He has not put his money out to usury (Ps
14(15):5). And I think that usurers themselves know how loathsome, how
hateful and abominable the practice is.
But now I myself tell you, or rather our God who forbids you to lend money
on interest commands you, to be a lender. You are told, “Lend to God.” Now if
you lend to human borrowers, it is with expectation; and will you have no expec-
tations if you lend to God? If you have lent to someone—handed out money as a
loan, [mean—and you expect to get back from the other person more than you
gave, not simply your money but something more besides, whether wheat or
wine or oil or some other commodity, then in expecting to get back more than
you handed out you are a usurer, and thereby you deserve blame, not praise.’
“What am I to do, then?” you ask. “I must lend profitably.” Exactly. Study the
money-lender’s methods. He wants to give modestly and get back with profit;
you do the same. Give a little, and receive on a grand scale. Look how your
interest is mounting up! Give temporal wealth and claim eternal interest, give
the earth and gain heaven. “Whom shall I give it to?” did you ask? The Lord
himself comes forward to ask you for a loan, he who forbade you to be a usurer.
Listen to the scripture telling you how to make the Lord your debtor: Anyone
who gives alms to the poor is lending to the Lord (Prv 19:17). The Lord needs
nothing from you, but at your elbow is someone else who does need what you
have. You give it to that neighbor, and he or she receives it. The poor person has
no means of repaying you, yet wants to repay all the same and only lacks the

8. A pun: guam in nostra disertitudine vos deserti eritis.

9. The exacting of interest, at least from fellow-Israelites, was forbidden by the law in the Old
Testament (see Ex 22:25; Dt 23:19-20). For Christians the prohibition was echoed by the
Council of Nicea (A.D. 325) and the First Council of Carthage (A.D. 348). This teaching
continued in force throughout the middle ages, though the Fourth Lateran Council (A.D. 1215)
allowed the Jews to lend money at interest; this had the practical effect of making the Jews
almost the only money-lenders, which may have contributed to their reputation for profiteering
and the suspicion with which they were sometimes viewed. Throughout the ancient and
medieval periods money was regarded as sterile, a mere means of exchange; hence the exaction
of interest on a loan could reasonably be regarded as making profit out of someone else’s
misfortune. But with the rise of capitalism money came to be seen as productive of further
wealth, for which moderate interest paid by the borrower was a fair return. The Christian
Church gradually abandoned the old idea, and today the term “usury” is employed, if at all, only
to denote the demanding of interest at an exorbitant rate.
134 Exposition 3 of Psalm 36

wherewithal. What he does have is the kindly will to pray for you. But when a
poor person prays for you it is as though he or she is saying to God, “Lord, I have
borrowed money; please go surety for me.” So even if you do not hold the poor
person to repayment, you can certainly hold the guarantor liable. Listen to God
telling you in his own scriptures, “Give, and don’t worry, I will reimburse you.”
How do they usually talk, third-party guarantors? What do they promise? “T will
repay you; I take it on myself, it is to me that you entrust it.” Are we not right to
think that God too says this? “I take it on myself; you are giving it to me.” This is
obviously the case if Christ is God, as we do not doubt, for he says, / was hungry,
and you fed me. And when his hearers demur: When did we see you hungry? his
reply shows that he is the warranty of the poor and the sponsor for all his
members, for he is the Head and they are the limbs of his body, so that when the
members are given anything, the Head receives it. When you did that for even the
least of those who are mine, he says, you did it for me (Mt 25:35,37,40).
Well now, you grasping creditor, calculate what you have given, and balance
it against what you will receive. Suppose you had advanced a small sum of
money, and the person to whom you had given it had repaid you with a stately
house, worth incomparably more than the money you had lent, how grateful you
would be! You would be beside yourself with joy. Listen then to what property
he promises you in return, he to whom you lent your goods: Come, you who are
blessed by my Father, take possession of .. . Of what? Merely what you gave?
By no means. All you gave was earthly wealth, which would have rotted in the
earth if you had not given it away. What would you have done with it, if you had
not given it? But as it is, what would have rotted on earth is kept safe for you in
heaven. What we shall receive is what has been stored there for us, and what is
stored is merit. Your treasure has turned into your merit. Look what you are enti-
tled to: take possession of the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the
world. What about the others, the people who refused to lend; what will they be
told? Depart into the eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his
angels. And what is the name of the kingdom we are to receive? The next line
tells you, listen: the wicked will go into eternal burning, but the righteous into
eternal life (Mt 25:34,41,46). Aim for this, buy yourselves this, lend with this in
view. You contemplate Christ enthroned in heaven, but begging on earth. Now
we have discovered how the righteous person must practice usury. All day long
he shows mercy and lends.

Blessed sowing

7. And his seed will be blessed. Let us not take this in a material sense either.
We see plenty of descendants of righteous people dying of hunger, so how can it
be true that the just man’s seed will be blessed? His “seed” is what survives him;
itis what he sows here, and will reap from hereafter. This is why the apostle says,
 Exposition 3 of Psalm 36 Le)

Let us not weary of doing good, for in his time we shall reap without weariness.
So while we still have the opportunity, let us do good to all (Gal 6:9-10). This is
your “seed,” this is what will be blessed. You commit your seed to the earth, and
harvest far more than you sowed; do you fear to suffer loss when you commit it
to Christ? In another text, speaking about alms, the apostle calls them “seed”
more expressly: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever
sows blessings will have blessings for a harvest (2 Cor 9:6).
But perhaps you find sowing hard work, and commiserating with the miser-
able is painful. One day we shall be in better case, for there will be no one
needing our alms. When we are all invested with incorruptibility no one will be
hungry, so you will not need to hand out bread to anyone, no one will be thirsty
and looking to you for a drink, no one naked for you to clothe, no one a traveler
asking you for hospitality. In this world we are sowing our seed amid afflictions,
trials, pain and groaning; but look at another psalm: they went on their way
weeping, as they scattered their seed. But their seed will be blessed; listen to
what follows: when they come back they will come leaping for joy, carrying their
sheaves (Ps 125(126):6).

Verse 27. Avoid evil but also do good

8. Take note of the next verse, then, and don’t be lazy: turn away from evil,
and do good. Do not imagine that you have done enough if you have refrained
from stealing anyone’s clothes. By not stripping someone, you have turned
away from evil, but be careful not to dry up at that point and remain barren. You
must take care not to strip someone of his clothes, certainly, but you must also
clothe another who is naked; this is what turning away from evil and doing good
implies. “What will I get out of it?” did you say? He to whom you are lending has
already told you what recompense he will make to you: he will give you eternal
life, so be easy in your mind and give to him. There is something further that you
need to hear: turn away from evil and do good, and live for ever. When you make
your gift, do not suppose that no one sees you. And when you have given alms to
a poor person and incurred some loss thereby, or you feel regret about what has
been given away, do not suppose that God has left you in the lurch. You may say
to yourself, “What have I got out of doing good deeds? I don’t think God loves
benevolent people.” Where is the murmuring coming from, what are you all
muttering about? There is always a chorus of voices with that tale to tell. Even as
I speak each one of us is familiar with that story, whether on our own lips, or our
neighbor’s, or our friend’s. May God stifle it, may he eradicate the thorns from
his field, and plant productively; may he plant a tree that will bear good fruit.
Why be downcast, human creature, because you have given to the poor and so
lost something? Do you not see that what you have really lost is what you refused
to give? Why not keep your eyes on your God? Where is your faith? Fast asleep,
136 Exposition 3 of Psalm 36

is it? Wake it up in your heart. Listen to what the Lord himself told you when he
exhorted you to perform good deeds of this kind: “Get yourselves purses that do
not wear out, and a treasure in heaven that never fails, where no thief can reach
it (Lk 12:33). Remind yourself of this when you are lamenting a loss. What are
you sad about, you foolish mortal, so mean of spirit, so sick-hearted? Why have
you lost your goods? Only because you would not lend them to me.'? Why have
you lost them? Who took them away from you? ‘A thief,’ you will reply. Didn’tI
warn you to keep them where no thief could break in?” Any of us who bemoan a
loss, then, must bemoan our failure to place our goods where they could not
perish.

Verse 28. Hidden and visible judgment

9. For the Lord loves judgment and will not abandon his holy ones. When the
saints are having a hard time, do not suppose that God is not exercising judg-
ment, or that he is judging perversely. If he commands you to judge justly, is he
likely to exercise perverse judgment himself? He loves judgment and will not
abandon his holy ones. But his way of judging is hidden, as the life of his holy
ones is hidden in him. Those who now struggle on earth resemble trees which in
winter have no fruit or leaves; but when he appears, like a newly-risen sun, the
life that was latent in the root shows itself in the fruits. So he loves judgment and
will not abandon his holy ones. But what if a holy person is racked with hunger?
God will not abandon him, but he whips every child he acknowledges as his.!!
You make light of God’s child when he is being whipped, but hold him in awe
when God is treating him generously. What kind of whips are used on him?
Oppressive temporal circumstances. And when will that generous reward be
his? When he hears the words, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take
possession of the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world (Mt
25:34). Do not shrink from your beating, if you want to be among those worthy
to be acknowledged as God’s true children. So dearly does he love judgment that
he does not abandon those holy ones whom he scourges for a time. And because
he whips every child he acknowledges as his, he did not spare even the
only-begotten Son, in whom he found no fault at all. For the Lord loves judg-
ment and will not abandon his holy ones. Does that mean he will give them the
things you set store by on earth—to live many years, to last into old age? You do
not seem to notice that if you hope to see old age, you hope for something you
will complain about when you get it.
Your soul may be ill-disposed, or weak, or limited in its outlook, and if so, do
not let it say, “How can it be true that the Lord loves judgment, and will not

10. Variant in some codices: “.. . entrust them to me.”

I'l, See Heb 12:6.
 Exposition 3 of Psalm 36 137

abandon his holy ones? Admittedly he did not abandon the three youths who
sang his praises in the furnace, untouched by the fire;'? but were the Maccabees
not his saints too? Their bodies succumbed to the fire, though their faith never
failed.'* And this raises a serious question, because although they did not fall
away from their faith, God forsook them.” So you may think, but you must listen
to the next words in the psalm: They will be kept safe for ever. You were hoping
that they would be spared for a few more years, thinking that if God granted this
he would obviously not be abandoning his holy ones. But while in a visible
manner he did not abandon the three youths, in a hidden manner he did not
abandon the Maccabees either. To the former he gave temporal life to shame the
unbelievers; but the latter he secretly crowned that they might judge their
godless persecutor. So he abandoned neither the one nor the other, he who will
not abandon his holy ones. In fact if the three youths had not been kept safe for
eternity, they would not have received anything worth mentioning. But the
psalm asserts, they will be kept safe for ever.
10. But the unjust will be punished, and the seed of the godless will perish. As
the sowing of the righteous will be blessed, so will the seed of the godless perish.
The seed or issue of the godless must mean their wicked deeds, for we often find
the son of a godless person flourishing in this world, and sometimes even turning
into a righteous person and flourishing in Christ. Be careful, then, how you take
this statement. Make sure you open the roof and reach Christ; do not take it ina
carnal sense or you may be misled. The issue of the godless, in the sense of all the
works of the godless, will perish; they will bear no fruit. They seem to achieve
something for a time, but later they will look for the work they did, and not find
it. We hear in another text the-voice of those whose whole achievement has gone
for nothing: What good has our pride done us, what benefit has come to us from
our vaunted wealth? All these things have passed away like a shadow (Wis
5:8-9). This is how the seed of the godless will perish.

Verse 29. The land of the living

11. The righteous will possess the earth’ as their inheritance. Here again
take care that avarice does not creep up on you, seeming to promise you some
rich estate. If here below you are commanded not to set your heart on such
things, you should not hope to get them in heaven. The “earth” in this promise is
the land of the living, the realm of the saints. Another psalm speaks of it: You are
my hope, my portion in the land of the living (Ps 141:6(142:5)). If your life is the
life the psalmist has in mind, consider what kind of land you are to receive. It is

12. See Dn 3:50.

13. See 2 Mac 7.
14. Augustine’s use of terra fluctuates in meaning between “land” and “earth.”
138 Exposition 3 of Psalm 36

the land of the living. Our earth here is the land of the dying, the earth that will
receive the dead whom it nourished while they were alive. Land and life are of a
kind; where life is eternal, the land is eternal too. How will that earth be eternal?
They will dwell in itfor ever and ever. It will be a different earth then, that earth
that is to be our home for ever; for of this present earth the Lord said, Heaven and
earth will pass away (Mt 24:35).

Verses 30-32. The security of the just

12. The mouth of the righteous will muse on wisdom. Here is that bread again;
look how eagerly the just person munches it, how he relishes wisdom in his
mouth. And his tongue will speak judgment. The law of his God is in his heart.
This is added to exclude the notion that he might have anything in his mouth that
he does not have in his heart, and to make sure you do not count him as one of
those of whom the Lord says, This people honors me with its lips, but its heart is
far from me (Is 29:13).'> His tongue will speak judgment. The law of God is in his
heart. What good does that do him? The psalm goes on to tell us: He will not be
tripped as he walks. The word of God in his heart frees him from the snare, the
word of God in his heart steers him clear of the crooked path, the word of God in
his heart keeps him steady in a slippery place. If God’s word never leaves your
heart, God is with you. What evil can befall anyone whom God is guarding? You
set a guard in your vineyard and you feel safe from thieves; but the guard may
fall asleep, he may lapse and let the thief in; but he who guards Israel never slum-
bers, never sleeps.'° The law of his God is in his heart, and he will not be tripped
as he walks. Let him live free from anxiety, then, even amid evildoers let him
live without anxiety, even amid the godless let him live without anxiety. What
harm can a godless or an unjust enemy do to the just person? He may try, as the
next line suggests: the sinner spies on the just, and seeks to kill him, for the
sinner’s thoughts are along the lines foretold by the Book of Wisdom: The very
sight of him vexes us, for his life is unlike that of other people (Wis 2:15). That is
why the sinner seeks to kill the just. What of it? The Lord guards him, lives with
him, and never leaves his mouth or his heart; is he likely to forsake him? What
would have become of the promise we heard just now: he will not abandon his
holy ones?

Verse 33. The persecutor’s dominance is illusory

13. The sinner spies on the just and seeks to kill him, but the Lord will not
leave the just in his hands. Then why did he leave the martyrs in the hands of the

15. Compare Mt 15:18; Mk 7:6.

16. See Ps 120(121):4.
 ___ Exposition 3 of Psalm 36 139

godless? Why were the persecutors able to do what they liked to them? Some
they struck down with the sword, others they crucified, others they threw to wild
beasts, others they roasted in the fire. Others again were marched in chains until
they dropped dead from exhaustion. It is certain that the Lord will not abandon
his holy ones—but what does this mean: the Lord will not leave the just in the
hands of the persecutor? Did he not leave even his own Son in the hands of the
Jews? Why? Here again you must open the roof if you want your inner wounds
bound up, wherever they are in your spirit. Make your way through to the Lord,
listen to the words of scripture in another text. It foresaw that the Lord would
suffer under the onslaught of the impious, and what did it say? Earth has been
given over into the hands of the ungodly (Jb 9:24). What does that
suggest—earth has been given over into the hands of the ungodly? It means that
flesh was surrendered into the hands of persecutors. But God did not abandon his
righteous servant there, because from the captive flesh he led forth the uncon-
quered soul. God would indeed have abandoned his righteous servant in the
hands of the godless if he had caused him to consent to the wishes of the godless.
A just person prays against such a calamity in another psalm: Do not let me be
betrayed by my desire, Lord, and delivered to the sinner (Ps 139:9(140:8)). It is
very important that you should not be betrayed to the sinner by your own desire;
if your desire is for this present life it may drive you straight into his arms and
you may lose eternal life. By what desire does the just person risk being betrayed
to the sinner? By that which scripture mentions elsewhere: J have never craved
the human light of day, as you know (Jer 17:16). If someone desires and craves
this human daylight, and the enemy threatens to take it away from him by killing
him, then faced with the prospect of losing this life, and with no hope of any
other life, the threatened prisoner gives way and yields to the enemy’s demands.
But the believer hears the Lord’s warning, Do not be afraid of those who kill the
body, but cannot kill the soul (Mt 10:28), and even if he or she is like earth given
over into the hands of the ungodly, the spirit escapes though the earth is captive,
and if the spirit escapes, the very earth will rise again. The spirit migrates to the
Lord, earth to heaven. No least portion of that earth perishes, delivered though it
is for a time into the hands of the ungodly. The very hairs on your head are
numbered (Mt 10:30). The persecuted are secure, but only if God dwells within
them. If the devil is cast out, God is admitted.
The Lord will not leave the just in his hands, nor will God condemn him, when
the time comes for him to be judged. Some Greek codices have and when God
judges him, judgment will be given for him. This expression,
for him, 1s like the
one we use when we say to someone, “Give judgment for me,” meaning, “Hear
my case.” God will indeed hear the case of his just servant, for we will all have to
stand before Christ’s judgment seat, that each of us may receive due recompense
for what we have done in the body, good or bad (2 Cor 5:10); and when the time
140 Exposition 3 of Psalm 36

comes for the persecuted just one to appear before that tribunal, God will not
condemn him, even though he seemed for a time to be coscenned by a human
judge. Although the governor sentenced Cyprian,’ an earthly judgment seat is
one thing, the heavenly tribunal quite another. Cyprian received his sentence
from the judge below, but his crown from One on high. Nor will God condemn
him, when the time comes for him to be judged.

Verses 34-36. The rapid disappearance of the ungodly

14. But when will that be? Do not imagine it will happen immediately: this is
the time for hard work, the time for sowing, the season when the weather is still
cold. Sow your seed, then, even if the winds are howling round you and the rain
pouring down. Do not be lazy; summer will come to gladden you, and then you
will be happy that you sowed. “So what must I do now?” Wait for the Lord. “And
while I am waiting, what am I to do?” Keep to his ways. “And if I keep them,
what will I get?” He will exalt you to possess the earth for your inheritance.
‘What earth will that be?” Here again be careful not to dream about that stately
home; keep in mind the inheritance the Lord promises: Come, you whom my
Father has blessed; take possession of the kingdom prepared for you since the
world was made (Mt 25:34). “But what of those who have harassed us, who have
set us groaning, whose offensive behavior we have had to endure, those for
whom we have prayed in vain as they raged against us—what of them?” The
next line tells you: When sinners perish, you will see. And what a good view you
will have! You will be at Christ’s right hand, they at his left. But it is the eyes of
faith that are needed here. People who lack the eyes of faith resent the happ+
ness'® of the wicked, and think that their own righteous lives are pointless,
because they can see the godless flourishing. But what says the person who has
the eye of faith? J saw the godless exalting himself very high, overtopping the
cedars of Lebanon. Well, suppose he or she is exalted, lifted up very high, what
follows? But I passed further on, and look! he was not there; I searched for him,
but his place was not to be seen. Why was he not there, why was his place to be
seen no longer? Because you have passed on further. If, on the contrary, you are
still thinking in carnal terms, and the earthly happiness available here seems to
you true happiness, you have not passed on further. Either you are on a par with
the godless person or you are lower than he. Gain ground, press on; and when
you have made progress and gone further, use the eyes of your faith, and
consider his ultimate destiny. You will say to yourself, “Look! The one who
puffed himself up like that is not here now!” It is as though you were making

17. The governor was Galerius Maximus. Cyprian died on 14 September, 258, under the Emperor
Valerian.
18. Variant: “‘are attracted by the happiness. . . .”
 Exposition 3 of Psalm 36 141

your way forward past a cloud of smoke. In this same psalm we had a reference
to that: they will disappear, fading away like smoke (v. 20). Smoke sails upward
and forms a billowing sphere; the higher it rises, the more swollen this sphere
becomes. But once you have passed on further, look behind you, for what is
behind you is smoke, if God is ahead of you. I do not mean look back longingly,
as Lot’s wife did, only to remain stuck on the path;!'? look down on it, and you
will not see the ungodly anywhere; you will need to search for his place. What is
this place of his? It is his present station, where he wields power, enjoys wealth,
and has his proper rank in human society, so that many people bend to his whims,
and he gives orders and is obeyed. This place of his will not exist any longer; it
will pass away, so that you”’ will be able to say, / passed on further, and look! he
was not there. Passed on further—in what sense? I made progress, I arrived at
spiritual understanding, I entered God’s holy place?! to see what would happen
at the end. And look! he was not there; I searched for him, but his place was not
to be seen.

Verses 37-38. Innocence, a straight eye, and a promised future

15. Guard your innocence. Hold onto it, as you used to hold tight to your
purse when you were greedy for money. As you used to clutch your purse close,
in case a thief might try to snatch it from you, so now guard your innocence, lest
the devil try to snatch it. Let innocence be your secure inheritance, for of that
both rich and poor may feel secure. Guard your innocence. What is the use of
gaining gold, and losing your innocence? Guard your innocence, and look in the
right direction. Have eyes that see straight, not astigmatic eyes that see evil and
twisted people, eyes that squint so badly that God himself appears to you
distorted and crooked, because he favors the godless and persecutes the faithful.
Do you not perceive how distorted your vision is? Correct your eyesight and
look in the right direction. What is the right direction? Do not fix your gaze on
things that belong to the present world. Then what will you see? That there is a
future in store for a peaceful person. What does that mean, a future in store?
When you die, you will not be dead; that is what it means by a future in store.
There will be a future for such a person even when this life is over, a future for
that “seed” which will be blessed. This is why the Lord promised, Any who
believe in me, though they die, shall yet live (Jn 11:25). There is a future in store
for a peaceful person.

19. See Gn 19:26.

’
20. Variant: “. . . any longer; but as for you, pass by, so that you. . . .’
Dimseees (20/3)
7.
142 Exposition 3 of Psalm 36

16. But the unjust will perish entirely. What does entirely mean? Perhaps
“for ever” or “all at once and all together.” The future hopes of the godless will
come to nothing. But for the peacemakers there will be a future, so we infer that
those who are not peacemakers are godless. And the gospel confirms this, for
peacemakers are blessed, because they will be called children of God.”

Verses 39-40. The final discrimination

17. But the salvation of the just is from the Lord. fe is their protector in time
of trouble; the Lord will help them and rescue them and deliver them from
sinners. For the present let the just tolerate sinners, the wheat tolerate the tares,
the grain tolerate the chaff; for the time will come for them to be separated, and
the good seed will be sorted out from the refuse to be burnt up. The one will be
taken into the barn, the other thrown onto the eternal bonfire; because the reason
for the intermingling of the just and the unjust in the time of preparation was that
the unjust might try to overthrow the just, and” the just thereby be tested, but that
afterwards the unjust might be condemned and the just crowned.”
.

Conclusion: Donatist onslaughts

18. Thanks be to God, brothers and sisters: in the name of Christ we have paid
our debt now, though charity holds us as perpetual debtors. Charity is the one
thing that is always still owing, even if we pay it out every day.
We have said many things against the Donatists, and read out documents and
decrees to you at length. Much of what we read to you is outside the canon of
scripture; but they forced us to do it. If they reprove us for reading out such mate-
rial to you, we gladly accept the reproof, provided you have been instructed in
the process. On this score we may well reply to them in the apostle’s words: J
have behaved foolishly, but you left me no option (2 Cor 12:11). But above all,
brothers and sisters, guard our inheritance, the inheritance of which we are
rendered utterly certain by our Father’s will and testament: not by any
light-weight document of human origin, but by our Father’s will and testament.
This gives us complete assurance, because the testator is alive; he who drew up
that will in favor of his heir himself proves the will. In human transactions the
testator is one person and the adjudicator is another. The person named in the
will establishes his or her right before the adjudicator, but not before the other
one, who could have decided the matter, because he is dead. How secure is our

22. In idipsum.
Po mSee Mita.o:
24. Variant: “.. . might be overthrown and. .. .”
25. Augustine seems not to have quoted the final words of the psalm, but some codices supply them
here.
 Exposition 3 ofPsalm 36 143

claim, then! He who is to adjudicate is he who made the will; for even though
Christ was dead for a time, he is now alive for ever.

Augustine's past life, target of Donatist attacks

19. Let them speak against us as they will, but let us love them even against
their will. We know their slanders, brothers and sisters, well do we know them;
but let us not be angry with them over the slanders; along with me you must bear
with them patiently. They see that they have no case to make, so they turn their
tongues against me and begin to slander me, alleging many things they know
about, and many others of which they know nothing. What they do know are
episodes in my past life; for, as the apostle says, I was once foolish and unbe-
lieving*® and useless for any good purpose. In my perverse error I was devoid of
wisdom, demented. I do not deny it. And in not denying my own past, I am all the
more praising our God, who has forgiven it.?’
What are you hoping to gain, then, you heretic, by turning aside from the
point at issue and making personal attacks instead? What am I? I ask you, what
am I? Am I the Catholic Church? Am I the inheritance of Christ, diffused
throughout the nations? It is enough for me to have a place within it. You
disparage my past life, but what advantage do you gain from that? I take a more
severe view of my misdeeds than you do; you have merely disparaged them, but
I have condemned them. I wish you would take a leaf out of my book, so that at
long last your error might be a past error, like mine!
These are the evil deeds of my past, which they know all about, especially
those committed in this city,** Here I lived a bad life; I confess it. And in the
measure that I rejoice in God’s grace, in that same measure I—what shall I say?
Deplore my past sins? Certainly I would deplore them if I were in them still. But
I am not, so should I say rather that I rejoice over them? No, not that either, forI
dearly wish those things had never happened. But whatever I have been is over
and done with, in Christ’s name. With regard to the present, their attacks deal
with matters of which they know nothing. Certainly there are still faults in me
that deserve their censure,” but they are not in a position to know about these. I
have plenty of trouble in my thoughts, fighting against my sinful impulses; I
have a prolonged conflict, a conflict that never seems to stop, with the tempta-
tions of the enemy who strives to overpower me. I groan to God in my weakness,
and he who knows what I spawned in the past knows what my heart is bringing to
birth now. But, as the apostle says, it matters very little to me that lam judged by

26m Seem seo: :

27. This is the logic of his greatest work, The Confessions, of which there are many echoes in the
following lines.
28. Carthage, scene of his sins as a student; see Book III of The Confessions.
29. Variant: “which I must censure.”
144 Exposition 3 of Psalm 36

you or by any human day of reckoning, but neither do Ijudge myself (1 Cor 4:3). I
know myself better than they do, but God knows me better than Tknow myself.
So do not let them scoff at you on our account; Christ forbid! For they jeer,
“Who are these? Where do they come from? We know those bad fellows here,
but where were they baptized?” If they know us so well they must know that we
traveled abroad. They know too that we came back very different from what we
were when we set out. No, we were not baptized here, but the church where we
were baptized"! is known throughout the world. Plenty of our brethren know that
we were baptized, and some were baptized with us. Thisis easy enough to check,
if anyone in the congregation is anxious on this score. But what about the
outsiders? Are we likely to satisfy them, or prove anything to them from the
testimony of a church with which they are not in communion? How can they
possibly be sure that we were baptized in Christ overseas, when they do not have
any overseas Christ? The only person who does possess Christ overseas is the
one who holds fast to the communion of the universal Church, abroad as well as
at home. How can a Donatist, whose communion scarcely reaches across the
sea, know where I was baptized? Really, brothers and sisters, Ido not know what
to say to them. Surmise what you like about us. If we are good, we are the wheat
in Christ’s Church; if we are bad, we are the chaff in Christ’s Church; but either
way we have not left the threshing floor. But you who were wafted away from it
by the wind of temptation, what are you? No wind lifts grain from the
threshing-floor. So think where you are, and from that infer what you are.

Keep to the point: what matters is the truth

20. “Who are you to make such allegations against us?” the Donatist asks.
Whoever I may be, concentrate on what is said, not on who says it. “But,” he
replies, “the Lord says to the sinner, What right have you to take my covenant on
your lips?” (Ps 49(50):16) Yes, perhaps the Lord does say that to a sinner, and
perhaps there are some kinds of sinners to whom that rightly applies; but whom-
soever the Lord means when he says it, what he is saying is that the sinner gains
nothing at all by mouthing God’s law. But he does not say that the hearer gains
nothing, does he? Now when the Lord speaks in the Church, we have both kinds
speaking, good and bad. When the good ones preach, what do they say? Be
imitators of me, as I am of Christ (1 Cor 4:16). And what does scripture say to
these good preachers? Be an example to the faithful (1 Tm 4:12). That is what we
are laboring to be; but what we are, he alone knows, to whom we offer our
groaning. But of bad preachers something different is said. The scribes and

30. The plurals here are not the episcopal “we”; Augustine is associating with himself his former
friends and companions. One at least, Alypius, was a fellow-bishop now.
31. Milan, where Augustine was baptized by Ambrose at the Easter Vigil, 24-25 April, 387. See
The Confessions, 1X,6,14.
 Exposition 3 of Psalm 36 145

Pharisees have taken their place in the chair of Moses; do what they tell you, but
do not imitate what they do (Mt 23:2-3). You can see that in this chair of Moses,
which has been superseded now by Christ’s chair, bad men sit as well as good,
yet the bad do no harm to their listeners. Why then have you repudiated the chair
itself, because of some bad occupants? Come back into peace; come back to the
concord that can have caused you no offense. If I say good things, and do good
things, imitate me; but ifIdo not act in accord with what I say, follow the Lord’s
advice: do what I say, but do not imitate what I do. But whichever is the case, do
not forsake the chair of Catholic teaching.
Well now, brothers and sisters, we are about to go forth in Christ’s name, and
they will have plenty to say. How shall we conclude? Take care to dismiss my
case summarily. Say nothing to them except this: “Keep to the point, friends.
Augustine is a bishop in the Catholic Church, he has his own burden to bear and
he will have to render an account to God. I have known some good of him. If he is
bad, he knows it himself, but if he is good, he is not the foundation of my hope for
all that. This above all I have learned in the Catholic Church, not to set my hope
on any human being. It is understandable that you reproach us for the human
faults among us, because you do set your hope on human beings.”
Be clear about this, brothers and sisters. When they criticize us, you can be as
dismissive as they are. We know what a place we have in your hearts, because we
know the place you have in ours. Do not engage in battle against them to defend
us. Whatever they say about us, pass over it briskly, lest you become so
embroiled in defending our cause that you lose your own. This is part of their
cunning. They are afraid we will discuss the real issue, and they want to prevent
it; so they batter us with irrelevancies, hoping to keep us so busy exonerating
ourselves that we stop trying to convict them of error.
Anyway, if you Donatists call me bad, that is nothing to the hundred-and-one
bad things I could say of myself. So leave that aside, stop nagging about my case.
Keep to the point, concentrate on the Church’s case, consider your own position.
From whatever quarter the truth addresses you, welcome it hungrily. Otherwise
the bread may never come your way, because you with your malicious spirit are
always fastidiously looking for something to criticize about the dish.
 Exposition of Psalm 37.

A Sermon to the People

Introduction: this psalm could belong to the Canaanite woman

1. The verse we have sung would have been highly suitable on the lips of the
woman we heard about when the gospel was read: J will proclaim my iniquity
aloud, and take serious thought for my sin. The Lord called her a “dog” in view
of her sins, saying, /t is not good to give the children’s bread to the dogs (Mt
15:26). But she knew how to proclaim her iniquity aloud, and to take serious
thought for her sin, so she did not deny what Truth had said. Rather did she
confess her misery and obtain mercy,! seeking healing for her sin; for she had
begged a cure for her daughter, and perhaps her daughter symbolized her life.
Give us your attention now, as we study and expound the whole psalm, to the
best of our ability. May the Lord be present to our hearts, so that we may find in it
helpful things to say, and bring forth what we have found. May the finding not be
too difficult, nor the utterance clumsy.

Verse 1. Wistfully remembering the Sabbath rest

2. The psalm is entitled, A psalm for David himself,

for a remembrance of the
Sabbath. If we investigate what is written about the holy prophet David, who
was the ancestor of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh, we do not find
among the various good things that scripture reports about him that he ever
“remembered the Sabbath.” Why should it be so “remembered”? Since the Jews
observed the Sabbath as they did, why should something that inevitably recurred
every seven days need to be “remembered”? It was to be observed, but not
“remembered” in that sense. No one remembers a thing unless it is absent. In this
city of ours,’ for instance, you remember Carthage, where you were some time
or other; today you remember yesterday, or some day last year; or you remember
some earlier year, or something you did some time ago, or where you were, or
some event in which you played a part. But what does “remembering the
Sabbath” mean, brothers and sisters? Does anyone call the Sabbath to mind in an
act of remembrance like that? And what Sabbath is this, that is remembered with

1. A variant supported by most codices has “But she confessed his mercy and all the more
obtained it.”
2. Hippo, evidently.

146
 Exposition of Psalm 37 147

the groaning we find in the psalm? While it was being read you heard, and as we
unravel it you will hear again, how intense are the grief, the groaning, the
weeping, the misery, that are there expressed.
Yet a person who is miserable in this sense is truly happy. In the gospel the
Lord called mourners blessed.‘ How can anyone who is mourning be blessed?
And how blessed, if he or she is miserable? But I tell you, such a person would
really be miserable if he were not mourning. Here too in our psalm we must
recognize this unknown mourner in the same sense; and how blessed we should
be if we could be this unknown speaker! We meet here someone who is
suffering, groaning, mourning, and remembering the Sabbath. The Sabbath is
rest. The speaker was unquestionably in some kind of restless trouble, when with
sighs he was remembering that rest.

Verses 2-3. Chastened by fire

3. He therefore describes the restless trouble in which he found himself, and

commends it to God, for he is apprehensive about some calamity even worse
than what he is already undergoing. There is no doubt that he is in some bad
predicament; he says so plainly, and we need no interpreter, no guesswork or
conjecture. His own words leave no doubt about what turmoil he is in; we do not
need to look for it, but only to attend to what he is saying. Yet he is anxious about
some further impending catastrophe, worse than the trouble in which he is
embroiled already, so he begins by pleading, Lord, do not rebuke me in your
wrath, nor chasten me in your anger. Certain people are destined to be chastened
by God’s anger in the future, and rebuked in his wrath. It may be that not all those
who are rebuked will be chastened as a result, but some at least will be saved
through that chastening which is to come. This will certainly happen, because
otherwise it would not be called a “chastening,” but it will take place as though
through fire. Others there will be who are rebuked, but not chastened, for Christ
will certainly rebuke those to whom he is to say, / was hungry and you did not
feed me; I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink (Mt 25:42). And he will
continue with the rest of the tale, chiding the wicked on his left for their inhu-
manity and sterile lives. To them it will be said, Depart from me, you accursed,
into the eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels (Mt
25:41).The psalmist is very much afraid of more terrible possibilities, worse
than anything he bewails and groans over in this life, so he pleads, Lord, do not
rebuke me in your wrath. Let me not be numbered among those to whom you
will say, Depart into the eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his
angels. By pleading, Do not chasten me in your anger, the psalmist asks, “Purify
me in this life, and make me such that I will not need that chastening fire”; this

3. See Mt 5:5.
148 Exposition of Psalm 37

prayer he makes with an eye to those who will be saved, but only as through fire.
And why? Because here on earth they built on a founuation of wood or hay or
straw. They ought to have built on gold, or silver, or precious stones,* and then
they would have been safe from both kinds of fire: not only the eternal fire which
will torture the impious for ever, but even that which will chasten those who are
to be saved through it. Scripture says of the shoddy builder, He himself will be
saved indeed, though it be through fire (1 Cor 3:15). Perhaps some people may
trivialize this fire, because scripture says, He will be saved. Yet even though it
will be for some the means of salvation, that fire will nevertheless be harder to
bear than anything we can endure in this life. Think about it: how grievously the
wicked have suffered, and can suffer, here. Yet for all that, they suffer no more
grievously than good people do. What has any criminal, any thief, adulterer,
villain or sacrilegious rascal ever suffered under the law, which a martyr has not
also suffered for confessing Christ? The evils that threaten us here are far more
tolerable, yet look how people will do whatever you order them in order to
escape such pains! How much better advised would they be to do what God
orders them, to escape far more severe penalties!
4. But why does the psalmist beg not to be rebuked in God’s wrath, or chas-
tened in his anger? Because he means to say to God, “Already the pains I am
enduring are many and grievous, so let them suffice, I beg you.” And he begins
to enumerate them, as though making satisfaction to God and offering what he
suffers, in the hope of not having to suffer anything worse: for your arrows have
found their mark in me, and you have laid upon me your heavy hand.

Verse 4. True health is reserved for the future

5. There is no soundness in my flesh in the presence of your anger. Now he

begins to relate what he has been suffering, yet already the trouble he mentions is
a consequence of the Lord’s anger, because it derives from the punishment he
inflicted. What punishment was that? The penalty he imposed on Adam. Did he
not truly punish Adam, did the Lord not mean what he said when he warned
them, You will certainly die (Gn 2:17)? Do we suffer anything in this life that is
not a consequence of the death we incurred through the first sin? We carry with
us a mortal body (though it should not have been mortal), a mortal body seething
with temptations and unease, a prey to corporal pains and manifold needs, a
body changeable and of puny strength even when it is well, because it obviously
is not completely well yet. Why does the psalmist say, There is no soundness in
my flesh, if not because what passes for good health in this life is no health at all
to those who have true understanding and remember the Sabbath? If you have
not eaten, hunger causes you disquiet, and hunger is a kind of natural illness,

4, See 1 Cor 3:12.

 __ Exposition of Psalm 37 149

because the pain imposed as a punishment has become an aspect of nature to us.
What was a penalty to our first parents is for us a natural condition. This is why
the apostle says, By nature we too were children of wrath, like the rest (Eph 2:3).
By nature children of wrath, he says, which means bearers of the burden of
punishment. But why does he say, We were? Because though we still are in fact,
in hope we are so no longer. We have better reason to state what we are in hope,
because in our hope we are entirely confident. There is no shadow of uncertainty
about our hope that could make us doubtful about it. Listen to what glory is
inherent in this hope: We groan inwardly as we await our adoption as God’s
children, the redemption of our bodies (Rom 8:23). What? Are you not yet
redeemed, Paul? Has your ransom not been paid? Has that blood not already
been poured out for you? And is it not the ransom for us all? Most certainly it is.
But look at his next words: Jn hope we have been saved. But ifhope is seen, it is
hope no longer, for when someone sees what he hopes for, why should he hope
for it? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it in patience (Rom
8:24-25). Now what is he waiting for in patience? Salvation. Salvation of what?
Of his very body, for he says, The redemption of our bodies. If Paul was waiting
for the salvation of his body, the salvation he already had was not full salvation.
No, you will be hungry; and thirst kills you, if not relieved. The medicine that
cures hunger is food, the medicine that cures thirst is a drink, the medicine for
tiredness is sleep. Withhold the medicines, and see if living creatures do not die
of these ailments. If you can give up these things and not be ill, that is true health.
But if your condition is such that not eating could kill you, do not boast about
your health, but await with groaning the redemption of your body. Rejoice that
you have been redeemed; but know that you are secure in hope, not yet in fact.
Indeed, unless you groan in your hoping, you will never arrive at the reality.
Our present state is not yet one of health, then, so the psalmist laments, There
is no soundness in my flesh in the presence of your anger. Where do they come
from, the arrows that have found their mark in him? Perhaps what he calls arrows
are the punishment, God’s vengeance itself, plus the pains of mind and body
which are unavoidable in this life. Holy Job also mentioned arrows of this sort;
amid his woes he said that the arrows of the Lord had lodged in him.” However,
we customarily take arrows as representing God’s words, so surely it is impos-
sible for anyone struck by them to suffer in this way? The arrows of God’s words
inflame love, not pain. Or is it that love itself cannot be free from pain? Yes,
surely that is true, because if we love something and do not possess it, we inevi-
tably feel pain. The only person who loves without experiencing any pain is the
one who possesses the loved object; but, as I have said, anyone who loves but
does not yet possess must of necessity groan with pain. This is why Christ’s
bride in the Song of Songs, speaking for the Church, cries out, Jam wounded

5. See Jb 6:4.
150 Exposition of Psalm 37

with love (Sg 2:5, LXX). She says that charity has wounded her because some-
thing she loves is not yet hers, so she suffers, not yet possessing it. If she is
suffering pain, she rightly says she is wounded, but this wound is sweeping her
on toward true health. Anyone who has not been wounded in this fashion will
find that true health is out of reach. Does that mean that the wounded person will
remain in a wounded state for ever? No, certainly not. So we could understand
the unerring arrows in this sense: “Your words have found their mark in my
heart, and lodging there they have made me remember the Sabbath. But recalling
the Sabbath without as yet having a secure hold on it makes me realize that I
cannot rejoice yet. It shows me that the health I now have in my flesh is not yet
true health, nor does it deserve to be called so in comparison with the health I
shall enjoy in everlasting rest, when this corruptible nature has been clothed in
incorruption, this mortal nature in immortality.° Compared with the health I
shall have then, the health I have now is no better than disease.”

The voice of the Head, the voice of his body: two in one flesh

6. There is no peace in my bones in the face of my sins. The question usually

asked is, “Who is speaking here?”’ Some take this to be Christ’s voice, on
account of all that is said a little later about his passion. We shall come to these
statements shortly, and we too shall discover that they are indeed made about the
passion of Christ. But how can one who was guilty of no sin say, There is no
peace inmy bones in the face of my sins? The need to make sense of this forces us
to recognize that “Christ” here is the full Christ, the whole Christ; that is, Christ,
Head and body. When Christ speaks, he sometimes does so in the person of the
Head alone, the Savior who was born of the virgin Mary; but at other times he
speaks in the person of his body, holy Church diffused throughout the world. We
are within his body, provided that we have sincere faith in him, and unshakable
hope, and burning charity. We are within his body, we are members of it, and we
find ourselves speaking those words. The apostle confirms the fact. We are
members of his body, he states (Eph 5:30), and he reiterates this in many of his
letters. If we deny that these words in our psalm are the words of Christ, we
should have to deny it also of that other cry, My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? In that earlier psalm you find, My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? The tale of my sins leaves me far from salvation (Ps 21:2(22:1)).
The words we have in the present psalm, in the face of my sins, match those of the
earlier one, the tale of my sins. Now we are quite certain that Christ was sinless

6. See! 1 ComlS:53;
7. The central question, to which Augustine’s entire work on the psalms is an ever-repeated
answer. The present section spells out his conviction on the subject. See Introduction, and note
at Exposition 2 of Psalm 30, 3.
 Exposition of Psalm 37 151]

and free from all faults, so we might begin to think that these psalm-words are
not his. Yet it would be very difficult, indeed wrong-headed, to maintain that the
earlier psalm does not belong to Christ, when it describes his passion so plainly
that it might almost be a reading from the gospel. We find there, They shared out
my garments among them, and cast lots for my tunic (Ps 21:19(22:18)). And
what about the fact that the Lord himself cried out on the cross, My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me? (Mt 27:46)? What did he mean us to understand by
that? Surely by reciting its first verse he was showing that the entire psalm refers
to himself. But when the next line mentions the tale of my sins we cannot doubt
that Christ is still speaking, so whose sins can these be, if not the sins of his body,
the Church? The body of Christ is speaking as one with its Head. How can they
speak with one voice? Because, says scripture, they will be two in one flesh (Gn
2:24). The apostle confirms it: This is a great mystery, but I am referring it to
Christ and the Church (Eph 5:32). In the gospel the Lord himself replied in the
same vein when they questioned him about divorce: Have you never read what is
written, that God created them male and female from the beginning? A man
shall leave his father and mother, and be united to his wife, and they will be two
in one flesh; so they are two no longer, but one flesh (Mt 19:4-6). Since he
himself declared that they are two no longer, but one flesh, is there anything
strange in affirming that the one same flesh, the one same tongue, the same
words, belong to the one flesh of Head and body?
Let us hear them as one single organism, but let us listen to the Head as Head,
and the body as body. The persons are not separated, but in dignity they are
distinct, for the Head saves and the body is saved. May the Head dispense mercy,
and the body bemoan its misery. The role of the Head is to purge away sins, the
body’s to confess them. Wherever scripture does not indicate when the body is
speaking, when the Head, we hear them speak with one single voice. We have to
distinguish as we listen, but the voice is one. Why should he not speak of my sins,
when he also claims, J was hungry and you did not feed me; I was thirsty and you
gave me nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you did not take me in; I was ill,
and in prison, and you did not visit me (Mt 25:42-43)? The Lord was certainly
notin prison. Why should he not say it, though, when to their question, When did
we see you hungry, or thirsty, or in prison, and yet did not serve you? he will
reply, As long as you did not do itfor one of the least of those who are mine, you
did not do itfor me either (Mt 25:44-45)? Why should he not say, In the face of
my sins, he who cried out to Saul, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? (Acts
9:4)? He most definitely had no one persecuting him in heaven. But just as on
that occasion the Head was speaking on behalf of the body, so here too the Head
speaks the words that properly belong to the body, and you hear them as the
words of the Head too. Whenever you hear the voice of the body, do not separate
152 Exposition of Psalm 37

it from the voice of the Head; and whenever you hear the voice of,the Head, do
not separate him from the body; for they are two no longer, but one flesh.
7. There is no soundness in my flesh in the presence of your anger. But
perhaps, Adam, perhaps, O human race, God has been unjustly angry with you?
It sounds like unjust anger on God’s part, when humanity acknowledges the
punishment it still suffers, even though it is already established in the body of
Christ: there is no soundness in my flesh in the presence of your anger. Bring out
into the open the justice of God’s wrath, or you may look as though you are
excusing yourself and accusing him. Go on with what you have to say, and show
us where God’s anger springs from. There is no soundness in my flesh in the
presence of your anger, nor peace in my bones. Notice how the first part of each
clause corresponds: there is no soundness in my flesh is repeated as nor peace in
my bones. But notice also that the psalm does not repeat in the presence of your
anger; instead it indicates the reason for God’s anger. There is no peace in my
bones, it says, in the face of my sins.

Verse 5. A weight on one’s head

.

8. Because my iniquities lifted up my head, they turned into a heavy burden

weighing me down. He puts the cause first, and describes the effect afterwards.
In saying, My iniquities lifted up my head, he shows why the consequence came
about, for no one is really proud except the sinner whose head is lifted high.
Anyone who tosses his head in defiance of God is lifted up in this sense. Now
when the passage from Ecclesiasticus was read you heard the warning, The
starting point of human pride is rebellion against God (Sir 10:14) . When the
first human refused to hear the commandment, iniquity lifted up his head against
God. And because this was the sinner’s condition, what did God do to him? My
iniquities turned into a heavy burden, weighing me down. Lifting up one’s head
is an act of levity; anyone who does so feels there is no burden to bear. But
because the sinner finds it such a light matter to lift himself up, he is given a
weight to squash him down. His enterprise will rebound onto his own head, and
his iniquities will descend to crown him.* They turned into a heavy burden,
weighing me down.

Verse 6. The smell of sin

9. My bruises have rotted and festered. Obviously a bruised person is already

in a bad state, but this case is worse, for the bruises themselves have rotted and
festered. Why did they fester? Because they were rotten.’ Is there anyone among

8. See Ps 7:17(16).
9. Unde putuerunt? Quia computruerunt.
 Exposition of Psalm 37 153

us who does not know how this process takes place in human life? You only need
a healthy sense of smell in spiritual matters to be aware how sins fester. The
Opposite to this reek of sin is the fragrance of which the apostle says, We are the
fragrance of Christ offered to God in every place, for those who are on the way to
salvation (2 Cor 2:15). But where does the fragrance come from? From hope.
What is its source, if not the memory of the Sabbath? We bewail the bad smell in
this life, but already we catch the scent of the life to come. We bewail our
stinking sins, but breathe the fragrance of what awaits us. If that sweet scent
were not soliciting us, we should never remember the Sabbath. But through the
Spirit we can detect it, and can say to our Bridegroom, Let us run toward the
fragrance of your ointments (Sg 1:3); so we avert our noses from our own stench
and turn to him, and then we breathe a little more freely. Yet if our evil dealings
were not still assailing us with their foul odor, we should not confess with sighs,
My bruises have rotted and festered. And the cause? In the face of my foolish-
ness. A little while ago he said, Jn the face of my sins; now he says, In the face of
my foolishness.

Verse 7. Curvature of the heart

10. J am afflicted with miseries and bowed down to the very end. Why is the
speaker bowed down? Because earlier he had been loftily proud. If you humble
yourself you will be raised up, if you are proud and lofty you will be bent down,
for God will certainly find a weight to bend you down with. The weight he will
use is the burden of your sins. It will be tied onto your head and you will be bent
over. Now what does it mean, to be bent down? It means that one cannot
straighten up. That was the state of the woman whom the Lord found in the
gospel: she had been bent over for eighteen years, and could not stand up
straight.!° All whose hearts are fixed on this earth are disabled in the same way.
But since that woman found the Lord, and he healed her, let everyone with this
infirmity hear the invitation, “Lift up your hearts!”’'' Insofar as the sinner is still
bent over, he or she continues to groan, just as he too was bent down who said,
The corruptible body weighs down the soul, and this earthly dwelling oppresses
a mind that considers many things (Wis 9:15). Amid present woes let him sigh,
that he may receive that other life later; let him remember the Sabbath, and by
remembering deserve to attain it. The Sabbath that the Jews were accustomed to
celebrate was a sign. A sign of reality—what reality? The reality the psalmist is
remembering when he says, / am afflicted with miseries and bowed down to the
very end. And what does to the very end signify? Even until death. All day long I

10. See Lk 13:11-13.

11. See note at Exposition of Psalm 10, 3. But the editors of Migne, PL, amend audiat: sursum cor
to habeat sursum cor: “have his/her heart raised up.”
154 Exposition of Psalm 37

was walking about in sorrow. By all day long he means without respite; all day
long means throughout life. But when did the psalmist begin to take stock of his
condition? Only when he began to remember the Sabbath. As long as he remem-
bers something he does not yet possess, do you wonder that he goes about very
sad? All day long I was walking about in sorrow.

Verse 8. Fantasies will be superseded by the vision of truth

11. For my soul is full to the brim with deceitful fantasies, and there is no
health in my flesh. Soul and flesh—so this involves the whole human person.
The soul is brimful of deceitful fantasies, and the flesh has no health in it; is there
anywhere left where he can look to find joy? It is inevitable that he is very
sorrowful, isn’t it? All day long I was walking about in sorrow. Let sorrow be our
lot until our soul is stripped of deceitful fantasies, and our body endued with
health; for our real health is immortality. But if I try to list the deceitful fantasies
that throng the soul, when would we ever find time enough? Is there anyone
whose soul does not suffer them? I will remind you briefly how full our souls are
with these lying fantasies. So insistent are they that we are scarcely permitted to
pray. If we think about material things we have no way of doing so except
through images, and often intrusive images rush in upon us, ones we are not
seeking. We are tempted to pass from one to another, to flit hither and thither.
Then you want to go back to your starting point and rid yourself of what you are
currently thinking about, but something else occurs to you. You try to remember
something you have forgotten, but it does not present itself to your mind; some-
thing else which you did not want comes instead. Where had that thing you had
forgotten gone to? Why did it slip into your mind later, when you were no longer
looking for it? While you were looking for it, innumerable other things occurred
to you instead, things that were not required. I have sketched the situation
briefly, brothers and sisters; I have sprinkled a few ideas upon you, so that if you
take them in and go on thinking about them yourselves you will discover what it
means to bewail the deceitful fantasies that invade our souls. These illusions
came in as a penalty, and the soul lost the truth, for just as the deceitful fantasies
are the soul’s punishment, so is truth the soul’s reward.
But when we were locked fast in those illusions, Truth came to us. He found
us immersed in them, so he took our flesh, or rather took flesh from us, from the
human race. He made himself visible to eyes of flesh in order to heal by faith
those to whom he meant to manifest the truth, so that once those eyes were
healed, truth might begin to dawn on them. He himself is the truth, and this truth
he promised us when his flesh was made visible, so that there might be implanted
in us the beginnings of that faith whose reward is truth. For Christ did not mani-
fest himself to us on earth; what he manifested was his flesh. If he had mani-
fested himself, the Jews would have seen and recognized him; but if they had
 155
a" Exposit ion of Psalm 37

recognized him they would never have crucified the Lord of glory.'!? What about
his disciples, though; perhaps they did see him, when they asked him, Show us
the Father, and that is enough for us (Jn 14:8)? No; wishing to make it evident
that until then he had not been seen by them, he replied, Have I been all this time
with you, and yet you have not truly seen me? Whoever has seen me, Philip, has
seen the Father (Jn 14:9). If they had been truly seeing Christ, how could they
have still wanted to see the Father? In seeing Christ they would have been seeing
the Father. Evidently they had not yet truly seen Christ, these men who longed to
have the Father disclosed to them. Listen now to the reason why they were not
yet seeing Christ. In another place he promised this seeing as a reward: Anyone
who cherishes my commandments and keeps them, that is the one who loves me;
and whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him. Then, as
though in response to the question, “What will you give to the one you love?” he
continued, / will show myself to him (Jn 14:21). If he has promised to manifest
himself to those who love him, as their reward, it is clear that we are promised a
vision of the truth that will exclude the possibility of our ever complaining again
that my soul is full to the brim with deceitful fantasies.

Verse 9. Homesickness

12. [have been weakened and humbled exceedingly. The person who remem-
bers the towering heights of the Sabbath is also the one who sees how deeply he
or she is humbled, while anyone who is incapable of conceiving that sublime rest
also fails to perceive where he or she is now. This is why another psalm says,
Rapt out of myself, I said, “I have been flung far out of your sight” (Ps
30:23(31:22)). The psalmist’s mind had been snatched aloft and he saw some-
thing sublime, yet he knew he was not yet fully present to what he saw. It was as
though a kind of flash of divine light had reached him; he could in some degree
understand it, though it came from a place he knew he had not attained. It
enabled him to see his present situation, and how gravely he was weakened and
cramped by human misfortunes, and this prompted his cry, “Rapt out of myself, I
said, “I have been flung far out of your sight.” What I have seen in ecstasy is such
that in its light I see how far away from it I am, for I have not yet reached that
place.” The man who told us that he had been taken up to the third heaven, where
he heard words beyond all utterance that no human may speak'’—he had been
there. But he was called back to us, to spend more time being made perfect
through weakness first,'* and so be invested with strength later. Though encour-
aged in his ministry by having glimpsed something of those mysteries, he added,

12. See 1 Cor 2:8.

13. See 2 Cor 12:2-4.
14. See 2 Cor 12:9.
156 Exposition of Psalm 37

“I heard words beyond all utterance, that no human is allowed to speak.” What
use is it then for you to inquire of me or of anyone else about matters no human
may speak of, if even he who was allowed to hear them was not permitted to tell?
Nonetheless, as we groan and confess our miseries, and recognize where we are,
let us remember the Sabbath and patiently wait for what he has promised, he who
has given us in himself an example of patience. Let us confess that J have been
weakened and humbled exceedingly.

The groaning heart ‘

13. My heart was bellowing its groans. Sometimes you overhear God’s
servants making their appeals with groaning, and you wonder why. Nothing is
obvious except the groans of this servant of God—if they reach the ears of
anyone nearby, that is; for there is also a hidden kind of groaning that human ears
do not catch. But in the case where a person’s heart has been seized by so
powerful a desire that the inner anguish is expressed audibly, you seek the cause.
You may say to yourself, “Perhaps he is groaning about so-and-so, or perhaps
some calamity has befallen him.” Who can know, the reason, except the one in
whose sight and into whose ears his servant is pouring out those sighs? Accord-
ingly, says the psalmist, my heart was bellowing its groans. If human beings
hear anyone groaning they usually take it to be the groans of the flesh; they do
not overhear anyone whose groans are those of the heart. If a thief has stolen
someone’s property the victim may have been left bellowing, but not with the
groaning of the heart. Another bewails the son he has buried, another his wife;
another groans because his vineyard has been damaged by a hailstorm, or
because his barrel of wine has turned sour, or because someone has made off
with his beast; another because he has sustained a loss of some other kind; and
another because he is afraid of an enemy. All these are bellowing their distress,
but with the groans of the flesh. Quite different is God’s servant, who bellows his
at the remembrance of the Sabbath, that kingdom of God which flesh and blood
will not possess.!° So, says the psalmist, my heart was bellowing its groans.

Verse 10. Continuing desire is unceasing prayer

14. Who, then, could discern the reason for that bellowing? The psalmist
continues, “All my desire is before you, Lord. Not before human beings, who
cannot see my heart, but before you is all my desire.” Let your desire too be
before him, and there your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.'* This
very desire is your prayer, and if your desire is continuous, your prayer is contin-

15. See 1 Cor 15:50.

16. See Mt 6:6.
 Exposition of Psalm 37 ae |

uous too. The apostle meant what he said, Pray without ceasing (1 Thes 5:17).
But can we be on our knees all the time, or prostrate ourselves continuously, or
be holding up our hands uninterruptedly, that he bids us, Pray without ceasing?
If we say that these things constitute prayer, I do not think we can pray without
ceasing. But there is another kind of prayer that never ceases, an interior prayer
that is desire. Whatever else you may be engaged upon, if you are all the while
desiring that Sabbath, you never cease to pray. If you do not want to interrupt
your prayer, let your desire be uninterrupted. Your continuous desire is your
continuous voice. You will only fall silent if you stop loving. Who are the people
who have fallen silent? Those of whom the Lord said, With iniquity increasing
mightily, the love of many will grow cold (Mt 24:12). The chilling of charity is
the silence of the heart; the blazing of charity is the heart’s clamor. If your
charity abides all the time, you are crying out all the time; if you are crying out all
the time, you are desiring all the time; and if you are desiring, you are remem-
bering rest.
You must also understand in whose presence that bellowing of your heart is
heard. Consider what kind of desire it should be in God’s sight. A desire for your
enemy’s death? People might think that desire justified, for we do sometimes
pray misguidedly. Let us examine what people pray for, imagining that their
requests are in order. They pray that someone may die, so that an inheritance
may come to them. But let those who pray for the death of their enemies listen to
the Lord’s injunction, Pray for your enemies.'’ Let them not pray, then, that their
enemies may die, but that their enemies be corrected; then the enemies will be
dead, because when converted they will no longer exist as enemies.
All my desire is before you. “But what if my desire is before him, but my
groaning does not reach him?” How can that happen, when your very desire
voices itself in groans? This is why the next line says, And my groaning is not
hidden from you. Hidden from you it is not, though it is hidden from most
humans. Sometimes a humble servant of God can be seen praying, and his
groaning is not hidden from you. And sometimes a servant of God may be seen
laughing: does this mean that desire is dead in such a person’s heart? No; and if
desire is in him, groaning is in him too; it does not always reach human ears, but
it never fails to reach the ears of God.

Verse 11. Turmoil of the heart and spiritual blindness

15. My heart is throbbing. Why? Because my strength is gone. It may happen

that some catastrophe strikes suddenly. Our hearts throb, for the earth is quaking
and thunder rolls round the sky, or there is a terrifying attack, or a fearful noise,
ora lion is seen on the road. We are thoroughly disturbed. Robbers are lying in

17. See Mt 5:44; Lk 6:27.

158 Exposition of Psalm 37

wait, we are frightened, there is terror all around and panic strikes home. Why is
this so? Because my strength is gone. If that strength were still with us, what
would there be to fear? Whatever bad news arrived, whatever bared its teeth at
us, whatever roared, whatever fell on us, whatever bristled at us, it would not
frighten us. But what is the reason for the pounding heart of which the psalm
speaks? My strength has gone. And why has it left him? Because the very light of
my eyes has forsaken me. The light of Adam’s eyes left him, for God himself was
the light of Adam’s eyes; and after offending God he fled into the shadow, and
hid among the trees of paradise.'* He was afraid of God’s countenance, so he
sought the shade of the trees. There in the wood he no longer had that light for his
eyes which until now had always brought him joy. So it was for him, our first
parent, and for us as his descendants. But to the second Adam, the new Adam, his
members are gathered, for the new Adam has become a life-giving Spirit,'? and
from their places in his body they cry out, confessing, The very light of my eyes
has forsaken me. But now when they make their confession, now that they are
redeemed, now that they are in the body of Christ, is it still true that the light of
their eyes is not with them? Yes, it is true, for they have the light only as they
remember the Sabbath, as those who discern it, but only in hope. It is not yet for
them the light of which it is said, J will show myself to him (Jn 14:21). Some
portion of that light is ours, for we are children of God, and we keep hold of this
in faith; but this is not the light that will be ours one day. What we shall be has not
yet appeared, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, because
we shall see him as he is (1 Jn 3:2). What we have now is the light of faith and the
light of hope. As long as we are in the body we are on pilgrimage and away from
the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. And as long as we hope for what we
do not see, we wait for it in patience (2 Cor 5:6-7; Rom 8:25). These are the tones
of people on their journey, people not yet in their homeland. With good cause
does anyone who prays speak in these tones; he or she speaks the truth honestly
in plainly confessing, The very light of my eyes has forsaken me. This is the
suffering of the inner person. There within, with himself, in himself and to
himself he confesses it; he confesses it of no one and to no one save himself.
Whatever the woes he has recounted, he has himself deserved them as his
punishment.

Verse 12. The Head speaks ofhis sufferings, which are also ours

16. But is this all that men and women suffer? By no means. Inwardly we
suffer from ourselves, and outwardly from those with whom we live. We suffer
our own bad characteristics, and we are obliged to suffer those of other people.

18. See Gn 3:8.

19. See | Cor 15:45.
 Exposition of Psalm 37 159

This is why another psalm makes the twofold petition, Cleanse me from my
secret sins, Lord, and spare your servant from the faults of others (Ps
18:13-14(19:12-13)). In the present psalm the speaker has already made confes-
sion of his own secret sins, from which he desires to be cleansed, so let him speak
now of other people’s, from which he prays to be spared. Myfriends . .. why
need I speak of enemies? Myfriends and neighbors drew near and stood against
me. Make sure you understand his phrase, stood against me, for if they stood
against me, they fell to their own ruin. My friends and neighbors drew near and
stood against me. We must listen to the voice of the Head now, for the dawning
light of our Head in his passion is beginning to show. But when the Head begins
to speak, do not separate his body from him. If the Head has refused to separate
himself from the voice of his body, would the body dare separate itself from the
sufferings of its Head? Suffer in Christ, for Christ can almost be said to have
sinned in your weakness. In this very psalm he spoke with his own lips about
your sins, and seemed to claim them as his own, for he said, In the face of my sins,
though they were not his. Just as he willed to take our sins on himself, because
we are his body, so we too must will his sufferings to be ours, because he is our
Head. If he suffered from friends who turned into enemies, it is unfitting that we
should be spared the same. Rather let us prepare ourselves to be with him in this
same experience, and not reject this chalice, so that we may find in ourselves a
longing for his sublime glory, but by way of his lowliness. To certain disciples
who aspired to a place close to him in his heavenly kingdom he replied, Are you
able to drink the cup I am to drink? (Mt 20:22). Those sufferings of our Lord are
our sufferings. If anyone serves God loyally, keeps faith, pays his debts, and
lives justly among his fellow‘men and women, I should be surprised if he does
not suffer, and even suffer what Christ here recounts of his own passion.

Who is near, who far?

17. My friends and neighbors drew near and stood against me; and my neigh-
bors stood far off. Some neighbors drew near, other neighbors stood far off; who
are these two sorts? The Jews were Christ’s neighbors because they were his
kinsfolk, and they approached him even as they crucified him. The apostles were
his neighbors too, but they stood far off, for fear of suffering with him.
We could take it in another way: my friends are those who feigned friendli-
ness with me. They did so when they said, We know that you truthfully teach the
way of God (Mt 22:16), when they tried to tempt him to say whether or not it was
right to pay tribute to Caesar, when he confounded them out of their own
mouths. This was the occasion when they pretended to be his friends. But he
needed no one to give evidence about what was in any human being, for he knew
160 Exposition of Psalm 37

what was in everyone,” so much so that when they had mouthed their friendly
words he replied, Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites ? (Mt 22:18).
This is why he can say, My friends and neighbors drew near and stood against
me; and my neighbors stood far off. You understand what I mean? I have called
those who approached him “neighbors,” yet they stood far off; for though they
drew near in body, they stood far away in their hearts. Who was so near physi-
cally as those who hoisted him onto the cross? Yet who so far away in heart as
those who uttered blasphemies? Far distance of this latter kind was mentioned
by Isaiah; listen to what he said about being near while really being far away:
This people honors me with its lips (that means, they are physically near), but its
heart is far from me (Is 29:13). The same people are said to be near, and yet far:
near with their lips, far away in their hearts.
However, the fearful apostles certainly ran far away, so we can more simply
and obviously refer the saying to them, understanding it to mean that some of
them drew near and others stood far off, since even Peter, who had been bold
enough to follow our Lord, was so far off that when questioned, and frightened,
he three times denied the Lord with whom he had earlier promised to die.*! But
afterwards he came back from that far-off place to draw close again; for he heard
the risen Christ ask, Do you love me? and he repeatedly answered, J love you (Jn
21:15-17). He who by denying the Lord had put himself far away was now
coming near by his confession, until by his triple declaration of love he blotted
out his triple denial.?? And my neighbors stood far off.

Verse 13. Seeking Christ’s life

18. They who were seeking my life wrought violence. It is already obvious
who these people were who were seeking his life,**> who did not have his life
because they were not in his body. Those who were seeking his life were far
away from his soul, but sought to kill it. But there is also a good way of seeking
his soul, for in another text he takes issue with certain people by complaining,
There is no one to seek my soul (Ps 141:5(142:4)). So in one place he rebukes
those who do not seek his soul, and in another he rebukes those who do. Who is it
who seeks his soul in a good sense? Anyone who imitates his sufferings. And
who are they who seek his soul, or his life, in a bad sense? Those who were
treating him violently and crucifying him.
19. It continues, Those who looked for evil deeds in me made empty accusa-
tions. What does that mean—those who looked for evil deeds in me? They

20. See Jn 2:25.

21. See Mt 26:69-74; 35.
22. Variant: “his triple declaration of fear.”
23. Qui quaerebant animam eius. The word anima, which occurs eleven times in this paragraph,
can mean “life” or “soul,” Augustine is playing on the ambiguity.
 Exposition of Psalm 37 161

looked for many grounds of accusation, but found none. Perhaps this is a way of
saying, “They looked for crimes,” because they did indeed hunt for charges to
bring against him, but could not find any.** They were looking for evil actions in
a good man, for crimes in one who was innocent. How could they find any in him
who had no sin? But since they were looking in vain for sins in the sinless one, no
resort was left to them but to fabricate what they could not find. Accordingly
those who looked for evil deeds in me made empty accusations, not charges of
substance. And they devised* treachery all day long; that is, they unceasingly
devised lying allegations. You know what a plethora of false evidence was
brought against the Lord before his passion, and you know how much was
falsely alleged even after he had risen from the dead. The soldiers who guarded
his tomb were like those of whom Isaiah had prophesied: / will assign the wicked
to his sepulcher (Is 53:9), for they were indeed wicked in refusing to tell the
truth, accepting a bribe, and disseminating falsehood. Listen to what empty
accusations they made: While we were asleep, his disciples came and removed
him (Mt 28:13). That is certainly an empty accusation, for if they were asleep,
how did they know what had happened?

Verses 14-15. The Lord’s silence under attack

20. But I was like a deaf man who heard nothing, says the psalm, because
when Christ made no reply to what he heard, it looked as though he did not hear. J
was like a deaf man who heard nothing, and like a dumb man who does not open
his mouth. Then it repeats the same thought: J became like someone who does not
hear, and has no refutation to Offer. He appeared to have nothing to say to them,
no grounds for rebuking them. Yet had he not earlier censured them on many
points? He had criticized them extensively: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites (Mt 23:13), he said, and many similar things. Yet when the time came
for his passion he said nothing of the kind, not because he had nothing that he
could say but because he was giving them a chance to fulfill all that had been
foretold, so that all the prophecies might be verified in him, of whom it had been
said, Like a sheep voiceless before its shearer, he did not open his mouth (Is
53:7). It was therefore necessary for him to be silent in his passion, but he will
not be silent at the judgment. He had come then to be judged, he who later will
come to judge; and because he submitted to judgment in such profound humility
he will come as judge in mighty power.

24. See Mt 26:60; Jn 8:46.

25. Variant: “will devise.”
162 Exposition of Psalm 37

Verse 16. Trust God when you have no human advocate. \

21.You will hear me, O Lord my God, because in you, Lord, I have trusted. It
is as though Christ were being asked, “Why did you not open your mouth? Why
did you not beg them, Stop? Why did you not rebuke them as you hung on the
cross?” The psalm replies for him, Because in you, Lord, I have trusted, for you
will hear me, O Lord my God. In this saying he has advised you what to do, if you
find yourself in trouble. You seek to defend yourself, and perhaps no one under-
takes your defense. You are extremely worried, and think you have lost your
case because you have no counsel for defense and no evidence on your side.
Guard your innocence within yourself, where no one seeks to undermine your
case. Perhaps false evidence has swayed the verdict against you, but this is so
only in the human court; will it have any weight with God, before whom your
case is to be heard? When God is judge, there will be no other witness than your
own conscience. Between the just judge and your own conscience you will have
nothing to fear except the state of your case itself. If your case is not a bad one,
you need be terrified of no plaintiff, and you need neither rebut a lying witness
nor call a truthful one. Simply arm yourself with a good conscience, so that you
may say, You will hear me, O Lord my God, because in you, Lord, I have trusted.

Verse 17. Gloating enemies

22.1 said, Let my enemies never gloat over me, for when my feet slipped, they
had much to say against me. The Lord turns once more to the weakness of his
body, the Head looks to the needs of his feet. He is not so high in heaven as to
abandon what belongs to him on earth; he takes good care of it and keeps us in
sight. In the conditions of this life it sometimes happens that our feet slip, and we
slide into some sin. Then the wicked tongues of our enemies get busy, and from
their reaction we understand what their objective has been all along, even though
they did not admit it. They comment harshly, with no hint of gentleness,?6
delighted to have found what they ought to have deplored. J said, Let my enemies
never gloat over me; yes, | prayed so, yet perhaps for my correction you have
made them speak unrestrainedly against me when my feet slip. They were trium-
phant, and had plenty of scurrilous things to say when I lost my footing. They
should have been merciful to me in my weakness, and not gloated, as the apostle
enjoins, My brothers and sisters, if someone is involved in some wrongdoing,
you who are spiritual must instruct such a person ina spirit of gentleness. And
he includes the reason why: taking heed to yourself, lest you be tempted as well
(Gal 6:1). But very different were these people of whom the psalm complains,
When myfeet slipped, they had much to say against me. They were more like the

26. Variant: “harshly against the gentle.”

 _ _ Exposition of Psalm 37 163

ones of whom it is said elsewhere, Those who harass me will make merry if lam
shaken (Ps 12:5 (13:4)).

Verse 18. Scourging

23. I am ready for scourging. This is a wonderful verse! It is as though the

Lord were saying, “I was born for this—to endure scourging,” for he could not
have been born?’ except as a descendant of Adam, to whom the scourging was
due. Yet in this life sinners are sometimes subjected to no whipping at all, or very
little, because their orientation is beyond possibility of change. Those for whom
eternal life is being prepared fare otherwise; it is necessary for them to be
whipped, for scripture warns us with good reason, My child, do not faint under
the Lord’s chastisement, nor lose heart when you are rebuked by him, for those
whom the Lord loves, he corrects, and he whips every child whom he accepts
(Heb 12:5-6; compare Prv 3:1 1-12). Let not my enemies gloat, then, let them not
talk triumphantly. Even if my Father whips me J am ready for scourging,
because an inheritance is being prepared for me. Every son or daughter must be
whipped. So universal is this rule that even he who was without sin?’ was not
exempt. / am ready for scourging.

Verses 18-19. The proper motive for grief

24. My pain is always before me. What pain is meant? The pain of the lash,
perhaps. But truly, brothers and sisters, most truly I tell you, people feel pain
under the whipping they undergo, but no pain over the reasons for it. Christ was
not like that. Listen, beloved: if someone sustains a loss, he or she is more
inclined to say, “I didn’t deserve that,” than to consider the reason for it; he feels
the pain of losing money, but not the pain of losing righteousness. If you have
sinned, mourn the loss of your interior treasure; perhaps your house has been
stripped, but your heart may be emptier still. But if your heart is full of its true
wealth, which is your God, why do you not say, The Lord gave, and the Lord has
taken away. This has happened as the Lord willed: may the Lord’s name be
blessed (Jb 1:21)? What about the speaker in the psalm, what pain caused him
grief? The pain of the scourging? No, certainly not. My pain is always before me,
he says; and then as though we had asked him, “What pain?” he continues, / will
proclaim my iniquity aloud, and take serious thought for my sin. This is the
source of his pain. Not the pain of the scourge: his is the pain of the wound, not of
the wound’s remedy; for the whip is a medicine against sins.

27. Variant: “could not have suffered.”

28. See 1 Pt 2:22.
164 Exposition of Psalm 37

Listen now, brothers and sisters. We are Christians, yet it often happens that
when someone’s child dies, the parent mourns over him, whereas if the child
sins, the parent does not mourn. He ought to have wept and felt pain when he saw
his child sinning; he ought to have exercised control then; he ought to have
taught the child the right way to live, and imposed discipline on him. Or, if he did
so, and the child would not listen, that would have been the occasion for grieving
over him; for then it would have been worse for the child to go on living in licen-
tious fashion like one dead, than to have brought the licentiousness to an end by
dying; for when the child behaved disgracefully in: your house, he was not
merely dead, but even decomposing. These are the things that should give us
pain, not the chastisement we merit for them. The chastening is to be borne, but
the sins are to be grieved over.
But we must mourn over them in the way you have heard the psalmist mourn:
I will proclaim my iniquity aloud, and take serious thought for my sin. After you
have confessed your sin, do not be so carefree that you are always ready to
confess and commit it again. Proclaim your iniquity in such a way that you take
serious thought for your sin. What does that imply? Take serious thought for
your wound. If you were to say, “I will take serjous thought about my wound,”
what else would you mean but “I will see to it that my wound gets healed’? This
is what it means to take serious thought for your offense: always to use your best
endeavors, always to direct your intention, to act always with the utmost care to
heal your sin. Well now, you may bewail your sin every day, but perhaps while
your tears flow your hands hang idle. Let almsgiving atone for your sin, let the
poor rejoice over your gift so that you too may rejoice over the gift of God. The
pauper is in need, and you too are in need, he of what you can give, and you of
what God can give. If you spurn the needy person who looks to you, will not God
spurn you when in your need you look to him? Fill up the needy person’s void, so
that God may fill the void within you. This is what J will take serious thought for
my sin means: I will do whatever needs to be done to blot out my sin and heal it.
And I will take serious thought for my sin.

Verse 20. My enemies are alive and well

25. But my enemies live on, they fare well, they enjoy happiness in this world
where I toil and bellow the groans of my heart. What is their life like, the life of
those enemies who, as he has told us, have made empty accusations? Listen to
the description of them in another psalm: Their sons are like well-set saplings:
yet he has said of these people earlier, Their mouths have spoken empty words.
Nevertheless their daughters are gathered round them like the pillars of the
temple, their store rooms are full to overflowing, their oxen are sturdy and their
ewes fruitful, increasing at every lambing-time. Never is their hedge broken
down, nor is there rioting in their streets (Ps 143(144):8,12-15). My enemies
 Exposition of Psalm 37 165

live on; this is their lifestyle; they flaunt it, they love it, and they get it by their
evil deeds, for what does the next line say? People who have these things are
called blessed (Ps 143(144):15). But what about you, who take serious thought
for your sin? What about you, who proclaim your iniquity aloud? That psalm
concludes, Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.
Yet my enemies live on; and those who hate me without reason have been
strengthened against me and increased. Why does he say, Who hate me without
reason? They hate one who wills good to them. If they rendered evil for evil,
they would not be good; if they failed to return good for benefits they had
received, they would be ungrateful; but those who hate without reason are the
people who render evil for good. The Jews were like that: Christ came to them,
offering good things, but they repaid this good with evil. Beware of this bane,
brothers and sisters, for it can creep in quickly. Just because we have said, “The
Jews were like that,” none of you must think that you are beyond its reach.
Perhaps your fellow-Christian rebukes you with kindly intention; you hate him
for it, and you are like that too. See how quickly it can happen, and how easily.
Shun this great danger, this nimble sin.

Verse 21. The accursed upon the tree

26. Those who return evil for good malign me because I pursued justice. That
was why they returned evil for good. But what does it mean by saying, J pursued
justice? It means, “I would not let it go.” In case you might think that “pursue”
always had a pejorative sense, the psalmist said persecutus, that is, “I followed it
perfectly”: J pursued justice. Now listen to our Head lamenting”? in his passion:
They cast me out, me, the beloved one, like a dead man of ill omen. Was it too
little for you that he was dead, that you must abhor him like a thing of ill omen?
This was because he had been crucified. Death by crucifixion was an abomina-
tion among them, because they had not understood the prophetic word,
Accursed is anyone who is hanged on a tree (Dt 21:23; compare Gal 3:13). He
did not himself bring death, but found it propagated here from the curse inflicted
on our first parent; and taking this death of ours upon himself, he hung what had
been derived from sin upon a tree. The prophet’s intention in saying, Accursed is
anyone who is hanged on a tree, was to exclude the opinion of some heretics*°
and others who think that our Lord Jesus Christ had only phantom flesh, and did
not really die on the cross. The prophecy showed that God’s Son died a real
death, the death to which mortal flesh was liable, lest if he were regarded as
exempt from the curse, you might think he did not truly die. But his death was no
sham; it had been passed down through the descendants of the man who was

29. Variant: “clearly visible.”

30. Notably the Manicheans.
166 Exposition of Psalm 37

originally condemned when God said, You shall certainly die {Gn 2:17). To
Christ indeed it descended as true death, so that to us it might descend as true life;
upon him came the curse of death so that on us might come the blessing of life.
So they cast me out, me, the beloved, like a dead man of ill omen.

Verse 22. The person of the sinner is transfigured into Christ

27. Do not abandon me, O Lord my God, do not leave me alone. Let us make
this prayer in him, let us make it through him, for he jntercedes for us;*' let us say,
Do not abandon me, O Lord my God. Yet elsewhere he had prayed, My God, my
God, why have youforsaken me? (Ps 21:2(22:1); Mt 27:46), and here he prays, O
my God, do not leave me alone. If God does not abandon the body, is it conceiv-
able that he abandoned its Head? Whose voice is this, then, if not that of the first
human being? Christ proves that his flesh is true flesh inherited from Adam
when he cries, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? But God had not
forsaken him. If he does not forsake you when you believe in him, did the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one holy God, abandon Christ? No, but Christ
had taken the identity of the first human being to himself.*” We know this from
the apostle’s words, Our old humanity has been nailed to the cross with him
(Rom 6:6). We should never have been rid of our old nature, had he not been
crucified in weakness.*? He came for no other purpose than that we should be
renewed in him, for it is by longing for him and imitating his passion that we are
made new. It was the voice of weakness, our voice, that cried out, Why have you
forsaken me? And the next words were, the tale of my sins, as though Christ were
saying, “Those words were the words of a sinner, but I have transformed them
into my own.” Do not leave me alone.

Verse 23. The denarius of eternal life

28. Make haste to help me, Lord of my salvation. This is the salvation the
prophets sought to discover, as the apostle Peter says.** They did not receive
what they sought, but they inquired about it and foretold it, and now we have
come along and found what they sought. Yet we have not received it either, and
others will be born after us who will also find yet not receive, and they too will

31. See Rom 8:34.

32. Personam in se transfiguraverat primi hominis, a packed phrase and difficult to render in
English, but the key to Augustine’s understanding ofthe psalms. Persona (like modcwmov in the
Greek Fathers) is best understood here from its theatrical background, rather than in the light of
the philosophical and psychological usages associated with it later. The persona was originally
a mask through which an actor spoke, and hence the “character” or role assumed.
33. See 2 Cor 13:4; but some codices have “had he not crucified us,” and others “unless the old
nature had been crucified.”
34. See I Pt 1:10-12.
 Exposition of Psalm 37 167

pass away, so that at the day’s end we may all receive together, along with the
patriarchs and prophets and apostles, the denarius of salvation.** You know how
the hired workers had been brought into the vineyard at different hours, yet all
received the same wages.*° So too the prophets and apostles and martyrs, and we
ourselves, and those who come after us even to the end of the world, will receive
at that last hour everlasting salvation. Contemplating God’s glory and seeing
him face to face we shall be enabled to praise him for ever, without wearying,
without any of the pain of iniquity, without any of the perversion of sin. We shall
praise God, no longer sighing for him but united with him for whom we have
sighed even to the end, albeit joyful in our hope. For we shall be in that city
where God is our good, God is our light, God is our bread, God is our life. What-
ever is good for us, whatever we miss as we trudge along our pilgrim way, we
shall find in him. In him will be that quiet that we remember now, though the
memory cannot but cause us pain; for we remember that Sabbath, and about its
memory so much has been said, and we must still say so many things, and never
cease to speak of it, though with our heart, not our lips; because our lips fall silent
only that we may cry the more from our heart.

35. Like Saint Paul, Augustine believed that Christ’s resurrection had inaugurated the final age of
the world; but he did not think it would necessarily be short, as is evident from the present
paragraph.
36. See Mt 20:8-10.
 Exposition of Psalm 38

A Sermon preached at Carthage, at the shrine of Saint Cyprian,'

on a Wednesday’

Verse 1. Learning to leap

1. The psalm which we have just sung, and are now undertaking to expound,
is entitled, To the end, Idithun’s song for David himself. We are to expect the
words of someone called Idithun, then, and we must listen to what he has to tell
us. If anyone among us is able to be an Idithun, that person will find and hear
himself or herself in what is sung. Who the original Idithun was in that far-off
generation they only can determine who lived at that time,’ but we shall be ina
better position to understand the truth he tells us if we look first at the interpreta-
tion of his name. As far as we have been able to discover by studying these
names, which have been translated for us from Hebrew into Latin by students of
sacred scripture, Idithun means “one who leaps across.” So who is this leaping
speaker, and across whom did he leap? Notice that the name means not simply
“one who leaps,” but “one who leaps across.” Does he sing while leaping across,
or leap across by singing? Whichever it is, we sang a few minutes ago the song of
someone leaping across; and God, to whom we sang it, must judge whether we
too are people who leap across. If anyone here did leap across while singing it, let
such a one rejoice to be what he has sung about; but if anyone who sang it is still
stuck fast in the earth, that person must aspire to be a leaper in accord with the
psalm. This psalmist whose name is Leaping Across has jumped over people
who cling to the soil, people bowed down to the earth with their minds attached
to what is lowest and their trust in things that pass away. Whom could he have
leapt across, otherwise? He could only leap over those who stand still.
2. You know that certain psalms are called “Songs of Ascents.’’* In Greek this
is quite plain, for they are called avaSa6ua@v. This means songs about steps, but
steps up, not down. The distinction cannot be made in Latin; we just have to say
“steps” without being specific, and leave it vague whether people on them are

1. Ad mensam sancti Cypriani.

2. Possibly in September 416.
3. Thus the CCL editors of the Latin text, amending an original “is for you to determine.”
4. The group of psalms 119-133 (120-134) was traditionally referred to as “Gradual Psalms” or
“Songs of Ascents,” probably because they were used by pilgrims “going up” to Jerusalem for
festivals.

168
 __ Exposition of Psalm 38 169

going up or down. But since no speech, no utterance, goes unheard) the earlier
language clarifies the one that came later, and what is ambiguous in one is made
clear by another. Sojust as in one type of psalm the singer was going up, in this
one the singer is leaping across. But the leaping across is also an ascent, though
not on foot or by using scaling-ladders or wings. Yet if you refer it to our inner
life, feet and scaling-ladders and wings are available. If we had no feet in this
inward sense, why does a person of spiritual discernment pray, Let not the foot of
pride come near me (Ps 35:12(36:11))? If there were no spiritual ladders, what
was it that Jacob saw, with angels going up and down on it? And if we could not
use spiritual wings, what does a psalmist mean by the question, Who will give me
wings like a dove’s? Then I will fly away and find rest (Ps 54:7(55:6))? When we
are dealing with material matters, feet are one thing, scaling-ladders another,
and wings something else again; but within ourselves feet and ladders and wings
are all the loving impulses of a good will. By means of these we walk and climb
and fly. When any of you hear about this man who is leaping across, and you
aspire to imitate him, you must not think to leap across ditches in a bodily sense
by leaping lightly into the air, or to fly over some highish obstacle by jumping.
But I am talking now in bodily terms because there is a sense in which a spiritual
person does leap even across ditches. Another psalm declares, Burnt up by fire
and dug out, they will perish at your frowning rebuke (Ps 79:17(80:16)). But
what are these things that are burnt up by fire and dug out, these things that will
perish at the Lord’s frowning rebuke? Sins, obviously. Anything that has been
set alight by disordered greed is burnt up by fire, and whatever is dictated by
supine fear is like a ditch dug out. All sins spring from one or other of these two,
greed or fear. Spiritual persons must therefore leap across all the things that
could trap them on earth. Let all of us erect our ladders and spread our wings, and
see whether we recognize ourselves here.
But we should more truly say that by the grace of the Lord many people do
recognize themselves in these words: people who, detached from this world and
all the delights it offers, choose to live rightly, even as they live here amid spiri-
tual joys. Where will they find such joys, while still walking the earth? Surely
from the divine oracles, from the word of God, from some parable in holy scrip-
ture which they have studied and pondered, from the sweetness of finding after
the labor of the search. There are indeed good and holy pleasures in these books,
pleasures that are not to be found in gold and silver, feasting and luxury, hunting
and fishing, games and jesting, frivolous theatrical entertainments, or the high
offices which people try to seize, though they crumble to nothing. It is not the
case that true enjoyment is to be derived from all these, and none from the sacred
books; quite the contrary. A soul that has leapt over these baser things and found

5. See Ps 18:4(19:3-4).
6. See Gn 28:12.
170 Exposition of Psalm 38

itself delighted by the holy scriptures is compelled to say, The unkxighteous have
told me titillating tales, but they cannot compare with your law, O Lord,’ and it
says this confidently, knowing it to be true. Let our Idithun come forward and
leap across people who still look to the base things for their pleasure; let him or
her take delight in the higher things and find joy in the word of the Lord, in the
delightful law of the Most High.
But is there more to say? Must we make yet another leap, from here to some-
where else again? If we desire to leap across, is there still a further place to which
we must leap? We need to listen to what our psalmjst has to say, for it seems to
me that he is still leaping across the place where he was accustomed to dwell in
the divine oracles, where he learned the lessons we are about to hear.

Verse 2. No one avoids all faults in speaking; the hearers must take it
in good part

3. I said, I will keep guard over my conduct, so that I do not offend with my
tongue. One can well believe that in the course of reading, discussion, preaching,
administering reproof, encouraging people, or while engaged in work, or beset
by human problems, living as aman among fellow men and women, the psalmist
had said some things he regretted and admitted that some expressions had fallen
from his lips that he wished to recall, but could not. This is likely to have been the
case even though he was already leaping across people who did not delight in the
same things as he did, for it is difficult for anyone not to slip up and sin with the
tongue. As scripture says, If anyone has not sinned with his tongue, he is a
perfect man.* The moist saliva that surrounds the tongue makes it slippery. The
psalmist was aware how difficult it is for a person who is obliged to speak to say
nothing in his discourse that he will afterwards regret having said, so he felt
disgusted about these sins and sought to avoid them. This very Leaper-Across
felt how hard it was, so no one who is not yet leaping across ought to pass judg-
ment on me. Let any such critic make the leap across and experience for himself
or herself what I mean; then such a person will be both a witness to the truth anda
child of truth.
In the light of this experience Idithun had made up his mind not to talk, in
order to avoid saying anything he might wish unsaid. His opening words indi-
cate his resolution: J said, I will keep guard over my conduct, so that I do not
offend with my tongue. Well said, Idithun: keep guard over your conduct, and do
not offend with your tongue; weigh what you are going to say, scrutinize it, refer

7. Ps 118(119):85. Augustine had heard this verse from the symbolic figure of Continence, who
encouraged him as he stood on the brink of decision; see his Confessions VIII,11,27.
8. Jas 3:2. The last word in Augustine’s Latin version is vir, denoting a male person. So too the
Greek behind it, avmp.
 ____ Exposition of Psalm 38 WA

it to the truth within you, and then bring it forth to the hearer outside. No doubt
you often try to do this’ amid the turmoil of business and when minds are preoc-
cupied, but the soul itself is weakened and weighed down by the corruptible
body,'° and although it wishes both to hear and to speak—to hear within and to
speak outside—it is sometimes troubled by the effort that speaking demands and
fails through insufficient attention and inadvertence, and says something that
should not be said. A surer remedy against these failures is silence; for a sinner
will stand up, someone notorious for some particular sin, someone proud and
malicious, and will hear the Leaper speaking. He will take careful note of the
words, and set traps. It is hardly possible that anyone with this intention will be
unable to find anything that has not been fittingly said, and as he listens he does
not make allowances, but cavils out of ill-will. Confronted with people like this
Idithun had chosen to say nothing as he leapt over them, so he sang of his inten-
tion: J said, “I will keep guard over my conduct, so that I do not offend with my
tongue. As long as lam liable to be ensnared by those who misrepresent me, or as
long as they snatch at me, even though I am not ensnared, J will keep guard over
my conduct, so thatIdo not offend with my tongue. Although I have leapt beyond
earthly pleasures, although fleeting desires for temporal gain do not hold me
fast, although I now despise those lower things and climb to what is better, I find
it enough to enjoy in God’s presence the understanding I have from these better
things. Why need I speak and lay myself open to their traps, why give the
accusers their opportunity? So I resolved, / will keep guard over my conduct, so
that I do not offend with my tongue. I have set a guard over my mouth.” What is
the purpose of that? To defend yourself against the devout, the zealous, the
faithful, the holy? Of course not. They listen with a mind to approve and
commend, and if among the many things they find to commend there may be
some they cannot approve, they are more inclined to forgive than to prepare
malicious accusations. Against whom, then, do you seek to protect yourself in
keeping guard over your conduct and in setting a guard over your mouth, so that
you do not offend with your tongue? He explains: “It was when the sinner took
his stand against me. He did not take his stand at my side, but against me. What
shall I ever find to say that will satisfy him? I am speaking to a carnally-minded
person about the things of the spirit, to one who sees and hears only on the
outside, but is deaf and blind within. A materialist has no perception for what
concerns the Spirit of God. If he were not a materialist, would he misrepresent
me so? Happy the person who speaks a word into the ear of a listener,!! not into
the ear of a sinner who has taken his stand against him.”

?
9. Variants: “Who tries to. . . ?”; “The person who observes this rule. . . .’
10. See Wis 9:15.
11. See Sir 25:12.
72 Exposition of Psalm 38

Many people of this kind stood round grinding their teeth when Christ was
led like a sheep to the slaughter, when like a lamb voiceless before its shearer he
did not open his mouth.!* What can you say to the inflated, the turbulent, the
vexatious, the litigious, the chatterboxes? What can you say that is holy and
edifying, what can you say to them concerning religious truth that leaps beyond
them,'? when the Lord himself said even to willing hearers, people who longed
to learn, who hungered for the food of truth and received it avidly, Jhave many
things to tell you, but at present you are not able to bear them (Jn 16:12)? The
apostle likewise said, Not as spiritual persons could I speak to you, but only as
carnal, yet they were not to be despaired of, for all that, but nourished; for he
went on to say, As if to little children in Christ I gave you milk to drink, rather
than solid food. You were not capable of it then. Tell it to us now. Nor are you
capable even now (1 Cor 3:1-2). Do not be in a herry, then, to hear what you
cannot yet take in, but grow up so that you may become capable of it. This is how
we address a little child, who needs to be nourished with holy milk at the breast
of Mother Church, and so eventually made capable of sharing the Lord’s table.
But what am I to say even in childish mode to a sinner who has taken his stand
against me, thinking or pretending that he is suited to what is beyond him, who,
when I say things to him that he cannot take in, will attribute it not to incapacity
on his own part but to failure on mine? It is with this sinner in view, the one who
has taken his stand against me, that J have set a guard over my mouth, declares
Idithun.

Verse 3. Woe betide a preacher who falls silent

4. And what followed that decision? 7 have become deaf, and have been
humbled, and have fallen silent even from good words. This leaping speaker has
encountered a difficulty in the place to which he has now leapt, and he is looking
for some way to leap out of it, to escape this difficulty. “I was so afraid of
committing sin that I imposed silence on myself. I had resolved, J will keep
guard over my conduct, so that I do not sin with my tongue; but in my fear of
speaking I have become deaf, and have been humbled, and have fallen silent
even from good words. Through my excessive fear of saying something bad, I
have been left with nothing good to say. J have become deaf, and have been
humbled, and have fallen silent even from good words. How did I say anything
worthwhile before, except because I had heard it? You will give me delight and
gladness to hear” (Ps 50:10(51:8)). And the Bridegroom’s friend stands and

IDA Sito SSRIE,

13. Variants: “What is a holy and pious person, one who from his religious faith leaps beyond them
.. ?” and “What can you say to the holy and the pious, to anyone who from his religious faith
leaps beyond them... ?”
 _ Exposition of Psalm 38 173

hears him, and is transported with joy at that voice not his own, but the Bride-
groom’s.'* In order to say anything true, he must first hear what he has to say.
Anyone who lies, on the contrary, speaks from his own store.'> The psalmist has
suffered a sad and irksome fate, and by confessing it here he is warning us to
avoid it, not imitate it. As I have said, in his exaggerated fear of saying some-
thing that might not be good, he decided to say nothing, not even good things;
and because he resolved to keep quiet, he began to lose his hearing. If you are a
leaper, you stand and wait to hear from God what you are to say to your fellow
men and women. You leap between our rich God and the needy people who look
to you, so that you may hear in one quarter and speak in the other. But if you
choose not to speak on the one side, you will not deserve to hear on the other: you
are scorning the poor, so you will be scorned yourself by God, who is rich. Have
you forgotten that you are a servant, whom the Master has appointed over his
household to give your fellow-servants their rations?!© Why do you seek to
receive anything, if you are unwilling to dole it out? Give what you have, that
you may deserve what you have not.'’ “Accordingly,” says Idithun, “when I had
placed a kind of guard over my mouth, and imposed silence on myself because I
saw how dangerous speech was, something happened to me that I had not
bargained for: Jbecame deaf, and was humbled. did not humble myself; rather /
was humbled. I became deaf, and was humbled, and fell silent even from good
words. I have stopped saying even good things, so afraid am I that I may say
something amiss, and my teaching be censured. J have fallen silent even from
good words, and my pain has come back. In silence I had found a respite from
one kind of pain, that which my slanderers and critics had inflicted on me; the
pain I endured from them had ceased. But when I began to keep silence from
good words, my pain was renewed. My policy of keeping quiet about what I
ought to have said began to cause me more intense pain than having said the
wrong things would have done. My pain has come back.”

Verses 4-5. Longing for the goal

5. Fire will blaze up during my meditation.'* My heart began to be troubled.

Often I saw people behaving foolishly; it sickened me, but I did not rebuke them,
and zeal for your house devoured me as I remained silent.'’ I thought of my Lord
saying, You wicked, lazy servant, you should have handed my money over to the

14. See Jn 3:29.

15. See Jn 8:44.
16. See Mt 24:45.
17. These remarks clearly come from Augustine’s own heart and experience. The double duty of
hearing and speaking was an essential ingredient in his idea of a bishop’s office.
18. Some codices supply the first half of this verse, which Augustine omits.
19. See Ps 68:10(69:9).
174 Exposition of Psalm 38

bankers, so that I could have recovered it with interest on my. return. And may
God shield his stewards from the fate mentioned in the next verse: Let him be
cast into outer darkness (Mt 25:26-27,30) bound hand and foot. Remember that
he was not one to squander and bring financial ruin, but a servant indolent in
paying out what was due. What are people to expect who have used up the Lord’s
property in self-indulgence, if those who have simply held it back through lazi-
ness are condemned so severely? Fire will blaze up during my meditation. The
psalmist finds himself caught in this vacillation between speaking and keeping
silence, between those who are poised to censure,him and those who long to
receive instruction, between those who have plenty and those in need. To the
affluent he has become an object of abuse, to the proud the butt of their scorn,”°
yet he is conscious of the blessed ones who are hungering and thirsting after
righteousness.*! Whichever way he turns he is hard pressed, in trouble either
way, in danger of casting his pearls before swine” and equally endangered if he
does not dispense their rations to his fellow-servants. In such a ferment he
sought a better place, somewhere better than this stewardship where one works
so hard and is in such peril. He sighed for some kind of end, where he would not
have to suffer all this, and the end he longed for was that final reckoning when
the Lord will say to his good steward, Enter into the joy of your Lord (Mt 25:21).
I spoke with my tongue, says the psalmist. “Amid the ferment, the dangers, the
difficulties (for though the law of the Lord is a delight to us, it still permits the
charity of many to grow cold”} as scandals abound), amid this ferment, I say, /
spoke with my tongue.” To whom? “Not to any hearer whom I want to instruct,
but to that unfailing hearer by whom I want to be instructed. J spoke with my
tongue to him, to whom I must listen within if I am to hear anything good,
anything true.” And what did you say? “Make known to me my end, O Lord. 1
have leapt across certain things, and arrived at certain others, and the things I
have reached are better than those from which I leapt away, but there is still
something over which I must leap; for we shall not always remain here to endure
temptations, obstacles, and accusing listeners. Make known to me my end, show
me the goal still far away, not the race immediately in front of me.”
6. The “end” he mentions is that goal the apostle kept in view as he sped along
his way, though he confessed his own imperfection and knew the distance
between his present life and that other place to which he was running. Not that I
have gained it already, or am already perfect, brethren; I do not judge myselfto
have taken hold of it yet, he says. On hearing that you might say, “If the apostle
has not taken hold of it, can I?” But look at what he is doing, and pay attention to

20. See Ps 122(123):4:

21. See Mt 5:6.
22. See Mt 7:6.
235560 Mt24312)
 Exposition of Psalm 38 is)

what he says. So what are you saying,** apostle? Do you really mean that you
have not laid hold on it yet, that you are not yet perfect? What are you saying? To
what kind of activity are you exhorting me? What model do you propose to me,
for me to imitate and follow? One thing only I do, he says. Forgetting what lies
behind and straining to what lies ahead, I bend my whole effort to follow after
the prize of God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:12-14). Ibend my whole
effort, not claiming to have arrived, not claiming to have laid hold of the prize.
Let us not slip back again into the place from which we have already leapt across,
but neither let us remain in the place we have reached. Let us run ahead, keeping
our eyes on the finishing-post, for we are still on the way. Do not be complacent
about the things you have left behind; rather be concerned for those you have not
yet gained. Forgetting what lies behind and straining to what lies ahead, says
Paul, J bend my whole effort to follow after the prize of God’s heavenly call in
Christ Jesus. For Christ is the end. The “one thing” Paul mentions is the one
thing the apostles longed for: Lord, show us the Father, and that is enough for us
(Jn 14:8). Itis the “one thing,” the one request made in another psalm: One thing
have I begged of the Lord, and that will I seek after. Forgetting what lies behind
and straining to what lies ahead, one thing have I begged of the Lord, and that
will I seek after, to live in the Lord’s house all the days of my life. For what
purpose? That I may contemplate the Lord’s delight (Ps 26(27):4). There I shall
rejoice in my ally, no longer fearing him or her as an adversary; there he will be a
friend who joins me in contemplation, not an enemy to accuse me.
This was Idithun’s desire. He wanted that end to be revealed to him while he
was still here, that he might know what was still lacking to him; he wanted not so
much to rejoice in the things he had attained as to long for those he had not
reached yet. Though he had leapt beyond some things, he prayed not to halt on
the way, but to be carried on by desire to the things of heaven, until after leaping
over some things he might at last leap over all. Droplets of divine dew were
falling on him from the scriptures, arousing his thirst to run like a hart to the
fountain of life, and in that light to see light, and to be sheltered in the recess of
God’s face, far from human disturbance.*> There he would be able to say, “At
last! I want nothing else. Here I love everyone and fear no one.”
This is a good desire, a holy desire. If any of you have it already, rejoice with
us, and pray that we may persevere in our desire, and never slacken in it by
reason of the scandals around us. For our part we make the same prayer for you;
for it is not as though we were fit to pray for you, and you unworthy to pray for us,
The apostle habitually commended himself to his hearers, to whom he was
preaching the word of God. So you too, brothers and sisters, pray for us, that we

24. This is the variant suggested by the CCL editors, here and in the following line. The codices
have “What are you doing?”
25. See Pss 41:2(42:1); 35:10(36:9); 30:21(31:20).
176 Exposition of Psalm 38

may clearly see what should be seen, and aptly say what is to be said. However, I
know that this desire exists in only a few people, and only those who have tasted
the realities of which I speak understand me perfectly. Nonetheless we speak to
all of you, to those who have such a longing and to those who do not have it yet:
to those who have it, that they may sigh together with us for the things we speak
of, and to those who do not yet long for them, that they may shake off their slug-
gishness, leap beyond base things, and come to experience the sweetness of the
divine law, rather than linger amid the pleasures of the wicked. For many people
tell many titillating tales, and there are plenty of people singing the praises of
plenty of attractions, and wicked people offering wicked suggestions. And it is
true that those wicked things do afford pleasure, but none to compare with your
law, O Lord.”° Let those who are convinced that we too are testifying about these
realities come and testify along with us, for though this is a process that goes on
inside ourselves, and cannot be expressed in words, anyone who engages in it
must believe that it goes on in others too. None of us must think ourselves to be
the sole recipients of this gift from God. Let Idithun say on their behalf, Make
known to me my end, O Lord.

Time, the dimension of contingent being

7. And make known to me the number of my days, the number that is.*’ Now I
am looking for a number of days “that is.” I can speak about, and understand, a
number that is not really a number, just as I can speak of years where there are not
really any years, for ordinarily where there are “years,” a number is implied, yet
a psalm says to God, You are the selfsame, and your years will not fail (Ps
101:28(102:27)).
But here the prayer is not simply, “Make me know the number of my days,”
but “Make me know the number of them that is.” What does that mean? That
numbered day in which you are now—does it not exist? Well, I have to say that if
I look hard, it does not exist. If ]am sticking fast on the road, I have the illusion
that it does exist, but when I leap across, it does not exist. If Ishake myself free of
earthly things to contemplate the things of heaven, if Icompare transient things
with those that abide, I see what has true being, and what has more the appear-
ance of being than true existence. Am I to say that these present days of mine
have true being? I repeat, am I to say that these days really exist? Shall I be so
rash as to use the great word “being” of this flux of things that slide toward
extinction? For myself, in my weakness I am so nearly non-existent that God has
eluded my memory, God who said, /AM WHO AM (Ex 3:14).

26. See Ps 118(119):85.

27. Et numerum dierum meorum qui est. The phrase is awkward. The translation here offered
assumes that this is the correct reading, though two codices ease it by amending qui (relative) to
quid (interrogative): “the number of my days, what it is.”
 Exposition of Psalm 38 ei

Is there some “number of days” that truly exists, then? Indeed there is, it
exists without end. But in these present days I can only say that something “is” if
I am able to hold onto something of the day on which you ask me whether it
exists, or if you can hold onto something of that day in order to ask me. But do
you hold onto it? If you have held onto yesterday, you hold onto today as well.
“But,” you will reply, “I am not holding onto yesterday, because it no longer
exists; | hold onto this day where I am now, the day that is present to me.”
Really? Has not the part of it which has passed since first light already escaped
from you? Did not “today” begin from its first hour? Give me its first hour; give
me its second hour too, for by now that may have flown away as well. “At least I
will give you its third hour,” you say, “if that is where we are now. Certainly
these days do exist, and there is a third day,** and if you accept that, you must
grant me that the third hour also exists.” But no, I will not concede to you even
that, if you have in any degree leapt across these things with me. Give me just
this third hour where you are now. If some portion of it has already slipped by,
and some other portion still remains, you cannot give me either what has passed
(because it no longer exists) or what remains (because it does not exist yet).
What are you going to give me, then, of this present hour? How much of it will
you give me—enough for me to speak the word, “is”? When you say the word
“is” you utter one syllable, and that only takes a moment. But this syllable has
three letters,” and even in that tiny moment you will not reach the second letter
of the word until the first has ended, nor will the third make itself heard until the
second has died away. What can you give me, then, of this one syllable? And do
you think you can hold onto a day, if you cannot hold onto a syllable? As the
moments fly past all things are snatched away. The torrent of things flows on,
but from tnis torrent he drank for us on his way, he who has now lifted up his
head.*° These days of ours do not have being; they depart almost before they
arrive, and when they do arrive they cannot stand still. They join onto each
other,*! they follow one another and cannot hold themselves together. Nothing
of the past can be called back, and the future that we await will pass away; as long
as it has not come, we do not possess it, and when it has come we cannot keep
hold of it.
I want to know the number of my days, the number that is, not this number that
is not, or rather this number that both is and is not. It is this last aspect that
disturbs me more and is to me more difficult and dangerous, for we cannot say

28. Allusion to the resurrection?

29. Two in English of course, three in Latin: est.
30. See Ps 109(110):7. The quotation points the contrast between the elusive quality of our time,
characteristic of creaturely existence which is close to non-being, and the eternity of God,
whose Word has neither beginning nor ending. Yet the incarnate Word “drank from the
torrent” of our transient human existence. See also Exposition of Psalm 76,8, and note there.
31. Variant: “press upon each other.”
178 Exposition of Psalm 38

something “is” if it does not stand still, but neither can we say it has no being at
all, if it comes and goes. What I am seeking is the simple “is.” I seek the true “is”;
I am looking for the genuine “is,” the “is” that we shall find in that Jerusalem
which is the bride of my Lord, where there will be no death, no deficiency, where
the day passes not, but abides, the day that is preceded by no yesterday and
hustled on by no tomorrow. Make known to me the number of my days, this
number, the number that is.

What I have and what I lack :

8. That I may know what I lack, for this is what is wanting to me as I struggle
along here, and as long as I lack it I do not claim to be perfect. As long as I have
not received it, I confess, Not that I have already gained it, or am already
perfect; but I bend my whole effort to follow after the prize of God’s heavenly
call (Phil 3:12,14). I shall receive it as my prize at the end of my race. The end of
our running will be a stillness, and in this stillness a homeland where there will
be no journeying, no unrest, no temptation. So then, make known to me the
number of my days, the number that is, that Imay know what I lack. 1am not there
yet, so let me not become proud about the place I have attained, but let me be
found in Christ, not having any righteousness of my own.*? With my eyes on him
WHOIS, and comparing with him these present things which have no being in
that sense, I shall see that what I lack is greater than what I have, and so I shall be
more humbled about what is missing than elated about what is at hand. People
who while living here think they possess anything deserve by their pride not to
receive what they lack, for they think what they have is something great; but any
who think themselves something, whereas they are nothing, deceive them-
selves.*? The illusion does not make them great, for while inflation and swelling
look like greatness, they are no bearers of health.

Verse 6. The passage from the old to the new

9. Our leaping psalmist is carrying on a secret business in his heart which only
someone who is engaged in the same will know. He has obtained what he asked:
his end has been made known to him, and so has the number of his days—not the
number of days that passes, but that which “is.” He has a true estimate of the
things he has leapt over and has compared it with a higher knowledge. Now you
might ask him, “Why did you want to know the number of your days, the number
that is? What have you to say about these present days?” With regard to this other

32. See Phil 3:9.

33. See Gal 6:3.
 Exposition of Psalm 38 179

number,™ the days of this present life, he replies, “How old you have made my
days! They are growing old, and I want new ones, days that never grow old, so
that I may say, The old things have passed away, and lo, everything is made
new!” (2 Cor 5:17), even now in hope, and hereafter in reality. Though already
made new by faith and hope, how much old business we still have to deal with!
We have not so put on Christ as to wear nothing any longer of Adam. Look at
Adam growing old, and Christ being made new in us: Though our outer self is
decaying, says scripture, our inner selfisbeing renewed daily (2 Cor 4:16). As
we regard our sin, our mortality, our fleeting seasons, our groaning and toil and
sweat, the stages of our life that succeed one another and will not stand still, but
slip by imperceptibly from infancy to old age as we regard all these, let us see in
them the old self, the old day, the old song, the Old Covenant. But when we turn
to our inner being, to all that is destined to be renewed in us and replace the things
subject to change, let us find there the new self, the new day, the new song, the
New Covenant, and let us love this newness so dearly that the oldness we meet
there does not frighten us. As we run our race we are passing from the old things
to the new. This transition is effected as the old things decay and the inner are
made new, until our outer decaying self pays its debt to nature and meets its
death, though it too will be renewed at the resurrection. Then all things which for
the present are new only in hope will be made new in very truth. You further the
process now as you strip yourself of the old and run toward the new.
Our psalmist was running toward these new things and straining toward what
lay ahead when he said, Make known to me my end, O Lord, and the number of
my days, the number that is, that I may know what I lack. He is still dragging
Adam along, but look how he is hastening toward Christ. How old you have
made my days! he says. These old days derive from Adam, and you have
rendered them old; every day they grow older, so much so that eventually they
will be consumed altogether. And my substance is as nothing in your sight. In
your sight, Lord, it is as nothing, nothing in the presence of you who see this.
When I see it too, it is in your sight that I see it. Ido not see the truth in the pres-
ence of fellow-mortals, for what can I say, what words can I use to demonstrate
that what I am is nothing when compared with HIM WHOIS? But within myself
it can be said,** within myself it can be experienced in some measure. Jn your
sight, Lord, where your eyes see me, not where human eyes see. . . What do I
see there, where your eyes are? That my substance is as nothing.

34. Variant: “having regard to that high knowledge.”

35. Variant: “learned.”
180 Exposition of Psalm 38

Emptiness all round ORR:

ty

10. Nonetheless all things are empty, for everyone who lives. Why does he
say, Nonetheless? Well, what has he been saying? “By now I have leapt across
mortal things, I have learned to despise what is lowest, I have trampled earthly
things underfoot and have soared to the enjoyment of the law of the Lord. I have
been afloat in the number of days the Lord gives,” and I have longed for that end
which knows no ending. I have desired to know the number of my days, the
number that truly is, for the present numbered days have no true being. This is
what I am like; I have leapt beyond so much and nowI pant with longing for the
realities that are still and lasting. Nonetheless, in my present state, as long as !am
here, as long as I am in this world, as long as I carry mortal flesh, as long as
human life on earth is all temptation,*’ as long as I gasp, beset by scandals, as
long as I who stand must be wary lest I fall,** as long as both my bad points and
my good deeds are opaque to me, all things are empty, for everyone who lives.
Everyone, I say, both the person who sticks fast and the one who leaps along.
Even Idithun still belongs in this universal state of emptiness; for all things are
empty, and vanity of vanities, and what wealth does anyone get from all the work
he toils at under the sun?’ Is Idithun still under the sun? He has some stake in this
world under the sun, and some stake in the world beyond it. Here under the sun
he has the business of waking and sleeping, eating and drinking, feeling thirst
and hunger, thriving and being tired, growing from a child into a youth, and then
into an old man, being unsure what to hope and what to fear. All these even
Idithun experiences under the sun, even though he is one who leaps beyond.
Where does he get the impetus for his leaping? From his desire: Make known to
me my end, O Lord. The desire is something beyond this sunny world; it does not
arise from the world under the sun. All the things we can see are under the sun,
but whatever is invisible is not under the sun. Faith is not visible, hope is not
visible, charity is not visible, kindliness is not visible, neither is that chaste fear
that abides for ever.*° In all these Idithun finds sweetness and consolation; he
lives beyond this sun, because he is a citizen of heaven.*! The things that still
preoccupy him under the sun wring groans from him; he scorns them and suffers

36. Fluctuavi in dispensatione numerorum dierum dominicorum. If this is the correct reading, the
reference is presumably to the contemplation of eternal realities that he has mentioned, and this
would suit the immediate context here. But the phrase is difficult and has given rise to a number
of variants. Some codices omit dierum, others substitute nummorum (“coins,” “money”). This
last may be right; he would then be harking back to the dilemma he faced in 5, where the words
fluctuo and dispensatio also occur, together with the idea of investing money. We could then
translate “I have wavered in my stewardship of the Lord’s money, but. . . . “
Sf ised) Welle
38. See 1 Cor 10:12.
39. See Eccl 1:2-3.
40. See Ps 18:10(19:9).
41. See Phil 3:20.
 Exposition of Psalm 38 181]

pain, longing ardently for the things he truly desires. Of these latter he has
already spoken, and now he must speak of things here below. You have heard
what he yearns for; listen now to what he spurns. Nonetheless all things are
empty, for everyone who lives.

Verse 7. For whom are you amassing your wealth?

11. Although each human being walks as an image. What image is meant?
Surely the image of him who said, Let us make humans in our own image and
likeness (Gn 1:26)? Although each human being walks as an image: he puts in
the word although because this image is something great, yet after the
“although” comes a “nonetheless,” to show that what you heard after “although”
refers to what is beyond the sun, and what follows “nonetheless” refers to what is
under the sun. The one belongs to truth, the other to emptiness. So although each
human being walks as an image, nonetheless his perturbation is vain. Listen to
what makes him fret, and see if it is not empty; listen so that you may leap over it
and dwell in heaven, where there is no such emptiness. What is the emptiness
here? He heaps up treasure, but does not know for whom he will be gathering it.
A crazy vanity this is! Blessed is the one whose hope is the Lord, who has had no
regard for empty things and lying foolishness (Ps 39:5(40:4)). No doubt, you
miser, |seem to you to be mad when I say things like this; such statements are old
wives’ tales as far as you are concerned. Clearly you are a person of considerable
shrewdness and acumen; every day you think up ways of making money from
business, or from agriculture, perhaps even by oratory or by practicing at law, or
from warfare; you might even dabble in moneylending. Like the intelligent man
you are you let slip no opportunity to pile money upon money, and to stow it
away secretly*? with ever greater care. You plunder the next man and take
precautions against anyone who may rob you; you fear the possibility of yourself
suffering what you do to others, and you do not learn better ways from what you
do suffer. But Iam wrong: of course you do not suffer, do you? You are a prudent
man, well able not only to acquire wealth but also to hang onto it. You have safe
places to put it, and safe hands to entrust it to, so that nothing you have amassed
may be lost. Well now, I want to put a question to your heart, and subject your
shrewdness to scrutiny. You have gathered these riches, and preserved them so
ably that you can lose nothing of what you have preserved; tell me, then: for
whom are you keeping your wealth? I am not tackling you about any other evil
aspect of your vain greed, I will not make a point of this or magnify its impor-
tance. I am putting this one question; this is all I want to discuss, since our

42. Castigetur usually means “punish, chastise” but occasionally “confine” (as a punishment). It
evidently surprised copyists, who offered variants: congregetur or collocetur (“gather
together”) or even cartigetur (“record in a charter’).
182 Exposition of Psalm 38

reading of this psalm gives me a good opportunity. Quite clearly you are picking
up all the wealth you can; I am not telling you to watch out while you are picking
it up in case you are picked up yourself; I am not saying, Take care that when you
plan to be a predator you do not become the prey. No, I will emphasize it even
more plainly, in case you are blinded by your greed and have not heard or under-
stood—I am not, I tell you, saying, Take care that when you plan to prey on
smaller fry you do not become the prey of someone more powerful. After all,
you do not consider yourself to be in the sea, do you, where you might watch
small fish being swallowed by larger ones? No, that is not what I am saying. Iam
not even concerned with the difficulties and dangers inherent in acquiring
money, or the hardships endured by those who collect it and are exposed to perils
on every side as they do so, almost coming face to face with death. All these
aspects I am passing over. Granted, then, that you make money and no one chal-
lenges you, and you save it and no one robs you, now shake out the creases from
your heart, and from that great prudence of yours which leads you to deride me
and think me a simpleton for saying these things, tell me this: you are laying up
treasure, but for whom? I see what you intend to say (did you think it would not
have occurred to me?). You will say, “I am keeping it for my children.” This
sounds like family loyalty, but it is an excuse for injustice. “I am keeping it for
my children,” you say. Really? You are keeping it for your children, are you?
Did not Idithun know about this? Certainly he did, but he reckoned that such a
practice belonged to the old days, and so he despised it, because he was hurrying
toward the new days.

There is a safer place to store it

12. All right then, now I will include your children in this question I am
discussing with you. You who will pass away are storing up wealth for children
who will pass away; or rather you who are already fading away are storing it up
for those who are already fading away. I should not have said, “You will pass
away,” as though you were stable at present. You are not; for even today, from
the point when we began speaking until the present moment, you know we have
grown older. You cannot see your hair growing, yet even now as you stand here,
or while you are busy with some work, or talking, your hair is growing. It does
not grow suddenly, so as to send you scurrying for a barber. Our lifetime is flying
past, for those who understand, and for those who take no notice, and for those
intent on evil designs. You are passing away, and keeping your wealth for a son
who is also passing away. I ask you, first, do you know that this son for whom
you are saving will in fact ever possess it? Or, if he is not born yet, do you know
that he will be born? You are keeping it for your children, yet you know neither
that they will exist nor that they will possess it. Moreover you are not storing
your treasure where it ought to be stored, for your Lord did not advise his servant
 __ Exposition of Psalm 38 183

to squander the allowance he made to him. You are the servant of a great house-
holder, and as such you are entrusted with money. What you love, what you
have, he has given you, and it is not his wish that you waste what he gave you, he
who intends even to give you himself. But even what he gave you temporarily he
does not want you to waste, believe me. Perhaps there is a lot of it; it is over-
flowing and your needs cannot keep up with it; it must certainly be deemed
superfluous. “But I do not want you to waste even that,” your Lord says. “What
am I to do?” Move it. The place where you have stored it is unsafe. You want to
act in the best interests of your avarice; very well, see whether what I advise does
not consort well even with your avarice. You want to keep what you have, not
lose it, so I will show you where to store it. Do not pile up treasure on earth,
without knowing for whom you are collecting it, or how the person who will
possess it later, the future holder, may run through it. Perhaps the person who
possesses it then will be possessed by someone else, and will be unable to hold
onto what he inherits from you. Or perhaps even while you are saving it for him
you may lose it, before he even comes into the money. Let me give you a piece of
advice in your anxiety: Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven (Mt 6:20). If
you wanted to keep your valuables safe here on earth you would look for a
storage-place; perhaps you would not entrust them to your own home because of
your servants, so you would commit them to the banking quarter,** for accidents
are unlikely to happen there and a thief cannot easily break in, so everything is
kept safe. Why do you plan to do this? Because you have no better place to keep
them? What if I show you a better place? I will tell you of one: do not entrust your
wealth to someone unsuitable. There is someone eminently suitable, leave it
with him. He has vast storerooms from which no riches can be lost, and he
himself is very great, and richer than all the wealthy in the world. So perhaps you
will reply, “How could I dare to entrust my goods to such a personage?” But
suppose he himself asks you to? Recognize him: he is not simply a householder,
he is also your Lord. “I do not want you to waste the money I allowed you, my
servant,” he says. “Be careful where you put it. Why are you putting it where you
may lose it, and where you cannot yourself remain permanently in any case?
There is another place, to which I am going to transfer you. Let your wealth
travel there ahead of you. Do not fear to lose it, for I was the giver, and I will be its
guardian.” This is what your Lord says to you; question your faith, and see if you
are willing to trust him. You will object, “What I can’t see is as good as lost. I
want to see it here.” But if you are determined to see it here, you will neither see it
here nor have anything at all there. You have some treasures hidden in the earth
perhaps—I don’t know what they are. When you go out, you do not carry them
with you. You have come here to listen to this sermon, to acquire interior riches.
Think about your exterior riches: have you brought them with you? No? Well

43, Variant: “to a neighboring banker.”

184 Exposition of Psalm 38

then, you cannot actually see them now, can you? You believe that you have
them at home, because you remember where you put them; but are you sure you
have not lost them? How many people have returned to their homes and failed to
find what they left there! Ah, some covetous people felt a clutch at their hearts
when I said that!*4 Because I said that it has often happened that people have
gone home and not found what they left there, some of you may perhaps say in
your hearts, “Stop it, bishop! Say something of good omen, and pray for us.
Don’t bring it on, please don’t let it happen! I trust in God to let me find what I
left there safe and sound.” So you trust in God, but dg not believe him? “I trust in
Christ, that what I left at home will be safe, and no one will break in or steal it.”
So you want to play safe by trusting in Christ in order to lose nothing from your
house. You will be much safer if you believe Christ, and put your money where
he advised you to put it. Do you trust your servant, yet feel suspicious of your
Lord? Are you secure about your house, and uneasy about heaven? “But how can
I put money into heaven?” you will ask. I have given you good advice; put your
money where I tell you. I do not want you to know how it gets to heaven. Put it
into the hands of the poor, give it to the needy. What does it matter to you how it
gets there? Will I not deliver what I receive? Haye you forgotten the promise,
When you did it for even the least of those who are mine, you did itfor me (Mt
25:40)? Suppose some friend of yours had certain tanks or cisterns or other
containers made to store liquid—wine or oil, perhaps—and you were looking
for somewhere to store your produce, and your friend said to you, “I will store it
for you.” But suppose he had connected to his cisterns pipes and conduits that
were out of sight, so that what was poured in as you watched drained away
unseen; and he said to you, “Pour what you have in here,” but you saw that the
place where you had meant to store your produce was not what you thought, and
you were afraid to pour it in. He would know the secret workings of his own
plant, so he would say to you, “Don’t worry, just pour it in. It flows from here to
that other place over there. You can’t see how it gets there, but trust me, I built
it.” Now he who made all things has built mansions for us all, and he wants our
possessions to go there ahead of us, lest we lose them on earth. But if you have
hoarded them on earth, tell me for whom you will be gathering them. You have
children? Very well, then, increase their number by one, and give Christ some-
thing. He heaps up treasure, but does not know for whom he will be gathering it.
His perturbation is vain.

Verse 8. Still waiting

13. And now, says Idithun, as he looks down at vanity and looks up at truth,
standing midway between the two, with something below him and something

44. Evidently a frisson in the congregation evoked the next few remarks.
 Exposition of Psalm 38 185

else above him (for below him is what he has leapt away from, and above is what
he is straining toward). “And now,” he says, “that I have leapt beyond some
things, and trampled many things underfoot, now that I am no longer held
captive by temporal things, I am still not perfect, for Ihave not yet received what
I want.” /n hope we have been saved. But ifhope is seen, it is hope no longer, for
when someone sees what he hopes for, why should he hope for it? But ifwe hope
for what we do not see, we wait for it in patience (Rom 8:24-25). So he asks,
“And now, what am I waiting for? Surely for the Lord. For him I am waiting, for
him who gave all these things by which I now set little store. He will give me
himself, he who is above all things, he through whom all things were made and
by whom I was made among all these things. He, the Lord, is my hope.” You see
our Idithun, brothers and sisters, you see how he waits for God. Let none of us
claim to be perfect here: we should be deceiving ourselves, making a mistake,
misleading ourselves, for none of us can reach perfection here. And what advan-
tage would we gain by losing humility? And now, what am I waiting for? Surely
for the Lord. When he has come we shall not have to wait for him any more, and
then the perfection we seek will be ours. But for the present, Idithun is still
waiting, however much he has already leapt over. And all I have is continually
before you. | am making some progress, and already tending toward him;
already I am beginning to attain true being, in some measure; but all I have is
continually before you. What you have on earth is before the eyes of men and
women. You have gold, silver, slaves, estates, trees, cattle, servants; all these
can be seen by other men and women. Yet all you truly have is in God’s sight all
the time. All J have is continually before you.

Verse 9. Perfection through knowing one’s imperfection

14. Pluck me free from all my iniquities. |have leapt across many things, yes,
many indeed, yet if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us (1 Jn 1:8). [have leapt beyond many things, but still I beat my
breast and say, Forgive us our debts, as we forgive those who are in debt to us.
For you I wait, you who are my end, for Christ is the end of the law, bringing
justification to everyone who believes (Rom 10:4). Free me from all my sins: not
only from those of the past, lest I roll back again into the ones I have leapt across,
but from absolutely all of them, for which I now beat my breast and say, Forgive
us our debts. Pluck me free from all my iniquities, as |make my own the wisdom
of the apostle’s words. Let those of us who are perfect be wise about this, he says
(Phil 3:15). He had just confessed that he was not yet perfect, yet he immediately
added, Let those of us who are perfect be wise about this. How can he speak of
those of us who are perfect? What do you mean, Paul? You said a moment ago,
Not that I have gained it already, or am already perfect. “Read the whole verse
186 Exposition of Psalm 38

in order,” he replies. One thing only I do: forgetting what lies behind and
straining to what lies ahead, I bend my whole effort to follow after the prize of
God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:12-14). He is not yet perfect, because
he is following after the prize of God’s heavenly call, and he has not yet caught
up with it; he has not yet arrived. But if he is not perfect, and has not reached his
goal, which of us is perfect? Yet he goes on to say, Let those of us who are perfect
be wise about this. If you are not perfect yourself, apostle, do you suppose we
are? Remember, he has just said that he is! He did not say, “As many of you as
are perfect, be wise about this”; what he said was, Let those of us who are perfect
be wise about this, and he gave this exhortation just after saying, Not that I have
gained it already, or am already perfect.
We learn, then, that in this life you can be perfect in no other way than by
knowing you cannot be perfect. Your perfection will consist in having leapt over
certain things in order to hasten on toward certain others, but in having leapt over
them in such a way that there still remains something further, to which after all
your efforts you must still leap. Faith like this is safe, for those who think they
have already reached the goal are exalting themselves and are heading for a fall.
.

On show before mortals and angels

15. Since I am wise on this score, since I acknowledge that I am both imper-
fect and perfect (imperfect because I have not yet attained what I want, but
perfect because I know this thing that I lack), since then I am wise enough to
spurn human pleasures and refuse to find my joy in things that perish, since Iam
ridiculed by the miser who prides himself on his shrewdness and mocks me for
being a simpleton—since this is how I live, he says, you have made me an object
of reproach to the unwise. Your will is that I live among those who are set on
vanity, and that I preach the truth to them. Inevitably we shall be taunted by
them, for we have become a spectacle to this world, to both angels and mortals.‘
The angels praise us and mortals insult us; or rather angels both praise and revile,
while mortals too both praise and revile. We have weapons in both right hand
and left with which to fight, through glory and ignominy, through bad repute and
good, as seducers and trustworthy people.*® These varied fortunes are ours
among angels as among mortals, for among the angelic hosts there are angels
who are pleased when we live our lives well, and traitor-angels whom we offend
by our good lives, just as among mortals there are holy people who applaud our
life, and wicked people who deride our goodness. All these reactions are our
weapons, some for the right hand, others for the left; both kinds are useful, and I
employ both: right-handed and left-handed, the commendations and the insults,

45. See 1 Cor 4:9.

46. See 2 Cor 6:7-8.
 Exposition of Psalm 38 187

those which do us honor and those which defame us. With both sorts I do battle
with the devil and with both I strike home at him, in favorable times if Ido not let
success go to my head, and in adversity if Ido not flinch.

Verses 10-11. Struck dumb

16. You have made me an object of reproach to the unwise. I grew deaf and
did not open my mouth. But it was only to the unwise that J did not open my
mouth, for to whom could I speak about what goes on within me? Rather will I
listen to what the Lord God speaks within me, for he will speak peace to
his people, whereas there is no peace for wicked people, says the Lord
(Ps 84:9(85:8); Is 48:22). J grew deaf and did not open my mouth, because it is
you who made me. Do you mean that was why you did not open your
mouth—because it was God who made you? That is a strange thing to say. Did
not God make a mouth for you so that you could speak? Does he who planted
ears in us not hear? Does he who fashioned the eye not see?*” God gave you a
mouth to speak with, yet you say, / grew deaf and did not open my mouth,
because it is you who made me?
But perhaps the phrase, Because it is you who made me, should be taken with
the following verse, so that we read, Because it is you who made me, take your
scourges away from me. Because you are my Maker, do not kill me; beat me only
enough to help me succeed, not succumb;* buffet me only to bring me up, not to
break me down.* Because it is you who made me, take your scourges away from
me.

Verse 12. Salutary correction

17. I fainted under your strong hand as you accused me; that is, when you
rebuked me, I tottered. What does it mean to be accused by you, Lord? The
psalm goes on to explain: You have chastised human beings for their sin, and
brushed my soul away like a spider. This Idithun understands a great deal; are
any of us prepared to understand, and leap across with him? He confesses that he
has fainted under God’s censure, and asks that the divine rod be removed from
him, since it is God who made him. It is for the Maker to remake his work, for the
Creator to recreate. But are we to suppose, brothers and sisters, that Idithun’s
fainting, the tottering that made him long to be recreated and formed anew, was
pointless? You have chastised human beings for their sin, he says. All my

47. See Ps 93(94):9.

48. Ut proficiam, non ut deficiam.
49. This phrase could also mean “Hammer me only to stretch me out further, not to pound me to
pieces.”
188 Exposition of Psalm 38

fainting, all my weakness, all my need to cry from the depths—all of this is
because of my iniquity, and in this situation you did not condemn me, but chas-
tised me. You have chastised human beings for their sin. This truth is stated even
more clearly in another psalm: It is good for me that you have humbled me, so
that I may learn your righteous judgments (Ps 118(119):71). Iwas humbled, yet
recognize that it did me good: it is both punishment and grace. What must he be
holding in reserve for us when the punishment is over, if his very punishment is
grace? God it is of whom a psalm says, 1 was humbled, and he saved me (Ps
114(116):6), and it is good for me that you have humpled me, so that Imay learn
your righteous judgments. For you have chastised human beings for their sin.
There is another text which could be spoken to God only by one who leaps over,
because only by such a leaper could its truth be seen: You who shape our pain as
your precept (Ps 93(94):20). Yes, he says to God, you shape our pain as your
precept, you fashion pain into a precept laid on me. You give form to my pain;
you do not leave it shapeless but mold it to your purpose, and this carefully
formed pain inflicted on me will be for me a commandment from you, so that
you may set me free. You form pain, scripture says, you shape our pain, you
mold our pain, you do not send any unreal pain to us. As an earthenware pot is so
called because it is a potter’s work, so do you like a potter mold our pain into
shape. This is why it can be said, You have chastised human beings for their sin. I
see myself full of bad things, I see myself undergoing punishment, and in you I
see no injustice at all. So if Iam undergoing punishment, and in you there is no
injustice, what other explanation is there but that you chastise men and women
in their sin?

Experienced weakness leads to humility

18. How have you chastised them? Tell us about the chastisement itself,
Idithun. How were you disciplined? You brushed my soul away like a spider.
This was the chastisement. What is more fragile than a spider—the creature
itself, Imean, though I could also ask, what is more fragile than a spider’s web?
But look how frail the spider itself is: if you lay a finger on it even lightly, it disin-
tegrates; nothing else at all is so easily crushed. You have treated my soul like
that by chastising me for my iniquity, says the psalmist. When such weakness is
the effect of God’s correction, there is a kind of strength that is really a vice. (I
can see that some of you are flying ahead and have grasped the point already, but
you swift ones must not leave the slower ones behind; they need to follow the
course of the sermon with the rest.) As I was saying, try to understand why this
is. If it is the correction administered by a just God that has reduced a person to
such weakness, there is a certain kind of strength that is simply vicious. Human
beings displeased God by a show ofthat kind of strength, and therefore needed to
be corrected by weakness; they displeased him by their pride, and therefore
 Exposition of Psalm 38 189

needed to be disciplined by humility. All proud people claim to be strong. This is

why the many who are coming from the east and the west have been victorious,
the many who are to sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom
of heaven. Why have they been victorious? Because they refused to be strong.
What do I mean by that: they refused to be strong? They were afraid to rely on
their own strength, and they did not set up any righteousness of their own, but
chose to be subject to God’s righteousness.°° When you hear the Lord’s words,
Many will come from east and west and will sit down with Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom (the Jews
who knew nothing of God’s righteousness and wanted to establish their own)
will be thrown into the outer darkness (Mt 8:11-12)—when you hear him say
that, remember the faith of the centurion, a Gentile, who was so weak in himself,
so lacking in any strength, that he confessed, / am not worthy to have you coming
under my roof (Mt 8:8). He was unworthy to receive Christ in his house, but he
had already welcomed him into his heart. Indeed, the Son of Man who teaches us
humility had already found in the centurion’s breast a place to lay his head.°!
When the centurion spoke like this, the Lord looked round at those who were
following him and said, Truly J tell you, I have not found faith to match this in
Israel (Mt 8:10). He found* this man weak, and the Israelites strong, so he drew
the contrast between the two: /t is not the healthy who need the physician, but the
sick (Mt 9:12). For this reason, then, because they were humble, the Lord
declared that many will come from east and west and will sit down with Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom
will be thrown into the outer darkness. Face the fact that you are mortal, that you
carry about decaying flesh. You shall fall as any lordly ruler falls, you shall die as
mortals die, and fall as the devil fell.*? What good does the medicine of mortality
do you? The devil is proud of being an angel without mortal flesh; but you have
been given mortal flesh, and it has done you no good because you are not
humbled by this glaring weakness; therefore you shall fall as any lordly ruler
falls. The first grace that God in his kindness confers on us is to bring us to
confess our weakness, to confess that whatever good we can do, whatever
strength we have, is ours only in him, so that anyone minded to boast may boast
in the Lord.°> When I am weak, then I am strong, says Paul (2 Cor 12:10). You
have chastised human beings for their sin, and brushed my soul away like a
spider.

50. See Rom 10:3.

51. See Mt 8:20.
52. Variant: “I found.”
53. See Ps 81(82):7.
54. Here the “you” which has been plural, initially addressing the Jews, becomes singular.
bby, See li Glore esa
190 Exposition of Psalm 38

Only death is certain re

Sofia

19. Yet all human anxiety in this life is pointless. The psalmist returns now to
the truth of which he reminded us earlier. However much progress a person has
made here, all human anxiety in this life is pointless, for we live in uncertainty.
Which of us can be secure even about the good in ourselves? We fret in vain.
Each of us must cast our anxiety upon the Lord, cast on him whatever worries us,
believing that he will sustain and protect us.*° What is certain on this earth? Only
death. Consider all the vicissitudes of this life, both good and bad, all that befalls
us in our righteousness or in our iniquity. What among all these is certain? Only
death. You have made some progress, have you? You know what you are today,
but you do not know what you will be tomorrow. A sinner, are you? You know
what you are today, but not what you will be tomorrow. You hope to get money,
but whether it will come your way is uncertain. You hope to find a wife, but it is
uncertain whether you will find one, or what she will be like if you do. You hope
to have children, but you cannot be certain that any will be born. If they are born,
it is not certain that they will survive. If they do live, you cannot know whether
they will grow up well or prove to be weaklings. Whichever way you turn,
everything is uncertain, except for one sole certainty: death. If you are poor,
there is no certainty that you will ever be rich; if you are uneducated, you cannot
be certain of being taught; if you are in poor health, it is uncertain whether you
can recover your strength. You have been born, and so you can at least be certain
that you will die, but even in this certainty of death uncertainty lurks, because
you do not know the day of your death. We live beset with uncertainties, holding
one thing only as certain, that we shall die, but without even the certainty of
when that will be. The only thing we ultimately fear is the one thing that we
cannot possibly avoid. All human anxiety in this life is pointless.

Verse 13. Weeping for the distant prospect

20. Although he is already leaping over these things, already to some extent
living in things above and spurning those below, the psalmist still finds himself
amid these earthly realities, and so he prays, “Hear my prayer. What have I to
rejoice over, and what to groan about? I rejoice over the stages passed, but groan
over what still remains. Hear my prayer and my entreaty; let your ears listen for
my weeping. Just because I have leapt over so many things, and mounted above
so many, am I not to weep? Have I not reason to weep all the more bitterly? In
piling up knowledge we only pile up grief.*’ The more I long for what is still
distant, the more I groan until it comes, and the more I weep. Am I not right to

30, See PS 54:23(55:22).

57. See Eccl 1:18.
 Exposition of Psalm 38 19]

weep? Should I not weep the more as scandals become more widespread, as
iniquity increases, as the charity of many grows colder?’ Who will give water to
my head, and to my eyes a fount of tears? (Jer 9:1). Hear my prayer and my
entreaty; let your ears listen for my weeping. Do not be silent toward me. Do not
let me become permanently deaf. Do not be silent toward me, but allow me to
hear you.” God speaks in secret, and he speaks to many in their hearts. Very loud
is his voice in a very quiet heart, where with mighty power he cries, J am your
salvation. That is how another psalm prays: Say to my soul, Iam your salvation
(Ps 34(35):3). Now he prays, “Let that voice never fall silent for me,” that voice
with which God says to the soul, J am your salvation. “I beg you,” says he, “Do
not be silent toward me.”

No security of tenure

21. Because 1am no more than a lodger in your house. Whose lodger? I was
the devil’s lodger once, and a bad landlord I had then. But now I am with you,
and am | a lodger still? What does “lodger” mean?°? A lodger Iam with respect to
this place from which I shall be moving on, but not in that other place where I
shall live for ever. The place where I shall abide for eternity should be called my
home; but this place which I shall leave is the place of my sojourning. Yet even
while I am a sojourner here, Iam my God’s lodger, as I shall be at home with him
when I have gained my final dwelling. What is this home to which we shall move
when the time comes for us to leave this present lodging? The apostle mentions
it. You can recognize it when he says, We have a building from God, a home not
made by hands, an everlasting home in heaven (2 Cor 5:1). If this home will be
eternal in heaven, we shall not be lodgers or tenants any longer when we reach it.
How could you be a lodger in your eternal home? But as for your earthly lodging,
when the Master of the house says to you, “Move on,” you must be prepared to
go; and you do not know when he will say it. But your longing for your eternal
home will itself prepare you. You must not be indignant with him for choosing
any moment he likes to say, “Move on.” It is not as though he had given you any
guarantee, or had bound himself by any agreement, and not as though you had
paid advance rent to cover any definite period. When the owner of the house
decides, you will be out. For the time being you stay only by his favor. Because I
am no more than a lodger in your house, and a pilgrim. There beyond is my
homeland, there is my house; but here I am no more than a tenant in your prop-
erty, a traveler lodging with you. Many travelers are the guests of the devil; but
those who have believed and stayed faithful, though travelers still because they

58. See Mt 24:12.

59. Inquilinus, one who lodges in the house of another. Sometimes it means a serf, or sometimes a
non-Roman in Roman territory.
192 Exposition of Psalm 38

have not yet reached their own land and their home, are travelers who lodge with
God. As long as we are in the body we are on pilgrimage and |away from the
Lord; but we make it our business to please him, whether we stay here or are on
our way (2 Cor 5:6,9). 1am only a traveler and a lodger, like all my forebears. If
I am like all my forebears, have I any right to say that I shall not be departing,
when they have all moved on? Are the conditions of my sojourning likely to be
different from theirs?

Verse 14. The goal of true being ‘

22. What petition remains for me to make, then, since I shall undoubtedly
move on from here? Forgive me, so that Imay find some cool refreshment before
I go away. But, Idithun, look carefully at those knots you need to have untied if
you are to find cool refreshment before you go. What are they? You presumably
suffer from some fever that makes you long for coolness, so that you cry out,
“Let me find cool refreshment,” and “Forgive me.” What has God to forgive,
unless it is some minute fault® that prompts you to pray, Forgive us our debts?
Yet he begs, Forgive me, before I go away to be.no more. Set me free entirely
from my sins before I go, for I do not want to go with my sins on me. Forgive me,
that I may have peace in my conscience, that my conscience may shed its burden
of feverish anxiety, for I must take serious thought for my sin.*! Forgive me, so
that Imay find some cool refreshment, and above all forgive me before I go away
to be no more; for if you do not forgive me and allow me this cool refreshment, I
shall go and not be. Before I go away to a place where I shall not be, forgive me
that I may find some cool refreshment.
This raises the question: in what sense will he not be? Was he not going to his
rest? God forbid that Idithun should have failed to find that rest! Obviously
Idithun was going away, but going away to his rest. But think instead of some
malefactor, not Idithun: someone who does not leap over earthly things,
someone who lays up treasure here and watches over it jealously, someone
unjust, proud, boastful, haughty, disdainful of the pauper lying at the gate. Will
such a person “not be”? Of course he or she will still exist. Then what does the
psalm mean by saying, Before I go away to be no more? If that rich man in the
gospel did not exist anymore, who was burning? Who was longing for a drop of
water to be trickled onto his tongue from Lazarus’ finger? Who was it who kept
saying, Father Abraham, send Lazarus (Lk 16:24)? If he could speak he
undoubtedly existed; this man who was on fire existed, the man who will rise
again at the end, to be condemned to eternal flames along with the devil. What

60. Scrupulum (or scripulum), the 24th part of an ounce, applied metaphorically to a source of
worry or unease.
61. See Ps 37:19(38:18).
 Exposition of Psalm 38 193

does to be no more mean, then? I think Idithun had in mind the difference
between being and non-being. He was looking forward with all the longing of
his heart, with all the power of his mind, to that end which he had desired should
be shown him when he prayed, Make known to me my end, O Lord. He was
looking to the number of his days, the number that truly is; he considered that all
the things that exist here below have no being at all when compared with that
eternal being; and he habitually declared that he himself did not truly exist
either. The things of heaven abide, but the things of earth are changeable, subject
to death and fragile. As for that eternal pain, it is full of decay, and the only
reason it does not end is that it is doomed to be coming to an end unendingly.”
Idithun gazed toward that blessed country, his blessed land, his blessed home,
where the saints share eternal life and unchangeable truth; and he feared to go
away from it and be exiled to a place where there is no true being. He longed to
be, there where being is being at its supreme perfection. Comparing the two, and
finding himself standing between them, he was still fearful, so he said, “Forgive
me, so that I may find some cool refreshment before I go away to be no more, for
if you have not forgiven my sins, I will go away from you for ever. And from
whom would I then be going away for ever? From him who said, AM WHO AM,
from him who said, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, HE WHO IS has
sent me to you” (Ex 3:14). Anyone who takes the road away from him who truly
is necessarily goes toward non-being.
23. Well, brothers and sisters, if |have burdened and wearied you, put up with
it, for this sermon has been hard work for me too. But in fact you have only your-
selves to blame if you feel overworked, because if I felt you were getting bored
with what was being said, I would stop immediately.

62. Ad hoc nonfinitur, ut sine fine finiatur.

 Exposition of Psalm 39 __,

A Sermon to the People

Persecution, overt and insidious

a

1. Our Lord Jesus Christ made many prophecies about the future. Some of
them we know to have been fulfilled; others we hope to see fulfilled later. But all
of them most certainly will be fulfilled, because Truth has said so; and as he
speaks with total fidelity, so he seeks people who will believe him with like
fidelity. When these prophecies come true, believers will be glad, but unbe-
lievers will be thoroughly dismayed. Nonetheless these things will come to pass
whether human beings want it or not, and whether they believe or not; as the
apostle says, [f we deny him, he will deny us; if we do not believe, he still remains
faithful, for he cannot deny himself (2 Tm 2:12-43). But above all, brothers and
sisters, remember the brief piece of advice we all heard just now in the gospel,
and hold onto it: Whoever perseveres to the end will be saved.' In former days
our ancestors were arrested and haled before councils, and pleaded their case
before enemies whom they loved. To the enemies who judged them they offered
as much reproof as they could, and love to the limit of their strength. Righteous
blood was splashed about, and from that blood, like seed sown throughout the
world, sprang the crop of the Church.’
But the period that followed has been one of scandals, and pretense, and
temptations, provoked by those who say, Look, here is Christ! or There he is!
(Mt 24:23). Our enemy was a lion in earlier days when he used to rampage
openly, but now he is a snake, lying hidden in ambush. But another psalm says to
Christ, On both lion and snake you will trample (Ps 90(91):13), and because we
are his body and his members, he will trample? on the snake and save us from
harm today, just as of old he trampled on the lion with the feet of our forebears,
the lion that roared openly against them and dragged the martyrs off to their
deaths. The apostle warned us about the wiles of this snake: / have prepared you
for presentation to your one husband, Christ, as a chaste virgin; but Iam afraid

1. Mt 24:13. This gospel, which had been read before Augustine began to preach, deals with the
persecutions the faithful are to expect in the last days, and is the background to many of his
reflections in this sermon.
2. The simile recalls Tertullian’s famous remark that “the blood of martyrs is the seed of
Christians.” Augustine echoes Tertullian again toward the end of the present sermon; see
section 26 and note there.
3. So the CCL editors; variants have “he tramples” and “let him trample.”

194
 Exposition of Psalm 39 195

that, just as the serpent seduced Eve by his cunning, so too your minds may be led
astray, and fall away from that chastity which you have in Christ (2 Cor 11:2-3).
The snake is that ancient seducer who tries to violate the virginity not of the
flesh, but of the heart. As a human seducer exults in his wickedness when he
violates the body, so the devil is triumphant when he corrupts the mind. As our
ancestors needed patient fortitude when pitted against the lion, so do we need
vigilance against the snake. Persecution of the Church never ceases, whether it is
from the lion or from the snake; and the devil is more to be feared in the guise of
deceiver than when he rants and roars. In former days he forced Christians to
deny Christ; nowadays he teaches them to deny Christ. Then he used force, now
doctrine. Then he attacked them violently, but now insidiously. Then he raged in
full view, but now he weaves and slithers and is difficult to see. It is plain how he
applied force to Christians in those earlier days to make them deny Christ. They
were dragged off and ordered to apostatize, and when they confessed Christ
instead they earned their crowns. But today the persecutor persuades by
teaching, and he misleads because anyone so deceived does not think that he or
she is forsaking Christ. What do the heretics says nowadays to a Catholic Chris-
tian? “Come along and be a Christian.” They say this to elicit the question, “But
am | not a Christian already?” There is a world of difference between saying,
“Come and bea Christian,” and saying, “Come and deny Christ.” This latter is an
obvious invitation to wickedness; the lion’s growl is audible from afar, and a
Christian gives him a wide berth. But the slippery snake approaches unseen with
silent, gliding motion, drawing his length along softly? as he creeps in, craftily
whispering; and he does not say, “Deny Christ.”” Who would listen to him if he
did, now that we have seen the martyrs crowned? What he does say is, “Be a
Christian.” The hearer is struck by this remarkable saying.° If the poison has not
yet penetrated, he or she replies, “I am a Christian, that’s obvious.” But if he is
swayed and captivated® by the serpent’s tooth, he replies, ““Why do you say to
me, Be a Christian? How can you say that? Am I not a Christian already?” The
snake answers, “No.” “I’m not?” “No.” “Well, make me a Christian then, if ’m
not one.” “Come along, then. But when the bishop begins to question you about
what you are, do not say, [am a Christian, or I am a believer; but say you are not.
If you follow this advice, you may become one.”
The truth is that if this bishop discovers that the profession he hears is that of a
believing Christian, he will not dare to baptize him over again;’ but if he hears
the candidate say he is not, he gives him what he apparently did not have until

. Variant: “with gentle touch.”

. Variant; “wretched saying.”
. Variants: “scorched”; “worn down.”
_ A law
NAYDNK enacted under the Emperor Theodosius (A.D. 379-395) had forbidden the repetition of
baptism; see Cod. Theod., xvi. Donatist methods of recruitment seem to be Augustine’s target
in the present polemic.
196 Exposition ofPsalm 39

now, trusting to be held faultless himself since he is only acting in accordance

with the candidate’s own statement. But I want to take you up on this point, you
heretic. Why do you think yourself immune to criticism? Why should I listen to
such excuses, that you do not deny the validity of such a candidate’s baptism,
because the denial is his only? If the person who denies it is at fault, what of the
one who teaches him to deny it? Are you really exonerated, you, a Christian, who
achieve by your false teaching what the pagan achieved by threats? What are you
trying to do, anyway? Do you rob him of what he has, by persuading him to deny
that he has it? You do not take it away from him, but cause him to keep itin sucha
way that it becomes for him a title to punishment. What he has, he has: that
baptism is imprinted on him like a brand, and as it was a proud badge for the
soldier, so it convicts the deserter. What are you doing? You are trying to super-
impose Christ on Christ. If you were single-hearted, you would not duplicate
Christ. What is more, I put this to you: have you forgotten that Christ is called a
stone? The stone rejected by the builders has become the headstone of the corner
(Ps 117(118):22; see Mt 21:42; 1 Pt 2:4). If then Christ is a stone, and you are
attempting to superimpose Christ on Christ, you must have forgotten what you
heard in the gospel, that no stone will be left standing upon another.’ So strong,
by contrast, is the bonding of charity, that although many living stones come
together in the building of God’s temple, one stone is formed out of the many.
You, on the other hand, have torn yourself away. You lure people away from the
building and invite them to ruin. These crafty tricks of yours are ever multi-
plying and never cease. We see them, we endure them, and we do our best to
circumvent them by disputation, by persuasion, by attempts to reach agreement,
and by a show of force, and yet by loving you throughout it all.°
Yet in spite of all our efforts these people continue in their pernicious prac-
tice, and our heart grieves over our dead brethren. But while we mourn those
outside our unity we fear for those inside it; so what are we to do amid the mani-
fold pressures and incessant temptations that surround us in this life? When inig-
uity is So rampant, charity seems to grow weary; as scripture says, With iniquity
increasing mightily, the love of many grows cold (Mt 24:12). What indeed are
we to do, except follow the advice of the next verse, with God’s help? Whoever
perseveres to the end will be saved (Mt 24:13).

Verses 2-3. Waiting for the Lord

2. Let us make the words of this psalm our own: J waited and waited for the
Lord. The psalmist says, “J waited and waited, not for some human
promise-maker who is liable to deceive or be deceived, nor for some human

8. See Mt 24:2.
9. Variant: “by loving you all.”
 ___ Exposition of Psalm 39 197

comforter who may be overwhelmed by his or her own sorrow before cheering
me. By all means let my brother or sister comfort me by sharing my sadness; let
us groan together, weep together, pray together and wait together, but for
whom? For the Lord,” who never withdraws what he has promised, but only
defers it. He will deliver it, he will most assuredly deliver it, for he has delivered
many things already, though we would have no right to doubt God’s faithfulness
even if he had not yet delivered anything. We should think along these lines: “He
has promised us everything. He has not given us anything yet, but he is a reliable
promiser and faithful in keeping his promise.” Your job is to be an assiduous
creditor. Even if you are small or weak, exact the promised mercy. Haven’t you
noticed how the young lambs butt their mothers’ udders with their heads to get
the milk they need?
1 waited and waited for the Lord, says the psalmist. And what did the Lord
do? Did he turn away from you, or despise you for waiting, or did he perhaps fail
to see you? Certainly not. What, then? He looked after me, and listened to my
plea. He looked after you and listened, so your waiting was not in vain, was it?
His eyes were on you and his ears attentive to you, for the eyes of the Lord are
upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers (Ps 33:16(34:15)). But
what about when you were behaving badly, when you were blaspheming him?
Did he not see then? Or hear then? If not, what would have become of the next
line in that other psalm, The Lord frowns on evildoers? And to what purpose? To
blot out their memory from the earth (Ps 33:17(34:16)). So when you were bad
he was looking at you, but not looking after you.'® Accordingly this person who
was waiting for the Lord in our psalm would have thought it insufficient to say,
“He looked at me.” Rather he’says, The Lord looked after me; that is, he heeded
me in order to comfort me, he looked to my interests. What did he heed? He
listened to my plea.

Verse 4. Out of the mud

3. And what did he give you? What did he do for you? He led me out of a pit of
misery and from slimy mud; he set my feet upon a rock and guided my steps. And
he put anew song into my mouth, a hymn to our God. He has granted you great
benefits, yet he still owes you more. But anyone who is in possession of so much
already paid must be confident about the balance, all the more so since he was
bound to be confident in any case even before he had received anything. By these
tokens our Lord has convinced us that he is both faithful in his promises and
generous in his giving. What has he done in this instance? He led me out of a pit
of misery. What is this pit of misery? The murky depth of iniquity to which
carnal lusts consign us; that is why he calls it s/imy mud. From where did he lead

10. Adtendebat te, sed non adtendebat tibi.

198 Exposition of Psalm 39

you out? From a deep place. So that explains your cry in another psalm, Out of
the depths I have cried to you, Lord (Ps 129(130):1). We must notice this,
though: people who are already crying out from a deep place cannot be entirely
sunk in it, for their cry is already beginning to lift them. Others, however, are
more deeply immersed in the mire, because they do not even realize that they are
in the depths. These are the proud, scornful folk, not the devout who pray, not the
tearful ones who cry out, but those of whom scripture says elsewhere, A person
devoid of reverence goes deep into sin and is defiant (Prv 18:3). In such a case it
would not matter so much that he or she is a sinner; far worse is his determination
not to confess his sins but to defend them; and this sinks him deeper. But the one
who has cried out from the depths has already lifted his head from the deepest
place in order to utter the cry. In this psalm such a person has been heard, and led
out of the pit of misery and the slimy mud. Already he has faith that he did not
have before; he has hope where formerly there was none; and he who was going
astray with the devil now walks with Christ. This is unmistakable, for he says,
He set my feet upon a rock and guided my steps. But the rock is Christ."
Let us be on this rock, and may our steps be guided, for we still need to keep
on walking if we are to arrive anywhere. The apostle Paul was already on the
rock, and knew that his steps were guided, yet what did he have to say? Not that I
have gained it already, or am already perfect, brethren; I do not judge myself to
have taken hold of it yet (Phil 3:12-13). What has been granted to you, then, if
you have not taken hold yet? For what are you giving thanks when you say, /
received mercy (1 Tm 1:13)? He is thankful because his steps were guided and
he is now walking upon a rock. This is how he puts it: one thing only I do: forget-
ting what lies behind . . .and what does lie behind? The pit of misery. What does
“lying behind” evoke? Slimy mud, carnal lusts, the darkness of iniquity.
Forgetting what lies behind, I strain to what lies ahead. He would not say he was
straining ahead if he had already reached the goal; for the mind stretches out in
desire for the thing it longs for, not in delight over what has been attained.
Straining to what lies ahead, he says, I bend my whole effort to follow after the
prize of God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:13-14). He kept on running,
for he was intent on winning the prize. In another text he speaks from a point
very close to the winning-post: J have run the whole course (2 Tm 4:7). When he
said, J bend my whole effort to follow after the prize of God’s heavenly call, he
was already well onto the right path, because his steps had been guided on the
rock, so he had matter for thanksgiving and also something still to ask for; he
gave thanks for what had been given and pleaded for what was still owing. What
had been given already that moved him to gratitude? The forgiveness of his sins,
the illumination of faith, the strength of hope, the fire of charity. But in what

11. Seed Gor 10:4.

 Exposition of Psalm 39 199

respect could he still hold the Lord his debtor? All that remains for me now is the
crown ofrighteousness, he says. Something is still owing to me. What is it? The
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the just judge, will award me on that
day (2 Tm 4:8). At first God is a kindly father, drawing us out of the pit of misery
so that he can forgive our sins and disengage us from the slimy mud; then he is a
just judge who awards what he has promised to us as we walk well, though it is
only by his prior gift that we do walk well. The just judge will make due award,
then, but to whom? Whoever perseveres to the end will be saved (Mt 24:13).

A hymn of praise, but for our benefit, not God's

4. He put a new song into my mouth. What new song? A hymn to our God.
Possibly you were accustomed to sing hymns to other gods, old hymns; it was
the old person who sang them, not the new person. Let the new person come to
birth and sing a new song; let the renewed person love what has made him or her
new. What is more ancient than God, who exists before all things, with no end
and no beginning? Yet when you come back to him he is new for you. When you
went away from him you grew old and complained, / have grown old amid all my
enemies (Ps 6:8(7)). We sing a hymn to our God, and the hymn itself gives us
freedom," for J will call upon the Lord in praise, and I shall be saved from my
enemies (Ps 17:4(18:3)). A hymn is a song of praise. Make sure when you call on
God that you do so in praise, and not in an attempt to coerce him. If you invoke
God, begging him to suppress your enemy, or if you invoke God as your ally
when you are minded to make merry over someone else’s misfortune, you are
making him collude with your malice. And if you do that, you are not calling
upon him with praise, but trying to manipulate him. You think God is a replica of
yourself. But another text of scripture puts you right about that: All this you did,
and I was silent; you were wrong to think that I will be like you (Ps 49(50):21).
Be sure to invoke the Lord with praise; do not suppose that he is like you. And if
you avoid that, you may become like him. Your business is to be perfect, like
your Father in heaven, who causes his sun to rise over the good and the wicked,
and sends rain upon just and unjust alike (Mt 5:48,45). Accordingly you must
praise the Lord in such a way that you wish no harm to your enemies. “But how
much good ought I to will them?” you ask. As much as you want for yourself. It
is not as though they will become good by stealing some of what belongs to you,
or that you will receive less because something good is given to them. Your
enemy is only your enemy because he or she is bad; but if your enemy becomes
good, he or she will be your friend and companion. Indeed, that erstwhile enemy
will be your brother or sister, so that you will want to share with him or her every
good thing you loved.

12. Variant: “Let us sing . . . and let the hymn itself give... .”
200 Exposition of Psalm 39

Invoke the Lord with praise, and sing a hymn to your God. By a sacrifice of
praise I shall be honored, he tells us (Ps 49(50):23). How can that be? Is there
more glory for God, because you glorify him? Do we add something to God’s
glory when we say to him, “Glory be to you, my God”? Do we render him more
holy when we say, “I bless you, O my God’? No. When he blesses us, it is a
different matter; he does make us holier and happier. When he glorifies us, he
does indeed make us more glorious and increase our honor; but when we glorify
him, the gain is ours, not his. After all, how do we glorify him? By declaring him
glorious, not by making him so. This is why, after telling us that by a sacrifice of
praise I shall be honored, he continues with another statement to help you
understand that you are not conferring some benefit on God by offering him this
sacrifice of praise: And along that road I will show him my salvation (Ps
49(50):23). So you see, when you praise God, it is not God who profits thereby,
but you. Are you praising God? Then you are walking on the right road. Are you
trying to coerce God? Then you have lost your way.

Christ’s voice in the song of his members

5. He put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God. Someone may
perhaps ask who the speaker is in this psalm. Briefly, it is Christ. But as you
know, brothers and sisters—and it can never be said too often—Christ some-
times speaks in his own person, as our Head. He is the Savior of the body and its
Head, the Son of God who was born of a virgin, suffered for us, rose for our justi-
fication and sits at God’s right hand to intercede for us.'? He will bring due retri-
bution at the judgment, good things for the good and bad things for the wicked.
He is our Head because he graciously willed to become the Head of the body by
taking flesh from us in order that he might in that flesh die for us; but he also
raised it from death for us, that we might learn to hope where before we could
only despair, and find our feet on the rock, and walk in Christ. Accordingly he
sometimes speaks as our Head, and at other times as from ourselves, his
members, just as he spoke in the name of his members and not from himself
when he said, J was hungry and you fed me (Mt 5:35). Again, when he said, Saul,
Saul, why are you persecuting me? (Acts 9:4) it was the Head crying out in the
person of his members, yet he did not say, “Why are you persecuting my
members?” but, Why are you persecuting me ? If he suffers in us, we shall also be
crowned in him. This is the charity of Christ. Can anything else compare with it?
He puta hymn about this matter into our mouths, and sings it with the voice of his
members.

13. See Rom 4:25; 8:34.

 __ Exposition of Psalm 39 201

Leaders and followers

6. The righteous will see and be afraid, and will hope in the Lord. The righ-
teous, it says, will see. Who are these righteous people? Believers, clearly,
because it is the one who lives by faith who is just.'* Moreover this is the way
things are ordered in the Church: some forge ahead and others follow; but those
in front provide an example for those who follow, and the followers imitate
those in front. But does this mean that the leaders who furnish an example have
no one to follow? If they follow nobody, they will go astray. They do indeed
have someone to follow—Christ himself. These better people in the Church may
have none of their fellows left to imitate, because they have made such progress
that they have outstripped them all; but Christ is left to them, and they must
follow him to the end. You can see this order of things'> sketched by the apostle
Paul when he says, Be imitators of me, as 1am of Christ (1 Cor 4:16). Any whose
feet have already been guided onto the rock must be an example to other
believers; as Paul says elsewhere, Be an example to the faithful (1 Tm 4:12). The
faithful themselves are the righteous, who should keep their eyes on those who
are ahead of them in goodness, and follow by imitating their lives.
How are they to follow? The righteous will see, and be afraid. As they watch
they will learn to fear evil paths, for they will see that people better than themselves
have chosen paths that are good. The righteous are like wayfarers who see others
walking with assurance down a certain road, while they themselves are doubtful
about the right way and hesitating which road to take. They say to themselves,
“Those others must have good reason for going that way, and they are making for
the same place as we are. Why would they take that road so confidently, if they did
not know that the one we are on is dangerous?” Similarly the righteous will see and
be afraid. They see on the one hand a narrow path, and on the other a wide road;
few take the former, but many the latter.!° But if you are a righteous person,
counting is not important; you will do better to weigh. Use reliable scales, not
deceptive ones, since you have been called righteous. The righteous will see and be
afraid: this was said about you. Do not count the crowds of people who throng the
wide roads, filling the circus tomorrow, shouting their glee on the city’s birthday
while degrading" the city by their disgraceful behavior. Take no notice of them.
They are very numerous, beyond counting, whereas few are to be seen on the
narrow path. Use a reliable balance, I tell you, and weigh the matter: look how
much straw you can send sailing up against only a few grains!
So much for the righteous believers who follow; what of those who go ahead?
Let them not be proud or self-important, and let them not mislead those who

14. See Hb 2:4; Rom 1:17.

15. Variant: “Charity has arranged this order of things.”
16. See Mt 7:13-14.
17. Variant: “disturbing.”
202 Exposition of Psalm 39

follow. How might they do that? By promising salvation through themselves.

Recall the duty of the followers: the righteous will see and be afraid, and will
hope in the Lord, not in those who walk ahead. They must indeed watch those in
front, and follow and imitate them, but they must also remember from whom
those in front received the strength to go ahead like that, and in him they must
hope. Let them imitate their betters, yes, but put their trust only in him by whose
gift those leaders are what they are. The righteous will see and be afraid, and will
hope in the Lord. It reminds us of another psalm where we read, I have lifted my
eyes to the mountains, and there we understand ,the' mountains to represent
certain illustrious people, great spiritual men in the Church, people who are great
because of their massive worth, not because swollen with pride. Through them
the whole of scripture was mediated to us; they are the prophets, the evangelists,
the good teachers. In their direction, therefore, / have lifted my eyes to the moun-
tains, from where comes help for me. But in case you should think this means
human help, the psalm immediately specifies: My help is from the Lord, who
made heaven and earth (Ps 120(121):1-2). The righteous will see and be afraid,
and will hope in the Lord.

Verse 5. Steer clear of the broad road

7. Well now, those who want to hope in the Lord, those who see and are
afraid, must beware of walking in bad ways, broad ways. Let them prefer the
narrow path, where the steps of some people have already been guided onto the
rock; and let them listen now to how they must conduct themselves. Blessed is
the one whose hope is the Lord, who has had no regard for empty things and
lying foolishness. These are the ways you were tempted to take. Look at the
crowds on the broad road; it is a sure path to the amphitheatre and a sure path to
death. The broad road is lethal; its spaciousness is pleasant for a time, but its end
is narrow constraint for eternity. Yet the crowds bawl and the crowds hurry
along and the crowds make merry and the crowds all run in the same direction.
Do not imitate them, do not turn aside; these are empty things and lying foolish-
ness. Let the Lord your God be your hope; do not hope to get anything else from
the Lord your God, but let the Lord your God himself be your hope. Many people
hope to get money from God, many hope to get from him honors that are transi-
tory and perishable, or they want some other thing from God, something other
than God himself. But you, you must simply ask for your God. Hold all those
other things cheap and make your way to him; forget all the rest and remember
him; leave them all behind and stretch out toward him. He has brought back to
the right way any of us who have erred, he leads the right-minded along,!* and he
himself leads them to the very end. Let him be your hope, then, for he leads us,

18. Variant: “he leads the one he has brought back.”

 Exposition of Psalm 39 203

and leads us all the way. Where does earthly avarice lead, what is its end? You
were trying to get your hands on country estates, you were greedy for land, you
ousted your neighbors. Then, having bought them out, you gazed covetously on
the property of a new set of neighbors, and eventually your avarice stretched so
far that you reached the coast! But when you had arrived at the coast you coveted
the islands. So having secured ownership of the earth, perhaps you now intend to
seize heaven? Abandon all these infatuations; he who made heaven and earth is
far more beautiful.

Fanatical addiction

8. Blessed is the one whose hope is the Lord, who has had no regard for empty
things and lying foolishness. Why are these insane pursuits called “lying”?
Because insanity does tell lies, while soundness of mind is truthful. When you
think these things good, you are deceived, you are not of sound mind, you have
become delirious through high fever and are enamored of something unreal.!°
You sing the praises of some charioteer, you shout to him, you go crazy about
him. This is empty, and lying foolishness. “No it’s not,” shouts the fan. “There’s
nothing better, nothing is so much fun.” What am I to do for someone in the grip
of a fever like this? If you have any pity in you, pray for people in this plight. It
often happens that a doctor feels desperate as he turns to the people in the house,
who stand around tearfully, hanging on his every word as they wait for his report
on the patient who is dangerously ill. The doctor stands there undecided, for he
cannot give any encouraging promise, but fears to tell them the bad news lest he
arouse alarm. So he resorts to a discreet pronouncement: “The good God can do
all things. Pray for him.” So which of these insane folk can I hope to control?
Which of them will listen to me? Who among them will not call us spoilsports?
Because we do not share their frenzy they think we are missing their intense and
manifold pleasures, in which they themselves are losing their minds, and they
fail to see that these things are deceptive. When shall I have the chance to give
the patient an egg, even against his will,”° or offer him a restorative drink;”' how
can I heal him, when shall I find a way? I beg him to eat lest he collapse from

19. The vehemence of Augustine’s polemic against “shows” in the following paragraphs is
explained by his early experience oftheir power to seduce the mind and create addictions. As a
student at Carthage he had been enamored of the spurious emotions aroused by theatrical
performances, and later had trembled at the near-disaster that had befallen his friend Alypius
through contamination with the blood-lust of the crowds at gladiatorial fights (see his
Confessions, I11,2,2; V1,7,11-V1,8,13). He called it curiositas and came to see it as an aspect of
the “lust of the eyes” condemned in | Jn 2:16, acraving for superficial and titillating knowledge
that was a perversion of the mind’s thirst for truth.
20. The many variants to which the projected treatment has given rise include: “How can Igive him
wine, even against his will?” and “When can I give him an egg, if he does not want it?”
21. Variants: ‘“‘a drink of restorative juice/medicine”; “lest he harm himself with a restorative
drink”; “persuade him to accept a restorative drink.”
204 Exposition of Psalm 39

malnutrition and never regain his health,”? but he clenches his fists and tries to
attack the physician. Even if he does land a punch, he must still be loved, and if
he inflicts some injury he must not be abandoned; he will recover one day and
then he will be grateful.
How many people recognize themselves in this description, and look at each
other, and talk about each other in God’s Church? In the bosom of Holy Church
they apply themselves now to good pursuits connected with the word of God and
with the duties and responsibilities of charity. They habitually seek the company
of Christ’s flock instead of staying away from the church; they see this and they
speak to each other about one another. “Who is that circus-fan now? Look at the
once fanatical admirer of that gladiator, that actor!” The speaker means someone
else, and that other speaks similarly of him. These exchanges undoubtedly take
place, and we are certainly happy about such people. And if we are happy about
them, let us not despair of others like them. Let us pray for them, dearest friends,
for after being numbered among the impious they come to swell the number of
the saints. They have had no regard for empty things and lying foolishness.
“So-and-so has won! He drove such-and-such a horse!” shouts the fanatic.
Does he think to be godlike in his forecasts? By affecting divinity he loses the
source of divinity; he is often liberal with his tips and he is often wrong. Why?
Because this is lying foolishness. But why are the forecasts sometimes correct?
To lead crazy people astray, people who by falling in love with a semblance of
the truth will stumble into the trap of falsehood. Let them be left behind, aban-
doned, amputated from the body. If they were once our members, let them be cut
off as dead; as scripture enjoins, Put to death your members that belong to the
earth (Col 3:5). Let our God be our hope. He who made all things is better than
all things; he who made beautiful things is more beautiful than all of them; he
who made all that is strong is himself stronger; he who made all greatness is
greater than any. Whatever you have loved, he will be that for you. Learn to love
the Creator in the creature, the Maker in what is made. Do not let something he
has made so captivate you that you lose him by whom you were made yourself.
Blessed is the one whose hope is the Lord, who has had no regard for empty
things and lying foolishness.

Verse 6. There are better shows in God’s Church

9. If anyone has been struck by that verse, and wants to correct his or her life,
if the righteousness that comes from faith has filled such a person with fear, and
he has begun to want to walk in the narrow path, he will perhaps say to us, “I shall
never keep up this walking, if Ihave no shows to watch.” What are we going to
do about that, brothers and sisters? Are we going to leave him starved of shows?

22. Variant: “I beg him to eat, lest he collapse from malnutrition; I beg him to regain his health.”
 Exposition of Psalm 39 205

He will die, he will never hold out, he will not follow us. What shall we do, then?
Let us give him other wonderful things to watch, in place of the shows he has
given up. And what kind of entertainments are we going to offer to a Christian
man or woman, whom we want to wean away from those other shows? I give
thanks to the Lord our God, for in this next verse of the psalm he has indicated
what shows we must provide and put on for show-addicts who want shows?’,
Our convert has turned away from the circus, from the theater, from the fights in
the stadium, so let him inquire what there is to look at among us; yes, by all
means let him inquire, for we do not want to leave him with no spectacle to
enjoy. What shall we give him instead? Listen to the next verse: You have
wrought many wondrous deeds, O Lord my God. He used to watch prodigies
performed by human beings, let him now watch God’s wondrous deeds. Many
are the wondrous feats of the Lord, so let him look at them. Why did they ever
become worthless in his eyes? He applauds the charioteer who controls four
horses which run their course without slipping or stumbling; but has the Lord not
performed feats just as wonderful in the spiritual sphere? Let him control licen-
tiousness, let him control cowardice, control injustice, control rashness;** let
him, I mean, control the passions which, when they fall into excess, produce
those vices. Let him harness them and subject them to himself, and hold the
reins, and not be whirled away; let him steer where he chooses, and not be
dragged off in a direction where he does not want to go. He was used to
applauding a charioteer, and as a charioteer he will be applauded; he used to
shout for a charioteer to be invested with the victor’ s insignia, but he himself will
be clothed with immortality. These rewards, and these wonderful events, God
provides. He shouts to us from heaven, “I am watching you. Fight bravely, I will
help you; win, and I will crown you.” You have wrought many wondrous deeds,
O Lord my God; deep are your thoughts and no one is like you.
Now consider an actor.*> After much practice a man has learned to walk a
tightrope, and as he hangs balancing there he has you hanging in suspense. But
look at one who achieves feats even more worth watching. Your acrobat has
learned to walk on a rope, but he has never made anyone walk on the sea, has he?
Forget your theatrical shows and watch our Peter, who is not a tightrope-walker
but a sea-walker, if I may so express it. But that is not all: walk yourself, not on
those same waters where Peter walked, because his walking was a sign, but on
other waters, for this world is a sea. It has its undrinkable saltiness, its waves of
tribulation and its storms of temptation; it is inhabited by men and women like

23. The repetitiveness seems deliberate and a trifle mocking: Quae spectatoribus spectare
volentibus spectacula... .
24. The vices opposed to the traditional four cardinal virtues: temperance, fortitude, justice, and
prudence. The list was derived from Plato and Aristotle, and taken over by Ambrose and
Augustine, and Christian tradition more generally.
25. Histrio, evidently here of the acrobatic variety.
206 Exposition of Psalm 39

fishes, rejoicing in their misdeeds as they devour one another. Walk on it, tread it
beneath your feet. You want to watch spectacles? Very well, bea Spectacle your-
self. And in case you weaken, keep your eye on someone who went before you
and said, We have been set up as a spectacle to this world, and to angels and to
mortals (1 Cor 4:9). Tread the sea underfoot, or you may sink into it. But you will
not be able to walk there, you will not be able to tread on it, unless he who first
trod the sea himself has commanded you. Peter said to him, /fit is you, tell me to
come to you over the water (Mt 14:28). And because it was indeed the Lord who
walked there, he heard Peter as he asked, granted him what he longed for, called
him as he walked, and pulled him out as he sank. The Lord worked these
marvels; gaze at them, let faith be your avid eye. And then perform similar
wonders yourself, for even if the winds batter you, and the waves roar against
you, and human weakness throws you into some doubt about your salvation, you
have a recourse: you can cry out, “Lord, I’m sinking!” He who told you to walk
will not let you drown. Since you already have your feet on a rock you need have
no fear even in the sea; if you were not on the rock you would certainly sink, but
the rock on which we are to walk is not covered by the sea.
10. Witness God’s wonders. J announced the news and spoke the message,
and they were multiplied, in numbers beyond reckoning. There is a definite
number, and there are also others beyond reckoning. The number is definite
because it pertains to Jerusalem, the heavenly city; for the Lord knows who
belong to him:?° God-fearing Christians, faithful Christians, Christians who
keep the commandments, walk in God’s ways, refrain from sin and, if they have
fallen, confess it. These are the people who are included in the number. But are
these all? No, there are others outside this number. Even if there are but a few of
them in comparison with the far greater crowds outside, still look how our
churches are bursting with them, how the walls are bulging with them, how they
tread on each other and nearly suffocate each other, so closely are they packed.
But then, let there be but a public show on offer, and many of these make for the
amphitheater. These are “beyond reckoning,” outside the number. But we are
saying this in the hope that they may become part of the number; they will not
hear it from us, because they are not present, but when you go home make sure
they hear it from you. J announced the news and spoke the message, says the
psalm. This is Christ speaking. He announced it in his own person as our Head,
and he announced it through his members. He sent heralds out to announce it, he
sent his apostles: Their sound went forth throughout the world, their words to the
ends of the earth (Ps 18:5(19:4)). How very many believers there are, all piled up
together, how great the crowds that gather! Many of these are truly converted,
but many make only a pretense of conversion. Those truly converted are fewer
than the shams, for these last are multiplied, in numbers beyond reckoning.

26. See 2 Tm 2:19.

 Exposition of Psalm 39 207

Verse 7. The course of love

11. announced the news and spoke the message, and they were multiplied, in
numbers beyond reckoning. Sacrifice and offering you did not desire. These are
the miracles of God, these the thoughts of God which have no rival. Let the
person addicted to shows be led away from that gratification of the eyes,”’ and in
our company seek better and more profitable sights, which will give him joy
when he discovers them. And the joy will be such that he need not fear that his
favorite may be defeated. He is enamored of a charioteer, but if that man is
beaten, the supporter must bear the ignominy. If the charioteer wins, it is only he
himself who is invested with the insignia. Does the poor man who cheered him
on win any honors? No, only the champion. If the favorite loses, though, the fan
is jeered at on his behalf. Why should you feel the sting of failure for his sake,
when you have no share in the decoration he wins? With our shows it is quite
different. Speaking of the pagan stadium and the shows put on there, the apostle
Paul said, All run, to be sure, but only one receives the prize (1 Cor 9:24); the rest
depart as losers. They have run their race with perseverance, yet when one
receives the guerdon, all the rest who have tried just as hard are left with nothing.
Not so among us. Let all who run the race persevere in their running, for all of
them are rewarded. The one who is first at the winning-post waits, to be crowned
with the latecomer. The reason for this is that the contestants are animated not by
greed but by charity. All the runners love one another, and the course itself is
love.

Sacrifice, old and new

12. Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, says the psalm to God. The
ancients celebrated rites which prefigured the future reality; for our sacrifice,
which the faithful know about, was being foreshadowed by symbols. Many
knew this, but far more did not. The prophets and the holy patriarchs understood
what they were celebrating; but the rest, the sinful multitude, were so carnal that
they could only be used as a sign of what would come later. Then the truth came,
and the first kind of sacrifice was abolished. The holocausts of rams, goats,
calves and other victims were done away with, for God did not want them. Why
did he not want them? Or rather, why had he wanted them earlier? Because all
those rites were like the assurances of someone who is making a promise; and
when what has been promised is delivered, the words of promise are no longer
spoken. The speaker is making a promise until he delivers, and once he has
delivered he uses different words. No longer does he say, “I will give. . .” what-

27. A curiositate; see note at section 8 above. A variant has “be drawn to gratify his eyes” [in the
Church].
208 Exposition of Psalm 39

ever he said he would give; now he says, “I have given. . ..” He has changed the
verb. Why did one word seem suitable to him at first, and oi did he then change
it? Because it was a word referring to its own time, and for that time it served his
purpose. While he was still making his promise that word was spoken; but when
what had been promised was given, words expressive of promise were super-
seded, and words expressive of fulfillment used instead. So those earlier sacri-
fices were like the words of a promise, and now they have been discarded. What
is it that has now been given as a fulfillment? The body which you know, though
not all of you know it.** And may you who do know about it not know it to your
own condemnation. Notice the time when this statement was made, for it is
Christ our Lord who made it, speaking at one time in his members, at another in
his own person. Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, he says. What does that
imply? That we are left in our days with no sacrifice? Far from it. But you have
perfected a body for me. The reason why you did not want those old sacrifices
now was that you meant to establish this perfect sacrifice; but before you had
established this perfect one you did want the old. The perfect accomplishment of
what had been promised rendered the words of promise obsolete. If words of
promise were still appropriate now, it would mean that the promises had not yet
been fulfilled. The reality was for a long time promised by certain signs, but now
these sign-promises have been done away with, because the truth that was prom-
ised has been given to us. We are in this body, we are sharers in this body, and we
know what we receive. You who do not yet know will know, and I pray that
when you have learned about it, you may not receive it to your own condemna-
tion, for any who eat and drink unworthily bring judgment on themselves.” The
body has been made perfect for us; let us be made perfect in the body.*°

Verse 8. The mark of Cain

13. Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but you have perfected a body
for me. For holocaust and sin-offering you did not ask; then I said, Lo, I am
coming. Does this need any explanation? Sacrifice and offering you did not
desire, but you have perfected a body for me. For holocaust and sin-offering you
did not ask, the very things he did require in earlier days. Then I said, Lo, Iam
coming. It is time for what was long promised to come, and so the signs through
which it was promised are taken away. Indeed, brothers and sisters, look how the
old sacrifices have been superseded, and the new brought to fulfillment. Let the
Jewish people show me a priest now, if they can! What has become of their sacri-

28. He means the catechumens, from whom explicit teaching on the Eucharist was withheld.
29useeli@on 1:20)
30. Christ’s mortal body, his eucharistic body and his ecclesial body are brought together here in
one perspective.
 Exposition of Psalm 39 209

fices? They have undeniably perished, done away with in this era. Should we
have found fault with you in earlier days for offering them? No, but we do find
fault with you now, and if you attempted to offer them now it would be unsea-
sonable, inopportune and unfitting. You are still making promises, but I have
received what was promised.
But something has remained to them that they can celebrate, so that they are
not left entirely without a sign. Cain, the elder brother who killed the younger,
was given a mark so that no one should kill him, as Genesis records: God put a
mark on Cain, so that no one should kill him (Gn 4:15), and the Jewish nation
likewise has survived. All the peoples who came under Roman rule reached
common consent in adopting Roman law;*! they shared the general supersti-
tions, but later began to separate themselves from them through the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ. But the Jewish people remained unaltered with its sign, the
sign of circumcision and the sign of unleavened bread; Cain was not killed. No,
he was not killed, for he still had the mark on him. But he was cursed and
banished from the earth that had opened its mouth to receive a brother’s blood
shed by his hand. He shed that blood, but he did not receive it; he shed it and
another land received it, while Cain was cursed and banished from the earth that
opened its mouth to receive the spilt blood. The earth where the blood has been
received is the Church, and from here Cain was cursed. This blood “cries out to
me from the earth,” for it was of this same earth that the Lord said, The voice of
your brother’s blood pleads to me from the earth (Gn 4:10). It clamors to me
from the earth, the Lord says. It cries out to the Lord, but the one who shed it is
too deaf to hear, because he does not drink it. So now those people are like Cain
with his mark. The sacrifices.that used to be offered were done away with, and
what has remained to them like Cain’s mark has achieved its purpose, but they
do not know it. They kill a lamb and eat unleavened bread, but Christ has been
immolated as our passover (1 Cor 5:7). This is the slain lamb that I recognize:
Christ has been immolated. What about the unleavened bread? Accordingly,
says Paul, let us keep the festival not with the leaven of malice and ill-will (he is
indicating the old mixture; the flour is stale and musty), but with the unleavened
bread of sincerity and truth (1 Cor 5:8). They have remained in shadow and
cannot see the glorious sun; we are already in daylight, for we hold fast to the
body of Christ, we hold fast to the blood of Christ. If we have new life, let us sing
anew song, ahymn to our God. For holocaust and sin-offering you did not ask;
then I said, Lo, 1am coming.

31. Variant suggested by the CCL editors: “the Jewish nation has survived among all the peoples
who came under Roman rule. Those peoples reached. .. .”
210 Exposition of Psalm 39

Verse 9. Christ’s obedience cheei)

14. At the foremost place in the book it is written of me that I should do your
will; O my God, this I have wanted, your law in the midst of my heart. See how he
now turns to his members, and how he himself did the will of his Father. But
what book does he mean, where this is written of him at its foremost place?
Perhaps it is written at the opening of this very Book of Psalms. What need is
there for a more extensive search? Why should we investigate other books?
Look where it is written on the opening page of this Book of Psalms, Blessed is
the person who has not gone astray in the council of the ungodly, and has not
stood in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the seat ofpestilence, but in the law
of the Lord was his will. This is the same thing as in our psalm here: O my God,
this I have wanted, and your law is in the midst of my heart; and this again means
the same thing as on his law will he reflect day and night (Ps 1:1-2).

Verse 10. The mouth speaks the heart’s thoughts. The repentant thief

15. [have freely proclaimed your righteousness in the great Church. Christ is
addressing his members, and exhorting them to do what he did. He proclaimed,
so let us proclaim; he suffered, let us suffer with him; he has been glorified, and
in him we shall be glorified too. J have proclaimed your righteousness in the
great Church. How great? Spread throughout the world. How great? Through-
out all nations. Why throughout all nations? Because it is the progeny of
Abraham, in whom all nations are to be blessed.*? Why throughout all nations?
Because its sound has gone forth through all the earth,** in the great Church.
See, Lord, I will not keep my lips sealed, you know it. My lips speak, and I will
not restrain them. My lips speak to the ears of men and women, but you know my
heart. Lord, I will not keep my lips sealed, you know it. A human being hears one
thing, but God perceives something else. This is emphasized because our procla-
mation must not be with our lips only, so that it could be said of us, Do what they
tell you, but do not imitate what they do (Mt 23:3). Nor must it be said of us, as it
was said of that people who praised God with their mouths but not their hearts,
This people honors me with its lips, but its heart is far from me (Is 29:13). Sing
with your lips, but draw near to him with your heart, for the faith that issues in
righteousness is in the heart, and the confession that leads to salvation is made
with the lips (Rom 10:10). This was true of the thief who hung on the cross with
the Lord, and from the cross acknowledged the Lord. Others failed to recognize
the Lord even as he performed miracles, but this man recognized him as he hung
upon the cross. The thief was nailed securely in all his limbs: his hands were

S22 See Gi 12355

33. See Ps 18:5(19:4).
 Exposition of Psalm 39 211

immobilized by nails, his feet transfixed, and his whole body fastened to the
wood. That body had no use of its other members, but his heart had the use of his
tongue. With his heart he believed, and with his lips he made confession. Lord,
remember me when you come into your kingdom, he said (Lk 23:42). He hoped
for salvation as a distant prospect, and would have been content to receive it after
a long delay; his hope stretched toward a far-off future, but the day was not
delayed. He prayed, Remember me when you come into your kingdom, but Christ
replied, Truly Jtell you, today you will be with me in paradise (Lk 23:43). Today,
he says, you will be with me in paradise. In paradise grow trees of happiness.
Today you are with me on the tree of the cross, and today you will be with me on
the tree of salvation.

Neither fear nor falsehood

16. See, Lord, I will not keep my lips sealed, you know it. This is said to warn
us that we must not out of fear restrain our lips from proclaiming what we have
believed. There are Christians who live among ill-disposed pagans, among
people who are sophisticated** in an unwholesome way, squalid, unfaithful
people without good sense, mockers. These Christians nonetheless have faith in
their hearts, but once they begin to find themselves hounded for being Christians
they are afraid to confess with their lips the faith they have in their hearts, and
they restrain their lips from giving expression to what they know, what they have
within. The Lord rebukes them: /fanyone is embarrassed about me in the pres-
ence of men and women, I will be embarrassed about that person in my Father’s
presence (Mk 8:38); that is to say, “I will not recognize anyone who has been
ashamed of confessing me before other people; I will not confess that person
before my Father.” The lips must proclaim what is in the heart: this is an injunc-
tion against fear. But the heart must have in it what the lips say: this is an injunc-
tion against insincerity. Sometimes you are afraid, and dare not say what you
know to be true, what you believe; but at other times you are tempted to be insin-
cere, and say something that is not in your heart. Your lips and your heart must be
in agreement. If you seek peace from God, be reconciled with yourself; let there
be no harmful conflict between your mouth and your heart. See, Lord, I will not
keep my lips sealed, you know it. How does he know it? What does the Lord
know? He knows what is within the heart, where human eyes do not see. This is
why the psalmist says elsewhere, / believed... , so he has a heart, he has some-
thing God can see. But he must not restrain his lips, and he does not; for what
does he say next? Therefore I spoke (Ps 115(116):10). And because he has
uttered what he believed, he looks for some return he can make to the Lord for all
the Lord has bestowed on him, so he adds, / will take in my hands the cup of

34. Variant: “live among pagans, and like to mix with people who are sophisticated.”
202 Exposition of Psalm 39

salvation, and call on the name of the Lord (Ps 115(116):13), When the Lord
asked, Are you able to drink the cup I am to drink? (Mi 20:22) he did not shrink
away. He confessed with his lips what he had in his heart, and so he encountered
suffering. But because he had gone like that to face his passion, what could the
enemy do to harm him? Nothing at all, because precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his righteous ones (Ps 115(116):15). Those deaths in which the
pagans gave vent to their savagery are today our source of refreshment.** We
celebrate the birthdays of the martyrs,*° we keep the example of the martyrs
before us, we contemplate their faith, remember how they were discovered and
dragged off, and how they stood before their judges. In the Catholic Church,
scorning all pretense, bonded closely to one another, they confessed Christ.
They were his members, and they longed to follow where their Head had gone
before. And who were the people possessed by such longing?*’ People brave
under torture, faithful in their confession, truthful in speech. They were shooting
God’s arrows into the faces of their interrogators, and wounding them, and
provoking them to anger, though many they wounded even to salvation.
We keep all these examples before us, and feast our eyes on them, and hope to
imitate them. These are the shows that Christianity puts on. God himself watches
from on high, encourages us to participate, and gives us his help; he sets the
prizes for the contests and awards them at the end. Make sure you are not fearful.
Do not keep your lips sealed. Lord, you know that what the lips utter is also in the
heart.

Verse 11. Speaking the truth under threat

17. I have not hidden my justice in my heart. What does my justice mean? My
faith, because the one who lives by faith is just.** Take an example. Suppose
someone is being interrogated by a persecutor under threat of punishment; they
were sometimes allowed to do this. “What are you—pagan or Christian?”
“Christian.” This is the Christian’ s justice; he or she has believed, and lives from
that faith. This Christian has not hidden his justice in his heart. He did not say to
himself, “I believe in Christ, certainly I do, but I am not going to tell this savage
persecutor who is threatening me what I believe. My God knows within me, in
my heart, that I believe, and he knows that I am not giving him up.” So you say
you have this faith in your heart, but what is on your lips? “I am no Christian.”
Then your lips are bearing witness in opposition to your heart.

35. Variant: “today help us to become perfect.”

36. That is, the anniversaries of their deaths, their birthdays into heaven. One codex has “the
birthday of a martyr.”
37. This sentence is omitted by some codices.
38. See Hb 2:4; Rom 1:17.
 Exposition of Psalm 39 213

Christ is truth and salvation

18. 1 have declared your truth and your salvation. This means, “I have
proclaimed your Christ.” When we say, / have declared your truth and your
salvation, how can we say that “truth” means Christ? Because he said, / am the
Truth (Jn 14:6). And why can we say that God’s salvation is Christ? Because
when Simeon recognized the child in his mother’s arms in the temple, he said,
My eyes have seen your salvation (Lk 2:30). An old man recognized an infant,
for in this child he had become a child himself, being made new by faith. He
spoke so because he had received an assurance: the Lord had told him that he
would not leave this life before he had seen God’s salvation. It is good that this
salvation of God should be manifested to human beings, but let them cry out to
him, Show us, Lord, your mercy, and grant us your salvation (Ps 84:8(85:7)).
But it must be God’s salvation for all nations, because after praying, May God
have mercy on us and bless us, may he make his face shine upon us, that we may
know your way upon earth, the psalmist added, your salvation among all nations
(Ps 66:2-3(67:1-2)). So we find him praying first, That we may know your way
upon earth, but then making it more precise by saying, Your salvation among all
nations. You might have asked him, “What is this way that you long to see?
Usually men and women come to a way; are you suggesting that this way will
come to them?” Indeed our Way has come to men and women; he found them
going astray and called the wanderers back to himself. “Walk in me,” he said,
“and you will not miss the path, for am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life” (Jn
14:6). Do not say, then, “Where is God’s way? To what country must I travel?
What mountain shall I climb?‘What plains must I seek?” Are you looking for the
way of God? God’s way is God’s salvation, and this way is everywhere, because
his salvation is among all peoples. J have declared your truth and your salvation.

Mercy now, justice later

19. Ihave not concealed your mercy and your justice from the great congre-
gation. Let us be part of it, let us be numbered within that body, and let us not
conceal either the Lord’s mercy or the Lord’s justice. Do you want to hear what
the Lord’s mercy is like? Give up your sins, and he will forgive your sins. And do
you want to hear about his justice? Hold fast to righteousness, and your righ-
teousness will be crowned. At present his mercy is preached to you, but later his
justice will be manifested, for God is not merciful in such a way as to be unjust,
nor just in such a way as to leave no room for mercy. Is it a small thing, the mercy
shown to you? No, for he will not impute to you all those sins of your earlier
days. You lived sinfully until today, but you are still alive, so live rightly today,
214 Exposition of Psalm 39

and then you will not conceal his mercy.*? So if this is mercy, what,is his justice?
All nations will be gathered before him, and he will sort them out as a shepherd
separates sheep from goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand, the goats at
his left. What will he say to the sheep? Come, you who are blessed by my Father,
take possession of the kingdom prepared for you. And to the goats? Depart from
me into the eternal fire (Mt 25:34,41). That will be no place for repentance. If
you have spurned God’s mercy you will feel his justice; but if you have not
spurned his mercy, his justice will be your joy.

Verses 12-13. The near mercy

20. But you, Lord, do not take your mercies far away from me. Christ has
turned his eyes toward his wounded members, and he prays, “Because I have not
concealed your mercy and your justice from the great congregation, from the
Church united throughout the world, look upon my wounded members, look
upon delinquents and sinners, and do not withdraw your mercies.” Your mercy
and your justice have always upheld me. I would not dare to turn back to you if I
were not confident of your forgiveness; I would net go on persevering, were I not
confident of your promise. Your mercy and your justice have always upheld me.
I see you to be good, and I see you to be just; I love you because you are good, and
fear you because you are just. Love and fear jointly are my guides, for your
mercy and your justice have always upheld me. Why do they uphold me, and
why is it that I must never take my eyes off them? Because evils have encom-
passed me, evils beyond counting. Who, indeed, can count sins? Which of us
can make a reckoning of other people’s sins and our own? What a great pile of
them was pressing down on the psalmist who groaned, Cleanse me from my
secret sins, Lord, and spare your servant from the faults of others (Ps
18:13-14(19:12-13))! Perhaps our own were slight, but other people’s were
piled upon us; so now I am afraid on my own account and afraid for my good
brother or sister; and I have to put up with a brother or sister who is bad. What
would become of us, weighed down by this heap of sins, if God’s mercy were to
cease? But you, Lord, do not go far away, be near to me. To whom is God near?
To those who have bruised their hearts.*° He is far from the proud, but near to the
humble, for though the Lord is most high, he has regard for the lowly.*! Yet the
proud must not flatter themselves that they are hidden, for the Lord recognizes
the proud from afar. He certainly did recognize from afar the boastful Pharisee,
but he came from very near to help the tax-collector who confessed his sins.

39. Variant: “No, for he did not cut you off in your earlier days . . . so I have not concealed his
mercy.”
40. See Ps 33:19(34:18).
41. See Ps 137(138):6.
42. See Lk 18:10-14.
 Exposition of Psalm 39 215

The first flaunted his merits and covered his wounds; the other had no merits to
flaunt but exposed his wounds. He had come to the doctor; he knew he was ill, he
knew he needed healing. He did not presume to raise his eyes to heaven, but beat
his breast; he hoped that what he was prepared to admit, God would remit.*3 He
punished himself so that God might set him free.
This same attitude is found in our psalm. Let us listen devoutly to its humble
pleas, and love God devotedly; let us make these prayers our own with heart and
tongue and our whole inner being. Let none of us think ourselves just. Each one
who speaks is alive—alive, yes, and let us hope that he or she may have true life!
But we still live here, and that means we still live with death; and though the
spirit is very life through being justified, the body is dead because of sin.44 And
the corruptible body weighs down the soul; its earthly dwelling oppresses a mind
that muses on many things.** Your job, then, is to cry out, to groan, to make
confession, not to exalt yourself, nor to boast, nor to preen yourself on your
merits; for even if you do have anything to be pleased about, what have you that
you did not receive?*° Evils have encompassed me, evils beyond counting.

The cure for spiritual blindness

21. My iniquities have seized me, and I cannot manage to see. There is some-
thing there to be seen, so what is oppressing us and blocking our vision? Iniquity.
If some disease attacked your eye you could not see this natural light; nor could
you if smoke or dust or something else invaded your eye. If you could not lift
your sore eye toward the light, do you suppose you will be able to lift your sore
heart to God? Must it not be healed first, to enable you to see? Are you not proved
proud if you say, “Let me see first, so that I may believe”? Who is it who speaks
like that? Who will ever see, if he or she demands, “Let me see first, so that I may
believe”? I will show you the Light, or rather the Light wishes to manifest itself.
And to whom? It cannot manifest itself to a blind person, who is incapable of
seeing it. Why? Because his eyes are clogged by so many sins. So what does the
psalmist say? My iniquities have seized me, and I cannot manage to see. Let
these iniquities be cleared out of the way, and all his sins forgiven; let the pres-
sure on his eye be relieved and the injured organ healed; let the stinging
commandment of the Lord be applied like eye-salve. Begin by doing what you
are commanded to do: heal your heart, cleanse your heart, love your enemy.*”
Which of us loves our enemy? But this is what the doctor prescribes. It stings us,
but it is salutary. “What shall I do for you?” he asks. “You have been subjected to

43. Se agnoscebat, ut ille ignosceret.

44. See Rom 8:10.
45. See Wis 9:15.
46. See | Cor 4:7.
47. See Mt 5:44; Lk 6:27,35.
216 Exposition of Psalm 39

this unpleasant treatment so that you may recover.” And he has something
further to say. “Once you are healed, this will not seem painful to you. When you
are well you will find it intensely pleasurable to love your enemy. Try hard to get
better. Be brave in troubles, in all kinds of constraints, in temptations. Hold on;
this is the doctor’s hand at work, not some ruffian’s.” “Yes,” replies the believer,
“T have taken the commandments seriously, and held onto my faith, and I will
heal my heart first, as you order me. Then, with a heart cleansed and healed, what
shall I see?” Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God (Mt 5:8). “This
is what I cannot see yet,” says the psalmist, for my iniquities have seized me, and
I cannot manage to see.

Small sins are very numerous

22. They have become more numerous than the hairs of my head. He
compares his vast number of sins to the hairs on his head. Who could count
those? Far less, then, can we count our sins, which are still more numerous. They
seem trifling, but there are very many of them. You have guarded against great
sins: no longer do you commit adultery or murder, you do not steal other
people’s goods, you do not blaspheme, you do not give false testimony. All these
are mountainous sins. You have guarded against the great sins, but what about
the small ones? Unconcerned about them, are you? You have got rid of the
mountain, but take care you are not buried by sand. They have become more
numerous than the hairs of my head.

Verses 13-14. Hearty incomprehension

23. My heart forsook me. If your heart has deserted itself, small wonder if it is
deserted by your God. What does the psalm mean by saying, My heart forsook
me? It means, “My heart is incapable of knowing itself.” My heart forsook me
means, “In my heart I want to see the Lord, but I cannot, for the multitude of my
sins. But that is not all: my heart does not comprehend itself either.’’ None of us
comprehend our own hearts, so let none of us presume on ourselves. Did Peter
comprehend his own heart—really comprehend it with his heart, |mean—when
he said to the Lord, “I will stay with you even to death’? In his heart there was
false presumption, and the real fear that was also in his heart was covered over
and out of sight. Consequently his heart was in no fit state to understand his
heart. His heart was ailing and hidden, but to the physician it was plain to see.
What the Lord foretold of it came true. The Lord knew something about him that
Peter did not know himself: that his heart had forsaken him, and his heart was
hidden from his heart. My heart forsook me. What are we to do, then? What plea

48. See Mt 26:35; Lk 22:33.

 __ Exposition of Psalm 39 B17

can we make? What are we to say? May it please you to deliver me, Lord. This is
like saying, /fyou will, you can cleanse me (Mt 8:2). May it please you to deliver
me, Lord; look on me and help me. This is the cry of his members repenting, his
members caught in sorrow, his members screaming under the surgeon’s knife,
yet still hoping. Lord, look on me and help me.

Verse 15. Seeking Christ's soul/life

24. Let them be confounded and filled with awe, all of them together, who
seek my soul to take it away.*° In another text he speaks reproachfully: / looked to
right and to left, but there was no one to seek my soul (Ps 141:5(142:4)); and
there he means, “No one to imitate me.”” There Christ speaks in his passion: “I
looked toward the right—not at the impious Jews, but to my true right-hand men,
my apostles—but there was no one to seek my soul. So far was anyone from
seeking it, that the man who had spoken so presumptuously was denying my
soul.”
But a person can be “sought” in two different ways, either as someone whose
company you wish to enjoy, or as someone you are hounding; and therefore in
the present text it is not the apostles he has in view but others, people who are
seeking his life, people he hopes to see confounded and filled with awe. He
makes sure that you do not understand this search in the same sense as when he
complains that there is no one to seek his soul; he adds, to make this clear, To
take it away (that is, they are seeking my life, seeking to kill me), and Jet them be
confounded and filled with awe. Indeed there were many seeking his life, and
they were confounded and filled with awe. They sought his life and, as seemed
good to them, took his life away; but he had the power to lay down his life, and
the power to take it up again.°° They were pleased when he laid it down, but
confounded when he took it up again. Let them be confounded and filled with
awe, all of them together, who seek my soul to take it away.

The place for followers is behind the Lord

25. Let them be thrust back and filled with awe, who make malicious plans
against me. He says, Let them be thrust back, but we must not take this in any
spiteful sense. He wills good to them, and the voice that prays is that of him who
begged from the cross, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are
doing (Lk 23:34). Why then does he say they should be thrust back? Because
these people who at first were proud, and deserved to be thrust back, were

49. In this, as in his Exposition of Psalm 37, section 18, Augustine plays on the double meaning of
anima: “soul” or “life.”
50. See Jn 10:18.
218 Exposition of Psalm 39

humbled in the process and so deserved to get up again. When people are in front
they want to rush ahead of the Lord, they want to go one better than the Lord; but
if they are behind him they are acknowledging that he is ahead, he is their leader,
and they his followers. He leads and they follow along behind. This is why the
Lord was so severe with Peter, who tried to give him bad advice. The Lord was
destined to suffer for our salvation, and was foretelling future events connected
with his passion, and Peter intervened: “Far be itfrom you, Lord, show yourself
some kindness, this will not happen” (Mt 16:22). He wanted to run ahead of the
Lord, and to give advice to his teacher. But the Lord decided to put him in his
place as a follower, not as one going ahead, so he replied, Get behind me, Satan
(Mt 16:23). “You are a Satan,” he implies, “because you want to get in front of
him whom you should follow;>! but once you have been pushed back, and begun
to follow, you will no longer be a Satan. What will you be then? A rock, and upon
this rock I will build my Church” (Mt 16:18).*?

Verses 16-17. Open malevolence and false flattery

26. Let them be thrust back and filled with awe, who make malicious plans
against me. Some people curse you from the bottom of their hearts even while
they are speaking to you approvingly; and such people are malevolent. This is
what I mean: you may say to someone, “Become a Christian,” and he or she
replies, “Be a Christian yourself.” Now what he has wished on you is something
good in itself, but it is not the words that will be imputed to him, but the intention
with which they were spoken. When the man born blind received his sight, the
Jews browbeat him and bullied him with their insults, and when he said to them,
You don’t want to be his disciples too, surely? they cursed him for it. Notice care-
fully what the evangelist says: They cursed him and said, “You be his disciple
yourself” (Jn 9:27-28). They were cursing the man, but the Lord blessed him; he
brought about the very thing they had flung at the man as a curse, but what they
truly meant was imputed to them, and the Lord punished them for their cursing.
Let them be thrust back and filled with awe, who make malicious plans against
me.
There are other people again who are not good, but intend good to us, after
their fashion; and of these we should be wary. We thought just now of the kind
who curse us, and though they wish us something that will be to our advantage,

51. The Hebrew word Satan that lies behind the Greek text originally meant “adversary” in
general, anyone who gets in the way, but came to be specialized as a name for the superhuman
adversary, the devil. In the episode to which Augustine is referring here the implication is that
by trying to dissuade Jesus from his vocation to suffering, Peter is resuming the same attempt
made by the devil in the story of Jesus’ temptations; see Mt 4:1-11; Lk 4:2-13.
52. Augustine reflected similarly on going ahead and following, with reference to Peter, in his
Exposition | of Psalm 34, section 8, but here he has taken the idea a little further.
 Exposition of Psalm 39 219

do so with hostile intention. But many of the second kind say something to our
harm, but mean it in a spirit of approval. What I mean is this: if someone says to
you, “Get away, be a Christian yourself,” he is wishing you something that will
be good for you, though he means it maliciously; but if someone says to you,
“You're the best of the lot,” with reference to some bad aspects of your life, he
is proclaiming your shabby points and praising them; after all, scripture tells us
that the sinner does receive praise for the longings of his soul, and whoever does
evil is blessed. In the one case a foul-mouthed enemy wished you something
that was for your good; in the other a well-wisher hoped for something that
would harm you. Both are your enemies, shun them both, beware of both. One
rages, the other flatters, but both are bad. One is furious with you, the other
praises you craftily, one insults you and the other commends you; but the former
is your enemy in his invective, and the latter your enemy in his deceit. Keep
away from both, and pray against both.
The psalmist who prayed, Let them be thrust back and filled with awe, who
make malicious plans against me, gave thought also to another class of people,
cunning in their malevolence and insincere in their smooth speech. May they
speedily be shamed, those who say to me, “Splendid! Well done!” Their praise is
spurious. “So-and-so is a great man,” they say, “and a good man. He is cultured
and learned, but why, Oh why, must he be a Christian?”°> They praise those
aspects of your life that you would not wish to be admired, and deprecate the
very thing that brings you joy. But perhaps you say to them, “Why praise me as a
good person, or a just person, my friend? If you think I am, praise Christ, for he
has made me so.” The other then replies, “No, don’t say that, you are not doing
yourself justice. You have made yourself what you are.” May they be shamed,
those who say to me, “Splendid! Well done!” And how does the psalmist
continue? Let all who seek you dance with delight, O Lord. They are not seeking
me; it is you whom they are seeking. Not to me are they saying, “Splendid! Well
done!” They see that I am glorious in you,” if I have any shred of glory; for if
anyone has a mind to boast, let it be in the Lord.*’ Let all who seek you dance with
delight, O Lord, and say, “May the Lord’s greatness always be told,” for even

53. Variants include: “Your [achievements] are so great that no one will have a better name”; and
“No one will so greatly excel others in achievements.”
54. See Part 2 of Ps 9:3(10:3).
55. Augustine’s reflections here are very similar to Tertullian’s (Apol. 3): “They [the pagans] will
say, ‘Gaius Seius is a good man, but for the fact that he is a Christian,’ or ‘I am amazed that a
wise man like Lucius should have become a Christian all of a sudden.’ No one thinks it
necessary to consider whether perhaps Gaius is good or Lucius wise precisely because of being
a Christian, or a Christian because he is wise or good. They praise what they recognize, but
what they are ignorant about they denounce.”
56. Acrop of variants includes: “they seem to glorify me in him and in you”; “they seem to glorify
me in you;” “in that they see that I am glorified in you.”
S/o Sce INCOn ois
220 Exposition of Psalm 39

though someone has changed from a sinner into a righteous, person, give the
glory to him who justifies the impious.** So if we think of the person as a sinner,
let the praise be to him who calls the sinner to forgiveness; and if we think of the
person as already walking in the path of righteousness, let the praise be to him
who calls the righteous to their crown. May the Lord’s greatness always be told
by those who set their love on your salvation.

Verse 18. God’s care for his poor

27. But I, 1, against whom they planned maliciously, but J, whose life they
were seeking to take it from me. . . . Turn now to persons of a different stamp.
But I, to whom they were saying, “Splendid! Well done!” J am needy and poor.
There is nothing of my own in me that deserves praise. May he tear off my sack-
cloth and clothe me in his own robe,” for it is not Iwho live now, but Christ lives
in me. If Christ lives in you, and all the good you have belongs to Christ, and all
the good you ever will have belongs to Christ, what are you of yourself? J am
needy and poor. lam not rich, because I am not proud. That Pharisee who said, O
Lord, I thank you that I am not like other people, he was a rich man. But the
tax-collector who said, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner (Lk 18:11,13), was a
poor man. The one was belching from satiety, the other wailing with hunger. J
am needy and poor. So what are you going to do, you needy, poor thing? Beg at
God’s gate; knock®! and it will be opened to you. / am needy and poor, but the
Lord will care for me. Then cast your care upon the Lord, and hope in him, and
he will bring it to pass (Ps 54:23(55:22)). What kind of care can you take of your-
self? What provision can you make for yourself? Let him who made you take
care of you. Since he cared for you before you even existed, how can he fail to
care for you now that you are what he willed you to be? You are a believer now,
you are already walking the path of righteousness. Is it likely that he will not care
for you, he who makes his sun rise over good and bad people, and sends his rain
on just and unjust alike? Now that you are righteous by living through faith,
will he neglect you, abandon you, send you away? Of course not. In your present
life he cherishes you, and helps you, and provides all you need here, and cuts
away all that could harm you. By giving you all these things he comforts you so
that you can hold out, and by taking them away he corrects you so that you may
not perish. The Lord has you in his care, so don’t worry. He who made you is
carrying you;® do not fall out of your Maker’s hand. If you do fall out of it, you

58. See Rom 4:5.

59. See Ps 29:12(30:111); Lk 15:22.
60. See Gal 2:20.
61. Variant: “.. . to do, you needy, poor thing, you beggar? At God’s gate knock... .”
62. See Mt 5:45.
63. Variants: “May he who made you carry you”; “He who made you will protect you.”
 Exposition of Psalm 39 221

will break. But a will set on good ensures that you stay in your Maker’s hand.
This is what you must say: “My God wanted me. He will carry me and hold onto
me.” Cast yourself upon him; do not think this is a rash thing to do, as though you
might risk falling headlong. Not at all. He has said, / fill heaven and earth (Jer
23:24). In no place whatever is he absent from you. Be sure you are not absent
from him, or absent from yourself. The Lord has care of me.

The prayer of one single poor man, Christ and his members

28. You are my helper and protector; O my God, do not delay. He is calling on
God and imploring him, for he is afraid of his own weakness: do not delay. What
does it mean, do not delay? Remember what was read just now in the gospel
about the time of tribulation. /f those days were not curtailed, no mortal could be
saved (Mt 24:22). All the members of Christ, the body of Christ diffused
throughout the world, are like a single person asking God’s help, one single
beggar, one poor suppliant; and this is because Christ himself is that poor man,
since he who was rich became poor, as the apostle tells us: Though he was rich he
became poor, so that by his poverty you might be enriched (2 Cor 8:9). He
enriches those who are the true poor, and impoverishes the falsely rich. This
poor man cries out to God, From the ends of the earth I have called to you, as my
soul grew faint (Ps 60:3(61:2)).
The days of tribulation will come, days of trouble upon trouble, as scripture
forecasts, and the nearer those days approach, the more will tribulations
increase. None of us can afford to promise ourselves anything the gospel does
not promise. I beg you, brothers and sisters, to study our scriptures. Have they
deceived us on any point, have they made any prediction that misled us, in that
things turned out differently? No, indeed; and it is necessary that until the very
end everything must take place as they have prophesied. And our scriptures
promise us nothing in this world except tribulations, afflictions, painful straits,
mounting sorrows and abundant trials. Let us concentrate on preparing for all
these, lest we be taken unawares and fall away. You heard the gospel warning,
Woe betide those who are pregnant in those days, or suckling their babies (Mt
24:19). The pregnant referred to here symbolize people who are swollen with
expectant hope, and the nursing mothers suckling babies stand for those who
have obtained what they earlier desired; for a pregnant woman grows large with
her hoped-for child, but does not see the child yet, but a lactating mother holds in
her arms the child she was expecting. Let me give you a parallel to this. Suppose
someone says to himself, “My neighbor’s house is very fine. If only it were
mine, if only I could annex it, and make that estate and this one into a single prop-
erty!” You see, even greed loves unity! What the speaker loves is a good thing,
but he does not understand where love for it is appropriate. Here he is, looking
longingly at his neighbor’s estate. But that neighbor is rich, he needs nothing, he
222 Exposition of Psalm 39

is a person of rank, even of power. You would be better advised to,take care you
do not fall foul of his power, than to hope you may get your hands on any part of
his estate. In this case, then, the one who was hoping conceives nothing; his soul
does not become pregnant. But suppose his nearest neighbor is a poor man, who
is either in difficult circumstances and may wish to sell, or can be bullied and
forced to sell. Then he casts his eyes on his neighbor’s property and hopes for
that estate; his soul becomes pregnant and he expects to be able to gain posses-
sion of his poor neighbor’s house and lands. When this poor man is in dire straits
he approaches his rich neighbor, whom he is perhaps. accustomed to treating
obsequiously, deferring to his wishes, rising at the other’sapproach and greeting
him with a bow. “I beg you,” says the poor man, “give me what I need. Iam ina
tight spot, under pressure from a creditor.” But the rich man replies, “I have no
spare cash just now.” If the poor man sold his property, he would get it.
We recognize this situation. There have been people like this among us;
please God there may not be any again. We were alive yesterday, and we are still
alive today, aren’t we? So we have an opportunity for conversion, for the separa-
tion has not been made yet, with some at Christ’s right hand and others at his
left.©° Nor are we yet in hell, with that rich man who was thirsty and longing fora
drop of water.® While we still have life, let us listen and correct ourselves. Let us
not covet other people’s things, or swell up as though pregnant, or try to get hold
of them and when we have them kiss them like new-born babies. Woe betide
those who are pregnant in those days, or suckling their babies.
We must change our heart, lift up our heart, and not allow our heart to make
its home here, for this is a bad place to live. Let us be content with what is still
necessary for us in our fleshly condition, and get rid of what is not necessary. Let
each day’s troubles be enough,*” but let us live here with our hearts uplifted.** Jf
you have risen with Christ, have a taste for what is above, where Christ is seated
at the right hand of God. Seek the things that are above, not the things on earth;
for youare dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God (Col 3:1-3). What has
been promised to you is not visible yet; it is prepared already, but you cannot see
it. If you want to become pregnant, this is what you must conceive; let this be
your hope. Your birthing will be safe and certain, you will not miscarry. But it
will not be a temporal birth, for what you will have brought to birth you will
embrace for all eternity. Isaiah speaks in the same terms: We have conceived,
and given birth to the spirit of salvation (Is 26:13). It is postponed and not given
to us now, but it will be given. How much has been given, though, brothers and
sisters! If you try to count up all these gifts by checking through the scriptures,

64. Variant: “he has to sell, willy-nilly.”

65. See Mt 25:33.
66. See Lk 16:22-24.
67. See Mt 6:34.
68. Sursum corde habitemus; see note at Exposition of Psalm 10, section 3.
 Exposition of Psalm 39 223

you find them beyond reckoning. In the scriptures the Church is mentioned, and
look, here it is. The scriptures foretell that idols will not last, and clearly they do
not exist now. It was prophesied there that the Jews would lose their kingdom,
and so they have. It was written that there would be heretics, and so there are.
The scriptures speak of the day of judgment, of the rewarding of the good and the
punishment of the wicked; if we have found God to be trustworthy in all the other
instances, will he fail and deceive us on this last point? The Lord will care for me.
You are my helper and protector; O my God, do not delay. The gospel tells us, /f
those days were not curtailed, no mortal could be saved, but for the sake of the
elect they will be cut short (Mt 24:22). Days of tribulation there will be, but they
will not be as long as expected. They will pass quickly, but the peace and rest that
will come to us will never pass away. However long the bad time, it must be
endured for the sake of the good without limits.
 Exposition of Psalm 40...»

A Sermon to the People

Christ, leader of martyrs

1. The martyrs’ solemn festival has dawned, so let us see if this psalm has
anything to tell us about the passion of Christ and the glory of it. He is the
commander-in-chief of martyrs, who before ordering his troops into battle
engaged in battle first, not sparing himself. He first won the victory, so that he
could afterwards encourage them by his own example, and aid them with his
majestic power, and crown them as he had promised. But I must remind you
before we begin, as I so often do (and I do not mind how often I have to repeat
this, because it is useful for you to remember it), that sometimes our Lord Jesus
Christ speaks in his own person, as our Head, but also often in the person of his
body. We are his body as well as his Church. When he speaks in this latter way
the words seem to come from a single voice, so that we understand Head and
body to form an indivisible unity; these two cannot be separated from each other,
for this is a marriage like the one of which it was written, They will be two in one
flesh (Gn 2:24; Eph 5:31). So if we acknowledge two in one flesh, let us equally
acknowledge two in one voice.
Let us begin this sermon from a verse we sang in response to the reader, even
though it occurs in the middle of the psalm: My enemies reviled me, asking,
When will he die, and his name disappear?' The speaker here is our Lord Jesus
Christ, but we must consider whether his members are not concerned too. The
same question was bandied about when our Lord was walking on earth in the
flesh, for when the Jews noticed that the crowd was attracted by his authority, his
divine presence and the majesty attested by his miracles, they said to each other,
just as the Lord had predicted in one of his parables that they would, This is the
heir. Come on, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be for us (Mt 21:38).
Caiaphas, the high priest, had an answer for them when they said, You see that a
great crowd is following him, the whole world has gone after him. If we leave
him alone like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come,
and sweep away our land and our nationhood. Caiaphas told them, It is expe-
dient that one should die for all, rather than the whole nation perish (Jn 12:19;

1. Verse 6, perhaps used as the antiphon which the congregation interjected during the reading or
singing of the psalm.

224
 __ Exposition of Psalm 40 225

11:48.50). But the evangelist explained for our benefit the words of this man
who did not know what he was saying: He did not say this as ofhimself. In virtue
of his office as high priest he prophesied that it was necessary
for Jesus to die for
his people and the nation (Jn 11:51). Nonetheless when the Jews saw the people
going after Jesus they said, When will he die, and his name disappear? What
they meant was, “When we have killed him his name will be known on earth no
longer, and when he is dead he will not lead anyone astray. The very fact of his
being killed will convince people that they were following a mere human being,
in whom they could not hope to find salvation. So they will abandon his name
and memory, and it will exist no more.”
He died, but his name did not disappear; far from it. Rather was his name
sown like seed. He died, but like a grain of wheat,* and as soon as the grain was
dead the harvest sprang up. No sooner had our Lord Jesus Christ been glorified
than people came to believe in him far more strongly and in much greater
numbers; and then his members began to hear the same mutterings that their
Head had heard. Our Lord Jesus Christ is enthroned in heaven, but in us his
members he is still struggling on earth; and his enemies persisted in saying,
When will he die, and his name disappear? for the devil stirred up persecutions
against the Church to destroy the name of Christ. Do you suppose, brothers and
sisters, that when the pagans broke out in fury against the Christians, they were
not saying the same thing to themselves, not planning to wipe out Christ’s name?
The martyrs were killed so that Christ might suffer anew, not in himself, but in
his body. The holy blood was shed because it was powerful for the growth of the
Church, and the death of the martyrs was added to Christ’s sowing. Precious in
the sight of the Lord is the death of his righteous ones (Ps 115(116):15). The
Christians multiplied and multiplied again, and the expectations of their enemies
who asked, When will he die and his name disappear? were not fulfilled.
But the same thing is still being said today. The pagans sit down and count the
years,’ they listen to soothsayers in their company who say, “The time will come
when there won’t be any Christians, and then the idols will be worshiped as they
used to be in earlier days.” Still they are asking, When will he die, and his name
disappear? You have been proved wrong twice; at least have some sense this

2. See Jn 12:24-25.
3. In The City of God XVII, 53, 2, Augustine wrote as follows: “When the pagans observed that
even by so many fierce persecutions the Christian religion was not destroyed, but even grew
amazingly, they thought up some Greek verses, which purported to have been spoken by some
divine oracle in response to a suppliant. These allege that Peter contrived by spells that Christ’s
name should be venerated for three hundred and sixty-five years, and predicted that once this
number was completed, it would vanish at once.” The Maurists add that if we count from
Peter’s Pentecost sermon the three hundred and sixty-five years would have been up in A.D.
399, at which time not only did the veneration of Christ’s name not cease, but it even grew, for
such temples of the gods which still survived were dismantled and their idols smashed, as
Augustine notes in The City of God XVIII, 54.
226 Exposition of Psalm 40

third time. Christ died, and his name will not disappear. The martyrs died, and
the Church grew all the more; the name of Christ is spreading throughout all
nations. Christ foretold his own death and resurrection; he foretold the deaths of
his martyrs and their crowning; he also foretold the future fortunes of his
Church. If he spoke truly in the first two instances, did he lie in the third?

Verse 2. Christ the poor man

What you believe in opposition to him is futile; you would be better advised
to believe in him, and so understand about the needy and poor man, because
though he was rich he became poor so that by his poverty you might be enriched,
as scripture tells us (2 Cor 8:9). But because he became poor people think slight-
ingly of him today, and say, “He was only aman, after all. What else? He died, he
was crucified. You are worshiping a mere man, pinning your hopes to a mortal
man, adoring a dead man!” But you are quite wrong. Try to understand about this
needy, poor man, so that you may become rich through his poverty. What does
that mean—understand about this needy, this poor man? It means that you must
accept Christ himself as this needy, poor person, like the speaker in another
psalm who cries out, J am needy and poor, but the Lord cares for me (Ps
39:18(40:17)). What does understanding about this needy, poor man imply?
Understanding that he emptied himself and took on the form of a slave, bearing
the human likeness, sharing the human lot (Phil 2:7). He was rich in the bosom
of the Father, and poor among us; rich in heaven, and poor on earth; rich as God,
poor as man. Does this disconcert you, that you see a human being, that you look
on flesh, that you witness a death, that you find the cross an object of ridicule?
Does this disconcert you? Try to understand about the needy, poor man. What
does that mean? Understand that where weakness is displayed before your eyes,
there godhead lies hidden. He is rich, because that is what he is, but poor,
because that was what you were. His poverty is our wealth, just as his weakness
is our strength, his foolishness our wisdom,‘ and his mortality our immortality.
Pay close attention to what this poor man is, and do not measure him by the
poverty of others. He who was made poor came to fill the poor; so open wide
your faith and embrace this poor man, lest you remain a poor person yourself.

Christ, divine and human, rich and poor

2. Blessed is everyone who understands about the needy and poor man; the
Lord will deliver him on the evil day. The evil day is coming, whether you like it
or not. The day of judgment will arrive, and it will be an evil day for you if you
have not understood about the needy, poor man. What you are reluctant to

4. See 1 Cor 1:25,30.

 Exposition of Psalm 40 pem |

believe now will be plainly revealed at the end. But when it is revealed you will
not escape, because you do not believe now while it is hidden. You are being
invited to believe what you do not see, so that when you do see it you may not be
shamed. Try to understand, then, about the needy, poor person that is, about
Christ. Understand the riches hidden in him whom you see as a poor man, for in
him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:3). Inasmuch
as he is God, he will deliver you on the evil day; but inasmuch as he is man, and
he raised up and transformed what was human in himself, he has raised it up to
heaven.° Though he willed to form one person with humanity, he who is God
could neither be diminished nor increase; nor could he die or rise again. He died
in human weakness; God does not die. It should not surprise you that the Word of
God does not die, if you reflect that in the case of a martyr the soul does not die.
Did we not hear the Lord saying just now, Do not be afraid of those who kill the
body, but cannot kill the soul (Mt 10:28)? If when the martyrs died their souls did
not die, would it have been possible for the Word to die when Christ died? The
Word of God is unquestionably far greater than the soul of any human being,
because the human soul was made by God; and if it was made by God it was
made by the Word, for through him all things were made.° Obviously, then, if
even the soul made by the Word does not die, neither does the Word himself. But
just as we correctly say that a man has died, even though his soul does not die,’ so
too we say that Christ died, even though his godhead does not die. How could he
truly die, then? Because he was the needy, poor man. Do not be so fixated on his
death that you turn away from contemplating his divinity. Blessed is everyone
who understands about the needy and poor man. Keep in mind all the poor,
needy, hungry and thirsty people, travelers far from home, the ill-clad, the sick,
the prisoners. Try to understand about a poor person of this sort, because if you
do, you will understand about him who said, J was hungry, I was thirsty, naked, a
stranger, sick and in prison (Mt 25:35-36). Then on that fateful day the Lord will
pluck you out of danger.

Verse 3. Eternal life and temporal help are both God’s gift

3. Now consider the blessing promised you. May the Lord keep him safe. The
prophet is praying that it may be well with anyone who understands about the
needy, poor man. This prayer is also a promise; so let those who act accordingly
be confident in their hope. May the Lord keep him safe and give him life. What
does that suggest—keep him safe and give him life? What kind of life is in ques-

5. Slightly obscure; we should perhaps read “will raise it up to heaven,” unless he means it in the
proleptic Pauline sense, as in Eph 2:6.
Groccdnero:
7. Variant: “even though only his flesh dies.”
228 Exposition of Psalm 40

tion here? The life to come, when the person who was dead is brought to life. A
dead person could hardly be expected to understand about the needy, poor man,
surely? The making-alive here promised to us is that of which the apostle speaks:
The body indeed is a dead thing by reason of sin, but the spirit is life through
righteousness. If he who raised Christ from the dead lives in you, he who raised
Christ from the dead will bring life to your mortal bodies too, through his Spirit
who dwells in you (Rom 8:10-11). This is the gift of life promised to anyone who
understands about the needy, poor person.
But the apostle also says to Timothy, We have the promise of life both in the
present and in the future (1 Tm 4:8). Those who do understand about the needy,
poor man might be tempted to think that though they will indeed be welcomed
into heaven, they are neglected on earth. They might restrict their hopes to their
eternal future, assuming that, as far as the present life is concerned, God has no
care for his holy, faithful servants. To guard against this error the psalmist, after
speaking of what we must hope for above all—May the Lord keep him safe and
give him life—turns his gaze toward this present life and adds, And render him
blessed on earth. Lift your eyes with Christian faith to these promises. God does
not abandon you on earth, but he still promises-you more in heaven. There are
plenty of bad Christians who pore over astrological almanacs, inquiring into and
observing auspicious seasons and days. When they begin to hear themselves
reproved for this by us, or by good Christians, better Christians, who demand
why they meddle with these things, they reply, “These precautions are necessary
for the present time. We are Christians, of course, but that is for eternal life. We
have put our faith in Christ so that he may give us eternal life, but the life in
which we are engaged now does not concern him.” Not to put too fine a point on
it, their argument could be briefly stated like this: “Let God be worshiped with a
view to eternal life, and the devil be worshiped for this present life.” Christ
replies to this, You cannot serve two masters (Mt 6:24). You are paying homage
to one with an eye to what you hope for in heaven, and to the other to get what
you hope for on earth. How much better off you would be worshiping one only,
him who made heaven and earth! Will he who cared enough to bring this earth
into existence neglect his own image on earth? So then, when anyone under-
stands about the needy, poor person, may the Lord keep him safe and give him
life. But that is not all. Although this gift of life is to last for ever, may the Lord
also render him blessed on earth.

The devil revises his tactics

4. And not deliver him into the hands of his enemy. This enemy is the devil.
When we hear these words, none of us must refer them to any human enemy we
may have. Perhaps you were thinking of a neighbor, of someone with whom you
had a dispute in court, someone who tried to steal your goods, or one who is
 Exposition of Psalm 40 229

attempting to coerce you into selling your house? No, do not think along these
lines; but refer the verse to the enemy of whom the Lord says, An enemy has done
this (Mt 13:28). This enemy is the one who suggests to us that he should be
worshiped to guarantee temporal prosperity. This enemy has no power to
destroy the Christian name, for he has seen himself worsted by Christ’s renown
and the praise accorded to him. The devil saw too that his slaughter of Christ’s
martyrs had resulted only in their winning their crowns and himself being led
captive in Christ’s triumphal procession.* So he began to think he would never
persuade people that Christ is nothing. Since it was so difficult to deceive them
by slandering Christ, he now attempts to hoodwink them by praising Christ.
What was his line of attack in earlier days? “Whom are you worshiping? A dead
Jew, a crucified man, a human being of no importance who couldn’t even keep
death at bay!” But when he saw that the human race is making rapid progress in
Christ’s name, that temples are being dismantled in the name of the Crucified,
idols smashed and sacrificial fires stamped out, that people are astonished and
awed at seeing these things happening as the prophets foretold, and that they are
now shutting their hearts against his slanderous attacks on Christ—when he saw
all this he assumed a new disguise, as one who praises Christ. He began to deter
people from faith by different tactics. “Christianity is a magnificent rule of life, a
powerful, divine law that defies description. But who can keep it?”
In the name of our Savior you must trample on both lion and snake.’ The lion
used to rampage and savage his victims; now the snake cunningly insinuates
himself by compliments. Let any who have been wavering come to faith, and not
say, “But who can keep such a law?” If they rely on their own strength they will
not keep it. But relying on God’s grace let them believe, relying on God let them
come; let them come’? to be helped, not to be judged. All believers live in
Christ’s name, and all in their different walks of life fulfill Christ’s command-
ments, whether as married people, or as celibates and virgins; they live the best
and fullest lives the Lord’s gift enables them to live, and they do not rely on their
own powers to do so, but know that they may boast only in him."' For what have
you that you did not receive? And if you received it, why boast as though you did
not?!? So do not say to me, “Who is able to keep such a law?” He keeps it in me,
he who was rich but came to the poor, indeed came as a poor man to the poor, but
as fullness to those who were empty. Anyone who bears all this in mind under-
stands about the needy, poor person, and does not disdain Christ’s poverty but

8. Et se triumphatum. When a Roman general was accorded a triumph, notables among the
defeated enemy were sometimes displayed at the end of the procession.
9. See Ps 90(91):13. A variant suggested by the CCL editors is: “. . . who can keep it? It is kept in
the name of our Savior, who tramples on... .”
10. Variant: “they come.”
Pe See leon 151°
12. See 1 Cor 4:7.
230 Exposition of Psalm 40

rather understands Christ’s riches. Such a person is blessed on earth, and is not
delivered into the hands of that enemy who tries to persuade us that we should
worship God with an eye to heavenly benefits, but the devil for our earthly
needs. May the Lord not deliver him into the hands of his enemy.

Verse 4. The uncomfortable bed

5. May the Lord bring him relief. But where? In heaven perhaps, only in
eternal life perhaps, so that it behooves us to pay cylt to the devil because of our
earthly penury, because of our needs in this life?) God forbid! You have the
promise of life in both present and future.'!* He who came to earth, and came to
you, is he through whom heaven and earth were made. In any case, take note of
what the psalm says: May the Lord bring him relief on his bed ofpain. The bed of
pain is the infirmity of our flesh. Do not protest, “I cannot control my flesh; I
cannot carry and restrain it”; for you are given help to enable you to do so. May
the Lord bring you relief on your bed of pain. The bed was supporting you, not
you the bed, for you were inwardly paralyzed; but he is at hand, he who says to
you, Pick up your sleeping-mat, andgo home (Mk 2:11). May the Lord bring him
relief on his bed of pain.
But then the psalmist turns to the Lord as though to ask, “If God does bring
relief, why do we suffer so much in this life?) Why do we meet such formidable
obstacles, such arduous labor, so much distress from both our flesh and the
world?” He turns to God, but at the same time makes clear to us God’s program
for our healing, as he says, You have disarranged all his bedding in his illness.
What can that mean you have disarranged all his bedding in his illness?
Bedding"* suggests something to do with the earth. Every weakly soul looks for
something earthly to rest on in this life, because it is too great an effort to keep the
mind stretched toward God uninterruptedly. It looks for something on earth on
which it can rest, where it can take time off from its efforts and lie down. This
could be an attraction for innocent people just as much. We need not speak of the
desires of bad people, the theatrical shows that are the relaxation of many, or the
crowds who find their recreation in the circus, in the amphitheatre, in gaming
and dicing, or in the food-shops that pander to greed. We have no wish to speak
of the great numbers who look to adulterous affairs, or to violent theft, or to guile
and fraud for the same purpose, though indeed people do find relaxation in all
these things. Relaxation, did I say? They find pleasure in it all. But let us leave all
these aside, and speak only of innocent people. A good man finds rest in his own
home, in his household, his wife and his children, in his modest way oflife, in his

13, See 1 Tm 4:8.

14. Stratum, from the verb sterno, to spread, strew, spread blankets, etc., on the ground for lying
on; hence the link Augustine makes with “earth.”
 Exposition of Psalm 40 231

smallholding, in the young plants he has set with his own hands, in some
building that has been put up through his initiative. Innocent people find their
relaxation in things like these. Yet because God wants us to be in love only with
eternal life he mingles bitter elements even with these innocent pleasures, so that
even in them we experience distress. He overturns all our bedding in our illness.
So the psalm says to him, You have disarranged all his bedding in his illness.
The patient must not complain if he encounters various troubles in his innocent
pastimes. We are being taught to love better things by the pain we endure in
those that are inferior; the wayfarer traveling toward his homeland must not fall
in love with a stable instead of home. You have disarranged all his bedding in his
illness.

Verse 5. Confession of sin—Christ’s words?

6. But why should this be? Because God whips every child he acknowledges
as his.'> Still, why does it have to be so? Because on a human being who had
sinned the sentence was passed, Jn the sweat of your face you shall eat your
bread (Gn 3:19). We humans must realize that the corrective pains we feel when
all our bedding is disarranged are the penalty we suffer for our sins; and there-
fore we must turn to God and say, as the psalm goes on to say, J said, Lord, have
mercy on me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against you. O Lord, train me by
these troubles. You see fit to whip every child you intend to acknowledge as
yours, you who did not spare even your only Son. He was scourged, though
sinless, but I must say, Have mercy on me; heal my soul, for I have sinned
against you. If he in whom there was no disease submitted to the surgeon’s knife,
if he who is himself our healing did not refuse the searing remedy, should we be
rebellious against the doctor who cauterizes and cuts, the doctor who trains us
through all our troubles and heals us of our sin? No, indeed. Let us entrust
ourselves to the doctor’s hand, for he makes no mistakes, never lances sound
flesh instead of morbid tissue; he knows what he is examining; he knows our
vices because he made our nature. He is well able to distinguish between what he
himself created and what our evil desires have introduced. He knows that to
healthy people he gave a command, so that they might not fall sick; he knows
that he said to them in paradise, “Eat this; but do not eat that.” But those healthy
people did not listen to the command from the doctor that would have saved
them from falling; so let them at least hear it now, while they are ill, and so rise
up again. J said, Lord, have mercy on me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against
you. I do not blame my deeds, my sins, on luck. I do not say, “Fate brought this
upon me.” I do not say, “It was Venus that made me an adulterer, and Mars that

15. See Heb 12:6.

232 Exposition ofPsalm 40

made me a robber, and Saturn who made me grasping.” Rather / sgid, Lord, have
mercy on me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against you. ‘ete
But surely Christ cannot say this? Could our sinless Head make these words
his own? Could they be the words of him who paid back where he had stolen
nothing?!° Could he speak so, who alone of all was free among the dead?” Free
among the dead he was, because he had no sin, and whoever commits sin is the
slave of sin (Jn 8:34). Could he, then, make these words of the psalm his own?
No, not as from himself; but as from his members he could, for the voice of his
members is his voice, just as the voice of our Headis our voice. We were in him
when he said, My soul is sorrowful to the point of death (Mt 26:38). He was not
afraid of dying, for he had come to die; nor was the one who had power to lay
down his life and power to take it up again!® refusing to die. But the members
were speaking through their Head, and the Head was speaking on behalf of his
members. This is why we can find our own voice in his in the psalm-verse, Heal
my soul, for I have sinned against you. We were in him when he cried out, My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me? for in the psalm which opens with
those words the next phrase speaks of the tale of my sins (Ps 21:2(22:1); see Mt
27:46). What sins could there be in him? None whatever, but our old nature was
crucified together with him, that our sinful body might be destroyed, and that we
might be slaves to sin no more.'? Let us say to him, then, and also say in him, J
said, Lord, have mercy on me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.

Verse 6. Already expounded

7. My enemies reviled me, asking, When will he die, and his name disappear?
We have discussed this verse already, because it was the starting-point of this
sermon. We want to move on to the rest, and there is no need to repeat here what
must be fresh in your ears and your hearts, since we spoke of it so recently.

Verse 7. Spies within who spread slander abroad

8. And they kept coming in to see. What Christ suffered, the Church suffers;
what the Head suffered, the members suffer too. Is a servant greater than his
master, or a disciple than his teacher? /f they have persecuted me, they will perse-
cute you as well, the Lord said, and if they have called the master of the house-
hold Beelzebub, how much more his servants? (Jn 15:20; Mt 10:24-25). So then,
they kept coming in to see. Judas was close to our Head; he was accustomed to

16. See Ps 68:5(69:4).

17. See Ps 87:6(88:5).
18. See Jn 10:18.
19. See Rom 6:6.
 Exposition of Psalm 40 23 Ww

come in and see: to spy on him, I mean, not looking for something in which he
might believe, but hoping to find grounds for betrayal. So there was one who
kept coming in to see in the case of our Head, and this serves as a precedent for
us. How does it work out for us, who are his members, now that he has been taken
up to heaven? The apostle Paul speaks of false brethren who infiltrated in order
to spy upon our freedom (Gal 2:4). These too were accustomed to come in and
see. Such people are hypocrites, wicked dissemblers who join us with feigned
charity, taking careful note of every movement and every word on the part of the
saints, ever seeking the means to entrap them. What does the psalm go on to say
of these spies? Their heart has said empty things. They make a show of love
when they speak, but what they say is empty; it is untrue and has no substance.
And what is the psalm’s verdict on the way they amass pretexts for their accusa-
tions? They have collected iniquity for themselves. As our enemies prepare their
false charges they think highly of themselves, because they seem to have
damaging evidence. They have collected iniquity for themselves. Notice,
though, that it says, for themselves, not “against me.” As Judas heaped it up to his
own detriment, not Christ’s, so do these bogus members of the Church heap it up
against themselves, not us. Elsewhere it is said of them, /niquity lied to itself (Ps
26(27):12). They have collected iniquity for themselves, and having come in to
see, they would go outside and talk. The same one who came in to see used to go
outside and talk. If only he were inside, and spoke the truth! Then he would not
go outside, where he tells lies. He is a traitor and a persecutor, and after going
outside, he talks. If you belong among Christ’s members, come inside and hold
fast to the Head. If you are the wheat, put up with the tares; if you are true grain,
endure the chaff; if you are a good fish, make allowances for the bad fish in the
net with you.”” Why did you fly away before the time for winnowing? Why did
you uproot the crop along with yourself before harvest-time? Why have you torn
the nets before they reached the shore? They would go outside and talk.

What counts is the intention behind the words

9. With common purpose all my enemies kept whispering against me. With
common purpose”! they all opposed me; how much better it would have been if
they had united in a common purpose with me! What does it mean, with one
accord against me? With a single agreed plan, in one conspiracy. Christ says to
them, therefore, “You agree against me. Agree with me instead. Why must it be
against me? Why not with me?” If you were always united in a common mind,
you would not splinter into schisms, for the apostle says, / beg you, brothers and
sisters, to be united in what you say, and not to allow schisms to form among you

20. See Mt 13:24-30, 47-48.

21. In idipsum.
234 Exposition of Psalm 40

(1 Cor 1:10). With common purpose all my enemies kept whispering against me;
they plotted to do me harm. To harm themselves, rather, because they collected
iniquity for themselves; but they meant it against me, and it is by their intention
that they make themselves liable to punishment. That they were unable to
achieve anything does not mean that they did not want to. The devil desired to
get rid of Christ entirely, and Judas wanted Christ killed. Christ was killed and he
rose again; we were given life, but to the devil and to Judas due punishment was
meted out, not the salvation that was awarded to us. To make it clear that all of us
are assessed on our intention as deserving either reward or punishment, let me
remind you that in certain cases we find people wishing someone good, wishing
him or her the kind of benefit we would want for ourselves, and yet we call it
cursing. An instance of this was the argument between the once-blind man, now
enjoying light in both body and heart, and the Jews. He was showing them up,
these Jews who had bodily sight but were blind in their hearts, and now, in his
healed condition, he said to them, You don’t want to be his disciples too, surely?
But, as the gospel puts it, they cursed him and said, “You be his disciple your-
self.” May such an outcome be the fate of us all, yet they wished it on him as a
malediction. We call it a “malediction” from the misguided malevolence of
those who speak so, not from anything bad in the words as such. The evangelist
who described it like this had regard to the spirit in which they spoke, not the
words they uttered. They plotted to do me harm. But what harm could they do to
Christ, and what harm to the martyrs? God turns all things to good.

Verse 9. Eve is created from Adam’s sleep

10. They directed a wicked word against me. What kind of wicked word?
Think what it was in the case of our Head: Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will
be for us (Mt 21:38). What fools you are! Why do you think you are going to get
the inheritance? Because you killed him? Well, you did kill him, but the inheri-
tance will not fall to you. Will he not go further, and rise again, he who has fallen
asleep? You exult over your success in killing him, but he has only fallen asleep,
for in another psalm that is what he says, “J fell asleep. They raged, they were
bent on killing me, but I fell asleep; for if Ihad not been willing, I would not even
have slept. J fell asleep, for I have the power to lay down my life, and I have the
power to take it up again. I rested, and fell asleep, and I arose” (Ps 3:6(5); Jn
10:18). Let the Jews rage, then, and let earth be delivered into impious hands,
let flesh be surrendered to the hands of persecutors; let them fasten it to the cross
and pierce it through with nails, and dig into it with a lance; but will he not go

22. Jn 9:27-28. Augustine meditated similarly on how an apparent good wish can be a curse, and
vice versa, in his Exposition of Psalm 39, 26.
23. See Jb 9:24.
 ___ Exposition of Psalm 40 235

further and rise again, he who has fallen asleep? Why did he sleep? Because
Adam was a type of the one who was to come,” and when Adam slept, Eve was
formed from his side.** Adam prefigured Christ, and Eve prefigured the Church,
which is why she was called the mother of the living.2° When was Eve fash-
ioned? While Adam slept. And when did the Church’s sacraments flow forth
from Christ’s side?*’ While he slept on the cross. Will he not go further and rise
again, he who has fallen asleep?

Verse 10. How could Jesus have trusted Judas?

11. But whose fault was it that Christ slept? It was the fault of the man who
had come in to see, and collected iniquity for himself. “Even the one who was my
friend, the one whom I trusted and who ate my bread, has lifted his foot against
me. He raised his foot over me, meaning to trample on me.” Who is this man who
was his friend? Judas. But does the phrase, whom I trusted, really mean that
Christ trusted Judas? Surely he had known what Judas was from the outset? He
must have known, because he had said to all his disciples, Have I not chosen all
twelve of you? Yet one of you is a devil (Jn 6:71). How then was it possible for
Christ to trust Judas? It was possible, because Christ is present in his members.
There were plenty of believers who must have trusted in Judas, and the Lord
made their attitude his own.** Many people who had come to believe in Christ
were accustomed to see Judas walking about among the twelve disciples, and
some of them would have trusted him, because he seemed like the others. But
Christ was present in these trustful members of his, just as he is in his members
who hunger and thirst; and as he can say, J was hungry, so too he can say, I
trusted. It follows that if we ask him, “Lord, when did you trust him?” just as we
can also ask him, “Lord, when were you hungry?” he can reply to us, “Whenever
one of the least of those who are mine trusted him, I trusted him,” as he also
replies, What you did for even the least of those who are mine, you did for me (Mt
25:40).
“And who was this, in whom I trusted? The one who was my friend, the one
whom I trusted and who ate my bread.” Did Christ use these prophetic words to
point to Judas at any moment in the passion? Yes; he designated Judas as the
betrayer by handing him a morsel of bread,” so it was clearly Judas who was
meant by the words, who ate my bread. Then again when J udas came to hand him

24. See Rom 5:14.

25. See Gn2:21,
26. See Gn 3:20.
27. See Jn 19:34.
28. Hoc in se transfiguravit Dominus.
29. See Jn 13:26.
236 Exposition of Psalm 40

over he gave Jesus a kiss,* proving that the rest of the verse also referred to him:
the one who was my friend. ;

Verse 11. The green wood did not burn

12. But you, Lord, have mercy on me. He speaks here in the guise of a
servant,?! in the form of a needy, poor person; remember how the psalm
declared, Blessed is everyone who understands about the needy and poor man.
Now he prays, Have mercy on me, and raise me up; then I will requite them.
Notice when this prayer was made, and how it has been answered. The Jews
killed Christ in order not to forfeit their national place.*? But after killing him
they lost it: they were uprooted from their territory and dispersed. When Christ
was raised from the dead he requited them with tribulation, but the recompense
was dealt out as a warning, not a final condemnation. The Jews were rooted out
from that city where the populace, like a ravening, roaring lion, had shouted,
Crucify, crucify! (Ps 21:14(22:13); Lk 23:21; Jn 19:6); it belongs to Christians
now, and no Jew lives there. In the place from which the thorns of the synagogue
were uprooted Christ’s Church was planted. And‘truly the fire burned among the
Jews as it does among thorns;*? but the Lord was like green wood. He made this
comparison himself, when certain women were lamenting over him because he
was about to die. Do not weep over me, but weep over yourselves and your chil-
dren, he told them, alluding to the retribution mentioned in our psalm: raise me
up, and I will requite them; for ifthey do this to the green wood, what will be the
fate of the dry? (Lk 23:28,31). How could green wood ever be consumed by
burning thorns? The Jews went up like a fire amid thorns; fire devours thorns,
but does not easily catch any green wood it touches, for the sap in the wood
resists the flame, causing it to gutter feebly, though it is vigorous enough to make
the thorns blaze.
Raise me up; then I will requite them. You certainly must not think, brothers
and sisters, that the Lord’s prayer, Raise me up, implies that the Son is less
powerful than the Father, and was unable to raise himself. Not at all. What he
raised up was what was prone to die; flesh died, and flesh was raised up. God, the
Father of Christ, had the power to raise up Christ—to raise the flesh of his Son,
that is; but this does not mean that Christ himself, who is the Word of God and
equal to the Father, had no power to raise his own flesh. To exclude such a
misapprehension he promised in the gospel, Destroy this temple, and in three
days I will raise it up again; and to make sure we should be in no doubt about

30. See Mt 26:49; Mk 15:45; Lk 22:47.

31. See Phil 2:7.
32. See Jn 11:48.
35. sce ES LL7(UL8)si2:
 Exposition of Psalm 40 237

what he meant, the evangelist added, He spoke of the temple of his body (Jn
2:19,21). Raise me up; then I will requite them.

Verse 12. The killers’ glee was premature

13. This is how I know that you wanted me: my enemy will not rejoice over me.
The Jews thought they had succeeded in their purpose of harming Christ when
they saw him crucified, and so they rejoiced. In Christ hanging on the cross they
contemplated the fruit of their savage efforts, and they wagged their heads,
saying, lf he is the Son of God, let him come down from the cross.*4 He had the
power to do so, but he did not choose to come down; his intention was not to
display his power,** but to teach us patience. If in response to their gibes he had
come down from the cross he would have appeared to yield the victory to his
mockers; people would have thought that he was defeated and could not bear
their taunts. All the more firmly did he stay on the cross while they insulted him,
fixed immobile as their heads wagged about. Those heads were wagging
because the Jews were not holding fast to the true Head. And certainly he did
give us a lesson in patience. He refused to do what the Jews were trying to
provoke him to do, but he did something mightier, for it is a far more powerful
act to rise from a grave than to come down from a cross.
My enemy will not rejoice over me. At that time they did rejoice; but Christ
rose again, Christ was glorified, and now the Jews see the human race being
converted in his name. Let them mock now, let them do their head-wagging
now! They will do better to keep their heads still, or shake them only in wonder
and admiration. Nowadays they ask, “Can this man be the one of whom Moses
and the prophets spoke? Of him who was to come the prophets said, He was led
like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a sheep voiceless before its shearer, he did
not open his mouth; by his wounds we were healed (Is 53:7,5). We watch this
crucified man drawing the whole human race after him, and it seems that our
fathers achieved nothing by their resolve, Let us kill him, lest the whole world go
after him.*© Perhaps it would not have gone after him if he had not been killed.”
This is how I know that you wanted me: my enemy will not rejoice over me.

Verses 13-14. The Christian case against the pagans is proved from
the Jewish scriptures

14. But you have upheld me because of my innocence. His was innocence
indeed: sinless integrity, the repayment of debts he did not owe, a scourging he

34. See Mt 27:39,40.

35. Variant: “this was no proof that he lacked power.”
36; Seen l219:
238 Exposition of Psalm 40

did not deserve. “You have upheld me because of my innocence, and strength-
ened me for ever. You have strengthened me for ever, though you weakened me
for a time; you have strengthened me in your sight, though you weakened me in
the sight of men and women.” What shall we say, then? All praise to him, all
glory be to him. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel. He is truly the God of
Israel, that is, our God, the God of Jacob, the God of the younger son, the God of
the junior people. Let no one say, “This line refers to the Jews; Iam not Israel.” It
would be truer to say that the Jews are not Israel. The elder son represents the
senior people that was rejected; the younger son stands for the junior people God
chose to love. The prophecy that the elder shall serve the younger (Gn 25:23) has
been fulfilled now. Consider, brothers and sisters: the Jews serve us now; they
are like slaves*’ carrying our satchels; they carry books for us, the students. Look
how the Jews are like slaves to us, and deservedly. Cain, the elder brother who
killed the younger, was given a mark to ensure that he would not be killed;** this
means that the Jewish people was to remain in existence.*’ The prophets and the
law are cherished among them, and in the law and the prophets Christ was made
known. When we deal with the pagans, we demonstrate to them that what is
happening in Christ’s Church is what was prophesied about the name of Christ,
about Christ as Head and members; and if they suspect that we have forged these
prophecies, and written them up after the event though they purport to refer to
something future, we bring forward the books of the Jews. This is all the more
convincing inasmuch as the Jews are our enemies, so our opponent is convinced
by our enemy’s documents.
God has disposed all things, and ordered all things for our salvation. He fore-
told it before we existed, he has fulfilled it in our time, and what he has not
fulfilled yet, he will. We hold fast to him as one who keeps his promises, and
therefore we can believe him to be our debtor still; for as he has already given
what had not been given when it was prophesied, so will he give what has not
been given yet. Any who want to find out where these things are written should
read Moses and the prophets. If any noisy protester among our enemies says,
“You have concocted those prophecies to suit your own case,” let the Jewish
books be produced, for the elder will serve the younger. Let them read there the
predictions we now see fulfilled, and let us all say, Blessed be the Lord, the God
of Israel, from ofold and unto all ages. And all the people will say, So be it, so be
It.

37. The capsarius was the slave who followed a boy to school, carrying his books. There may be an
echo of Gal 3:24; but the analogy has a special point in the present passage in view of the
following argument about the books of Hebrew scripture which serve the Christian purpose.
38. See Gn 4:15.
39. In the Exposition of Psalm 39, 13, the “mark of Cain” was the continuing observance of the
Passover lamb and unleavened bread; here it is the permanence of the Hebrew scriptures.
 Exposition of Psalm 41

A Sermon to the People

Introduction: longing on both sides

1. Our soul has been longing for some time past to rejoice with you in God’s
word, and to salute you in him who is our help and our salvation.! So listen now
to what God gives you through us, and together with us be glad about his words,
and about his truth and charity; for we have undertaken to talk to you about this
psalm in response to your own longing.* The psalm begins in fact with holy
longing, for the singer says, As a deer longs for springs of water, so does my soul
long for you, O God. Who is it saying that? If we will, it is we ourselves. Why
bother to inquire any further who it is, when it is within your power to be yourself
the answer to the question? Remember, though, that the speaker is not a lone
individual, but a single body: the Church, which is the body of Christ. A longing
like this is not found in everyone who comes into church, yet those who have
tasted the sweetness of the Lord,’ and recognize that savor in this song, should
not think they are alone in this experience. They must believe that similar seeds
have been sown widely in the Lord’s field all over the world, and that it is a
single, united Christian voice which sings, As a deer longs for springs of water,
so does my soul long for you, O God. We could well hear the voice of our cate-
chumens here too, for they are hurrying toward the holy, grace-giving bath.’
This is why we customarily sing the psalm to arouse in them a longing for the
fountain of forgiveness for their sins, like the longing of a deer for the springs of
water.° Fair enough, and may this interpretation keep its place in the Church; it is
both true and sanctioned by usage. All the same, brothers and sisters, I cannot
believe that a longing of such intensity is satisfied in believers even at baptism. If
the candidates know where their pilgrimage is tending, and what that land is to

1. A pun in the Latin links verb with noun: in illo vos salutare, qui est nostrum adiutorium et
salutare: “to wish you good health in him who is our help and our health.”
2. Variant: “our desire.”
3. See Ps 33:9(34:8).
4. Lavacrum.
5. The catechumens were instructed during Lent and baptized at Easter. The psalm was sung as
they processed to the baptistery, where they received the sacrament by immersion. Ambrose
has left an account of baptismal practice in two works: On the Sacraments and On the
Mysteries.

239
240 Exposition of Psalm 41

which they must cross over, their longing will be kindled to even greater inten-
sity.

Verse 1. Understanding offered to the “children of Korah”

2. The psalm is entitled, Unto the end, understanding for the children of
Korah. We have come upon these children of Korah in the titles of other psalms;°
and we remember having discussed the name and its meaning before. Nonethe-
less we ought to mention the title now. The fact of having expounded it earlier
should not deter us, for you were not all present in the various places where we
discussed it previously. Now Korah may have been an historical person, as
indeed he was, and may well have had children who were called “the sons of
Korah.” But we must peer into the holy secret implicit here, and persuade this
name, pregnant with mystery, to bring forth what it holds. It is a great and holy
mystery that Christians should be designated “children of Korah.” Why can they
be called that? Because they are children of the Bridegroom, children of Christ;
that is what Christians are called: the Bridegroom’s children.’ But why does
Korah stand for Christ? Because the name Korah means Calvary; but that is a
more obscure point. I was inquiring why Korah stood for Christ, but I am far
more interested in inquiring why Christ is seen to be connected with Calvary.
You already know, don’t you? Of course you do. Christ was crucified at a place
called Calvary. So “the children of the Bridegroom,” the children of his passion,
the children redeemed by his blood, the children of his cross who wear upon their
brows the sign of that gibbet his enemies set up on Calvary—these are called
“children of Korah.” For them this psalm is sung, to bring them understanding.
Let us bestir ourselves to understand, then. If it is sung for us, we should try to
understand it. What are we going to understand? Into what kind of comprehen-
sion will the singing of this psalm lead us? I will tell you, boldly I will tell you:
since the world was first created men and women have seen the invisible realities
of God, understood through things that are made.* Well then, brothers and
sisters, catch my eagerness, share my longing. Let us love, all of us together; let
us burn together with this thirst; let us run together to the fountain of under-
standing. Let us long for it as a hart yearns for a spring. I do not mean that spring
which the baptismal candidates long for, that their sins may be forgiven; let us
who are baptized long rather for the well-spring of which scripture says, With

6. The collection “of the sons of Korah” was one ofthe groups incorporated into the final form of
the Psalter. It includes Pss 43-48, 83, 84, 86, 87 (44-49, 84, 85, 87, 88). In his Exposition of
Psalm 83, 2, and Exposition of Psalm 84, 2, Augustine discusses the meaning of the name
Korah, interpreted as “bald,” and associates this with Calvary, “the place of a skull.” In the
present context he seems to assume that this link is known to his hearers: he did not comment on
the psalms in numerical order. See also the Expositions of Psalm 43, 1; Ps 44, 1; Ps 46, 2.
ie pee Mt OM Saeko: 34.
8. See Rom 1:20.
 Exposition of Psalm 41 241

you is the fountain oflife; for God is both a spring and light, as that other psalm
goes on to say: /n your light we will see light (Ps 35:10(36:9)). If he is both foun-
tain and light he obviously is understanding, for while he fully satisfies the soul
athirst to know, everyone who understands is illumined by a light that is not
corporeal or carnal or external, but is an inward radiance. There is an interior
light, brothers and sisters, which people without understanding do not know.
The apostle has some exhortation to offer to believers who long for the fountain
of life and already experience it in some degree: Walk no more now as the
pagans walk, he says. Their minds are empty; they are darkened in their under-
standing and estranged from the life of God by the ignorance that is in them,
owing to the blindness of their hearts (Eph 4:17-18). If they are darkened in their
understanding—darkened, that is, precisely because they do not understand—it
follows that they who do understand are illuminated. Run to the springs, long for
the fountains of water. With God is the fountain of life, a fountain that can never
dry up; and in his light is a radiance never dimmed. Long for this light; long for
the well-spring, and for a light such as your eyes have never known. Your inner
eye is being prepared to see that light, and your inner thirst is burning ever more
fiercely for that fountain. Run to the fountain, long for the fountain; but do not
run to it in any random fashion, do not run like any animal you may chance to
think of: run only like a deer. Why like a deer? Because there must be no tardi-
ness about your running. Run energetically, long untiringly for the fountain. I
say this because the deer stands for fleetness of foot.

Verse 2. Deer kill snakes, and then feel thirstier

3. Perhaps this is not the only characteristic of deer that scripture wished us to
consider. There may be something else. Listen now to another peculiarity of
theirs. A hart kills snakes, and after font them he burns with a more intense thirst
than before; so after dealing with the snakes he runs to the well-springs even
more urgently. These snakes represent your vices; put the snakes of your iniq-
uity to death, and you will long all the more keenly for the font of truth. Perhaps a
miserly spirit is hissing dark suggestions in you, hissing something opposed to
God’s word and forbidden by his commandments? You know what you are told:
“Give that thing up, and stay clear of sin.” But if you would rather commit the sin
than turn your back on some temporal gain, you are choosing to be bitten by the
snake instead of killing it. If you prefer your vice, your lust, your greed, your
snake, when am I going to find in you the kind of longing that will send you
running to the well-spring? How are you going to yearn for the font of wisdom, if
you are still floundering in the venom of ill-will? Kill off whatever in you is
opposed to the truth; but when you judge yourself to be free of crooked desires,
do not sit down as though that were all, and you had nothing else to long for.
There is something for which you must arouse yourself and go, if you have
242 Exposition of Psalm 41

already done your best to rid yourself of anything in you that could hold you
back. I know that if you are a good deer you are going to say to me, “God knows
that I’m not a money-grubber now, that I no longer covet other people’s prop-
erty, that I’m not on fire with adulterous lust, not tormented by hatred or envy of
anyone,” and so forth. You are going to tell me, “I no longer have these sins”;
and so you look for something you can enjoy, don’t you? Long for what will
truly give you delight, long for the fountains of water. God has everything that
will refresh you. He is able to fill anyone who comes to him, anyone who comes
parched from slaughtering snakes, like a fleet-footed deer.

Kindly arrangements among deer

4. There is another point to notice about deer. People have seen them doing
what I am about to describe; it would not have been recorded about them in
writing unless previously observed. It is said, then, that when deer are walking in
single file, or want to swim to a different place to find fresh grazing, they rest
their heavy heads on each other. One goes in front, another rests its head on him,
and others on them, and so on until the whole ling is supported. When the hart
who has been bearing the weight in the foremost position is exhausted, he moves
to the rear, and another takes his place to carry what the first one was carrying,
while this previous leader rests himself by supporting his head on another, as all
the others have been doing. They go on like this, carrying the heavy weight for
each other; so they make good progress, and do not let each other down. Was it
not deer like these that the apostle had in mind? Bear one another’s burdens, he
says, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ (Gal 6:2).

Verse 3. The longing is intensified by waiting

5. Once a deer of this kind is established in faith, but does not yet see the
object of that faith and yearns to understand what he or she loves, this deer has to
endure other people who are not deer at all, people whose understanding is dark-
ened, who are sunk in their inner murk and blinded by vicious desires. Nor is this
all, for they jeer at the believer who cannot yet point to the reality in which he or
she believes: Where is your God ?. Let us listen to how our hart handled these
attacks, so that we may meet them in the same way if we can. To begin with he
expressed his thirst: as a deer longs for springs of water, so does my soul long for
you, O God. Did I hear someone ask, “Perhaps the deer is longing for springs of
water because he needs a wash?” We can’t tell whether it was for drinking or for
washing, but listen to the next line; and don’t ask questions: my soul has been
athirst for the living God. The line, as a deer longs for springs of water, so does
my soul long for you, O God, means the same as my soul has been athirst for the
living God. What was this soul thirsting for? When shall I reach him and appear
 Exposition of Psalm 41 243

before the face of God? “This is what I am thirsting for, to reach him and to
appear before him. I am thirsty on my pilgrimage, parched in my running, but I
will be totally satisfied when I arrive. But when shall] reach him?” What is soon
to God seems late to our longing. When shall I reach him and appear before the
face of God? A like longing evoked the cry in another psalm: One thing have I
begged of the Lord, and that will I seek after: to live in the Lord’s house all the
days of my life. To what purpose? That I may contemplate the Lord with delight
(Ps 26(27):4). When shall I reach him and appear before the face of the Lord?°

Verse 4. A diet of tears

6. Meanwhile I mull over these things as I run my course, as I am still on the

Way, not yet arriving, not yet appearing there. And all the while my tears have
been bread to me day and night, as every day I hear the taunt, Where is your
God? Notice that he says, My tears have been bread, bread, not bitterness. “My
very tears were delicious to me. I was thirsting for that spring, and because I
could not yet drink from it, I ate my tears the more hungrily.” He did not say,
“My tears have been my drink.” If he had, we might have thought he had thirsted
for his tears as he thirsted for the well-springs; but no: “My thirst, my burning
thirst, remains unquenched, and it drags me toward the springs of water; but as I
wait, my tears have become bread to me.” And in eating his tears he would
certainly find his thirst for the springs all the keener. “My tears became bread for
me, by day and by night.” It is in the daytime that people eat food, which is repre-
sented by the term “bread”; at night they sleep. Yet the psalmist eats his bread of
tears by day and by night. You could take this to mean “all the time”; or you
could understand “day” as prosperity in this world, and “night” as worldly
misfortune. “In both prosperity and adversity, as this world sees them, I pour out
my tears,” he says. “Never do I take the keen edge off my desire. Even if things
are going well by worldly standards they are bad for me, until I appear before the
face of God. Why try to force me into enjoying the daylight, if some worldly
prosperity smiles on me? Is prosperity not a deceiver? Is it not labile, unsteady,
mortal? Is it not ephemeral, fleeting, transient? Does it not harbor more of
deceitfulness than delight? Why then should my tears not be bread for me, even
in prosperity?” It is true, indeed, that even if the happiness of this world bathes us
in its light, as long as we are in the body we are still on our journey and absent
from the Lord,!° and every day I hear the taunt, Where is your God? If a pagan
says this to me, I cannot retort, “What about you? Where is your God?” because

9. Perhaps because of contamination from the quotation immediately preceding, the last word FAR
m
here is Domini, not Dei as in his citation of the same verse above. One of the characteristic
features in the psalms of the Korah collection is the use of “God” rather than the divine name CO
2
usually rendered in English by “the Lord.” But a few codices amend to Dei here.
10. See 2 Cor 5:6.
244 Exposition of Psalm 41

the pagan can point to his god. He indicates some stone with his finger and says,
“Look, there’s my god! Where is yours?” If I laugh at the stone, dnd the pagan
who pointed it out is embarrassed, he looks away from the stone toward the sky;
then perhaps he points to the sun and says again, “Look, there’s my god! Where
is yours?” He has found something he can demonstrate to my bodily eyes. For
me it is different, not because I have nothing to demonstrate, but because he
lacks the kind of eyes to which I could demonstrate it. He was able to point the
sun out to my bodily eyes as his god, but how can I point out to any eyes he has
the sun’s Creator? a

Where is your God? The search through creatures and in oneself

But as I listened daily to the taunt, Where is your God? and was nourished by
my daily diet of tears, as Ipondered day and night on this question hurled at me,
Where is your God? even I came to wonder if was possible for me not merely to
believe in my God, but even to see something of him. I see the things my God has
made, but my God himself, who made them, I do not see. Yet like a deer I long
for the springs of water, and the fountain of life is with him; and since this psalm
was written to bring understanding to the children of Korah, and the invisible
realities of God are seen and understood through things that are made,'! what
shall I do to find my God? I will consider the earth, for the earth was made. Great
is the beauty of earth’s many faces, but it was an artist who made it. Great
wonders there are in seeds and in the generation of living things, but all of them
come from their Creator. I point to the immensity of the sea all around us; Iam
astonished and filled with wonder, and I look for the artificer. I look up to the sky
and the loveliness of the stars; | marvel at the sun’s radiance with its power to
awaken the day, and the moon that relieves the darkness of night. These things
are marvelous, we must praise them, even be astounded at them, for they are not
earthly things; they belong to the heavens. But not yet is my thirst slaked, for
though I admire them and sing their praises, it is for him who made them that I
thirst. So I return to myself, and examine who I am, I who can ask such questions.
I find that I have a body and a soul: the one I must rule and by the other be ruled:
the body serves and the soul commands. I observe that my soul is a better thing
than my body, and that the investigator of these mysteries is not my body but my
soul; and yet I recognize that when I surveyed all these things, I surveyed them
through my body. I was praising the earth, but I knew it only through my eyes; I
praised the sea, but my eyes had revealed it to me; I praised the sky, the stars, the
sun and the moon, but only through my eyes had I come to know them. The eyes
are bodily organs, the windows of the mind; it is the inner self that looks out
through them, and if the mind is preoccupied with some other thought, the eyes

11. See Rom 1:20.

 __ Exposition of Psalm 41 245

are open to no purpose. My God, who made these things I see with my eyes, is
not to be sought with my eyes.
My mind even has the power to see objects through itself alone. It may be
aware of something like colors and light not actually present to my eyes, music
or other sounds not available to my ears, sweet scents not perceived by my nose,
a savor not in contact with my palate or tongue, a feeling of hardness or softness,
of cold or heat, of roughness or smoothness, which my body might have
perceived, but does not. Or again it may be aware of something that I see within
myself. See within? How is that? Something, I mean, that is neither a color, nora
sound, nor a scent, nor a taste, nor heat, nor cold, nor hardness nor softness.
When we think about justice, and appreciate the beauty of it within ourselves, in
our thought, what sound do our ears catch? Does any steamy scent rise to our
nostrils? What enters the mouth? What pleasant surface meets the exploring
hand? Yet justice is within us; it is beautiful, it moves us to praise, we see it; and
even if our bodily eyes are in darkness, the mind enjoys its light. What was it that
Tobit saw, when in his blindness he was giving advice to a son who could see?!”
The mind which governs the body, guides it and dwells in it, is aware of some-
thing that reaches it not through the body’s eyes, or ears, or nose, or palate, or
sense of touch, but through itself; and unquestionably what the mind knows
through itself is better than what it comes to know through its servant. But still
there is more: the mind sees itself through itself; it sees itself so as to know itself.
In no way does it seek the help of the bodily eyes to see itself; on the contrary, it
withdraws from all its bodily faculties, finding them a hindrance and a noisy one,
and betakes itself to itself that it may see itself in itself and know itself in its own
presence. ‘
But is the mind’s God something similar, something like the mind itself? To
be sure, God can be seen only with the mind, but he cannot be seen as the mind
itself can be seen. This mind is seeking a reality that is God, a reality of which the
mockers cannot say, Where is your God? It is seeking the unchangeable truth,
the substance that cannot fail. But the mind itself is not like that: it fails and
makes progress, it knows and then knows not, it remembers and forgets, it wants
something at one moment and then wants it no more. No such mutability is found
in God. IfIsay, “God is subject to change,” they will have the right to jeer at me,
those who say, Where is your God?

Verse 5. The soul is poured out above itself

8. I sought my God in visible, material creatures, and I did not find him. I
sought the substance of him in myself, as though he were something like what I
am, and did not find him there either; so I have become aware that my God is

12. See Tb 4:1-23.

246 Exposition of Psalm 41

some reality above the soul. J reflected on these things, and poured out my soul
above myself that I might touch him,'? for how could my soul ever attain what it
seeks, the reality above the soul, unless it poured itself out above itself? If it
remained within itself it would see nothing other than itself; and in seeing only
itself it would certainly not be seeing its God. Let the onlookers who deride me
go on saying, Where is your God? Yes, let them say it, and as long as I do not see
him, as long as Iam made to wait, I will eat my tears day and night. Let them go
on saying, Where is your God? | look for my God in every bodily creature,
whether on earth or in the sky, but I do not find him. look
I for his substance in my
own soul, but do not find him there. Yet still I have pondered on this search for
my God and, longing to gaze on the invisible realities of God by understanding
them through created things, / poured out my soul above myself, and now there 1s
nothing left for me to touch, except my God. For there, above my soul, is the
home of my God; there he dwells, from there he looks down upon me, from there
he created me, from there he governs me and takes thought for me, from there he
arouses me, calls me, guides me and leads me on, and from there he will lead me
to journey’s end.
.

In the admirable tabernacle he catches the sound of another festival

9. For he who has his most lofty home in a secret place has also a tent on earth.
His tent'* is the Church, the Church which is still a pilgrim; yet he is to be sought
there, because in this tent we find the way that leads to his home. When I
resolved to pour out my soul above myself to reach my God, why did I do it?
Because I will walk into the place of the tent. If 1 seek my God away from that
camp-site I will go astray. / will walk into the place of the wonderful tent, even to
the home of God. 1 will walk into the place where this tent is pitched, this
wonderful tabernacle, and so reach God’s home. And already I find many
wonderful things in the tent, great things that move me to admiration and amaze-
ment. The faithful are God’s tent on earth; and in them I admire the obedience of
their bodily parts, for sin does not reign in them to exact obedience to its desires,
nor do they put their members at sin’s disposal as implements of iniquity, but
rather subject them to the living God in good works.'> So I marvel at bodily
members enlisted for action under the soul that serves God. Moreover I watch
the soul obeying God, organizing its activities, restraining its wayward desires,
banishing ignorance, stretching out to endure all that is harsh and testing, and
exercising justice and kindness toward other people.

13. One manuscript specifies, “touch him with my mind’s understanding.”

14. Tabernaculum. See Augustine’s observations on homes and tents in his Exposition of Psalm
26, 6.
15. See Rom 6:12-13.
 Exposition of Psalm 41 247

These virtues I do indeed admire in the soul, yet still | am walking in the
wonderful tent. Then I go further still and pass beyond it; and though the tent is
admirable, | am dumbfounded when I arrive at God’s house. In another psalm
the speaker tells us that he had put a hard, puzzling question to himself: why on
this earth good fortune usually comes the way of the wicked, while misfortune
dogs the good. Then he speaks of the house of God: / tried to solve the problem,
but it is too hard for me until I enter God's holy place, and understand what the
end must be (Ps 72(73):16-17); for there, in God’s holy place, in God’s house, is
the spring of understanding. There that psalmist understood what the end must
be, and solved his problem about the happiness of villains and the travail of the
just. What was his solution? He saw that while the life of the wicked is prolonged
here, they are being reserved for punishment without end, but while the good
struggle along they are being trained until they are ready at last to gain their
inheritance. This is what the psalmist understood in God’s holy place: he under-
stood the final outcome. He climbed up to the tent, then arrived at God’s house.
Yet it was while he marveled at the members of that company in the tent that he
was led to God’s house. He was drawn toward a kind of sweetness, an inward,
secret pleasure that cannot be described, as though some musical instrument
were sounding delightfully from God’s house. As he still walked about in the
tent he could hear this inner music; he was drawn to its sweet tones, following its
melodies and distancing himself from the din of flesh and blood, until he found
his way even to the house of God. He tells us about the road he took and the
manner in which he was led, as though we had asked him, “You admire the tent
on earth, but how did you reach the secret precincts of God’s house?” By the
voice of exultation and praise, he says, the sounds of one celebrating a festival.'®
When people celebrate in this world with their various forms of indulgence, they
usually set up musical instruments outside their houses, or assemble singers
there, or provide some kind of music which enhances the pleasure of the guests
and entices them to immoderate behavior. If we are passing by and happen to
hear it, we say, “What’s going on?” And they tell us that it’s some kind of party.
“Tt’s a birthday party,” they say, or “There’s a wedding reception.” They tell us
this so that the songs may not seem out of place, and the lavish expenditure'’ may
seem to be justified by the festive occasion. In God’s home there is an ever-
lasting party. What is celebrated there is not some occasion that passes; the
choirs of angels keep eternal festival, for the eternally present face of God is joy
never diminished. This is a feast day that does not open at dawn, or close at
sundown. From that eternal, unfading festival melodious and delightful sound
reaches the ears of the heart, but only if the world’s din does not drown it. The
sweet strains of that celebration are wafted into the ears of one who walks in the

16. Variant: “of a banquet.”

17. Variant: “the joy.”
248 Exposition of Psalm 41

tent and ponders the wonderful works of God in the redemption.of believers, and
they drag the deer toward the springs of water.

Verse 6. Subsequent sadness

10. Nonetheless, brothers and sisters, as long as we are in the body we are still
on pilgrimage and away from the Lord.'* Our corruptible body weighs down the
soul, and this earthly dwelling oppresses a mind that considers many things.'? At
times we may in some measure scatter the clouds as our yearning draws us on,
and even come within earshot of that melody, so that by pressing forward we
may conceive something of the house of God. Yet under the weight of our weak-
ness we fall back into familiar things, and slide down again into our ordinary
way of life. As we have found there a cause for joy, so here there is no shortage of
things to groan about. The deer made tears his food by day and by night; he was
possessed by yearning for the well-springs, those springs of God’s spiritual
delight, and he poured out his soul above himself in his longing to touch what
was above his soul. He walked into the admirable tent, and even to the house of
God; he was drawn onward by the charm of a spiritual, intelligible music until he
despised all external things and was rapt by love for what is within. But for all
that, he is still a human being, still groaning, still carrying frail flesh, still imper-
iled amid the stumbling-blocks of this world. So he looked again at himself as he
returned from that place, and as he found himself amid his woes he compared
them with the glories he had gone in to see, the wonder he had seen and left
behind as he came out. O my soul, why are you sorrowful, and why do you
disquiet me? he asked. “Remember how we were gladdened by an inner sweet-
ness, remember how we found it possible to perceive with the sharp point of our
mind something that does not change, even though we could but brush against it
for a swift moment. Why, then, do you still disquiet me? Why are you still
sorrowful? You do not doubt your God. It is not as though you had no retort to
make to those who ask, Where is your God? Already in my deepest being I have
known something beyond change, so how can you still disquiet me? Hope in
God.”
His soul seems to reply silently to him, “Why do I disquiet you? Why else,
than because I am not there, in that place of delight to which I was carried away,
but so briefly? Am I yet drinking from that fountain, free from fear? Am I yet
beyond all danger of falling? Am I secure, as though all sinful desires were
subdued and overcome? Is my adversary, the devil, not still on the watch? Does
he not set cunning traps for me every day? Can you seriously ask me not to

18, See 2 Cor 5:6.

19. See Wis 9:15.
 Exposition of Psalm 41 249

disquiet you, while my place is still in this world, while | am a pilgrim still, and
far from God’s house?”
But he has an answer for the soul that disquiets him, and gives him such plau-
sible reasons for its unease by pointing to the evils that abound in this world.
“Hope in God,” he says. “Dwell in hope for this in-between time.” If hope is
seen, it is hope no longer; but if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it in
patience.”

Verse 7. Hope and salvation

11. Hope in God. Why? Because I will confess to him. And what will you
confess to him? “That he is the salvation of my countenance, my God. There can
be no salvation for me derived from myself, so this is what I will say, this I will
confess: he is the salvation of my countenance, my God.” The speaker knows
that caution is necessary in spite of the things he has in some measure under-
stood, so he is on his guard lest the enemy approach by stealth, and he does not
yet make bold to say, “I am saved in every respect.” We do indeed possess the
first-fruits of the Spirit, yet we groan within ourselves, waiting for our full adop-
tion in the redemption of our bodies.”! When that salvation has been brought to
perfection in us we shall live in God’s house for ever, praising without end the
God to whom another psalm cries out, Blessed are they who dwell in your house;
they will praise you for ever and ever (Ps 83:5(84:4)). This is not our situation
yet, for the salvation promised us is not yet fully accomplished, but I confess to
my God in hope, and say to him, “You are the salvation of my countenance, my
God.” Weare saved in hope; but if hope is seen, it is hope no longer.” Persevere
until you get there, persevere until salvation comes to you. Listen to God himself
speaking to you inwardly: Hold out for the Lord, act manfully; let your heart be
strengthened, and hold out for the Lord (Ps 26(27):14), for whoever perseveres
to the end will be saved (Mt 10:22; 24:13). In view of all this, O my soul, why are
you sorrowful, and why do you disquiet me? Hope in God, because I will confess
to him. This is my confession: You are the salvation of my countenance, my God.

Turn away from yourself

12. My soul was troubled as it turned to me. It would not be, would it, if it
turned to God? It is troubled when it turns to myself. When turned toward the
unchangeable it received new strength, but when turned to what is prone to
change it was disturbed. I know that my God’s righteousness abides, but whether

20. See Rom 8:24-25.

21. See Rom 8:23.
22. See Rom 8:24.
250 Exposition of Psalm 41

my own will abide, I know not, for the apostle’s warning terrifies me: Anyone
who thinks he stands must take care not to fall (1 Cor 10:12). Since there is in me
no stability, neither is there any hope for me in myself. My soul was troubled as it
turned to me. Would you like to free your soul from its anxiety? Then do not let it
linger in yourself. Say rather, To you, Lord, have I lifted up my soul (Ps
24(25):1). Listen, I will make the point clearer. Put no trust in yourself, but only
in your God. If you trust in yourself, your soul will be turned toward yourself and
gravely troubled, because it cannot yet find any grounds for security in you. So
then, if my soul turned toward myself and found itself disturbed, what is left to
me but humility, the humble refusal of the soul to place any reliance on itself?
What course is open to it, except to make itself very small indeed, and to humble
itself so that it may be raised up? Let it attribute nothing to itself, and then what is
profitable may be granted to it by God.
My soul was troubled when it focused on itself, and what aroused that turbu-
lence was pride. Therefore I remembered you,” O Lord, from the territory of the
Jordan and the little hill of Hermon. From where did I remember you? From an
insignificant mountain and from the Jordan region. Perhaps that means from
baptism, where our sins were forgiven. I think this may be right, because no one
runs toward the forgiveness of sins except those who are displeased with them-
selves; no one runs toward the forgiveness of sins except those who acknowl-
edge that they are sinners; and none can confess their sinfulness without
humbling themselves before God. This is why J remembered you from the terri-
tory of the Jordan, and from a little hill, not from a high mountain. From this
paltry hill I want you to bring about great things, because anyone who exalts
himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted (Lk
14:11; 18:14). An additional point is that if you investigate the interpretation of
the names, you find that Jordan means “their descent.” Descend then, so that you
may be lifted up; do not lift yourself up, or you may be suppressed. And from the
little hill of Hermon. The name Hermon is said to mean “putting under a ban.”
Put yourself under a ban in your displeasure with yourself; for if you are
self-satisfied you will be displeasing to God. God grants us all good things
because he is good, not because we are worthy, because he is merciful and not
because we have deserved them in any way. Therefore / remembered God from
the territory of the Jordan and from Hermon. Because he remembers God in
humility, he will be found worthy to be exalted and to enjoy God to the full, for
those who make the Lord their boast are not exalted on their own account.

23. Variant: “I will remember you.”

 Exposition of Psalm 41 251

Verse 8. The human heart is a great deep

13. Deep calls to deep at the sound of your cataracts. | may be able to get
through this whole psalm if you help me by your concentration, for I can see how
eager you are. | am not too worried about any fatigue you may feel as you listen,
for you can see how I am sweating in the effort that speaking costs me. And as
you watch me laboring, you will certainly help me, for you know I am laboring
not for my own benefit, but yours. Go on listening, then; I can see you want to.
Deep calls to deep at the sound ofyour cataracts. The one who remembered
God from the Jordan region and from Hermon now says this to God. He says it
wonderingly: Deep calls to deep at the sound of your cataracts. What is this deep
that is invoking another deep, and what is the depth invoked? The latter must be the
depth of understanding,” for a depth is an unsearchable place, a profundity beyond
comprehension. The word “depth” is usually applied to some vast ocean, because
there we find such depth, such profundity, that we can never fathom it.
Now in another place it was said, Your judgments are an unfathomable abyss
(Ps 35:7(36:6)), and by this metaphor scripture meant to teach us that God’s
judgments are deeper than our minds can comprehend. What then is the deep
that is calling out here, and what the deep that is invoked? If “deep” signifies
profundity, surely the human heart is a deep abyss? Could anything be more
profound? Human beings can speak, they can be observed as they use their
limbs, and heard in their speech; but can we ever get to the bottom of a person’s
thoughts, or see into anyone’s heart? Who can grasp what another person is
intent upon there within the heart, what are the possibilities, the activity, the
purposes of the heart, its will and its refusals? The profundity of a human being is
surely referred to in a saying we find elsewhere: A mortal will draw near to the
heart’s depths, and God will be exalted (Ps 63:7-8(64:6)).
But if a human being is a deep abyss, how does a deep call upon a deep? Can it
mean one human invoking another? Can a human being do that, in the way we
invoke God? No, certainly not. But we do use the word “invoke” to mean
“invite” or “call something to oneself.” For instance, it might be said of someone
that he invites death; this means that he lives in such a way as to call death down
upon himself, for no one will actually pray for it, or explicitly invite it; but by
living in a wicked fashion people implicitly call it down upon themselves. So in
this sense deep does call to deep when one human being calls to another. This is
how wisdom is imparted, and faith is learned, when one deep invokes another.
Holy preachers of God’s word call to a deep abyss. But are they not a deep abyss
themselves? They certainly are, as you know. The apostle says, /t matters very
little to me that I am judged by you or by any human day of reckoning. What a

24. Mentioned in the title of the psalm.

25. See Wis 1:16.
252 Exposition of Psalm 41

deep abyss he is! But he goes further: Neither do I judge myself(4 Cor 4:3). Do
you find it difficult to believe that there could be such profundity in any human
being that it is hidden from the person himself? Think, then, what a depth of
human weakness lay hidden in Peter. He did not know what was going on within
him when he kept promising so rashly that he would die with the Lord or for the
Lord.2° What a deep abyss he was! Yet even that depth lay open and naked to
God’s eyes, for Christ told him in advance what Peter himself did not know.
Any human being, even a holy, good-living person, even one who has made
great progress, is a deep place, and such a person caJls upon another depth when
he preaches to another some part of the faith, some part of the truth, with a view
to eternal life. But the deep that preaches is profitable to the deep he calls to if he
calls in the sound of God’s cataracts. Deep calls to deep, one person wins over
another, but not with his own voice only: he calls in the sound of your cataracts.

The depth of God’s judgments

14. Now consider an alternative interpretation. Deep calls to deep at the

sound of your cataracts. | already began to tremble when my soul turned to
myself and was troubled, but I am thoroughly terrified by your judgments, for
your judgments are an unfathomable abyss (Ps 35:7(36:6)), and deep calls to
deep. As we struggle in this mortal flesh, this travailing, sinful flesh, full of trou-
bles and handicaps and liable to immoderate desires, we are already subject to
the penalty imposed by your judgment, for of old you said to a sinner, You shall
certainly die and In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread (Gn 2:17;
3:19). But this is only the first abyss of your judgment. If people live sinfully
here, deep calls to deep, because they pass from punishment to punishment,
from darkness to darkness, from depth to depth, from torment to torment, from
burning lust to the flames of hell. Perhaps it was of this that the psalmist was
afraid when he said, My soul was troubled as it turned to me; therefore I remem-
bered you, Lord, from the territory of the Jordan and from Hermon. I must be
humble, for I am exceedingly frightened by the prospect of your judgments. I
was in sheer terror at the thought, and as it turned to me my soul was troubled.
What judgments of yours struck fear in me? Were they some trivial judgments
on your part? No, your present judgments are already great, and severe, and
grievous; but if only they were all! Deep calls to deep at the sound of your cata-
racts. You threaten us, you tell us that after our present travail a further condem-
nation awaits us: at the sound of your cataracts deep calls to deep. Where shall I
go, then, from your face, whither flee from your spirit,’’ if even after our present
pains more severe pains are to be feared?

Zon sce Un 13:57.

27. See Ps 138(139):7.
 Exposition of Psalm 41 203

Waves and breakers

15. All your breakers and waves have coursed over me. The waves wash over
me in the sufferings I undergo now, but your threats are judgments poised above
me.** All my present hardships are your waves, but all your menaces hang over
me, ready to break on my head. In the waves this abyss that I am calls out, but
behind your impending threats is that other abyss to which this one calls.
Already I flounder amid your waves, but your threats are far more serious and
they hang over me, for a threat is something not yet pressing down, but poised
overhead. Yet you set me free, and therefore I have said to my soul, Hope in God,
because I will confess to him, the salvation of my countenance, my God. The
more my woes are multiplied, the gentler will be your mercy.

Verse 9. Gather the word while you can

16. With this in mind the psalmist continues, The Lord has assured” us of his
mercy in daylight, but he will demonstrate* it at night. When tribulation strikes,
no one has time to listen. Take note while things are going well for you, listen
while you are prospering, learn while you are tranquil. Collect the teachings of
wisdom and the word of God like food, for when we are in trouble we need to feel
the benefit of what we heard in our carefree days. So it is that in your times of
prosperity God assures you of his mercy, telling you that if you serve him faith-
fully he delivers you from trouble; but only at night does he demonstrate to you
that mercy of which he assured you in the daytime. When the trouble is visited
upon you, he does not leave you bereft; he proves to you that his daytime assur-
ance was true. This is why scripture says, Very lovely is the Lord’s mercy in time
of trouble, like a rainy cloud in drought (Sir 35:26). The Lord has assured us of
his mercy in daylight, but he will demonstrate it at night. He can only prove to
you that he comes to your help when tribulation overwhelms you, because then
he who made his promise to you in daylight has the chance to deliver you.
We are urged to imitate the ant, for the same reason.*! Worldly prosperity is
symbolized by daylight, and worldly adversity by the darkness of night; but
another image is provided by the changing seasons. Summer represents pros-
perity, and winter adversity. What does the ant do? Throughout the summer she
collects what will be useful in winter. So you must do likewise: in summertime,
when your enterprises are going well and you are tranquil, listen to the word of
the Lord. How is it possible that in this stormy world you could make your entire
crossing of the sea without running into trouble? How is that possible? Does

28. Suspensiones.
29. Variant: “will assure.”
30. Variant: “has demonstrated.”
31. See Prv 6:6.
254 Exposition of Psalm 41

anyone? If anyone did, that person’s tranquil course would, be,all the more
suspect. The Lord has assured us of his mercy in daylight, but he will demon-
strate it at night.

Verses 9-10. The inner prayer: “Why have you forgotten me?”

17. What must you do, then, while you are on your pilgrimage? How must
you conduct yourself? My prayer to the God of my life is within me. This is what I
do, I, a thirsty deer, longing for the springs of water, remembering the sweetness
of the sound that has led me through the tent, even to God’s house. As long as my
corruptible body weighs heavily on my soul*? my prayer to the God of my life is
within me. To offer supplication to God I have no need to seek exotic gifts from
overseas; for God to hear me I have no need to sail afar and bring back incense
and aromatic spices, or to bring calf or ram from the flock, for my prayer to the
God of my life is within me. Here within me I have the victim I must offer, here
within the incense I must burn, here within me is the sacrifice with which I may
propitiate my God: a sacrifice to God is a troubled spirit (Ps 50:19(51:17)).
Listen to what this inner sacrifice is like, this offering from a troubled spirit: “J
will say to God, You are my protector; why have you forgotten me? | am strug-
gling here as though you were no longer mindful of me. But you are training me,
and I know that you are only delaying what you promised, not disavowing it.**
All the same, why have you forgotten me? Just as our head cried out in our voice,
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me ? (Ps 21:2(22:1); Mt 27:46), so too J
will say to God, You are my protector; why have you forgotten me?”

Verses 10-11. Even my bones are broken

18. Why have you thrust me back? Why have you thrust me away from that
sublime source of understanding and unchangeable truth? I am already panting
for it, so why have I been thrown down to my old life by the burdensome weight
of my sinfulness? This same plea is made in another psalm: Beside myself with
fear or after some kind of ecstasy, where he had seen some glorious vision,
Beside myself with fear, I said, I have been flung far out of your sight (Ps
30:23(31:22)). That suppliant compared his present lot with the wonders he had
attained in his uplifted state, and he saw himself now flung far away from God’s
gaze, as the psalmist does here: Why have you thrust me back? Why must I walk
in deep sadness, while my enemy harasses me and breaks my bones, my enemy
the devil, the tempter? As scandals increase all around, the charity of many

32. See Wis 9:15.

33. Differs mihi, non mihi aufers, quod promisisti.
 Exposition of Psalm 41 Pha fe

grows cold.** When we see even the powerful people in the Church so often
giving way under pressure, does not Christ’s body cry out, “The enemy is
breaking my bones”? Bones are our strong framework, yet even these strong
supports sometimes yield to temptation. When any member of Christ’s body
thinks of this, does he or she not cry out with the voice of Christ’s body, “Why
have you thrust me back? Why must I walk in deep sadness, while my enemy
harasses me and breaks my bones? It is not just my flesh that is under attack, but
my bones too.” You watch them crumble under temptation, even those bones in
which you thought there would be some strength, and so the weak members lose
heart when they see the strong succumb. How dangerous this is, my brothers and
sisters!

Verses 11-12. Where is your God?

19. Those who trouble me have insulted me. And here it comes again, the
same mocking question: They insulted me, as every day they taunt me: Where is
your God? Most of all do they say this when the Church is beset by temptations:
Where is your God? What a lot of insults the martyrs heard, as they suffered
valiantly for Christ’s name: “Where is your God? Let him deliver you, if he can.”
People saw them enduring torments outwardly, but did not see them inwardly
crowned. Those who trouble me have insulted me, as every day they taunt me:
Where is your God? When I have this to contend with, and as my troubled soul
turns to me, what else am I to say to it, except, O my soul, why are you sorrowful,
and why do you disquiet me? But my soul seems to reply, “And how could I not
disquiet you, trapped as | am amid such great evils? I am longing for the good, I
am thirsting, laboring; and you think I could refrain from disquieting you?” But
hope in God, because I will still confess to him. My soul makes the same confes-
sion; it reiterates its hope yet more strongly: “You are the salvation of my counte-
nance, my God.”

34. See Mt 24:12.

 Exposition of Psalm 42 | ,

A Sermon to the People

The song of Christ’s body

.

1. This psalm is a short one, so as you listen it will satisfy your minds without
putting too much strain on your fasting stomachs. Let us hope that our soul may
find nourishment in it, that soul which the psalmist speaks of as sad. I think it is
probably sad because of some fasting on the part of the psalmist, or I should say
because of his hunger, because fasting is a voluntary state, whereas hunger is
something we cannot help. The Church is hungry, Christ’s body is hungry. This
person who is spread worldwide, whose head is on high and whose limbs are
here below—this whole person is hungry. We should hear his voice, her voice,
in all the psalms, jubilating or groaning, rejoicing in hope or sighing with love in
fulfillment; we should hear it as something already well known to us, a voice
most familiar because it is our own. There is no need to make heavy weather over
indicating to you who the speaker is. Only let each of us be within Christ’s body,
and we shall be the speaker here.

A common lot for all, but different desires

2. Now you know that all those Christians who are making progress are like
good seed. These are the people who groan with longing for the heavenly city,
who know they are on pilgrimage, who hold steadily to their road, and who by
their desire for that abiding country have cast their hope ahead like an anchor.!
Christians of this stamp are the good seed, Christ’s wheat which moans amid the
weeds until the time arrives for harvest at the end of the world. Truth himself has
explained this to us, Truth who is never deceived.* The good seed mourns amid
weeds, amid bad people I mean, cheats and seducers, violent and angry folk and
those poisoned by intrigue; it looks round and sees itself growing with them in
the same field all over the world, watered by the same rain, blown on by the same
wind, finding the same nutriment with them and going through the same hard-
ships. It knows that it shares with them all this bounty of God in one common
provision, and that all of it is granted to wicked and to good people without
distinction by him who makes his sun rise over good and bad alike, and sends his

1. See Heb 6:19.

2. See Mt 13:24-30.

256
 Exposition of Psalm 42 aol.

rain on just and unjust.* The good seed, the holy seed, the seed of Abraham, is
aware of how much it has in common with those from whom it will one day be
separated; it is aware of being born in the same way as they are, of inheriting the
same human condition, of carrying a mortal body exactly as they do, of enjoying
the one daylight, the springs and fruits and abundance of this world, and of
enduring its adversities in hunger or plenty, in peace or war, in health and
disease. The holy people knows how much it has in common with the wicked,
yet knows too that it does not make common cause with them; and so it bursts
out, Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from that of an unholy people. It
says, “Judge me, O God; I am not afraid of your judgment, because I have expe-
rience of your mercy. In this in-between time while I am on pilgrimage you do
not yet assign me any distinguished place, because I have to live with the weeds
until the season for harvest. You do not yet distinguish the rain that falls on me,
you do not yet distinguish my daylight; but please distinguish my cause.” Let a
distinction be drawn between one who believes in you, and one who does not. In
weakness they are equal, but in conscience far apart; there is parity of travail,
disparity of desire. The desire of the ungodly will be extinguished; but what of
the desire of the just? We should certainly be apprehensive about that, if the one
who makes the promise were not totally reliable. The goal of our desire is the one
who has promised; he will give us himself because he has already given us
himself. He will give his immortal self when we are immortal, as he has already
given himself to us as mortal in our mortality. Judge me, O God, and distinguish
my cause from that of an unholy people; deliver me from the wicked and
deceitful. The wicked and deceitful are the same as the unholy people. The psalm
mentions them to indicate thatitmeans people of a certain type, for there will be
two people working together, and one will be taken, the other left.*

Verse 2. The cause of your sorrow

3. It takes patience to endure until the harvest a kind of undistinguished

distinction, if we can put it that way. I mean that since the two sorts of growth are
still together, they are still undistinguished; but since the weeds are weeds and
the grain is grain, in that sense they are distinguished already. We need fortitude
as we wait, and we must beg it from him who ordered us to show fortitude, for if
he does not make us into brave people we shall not be so. Let us entreat him to
grant us fortitude, then, since he has said, Whoever perseveres to the end will be
saved (Mt 10:22; 24:13). The psalmist saw the danger that if his soul arrogated
fortitude to itself, it might be enfeebled thereby, so he immediately added, Since
you are my fortitude, O my God, why have you thrust me back? Why must I walk

3. See Mt 5:45.
4. See Mt 24:40.
258 Exposition of Psalm 42

in deep sadness, while my enemy harasses me? He is looking for the cause of his
sorrow. Why must I walk in deep sadness, while my enemy harasses me? he asks.
I am walking in sorrow, and the enemy attacks me with daily temptations,
throwing into my path either attractive things which I should not love, or bogeys
that it would be wrong to fear. The soul battles against both, and though not
captured it is endangered and huddled up in sadness, so it says to God, Why? Let
it ask him, and let it hear the reason why, for here in this psalm we have someone
looking for the cause of the same sadness we know, and demanding of God, Why
have you thrust me back, and why must I walk in deep sadness?
He may find the answer in Isaiah; possibly thé reading we have just heard
may help him in his quest: From me, who gave life to all, a breath of life will go
forth. For a little while I afflicted him on account ofhis sin, and struck him, and
turned my face away from him; and so he went away disconsolate and walked in
his own ways (Is 57:16-17). So did you need to ask, Why have you thrust me
back, and why must I walk in deep sadness? You have heard the reason why: on
account of sin. The cause of your sadness is sin; try to let righteousness be the
cause of your joy. You had the will to sin but did not want the unpleasant conse-
quences. So not content with being unrighteous yourself, you wanted God, from
whose punishment you shrank, to be unrighteous too. A better counsel is offered
you in another psalm: /t is good for me that you have humbled me, so that I may
learn your righteous judgments (Ps 118(119):71). I learned my iniquities in my
arrogance; now let me learn your righteous judgments in my humiliation. Why
must I walk in deep sadness, while my enemy harasses me? Complaining about
your enemy, are you? Yes, he certainly does harass you, but it was you who gave
him a foothold.* You have a recourse now, though. Accept sound advice, open
the door to your King and shut out the tyrant.

Verse 3. Light and truth; the mountain and the tent

4. Now notice what the psalmist says, what prayer he makes to God, so that
this may indeed happen. And offer the very prayer that you hear, make the same
prayer yourself even as you hear it, because this must be the petition of us all:
Send forth your light and your truth. They have led me, bringing me all the way to
your holy mountain and into your tents. “Y our light” and “your truth”: we have
two names here, but one single reality, for what else is God’s light, if not God’s
truth? And what is God’s truth, if not God’s light? But both of these are the one
Christ, who says, / am the light of the world. Whoever believes in me will not
walk in darkness. lam the Way, the Truth and the Life (Jn 8:12; 14:6). He is light
and he is truth. May he come, then, and deliver us, distinguishing our cause from

5. See Eph 4:27.

 Exposition of Psalm 42 259

that of an unholy people even now; may he deliver us from the wicked and
deceitful. May he separate wheat from weeds, for he will send in his angels at
harvest-time to collect from his kingdom all the things that make people
stumble, and throw them into a blazing fire, but his wheat they will gather into
the barn.° He will send forth his light and his truth, for these have already led us,
already brought us to his holy mountain and into his tents. We have the advance
payment, and we hope for the final award. His holy mountain is his holy Church.
This is the mountain that grew out of a tiny stone to smash earthly kingdoms, as
Daniel saw in his vision; so great did it grow that it filled the whole surface of the
earth.’ It is on this mountain that a psalmist knew his prayer had been heard when
he told us, With my voice I cried to the Lord, and he heard me from his holy
mountain (Ps 3:5(4)). Those who pray elsewhere than on this mountain should
not hope to be heard in such a way as to be brought to eternal life. It is true that
many people are heard when they pray with other objects in view, but they have
no cause to congratulate themselves on that, for the demons too were heard when
they begged to be sent into the pigs.* Let us long to be heard so that the issue is
eternal life, in accord with the longing expressed here: Send forth your light and
your truth. This Light seeks the eye of our hearts, for he says, Blessed are the
pure of heart, for they shall see God (Mt 5:8). We are on his mountain at
present—in his Church, that is—and in his tent. A tent is something nomads
lodge in, but a house is where people live together at home.’ A tent is for trav-
elers and for soldiers. So when you hear mention of a tent, understand that there
is a war on, and watch out for the enemy. But what will our home be like?
Blessed are they who dwell in your house; they will praise you for ever and ever
(Ps 83:5(84:4)). :

Verse 4. God is praised with both lyre and psaltery

5. We have already been brought to the tent and assigned our place on his holy
mountain, so what further hope do we cherish? J will go in to God’s altar. There
is an invisible altar on high, to which no unrighteous person has access. The only
person who approaches that altar is one who has no qualms about approaching
this altar here below; there will he find his life, Christ, who at this altar distin-
guishes his cause.!°/ will go in to God’s altar. From his holy mountain, from his

. See Mt 13:41-42.
. See Dn 2:31-45.
. See Mk 5:11-13.
. See note at Exposition of Psalm 26, 6.
—i
on. Illic inveniet vitam suam, qui in isto discernit causam suam. Since God was the subject of
enolic
discernit in earlier paragraphs, and Christ has been referred to as the Life, this seems the best
interpretation; but it would be grammatically possible to take the believer as the subject of both
verbs, and translate, “The person who at this altar distinguishes his cause will find his life at that
other altar.” In either case the background is probably 1 Cor 1 1:28-29, but the allusion would be
clearer if this latter interpretation is the right one.
260 Exposition of Psalm 42

tent, from his holy Church, I will make my entrance to God’s altaron high. What
kind of sacrifice is offered there? The one who enters is taken up into the holo-
caust. J will go in to God’s altar. What does he mean by this approach to God’s
altar? He goes on to develop the idea: to God who makes my youth joyful.
“Youth” symbolizes newness. It is as though he said, “To God who gives joy to
my new condition.” He who saddened my old state now gladdens my newness.
At present I step sorrowfully in my old state, but then I shall stand joyfully in my
newness.
I will confess to you on the lyre, O God, my God. What is the difference
between confessing to him on the lyre,'! and confessing to him on the psaltery?!
We cannot praise him all the time on the lyre, nor always on the psaltery. These
two musical instruments work quite differently, and the distinction between
them is worth considering and committing to memory.!? Each of them is carried
in the hands and plucked manually, which suggests that they represent our
bodily activities. Each of them is good, provided that the player is skilled at the
psaltery and equally skilled on the lyre. But here is the difference: the psaltery
has its vaulted part'* at the top: that wooden, concave, sounding-chamber, its
drumlike piece, I mean, on which the strings are Stretched and which gives them
their resonance. The lyre has its hollow sounding-chamber at the bottom.
Accordingly our activities can be distinguished into those which are played on
the psaltery and those played on the lyre; but both are pleasing to God and melo-
dious in his ears. When we do something in harmony with God’s command-
ments, obeying his orders and careful to comply with his precepts, and when we
feel no pain in the doing,'° that is the music of the psaltery. The angels do this all
the time, and they never feel pain. But sometimes we do suffer from the troubles
and temptations and obstacles on earth. Our pain is then only in our lower part,
because it is due to our mortal condition and the debt of tribulation we contract
from our primitive origins. Moreover the things that give us pain are not above
us. In these cases we are playing the lyre. The sweet sounds proceed from the
lower part; we suffer as we sing our psalms; or rather, we sing and play the lyre.
The apostle used to say that he preached the gospel, and preached it the world
over, in response to God’s command, because he had received this gospel not
from human sources nor through human agency but through Jesus Christ;'° and
when he spoke in those terms, the strings were resonating from above. At other

11. In cithara.
12. In psalterio.
13. He draws it out in several places in his Expositions: see Exposition 2 of Psalm 32, 5; Exposition
2 of Psalm 70, 11; Exposition of Psalm 80, 5.
14. Testitudinem; see note at Exposition 2 of Psalm 32, 5.
15. Ubi facimus et non patimur, This could also be understood as “when we are active and not
passive,” and the following remark about the angels translated in the same sense. But the
emphasis on suffering in the next few lines suggests otherwise.
16. See Gal 1:12.
 Exposition of Psalm 42 261

times he would say, We even glory in our sufferings, knowing that suffering
fosters endurance, and endurance constancy, and constancy hope (Rom 5:3-4);
and then it was the lyre sounding from below, but still very melodiously, for all
patient endurance is melody to God’s ears. But if you give way under tribula-
tions like that, you have broken your lyre.
Why, then, does the psalmist now say, / will confess to you on the lyre?
Perhaps because he had asked earlier, Why must I walk in deep sadness, while my
enemy harasses me? He was experiencing some pain from lowly troubles, yet
even in these circumstances he wanted to please God. He was strong amid his
afflictions and very keen to give God thanks; and since he could not be free from
trouble he paid to God his debt of patient endurance. / will confess to you on the
lyre, O God, my God.

Verse 5. The higher part of the mind converses with its soul

6. The psalmist turns again to his sad soul, hoping to coax some notes from
that sounding-chamber underneath. Why are you sorrowful, O my soul; why do
you disquiet me? he asks. “I find myself amid troubles, sickness and grief. O my
soul, why do you disquiet me?” Who is speaking here, and to whom? He is
speaking to his soul; we all know that. It is obvious that the words are addressed
to his soul. Why are you sorrowful, O my soul; why do you disquiet me ? But what
I am asking is this: exactly who is the speaker? It can’t be the flesh talking to the
soul, can it? Apart from the soul, the flesh has no power to speak. It would be
more fitting for the soul to address the flesh than for the flesh to address the soul.
Yet he did not say, “Why are you sorrowful, O my flesh?” What he said was,
Why are you sorrowful, O my soul?
We might suppose that if he had indeed been addressing his flesh, he might
have said not, Why are you sorrowful? but rather, “Why are you in pain?” The
pain of the soul is called sorrow; the body’s distress may be called pain, but not
sorrow. It is true, of course, that the soul is often saddened by bodily pain, but
even then there is a difference between what is in pain and what is sorrowful, for
the flesh is feeling pain, but the soul is sad; and our psalm says quite plainly, Why
are you sorrowful O my soul? So it cannot be the soul addressing the flesh,
because the psalm did not say, “Why are you sorrowful, my flesh?” Nor can it be
the flesh addressing the soul, because it is absurd to suppose that the lower part
could speak to the higher.
We are therefore given to understand that we have something within us where
the image of God is to be found: our mind or reason. It is this mind that was just
now calling upon God’s light and God’s truth. It is with our mind that we appre-
hend what is just and what unjust, and with it we distinguish the true from the
false. This mind is called our understanding, and it is a faculty not granted to the
beasts. Anyone who neglects his understanding, or subordinates it to other
262 Exposition of Psalm 42

things, or throws it away as though he had none, is admonished in another psalm:

Do not be like a horse or a mule, devoid of understanding (Ps 31(32):9). So it is
our understanding that is addressing our soul here. The soul is drooping in its
troubles, wearied amid anxieties, cringing under temptations and sick with its
toil. But the mind, which apprehends truth from on high, cheers its soul, saying,
Why are you sorrowful, O my soul; why do you disquiet me?

You cannot be wholly free from sin i

7. A conversation of this kind was surely taking place in the conflict where
the apostle typified others, and perhaps even ourselves. / take great delight in
God’s law as far as my inner self is concerned, he says, but I am aware of a
different law in my members (Rom 7:22-23), that is, certain carnal impulses. In
his wrestling, nearly desperate, he invokes the grace of God: Who will deliver me
from this death-ridden body, wretch that Iam? Only the grace of God, through
Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 7:24-25). Even the Lord himself deigned to
prefigure all who engage in a fight like this, for he said, My soul is sorrowful to
the point of death (Mt 26:38; Mk 14:34). He knew what was coming. But could
he have been afraid of suffering, he who had said, I have the power to lay down
my life, and I have the power to take it up again. No one takes it away from me,
but I lay it down of my own accord and take it up again (Jn 10:18)? No, but he
who said, My soul is sorrowful to the point of death, was representing his
members in advance. Often enough our minds firmly believe, and hold it as
certain in faith, that we shall make our way to Abraham’s embrace; yet though
we believe it, the soul is troubled by the imminence of death owing to its famil-
iarity with the present world. But then it bends its ear to the inner voice of God,
and hears within itself the song of reason. In our silence something sounds softly
to us from above, reaching not our ears but our minds. Any who hear that music
are so disenchanted with material noise that the whole of human life seems to
them a confused uproar, which stops them hearing another sound that is
delightful, a sound like no other and beyond description. Indeed, whenever
someone in a very stressful situation feels battered, he or she addresses the soul:
Why are you sorrowful, O my soul, and why do you disquiet me?
This is all the more so because our life can never pass muster as truly pure,
since he who judges us will deliver a perfectly clear, unclouded judgment. A
person’s life may win general approval in human society, so that other people
can find in it no just grounds for reproach. But God’s eyes judge the matter, and
from him proceeds a standard of measurement supremely fair and incapable of
error. In any human being God finds things he must indeed reproach, reprehen-
sible things unseen by anyone else, things which even the person who stands
under judgment was unaware of. Perhaps this was what the soul feared when it
felt so troubled; but the mind spoke to it, as though to offer encouragement:
 Exposition of Psalm 42 263

“Why be afraid about your sins, when you know you have not the strength to
avoid them all? Hope in the Lord, for 1 will confess to him.”” This encouragement
effects some healing at once, and the rest of its sins are purged by faithful confes-
sion. You have good cause to fear if you claim to be just, and do not make your
own the plea in another psalm, Do not sit in judgment on your servant (Ps
142(143):2). Why this prayer, Do not sit in judgment on your servant? Because I
need your mercy. If you hand down judgment without mercy, what will become
of me? Jf you make an inventory of our law-breaking, O Lord, Lord, who will
stand? (Ps 129(130):3). Do not sit in judgment on your servant, for no living
person will be found righteous in your sight. So then, if no living person is found
righteous in his sight, woe betide anyone who lives here, however righteously he
or she may live, if God undertakes to judge. In the words of another prophet God
frequently reprimands the arrogant and proud: Why do you want to dispute your
case at law with me? You have all abandoned me, says the Lord (Jer 2:29). Do
not dispute with him at law; concentrate on being righteous. But then, however
righteous you have managed to be, confess that you are a sinner, and always
hope for mercy. Freed from anxiety by this humble confession,!'’ speak to the
soul that troubles you and raises its hubbub against you: “Why are you
sorrowful, O my soul, and why do you disquiet me? You wanted to trust in your-
self, did you? Hope in the Lord, not in yourself. What are you in yourself? What
are you by your own efforts? Let him be your healing, who was willingly
wounded for you.” Hope in the Lord, because I will confess to him. And what
will you confess? That he is the salvation of my countenance, my God. You are
my face-saving God, and you will heal me. I speak as a sick person to you; I
acknowledge you to be my physician; I do not boast of my health. What do I
mean by saying that I acknowledge the physician, and do not boast of my health?
I mean exactly what another psalm means: J said it myself: Lord, have mercy on
me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against you (Ps 40:5(41:4)).

Fasting, almsgiving and prayer

8. This is a safe saying,'* brothers and sisters; but be vigilant also about good
works. Pluck your psaltery by obeying the commandments, and pluck your lyre
by accepting suffering. You heard Isaiah’s advice: Break your bread for the
hungry (Is 58:7), so do not delude yourself that fasting is all that is required.
Fasting punishes you, but brings no refreshment to anyone else. Your restriction
will be fruitful if it brings amplitude to another. So you have deprived yourself,
have you? But to whom do you mean to give what you denied to yourself? How
do you intend to dispose of what you went without? How many poor people

17. Variant: “persist in this humble confession.”

18. Variant: “This is your voice.”
264 Exposition of Psalm 42

might grow fat on that luncheon we missed! Fast in such a fashjon that while
another person is fed you may feel the contentment of having lunched on your
prayers, which are now more likely to win a hearing, for in the same prophecy
the Lord says, While you are yet speaking, lo, lam here, ifyou willingly break
your bread for the poor (Is 65:24; 58:9,10,7). This kind of gift is often made
grudgingly and in a sulky spirit by those who want to be rid of beggars rather
than to refresh hungry bellies, but God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor 9:7). If you
give your bread grudgingly, you have lost both the food and the merit. Do it with
a good will, so that he who sees within you may say, Lo, J am here, even before
you have finished speaking. How swiftly are the prayers of those who do good
works accepted! This is what human righteousness consists of in this life:
fasting, almsgiving and prayer.'? Do you want your prayer to fly to God? Then
make two wings for it, fasting and almsdeeds.
May the Light of God and the Truth of God find us so employed, and there-
fore free from anxiety, when he comes to deliver us from death, he who has
already come to undergo death for us. Amen.

19. The three classic “good works” already in Jewish piety. See, for example, Tobit 12:8.
 Exposition of Psalm 43

A Sermon to the People

Verse 1. Why God's favor seems to be withdrawn

1. This is a psalm for the children of Korah, as the title prefixed to it declares.
But Korah is interpreted “baldness,”! or “Calvary,” and we find in the gospel that
our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified at a place called Calvary. Clearly, then, this
psalm is sung for the children of his passion. What is more, we have the very
plain and firm testimony of the apostle Paul, who plucked a verse from this
psalm to slip into one of his letters as an exhortation of endurance and a message
of comfort, at a time when the Church was undergoing persecution by the
pagans. The verse he quoted in his letter belongs here: for your sake we are done
to death all day long, reckoned as sheep for the slaughter.” That means that we
should be prepared to hear the voice of martyrs in this psalm. Notice one special
point: the worthiness of the martyrs’ cause is manifested by the words, for your
sake. Similarly the Lord added the phrase, in the cause of right, when he said,
Blessed are those who suffer persecution in the cause of right (Mt 5:10); he did
not want anybody and everybody who was persecuted to seek honor simply from
the fact of suffering penalties, if their cause was not a good one. In the same vein
he encouraged his disciples by saying, “Blessed will you be when people do or
say this or that to you,” but he added, “on my account.” And the same point is
made by the verse in our psalm: for your sake we are done to death all day long.
2. God’s plan is very deep indeed, a plan of profound wisdom which we must
ponder. He led our ancestors, the patriarchs and the whole people of Israel, out of
Egypt with a mighty hand; he drowned their pursuing enemies in the sea; he
conducted them through the territories of peoples who opposed them, trounced
their foes and installed them in the promised land. He won resounding victories
with a mere handful of his own people in the face of vast enemy forces. Yet after
this he chose to turn away from his people, or so it seemed, with the result that his
holy ones were mown down in widespread slaughter, while God lifted no hand
to resist, or defend them, or prevent it. He had apparently turned a deaf ear to
their groaning, as though he had forgotten them, as though he were not the same
God who in his incontestable strength had delivered them from Egypt with a

1. Calvitium; see note at Exposition of Psalm 41, 2.

2. Verse 22; see Rom 8:36.

265
266 Exposition of Psalm 43

mighty hand and outstretched arm, who had settled them in their own realm after
expelling its previous inhabitants, and had struck amazement into all who saw it
by granting to such small numbers victory over powerful forces, time and again.
Now this puzzling fact is what the present psalm sets out to sing about, in a
tone of lament and confession. These things did not happen without purpose, and
we are meant to discover what that purpose was. The events are plain to see, but
the reason for them is something that we must search deeply to find. This is why
the psalm is entitled not simply, “for the children of Korah,” but for under-
standing for the children of Korah. A like purpose is suggested in that other
psalm which begins, My God, my God, look upon me, why have you forsaken
me? When our Lord said that from the cross, he included us in what he was
saying, for we are his body and he is our Head. He was speaking from the cross
not with his own voice but with ours, for God never forsook him, nor did he ever
leave the Father; it was for our sake that he said, My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? This is clear from the line that follows: The tale of my sins leaves
me far from salvation; this demonstrates that it was not in his own person that he
spoke, because no sin could be found in him. / will cry to you all day, and you will
not listen to me, he lamented in that psalm, and in the night there was no hearing
for him either. But he added, You will not collude with my foolishness (Ps
21:2-3(22:1-2)). So if God’s refusal to hear was no collusion with foolishness, it
must have been to promote understanding. What can it mean, to say, “You will
refuse me a hearing, so that I may understand’’? It means, “You will not hear me
when I ask for temporal things, so that I may understand that eternal goods are
what I must desire from you.”
God does not forsake you, even when it looks like that. He takes away what
you misguidedly longed for, and teaches you what you must long for to your true
profit. If God always looked so favorably on our petitions concerning present
prosperity that we had an abundance of everything, and suffered no lack at all in
this time of our mortality, and never felt the pinch or had to go without things, we
would think that these benefits alone are what God grants to his servants, and we
would desire nothing greater from him. This is why God infuses bitter troubles
into what is sweet but harmful to us in this life, to teach us to seek other things
that are sweet and salutary. This is what the title, For understanding for the chil-
dren of Korah, suggests. So now let us listen to the psalm, and try to see the point
more clearly.

Verses 2-3. Contrast: then and now

3. We have heard with our own ears, O God, for our fathers have told us the
story, of the mighty deeds you wrought in their days, in the days of old. They are
perplexed about the reason for God’s apparent decision to abandon them and
 Exposition of Psalm43 267

subject them to painful trials, and they recall’ the past events of which they have
heard from their forebears. The implication is, “These troubles we are under-
going now are nothing like what our ancestors related to us.” It is the same
contrast as that pointed to by the other psalm: Our fathers hoped in you; they
hoped in you and you delivered them. But Iam a worm and no man, scorned by
all and an outcast from the people (Ps 21:5.7(22:4.6)). “They trusted you, and
you delivered them. Have I not trusted you? Yet have you not forsaken me? Was
I mistaken in believing in you, and was it to no purpose that my name was written
in your book, and your name inscribed on me?” So too in our present psalm:
“This is what our ancestors described to us, how your hand scattered the
Gentiles and planted our people, how you reduced those races to weakness and
drove them out. You cleared other nations out of their land in order to bring in
our people, and plant them there, and establish their sovereignty by your loving
kindness. This is what our forebears told us.”

Verse 4. Strength comes from God’s presence

4. But perhaps that earlier generation achieved such feats because they were
strong, because they were warriors, because they were invincible, because they
were highly trained, because they were warlike? “By no means,” says the psalm.
“That is not the tradition our ancestors passed on to us, nor what scripture
relates.” What does it say, then? Only what the next verse tells us: For it was not
by their own sword that they took possession of the land, nor did their own arm
save them, but your right hand, and your arm, and your illuminating face. By
your right hand it means “your power,” and by your arm, “your Son.” But what
does it mean by your illuminating face? That you stood by them and manifested
yourself by such signs that they were aware of your presence. When God helps
us by some wonderful intervention, do we see his face with our own eyes? No, of
course not; but by his miraculous effects he makes people aware that he is
present. Yet all who have been astounded by an event of this sort will say, “I saw
God present there,” won’t they? So when the psalm speaks of your right hand,
and your arm, and your illuminating face, because you were well pleased with
them, it means, “You so dealt with them that you might take pleasure in them,
and that whoever observed your work in them might acknowledge, Truly God is
with these people, God is driving them on.”

3. The verb here, as in “are perplexed” above, is singular in all the manuscripts, but amended to
plural by the CCL editors.
268 Exposition of Psalm 43

Verse 5. God yesterday, tomorrow and today a

Soba

5. What are we to make of that? Was it a different God then? Different from
now? Absolutely not. Look at the next line: You are my same king, my same God.
You are yourself, the same, unchanged. I see the times changing, but the Creator
of time does not change. You are my same king, my same God. As always you
lead me, as always you rule me, as always you come to my help. You who ordain
salvation for Jacob. What does you ordain mean? Even if in your own
substance, O God, in that nature whereby you are what you are, you remained
hidden; even if you were not present to our fathers in your ownessence, in sucha
way that they could see you face to face, still through some created being you
ordain salvation for Jacob. Face-to-face vision is reserved for those who have
been set free by the resurrection. Even though the New Testament fathers saw
your mysteries unveiled, even though they announced the revelation of your
secrets, they still avowed that they saw only ina glass darkly, and that a vision in
face-to-face clarity was reserved for the future,* when the apostle’s promise will
come true: You are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God, but when
Christ appears, Christ who is your life, then you too will appear with him in
glory (Col 3:3-4). Direct face-to-face vision is kept for us until that day, of which
John also speaks: Dearly beloved, we are children of God already, but what we
shall be has not yet appeared. We know that when he appears, we shall be like
him, because we shall see him as he is (1 Jn 3:2). Therefore although our fathers
did not see you face to face, as you truly are, even though that vision is reserved
for the resurrection, and even though it was angels that appeared to them, none-
theless itis you who ordain salvation for Jacob. Not only in your own nature are
you present. Even when you choose to be present through some creature of your
own making, you ordain this for the salvation of your servants, and it is you your-
self who are at work. What is done by those whom you thus ordain for your own
purposes is done for the sake of your servants’ salvation. So then, asks the
psalmist, “Since you yourself are my king and my God, and since you ordain
salvation for Jacob, why do we now endure such distress?”

Verses 6-7. Hope for the future too

6-7. But perhaps what they told us was valid only for the past, and nothing of
the kind is to be hoped for in the future? On the contrary, it certainly is to be
hoped for. By your power we will toss our enemies like straw. Our ancestors
described for us the deeds you wrought in their days, in the days of old, because it
was your hand that scattered the Gentiles, you who uprooted alien peoples and
planted our race instead. Those things are long past; but what of the future? By

4. See 1 Cor 13:12.

 Exposition of Psalm 43 269

your power we will toss our enemies like straw. The time will come for all the
enemies of Christianity to be tossed in the air like straw; may they be blown
about like dust in the wind and swept off the earth. Well then, if the victories of
the past have been recounted for us so graphically, and such great feats
announced for the future, why are we struggling in our present circumstances?
Why else, if not to promote understanding for the children of Korah?
By your power we will toss our enemies like straw, and in your name we will
scorn those who rise against us. This is a promise for the future. For Iwill put no
trust in my bow, just as our fathers put none in their swords. And my sword will
not save me.

Verse 8. Future salvation is as sure as though already past

8. You have saved us from those who afflict us. This statement seems by its
form to refer to the past, but it is made about the future; the verb is in the past
tense to indicate that salvation is as certain as though accomplished already.
Give a moment’s thought to this. Why do many prophets speak as though future
happenings, not seen as yet, were already past? For instance, the passion of our
Lord was still in the future when it was foretold, yet a psalm said, They dug holes
in my hands and my feet, and numbered all my bones; it did not say, “They will
dig,” or “they will number.” It continued, They looked on and watched me, not
“They will look on and watch me.” They shared out my clothing among them (Ps
21:17-19(22:16-18)), it said, not “They will share out.” All these actions were
described as though they were past, yet in fact they were still future, because to
God future events are as certain as though they had already taken place. For us,
things that have happened are certain, but future events are uncertain. We know
something has happened, and it is impossible for something that has happened
not to have happened. Now take the case of a prophet: to him or her a future event
is as certain? as a past event is to you and me; and just as you cannot conceive that
a past event, something you remember occurring, cannot not have happened, so
to the prophet it is inconceivable that what he knows will happen should not
happen. This is why events that are still future are confidently spoken of as
though past. This, then, is a statement of our hope: You have saved us from those
who afflict us, and put those who hate us to shame.

5. One manuscript by inserting anon changes the sense slightly: “Can you find a prophet to whom
a future event is not as certain...”
270 Exposition of Psalm 43

Verse 9. Definitely a future prospect ae as

9. Our boast shall be in God all day long. Notice, though, how the psalmist
does introduce some verbs in the future tense, to help you understand that what
has been couched in the past tense is a prophecy of the future. Our boast shall be
in God all day long, and in your name we will sing praise for ever. Why does it
say here, Our boast shall be and we will praise? Because you have rescued us
from all who afflict us, because you will give us an eternal kingdom, and because
that promise will be fulfilled in us: Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O
Lord, they will praise you for ever and ever (Ps 83:5(84:4)).

Verses 10-11. Present failure

10. Since then the future outcome is certain for us, and equally certain the past
events we heard about from our ancestors, what of the present? But now you have
pushed us away and shamed us. You have shamed us not in our consciences, but
in the eyes of other people. That did happen; for there was a time when Chris-
tians everywhere were under attack and hounded, and everywhere taunted with
the cry, “Look at him, he’s a Christian!” as though that were an insult and a
reproach. Where then is our God, our king, who ordains salvation for Jacob?
Where is he who wrought all those mighty deeds our fathers recounted to us?
Where is he who will do all those things he has revealed to us through his Spirit?
Surely he cannot have changed? No; but these things happen to further the
understanding of the children of Korah. We need to understand something of
why he has willed us to suffer all these things in the intervening period. All what
things? But now you have pushed us away and shamed us, and you no longer go
forth with our armies, O God. We march out against our enemies, but you do not
march with us; we come within sight of them, and they are stronger, and we find
ourselves no match for them. Where is that ancient valor of yours? Where is your
right hand, where is your might? Where the dried-up sea, where the pursuing
Egyptians overwhelmed by the waves?° Where is Amalek offering battle, but
defeated by the sign of the cross?’ You no longer go forth with our armies, O
God.
11. Instead you have forced us back in the face of our enemies, so that it seems
they are in front, we behind, they the victors and ourselves the vanquished. And
those who hate us plundered as they wished. Seizing what? Ourselves.

6. See Ex 14:21-28)
(ase eh. ulgsailey.
 Exposition of Psalm 43 271

Verses 12-13. Disaster

12. You have handed us over like sheep for butchering, and scattered us
among the nations. We have been devoured by the nations, he means. They
suffered in such a way that they seemed to be absorbed into the body of the
Gentiles. So the Church mourns its own members that have been devoured by
the pagans.‘
13. You have sold your people for nothing. We have seen the ones you paid
out, but have not seen anything that you received in return. And there was no
great crowd at their celebrations. No, for when Christians were fleeing from the
idolatrous enemies who persecuted them, was that a time for gatherings and
songs of joy to God? Were hymns being sung then by God’s churches, the hymns
that are our favorites in peacetime, and sound in God’s ears with the sweetness of
fraternal harmony? No, there was no great crowd at their celebrations.

Verses 14-15. The example of the cross

14. You have made us an object of scorn to our neighbors, a butt for their
hissing and derision to all around us. You have set us up as an example among
the nations. What does that mean—an example? People who curse others some-
times point to some third person whom they hate as a standard of comparison:
“May you die like that, may you be punished like him or her.” Plenty of curses
were uttered in those terms, weren’t they? “May you be crucified like him!”
Even today there is no lack of enemies against whom we have to stand up for
Christ, including the Jews themselves, who say to us, “May you die in the same
way as he did!” for they would not have condemned him to such a death if they
had not held that manner of dying in the utmost abhorrence, or if they had under-
stood the mystery concealed in it. If a blind person’s eyes are anointed, he does
not see the salve in the doctor’s hand. For the cross was set up for the persecutors
too. Later on it became the instrument of their healing, and they came to believe
in him whom they had themselves killed. You have set us up as an example
among the nations, a thing at which the peoples wag their heads. This
head-wagging was an insulting gesture, as in another psalm: they mouthed at me
and wageged their heads (Ps 21:8(22:7)). They did that to the Lord; they did it
also to all his saints whom they managed to persecute, and arrest, and mock, and
deliver to judgment, and torment and kill.

8. The reverse of the process mentioned in his Exposition of Psalm 3, 7 where the command
“Rise, Peter, slaughter and eat” (Acts 10:13) is interpreted as the Church assimilating the
(unclean) pagans into its own body.
PGT: Exposition of Psalm 43

Verses 16-17. Disinterested love: further understanding ‘sad

15. My shame confronts me all day long and my blushing face covers me with
confusion, as I hear them berating me and talking me down, as | hear their
insulting words and the charge they fling against me: that I worship you, that I
confess you. They turn that name into a crime to charge me with, the name
through which all charges against me will be blotted out. As / hear them berating
me and talking me down: talking against me, he means. [ am ashamed before the
enemy, the persecutor. iy dak
Now what understanding can we glean from this? The events spoken of as
past will not happen again among us. The future happenings we hope for, but
they are not in evidence yet. In the past you led your people out of Egypt in your
great glory; they were rescued from their pursuers, conducted through Gentile
territory and established in their own kingdom after the expulsion of its previous
tenants. What about the future? Your people are to be led out of the Egypt of this
world when their leader, Christ, appears in his glory; the saints are to be placed at
his right hand, and the wicked at his left condemned to be the devil’s companions
in everlasting punishment; the kingdom is to be awarded to the good by Christ,
for them to enjoy with the saints for ever. These events are still in the future, and
the earlier series is past. What comes in between? Troubles. Why? So that every
soul that worships God may be shown up, and how truly it worships him be
brought into the open; so that the test may be applied: does it freely and disinter-
estedly worship him from whom it freely received salvation?? Suppose God
were to say to you, “What did you give me, to induce me to create you? Even if,
once created, you have deserved me, you could not have deserved me before I
made you.” What are we to say to him who in the beginning made us absolutely
gratis, simply because he is good, and not because we deserved anything? And
then what can we say about our re-creation, our second birth? That eternal salva-
tion was sent to us by the Lord in response to our merits? Certainly not: if our
merits had weighed at all in the matter, he would have come to condemn us. He
came not to assess our deserts but to forgive sins. You did not exist, and you were
created: what did you give to God? You were evil, and you were set free: what
did you give to God? With good reason is grace called grace, for it is given gratis.
So what is required of you is that you worship him gratuitously, not because he
bestows temporal things but because he grants you the good things of eternity.
16. However, you must take care not to go adrift in your thoughts even about
these eternal goods, for if you think about eternal things in a carnal way you will
no longer be worshiping God gratis. How is that? Well, if you worship God
because he gives you a farm, will you refuse to worship him because he takes
your farm away? But perhaps you will counter this by saying, “Yes, Ido worship

9. Utrum gratis colat eum a quo salutem gratis accepit.

 Exposition of Psalm 43 273

him because he is going to give me a house,'° but it is not a temporal dwelling I’m
thinking of.” All the same, your attitude is still a mercenary one. You do not
worship God out of pure love, but because you are seeking a reward from him.
You want to inherit in the next world the things you are bound to leave behind
here; your idea is to transmute your carnal pleasure, not to cut it out. We do not
think highly of the kind of fasting undertaken by someone who is simply saving
himself up for a sumptuous banquet, do we? Sometimes when people are invited
to a great feast they fast beforehand because they want to arrive at it hungry; is
that sort of fasting to be deemed a sign of self-control, or of self-indulgence? Do
not hope that God will give you in heaven the things he commands you to set
little store by on earth. The Jews used to think along those lines, which was why a
certain question preoccupied them. They do indeed hope for resurrection, but
they hope to be raised up to enjoy the same bodily pleasures they love here. Inev-
itably then they faltered when a question was put to them by the Sadducees, who
do not believe in resurrection. The question concerned a woman who married
seven brothers in succession: whose wife would she be at the resurrection? The
Jews were nonplussed, and could not answer. But when the question was put to
the Lord, he replied, You are going wrong because you know neither the scrip-
tures nor the power of God. In the resurrection they will not marry or take wives,
for they will not be faced with death (Mt 22:29-30; Lk 20:35-36). He means that
no replenishment of numbers will be needed where there will be no diminish-
ment,'! and that we are promised a resurrection in which there will be no mere
revisiting of the pleasures we know here, but the possession of eternal joy in God
himself. What will there be? They will be equal to God’s angels (Lk 20:36), he
says. You don’t suppose, surely, that the angels find their enjoyment in daily
banquets, and in the wine on which you get drunk? Or do you imagine that the
angels have wives? Among angels there is none of this. What is the source of
their joy, then? The Lord tells us: Do you not know that their angels perpetually
see the face of my Father? (Mt 18:10). If the angels rejoice in contemplating the
Father’s face, you must prepare yourself for the same joy—unless you can find
something better than seeing the face of God? Woe betide any such infatuation
on your part, if you so much as surmise that there could be anything more beau-
tiful than he, from whom derives all beauty, anything that could so captivate you
that you are not worthy to think of him. The Lord was among us in the flesh, and
appeared as a human being among humans. What did he look like? I have
already told you: like ahuman being among humans. What was special about his
appearance? He was flesh, visible to fleshly creatures. What was so special
about the appearance of one of whom it had been said, We saw him, and there
was no fair form or comeliness in him (Is 53:2)? But who was this, who had

10. Villam.
11. Non ibi quaeritur successor, ubi non erit decessor.
274 Exposition of Psalm 43

neither fair form nor comeliness? None other than he of whom it had also been
said, Fairer are you than any human being (Ps 44:3(45:2)). As man, he had
neither fair form nor comeliness, but he was beautiful from his status above all
human beings. Showing this deformed form of his flesh!” to the eyes of those
who gazed at him, he said, Anyone who cherishes my commandments and keeps
them, that is the one who loves me; and whoever loves me will be loved by my
Father, and I will love him, and will show myself to him (Jn 14:21). He was
promising to show himself to them — himself, whom they were already looking
at. How was that? It was as though he said, “You see the form of a servant, but the
form of God is concealed. With the one I am wooing you, but the other I am
keeping for you; with the one I am nourishing you now while you are still chil-
dren, but with the other I feed you in your maturity.”
This provision is made so that our faith, by which we are purified, may be
made ready for the contemplation of what is invisible. The same was done to
promote understanding in the children of Korah. All those disasters befell them
so that as God’s holy ones were stripped of their possessions, and even of
temporal life itself, they might learn not to worship the eternal God for the sake
of temporal advantages, but in pure love for him to endure all the trials which
they had to undergo for a time.

Verses 18-20. The hard way

17. Now at last the children of Korah have understood. And what do they say?
All these things came upon us, and we did not forget you. Then they expand the
phrase, we did not forget you, by continuing, We did not transgress your cove-
nant, nor did our heart turn back, and you have caused our paths to diverge from
your way. Yes, this really does show understanding, that our heart has not turned
back, that we have not forgotten you, and that we have not transgressed against
your covenant even amid great distress and under persecution from the Gentiles.
You have caused our paths to diverge from your way. Our paths led us among the
pleasures of the world; our paths meandered among temporal prosperity and
wealth; you moved those paths of ours far from your way, and showed us how
narrow and confined is the path that leads to life. And you have made our paths
diverge from your way. What does it mean—you have made our paths diverge
from your way?" He is saying to us, “You are caught amid troubles and you
suffer grievously; you have lost much of what you valued in this world. But I

12. Formam illam deformem carnis ostendens: an oxymoron which the CCL editors soften by
amending to forman illam de forma carnis ostendens: “showing this form from the form of his
flesh.”
13. What, indeed? The thought would have been easier if Augustine’s Latin version had carried on
the negative from the three preceding clauses, to read “and our feet have not strayed from your
way.
 Exposition of Psalm 43 275

have not abandoned you on this way which, as I am proving to you, is narrow.
You were looking for broad paths, but what do I tell you? This is the road that
will lead you to eternal life; if you take the one you are tempted to walk on, you
are heading for death. How broad and spacious is the road that leads to perdi-
tion, and how many there are who walk along it! But how narrow and confined is
the way that leads to life, and how few they are who walk in it!” (Mt 7:13-14).
Who are these “few”? Those who endure distress, those who bear up under trials,
those who amid all these troubles do not give way, those who do not rejoice for a
mere hour or two at hearing the word, but then when things become difficult dry
up as though under scorching sun, but have the root of charity in them, as we
heard in the gospel that was read just now.'* Have that root of charity in you,
brothers and sisters, have the root of charity, I tell you, so that when the sun rises
it will not scorch you, but foster your growth. All these things came upon us, and
we did not forget you; we did not transgress against your covenant, nor did our
heart turn back. But because we bear ourselves like this amid tribulations,
already walking along your narrow way, we can say that you have caused our
paths to diverge from your way.
18. Because you have humbled us ina place of weakness, you will exalt us ina
place of strength. And the shadow of death has covered us. Our present mortality
is the shadow of death, but real death is damnation with the devil.

Verses 21-22. God knows our hearts, though we may not

19-20. If we have forgotten the name of our God: but they have not; this is a
mark of the understanding granted to Korah’s children. And ifwe have stretched
out our hands to any other god, will God not inquire about these things? For he
knows the secrets of the heart. He knows, and he inquires? If he knows the
secrets of the heart, why does he bother to inquire about them there?!> Will God
not inquire about these things? He knows them in himself, but he inquires about
them for our instruction. Sometimes God inquires and seems to be finding out
about some matter because he is making it known to you. He is telling you about
his work, not making some new discovery on his own behalf. We often use a
similar figure of speech: we say, “What a happy day!” when conditions are
favorable, but it isn’t the day itself that is rejoicing, is it? Yet we speak as though
the day were joyful because it makes us joyful. Or again we say, “The sky looks
gloomy.” There is no such emotion in the clouds, but if people see the sky with a
certain aspect they are saddened, and so they call the sky gloomy because it
induces gloom in them. In the same way God is said to learn something when he

14. See Mt 13:3-23; Mk 4:3-20; Lk 8:5-15.

15. Or “If he knows the secrets of the heart, what is that question, Will God not enquire about these
things? doing in the verse?”
276 Exposition of Psalm 43

causes us to learn it. God says to Abraham, Now I know that you fear God (Gn
22:12). Had he been unaware of it until then? No, but Abraham had not known
himself, because only in this trial did he come to know himself. Often enough a
person thinks himself able to do something that in fact he cannot do; and then by
God’s dispensation a testing experience comes his way. Through this testing the
person comes to know himself, and then God is said to have found out the true
facts, which he caused the person concerned to discover. Peter scarcely knew
himself, did he, when he said to the physician, “I will stay with you even to
death”?'° But the doctor had felt Peter’s pulse and,knew what was going on
inside the sick man, though the patient was ignorant of it. Along came the crisis
that put him to the test; the doctor proved that his diagnosis had been right, and
the patient lost his presumption. This is how God both knows and enquires. If he
knows, how can he enquire? Because of you, so that you may find yourself, and
give thanks to him who made you.'” Will God not enquire about these things?
21. For he knows the secrets of the heart. What is the meaning of this? What
secrets are meant? For your sake we are done to death all day long, reckoned as
sheep for the slaughter. You may see someone put to death, but the true reason
he or she is put to death you do not know. God knows it, but it is a hidden matter.
When I said that, did someone object, “We do know. He is imprisoned for the
name of Christ, for confessing the name of Christ’’? But the heretics confess
Christ’s name too, don’t they? Yet it is not really for him that they die.'* That is
not all: even in the Church itself—yes, in the Catholic Church, I mean—don’t
you think there have been some in the past, and may still be some, who have
suffered for the sake of winning renown? If there were no such people, the
apostle would hardly have said, /f/ deliver my body to be burnt, yet have no love,
it profits me nothing (1 Cor 13:3). He must have known that there would be some
who would do even that for boastful motives, not out of love. This is why we
must recognize that the real motive is obscure; God alone sees it, we cannot. He
alone who knows the secrets of our hearts is competent to judge. For your sake
we are done to death all day long, reckoned as sheep for the slaughter. As Ihave
pointed out already, the apostle Paul used this text to encourage martyrs not to
faint under the sufferings they face for Christ’s name.

16. See Mt 26:35.

17. The ideas in this paragraph are very similar to those in Exposition 1 of Psalm 36, 1.
18. Augustine’s view on “good works” performed outside Catholic unity was very stern; here he
seems logically but harshly not to recognize true martyrdom when those put to death are
heretics. But there is some doubt about the correct reading, some manuscripts inserting anon:
“Why do the heretics not confess. . . .”
 Exposition of Psalm 43 PIG

Verse 23. Arise, Lord!

22. Arise, why do you sleep, O Lord? To whom is that cry addressed, and who
utters it? Should we not rather think that the person who could say, Arise, why do
you sleep, O Lord? was asleep and snoring'® himself? But the psalmist replies, “I
know what I am saying. I know that he who guards Israel does not fall asleep”;”°
yet the martyrs shout, “Arise, why do you sleep, O Lord? O Lord Jesus, you were
slain, you fell asleep in your passion, and for us you are already risen, for we
know it, we know you have risen. Why did you arise? The pagans who are perse-
cuting us think you dead; they do not believe that you rose again. Arise for them
too. Why do you sleep—not for us, but for them? If they believed that you are
already risen, would they have been able to persecute those who believe in you?
But why do they persecute us? ‘Stamp them out, kill them, whoever they are, any
who have believed in some fellow who met a shameful death,’ they say. For
them you are still asleep; arise, so that they may understand that you are risen,
and may cease their uproar.”
And so while the martyrs are dying, and praying like this, they fall asleep
themselves, and by their falling asleep they arouse Christ who was truly dead;
for Christ can be said to have risen among the pagans in the sense that they have
come to believe that he is risen. Little by little, as they have believed and have
been converted to Christ, they have so greatly swelled our numbers that the
persecutors have taken fright and stopped persecuting us. How has it happened?
Because Christ, who was formerly asleep for the pagans when they did not
believe, has now risen among them. Arise, and do not reject us for ever.

Verses 24-25. Ultimate humiliation

23-24. Why do you turn your face away as though you were not present, as
though you had forgotten us? Why do you forget our need and our distress? For
our soul was crushed down in the dust. Where is it crushed down, humiliated? In
the dust, he says, which implies, “The dust is persecuting us. These people are
persecuting us of whom you said elsewhere, The ungodly are not like the righ-
teous, but like dust which the wind sweeps away from the face of the earth (Ps
1:4). Our soul was crushed down in the dust; our belly stuck to the ground.” It
seems to me that the psalmist describes here the pain of ultimate humiliation by
using the image of someone who has fallen flat on his face, so that his belly is
stuck to the earth. If a person is so far humiliated that he is brought to his knees,
there is still further down to go; but if he is brought so low that his belly is
sticking to the ground, no further humiliation is possible for him, for if anyone

19. Halare. Variants include balare “to bleat, talk foolishly”; balare et ululare “bleat and wail.”
20. See Ps 120(121):4.
278 Exposition of Psalm 43

tries to push him down further, it will not be humiliation?! but burial. So perhaps
what the psalm is saying here is, “We have been utterly humiliated in the dust,
crushed so low that no further humiliation remains for us. Since our humiliation
has reached its nadir, may your mercy reach us now.”

Another interpretation: those who fail

25. Another thought, brothers and sisters: could we not think that in these
words the Church is mourning those whom the persecutors persuaded to deny
their God? Then it would be those who held firm under persecution who say, Our
soul was crushed down in the dust, that is, “At the hands of that dust, at the hands
of godless persecutors, our soul was crushed down in the dust, so as to evoke
from us a prayer to you, acry for your help to deliver us from our ordeal. But our
belly stuck to the ground.” They mean that “our belly” consented to the impious
persuasion of that dust; for that is what the expression “stuck to” implies. When
you love God, when you burn with charity toward him, you rightly say to him,
My soul has clung to you and It is good for me to cling tightly to God (Ps
62:9(63:8); 72(73):28). To cling to God is to do his will. It makes sense, then, to
say of the belly that it clung to the earth, when we mean those people who could
not hold out under persecution, but yielded to the will of the wicked; for this is
how they “stuck to the earth.”
But why are they called “the belly”? Because they are carnal. It suggests that
the Church’s mouth is to be found in the saints, in spiritual people, and the
Church’s belly in the carnal. This is why the Church’s mouth is plainly visible,
but its belly is covered up, as befits something weaker and more vulnerable.
Scripture supports this interpretation in the passage where someone says he was
given a book to eat, and the book was sweet in my mouth, but bitter in my
stomach (Rv 10:10). What can that mean? Surely that the highest precepts,
which spiritual persons accept, are unacceptable to the carnal, and that
commands which delight the spiritual only give the carnal indigestion. What is
in that book, brothers and sisters? Go and sell all you possess, and give the
money to the poor (Mt 19:21). How sweet is that command in the Church’s
mouth! All the spiritual have obeyed it. But if you tell any sensual person to do
that, he or she is more likely to walk sadly away, as the rich man in the gospel
walked away from the Lord, than to fulfill the injunction. Why does a carnal
person walk away? Because that book, so sweet to the mouth, is bitter in the
belly. You have given any amount of gold and silver, have you? But now the
question arises about some particular item: unless you give it up, you may
commit some sin, or perhaps cheat the Church, or be tricked into some blas-
phemy. You are in a tight spot, caught between losing money and losing righ-

21. The root of the word “humility” is humus, “earth, ground, soil.”
 Exposition of Psalm 43 279

teousness. You are advised, “Let go of the money, and keep hold of
righteousness.” But righteousness does not taste pleasant in your mouth, for you
are still weak, still among those members the Church assigns to its stomach. You
are grieved, and you choose to drop some element from your righteousness
rather than even a coin from your money. By so doing you wound yourself more
seriously, keeping a full purse but being left with an empty heart. Perhaps it was
of people like these that the psalm said, Our belly stuck to the ground.

Verse 26. Unmerited help

26. Arise, Lord, help us. Truly, truly, dearest friends, he did arise and he has
helped, for when he arose—rose from the dead, I mean—and when he made
himself known to the pagans, and the persecutions ceased, even those who had
stuck to the earth were scraped off it, and did penance, and were restored to the
body of Christ. Weak they were, imperfect they were; but they were restored, so
that the scripture might be fulfilled in them: Your eyes beheld my imperfection,
and in your book all shall be written (Ps 138(139):16).
Arise, Lord, help us, and redeem us for the sake of your name. That means,
“gratis.” Not for any deserving on my part, but because of your name; because it
is worthy of you to do this and not because I am worthy to receive your help.
Even the fact that we did not forget you, that our heart did not turn back, that we
did not stretch out our hands to any other god—even this would have been
beyond our power had you not been helping us. How could we have found the
strength for it had you not been speaking to us within, encouraging us, and never
deserting us? Whether we are enduring amid troubles or rejoicing amid pros-
perity, redeem us, not for any merit of ours, but for your own name’s sake.
 Exposition of Psalm 44

A Sermon preached in the Restored Basilica

on Wednesday, 2 September'

Verse 1. Childish mockery of a bald man

1. We have joyfully sung this psalm with you, and now I beg you to study it
carefully with us. It is a song about a sacred marriage, about a bridegroom and
his bride, a king and his people, the Savior and those who are to be saved.
Anyone who has arrived at this wedding properly dressed in wedding clothes
(not to attract attention to himself or herself, but in honor of the Bridegroom) will
not be content just to listen eagerly. That is what people ordinarily do when all
they are looking for is entertainment, and they have no intention of letting what
they see or hear affect their behavior. But a properly disposed guest also takes to
heart a word that will not lie there idle, but will germinate, burst into flower,
grow, reach perfection, and yield fruit for harvesting. As the title of the psalm
indicates, we must be the children of Korah. No doubt the original children of
Korah were historical persons; but every title found in the divine scriptures
offers a hint to alert minds, demanding not merely a hearer, but a perceptive one.
We can investigate the meaning of the Hebrew word, and find out what “Korah”
means and, as is the case with all the words in scripture, an interpretation is at
hand. “The children of Korah” means “the children of the bald man.” You must
not think that funny. We do not want to be like those tittering boys with their
childish minds, whom we read about in the Book of the Kingdoms.’ They
mocked the prophet Elisha by shouting after him, Off you go, baldy, off you go,
baldy! Those silly, prattling children jeered at him to their own destruction, for
wild beasts came out of the woods and devoured them. This is what scripture
says, and we have reminded you where it was written.’ Let those who remember
it recognize the reference, and those who do not remember look it up, and those
who have not read it at all take our word for it. Since that episode was a symbol of
future realities, it should not upset us. Those boys represented stupid people,
people with ignorant minds, and the apostle does not want us to be like that. Do
not be childish in your outlook, he says. But then he qualifies it, because he
remembers that the Lord invited us to imitate children when he placed a little

1. Possibly in A.D. 403.

2. That is, 2 Kings 2:23-24, in our system.
3. See note at Exposition of Psalm 41, 2.

280
 Exposition of Psalm 44 281

child before him and warned us, Only someone who becomes like this child will
enter the kingdom of heaven (Mt 18:3). So after bidding us grow out of childish
attitudes, the apostle is careful to remind us in what sense we must be childlike:
Do not be childish in your outlook, he says. Be babes in your innocence of evil,
but mature in mind (1 Cor 14:20). Anyone who delights to be childlike is not
delighted by the immaturity of children, but by their innocence; for it was imma-
turity that incited the boys to jeer at God’s holy man for his baldness, and shout
after him, Baldy! Baldy! So it came about that they were devoured by wild
animals, and represented people who with the same childish attitude mocked at a
certain man who could be called “bald” because he was crucified at a place
named Calvary. Such people behaved as though they had been seized by wild
beasts, because they were in fact possessed by demons, by the devil and his
angels, for he is at work in God’s rebellious subjects.* Childish onlookers they
were who stood before the sacred tree wagging their heads and saying, Let him
come down from the cross, if he is the Son of God (Mt 27:42).
Weare Christ’s children, because we are the children of the Bridegroom,° and
this psalm is written for us, as its title proclaims: For the children of Korah, for
those things which will be changed.°®

The world has changed, and so have we

2. There is no need, is there, for me to explain what is meant by for those

things which will be changed? What should I say about it? Anyone who has been
changed will recognize from personal experience what it means. Let all who
hear this phrase, for those things which will be changed, reflect on what they
once were, and what they are now. And let them consider first of all how the
world has altered. Not long ago it worshiped idols, now it worships God; until
recently it paid cult to the things he made, but now to him who made it. Notice
when this was said, “for those things which will be changed.” The pagans who
are still left are terrified by the changed state of affairs; unwilling to be changed
themselves, they see our churches brought into commission again and their
temples abandoned, celebration in the one and desolation in the other. They are
astonished at the change, but let them read the prophecies that announced it; let
them bend an ear to him who promised it, and believe him now that he has made
his promise good.
But that is not all, brothers and sisters. Each one of us is being changed from
an old self into a new self, from an unbeliever into a believer, from a thief into a

4. See Eph 2:2.

5. See Mt 9:15; Lk 5:34.
6. One codex has “Unto the end, for the children. . . .”” The CCL editors amend the second clause
to “for those [people] who will be changed.”
282 Exposition of Psalm 44

generous giver, from an adulterer into a chaste person, from a spiteful trouble-
maker into a kindly neighbor. So let the psalm be sung for us, for those things
which will be changed; and now let him be delineated through whom the
changes are brought about.’

The Word weds the Church; the Bridegroom’s beauty

3. The full title is, For those things which will be changed, for the children of
Korah, for understanding. A song for the beloved ene. This beloved one was
seen by his persecutors, but not for their understanding, for if they had known
him, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory.* It was for the purpose of
understanding that he himself was seeking a different kind of eyes when he said,
Whoever sees me sees the Father (Jn 14:9). Let the psalm now sing of him, and
let us rejoice at his marriage, and so be among those of whom the marriage is
made, who are invited to the wedding: these invited guests are themselves the
bride, for the Church is the bride, and Christ the Bridegroom. It is customary for
appropriate songs to be sung by students? to both spouses. These songs are called
epithalamia, and are devoted to honoring bridegroom and bride. Perhaps you are
wondering whether there is any bridal chamber'® at this wedding to which we
have been invited? Yes, there is; why else would another psalm say, He has
pitched his tent in the sun, and he is like a bridegroom coming forth from his tent
(Ps 18:6(19:5))? The nuptial union is effected between the Word and human
flesh, and the place where the union is consummated is the Virgin’s womb. It is
flesh, very flesh, that is united to the Word; as scripture says, They are two no
longer, but one flesh (Mt 19:6; see Eph 5:31). The Church was drawn from the
human race, so that flesh united to the Word might be the Head of the Church,
and all the rest of us believers might be the limbs that belong to that Head.
Do you want to see who he is, who has come to his wedding? Jn the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God; he was God (Jn 1:1). Let the bride be
happy, then, for she has been loved by God. And when was she loved? While she
was still ugly, for, as the apostle says, All have sinned, and are in need of the
glory of God, and again, Christ died for the impious (Rom 3:23; 5:6). She was
loved in her ugliness, that she might not remain ugly. It was not because she was
ugly that she was loved; her ugliness was not itself the object of his love. If he

7. Per quem commutata sunt, “through whom these [things] have been changed”; but the CCL
editors amend to per quem commutati sunt, “through whom they [Christians] have been
changed.”
Spee. COMO:
9. Ab scholasticis. The CCL editors supply a doubtful suggestion from one codex that the word
should be scoliasticis, derived from a Greek word for a festive song sung between servings of
drinks at a banquet.
10. Thalamus.
 Exposition of Psalm 44 283

had loved that, he would have preserved it, but in fact he rid her of her ugliness
and formed beauty in her.
To what kind of bride did he come, and what did he make of her? Let him
come himself in the words of the prophets, let him come now. Let the Bride-
groom come forth and show himselfto us, and let us love him. But if we find any
trace of ugliness in him, let us love him not. What a strange thing! He found
plenty of ugly features in us, yet he loved us; but if we find anything ugly in him,
we must not love him. It is true that he put on our flesh in such a way that it could
be said of him, We saw him, and there was no fair form or comeliness in him (Is
53:2), but if you take account of the mercy that caused him to be reduced to such
a state, he is beautiful even in his deformity. The prophet was speaking from the
standpoint of the Jews when he said, We saw him, and there was no fair form or
comeliness in him. Why is that so? Because his lowly state was no use to them for
understanding. For all who do understand, the truth that the Word was made
flesh (Jn 1:14) is supremely beautiful. A friend of the Bridegroom prayed, Far be
it from me to boast, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal 6:14). It
would be a mean-spirited thing merely not to be ashamed of it; you must boast of
it. Why did Christ have neither fair form nor comeliness? Because Christ cruci-
fied was a scandal to the Jews, and foolishness to Gentiles. But in what sense was
he fair of form on the cross? Because God’s foolishness is wiser than human
wisdom, and God’s weakness more powerful than human strength.'! Let us
therefore, who believe, run to meet a Bridegroom who is beautiful wherever he
is. Beautiful as God, as the Word who is with God, he is beautiful in the Virgin’s
womb, where he did not lose his godhead but assumed our humanity. Beautiful
he is as a baby, as the Word unable to speak,'?because while he was still without
speech, still a baby in arms and nourished at his mother’s breast, the heavens
spoke for him, a star guided the magi, and he was adored in the manger as food
for the humble. He was beautiful in heaven, then, and beautiful on earth: beau-
tiful in the womb, and beautiful in his parents’ arms. He was beautiful in his
miracles but just as beautiful under the scourges, beautiful as he invited us to life,
but beautiful too in not shrinking from death, beautiful in laying down his life
and beautiful in taking it up again, beautiful on the cross, beautiful in the tomb,
and beautiful in heaven.
Listen to this song to further your understanding, and do not allow the weak-
ness of his flesh to blind you to the splendor of his beauty. The supreme and most
real beauty is justice: if you can catch him out in any injustice, you will not find
him beautiful in that regard; but if he is found to be just at every point, then he is
lovely in all respects. Let him come to us, so that we may gaze on him with the

MeScenConie2s 2a:
12. Infans Verbum.
284 Exposition of Psalm 44

eyes of our spirit, as he has been delineated for us by the prophet who sang his
praises, and began, My heart overflows with a good word.

Verse 2. The Father speaks

4. My heart overflows with a good word. Who is speaking here—the Father,

or the prophet? Some have understood these words to be spoken by the Father,
who by saying, My heart overflows with a good word, gives us an inkling of a
birth beyond the power of human telling. But notice that he says, Cor meum; this
is to save you from any mistaken idea that God needed to undertake something in
order to beget a Son. A human being does have to undertake something, namely
sexual union, in order to procreate children; without this human parents cannot
bring children to birth. But you must not suppose that God needed any such
union in order to beget his Son; and to exclude that mistake he says, My heart
overflows with a good word. Think, every one of you: this very day your heart
generates a plan, but your heart does not need to seek a wife in order to do so.
Through this plan that has been born from your heart you perhaps build some-
thing. Before your construction stands there built, it stands already in your plan;
what you are going to construct is already present in your intelligence, through
which you are going to make it. So you can take satisfaction in an edifice that
does not yet exist, not because you can see it as a building but because you have
brought it to birth as a plan, though no one else can approve your plan unless you
have told others about it, or they see the finished job.
If, then, all things were made through the Word, and the Word is from God,
contemplate the fabric that was made through the Word, and proceed from the
completed building to admire the master-plan. What must the Word be like, if
through him were made the sky and the earth, and all the sky’s array, all the
earth’s fecundity, the vast expanse of the sea, the wide air, the shining stars and
the radiance of sun and moon? All these things are visible; but pass beyond even
these, and consider the angels, the authorities, thrones, sovereignties and
powers; all these were made through him. And how comes it that all these
things were created good? Because the good Word was uttered, through whom
they came to be. So the Word is good, and this Word was addressed by someone
as Good Teacher, yet the Word himself deprecated this address: Why do you ask
me about what is good? No one is good, except the one God (Mt 19:17; Mk
10:18). How are we to interpret this? Someone addressed him as Good Teacher,
and he asked, Why do you ask me about what is good? He even added, No one is
good, except the one God. How then can he himself be good? Because he himself
is God, and moreover is one God together with the Father; for when he said, No
one is good, except the one God, he did not separate himself from the Father, but

I3ysee Gol ter

 Exposition of Psalm 44 285

asserted their unity. My heart overflows with a good Word: this can be under-
stood, then, as God the Father’s statement about his good Word, our God, our
benefactor, that good Word through whom alone whatever we have of goodness
is possible.
5. The next line is, / tell my works to the king. Is this still the Father speaking?
If itis, let us see how we can also interpret this consistently with the true Catholic
faith. / tell my works to the king. If itmeans that the Father tells his Son, our King,
about his works, what can it mean? What works can the Father tell his Son about,
when all the Father’s works are performed through the Son?
Perhaps the verb, / tell, refers to the eternal generation of the Son? Can that be
it? | am afraid that this explanation may at some points be difficult for those of
slower intelligence to grasp; but I will offer it all the same, and let anyone follow
who can. It is better so, because if I don’t explain at all, even those capable of
following will not have the chance. Here we are, then: in another psalm we read,
Only once has God spoken (Ps 61:12(62:11)). He spoke many times through the
prophets, and many times through the apostles; today he speaks through his
saints; yet the psalm says, Only once has God spoken. How can he be said to have
spoken once only, unless we take it to mean his utterance of his Word? In the
preceding line we understood my heart overflows with a good Word to mean the
begetting of the Son, and this next line seems to me to be a repetition of the same
truth: my heart overflows with a good Word is reiterated in the verb, J tell. After
all, what does / tell mean? “I bring forth a word.” And from where does God
bring forth a Word, if not from his heart, from his innermost being? Any word
you speak yourself you bring forth from your heart; there is no other source for
the word that sounds audibly and then fades away. Are you surprised that the
same should be true for God? But there is this difference: God’s speaking is
eternal. You say something now, because you were silent a moment ago. Or
perhaps you do not yet speak your word, you hold it back. When you do begin to
bring it out you are breaking your silence and giving birth to a word that did not
previously exist. Not in this manner did God generate his Word, for God’s
speaking has no beginning and no end; yet he speaks one Word only. He could
speak another only if what he had spoken could pass away; but as he by whom
the Word is spoken abides eternally, so too does the Word he speaks abide. This
Word is spoken once, and never ceases to be spoken; nor had the speaking of it
any beginning; nor is it spoken twice, for what is spoken once never passes
away. Accordingly my heart overflows with a good Word signifies the same as [
tell my works to the King.
But still, why does it say, / tell my works? Because in this uttered Word are all
the works of God. Whatever God was to create was already present in the Word.
Nothing could have existed in the created order that was not present in the Word,
just as nothing can be in your own handiwork that was not present in your plan.
The gospel makes this plain by saying, What was made was alive in his life (Jn
286 Exposition of Psalm 44

1:3-4). Created beings existed, but only in the Word; they were’ there in the
Word, though they had as yet no existence in themselves. But the Word was, and
this Word was God; this Word was with God and was the Son of God, and was
one God with the Father. / tell my works to the King. Let anyone who under-
stands about this Word listen to the Speaker, and contemplate both the Father
and his everlasting Word, in whom are present all things that will come to be in
the future, as are present still all those that have passed away. These are the
works of God: works in his Word, in his only-begotten Son, in the Word of God.
6. Now, how does the psalm continue? My tongueis the pen of a scribe
writing swiftly. What possible resemblance can there be, brothers and sisters,
between God’s tongue and a scribe’s pen? Well, what resemblance is there
between a rock and Christ? Or a lamb and our Savior? Or a lion and the strength
of the only-begotten Son?!* Yet these comparisons were made, and it is only
because they were that we are in some measure educated through visible things
toward apprehension of the invisible. So too with this humble metaphor of the
pen: we should neither equate it with the excellent reality it points to, nor reject it
as unworthy. But I wonder why God willed to call his tongue the pen of a
swiftly-writing scribe? After all, however rapidly d scribe might be able to write,
it would not bear comparison with the speed of which another psalm speaks:
Very swiftly runs his word (Ps 147:15). However, insofar as the human mind
may presume to understand, I think that this comparison, my tongue is the pen of
a scribe, may also be taken as spoken by the Father. Ordinarily what is spoken
with the tongue makes a sound and then fades away, whereas what is written
endures; but when God speaks his Word, it does not make a transient sound and
then fade, but is spoken and abides, and therefore God has chosen to compare it
with the abiding written word rather than with sounds. By adding, A scribe
writing swiftly, he has prodded our minds toward further understanding; and
they must not be lazy, content to think of those who copy ancient texts, or very
nimble secretaries. If we concentrate on these, our minds will proceed no
further. Think swiftly of the word, swiftly; turn that word, swiftly, over in your
mind. What does it suggest—swiftly? God’s speed is so great that nothing could
be swifter. When people write they form letter after letter, syllable after syllable,
word after word; and there is no passing on to the next until the one before has
been properly written. But with God there are not many words, nor is anything
left out, but all things are comprised in one Word; so nothing could be swifter.

Verse 3. The Bridegroom brings grace

7. But look—this eternal Word so uttered, the coeternal Word of the eternal
Father, will come as Bridegroom. Fair are you beyond all humankind. Why does it

14. See 1 Cor 10:4; Jn 1:29; Rv 5:5.

 Exposition of Psalm 44 287

not say, “Beyond the angels”? What did it imply by beyond humankind? Surely,
that he too is human. But to ensure that you do not put the man Christ on a par with
any other human, it says that he is fair beyond all humankind. He is human indeed,
but beyond all humans; he is among humans, but beyond them; he takes his human
birth from humankind, but he is beyond all humankind. Grace bedews your lips.
Elsewhere we read, The law was given through Moses, grace and truth came
through Jesus Christ (Jn 1:17). Grace bedews your lips. Truly such help was
necessary for me, because / take great delight in God's law as far as my inner self is
concerned, but lam aware of a different law in my members that opposes the law of
my mind, and imprisons me under the law ofsin inherent in my members. Who will
deliver me from this death-ridden body, wretch that I am? Only the grace of God,
through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 7:22-25). This is why our psalm says, Grace
bedews your lips. He came to us with the word of grace on his lips, with the kiss of
grace. What could be sweeter than grace like this? And with what is it concerned?
Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered (Ps
31(32):1). If he had come as a strict judge, without this grace bedewing his lips,
who would have had any hope of salvation? Would anyone have been unafraid of
what was owing to a sinner? But he came bringing grace, and so far from
demanding what was owed to God, he paid a debt he did not owe. Did one who was
sinless owe a debt to death? But you, what was owing to you? Punishment. He
canceled your debts, and paid off debts that were none of his. This is mighty grace.
Grace—why “grace”? Because it is given gratis. It is up to you to give thanks, then,
but not to repay him, for that you cannot do. Looking for some means of making
recompense to God, a psalmist asked, What return shall I make to the Lord for all
his bounty to me? Then he seemed to find something: J will take in my hands the
cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord (Ps 115(116):12-13). So you
think to make sufficient repayment to him, because you take in your hands the cup
of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord? But who gave you this cup of salva-
tion?
The psalmist confined himself to thanksgiving, since he fell far short of making
due recompense. Find something that you can give to God that you did not receive
from him, and then you will be in a position to make proper repayment. But be
careful, because when you look for something to render to him that you did not first
receive from him, you may find it, certainly, but all you will find is your sin. That
certainly you did not receive from him, but neither is it fit for you to offer. That is
what the Jews gave him—evil for good. They received rain from him, but yielded
him no fruit, only painful thorns. Whatever good there is in you that you want to
give to God, you will discover that you received it from no one else but God. This is
the grace of God, bedewing Christ’s lips. He made you, and made you gratis, for he
could not give anything to you before you were there to receive it. Then when you
had gone to ruin, he sought you; he found you and called you back again. He did not
288 Exposition of Psalm 44

hold your past sins against you, and he promised you good things for the future.
Truly, O Christ, grace bedews your lips. rhe
8. Therefore God has blessed you for ever, says the psalm. It would be straining
the text to understand this phrase also—therefore God has blessed you for ever
—as spoken by God the Father. It seems better to assume that the prophet is
speaking here in his own person. Sudden changes of speaker, even entirely unex-
pected changes, are commonly found in the sacred scriptures; anyone who looks
carefully will find that the pages of holy writ are full of them. For instance, another
psalm prays, O Lord, rescue my soul from wicked lips and the guileful tongue; but
immediately it continues, What is to be given to you, what shall be added to you,
that you may withstand the deceitful tongue? Obviously there are two different
speakers here, one making a petition, the other responding with help. One speaker
says, Sharp arrows of the mighty one, with all-devouring coals, the same one who
asked, What is to be given to you, what shall be added to you? But in the next line
the petitioner resumes, Alas, how long-drawn-out is my wayfaring! (Ps
119(120):2-5). Such frequent switches within a few lines alert us to use our intelli-
gence. The place where the speaker changes is not noted; there is no indication,
“Man says this; God says that”; but the words themselves make clear to us which
belong to the human speaker, and which to God.
It was aman who said, My heart overflows with a good word; I tell my works
to the king. A man said this, the man who wrote the psalm, but he said itin God’s
name. But now he begins to speak in his own person: Therefore God has blessed
you for ever. God had said, Grace bedews your lips, to the one whom he had
made fair beyond all humankind, for this Son whom he had begotten before all
ages, this eternal Son whom he, the eternal Father, had brought forth, God had
also made to be a man. On this account the prophet was filled with a joy that he
could scarcely express. He had spoken earlier as from God, but now, contem-
plating what God the Father would reveal about his Son to humankind, the
prophet says as from himself, Therefore God has blessed you for ever. Why
blessed? Because of grace. With what is grace concerned? With the kingdom of
heaven. The Old Testament had promised a land; but the reward promised to
those subject to the old law was different from that promised to us under grace.
The land slipped away from them, and that land was all the kingdom that they
were destined for, those people subject to the law; but the kingdom of heaven
that belongs to the children of grace does not slip away. That is why our psalm
says here, God has blessed you, not for a time only, but for ever.

An alternative interpretation: the psalmist has spoken throughout

9. However, some people have preferred to consider all the words we have so
far considered as spoken by the prophet himself. Thus the line, My heart over-
 Exposition of Psalm 44 289

flows with a good word, would be the prophet’s way of announcing his hymn
(for when anyone sings a hymn to God, his or her heart is blurting out a good
word, just as when anyone blasphemes God, that person’s heart is belching out a
bad word). On this showing the next line, / tell my works to the king, would
signify that the highest duty of every human being is to praise God. It is proper to
God to delight you by his beauty, and your business to praise him with
thanksgiving. If your works are not praise offered to God, you are beginning to
be in love with yourself, and to join the company of those people of whom the
apostle predicts, They will be lovers ofthemselves (2 Tm 3:2). Find no pleasure
in yourself, and let him be your delight who made you; because what you find
displeasing in yourself is what you have yourself brought about in you. Let your
work be praise offered to God; let your heart overflow with this good word. Tell
your works to the King, because the King has created you for this purpose, and
himself given you what you are to offer him. Give back to him his own gifts; do
not try to snatch a share of your inheritance and go off abroad, there to squander
it on harlots and feed pigs. Remember that story in the gospel. But of us too the
glad cry has gone up, He was dead, but has come back to life; he had perished,
but is found (Lk 15:24,32).
10. My tongue is the pen of a scribe writing swiftly. There have been inter-
preters who similarly understood this in the sense that the prophet indicated what
he was going to write, and therefore compared his tongue with a scribe’s pen. He
would have mentioned in particular a scribe writing at speed to suggest that he
would write about things which would come to pass swiftly. So we should
understand “writing swiftly” to mean “writing about swift matters,” or events
which were not to be long delayed. In fact God did not delay long before sending
Christ. How quickly time seems to have rolled by, once it is past! Recall the
generations that preceded you, and you will find that Adam seems to have been
made only yesterday. In the same way we read about all the things that have
happened since that beginning, and they seem to have been accomplished very
swiftly. The day of judgment will arrive swiftly too, so you must forestall it by_
even greater promptitude. It will come quickly, so you must be even quicker
about changing your life. The face of the judge will be upon us, but look to the
prophet’s advice: Let us hasten before his face confessing (Ps 94(95):2). Grace
bedews your lips, therefore God has blessed you for ever.

Verse 4. The sword of division

11. Gird your sword upon your thigh, mighty warrior.'° What sword is this?
Surely your word. With that sword he laid low his enemies, and with that sword

15. This and the following paragraph are quoted by Eugippius (A.D. c.455-535), in his compilation
of extracts from Augustine, much used in the middle ages; he thus provides an independent
witness to the text. The discrepancies are minor.
290 Exposition of Psalm 44

he severed son from father, daughter from mother, daughter;in--law from

mother-in-law; for in the gospel we read, J have come to bring not peace, but a
sword, and again, There will be five in one household ranged in opposition, two
against three, and three pitted against two: a son against his father, a daughter
against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law (Mt
10:34; Lk 12:52-53). What sword sliced them apart, if not the sword Christ
brought? Truly, brothers and sisters, even now we see the same thing happening
daily. Some young man decides to serve God, and thereby offends his father;
they are at loggerheads, one promising an earthly estate, the other in love with a
heavenly inheritance, one promising one thing and the other setting his heart on
something quite different. The father should not think himself slighted, for no
one except God is being preferred to him, yet he goes to law against this son who
wants to serve God. Nonetheless the spiritual sword that divides them is more
powerful than the bonds of flesh that unite them. The same division is effected
between a daughter and her mother, and far more so between a daughter-in-law
and her mother-in-law,!© for sometimes in one household where there is a
daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law, one may be heretical and the other Cath-
olic. But where this sword is powerfully at work, we need not fear any repetition
of baptism.!’ If a daughter can be set in opposition against her mother, how much
more a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law?
12. This division has taken place also on a larger scale, affecting the whole
human race: a son has been severed from his father, because we were once chil-
dren of the devil. To people who were still unbelievers it was said, You are chil-
dren of your father, the devil (Jn 8:44); and where did all our unbelief come from,
if it was not handed down to us from him? He was not our father by creating us,
but we made ourselves his children by imitating him. But now we see the child
set against the father, divided from him. The sword has come into play, the sons
and daughters have found another father and another mother. The devil, who
presented himself as our model, made us into children doomed to death, but the
two parents we have found bring us forth to eternal life.'* So a son has been
divided against his father.
There is also an instance of the division between a daughter and her mother,
because those of the Jewish race who became believers were divided from the
synagogue. Again, a daughter-in-law was set against her mother-in-law,

16. Possibly he is thinking of Monica’s tact in handling difficulties between herself and her
mother-in-law, as described in his Confessions IX,9,20. The division was all the more likely to
be felt in this relationship, where only one party might be Christian, though he goes on to
consider the situation where both are Christian, but one Catholic and the other heretic (or
schismatic).
17. Presumably because the elder relative, if Donatist, might try to insist on it, but a Catholic
daughter-in-law would accept the inevitability of division, and refuse.
18. Evidently God and holy mother Church. But Eugippius has terrenam (earthly) instead of
aeternam (eternal), presumably understanding it of biological parents who are Christians.
 Exposition of Psalm 44 291

because the Christian people of Gentile origin could be called a daughter-in-law,

since its Bridegroom, Christ, was a son of the synagogue. Yes, he was; for where
did his human birth in the flesh come from? From the synagogue. He left his
father and mother to cleave to his wife, that they might be two in one flesh. This
is not some fancy of mine, but a truth attested by the apostle, who says, This is a
great mystery, but I am referring it to Christ and the Church (Eph 5:32). In a
certain sense he did leave his Father: not that he was ever separated from him,
but in that he took human flesh. How was that a leaving of his Father? Inasmuch
as being in the form of God he deemed it no robbery to be God’s equal, yet he
emptied himself and took on the form of a slave (Phil 2:6-7). And how did he
leave his mother? By leaving the Jewish race, as represented by the synagogue,
which clung to the old rites. This was symbolically suggested by the episode
where he asked, Who is my mother, who are my brothers? (Mt 12:48; Mk 3:33).
He was teaching inside’? but they were standing outside. Think about it: aren’t
the Jews standing outside like that even now, while Christ is teaching in the
Church? Now, who is the mother-in-law? The Bridegroom’s mother. And the
mother of our Bridegroom, our Lord Jesus Christ, is the synagogue. Obviously
her daughter-in-law is the Church, which has come from the Gentiles and will
have no truck with circumcision of the flesh, so she is set against her
mother-in-law. Gird on your sword. We have indicated its power.

The sacredness of the thigh

13. Gird on your sword—your word, that is; and gird it upon your thigh,
mighty warrior. Buckle your sword to your thigh. What significance is there in
the thigh? It represents the flesh. That is why a prophecy said, The scepter shall
not be taken from Judah, nora leader from his thighs (Gn 49:10). And remember
Abraham: he had been promised that in his seed all nations would be blessed,”
and the time came for him to send his servant to find and bring home a wife for
his son. It was from this son that would descend the holy seed in whom all
nations would be blessed. Abraham, holding fast in faith to the great name that
would come through the apparent lowliness of his own seed, that is, the Son of
God who would be born from the human race as Abraham’ s descendant, ordered
the servant he was dispatching to swear to him by using a special gesture. Place
your hand under my thigh, he said, and so swear (Gn 24:2-3). It was like saying,
“Place your hand on the altar,” or “on the gospel,” or “on the prophet,” or on
anything sacred. “Put your hand under my thigh,” he said, because he had faith,
and so far from fearing any suggestion of indecency, he understood the truth.
This is why the psalm says, Gird your sword upon your thigh, mighty warrior.

19. Variant: “was leading them within.”

20. See Gn 1:3.
292 Exposition of Psalm 44

You are a mighty warrior even in respect of your thigh, for Gad’s weakness is
stronger than any human power.*! Mighty warrior.

Verse 5. Gentleness and power

14. In your beauty and dignity. Receive your endowment of justice, because
in your justice you are always beautiful and dignified. Ride forth victoriously
and seize your kingdom. Do we not see this fulfilled already? It has undeniably
taken place. Look round at the whole world: he has ridden forth victoriously and
seized his kingdom, for all nations are his subjects. What was it like, to see all
this in spirit? Just what it is for us to experience it now. When these things were
spoken, Christ was not yet reigning, he had not yet ridden forth victoriously.
These things were preached, but now they have been manifested in reality, and
they are within our grasp. We know God to be a faithful keeper of his promises in
very many matters; in only a few does he still owe us a fulfillment. Ride forth
victoriously and seize your kingdom.
15. By your faithfulness, gentleness and justice. He kept his promise about
truth and faithfulness when faithfulness sprang up from the earth, and justice
looked down from heaven.” Christ was revealed to an expectant human race, so
that in Abraham’s offspring all nations might be blessed. The gospel was
preached, and truth was faithfully imparted. What about gentleness? The
martyrs suffered, and thereby God’s victorious cause was greatly advanced, and
his reign extended throughout all nations. The martyrs neither flinched nor
resisted; they spoke up frankly, concealing nothing; they were ready for any fate
and refused none. This was mighty gentleness! It was the body of Christ that
achieved this, because it had learned the lesson from its Head. He had been the
foremost to be led like a sheep to the slaughter, like a lamb that does not open its
mouth in the presence of the shearer. So gentle was he that hanging on the cross
he prayed, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Lk
23:34). But what of his justice? He will come to judge, and to requite each of us
in accordance with our deeds.** He spoke the truth, he endured injustice,”> but he
will settle matters equitably. Your right hand will conduct you wonderfully. We
are conducted by his right hand, but he himself by his own. He is God, we are
human. By his right hand he was conducted: by his power, that is; for whatever
power the Father has, Christ has also, as he also possesses the same immortality
as the Father, the same divinity as the Father, the same eternity as the Father, and

ZAbroee LiGonrie 2a
22. See Ps 84:12(85:11).
DISCS Oo
24, See Rom 2:6.
25. Variant: “he displayed meekness.”
 Exposition of Psalm 44 293

the strength of the Father. His right hand will conduct him wonderfully as he
does good, shares human suffering, and foils the malice of his human enemies by
his goodness. He is still being conducted to places where he does not yet reign,
and it is his right hand that conducts him, for what takes him there is the gift he
has given to his saints. Your right hand will conduct you wonderfully.

Verse 6. Christ's piercing shafts

16. Your arrows are sharp and very powerful.*® These are his piercing words
that arouse love. In the Song of Songs the bride moans, J am wounded by love,’
by which she means that she is in love, she is afire with love, and she is yearning
for her bridegroom, who has pierced her with the arrows of his word. Your
arrows are sharp and very powerful, penetrating and effective. Peoples will fall
under your assault. Who are these who have fallen? Those who were struck, and
so brought low. But though we see peoples subject to Christ, we do not see them
falling, so the psalm goes on to explain where this falling occurs: in the heart.
There they exalted themselves against Christ, and there they fall before Christ.
Saul was accustomed to blaspheme Christ, and stood proudly erect; but now he
prays to Christ, for he was struck down and fell prostrate. Christ’s enemy was
slain so that Christ’s disciple might be raised to life. From heaven the arrow was
aimed, and Saul was struck in his heart. It was in Saul that it found its mark, for
he was not Paul yet, but still Saul, still upright, not yet fallen flat. But the arrow
struck him and he fell low in his heart. This falling down in his heart was not a
consequence of his falling on his face; it happened when he asked, What do you
want me to do, Lord? (Acts 9:6). So recently you were putting Christians in
chains, Saul, and dragging them off to punishment; and now you are saying to
Christ, What do you want me to do? What a sharp arrow that must have been,
what a potent arrow, which felled the wounded Saul to turn him into Paul! As he
fell, so too did the peoples; look at the Gentiles and see how they have been
brought into subjection to Christ. This is why the psalm says, Peoples will fall
under your assault, in the hearts of the king’s enemies your arrows will find their
mark. Your enemies, it means, for the psalmist calls you a king, and knows that is
what you truly are. Peoples will fall under your assault, in the hearts of the
king’s enemies your arrows will find their mark. They were your enemies, they
were wounded by your arrows, and they fell before you. So from enemies they
were transformed into friends; your enemies died, and your friends live. This is
the same transformation that the title of our psalm proclaimed: for those things

26. Potentissimae, agreeing with “arrows;” but a variant supported by the CCL editors has
potentissime, agreeing with “Christ” (understood). The following lines support the former
alternative.
DT SES SOD Ds SOF
294 Exposition of Psalm 44

that will be changed. We study to understand individual words?and particular

verses of the psalm, but we study in such a way that none of us may doubt that the
whole refers to Christ. Peoples will fall under your assault, in the hearts of the
king’s enemies your arrows will find their mark.

Verse 7. The straight ruler

17. Your throne, O God, stands for ever and ever, because God has blessed
you for ever by the grace that bedews your lips. The throne that stood in the
Jewish kingdom stood for a time only, as befitted those who were under the law,
but not those under grace. Then he came to deliver those who were under the law,
and establish them under the regime of grace. Your throne, O God, stands for
ever and ever. Why? If the throne that belonged to that former kingdom was a
temporary one only, how is it that this throne will stand for ever and ever?
Because it is God’s. Your throne, O God, stands for ever and ever. O eternal
Godhead!?8 God could not possibly have a temporary throne. Your throne, O
God, stands for ever and ever, your royal scepter is a scepter of righteous rule. It
is a scepter of righteous rule because it guides us aright. People were bent,
distorted, they wanted regal power for themselves, they were in love with them-
selves, they cherished their own evil ways. They did not submit their wills to
God, but sought to bend the will of God to their own lusts. A sinner or an unjust
person often gets angry with God for dropping no rain on him, but he does not
want God to get angry with him for dropping so low himself.*? Nearly every day
people sit down to find fault with God: “He ought to have done this. . . that other
arrangement was not a good idea.” You see what you ought to do, evidently, but
you think he doesn’t? You are twisted out of shape, but he is perfectly straight.
How can you make a twisted thing sit well with a straight one? They cannot be
aligned. You may attempt to lay a warped beam along a level floor, but it does
not meet or fit properly, it will not lie flush with the pavement. The floor is
perfectly level all over, but the beam is warped and will not fit a flat surface. In
the same way, God’s will is level and yours is bent. You think his will is not
straight because you cannot fit in with it; but you must straighten yourself to fit
his will, not attempt to bend his to suit you. You can’t, anyway. Your effort is
futile, because his will is always perfectly straight. Do you want to be united
with him? Then allow yourself to be corrected. Then it will be his rod or scepter
that rules you, his scepter of righteous rule. That is why we speak of a sovereign
as a “ruler”; and anyone who does not correct his subjects is a defective ruler.
Our ruler is sovereign over those who have been made straight. As he is a priest

28. O aeternitatis divinitas! But a variant has divitias: “Oh the riches of eternity!”
29. A slightly forced pun this time, not as good as some of Augustine’s others: “. . . Deo quia non
pluit; et non vult sibi Deum irasci, quia fluit.”
 _ Exposition of Psalm 44 295

because he sanctifies us,’ so too he is our king or ruler because he rules us.2! But
what does scripture say in another text? With a holy person you will be holy, and
with the innocent man you will be innocent. With the chosen you will be chosen,
and with the perverse you will deal perversely (Ps 17:26-27(18:25-26)). This
does not mean that God is perverse, but that those who are perverse themselves
think him so. If you take delight in what is good, you find God good; if the good
does not please you, you think God depraved. If God seems tortuous to you, it is
your own tortuousness that is the trouble, for his rectitude abides unchangeably.
Listen to the testimony of another psalm: How good God is to Israel, to those of
straightforward hearts! (Ps 72(73):1).

Verse 8. Attend to your sins before God does

18. Your royal scepter is the scepter of righteous rule. You have loved justice
and hated iniquity. Here you see what the scepter of righteous rule is: you have
loved justice and hated iniquity. Draw near to this scepter and let Christ be your
king, allow this scepter to rule you, because otherwise it may break you; it is an
iron rod, and inflexible. What did another psalm have to say about it? You will
rule them with an iron rod, and you will dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel
(Ps 2:9). Some it rules, others it breaks; it rules the spiritual, but breaks the
carnal. Come near to this scepter, then. What are you afraid of about it? The
whole of the scepter is summed up in this: you have loved justice and hated iniq-
uity. What are you afraid of? Perhaps you were an iniquitous person, and you
hear that your king hates iniquity, so you are afraid. But he is what you make him
to be. What does he hate? Iniquity. He doesn’t hate you, does he? But there is
iniquity in you? All right. God hates it, so you must hate it as well, so that both of
you are in accord, hating the same thing. You will become God’s friend if you
hate what he hates. So too will you be his friend if you love what he loves. Let the
iniquity that is in you become loathsome to you, and let what he has created
delight you. You are a human being, and you are sinful. There, look, I have
called you by two names: “human being,” and “sinful.” One of these names indi-
cates your nature, the other your guilt; one was made for you by God, the other
you made yourself. Love what God made, and hate what you made, because he
hates it too. Now look how you are beginning to find yourself united to him,
since you hate what he hates! He will punish sin, because his royal scepter is a
scepter of righteous rule. Would you wish him not to punish sin? That is impos-
sible. Sin demands to be punished; if it did not, it would not be sin. Forestall him,
then; if you don’t want him to punish your sin, punish it yourself. It is to this very

30. Sacerdos a sanctificando nos.

31. Variant: “. . . a priest for the purpose of sanctifying us .. . a king/ruler to rule us.”
296 Exposition of Psalm 44

end that he continues to spare you, putting it off, holding his hand, bending his
bow, threatening you. Would he make such a display of shouting that he is going
to strike you, if striking you was what he really wanted? No, and that is why he
delays in dealing with your sins; but you must not delay. Turn your attention to
punishing your sins, because it is not possible for them to go unpunished in the
long run. They must needs be punished, either by yourself or by him. Admit
them, so that he may remit them.” A penitential psalm exemplifies this attitude:
Turn your face away from my sins (Ps 50:11(51:9)). Did it say, “from me”? No, it
didn’t, and in another place a psalm expressly begs God, Do not turn your face
away from me (Ps 26(27):9). Accordingly we must understand the first one to
mean, “I don’t want you to see my sins,” because for God to see something
means to take it into account. When a judge is said to take something into
account, it means that he turns his attention to it, and therefore must punish it,
because he is a judge. And God is a judge too. Turn your face away from my sins.
But you, for your part, should not turn your face away, if you want God to turn
his face away from them. In that same psalm this very offer is made to God: /
know my wrongdoing, and my sin confronts me all the time (Ps 50:5(51:3)). He
wants it to be before his own eyes, but not before God’s. Your royal scepter is a
scepter of righteous rule. No one should be complacent about God’s mercy, for
his scepter is a scepter of righteous rule. Are we saying that God is not merciful?
Far from it; what could be more merciful than God, who so generously spares
sinners, God who takes no notice of any past sins in any of those who turn back to
him? Love him for his mercy, but in such fashion that you want him to be true to
himself; for his mercy cannot diminish his justice, nor his justice his mercy. In
the meantime, as long as he delays, be sure that you do not delay, because his
royal scepter is a scepter of righteous rule.

God’s anointing of God

19. You have loved justice and hated iniquity, for, O God, your God has
anointed you. That is why he anointed you, so that you might love justice and
hate iniquity. Notice how this is phrased: for, O God, your God has anointed
you. It means, “Oh you who are God, your God has anointed you.” God is
anointed by God. In Latin it looks as though the word “God” is just repeated in
the nominative case, but in Greek the distinction is perfectly clear: one name
belongs to the person addressed, and the second to the person who addresses
him, saying, O God, he has anointed you. So the phrase, “O you who are God,
your God has anointed you,” is like saying, “This is why your God has anointed

32. Tu agnosce, ut ille ignoscat.

33. Propterea unxit te, Deus, Deus tuus.
 Exposition of Psalm 44 297

you, O God.” You have to accept this and understand the verse in this way,
because it is quite clear in the Greek.**
Who, then, is the God who was anointed by God? Let the Jews tell us that.
After all, these scriptures are theirs as well as ours. God was anointed by God,
and when you hear the word, “anointed,” understand that it means Christ, for
“Christ” is derived from “chrism,” and the name “Christ” means “Anointed
one.” Nowhere else were kings and priests anointed; it was done only in that
kingdom where Christ’s coming was prophesied, where he was anointed, and
from where the name Christ was to come. Nowhere else at all do we find this, in
any other nation or kingdom. So God was anointed by God, and with what kind
of oil? Spiritual, obviously. Visible oil is a sign; invisible oil is a sacramental
mystery,*° for the spiritual oil is within. God was anointed for us, and sent to us.
He was God, but he became man so that he could be anointed; yet he was man in
such wise that he was God, and he was God in such a way that he did not disdain
to be man. He is true man and true God, and there is no falsehood in him, for he is
in every respect true, in every respect the very Truth. God became man, and it
can be said that “God was anointed,” because God became man, became Christ
the Anointed One.

Jacob’s anointed stone and Jacob’s ladder

20. We have a prefiguration of this in the episode where Jacob had put a stone
under his head and gone to sleep.*’ The patriarch Jacob used the stone as a pillow
for his head, and while he was asleep he saw the heavens opened, and a ladder
extending from heaven to earth, with angels passing up and down on it. When he
awoke he poured oil on the stone and went away. In that stone he recognized
Christ; that was why he anointed it. Notice what a long time ago preaching about
Christ began. Now what is the significance of that act of anointing a stone,
particularly among the patriarchs, who worshiped the one God? It was a symbol
only, and Jacob left it at that. It was not as though he anointed the stone and came
back to it regularly, and offered sacrifice there; the mystery was given symbolic
expression and that was all; there was no initiation of sacrilegious cult.
Now consider the stone, and remember another text: the stone rejected by the
builders has become the headstone of the corner (Ps 117(118):22). The stone
was placed at Jacob’s head because Christ is the head of a man.** Think about

34. In the Septuagint, as in the quotation of the verse by Heb 1:9, it runs as follows: Ara todTo
eypiaev ce: 6 Q€0s: 6 Meds gov. Since in Greek, as equally in Latin, the first noun could be either
nominative or vocative, only the punctuation as inserted here makes Augustine’s point.
35. See note at Exposition 2 of Psalm 26, 2.
36. A variant supported by two codices makes the thought slightly clearer: “Visible oil functions as
a sign of invisible oil, for it is a sacrament. . . .”
37. See Gn 28:11-22.
382 See li Conll:3:
298 Exposition of Psalm 44

this carefully, for there is a great mystery here. The stone is:Christ; he is the
living stone, rejected by men, but chosen by God (1 Pt 2:4), and the place for a
stone is at a man’s head, because Christ is the head of a man. The stone was
anointed because Christ’s name is derived from chrism. By Christ’s revelation
ladders were shown to Jacob, stretching from earth to heaven, or from heaven to
earth, with angels ascending and descending on them. We shall understand the
significance of this more clearly if we recall the statement made by the Lord
himself in the gospel. Now you are aware that Jacob is the same person as Israel.
His name was changed to Israel when he was wrestling with the angel, and
winning; he received a blessing from the opponent he was beginning to over-
come.°? Similarly Israel—the people of Israel, Imean—overcame Christ in the
sense that they crucified him, yet in the persons of those Israelites who came to
believe in Christ, Israel was blessed by the one it had defeated. However, many
of them did not believe, and the crippling of Jacob symbolizes this. A blessing,
and a lameness. A blessing, certainly, in those who believed, and we know that
very many from their race did come to believe later. But a crippling in those who
did not believe. And because those who did not were many, and those who did
were comparatively few, the adversary touched the broad part of Jacob’s thigh to
strike him lame. What is “the broad part of the thigh”? The majority of his race.
Now for the ladders. In the gospel, when the Lord saw Nathanael, he said,
Look, there is a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile (Jn 1:47). Something like
that had been said about Jacob: Jacob was a man without guile, who lived at
home (Gn 25:27); and the Lord remembered that description when he caught
sight of Nathanael, aman free from guile who came from that same people. So he
said, Look, there is a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile. He called
Nathanael a guileless Israelite because he had Jacob in mind. But Nathanael
replied, How did you come to know me? to which the Lord answered, When you
were under the fig tree, I saw you. That means, “Even when you were among a
people subject to the law, which spread its material shade over them as a protec-
tion, I saw you.” And what is implied by “I saw you?” It means, “Even there, I
took pity on you.” Nathanael remembered that he really had been under a fig
tree, and he was amazed, because he thought no one had seen him there, so he
confessed, You are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel. Who said that?
None other than the man who had just been told that he was a true Israelite, and
that there was no deceit in him. The Lord continued, Have you believed because
I said, “I saw you under the fig tree?” You will see greater things than that. He is
talking to Jacob, to Israel, to the man who had puta stone under his head. You will
see greater things that that. What greater things can he have in mind? The stone
is already at Jacob’s head. To all of you I say, you will see heaven opened, and
God's angels ascending and descending over the Son of Man (Jn 1:47-51). May

39. See Gn 32:24-31.

 _ _ Exposition of Psalm 44 299

this be true now, in the Church; may it be true that God’s angels ascend and
descend on those ladders. The angels of God are charged with announcing the
truth. Let them mount high and see that in the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God; he was God. Then let them come down and see that the
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (Jn 1:1,14). Let them ascend, and lift
up the great, but let them descend to nourish the little ones. Look how Paul
ascended: Jf seem to be out of my mind, it is because I am talking to God; but
then watch him coming down again: but if1am talking sense, it is for you (2 Cor
5:13). Then, see, up he goes again: We speak wisdom among the perfect, and
down: J gave you milk to drink, rather than solid food (1 Cor 2:6; 3:2). And this is
what happens all the time in the Church: God’s angels ascend and descend upon
the Son of Man, because the Son of Man is enthroned on high, and to him we
ascend in our hearts; in this respect he is our Head. But the Son of Man is here
below, inasmuch as his body is on earth. His members are here, the Head is in
heaven; we ascend to the Head, and descend to his members. Christ is there, and
Christ is here. If he were present above only, and not here, how could the voice
from heaven have demanded, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? (Acts
9:4). Who was giving him any trouble in heaven? No one, neither the Jews, nor
Saul, nor the diabolical tempter; no one was causing him trouble in heaven, but
he complained, just as when our foot is trodden on, our tongue yells, because of
the organic unity of the human body.
21. You have loved justice and hated iniquity, for, O God, your God has
anointed you. We have already spoken about this anointed God, that is, about
Christ. There was no clearer way in which Christ’s name could have been
expressed, than by calling him “Anointed God.” As he is fair beyond all human-
kind, so too he is anointed with the oil ofjoy, more abundantly than all who share
with him. Who share with him? The children of men, because he is the Son of
Man, who became a sharer in their mortality in order to make them sharers in his
immortality.

Verse 9. The scent of Christ

22. From your garments drift the perfumes of myrrh, spices and cassia. Your
clothing diffuses sweet scents. His garments are his saints, his elect, the whole
Church which he makes fit for himself, free from spot or wrinkle;*° for he
washed away its every spot in his blood, and smoothed out every wrinkle as he
stretched it on the cross. From him proceeds the sweet scent evoked by the
various plants named in the psalm. Listen to Paul, the smallest of men,*! who was

40. See Eph 5:27. /

41. His name resembles the Latin paulus, “small,” and he called himself “the least of the apostles,”
1 Cor 15:9.
300 Exposition of Psalm 44

like that fringe of the Lord’s garment which a woman with a hemorrhage
touched, and was healed;* listen to him: We are the fragrance ofChrist offered
to God in every place, both for those who are on the way to salvation, and for
those who are perishing (2 Cor 2:15). You will notice that he did not say, “We
are a sweet scent for those on the way to salvation, but a foul stench for those who
are perishing.” What he said was, We are a sweet fragrance, both for those who
are on the way to salvation, and for those who are perishing. We may well
believe that a person can be saved by a good scent; there is nothing improbable
about that. But how could anyone be destroyed bya good scent? This is some-
thing profound, a great truth is here; even if we find it impossible to grasp, it is
true nonetheless. Paul himself indicates that it is difficult, for he immediately
adds, Who is equal to this? How can anyone understand why people should die
from a sweet perfume? But I will make a suggesticn brothers and sisters. Paul
was preaching the gospel. Many loved him for doing so, but many others were
jealous of him. Those who loved him were in process of being saved by the deli-
cate perfume, but this same perfume was provoking the jealous to their own
destruction. So for those who were on their way to perdition it was not a bad
smell; it was a good scent, and that made them all the more jealous of Paul,
because it was obvious that God’s good grace had its way with him. No one is
jealous of a miserable person. Paul was glorious in his preaching of God’s word,
and was living under the guidance of the scepter of righteous rule. All those who
loved Christ in him, and were running after Christ’s beautiful perfume, loved
Paul. The bride, who says in the Song of Songs, Let us run toward the fragrance
of your ointments (Sg 1:3), loved her Bridegroom’s friend; but the others were
all the more tormented by jealousy as they saw Paul glorious in his preaching of
the gospel and blameless in his life, so they were slain by the sweet scent.

Verse 10. The apostles’ daughters

23. From your garments drift the perfumes of myrrh, spices and cassia;
kings daughters from ivory palaces have found favor with you. Whichever ivory
palaces, whichever great houses or regal mansions you care to name, there have
been kings’ daughters from there who have been pleasing to Christ. Would you
like me to suggest to you a spiritual interpretation of these ivory palaces? The
great houses, the mighty tabernacles of God are the hearts of the saints, and the
kings who live there are royal because they rule their flesh, subordinate their
crowding human affections to their will, chastise their bodies and bring them
into submission. This is how you should understand the palaces, and from there
come the kings’ daughters in whom Christ finds his joy, because when these
kings preach and spread the gospel, many souls are born to them, and all these

42. See Mk 5:28; Mt 9:20; Lk 8:44.

 Exposition of Psalm 44 301

souls are “the daughters of kings.” The churches are the apostles’ daughters,
kings’ daughters. Christ is the King of kings (Rv 19:16), and under him the apos-
tles too are kings, for to them it was said, You will sit upon twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Mt 19:28). They preached the word of truth,
and through it they begot churches, not for themselves but for him. In the law it
was laid down that ifaman dies, his brother shall marry the dead man’s wife,
and raise up offspring for his brother (Dt 25:5). The brother is to marry the dead
man's wife, and raise up offspring, not for himself, but for his brother. Now
Christ himself used the expression, Tell my brothers (Mt 28:10);*? and in a
psalm he said, / will tell of your name to my brothers (Ps 21:23(22:22)). Christ
died, he rose again, he ascended, and he withdrew his bodily presence, so his
brothers took his wife for the purpose of begetting children through the
preaching of the gospel—not by their own power, but through the gospel—so
that their Brother’s name might be perpetuated. That is why Paul said, /n Christ
Jesus through the gospel I have begotten you (1 Cor 4:15). Accordingly, as they
were raising up offspring for their Brother, they did not call the children they
begot “Paulines” or ‘‘Petrines,” but “Christians.”” The same wide-awake caution
is to be found in these verses too. Examine them, and see if this is not the case, for
after speaking of ivory palaces, and evoking royal, spacious, beautiful, comfort-
able dwellings, such as are the hearts of the saints, the psalmist added, kings’
daughters from ivory palaces have found favor with you, and come to do you
honor. They are the daughters of kings, certainly, for they are the daughters of
your apostles, but they come to do you honor, because the apostles have raised
up offspring for their Brother. Paul had raised some up for his Brother, and when
he saw some of them running after his own name he exclaimed, Was Paul cruci-
fied for you? (1 Cor 1:13). What does the law enjoin? That the newborn should
be named after the dead man.” Let the child be born to the dead man, and bear
the dead man’s name. Paul observes this prescription and recalls his converts to
their senses when they try to adopt his name: Was Paul crucified for you? And
what about the time when you begot them, Paul; did you put your own name on
them? No, for he continues, Or were you baptized in Paul’s name ? (1 Cor 1:13).
Kings’ daughters have found favor with you, and come to do you honor. Hold
onto that phrase, to do you honor, keep it in mind always, for this is what it means
to wear the wedding garment: that you seek his honor, his glory.
The daughters of kings can also be taken to represent the cities which have
believed in Christ, and were founded by kings; and the phrase, from ivory
palaces can be understood to mean that they were founded by the rich, the proud,
the arrogant. Kings’ daughters have found favor with you, and come to do you
honor, because they are no longer seeking to promote the reputation of their city

43. Compare Jn 20:17.

44. See Dt 25:6.
302 Exposition of Psalm 44

fathers, but are concerned to honor you. Let anyone point out to.me,in Rome any
temple of Romulus that is held in anything like the same veneration as the
memorial of Peter, which I can point out! And who is being honored in Peter, if
not the one who died for us? For we are Christians, not Petrines. Even though
fathered by the dead man’s brother, we are named after the dead man. We came
to birth through Peter, but we are born to Christ. As Rome, so too Carthage, and
many another noble city: all of them are daughters of kings, but they have found
favor with their true King and come to do him honor. And from all of them is
formed one single queen. 3

The queen’s apparel

24. What a nuptial hymn this is! As songs full of joy are resounding, the bride
herself enters. Until now it was the bridegroom’s coming that preoccupied us,
and he was being described throughout; all eyes were on him. But now it is time
for the bride’s entry. The queen has taken her place at your right hand. If she
were on your left, she would not be a queen. There are indeed some persons at
your left, but to them will be said, Depart from.me into the eternal fire (Mt
25:41). Your queen will stand to your right, and to her will the invitation be
spoken, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take possession of the
kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world (Mt 25:34). The queen
has taken her place at your right hand in a golden gown, decked with variety.
What is this queenly apparel? It is precious, and of varied colors; this represents
the mysteries of our teaching, and the variety of languages in which they are
expressed. The African tongue is one, the Syriac another, the Greek another, the
Hebrew another . . . and many others there are. These languages make up the
variety with which the queen’s gown is adorned. Just as all the different colors in
a dress harmonize to form a unity, so do all these tongues express the one faith.
Let there be plenty of variety in the garment, but no tear made.
So we have interpreted the variety as the diversity of languages, and the gown
itself as unity; but now what does the gold represent amid this variety? It
symbolizes wisdom. However great the variety of languages, it is one and the
same gold that is preached. The gold itself does not vary, but there is variety in
the way the gold is spoken about. All tongues preach the same wisdom, the same
doctrine and discipline. There is variety in the languages, but gold in their
meaning.

Verse 11. The admonition to the bride

25. The prophet now addresses the queen, and delighted he is to sing to her.
He addresses each one of us too, provided we know where we belong, and try to
be members of that body, and persevere in faith and hope, united with one
 ___ Exposition of Psalm 44 303

another as limbs of Christ. He addresses us, Hearken, my daughter, and see. He

speaks as one of the fathers to a daughter, even though the speaker is a prophet or
an apostle (for after all, we speak of “our fathers the prophets,” and “our fathers
the apostles,” and if we call them our fathers, they have the right to call us their
children). The daughters of these kings are being addressed, therefore, but the
admonition is delivered by a single fatherly voice, and to one single daughter:
Hearken, my daughter, and see. Listen first, and afterwards see. The gospel was
brought to us, and realities we do not yet see have been preached to us; we have
believed on the strength of what we have heard, and by believing we shall come
to see. The bridegroom mentions this in another psalm: A people I never knew
has come to serve me, and as soon as they heard me they obeyed me (Ps
17:45(18:43-44)). Why does he say, As soon as they heard me? Because that
people has not yet seen. The Jews saw him, and crucified him; the Gentiles did
not see him, but believed. Let the queen make her entry from amid the Gentiles,
let her come in a golden gown, bedecked with variety; let her come from the
Gentiles adorned with all the foreign tongues but with a single undivided
wisdom, and let the admonition be spoken to her, Hearken, my daughter, and
see. Unless you hear first, you will not see. Hear, so that you may cleanse your
heart by faith, as the apostle said in the Acts of the Apostles: God was cleansing
their hearts by faith.* This is why we must hear what we are to believe before we
see it: our hearts need to be cleansed first by believing, so that we may be able to
see with them. Listen, so that you may believe; cleanse your heart by faith. “And
when I have cleansed my heart, what am I going to see?” Blessed are the pure of
heart, for they shall see God (Mt 5:8).
Hearken, my daughter, and see, and bend your ear. Merely to hear would not
be enough; we must hear with humility, so bend your ear. And forget your own
people and your father’s house. In another nation, in another father’s house, you
were born. The nation was Babylon,* and its king the devil. From whatever
quarter the Gentiles have come flocking in, they have come from their father, the
devil; but they have repudiated him.*’ Forget your own people and your father’s
house. The devil begot you as an ugly child when he made you a sinner; but God
who justifies the ungodly gives you new birth as a beautiful creature. Forget
your own people and your father’s house.

45. Acts 15:9. It was Peter who said this, though usually by the title, “the apostle,” Augustine
means Paul.
46. Babylon is for Augustine the type ofthe earthly city; he will develop the theme later in The City
of God. See also his Confessions I1,3,8, and note at Exposition 2 of Psalm 26, 18.
47. Possibly an allusion to the renunciations preceding baptism.
304 Exposition of Psalm 44

Verse 12. Her beauty is the king’s gift ae

26. For the king has desired your beauty. What beauty is this, if not what he
himself created in her? He has desired beauty, but whose? The beauty of a
sinner, a wicked, ungodly woman, as she was in the house of her father the devil,
and among her own people? No, no; but the beauty of the bride described in the
Song of Songs: Who is this who comes up washed white ? (Sg 6:9.5). She was not
white before, but now she has been washed pure white: as the Lord promises
through a prophet, “Even if your sins are brilliant red, I will wash you white as
snow.’’8 He has desired your beauty. But who is this king? He is your God. See
now how right it is for you to abandon that other father, and that other nation that
was yours, and come to this King who is your God. He is your God and your
King, your King and your Bridegroom. The King you are marrying is God; he
provides you with your portion, by him you are adorned, by him redeemed, by
him healed. Whatever you have in you that can please him, you have as his gift.

Verse 13. The homage of the Gentiles and of thé rich

27. And Tyrian maidens will pay homage to him with their gifts. It is to your
King, your God, that these Tyrian maidens will pay homage with their gifts. The
maidens from Tyre represent maidens from all Gentile races: the part stands for
the whole. Tyre was a neighbor to the land where prophecy flourished, so Tyre
symbolized the Gentiles who were to believe in Christ. From there came the
Canaanite woman who was at first called a dog; you remember where she came
from, because the gospel says, He withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon, and
a Canaanite woman who lived in those parts came out and kept shouting (Mt
15:22). And the rest of the story you know. She had been a “dog” earlier, in her
father’s house and among her own people, but by crying out and coming to the
King she became beautiful through her faith in him. So she deserved to hear,
Woman, your faith is great (Mt 15:28). The king has desired your beauty. And
Tyrian maidens will pay homage to him with their gifts. Even so does the King
will to be approached and to see his treasury filled; and he himself has provided
the gifts with which they are to be filled, filled by you.*? Let them come, says the
psalm, let them come to pay him homage with their gifts. What kind of gifts are
acceptable? Do not lay up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and
rust will destroy, and thieves may break in and steal them; lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither thief nor moth can touch them. For where
your treasure is, your heart will be too (Mt 6:19-21). Come with your gifts, give

48. See Is 1:18.

49. Variant: “and they are filled for you/us.”
 Exposition of Psalm 44 305

alms, and everything will be clean for you (Lk 11:41). Come with your gifts to
him who says, / want mercy rather than sacrifice (Hos 6:6; Mt 9:13; 12:7). In
days of old there was a temple that foreshadowed what was to come, and people
used to bring bulls, rams, goats, and various other animals for sacrifice. By their
blood-shedding one thing was done, but something else signified. But now
blood has been shed for us, the blood prefigured by all those sacrifices; the King
himself has come, and he demands gifts. What gifts? Alms. For he will sit in
judgment, and will himself award gifts to certain people. Come, you who are
blessed by my Father, he will say, take possession of the kingdom prepared for
you since the creation of the world. And why? Because I was hungry, and you fed
me; I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink; naked, and you clothed me; a
stranger, and you made me welcome; sick and in prison, and you visited me.
These are the gifts that the Tyrian maidens bring as homage to the King, for
when they ask him, When did we see you so? he who is both enthroned on high
and present here below can say, thinking of those who go up the ladder and those
who come down, When you did that for even the least of those who are mine, you
did it for me (Mt 25:34-38).
28. Tyrian maidens will pay homage to him with their gifts. The psalmist now
intends to state more clearly who the daughters of Tyre are, and how they are to
do homage to the king. All the rich among the people will seek favor with you. So
these daughters of Tyre who come with their gifts are the rich citizens for whom
the Bridegroom’s friend has this advice: /nstruct the rich of this world not to be
high-minded, nor to put their trust in unreliable wealth, but in the living God,
who gives us everything to enjoy in abundance. Let them be rich in good works,
give readily, and share what they have. Let them do honor to the King with their
gifts, but not think that they are losing what they give. They should have no
anxiety about putting it where they will find it again for ever. Let them use their
wealth to lay a good foundation for the future, and so attain true life (1 Tm
6:17-19). As they do honor to the King with their gifts they will seek favor with
you, for they all come to the Church and give alms there. They should not do it
elsewhere, outside; the Church is the right place to do it, because a favorable
reception from this bride and queen will be to their advantage when they give
alms. This is why we read that people who sold their goods used to come with the
proceeds to seek the queen’s acceptance, and what they brought they would lay
at the feet of the apostles.*° Love grew very strong in the Church. The queen with
her gracious countenance is the Church, but the daughters of Tyre who pay
homage—the wealthy who bring gifts, that is—they are the Church too. All the
rich among the people will seek favor with you. Both those who seek acceptance,

50. See Acts 4:34-35.

306 Exposition of Psalm 44

and the queen whose acceptance is entreated, are all the one bride, all one queen,
for mother and children together all belong to Christ, belong to the Head.°!

Verses 14-15. Inner beauty

29. Good works and almsgiving can trap us in human pride, however, so the
Lord warns, Be careful not to do your good works in the sight of other people, to
attract their attention (Mt 6:1). Yet he also tells us in what sense these things
must be done publicly, in order to win the bride’s favor: Let your deeds shine
before men and women in such a way that they see the good you do, and bless
your Father who is in heaven (Mt 5:16). Do not seek recognition for yourselves
by the good works you carry out in public, but seek the honor of God. Someone
objects, perhaps, “But who knows whether it is God’s glory I am seeking, or my
own? If I give something to a poor person, I can be seen doing it, but who sees
what my intention is?” The one who sees can take care of that; he who will
reward you sees your intention. He who sees you within loves you within; he
loves you within, and you must love him within, for he fashions your inner
beauty. Do not seek your reward in being seen by onlookers, and praised for
what you do; consider the next words of the psalm: All the glory of the king’s
daughter is within. Not only does she wear an outer garment of gold, decked
with variety; he who has fallen in love with her knows her to be inwardly lovely
as well. What is the inner face of beauty? Beauty of conscience. There Christ
regards us, there Christ loves us, there Christ punishes, there Christ bestows the
crown. Let your almsgiving be done in secret, then, for all the glory of the king’s
daughter is within. With her golden fringes she is girdled with varied embroi-
dery. Her beauty is within, but in her fringes is a variety of tongues, setting forth
the splendor of her teaching. But what would be the use of them, if there were no
beauty within?
30. Virgins will be conducted after her to the king.Yes, this surely has
happened. The Church has believed, and the Church has spread throughout all
nations. Look how virgins now long to be pleasing to the King! What motivates
them? That the Church has led the way. Virgins will be conducted after her to the
king, her nearest and dearest will be led to you. Those who are conducted are no
strangers, but her nearest and dearest, those who belong to her. Notice that the
psalm first said, “To the king,” then turned toward him and said, “To you.” Her
nearest and dearest will be led to you.

51. The paradox Augustine plays with in this paragraph, that the Church is the people, yet more
than the people, is taken up again in sections 31 and 33 below.
 Exposition of Psalm 44 307

Verse 16. The joyful entry of the virgins

31. They shall be conducted with joy and gladness, they shall be ushered into
the temple of the king. The temple of the king is the Church itself, and yet the
Church enters his temple. Of what is the temple built? Of the people who enter
the temple. Who are its living stones?5? God’s faithful. These are the ones who
will be ushered into the temple of the king. There are virgins outside the King’s
temple, heretical nuns; virgins they are indeed, but what advantage is that to
them if they are not brought into the King’s temple? The King’s temple stands
firm in unity; it is not a tumbledown place, or torn apart, or divided against itself.
The mortar binding its stones together is the charity of those who live there. They
shall be ushered into the temple of the king.

Verse 17. Sons to take the place offathers for the Church

32. To take the place of your fathers, sons have been born to you. Nothing
could be more obvious. Look carefully at this temple of the king, because the
psalmist speaks on its behalf, with its worldwide unity in mind. Those who have
chosen to remain virgins cannot be pleasing to the Bridegroom unless they are
brought into his temple. To take the place of your fathers, sons have been born to
you. The apostles begot you; they were sent out, they preached, they are the
Church’s fathers. But was it possible for them to remain with us in bodily form
for ever? It is true that one of them said, / long to die and to be with Christ, for
that is much the best; but it is necessary for you that I remain in the flesh (Phil
1:23-24). Yes, he said that, but how long was he able to stay? Even until our day?
Even into the future? No; but was the Church abandoned when the apostles
departed? Far from it. To take the place of your fathers, sons have been born to
you. What does that mean? The apostles were sent to be your fathers, but in their
place sons have been born to you, because bishops have been appointed. Where
did they spring from, the bishops who are found throughout the world today? |
The Church calls them “fathers,” although the Church itself brought them forth,
and appointed them to the sees of the fathers. Do not imagine yourself forsaken
then, O Church, because you do not see Peter, do not see Paul, do not see any of
those from whom you were born. A new fatherhood has grown up for you from
your own offspring. To take the place of your fathers, sons have been born to
you; and you will appoint them princes all over the world. Look how widely the
King’s temple has been extended, and let any virgins who are not being ushered
into it learn from this that they have no place at the wedding. To take the place of
your fathers, sons have been born to you; and you will appoint them princes all
over the world. This is the Catholic Church: her sons have been set up as princes

D2, 9ce L Pt2.o.

308 Exposition of Psalm 44

worldwide, her sons have been appointed in her fathers’ stead. Let those who are
cut off from us recognize the truth, let them come back into unity, let them be led
into the temple of the King. God has built his Church in every place, laying the
firm foundations of the prophets and apostles.** The Church has given birth to
sons, and appointed them in place of our fathers as princes over the whole earth.

Verse 18. The city of God

33. They will be mindful of your name in generation after generation. There-
fore the peoples will confess to you. What is the use of confessing, if it is done
outside the temple? What is the point of praying, if prayer is not offered on the
mountain? With my voice I have cried to the Lord, says another psalm, and he
heard me from his holy mountain (Ps 3:5(4)). And what mountain is that? The
mountain of which scripture says, A city founded upon a mountain cannot be
hidden (Mt 5:14). What mountain? The mountain Daniel saw growing from a
small stone, and smashing all earthly kingdoms, and filling all the surface of the
earth.*4
Let anyone who hopes to receive, worship there; let anyone who wants to be
heard, ask there; let anyone who wants to be forgiven, confess there. Therefore
the peoples will confess to you for ever, and for unending ages, for though in
eternal life there will no longer be any groaning sinners, the everlasting confes-
sion of sheer happiness will never cease in the praises sung to God in that heav-
enly, imperishable city. To this same city will the peoples confess in praise for
ever, this city to which another psalm sings, Glorious things are spoken of you,
city of God (Ps 86(87):4). To her who is Christ’s bride, who is a queen, a king’s
daughter and a King’s wife, will they sing, for her princes are mindful of her
name in generation after generation, which means as long as this age shall last,
this age which rolls on through succeeding generations. So long shall they
continue to care lovingly for her, until she is set free from this passing world to
reign with God for ever. Therefore will the peoples confess to her through all
eternity, for there will the hearts of all be transparent and manifest as they shine
with charity made perfect. Thus she will know herself entirely in utter fullness,
she who is in many of her parts hidden now even from herself. This is why we are
warned by the apostle to pass no judgment prematurely, before the Lord comes
to light up all that is hidden in darkness, and lay bare the thoughts of all hearts;
then each one will receive due commendation from God.» That holy city will in
some sort confess to herself, for the peoples who form her will confess for ever to

33. See Eph 2:20.

54. See Dn 3:35.
Soy see. lGorn4a:s:
 Exposition of Psalm 44 309

the city. No part of her may remain hidden from herself, for nothing in any one of
her citizens will be hidden from sight.
 Exposition of Psalm 45 wal

A Sermon to the People

Verse 1. Christ’s cross unlocks mysteries s

1. What we are going to talk about to you, dearest friends,' is something very
well known to you, so there is no need to delay long over it: it will be sufficient to
remind you briefly of what you already know. I mean that we must understand
the “children of Korah” to be ourselves. As you are aware, “Korah” means
“baldness.” You know too that because our Lord was crucified at the place called
Calvary,” he drew many people to himself, like that grain of wheat which would
have remained one lonely grain if it had not been put to death.* Accordingly
those who have been drawn to him are “children of Korah.” This is the myste-
rious implication of the title. No doubt there were some children of Korah at the
time when these verses were originally sung, but the important thing is that the
spirit should give us life; we must not stick at the letter which veils the true
meaning.* So let us recognize ourselves here, and see whether the following
lines in the main text of the psalm fit our situation. We shall find ourselves in
them as long as we remain inseparably united to the members of that body whose
Head is in heaven. After his passion he ascended there in order to take with him
those who were grounded in their lowly state on earth; he willed to take them,
richly productive now, bearing fruit through their patient endurance.
But the full title is Unto the end, a psalm for the children of Korah, about the
hidden things. It is concerned with what is hidden; but, as you know, he who was
crucified on Calvary rent the veil asunder so that the secret places of the temple
were exposed to view.®° Our Lord’s cross was like a key for opening what was
locked away, so let us be confident that he will be with us now, that these hidden
things may be unveiled. When we see the words, Unto the end, we should always
understand them as a reference to Christ, because Christ is the end of the law,
bringing justification to everyone who believes (Rom 10:4). He is called its
“end” not in the sense that he abolishes it, but because he brings it to perfection.

1. Caritati vestrae.
2. “The bald place”: see his comments in the Exposition of Psalm 83, 2; Exposition of Psalm 84,
2; and note at Exposition of Psalm 41, 2.
. See Jn 12:24-25.32.
oes 21Cor 3:6:
. See Lk 8:15.
. See Mt 27:51.
DAunhW

310
 Exposition of Psalm 45 311

We speak of food we have been eating as “finished,” but also of a garment that
was being woven as “finished”; in the first case the food is all gone, in the second
a tunic has reached completion. So with Christ: when we reach him, we shall
have nowhere further to go, and so he is called the “end” of our journey. It would
be wrong to think that when we have reached him we shall have to go on striving
to attain to the Father. Philip made that mistake when he said to Christ, Lord,
show us the Father, and that is enough for us. His words, that is enough for us,
imply a further search for perfect satisfaction and fullness. But Christ replied,
Have I been all this time with you, and yet you have not known me? Whoever has
seen me, Philip, has seen the Father (Jn 14:8-9). In him we possess the Father,
because he is in the Father, and the Father in him. He and the Father are one.’

Verse 2. Insecure refuges, and the worst tribulations

2. What advice has the singer for us in this psalm where, as long as we share
the singer’s attitude, we shall recognize our own voice in his? Our God is a
refuge and strength. Some refuges are anything but strong, so that anyone who
flees to them is weakened rather than securely established. Suppose, for
example, you take refuge with some person of importance in this world, hoping
to find in him a powerful friend. That looks like a safe haven for you. But so very
uncertain are worldly fortunes, and so increasingly frequent the ruin of powerful
people, that in taking refuge under such a person’s protection you will simply
find your own reasons for apprehension all the greater. In your previous situa-
tion it was only about your own affairs that you needed to worry, but now that
you have taken refuge with him you need to be anxious on his account as well.
There have been many who sought that kind of security only to find that when
their ostensible protectors fell, they themselves were under investigation. No
one would have been interested in questioning such small fry, if they had not
taken refuge with powerful people like that.
But our refuge is quite different; our refuge is “strength.” When we flee to it
we shall be secure and unshakable.
3. Our helper in the terrible tribulations that have come upon us. There are
many kinds of tribulation, and in all of them we must seek refuge in God,
whether the trouble concerns our income, our bodily health, some danger threat-
ening those we love, or something we need to support our life. Whatever it is,
there should be no refuge for a Christian other than our Savior. He is God, and
when we flee to him, we are strong. No Christian will be strong in himself or
herself; but God, who has become our refuge, will supply the strength. However,
dearly beloved, I must tell you that among all the tribulations that beset the
human soul, there is none worse than a guilty conscience. If there is no wound

7. See Jn 10:30.
312 Exposition of Psalm 45

there, and that inner part of ourselves called conscience is in a healthy state, then
wherever else we have troubles to endure we can flee to that inner place and there
find God. But if there is no peace within us because of our abundant sins, which
cause God to be absent from that place, what are we to do? Where shall we flee,
when troubles begin to strike? We may flee from the country into the city, or
from the public domain into our own home, and from our home into our private
room, but tribulation comes hard on our heels. Once in our private room we have
nowhere left to run to except our inner bedchamber. But what if that is filled with
uproar, and the fumes of iniquity, and the fire of our sins? We cannot find secu-
rity there. On the contrary, we are driven out, and once driven out from there we
are banished from ourselves. The person we had thought to find refuge with has
turned out to be our enemy, and where can we go to escape our very self? Wher-
ever we run, we drag this self after us, and wherever we drag a self in this state,
we make it our tormentor. These are the terrible tribulations that overwhelm a
person, and none are more grievous; other troubles can never be as harsh as
these, because they are not as intimate.
Consider this, dearly beloved. When trees are cut down and passed as satis-
factory for building purposes, it sometimes happené that some areas on the outer
surface are flawed or rotten. But the builder inspects the innermost heart of the
tree, and if he has checked that the trees are sound at the core, he promises that
they will last in the building. He will not be particularly concerned about lesions
on the surface, provided he can certify the inner part as sound. Well now, nothing
is More interior to a person than his conscience. So if the conscience is not found
to be healthy, what is the point of external health, when the core, the conscience,
is rotten?
These kind of tribulations are extremely fierce and terrible, as the psalm says;
yet even in these the Lord has become our helper by forgiving our sins. For the
consciences of sinners there is no cure at all, except forgiveness. Think of the
plight of someone who has admitted his debt to the tax system. He sees his
money running out, and knows he cannot pay. He laments that his troubles are
very severe, knowing that the bailiffs may arrive at any time. He has no shred of
hope, unless that his debt may be written off, and this anxiety concerns only
worldly goods.* How much worse then is the plight of one who, because of his or
her numerous sins, is a debtor who owes condign punishment? How is such a
person ever going to pay the debt owed by a bad conscience? If he pays up, he
himself will be done for! To pay the debt, he must undergo the penalty. There is
no way out for us, except to find safety in God’s forgiveness. But once we have
received it, we must not get ourselves into debt again.

8. Variant: “unless earthly rulers let him off.”

 Exposition of Psalm 45 a3

The remedy

4. We could take the “children of Korah” to be the crowds Peter addressed in

the Acts of the Apostles. They were startled by the miracles that attended the
coming of the Holy Spirit, for those on whom he had fallen were speaking in the
languages of them all. Peter proclaimed Christ to them as the one who had
demonstrated such mighty power by sending his Holy Spirit. They could see for
themselves how the man they had crucified with their own hands, regarding him
as worthy of nothing but contempt when they killed him, was now most high and
ennobled in God's presence, as was evident from his having filled uneducated
people with the Holy Spirit, and loosened the tongues of the dumb.’ They were
pierced to the heart, and asked, What shall we do? It was certainly severe tribula-
tion that had come upon them, for they had not themselves discovered their sins;
rather had their sins been found for them by the admonition of the apostles. So
the tribulations found them, not they the tribulations. When a person reflects on
his own action without being admonished by anyone else, and entreats God,
what does he say? J have found anguish and sorrow, and I called on the name of
the Lord (Ps 114(116):3-4). So there is a difference between the tribulation you
find for yourself, and the tribulation that finds you. But whichever kind you are
in—the kind that finds you out, or the kind you find for yourself—you should
beg him who is our helper in tribulations to drive it away. That is what the
psalmist did, for he testifies, J called on the name of the Lord, and those who
admitted that the tribulations they suffered had come upon them unsought
equally acknowledged, Our God is a refuge and strength, our helper in the
terrible tribulations that have come upon us. He has become their helper, then,
but why? Because they were pierced to the heart, and asked, “What shall we
do?” A very desperate plea. “He whom we killed has proved to be so great, and
now what is to become of us?” Peter gave them their answer: Repent, and let
every one of you be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that your sins
may be forgiven (Acts 2:37-38). He spoke with good reason, for they could
imagine no sin greater than this. What greater sin can a sick person commit than
to murder the physician? Can the patient do anything worse than killing his
doctor? But if that can be forgiven, is anything unforgivable? From God, whom
the psalmist called a refuge and strength, they received complete assurance. Let
every one of you be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ: accept baptism
in the name of him whom you killed, and your sins will be forgiven. You have
recognized your physician, though belatedly. Now that you have received his
assurance, drink the blood you shed.

9. See Wis 10:21.

314 Exposition of Psalm 45

Verse 3. Christ stills the storm Sasi)

5. What have they to say, now that they have been given such firm reassur-
ance? Therefore we shall not be afraid when the world rocks. Such a short time
before, they were anxious, but now they know they are safe, and after over-
whelming troubles they find themselves established in great tranquillity. Christ
had been asleep for them, and that was why they were apprehensive, but when
Christ woke up, he commanded the winds, and they died down, as we have just
heard in the gospel.'° Christ dwells in the heart of each one of us through our
faith. This episode shows us that if we forget our faith, our heart is like a boat
battered and tossed about in this stormy world, because Christ seems to be
asleep. But when he awakes, there is calm. This interpretation is beyond dispute,
because the Lord himself demanded, Where is your faith? (Lk 8:25). When
Christ awoke he awakened their faith, so that what had been done for the boat
might happen also in their hearts. Our helper in the terrible tribulations that
have come upon us, he acted there to bring about a great calm.

The mountains move .

6. Consider what a calm it is: therefore we shall not be afraid when the world
rocks, and the mountains are shifted out to sea. No, we shall not be afraid. Let us
look for these mountains that have been moved; if we find them, we shall obvi-
ously be secure there. Now the Lord said to his disciples, [f you have faith even
the size of a mustard-seed, you will say to this mountain, “Up with you, be
thrown into the sea,” and it will happen (Mt 17:19). Possibly by this mountain
he meant himself, for he was called a mountain in a prophecy: /n the last days the
mountain of the Lord shall be established above all other mountains (Is 2:2; Mi
4:1). It towers above the peaks of all other mountains, its place is upon all moun-
tain-tops, because those other mountains are there to proclaim this supreme
mountain. The sea represents this world, in comparison with which the Jewish
people were like an island of dry land, for they were not drenched by the salty
waters of idolatry, but were like a dry patch surrounded by the salty sea of the
Gentiles. The time was to come when this dry land, the Jewish race, would be
shaken, and then the mountains would be shifted out to sea, especially that
mountain which had been atop them all. He abandoned the Jews and found his
place among the Gentiles, like a mountain moving from dry land into the sea. By
whom was he moved? By the apostles, to whom he had promised, /f you have
faith even the size of a mustard-seed, you will say to this mountain, “Up with
you, be thrown into the sea,” and it will happen. He means, “If you preach with
absolute faith, this mountain, which represents me, will be preached among the

10. See Mt 8:24-26; Mk 4:37-40; Lk 8:23-25.

 Exposition of Psalm 45 315

Gentiles. I shall be glorified, I shall be acknowledged among the Gentiles, and in

me the prophecy will be verified, A people I never knew has come to serve me”
(Ps 17:45(18:44)).
But what about the other mountains? They were shifted too; when did it
happen? Let scripture enlighten us. When the apostle was preaching to the Jews,
they scorned the word, and Paul said to them, We were sent to you, but because
you have rejected the word of God, we are turning now to the Gentiles (Acts
13:46). So the mountains moved over into the sea. The Gentiles truly believed
the mountains, so that the mountains found a home out in the open sea. Very
different were the Jews, of whom it was said, This people honors me with its lips,
but its heart is far from me (Is 29:13; Mt 15:8). And this faith among the Gentiles
fulfilled the Lord’s promise through a prophet concerning the new covenant: /
will put my laws into their hearts (Jer 31:33; Heb 8:10). These laws, these
commandments that were stamped upon the faith and believing hearts of all
nations by the apostles, were figuratively called mountains transplanted into the
middle of the sea. For our part, we shall have no fear when it happens. Who
among us will be fearless? Those who are pierced to the heart, and so spared
from being numbered with the repudiated Jews, who are like branches broken
off.'' Some of the Jews believed, and threw in their lot with the apostles who
preached to them.'* But those whom the mountains abandoned have cause to be
afraid. We have not left the mountains, and when they were transplanted out into
the sea, we followed.

Verse 4. The apostles raisé-a storm

7. What follows the removal of the mountains into the open sea? Pay atten-
tion, and see the truth of it. When these predictions were made, they were
obscure, because the events had not yet taken place; but is there anyone around
today who is unaware that they have? The page of divine scripture is open for
you to read, and the wide world is open for you to see. Only the literate can read’
the books, but even the illiterate can read the book of the world. So what
happened when the mountains were shifted out to sea? Its waters roared and
heaved. When the gospel was preached people said, What is this ?He seems to be
peddling foreign deities (Acts 17:18). That was the Athenians’ attitude. But
remember the Ephesians: what a hullabaloo they raised, what a din they made in
support of their Diana in the theater when, intent on killing the apostles, they
shouted, Great is Ephesian Diana! (Acts 19:28). Amid these pounding and
roaring waters the apostles were not afraid, for they had taken refuge in God.
Paul even wanted to go into the theater, but he was restrained by the disciples,

11. See Rom 11:17-20.

12. Thus the CCL editors. Many codices have ““They believed, and the apostles approached.”
316 Exposition of Psalm 45

because they wanted to keep him alive. All the same, its watens’ roared and
heaved, and mountains were shaken by the force. The force of what or of whom?
The force of the sea? The power of God, more likely, the God who has been
called a refuge and strength, our helper in the terrible tribulations that have
come upon us. By this power mountains were shaken, and this time, I think, the
mountains represent the authorities of this world; for there are mountains of God
and mountains of the world. The head of this world’s mountains is the devil, but
the mountains of God have Christ for their head. So now one lot of mountains
was shaken by the other, and as the worldly mountains were rocked by the
resounding waves, they raised their voices!’ against Christians. Secular moun-
tains trembled, a great earthquake ensued and the waters raged. But against
whom? Against a city founded ona rock. When the gospel is preached the waters
heave and mountains quake, but what about you, city of God? Listen to what
comes next.

Verse 5. The river of the Holy Spirit

8. The vehement impulses of a river give joy to God’s city. Mountains quiver,
the sea rages, but God stays faithful to his city by means of this impetuous river.
What is it, and what are its impulses? They are the inundation of the Spirit, of
which the Lord said, Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. If anyone
believes in me, rivers of living water shall flow from within that person (Jn
7:37-38). And, sure enough, these rivers gushed from within Paul, Peter, John
and the rest of the apostles, and from the other faithful messengers of the gospel.
Since all these rivulets derived from the one great river, there are many vehement
impulses to give joy to God’s city. To make it quite clear that this promise
referred to the Holy Spirit, the evangelist continued in the same passage, He said
this of the Spirit which those who believed in him were to receive; for the Spirit
had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (Jn 7:39). When
Jesus had been glorified after his resurrection and ascension, the Holy Spirit
came on the day of Pentecost and filled the believers. They spoke in tongues, and
began to preach the good news to the Gentiles. At this the city of God was over-
joyed, though the sea was heaving with its noisy waves, and the mountains were
quaking and asking themselves what they should do, and how they could get rid
of this new teaching, and how they might uproot the Christian race from the
earth. But against whom was all this agitation directed? Against the irresistible
impulses of the river which were giving joy to God’s city. The psalmist goes on
to make clear what river he meant, and that he was indeed referring to the Holy
Spirit when he said, The vehement impulses of a river give joy to God’s city, for
he continues, The Most High has sanctified his own tent. If the word “sanctified”

13. Variant: “passed laws.”

 Exposition of Psalm 45 317

is used, it is obvious that we should understand these powerful impulses to be

those of the Holy Spirit, by whom every godly soul that believes in Christ is
sanctified, to make it a citizen of the city of God.

Verse 6. Divine indwelling

9. God is in the center of it, and it shall not be upset. Let the sea rage and the
mountains quake, still God is in the center of it, and it shall not be upset. Why in
the center of it? The image suggests that God stands in one spot, and those who
believe in him are ranged around him. Does this mean that God is confined in a
place, in such a way that, while the things around him have ample room, he who
is encircled is cramped for space? Heaven forbid! You must not think of God
like that. He whose throne is in the souls of the devout is not hemmed in by any
place. God’s throne is in human hearts in such wise that if a man or woman falls
away from God, God remains unchanged in himself; it is not as if he falls too,
deprived of any place to call his own. It is the other way round: he lifts you up, so
that you may be in him; he does not lean on you in such fashion that if you with-
draw your support, he falls. If he withdraws his support, you will fall; but if you
withdraw yours, he will not fall.
What does the psalm mean, then, when it says, God is in the center of it? It
suggests that God is completely fair to everyone, and has no favorites. Just as
some object that is placed in the center of a circle is equidistant from all parts of
the circumference, so God is said to be central because he cares for everyone
equally. God is in the center of it, and it shall not be upset. Why will it contrive
not to be upset? Because God is at its center. God will help it with his gracious
countenance. He is our helper in the terrible tribulations that seek us out
remorselessly. God will help it with his gracious countenance. What is signified
by his gracious countenance? The manifestation of his power. How does God
manifest himself, and how can we see his countenance? I have reminded you
already:'* you have learned that God is present; we have all learned it, by what he
does. Whenever we receive some help from him in such a way that we cannot
doubt that it was granted by the Lord, the gracious countenance of the Lord is
with us. God will help it with his gracious countenance.

Verse 7. The rain of salvation

10. The nations were disturbed. How disturbed, and why? By their plans to
overthrow the city of God, the city at whose center God dwells? Or to destroy the
sanctified tent, which God helps with his gracious countenance? No. The distur-
bance among the Gentiles is now a salutary one, for what comes next? And king-

14. Perhaps he means in his Exposition of Psalm 43, 4.

318 Exposition of Psalm 45

doms were bent low. Bent low, they were, he says; no longer argxthey proudly
erect to wreak havoc, but bent low to worship. When were kingdoms bent low?
When the prophecy found in another psalm was fulfilled: all the kings of the
earth will worship him, and all nations will serve him (Ps 71(72):11). What
induced kingdoms to bow low? The next line tells us: the voice of the Most High
was heard, and the earth trembled. Fanatical devotees of idols croaked like frogs
from the marshes, all the more frantically for coming from that foul and filthy
mud. But what is the croaking of frogs compared with thunder from the clouds?
It was from the clouds that the voice of the Most High was heard, and the earth
trembled, because God thundered from his own clouds. What are they? His
apostles, his preachers, through whom he thundered his commandments and
flashed the lightning of his miracles. The clouds are the same people as the
mountains: they are mountains by their height and stability, and clouds by their
rain and the fertility they bring; for these clouds have irrigated the earth, and it
was of them that the psalm said, The voice of the Most High was heard, and the
earth trembled. They were mentioned also when the Lord threatened a barren
vineyard, from which the mountains had been removed and relocated in the sea:
I will forbid my clouds to send rain upon it (Is 5:6). This prophecy was fulfilled
in the events we have already recalled, when the mountains were shifted out into
the sea, and when the apostle said, We were sent to you, but because you have
rejected the word of God, we are turning now to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46). Yes,
the threat was carried out that J will forbid my clouds to send rain upon it. In the
end the Jewish people was left like a dry fleece on the threshing-floor. You know
the story of how this miraculous event took place.'> At first the threshing-floor
was dry, and the fleece alone was wet, but no rain could be seen upon it. Simi-
larly the mystery of the new covenant could not be seen in the Jewish race. There
it was a fleece, here a veil,'° for the mystery was present in the fleece, but veiled.
Now, however, in the open threshing-floor, among all nations, Christ’s gospel is
plain to see. The rain is obvious, and the grace of Christ is laid bare, with no veil
covering it.'’ The fleece had to be wrung out to get rid of the rain, and so did the
Jews squeeze Christ out from themselves. Now the Lord has sent ample rain
upon the threshing-floor from his clouds, while the fleece has remained dry.
From these clouds the voice of the Most High was heard, so that kingdoms might
be bent low and brought to worship.

15. See Jgs 6:37-40.

16. A pun: /ilic vellus, hic velum.
17. He is combining two unrelated scriptural passages: Jgs 6:37-40 on the sign given to Gideon,
and Paul’s allegory about the veiled face in 2 Cor 3:13-18.
 Exposition of Psalm 45 319

Verse 8. God undertakes to support us

11. The Lord of hosts is with us, our supporter is the God ofJacob. Not on any
human whatsoever, not on any potentate, not even on any angel, not on any crea-
ture earthly or heavenly do we rely. But the Lord of hosts is with us, our
supporter" is the God of Jacob. He sent angels to us, and after the angels came
himself; he came to receive service from the angels and to make us mortals the
angels’ equals. This was tremendous grace. If God is for us, who stands against
us?'? The Lord of hosts is with us. Who is this Lord of hosts? If God is for us, I
repeat, who can stand against us? /fhe did not spare even his own Son, but deliv-
ered him up for us all, how can he fail to give us everything else along with that
gift? (Rom 8:32). Let us be secure, then, and in tranquillity of heart nourish a
good conscience on the bread of the Lord. The Lord of hosts is with us, our
supporter is the God of Jacob. However abysmal your weakness, see who lifts
you up.”° Suppose someone is ill, and a doctor is called in. The doctor undertakes
responsibility for the sick person.*! Who has taken him on? The doctor. So there
is great hope for recovery, because a great doctor has taken him on.” But in our
case, who is the doctor? Any doctor other than ours is a mere human, who will be
ill himself some time or other—but not ours. Our supporter is the God of Jacob.
Make yourself a tiny infant, such as parents pick up.”? Those who are not picked
up and acknowledged are exposed, but those who are taken into their parents’
arms are nourished and reared. But do you imagine that God has taken you into
his arms in the same way as your mother took you up when you were a baby? Not
so, because he has taken you up forever. It is your own voice that testifies in
another psalm, My father and mother have abandoned me, but the Lord has
taken me up (Ps 26(27):10). Our supporter is the God of Jacob.

Verse 9. The stone that grew into a mountain

12. Come and see the deeds of the Lord. Now what has the Lord done, after
undertaking to support us? Cast your eyes over the whole wide world; come and ~
see. For if you do not come, you do not see; if you do not see, neither do you
believe; if you do not believe, you are still standing far off. But if you believe,

18. Susceptor noster. The verb suscipio is rich in meaning: support, lift up, accept, undertake
responsibility for something or someone, and (of a parent) take a child into one’s arms in a
gesture of acknowledgment, as opposed to disowning and exposing it. All these meanings are
in the background in the following lines. See also Exposition of Psalm 3, 3, and Exposition of
Psalm 83, 9, and notes there.
19. See Rom 8:31.
20. Quis te suscipiat.
21. Susceptum suum dicit medicus aegrotum.
22. Suscepit.
23. Quales a parentibus suscipiuntur.
320 Exposition of Psalm 45

you come near, and if you believe, you see. How can we approach this moun-
tain? On foot? By ship? With wings? On horseback? No, none of these. As far as
distance is concerned you need not be preoccupied or worried, for the mountain
itself comes to you. At first only a tiny stone, it grew up into a mighty mountain,
so great that it filled the whole surface of the earth. Why bestir yourself to travel
through foreign lands trying to reach it, when it fills all lands? It has come
already—wake up! As it grows larger it knocks on the doors of those still asleep:
surely their slumbers are not so profound that they are insensible even to the
arrival of a mountain! Let them rather hear the call, Arise, sleeper, rise from the
dead: Christ will enlighten you (Eph 5:14), for the Jews were unable to see the
stone. It was a small stone then, so they despised it for its diminutive appearance,
and in their contempt they tripped over it, and in tripping they dashed themselves
against it. Now all that remains to them is to be crushed entirely, for it was proph-
esied of this stone, Anyone who trips over this stone will be dashed against it,
and anyone on whom itfalls will be crushed (Lk 20:18). It is one thing to be
dashed, quite another to be crushed; being dashed against it is less than being
crushed. When the stone comes in glory from above, the only people it will crush
are those who dashed themselves against it whenit lay humbly on earth. At this
present time, before our Lord comes again, he has been lying humbly before the
Jews, but they have stumbled against him and bruised themselves. One day in
the future he will come to judge, glorious and noble, great and powerful; he will
come not as a weak man to be judged, but as the strong one to judge and to crush
those who stumbled and dashed themselves against him, for to those who do not
believe, he is a stone to stumble over, a rock to trip them.*4
Dearest friends, we may find it unremarkable that the Jews did not recognize
someone who lay like a very small stone before their feet, attracting only their
disdain. Much more amazing is it that some refuse today to recognize so lofty a
mountain. The Jews tripped over the little stone because they failed to see it, but
today’s heretics trip over a mountain; for that stone has grown mightily by now,
and we can say to them, “Look how Daniel’s prophecy has come true: That
stone, the one that was once so small, grew into a lofty mountain, and filled the
whole earth (Dn 2:35). Why do you persist in stumbling over it, instead of
climbing it? Can anyone be so blind as to trip over a mountain? Anyone would
think that he had come on purpose to trip you up, instead of coming so that you
could climb.” Come, let us go up to the mountain ofthe Lord (Is 2:3; Mi 4:2): this
is the invitation addressed to us through Isaiah. Come, let us go up. What does he
mean by Let us go up? Come means “believe,” and let us go up means “let us
make progress.” But the heretics will neither come, nor ascend, nor believe, nor
press forward. They simply yap at the mountain. They have been bruised so
many times by tripping over it and dashing themselves against it, yet they will

24. Seé 1 Pt 2:8.

 Exposition of Psalm 45 S21

not go up the mountain, but persist in stumbling against it. Let us extend the invi-
tation to them: Come and see the deeds of the Lord, the prodigies he has
performed on earth. They are called prodigies because they are portentous; they
are the miraculous signs that were given when the world first believed. What did
they lead to, and what did they portend?

Verse 10. Banishment of war, and of weapons

13. Banishing war even to the ends of the earth. We do not see this promise
fully realized, for wars still rage. They are fought between nations for domi-
nance; and they are fought also between sects, between Jews, pagans, Christians
and heretics. Wars are waged, and with increasing frequency, as some fight for
the truth, and others for falsehoods. The prophecy that God is banishing wars
even to the ends of the earth has not been completely fulfilled yet, but perhaps it
will be.
But is there a sense in which it is fulfilled already? I think it is in some people.
It is realized in the wheat, but not yet in the chaff. In what sense is God banishing
wars even to the ends of the earth? Does the psalm perhaps mean wars waged
against God? But who goes to war against God? Impiety does. And what can
impiety achieve against God? Nothing. What does an earthenware vessel
achieve against a rock, even if hurled with great force? Nothing: the harder its
impact against the rock, the more damage it incurs itself. Wars of this kind used
to be waged often and fiercely. Impiety tried conclusions with God, and the
earthenware vessels were smashed. Human contenders relied on their own
resources, they thought themselves strong enough to prevail. Job called this
effrontery their “shield” when he said of an impious man, He charged against
God with his gross arrogance for a shield (Jb 15:26). What does he imply by
saying that the assailant’s gross arrogance served him as a shield? That he was
recklessly presuming on his ability to defend himself.
Was this the attitude of the others we heard about, those who kept saying, Our -
God is a refuge and strength, our helper in the terrible tribulations that have
come upon us? Or of those who professed in another psalm, J will put no trust in
my bow, and my sword will not save me (Ps 43:7(44:6))? When anyone realizes
that we are nothing in ourselves, and cannot look to ourselves for any help at all,
that person’s weapons have all been broken, and the wars that raged within him
or her are quelled. Wars like these were abolished by that voice of the Most High
that thundered from his holy clouds, the voice that caused the earth to tremble
and kingdoms to bow low. Wars of this kind he has banished even to the ends of
the earth. He will shatter the bow and smash the weaponry, and the shields he
will burn with fire. Bows, weaponry, shields, and fire. The bow represents an
ambush, the weaponry open attack, the shield vain self-reliance. And the fire
that burns them all up is the fire of which the Lord spoke: / have come to set fire
322 Exposition of Psalm 45

to the earth (Lk 12:49). Another psalm says of it, No one can hide from his heat
(Ps 18:7(19:6)). Once this fire gains a hold, nothing of the armory of impiety will
remain in us; all its pieces will inevitably be shattered, smashed and burnt up.
You must stay unarmed, without any succor from yourself; and the weaker, the
more undefended, you are, the more does he take up your cause,” he of whom it
was said, Our supporter” is the God of Jacob. You thought you could win by
yourself, so you are gravely shaken in yourself. Throw away the weapons you
relied on, and listen to the Lord telling you, My grace is sufficient
for you. You
too must say, When I am weak, then I am strong. This is Paul’s declaration. He
had lost all the weapons which appeared to be his strength when he admitted, Of
nothing butmy weaknesses will I boast (2 Cor 12:9-10). It was as though he were
saying, “No longer am I charging against God with my own gross arrogance fora
shield. J was originally a persecutor and a blasphemer, and harmed people, but I
received mercy so that Christ Jesus might give proof in me of his long forbear-
ance toward those who will believe in him unto eternal life’ (1 Tm 1:13,16).
Banishing wars even to the ends of the earth. If God takes up our cause, will he
abandon us in our unarmed condition? By no means. He equips us, but with
weapons of a different order, the evangelical weapons of truth, self-control,
salvation, hope, faith and charity. We shall wield these weapons, but they will
not come from ourselves. The arms we did have as from ourselves will have been
burnt, provided that we are enkindled by that fire of the Holy Spirit of which the
psalm declares, The shields he will burn with fire. You aspired to be powerful in
yourself, but God has made you weak in order to make you strong with his
strength, for your own was nothing but weakness.

Verse 11. Be still and see

14. What comes next? Be still.2’ To what purpose? And see that I am God.
“See that you are not God, but I am. I created you, and I recreate you; I formed
you, and I form you anew; I made you, and I remake you. If you had no power to
make yourself, how do you propose to re-make yourself?” But the contentious
uproar in the human mind is oblivious, so to this uproar the command is given,
“Be still: clear your minds of their disputatious noise. Do not argue with God, as
though to take up arms against him; if you try that, those weapons which are not

25. Te suscipit.
26. Susceptor.
27. Vacate. An important concept. At the material level it signifies that a thing, place, building,
etc., is vacant, unoccupied, idle or uncultivated. Of persons, it can suggest idleness, but more
significantly “being free for” some higher activity, a purposeful disengagement for something
more worthwhile, a fruitful leisure. In the present context the notion of “empty-handed,”
“unarmed,” is obviously still part ofthe meaning, but tradition has rightly fastened on this verse
as implying an invitation to contemplation: “Let go” or “be still” and “know that I am God.”
This sense is already implicit in Augustine’s remarks immediately following.
 Exposition of Psalm 45 323

yet burnt will be in action again. But if they have been truly burnt, be still,
because you no longer have anything to fight with. If you are still and empty
within yourselves, you who formerly presumed on yourselves may entreat me
for all you need. Be still, and you will see that I am God.”

Christ's triumph among both Gentiles and Jews

15. J will be exalted among the Gentiles, and exalted on earth. A little while
ago I pointed out that the word “earth” signified the Jewish people, and “sea” the
Gentiles. The mountains were shifted out into deep sea, the nations were
disturbed and kingdoms bent low, the Most High sent forth his voice and the
earth quaked. The Lord of hosts is with us, our supporter is the God of Jacob.
Miracles were worked among the nations, the Gentiles’ faith grew to full stature,
and now the arms of human presumption are going up in flames. There is leisure
and tranquillity of heart that permit us to recognize God as the author of all his
gifts. But now that he is so glorified, will he abandon the Jewish people? Of that
race the apostle said, This J must say to you, to save you from conceit about your
wisdom, that blindness has fallen upon part of Israel, until the full tally of the
Gentiles comes in (Rom 11:25). Until, that is, the mountains have passed over to
us, and the clouds have sent rain here, and the Lord has humbled our kingdoms
by his thunder—until the full tally of the Gentiles comes in. And then what? So
that all Israel may be saved (Rom 11:26). This is why the psalm in its last verse
preserves the same order: J will be exalted among the Gentiles, it says, and
exalted on earth. In the sea, and then on the land. Thus may all of us together sing
the refrain, The Lord of hosis is with us, our supporter is the God of Jacob.
 Exposition of Psalm 46.

A Sermon to the People

One truth, varied expressions a

1. Through the holy books that make up his scriptures, the Lord our God has
poured out for us the faith in which we live, and on which we live; and he has done
so in a great variety of different modes. He constantly varies the words he uses, and
these words are laden with mystery;'! but he commends to us one same faith
through them all. The same thing is expressed in many different ways so that the
mode of expression may always seem fresh and never bore us, but the underlying
truth be held firmly and maintain our hearts in unity. Keep this fact in mind as we
come to consider the psalm we have just heard sung, and to which we have sung
our response, because although we shall be tellirig you what you already know,
with the Lord’s help and his kindly gift it is possible that we may bring you some
special sweetness, as you ruminate on things you have heard already here or there,
but now think about once more as we remind you. When God laid down regula-
tions about animals that chew the cud being classed as clean,” he meant to teach us
by this reference to rumination that each of us should consign what we hear to our
hearts, and not be slow to mull over it afterwards. When we listen, we are like the
clean animal eating, and when later we call to mind what we heard, and turn it over
in our thoughts to extract the utmost savor from it, we are like the animal rumi-
nating. This is why the same truths are spoken in different ways, giving us the
opportunity to find delicious new flavors in what we already know, and enticing us
to listen to them again with delight; for when the idiom is diversified, the ancient
truth seems ever new as it is presented differently.

Verse 1. The children of Korah

2. The title of the psalm is Unto the end, for the children of Korah. A psalm for
David himself. Quite a few other psalms have this title which refers to the chil-
dren of Korah.’ They point to a sweet mystery, hinting at a holy meaning hidden
under a sign.* All the more reason for us to open our minds to understand it, and

|. Sacramenta verborum: for Augustine, words were essentially signs, and hence “sacramental.”
2. See Ly 11:2-7; Dt 1434-8.
3. See note at Exposition of Psalm 41, 2.
4. Insinuant magnum sacramentum.

324
 Exposition of Psalm 46 pss

to recognize in the title nothing other than ourselves, who are listening and
reading, and may use the title like a mirror presented to us so that we can look
into it and discover who we are.
Now who are the children of Korah? Korah certainly was someone’s proper
name; undoubtedly there was a real person who bore it.© But when these scrip-
tures are read, we find the divine word speaking to people who cannot readily be
understood to be the descendants of that individual named Korah; and so our
minds come back to the mystery, wondering what the name “Korah” signifies. It
is a Hebrew word, one which is in ordinary use and can be translated into Greek
and Latin. And this has been done; many Hebrew names have been interpreted
for us, and when we investigate the meaning of this one we find that “Korah” is
equivalent to “bald;”° Ah, that alerted you, didn’t it? It was obscure enough
when the “children of Korah” were mentioned, but is it not more obscure still
when they are called “children of the bald man’? Who are these children of the
bald man? Could they perhaps be the children of the Bridegroom? Yes, that’s it,
because the Bridegroom was crucified at a place called “Calvary.” Recall the
passage in the gospel about the Lord’s crucifixion, and you will find that Calvary
is the place. What is more, the people who mock his cross are devoured by
demons, as though by wild beasts, and that is what another scriptural passage
foreshadowed. God’s prophet Elisha was climbing a hill when teasing boys
shouted after him, Up you go, baldy! Up you go, baldy! (2 Kgs 2:23). Elisha
summoned bears to come out and catch them, so the boys were devoured; but his
action was not so much cruel as mysteriously prophetic. If those boys had not
been eaten up, would they still be alive today? Of course not. Were they not born
mortal, and could they not just as easily have been carried off by a fever? But if
they had been, the mysterious warning that was to terrify later generations would
not have been displayed in them. In the light of this, no one should presume to
mock at the Lord’s cross. The Jews were demon-possessed, and they were simi-
larly devoured, for when they crucified Christ at the “bald place,” and lifted him
high on the cross, they were as good as saying with their childish, uncompre-
hending minds, Up you go, baldy! What else does Crucify! Crucify! mean,’ but
Up you go? The state of childhood is put before us both as an example of
humility we must imitate, and as a foolish attitude we must avoid. The Lord
proposed childlikeness to us as humility to be practiced when he called children
to him, and then, when people tried to hold them back, said, Let them come to me;
the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these (Mt 19:14).* But a childish cast
of mind was held up by the apostle as something silly to be shunned: Do not be
childish in your outlook, brethren. Yet even he puts it before them as a good

5. See Nm 16:1.
6. Calvum.
7. See Lk. 23:21.
8. See Mt 18:2-4.
326 Exposition of Psalm 46

example, under another aspect: Be babes in your innocence of. evil, so as to be

mature in mind (1 Cor 14:20).
Now our psalm is sung for the children of Korah, and therefore is sung for
Christians. So let us listen to it as children of the Bridegroom, that Bridegroom
whom childish lunatics crucified at a place called Calvary. They deserved to be
savaged by beasts, but we to be crowned by angels, for we acknowledge the Lord
in his degradation and are not ashamed of it. We are not embarrassed to belong to
one who in a mystical sense is called “the bald man” because of his association
with Calvary, for by that very cross on which he wasthe butt of insults he has not
left our brows bald and shamefully exposed; instead he has signed them with his
cross.
Well now, it is time for you to see for yourselves that the verses which follow
are addressed to us; so let us see what they say.

Verse 2. The joy of the Gentiles

3. All nations, clap your hands. Does “all nations” mean Israel only? No indeed.
Blindness fell upon part of Israel, so that stupid children shouted, Baldy! Baldy!
But the Lord was crucified on that bald place, Calvary, in order to redeem the
Gentiles by his outpoured blood, and thus the apostle’s prophecy was fulfilled:
Blindness fell upon part of Israel, until the full tally of the Gentiles should come in
(Rom 11:25). Let those empty-headed, doltish, crazy folk fling their insults; let
them shout, Baldy! Baldy! if they want to. But you, all you nations redeemed by the
blood he shed on Calvary, all nations, clap your hands, because God’s grace has
come to you. Clap your hands: what does clap suggest? Rejoice. Yes, but why with
your hands? Because you must express your joy in good actions. You must not
make merry with your voices and leave your hands idle. If you are happy, clap your
hands. Let him who has graciously granted you such joy see the hands of the
Gentiles at work. And what do I mean by “the hands of the Gentiles”? I mean the
deeds of those who work in a way that pleases him. All nations, clap your hands,
raise a shout of joy to God with exultant voices. So you must use both voice and
hands. It is not a good thing to employ your voice alone, because then your hands
are lazy, but neither is it good to use only your hands, because then your tongue is
dumb. Hands and tongue should be in harmony: the tongue confessing, the hands
at work. Raise a shout of joy to God with exultant voices.

Verse 3. King of the Jews, and ofall the earth

4. For the Lord is most high, and terrible. He is most high because, though in
his descent he seemed ridiculous, by ascending to heaven he has shown himself
terrible, a great king over all the earth. Not only over the Jews, then, though he is
indeed their king; for the apostles believed, and they were of the Jewish race, and
many thousands of their fellow-Jews sold their property and laid the proceeds at
 Exposition of Psalm 46 Pat

the apostles’ feet.° So in them was verified the prophecy written as a title over the
cross: King of the Jews (Mt 27:37; Mk 15:26; Lk 23:38; Jn 19:19), King of the
Jews, certainly, but that is too little to say of him. All nations, clap your hands,
for God is king over all the earth." It would not be enough to assign him one lone
nation as his subjects; he paid so heavy a price from his pierced side because he
meant to buy the whole world. He is a great king over all the earth.

Verse 4. Worldwide sovereignty?

5. He has subjected peoples to us, put nations under our feet. What nations,
and to whom were they subjected? Who are the speakers here? The Jews,
perhaps? Well, yes, if we take it to be the apostles and saints, for God did indeed
so subject peoples and nations to them that they who earned death at the hands of
their fellow-Jews are today honored among the Gentiles. Just so was their Lord
killed by his compatriots, but honored now among the Gentiles, crucified by his
own race but worshiped now among foreigners, those foreigners he made his
own at such a price.'! This was his purpose in buying us: to ensure that we should
not be aliens to him. Do you think, then, that it is the apostles’ words we are
hearing in this verse, he has subjected peoples to us, put nations under our feet? I
don’t know. It would be strange if the apostles were to speak so proudly,
rejoicing that Gentiles had been subdued under their feet, in the sense that Chris-
tians are subordinate to the apostles. Much more likely is it that they rejoice to be
themselves subjected along with us under the feet of the one who died for us.
There were some Christians once who were running after Paul and trying to get
under his feet, wanting to belong to Paul, but he rebuked them: Was Paul cruci-
fied for you? (1 Cor 1:13).
What are we to understand here, then? How are we to take it? He has
subjected peoples to us, put nations under our feet. Here is a suggestion: those
who form part of Christ’s inheritance are found among all nations, but equally
those who do not belong to Christ’s inheritance are found among all nations. Yet
you see Christ’s Church so highly respected in his name that all those who do not
yet believe lie under the feet of Christians. What crowds of people, not yet Chris-
tians themselves, come running to the Church and begging the Church to help
them! They want temporal assistance from us, even if they are still unwilling to
reign eternally with us. Since everyone wants help from the Church, including
those who are not yet its members, can it not be truly said that he has subjected
peoples to us, put nations under our feet?

9. See Acts 4:34-35.

10. See verse 8 below.
11. Variants specify “at the price of his blood.”
328 Exposition of Psalm 46

Verse 5. Jacob and Esau Sa

6. He has chosen his inheritance for us, the beauty of Jacob that he loved. It is
acertain beauty of Jacob, his own inheritance, that he has chosen to be ours. Esau
and Jacob were twin brothers. They wrestled with each other in their mother’s
womb, causing her grave internal upheaval. Even while the two of them were in
the womb, the younger was chosen and given ascendancy over the elder, for
even as early as that the promise was made, There are two peoples in your womb,
and the elder shall serve the younger (Gn 25:23). The elder is found among all
nations today, and so is the younger. The younger is represented by good Chris-
tians, the elect, the devout, the believers; and the elder by the proud, the arrogant,
sinners, the obstinate, and those who defend their sins instead of confessing
them. These latter are like the Jews, who took no account of God’s righteousness
and tried to set up their own instead.!? But the promise was made, the elder shall
serve the younger and, sure enough, it is undeniable that the godless are subject
to the godly, the proud to the humble. Esau was born first, and Jacob second, but
the later-born was preferred to the first-born, because the elder bartered away his
birthright through gluttony. Scripture tells us the story: Esau hungered for the
lentil stew, and his brother bargained with him: “If you want me to give you
some, give me your birthright.”'?Esau valued the food he carnally desired above
the privilege he had spiritually deserved by his seniority at birth, so he gave up
the rights of the first-born in order to eat lentil stew. Now we find that lentils are
typically the food of the Egyptians, because they grow plentifully in Egypt. That
is why Alexandrian lentils have a high reputation, and are imported into our own
country—as though we could not grow them here. This suggests that it was by
coveting Egyptian food that Esau lost the rights of the first-born, and in this
respect he was like the Jewish people, of whom it was said, Jn their hearts they
turned back to Egypt (Acts 7:39), for they too in a sense have hungered for lentils
and thereby lost their birthright. He has chosen his inheritance for us, the beauty
of Jacob that he loved.'*

12. See Rom 10:3.

13. See Gn 25:30-34.
14. Augustine’s treatment of the Jacob-Esau story in this paragraph has reversed the meaning
attached to it by Old Testament compilers and Jewish tradition. For them, Esau represented the
other nations, typically Edom, of whom he was thought to be the progenitor; and Jacob stood
for Israel, the chosen one, God’s inheritance. For Augustine, Esau is the Jews, and Jacob the
Gentiles chosen in the Jews’ stead. Another part of the background here is the traditional view
of Egypt as the home par excellence of idolatry, partly because of the highly developed system
of worship in ancient Egypt, and partly because of Egypt's special role in the early history of
the chosen people. Thus the desire to “return to Egypt” of which they are accused symbolizes a
denial of the covenant and the special relationship with God to which it committed them.
 Exposition of Psalm 46 329

Verse 6. Joy at Christ's ascension

7. God went up amid shouts of joy. Our Lord Christ, he who is indeed our
God, went up amid shouts of joy, the Lord at the sound of a trumpet. When it
says, Went up, where was he going? We know very well. He went to a place
where the Jews did not follow him,'> even with their eyes, for they had mocked
him when he was raised up on the cross, but could not see him as he was lifted up
to heaven. God went up amid shouts ofjoy. What does it mean, to shout with joy?
It means to give voice to a wondering happiness that cannot be adequately
expressed in words. It was with wonder and happiness like this that the disciples
were filled as they watched the Master they had mourned as dead now going up
to heaven; no words could do justice to such joy, so all they could do was shout
wordlessly about a happiness beyond telling. And there was a trumpet-call there
too: the voice of the angels, which can rightly be compared to a trumpet, for
scripture says, Raise your voice like a trumpet (Is 58:1). The angels proclaimed
the Lord’s ascension, but they also had an eye to the disciples who, as the Lord
ascended, lingered there amazed and marveling, saying nothing but shouting
with joy in their hearts. Then the clear voices of the angels rang out like trum-
pets: Why stand here, men of Galilee? This is Jesus (Acts 1:11). As though they
did not know it was Jesus! Had they not seen him in their company so short a
time before? Had they not heard him talking to them? And more: besides seeing
him visibly present, they had even handled his limbs.!° Were they likely to be in
any doubt that this was Jesus? But the angels were talking to men almost out of
their minds with wonder and shouting with joy, so they said, “This is Jesus,” as if
to say, “If you believe in him, this is the one at whose crucifixion you tottered, at
whose murder and burial you thought you had lost your hope. This is the same
Jesus. He is ascending before your eyes, but he will come again, even as you
have seen him go to heaven (Acts 1:11). His body is taken from your sight, but
God is not distanced from your hearts. Watch him ascend; believe in him while
he is away; hope for his return; but all the time be aware that he is present with
you through his hidden mercy. He who has ascended into heaven to remove
himself from your sight has made you this promise: Lo, lam with you even to the
end of the ages” (Mt 28:20). With good reason did the apostle encourage us by
saying, The Lord is very near, have no anxiety (Phil 4:5-6). Christ is enthroned
above the heavens, and the heavens are a long way away, yet he who is seated
there is near to us. The Lord has gone up at the sound of a trumpet. If you have
understood, you children of Korah, you can see yourself in this, and you too can
rejoice, seeing that this is your story as well.

15. See Jn 8:21.

16. See Lk 24:39.
330 Exposition of Psalm 46

Verse 7. Christ is God from eternity ay?

8. Sing psalms to him as our God, sing him psalms. Those who were
estranged from God jeered at Christ in his manhood, but you sing psalms to him
as our God, for he is not only man; he is God. He is man from the seed of David,"
but as God he is David’s Lord. He took flesh from the Jews, to whom belong the
patriarchs, and from whom Christ was born according to the flesh, as the apostle
reminds us (Rom 9:5). So Christ is truly sprung from the Jews, but only
according to the flesh; for who is this Christ, who took fleshly nature from the
Jews? He is sovereign over all, God, blessed for ever (Rom 9:5). He was God
before being made flesh, God in the flesh, God with flesh. Not only was he God
before he took flesh: he was God before the earth, from which flesh was made,
and not only God before the earth whence flesh was made, but God before the
sky which was made earlier, and God before the first day was created, and God
before all the angels came to be. Christ is God, because in the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God; he was God. Everything was made through
him; no part of created being was made without him (Jn 1:1-3). He through
whom all things were made exists before all things. Sing psalms to him as our
God, then, sing him psalms.'®

Verse 8. The universal God

9. For God is king over all the earth. Does this mean that he is God of all the
earth only now, and not formerly? Is he not God of heaven and earth, since there
is no doubt that all things were made through him? Has anyone the right to say,
“He is not my God”? No, but not all humankind recognized him as their God, so
it could in a way be said that he was only God where he was acknowledged. God
was made known only in Judah,'® and not yet was the command given to the chil-
dren of Korah, all nations, clap your hands. Yet the God who was made known
in Judah was the God who is king of the whole earth; and now he is acknowl-
edged by all peoples, because Isaiah’s prophecy has been fulfilled: Your God,
who has delivered you, will be called the God of the whole earth (Is 54:5). For
God is king over all the earth; sing psalms to him with understanding.*® He is
teaching us, warning us that we must sing psalms with our minds tuned to under-
standing, not just making a sound to please the ear, but seeking light for our
hearts. Sing psalms with understanding, we are told. You were called from
Gentile races to be Christians, and those Gentile pagans used to worship gods
made by human hands, and sing psalms to them, but not with understanding. If

17. See Rom 1:3.

18. Augustine omits the last words of this verse.
19. See Ps 75(76):1.
20. Intellegenter. A variant is sapienter, “wisely,” “with discernment.”
 Exposition of Psalm 46 331

they had been singing with understanding, they would not have worshiped
stones. When a human person endowed with reason sang to a stone devoid of
reason, was that singing with understanding? It is different for us, brothers and
sisters: we do not see with our eyes what we are worshiping, yet we have been
put right in the matter of worship.*! Not seeing God with our eyes, we have a far
higher notion of him. If we did see him, we would perhaps make light of him.
The Jews saw Christ, and made light of him, whereas the Gentiles who had not
seen him worshiped him. To them was the exhortation addressed, Sing psalms
with understanding; and, as another text admonishes us, Do not be like a horse
or a mule, devoid of understanding (Ps 31(32):9).

Verse 9. The Lord’s enthronement in the souls of the just

10. The Lord will reign over all nations.** He who was at that time reigning
over one nation only will reign over all nations, the psalm promised. When these
words were spoken, God was reigning only over the one nation, so this was a
prophecy, and the reality had not yet been manifested. May God be thanked, that
we today see the fulfillment of what was prophesied long ago. Before the time
was ripe, God wrote a bond for us, and now that the time has come, he has paid.
The words, God will reign over all nations, were prophetic.
God sits upon his holy throne. What is this holy throne? The heavens
perhaps? That would be a good way to understand it. Christ has ascended, as we
know, in the same body in which he was crucified, and is enthroned at the
Father’s right hand; we await his coming from there to judge the living and the
dead.** He sits upon his holy throne. So the heavens are his holy throne? Yes, but
do you want to be his throne too? Do not think such a thing beyond you; if you
prepare a place for him in your heart, he comes and is pleased to set his throne
there. We know for certain that Christ is the power of God, and the wisdom of
God;* and what does scripture say of Wisdom? The soul of a righteous person is
the throne of Wisdom.” So then, if the soul of a righteous person is Wisdom’s.
throne, make sure your soul is righteous, and it will be a regal chair for Wisdom.
I would go further, brothers and sisters: surely God is enthroned in all those who
lead good lives, perform good works, and treat others with reverent charity, and
surely God rules them? The soul obeys God who is seated within it, and the soul
in turn commands its bodily members. Your soul sends orders to the appropriate
member of your body, telling the foot to move, or the hand, eye, or ear to perform

21. Tamen correcti adoramus. A variant has corde recti, “we worship as people who are right of
heart.”
22. A variant adds “for ever.”
23asce2 Inia
24. See 1 Cor 1:24.
25. See Wis 7:27-28.
332 Exposition of Psalm 46

its function. The soul treats these members as its servants, but thé soul itself is
the servant of its Lord who is enthroned within it. It cannot rule its subordinates
well, unless it consents to obey its own superior. God sits upon his holy throne.

Verse 10. Abraham’s progeny

11. The princes of the peoples have rallied to the God of Abraham. The God
of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob: this is the truth as God
himself declared it;2° and the Jews made it a matter for boasting: We are Abra-
ham’s descendants (Jn 8:33). They took pride in their father’s name and wore his
flesh, but they did not hold fast to his faith. They were his close relatives by
carnal descent, but degenerate in their conduct. Notice what the Lord said to
these arrogant people: Jf you are Abraham’s children, act as Abraham did (Jn
8:39). John the Baptist spoke in a similar way to certain Jews who came to him
quivering with fear and anxious to straighten themselves out by repentance.
Brood of vipers, he called them. They were wicked, abandoned characters, they
were sinners, they were impious, but they came to John for baptism, and what
did he have to say to them? You brood of vipers! They called themselves descen-
dants of Abraham, and he called them a brood of vipers. How was that?
Abraham was not a viper, was he? But by their evil lives they had become chil-
dren of the demons they were imitating, and so John challenged them: You brood
of vipers, who has taught you to flee from the wrath that is coming? Bring forth
the fruit that befits repentance, and do not say to yourselves, We have Abraham
for our father. Then, as though realizing that they might still make their pedigree
a matter for pride, he went on, “For God is able to raise up children to Abraham
even from these stones (Mt 3:7-9). Abraham will not be left childless if God
damns you, for he is quite capable of damning those he hates and still giving to
Abraham the offspring he promised.” But from where will he raise the children
he must restore to Abraham, if he condemns the Hebrews who sprang from
Abraham’s flesh? From these stones. John pointed to the stones there in the
desert. But who were “stones,” if not the Gentiles, who were accustomed to
worship stones? But did that make them stony themselves? Truly it did; they
could be called stones for adoring stones, as a psalm had foretold: May those who
fashion them become like them, and all who put their trust in them (Ps
113B(115):8). And yet it was from those same stones that God restored posterity
to Abraham, for now all of us, who used to be stone-worshipers, have turned to
God and become Abraham’s children, not by claiming carnal descent from him
but by imitating his faith. This is how the princes ofthe peoples have rallied to
the God of Abraham. Observe that the psalm says, The princes of the peoples;

26. See Ex 3:6.

 Exposition of Psalm 46 333

not the princes of one people only, but those of all peoples have rallied to the
God ofAbraham.

The centurion

12. One of these princes was the centurion you heard about just now when the
gospel was read. This centurion was a man who enjoyed reputation and a
powerful position among his fellows; he was a prince from the princes of the
peoples. He sent his friends along when Christ was coming his way—or, more
accurately, he sent his friends to intercept Christ who would otherwise have
passed by—and asked that Christ would heal his servant, who was dangerously
ill. But when the Lord indicated his willingness to come, the centurion sent him
this message: / am unworthy to have you entering my house; but just say the
word, and my servant will be healed. For 1am myself.a man under authority, and
I have soldiers under me. Notice how he suggested a chain of command.’ First
he mentioned that he was subject to someone else, and then that others were
subordinate to him. “I am under authority, and I am in authority; I am under
someone, and I have others under me. / say to this one, Go, and he goes, to
another, Come, and he comes; and to a servant, Do this, and he does it.” This isa
way of saying, “If 1, who am under the power of others, give orders to those who
are under me, can’t you, who are under no one’s power, give orders to your
creation, when all things were made through you, and without you nothing was
made? Just say the word, then, and my servant will be healed, for to receive you
into my house is an honor.I do not deserve.” He trembled at the thought of
bringing Christ within his four walls, yet Christ was already in his heart. The
centurion’s heart was already Christ’s throne, for he who was seeking out the
humble had already taken his seat there. On hearing these words, Christ
marveled, and he turned to his followers and said, I tell you truly, I have not
found such great faith in Israel (Lk 7:6-9). Another evangelist who tells the
same story adds something else that the Lord said: Jn truth I tell you, many will
come from east and west and will sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in
the kingdom of heaven (Mt 8:11). Now this centurion was not from the race of
Israel. Among the Israelites proud people thrust God away from them, but
among the princes of the Gentiles there was this humble man who invited God to
come to him. Jesus’ admiration of his faith was a rebuke to the faithlessness of
the Jews. They considered themselves healthy, but they were dangerously sick
when they killed the physician they could not recognize. Christ denounced and
reprobated their pride, and how did he make this clear? Jn truth I tell you, he said,
many will come from east and west, people who are no kin of Israel. Those
crowds will come, to whom the psalm says, All nations, clap your hands. And

27. Or “kept his rank.”

334 Exposition of Psalm 46

they will sit down with Abraham in the kingdom of heaven. Abraham did not
engender them from his body, yet they will come and sit down with him in the
kingdom of heaven, and they will be his children. By what right? Not by being
born from his flesh, but by following his example of faith. But the children of the
kingdom—the Jews, that is—will be thrown into the outer darkness, where
there will be weeping and gnashing ofteeth (Mt 8:12). Those who were born of
Abraham’s flesh will be condemned to the darkness outside, while those who
have imitated Abraham’s faith will dine with him in the kingdom of heaven.
Here too, certainly, the princes of the peoples have rallied to the God of
Abraham.

The high and mighty

13. And what is to become of those who belonged by right to the God of
Abraham? The psalm goes on to say, The mighty gods of the earth were highly
exalted. The people of God, that vine of God’s cultivating of which he said
through a prophet, Give judgment between me and my vineyard (Is 5:3), these are
the “gods” who are to go into the outer darkness, forbidden to sit down with
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. They do not join the throng that resorts to the God
of Abraham. Why not? Because they are the mighty gods of the earth. Being
mighty gods of the earth, they put their reliance on the earth, and what earth was
that? On themselves, for every man and woman is but earth, as a man was once
reminded: Earth you are, and back to earth you shall go (Gn 3:19). Every human
being must rely on God, and hope for help from God, not self. The earth does not
send itself rain or sunlight; and just as the earth awaits rain and sunlight from the
sky, human beings must await mercy and truth from God. But the Jews, mighty
gods of the earth, were highly exalted; that is, exceedingly proud. They did not
think they needed a doctor, and therefore they remained in their diseased state,
and that disease brought them to death. The natural branches were lopped off, so
that the humble wild olive might be grafted in,’ because the mighty gods of the
earth were highly exalted. Let us, then, hold firmly to humility, charity and
piety, my brothers and sisters, for while they have been rejected we have been
called; so let us learn a lesson even from their example, and beware of being
proud.”?

28. See Rom 11:17.

29. The last lines of Augustine’s Exposition of Psalm 45 give another view ofthe New Testament’s
teaching on the destiny of the Jews.
 Exposition of Psalm 47

A Sermon to the People

Verse 1. The second day of creation: the Church

1. The title of this psalm is A song of praise

for the children of Korah, on the
second day of the week. Now on the second day of the week of creation, the day
after the one we call Sunday or the Lord’s day, the firmament was made.! As I
will go on to explain, we are children of the firmament, so try to take in what the
Lord graciously gives us to understand about it. This day is called the second
feria, and the firmament was called “sky,” for that was the name the Lord
assigned to it. On the first day he had created light, and separated it from dark-
ness; he had called the light “day,” and the darkness “night.” But as the full text
of this psalm will show, when God spoke so at the beginning of his creative
work, he foreshadowed something that was to be fulfilled in us, and the ages
have run their course toward this fulfillment that was inherent in creation from
the first. It was with excellent reason that the Lord said of Moses, He wrote about
me.? Everything that was written, even about God’s first creation, can be inter-
preted as a sign of things to come. So you can say that God created light when
Christ rose from the dead, for then light was truly divided from darkness, when
immortality was marked off from mortality.* What was his next task? To provide
the Head with a body, the Church.
Moreover, there is a psalm assigned to the first day of the week, in which
Christ’s resurrection is unambiguously proclaimed: Away with your gates, you
princes!* But you, everlasting gates, lift yourselves up, and the King of glory will
enter (Ps 23(24):7.9), for it is abundantly clear that Christ is the king of glory.
Scripture says of his killers, /fthey had known him, they would never have cruci-

. See Gn 1:6-8.
. Jn 5:46. Moses was regarded as the author of the Pentateuch.
Wn. Augustine’s insights throughout this paragraph are deeply attuned to the whole movement of
salvation history as presented in the scriptures. Even within the Old Testament the story of
creation is not told for its own sake, but to form a backdrop to the exodus and the creation of a
chosen people: creation is like Act I of salvation. This is all the more true in the perspective of
the New Testament. Creation is a prelude to the new creation in Christ; and the light of God’s
first day points toward the dawn of Easter, and the ultimate day of that city that needs no sun or
moon, being lit by the glory of God and the Lamb (see Rv 21:23).
4. Here and in his Exposition of Psalm 23 Augustine read principes vestri, which makes little
sense. Variants include principis vestri (“lift up the gates of your prince”) and from the CCL
editors, principes vestras.

295
336 Exposition of Psalm 47

fied the Lord of glory (1 Cor 2:8). Obviously, then, we must understand the work
of the second day to be the Church of Christ, but the Church of Christ as it exists
in the saints, the Church of Christ in those whose names are written in heaven,
the Church of Christ in those who do not give way under the temptations of this
world. These are the people who are worthy to be named “the firmament.” The
Church of Christ is to be found in those who stand firm, of whom the apostle
says, We who have firm footing must bear with the weaknesses of the infirm
(Rom 15:1), and hence the Church is called the firmament.
This is the subject of our psalm. Let us listen, and recognize the Church here,
and unite ourselves with its fellowship, and be proud of it, and accept our
kingdom. It is also called a firmament in the apostolic letters; listen, and
remember what is said: God’s house is the Church of the living God, the pillar
and firmament of truth (1 Tm 3:15). The psalm sings about this firmament to the
children of Korah who, as you know, are the children of the Bridegroom who
was crucified at a place called Calvary, for Korah translates as “baldness.”° Now
for the rest of this psalm which is entitled, On the second day of the week.

Verse 2. The city and the mountain

2. Great is the Lord, and exceedingly worthy of praise. Yes, the Lord is great,
and exceedingly worthy of praise, but do unbelievers praise the Lord? And what
about those who do believe, but lead bad lives—do they praise the Lord? Do they
not rather cause the name of God to be profaned among the pagans?° Do they
praise the Lord? No; or, at any rate, if they do, is the praise they offer acceptable,
when scripture warns us, Praise is not seemly in a sinner’s mouth (Sir 15:9)?
You have told us, psalmist, that great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised,
but where is this observed? Jn the city of our God, on his holy mountain. This
mountain is mentioned elsewhere, when another psalm asks, Who will climb the
mountain of the Lord? One with clean hands and a pure heart (Ps 23(24):3-4).
For such people the Lord is indeed great, and exceedingly worthy of praise, but
in the city of our God, on his holy mountain. This is the city set on a mountain that
cannot be hidden, the lantern that is not concealed under a meal-tub but known to
all and universally renowned.’ Not everyone is a citizen of it, but only those for
whom the Lord is great and exceedingly worthy of praise.
Let us see what this city is, because if we are unsure, we may think on hearing
the words, in the city of our God, on his holy mountain, that we need to go in
search of this mountain in order to find a hearing there. After all, another psalm
was quite right to say, With my voice I have cried to the Lord, and he heard me

5. Calvitium.
6. See Rom 2:24.
7. See Mt 5:14-15.
 Exposition of Psalm 47 S0y/

from his holy mountain (Ps 3:5(4)). So it was that mountain that helped you, and
won you a hearing; for if you had not climbed it, you might well have cried out
from your prone position below, but you could not have made yourself heard.
What is this mountain, brothers and sisters? We ought to seek it with the utmost
zeal, explore it very diligently indeed, and spare no effort to move in and climb
it. But what if it is in some other country; what are we to do then? Shall we leave
home and journey into a foreign land to reach the mountain? It would be truer to
say that if we are not there on the mountain we are even now exiles in a foreign
land, for that city is our own homeland, if we are members of the King who is the
Head of the city. Where is the mountain, then? If it is located in some particular
spot, we shall have a lot of trouble getting there, as I have said. But why make
busy preparations? | would have you as prompt to climb the mountain as the
mountain itself was eager to come to you while you were still asleep; for there
was a cornerstone that seemed of little importance, and the Jews fell over it.® It
was hewn out of the mountain-side without hands; that is to say, it came from the
Jewish realm without human hands, for it came by no human agency to Mary,
from whom Christ was born. But if the stone that tripped up the Jews had
remained there, you would not have been in a position to climb it. But what
happened? What does Daniel’s prophecy say? That little stone grew, and
became a lofty mountain. How big did it grow? Big enough to cover the whole
surface of the earth.’ And this meant that by growing and filling the entire world
it came even to us. Why should we go looking for the mountain, as though it were
far away? It is here with us, and our business is to climb it, so that among us the
Lord may be great, and exceedingly worthy of praise.

Verse 3. The “companions of the north” join with Zion

3. Still, there could have been some risk of your not recognizing the mountain
in this psalm, and thinking that you needed to look for it in some other part of the
world. The next verse excludes misunderstanding, for after saying, In the city of.
our God, on his holy mountain, the psalmist adds, He increases the gladness of
all the earth, the mountains of Zion. But Zion is only one mountain, so why does
it say, Mountains? Perhaps because Zion embraces peoples coming from
different quarters to meet each other and be joined to the cornerstone, and these
two walls are like two mountains, one from the circumcised, the other from the
uncircumcised, one from the Jews, the other from the Gentiles. They are no
longer adverse even though diverse in origin; and once fitted into the corner they
are diverse no longer. He himself is our peace, since he united the two, says
scripture (Eph 2:14). Christ is the cornerstone rejected by the builders, which

8. See Rom 9:32.

9. See Dn 2:34-35.
338 Exposition of Psalm 47

has become the headstone of the corner (Ps 117(118):22). Christ is the mountain
who joined two mountains in himself. There is one house, and two houses; two
in that they came from different quarters, but one because of the cornerstone in
which they are joined. This same truth is reiterated; listen: the mountains of Zion
and the companions" of the north, the city of the great king. You were accus-
tomed to think of Zion as a single place, where Jerusalem was founded, and you
thought to meet there one people only, that of the circumcision; for the remnant
of Israel was gathered up by Christ, although that people had been for the most
part winnowed away like straw. That was prophesied:A remnant shall be saved
(Rom 9:27).!! But consider the Gentiles, watch the wild olive being grafted into
the succulent olive.'? That means the Gentiles, who here are called companions
of the north. These companions of the north are built into the city of the great
king. Ordinarily the north would be in the opposite direction to Zion, which lies
toward the south. Who is “the north” then? Surely the one who said, / will set my
throne in the north, I shall be like the Most High (Is 14:13-14). The devil had
held sway over the godless, and made idol-worshiping Gentiles his possession,
for it was truly to demons that they were paying homage. Thus it had come about
that the entire human race, wherever any part of it was to be found throughout the
world, had by close association with the devil become “the north.” But Christ
binds the strong one, takes away his weapons,'? and commandeers them for his
own purposes. The peoples set free from unbelief and demonic superstition, now
believers in Christ, have been aligned with the city. They have come to meet the
wall that juts out from the circumcised, and have joined it at the corner; accord-
ingly those who were once companions of the north have become part of the city
of the great king. This is why in another passage it is said, From the north come
golden clouds, and in them is great glory andpraise for the Almighty (Jb 37:22,
LXX); for it redounds to a doctor’s credit when a desperately sick person
recovers. From the north come not black clouds, not murky or dark clouds, but
clouds tinged with gold. How can that be? Surely because of the illuminating
grace they receive through Christ.
Look at the result. The companions of the north are built into the city of the
great king. Companions" they certainly were, since they stuck fast to the devil,
for those who stick by anyone are rightly said to be “at his side.” Our own ordi-
nary speech has the same idiom. We say, “He is a good man, but has bad fellows
alongside him,” meaning that he may himself be outstanding for honorable
behavior, but his associates are of dishonorable intent. The companions of the
north are those who stand by the devil and make common cause with him. From

10. Latera, literally “sides,” hence “those at someone’s side,” associates, connections.
li secils 10:22)
12. See Rom 11:17.
13. See Mk 3:27; Mt 12:29.
14. Latera.
 Exposition of Psalm 47 339

their ranks came a certain son who had died, but came to life again, had been lost,
but was found, as we heard just now in the gospel.'> He had set out for a distant
country and traveled even as far as the north; and there, as you heard, he had
thrown in his lot with one of the important people of the country. So he became a
“companion of the north” by entering the employment of that powerful person;
but because the city of the great king draws its members even from the associates
of the north, he came to himself and said, “I will arise, and go to my father.” And
his father ran out to meet him, exulting that “my son was dead, and has come
back to life; he was lost, but is found.” The fatted calf represents the cornerstone.
The elder son was at first reluctant to come and share the feast, but at his father’s
plea he did come in, and those two sons who feasted together on the calf were
like the two walls that form the city of the great king.

Verse 4. Sheer grace

4. Let the psalm proceed now. God will be acknowledged in her houses.
Because of the mountains, because of the two walls and the two sons, it can now
speak of “houses.” God will be acknowledged in her houses. But to emphasize
that this is the effect of grace, itadds, When he upholds" her, for what would that
city have been, if God had not upheld her? She would collapse immediately if
she had no such foundation, wouldn’t she? No one can lay any foundation other
than that which is laid already, Christ Jesus.'’ That city is truly great, and the
Lord is acknowledged in her, only when he upholds her. It is like the case where
a doctor takes on'® a patient because he needs healing, not because he is attrac-
tive as he is. Attractive he certainly is not, and the doctor hates the disease. We
might say that in one sense the doctor does not love the sick person, but in
another he does. If he simply loved him as sick, he would hope that the patient
would remain permanently sick; but on the other hand, if he did not love him at
all, he would not come near him. So he does love the sick person, but in such a
way as to want him well.
In a similar way the Lord has upheld this city, and made himself known in
her; he has been acknowledged within the city, but only by his own grace,
because nothing that is possessed by this city that makes her boast in the Lord
does she possess ofherself. Scripture confirms it: What have you that you did not
receive? And ifyou did receive it, why boast as though you had not? (1 Cor 4:7).
God will be acknowledged in her houses when he upholds her.

15. See Lk 15:11-32.

16. Suscipiet; see note at Exposition of Psalm 45, 11.
IfesceniGors bie
18. Suscipit.
340 Exposition of Psalm 47

Verses 5-7. The King and the kings ‘a?

5. Look, the kings of the earth have gathered. Look at those companions of
the north now! Look how they are flocking, and listen to them saying, Come, let
us go up to the mountain of the Lord, for he has made his way known to us, that
we may walk in it (Is 2:3; Mi 4:2). Look, the kings of the earth have assembled
and gathered as one. One? Who would this one be? The cornerstone, undoubt-
edly. They are filled with wonder at what they see. After seeing and wondering at
Christ’s miracles and his glory, how do they react? They are troubled and
thrown off balance, and panic has seized them. Why else would panic seize
them, if not because they are conscious of their transgressions? Let the kings
come running to the King, let the kings acknowledge the King. Another passage
celebrates their submission: / have been established by him as king over his holy
mountain, preaching the Lord’s decree. The Lord said to me, “You are my Son,
today have I begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your heri-
tage, and the ends of the earth for your possession. You will rule them with an
iron rod, and you will dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Ps 2:6-9). The
news had gone forth that he had been set up as Kin in Zion, and that the whole
earth, to its furthest bounds, had been made over to him as his domain. Earthly
kings have to take care they do not lose their kingdoms, as the wretched Herod
feared to, and killed little boys in place of one little boy.!° So afraid was he of
losing his kingdom that he could not recognize the King. If only he could have
gone with the magi to worship the King! If he had, he would not in his malevo-
lent obsession with sovereignty have harmed the harmless, and by destroying
them been himself destroyed.”° Herod destroyed innocent children; but Christ
crowned these little ones who died in his cause. Earthly kings were understand-
ably afraid when the edict went forth, “I have been established by him as King,
and he who established me will give me an inheritance that stretches to the ends
of the earth.” But why do you look askance, you kings? Look indeed, but do not
look askance.*! Very different from yourselves is he who said, Mine is not a
kingship of this world (Jn 18:36). Do not be so frightened that your earthly king-
doms may be confiscated. A different kingdom will be given you, a kingdom in
heaven, where he is King. This is why that other psalm continues, And now,
kings, understand. You were ready to be jealous, but understand. The psalm is
speaking of another King, whose kingship does not derive from this world. The
kings of the earth have gathered as one; they are troubled and panic has seized
them, so they needed to be admonished, Now, you kings, understand; be
instructed, all you who judge the earth. Serve the Lord in reverence, and rejoice

19. See Mt 2:3-8,16-18.

20. A double pun: /nnocentes perderet, et nocens periret.
21. Videte, non invidete.
 Exposition of Psalm 47 341

before him with awe (Ps 2:10-11). And how did they respond? They endured
pangs like those of a woman in travail. What can these pangs of a woman in
travail be, except the pangs of a penitent? The same conception of pain and
travail is mentioned in Isaiah: Through fear of you we have conceived, and given
birth to the spirit of salvation (Is 26:18). From their fear of Christ the kings
conceived, and when the time for parturition came they brought forth salvation
by believing in the One whom they feared. They endured pangs like those of a
woman in travail. When you hear of anyone on the point of giving birth, wait for
the child. Our old self is in travail, but the new self is coming to birth, amid pangs
like those of awoman in travail.

Verse 8. The destruction of the proud ships

6. With a violent wind you will smash the ships of Tarshish. This is easy to
understand: “You will overturn the pride of the Gentiles.” But how does the idea
of the Gentiles’ pride emerge from the story? What gives it away is the allusion
to the ships of Tarshish. Scholars have done research on this, seeking to discover
what city is meant by “Tarshish.” Some have thought that Cilicia was
“Tarshish,” because its principal city is Tarsus. The apostle Paul hailed from
there; he was born at Tarsus in Cilicia.”” Other scholars have decided that
Carthage is meant, either because it was once called Tarshish or because in some
language it still is. In Isaiah we read, Wail, you ships of Carthage (Is 23:1, LXX).
Ezekiel mentions a city’ that is interpreted as Tarsus by some and as Carthage
by others, and this divergence among commentators suggests that the city
named Carthage was called Tarshish. It is well known that in the early days of
Carthage’s hegemony ships were very plentiful, so much so that they surpassed
those of other peoples in trading and sea-voyages. This was said to have been
due to Dido. When she fled from her brother she had taken over some merchant
ships from her native region,” with the consent of local dignitaries. She came
ashore in Africa, and founded Carthage. That was why, from its very foundation,
Carthage never lacked ships. So proud did the city become of its reputation that
its ships can well stand for Gentile pride, which relies on things as uncertain as
the winds. But we should no longer put our trust in setting our sails, or in the
favorable tide of worldly prosperity; our foundation must be in Zion. There we
must find our stability, and not be tossed about by every gust of teaching.”
Those whose sails are swollen with the uncertain fortunes of this life are liable to
be capsized, and all the pride of the Gentiles must be subjected to Christ, who

22. See Acts 21:39.

23. See Ez 38:13, LXX.
24. According to legend, she was the daughter of the King of Tyre.
25. See Eph 4:14.
342 Exposition of Psalm 47

smashes the ships of Tarshish with a violent wind. Not those of any other city,
but the ships of Tarshish. But why with a violent wind? It means with enormous
fear, for all such pride has so trembled at the prospect of his future coming as
judge that it has believed in him in his humility, and so has no need to be terrified
of his majesty.

Verse 9. The Church contemplates prophecies fulfilled

7. As we have heard, so too we have seen. O blessed Church, at one time you
heard, and at another time you saw. The Church heard the promises, and now
sees the promises fulfilled; it heard in prophecy what it now sees made manifest
in the gospel. Everything that is now being realized was prophesied beforehand.
Lift up your eyes, let your gaze sweep round the world, look at the inheritance
that stretches to the ends of the earth; see how the promise is being made good
that all the kings ofthe earth will worship him, and all nations will serve him (Ps
71(72):11). See too how a psalmist’s prayer is answered: Be lifted up above the
heavens, O God, and may your glory spread all over the earth (Ps 107:6(108:5)).
Contemplate him whose hands and feet were fixed with nails, whose bones were
counted as they hung from the tree, whose clothes were diced for—contemplate
him reigning, whom they saw hanging, contemplate him seated in heaven,
whom they despised as he walked the earth. See too how in this the promise is
fulfilled that all the ends of the earth will be reminded and will turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations will worship in his presence (Ps 21:28(22:27)).
And as you look on all these things, exclaim with joy, As we have heard, so have
we seen. Itis with good reason that when the Church is called from the Gentiles it
receives the invitation, Hearken, my daughter, and see; forget your own people
and your father’s house (Ps 44:11(45:10)). Your father belonged to the north,
but you for your part must come to Mount Zion. Hearken and see; do not think to
see and then hearken, but hearken and see. Hearken first, and see later. At first
you hearken to what you cannot see, and afterwards you will see what you heard
about. The Lord declares, A people I never knew has come to serve me, and as
soon as they heard me they obeyed me (Ps 17:45(18:44)). Ifitwas as soon as they
heard, that implies that they did not yet see.
But then what becomes of the prophecy, Those who heard no tidings of him
will see, and those who have never heard of him will understand (Is 52:15)?
There is no contradiction: it means that those to whom the prophets had not been
sent were the very people who first heard and understood the prophets; though at
first they did not hear, later they heard and marveled. The others, to whom the
prophets had been sent, were left with the books in their hands but no under-
standing of the truth in their minds; they had the tablets of the testimony, but had
lost hold of their inheritance.
 Exposition of Psalm 47 343

But we, on the contrary, as we have heard, so have we seen, in the city of the
Lord of hosts, in the city ofour God. There we have heard, and there also we have
seen. Anyone who is outside the city neither hears nor sees, but no one inside can
be deaf or blind. As we have heard, so too we have seen. And where do you hear,
where do you see? /n the city ofthe Lord ofhosts, in the city of our God. God has
founded it to last for ever. Let not the heretics insult it as they shred away into
sects, nor let those who claim, Look, here is Christ! or, There he is! (Mk 13:21)
make themselves out to be important. Those who say, Look, here is Christ!
There he is! are promoters of schisms. But God has promised us unity; the kings
have gathered as one; they have not been scattered into schisms.
But can it be that this city, which has hold of all the world, will one day be
destroyed? Absolutely not. God has founded it to last for ever. And if God has
founded it to last for ever, why be afraid that its foundation will collapse?

Verse 10. A mixed crowd in the Church

8. We have received your mercy, O God, in the midst of your people.*> Who
have received it, and where? Is it not “your people” that has received your
mercy, and, if so, how can we say that we have received your mercy and immedi-
ately add, in the midst of your people, as though those who have received it, and
those in whose midst it was received, were two different groups?
This is a great mystery,*’ yet one familiar to you. When the truth you already
know has been chiseled out from these verses, it will seem not so much awkward
as comforting. All those who have received his sacraments are today considered
to be God’s people, but not all are included under his mercy. All who have
received Christ’s baptism are called Christians, but not all of them live in a way
that befits the sacrament. There are some of whom the apostle says, They have
the appearance of religion, but deny its real virtue (2 Tm 3:5). Yet because of
their outward show of piety they are classed as members of God’s people, just as
chaff has its place with the grain on the threshing-floor as long as the threshing is °
in progress. But will the chaff have any place in the barn? Now amid this
unworthy people is a good people which has received God’s mercy. It lives in a
way worthy of divine mercy, for it listens to the apostle’s exhortation, and holds
onto what it hears, and acts on it: We order you, we beg you, not to receive God's
grace to no purpose (2 Cor 6:1). A person who does not allow the grace received
to be ineffective is one who receives both the sacrament and the mercy of God.
What harm does such a person incur by living amid a disobedient people until
the time for winnowing, when the good will be sifted out from the wicked? What

26. Some codices have “in the midst of your temple.” The Greek would entail a difference of only
one letter. But the rest of the paragraph makes it evident that Augustine read “people.”
27. Magnum sacramentum.
344 Exposition of Psalm 47

harm, to stay amid such people meanwhile? He or she must belongto those who
deserve to be called the firmament’ and continue to be open to God’s mercy; he
or she must be a lily amid thorns. Do you question whether thorns can belong to
God’s people? Listen, I will tell you. There is a comparison made in scripture:
Like a lily in the midst of thorns, so is my dearest one amid the daughters (Sg
2:2). Now, did it say, “In the midst of foreign women’? No, it said, Amid the
daughters. There are bad daughters, then, and amid them is the beloved, like a
lily in the midst of thorns. In a similar sense people who receive the sacraments
but do not live good lives can be said both to belong to God and not to belong to
him; they are his and yet they are strangers. His, because of his sacrament, but
strangers because of their vices. That is what the foreign daughters suggest: they
are daughters inasmuch as they have the outward form of devoted love, but
foreign because they have lost their virtue.”? So let our Christian placed in these
circumstances be like a lily, and receive the mercy of God, and hold onto the root
that will produce a good flower, and not be ungrateful for the gentle rain that falls
from heaven. The thorns may be ungrateful, but let them grow all the same under
the showers, though they are growing for the fire, not the storage barn. We have
received your mercy, O God, in the midst of your people. Amid a people who are
closed to it, we have received your mercy, for though he came to his own, his
own did not receive him. Nonetheless, in the midst were some who did receive
him, and he empowered these to become children of God.*°

How many will be saved?

9. Now any thinking person may wonder, “How can that be true? This people
that receives God’s mercy in the midst of God’s people—what sort of numbers
are we talking about? Very small indeed! In fact there are hardly any of them.
And is God going to be content with those few, and damn the vast majority?”
Those who talk in this vein are promising themselves something that they have
not heard God promising. “Can you really believe it?” they persist. “Is God
going to let us be lost if we live bad lives, and enjoy the pleasures this world has
to offer, and pander to our lusts? After all, how many are there who appear to be
keeping God’s commandments? One or two, perhaps, a few at most. Is God
going to save them alone, and damn all the rest? Not a bit of it,” they say. “When
he comes and sees what a huge crowd he has on his left, he will take pity on them
and forgive them.”
But remember that this was precisely what the serpent promised to our first
parents. God had threatened them with death if they tasted the forbidden fruit,

28. See the first paragraph of this sermon.

29. Or “lost the essence of it,” propter amissionem virtutis.
30. See Jn 1:11-12.
 Exposition of Psalm 47 34 Nn

but the serpent assured them, “Not a bit of it, you will not die” (see Gn 3:4), They
believed the serpent, and found out that God’s threat was truthful, and the devil’ s
promise false. Now, brothers and sisters, think of the Church as the realization of
what was symbolized by the mystery of paradise. The serpent never tires of
insinuating now what he insinuated then. But the fall of the first humans should
be for us a proof of the need for caution, not an example of how to sin. Adam fell
so that we may rise. Let us reply to such suggestions as Job did. He had a wife
who played the role of Eve, but he who had been vanquished in paradise
vanquished his tempter on the dunghill.*! So let us refuse to listen to wheedling
voices, and not assume that the elect are few. They are numerous, but they do not
show up amid the crowd. To be sure, we cannot deny that there are very many
bad people, so many that the good can scarcely be seen among them, just as the
grains of wheat are almost invisible on the threshing-floor. Anyone who glances
at the threshing-floor will think there is nothing there but straw. An inexperi-
enced onlooker regards it as a waste of time to send in oxen, and have workers
sweating away in the heat threshing the straw. But hidden within it is a mass of
grain that will be winnowed out. Then the bulky yield of grain, which was
hidden by the bulk of the straw, will be evident. Do you want to find the good
people? Be one yourself, and you will find them.

Verse 11. God is praised not in a sect, but worldwide

10. Notice now how the psalm counters the desperate attitude we have been
discussing. By saying, We have received your mercy, O God, in the midst of your
people, the psalm indicated that there is also a people of God that is not open to
his mercy, but that in the heart of it there are some who do receive the mercy of
God. Now, to counter the idea that may have occurred to some of us, that these
latter are so few as to be almost negligible, what consolation does it offer in the
next lines? As does your name, O God, so too your praise extends to the ends of
the earth. How are we to understand this? Great is the Lord, and exceedingly:
worthy of praise, in the city of our God, on his holy mountain. He can be praised
only in his saints, for people who live sinful lives do not praise him. Even if they
preach him with their tongues, they blaspheme him by their lives. Since he can
be praised only in his saints, the heretics have no business to say to themselves,
“His praise has been safeguarded among us, because we are a small group, sepa-
rate from the crowd. We live righteously, and we praise God not only in words
but by our conduct”.*” They have their refutation in this psalm. How can you say
that God is praised in a sect? The psalm confesses to him, “As does your name, O
God, so too your praise extends to the ends of the earth. As you have become

31. See Jb 2:9-10.

32. A thrust at the Elitism of the Donatists.
346 Exposition of Psalm 47

known throughout all lands, so too are you praised throughout all lands;
throughout all lands there is no lack of people who praise you.” But only they
praise him who live good lives. As does your name, O God, so too does your
praise extend not just to some schismatic group, but to the ends of the earth. Your
right hand is filled with justice. This last statement means “Those who stand at
your right hand are very numerous.” The big crowd will not be only those at his
left; there will be a full complement, a great heap at his right hand too. Your right
hand isfilled with justice.
s

Verse 12. The discerning winnower

11. Let Mount Zion rejoice, and the daughters of Judea* dance for joy, on
account of your judgments, O Lord. O Mount Zion, O daughters of Judea, you
are struggling amid tares now, amid straw, amid thorns; but dance for joy over
God’s judgments. God makes no mistakes when he judges. Let your life stand
out in contrast, though by birth you blend in with them,* for the plea that went up
from your lips and your heart has not gone unheard: Do not destroy my soul with
the ungodly, nor my life with those who shed blood (Ps 25(26):9). God is ahighly
skilled winnower. He will bring his winnowing-shovel with him,* and will not
let a single grain of wheat fall into the heap of chaff for burning, or a single wisp
of straw get into the barn to be stored. Dance for joy, daughters of Judea, over the
judgments of a God who makes no mistakes, and do not arrogate to yourselves
the right to make judgments in advance. It is your job to garner, his to sift what
has been garnered.
Let Mount Zion rejoice, and the daughters of Judea dance for joy, on account
of your judgments, O Lord. You must not think that “daughters of Judea” means
only the Jews. The name “Judah” means “confession.” All the children of
confession are children of Judea. The statement that salvation comes from the
Jews means that Christ sprang from the Jews, neither more nor less. But the
apostle tells us, A Jew is not one who is so outwardly, nor is circumcision an
external mark in the flesh. A Jew is one who is such inwardly, by circumcision of
the heart, not literally but in spirit; and he receives commendation not from
human beings, but from God (Rom 2:28-29). Be a Jew of that kind yourself, and
make circumcision of the heart your boast, even if you are not circumcised in
your flesh. Let the daughters ofJudea dance for joy on account of your judg-
ments, O Lord.

33. Variant: “Judah,” here and in the next few lines.

34. Discretae vivite, etsi concretae natae estis.
Soy, STI ti SPIO OS SPIE
 _ Exposition of Psalm 47 347

Verses 13-14. The strength of charity

12. Encircle Zion and embrace it. This is what should be said to the wrong-
doers, among whom is living that people of God which has received his mercy.
In the midst of you is a right-living people, so encircle Zion. But how? Embrace
it. Do not hem it in with constrictions, but embrace it with charity. Imitate those
Christians of holy life in your midst, so that you too may be incorporated into
Christ, whose members they are. Encircle Zion and embrace it. Make your proc-
lamation from its towers. From its high ramparts proclaim its praise.
13. Set your hearts on its virtue. Beware of having the appearance of religion
while denying its real virtue;*° rather set your hearts on its virtue. What is the
characteristic virtue of that city? Anyone who seeks to know its virtue must
understand the power of charity. This is the virtue that no one can defeat. No
stormy waves of this world, no rivers of temptation, can quench the fire of
charity.*’ Scripture says of it, Love is as strong as death (Sg 8:6). When death
comes it cannot be resisted, whatever the contrivances, whatever the medicines,
you use to oppose it; for no one born mortal can escape the violent onslaught of
death. Just so, neither can the world withstand the violence of charity. Death is
taken as the term of comparison because it is the direct opposite of charity, for as
death is unstoppably violent in snatching us away, so is charity equally violent in
saving us. Through charity many people have died to the world, because they
wanted to live to God. By this charity the martyrs were set on fire. They were not
pretending, nor were they puffed up with vanity, nor were they like those of
whom scripture says, /f] deliver my body to be burnt, yet have no love, it profits
me nothing (1 Cor 13:3). Since they were truly impelled to suffer by love of
Christ and love of truth, what impact could the attacks of ferocious men have on
them? The weeping eyes of their families and friends worked upon them more
violently than the hatred of their persecutors. How many were clutched by their
children, who did not want them to die! How many saw their wives begging on
their knees not to be left widowed! How many parents implored their children
not to die! We know this well, and have read about it in the Passion of the blessed
Perpetua.** So many pleas were made, so many bitter tears shed, but when did
they ever quench the fire of charity? This is the virtue of Zion, for whom else-

36. See: 2'Tm 3:5.

B7 SEE S28: 7:
38. Saints Perpetua and Felicitas were celebrated African martyrs. Perpetua, a noble woman, said
to have been 22 years of age, was killed along with the slave-girl Felicitas in the persecution of
Septimius Severus, on 7 March 203, in the arena at Carthage. A vivid contemporary account
relates various visions, and conversations between Perpetua and her relatives and companions.
It describes in detail her father’s attempts to dissuade her, both before and after she was
condemned to face the wild beasts. On one occasion he brought with him Perpetua’s infant son
to reinforce his arguments, but she stood firm. The Basilica of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas was
one of the most important in Carthage.
348 Exposition of Psalm 47

where the prayer is made, May peace reign in your virtue, and abundance in
your towers (Ps 121(122):7). Our psalm continues, Make this proclamation
from its towers: Set your hearts on its virtue, and distribute its houses.
14. What are we to make of this Set your hearts on its virtue, and distribute its
houses? It means, “Distinguish one house from another, do not confuse them.”
There is one house that has the semblance of religion, but not the substance of it,
and another house that has both the appearance and the reality of religion.
Distinguish them, do not confuse them. You will distinguish them when you set
your hearts on its virtue, which is to say when you have become spiritual through
charity. Then you will pass no rash judgment; then you will see that the wicked
are no hindrance to the good as long as we are together in the threshing-floor.
Distribute its houses.
Another interpretation is possible. The apostles were instructed to treat sepa-
rately the two houses, the one that came from the circumcision and the other
from the Gentiles. After Saul had been called, and had turned into the apostle
Paul, and joined the fellowship of his co-apostles, he agreed with them that they
should go to the Jews, and he to the Gentiles.*’ By this division of labor in their
apostolate they distributed the houses in the city of the great King, and by
bringing both together at the corner they kept distinct spheres in their
evangelization, but bound them together in charity. Certainly this explanation
seems preferable, for the next words suggest the instructions given to preachers:
Distribute its houses, so that you may tell the story in a new generation. This
mediation of their gospel was to reach us who would be born later. The apostles
did not labor exclusively for those with whom they lived while on earth, nor did
the Lord’s concern extend only to the apostles, to whom he graciously showed
himself alive after his resurrection. He cared about us too, for when he said, Lo, I
am with you throughout all days, even to the end of the ages (Mt 28:20), he was
addressing them directly, but meaning it for us as well. Were they going to be
there to the end of the ages? No, obviously not. The Lord also said, Not for these
only do I pray, but for those also who through their word shall believe in me (In
17:20). He had us in mind, because he died for us. It was necessary, therefore,
that the apostles should be sent to fell the story to a new generation.

Verse 15. This is our God

15. And what will you tell? That this is God, our God. The earth was visible,
but the Creator of the earth was not. Christ’s flesh could be touched, but God in
the flesh was not so readily recognized. They from whom his flesh was taken (for
the Virgin Mary was from Abraham’s stock) held onto his flesh; but they stayed
at the level of the flesh and did not perceive his godhead. O you, apostles, O you,

39. See Gal 2:9.

 Exposition of Psalm 47 _349

great city, preach from your towers and tell them, This is our God. Yes, even as
he is, despised, and lying before the feet of those who stumble over him, that he
may humble the hearts of those who confess him yes, even like that, this is our
God. Undoubtedly he was seen, as it had been prophesied: At last he was seen on
earth, and consorted with human beings (Bar 3:38). This is our God. He is truly a
man, yet who may recognize him? For this is our God. Does this perhaps mean
God only for a time, like the false gods? Well, although these cannot truly be
gods, I suppose they can be called such, at least temporarily; for what does a
prophet say to them, or recommend should be said? You shall say to them... .
What? The gods that did not make sky or earth must perish from the earth, and
from the sight ofall who are under the sky (Jer 10:11). Our God is not like that;
our God is above all the gods. And who would they be? The gods of the heathen
are demons, but the Lord made the sky (Ps 95(96):5). He then is our God, this is
our God. And for how long? for ever and for ages unending; he it is who will
guide us for ever. If he is our God, he is our King as well. He protects us, because
he is our God, and saves us from death; he rules us, because he is our King, and
saves us from falling. But in ruling us he does not crush us; it is those whom he
. does not rule that he breaks. You will rule them with an iron rod, says another
psalm, and you will dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel (Ps 2:9). But these
are the people who do not accept his sovereignty, so he does not spare them, but
smashes them like a potter’s jar. For our part, let us choose to be ruled and liber-
ated by him, for this is our God for ever and for ages unending; he it is who will
guide us for ever.
 Exposition 1 of Psalm 48.

First Sermon

Introduction: Trying to bend God to our perverse desires

1. All the words that God speaks to us are salutary for those who understand
them rightly, but perilous for those who attempt to twist them to suit the perver-
sity of their own hearts, instead of reshaping their hearts to the rectitude of God’s
word. This deplorable form of human perversity is all too common. The duty of
human beings is to live in accord with God’s will, yet they want God’s will to
conform to theirs. Unwilling to be corrected, they attempt to distort God,
judging what they want rather than what he wants to be the right thing. All too
often we hear people grumbling against God, complaining that the wicked
prosper in this life, while the good have a hard time. They speak as though God
were out of line, and did not know his job, or averted his gaze entirely from
human affairs, or were so reluctant to have his peace disturbed that he took no
notice—as though God could only see and correct such anomalies by going toa
lot of trouble. People who want to worship God in order to ensure that things go
well with them murmur with discontent when they see others, who do not
worship him, going from strength to strength and enjoying earthly happiness,
whereas they themselves, who worship God, have to struggle amid the pres-
sures, poverty, pain and other difficulties that beset our mortal life.
Against this attitude, and against this blasphemous grumbling, God’s word is
ever singing a different song to lure us away from the serpent’s bite; for such
perversity is the foul discharge from a heart infected by the serpent’s venom and
belching its stinking blasphemies against God. What is worse still, it pushes
away God’s caring hand, but the serpent’s bite it does not ward off. I repeat: the
human heart thrusts the hard edge of God’s word away from it, but welcomes the
persuasive, deceitful flattery of the serpent. The divine word has a different song
to sing, and addresses us now in this psalm. I would be urging you to give it your
attention, holy brethren,' were it not that God himself makes us all attentive, and
not us alone, but the whole world. Listen, then, to its opening words.

1. Sanctitatem vestram.

350
 _ Exposition 1 of Psalm 48 351

Verse 2. Two ways of listening, two ways of dwelling

2. Hear these things, all you nations. Evidently it is not just you who are
present whom the psalm is addressing. How could our feeble voice shout so
loudly as to make itself heard among all nations? But our Lord Jesus Christ has
shouted through his apostles; he has shouted in as many tongues as he has sent,”
with the result that we find this psalm, formerly recited by one nation alone in the
synagogue of the Jews, now being recited all over the world and in all the
churches.* The prophecy implied in its opening words has therefore been
fulfilled: hear these things, all you nations.
I want to remind of you of something, in case the length of this psalm
frightens you off, and you are unable to give your minds to it fully because of the
bodily weariness you anticipate. It is this: if possible we will finish it today, but if
we can’t, some verses can be left over for us to deal with tomorrow. Either way,
be attentive all the time, for if the Lord grants it, you will hear as much as will
uplift you but not weigh you down.
Well, then, hear these things, all you nations, and that includes you. Take
them in with your ears, all you who dwell in the world. This seems to be a repeti-
tion, as though the first injunction, Hear, had not been strong enough. The
psalmist is saying, “Listen to what I say, take it in with your ears, do not let it go
in one ear and out of the other.” What does this command, take them in with your
ears, call to mind? It reminds us of our Lord’s warning, Let anyone who has ears
for hearing, listen! (Mt 11:15). Since all those about him obviously had ears,
what ears was he trying to reach when he said, Let anyone who has ears for
hearing, listen? The ears of their hearts, evidently, and at these same ears the
psalm is beating. Take them in with your ears, all who dwell in the world.
Possibly there is another distinction implicit here. There is no need to restrict
ourselves, nor anything wrong in spelling out the full meaning. There may be a
difference between all you nations and all you who dwell in the world. The
psalmist perhaps wanted us to grasp an extra nuance when he said, You who
dwell, and meant us to understand nations as all wicked people, and dwellers in
the world as all the righteous. A person who “dwells” is one who is not held
captive, for anyone who is a prisoner is “dwelt in” rather than dwelling.* A man
who has possessions is considered to be master of his property, but he alone is
truly master of it who is not ensnared in the meshes of greed; for anyone who is
entangled in greed is not a possessor but possessed. We have another similar
indication about “dwelling” in God’s scripture, in the passage that says, J would
rather be degraded in the Lord’s house than dwell in the tents of sinners (Ps

2. Variant: “to those to whom he has sent them.”

3. There is an implied contrast between “synagogue” and “church”; see Augustine’s remarks in
his Exposition of Psalm 77, 3.
4. Habitatur, non habitat.
352 Exposition I of Psalm 48

83:11(84:10)). Does that mean that you do not dwell in the Lord’ sshouse, if you
are in a degraded position there? In a sense you do; but it confines the word
“dwell” to those who rule, and possess, and exercise sovereignty, and govern.
Those who have a lowly, despised status are not said to “dwell,” but to be
subject. The psalmist affirmed, though, that he would rather occupy such a
subordinate place in God’s house than have dominion in the tents of sinners.
It may be, then, that there is some difference in meaning between all nations
and all you who dwell in the world, as there also is between hear and take them in
with your ears. This latter also looks like a mere repetition, but in fact a differ-
ence is suggested, because not only sinners and godless folk, but righteous
people too, were to hear the words of the psalm. All will listen, all of them indis-
criminately, but when the time for reckoning has come, those who heard to no
purpose will be separated from those who have taken it in with their ears. So let
the sinners listen: hear these things, all you nations; but let the righteous hear
them too, the people who do not hear in vain, and rule the earth rather than being
ruled by it: take them in with your ears, all you who dwell in the world.

Verse 3. Rich and poor listeners

3. The psalmist continues, All you earthlings and sons of men. By the term
earthlings he has indicated sinners, and by sons of men the faithful and just. So
you see, he is maintaining the distinction, for who are the earthlings? The
earth-born. And who are they? Those who hope for an earthly inheritance. But
who are the sons of men? Those who belong to the Son of Man. We pointed out
this distinction to you on another occasion, holy brethren,> and we discovered
that Adam was a man, but not a son of man, whereas Christ was Son of Man, and
was God. All those who belong to Adam are earthlings, and all who belong to
Christ are sons of men. Nonetheless, let them all listen; I am not withholding my
words from anyone. If someone is an earthling, let him or her hear it because of
the judgment to come; but if anyone is a son of man, let him or her listen because
of the kingdom.
Rich and poor together. This is a reiteration of the same idea. The word rich
applies to the earthlings, and poor to the sons of men. Take the rich to be the
proud, the poor to be the humble. Someone may have plenty of money and
resources, and yet not be haughty about it, and then he or she is poor. Another
may have nothing, yet be covetous and puffed up, and then God classes him or
her with the rich and reprobate. God questions both rich and poor in their hearts,

5. Sanctitati vestrae. Augustine elaborated a distinction between “men” and “sons of men” in his
Exposition of Psalm 8, 10-11, and Exposition of Psalm 35, 12. Here, as in both the other
contexts, it is not possible to insist on gender-inclusive language without obscuring his point
about the Son of Man,
 Exposition 1 of Psalm 48 Kb)

not in their treasure-chests° or their houses. They are truly poor who take to heart
the advice given by the apostle to Timothy: /nstruct the rich of this world not to
be high-minded (1 Tm 6:17). How did Paul turn these rich people into poor
people? He took away from them their reason for wanting to be rich. No one
wants to be rich except to give himself airs among his fellows, and to seem more
important than they are. But when Paul ordered the rich not to be high-minded he
put them on the same level as the have-nots. A beggar may be more arrogant over
his handful of coins than a rich person who hearkens to the apostle’s warning,
Instruct the rich of this world not to be high-minded. And how are they to avoid
becoming high-minded? By acting in the way he goes on to describe: nor to put
their trust in unreliable wealth, but in the living God, who gives us everything to
enjoy in abundance. Notice that he did not say, “Who gives them,” but who gives
us. Did Paul not have riches himself? Certainly he did. What were his riches?
Those of which scripture testifies elsewhere, To a faithful person there is a
whole world of riches (Prv 17:6, LXX). Listen to Paul’s profession: We are like
people who have nothing, yet possess all things (2 Cor 6:10). Anyone who
aspires to be rich must beware of clutching at a mere part; then he or she will
possess the whole. Let such a person remain immovably attached to him who
created the whole. Rich and poor together. Another psalm foretells, The poor
shall eat and be satisfied (Ps 21:27(22:26)). How did it characterize the poor?
They are the ones who will eat and be satisfied. What do they eat? The faithful
know the answer.’ How will they be satisfied? By imitating the Lord’s passion,
and not allowing the price he paid for them to go for nothing. The poor shall eat
and be satisfied, and those who seek the Lord will praise him. What about the
rich, though? They too eat, but how? All the rich of the world have eaten, and
worshiped (Ps 21:30(22:29)). The psalm does not say, “They ate, and were satis-
fied,” but they ate and worshiped; they do indeed worship God, but are not
prepared to show human kindness to their brothers and sisters. They eat, and
worship, whereas the poor eat and are satisfied; yet all eat. The eater is under an
obligation to provide the same food in return; let him or her not be forbidden to
eat by the Giver,* but be warned to fear him as Creditor.?

6. In arca. Variants: in area, “on the threshing-floor”; in horreo, “in the barn.”
7. Another of Augustine’s fairly infrequent allusions to the Discipline of the Secret; see note at
Exposition 2 of Psalm 32, 2.
8. Or perhaps “by the steward,” the preacher.
9. As in his Sermon 329 Augustine teaches that those who at the Lord’s table are fed with the fruit
of his self-sacrificing charity must in their turn show the same charity, even to the point of
martyrdom. The martyrs have done this. “It is written, You are a guest at a magnificent table.
Take careful note of all that is set before you, for you in your turn must serve a like banquet... .
No host feeds his guests with himself, yet this is what Christ our Lord does . . . he is our food
and drink. The martyrs were well aware ofthe nature of the food and drink they were given, and
prepared to do the same. . . .” He goes on to compare it with the cup of suffering Christ drank.
354 Exposition 1 of Psalm 48

Let both sinners and just people listen to these things, both.the nations and
those who dwell in the world, the earthlings and the sons of men, rich and poor
together; let them all listen without distinction, without separation.
Harvest-time will sort them out, the winnower’s hand will be powerful enough.'®
But for the present let rich and poor listen together, and let kids and lambs graze
together, until the coming of him who will pick out some to stand at his right
hand, and leave others at his left. Let them listen to him teaching all together, as
one, lest they be forced to listen in a separate group to their judge condemning
them. <i

Verses 4-5. Practicing what we preach

4. Now what are they about to hear? My mouth will speak wisdom, and the
meditation of my heart, understanding. The statement is perhaps repeated
because you might think that when he said, My mouth, someone was speaking to
you with wisdom only on his lips; for many people have it on their lips, but not in
their hearts. Scripture says of them, This people honors me with its lips, but its
heart is far from me (Is 29:13). So what about the psalmist who is speaking to
you here? After declaring, My mouth will speak wisdom, he wanted to make sure
you would understand that what he pours out from his mouth wells up from his
heart, so he added, And the meditation of my heart, understanding.
5. I will bend my ear to a parable, and on the psaltery I will set forth what I
have to say. Whose heart is this, that meditates and utters its understanding in
such a way that it is no superficial word on the lips, but takes possession of his
innermost being? Who is this man who first listens, and then speaks accord-
ingly? Many people there are who say what they do not hear. Who are they?
They are the people who do not practice what they preach, like the Pharisees
who, as the Lord said, were sitting in the chair of Moses. He wanted to speak to
you from Moses’ chair, and to speak through them, though they did not act in
accordance with their teaching. And the Lord wanted to reassure you about this.
“Do not be afraid,” he said, do what they tell you, but do not imitate what they do,
for they talk, but do not act accordingly” (Mt 23:3). They do not listen to what
they say. The people who act, and speak in accordance with their actions, listen
to what they are saying, and their admonition is fruitful because they are
listening to it themselves. But anyone who speaks but does not listen may profit
someone else but is useless to himself. Now this psalmist who is addressing you
wanted to be both listener and speaker, so before declaring, On the psaltery I will
set forth what I have to say (by which he means speaking in a physical way, for
the soul plays on the body like a musician on the psaltery), he said, Jwill bend my
ear to a parable. “Before I speak to you in a bodily way,” he says, “before the

10. See Mt 3:12.

 Exposition 1 of Psalm 48 BsFok

psaltery sounds its notes, I will first of all bend my ear to a parable; that is, I will
listen first to what I have to tell you.” But why to a parable? Because, says the
apostle, What we see now is a tantalizing reflection ina mirror. As long as we are
in the body we are on pilgrimage and away from the Lord (1 Cor 13:12; 2 Cor
5:6). Not yet do we enjoy face-to-face vision, where there will be no more para-
bles, no more enigmatic sayings or puzzling comparisons. Whatever we under-
stand now, we perceive only through enigmas. An enigma is an obscure parable
that we understand only with difficulty. However carefully we cultivate our
hearts, and withdraw into ourselves to understand what is within, as long as we
see only through our corruptible flesh we see only in part. But when at the resur-
rection of the dead we have been endowed with incorruptibility, when the Son of
Man appears to judge the living and the dead, then this Son of Man, who once
was judged, will be manifest as judge. He will distinguish the bad from the good,
and place the bad at his left, the good at his right. Both good and bad will see him
then; but to the bad he will say, “Depart from me into eternal fire,” and to the
good, “Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take possession of the
kingdom.” Thus the wicked will go into eternal burning, but the righteous into
eternal life (Mt 25:41.34:46). There the just will enjoy the face-to-face vision of
which the others were not worthy.
Pay careful heed to what I am saying. When the Son of Man was on earth, and
due to be judged, both bad people and good people saw him. The apostles who
followed him saw him, and so did the Jews who crucified him. So it will be when
he comes to judge. Both good and bad will see him: the good, so as to receive
their reward for following him, and the wicked, so as to receive their punishment
for crucifying him. Will it be only those who crucified him who will be damned?
Yes, I dare to say it: only those. “So we’re all right,” say today’s sinners. You are
all right only if God does not question the soul. What do I mean by that? You
must understand, beloved, for at God’s judgment-seat they must not be able to
say that they never understood. The Jews crucified Christ because they could see
him; but you, because you do not see Christ, resist his word. If you resist his
word, would you not crucify his flesh if you could see him? The Jews sneered at
him hanging on a tree; you sneer at him seated in heaven. Even as both types of
people saw him when he was on earth, so will both types see him when he comes
again. The Son of Man will come to judge because the Son of Man came to be
judged. The Father did not take flesh, and the Father did not suffer; therefore he
judges through the Son of Man. The Lord himself told us this in the gospel: the
Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, and he
continued a little later, and he has given him authority to pass judgment, because
he is the Son of Man (Jn 5:22.27). As Son of God he is the Word eternally with
the Father; and since he is always with the Father he always exercises judgment
with the Father; but as Son of Man he both underwent judgment, and will judge.
As at that earlier time, when he was judged, he was seen both by those who
356 Exposition 1 of Psalm 48

believed and by those who crucified him, so too when he approaches as our
judge he will be seen both by those whom he will condemn and by those whom
he will crown. But the impious will not enjoy that vision of his godhead which he
promised to his lovers when he said, Whoever loves me will be loved by my
Father; and anyone who cherishes my commandments and keeps them, that is
the one who loves me; and Iwill love him, and will show myselftohim (Jn 14:21).
This self-disclosure is something intimate that he keeps for his chosen ones; he
does not grant it to the godless. What is that vision like? Well, ask yourself, what
is Christ like? He is equal to the Father. What is Christ like? Jn the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God; he was God (Jn 1:1). We sigh for that
vision now, and we groan for it through all the stretch of our pilgrimage. In the
end we shall be brought home to that vision, but we see it now only through an
enigmatic parable. But if we do see it at all, albeit through a parable, let us bend
our ear to the parable, and with the psaltery set forth what we have to say. Let us
listen to what we are saying, and practice what we preach.

Verse 6. The serpent at our heels .

6. So what did he say? Why should I be afraid on the evil day? The iniquity of
my heel will encompass me. This is a rather strange way to begin. Why should I
be afraid on the evil day? he asks, but then adds, The iniquity of my heel will
encompass me. Surely he ought to be all the more afraid if the iniquity of his heel
is likely to encompass him? It is as good as saying, “There is no reason to be
afraid of some peril you cannot possibly avoid.” If a person fears death, for
instance, what is he or she going to do to avoid dying? How is anyone descended
from Adam going to escape paying the debt Adam incurred? Tell me that. But let
such a person reflect that though he was born from Adam, he has followed
Christ, and that though he is liable for Adam’s debt, he is also due to win what
Christ has promised. So anyone who fears death has no way of evading it; but
anyone who fears damnation, fears to hear the sentence which the godless will
hear, Depart from me into eternal fire (Mt 25:41), certainly does have a way to
evade it. Has he any reason to be afraid, then? Why should he be? Because the
iniquity of his heel will encompass him? But if he avoids the iniquity of his heel,
and walks in the ways of God, he will never arrive at the evil day, for the evil day
is the last day, but for him it will not be evil. We must be aware that the last day
will indeed be evil for some people, but good for others. It will scarcely be an evil
day, will it, for those to whom the Lord will say, Come, you whom my Father has
blessed, take possession of the kingdom (Mt 25:34)? But evil it certainly will be
for those who are bidden, Depart into eternal fire. Even if the iniquity of his heel
does surround him, why need anyone be afraid on the evil day?
During this present life people must make prudent provision, kick the
iniquity away from their heels, and walk in the way of which the Lord spoke: /
 Exposition 1 of Psalm 48 357

am the way, and the truth, and the life (Jn 14:6). Then they have no reason to be
afraid on the evil day, for he who has become our Way gives them security. Why
should I be afraid on the evil day? The iniquity of my heel will encompass me. All
the more reason, then, to avoid the iniquity that lurks at our heels. It is the heel
that causes a person to slip. Let me have your attention, beloved.'! What did God
say to the serpent? She will watch for your head, and you her heel.'* The devil is
watching your heel, waiting for you to slip, so that he can throw you down. He
watches your heel, but you must watch his head. What is his head? The first
emergence of an evil suggestion. When he begins to suggest evil acts to you, get
rid of him before pleasure surges up and consent follows. Then you will avoid
his head, and he will not catch your heel. But why was this warning addressed to
Eve? Because a person is tripped up through the flesh, and for each one of us our
flesh is an interior Eve. It is clear that Eve represents the flesh from scripture’s
teaching: By loving his wife, a man loves himself. But what does himself imply?
It goes on to tell us: For no one ever hated his own flesh (Eph 5:28-29). As the
serpent tripped Adam up through Eve, so too the devil hopes to trip us up through
our flesh, and therefore Eve was commanded to keep an eye on the devil’s head,
since he is watching her heel.
Even if the iniquity of our heels encompasses us, then, why should we be
afraid on the evil day? If we have turned to Christ we have it in our power not to
commit iniquity; then there will be nothing to encompass us and we shall not
mourn, but rejoice, on the last day.

Verses 7-8. Reliance on Christ, our brother

7. But who are the people who truly will be entangled by the iniquity around
their heels? Those who trust in their own strength and boast of their abundant
wealth. I shall be careful to avoid such traps, then, and make sure that the iniquity
of my heel does not encompass me. How can we avoid them? Let us not trust in
our own strength, nor boast of our abundant wealth, but boast only of him who
has promised us that the humble will be exalted, and has threatened the arrogant
with damnation. Then the iniquity of our heels will not encompass us, as it may
entangle those who trust in their own strength and boast of their abundant
wealth.
8. Some people rely on their friends, others on their own strength, others on
riches. These things are the presumptuous reliance of a human race that does not
rely on God. But with strength in view, with riches in view, with friends in view,
the psalmist demands, “Jf your brother does not save you, will any human being
save you? Are you expecting some man or woman to redeem you from the wrath

11. Caritas vestra.

12. Gn 3:15. On the feminine pronoun, ipsa, see note at Exposition of Psalm 35, 18.
358 Exposition I of Psalm 48

that is coming? If your brother does not redeem you, will any mere human
redeem you?”
Now, who is this brother? If no man or woman is going to save us unless he
does, who is he? None other than he who after his resurrection says, Go and tell
my brothers (Jn 20:17). He has willed to be our brother, and when we say, “Our
Father,” to God, the reality of it is manifest in us; for anyone who says “Our
Father” to God is saying “Brother” to Christ. Now whoever has God for Father
and Christ for Brother need have no fear on the evil day. Such a person will not
be encompassed by any iniquity that dogs our heels, because he or she does not
rely on strength, or boast of plentiful riches, or brag about powerful friends. Let
us put our reliance on him who died for us so that we may not suffer eternal
death, on him who was humbled for our sake so that we may be exalted, on him
who sought us in our unbelief so that we may seek him now that we are believers.
If he, then, does not redeem us, will any mere human redeem us? Will some other
man redeem us, if the Son of Man does not? If Christ does not redeem us, will
Adam? If your brother does not save you, will any human being save you?

Verses 8-9. Making a good investment

9. He will offer to God neither propitiation nor the cost of redeeming his soul.
A person who will not offer propitiation to God, that is, one who will not attempt
to placate God for his sins, is the one who trusts in his own strength and boasts of
his abundant wealth. Nor does a person who relies on his own strength, friends or
riches offer to God the cost of redeeming his soul. But who are the ones who do
pay the price of redeeming their souls? The people to whom the Lord says, Make
yourselves friends from sinful mammon, so that they may welcome you into the
tents of eternity (Lk 16:9). Yes, those who assiduously give alms are the ones
who meet the cost of redeeming their souls. Through Timothy the apostle
advises them not to be proud, and not to boast about their plentiful wealth. More-
over, he did not want their assets to grow stale by being kept to themselves, but
urged the rich to make something out of them, and so realize the price of
redeeming their souls. /nstruct the rich of this world not to be high-minded, he
tells Timothy, nor to put their trust in unreliable wealth, but in the living God,
who gives us everything to enjoy in abundance. Then he seems to anticipate an
objection from them: “In that case, what are we to do with our money?” Let them
be rich in good works, give readily, and share what they have, he recommends.
Then they will not lose it. How do we know they won’t? Because he continues,
Let them use their wealth to lay a good foundation for the future, and so attain
true life (1 Tm 6:17-19). That is how they will hand over the price of their souls’
redemption. Our Lord enjoins the same thing: Get yourselves purses that do not
wear out, and a treasure in heaven that never fails, where no thief can reach it,
 Exposition | of Psalm 48 359

or moth destroy it (Lk 12:33). God does not want you to lose your wealth; he
simply advises you to change the place where you keep it. | want to make this
very Clear to you, beloved.'* Suppose a friend came into your house, and found
that you had stored your grain in a damp place. Perhaps he had more experience
of how grain goes bad than you had, and he gave you some advice. “You will
lose what you laboriously garnered, brother. You have put it ina damp place, and
it will go bad within a few days.” You ask him, “What shall I do, then, brother?”
“Take it higher up,” he replies. So you would be willing to listen to your friend if
he suggested carrying your grain up from the cellar to the loft, but you do not
hear Christ advising you to lift your valuables from earth to heaven! What you
will recover there is not what you are safeguarding, though. He is telling you to
safeguard the earth and win heaven, to safeguard perishable things in order to
gain those that last for ever. You must lend your money to Christ; make sure he
receives these trifling things on earth, that he may pay you back most hand-
somely in heaven.
But those who are entrapped by the iniquity of their heels, who rely on their
own strength and boast of their abundant wealth, who presumptuously count on
human friends who have no power to help them in any way—none of these offer
to God propitiation or the cost of redeeming their souls.

Verses 9-10. Reversal of fortunes after this life

10. What has the psalm to say about this type of person? He labored" for
eternity, but will live only until the end. His labor will be endless, but his life will
have an end. Why does it say, He will live only until the end? People like this
reckon that life consists in daily pleasures. And so lacking in firm faith are many
of our poor and needy folk, who do not keep their eye on what God promises
them for their present labors, that when they see the rich at their daily banquets,
glittering and gleaming amid their gold and silver, they say—what do they say?
“These are the only people worth talking about,'° they really live!” This is a
common saying, but I wish it would drop out of use now. I am warning you, yet it
is still current. At any rate I hope it may be said henceforth by fewer people than
it would have been if I had not warned you about it. Not that I am so presump-
tuous as to think that it will altogether cease to be said because of my admoni-
tion, but at least let it be said less commonly; though I am afraid some people will
go on talking like that until the end of time. It would not matter so much if the
poor onlooker just said that the rich person is the one who lives; he goes further,
insists on it, thunders it. Do you really think that rich person is the only one who

13. Caritas vestra.

14. The reading of the best codices, but the CCL editors amend to “will labor.”
15. Most codices have soli sunt isti; but one witness hasfelices sunt isti, “they are the lucky ones.”
360 Exposition I of Psalm 48

lives?! Let him live; his life will come to an end. Because he doesnot hand over
the price of his soul’s redemption, his life will end but his labor will be endless.
He labored for eternity, but will live only until the end. In what sense will he live
only until the end? In the same sense as did a certain man who dressed in purple
and fine linen, and was accustomed to feast sumptuously every day, and in his
pride and swollen self-esteem despised a man who lay covered with ulcers at the
gate, with dogs licking his sores, longing for any crumbs that might fall from the
rich man’s table.'? What good did his wealth do him? The two of them changed
places: one was taken up from his place at the gate into Abraham’s embrace, the
other was swept away from his lavish banquets into the fire. The one found rest,
the other burned; one was satisfied, the other athirst; one had labored until the
end came, but was now living for ever, the other had lived until the end came, but
was now to labor for ever. What use was it for the rich man, stuck there below in
torments, to beg that a drop of water might be trickled onto his tongue from
Lazarus’ finger, pleading, J am in agony in this flame? It was not granted to him.
His longing for a drop of water from a finger was like the other’s former longing
for a few crumbs from the rich man’s table; but the poor man’s labor came to an
end, as the rich man’s life came to an end. The latter would then labor for ever,
the former live forever. We who may have to labor and struggle here do not have
our life here; but afterwards we shall not be in this state, for Christ will be our life
for all eternity, whereas those who want to have their life here will labor for ever,
and have life here only until the end comes.

Verse 11. Death and eternal life

11. For when he sees the wise dying, he will not see untimely extinction. The
person who labors for ever, and will live only until the end, will not see untimely
extinction, when he sees the wise dying. What does this mean? It means that he
will not understand what death is when he sees the wise dying. He says to
himself, “That fellow was a wise man, one who lived in accord with wisdom, and
devoutly worshiped God. But it didn’t save him from death, did it? So I will
make the most of all good things as long as I am alive, since people who take a
different view are powerless. They must be, otherwise they would not die.” The
speaker sees a wise man die, but does not see what death is. When he sees the
wise dying, he will not see untimely extinction. The Jews saw Christ hanging on
the cross, and mocked him: “If this man were God’s Son, he would come down
from the cross,” but they failed to see what extinction truly is. If only they could

16. The text is printed thus in CCL: Adiungit et dicit, tonat: Putas eum solum vivere. This makes
the last clause what the poor man thunders; but the sense is not good. By altering the
punctuation it is possible to understand the “Do you think” clause as spoken by Augustine, as
the translation here offered assumes.
17. See Lk 16:19-31.
 Exposition | of Psalm 48 361

see what it is, if only they could see! He was dying within time that he might rise
to life that lasts for ever, but they were living within time in such a way as to incur
eternal death. But because they saw him dying, they did not see untimely extinc-
tion; that is, they did not understand the nature of real extinction. What do they
say in the Book of Wisdom? “Let us condemn him to the most shameful of
deaths, for his claims will be taken care of. If he truly is the Son of God, he will
deliver him from the hands of his adversaries (Wis 2:20,18). God will not permit
his Son to die if this really is his Son.” But when they saw him on the cross, saw
themselves insulting him and saw him refusing to descend from the cross, they
said, “He was only a man, after all.” Thus they spoke. Undoubtedly he who had
the power to rise again from the grave also had the power to come down from the
cross, but he taught us to bear with those who insult us, taught us to be patient
when we come up against vilification from others, to drink the bitter chalice now
and receive eternal health later. Drink this bitter cup, for you are ill; drink it, so
that you who are diseased to the core may get well. Do not shrink from it, for the
doctor drank from it first so that you would not be afraid: the Lord, I mean, was
the first to drink the bitter cup of suffering. He who had no sin drank it, he who
had nothing in him that needed healing. Drink it then, until the bitterness of this
world passes away, and there comes another world where there is no obstacle to
stumble over, no anger, no decay, no fever, no dishonesty, no quarrels, no old
age, no death, no argument. Labor here, for you will reach the end; labor, lest by
refusing to labor you reach only the end of your life and never reach the end of
your labors. For when he sees the wise dying, he will not see untimely extinction.

Prudent use of riches

12. The imprudent person and the unwise will perish together. What sort of
person is imprudent? One who makes no provision for his future. And who is the
unwise? One who does not understand the trouble he is in now. But you, you
must understand your present woes, and prudently ensure that you will find.
yourself in a good state later. By understanding your present unfavorable situa-
tion you will prove you are no fool, and by making provision for your future you
will show that you are not imprudent. But who does make provision for the
future? That servant did, the one whom his master entrusted with money to
administer. But later the master said to him, You cannot handle my business any
longer. Render an account of your dealings. The steward asked himself, What
am Ito do? Iam not strong enough to dig, but ashamed to beg (Lk 16:2.3). But
even with his master’s property he made himself friends, who would be ready to
take him in when he was sacked from his post. He cheated his master, certainly,
in his efforts to win friends who would stand by him; but you must not be afraid
of cheating, because you are only doing what the Lord himself exhorts you to do.
Make yourselves friends from sinful mammon, he says (Lk 16:9). Perhaps the
362 Exposition 1 of Psalm 48

money you made was made sinfully; or perhaps its sinfulness consists simply in
the fact that you have it and someone else doesn’t, you have plenty and someone
else is in need. If so, use this sinful mammon to make friends for yourself; use
your riches (or what sinners call riches), and you will be making a prudent provi-
sion. You are doing yourself a good turn, not robbing yourself. True, you seem to
be the loser in the short term. But will you be losing money if you put it in your
safe? Think how your children behave, my brothers and sisters. No sooner do
they come by a few coins that they may use to buy themselves something than
they put them in their money-box, and they do not open it until later. Does that
mean that because they cannot see what they are saving up, they have lost it? Of
course not. It is the same for you, don’t worry. Children put money into their
money-boxes and have no anxiety about it; and are you fearful about putting
yours into the hand of Christ? Be prudent, and make provision for your future in
heaven. Be prudent, and imitate the ant, as scripture bids us,'* lay in your stores
in summer, so that in winter you may not go hungry. “Winter” means the last
day, the day of tribulation; “winter” means the day of stumbling and bitterness.
Gather now what will be useful to you in the future. If you don’t, you will perish
as an imprudent fool with others like you. .
13. But when that rich man died, he was given a grandiose funeral. Look at
the public’s volte-face! They forget what a bad life he lived, and focus on the
pomp accorded to him when he dies. How fortunate is the person mourned by so
many! Yet the poor man lived in such a fashion as to make few mourn his
demise, though they ought to have lamented his wretched life. But for the
wealthy man there is an elaborate funeral, he is laid in a rich tomb, dressed in
costly apparel, and buried with ointments and scented spices. Then look at the
monument they raise over him—all encrusted with marble! Is there any life
inside that monument? No, within it he lies stone dead. In judging such obser-
vances to be good, people have lost their way and strayed from God. They have
not sought the truth but have been beguiled by false values, and how far this is
the case is demonstrated by the next line of the psalm. This man who did not pay
the price of his soul’s redemption, who did not understand death when he saw the
wise dying, has been so imprudent and unwise that he perished with the
like-minded. How will they perish who will leave their wealth to strangers? The
imprudent person and the unwise will perish together.

Who are the strangers?

14. Pay close attention now, brothers and sisters. They will leave their wealth
to strangers. The psalm seems to have reckoned accursed those whose goods
will be owned by strangers after their deaths. Conversely, those are blessed who

18. See Prv 6:6-8; 30:25.

 Exposition 1 of Psalm 48 363

leave their children as heirs to their estates, those whose own kindred succeed
them. “He had children, so he isn’t dead,” people say. But what about those chil-
dren? They preserve what their parents left them; or rather, they do more than
preserve it: they augment it. And for whom are they in their turn saving it up? For
their children, and those again for their children, and the third generation again
for theirs. But what does Christ get? And what accrues to the rich man’s soul? He
leaves the whole lot to his children. The rich would be better advised to include
among their children on earth that extra brother whom they have in heaven, for
they ought to be giving it all to him, or at least giving him a share.
One of you may object, however. “But look, if scripture declared accursed
those who perish and leave their wealth to strangers, it follows that a man who
leaves it to his own relatives is blessed.” I dispute this interpretation, because I
am bending my mind to the parable, and | see that scripture made good sense
when it spoke as it did. For I see plenty of wicked people dying, and being
succeeded by their children, and I cannot think scripture can have meant that
such people are exempt from a wretched fate, since it censures their lifestyle. So,
brothers and sisters, how do you think I understand it? I think it means that all of
them are in fact leaving their wealth to strangers. But how can their children be
strangers? Like this: the children of wicked people can be called strangers
because we find in scripture an instance of an outsider who became a neighbor
through being helpful. If someone of your own close kin does not come to your
help, he or she is as good as a stranger. Now, where do we find this instance of
someone from outside the pale becoming a neighbor by being helpful? In the
gospel. A man was lying wounded after being attacked by robbers. But just
before telling the story, the Lord had replied to a questioner, You shall love your
neighbor as yourself. And he had objected, But who is my neighbor? Then the
Lord told the story. A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he
fell in with robbers, who wounded him and left him half dead. His compatriots
passed by, for this was a Jew, traveling down from Jerusalem to Jericho. A priest
came that way, and passed by; a Levite came, and he too passed by; then a
Samaritan came along—just some unknown Samaritan, an outsider. He
approached the wounded man and took note of his wretched condition, and
mercifully tended his injuries. He lifted him onto his own mount, and took him to
an inn, and entrusted him to the innkeeper’s care. All this is narrated in a myste-
rious style and seems to call for further explanation; but the Lord says distinctly
what I just now proposed to you, brothers and sisters. “Which of them was a
neighbor to the wounded man?” The other replied, “I suppose the one who dealt
mercifully with him.” Jesus answered, “Go and do the same yourself” (Lk
10:27.29.30.34-37). The person to whom you show mercy is your neighbor. So
if the Samaritan, a foreigner, became the wounded man’s neighbor by treating
him kindly and helping him, it follows that those who cannot come to your help
when you are in trouble have become strangers to you.
364 Exposition I of Psalm 48

Now let us see how this applies to rich people who have lived bad lives, and
borne themselves proudly, and then died and left their wealth to their
children—to their children, I say, not to strangers. Then the children follow their
parents’ example. As the parents were proud, so are the children; as they were
grasping, so are the children; as they were miserly, so are their children. Yet for
all that, the children are strangers to their parents. To prove the point, think of
that other man who was burning in hellfire: did the heirs to his fortune come to
help him? But perhaps he had no direct heirs, and strangers had come into the
property? No, we find in the gospel proof that he did have close relatives, for he
says, I have five brothers (Lk 16:28). But his brothers could not come’ to help
him even when he was roasting in the fire. What would that rich man say to you?
“T have five brothers,” but I neglected to make a friend of that one brother of
mine who used to lie at my gate. My other brothers. the ones who now own my
wealth, cannot help me; they have become strangers to me.” So you see, all those
who lead bad lives leave their wealth to strangers.

Verse 12. The dead are not helped by feasts at their tombs

15. But surely these strangers do provide something for the dead whom they
recognize as their relatives? Yes indeed, just listen to what they provide, and
how the dead are mocked. The imprudent person and the unwise will perish
together, and will leave their wealth to strangers. Why did the psalm call them
strangers? Because they cannot be of any service to those who left them the
money. Yet they make a show of being serviceable: their tombs are their homes
for ever. Because the tombs are built up so grandly, they are like houses. You
may often hear some rich person saying, “I have a marble home, and I shall have
to leave it behind. I have not yet begun to think about my permanent home,
where I shall be for good.” When he does take thought for making a marble
monument or carved memorial for himself, he thinks of it as though it were an
eternal home. Anyone would think that rich man in the gospel remained resident
in his tomb! If he had stayed there, he would not have been burning in hell. What
we need to keep in mind is where the spirit of an ill-living person remains, not
where his or her mortal body is laid. Yet the psalm says, Their tombs are their
homes for ever, their tents last from generation to generation. By tents it means
their temporal dwellings, by homes those in which they will stay for ever,
namely, their tombs. They leave to their relatives the tents they stayed in while
they lived, and they move into their tombs as into eternal homes. What does it
profit them that their tents last from generation to generation? You can think
of these generations as their children, then their grandchildren, then their

19. Variant: “did not come.”

20. Variants: “Who are my brothers?” or “What of my brothers?”
 Exposition 1 of Psalm 48 365

great-grandchildren; but what do all these do for their ancestors? How do those
tents help them? Listen, the psalm answers: These will invoke their names in
their own lands. What does that mean? They will carry bread and wine to the
tombs, and there call upon the names of the dead.*! Just think how fervently the
name of that rich man in the gospel must have been invoked after his death!
People would have been getting drunk at his grave-cults, yet not a drop found its
way below to his burning tongue. The celebrants are providing a treat for their
own bellies, not for the spirits of their ancestors. Nothing reaches the spirits of
the dead except what they did for themselves while they were alive; if they did no
good in their lifetime, nothing will avail them when they are dead. So what do
their descendants effect? Nothing but invoking their names in their own lands.

Verses 13-14. Loss of insight, and hypocrisy

16. Human beings failed to understand how they were honored; they were no
better than the foolish beasts, and became like them. Notice how scornful the
psalm is about people who did not understand what to do with their riches during
their lifetime, but deluded themselves that they would be happy in the future if
they provided for themselves a marble-encrusted tomb (as though they could
live in it for eternity), and made sure that the relatives to whom they would leave
their fortunes would invoke their names on their home ground. How wrong they
were. They should have prepared an eternal home for themselves by good
works; they should have secured immortal life for themselves, sent the cost on
ahead so that they could follow their good deeds, taken care of their needy neigh-
bors and given alms to their companions along the road, instead of despising the
Christ who lay in his sores at their gates, Christ who declared, When you did that
for even the least of those who are mine, you did it for me (Mt 25:40). But the
psalm says that when human beings were honored, they failed to understand, so
what does being honored imply? Human beings are made in the image of God,”
and are of higher dignity than the beasts, for God did not make men and women
in the same way as he made any animal. God made beasts to be subject to human
beings; and surely this does not mean to our strength only, and not to our under-
standing? Yet humans have failed to understand; and they who have been made
in the image of God are no better than foolish beasts, and have become like them.

21. The Roman festival, Parentalia, was celebrated from 13 to 21 February with offerings to the
shades of the ancestors, and similar grave-cults were popular in Roman Africa. They took on
Christian coloring when the custom spread of ritually sharing in food and wine at the tombs of
the martyrs; but the association with pagan rites, and the occasion they gave for drunken
excess, drew episcopal condemnation on these customs. Ambrose tried to stamp them out in
Italy, as Augustine relates in his Confessions VI,2,2; and he himself discouraged them in
Africa.
2D See GHle26:
366 Exposition 1 of Psalm 48

The same comparison is made elsewhere: Do not be like a horse or a mule,

devoid of understanding (Ps 31(32):9).
17. This path that they tread is an occasion of stumbling for them. Let it be
their downfall, not yours. When would it be so for you? If you believed that
people of that sort are blessed. But if you understand that they are not blessed,
then the way they walk will be an occasion of stumbling for them, but not for
Christ, not for his body, not for his members. But later they will bless with their
mouths. What can that mean—later they will bless with their mouths? When
they have so far deteriorated that they seek only tamporal good things, they
become hypocrites, and when they bless God they do so with their lips only, not
their hearts. When they are reminded of the glory of eternal life, or they are told
that they ought to despise riches in Christ’s name, Christians who have so deteri-
orated grimace in their hearts?’ and scornfully dismiss what they hear. If they do
not dare to do so openly, for fear of being shamed or of being rebuked by others,
at any rate they do so in their hearts; and so while blessing stays on their lips, in
their hearts there is cursing. But later they will bless with their mouths.
It would take us too long to finish the psalm, beloved, so let what you have
heard today be enough to be going on with. Tomorrow you will hear whatever
the Lord grants.

23. Torquent os in corde suo.

 Exposition 2 of Psalm 48

Second Sermon

Verse 14, continued. Yesterday's conclusion recalled

1. You will remember, dearly beloved,' that yesterday we had to cut short the
discussion of the psalm we had begun. But we had reached the verse where the
Spirit of God describes people who have no concern except for worldly, earthly,
present-day affairs, and give no thought to what comes after this life. In their
estimation there is no happiness other than riches and rank in this world, and
transitory strength;? they make no provision for what is to come after their death,
except for making sure that they get a grandiose funeral, and are buried in
wonderfully elaborate tombs, and have their names invoked on their home
ground by members of their households. But they make no arrangements for
themselves as to where the spirit will be after this life ends, and they are foolish
enough to ignore Christ’s warning, You fool: your life will be taken from you this
very night; and then who will own what you have prepared? (Lk 12:20). They do
not notice that after lavish daily banquets, after the purple and the fine linen, the
rich man in the gospel was condemned to hell and its torments; nor do they
remember how the poor man found repose in Abraham’s embrace after his toil
and ulcers and hunger. They care nothing for these things, and focus only on
what is present, neglecting to make any provision for their fate after death, apart
from ensuring that their names, which are rejected by heaven, shall be lauded on
earth.
People of this stamp are described by the Holy Spirit, who says of them, This
path that they tread is an occasion of stumbling for them, but later they will
praise with their mouths. This reminds us of what the Lord Jesus Christ said
about certain people who approach the faith, cleansed by the word of God and
exorcisms performed in his name,? desirous of receiving God’s grace and being
baptized, but afterwards slide back into sins worse than those they committed
previously. Their later doings are even worse than what they did earlier, he
says—no, that was the apostle Peter, wasn’t it; but the Lord says something
almost the same: The last state of that person will be worse than the first (2 Pt

1. Caritas vestra.
2. Virtutem. Variants include vitam, “life”; felicitatem, “happiness”; virtutem et felicitatem,
“strength and happiness.”
3. The pre-baptismal rites.

367
368 Exposition 2 of Psalm 48

2:20; Lk 11:26). Why is this worse? Because earlier he was at feast openly a
pagan, but afterwards his paganism is cloaked by the Christian name, and his
wickedness hidden under a veil of piety. So he will be worse because disguised,
and hence the psalm says, Later they will bless with their mouths. In other words,
you hear the name of God and the name of Christ on their lips, but do not find
them in their hearts. It was said of these folk, This people honors me with its lips,
but its heart is far from me (1s 29:13). This is the point we reached in the psalm
yesterday.
8

Verse 15. Shepherded by death

2. The verses we must discuss and deal with today begin like this: They are
consigned like sheep to the underworld, where death will be their shepherd.
Whose shepherd? Those whose path is an occasion of stumbling to them. And
who are they? The people whose entire concern is present affairs, who give no
thought to the future, and who think this life is the only life, whereas in reality it
is more justly called death. They fully deserve to be like sheep in hell, with death
for their shepherd. But what is meant by that—having death for their shepherd?
Is death something real, is it some kind of power? We can say with certainty that
death is either the separation of soul from body, which is what people fear espe-
cially, or the separation of the soul from God, which people do not fear, although
this is true death. In fact it often happens that by shunning the death which severs
soul from body, people fall prey to that other death by which the soul is severed
from God. This is death, then; but in what sense 1s death their shepherd? If Christ
is life, the devil is death. In many places scripture tells us that Christ is life. The
devil is death not precisely because he is identified with death, but because it
comes about through him. This was the case with the death into which Adam
fell, the death which at the devil’s persuasion was given to humankind to drink.
But the devil also had a hand in the other kind of death, the death that separated
soul from body, because he who first of all fell through pride envied the human
creature who was still standing, and so by tempting him into invisible death he
knocked over the man who had been still on his feet, thus making him liable to
pay the debt of visible death as well.* Those who make themselves the devil’s
allies have death for their shepherd; but we whose thoughts are on future immor-
tality, and with good reason wear the sign of Christ on our foreheads, have no
shepherd except Life itself. Death is the shepherd of unbelievers, Life the shep-
herd of believers. If the sheep who are shepherded by death have their home in

4. Utetiam mortem visibilem penderet. This reading assumes that Adam is the subject of
the verb.
Variants assume that the devil is the subject: morte visibili perderet, “might destroy him
[Adam] by visible death;” morte invisibili perderet, “through [the aforesaid] invisible death he
might destroy him.”
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 48 369

hell, we conclude that the sheep whose shepherd is Life are to be found in
heaven. What? Are we in heaven already? Yes, we are in heaven through our
faith. If we are not, what becomes of the invitation, “Lift up your heart’’?> If we
are not in heaven, what right had Paul to say, We have citizens’ rights in heaven
(Phil 3:20)? In the body we walk about on earth, but in our hearts we dwell in
heaven. Or at least, we dwell there provided we send on ahead something to hold
us there, for each one of us dwells in the place we think about, the place where we
store our treasures. If one amasses treasures on earth, one’s heart never leaves
the earth, but if one builds up treasure in heaven, one’s heart never comes down
from heaven. The Lord tells us this quite plainly: Where your treasure is, your
heart will be too (Mt 6:21).

Night and daybreak, winter and summer, trees and grass

3. Now these folk who have death for their shepherd apparently flourish for a
time, while the just seem to have a hard time of it. Why is this? Because it is still
night. What do I mean by night? That the merits of the just cannot be seen,
whereas the good fortune of the impious is a byword. As long as winter lasts,
grass seems to be in better shape than a tree, for grass stays green through the
winter, while the tree seems to have dried up. But when the sun grows hotter in
summertime, the tree which looked so dry all winter bursts into leaf and
produces fruit, while the grass grows parched. Now you can see the tree’s glory,
but the grass is dry and brown. Injust this way do the righteous struggle on now,
before summer comes. Their life is in the root; it does not show in the branches
yet. But our root is charity. And what does the apostle tell us? That we must be
rooted up above, so that life may be our shepherd. We must keep our
dwelling-place fixed in heaven, and walk about on this earth as though we were
already dead. Let us be dead here below, since we live on high, and beware of so
living here below as to be dead on high. Our life, our hearts, must never abandon
heaven, and so the apostle tells us, You are dead; but do not be afraid, because »
your life is hidden with Christ in God. That is where our root is fixed. But one day
our glory will appear, like that of a tree burgeoning in leaves and fruit, so he
continues, When Christ appears, Christ who is your life, then you too will
appear with him in glory (Col 3:3-4). Then it will be morning; it is not morning
yet. Let the proud and rich folk of this world go on swelling with self-impor-
tance, let the impious jeer at the good and unbelievers at the faithful. Let them go
on saying, “What good has faith in Christ done you? What more do you have
through having Christ?” And the faithful, if truly faithful they are, must answer,
“Tt is still night, so you can’t see what we have hold of.”

5. Sursum cor; see note at Exposition of Psalm 10, 3.

370 Exposition 2 of Psalm 48

Let your hands not grow weary of good works. In another-place scripture
says, On my day of trouble I searched for God; with hands outstretched before
him I sought him in the night, and I was not disappointed (Ps 76:3(77:2)). When
day breaks our labor will be revealed, and our fruit will show in the morning.
Those who struggle with difficulties now will be powerful then, and those who
now boast and brag will be subservient later; for what does the psalm promise
next? They are consigned like sheep to the underworld, where death shall be
their shepherd. And in the morning the righteous will have dominion over them.
4. Since we have already said, In the mornin'g the righteous will have
dominion over them, I think this verse is quite comprehensible. Endure the night,
and long for the morning. Do not suppose that because the night has life in it yet,
the morning has no life. Is a sleeping person alive, and someone else who has
risen not alive? Surely the one asleep is more like a dead person? Now, who are
the sleepers? They are the ones Paul shakes in the hope of waking them up, the
people to whom he says, Arise, sleeper, rise from the dead: Christ will enlighten
you (Eph 5:14). Those who are enlightened by Christ must already be awake, but
the fruit of their night vigil is not yet plainly seen. It will appear in the morning,
which is to say when the uncertainties of this life have passed away. Our present
life is a night; doesn’t it seem like darkness to you? Someone lives a bad life, yet
he or she lives on, flourishes, strikes fear into others, and is widely honored.
Someone else leads a good life, but is criticized, reviled and slandered, but he or
she toils on. It seems like darkness. But hidden in the root are vigor, fertility and
rich promise. There is as yet no sign of life in the branches, but the root has not
dried out, though it may appear to be withering. Come the summer, and the tree
is clothed with glory and proves its fertility by its fruits.
And then what will be the fate of the people we are bidden not to envy? What
does another psalm say of them? They will wither swiftly like grass, and quickly
fall like plants in the meadow (Ps 36(37):2). They will fall when they see at
Christ’s right hand the saints who are struggling now, the saints who are the butt
of their mockery. The wicked will rue it inwardly then, and repent of their taunts,
but their repentance will be too late, and sterile. They refused to repent fruitfully
in the present life, so they will repent unfruitfully hereafter. And what will their
lament be, in that sterile repentance? These are the people we once held in deri-
sion, as a byword and a butt for our mockery! The words I am quoting come
from the Book of Wisdom; those of you who are familiar with it will recognize
them. They are the words that will be spoken in the future by the wicked when
they see the judge, with all the faithful already grouped at his right, and all the
saints exercising judgment with him. Here are the words scripture assigns to
them: these are the people we once held in derision, as a byword and a butt for
our mockery! Fools that we were, we thought their life madness (Wis 5:3-4).
Yes, this rings true. When someone begins to live for God, to despise the world,
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 48 371

to refrain from seeking revenge when injured, to give up the desire to be rich here
below; when such a person resolves not to seek earthly happiness, to set no store
by anything but fix his or her mind on God alone, and persevere in the way of
Christ, other people say, “He’s mad.” It would be bad enough if this were said
only by pagans. But since so many people are spiritually asleep and refuse to
awaken, the faithful hear even from their nearest and dearest, even from their
fellow-Christians, the question, “What's the matter with you?” My brothers and
sisters, if Someone says to a person who is following Christ, ““What’s the matter
with you?” can we understand what is implied? We find it horrifying that the
Jews said to our Lord Jesus Christ, You have a demon (Jn 8:48), and when we
hear that gospel passage read, we beat our breasts. The Jews said a shameful
thing to Christ, You have a demon; but what about you, O Christian, when you
see that the devil has been driven out of someone’s heart and Christ dwells there
instead? Do you dare to ask, “What's the matter with you?” Do you suspect that
that person has a demon? When our Lord was speaking to the Jews in a way they
could not comprehend it was said of him—yes, even of him—that he was mad.
He is possessed, he has a demon, they said; but a few of them were beginning to
wake from sleep, and they objected, These are not the words of aman who has a
demon (Jn 10:20,21). And so it is today, brothers and sisters, as long as his words
are heard by all nations and all who dwell in the world, by earthlings and sons of
men, by rich and poor, which is to say by those who belong to Adam and those
who belong to Christ. Some say, He has a demon, and others demur: These are
not the words of aman who has a demon; for some of them cling to the way of the
world and hear only for a time, while others hear his words to good purpose and
do as the psalm advises: Take them in with your ears, all you who dwell in the
world. But when they do so, the good effect is not seen yet.° As for those who
behave sinfully, and deliberately choose the way of the world, death is their
shepherd, whereas for all who choose the way of God, Life is shepherd. Life in
Person will come to judge, and he will damn along with their shepherd those to
whom he will say, Depart from me into the eternal fire which was prepared for’
the devil and his angels (Mt 25:41). But those who were insulted, who were
derided for their faith, will hear from their Shepherd, who is very Life, Come,
you who are blessed by my Father, take possession of the kingdom prepared for
you since the creation of the world (Mt 25:34). Then will be fulfilled the promise
that the righteous will have dominion over the wicked, not now, but in the
morning. Let no one say, “Why am I a Christian? I have no one to boss about. If
only I could boss the wicked!’”” Don’t be in too much of a hurry; you will lord it

6. Incertus est fructus; but some codices have, perhaps rightly, certus est fructus, “the good effect
{literally, fruit] is certain.”
7. Impero nemini, imperem iniquis. But there is a crop of variants. Some codices omit impero
nemini; some have improperium iniquis as the second clause: “I am a reproach to the wicked.”
aie Exposition 2 of Psalm 48

over them, but only when morning breaks. Their support will wear out in hell,
the support that is their glory.’ They have some glory now, but in hell it will wear
out. What is their support? The money that bolsters them, the friends, their own
strength. But when a person dies, all his plans will perish with him, on that very
day.° The more glory he appeared to have among his fellows while he lived, the
more he will find rottenness and corruption to torment him in hell after his death.

Werselo: “ASi...

5. But God will indeed save my soul. You can detect here the voice of
someone who has hopes for the future: God will indeed save my soul. This could
be the prayer of someone who is still hoping to be freed from constriction or
pain. Suppose a person is in prison. He says, “God will save me.” Or someone is
in chains, and says, “God will save me.” Or again, someone is in danger at sea,
tossed by waves and raging gales: what does he say? “God will save me.” They
all hope for deliverance so that they may continue their present life. This is not
what the psalmist envisages. Listen to the next line: God will indeed save my soul
from the grasp of hell, when he takes up my cause: The psalmist has in mind the
salvation which Christ has already demonstrated in himself. He descended into
hell, and ascended into heaven. What we have seen in the Head, we find also in
the body. What we believe to have been accomplished in the Head was reported
to us by those who witnessed it; we have seen it through them, because we all
form one body. Does that mean that those who saw were better people, and we to
whom they testified are inferior? That is not what Life himself said, our shep-
herd. He rebukes one of his disciples who doubts and wants to feel the scars, the
one who after touching the scars exclaims, My Lord and my God! (Jn 20:28). The
Lord looked at the doubting disciple, and saw through him the whole world that
would come to believe. Because you have seen, you have believed, he said;
blessed are those who do not see, yet believe (Jn 20:29).
God will indeed save my soul from the grasp of hell when he takes up my
cause, but what of the time before that? Hard work, afflictions, troubles, tempta-
tions—you may not hope for anything different. Where is the joy? In our hope
for the future, for the apostle says, We always have cause for joy. Amid such
severe troubles, we are always rejoicing, yet sad too: always rejoicing, because
Paul’s precise words were, as ifsorrowful, we always have cause for joy (2 Cor
6:10). Our sadness has an “as if” prefixed to it, but there is no “as if” quality
about our joy, because it springs from certain hope. Why is an “‘as if” attached to

8. Et auxilium eorum veterascet in inferno a gloria eorum, obscure. The variants suggest (1) that
gloria be understood as nominative, in apposition to auxilium, “their support, their glory, will
..”; or (2) “they were driven out from their glory.”
9. See Ps 145(146):4.
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 48 313

our sadness? Because it will fade away like a dream, and the righteous will have
dominion in the morning. You know, beloved,'® how when someone relates a
dream, he puts in the phrase, “as if.” “It was as ifIwere sitting there; it was as if I
were speaking, as if |were dining, as if Iwere on horseback, as if Iwas having an
argument... .” All of it is described in terms of “as if,” because when the
dreamer wakes, he does not find things as they were in the dream. A beggar
might say, “It was as ifIhad found a treasure;” if there were no “as if” about it he
would be a beggar no longer, but there was an “as if,” so beggar he remains. Now
for people who open their eyes to worldly delights but shut their hearts, the “as
if’ dream passes, and reality takes its place. Their “as if’ dream is the happiness
this world offers, but the reality for them is punishment. For us, it is the other
way round: our sadness carries an “as if” label, but there is no “as if’ qualifica-
tion about our joy. The apostle did not say, “As if rejoicing, but always sad,” or
“As if rejoicing, and as if sad.” What he said was, As if sorrowful, we always
have cause for joy. He continued, Apparently poor (and here he said “appar-
ently,”'! which is equivalent to “as if’'”), we enrich many. Yet when the apostle
made that claim he possessed nothing; he had given away all his property and
had no wealth at all. And how did he go on? Seeming like people who have
nothing (this state of seeming to have nothing was the apostle’s experience of the
“as if’), we possess all things (2 Cor 6:10). No “as if” to that last statement, you
see. He was “as if” poor, but he truly did bring riches to many; there was no “as
if’ about that. He was “as if’ without any possessions, yet he truly possessed all
things; no “as if” applied there. How did he truly possess all things? By clinging
to the Creator of all things. God will indeed save my soul from the grasp of hell,
when he takes up my cause.

Verse 17. Do not lose your nerve

6. What about those whose ambition is to flourish here? You will see a bad
person doing well, and perhaps you will feel your feet slipping away under you,
and in your thoughts you will say, “O God, I know what that man has done, what
crimes he has committed. But look, he is prosperous, he intimidates people, he
throws his weight about, he is arrogant, nothing gives him a headache, and his
house never suffers any damage.” You will be frightened then, because you have
become a believer, and perhaps your heart says to you, “It’s very hard on me. I
think I made a mistake in believing. God does not take any notice of human
affairs.”” But God arouses us, and what has he to say? Do not be alarmed: a
person may have become rich. Why did you begin to lose your nerve, when some

10. Caritas vestra.

11. Sicut.
12. Quasi.
374 Exposition 2 of Psalm 48

fellow grew rich? You began to be afraid that you had made a wrong decision
when you became a believer, that all your struggle for faith was wasted, and that
the hope in which you turned to God was futile. Perhaps you could by fraud have
made the same fortune as the other man, and been rich, and not needed to work;
but you heeded God’s threats and held back from fraud, and turned your back on
the fortune. Yet you see how the other fellow did commit fraud, and made his
pile, and nothing bad has happened to him. So you lose your nerve about being
good. But the Spirit of God says to you, Do not be alarmed: a person may have
become rich. . ... Do you really want to have eyes only*for present things, and no
more? He who rose from the dead gave us promises about the future, but he did
not promise us peace on this earth or rest in this life. Every one of us seeks rest,
and what we seek is good, but not in our own country do we seek it. There is no
peace in this life. What we seek on earth has been promised us in heaven; what
we seek in this world has been promised us for the next.

Verses 17-18. Dying in Style

7. Do not be alarmed: a person may have become rich, and the splendor of his
household may have increased. Why does it tell us not to be alarmed? Because
when he dies he will take nothing with him. You see a rich man living, yes; but
now imagine him dying. You observe what he possesses here; but now consider
what he can take with him. What does he take with him? He has plenty of gold,
plenty of silver, plenty of land and slaves. Then he dies, and all these things are
left behind—for whom, he does not know. Even if he bequeaths them to persons
of his own choosing, he cannot ensure that they will remain with persons of his
own choosing. Many people have acquired goods that were not left to them, and
many others have lost what they did inherit.
All these things are left behind, then, and he takes with him ... what?
Someone may say, perhaps, “Well, he does take with him the clothes they wrap
him in, and the money they lavish on an expensive marble tomb and on setting up
a memorial to him. Those at any rate he does take.” But I tell you, no, not even
those; for they are expended on a non-sentient thing. If you dress someone up
while he is asleep, without waking him, the things you put on him will be with
him in bed. The adornments may be attached to the sleeper’s body, but perhaps
in his dreams he sees himselfinrags. Now, what he feels is more significant than
what he does not feel. When he wakes up, even what he dreamed will not be his;
nonetheless, what he saw in his dreams while he slept was more to him than what
he was unaware of. Well now, brothers and sisters, suppose people say to them-
selves, “Let sufficient money be set aside for my death; after all, why should I
leave my heirs rich? They will get plenty from me anyway, so let me keep some
of my own money to spend on my corpse.” But what, I ask you, will a dead body
get out of it? What will decaying flesh possess? What will insentient flesh call its
 _ Exposition 2 of Psalm 48 eye)

own? If the rich man in the gospel, the one whose tongue was parched, had
anything, then a dead person will indeed possess something of his estate. But is
that what we read in the gospel, brothers and sisters? Do we read that the rich
man made his entrance into hellfire dressed all in silk and apparelled in fine
linen? Did he in hell look much the same as he had at his well-stocked table? I do
not think so. When he was thirsty and longed for a drop of water, none of those
things was available to him. So a person cannot hold onto any of it; nor does the
dead man take with him what the burial takes. Only the erstwhile container of the
person lies there, the house in which he used to dwell. We call the body a house,
and its inhabitant is the spirit. When the spirit is being tormented in hell, what
advantage accrues to it if the body is lying amid cinnamon sticks and aromatic
herbs, wrapped in precious linen? You might as well decorate the walls of a
house whose owner has been sent into exile. He is languishing in a foreign land,
subject to penury and hunger, scarcely finding any poky little place to sleep in,
and you say, “What a lucky fellow, to have his house decorated like this!”
Anyone who heard you would conclude that you were either joking or crazy. But
it is the same when you embellish the body while the soul is in torment. If you
give the spirit some help, you will have given the dead person something worth-
while; but what will you give, when that rich man begged for even a single drop
of water, and did not get it? The fact is, he had disdained to send any goods on
ahead of him. Why did he disdain to do so? Because the path they tread is an
occasion of stumbling for them. He thought there was no life except the present
life, and had no concern except that he should be wrapped in exquisite clothes
when he was buried. His soul was snatched away from him, as the Lord warned:
You fool: your life will be taken from you this very night; and then who will own
what you have prepared? (Lk 12:20). So in him the prediction our psalm makes
is verified: do not be alarmed: a person may have become rich, and the splendor
of his household may have increased, but when he dies he will take nothing with
him, nor will his glory’? follow him below.

Verse 19. Teeth on edge

8. During his lifetime his soul will be blessed. You must be alert here, dearly
beloved:'* during his lifetime his soul will be blessed. As long as he lived, he did
well for himself; so say all, but they are wrong. The so-called blessings derive
only from the lips of the one who draws attention to them; they are not blessings
in fact. For what are you saying? That he ate and drank, that he did whatever he
liked, that he enjoyed sumptuous banquets, and therefore did well for himself?
Not at all, I tell you; he did himself harm. It is not I who tell you this, but Christ:

13. Variant: “the glory of his house.”

14. Caritas vestra.
376 Exposition 2 of Psalm 48

he did himself harm. Remember the rich man who feasted splendidly every day.
He thought he was doing well for himself, but when he began to roast in hell,
what he thought had been good was shown up as bad, for what he had eaten on
earth he was now digesting in hell. I assure you, brothers and sisters, what he had
been accustomed to feast on was iniquity. While he was eating luxurious food
with his bodily mouth, he was eating iniquity with the mouth of his heart. What
he had been accustomed to eat on earth with his corporeal mouth, he was now
digesting with agony in hell. What is more, though his eating had lasted only for
a time, the process of digesting the evil was to be eternal.
Can iniquity be eaten, then? Someone among you is saying, perhaps, “What
is he talking about? Is iniquity edible?” Yes, but it is not I who say so; listen to
scripture: As sour grapes hurt the teeth, and smoke the eyes, so does iniquity hurt
those who commit it (Prv 10:26, LXX), for anyone who has eaten iniq-
uity—freely chosen to eat it, that is—is in no state to eat righteousness. Righ-
teousness is bread. What is our bread? J am the living bread which has come
down from heaven (Jn 6:41). This is the bread for our hearts. If someone eats sour
grapes with his bodily mouth his jaws become so rigid and paralyzed that he is
less able to eat bread: he can only commend what he sees, for he is unable to eat
it. So too anyone who has committed iniquity, and fed on sin in his heart,
becomes less and less equal to eating this bread; he praises God’s word, but does
not act on it. Why not? Because when he attempts to act on it, he finds it hard
work, just as our teeth find it hard work when we begin to eat bread after eating
sour grapes. So what can people do, when their teeth have been set on edge?
Refrain from sour grapes for a while, until their jaws work normally again, and
then they can attack the bread. It is the same with us: we praise righteousness; but
if we want to eat it, let us abstain from our sins. Then there arises in our hearts not
only the pleasurable appetite to praise righteousness, but also the ability to eat it
easily. If a Christian says, “God knows that I have the appetite for it, but I can’t
practice it,” he or she has teeth set on edge by the prolonged eating of iniquity. So
it looks as though righteousness is edible too, doesn’t it? If it were not, the Lord
would hardly have said, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteous-
ness (Mt 5:6). We must conclude, then, that because the rich man’s soul will be
blessed in his lifetime, this is true for his lifetime only, for in death he will suffer
agony.

Mercenary praise

9. He will praise you when you confer benefits on him. Pay close attention to
this, and let it nourish you. Let it be firmly rooted in your hearts. Eat, and observe
people of this type, but do not be like them. Steer clear of such professions of
gratitude. He will praise you when you confer benefits on him. How many Chris-
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 48 ce |

tians there are, brothers and sisters, who thank God only when some windfall
comes their way! That is what the psalm means by saying, He will praise you
when you confer benefits on him. He will praise you, declaring, “Truly you are
my God. God has delivered me from prison, and I will praise him for it.” He
makes some gain, and he confesses; he comes into an inheritance, and he
confesses; he suffers a loss, and he blasphemes. What kind of a son are you, if
your father offends you when he corrects you? Would he be correcting you, if
you had not offended him? Or, if you had offended him so seriously that he had
come to hate you, would he bother to correct you? You should rather give thanks
to God when he corrects you, so that you may receive your inheritance from him;
for when you are corrected, you learn. He corrects you a great deal, because there
is a great inheritance awaiting you. If you weigh the corrections you undergo
against what you are to inherit, you will find that the correction is nothing. This
is the point the apostle Paul makes: The slight momentary thing that distresses us
now is working in us toward an eternal glory in heaven that far outweighs it.
How long will it take? We keep our eyes not on things that are seen, but on those
which are not seen, not on temporal things, but on those that are eternal; for
things which are seen are temporal, but things unseen are eternal. And again, I
consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the future glory that is to be revealed in us (2 Cor 4:17-18; Rom 8:18). What
is it, after all, that you have to put up with? Yes, you have to put up with it all the
time; I admit that. But suppose you have to endure what Job endured, and that all
your life long, from the day of your birth and through all the stages of life, even to
old age and death? Yes, suppose someone suffers even from infancy what Job
suffered for a few days? Even then, remember that what you suffer will come to
an end, but what you are to receive will have no end. I would not have you reck-
oning the pain equal to the prize. Equate time with eternity, if you can.
10. He will praise you when you confer benefits on him. Do not be that sort of
person, brothers and sisters. Surely you understand that this is why we say these
things to you, this is why we sing, this is why we explain the psalm, this is why
we sweat over preaching: that you should not behave so. Your own dealings test
you. Sometimes in your dealings you hear a truth, and you curse. It is the Church
you are cursing. Why? Because you are Christians. “If that’s how itis,” you say,
“I’m taking myself off to the Donatist sect. Or I would rather be a pagan.” Why
this reaction? Because you bit into the bread, and hurt your teeth. When you
were only looking at the bread, you spoke highly of it, but now that you have
begun to eat it, your teeth hurt. What I mean is that while you were listening to
God’s word, you joined in the common praise of it; but when you are bidden,
“Act onit,” you curse. Do not take that line. Better to admit, “The bread is good,
but I am not up to eating it.” But this is not your attitude. You commend the bread
while you are only looking at it, but as soon as you begin to sink your teeth into it
378 Exposition 2 of Psalm 48

you say, “This is horrid bread. What must its maker be like?” And s6 you praise
God only as long as he confers benefits on you, and you are lying when you
proclaim, J will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall be in my mouth
always (Ps 33:2(34:1)). The song on your lips demands a like song from your
heart, and you have sung in church, / will bless the Lord at all times. But how is
this true at all times? If there is gain coming your way at all times, you bless him
all the time; but if things go wrong for you, you bless him no more, but curse. If
you do not bless God at all times, if his praise is not always in your mouth,'° you
will be like the person described in the psalm: he will praise you when you confer
benefits on him.

Verses 20-21. Wicked and righteous lines of descent

11. He will make his way into the generations of his fathers; that is to say, he
will imitate the conduct of his ancestors, for the wicked who are alive today have
brothers and sisters, and also forebears. The wicked of former ages are the
fathers and mothers of today’s wicked people, and today’s wicked folk are in
their turn the ancestors of tomorrow’s wicked. In the same way the righteous
people of earlier days are the fathers and mothers of today’s righteous people,
who are themselves the progenitors of the righteous of the future. The Holy
Spirit wanted to demonstrate that just dealing is not wrong even when it
provokes resentment in others, for the just had their own ancestor at the very
beginning, right back at the origin of our race. Adam begot two sons. In one there
was iniquity, in the other righteousness: iniquity in Cain, righteousness in Abel.
Iniquity appeared to triumph over righteousness, for Cain, the unjust, slew the
just Abel in the night. Had morning dawned yet? No, but in the morning the righ-
teous will have dominion over the unjust. Morning will break, and then everyone
will see where Abel is, and where Cain. The same is true of all those who follow
Cain’s example, and all who follow Abel’s, even to the end oftime. He will make
his way into the generations of his fathers, and will not see the light forever.
While he was here on earth, he lived in darkness, gloating over false goods and
not valuing those that are real, and he will depart from this world into the black
infernal regions; those dark torments will summon him from his dark slumbers
on earth, and he will not see the light forever. But why not? The answer comes in
a verse found in the middle of the psalm, and repeated here at the end: Human
beings failed to understand how they were honored; they were no better than the
foolish beasts, and became like them.

15. The translation here follows the emendation suggested by the CCL editors, which twice inserts
quia non. Unamended, the text does not make good sense: “Are you sure you bless him at all
times, sure that his praise is always in your mouth? You will be like. . . .”
 Exposition 2 of Psalm 48 379

Not so you, brothers and sisters. You must regard yourselves as human crea-
tures made in the image and likeness of God. The image of God is within you, not
in your body; it is not in those ears you can see, nor in the eyes, the nose, the
faculty of taste, the hands, the feet. Yet God’s image was truly created in you
where the understanding resides, where the mind is, where the reason with its
power to seek out the truth, where your faith is, your hope, your charity—there
God has his image; and there you understand and see that material things pass
away, as another psalm affirms: although each human being walks as an image,
nonetheless his perturbation is vain. He heaps up treasure, but does not know for
whom he will be gathering it (Ps 38:7(39:5-6)). Don’t worry, because however
wonderful these things may be, for you they are transient, if you are honored
human beings endowed with understanding. But if you do not understand this,
then, honored human beings though you are, you are no better than foolish
beasts, and become like them.
 Exposition of Psalm 49 i Y

A Sermon to the People

Verse 1. Christ calls :

1. It is up to each one of us, brothers and sisters, to assess how effective God’s
word is in correcting our life. How far does it incite us to hope for the rewards he
promises, and to fear the punishments he threatens? Each one of us must
confront our own conscience honestly without any self-flattery, for we stand in
great danger. As you see, our Lord God himself flatters no one. Even though he
consoles us by promising us good things and thereby strengthening our hope,
nonetheless he will not spare any of us who live bad lives and scorn his word.
While there is still time we must question ourselves to determine where we are;
then we must either persevere in a good course, or turn away from an evil one.!
As the psalm affirms, it is no mere human, nor even any angel, but the God of
gods, the Lord who has spoken. And to what purpose did he speak? He has
summoned all the earth from the sun’s rising-place to its setting. The one who
has summoned all the earth from the sun’s rising-place to its setting is our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Word was made flesh in order to live among us.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is therefore the God of gods, because through him all
things were made, and nothing was made apart from him. If the Word of God is
God, he is most certainly God of gods; and if we ask whether he is indeed God,
the gospel answers, /n the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God;
he was God (Jn 1:1). And if, as it goes on to say, all things were made through
him, it follows that the gods, if any were made, must have been made through
him. But the one God himself was not made, and he alone is truly God. He alone,
Father and Son and Holy Spirit, is the one God.

The truly deified and the false gods

2. Now who are these gods, of whom he, the true God, is God, and where are
they? Another psalm tells us: God has taken his stand in the synagogue of the
gods, to make a distinction among them (Ps 81(82):1). We still do not know

1. One codex inserts here the following lines, and then omits all the rest of Augustine’s remarks
on verses 1-2. “Between the just judge and your own conscience you have nothing to fear
except your case itself, for he who at present is the witness ofyour life will be the judge of your
case. If your case is not a bad one, you need fear neither opponent nor false witness.”

380
 Exposition of Psalm 49 381

whether perhaps some gods are assembled in heaven, so that there, in that
assembly, in their “synagogue,” I mean, God has taken his stand to make a
distinction among them, for you must observe whom that same psalm is
addressing when it says, This is my sentence: you are gods, sons of the Most
High, all of you; yet you shall die as mortals die, and fall as any lordly ruler falls
(Ps 81(82):6-7). It is quite obvious that God called human beings “gods” in the
sense that they were deified by his grace, not because they were born of his own
substance. It is proper to God to justify us because his is just of himself and not
by derivation from anyone else; and similarly he alone deifies who is God of
himself, not by participation in any other. Moreover he who justifies is the same
as he who deifies, because by justifying us he made us sons and daughters of
God: he gave them power to become children of God (Jn 1:12). If we have been
made children of God, we have been made into gods; but we are such by the
grace of him who adopts us, not because we are of the same nature as the one who
begets. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God; he is God,
one God with the Father, the Word who was in the beginning, the Word who was
with God, the Word who is God. Others, who become gods, become so by his
grace. They are not born of God’s very being in such a way that they are what he
is; itis through a gracious gift that they come to him and become with Christ his
coheirs. So intense is the Heir’s charity that he wanted to have fellow-heirs.
What avaricious human being would want to have coheirs? Even if one such
were found who was willing to have coheirs, and he divided the inheritance with
them, he would have less himself than if he had kept the whole. But the inheri-
tance we look to, as coheirs with Christ, is not diminished by the crowd of people
who are to inherit, nor doesitdwindle because they have become so numerous;
there is as much when the heirs are many as when they are few, and as much for
each individually as for all. See what love the Father has bestowed on us, says an
apostle, that we should be called God's children, and rightly, for so we are. And
further, Dearly beloved, we are children of God already, but what we shall be
has not yet appeared. So only in hope, not yet in reality, are we what we are. But,
he continues, we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, because we
shall see him as he is (1 Jn 3:1-2). The only-begotten Son is like him by being
born of him; we become like him by seeing him. We are not like God in the same
way as the Son is, for he is of one nature with the Father from whom he is born.
We are like God, but not equal to him; the only Son is like him because equal to
him.
We have heard, then, who have been made gods through being justified, for
they are called children of God. Now, what about the “gods” who are not gods at
all, to whom he who is God of gods is a source of terror? Another psalm declares,
He is more to be feared than all the gods; and in case you might wonder, “What
gods are these?” the psalm explains: The gods of the heathen are demons (Ps
95(96):4-5). God instills fear into the demons, into the gods of the heathen, but
382 Exposition of Psalm 49

he is lovable to those whom he has himself deified, his own sons and daughters. I
find instances of both groups confessing God’s majesty, however: the demons
confessed Christ, and the faithful too confessed Christ. You are the Christ, the
Son of the living God, said Peter (Mt 16:16). We know who you are: you are the
Son of God, said the demons.’ I hear comparable confessions, but I do not find
comparable love; indeed, I find in one case a love that chooses,’ and in the other
only dread. His sons and daughters are those to whom he is lovable, but those
who find him terrible are not his children. Those who find him lovable he makes
gods, but those who fear him as terrible are convicted by him of being no gods at
all. The former become gods, the latter are only believed to be; truth makes gods
of the one group, and error imagines the other lot to be gods.

Christ’s universal lordship

3. The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken. He has spoken in many ways. He
spoke through angels, he spoke through prophets, he spoke with his own lips, he
spoke through his apostles, he speaks through his faithful servants, he speaks
through our humble ministry when we say anything that is true. Consider how
though his ways of speaking are so varied, though he uses many tools and plays
on so many instruments, he himself is sending forth his sound through them all:
touching, restraining, inspiring. Yes, consider what he has done: he has spoken,
he has summoned all the earth. What “earth” does that mean? Africa? So it
would seem, from the claims of those who say, “Our Donatist party is the Church
of Christ.” No, he did not call Africa exclusively, but neither did he exclude
Africa; for he who summoned all the earth from the sun’s rising-place to its
setting, leaving no region outside his summons, has indeed found Africa among
those he has called. Let Africa rejoice, then, at being within that unity, and not
grow proud in isolation. We have good reason to say that the voice of the God of
gods has reached Africa, but not been confined to Africa, for he has spoken; he
has summoned all the earth from the sun’s rising-place to its setting. There is no
hiding-place for the trickery of the heretics, no place where they can take refuge
under the shadow of falsehood, for no one can hide from that sun’s heat.* He who
summoned the earth has summoned the whole earth; he who called the earth has
called as much of it as he himself fashioned. What do pseudo-Christs and false
prophets think to gain by attacking me? What is the point of their efforts to
ensnare me with their sophistical words: Look, here is Christ! or There he is! (Mt
24:23)? I will not listen to people who try to show me only parts: the God of gods
shows me the whole. He who summoned all the earth from the sun’s rising-place

2. See Mk 1:24; Lk 4:41.

3. Dilectionem, see note at Exposition 2 of Psalm 31, 5.
4. See Ps 18:7(19:6).
 Exposition of Psalm 49 383

to its setting has redeemed the whole, but has condemned the parts that make
spurious claims.

Verse 2. “Beginning from Jerusalem”

4. When we hear that the earth has been summoned from the sun’s
rising-place to its setting, we may wonder whence his call went out. The psalm
informs us: His beauty shines forth from Zion, and here we see clearly that the
psalm accords with the words of the gospel, throughout all nations, beginning
from Jerusalem. Notice the close correspondence between throughout all
nations and he has summoned all the earth from the sun’s rising-place to its
setting, and between beginning from Jerusalem and his beauty shines forth from
Zion. So the psalm’s assertion that he has summoned the earth from the sun’s
rising-place to its setting is in harmony with the Lord’s words, /t was necessary
for Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead on the third day, and for repentance
and forgiveness of sins to be preached in his name throughout all nations (Lk
24:46-47), because all nations are to be found within this sweep from the sun’s
rising-place to its setting. Furthermore the psalm’s indication that his beauty
shines forth from Zion, that the beauty of his gospel proceeded from there, that
he who is fairer than any mortal° began to be proclaimed from that city, is in
accord with the Lord’s instruction, beginning from Jerusalem.
The new is in harmony with the old, and the old with the new. The two
seraphs sing to each other, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord, the God of hosts (Is 6:3).
The two Testaments are in agreement, the two Testaments speak with one single
voice. Let this voice of the two harmonious Testaments win a hearing, not the
voice of the disinherited® with their bogus claims. So this was indeed what he
did, the God of gods: he summoned the whole earth from the sun’s rising-place
to its setting, and from Zion his beauty proceeded; for that was where the disci-
ples were gathered when on the fiftieth day after his resurrection they received
the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Thence the gospel set forth, from there »
proceeded their preaching, from that city the whole world was filled, and all this
came about through the grace of faith.
5. It was through faith that it happened, for when the Lord first came, he came
in hidden guise, for he had come to suffer. Strong in himself, he appeared in the
weakness of our flesh. It was necessary that he should be seen, but not recog-
nized; that he should be despised, so that he might be killed. His glorious beauty
inhered in his divinity, but was concealed by his flesh, for if his enemies had

5. See Ps 44:3(45:2).
6. This mention of the disinherited implies that by “testaments” Augustine had in mind the
meaning “will” in addition to “covenant.” See the play on the double meaning in Heb 9:15-20.
384 Exposition of Psalm 49

recognized him they would never have crucified the Lord of glory,’ And so
among the Jews, among his enemies, he walked about incognito, working
wonders and bearing injuries, until he was hanged upon the cross. As the Jews
watched him hanging there they despised him all the more, and wagged their
heads in the presence of the cross, jeering, [fhe is the Son of God, let him come
down from the cross.’ There the God of gods lay hidden, and his cry was uttered
more out of compassion for us than from his own majesty, for where could those
words have come from, if he had not taken our voice to himself: My God, my
God, why have you forsaken me? (Mk 15:34; Mt 27:46)? When did the Father
ever forsake his Son, or the Son his Father? Are the Father and the Son not one
God? Is it not profoundly true that J and the Father are one (Jn 10:30)? How,
then, could he cry, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Only because
through his weak flesh the voice of a sinner made itself heard. If he took on
himself the likeness of sinful flesh,’ why should he not also take to himself the
likeness of a sinful voice? To this end the God of gods was hidden while he
walked about among human beings, when he hungered and thirsted, when he
was tired and sat down, when bodily weariness overcame him and he slept, when
he was arrested, when he was scourged, when he was haled before the judge, and
when he replied to the insolent governor, You would have no power over me, had
it not been given you from above (Jn 19:11). He was still the hidden God of gods
when he was led out to the sacrifice, when like a sheep before its shearer he did
not open his mouth,'° when he was crucified and buried: through it all he was
ever the hidden God of gods. And what about afterwards, when he had risen?
The disciples were astonished and did not believe at first, until they had touched
and handled him. But what had arisen was flesh, because it was flesh that had
died; the godhead which could not die stili lay concealed in the flesh of the Risen
One. His human shape could be seen, his limbs grasped, his scars felt, but could
anyone see the Word through whom all things were made? Could anyone hold
onto that? Or handle that? And yet the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us
(Jn 1:14). Thomas, who held onto him as man, apprehended him as God, as best
he could; for after feeling the scars, Thomas exclaimed, My Lord and my God!
(Jn 20:28). Yet what the Lord displayed to them was the same human form, the
same flesh, that they had seen on the cross and that had been laid in the grave.
This he did for them through the space of forty days. He did not show himself to
the impious Jews, but only to those who had believed in him before his cruci-
fixion, so that when he rose again he might render strong those who had gone
reeling off when he was crucified.

7. See 1 Cor 2:8.

8. See Mt 27:40.
9. See Rom 8:3.
10; See Is 53:7.
 Exposition of Psalm 49 385

Finally, on the fortieth day, he entrusted his Church to them, entrusted the
world he had summoned from the sun’s rising-place to its setting, to ensure that
any people who were minded to perish in schism would have no excuse. He
ascended into heaven, telling them, You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem
(that was where his beauty was to shine out from) and through Judea and
Samaria, and throughout the whole world (Acts 1:8). When he had said this, a
cloud took him away from them. They went on gazing after him whom they had
known; but it was in his lowly condition that they had known him and they did
not know him yet in his radiant glory. As he departed from them into heaven they
were admonished by the voice of an angel, asking, Why stand here gazing up to
heaven, men of Galilee? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you to heaven,
will come again, even as you have seen him go (Acts 1:11). So he ascended, but
they went home full of joy and remained in the city as he had ordered them until
they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
But what was it that had been said to Thomas as he fingered the Lord’s scars?
Because you have seen, you have believed; blessed are those who do not see, yet
believe (Jn 20:29). That was a prediction about ourselves. The earth which has
been summoned from the sun’s rising-place to its setting does not see, but
believes. The God of gods was hidden not only from those among whom he
walked about, and from those who crucified him, and from them before whose
eyes he rose again, but from us too, who did not see him walking this earth but
believe that he is enthroned in heaven. Even if we were to see him, would not
what we saw be the same as what the Jews saw and crucified? We have some-
thing better in not seeing Christ, yet believing him to be God, than they had who
saw him and thought him nothing more than a man; for in the end through
thinking wrongly about him they compassed his death, whereas we by believing
rightly are brought to life.

Verse 3. Hidden and silent now, Christ will be manifest later as judge

6. What are we to infer from this, brothers and sisters? That the God of gods,
who was hidden then, and is hidden now, will be hidden always? Certainly not.
Listen to the next line: Our God will come openly. He who came once in a hidden
way will come again openly. He came in hidden guise to be judged, but he will
come openly to exercise judgment; he came concealed so that he might stand
before a judge, but he will come again openly to pass judgment even on the
judges. Our God will come openly; he will not keep silence. Does this mean that
he is silent now? If so, where do we get these things from, the things we are
speaking about? Where do his commandments come from? And his warnings?
And the terrifying trumpet? No, he is not silent; yet in another way he is. He does
not keep silent from warning us, but he is silent from avenging his own; he does
not keep silent from giving commandments, but he is silent from judgment. He
386 Exposition of Psalm 49

bears with sinners who daily commit evil deeds, caring nothing for God’s pres-
ence, whether in their own consciences or in heaven or on earth:!! but none of
these things escapes him, and he cautions all without exception. Even when he
chastises some people in their lifetime it is a caution only, not yet a condemna-
tion. So he keeps silent from passing judgment: he is hidden away in heaven and
there he still intercedes for us;!* he is patient with sinners and does not unleash
his wrath but awaits our repentance. Yet in another place he says, J have long
been silent, but shall I be silent for ever? (Is 42:14, LXX).'° And when he breaks
his silence, then God will come openly. What God is this? Our God. Our God is
very God, for there is no God other than our God. The gods of the heathens are
demons (see Ps 95(96):5), but the God of Christians is the true God. He will
come, he will come in person, but this time he will come openly, no longer to be
mocked, not now to be struck and scourged, not now to be beaten about the head
with a reed, not now to be crucified, killed and buried, for it was the hidden God
who willed to suffer all this. Our God will come openly; he will not keep silence.

The fire of judgment

i

7. The following lines indicate that he will come to judge: Fire will go before
him."* Are we afraid? Let us amend our lives, and then we shall not be. Straw is
afraid of fire, but what harm can it do to gold? You have it in your power now to
decide what you are going to do about it, but if you fail to correct yourself you
will be tested by the fire that is coming whether you like it or not. But you know,
brothers and sisters, I think it would be very inadvisable to lead a bad life, even if
we had the power to prevent judgment day ever coming. Imagine a situation
where there is no threat of fire on judgment day, and the only menace hanging
over sinners is that they will be separated from God and never see his face. What-
ever the plethora of enjoyment in which they might find themselves, however
secure they might be in an eternity where their sins would always go unpun-
ished, they would still inevitably mourn their lot, being shut out from the vision
of their Creator and exiled from that loveliness of his countenance which defies
all description. But how can I speak of a loss like that? To whom can I speak of
it? Only to his lovers, who know what the pain of it would be, not to those who

11. A variant supplied by one codex has “. . . caring nothing in their consciences; for nothing
escapes him, nothing in heaven or on earth, but he. . . .”
12. See Rom 8:34.
13. The codex last mentioned inserts here, “Let us listen, brethren, when he does not keep silent
from words, lest we find no opportunity to listen when he does not keep silent from judgment.”
14. The received text has here /gnis ante eum praeibit, which is quoted from Ps 96(97):3 rather than
from the present psalm, though the thought is very similar. Probably Augustine was quoting
from memory at this point. The codex which has been providing variants over the last couple of
pages has here the corresponding verse from Ps 49(50), /gnis in conspectu eius ardebit. When
Augustine repeats it a few lines further on he does so in this form.
 Exposition of Psalm 49 387

scorn him. Any of you who have begun to experience the delights of wisdom and
truth, in however small a degree, will know what I am talking about, and how
grievous would be the punishment of simply being banished from the face of
God. As for others, who have not yet tasted that sweetness, and do not yet long
for the vision of God’s face, they must at least fear the fire; if the rewards do not
entice them, let the prospect of torments terrify them. If what God promises
seems trifling to you, tremble before what he threatens. You are told that the
sweetness of his presence will be granted to you, yet you do not change your life,
you are not stirred to any action, you do not sigh for it, do not desire it. You hug
your sins and your carnal pleasures; and all the while you are piling up straw
around yourself, ready for the fire that is coming. Fire will blaze out before
him.'> This fire will not be like the one you have in your hearth at home. Yet even
with that one, if somebody threatens to force your hand into it, you will do what-
ever he wants. Suppose he says to you, “Sign your father’s death-warrant, sign
the death-warrants of your children. If you refuse, I will thrust your hand into the
fire.” You will comply to save your hand from being burnt. Yet all that threatens
you is the brief burning of a single member. It will not go on hurting for ever. So
when your enemy threatens you with so slight an injury, you commit the evil act;
but when God threatens you with everlasting evil, you will not do good! The
enemy’s threats ought not to coerce you into doing wrong, nor should they deter
you from doing what is right. But by God’s threats, by his threats of eternal fire,
you are forbidden to do wrong and invited to do right. Why are you so dilatory?
Because you do not believe.
Let each one of us shake out his or her own heart, and discover what faith is
holding onto there. If we believe that judgment is coming, brothers and sisters,
let us lead good lives. This present age is the season for mercy, but that future day
will be the time for judgment. No one must plead, “Let me have my earlier years
back again.” Such a suppliant will be repenting then, but to no avail; we must
repent now, while repentance is fruitful. A bucket of manure must be be applied
to the roots of the tree now—the manure of a grieving heart and tears, I
mean—lest God come and uproot the tree;'° for once uprooted, there is no place
for it except the fire. At the present time branches can still be grafted in again
even if they have been broken off;!’ but then every tree that does not bear sound
fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.!* Fire will blaze out before him.

15. The aforementioned codex inserts here, “Let us amend ourselves, then, beloved brethren, and
by fearing this fire allow ourselves to be corrected, so that we may be delivered from it on that
day when we know we shall be shown up, through Christ our Lord. Here Saint Augustine’s
treatise ends happily.”
16. See Lk 13:8.
17. See Rm 11:19-23.
18. See Mt 3:10.
388 Exposition of Psalm 49

8. And a mighty storm will rage round him. It will have to be a mighty storm
indeed, since it will have to blow through such an enormous threshing-floor.
This storm will effect the winnowing that will separate every trace of impurity
from the saints, all pretense from the faithful, and every dismissive or proud
person from the devout who tremble at God’s word.!’ At present there is a
mingling of all these, stretching from the sun’s rising-place to its setting. Let us
inquire how he who is coming will sort them out, how he will make use of that
storm which will rage round him, that mighty storm. There can be no doubt that
the storm will bring about a separation, the same kind of separation which the
fishermen did not expect, those men whose nets burst before they reached the
shore.” In that process a distinction will be drawn between bad and good. There
are some people who in this present life follow Christ, carrying no load of
worldly cares on their shoulders,”! people who to good purpose have heard the
Lord’s invitation, Jf you want to be perfect, go and sell all you possess and give
the money to the poor: you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.
They are the kind to whom he says, You will sit upon twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel (Mt 19:21.28). It seems, then, that some will be exercising
judgment in association with the Lord, while others are to be subject to judg-
ment, even though they are placed at his right hand; for we have very clear
evidence that certain people will be exercising judgment with the Lord in the text
I have just quoted: You will sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.

Will there be enough thrones?

9. But someone may object, “The twelve apostles will sit down there
together, but only the twelve. Where will the apostle Paul sit? Surely he won’t be
excluded?” Heaven forbid that we should say so, or even silently think such a
thing. What about his taking Judas’ place? No, that won’t do; the divine scripture
has made it plain who was ordained to fill the place of Judas. Matthias is
expressly named in the Acts of the Apostles, to eliminate all doubt.” Through
him the number twelve was restored, even though Judas had fallen. Now since
this group of twelve has occupied the twelve seats, does that mean that the
apostle Paul will not be judging? Or that he will have to stand when he judges?
No, it cannot be like that; the Lord who makes just awards will not arrange

19. Compare Is 66:2, which verse is almost a description of the “poor” who are beloved of God.
20. See Lk 5:6.
21. Expeditis humeris, an evocative expression. A Roman soldier was said to be expeditus when
unencumbered with baggage and other items carried on the march, and with his weapons ready
for action.
22. See Acts 1:23-26.
 Exposition of Psalm 49 389

matters so, and the man who labored more strenuously than all the others?’ will
not be left to stand while judging. But admittedly this one apostle Paul does force
us to think more carefully about it, and inquire why the number twelve was
mentioned in connection with the seats. Elsewhere in scripture we find other
numbers that represent great crowds. Five virgins are invited in, while five are
shut out.** You can look where you choose for what these virgins represent: they
may stand for the chastity and integrity of heart which must characterize the
whole Church, which is a virgin in this sense; for to the whole Church the apostle
says, / have betrothed you to your one husband, Christ, as a chaste virgin (2 Cor
11:2). Or you can understand them to represent those women who have dedi-
cated even the integrity of their flesh to God. But surely among so many thou-
sands there are more than five of these? Yes, of course; but the number five
represents self-restraint in the use of all the senses of the body. Many people are
corrupted through their eyes, many through the ears, many through illicit scents,
many through tasting forbidden things, and many through adulterous embraces.
Others restrain themselves from all these five doorways of corruption, and
restrain themselves in such a manner that the approval they receive is from their
own consciences alone; they look for no accolade from others. These people are
the five wise virgins, who carry their oil with them. What does that mean, to
carry our oil with us? It means that all we have to boast about is the witness of our
own conscience.* Then again, remember the man who while enduring torments
in the underworld said, J have five brothers (Lk 16:28). These represent the
Jewish people subject to the law, for Moses, their legislator, wrote five books.
Moreover, after his resurrection the Lord orders the disciples to cast the net to
starboard, and a hundred and fifty-three fish are hauled up, yet large as they
were, the apostle tells us, the nets did not split.”° Notice that he had commanded
them to cast the nets before his passion, but on that earlier occasion he had not
indicated right or left. If he had said right, it would have suggested that they were
to catch good people only; if left, that they were to catch only the bad. But by
saying neither right nor left he indicated that both good and bad are to be taken,
mixed up together. And caught they were, as the gospel’s reliable account testi-
fies, and in such numbers that the nets burst. This catch symbolized the present
age, and the torn nets symbolized the rents and tears made by heretics and schis-
matics. But the Lord’s action after his resurrection signified what will happen
for us after our own resurrection, in that multitude in the heavenly kingdom
where no bad person will be found. Accordingly the nets cast out toward the
right prefigured those who will be on the Lord’s right hand, after the ones
destined for his left hand have been removed.

23. See 1 Cor 15:10.

24. See Mt 25:10-12.
25. See 2 Cor 1:12.
26. See Jn 21:6-11.
390 Exposition of Psalm 49

But are we to think that only a hundred and fifty-three just people will be at
his right? No, scripture suggests thousands of thousands.”’ And read the Apoca-
lypse: it would seem from what is said there that there will be twelve times
twelve thousand from the Jewish people alone.** Then think of the huge number
of martyrs. To go no further afield, our own Massa Candida numbered more than
a hundred and fifty-three martyrs.”° Finally, remember those seven thousand of
whom the Lord speaks when he responds to Elijah: J have seven thousand men
left to me who have not bent their knees to Baal (1 Kgs 19:8; Rom 11:4). These
far outnumber the catch of fishes. So the hundred and fifty-three fish do not
correspond to the exact number of the saints; rather does scripture for its own
reasons suggest by this high number the whole multitude of the saints and the
righteous, so that by a hundred and fifty-three we may understand all those who
have part in the resurrection to eternal life.
But there is something else. The law comprises ten precepts, but the Spirit of
grace, through which alone the law is fulfilled, is said to be sevenfold.*° We need
to examine these numbers, and find out what 10 + 7 means. Ten for the
commandments, and seven for the Holy Spirit’s grace, through which the
commandments are observed: this suggests that all who have part in the resur-
rection, who belong at the Lord’s right hand, who form part of the kingdom of
heaven and share in eternal life, all these hold onto the 10 + 7; that is, they fulfill
the law through the grace of the Spirit, not as though by their own striving or
their own merits. But now, if you take the numbers from one to seventeen, and
progressively add each to the previous total, you get a hundred and fifty-three.*!
And so you will find that the immense number of the saints is related to this
number of a few fish. Just as by five virgins an innumerable number of virgins is
represented, and by the five brothers of the man tormented in hell the thousands
of Jews are signified, and by the hundred and fifty-three fish the thousands of
thousands of saints, so too when twelve thrones are mentioned we should not
think of twelve individuals, but of the enormous number of those who have been
made perfect.
10. But I know what you are going to ask me next. “You have given a plau-
sible account of how in the five virgins many others are comprised, and why

27. See Dn 7:10.

28. See Rv 7:4.
29. The martyrs of Utica, north of Carthage, were known as Massa Candida, or “White Lump.”
This may originally have been the name of the place where they suffered, but a legend grew up
that in the time of the Emperor Valerian (c. 258) they were thrown alive into quicklime, which
reduced their bodies to white powder. Augustine’s Sermon 306 was preached on the
anniversary of their death.
30. See Is 11:2-3.
31. He spells it out for them, as follows:
14+2=3+3=6+4=10+5=15+6=21+7=28+8=36+9=45+10=55+1 1=66+12=78+13=914+14=105
+15=120+16=136+17=153.
 __ Exposition of Psalm 49 391

many Jews are to be understood as included in the five brothers, and why a great
crowd of perfect people are to be understood by the hundred and fifty-three.
Very well, now show us why and how the twelve thrones symbolize not twelve
individuals, but a multitude. What do those twelve thrones mean, if they signify
all those from all parts of the world who have become so perfect that to them it
could be said, You will sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel? Why can all these, coming from every quarter, have some connection
with the number twelve?”
Because that very thing we are saying about them—that they come from
every side—means that we are speaking about the whole world. But this world
consists of four parts, which we name east, west, south and north. From all these
regions people are called in the Trinity, and made perfect by faith in the Trinity
and obedience to the commandments. If you multiply three by four you get
twelve, and so you see why the saints, who will sit on the twelve thrones to judge
the twelve tribes of Israel, belong to the whole world. Moreover, by the twelve
tribes of Israel, Israel as a whole is meant, since it consisted of twelve tribes. It is
clear, then, that as those who are to exercise judgment will come from the whole
world, so too will those who are to be judged.
When the apostle Paul was reprimanding the faithful laity for not bringing
their disputes to the Church for adjudication, but dragging off those against
whom they had a case to the public tribunal, he demanded, Do you not realize
that we shall judge angels? (1 Cor 6:3). He said this with reference to himself, so
you see how he claimed the prerogative of a judge, and not for himself alone, but
for all who have the right to exercise the judicial office in the Church.

Verse 4. “Heaven” is Christ’s partner as he sorts out the earth

11. It is quite evident, then, that many will be invited to sit with the Lord in
judgment, and that others too will be called, not as equals, but to be judged
according to their merits. This will occur when the Lord comes with all his
angels, and when all nations assemble before him. Those who have become so
perfect that they are privileged to sit on the twelve thrones, judging the twelve
tribes of Israel, will be counted among his angels. This is not the only instance of
humans being called angels, for the apostle said, with reference to himself, You
welcomed me like an angel of God (Gal 4:14); and of John the Baptist it was said,
Look, |am sending my angel ahead of you, to prepare your way before you (Mk
1:2; Mt 11:10; Lk 7:27). We may infer, therefore, that when he comes with his
angels, he will have his saints with him as well. Isaiah makes the point plainly:
The Lord will come in judgment, with the elders of his people (Is 3:14). The
elders of his people, these who have been called angels, are the many thousands
of the perfect who have come from every corner of the world, and they are also
called “heaven.” The rest are called “earth,” but they are a fruitful earth. What is
392 Exposition of Psalm 49

this fruitful earth? It is those who are destined to be placed at. the Lord’s right
hand, those to whom he will say, J was hungry, and you fed me (Mt 25:35).
Fruitful earth they are indeed, and the apostle delighted in them because they had
sent him what he needed. Not that I seek your gift, he tells them; all I seek is the
fruit accruing to you. And he thanks God for them, because at last I see you
putting forth new shoots of care for me (Phil 4:17,10). That image, putting forth
new shoots,*? is appropriate to trees which have become brown and dried up.
Well then, brothers and sisters, when the Lord comes to judge, what will he
do? Let us listen to the psalm: He will call heaven above. “Heaven” means all the
saints, all those perfect ones who will sit in judgment; he will call them up to sit
with him and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. This must be what it means,
because how otherwise could he call heaven above, when heaven is always
above? But the psalm here calls “heaven” the people who elsewhere are called
“the heavens,” when another psalm says of them, The heavens proclaim God’s
glory. And of them it testifies that Their sound went forth throughout the world,
their words to the ends of the earth (Ps 18:2,5(19:1.4)). Observe how the Lord
makes a distinction when he comes to judge: He will call heaven above, and the
earth below, to separate out his people. From whém would his people be distin-
guished? From the wicked, obviously. After this there is no further mention of
the wicked; they have already been judged and condemned to punishment.
Concentrate now on the good people, and see how they are distinguished.
He will call heaven above, and the earth below, to separate out his people. He
summons the earth as well, you see, but not to confuse all its inhabitants
together: rather to sort them out. At the beginning he did call them all indiscrimi-
nately; that was when the God of gods, the Lord, spoke, and summoned all the
earth from the sun’s rising-place to its seiting. At that stage he had not yet made
any distinction among them; his servants were sent to invite everyone to the
wedding, and they gathered in good and bad together.** But it will be different
when the God of gods comes openly, and no longer keeps silence; then he will
call heaven above to join him in giving judgment, for what “heaven” is, these
“heavens” are. (It is the same when we speak of “the earth”: we mean what the
various lands are; and we know that what the Church is, the various churches
are.) He will call heaven above, and the earth below, to separate out his people.
Now in association with “heaven” he sorts out the earth; that is to say, “heaven”
sorts out the earth with him. How does he sort out the earth? In such a way that he
places some at his right hand, and others at his left. To this “earth” that he has
singled out, what does he say? Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take
possession of the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I
was hungry, and you fed me, and so on. They will reply, When did we see you

32. Repullulastis.
33. See Mt 22:10.
 Exposition of Psalm 49 393

hungry? And he will answer them, When you did itfor even the least of those
who are mine, you did it for me (Mt 25:34-35.37.40). Heaven points out to the
earth those most insignificant ones who are its own, and shows them exalted
from their humble station, for when you did itfor even the least of those who are
mine, you did it for me. Thus the Lord will call heaven above, and the earth
below, to separate out his people.

Verse 5. Mercy is better than sacrifices

12. Gather his just ones to him. The divine voice, a prophetic voice, speaks
here; the speaker sees the future as though it were present, and charges the angels
who are to gather the peoples, for he will send out his angels on that day, and all
nations will be assembled before him.*4 Gather his just ones to him. And who are
the just? Those who live by faith*> and perform works of mercy, for works of
mercy are works of justice. The gospel affirms this: Be careful not to do your
righteous works in the sight ofother people, to attract their attention, it says; and
then, as if to forestall the query, “What righteousness does it mean?” it
continues, Therefore when you give alms ... (Mt 6:1.2). In this way it makes
plain to us that almsgiving is a righteous, just activity. The psalm therefore
commands, “Gather his just ones, gather those who have treated the helpless
with compassion and have understood about the needy and poor; gather them,
and may the Lord keep them safe and give them life.’°° Gather his just ones to
him, who regard his covenant above sacrifices: that is to say, those who think
more highly of what he has promised than of their works,*’ for these works are
sacrifices, as we know from the Lord’s words, J want mercy rather than sacrifice
(Hos 6:6; Mt 9:13). Who regard his covenant above sacrifices.

Verse 6. Infallible discernment

13. The heavens will proclaim his justice. The heavens certainly have
announced this justice of God to us, for the evangelists have foretold it. From
them we have heard that there will be some at his right hand, to whom the Master
of the house will say, Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take possession
of... . Of what? The kingdom. And what price have they paid for it? J was
hungry and you fed me (Mt 25:34,35). What action could be so insignificant, so
earthy, as to break your bread for a hungry person? Yet that is the price of the

34. See Mt 25:32.

35. See Heb 2:4.
36. See Ps 40:2-3(41:1-2).
37. Qui cogitant de promissis eius super illa quae operantur. He could mean “think about his
promises over and above their works,” or even “during their works.”
394 Exposition of Psalm 49

kingdom of heaven. Break your bread for the hungry, and take.the person with
no shelter into your home. If you see anyone naked, clothe him (Is 58:7). But
suppose you have no opportunity to break your bread for them, or have no house
into which you can invite them, or no garment to clothe them with? Give only a
cup of cold water, or put two tiny coins into the treasury.** A widow purchased
with two mites, and Peter purchased by leaving his nets, as much as Zacchaeus
purchased by giving away half his fortune.*? What it costs is what you have.
The heavens will proclaim his justice, because God is the judge. Truly he is a
judge, not confusing things but discriminating, for the Lord knows who belongs
to him.*° Even if grains of wheat are hidden under chaff, they are known to the
farmer. No one should be anxious about being a grain amid the chaff, for the eyes
of the winnower make no mistake. Do not fear that the mighty storm that will
rage around him may muddle you up with the straw. That storm will certainly be
a violent one, but it will not take a single grain away from the place where it
belongs, to sweep it into the chaff, for the judge is not some countryman with his
three-pronged fork but the triune God. The heavens will proclaim his justice,
because God is the judge. Let the heavens go forth, let the heavens proclaim it,
let their sound echo throughout the earth, and their-words to the furthest parts of
the world;*! and let the body declare, From the ends of the earth I have called to
you, as my soul grew faint (Ps 60:3(61:2)). At present it groans in its confused
state, but once the discernment has been made it will rejoice. Let it go on crying,
then, Do not destroy my soul with the ungodly, nor my life with those who shed
blood (Ps 25(26):9). He does not destroy it, because the judge is God. Let it insis-
tently cry, then, Judge me, O Lord, and distinguish my cause from that of an
unholy people (Ps 42(43):1); yes, let it keep making this plea, and God will act;
his just ones will be gathered to him. He has summoned the whole earth in order
to distinguish his own people.

Verse 7. He is God, and your God

14. Listen, my people, and I will speak to you. Take note, for he who will
come, and will be silent no longer, is not silent even now, if you are willing to
listen. Listen, my people, and I will speak to you. If you do not listen, I will not
speak to you. Listen, and I will speak to you, for if you are not listening, then even
if Ispeak, it will not be to you. So when do I speak to you? When you listen. And
when do you listen? Only when you are my people. Listen, then, my people; you
do not listen if you are some alien people. Listen, my people, and I will speak to

38. See Mk 9:40; 12:42-43.

39. See Lk 19:8.
40. See 2 Tm 2:19.
41. See Ps 18:5(19:4).
 Exposition of Psalm 49 395

you; Israel, I will testify to you. Listen, Israel; listen, my people. Israel is the
name that signifies God’s choice of you: you will no longer be called Jacob;
your name shall be Israel (Gn 32:28). Listen then as Israel, as the one who sees
God, if not yet in clear vision, at least already in faith; for the name Israel means
“one who sees God.” Let anyone who has ears for hearing hear, and anyone
who has eyes for seeing see. Listen, Israel, and I will testify to you. The former
phrase, my people, corresponds to the subsequent /srael/; and the former declara-
tion, / will speak to you, matches the subsequent J will testify to you. What will
the Lord our God say to his people? What testimony will he give to Israel? Let us
hear him. / am God, J am your God. | am God, and I am also your God. How
should we understand / am God? In the sense of his revelation to Moses: /AM
WHO 1AM (Ex 3:14). And the other utterance, /am your God? In the sense that
“Tam the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.*? I am
God, and I am your God; and even if I were not your God, I would be God still. I
am God in my own goodness; but if Iam not your God, it is because of the evil in
you.” The expression your God is spoken to someone whom God takes into a
more intimate relationship with himself, as his slave or part of his personal prop-
erty. 1am God, Iam your God. What more do you desire? Are you looking to get
some profit from God, are you wanting God to give you something, so that what
he has given you may be your very own? But look, he who might give you some-
thing like that is God himself, and he is yours! What is more valuable than he
is?** You were seeking his gifts, when all the time you possess the Giver.

Verse 8. Genuine sacrifice «.

15. Let us inquire what he demands from humankind. He is our God, our
emperor, our king, so what taxes does he impose on us, since he has willed to be
our sovereign and to make us his domain? We must find out what revenue he
requires. No poor subject must quail at the thought of what God may demand,
because when God exacts any payment he first gives what he sets as the contri-
bution we must make to him. All that is required of you is to be loyal. God exacts
nothing that he has not given, and he gives to each of us what he demands. So
what does he demand? Listen as he tells us: “J will find no fault with you about
your sacrifices. I will not say to you, Why have you not slaughtered your sleek
bull for me? Why did you not select the best buck from your flock? Why is that
ram roaming about among your ewes, instead of being laid on my altar? I will not
say to you, Inspect your fields, your farmyard and your buildings, to find what
you can offer to me. Jwill find no fault with you about your sacrifices.” What do

42. See note at Exposition 1 of Psalm 21, 4.

43. See Ex 3:6.
44. Variant: “sweeter than you are?”
396 Exposition of Psalm 49

you want, then? Do you not accept my sacrifices? Surely you.da, for you say,
Your holocausts are before me always. Holocausts of a special kind, these are,
the kind of which another psalm says, [f you had wanted a sacrifice I would
certainly have offered it; but you take no pleasure in holocausts. But then the
psalmist turns to God, and to another thought: A sacrifice to God is a troubled
spirit. God will not scorn a contrite and humbled heart. What are these holo-
causts that he does not scorn? What are the holocausts that are continually
offered in his sight? The psalm continues, /n your good will, O Lord, deal kindly
with Zion, and let the walls of Jerusalem be rebuilt. Then you will accepta sacri-
fice of righteousness, oblations and holocausts (Ps 50:18-21(51:16-19)). This
shows that God will accept certain holocausts. Now what is a holocaust? A sacri-
fice entirely consumed by fire. This is what the word means: kaio1s means
“burning,” and cAov means “the whole.” So a holocaust is a sacrifice completely
burnt up. But there is another kind of fire: the fire of intense, ardent charity. May
our minds be inflamed with charity, and may charity take possession of all our
members for its own purposes, not allowing them to fight in the service of our
wayward desires. Anyone who wants to offer a holocaust to God must be wholly
on fire with divine love. These are the kinds of holocausts which are before me
always.

Verse 9. The old sacrifices are superseded

16. Perhaps, though, the Israel whom he addresses does not understand which
of its holocausts God keeps ever in view; perhaps it is still thinking about oxen
and sheep and goats? Let it stop thinking of these, for the Lord continues, “J will
not accept calves from your homestead. | have specified my holocausts; but in
your mind, in your planning, you were still running to your herds of animals, still
selecting from them some fat beast for me. But I tell you, / will not accept calves
from your homestead.” He is foretelling the New Covenant, under which all
those old sacrifices have ceased. They had a part to play in prefiguring a special
sacrifice that was to come, by the blood of which we would be cleansed, but now
I will not accept calves from your homestead, nor he-goats from your herds.

Verse 10. All animals, wild and tame, are God’s

17. For all the animals in the forest are mine. Why should | ask you for what I
created? Is what I gave you as your possession more yours than mine, when I
made it? All the animals in the forest are mine. But perhaps Israel might object,
“The wild animals, the ones I do not confine in my farmyard or tether at my
manger, those belong to God, certainly. But this ox is mine, and this goat, and
this sheep.” No, says God. “The cattle on the mountains and the oxen are mine as
 Exposition of Psalm 49 397

well. All those you do not own are mine, and these that you do own are mine too.
If you are my servant, all your personal property belongs to me. Ifthe property
a slave has gained for himself belongs to his master, it cannot be the case that
property the Master has created for the servant does not belong to its Creator."°
The forest animals that you have not caught are mine, and so are your cattle that
graze upon the mountains, and the oxen that feed at your manger. They are all
mine, because I created them.”

Verse 11. God’s knowledge of creatures

18. Jknow all the birds in the sky. How does he know them? He weighs them
and numbers them.*’ Which of us knows all the birds in the sky? But even if God
were to endow someone with knowledge of all the birds under heaven, still God
would not himself know them in the same way as he granted a human being to
know them. God’s knowledge is one thing, human knowledge another, just as
God’s manner of possessing is one thing, and a human being’s way of
possessing quite different. You do not own anything in the same way that God
owns it. What you possess is not entirely in your power: as long as your ox is
alive itis not in your power to decide that he will not die, or will not graze. But in
God there is supreme power, and there is supreme and secret knowledge. We
must attribute this to God, and praise God for it. Let us not have the effrontery to
ask, “How does God know?” I hope you are not expecting me to explain to you
how God knows, brothers and sisters. But I will say this much: he does not know
as any human being knows, nor as any angel knows; but how he knows I do not
dare to state, for it is beyond my power to know it.
One thing I do know, and it is this: even before any of the birds in the sky
came into existence, God knew what he had determined to create. What kind of
knowing is that? You, human creature, only began to see the birds after you had
been formed yourself, after you had received the faculty of sight. But those birds
were born from the water at the command of God, when he said, Let the waters |
bring forth birds (Gn 1:20). Where did God get his knowledge of those creatures
he ordered the waters to produce? Obviously he knew what he had created, but
he also knew it before he had created it. So profound is God’s knowledge that
created things were in some indescribable manner present to him before they had
been created; and do you think he is waiting to receive anything from you, when

45. Or “slave.”
46. The contrast in this sentence seems to be not between domesticated and wild animals, but
between material goods or money a servant might gain, and animals which are more obviously
God’s creation.
47. Probably an echo of Wis 11:21, “You have disposed all things according to measure and
number and weight.” Augustine saw this text as a hint of the trinitarian structure of created
being, imparted to it by the creative Trinity.
398 Exposition of Psalm 49

he possessed it even before he had created it? “J know all the birds in the sky; you
cannot give them to me. Whatever you decide to offer me in sacrifice, I know
them all. I did not come to know them because I had made them, but knew them
so as to make them.
“And the loveliness of the field is with me. The beauty of the field, the
exuberant life of all the things that grow in the earth, all of it is with me,” says
God. In what sense is it with him? Was it with him even before those things came
to be? All things that would come to be in the future were with him, and all things
that have been in the past are with him; but the future things are with him in such
wise that they do not push the past things out of his sight.** All things are estab-
lished with him through a mode of knowing proper to God’s ineffable wisdom in
the Word, and all of them are created for the Word.*?
Or should we infer that the loveliness of the field is with him because he is
himself present in every place? He said, /fill heaven and earth (Jer 23:24); and
can anything not be with him to whom the psalmist says, /f ]mount to heaven,
you are there; ifIsink down to hell, even there you are present (Ps 138(139):8)?
Everything is with him, the whole of creation is with him, but not with him in
such a way that he is contaminated by anything he has made, or suffers any need
for his creatures. You may have a pillar beside you as you stand there, and when
you feel tired you lean against it. You need that thing you have with you; but God
does not need the field that is with him. With him is the field, with him the loveli-
ness of the earth, with him the fair heavens, and with him all the birds, because he
is present everywhere. And why are they all present to him? Because before ever
they came to be, before they were created, all of them were known to him.

Verses 12-13. God is not hungry

19. Who can explain the words spoken to God in another psalm, You have no
need of any good things from me (Ps 15(16):2)? Who can make that plain? God
has told us that he does not stand in need of anything from us: Jf] am hungry, I
will not tell you. He will not hunger, or thirst, or labor, or fall asleep, he who
guards Israel.°° “But,” he says, “I am accommodating my words to your carnal
nature. Because you are hungry when you have not eaten, you may think that
God too suffers hunger and needs to eat. But even if he is hungry, he does not tell
you; all that exists is spread out before him, and he takes whatever he needs from

48. Behind this assertion lies Augustine’s pondering on the mystery of time, as a dimension of
created, contingent being. We think we have it, but we deceive ourselves, because the past has
slipped away, and the future is flying toward us and past us, to be lost likewise. But God is
eternal and suffers no such loss.
49. Reading in ipsum Verbum omnia, as the CCL editors suggest. The received text ef ipsum
Verbum omnia does not yield clear sense.
50. See Ps 120(121):4.
 ___ Exposition of Psalm 49 399

wherever he chooses.” These assertions are made to convince our puny minds,
of course. They are not an admission by God that he is hungry.
In another sense, though, the God of gods did graciously will to be hungry for
our sake. He came to be hungry himself and fill us with rich food, he came to
endure thirst and give us drink, he came to be clothed in our mortal nature and
clothe us in immortality, he came poor to make us rich. Yet he did not lose his
wealth by taking our poverty upon himself, for in him are hidden all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge.*! “Jf Jam hungry I will not tell you; for the round
world is mine, and all its fullness. Do not work to supply my needs; without any
work I have everything I want.”
20. Why are your thoughts still running on your flocks? Am / to eat the flesh of
bulls, or drink the blood of he-goats? You have heard what he does not want
from us, though he does mean to exact some payment. If you were worrying
about that kind of tribute, banish the thought from your minds; do not even think
of making that sort of offering to God. If you have a bull in peak condition,
slaughter him for the poor; let them eat bulls’ flesh, even if they don’t want to
drink goats’ blood. If you do this, he will reckon it in your favor, he who said, Jf]
am hungry, I will not tell you; because he will say to you in the future, J was
hungry, and you fed me (Mt 25:35). Am I to eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the
blood of he-goats?

Verse 14. The sacrifice of praise

21. Ask him, then, “O Lord our God, what payment do you exact from your
people, your Israel?” And hé answers, Offer to God a sacrifice of praise. Let us
too respond to him, The vows I must perform for you, and the praises I will
render you, O God, are within me (Ps 55(56):12). I had been fearful that you
might demand something beyond my means, something I used to have on my
farm, until a thief made off with it. But what do you demand of me? Offer to God
a sacrifice of praise. | only need to return to myself to find the victim I must
immolate. Let me return to myself, and find within myself this offering of praise;
let my soul*? be your altar. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise. We need have no
anxiety: we do not need to travel to Arabia to find frankincense; we need not
ransack some miserly merchant’s bundle. All God demands of us is a sacrifice of
praise. Zacchaeus had this sacrifice of praise in his fortune, the widow had it in
her little purse, and some poor man who took in a stranger had it in his jar.
Someone else had nothing, either in a fortune or in a little purse or in a jar, but
had the whole price in his own soul. Salvation came to Zacchaeus’ house, and
the widow put in more than all the wealthy, and the one who gave a thirsty trav-

Sl ssce Colz:3:
52. Literally “conscience.”
400 Exposition of Psalm 49

eler a drink of cold water will not lose his reward; but there is peaceon earth to all
people of good will.°3 Offer to God a sacrifice of praise, a sacrifice that costs us
nothing, given to us gratis! I did not buy what I must offer; you gave it to me, for I
could never have found it for myself. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise. The
offering of this sacrifice of praise consists in giving thanks to him from whom
you have every good thing you have, to him by whose mercy whatever evil you
have from yourself is forgiven you. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise, and
address your prayers to the Most High. The Lord delights in this sweet
fragrance. Address your prayers to the Most High.»

Verse 15. Longing

for heaven is painful

22. Call upon me on your day oftrouble. I will rescue you, and you will glorify
me. You should not rely on your own strength, for all your resources are decep-
tive. Call upon me on the day oftrouble; I will deliver you, and you will glorify
me. “That is why I allowed the day of trouble to catch up with you. If you were
not in trouble, perhaps you would not invoke me, but when you are in distress
you call on me, and when you call on me, I will rescue you, and when I rescue
you, you will give glory to me, and never afterwards stray away from me.” There
was someone who had grown slack about his prayer and let his fervor cool, and
he cried, /found anguish and sorrow, and I called on the name of the Lord (Ps
114(116):3-4). He found tribulation to be something useful. He had become
gravely infected by the corruption of his sins, and had lost his understanding; but
then he found trouble that worked like cauterization and surgery. J found
anguish and sorrow, he says, and I called on the name of the Lord.
It is undeniable, brothers and sisters, that there are tribulations well known to
us all. These are the troubles that abound in the human race: one person suffers
financial loss and bewails it; another is bereaved and left to mourn; another is
exiled from his homeland, and grieves, longing to return and feeling sojourn ina
foreign land to be unbearable; another person’s vineyard is destroyed by hail,
and he surveys his labors, seeing it all destroyed and all his toil gone for nothing.
When can any mortal be free from sorrow? Someone may suffer from a friend
who has turned into an enemy; what greater grief than that can there be in human
experience? Everyone bewails these things, and feels the pain. These are our
tribulations, and in all of them people invoke the Lord, and they are right to do
so. Let them call upon God, for he is powerful enough to teach us how to bear
them, or to heal them when they have been borne. He knows how not to let us be
tried beyond our strength.*4 Let us call upon God even in this kind oftrouble. All
the same, these are the troubles that come to find us, as another psalm puts it: Our

Somscolukee a4.
54. See 1 Cor 10:13.
 Exposition of Psalm 49 401

helper in the tribulations that have come upon us (Ps 45:2(46:1)). There is
another kind which we ought to look for. The troubles we have spoken of come
to find us, and let them come; but there is a kind of tribulation we must seek, and
find. What is that?
It cannot be our happiness in this world, can it, our ample supplies of temporal
things? They are hardly troubles; rather are they the things that console us in our
troubles. Yes, but what troubles? The troubles of our pilgrimage. This very fact
that we are not yet at home with God, that we are tossed about amid temptations
and vexations, that we cannot be free from fear—all this is tribulation. This is not
the security promised to us. Any of us who have not discovered this tribulation
that dogs our pilgrimage are not under pressure to return to our homeland. This
really is a tribulation, my brothers and sisters. We do good works, to be sure,
when we hand out bread to a hungry person, give shelter to a traveler, and so on;
but even these actions are part of the trouble we suffer, for we are confronted by
miserable people to whom we show mercy, and the misery of the miserable
arouses compassion in us. How much better off you would be if you were in a
country where you found no hungry person to feed, no wayfarer to be taken into
your house, no ill-clad person to clothe, no sick person in need of a visit from
you, no quarrelsome person to be reconciled with an opponent! In that country
all things are perfect, all are true, all are holy, all are eternal. Our bread there will
be justice, our drink wisdom, our vesture immortality, our house an eternal home
in heaven, our stable strength immortality. Will any sickness sneak in there?
Will any weariness lure us toward sleep? There will be no death, no quarreling;
there will be only peace, rest, joy, justice. No enemy will intrude, no friend let us
down. What rest that will be!
If we think about where we are now, and reflect carefully on it, and then
remember where we shall be, according to the promise of him who is incapable
of deceit, we discover from his very promise how grave is our trouble in our
present condition. But no one finds this trouble except by seeking it. You are in
good health? Ask yourself if you are wretched. It is easy enough fora sick person
to recognize that he or she is wretched; but when you are in good health, ask
yourself whether you are miserable because you are not yet with God. J found
anguish and sorrow, and I called on the name of the Lord.
So offer to God a sacrifice of praise. Praise him who promises, praise him
who calls us, praise him who encourages us, praise him who is our helper; and be
sensitive to the tribulation of your present circumstances. Call upon him, and
you will be delivered, you will glorify him, and you will abide for ever.

Verse 16. Preachers, beware!

23. Consider what follows now, brothers and sisters. God had said to this
person, whoever he or she may have been, Offer to God a sacrifice of praise,
402 Exposition of Psalm 49

thereby imposing a kind of tax. So on hearing this he began to refJect in his own
mind, and to say, “I will get up each morning and go to church, and I will sing one
hymn in the morning and another in the evening, and a third or fourth at home. In
this way I will offer a daily sacrifice of praise as a victim to God.” Now you are
certainly doing well if you do that; but take care not to be over confident because
you are doing it, because while your tongue is blessing God, your life may be
cursing him. The Lord, the God of gods who has spoken, summoning the whole
earth from the sun’s rising-place to its setting, warns you, “O my people, even
though you are still growing amid the tares, offer @ sacrifice of praise to your
God, and address your prayers to him; but make sure you do not live discor-
dantly even while singing sweetly.” Why does he say this? To the sinner the
Lord says, What right have you to expound my just judgments, and take my cove-
nant on your lips? You can see how sorely afraid I am as I say this, brothers and
sisters. We take God’s covenant on our lips, and we instruct you, preaching the
just deeds of God. And what does God demand of the sinner? What right have
you? Does this mean that he bans sinful preachers? If that were the case, what
would we make of the admonition, Do what they tell you, but do not imitate what
they do; or that other text, Whether in sincerityor through opportunism, let
Christ be preached (Mt 23:3; Phil 1:18)? No, these things were said so that the
hearers should have no anxiety about whom they hear the message from, not to
encourage complacency on the part of preachers who speak well but live badly.
So you are all right, brothers and sisters: if you hear good words, you are hearing
God, no matter through whom you hear them. But God did not intend to let the
speakers off unrebuked; they are not permitted to be smug simply because of
what they say, or to fall asleep in their deplorable way of life, or to say to them-
selves, “God isn’t going to damn us. He has willed to use our mouths to commu-
nicate such a lot of good stuff to his people.” Don’t be so sure: whoever you are,
you speaker, listen to what you are saying. If you want to be listened to, first
listen to yourself. Make your own the words spoken in another psalm: J will
listen to what the Lord God speaks within me, for he will speak peace to his
people (Ps 84:9(85:8)). What am I worth, then, if Ido not hear what he speaks
within me, yet expect others to hear what he speaks through me? I will listen
first, indeed I will listen, and most of all I will listen to what the Lord God speaks
within me, for he will speak peace to his people. I will listen, and I will chastise
my body and reduce it to subjection, lest after preaching to others I be disquali-
fied myself. What right have you to expound my just judgments? Why do you
take to yourself what does you no good? God warns the preacher to listen. He
must not leave off his preaching, but he must take on obedience. But you, what
right have you to take my covenant on your lips?

55. see lor 9:27.

 Exposition of Psalm 49 403

Verses 17-18. Contempt

for God's words; complicity in sin

24. But you hate instruction, you hate discipline. When I spare you, you sing
and praise me; when I chastise you, you grumble, as though I were your God
only when I spare you, and not when I chastise you. Yet I rebuke and chastise
those whom I love.*® You hate instruction, and have thrown my words behind
you. What is said through you, you throw behind you. You have thrown my
words behind you, where you cannot see them, but where they will be a load on
your back. You have thrown my words behind you.
25. Whenever you saw a thief, you would collude with him, and you threw in
your lot with adulterers. This is pointed out so that the accused cannot say, “I
have not committed theft or adultery.” No? But what if you approved someone
else’s action? Did you not concur simply by approving? Did you not throw in
your lot with the perpetrator by commending him? My brothers and sisters, this
is what it means to comply with a thief, or to throw in your lot with an adulterer,
because even if you do not commit the sin yourself, you commend what is done
and support the deed. The sinner is praised for the longings of his soul, and
whoever does evil is blessed.*’ You don’t do wrong, but you praise those who do.
Is that a trivial wrong? You threw in your lot with adulterers.

Verse 19. More collusion with evildoing

26. Your mouth overflowed with malice, and your tongue embraced guile.
The Lord is speaking, brothers and sisters, about the malice and guile of people
who flatter others from whom they hear stories of wrongdoing. They know that
what they are hearing about is wrong, but they are reluctant to offend their infor-
mants, so not only do they not rebuke them, but by keeping silence they connive.
It is bad enough that they refrain from saying, “What you have done is bad”; they
even say, “You did well.” They know that it was bad, but their mouths overflow
with malice, and their tongues embrace guile. Guile is a kind of cheating with
words, saying one thing outwardly while thinking something different. Notice
that God does not say, “Your tongue was guilty of guile,” or “acted guilefully”;
he wished to show that there was a kind of pleasure in the evil deed, so he said
that it embraced guile. And even then, it would not be so bad if you simply did it,
and took pleasure in the doing; but you praise the other person in outward show
while deriding him inside yourself. This other person unguardedly flaunts his
vicious actions, not knowing whether they are vicious, and you—you bring him
crashing down. You know that what he did was wrong, but you do not say,
“Watch out! Look where you’re going!” If you saw him walking carelessly in

56. See Rv 3:19.

57. See Ps 9:24(10:3).
404 Exposition of Psalm 49

the dark in a place where you knew there was a pit, and you kept quiet, what kind
of person would you be? Would you not be reckoned his enemy, a threat to his
life? And yet if he fell into the pit it would not be his soul that died, but only his
body. But when he is about to hurl himself down into his vices, and he brags
about his misdeeds in your hearing, you know those things are bad, yet you
commend them, and within yourself you deride him. Please God that person
whom you mock, whom you would not correct, may sooner or later be converted
to God, and say, “To hell with those who say to me, eee Well done!”*®
Your tongue embraced guile. s

Verse 20. Further charges: slandering a brother and scandalizing the weak

27. You sat down to slander your brother. This expression, you sat down,
matches what he said earlier, your tongue embraced. What a person does
standing up, or just passing by, is done without pleasure, but if someone sits
down to it, he or she is seeking ample time for the deed. You sat down to slander
your brother; you applied yourself thoroughly to the business of slandering him,
you did it sitting down. You wanted to be fully engaged in it, you were
embracing your malevolent deed, you were kissing your guile.
You sat down to slander your brother, and put a stumbling-block in the way of
your mother’s son. Who is your mother’s son? The same person as your brother,
surely? So the psalmist simply intended to repeat what he had already said, your
brother? Perhaps so. Or did he mean to drop us a hint of some distinction? Yes, I
think there is a distinction between the two. When a brother is said to be slan-
dering his brother, you can imagine a situation where one who seems to be
strong, a teacher, a scholar of some importance, slanders a brother who perhaps
also teaches competently and conducts himself well. But there is another brother
too, and in his path the first brother places a stumbling-block by slandering the
second. When slanderous accusations are made against good people by those
who are considered to be of some importance and well educated, weak persons
who are not yet capable of judging for themselves are made to fall. This weak
brother is here referred to as your mother’s son, but not yet your father’s,
because he still needs milk and clings to his mother’s breasts. He is still being
carried in the bosom of Mother Church, for he is not yet able to manage the solid
food of his Father’s table. He draws his nourishment from his mother’s breast,
and is too inexperienced to judge, being still unspiritual and carnal. The spiritual
person judges everything; but the unspiritual person has no perception for the
things that belong to God’s Spirit, for to him they are foolishness (1 Cor
2:15,14). To people like this the apostle says, Not as spiritual persons could I
speak to you, but only as carnal. As ifto little children in Christ I gave you milk to

58. See Ps 39:15-16(40:14-15).

 Exposition of Psalm 49 405

drink, rather than solid food. You were not capable of it then, nor are you even
now (1 Cor 3:1-2). “I was a mother to you,” he tells them elsewhere: / became
very small among you, like a nurse fostering her children (1 Thes 2:7)—her own
children, he implies, not like a nurse feeding someone else’s children. Some
mothers after childbirth hand their babies over to nurses; those who have borne
the children do not foster their own little ones but delegate the duty to others; and
then the nurses who do foster them are fostering not their own babies but other
people’s. Not so Paul: he had both given birth to his children and was fostering
them himself. He did not entrust to any nurse the little ones he had brought to
birth; as he tells them, / am in travail with you over again, until Christ be formed
in you (Gal 4:19). He fostered them, and nourished them with milk. But there
were certain people with a reputation for learning and spirituality who slandered
Paul: “His letters are weighty and powerful, to be sure,” they say; “but his
bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible” (2 Cor 10:10).This is
what his slanderers had said, according to Paul’s testimony in his letter. They sat
down and slandered their brother, and in so doing they placed a stumbling-block
in the way of a weaker son of their mother, one still at the breast. By their actions
they forced this same mother to give birth all over again. You put a stum-
bling-block in the way of your mother’s son.

Verse 21. You should be like God; do not try to make him like you

28. All this you did, and I was silent. One day the Lord our God will come, and
will not keep silence, but for now, all this you did, and I was silent. What is
implied by J was silent? “I have refrained from avenging myself, I have stayed
the hand of my severity, I have prolonged my patient dealing with you, I have
waited and waited for you to repent. All this you did, and I was silent. But while I
delay, precisely to give you time to repent, you with your hard and impenitent
heart are storing up against yourself anger that will be manifest on the day of
God’s just judgment, as the apostle warned you (Rom 2:5). You were wrong to
think that I will be like you. It is not enough for you to find your wicked deeds
pleasant; you think they please me too. Because you cannot bear to envisage
God as avenger, you want to make him your accomplice, and have him as a
sharer in the profits of your crime, like a corrupt judge. You were wrong to think
that I will be like you, but neither have you any wish to be like me. The gospel
tells you, Be perfect, like your Father in heaven, who causes his sun to rise over
the good and the wicked alike (Mt 5:48.45). But you do not want to imitate God,
who gives good things even to bad people; you want to sit down and slander even
the good. You were wrong to think that I will be like you. I will rebuke you.” That
will be when God comes openly, when our God comes, and no longer keeps
silence. And, he asks, “What shall I do by way of rebuking you? What shall I do
406 Exposition of Psalm 49

to you? You do not see yourself now, but I will make you see yourself. If you
could see yourself, you would be unpleasant to yourself, but pleasing to me. But
because in your refusal to see yourself you think yourself pleasant, you will later
be displeasing both to me and to yourself: to me when you are judged, and to
yourself when you are burning. What shall I do to you? J will bring you face to
face with yourself. Why do you try to hide yourself from yourself? You are
behind your own back, and you do not see yourself, but I will make you. What
you have thrust behind your back I will put before your face, and you will see
your ugliness. But not in order to correct it: only so that you may be ashamed.”
This is what God says, brothers and sisters, so are we to conclude that there is
no hope for the person admonished? Not necessarily. Remember that city of
which it was prophesied, “Just three more days, and Nineveh will be
destroyed.”*? Within three days the city was moved to conversion: it prayed, it
lamented, and it deserved mercy instead of the threatened punishment. Let all
whom the description fits hearken, then, while there is still time for them to
hearken to the Lord in his silence; for he will come again and keep silence no
longer, and he will rebuke them; and at that time there will be no chance of
correction. J will bring you face to face with yourself, he says. But you must do
that for yourself now, whoever you are to whom this psalm applies: you must do
now for yourself what God threatens to do for you. Bring yourself out from
behind your back, where you are unwilling to look at yourself and where your
deeds are concealed, and place yourself in front of you. Take your seat in the
tribunal of your own mind, and be judge of yourself. Let fear rack you, and let
confession burst out of you; say to your God, J know my iniquity, and my sin
confronts me all the time (Ps 50:5(51:3)). Let what was behind you be in front of
you, lest on some future day you are placed in your own sight by God, your
judge, and there is no refuge where you can flee from yourself.

Verse 22. The lion

29. Understand these things, you who forget God. Look, here he is, crying out
to us; he does not stay silent, he spares no effort. You had forgotten the Lord, and
you were accustomed to pay no attention to the evil character of your life. Under-
stand now that you have forgotten the Lord. Otherwise he may seize you like a
lion, and there will be no one to rescue you. What does like a lion mean? Like
someone strong and powerful, someone irresistible; this is what the psalm has in
mind when using the image of a lion. The same simile can be used either to praise
or to revile. The devil has been called a lion: your enemy the devil prowls about
like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Pt 5:8). Is it fair that the
devil can be called a lion on account of his savage ferocity, but Christ cannot be

59. See Jn 3:4-10.

 Exposition of Psalm 49 407

called a lion for his enormous strength? What would become of the claim, the
lion from the tribe of Judah has conquered (Rv 5:5)?
Try to give your minds to the short passage that remains, beloved. I beg you to
shake off your fatigue; he will help you who has kept you going until now. A
little earlier the Lord said, Offer to God a sacrifice of praise, and address your
prayers to the Most High, and by this command he was imposing a tax on us, as it
were. You have heard about this already. But later in the psalm we found, To the
sinner the Lord says, What right have you to expound my just judgments, and
take my covenant on your lips? God seemed to be saying to the sinner, “Praising
does you no good. I exact a sacrifice of praise from people who live good lives,
and they benefit from offering it; but if you give praise to me, you will gain
nothing thereby. How dare you praise me? Praise is not seemly in a sinner’s
mouth” (Sir 15:9). He brings the psalm to an end by addressing both groups.
Rebuking the evildoers who forget God, he says, Understand these things, you
who forget God. Otherwise he may seize you like a lion, and there will be no one
to rescue you.

Verse 23. Who offers the sacrifice of praise?

30. By a sacrifice of praise I shall be honored. How will a sacrifice of praise

honor him? It is certain that the offering of a sacrifice of praise brings no benefit
to bad people, because while they presume to take his covenant on their lips, they
commit villainous deeds which are not pleasing in his sight. “All the same,” says
the Lord, “to them also I say, By a sacrifice of praise I shall be honored. You had
been thinking that praising me did not profit you; but offer praise, and you will
find that it does, for if you live a bad life but profess good words, you are not yet
truly praising. However, if you have begun to live righteously, and you attribute
your good life to your own merits, you still are not yet offering praise. I would
not have you be like the robber who vilified the Lord on the cross, but neither
would I have you like the man who vaunted his merits in the temple and
concealed his wounds.” If you are an evildoer and you persist in your iniquity, I
do not say to you, Praising me will not help you, but, You are not praising me at
all, because I do not reckon what you offer me to be praise. But then again, if you
have the semblance of righteous living (semblance only, because none are righ-
teous except the humble and devout), and you enter the temple puffed up by your
righteous conduct, despising others whom you compare with yourself, and
boastfully putting yourself on a pedestal on account of your own merits, you are
not praising me then either. A person of sinful life does not praise me, but neither
does any man or woman who claims to live righteously without help from me.
But what of that Pharisee? He surely was not claiming that his good life was his

60. See Lk 23:39; 18:10-14.

408 Exposition of Psalm 49

own doing? After all, he said, O God, I thank you that Iam not like‘other people.
Yes, he gave thanks to God for the fact that he had good in himself. So even if
there is some good in you, and even if you already understand that the good in
you does not originate in you but has been given you by God, still, if you exalt
yourself above someone else who lacks it, by that very attitude you prove your-
self guilty of envy, and you are not yet a praiser of me.”
Your first job, then, is to allow yourself to be corrected, to give up your
wicked ways and begin to live rightly. Recognize that you are corrected only by
the gift of God, for a person’s steps will be directed‘by the Lord (Ps 36(37):23).
And when you have understood this, look kindly on other people, so that they
may become like you; after all, you were once like them. Be as kind to them as
you possibly can, and do not despair of them, for God’s bountiful gifts are not
limited to you.
The man or woman who by sinful living offends the Lord does not praise him;
the one who has begun to live a good life but does not recognize this as a gift
from God, but thinks it comes from his own resources, does not praise God; and
the one who does know that his own good way of life is a gift from God, but
wants God to be bountiful only to him, does not praise God either. What about
the man who said, O God, I thank you that I am not like other people: robbers,
cheats, adulterers; or like that tax-collector there: could he not have prayed,
“Give to that tax-collector what you have given to me, and supply in me what
you have not yet given”? But no, he was full-fed, and belching. He did not say, /
am needy and poor (Ps 69:6(70:5)); he did not say what the tax-collector was
saying, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner (Lk 18:13). For this reason it was the
tax-collector who went home justified, not the Pharisee.
Listen, then, you who live good lives, and you listen too, who live bad lives.
“By a sacrifice ofpraise I shall be honored. There is no one who offers this sacri-
fice of praise to me, and yet is bad. I am not saying, No bad person may offer it to
me; what I say is that no one who is bad does offer it. Everyone who does offer it
is good, because whoever offers it is also living a good life, praising me not only
with the tongue, but with tongue and life in harmony.”

Discovering Christ as God’s salvation

31. By a sacrifice of praise I shall be honored, and that is the way where I will
show him the salvation of God. In this sacrifice of praise there is a way where I
will show him the salvation of God. But what is God’s salvation? Christ Jesus.
And how is Christ shown to us in this sacrifice of praise? In that Christ comes to
us bringing grace. This is what the apostle says, / live my own life no longer; it is
Christ who lives in me. The life I still live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of
God, who loved me, and delivered himself up for me (Gal 2:20). Sinners must
 ___ Exposition of Psalm 49 409

realize that there would be no need of a physician if they were healthy;°! it was
for the wicked that Christ died.®? So when they acknowledge their wicked ways,
and begin by imitating the tax-collector, who prayed, Lord, be merciful to me, a
sinner, they display their wounds and beg the physician to help them. And
because so far from praising themselves they blame themselves, so that anyone
minded to boast may boast not of self but only of the Lord,°* they acknowledge
the reason for Christ’s coming. He came to save sinners, as Paul testifies: Christ
Jesus came into this world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost (1 Tm
1:15). Accordingly those Jews who boasted of their own achievements were so
severely rebuked by the same apostle as to be declared by him strangers to the
economy of grace, since they held that wages were owed to them for their merits
and good works.™ Everyone who knows that he or she belongs within the scope
of grace, which is Christ and is bestowed by Christ, knows that he or she needs
grace. It is called grace because it is given gratis; and if given gratis it is not
earned by any preceding merits of yours. If your merits had come first, the
reward given to you would come not as grace, but as payment owed to you.® If
you claim that your merits had priority, you are seeking praise for yourself, not
for God. And that means you are not acknowledging Christ, who came to bring
the grace of God. Turn and look at your so-called meritorious deeds, and see that
they were bad, so that what was owing to you was not a reward, but punishment.
And then, having seen what you deserved, confess what is given to you through
grace, and you will glorify God with a sacrifice of praise. For there is the way
where you will know Christ to be God’s salvation.

61. See Mk 2:17; Mt 9:12; Lk 5:31.

62. See Rom 5:6.
63. See 1 Cor 1:31.
64. See Gal 5:4.
65. See Rom 4:4.
 Exposition of Psalm 50 +

A Sermon!

Introduction: pray for the absentees ‘

1. There is a great crowd here today, and we must neither cheat it of what it
expects, nor try its patience beyond the limit. We beg you to be silent and still, so
that our voice may last out with sufficient power, even after the exertions of
yesterday.’ I take it, beloved, that you have assembled today in greater numbers
than usual in order to pray for those who are kept away by their perverted and
unworthy mania. We are not speaking of pagans, or of Jews, but of Christians;
and not even of our catechumens, but of many baptized persons. How close you
are to them through that saving water, yet how unkke them in your hearts! How
many of our brothers and sisters are in our minds today, as we sorrowfully watch
them running off after empty things and lying foolishness,’ careless of their
primary vocation! It is ironic that if while they are there in the circus something
happens to frighten them, they will immediately sign themselves with the cross.
Bearing the cross on their foreheads they stand in a place they would never go
near if they bore the cross in their hearts. Let us implore our merciful God to
grant them understanding to condemn such amusements, and a change of mind
to shun them. And may that mercy forgive them.
It is fitting, therefore, that the psalm sung today should deal with repentance.
Let us speak with those who are absent, yes, with them too, for what you
remember to tell them will be as good as my speaking directly to them. But you
must remain healthy yourselves if you are not to neglect the wounded and sick,
and are to heal them more easily. Correct them with your reproofs, comfort them
by talking to them, give them an example by your own good lives; and then God

. Preached at Carthage, as appears from section 11 below, perhaps in the summer of 411.
2. Some weakness of the chest was an habitual trial for Augustine. In his Confessions he relates
that it was a factor in his decision to abandon his career as a teacher of oratory, though his
conversion occurred at almost the same time and his life would in any case have taken a new
direction: “In that same summer [386] my lungs had begun to fail under the severe strain of
teaching, making it difficult for me to draw breath and giving proof
of their unhealthy condition
by pains in my chest. My tone was husky and I could not manage any sustained effort . . .”
(IX,2,4). The length and frequency of his sermons after becoming a bishop must have taxed his
voice severely.
3. Caritatem vestram.
4. See Ps 39:5(40:4).

410
 Exposition of Psalm 50 411

who has been with you will be with them as well. It is not as though the bridge’ of
God's mercy was demolished after you had crossed over it and left those dangers
behind. The path you took, they will take; the crossing you made, they will make
too. But it is a very bad thing, an extremely dangerous, harmful and even fatal
thing, for them to sin with their eyes open. It is one thing when a person who does
not know what to avoid goes running after these empty pleasures, but quite
another when someone disregards the voice of Christ in order to do so. Yet even
of these we must not despair, as our psalm demonstrates.

Verses 1-2. David's adultery

2. Its title is A psalm for David himself, when the prophet Nathan came to him
after he had gone in to Bathsheba. This woman Bathsheba was another man’s
wife. We say this with grief and trepidation, yet since God wanted the matter to
be written about, he does not mean us to hush it up. What I am going to say, there-
fore, is not what I want to say, but what I am forced to. I say it not to encourage
you to imitation, but to teach you caution. David, who was both king and
prophet, was captivated by the beauty of this woman, who was the wife of
another man, and he committed adultery with her—David, from whose seed our
Lord was to be born according to the flesh.° The event is not recorded in this
psalm, but is alluded to in its title. In the Book of the Kingdoms’ it is recounted in
full. Both are parts of canonical scripture, both are to be accepted by Christians
with unhesitating faith. They tell what was done; it was committed to writing.
David arranged for the woman’s husband to be killed in battle, thus making his
adultery worse by murder. Afterwards the prophet Nathan was sent to him by the
Lord, to rebuke him for the grave sin he had committed.
3. We have read about what we must shun; now let us listen to what we must
imitate if we have slipped into sin, for there are many who are very willing to fall
with David, but unwilling to rise again with him. The story is not put before you
as an example of falling, but as an example of rising again if you have fallen.
Consider it carefully, so that you do not fall. The lapse of the great should not
give glee to lesser folk; rather should the fall of the great cause lesser folk to
tremble. This is why the story is presented to us, why it was written in the first
place and why it is often read and sung in church. Let all who have not fallen
listen, to ensure they do not fall; and let all who have fallen listen, so that they
may learn to get up again. The sin of this man, great as he was, is not passed over

5. Variant: “fountain.”
6. See Rom 1:3.
7. That is, 2 Samuel 11-12, according to our usage.
412 Exposition of Psalm 50

in silence, but proclaimed in church. Those who are living bad lives® listen to
find themselves a patron saint for their sinning; they look at it eagerly for some-
thing to justify the sin they have decided to commit, not for a reason to avoid one
they have not committed. “If David did that,” they say to themselves, “why
shouldn’t I?”
A soul that commits the same sin as David, making that its excuse, is all the
more guilty, for it is doing something worse than what David did. I will make
this point more clearly, if Ican. Listen: David had no one before him as a prece-
dent in the way you have. He fell because his lust tripped him up, not because he
looked to any holy man’s patronage. But if you take him as your holy exemplar
in your sin, you do not imitate his holiness, but only his downfall. You are loving
in David what David hated in himself.’ You are preparing yourself to sin, you are
making your arrangements to sin. You read God’s book in order to sin, you listen
to God’s scriptures for the purpose of doing something that displeases God. This
is not what David did: he was reprimanded by a prophet, he did not fall over a
prophet into sin.
Other people listen to the story in a way conducive to their salvation. From
this fall of a strong man they take the measure’of their own weakness, and
because they desire to avoid actions that God condemns they restrain their eyes
from wanton roving. They do not fix their gaze on the beauty of anyone’s body,
nor do they lull themselves into security by any wrongheaded naiveté, telling
themselves, “I looked at her with the best intentions, Ijust looked at her kindly. It
was only out of charity that I went on looking at her for so long.” They keep
David’s fall in mind, and see that this great man fell so that lesser men may keep
their eyes away from whatever could make them fall too. They withhold their
eyes from wanton glances, they do not readily join or mingle with the wives of
other men, they do not raise careless eyes to other people’s balconies or
sun-traps. It was from a distance that David espied the woman to whose charms
he fell prey. The woman was far off, but his lust was very near. What he could see
was some way off, but the cause of his fall was within him.
We must be very careful about this weakness of our flesh, and remember the
apostle’s words, Do not let sin reign in your mortal body (Rom 6:12). He did not
say, “Do not allow it to be there,” but Let it not reign. Sin is in you when you feel
the pleasure, but it reigns only if you consent. Carnal pleasure must be bridled,
not given its head, especially when it is proceeding toward unlawful and inap-
propriate objects. It must be subdued by a command, not put into a commanding
position. You can listen to this without a care only if you have nothing in you that

8. Accepting the emendation audiunt male viventes instead of the reading of most codices, and of
Caesarius of Arles in his Sermon 155, audiunt male audientes, “those who hear in the wrong
way.
9. Variant: “You should love in David what David did not hate in himself.”
 Exposition of Psalm 50 413

could unsettle you. But you reply, “I am powerfully in control.” So you are more
powerful than David, are you?
4. In giving us this example scripture is warning us that no one should exalt
himself or herself when things are going well. Plenty of people fear adversity,
but are not afraid of prosperity. Yet prosperity is more dangerous to the soul than
adversity is to the body. Success first corrupts us, so that when calamity strikes it
may find us fragile enough to break. We must keep a very sharp look-out when
we are happy, my brothers and sisters. This is why God’s word strips us of our
carelessness in happy circumstances by warning, Serve the Lord in reverence,
and rejoice before him with awe (Ps 2:11): rejoice because we must give him
thanks, but with awe lest we fall. David did not commit that sin while he was
being persecuted by Saul. While the holy David was enduring Saul’s enmity,
while he was hounded hither and thither by Saul’s pursuit, while he was fleeing
from one hiding-place to another in his effort not to fall into Saul’s hands, he did
not desire any woman who was not his, nor did he murder any man with whose
wife he had committed adultery. The more wretched he perceived himself to be
in his weakness and distress, the more intent he was on God. Tribulation is a
useful thing, just as the surgeon’s knife may be more useful than the devil’s blan-
dishments. But once David had defeated his enemies and gained security, the
pressure was off him and his pride grew to excess. His example is therefore valid
for us in this sense too, that we must beware of complacency. / found anguish
and sorrow, says another psalm, and I called on the name of the Lord (Ps
114(116):3-4).

The prospect of pardon

5. But there is no denying it; it did happen, and I have said all this so that those
who have not done likewise may vigilantly guard their chastity, and as they
contemplate a great man’s fall, know that they as lesser people must be afraid.
But if any who hear this have fallen already, and study the words of this psalm
with some evil thing on their consciences, they must indeed be aware of the
gravity of their wounds, but not despair of our noble physician. Sin allied to
despair is certain death. No one must say, “If I have already done something
wicked I am already worthy of damnation. God does not forgive such evils, so
why should I not pile sins upon sins? Let me enjoy this world’s pleasures, in
licentiousness and forbidden lusts. There is no longer any hope of rehabilitation
for me, so let me at least grab hold of what I can see, if Ican’t have what I believe
in.
But as this psalm warns the unfallen to be wary, so too it will not leave the
fallen to despair.'° Whoever you are who have sinned, and are holding back from

10. Variant: “so it uplifts those who have fallen.”

414 Exposition of Psalm 50

repenting of your sin because you despair of salvation, listen to David groaning.
It is not the prophet Nathan who has been sent to you; David himself has been
sent. Listen to him crying out, and cry out with him; listen to him groaning, and
groan too; listen to him weeping, and add your tears to his; listen to him
corrected, and share his joy. If sin could not be denied access to you, let the hope
of forgiveness not be debarred. The prophet Nathan was sent to that man; and
notice how humble the king was. He did not brush his mentor’s words aside, nor
did he demand, “How dare you speak to me like this? Iam the king!” King in his
majesty though he was, he listened to the prophet; now let Christ’s lowly people
listen to Christ."

Verse 3. Mercy for witting and unwitting transgressions

6. Listen, then, and say with David, Have mercy on me, God, according to
your great mercy. A person who is driven to beg for great mercy is confessing
great misery. Those who have sinned unwittingly may beg for only slight mercy;
but David says, Have mercy on me according to your great mercy. Treat a grave
wound with your mighty medicine. Grave indeed is my condition, but I take
refuge with the Almighty. I would despair of so fatal a wound if I could not find
such powerful medicine. Have mercy on me, God, according to your great
mercy, and in your manifold pity blot out my iniquity. His words, blot out my
iniquity, echo the preceding have mercy on me, God; and the phrase, in your
manifold pity, means the same as according to your great mercy. Because your
mercy is great, many are your acts of mercy, and from your great mercy springs
your manifold pity. You look upon those who scorn you, to correct them; upon
the ignorant, to teach them; upon those who confess, to forgive them. Did David
sin through ignorance? There was another man who had done some bad deeds,
many bad deeds, who could say, J received mercy, because I acted in ignorance
(1 Tm 1:13). But David could not say, J acted in ignorance. He knew very well
how wrong it was to lay hands on another man’s wife, and how wrong it was to
kill her husband, who knew nothing and was not even angry with him. So those
who do wrong in ignorance obtain the mercy of the Lord; and those who do
wrong knowingly obtain not just any kind of mercy, but his great mercy.

Verse 4. Mercy does not nullify justice

7. Wash me more and more from my guilt. Why does he say, Wash me more
and more? Because the stain goes deep. Wash more and more the sins of one
who sinned knowingly, you who have washed the sins of the ignorant clean
away. Not even in this deeply stained condition must we despair of your mercy.

11. Plebs eius humilis; a variant has plebeius humilis, “a lowly commoner/common people.”
 Exposition of Psalm 50 415

And cleanse me of my offense. What inducement do you propose to offer? He is a

physician, so present him with a fee; he is God, so present a sacrifice. What will
you pay for your cleansing? Consider whom you are calling upon: you are
invoking the Just One, and if he is just, he hates sins; if he is just, he punishes
sins. You cannot rob the Lord God of his justice. Implore his mercy, but watch
out for his justice. In his mercy he forgives the sinner; in his justice he punishes
the sin. What then? If you seek his mercy, will your sin go unpunished? Let
David reply, let the fallen reply, and let them reply with David so that they may
deserve the same mercy that he received. Let them say, “No, Lord, my sin will
not go unpunished. I know the justice of the One whose mercy I seek, and my sin
will not go unpunished. But I do ask you not to punish me, because I am
punishing my sin myself. So I beg you to remit what I admit.”'?

Verse 5. Nathan’s parable; the adulteress and Christ

8. For I admit my wrongdoing, and my offense confronts me all the time. “I

have not thrust my deed behind my back; I do not look askance at others while
forgetting myself; I do not presume to extract a speck of straw from my brother’s
eye while there is a timber in my own;!} my sin is in front of me, not behind my
back. It was behind me until the prophet was sent to me, and put to me the parable
of the poor man’s sheep.” What the prophet Nathan said to David was this: There
was a certain rich man who had a large flock of sheep. His neighbor was a poor
man who had only one little ewe lamb; she rested in his arms and was fed from
his own dish. Then a guest arrived at the rich man’s house. The rich man took
nothing from his flock; what he wanted was the little ewe lamb that belonged to
his neighbor, so he slaughtered that for his guest. What does he deserve? (2 Sm
12:1-4). Angrily David pronounced sentence. Obviously the king was unaware
of the trap into which he had fallen, and he decreed that the rich man deserved to
die, and must make fourfold restitution for the sheep. It was a very severe view,
and entirely just. But his own sin was not yet before his eyes; what he had done
was still behind his back. He did not yet admit his own iniquity, and hence would
not remit another’s. But the prophet had been sent to him for this purpose. He
brought the sin out from behind David's back and held it before his eyes, so that
he might see that the severe sentence had been passed on himself. To cut away
diseased tissue in David’s heart and heal the wound there, Nathan used David’s
tongue as a knife.
This is what the Lord did to the Jews who brought before him an adulteress,
setting a trap to catch him but falling into it themselves. This woman was caught
committing adultery, they said. Now Moses ordered that such women should be

12. Peto ut ignoscas, quia ego agnosco.

LS ySee Mt 723:
416 Exposition of Psalm 50

stoned. What is your judgment concerning her? (Jn 8:4-5). They thought to catch
the Wisdom of God between the two jaws of their trap, for if he ordered her to be
executed, he would lose his reputation for gentleness, but if he ordered her to be
released, he would be open to the accusation that he was subverting"* the law. So
how did he reply? He did not say, “Execute her’; neither did he say, “Let her go.”
What he said was, “Anyone who knows himself to be without sin shall be the first
to thrown a Stone at her. It is a just law that orders an adulteress to be executed,
but this just law demands innocent administrators. Take note of this woman you
are bringing to me, and take note who you are.” On hearing this they departed,
one by one. The adulteress remained, and so did the Lord; the wounded woman
remained with the doctor; great misery remained with great mercy. Those who
had brought her were ashamed, but did not ask forgiveness; she whom they had
brought was covered with confusion, but healed. The Lord said to her, “Woman,
has no one condemned you?” She answered, “No one, sir.” And he said,
“Neither will Icondemn you. Go, and sinno more” (Jn 8:7.10-11). Did Christ act
in opposition to his own law? Remember that the Father had not given the law
apart from his Son. If heaven and earth and all things in them were made through
him, do you suppose the law was written without the Word of God? No, God
does not contradict his own law, any more than an emperor acts in opposition to
his laws when he pardons someone. Moses was a minister of the law, but Christ
the lawgiver; Moses acts as judge in passing sentence of stoning, but Christ
grants pardon as king. God had mercy on the woman in accordance with his great
mercy, just as David here asks, and begs, and tearfully implores him on his own
account. That was what the Jews who brought the woman refused to do. They
recognized their wounds when the doctor pointed them out, but they did not seek
healing from the doctor.
And the same 1s true of many people who are not ashamed to sin, but ashamed
to do penance. What incredible foolishness! If you are not ashamed of the wound
itself, how can you be ashamed of the bandage on your wound? Isn’t it more
smelly and disgusting uncovered? Flee to the doctor, then, do penance and say, /
admit my wrongdoing, and my offense confronts me all the time.

Verse 6. The sinless Christ, himself judged, alone judges justly

9. Against you alone have I sinned, and in your sight I have acted wickedly.
How can he say that? Were not his sins of adultery and murdering the woman’ s
husband committed in the sight of human beings as well? Didn’t everyone know
what David had done? How then can he say, Against you alone have I sinned,
and in your sight I have acted wickedly? Because you alone, Lord, are without
sin. The only one who can justly inflict punishment is the one who has nothing in

14. Variant: “would incur the charge of blasphemy as one who subverted.”
 Exposition of Psalm 50 417

himself that deserves punishment; the only one who justly rebukes is he who has
nothing in him that could merit rebuke. So the psalm confesses, Against you
alone have I sinned, and in your sight I have acted wickedly. So will you be justi-
fied in your verdict, and prevail when you are judged. This is difficult, brothers
and sisters, because it is hard to see to whom that could be said. Obviously he is
addressing God, and still more obviously God the Father has never been judged.
What does it mean, then, against you alone have I sinned, and in your sight I
have acted wickedly. So will you be justified in your verdict, and prevail when
you are judged? He sees our future judge being subjected to judgment,!> the just
one subjected to judgment by sinners, and victorious because there was nothing
in him that could be judged. Alone among all human beings the Man-God could
truly say,'® “If you have found any sin in me, name it.””'” But perhaps there was
some sin hidden from human eyes, and they simply failed to find what was
indeed there, but not manifest? No, for in another place he said, Now the prince
of this world is coming, that sharp-eyed detector of all sins, now the prince of this
world is coming, inflicting death on sinners because he is the lord of death,'* for
through the devil’s envy death entered the world (Wis 2:24). Now, said the Lord
on the brink of his passion, Now the prince of this world is coming, and he will
find nothing in me, nothing of sin, nothing that deserves death, nothing that
merits damnation. And then, as though one of them had asked him, “Why should
you die, then?” he went on to say, But so that all may know that I am doing my
Father’s will, rise, let us leave here (Jn 14:30,31). “I am suffering
undeservedly,” he says, “for those who deserve to suffer; I am suffering their
death, which I do not deserve, so that I may bring them to deserve my life.”
To this sinless sufferer the prophet David says in our psalm, Against you
alone have I sinned, and in your sight I have acted wickedly. So will you bejusti-
fied in your verdict, and prevail when you are judged. You vanquish men and
women, and all judges; every self-styled just person is unjust in your sight. You
alone judge justly, unjustly judged as you have been, you who have power to lay
down your life, and power to take it up again.'” Therefore you prevail when you
are judged. You vanquish all human beings, because you are greater than all of
them, and all men and women were made through you.

15. Variant: “Behold our future judge, judged by sinners.”

16. Variant: “. . . nothing in him, or in the Father who sent him, that could be judged. He alone was
true, and therefore could truly say... .”
17. See Jn 8:46.
18. See Heb 2:14.
19. See Jn 10:18.
418 Exposition of Psalm 50

Verse 7. Original sin | ts

10. Against you alone have I sinned, and in your sight I have acted wickedly.
So will you be justified in your verdict, and prevail when you are judged. Lo, I
was conceived in iniquity. What it seems to suggest is this: “All those who
committed sins like yours, David, are certainly convicted, for adultery and
murder are no small evils, no slight sins. But what about those who have never
done anything of the kind, from the time they left their mothers’ wombs? Are
you imputing sins to them as well, so that Christ may be said to prevail over
absolutely everyone, as soon as he is judged?”
David spoke in the person of the whole human race, and had regard to the chains
that bind us all. He had regard to the propagation of death and the origin of iniquity,
and he said, Lo, I was conceived in iniquity. But surely David was not born of adul-
tery? Was he not the son of Jesse, a righteous man, and his wife? How then can he
say he was conceived in iniquity, unless iniquity is derived from Adam? And with
iniquity, indissolubly linked, comes the chain of death. Each of us is born dragging
punishment along with us, or at any rate dragging our liability to punishment. In
another place a prophet declares, No one is pure in-your sight, not even an infant
whose life on earth has been but one day (Jb 14:4-5, LXX). We know that sins are
canceled by baptism in Christ; Christ’s baptism has power to forgive sins. Well,
then, if infants are completely innocent, why do mothers come running to church
when their babies are ill? What does that baptism effect, what is there to be
forgiven? What I see is an innocent crying, not someone getting angry! What has
baptism washed away? What is destroyed by it? The inheritance of sin is
destroyed. If the baby could speak, if he had David’s reasoning power,”° he would
answer your question, “Why do you regard me simply as an infant? Admittedly
you cannot see the load of sin I carry, but I was conceived in iniquity, and in sins
did my mother nourish me in the womb.” Christ was born outside this bond of
carnal concupiscence,”' without male intervention, for he was conceived by a
virgin of the Holy Spirit. He cannot be said to have been conceived in iniquity; nor
could it be said of his mother that she nourished him with sins in her womb, for to
her it had been promised, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the
Most High will overshadow you (Lk 1:35).
Human beings are conceived in iniquity, and nourished on sins by their
mothers while still in the womb, not because sexual intercourse between
husband and wife is sinful, but because the sexual act is performed by flesh
subject to punishment. The punishment due to the flesh is death. Mortality is
plainly inherent in the flesh. This is why the apostle spoke of the body not as

20. The editors of the CCL refer this to David’s baby, who died (see 2 Sm 12:15-24), but it seems
better to understand it in a general sense.
21. Reading concupiscentiae carnalis with the (CCL editors. Most codices have “mortal
concupiscence.”
 Exposition of Psalm SO 419

something doomed to die, but as dead already: The body indeed is a dead thing
by reason of sin, but the spirit is life through righteousness (Rom 8:10). How
could anything conceived and begotten from bodies dead because of sin be born
free of the bond of sin? The sexual act is chaste in a married person and incurs no
guilt, but its sinful source drags condign punishment along with it. A married
person is no less mortal because married, and his or her mortality springs from
sin, and only from sin. The Lord too was mortal, but not as a consequence of sin;
he took upon him our penalty, and thereby canceled our guilt. That is why
though all die in Adam, all shall be brought to life in Christ.*? As the apostle
teaches, Through one man sin entered this world, and through sin death, and
thus it spread to all, as in him all have sinned.” The verdict has been solemnly
given: in Adam all have sinned. The only new-born baby who could be born
innocent is one not born from the work of Adam.

Verse 8. Repentance entails a risk

11. Lo, you have loved truth; the unseen, hidden secrets of your wisdom you
have revealed to me. He says, You have loved truth, which implies that you have
not left sins unpunished, even in people whom you forgive. You have loved
truth, for you have dispensed mercy first, but in such a way as to leave room for
truth as well. You forgive sinners who confess; yes, you forgive them, but only
when the sinners punish themselves. In this way both mercy and truth have their
say: mercy, for the man or woman is set free; truth, for the sin has been punished.
Lo, you have loved truth; the unseen, hidden secrets of your wisdom you have
revealed to me. What are these hidden secrets? What are the unseen things?
They are hidden and unseen because though God forgives even serious sinners,
nothing is as hidden, nothing as unseen, as his forgiveness. At this uncertain
prospect the Ninevites did penance; for even after the prophet’s threats, even
after his edict, Only three more days, and Nineveh will be overthrown, they
debated among themselves the possibility of asking for mercy, saying to each
other, Who knows whether God may change his sentence for the better, and have
mercy? (Jon 3:9). It was uncertain, as they acknowledged by asking, Who
knows? All the same, they did penance with uncertain prospects, and deserved
certain mercy. They prostrated themselves in tears, in fasting, in sackcloth and

DDR See IKEOE LI-22.

23. Rom 5:12. In quo omnes peccaverunt is a crucial and controversial phrase. Modern biblical
scholarship generally understands it in accordance with the underlying Greek to mean
“inasmuch as...” or “in view of the fact that, all have sinned.” However, Augustine took it to
mean “in whom [Adam] all have sinned,” as the next sentence shows. See his work The Merits
and Forgiveness of Sins and the Baptism of Infants 1, 10-11, where his argument (like that of St
Paul in the relevant passage) hinges on the typology Adam-Christ. We are in Christ not because
we imitate him but by regeneration and sharing his life; similarly we are one with Adam by
more than mere imitation.
420 Exposition of Psalm 50

ashes; they knelt and wept; and God spared them. Nineveh remained standing. It
did, didn’t it? Was Nineveh toppled? One outcome may seem good to human
judgment, but God judges otherwise.
Yet I think the prophet’s prediction was verified. Consider what Nineveh
was, and how what it was was overthrown. Ii was overthrown in respect of its
evil ways, and built up in goodness, as Saul the persecutor was overthrown, and
Paul the preacher built up. Wouldn’t we all agree that this city where we are now
would be overthrown to good purpose, if all those crazy people would abandon
their silly entertainments and flock to church with cémpunction in their hearts,
begging God’s mercy for their past deeds? Would we not say then, “Whatever
became of Carthage? It’s not what it was, so it has been overthrown in a sense;
but now it is something that is wasn’t formerly, so it has been built anew.” Jere-
miah was told something similar: See, J will give you authority to uproot and
undermine, to overthrow and demolish, and then to build up and plant (Jer 1:10).
The voice of the Lord is heard there, the Lord who said, / will strike, and I will
heal (Dt 32:39). He strikes the rotten area of our misdeeds, and heals the pain of
the wound. That is what doctors do when they cut,.and strike, and heal: they arm
themselves to inflict the blow, they carry a weapon because they come to cure.
But the sins of the Ninevites were very grievous, so they said, Who knows?
God had given his servant David deep insight into this uncertain matter; for
when the prophet confronted him and rebuked him, David cried, / have sinned;
but immediately he heard from the prophet, or rather from the Spirit of God who
was in the prophet, Your sin is forgiven. You revealed to him the unseen, hidden
secrets of your wisdom.

Verse 9. Hyssop

12. You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed, he says. We
know hyssop: it is a humble plant, but has healing properties; it is said to cling to
rock by its roots. That gives us a mysterious image of a heart that needs to be
cleansed. You too must grip your rock, grip the root of deliberate love.%4 Be
humble in your humble God, that you may grow tall in your glorified God. You
will be sprinkled with hyssop, because the humility of Christ will cleanse you.
Do not despise this plant; have regard for its medicinal virtue. I will add some-
thing else, which we often hear doctors say, and is verified by the experience of
sick people: they tell us that hyssop is efficacious for purging the lungs. Now the
lung symbolizes pride, because in the lung we find inflation, and also panting. It
was said of Saul when he was a persecutor—of Saul in his pride, that is—that he
was on his way to arrest Christians breathing out murderous threats.2> He was

24. Radicem dilectionis.

29, See. Actsi9: 1:
 __ Exposition of Psalm 50 421

panting out slaughter, panting out bloodshed, because his lungs were not yet
cleared. But now listen to someone in the psalm who has been humbled, because
purged by hyssop: You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed; you
will wash me (which means cleansing), and Jshall be made whiter than snow. So
too God promises through a prophet: Though your sins be brilliant scarlet, I will
make you as white as snow (Is 1:18). From people so cleansed Christ provides
himself with a garment free from any stain or crease;*° for the robe he wore on
the mountain, which shone gleaming white like snow,”’ symbolized the Church,
cleansed from every stain of sin.

Verse 10. The humility of one who listens

13. So the speaker has been sprinkled with hyssop; where is his humility?
Listen to the next verse: As / listen you will give me delight and gladness, and my
humbled bones will dance for joy. “1 will find my joy in listening to you, not in
speaking against you.” You have sinned; why try to defend yourself? You want
to do the talking; but let it be, listen, allow God to get a word in, in case you
wound yourself still more seriously by thrashing about. You have committed the
sin; there is no point in trying to defend it. Let it come out as confession, not as
self-justification. If you engage yourself as counsel for the defense you will lose
your case, for the advocate you have brought in lacks integrity, and your defence
of yourself is worthless. Who are you, to defend yourself? You are better quali-
fied to accuse yourself. Do not plead, “I didn’t do anything,” or “What did it
amount to anyway, what I did?” or “Other people have done the same.” If in
committing your sin you did nothing, as you claim, you will be nothing yourself
and you will receive nothing. God is prepared to grant you forgiveness, but you
are shutting the door in your own face; he is prepared to give, so do not put up a
barrier of defense, but open your whole self by confession.
As Ilisten you will give me delight and gladness. May God himself enable me
to say what I feel about this. Those who hear are more fortunate than those who
speak. The learner is humble, but the teacher has to work hard not to be proud, in
case a dishonorable desire to curry favor insinuates itself, and in wishing to curry
favor with men and women he loses favor with God. Great peril is to be feared in
teaching, my brothers and sisters, and I am sorely afraid as I speak to you.
Believe what my heart is telling you, though you cannot see it. God knows how
great is the fear that oppresses me as I talk to you—God who will, I hope, be
gentle with me and ready to show mercy. But when we listen inside ourselves as
he makes some suggestion and teaches us, we are safe, and being safe we rejoice,
for we are subject to our teacher; we seek his glory and praise him as he schools

26. See Eph 5:27.

27. See Mk 9:2; Mt 17:2.
422 Exposition of Psalm 50

us. His truth delights us deep within, where nobody makes a din or has to listen to
it. There, within, the psalmist testifies that he found his delight and gladness: As /
listen you will give me delight and gladness, he says. And the reason why he
listens is that he is humble. Anyone who hears, who truly hears and hears
correctly, hears humbly, for all the honor belongs to the one from whom he hears
whatever it is. After saying, As / listen you will give me delight and gladness, the
psalmist immediately indicated the effect this listening had upon him: My
humbled bones will dance for joy. His bones had been humbled. The bones of a
listener keep no trace of haughtiness in them, no sélf-importance, though the
speaker finds it hard to overcome these faults in himself.
This truth is exemplified in a great and humble man, a man than whom no one
greater had arisen among all those born of women.”8 So deeply did he humble
himself that he claimed to be unworthy to unbuckle his Lord’s sandal.”” He was
reputed to be the Messiah, and he could have taken advantage of this false
opinion to give himself airs and extend his influence; for he had not set himself
up as the Messiah, but he could have acquiesced in the mistake of those who
thought he was and spontaneously tried to confer the honor upon him. However,
he rejected a usurped honor in order to win true glory.*° Look at the humility of
John the Baptist who listened, and ascribed glory to the one who was his teacher
and therefore his friend. The bride is for the Bridegroom, he said, but the Bride-
groom’s friend, who stands and hears him . . . he resolved to be one who stood
and heard, you see, not one who fell down through talking: who stands and hears
him, said John. So you have heard about his listening, so what about his delight
and gladness? He promptly continues, The friend who stands and hears him
rejoices intensely at the Bridegroom’s voice (Jn 3:29). As I listen you will give
me delight and gladness, and my humbled bones will dance for joy.

Verse 11. “Look away from my sins”

14. Turn your face away from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Already
my humbled bones are dancing for joy, already I am cleansed with hyssop and
have been made humble. Now turn your face away, not from me, but from my
sins. He prayed in another psalm, Do not turn your face away from me (Ps
26(27):9). He does not want God’s face averted from him, but he does want it
averted from his sins; for if God does not avert his face from a sin, that means he
turns toward it, and if he turns toward it, he punishes it.*! Turn your face away
from my sins, and blot out all my guilt. He is preoccupied about his grievous sin,

28. See Mt 11:11; Lk 7:28.

29. See Mk 1:7.
30. Variant: “true grace.”
31. There is an untranslatable play on three similar-sounding verbs: Peccatum ... unde se Deus non
avertit, advertit; si advertit, animadvertit.
 Exposition of Psalm 50 423

but now he goes further and makes bold to ask that all his iniquities be blotted
out. He is taking the doctor’s skill for granted, and presuming on the immense
mercy that he invoked at the beginning of the psalm: blot out all my iniquities.
God averts his face and this of itself blots them out, for by turning his face away
from sins he effaces them, whereas if he turns his face toward them, he is keeping
the score. So now that you have heard how he blots out sin by turning away,
listen to what he does if he turns toward it: the Lord frowns on evildoers, to blot
out their memory from the earth (Ps 33:17(34:16)), and this because he does not
delete their sins. But what is the psalmist’s prayer? Turn your face away from my
sins. That is a wise prayer, for he is not turning his own face away from his sins;
certainly not, for he prayed earlier, / admit my wrongdoing. If you do not turn
your own face away from your sin, you can ask God to turn his away from it; you
are right to make that prayer. But if you thrust your sin behind your back, God
fixes his gaze upon it. Switch your sin to a position before your face, if you want
God to turn his face away from it. Then you may pray to him without anxiety,
and he will hear you.

Verse 12. David’s patience in adversity

15. Create a clean heart in me, O God. He prayed, Create, as though

meaning, “Bring something new into being.”*? But because he was praying as a
penitent, less innocent now than before committing his sin, he showed what he
meant by create in the next line: /mplant a new and upright spirit within me. “In
consequence of what I did,” he says, “my former upright spirit has grown old and
bent.” Another psalm laments, They bent my soul down (Ps 56:7(57:6)). When a
person lies down amid earthly desires he is in a sense bent over, but when he
stretches upward to heavenly things his heart becomes upright, and then God can
be good to him, for the God of Israel is very good to those of upright heart.**
Let me have your attention now, brothers and sisters. Sometimes when God
means to forgive someone in the world to come, he corrects that person in this
world. Remember David’s case. He had been told through the prophet, Your sin
is forgiven (2 Sm 12:13), yet the calamities with which God had threatened him
because of that sin still fell upon him. His son Absalom*' waged a bloody war
against him, and humiliated his father in many ways. David walked in sorrow,»
humiliated and distressed; and so submissive was he to God that he regarded all
his woes as just punishments from God, confessing that no part of what he
suffered was undeserved. Already he had an upright heart, with which God was

32. The CCL editors insert non after crea, “not as though. . .”’; but the guasi that follows seems to
render the emendation unnecessary.
BB escolsiou/oyils
34. Abessalon, as in Augustine’s Exposition of Psalm 3.
B35, 9ee 2,900 ):30)
424 Exposition of Psalm 50

not displeased. When an abusive fellow, one of the soldiers on the other side who
supported the king’s rebellious son, flung insults into David’s face, he listened
without rancor. One of David’s companions was angry, and wished to go and
strike down this man who was hurling curses at the king, but David would not
allow him. What did he say, as he forbade it? God has sent him to curse me (2 Sm
16:10). He recognized his guilt and embraced his punishment, seeking God’s
glory and not his own. He praised the Lord for whatever good fortune he had, and
he praised the Lord for what he was suffering. He blessed the Lord at all times,
and the Lord’s praise was in his mouth always.*° .
This is how all those of upright heart conduct themselves. Very different are
the crooked who consider themselves upright and God perverse: when they do
anything bad they rejoice, and when they have to endure anything bad they blas-
pheme. What is more, when they find themselves in trouble and under the lash,
they say from their misshapen hearts, “God, what have I done to you?” The truth
is that they have done nothing to God; all the harm they have done is to them-
selves. Implant a new and upright spirit within me.

Verses 13-14. The Holy Spirit :

16. Do not cast me away from your face. Just now he prayed, Turn your face
away from my sins, and now he says, Do not cast me away from your face. He
fears God’s face, but also invokes it. Do not cast me away from your face, nor
take your Holy Spirit from me. There 1s a holy spirit in everyone who confesses,
for itis already due to a gift of the Holy Spirit that you are disgusted by what you
have done. Sins are pleasing to an unclean spirit, displeasing to a holy spirit.’ So
although you are still imploring pardon, from another point of view you are
already united with God, because you are disgusted with the evil thing you have
done; and so what is displeasing to him is displeasing to you as well. That makes
two fighting against your illness—you and the doctor. Confession of sin and the
will to punish sin cannot be present in any of us by our own doing; and so when
we are angry with ourselves and find ourselves displeasing, it can happen only
by the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is why the psalm does not say, “Give me your
Holy Spirit,” but “Do not take it from me.” Do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

36. See Ps 33:2(34:1).

37. Or “to the Holy Spirit.” In this and the following paragraph two questions arise: 1) Where
should we read “spirit” and where “Spirit”? That is, does Augustine mean the created spirit of a
human being, whether “unclean” as here, or so closely united with the indwelling uncreated
Holy Spirit that the whole human being, both material and non-material elements, is “spirit” in
the Pauline sense? Or does he mean the uncreated Spirit of God directly? 2) If he does mean
God, should we understand it as God without distinction of Persons (since “God is spirit” as
Augustine quotes), or as a reference to the third Person, the Holy Spirit? This question is
directly addressed in the next paragraph.
 Exposition of Psalm 50 425

17. Give back to me the gladness ofyour salvation. Give back to me what I
used to have, before I lost it by sinning. Give back to me the gladness of your
salvation: that must mean “of your Christ.” Who could ever be healed without
him? It must mean Christ, because before he was born from Mary he was the
Word in the beginning, the Word who was with God, the Word who was God;
and accordingly the mystery of the incarnation was believed in by the holy
fathers as something future, just as we believe in it as something accomplished.
There is a difference in the epochs, not in the faith. Give back to me the gladness
of your salvation, and strengthen me by your original spirit.’ Some have under-
stood this to be a reference to the Trinity in God, to God himself, apart from the
incarnation; for scripture also says, God is spirit (Jn 4:24). If something is not
material, and yet exists, it must be spirit. This is why some interpreters*’ think
that the Trinity is mentioned here: the upright spirit is the Son, the holy spirit is
the Holy Spirit, and the original spirit is the Father. This may be correct. Alterna-
tively the psalmist may have meant the upright spirit in a human being, so that he
was saying, “Implant a new and upright spirit within me, for by sin I have bent
and distorted my spirit.” In that case the Holy Spirit himself would be the orig-
inal spirit whom the psalmist did not want taken away from him, and by whom
he asked to be strengthened. Neither opinion is heretical.

Verse 15. An ex-sinner teaches sinners

18. But notice the next petition: Strengthen me by your original spirit.
Strengthen me in what respect? You have forgiven me, and I am certain that
what you have forgiven will not be imputed to me. Therefore I am free from
anxiety, and being strengthened by this grace I will not be ungrateful. What shall
I do, then? Let me teach your ways to sinners. 1am myself an ex-sinner, and as an
ex-sinner let me teach sinners. That is to say, I am no longer a sinner: you have
not taken a holy spirit away from me, but have strengthened me in the original
spirit, so let me teach your ways to sinners. “And what ways will you teach to
sinners?” The impious will be converted to you. If David’s sin is reckoned to
have been impiety, let the impious not despair on their own account, provided
they are converted to God and learn his ways, for they see that God forgave
David for his impious deeds. However, it may be that David’s actions should not
be classed as impiety, for properly speaking impiety is apostasy from God. It
means not worshiping the one God, either because one never has worshiped him,
or because having formerly done so one has left him. On this understanding, the
prediction that the impious will be converted to you envisages an extreme case.
You are so full of rich mercy that no sinners who turn to you need despair, and

38. Spiritu principali.

39. For example, Jerome, in his Commentary on the Letter to the Galatians IV, 6.
426 Exposition of Psalm 50

this is true not just for sinners in general but even for the impious.’The impious
will be converted to you. To what end? That they may believe in him who justi-
fies the impious, so that their faith may be counted as righteousness.

Verse 16. The prospect of ultimate incorruptibility

19. Deliver me from bloods,*” O God, God of my salvation. The Latin trans-
lator used an un-Latin expression here to convey the sense of the Greek. We all
know that Latin does not put the word “blood” into the plural; but the Greek did
so with good reason, because it had found a plural in the original Hebrew, so the
trustworthy Latin translator opted for unidiomatic Latin rather than inaccuracy
of meaning.
So why does it use the plural, from bloods? Because by “many bloods” it
wanted us to understand many sins; it pointed to their origin in sinful flesh.
When the apostle was considering sins that proceed from corruptible flesh and
blood, he said, Flesh and blood will not possess the kingdom of God. Yet
according to the true faith taught by the same apostle, our flesh will rise again,
and will merit incorruption. He tells us this himself: This corruptible body must
put on incorruption, and this mortal body be clothed in immortality (1 Cor
15:53). But the corruption is the consequence of sin, and therefore can itself be
called “sin.” We use a similar idiom with the word “tongue”: it can mean a little
piece of flesh, the member that moves in the mouth as we pronounce different
words; but it can also mean the result that this member achieves, namely
language. So we speak of the Greek tongue being different from the Latin
tongue, but it is not the fleshly member that is different, only the sounds it
produces. So just as we can call speech uttered by our tongue a “tongue,” so too
we can give the name “blood” to the iniquity that comes about through blood.
The psalmist is therefore considering his very many iniquities, those
concerning which he earlier prayed, Blot out all my iniquities, and he attributes
them to corruptible flesh and blood. This is why he now pleads, Deliver me from
bloods; that is to say, “Set me free from my iniquities, cleanse me of all corrup-
tion.” In praying, “Set me free from bloods,” he is voicing a desire for
incorruption, for flesh and blood will not possess the kingdom of God, nor will
corruption possess incorruption (1 Cor 15:50). So he begs, Deliver me from
bloods, O God, God of my salvation. He is showing us that when salvation is
perfectly accomplished in these bodies of ours there will remain none of that
corruption which goes by the name, “flesh and blood.” And that salvation will
mean perfect health for our bodies. How can the body be considered healthy
now, when it declines, and has needs, and suffers from the perpetual illness of
hunger and thirst? Hereafter these things will not be found in it. Food is for the

40. De sanguinibus.
 Exposition of Psalm 50 427

stomach, and the stomach for food, but one day God will do away with both.*!
The form of our bodies will be rendered perfect by God. When death has been
swallowed up in victory** no proneness to decay will remain, no weakness will
creep up on us. Our bodies will be affected by no process of aging; they will not
be so wearied by labor as to need the support of food, or any refreshment to
revive them. But we shall not be without food and drink, because God himself
will be our food and our drink. He alone is the food that restores us and never
fails.
Deliver me from bloods, O God, God of my salvation. He can address God in
this way because we are already within that salvation. Listen to the teaching of
the apostle: Jn hope we have been saved. And notice that he was speaking
precisely of bodily salvation: We groan inwardly as we await our adoption as
God's children, the redemption of our bodies, for in hope we have been saved.
But ifhope is seen, itis hope no longer, for when someone sees what he hopes for,
why should he hope for it? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it in
patience (Rom 8:23-25). This patience is characteristic of all who persevere to
the end.** They will be saved with the salvation which is not yet ours, but which
we will have one day. We do not yet possess the reality, but our hope is sure.#4
And then my tongue shall shout with joy of your justice.

Verses 17-19. Praise and true sacrifice

20. O Lord, you will open my lips, and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Your praise, because I have been created; your praise, because when I sinned I
was not abandoned; your praise, because I was warned to confess; your praise,
because I have been cleansed, so that I may not fret and fear.** You will open my
lips, and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
21. Ifyou had wanted a sacrifice I would certainly have offered it. David lived
at atime when animal sacrifices were customarily offered to God, but he foresaw
the future. Do we not recognize ourselves in these words of his? Those former
sacrifices were symbolic; they prefigured the one saving sacrifice. We have not
been left without any sacrifice to offer to God, for listen to what this man says as
he takes thought for his sin, and wants forgiveness for the evil thing he has done:
If you had wanted a sacrifice I would certainly have offered it; but you take no
pleasure in holocausts. Are we to offer nothing, then? Are we to approach God
like that? How shall we propitiate him? Offer sacrifice, yes; but what you must
offer you have within yourself. Do not purchase incense from somewhere else,

41. See | Cor 6:13.

42. See 1 Cor 15:54.
43. See Mt 10:22; 24:13.
44. Nondum est res, sed certa spes.
45. Some codices have “by which [praise]” instead of “because” throughout this sentence.
428 Exposition of Psalm 50

but say, The good things I have vowed to give you are within me, O God (Ps
55(56):12). Do not seek outside yourself some animal you can slay, for you have
something to kill inside yourself. A sacrifice to God is a troubled spirit. A
contrite and humbled heart God does not scorn.*® Bulls, he-goats and rams he
does indeed scorn, for it is no longer the right time for these to be offered. They
were presented as sacrifices when they prefigured something, when they prom-
ised something; but now that what was promised has come, the promises them-
selves are obsolete. A contrite and humbled heart God does not scorn. You know
that God is on high, but if you lift yourself high he will withdraw far away from
you; if you humble yourself, he will come near to you.

Verse 20. Zion the lookout post, Jerusalem the vision of peace

22. Now see who it is who has been speaking. At first it seemed to be one indi-
vidual, David, who was praying, but now recognize in him an image of ourselves
and a type of the Church. Jn your good will, O Lord, deal kindly with Zion. Deal
kindly with this Zion. For what is Zion? The holy city. And what is the holy city?
The city founded on a mountain, that cannot be hidden.*’ Zion is the lookout post
gazing toward something it longs for; the name Zion means “Lookout Post,” as
Jerusalem means “Vision of Peace.” If you are awaiting our future hope in full
confidence, and if you are at peace with God, you recognize yourselves in Zion
and in Jerusalem. And let the walls of Jerusalem be rebuilt, it continues. In your
good will, O Lord, deal kindly with Zion, and let the walls of Jerusalem be
rebuilt. Let Zion not attribute to herself any merits she may have; do you deal
kindly with her. Let the walls of Jerusalem be rebuilt. May the ramparts of our
immortality be built up in faith, and hope, and charity.

Verse 21. God’s fire

23. Then you will accept a sacrifice of righteousness. The sacrifice you offer
now is offered for sin; it consists of a troubled spirit and a contrite heart; but on
that future day you will offer a sacrifice of righteousness, an offering of pure
praise. Blessed are they who dwell in your house, Lord; they will praise you for
ever and ever (Ps 83:5(84:4)). That is a sacrifice of righteousness. Oblations and
holocausts. What are holocausts? Victims entirely consumed by fire. When the
animal was placed whole on the altar to be burnt, it was called a holocaust. May
the divine fire consume us entirely, may that heat seize the whole of us. What
heat do I mean? No one can hide from his heat (Ps 18:7(19:6)). What heat is that?
The heat mentioned by the apostle when he says, Ardent in spirit (Rom 12:11).

46. Variants: “he will not despise;” “do not despise.”

47. See Mt 5:14.
 Exposition of Psalm 50 429

May it not be our souls alone that are consumed by that divine flame of wisdom,
but our bodies too, that they may gain immortality through it. Let our holocaust
be so raised up to God that death may be swallowed up in victory.** Oblations
and holocausts. Then will they lay calves upon your altar. Why calves? Why
will he choose them? Perhaps they suggest the innocence of youth, or necks not
subjected to the yoke of the law?

Concluding exhortations on family discipline

24. In Christ’s name this psalm has now been fully dealt with, as best I could,
even though not as well as I would have liked. It remains for me to say a few
words to you, brothers and sisters, in view of the rampant evils among which we
live. As long as we must live in these human circumstances, there is no escaping
from them. We must live tolerantly among bad people, because when we were
bad ourselves, good people lived tolerantly among us. If we remember what we
were, we shall not despair of those who are now what we were then.
All the same, dearest friends, at a time when there is so much variation in
moral standards and such appalling decadence, keep strict control over your
homes. Rule your children, rule your households.* Just as it is our responsibility
to talk to you in church, so it is yours to dispose matters in your homes in such a
way that you may give a good account of those under you. God loves discipline.
It is a perverse and misguided innocence that loosens the reins in favor of sins. It
is very unhelpful, indeed extremely harmful, for a son to take advantage of an
easy-going father, only to find God’s severity later; and he will not be alone
when he finds it, but will-have his dissolute father for company. Why? If the
father does not commit the sins, and does not behave like his son, does that mean
he has no duty to restrain his son from that wicked conduct? Suppose the son
thinks that his father would behave likewise, were he not past it? The sin that you
do not object to in your son gives you vicarious pleasure. All you lack is youth,
not lust.
Above all, brothers and sisters, take care that your children grow up in the
faith, those children for whom you went surety so that they might be baptized. It
may be that a bad child has ignored a parent’s advice, or reproof, or severity.
Never mind; you fulfill your role, and leave God to fulfill his in the child’s
regard.

48. See 1 Cor 15:54.

49. Some codices read, “... your sons . . . your daughters.”
wz
 Index of Scripture

(prepared by Michael Dolan)

(The numbers after the scriptural reference refer to the section of the work)

Old Testament | Kings

19:8 49,9
Genesis
1:20 49,18 2 Kings
je 38.11 2:23 46,2
2:17 37,5; 37,26; 41,14
2:24 11,34,1; 37,6; 40,1
3:5 35,17 Tobit
3:19 40,6; 41,14; 46,13 4:16 35,1
4:10 39,13
4:15 39,13 Job

ge ae , 1:21 11,33,4; 11,36,10; 37,24

25:23 40,14; 46,6 ;
2:10 1,34,7
32:28
ee 49,14
eee ;
14:4-5, LXX mat
50,10
49:10 vl 15:26 45,13
BT 22 IUXxe 47S
Exodus
3:14 38,7; 38,22; 49,14 Psalms
12:46 11,33,24
22> 1:1 35,6
23:7,LXX —_11,36,20 112 30.14
1:2 111,36,5
Deuteronomy 1:4 1,34,9; 43,23-24
13:3 1,36,1 1:6 1,36,9
25:5 44,23 2:6-9 47,5
32:39 50.11 2:9 44,18; 47,15
2:10-11 47,5
muel 2:11 50,4,
1 Sa 3:1 1,33,2
ATE M3332 3:2-3(1-2) ——-1,34,5
21:12-15 BS3.22 135.2 3:5(4) 42,4: 44,33; 47,2
3:6(5) 40,10
2 Samuel 5:13(12) eae
,
12:1-4 50,8 6:8(7) 39,4
12:13
16:10
50,15
50.15
8:5(4)
10:2(11:1)
35,12
35,9
? 12:5(13:4) 37,22

43]
432 Index of Scripture

>)
14(15):5 III,36,6 39:18(40:17) 40,1
15(16):2 1,34,12; 49,19 40:5(41:4) 42,7
15(16):5 1,34,12; 1,36,4 42(43):1 49,13
16(17):13-14 1,34,2 42(43):5 11,33,19
17:4(18:3) 39,4 43:7(44:6) 45,13
17:26-27 43(44):23 1,34,3
(18:25-26) 44,17 44:3(45:2) 43,16
17:45 44:11(45:10) 47,7
(18:43-44) 44,25 45:2(46:1) 49,22
17:45(18:44) 45,6; 47,7 49(50):16 I11,36,20
18:2,5(19:1.4) 49,11 49(50):21 1134,12; 39,4
18:5(19:4) 39,10 49(50):23 39,4
18:6(19:5) 44,3 50:5(51:3) 44,18; 49,28
18:7(19:6) 45,13; 50,23 50:10(51:8) 38,4
18:13-14 50:11(51:9) 44,18
(912713) 35,17 23716338920 50:18-21
18:15(19:14) 1,34,15 (51:16-19) 49,15
21:2(22:1) 11,34,5; 37,6; 37,27; 40,6; 41,17 50:19(51:17) 41,17
21:2-3(22:1-2) 43,2 51241522). 134,11
21:5.7(22:4.6) 43,3 54:7(55:6) 38,2
21:8(22:7) 43,14 5423(05:22)) 39327
21:14(22:13) 40,12 55(56):12 49,21; 50,21
21:17-19 56:7(57:6) 50,15
(22:16-18) 1,34,6; 43,8 60:3(41:2) 39,28; 49,13
21:19(22:18) 37.6 61:12(62:11) 44,5
De23(22:2) 44,23 63:7-8(64:6) 41,13
21:27(22:26) 1,48,3 66:2-3(67:1-2) 39,18
21:28(22:27) 47,7 69:6(70:5) 49,30
21:30(22:29) 1,48,3 71(72):11 45,10; 47,7
22(23):5 35,14 VPAGEDEN 44,17
22:9(63:8) 43,25 72(73):16-17 41,9
23(24):3-4 47,2 72(73):26 1,34,12; 1,36,5
23(24):7.9 47,1 72(73):28 43,25
24(25):1 41,12 | Ors @7e2) 11,483
24(25):7 35,3 77(78):24-25 1,33,6
24(25):9 11,36,7 79:17(80:16) 38,2
25(26):9 47,11; 49,13 81(82):1 49,2
26(27):4 38,6; 41,5 81(82):6-7 49,2
26(27):9 44,18; 50,14 83:11(84:10) 1,48,2
26(27):10 45,11 83:5(84:4) 41,11; 42,4; 43,9; 50,23
26(27):12 40,8 84:9(85:8) 38,16; 49,23
26(27):14 11,36,4; 41,11 84:18(85:7) 39,18
30286122) 11,34,6; 37,12; 41,18 86(87):4 44,33
31(32):1 44,7 90(91):13 39,1
31(32):9 11,33,5; 42,6; 46,9; 1,48,16 91:15(92:14) III,36,4
32(33):5 35,7 93(94):20 38,17
33:2(34:1) 35,16; 11,4810 94(95):2 44.10
33:16(34:15) 39,2 95(96):4-5 492
33:17(34:16) 39,2: 50,14 95(96):5 47,15
34(35):3 38,20 LOO(101):5 11,34,13
35:7(36:6) 41,13; 41,14 101:38
35:10(36:9) 41,2 (102:27) 38,7
35:12(36:11) 38,2 107:6(108:5) 47,7
36(37)i2 11,48,4 109(110):4 33
36(37):23 49,30 DOG 7, 35.5
36(37):37 1,36,12 113B(115):8 46,11
38:7(39:5-6) 11,48,11 114(116):3-4 45,4; 49,22; 50,4
39:5(40:4) 38,11 114(116):6 38,17
 Index of Scripture 433

115(116):10 39,16 41,16

115(116):
12-13 35,14; 11,36,8 44,7
115(116):13 39,16
115(116):15 39,16; 40,1 50,12
117(118):22 39,1; 44,20; 47,3 45,6
118(119):57 1,34,12; 1.36.4 45,12; 47,5
118(119):71 38,17; 42,3423 49,11
119(120):2-5 44.8
120(121):1 509
120(121):1-2 39,6 35,8; 45,10
120(121):2 Bye, 49.4
121(122):7 47,13 14:13-14 47,3
123(124):1,3 11,34,15 23315 LAGX. 47,6
125(126):6 I1,36,7 26:13 39,28
129(130):1 39,3 26:18 47,5
129(130):3 42,7 29:13 LIS On 2 Sui S9os4 5:0:
49.18 11,48,1
138(139):8
43.26
AD ANE XO 11,34,12; 49,6
138(139):16
139:9(140:8) 111,36,13 48:22 38,16
37,18; 39,24 Sys} 11,34,10
141:5(142:4)
141:5(142:6) 1.34.6
| 2S 47,7
11,36, 14; I11.36,11 Ss 43,16; 44,3
141:6(142:5)
42,7 Soe 37,20
142(143):2
SERIES 40,13
143(144):
53:9 37,19
8,12-15 37,25
54:5 46,9
143(144):15 37,25
57:16-17 42,3
147:15 44.6
58:1 46,7
58:7 42,8; 49,13
Proverbs 58:9,10,7 42.8
21 TI1,36,5 65:24 42,8
3:11-12 57523
10:26, LXX 11,48,8 Jeremiah
17:6, LKXX 1,483
1:10 50,11
18:3 35,10; 39,3
2:29 42,7
19:17 II1,36,6
9:1 38,20
21:20 I,36,5
10:11 47,15
17:16 III,36,13
Song of Songs 23:24 39,27; 49,18
1:3 37,9; 44,22 31233 45,6
2D 47,8
Ea) .%,4 31,5 Baruch
4:8 LXX 1,33,10
3:38 47,15
6:9.5 44,26
8:6 47,13
Ezekiel
Wisdom 36:20 11,34,10
2a IIL,36,12
2:20,18 1,48,11 Daniel
2:24 50,9 ASS 45,12
5:3-4 11,48,4
5:8-9 II1,36,10 Hosea
9:15 35,1; 37,10
6:6 44,27; 49,12
Sirach
Jonah
10:14 37,8
47,2; 49,29 3:9 50,11
15:9
434 Index of Scripture

Micah 16:18 39,25

16:22 39275
4:1 45,6 16:22,23 1,34,8
4:2 45,12; 47,5 16:23 6225
17:19 45,6
18:3 44,1
18:10 43,16
19:4-6 37,6
New Testament 19:6 44,3
19:14 46,2
Matthew ENT 44,3
19:21 * 43,25
3:7-9 46,11 19:21.28 49,8
4:3,4 111,36,5 19:28 44,23
Se) 11,34,7 20:22 11,36,8; 37,16; 39,16
11,33,15; 35,14; 11,48,8 21:9 13355
35,15; 1,36,5; 39,21; 42,4; 21:38 40,1; 40,10
44,25 22:16 Bal
11,34,13; 43,1 22:16-17 11,34,11
44,33 22:18 134,11; 37517
44,29 22:29-30 43,16
39,5 22:42-46 1,33,6
11,36,1 23:2-3 111,36,20
39,4; 49,28 233s 39,15; 1,48,5; 49,23
44,29 23:13 37,20
49,12 24:12 37,14; 39,1
11,33,8; 35,5 24:13 1,36,7; 39,1; 39,3; 41,11; 42,3
44,27 24:19 39,28
38,12 24:22 39,28
11,48,2 24:23 39,1; 49,3
40,3 24:35 TII,36,11
1,33,1 24:40 1,36,2
43,18 29-21 38,5
11,34,2 25:26-27,30 38,5
39,23 25:34 35,5; 1,36, 10; 11,369; 44,24:
38,18 1,48,6; I1,48,4
38,18 25:34,35 49,13
46,12 25:34,41 89519
1 i NO 38,18 25:34,41,46 II1,36,6
1,36,11; 46,12 25:34-35.37.40.49,11
38,18 25:34-38 44,27
RD
OOWNN——44,27; 49,12
©
2339 1,36,2; 49,11; 49,20
2 woiS) 41,11; 42,3 25:35-36 40,2
10:24-25 40,8 25:35,37,40 III,36,6
10:28 11,36,3; I11,36,13; 40,2 25:40 38,12; 40,11; 148,16
10:30 111,36,13 25:41 35,5; 1,36,11; 37,3; 44,24;
10:34 44,11 1,48,6; 11,484
11:10 49,11 25:41.34.46 1,48,5
AES 11,33, 16; 1,48,2 25:42 136,237,538
7 44,27 25:42-43 37,6
12:48 44,12 25:44-45 37,6
13:28 40,4 26:26 IRS EHC,
14:28 39,9 26:28 11,34,11; 40,6; 42,7
15:8 45,6 27:37 46,4
1a 44,27 27:42 11,34,11; 44,1
15:26 37,1 27:46 IS 4593, 5/03 37,27 5 4 alge
15:28 44,27 49,5
16:16 49,2 28:10 44,23
16:16-23 11,34,6
 __ Index
of Scripture 435

11,36,17; 37,19 1,34,4

11,34, 12; 46,7; 47,14 1,34,4
1,48,5
49,2
1,33,6; 44,3; 49,5
Oo 35,9
44,7
35,9
44,20
44,20
tn
N 40,12
35,9; 50,13
SONDFYN-—OSO
COIN
COTES
feat
Fee
ee
bee
So
aA ee
Oe
ee,
ee 11,34,4
50,17
1,48,5
11,33,15; 11,48,8
ESS. Shllaoule
11,33,12
1,33,8
40,11
45,8
45,8
50,8
50,8
42,4
46,11
40,6
46,11
11,48,1; 11,48,7 44,12
I1,36,8 31,48,9 35,17; 11,36,17; 11,48,4
45.13 39,26
44,11 II,33,7; 40,10; 42,7
41,12 11,48,4
44,9 49,5
1,48,12 TII,36,15
1,48,9; 148,12 40,1
38,22 40,1
1,48,14; 49.9 40,1
39,27 39,18; 42,4; 1,48,6
49,30 37,11; 38,6
41,12 45,1
45,12 37,11; 44,3
43,16 11,34,5
43,16 Bille 7 los4o LO; 48.)
11,34,11; 40,12 50,9
40,12 40,8
39,25; 44,14 1,36,1; 38,3
46,4 47,14
S915 47,5
23:43 11,33,24; 1,34,14; 39,15 40,12
24:18-21 11,34,4 49,5
24:46-47 49.4 46,4
11,34,4
1,48,8
John
49,5
‘1 1,33,6; 35,1; 44,3; 49,1 11,48,5; 49,5
1-3 46,8 BI UT
1,14 44,20 11,36,8
3-4 44,5
436 Index of Scripture

on)
Acts 1 Corinthians
1:8 49,5 40,9
esti 46,7; 49,5 Bo
2:37-38 45,4 35,9; 44,23; 46,5
7:39 46,6 11,33,4
9:4 1,34,1; 37,6; 39,5; 44,20 44,20
9:6 44,16 47,1
9:13-16 11,36,5 49,27
10:13 11,34,15 1,36,1; 38,3; 49,27
27 11,33,22 44,20
13:46 35,8; 45,6; 45,10 85.9
17:18 45,7 1,36,2
17:28 I1,34,6 eles)
19:28 45,7 35,9
21:11 11,36,6 III,36,19; 41,13
Ailes II,36,6 47,4
529
Romans 44,23
II1,36,2; I11,36,20; 39,6
1:21 35,10; 35,18 Bubils
1772 35,10 BONS
35,10; 35,18 11,36,20
3519 49,10
49,28 SOM
11,34,10 13353
47,11 1,33,3
44,3 133:
42,5 133%3
11,36,6; 11,36,9 41,12
37,26; 44,3 43,21; 47,13
35,6; 50,3 1,33,10; 35,14; 1,48,5
42,7 44,1; 46,2
44,7
35,12
35,6 50,19
1,36,6; 42,7
50,19
11,34,3
15:53-54 35,6
50,10
40,3
11,36,8; I1,48,9 2 Corinthians
Sie) 25 37,9; 44,22
50,19 4:16 38,9
SHIESR Skt: 4:17-18 11,48,9
37,15 38,21
45,11 1,48,5
11,36,6 37,15
46,8 38,21
1,33,7; 47,3 111,36,13
38,14; 45,1 44,20
1,34,14; 39,15 NWO%L, 38,9
49,9 47,8
45,15; 46,3 AN
aoa
A =)
DDMNAaAannn1,48,3; 11,48,5
45,15 39,28; 40,1
50,23 III,36,7
11,36,1 42,8
11,33,1 49,27
47,1 11,34,10
49,9
Shh
 Index of Scripture 437

LE27 I1,33,17; U1,36,2 2 Thessalonians

12:9-10 45,13
12:10 38,18 3:6 11,36,20
12211 I11,36,18
12:15 11,36,6 | Timothy
39,3; 50,6
Galatians 45,13
49,31
47,1
40,3
I11,36,20; 39,6
1,48,3
44,28; 1,48,9
SNHohwo

39,1
oS
44,9
EN
VON
BN
Pe
ee
de
OO tf
mON
De
He
ee
aR
47,8
II,36,12
Ephesians 11,36,12
593
393

1,34,4
45,12; 11,48,4 1,34,4
1,48,6
37,6 Hebrews
11,34,1; 40,1
37,6; 44,12 12:5-6 B28)
b WW
0O
hd
mW
DMN
nnnn 134.4 12:6 I1,36,4
8:10 45,6

1 Peter
49,23
44,32 2:4 44,20
44,12 5:8 49,29
1,33,6 21223 37,26
40,1
595 2 Peter
38,8 2:20 11,48,1
38,6; 38,14
39,3
1 John
38,14
11,48,2 1:8 38,14
46,7 2:1-2 11,36,20
49,11 3:1-2 49,2
Be, 1,33,10; 11,36,8; 37,15; 43,5
Colossians 5:19 1,34,4
2S 40,2
Revelation
3:1-3 39,28
3:3-4 1,36,3; 43,5; 11,48,3 5:5 49,29
3:4 1,36,7 10:10 43,25
35) 39,8 19:16 44,23

1 Thessalonians
Def 49,27
5217 37,14
 Index

(prepared by Joseph Sprug)

The first number in the Index is the Psalm number.

More than one Exposition is cited by the number in parentheses, for example (2)
The number after the colon is a paragraph number.

Aaron, 33(1):5,6,7; 33(2):2 ancestors, 48(2):11

abandon (-ed; -ment) angel(-s), 33(1):6; 33(2):3,9,19,22;
God's apparent decision, 43:3 34(1):9,13; 35:12; 36(1):10; 36(2):16;
Lord has taken me up, 45:11 36(3):4; 38:15; 41:9; 42:4,5; 44:4,20;
Abessalon, 33(1):2; 50:15 45:11; 46:2,7; 49:11,12
Abimelech, 33(1):3,4,6,7; 33(2):2,2 source ofjoy, 43:16
Abraham, 33(2):17,25; 34(1):10; 36(3):1,2; those who fear God and, 33(2):11
39:15; 42:7; 44:13,15; 46:13 Why stand here gazing up .. ., 49:5
his children imitate his faith, 46:11 anger, 33(2):5; 36(1):9; 36(2):2; 37:7
Lazarus and the rich man, 48(1):10; animal(-s), 46:1
48(2):1 all belong to God, 49:17
promised offspring, 46:11 gentle, 33(2):5
self-knowledge, 43:19-20 good things given to by God, 35:13
tested by God, 36(1):1 privileges of human beings and, 35:12
two sons (=covenants) , 33(1):3 sacrifice prefigured the one s. , 50:21
Absalom, See Abessalon. % salvation, 35:11,12
abyss, 35:10,18; 41:15 subject to human beings, 48(1):16
accusation: false, 34(1):11; 38:3 anointing: kings and priests; locality, 44:19
Achis, King of Gath, 33(1):2,4,7,8,11; oil poured on stone by Jacob, 44:20
Soe 11) te your God has anointed you, O God, 44:19
acrobat, 39:9 ants, 36(2):11
actor, 39:9 industry: summer and winter, 41:16;
Adam and Eve, 34(2):3; 35:12,17; 36(1):10; 48(1):12
37:5,15,33; 38:9; 44:10; 47:9; 48(1):3,6; anxiety, 36(3):12; 37:3; 41:12; 45:3; 50:18
48(2):2,11 Apocalypse, 49:9
iniquity derived from, 50:10 apostasy, 50:18
sleep; figure of Christ’s death, 40:10 apostles, 35:8; 36(2):20; 44:32; 45:4,7,8; 46:4;
adoption, 41:11 47:14
adultery, 49:25; 50:2,10 Christ shouted through, 48(1):2
adultress; Jews try to trap Jesus, 50:8 Christ’s neighbors, 37:17
adversity, 50:4 churches begotten by, 44:23
affection, 33(1):9; 33(2):2,16 fearful at Christ’s passion, 37:17
for sin, 35:1 first Christian community, 44:28
subordinate to the will, 44:23 friends of the Bridegroom, 35:9
affliction, 36(3):7 Lord, show us the Father, 38:6
Agabus, 36(2):6
raised offspring for Christ, 44:23
alms, 36(3):6,7; 44:27,28; 48(1):9,16; 49:12
their sound went forth throughout. . .,
fasting; good will, 42:8
39:10
pride and, 44:29
twelve thrones, 49:9
altar: J will go in to God’s altar, 42:5
Arius, 35:9
Amalek, 43:10
armies, 43:10
Ananias, 36(2):5

439
440 Index

Sy a
armor: spiritual and invisible, 34(1):2 harvest, 36(3):7
arrogance, 45:13 temporal goods, 48(2):8
arrow(-s), 37:5; 39:16; 44:16 blind(-ness), 36(1):5; 36(2):8; 40:9; 43:14
art: lapses of taste, 34(2):2 carnally-minded persons and, 38:3
as if (usage) , 48(2):5 healed man cursed by Jews, 39:26
astrology, 40:3 spiritual; eyes clogged by many sins,
Athenians, 45:7
attitude: called “foot”, 35:18 blood: Cain, 39:13
Augustine, Saint: plural usage (Greek) , 50:19
confesses his bad life, 36(3):19 shedding, 44:27
slander against, 36(3):19 boasting, 38:18; 43:9; 49:31
avarice, 36(3):11; 38:12 What have you that you did not receive,
47:4
Babylon, 44:25 body and soul:
baby-talk, 33(1):11
See also human body; soul
Bagai, 36(2):20,22
bald man, 44:1 ruled and ruler, 41:7
baptism, 36(3):19; 41:1; 43:15; 44:23; 47:8 soul weighed down by body, 37:10; 38:3;
forgiveness of sins, 41:12; 45:4; 50:10 41:10
life after, 50:1 whole human person, 37:11
repetition of, 36(2):23; 39:1; 44:11 body of Christ, See Church.
bones, 37:6; 41:18
sins after, 48(2):1
Barnabas, 33(2):19 humbled bones will dance for joy,
Bathsheba, 50:2 50:13,14
battle, 35:6 Lord, who is like you, 34(1):13,14
beard: saliva dribbling down, 33(1):11 safeguarded, 33(2):24
strength, 33(1):11; 33(2):4 term = the righteous of the Lord’s body,
beatific vision: face-to-face clarity, 43:5 34(1):14
beauty, 36(2):13; 39:8; 49:4 bow (as ambush) , 45:13
inner face: conscience, 44:29 bow: broken to pieces, 36(2):3
justice as supreme b. , 44:3 bread, 48(2):10
of creation, 41:7 righteousness, 48(2):8
ofjustice, 41:7; 44:14 word of God, 36(3):5
Word made flesh, 44:3 breast, 33(1):6; 38:3; 49:27
bedding, 40:5 praying and, 34(2):5
beggars, 36(3):1,2,5; 42:8; 48(1):3; 48(2):5 symbol of secrecy, 34(2):5
being: bride:
IAM WHO AM, 38:7,22 beauty (Song of Songs) , 44:26
non-being and, 38:22 Queen has taken her place. . ., 44:24
when to say something “is”, 38:7 | Bridegroom:
believer, 41:5 beauty of, 44:3
God knows my heart, 39:17 children of Korah, 41:2; 46:2
Lord, who is like you, 34(1):14 friend of, 50:13
righteous, 39:6 synagogue as mother of, 44:12
belly, 43:23-24,25 Word of God, 44:7
Bible: brother: slandering his brother, 49:27
opening roofed-over texts, 36(3):3 bruises, 37:9
ruminating on, 36(3):5 building:
sudden changes of speakers in, 44:8 inspection of trees used for, 45:3
two Testaments in agreement, 49:4 plan, 44:4
words laden with mystery, 46:1 business, 35:5; 36(1):2; 38:3
birds:
born from water at God’s command, 49:18 Caecilian, 36(2):19,21,22
knowledge about all birds, 49:18 Caiaphas, 40:1
bishops: successors of apostles, 44:32 Cain, 40:14; 48(2):11
blasphemy, 34(2):2; 36(1):9; 36(3):3; 44:9; cursed and banished from earth, 39:13
50:15 calf, golden, 34(2):15
blessed: on earth and in heaven, 40;3 Calvary, 46:2,3
blessing, 48(1):17 Korah, 41:2; 43:1; 44:1; 45:1
good will, 36(2):14 calves, sacrifice of, 50:23
Canaanite woman, 37:1; 44:27
 Index 44]

Carthage, 36(2):19,20; 44:23; 47:6 not I, but Christ lives in me, 39:27
cataracts, 41:13,14 obey the commandments, 36(1):8
catechumens, 41:1 ourselves as weapons in, 34(1):2
Catholic Church, 36(2):11,20; 36(3):20; paths of the undefiled, 36(2):7
39:16; 43:21; 44:32 proclaim; suffer; glorify, 39:15
celebration, 41:9; 43:13 seeking: imitate Christ’s sufferings, 37:18
centurion:
sell all you possess .. ., 49:8
asks Christ to heal his servant, 46:12
sufferings of Christ and, 36(2):16,17
Zam not worthy, 38:18
traveler and lodger, 38:21
certainty: prophets and future events, 43:8
Wait for the Lord, 36(3):14
human condition beset with uncertainties,
| Christians, 45:7,8; 47:8
38:19
begotten children, 44:23
chaff, 34(2):10; 36(3):19; 40:8; 47:8; 49:13
chance, 36(1):3 children of Korah, 41:2
change, 38:22; 41:12; 44:2 elder shall serve the younger, 46:6
charioteer, 33(2):6; 39:9,11 enemies of Christianity, 43:6-7
charity, 33(2):1; 36(1):3; 36(2):1,13; 44:33; fear of proclaiming aloud, 39:16
46:10,13; 48(2):3 Gentile origin, 44:12
always sull owing, 36(3):18 good seed, 42:2
Bear one another's burdens, 41:4 persecuted, 34(2):8
chilling; blazing, 37:14 subordinate to apostles, 46:5
Christ receives when given to the poor, taunted, 43:10
36(3):6 Church, 33(1):6; 34(1):10; 35:9; 39:8,28;
help for least of Christ’s brothers, 37:6; 42:4; 46:5; 49:11,27
48(1):16 See also Catholic Church; persecution
I was hungry and you fed me, 44:27 almsgiving, 44:28
law and growing cold, 38:5 apostles and, 44:32
running to Christ with, 33(2):10 ascension of Christ and, 49:5
chastening, 37:3 betrothed to one husband, 49:9
chastisement, 38:17,18 beware the foot of pride, 35:18
chastity, 33(2):6; 50:5 bones = the righteous, 34(1):14
cheating, 49:26 bride of Christ the Bridegroom, 44:3,33
making friends from sinful mammon, bride: 7am wounded with love, 37:5
48(1):12 Christ speaks in person of his body, 37:6;
childlikeness, 44:1; 46:2 40:1
children: Christ: Head and body, 34(2):1
follow parents’ example, 48(1):14 Christ’s voice in his members, 34(1):1;
growing up in faith, 50:24 39:5; 40:6
heirs, 48(1):14 city founded upon a mountain, 44:33
mourning over death of, 37:24 creation: the second day, 47:1
storing up wealth for, 38:12 cursing, 48(2):10
children of God, 33(1):10; 43:5; 47:8; 49:2 daughters of Tyre, 44:28
inheritance of, 36(2):8 earth where blood has been received,
key: God as lovable, 49:2 39:13
whips used by God on, 36(3):9; 40:6 enemies ask: When will his name
choice: ceases on judgment day, 36(1):1 disappear, 40:1,7
chrism, 44:20 Eve, mother of the living, 40:10
Christ (the word) everyone magnify the Lord, 33(2):6
meaning = anointed, 44:19 gleaming white robe of Transfiguration,
Christian life: 50:12
brothers of Christ, 48(1):8 good and evil mingled in, 34(1):10
Christ, the end of our journey, 45:1 growing/filling the entire world, 47:2
Christ’s way, 36(2):16 holy milk at breast of, 38:3
falling occurs in the heart, 44:16 integrity, 49:9
hidden with Christ in God, 36(1):3; 39:28; Jacob’s ladder and, 44:20
48(2):3 land of the Lord, 36(1):4
I live my own life no longer, 49:31 leaders, 39:6
love and fear as guides, 39:20 lesson learned from its Head, 44:15
made new by imitating his passion, 37:27 love the unity of, 33(2):6
narrow path, 43:17 lying witnesses against, 36(2):18
442 Index

members, hold fast to the Head, 40:8 consolation: comfort froin’ material things,
members: all the righteous since world 36(2):10
began, 36(3):4 conspiracy, 40:9
mouth and belly, 43:25 contemplation, 38:6; 43:16
one body, one voice: Christ, 34(2):1 to live in the Lord’s house, 41:5
conversion (moral), 36(2):11; 49:28
persecuted, 34(1):14
saints as garments of, 44:22 dishonesty in searching, 35:3
Saul, why are you persecuting me, 37:6 Forgetting what lies behind, 39:3
single voice with Christ, 37:6 God’s word and correcting life, 49:1
sins of Christ’s body, 37:6 impious people, 50:18
sleek old age, 36(3):4 name of Christ, 40:13
sound gone forth through all the earth, 39:15 numbers beyond reckoning, 39:10
speaker, as a single body, 41:1 old self into a new self, 44:2
spread through the nations, 36(3):4; 44:30 opportunity for, 39:28
suffering in Head and body, 37:16 persecution and, 34(1):8
suffering of Christ as example for, 34(2):1 praise God for, 39:26
suffers what Christ suffered, 40:8 converts, 43:22; 44:23
temple of the King, 44:31 cornerstone, 47:3,5
correction, 48(2):9; 49:30
temptations, 41:19
covenant:
tent, 41:9
Abraham’s two sons, 33(1):3
two in one flesh (with Christ) , 37:6; 40:1;
new, 45:6,10
44:12
Old and New, 35:12
voice of Christ’s body, 34(1):1
coveting, 39:7,28; 41:3; 48(1):3
weakness of Christ’s body, 37:22 creatiom
widespread through all nations, 36(3):4 absolutely gratis, 43:15
circumcision, 33(1):7; 44:12; 47:3,11
all good found in Creator, 44:4
city of God, 45:10; 47:2,3,4,7
all present in Word of God, 44:5
cleanliness, 33(2):8
clothe the naked, 36(3):8 all things belong to Creator, 49:17
clothing: sweet scents, 44:22 birds, 49:18
cloud, 35:8,12; 36(2):12; 45:15 Church as work of the second day, 47:1
God thundered from, 45:10,13 Come and see the deeds of the Lord,
come (the word): meaning: believe, 45:12 45:12
commandment, 39:21; 40:4; 41:3; 45:6; 47:9; God’s wisdom in the Word, 49:18
49:6,9 in God we have all that was made, 34(1):12
earthly promises, 34(1):7 love Creator in creature, 39:8
harmony with, 42:5 Maker is to remake his work, 38:17
pain as God’s precept, 38:17 second day: the firmament, 47:1
compassion, 33(1):9; 49:22 signs of things to come, 47:1
complacency, 50:4 Take your scourges away, 38:16
compunction, 50:11 Creator: finding God, 41:7
conduct, 38:3; 50:15 cross:
confession: boasting of, 44:3
everlasting, 44:33 instrument of healing, 43:14
gift of the Spirit, 50:16 insults to, 46:2
praise of God, 34(2):10 new sacrifice, 33(1):6
secret sins, 37:16 tree of salvation, 39:15
shame, 39:16 crowds: not to be imitated, 39:7
sins purged by, 42:7 crucifixion:
conscience, 33(2):8; 34(2):2; 35:5; 36(2):10,11; See also under Jesus Christ
38:22; 45:11; 49:1,9; 28 abolished as human punishment, 36(2):4
beauty of, 44:29 abomination, 37:26
consolation, 36(2):10 drummed, 33(1):9
dare to approach God, 33(2):11 legs of the two thieves broken, 33(2):7
guilty, 45:3 old nature crucified with Christ, 40:6
nothing more interior than, 45:3 three men on crosses, 34(2):1
sin and God’s absence from, 45:3 cruelty: mothers; doctors, 33(2):20
witness, when God is judge, 37:21 curse, 34(2):2; 39:26; 40:9; 43:14; 48(1):17;
48(2):10
Cyprian, Saint, 36(3):13
 Index 443

| delight, 36(1):4,12; 39:3; 41:3,10; 50:13

damnation, 43:18; 48(1):6,7; 50:5 deliverance, 48(2):5
dance, 47:11 demon, 34(1):6; 42:4; 46:2,11; 47:3
Daniel (prophet) , 42:4; 44:33; 45:12; 47:2 Christ accused of having, 48(2):4
darkness, 33(2):10; 36(1):6; 47:1; 48(2):4 gods of the heathen, 49:2,6
David, King, 33(1):2,4,6; 33(2):2; 33(2):2; You are the Son of God, 49:2
34(1):1,4,9; 37:2; 46:8; 50:2,3,6 | depth (the word) , 41:13
See also Saul, King | desire, 34(1):12; 34(2):4,6; 36(1):4; 36(3):13;
Against you alone have I sinned, 50:9 38:6; 39:3; 41:3,5,6; 42:2
animal sacrifices, 50:21 all is before God, 37:14
conceived in iniquity, 50:10 earthly, 50:15
cursed, 50:15 eternal, not temporal, goods, 43:2
feigned insanity, 33(1):2,3,8; 33(2):4,12 for incorruption, 50:19
just punishment of, 50:15 humans and animals, 35:12
Nathan's parable, 50:8 Make known to me my end, 38:10
type of the Church, 50:22 despair, 36(2):11; 50:5,7
Your sin is forgiven, 50:11,15,18 devil, 33(1):4; 33(2):14; 34(1):7,15; 35:17;
day(-light), 47:1 $6(3)'5513515;-3723738:155118,21,22:
as prosperity, 41:6,16 39:3; 40:9; 41:10,18; 44:1,25; 45:7;
dead: 47:3,9; 50:4
bodily concerns, 48(2):7 See also demon; Satan; serpent
sleeper, rise from the dead, 45:12 children of, 44:12
spirits; grave-cults, 48(1):15 corrupting the mind, 39:1
deaf, 38:16 death and, 48(2):2
carnally-minded persons and, 38:3 deceives by praising Christ, 40:4
fear of speaking, 38:4 earthly needs and, 40:4
humiliated, 38:4 human enemy, 40:4
death, 34(1):1; 39:20; 41:13; 43:18,21; 47:13; lord of death, 50:9
50:19 persecutions of the Church, 40:1
bowed down to the very end, 37:10 roaring lion, 49:29
called ‘sin’, 34(2):3 ruler of this world, 34(1):4
certainty of, 38:19 temporal prosperity and, 40:4
corporal and spiritual, 48(2):2 worship in present life, 40:3
curse inflicted on first parents, 37:26 Diana, 45:7
day of, is hidden, 34(1):14 Dido, 47:6
devil, lord of, 50:9 dignity, 48(1):16
Earth you are. . ., 46:13 Head and body of the Church, 37:6
fear of, 48(1):6 disciples:
making-alive is promised us, 40:3 crucifixion and loss of hope, 46:7
mortal body carried with us, 37:5 man whose sight was restored, 39:26
nearness of your own last day, 36(1):10 discipline, 49:24; 50:24
pain: sinners and the righteous, disease, 47:4
dishonesty, 33(2):14
33(2):25,26
dissimilarity, 34(2):6
punishment due to flesh, 50:10 distress, 36(2):16; 37:13
shepherd of unbelievers, 48(2):2,3,4 divinization, 35:14
soul troubled by imminence of, 42:7 doctor, See physician.
temporal goods left behind, 48(2):7 Donatists, 33(2):7,19,22; 36(3):18,19,20
untimely extinction, 48(1):11 Donatus, 33(2):7; 35:9; 36(2):22,23
when he sees the wise dying, 48(1):11 donkey: gentleness, 33(2):5
when you die, you will not be dead, dream, 48(2):5,7
36(3):15 drum: crucifixion, 33(1):9; 33(2):2
You fool... this very night. . ., 48(2):1,7 drunkenness, 35:14
debt: anxiety, 45:3 dust, 34(1):9; 43:25
condign punishment for debtor, 45:3 dwelling, 48(1):2
decadence, 50:24
deceit, 39:26 ears: Let anyone... listen, 48(1):2
deer: earth, 45:15
longs for springs of water, 41:1,10 hands of the ungodly, 36(3):13
rest their heads on each other, 41:4 earthlings, 48(1):3
snakes killed by, 41:3 he has summoned all the earth, 49:3
444 Index

y
land of the dying, 36(3):11 example: he
righteous will possess, 36(3):11 children and parents, 48(1):14
trembled with rising of Christ, 36(2):17 lapse of the great, 50:3,5
eat, 48(1):3 preachers, 36(3):20
ecstasy, 34(2):6; 37:12 existence: true being, 38:7
Egypt, 43:2; 46:6 extinction: death seen as, 48(1):11
elect: numerous, 47:9 eye, 41:7
Elijah, 33(2):17 disease, 39:21
Elisha: children jeered at, 44:1; 46:2 sight, 36(3):15
emptiness, 38:10,11 wanton glances, 50:3
end of the world: Woe betide those. . ., 39:28
endurance, 33(2):24; 39:28; 42:3,5; 43:1,17; faith, 33(1):10; 33(2):2,10,25; 35-12 56() EE
45:1 36(2):3; 36(3):8,14; 37:15; 38:9,18;
people who hate, 36(2):1 39:9,15; 41:5,13; 43:16; 44:13; 49:7
suffering and, 36(2):6 anger and, 36(1):9
enemies, 40:13; 41:18; 42:4; 43:10,11,13; believing we shall come to see, 44:25
44:16; 49:26 brought to life by, 49:5
commanded to love, 39:21 centurion’s trust, 46:12
confounded and awed, 34(1):8 children growing up in, 50:24
curse, 43:14 children of Abraham, 46:11
empty accusations by, 37:25 Christ dwells in heart through, 45:5
enjoined to pray for, 34(1):8; 37:4 cleansing the heart, 44:25
gloating, 37:22,23 diversity of languages, 44:24
God will toss them like straw, 43:6-7 embarrassed to proclaim in public, 39:16
hate without reason, 37:25 forgetting: Christ goes to sleep, 34(1):3
invisible warfare, 34(1):4 heading for a fall, 38:14
Let them be thrust back . . ., 39:26 healing, before Christ, 36(3):4
loving to limit of strength, 39:1 heaven and, 48(2):2
of truth, 36(2):12 inheritance to last forever, 36(2):8
prayer of praise to God for, 39:4 interior eyes, 36(2):8
some flatter, some insult, 39:26 invisible, 38:10
united in conspiracy, 40:9 jeering at believers, 48(2):3
enigma, 48(1):5 Jesus and the stormy sea, 34(1):3
enlightenment: justice hidden in my heart, 39:17
Arise, sleeper, rise from the dead, 48(2):4 listen first, see later, 47:7
entertainments, 39:9
made new by, 39:18
envy, 49:30
moving mountains, 45:6
of the prosperous, 36(1):9
righteousness and, 36(1):6; 39:27; 50:18
secret, 36(1):9
seeing good in others, 33(2):15
wicked people, 36(1):3
Show us the Father, 37:11
Esau, 46:6
eternal fire spiritual armor, 34(1):2
threats of, 49:7 support for the heart, 33(2):24
eternal life, 33(1):9; 34(1):1; 36(3):8,11,13; united with God, 33(2):9
S723 sal Sr42:4743 7244245213 wavering: too difficult, 40:4
beatitude, 36(2):4 you see if you believe, 45:12
kingdom we are to receive, 36(3):6 faithful, the:
One thing I have begged. .., 41:5 God’s tent on earth, 41:9
promise: May the Lord keep him safe, 40:3 living stones, 44:31
eterna] punishment: numbers beyond reckoning, 39:10
weeping and gnashing of teeth, 36(1):11 sons of men, 48(1):3
eucharist: false accusations, 40:8
bread of angels, 33(1):6 by enemies, 37:25
How can this man give his flesh to eat, made against Christ, 36(2):17; 37:19
B52) a2, family: oppositions in household, 44:11
humility; salvation, 33(1):6,10 famine, 33(2):17
scandal, 33(1):8 fantasies, 37:11
Eve, 40:10; 47:9; 48(1):6 fasting, 43:16
See also Adam and Eve almsgiving related to, 42:8
evil-doer: does harm to self, 34(1):11 lunching on prayers, 42:8
 Index 445

temptation of Christ, 34(2):3 fraud, 33(2):14

fate, 40:6 freedom, 34(1):15
father: frogs, 45:10
household opposition, 44:11 fruit(-s), 48(2):4
son and, 50:24 funeral: grandiose, for rich man, 48(1):13;
fear, 41:14,18; 47:6; 50:13 48(2):1
chaste, 38:10 furnace, 36(3):9
face of God, 50:16 the three young men in, 33(2):22
Justice; guide, 39:20 | future:
of proclaiming, 39:16 all things are present with God, 49:18
of saying something bad, 38:4 certainty of outcomes, 43:10
Peter’s heart, 39:23 meaning of in store, 36(3):15
righteous will fear and be afraid, 39:6 prophets refer to as if past, 43:8
source of sin, 38:2 prudent provision for, 48(1):12
suffering, 36(2):17 speaker sees as present, 49:12
those who kill body, not the soul, 36(3):13 future life:
fear of God: See also eternal life; heaven
Christ teaches, 33(2):18 bodily needs in, 50:19
lacking in sinners, 35:2 face-to-face with God, 43:5
Lord’s angel will deliver, 33(2):11 glory; inheritance, 36(2):8
nothing lacking to those who fear, God correcting a person in this life, 50:15
33(2):14 God’s promise, 40:3
feast day, 41:9 reward, 36(2):16
feet, 38:2
charity, 33(2):10 Gaius Seius, 33(2):13
Felician of Musti, 36(2):20,22 generations: ancestors and children, 48(1):15
fight, 35:6 generosity, 36(2):13
finished (the word) , 45:1 Gentiles, 33(1):7; 33(2):2,10; 35:8: 43:12;
fire, 34(1):11; 37:3; 40:12; 49:7 44:16,25: 45:6,8,10,15: 46:3,5,9;
I have come to set fire. . ., 45:13 47:3,6,14
firmament companions of the north, 47:3
children of, 47:1 first to understand the prophets, 47:7
people worthy to be named, 47:1,8 Tyre as symbol of, 44:27
first-born: rights of, 46:6 gentle people, 36(1):12
fish: one hundred and fifty-three;.49:9 gentleness, 33(2):5; 44:15
flattery, 39:26; 49:1,26 gifts:
fleece, 45:10 from Christ, 36(2):14
flesh: God has given what you are to return to
cravings of, 36(1):5 him, 44:9
infirmity, 40:5 God the author of all, 45:15
no power to speak, 42:6 temporal and eternal, 35:7
persecutors, 36(3):13 treasures in heaven, 44:27
thigh as, 44:13 what was not received from God, 44:7
Two in one flesh (Church) , 40:1 withdrawn by God, 34(1):6
Florentius of Hadrumetum, 36(2):20 glory, 36(1):3; 44:29; 48(2):7; 49:22; 50:15
food, 50:19 future; inheritance, 36(2):8
foolishness, 33(2):4; 39:8 hope, 37:5
foot of pride, 35:17,18 sufferings, 36(2):9
forbearance, 36(2):1 way of Christ’s lowliness, 37:16
forgiveness: cool refreshment, 38:22 gluttony: Esau, 46:6
forgiveness of sin, 41:12 goal: future life, 38:6
bad conscience, 45:3 God:
catechumens, 41:1 See also Holy Spirit; Jesus Christ; Trinity;
Christ as blasphemer, 36(3):3 ungodly
hidden; unseen, 50:11 acknowledged in her houses, 47:4
hope, 50:5 all things past and future are with God,
praise God for, 39:26 49:18
trust in God, 33(2):26 anger, 37:3,5
fortitude, 42:3 armor of, 34(1):2
Fortunatus, 36(2):20 attributes, 34(1):7; 35:13
fountain of life, 41:2
446 Index

author of all his gifts, 45:15 silence of, 34(2):12

avenger, 49:28 soul athirst for, 41:5
Be still and see that I am God, 45:14 spoke only one Word, 44:5
cares for all equally, 45:9 strikes and heals, 50:11
coming near to, 34(2):6 supporter, 45:11,13,15
confinement in place, 45:9 taunt: Where is your God, 41:6,10,19
everything found in Him, 36(1):12 testimony: J am your God, 49:14
face of, 50:16 the true “is”, 38:7
faithful in his promises, 39:3 thinking of, as depraved, 44:17
finding fault with, 44:17 throne in human hearts, 45:9;, 46:10
finding God, 41:7 tongue and scribe’s pen, 44:6,10
forgetting, 49:29 united with, in faith, 33(2):9
glory, 39:4 watching the wicked, 33(2):21; 35:3
God’s anointing of God, 44:19 godless, 47:3
goodness of, 41:12 persecution of the righteous, 34(1):14
gracious countenance, 45:9 seed will perish, 36(3):10
hearts far from, 48(2):1 gods, 46:9,13
his speaking is eternal, 44:5 distinction among them, 49:2
hunger, 49:19 God as maker of, 49:1
invisible realities of, 41:2,8 God as source of terror to, 49:2
judgment(-s), 47:11 shall die as mortals die, 49:2
deep, 41:13,14 stone, 41:6
Just, 36(3):9 gold, 36(1):12; 44:24
justice and mercy, 35:10; 44:18 refined from straw, 36(1):11
justice of his wrath, 37:7 Goliath, 33(1):2,3,4,10
unerring judgment, 34(1):9 good and evil:
unfathomable abyss, 41:14 See also sin; wickedness
of wrongdoing, 42:7 fear of finding one’s own iniquity, 35:3
king has desired your beauty, 44:26,27 found in all worldly activities, 36(1):2
king you are marrying, 44:26 God’s bounty shared by all people, 42:2
knowledge: innocence of evil, 46:2
knows us; yet he tests us, 36(1):1 intention related to, 39:26
of things before they were created, 49:18 mingled in the Church, 34(1):10
secret and supreme, 49:18 paths: broad or narrow, 39:6,7
light and spring, 41:2 people: just and unjust, 36(2):1
love for us, 34(1):12 restrain tongue from evil, 33(2):18
I will show myselfto him, 37:11 threshing-floor, 47:9
loyalty required by, 49:15 turn from evil; do good, 33(2):19;
mercy, See mercy. 36(3):8
miraculous interventions, 43:4 good example: good lives, 50:1
no beginning; new for us, 39:4 good fortune: praise God for, 48(2):9; 50:15
nothing comparable to, 34(1):13
good thief, 34(1):14; 39:15
good will, 35:1
omnipresence, 34(2):6; 39:27; 44:20; 49:18
ladders and wings, 38:2
our food and drink, 50:19
treasure of the poor, 36(2):13
petitions for temporal goods, 43:2
good works, 36(1):8; 41:9; 46:10;
possessed for our enrichment, 34(1):12 48(1):9,16; 48(2):3; 49:22,31
possession; possessed, 36(1):4
All nations, clap your hands, 46:3
power manifested, 45:9; 49:18
Do good, and live in the land, 36(1):4
praising God by doing all things well,
honor of God; in public, 44:29
34(2):16
pride, 44:29
prayer to, See prayer.
rich in, 44:28
promises deferred, 39:2 weary of doing, 36(3):2,7
refuge and strength, 45:2-3,4,7,13
works of the godless will perish, 36(3):10
reign over all nations, 46:10 goodness
seeking a reality above the soul, 41:8 fallen silent even for good words, 38:4
seeking Him in material creatures, 41:8 imitation of the good, 39:6
seen by the pure of heart, 42:4 thank God for, 49:30
seen only with the mind, 41:7
 Index 447

gospel: beauty of, 49:4 cleansing, 44:25; 50:12

governing: lowly status as subject to, 48(1):2 contrite and humble, 50:21
grace, 35:10; 36(1):3; 38:2; 42:7; 43:26; Create a clean heart in me... ., 50:15
44:7,17; 45:10,11,13; 47:3,4,8; 49:9,31; cross in, 50:1
50:18 cursing in, 48(1):17
bedews your lips, 44:7,8,10,17 ears of the, 48(1):2
confessing weakness, 38:18 eyes of the, 33(2):15
deified by, 49:2 faith awakened in, 45:5
given gratis, 49:31 faith hidden in, 39:17
gratuitous worship, 43:15,16 fixed on this earth, 37:10
heaven = the concern of, 44:8 God knows the heart, 36(1):2
punishment as, 38:17 God’s innermost being, 44:5
grass, 48(2):3 God’s throne in, 45:9
gratitude, 36(2):13; 39:3
home on this earth, 39:28
grave-cults, 48(1):15
honoring with the lips, 36(3):12
greatness, 38:8; 39:6
greed, 34(1):12; 38:11; 48(1):2 humble: God will not scorn, 49:15
loves unity, 39:28 incapable of knowing itself, 39:23
source of sin, 38:2 insincerity, 39:16
unchecked, 39:7 name of God on lips only, 48(2):1
grief: death ofa child, 37:24 overflows with a good word, 44:4,8
groaning, 34(2):6; 37:13,14; 43:2 peace: bedroom of the heart, 35:5
grumbling, 48(1):1 petitions of, 36(1):5
guile, 49:26,27 precious jewels of virtue in, 33(2):15
guilt, 36(2):3,22; 44:18; 50:13 proclaiming with the lips only, 39:15
rumination in, 46:1
hair, 38:12 secrets of, 43:19-20,21
hands: Clap your hands . . ., 46:3,9,12 serpent’s word, or word of God, 48(1):1
happiness, 33(2):3; 35:7; 41:9; 49:22 throbbing, 37:15
earthly; non-worshipers, 48(1):1 throne of Christ in, 46:10
earthly; true, 36(3):14 treasure and, 48(2):2
eternal, 36(2):16 true wealth in, 37:24
everlasting confession, 44:33 uplifted, 39:28
God went up amid shouts of joy, 46:7 upright, 35:16; 50:15
love of good days, 33(2):17 virginity of, 39:1
prayers heard, 33(2):8 ; heat, 50:23
resurrection and, 36(1):9 heathens, 49:6
temporal, 48(2):1 heaven, 35:12; 36(3):6; 38:18,21; 43:15; 44:8;
ungodly people, 36(1):3,9; 36(3):14 49:5,13,22
happy day (expression), 43:19-20 beg to live in Lord’s house forever, 38:6
harmony, 49:30 dwelling fixed in, 48(2):3
tongues confessing; hands at work, 46:3 faith and, 48(2):2
hate, 33(2):8 God has blessed you, 44:8
bad person hates the good, 36(2):1 how to put money in, 38:12
God’s friend hates what He hates, 44:18 Lay up for yourselves treasure in, 38:12
shared; common cause, 36(2):1 meaning: all saints, 49:11
without reason, 37:25 New Testament promise, 34(1):7
head-wagging, 43:14 treasure in, never fails, 36(3):8; 44:27
healing, 39:8,20; 40:5 heavens, 41:7
hyssop, 50:12 proclaiming justice, 49:13
persecutors and the cross, 43:14 word = ‘peoples’, 49:11
health, 37:5 heel, 48(1):6
boasting, 42:7 heirs: include extra brother in heaven,
perfect; future life, 50:19 48(1):14
hearing, See listen, hell, 33(2):25; 41:14; 48(2):2,4,7,8
heart: help: from direction of mountains, 35:9
abyss, 41:13 heretical nuns, 44:31
bellowing its groans, 37:13 heretics, 35:9; 39:1; 45:12; 47:10; 49:3,9
blessed are the pure . . ., 39:22 Hermon, 41:12
circumcision of, 47:11 Herod, 47:5
hidden things, 45:1
clean; see God, 33(2):8
448 Index

ey
holocaust, 49:15,16; 50:21,23 Christ slays the devil (Goliath), 33(1):4
definition, 49:15 Christian’s business to be lowly,
sacrifices done away with, 39:12,13 83)28
Holy Spirit, 33(1):7; 33(2):1,21; 36(2):6,9,14; confessing one’s sins, 34(2):3
37:9; 40:3; 41:11; 45:8; 48(2):1; 48(2):11; disciplined by, 38:18
49:4,5; 50:10,16,17 God comes down to the humble,
miracles and, 45:4 33(2)23;139:2075001
sevenfold gifts of, 49:9 hearing with, 44:25
homes: tents and, 48(1):15 holding fast to Christ, 33(1):10
honor, 48(2):11 meekness, 33(2):5
hope, 33(1):1; 35:12,14; 36(1):4; 36(2):6; unwilling to be praised, 33(2):5
37:5,15,28; 38:9; 39:6,15; 41:10,19; 42:2; wholeness, 35:17
43:8,16; 46:7; 48(2):5; 48(2):5; 49:1;
hunger, 33(2):19; 42:1; 49:19
50:19 hymn, 43:13
children of God, 49:2 good word from the heart, 44:9
disconcerted in bad times, 36(2):9 song of praise, 39:4
for what we do not see, 38:13 hypocrites, 34(2):11; 37:17; 40:8; 48(1):17
future happenings, 43:15 hyssop, 50:12
pregnant woman as symbol of, 39:28
present and future, 40:3 identity: discover who we are, 46:2
simply ask for God himself, 39:7 Idithun, 38:12,3,4,6,10,11,13,17,18,22
illusion, 36(2):9 idolaters, 34(2):15; 45:6
lodged in God, 36(2):9 idols, 34(1):13; 35:13; 39:28; 40:1,4; 44:2;
set in human beings, 36(3):20 45:10
shelter of God’s wings, 35:13 uncertainty, ignoranee, 33(1):8; 33(2):2,12; 34(1):9
38:19 bad will, 35:4
horse, 33(2):5 pardon and, 35:3
house: Distribute its houses, 47:14 sin; mercy, 50:6,7
household: oppositions within, 44:11 illiteracy: book of the world, 45:7
human being(-s): illusions, 37:11
becoming like foolish beasts, 48(2):11 image of God, 38:11
called “gods” (deified) , 49:2 coming close to God, 34(2):6
called angels, 49:11 humans and animals, 48(1):16
Christ as only a human, 40:1 mind or reason, 42:6
conceived in iniquity, 50:10 not neglected on earth, 40:3
deep abyss, 41:13 sons of men, 35:12
duty: live according to God’s will, 48(1):1 within; spiritual, 48(2):11
gifts given to, 36(2):13 imitation:
humility re gifts, 38:18 crowds on broad road, 39:7
live on word of God, 36(3):5 Do what they tell you. . ., 49:23
nature; sin, 44:18 immortality, 33(2):8,9,19; 35:6; 37:5,11;
nothing compared with HIM WHOIS, 38:9 40:1; 44:15, 44:21; 47:1; 48(2):2;
privileges; and animals, 35:12 49:19; 50:19,22,23
two types: Adam and Christ, 35:12 impiety: David’s sin, 50:18
human body: war against God, 45:13
endued with health, 37:11 imposters, 36(1):2
dead because of sin, 39:20; 42:7; 50:10 Incarnation:
redemption of, 37:5 flesh from Abraham's stock, 47:15
human condition, 42:2 flesh to die for us, 39:5
displeasing things as self-made, 44:9 future; accomplished, 50:17
living in uncertainty, 38:19 God with flesh, 46:8
suffering; strength from the Lord, 36(2):17 God-Man, human for our sake, 36(2):15
humiliation, 42:3 likeness of sinful flesh, 49:5
belly sticking to the ground, 43:23-24,25 Son leaving Father, 44:12
both punishment and grace, 38:17 Word united with flesh, 44:3
deaf, 38:4 incest, 36(2):20
fallen silent, 38:4 incorruption, 50:19
humility, 36(2):1; 41:12; 46:2,13; 48(1):3; infant baptism, 50:10
50:13 infinity, 36(2):16
blessing the Lord, 33(2):3,4 inheritance: coheirs, 49:2
 Index 449

kingdom prepared for you, 36(3):14 Arise, Lord, help us, 43:26
inheritance, 36(2):8; 46:6; 48(2):9 ascension, 45:1; 46:7,10
iniquity, 39:1,21; 40:8; 42:3; 44:18; 48(1):6 Church entrusted to us, 49:5
attachment to, 35:1 asleep; arise, 43:22; 45:5
blood (usage of term) , 50:19 beautiful [fifteen descriptors] , 44:3
blot out my iniquity, 50:6,14 beauty of, 43:16; 49:5
derived from Adam, 50:10 came to save sinners, 49:31
eating, 48(2):8 carried in his own hands . . ., 33(2):2
self-destroying, 34(1):11 centurion and, 38:18
innocence, 36(1):12; 36(3):15; 37:21; 40:5; chrism (the word) , 44:19
50:23 Church and, See Church.
insanity, 33(1):8 claims all sin as his own, 37:16
instruction: hated, 49:24
Come, children, and hear me, 33(2):16
insult, 34(2):8,9,1 1; 39:26; 43:15; 48(1):11
compassion; affection, 33(1):9
integrity, 36(1):2
intention: confessing the name of, 43:21
good works, 44:29 cornerstone, 47:3
crucifixion, 33(2):24; 39:15
liability for punishment, 40:9
bones not broken, 34(1):14
morality of spoken words and, 39:26
come down from the cross, 49:5
people not good, but with good intentions,
Jews and, 48(1):5
39:26
Jews did not recognize Christ, 49:5
preparing self to sin, 50:3
interest on loans, 36(3):6; 38:5 King of the Jews, 46:4
interpretation, 36(1):2 mocking the cross, 46:2,7; 48(1):11
invisibility, 38:10 scandal to the Jews, 44:3
invoke (the word) , 41:13 why have you forsaken me, 49:5
is (the word) , 38:7 David prefigured, 33(1):4
Isaac, 36(1):1; 36(3):1; 46:13 David’s Lord, 33(1):6
Israel, 33(1):6; 36(3):12; 46:3; 49:11,14,19 death, See below: passion and death
crippling of, 44:20 deceitful praise by devil, 40:4
God's plan for, 43:2 Destroy this temple. .., 40:12
land given to, 34(1):7 divine deliverer, 40:2
one who guards, 43:22 divinity:
ivory palaces, 44:23 contemplation of, 40:2
godhead lies hidden in, 40:1
Jacob, 43:5; 46:13; 49:14 hidden God of gods, 49:5
elder sha!l serve the younger, 46:6 same as the Father, 44:15
man without guile, 44:20 Do not weep over me, 40:12
name changed to Israel, 44:20 drawing near to the light, 33(2):10
oil poured on stone by, 44:20 dwells in hearts through faith, 45:5
thigh, 44:20 empty accusations against him, 37:19
Jacob's ladder, 38:2; 44:20 enemies ask: When will his name
jealousy, 33(1):2; 33(2):6; 44:22 disappear, 40:1,7
Jerusalem, 33(1):5; 36(1):9,12; 36(3):4; 47:3 enemies plan killing him, 40:10
beauty of Christ’s gospel, 49:4 enemy seeking his life, 39:24
Let the walls be rebuilt, 50:22 ennobled in God’s presence, 45:4
Vision of Peace, 50:22 false witnesses against him, 36(2):17
witnesses to Christ in, 49:5 Father, forgive them. . ., 39:25
Jesus Christ, 34(1):1; 35:9,12; 38:9; 42:5; feigned friends of, 37:17
44:10,18; 48(1):2 following Christ, 39:6
See also Bridegroom; Christian life; foremost place in the book, 39:14
Church; Incarnation; Second foundation, 47:4
Coming; Son of God; Son of Man; fount of life, 35:15
Word of God future judge subjected to judgment, 50:9
accept the needy and poor man, 40:1 ,2 Gentiles and, 33(1):7
all nations are his subjects, 44:14 gifts to humans, 36(2):14
Angel of Great Counsel, 33(2):11 God and man, 44:19
Anyone who knows himself to be without God born from the human race, 44:13
sin, 50:8 God of gods, 49:1
apostles and, 35:9 God of the whole earth, 46:9
450 Index

gods, if any, were made through, 49:1 come down from thé cross, 34(2):11;
Good Teacher, 44:4 40:13; 44:1
He [Moses] wrote about me, 47:1 crucified in weakness, 37:27
Head of all the righteous of all time, 36(3):4 disciples lose hope, 46:7
headstone of the corner, 39:1 Father, forgive them. .., 44:15
hold fast to his body and blood, 39:13 glory of martyrs, 40:1
Hosanna, Son of David, 33(2):5 godhead did not die, 40:2
humanity: green wood, 40:12
death and, 34(2):3 guards claim disciples removed his
his death was no sham, 37:26 body, 36(2):17
ignorance of Christ, 34(2):2 Head and his body, 37:6
phantom flesh, 37:26 imitation of, 48(1):3
praying as proper to, 34(2):5 Jews and, 37:11
raised the human up to heaven, 40:2 led like sheep to slaughter, 38:3
seed of David, 46:8 My God, my God, why. . . 34(2):5;
surpassing all other humans, 44:7 37:6,27
true flesh inherited from Adam, 37:27 My soul is sorrowful, 40:6
humility, 33(2):7; 50:12 Peter’s denial, 37:17
obedience unto death, 33(1):9 proof: he is only human, 40:1
this is my body, 33(1):10; 33(2):2 psalm 37, and gospel accounts, 37:6
hunger and thirst, 34(2):4 scourged, 40:6
hungry for our sake, 49:19 silence at his trial, 37:20
I am needy and poor, 39:27 Peoples will fall under your assault, 44:16
Tam the light, 42:4 power and wisdom of God, 46:10
I am the living bread, 33(2):15 power of, 40:13
Tam the truth, 39:18 to come down from cross, 34(2):11
lam thirsty, 34(2):4 to lay down his life, 33(2):7
IT am with you throughout all days, 46:7; to raise his own flesh, 40:12
47:14 to take up life again, 40:10
I announced the news. . ., 39:10,11 Whom do you seek . . . 34(2):3
immolated as our passover, 39:13 praying, 34(2):5
innocence, 40:14 present in his members, 40:11
jeered at, 46:8 priest, 36(2):20
judge, 44:29 proclaims, suffers, is glorified, 39:15
King of glory, 47:1 promises kept by, 44:15; 47:7
kingship not of this world, 47:5,15 prophecies made by, 39:1
knowledge of last day, 36(1):1 | propitiation for our sins, 33(2):26
Korah, 41:2 psalms = voice of Christ, 37:6
lawgiver, 50:8 resurrection, 40:12; 43:26; 47:1
leader and his followers, 39:25 earth trembled, 36(2):17
leaving his mother, the Jewish race, 44:12 flesh arose, 49:5
led like a sheep to the slaughter, 44:15 soldiers guarding his tomb, 37:19
life through, 48(2):2 risen among the pagans, 43:22
lion, 49:29 robe gleaming white like snow, 50:12
Lord most high and terrible, 46:4 rock, 39:3
mediator between God and man, 36(2):20 sackcloth; fasting, 34(2):3
members in him: My God, my God, salvation comes from the Jews, 47:11
why..., 40:6 seen today as only a man, 40:1
miracles, 39:15; 47:5 sharing in his suffering, 36(1):9
mountain in prophecy, 45:6 sheep voiceless before its shearer, 37:20
name: Anointed God, 44:21 silence of, 49:6
new Adam; life-giving Spirit, 37:15 sinless, 34(2):2,3; 37:19; 37:6; 40:6;
not put to shame, 33(2):10 43:2; 44:7; 50:9
our eternal life with, 48(1):10 sinners and, 48(2):1
passion and death sleeps when faith is forgotten, 34(1):3
bones not broken, 33(2):24 speaking in person of his body (Church),
Christ's ‘ignorance’ of, 34(2):2 37:6
 Index 451

Stone rejected by the builders, 44:20 Judas, 34(1):10; 36(2):2; 40:8,9,11; 49:9
suffering and, 49:5 ] judge: appointment of, 36(2);22
suffering undeservedly, 50:9 attention to punishment, 44:18
suffering: as example, 36(2):4 | judgment day, 36(1):3,7,10; 36(3):6; 43:15;
teacher, 33(2):16; 36(1):1 44:24; 47:9; 48(1):5
Tell my brothers . . ., 44:23 abyss, 35:10
There was no one to seek my soul, 39:24 certain people will share in judging, 49:8
This is our God, 47:15 certainty as fact; uncertainty as time,
touching, restraining, inspiring us, 49:3 36(1):1
trust in, 38:12 choice ceases, 36(1):1
trusting in the least of his followers, 40:11 Come, you whom my Father has blessed,
truth, 37:11 49:13
Unto the end, 45:1 confident waiting for, 36(1):10
Way, Truth, and Life, 42:4 conscience as witness, 37:21
weakened (for a time) , 40:14 distinguishing good people, 49:11
what Christ did for us, 36(2):15 evil; last day, 48(1):6
Whoever has seen me, Philip, 45:1 Fire will go before him, 49:7,8
whole life as beautiful, 44:3 fruitful earth, 49:11
why have you forsaken me, 41:17; 43:2 future judge (Christ) subjected to, 50:9
will come as judge with mighty power, 37:20 Gather his just ones to him, 49:12
You [Christ] have a demon, 35:17; 48(2):4 God’s anger and the sinner, 36(2):2
Jews, 33(1):6,9; 33(2):10; 37:11; 38:18; 40:9; God’s silence, 34(2):12; 49:6
44:25; 45:6,10,12; 46:5,6,7; 47:2,3; hear my case, 36(3):13
48(2):4 heaven above and earth below will be
See also circumcision; Israel called, 49:11
Christ as, 44:12 ignorance re last day, 36(1):1
Christ's kinfolk, 37:17 intermingling of just and unjust, 36(3):17
converts, 45:6 nets cast to the right, 49:9
crucifixion of Christ and, 33(2):10; people invited to participate, 49:11
40:1,13; 46:2; 48(1):5; placed on left or right, 35:5
defeated by their own evil, 34(1):11 prophecy, 39:28
did not recognize Christ, 45:12 right hand filled with justice, 47:10
faithlessness, 46:12 sheep and goats, 39:19
gave Christ evil for good, 44:7 spiritual person judges everything, 49:27
hate for Christ, 37:25 swift arrival of, 44:10
kill Christ for sake of national place, 40:12 thrones at, 49:9
loss of kingdom, 39:28 Julian: apostasy, 36(2):18
promised land, 44:8 just man: seed will be blessed, 36(3):7
rooted out from city, 40:12 just people: hands of the persecutor, 36(3):13
salvation (Christ) comes from, 47:11 just person: destitute, 36(3):1,5
saw no beauty in Messiah, 44:3 justice, 35:9; 44:18
signs: circumcision and unleavened bread, beauty of, 41:7; 44:14
39:13 Christ will come as judge, 44:15
try to trap Jesus, 50:8 doing injustice to others, 35:1
victories over powerful forces, 43:2 God’s unerring judgment, 34(1):9
Job, 33(2):4; 34(1):7,11; 36(1):11; 37:5; hating sin, 50:7
45:13; 47:9; 48(2):9 heavens will proclaim, 49:13
John the Baptist, 35:9,18; 46:11; 49:11; 50:13 mercy now; judgment later, 36(1):2
Jordan (river) , 41:12 pursuit of, 37:26
journey, 34(1):6 righteousness, 39:19
joy, 33(2):9; 35:14; 36(2):8; 38:2; 39:11; supreme beauty, 44:3
43:16,19-20; 45:8; 48(2):5 two types of people, 36(2):1
bones will dance for joy, 47:11; 50:13 works of mercy, 49:12
Clap your hands . . ., 46:3 justice, 35:9; 44:18
eternally present face of God, 41:9 justification, 49:2
God gladdens my newness, 42:5
in prayer, 34(2):6 kindness, 49:30
leaping for joy, carrying their sheaves, king(-s), 47:5
36(3):7 anointing, 44:19
Judah: name means “confession” , 47:11 kingdom of God, 50:19
452 Index

oes
See also heaven. lips, 48(1):17; 49:23; 50:20 ’
kingdoms, 45:10,13 listen(-ing}, 33(1):1,4; 33(2):16; 48(1):2,3,5;
knock(-ing), 33(1):1,4,7; 39:27 49:14,23; 50:5
knowledge: delight and gladness, 50:13
ability to bear, 36(1):1 hear first, then see, 44:25
divine and human, 49:18 only when you are God’s people, 49:14
tests: God causes us to know, 36(1):1 rumination in the heart, 46:1
Korah: loans: interest on, 36(3):6
children of, 41:2; righteous persons, 36(3):6
43:1,2,6-7,10,16,17, 19-20; 44:1; lodger, 38:21
45:1,4,7; 46:2,7; 47:1 longing, 38:6.
the name, 46:2 As a dee¥ longs . ., 41:1,10
ladder, 38:2 contemplation of the Lord forever, 41:5
angels ascending and descending, 44:20 for invisible realities of God, 41:8
lamb, 38:3; 44:6 Lord’s Prayer:
land: brothers to Christ, 48(1):8
Church as Lord’s land, 36(1):4 Forgive us our debts, 38:14
eternal, 36(3):11 Lot (and wife), 33(1):5; 36(3):14
inheritance of the gentle, 36(1):12 love, 37:11; 39:20; 44:28
Jewish people, 44:8 appropriate, 39:28
language(-s), 50:19 bride of Christ wounded with, 37:5
tongues express one faith, 44:24 carnal; jealousy, 33(2):6
last day, See judgment day. Creator in the creature, 39:8
law, 38:10; 40:14 debased, 33(2):6
charity growing cold, 38:5 enemies, 39:1
Christ brings law to perfection, 45:1 God’s saving help postponed, 34(2):9
experience the sweetness of, 38:6 grown cold = silence of the heart, 37:14;
keeping with one’s own strength, 40:4 3971
mind vs. members, 44:7 holocaust = wholly on fire, 49:15
promised land and, 44:8 IT am wounded by love, 44:16
put into hearts, 45:6 paired commandments: God and
reflecting night and day, 36(3):5 neighbor, 33(2):10
Word of God and, 50:8 runners’ course, 39:11
Lazarus and the rich man, 33(2):25; 38:22; strong as death, 47:13
48(1):10; 48(2):1,7 within, 44:29
laziness, 38:5 loyalty: all that God requires of us, 49:15
leaping across, 38:1,23,5,6 Lucilla, 36(2):19
learning: learner is humble, 50:13 lung: as pride, 50:12
leaven, 39:13 lust, 33(2):6; 35:10; 39:3; 41:3; 50:3,5,24
leisure, 36(1):2 lying, 38:4
lentils, 46:6 lyre: and psaltery, 42:5
letter and spirit, 33(1):7
life: Maccabees, 33(2):22; 36(3):9
Christ’s power over death, 40:10 Majorinus, 36(2):19
daily pleasures, 48(1):10 malediction, 40:9
human =just a few days, 36(2):16 malevolence, 39:26
longing for good days, 33(2):17 malice, 34(1):11; 49:26
make known to me the number of my days, manna, 33(1):3
38:9-7,9;10)22 manure, 49:7
promised in present and in future, 40:3,5 Marratius, 36(2):20
shortness of, 35:13; 36(3):1 marriage, 35:5; 44:1
successive stages of, 38:9 martyrdom: motive or pain, 34(2):13
travel; no settling down, 34(1):6 martyrs, 34(1):1; 35:14; 36(2):3; 36(3):13;
light, 34(1):4; 34(2):6; 35:15; 36(1):6,7; 37:33 39:1; 40:4; 41:19: 4331: 47:13
SNPays Hsia 4 (8) celebrate birthdays of, 39:16
creation of, 47:1 confessing the name of Christ, 43:21
drawing near to Christ, 33(2):10 falling asleep they arouse Christ, 43:22
one reality with truth, 42:4 growth of the Church, 40:1
lily, 47:8 mighty gentleness, 44:15
lion, 39:1,21; 40:4; 44:6; 49:29 number of, 49:9
 Index 453

passion of Christ and, 40:1 giving babies to nurses, 49:27

soul does not die, 40:2 oppositions in household, 44:11,12
swallowed up alive, 34(2):15 motives, 43:21
unconquered souls, 36(3):13 mountain (-s), 42:4
Mary, Blessed Virgin, 34(2):3; 47:15; 50:10 abyss and, 35:10
Massa Candida, 49:9 authorities of this world, 45:7
material goods: longing for, 35:13 city of God on, 47:2,3
materialism: things of the spirit and, 38:3 clouds as, 45:10
Matthias, Apostle, 49:9 Come, let us go up, 45:12
Maximian (-ists), 35:9; 36(2):19,22,23 friend of the Bridegroom, 35:9
condemnation of, 36(2):20,21,22 metaphor, 35:10
council proceedings against, 36(2):20 my voice heard from, 47:2
medicine, 37:5 people called clouds, 35:9
meditation, 36(3):5 people who are great, 39:6
meekness, 33(2):5
shifted out to sea, 45:6,7,10
Melchizedek, 33(1):5,6, T335(2):2
stone grown to be mighty, 45:12
mercy, 33(1):9: 35:12,14; 366(3):6; 39:2,19,20;
mourn: beatitude, 34(2):6,7; 37:2
40:6; 41:15,16; 42:2; 43: l
46:13; 49:7,28; 50:1,6,11 mousetrap, 34(1):10
mule, 33(2):5
Christ’s wounded members, 39:20 murder, 50:2,10
Do not sit in judgment. . ., 42:7 murmuring, 36(3):8
God postpones the last day, 36(1):1 music, 41:10
God's justice in this world, 36(1):2 mustard seed, 45:6
God’s manifold mercies, 35:11 mystery, 46:1
heaven and earth, 35:7,8 invisible sacramental oil, 44:19
immense, 50:14 queenly apparel, 44:24
love God for his mercy, 44:18 touching God, 33(2):23
recipient of, as neighbor, 48(1):14 mystical body of Christ:
sacrifice and, 44:27 I was hungry and you fed me, 39:5
sinning knowingly and, 50:6 single person asking God’s help, 39:28
merit, 36(3):6; 48(2):3; 49:9,31 Why are you persecuting me, 39:5
Messiah, 35:13; 44:3; 50:13
metaphor: tongue and pen of a scribe, 44:6,10 name(-s):
midday, 36(1):7 meanings of personal names, 33(1):4
milk, 33(1):6; 38:3 mysterious change of, 33(1):2-3,7; 33(2):2
millstone, 36(1):2 Nathan, 50:2,5,8
mind, 44:6; 49:28 Nathanael, 44:20
childish cast of, 46:2 nation(-s), 48(2):4
devil corrupting, 39:1 he summoned all the earth, 49:4
fixed on God alone, 48(2):4 Hear these things .. ., 48(1):2
gift, 36(2):13 Jesus as king of, 46:9
governs body, 41:7 subjected peoples, 46:5
image of God, 42:6; 48(2):11 neighbor, 37:17
understanding and, 42:6 Good Samaritan, 48(1):14
miracles, 35:8; 43:4; 45:4,15 person to whom we show mercy, 48(1):14
miser, 38:11 nets: one hundred and fifty-three fish, 49:9
misery, 39:3 New Covenant, 38:9; 49:16
misfortune, 41:6,9; 49:22 New Testament:
mockery, 46:2,7; 48(1)11; 48(2):4 elder (O.T.) will serve the new, 40:14
money, 48(2):4 promise: kingdom of heaven, 34(1):7
See also wealth night, 41:6,16; 47:1; 48(2):3,4
good use = lending to Christ, 48(1):9 Nineveh, 49:28; 50:11
keeping it safe, 48(1):12 noise, 45:14
money-lenders, 36(3):6; 38:11 numbers, 39:10
moral standards, 50:24 five (senses) , 49:9
mortality, 37:5; 42:2; 50:10 one hundred and fifty-three, 49:9
Moses, 36(2):12; 36(3):20; 40:13,14; 47:1; representing crowds, 49:9
48(1):5; 49:9,14; 50:8 ten plus seven, 49:9
mother: Numidia (-ns), 36(2):19,20
apparent cruelty of, 33(2):20 nurse fostering her children, 49:27
breast milk, 33(1):6
454 Index

ace
obedience, 41:9; 49:23 perfection:
occasions of sin, 50:3 being: /AM WHO AM, 38:22
oil: visible and invisible, 44:19 knowing one cannot be perfect, 38:14
old age, 36(2):16; 36(3):1,9 like your Father in heaven, 49:28
Old Covenant, 38:9 not reached in this life, 38:13,14
Old Testament: perish, 44:22; 48(1):12,13; 48(2):4
earthly blessings desired in, 35:13 unjust will perish entirely, 36(3):16
promise re temporal goods, 34(1):7 works of the godless, 36(3):10
prophecies, 40:14 Perpetua, Passion of, 47:13
olive, 46:13 persecution, 34(1):6; 34(2):1; 40:8;
original sin: forbidden fruit, 47:9 43:13,14;17,22,23-24,26
Through one man sin entered .. ., 50:10 being heard in time of, 33(2):22
overcoming: two kinds of people, 34(1):8 bones not broken, 34(1):14
ownership: God as owner, 49:18 cause of right, 43:1
greed, 39:7 cause of the right, 34(2):13
pagans, 39:16; 40:1,14; 41:2,6; 43:12,22; Church: Head and body, 34(2):8
48(2):1 conversion and, 34(1):8
pain, 34(2):13; 37:4; 42:5 devil and the Church, 40:1
body’s distress, 42:6 God as our ally, 34(1):4
corrective, 40:6 God’s help is slow in coming, 34(2):9
God’s precept, 38:17 God’s love and, 34(2):9
keeping silent from good words, 38:4
guilt, 36(2):3
love and, 37:5
never ceases, 39:1
relief on bed of, 40:5
ongoing, 34(2):8
scourging, 37:24 persecutors, 36(3):13
silence from good words, 38:4 swallowed up by, 34(2):15
Pancratius of Badias, 36(2):20
perseverance, 36(1):7; 39:1,11; 41:11; 44:25;
parable, 48(1):5
50:19
paradise: today you will be with me, 39:15 Perseverantius of Theveste, 36(2):20
paralysis: inner person, 36(3):3
personification, 43:19-20
pardon, 35:3; 50:8 perversity, 48(1):1
party, 41:9 Peter, Apostle, Saint, 34(2):4,6,15; 36(1):1;
passions: control, 39:9
36(2):8; 43:19-20; 44:23,32; 45:4;
pastimes, 40:5 49:13
path: narrow or broad, 39:6,7; 43:17
Do you love me, 37:17
patience, 34(1):10; 37:5; 40:13; 50: 19
Paul, apostle, Saint, 35:8,9; 39:3 Brey 21; fear in his heart, 39:23
44:20,22,32; 45:7; 46:5; AT: 6,1 fear; denial of Christ, 37:17
Barnabas and, 33(2):19 hidden weakness, 41:13
bound in Jerusalem, 36(2):6 rescue by angel, 33(2):22
glorious in his preaching, 44:22 walking on water, 39:9
good days, 33(2):17 would run ahead of Christ, 39:25
slandered, 49:27 petition: carnal, 36(1):5
taken up to third heaven, 37:12 for temporal goods, 43:2
Pharaoh, 33(1):3
throne on judgment day, 49:9
Pharisee, 39:20,27; 48(1):5; 49:30
peace, 34(2):6; 35:6; 38:16; 39:16,28; 48(2):6;
49:23 physician, 34(1):7; 35:17; 39:8; 40:6;
45:4,11; 47:3; 49:31; 50:7,8,11
bedroom of the heart, 35:5
apparent cruelty of, 33(2):20
delight in abundance of, 36(1):12
does what he sees is necessary, 34(2):13
everlasting, 33(2):23
love for the sick person, 47:4
husband and wife, 33(2):8
piety, 46:13
none in my bones, 37:6
pilgrim(-age), 38:21; 41:9,10; 42:2; 49:22
seek; pursue, 33(2):19 pit of misery, 39:3
sin and, 45:3 pity, 50:6
Why do you disquiet me, 33(2):19 plan (building) , 44:4
peacemakers, 36(3):16 planter (Paul) ,35:9
penance: ashamed of, 50:8 pleasure, 34(1):12; 35:6; 38:2,3,6,15; 39:8:
penitent, 47:5; 50:15 40:5; 43:16,17; 47:9; 49:7,27, “50:1 3
penitential psalm, 44:18 Pomponius of Macri, 36(2):20
Pentecost, 45:8; 49:4 poor:
 Index 455

animal sacrifice and, 49:20 profit to us, not to God, 39:4

generosity of the, 36(2):13 seeking things extraneous from God,
prayers (borrowed money), 36(3):6 33(2):9
promises for present labors, 48(1):10 temptation and, 34(2):3
shall eat and be satisfied, 48(1):3 two wings: fasting and almsdeeds, 42:8
sons of men, 48(1):3 waited and waited for the Lord, 39:2
possessions, 48(2):5 within me, 33(2):8; 34(2):5; 41:17
choosing God = having all, 34(1):12 preach(-er; -ing), 35:8
content with the necessary, 39:28 begetting children by, 44:23
Go and sell all you possess, 43:25 example to the faithful, 36(3):20
master of or mastered by, 48(1):2 pregnancy: symbol of hope, 39:28
pain of not possessing, 37:5 | prelates: workers in the field, 36(1):2
potter, 38:17 presence: of Abimelech, 33(1):7
poverty: bless the Lord, 33(2):3 of God: keeping guard over conduct, 38:3
cry out as a poor person, 33(2):11 pride, 33(1):4,9,10; 33(2):5,10; 35:10,17,18;
help for the needy, 36(1):2 37:8,10; 38:18; 39:6,20,25; 41:12;
power: God, stretch out your hand, 34(1):7 44:29; 46:13; 47:6; 48(1):3,9; 48(2):2;
Praetextatus, bishop of Assuras, 36(2):20 50:4,12
praise, 44:33 priest(-hood) Jewish, 39:13
bless the Lord at all times, 33(2):3,4; Levitical, 36(2):20
35:16; 48(2):10 order of Melchizedek, 33(1):5
confession as, 34(2):10 Primian, 36(2):19,20,21,23
doing everything well, 34(2):16 prize, 38:6,8,14; 39:11
extends to ends of earth, 47:10 probation, 36(1):11
forever and ever, 41:11; forever, 43:9 proclamation: lips in opposition to heart,
39315,17
glory to God, 39:4
procreation: sexual union required, 44:4
God extremely worthy of, 47:2
prodigal son, 47:3
God’s house, 41:9 professions: integrity in, 36(1):2
leading good lives as, 47:10 profit (money-lenders, 36(3):6
mercenary, 48(2):9,10 promise:
mouth of a sinner, 47:2; 49:29 bones of Christians guarded, 33(2):24
open my lips .. ., 50:20 God delivers, 39:12
righteousness, 50:23 not abandoned on earth, 40:3
sacrifice of, 49:21,22,23,30,31 only what gospel promises, 39:28
seeking, 35:5 A perfect accomplishment of, 39:12
sing a new song to the Lord, 39:4,13 prophecies in scripture, 39:28
situations negate praise of God, 49:30 property: all belongs to Creator, 49:17
spurious, 39:26 sold; proceeds given to apostles, 46:4
thanksgiving, 44:9 prophecy(-ies; -ets), 33(1):7; 44:2
times of good fortune, 48(2):9 banishing of wars, 45:13
when benefits are received, 48(2):10 Church heard the promises, 47:7
prayer, 36(1):8; 36(2):13; 44:33; 49:21 future as if already past, 43:8
See also praise Nathan’s purpose, 50:8
crying out from a deep place, 39:3 promises in scripture, 39:28
desire is continuous, 37:14 requests phrased as desires, 34(1):8
Do not turn your face away, 50:14,16 salvation, 37:28
fallen silent when love stops, 37:14 prosperity, 36(2):16; 41:6,16; 43:2,17
Go into your private room. . . 35:5 danger to the soul, 50:4
grown slack, 49:22 devil and, 40:4
happiness, when heard, 33(2):8 envy and, 36(1):9
the heart as private room for, 33(2):8 protection, 33(2):13
interior desire never ceases, 37:14 providence:
joy in, 34(2):6 care, comforting, correcting, 39:27
listen for my weeping, 38:20 created beings as medium for, 43:5
manipulating God, 39:4 God does not abandon on earth, 40:3
necessary petition: Send forth your God helps through human agency, 34(1):6
light. .., 42:4 God’s plan for Israel, 43:2
not heard, 33(2):9 hear God in good words, 49:23
poor persons, 36(3):6 purpose in Israel’s history, 43:2
456 Index

rere
steps directed by the Lord, 36(2):15 blessed in this life, 48(2)!8
temporal needs and, 34(1):7 death and Lazarus, 33(2):25
provocation, 34(1):11 earthlings, 48(1):3
prudence, 36(2):11; 48(1):12 grandiose funerals for, 48(1):13; 48(2):1
psalms: poor and rich neighbors, 39:28
Christ speaks in, 39:5 poor man who lay at rich man’s gate,
listening to Christ in, 34(1):1 36(2):7
opening page of the book, 39:14 truly needy, 33(2):15
resurrection of Christ, 47:1 trust in God, not wealth, 44:28
Songs of Ascents, 38:2 righteous(-ness), 33(2):15,21,22; 35:5;
who is speaker in, 37:6 38:5,8,18; 39:3,9; 42:3,7; 43:25; 44:17;
psaltery, 42:5; 48(1):5 46:6; 48(2):3,4
punishment, 34(1):10; 37:5 believers, 39:6
banished from the face of God, 49:7 bread as, 48(2):8
God turning toward sins, 50:14 child of righteous parents, 36(3):1,2
as grace, 38:17 Christ the Head of all since world began,
justice, 50:7 36(3):4
liability related to intention, 40:9 dominion over the wicked, 48(2):4,11
owing to us, 49:31 faith and, 36(1):6; 39:7; 50:18
sin demands p. , 44:18 heart, 35:16; 39:15
purity, 39:21; 42:4,7; 44:25 hunger and thirst for, 48(2):8
invisible enemies, 34(1):5
Quintasius of Capsa, 36(2):20 justice and, 39:19
measure of, 33(2):26
rain, 39:27; 42:2; 45:10; 46:13 nothing derogatory in our lives, 34(1):4
reality, 35:14,15
pain of losing, 37:24
rebuke, 37:3,25; 38:2; 49:24,28
painful death, 33(2):25
redemption, 33(2):26
persecuted, 34(1):14
bodies and, 50:19
person as God’s sword, 34(1):2
by Christ alone, 48(1):8
cost of redeeming one’s soul, 48(1):9,13 praise God always, 34(2):16
sacrifice, 50:23
seeking God, 34(1):15
reflection, 35:14 scepter of righteous rule, 44:18
mind sees itself through itself, 41:7 semblance of, 49:30
refuges, 45:2,4 spirit is life through, 40:3
relaxation, 40:5 strengthened, 36(2):4,6
religion: throne of Wisdom, 46:10
God as our allotted portion, 34(1):12 troubles of the, 33(2):23
having appearance only, 47:13 usury, 36(3):6
honoring God with lips; heart far away, vindication, 34(2):14
Shei will possess the earth, 36(3):11
remembering, 35:12; 37:2,11 wisdom, 36(3):12
repentance, 33(2):11; 36(1):2; 39:19,23; river: joy to God’s city, 45:8
48(2):4; 49:6,7,28; 50:1 | rock, 39:9,25; 44:6
rest, 36(1):2; 37:2,14; 48(2):6; 49:22 Roman law, 39:13
resurrection of the body, 34(2):1 Rome, 44:23
equality with an angel, 36(1):10 Romulus, 44:23
hope for bodily pleasures, 43:16 root, 48(2):4
vision reserved for, 43:5 ruler(-s), 44:17
retention: holding on to today, syllable, etc., running, 33(2):10; 38:6,8; 39:11; 41:2,3
38:7
retirement, 36(2):16 Sabbath, 37:2,5,10
retribution: judgment day, 36(2):2 never ceasing to pray, 37:14
reward, 36(3):9 remembering, 37:5,9,10,12,13,15
doing bad things and, 33(2):18 sackcloth, 34(2):3,4,5
earthly, 35:13 sacraments, 33(1):8
goal of following Christ's way, 36(2):16 flowing from Christ asleep on the cross,
intention and, 40:9 40:10
rich, 33(2):14; 48(1):9 good lives and receiving, 47:8
See also Lazarus and the rich man sacred scriptures, See Bible.
 Index 457

sacrifice, 39:12,13; 50:7 Christ will not come in silence, 49:28

Aaron (animals); 33(1):5 Our God will come openly, 49:6,11
animal as symbolic, 50:21 seed: good seed, 42:2
Christ (his body and blood) ,33(1):5 sowing, 36(3):7,14
cross, 33(1):6 | seeking, 39:24,26
good things are within (spiritual) , 50:21 self: soul is troubled when turned to, 41:12
inner; within me, 41:17 self-control, 50:3
mercy and covenant, 44:27; 49:12 self-indulgence, 38:5
myself as victim to immolate, 49:21 self-love, 44:9
New Covenant, 49:16 senses, 36(2):13; 38:16; 41:7; 49:9
no fault found with, 49:15 sensuality, 34(1):9
serpent, 47:9; 48(1):1
of praise, 49:21,22,23,30.31
servant: parable of lazy steward, 38:5
old superseded by the new, 39:13
serving fellow-servants, 38:4
prefigured in Old Covenant, 49:16
sexual intercourse, 50:10
slaughter animals for the poor, 49:20 shame, 33(2):10,11; 43:10
troubled spirit, 49:15 doing penance, 50:8
Sadducees, 43:16 face to face with yourself, 49:28
sadness, 39:2; 41:18; 48(2):5 sheep, 48(2):2,3: 50:8
sin as cause, 42:3 | shield, 34(1):2; 45:13
wicked people and, 36(1):3 shows (entertainment), 39:9,10
saint(-s), 36(3):9,11; 47:10; 49:11 Christian martyrs, 39:16
Church of Christ, 47:1 sick, 50:1
garments of the Church, 44:22 disarranged all his bedding, 40:5
God speaks through, 44:5 time passes slowly for, 36(1):10
heaven: word = all saints, 49:11 sign: miraculous, 45:12
mocked, 48(2):4 Peter walking on water, 39:9
tabernacles of God, 44:23 silence, 33(2):8; 49:6,26
Your right hand will conduct you... ., fear of committing sin, 38:4
44:15 God will come openly, 49:6
Salem (later Jerusalem) , 33(1):5 quiet re something I should have said,
saliva, 33(1):11; 33(2):4; 38:3 38:4
salvation, 33(1):10; 33(2):13; 34(1):5,6,7,12; sins with the tongue, 38:3
36(2):8,11; 37:3,5; 38:20; soft sound from above, 42:7
39:6,15,16,18,26; 40:9,14; 44:7,22;
vacillation, 38:5
47:5; 48(2):5; 50:3,19 ‘
Simeon, 39:18
animals, 35:11,12 similarity, 34(2):6
body and blood of Christ, 33(1):6 sin(-s), 35:10; 37:1,9,10; 41:18
certain as if already accomplished, 43:8 See also confession; conversion;
confession of the Good Thief, 34(1):14 forgiveness of sin; repentance; sinner
given birth to spirit of, 39:28 acting in ignorance, 50:6,7
gladness of, 50:17 affection for, 35:1
good person is pitted against evil, 36(2):1 all spring from greed or fear, 38:2
hope and, 41:11 attachment to, 36(1):1
Jacob, 43:5 bodily members at disposal of, 41:9
prophets, 37:28 chastisement for, 38:17
remnant, 33(1):7 choosing to be bitten by snake, 41:3
Samaritan: man who fell among robbers, Christ seems to take all as his own, 37:16
48(1):14 concur simply by approving, 49:25
sanctification, 45:8
consent, 50:3
Satan: the word, 39:25
corruption a result of, 50:19
Saul, King, 33(1):2; 33(2):2; 50:4
Saul (later Paul) , 36(2):2,5; 50:11,12 death and, 34(2):3; 50:10
arrow (word) turned him into Paul, 44:16 deceiving ourselves, 38:14
Why are you persecuting me, 44:20 deep calls to deep, 41:14
scandal, 33(2):14 defending, 35:10
schism(-atics), 40:9; 49:9 despair, 50:5
scourging, 37:23,24 doing wrong knowingly; great mercy, 50:6
sea, 45:6,15 enslaved for law of sin, 35:6
seasons: changing, 41:16 falling; rising again, 50:3
second coming of Christ, 45:12 fear of committing; silence, 38:4
458 Index

God turning toward = punishment, 50:14 receives praise, 39:26

God’s absence from conscience, 45:3 seeks to kill the just, 36(3):12,13
great sins guarded against, 39:22 strangers to God, 47:8
grieving for, 37:24 sword piercing their own heart, 36(2):3
harm to self, not to God, 50:15 taking stand against God, 38:3
hate for, 35:6; 50:7 teaching, by ex-sinner, 50:18
human nature, 44:18 tents of, 48(1):2
humble confession of, 34(2):3 tolerating, 36(3):17
intention, 50:3 unaware of God watching, 35:3
Jesus and propitiation for, 33(2):26 uses in present world, 36(1):11
Jesus asked to judge adultress, 50:8 washed white as snow, 44:26
lesser folk and the great, 50:3,5 will perish, 36(2):10
many bloods (plural) , 50:19 wretched death of, 33(2):25,26
more numerous than hairs of my head, 39:22 sky, 47:1
myself punishing my sin, 50:7 slander, 36(3):19; 49:27
Nathan’s parable, 50:8 slave: property of master, 49:17
no peace in my bones, 37:6 ugly but faithful, 33(2):15
occasions of, 50:3 sleep, 40:10
only thing not received from God, 44:7 smoke, 36(2):12; 36(3):14
patron saint for, 50:3 snake, 39:1; 40:4; 41:3
peace and, 45:3 snow, 50:12
sojourning, 38:21
perseverance in, 35:6
son: severed from father, 44:12
pleasing to unclean spirit, 50:16
Son of God:
punishment by God, 44:18
See also Jesus Christ; Word of God
sadness caused by, 42:3
begetting of, 44:5
secret, 35:17
equal to the Father, 35:1
self-justification, 50:13
Nathanael’s confession, 44:20
slaves to, 40:6
once rich, became poor, 39:28
spiritual blindness, 39:21
one nature with the Father, 49:2
suffering for, 40:6
Word and, 44:5
take serious thought for, 37:24 Son of Man:
Turn your face away .. ., 44:18; 50:16
body is on earth, 44:20
unconcern about small sins, 39:22 judgment through, 48(1):5
unwitting; small mercy, 50:6
our immortality and, 44:21
Wash me more and more. . ., 50:7 sons of men belong to, 48(1):3
weighed down by number of, 39:20 song: epithalamia, 44:3
whip = medicine against, 37:24 new hymn to our God, 39:13
with open eyes, 50:1 Songs of Ascents, 38:2
sincerity, 39:13,16 sons of men (biblical usage) , 35:12; 48(1):3
sinner(-s), 34(1):11; 35:1; 36(1):10; soothsayers, 40:1
36(3):20; 39:3,20; 47:2 sorrow: pain of the soul, 42:3,6
arms crushed, 36(2):4 soul:
borrows on interest, 36(2):13 See also body and soul; spiritual life
commended; supported, 49:25 blessed during lifetime, 48(2):8
conscience; cure, 45:3 caring for, 34(1):6
determination to do wrong, 35:2 disquiet in, 33(2):19
earthlings, 48(1):3 God’s weapon, 34(1):2
elder shall serve the younger, 46:6 king's daughters, 44:23
fallen; foot of pride, 35:18 made by God, does not die, 40:2
fear of being rebuked, 35:2 My soul is sorrowful . . ., 42:7
God foresees judgment day, 36(2):2 poured out above myself, 41:8,10
God strikes and heals, 50:11 power to kill one’s own soul, 36(2):3
God will blot out their memory from earth, price of redemption, 48(1):9,13
50:14 rewards and punishments, 37:11
I will make you as white as snow, 50:12 righteous; chair for Wisdom, 46:10
imitation of, 35:18 salvation, 48(2):5
perishing, 36(3):14 seeking Christ’s life (good way; bad
praise in mouth of, 49:29 way) , 37:18
proud head held high, 37:8
 Index 459

separation from God = death, 48(2):2 relying on one’s own, 34(1):15;

servant of God, 46:10 48(1):7,8,9; 49:22
sorrowful, 41:10,19 vicious, 38:18
sword to defeat the devil, 34(1):7 stumbling-block, 49:27
troubled when it turns on self, 41:12 suffering, 36(1):6; 39:16; 42:5; 44:15
Why are you sorrowful, 42:6,7 acceptance of, 42:8
sounding-chamber, 42:5 call upon God in, 49:22
sour grapes, 48(2):8 Christ came to suffer, 49:5
sovereignty, 44:17; 48(1):2 Christ’s life; Christian life, 36(2):16,17
speak(-er; -ing), 48(1):5 Church suffers what Christ suffers, 40:8
changes in sacred scripture, 44:8 done to death all the day long, 43:1
fallen silent because of fear, 38:4 drinking the bitter cup of, 48(1):11
mouth to speak with, 38:16 glory in, 36(2):9
wait to hear from God before s. , 38:4 Head and body, the Church, 37:16
spectacle (shows), 39:9 imitating sufferings of Christ, 37:18
speech: inflicted by Saul (later Paul) , 36(2):5
sound; fading away, 44:6 inner person, 37:15,16
tongue, 50:19 inward from self; outward from others,
spider, 38:18 37:16
spirit: motive of martyrs, 34(2):13
carnally-minded persons and, 38:3 must will Christ’s suffering to be ours,
existing, but not material, 50:17 37:16
good things of the, 33(2):15 promised share with Christ, 36(1):9
heat; ardent in s. , 50:23 renown as motive for, 43:21
new and upright, 50:15 sin; corrective pain, 40:6
spiritual wealth, 33(2):15 temporal, 36(2):16; 48(2):9
troubled, 41:17; 49:15; 50:21 voluntary, 34(2):1
spiritual life: summer, 41:16
ascetical practices, 41:9 sun, 34(1):13; 38:10; 39:27; 41:6; 42:2
beginning to live for God, 48(2):4 Susanna: prayer by, 34(2):5
danger in prosperity, 50:4 swallowing, 34(2):15
inner thirst, 41:2 swiftly (the word) , 44:6
inward paralysis, 36(3):3 sword, 36(2):3
nourishment for the soul, 35:1; 38:3 God loosening his sword, 34(1):4
running, 38:9 » made from servant’s soul, 34(1):7
soul close to God, 34(2):6 word as, 44:11
weary of well-doing, 36(3):2 syllable: holding on to, 38:7
springs, 41:5 synagogue: as mother of Christ, 44:12
stealing, 36(1):12
steps: directed by the Lord, 36(2):15 tabernacle, 41:9
Songs of Ascents, 38:2 Tarshish (Tarsus), 47:6
steward: parable: entrusted with master’s taste (in art) , 34(2):2
money, 38:5 tax, 49:29
still: Be still and see that I am God, 45:14 tax-collector, 39:20,27; 49:31
stone (-s), 39:1 teacher, 36(1):1; 50:13
anyone who trips over, 45:12 tears: daily diet, 41:7
grew to be a mighty mountain, 45:12 delicious, 41:6
pagan god, 41:6 temple: living stones, 44:31
worship of, 46:9,11 one stone formed from many, 39:1
storm, 45:5; 49:13 veil rent asunder, 45:1
strangers: children of wicked people, 48(1):14 temporal goods, 48(1):17; 48(2):9
leave their wealth to strangers, as blessings, 48(2):8
48(1):14,15 bless the Lord, 33(2):3
parents and children, 48(1):14 craving for, 36(3):13
straw: gold refined from, 36(1):11 death and, 48(2):7
strength, 37:15 desire for blessings (O.T.), 35:13
beard as symbol of, 33(1):11; 33(2):4 desire for gains, 38:3
from God or self, 45:3 entire concern for, 48(2):2
refusal to be strong, 38:18 food that will perish, 33(2):14
gifts of God, 35:7
460 Index

Se
God and temporal needs, 34(1):7 storing in heaven, 3812.
happiness, 48(2):1 tree, 34(2):2; 36(3):9; 48(2):3,4; 49:11
Old Testament promises, 34(1):7 tribulation, 34(1):1; 39:28; 41:16; 45:3,4;
petitioning God for, 35;12; 43:2 49:22; 50:4
uncertainty of wealth, 45:2 Trinity, 35:1; 49:1,2; 50:17
wallowing in, 34(1):12 trouble(-s), 33(2):23; 36(3):17; 42:5;
43:2,3,17; 49:22
wicked people flourishing, 36(1):3
trust, 48(1):3,8
worship and, 43:16
blessed trust, 33(2):13
temptation, 33(2):8; 34(1):3,14; 34(2):10:;
36(1):1; 36(3):19; 38:10; 39:21; 41:18; defense: trust in God, 37:21
42:3 deliverance by God, 43:3
devil’s evil suggestions, 48(1):6 human agents, 35:9
Get behind me, Satan, 34(1):8 in God, not self, 41:12
God as disinterested in us, 48(2):6 in Truth, 35:13
law too hard to keep, 40:4 in wealth or in God, 48(1):9
prayer in, 34(2):3 truth, 33(2):6; 34(2):6; 35:14; 37:11; 38:3;
tense (verbs): 39:13;18; 40:8; 41:3,18; 42:2;
prophets and future events, 43:9 44:15,19; 45:13; 46:13; 50:11
tent (-s), 41:9,10,17; 42:4; 44:3; 45:10; Christ speaks through us, 34(2):12
48(1):2,15 enemies of, 36(2):12
test (-s): gods and, 49:2
coming to know oneself, 43:19-20 must hear before speaking, 38:4
disinterested worship, 43:15 one reality with light, 42:4
God tests in order that we know, 36(1):1 promised; given, 39:12
sinners used to test the just, 36(1):11 soundness of mind, 39:8
thanksgiving: praise as, 44:9; 49:21 trust in, 35:13
thigh, 44:13,20 unutterable reality, 35:14
thirst, 41:6 witness to, and child of, 38:3
Thomas, Apostle: Tyre:
Because you have seen..., 49:5 daughters of, as Church, 44:28
My Lord and my God, 48(2):5; 49:5 symbol of Gentiles, 44:27
thorns, 47:8 Tyrian maidens, 44:27,28
threat, 41:15
threshing-floor, 34(1):10; 36(3):19; 45:10; ugliness, 44:3
47:8,9,14; 49:8 unbelief (-ievers), 47:3
threshold, 33(1):10; 33(2):2 children ofthe devil, 44:12
throne: of Wisdom, 46:10 prophecies of Christ and, 39:1
stands for ever and ever, 44:17 understanding, 41:2,9,13,18; 47:7; 48(1):16;
time: 49:22
holding on: today; yesterday, 38:7 children of Korah,
number of my days, 38:7,9,10,22 43:2,6-7,10,16,17,19-20
present days as true being, 38:7 failure; refusing, 35:1,4
quick passage of, 44:10 image of God, 48(2):11
slow passage of, 36(1):10 like a horse or mule, 42:6; 48(1):16
Timothy: advice against pride, 48(1):9 meditation of my heart, 48(1):4
title, 33(1):2 Sing psalms with, 46:9
Tobit, 41:7 spiritual, 33(1):7,8
tolerance, 50:24 Whoever sees me sees the Father, 44:3
tombs, 48(1):15,16 ungodly, 36(1):9,11; 36(2):2; 36(3):13;
tongue: 47:11; 49:13
My tongue is the pen of a scribe, 44:6,10 union with God:
restrain from evil, 33(2):18 misery: not yet one with God, 49:22
sinning with, 38:3 unity, 33(2):6; 36(2):19; 39:1; 47:7
words, 34(2):3:; 50:19 body of Christ as one single person, 39:28
torrent, 35:14,15 charity and, 33(2):19
tortuousness, 44:17 cornerstone, 47:5
torture, 39:16; 49:7
gown as symbol of, 44:24
bones remain unbroken, 33(2):24 Head and body (Church) , 40:1
trap, 34(1):11; 50:8
King’s temple, 44:31
treasure: heart and, 48(2):2
 Index 461

one in saying My God, my God. . ., 40:6 happy; flourishing, 36(1):3

promote: magnify the Lord, 33(2):7 hate for, 35:6
two Testaments in agreement, 49:4 seen as prospering, 48(2):6
Unto the end (term), 45:1 will: human affections and, 44:23
usury, 36(3):6 will of God:
Christ’s example, 39:14
values, 48(2):11 cling to God, 43:25
earthly, 36(3):9 conformity with, 35:16; 44:17
false, 48(1):13 discerning, 36(3):2
vice, 41:3 duty of humans is to obey, 48(1):1
Victorinus of Leptis Magna, 36(2):20 just persons, 36(3):5
Victorinus of Munatiana, 36(2):20 living and dying, 34(1):14
vindication, 34(2):13,14
peoples seek to bend to their own lusts,
vineyard, 35:8; 36(1):8; 37:28; 46:13
44:17
virgins:
power of the enemy and, 36(2):4
five wise, five foolish, 49:9
rightly directed, 36(1):12
innumerable, 49:9
| wills (law): testator and adjudicator, 36(3):18
long to please the king, 44:30 | wind, 34(1):9
pleasing the Bridegroom, 44:32 wings like a dove’s, 38:2
virtue, 41:9 winter, 41:16
power of charity, 47:13 day of tribulation, 48(1):12
Set your hearts on, 47:13-14 present time as, 36(1):3
vision: face-to-face, 48(1):5 wisdom, 41:3,13; 44:25; 50:23
Christ as Wisdom of the Father, 36(1):1
wages, 35:13
divine, 33(2):6
parable of vineyard, 37:28 God’s throne, 34(1):2
war, 42:4; 45:13
Let those who are perfect be wise . .,
warped beam, 44:17
warriors, 43:4; 44:13 38:14
waste: of God’s gifts, 44:9 My mouth shall speak wisdom, 48(1):4
water: righteous person as throne of, 46:10
longing for a drop from Lazarus, 48(1):10 righteous will muse on, 36(3):12
rivers of living water, 45:8 soul as weapon, 34(1):2
way: salvation among the nations, 39:18 unseen, hidden secrets of, 50:11
weakness, 33(2):4,8; 38:18; 41:13; 45:13; when he sees the wise dying, 48(1):11
49:5; 50:3 qi wives: cross-grained, 33(2):8
body of Christ, 37:22 woman: bent over for eighteen years, 37:10
donkey of the Lord, 33(2):5 wondrous feats, 39:9
wealth, 33(2):14; 48(1):7,8,9 Word of God:
despise riches in Christ’s name, 48(1):17 all of past, present, future are in Word,
give away; claim eternal interest, 36(3):6 44:5
leave their wealth to strangers, all works of God are in the Word, 44:5
48(1):14,15 Bridegroom, 44:7
riches taken away as test, 34(1):6 creation and, 49:18
sinfulness and, 48(1):12 In the beginning . . ., 33(1):6; 44:3,20;
spiritual, 33(2):15 46:8; 49:1; 50:17
storing up, for children, 38:12 never ceases to be spoken, 44:5
weapons, 38:15; 45:13,14 seeing face to face, 33(1):10
evangelical, 45:13 words:
ourselves as, 34(1):2 arrows sharp and very powerful, 44:16
wedding: clothes, 44:1,23 blurting or belching, 44:9
invited guests as the bride, 44:3 good words by one leading bad life, 49:30
weeds, 42:3 morality related to intent, 39:26
weeping, 38:20 sword, 44:11
well-spring: fountain of life, 41:2 You have thrown my words behind you,
wheat, 34(2):10 49:24
whips, 36(3):9; 37:24; 40:6 words of God (scripture):
wicked (-ness), 42:2 arrows, 37:5
ancestors, 48(2):11 bread as, 36(3):5
following behind, 34(1):8 effective in conversion of life, 49:1
good fortune, 41:9 in the heart, 36(3):12
462 Index

Gent)
works: praise offered to God, 44:9 wound: love and pain, 37:5
works of mercy: justice and, 49:12 writing, 34(2):3
world (-liness), 40:5 written word: abiding, 44:6
active involvement in, 36(1):2 wrongdoer(-s; -ing), 49:26
as meaning ‘sinners’, 34(1):4 enslaved to, 33(2):14
chosen way, 48(2):4 failure to understand, 35:1,4
illiterate can read book of, 45:7 God sees what he must reproach, 42:7
swallowing, 34(2):15 wound themselves, 36(2):3
universality, 36(2):19
worship, 43:15,16; 45:10; 48(1):1,3; 50:18 years, 38:7
gifts as motive for, 35:7 youth: symbolof newness, 42:5
s
idols and the world’s Creator, 34(1):13
put right in matter of, 46:9 Zacchaeus, 49:13,21
reward for, 35:7; 43:16 zeal, 47:2
Zion, 47:3,6,7,12,13; 49:4; 50:22
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BR 65 «AS E53 1990 pt-3
Augustine
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Concordia College Library

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