The Fourth Sunday in Advent
Augustine on Psalm CI
Advent Four Home
O LORD, raise up, we pray thee, thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
Source: Bishop Gelasius of Rome Sacramentary [464 AD]. The 1662 edition added the "running the race that is before us" "Succor" is to run to help, while "sore let" is to thwart, hinder
Philippians iv. 4, Psalms 98, 99 | 101, 103 & St. John i. 19.
Homily of Augustine on Psalm CI
Philippians iv. 4
REJOICE in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Psalms for Morning and Evening 98, 99 | 101, 103
St. John i. 19.
THIS is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask
him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that
prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an
answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one
crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why
baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John
answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know
not; he it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not
worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was
baptizing.
HOMILY
1. In this Psalm, we ought to seek in the whole body of it what we find
in the first verse: "Mercy and judgment will I sing unto Thee, O Lord"
(ver. 1). Let no man flatter himself that he will never be punished
through God's mercy; for there is judgment also; and let no man who
hath been changed for the better dread the Lord's judgment, seeing that
mercy goeth before it. For when men judge, sometimes overcome by mercy,
they act against justice; and mercy, but not justice, seemeth to be in
them: while sometimes, when they wish to enforce a rigid judgment, they
lose mercy. But God neither loseth the severity of judgment in the
bounty of mercy, nor in judging with severity loseth the bounty of
mercy. Suppose we distinguish these two, mercy and judgment, by time;
for possibly, they are not placed in this order without a meaning, so
that he said not "judgment and mercy," but "mercy and judgment:" so
that if we distinguish them by succession in time, perhaps we find that
the present is the season for mercy, the future for judgment. How is it
that the season of mercy cometh first? Consider first how it is with
God, that thou also mayest imitate the Father, in so far as He shall
permit thee...."He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good,
and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." Behold mercy. When
thou seest the just and the unjust behold the same sun, enjoy the same
light, drink from the same founts, satisfied with the same rain,
blessed with the same fruits of the earth, inhale this air in the same
way, possess equally the world's goods; think not that God is unjust,
who giveth these things equally to the just and the unjust. It is the
season of mercy, not as yet of judgment. For unless God spared at first
through mercy, He would not find those whom He could crown through
judgment. There is therefore a season for mercy, when the
long-suffering of God calleth sinners to repentance.
Augustine
Psalm CI
2. Hear the Apostle distinguishing each season, and do thou also
distinguish it...."Thinkest thou," he saith, "O man, that judgest them
that do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the
judgment of God?" And as if we were to reply, Why do I commit such sins
daily, and no evil occurreth unto me? he goeth on to show to him the
season of mercy: "Despisest thou the riches of His goodness, and
forbearance, and long-suffering?" And he did indeed despise them; but
the Apostle hath made him anxious. "Not knowing," he saith, "that the
goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" [4560] Behold the season
of mercy. But that he might not think this would last for ever, how did
he in the next verse raise his fears? Now hear the season of judgment;
thou hast heard the season of mercy, on which account, "mercy and
judgment will I sing unto Thee, O Lord:" "But thou," saith the Apostle,
"after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself
wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous
judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds."
[4561] Lo, "mercy and judgment." But he hath threatened concerning
judgment: is therefore the judgment of God to be feared only, and not
to be loved? To be feared by the wicked on account of punishment, to be
loved by the good on account of the crown. Because then the Apostle
hath alarmed the wicked in the testimony which I have quoted, hear
where he giveth hope concerning judgment to the good. He puts forth
himself, and shows in himself too the season of mercy. For unless he
found a period of mercy, in what condition would judgment find him? A
blasphemer, a persecutor, an injurer of others. For he thus speaketh,
and praiseth the season of mercy, in which season we are now living: "I
who was before," he saith, "a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and
injurious: but I obtained mercy." But perhaps he only hath obtained
mercy? Hear how he cheereth us: "That in me," he saith, "first, Christ
Jesus might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which
should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting." [4562] What
meaneth, "that He might show forth all long-suffering"? That every
sinner and wicked man might see that Paul received pardon, and might
not despair of himself? Lo, he hath instanced himself, and thereby
cheered others also....But did Paul alone deserve this? For I had
asserted, that as he raised our fears by the former testimony, so did
he encourage us by the latter. When he said, "The Lord, the righteous
Judge, shall render to me at that day:" he addeth, "and not to me only,
but unto all them also that love His appearing" [4563] and His kingdom.
Since therefore, brethren, we have a season of mercy, let us not on
that account flatter, or indulge ourselves, saying, God spareth
ever....
3. "I will sing to the harp, and will have understanding, in the
spotless way. When Thou shalt come unto me" (ver. 2). Except in the
spotless way, thou canst neither sing to the harp, nor understand. If
thou dost wish to understand, sing in the spotless way, that is, work
with cheerfulness before thy God. What is the spotless way? Hear what
followeth: "I walked in innocence, in the midst of my house." This
spotless way beginneth from innocence, and it endeth also in innocence.
Why seek many words? Be innocent: and thou hast perfected
righteousness....But who is innocent? He who while he hurteth not
another, injureth not himself. For he who hurteth himself, is not
innocent. Some one saith: Lo, I have not robbed any one, I have not
oppressed any one: I will live happily on my own substance, the fruits
of my virtuous toil; I wish to have fine banquets, I wish to spend as
much as pleaseth me, to drink with those whom I like as much as I
please; whom have I robbed, whom have I oppressed, who hath complained
of me? He seemeth innocent. But if he corrupt himself, if he overthrow
the temple of God within himself, why hope that he will act with mercy
toward others, and spare the wretched? Can that man be merciful to
others, who unto himself is cruel? The whole of righteousness,
therefore, is reduced to the one word, innocence. But the lover of
iniquity, hateth his own soul. When he loved iniquity, he fancied he
was injuring others. But consider whether he was injuring others: "He
who loveth iniquity," he saith, "hateth his own soul." [4564] He
therefore who wishes to injure another, first injureth himself; nor
doth he walk, since there is no room. For all wickedness suffereth from
narrowness: innocence alone is broad enough to walk in. "I walked in
the innocence of my heart, in the midst of my house." By the middle of
his house, he either signifieth the Church herself; for Christ walketh
in her: or his own heart; for our inner house is our heart: as he hath
explained in the above words, "in the innocence of my heart." What is
the innocence of the heart? The middle of his house? Whoever hath a bad
house in this, is driven out of doors. For whoever is oppressed within
his heart by a bad conscience, just as any man in consequence of the
overflow of a waterspout or of smoke goeth out of his house, suffereth
not himself to dwell therein; so he who hath not a quiet heart, cannot
happily dwell in his heart. Such men go out of themselves in the bent
of their mind, and delight themselves with things without, that affect
the body; they seek repose in trifles, in spectacles, in luxuries, in
all evils. Wherefore do they wish themselves well without? Because it
is not well with them within, so that they may rejoice in a good
conscience....
4. "I set no wicked thing before my eyes" (ver. 3)....I did love no
wicked thing. And he explaineth this same wicked thing: "I hated them
that do unfaithfulness." Attend, my brethren. If ye walk with Christ in
the midst of His house, that is, if either in your heart ye have a good
repose, or in the Church herself proceed on a good journey in the way
of godliness; ye ought not to hate those unfaithful only who are
without, but whomsoever also ye may have found within. Who are the
unfaithful? They who hate the law of God; who hear, and do it not, are
called unfaithful. Hate the doers of unfaithfulness, repel them from
thee. But thou shouldest hate the unfaithful, not men: one man who is
unfaithful, hath, ye see, two names, man, and unfaithful: God made him
man, he made himself unfaithful; love in him what God made, persecute
in him what he made himself. For when thou shalt have persecuted his
unfaithfulness, thou killest the work of man, and freest the work of
God. "I hated the doers of unfaithfulness."
5. "The wicked heart hath not cleaved unto me."...The heart of a man,
who wisheth not anything contrary to any that God wisheth, is called
straight....If therefore the righteous heart followeth God, the crooked
heart resisteth God. Suppose something untoward happeneth to him, he
crieth out, "God, what have I done unto Thee? What sin have I
committed?" He wisheth himself to appear just, God unjust. What is so
crooked as this? It is not enough that thou art crooked thyself: thou
must think thy rule crooked also. Reform thyself, and thou findest Him
straight, in departing from whom thou hast made thyself crooked. He
doth justly, thou unjustly; and for this reason thou art perverse,
since thou callest man just, and God unjust. What man dost thou call
just? Thyself. For when thou sayest, "What have I done unto Thee?" thou
thinkest thyself just. But let God answer thee: "Thou speakest truth:
thou hast done nothing to Me: thou hast done all things unto thyself;
for if thou hadst done anything for Me, thou wouldest have done good.
For whatever is done well, is done unto Me; because it is done
according to My commandment; but whatever of evil is done, is done unto
thee, not unto Me; for the wicked man doth nothing except for his own
sake, since it is not what I command." When ye see such men, brethren,
reprove them, convince and correct them: and if ye cannot reprove or
correct them, consent not to them.
6. "When the wicked man departed from me, I knew him not" (ver. 4). I
approved him not, I praised him not, he pleased me not. For we find the
word "to know" occasionally used in Scripture, in the sense of "to be
pleased." For what is hidden from God, brethren? Doth He know the just,
and doth He not know the unjust? What dost thou think of, that He doth
not know? I say not, what thinkest thou; but what wilt thou ever think,
that He will not have seen beforehand? God knoweth all things, then;
and yet in the end, that is in judgment after mercy, He saith of some
persons: "I will profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me,
ye workers of iniquity." [4565] Was there any one He did not know? But
what meaneth, "I never knew you"? I acknowledge you not in My rule. For
I know the rule of My righteousness: ye agree not with it, ye have
turned aside from it, ye are crooked. Therefore He said here also:
"When the wicked man departed from Me, I knew him not."...Therefore,
"when the wicked man departed from me," that is, when the wicked man
was unlike me, and was unwilling to imitate my paths, was unwilling in
his wickedness to live as I had proposed myself for his imitation; "I
knew him not." What meaneth, "I knew him not"? Not that I was ignorant
of him, but that I did not approve him.
7. "Whoso privily slandered his neighbour, him I persecuted" (ver. 5).
Behold the righteous persecutor, not of the man, but of the sin. "With
the proud eye, and the insatiable heart, I did not feed." What meaneth,
"I did not feed with"? I did not eat in common with such. Attend,
beloved; since ye are about to hear something wonderful. If he did not
feed with this man, he did not eat with him; for to feed is to eat; how
is it then that we find our Lord Himself eating with the proud? It was
not only with those publicans and sinners, for they were humble: for
they acknowledged their weakness, and asked for the physician. We find
that He ate with the proud Pharisees themselves. A certain proud man
had invited Him: it was the same who was displeased because a sinning
woman, one of ill repute in the city, approached the feet of our
Lord....That Pharisee was proud: the Lord ate with him; what is it
therefore that he saith? "With such an one I did not eat." How doth He
enjoin unto us what He hath not done Himself? He exhorteth us to
imitate Himself: we see that He ate with the proud; how doth He forbid
us to eat with the proud? We indeed, brethren, for the sake of reproof,
abstain from communion with our brethren, and do not eat with them,
that they may be reformed? We rather eat with strangers, with Pagans,
than with those who hold with us, if we have seen that they live
wickedly, that they may be ashamed, and amend; as the Apostle saith,
"And if any man obey not our word by this Epistle, note that man, and
have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as
an enemy, but admonish him as a brother." [4566] For the sake of
healing others we usually do this; but nevertheless we often eat with
many strangers and ungodly men.
8. The pious heart hath its banquets, the proud heart hath its
banquets: for it was on account of the food of the proud heart, that he
said, "with an insatiable heart." How is the proud heart fed? If a man
is proud, he is envious: otherwise it cannot be. Pride is the mother of
enviousness: it cannot but generate it, and ever coexist with it. Every
proud man is, therefore, envious: if envious, he feedeth on the
misfortunes of others. Whence the Apostle saith, "But if ye bite and
devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed of one another."
[4567] Ye see them, then, eating: eat not with these: fly such
banquets: for they cannot satisfy themselves with rejoicing in others'
evils, because their hearts are insatiable. Beware thou art not caught
in their feasts by the devil's noose....Just as birds feed at the trap,
or fishes at the hook, they were taken, when they fed. The ungodly
therefore have their own feasts, the godly also have theirs. Hear the
feasts of the godly: "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after
righteousness: for they shall be filled." [4568] If therefore the godly
eateth the meat of righteousness, and the ungodly of pride; it is no
wonder if he is insatiable in heart. He eateth the meat of iniquity: do
not eat the meat of iniquity, and the proud in eye, and the insatiable
in heart, eateth not with thee.
9. And whence wast thou fed? And what pleased thee, when he did not eat
with thee? "Mine eyes," he saith, "were upon such as are faithful in
the land, that they might sit with me" (ver. 6). That is, that with Me
they might be seated. [4569] In what sense are they "to sit"? "Ye shall
sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." [4570] The
faithful of the earth judge, for to them it is said, "Know ye not, that
we shall judge angels?" [4571] "Whoso walketh in a spotless way, he
ministered unto me." To "Me," he saith, not to himself. For many
minister the Gospel, but unto themselves; because they seek their own
things, not the things of Jesus Christ. [4572] ...
10. "The proud man hath not dwelt in the midst of my house" (ver. 7).
Understand this of the heart. The proud did not dwell in my heart: no
such dwelt in my heart: for he hurried away from me. None but the meek
and peaceful dwelt in my heart; the proud dwelt not there, for the
unrighteous one dwelleth not in the heart of the righteous. Let the
righteous be distant from thee, I know not how many miles and stations:
[4573] ye dwell together, if ye have one heart. "The proud doer hath
not dwelt in the midst of my house: he that speaketh unjust things hath
not directed in the sight of my eyes." This is the spotless way, where
we understand when the Lord cometh unto us.
11. "In the morning I destroyed all the ungodly that were in the land.
That I may root out all wicked doers from the city of the Lord" (ver.
8). This is obscure. There are then wicked doers in the city of the
Lord, and they at present, seemingly, spared. Why so? Because it is the
season of mercy: but that of judgment will come; for the Psalm thus
began, "Of mercy and judgment will I sing unto Thee, O Lord."...
12. He at present spareth, He will then judge. But when will He judge?
When night shall have passed away. For this reason He hath said: "In
the morning." When the day shall at last have arrived, night having
passed by. Why doth He spare them until the dawn? Because it was night.
What meaneth, it was night? Because it was the season for mercy: He was
merciful, while the hearts of men were hidden. Thou seest some one
living ill; thou endurest him: for thou knowest not of what sort he
will prove to be; since it is night; whether he who to-day liveth ill,
to-morrow may live well; and whether he who to-day liveth well,
to-morrow may be wicked. For it is night, and God endureth all men,
since He is of long-suffering: He endureth them, that sinners may be
converted unto Him. But they who shall not have reformed themselves in
that season of mercy, shall be slain. And wherefore? That they may be
scattered abroad [4574] from the city of the Lord, from the fellowship
of Jerusalem, from the fellowship of the Saints, from the fellowship of
the Church. But when shall they be slain? "At dawn." What meaneth, "at
dawn"? When night shall have passed away. Wherefore now doth he spare?
Because it is the season of mercy. Why doth He not always spare?
Because, "Mercy and judgment will I sing unto Thee, O Lord." Brethren,
let no man flatter himself: all the doers of iniquity shall be slain;
Christ shall slay them at the dawn, and shall destroy them from His
city. But now while it is the time of mercy, let them hear Him.
Everywhere He crieth out by the Law, by the Prophets, by the Psalms, by
the Epistles, by the Gospels: see that He is not silent; that He
spareth; that He granteth mercy; but beware, for the judgment will
come.
Let us pray in the words of Augustine.
Turn we to the Lord God, the Father Almighty, and with pure hearts offer to him, so far as our
meanness can, great and true thanks, with all our hearts praying his exceeding kindness, that of
his good pleasure he would deign to hear our prayers, that by his Power he would drive out the
enemy from our deeds and thoughts, that he would increase our faith, guide our understandings,
give us spiritual thoughts, and lead us to his bliss, through Jesus Christ his Son our Lord, who
liveth and reigneth with him, in the Unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
[A prayer which he was wont to use after his Sermons and Lectures.]
NPNF (V1-08) St. Augustine
Notes
[4559] Lat. C. A discourse to the people.
[4560] Rom. ii. 4.
[4561] Rom. ii. 5, 6.
[4562] 1 Tim. i. 13, 16.
[4563] 2 Tim. iv. 8.
[4564] Ps. xi. 5.
[4565] Matt. vii. 23.
[4566] 2 Thess. iii. 14.
[4567] Gal. v. 15.
[4568] Matt. v. 6.
[4569] Mecum sederent. There was an ambiguity in considerent, as
written.
[4570] Matt. xix. 28.
[4571] 1 Cor. vi. 3.
[4572] Philip. ii. 21.
[4573] Mansionibus.
[4574] Oxf. mss. disperdantur, "destroyed," as below.
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