The First Sunday in Lent
Quadregesima
Augutstine on Psalm LI
First Sunday in Lent Home
O LORD, who for our sake didst fast forty days and forty nights; Give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit we may ever obey thy godly motions in righteousness, and true holiness, to thy honour and glory, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
[Collect of Ash Wednesday said daily until Palm Sunday]
This homily was traditionally said on Quardregesima... another name of this Sunday, which marked the start of Lent being about forty days before easter. The beginning of Lent was officially moved by the church to Ash Wednesday before this Sunday, but the collect remained, even though the fasting had begun
Isaiah 58 Psalm 51, 54 | 119:1–32 2 Corinthians vi. 1 & St. Matthew iv. 1
Homily of Augustine on Psalm LI
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God
READINGS
Isaiah 58
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 58:14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Psalm 51, 54 | 119:1–32(Aleph-Daleth)
2 Corinthians vi. 1
WE then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain; (for he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation;) giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
St. Matthew iv. 1.
THEN was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an excee-ding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
Scripture from 1928 Book of Common Praye
The Collects of Thomas Cranmer
HOMILY
Augustine of Hippo
Psalm LI
1. Neither must this multitude's throng be defrauded, nor their
infirmity burthened. Silence we ask, and quiet, in order that our
voice, after yesterday's labour, be able with some little vigour to
last out. It must be believed, that your love hath met together in
greater numbers to-day for nothing else, but that ye may pray for those
whom an alien and perverse inclination doth keep away. For we are
speaking neither of heathens nor of Jews, but of Christians: nor of
those that are yet Catechumens, but of many that are even baptized,
from the Laver of whom ye do no wise differ, and yet to their heart ye
are unlike. For to-day how many brethren of ours we think of, and
deplore their going unto vanities and lying insanities, to the neglect
of that to which they have been called. Who, if in the very circus from
any cause they chance to be startled, do immediately cross themselves,
[1804] and stand bearing It on the forehead, in the very place, from
whence they had withdrawn, if they had borne It in heart. God's mercy
must be implored, that He may give understanding for condemning these
things, inclination to flee them, and mercy to forgive. Opportunately,
then, of Penitence a Psalm to-day has been chanted. Speak we even with
the absent: there will be to them for our voice your memory. Neglect
not the wounded and feeble, but that ye may more easily make whole,
whole ye ought to abide. Correct by reproving, comfort by addressing,
set an example by living well, He will be with them that hath been with
you. For now that ye have overpassed these dangers, the fountain of
God's mercy is not closed. Where ye have come they will come; where ye
have passed they will pass. A grievous thing it is indeed, and
exceeding perilous, nay ruinous, and for certain a deadly thing, that
witting they sin. For in one way to these vanities doth he run that
despiseth the voice of Christ; in another way, he that knoweth from
what he is fleeing. But that not even of such men we ought to despair,
this Psalm doth show.
2. For there is written over it the title thereof, "A Psalm of David
himself, when there came to him Nathan the prophet, when he went in
unto Bersabee." Bersabee was a woman, wife of another. With grief
indeed we speak, and with trembling; but yet God would not have to be
hushed what He hath willed to be written. I will say then not what I
will, but what I am obliged; I will say not as one exhorting to
imitation, but as one instructing you to fear. Captivated with this
woman's beauty, the wife of another, the king and prophet David, from
whose seed according to the flesh the Lord was to come, [1805]
committed adultery with her. This thing in this Psalm is not read, but
in the title thereof it appeareth; but in the book of Kings [1806] it
is more fully read. Both Scriptures are canonical, to both without any
doubt by Christians credit must be given. The sin was committed, and
was written down. Moreover her husband in war he caused to be killed:
and after this deed there was sent to him Nathan the prophet; [1807]
sent by the Lord, to reprove him for so great an outrage.
3. What men should beware of, we have said; but what if they shall have
fallen they should imitate, let us hear. For many men will to fall with
David, and will not to rise with David. Not then for falling is the
example set forth, but if thou shalt have fallen for rising again. Take
heed lest thou fall. Not the delight of the younger be the lapse of the
elder, but be the fall of the elder the dread of the younger. For this
it was set forth, for this was written, for this in the Church often
read and chanted: let them hear that have not fallen, lest they fall;
let them hear that have fallen, that they may rise. So great a man's
sin is not hushed, is proclaimed in the Church. There men hear that are
ill hearers, and seek for themselves countenance for sinning: they look
out for means whereby they may defend what they have made ready to
commit, not how they may beware of what they have not committed, and
they say to themselves, If David, why not I too? Thence that soul is
more unrighteous, which, forasmuch as it hath done it because David
did, therefore hath done worse than David. I will say this very thing,
if I shall be able, more plainly. David had set forth to himself none
for a precedent as thou hast: he had fallen by lapse of concupiscence,
not by the countenance of holiness: thou dost set before thine eyes as
it were a holy man, in order that thou mayest sin: thou dost not copy
his holiness, but dost copy his fall. Thou [1808] dost love that in
David, which in himself David hated: thou makest thee ready to sin,
thou inclinest to sin: in order that thou mayest sin thou consultest
the book of God: the Scriptures of God for this thou hearest, that thou
mayest do what displeaseth God. This did not David; he was reproved by
a Prophet, he stumbled not over a Prophet. But others hearing to their
health, by the fall of a strong man measure their weakness: and
desiring to avoid what God condemneth, from careless looking do
restrain their eyes. Them they fix not upon the beauty of another's
flesh, nor make themselves careless with perverse simpleness; they say
not, "With good intent I have observed, of kindness I have observed, of
charity I have long looked." For they set before themselves the fall of
David, and they see that this great man for this purpose hath fallen,
in order that little men may not be willing to look on that whereby
they may fall. For they restrain their eyes from wantonness, not
readily do they join themselves in company, they do not mingle with
strange women, they raise not complying eyes to strange balconies, to
strange terraces. For from afar David saw her with whom he was
captivated. [1809] Woman afar, lust near. What he saw was elsewhere, in
himself that whereby he fell. This weakness of the flesh must be
therefore minded, the words of the Apostle recollected, "Let not sin
therefore reign in your mortal body." [1810] He hath not said, let
there not be; but, "let there not reign." There is sin in thee, when
thou takest pleasure; there reigneth, if thou shalt have consented.
Carnal pleasure, especially if proceeding unto unlawful and strange
objects, is to be bridled, not let loose: by government to be tamed,
not to be set up for government. Look and be without care, if thou hast
nothing whereby thou mayest be moved. But thou makest answer, "I
contain with strong resolution." Art thou any wise stronger than David?
[1811]
4. He admonisheth, moreover, by such an example, that no one ought to
lift himself up in prosperous circumstances. For many fear adverse
circumstances, fear not prosperous circumstances. Prosperity is more
perilous to soul than adversity to body. First, prosperity doth
corrupt, in order that adversity may find something to break. My
brethren, stricter watch must be kept against felicity. Wherefore, see
ye after what manner the saying of God amid our own felicity doth take
from us security: "Serve ye," He saith, "the Lord in fear, and exult
unto Him with trembling." [1812] In exultation, in order that we may
render thanks; in trembling, lest we fall. This sin did not David, when
he was suffering Saul for persecutor. [1813] When holy David was
suffering Saul his enemy, when he was being vexed by his persecutions,
when he was fleeing through divers places, in order that he might not
fall into his hands, he lusted not for her that was another's, he slew
not husband after committing adultery with wife. He was in the
infirmity of his tribulation so much the more intimate with God as he
seemed more miserable. Something useful is tribulation; useful the
surgeon's lancet rather than the devil's temptation. He became secure
when his enemies were overthrown, pressure was removed, swelling grew
out. This example therefore doth avail to this end, that we should fear
felicity. "Tribulation," he saith, "and grief I found, and on the name
of the Lord I called." [1814]
5. But it was done; I would say these words to those that have not done
the like, in order that they should watch to keep their uncorruptness,
and that while they take heed how a great one has fallen, they that be
small should fear. But if any that hath already fallen heareth these
words, and that hath in his conscience any evil thing; to the words of
this Psalm let him advert; let him heed the greatness of the wound, but
not despair of the majesty of the Physician. Sin with despair is
certain death. Let no one therefore say, If already any evil thing I
have done, already I am to be condemned: God pardoneth not such evil
things, why add I not sins to sins? I will enjoy this word in pleasure,
in wantonness, in wicked cupidity: now hope of amendment having been
lost, let me have even what I see, if I cannot have what I believe.
This Psalm then, while it maketh heedful those that have not believed,
so doth not will them that have fallen to be despaired of. Whoever thou
art that hast sinned, and hesitatest to exercise penitence [1815] for
thy sin, despairing of thy salvation, hear David groaning. To thee
Nathan the prophet hath not been sent, David himself hath been sent to
thee. Hear him crying, and with him cry: hear him groaning, and with
him groan; hear him weeping, and mingle tears; hear him amended, and
with him rejoice. If from thee sin could not be excluded, be not hope
of pardon excluded. There was sent to that man Nathan the prophet,
observe the king's humility. [1816] He rejected not the words of him
giving admonition, he said not, Darest thou speak to me, a king? An
exalted king heard a prophet, let His humble people hear Christ.
6. Hear therefore these words, and say thou with him: "Have pity upon
me, O God, after Thy great mercy" (ver. 1). He that imploreth great
mercy, confesseth great misery. Let them seek a little mercy of Thee,
that have sinned in ignorance: "Have pity," he saith, "upon me, after
Thy great mercy." Relieve a deep wound after Thy great healing. Deep is
what I have, but in the Almighty I take refuge. Of my own so deadly
wound I should despair, unless I could find so great a Physician. "Have
pity upon me, O God, after Thy great mercy: and after the multitude of
Thy pities, blot out my iniquity." What he saith, "Blot out my
iniquity," is this, "Have pity upon me, O God." And what he saith,
"After the multitude of Thy pities," is this, "After Thy great mercy."
Because great is the mercy, many are the mercies; and of Thy great
mercy, many are Thy pitying. Thou dost regard mockers to amend them,
dost regard ignorant men to teach them, dost regard men confessing to
pardon. Did he this in ignorance? A certain man had done some, aye many
evil things he had done; "Mercy," he saith, "I obtained, because
ignorant I did it in unbelief." [1817] This David could not say,
"Ignorant I did it." For he was not ignorant how very evil a thing was
the touching of another's wife, and how very evil a thing was the
killing of the husband, who knew not of it, and was not even angered.
They obtain therefore the mercy of the Lord that have in ignorance done
it; and they that have knowing done it, obtain not any mercy it may
chance, but "great mercy."
7. "More and more wash me from mine unrighteousness" (ver. 2). What is,
"More and more wash"? One much stained. More and more wash the sins of
one knowing. Thou that hast washed off the sins of one ignorant. Not
even thus is it to be despaired of Thy mercy. "And from my delinquency
purge Thou me." According to the manner in which He is physician, offer
a recompense. He is God, offer sacrifice. What wilt thou give that thou
mayest be purged? For see upon whom thou callest; upon a Just One thou
callest. He hateth sins, if He is just; He taketh vengeance upon sins,
if He is just; thou wilt not be able to take away from the Lord God His
justice: entreat mercy, but observe the justice: there is mercy to
pardon the sinner, there is justice to punish the sin. What then? Thou
askest mercy; shall sin unpunished abide? Let David answer, let those
that have fallen answer, answer with David, and say, No, Lord, no sin
of mine shall be unpunished; I know the justice of Him whose mercy I
ask: it shall not be unpunished, but for this reason I will not that
Thou punish me, because I punish my sin: for this reason I beg that
Thou pardon, because I acknowledge.
8. "For mine iniquity I acknowledge, and my delinquency is before me
ever" (ver. 3). I have not put behind my back what I have done, I look
not at others, forgetful of myself, I pretend not to pull out a straw
from my brother's eye, when there is a beam in my eye; [1818] my sin is
before me, not behind me. For it was behind me when to me was sent the
Prophet, and set before me the parable of the poor man's sheep. [1819]
For saith Nathan the Prophet to David, "There was a certain rich man
having very many sheep; but a poor man his neighbour had one little ewe
sheep, which in his bosom and of his own food he was feeding: there
came a stranger to the rich man, nothing from his flock he took, for
the lithe ewe sheep of the poor man his neighbour he lusted; her he
slew for the stranger: what doth he deserve?" But the other being angry
doth pronounce sentence: then the king, evidently knowing not wherein
he had been taken, [1820] declared the rich man deserving of death, and
that the sheep be restored fourfold. Most sternly and most justly. But
his sin was not yet before him, behind his back was what he had done:
his own iniquity he did not yet acknowledge, and therefore another's he
did not pardon. But the Prophet, being for this purpose sent, took from
his back the sin, and before his eyes placed it, so that he might see
that sentence so stern to have been pronounced against himself. For
cutting and healing his heart's wound, he made a lancet of his
tongue....
9. "Against Thee alone have I sinned, and before Thee an evil thing
have I done" (ver. 4). What is this? For before men was not another's
wife debauched and husband slain? Did not all men know what David had
done? [1821] What is, "Against Thee alone have I sinned, and before
Thee an evil thing have I done." Because Thou alone art without sin. He
is a just punisher that hath nothing in Him to be punished; He is a
just reprover that hath nothing in Him to be reproved. "That thou
mayest be justified in Thy sayings, and conquer when Thou art judged."
To whom he speaketh, brethren, to whom he speaketh, is difficult to
understand. To God surely he speaketh, and it is evident that God the
Father is not judged. What is, "And conquer when Thou art judged"? He
seeth the future Judge to be judged, one just by sinners to be judged,
and therein conquering, because in Him was nothing to be judged. For
alone among men could truly say the God-Man, "If ye have found in Me
sin, say." [1822] But perchance there was what escaped men, and they
found not what was really there, but was not manifest. In another place
[1823] He saith, "Behold there cometh the Prince of the world," being
an acute observer of all sins; "Behold," He saith, "there cometh the
Prince of this world," with death afflicting sinners, presiding over
death: for, "By the malice of the devil death came into the world."
[1824] "Behold," He saith, "there cometh the Prince of the world:"--He
said these words close upon His Passion:--"and in Me he shall find
nothing," nothing of sin, nothing worthy of death, nothing worthy of
condemnation. And as if it were said to Him, Why then dost Thou die? He
continueth and saith, "But that all men may know that I do the will of
My Father; arise, let us go hence." I suffer, He saith, undeserving,
for men deserving, in order that them I may make deserving of My Life,
for whom I undeservedly suffer their death. To Him then, having no sin,
saith on the present occasion the Prophet David, "Against Thee only
have I sinned, and before Thee an evil thing have I done, that Thou
mayest be justified in Thy sayings, and conquer when Thou art judged."
For Thou overcomest all men, all judges; and he that deemeth himself
just, before Thee is unjust: Thou alone justly judgest, having been
unjustly judged, That hast power to lay down Thy life, and hast power
again to take it. [1825] Thou conquerest, then, when Thou art judged.
All men Thou overcomest, because Thou art more than men, and by Thee
were men made.
10. "For, behold, in iniquities I was conceived" (ver. 5). As though he
were saying, They are conquered that have done what thou, David, hast
done: for this is not a little evil and little sin, to wit, adultery
and man-slaying. What of them that from the day that they were born of
their mother's womb, have done no such thing? even to them dost thou
ascribe some sins, in order that He may conquer all men when He
beginneth to be judged. David hath taken upon him the person of
mankind, and hath heeded the bonds of all men, hath considered the
offspring of death, hath adverted to the origin of iniquity, and he
saith, "For, behold, in iniquities I was conceived." Was David born of
adultery; being born of Jesse, [1826] a righteous man, and his own
wife? What is it that he saith himself to have been in iniquity
conceived, except that iniquity is drawn from Adam? Even the very bond
of death, with iniquity itself is engrained? No man is born without
bringing punishment, bringing desert of punishment. A Prophet saith
also in another place, [1827] "No one is clean in Thy sight, not even
an infant, whose life is of one day upon earth." For we know both by
the Baptism of Christ that sins are loosed, and that the Baptism of
Christ availeth the remission of sins. If infants are every way
innocent, why do mothers run with them when sick to the Church? [1828]
What by that Baptism, what by that remission is put away? An innocent
one I see that rather weeps than is angry. What doth Baptism wash off?
what doth that Grace loose? There is loosed the offspring of sin. For
if that infant could speak to thee, it would say, and if it had the
understanding which David had, it would answer thee, Why heedest thou
me, an infant? Thou dost not indeed see my actions: but I in iniquity
have been conceived, "And in sins hath my mother nourished me in the
womb."
Apart from this bond of mortal [1829] concupiscence was Christ born
without a male, of a virgin conceiving by the Holy Ghost. He cannot be
said to have been conceived in iniquity, it cannot be said, In sins His
mother nourished Him in the womb, to whom was said, "The Holy Ghost
shall come upon thee, and the Virtue of the Highest shall overshadow
thee." [1830] It is not therefore because it is sin to have to do with
wives that men are conceived in iniquity, and in sins nourished in the
womb by their mother; but because that which is made is surely made of
flesh deserving punishment. [1831] For the punishment of the flesh is
death, and surely there is in it liability to death itself. Whence the
Apostle spoke not of the body as if to die, but as if dead: "The body
indeed is dead," he saith, "because of sin, but the Spirit is life
because of righteousness." [1832] How then without bond of sin is born
that which is conceived and sown of a body dead because of sin? This
chaste operation in a married person hath not sin, but the origin of
sin draweth with it condign punishment. For there is no husband that,
because he is an husband, is not subject to death, or that is subject
to death for any other reason but because of sin. For even the Lord was
subject to death, but not on account of sin: He took upon Him our
punishment, and so looseth our guilt. With reason then, "In Adam all
die, but in Christ shall all be made alive." [1833] For, "Through one
man," saith the Apostle, "sin hath entered into this world, and through
sin death, and so hath passed unto all men, in that all have sinned."
[1834] Definite is the sentence: "In Adam," he saith, "all have
sinned." Alone then could such an infant be innocent, as hath not been
born of the work of Adam.
11. "For, behold, truth Thou hast loved: uncertain and hidden things of
Thy wisdom, Thou hast manifested to me" (ver. 6). That is, Thou hast
not left unpunished even the sins of those whom Thou dost pardon.
"Truth Thou hast loved:" so mercy Thou hast granted first, [1835] as
that Thou shouldest also preserve truth. Thou pardonest one confessing,
pardonest, but only if he punisheth himself: so there are preserved
mercy and truth: mercy because man is set free; truth, because sin is
punished. "Uncertain and hidden things of Thy wisdom Thou hast
manifested to me." What "hidden things"? What "uncertain things"?
Because God pardoneth even such. Nothing is so hidden, nothing so
uncertain. [1836] For this uncertainty the Ninevites repented, for they
said, though after the threatenings of the Prophet, though after that
cry, "Three days and Nineve shall be overthrown:" [1837] they said to
themselves, Mercy must be implored; they said in this sort reasoning
among themselves, "Who knoweth whether God may turn for the better His
sentence, and have pity?" [1838] It was "uncertain," when it is said,
"Who knoweth?" on an uncertainty they did repent, [1839] certain mercy
they earned: they prostrated them in tears, in fastings, in sackcloth
and ashes they prostrated them, groaned, wept, God spared. Nineve
stood: was Nineve overthrown? One way indeed it seemeth to men, and
another way it seemed to God. But I think that it was fulfilled that
the Prophet had foretold. Regard what Nineve was, and see how it was
overthrown; overthrown in evil, builded in good; just as Saul the
persecutor was overthrown, Paul the preacher builded. [1840] Who would
not say that this city, in which we now are, was happily overthrown, if
all those madmen, leaving their triflings, [1841] were to run together
to the Church with contrite heart, and were to call upon God's mercy
for their past doings? Should we not say, Where is that Carthage?
Because there is not what there was, it is overthrown: but if there is
what there was not, it is builded. So is said to Jeremiah, "Behold, I
will give to thee to root up, to dig under, to overthrow, to destroy,"
and again, "to build, and to plant." [1842] Thence is that voice of the
Lord, "I will smite and I will heal." [1843] He smiteth the rottenness
of the deed, He healeth the pain of the wound. Physicians do thus when
they cut; they smite and heal; they arm themselves in order to strike,
they carry steel, and come to cure. But because great were the sins of
the Ninevites, they said, "Who knoweth?" This uncertainty had God
disclosed to His servant David. For when he had said, before the
Prophet standing and convicting him, "I have sinned:" straightway he
heard from the Prophet, that is, from the Spirit of God which was in
the Prophet, "Thy sin is put away from thee." [1844] "Uncertain and
hidden things" of His wisdom He manifested to him. [1845]
12. "Thou shalt sprinkle me," he saith, "with hyssop, and I shall be
cleansed" (ver. 7). Hyssop we know to be a herb humble but healing: to
the rock it is said to adhere with roots. Thence in a mystery the
similitude of cleansing the heart has been taken. Do thou also take
hold, with [1846] the root of thy love, on thy Rock: be humble in thy
humble God, in order that thou mayest be exalted in thy glorified God.
Thou shalt be sprinkled with hyssop, the humility of Christ shall
cleanse thee. Despise not the herb, attend to the efficacy of the
medicine. Something further I will say, which we are wont to hear from
physicians, or to experience in sick persons. Hyssop, they say, is
proper for purging the lungs. In the lung is wont to be noted pride:
for there is inflation, there breathing. It was said of Saul the
persecutor as of Saul the proud, that he was going to bind Christians,
breathing slaughter: [1847] he was breathing out slaughter, breathing
out blood, his lung not yet cleansed. Hear also in this place one
humbled, because with hyssop purged: "Thou shalt wash me," that is,
shalt cleanse me: "and above snow I shall be whitened." "Although," he
saith, "your sins shall have been like scarlet, like snow I will
whiten." [1848] Out of such men Christ doth present to Himself a
vesture without spot and wrinkle. [1849] Further, His vesture on the
mount, which shone forth like whitened snow, [1850] signified the
Church cleansed from every spot of sin.
13. But where is humility from hyssop? Hear what followeth: "To my
hearing Thou shall give exultation and gladness, and bones humbled
shall exult" (ver. 8). I will rejoice in hearing Thee, not in speaking
against Thee. Thou hast sinned, why defendest thou thyself? Thou wilt
speak: suffer thou; hear, yield to divine words, lest thou be put to
confusion, and be still more wounded: sin hath been committed, be it
not defended: to confession let it come, not to defence. Thou engagest
thyself as defender of thy sin, thou art conquered: no innocent patron
hast thou engaged, thy defence is not profitable to thee. For who art
thou that defendest thyself? Thou art meet to accuse thyself. Say not,
either, "I have done nothing;" or, "What great thing have I done?" or,
"Other men as well have done." If in doing sin thou sayest thou hast
done nothing, thou wilt be nothing, thou wilt receive nothing: God is
ready to give indulgence, thou closest the door against thyself: He is
ready to give, do not oppose the bar of defence, but open the bosom of
confession. "To my hearing Thou shalt give exultation and gladness."...
14. "Turn Thou away Thy face from my sins, and all mine iniquities blot
out" (ver. 9). For now bones humbled exult, now with hyssop cleansed,
humble I have become. "Turn Thou away Thy face," not from me, but "from
my sins." For in another place praying he saith, "Turn not away Thy
face from me." [1851] He that would not that God's face be turned away
from himself, would that God's face be turned away from his sins. For
to sin, when God turneth not Himself away, he adverteth: if he
adverteth, he animadverteth. "And all mine iniquities blot out." He is
busied [1852] with that capital sin: he reckoneth on more, he would
have all his iniquities to be blotted out: he relieth on the
Physician's hand, on that "great mercy," upon which he hath called in
the beginning of the Psalm: "All mine iniquities blot out." God turneth
away His face, and so blotteth out; by "turning away" His face, sins He
blotteth out. By "turning towards," He writeth them. Thou hast heard of
Him blotting out by turning away, hear of Him by turning towards, doing
what? "But the countenance of the Lord is upon men doing evil things,
that He may destroy from the earth the remembrance of them:" [1853] He
shall destroy the remembrance of them, [1854] not by "blotting out
their sins." But here he doth ask what? "Turn away Thy face from my
sins." Well he asketh. For he himself doth not turn away his face from
his own sins, saying, "For my sin I acknowledge." With reason thou
askest and well askest, that God turn away from thy sin, if thou from
thence dost not turn away thy face: but if thou settest thy sin at thy
back, God doth there set His face. Do thou turn sin before thy face, if
thou wilt that God thence turn away His face; and then safely thou
askest, and He heareth.
15. "A clean heart create in me, O God" (ver. 10). "Create"--he meant
[1855] to say, "as it were begin something new." But, because repentant
he was praying (that had committed some sin, which before he had
committed, he was more innocent), after what manner he hath said
"create" he showeth. "And a right spirit renew in my inner parts." By
my doing, he saith, the uprightness of my spirit hath been made old and
bowed. For he saith in another Psalm, "They have bowed my soul." [1856]
And when a man doth make himself stoop unto earthly lusts, he is
"bowed" in a manner, but when he is made erect for things above,
upright is his heart made, in order that God may be good to him. For,
"How good is the God of Israel to the upright of heart!" [1857]
Moreover, brethren, listen. Sometimes God in this world chastiseth for
his sin him that He pardoneth in the world to come. For even to David
himself, to whom it had been already said by the Prophet, "Thy sin is
put away," [1858] there happened certain things which God had
threatened for that very sin. [1859] For his son Abessalom against him
waged bloody war, and many ways humbled his father. [1860] He was
walking in grief, in the tribulation of his humiliation, so resigned to
God, that, ascribing to Him all that was just, he confessed that he was
suffering nothing undeservedly, having now an heart upright, to which
God was not displeasing. A slanderous person and one throwing in his
teeth harsh curses [1861] he patiently heard, one of the soldiers on
the opposite side, that were with his unnatural son. And when he was
heaping curses upon the king, one of the companions of David, enraged,
would have gone and smitten him; but he is kept back by David. And he
is kept back how? For that he said, God sent him to curse me.
Acknowledging his guilt he embraced his penance, seeking glory not his
own, praising the Lord in that good which he had, praising the Lord in
that which he was suffering, "blessing the Lord alway, ever His praise
was in his mouth." [1862] Such are all the upright in heart: not those
crooked persons who think themselves upright and God crooked: who when
they do any evil thing, rejoice; when they suffer any evil thing,
blaspheme; nay, if set in tribulation and scourging, they say from
their distorted heart, "O God, what have I done to Thee?" Truly it is
because they have done nothing to God, for they have done all to
themselves. "And an upright spirit, renew in my inner parts."
16. "Cast me not forth from Thy face" (ver. 11). Turn away Thy face
from my sins: and "cast me not forth from Thy face." Whose face he
feareth, upon the face of the Same he calleth. "And Thy Holy Spirit
take not away from me." For in one confessing there is the Holy Spirit.
Even now, to the gift of the Holy Spirit it belongeth, that what thou
hast done displeaseth thee. The unclean spirit sins do please; the Holy
One they displease. Though then thou still implore pardon, yet thou art
joined to God on the other part, because the evil thing that thou hast
committed displeaseth thee: for the same thing displeaseth both thee
and Him. Now, to assail thy fever, ye are two, thou and the Physician.
For the reason that there cannot be confession of sin and punishment of
sin in a man of himself: when one is angry with himself, and is
displeasing to himself, then it is not without the gift of the Holy
Spirit, nor doth he say, Thy Holy Spirit give to me, but, "Take not
away from me."
17. "Give back to me the exultation of Thy salvation" [1863] (ver. 12).
"Give back" what I had; what by sinning I had lost: to wit, of Thy
Christ. For who without Him can be made whole? Because even before that
He was Son of Mary, "In the beginning He was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God;" [1864] and so, by the holy fathers a
future dispensation of flesh taken upon Him, was looked for; [1865] as
is believed by us to have been done. Times are changed, not faith. "And
with Principal Spirit confirm me." Some have here understood the
Trinity in God, Itself God; the dispensation of Flesh being excepted
therefrom: since it is written, "God is a Spirit." [1866] For that
which is not body, and yet is, seemeth to exist in such sort as that it
is spirit. Therefore some understand here the Trinity spoken of: "In
upright Spirit," the Son; in "Holy Spirit," Holy Ghost; in "Principal
Spirit," Father. [1867] It is not any heretical opinion, therefore,
whether this be so, or whether "upright Spirit" He would have to be
taken of man himself (when He saith, "An upright spirit renew in my
inner parts"), which I have bowed and distorted by sinning, so that in
that case the Holy Spirit be Himself the Principal Spirit: which also
he would not have to be taken away from him, and thereby would have
himself to be confirmed therein.
18. But see what he annexeth: "With Principal Spirit," he saith,
"confirm Thou me." Wherein "confirm"? Because Thou hast pardoned me,
because I am secure, that what Thou hast forgiven is not to be
ascribed, on this being made secure and with this grace confirmed,
therefore I am not ungrateful. But I shall do what? "I would teach
unrighteous men Thy ways" (ver. 13). Being myself of the unrighteous
[1868] (that is, one that was myself an unrighteous man, now no longer
unrighteous; the Holy Spirit not having been taken away from me, and I
being confirmed with Principal Spirit). "I would teach unrighteous men
Thy ways." What ways wilt thou teach unrighteous men? "And ungodly men
to Thee shall be converted." If David's sin is counted for ungodliness,
let not ungodly men despair of themselves, forasmuch as God hath spared
an ungodly man; but let them take heed that to Him they be converted,
that His ways they learn. But if David's deed is not counted for
ungodliness, but this is properly call ungodliness, namely, to
apostatize from God, not to worship one God, or never to have
worshipped, or to have forsaken, Him whom one did worship, then what he
saith hath the force of superabundance, "And ungodly men shall to Thee
be converted." So full art thou of the fatness of mercy, that for those
converted to Thee, not only sinners of any sort, but even ungodly,
there is no cause for despair. Wherefore? That believing on Him that
justifieth an ungodly man, their faith may be counted for
righteousness. [1869]
19. "Deliver me from bloods, O God, God of my health" (ver. 14). The
Latin translator hath expressed, though by a word not Latin, yet an
accuracy from the Greek. [1870] For we all know that in Latin,
sanguines (bloods) are not spoken of, nor yet sanguina (bloods in the
neuter), nevertheless because the Greek translator hath thus used the
plural number, not without reason, but because he found this in the
original language the Hebrew, a godly translator hath preferred to use
a word not Latin, rather than one not exact. Wherefore then hath he
said in the plural number, "From bloods"? In many bloods, as in the
origin of the sinful flesh, many sins he would have to be understood.
The Apostle having regard to the very sins which come of the corruption
of flesh and blood, saith, "Flesh and blood shall not possess the
kingdom of God." [1871] For doubtless, after the true faith of the same
Apostle, that flesh shall rise again and shall itself gain
incorruption, as He saith Himself, "This corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality." [1872] Because then
this corruption is of sin, by the name thereof sins are called. In like
manner as both that morsel of flesh and member which playeth in the
mouth when we articulate words is called a tongue, and that is called a
tongue which by the tongue is made, so we call one tongue the Greek,
another the Latin; for the flesh is not diverse, but the sound. In the
same manner, then, as the speech which is made by the tongue is called
a tongue; so also the iniquity which is made by blood is called blood.
Heeding, then, his many iniquities, as [1873] in the expression above,
[1874] "And all my iniquities blot out," and ascribing them to the
corruption of flesh and blood, "Free me," he saith, "from bloods:" that
is, free me from iniquities, cleanse me from all corruption....Not yet
is the substance, but certain hope. "And my tongue shall exult of Thy
righteousness."
20. "O Lord, my lips Thou shalt open, and my mouth shall tell of Thy
praise" (ver. 15). "Thy praise," because [1875] I have been created:
"Thy praise," because sinning I have not been forsaken: "Thy praise,"
because I have been admonished to confess: "Thy praise," because in
order that I might be secured I have been cleansed.
21. "Because if Thou hadst willed sacrifice, I would have given it
surely" (ver. 16). David was living at that time when sacrifices of
victim animals were offered to God, and he saw these times that were to
be. Do we not perceive ourselves in these words? Those sacrifices were
figurative, foretelling the One Saving Sacrifice. Not even we have been
left without a Sacrifice to offer to God. For hear what he saith,
having a concern for his sin, and wishing the evil thing which he hath
done to be forgiven him: "If Thou hadst willed," he saith, "sacrifice,
I would have given it surely. With holocausts Thou wilt not be
delighted." Nothing shall we therefore offer? So shall we come to God?
And whence shall we propitiate Him? Offer; certainly in thyself thou
hast what thou mayest offer. Do not from without fetch frankincense,
[1876] but say, "In me are, O God, Thy vows, which I will render of
praise to Thee." [1877] Do not from without seek cattle to slay, thou
hast in thyself what thou mayest kill. "Sacrifice to God is a spirit
troubled, a heart contrite and humbled God despiseth not" (ver. 17).
Utterly he despiseth bull, he-goat, ram: now is not the time that these
should be offered. They were offered when they indicated something,
when they promised something; when the things promised come, the
promises are taken away. "A heart contrite and humbled God despiseth
not." Ye know that God is high: if thou shalt have made thyself high,
He will be from thee; if thou shalt have humbled thyself, He will draw
near to thee.
22. See who this is: David as one man was seeming to implore; see ye
here our image and the type of the Church.
"Deal kindly, O Lord, in Thy good will with Sion" (ver. 18). With this
Sion deal kindly. What is Sion? A city holy. What is a city holy? That
which cannot be hidden, being upon a mountain established. Sion in
prospect, because it hath prospect of something which it hopeth for.
For Sion is interpreted "prospect," and Jerusalem, "vision of peace."
Ye perceive then yourselves to be in Sion and in Jerusalem, if being
sure ye look for hope that is to be, and if ye have peace with God.
"And be the walls of Jerusalem builded." "Deal kindly, O Lord, in Thy
good will with Sion, and be the walls of Jerusalem builded." For not to
herself let Sion ascribe her merits: do Thou with her deal kindly, "Be
the walls of Jerusalem builded:" be the battlements of our immortality
laid, in faith and hope and charity.
23. "Then Thou shalt accept the sacrifice of righteousness" (ver. 19).
But now sacrifice for iniquity, to wit, a spirit troubled, and a heart
humbled; then the sacrifice of righteousness, praises alone. For,
"Blessed they that dwell in Thy house, for ever and ever they shall
praise Thee:" [1878] for this is the sacrifice of righteousness.
"Oblations and holocausts." What are "holocausts"? A whole victim by
fire consumed. When a whole beast was laid upon the altar with fire to
be consumed, it was called a holocaust. May divine fire take us up
whole, and that fervour catch us whole. What fervour? "Neither is there
that hideth himself from the heat thereof." [1879] What fervour? That
whereof speaketh the Apostle: "In spirit fervent." [1880] Be not merely
our soul taken up by that divine fire of wisdom, but also our body;
that [1881] it may earn their immortality; so be it lifted up for a
holocaust, that death be swallowed into victory. "Oblations and
holocausts." "Then shall they lay upon thine altar calves." Whence
"calves"? What shall He therein choose? Will it be the innocence of the
new age, or necks freed from the yoke of the law?...
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:
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[1803] From a sermon to the people of Carthage. See below, S: 11.
[1804] [On the sign of the Cross, see (Tertullian) A.N.F. vol. iii. p.
104; also vol. vii. (Lactant.) p. 130, note 3.--C.]
[1805] Rom. i. 3.
[1806] 2 Sam. xi. 2-17.
[1807] 2 Sam. xii. 1.
[1808] Al. "Love this in David which in himself David hated not."
[1809] 2 Sam. xi. 2.
[1810] Rom. vi. 12.
[1811] [Compare the author's Confessions, vol. i. of this series, pp.
126, 153, 154, and book viii. passim.--C.]
[1812] Ps. ii. 11.
[1813] 1 Sam. xxiv. 5, xxvi. 9.
[1814] Ps. cxvi. 3, 4.
[1815] [Here I have corrected the feeble translation, "do penance,"
which is unjust to the author's entire system of thought. See
Confessions, book viii. vol. i. this series.--C.]
[1816] Al. "The pride of royalty."
[1817] 1 Tim. i. 13.
[1818] Matt. vii. 5.
[1819] 2 Sam. xii. 1, 2, etc.
[1820] Al. "he was captive," or, "was held captive."
[1821] 2 Sam. xi. 4, 15.
[1822] John viii. 46.
[1823] John xiv. 30.
[1824] Wisd. ii. 24.
[1825] John x. 18.
[1826] 1 Sam. xvi. 18.
[1827] Job xiv. 5, LXX.
[1828] Against the Pelagians.
[1829] So most mss. Ben. "carnal," but see below.
[1830] Luke i. 35.
[1831] [The mother need not be conceived of as sinning in her passive
relations to an act which is undefiled in itself (Heb. xiii. 4); but
she is a sinner like all mortals, and in that estate of sinfulness her
offspring is begotten and nourished in the womb. So he argues.--C.]
[1832] Rom. viii. 10.
[1833] 1 Cor. xv. 22.
[1834] Rom. v. 12.
[1835] Praerogasti.
[1836] i.e., as His mercy is to us beforehand.
[1837] Jonah iii. 4.
[1838] Jonah iii. 9.
[1839] [Here the translator has "did penance," which has no meaning at
all apart from ecclesiastical discipline, to which the men of Nineve
were certainly not subjected.--C.]
[1840] Acts ix. 4.
[1841] [See p. 166, note 3, supra.--C.]
[1842] Jer. i. 10.
[1843] Deut. xxxii. 39.
[1844] 2 Sam. xii. 13.
[1845] [The English Version is not sustained by Jerome, whose rendering
is (happier than that so beautifully expounded by our author),
absconditum et arcanum sapietatiae manifestasti.--C.]
[1846] Oxf. mss. radice.
[1847] Acts ix. 1.
[1848] Isa. i. 18.
[1849] Eph. v. 27.
[1850] Matt. xvii. 2.
[1851] Ps. xxvii. 9.
[1852] Satagit. Oxf. mss. Sategit, "he hath done enough for."
[1853] Ps. xxxiv. 16.
[1854] Oxf. mss. add, perdet de terra memoriam eorum.
[1855] So mss. Ben. "He meant not," but "as it were" seems to meet the
difficulty.
[1856] Ps. lvii. 6.
[1857] Ps. lxxiii. 1.
[1858] 2 Sam. xii. 13.
[1859] [Compare 2 Sam. xii. 10.--C.]
[1860] 2 Sam. xv. 10.
[1861] 2 Sam. xvi. 10.
[1862] Ps. xxxiv. 1.
[1863] Salutaris tui.
[1864] John i. 1.
[1865] [Credebatur.--C.]
[1866] John iv. 24.
[1867] Jerome on the Epist. to Gal. iv. 6.
[1868] Ex iniquo. Oxf. mss. ex iniquus.
[1869] Rom. iv. 5.
[1870] [ex haimEURton, Sept.--C.]
[1871] 1 Cor. xv. 50.
[1872] 1 Cor. xv. 53.
[1873] Some mss. ut.
[1874] Ps. li. 9.
[1875] Most mss. "whereby" throughout.
[1876] [So Lactantius, A.N.F. vol. vii. p. 193, note 1, and the whole
chapter.--C.]
[1877] Ps. lvi. 12.
[1878] Ps. lxxxiv. 4.
[1879] Ps. xix. 6.
[1880] Rom. xii. 11.
[1881] mss. omit ut, "also let our body earn," etc.
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