The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity
Augustine on Psalm 105
Trinity 17 Home
LORD, we pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Source: Bishop Gregory [595]. "Pevent" meaning to come before from the verb prevenient. This calls to my mind Patrick's Breastplate Christ behind me, Christ before me... and Psalm 139 Thou hast beset me before and behind...
Deuteronomy xvi.8; Psalm 105, Ephesians iv. 1 & St. Luke xiv. 1
Deuteronomy xvi. 8
Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work therein.
Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn.
And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes Ephesians iv. 1 I THEREFORE, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above, and through all, and in you all.
St. Luke xiv. 1
IT came to pass, as Jesus went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him. And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go; and answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day? And they could not answer him again to these things. And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief seats; saying unto them, When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest seat; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Homily - Psalm CV by Augustine
Homily
Augustine, Bishop of Hippo
Exposition on the Psalms
Psalm CV
1. This Psalm is the first of those to which is prefixed the word
Allelujah; the meaning of which word, or rather two words, is, Praise
the Lord. For this reason he beginneth with praises: "O confess unto
the Lord, and call upon His Name" (ver. 1); for this confession is to
be understood as praise, just as these words of our Lord, "I confess to
Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth." [4778] For after commencing
with praise, calling upon God is wont to follow, whereunto he that
prayeth doth next add [4779] his longings: whence the Lord's Prayer
itself hath at the commencement a very brief praise, in these words,
"Our Father which art in Heaven." [4780] The things prayed for, then
follow....This also followeth, "Tell the people what things He hath
done;" [4781] or rather, to translate literally from the Greek, as
other Latin copies too have it, "Preach the Gospel of His works among
the Gentiles." Unto whom is this addressed, save unto the Evangelists
in prophecy?
2. "O sing unto Him, and play on instruments unto Him" (ver. 2). Praise
Him both by word and deed; for we sing with the voice, while we play
with an instrument, that is, with our hands. "Let your talking be of
all His wondrous works. Be ye praise in His holy Name" (ver. 3). These
two verses may without any absurdity seem paraphrases of the two words
above; so that, "Let your talking be of all His wondrous works," may
express the words, "O sing unto Him;" and what followeth, "be ye
praised in His holy Name," may be referred to the words, "and play on
instruments unto Him;" the former relating to the "good word" wherewith
we sing unto Him, in which His wondrous works are told; the latter to
the good work, in which sweet music is played unto Him, so that no man
may wish to be praised for a good work on the score of his own power to
do it. For this reason, after saying, "be ye praised," which assuredly
they who work well deservedly may, he added, "in His holy Name," since
"he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." [4782] ...This is to be
praised in His holy Name. Whence we read also in another Psalm: "My
soul shall be praised in the Lord: let the meek hear thereof, and be
glad;" [4783] which here in a sense followeth, "Let the heart of them
rejoice that seek the Lord:" for thus the meek are glad, who do not
rival with a bitter jealousy those whom they imitate as already workers
of good.
3. "Seek the Lord, and be strengthened" [4784] (ver. 4). This is very
literally construed from the Greek, though it may seem not a Latin
word: whence other copies have, "be ye confirmed;" others, "be ye
corroborated."...While these words, then, "Come unto Him, and be
enlightened," [4785] apply to seeing; those in the text relate to
doing: "Seek the Lord, and be strengthened."...But what meaneth, "Seek
His face evermore"? I know indeed that to cling unto God is good for
me; [4786] but if He is always being sought, when is He found? Did he
mean by "evermore," the whole of the life we live here, whence we
become conscious that we ought thus to seek, since even when found He
is still to be sought? To wit, faith hath already found Him, but hope
still seeketh Him. But love hath both found Him through faith, and
seeketh to have Him by sight, where He will then be found so as to
satisfy us, and no longer to need our search. For unless faith
discovered Him in this life, it would not be said, "Seek the Lord."
Also, if when discovered by faith, He were not still to be diligently
sought, it would not be said, "For if we hope for that we see not, then
do we with patience wait for it." [4787] ...And truly this is the sense
of the words, "Seek His face evermore;" meaning that discovery should
not terminate that seeking, by which love is testified, but with the
increase of love the seeking of the discovered One should increase.
4. "Remember," he saith, "His marvellous works that He hath done, His
wonders, and the judgments of His mouth" (ver. 5). This passage seemeth
like that, "Thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent
me unto you:" an expression which, in ever so small part, scarce a mind
[4788] taketh in. Then mentioning His own Name, He mercifully mingled
in His grace towards men, saying, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob; this is My Name for ever." [4789] By which
He would have it to be understood, that they whose God He declared
Himself lived with Him for ever, and He said this, which might be
understood even by children, that they who by the great powers of love
knew how to seek His face for evermore, might according to their
capacity comprehend, I Am that I Am.
5. Unto whom is it said, "O ye seed of Abraham His servant, ye children
of Jacob, His chosen"? (ver. 6)....He next addeth, "He is the Lord our
God: His judgments are in all the world" (ver. 7). Is He the God of the
Jews only? [4790] God forbid! "He is the Lord our God:" because the
Church, where His judgments are preached, is in all the world....
6. "He hath been alway mindful of His covenant" (ver. 8). Other copies
read, "for evermore;" and this arises from the ambiguity of the Greek.
But if we are to understand "alway" of this world and not of eternity,
why, when he explaineth what covenant He was mindful of, doth he add,
"The word that He made to a thousand generations"? Now this may be
understood with a certain limitation; but he afterwards saith, "Even
the covenant that He made with Abraham" (ver. 9): "and the oath that He
sware unto Isaac; and appointed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to
Israel for an everlasting [4791] testament" (ver. 10). But if in this
passage the Old Testament is to be understood, on account of the land
of Canaan; for thus the language of the Psalm runneth, "saying, Unto
thee will I give the land of Canaan: the lot of your inheritance" (ver.
11): how is it to be understood as everlasting, since that earthly
inheritance could not be everlasting? And for this reason it is called
the Old Testament, because it is abolished by the New. But a thousand
generations do not seem to signify anything eternal, since they involve
an end; and yet are also too numerous for this very temporal state. For
by howsoever few years a generation is limited, such as in Greek is
called gen(TM)a, whereof the shortest period some have fixed is at
fifteen years, after which period man hath the power of generation;
what then are those "thousand generations," not only from the time of
Abraham, when that promise was made him, unto the New Testament, but
from Adam himself down to the end of the world? For who would dare to
say that this world should last for 15000 years? Hence it seemeth to me
that we ought not to understand here the Old Testament, which it said
through the prophet was to be cancelled by the New: "Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant." [4792] ...After
saying, "He hath been mindful of His covenant unto an age;" which we
ought to understand as lasting for evermore, the covenant, namely, of
justification and an eternal inheritance, which God hath promised to
faith; he addeth, "and the Word that He commanded [4793] unto a
thousand generations." What meaneth "commanded"?...The command then was
faith, that the righteous should live by faith; [4794] and an eternal
inheritance is set before this faith. "A thousand generations," then,
are, on account of the perfect number, to be understood for all; that
is, as long as generation succeedeth generation, so long is it
commanded to us to live by faith. This the people of God doth observe,
the sons of promise who succeed by birth, and depart by death, until
every generation be finished; and this is signified by the number
thousand; because the solid square of the number ten, ten times ten,
and this taken ten times amounts to a thousand. "Even the covenant," he
saith, "which He made with Abraham: and the oath that He sware unto
Isaac; and appointed the same unto Jacob," that is, Jacob himself, "for
a law." These are the very three patriarchs, whose God He calleth
Himself in a special sense, whom the Lord also doth name in the New
Testament, where He saith, "Many shall come from the east and the west,
and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom
of heaven." [4795] This is everlasting inheritance....
7. He next followeth out the history well known in the truth of the
holy Scriptures. "When they were in small numbers, very few, and they
strangers in the land" (ver. 12); that is, in the land of Canaan....But
some copies have the words "very few, and they strangers," in the
accusative case, [4796] the translator having turned the Greek phrase
too literally into Latin. If we were to render the whole clause in this
way, we must say, "that they were very few, and they strangers;" but
the phrase, "while they were," is the meaning of the Greek; and the
verb, "to be," takes not an accusative, but a nominative after it.
[4797]
8. "What time as they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom
to another people" (ver. 13). This is a repetition of what he had said,
"from one nation to another." "He suffered no man to do them harm: but
reproved even kings for their sakes" (ver. 14). "Touch not," He said,
"Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm" (ver. 15). He declareth the
words of God chiding or reproving kings, that they might not harm the
holy fathers, while they were small in number, very few, and they
strangers in the land of Canaan. Although these words be not read in
the books of that history, yet they are to be understood as either
secretly spoken, as God speaketh in the hearts of men by unseen and
true visions, or even as announced through an Angel. For both the king
of Gerar and the king of the Egyptians were warned from Heaven not to
harm Abraham, [4798] and another king not to harm Isaac, [4799] and
others not to harm Jacob; [4800] while they were very few, and
strangers, before he went over into Egypt to sojourn with his sons:
which is understood to be herein mentioned. But since it occurred to
ask, before they passed over and multiplied in Egypt, how so few in
number, and those strangers in a foreign land, could maintain
themselves: he next addeth, "He suffered no man to do them wrong," etc.
9. But it may well excite a question, in what sense they were styled
(Christs, or) anointed, before there was any unction, from which this
title was given to the kings. [4801] ...Whence then were those
patriarchs at that time called "anointed"? For that they were prophets,
we read concerning Abraham; and certainly, what is manifestly said of
him, should be understood of them also. Are they styled "christs,"
because, even though secretly, yet they were already Christians? For
although the flesh of Christ came from them, nevertheless Christ came
before them; for He thus answered the Jews, "Before Abraham was, I am."
[4802] But how could they not know Him, or not believe in Him; since
they are called prophets for this very reason, because, though somewhat
darkly, they announced the Lord beforehand? Whence He saith Himself
openly, "Your father Abraham desired to see My day, and he saw it, and
was glad." [4803] For no man was ever reconciled unto God outside of
that faith which is in Christ Jesus, either before His Incarnation, or
after: as it is most truly defined by the Apostle: "For there is one
God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus."
[4804]
10. He then beginneth to relate how it happened that they went from one
nation to another, from one kingdom to another people. "He calleth," he
saith, "for a famine upon the land: and brake all the staff of bread"
(ver. 16). Thus it happened that they went from one nation to another,
from one kingdom to another people. But the expressions of the holy
Scriptures are not to be negligently passed by. "He called," he saith,
"for a famine upon the land;" as if famine were some person, or some
animated body, or some spirit that would obey Him who called....Under
this impression the old Romans consecrated some such deities, as the
goddess Fever, and the god Paleness. Or meaneth it, as is more
credible, He said there should be famine; so that calling be the same
thing as mentioning by name; mentioning by name, as speaking; speaking,
as commanding? Nor doth the Apostle say, [4805] "He calleth those
things which be not, that they may be;" but, "as though they were." For
with God that hath already happened which, according to His
disposition, is fixed for the future: for of Him it is elsewhere said,
"He who made things to come." [4806] And here when famine happened,
then it is said to have been called, that is, that that which had been
determined in His secret government, might be realized. Lastly, he at
once expounds, how He called for the famine, saying, "He brake all the
staff of bread."
11. "But He had sent a man before them" (ver. 17). What man? "Even
Joseph." How did He send him? "Joseph was sold to be a bond-servant."
When this happened, it was the sin of his brethren, and, nevertheless,
God sent Joseph into Egypt. We should therefore meditate on this
important and necessary subject, how God useth well the evil works of
men, as they on the other hand use ill the good works of God.
12. Next he doth relate the story, mentioning what Joseph suffered in
his low estate, and how he was raised on high. "His feet they hurt in
the stocks: the iron entered into his soul, until his word came" (ver.
18). That Joseph was put in irons, we do not indeed read; but we ought
no ways to doubt that it was so. For some things might be passed over
in that history, which nevertheless would not escape the Holy Spirit,
who speaketh in these Psalms. We understand by the iron which entered
into his soul, the tribulation of stern necessity; for he did not say
body, but "soul." There is a somewhat similar expression in the Gospel,
where Simeon saith unto Mary, "A sword shall pierce through thy own
soul also." [4807] That is, the Passion of the Lord, which was a fall
unto many, and in which the secrets of many hearts were revealed, since
their sentiments respecting the Lord were extorted from them, without
doubt made His own Mother exceeding sorrowful, heavily struck with
human bereavement. Now Joseph was in this tribulation, "until his word
came," with which he truly interpreted dreams: whence he was introduced
to the king, that unto him also he might foretell what would happen in
respect to his dreams. [4808] But since he said, "Until his words were
heard," that we might not altogether so understand "his," that any one
might think so great an event was to be ascribed unto man; he at once
added, "The word of the Lord inflamed him" (ver. 19); or, as other
copies have it more closely from the Greek, "The word of the Lord fired
him," that he also might be reputed amongst those to whom it is said,
"Receive ye praise in His holy Name." [4809]
13. "The king sent and loosed him, the prince of the peoples, and let
him go free" (ver. 20). The "king" is the same as "the prince of the
peoples:" he "loosed" him from his bonds "and let him go free" from his
prison. "He made him lord also of his house: and ruler of all his
substance" (ver. 21). "That he might inform his princes like unto
himself, and teach his old men wisdom" (ver. 22). The Greek hath, "and
teach his elders wisdom." Which might altogether be rendered to the
letter thus; "Might inform his princes like unto himself, and make his
elders wise." The word translated old men being presbyters or elders,
not gerontas, old men: and to teach wisdom being from the Greek to
sophize, which cannot be rendered by a single word in Latin, and is
from the word sophia, wisdom, different from prudence, which is in
Greek phronesis. Yet we do not read this in the high elevation of
Joseph, as we read not of fetters in his low estate. But how could it
happen that so great a man, the worshipper of the One True God, whilst
in Egypt, should have been intent upon the nourishing of bodies, and
the government of carnal matters only, and have felt no anxiety for
souls, and how he could render them better? But those things are
written in that history, which, according to the intention of the
writer, in whom was the Holy Spirit, were judged sufficient for
signifying future events in that narration.
14. "Joseph also came into Egypt, and Jacob was a stranger in the land
of Ham" (ver. 23). Israel is the same with Jacob, as is Egypt with the
land of Ham. Here it is very plainly shown, that the Egyptian race
sprang from the seed of Chain, the son of Noah, whose first-born was
Canaan. So that in those copies wherein in this passage Canaan is read,
we must alter the reading. It is better construed, "was a stranger,"
than "dwelt," as other copies have it: which would be the same as "was
an inhabitant," for it meaneth nothing different; the very same word is
used in the Greek passage above, where it is said, "Very few, and they
strangers in the land." Moreover, the state of an incola or accola doth
not signify a native, but a stranger. Behold how "they went from one
nation to another." What had been briefly proposed, hath been briefly
explained in the narration. But from what kingdom they passed over to
another people may well be asked. For they were not yet reigning in the
land of Canaan, because the kingdom of the people of Israel had not yet
been established there. How then can it be understood, except by
anticipation, because the kingdom of their seed was destined there to
exist?
15. Next is related what happened in Egypt. "And He increased," he
saith, "His people exceedingly, and made them stronger than their
enemies" (ver. 24). Even the whole of this is briefly set forth, in
order that the manner in which it took place may be afterwards related.
For the people of God was not made stronger than their enemies the
Egyptians, at the time when their male offspring were slain, or when
they were worn out with making bricks; but when by His powerful hand,
by the signs and portents of the Lord their God, they became objects of
fear and of honour, until the opposition of the hardened king was
overcome, and the Red Sea overwhelmed the persecutor with his army.
16. "And He turned their heart so, that they hated His people, and
dealt untruly with His servants" (ver. 25). Is it to be in any wise
understood or believed, that God turneth man's heart to do sin?...For
they were not good before they hated His people; but being malignant
and ungodly, they were such as would readily envy their prosperous
sojourners. And so, in that He multiplied His own people, this
bountiful act turned the wicked to envy. For envy is the hatred of
another's prosperity. In this sense, therefore, He turned their heart,
so that through envy they hated His people, and dealt untruly with His
servants. It was not then by making their hearts evil, but by doing
good to His people, that He turned their hearts, that were evil of
their own accord, to hatred. For He did not pervert a righteous heart,
but turned one perverted of its own accord to the hatred of His people,
while He was to make a good use of that evil; [4810] not by making them
evil, but by lavishing blessings upon those, which the wicked might
most readily envy.
17. The following verses, which are sung in praise of Him when
Allelujah is chanted, show how He used this hatred of theirs, both for
the trial of His own people, and for the glory of His Name, which is
profitable for us. "He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron whom He had
chosen him" (ver. 26). "Whom He had chosen," would be sufficient; but
there is no difficulty in the addition of "him." It is a phrase of
Scripture, as, "The land in which they shall dwell in it:" [4811] a
phrase which the divine pages are full of.
18. "He set forth in them the words of His tokens, and of His wonders
in the land of Ham" (ver. 27). We ought not to understand by "the words
of His tokens," words literally, words with which the tokens and
wonders were worked, that is, which they uttered, that these tokens and
wonders might take place. For many were performed without words, either
with a rod, or with outstretched hand, or by ashes sent towards
heaven....
19. "He sent darkness, and made it dark" (ver. 28). This is also
written among the plagues with which the Egyptians were smitten. But
what followeth, is variously read in different copies. For some have,
"and they provoked His words;" while others read, "and they provoked
not His words;" but the reading first mentioned we have found in most;
while, where the negative particle is added, we could hardly discover
two copies. But perhaps the false reading has abounded owing to the
easy sense; for what is easier understood than this, "They provoked His
words," that is, by their contumacious rebellions? We have endeavoured
to explain the other reading also according to some true sense: and
this for the present occurs: "They provoked not His words," that is, in
Moses and Aaron; because they most patiently bore with a very
stiffnecked people, until all things which God had determined to work
by them, were fulfilled in order.
20. "He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish" (ver. 29).
"He made their land frogs, yea, even in the king's chambers" (ver. 30):
as if he were to say, He turned their land into frogs. For there was so
great a multitude of frogs, that this might well be said by hyperbole.
21. "He spake the word, and there came all manner of flies, and lice in
all their quarters" (ver. 31). If it be asked when He spake, it was in
His Word before it took place; and there it was, without time, at what
time it should take place: although even then He commanded it to be
done, when it was to be done, through Angels, and through his servants
Moses and Aaron.
22. He made their rains hail" (ver. 32). It is a similar expression to
the former, "He made their land frogs;" except that the whole land was
not actually turned into frogs, though the whole of the rain may have
been turned into hail. "A burning fire in their land:" understand, "He
sent."
23. "He smote their vines also and fig-trees; and brake every tree of
their coasts" (ver. 33). This was done by the violence of the hail, and
by lightnings; whence he spoke of the fire as "burning."
24. "He spake the word, and the locust came, and the caterpillar, of
which there was no number" (ver. 34). The locusts and the caterpillars
are one plague: of which the one is the parent, the other the
offspring.
25. "And did eat up all the grass in their land, and devoured the fruit
of the ground" (ver. 35). Even grass is fruit, as Scripture is wont to
speak, which calleth even the ripe corn grass; but it wished these two
things to harmonize in number with the two which it had spoken of
before, that is, the locust and the caterpillar. But the whole of this
doth belong to the variety of speech, which is a remedy for weariness,
not to any difference of senses.
26. "He smote every first-born in their land: even the first-fruits of
all their strength" (ver. 36). This is the last plague, excepting the
death in the Red Sea. "The first-fruits of all their strength," I
imagine to be an expression derived from the first-born of cattle.
These plagues are ten in number, but they are not all mentioned, nor in
the same order in which they are there read to have happened. For
praise-giving is free from the law which bindeth one who is relating or
composing a history. And since the Holy Spirit is the Author and
Dictator, through the Prophet, of this praise; by the very same
authority with which He guided him who wrote that history, he doth both
mention something to have taken place which is not there read, and
passeth over what is there read.
27. Now he addeth this also to the praises of God, that He led the
Israelites out of Egypt enriched with silver and gold; because even
they were then in such a condition, that they could not as yet despise
the just and due, though temporal, reward of their toils...."He brought
them forth also in silver and gold" (ver. 37): this too is a Scripture
idiom; for "in silver and gold" is said for the same as if it had been
said "with silver and gold: there was not one feeble person among their
tribes:" in body, not in mind. This also was a great blessing of God,
that in this necessity of removal there was no infirm person.
28. "Egypt was glad at their departing: for their fear fell upon them"
(ver. 38); that is, the fear of the Hebrews upon the Egyptians. For
"their fear" is not that with which the Hebrews feared, but that with
which they were feared. Some one will say, how then were the Egyptians
unwilling to dismiss them? why did they let them go as if they expected
them to return? why did they lend them gold and silver, as to men who
were to return, and to repay them, if "Egypt was glad at their
departing"? But we must understand, after that final destruction of the
Egyptians, and the terrible overthrow of the mighty pursuing army in
the Red Sea, that the rest of the Egyptians feared lest the Hebrews
should return, and with great ease crush the relics of them:
illustrating what he had stated, that He made His people stronger than
their enemies.
29. He now proceedeth to the divine blessings which were conferred upon
them as they wandered in the desert. "He spread out a cloud to be their
covering: and fire to give them light in the night season" (ver. 39).
This is as clear as it is well known.
30. "They asked, and the quail came" (ver. 40). They did not desire
quails, but flesh. But since the quail is flesh, and in this Psalm he
speaketh not of the provocation of those who did not please God, but of
the faith of the elect, the true seed of Abraham; they are to be
understood to have desired that that might come which might crush the
murmurs of those who provoked. Then in the next line, "And He filled
them with the bread of heaven," he has not indeed named manna, but it
is obscure to none who hath read those records.
31. "He opened the rock of stone, and the waters flowed out: so that
rivers ran in the dry places" (ver. 41). This fact too is understood as
soon as read.
32. But in all these blessings of His, God doth commend in Abraham the
merit of faith. For the Psalmist goeth on to say, "For why? He
remembered His holy promise, which He made to Abraham His servant"
(ver. 42). "And He brought forth His people with joy, and His chosen
with gladness" (ver. 43). What he said, "His people," he has repeated
in, "His chosen." So also what he said, "with joy," he has repeated in,
"with gladness." "And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they took
the labours of the people in possession" (ver. 44). "The lands of the
heathen," and "the labours of the people," are the same; and the words,
"He gave," are repeated in these, "they took in possession."
33. ..."That they may keep His statutes, and seek out His law" (ver.
45). Lastly, since by the seed of Abraham he wished those to be
understood here, who were truly the seed of Abraham, such as were not
wanting even in that people; as the Apostle Paul clearly showeth, when
he saith, "But not in all of them was God well pleased;" [4812] for if
He was not pleased with all, surely there were some in whom He was well
pleased: since then this Psalm praiseth such men as this, he hath said
nothing here of the iniquities and provocations and bitterness of those
with whom God was not well pleased. But since not only the justice but
also the mercy of Almighty God, the merciful, was shown even unto the
wicked; concerning these attributes the rest of the Psalm pursueth the
praises of God. And yet both sorts were in one people: nor did the
latter pollute the good with the contagion of their iniquities. For
"the Lord knoweth who are His;" [4813] and if he cannot separate in
this world from wicked men, yet, "let every one that nameth the name of
Christ depart from iniquity."...
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:
[4778] Matt. xi. 25.
[4779] Oxf. mss. "the sinner doth allege."
[4780] Matt. vi. 9.
[4781] John xxi. 17.
[4782] 1 Cor. i. 31.
[4783] Ps. xxxiv. 2.
[4784] Confortamini.
[4785] Ps. xxxiv. 4.
[4786] Ps. lxxiii. 27.
[4787] Rom. viii. 25.
[4788] Rara mens. Oxf. mss. read "a pure mind."
[4789] Exod. iii. 14, 15.
[4790] Rom. iii. 29.
[4791] [He adds: "Where there is no room for doubt: for the Greek has
aionion, which our interpreters have never rendered by any other word
than eternal; though scarce any authors in any passage have used
aionion in the sense of everlasting. Unless perhaps, because they
render aion as meaning time, in a more familiar way, they may choose to
interpret aionion, not eternal, but `for an age;' which I do not
remember any one having ventured to do." Conf. Matt. xxv. 46.--C.]
[4792] Jer. xxxi. 31, 32.
[4793] Mandavit.
[4794] Rom. i. 17.
[4795] Matt. viii. 11.
[4796] Paucissimos et incolas.
[4797] LXX. en to einai autous. "For we cannot say, cum essent
paucissimos, but cum essent paucissimi."
[4798] Gen. xii. 17-20, xx. 3.
[4799] Gen. xxvi. 8-11.
[4800] Gen. xxxii., xxxiii.
[4801] Ps. xlv. 8.
[4802] John viii. 58.
[4803] John viii. 56.
[4804] 1 Tim. ii. 5.
[4805] Rom. iv. 17.
[4806] Isa. xlv. 11.
[4807] Luke ii. 35.
[4808] Gen. xli.
[4809] Ps. cv. 3.
[4810] [A felicitous exposition of the sense in which "good is brought
out of evil." Compare A.N.F. vol. viii. pp. 140 and 223.--C.]
[4811] Numb. xiii. 20; Lev. xviii. 3.
[4812] 1 Cor. x. 5.
[4813] 2 Tim. ii. 19.
HOME