The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity
Augustine on Psalm 91
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]. "Prevent" 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 91, Ephesians iv. 1 & St. Luke xiv. 1
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 XCI by Augustine
Homily
Augustine, Bishop of Hippo
Exposition on the Psalms
Psalm XCI
1. This Psalm is that from which the Devil dared to tempt our Lord
Jesus Christ: let us therefore attend to it, that thus armed, we may be
enabled to resist the tempter, not presuming in ourselves, but in Him
who before us was tempted, that we might not be overcome when tempted.
Temptation to Him was not necessary: the temptation of Christ is our
learning, but if we listen to His answers to the devil, in order that,
when ourselves are tempted, we may answer in like manner, we are then
entering through the gate, as ye have heard it read in the Gospel. For
what is to enter by the gate? To enter by Christ, who Himself said, "I
am the door:" [4291] and to enter through Christ, is to imitate His
ways....He urges us to imitate Him in those works which He could not
have done had He not been made Man; for how could He endure sufferings,
unless He had become a Man? How could He otherwise have died, been
crucified, been humbled? Thus then do thou, when thou sufferest the
troubles of this world, which the devil, openly by men, or secretly, as
in Job's case, inflicts; be courageous, be of long suffering; "thou
shalt dwell under the defence of the Most High," as this Psalm
expresses it: for if thou depart from the help of the Most High,
without strength to aid thyself, thou wilt fall.
2. For many men are brave, when they are enduring persecution from men,
and see them openly rage against themselves: imagining they are then
imitating the sufferings of Christ, in case men openly persecute them;
but if assailed by the hidden attack of the devil, they believe they
are not being crowned by Christ. Never fear when thou dost imitate
Christ. For when the devil tempted our Lord, there was no man in the
wilderness; he tempted Him secretly; but he was conquered, and
conquered too when openly attacking Him. This do thou, if thou wishest
to enter by the door, when the enemy secretly assails thee, when he
asks for a man that he may do him some hurt by bodily troubles, by
fever, by sickness, or any other bodily sufferings, like those of Job.
He saw not the devil, yet he acknowledged the power of God. He knew
that the devil had no power against him, unless from the Almighty Ruler
of all things he received that power: the whole glory he gave to God,
power to the devil he gave not....
3. He then who so imitates Christ as to endure all the troubles of this
world, with his hopes set upon God, that he falls into no snare, is
broken down by no panic fears, he it is "who dwelleth under the defence
of the Most High, who shall abide under the protection of God" (ver.
1), in the words with which the Psalm, which you have heard and sung,
begins. You will recognise the words, so well known, in which the devil
tempted our Lord, when we come to them. "He shall say unto the Lord,
Thou art my taker up, and my refuge: my God" (ver. 2). Who speaks thus
to the Lord? "He who dwelleth under the defence of the Most High:" not
under his own defence. Who is this? He dwelleth under the defence of
the Most High, who is not proud, like those who ate, that they might
become as Gods, and lost the immortality in which they were made. For
they chose to dwell under a defence of their own, not under that of the
Most High: thus they listened to the suggestions of the serpent, [4292]
and despised the precept of God: and discovered at last that what God
threatened, not what the devil promised, had come to pass in them.
4. Thus then do thou say also, "In Him will I trust. For He Himself
shall deliver me" (ver. 3), not I myself. Observe whether he teaches
anything but this, that all our trust be in God, none in man. Whence
shall he deliver thee? "From the snare of the hunter, and from a harsh
word." Deliverance from the hunter's net is indeed a great blessing:
but how is deliverance from a harsh word so? Many have fallen into the
hunter's net through a harsh word. What is it that I say? The devil and
his angels spread their snares, as hunters do: and those who walk in
Christ tread afar from those snares: for he dares not spread his net in
Christ: he sets it on the verge of the way, not in the way. Let then
thy way be Christ, and thou shalt not fall into the snares of the
devil....
But what is, "from a harsh word"? The devil has entrapped many by a
harsh word: for instance, those who profess Christianity among Pagans
suffer insult from the heathen: they blush when they hear reproach, and
shrinking out of their path in consequence, fall into the hunter's
snares. And yet what will a harsh word do to you? Nothing. Can the
snares with which the enemy entraps you by means of reproaches, do
nothing to you? Nets are usually spread for birds at the end of a
hedge, and stones are thrown into the hedge: those stones will not harm
the birds. When did any one ever hit a bird by throwing a stone into a
hedge? But the bird, frightened at the harmless noise, falls into the
nets; and thus men who fear the vain reproaches of their calumniators,
and who blush at unprovoked insults, fall into the snares of the
hunters, and are taken captive by the devil...Just as among the
heathen, the Christian who fears their reproaches falls into the snare
of the hunter: so among the Christians, those who endeavour to be more
diligent and better than the rest, are doomed to bear insults from
Christians themselves. What then doth it profit, my brother, if thou
occasionally find a city in which there is no heathen? No one there
insults a man because he is a Christian, for this reason, that there is
no Pagan therein: but there are many Christians who lead a bad life,
among whom those who are resolved to live righteously, and to be sober
among the drunken, and chaste among the unchaste, and amid the
consulters of astrologers sincerely to worship God, and to ask after no
such things, and among spectators of frivolous shows will go only to
church, suffer from those very Christians reproaches, and harsh words,
when they address such a one, "Thou art the mighty, the righteous, thou
art Elias, thou art Peter: thou hast come from heaven." They insult
him: whichever way he turns, he hears harsh sayings on each side: and
if he fears, and abandons the way of Christ, he falls into the snares
of the hunters. But what is it, when he hears such words, not to swerve
from the way? On hearing them, what comfort has he, which prevents his
heeding them, and enables him to enter by the door? Let him say; What
words am I called, who am a servant and a sinner? To my Lord Jesus they
said, "Thou hast a devil." [4293] You have just heard the harsh words
spoken against our Lord: it was not necessary for our Lord to suffer
this, but in doing so He has warned thee against harsh words, lest thou
fall into the snares of the hunters.
5. "He shall defend thee between His shoulders, and thou shalt hope
under His wings" (ver. 4). He says this, that thy protection may not be
to thee from thyself, that thou mayest not imagine that thou canst
defend thyself; He will defend thee, to deliver thee from the hunter's
snare, and from an harsh word. The expression, "between His shoulders,"
may be understood both in front and behind: for the shoulders are about
the head; but in the words, "thou shalt hope under His wings," it is
clear that the protection of the wings of God expanded places thee
between His shoulders, so that God's wings on this side and that have
thee in the midst, where thou shalt not fear lest any one hurt thee:
only be thou careful never to leave that spot, where no foe dares
approach. If the hen defends her chickens beneath her wings; how much
more shalt thou be safe beneath the wings of God, even against the
devil and his angels, the powers who fly about in mid air like hawks,
to carry off the weak young one? For the comparison of the hen to the
very Wisdom of God is not without ground; for Christ Himself, our Lord
and Saviour, speaks of Himself as likened to a hen; "how often would I
have gathered thy children," etc. [4294] That Jerusalem would not: let
us be willing....If you consider other birds, brethren, you will find
many that hatch their eggs, and keep their young warm: but none that
weakens herself in sympathy with her chickens, as the hen does. We see
swallows, sparrows, and storks outside their nests, without being able
to decide whether they have young or no: but we know the hen to be a
mother by the weakness of her voice, and the loosening of her feathers:
she changes altogether from love for her chickens: she weakens herself
because they are weak. Thus since we were weak, the Wisdom of God made
Itself weak, when the Word was made flesh, and dwelt in us, [4295] that
we might hope under His wings.
6. "His truth shall surround thee with a shield" (ver. 5). What are
"the wings," the same is "the shield:" since there are neither wings
nor shield. If either were literally, how could the one be the same as
the other? can wings be a shield or a shield wings? But all these
expressions, indeed, are figuratively used through likenesses. If
Christ were really a Stone, [4296] He could not be a Lion; if a Lion,
[4297] He could not be a Lamb: but He is called both Lion, and Lamb,
[4298] and Stone, and Calf, and anything else of the sort,
metaphorically, because He is neither Stone, nor Lion, nor Lamb, nor
Calf, but Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all of us, for these are
likenesses, not literal names. "His truth shall be thy shield," it is
said: a shield to assure us that He will not confound those whose trust
is in themselves with those who hope in God. One is a sinner, and the
other a sinner: but suppose one that presumes upon himself is a
despiser, confesses not his sins, and he will say, if my sins
displeased God, He would not suffer me to live. But another dared not
even raise his eyes, but beat upon his breast, saying, "God be merciful
to me a sinner." [4299] Both this was a sinner, and that: but the one
mocked, the other mourned: the one was a despiser, the other a
confessor, of his sins. But the truth of God, which respects not
persons, discerns the penitent from him who denies his sin, the humble
from the proud, him who presumes upon himself from him who presumes on
God. "Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night."
7. "Nor for the arrow that flieth by day, for the matter [4300] that
walketh in darkness, nor for the ruin and the devil that is in the
noonday" (ver. 6). These two clauses above correspond to the two below;
"Thou shalt not fear" for "the terror by night, from the arrow that
flieth by day:" both because of "the terror by night," from "the matter
that walketh in darkness:" and because of "the arrow that flieth by
day," from "the ruin of the devil of the noon-day." What ought to be
feared by night, and what by day? When any man sins in ignorance, he
sins, as it were, by night: when he sins in full knowledge, by day. The
two former sins then are the lighter: the second are much heavier; but
this is obscure, and will repay your attention, if, by God's blessing,
I can explain it so that you may understand it. He calls the light
temptation, which the ignorant yield to, "terror by night:" the light
temptation, which assails men who well know, "the arrow that flieth by
day." What are light temptations? Those which do not press upon us so
urgently, as to overcome us, but may pass by quickly if declined.
Suppose these, again, heavy ones. If the persecutor threatens, and
frightens the ignorant grievously, I mean those whose faith is as yet
unstable, and know not that they are Christians that they may hope for
a life to come; as soon as they are alarmed with temporal ills, they
imagine that Christ has forsaken them, and that they are Christians to
no purpose; they are not aware that they are Christians for this
reason, that they may conquer the present, and hope for the future: the
matter that walketh in darkness has found and seized them. But some
there are who know that they are called to a future hope; that what God
has promised is not of this life, or this earth; that all these
temptations must be endured, that we may receive what God hath promised
us for evermore; all this they know: when however the persecutor urges
them more strenuously, and plies them with threats, penalties,
tortures, at length they yield, and although they are well aware of
their sin, yet they fall as it were by day.
8. But why does he say, "at noon-day"? The persecution is very hot; and
thus the noon signifies the excessive heat....The demon that is "in the
noon-day," represents the heat of a furious persecution: for these are
our Lord's words, "The sun was up; and because they had no root, they
withered away:" and when explaining it, He applies it to those who are
offended when persecution ariseth, "Because they have not root in
themselves." We are therefore right in understanding by the demon that
destroyeth in the noon-day, a violent persecution. Listen, beloved,
while I describe the persecution, from which the Lord hath rescued His
Church. At first, when the emperors and kings of the world imagined
that they could extirpate from the earth the Christian name by
persecution, they proclaimed, that any one who confessed himself a
Christian, should be smitten. He who did not choose to be smitten,
denied that he was a Christian, knowing the sin he was committing: the
arrow that flieth by day reached him. But whoever regarded not the
present life, but had a sure trust in a future one, avoided the arrow,
by confessing himself a Christian; smitten in the flesh, he was
liberated in the spirit: resting with God, he began peacefully to await
the redemption of his body in the resurrection of the dead: he escaped
from that temptation, from the arrow that flieth by day. "Whoever
professes himself a Christian, let him be beheaded;" was as the arrow
that flieth by day. The "devil that is in the noon-day" was not yet
abroad, burning with a terrible persecution, and afflicting with great
heat even the strong. For hear what followed; when the enemy saw that
many were hastening to martyrdom, and that the number of fresh converts
increased in proportion to that of the sufferers, they said among
themselves, We shall annihilate the human race, so many thousands are
there who believe in His Name; if we kill all of them, there will
hardly be a survivor on earth. The sun then began to blaze, and to glow
with a terrible heat. Their first edict had been, Whoever shall confess
himself a Christian, let him be smitten. Their second edict was,
Whoever shall have confessed himself a Christian, let him be tortured,
and tortured even until he deny himself a Christian....Many therefore
who denied not, [4301] failed amid the tortures; for they were tortured
until they denied. But to those who persevered in professing Christ,
what could the sword do, by killing the body at one stroke, and sending
the soul to God? This was the result of protracted tortures also: yet
who could be found able to resist such cruel and continued torments?
Many failed: those, I believe, who presumed upon themselves, who dwelt
not under the defence of the Most High, and under the shadow of the God
of Heaven; who said not to the Lord, "Thou art my lifter up:" who
trusted not beneath the shadow of His wings, but reposed much
confidence in their own strength. They are thrown down by God, to show
them that it is He that protects them, He overrules their temptations,
He allows so much only to befall them, as each person can sustain.
9. Many then fell before the demon of the noon-day. Would ye know how
many? He goes on, and says, "A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten
thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee" (ver. 7).
To whom, brethren, but to Christ Jesus, is this said?...For the
members, the body, and the head, are not separate from one another: the
body and the head are the Church and her Saviour. How then is it said,
"A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand by thy right
hand"? Because they shall fall before the devil, that destroyeth at
noon. It is a terrible thing, my brethren, to fall from beside Christ,
from His right hand but how shall they fall from beside Him? Why the
one beside Him, the other at His right hand? Why a thousand beside Him,
ten thousand at His right hand? Why a thousand beside Him? Because a
thousand are fewer than the ten thousand who shall fall at His right
hand. Who these are will soon be clear in Christ's name; for to some He
promised that they should judge with Him, namely, to the Apostles, who
left all things, and followed Him....Those judges then are the heads of
the Church, the perfect. To such He said, "If thou wilt be perfect, go
and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor." [4302] What means the
expression, "if thou wilt be perfect"? it means, if thou wilt judge
with Me, and not be judged....Many such at that period, who had
distributed their all to the poor, and already promised themselves a
seat beside Christ in judgment of the nations, failed amid their
torments under the blazing fire of persecution, as before the demon of
the noon-day, and denied Christ. These are they who have fallen
"beside" Him: when about to sit with Christ for the judgment of the
world, they fell.
10. I will now explain who are they who fall on the right hand of
Christ....And because many have fallen from that hope of being judges,
but yet many, many more from that of being on His right hand, the
Psalmist thus addresses Christ, "A thousand shall fall beside Thee, and
ten thousand at Thy right hand." And since there shall be many, who
regarded not all these things, with whom, as it were with His own
limbs, Christ is one, he adds, "But it shall not come nigh Thee." Were
these words addressed to the Head alone? Surely not; surely neither
(doth it come nigh) to Paul, nor Peter, nor all the Apostles, nor all
the Martyrs, who failed not in their torments. What then do the words,
"it shall not come nigh," mean? Why were they thus tortured? The
torture came nigh the flesh, but it did not reach the region of faith.
Their faith then was far beyond the reach of the terrors threatened by
their torturers. Let them torture, terror will not come nigh; let them
torture, but they will mock the torture, putting their trust in Him who
conquered before them, that the rest might conquer. And who conquer,
except they who trust not in themselves?...Who will not fear? He who
trusts not in himself, but in Christ. But those who trust in
themselves, although they even hope to judge at the side of Christ,
although they hoped they should be at His right hand, as if He said to
them, "Come, ye blessed of My Father," etc.; yet the devil that is at
noon overtook them, the raging heat of persecution, terrifying with
violence; and many fell from the hope of the seat of judgment, of whom
it is said, "A thousand shall fall beside thee;" many too fell from the
hope of reward for their duties, [4303] of whom it was said, "And ten
thousand at thy right hand." But this downfall and devil that is at
noon-day "shall not come nigh thee," that is, the Head and the body;
for the Lord knows who are His. [4304]
11. "Nevertheless, with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the
reward of the ungodly" (ver. 8). What is this? Why "nevertheless"?
Because the wicked were allowed to tyrannize over Thy servants, and to
persecute them. Will they then have been allowed to persecute Thy
servants with impunity? Not with impunity, for although Thou hast
permitted them, and Thine own have thence received a brighter crown,
"nevertheless," etc. For the evil which they willed, not the good they
unconsciously were the agents of, will be recompensed them. All that is
wanting is the eye of faith, by which we may see that they are raised
for a time only, while they shall mourn for evermore; and to those into
whose hands is given temporal power over the servants of God, it shall
be said, "Depart into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels." [4305] But if every man have but eyes in the sense in which it
is said, "With thine eyes shalt thou behold," it is no unimportant
thing to look upon the wicked flourishing in this life, and to have an
eye to him, to consider what will become of him in the end, if he fail
to reform his ways: for those who now would thunder upon others, will
afterwards feel the thunderbolt themselves.
12. "For Thou, Lord, art my hope" (ver. 9). He has now come to the
power Which rescues him from falling by the "downfall and the devil of
the noon-day." "For Thou, Lord, art my hope: Thou hast set Thy house of
defence very high." What do the words "very high" mean? For many make
their house of defence in God a mere refuge from temporal persecution;
but the defence of God is on high, and very secret, whither thou mayest
fly from the wrath to come. Within "Thou hast set thine house of
defence very high. There shall no evil happen unto Thee: neither shall
any plague come nigh Thy dwelling" (ver. 10).
13. The Holy City is not the Church of this country only, but of the
whole world as well: not that of this age only, but from Abel himself
down to those who shall to the end be born and believe in Christ, the
whole assembly of the Saints, belonging to one city; which city is
Christ's body, of which Christ is the Head. There, too, dwell the
Angels, who are our fellow-citizens: we toil, because we are as yet
pilgrims: while they within that city are awaiting our arrival. Letters
have reached us too from that city, apart from which we are wandering:
those letters are the Scriptures, which exhort us to live well. Why do
I speak of letters only? The King himself descended, and became a path
to us in our wanderings: that walking in Him, we may neither stray, nor
faint nor fall among robbers, nor be caught in the snares that are set
near our path. This character, then, we recognise in the whole Person
of Christ, together with the Church....He Himself is our Head, He is
God, co-equal with the Father, the Word of God, by whom all things were
made: [4306] but God to create, Man to renew; God to make, Man to
restore. Looking upon Him, then, let us hear the Psalm. Listen,
beloved. This is the teaching and doctrine of this school, which may
enable you to understand, not this Psalm only, but many, if ye keep in
mind this rule. Sometimes a Psalm, and all prophecy as well, in
speaking of Christ, praises the Head alone, and sometimes from the Head
goes to the Body, that is, the Church, and without apparently changing
the Person spoken of: because the Head is not separate from the Body,
and both are spoken of as one...
14. What then, my brethren, what is said of our Head? "For Thou, Lord,
art my hope," etc. Of this we have spoken, "for He hath given His
angels charge over Thee, to keep Thee in all Thy ways" (ver. 11). You
heard these words but now, when the Gospel was being read; attend
therefore. Our Lord, after He was baptized, fasted. Why was He
baptized? That we might not scorn to be baptized. For when John said to
our Lord, "Comest Thou to me to be baptized? I ought to be baptized by
Thee;" and our Lord replied, "Suffer it to be so now, for thus it
becometh us to fulfil all righteousness;" [4307] He wished to fulfil
all humility, so that He should be washed, who had no defilement....Our
Lord, then, was baptized, and after baptism He was tempted; He fasted
forty days, a number which has, as I have often mentioned, a deep
meaning. All things cannot be explained at once, lest needful time be
too much taken up. After forty days He was an hungred. He could have
fasted without ever feeling hunger; but then how could He be tempted?
or had He not overcome the tempter, how couldest thou learn to struggle
with him? He was hungry; and then the tempter said, "If Thou be the Son
of God, command that these stones be made bread." Was it a great thing
for our Lord Jesus Christ to make bread out of stones, when He
satisfied so many thousands with five loaves? He made bread out of
nothing. For whence came that quantity of food, which could satisfy so
many thousands? The sources of that bread are in the Lord's hands. This
is nothing wonderful; for He Himself made out of five loaves bread
enough for so many thousands, [4308] who also every day out of a few
seeds raises up on earth immense harvests. These are the miracles of
our Lord: but from their constant operation they are disregarded. What
then, my brethren, was it impossible for the Lord to create bread out
of stones? He made men even out of stones, in the words of John the
Baptist himself, "God is able of these stones to raise up children unto
Abraham." [4309] Why then did He not so? That he might teach thee how
to answer the tempter, so that if thou wast reduced to any straits and
the tempter suggested, if thou wast a Christian and belongedst to
Christ, would He desert thee now?...Listen to our Lord: "Man shall not
live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth
of God." Dost thou think the word of God bread? If the Word of God,
through which all things were made, was not bread, He would not say, "I
am the bread which came down from heaven." [4310] Thou hast therefore
learnt to answer the tempter, when pressed with hunger.
15. What if he tempt thee in these words: If thou wast a Christian,
thou wouldest do miracles, as many Christians have done? Thou, deceived
by a wicked suggestion, wouldest tempt the Lord thy God, so as to say
to Him, If I am a Christian, and am before Thine eyes, and Thou dost
account me at all in the number of Thine own, let me also do something
like the many works which Thy Saints have done. Thou hast tempted God,
as if thou wert not a Christian, unless thou didst this. Many who
desired such things have fallen. For that Simon the sorcerer desired
such gifts of the Apostles, when he wished to buy the Holy Spirit for
money. [4311] He loved the power of working miracles, but loved not the
imitation of humility....What then, if he tempt thee thus, "work
miracles"? that thou mayest not tempt God, what shouldest thou answer?
What our Lord answered. The devil said to Him, "Cast Thyself down; for
it is written, He shall give His Angels charge concerning Thee," etc.
If Thou shalt cast Thyself down, Angels shall receive Thee. And it
might indeed, my brethren, happen, if our Lord had cast Himself down,
the attending Angels would receive our Lord's flesh; but what does He
say to him? "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy
God." [4312] Thou thinkest Me a man. For the devil came to Him with
this view, that he might try whether He were the Son of God. He saw His
Flesh; but His might appeared in His works: the Angels had borne
witness. He saw that He was mortal, so that he might tempt Him, that by
Christ's temptation the Christian might be taught. What then is
written? "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Let us not then tempt
the Lord, so as to say, If we belong to Thee, let us work a miracle.
16. Let us return to the words of the Psalm. "They shall bear Thee in
their hands, lest at any time Thou hurt Thy foot against a stone" (ver.
12). Christ was raised up in the hands of Angels, when He was taken up
into heaven: not that, if Angels had not sustained Him, He would have
fallen: but because they were attending on their King. Say not, Those
who sustained Him are better than He who was sustained. Are then cattle
better than men, because they sustain the weakness of men? And we ought
not to speak thus either; for if the cattle withdraw their support,
their riders fall. But how ought we to speak of it? For it is said even
of God, "Heaven is My throne." [4313] Because then heaven supports Him,
and God sits thereon, is therefore heaven the better? Thus also in this
Psalm we may understand it of the service of the Angels: it does not
pertain to any infirmity in our Lord, but to the honour they pay, and
to their service....What the finger of God is, the Gospel explaineth to
us; for the finger of God is the Holy Ghost. How do we prove this? Our
Lord, when answering those who accused Him of casting out devils in the
name of Beelzebub, saith, "If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God;"
[4314] and another Evangelist, in relating the same saying, saith, "If
I with the finger of God cast out devils." [4315] What therefore is in
one stated clearly, is darkly expressed in another. Thou didst not know
what was the finger of God, but another Evangelist explains it by
terming it the Spirit of God. The Law then written by the finger of God
was given on the fiftieth day after the slaughter of the lamb, and the
Holy Ghost descended on the fiftieth day after the Passion of our Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lamb was slain, the Passover was celebrated, the
fifty days were completed, and the Law was given. But that Law was to
cause fear, not love: but that fear might be changed into love, He who
was truly righteous was slain: of whom that lamb whom the Jews were
slaying was the type. He arose from the dead: and from the day of our
Lord's Passover, as from that of the slaying of the Paschal lamb, fifty
days are counted; and the Holy Ghost descended, now in the fulness of
love, not in the punishment of fear. [4316] Why have I said this? For
this then our Lord arose, and was glorified, that He might send His
Holy Spirit. And I said long ago that this was so, because His head is
in heaven, His feet on earth. If His head is in heaven, His feet on
earth; what means our Lord's feet on earth? Our Lord's saints on earth.
Who are our Lord's feet? The Apostles sent throughout the whole world.
Who are our Lord's feet? All the Evangelists, in whom our Lord
travelleth over all nations....We need not therefore wonder that our
Lord was raised up to heaven by the hands of Angels, that His foot
might not dash against a stone: lest those who on earth toiled in His
body, while they were travelling over the whole world might become
guilty of the Law, He took from them fear, and filled them with love.
Through fear Peter thrice denied Him, [4317] for he had not yet
received the Holy Ghost: afterwards, when he had received the Holy
Spirit, he began to preach with confidence....Our Lord so dealt with
him, as if He said, thrice thou hast denied Me through fear: thrice
confess Me through love. With that love and that charity He filled His
disciples. Why? Because He hath set His house of defence very high:
because when glorified He sent the Holy Ghost, He released the faithful
from the guilt of the Law, that His feet might not dash against a
stone.
17. "Thou [4318] shalt go upon the asp and the basilisk; the lion and
the dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet" (ver. 13). Ye know who the
serpent is, and how the Church treadeth upon him, as she is not
conquered, because she is on her guard against his cunning. And after
what manner he is a lion and a dragon, I believe you know also,
beloved. The lion openly rages, the dragon lies secretly in covert: the
devil hath each of these forces and powers. When the Martyrs were being
slain, it was the raging lion: when heretics are plotting, it is the
dragon creeping beneath us. Thou hast conquered the lion; conquer also
the dragon: the lion hath not crushed [4319] thee, let not the dragon
deceive thee....A few women in the Church have bodily virginity: but
the virginity of the heart all the faithful have. In the very matter of
faith he feared that the heart's virginity would be corrupted by the
devil: and those who have lost it, are uselessly virgins in their
bodies. What does a woman who is corrupt in heart preserve in her body?
Thus a Catholic married woman is before a virgin heretic. For the first
is not indeed a virgin in her body, but the second has become married
in her heart; and married not unto God as her husband, but unto the
dragon. But what shall the Church do? The basilisk is the king of
serpents, as the devil is the king of wicked spirits.
18. These are the words of God to the Church. "Because he hath set his
love in me, therefore will I deliver him" (ver. 14). Not only therefore
the Head, which now sits in heaven, because He hath set His house of
defence very high, to which no evil shall happen, neither shall any
plague come nigh His dwelling; but we also who are toiling on earth,
and are still living in temptations, whose steps are feared for, lest
they fall into snares, may hear the voice of the Lord our God consoling
us, and saying to us, "Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore
will I deliver him: I will set him up, because he hath known my name."
19. "He shall call upon me, and I will hear him: yea, I am with him in
trouble" (ver. 15). Fear not when thou art in trouble, as if the Lord
were not with thee. Let faith be with thee, and God is with thee in thy
trouble. There are waves on the sea, and thou art tossed in thy bark,
because Christ sleepeth. Christ slept in the ship, while the men were
perishing. [4320] If thy faith sleep in thy heart, Christ is as it were
sleeping in thy ship: because Christ dwelleth in thee through faith,
when thou beginnest to be tossed, awake Christ sleeping: rouse up thy
faith, and thou shalt be assured that He deserts thee not. But thou
thinkest thou art forsaken, because He rescueth thee not when thou
thyself dost wish. He delivered the Three Children from the fire?
[4321] Did He, who did this, desert the Maccabees? [4322] God forbid!
He delivered both of these: the first bodily, that the faithless might
be confounded; the last spiritually, that the faithful might imitate
them. "I will deliver him, and bring him to honour."
20. "With length of days will I satisfy him" (ver. 16). What is length
of days? Eternal life. Brethren, imagine not that length of days is
spoken of in the same sense as days are said to be long in summer,
short in winter. Hath he such days to give us? That length is one that
hath no end, eternal life, that is promised us in long days. And truly,
since this sufficeth, with reason he saith, "will I satisfy him." What
is long in time, if it hath an end, satisfieth us not: for that reason
it should not be even called long. And if we are covetous, we ought to
be covetous of eternal life: long for such a life, as hath no end. Lo,
a line in which our covetousness may be extended. Dost thou wish money
without limit? Long for eternal life without limit. Dost thou wish that
thy possession may have no end? Seek for eternal life. "I will show him
my salvation." Nor is this, my brethren, to be briefly passed over. "I
will show him my salvation:" He means, I will show him Christ Himself.
Why? Was He not seen on earth? What great thing hath He to show us? But
He did not appear such as we shall see Him. He appeared in that shape
in which those who saw Him crucified Him: behold, those who saw Him,
crucified Him: we have not seen Him, yet we have believed. They had
eyes, have not we? yea, we too have the eyes of the heart: but, as yet
we see through faith, not by sight. When will it be sight? When shall
we, as the Apostle saith, see Him "face to face"? [4323] which God
promiseth us as the high reward of all our toils. Whatever thou toilest
in, thou toilest for this purpose, that thou mayest see Him. Some great
thing it is we are to see, since all our reward is seeing; and our Lord
Jesus Christ is that very great sight. He who appeared humble, will
Himself appear great, and will rejoice us, as He is even now seen of
His Angels....Let us love and imitate Him: let us run after his
ointments, as is said in the Song of Solomon: "Because of the savour of
thy good ointments, we will run after thee." [4324] For He came, and
gave forth a savour that filled the world. Whence was that fragrance?
From heaven. Follow then towards heaven, if thou do not answer [4325]
falsely when it is said, "Lift up your hearts," lift up your thoughts,
your love, your hope: that it may not rot upon the earth...."For
wherever thy treasure is, there will be thy heart also." [4326]
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:
[4290] Lat. XC.
[4291] John x. 7.
[4292] Gen. iii. 5.
[4293] John viii. 48.
[4294] Matt. xxiii. 37.
[4295] John i. 14.
[4296] Acts iv. 10, 11.
[4297] Rev. v. 5.
[4298] John i. 29.
[4299] Luke xviii. 13.
[4300] Negotium.
[4301] [Under the first edict.--C.]
[4302] Matt. xix. 21.
[4303] Obsequiorum.
[4304] 2 Tim. ii. 19.
[4305] Matt. xxv. 41.
[4306] John i. 3.
[4307] Matt. iii. 14, 15.
[4308] Matt. xiv. 17, 21.
[4309] Matt. iii. 9.
[4310] John vi. 41.
[4311] Acts viii. 18.
[4312] Deut. vi. 16.
[4313] Isa. lxvi. 1; Acts vii. 49.
[4314] Matt. xii. 28.
[4315] Luke xi. 20.
[4316] Acts ii. 1-4.
[4317] Matt. xxvi. 69-75.
[4318] On this verse, see on Ps. xl. 1.
[4319] Al. "let not the lion crush." [Note what follows.--C.]
[4320] Matt. viii. 24, 25.
[4321] Dan. iii. 29, 30.
[4322] 2 Macc. vii.
[4323] 1 Cor. xiii. 12.
[4324] Song of Sol. i. 3.
[4325] [The response to the Sursum Corda. See A.N.F. vol. vii. p. 543,
note 7.--C.]
[4326] Matt. vi. 21.
HOME