Psalm 30 (Vulgate 29)

First Exposition

David himself.

1. To the end, a Psalm of the joy of the Resurrection, and the change, the renewing of the body to an immortal state, and not only of the Lord, but also of the whole Church. For in the former Psalm the tabernacle was finished, wherein we dwell in the time of war: but now the house is dedicated, which will abide in peace everlasting.

2. It is then whole Christ Who speaketh. (Ver. I.) I trill exalt Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast taken Me up. I will praise Thy high Majesty, O Lord, for Thou hast taken Me up. Thou hast not made Mine enemies to rejoice over Me. And those, who have so often endeavoured to oppress Me with various persecutions throughout the world, Thou hast not made to rejoice over Me.

3- Ver. 2. O Lord, My God, I have cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed Me. O Lord, My God, I have cried unto f^ee» anc* * no l°n8er bear about a body enfeebled and sick by mortality.

4. Ver. 3. O Lord, Thou hast brought back My Soul from hell, and Thou hast saved Me from them that go down into the pit. Thou hast saved Me from the condition of profound darkness, and the lowest slough of corruptible flesh.

5. Ver. 4. Sing to the Lord, 0 ye saints of His. The prophet seeing these future things, rejoiceth, and saith, Sing to the Lord, Oye saints of His. And make confession of the remembrance of His holiness. And make confession to Him, that He hath not forgotten the sanctification, wherewith He hath sanctified you, although all this intermediate period belong to your desires.

6. Ver. 5. For in His indignation is wrath. For He hath avenged against you the first sin, for which you have paid by death. And life in His will And life eternal, whereunto you could not return by any strength of your own, hath He given, because He so would. In the evening weeping will tarry. Evening began, when the light of wisdom withdrew from sinful man, when he was condemned to death: from this evening weeping will tarry, as long as God's people are, amid labours and temptations, awaiting the day of the Lord. And exultation in the morning. Even to the morning, when there will be the exultation of the resurrection, which hath shone forth by anticipation in the morning resurrection of the Lord.

7. Ver. 6. But I said in my abundance, I shall not be moved for ever. But I, that people which was speaking from the first, said in mine abundance, suffering now no more any want, I shall not be moved for ever.

8. Veiv 7. O Lord, in Thy will Thou hast afforded strength unto my beaidy. But that this my abundance, O Lord, is not of myself, but that in Thy will Thou bast afforded strength unto my beauty, I have learnt from this, Thou turnedst aivay Thy Face from me, and I became troubled; for Thou hast sometimes turned away Thy Face from the sinner, and I became troubled, when the illumination of Thy knowledge withdrew from me.

9. Ver. 8. Unto Thee, O Lord, will I cry, and unto my Godwill I pray. And bringing to mind that time of my trouble and misery, and as it were established therein, I hear the voice of Thy First- Begotten, my Head, about to die for me, and saying, Unto Thee, 0 Lord, will I cry, and unto My God will I pray.

10. Ver. 9. What profit iS there in My blood, whilst I go down to corruption? What profit is there in the shedding of My blood, whilst I go down to corruption? Shall dust confess unto Thee? For if I shall not rise immediately, and My body shall become corrupt, shall dust confess unto Thee? that is, the crowd of the ungodly, whom I shall justify by My resurrection? Or declare Thy truth? Or for the salvation of the rest declare Thy truth?

11. Ver. 10. The Lord hath heard, and had mercy on Me, the Lord hath become My helper. Nor did He suffer His?*. holy One to see corruption.

12. Ver. 11. Thou hast turned My mourning into joy to Me. Whom I, the Church, having received, the First-Begotten from the dead, now in the dedication of Thine bouse, say, Thou hast turned my mourning into joy to me.5' Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness. Thou hast torn off the veil of my sins, the sadness of my mortality; and hast girded me with the first robe, with immortal gladness.

13. Ver. 12. That my glory should sing unto Thee, and I should not be pricked. That now, not my humiliation, but my glory should not lament, but should sing unto Thee, for that now out of humiliation Thou hast exalted me; and that I should not be pricked with the consciousness of sin, with the fear of death, with the fear of judgment. 0 Lord, my God, I will confess unto Tftee for ever. And this is my glory, O Lord, my God, that I should confess unto Thee for ever, that I have nothing of myself, but that all my good is of Thee, Who art God, All in all.

Second Exposition

1. This truly have we sung: (ver. 1.) / will magnify Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast taken me up, and hast not made mine enemies to rejoice over me. If we shall know fr°m tne h°ly Scriptures who our enemies are, we recognise the truth of this Canticle: but if the wisdom of the flesh deceive us, so that we recognise not against whom owr wrestling is, in the very commencement of this Psalm we find a difficulty, which we cannot solve. For whose voice do we suppose his to b£, who praiseth God, and giveth thanks, and rejoiceth, and saith, / will magnify Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast taken me up, and hast not made mine enemies to rejoice aver me? First let us consider the Lord Himself, Who in that He vouchsafed to be Man, could by a prophecy going before apply these words not unsuitably to Himself. For wherein He was Man, therein also was He weak: wherein weak, therein also praying. For as we have just now heard, when the Gospel was being read, how He even retired into the desert from His disciples, whither they followed and found Him: but He retiring thither prayed, and it was said by His disciples who found Him, Men seek Thee. But He answered, Let us go to other places and viMaffesl t° preach; for therefore have I come. If thou dost consider the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is it that prays? to Whom doth He pray? why doth He pray? doth God pray? doth He pray to One Equal to Him? But what occasion for prayer hath the ever Blessed, the ever Almighty, the ever Unchangeable, the Eternal and Coeternal with the Father? Regarding then what Himself hath thundered forth by John, as (so to say) by a cloud of His, saying, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; the Same was in the beginning with God: all things were made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made: what was made in Him is Life, and the Life was the Light of men, and the Light shine th in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. Reading thus far we find no prayer, nor cause for praying, no occasion for praying, no disposition for praying. gut since he gafth a little afterwards, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt in us, thou hast the Majesty to which to pray, thou hast the Humanity to pray for thee. For it was said by the Apostle, even after the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; Who sitteth, saith he, at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us. Why doth He make intercession for us? Because He vouchsafed to be a Mediator. What is it to be a Mediator between God and men? Not between the Father and men, but between God6, and men. What is God? Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. What are men? Sinners, ungodly, mortals. Between that Trinity, and the weakness and wickedness of men, Man was made Mediator, not wicked but yet weak; that inasmuch as He was not wicked He might join thee to God, inasmuch as He was weak He might draw near unto thee: and so, that there might be a Mediator between man and God, the Word was made Flesh, that is, the Word was made Man. For men are called by the name of flesh. Hence, And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. By all flesh is meant all men.6. And the Apostle, We wrestle not against flesh and blood,Eph.6t (that is, against men,) but against princes and powers, and12' the rulers of the world, of this darkness: of which we will speak, if God help us, in what follows. For this distinction bears upon the exposition of the Psalm, which we have undertaken in the Name of the Lord to unfold to you, holy Brethren. Yet 1 have mentioned these examples for this reason, that ye may know that men are called flesh, and understand that by the saying, And the Word was made Flesh, is meant, And the Word was made Man.

2. Nor have I said this without reason. Ye should know, holy Brethren, that there existed a certain heresy, or haply that the remains are still found of certain men, who were called Apollinarians. For some of them said that the Man \ which the Wisdom of God assumed, (and in which He mani-nemfested forth His Person, not as in other men, but as it is said in the Psalm, God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee withPa.45,8. the oil of gladness above Thy fellows, that is, more than Thy fellows: that it should not be supposed that Christ was anointed as other men, as other righteous men, as the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs, and whatsoever there is great among mankind. Since among mankind there hath not appeared aught greater than John the Baptist, neither hath risen among them that are born of women. Mat.n, If thou lookest for excellency in man, John the Baptist is it. U* But He, of Whom John saith that he is not worthy to unloose Mark the latchet of His shoes, what was He but greater than other Even in His very Manhood greater than other men. For as to His being God, and as to His Divinity, and as to His being in the beginning the Word, and the Word being with the Father, and the Word being God, He is above every creature, equal to the Father: but we speak of His Manhood. Perhaps some one of you, Brethren, may imagine, that the Man assumed by the Wisdom of God, was equal to other men. If in the members there be great distinction between the head and the rest of the members, undoubtedly all the members make one body, yet there is great difference between the head, and the rest of the members. For in the other members thou hast only perception by touch; by touching thou hast perception in the other members; but in the head thou both seest, and hearest, and smellest, and tastest, and touchest: if the excellence of the head as compared with the rest of the members be so great, how great is the excellence of the Head of the Church universal, that is, of that Man, Whom God hath willed to be the Mediator between God and men?) Those heretics then said, that That Man, Which the Word assumed when the Word was made Flesh, had no human mind, but was only life without human intelligence. For you know, of what man consists j of a principle.of life1 and a body. But this same principle of life of man has somewhat, which the living principle in beasts has not. For even beasts have animal life, and are called animals b; for they would not be called animals, but from animal life*; and we see that they too live. But what has man more, wherein he was made after the image of God? jn ^ nas intelligence and wisdom, in that he distinguishes good from evil: herein was he made after the image and likeness of God. He has then somewhat which beasts have not. And in that he despises, in himself, that wherein he is superior to the beasts, he destroys in himself or defaces, and in a manner effaces the image of God, so that to such it is gaid, Be ye not like to horse and mule, which have no understanding. These heretics then said that our Lord Jesus Christ had no human mind, nor that which the Greeks call Aoyixov, and we rationale, that wherewith man reasons, which the other animals have not. But what say they? That the Very Word of God was in That Man in the place of mind. These have been shut out, the Catholic faith hath rejected them, and they have made a heresy. It hath been established in the Catholic faith, that That Man, which the Wisdom of God assumed, had nothing less than other men, as far as relates to entireness of nature; but as far as relates to excellency of Person, something else than other men. For other men may be called partakers of the Word of God, as having the Word of God: but no one of them can be called the Word of God, Which He was called, forasmuch as it is said, The Word was made Flesh.

3. There have not been wanting some others too, proceeding from this same error, to say not only that That Man, Christ the Mediator between God and men, had no mind, but no principle of life either: but they have said merely, He was the Word and Flesh, and no human animal life was in Him, neither was human mind in Him. This have they said. But what was He? The Word and Flesh. The Catholic Church rejecteth these too, and driveth them out from among the sheep, and from the simple and true faith: and it hath been established, as I said, that That Man, the Mediator, had all that is man's, except sin. For if He did many things after the body, whereby we may understand that He had a Body, not in falsehood, but in truth; as, for instance, how do we understand that He had a Body? He walked, sat, slept, was seized, was scourged, was buffeted, was crucified, died. Take away the body, none of these things could have been done. As then from these signs we recognise in the Gospel that He had a true Body, as Himself also said even after the resurrection, Handle, and see; for #Luke24, spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have: as from these circumstances, from these actions, we believe, and understand, and know, that the Lord Jesus had a Body, so also from certain other natural functions that He had animal life. To be hungry, to be thirsty, these are functions of animal life: take away animal life, a lifeless body will not be able to be so. But if they say these were unreal, those things too will be unreal which are believed of the Body: but if the Body be therefore real, because the functions of the body are real; the animal life is therefore real, because its functions jure real.

4. What then? Because the Lord was made weak for thee, O man, who hearest me, compare not thyself with God. For thou art a creature, He thy Creator. And compare not thyself with That Man, because thy God, and the Word the Son of God, was Man for thee: but prefer That Man to thyself, as the Mediator, yet God above every creature: and so understand, that He Who was made Man for thee, not unsuitably prayeth for thee. If therefore He doth not unsuitably pray for thee, He could also not unsuitably say those words for thy sake, / will magnify Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast taken me up, and hast not made mine enemies to rejoice over Me. But these words, if we do not understand enemies, will be false, when we think of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. For how is it true, if the Lord Christ speak, I will magnify Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast taken Me up1? In His character as man, in His character of weakness, in His character of flesh, how is it true? Since His enemies did rejoice over Him, when they crucified Him, held, scourged, and buffeted Him, saying, Prophesy unto us, O Christ. This rejoicing of theirs as it were compels us to think what is said, Thou hast not made mine enemies to rejoice over Me, to be false. And afterwards, when He was hanging on the Cgoss, and they were passing by, or standing, and looking, and wagging their heads, and saying, See the Son of God; He saved others, Himself He cannot save: let Him come down from the Cross, and we will believe on Him: were they not in speaking thus rejoicing over Him? Where then is that saying, / will magnify Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast taken Me up, and hast not made mine enemies to rejoice over Me?

5. Perhaps this is not the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ, but of man as such, of the universal Church of the Christian People: for that all men are in Christ one Man, and the uuity of Christians is one Man. Perhaps Man as such, that is, the very unity of Christians saith, / will magnify Thee9 O Lord, for Thou hast taken me up, and hast not made mine enemies to triumph over me. And how is this true of them? Were not the Apostles seized, were they not beaten, were they not scourged, were they not slain, were they not crucified, were they not burnt alive, fought not they with wild beasts, whose memories we solemnize? And since men thus treated them, did they not rejoice over them? How then can either the Christian People say, / will magnify Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast taken me up, and hast not made mine enemies to rejoice over me?

6. We shall understand this, if we look first to the title of the Psalm. This is, To the end, a Psalm of the canticle of the dedication of the house, of David himself. In this title lies all the expectation, and the whole mystery of the solution of this difficulty. The house will sometime be dedicated, univerwhich is now in building. For now the house, that is, the Church, is in building: hereafter it will be dedicated. In^m* the dedication will appear the glory of the Christian People, which is now hidden. Now let our enemies rage, let them humble us, let them do, not whatever they wish, but whatever they are permitted to do from above. For we must not set down whatever we have suffered from our enemies to our enemies, and not to the Lord our God. Seeing that by His Own example the Mediator hath shewn, when from above He permitteth men to injure, that not the will to injure is given from above, but the power. For every evil man hath in himself the will to injure; but the ability to injure is not in his power. That he hath the will, he is at once guilty: that he hath the power, by the hidden dispensation of God's providence it is permitted him against one for punishment, against another it is permitted for his trial, against another it is permitted for his crown. For punishment: as the &K\6<pv\oi, that is, foreigners were permitted to take captive the people of Israel, because they sinned against God. But for trial permission was given to the devil against Job: Job was tried, the devil was put to confusion. But for a crown has permission been given to persecutors against Martyrs: the Martyrs have been slain, their persecutors fancied they had conquered: they triumphed in the open sight of men unreally, the others were in secret truly crowned. Therefore against whom permission is given, is a matter of the hidden dispensation of God's providence: but the will to injure is man's own, for he does not forthwith slay whom he would.

7. Accordingly the Lord Himself, the Judge of quick and standing before a human judge, affording us a pattern of humility and patience, not conquered, but exhibiting to the soldier an example for fighting, when the judge was threatening, and swelling with pride, and saying, Knowest y^ot# nof ffat j have power to release, and to slay Thee? took away the pride of the boaster, and giving back as it were the breathing by which his swelling might go down, answered, Thou couldest have no power against Me, except it were given thee from above. Job too, (now the devil has slain his children, the devil has taken away all his substance,) what did he say too? The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; as it hath pleased the Lord, so hath it been done; blessed be the name of the Lord. Let not the enemy triumph, because he hath done it: I know, saith he, by Whom permission hath been given him: to the devil let there be assigned the will to injure, to my Lord the power of proving. Even under his bodily sores, his wife, who was left, comes up to him, like Eve, the devil's helper, not her husband's comforter, tempts him, and among many reproaches says, Speak some word against God, and die. And that Adam on the dunghill was more guarded than Adam in Paradise. For Adam in Paradise consented to the woman, that he should be sent out of Paradise: Adam on the dunghill rejected the woman, that he should be admitted into Paradise. What then does that Adam on the dunghill, travailing with immortality within, without overspread with worms, what says be to the woman? Tliou hast spoken as one of the foolish women. Wliat? If we have received good at the hand of the Lord, shall we not bear with evil? Here again too he acknowledged in himself the hand of the Lord, because the devil had smitten him: for he did not attend to who smote, but Who permitted. For even the devil himself called the same power, which he wished to be given him, the hand of the Lord. For accusing that just man, to whom the Lord bare testimony, he says to God, Doth ^fob fear the Lord for nought? Hast not Thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the works of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. So great goods hast Thou given him, and therefore doth he honour Thee. But put forth Thine hand, and touch all that he hath, and verily he will bless Thee to Thy face! What is, Put forth Thine hand, when he wished himself to put it forth? But because he could not put forth his own hand, he called this very power, which he received of God, the hand of God.

8. What follows then, Brethren, because the enemies have done so great things against Christians, and have exulted, and rejoiced over them? But when will it appear, that they have not really rejoiced over them? When they shalT be confounded, and these shall rejoice at the coming of the Iiord our God, when He shall come bearing retribution in His hand, damnation to the ungodly, a kingdom to the righteous, fellowship with the devil to the unrighteous, fellowship with Christ to the faithful. When, I say, He shall shew this, when the righteous shall stand in great boldness, (I speak from the Scriptures: you remember the lesson from the book of Wisdom: Then shall the righteous^^^t stand in great boldness against them that have afflicted them: but they repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit shall say among themselves, What hath pride profited us? or what good hath the vaunting of riches done us? For all those things are passed away like a shadow. And what will they say of the righteous? How are they reckoned among the children of Ood, and their lot is among the saints/) then will the dedication of the house be, which is now being built in tribulation; then will that People rightly say, / will exalt Thee, 0 Lord, for Thou hast taken me up, and hast not made mine enemies to rejoice over me. These words then will be verified in the People of God, the People that now is in straitness, now in tribulation with so great temptations, so great offences, so great persecution, so great pressure. These torments of soul he doth notTfeel in the Church, who maketh no progress, for he thinks all is peace: but let him begin to make progress, and then he will see in what pressure he is; for when the blade had increased, and had brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. And he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow. LetEccies. him make progress, and he will see where he is: let there be fruit, and tares will appear. It is a true saying of the Apostle, and cannot be destroyed from the beginning unto the end: Yea, and all, saith he, that will live godly in Christ suffer persecution. But malignant men and seducers wax worse and worse, themselves deceived, and deceiving others. And whence are those words of the Psalm, Wait on the Lord, quit thyself like a man, and let thine heart be strengthened, yea, wait on the Lord? It were not enough once, Wait on the Lord, if it were not repeated: unless haply he might wait two days, three days, four days, and the pressure and tribulation still remain, and therefore he added, Quit thyself like a man: and again, let thine heart be strengthened. And because it will be so -from the beginning even to the end, what the sentence has in the beginning, the same it has at the end, Yea, wait on the Lord. These things which press upon thee will pass away, and He will come, on Whom thou waitest, and wipe away thy sweat: He will dry the tear, thou shalt weep no more. But now must groan in tribulations, as Job saith, Is not man's life upon earth a trial?

9. Nevertheless, Brethren, before the day of the dedication of the house come, let us consider that our Head hath already been dedicated: already hath the dedication of the house taken place in the Head, as the dedication of the foundation. The Head is above, the foundation below: may we not perhaps have spoken amiss in saying that Christ is the foundation; He is rather the top. He hath ascended into heaven, He sitteth at the right Hand of the " Father." But I think we have made no mistake. For the Apostle hath said, For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Christ Jesus. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones. They who live godly, who honour and praise God, who are patient in tribulations, who long for their country, these build gold, silver, precious stones: but they who still love the things of this world, and are involved in earthly business, and are given up to certain bonds and affections of the flesh, to their homes, wives, possessions; and yet are Christians, so that their heart doth not withdraw from Christ, and that they place nothing before Christ, as in building nothing is placed before the foundation; these indeed build wood, hay, stubble: but what hath he gone on to say? The fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. The fire of tribulation and of trial. This fire has tried many martyrs here, but in the end it trieth all the humani&°r'S race. Martyrs have been found, who possessed these worldly goods. How many rich men and senators have suffered? Yet some of them did build wood, hay, stubble, in their affection for carnal and worldly cares: but still, because they had Christ for a foundation upon which they built, the hay was burnt, and they were left on the foundation. So saith the Apostle, If any marts work abide, he shall receive a reward, and shall lose nothing; because what he loved, this shall he find. What then hath the fire of tribulation done for them? It hath tried them. If any man's work abide, he shall receive a reward: \f any marts work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. But it is one thing not to be injured by the fire, another thing to be saved through the fire. And whence? Because of the foundation. Let not then the foundation withdraw from thine heart. Lay not the foundation upon hay, that is, lay not hay before the foundation, that the hay should have the first place in thine heart and Christ the second: but if now it must needs be that there be hay there, at least let Christ have the first place there, and the hay the second.

10. Christ then is the Foundation. As I said, our Head hath been dedicated, the Head is Itself the Foundation. But a foundation is usually below, and a head above. May you, holy brethren, understand my words: peradveuture I shall explain this in the Name of Christ. Weights are of two kinds. For a weight is a certain force in any substance, struggling as it were to gain its proper place: this is a weight. You carry a stone in your hand, you bear the pressure of its weight, it presses down your hand, because it seeks its proper place. And would you know what it seeks? Withdraw your hand, it comes to the ground, it rests on the earth, it has arrived where it tended, it has found its proper place. That weight, therefore, was, as it were, spontaneous motion, without life, without sensation. There are other things, which seek their place upwards. For if you pour water upon oil, by its own weight it goes to the bottom. For it seeks its proper place, it seeks to be duly ordered; for water aDOve ou< *s out of its order. Until it arrives then at its proper order, there is a restless motion, till it occupies its proper place. On the other hand, let out oil under water; as, for instance, if a vessel of oil fall into water, into the deep, into the sea, and be broken, the oil does not rest below. As the water poured upon oil, by its weight towards the bottom seeks its proper place; so 6il poured but under water by its weight seeks its proper place towards the top. If then this be so, brethren, whither does fire and water tend? Fire is borne upwards, it seeks its proper place; and water seeks its proper place by its own weight. Stone seeks the bottom, and the wood, and the pillars, and the earth, wherewith these houses are built: they are then of that kind of substances, which, by their own weight, are borne downwards. It is clear then, that they receive their foundation down below, because they are by their own weight borne downwards; and except there is something to sustain it, the whole falls, because the whole tends towards the earth. With things then that have a downward tendency, the foundation is laid below: but the Church of God which is laid below tendeth towards heaven. Our foundation therefore hath been laid there, even our Lord Jesus Christ sitting at the right Hand of the Father. If then ye have understood, holy brethren, how that our Foundation hath been already dedicated, let us shortly listen to, and run through, the Psalm.

11. / will exalt Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast taken Me up, and hast not made Mine enemies to rejoice over Me. What enemies? The Jews? In the dedication of the foundation let us understand the very dedication of the future house: for what is now said in the person of the Foundation, will then be said in the person of the whole house. What enemies then? The Jews, or the devil and his angels rather, who retired in confusion after the Lord's resurrection? The prince of death grieved at the victory over death; And Thou hast not made Mine enemies to rejoice over Me: because I could not be kept in hell.

12. Ver. 2. O Lord, My God, I have cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed Me. The Lord prayed in the mount before His Passion, He healed Him. Healed Whom? Him, Who was never sick, the Word God, the Word the Divinity? No, but He bore the death of flesh, He bore thy wound, being about to heal thee of thy wound. And the flesh was healed. When? When He rose again. Listen to the Apostle, see the true healing: Death, saith he, hath been swallowed up in Victory. O death, where is thy sting f O death, where is thy struggle? Therefore that exaltation will then be ours to declare, the exaltation now is Christ's,

13. Ver. 3. O Lord, Thou hast brought back My Soul***0' from hell. This needs no explanation. Thou hast saved Me from them that go down into the pit. Who are they that go down into the pit? All sinners who sink into the deep. For the pit is the depth of this world. What is this depth of the world? The abounding of wantonness, and wickedness. They then who immerse themselves in lusts, and earthly desires, go down into the pit. Such persecuted Christ. But what doth He say? Thou hast saved Me from them that go down into the pit.

14. Ver. 4. Sing to the Lord, O ye saints of His. Since your Head hath risen, all ye other members hope for that, which ye see in the Head: all ye other members hope for that, which ye have believed in the Head. It is a true and ancient proverb, Where the head is, there are the other members. Christ hath ascended into heaven, whither we are about to follow. He hath not remained in hell, He hath risen again, He dieth no more: when we too shall have risen again, we shall die no more. Having then these promises, Sing to the Lord, O ye saints of His; and make confession of the remembrance of His holiness. What is, Make confession of the remembrance? For ye had forgotten Him, but He hath not forgotten you.

15. Ver. 5. For in His indignation is wrath, and life in His will. Wrath in indignation against the sinner: In the day that ye shall eat, ye shall surely die. They touched, they died, having been dismissed from Paradise, for in His indignation is wrath: but not without hope, for there is life in His will. What is in His wiU? Not in our strength, not in our merits: but because He willed it, He hath saved us; not because we were worthy. For of what is the sinner worthy, but of punishment? He hath given life. And if He given life to the ungodly, what doth He reserve for the

16. In the evening weeping will tarry. Fear not, for that he had said to us, Sing*; and here is groaning: in singing exultation, in prayer groaning. Groan for things present, sing for things to come; pray for what is here, sing for what is hoped. In the evening weeping will tarry. What is, In the evening weeping will tarry? It is evening, when the sun sets. The sun hath set on man, that is, That Light of Righteousness, the presence of God. Hence when Adam was expelled, what is said in the book of Genesis? When God walked in Paradise, He walked in the evening. The sinner had now hid himself in the wood, he was unwilling to see the Face of God, at Which he had been wont to rejoice. The Sun of Righteousness had set on him, he did not rejoice at the presence of God. Thence began all this mortal life. In the evening weeping will tarry. Ye will long be in weeping, race of man; for ye will be born of Adam: and so it has come to pass: we too are of Adam, and as many as have begotten children, and shall beget them, are of Adam, of whom they too themselves were born. In the evening weeping will tarry; and eocultation in the morning. When That Light shall have begun to rise on the faithful, which had set on sinners. For therefore too did the Lord Jesus Christ rise from the tomb in the morning, that what He hath dedicated in the foundation, the same He might promise to the house. In our Lord it was evening, when He was buried; and morning when He rose again on the third day: thou too wast buried in the evening in Paradise, and hast risen again on the third day. How on the third day? If thou consider the course of the world, there is one day before the Law, another under the Law, a third under grace. What on that third day thy Head shewed, the same is on the third day of the world shewn in thee. When? In the morning we must hope, we must rejoice; but now we must endure, and groan.

17. Ver. 6. But I said in my abundance, I shall not he moved for ever. In what abundance, hath man said, / shall not be moved for ever? We understand. Brethren, the character of man in his humiliation. Who hath abundance here? Not one. What is man's abundance? Care, calamity. But the rich have abundance? The more they have, the more they want: they are wasted by longings, torn by desires, racked by fears, waste away with sorrow: where is their abundance? There was abundance, when man was settled in Paradise, when nothing was wanting to him, when he enjoyed God; but he said, / shall not be moved for ever. How did he say, / shall not be moved far ever? When he heard with satisfaction the words, Eat, and ye shall be as gods: whereas God said, In the day that ye eat thereof, shall surely die; and the devil, Ye shall not surely die. In believing then him who thus persuaded him, he said, I shall not be moved for ever.

18. But since the Lord had said truly, that He would take away from the proud, what He had given to the humble, when He created him; the Psalmist proceeds, and says, (ver. 7.) O Lord, in Thy will Thou hast afforded strength unto my beauty: that is, since I was not good and strong of myself, but was both fair and strong of Thee, to my beauty Thou hadst afforded strength, of Thine own will, wherewith Thou hadst made me. And that Thou mightest shew me, that I was this from Thy will, Thou turnedst away Thy Face from me, and I became troubled. He turned away then His Face from him, whom He sent forth out of Paradise. Placed now here, let him cry out and say, To Thee, O Lord, will I cry, and to my God will I fray. In Paradise thou didst not cry out, but didst praise; thou didst not weep, but didst rejoice: having been put without, weep now, and cry. He draweth nigh to him troubled, Who deserted him when proud. For Ood resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. (Ver. 8.) To Thee, O Lord9 will L cry, and unto my God will I pray.

19. What follows now is in the Person of the Lord, of our Foundation Himself. (Ver. 9.) What profit is there in My blood, whilst I go down to corruption? What then doth He pray for? That He may rise again. For if I shall go down, saith He, to corruption, if My Flesh shall be so corrupted, as other men's, so as to rise at the last, to what purpose have I shed My Blood? For if I rise not now, 1 shall shew forth to none, I shall gain none: but that I may shew forth to any marvels, Thy praises, life eternal, let My Flesh rise again, let It not go into corruption. For if It shall go so, as other men's, what profit is there in My Blood? Shall dust confess unto Thee, or shew forth Thy truth? Confession is twofold, either of sin, or of praise. When it is ill with us, let us in tribulation confess our sins; when it is well with us, let us in the exultation of righteousness confess praise unto God: but without confession let us never be.

20. Ver. 10. The Lord hath heard, and had mercy on Me. How? Remember the dedication of the house. He hath heard, and had mercy. The Lord hath become My Helper.

21. Listen now to the resurrection itself! (Ver. 11.) Thou hast turned My mourning into joy to Me, Thou hast rent off My sackcloth, and girded Me with gladness. What is sackcloth? Mortality. Sackcloth is made of goats and kids, and goats and kids are set among sinners. The Lord took our condition1 the sackcloth only, He assumed not that of which sackcloth is the desert. That of which sackcloth is the desert, is sin: the sackcloth is mortality. For thee He assumed mortality, Who had no desert of death. For he hath desert of death, who sins; but He Who sinned not, deserved not the sackcloth. In another place He Himseif saith, But when they troubled Me, I clothed Myself with hair-cloth. What is this, / clothed Myself with hair-cloth? I opposed to My persecutors that, which I have from the hair-cloth. That they might think Him a man, He hid Himself from the eyes of the persecutors, because the persecutors were not worthy to see Him, clothed* with haircloth. Therefore, Thou hast put off My sackcloth, and girded Me with gladness.

22. Ver. 12. That My glory should sing unto Thee, and I should not be pricked. As it is in the Head, so in the body. What is, / should not be pricked? I should die no more. For He was pricked, when He hung on the Cross, He was smitten with a spear. Our Head therefore saith, that I should not be pricked, I should die no more. But we, what do we say because of the dedication of the house? That our conscience should not prick us with the goads of our sins. For all will be remitted, and we shall then be free. That My glory, saith He, should sing to Thee, not My humiliation. If our's, Christ's too, for we are the bpdy of Christ. How? Because although Christ sitteth in heaven, He will say to some, / was an hungred, and ye gave Me meat. He is both there, and here: there in Himself, here in us. What then doth He say? That My glory should sing to Thee, and I should not be pricked. My humiliation Isigheth unto Thee, my glory shall sing to Thee. Now at the end: O Lord, my God, I will confess unto Thee for ever. What is, / will confess unto Thee for ever? I will praise Thee for ever, for we have said that there is a confession in praises also, and not only in sins. Confess then now what thou hast done against God, and thou shalt confess what God shall have done to thee. What hast thou done? Sins. What hath God done? On confessing thine iniquity He remitteth thy sins, that afterwards confessing unto Him His praises for ever thou shouldest not be pricked with sin.