Psalm 39 (Vulgate 38)

tongue into the Latin, by those who study the sacred writings, Idithun being translated is, over-leaping them. Who then is this person over-leaping (hem? or who those whom he hath over-leaped? Because it is not simply overleaping y but over-leaping them. Is it because he overleaps that he sings? Or is it by singing that he over-leapeth? Whether it is that he sings because he is leaping beyond, or that it is by singing that he leaps beyond, nevertheless it is the song of one leaping beyond, that we have just been singing. Whether we ourselves are persons leaping beyond, God, to Whom we were singing it, knoweth. But if any one who is already leaping beyond hath sung it, let him rejoice that he is the thing of which he has sung; if any one has sung it, who is still cliqging to earth, let him wish to be that of which he has been singing. For there are some persons, yet clinging to the earth, yet bowed down to the ground, yet setting their hearts on what is below, yet placing their hopes in things that pass away, whom he who is called over -leaping them hath over-leaped. For whom hath he over-leaped, but those who remained behind?

2. You know that some of the Psalms are entitled, Songs of Degrees; and in the Greek it is obvious enough what the word ava/Soflpov means. For avafiai^oi are degrees (or steps) of them that ascend, not of them that descend. The Latin, not being able to express it strictly, expresses it by the general term; and in that it called them steps, left it undetermined, whether they were steps of persons ascending or descending. But because there is no speech or language where their voices are not heard among them, the earlier3, language explains the one which comes after it: and what was ambiguous in one is made certain in another. Just then as there the singer is some one who is ascending, so here is it some one who is over-leaping. But both that ascent and this leaping is effected not by the feet, not by the help of ladders, not by wings: and yet, if you mean the inner man, at once by the feet, by ladders, and by wings. For if it be not by the feet, why does the inward man say, O let not the foot of pride come unto me? If not by ladders, what mean those which Jacob saw, where Angels were ascending and12' descending f If not with wings, what becomes of him who saith, Who shall give me wings like a dove? then will I fly away and be at rest. But in bodily things, the feet, the wings, ladders, are different things. Within, the feet, the ladders, and the wings, are the affections of a good will. With these let us walk; with these let us ascend; with these let us fly. When therefore every one hears of this man leaping beyond, and would fain imitate him, let him not study by the lightness of his body to leap over ditches, or to clear any rather high places by a leap. But I am speaking of what relates to the body; for there are ditches which he also leaps over. The things are burned with fire, and dag up, that shall perish at the rebuke of Tlty countenance. What things are those that are burned, and dug up, which shall perish at the rebuke of the Lord, except sins? The things burnt with fire, are the effects which desire, inflamed unlawfully, produceth; the things dug up, are the effects of fear, unreasonably dejected. For from hence do all sins arise; either from desire or from fear. Let such an one then overleap all things by which he might be detained on earth; let him rear his ladders; let him spread forth his wings; let him observe whether any one recognises himself in this picture. Yes verily, in the grace of our Lord, many do recognise themselves here; who haply now holding the world in no account, as well as all that delights us in the world, make their choice to live righteously, as long as they live here, in certain spiritual delights. And whence are these derived, as long as we are walking upon earth, except from the Divine Oracles, from God's Word, from the search and investigation of. some Parable in Scripture, from the delight which belongs to discovery, preceded by the labour of enquiry? There are in books some pleasures that are holy and good. For there are none such in gold and silver, in banquets and in luxury, in hunting and fishing, in diversion and in jest, in the vanities of the theatres, in the pursuit and endeavour after ruinous honours. For indeed it is not so that in all these there are true joys, and none in these books. Rather then let the soul that leaps beyond all these things below, and takes delight in these that we describe, say with confidence, because it says with truth too, The unjust have told me of pleasures, but not such as Thy law \ Let this Idithun come still to us, let hiin overleap those whose delight is in things below, and take delight in these things, and let him rejoice in the Word of the Lord; in the delight of the law of the Most High. But what shall we say? Is he even from this point to leap over to another? Or is it up to this point that he who desires to overleap, is able to advance by leaping beyond? Let us choose rather to listen to his own words: for to me it appears, that this person who leaps beyond them, was already living in the oracles of God, and there learnt that which we are going to hear,

3. Ver. 1. I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue. Believe that whilst engaged in his work, in reading, commenting, preaching, admonishing, rebuking, and exhorting, whilst he was tried by certain difficulties incident to man, himself a man, and living among men, though already leaping beyond those who take no delight in these things, (inasmuch as it is difficult for a man not to slip with his tongue, and he who hath not offended in word, as it is written, the same is a perfect man;) he had3' perhaps said some things requiring to be repented of, and there had fallen from his lips things that he wished, but was not able, to recal. For it is not without reason that the tongue is set in a moist place, but because it is so prone to slip b. Perceiving therefore how hard it was for a man to be under the necessity of speaking, and not to say something that he will wish unsaid, and filled with disgust at these sins, he seeks to avoid the like. To this difficulty is he exposed who is seeking to leap beyond. Let no one pronounce judgment on my words, who is himself not yet endeavouring to leap beyond. Let him leap over, and prove the truth of what I say: for then he will be a witness to the truth, as well as a son of the Truth. When this had happened to him then, he had resolved not to speak, lest he should say any thing that he would be sorry for having said. This is fabulatitmcB. S. Aug. delectationes. intimated by his first words; / said, I will take heed to my that I sin not with my tongue. Keep then thy ways, Idithun, and do not sin with thy tongue; examine thoroughly, weigh well, what thou art about to say; refer to thy inward apprehension of the truth, and then put it forth before the hearer without. c Thou searchest for these things often in the turmoil of business, when the attention is taken up, whilst the infirmity of a soul, pressed down by the corruptible body, longs both to hear and to say something, to take something in at the ear, and to give something forth through the lips, and thus (being on some occasions thrown off of its balance, by its desire of speaking) makes some slip through carelessness in taking heed to what it says, and under these circumstances says something, that perhaps ought not to have been said. Against these evils silence is a better remedy. For a sinner, of some one peculiar description, a proud or euvious man is standing by, he hears the man who is leaping beyond speak; he catches at his words, he lays snares in his way: it will go hard but that he will find something said, in a way that it should not have been said; nor does he on hearing it make allowance for him, but through spite cavils at it. To guard against such persons, this Idithun had thought it better to be silent; whence he sung thus, I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue. How long am I to be ensnared by the spiteful, or to have snares laid for me, even if I be not taken in them? / will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue. Although I have leaped beyond the pleasures of earth, although the fleeting1 passions for things temporal ensnare me not, though now I despise these things below, and am rising up to better things than these, yet in these very better things the satisfaction of knowledge in the sight of God is enough for me. Of what use is it for me to speak what is to be laid hold of, and to give a handle to cavillers? Therefore, / said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue.

I keep my mouth with a bridle. Wherefore is this? Is it on account of the religious, the thoughtful, the faithful, the holy ones? God forbid! These persons hear in such a manner, as to praise what they approve; but as for what c « Quaeris ista,' 1 quia ista,' Mw; perhaps, < quamvis ista.» Ben. they disapprove, perhaps, among much that they praise they rather excuse than caril at it; on account of what persons then dost thou take heed to thy ways, and place a guard on thy lips that thou mayest not sin with thy tongue? Hear:

While the wicked standeth over against me. It is not 'by me' that he takes up his station, but against me. Why? what could I say at all, whereby I could satisfy them? I speak of spiritual things to one who is carnal, to one who has ears and eyes for outward things1, but is inwardly blind1 and deaf. For the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. Now were he not proved to be a natural man, when would he cavil? Happy is he who speaketh a word to an ear that taketh heed; not to the ear of a sinner that taketh his stand against him. For there were many such standing around Him, and gnashing their teeth at Him, when He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so opened not His mouth. For what would you say lo men swollen with pride, agitated by passion, prone to cavil, litigious, and full of words. What would you say to them, that is holy and pious, and that in the matter of religion overleaps them, when even to those who heard with willingness, who were eager to learn, who were yearning for the food of truth, and who received it with eagerness, even the Lord Himself says, / have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. And the Apostle, / could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal. Yet not as to persons to be despaired of, but as to those who still required to be nourished. For he goes on to say, As babes in Christ, I have fed you tot/Aib. milk, and not with meat; for hitherto ye were not able. Well, tell it unto us even now. Neither yet now are ye able. Be not therefore impatient to hear that which as yet thou art not capable of; but grow that thou mayest be able to bear it. It is thus we address the little one, who yet requires to be fed with kindly nrilk* in the bosom of Mother Church, and to be rendered meet for the strong meat of the Lord's Table. But what can I say even of that kind to the sinner, who taketh his stand against me, who either thinks or pretends himself capable of what he cannot bear; so that when I say any thing unto him, and he has failed to comprehend: it, he should not suppose that it was not he that had failed to comprehend, but I who had broken down. Therefore because of this sinner, who taketh up his stand against me, I keep my mouth as it were with a bridle.

4. Ver. 2. J became deaf and was humbled, I held my peace from good. For this person, who is leaping beyona\ suffers some difficulty in a certain stage to which he hath already attained; and he desires to advance beyond, even from thence, to avoid this difficulty. I was afraid of committing a sin; so that I spoke not; that I imposed on myself the necessity of silence: for I had spoken thus, I will take heed to my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue. Whilst I was too much afraid of saying any thing wrong, I kept silence from all that is good. / became deaf and was humbled, and I kept silence even from good. For whence could I say good things, except that I heard them? It is Thou that shall make me to hear of joy and gladness. And the friend of the bridegroom standeth and heareth Him, and rejoiceth on account of the bridegroom^ voice, not his own. That he may speak true things, he hears what he is to say. For it is he that speaketh a lie, that speaketh of his own. Therefore something sad and annoying has befallen him; and by his confession, he warns us that what has befallen him, should not be imitated, but guarded against. For being, as I said, too much afraid of saying something that was not good, he made up his mind to say nothing, not even what was good: and as he resolved to be silent, so he began not to hear. For if you are a person leaping beyond, you stand waiting to hear something from God, to say unto men; if you are one leaping beyond, you go to and fro between God Who is rich, and the needy who is craving for something to hear; that you may hear on the one side, and deliver it on the other. If you make your choice not to speak on this side, you will not deserve to hear any thing on the other; you yourself despise the poor; you will yourself be despised by Him to Whom riches belong. Did you forget that you were the servant, whom the Lord hath set over His Household, to give their meat to his fellow-servants? Wherefore then are you anxious to receive, what yon are slow to expend? Since then you would not sdy that which you had received, you are justly hindered from receiving what you wished to receive. For something you yourself were wishing for: something you possessed already; impart what you possess, that you may deserve to receive what you do not possess. When therefore I had put a bridle, as it were, on my lips; and constrained myself to silence, because 1 saw that every where speech was dangerous, then, says he, that came to pass upon me, which I did not wish, I became deqf9 and was humbled; not humbled myself, but was humbled; and I held my peace even from good. Whilst afraid of saying any evil, I began to refrain from speaking what is good: and I condemned my determination; for / was holding my peace even from what is good.

Ver. 2. And my sorrow was stirred up again. Inasmuch as I had found in silence a kind of respite from a certain sorrow, that had been inflicted upon me by those who cavilled at my words, and found fault with me: and that sorrow that was caused by the cavillers, had ceased indeed; but when J lield my peace even from good, my sorrow was stirred up again. 1 began to be more grieved at having refrained from saying what I ought to have said, than I had before been grieved by having said what I ought not. And my sorrow was stirred up again.

5. Ver. 3. d And while I was musing, the fire burned. My heart began to be discomforted. 1 saw men insensate; and I was consumed with grief; I did not rebuke them; and whilst I was thus silent, the zeal of Thine house was eating me up. For I reflected on the words of my Lord, 7%ouMat25, wicked and slothful servant, thou oughtest to have put My money to the exchangers, and I at My coming should receive it again with usury. And that which follows may God avert from those who are His stewards! Bind him hand^.zo. and foot, and let him be cast into outer darkness; the servant, who was not a waster of his master's goods, so as to destroy them, but was slothful in laying them out to improve them. What ought they to expect, who have wasted them in luxury, if they are condemned, who through slothfulness have kept them? As I was musing, the fire burned. And as he wats in this state of wavering suspense, between speaking holding his peace, between those who are prepared to cavil, and those who are anxious to be instructed, between those that " abound," and those that " are in need;" having become a reproach to those who abounded, and an object of contempt to the proud; having regard to the blessedness of those who hunger and thirst after righteousness; being in difficulty and in trouble in whichever alternative he adopts, being in danger of casting pearls before stcine, and in danger of not bestowing their meat on his fellow-servantsy in this state of suspense, he prays for a better place, a place different from this his present stewardship, in which man is in such difficulty and in such danger, and sighing after a certain " end," when he was not to be subject to these things, when the Lord is to say to the faithful dispenser, Enter thou into the jay of thy IsOrdy he says,

Then spake I with my tongue. In this fluctuation, in the midst of these dangers, and these difficulties, because, that consequence of the abundance of offences the love of many is waxing coM, although the law of the Lord inspires delight, in this fluctuation then, (I say,) then spake I with my tongue. To whom? not to the hearer whom I would fain instruct; but to Him Who heareth and taketh heed also, by Whom I would fain be instructed myself. I spake with my tongue to Him, from Whom I inwardly hear, whatever I hear that is good, or true. — What saiclst thou?

Ver. 4. Lord, make me to know mine end. For some things I have passed by already; and I have arrived at a certain point, and that to which I have arrived is better than that from which I have advanced to this; but yet there remains a point, which has to be left behind. For we are not to remain here, where there are trials, offences, where we have to bear with persons, who listen to us and cavil at us. Make me to know mine end; the end, from which I am still removed, not the course which is already before

0. The end he speaks of, is that which the Apostle fixed his eye upon, in his course; and made confession of his own infirmity, perceiving in himself a different state of things from that which he looked for elsewhere. For he says, Not that I have already attained, or am already perfect. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended. And that you might not say, 44 If the Apostle hath not apprehended, have I apprehended? If the Apostle is not perfect, am I perfect?" Observe what he is doing; attend to what he is saying. What art thou doing then, O Apostle? Hast thou not yet apprehended? Art thou not yet perfect? What art thou doing? What action is that, to which thou exhortest me? What is it you propose for me to follow and to imitate? But this one thing, saith he, / do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are before, 1 press forward towards the prize of the high calling of Ood in Christ Jesus. It is by way of pressing forward towards it; not as yet by arriving at it; not as having as yet apprehended. Let us not relapse to the point from which we have already made a start; nor remain stationary in the place to which we have already arrived. Let us run; let us stretch forward; we are already on the way; be uot so confident in consequence of what you have passed by already, as anxious for what you have not as yet attained to. Forgetting what is behind, he says, reaching forward to what is before, I press forward for the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. For He is Himself the End. But this one thing. This is that one thing1,1 Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. r One thing, which is in another Psalm also called one petition. OnepaJ2794. (petition3) have I desired of the Lord, which I will require.* (Forgetting what is behind, reaching forward to what Wj.p.i94. before.) One thing have I desired of the Lord, which I will require: that I may dwell in the house qf the Lord all the days of my life. And wherefore? to behold the joy qf the Lord. For there I shall have a companion to rejoice in; I shall not have an adversary to fear: for there I shall have a friend to share with me in that contemplation, not an enemy to catch at my words. It is this which Idithun would fain have known to him, whilst here; that he might know what was yet wanting to him; and not rejoice so much in what he had at present attained to, as long after what he had not attained to yet; and having passed through some stages, should not linger on the road, but be borne along by fervent desire t0 things above, till he who had left some things behind, should leave all behind, and from the sprinkling of the rain-drops of the Lord, that come from the clouds of Scripture, he should come (like the hart) to the very Well qf Life, and in that light should see light, and in the presence qf Qod should be hid from the provoking of men; where he might say, * It is well, I wish for nothing farther. Here I love every one, I fear no one.' A right desire, a holy desire! Ye who have this already, rejoice with us, and pray that we may persevere and hold it to the end; and may not fall away in the midst of the causes of offence. For this same blessing we ourselves ask for you. For we are not worthy to pray for you, and you too are unworthy to pray for us. The Apostle indeed commended himself to the prayers of his hearers, to whom he was preaching the Word of God. Pray ye therefore for us, brethren; that we may both see clearly what it is requisite we should see; and say well what it is requisite we should say. This affection, however, I well know is to be found but in few persons: nor do those persons understand me thoroughly, who have not tasted that of which I speak. We however speak to all; both to those who have such an affection, and to those who have not; to those who have, that they may sigh with us for those things; to those who have not, that they may shake off their lethargy; that they may rise above things below; that they may arrive at the delights of the law of the Lord9; and may not linger behind in the pleasures of the wicked. For many persons talk of many things; and many persons praise many things; the unrighteous commend unrighteous things. And in fact those unrighteous things have a pleasure, but not such as thy law, 0 Lord. Let those therefore join us in saying these things, who believe that we say them also. For this matter is one that is within you: no words can set it forth; but let him whose heart is set on this believe that others also are engaged in it: not that he alone has received what is God's. In this case then let Idithun say, Lord, let me know mine end.

1. And the number qf my days, what it is. 1 ask of the number qf my days, what it is. I can speak of number without number, and understand " number without number,'1 in the same sense, as € years without years' may be spoken of. For where there are years, there is a sort of number at all events, also. But yet, Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail. Make me to know the number of my27' days; but to know what it is. What then? that number in which thou art, think you that it " is1* not? Assuredly, if I weigh the matter well, it has no being; if I linger behind, it has a sort of being; if I rise above it, it has none. If, shaking off the trammels of these things, I contemplate things above, if I compare things that pass away with those that endure, I see what has a true being, and what rather seems to be, than really is. Should I say that these days of mine "are;" and shall I rashly apply this word so full of meaning to this course of things passing away? To such a degree have I my own self almost ceased to be, failing as I am in my weakness, that He escaped from my memory, Who said, / AM HE THAT IS. Hath then any number of days any existence? In truth it hath, and it is " number without end." But in the case of these days I would say that some part of them existed, if I can keep hold of that day of which you ask me; do you, yourself, in order that you may ask me, keep hold the day about which you ask! Dost thou retain this present day? If you retained yesterday, you retain possession of to-day also. But you say, " yesterday I do not retain in my possession, because it "is" no longer; this one, however, which now is, and which is by me, I do still retain. Has it so escaped thee, how much of this has now past since the break of day? Did not this day begin with the first hour? Give me its first hour! Give me its second also, for perhaps that also has past away. " I will give you its third hour," you say, (for in that hour we are perhaps at this present time,) " These days therefore certainly do exist." And is the third hour a day? And in giving me the third hour, thou wilt be giving me not a day, but an hour. Even this however I do not concede to you, if you have in any way left them behind. Give me even the third hour, that in which you are at present; for if any part of it has already past, and any part is as yet remaining, you can neither give me what has already past, because it is no longer in being; nor that which is as yet to come, because not yet in being. Of this very hour which is now passing, what will you give me, to which you will venture to apply the word, it is? When you say the very word 'est? (it is,) it is but one syllable, but one single motion, and the syllable has but three letters; in the very sounding of the word, you do not arrive at the second letter of the word, unless the first is finished. The third letter will not souud, except when the second also shall have past. Of this single syllable what will you give me? And can you retain the days, who cannot retain a syllable? Every thing is swept on by a series of moments, fleeting by, one after the other; there is a torrent of existences ever flowing on and on; a torrent1, of which drank in the way, Who hath now lift up His Head, These days then have no true being; they are gone almost before they arrive; and when they are come, they cannot continue; they press upon one another, they follow the one the other, and cannot check themselves in their course. Of the past nothing is called back again; what is yet to be, is expected as something to pass away again: it is not as yet possessed, whilst as yet it is not arrived; it can not be kept when once it has arrived. He asks then concerning the number of his days, which is; not that which is not: and (which confounds me by a still greater and more perplexing difficulty) at once is, and is not. We can neither say that that is, which does not continue; nor that it is not, when it has come and is passing. It is that absolute ( IS,' that true ' IS,' that ' IS,' in the true sense of the word, that I long for; i IS;' which is in that Jerusalem which is the Bride of Lord; where there will not be death, there will not be failing; there will be a day, that passeth not away, but continueth: which has neither a yesterday to precede it, nor a to-morrow pressing close upon it. This number of my days, which is, this, (I say,) make Tliou me to know.

2. That I may know what is wanting to me. For while I am struggling here, this is wanting unto me: and so long as it is wanting unto me, I do not call myself perfect. So long as I have not received it, 1 say, not that I have already attained, either am already perfect; but I am pressing towards the prize of God's high calling. This let me receive as the prize of my running the race! There will be a certain resting-place, to terminate my course; and in that resting-place there will be a Country, and no pilgrimage, no dissension, no temptation. Make me then to know this number of my days, which is, that I may know what is wanting unto me; because I am not there yet; lest I should be made proud of what I already am, that I may be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness. For, when in comparison with that which truly is, considering those things which so " are not," and seeing that there is more wanting to me than already present with me, I shall be rather humbled by what is wanting to me than puffed up by what I already possess. For they who consider themselves to possess any thing while they live here, by indulging in pride fail to receive what is wanting to them; because they think what they already possess to be something great. For if a man think himself to be any thing, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself Yet do they not make themselves great thereby. For that which is swollen and puffed up counterfeits bulk indeed, but hath no soundness.

3. By this time then this man, who is leaping beyond, performing a certain secret act within his heart, which is not known except to him, who does likewise, attaining now what he asked, in that " his end" has been made known to him, in that he has been made to know the number of his days, not the number which is passing away, but ' that which is,' he turns his thoughts to these things which he has left behind, and hath compared them with the knowledge he before had1. And just as if you were to say to him, "Wherefore did you long for the number of your days^" that really is? for what say you of these present days?" Looking at them from that height b, he speaks these words.

Ver. 5. Behold, thou hast made my days old*. For these days are waxing old. I long for new days that never shall wax old, that I may say, Old things have passed away; behold, things are become new. Already new in hope; then in reality. For though, in hope and in faith, made new Hich may be, * taking thought of that already, how much do we even now do after our old nature I 1 For we are not so completely clothed upon with Christ, a pot to bear about with us any thing derived from Adam. Observe that Adam is waxing old within us, and Christ is being renewed in us. Though our outward man is perishing, yet is our inward man being renewed day by day. Therefore, while we fix our thoughts on sin, on mortality, on time, that is hastening by, on sorrow, and toil, and labour, on stages of life following each other in succession, and continuing not, passing on insensibly from infancy even to old age; whilst, 1 say, we fix our eyes on these things, let us see here the old man, the day that is waxing old; the Song that is out of date; the Old Testament1; when however we - turn to the inner man, to those things that are to be renewed in place of these which are to be changed, let us find the new man, the new day, the new song, the New Testament; and that newness, let us so love, as to have no fears of its waxing old. Now, however, we are on our course passing from old things to new; the very transition is now taking place, in which outward things are decaying; and those within are being renewed, till this outward part, which is consuming away, shall pay the debt to nature; shall have arrived at death; be itself too renewed in the resurrection. Then shall all things that yet remain unrenewed, which in hope are renewed already, be made new in deed, in reality also. You are therefore effecting something even now, whilst you are putting off old things, whilst you are hasting forward to those which are new. This man, therefore, who is hasting forward to those things which are new, and reaching forward to those things which are before, says, Lord, make me to know mine end, and the number of my days, which really is, that I may know what is wanting unto me. See he still drags with him Adam; and even so he is hasting unto Christ. Behold, saith he, thou hast made my days old. It is those days that are derived from Adam, those days, I say, that thou hast made old. They are waxing old day by day: and so waxing old, as to be at some day or other consumed also.,

And my substance is as nothing before Tltee. Before Tltee, q Lord, my substance is as nothing. Before Thee; Who seest this; and I too, when I see it, see it only when before

Thee. When " before men" I see it not. For what shall I say? What words shall I use to shew, that that which I now am is nothing in comparison of That which truly IS? But it is within that it is said 1; it is within that it is felt, soj^jj^, far as it is felt. Be/ore Tliee, O Lord, where Thine eyes are; and not where the eyes of men are. And where Thine eyes are, what is the state of things; That which I am is as nothing.

10. But, verily, every man living is altogether vanity. But, verily. For what was he saying above? Behold, I have already leaped beyond all mortal things, and despised things below, have trampled under foot the things of earth, have soared upwards to the delights of the law of the Lord, I have been afloat in the dispensation of the Lord d, have yearned for that End which Itself is to know no end, have yearned for the number of my days that truly is, because the number of days like these hath no real being. Behold, I am already such a one as this; I have already overleaped so much; I am longing for those things which abide. But verily, in the state in which I am here, so long as I am here, so long as I am in this world, so long as I bear mortal flesh, so long as the life of man on earth is a trial, so long as I sigh among causes of offence, as long as while I stand I am in fear lest I fall, as long as both my good and my ill hangs in uncertainty, every man living is altogether vanity. u Every man," I say; both he who clings to the world, and he who is leaping beyond it: even Idithun himself comes under the description of altogether vanity up to this present time; for that all is vanity, and vanity of vanities. What2'3' profit hath a man of all his labour, which he taketh under the sun? What then? Is Idithun too still under the sunt He hath something under the sun: he hath also something beyond it. He hath under the sun, to wake, to sleep, to eat, to drink, to hunger, and to thirst; to be vigorous, to be weary; to grow up to boyhood, to youth, to old age; to have all the objects of bis hopes and his fears uncertain. All (or, nummorum) Dominicorum.' * I these things even Idithun, even the very man who is leaping beyond them, hath beneath the sun. How is it then he is leaping beyond them? It is from that longing of his, Lord, make me to know mine end. For this [object of his] longing is beyond the sun; it is not under the sun. All that is under the sun, are visible things; whatever is not visible is not under the sun. Faith is not visible, hope is not visible, charity is not visible, kiudness is not visible; lastly, fear which is clean, and endureth for ever, is not visible. Idithun placing his delight and comfort in all these, and conversing with them beyond the sun, because his conversation is in heaven, groans on account of those things, which he hath still under the sun; and contemns and is disgusted with these things; while he burns for those things, which he is now longing to arrive at. He hath spoken of those already, let him now speak of these also. You have heard what ought to be desired; hear now what ought to be despised. But, verily, every man living is altogether vanity.

11. Ver. 6. Albeit man walketh in the Image1. In what lmage,*save that of Him, Who said, Let Us make man in Our Image, after Our Likeness. Albeit man walks in the Image. For the reason he says albeit, is, that this is some great thing. And this albeit is followed by nevertheless, that the albeit which you have already heard, should relate to what is beyond the sun; but this nevertheless, which is to follow, to what is under the sun, and that the one should relate to the Truth, the other to vanity. Albeit, then, t?mt man walketh in the Image, nevertheless he is disquieted in vain. Hear the cause of his disquieting, and see if it be not a vain one; that thou mayest trample it under foot, that thou mayest leap beyond it, and mayest dwell on high, where that vanity is not. What vanity is that?

He heapeth up riches, ond knoweth not for whom he may be gathering them together. O infatuated vanity! Blessed is t/ie man that maketh the Lord his trust, and hath not respected vanities, nor lying deceits. To you indeed, O covetous man, to you I seem to be out of my senses, these words appear to you to be " old wives' tales." For you, a man of great judgment, and of great prudence, to be sure, are daily devising methods of acquiring money, by traffic, by agriculture, by eloquence perhaps, by making yourself learned in the law, by warfare, perhaps you even add that of usury. Like a shrewd man as you are, you leave nothing untried, whereby you may pile coin on coin; and may store it upd more carefully in a place of secresy. You plunder others; you guard against the plunderer; you are afraid lest you should yourself suffer the wrong, that you yourself do; and even what you do suffer, does not correct you. But indeed you do not suffer it; for you are a man of prudence; you take good care of it; you do not only understand well how to raise it; you have a place in which to deposit it; a person to whose care to commit it, by which means nothing is lost of what you have gathered together. I will question your own heart, I would discuss the prudence of your conduct! See, you have gathered together; you have taken such care of them, that you cannot lose any part of what you have stored up: tell me now, for whom are you keeping them. I am not arguing with you, I am not dwelling upon, I am not exaggerating whatever else of evil there is in that covetousness of our vanity. This is the one thing I put before you, that I would question you upon, which the occasion of the reading of this present Psalm suggests to me. We will suppose you are gathering together, are heaping up riches; I do not say, beware lest whilst thou art gathering up, thou shouldest thyself be gathered up. I do not say, beware lest when thou wouldest seize prey, thou shouldest thyself be a prey; this I will express more clearly; for perhaps, blinded by avarice, thou hast not understood, lest haply then, I say, while you would yourself be preying on the weaker, you become yourself the prey of the greater. For you do not observe that you are in a sea; you do not see that the smaller fishes are devoured by the larger. I speak not of these things; I am not speaking of the difficulties and the dangers involved in the mere acquisition of wealth; how much they endure, who are heaping it up: to gloss. Cartigare est in chartA propter and perhaps * area flagellar may be memoriam ahquid scribere; usitatius de the lid striking the heaped contents, osurariisdicitur. Nine Mss. castigetur, thus affording no parallel. However, it as Martial, Et ctiju* laxcu area flaqel- may be to 'keep it from peeping out* -they almost see death in every place, all this I pass by. We will suppose that you heap up riches without opposition from any one; that you keep them without any one robbing you of them. Examine your own heart, and that prudence of yours, which leads you to deride me, to think me out of my senses for saying these things: and tell me now, " You are heaping up treasures; for whom are you gathering them together?" I see what you would tell me; as if what you would say had not occurred to the person described here; you will say, I am keeping them for my children? This is the voice of parental affection; the excuse of injustice. " I am keeping them1' (you say) " for my children." So then you are keeping them for your children, are you? Did not Idithun then know this? Assuredly he did; but he reckoned it one of the things of the old days, that hare waxed old, and therefore he despised it: because he was hastening on to the new days.

12. For, look, I proceed to examine the case of you and your children. You are yourself to pass away, and are keeping them for those who are to pass away also; nay rather, you are yourself passing away already, and are keeping them for those who are themselves passing away also. For when I spoke of you thus, as one " about to pass away," I spoke of you as if you had some permanence now. During this very day, from the time that we began speaking, up to this very moment, do you perceive that we have been growing old? For you do not see even the growth of the hair of your head; and at this moment, while you are standing, while you are here, while you are employed on something or other, while you are speaking, your hairs are growing on your head; for they have not grown all in a moment to such a length, that you require a barber. Time therefore goes on hasting by, both in the case of those who consider, and in the case of those who think not of it, and who are unwisely employed on something else. You are passing away, and are keeping it for your son who is also passing away. I ask you, first of all, this question; " Do you know that he for whom you are keeping them will possess them; or if he is not yet born, do you know that he ever will be born? You are keeping it for sons, of whom it is uncertain whether they will be born, or whether they will come into possession; and you do not lay up your treasure where it ought to be laid up. For your Lord would not give such advice as this to His servant, that he should lose his own property. You are the servant of a certain great Householder, having much that is jour own. That which thou lovest and possessest, He Himself bestowed upon thee; and He would not have thee lose what He hath given thee, seeing He would give Himself unto thee also. But even this too, which He hath given thee but for a time, He would not have thee lose. There is a great deal of it; it overflows, it exceeds the limits of thy wants. Surely now the superfluity may be retrenched. I would not have thee lose even this, saith the Lord. And what am I to do? Remove; the place where you have placed it is not a place of security. Surely you wish to comply with the dictates of covetousness. Look now whether my counsel does not chime in with the dictates of covetousness itself. For you wish to have what you have, and not to lose it; I am shewing you where to deposit it. Lay not up treasures oh earth; not knowing for whom you are gathering them™' together: and afterwards, how he who will have and possess* them hereafter, will expend them. Perhaps, while he possesses them, he will be himself possessed: and will not keep that which he shall have from you. Perhaps while you are keeping it for him, you will lose it before he comes. I am offering advice to your covetousness. Lay up for yourselves'^- treasure in heaven. If you wished to keep riches here on earth, you would seek for a store-house; perhaps you would not trust it to your own house, because of your domestics; you would deposit it in the street of the Bankers. For there accidents can hardly happen; there the thief does not easily find an entrance; every thing is well taken care of. Why do you think of that plan, except that you have no better place in which to keep it? What if I give you a better placer say to you, * Do not trust it to the person, who is not a sufficiently sponsible one'. But there is One Who is sufficiently sponsible; entrust it to Him; He hath great store-houses; where riches cannot be lost. He is great and rich beyond all rich men.' Now you will haply say, " And when shall I venture to entrust it to such a Person?" What if He Himself exhorts thee to do so? Recognise Him; He is not merely an " Householder but He is thy Master also. " My servant," (He says,) " 1 would not have thee lose thy personalities; consider where thou art placing them, why wouldest thou deposit them where thou mayest lose them; where even though thou lovest them not, thou canst not thyself continue for ever. There is another place, to which I shall remove thee. Let what thou hast precede thee: fear not lest thou shouldest lose it; I was the Giver of it. I will be the Keeper of it. This thy Lord saith unto thee; put thy faith to the question; see whether thou wilt put faith in Him." You will say, " I count what 1 do not see as lost already; I would fain see it here." Through your wish to see it here, you will neither see it here, and you will also have nothing there. You have some treasures hid in the earth; when you go forth, you do not carry them with you. You have come to hear a Discourse; to gather together inward wealth; you are thinking of your outward wealth. I pray you, have you brought it hither? Lo! even now, you cannot see it! You believe that you have in your house, what you know that you laid by; do you know that you have not lost it? How many have returned to their homes, and not found what they laid by? At this, perhaps, the hearts of the covetous are alarmed; and because I said, that many had returned to their homes, and not found what they had laid by, every one has said in his heart, " That be far from us, Bishop! Wish and ask for us what is good! Be it far from us, such a thing should happen: God forbid it should happen so. I put my trust in God, that I shall find what I put by in safety." Do you put your trust in God, and do you not believe God's own word? "I put my trust in Christ, that what I put by will be safe; no one will come near it; no one will carry it away." You wish to be ensured, by putting your trust in Christ, against losing any thing out of your house: you will be better ensured, by believing Christ's word, so as to deposit it where He hath counselled thee! Have you no doubts of your servant? and have you doubts about your Lord? Have you no fears for your house, and have you fears for heaven? " But" (you say) " how am I to lay it up in heaven?" He hath given you counsel: " Deposit it where 1 tell you; I would not have you know in what manner it finds its way thither." Deposit it in the hands of the poor, give it to the needy; what matters it to thee in what manner it makes its way thither? Shall not I bring thither 1 what I receive? Hast thou forgotten, When ye did it unto one of the least of Mine, ye did it unto Me? If any friend of yours had certain basins or cisterns, and you were in search of some receptacles contrived for the keeping of any fluid, whether oil, or wine, in which to conceal or to store up your fruits, and he were to say, " I will keep them for you;" — and if he had certain secret ducts and passages to those basins, so that what was openly poured therein, might secretly find its way through these; and were he to say, " Pour here what you have;" and you were, on the other hand, to think that it was not the place where you thought of storing them, and to be afraid to pour them in; — then would not he, who knew that his places had some secret contrivance, say to you, " Pour it in, and fear not; it finds its way from hence to that place; you do not see by what way: but trust me, who was the builder of it." For He, by Whom all things were made, hath built mansions for all of us: thither He would have that which we have go before us; that we may not lose it9 on earth. When, however, you have kept them on earth, tell me for?here/ whom you are to gather them together? You have children: add one more to their number; and give something to Christ also. He heaps up riches; and cannot tell for whom he may be gathering them together. He is disquieted in vain.

13. Ver. 7. And now. And now, saith this Idithun, — (looking back on a certain vain show, and looking up to a certain Truth, standing mid-way where he has something beyond him, and something also behind him, having below him the place from which he took his spring, having above him that toward which he has stretched forth,) — And now, when I have " overleaped" some things, when I have trampled many things under foot, when I am no longer captivated by things temporal; even now, I am not perfect, / have not yet apprehended. For it is by hope that ue are saved; bnt^?1^* hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Therefore he says;

Ver. 7. And now what wait 1 for? Is it not for the Lord*? He is my expectation, Who hath given me all those things, that I might despise them. He will give unto me Himself also, even He Who is above all, and by Whom all things were made, and by Whom I was made amongst all; even He, the Lord, is my Expectation! You see Idithun, brethren, you see in what way he waiteth for Him! Let no man therefore call himself perfect here; he deceives and imposes upon himself; he is beguiling himself, he cannot have perfection here, and what avails it that he should lose humility?

And now what wait I for? Is it not for the Lord? When it has arrived, then it is no longer an object of expectation; then that perfection will actually be. " Now," however, how much ground soever Idithun hath averleapedy he is but waiting still.

And my substance is ever before Tliee. Already advancing, already tending towards Him, and to some extent already beginning to be, still (he says!) my substance is ever before Thee. Now that other substance is also before men. You have gold, silver, slaves, estates, trees, cattle, servants. These things are visible even to men. There is a certain substance that is ever before Thee. And my substance is ever before Thee.

14. Ver. 8. Deliver me from all my transgresssions. I have " overleaped" a great deal of ground, a very great deal 0f ground already; but, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the Truth is not in us. I have " overleaped" a great deal: but still do I beat my breast, and say, Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Thou therefore art my expectation! my End. For Christ is the end of the Law unto righteousness, unto every man that believelh. From all mine offences: not only from those, that I may not relapse into those which I have already " overleaped;" but from all, without exception, of those on account of which I now beat my breast, and say, Forgive us * E. V. " Andnow, Lord, what wait I for,19 &c. our debts. Deliver me from all mine offences: me being thus minded, and holding fast what the Apostle said, As many of us as he perfect, let us be thus minded. For atio. the time that he said that he was not already perfect, he then immediately goes on aud says, As many of us as be perfect, let us be thus minded. What is the meaning of, As many of us as be perfect, let us be thus minded? Thou hadst already said, Not that I have already apprehended, or am already perfect. Observe the order of the words. But this one thing I do; forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those which are before, I am pressing toward the prize of our high calling of God in Christ Jesus. For this very reason he is not perfect, that he is pressing toward the prize of the high calling of God; which he hath not found as yet, unto which he hath not as yet attained. But if he is not perfect at present, because he hath not as yet attained unto it, which of us is perfect? Yet he goes on and says, Yet let as many of us as be perfect, be thus minded. Art thou then, O Apostle, not perfect, and are we perfect? But hath it escaped you, that he did just now call himself perfect? For he does not say, As many of you as are perfect, be ye thus minded; but as many of us as be perfect, let us be thus minded; after having said a little before, Not that I have already attained; either am already perfect. In no other way then can you be perfect in this life, than by knowing that you cannot be perfect in this life. This then will be your perfection, so to have " overleaped" some things, as to have still some point to which you are hastening on: so as to have something remaiuing, to which you will have to leap on, when every thing else has been passed by. It is such faith as this that- is secure; for whoever thinks that he has already attained, is exalting himself, so as to be abased hereafter.

15. Therefore because I am thus minded, because I speak of myself as perfect and as not perfect at the same time; (not perfect indeed, because I have not yet attained that which I desire; perfect, because I know the thing that is yet wanting tome;) therefore, because I am thus minded, because I despise worldly things, because I refuse to take delight in perishable things, because I am laughed to scorn by the covetous man, boasting himself that he is prudent, ' and laughing me to scorn as one out of my senses, because I act thus; because 1 pursue this course.

Thou hast made me the reproach of the foolish. Thou hast so willed it, that I should lire among those, and preach the Truth among those, who love vanity; and I cannot but be a laughing-stock to them. For we have been made a spectacle unto this world, and unto angels, and unto men: to angels who praise, to men who censure, us; or rather to angels, some of whom praise, some of whom are censuring us: and to men also, some of whom are praising, and some censuring us. We have arms on the right hand, and on the left, with which we wage war, through honour and dishonour, through evil report and good report, as deceivers and yet true. This we do in the sight of angels; this in the sight of men; because even among the angels there are holy Angels, to whom we give pleasure by living virtuously; and there are trangressing angels, to whom we give pleasure by living ill. And among men also, there are holy men, to whom the life we live gives pleasure; there are also very wicked men, who mock at our good life. Both the one and the other are arms to us: the one on the right hand, the other on the left: arms however they are both of them; both of these kinds of arms, both those on the right hand, and those on the left; both those who praise, and those who censure; both those who pay us honour, and those who heap dishonour upon us; with both these kinds I contend against the devil; with both of these I smite him; I defeat him with prosperity, if I be not corrupted by it; by adversity, if 1 am not broken in spirit by it.

16. Thou then hast made me the reproach of the foolish.

Ver. 9. / became dumb1, and I opened not my mouth. But it was to guard against the foolish man, that / became dumb, and opened not my mouth. For to whom should I tell what is going on within me? For I will hear what the Lord Ood will speak in me*; for He will speak peace unto His people. Bat, There is no peace, saith the Lord, to the wicked. I was dumb, and opened not my mouth; because it is Thou that modest me. Was this the reason that thou openedst not thy Aug. and Vulg. quid loquatur in me. mouthy became God made thee? That is strange; for did not God make thy mouth, that thou shouldest speak? He that~l±L planted the ear, doth He not hear? He that formed the eye,9. doth He not see? God hath given thee a mouth to speak with; and dost thou say, / was dumb, and opened not my mouthy because Thou madest me? Or does the clause, Because Thou madest me, belong to the verse that follows? Because Thou madest me,

Ver. 10. Remove Thy stroke away from me. Because it is Thou that hast made me, let it not be Thy pleasure to destroy me utterly; scourge, so that 1 may be made better, not so that I faint; beat me, so that I may be b beaten out to a greater length and breadth, not so that I may be ground to powder. Because Thou hast made me, remove Thy stroke away from me.

By the heaviness qf Thy hand I fainted in corrections. That is, I fainted while Thou wast correcting me. And what is meant by correcting me? except what follows,

Ver. 11. Thou with rebukes hast chastened man for iniquity; Thou hast made my life to consume away like a spider. There is much that is discerned by this Idithun; by every one, who discerns as he does; who overleaps as he does. For he says, that he has fainted in God's corrections; and would fain have the stroke removed away from bim, because it is He Who made him. Let Him renew me, Who also made me; let Him, Who created me, create me anew. But yet, Brethren, do we suppose that there was no cause for his fainting, so that he wishes to be renewed* to be created anew? It is for iniquity, saith he, that Thou hast chastened man. All this, my having fainted, my being weak, my crying out of the deep, all of this is because of iniquity; and in this Thou hast not condemned, but hast chastened me. Thou hast chastened man for sin. Hear this more plainly from another Psalm; It is good ybrPs.119, me that Thou hast afflicted me, that I might learn Thy71' righteousness1. 1 have been afflicted, and at the same time it is good for me; it is at once a punishment, and an act oi^^t0' favour. What hath He in store for us after punishment is over, Who inflicts punishment itself by way of favour? For He

s °^ ^nom l was sa^ I wa8 brou9h l°w9 and He made whole: and, // is ^ootf /or /Aa* 7%ou hast afflicted /^af / m/#Af /earn TAy righteousness. Thou chastenest man for iniquity. And that which is written, Thouformest my grief in teaching 7he% could only be said unto God by one who was leaping beyond his fellows; Thou formest my grief in teaching me; Thou makest, that is to say, a lesson for me out of my sorrow. It is Thou that formest that very grief itself; Thou dost not leave it unformed, but formest it; and that grief, that has been inflicted by Thee, when formed, will be a lesson unto me, that 1 may be set free by Thee. For the word finges is used in the sense of forming, as it were moulding, my grief; not in the sense of feigning it; in the same way ihdXfingit is applied to the artist, in the same sense that jigulus is derived from Jingere. Thou therefore hast chastened man for iniquity. I see myself in afflictions; I see myself under punishment; and I see no unrighteousness in Thee. If I therefore am under punishment, and if there is no unrighteousness with Thee, it remains that Thou must have been chastening man for iniquity.

18. And by what means hast Thou chastened h\m i Tell us, O Idithun, the manner of thy chastening; tell us in what way thou hast been chastened. And Thou hast made my life consume like a spider. This is the chastening! What consumes away sooner than the spider? I speak of the creature itself; though what can be more liable to consume away than the spider's webs? Observe too how liable to decay is the creature itself. Do but set your finger lightly upon it; and it is a ruin; there is nothing at all more easily destroyed. To such a state hast Thou brought my life, by chastening me because of iniquity. When chastening makes us weak, there is a kind of strength that would be a fault. 1 perceive that some of you have already flown before me to my meaning, and have already understood; but those who are quicker of apprehension must not leave the slow behind, that they may pursue the road of our discourse in company. This is what I said; this I would have you understand. If it is the chastening of a just God that has c Ps. 44, 20. Qui fingis dolorem in prcecepto, (Vulg. laborem;) R. V. which " frame th mischief by a late produced this state of weakness, there is a kind of* strength' that would be a fault. It was by a kind of strength that man offended, so as to require to be corrected by weakness: for it was by a certain pride that he offended; so as to require to be chastened by humility. All proud persons call themselves strong men. Therefore have many come from the East and the West, and have attained to sit cfow»Mait.8, with Abraham, awl Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom ofUm Heaven. Wherefore was it that they so attained? Because they would not be strong. What is meant by 4 would not be strong?' They were afraid to presume of their own merits. They did not go about to establish their own righteousness, that they might submit themselves to the righteousness of10'3' Ood. Lastly, at the time when the Lord spake thus, Many shall come from the East and from the West, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of Heaven; but the children of the kingdom, (i. e. the Jews, who were ignorant of the righteousness of God, and went about to establish their own,) shall be cast into outer darkness; call to mind the faith of one single person from among the Gentiles, the Centurion; who was so weak in confidence in himself, so far from being " a strong man," as to say I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my ronf.M.ttt.8, He was not worthy to receive Christ in his house, and he had already received Him in his heart! For that Teacher of humility, the Son of Man, had in his breast already found where He might lay His head. To this speech of theib. Centurion's our Lord alluded, when He spake to them that followed Him, Verily J say unto you, I have not found so great faith in any in Israel. He found this man weak: the Israelites He found strong; so that He said, referring to both, They that are whole need not a phycician, but they which are sick. It is on account of this then, that is, on account of this humility, that many shall come from the East and from the West, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of Heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall go into outer darkness. Behold! you are mortal; and you bear about you a body of flesh that is corrupting away; And ye shall fall like one of the princes. Ye shall die like men, and shall fall like the devil. What good does the remedial discipline of mortality jQ y0U p xhe devil is proud, as not having a mortal body, as being an angel. But as for you, who have received a mortal body, and to whom even this does no good, so as to humble you by so great weakness, you shall fall like one qf the princes. This then is the first grace of God's gift, to bring us to the confession of our infirmity, that whatever good we can do, whatever ability we have, we may be that in Him; that He that glorieth, may glory in the Lord. When I am weak> saith he, then am I strong. Thou chastenest rnan for iniquity, and Thou makes t my life to consume away, even as a spider.

19. But surely every man living disquieteth himself in vain. He returns to what he mentioned a little before. Although he be improving here, yet for all that, every man living disquieteth himself in vain; forasmuch as he lives in a state of uncertainty. For who has any assurance even of his own goodness? He is disquieted in vain. Let him cast upon the Lord the burden of his care; let him cast upou Him whatever causes him anxiety. Let Him sustain thee; let Him keep thee. For on this earth what is there that is certain, except death? Consider the whole sum of all the good or the ill of this life, either those belonging to righteousness, or those belonging to unrighteousness; what is there that is certain here, except death? Have you been advancing in goodness? You know what you are to-day; what you will be to-morrow, you know not! Are you a sinner? you know what you are to-day; what you will be to-morrow, you know not! You hope for wealth; it is uncertain whether it will fall to your lot. You hope to have a wife; it is uncertain whether you will obtain one, or what sort of one you will obtain. You hope for sons; it is uncertain whether they will be born to you. Are they born? it is uncertain whether they will live: if they live, it is uncertain whether they will grow up in virtue, or whether they will fall away. Whichever way you turn, all is uncertain, death alone is certain. Art thou poor? It is uncertain whether thou wilt grow rich? Art thou unlearned? It is uncertain whether thou wilt become learned. Art thou in feeble health, it is uncertain whether thou wilt regain thy strength. Art thou bom? It is certain that thou wilt die: and in this certainty of death itself, the day of thy death is uncertain. Amidst these uncertainties, where death alone is certain, while even of that the hour is uncertain, and while it alone is studiously guarded against, though at the same time it is in no way to be escaped, every man living disquieteth himself in vain.

20. Being now then in the act of passing by and leaving behind these things, and dwelling now in the midst of some higher things than these, and despising these things below, in a position mid-way between both, he says,

Ver. 12. Hear my prayer, O Lord. Whereof shall I rejoice? Whereof should I groan? I rejoice on account of what is past, I groan longing for these which are not yet come. Hear my prayer, and give ear unto my cry. Hold not T7ty peace at my tears. For do I now no longer weep, because I have already past by, have left behind so great things as these? Do I not weep much the more? For, <Hi?Eccles. that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow. The more I long for what is not here, do I not so much the more groan for it until it comes? do I not so much the more weep until it comes? Do I not weep for it, so much the more that scandals multiply the more that iniquity aboundeih, theMat24, more that the love of many waxeth cold? Do I not say, 0 that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain qfJer.9,. tears. Hear my prayer, and give ear unto my tears; hold not Thy peace from me. Let me not become deaf to all eternity, Hold not Thy peace from me. Let me hear Thy voice! For God speaketh in secret; He speaketh to many persons within their heart, and loud is the sound heard there in the profound silence of the heart, while with a loud voice He saith, / am thy salvation. It is on account of this voice wherewith God saith unto the soul, lam Thy salvation; that he prays, God would not hold His peace from him. Hold not Thou Thy peace from me.

21. For lam a sojourner with Thee. But with whom am 1 a sojourner? When I was with the devil, I was a sojourner; but then 1 had a bad host and entertainer; now, however I am with Thee; but I am a sojourner still. What is meant by a sojourner? I am a sojourner in the place from which I am to remove; not in the place where I am to dwell for ever. The place where I am to abide for ever, should be rather called my home. In the place from which I am to remove I am a sojourner; but yet it is with my God that I am a sojourner, with Whom I am hereafter lo abide, when I have reached my home. But what home is that to which you are to remove from this estate of a sojourner? Recognise that home, of which the Apostle speaks, We have an habitation of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens. If this house is eternal in the Heavens, when we have come to it, we shall not be sojourners any more. For how should you be a sojourner in an eternal home? But here, where the Master of the house is some day to say to you, u Remove," while you yourself know not when He will say it, be thou in readiness. And by longing for your eternal home, you will be keeping yourself in readiness for it And be not angry with Him, because He gives thee notice to remove, when He Himself pleases. For He made no covenant with thee, nor did He bind Himself by any engagement; nor didst thou enter upon the tenancy of this house on a certain stipulation for a definite term: thou art to quit, when it is its Master's pleasure. For therefore is it that you now dwell there free of charge. For I am a sojourner with Thee, and a stranger. Therefore it is there is my country: it is there is my home. / am a sojourner with Thee, and a stranger. Here too is understood with Thee. For many are strangers with the devil: but they who have already believed and are faithful, are, it is true, strangers as yet, because they have not yet come to that country and to that home: but still they are strangers with God. For so long as we are in the body, we are strangers from the Lord, and we desire, whether we are strangers, or abiding here, may oe accepted with Him. I am a sojourner with Thee; and a stranger, as all my fathers were. If then I am as all my fathers were, shall I say that I will not remove, when they have removed? Am I to lodge here on other terms, than those on which they lodged here also.

22. What then does it result from this, that I ought to ask for, seeing I am undoubtedly to remove from hence?

Ver. 1 3. Grant me some remission, that I may be refreshed before I go hence. Consider well, Idithun, consider what knots those are which thou wouldest have loosed unto thee, that thou mightest be refreshed before thou goest hence. For thou hast certain fever-heats from which thou wouldest fain be refreshed, and thou sayest, that I may be rqfreshed, and " grant me a remission." What should He remit, or loosen unto thee, save that difficulty, under which, and in consequence of which, thou sayest, Forgive its our debts. Grant me a remission before I go hence, and be no more. Set me free from my sins, before I go hence, that I may not go hence with my sins. Remit them unto me, that I may be set at rest in my conscience, that it may be disburthened of its feverish anxiety, the anxiety with which J am sorry for my sin. Grant me a remission, that I may be refreshed, (before every thing else,) before I go hence, and be no more. For if thou grantest me not a remission, that I may be refreshed, I shall go and be no more. Before I go thither, where if I go, I shall thenceforth be no more. Grant me a remission, that I may be refreshed. A question has suggested itself, how he will be no more. " See! he has not then departed to his rest a consummation which God avert from Idithun! For Idithun will go, will assuredly go to his rest. BujL suppose some unrighteous person, some one not an Idithun, not leaping beyond them, some one laying up treasures here, some one broodiug over his possessions; unjust, proud, a boaster, puffed up, a despiser of the poor man who lies before his door, will not even he too be in existence? What is meant then by be no more? For if that Dives was not in existence, who is that who was tormented in the flame? Who is that who desired a drop of water from Lazarus9 finger to be dropped upon his tongue? Who is that person, who said, Father Abraham, send Lazarus? LukeiG, Assuredly he was in existence to speak, and to be " tormented in the flame," and to rise again against the last day, and to be condemned with the devil to everlasting fire. What is meant then by shall be no more, unless Idithun is alluding to what is true being, and what is not true being. For he was beholding with the mind, with which he could do so, with the " mind's eye," by which he was able to behold it, that end, which he had desired to have shewn unto him, saying, Lord, make me to know mine end. He was beholding the number of his days, which truly is; and he observed that all that is below, in comparison of that true being, has no true being. For those things are permanent; these are subject to change; mortal, and frail, and the eternal suffering, though full of corruption, is for this very reason not to be ended, that it may ever be being ended without end. He alluded therefore to that realm of bliss, to the happy country, to the happy home, where the Saints are partakers of eternal Life, and of Truth unchangeable; and he feared to go where that is not, where there is no true being; longing to be there, where Being in the highest sense is! It is on account of this contrast then, while standing mid-way between them, he says, Grant me a remission, that I may be refreshed before I go hence and be no more. For if Thou grantest me not a remission of my sins, I shall go from Thee unto all eternity! And from whom shall I go to all eternity? From Him Who said, I am HE that Am: from Him Who said, Say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you. He then who goes from Him, in the contrary direction, goes to non-existence.

23, Therefore, my brethren, even if I have taxed severely the endurance of your bodies, take it patiently, because I too have had fatigue to endure. And it is with truth I say, that it is you yourselves that impose that fatigue upon yourselves. For I should soon hold my peace, did I perceive that you were weary of what is said by me.

Of all those things which our Lord Jesus Christ has foretold, we know part to have been already accomplished, part we hope will be accomplished hereafter. All of them, however, will be fulfilled, because He is the Truth Who speaks them, and requires of us to be as faithful, as He Himself speaks thorn faithfully. He who believes, will rejoice in their coming to pass; he who believes not, will be confounded at their coming. They will however come assuredly, whether men wish for them, or wish them away; whether they believe, or whether they believe not; as the Apostle speaks; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; if we believe not, yet He abideth faithful, He cannot deny Himself. But