Psalm 43 (Vulgate 42)

This Psalm is a short one; it satisfies the mental cravings of the hearers, without imposing too severe a trial on the hunger of those fasting. Let our soul feed upon it: our soul, which he who sings in this Psalm, speaks of as cast down; cast down, I suppose, either in consequence of some For fasting is a voluntary act; being an hungered is an involuntary thing. That which is an hungered, is the Church, is the Body of Christ: and that Man who is extended throughout the whole world, of which the Head is above, the limbs below: it is His voice that ought by this time to be perfectly known, and perfectly familiar, to us, in all the Psalms; now chanting joyously, now sorrowing; now rejoicing in hope, now sighing at its actual state, even as if it were our own. We need not then dwell long on pointing out to you, who is the speaker here: let each one of us be a member of Christ's Body; and he will be speaker here.

2. You know, however, that all those who are growing better, and who are sighing after that celestial city, who are aware of their state of pilgrimage here, who hold fast the way, who in their longings have grounded firmly before them the hope of that most unchangeable laud, as their anchor; you know, I say, that this class of men, this good seed, this grain of Christ's sowing, has to groan in the midst of tares, and that too till the coming of the season of harvest, that is, (as Truth itself, which cannot be deceived, expounds it,) to the end of the world. Groaning therefore in the midst of the tares, (that is, the wicked, the deceitful, and the seducers, or those, whose minds are disturbed by anger, or poisoned by treachery,) reflecting that they are thrown together with them in one field, (as it were,) which extends throughout the world, that they receive one and the same rain, that they are fanned by the same breezes, that they are nourished together with themselves in the midst of troubles, that they share together with themselves those common bounties of God, granted to the evil and the good in common by Him Who maketh His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust; the seed of Abraham, the holy seed then, seeing how great things they have in common with the wicked, from whom they are some time or other to be separated, as to be born in a similar manner, to share the same human condition, to bear together with them mortal bodies, to share with them the use of light, and water, and earth's fruits, and the several instances of worldly prosperity or adversity, famine or plenty, war or peace, health or sickness; seeing, I say, how great things they have in common with the wicked, with whom, however, they have not the same cause in common, they break forth into this exclamation;

Ver. 1. Judge me, 0 Lord, and separate my cause from the ungodly nation. u Judge me, O God," he cries; 1 do not dread Thy judgment, because I know Thy mercy. Judge me, 0 God, and separate my cause from the ungodly nation* Now, meanwhile, in this state of pilgrimage, Thou dost not yet separate my place, because I am to live together with the tares even to the time of the harvest: Thou dost not as yet separate my rain from theirs; my light from theirs: separate my cause. Let a difference be made between him who believes in Thee, and him who believes not in Thee. Our infirmity is the same; but our consciences not the same: our sufferings the same; but our longings not the same. The desire of the ungodly shall perish, but as to the desire of the righteous, we might well doubt, if He were not sure Who promised. The object of our desires is He Himself, Who promiseth: He will give us Himself, because He has already given Himself to us; He will give Himself in His immortality to us then immortal, even because He gave Himself in His mortality to us when mortal. Judge me, 0 Ood, and separate my cause from an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and uricked man! i. e. from the ungodly nation / from man, i. e. from a certain class of men: for such an one is a man; and such a one is a man, and the one shall be taken and the other left.

3. And since patience is needful in order to endure, until the harvest, a certain distinction without separation*, if we may so speak; (for they are together with us, and therefore not yet separated; the tares however being still tares, and the corn still corn, and therefore they are already distinct;) since then a kind of strength1 is needful, which must be implored of Him, Who bids us to be strong, and without Whose making us strong, we should not be what He bids us to be; of Him, Who said, He that endures unto the end shall be saved, lest the soul's powers should be impaired in consequence of her ascribing any strength to herself, he subjoins immediately,

Ver. 2. For Thou, O God, art my strength: why hast Thou cast me off, and why go I mourning, while the enemy harasseth me? I go " mourning:" the enemy is harassing me with daily temptations; inspiring either some unlawful love, or some ungrounded cause of fear; and the soul, that fights against both of them, though not taken prisoner by them, yet being in danger from them, is contracted with sorrow, and says unto God. Why 9

Let her then ask of Him, and hear Why? For she is in the Psalm enquiring the cause of her dejection; saying, Why hast Thou cast me off? and why go I mourning? Let her hear from Isaiah; let the lesson which has just been read, suggest itself to her. The spirit shall go forth from me, and every breath have I made* For iniquity have I a15' little afflicted him; I hid my face from him, and he departed from me sorrowful in the ways of his heart. Why then didst thou ask, Why hast Thou cast me off, and why go I mourning? Thou hast heard, it was for iniquity. Iniquity is the cause of thy mourning; let " Righteousness" be the cause of thy rejoicing! Thou wouldest sin; and yet thou wouldest fain not suffer; so that it was too little for thee to be thyself unrighteous, without also wishing Him to be unrighteous, in that thou wouldest fain not be punished by Him. Consider a speech of a better kind in another Psalm. // is good for?*' me that Thou hast humbled me, that I might learn Thy71' righteousnesses. By being lifted up, I had learned my own iniquities; let me by being u humbled," learn Thy righteousnesses. Why go I mourning, while the enemy harasses me? Thou complainest of the enemy. It is true be does harass thee; but it was thou didst give place to him. And Epb. even now there is a course open to thee; choose the course 27' of prudence; admit thy King, shut the tyrant out.

4. But in order that she may do this, hear what she says, what she supplicates, what she prays for. Pray thou for what thou nearest; pray for it when thou nearest it; let these words be the voice of us all. (Ver. 8.) O send out Thy Light and Thy Truth. They have led me, and brought me on unto Tfiy holy hill, and into Thy Tabernacles. For that very Light and Truth are indeed two in name; the reality expressed is but One. For what else is the " Light" of of God, except the w Light" of God? And the one Person of Christ is both of these. / am the Light of the world: he ijtai beiiewih m jffey shall not walk in darkness. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is Himself the Light: He is Himself the Truth. Let Him come then and rescue us, and separate at once our cause from the ungodly nation; let Him deliver us from the deceitful and unjust man, let Him separate the wheat from the tares, for at the time of harvest He will Himself send His Angels, that they may gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and cast them into flaming fire, while they gather together the corn into the garner. He will send out His Light, and His Truth; for that they have already " brought us and led us to His holy hill, and into His Tabernacles." We possess the "earnest1;" we hope for the prize. His holy Hill is His holy Church. It is that mountain, which, according to DauiePs vision, grew from a very small " stone," till it crushed the kingdoms of the earth; and grew to such a size, that it " filled the face of the earth." This is the " hill," from which he tells us that his prayer was heard, who says, J cried unto the Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill. Let no one of those that are without that mountain, hope to be heard unto eternal life. For many are heard in their prayers for many things. Let them not congratulate themselves9 on being heard; the devils were heard in their prayer, that they might be sent into the swine. Let us desire to be heard unto eternal life, by reason of our longing, through which we say, Send out Thy Light and Thy Truth. That is a "Light," which requires the eye of the heart For Blessed (He saith) are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. We are now on His Hill, that is, in His Church, and in His Tabernacle. The tabernacle is for persons sojourning; the house, for those dwelling in one community. The tabernacle is also for those who are both from home, and also in a state of warfare. When thou hearest of a tabernacle, form a notion of a war; guard against an enemy. But what shall the house be? Blessed are they that dwell in Thine house: they will be a I tray praising T/tee.

5. Now then that we have been led on even to the Tabernacle, and are placed on His holy Hill, what hope do we carry with us?

Ver. 4. Then will I go in unto the Altar of Qod. For there is a certain invisible Altar on high, which the unrighteous man approaches not. To that Altar he alone draws nigh, who draws nigh to this one without cause to fear. There he shall find his Life, who in this one separates his cause. And I will go in unto the Altar qf Qod. From His holy Hill, and from His Tabernacle, from His Holy Church, I will go in unto the Altar of God on High. What manner of Sacrifice is there? He himself who goeth in is taken for a burnt-offering. / will go in unto the Altar qf Qod. What is the meaning of what he says, the Altar of my Qod f

Unto God, Who makes glad my youth. Youth signifies newness: just as if he said, Unto Qod, Who makes glad my newness. It is He Who makes glad my newness, Who hath filled my old estate1 with mourning. For now / go1 tnourning in oldness, then shall / stand, exulting in newness!

Yea, upon the harp will I praise Thee, O Qod my Qod. What is the meaning of " praising on the harp," and praising on the psaltery? For he does not always do so with the harp, nor always with the psaltery. These two instruments of the musicians have each a distinct meaning of their own, worthy of our consideration and notice. They are both borne in the hands, and played by the touch; and they stand for certain bodily works of ours. Both are good, if one knows how to play the psaltery a, or to play the harp 3. But since the psaltery is that instrument which has theS^[^ari. shell4, (i. e. that drum, that hollow piece of wood, by stran"fJ^Q ing on which the chords resound,) on the upper part of it,dinem. whereas the harp has that same concave sounding board on the lower part, there is to be a distinction made between our works, when they are upon the harp, when on the psaltery: both however are acceptable to God, and grateful to His ear. When we do any thing according to God's Commandments, obeying His commands and hearkening to Him, that we may fulfil His injunctions, when we are active and not passive, it is the psaltery that is playing. For so also do the Angels: for they have nothing to suffer. But when we suffer any thing of tribulation, of trials, of offences on this earth, (as we suffer only from the inferior part of ourselves; i. e. from the fact that we are mortal, that we owe somewhat of tribulation to our original cause e, and also from the fact of our suffering much from those who are not " above this is the harp. For there rises a sweet strain from that part of us which is u below:" we suffer, and we strike the psaltery1, or shall I rather say we sing and we strike the Jjarp wiien the Apostle was sayiug that he evangelized and preached the Gospel throughout the whole world according to the commandment of God; because he said that he had received that Gospel not of men or by man, but by Jesus Christ, the sound of the strings came from the top: but when he said, We glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, it was the harp sounding from the bottom, but still sounding sweetly. For all patience is pleasing to God. If however you fail in tribulations, you have broken the harp. Why then did he just now say, / will praise Thee on the harp? On account of what he had said before, Why go I mourning, while the enemy afflicts we? For he was suffering something from affliction from below: and yet even in that he wished to approve himself unto God, and longed to return thanks unto God, preserving a good courage in bis tribulations, and because be could not be free from tribulation, it was patience that God required of him. Upon the harp will I praise Thee, O God my God!

6. And again, in order that he may draw the sound from that sounding-board below, he addresses his soul: (ver. 5.) Why art thou sorrowful, O my soul, (he says,) and why dost thou disquiet me? I am in tribulations, in weariness8, in mournyyfry disquiet me, O my soul? Who is the speaker, to whom is he speaking? That it is the soul to which he is speaking, every body knows: for it is obvious: the appeal is addressed to it directly: Why art thou sorrowful, O my soul, and why dost thou disquiet me? The question is as to the speaker. It is not the flesh addressing the soul, surely, since the flesh cannot speak without the soul. For it is more appropriate for the soul to address the flesh, than for the flesh to address the soul. But, as he said not, Why art thou sorrowful, O my flesh; (for perhaps if it was the flesh that he was addressing, he would not say, Why art thou sorrowful f but " why art thou in pain?" For sorrow is the name for pain of mind; whereas the trouble that is felt in the body, may indeed be called " pain;" but not" sorrow." The soul, however, is generally made sorrowful by the " pain'' of the body. But still there is a difference between what is made " sorrowful," and that which feels pain. For it is the flesh that feels pain; the soul that is made " sorrowful;" and this text is plain, Why art thou sorrowful, O my soul;) therefore it is not the soul that addresses the flesh; for he said not, Why art thou sorrouful, O my flesh? nor is it the flesh addressing the soul; forasmuch as it is absurd for the inferior part to be addressing the superior. We perceive then that we have a certain part, in which is the image of God; viz. the mind and reason d. It was that same mind that prayed for God's Light; and God's Truth. It is the same mind by which we apprehend 1 right and wrong: it is by the same that we discern truth from falsehood. It is thismu8' same that we call understanding; which understanding, indeed, is wanting to the brutes. And this " understanding" whoever neglects in himself, and holds it in less account than the other parts of his nature, and casts it off, just as if he had it not, is addressed in the Psalm, Be ye not as the horse and the mule, which have no understanding. It is our understanding then that is addressing our soul. The latter is withered away from tribulations, worn out in anguish9, made sorrowful in temptations, fainting in toils.' The mind, catching a glimpse of Truth above, would fainJ^JJ^. rouse her spirits, and she says, Why art thou sofrowful, O ribue.' my soul, and why dost thou disquiet me?

7. Consider whether this is not the exclamation of the Apostle; in that his conflict, prefiguring in his person certain others — perhaps ourselves — and saying, / delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another 22r~~26' law in my members; that is, certain motions of the flesh. d T. A quin. Prolog, ad 1. II. Per Dam&scen. dicit) intellectuale, et armaginem Dei significatar, (sicnt bitrio liberum; et per se potestativum. And in a kind of struggle, and almost1 despair, he supplicates £or ^e grace 0f god, q Wretched man thai I am! Who shall free me from the body of this death? The grace of God9 through Jesus Christ our Lord. Such persons, so struggling, our Lord Himself also condescended to prefigure, when he said, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. For did He not know to what end He had come the world8? Did He dread His Passion, Who had said, ^ have power to lay down My life5, and I have power to take it again. No man taketh it from Me; but I lay it down of Myself, and I take it again. But He Who said, My soul is sorrowful, even unto death, prefigured in His Person certain of His own members. For in general the understanding believes correctly, and knows well too, man will be, according to his " faith," in Abraham** bosom. It believes this; and yet when the point of death, it were6, is come, it is disturbed through its close relation, 80 ° speak, with this world; it lifts up its ears to catch that voice of God within; it hears from within an intellectual music7. For a certain sound from above so strikes in silence, not on the ears, but on the mind, that whosoever hears that melody is filled with loathing of corporeal sounds, and the whole of this human life is to it but a kind of din, interrupting the hearing of a certain strain from above, passing sweet, incomparable, and ineffable. And, in truth, when such a result follows from any passion, man suffers violence while he addresses bis soul, Why art thou sorrowful, O my soul, and why dost thou disquiet me? Is it, haply, because it is hard to find a life of purity, when He is the Judge, Who knows how to judge with clear and thorough sight8 — because tf,0Ugh our life is now commendable among men, so that men cannot find what they can with justice censure, there is a balance that proceedeth from His eyes, there is a standard proceeding from Him, that squares by no deceitful rule; and God finds in man certain things to censure, which men did not see to be worthy of censure, nor the very person within himself who is to be judged — is it, I say, from fear of these things that the soul is disquieted f and that the mind addresses her, as if she said, Why dost thou fear because of thy sins, in that thou canst not avoid all sin? Hope in the Lord: for I will con/ess unto Him. Some things are cured by immediate address1: the rest are purged away by faithful confession . Yes! fear indeed, if thou callest thyself righteous; if thou hast not those words from another Psalm, Enter not tnfoPs. judgment with Thy servant: ' Why not enter into judgment2, with Thy servant?' I stand in need of Thy mercy: for if Thou shewest judgment without mercy, whither must I go? lfHwu, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall abide it? Enter not into judgment with Thy servant: for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified. Therefore, if in Thy sight no man living shall be justified, (for how justly soever any one who lives here liveth, woe unto him, if God " enter into judgment" with him. For by another Prophet He thus chideth in the same manner the proud and presumptuous: Wherefore would ye plead with Me in judgment? Ye all have forsaken Me9 saith the Lord;) therefore, I say, seek not to plead with Him; do thy endeavour to befej righteous; and how much soever thou art so, own thyself aet sinner: ever hope but for mercy; and secure in this confession, address the soul that is disquieting thee, and raising tumults to disturb thee: Why art thou sorrowful, O my soul; and why dost thou disquiet me? Perhaps thou wouldest fain have rested thy hopes upon thyself? Hope in the Lord: not in thyself. For what art thou in thyself, and what art thou of thyself6? Let Him be the principle of health*^™**' in thee, Who submitted to wounds for thy sake! Hope, he says, in the Lord; for I will confess unto Him. What wilt thou confess unto Him? My God is the saving health of my countenance. Thou art the saving health of my countenance; Thou shalt heal me! I call upon Thee as being sick; I own Thee to be the Physician: I do not boast myself to be whole; as it is said in another Psalm, / have said. Lord, iePs.41,4. merciful unto me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against

8. These expressions, brethren, are safe ones: but yet be watchful in good works. Touch " the psaltery," by obeying the Commandments; touch the harp, by patiently enduring Thee. your sufferings. You have heard from Isaiah, Break iky hr^nA to the hungry; think not that fasting by itself is sufficient. Fasting chasteneth thine own self: it does not refresh others. Thy distress will profit thee, if thou affordest com^ortl ° °^ier8 See> h°u hast denied thyself; to whom wilt thou give that of which thou hast deprived thyself? Where wilt thou bestow what thou hast denied thyself? How many poor may be filled" by the breakfast we4 have this day given up? Fast in such a way that thou mayest rejoice, that thou hast breakfasted, while another has been eating; fast on account of thy prayers, that thou mayest be heard in them. For He says in that passage, Whilst thou art yet speaking I will say, Here I am, provided thou wilt with cheerful mind break thy bread to the hungry. For generally this is done by men reluctantly and with murmurs, to rid themselves of the wearisome importunity of the beggar, not to refresh the bowels of him that is needy. But it is a cheerful giver that God loves. If thou givest thy bread reluctantly, thou hast lost both the bread, and the merit of the action. Do it then from the heart: that He Who seeth in secret, may say, whilst thou art yet speaking. Here I am. How speedily are the prayers of those received, who work righteousness! And this is man's righteousness in this life, fasting, alms, and prayer. Wouldest thou have thy prayer fly upward to God? Make for it those two wings of alms and fasting. Such may God's Light and God's Truth find us, that He may find us without cause for fear, when He comes to free us from death, Who has already come to undergo death for us. Amen.