Psalm 75 (Vulgate 74)

1. This Psalm to the swelling of pride applieth the medicine of humility; but the humble it doth comfort in hope: with this design, that not any one may proudly rely on himself, that not any humble man may despair of the Lord. For the promise of God is ratified, sure, fixed, and unshaken, faithful, and devoid of all doubt, which doth comfort the afflicted. For the whole life of man upon the earthy as it is written, is trial. Nor is one as it were prosperous to be chosen, and adversity alone to be shunned; but of both we are to beware, of the one lest it corrupt, of the other lest it crush: so that for every man, in whatever state of affairs he shall have lived in this life, there may be no refuge but God, nor any joy but in His promises. For this life with whatsoever felicity overflowing doth deceive many men, God no man. Because then to every man, when converted unto God, his pursuit is changed, his pleasures are changed: (for they are not withdrawn, but are changed:) so all our pleasures * hope itself is so sure, that to all this world's pleasures it is to be preferred, as it is written, delight thyself in the Lord. And that thou mightest not think thyself already to have that whicl1 He doth promise, he added forthwith, and He shall give thee the petitions of thy heart. If then not yet thou hast the petitions of thy heart, whence dost thou delight in the Lord, except because thou hast a sure promiser, who hath made Himself by promising a debtor? Of this entreaty then, in order that our hope may remain with us, and that we may be introduced unto that which God hath promised, the °^ tms ^saUm spe'aketh: At the end3, corrupt not What is, corrupt not? That which Thou hast promised, perform. But when? At the end. To this then let the mind's eye be directed, unto the end. Let all the things which have occurred in the way be passed over, in order that we may attain to the end. Let proud men exult because of present felicity, let them swell with honours, glitter in gold, overflow with domestics, be encircled with the services of clients: these things pass away, they pass away like a shadow. When that end shall have come, when all who now hope in the Lord are to rejoice, then to them shall come sorrow without end. When the meek shall have received that which the proud deride, then the vapouring of the proud shall be turned into mourning. Then shall there be that voice which we know in the Book of Wisdom: for they shall say at that time when they see the glory of the Saints, who, when they were in humiliation, endured them; who, when they were exalted, consented not — at that time then they shall say, These are they whom sometime we have had in derision. Where they also say, What hath pHde profited us, and the boasting of riches hath bestowed upon us what f All things have passed away like a shadow. Because on things corruptible they relied, their hope shall be corrupted: but our own hope at that time shall be substance. For in order that the promise of God may remain whole and sure and certain towards us, we have said out of a heart3 of faith, at the end corrupt not. Fear not, therefore, lest any mighty man should corrupt the promises of God. He doth not corrupt, because He is truthful; He hath no one more mighty by whom His the promises of God; and let us sing now from the place where the Psalm beginneth.

2. Ver. 1. We will confess to Thee, O Lord, tee will confess to Thee, and will invoke Thy name. Do not invoke, before thou confess: confess, and invoke. For Him Whom thou art invoking, unto thyself thou callest For what is it to invoke, but unto thyself to call? If He is invoked by thee, that is, if He is called to thee, unto whom doth He draw near? To a proud man He draweth not near. High indeed He is, one lifted up attained) not unto Him. In order that we may reach all exalted objects, we raise ourselves, and if we are not able to reach them, we look for some appliances or ladders, in order that being exalted we may reach exalted objects: contrariwise God is both high, and by the lowly He is reached. It is written, Nigh is the Lord to them that have bruised the heart. The bruising of the heart is Godliness, humility. He that bruiseth himself is angry with himself. Let him make himself angry in order that he may make Him merciful; let him make himself judge, in order that he may make Him Advocate. Therefore God doth come when invoked. Unto whom doth He come? To the proud man He cometh not Hear another testimony: Exalted is the Lord, and things lowly He regardeth; but things exalted from afar He scannelh. Exalted is the Lord, and things lowly He regardeth, not from afar, but things6' exalted from afar He scannelh. And lest perchance when it was being said that He regardeth things lowly, proud men should rejoice for their impuuity, as if He that dwelleth in exalted places doth not observe them in their pride; they are terrified, and there is said to them, He seeth you and scanneth you, but from afar. Those He maketh blessed, unto whom He approacheth: but ye, He saith, O proud men, O exalted men, shall not be unpunished, because He scan-neth; shall not be blessed, because from afar He scanneth you. Take heed therefore what ye do: for if He kuoweth, He is not unobservant'. It is better therefore that He be unobservant than known. For what is that same being uuobservant, but not knowing? What is, not to know? Not • Nod ignoscit, * doth not forgive,' (take no notice.) ad version is wont to be spoken of. Hear one praying that > He be unobservant: Turn away Thy face from my sins. What then wilt thou do if He shall have turned away His face from thee? A grievous thing it is, and to be feared, lest He forsake thee. Again, if He turn not away His face, He animadverteth. God knoweth this thing, God can do this thing, namely, both turn away face from one sinning, and not turn away from one confessing. Therefore in one place to Him is said, Turn away Thy face from my sins: and in another place to Him is said, Turn not away Thy face from me. There, from my sins turn away; but here, from me turn not away. Confess therefore and invoke. For by confessing thou purgest the Temple, into which He may come, when invoked. Confess and invoke. May He turn away face from thy sins, not turn away from thee: turn away face from that which thou hast wrought1, not turn away from that which He hath Himself wrought2. For thee, as man, He hath Himself wrought, thy sins thou hast thyself wrought. Confess, therefore, and invoke: say, We will confess to Thee, O Lord, we will confess to Thee.

3. This repetition is confirmation, that it doth not repent thee to have confessed. For not to any cruel one thou hast confessed, nor to one vindictive, nor to one that upbraideth; confess securely. Hear another voice of a Psalm exhorting: Confess ye t0 the Lord> for good He is. What is, for good He is? Why do ye fear to confess? Good He is, He is unobservant3 when one confesseth. Fear to confess to a 3mman JudSe> lest perchance he punish thee after confession: to God, fear not: make Him by confessing merciful, Whom by denying thou dost not make ignorant. We will confess to Thee, O God, we will confess, and now being secure, we will invoke Thy name. We have emptied our hearts by confession, Thou hast terrified, hast purged. Confession doth make us humble: draw Thou near to us humble Who dost withdraw from us exalted. But that there is a strengthening of the sense in repetition, by many passages of the Scriptures we are taught. Thence is that which the Lord saith, Verily, Verily. Thence in certain Psalms is, So be it, So be it. To signify tne thing) Qne So he u wQuld have been sufficient. t0 been added another So be it. v««. know how that, when Joseph of his love of chastity now shut a dream well known to us all, were devoured seven fat kine, ears of com were devoured did Joseph interpret? If these dreams were not two, he saith, their interpretation-.^, again, he saith, doth signify

I have said, that ye may not the words of the holy language talkativeness. Ofttimes therein of confirmation. Prepared ts P.. prepared is my heart In for the Lord, do manfully heart, and wait for the Lord. sort there are throughout all the is sufficient that we have comway of speaking which ye may now to the substance attend: We and we will invoke. I have confession doth precede: because him thou dost invite. But he invoked, if thou shall have been shalt have been, thou wilt not be deniest not any things to God that thy confession doth not teach he hath invoked: yea, have invoked; and it is said m will tell forth all Thy marvellous he hath emptied himself of hath filled himself with good hath belched out that wherewith observe, brethren when they many: We will confess to Thee, to Thee, and we will invoke Thy hearts of men confessing, one is it that many are the hearts ol men confess, one faith they believe. Now therefore when Christ hath begun to dwell in the inner man through faith, and hath begun when invoked to possess him that hath confessed; there is made up whole Christ, Head and Body, and out of many, One. Hear ye now the words of Christ. For these seemed not as it were to be His words1, We will confess to Thee, O God, we will con/ess to Thee, and will invoke Thy name. Now beginneth the discourse in the person of the Head. But whether Head speaketh or whether members speak, Christ speaketh: He speaketh in the person of the Head, He speaketh in the person of the Body. But what hath been said? There shall be two in one flesh. This is a great Sacrament: I, he saith, speak in Christ and in the Church. And He Himself in the Gospel, Therefore no longer two, but one flesh. For in order that ye may know these in a manner to be two persons, and again one by the bond of marriage, as one He speaketh in Isaiah, and saith, As upon a Bridegroom he hath bound upon me a mitre, and as a Bride he hath clothed me with an ornament. A Bridegroom He hath called Himself in the Head, a Bride in the Body. He is speaking therefore as One, let us hear Him, and in Him let us also speak. Let us be the members of Him, in order that this voice may possibly be ours also. I will tell forth, he saith, all Thy marvellous things. Christ is preaching Himself, He is preaching Himself even in His members now existing, in order that He may guide unto Him others, and they may draw near that were not, and may be united with those members of Him, through which members of Him the Gospel hath been preached; and there may be made one Body under one Head, in one Spirit, in one Life.

5. Ver. 2. And he saith what? When I shall have received, he saith, the timeQ, I will judge justices. When shall He JU(*&e justices? When He shall have received the time. Not yet is the precise time. Thanks to His mercy: He first preach eth justices, and then He judgeth justices. For if He willed to judge before He willed to preach, who would be found that should be delivered: who would meet Him that should be absolved? Now therefore is the time of preaching: / will tell, he saith, all Thy marvellous works. despised Him, when I shall have received the time, He saith, / will judge justices. I forgive, He saith, now sins to one confessing, 1 will not spare hereafter one despising. Mercy and judgment I will sing to Thee, O Lord, is said in a Psalm. Mercy and judgment: now mercy, hereafter judgment: in which mercy sins are forgiven, in which judgment sins are punished. Wilt thou not fear the punisher of sinners f Love the forgiver, scorn Him not, exalt not thyself, say not, I have nothing which He may forgive me: for hear what folioweth, When I shall have received the time I will judge justices. Hath Christ received a lime? Hath the Son of God received a time f The Son of God hath not received a time: but the Son of Man hath received a time. But the self-same Person is both Son of God by Whom we were made, and Son of Man by Whom we were made again. By the assuming of man He was not Himself assumed, by the changing of man into something better He was by no means changed into any thing worse: He ceased not to be what He was, He received that which He was not. He was what? Seeing that inform of God He was, no robbery He judged it to be equal with God. They are the words of the Apostle. And He received what? But he emptied Himself receiving the form of a servant. As the form of a servant He hath received, so also a time He hath received. He hath been changed then? Hath been wasted? Hath been made thinner? Hath fallen off into wasting? Far be it! What then? He hath emptied Himself receiving the form of a servant. He hath been said to have emptied Himself by receiviug an inferior, not by degenerating from an equal. Therefore, brethren, what is this, When I shall have received the time I will judge justices f He hath received a time as Son of Man; He doth govern times as Son of God. Hear how as Son of Man He hath received the time of judging. He saith in the Gospel, He hath given to Him power to execute judgment, because Son of2'' Man He is. According to His nature as Son of God, He hath never received power of judging, because He never lacked the power of judging: according to His nature as Son of Mau He hath received a time, as of being born, and of suffering, as of dying, and of rising again, and of ascendsaith these words, for not without them He will judge. For saith in the Gospel, Ye shall sit upon twehe thrones judging the twehe tribes of Israel. Therefore whole Christ saith, that is, Head and Body in the Saints, when I shall have received the time, I will judge justices.

6. But now what? (Ver. 3.) The earth hath flowed down. If the earth hath flowed down, whence hath it flowed down except by sins? Therefore also they are called delinquenTo delinquish is as it were by a kind of liquidity1 to slip down from the stability of firmuess in virtue and righteousness» For it is through desire of lower things that every man sinneth: as he is strengthened by the love of higQer things, so he falleth down and as it were melteth away by desire of lower things. This flux of things by the sins of man the merciful forgiver observing, being a merciful forgiver of sins, not yet an exactor of punishments, He observeth and saith: The earth hath flowed down, and all they that dwell therein. The earth herself indeed hath flowed down by them that dwell in her. That which followeth is an exposition, not an addition. As though thou wert saying, in what manner hath the earth flowed down? Have the foundations been withdrawn, and hath any thing therein been swallowed up in a sort of gulf? What I mean by earth is all they that dwell therein. I have found, be saith, the earth sinful. And I have done what? / have strengthened the pillars thereof. What are the pillars which He hath strengthened? Pillars He hath called the Apostles. So the Apostle Paul concerning his fellow-Apostles saith, who seemed to be pillars. And what would those pillars have been, except by Him they had been strengthened? For on occasion of a sort of earthquake even these very pillars rocked: at the Passion of the Lord all the Apostles despaired. Therefore those pillars which rocked at the Passion of the Lord, by the Resurrection were strengthened. The Beginning of the buildiug hath cried out through the pillars thereof, and in all those pillars the Architect Himself hath cried out. For the Apostle Paul was one pillar of them when he said, Would ye receive & proof of Him that speaketh in me— Christ? Therefore, /, he saith, have strengthened the pillars thereof: feared, I have shewn to them that fear, that not even the body itself doth perish in the dying. There terrified them wounds, there strengthened them scars. The Lord Jesus could have risen again without any scar: for what great matter were it for that power, to restore the frame of the body to such perfect soundness, as that no trace at all of past wound should appear? He had power whence He might make it whole even without scar: but He willed to have that whereby He might strengthen the rocking pillars.

7. We have heard now, brethren, that which day by day is not kept secret: let us hear now what He hath cried through these pillars* It is time to hear because of that terrific utterance, / trill judge justices when I shall haver. received the time. He is to receive the time of judging justices, ye even now have the time of doing justices. If He kept silence, ye would not have any thing to do: but to the strengthened pillars He crieth. He crieth what? (Ver. 4.) I have said to unjust men, Do not unjustly. He crieth, my brethren, truly ye cry, He delighteth you, hear ye Him crying. By Himself I pray, let that voice terrify you: these voices of yours ought not so much to delight us, as those to terrify you. / hare said to unjust men, Do not unjustly. But already they have done, and they are guilty: already there hath flowed down the earth, and all they that dwell therein. Pricked to the heart were they that crucified Christ, they acknowledged their sin, they learned something of the Apostle, that they might not despair of the pardon of the Preacher b. For as Physician He had come, and therefore had not come to the whole. For there is no need, He saith, to the whole of a physician, but to them that are sick. I have not come to call righteous men, but sinners to repentance. Therefore, 1 have said to unjust men, do not unjustly. They heard not. For of old to us it was spoken: we heard not, we fell, were made mortal, were begotten mortal: the earth flowed down. Let them hear the Physician even now in order that they may rise, Him that came to the sick man, Him Whom they would not hear when whole in order that of pardon.' that they may rise. / have said to the unjust. Do not unjustly. How must we act? We have already done. And to the delinquents, Do not exalt your horn. What is this? If ye have done iniquity through lust, do not defend it by being lifted up: confess if ye have done it. For he that confesseth not and is unjust, doth exalt the horn. 1 have said to unjust men, Do not unjustly; and to the delinquent. Do not exalt your horn. There shall be exalted in you the horn of Christ, if your horn be not exalted. Your horn is of iniquity, the horn of Christ is of majesty.

8. Ver. 5. Be not therefore lifted up: speak not iniquity against God. Hear ye now the voices of many, let each one hear, let him be pricked. What are men wont to say? Doth God truly judge concerning things human? And is this a judgment of God? Or doth He indeed care for what is being done on the earth? So many unjust men do overflow with prosperity, innocent men are weighed down with toils. For to one hath chanced something of ill, by God's reproof and admonition, and he knoweth his conscience, knoweth that for his sin's deserts he may suffer somewhat: whence doth he dispute against God? Because he is not able to say, A just man I am: what do we suppose that he saith? There are worse unrighteous men, and yet these things they suffer not. This is the iniquity which men speak against God. But observe how unjust it is: while he willeth himself to seem a just man, Him he maketh unjust. For he that saith, Unjustly I suffer that which I suffer; doth make Him unjust, by whose judgment he is suffering; but himself just, who is suffering unjustly. I ask you, brethren of mine, is this just, that God be believed to be unjust, thou just? But when thou art saying these words thou art speaking against God, iniquity.

9. What saith He in another Psalm? These things thou hast done, having enumerated certain sins. These things thou hast done, He saith, and was silent. What is, I was silent? He is never silent with commandment, but meanwhile He is silent with punishment: He is keeping still from vengeance, He doth not pronounce sentence against the condemned. But this man saith thus, I have done such and things, and God hath not taken vengeance; behold Vbr. am whole, nought of ill hath befallen me. Tltese things ' hast done, and I was silent: thou hast suspectediniquihj,

I shall be like unto thee. What is, that I shall be like thee? Because thou art unjust, even Me thou hast unjust; as though an approver of thy misdeeds, no adversary, no avenger thereof. And what afterwards He to thee? / will convict thee, and will set thee before Ps. thine own face? What is this? Because now by sinning behind thy back thou settest thyself, secst not thyself, examinest not thyself; I will set thee before thyself, and will bring upon thee punishment from thyself. So also here, Speak not iniquity against God. Attend. Many men speak this iniquity; but dare not openly, lest as blasphemers they be abhorred by godly men: in their heart they gnaw upon these things, within they feed upon such impious food; it delighteth them to speak against God, and if they break not out with tongue, in heart they are not silent. Whence in another Psalm is suid, The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. I*. The fool hath said, but he hath feared men: he would not say it where men might hear; and he said it in that place where He might Himself hear concerning Whom he said it. Therefore here also in this Psalm, (clearly beloved attend,) whereas that which He said, Do not speak iniquity against God, this He saw many men do in heart, He hath also added, (ver. 6.) for neither from East, nor from West, nor from the deserts of the mountains, (ver. 7.) for God is Judge. Of thine iniquities God is Judge. If God He is, every where He is present. Whither wilt thou take thyself away from the eyes of God, so that in some quarter thou mayest speak that which He may not hear? If from the East God judgeth, withdraw into the West, and say what thou wilt against God: if from the West, go into the East, and there speak: if from the deserts of the mountains He judgeth, go into the midst of the peoples, where thou mayest murmur to thyself. From no place judgeth He That every where is secret, every where open; whom it is allowed no one to know as He is, and whom no one is permitted not to know. Take heed what thou doest. Thou art speaking iniquity against God. TheJM.1,

Spirit of the Lord hath filled the round world, (another Scrip-knowledge of the voice: wherefore he that speaketh unjust things cannot be hid. Do not therefore think God to be in places: He is with thee such an one as thou shalt have been. What is, such an one as thou shalt have been? Good, if thou shalt have been good; and evil to thee He will seem, if evil thou shalt have been; but a Helper, if good thou shalt have been; an Avenger, if evil thou shalt have been. There thou hast a Judge in thy secret place. Willing to do something of evil, from the public thou retirest into thy house, where no enemy may see; from those places of thine house which are open and before the eyes of men, thou removest thyself into a chamber; thou fearest even in thy chamber some witness from some other quarter, thou retirest into thy heart, there thou meditatest: He is more inward than thy heart. Whithersoever therefore thou shalt have fled, there He is. From thyself whither wilt thou flee? Wilt thou not follow thyself whithersoever thou shalt flee? But siuce there is One^more inward even than thyself, there is no place whither thou may est flee from God angry, but to God reconciled. There is no place at all whither thou mayest flee. Wilt* thou flee from Him? Flee to Him. Therefore speak not iniquity against God, even there where speak. Iniquity, he saith, he hath meditated in his bed. What is, 6 He hath meditated in his bed?' The bed, calling his heart; Sacrifice the sacrifice of justice, and hope in the Lord. But above he said, Say ye in your hearts, and in your beds be pricked. However many prickings of evil deeds thou hast there, so many prickings of confession have thou there. Where then thou speakest iniquity against God, there He judgeth thee: He doth not defer judgment, but punishment. Now He judgeth, now He knoweth, now He seeth: punishment remaineth; when it shall have been set before thee, thou wilt have the punishment also, when there shall have appeared the face of that Man, Who was here derided, Who was judged, Who was crucified, Who stood before a judge, when He shall have appeared judging in His own presence, then thou shalt have punishment, if thou shalt not have amended thyself. What then shall we do now? Let us come before His face, iv tZopoXoyya-ti, come before in confession: He shall come gentle Whom thou hadst made angry. Neither from the deserts of the mountains, for God is Judge: not from the East, not from the West, not from the deserts of the mountains. Wherefore? For God is Judge. If in any place He were, He would not be God: but because God is Judge, not man, do not expect Him out of places. His place thou wilt be, if thou art good, if after having confessed1 thou shalt have invoked Him.

10. Ver. 7. One He humbleth, and another He exalteth. Whom humbleth, whom exalteth this Judge? Observe these two men in the temple, and ye see whom He humbleth and whom He exalteth. They went up into the Temple to pray, He saith, the one a Pharisee, and the other a Publican: the Pharisee said. Thanks to Thee I render, that I am not like the rest of men, unjust, robbers, adulterers, as even this Publican: I fast twice in the week, tithes I give of all things whatsoever I possess. To the Physician he had gone up, and was shewing whole limbs, he was hiding the wounds. What therefore said He, Who knew best what he had to be healed of? But the Publican was standing afar off, and was smiting his breast. Ye see him standing afar off: to Him he was drawing near, Whom he was invoking. And he was smiting his breast, saying, O God, be Thou merciful to me a sinner. Verily I say unto you, that Publican went down justified more than that Pharisee: for every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Thus halh been explained a verse of this Psalm. God the Judge doth what? One He humbleth, and another He exalteth c He humbleth the proud, He exalteth the humble.

1 1. Ver. 8. For the cup in the hand of the Lord of pure wine is full of mixed. Justly so. And He hath poured out of this upon this man; nevertheless, the dreg thereof hath not been emptied; there shall drink all the sinners of earth. Let us be somewhat recruited; there is here some obscurity, as we have heard in a very recent lesson in the Gospel; Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find;'1' knock, and it shall be opened unto you. But thou sayest, At what am 1 to knock, in order that it my be opened unto me? Neither from East nor from West, neither from the deserts of the mountains,for God is Judge, If present He is in this 1 standing, there knock: there only stand, for by standing thou dost knock. What then is this? The first question that ineeteth us is this, of pure wine it is full of mixed. How of pure, if of mixed? But when he saith, the cup in the hand of the Lord, (to men instructed in the Church of Christ I am speaking,) ye ought not indeed to paint in your heart God as it were circumscribed with a human form, lest, though the temples are shut up, ye forge images in your hearts. This cup therefore doth signify something. We will find out this. But in the hand of the Lord, is, in the power of the Lord. For the hand of God is spoken of for the power of God. For even in reference to men ofttimes is said, in hand he hath it: that is, in his power he hath it, when he chooseth he doth it. Of pure wine it is full of mixed. In continuation he hath himself explained: He hath inclined, he saith, from this unto this man; nevertheless the dreg thereof hath not been emptied. Behold how it was full of mixed wine. Let it not therefore terrify you that it is both pure and mixed: pure because of the genuineness thereof, mixed because of the dreg. What then in that place is the wine, and what the dreg? And what is, He hath inclined from this unto this man, in such sort that the dreg thereof was not emptied?

12. Call ye to mind from whence he came to this: one He humbleth, and another He exalteth. That which was figured to us in the Gospel through two men, a Pharisee and a Publican, this let us, taking in a wider sense, understand of two peoples, of Jews and of Gentiles: the people of the Jews that Pharisee was, the people of the Gentiles that Publican. The people of the Jews were boasting of their merits, the Gentiles were confessing their sins. He that knoweth in the holy writings both the Apostolical Epistles and the Acts of the Apostles, seeth there what I say: not to make it long, it is just as the Apostles were exhorting the Gentiles not to despair, because they had lain in great sins; and were restraining the Jews from exalting themselves by the justifications, as it were, of the Law, and from supposing themselves to be on thjs account just, but the Gentiles to be sinners, because the Jews had the Law, and had the Temple, jjad the priesthood But all those worshippers of idols, venerators of demons, were set afar off, just as that Publican was standing at a distance. As those by being proud have withdrawn, so these by confessing have drawn near. The cup therefore full of pure wine in the hand of the Lord, as far as the Lord giveth me to understand, (for there may be some other who may give a better interpretation, because the obscurity of the Scriptures is such that it is a difficult thing for them to produce but one interpretation. Nevertheless, whatever interpretation shall have been disclosed, it must needs accord with the rule of faith: we neither envy our elders, nor, little as we are, do we despair. What seemeth good to us I am telling Your Love, not that I may stop up your ears against others, who will perchance say something better:) — the cup of pure wine full of the mixed, seemeth to me to be the Law, which was given to the Jews, and all that Scripture of the Old Testament, as it is called; there are the weights of all manner of sentences. For therein the New Testament lieth concealed, as though in the dreg of corporal Sacraments. The circumcision of the flesh is a thing of great mystery and there is understood from thence the circumcision of the heart. The Temple of Jerusalem is a thing of great mystery, and there is understood from it the Body of the Lord. The land of promise" is understood to be the Kingdom of Heaven. The sacrifice of victims and of beasts hath a great mystery: but in all those kinds of sacrifices is uuderstood that one Sacrifice and only victim of the Cross, the Lord, instead of all which sacrifices we have one; because even those figured these, that is, with those these were figured. That people received the Law, they received commandments just and good. What is so just as,20' thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thouDeut. shalt not steal, thou shalt not speak false testimony, honour thy father and mother, thou shalt not covet the property of thy neighbour, one God thou shalt adore, and Him alone thou shall serve, all these things belong to the wine. But those things carnal have as it were sunk down in order that they might remain with them, and there might be poured forth from thence all the spiritual understanding. But the cup in the hand of the Lord, that is, in the power of the Lord: of pure tcine, that is, of the mere Law: isfuli of mixed, that is is together with the dreg of corporal Sacraments. And because the one He humbleth, the proud Jew, and the other He exalteth, the confessing Gentile; He hath inclined from this unto this, that is, from the Jewish people unto the Gentile people. Hath inclined what? The Law. There hath distilled from thence a spiritual sense. Nevertheless, the dreg thereof hath not been emptied, for all the carnal Sacraments have remained with the Jews. There shall drink all the sinners of the earth. Who shall drink? All the sinners of the earth. Who are the sinners of the earth? The Jews were indeed sinners, but proud i again, the Gentiles were sinners, but humble. All sinners shall drink, but see, who the dreg, who the wine. For those by drinking the dreg have come to nought: these by drinking the wine have been justified. 1 would dare to speak of them even as inebriated, and I shall not fear: and O that all ye were thus inebriated. Call to mind, Thy cup inebriating, how passing beautiful i But why? Do ye think, my brethreu, that all those who by confessing Christ even willed to die, were sober? So drunk they were, that they knew not their friends. All their kindred, who strove to divert them from the hope of Heavenly rewards by earthly allurements, were not acknowledged, were not heard by them drunken. Were they not drunken, whose heart had been changed? Were they not drunken, whose mind had been alienated from this world? There shall drink, he saith, all the sinners of the earth. But who shall drink the wine? Sinners shall drink, but in order that they may not remain sinners; in order that they may be justified, in order that they may not be punished.

13. Ver. 9. But 1, for all drink, but separately I, that is, Christ with His Body, for ever will rejoice, I will Psalm to the God of Jacob: in that promise to be at the end, whereof is said, corrupt not. But I for ever, will rejoice.

14 yer ]Q And all tfie horn8 ^ sinner j wm oreak% and there shall be exalted the horns of the Just This is, the one He humbleth, the other He exalteth. Sinners would not have their horns to be broken, which without doubt will be broken at the end. Thou wilt not have Him then break them, do thou to-day break them. For thou hast heard above, do not despise it: / have said to unjust men, Do not uftfustly, and to the delinquents, Do not exalt the horn. When thou hast heard, do not exalt the horn, thou hast despised and hast exalted the horn: thou shalt come to the end, where there shall come to pass, All the horns of sinners I will break, and there shall be exalted the horns of the Just. The horns of sinners are the dignities of proud men: the horns of the Just are the gifts of Christ For by horns exultations are understood. Thou batest on earth earthly exultation, in order that thou mayest have the heavenly. Thou lovest the earthly, He doth not admit thee to the Heavenly: and unto confusion will belong thy horn which is broken, just as unto glory it will belong, if thy horn is exalted. Now therefore there is time for making choice, then there will not be. Thou wilt not say, I will be let go and will make choice. For there have preceded the words, I have said to the unjust. If I have not said, make ready an excuse, make ready a defence: but if I have said, seize first upon confession, lest thou come unto damnation; for then confession will be too late, aud there will be no defence.