Psalm 88 (Vulgate 87)

The Title of this eighty-seventh Psalm contains a fresh subject for enquiry: the words occurring here, for Melech to respond, being no where else fourid. We have already given our opinion on the meaning of the titles Psahnus Cantici and Canticum Psalmi: and the words, sons of Core, are constantly repeated, and have often been explained: so also to the end; but what comes next in this title is peculiar. For Melech we may translate into Latin for the chorus, for chorus is the sense of the Hebrew word Melech. What other meaning then can we attach to the words, for the chorus to respond, but this, that the choir is to make responses with the singer? And thus we must suppose that not this only, but other Psalms were chanted, though they have received different titles, probably for the sake of variety to relieve weariness: for this Psalm was not the only one held worthy of choral responses, since it is not. the only one which relates to our Lord's Passion. If indeed there is any other reason for so great a variety in the titles, by which it can be shewn that all the Psalms which are distinguished in their titles are so marked, as that the title of no one of them can be fitted to another; I must confess that I could not discover it, though I tried long; and whatever I have read on the subject in the works of my predecessors has not satisfied my hopes, or, perhaps, my slowness of apprehension. I will therefore explain in allusion to what mystery the words, for the choir to respond, that is, that the singer should be answered by a choir, seem to me to be used. The Passion of our Lord is here prophesied. Now the Apostle Peter saith, Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,1 that we should follow His steps; this is the meaning of 'to respond.' The* Apostle John also saith, As Christ laid down His life for us, so ought we also to lay down our lives for the brethren; this also is to respond. But the choir signifies concord, which consists in charity: whoever therefore in imitation of our Lord's Passion gives up his body to be burnt, if he have not charity, does not answer in the choir, 220 Song of the Martyr^ choir. Christ prayed, but as Man. and therefore it profiteth him nothing. Further, as in Latin the terms Precentor and Succentor are used to denote iu music the performer who sings the first part, and him who takes it up; just so in this song of the Passion, Christ going before is followed by the choir of martyrs unto the end of gaining crowns in Heaven. This is sung by the sons of Core, that is, the imitators of Christ's Passion: as Christ was crucified in Calvary, which is the interpretation of the Hebrew word Core. This also is the understanding of Mman the Israelite11: words occurring at the end of this title. JSman is said to mean, his brother: for Christ deigns to make those His brethren, who understand the mystery of His Cross, and not only are not ashamed of it, but faithfully glory in it, not praising themselves for their own merits, but grateful for His grace: so that it may be said to each of them, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile, just as holy Scripture says of Israel himself, that he was without guile. Let us therefore now hear the voice of Christ singing before us in prophecy, to whom His own choir should respond either in imitation, or in thanksgiving.

2. Ver. I. O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried dag and night before Thee.

Ver. 2. O let my prayer enter into Thy presence, incline Thine ear unto my calling. For even our Lord prayed, not in the form of God, but in the* form of a servant; for in this He also suffered. He prayed both in prosperous times, that is, by day, and in calamity, which I imagine is meant by night. The entrance of prayer into God's presence is its acceptance: the inclination of His ear is His compassionate listening to it: for God has not such bodily members as we have. The passage is however, as usual, a repetition; the words, O let my prayer enter into Thy presence, being equivalent to, Incline TJiine ear unto my calling.

3. Ver. 3. For my soul is filled with evils, and my life draweth nigh unto hell. Dare we speak of the Soul of Christ as filled with evils, when the passion had strength as

« Israelite, vulg. Ezrahitse, see also Zara, 1 Chron. 2, 6. and in 1 Kings 4,

His soul, at His Passion, fitted with the * evils' of grief. 227 far as it had any, only over the body? whence Himself exhorting His brethren to the endurance of suffering, and, as it were, urging his choir to respond, saith, Fear not them whichM&tAO, kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Can then the soul be filled with evils by the persecutors, though it cannot be killed? if so, we must enquire what sort of evils. It cannot be with vices, through which iniquity prevails over man, that we can say that Soul was filled: but perhaps with griefs, in which the soul suffers with its own flesh in its suffering: for even what we call bodily pain cannot exist without the soul, but sorrowfulness, which is the pain of the soul only, precedes it when inevitably impending. The soul therefore may feel pain without the body: but without the soul the body cannot. Why therefore should we not say that the Soul of Christ was full of the evils of humanity, though not of human sins? Another Prophet says of Him,Is.53,4. that He grieved for us: and the Evangelist says, And HeM*t.26t took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began37' to be sorrowful and very heavy: and our Lord Himself saith unto them of Himself, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. The Prophet who composed this Psalm, foreseeing that this would happen, introduces Him saying, My soul is full of evils, and My life draweth nigh unto hell. For the very same sense is here expressed in other words, as when He said, My soul is sorrowful, even unto death. The words, ' My soul is sorrowful,' are like these, My soul is full of evils: and what follows, " even unto death," like, my life draweth nigh unto hell. These feelings of human infirmity our Lord took upon Him, as He did the flesh of human infirmity, and the death of human flesh, not by the necessity of his condition, but by the free will of His mercy, that He might transfigure into Himself His own body, which is the Church, (the head of which He deigned to be,) that is, His members in His holy and faithful disciples: that if amid human temptations auy one among them happened to be in sorrow and pain, he might not therefore think that he was separated from His favour: that the body, like the chorus following its leader, might learn from its Head, that these sorrows were not sin, but proofs of human weakness. We read of the Apostle Paul, a chief member in this body, and we hear him confessing How our Lord was 4 Free among the dead.' that his soul was full of such evils, when he says, that he feels great heaviness and continual sorrow in heart for his ' brethren according to the flesh, who are Israelites. And if we say that our Lord was sorrowful for them also at the approach of His Passion, in which they would incur the most atrocious guilt, I think we shall not speak amiss.

4. Lastly, the very thing said by our Saviour on the Cross, Father, for give them, for they know not what they do, is expressed in this Psalm below,

Ver. 4. / am counted as one of them that go down into the pit: by them who knew not what they were doing, when they imagined that He died like other men, subjected to necessity, and overcome by it. The word pit is used for the depth of woe or of Hell.

5. / have been as a man that hath no help.

Ver. 5. Free among the dead. In these words our Lord's Person is most clearly shewn: for who else is free among the dead but He, Who though in the likeness of sinful flesh is alone among sinners without sin? Hence He saith to those who in their folly deemed themselves free, Every man who commitleth sin is the servant of sin: and because through Him Who had no sin it behoved them to be freed from sin, He saith, If the Son hath freed you, then indeed ye shall be free. He therefore,//^ among the dead, Who had it in His power to lay down His life, and again to take it; from Whom no one could take it, but He laid it down of His own free will; Who could revive His own flesh, as a temple destroyed by them, at His will; Who, when all had forsaken Him on the eve of His Passion, remained not alone, because, as He testifies, His Father forsook Him not; was neverthelcss by His enemies, for whom He prayed, who knew not what they did, and said, He saved others, Himself He cannot save; if He be the Son of God, let Him come down from the Cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in Ood; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him; He was by them counted as one who hath no help; like unto them that are wounded, and lie in the grave. But he adds, Whom thou dost not yet remember: and in these words there is to be remarked a distinction between Christ and the rest of the dead. For though He was wounded, and How He seemed to be forgotten of God. 229 when dead laid in the tomb, yet they who knew not what they were doing, or who He was, regarded Him as like others who had perished from their wounds, and who slept in the tomb, who are as yet out of remembrance of God, that is, whose hour of resurrection has not yet arrived. For thus the Scripture speaks of the dead as sleeping, because it wishes them to be regarded as destined to awake, that is, to rise again. But He, wounded and asleep in the tomb, awoke on the third day, and became like a sparrow that sitteth alone on the housetop, that is, on the right hand of His Father in Heaven: and now dieth no more, death shall no more have-^m% dominion over Him. Hence He differs widely from those whom God hath not yet remembered to cause their resurrection after this manner: for what was to go before in the Head, was kept for the Body in the end. God is then said to remember, when He does an act: then to forget, when He does it not: for neither can God forget, as He never changes, nor remember, as He can never forget. I am counted then, by those who know not what they do, as a man that hath no help: while I am free among the dead, I am held by these men like unto them that are wounded, and lie in the grave. Yet those very men, who account thus of Me, are further said to be cut away from Thy hand, that is, when I was made so by them, c they were cut away from Thy hand; they who believed Me destitute of help, are deprived of the help of Thy hand: for they, as he saith in another Psalm, have digged a pit before me, and are fallen into the midst of it themselves. I prefer this interpretation to that which refers the words, they are cut away from Thy hand, to those who sleep in the tomb, whom God hath not yet remembered: since the righteous are among the latter, of whom, even though God hath not yet called them to the resurrection, it is said, that their souls are in the hands of God, that is, thatWigd they dwell under the defence of the Most High; and shall . abide under the shadow of the God of Heaven. But it isf8,91* those who are cut away from the hand of God, who believed that Christ was cut off from His hand, and thus accounting Him among the wicked, dared to slay Him.

6. Ver. 6. They laid Me in the lowest pit, that is, the pit. For so it is in the Greek. But what is the lowest pit, but the deepest woe, than which there is none more deep? Whence in another Psalm it is said, Thou broughtest me out also of the pit of misery.

In a place of darkness, and in the shadow of death, whiles they knew not what they did, they laid Him there, thus deeming of Him; they knew not Him Whom none of the princes of this world knew. By the shadow of deaths I know not whether the death of the body is to be understood, or that of which it is written, They that walked in darkness and in the land of the shadow of death, a light is risen on them, because by belief they were brought from out of the darkness and death of sin into light and life. Such an one those who knew not what they did thought our Lord, and in their ignorance accounted Him among those, whom He came to help, that they might not be such themselves.

7. Ver. 7. Thy indignation lieth hard upon Me, or, as other copies have it, Thy anger; or, as others, Thy fury: the Greek word iupos having undergone different interpretations. For where the Greek copies have $gyr), no translator hesitated to express it by the Latin ira: but where the word is 6v[io$, most object to rendering it by ira, although many of the authors of the best Latin style, in their translations from Greek philosophy, have thus rendered the word in Latin. But I shall not discuss this matter further: only if I also were to suggest auother term, I should think indignation more tolerable than fury, this word in Latin not being applied to persons in their senses. What then does this mean, Thy indignation lieth hard upon Me, except the belief of those, who knew not the Lord of Glory? who imagined that the anger of God was not merely roused, but lay hard upon Him, Whom they dared to bring to death, and not only death, but that kind, which they regarded as the most execrable of all, namely, the death of the Cross: whence saith the Apostle, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth upon a tree. On this account, wishing to praise His obedience which He carried to the extreme of humility, he says. He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death; and as this seemed little, he added, even the death of the Cross; and with the same view, as far as I can see, he says in this Psalm, And all thy suspensions, or, as some translate waves, others tossings, Thou hast brought over Me. We also find in another Psalm, All thy suspensions and waves are come in upon Me, or, as some have translated better, have passed over Me: for it is &ijX0ov in Greek, not eWfy&ov: and where both expressions are employed, waves and suspensions, one cannot be used as equivalent to the other. In that passage we explained suspensions as thre'atenings, waves as the actual sufferings: both inflicted by God's judgment: but in that place it is said, All have passed over Me, here, Thou hast brought all upon Me. In the other case, that is, although some evils took place, yet, he said, all those which are here mentioned passed over; but in this case, Thou hast brought them upon Me. Evils pass over when they do not touch a man, as things which hang over him, or when they do touch him, as waves. But when he uses the word suspensions, he does not say they passed over, but, Thou hast brought them upon Me, meaning that all which impended had come to pass. All things which were predicted of His Passion impended, as long as they remained in the prophecies for future fulfilment.

8. Ver. 8. Thou hast put Mine acquaintance far from Me. If we understand by acquaintance those whom He knew, it will be all men; for whom knew He not? But He calls those acquaintance, to whom He was Himself known, as far as they could know Him at that season: at least so far forth as they knew Him to be innocent, although they considered Him only as a man, not as likewise God. Although He might call the righteous whom He approved, acquaintance, as He calls the wicked unknown, to whom He was to say at the end, I know you not. In what follows, and they have set Me for an abhorrence to themselves; those whom He called before23, acquaintance, may be meant, as even they felt horror at the mode of that death: but it is better referred to those of whom He was speaking above as His persecutors. / was delivered up, and did not get forth. Is this because His disciples66, were without, while He was being tried within? Or are we to give a deeper meaning to the words, I cannot get forth as signifying, ' I remained hidden in My secret counsels, I shewed not Who I was, I did not reveal Myself, was nc; made manifest V And so it follows, 232 lEyesy weakened, that is, illustrious Members.

Ver. 9. My eyes became weak from want. For what eyes are we to understand? If the eyes of the flesh in which* He suffered, we do not read that His eyes became weak from want, that is, from hunger, in His Passion, as is often the case; as He was betrayed after His supper, and crucified on the same day: if the inner eyes, how were they weakened from want, in which there was a light that could never fail? But He meant by His eyes those members in the body, of which He was Himself the head, which, as brighter and more eminent and chief above the rest, He loved. It was of this body that the Apostle was speaking, when he wrote, taking metaphor from our own body, If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? if the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are there many members, yet but one body. Hie eye cannot say unto the hands, I have no need of you: and if the hand shall say, Because lam not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? What he wished understood by these words, he has expressed more clearly, by adding, Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. Wherefore as those eyes, that is, the holy Apostles, to whom not flesh and blood, but the Father Which is in Heaven had revealed Him, so that Peter said, Tliou art Christ, the Son of the Living God, when they saw Him betrayed, and suffering such evils, saw Him not such as they wished, as He did not come forth, did not manifest Himself in His virtue and power, but still hidden in His secresy, endured every thing as a man overcome and enfeebled, they became weak for want, as if their food, their Light, had been withdrawn from them.

9. He continues, And I have called upon Thee. This indeed He did most clearly, when upon the Cross. But what follows? All the day I have stretched forth My hands unto TJiee, must be examined how it must be taken. For if in this expression we understand the tree of the Cross, how can we reconcile it with the whole day? Can He be said to have hung upon the Cross during the whole day, as the night is considered a part of the day? But if day, as opposed to night, was meant by this expression, even of this day, the first and no small portion had passed by at the time Our Lord's hands how stretched out " all day.'* 28$ of His crucifixion. But if we take * day' in the same sense of time (especially as the word is used in the feminine, a gender which is restricted to that sense in Latin, although not so in Greek, as it is always used in the feminine, which 1 suppose to be the reason for its translation in the same gender in* our own version,) the knot of the question will be drawn tighter: for how can it mean for the whole space of time, if He did not even for one day stretch forth His hands on the Cross? Further, should we take the whole for a part, as Scripture sometimes uses this expression, I do not remember an instance, in which the whole is taken for a part, when the word whole is expressly added. For in the passage of the Gospel where the Lord saith, 7%eMat.ia, Son of Man shall be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, it is no extraordinary licence to take the whole for the part, the expression not being for three whole days and three whole nights: since the one intermediate day was a whole one, the other two were parts, the last being part of the first day, the first part of the last. But if the Cross is not meant here, but the prayer, which we find in the Gospel that He poured forth in the form of a servant to God the Father, where He is said to have prayed long before His Passion, and on the eve of His passion, and also when on the Cross, we do not read any where that He did so throughout the whole day. Therefore by the stretched out hands throughout the whole day, we may understand the continuation of good works in which He never ceased from exertion.

10. But as His good works profited only the predestined to eternal salvation, and not all men, nor even all those among whom they were done, he adds,

Ver. 10. Dost thou shew wonders among the dead? If we suppose this relates to those whose flesh life has left, great wonders have been wrought among the dead, inasmuch as some of them have revived: and in our Lord's descent into Hell, and His ascent as the conqueror of death, a great wonder was wrought among the dead. He refers then in these words, Dost Thou shew wonders among the dead? to men so dead in heart, that such great works of Christ could not rouse them to the life of faith: for he does not say that wonders are not shewn to them because they see them not, but because they do not profit them. $34 The spiritually dead beyond a ' Physician's1 poioer. For, as he says in this passage, the whote day have I stretched forth My hands to Thee: because He ever refers all His works t0 the will of His Father, constantly declaring that He came to fulfil His Father's will: so also, as an unbelieving people saw the same works, another Prophet saith, I have spread out my hands all day unto a rebellious people, that believes not, but contradicts. Those then are dead, to whom wonders have not been shewn, not because they saw them not, but since they lived not again through them. The following verse, Shall physicians revive them, and shall they praise Thee? means, thatthe dead shall not be revived by such means, that they may praise Thee. In the Hebrew there is said to be a different expression: giants being used where physicians are here: but the Septuagint translators, whose authority is such that they may deservedly be said to have interpreted by the inspiration of the Spirit of God owing to their wonderful agreement, conclude, not by mistake, but taking occasion from the resemblance in sound between the Hebrew words expressing these two senses, that the use of the word is an indication of the sense in which the word giants is meant to be taken. For if you suppose the proud meant by giants, whom the Apostle saith, Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? there is no incongruity in calling them physicians, as if by their own unaided skill they promised the salvation of souls: against it is said, Of the Lord is safety. But if we take the word giant in a good sense, as it is said of our Lord, He rejoiceth as a giant to run his course; that is Giant of giants, chief among the greatest and strongest, who in His Church excel in spiritual strength. Just as He is the Mountain of mountains; as it is written, And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be manifested in the top of the mountains: and the Saint of saints: there is no absurdity in styling these same great and mighty men physicians. Whence saith the Apostle, if by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. But even such physicians, even though they cure not by their own power, (as not even of their own do those of the body,) yet so far forth as by faithful ministry they assist towards salvation, can cure the living, but not raise the dead: of whom it is said, Dost Thou shew wonders among the dead? For the grace of God, by which men's minds in a certain manner are brought to live a fresh life, so as to be able to hear the lessons of salvation from any of its ministers whatever, is most hidden and mysterious. This grace is thus spoken of in the Gospel. No man can come to Me, except the Father Which hath sent Me draw him: and a^G& little after this is still more openly repeated: The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life: but there are some of you that believe not The Evangelist here interposes the remark, that Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him: and joining with this the Lord's own words, he adds, And He said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto Me, except it were given unto him of My Father. He had above said, that there were some of them who believed not: and He adds the last quoted verse as an explanation of the cause of this unbelief: in order to shew, that the very faith by which the soul believes, and springs into fresh life from the death of its former affections, is given us by God, Whatever exertions, then, the best preachers of the worde, and persuaders of the truth through miracles, may make with men, just like great physicians: yet if they are dead, and through Thy grace have not a second life, Dost Thou shew wonders among the dead, or shall physicians raise them? and shall they whom they raise praise Thee? For this confession declares that they live: not, as it is written elsewhere, Thanksgiving perisheth from the dead, as from one that is not.

11. Ver. 11. Shall one shew Thy lovingkindness in the grave, or Thy faithfulness in destruction? The word shew is of course understood as if repeated, Shall any shew Thy faithfulness in destruction? Scripture loves to connect lovingkindness and faithfulness, especially in the Psalms. Destruction also is a repetition of the grave, and signifies them who are in the grave, styled above the dead, in the verse, Dost thou shew wonders among the dead? for the body is the grave of the dead soul; whence our Lord's words in the Gospel, Ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which 536 GorTs tvorks not known in the 1 land of darkness.'' indeed appear beautiful outward, but within are full of dead bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye outwardly ' appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

12. Ver. 12. Shall thy wondrous works be known in the dark, and thy righteousness in the land where all things are forgotten? the dark answers to the land of forgetfulness: for the unbelieving are meant by the dark, as the Apostle saitb, For ye were sometimes darkness; and the land where all things are forgotten, is the man who has forgotten God; for the unbelieving soul can arrive at darkness so intense, that the fool saith in his heart, There is no God. Thus the meaning of the whole passage may thus be drawn out in its connection: Lord, I have called upon Thee, amid My sufferings; all day I have stretched forth my hands unto Thee, that is, I have never ceased to stretch forth My works to glorify Thee. Why then do the wicked rage against Me, unless because Thou shewest not wonders among the dead? because those wonders move them not to faith, nor can physicians restore them to life that they may praise Thee, because Thy hidden grace works not in them to draw them unto believing: because no man cometh unto Me, but whom Thou hast drawn. Shall then Thy loving kindness be shewed in the grave f that is, the grave of the dead soul, which lies dead beneath the body's weight: or Thy faithfulness in destruction? that is, in such a death as cannot believe or feel any of these things. For how then in the darkness of this death, that is, in the man who in forgetting Thee has lost the light of his life, shall Thy wondrous works and Thy righteousness be known.

13. But a question occurs as to what may be the use of these dead ones, what may be the advantage imparted by the Almighty to the body of Christ, that is, the Church, by means of these; namely, that in them may be displayed the grace of God towards the predestined who are called according to His purpose. Of this it is that in a former Psalm the Church exclaims, My God, His mercy shall prevent me; and God shall shew unto me in mine enemies; and so it goes on here in the next verse, and says, Unto lThee I also have cried, O Lord: in which we must suppose our Lord speaking in the words of the Church, His own body; for what means, / also, but that we also were at one time the children of wrath naturally, like the rest. But, unto Thee have I cried, that I might be saved. For who distinguishes me from other children of wrath, when I hear the Apostle's terrible reproof of the ungrateful; For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? Salvation is the Lord's: for there is no giant that can be saved by the greatness of his strength: but as it is written, Whosoever s&^Ro'm call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. How then shall they call upon Him in Whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Qospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things? They are the physicians who heal the man wounded by the thieves: but it is the Lord Who brought him to the inn: they themselves are the labourers in the Lord's vineyard: but yet he who plants, and he who waters, is nought, but the Lord Who giveth the increase. Thus then / too have cried unto the Lord, that is, 1 have invoked the help of God for my salvation. But how could I invoke, unless I believed? how could I believe, did I not hear? But He it was Who drew me to believe what I heard; for it was not any chance physician that aroused me to life from the death of the soul, but He Himself working in secret. For many have heard; Since their sound is gone out into all lands, and their words into the ends of the world:4' but, All men have not faith: and, The Lord knoweth them that are His. And then 1 could not even have believed, had19' not the lovirigkindness of God prevented me; and, because He calls the dead to life, and calls things that are not as things that are, by calling me in secret ways, by moving me, and28, drawing me to Him, had brought me at last to the light of faith. He therefore says, And early shall my prayers prevent Thee. It is morning, when the night and darkness of infidelity have passed away. Thy lovingkindness hath prevented me, that this morning might dawn upon me: but as that day of light is still to come, when the hidden things of darkness shall be 238 Why prayer of saints sometimes seetns cast off. revealed, and the thoughts of the heart be made manifest, and every one shall have praise of Thee: yet now in this life, in this wandering, in this light of faith, which compared with life darkness of infidelity seems already day, but compared with the day, when we shall see Him face unto face, is still night, shall my prayer prevent Thee.

14. Ver. 13. But that those prayers, the blessings of which surpass all words, may be more fervent and more constant, the gift that shall last unto eternity is deferred, while transitory evils are allowed to thicken. And so it follows;

Ver. 14. Lord, why hast Thou cast off my prayer? which be compared with another Psalm; My God, My God, look upon me; why hast Thou forsaken me? The reason is made matter of question, not as if the wisdom of God were blamed as doing so without a cause; and so here. Lord, why hast Thou cast off my prayer? But if this cause be attended to carefully, it will be found indicated above; for it is with the view that the prayers of the Saints are, as it were, repelled by the delay of so great a blessing, and by the adversity they encounter in the troubles of life, that the flame, thus fanned, may burst into a brighter blaze.

15. For this purpose he briefly sketches in what follows the troubles of Christ's body. For it is not in the Head alone that they took place, since it is said to Saul too, Why persecutest thou Me? and Paul himself, as if placed as an elect member in the same body, saith, " That 1 may Jill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh™ Why then, Lord, hast Thou cast off my soul f why hidest Thou Thy face from me?

Ver. 15. / am poor, and in toils from my youth up: and when lifted up, I was thrown down, and troubled.

Ver. 16. Thy wraths went over me: Thy terrors disturbed me.

Ver. 1 7. They came round about me all day like water: they compassed me about together.

Ver. 18. A friend Thou hast put far from me: and mine acquaintance from my misery. All these evils have taken place, and are happening in the limbs of Christ's body, and God turns away His face from their prayers, by not hearing as to what they wish for, since they know not that the fulfilment their wishes would not be good for them. The Church is

Troubles of the Church * all the day* of her pilgrimage. 239 poor, as she hungers and thirsts in her wanderings for that food with which she shall be filled in her own country: she is in toils from her youth up, as the very Body of Christ saith in another Psalm, Many a time have they overcome me from my youth. And for this reason some of her members are1, lifted up even in this world, that in them may be the greater lowliness. Over that Body, which constitutes the unity of the Saints and the faithful, whose Head is Christ, go the wraths of God: yet abide not: since it is of the unbelieving only that it is written, that the wrath of God abideth upon him. The terrors of God disturb the weakness of the faithful,36, because all that can happen, even though it actually happen not, it is prudent to fear; and sometimes these terrors so agitate the reflecting soul with the evils impending around, that they seem to flow around us on every side like water, and to encircle us in our fears. And as the Church while on pilgrimage is never free from these evils, happening as they do at one moment in one of her limbs, at another in another, he adds, all day, signifying the continuation in time, to the end of this world. Often too, friends and acquaintances, their worldly interests at stake, in their terror forsake the Saints; of which saith the Apostle, all men forsook me: may it not be laid fo2Tim.4f their charge. But to what purpose is nil this, but that early in the morning, that is, after the night of unbelief, the prayers of this holy Body may in the light of faith prevent God, until the coming of that salvation, which we are at present saved by hoping for, not by having, while we await it with patience and faithfulness. Then the Lord will not repel our prayers, as there will no longer be any thing to be sought for, but every thing that has been rightly asked, will be obtained: nor will He turn His face away from us, since we shall see Him as He is: nor shall we be poor, because God will be our abundance, all in all: nor shall we suffer, as there will be no more weakness: nor after exaltation shall we meet with humiliation and confusion, as there will be no adversity there: nor bear even the transient wrath of God, as we shall abide in His abiding love: nor will His terrors agitate us, because His promises realized will bless us: nor will our friend and acquaintance, being terrified, be far from us, where there will be no foe to dread. psalm lxxxix.

1. Understand, beloved, this Psalm, which I am about to explain, by the grace of God, of our hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, and be of good cheer, because He Who promised, will fulfil all, as He has fulfilled much: for it is not our own merit, but His mercy, that gives us confidence in Him. He Himself is meant, in my belief, by the understanding of -H^tan the Israelite1: which has given this Psalm its title, You see then, who is meant by ^Ethan: but the meaning of the word is strong. No man in this world is strong, except in the hope of God's promises: for as to our own deservings, we are weak, in His mercy we are strong. Weak then in himself, strong in God's mercy, the Psalmist thus begins.

2. I will sing of Thy mercies, O Lord, for ever: with my mouth will I make known Thy truth unto all generations.

Let my limbs, he saith, serve the Lord: I speak, but it is of Thine I speak. With my mouth will I make known Thy truth: if I obey not Thee, I am not Thy servant: if I speak on my own part, I am a liar. To speak then from* Thee, and in my own person, are two things: one mine, one Thine: Truth Thine, language mine. Let us hear then what faithfulness he maketh known, what mercies he singeth.

3. (2.) For Thou hast said, Mercy shall be built up for ever. It is this that I sing: this is Thy truth, for the making known of which my mouth serveth. In such wise Thou sayest, I build, as not to destroy: for some Thou destroyest and buildestnot; and some whom Thou destroyest Thou dost rebuild. For unless there were some who were destroyed to be rebuilt, Jeremiah would not have written, See, I have this day set thee to throw down and to build. And indeed all who formerly worshipped images and stones could not be built up in Christ, without being destroyed as to their old error. While, unless some were destroyed not to be built up, it would not be written, He shall destroy them, and not build them up.% On their account therefore who are destroyed and built up, that they might not conceive their being built up — merely temporary, as the previous ruin was in which they were destroyed, the Psalmist, through whose mouth is made known the truth of God, held to1 the truth. Therefore will I make it known, therefore do I declare it, because Thou hast said: I that am man declare it in full confidence, for Thou God hast said: for even if I wavered in my own words, in Thine should I be confirmed. What saidst Thon? Mercy shall be built up for ever: Thy truth shalt Tliou establish in the very Heavens. As He had said in the former place, I will sing of Thy mercies, O Lord, for ever: with my mouth will I make known Thy truth to all generations. In what follows, he joins these two words, mercy and faithfulness; For Thou hast said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: Thy truth shall be established in the Heavens: in which mercy and truth are repeated, for all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth, for truth in the fulfilment of promises could not be shewn, unless mercy in the remission of sins preceded. Next, as many things were promised in prophecy even to the people of Israel that came according to the flesh from the seed of Abraham, and that people was increased that the promises of God might be fulfilled in it; while yet God did not close the fountain of His goodness even to the Gentiles, whom He had placed under the rule of the Angels, while He reserved the people of Israel as His own portion: the Apostle expressly mentions the Lord's mercy and truth as referring to these two parties. For he calls Christ a minister of the Circumcision for the truth of Ood, to confirm the promises made unto the8' fathers. See how God deceived not; see how He cast not off His people, whom He foreknew. For while the Apostle is treating of the fall of the Jews, to prevent any from believing them so far disowned2 of God, that no wheat from'improthat floor's fanning could reach the granary, he saith, GWbat0S* hath not cast away His people, whom He foreknew; /arRomJl, J also am an Israelite. If all that nation are thorns,12, how am I who speak unto you wheat? So that the truth of God was fulfilled in those Israelites who believed, and one wall from the circumcision is thus brought to meet the 242 Mercy in the Gentiles; Truth in c Heavens' of the Church. corner stone. But this stone would not form a corner, un]ess jt received another wall from the Gentiles: so that the former wall relates in a special manner to the truth, the latter to the mercy of God. Now I say, says the Apostle, that Jesus Christ was a minister of the Circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promise made unto the fathers: and that the Qentiles might glorify Qod for His mercy. Justly then is it added, Thy truth shalt Thou stablish in tte Heavens: for all those Israelites who were called to be Apostles became as Heavens which declare the glory of God: as it is written by them, The Heavens declare the glory of Qod, and the firmament sheweth His handy work. To assure you that this is the meaning of the Heavens, it is more expressly added, There is neither speech nor language, whereof their voices are not heard. If you ask, whose voices? there is nothing to refer it to but the Heavens. If therefore those whose voice is heard in all languages are the Apostles, it is also of them that it is said, Their sound is gone out into all lands, and their words into the ends of the world. Since, although they were taken up from hence before the Church filled the whole world, yet as their words reached to the ends of the world, we are right in supposing this which we have just read, Thy truth shalt Thou stablish in the Heavens, fulfilled in them.

4. Ver. 3. I have made a covenant with My chosen. 6 Thou hast said] you understand, is to be carried on: Thou hast said, I have made a covenant with My chosen. What covenant, but the new, by which we are renewed to a fresh inheritance, in our longing desire and love of which we sing a new song. / have made a covenant with My chosen, saith the Psalmist: 1 have sworn unto David My servant. How confidently does he speak, who understands, whose mouth serves truth! I speak without fear; since Thou hast said. If Thou makest me fearless, because Thou hast said, how much more so dost Thou make me, when Thou hast sworn! For the oath of God is the assurance of a promise. Man is justly forbidden to swear: lest by the habit of swearing, since a man may be deceived, he fall into perjury, God alone swears securely, because He alone is infallible.

5. Let us see then what God hath sworn. (Ver. 4.) / have sworn, He saith, to David My servant; thy seed will I establish for ever. But what is the seed of David, but that of Abraham. And what is the seed of Abraham? Andtoie, thy seed, He saith, which is Christ. But perhaps that Christ, the Head of the Church, the Saviour of the body, is the seedEph.5, of Abraham, and therefore of David; but we aTe not23* Abraham's seed? We are assuredly; as the Apostle saith, And if ye be Chris fs, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. In this sense, then, let us ta&e29' the words, brethren, Thy seed will I stablish for ever, not only of that Flesh of Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, but also of all of us who believe in Christ, for we are limbs of that Head. This body cannot be deprived of its Head: if the Head is in glory for ever, so are the limbs, so that Christ remains entire for ever. T7ty seed will I stablish for ever: and set up thy throne to generation and generation. We suppose he saith, for ever, because it is to generation and generation: since he has said above, with my mouth will I ever be shewing Thy truth to generation and generation. What is * to generation and generation?' To every generation: for the word needed not as many repetitions, as the coming and passing away of the several generations. The multiplication of generations is signified and set forth to notice by the repetition. Are possibly two generations to be understood, as ye are aware, my beloved brethren, and as I have before explained? for there is now a generation of flesh and blood: there will be a future generation in the resurrection of the dead. Christ is proclaimed here: He will be proclaimed c there: here He is proclaimed, that He may be believed in: there, He will be welcomed, that He may be seen. / will set up Thy throne from one generation to another. Christ hath now a throne in us, His throne is set up in us: for unless he sate enthroned within us, He would not rule us: but if we were not ruled by Him, we should be thrown down by ourselves. He therefore sits within us, reigning over us: He sits also in another generation, which will come from the resurrection of the dead. Christ will reign for ever over His Saints. God has promised this; He hath said it: if this is not enough, God hath sworn it. As then the promise is certain, not on 244 The Spiritual Heavens proclaim God's Works and Truth* account of our deservings, but of His pity, no one ought to be afraid in proclaiming that which he cannot doubt of. Let that strength then inspire our hearts, whence ^Etham received his name, * strong in heart:' let us preach the truth of God, the utterance of God, His promises, His oath; and let us, strengthened on every side by these means, glorify God, and by bearing Him along with us, become Heavens.

6. Ver. 5. O Lord, the very Heavens shall praise Thy wondrous works. The Heavens will not praise their own merits, but thy wondrous works, O Lord. For in every act of mercy on the lost, of justification of the unrighteous, what do we praise but the wondrous works of God? Thou praisest Him, because the dead have risen: praise Him yet more, because the lost are redeemed. What grace, what mercy of God! Thou seest a man yesterday a whirlpool of drunkenness, to-day an ornament of sobriety: a man yesterday the sink of luxury, to-day the beauty of temperance: yesterday a blasphemer of God, to-day His praiser: yesterday the slave of the creature, to-day the worshipper of the Creator, From all these desperate states men* are thus converted: let them not look at their own merits: let them become Heavens, and praise the wondrous works of Him by Whom they were made Heavens. For " / will consider" he saith, " Thy Heavens, even the works of Thy fingers" O Lord, ihe very Heavens shall praise Thy wondrous works! And that you may understand who the Heavens are, let us see what follows: and Thy truth in the congregation of the Saints. There can therefore be no doubt, thai by the Heavens are meant the preachers of the word of truth, and where will the Heavens praise Thy wondrous works, and Thy truth? In the congregation of the Saints. May the Church receive the dew of the Heavens: may the Heavens rain upon the parched soil, and may the earth as it receives the rain give birth to fruitful blossoms, good works: may it not give thorns for. genial rain, and thus expect the fire instead of the bam! The very Heavens shall praise Thy wondrous works, O Lord: and Thy truth in the congregation of the Saints. The Heavens shall then praise Thy wondrous works, and Thy truth. All that the Heavens proclaim is of Thee, and from Thee: and therefore they preach fearlessly: for they Preachers of the Gospel called * Clouds.'' 245 know Whom they preach of, since they cannot blush for Hiui of Whom they preach.

7. What do the Heavens preach? What shall they praise in the congregation of the saints?

Ver. 6. For who is he among the clouds, who shall be compared unto Thee, Lord! Is this to be the praise of the Heavens, is this to be their rain? What? are the preachers confident, because none among the clouds shall be compared unto the Lord? Does it appear to you, brethren, a high ground of praise, that the clouds cannot be compared with their Creator? If it is taken in its literal, not in its mystical meaning, it is not so: what? are the stars that are above the clouds to be compared with the Lord? what? can the Sun, Moon, Angels, Heavens, be even compared with the Lord? Why is it then that he says, as if he meant some high praise, For who is he among the clouds, that shall be compared unto the Lord? We understand, my brethren, those clouds, as the Heavens, to be the preachers of truth; Prophets, Apostles, the announcers of the word of God; for that all these kinds of preachers are called clouds we learn from that prophecy, where God in His anger against His vineyard said, / will command the clouds that they rain no shower upon it:■ and the meaning of this vine the prophet explains most clearly in the following verse, for the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts isi&. the house of Israel* That you may not understand the vine^' yard otherwise, and missing the men who are signified by it, think of the earth; The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts, he says, is the house of Israel. Let the house of Israel understand that she and no other is My vineyard: that it is she who has given Me thorns instead of grapes, she who has become ungrateful to her Planter and Cultivator, ungrateful to Him that watered her. If then the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, what said He in His anger? I will command the clouds that they rain no more upon it. And so indeed He did: the Apostles were sent like clouds to rain upon the Jews, and when they rejected the word of God, because they yielded thorns for grapes, the Apostles said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, lo, we turn to46' the Gentiles. From that time the clouds ceased to pour rain Our Lord, as Man, a Cloud, not like others. upon that vineyard. If therefore the clouds are the preachers nf tne ti^t}^ let us first enquire why they are clouds. For the same men are Heavens and clouds: Heavens from the brightness of the truth, clouds from the hidden things of the flesh: for all clouds are obscure, owing to their mortality: and they come and go. It is on account of these very obscurities of the flesh, that is, of the clouds, that the Apostle saith, Therefore judge nothing be/ore the time, until the Lord come, Who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness. You see at this moment what a man is saying; but what he has in his heart, you cannot see: what is forced from the cloud, you see, what is kept within the cloud, you see not. For whose eyes pierce the cloud? The clouds therefore are the preachers of the truth in the flesh. The Creator of all things Himself came in the flesh. Bui who is he among the clouds, who shall be compared unto the Lord? and what is he among the sons of God, that shall be like unto the Lord? No one then among the sons of God shall be like unto the Lord. He Himself is called the Son of God, and we are called the sons of God: but who among the sons of God will be like unto the Lord? He is the only Son \ we are many: He is one, we in Him are one: He is born, we are adopted: He is the Son begotten from everlasting according to nature: we are made so in time through grace: He without any sin, we freed from sin by Him. Who, then, among the clouds shall be compared unto the Lord? or what is he among the sons of God, that shall be like unto the Lord? We are called clouds on account of the flesh, and we are preachers of the truth on account of the showers of the clouds: but our flesh comes in one way, His by another. We too are called sons of God, but He is the Son of God in another sense. His cloud comes from a Virgin, He is the Son from eternity, co-eternal2 with the Father. Who is he then among the clouds, that shall he compared unto the Lord? and what is he among the sons of God, that shall be like unto the Lord? Let the Lord Himself say whether He can find one like unto Himself. Whom do men sag that I the Son of Man am? Because I appear, because I am seen, because I walk among you, and perhaps at present I am become common; say, whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? Surely when He was thought but like others by the world. they see a son of man, they see a cloud; but say, Whom do men say that I am? In answer they gave Him the reports of men; Some say that Thou art John the Baptist: some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. Many clouds and sons of God are here mentioned: for because they were righteous and holy, as the sons of God, Jeremias, Elias, and John, are called also sons of God: in their character of preachers of God, they are styled clouds. Ye have said what clouds men imagine Me to be: do ye too say, Whom say ye that I am f Peter replying in behalf of all, one for those who were one1, answered, Thou art the Christ, the1

For who is he among the clouds that shall be compared unto the Lord? and what is he among the sons of God9 that shall be like unto the Lord f " Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God not like those sons of God who are not made equal to Thee: Thou hast come in the flesh: but not as the clouds, who are not to be compared unto Thee.

8. For Who art Thou, to Whom it is answered, Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God: Whom other men not righteous, not holy, supposed he be one of the Prophets, either Elias, or Jeremias, or John the Baptist; Who then art Thou? Hear what follows: (ver. 7.) God is very greatly to be /eared in the counsel of the righteous. Who then is he among the clouds, that shall be compared unto the Lord? or what is he among the sons of God, that shall be like unto the Lord, since that God is very greatly to be feared in the counsel of the righteous? Since they cannot be equal unto Him, let it be their counsel to believe in Him; as they who are clouds and sons of God cannot be His equals, this act of wisdom is left to human weakness, that he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. God is very greatly to be feared^1 in the counsel of the righteous, and to be had in dread of all them that are round about Him. God is every where; who therefore are round about Him, Who*is every where? For if He has some round about Him, He is represented as finite on every side. Moreover, if it is truly said to God2 and of2 God, of His greatness there is no end; who remain, who are.bj^rod' round about Him, except because He Who is every where, chose to be born of the flesh on one spot, to dwell among Son of the living God. one nation, in ene place to be crucified, from one spot to rise again and ascend into Heaven. Where He did this, the Gentiles are round about Him. If He remained where He did these things, He would not be great, and be had in dread of all them that are round about Him; but since He preached when there in such a manner as to send preachers of His own name through all nations over the whole world; by working miracles among his servants, he is become great, and to be had in dread of all them that are round about Him.

9. Ver. 8. O Lord God of Hosts, who is like unto Thee? Thy truth, most mighty Lord, is on every side. Great is Thy power: Thou hast made Heaven and earth, and all things that in them are: but greater still is thy loving-kindness, which has shewn forth Thy truth to all around Thee. For if Thou hadst been preached only on the spot where Thou didst deign to be born, to suffer, to rise again, to ascend; the truth of that promise of God would have been fulfilled, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: but the promise, that the Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy, would not have been fulfilled, had not that truth been explained, and diffused to those around Thee from the spot where Thou didst deign to appear. On that spot Thou didst thunder out of Thy own Cloud: but to scatter rain upon the Gentiles round about, Thou hast sent other clouds. Truly in Thy power hast xhou fulfilled what Thou hast said, " Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of Heaven." Thy truth, most mighty Lord, is on every side.

10. But when Thy truth began to be preached on every side, the heathen furiously raged together, and the people imagined a vain thing: the kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers took counsel together, against the Lord, and against His Anointed. Verily, when Thy truth had begun to be preached in Thy circuit, as if Thou wert coming to marry a wife among the alien-born, the roaring lion meets Thee, and is strangled by Thee. For this was prefigured in Samson: and you, my brethren, would not have applauded these words of mine, before I mentioned Samson by name, unless ye recognised the type; for ye have heard, like men accustomed to the watering of the clouds of God, Thy truth How God rules man's rage, and humbles the proud. 249 then is in the circuit of Tltee. But when without.persecutions, when without opposition, since it is said, that He was born for a sign which shall be spoken against? Since then that nation, where Thou didst deign to be born, and to dwell, was as a land separated from the waves of the heathen, so that it appeared dry and ready for watering with rain, while the. rest of the nations were as a sea in the bitterness of their sterility; what do Thy preachers who scatter Thy truth in circuit of Thee, when the waves of that sea rage furiously? (Ver. 9.) Tliou rulest the power of the sea. For what was the result of the sea raging thus, but the day which we are now keeping holy? It slew Martyrs, scattered seeds of blood, the harvest of the Church sprang up. Safely then let the clouds go forth: let them diffuse Thy truth in circuit of Thee, let them not fear the savage waves. Thou rulest the power of the sea. The sea swells, buffets, and roars: but God is faithful. Who will not suffer you to be tempted beyond what ye are able: and so, Thou stillest the waves thereof when they rise.

11. Lastly, what hast Thou done in the sea itself, to pacify its rage, and to weaken it? (Ver. 10.) Thou hast humbled the proud1 asonethat is wounded. There is a certain proud serpent in the sea, of which another passage of Scripture speaks, I will command the serpent, and he shall bite him; and again,3. There is that Leviathan, whom Thou hast made to mock him, whose head He bruises above the water. Thou, he says,26, hast humbled the proud, as one that is wounded. Thou hast humbled thyself, and the proud was humbled: for the proud held the proud oues through pride: but the great one is humbled, and by believing in Him become small. While the little one is nourished by the example of one who from greatness descended to humility, the devil has lost what he held: because the proud held only the proud. When such an example of humility was displayed before them, men learned to condemn their own prrde, and to imitate the humility of God. Thus also the devil, by losing those whom he had in his power, has even himself been humbled; not chastened, but thrown prostrate. Thou hast humbled the proud like one that is wounded. Thou hast been humbled, and hast humbled others: thou hast been wounded, and hast wounded others: for Thy blood, as it was shed to blot out the handwriting of 250 The creature powerless against God. Thabor and Hermon. sins, could not but wound him. For what was the ground of his pride, except the bond which he held against us. This bond, this handwriting Thou bast blotted out with Thy blood: him therefore hast Thou wounded, from whom Thou hast rescued so many victims. You must understand the devil wounded, not by the piercing of the flesh, which he has not, but by the bruising of his proud heart. Thou hast scattered Thine enemies abroad with Thy mighty arm.

12. Ver. ) 1. The heavens are Thine \ the earth also is Thine. From Thee, over Thy earth, they rain. Thine are the heavens, by whom is preached Thy truth in circuit of Thee; Thine is the earth9 which has received Thy truth in circuit of Thee; and what has resulted from that rain? Thou hast laid the foundation of the round world, and all that therein is. (Ver. 1 2.) Thou hast created the north and the seas. For nothingbas any power against Thee, against its Creator. The world indeed may rage through its own malice, and the perversity of its will; does it nevertheless pass over the bound laid down by the Creator, Who made all things? Why then do I fear the north wind? Why do I fear the seas? In the north indeed is the devil, who said, I will sit in the sides of the north; I will be like the Most High; but Thou hast humbled, as one wounded, the proud one. Thus what Thou hast done in them has more force for Thy dominion, than their own will has for their wickedness. Thou hast created the north and the seas.

J 3. Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Thy name. Those mountains are here understood, but they have a meaning. Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Thy name. Thabor, when interpreted, signifies an approaching light. But whence comes the light of which it is said, Ye are the light of the world, unless from Him concerning Whom it is written, That was the true light, which lighteth every man coming into the world? The light then which is the light of the world comes from that light which is not kindled from any other source, so that there is no fear lest it be extinguished. The light then comes from Him, Who is that candle Which is not set beneath the bushel, but on a candlestick, Thabor the coming light. Hermon means his curse. Justly the light comes and is made the curse of him. Of whom but the devil, the wounded one, the proud one? Our illumination then is given from Thee; that he is held accursed of us, who kept us in his own error and pride, is from Thee. Thabor and Her m on, therefore, shall rejoice, not in their own merits, but in Thy name. For they shall say, Not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but to Thy name give the praise, on account of the raging sea: lest the heathen say, Where is now their Ood?

14. Ver. 13. Thou hast a mighty arm. Let no man arrogate any thing to himself. Thou hast a mighty arm: by Thee we were created, by Thee we have been defended. Thou hast a mighty arm: strong be Thy hand, and high be Thy right hand.

15. Ver. 14. Righteousness and judgment are the preparation of Thy seat. Thy righteousness and judgment will appear in the end: they are now hidden. Of thy righteousness it is treated in another Psalm, " on the hidden things of the Son." There will then be a manifestation of Thy righteousness and judgment: some will be set on the right, others on the left hand: and the unbelieving will tremble, when they see what now they mock at, and believe not: the righteous will rejoice, when they shall see what they now see not, yet believe. Righteousness and judgment are the preparation of Thy seat: especially in the Day of Judgment. What then now? mercy and truth go before Thy face. I should fear the preparation of Thy seat, Thy justice, and Thy coming judgment, did not mercy and truth go before Thee: why should I at the end fear Thy righteousness, when with Thy mercy going before Thee Thou blottest out my sins, and by shewing forth Thy truth fulfillest Thy promises? Mercy and truth go before Thy face. For all the paths qfp9t the Lord are mercy and truth,

16. In all these things shall we not rejoice? or shall we contain our joy? or shall words suffice for our gladness? or shall the tongue be able to express our rejoicing? If therefore no words suffice, (ver. 15.) Blessed is the people, O Lord, that knoweth glad shouting. O blessed people! dost thou conceive aright, dost thou understand, glad shouting? For except thou understand glad shouting, thou canst not be blessed. What do I mean by understanding glad shouting? Whether thou knowest the source of that rejoicing which is beyond words to express. For this joy is not of 252 God's People should know how to shout for joy. thyself, since he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Rej°*ce not tnen m thy own P^e, hut in God's grace. See that that grace is such, that the tongue fails to express its greatness, and then thou understandest glad shouting.

17. Finally, if thou hast understood the jubilant rejoicing in grace, hear the praise of that grace. Blessed indeed is the people, that knoweth glad shouting. See if this joy be not entirely of grace, of God, and not of thyself. They shall walk in the light of Thy countenance, O Lord. That Thabor, the coming light, if he walk not in the light of Thy countenance, is extinguished as a candle by the blast of pride. O Lord, they shall walk in the light of Thy countenance. (Ver. 16.) They shall rejoice in Thy name all the day. That Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Thy name: all day shall they rejoice, if they will, in Thy name; but if they will rejoice in their own name, they shall not rejoice ail day: for they shall not continue in their joy, when they shall delight in themselves, and fall through pride. That they may rejoice all day, therefore, they shall rejoice in Thy name, and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted. Not in their but in Thine: lest they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For some are noted by the Apostle, that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own, and not rejoicing in Thy light, and thus not submitting themselves unto the righteousness of God* And why? because they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. But the people who knoweth glad shouting, (for the former err from want of knowledge, but blessed is the people not that knoweth not, but that knoweth glad shouting,) whence ought it to shout, whence to rejoice, but in Thy name, walking in the light of Thy countenance? And it shall deserve to be exalted, but in Thy righteousness: let every man take away altogether his own righteousness, and be humbled: the righteousness of God shall come, and he shall be exalted, and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted.

18. Ver. 17. For Tftou art the glory of their strength: and in Thy good pleasure Thou shalt lift up our horns: because it has seemed good to Thee, not because we are worthy.

19. Ver. 18. For of the Lord is our taking up. For 1 was moved like a heap of sand, that I might fall; and I should have fallen, had not the Lord taken me up. For of the Lord is (our) taking up; and of the Holy One of Israel our King1. Himself is thy taking up, himself thy illumination: in His light thou art safe, in His light thou walkest, in His righteousness thou art exalted. He took thee up, He guards thy weakness: He gives thee strength of Himself, not of thyself.

20. Ver. 19. Thou spak est sometime in vision unto Thy sons9 and saidst. Thou spakest in Thy vision. Thou didst reveal this to Thy Prophets. For this reason Thou spakest in vision, that is, in revelation: whence Prophets were called seers. They saw something within, which they were to speak without: and secretly they heard what they preached openly. Then Thou spakest in vision unto Thy sons, and saidst, I have laid help upon One that is mighty. Ye understand Who is meant by mighty? I have exalted One chosen out of the people. And Who is meant by chosen? One Who, ye rejoice, is already exalted.

21. Ver. 20. I have found David My servant: that David from David^s seed: with My holy oil have I anointed Him: for it is said of Him, God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.

22. Ver. 21. My hand shall hold Him fast, and My arm shall strengthen Him: because there was a taking up of man; because flesh was assumed in the Virgin's womb, because by Him Who in the form of God is coequal with the Father, the form of a servant was taken, and He became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross.

23. Ver. 22. The enemy shall not be able to do Him violence. The enemy rages indeed: but he shall not be able to do Him violence: he is wont to hurt, but he shall not hurt. How then shall he afflict Him? he will exercise Him, but be shall not hurt Him. There shall be profit in his raging; for those against whom he rages shall be crowned in their conquering. For how is he conquered, if he rages not against us? or where is God our helper, if we fight not? The enemy therefore shall do what is in his power; but he shall not be able to do Him violence: the son of wickedness shall not come nigh to hurt Him.

24. Ver. 23. / will cut in pieces His enemies before His face. They are cut in pieces from their conspiracy, and in that they believe they are cut in pieces; for they believe by degrees; as when the calf s head was ground small, they will come to be the drink of God's people. For Moses ground down the calf s head, and sprinkled it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink it. All the unbelieving are ground: they believe by degrees; and they are drunk by the people of God, and pass into Christ's body. / will cut in pieces His foes before His face: and put to flight them that hate Him. That they hurt Him not. But possibly some of those put to flight say, Whither shall I go then from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I go then from Thy presence7. And seeing that they cannot fly from the Almighty, turning they fly to Him. And I will put to flight them that hate Him.

25. Ver. 24. My truth also and My mercy is with Him. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. Remember, as much as ye can, how often these two attributes are urged upon us, that we render them back to God. For.as He shewed us mercy that He might blot out our sins, and truth in fulfilling His promises; so also we, walking in His path, ought to give back to Him mercy and truth; mercy, in pitying the wretched; truth, in not judging unjustly. Let not truth rob you of mercy, nor mercy hinder truth: for if through mercy you shall have judged contrary to truth, or by rigorous truth shall have forgotten mercy, you will not be walking in the path of God, where " mercy and truth meet together." And in My name shall His horn be exalted. Why should I say more? Ye are Christians, recognise Christ.

26. Ver. 25. / will set His hand also in the sea: that is, He shall rule over the Gentiles; and His right hand in the floods. Rivers run into the sea: avaricious men roll onwards into the bitterness of this world: yet all these kinds of men will be subject to Christ.

27. Ver. 26. He shall call me, Thou art My Father, and the lifter up of My salvation.

Ver. 27. And I will make Him my first-born; higher than the kings of the earth. Our Martyrs, whose birthdays we are celebrating, shed their blood on account of these things, which were believed though not yet seen; how much more brave ought we to be, as we see what they believed? For they had not yet seen Christ raised on high among the kings of the earth: as yet princes were taking counsel together against the Lord and His Anointed: what follows in the same Psalm was not then fulfilled, Be wise now there-?***,*, fore, O ye kings: be learned^ ye that are judges of the earth. Now indeed Christ has been exalted among the kings of the earth.

28. Ver. 28. My mercy will I keep for Him for ever: and my Testament faithful with Him. On His account, the Testament is faithful: in Him the Testament is mediated: He is the Sealer, the Mediator of the Testament, the Surety of the Testament, the Witness of the Testament, the Heritage of the Testament, the Coheir of the Testament.

29. Ver. 29. His seed will I make to endure world without end. Not only for this world, but unto the world without end1: whither His seed, which is His heritage, the^Inseseed of Abraham, which is Christ, will pass. But if ye are^°J? Christ's, ye are also Abraham's seed: and if ye are destined His heirs for ever, He will establish His seed unto world without end: and His throne as the days of Heaven. The thrones of earthly kings are as the days of earth: different are the days of Heaven from those of earth. The days of Heaven are those years of which it is said, Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail. The days of the earth are soon overtaken by their successors: those which precede are shut out from us: nor do those which succeed remain: but they come that they may go, and are almost gone before they are come. Such are the days" of earth. But the days of Heaven, which are also the 4 One day' of Heaven*, andsQxf. the never failing years, have neither beginning nor end: nor is any day there nan-owed between yesterday and to-morrow r< no one there expects the future, nor loses the past: but the days of Heaven are always present, where His throue shall be for ever and ever. Let us, if you please, reserve what remains; since the Psalm is a long one, and we have yet some farther opportunity of speaking with you in Christ's name. Refresh your strength therefore: I do not mean that of your mind, for in mind I see that you are incapable of fatigue; but on account of the slaves of the soul, that your bodies may be sustained in their service, refresh yourselves for a little, and being refreshed return to your meal.