Psalms 138–139 (Vulgate 137–138)

1. The title of this Psalm is brief and simple, and need not detain us; since we know whose resemblance David wore, and since in him we recognise ourselves also, for we too are members of that Body. Let us recognise then herein the voice of the ChuTch, and at the same time let us rejoice that we have been thought worthy to be in her, whose voice we have heard chanting. The whole title is, * To David himself? Let us see then, what is to David himself.

2. / will confess to Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart, The title of the Psalm is wont to tell us what is treated of within it: but in this, since the title informs us not of this, but tells us only to Whom it is chanted, the first verse tells us what is treated of in the whole Psalm, / will con fess to Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart. This confession then let us hear. But first I remind you, that the term confession in Scripture, when we speak of confession to God, is used in two senses, of sin, and of praise. But confession of sin all know, confession of praise few attend to. So well known is confession of sin, that, wherever in Scripture we hear the words, / will confess to Thee, O Lord, or, we will confess to Thee, forthwith, through habitually understanding in this way, our hands hurry to beating our breast: so entirely are men wont not to understand confession to be of ought, save of sin. But was then our Lord Jesus Christ Himself too a sinner, Who saith in the Gospel1, / confess to Tliee, Father, 1 Lord of heaven and earth? He goeth on to say what He MatTn' 178 God hears the voice of the heart, not of the mouth. confesseth, that we might understand His confession to be ^ praise> not 0f sjnj j confess to Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast retreated them unto babes. He praised the Father, He praised God, because He despiseth not the humble, but the proud. And such confession are we now going to hear, of praise of God, of thanksgiving. / will confess to Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart. f_My whole heart 1 lay upon the altar of Thy praise, an whole burnt-offering of praise I offer to Thee. A whole burnt-offering is a sacrifice where the whole is burnt, for the Greek word oXov1 meaneth * whole.' See how he offereth a spiritual whole burnt-offering, who saith, / will confess to Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart. Let the flame of Thy Love, he saith, set on fire my whole heart, let nought in me be left to myself, nought wherein I may look to myself, but may I wholly burn towards Thee, wholly be on fire towards Thee, wholly love Thee, as though set on fire by Thee, / will confess to Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; for Thou hast heard the words of my mouth. What mouth, save my heart? For there have we the voice which God heareth, which ear of man knoweth not at all. They cried aloud indeed who accused Susanna, but lifted not up their eyes to heaven; she was silent, and cried with her heart; wherefore she was thought worthy to be heard, they to be punished. We have then a mouth within, there do we ask, thence do we ask, and if we have prepared a lodging or an house for God, there do we speak, there are we heard. ^e from every one °f us9 for f"w Him we live, and move, and have our being. Nought maketh thee far off from God, save sin only. Cast down the middle wall of sin, and thou art with Him Whom thou askest. Thou hast heard, saith he, the words of my mouth; I will confess to Tliee.

3. And before the Angels will L sing unto Thee. Not before men will I sing, but before the Angels. My song is my joy; but my joy in things below is before men, my joy in things above before the Angels. For the wicked knoweth not the joy of the just: There is no joy, saith my God, to the wicked. The wicked rejoiceth in his tavern, Man, God's Temple. the martyr in his chain. In what did that holy Crispina rejoice, whose festival is kept to-day? She rejoiced when she was being seized, when she was being carried before the judge, when she was being put into prison, when she was being brought forth bound, when she was being lifted up on the scaffold1, when she was being heard, when she was being condemned: in all these things she rejoiced; and the wr^|ches thought her wretched, when she was rejoicing before the Angels.

4. / will worship toward Thy holy Temple. What holy Temple? That where we shall dwell, where we shall worship. For we hasten that we may adore. Our heart is pregnant and cometh to the birth, and seeketh where it may bring forth. What is the place where God is to be worshipped? What world? what building, what abode in heaven and among the stars? We search the holy Scriptures, and find Wisdom saying, / was with Him, I wasProw.8, she before whom He rejoiced daily. Then she telleth us what are His works, and discloseth to us her own abode. When He established the clouds above, when He set apart His abode above the winds. His abode is His Temple. Whither then shall we go? Are we to go above the clouds to worship? If He is worshipped above the clouds, the birds are better than we. But if by the winds we understand souls, I mean souls described under the name of winds, — (just as Scripture saith in a certain place, He came¥*.\s, flying on the wings of wind, that is, on the virtues of souls; whence also the soul is called the breath of God, a sort of wind, not that we should understand thereby the wind7, which we feel as it propels our body, but that by the title thereof may be signified somewhat invisible, which can neither be seen with the eye, nor inhaled by the smell, nor tasted by the palate, nor handled by the hand; a sort of life, that is, whereby we live, which is called ' soul,')— if we understand these to be meant by winds, there is no reason why we should seek visible wings to fly up with the birds to worship at the Temple of God, but we shall find that God sitteth above us ourselves, if we choose to be faithful to Him. See whether it be not so: the Temple of God is holy, saith the Apostle, which Temple ye are. But assuredly, as is manifest, God dwelleth in the Angels. Therefore when our joy, being in spiritual things, not in earthly, taketh up a song to God, to sing before the Angels, that very assembly of Angels is the Temple of God, we worship toward God's Temple. There is a Church below, there is a Church above also: the Church below, in all the faithful; the Church above, in all the Angels. But the God of Angels came down to the Church below, and Angels ministered to Him on yth, while He ministered to us; for, / came not, saith He, to ue ministered unto, but to minister. What hath He ministered to us, save what to-day also we eat and drink? Since then the Lord of Angels hath ministered to us, let us not despair but that we shall be equal to the Angels. For He that is greater than the Angels came down to man; the Creator of the Angels took man's nature upon Him; the Lord of Angels died for man. Therefore, / will worship toward Thy holy Temple; I mean, not the temple made with hands, but that which Thou hast made for Thyself.

5. And I will confess to Thy Name in Thy mercy and Thy truth. In these two we confess, for so it is written in another Psalm also, All the paths of the Lord ar.e mercy and truth. In these two do we confess, in Thy mercy and Thy truth. In Thy mercy Thou lookedst upon the sinner, in Thy truth Thou performedst Thy promise. In Thy mercy, therefore, and Thy truth will I confess to Thee. These also which Thou hast given to me, do I according to my power give to Thee in return: mercy, in aiding other; truth, in judging. By these God aideth us, by these we win God's favour. Rightly, therefore, All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth. No other ways are there whereby He can come to us, no other whereby we can come to Him.

6. For Thou hast magnified Thy holy Name over every thing. What sort of thanksgiving is this, brethren? He hath magnified His holy Name over Abraham; for, Abraham believed upon God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. But all other nations offered sacrifice to idols, served devils. Of Abraham was born Isaac; over that house God was magnified; then Jacob; God was magnified, Who said, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob: then came his twelve sons; We are to pray for heavenly, not earthly, goods. 181 then the people of Israel were freed from Egypt, led through the Red Sea, trained in the wilderness, placed in the promised land, while the Gentiles were driven out. The name of the Lord was magnified over Israel. Then came the Virgin Mary, then Christ our Lord, dying for our sins, rising again for our justification, filling the faithful with His Holy Spirit,26, sending forth men to proclaim throughout the Gentiles, Rejfytt ye, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Behold, He hath magnified His holy Name above all things.

7. In what day soever I call upon Thee, do Thou quickly hear me. Wherefore, quickly? Because Thou hast said, While yet thou art speaking I will say, Lo, here I am. Wherefore, quickly t Because now I seek not earthly happiness, I have learnt holy longing from the New Testament. I seek not earth, nor earthly abundance, nor temporal health, nor the overthrow of my enemies, nor riches, nor rank: nought of these do I seek: therefore quickly hear me. Since Thou hast taught me what to seek, grant what I seek. Let us say to this man, Askest thou ought of this kind? Let us hear, let him speak out his petition, let us see what he seeketh; let us learn of him to seek, that we may be thought worthy to receive. Thou earnest to Church to-day, to ask for somewhat. What think we thou earnest to ask? Thou earnest with thy longing, whatsoever it were; would it may be innocent, yet, even then, carual. Put away iniquity, put away carnal- mindedness: learn what it is thou seekest, take heed what it is thou celebratest. Thou art celebrating the birthday of a holy and blessed woman, and thou art desiring, it may be, earthly happiness. She for her holy longing gave up the happiness which she had on earth, gave up her children who wept and grieved for what they thought their mother's cruelty, that she seemed to have lost earthly pity, when she was hastening to an heavenly crown. Did she not know what she longed for, what she trampled on? Yea verily, she knew how to sing before the Angels of God, and to long for their society, their friendship holy and pure, where she should die no more, where she should know the Judge before Whom no lie could prevail. What then? are there no good things in that life? Yea rather, there are the only good things, not good mixed with evil, safe things, For increase, not in bodily in which thou may est joy as much as thou wilt, and none ^ tQ thee, 'Restrain thyself.' But here to joy in earthly goods is full of vexation and peril, lest thou joy in them so as to cling to them, and by joying amiss, perish. For wherefore doth God mingle tribulations with earthly joys, save that, feeling tribulation and bitterness, we may learn to long for everlasting sweetness?

8. Let us see then what he seeketh, with what right hq£iath said, quickly hear me. For what seekest thou, that thou shouldest quickly be heard? Thou shall multiply me. In many ways may multiplication be understood. There is the multiplication of earthly generation, according to the first blessiug on our nature, which we have heard, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it. Is it thus he willed to be multiplied, who said, quickly hear me? That multiplication clearly is fruitful, and cometh not save of the blessing of the Lord. And what shall I say of other multiplications? One man is multiplied in gold, another in silver, another in cattle, another in slaves, another in lands, another in all these. Many earthly multiplications are there, but more happy than all is that of children, though to avaricious men even fruitfulness is vexatious. For they fear lest if many children be born to them, they will be left poor. And this anxiety hath driven many to unnatural dealing, so that they have forgotten that they were parents, and, stripped of all human affection, have exposed their children, to make them others' children: so that a mother, who gave it birth, has cast out her child; another, who gave it not birth, has taken it up: the first has despised it, the second loved it; the first untruly mother after the flesh, the other more truly in will. Seeing then there be many multiplications, and many kinds of multiplications, what multiplication seeketh he who said, quickly hear me? For he saith, Thou shalt multiply me. We wait to hear, wherein. Hear then: in my soul. Not in my flesh, but in my soul: Thou shalt multiply me in my soul. Is aught further added, lest perchance even multiplication in soul signify not necessarily happiness? For men are multiplied in their soul with cares: a man seemeth to be multiplied in soul, in whom vices even are multiplied. One man is only avaricious; another only proud; another only luxurious; another is both avaricious, and proud, and luxurious, he is multiplied in his soul, but to his hurt. That is the multiplication of want, not of fulness. What then dost thou desire, thou who hast said, quickly hear me, and hast withdrawn thyself entirely from the body, from eveTy earthly thing, from every earthly desire, so as to say to God, Thou shall m^dtiply me in my soul? Explain yet further what thou deSrest. Thou shalt multiply me, saith he, in my soul with virtue. His wish is fully stated, his longing fully stated; it is cut off from all confusion. Were he to say, Thou shalt multiply me, thou mightest think he meant with some earthly things; he added therefore, in my soul. Again, lest thou shouldest think he spoke of vices in the soul, he added, with virtue. Nought further is there which thou mayest long for from God, if thou wishest with a good and honest front to say, quickly hear me.

9. Let all the kings of the earth confess to Thee, O Lord. So shall it be, and so it is, and that daily; and it is shewn that it was not said in vain, save that it was future. Let all the kings of the earth confess to I7iee9 O Lord. But neither let them, when they confess to Thee, when they praise Thee, desire earthly things of Thee. For what shall the kings of the earth desire? Have they not already sovereignty? Whatever more a man desire on earth, sovereignty is the highest point of his desire. What more can he desire? It must needs be some loftier eminence. But perhaps the loftier it is, the more dangerous. And therefore the more exalted kings are in earthly eminence, the more ought they to humble themselves before God. What do they do? Because they have heard all the words of Thy mouth. All the words of Thy mouth, O Lord. In a certain nation were hidden the Law and the Prophets, all the words of Thy mouth: in the Jewish nation alone were all the words of Thy mouth, the nation which the Apostle praiseth, saying, What advantage hath the Jew, or what profit fsRora. there of circumcision? Much every way; chiefly because1' that unto them were committed the oracles of God. These were the words of God. But let us take Gideon, a holy man of the time of the Judges; see what sign he sought of God. / will put, saith he, a fleece of wool in the floor; let the dew ^e on ^e jfeQQQ oniy9 and fai ihe floor be dry. It was done, the fleece alone was wet; the floor was dry. Again he asked a sign, Let the whole floor be wet with dew, and let the fleece alone be dry. This also was done, the floor was wet, while the fleece was dry. First, the fleece wet, the floor dry; then the floor wet, the fleece dry. What think ye, brethren, the floor meaneth? Is it not the world? Vfh&t the fleece? It is like the nation of the Jews in the midsx of the world, which had the grace of sacraments, not indeed openly manifested, but hidden in a cloud, or in a veil, like the dew in the fleece. The time came when the dew was to be manifested in the floor; it was manifested, no longer hidden. So came to pass what was said, Let all the kings of the earth praise Thee, O Lord, for they have heard all the words of T7ty mouth. What is it, Israel, that thou wast hiding? how long didst thou hide it? the fleece hath been wrung out, and the dew hath come forth from thee. Christ alone is the sweetness of dew: Him alone thou recognisest not in Scripture, for Whom Scripture was written. But yet, let all the kings of the earth praise Thee, O Lord, for they have heard all the words of Thy mouth.

10. And let them sing in the paths of the Lord, that great is the glory of the Lord. Let all the kings of the earth sing in the paths of the Lord. In what paths? Those that are spoken of above, in Thy mercy and Tliy truth; for all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. Let not then the kings of the earth be proud, let them be humble* Then let them sing in the ways of the Lord, if they be humble: let them love, and they shall sing. We know travellers that sing; they sing, and hasten to reach the end of their journey. There are evil songs, such as belong to the old man; to the new man belongeth a new song. Let then the kings of the earth too walk in Thy paths, let them walk and sing in Thy paths. Sing what? that great is the glory of the Lord, not of kings.

11. See how he willed that kings should sing on their way, humbly bearing the Lord, not lifting themselves up against the Lord. For if they lift themselves up, what follows? For the Lord is high, and hath respect unto the lowly. Do kings then desire that He have respect unto them? Let them be humble. What then? if they lift themselves up to pride, can they escape His eyes? Lest perchance, because thou hast heard, He hath respect unto the lowly, thou choose to be proud, and say in thy soul, God hath respect unto the lowly, He hath not respect unto me, I will do what I will. For who seeth me? Man cannot see; God willeth not to see me, because I am not lowly, but He hath respect unto the lowly; I do what I will. O foolish one! wouldest thou say this, if thou knewest what thou oughtest to love? Behold, even if God willeth not to see thee, dost thou not fear this very thing, that He willeth not to see thee? If thou salutest oue greater than thyself, thy patron, and he be intent on something else, and see thee not, how doth thy soul grieve? And yet if God see thee not, thinkest thou thyself safe? Thy Saviour seeth thee not, the destroyer seeth thee. Yet God too Himself seeth thee. Think not that thou art not seen; rather pray that thou may est be found worthy to be seen by Him by Whom thou art seen. For it is said, the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous. Because they are not over the unrighteous, let the unrighteous do what they will; the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous. Let him go on yet further; and His ears are open to their prayers. The unrighteous then, who thought themselves safe because the eyes of the Lord were not over them, do not they fear because His ears are not open to their prayers? Were it not better that both His eyes should be over us, and His ears open to our prayers? But when thou doest those things over which thou wishest not the eyes of the Lord to be, thou winnest not indeed by thy prayers the ears of the Lord, and yet thou turnest not away from thee, by doing ill, the eyes of the Lord. For what follows? Great is the glory of the Lord: for the Lord is high, and hath respect unto the lowly: the lofty then, it seemeth, He hath not respect unto, for it is the lowly He respecteth. The lofty — what? He considereth from afar. What then gaineth the proud? To be seen from afar, not to escape being seen. And think not that thou must needs be safe on that account, for that He seeth less clearly, Who seeth thee from afar. For thou indeed seest not clearly, what 1 86 Finding tribulation a test of our love of God. thou seest from afar; God, although He see thee from afar, seetfo tjiee perfectly^ vet js He not with ^hee. This thou gainest, not that thou art less perfectly seen, but that thou art not with Him by Whom thou art seen. But what doth the lowly gain r The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart. Let the proud then lift himself up as much as he will, certainly God dwelleth on high, God is in heaven: wishest thou that He come nigh to thee? Jiimble thyself. For the higher will He be above thee, the more thou liftest thyself up. But the lofty He considereth from afar.

12. If I walk in the midst of tribulation. Thou shalt revive me. True it is: whatsoever tribulation thou art in, confess, call on Him; He freeth thee, He reviveth thee. Here however we ought the better to understand, the more closely we are united to God, and say to Him, quickly hear me. For he had said, T7te lofty He considereth from afar: but the lofty know not tribulation. They know not, I mean, that tribulation of which it is said in another place, / found tribulation and sorrow, and I called on the name of the Lord. For what great thing is it, if tribulation find thee? If thou hast any power, do thou find tribulation. And who is there, thou sayest, who findeth tribulation, or who so much as seeketh it? Art thou in the midst of tribulation, and knowest it not? Is this life small tribulation to thee? If it be not tribulation, it is not wandering: if it be wandering, either thou lovest thy country but little, or else without doubt thou sufferest tribulation. For who does not feel tribulation, that he is not with that which he longs for? Whence then seemeth it not to be tribulation to thee? Because thou lovest not. Love the other life, and thou shalt see that this life is tribulation, whatever prosperity it shine with, whatever delights it abound and overflow with; since not yet have we that joy most safe and free from all temptation, which God reserveth for us in the end, without doubt it is tribulation. Let us understand then what tribulation he meaneth here too, brethren. If I walk in the midst of tribulation, TItou shalt revive me. Not as though he said, 'If perchance there shall any tribulation have befallen me, Thou shalt free me therefrom.' But how God's Hand over us in all. saith he? If I walk in the midst of tribulation, Tliou shalt revive me: that is, otherwise Thou wilt not revive me, unless I walk in the midst of tribulation. If I walk in the midst of tribulation, Thou shalt revive me. Woe to them that laugh. Blessed are they that mourn. If 1 walk in the22'25' midst of tribulation, Thou shall revive me.

13. Thou hast stretched forth Thine hand over the wrath of m\ne enemies, and Thy right hand hath made me safe. Let mine enemies rage: what can they do? They can take my money, strip, proscribe, banish me; afflict me with grief and tortures; at last, if they be allowed, even kill me: can they do aught more? But Thou, O Lord, hast stretched forth Thine hand over the wrath of mine enemies; over that which mine enemies can do, Thou hast stretched forth Thine hand. For mine enemies cannot separate me from Thee: "but Thou avengest me the more, the more Thou as yet delayest; over the wrath of mine enemies, Thou hast stretched forth Thine hand. Let mine enemy rage as he will, he cannot separate me from God: but Thou, O God, as yet receivest me not, as yet weariest me in my wanderings, as yet givest me not Thy joy and sweetness, as yet hast not inebriated me with the plenteousness of Thine house, as yet hast not given me to drink of the torrent oj Thy pleasure. For with Thee is the well of life; in Thy light shall we see light. But, lo! i have given * Thee the first-fruits of my spirit, and have believed in Thee, and with my mind I serve the law of God: yet still we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the re-^ 'demplion of our bodies. This life hath God given to us sinners, wherein also it is needful that Adam be wearied in the sweat and toil of his face, since the earth brought forth to him thorns and thistles. Can any enemy lay more upon him? Thou hast stretched forth Thine hand over the wrath of mine enemies: yet not to make me despair; for it follows, and T7ty right hand hath made me safe.

14. It may be understood in this way also, Thou hast stretched forth Thine hand over the wrath of mine enemies; 188 God sometimes saves from temporal ill, always from eternal. mine enemies were wroth; Thou hast avenged me on mine enemies. The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away. Where be they that said, * Perish the name of Christians from off the earth?' Verily they either die, or are converted. Therefore, Thou hast stretched forth Thine hand over the wrath of mine enemies; while it was said, as is written, Mine enemies speak evil of me; when shall he die, and his name pefish? When shall the name of Christians be blotted out from the earth? While they say this, some believed, some perished, some remained fearful. How greatly did the wrath of the enemy rage, when the blood of the martyrs was being shed! how did they think that they were blotting out the name of Christians from off the earth! Thou hast stretched forth Thine hand over the wrath of mine enemies, and Tliy right hand hath made me safe. Lo! they who persecuted the martyrs seek the memorials of the martyrs, either to worship there, or to be inebriated there: still they seek. T7iou hast stretched forth Thine hand over the wrath of mine enemies, and Thy right hand hath made me safe. According to my longing, Thy right hand hath made me safe. There is one kind of safety on the right hand, another on the left: temporal and carnal safety on the left, everlasting safety with the Angels on the right. Therefore Christ, now that He is placed in immortality, is said to sit on the right hand of God. For God hath not in Himself right hand or left, but by the right hand of God is expressed that happiness, which, since it cannot be shown to the eyes, is thus called. On this right hand of Thine Thou hast made me safe, not after temporal safety. For Crispina was slain: did God then desert her? He made her not safe on the left hand, but He on the right. How great tortures did the Maccabees suffer? But the Three Children, while they walked in the midst of the fire, praised God. The safety of the former was on the right hand, that of the latter on the left too. Sometimes then God saveth not His Saints on the left hand, on the right He always doth. The wicked for the most part He saveth on the left, on the right He doth not save them. For they who persecuted Crispina were sound in body: she was slain, they live: their safety is on the Explanation the money in the fish's mouth. 189 left hand, hers on the right: Thy right hand hath saved

15. Thou, Lord, shalt recompense for me. I recompense not: Thou shalt recompense. Let mine enemies rage their full: Thou shalt recompense what I cannot. Thou, Lord, shalt recompense for me. Observe this in our Head Himself. For He hath left us an example, that we should* follouiHis steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth: Who when He was reviled, reviled not again; saying, Thou, Lord, shall recompense for me. When He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously. What is, Thou, O Lord, shalt recompense for me? I, saith He, seek not Mine own glory; there is one that seeketh and judgeth. Dearly50' beloved, avenge not yourselves, saith the Apostle, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is12' Mine, 1 will repay, saith the Lord. Thou, O Lord, shalt recompense for me.

16. There is here another sense not to be neglected, perhaps even to be preferred. Lord Christ, Thou shalt repay for me. For I, if I repay, have seized; Thou hast paid what Thou bast not seized. Lord, Thou shalt repay for me. Behold Him repaying for us. They came to Him, who exacted tribute: they used to demand as tribute a didrachma, that is, two drachmas for one man; they came to the Lord to pay tribute; or rather, not to Him, but to His disciples, and they said to them, Doth not your Master pay tribute f They came and told Him. Then said He, Of whom do the kings of the earth take tribute, of their own children, or of strangers? They answered, Of strangers. He saith, Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, He saith unto Peter, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a stater, (that is, two didrachmas, for a stater is a weight equivalent to four drachmas,) that take, and give for Me and thee. Thou, Lord, shalt repay for me. Rightly have we the first fish taken by the hook, caught by the hook, the first that riseth from the sea, the First-begotten from the dead. In His mouth we find two didrachmas, that is, four drachmas: in His mouth we find the four Gospels. those four drachmas we are free from the claims of this world, by the four Evangelists we remain no longer debtors; for there the debt of all our sins is paid. He then hath repaid for us, thanks to His mercy. He owed nothing: He repaid not for Himself: He repaid for us. Behold, He saith, the prince of this world cometh, and shall find nothing in Me. What is, shall find nothing in Me^ He shall find no sin in Me: he hath not wherefore he should put Me to death. But that all may know, He saith, that I do the will of My Father: arise, let us go hence. I suffer not of necessity, but of free-will, paying that I owe not. Tliou, Lord, shalt repay for me.

17. Lord, Thy mercy is for everlasting. What should 1 long for? not man's day. / have not toiled from following Thee, Lord, and the day of man have I not desired: Thou knowest. Behold, if the holy martyr Crispina had longed for man's day, she would have denied Christ. Longer would she live here, but for everlasting she would not live. She chose rather to live for everlasting, than for a little longer to live in this world. Finally, Lord, Thy mercy is for everlasting: not for a time only do I desire to be freed. 77/y mercy is for everlasting, wherewith Thou hast freed the martyrs, and so hast quickly taken them from this life. Lord, Thy mercy is for everlasting.

18. Despise not Thou the wvrks of Thine own hands. I say not, Lord, ' despise not the works of my hands:' of mine own works I boast not. / sought, indeed, the Lord with my hands in the night season before Him, and have not been deceived; but yet I praise not the works of mine own hands; I fear lest, when Thou shalt look into them, Thou find more sins in them than deserts. This only I ask, this I say, this I long to obtain, Despise not Thou the works of Thine own hands. Behold in me Thy Work, not mine: for mine if Thou seest, Thou condemnest; Thine, if Thou seest, Thou crownest. For whatever good works there be of mine, from Thee are they to me; and so they are more Thine than mine. For 1 hear from Thine Apostle, By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should The Head and the Body one Christ. boast: for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Therefore whether in regard that we are men, or in regard that we have been changed and justified from our iniquity, Lord, despise not Thou the works of Tltine own hands. % PSALM CXXXIX.

19. We had prepared us a short Psalm, and had desired the reader to chant it; but he, through confusion at the time, as it seems, has substituted another for it. We have chosen to follow the will of God in the reader's mistake, rather than our own will by keeping our purpose. If then through its length we shall detain you somewhat longer than usual, impute it not to us, but believe that God hath willed that we should labour not without fruit. For neither in vain did we receive as our penalty for the first sin, that in the sweat of our face we should eat bread: only take heed that it be bread. But bread it is, if it be Christ. I am, saith He, the living Bread that came down from Heaven. Whom we have manifested in the Gospel, Him let us seek41, in the Prophets also. They see Him not there on whose hearts the veil still remains, whereof ye heard, beloved, yesterday. But forasmuch as for us the evening sacrifice of the Lord's Cross hath rent the veil, so that the secrets of the Temple now lie open, so long as Christ is preached to us, though it be with labour and sweat, yet have we bread given

20. But our Lord Jesus Christ speaketh in the Prophets, sometimes in the character of our Head, that is, Christ Himself, our Saviour, sitting at the right hand of the Father: but He also was for us born of a Virgin, and suffered, as ye know, under Pontius Pilate; by the shedding of His innocent blood, which is our price, He hath redeemed us guilty from the captivity wherein we were held by the devil, forgiving us our trespasses, and with His Blood, which is our price, blotting out the handwriting whereby we were held debtors. He is the Ruler and Spouse and Redeemer of the Church, He our Head. And verily if He be a Head, He hath a Body. But His Body is the Holy Church, which is also His bride; to whom the Apostle saith, Te are the Body 0y Qfojg^ and members in particular. Whole Christ therefore is Head- and Body, like an entire man: for the woman was both made of man and belongeth to man: and it was said of the first marriage, they twain shall he one flesh. But this the Apostle explains as a mystery, that it |ls not said without meaning of those two persons, but because in them was already prefigured Christ and His Church. For thus the Apostle expoundeth it: they twain, saith he, shall be one flesh: this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church. He calls moreover Adam himself the figure of Him that was to come: who is. saith he, the figure of Him that teas to come. If then Adam be the figure of Him that was to come, just as Eve was made from the side of Adam as he slept, so from the Side of the Lord, as He slept, that is, as He was dying in His Passion, and was pierced on the Cross by the spear, flowed forth the Sacraments, whereby the Church was to be formed. For of that same coming Passion of His He speaketh in another Psalm, / laid me down, and slept, and rose up again, for the Lord shall sustain Me. The sleep then raeaneth the Passion. Eve was formed from the side of one sleeping, the Church from the side of One suffering. Our Lord Jesus Christ then speaketh in the Prophets, sometimes in His own Name, sometimes in ours, because He maketh Himself oue with us; as it is said, they twain shall be one flesh. Wherefore also the Lord saith in the Gospel, speaking of marriage, therefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. One flesh, because of our mortality He took flesh; not one divinity, for He is the Creator, we the creature. Whatsoever then our Lord speaketh in the person of the Flesh He took upon Him, belongeth both to that Head which hath already ascended into heaven, and to those members which still toil in their earthly wandering; for which toiling members, when Saul was persecuting them, He cried from heaven, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? Let us hear then our Lord Jesus Christ speaking in prophecy. For the Psalms were sung long before the Lord God both Father and Lord of Christ. 198 was born of Mary, yet not before He was Lord; for from everlasting He was the Creator of all things, but in time He was born of His creature. Let us believe that Godhead, and, so far as we can, understand Him to be equal to the Father. But that Godhead equal to the Father, was made partaker of our mortal nature, not of His own store, but of ours; that we too might be made partakers of His Divine Native, not of our store, but of His.

21. Lord, Thou hasi tried me, and known me. Let thever. Lord Jesus Christ Himself say this; let Him too say, c Lord,' to the Father. For His Father is not His Lord, save because He hath deigned to be born according to the flesh. He is Father of the God, Lord of the Man. Wouldest thou know to whom He is Father? To the coequal Sou. The Apostle saith, Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. To this Form God is Father, the Form equal to Himself, the only-begotten Son, begotten of His Substance. But forasmuch as for our sakes, that we might be re-made, and made partakers of His Divine Nature, being renewed unto life eternal, He was made partaker of our mortal nature, what saith the Apostle of Him, after that he had said, Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God? He saith, yet He emptied Himself, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and was found in fashion as a man. He was in the Form of God, equal to the Father; He took upon Him the form of a servant, so as therein to be less than the Father. Whence He saith both in the Gospel; both, 1 and the Father are one; and, For my Father &j0hnio, greater than 1:1 and the Father are one, according to the^- Form of God; TJie Father is greater than 1, according to the form of a servant. Therefore since He is both Father and Lord, Father of the Form of God, Lord of the form of a servant, let Him then say, and let not us wonder or be offended that the only-begotten Son of God saith it, Lord, Thou hast proved me; and known me. Thou hast proved me, and known me; not because He did not know before, but because He made Him known to others; Thou hast proved me, he saith, and known me. 194 ' Down sitting Confession: ' up-rising J Justification.

22. 7%ow Art*/ known My down-sit ling and Mine up-rising. What here is down-sitting, what up-rising f He who sitteth, humbleth himself. The Lord then sal in His Passion, up-rose in His Resurrection. Thou, he saith, hast known this; that is, Thou hast willed, Thou hast approved; according to Thy will was it done. But if thou choosest to take the words of the Head in the person of the Body, let us too say, Thou hast known my down-sitting and^iine up-rising. For man sitteth when he humbleth himself in penitence, he riseth up when his sins are forgiven, and he is lifted up to the hope of everlasting life. Wherefore it is said also in another Psalm, Rise up after ye have sat down, ye that eat the bread of sorrow. Penitents eat the bread of sorrow; as they sing in another Psalm, saying, My tears have been my meat day and night. What then meaneth, Rise up after ye have sat down? Lift not up yourselves, unless ye have first been humbled. For many wish to rise before they have sat down, they wish to appear righteous, before they have confessed that they are sinners. If then thou take the verse in the person of our Head, understand thus, Thou hast known My down-sitting, and Mine up-rising, that is, My Passion and My Resurrection: if in the person of the Body, Thou hast known my down-sitting and mine up-rising \ before Thine eyes I have confessed my sins, and by Thy grace I have been justified.

23. Thou hast understood my thoughts from afar; Thou hast tracked out my path and my limit; and all my ways Thou hast seen beforehand. What is^ from afar? While I am yet in my pilgrimage, before I reach that, my true country, Thou hast known my thoughts. Consider the younger son in the parable, for he too was made the Body o^ Christ, the Church which came in from the Gentiles. This younger son then had gone into a far country; for a certain father had two sons; the elder had not gone far away, but wrought in his fields, and signifieth the saints under the Law, who did the works and precepts of the Law. But the rest of the human race, which had turned aside to worship idols, had wandered into a far country. What maketh thee so far from Him Who made thee, as the false god which thou hast made for thyself? The younger son then went into a far country, taking with him his substance, and, as we learn in the Gospel, wasted it, living prodigally with harlots; and being in want, he joined himself to a certain great man of that country, who appointed him to feed his swine; and he would fain have filled himself with the husks they eat, and could not. After his toil and suffering and tribulation and want, he thought on his father, ancLdesired to return, and said, / will arise, and go to my father. I will arise, said he, for before he had sat. Here then thou mayest recognise him saying, Thou hast known my down-sitting and mine up-rising. I sat, in want; 1 arose, in longing for Thy Bread. Thou hast understood my thoughts from ajar. For far indeed had 1 gone; but where is not He whom I had left? Thou hast understood my thoughts from afar. Wherefore the Lord saith in the Gospel, that his father met him as he was coming. Truly; for he had understood his thoughts from afar. My path and my limit 'thou hast tracked out. M$ path, he saith; what, but a bad path, the path he had walked to leave his Father, as though he could be hid from His eyes when He would punish? nay more, as though he would have been crushed in that want, or been set to feed swine, save* that his Father willed to scourge him afar, that He might receive him again near. So then, like a runaway slave that is caught, when the lawful vengeance of God was following him, that vengeance that punisheth our affections, whithersoever we go, and how far soever we have gone, like a runaway slave, I say, that is caught, he saith, Thou hast tracked out my path and my limit. What is, my path f that by which I have gone. What is, my limit? that whereunto 1 have reached. Thou hast tracked out my path and my limit. That limit of mine, far distant as it was, was not far from Thine eyes. Far had I gone, and yet Thou wast there. Thou hast tracked out my path and my limit.

24. And all my ways Thou hast seen beforehand. He said not, hast seen, but, hast seen beforehand. Before I went by them, before I walked in them, Thou didst see them beforehand; and Thou didst permit me in toil to go my own ways, that, if I desired not to toil, I might return into Thy ways. For there is no deceit in my tongue. Whatver. meant he by this? Lo, I confess to Thee, I have walked |p mjne own Way, I am become far from Thee, I have departed from Thee, with Whom it was well with me, and to my good it was ill with me without Thee. For, had it been well with me without Thee, perchance 1 had been unwilling to return to Thee. So he, confessing his sins, saying that the Body of Christ was justified, not in itself, but by His grace, said, There is no deceit in my tongue*

25. Behold TlioUj Lord, hast known all my last doings, and the ancient ones. Thou hast known my latest doings, when I fed swine; Thou hast known my ancient doings, when I asked of Thee my portion of goods. Ancient doings were the beginnings to me of latest ills: ancient sin, when we fell; latest punishment, when we came into this toilsome and dangerous mortality. And would that this may be latest to us; it will be, if now we will to return. For there is another latest for certain wicked ones, to whom it shall be said, Go ye into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. And we, brethren, have heretofore abandoned God, let it be toil enough to us to have come into this mortality. Remember we our Father's Bread; recollect we the bliss of our Father's Home; delight we not in the husks of swine, the doctrines of devils. Behold Thou, Lord, hast known all my latest doings, and the ancient ones; the latest, whereunto I have come; the ancient, wherein I offended Thee. Thou hast fashioned me, and hast laid Thine hand upon me. Fashioned me, where? In this mortality; now, to the toils whereunto we all are born. For none is boru, but God has fashioned him in his mother's womb; nor is there any creature, whereof God is not the Fashioner. But Thou hast fashioned me in this toil, and laid Thine hand upon me, Thine avenging hand, putting down the proud. For thus healthfully hath He cast down the proud, that He may lift him up humble. Thou hast fashioned me, and laid

Thine hand upon me.

8. Thy skill hath displayed itself wonderf ully in me: it hath waxed mighty: I shall not be able to attain unto it. Listen now and hear somewhat, which is obscure indeed, yet bringeth uo small pleasure in the understanding thereof. Moses, the holy servant of God, with whom God spake by a cloud, — God speaks through human means. 197 for, speaking after human fashion, He must needs speak to His servant through some work of His hands which He assumed, that is, not by His own substance, but by some bodily work of His hands which He assumed, that through it those words might be spoken, and sound in human and mortal ears; for thus did God speak then, not as He speaketh in His own substance. For how doth He speak in His own sub^mce? The Word of God is God's speech: and the Word of God is Christ: that Word soundeth not and then passeth away 3 but ever unchangeably remaineth the Word, by Whom all things were made. To which Word (for He is also the Wisdom of God) it is said, Thou shall change them, and they shall be changed, but Thou art the same; and in another place where Scripture is speaking of Wisdom it saitb, remaining in herself she maketh all things new; that abiding Wisdom then, if we may even say abiding; (but it is such because He changeth not, not because He moveth not;) and that ever continueth in the same way, never varying in place or time, in no place otherwise than in any other place; at no time otherwise than in all other time; He is the Speech of God. But the speech which was addressed to Moses, being addressed to man, was by syllables, by passing sounds; and they would not be, had not God assumed one of the works of His hand, such as might utter such discourse and words — holy Moses, I say, knew that that speech of God was uttered by means of certain corporeal works of God's hand which He assumed, and he longed and desired to see the true appearance of God, and said to God, Who was conversing with him, If now I have found grace in Thy sight, shew me Thyself When this he desired vehemently, and would extort from God in that sort of friendly familiarity, if we may so speak, wherewith God deigned to treat him, that he might see His Glory and His Face, in such wise as we can speak of God's Face, He said unto him, Thou canst not see My Face; for no one hath seen My Face, and lived; but I will place thee in a clift of the rock, and will pass by, and will set My hand upon thee; and when I have passed by, thou shalt see My back parts. And from these words there ariseth another enigma, that is, an obscure figure of the truth. When I have passed by, aaith God, thou shall see My hack parts; as though He hath on one side His face, on another His back. Far be it from us to have any such thoughts of that Majesty! For whoso hath such thoughts of God, what advantageth it him that the temples are closed? He is building an idol in his own heart. In these words then are mighty mysteries. The Lord spake, as I said, by one of the works of His hand, what He would say to^His servant. Thereby was meant the Person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Himself; Who according to the form of God indeed, wherein He is equal to the Father, is equally with the Father invisible to eye of man. For if human wisdom cannot be seen with the eye, can the Virtue and Wisdom of God be seen by eye of flesh? But forasmuch as the Lord was about to take flesh in due time, so as to appear even to fleshly eyes, that healthfully He might cure the soul within, since thus it was needful that He should appear, foretelling this, He saith to Moses in a figure, Thou canst not see My Face, but thou shall see My back parts, when I have passed by thee* But that thou mayest not see My Face, My Hand shall be upon thee. What was * to pass by' to the Lord, save what the Evangelist saith, But when the hour was come, that Jesus should pass from this world to the Father? For ' Pascha' signifieth passing over; for what iu Hebrew is expressed by the word 6 Pascha,' in Latin is interpreted i transitusV What is, Thou shall not see Face, but thou shall see My back parts? Whom did Moses personify when it was said to him, Thou shalt not see My Face, but thou shalt see My back parts, and that when I have passed by: but that thou mayest not see My Face, I will lay My Hand upon thee. By His Face He meant His former estate, and in a manner by His back parts, His passing from this world by His Passion. He, appeared to the Jews, they knew Him not. Them Moses personified when it was said to him, Thou canst not see My Face. But whence was it that they saw not the Lord in the flesh? Because the Hand was heavy on them. For of them had Esaias said, Make the heart of this people fat, and their eyes heavy. And they say in another Psalm,

Thy Hand is heavy upon me. So that they might not then perceive the divinity of Christ, (/or had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory, and if the Lord had not been crucified, His Blood would not have redeemed the world,) what did the Lord, but what the Apostle called the depth of the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God; where he crieth out, O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His jud^ienls, and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been His counsellor? or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed to him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to Whom be glory for ever and ever. This the Apostle saith, because above he had said, Blindness in part is happened to Israel, that the fulness of the Gentiles might come in, and so all Israel might be26' saved. The Jews then were blinded in part, as their pride deserved, because they called themselves righteous; and, being blinded, they crucified the Lord. He laid His Hand upon them that they might not see Him, while He passed by, that is, from this world to the Father. Let us see whether after He had passed by, they saw His back parts. The Lord rose again, appeared to His disciples, and to all who had up to this time believed on Him; not to those by whom He was crucified, because upon them He had laid His Hand while He passed by. Then He ascended into heaven, after He had tarried forty days with His disciples. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, He sent unto them His Holy Spirit. They, filled with the Holy Spirit, began to speak in all men's tongues, who had been born in one, and had learnt one alone. Thousands of those who had crucified the Lord were amazed and astonished at so great a miracle; pricked to the heart at so great a miracle, they sought counsel of the Apostles, what they should do, when Christ was preached to them, wondering whence it came that unlearned men spake in every tongue. When then the Apostle Peter preached to them Christ, Whom they had despised on the Cross, Whom as a mortal man they had mocked, Whom they insulted because He came not down from the Cross, whereas surely it was a much greater thing to rise from the dead, as He did, than to come down from the Cross; — when then he preached to them Christ, they said, What shall we do? They who had raged against the Lord, Whom they saw, now seek counsel how they may be saved; and it is said to them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ, and your sins shall be forgiven you. Behold, they saw the back parts of Him, Whose face they could not see. For His Hand was upon their eyes, not for ever, but while He passeA by. After He had passed, He took away His Hand from Their eyes. When the Hand was taken from their eyes, they say to the disciples, What shall we do? At first they are fierce, afterwards loving; at first angry, afterwards fearful; at first hard, then pleasaut; at first blind, then enlightened.

9. 1 think that we may also recognise in this Psalm the same kind of words of the Gentiles, remembering their unbelief. For God hath concluded all in unbelief, (hat He might have mercy on all. Thou hast fashioned me, and laid Thine Hand upon me. Thy knowledge is made wonderful from me; it hath waxed mighty, I shall not be able to attain unto it. Thou hast, as it were, laid Thine Hand upon me: Thou hast been made wonderful unlo me, 1 comprehend Thee not, with Whom I was. How easy to me was the countenance of my Father, when I said, Give me the portion of goods that fallelh to me. Behold now that I have gone infco a far country, and am crushed with hunger, difficult is it to me, and toil is before my eyes; I cannot perceive what 1 have abandoned. For Thy knowledge, saith he, is made wonderful from me. From my sin came it to pass, that it was made wonderful to me, and was incomprehensible to me. For easy was it to me to contemplate Thee, when I had not through pride left Thee. Thy knowledge is made wonderful from me; it hath waxed mighty; I shall not be able to attain unlo it, that is, from myself I shall not be able to attain to it from myself When then 1 shall be able, not, save of Thee, shall I be able.

10. Behold thou findest that the runaway in a far country cannot escape His eyes, from Whom he fleeth. And whither can he go now, whose limit is tracked out? Behold, what saith he? Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? for the Spirit of the Lord Jilleth the earth. Who can in the world flee from that Spirit, with Whom the world is filled? Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit, and whither shall I Jlee from Thy Face? He seeketh a place whither to flee from the wrath of God. What place will shelter God's runaway? Men who shelter runaways, ask them from whom they have fled; and when they find any one a slave of some master less powerful than themselves, him they shelter as it were ^ithout any fear, saying in their hearts, ' he hath not a master by whom he can be tracked out.' But when they are told of a powerful master, they either shelter not, or they shelter with great fear, because even a powerful man can be deceived. Where is God not? Who can deceive God? Whom doth not God see? From whom doth not God demand His runaway? Whither then shall that runaway go from the Face of God? He turneth him hither and thither, as though seeking a spot to flee to.

11. If I go up, saith he, to heaven, Thou art there: if /ver. go down to hell, Thou art present. At length, miserable runaway, thou hast learnt, that by no means canst thou make thyself far from Him, from Whom thou hast wished to remove far away. Behold, He is every where; thou, whither wilt thou go? He hath found counsel, and that inspired by Him, Who now deigneth to recall him. If I go up to heaven, Thou art there: if 1 go down to hell, Thou art present. If I lift myself up, 1 find Thee pressing me down,; if I hide myself, I find Thee seeking me, and not only seeking me, but also tracking me out. For if I pride myself on my righteousness, Thou art there, Whose is true righte* ousness. If by sinning 1 go down to the depths of wickednesses, and spurn to confess, saying, * Who seeth me,' for in hell who shall confess to Thee? there also Thou art present, to punish. Whither then shall I go that I may flee from Thy presence, that is, not find Thee angry?

12. This plan he found: So will I flee, saith he, from Thy Face, so will I flee from Thy Spirit; from Thy avenging Spirit, Thy avenging Face thus will 1 flee. How? If 1^ take again my wings right forward, and abide in the utmost parts of the sea. So can I flee from Thy Face. If he will flee to the utmost part of the sea from the Face of God, will not He from Whom he fleeth be there, He of Whom he said, If I go down to hell, Thou art present? Strange, if He be not in the utmost parts of the sea, Who not even in hell is absent. But I know, saith he, how 1 may flee from Thy wrath. I must take again my wings, not an erring course but right forward, that I neither be lifted up to proud presumption, nor be sunk down to abandoned despair. What wings will he take again, save the pinions, the two precepts of love, on which two&commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets? These wings, saith he, these pinions, if 1 thus take again to me, and abide in the utmost parts of the sea, I can flee from Thy Face to Thy Face; from Thy Face in anger, to Thy Face appeased. For what are the utmost parts of Ihe sea, but the end of the world? Thither let us now flee in hope and longing, with the wings of twofold love; let us have no rest, save in the utmost parts of the sea. For if elsewhere we wish for rest, we shall be hurled headlong into the sea. Let us fly even to the ends of the sea, let us bear ourselves aloft on the wings of twofold love; meanwhile let us flee to God in hope, and in faithful hope let us meditate on that end of the sea.

13. Now listen who may bring us thither. The very same One whose face in wrath we wish to flee from. For what followeth f If I go down into hell, Thou art present: if I take again my wings right forward, and abide in the utmost parts of the sea, even thither shall Thy hand conduct me, and Thy right hand lead me. This let us meditate on, beloved brethren, let this be our hope, this our consolation. Let us take again through love the wings we lost through lust. For lust was the lime of our wings, it dashed us down from the freedom of our sky, that is, the free breezes of the Spirit of God. Thence dashed down we lost our wings, and were, so to speak, imprisoued in the power of the fowler; thence He redeemed us with His Blood, Whom we fled from to be caught. He maketh us wings of His commandments; we raise them aloft now free from lime. Let us not love the sea, but fly to the utmost parts of the sea. Let none be afraid, yet let none presume on his wings; for, winged though we be, unless Fie conduct us, we are thrown headlong into the depths of the sea, worn out and tired, Christ makes our darkness light. presuming as it were on our own strength. Needs then must we have wings, and needs must He conduct us, for He is our Helper. We have free-will; but even with that free-will what can we do, unless He help us Whocommandeth us. For thither shall TJiy Hand conduct me, and Thy right Hand guide me.

14. And considering the length of the way, what said he to himself? And I said, Peradventure the darkness shall overJ^fielm me* Lo, now 1 have believed in Christ, now am I wafted aloft on the wings of twofold love, and the iniquity of this world aboundeth, and because iniquity aboundeth, the love of many waxeth cold. In this life amid so many offences, so many sins, so many troubles ' of daily temptations, daily evil suggestions, what do I f saith he. How shall I come to the utmost parts of the sea? He addeth, he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved, Regarding the length of the way, 1 said to myself, Peradventure the darkness shall overwhelm me. And the night was light in my delight. The night was made to me light, because in the night I despaired of being able to cross so great a sea, to surmount so long a journey, to reach the utmost parts by persevering to the end. Thanks to Him Who sought me when a runaway, who smote my back with strokes of the scourge, who by calling me re-called me from destruction, who made my night light. For it is night so long as we are passing through this life. How was the night made light? Because Christ came down into the night. Christ took flesh in this world, and enlightened for us the night. For the woman in the parable when she had lost a drachma, lighted a candle. The wisdom of God had lost a drachma. What is a drachma? A piece of money whereon was the image of our king. For man was made in the image of God, and had perished. And what did the wise woman? She lighted a lamp. A lamp is made of clay, yet has light, whereby the drachma may be found. The lamp of wisdom then, the Flesh of Christ, is made of clay, yet shines with His Word, finds the lost. And night was made light in my delight. Night was made delight to" me. Our delight is Christ. See how now we delight in Him. Those shouts of yours, that joy of yours, whence are they from our delight? and whence is that delight, save that our W e must confess our sins, not defend them. night is enlightened, save that unto us Christ the Lord is ' preached? For He sought you before ye sought Him, and found you before ye found Him. And night was made light in my delight.

15. For darkness shall not be darkened by Thee. Do not thou then darken thy darkness; God darkeneth it not, but eulighteneth it yet more; for to Hiin is said in another Psalm, Thou, Lord, shall light my candle: my God^hall enlighten my darkness. But who are they who darken their darkness, which God darkeneth not? Evil men, perverse men; when they sin, verily they are darkness; when they confess not their sins which, they have committed, but go on to defend them, they darken their darkness. Wherefore now if thou hast sinned, thou art in darkness, but by confessing thy darkness thou shalt obtain to have thy darkness lightened; by defending thy darkness, thou shalt darken thy darkness. And where wilt thou escape from double darkness, who wast in difficulty in single darkness? Tn what sense then doth the Lord not darken our darkness? Because he suffereth us not to hare our sins unpunished, he scourgeth us in these toils, and disciplineth us. Know, my brethren, that all this misery of mankind in which the world groaneth, is medicinal pain, not penal sentence. Ye see that every where is pain, every where fear, every where need, every where toils. Avarice increaseth, but amid evils. If for this purpose God here disciplineth us with such scourges, that our darkness may not be darkened, let us acknowledge that we are under the punishment of the scourge, and let us bless God, Who mingleth bitternesses with the sweetness of this earthly life, lest, blinded by the enjoyment of temporal delights, we long not for everlasting delights, nor be willing that the sea come to end, or ourselves to dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. Let then the waves of the sea rage: the more the waves of the sea rage, the more does the dove soar with her wings. God then darkeneth not our darkness, because He mingleth scourges with our sins, and bitternesses with our evil delights. Let us not darken our darkness by defending our sins, and (he night shall be light in our delight. For darkness shall not be darkened by Thee. And be indifferent to things of this world.

16. And night shall he lightened as the day. Night, as the day. Day to us is worldly prosperity, night adversity in this world: but, if we learn that it is by the desert of our sins that we suffer adversities, and our Father's scourges are sweet to us, that the Judge's sentence may not be bitter to us, so shall we find the darkness of this night to be, as it were, the light of this night. If it is night, how is there light^here? It is night, because here mankind wander; it is night because not yet have we reached the true day, the day not straitened by yesterday and to-morrow, the day everlasting, without rising, without setting. Here then it is night, but this night has a sort of light and darkness of its own. Why it is altogether night, we have said; but what is the light of this night? Prosperity and happiness of this world, temporal joy, temporal honour, are, as it were, the light of this night. But adversity, and the bitterness of tribulations and lovvness of station, these are, as it were, the darkness of this night. In this night, in this mortal condition of human life, men have darkness; their light prosperity, adversity their darkness. But when Christ our Lord has come, and has dwelt in the soul by faith, and promised other light, and inspired and given patience, and warned a man not to delight in prosperity or to be crushed by adversity, the man, bein# faithful, begins to treat this world with indifference; not to be lilted up when prosperity befalls him, nor crushed when adversity, but in all things to praise God, not only when he aboundeth, but also when he loseth; not only when he is in health, but also when he is sick; so that in his mouth that strain is true, / will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall be ever in my mouth. If then ever, both when this night is bright, and when it is dark; when prosperity smiles upon thee, and when adversity is sad; if ever His praise be in thy mouth, then shall it also be to thee according to what is next said, As is His darkness, so is also His light. His darkness overwhelms me not, because His light lifts me not up.

17. Behold, thou hast its light in Job: he had abundance of every thing. First is described the light of his night, in his riches. In proportion to the greatness of the goods, and the store he possessed in abundance, was the light of his night. The enemy thought that such an one as he worshipped God only because He had given him all these things, and asked that they might be taken from him. Then his night became darkness, which before had light. Still he knew that, whether it were darkness or light, it was night, wherein he was wandering in a far country, away from his God, and he had his God Himself as an inward Light, and thatMnner Light made him indifferent, whether it were darkness m this night, or light. And as in the light of this night, that is, in the midst of abundance, he worshipped God, when all was taken from him, when his night was made darkness, said he? The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; as it hath pleased the Lord, so hath it happened; blessed be the Name of the Lord. I am, so to speak, in the night of this life: my Lord dwelleth in my heart, He enlightened that night for me with certain comforts, when He gave me abundance of temporal goods; now He hath withdrawn that temporal light, and the night is, as it were, darkened. But since, as is His darkness, so is His light also; the Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so bath it happened; blessed be the Name of the Lord. I am not sad in this night, for as is His darkness, so is also His light; both pass away; so that they which rejoice are as though they rejoiced not, and they that weep as though they wept not; for, as is His darkness, so is also His light.

18. For Thou, O Lord, hast possessed my reins. Not without reason, as is His darkness, so is also His light. The Possessor is within; He occupieth not only the heart, but also the reins; not only the thoughts, but also the delights: He then possesseth that whence I should feel delight at any light in this world: He occupieth my reins: I know not delight, save from the inward light of His Wisdom. What then? Dost thou not delight that thy affairs are very prosperous, times fortunate to thee? dost thou not delight in honour, in riches, in thy family? 'I do not,' saith he. Wherefore? Because as is His darkness, so is also His light. Whence hast thou this indifference, that as is His darkness to thee, so is also His light? Whence? Because Thou hast possessed my reins, O Lord; Tltou hast taken me up from my mothers womb. While I was in my - mother's womb, I did not regard with indifference the darkness of that night and the light of that night. For my mother's womb is the custom of my city. What city is that? That which first gave us birth in captivity. We know that Babylon, whereof we spoke yesterday, from whence all go forthfcnrho believe in and sigh for the true light, the heavenly Jerusalem. Therefore have I said, From my mother's womb was I taken up by the Lord, thence are the darkness and light of this night become indifferent to me. But he that is in the womb of that mother, Babylon, joys in the prosperity of this world, is crushed by the adversity of this world, knows not to rejoice, unless some temporal prosperity befall him; knows not to be saddened, unless some temporal adversity befall him. Now come forth from the womb of Babylon, begin to sing a song to the Lord; come forth and be born: God shall take thee up from thy mother's womb. What God? That God of the Apostle Paul, who said, But when it pleased God, Who separated me from my mother's womb, to reveal His Son in me. For who was his mother? The Synagogue. And what had he learnt there, save what the Jews themselves, the people itself, had and had learnt? The name of God's praise had remained in them, but there were not found in them deeds: there were in them the words of God, as leaves on a tree: the fruit was no where. Such a fig-tree, as ye know, the Lord when He found, withered away with a curse, for He found thereon leaves, but fruit He did not find. Some tree He was speaking of in a figure to us. For the time of figs was not yet: what all men knew, did the Maker of earth and sky not know? He therefore, Who separated Paul from his mother's womb, hath also separated us from our mother's womb. And who is our mother? Babylon. Being then taken up from that womb, let us now begin to entertain other hopes. He hath promised, brethren, that wherein ye may rejoice: now bring forth fruit, being set in other hopes. Now know no ill, save to offend God, and so not to be brought to those things which He promise th. What of the goods of this world, and the ills of this world? Let us regard them with indifference; for now, having been taken up from the womb ' of that our mother, we look on them with indifference, and say, As is His darkness, so is also His light. Neither doth earthly prosperity make us happy, nor earthly" adversity wretched. We must maintain righteousness, love faith, hope in God, love God, love our neighbours also. After these toils we shall have unfailing light, day without setting. Fleeting is all the light and darkness of this night.l For Thou, Lord, hast possessed my reins: Thou hast taken me up from my mother's womb.

19. / u ill confess to Thee, O Lord, for terribly hast Thou been made wonderful. Terribly hast Thou been made wonderful: in the very fact that we wonder at Thee, Thou art terrible, we rejoice with trembling. For we fear lest, being puffed up with pride at Thy gifts, we be punished by the loss of what we have gained by humility. / will confess to Thee, O Lord, for terribly hast Thou been made wonderful: wondrous are Thy works, and my soul k no teeth it right well. Now my soul knoweth it right well, because Thou hast taken me up from my mother's womb; but aforetime Thy knowledge was made wonderful from me, it had waxed great * nor could I attain unto it. From me then it had waxed great, nor could I attain unto it. Whence doth my soul now know right well, save because the night is light in my delight? save because Thy grace hath come unto me, and enlightened my darkness? save because Thou hast possessed my reins? save because Thou hast taken me up from my mother's womb?

20. My bone is not hid from Thee, which Thou hast made in secret. His bone, he saith. What the people call 'ossum,' is in Latin called 6 os.' This is the word in the Greek1. For we might think the word 'os' is here the one which makes in the plural i ora,' not ' os' short, which makes 6 ossa.' He saith then, my bone is not hid from TJiee, which Thou hast made in secret. 1 have a certain bone in secret (oss^um). For this word let us prefer to use; better is it that scholars find fault with us, than that the people understand us not. * There is then,' saith he, *a certain bone of mine, within, hidden; Thou hast made within a bone for me in secret, yet is it not hidden from Thee. In secret hast Thou made it, The hidden strength of Christ's members. but hast Thou therefore hidden it from Thyself? This my bone made by Thee in secret men see not, men know not: Thou knowest, Who hast made. What bone then meaneth he, brethren? Let us seek it, it is in secret. But because as Christians we are speaking in the Name of the Lord to Christians, now we find what bone is of this kind. It is a sort of inward strength; for strength and fortitude are und^stood to -be in the bones. There is then a sort of inward strength of the soul, wherein it is not broken. Whatever tortures, whatever tribulations, whatever adversities rage around, that which God hath made strong in secret in us, cannot be broken, yieldeth not. For by God is made a certain strength of patience, of which is said in another Psalm, But my soul shall be subjected to GW,ps.62,6. for of Him is my patience. Observe too the Apostle Paul, how he hath within him this kind of strength. As sorrowful, saith he, yet alway rejoicing. Whence, as sorrowful £10' From insults, reproaches, persecutions, scourgings, stripes, stonings, imprisonment, chains. Who would not think them wretched in all these? Nay, their very persecutors would not so rage against them, did they not think that they were made wretched by their persecutions. For from their own weakness did they guess at them, not having themselves a bone hidden within; but they who had, to men without indeed seemed sad, yet within rejoiced to God, from Whom their bone was not hidden, which He Himself had made in secret. And the same Apostle Paul discloseth to us this bone made in secret by God, in these words, ' AndRom.5, not only so, but we even glory in tribulation? Is it too3, small a thing that thou art not sad, but dost thou glory also? Let it suffice thee not to be sad. Too small a thing it is, saith he, to Christians; such a bone hath He made for me in secret, that it is too small a thing for me not to be crushed, if I glory not also. Wherein dost thou glory f In tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience. See how that strength is fashioned within in his heart: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost WJiich is given unto us. So is fashioned and made strong that hidden bone, that it maketh us even to g]orv;n tribulations. But to men we seem wretched, because that which we have within is hidden from them. My bone is not hid from Thee, which Thou hast made in secret, and my substance is in the lower parts of the mrth. Behold, in flesh is my substance, in the lower parts of the earth is my substance; yet have I a bone within, which Thou hast fashioned, such as to cause me never to yield if any persecutions of this lower region, where still my subsxance is. For what great matter is it, if an Angel be brave? This is a great matter, if flesh is brave. And whence is flesh brave, whence is an earthen vessel brave, save because in it is made a bone in secret? And my substance is in the lower parts of the earth.

21. What of them who are less strong? For, as I have already brought to your notice, it is Christ that speaketh. But many things are spoken in the person of the Body, hear now somewhat in the person of the Head; and that, not as though He maketh distinction, so as to introduce the person now of the Head, now of the Body. For if he make distinction, he in a manner divideth, and so there will not be two in one flesh. But if there be two in one flesh, wonder not if there be two in one voice. When our Lord Jesus Christ suffered, His disciples had not yet that inward bone, not yet had their strength of patience been made strong; and they knew not themselves, knew not their own strength, and Peter dared to promise to share his Lord's Passion even unto death: the sick man knew not himself, but the Physician knew the sick man. What was the result? / will go with Thee, saith he, even unto death. Verily I say unto thee, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice. The answer of the Physician proved truer than the presumption of the sick man. Of those then he saith, 6 My bone is not hidden from Thee, which Thou hast made in secret] in whom is this bone made strong within; especially the strength of endurance in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who when He willed lay down, when He willed rose again; when He willed, slept, when He willed, awoke; for, / have power, saith He, to lay My life down, and I have power to take it again. What Yet they must strive to amend them. of them in whom this strength was not fashioned and established? what saith He of them? See what He saith to God His Father. Thine eyes did see My imperfect one. My imperfect one, My Peter, promising and denying, presuming and failing; yet Thine eyes saw him. For because the Lord Himself turned and looked on him, as it is written in the Gospel, at length after the third denial he remembered whaAthe Lord had foretold to him, and went out and wept bitteny; that weeping was at God's looking upon him, for, Mine imperfect one, saith He, Thine eyes did see. For he, imperfect, stumbling at his Lord's Passion, without doubt would have perished, but that Thine eyes saw him, and not him only, but all too who were imperfect, till they were strengthened by Christ's resurrection. For it was made plain to their eyes that that had not perished in their Lord which had died, and so that bone was made for them in secret, so that now they did not even fear to die themselves. Thine eyes did see Mine imperfect one, and in Thy book shall all be written, not only the perfect, but also the imperfect. Let not the imperfect fear, only let them advance. Nor yet, because I have said, 6 let them not fear,' let them love their imperfection, and remain there, where they are found. Let them advance, as far as in them lieth. Daily let them add, daily let them approach; yet let them not fall back from the Body of the Lord: that, compacted in one Body and among these members, they may be counted worthy to have that said of them, Thine eyes did see My imperfect one, and in Thy book shall all be written.

22. By day shall they wander, and none among them. The Day was yet on earth, even our Lord Jesus Christ. Whence He said, Walk while ye have the Day. But by day shall His imperfect ones wander. They too thought that our35. Lord Jesus Christ was only man, that He had not within Him the bidden Godhead, that He was not secretly God, but that He was that only which was seen: this they too thought. For even Peter himself, (for of him especially we speak, in whom is set forth to us also a pattern that we despair not of our weakness,) even Peter had said to the Lord, when He asked whom men said that He was, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And the Lord had said to him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My p(^ner wh{cn (g in heaven. Wherefore? Because he has called Him the Son of God. Then, but a little after, in the same place, in the same conversation, the Lord began to speak of His coming Passion. Then did that same Peter, who already had confessed Him to be the Son of God, fear lest He should die like a son of man. He was the Son of God, He was also the Son of man; Son of God, in the Jorm of God, equal to the Father; Son of man, in the fornf of a servant, wherein He is inferior to the Father. Doubtless He was destined to come to His Passion in the form of a servant; why did Peter fear that in the form of a servant the Form of God would perish, and not rather presume that through the Form of God the form of a servant would live again? He saith to Him, That be far from Thee, Lord; skall not be unto Thee. And the Lord, Who had called him blessed in those former words, now saith, Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Before, because he had said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, it was said to him, Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father Which is in heaven: therefore art thou a stone, therefore blessed. But now, because not from the Father's revelation, but from the flesh's weakness he had answered, he is called Satan. Thou savourest not, He says, the things that be of God, but those that be of men. And this was Christ, my brethren; He had walked among them, He had commanded the winds, He had walked on the waters before their eyes, before their eyes He had raised one who had been four days dead, before their eyes He had done all those great miracles, and yet they were amazed at His Passion, as though they had lost Him, on Whom they had in vain trusted. But by day shall they wander, and none among9, them. No one whatever; not even he who had said, / will go with Thee even unto death. For He had unto them, The hour cometh, that ye shall leave Me alone, and go every one his own way; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. The Father was with Him, and He with the Father; the Father in Him, and He Yet afterwards converted the world in His Name. 213 in the Father; He and the Father were one; yet feared they when He died. Wherefore, save because in the day they wandered, and there was. no one in them. In the day they shall wander, and none among them.

23. But what is, In the day they shall wander? Shall they perish? Where then is, Thine eyes did see My imperfect one, and in Thy book shall all be written f When then ^id they wander in the day f When they understood not the Lord set upon earth. And what followeth? But to me Thy friends are made very honourable, O God; those very ones, who wandered in the day, and none was in them, became Thy friends, and were made very honourable to me. That bone was made in them in secret after the resurrection of the Lord, and they suffered for His Name, at whose death they had been amazed. To me Thy friends are made very honourable, O God, mightily strengthened were their chieftainships. They became Apostles, they became leaders of the Church, they became rams leading their flocks, mightily strengthened were their chieftainships.

24. / will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand. By means of them, who wandered in the day, and there was none in them, lo! there has been born all this great multitude, which now is like the sand innumerable, save by God. For He said, they shall be multiplied above the sand, and yet He had said, I will number them. The very same who are numbered, shall be multiplied above the sand. For by Him is the sand numbered, by Whom the very hairs of our head are numbered. I will number them,*0' and they shall be multiplied above the sand.

25. / have risen, and yet am I with Thee. What is, / hare risen, and yet am I with Thee? Already have I suffered, saith He, already have I been buried; lo! I have risen, and not yet do they understand that 1 am with them. Yet am I with Tliee, that is, not yet with them, for not yet do they recognise Me. For thus do we read in the Gospel, that after the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, when He appeared to them, they did not at once know Him. There is another meaning also: / have risen, and yet am I with Thee9 as though He would signify this present time, wherein he is as yet hidden at the right hand of the Father, before He is revealed in the brightness, wherein He shall CQme tQ jU(jge the quick and the dead.

26. And then He telleth what meanwhile, during this whole time when He already has risen, and remaineth still with the Father, He suffereth by the intermixture of sinners in His Body, the Church, and by the separation of heretics. Thou, O God, shall slay the sinners, since Thou shall say in Thy thought, Depart from Me, ye men of blootj they shall receive in vanity their cities. The words seem to be connected in this order; If Thou, O God, shall slay the sinners, they shall receive in vanity their cities. For in this way doth He mean them to be understood to be slain, when by pride, whereby they are puffed up, they lose the grace whereby they live. For the holy spirit of discipline will Jlee deceit^ and remove from thoughts that are without understanding. Thus are sinners slain, because, having their understandings darkened) they are alienated from the life of God. For on account of elation they lose confession, and so they are slain, and in them is fulfilled what Scripture saith, Confession perisheth from the dead, as from one that is not. And so they receive in vanity their cities, that is, their vain peoples, who follow their vanity; when, puffed up by the name of righteousness, they persuade men to burst the bond of unity, and blindly and ignorantly follow them, as being more righteous. And because it is hence for the most part that they find an occasion for separating from the unity of Christ, namely, by accusing evil men, with whom they pretend that they are unwilling to hold communion; and because it is possible that they not only disparage the guiltless, whom they pretend to flee from as wicked, but also say truth of some wicked men, like unto themselves, whom the wheat of Christ, preserving the bond of unity, groaneth; therefore He hath inserted, Because Thou shalt say in Thy thought, Depart from Me, ye men of blood, they shall receive in vanity their cities: that is, therefore they shall draw away to their own schism their peoples, to corrupt them with their vanity, because Thou in Thy thought shalt say, Depart from Me, ye men of blood: in order, that is, that sinners, slain in the spirit as the due reward of their pride, may therefore receive their cities, that The Church not partaker of the guilt of wicked members. 2 1 5 is, their peoples, into vanity, that is, may draw them away by separation into the vanity of error; and offended, as it were, by the intermixture of the chaff, may break unity, and abandon the wheat; because He warneth the wheat, that is, good and faithful men, that before the winnowing, which is to be at the end, it separate not itself openly from the bad, lest it abandon the good that are still mingled with them; but ^y good conversation, and contrariety of life, it, in a manner, say silently to them, Depart from Me, ye men of btood. For this he saith to them by the Voice of God, which Voice is in thought, as God speaketh it in the thought of His holy people. For who are men of blood, save they who hate their brethren? As John saith, He who hateth* his brother, is a murderer* The slain sinners then not understanding this, how God saith to the wicked in the thought of the good, Depart from Me, ye men of blood, find fault with them for holding communion with wicked men, and, separating themselves on the ground of these false charges, receive in vanity their cities. This saying, which now in the thought of the good is said to the wicked, will be openly said in that day when it shall be said to them by our Head Himself, / never knew you: depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity.

27. But now the Body of Christ, the Church, saith, Why do the proud speak falsely against me, as though I were stained by other men's sins, and so, by separating themselves, receive in vanity their cities? Have not I hated those who hated Thee, Lord? Why do those who are worse themselves require of me to separate myself in body as well as spirit from the wicked, so as to root up the wheat, together with the tares, before the time of harvest, that before the time of winnowing I lose my power of enduring the chaff; that before all the different sorts of fishes are brought to the end of the world, as to the shore, to be separated, I tear the nets of peace and unity? Are the sacraments which 1 receive, those of evil men? Do I, by consent, communicate in their life and deeds? Have not I hated those who hated Thee, Lord, and at Thine enemies wasted away? When the zeal of Thine honse eat me, did I not see the senseless ones, and waste away? Did not horror take hold of me, because of the wicked that forsake Thy law? For who are Thine enemies, save they who by their life declare how they hate Thy law? These then when I hated, why do they who receive in vanity their cities, falsely accuse me, as though their sins could be laid to my charge, whom I hated, and at whom I wasted away with zeal for the Lord's house? But where is, Love your enemies? Is it because He said yours, not * God's?' Do good to them that hate you. He saith not, 6 who hate God/ So he follcmreth the pattern, and saith, Have not I hated those who hated Thee, Lord? He saith not, ' Who have hated me.' And at Thine enemies did I waste away. Thine, he said, not * mine.' But those who hate us and are enemies unto us, only because we serve Him, what else do they but hate Him, and are His enemies. Ought we then to love such enemies as these? Or do not they suffer persecution for God's sake, to whom it is said, Pray for them that persecute you? Observe then what folio weth.

"28. With a perfect hatred did I hate them. What is, with a perfect hatred? I hated in them their iniquities, I loved Thy creation. This it is to hate with a perfect hatred, that neither on account of the vices thou hate the men, nor on account of the men love the vices. For see what he addeth, They became mine enemies. Not only as God's enemies, but as his own too doth he now describe them. How then will he fulfil in them both his own saying, Have not I hated those that hated Thee, Lord, and the Lord's command, Love your enemies? How will he fulfil this, save with that perfect hatred, that he hate in them that they are wicked, and love that they are men? For in the time even of the Old Testament, when the carnal people was restrained by visible punishments, how did Moses, the servant of God, who by understanding belonged to the New Testament, how did he hate sinners when he prayed for them, or how did he not hate them when he slew them, save that he hated them with a perfect hatred? For with such perfection did he hate the iniquity which he punished, as to love the manhood for which he prayed.

29. Since then the Body of Christ is in the end to be severed in body also from the unholy and wicked, but now To appeal to God, and bear with meanwhile groaneth among them, and since those slain sinners falsely accusing the good for holding communion with the wicked, and separating themselves more and more from the good and innocent, on the ground of these wicked ones, so receive in vanity their cities, that many wicked still remain who follow them not in their separation, but continue intermingled as before, for the good to endure unto Ae end, what amongst them doeth the Body of Christ, bringing forth fruit with patience, an hundred, or sixty, or thirty-fold? What doeth the love of Christ among the daughters, as the lily among thorns? What are her words? what her conscience? what is the appearance of the king* 8 daughter within? Lo, hear what she saith. Prove me, O God, and know my heart. Do Thou, O God, Thou prove me, Thou know; not man, not an heretic, who neither knoweth how to prove, nor can know my heart, whereas Thou provest, and knowest that I consent not to the deeds of the wicked, while they think that I can be defiled by the sins of others; so that, while I in my long wandering do what I mourn in another Psalm, that is, while I labour for peace among them that hate peace, until I come to that Vision of peace, which is called Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all, the city eternal in the heavens; they, contending, and falsely accusing and separating themselves, may receive, not, evidently, in eternity, but in vanity, their cities. Prove me, then, my God, and know my heart; search me, and learn my paths. Why this? Observe what followeth.

30. And see, saith he, if there be any way of wickedness in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Search, he saith, my paths, that is, my counsels and thoughts; and see if there be any way of wickedness in me, either by act or consent; and lead me in the way everlasting. What else saith he, but Mead me in Christ?' For who is the way everlasting, save He that is the Life everlasting? For everlasting is He Who said, I am the Way, and the Truth, mdJohni4, the Life. If then thou findest any thing in my way which displeaseth Thine eyes, since my way is mortal, do Thou lead me in the way everlasting, wherein is no iniquity; for even if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He is the propitiation far2 the presence of wicked men in the Church. our sins; He is the Way everlasting without sin; He is the Life everlasting without punishment

31. These are great mysteries, brethren. How doth the Spirit of God speak with us? how doth it make us delights in this night? What is this, we ask you, brethren, whence are they sweeter, the darker they are? He mixeth us our potion after His love, in certain wondrous ways. He maketh His own sayings wondrous, so that while w^were speaking what ye already knew, yet forasmuch as it was dug out of passages which seemed obscure, the knowledge itself seemed to be made new. Did ye not know, brethren, that the wicked are to be tolerated in the Church, and schisms not to be made? Did ye not already know, that within those nets which hold both good and bad fishes, we must abide even to the shore, nor must the nets be burst, because on the shore the good shall be separated into vessels, and the bad thrown away? Ye know this already; but these verses of this Psalm ye did not understand: that which ye did not understand is explained; that which ye knew has been renewed. Sermon to the people, in the presence of an assembly of Bishops.

32. Oor Lords have bidden me, brethren, and in them the Lord of all, to bring this Psalm to your understanding, so far as God giveth me to. May He help your prayers, that I may say those things which I ought to say, ye to hear, that to all of us the Word of God may be profitable. For all it doth not profit, for all have not faith. But faith in the soul is like a good root, which turneth the rain to fruit; false faith, and devilish error, and evil desire, are the root of all evil, like the root of thorns, turning even the sweet rain into prickles.

33. What this Psalm containeth, I believe that ye perceived when it was being chanted; for therein the Church of Christ, set in the midst of the wicked, complaincth and groaneth, and poureth out prayer to God. For her voice is in every such prophecy the voice of one in need and want,