Psalm 145 (Vulgate 144)

Christ the Son of David and Lord of David. 315 praise Him. And since His Spirit in His servants praiseth Him, what doeth He but praise Himself? So then this Psalm beginneth thus:

2. / will exalt Thee, my God. my King; and I will bless Thy Name for the age, and age upon age. Ye see that the praise of God is here begun, and this praise is carried on even to the end of the Psalm. Finally, the title is, Praise, to Dafpd himself Praise to Christ Himself. And since He is called David, Who came to us of the seed of David, yet He was our King, ruling us, and bringing us into His kingdom, therefore Praise to David himself is understood to mean, Praise to Christ Himself. Christ according to the flesh is David, because He is the Son of David: but according to His Dirine Nature He is the Creator of David, and Lord of David. Finally, the Apostle too, when he would pay honour to the former people of God, out of whom both the Apostles themselves, beloved, and many of the first Churches came, doing in many thousands of men, what just now in the Gospel one rich man heard, and went away sorrowful, that is, selling all that they had, and distributing to the poor, and seeking perfection in the Lord; — when he would praise, I say, that former people, he thus saith, Whose are the fathers, and of whom as pertaining to the Jlesh Christ came, Who is over all, God blessed for ever.5' So because Christ is of them, as pertaining to the flesh, therefore is He David: but because He is over all, God blessed for ever, therefore, / will exalt Thee, saith he, my God, my King; and I will bless Thy Name for the age, and for age upon age. Perhaps for the age meaneth here, for age upon age, for ever. Now then begin to praise, if thou intendest to praise for ever. He who will not praise in this transitory age, will be silent when age upon age has come. Accordingly in the following verses he hath said nearly this.

3. But lest any oue should in any otherwise also understand what he saith, / will praise Tlty Name for the age, and should seek another age, wherein to praise, he saith, Every day will I bless Thee. Praise then and bless the*er. Lord thy God every day, that when single days have passed, and there has come one day without end, thou mayest go from praise to praise, as from strength to strength. Every day, he saith, / will bless Thee: no day shall pass by, wherein I bless Thee not. And it is no wonder, if in thy day of joy thou bless the Lord. What if perchance some day of sorrow hath dawned on thee, as is natural in the circumstances of our mortal nature, as there is abundance of offences, as temptations are multiplied; what, if something sad befall thee, a man; wilt thou cease to praise God f wilt thou cease to bless thy Creator? If thou cease, thoj hast lied in saying, every day will I bless Thee, O Lord. But if thou cease not, although it seem to thee to be ill with thee in. the day of thy sorrow, yet in thy God it shall be well with thee. For the»e are cases where it is well with thee, even when it is ill with thee. For if in any evil it is ill with thee, without doubt in any good it is well with thee. And what so good as thy God, of Whom it is said, None is good save One, that is, God. For how safe it is to praise thus, and how safe for it to be well with thee thus, thou mayest learn from the very nature of good. For if thou rejoicest at a good which accrueth to thee one day, perchance another day this good whereat thou rejoicest passeth away. * It has been well with me, I have spent a good day;' because perhaps gain has come to thee, or thou hast received an invitation, or sat long at a feast. Thou rejoicest, because thou hast sat long at a feast: another day grieveth thee, because thou hast not had to blush. However, at whatever good of this sort thou rejoicest, at all events it is fleeting. But if thou rejoicest in the Lord thy God, thou shalt hear Scripture saying, Delight thee in the Lord. The more firmly shalt thou rejoice, the more sure He is in Whom thou shalt rejoice. For if thou rejoicest in money, thou fearest the thief; but if thou rejoicest in God, what fearest thou? Lest any take God from thee? None will take God from thee, if thou send Him not from thee. For God is not like the light which shineth in the heavens. We cannot approach to it whensoever we please, for it shineth not in every place. And through our weakness perhaps it cometh to pass, that in winter we delight to be in this light; but now in summer time ye see that we rather seek a spot where we shall not stand in the light. But when thou abidest in thy God, and delightest in the light of His truth, thou seekest not a spot where thou mayest approach Him: but thy conscience approacheth, thy conscience retreateth from Him. That which is said, Approach to Him, and be enlightened, is said to the soul, not to any carriage; it is said to the affections, not to the feet. And when thou abidest in Him, thou shalt suffer no heat. For His Spirit shall breathe on thee, and under His wings thou shalt hope.

4. 'JJhou seest then that thou hast whereof to delight every day. For thy God will not leave thee, even though any thing befall thee. For how sad was that which befell the holy man Job: how sudden, how manifold ills! how wras all in which he wns thought to rejoice, not all in which he did rejoice, withdrawn when the devil assailed him! how did even his sons die! All that he was careful in preserving, perished; all they for whom he was preserving it, perished; yet He perished not, Who gave both the one and the other. And even his sous, though they perished in this world, shall be recognised and received back in the world to come. Yet had that man somewhat else wherein to rejoice; and in him was that true which we have just recited, Every day will I bless Thee: because then the day wherein all perished shone upon him sadly, did therefore the inward light in his heart fail? Nay, he stood in that light, and said, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; as the Lord hath pleased, so hath it been done; blessed be the Name of the Lord. He then praised every day, who even in the day of sorrow praised. It is a short lesson, that thou ever praise God, and with true, not false heart say, / will bless the Lord a/Pg.34,1. all times, His praise shall be ever in my mouth. It is a short lessou: it is in fact to know that He givetfi in mercy, when He givelh; that He taketh away in mercy, when He taketh away: not to believe that thou art abandoned by His mercy, Who either comforteth thee by giving lest thou fail, or punisheth thee when thou art uplifted, lest thou perish. Whether then in His gifts, or in His scourges, do thou praise. The praise of the scourger is the healing of the wound. Every day, saith he, / will bless Thee. My brethren, bless God: what ever happen, bless God. For it is He Who causeth that nothing happen which ye cannot bear. Therefore thou oughtest to be in fear when it is well with thee, and not so to prepare thyself as though thou shouldest never be tried. For if thou art never tried, thou art never proved. Is it not better to be tried and proved, than to be not tried and rejected? And I will praise Thy Name for the age, and for age upon age.

5. Great is the Lord, and very much to be praised. How much was he about to say? what terms was he about to seek? How vast a conception hath he included Jn the one word, very much? Imagine what thou wilt, for how can that be imagined, which cannot be contained? He is very much to be praised, and of His Greatness there is no end; therefore said he very much, because, ef His Greatness there is no end: lest perchance thou begin to wish to praise, and think that thou canst reach the end of His praises, Whose Greatness can have no end. Think not then that He, Whose Greatness has no end, can ever be enough praised by thee. Is it not then better that as He has no end, so neither should thy praise have end? His Greatness is without end; let thy praise also be without end. Of His Greatness what is said? of His Greatness there is no end. Of thy praise what? / will praise Thy Name for the age, and age upon age. Therefore, as of His Greatness there is no end, so of thy praise there shall be no end. For, not even when thou art dead in this flesh, shalt thou cease to praise the Lord. It is said indeed, the dead shall not praise Thee, O Lord; but it is they, of whom it is said, from the dead, as from one that is not, confession perisheth; not they of whom He saith, he that believelh in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. For the God of Abraham, and of 'Isaac, and of Jacob, is not the God of the dead, but of the living. For if thou shalt never be ought but His, thou shalt never be silent from His praise. Will it be possible for thee to fear, lest while thou livest here, thou may est be His, and when thou art dead, not be His? Hear the Apostle promising thee safely: Wliether we live, we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord's. And whence is it, that thou art His, even when dead? Because He redeemed thee with the price of His blood, even by His death. How can He lose His servant, even when dead, Whose death

The 'visible things' of God prove the goodness of all. 819 is thy price? Therefore when he hath said, Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's, that He might set forth the price gj^-jj too, he added, for for this cause Christ died and rose again, 9. that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

6. However, since of His Greatness there is no end, and whom we cannot contain, we ought to praise: (for if we can contain Him, there is an end of His Greatness; but if there be no en^of His Greatness, some part of Him indeed we can contain, but God entirely we caunot contain;) let us, as failing in His Greatness, that we may be refreshed by His Goodness, look to His works, and by His works praise the Worker; by what He hath made, the Maker; by His creation, the Creator. Let us look at what He hath done here, what is well known to us, what is open to our eyes. For how great things besides has His boundless Goodness and illimitable Greatness made, which we do not know! When we lift the gaze of our eyes even to the heaven, and then recall it from sun, moon, and stars to the earth, and there is all this space where our sight can wander; beyond the heavens who can extend the eyesight of his mind, not to say of his flesh? So far then as His works are known to us, let us praise Him through His works. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made. Generation and generation shall praise Thy works. Every generation shall praise Thy works. For perhaps every generation is meant by generation and generation. He did not mean to continue saying, generation and, generation, till he had defined the number of all generations, but the repetition of the speaker led the miud of the thinker to infinity. Behold that generation which now is in the flesh, destined to pass from hence as it came, praiseth the works of God; and that for which it maketh way to succeed, will assuredly praise the works of God; and after that will be another, and unto the end of the world how many generations! This he meant when he said, generation and generation shall praise Thy works. Did he perchance mean to imply two generations by that repetition? For we are in this generation sons of God, we shall be in another generation sons of the Resurrection. Scripture hath called us sons of the Resurrection; the Resurrection itself it hath called Regeneration. In the regeneration, it saith, when the Sort of Man shall be seated 'in His Majesty. So also in another place: For they shall marry, nor be given in marriage, for they are the sons of the Resurrection. Therefore generation and generation shall praise Thy works. We praise the works of the Lord now, while we are in this mortal nature: and if we praised while we are fettered, how shall we praise when we are crgwned? Therefore let us now in this generation observe these works of the Lord, in Whose praise it is said, generation and generation shall praise Thy works, since of Thy Greatness there is no end. It is lawful to gaze on Thy works, that Thou mayest be praised Who doest such works.

7. And they shall tell out Thine excellence. For neither shall they praise Thy works, save in order to tell out Thine excellence. Boys at school are set to praise, and all such things are set before them to be praised, as God hath wrought: a mortal is set to praise the sun, the sky, the earth; to come to even lesser things, to praise a rose, or a laurel; all these are works of God: they are set, they are undertaken, they are praised: the works are lauded, of the Worker they are silent. I desire in the works to praise the Creator: I love not a thankless praiser. Dost thou praise what He hath made, and art silent of Him Who made? In that which thou seest, what is it that thou praisest? The form, the usefulness, some virtue, some power in the things. If beauty delight thee, what is more beautiful than the Maker? If usefulness be praised, ^what more useful than He Who made all things? If excellence be praised, what more excellent than He by Whom all things were made; by Whom too all things when made are not left alone, but are ruled and guided? Not then as some, who though eloquent are mute, since they praise the creature, but forget the Creator; not thus doth generation and generation among Thy servants praise Thee, when it praiseth Thy works. But how doth it praise? And they shall tell out TJiine excellence. In praising Thy works, they shall tell out Thine excellence. Those praisers, faithful men, holy and good, true praisers; not ungrateful for grace, whence they praise this and that of God's works, above or God to be praised for manifold attributes. 32 1 below, in heaven or in earth, among those works of God which they praise find themselves also, for they too are among the works of God. For He Who made all things, made us too among all things. Accordingly, if thou praisest the works of God, thou wilt have to praise thyself too, for thou too art a work of God. Where then is, Let not thine own mouth praise thee? Behold, a way is found whereby thou mayest praise thyself too, yet not be arrogant. Praise God in thee, not thyself: not because thou art what thou art, but because He made thee so; not because thou canst do any thing, but because He can do in thee and through thee. And by this means they shall praise Thee, and tell out Thine excellence; not theirs,but Thine. Learn then to praise: gazing on the works, admire the Maker; by giving thanks, not by claiming ought as thine. Praise Him, because He bath made, because He hath thus ordered, because He hath given such things.

8. Finally, see what followeth: They shall tell out Thine excellence, saith he, and they shall speak of the magnificence of the glory of Thy Holiness, and shall record Thy wondrous deeds. And the excellence of Thy fearful works shall they speak of; and Thy greatness, they shall relate it. The remembrance of the abundance of 77iy sweetness they shall pour forth: none but Thine. See whether this man, meditating on Thy works, hath turned aside from the Worker to the work: see whether he hath sunk from Him Who made, to the things which He made. Of the things which He hath made, he hath made a step up to Him, not a descent from Him to them..For if tfcou love these more than Him, thou wilt not have Him. And what profit is it to thee to overflow with the works, if the Worker leave thee? Truly thou shouldest love them; but love Him more, and love them for His sake. Tell out His excellence; speak of the mag* nificence of the glory of His Holiness; recount His wondrous works; tell of the excellence of His terrible deeds. For He doth not hold out promises, without holding out threats also: if He held out no promises, there would be no encouragement; if He held out no threats, there would be no correction. They that praise Thee therefore shall speak also of the excellence of Thy terrible deeds; the excellence of that work of Thy hands which punisheth and administereth discipline, they shall speak of, they shall not be silent: for they shall not proclaim Thine everlasting kingdom, and be silent about Thine everlasting fire. For the praise of God, setting thee in the way, ought to shew thee both what thou shouldest love, and what thou shouldest fear; what thou shouldest seek, and what thou shouldest shun; what thou shouldest choose, and what thou shouldest avoid. The time of choice is now, the time of receiving will be hejeafter. Let then the excellence of Thy terrible things be told. And Thy greatness, they shall recount it. Unlimited as it is, though of Thy greatness there is no end, they shall not be silent about it. That Thy greatness, of which I had said above, and of Thy greatness there is no end, that they shall recount. How shall they recount it, if there is no end of it? They shall recount it when they praise it; and because there is no end of it, so of His praise also there shall be no end. Let us prove that of His praise there shall be no end. Blessed, saith the Psalmist, who dwell in Thy house; they mill be alway praising Thee. And Thy greatness, that, that boundless greatness, they shall recount it.

9. The remembrance of the abundance of Thy sweetness they shall pour forth. O happy feasts! What shall they eat, who thus shall pour forth! The remembrance of the abundance of Thy sweetness. What is, the remembrance of the abundance of Thy sweetness? Because Thou didst not forget us, when we had forgotten Thee. For all flesh had forgotten God, but He forgat not His own works. This remembrance of His concerning us, in that He /orgat us not, is to be proclaimed, is to be told out; and because it is very sweet, it is to be eaten, and poured forth again. So eat, that thou mayest pour forth again; so receive, that thou mayest give. Thou eatest, when thou learnest; thou pourest forth again, when thou teachest: thou eatest, when thou hearest; thou pourest forth again, when thou preachest; but that thou pourest forth, which thou hast first eaten. Finally, that most eager feaster John, to whom the very table of the Lord sufficed not, unless he leaned on the Lord's breast, and of his inmost heart drank in divine secrets; what did he pour forth? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. The remembrance, therefore, of the abundance of TftysweetAll good comes from GooVs Grace. ness they shall pour forth. How is it that it sufficeth not to say, Thy remembrance; or, the remembrance of Thine abundance; or, the remembrance of Thy sweetness; but, the remembrance of the abundance of Thy sweetness? Because, what availeth it if it be abundant, yet not sweet? So also it is annoying if it be sweet but too little.

10. Therefore, the remembrance of the abundance of Thy sweetness they shall pour forth: because Thou didst not forget us, and not forgetting, didst warn us, that Thou mightest'bring us also to recollection. For all the ends o/Pb. the earth shall remember themselves, and be turned unto27' the Lord. Because then they shall pour forth the remembrance of the abundance of Thy sweetness, understanding that there is nought of good in themselves, which cometh not from Thee, and that they could not turn to Thee, unless they were warned by Thee, and that they could not be brought back to Thy recollection, if Thou forgattest them; considering these things by Thy grace, they shall also exult in Thy righteousness. Considering, I say, these things by Thy grace, they shall also exult in Thy righteousness, not in their own. Brethren, if ye wish to give forth grace, drink in grace. What is, drink in grace? Learn grace, understand grace. We, before we were, were not at all; and we were made men, when before we were nothing. And then when we were made men, from the stock of the first sinner we were also wicked, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Observe we then the grace of God, not only whereby He made, but also whereby He re-made us. To Whom therefore we owe that we are, to Him we also owe that we are justified. Let none seem to attribute to God that he is, and to himself that bto is just. For better is that which thou wouldest attribute to thyself, than what thou wouldest attribute to Him. For it is a better thing that thou art righteous, than that thou art a man. Thou givest that which is lower to God, that which is higher to thyself. Give all to Him, in all praise Him: so wouldest thou not fall from the hand of thy Maker. Who made thee to be? Is it not written, that God took dust from the ground, and with it made man? Before thou wast man, thou wast dust; before thou wast dust, thou wast ' nothing. But give not thanks to thy Maker for this making alone; hear also another making, wherein He made thee. Not of works, saith Paul, lest any one should boast. But what said he? Not of works, lest any one should boast: what said he before this? By grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of y ourselves. These are the words of the Apostle, not mine, by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that, namely, that ye should be saved through faith, not of yourselves^ Although the verj word which he had used, by grace, is clearly not of yourselves, yet he chose to set forth this still more plainly. Give me one that understandeth, and he hath said all. By grace are ye saved: wheri^hou hearest by grace9 understand 6 gratis.' If then it be gratis, thou hast wrought nothing #f thine own, hast merited nothing. For if ought is to be repaid to merits, it is reward, not grace. By grace, saith he, ye are saved, through faith. Explain this yet more clearly, on account of the arrogant; on account of the self-complacent; on account of those who are ignorant of the righteousness of God, and desire to establish their own. Hear this same thing yet more openly: and this, that ye are saved by grace, is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. But we too perhaps have done somewhat, to earn the gifts of God. Not of works, saith he, lest any should boast. What then? do we no good works? Yes, we do. But how? By Him working in us: for by faith we give place in our hearts to Him, Who in us and through us doeth good works. For hear whence it is that thou doest good works: for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, that we should walk in them. That is the abundant sweetness of His remembrance with regard to us. By uttering forth this, His preachers shall exult in His righteousness, not in their own. What then hast Thou done unto us, O Lord, Whom we praise, that we should be, that we should praise, that we should exult in Thy righteousness, that we should utter forth the remembrance of the abundance of Thy sweetness 9 Let us tell it, and, as we tell, let us praise.

11. Merciful and pitiful is the Lord; long suffering, and very merciful. Sweet is the Lord to all, and His compassions reach into all His works. Were He not such as this, there would be no seeking to recover us. Consider thyself: what The greatness of His Mercy. didst thou deserve, O sinner? Despiser of God, what didst thou deserve? See if ought occur to thee but penalty, if ought occur to thee but punishment Thou seest then what was due to thee, and what He hath given, Who gave gratis. There was given pardon to the sinner; there was given the spirit of justification; there was given charity and love, wherein thou mayest do all good works; and beyond this, He wil%ive thee also life everlasting, and fellowship with the angels: all of His mercy. Boast not at all of thine own merits, for thy very merits are His gifts. And in Thy righteousness they shall exult. Merciful ayd pitiful is the Lord; Thou Who hast done all gratis. Long suffering; for how great siriners doth He bear with. Merciful and pitiful is the Tjordy toward those to whom He hath given pardon: toward those to whom as yet he hath not given, long suffering; not condemning, but waiting, by His very waiting crying out, Turn ye unto Me, and I will turn to you: and in exceeding long suffering; / will not, saith He, the deafh3^&l of a sinner, but rather that he return, and live. He indeed is long suffering; but thou, after thy hardness andf™\m unpenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, Who shall render to every man according to his deeds. For He is not so long suffering now in enduring, as that He will never be righteous in punishing. He divideth the times: now He calleth thee; now He exhorteth thee: He waiteth till thou come to thyself; and dost thou tarry? Great is His mercy, in this too, that He hath made the days of thy life uncertain to thee, that thou shouldest not know when thou art to depart hence $ and so, while thou daily lookest to depart, shouldest at length turn to Him; in this too, great is His mercy. But if He had fixed the day for all, He would make sins to abound by men's security. He. gave thee hope of pardon, that thou mightest not by despairing sin more. Both hope and despair are to be feared in sins. Behold the voice of one who despairs, so as to increase his sins; and behold the voice of one who hopeth, so as to increase his sins; and see how the Providence and the Mercy of God meeteth each. Hear the voice of one who despaireth: * Now,' saith he, 6 1 must be damned; why Presumption and despair equally deadly. should I not do whatsoever I will?' Hear too the voice of one who hopeth: 4 Great is the mercy of the Lord^ whensoever I turn to Him, He will forgive me all: why should not I do whatsoever I will?' The one despairs, so as to sin; the other hopes, so as to sin. Both are to be feared, both are perilous: woe, because of despair! woe, because of hope! How doth the mercy of God meet both these perils, both these evils? What sayest thou, who through despair didst choose to sin? f Now 1 must be damned: why should I not do whatsoever I will?' Hear the Scripture: / will not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn, and live. By these words of God, he is brought back to hope; but there is another snare to be feared,* lest through this very hope he sin the more. What then didst thou also say, thou who through hope sinnest yet more? 6 Whensoever I turn, God will forgive me all; I will do whatsoever I will.' Hear thou also the Scripture: Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord, neither put off from day to day: for suddenly shall His wrath come forth, and in the time of vengeance He shall destroy thee. Say not then, ' To-morrow I will turn, to-morrow I will please God; and all to-day's and yesterday's deeds shall be forgiven me.' Thou sayest true: God hath promised pardon to thy conversion; He hath not promised a to-morrow to thy delay.

12. Sweet is the Lord to all, and His compassions are over all His works. Why then doth He condemn? why doth He scourge? Are not they whom He condemneth, whom He scourgeth, His works? Plainly they are. And wilt thou know how His compassions are over all His works? Thence is that long suffering, whereby He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good. Are not His compassions over all His works, Who sendeth rain upon the just and upon the unjust? Are not His compassions over all His works? In His long suffering He waiteth the sinner, saying, Turn ye to Me, and I will turn to you. Are not His compassions over all His works? And when He saith, Go ye into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, this is not His compassion, but His severity. His compassion is given to His works: His severity is not over His works, but over thy works. Lastly, if thou remove thine own evil works, and there remain in thee nought but His work, His compassion will not leave thee: but if thou leavest not thy works, there will be severity over thy works, not over His works.

1 3. Let all Thy works, O Lord, confess to Thee, and let Thy saints bless Thee. Let all Thy works confess to Tfiee. How so? Is not the earth His work? Are not the trees His w^ork? Cattle, beasts, fish, fowl, are not they His works? Plainly they too are. And how shall these too confess to Him? I see indeed in the angels that His works confess to Him, for the angels are His works: and men are His works; and when men confess to Him, His works confess to Him; but have trees and fftones the voice of confession? Yes, verily; let all His works confess to Him. What sayest thou? even the earth and the trees? All His works. If all praise, how do not all confess? For confession is said not only of sin, but of praise also: lest perchance, wherever ye hear ' confession,' ye think that it is of nought, save of sin. For so entirely is this thought, that whenever it soundeth in the word of God, forthwith it is the habit to beat the breast. Hear that there is confession of praise too. Had our Lord Jesus Christ any sin? And yet He saith, /Mat.n, confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth.25' There is confession then in praise. Accordingly, how shall we take, let all Thy works confess to Thee, O Lord? Let all Thy works praise Thee. But there ariseth the same question in regard of praise, as in regard of confession. For if earth and all things devoid of sensation therefore cannot confess, because they have no voice to confess with; neither will they be able to praise, because they have no voice to proclaim with. But do not those Three Children enumerate all things, as they walked amid the harmless flames, who had leisure not only not to fear, but even to praise God? They say to all things, heavenly and earthly, Bless ye the Lord, praise Him, and magnify Him for ever. Behold how they praise. Let none think that the dumb stone or dumb animal hath reason wherewith to comprehend God. They who have thought this, have erred far from the truth. God hath ordered every thing, and made every thing: to some He hath given sense and understanding and immortality, as to the angels; to some He hath given sense and understanding with mortality, as to man; to some He hath given bodily sense, yet gave them not understanding, or immortality, as to cattle: to some He hath given neither sense, nor understanding, nor immortality, as to herbs, trees, stones: yet even these cannot be wanting in their kind, and by certain degrees He hath ordered His creation, from earth up to heaven, from visible to invisible, from mortal to immortal. #This framework of creation, this most perfectly ordered beauty, ascending from lowest to highest, descending from highest to lowest, never broken, but tempered together of things unlike, all praiseth God. Wherefore then doth all praise God? Because when thou considerest it, and seest its beauty, thou in it praisest God. The beauty of the earth is a kind of voice of the dumb earth. Thou observest and seest its beauty, thou seest its fruitfulness, thou seest its strength, how it receiveth seed, how it often bringeth forth •what is not sown; thou seest this, and by thy consideration of it, thou, as it were, questionest it; thy very inquiry into it, is questioning it. But when thou hast inquired into it in thine admiration, and hast searched it out, and hast discovered its mighty strength, and great beauty, and surpassing excellence, since it could not of itself and in itself have this excellence, it forthwith cometh into thy mind, that it could not be of itself, without Him, the Creator. And this which thou hast found in it, is the very voice of its confession, that thou praise the Creator. When thou hast thought on the universal beauty of this world* doth not its very beauty as it were with one voice answer thee, 1 1 made not myself, God made me?'

14. Therefore let all Thy works confess to Tliee, O Lord, and let Thy saints bless Thee. That in confession of Thy works Thy saints may bless Thee, let Thy saints look into Thy creation confessing. And hear Thou their voice when they bless Thee. For when Thy saints bless Thee, what say they? They shall tell the glory of Thy kingdom, and talk of Thy Power. How powerful is God, Who hath made the earth! how powerful is God, Who hath filled the earth with good things! how powerful is God, Who hath given to the animals each its own life! how powerful is God, The surpassing beauty of God's Creation. Who hath given different seeds to the womb of the earth, that they might make to spring up such various shoots, such beautiful trees! how powerful, how great is God! Do thou ask, creation answereth, and by its answer, as by the confession of the creature, thou, O saint of God, blessest God, and talkest of Hie power,

15. That they may make known to the sons of men Thy power, find the glory of the greatness of the beauty of Thy kingdom. Thy saints then commend the glory of the greatness of the beauty of Thy kingdom, the glory of the greatness of its beauty. There is a certain greatness of the beauty of Thy kingdom: that is, Thy kingdom hath beauty, and great beauty. Since whatever hath beauty, hath beauty from Thee, how great beauty hath Thy whole kingdom! Let not the kingdom frighten us: it hath beauty also, wherewith to delight us. For what is that beauty, which the saints shall hereafter enjoy, to whom it shall be said, Come, ye blessed of My Father, enjoy the kingdom? Whence shall they come? whither shall they come? Behold, bre-34, thren, and, if ye can, as far as ye can, think of the beauty of that kingdom which is t6 come; whence our prayer 8aith, Thy kingdom come. For that kingdom we desire may come, that kingdom the saints proclaim to be coming. Observe this world: it is beautiful. How beautiful are earth, sea, air, heavens, stars. Do not all these frighten him who considered) them r Is not the beauty of them so conspicuous, that it seemeth as though nothing more beautiful could be found? And here, in this beauty, in this fairness almost unspeakable, hgre worm and mice and all creeping things of the earth live with thee, they live with thee in all this beauty. How great is the beauty of that kingdom, where none but angels live with Thee? Too little then was it to say, the glory of the beauty. For we might speak of the glory of the beauty of any beautiful thing set on this earth, or that is green on the earth, or that shineth from heaven; but the greatness of the beauty of Thy kingdom commendeth to us somewhat which as yet we see not; which, as yet unseen, we believe; which, believing, we long for, for longing for which we endure all things. There is then a greatness of a certain beauty; let it be loved before it is seen, that when it is seen, it may be retained, ie# 77^ kingdom. What kingdom mean I? a kingdom of all ages. For the kingdom of this age too hath its own beauty, but there is not in it that greatness of beauty, such as in the kingdom of all ages. And Thy dominion is in every generation and generation. This is the repetition we noticed, signifying either every generation, #or the generation which will be after this generation.

16. • Faithful is the Lord in His words, and holy in all His works. Faithful is the Lord in His words: for what hath He promised that He hath not given? Faithful is the Lord in His words. Hereto there are certain things which He hath promised, and hath not given; but let Him be believed from the things which He hath given. Faithful is the Lord in His words. We might well believe Him, if He only spake: He willed not that we should believe Him speaking, but that we should have His Scriptures in our hands: as though thou shouldest say to a man when thou promisedst him something, * Thou believest me not, behold, I write it for thee.' For because one generation goeth and another cometh, and so these generations hasten by as men retire and succeed one another, it was needful that the Scriptures of God should remain, and a kind of bond of God's, which all who pass by might read, and might keep to the path of its promise. And how great things hath He already paid in accordance with that bond! Do men hesitate to believe Him concerning the Resurrection of the dead and the Life to come, which alone now remaineth to be paid, when, if He come to reckon with the unbelievers, the unbelievers must blush? If God say to thee, ' Thou hast My bond: 1 have promised judgment, the separation of good and bad, everlasting life for the faithful, and wilt thou not believe? There in My bond read all that I have promised, reckon with me: verily even by counting up what 1 have paid, thou canst believe that 1 shall pay what still I owe. In that bond thou hast My oniy -begotten Son promised, Whom I spared not, but gave Him up for you all: reckon this then among what is paid. an earnest that He will fulfil what remains. 33 1 Read the bond: I promised therein that I would give by My Son the earnest of the Holy Spirit: reckon that as paid. I promised therein the blood and the crowns of the glorious Martyrs; let the niassb remind you that My debt has been paid. But that this glory of the Martyrs might be paid, which is promised thee in the bond, where it is written, For Thy sake are we killed all the day long; that this might be p%id, the nations raged, and the people imagined vain things; the kings of the earth stood up, and the princes^* came together, against the Lord, and against His Christ. The princes came together, conspiring agaiust the Christians. Further, did I not promise in the bond that the kings should believe, and have I not fulfilled it in deed? Listen where I promised it: All kings shall worship Him, all nations shall serve Him. Ungrateful one! thou readest what was due, thou seest what has been paid, yet thou believest not what is promised. Read another thing in My bond: because lAePs.2,1; nations raged, because Mine enemies spake evil of Me, (that is,111' of Christ,) When shall He die, and His Name perish f because they did and said all these things, read what I promised, what I bound Myself to pay. The Lord shall prevail against them, and shall destroy all the gods of the nations of the earth; and they shall worship Him, every one from his place. Well, now He hath prevailed, He hath destroyed all the gods of the nations of the earth. Doth He not do this, and pay it? He setteth before the eyes of all His payment of His debts: some He hath paid in the time of our ancestors, which we saw not: some He hath paid in our times, which they saw not; throughout all generations He hath paid what was written. And what remaineth? Do men not believe Him, when He hath paid all this? What remaineth f Behold thou hast reckoned: all this He hath paid: is He become unfaithful for the few things which remain? God forbid! Wherefore? Because the Lord is faithful in His words, and holy in all His works.

17. The Lord strengthened all that are falling. But who are all that are falling? All indeed fall in a general sense, but he meanetb those who fall in a particular way. For many fall from Him, many also fall from their own imaginations. If they had evil imaginations, they fall from them, and God strengthened all that are falling. They who lose any thing in this world, yet are holy, are as it were dishonoured in this world, from rich become poor, from honoured of low estate, yet are they God's saints; they are; as it were, falling. But God strengthened. For the just falleth seven times, and f iseth again; but the wicked shall he weakened in evils. When evils befall the wicked, they are weakened thereby; when evils befall the righteous, the Lord strengthen eth all that are falling. Job had fallen from the brightness of the former light of temporal things, with which he had shone for a while; he had fallen from the glory of his house. Would ye know how far he had fallen? He sat on the dunghill: yet the Lord strengthened him when falling. How much did He strengthen him? So much that, even in the grievous wound wherewith he was smitten throughout his whole body, he answered his wife, when she, the only helper whom the devil had left him, tempted him, Thou hast spoken as one of the foolish women: if we receive good at the hand of the Lord, shall we not also endure evil? How had He strengthened him when falling! The Lord strengthened all that are falling. When the righteous falleth, he shall not be troubled, for the Lord strengthened his hand. And lifteth up all those that have been cast down: all, that is, who belong to; for God resisted the proud.

19- Hie eyes of all hope upon Thee, and Thou givest them food in due season. Just as when thou refreshest a sick man in due season, when he ought to receive, then Thou givest, and what he ought to receive, that Thou givest. Sometimes then men long, and he giveth not: he who tendeth, knoweth the time to give. Wherefore say I this, brethren? Lest any one, if perchance he hath not been heard, when making some righteous request of God: (for when he maketh any unrighteous request, he is heard to his punishment:) but when making some righteous request of God, if perchance he have not been heard, let him not be down-hearted, let him not faint, let his eyes wait for the food, which He giveth in due season. When He giveth not, He therefore He withholds, as well as gives, for our good. giveth not, lest that which He giveth do harm. For the Apostle made no unrighteous request, when he besought that the thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, whereby he was buffetted, might be taken from him: and yet he asked, and did not receive, because as yet it was the time for exercising his weakness, not the due season of food. My ib. grace, He saith, is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made jterfect in weakness. The devil asked permission to tempt Job, and feceived it. Learn here, my brethren, a great mystery, needful to be learned, repeated, kept in mind, never forgotten, on account of the abundancQ of temptations in this world. What shall I say? Is the Apostle really to be compared with the devil? The Apostle asketh, and receiveth not; the devil asketh, and receiveth. But the Apostle received not, in order to his perfecting; the devil received, to his damnation. Finally, Job himself received healing in due season. He was put off, however, that he might be proved, and he sat long in his sores, and asked God that they might be taken from him, and yet God took them not away. More readily did He hear the devil for Job's trial, than Job himself for his healing. Learn then not to murmur against God, and, when ye are not heard, let not that fail in you which is written above, Every day will I bless Thee. Even the Son Himself, even the only-begotten Himself, came to suffer, to pay what He owed not, to die by the hands of sinners, to blot out with His own Blood the handwriting of our death; for this He came; and yet, that He might shew thee an example of patience, He changed the body of our humiliation, fashioning it like unto the body21' of His Glory. Father, He said, if it be possible, let.thisMat.26, cup pass from Me. And that, although He received not39, what He seemed to ask, He might fulfil, Every day will I bless Thee, He said, Nevertheless, not what I will, but what Tliou wilt, Father. The eyes of all hope in Thee, and Thou givest them meat in due season.

20. Tliou openest Thine Hand, andfiUest every living thing with blessing. Though sometimes Thou givest not, yet in due season Thou givest: Thou delayest, not deniest, and that in due season.

21. Righteous is the Lord in all His ways. Both whenver. He smiteth and when He healeth, He is righteous, and in Him unrighteousness is not. Finally, all His saints, when set in the midst of tribulation, have first praised His righteousness, and so sought His blessings. They first have said, ' What Thou doest is righteous.' So did Daniel ask, and other holy men: 'Righteous are Thy judgments: rightly have we suffered, deservedly have we suffered.' They laid not unrighteousness to God, they laid not to Him injustice and folly. First they praised Him scourging, and so they felt Him feeding. Righteous is the Lord in all His ways. Let no one think Him unrighteous, when perchance he suffereth ought of evil, but let him praise His righteousness, and accuse his own unrighteousness. Righteous is the Lord in all His ways, and holy in all His works.

22. The Lord is nigh unto all that call upon Him. Where then is that, Then shall they call upon Me, and I will not hear them? See then what follows: all who call upon Him in truth. For many call upon Him, but not in truth. They seek something else from Him, but seek not Himself. Why lovest thou God? * Because He hath made me whole.' That is clear: it was He that made thee so. For from none else cometh health, save Him. 1 Because He gave me,' saith another, ' a rich wife, whereas I before had nothing, and one that obeyeth me.' This too He gave: thou sayest true. 1 He gave me,' saith another, ' sons many and good, He gave me a household, He gave me all good things.' Dost thou love Him for this? Seekest thou then nothing more? Be hungry: still knock at the door of the Master of the household: still hath He somewhat to give. Thou art but a beggar with all these things which thou hast received, and Thou knowest k. not. Thou bearest about as yet the ragged flesh of mortality: thou hast not yet received that glorious robe of immortality, and, as if already satisfied, dost thou cease to ask? Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be Jilled. Therefore if God is good, Who hath given thee what thou hast, how much more blessed wilt thou be when He hath given thee Himself! Thou hast desired all these things of Him: I beseech thee desire of Him Himself also. For these things are not truly sweeter than He is, nor And therefore even when He withdraws them. in any way are they to be compared to Him. He then who preferreth God Himself to all the things which he has received, whereat he rejoiceth, to the things he has received, he calleth upon God in truth. For to tell you the truth, if to such men a question were put, and it were said, ' What, if God chose to take away from thee all those things wherein thou delightest V then He would be no longer loved: there would Jpe none to say, The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away; asit hath pfeased the Lord,so hath it been done; blessed21' be the Name of the Lord. But what saith he, from whom He hath taken these things away? 6 What have I done to Thee, O God? wherefore hast Thou taken from me, and given to them V Thou givest to the unrighteous, and takest from Thine own. Thou accusest God of being unrighteous, thou praisest thyself as righteous. Turn thee, accuse thyself, praise Him. Then wilt thou be right, when in all the good which He doth, God pleaseth thee; and in all the ills which thou sufferest, He displeaseth thee not. This is to call upon God in truth. Those who thus call upon God, He hearetb: He is nigh: that is, not yet hath He given what thou wishest, yet there He is. Just as if perchance a physician lays either upon eyes or stomach what is to heal by burning, though the sick man ask that it be taken from him, the physician awaiteth the time, he doeth not what the sick man asketh; yet he departeth not from him. He is near, yet he doeth it not: yea, all the more he doeth it not, because he is near. For to heal him he laid on what he hath laid on, and to heal him he doeth not what be is asked. He heareth him not in regard of his present will, yet he heareth him in regard of his future healing, and this at all events according to his will. For surely he wisheth to be made whole, even if he wfish not to be burnt. Nigh then is the Lord to all that call upon Him. But what all? All that call upon Him in truth.

23. He will perform the will of them that fear Him. He will perform it, He will perform it: though He perform it not at once, yet He will perform it. Certainly if therefore thou fearest God, that thou mayest do His will, behold even He in a manner ministereth to thee; He doeth thy will. And He shall hear their prayer, and save them. Thou seest that for this purpose the Physician hears, that He When? Hear the Apostle telling thee. For we are saved in hope: out hope which is seen is not hope: but if what we see not we hope for, then do we with patience wait for it: the salvation, that is, which Peter calleth ready to be revealed in the last time.

24. The Lord guardeth all that love Him, and all sinners He will destroy. Thou seest that there is severity wijb Him, with Whom is so great sweetness. He will save all that hope in Him, all the faithful, all that fear Him, all that call upon Him in truth: and all sinners He will destroy. What all sinners, save those who persevere in sin; who dare to blame God, not themselves; who daily argue against God; who despair of pardon for their sins, and from this very despair heap up their sins; or who perversely promise themselves pardon, and through this very promise depart not from their sins and impiety? The time will come for all these to be separated, and for the two divisions to be made of them, one on the right hand, the other on the left; and for the righteous to receive the everlasting Kingdom, the wicked to go into everlasting fire. And all sinners He shall destroy.

25. Since this is so, and we have heard the blessing of the Lord, the works of the Lord, the wondrous things of the Lord, the mercies of the Lord, the severity of the Lord, His Providence over all His works, the confession of all His works; observe how He concludeth in His praise, My mouth shall speak Uie praise of the Lard, and let all flesh bless His holy Name for ever and ever.