Ninth Sermon on Psalm XC: On the Advantage of Living for God Alone, and Putting All Our Hope in Him

« Because Thou, O Lord, art my hope : thou hast made the Most High thy refuge.”

On this occasion also, my brethren, you shall hear something concerning the promise of the Father, the expectation of the children, the end of our present exile, the reward of our labour, and the fruit of our captivity. Hard indeed is our captivity, not only that which we endure in common with all men, and which is the general condition of the human race ; but also that whereby, in order the more effectually to mortify our wills and to lose our lives in this world, we have bound ourselves with the fetters of so rigorous a rule and condemned ourselves to a prison of such severe asceticism. Surely a most miserable bondage, yet only if suffered against our will, instead of by free election. As the case is, however, we have voluntarily sacrificed our liberty to God, and there is no other violence done to our will than that which comes from the will itself. But clearly there must be some cause for this. So there is, my brethren, and a cause than which none greater can be conceived. I mean the love of God. Does it seem to you that anything which is done or suffered for the love of God, however great, however laborious it may be, ought to excite our compassion? But if occasionally the magnitude of the tribulation awakens in our souls a feeling of pity, that sentiment is soon changed to congratulation by the remembrance of the motive. Besides, you do not need to be told that all our good works are done not only for God, but also by God. “For it is God Who worketh in you both to will and to accomplish, according to His good will.” * He is, therefore, the Author of the good we do, just as He is its Rewarder and its whole Recompense. Hence that sovereign Good, although in Himself absolutely simple, appears to bein us a double Cause of virtuous actions, namely, final Cause and efficient. Rightly, then, does the Apostle say, not only that we persevere in our life of multiplied labours, but also that “in all these things we overcome because of Him That hath loved us.” But is it not by Him also that we overcome? Undoubtedly. ‘‘ For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also by Christ doth our comfort abound.”’

The expression, ‘‘ For God’s sake,” is common enough and familiar enough ; and, although often idly uttered, it is an expression full of profoundest meaning. The words are constantly on the lips of men, even of those whose hearts are strangers to the sentiment they express. For whenever anyone now solicits alms or any other kind of assistance, it is always for God’s divine action. ‘‘It is usual with the inspired authors,” says St: Augustine, “‘ to represent God as doing what the creature does by His grace. .. . What thou dost by His grace, He is said to do, because without Him thou wouldst not do ít” (In Ps. lii. n. 5). And commenting on the passage before us, he says, “ God worketh in us both to will and to accomplish, not because we do not will ourselves and accomplish ourselves, but because without His help we should neither will nor accomplish anything of good ”’ (De Gratia Christi, c. xxv.). That this is also St. Bernard’s doctrine is manifest from his work De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio, c. iii—(Translator.)

sake. And some are even ready to ask things for God’s sake which are not according to God, which they do not desire for the glory of God, but rather for the purpose of offending God. Nevertheless, these words are truly “living and efficacious” (as is every word of God) when, instead of being uttered thoughtlessly, or conventionally, or from mere habit, or as a means of persuasion, they proceed (as they ought) from the fulness of devotion and from a pure intention of the mind. My brethren, ‘“‘ the world passeth away, and the concupiscence thereof ’’ ; and when the world shall fail, then we shall realise how unprofitable and insecure is everything that is done for its sake. For when the foundation itself lacks stability, how can it render stable any of the things which it appears to support ? Therefore the Apostle warns us that “he who soweth in his flesh, of his flesh also shall reap corruption ”’ ; because, namely, “all flesh is grass, and the glory thereof as the flower of the field.” But when the grass withers, its flower must necessarily fade and fall. He Who alone is, is alone an unfailing Cause. And it is not the “flower of the field,” but “the word of our Lord (that) endureth for ever.” ‘‘ Heaven and earth shall pass,” says the Lord Himself, “ but My words shall not pass.”

Consequently, my dearest brethren, you have done what is very prudent and very profitable in choosing to “ keep hard ways for the sake of the words of (His) lips,” and to sow your seed in a field where the smallest portion of it cannot fail to fructify. Even “he who soweth sparingly ” shall not lose his seed, but ‘ shall also reap sparingly.” No one that sows at all remains without a harvest. For we know by Whom it has

= been promised that whosoever shall give even a cup of cold water for His name’s sake “shall not lose his reward.” Nevertheless, is it not true that “ with what measure you mete it shall be measured to you again,” that he who gives but a cup of cold water shall not receive the same reward as another who gives not water but his very blood, and so drinks of the chalice offered him by Christ? This chalice of the Saviour - is no cup of cold water, but a “ goodly chalice which inebriateth,” “a cup of strong wine full of mixture.” For my Lord Jesus alone possesses pure wine, because He alone is Himself perfectly pure, and alone also “ can make him clean that is conceived of unclean seed.” Surely He alone has the pure wine, Who, according to His Divine Nature, is that Wisdom ‘“ which reacheth everywhere by reason of her purity . . . and no defiled thing cometh to her” ; and according to His Human Nature “did no sin, neither was guile found in His Mouth.” He alone has tasted death, not from the necessity of His condition, but by the free choice of His own will. Neither did He die for His own profit, because “‘ He hath no need of our goods ” ; nor yet in order to make us a return of “ grace for grace,” since He gave His life, not for the sake of those who were already His friends, but for the purpose of gaining friends, of making friends out of enemies. “For when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.” Or perhaps it were more true to say that He died for those who were His friends already, not yet indeed loving friends, nevertheless friends beloved. For “in this is (grace) : not as though we had loved God, but because He hath first loved us.” Do you wish to know by how much His love for us anticipated our love for Him? Then listen to St. Paul: “ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and unspotted in His sight in charity ; Who hath predestined us unto the adoption of children through Jesus Christ unto Himself, according to the purpose of His will : unto the praise of the glory of His grace, in which He hath giaced us in His beloved Son.” How is it possible that we were not beloved in Him in Whom we were chosen? Or how is it possible that we were not pleasing in Him in Whom we were graced? Thus, therefore, ‘‘ did Christ . . . according to the time, die for the ungodly,” but according to predestination He died for His friends and brothers.

In all these respects, therefore, His wine, and His alone, is found to be pure. Amongst other martyrs, there is not a single one who can presume to say that to him may not be applied the words of the Prophet Isaias, ‘‘ Thy wine is mingled with water.” * First, because, “no one is free from stain ” in this life, no — one can glory in the possession of a perfectly pure heart. Secondly, because all must, sooner or later, undergo the penalty of death. Thirdly, because by laying down their lives for Christ, they purchase at a cheap price a blissful immortality: but woe to them if they are ashamed to render Him testimony by their blood.f Fourthly, because at best they make but a t That is to say, their motive is not altogether pure, since they are influenced, on the one hand, by the hope of heaven, and, on the other, by the fear of hell_—(Translator.)

very poor and inadequate return for the immense and gratuitous love which He has already shown them. Nevertheless, He Who is Himself without “ mixture ” does not disdain even Such impure wine, so that the Apostle can say with confidence, ‘‘I fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh for His Body.” * Consequently, although one and the same “ penny ” of eternal;life is rendered equally to all the elect, nevertheless in it “ star differeth from star in glory,” and “one is the glory of the sun, another the glory of the moon, and another the glory of the stars.” So shall it bein the resurrection of the dead. For although the “ house ” is one, it nevertheless contains “ many mansions.” Hence,as regards the eternity and the sufficiency of the happiness, he who has little merit is nothing short, and he who has much has nothing over. But with respect to eminence and distinction of merit, every man shall receive what is proportionate to his labour, so that nothing may be lost of all that has been sown in Christ.

These remarks have been made, my brethren, for the purpose of commending to your esteem the wonderful spiritual beauty of the words I am now discussing : “ Because Thou, O Lord, art my hope.” Whatever, therefore, is to be done, whatever is to be avoided, whatever to be suffered, whatever to be desired : ‘‘ Thou, O Lord, art my hope.” This is the cause of all the promises made to me: this is likewise the whole and sole reason of my expectation. Let others rely on their merits ; let them boast of having borne “‘ the burden of the day and the heat,” and of “ fasting twice in the week,” and of not being “as the rest of men ” : “ but it is good for me to adhere to my God, and to put my hope in the Lord God.” Other men may hope in other things, this one in thé knowkdge of letters, that one in the wisdom of the world, a third in the nobility of his descent, a fourth in the loftiness of his dignity, a fifth in some similar vanity : but for Thy sake, O Lord, “ I count all things tosbe. but loss,” yea, “and count them but as dung thattI mayain Christ,” “ because Thou, O Lord, art my hope.” Let him who likes put his hope in uncertain riches; for my part, I will not look elsewhere but to Thee for the very necessaries of life, trusting to that saying of Thine, on account of which I have abjured the world: “‘ Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.” For “ to Thee is the poor man left: Thou wilt be a helper to the orphan.” If then, rewards are offered to me, it is through Thee I will hope to obtain them ; “if battles should rise up against me, in (Thee) will I be confident.” Let the world rage, let the devil burn with fury, let the flesh rebel against the spirit : spite of all, in Thee will I hope.

My brethren, to entertain such sentiments is to live by faith. But no one can say from his heart, ‘‘ Because Thou, O Lord, art my hope,” except the man who is interiorly persuaded by the Holy Ghost to do what the Prophet recommends in the words, “ Cast thy care upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee,” which the Apostle Peter also counsels, where he writes, “ Casting all your care upon Him, for He hath care of you.” For if these are really our sentiments, why should we, hesitate to renounce all other wretched, vain, unprofit-? able, delusive hopes, and with all the energy of our minds and all the fervour of our spirits to cling to this one solid, perfect, blissful hope? If there is anything impossible to the Lord, if there is anything even difficult to Him, seek out some other in*whom you may place your trust. But He can do all things by His mere word. What is easier than to speak a word? But I would have you understand clearly what is meant by this speech of God. I say, then, that if He wills to save us we shall infallibly be delivered ; if it is His good pleasure to vivify us, there is “life in His good will ” ; if He decides to give us an eternal reward, it is lawful for Him to do what He pleases. Perhaps you are now satisfied concerning His power to assist you, but are yet in doubt with respect to His good will? However, the “‘ testimonies (of His good will) are become exceedingly credible.” Listen to the words of Christ Himself : “Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” When indeed will God be wanting to the man who puts his hope in Him, since this is what He has so earnestly admonished us _to do? Evidently, then, He will not abandon those who make Him their hope. As the Psalmist says, “The Lord will help them and deliver them: and He will rescue them from the wicked and save them.” Wherefore ? On account of what merits? The Prophet immediately proceeds to explain: “‘ Because they have hoped in Him.” A most sweet reason, truly, yet also most efficacious and irresistible. For this hope is real justice, not the justice of the law, but “ the justice that is of faith.’ “He shall cry to Me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation. I will deliver him.” Come, my brethren, reckon up all your tribulations. Each one of you may say with the Prophet:

“ According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, Thy comforts (shall) give joy to my soul.” That is, provided you do not seek for consolation elsewhere, provided you cry to Him, provided you hope in Him, provided you make not anything low and earthly, but only the Most High your refuge. “ Know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord and hath been confounded ? ” It were easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one word of His to come to naught.

“Thou hast made the Most High thy refuge.” To this asylum the seducer has no access; to this height the calumniator cannot mount; to this retreat the wicked accuser of the brethren finds no admittance. For, as you remember from the beginning of the psalm, these words are addressed to him “that dwelleth in the aid of the Most High,” fleeing thither from the “ pusillanimity of spirit and the storm.” We have a double necessity for running to this refuge and dwelling in this aid, because as the Apostle says, there are “combats without (and) fears within.” There would be less need of having recourse to the Lord, if either our interior strength could support courageously the tumult outside, or if external peace allowed our pusillanimity to remain undisquieted. ‘‘ Thou hast made the Most High thy refuge.” My brethren, let us often run for safety to this refuge. It is a strongly fortified place, where we shall have nothing to fear from the enemy. Would to God we were allowed to remain there always! But that is not for this present time. What is now a refuge shall, however, become one day a dwelling-place, and an everlasting dwelling-place. Meanwhile, since we are not as yet permitted to make our abode there, let us at least visit it often. For against every temptation, against every tribulation, against every kind of necessity, this city of refuge is open to shelter us ; the mother’s arms ate extended to welcome us; the “clefts of the rock ”? are ready to receive us ; “the bowels of the mercy of our God ” invite us to enter. Little wonder, then, if he does not succeed in escaping from his enemies, whosoever despises such a refuge.

It seems te me, my brethren, that the observations already offered would suffice as an exposition of my present text, had the Prophet said here what we find in another psalm, ‘‘ For in Thee I have put my trust.” But his words in this place, “‘ Because Thou, O Lord, art my hope,” may well appear to signify something greater and more sublime, inasmuch as they declare that the Lord is not only the foundation, but also the object of his hope. For the object of our hope has a better right to becalled simply our hope than has the reason thereof. Doubtless there are some who hope to receive and long to receive from the Lord certain temporal or spiritual favours : but perfect charity desires nothing, thirsts for nothing save what is supreme, the Sovereign Good, and exclaims with all the eagerness of ardent love, ‘‘ For what have I in heaven, and besides Thee, what do I desire upon earth? For Thee my flesh and my heart hath fainted away: Thou art the God of my heart, and the God That is my portion for ever.” Both these species of desire are very beautifully comprehended in this short verse from the Prophet Jeremias, ‘‘ The Lord is good to them that hope in Him, to the soul that seeketh Him.” Observe with what prudence he varies the number, using the plural when speaking of them that hope in the Lord, because this appears common to many ; but referring in the singular to the seeker of the Lord, because it is a sign of singular purity, of singular grace, of singular perfection, not only to seek nothing save from the Lord, but to seek nothing even from Him save Himself. And if He is so good to the former, what shall He be to the latter ? Rightly, therefore, is it said to the soul that thus seeks the Lord: “ Thou hast made the Most High thy refuge.” For the soul possessed of such a thirst for God does not wish, like Peter, to buildfor Him a tabernacle on an earthly mountain, nor yet, like Mary Magdalen, to touch Him with the hand of flesh, but rather cries out to Him with the Spouse in the Canticle, “ Flee away, my Beloved : be like to a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.’”’ And that, because she has heard Him saying, “‘ If you loved Me, you would indeed beglad, because I go to the Father ; for the Father is greater than I.” She has also heard Him saying, “‘ Do not touch Me, for I am not yet ascended to My Father.” And so, being now enlightened as to the heavenly counsel, she exclaims with the Apostle, “ And though we have known Christ according to the flesh, now we know Him so no longer.” ‘‘ Upon the mountains of Bether,” says the Spouse. That is, she desires to reach Him where He is enthroned at the Right Hand of the Father, to Whom He is no longer inferior,* but Most paid to the Father. Cf. St. Thomas, Sum. Theol., III. q. xxv. a. 1-2; also A Lapide, Comment. in Joan. xiv. 28.—(Translator.) ~

High as the Most High, above all Powers and Principalities, above Angels and Archangels, above Cherubim and Seraphim,—for these are the only mountains in Bether, which signifies “ the house of God.” ‘‘ Now this is eternal life,” my dearest brethren, “ that (we) may know the Father, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom He hath sent,” and Who with Him is one true God, over all things, and blessed for ever. Amen.