Psalm XLIX.1606
The First Part.
1. …“Hear ye these things, all ye nations” (ver. 1). Not then you only who are here. For of what power is our voice so to cry out, as that all nations may hear? For Our Lord Jesus Christ hath proclaimed it through the Apostles, hath proclaimed it in so many tongues that He sent; and we see this Psalm, which before was only repeated in one nation, in the Synagogue of the Jews, now repeated throughout the whole
world, throughout all Churches; and that fulfilled which is here spoken of, “Hear ye these words, all ye nations.”…Of whom ye are: “With ears ponder, all ye that dwell in the world.” This He seemeth to have repeated a second time, lest to have said “hear,” before, were too little. What I say, he saith, “hear, with ears ponder,” that is, hear not cursorily. What is, “with ears ponder”? It is what the Lord said, “he that hath ears to hear, let him hear:”
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for as all who were in His presence must have had
ears, what
ears did He require
save those of the
heart, when He said, “he that hath
ears to hear, let him hear”? The same
ears also this Psalm doth
smite. “With
ears ponder, all ye that dwell in the
world.” Perhaps there is here some distinction. We ought not indeed to narrow our view, but there is no harm in explaining even this view of the sense. Perhaps there is some difference between the saying,
“all
nations,” and the saying, “all ye that dwell in the
world.” For perchance he would have us understand the expression, “dwell in,” with a further meaning, so as to take all
nations for all the
wicked, but the dwellers of the
world all the just. For he doth inhabit who is not held fast: but he that is occupied is inhabited, and doth not inhabit. Just as he doth possess whatever he hath, who is master of his property: but a master is one who is not held in the meshes of
covetousness: while he that is held fast by
covetousness is the
possessed, and not the possessor.…
2. Therefore let even the ungodly hear: “Hear ye this, all ye nations.” Let the just also hear, who have not heard to no purpose, and who rather rule the world than are ruled by the world: “with ears ponder, all ye that dwell in the world.”
3. And again he saith, “both all ye earthborn, and sons of men” (ver. 2). The expression “earthborn” he doth refer to sinners; the expression “sons of men” to the faithful and righteous. Ye see then that this distinction is observed. Who are the “earthborn”? The children of the earth. Who are the children of the earth? They who desire earthly inheritances. Who are the “sons of men”? They who appertain to the Son of Man. We have already before explained this distinction to your Sanctity,
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and have concluded that
Adam was a man, but not the son of man; that
Christ was the Son of Man, but was
God also. For whosoever pertain to
Adam, are “earthborn:” whosoever pertain to
Christ, are “sons of men.” Nevertheless, let all hear, I withhold my
discourse from no one. If one is “earthborn,” let him hear, because of the
judgment: another is a “son of man,” let him hear for the
kingdom’s sake. “The
rich and
poor together.” Again, the
same words are repeated. The expression “
rich” refers to the “earthborn;” but the word “
poor” to the “sons of men.” By the “
rich” understand the
proud, by the “
poor” the
humble.…He saith in another Psalm, “The
poor shall eat and be satisfied.”
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How hath he commended the
poor? “The
poor shall eat and be satisfied.” What eat they? That
Food which the
faithful know. How shall they be satisfied? By imitating the Passion of their
Lord, and not without cause receiving their recompense. “The
poor shall eat and be satisfied, and they shall
praise the
Lord who
seek Him.” What of the
rich? Even they eat. But how eat they? “All the
rich upon the
earth have eaten and worshipped.”
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He said not, “Have eaten and are satisfied;” but, “have eaten and worshipped.” They
worship God indeed, but they will not display
brotherly humaneness. These eat and
worship; those eat and are filled: yet both eat. Of the eater what he eateth is required: let him not be forbidden by the distributor to eat, but let him be
admonished to
fear him who doth require his account. Let these words then be heard by
sinners and
righteous,
nations, and those who
inhabit the
world, “earthborn and sons of men, the
rich and the
poor together:” not divided, not separated. That is for the time of the
harvest to do, the
hand of the winnower will effect that.
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Now together let
rich and
poor hear, let
goats and
sheep feed in the same
pasture, until He come who shall separate the one on His right
hand, the other on His left.
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Let them all hear together the
teacher, lest separated from one another they hear the voice of the
Judge.
4. And what is it they are now to hear? “My mouth shall speak of wisdom, and the meditation of my heart understanding” (ver. 3). And this repetition is perhaps made, lest perchance if he had said only “my mouth,” thou shouldest suppose that one spake to thee who had understanding but in his lips. For many have understanding in their lips, but have not in their heart, of whom the Scripture saith, “This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.”1613
What saith he then who speaketh to thee? when he hath said, “My mouth shall speak of
wisdom,” in order that thou mayest know that what is poured forth from the mouth floweth from the bottom of the
heart, he hath added, “And the meditation of my
heart of understanding.”
5. “I will incline mine ear to the parable, I will show my proposition upon the harp” (ver. 4).…And why “to a parable”? Because “now we see through a glass darkly,”1614
as saith the
Apostle; “whilst we are at
home in the body, we are absent from the
Lord.”
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For our vision is not yet that face to face, where there are no longer
parables, where there no longer are riddles and comparisons. Whatever now we understand we behold through riddles. A riddle is a
dark parable which it is hard to understand. Howsoever a man may cultivate his
heart and apply himself to
apprehend mysteries, so long as we see through the
corruption of this
flesh, we see but in part.…But as He was seen by those who believed, and by those who
crucified Him, when He was judged; so will He be seen, when He shall have begun to be
judge, both by those whom He shall
condemn, and by those whom He shall
crown. But that vision of
divinity, which He hath
promised to them that
love Him, when He saith, “He that loveth Me shall be
loved of My
Father, and he that loveth Me keepeth My
commandments, and I will
love him, and will manifest Myself to him:”
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this the
ungodly shall not see. This manifestation is in a certain way familiar: He keepeth it for His own, He will not show it to the
ungodly. Of what sort is the vision itself? Of what sort is
Christ? Equal to the
Father. Of what sort is
Christ? “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was
God.”
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For this vision we
sigh now, and
groan so long as we
sojourn here; to this vision we shall be brought
home at the last, this vision now we see but darkly. If then we see now darkly, let us “incline our
ear to the
parable,” and then let us “show our proposition upon the
harp:”
1618
| 1618 [He explains “the harp” elsewhere as the body, used by the soul “as the harper useth the harp”; and see p. 139, supra.—C.]
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let us hear what we say, do what we enjoin.
6. And what hath he said? “And wherefore shall I fear in the evil day? The iniquity of my heel shall compass me” (ver. 5). He beginneth something obscurely. Therefore he ought the rather to fear if the iniquity of his heel shall compass him. Nay, for let not man fear, he saith, who hath not power to escape. For example, he who feareth death, what shall he do to escape death? Let him tell me how he is to escape what Adam oweth, he who is born of Adam. But let him consider that he is born of Adam, and hath followed Christ, and ought to pay what Adam oweth, and obtain what
Christ hath promised. Therefore, he who feareth death can no wise escape: but he who feareth the damnation which the ungodly shall hear, “Go ye into everlasting fire,”1619
hath an
escape. Let him not
fear then. For why should he
fear? Will the
iniquity of his heel compass him? If then he
avoid “the
iniquity of his heel,” and
walk in the ways of
God, he shall not come to the
evil day: the
evil day, the last day, shall not be
evil to him.…Now while they
live, let them take heed to themselves, let them put away
iniquity from their heel: let them
walk in that way, let them
walk in the way of which He saith Himself, “I am the
way, the
truth, and the
life:”
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and let them not
fear in the
evil day, for He giveth them
safety who became “The Way.” Therefore let them
avoid the
iniquity of their heel. With the heel a man slippeth. Let your
Love observe. What was said by
God to the
Serpent? “She shall mark thy head, and thou shalt mark her heel.”
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| 1621 Gen. iii. 15. [“She shall mark,” etc. So the Vulgate, but not in the older editions. The Septuagint is conclusive as to the ancient exposition of the Jews, for the neuter (σπ™ρμα) had a masculine pronoun (αὐτός) as nominative to the verb. So Jerome, Dominus noster conteret Satanam. It is noteworthy that our author attaches no such force to his reading as
Mariolatry demands.—C.]
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The
devil marketh thy heel, in order that when thou slippest he may
overthrow thee. He marketh thy heel, do thou mark his head. What is his head? The beginning of an
evil suggestion. When he beginneth to suggest
evil thoughts, then do thou thrust him away before
pleasure ariseth, and consent followeth; and so shalt thou
avoid his head, and he shall not grasp thy heel. But wherefore said He this to
Eve? Because through the
flesh man doth slip. Our
flesh is an
Eve within us. “He that loveth his
wife,” he saith, “loveth himself.” What meaneth “himself”? He continueth, and saith, “For no man ever yet hath
hated his own
flesh.”
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Because then the
devil would make us slip through the
flesh, just as he made that man
Adam to slip, through
Eve;
Eve is bidden to mark the head of the
devil, because the
devil marketh her heel.
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| 1623 [See Hippolytus, A.N.F. vol. v. p. 166.—C.]
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“If then the
iniquity of our heel shall compass us, why
fear we in the
evil day,” since being
converted to
Christ we are able not to do
iniquity; and there will be nothing to compass us, and we shall
joy and not
sorrow in the last day?
7. But who are they whom the “iniquity of their heel shall compass”? “They who trust in their virtue,1624
| 1624 Or, “might” (virtute).
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and in the
abundance of their
riches do
glory” (
ver. 6). Therefore such
sins will I
avoid, and the “
iniquity of my heel” shall never compass me. What is avoiding such
sins? Let us not
trust in our own
virtue, let us not
glory in the
abundance of our own
riches, but let us
glory in Him who hath
promised to us, being
humble, exaltation, and hath threatened condemnation to men exalted; and then
iniquity of
our heel shall never compass us.
8. There are some who rely on their friends, others rely on their virtue, others on their riches. This is the presumption of mankind which relieth not on God. He hath spoken of virtue, he hath spoken of riches, he speaketh of friends. “Brother redeemeth not,1625
| 1625 Oxf. mss. “hath not redeemed,” and so through the paragraph.
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shall man
redeem?” (
ver. 7). Dost thou expect that man shall
redeem thee from the
wrath to come? If
brother redeem thee not, shall man
redeem thee? Who is the
brother, who if He hath not
redeemed thee, no man will
redeem? It is He who said after His resurrection, “Go, tell My
brethren.”
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Our
Brother He hath willed to be: and when we say to
God, “Our
Father,” this is manifested in us. For he that saith to
God, “Our
Father;” saith to
Christ, “
Brother.”
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| 1627 See on St. John, Hom. xxi. § 3.
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Therefore let him that hath
God for his
Father and
Christ for his
Brother, not
fear in the
evil day. “For the
iniquity of his heel shall not compass him;” for he relieth not on his
virtue, nor glorieth in the
abundance of his
riches, nor vaunteth himself of his
powerful friends. Let him rely on Him who
died for him, that he might not
die eternally: who for his sake was humbled, in order that he might be exalted; who sought him
ungodly, in order that He might be
sought by him
faithful. Therefore if He
redeem not, shall man
redeem? Shall any man
redeem, if the Son of man
redeem not? If
Christ redeem not, shall
Adam redeem? “
Brother redeemeth not, shall man
redeem?”
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| 1628 [The Latin versions do not divide into verses such as our author seems to have made.—C.]
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9. “He shall not give to God his propitiation, and the price of the redemption of his soul” (ver. 8). He trusteth in his virtue, and in the abundance of his riches doth glory, who “shall not give to God his propitiation:” that is, satisfaction whereby he may prevail with God for his sins: “nor the price of the redemption of his soul,” who relieth on his virtue, and on his friends, and on his riches.
But who are they that give the price of the redemption of their souls? They to whom the Lord saith, “Make to yourselves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness, that they may receive you into everlasting habitations.”1629
They give the
price of the redemption of their
soul who cease not to do almsdeeds. So those whom the
Apostle chargeth by Timothy he would not have to be
proud, lest they should
glory in the
abundance of their
riches. Lastly, what they
possessed he would not have to grow old in their
hands: but that something should be made of it to be for the
price of the redemption of their
souls. For he saith, “Charge them that are
rich in this
world, that they be not
high-
minded: nor
trust in uncertain
riches, but in the living
God, who giveth us richly all things to
enjoy.”
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And as if they had said, “What shall we then make of our
riches?” he continueth, “Let them be
rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate,”
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and they will not lose that. How know we? Hear what followeth. “Let them lay up for themselves a good
foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on the true
life.”
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So shall they give the
price of the redemption of their
soul. And our
Lord counselleth this: “Make for yourselves
bags which
wax not old, a
treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where
thief approacheth not, neither
moth corrupteth.”
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God would not have thee lose thy
wealth, but He hath given thee
counsel to change the place thereof. Let your
love understand. Suppose thy
friend were just now to enter thy
house, and find thou hadst placed thy store of
grain in a damp place, and he knew the
natural proneness of
grain to
decay, which thou perchance knewest not, he would give thee
counsel of this sort, saying, “
Brother, thou art losing what with great toil thou hast gathered, thou hast placed it in a
damp place, in a few days this
grain will
decay.” “And what am I to do,
brother? “Raise it into a higher place.” Thou wouldest hearken to thy
friend suggesting that thou shouldest raise
grain from a lower to a higher
chamber, and dost thou not hearken to
Christ charging thee to lift thy
treasure from
earth to
heaven, where not what thou keepest in store may be paid to thee, but that thou mayest keep in store
earth, mayest receive
heaven, mayest keep in store things
mortal, mayest
receive things
everlasting, that while thou lendest
Christ to receive at thy
hands but a
small loan upon
earth, He may
repay thee a great recompense in
Heaven? Nevertheless, they whom “the
iniquity of their heel shall compass,” because they
trust in their
virtue, and in the
abundance of their
riches do
glory, and rely on human
friends who are able to help them in nothing, “shall not give to
God their
propitiation, and the
price of the redemption of their
souls.”
10. And what hath he said of such a man? “Yea, he hath laboured for ever, and shall live till the end” (ver. 9). His labour shall be without end, his life shall have an end. Wherefore saith he, “He shall live till the end”? Because such men think life to be nought but daily enjoyments. So when many poor and needy men of our times, unstable, and not looking to what God doth promise them for
their labours, see rich men in daily feastings, in the splendour and glitter of gold and of silver, they say what? “These are the only people;1634
they really
live!” This is a saying, be it said no longer: we both
warn you, and it remains to
warn you, that it be said by fewer persons than it would be said, if we had not
warned you. For we do not presume to say that we so say these words, as that it be not said, but that it be said by fewer persons: for it will be said even unto the end of the
world. It is too little that he saith, “he liveth;” he addeth and saith, he thundereth, thinkest thou that he
alone liveth? Let him
live! his
life will be ended: because he giveth not the
price of the redemption of his
soul, his
life will end, his labour will not end. “He laboured for ever, and shall
live till the end.” How shall he
live till the end? As he lived that was “
clothed with
purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day,”
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who, being
proud and puffed up, spurned the man full of sores
lying before his
gate, whose sores the
dogs licked, and who longed for the
crumbs which fell from his
table. What did those
riches profit him? Both changed places: the one was borne from the
rich man’s
gate into
Abraham’s
bosom, the other from his
rich feasts was cast into the
fire; the one was in
peace, the other
burned; the one was sated, the other
thirsted; the one had laboured till the end, but he
lived for ever; the other had lived till the end, but he laboured for ever. And what did it
profit the
rich man, who asked, while
lying in
torments in
hell, that a drop of
water should be poured upon his
tongue from the
finger of
Lazarus, saying, “For I am burning here in this
flame,”
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and it was not granted to him? One longed for the drop from the
finger, as the other had for the
crumbs from the
rich man’s
table; but the labour of the one is ended, and the
life of the other is ended: the labour of this is for ever, the
life of that is for ever. We who labour perchance here on the
earth, have not our
life here: and shall not be so placed hereafter, for our
life shall be
Christ for ever: while they who “will” have their
life here, shall
labour for ever and
live till the end.
11. “For he shall not see death, though he shall have seen wise men dying” (ver. 10). The man who laboured for ever and shall live till the end, “shall not see death, though he shall have seen wise men dying.” What is this? He shall not comprehend what death is, whenever he shall have seen wise men dying. For he saith to himself, “this fellow, for all he was wise and dwelled with wisdom and worshipped
God with piety, is he not dead? Therefore I will enjoy myself while I live; for if they that are wise in other respects, could do anything, they would not have died.” Just as the Jews saw Christ hanging on the Cross and despised Him, saying, “If this Man were the Son of God, He would come down from the Cross:”1637
not seeing what
death is. If they had seen what
death is; if they had seen, I say.
1638
| 1638 Al. “if they had seen themselves.”
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He
died for a time, that He might
live again for ever: they lived for a time, that they might
die for ever. But because they saw Him dying, they saw not
death, that is to say, they understood not what was very
death. What say they even in
Wisdom? “Let us
condemn Him with a most shameful
death, for by His own sayings He shall be respected;”
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| 1639 Wisd. ii. 20. [The Jews, even in their own book of Wisdom, show what they did to “the Just One.” The whole passage is so remarkable, that we need not wonder at the esteem in which this book was held by the Fathers. St. James (v. 6) seems to refer to this passage.”—C.]
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for if he is indeed the Son of
God, He will
deliver Him from the
hands of His
adversaries: He will not
suffer His Son to
die, if He is truly His Son. But when they saw themselves insulting Him upon the
Cross, and Him not descending from the
Cross, they said, He was indeed but a Man. Thus was it spoken: and surely He could have come down from the
Cross, He that could rise again from the
tomb: but He taught us to bear with those who insult us; He taught us to be
patient of the
tongues of men, to drink now the
cup of
bitterness, and afterwards to receive
everlasting salvation.…
12. “The imprudent and unwise shall perish together.” Who is “the imprudent”? He that looketh not out for himself for the future. Who is “the unwise”? He that perceiveth not in what evil case he is. But do thou perceive in what evil case thou art now, and look out that thou be in a good case for the future. By perceiving in what evil case thou art, thou wilt not be unwise: by looking out for thyself for the future, thou wilt not be
imprudent. Who is he that looketh out for himself? That servant to whom his master gave what he should expend, and afterwards said to him, “Thou canst not be my steward, give an account of thy stewardship;” and who answered, “What shall I do? I cannot dig, to beg I am ashamed;”1640
had, nevertheless, by even his master’s goods made to himself
friends, who might receive him when he was put out of his stewardship. Now he cheated his master in order that he might get to himself
friends to receive him:
fear not thou lest thou be cheating, the
Lord Himself exhorteth thee to do so: He saith Himself to thee, “Make to thyself
friends of the
mammon of
unrighteousness.”
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Perhaps what thou hast got, thou hast gotten of
unrighteousness: or perhaps this very thing is
unrighteousness, that thou hast and another hath not, thou aboundest and another needeth. Of this
mammon of
unrighteousness, of these
riches which the
unrighteous call
riches, make to thyself
friends, and thou shalt be
prudent: thou art gaining for thyself, and art not cheating. For now thou seemest to lose it. Wilt thou lose it if thou place
it in a treasury? For
boys, my
brethren, no sooner find some
money, wherewith to
buy something, than they put it in a
money-box,
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which they open not until afterwards: do they, because they see not what they have got, on that account lose it?
Fear not:
boys put in a
money-box, and are
secure: dost thou place it in the
hand of
Christ, and
fear? Be
prudent, and
provide for thyself against the future in
Heaven. Be therefore
prudent, copy the ant, as saith the Scripture:
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“Store in
summer, lest thou
hunger in
winter;” the
winter is the last day, the day of
tribulation; the
winter is the day of offences and of
bitterness:
gather what may be there for thee for the future: but if thou doest not so, thou wilt
perish both imprudent and
unwise.
13. But that rich man1644
too
died, and a like funeral was made for him. See to what men have brought themselves: they regard not what a
wicked life he led while he lived, but what
pomp followed him when he
died! O
happy he, whom so many lament! But the other lived in such sort, that few lament. For all ought to lament a man living so
sadly. But there is the funeral train; he is received in a costly
tomb, he is
wound in costly
robes, he is buried in perfumes and
spices. Secondly, what a
monument he hath! How marbled! Doth he
live in that same monument? He is therein dead. Men deeming these to be good things, have strayed from
God, and have not sought the true good things, and have been
deceived with the false. To this end see what followeth. He who gave not the
price of the redemption of his
soul, who understood not
death, because he saw
wise men dying, he became imprudent and
unwise, in order that he might
die with them. And how shall they
perish, who “shall
leave their
riches to aliens”?…
14. But do those same aliens indeed serve them who are called their own? Hear in what they serve them, observe how they are ridiculed: why hath he said, “to strangers”? Because they can do them no good. Nevertheless, wherein do they seem to themselves to do good? “And their tombs shall be their house for ever” (ver. 11). Now because these tombs are erected, the tombs are a house. For often thou hearest a rich man saying, I have a house of marble which I must quit, and I think not for myself of an eternal house, where I shall alway be. When he thinketh to make for himself a monument of marble or of sculpture, he is deeming as it were of an eternal house: as if therein this rich man would abide! If he would abide there, he would not burn in hell. We must consider that the
place where the spirit of an evil doer abideth, is not where the mortal body is laid: but “their tombs shall be their house for ever. Their dwelling places are from generation to generation.” “Dwelling places” are wherein they abode for a season: “house” is wherein they will abide as it were for ever, that is to say, their tombs. Thus they leave their dwelling places, where they abode while they lived, to their families, and they pass as it were to everlasting houses, to
their tombs. What profit to them are “their dwelling places, from generation to generation”? Now suppose a generation and generation are sons, grandsons there will be, and great grandsons; what do their dwelling places, what do they profit them? What? Hear: “they shall invoke their names in their lands.” What is this? They shall take bread and wine to their tombs, and there they shall invoke the names of the dead. Dost thou consider how loudly was invoked the name of the
rich man after his death, when men drank them drunk at his monument, and there came down not one drop upon his own burning tongue? Men minister to their own belly, not to the ghosts of their friends. The souls of the dead nothing doth reach, but what they have done of themselves while alive: but if they have done nought of themselves while alive, nothing doth reach them dead. But what do the survivors? They will but “invoke their names in their lands.”
15. “And man though he was in honour perceived not, he was compared to the beasts without sense, and was made like to them” (ver. 12).…They ought, on the contrary, to have made ready for themselves an eternal house in good works, to have made ready for themselves everlasting life, to have sent before them expenditure, to have followed their works, to have ministered to a needy companion, to have given to him with whom they were walking, not to have despised Christ covered with sores before their gate, who hath said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren,
ye have done it unto Me.”1645
However, “man being in honour hath not understood.” What is, “being in honour”? Being made after the image and likeness of
God, man is preferred to
beasts. For
God hath not so made man as He made a
beast: but
God hath made man for
beasts to
minister to: is it to his
strength then, and not to his understanding? Nay. But he “understood not;” and he who was made after the image of
God, “is compared to the
beasts without
sense, and is made like unto them.” Whence it is said elsewhere, “Be ye not like to
horse and mule, in which there is no understanding.”
1646
16. “This their own way is an offence to them” (ver. 13). Be it an offence to them, not to thee. But when will it be so to thee too? If thou thinkest such men to be blessed. If thou perceivest that they be not blessed, their own way will be an offence to themselves; not to Christ, not to His Body, not to His members. “And afterwards they shall bless with their mouth.” What meaneth, “Afterwards they
shall bless with their mouth”? Though they have become such, that they seek nothing but temporal goods, yet they become hypocrites: and when they bless God, with lips they bless, and not with heart. Christians like these, when to them eternal life is commended, and they are told, that in the name of Christ they ought to be despisers1647
| 1647 Most mss. “there should be a despising.”
|
of
riches, do make grimaces in their
hearts: and if they
dare not do it with open face, lest they blush, or lest they should be
rebuked by men, yet they do it in heart, and scorn; and there remaineth in their mouth blessing, and in their heart cursing.
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