1 8. And against Me they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together "3 (ver. 15), against Me only: they rejoicing, I sorrowful. But we heard just now in the Gospel, " Blessed are they that mourn." * If they are blessed that mourn, miserable are they that laugh. " Against Me they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: scourges were gathered together against Me, and they knew not." 5 Because they laid to My charge things that I knew not, they also knew not Whom they charged.
19. "They tempted Me, and mocked Me with mocking"6 (ver. 16). That is, they derided Me, they insulted Me; this of the Head, this of the Body. Consider, Brethren, the glory of the Church which now is; remember its past dishonours, remember how once were Christians ' E. V. " But in mine adversity they rejoiced and eathei themselves together." ' Matt. < mine adversity they rejoiced and gathered ncr. tl. v. 5. * E. V. " Yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not."
' IT, "They did tear Me and ceased not:" 16. "With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon Me with their teeth." The words here omitted are mentioned on Ps. lvii. — Ben.
everywhere put to flight, and wherever found, mocked, beaten, slain, exposed to beasts, burned, men rejoicing against them. As it was to the Head, so it is also to the Body. For as it was to the Lord on the Cross, so has it been to His Body in all that persecution which was made but now: nor even now cease the persecutions of the same. Wherever men find a Christian, they are wont to insult, to persecute, to deride him, to call him dull, senseless, of no spirit, of no knowledge. Do they what they will, Christ is in Heaven: do they what they will, He hath honoured His punishment, already hath He fixed His Cross in the foreheads of all; the ungodly is permitted to insult, to rage he is not permitted; but yet from that which the tongue uttereth, is understood what he beareth in his heart: " They gnashed upon Me with their teeth."
20. " Lord, when wilt Thou look on? Rescue My Soul from their deceits, My Darling from the lions " (ver. 17). For to us the time is slow; and in our person is this said, " When wilt Thou look on?" that is, when shall we see vengeance upon those who insult us? When shall the Judge, overcome by weariness, hear the widow? 7 But our Judge, not from weariness, but from love, delayeth our salvation; from reason, not from need; not that He could not even now succour us, but that the number of us all may be filled up even to the end. And yet out of our desire, what do we say? " Lord, when wilt Thou look on? Rescue My Soul from their deceits, My Darling from the lions: " that is, My Church from raging powers.
21. Lastly, wouldest thou know what is that Darling? Read the words following: " I will confess unto Thee, O Lord, in the great Congregation; in a weighty 8 people will I praise Thee " (ver. 18). Truly saith He, " I will confess unto Thee: " for confession is made in all the multitude, but not in all is God praised: the whole multitude heareth our confession,9 but not in all the multitude is the praise of God. For in all the whole multitude, that is, in the Church which is spread abroad in the whole world, is chaff, and wheat: the chaff flieth, the wheat remaineth; therefore, " in a weighty people will I praise Thee." In a weighty people, which the wind of temptation carries not away, in such is God praised. For in the chaff He is ever blasphemed...
22. " Let not them that are Mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over Me: " for they rejoice over Me because of My chaff. " Who hate Me without a cause; " that is, whom I never hurt; 7 Luke xviii. 3, a Latin, " in populo gravi," 9 [The recitation of the Creed, perhaps; but in the ancient Church the confession of sin, also, was public. Bingham, b. xviii.
cap. 3. — C] Psalm XXXV.]
"winking with their eyes" (ver. 19): that is, pretending hypocrites, " For they spake indeed peace to Me" (ver. 20). What is, "winking with their eyes"? Declaring by their looks, what they carry not in their heart. And who are these " winking with their eyes "? " For they spake indeed peace to Me; and with wrath devised craftily." " Yea they opened their mouth wide against Me" (ver. 21). First winking with their eyes, those lions sought to ravish and devour; first fawning they spake peace, and then with wrath devised craftily. What peace spake they? " Master, we know that Thou acceptest not man's person, and teachest the way of God In truth. Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?" They spake indeed peace unto Me. What then? Didst not Thou know them, and deceived they Thee, winking with their eyes? Truly He knew them; therefore said He, " Why tempt ye Me, ye hypocrites? " ' Afterward, " they opened their mouth wide against Me," crying, " Crucify Him, Crucify Him!2 and said, Aha, Aha, our eyes have seen it." This, when they insulted Him, "Aha, Aha, Prophesy unto us, Thou Christ." 3 As their peace was pretended when they tempted Him concerning the money, so now insulting was their praise. "They said, Aha, Aha, our eyes have seen it " (ver. 21): that is, Thy deeds, Thy miracles. This Man is the Christ. " If He be the Christ, let Him come down from the Cross, and we will believe Him. He saved others, Himself He cannot save." * " Our eyes have seen it." This is all whereof He boasted Himself, when " He called Himself the Son of God." ' But the Lord was hanging patient upon the Cross: His power had He not lost, but He showed His patience. For what great thing was it for Him to come down from the Cross, who could afterward rise again from the sepulchre? But He seems to have yielded to His insulters; and this, beloved, that having risen again He should show Himself to His own, and not to them, and this is a great mystery; for His resurrection signified the New Life, but the New Life is known to His friends, not to His enemies. 23. " This Thou hast seen, O Lord; keep not silence" (ver. 22). What is, "keep not silence "? Judge Thou. For of judgment is it said in a certain place,6 " I have kept silence; shall I keep silence for ever?" And of the delaying of judgment it is said to the sinner, "These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; " "Thou though test that I was altogether such an one as thyself."' How keepeth He silence, who speaketh by the Prophets, who speaketh with His own mouth in the Gospel, 1 Matt. xxii. 16-18. • Luke xxiii. at. ' Matt. xxvi. 68. 4 Matt, xxvii. 42; Luke xxiii. 35. S John xix. 7.
who speaketh by the Evangelists, who speaketh by us, when we speak the truth? What then? He keepeth silence from judgment, not from precept, not from doctrine. But this His judgment the Prophet in a manner invoketh, and predicteth: " Thou hast seen, O Lord: keep not silence; " that is, Thou wilt not keep silence, needs must that Thou wilt judge. " O Lord, be not far from Me." Until Thy judgment come, be not far from Me, as Thou hast promised, " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
24. "Arise, Lord, and attend to My judgment" (ver. 23). To what judgment? That Thou art in tribulation; that Thou art tormented with labours and pains? Do not even many wicked men suffer the same? To what judgment? Therefore art Thou righteous, because Thou sufferest these things? No: but what? "To My judgment." What followeth? "Attend to My judgment; even to My cause, My God, and My Lord." Not to My punishment, but to My cause: not to that which the robber hath in common with Me, but to that whereof is said, " Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake." 8 For this cause is distinguished. For punishment is equal to good and bad. Therefore Martyrs, not the punishment, but the cause maketh, for if punishment made Martyrs, all the mines would be full of Martyrs, every chain would drag Martyrs, all that are executed with the sword would be crowned. Therefore let the cause be distinguished; let none say, because I suffer, I am righteous. Because He who first suffered, suffered for righteousness' sake, therefore He added a great exception, " Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake." For many having a good cause do persecution, and many having a bad cause suffer persecution.
For if persecution could not be done rightly, it had not been said in a certain Psalm, " Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him did I persecute." 9...Let none then say, I suffer persecution: let him not sift the punishment, but prove the cause: lest if he prove not the cause, he be numbered with the ungodly. Therefore how watchfully, how excellently hath This Man recommended Himself, " O Lord, attend to My judgment," not to My punishments; " even to My cause, My God, and My Lord."
25. "Judge me, O Lord, according to My righteousness " (ver. 24); that is, attend to My cause. Not according to My punishment, but " according to My righteousness, O Lord, My God," that is, according to this judge Thou Me. " And let them not rejoice over Me; " that is, Mine enemies.
• Matt. t. to.
9 Ps. ci. 5.
[Psalm XXXVI.
26. "Let them not say in their heart, Aha, aha, so would we have it" (ver. 25); that is, We have done what we could," we have slain him, we have taken him away. " Let them not say: " show them that they have done nothing. " Let them not say, We have swallowed him up." Whence say those Martyrs, " If the Lord had not been on our side, then they had swallowed us up quick."2 What is, "had swallowed us up"? Had passed into their own body. For that thou swallowest up, which thou passest into thy own body. The world would swallow thee up; swallow thou the world, pass it into thy own body: kill and eat. As it was said to Peter, " Kill and eat; " ' do thou kill in them what they are, make them what thou art. But if they on the other hand persuade thee to ungodliness, thou art swallowed up by them. Not when they persecute thee art thou swallowed up by them, but when they persuade thee to be what they are. " Let them not say, We have swallowed him up." Do thou swallow up the body of Pagans. Why the body of Pagans? It would swallow thee up. Do thou to it, what it would to thee. Therefore perhaps that calf, being ground to powder, was cast into the water and given to the children of Israel to drink,4 that so the body of ungodliness might be swallowed up by Israel. " Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour" (ver. 26); so that we may swallow up them ashamed and brought to confusion.
" Who speak evil against me: " let them be ashamed, let them be brought to confusion.
27. What sayest thou now, the Head with the Members? " Let them shout for joy and be glad that favour My righteous cause: " who cleave to My Body. Yea, let them say " continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of His servant " (ver. 27). "And my tongue shall speak of Thy righteousness, and of Thy praise all the day long" (ver. 28). And whose tongue endureth to speak the praise of God all the day long? See now I have made a discourse something longer; ye are wearied. Who endureth to praise God all the day long? I will suggest a remedy, whereby thou mayest praise God all the day long if thou wilt. Whatever thou dost, do well, and thou hast praised God. When thou singest an hymn, thou praisest God, but what doth thy tongue, unless thy heart also praise Him? Hast thou ceased from singing hymns, and departed, that thou mayest refresh thyself? Be not drunken, and thou hast praised God. Dost thou go away to sleep? Rise not to do evil, and thou hast praised God. Dost thou transact » Al. " We have done it, we have prevailed " (Jotuimut). ' Pi. cxxiv. 1-3. » Acu x. 13. < Exod. xxxii. ao.
business? Do no wrong, and thou hast praised God. Dost thou till thy field? Raise not strife, and thou hast praised God. In the innocency of thy works prepare thyself to praise God all the day long.
PSALM XXXVI.s 1..."The ungodly hath said in himself that he will sin: there is no fear of God before his eyes " (ver. i). Not of one man, but of a race of ungodly men he speaketh, who fight against their own selves, by not understanding, that so they may live well; not because they cannot, but because they will not. For it is one thing, when one endeavours to understand some thing, and through infirmity of flesh cannot; as saith the Scripture 6 in a certain place, " For the corruptible body presseth down the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind that museth upon many things; " but another when the human heart acts mischievously against itself, so that what it could understand, if it had but good will thereto, it understandeth not, not because it is difficult, but because the will is contrary. But so it is when men love their own sins, and hate God's Commandments. For the Word of God is thy adversary, if thou be a friend to thy ungodliness; but if thou art an adversary to thy ungodliness, the Word of God is thy friend, as well as the adversary of thy ungodliness...
2. " For he hath wrought deceitfully in His sight" (ver. 2). In whose sight? In His, whose fear was not before the eyes of him that did work deceitfully. " To find out his iniquity, and hate it." He wrought so as not to find it. For there are men who as it were endeavour to seek out their iniquity, and fear to find it; because if they should find it, it is said to them, Depart from it: this thou didst before thou knewest; thou didst iniquity being in ignorance; God giveth pardon: now thou hast discovered it, forsake it, that to thy ignorance pardon may easily be given; and that with a clear face thou mayest say to God, " Remember not the sins of my youth, and of my ignorance."7 Thus he seeketh it, thus he feareth lest he find it; for he seeketh it deceitfully. When saith a man, I knew not that it was sin? When he hath seen that it is sin, and ceaseth to do the sin, which he did only because he was ignorant: such an one in truth would know his sin, to find it out, and hate it. But now many " work deceitfully to find out their iniquity: " they work not from their heart to find it out and hate it. But because in the very search after iniquity, there is » Lat. XXXV.
6 Wisd. ix. 15. [Here cited as Scripture, but only deuterocanonical (as St. Jerome testifies), illustrating the Law and the Prophets, but not 01 authority in itself. — C. j ' Ps. xxv. 7.
Psalm XXXVI.]
deceit, in the finding it there will be defence of it. For when one hath found his iniquity, lo now it is manifest to him that it is iniquity. Do it not, thou sayest. And he who wrought deceitfully to find it out, now he hath found, hateth it not; for what saith he? How many do this! Who is there that doth it not? And will God destroy them all? Or at least he saith this: if God would not these things to be done, would men live who commit the same? Seest thou that thou didst work deceitfully to find out thy iniquity? For if not deceitfully but sincerely thou hadst wrought, thou wouldest now have found it out, and hated it; now thou hast found it out, and thou defendest it; therefore thou didst work deceitfully, when thou soughtest it.
3. " The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he would not understand, that he might do good" (ver. 3). Ye see that he attributeth that to the will: for there are men who would understand and cannot, and there are men who would not understand, and therefore understand not. " He would not understand, that he might do good."
4. " He hath meditated iniquity on his bed." What said He, " On his bed? " (ver. 4). " The ungodly hath said in himself, that he will sin: " what above he said, in himself, that here he said, "On his bed." Our bed is our heart: there we suffer the tossing of an evil conscience; and there we rest when our conscience is good. Whoso loveth the bed of his heart, let him do some good therein. There is our bed, where the Lord Jesus Christ commands us to pray. " Enter into thy chamber, and shut thy door." ' What is, "Shut thy door?" Expect not from God such things as are without, but such as are within; " and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." Who is he that shutteth not the door? He who asketh much from God such things, and in such wise directeth all his prayers, that he may receive the goods that are of this world. Thy door is open, the multitude seeth when thou prayest. What is it to shut thy door? To ask that of God, which God alone knoweth how He giveth. What is that for which thou prayest, when thou hast shut the door? What " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath entered into the heart of man." 2 And haply it hath not entered into thy very bed, that is, into thy heart. But God knoweth what He will give: but when shall it be? When the Lord shall be revealed, when the Judge shall appear...
5. "He hath set himself in every way that is not good." What is, "he hath set himself"? He hath sinned perseveringly. Whence also of a certain pious and good man it is said, " He 1 Malt. vi. 6.
2 Isa. lxiv. 4; 1 Cor. ii. 9.
hath not stood in the way of sinners." 3 As this " hath not stood," so that " hath set himself." " But wickedness hath he not hated." There is the end, there the fruit: if a man cannot but have wickedness, let him at least hate it. For when thou hatest it, it scarcely occurs to thee to do any wickedness. For sin is in our mortal body, but what saith the Apostle? " Let not sin reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof." 4 When beginneth it not to be therein? When that shall be fulfilled in us which he saith, " When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality." s Before this come to pass, there is a delighting in sin in the body, but greater is the delighting and the pleasure in the Word of Wisdom, in the Commandment of God. Overcome sin and the lust thereof. Sin and iniquity do thou hate, that thou mayest join thyself to God, who hateth it as well as thou. Now being joined in mind unto the Law of God, in mind thou servest the Law of God. And if in the flesh thou therefore servest 6 the law of sin,7 because there are in thee certain carnal delightings, then will there be none when thou shalt no longer fight. It is one thing not to fight, and to be in true and lasting peace; another to fight and overcome; another to fight and to be overcome; another not to fight at all, but to be carried away...
6. "Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and Thy truth reacheth even unto the clouds " (ver. 5). I know not what Mercy of Him he meaneth, which is in the heavens. For the Mercy of the Lord is also in the earth. Thou hast it written, " The earth is full of the Mercy of the Lord." 8 Of what Mercy then speaketh He, when He saith, " Thy Mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens "? The gifts of God are partly temporal and earthly, partly eternal and heavenly. Whoso for this vvorshippeth God, that he may receive those temporal and earthly goods, which are open to all, is still as it were like the brutes: he enjoyeth indeed the Mercy of God, but not that which is excepted, which shall not be given, save only to the righteous, to the holy, to the good. What are the gifts which abound to all? " He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." 9 Who hath not this Mercy of God, first that he hath being, that he is distinguished from the brutes, that he is a rational animal, so as to understand God; secondly, that he enjoys this light, this air, rain, fruits, diversity of seasons, and all the earthly comforts, health of body, the affection of friends, the safety of his * i.e., " art subject to it," not " obeyest it." He is not here speak, ing of actual wilful sin, but of motions toward sin to which the man does not consent. _[ Concupiscence, art. ix. Angl. XXXIX. Articles. — C] [Psalm XXXVI.
family? All these are good, and they are God's gifts...
7. But this man rightly understood what mercy he should pray for from God. "Thy Mercy, O Lord, is in the Heavens; and Thy Truth reacheth even to the clouds." That is, the Mercy which Thou givest to Thy Saints, is Heavenly, not earthly; is Eternal, not temporal. And how couldest Thou declare it unto men? Because "Thy Truth reacheth even unto the clouds." For who could know the Heavenly Mercy of God, unless God should declare it unto men? How did He declare it? By sending His truth even unto the clouds. What are the clouds? The Preachers of the Word of God...Truth reached even to the clouds: therefore unto us could be declared the Mercy of God, which is in Heaven and not in earth. And truly, Brethren, the clouds are the Preachers of the Word of Truth. When God threateneth through His Preachers, He thunders through the clouds. When God worketh miracles through His Preachers, He lightneth through the clouds, He terrifieth through the clouds, and watereth by the rain. Those Preachers, then, by whom is preached the Gospel of God, are the clouds of God. Let us then hope for Mercy, but for that which is in the Heavens.
8. " Thy Righteousness is like the mountains of God: Thy Judgments are a great deep " (ver. 6). Who are the mountains of God? Those who are called clouds, the same are also the mountains of God. The great Preachers are the mountains of God. And as when the sun riseth, he first clothes the mountains with light, and thence the light descends to the lowest parts of the earth: so our Lord Jesus Christ, when He came, first irradiated the height of the Apostles, first enlightened the mountains, and so His Light descended to the valley of the world. And therefore saith He in a certain Psalm, " I lifted up mine, eyes unto the mountains, from whence cometh my help." ■ But think not that the mountains themselves will give thee help: for they receive what they may give, give not of their own. And if thou remain in the mountains, thy hope will not be strong: but in Him who enlighteneth the mountains, ought to be thy hope and presumption. Thy help indeed will come to thee through the mountains, because the Scriptures are administered to thee through the mountains, through the great Preachers of the Truth: but fix not thy hope in them. Hear what He saith next following: " I lifted up mine eyes unto the mountains, from whence cometh my help." What then? Do the mountains give thee help? No j hear what follows, " My help cometh from the Lord, which made Heaven and earth."1 > p..( ■ Pi. cxxi. a.
Through the mountains cometh help, but not from the mountains. From whom then? " From the Lord, which made Heaven and earth."...
9. " Thy Judgments are like the great abyss." The abyss he calleth the depth of sin, whither every one cometh by despising God; as in a certain place it is said, " God gave them over to their own hearts' lusts, to do the things which are not convenient." 3...Because then they were proud and ungrateful, they were held worthy to be delivered up to the lusts of their own hearts, and became a great abyss, so that they not only sinned, but also worked craftily, lest they should understand their iniquity, and hate it. That is the depth of wickedness, to be unwilling to find it out and to hate it. But how one cometh to that depth, see; " Thy Judgments are the great abyss." As the mountains are by the Righteousness of God,4 who through His Grace become great: so also through His Judgments come they unto the depth, who sink lowest. By this then let the mountains delight thee, by this turn away from the abyss, and turn thyself unto that, of which it is said, " My help cometh from the Lord." But whereby? "I have lifted up mine eyes unto the mountains." What meaneth this? I will speak plainly.* In the Church of God thou findest an abyss, thou findest also mountains; thou findest there but few good, because (he mountains are few, the abyss broad; that is, thou findest many living ill after the wrath of God, because they have so worked that they are delivered up to the lusts of their own heart; so now they defend their sins and confess them not; but say, Why? What have I done? Such an one did this, and such an one did that. Now will they even defend what the Divine Word reproves. This is the abyss. Therefore in a certain place6 saith the Scripture (hear this abyss), " The sinner when he cometh unto the depth of sin despiseth." See, "Thy Judgments are like the great abyss." But yet not art thou a mountain; not yet art thou in the abyss; fly from the abyss, tend towards the mountains; but yet remain not on the mountains. " For thy help cometh from the Lord, which made Heaven and earth."
10. Because he said, Thy Mercy is in the Heavens, that it may be known to be also on earth, he said, " O Lord, Thou savest man and beast,7 as Thy Mercy is multiplied, O God " (ver. 7). Great is Thy Mercy, and manifold is Thy Mercy, O God; and that showest Thou both to man and beast. For from whom is the saving of men? From God. Is not the saving of beasts also from God? For He who made 3 Rom. i. 28.
4AI," The Righteousness of God is like the mountains.'* * Latint. b Prov. xviii. 3.
7 [In Vulgate and Septuagint this is included in verse 6. English Version agrees with the text as here connected. — C] The Psalm XXXVI.]
man, made also beasts; He who made both, saveth both; but the saving of beasts is temporal. But there are who as a great thing ask this of God, which He hath given to beasts. "Thy Mercy, O God, is multiplied," so that not only unto men, but unto beasts also is given the same saving which is given to men, a carnal and temporal saving.
11. Have not men then somewhat reserved with God, which beasts deserve not, and whereunto beasts arrive not? They have evidently. And where is that which they have. " The children of men put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings." Attend, my Beloved, to this most pleasant sentence: " Thou savest man and beast." First, he spake of " man and beast," then of "the children of men;" as though " men " were one, " the children of men " other. Sometimes in Scripture children of men is said generally of all men, sometimes in some proper manner, with some proper signification, so that not all men are understood; chiefly when there is a distinction. For not without reason is it here put; " O Lord, Thou savest man and beast: but the children of men; " as though setting aside the first, he keepeth separate the children of men. Separate from whom? Not only from beasts, but also from men, who seek from God the saving of beasts, and desire this as a great thing. Who then are the children of men? Those who put their trust under the shadow of His wings. For those men together with beasts rejoice in possession, but the children of men rejoice in hope: those follow after present goods with beasts, these hope for future goods with Angels...
12. "They shall be satiated1 with the fulness of Thy House" (ver. 8). He promiseth us some great thing. He would speak it, and He speaketh it not. Can He not, or do not we receive it? I dare, my Brethren, to say, even of holy tongues and hearts, by which Truth is declared to us, that it can neither be spoken, which they declared, nor even thought of. For it is a great thing, and ineffable; and even they saw through a glass darkly, as saith the Apostle, " For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face." 2 Lo, they who saw through a glass darkly, thus burst forth. What then shall we be, when we shall see face to face? That with which they travailed in heart, and could not with their tongue bring forth, that men might receive it. For what necessity was there that' he should say, " They shall be satiated with the fulness of Thy House"? He sought a word whereby to express from human things what he would say; and because he saw that men drown- 1 [I cannot but change the word " drunken " here for one more decent and equally faithful. But note " sober inebriety," p. 75, supra.— C] 3 x Cor. xiii. 12.