1 7. " In evening, in morning, at noon-day I will recount and will tell forth, and He shall hearken to my voice"6 (ver. 18). Do thou proclaim glad tidings, keep not secret that which thou hast received, " in evening " of things gone by, " in morning " of things to be, at " noonday " of things ever to be. Therefore to that which he saith " in evening " belongeth that which he recounteth: to that which he saith, " in morning," belongeth that which he telleth forth: to that which he saith " at noon-day," belongeth that wherein his voice is hearkened to. For the end is at noon-day; that is to say, whence there is no going down unto setting. For at noon-day there is light full high, the splendour of wisdom, the fervour of love. " In evening and in morning and at noon-day." " In evening," the Ixjrd on the Cross; " in morning," in Resurrection; " at noon-day," in Ascension. I will recount in evening the patience of Him dying, I will tell forth in morning the life of Him rising, I will pray that He hearken at noon-day sitting at the right hand of the Father. He shall hearken to my voice, That intercedeth for us.7 How great is the security of this man. How great the consolation, how great the refuge " from weakness of mind and tempest," against evil men, against ungodly men both without and within, and in the case of those that are without though they had been within.
18. Therefore, my Brethren, those that in the very congregation of these walls ye see to be rebellious men, proud, seeking their own, lifted up; not having a zeal for God that is chaste, sound, quiet, but ascribing to themselves much; ready for dissension, but not finding opportunity; are the very chaff of the Lord's floor.8 From hence these few men the wind of pride hath dislodged: the whole floor will not fly, save when He at the last shall winnow. But what shall we do, save with this man sing, with this man pray, with this man mourn and say securely, " He shall redeem in peace my soul" (ver. 18). Against them that love not peace: " in peace He shall redeem my soul." " Because with those that hated peace I was peace-making." 9 " He shall redeem in peace my soul, from those that draw near to me." For from those that are afar from me, it is an easy case: not so soon doth he deceive me that saith, Come, pray to an idol: he is very far from * [Acts ii. 15, iii. i, x. 3, x. 9. The Apostles observed the " hours of prayer: " and they survive, theoretically, in the liturgies of Christendom. A. N. r. vol. iii. p. 689. — C] 7 Rom. viii. 34. 8 Matt. iii. El. 9 Ps. cxx. 6, 7.
2l6 [Psalm LV.
me. Art thou a Christian? A Christian, he saith. Out of a neighbouring place he is my adversary, he is at hand. " He shall redeem in peace my soul, from those that draw near to me: for in many things they were with me." Wherefore have I said, " draw near to me "? Because " in many things they were with me." In this verse two propositions occur. " In many things they were with me." Baptism we had both of us, in that they were with me: the Gospel we both read, they were in that with me: the festivals of martyrs we celebrated, they were there with me: Easter's solemnity we attended, they were there with me. But not entirely with me: in schism not with me, in heresy not with me. In many things with me, in few things not with me. But in these few things wherein not with me, there is no profit to them of the many things wherein they were with me. For see, brethren, how many things hath recounted the Apostle Paul: one thing, he hath said, if it shall have been wanting, in vain are those things. " If with the tongues of men and of angels I shall speak," he saith, " if I have all prophecy, and all faith, and all knowledge; if mountains I shall remove, if I shall bestow all my goods upon the poor, if I shall deliver my body even so that it be burned." ' How many things he hath enumerated! To all these many things let there be wanting one thing, charity; the former in number are more, the latter in weight is greater. Therefore in all Sacraments they are with me, in one charity not with me: " In many things they were with me." Again, by a different expression: " For in many things they were with me." They that themselves have separated from me, with me they were, not in few things, but in many things. For throughout the whole world few are the grains, many are the chaffs. Therefore he saith what? In chaff with me they were, in wheat with me they were not. And the chaff is nearly related to the wheat, from one seed it goeth forth, in one field is rooted, with one rain is nourished, the same reaper it suffereth, the same threshing sustaineth, the same winnowing awaiteth, but not into one barn entereth.
19. "God will hear me, and He shall humble them That is before ages " (ver. 19). For they rely on some leader or other of theirs that hath begun but yesterday. " He shall humble them That is before ages." For even if with reference to time Christ is of Mary the Virgin, nevertheless before ages: " In the beginning He is the Word, and the Word with God, and the Word God." ' " He shall humble them That is before ages. For to them is no changing: " of them I " speak to whom is no changing." He knew of some to persevere, and in the perseverance of their own 1 1 Cor. xiii. 1-3.
' John i. 1.
wickedness to die. For we see them, and to them is no changing: they that die in that same perverseness, in that same schism, to them is no changing. God shall humble them, shall humble them in damnation, because they are exalted in dissension. To them is no changing, because they are not changed for the better, but for the worse: neither while they are here, nor in the resurrection. For all we shall rise again, but 3 not all shall be changed. Wherefore? Because " To them is no changing: and they have not feared God."...
20. " He stretcheth forth His hand in requiting " (ver. 20). " They have polluted His Testament." Read the testament which they have polluted: " In thy seed shall be blessed all nations."4 Thou against these words of the Testator sayest what? The Africa of holy Donatus hath alone deserved this grace, in him hath remained the Church of Christ. Say at least the Church of Donatus. Wherefore addest thou, of Christ? Of whom it is said, " In thy seed shall be blessed all nations." After Donatus wilt thou go? Set aside Christ, and then secede. See therefore what followeth: " They have polluted His Testament." What Testament? To Abraham have been spoken the promises, and to his seed. The Apostle saith, " Nevertheless, a man's testament confirmed no one maketh void, or superadded to: to Abraham have been spoken the promises, and to his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as if in many; but as if in one, And to thy Seed, which is Christ." 5 In this Christ, therefore, what Testament hath been promised? " In thy seed shall be blessed all nations." Thou that hast given up the unity of all nations, and in a part hast remained, hast polluted His Testament...
21. "And His heart hath drawn near" (ver. 22). Of whom do we understand it, except of Him, by the anger of whom they have been divided? How " hath his heart drawn near "? In such sort, that we may understand His will. For by heretics hath been vindicated the Catholic Church, and by those that think evil have been proved those that think well. For many things lay hid in the Scriptures: and when heretics had been cut off, with questions they troubled the Church of God: then those things were opened which lay hid, and the will of God was understood.6 Thence is said in another Psalm, " In order that they might be excluded that have been proved with silver." 7 For let them be excluded, He hath said, let them come forth, let them appear. Whence even in silver-working men are called " excluders," that is, pressers out 6 [Scripture is the rule of faith. See Tertull.vol. iii. p. 265, A. N F..and hereafter in this series, Vincent of Lerins, passim. — C.J 7 ri. lxviii. 30.
Psalm LV.]
of form from the sort of confusion of the lump. Therefore many men that could understand and expound the Scriptures very excellently, were hidden among the people of God: but they did not declare the solution of difficult questions, when no reviler again urged them. For was the Trinity perfectly treated of before the Arians snarled thereat? Was repentance perfectly treated of before the Novatians opposed? So not perfectly of Baptism was it treated, before rebaptizers removed outside ' contradicted; nor of the very oneness of Christ were the doctrines clearly stated which have been stated, save after that this separation began to press upon the weak: in order that they that knew how to treat of and solve these questions (lest the weak should perish vexed with the questions of the ungodly), by their discourses and disputations should bring out unto open day the dark things of the Law.2...This obscure sense see in what manner the Apostle bringeth out into light; " It is needful," he saith, "that also heresies there be, in order that men proved may be made manifest among you." 3 What is " men proved "? Proved with silver, proved with the word. What is " may be made manifest "? May be brought out.4 Wherefore this? Because of heretics. So therefore these also " have been divided because of the anger of His countenance, and His heart hath drawn near."
22. " His discourses have been softened above oil, and themselves are darts" (ver. 21). For certain things in the Scriptures were seeming hard, while they were obscure; when explained, they have been softened. For even the first heresy in the disciples of Christ, as it were from the hardness of His discourse arose. For when He said, " Except a man shall have eaten My flesh and shall have drunk My blood, he shall not have life in himself: " they, not understanding, said to one another, " Hard is this discourse, who can hear it?" Saying that, " Hard is this discourse," they separated from Him: He remained with the others, the twelve. When they had intimated to Him, that by His discourse they had been scandalized, " Will ye also," He saith, "choose to go?" Then Peter: "Thou hast the Word of life eternal: to whom shall we go? " s Attend, we beseech you, and ye little ones learn godliness. Did Peter by any means at that time understand the secret of that discourse of the Lord? Not yet he understood: but that good were the words which he understood not, godly he believed. Therefore if hard is a discourse, and not yet is understood, be it hard to 1 Forts posit i.
2 [That is, not by new ideas incorporated with old truth, but by collecting into /ocus the testimony of all recognised doctors of the Church as to the true meaning and intent of Holy Scripture. This is development as distinguished from corruption. — C] 3 1 Cor. xi. 19. * Excludantur. t John vi. 53, etc an ungodly man, but to thee be it by godliness softened: for whenever it is solved, it both will become for thee oil, and even unto the bones it will penetrate.
23. Furthermore, just as Peter, after their having been scandalized by the hardness, as they thought, of the discourse of the Lord, even then said, " to whom shall we go? " so he hath added, "Cast upon the Lord thy care, and He shall Himself nourish thee up" (ver. 22). A little one thou art, not yet thou understandest the secret things of words: perchance from thee the bread is hidden, and as yet with milk thou must be fed: 6 be not angry with the breasts: they will make thee fit for the table, for which now little fitted thou art. Behold by the division of heretics many hard things have been softened: His discourses that were hard have been softened above oil, and they are themselves darts. They have armed men preaching the Gospel: and the very discourses are aimed at the breast of every one that heareth, by men instant in season and out of season: by those discourses, by those words, as though by arrows, hearts of men unto the love of peace are smitten. Hard they were, and soft they have been made. Being softened they have not lost their virtue, but into darts have been converted...Upon the Lord cast thyself. Behold thou wilt cast thyself upon the Lord, let no one put himself in the place of the Lord. " Cast upon the Lord thy care."...
24. But to the others what? "But Thou, O God, shalt bring them down unto the pit of corruption " (ver. 23). The pit of corruption is the darkness of sinking under. When blind leadeth blind, they both fall into a ditch.' God bringeth them down into the pit of corruption, not because He is the author of their own guilt, but because He is Himself the judge of their iniquities. " For God hath delivered them unto the desires of their heart." 8 For they have loved darkness, and not light; they have loved blindness, and not seeing. For behold the Lord Jesus hath shone out to the whole world, let them sing in unity with the whole world: " For there is not one that can hide himself from the heat of Him." 9 But they passing over from the whole to a part, from the body to a wound, from life to a limb cut off, shall meet with what, but going into the pit of corruption?
25. "Men of bloods and of deceitfulness." Men of bloods, because of slayings he calleth them: and O that they were corporal and not spiritual slayings. For blood from the flesh going forth, is seen and shuddered at: who seeth the blood of the heart in a man rebaptized? Those deaths require other eyes. Although even about these visible deaths Circumcelliones armed 7 Matt. xv. 14.
8 Rom. t. 34.
[Psalm LVI.
everywhere remain not quiet. And if we think of these visible deaths, there are men of bloods. Give heed to the armed man, whether he is a man of peace and not of blood. If at least a club only he were to carry, well; but he carrieth a sling, carrieth an axe, carrieth stones, carrieth lances; and carrying these weapons, wherever they may they scour, for the blood of innocent men they thirst.1 Therefore even with regard to these visible deaths there are men of bloods. But even of them let us say, O that such deaths alone they perpetrated, and souls they slew not.
These that are men of bloods and of deceit, let them not suppose that we thus wrongly understand men of bloods, of them that kill souls: they themselves of their Maximianists2 have so understood it. For when they condemned them, in the very sentence of their Council they have set down these words: " Swift are the feet of them to shed the blood " (of the proclaimers3), " tribulation and calamity are in the ways of them, and the way of peace they have not known."'4 This of the Maximianists they have said. But I ask of them, when have the Maximianists shed the body's blood; not because they too would not shed, if there were so great a multitude as could shed, but because of the fear in their minority rather they have suffered somewhat from others, than have themselves at any time done any such thing. Therefore I question the Donatist and say: In thy Council thou hast set down of the Maximianists, " Swift are the feet of them to shed blood." Show me one of whom the Maximianists have hurt so much as a finger! What other thing to me is he to answer, than that which I say? They that have separated themselves from unity,5 and who slay souls by leading astray, spiritually, not carnally, do shed blood. Very well thou hast expounded, but in thy exposition acknowledge their own deeds. " Men of bloods and of deceitfulness." In guile is deceitfulness, in dissimulation, in seduction.
What therefore of those very men that have been divided because of the anger of His countenance? They are themselves men of bloods and of deceit.
26. But of them he saith what? "They shall not halve their days." What is, " They shall not halve their days "? They shall not make progress as much as they think: within the time which they expect, they shall perish. For he is that partridge, whereof hath been said, " In the » (What but Circumctllionis were the perpetrators of the Bartholomew massacres, of the Dragonnades, of the awful butcheries under Alva? — C] 3 See on Ps. xxxvi.
3 The word annuntiatorum is omitted in some copies. It is not in the sentence of the Synod of Bagai, as given in the fourth book against Crescontius, c. 4 — Beit.
* Ps. xiv. 7, Vule. and Angl.: also Rom. iii. 15-17.
5 [How fearfully this comes home to those who separated themselves from the Nicene unity under lead of Nicholas and his Decretals, in the ninth age! (John xiii. v>.) The " Dark Ages " instantly settled upon the Church. Sec A. N. F. vol. viii. p. 64a. — C.J half of his days they shall leave him, and in his last days he shall be an unwise one." 6 They make progress, but for a time. For what saith the Apostle? " But evil men and seducers shall make progress for the worse, themselves erring, and other men into error driving." ' But " a blind man leading a blind man, together into a ditch they fall."8 Deservedly they fall "into the pit of corruption." What therefore saith he? They shall make progress for the worse: not however for long. For a little before he hath said, " But further they shall not make progress:"0 that is, "shall not halve their days." Let the Apostle proceed and tell wherefore: " For the madness of them shall be manifest to all men, as also was that of the others." " But I in Thee will hope, O Lord." But deservedly they shall not halve their days, because in man they have hoped. But I from days temporal have reached unto day eternal. Wherefore? Because in Thee I have hoped, O Lord.
PSALM LVI.-° PSALM LVI.-° 1. Just as when we are going to enter into any house, we look on the title to see whose it is and to whom it belongeth, lest perchance inopportunely we burst into a place whereunto we ought not; and again, in order that we may not through timidity withdraw from that which we ought to enter: as if in a word we were to read, These estates belong to such an one or to such an one: so on the lintel of this Psalm we have inscribed, " At the end, for the people that from holy men were put afar off, to David himself, at the inscription of the Title, when the Allophyli held him in Gath." " Let us therefore take knowledge of the people that from holy men were put afar off at the inscription of the Title. For this doth belong to that David whom now ye know how to understand spiritually. For there is here commended to our notice no other than He of whom hath been said, " The end of the Law is Christ for righteousness to every man believing." " Therefore when thou hearest " at the end," unto Christ give heed, lest tarrying in the way thou arrive not at the end...2. Who are then the people that from holy men were put afar off at the inscription of the Title? Let the Title itself declare to us that people. For there was written a certain title at the Passion of the Lord, when the Lord was crucified: there was in that place a Title inscribed in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin, " The King of the Jews; " '3 in three tongues as rTim.
8 Matt. xv. 14.
10 Lat. LV. A discourse to the people of Carthage. A Paris MS. has the title, " Incipit Carthagine Srrmo habitus in Basilica* Restitutd, FtriA V. de Psalmo LV.— Sen.
Psalm LVI.]
though by three witnesses the Title was confirmed: because " in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall stand every word." '...
3. What therefore meaneth that which to the title itself still belongeth, namely, that " the Allophyli held him in Geth "? Geth was a certain city of the Allophyli? that is, of strangers, to wit, of people afar from holy men. All they that refuse Christ for King become strangers. Wherefore strangers are they made? Because even that vine, though by Him planted, when it had become sour what heard it? " Wherefore hast thou been turned into sourness, O alien vine?"' It hath not been said, My vine: because if Mine, sweet; if sour, not Mine; if not Mine, surely alien. " There held him," then, "Allophyli in Geth." We find indeed, brethren, David himself, son of Jesse, king of Israel, to have been in a strange land among the Allophyli, when he was sought by Saul, and was in that city and with the king of that city,4 but that there he was detained we read not. Therefore our David, the Lord Jesus Christ out of the seed of that David, not alone they held, but there hold Him still Allophyli in Geth. Of Geth we have said that it is a city. But the interpretation of this name, if asked for, signifieth " press."...How therefore here is He held in Geth? Held in a winepress is His Body, that is, His Church. What is, in a winepress?
In pressings. But in a winepress fruitful is the pressing. A grape or. the vine sustaineth no pressing, whole it seemeth, but nothing thence floweth: it is thrown into a winepress, is trodden, is pressed; harm seemeth to be done to the grape, but this harm is not barren; nay, if no harm had been applied, barren it would have remained.
4. Let whatsoever holy men therefore that are suffering pressing from those that have been put afar off from the saints, give heed to this Psalm, let them perceive here themselves, let them speak what here is spoken, that suffer what here is spoken of...Private enmities therefore let no one think of, when about to hear the words of this Psalm: " Know ye that for us the wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against princes and powers, and spiritual things of wickedness," s that is, against the devil and his angels; because even when we suffer men that annoy us, he is instigating, he is inflaming, as it were his vessels he is moving. Let us give heed therefore to two enemies, him whom we see, and him whom we see not; man we see, the devil we see not; man let us love, of the devil beware; for man pray, against the devil pray, and let us say to God, 1 Matt, xviii. 16; Dent. xix. 15.
2 The usual name of the Philistines in LXX. and Vuljjate.
3 Jer. ii. 21. 4 1 Sam. xxi. xo. 5 Eph. vi. 12.
" Have pity on me, O Lord, for man hath trodden me down" (ver. i). Fear not because man hath trodden thee down: have thou wine, a grape thou hast become in order that thou shouldest be trodden. "All day long warring he hath troubled me," every one that hath been put afar off from the saints. But why should not here be understood even the devil himself? Is it because mention is made of " man "?6 doth therefore the Gospel err, because it hath said, "A man that is an enemy hath done this "? 7 But by a kind of figure may he also be called a man,8 and yet not be a man. Whether therefore it was him whom he that said these words was beholding, or whether it was the people and each one that was put afar off from holy men, through which kind the devil troubleth the people of God, who cleave to holy men, who cleave to the Holy One, who cleave to the King, at the title of which King being indignant they were as though beaten back, and put afar off: let him say, " Have pity on me, O Lord, for man hath trodden me down: " and let him faint not in this treading down, knowing Him on whom he is calling, and by whose example he hath been made strong. The first cluster in the winefat pressed is Christ. When that cluster by passion was pressed out,9 there flowed that whence " the cup inebriating is how passing beautiful! " IO Let His Body likewise say, looking upon its Head, " Have pity on me, O Lord, for man hath trodden me down: all day long warring he hath troubled me." "All day long," at all times. Let no one say to himself, There have been troubles in our fathers' time, in our time there are not. If thou supposest thyself not to have troubles, not yet hast thou begun to be a Christian. And where is the voice of the Apostle, " But even all that will live godly in Christ, persecutions shall suffer." " If therefore thou sufferest not any persecution for Christ, take heed lest not yet thou hast begun godly to live in Christ. But when thou hast begun godly to live in Christ, thou hast entered into the winepress; make ready thyself for pressings: but be not thou dry, lest from the pressing nothing go forth.
5. " Mine enemies have trodden me down all day long" (ver. 2). They that have been put afar off from holy men, these are mine enemies. All day long: already it hath been said, " From the height '2 of the day." What meaneth, " from the height of the day "? Perchance it is a high thing to understand. And no wonder, because 6 So MfiS. edd. " because he is not called man."
7 Matt. xiii. 28.
8 [Angels are so called. Dan. ix. H, Acts x. 26. Compare Mark xvi. 5; Rev. xix. 10; also this vol. p. 117, note 7, mpra. — C] [Psalm LVI.
the height of the day it is. For perchance they for this reason have been put afar off from holy men, because they were not able to penetrate the height of the day, whereof the Apostles are twelve shining hours. Therefore they that crucified Him, as if man, in the day have erred. But why have they suffered darkness, so that they should be put afar off from holy men? Because on high the day was shining, Him in the height hidden they knew not. " For if they had known, never the Lord of Glory would they have crucified." "...
6. " For many men that war against me, shall fear" (ver. 3). Shall fear when? When the day shall have passed away, wherein they are high. For for a time high they are, when the time of their height is finished they will fear. " But I in Thee will hope, O Lord." He saith not, " But I will not fear: " but, " Many men, that war against me, shall fear." When there shall have come that day of Judgment, then " shall mourn for themselves all the tribes of the earth." 2 When there shall have appeared the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, then secure shall be all holy men. For that thing shall come which they hoped for, which they longed for, the coming whereof they prayed for: but to those men no place for repentance shall remain, because in that time wherein fruitful might have been repentance, their heart they hardened against a warning Lord. Shall they too raise up a wall against a judging God? The godliness of this man do thou indeed acknowledge, and if in that Body thou art, imitate him. When he had said, " Many men, that war against me, shall fear: " he did not continue, " But I will not fear; " lest to his own powers ascribing his not fearing, he too should be amid high temporal things, and through pride temporal he should not deserve to come to rest everlasting: rather he hath made thee to perceive whence he shall not fear. " But I," he saith, " in thee will hope, O Lord: " he hath not spoken of his confidence: but of the cause of his confidence. For if I shall not fear, I may also by hardness of heart not fear, for many men by too much pride fear nothing...
7. " In God I will praise my discourses, in God I have 3 hoped: I will not fear what flesh doeth to me" (ver. 4). Wherefore? Because in God I will praise my discourses. If in thyself thou praisest thy discourses: I say not that thou art not to fear; it is impossible that thou have not to fear. For thy discourses either false thou wilt have, and therefore thine own, because false: or if thy discourses shall be true, and thou shalt deem thyself not to have them from God, but of thyself to speak; true they will be, but thou wilt be false: but if thou shalt have known ' 1 Cor. ii. 8. 2 Matt. xxiv. 30. J Or, " will hope," mss.
that thou canst say nothing true in the wisdom of God, in the faith of the Truth, save that which from Him thou hast received, of whom is said, " For what hast thou which thou hast not received?"4 Then in God thou art praising thy discourses, in order that in God thou mayest be praised by the discourses of God..." In God I have hoped, I will not fear what flesh doeth to me." Wast thou not the same that a little before wast saying, " Have pity on me, O Lord, for man hath trodden ine down; all day long warring he hath troubled me "? 5 How therefore here, " I will not fear what flesh doeth to me "? What shall he do to thee? Thou thyself a little before hast said, " Hath trodden me down, hath troubled me." Nothing shall he do, when these things he shall do? He hath had regard to the wine which floweth from treading, and hath made answer, Evidently he hath trodden down, evidently hath troubled; but what to me shall he do? A grape I was, wine I shall be: " In God I have hoped, I will not fear what flesh doeth to me."
8. " All day long my words they abhorred " (ver. 5). Thus they are, ye know. Speak truth, preach truth, proclaim Christ to the heathen, proclaim the Church to heretics, proclaim to all men salvation: they contradict, they abhor my words. But when my words they abhor, whom think ye they abhor, save Him in whom I shall praise my discourses? " All day long my words they abhorred." Let this at least suffice, let them abhor words, no farther let them proceed, censure, reject! Be it far from them! Why should I say this? When words they reject, when words they hate, those words which from the fount of truth flow forth, what would they do to him through whom the very words are spoken? what but that which followeth, " Against me all the counsels of them are for evil? If the bread itself they hate, how spare they the basket wherein it is ministered? " Against me all the counsels of them are for evil." If so even against the Lord Himself, let not the Body disdain that which hath gone before in the Head, to the end that the Body may cleave to the Head. Despised hath been thy Lord, and wilt thou have thyself be honoured by those men that have been put afar off from holy men? Dp not for thyself wish to claim that which in Him hath not gone before. "The disciple is not greater than his Master; the servant is not greater than his Lord. If the Master of the family they have called Beelzebub, how much more them of His household?" 6 Against me all the counsels of them are for evil."